Tikhon of Moscow

Tikhon of Moscow
Icon of St. Tikhon of Moscow by Michael Goltz of Lakewood Ohio. Courtesy of Come and See Icons
Confessor, Patriarch of Moscow, Apostle to America
Born	January 19 1865(1865--), Toropets, Russia
Died	March 25 1925 (aged 60), Moscow, Russia
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodoxy
Canonized	October 9, 1989, Moscow, Russia
Major shrine	Donskoy Monastery, Moscow
Feast	March 25/April 7 (Julian/Gregorian calendars)
Saints Portal

Saint Tikhon of Moscow (January 19, 1865 – April 7, 1925), born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (Russian: Василий Иванович Беллавин), was the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church during the early years of the Soviet Union, 1917 through 1925.

Early life

From 1878 to 1883, Vasily studied at the Pskov Theological Seminary. In 1888, at the age of 23, he graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy as a layman. He then returned to the Pskov Seminary and became an instructor of Moral and Dogmatic Theology. In 1891, at the age of 26, he took monastic vows and was given the name Tikhon in honor of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. Tikhon was consecrated Bishop of Lublin on October 19, 1897. On September 14, 1898, Bishop Tikhon was made Bishop of the Aleutians and Alaska. As head of the Russian Orthodox Church in America he reorganized the diocese and changed its name from "Diocese of the Aleutians and Alaska" to "Diocese of the Aleutians and North America" in 1900. While living in the United States Archbishop Tikhon was made a citizen of the United States.

He had two vicar bishops in the United States: Bishop Innocent (Pustynsky) in Alaska, and St. Raphael (Hawaweeny) in Brooklyn. In June of 1905, St. Tikhon gave his blessing for the establishment of St. Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania. On May 22, 1901, he blessed the cornerstone for St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York, and was also involved in establishing other churches in North America. On November 9, 1902, he consecrated the church of St. Nicholas in Brooklyn for the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox immigrants. Two weeks later, he consecrated St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York.

In 1907, he returned to Russia, and was appointed Bishop of Yaroslavl. St. Tikhon was transferred to Vilnius, Lithuania on December 22, 1913. On June 21, 1917, he was elected the ruling bishop of Moscow by the Diocesan Congress of clergy and laity. On August 15, 1917, Archbishop Tikhon was raised to the dignity of Metropolitan of Moscow. On November 5 of the same year, after an election as one of the three candidates for the reinstated Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev announced that Metropolitan Tikhon had been selected for the position after a drawing of lots as the new Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarchate

St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow.

During the Russian Civil War the Patriarch was widely seen as anti-Bolshevik and many members of Orthodox clergy were jailed or executed by the new regime. Tikhon openly condemned the killings of the tsar's family in 1918, and protested against violent attacks by the Bolsheviks on the Church.

After the establishment of the USSR the Patriarch was accused of being a saboteur by the Communist government, for which he was imprisoned from April 1922 until June 1923 in Donskoy Monastery. Among acts incriminated to him was his public protest against nationalization of the property of the Church. This persecution caused international resonance and was a subject of several notes to the Soviet government.

Under pressure from the authorities, Patriarch Tikhon issued several messages to the believers in which he stated in part that he was "no longer an enemy to the Soviet power". Textual analysis of these messages shows considerable similarity with a number of documents exchanged in the Bolshevik Politburo on the "Tikhon's Affair". Despite his declaration of loyalty, he continued to enjoy the trust of the Orthodox community in Russia. In 1923 Patriarch Tikhon was "deposed" by a Soviet-concrolled "council" of the so-called Living Church, which decreed that he was "henceforth a simple citizen—André Bélavin." This deposition has never been recognized as a free act of the Russian Orthodox Church, and is therefore considered invalid.

In 1924 the Patriarch fell ill and was hospitalized. On 5 April, 1925, he served his last Divine Liturgy, and died two days later, 25 March (O.S.)/7 April, the Feast of the Annunciation. He was buried on 12 April in the winter church of Donskoy Monastery in Moscow. There is evidence that suggests that the patriarch may have been poisoned (there had been two previous attempts on his life by the Soviets). From the time of his death, he was widely considered a martyr or confessor for the faith.

Canonization

Tikhon was glorified (canonized) a saint by the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in conjunction with the great glorification of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Soviet Yoke in 1981. He was later glorified by the Soviet branch of the Russian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate) in 1989. This later canonization process is generally considered an example of the thaw in Church-Soviet relations during the Glasnost era.

On February 19, 1992 (according to another source, February 22) his relics were found to be almost entirely incorrupt. The relics were were placed in a beautiful reliquary and on March 23 (O.S.)/April 5, 1992, fifty bishops solemnly transferred them to the main Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery in a place of honour by the soleas (close to the sactuary).

See also

• Religion in the Soviet Union
• Western Orthodoxy
• Living Church

External links

• Life of St. Tikhon by the Orthodox Church in America
• Orthodox Icon of St. Tikhon with scenes from his life.
• Fall of Tikon article from Time Magazine, May. 12, 1923
• Saint Patriarch Tikhon - His Missionary Legacy to Orthodox America article from the periodical, Orthodox America
• On the Triumph of Orthodoxy a homily by Patriarch Tikhon
• Hieromartyr Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia detailed biography

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