Society of Orthodox Banner Bearers of Yegoryevsk

In 1903, over 700 banner bearers in uniform caftans took part in the Sarov celebrations of glorifying Father Seraphim as a saint. And now, 115 years later, members of the NIzhegorodsky St. George's Community quality of banner bearers. We talked with one of the founders of the society, chairman of the board of the society, historian Igor Kuznetsov.

Reference.

The Nizhny Novgorod St. George Society of Banner Bearers existed in Nizhny Novgorod from 1889 to 1923. Currently, with the blessing of Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamasit is being revived in the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. The project received international supportnational grant competition "Orthodox Initiative".

—Igor Alexandrovich, how did the idea of ​​reviving the pre-revolutionary society of banner bearers come about?

— Idea arose a long time ago, but it really began to come to life last year in preparation for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Transfiguration (Karpov) Church of Nizhny Novgorod, which was widely celebrated on August 19, 2017. This is one of three churches in our city that were not closed during Soviet times. And today it is a temple with a strong parish and traditions. And so, a wonderful tradition that we decided to revive is the society of banner bearers. Under the care of the rector of the Karpov Church, Archpriest Mikhail Storonkin, the ceremonial caftans of the banner bearers were sewn, which were worn by male parishioners for the first time last year during the celebration of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The founding meeting of the Banner Bearers Society took place on April 21, 2018. And Father Mikhail became his spiritual leader. We have 17 founders, and we have not yet recruited members of the society, although we already have applications from those interested. We will accept into the society on the recommendation of priests and founding members of the society.” We can say that we are only taking the first steps.

— What are the goals of the banner bearer society?

— Increase the splendor of religious processions. We sew caftans, donate funds for banners, we want to collect money for icons, and first of all, the icon of the founder of our city, St. blgv. Prince Georgy Vsevolodovich. After all, the Nizhny Novgorod St. George Society of Banner Bearers was formed in 1889 in honor of the 700th anniversary of his birth.

— I remember that about twenty years ago, at large church holidays, members of the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers were present: in black, with fluttering banners and the inscriptions “Orthodoxy or death.”

— Our main difference from them is that we do not engage in politics, but strive to revive the good that was before the revolution. And we have someone to follow by example. The same members of the banner-bearing society, who later became new martyrs, suffered for their faith, went through camps and exile. Among them, many remained unknown to us.

These people liked to serve the Lord God in the form of participating in religious processions, which, as is known, are one of the types of worship. Before the revolution, the backbone of the banner bearers were participants in the Oran religious procession, who wore the Oran Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God as a vow. This religious procession was founded in memory of the deliverance of Nizhny Novgorod in 1771 from the plague epidemic.

If we at least manage to revive the pre-revolutionary annual system of crossing the cross, which was in Nizhny Novgorod, with more than twelve processions of the cross, this will already be a great achievement. Currently, religious processions are held only on Christmas, Easter and November 4, the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The procession with the Oran icon is not yet as popular as it deserves.

— Tell us about the participation of banner bearers in the Sarov celebrations of 1903.

— As a historian, I specifically dealt with this topic, collecting historical information. I hope to write and publish a book detailing the participation of 21 banner-bearing societies in the Sarov celebrations. Then all of Russia came to Father Seraphim. 400-500 banner bearers were from Moscow alone, and not from all societies, but only from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and New Ospassky Monastery. There were twenty banner bearers from the provincial cities, and, for example, from the small district town of Kovrov - all forty.

I especially remember the religious procession on July 17 from Diveevo to the Sarov Hermitage. He led the procession with the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, before which the saint died on his knees. Seraphim, Archbishop of Tambov Innocent (Belyaev). It can be seen in a historical photo dated July 17, 1903. On either side of the icon are members of the Society of Banner Bearers of Sergiev Posad in caftans, and immediately behind it is the author of the Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery and the initiator of the discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim, Archimandrite Seraphim (Chichagov), who is now part of the Cathedral of Diveyevo Saints.

The next day, July 18, during the evening service, a procession with the relics of Father Seraphim walked from the temple of St. Zosima and Savvaty to the Assumption Cathedral of the Sarov Monastery, and members of the Royal family carried a stretcher with relics. And on July 19, after the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, another religious procession was held with the relics of the Reverend around the monastery churches. The oak shrine with relics was again carried by members of the Royal family, headed by the Sovereign Emperor.

I am very glad that I came to Sarov for the first time and saw with my own eyes the monastery bell tower, through the Royal Doors under which I passed held a religious procession in 1903; temple of St. Zosima and Savvaty, from which they carried out the shrine with the relics of St. Seraphim, the reviving majestic Holy Assumption Cathedral. We walked a little along the same route as our predecessors 115 years ago, only in the opposite direction.

I would like to think about further cooperation with the believers of Sarov, in whom we see like-minded people...

And I thought after talking with Igor Alexandrovich that we still do not fully understand that a religious procession is a divine service. We are often distracted by extraneous conversations, happy to meet friends. And when we put on T-shirts with slogans, we think not about the splendor of the religious procession, but about how it is more convenient for us. As if A. S. Pushkin wrote about such participants in religious processions: « Gypsies roam around Bessarabia in a noisy crowd...” And in historical photographs we see banner bearers in caftans, worn over ordinary clothes. How did they cope with the heat? And how do the clergy who walk next to us in their multi-layered vestments bear it?

