[Serb., Justin] (New, Cheliysky) (Popovich Blagoe; 03/25/1894, Vranje - 04/7/1979, Chelije monastery near Valjevo), St. (memorial June 1), archim., Serb. theologian and preacher. Grandfather I. was a priest in the 7th or, according to other sources, in the 13th generation. As a child, Blagoye and his parents, Spiridon and Anastasia, often visited St. Prokhora Pshinsky Monastery, where he witnessed his mother’s healing from a serious illness. After graduating from primary school in Vranje, he studied at the 9-grade seminary of St. Savva of Serbia (1905-1914), where he became close to the priest. St. Nicholas (Velimirović; later Bishop of Zhich). In 1914 he wanted to become a monk, but at the request of his parents, Metropolitan. Belgrade Dimitri (Pavlovich; later Patriarch of Serbia) did not give him a blessing. In the same year, I. entered the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade, but at the beginning of the First World War he was drafted into the army and served in a medical company in hospitals in the south of Serbia. Together with the Serbian The army retreated from Niš through Kosovo and Metohija to Albania. Having survived the hardships of war and having suffered from typhus, I. became even more strengthened in his desire to become a monk. 31 Dec 1915 in the Orthodox Church. church in Shkodra (Skadar), he was tonsured a monk by Archimandrite. Veniamin (Taushanovich; later Bishop of Branichevsky). In Jan. 1916 with the blessing of Metropolitan. Belgrade Dimitri I. was sent to study at SPbDA. Due to revolutionary unrest in Russia in June 1916, he moved to Great Britain, where he continued to study theology at Oxford. Wrote a dissertation. “Philosophy and Religion of F. M. Dostoevsky”, but refused to follow the recommendations of Oxford professors and change its critical assessment of the development of the ideas of humanism and anthropocentrism in Catholicism and Protestantism, therefore in 1919 he did not receive an academic degree. After returning home, he was appointed teacher at the seminary in Sremski Karlovtsi. In May 1920 he was ordained a deacon. Since Oct. 1921 taught NT, dogmatics and patrolology at the seminary of St. Savva Serbsky. Since 1921, he underwent an internship at the theological faculty of the University of Athens and in March 1927 he defended his doctorate. dis. “The problem of personality and consciousness according to St. Macarius of Egypt" Μακάριον τὸν Αἰγύπτιον. ᾿Αθῆναι. 7 Jan 1922 ordained priest. In 1925-1927 editor “Khrishћanski zhivo” (Christian life). During this period, he became closely acquainted with the head of the ROCOR, Metropolitan. Kyiv and Galician Anthony (Khrapovitsky), archbishop. Kishinevsky and Khotinsky Anastasius (Gribanovsky), etc. Russian emigrant clergy.

In 1927, at the seminary in Sremski Karlovtsi, I. defended his thesis. "Epistemology of St. Isaac the Syrian" (Gnoseology of St. Isaac the Syrian // Put. Beograd, 1934. pp. 269-280, 335-350; due to numerous errors, the publication of the dissertation was not recognized by the author). Since Aug. 1927 to June 1928 he taught at the seminary in Prizren, then again at the seminary in Sremski Karlovci, from October. From 1929 to March 1930 he served as rector. In 1928, I. agreed to head the department of dogmatic theology at the University of Warsaw, but before leaving he learned that instead of this department, the university authorities wanted to offer him the department of moral theology, which he refused. On Dec. 1930, by decision of the Synod, the SOC was sent from the Orthodox Church. mission in Transcarpathia as an assistant to Bishop. Bitolsky Joseph (Tsviyovich). Together they visited Uzhgorod, Khust, Iza, Mukachevo, Preshov (Pryashev) and many others. villages in the Carpathians and contributed to the return of believers from the union to Orthodoxy. I. was offered to accept the episcopal rank and take the see of the restored Mukachevo-Pryashevsky diocese of the SOC (see article Mukachevo and Uzhgorod diocese (UOC)), but he refused and finally. 1931 returned to Serbia. Since Aug. 1932 taught at the seminary in Bitola together with Rev. John (Maksimovich; later Bishop of Shanghai). 1 Feb. 1934 Elected Associate Professor of the Department of Comparative Theology of the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade, took office on December 21. the same year. Later he was elected professor of dogmatics. One of the founders of the Serbian Philosophical Society (1938).

When, after the outbreak of the Second World War, the University of Belgrade was temporarily closed, I. lived in the monasteries of Kalenic, Ravanica, etc. and continued to translate patristic and hagiographical works, was engaged in the interpretation of the New Testament, and participated in the preparation of the “Memorandum of the SOC on the atrocities of the Ustasha in the territory Independent State of Croatia against Serbs and Orthodox clergy” (beginning July 1941). In 1944, at the request of the Serbian leader. Chetniks D. Mikhailovich I. compiled a description of the relationship between the Church and the state, according to patristic tradition. After the end of the war, this text served as a pretext for the persecution of I. by the communist authorities: he was dismissed from the Belgrade University without saving his pension, then arrested in the Sukovo monastery near Pirot and imprisoned in Belgrade, where he awaited a death sentence. He was released from prison at the request of the Serbian Patriarch Gabriel V (Dozic), who returned in November. 1946 to Serbia from exile. I. was deprived of the right to reside in Belgrade or in k.-l. other large city, so he moved from one monastery to another (Kalenich, Sukovo, Ravanitsa, etc.) until he was abbot. Sarah did not ask him to be her wife. Chelie monastery. In this monastery I. lived from May 27, 1948 until his death, without the right to leave the monastery and all the time being under house arrest. I. was the confessor of the nuns of the monastery, often performed divine services and talked with me. people who came to him for spiritual advice. Thanks to extensive correspondence with spiritual children and famous theologians, I. was aware of modern times. theological movements, translated and wrote theological works. I. blessed more than 10 spiritual students for the episcopal priesthood (including Metropolitan Amfilohiy (Radovich) of Montenegro-Primorsky, Bishop Afanasy (Evtich), Bishop Irinei (Bulovich) of Bach, etc.), and more than a hundred - for the priestly and monastic service. Many clergy and believers from Yugoslavia, as well as representatives of other Local Orthodox Churches, attended I.’s funeral service in the monastery of Celije. He was buried in the Cheliye Monastery.

Essays

I. touch on a variety of topics, including problems of dogmatics, exegesis, and patristics; they contain an analysis of studies of the works of philosophers, an assessment of the events of church life in the 20th century. The first study of I. is the remaining unprotected dis. “Philosophy and religion of F. M. Dostoevsky” (Philosophy and religion of F. M. Dostojevsky // Christian life. Beograd, 1922. Year. 1. Br. 2. 1923. Year. 2. Br. 4; Sremski Karlovci, 1924 ). In this work, I. developed the ideas of F. M. Dostoevsky about religion. Russia's calling to preserve Christ. faith at the end of history. Subsequently, in his articles, I. often turned to the analysis of Russian. philosophy and theology.

The main dogmatic work “Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church” (Dogmatika Pravoslavne Tsrkve. Beograd, 1932. Book 1; 1935. Book 2; 1978. Book 3) was highly appreciated by theologians and was used as a textbook on the Holy Scriptures. Scripture in the departments of theology in some Americans. un-tah. Together with prof. V. Hadji-Arsich I. published “The Orthodox Christian Catechism” (Orthodox Christian Catechism. Beograd, 1938), which was republished under the title “Secrets of Faith and Life” (Tajne Vere i Zhiva. Vajevo, 2000). In the interwar period, I. was published in the journal he headed. “Christian Life” and other publications: “Bulletin of the Serbian Church” (Vesnik Srpske Tsrkve), “Svyatosavvie” (Svetosavљe), “Christian Literature” (Khrishћansko delo), “Put” (Put), “Theology” (Bogoslovљe), “Christian Thought” (Khrishћanska misao), “Pastorsky Glas” (Pastorsky Glas). He devoted most of his articles to the analysis of modern history. problems in the life of the SOC and Orthodoxy in general.

I. paid great attention to the study of the NT and encouraged believers to read at least 3 chapters from the NT every day. Lectures for seminarians on St. The NT Scriptures were distributed in student notes. After the end of the Second World War, he again turned to the interpretation of the NT: the interpretation of the Gospels of Matthew and John; 3 Epistles of St. John the Theologian and 9 Epistles of the Apostle. Paul were published after his death.

I. knew several times. ancient and modern (Greek, Russian, English, German, French) languages ​​and translated theological patristic texts, as well as modern ones. philosophical studies. From Greek language I. translated the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Sremski Karlovtsi, 1922) and his “Conversations” (John Chrysostom. Conversations I and II about the Apostle Paul // Christian Case. 1936. Year. 2. Bro. 3, 6), “Conversations » prp. Macarius of Egypt ( Macarije of Egypt, St. About saving yourself the good (Omilija XXIV) // Christian life. 1925. Year. 4. Br. 1, 4), certain “Words” of St. Isaac the Syrian (Isaak the Syrian, St. On fasting and vigil // Christian life. 1925. Year. 4. Bro. 1, 4), St. Ephraim the Syrian (Efrem the Syrian, Holy Prayer of the Most Holy Theotokos. Beograd, 1975), selected chapters of “Lavsaik” by Bishop. Palladia ( Paladje, ep. Elenoposki. Lovesaik. Bito, 1933. Kњ. 1; 1934. Kњ. 2) etc. From Russian. language - article by prot. Georgiy Florovsky “The Father’s House” (Florovsky G. Ochev Dom // Khrishћanski zhivok. 1926. Year. 5. Br. 3/6), article by A. S. Khomyakov “The Church is One” (Khomjakov A. S. About the Church // Ibid. Br. 7/9), sermon by Rev. Pavel Florensky "Joy Forever" ( Florenski P., prot. Joy for eternity // Ibid.) and many others. etc.

After the Second World War, the communist authorities of Yugoslavia forbade I. to publish, but he continued to write, bequeathing to his spiritual children to publish his works when it became possible. In the 60s - 70s. XX century Only 6 of his articles were published (4 of them in foreign Serbian publications), and in Greece - several. articles and books “Philosophy of the Antichrist” (φιλοσοφία τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου // Θεόκλητος Διονυσιάτης, μον. ῞Αγιος Νεκτάριος ὁ Θαυματουργός. Θεσσ., 1979. No. 126. S. 49-55) and “The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism” in Greek. and Serbian Languages ​​(Orthodoxy Tsrkva and Ekumenizam = ᾿ορθόδο engability ᾿εκκλησία οἰκουμενισμός. θεσ., 1974), in which he sharply criticized the ecumenical movement.

Back in 1922, I. proposed including a Serb in the program. Theological educational institutions have a special subject dedicated to the lives of saints. He considered it important for a person’s salvation to realize his life in the Church as a holy conciliar life with all the saints, the first among whom is Jesus Christ, “the Firstborn among many brothers” (Khrishanski zhivo. 1923. Year. 2. No. 3). Over the course of several decades I. collected materials, and in the 70s. XX century The Lives of the Saints compiled by him were published in 12 volumes by month (Lives of the saints for the month of January. Beograd, 1972; The same: For the month of February 1973; The same: For the month of March 1973; The same: For the month of April 1974; The same the same: For the month of May 1975; The same: For the month of August 1976; . 1977; Same: For the month of November 1977; Same: For the month of December 1977). In this fundamental publication, I. included not only the biographies of famous pan-Orthodox scholars. saints, but also almost 60 Serbian saints. and glory origin (including Russians, for example St. Seraphim of Sarov) and martyrs who labored during the tour. slavery in the Balkan Peninsula (for example, St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, St. Macarius Notara, St. Dionysius and Nektarios of Aegina, St. Anthimus and St. Gerasimos of Cephalinia). For this publication, I. compiled the lives of little-known saints (for example, St. Gregory the New) and expanded (mainly with quotations from patristic works) editions of the lives of famous saints (for example, Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory Palamas and St. . Maxim the Confessor). Lives of the most revered Serbs. saints (Sava of Serbia, Simeon the Myrrh-Streamer, Basil of Ostrozh, Prince Lazar, etc.) were also published in separate prints (The Life of St. Save and St. Simeon. Minchen, 1962; The Life of St. Basil Ostroshkog the Wonderworker. Beograd, 1973; The Life of St. Tsar Lazar. Beograd, 1975; Painting of St. Despot Stephen and St. Eugenie-Milice. Beograd, 1977; The Way of the Soul after Death (from the Life of St. Vasily Novog). Beograd , 1985). The Life of St. was also published separately. Gregory Palamas (The Belly of St. Gregory Palamas. Beograd, 1977) and “The Tale of the Dormition of the Most Rev. The Mother of God and Her miracles: in Chajnichu, Malevi and Bachskoe Petrov-selo" (Success to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Virgin of the Miracle: At Chajnichu, Malevi and Bachskoe Petrov-selo. Beograd, 1976).

Analysis and gradual publication of I.’s works since the 90s. XX century are engaged in metr. Amfilohiy (Radovich) and Bishop. Afanasy (Evtich). They combined his works into 30 volumes, of which 20 were published (Sabrana deeds of St. Justin Novog. Vajevo, 1998-.): sermons (Conversation. 1998. K. 1-3), “The Orthodox Church and ecumenism: St. philosophy of life" (Orthodox church and ecumenism: Svetosavљe kao filosofiya belly. 2001. Kњ. 4), akathists (Akatisti. 1999. Kњ. 5), "Philosophy and religion of F. M. Dostoevsky: [Dostoevsky on Europe and the Slavs]" (Philosophy and religion of F. M. Dostojevsky: [Dostoyevsky about Europe and Slovenia]. 1999. Kњ. 6-7), “The Path of God Knowledge: Philosophical Abysses” (Path of God Knowledge: Philosophical Urvin. 1999. Kњ. 8-9), “Interpretation of the Holy Gospel of Matthew” (Tumacheye svetog of Jevaninea according to Mathew. 1999. K. 10), “Interpretation of the Holy Gospel of John” (Tumacheye svetog of Jevaneya according to Jovan. 2001. K. 11-12), “Interpretation of the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians by St. Apostle Paul" (Tumache's message to the friend and friend of Corinthians, St. Apostle Paul. 2001. Book 13), "Interpretation of the Epistle to the Ephesians by St. Apostle Paul. Interpretation of the Epistle to the Philippians and Colossians by St. Apostle Paul. Interpretation of the Epistle to the Galatians and the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians by St. Apostle Paul" (Tumache's epistle of Ephessim of St. Apostle Paul: Tumache's messenger of Philipianim and Koloshanim of St. Apostle Paul. Tumache's messenger of Galatima and I and II Solujanim of St. Apostle Paul. 2002. Book 14-16), "Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church" ( Dogmatika Pravoslavne Tsrkve. 2003-2004. Kњ. 17-19), “Sowings and Harvests: Articles and Small Works” (Setve i zhetve: Chlantsi i maњi pisi. 2008. Kњ. 20).

Lit. I.'s style and language are very unique. According to Met. Montenegrin-Primorsky Amfilohiy (Radovich), he “used the wonderful and sublime, inspired poetry of the Orthodox Church in his works.”

E.P.P.

Theology

The basis of I.'s theological works is the biblical and patristic teaching about Christ the God-man, in whom all questions of human existence - life and death, good and evil, earth and heaven, truth and lies, love and hate, man and God - are resolved. “Man experiences and recognizes the fundamental, eternal truth of life and the world only with the help of the God-man, in the God-man... Man knows the complete truth about man, about the purpose and meaning of his existence, only through the God-man. Without Him and outside of Him there is no true man...” (On the God-Human Path. 1999. P. 261). I. defines Orthodoxy as God-manhood. “All the truths of Orthodoxy are derived from one truth and are reduced to one truth, limitless and eternal. This truth is the God-man Christ... Orthodoxy is nothing other than the wonderful Person of the God-man Christ... continued as the Church” (Ibid. pp. 261, 263). Outside the Orthodox Church teachings about the God-man, according to I., there is no integral truth and integral man. “What is the essence of Orthodoxy? - wrote I. - God-man Christ. Consequently, everything Orthodox has a divine-human character: consciousness, feelings, will, thinking, ethics, dogmatics, philosophy, and culture. God-manhood is a single category in which all manifestations of Orthodoxy move and are realized” (Philosophical Abysses. 2004. P. 74).

Orthodox theanthropic philosophy

According to I., there are only 2 philosophies - theanthropic and human. “One is the philosophy of divine-human monism, the other is the philosophy of human pluralism.” The latter is characterized by a split consciousness due to sin. Theanthropic philosophy, or philosophy according to Christ (cf. Col. 2.8), is “the philosophy of man renewed by Christ, reborn by Christ, sanctified by Christ, deified by Christ” (Philosophical Abysses. 2004. pp. 96-97). It is characterized by the consciousness of the unity of being and creation. This philosophy is nothing more than the dogmatic teaching of the Orthodox Church. Churches. Its content consists of divinely revealed, eternal truths about God, the world and man, open to people “for the purpose that they would embody them in their lives and thus comprehend the eternal meaning of their existence, their painful procession from non-existence to All-Existence” (Collected Works . 2006. T. 2. P. 10). Dogmas, which I. defines as “the divinely revealed eternal truths of faith contained in the Holy Revelation and preserved, explained and communicated by the Church as Divine, life-giving and unchangeable rules of salvation” (Ibid. p. 14), are primarily the subject of faith. Faith is a feat that embraces the entire human personality, including the human mind. Thanks to faith and evangelical deeds, the dogmatic truths of the Church are translated into a person’s life, into his thoughts and feelings, and thereby become the focus of life, leading him to holiness and perfection. “In this sense, saints are the living embodiment of eternal dogmatic truths” (Ibid. p. 13). “A person’s life of grace in the Church inevitably becomes a source of knowledge of eternal dogmatic truths. Experiencing them as the essence of his life, a person comprehends their truth, necessity and saving power for the human person in general” (Ibid. 2004. Vol. 1. P. 343). I. emphasizes that dogmatic truths are not abstract concepts, not syllogical conclusions and not logical hypotheses, but facts and events in all their historical immediacy and reality. Thus, the dogma of the Holy Trinity is revealed in Old Testament and New Testament phenomena, events and facts. Christological dogma is established on the historical existence of the God-man Jesus of Nazareth. The dogma of the resurrection is based on the fact of the Resurrection of Christ, etc. T. n. proofs of the existence of God (cosmological, teleological, ontological-psychological, historical, moral, etc.) cannot have the value of real evidence in the dogmatics of the Orthodox Church, since they are based on the principles of the relative, limited mind and sensory perceptions of man, while as the truth about the existence of God is not for the Church and Revelation a logical assumption requiring proof through logical syllogisms, but, on the contrary, it is a truth revealed by God Himself and therefore undoubted (Ibid.; cf. : Right there. 2006. T. 2. P. 64). Orthodox doctrine, according to I., is inseparable from its practical assimilation by the ascetic life of a Christian in the grace-filled theanthropic organism of the Church, therefore, in all the theological works of I., the truths of faith are coupled with the ascetic feat necessary to translate them into life. The very term “philosophy” (love of wisdom) I. following the ancient fathers of the East. Church (St. Athanasius I the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus, etc.) understands as “likeness to God” (cf.: Ibid. p. 9).

