And when he, the unhypocritical Judge, asks Us for an answer about the assignment entrusted to Us by Him, let us not be unanswered. For this reason, in the image of the pious kings of the past, both in the Old and in the New Testaments, they took care of the correction of the spiritual order, and did not see a better way to do this, more than a conciliar government. Since it is not without passion in a single person, moreover, it is not a hereditary authority, for this reason we do not neglect it, we establish the Spiritual Collegium, that is, the Spiritual Conciliar Government, which, according to the following "Regulations", has to govern all spiritual affairs in the All-Russian Church. And we command all our faithful subjects, of every rank, spiritual and temporal, to have this for an important and powerful government, and to ask it for the utmost matters of spiritual administration, decisions and executions, and to be satisfied with its certain judgment, and to listen to its decrees in everything under great punishment for resistance and disobedience, against the other collegiums. This collegium must also supplement its own "Regulations" with new rules, which require various different cases. However, this should be done by the Spiritual College not without Our permission. In this Ecclesiastical Collegium, we determine that the members of this Ecclesiastical Collegium shall be named here: one president, two vice-presidents, four counsellors, and four assessors. And since it is mentioned in this "Rules of Procedure" in the first part, the seventh and eighth paragraphs, that the president is subject to the judgment of his brethren, this is the same collegium, even if he has committed a noble sin, for this reason we determine that his vote should be equal to that of the rest. All the members of this collegium, when entering into their business, have to take an oath, or promise, before the holy Gospel in the attached form of oath.

Under this is signed by the Tsar's Majesty in his own hand, Peter.

In St. Petersburg, January 25, 1721."

The text of the oath: "I, the undernamed, promise and swear by Almighty God, before His holy Gospel, that I must, and according to my duty, and I will strive in every way in councils, courts, and all the affairs of this Spiritual Governing Assembly, to always seek the most essential truth and the most essential truth, and to act in accordance with the statutes written in the "Spiritual Regulations". And if in the future, with the consent of this Spiritual Government and with the permission of the Tsar's Majesty, it will be determined... I swear by Almighty God that I will and must. to my natural and true Tsar and Tsar Peter the Great, the autocrat of all Russia, and so on... and to Her Majesty the Empress Catherine Alexeevna to be a faithful, kind and obedient slave and subject" [192].

Immediately after the creation of the Ecclesiastical Collegium, on February 14, 1721, the latter petitioned the tsar for its renaming into the Holy Governing Synod, since the name Ecclesiastical Collegium was incomprehensible to the people and could cause bewilderment during public church prayer. The tsar agreed with these arguments and approved the renaming [193].

The details of the entire legislative process are set forth at the end of the "Regulations" in the following words: "All this, written here first by the All-Russian monarch himself, His Imperial Most Holy Majesty, was pleased to hear before him, to reason and correct on February 11, 1720. And then, by decree of His Majesty, the Most Reverend Bishops, Archimandrites, and the Governing Senators, listened and, reasoning, corrected this very February 23. His Imperial Majesty himself deigned to sign the same in confirmation and fulfillment of the immutable fulfillment, according to the attribution of the hands of the clergy and senators present, with his own hand."

After the meeting, Peter gave the following order to the Senate: "Since yesterday I heard from you that both the bishops and you heard the draft of the Ecclesiastical Collegium and accepted everything as good, for this reason it is proper for the bishops and you to sign it, which I will then seal. And it is better to sign two and leave one here, and send the other to the other bishops for signing." However, this order was addressed not to the locum tenens, but to the Senate, by decree of which in May 1720 Major Semyon Davydov and Archimandrite Jonah Salnikov collected the signatures of the bishops of all twelve dioceses (with the exception of the Siberian diocese because of its remoteness), as well as archimandrites and abbots of the most important monasteries. The instructions of the Senate to the plenipotentiaries read: "And if anyone does not sign it, take it from him in a letter by hand, which for the sake of the parable does not sign it, so that he can show it by name... and that he (the plenipotentiary – Ed.) will have a repairman, he will write about this to the Senate at the post office all weeklong." The bishops were well aware of the consequences of the refusal, and it was not difficult for the tsar to achieve his first goal: the higher Russian clergy unquestioningly signed the "act of capitulation" of the Church to the state. The "Spiritual Regulations" end with the signatures of Peter I, then seven senators, six metropolitans, one archbishop, twelve bishops, forty-seven archimandrites, fifteen abbots of monasteries, five hieromonks; a total of eighty-seven signatures of clergymen [194].

