The people endured and endured, and finally took up arms. The well-known Cossack wars began. But the Polish force suppressed the Cossacks, and those unfortunates who were captured were burned on coals, tormented with iron claws, put on sharp knitting needles, laid alive in stone pillars... Little Russia, mercilessly exterminated and burned, seemed destined to perish, but God had mercy on it: the famous hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky appeared, and according to his idea, the people of Southern Russia were forever detached from Poland and united with the people of Great Russia. This happened in 1654, 58 years after the beginning of the union. And Western Rus – Podolia, Volhynia, Byelorussia, Lithuania – could not yet separate from Poland and remained in the same position for more than 100 years. Moreover, here the union itself was persecuted by the Latins. The Latins forced the Uniates to convert to the Latin faith, took away their churches, monasteries, and church revenues. That's what the union was! Such is how much evil it brought to our poor brethren, who succumbed to this Roman flattery! Thank God, this intricate Jesuit snare is now broken! Even under Empress Catherine II, up to three million Russian Uniates returned to the bosom of the Orthodox Church. In 1839, more than one and a half million more were reunited; In 1875-1876, the rest of the Uniates, up to half a million, were also reunited. Thus, rejected by violence, they were reunited by love. Apparently, the Russian soul is Orthodox by nature, and the Russian person can be torn away from his native Orthodox Church only by violence or by his own proud ignorance!

478. The Triumph of Orthodoxy over the Unia

"I thank God and accept" Nicholas I

How good, how much these words speak to the heart! Do you not feel, brethren, my readers, that in these words one hears both joy and reverence? They will become clearer when we remember that they were written by the Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich of blessed memory in 1839, on March 25, at the report of the Holy Synod on the desire of more than one and a half million Uniates to return to their ancient Mother, the Orthodox Church. With these words, the most pious Tsar opened his paternal embraces to the children who had lost their way and returned. The day of March 25 then fell on Holy Saturday, and, therefore, the royal annunciation was distributed on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and on the eve of the Bright Resurrection of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. And so, in 1889, 50 years have passed since this joyous event for the Church and the state. Let's say a friend, and now we thank God and take this event to heart! And since not many of us know it properly, let us now remember how it happened.

Much evil was brought by the union of South-Western Russia. At first, after the former Orthodox joined the Roman Church, the popes of Rome were ready to make all concessions, if only those who joined recognized the pope as the head of the universal Church, the vicar of Jesus Christ Himself on earth. But this was only a clever bait in order to later, imperceptibly and gradually, completely convert them to the Latin faith. According to the teaching of the Latins, the pope is infallible in matters of faith; How can you disobey him unquestioningly? Whoever does not obey the Pope does not obey Christ Himself. This is how the Latins taught and teach. And the pope, meanwhile, could dispose of the Uniates as he pleased. Who among the Uniates would dare to argue with the infallible vicar of Christ, as they recognized him? And so it happened to our unfortunate brothers, who in 1596 accepted the union with Rome. They were cruelly deceived in their hopes.

As soon as the Unia became somewhat stronger, as soon as those who joined the Latin Church became accustomed to their position, the zealous servants of the Pope of Rome, the Jesuits and the Polish government, began to press the Uniates, to introduce Latin rites among them, to demand that divine services be performed either in Latin or in Polish. The Latins forced the Uniates to insert into the Symbol of Faith their false teaching about the procession of the Holy Spirit and from the Son, introduced into the divine services organs, Roman rites during the celebration of the Sacraments, communion of the laity under one guise (one Body of Christ), destroyed Orthodox iconostases in churches, and began to educate future pastors for the Uniates in Latin schools. The Unia itself began to be contemptuously called the faith of serfs, churches, monasteries, church revenues were taken away from the Uniates, and all this was transferred to the Latins; the Uniates began to be openly forced to convert to Latinism. The unfortunate Uniates soon saw themselves in the position of defenseless orphans and with sorrow began to remember their former Mother, the Orthodox Church, which they had so thoughtlessly left. However, it must be said that they were not so much separated from it in spirit as by sad circumstances and by the fact that they languished under the rule of Poland, which so zealously served the Pope of Rome.

For almost two hundred years this difficult situation of the Uniates continued. All the measures of the Polish government, all the intrigues of the Latin clergy, all kinds of violence, all the tricks of treachery — everything was put into action to Polonize the Russian people, to deprive them of the faith of their fathers, the Orthodox faith, and to force them to forget them. But, thank God, this did not happen. The Russian people endured both violence and suffering with firmness, more than once shed streams of blood and defended the holy cause. There were not many traitors to this cause, and then only from those for whom worldly gains were dearer than the holy Orthodox faith. Under Empress Catherine II, some regions of the Western Territory, which constituted the ancient heritage of Russia, began to secede from Poland and join Russia. In these regions the Uniates were declared complete freedom to return to the ancestral Church, and since many of them still vividly remembered that their fathers were Orthodox, three million Uniates returned to the faith of their ancestors within two years. And those who remained in the union found protection in the Russian government and, at least, rested from the persecution of the Latins.