In the main dogmatic work - the 3-volume “Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church” (or “Orthodox Philosophy of Truth”) I., according to Bishop. Athanasius (Evtich), “in a unique way since the time of the holy fathers, he expounds the all-holy truth of Orthodoxy about the God-man and His work” ( Afanasy, hieromon. Biography of Father Justin // On the Divine-Human Path. 1999. P. 65). When writing the 1st volume (especially its introductory part), I. used the works of Russian. pre-revolutionary dogmatists - Metropolitan. Moscow and Kolomna Macarius (Bulgakov), archbishop. Chernigov Philaret (Gumilevsky), bishop. Kanevsky Sylvester (Malevansky). The main part of “Dogmatics” is based directly on St. Scripture and Patristic Tradition. Compared to the “classical” Orthodox. dogmatic courses (Russian 19th century and Greek 20th century) in the 2nd and 3rd volumes, I. not so much sets out the dogmas in a systematic or historical form, but rather tries to convey his “experience” of these dogmas. He reveals their meaning in the life of a Christian and often appeals not so much to the mind as to the reader’s feelings. This explains the multiple repetitions, the special structure of phrases, and the use of neologisms, which are also characteristic of other works of I.

The first volume includes introductory information about dogmatic science, the doctrine of the one God in Himself, His essence and properties, the Holy Trinity, as well as the doctrine of God as the Creator and Provider of the world, the doctrine of the Fall and its consequences, the causes and the purposes of the Incarnation, about the Face of the Lord Jesus Christ and about the image of the union of two natures in Him (Divine and human), the doctrine of the Mother of God and Her role in the economy of salvation. The second volume consists of 2 parts - “Soteriology” and “Ecclesiology”. In his presentation of soteriology, I. follows his basic principle of closely linking our salvation with the Person of the God-man Jesus Christ and the most important stages of His life (Incarnation, Baptism, Transfiguration, Death on the Cross, descent into hell, Resurrection, Ascension). At the same time, I. proceeds from the fact that the Theanthropic Person of the Savior is one and indivisible in all His external and internal expressions. It follows from this that the entire earthly life of Jesus Christ constitutes one indissoluble organic whole: “The unity and inseparability of His Theanthropic work and accomplishment are determined by the unity and indivisibility of His Theanthropic Person” (Collected works. 2006. Vol. 3. P. 7). Jesus Christ accomplished the salvation of the human race “with all His Theanthropic Person and with all His Theanthropic life” (Ibid. p. 8). From this inextricable Divine-Human whole it is impossible to single out just one thing. Despite the fact that the saving power of Christ manifested itself most clearly in some of His deeds, such as Baptism, Transfiguration, and reached its peak in Death on the Cross, Resurrection, Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, all these are integral parts of His one Theanthropic life: “In the Savior everything is salvific, everything is soteriological” (Ibid. p. 9). The saving power was manifested in Him sometimes more clearly, sometimes more covertly. It was revealed in perfect completeness in the Death on the Cross and Resurrection as “the all-encompassing source of salvation” (Ibid.). I. devotes a special place to the soteriological significance of the teachings of Christ and His work in earthly life. The teaching of Christ “in everything and in everything is the teaching of salvation.” It is saving because it is Divine-human, “filled with God, saturated with Divine omnipotent power, therefore, having entered the human soul, it cleanses it of all impurity. From every word of the One Sinless One comes the power that cleanses from all sin. Therefore, at the Last Supper, He said to His disciples, persistent listeners of His words: “You have already been cleansed through the word that I preached to you” (John 15. 3)" (Ibid. p. 260). At the same time, I. emphasizes that the teaching of Christ cannot be separated from His Person: “His teaching is nothing other than His wondrous Person, put into words, as far as it is possible to translate the Untranslatable and express the Inexpressible” (Ibid. p. 259). Unlike all other teachers, who acquire knowledge from the outside, the Savior revealed in His person the embodiment of His teaching, which is presented in Him as life and as reality so that it becomes our life and our reality: “His embodiment , through baptism, transfiguration, suffering, resurrection, and ascension, the God-man gave people both the power and the teaching that man is born of God, transformed by God, resurrected by God, and exalted by God. The God-man did not do anything that he did not have in Himself as His life and His truth” (Ibid., p. 267). The doctrine of salvation, isolated from the Divine Person of the Savior, does not save - grace saves, by which His teaching is carried out. “The Theanthropic teaching is salvific only as an integral part of the Theanthropic Person, that is, the Person of Jesus = Savior. The truths of Christ’s teaching are salutary in that Christ Himself as the God-human Person is the Truth (see: John 14:6). Gospel morality is not feasible, and this means it is unsaving without the Lord Jesus Christ, without His saving theanthropic power” (Ibid. p. 272). The Savior's teaching is inseparable from His works. The Savior acts with words and speaks with deeds: “His deeds and His words are two sides of the same Theanthropic reality - the Gospel of salvation” (Ibid. p. 303). Just as all His teachings, so all His deeds have one goal - our salvation. “The power of the Savior’s action (doing) is no less miraculous, just as the power of His teaching is miraculous” (Ibid. p. 312).

The path of salvation is conceived by I. as an imitation of Christ, which is impossible outside the Church. Section is dedicated to the assimilation by members of the Church of the saving and redemptive feat accomplished by Christ. “Ecclesiology”, in which I. reveals the doctrine of the Church as a mysterious Divine-human organism, which he sublimely calls “all-mystery” (i.e., “all-encompassing mystery”), “all-meaning” and “all -goal” of the whole world, thereby presenting a new, cosmic perspective of the Church’s vision. I. defines the Church as the fullness of Christ the God-man, who as God fills everything in everything (“the fullness of Him who fills all in all” - Eph 1.23), and as a person gives people to be filled with this fullness in the Church through St. sacraments and St. virtues (Collected works. 2006. T. 3. P. 318). With each new member, the Church as a God-man organism grows (“The God-man grows!” - Ibid. p. 322), that is, the creation of the Body of Christ takes place (Eph 4:12). Through the sacrament of Baptism, every Christian is “introduced, integrated into the Body of Christ, into the Church, becomes its member, and thus the body of the Church increases” (Ibid. p. 328). Dr. the way of building the Church is the spiritual growth, the prosperity of the members of the Church: with each of our spiritual, evangelical deeds (prayer, faith, love, humility, meekness, mercy, etc.), according to I., the body of the Church grows. “We grow spiritually through the Church, and thereby she herself grows... With each of his grace-filled gifts, with each of his virtues, with each of his repentant sighs, a Christian builds (οἰκοδομεῖ) the Church (cf.: 1 Cor 14. 4, 5, 12, 26). We all grow as a Church towards heaven, each of us grows through everyone and everything through everyone” (Ibid. pp. 328-329). The purpose of the creation of the Body of Christ and our spiritual growth in it is that we come, firstly, “into the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God,” secondly, “into a perfect man,” and thirdly, “into the measure of completeness.” age of Christ" (Eph 4:13). This measure is “Theanthropic immortality” (Ibid. p. 333). One of the key and constantly repeated ideas of I. is that outside the God-man, man “becomes dehumanized” in order to ultimately “slide into the race-man.” “Everything that is not God-human,” said I., “is not human and inhuman.” In the God-man, in His Church, man “grows into a grace-filled God-man, but outside the God-man he inevitably degenerates into a voluntary or involuntary devil-man” (Ibid. p. 334). The Church has one goal - to sanctify everything, to “incorporate” everything into the Divine-Human body, etc. o., return everything to the “logos unity and logos expediency” that was violated by sin. In other words, to make everything into the Church and into the Church, into Christ and into Christ, into God-man and into God-man” (Ibid. p. 340).

In the final 3rd volume of “Dogmatics” I. expounds the Orthodox Church. the teaching about the Holy Spirit and His action in the Church, in the life of the Mother of God, the saints and every Christian (“Pneumatology”), as well as about the future destinies of the Church, man and the world (“Eschatology”). By life in the flesh on earth, Christ founded His Theanthropic Body - the Church and thereby prepared the world for the coming, dwelling and action of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, according to I., the Incarnation of God was brought to fullness: “At the first descent, the Holy Spirit fulfills the incarnation of God the Word in the Holy Virgin, and God the Word is the God-man and remains forever in His Body; at His second descent, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends on the Theanthropic Body and remains forever in this Body, which is the Church... Just as nothing happens in the human body without the soul abiding in it, so in the body of the Church nothing happens without The Holy Spirit, for He is the soul of the Church... The Church is... unceasing Pentecost. The Holy Spirit constantly abides in her as an immortal life-giving force” (Collected works. 2007. Vol. 4. P. 9). The dispensation of salvation is completed with the descent of the Holy Spirit. I.’s teaching on the Holy Spirit is characterized by a constant emphasis on the connection between the appearance, action and dwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Church with the action in the Church of Christ the God-Man: “The Lord Christ became the Church in order to give eternal life to everyone who has become a church member by the Holy Spirit, and through Him to all Holy Trinity. For eternal life is the knowledge of the Holy Trinity, the possession of the Holy Trinity, living in the Holy Trinity” (Ibid. p. 13).

In the life of the Church, everything is accomplished from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, as the soul of the theanthropic organism - the Church, constantly testifies of Christ, teaches everything that is Christ, unites all members of the Church into theanthropic unity. Through the Holy Spirit, a Christian assimilates all the saving gifts brought by Christ. The path to salvation is accomplished through “the holy sacraments and holy virtues.” In the sacraments, the believer is “visibly given the invisible grace of God” (that is, each sacrament has 2 sides - visible and invisible) (Collected works. 2007. Vol. 4). In the sacrament of Baptism, “a human being is implanted into the Theanthropic Body of the Church” (Ibid. p. 237). Through the sacrament of Baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the path to “rebirth” is opened for a person, that is, to deification (“Baptism = rebirth, deification, deification = salvation” - Ibid. P. 108). “By Baptism, a Christian becomes a living temple of the Most Holy Trinity, his whole life flows from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit... And the soul, conscience, and mind of a Christian constantly move and act from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit; this is how [his] trinitarian likeness to God is restored” (Ibid. pp. 237, 60). The Sacrament of Confirmation is primarily a sacrament of the Holy Spirit (although it is taught thanks to the Theanthropic deed of Jesus Christ). Baptism and Confirmation are a twofold sacrament. If in Baptism a Christian, according to I., “members” into Christ and receives a new being, then in Confirmation he is given all the grace-filled powers, gifts and energies of the Holy Spirit that assimilate Christ for a new life in Christ. “In Holy Confirmation, the human person is anointed by the Holy Spirit in the image and likeness of the Divine Anointed One - the God-Man Christ” (Ibid. p. 238). In the sacrament of the Eucharist, according to I., the goal of the sacrament of Baptism is most fully realized - perfect union with Christ, “deification.” Following Rev. Theodore the Studite I. considers the sacrament of the Eucharist as a “repetition of the Divine-human economy of salvation” - from the Incarnation to the Ascension, as well as the grace-filled perception and experience of this economy. This is especially emphasized, according to I., at the end of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, which says: “Fulfilled and perfected... Christ our God, the sacrament of Thy vision” (Ibid. p. 239). I. especially notes the essential identity of the Church and the Eucharist as the Body of Christ. Bread and wine are sanctified by the invocation and action of the Holy Spirit and transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. In the sacrament of Communion, “a Christian, under the guise of bread and wine, receives the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, unites with Him, receives forgiveness of sins and a guarantee of eternal life” (Ibid.). Through the Eucharist, the New Testament continues in the body of the Church, “combining through the Theanthropic Blood us humans with God and among ourselves... into one body, into one life, into one soul, into one heart, into one Theanthropic community - κοινωνίαν” (cf. .: 1 Cor 10. 14-16) (Ibid. P. 241). In the sacrament of Repentance, the resurrection of the soul from death occurs, since it is a healing from all sin, and thereby a healing from all sinful death. “With its holy power, repentance destroys hell in a person’s soul and transfers it to heaven. A witness to this is the thief who repented on the cross” (Ibid. p. 243). Speaking also about other sacraments - Priesthood, Marriage, Blessing of Anointing, I. notes that St. everything performed in the Church is a sacrament: the blessing of water, the monastic tonsure, the consecration of a temple, icons, a house, a well, any thing - “and in general the whole life and grace-filled activity of the Church,” “from the smallest to the greatest, for everything is immersed in the ineffable the holiness of the sinless God-man” (Ibid. pp. 235, 246).

The doctrine of virtues also closely connects I. with the Person of Christ the God-Man, in Whom all virtues are embodied. He is “the first embodiment of all virtues and their perfect implementation on earth.” Only in the Church as the Body of Christ do all Christ’s virtues dwell. Members of the Church, living in it, with the assistance of grace, acquire these virtues and become deified, becoming like Christ: “In the Church, through the holy sacraments and holy virtues, the God-man Christ dwells in us and abides in us” (Collected Works. 2007. Vol. 4 . P. 247). At the head of the virtues is faith, from which all other gospel virtues emanate - prayer, love, repentance, humility, fasting, meekness, mercy, etc. Without virtues, “kinship with Christ,” deification and salvation are impossible. The sacraments and virtues are “a single and indivisible organic feat of salvation” (Ibid.). I. calls the virtues, or evangelical commandments, “the dogmas of evangelical ethics.” At the same time, they are theanthropic powers emanating from Christ. This is the main difference between the gospel virtues and any non-Christian “virtues” (be they philosophical, religious, scientific, cultural, civilizational, political, etc.). I. emphasizes the “synergy” of each Christian. virtues: “In every gospel, theanthropic virtue, both God and man always act together (co-work). Theanthropic synergism, theanthropic cooperation—this is the fundamental law of every gospel virtue” (Ibid., p. 248). The doctrine of virtues, like many others. I. reinforces other sections of “Dogmatics” with quotations from the works of St. fathers and teachers of the Church, as well as from liturgical texts, which he calls “the prayerful theology of the Church.” “The prayerful theology of the Church describes the Theanthropic commandments and the Theanthropic virtues as the creative forces given to us by the Savior, creating the Church in its Theanthropic comprehensiveness and in it our sanctification, our transfiguration, our salvation, our assimilation to Christ, our deification, our deification, our secrecy” ( Ibid., p. 273). The goal of all efforts made by a Christian on earth, his deeds and virtues is eternal life. “To believe in the God-man Christ,” wrote I., “means to constantly fight and strive for eternal life, to which man [was] called when God created him godlike” (Ibid. p. 347).

Criticism of humanism

Orthodox doctrine, or “Orthodox philosophy of truth,” I. contrasts the humanistic worldview (to which he includes, among other things, all heterodox confessions), which turns a person into the main value and the main measure: “... the fundamental truth of any heterodox confession - a person, or individual grains of his being: mind, will, feelings, soul, body, matter... But as senseless as “art for art’s sake” is, so senseless is “man for the sake of man” (On the God-Human Path. 1999. With . 262-263). This kind of opposition runs like a leitmotif through the plural. works by I. So, in the book. “Philosophical abysses” I. reveals 2 paths of human thought to the acquisition of truth, paved, on the one hand, by humanistic philosophy, and on the other, by Orthodox philosophy. philosophy of the God-man, using the example of the Roman Catholic. and Orthodox Church, philosophy of M. Maeterlinck and F. M. Dostoevsky, ideology of the West. human and Russian and Serbian saints Humanistic culture, according to I., dulls a person’s sense of immortality; “a person of European culture decisively asserts: I am a person and only a person” (Philosophical Abysses. 2004. P. 51). The idea of ​​humanistic progress inevitably faces the need to recognize the mortality of human existence. This gives rise to metaphysical and moral relativism, which results in anarchism and nihilism. The antithesis of humanistic progress is, according to I., “theanthropic progress,” that is, the movement of man along the path of divine perfection - from man to the God-man, from death to immortality through evangelical exploits, with the help of which “death is overcome and one becomes immortal soul, thoughts, sensations” (Ibid. p. 59). Overcoming sin within himself, a person thereby overcomes death and mortality in his consciousness and sensation, since he unites his consciousness and sensation with the God-man and becomes immortal already in this world: “His mind already thinks the thought of Christ, the immortal and eternal thought, and his feeling already feels within himself the life of Christ, immortal and eternal life” (Ibid. p. 55). On this path a person goes through 3 stages of Christ. evolution: birth in Christ, transfiguration in Christ, resurrection in Christ. The ultimate goal is resurrection with Christ. Thus, “the tragic principle of humanistic progress: death is a necessity - is replaced by the joyful principle of divine-human progress: immortality is a necessity” (Ibid.).

In the proclamation of the Catholic dogma of papal infallibility I. sees the final transformation of the West. Christianity into humanism. I. sees the desire to replace the God-man with an “infallible” man in the various manifestations of “human, all too human” (in the words of F. Nietzsche) in Catholic history. Churches: Aristotelian primacy in scholasticism, casuistry and the Inquisition in ethics, papal diplomacy in international relations, clerical parties in politics, papal state, forgiveness of sins through decrees and by radio, Jesuitism in various forms (Ibid. p. 82). In fact, notes I., “humanistic Christianity is the most decisive protest against the God-man, His axiology and criteria... From a broad historical perspective, the Western dogma of human infallibility is nothing more than an attempt to revive and immortalize dying European humanism... After the rationalistic Between the enlightenment of the 18th century and the myopic positivism of the 19th century, humanism had no choice but to disintegrate in its contradictions and in its weakness. But at a tragic moment, religious humanism came to his aid and, with its dogma of human infallibility, saved European humanism from obvious death” (Ibid. pp. 82, 83). In this dogma I. saw the entire humanistic spirit of Europe, all its values, ideals and aspirations. The ideal of “human-divinity,” having replaced the ideal of divine-humanity, permeates, according to I., all spheres of European activity. man, his philosophy, science, religion, culture, civilization. Having created a “human-divine” culture, Catholicism thereby unwittingly became the cause of Europe. atheism, nihilism, socialism, anarchism.

The tragedy of Europe, which, according to I., “through Roman Catholicism and Protestantism lost the image of the God-man Christ” and worshiped the “man-god,” can only be overcome through the manifestation of the “real image of Christ” to the world. Following Dostoevsky, I. argued that the true image of Christ was completely preserved only in Orthodoxy. In this appearance of Christ to the world, I., like Dostoevsky, saw the main saving mission of all mankind. and other Orthodox Slavic peoples (Ibid. pp. 182-185). The proud and violent rule of an “infallible” person over everyone is opposed to the ideal of Orthodoxy - the ideal of humble and meek service to everyone (Dostoevsky on Europe and the Slavs. 2002. P. 216). I., like Dostoevsky, contrasts Slav with the anthropocentric, disconnected existence of the peoples of Europe, striving to realize in their lives the ideal of independence and self-sufficiency. Orthodox the ideal of “the all-human brotherhood of people in the God-man Christ”, based on evangelical love and self-sacrifice and feasible only “in the full and diligent assimilation of the God-man” (Ibid. pp. 233-239).

Justin the Philosopher (consecrated by Patriarch of Serbia Irinej (Gavrilovich) on October 19, 2010).

In 1979, Hierom. Athanasius (Evtich) composed a troparion in honor of I. (tone 8): “O Reverend Father, you poured out the sweetness and nectar of Orthodoxy into the hearts of the faithful, like wealth; by your life and teaching you have revealed yourself to be a living book of the Spirit, Justina the God-Wise, pray to Christ God the Word, that He may give the logos to those who worship you” and kontakion (voice 8) “You have virtuously lived your God-man life, you have had the God-man as the measure of everything, and through Him you have reached the height of theology ; now you enjoy Him for all eternity: give us grace through your holy prayers, exclaiming with faith: Rejoice, Reverend Father!” B. Lubardić compiled an akathist in honor of I. (Lubardiě B. Akatist to St. Fr. Justin of Elijah. Beograd; Vajevo, 1995).

The development of veneration for I. was facilitated by his spiritual children, who dedicated sermons and numerous publications to his ministry (for example, articles by Bishop Athanasius (Evtich). Excerpts from conversations with the ascetic were published by V. Erotich in the collection “Spiritual Conversations” (Jerotic V. Dukhovni talk. Vajevo, 1997)).

The question of I.'s canonization was repeatedly raised in the SOC. Since 1993, in some monthly books he has been mentioned as a saint. The decision to canonize him was made by the Council of Bishops of the SOC on April 29. 2010 The ceremonial rite of canonization of I. took place on May 2, 2010 in the Cathedral of St. Sava of Serbia on Vracar in Belgrade.

Works: Collection of works of St. Justina Novog / Ed.: ep. Atanasyje (Jevtiћ). Beograd, 1998-2007. 30 kњ.; rus. Transl.: The secret of the personality of Metropolitan. Anthony (Khrapovitsky) and his significance for Orthodoxy. Slavs // Nikon (Rklitsky), archbishop. Biography of His Beatitude Anthony, Met. Kievsky and Galitsky. N.-Y., 1963. T. 10. P. 243-255; The same // Orthodox. life. George, 1976. No. 8. P. 1-13; On the Divine-Human Path. St. Petersburg, 1999; Interpretation of the 1st Council Epistle of St. ap. John the Theologian. M., 1999; Commentary on the 1st Epistle to the Thessalonians by St. ap. Pavel / Translation: T. Nedospasova. M., 2000; Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians by St. ap. Paul / Transl.: priest. I. Vostrikov // A&O. 2000. No. 2(24). pp. 57-88; No. 3(25). pp. 52-70; 2001. No. 1(27). pp. 56-65; About the paradise of the Russian soul: Dostoevsky as a prophet and apostle of Orthodox realism. Minsk, 2001; Dostoevsky about Europe and the Slavs. M.; St. Petersburg, 2002; The path of knowledge of God: Epistemology of St. Isaac the Syrian / Trans.: I. A. Charota. Minsk, 2003; Philosophical abysses. M., 2004; Collection of creations. M., 2004-2007. T. 1-5; Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church. [T. 1]: Ecclesiology. M., 2005; Same. [T. 2]: Pneumatology. M., 2007; Same. [T. 3]: Eschatology. M., 2007.

Lit.: Zander L.A. A new book about Dostoevsky as an introduction to the Orthodox worldview: [Rec. on:] Popovich I. “Philosophy and religion of F. M. Dostoevsky.” Sremski Karlovci, 1924 // Path. P., 1927. No. 8. P. 149-153; Μνήμη ῾Αρχιμ. ᾿Ιουστίνου Πόποβιτς // Παράδοση. ᾿Αθῆναι, 1979. Br. 15-17; Athanasije (Evtiћ), Hierom. Vladika Nikolaj and Father Austin: About the playful church // Theology. Beograd, 1986. Year. 30(44). Br. 1/2. pp. 131-143; Ava Justin / Ed.: M. Laziћ. Vajevo, 1993; Rankovi A. Theology of Father Justin // Voice of the Church. Sabac, 1993. Year. 70/9. Br. 2. P. 50-57; Jaњiћ Ђ. Death has been defeated: The problems of death and eternal life in the work of Father Justina Sp. Popovika // Srpski Jug. Beograd, 1994. Year. 1. Br. 2. P. 53-64; Bremer T. Ecclesiology Justina Popovћa // Osvit: Kizhevnost, umetnost, culture. Leskovac, 1996. Year. 6. Br. 17/18. pp. 57-72; Konchareviћ K. Jezik and the style of diary entries of father Justin Popoviћ // Srpska autobiographical kizhevnost: 27 scientific. Sastanak Slavista u Vukove dane (Beograd, Novi Sad, Manasija, September 9-13, 1997). Beograd, 1998. pp. 507-516; Simakov N.K. Life and works of St. Justin (Popovich) // Justin (Popovich), archimandrite. Dostoevsky about Europe and the Slavs. St. Petersburg, 1998. P. 5-8; Afanasy (Evtich), priest. Biography of Father Justin // On the Divine-Human Path. St. Petersburg, 1999. P. 3-75; Stepanyan E. V. Rev. Justin (Popovich): Student, researcher and prayer book about Dostoevsky: About the book of St. Justin (Popovich) “Dostoevsky about Europe and the Slavs” // Dostoevsky and world culture: Almanac. M., 2001. No. 14. P. 316-327; Miletiћ M. Murdered by Christ. Beograd, 2002; Glory and pain of Serbia: O Serb. new martyrs. M., 2002. P. 155-186; Kostya S. Puchechye Rev. Justina ŋelijskog about enlightenment // Tsrkvene studio. Nis, 2004. Year. 1. Br. 1. pp. 187-193; Man of the God-man of Christ / Ed.: ep. Atanasyje (Jevtiћ). Trebije, 2004; St. Justin Novi Selijski: Life, miracle / Ed.: ep. Atanasyje (Jevtiћ). Beograd, 2005; Savva (Yakovlevich), priest. Archim. Justin and his exegetical works on the epistles of St. Pavla: Dis. / MDA. Serg. P., 2006; Dimitrijeviћ V. Prague is no different without God: Srbian confessors of the 20th century. Beograd, 20073; Milosavљeviћ P. Justin Popoviћ and the renewal of logocentrism // Tsrkvene studio. Nis, 2007. Year. 4. Br. 4. P. 95-113; Pjevach N. Bogochovechanska enlightenment according to Avi Justin (Popov). Beograd, 2007; Zhivkoviě S. Dostojevski and the case of Justin Popoviě. Beograd, 2009; Lubardiћ B. Justin Selijski and Rusija. Beograd, 2009; Stojanovic A. Dogma and spirituality in the theologian Fr. Justina Popovika // Srpska theologiya danas: Zb. Radova 2009 year of the symposium on the Orthodox Church. theologian fact. Beograd, 2009. Књ. 1. P. 97-102; Vesiћ L. Prp. Ava Justin at my God-reflecting belly. Vajevo, 2010; Jeliћ M. Bogochovek kao truly chovek according to St. Justin Popov // Sabornost. Pozarevac, 2010. Br. 4. pp. 147-161; Panteliћ B. Justin Popoviћ, neopatristics and Russian. Philosophy is the reason for the future of the modern Srpso-Russian past: Osvrt on the book of Dr. B. Lubardić “Justin Elijski and Russia” // Ibid. pp. 367-372; Popoviě R., prot.

St. Justin (Popoviћ) kao pisatz zhitija svetikh: On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the repose (1979-2009) // GSPTS. 2010. Br. 4. pp. 137-140.

From the editor

Father Justin spent many years teaching at theological seminaries in Yugoslavia and at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Belgrade. In 1948, he retired to the Celije monastery (western Serbia), where until the end of his life he was engaged in creative, translation and publishing activities.

Archimandrite Justin left behind a rich theological, philosophical and hagiographic heritage, the basis of which is the three-volume “Dogmatics of the Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Philosophy of Truth” (1932 – 1978) and “Lives of the Saints” in twelve volumes (1972 – 1978). He also owns a number of major scientific studies and philosophical works: “The Problem of Personality and Consciousness according to St. Macarius of Egypt” (doctoral dissertation, 1926), “Philosophy and Religion of F.M. Dostoevsky" (1923), "Progress in the Mill of Death" (1933), "Elementary Theology" (1939), "Dostoevsky in Europe and the Slavs" (1940), "Saint Sacred as a Philosophy of Life" (1953), "Philosophical Abysses" ( 1957), “Man and God-Man” (1969), “The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism” (1974); a number of unpublished interpretations of the Holy Scriptures (the Gospel of Matthew and John, the epistles of St. Apostle Paul, St. John the Theologian) and translations of liturgical texts into the Serbian language used by the Serbian Church (Holy Liturgy, Breviary, Prayer Book, etc.). Many of Archimandrite Justin's works have been translated into Greek, French and Russian.

“Philosophical Chasms” is a collection of philosophical essays that combine the features of a sermon, parable and scientific research and are filled with a strong lyrical beginning. These essays reproduce the path of human thought, trying to comprehend the structure of the world, the meaning of life and death, “breaking into the rocks” of humanistic philosophy and finding peace in Orthodox philosophy. Lyrical in genre, this work is poetic, figurative, rich in detailed metaphors and artistic in language.

In order to preserve the figurative culture of the text, the language and style of the translation are as close as possible to the original and, if possible, reflect the syntactic and lexical originality of the Serbian text (the author's lexical new formations, occasional compatibility and formation are preserved), with the exception of the quoted texts. Fragments of the Holy Scriptures, which in the author's text, as a rule, are transmitted in Serbian, are given in the Church Slavonic translation in this edition. Gaps in quotations from the Holy Scriptures are marked with ellipses, including in cases where in the original they are given in continuous text. If quotations from the works of the holy fathers in the original text are enclosed in quotation marks and the translation of Archimandrite Justin from Greek into Serbian does not have significant differences with the Russian translation, then these fragments are given according to the Russian translation. Otherwise, the author's version is retained in the main text, and the text of the Russian translation is given in a note. Quotations from Russian-speaking authors are given in the original version, and from foreign ones - in reverse translation from Serbian (except for specially stated cases). The translation text retains the author's spelling of uppercase and lowercase letters. Additional notes were compiled by the translator and editor (see the corresponding notes). Information belonging to the editors and included in the text of the author's note is enclosed in square brackets.

... This book includes an afterword to the Serbian edition of 1987, written by a student of Archimandrite Justin, Bishop of Banat (now Montenegrin) Amphilochius.

E.I. Yakushina

From the publisher

According to the author himself, Father Justin of blessed memory, the collection “Philosophical Abysses” was compiled during the period between the two world wars on some days and nights.” Published for the first time in 1957 in the library’s edition “Svechanik”, as being in great demand, it soon became inaccessible to a wide readership. By publishing it again, we are confident that these articles are no less relevant today than at the time they were written; Moreover, we are sure that they have become much more relevant and closer to the modern reader than to the reader of yesterday; We are convinced that in the future they will be in much greater demand than today.

Not only the language and style in which this book is written are the reasons for its timeless novelty. The main reason is in its content: in the existential, immediate fierce struggle with the eternal “damned” questions of the meaning of man, his consciousness, the reality of the world, time and space. In fact, Father Justin in his “Philosophical Abysses” confesses to heaven and earth: he confesses his human tragedy, the “joys and sorrows” of his thoughts and feelings, his “sorrows and desires,” his fiery faith in Christ the God-Man. Lighting his unquenchable lamp before His wonderful Face, he constantly added to it instead of oil, by his own admission, his blood, drop by drop, blood from his heart, excited by the mystery of His worlds!

The author himself, in fact, is that very “chamois in the lost paradise”, in whose heart “someone collected all the melancholy from all the worlds”, and so the “universal feeling of sorrow” appeared. For him, there is nothing more incomprehensible than our “thinking man,” who in most cases reminds him of “a silkworm that jealously hides in its cocoon,” a man of “narrow-minded, dry thoughts, who is completely buried in the crust of this planet, like a tick in a sheep.” wool". And he sees nothing except this bark. “And above it countless luminaries glow... countless worlds rumble.” Petrified before human tragedy and evil, stunned by the Mystery, inflamed by faith in the living Christ, such was and remains Justin of Celi, one of the most original philosophers ever written in the Serbian language...

Our people have given birth to many smart, great and even holy people. Among them, especially in modern times, three occupy an exceptional place that no sane person can challenge. These are three desert dwellers: Cetinje, Ohrid and Celi. Vladyka Peter II Njegosh, Vladyka Nikolai (Velimirović) and Father Justin. The exclusivity and uniqueness of this godly trinity lies mainly in the fact that each of them, in their own way, united a philosopher, theologian and poet. Such an alloy is the rarest, but also the most fragrant flower that the earth brings. To combine a philosopher, theologian and poet in oneself means to realize the depth of being and creation, to experience the Mystery on which all beings and things rest and to whose fullness they strive; to pour this knowledge and this experience into the most exemplary, the most beautiful human word - poetic. “Philosophical Chasms” is indisputable proof of the presence of this triple connection in the volcanic and God-flaming soul and Christ-loving heart of Father Justin.

Venerable Justin of Cheliy (Popovich)

Justin (Popovich) (1894 - 1979), Archimandrite of Cheliy, Rev. Great ascetic and spiritual writer.

Born on the day of the Annunciation, March 25, 1894 in the town of Vranje, Southern Serbia, in the large and patriarchal family of Spiridon and Anastasia Popovic. At baptism he was given the name Blagoye, in honor of the holiday on which he was born. There were priests in seven generations of the Popovich family, right up to his grandfather, Father Alexy. In this family, Blagoye went through a school of education in the spirit of Serbian Orthodox piety, which in the southern regions of the country was more patriarchal and ecclesiastical. As a little boy, he often went with his parents to the Pchinsky monastery to the relics of St. Prokhor the Wonderworker of Pchinsky, near which his mother was miraculously healed of a serious illness.

During his school years, Blagoye diligently read the Gospel and tried to live by it. After graduating from school, he entered the theological seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade, where the future St. Nicholas (Velimirović) taught at that time. He studied there from 1905 to 1914.

During the First World War he was a medical orderly and survived the retreat of the Serbian army to Albania. With the blessing of the Serbian Metropolitan Dimitri, on January 1, 1916, on the day of St. Basil the Great, he was tonsured a monk with the name Justin, in honor of St. Justin, martyr and philosopher. With a group of young gifted seminarians, he was sent from Skadar to St. Petersburg to continue his studies at the Theological Academy, from where, due to the outbreak of revolutionary unrest, he soon transferred to the Faculty of Theology at Oxford.

After completing his studies and the war, he returned to Belgrade, in 1922 he was ordained hieromonk by the Serbian High Hierarch Demetrius, and began teaching at the seminary in Sremski Karlovci. Here he met Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kyiv. His soul sought an ascetic and ascetic life. He taught, cared for numerous children, took part in the publication of Orthodox newspapers, but at the same time dreamed of leaving for Athos.

He soon left for Greece, where in 1926 he defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Athens on the topic: “The teaching of St. Macarius of Egypt on the mystery of the human personality and the mystery of its knowledge.” Upon returning to Sremski Karlovtsi, Father Justi begins to publish the magazine “Christian Life,” in which he regularly publishes in parts his study “The Philosophy and Religion of F. M. Dostoevsky,” written under the influence of Metropolitan Anthony of Kyiv. Soon he was transferred from the Karlovac seminary to Prizren.

From the end of 1930, he was sent as a missionary to the Rusyns returning to Orthodoxy in the Carpathian cities - Uzhgorod, Khust, Mukachevo and others. He was nominated for the revived Mukachevo episcopal see, but out of humility he refused it.

Since August 1932, Father Justin has been a teacher at the Bitola Seminary. Soon the first volume of his trois - "Dogmatiki" ("Orthodox Philosophy of Truth") was published. Two years later he was elected associate professor of the Faculty of Theology in Belgrade, professor of dogmatic and comparative theology. In 1938, Father Justin, together with other Serbian thinkers, founded the Serbian Philosophical Society.

In 1946, at the behest of the new godless authorities, Father Justin was dismissed from the theological faculty and spent some time in prison. Upon his release, he wandered for some time from monastery to monastery.

Finally, in May 1948, he settled in the Chelie monastery near Valjevo, where he became a confessor and labored until his death. Here he devoted a lot of time to writing, theological research, translation and publishing activities, with the assistance of his students and future prominent bishops of the Serbian Church - hieromonks Amfilohije (Radovich), Afanasy (Jevtic) and Artemy (Radoslavljevic). Archimandrite Justin, who was fluent in Russian, Greek, English and German in addition to his native Serbian, worked a lot as a patrolologist, hagiographer and dogmatist. His works, accessible to the modern reader who thinks about eternity and seeks the meaning of life, are based on the teachings of the great holy fathers of the Church and have entered the treasury of Orthodox literature.

The author of numerous spiritual works, Saint Justin was an outstanding ascetic and confessor of the Serbian Orthodox Church, whose extensive knowledge adorned his personal piety and ardent faith. His opposition to ecumenism determined that his “disgrace” in the Cheli monastery did not stop until the end of his earthly life. The saint’s spirit of prayer permeated the entire life of the monastery. Here he served Divine Lyrurgy every day until his death, praying to the Lord for the salvation of the entire human race.

He left a will to his heirs in the monastery to publish his works, so that the net income would go to the fund of St. John Chrysostom, with the goal, if possible, of erecting in the Cheli monastery a three-altar church in the name of St. Sava of Serbia with a southern altar in the name of the martyr Justin the Philosopher and a northern altar in the name of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. Abba Justin died, as he was born, on the feast of the Annunciation, April 7, 1979 in the Cheli monastery. His body rests in a coffin at the south side of the altar of the monastery church. According to his instructions, only a stone cross and flowers serve as a tombstone decoration.

Reverence

The veneration of Father Justin as a saint began immediately after his death and spread widely beyond the borders of Yugoslavia even before his canonization. His icons began to be painted, prayers to him began to be composed, his books were translated into many languages. In his native Vranye, his memory was preserved with reverence: at the cathedral there was a choir named after him, there was a society “Holy Father Justin,” his name was given to one of the streets. In the Cheli monastery, meetings of his spiritual children and admirers took place annually - mainly from Serbia, Greece and the Serbian diaspora. There is evidence that he was canonized, probably locally somewhere in the Serbian Church, already in 1993. At the beginning of 2010, the calendar of the leading Russian Orthodox website Pravoslavie.ru listed the days of his memory as March 25, on the Annunciation, and August 30, along with the Serbian hierarchs. Finally, the Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, at its working meeting on April 29, 2010, unanimously decided to include his name as St. Justin of Chelia in the diptychs of saints of the Orthodox Church. By the decision of the Council, his memory was established on June 1 according to the Julian calendar. The rite of solemn glorification was scheduled for May 2 of the same year during the Divine Liturgy in the Church of St. Sava on Vrachar.

Proceedings

The great wealth of theological, philosophical and liturgical writings of St. Justin amounted to 33 volumes. In addition to the three-volume “Dogmatics,” special mention should be made of “Saint Sabius as a Philosophy of Life”; "The Path of Knowledge of God"; five volumes of interpretations of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul and three conciliar epistles of the Apostle John the Theologian; two studies on Dostoevsky; "Philosophical depths"; "Man and God-Man" (in Greek and French); "The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism" (in Greek and Serbian); "Monastic life"; "Elementary Theology"; "On the Divine-Human Path". He also compiled 12 volumes of “Lives of the Saints,” many of them translated into Serbian for the first time, as well as the lives of Saint Sava and Simeon. He owns translations of the Divine Liturgy, Breviary, prayer book, “Lavsaik” and many other service and church books, texts and chants. In addition, he wrote numerous articles and short works numbering about a hundred, as well as several dozen sermons.

Biographies 03/05/2009 14:56

REVEREND JUSTIN (POPOVICH)

Venerable Justin (Popovich) born on April 7, 1894, on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the ancient Serbian city of Vranje into a pious family of a priest, which gave the Serbian Church seven generations of clergy. At Baptism he received the name Blagoye - in honor of the Feast of the Annunciation.

Father Justin was born in the city of Vranje into the family of a priest, who was the thirteenth in his family - in order of succession. A boy born on the feast of the Annunciation received the name Blagoye. “The Evangelist of the Good,” writes Hieromonk Afanasy (Ievtich), “lived and labored under the sign of the greatest good news ever given to the human race - the good news of the Incarnation of the Son of God from the Most Holy Theotokos for the sake of us people and our salvation, and the good news of the mystery The Holy and Life-Giving Trinity, our God, in Whose name and in Whose Temple - the temple is dedicated to the Holy Trinity - the young Good was baptized in Vrana."

Mother and grandmother Blagoye (grandmother lived 105 years), who had spiritual guidance from the monks of the monastery of St. Prokhor Pchinsky, by his example, brought up and strengthened piety in the young man. In 1929, Blagoe’s mother Anastasia, in front of her son’s eyes, was healed from a serious illness at the relics of St. Prokhor, which testifies to the depth of her faith.

After graduating from the local school, in 1905, Blagoe Popovich entered the seminary of St. Sava in Belgrade. Here at that time the future bishop (and then hieromonk) Nikolai Velimirovich taught. Later, Archimandrite Justin spoke of him as the Serbian John the Baptist, who called the Serbs to repentance. For Popovich, the end of the seminary coincided with the beginning of the First World War. He dreamed of becoming a monk, but was mobilized and became a nurse at the front. Here he survived all the difficulties that befell soldiers, and at the end of 1914 he suffered from typhus. The following year, together with the Serbian army, Popović retreated under the pressure of a huge Austro-German army. The Serbs lost one hundred thousand people. The soldiers were dying of hunger. The journey through Albania to Greece turned out to be scary. Since then, the Serbs have a saying: “Whoever does not cross Albania on foot will not know real torment.”

On January 1, 1916, Blagoe Popovich was tonsured a monk with the name Justin, in honor of Saint Justin, martyr and philosopher. Patriarch Dimitri of Serbia sent the young monk to Russia, to St. Petersburg, where he studied at the Theological Academy until June 1916. “It was clear to the monk Justin,” writes Hieromonk Savva, “that to know the people, their faith and soul means to know their saints, for true Orthodoxy is in the priesthood, in spiritual life, in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, which is the purpose of human life on earth ". Justin read the lives of Russian saints, and St. Sergius and St. Seraphim entered his heart forever. From late 1916 until June 1919, Justin studied theology at Oxford, unable to return to occupied Serbia. His doctoral dissertation, “The Philosophy and Religion of F. M. Dostoevsky,” was not accepted for defense at Oxford. English professors saw in it a criticism of Western anthropocentrism. Monk Justin did not accept the “humanistic” culture - its science, philosophy, theology... He began to struggle within himself for a true, Christ-like person.

In England, the monk Justin led an ascetic monastic life (so that one young English monk, who lived with him for some time, was shocked...) and studied a lot. He worked in libraries, listened to lectures, studied six languages, and commented on the Holy Scriptures, especially the letters of the Apostle Paul. And here he is again in Serbia. “Although still young,” Hieromonk Savva writes about him, “he is strict for his age, sad and thoughtful, repentant and mournful and constantly in silent prayerful tears. His love for the ascetic and ascetic life was noticed even then, especially the feat of prayer and tears." Subsequently, he studied for some time in Athens, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on Saint Macarius of Egypt (and again did not defend it). On May 1, 1920, he was ordained a hierodeacon.

Upon returning from Greece, he became a teacher at the seminary of St. Savva in the city of Sremski Karlovci, first in the department of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, and then of Dogmatics and Patrology. Hierodeacon Justin's method of interpreting the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament was patristic. To the question: “What does it mean to be an Orthodox theologian?” - he answered: “that means interpreting the Holy Scriptures through the Holy Fathers and at the same time imitating their lives.” His experience in teaching Dogmatic Theology and Patrology was reflected in the three-volume work “Orthodox Philosophy of Truth.” The seminarians remembered him as their teacher, their spiritual father, who taught them to love Christ. “If something in education does not lead to Him,” he wrote, “then it undoubtedly leads to the devil and the Antichrist.”

In 1922, Father Justin was ordained hieromonk by Patriarch Demetrius. He had more and more things to do. In addition to teaching at the seminary and spiritually caring for numerous children, he participated in the publication of Orthodox newspapers “Christian Life”, “Christian Business” and “Crossroads”. And he dreamed of a monastery, of Athos... The following entries appear in his diary: “Morning prayer: crying and sobbing. The name of St. Chrysostom is extremely warm for a Christ-oriented soul, poured into tears. He is the sweetest intercessor between the Sweetest Jesus and me, the most terrible and sinful... It is necessary to humble myself to a genuine feeling that I am lower than every person and every creature. Lord, save me with these leaves (my damned soul prays); Lord, save me with their gaze (looking at passers-by)... At home: an hour of prayer and sobbing - 550 bows... Midnight: from one to two - prayer; Evening: long prayers with bows: 1000 prayerful prostrations. Sweetest Jesus (by St. Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nyssa), teach me, a great sinner, to pray. I went to bed at half past two.”

In 1925, the doctoral dissertation he had written was stolen from his desk, but he wrote a new one and finally defended it in 1926 in Athens. It was called: “The Teaching of Saint Macarius of Egypt about the mystery of the human personality and the mystery of its knowledge.” In March 1927, he submitted a professorial report on the topic: “Epistemology of St. Isaac the Syrian.” “Here are briefly shown,” writes Hieromonk Savva, “all the secrets and depths of Orthodox asceticism on the path of spiritual rebirth and salvation - from the old sinful man to the transfigured and deified new man in Christ.” Since October 1929, Hieromonk Justin has served as rector of the seminary, and in December 1930 he was sent to Czechoslovakia as an accompanying bishop of Bitola Joseph. Here they began missionary activity in Uzhgorod, Khust, Mukachevo and other Carpathian cities. They served and preached... In rain and snow, in difficult conditions, they traveled to monasteries and distant parishes. At this time, Father Justin received the rank of protosingel, corresponding to the Russian abbot. Following this, he was nominated as a contender for the revived Mukachevo episcopal see. Fear and trembling overwhelmed him - he wrote a letter, where he motivated his decisive refusal of the episcopacy: “I considered myself for a long time and seriously according to the Gospel, tested myself in the Gospel, judged myself by the Gospel and came to an unchangeable conclusion and an unshakable decision: I am not in In any case, I cannot, I cannot accept the rank of bishop, for I do not have the most basic evangelical qualities for this. When I accepted this rank as I am now, I would deliberately, and therefore unforgivably, bring myself under the condemnation of the Savior's parable about man. , who thoughtlessly began to build a tower, but could not finish, because first of all he did not sit down and calculate how much it would cost and whether he had the strength and means to finish it. I know myself very well: it is very difficult for me to keep my own soul within boundaries. Christ’s goodness, but what do I care about hundreds of thousands of other people’s souls?” Metropolitan Joseph responded to this: “The whole point is that you know the Holy Scriptures very well.”

Since August 1932, Protosingel Justin has been a professor at the Bitola Seminary, where he spent two years lecturing on the Holy Scriptures and dogmatic theology. He was then transferred to Belgrade and became an assistant professor at the Faculty of Theology. He was one of the founders of the Serbian Philosophical Society, established in October 1938.

During World War II, Father Justin lived in different monasteries in Serbia - Kalenic, Ovchar-Sretenie Sredenie, Sukovo, Ravanica. And from May 1948 until his death - in the Chelie monastery near Valev, where he was a confessor. During this rather long period, Father Justin celebrated the Divine Liturgy daily, led a high ascetic life and wrote theological works, among them interpretations of the Gospel of Matthew and John, the epistles of the Apostles Paul and John the Theologian, he compiled twelve volumes of “Lives of the Saints” (published in Belgrade in 1972 - 1977), the books “On Progress and the Mill of Death” (1933), “Dostoevsky on Europe and the Slavs” (1940), “The Life and Work of St. Sava as a Philosophy of Life” (1953), “Philosophical Passages” were published " (1957), as well as many articles in periodicals.

Archimandrite Justin often asked the Lord with St. John Chrysostom to have mercy on him... St. John Chrysostom was Justin's favorite theologian. His notes contain a record of a vision characteristic of him in a dream (May 1955): “Saint Chrysostom in a beautiful golden bishop’s robe, with a luxurious golden Gospel in his hands, is coming towards me; I hastened to meet him, fell at his feet, kissed him hem and legs, he puts the Holy Gospel on top of my head and reads. When I finished reading, I joyfully asked him: “What did I read?” He answered me: “From my Euchologion, indescribable joy in my soul.”

Through the saints - to Christ... “Truth, if not Christ,” wrote Archimandrite Justin, “I don’t need... Oh, I don’t need it, I don’t need truth without Christ, nor truth without Christ, nor love without Christ ... I don’t want to, at any price! So I agree to all the deaths; throw me into each one a hundred times, rot me in each without a trace and mercilessly destroy me, but I don’t want anything without Christ: neither myself, nor God Himself, nor everything. - I don’t want, I don’t want!” In one of his works he asks: “Is there a register of what is useful and what is needed?” - and answers: “There is: the Gospel of Christ. This is the only vitally useful philosophy in this world.”

“I am obliged to preach the Gospel,” wrote Archimandrite Justin, “for it has become the will of my will, the soul of my soul, the conscience of my conscience, the essence of my being. Without it, there is no me. Exclude the Gospel truth from me, the Gospel truth, the Gospel paradise, and I am a lie, and a sin, and hell! Without the Gospel, I am without my immortality, without my eternity, without my joy, without my gospel - then why do I need life, why do I need a soul, why do I need a body, why do I need a conscience, why do I need heaven? !.. And the feeling without Christ? Oh, this is an eternal hell in which a person, going crazy from torment, constantly commits suicide and cannot commit it in any way.”

Died on April 7, 1979 in the city. Selie (Yugoslavia) on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - on her birthday. Canonized by the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Venerable Justin (Popovich)

“There has never been less God in man, dear brother, than today. Today the devil has incarnated into man in order to disincarnate the God-man. Today, all evil has taken possession of human flesh in order to drive God out of the flesh. Today all hell has moved to earth; Will anyone really remember that the earth was once a paradise? The fall of man today is immeasurably greater than the first fall; Then man fell away from God, and today he crucified God, killed God. Man, what is your name if not the devil? But what are we saying? This is slander against the devil. The devil has never been so angry, so artistically evil, as man. The Lord Christ also descended into hell, but He was not crucified there. And we crucified Him! “Aren’t people worse than the devil, wasn’t the earth hotter?” They did not expel Christ from hell, but today people expelled Him from the earth, expelled Him from their flesh, from their soul, from their city...

Mystery of Russia

"Maybe be, most importantPre-selected appointmentpeople RussianV destinies humanity And consists ofonly V volume, to save at myself this Divineimage Christin all cleanliness, A When will come time — reveal this image to the world, to the lost ways their, That's why What only V OrthodoxyAnd trueAnd the rescue Russian people, A V future And Total humanity"

F. M. Dostoevsky

Venerable Justin (Popovich) (1894-1979): The “infallible” man-god of Europe is opposed by the God-man Christ. Imaginary human infallibility creates terrible cannibalistic worlds in which everything ends in chaos and anarchy. And the good God-man restores the complete harmony of man with God, man with humanity, man with all of God’s worlds. Therefore, He alone justifies before people God, who created such a world and such a life...

Through the God-Man, the tormented Dostoevsky accepted both God and the world, made peace with both God and the world, and found the eternal meaning and eternal value of all things. Therefore, for him the Face of the God-Man Christ is everything and everyone. And since this Face is preserved in pristine perfection and purity only in Orthodoxy, then for him Orthodoxy is everything and everyone.

The mystery of the European man and the Slavic all-man

Venerable Justin (Popovich) ( — ) :

All ideas and all activities of European man are permeated with one desire and one aspiration: to become independent and self-sufficient, like God. In fact, one deity rules over Europe: infallible man - the man-god... “Infallible” man rules in European religion, and in European philosophy, and in European science, and in European politics, and European technology, and in European art, and in the entire European culture and civilization. In everything - only a man, and a European man at that, proud and swaggeringly self-satisfied and infallible...

On the other side is the Slavic all-man. His highest ideal, his main secret is the pan-human brotherhood of people in the God-man Christ. In all the ideas and in all the activities of the Slavic all-man one can discern one driving force: evangelical love - all-love. For this love is essentially the only force that transforms people into brothers and unites them into an all-human brotherhood... Serving every person and all people for the sake of Christ is joy above joy for the Slavic all-man worker. His immortal desire: to constantly improve himself through the God-Man, acquiring His Divine properties, and to work for the God-Man with all his soul, with all his heart, with all his thoughts, with all his strength...

The desire to create a new society from an old type of people is unnatural. And the truth is that only from renewed, new people can a new society be created.

“On earth, truly, we seem to be wandering. And if there were no precious image of Christ before us, we would perish and be completely lost, like the human race before the flood.” F.M.Dostoevsky

“Where there is the presence of the Face of Christ, there...true progress, true enlightenment,true joy, true life,true wisdom and all true excellence.But if you ask Dostoevsky where it is,where the Face of Christ is preserved, then it is for youwithout a doubt he will say - in Orthodoxy,only in Orthodoxy..."Rev. Justin Popovich

Rev. Justin (Popovich) (1894-1979):

Dostoevsky about Christ

The Beautiful Person of Christ is the only thing that Dostoevsky absolutely adores. For him, this Personality is the embodiment of everything that is most sublime, everything that is most perfect, everything that is most human. Apart from this Person there is no true gospel in this sad world. The name of Christ, pronounced in the presence of Dostoevsky, brought him into great excitement and aroused admiration. Belinsky writes: “As soon as I uttered the name of Christ, Dostoevsky’s face immediately changed, as if he wanted to cry.”

In this world, which rests on paradoxes, Dostoevsky cannot live without Christ. He completes his every thought with Him, and he verifies every feeling in Him. The bitter mystery of the world becomes sweet only in Christ. The cruel mystery of suffering gradually develops into a quiet, peaceful joy only when it grows out of Christ and is sanctified by Him. Dostoevsky feels this strongly in an apostolic way, and therefore he is confessorically devoted and martyrically faithful to Christ.

The search for God, ...the goal of everyone, not just personal ones,

but also popular movements, the goal of human history...

Positive or negative decision of eternal

problems determine a person’s entire life...

Venerable Justin (Popovich)

Venerable Justin (Popovich)( — ) :

According to Dostoevsky, all problems boil down to two “eternal problems”: the problem of the existence of God and the problem of the immortality of the soul.

Venerable Justin (Popovich)( — ) :

These two problems contain an irresistible, magnetic force that attracts and subjugates all other problems. The solution to all other problems depends on the solution of “eternal problems,” Dostoevsky teaches. The solution to one “eternal problem” contains the solution to another. They are always proportionate. If there is a God, then the soul is immortal, if there is no God, then the soul is mortal... Follow a man along all his paths, and you will see that all his paths lead either to heaven or to hell. There is nothing in man that does not end in either heaven or hell. The range of human thoughts, human feelings, human dispositions is greater than both angelic and devilish. Angelic, because a person can even fall to the level of the devil; devilish, because he can rise even to God. And this means: both human evil and good are infinite, eternal, for good leads him to the eternal kingdom of good - heaven, and evil - to the eternal kingdom of evil: hell.

Christ departed, taking up His cross and blessing.There is darkness and stench left, and you decide who to follow:for gloomy and stinking Europe or for Christ...

Venerable Justin (Popovich)

If the history of the 18th-20th centuries could be called in one or two words, then probably the most appropriate title would be: Protocol of the Judgment between Europe and Christ, for over the past 300 years nothing has happened in Europe that has no connection with Christ.

At this trial, Christ tells Europe that she is baptized in His name and therefore must remain faithful to Him and His Gospel. To this the accused responds.

- All faiths are the same. The French encyclopedists told us this, and no one can force us to believe in this or that. Europe tolerates all faiths and all popular superstitions because of its imperialist interests, but does not itself adhere to any of them. When we achieve our political goals, then we will quickly get rid of these superstitions.

Christ:

- How can you people live only by material interests - only by carnal lust? I came to make you gods and sons of God, but you indulge in vanity and perish in the struggle with yourself, becoming like dumb cattle.

Acts of the Holy 7th Ecumenical Council

Venerable Justin (Popovich):“The Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, delivered by the God-man our Lord Jesus Christ from all idolatry, this is what they preach to us and what they bequeath to us as the only Orthodox path, the God-man path, which must be followed, regardless of the darkness of this world and this age: “ Our holy fathers, fulfilling the Divine commandment of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, lit the candle of Divine knowledge so that it would shine for everyone in the house, i.e. to all who glorify God in the Orthodox Universal Church, so that not one of them stumbles over the stone of heretical evil.