b) If the higher Russian clergy was forced to submit to the wishes and commands of Peter, remembering his severity in the case of Tsarevich Alexei, then the attitude of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchs to all this was by no means clear to Peter. Meanwhile, their approval was of great importance for ecclesiastical and political considerations: such approval would serve in the eyes of the Russian people and clergy as an authoritative sanction of the newly established Holy Synod and would strengthen the position of the latter in the struggle against the ever-widening schism. When the Moscow Patriarchate arose in 1589, the Eastern Patriarchs recognized it as equal to the rest of the Eastern Patriarchates, and the Russian Church as independent in matters of internal administration. But as part of the Catholic Orthodox Church, it could not be completely independent of the latter. Much later, in the 19th century, the Church historian A. N. Muravyov formulated the essence of the matter as follows: "This Conciliar Government (i.e., the Holy Synod. — I. S.) throughout Russia, but the recognition of the other Eastern Churches was still required for its eternal firmness, so that the unity of the Catholic Church might be inviolable" [195].

Peter's Epistle to Patriarch Jeremias III of Constantinople (1715-1726) contains a Greek translation of the manifesto of January 25, 1721, with significant changes in the text.

In the next sentence, the word "collegium" is translated by the Greek word "synod," which adds ambiguity to the text. The end of the manifesto is completely different: "To the same Spiritual Holy Synod We have determined through the instructions (meaning "Spiritual Regulations"). — I.S.), so that the Holy Church would be governed in all things according to the dogmas of the holy Orthodox Catholic Churches of the Greek confession irrevocably, and these dogmas would have as an infallible rule of their rule, in which they (i.e., the members of the Synod — I.S.) and by oath in the holy Catholic Church, by kissing the holy cross and signing with their own hands. And we hope that Your All-Holiness, as the first bishop of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church, will deign to recognize this Our institution and the composition of the Spiritual Synod as good, and about this you will make a report to the other Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem." In conclusion, it is said that the Holy Synod will continue to keep in touch with the Patriarchs on church issues, after which Peter adds: "In your demands we promise to show every leniency." This phrase is a diplomatic hint that the patriarchs may in the future apply to the tsar for the subsidies they have hitherto received from Moscow.

This letter, sent to Constantinople on September 30, 1721, tells the historian a great deal. The absence of an ecclesiastical-political (canonical) foundation for the church reform shows, first of all, that Peter and Theophanes, who, without a doubt, compiled this charter, were clearly aware that there were no canonical foundations for the reform. The changes in the text of the manifesto leave no doubt that the Patriarch was informed not only inaccurately, but completely incorrectly. The Epistle presents the matter as if it were a question of replacing the Patriarch with a Synod with the same powers. Only a certain "instruction" is mentioned in passing, but the Patriarch is not informed that it refers to such a far-reaching document as the "Spiritual Regulations." Not a word is said about the inclusion of the Holy Synod (Ecclesiastical Collegium) in the collegial system of state administration, about the subordination of the Church to the will of the monarch and about the state's control over the Church.

In his first reply, dated February 12, 1722, the Patriarch congratulated the Emperor on his victory over the Swedes and expressed the hope that the matter would be resolved successfully as soon as it was possible to contact the other Patriarchs. On September 23, 1723, the emperor received the long-awaited answer from the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch.

September 23, 1723." In the additional epistle of Patriarch Jeremiah to the Holy Synod, he informs about the recent death of the Patriarch of Alexandria and the serious illness of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and expresses the assurance that the confirmation letters of both these patriarchs will arrive later. Thus, Peter's desire to receive sanction for his reform was fulfilled. The readiness of the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch to make concessions with regard to the uncanonical actions of the emperor is explained not only by the reinterpretation of the essence of the matter that took place in Peter's letter, but also by the dependence of the patriarchs under Turkish rule on Russian subsidies.

c) Thus, the Holy Governing Synod, placed at the head of the administration of the Russian Church, was henceforth to be guided in its activities by the "Spiritual Regulations."