During the reign of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich, the Uniates began to live even more peacefully. In 1828 he protected the Uniates from any interference of the Latins, granted them a separate ecclesiastical administration under the chairmanship of their metropolitan, gave them great means for the education of their youth, for the renewal of their churches. These favors disposed the Uniates to look with gratitude at the Orthodox government — the idea of reunification with the Orthodox Church had already begun to awaken in them. The Latin bishop Joseph, by the name of Semashko, labored most of all in this holy work. He was from the Kiev province, his parents were pious people, his father was a Uniate priest and later joined the Orthodox Church. From childhood, Joseph cultivated in himself a disposition towards the Orthodox Church. After receiving his education at the main Uniate seminary in Vilna, he entered the service in St. Petersburg and soon took an honorable place in the Main Directorate (Collegium) for Roman Catholic Affairs. Being very inquisitive, he began to study the history of the Russian Church with special zeal, became completely convinced of the purity of the Orthodox faith, and already wanted to accept Orthodoxy. But it pleased God that he should not return alone to the bosom of the Mother Church, but bring with him more than one and a half million of his fellow Uniates. Having been consecrated a Uniate bishop, he, together with two other bishops, began to gradually restore the primitive structure of churches on the model of the Orthodox, and in them the ancient divine services, former clothes, rites, to introduce liturgical books published by our Holy Synod, to preach the Word of God in his native language, and to ordain as priests only those who had firmly studied the rites and decrees of the Orthodox Church. In this spirit, they began to educate spiritual youth – the future pastors of the Church. Thus, gradually, over the course of ten whole years, the great work of the reunification of our brothers with the Orthodox Church was prepared. Finally, after repeated consultations, all three Uniate bishops – Joseph himself and his co-workers: Vasily of Orsha and Anthony of Brest, together with the senior clergy, gathered in Polotsk on February 12, 1839, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. They performed a solemn service here, during which the Symbol of Faith was pronounced for the first time – without the Latin addition and from the Son – and for the first time instead of the Pope the Eastern Patriarchs and the Holy All-Russian Synod were commemorated.

This act was signed by 24 clergymen present and, in addition, it was accompanied by handwritten declarations of consent to reunification from 1305 priests and monks. The senior bishop, Joseph of Lithuania, was instructed to take to St. Petersburg both this conciliar act and the most submissive petition of the Uniate bishops.

It was this report of the Holy Synod that was approved by the Tsar on March 25, 1839, and on Thursday of Bright Week, March 30, Bishop Joseph, as the representative of all the Uniates, was solemnly introduced into the meeting of the Holy Synod.

Thus, during the Bright Week of 1839, more than one and a half million former Uniates, our blood brothers, the original Russian people, were resurrected to a new life. In memory of this event, the Tsar ordered to knock out a medal. Soon followed a series of solemn services in Vitebsk, Polotsk, Velizh, Surozh, Orsha, Minsk, Vilna, and Zhirovitsy. Common joy, mutual brotherly love was reminiscent of the first centuries of Christianity. And now, 50 years have passed since then. We think that even now many people have light and joy in their souls when they remember the past. Let us give thanks, brethren, to the Lord, Who has returned to us our own brethren to the house of the Father, our native Holy Orthodox Church! "Behold, now what is good or what is beautiful, in the life of the brethren together!" In this holy union, may our Holy Russia blossom now and ever, and may the Lord command her blessing and life unto the ages of ages. Amen!

479. Spiritual Treasures of Folk Wisdom

Leaf one.

Our ancestors extracted a wise, kind word from their entire lives. They spoke it from centuries of experience, often repeated it, liked to compose it smoothly so that it would be easier to remember. And this word of theirs has not been lost, it is preserved to this day in our living speech, in proverbs and sayings; It has been collected in books by learned people with full respect for the common sense of the Russian people. It is sometimes referred to in the sermons of our saints (Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow himself); it was carefully collected by another saint, Philaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Let us also cite a few bright thoughts and thoughts of the people about God, about the soul, about prayer, about the good life. Offering them to the Orthodox Russian people, we say: "By your good—by your forehead." And may God grant that this folk word is firmly held in the young memory, that new generations justify it by life itself. And those unknown, unknown, intelligent and kind people who commanded us these lessons, let us remember with a prayer: Send them, O Lord, eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven!