Alexy, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia: biography, years of life, photo

Patriarch Alexy II, whose biography is the subject of this article, has lived a long and, I think, a happy life. His work left a deep impression not only in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also in the souls of many people. Probably, therefore, after the death of the priest, the people could not believe and reconcile with his departure, and so far the society is circulating the version that Patriarch Alexy II was killed. This person has managed to do so much in his life for good deeds, that the importance of this person does not diminish over the years.

Origin

Patriarch Alexy II, whose biography is associated with the Russian Orthodox Church for several generations, was born on February 23, 1929, into a very unusual family in the city of Tallinn. The ancestor of the future priest during the reign of Catherine II was Orthodoxy with the name of Fedor Vasilyevich. He was a general, an outstanding public figure and commander. From this hero of the war of 1812 the Russian Ridiger family went.

The grandfather of the future patriarch was able to take his family to the hot times of the revolution from Petersburg to Estonia. Father Alexia studied at the prestigious Imperial School of Law, but graduated from school already in Estonia. Then he worked as a judicial investigator in Tallinn, married the daughter of a colonel of the tsarist army. The Orthodox atmosphere reigned in the family, Alexia's parents were members of the progressive movement of the Russian Orthodox Christian Students Movement. They participated in religious disputes, visited monasteries, went to services in the temple. When Alex was very young, his father began to study in pastoral courses, where he met Father John, who later became a confessor of the boy.

The family had a tradition of spending summer vacations on pilgrimage trips to various monasteries. It was at that time that Alexy loved the Pyhtitsa monastery for the rest of his life. In 1940, Father Alexis was ordained deacon. Since 1942 he served in the Kazan temple of Tallinn and for 20 years helped people to find God.

Childhood

From early childhood, the future Patriarch of Moscow Alexis was immersed in an atmosphere of religiosity, which was for him the main spiritual element in the formation. From the age of 6 he began to help in the service in the temple. Parents and confessor brought up the boy in the spirit of Christian values, he grew up a kind, obedient child. Times were difficult, the family at the beginning of World War II was threatened with deportation to Siberia for German origin. The Reeders had to hide. During the war, the father took Alesha with him to visit prisoners in the camps for persons being moved to Germany.

Vocation

The whole atmosphere of the Ridiger family was imbued with religion, the child absorbed it from the youthful nails. He was very fond of and knew church services, even played them in his games. His confessor actively supported the boy's attraction to the Orthodox faith. In 1941, the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II became an altar boy, helping the deacon - his father. Then he serves for several years in different temples of Tallinn. The fate of Alexis, in fact, was sealed from the very birth, he had existed since 5 years only in the bosom of the church.

In 1947, the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, he was immediately taken to the third grade due to his high level of education and preparedness. In 1949, he entered the Leningrad Theological Academy. During this period, the revived educational religious institutions are on the rise, it allows us to get a high education. He was a very good student, all the teachers noted his thoughtfulness and seriousness. He had no spiritual turmoil and searches, he was absolutely confident in his faith and his destiny.

The Life of a Priest

But most of the study at the academy A. Ridiger passes externally. Metropolitan of Leningrad Grigory invited the young man to take the dignity before graduation. He was offered several options for the ministry, he elected the post of abbot in the Epiphany Church of the town of Jõhvi. From there he could often visit his parents and go to the academy. In 1953 he graduated from the academy, becoming a candidate of theology. In 1957, he was transferred from a difficult parish in Jõhvi to Tartu University. So the future Patriarch Alexy II, whose years of life will be associated with religious service, has entered his path as a priest.

On his share again fell hard times. The Assumption Cathedral, to which Alexis was appointed, was in a sorry state, the authorities did not support church undertakings, had to work very hard, talk with people, stand services, go to the demand. The beginning priest decided to seek help from Patriarch Alexy the First, who helped in repairs and blessed the namesake. In 1958, Alexis became archpriest and dean of the Tartu-Viljandi district. In 1959 the priest's mother died, and this prompted him to accept monasticism. He had previously thought about such an act, but now he finally became firmly established in his intention.

The way of the bishop

In 1961, the future patriarch Alexy II (his photo was increasingly seen in the reviews of trips of foreign delegations to Russia) receives a new appointment. He becomes bishop of Tallinn and Estonia, he is also temporarily assigned to manage the Riga diocese. The Russian Orthodox Church was sorely lacking in young educated cadres, especially as it was once again experiencing a cycle of new persecutions in Russia. The consecration, at the request of Alexy, is held in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn. At once the young bishop receives a call from the authorities. In his parish, it is planned to close several churches because of "unprofitability", and to give the beloved Pyukhitsky monastery to the rest house of miners. Urgent and strong measures were needed.

Alexis organizes several visits of major foreign delegations to his parish and monastery, as a result of which Western publications publish reports about him, representatives of almost all world religious organizations came here this year, authorities had to surrender and the issue of closing the monastery was no longer raised. The Puhitsky monastery, thanks to the efforts of Alexy, became a place for visits and communication of representatives of all European churches.

Alexis served in the Tallinn parish for a quarter of a century. During this time, he significantly strengthened the Orthodox Church here, published a large number of literature, including in Estonian. His efforts saved many of the temples of the region, including Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where Father Alexy, who died in 1962, the Kazan temple in Tallinn, served for a long time. But the propaganda and efforts of the authorities did their job: the number of believers was steadily declining, so that in the villages there were functioning churches, the archimandrite paid for their maintenance from the church funds.

In 1969 Alexei was entrusted with additional service as a metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod.

Church and social life

Alexis always traveled a lot in his parishes with services in order to hold conversations with believers, to strengthen their spirit. At the same time, the future patriarch devoted a lot of time to public work. From the very beginning of his diocesan service, he did not remain aloof from the life of the entire Orthodox Church. In 1961, the future His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, whose photo can be seen in the article, is a member of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church at the assembly of the World Council of Churches. He participates in the work of such prestigious organizations as the Conference of European Churches, where he worked for more than 25 years, eventually becoming chairman of the presidium, the Rhodes All-Orthodox Conference, peacekeeping organizations, in particular the Soviet Peace Foundation, the Slavic Literature and Slavic Cultures Fund. Since 1961, he served as deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1964, he became manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate and performed these duties for 22 years.

In 1989, Alexis was elected a People's Deputy of the USSR and was involved in the preservation of national cultural values, language, and the protection of historical heritage.

The Patriarchal throne

In 1990, Pimen died, and the Local Council met to select a new head of the Russian church, and there was no better candidate than Alex. The Patriarch of All Russia was intronized on June 10, 1990 in the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. In his speech to the flock, he said that his main goal was to strengthen the spiritual role of the church. He believed that it was necessary to increase the number of temples, including work in places of detention, to give people spiritual support on the path of correction. The oncoming social changes in the church society had to be used to strengthen their positions, and Alexy was well aware of this.

For some time the patriarch continued to perform the duties of a bishop of the Leningrad and Tallinn dioceses. In 1999, he took over the management of the Japanese Orthodox Church. During his service, the Patriarch traveled a lot in the parishes, performed services, and helped build the cathedrals. For all the years he visited 88 dioceses, consecrated 168 churches, took thousands of confessions.

Public position

Alexy, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, from early years was distinguished by a firm social position. He saw his mission not just in serving God, but in propagating Orthodoxy. He was convinced that all Christians should unite in enlightenment activity. Alexis believed that the church should cooperate with the authorities, although he himself survived much persecution from the Soviet authorities, but after perestroika he sought to establish good relations with the leadership of the country to jointly solve many state problems.

Of course, the patriarch always stood for the protection of the underprivileged, he did a lot of charity and helped his congregation also help those in need. At the same time, Alexis repeatedly spoke against people with non-traditional sexual orientation and warmly thanked the mayor of Moscow for banning the gay parade, called homosexuality a vice that destroys the traditional norms of mankind.

Church and social transformation under the patriarch

Alexy, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, began his work on the post with the fact that he informed the country's current state of the critical state of the church. He did a lot to increase the role of the church in the country's politics, he visited parish and parade events on a par with the first persons of the state. Alexy did much to ensure that the ecclesiastical authority was concentrated in the hands of the Bishops' Council, reducing democratization in the structure of the church. At the same time, he contributed to increasing the autonomy of individual regions outside the Russian Federation.

Merit of the patriarch

Alexy, the Patriarch of All Russia, did a lot for the ROC, first of all thanks to him the church returned to wide public service. It was he who contributed to the fact that today Russian churches are full of parishioners, that religion has once again become a familiar element in the life of Russians. He also managed to retain in the Russian jurisdiction churches of states that became independent as a result of the collapse of the USSR. His work as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia had a significant influence on the development of Orthodoxy, on increasing its importance in the world. Alexis was chairman of the confessional committee "Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever". In 2007, due to his efforts, the "Act on Canonical Communion" was signed, which meant the reunification of the ROC and the Russian Church abroad. Alexis was able to return the wide practice of the procession of the cross, he contributes to the relics of many saints, in particular Seraphim of Sarov, Maxim the Greek, Alexander Svirsky. He doubled the number of dioceses in Russia, the number of parishes almost tripled, the number of churches in Moscow increased by more than 40 times, if before the reconstruction in the country there were only 22 monasteries, by 2008 there were already 804. The patriarch paid great attention to church education, He significantly increased the number of educational institutions of all levels in the country, also positively influenced the training programs, which became approximate to the world level.

Awards

Alexy, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, for his merits was awarded repeatedly by both secular and ecclesiastical authorities. He had more than 40 orders and medals of the Russian Orthodox Church, including such honorary ones as the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called with the Diamond Star, the Order of Grand Duke Vladimir, the Order of St. Alexis, the Medal of Dmitry Solunsky, the Order of St. Gregory the Victorious from the Georgian Orthodox Church.

The Russian authorities also repeatedly noted the high merits of the patriarch with awards, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Twice Alexy was awarded the state award for outstanding achievements in the field of humanitarian activity, he had letters and gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation.

Also Alexy had many awards of foreign states, prizes, medals and medals from public organizations.

In addition, he was an honorary citizen of more than 10 cities and was an honorary doctor of 4 universities in the world.

Care and memory

On December 5, 2008 the world circled the sad news: Patriarch Alexy died. 2. The cause of death is heart failure. The patriarch had serious heart problems for several years, he even had a lift in his residence to climb to the second floor to help him avoid unnecessary loads. However, in the media almost immediately appeared versions about the murder of the patriarch.

But the evidence for these suspicions was not, so everything remained at the level of rumors. People simply could not believe that there was no such person, and so he tried to find the culprit in his misfortune. The Patriarch officiated at the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and was buried in the Epiphany Church.

People almost immediately began to wonder: will Patriarch Alexy II be counted among the saints? While there is no answer to it, as canonization is a complex and long process.

The memory of the patriarch was immortalized in the names of libraries, squares, in the form of monuments, memorial plaques, several monuments.

Private life

Patriarch Alexy II, whose cause of death was not the only reason to discuss his personality, life, actions, interested many. A lot of rumors circulated around his relations with the KGB, Alexia was even called the favorite of the special services. Although there was no evidence of such suspicions.

Another question that aroused interest among the lay people: was the priest married. It is known that bishops can not have wives, because celibacy is spread on them. But before the adoption of monasticism many priests had families, and this was not an obstacle to their church career. Patriarch Alexy II, whose wife was in his student years, never mentioned his family experience. Researchers say that this marriage with Vera Alekseeva was absolutely formal. It was needed only to prevent the authorities from summoning A. Ridiger to military service.

Little is known about the patriarch's private life. He was very fond of reading, he always worked hard. Alexis is the author of more than 200 books on theology. He was fluent in Estonian, German, and spoke a little English. He lived and died in his beloved residence in Peredelkino, where he felt comfortable and calm.