And another thought: at modern religious processions, women carry icons, banners, a cross and a lantern. Women are in front. Where are the men? Are they not found in nature? Or are we, Orthodox women, so active that we relegate them to the background? Let's each answer these questions for ourselves.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to find the date of the creation of the first Society of Orthodox Banner Bearers in the Russian Empire. On Google, the history of this society seems to begin in 1992, despite the fact that a state with that name - the Russian Empire - did not exist in that year. Costume

The banner bearer movement originated in Russia in the first half of the 19th century; Until 1917, more than 100 banner-bearing societies were created throughout the empire.
I found general information in the book “ Costume and fashion of the Russian Empire. The era of Alexander II and Alexander III" :
The peasant church elders came up with a caftan - long, cut at the waist, with a clasp in the center. The black velvet collar, cuffs and sides (to the waist), as well as the band of the cap were trimmed with silver braid. The waist was decorated with silver fringe and two tassels.
Banner bearers had similar costumes - at first only those who performed the honorary functions of carrying banners during religious processions, and then - members of banner bearer societies, popular in late 19th – early 20th century. The description of the first officially established caftans dates back to 1864: “The Sovereign Emperor deigned to His Highest authorize: the banner bearers of the Moscow Cathedrals of the Assumption, Annunciation, Archangel, the Church of the Twelve Apostles and the Chudov and Voznesensky monasteries to wear during religious processions the form of caftans chosen by them with common consent with stand-up collars and with galloons on collars and cuffs, on the chest to the waist and from the waist on the sides and behind with tassels; but so that the banner bearers of cathedrals and churches of the court department have gold braid, and the diocesan one - silver.”

Banner bearer costume from the book

In the article “CIVIL BADGES OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. New information" T.V. Peters, scientific secretary of the Museum V.A. Tropinin and Moscow artists of his time, Moscow we read:
A special large group consists of signs from banner-bearing societies, of which there were at least 100. Most of these signs existed in Moscow and the Moscow province. Thus, the sign of the “Military-Sergius-Panteleimon Brotherhood of Banner Bearers in Moscow” was approved by the emperor on May 20, 1868.

(Patrikeev, No. 1527), the sign of the society of banner bearers of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was approved by the Highest on November 7, 1881 (Fig. project from the archive).

According to documents from the Central Historical Archive of Moscow, it is known that as of May 31, 1883, a total of 152 badges of the Society of Banner Bearers of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were issued.
On April 8, 1894, Moscow Governor General Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich approved the silver badge of the Sergius Society of Banner Bearers in Bogorodsk. This society was founded in 1892 in memory of the 500th anniversary of the presentation of Sergius of Radonezh; its sign measuring 1 inch by 3/4 inch is “a banner surrounded by a wreath with the face of St. Sergius, under which are placed the numbers “1392-1892-500 liters” and below them on a metal plate the inscription “Sergius Society of Banner Bearers in the city of Bogorodsk.”

In March 1894, the signs of the Suzdal, Kovrov and Kolomna banner-bearing societies were established. On April 24, 1894, the Governor General approved the silver badges of the society of banner bearers of the Moscow Kazan Cathedral and the Resurrection Church in the city of Pavlovo-Posad. As follows from archival documents, “the sign was a white banner with a gilded Holy Cross in the middle of it, surrounded by a gilded wreath with the inscription on the bow under the banner “Society of Banner Bearers of Pavlovsky Posad.”

At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of signs of banner-bearing societies submitted for consideration by Nicholas II reached a large number. By order of the emperor dated November 10, 1906, the right to approve these signs was granted to the Holy Synod.
One of the first signs approved by the Synod in accordance with this command belonged to the society of banner bearers of the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Vladimir province. By resolution of the Holy Synod of May 24-June 15, 1913 (No. 4898), the same sign of the Moscow Miracle Monastery was approved.

Each Society of Banner Bearers had its own Charter, approved by the Holy Governing Synod.
In Moscow, according to currently available information, there were 21 societies:
Kremlin (7 societies): at the Assumption, Annunciation, Arkhangelsk, Verkhospassky, Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles, Chudov and Ascension monasteries;
At the Intercession and Kazan Cathedrals; at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior; at the Vladimir Cathedral of the Diocesan House;
At the Novospassky and Danilov monasteries;
Military Sergius-Panteleimon Brotherhood of Banner Bearers; Society at the regimental temple of the Samogit regiment. In fact, the Society of Banner Bearers at the Cathedral of the Assumption on Krutitsy can be considered military (all the buildings of the courtyard, except for the cathedral itself, were transferred to the military department in the 18th century);
Old Believer Society of Banner Bearers at the churches of the Rogozhskoye Cemetery;
Parish churches: Peter and Paul in Lefortovo; Basil of Caesarea on Tverskaya; Basil the Confessor; Jerusalem icon at the Slaughterhouses (opened in 1917).

Below I give an example of the draft Charter of the Society of Banner Bearers at the Church of St. Basil the Confessor, which is in Novaya Derevnya, near the Rogozhskaya outpost in the mountains. Moscow.

§1. The Society of Banner Bearers is established in Moscow, at the Church of St. Basil the Confessor, in Novaya Derevnya, in MEMORY OF THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RESIGN OF THE HOUSE OF ROMANOV IN RUSSIA and is under the authority of the Moscow Diocesan Administration.

§2. The society is established: a) for its members to carry banners and holy icons during religious processions from the Church of St. Basil the Confessor and from other nearby churches; b) for the construction at the expense of the Society, with proper permission, of new banners and corrections that have fallen into disrepair, as well as lanterns, crosses, icon cases for icons worn in religious processions, and, as funds increase, in general for maintaining the splendor of the church; c) to maintain order during services in the Basil-Confessional Church on highly solemn and holiday days through a special outfit of members of the Society; d) to provide assistance and charity to members of the Society who for some reason find themselves in distress, as well as their families; Moreover, while increasing its funds, the Society takes care of establishing charitable institutions and schools at the Basil-Confessional Church.

§3. Members of the Society may be persons of the Orthodox faith, males of all classes, who have reached the age of majority and are blameless in behavior.

§4. Admission to membership of the Society is permitted at any time upon application to one of the members of the Board of the Society and upon presentation, in case of uncertainty, in writing and a police certificate of conduct.

§5. The society consists of members: a) honorary, b) active and c) lifelong.

§6. The title of Honorary Members is awarded to persons who have rendered special merit or patronage. Honorary members are exempt from membership fees and wearing banners.

§7. Full members contribute two rubles to the Society's cash desk at a time and then one ruble annually. Note: 1) Anyone who fails to pay the membership fee during the year is considered to have left the Society.

§8. Contributed twenty-five rubles at a time. recognized as a lifelong member of the society.

§9. Each member of the Society is issued by the foreman of the Society, signed by him, with a book indicating the time of entry into the Society and the amount of contribution received from him, as well as for marking annual contributions. Honorary and life members are issued a certificate to this effect.

§10. When wearing banners, each member of the Society carrying holy icons and banners is assigned a special sign to wear on the chest and a uniform caftan, uniformly cut from dark blue cloth with a turn-down dark purple velvet collar, with velvet cuffs of the same color. The collar, cuffs, pockets, side and hem of the caftan should be trimmed all around with silver braid with a silver fringe underneath, one and a half inches long, one silver tassel should be sewn on the sides of the waist above the pockets, and a silver cord should be passed over the caftan along the shoulders , having a diameter of a quarter of an inch, descending on the chest and on the back by half an arshin and ending in a silver brush.

§eleven. Uniform caftans are made by members of the Society, each for himself using cash, but after the Society has accumulated funds, they can be made, by order of the general meeting of members, and using funds from the Society. All caftans are stored in the place indicated by the elder at the temple.

§12. Uniform caftans and a special breastplate can be worn by banner bearers only when performing the duties they have assumed; on the days of religious processions, banner bearers can be present in them and in the temple during services.

§13. Management of the Society's affairs is entrusted to a board of 4 persons: the foreman, his assistant, the treasurer and the clerk, elected for 3 years by closed ballot. In case any of them retire before the deadline, 4 candidates are selected. Members of the board and candidates for them are presented for approval by the Diocesan Bishop.

§14. The timing of the election of the elder and members of the board may be changed in the event of a personal refusal to serve in office, or if the elected persons are found by the Diocesan Bishop to be unfit for their appointment. Board members may also be elected for the next three years.

§15. The duties of the members of the board include: accepting applications from persons wishing to join the Company; acceptance of one-time and annual contributions; expenditure of funds as determined by the general meeting; advance notice to members who must take part in carrying sacred objects in the procession; monitoring order during the religious procession, according to the schedule of the local dean; judgment on the misconduct of the members of the Society in the performance of their assumed duties and the misunderstandings that arise between them and the presentation to the general meeting, and subsequently to the Diocesan Bishop, of an annual report on the activities of the Society. The board decides matters by majority vote, with the foreman having two votes; The board records its decisions in a special protocol book. Note: The Board of the Society is given the right, in cases necessary to it, temporarily, to deprive any of the members of the Society of the right to wear banners and icons or to dismiss them from the Society altogether.

§16. The Management Board of the Company must have: a) a receipt and expenditure book with appropriate columns for both cash and interest-bearing securities; b) a book for recording receipts, both random lump sums and annual membership contributions, with receipts attached in the book for the issuance of such to those contributing money to the Society; c) a book of minutes of meetings of the Board of the Society and d) a book for the alphabetical list of members of the Society. All these books must be sealed with a cord and the seal of the dean.

§17. General meetings are convened once a year, and if necessary, at the request of the clergy of the church under which the Society of Banner Bearers, or members of the board, is established, and at any time. The senior priest of the church presides over general meetings. The general meeting is considered to have taken place when 2/3 of the members living in this area are present. If fewer members appear at the meeting, the meeting is considered invalid and a new meeting is appointed, which is considered to have taken place if there are members present at the meeting. Resolutions of the general meeting are recorded in the book of minutes (clause §16).

§18. At the annual general meeting, a report on the activities of the Society for the past year and estimates for the coming year are considered and honorary members and officers of the Society are elected.

§19. The amounts of the Society must be kept in a branch of the State Bank or in a savings bank and must be withdrawn from there no other than through special relations of the board of the Society, signed by the foreman and a member of the clerk.

§20. To verify the amounts and property of the Company, an audit commission of three members of the Society is appointed annually by the general meeting.

§21. The society has a seal with the inscription: “Seal of the Society of Banner Bearers at the Church of St. Basil the Confessor, in Novaya Derevnya, in memory of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov in Russia.”

§22. The Society is considered to have ceased to exist if 2/3 of the total number of active members of the Society support its closure at an annual or emergency meeting. Upon the closure of the Society, the property and capital belonging to it become the property of the church under which this Society was founded.

Drawing by the Society of Banner Bearers of the Church of St. Basil the Confessor.
Approved by the Holy Synod in 1913

In 1902, in Ostashkov, famous for its deep veneration of the church, the Society of Banner Bearers of the Venerable Nile of Stolobensky the Wonderworker was opened. To manage the affairs of the Banner Bearers Society, at the general meeting on January 25, 1902, the following were elected and served: assistant foreman of the department. V.M. Savin, foreman of the Banner Bearers Society Vasily Matveevich Savin, intervening foreman Nil Aleksandrovich Savin.

In the photo below are members of the Society of Banner Bearers of the Venerable Nile of Stolbensky the Wonderworker. It is remarkable in that the article Savin Dynasty, from which this photograph is taken, lists all the members of society represented in it. The photo can be viewed in higher resolution by clicking on it.

I. 70th anniversary of Viktor Dmitrievich.

I remember, not so long ago, on June 17, 2018, the Banner Bearers went to the Moscow region to visit Viktor Dmitrievich. He, our great veteran and ancient Russian man, turned 70 on June 16th. And I, too, just recently turned 72. And Vladislav Vasilyevich Kuroptev, like Yura Rzhanitsyn, also recently turned 47 years old, and Igor Igorevich will very soon turn 63 years old. So the Banner Bearers gathered with the old, proven composition, true friends and brothers - on an area overgrown with tall grass and white flowers in front of Viktor Dmitrich’s house, at a long table under a canopy, and celebrated Viktor Dmitrievich’s anniversary, and three more already completed birthdays. Igor Igorevich’s birthday has not yet been celebrated, as he said that before the date, according to folk custom, it is impossible ...
They gathered at the long wooden table in full force. We settled down in such a way that Viktor Dmitrievich was a beginner, and Alexander Valerievich closed our circle. Above him, a little higher, hung the icon of the Warrior Evgeny Rodionov, which we gave to Yura Rzhanitsyn. He accepted it with gratitude, kissed it, kissed it, and hung it under the eaves of our table, next to the eight-pointed Orthodox Cross...
Before the meal, we all decided to take a photo as a souvenir against the backdrop of a huge sea huy, which Valery Aleksandrovich specially took out for this purpose from the attic of Viktor Dmitrich’s house, because - which, by the way, is especially interesting - Petrovsky, i.e. from the ship of Peter I, a red jack with a blue or again white St. Andrew's Cross, which was placed, and is still placed, on the bow of the ship! – is essentially no different from the red flag with the blue St. Andrew’s Cross that has suddenly become a symbol of the right and even ultra-right movement all over the world, from Donbass to America. The first to start, it seems, were either the Scots or the Irish - this oblique Cross and they called it the Cross of St. Patrick...
And now this banner is especially popular in the Donbass, Donetsk and Lugansk, and soon it will become the main one both in Serbia and around the world. For soon, brothers and sisters, there will be war...
But while the June sun was warming, we, the Banner Bearers, stood in front of this huge Peter the Great banner in our usual battle formation. A little later, Maxim Anatolyevich also arrived. In our hands we held two banners with three skulls - red and black. In addition, Alexey Manukhin held a carved Cross on a pole. And in my right hand I have a large portrait-photograph of the deceased Lugansk Elder Theophan from the Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Krasny Derkul. One day he, the elder, helped us, the Banner Bearers, a lot, after my prayer at his grave...
Then there was more shooting a video clip, where I said a short word. Among other things, I said that we need to work very, very long and painstakingly. And for this reason, today I am announcing (for the inner circle of Banner Bearers, of course) that from now on - i.e. from June 17, 2018, we are founding and creating the internal Order of Russian Archondarians - Savastokrators. That is, the same Order that the Serbian and Montenegrin monarchists proposed to me to create several years ago. Then they appointed me Archon, i.e. Leader and Commander, and they themselves took on the titles of Savasto-krator, i.e. soldiers carrying the Cross. You can, of course, call them Stavro-krators - Cross in Greek is “Stavros”. But let’s leave it as they suggested - Savasto-krators - for savasto is of course - a Cross, bloodied with the blood of a martyr, i.e. the same Gammata or the original ancient Aryan Savastika, which all Jews and liberals now hate so much...
I repeat, today, June 17, 2018, I announce the creation of a new Oprichnina Order, which will form the basis of the Hidden Tainin Kingdom of Russian Banner-Bearers-Savastokrators.
And the center of our Savastocratism will be Taininskoe, with the monument to Tsar Martyr Nicholas II Alexandrovich standing there, who will be the patron of this Order.
The other Heavenly patrons of the Order will be the winner of the Dragon, the Holy Warrior Saint George the Victorious, and the Archangel (Archon) of the Heavenly Host - the conqueror of Satan, the commander of the ethereal Heavenly forces, Archangel Michael...

II. Victor Dmitrich

But let's return to our celebration. So, the Banner Bearers, 10 people in number, sat at a table under a canopy among the green thickets on Viktor Dmitrievich’s property. Before the meal we prayed well, and while we sat quietly and silently ate, as they say, what God sent to our festive table. So our meal began in silence and silence. “Just like the monks,” I thought, “except that Vladislav or Stepan don’t read the Lives of the Saints... Although, well, since they don’t read, I’ll read it myself...”
I stood up and addressed everyone like this:

Well, brothers and squad... so we have gathered on this solemn day to celebrate a wonderful event. Today, June 17, 2018, you and I could celebrate our 5th birthday at once. But since Igor Igorevich’s birthday has not yet arrived, and he believes in folk signs and sacredly honors the ancient ritual, we will not congratulate him today for now... But let’s congratulate our four brothers - Viktor Dmitrich, Leonid Donatovich, Valdislav Vasilyevich and Georgy Nikolaevich . Let's start with our dear ancient Russian knight Viktor Dmitrievch - since he has a big anniversary - he turned seventy years old. Seventy years of life – and not just any life, but our Russian life, brothers. In the life of Victor Dmitrich, as in a magic mirror, the entire existence of the Russian people and the Russian people over the last 70 years of the new Khazar yoke was reflected. Difficult childhood. Work activity began in his youth. And then the army, prison, camp, psychiatric hospital, escape, prison again, camp again - and so on for 15 years in prisons, camps and mental hospitals, and again freedom, and again work activity, and finally - finding your own world and returning to yourself to yourself and your essence, and your Russianness, through the Church, through Baptism, through Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos. And further. Then the Lord brought him to us, to the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers. And his second, main and real life began...
So Solzhenitsyn wrote the story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, and I would write “The working life of one Russian man - Viktor Dmitrievich Kirillov” - for his life really is, as it were, a symbol of the travails of all ordinary Russian people - in our terrible and completely non-Russian XX century...
Then he once told me on the phone how he escaped from a mental hospital. Yes, if I were Dostoevsky, I would definitely write a story about this... For, I repeat, in this life, in this prison and in this escape, the entire life of the Russian people over the past at least seventy years has been concentrated...
But here's what's interesting. Having gone through all these circles, from the first to the ninth, he did not become embittered, did not become frantic, did not harbor revenge on his offenders, and not only did not finish off, did not “sew down”, did not kill any of them, but on the contrary, he talks about them with humor and even with some warmth, if not with love. And even then, on that prison, “cop” side, in the lower structures “guarding” us, there are also forced Russian people serving – it’s not just the Tatar-Mongols who are in charge there...
This is the whole Russian man, and this is the whole Russian life. It would seem like a beast, go berserk, hide, hate and take revenge, and enjoy even the very possibility of revenge. But no. This is not the case at all. Only humor, only sympathy, only compassion for a person, for anyone, even those living at the very bottom. Yes, Sympathy, and Compassion, Pity and Love. This is true Russian Christianity. Some kind of spiritual holiness, I would even say, is the holiness that secretly lives in the soul of every Russian person...
At one time I was amazed how Viktor Dmitrich sang us a song on the guitar to the poems of Nikolai Rubtsov “In this village the lights are not extinguished...”. He wrote the music himself. By the way, many people wrote music for this song, and some did it very well. But Viktor Dmitrich somehow turned out to be quite, as they say, soulful.
And you need to see and hear how he, sitting in the kitchen with a guitar in his hands, performs this song. So he plucked the strings, struck two or three chords and, fixing his eyes there, into that world that only Russian people see, he sang:

Don't predict melancholy!

Quiet winter night.

Glow, quiet, glow, wonderful,
The sound of a wormwood can be heard...
My paths were difficult, difficult.
Where are you, my sorrows?

A modest girl smiles at me,
I myself am smiling and happy!
Difficult, difficult - everything is forgotten,
Bright stars are shining!

Who told me that in the dark darkness
Is the abandoned meadow going silent?
Who told me that hope is lost?
Who came up with this, friend?

The lights in this village are not turned off.
Don't predict melancholy!
Gently decorated with light stars
Quiet winter night...

I always listen, frozen. For I hear in his voice and in the melody that incredible, terrible, holy and beautiful space, which is called in a short word - Rus'.
Yes, we need to ask him to set and continue singing another poem to the same melody, fortunately, the meter and internal melody are almost the same:

My Rus', my life, shall we suffer together?
Tsar, yes Siberia, yes Ermak, yes prison!
Eh, isn’t it time to separate and repent...
What is your darkness to a free heart?

Did you know what? Or did you believe in God?
What will you hear from your songs?
It was a miracle, but Merya intended
Gates, roads and milestones...

You cut down boats and cities along the rivers,
But I didn’t get to the Constantinople shrines...
Sokolov, you dismissed the swans into the steppe -
A black haze rushed out of the steppe...

Beyond the Black Sea, beyond the White Sea
On black nights and white days
The numb face looks wild,
Tatar eyes flicker with fire...

Quiet, long, red glow
Every night above yours...
Why are you looming, sleepy haze?
Are you playing freely with my spirit?

I would just replace “sleepy haze” with “dark haze”. For Blok, when he wrote this poem about Rus', did not yet know what a terrible “dark haze” was descending on his beloved Motherland. But Viktor Dmitrich knows. And of course, there is no despondency, no despair, no revenge, no hatred, no malice in him. Only warm, peasant humor that covers up the invisible love for the Motherland...

III. The image of a poet and artist in world literature

I took in my hands a well-painted icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, baptized the brothers with it, separately baptized Victor Dmitrich, and said:

Here, our dear Victor Dmitrich, we give you this icon of the Mother of God for your 70th birthday, so that it will protect and save you. Here, drive a nail from the top, and hang it over your bed, so that it will protect you from all obsessions and drive away thoughts and disperse demons who are trying to tempt us, attack us, drive us into melancholy and despondency, suggest and direct us to the wrong path , ignite passions and crazy desires...
- Yes, I have nails, I’ll hammer them in and hang them today! - Viktor Dmitrievich said and kissed the icon.
Then I also congratulated Vladislav and Yuri on their birthday, and although I didn’t congratulate Igor Igorevich, I still gave him a real black cap for submariners with a black, gold and white cockade, in the center of which there is an anchor.
Then the Banner Bearers congratulated: Alexander Valerievich Korolev presented Viktor Dmitrievich with an icon of St. Nicholas the Pleasant with terminals and said:
- I brought this icon from the Vyatka religious procession, it has healing properties, so I wish you, Victor Dmitrich, strength, health, joy and good haste in everything...

Alexander Valerievich gave me a full-length icon of Tsar John Vasilyevich with a battle banner in his hands, the work of our wonderful friend - the artist Mikhail Mikhailovich, about whom I definitely need to write a separate chapter of this story of mine - because he is a wonderful person. Russian and selfless, unmercenary like few, with a truly Christian and truly artistic soul.
That's all, they say, Dostoevsky has Prince Myshkin, and Leskov has Lefty, and Gogol has the poor artist Piskarev from the story “Nevsky Prospekt”. But somehow there are few images of detached and disinterested artists in Russian literature. There in the West they have, for example, Leon Feuchwanger, who wrote a novel about Goya, or Somerset Maugham, who wrote “The Moon and a Penny” about Gauguin, or Irving Stone, who wrote “Agony and Ecstasy” about Michelangelo and “Sailor in the Saddle” about Jack London. True, this is not so much literature as fiction. But still. There are books about Gohem and Van Gogh. And Thomas Mann even took aim at a portrait of a crazy, sick composer, under the typically German title “Doctor Faustus.” There was, of course, an attempt at such a Russian Faust and we have the image of the Master in the novel “The Master and Margarita”. But it turned out to be somewhat sluggish, unclear, and as if cut out of cardboard. Some kind of cardboard Faust. And oddly enough, the most incomprehensible image among the brightly and prominently outlined others, even the most minor characters. The most convex ones were Margarita and the black cat Behemoth. The cat is absolutely incredible. “Puss in Boots” by Pierrot, “The Scientist Cat” by Pushkin, the co-author cat in “Notes of the Cat Murr” by Hoffmann and, finally, “Behemoth the Cat” by Bulgakov. In general, cats are much luckier than artists...
Meanwhile, the characters of our Russian people, such as Viktor Dmitrich or Mikhail Mikhailovich, are no less interesting than those of all these cats in world literature. And Mikhail Mikhailovich and Viktor Dmitrich have no less bliss and foolishness than, for example, Lefty or Prince Myshkin. You definitely need to write about them. Necessarily…
And after all the congratulations and gifts, Maxim Markov also presented me with a beautiful icon of St. Sava of Serbia, which our young Serbian friend, now film director Andrei Dragovich, gave me with congratulations. Now Tsar John Vasilyevich and his relative Saint Sava of Serbia decorate my work room and help me write this endless story of mine about our Russian and Serbian people, which is called “A Novel about Russia”...

IV. Songs of the Banner Bearers

Then they sang songs. This used to be our banner-bearing tradition. Then it somehow went away. But today, on the day of Viktor Dmitrich’s 70th birthday, it resumed. Actually, Viktor Dmitrich resumed:

Let's sing, brothers! - he exclaimed.
- Let’s sing about the Terek as before!... Vladislav, come on, start...

There was no need to ask Vladislav for long. He loved to sing. And he loved to “conceive.” And he began:
Like a quick Ter-e-k, to a high bank
The Cossacks brought out forty thousand horses
And the Terek was covered, and the shore was covered
Hundreds of chopped and shot people...

Love, brothers, love! Love, brothers, to live!
There is no need to bother with our chieftain! – The banner bearers picked it up.

And I saw that same “fast Terek”, and a terrible slaughter was going on. And heroes fall:

And the first bullet, and the first bullet,
And the first bullet, brothers, wounded the horse.
And the second bullet, and the second bullet,
And the second bullet in the heart wounded me...

I can see that the horse stumbled, the Cossack fell from his horse into the steppe weeds, and the detachment rushed on. And now he lies alone in the middle of the wide steppe...

My blond curls, my bright eyes
They will be overgrown with grasses, weeds and wormwood.
My bones are white, my heart is brave
Kites and crows will scatter across the steppe...

What incredible power there is in these Russian Cossack songs. What epic pictures you immediately see. I generally have highly developed internal vision. Like watching a movie. So I see: here he is, a dashing young Cossack, lying in the grass, and above him, drawing a long circle after a circle, a raven gradually descends... And no whining, everything is as it should be. And if not so, then there is no reason to live...

This song just ended. As Vladislav begins it, so to speak, a continuation:

Where did you fly so far?
Black raven - you are my vagrant friend,
Where did you fly so far?...

This song has an interesting “refrente” here. Each last line must be repeated by the next person sitting at the table.

- Where did you fly so far? – Viktor Dmitrievich announced loudly.

- You brought me, and you are a black raven, a white pen with a ring...

- A white pen with a ring, - sang Yura Rzhanitsyn.

She went out, she went out, she went out onto the porch,
I staggered a little...
I recognized my friend's ring
Whose hand does the raven have...
That hand, the hand of my dear one,
Know he was killed in the war...

- You know, he was killed in the war-e-e-e-e-e-e- sang Maxim Markov...

He came, came there with a shovel
Gracious man...

- Gracious man, - sang Stepan

And buried, buried in one grave
Two hundred and forty people...

- Two hundred and forty people, - Alexander Valerievich repeated in a strong voice...

And he put up a cross, yes, an oak cross,
And on it he wrote:
“Here lie, lie with the Don, heroes.
Slava D O to the Russian Cossacks! - Valery Alexandrovich slowly repeated the last words.
- Slava D O nsky Cossacks! – all the Banner Bearers took up...

Then we got carried away and sang for a long time, a lot, well and harmoniously. And the songs spread throughout the area:

Spring won't come for me
It’s not for me that the Don will overflow,
And the girl's heart will beat
With the delight of feelings is not for me...

What power! What a vastness! Pictures straight out of Gogol’s Taras Bulba. Only somehow simpler, wider, lighter:

Easter will not come for me,
All the relatives will gather at the table,
"Christ is risen!" it will flow from the lips,
Easter day is not for me...

And for me - a piece of lead,
He will dig into the white body,
And bitter tears will flow,
This is life, brother, for me...

This hymn to Russian, Cossack life flowed powerfully over the grass and flowers, over the wild grapes, cherries and apple trees. And Death. And fearlessness in front of her! Even somehow with a challenge. Everything is here: all Russian prowess, all the beauty and high tragedy of Life and Death...

And Vladislav immediately began to say:

Black Raven, why are you flying around?
Over my head?
You won't get any spoils!
Black Raven, I am not yours!…

Why are you spreading your claws?
Over my my head?
Or can you smell your prey?
Black Raven, I am not yours!…

But suddenly the tone of the dialogue with the raven changes. The hero asks for the bird:

Take the bloody handkerchief
My dear love,
Tell me - she's free
I married someone else...

Kalena was crowned with an arrow
Among the fatal battle.
I see my death coming...
Black Raven - I am all yours!

Have mercy on us, God Almighty,
And listen to our prayer,
This is how the fighter "Guarding" died
Far from my native land...

The commander shouted: Well, guys!
The dawn will not rise for you,
Rus' is rich in heroes,
Let us also die for the Tsar!

And the kingstons instantly opened,
And they went into the abyss of the sea,
Without a murmur, not even a groan,
Far from my native land.

And the seagulls flew there,
Whirling with death's melancholy,
And they sang eternal glory
To the heroes in the depths of the sea...

This is the strength of the future Russia -
Her heroes are immortal.
This is how the battleship lives “Guardian”
In the hearts of our Russian people...

Thus ends this heroic song. It would seem that everything can be put to rest. But Victor Dmitrich suddenly continued:

Upstairs, comrades, everyone is in place,
The last parade is coming.
Our proud “Varyag” does not surrender to the enemy,
No one wants mercy...

Farewell, comrades, with God - Hurrah!
The boiling sea is below us.
Brothers, you and I didn’t think yesterday,
That today we will die under the waves...

Neither the stone nor the cross will tell where they lay
For the glory of the Russian flag,
Only the waves of the sea will glorify
The heroic death of the “Varyag”!...

And Vladislav suddenly took it and continued:

With the Russian banner - forward to the enemies!
Forward, fighting guys,
Let's show what the sailors' strike means
After all, he blesses us from under the clouds
The Russian Christ Pantakrator himself!…

This is how the Banner Bearers sat and sang at the festive meal on June 17 in the summer of Christ 2018...

V. Conversation with Sergei Krishtal, Valery Erchak and Leonid Bolotin

On Sunday, May 27, 2018, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity and on the day of the Holy Coronation of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II Alexandrovich, banner bearers were invited to go in a Procession of the Cross - a Church Procession - around Moscow. From 15.00 to 17.00. On that day, I remember, at one o’clock in the afternoon Sergei Vladimirovich Krishtal still called. Happy Holidays. He says that Metropolitan Theognostus and Archimandrite Herman are “running away” from him. Theognostus leaves the Lavra at four in the morning, and Archimandrite Herman “hides” (locks himself in his church).

- Why don’t they like you so much? – I asked. – And because Patriarch Alexy was my friend! – answered Sergei Nikolaevich. - So, at one Christmas reading, he, sitting in the Presidium, told how he visited Nadym, and at the same time he kept looking at me. And they noticed it and became worried.
– Patriarch Alexy?
- Yes, Alexy. . .
– Is this another icon you already have?
- Yes, another one. That one was Nadymskaya, and this one was created in the brotherhood by Fr. Rafail Berestov, with his blessing. He is also my friend.
- Yes, I know.
– And now a third one is being created. . .
– How long will you be in Moscow? – I asked.
– No, tomorrow I’m leaving for Kuban. And then straight to Serbia.
– Who are you going to Serbia with?
- With Ekaterina Veselinovich.
- Oh, with Katya. OK then. God bless you. Go. God bless you, and God grant you health to complete your deeds.
- Save me, God.

And how many such ascetics walk around Rus' and its environs. How many, in the terminology of Dvorkin and Uminsky, are absolutely crazy psychos, sectarians and provocateurs. They call these “marginals”, “zealots”, “extremists”, “sectarians”, “schismatics”, “heretics”, “tsar-worshipers”, etc., and these call them “Jews”, “kikes”, “servants” Antichrist", "renovationists", "ecumenists", "globalists", "servants of the Beast", "Kabbalists" and "secret Judaists". And some are obvious. Because there is no difference between “Judaist”, “Jew” and “Jew” in the vocabulary of our fundamentalists.
But the most interesting thing here is that in fact the difference is often difficult to discern and has to be caught in each specific case. And even then with difficulty. Because a Jew, whether he wants it or not, is practically unable to escape from the gas chamber of the all-encompassing Jewish spirit. For not only the Old Testament can be interpreted both according to Christ and in the Jewish way, but the New Testament, it turns out, too. But our devotees, heroes and poets such as Nikolai Bogolyubov and Sergei Krishtal “interpret” everyone correctly. For this they are persecuted by the blind ancient Roman goddess...
And here is another interesting conversation with another great Russian ascetic at the awards ceremony of the “Resurrecting Rus'” poetry competition, the meeting of which took place on the third floor of the Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture. Around seven o'clock in the evening they began to gather. The first to come was one of the leaders of the RUSICH website, Ivan Ivanovich Zhuk. Then another one came, the site’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Nikolaevich Yudkin. And there the people began to catch up. Here is the poet Nikolai Bogolyubov, tried for his poetry under the 282nd “Russian” article, and here is Valery Erchak, the author of a book about Ivan the Terrible, for which he is also being tried under the same sacramental article - 282... Erchak saw us with Alexander Valerievich, was delighted, came up, said Christ, and then we had a very interesting, I would say, wonderful conversation:

Remember the cinema? - he asked.
- Elbrus?
- Yes, a meeting of monarchists and your speech, Leonid Donatovich.
- Yes I remember.
- It was a breakthrough, even, I would say, an explosion!
- Yes, yes, we saw these words in the akathist: Repent, Russian people, for the murder of the Tsar and Anointed of God! – exclaimed Alexander Valerievich. – They saw it, highlighted it and handed it over to Leonid Donatovich to the presidium, and he spoke.
- Yes Yes! I supported you then, do you remember? – picked up Erchak.
“I remember,” I answered.
- Yes, yes, you wrote about it...
- Yes, I wrote on the website “Drakula.org”...
- Yes Yes!
- After all, they were all shouting about us Russians: His blood is on us and our children!!!
- That is, we, like Jews, take the blood of the Tsar upon ourselves! I wonder who was the first to suggest that we all take upon ourselves the Blood of the King?...
- They did a great job then!
- Yes. But the real repentance of the Russian people began, and they redirected it,” Erchak said bitterly.
- They redirected... Instead of repentance, it turned out to be suicide. After all, “his blood be on us and on our children” is a sentence! – answered Leonid Donatovich.
- Exactly. Not repentance, but suicide! You formulated this perfectly! And now they took me, they took me right on the train...
- This is revenge on you for holding out then and not giving in. Well, and for Ivan the Terrible, of course. They betrayed him to the eternal Herem...

This is what Erchak and I had that evening, April 28, 2018, at about seven o’clock in the evening, an interesting conversation on the third floor of the International Foundation for Slavic Literature and Culture, where there is a large round table. And behind us on the wall were portraits of Russian heroes who died in Novorossiya. And to the right of us is a bust of the founder of the Foundation, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov.
The Kingdom of Heaven to all of them, who laid down their souls for their friends, led by the servant of God Vyacheslav!

Then he spoke with Leonid Bolotin:

On July 17, not only in Yekaterinburg, but also in Moscow, there should be something. After all, Moscow is the Third Rome...
“Yes, we were invited on July 17 to the Procession of the Cross at the Spaso-Andronnikov Monastery...” I answered.
- Here! This is good! And I would love to take part!
- Yes Yes. Maybe that's how it will be. Not only in Yekaterinburg, but also in Moscow. The oldest temple of the 15th century, where Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny are buried in the altar.
Let's stop there. At the Andronnikov Monastery. After all, Saint Andronicus was a friend of Sergius of Radonezh. And Sergius is the main Russian person in our entire Russian history...
So we held a religious procession at the Spaso-Andronnikov Monastery on the 100th anniversary of the murder of the Holy Royal Martyrs. So, in Moscow on this sacred day there was a religious procession...
So, for at least 25 years now, the everyday life and festivities of the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers have been taking place...

ChapterUnion of Orthodox Banner Bearers, Chairman of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, representative of the Order of St. George the Victorious and head of the Serbian-Montenegrin Savez of Orthodox Barjaktar

Most of those who criticize the church, as a rule, know little about church life itself. For such people, for example, they do not know that within the church there are different opinions on any issues. These ideas are expressed and listened to. There is a constant exchange of these opinions.
For example, let’s take the Orthodox Banner Bearers. Few people know what kind of people they are, where they came from and what they actually do. Frankly, I was not fully aware of this organization either. Until recently, I thought that they had nothing to do with the Russian Orthodox Church at all. In reality, everything turned out to be much more interesting.

Members of the organization oppose gay pride and Harry Potter and burn a portrait of Ciccone-Madonna. To what extent are the actions of this union encouraged by the Russian Orthodox Church? Do the banner bearers act completely independently or do their actions receive church-wide approval? Questions about them were asked to several clergy, who expressed their opinions.

First to speak out Archpriest Alexy Uminsky
about the burning of a portrait of the singer Madonna by banner bearers: “I cannot name such actions otherwise than stupidity, bad upbringing, bad taste. This is one of the forms of expression of ordinary animal aggression, one of the manifestations of aggressive behavior driven into the subconscious. When a person burns someone's portrait, they are actually subconsciously wanting to destroy the other, so to say that they are against sin is disingenuous.
It’s another matter when a person expresses his position even in a picket - then we can say that he is protesting against sin.
But here we see how the act of burning is carried out, which immediately resembles the bonfires of the Inquisition, fascist bonfires. These are already acts of pathological thinking, which should be addressed to a psychiatrist.
It seems to me that if a person shows his Orthodoxy in this way, he needs to be treated. Moreover, if we are consistent, it turns out that then we need to react in a similar way to every television program, to every book. This is not serious.
The only thing I can advise is to fight your own sin. Those who begin to show aggression outwardly seem to be declaring that they no longer have any sins, since instead of fighting their own sins, they fight the sins of another person. But you should pay attention first of all to yourself.”

Here's a second opinion. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin
The Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers has church approval; this organization is part of the Council of Orthodox Church Associations under the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Interaction between Church and Society.
I cannot subscribe to their every action and every performance. The organization is creative, it likes to respond to various events in the social and cultural life of society. It consists mainly of classical intellectuals, although it appears in a “common” guise.
We are in dialogue with them, sometimes we argue with them on some issues. But, as you know, in our Church there are completely different people - from extremely conservative to extremely liberal. I hope that all these people, despite the difference in positions and attitudes towards certain phenomena of social life, will be united in the main thing - in faith and in a fraternal spirit, and will act together in the face of the challenges that the Church faces.

The third opinion was expressed by Protodeacon Alexander Ageikin
He, commenting on the action of the Union of Communists against the political prayer service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, told a Pravmir correspondent: “Their favorite actions are near the temple. The hats are beautiful, and other paraphernalia is important to them. More important than peace in the heart, probably.”

These are the church opinions.

Reference
The Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers was created in 1992 with the blessing of the ever-memorable Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John (Snychev).
The main goal of the activity is “strengthening and spreading the Orthodox Faith, restoring the Autocratic Monarchy, reviving Russian National Identity and Imperial Russian Patriotism throughout the Russian Empire.” “We are fighting on the spiritual front, that is, we are fighting through religious processions, Orthodox processions, People’s Assemblies in squares, at monuments, prayer services with the participation of as many Russian people as possible, united by the idea of ​​Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality.”
The head and founder of the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers is Leonid Donatovich Simonovich-Niksic.
On December 20, 2006, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II awarded Leonid Simonovich-Niksic with the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, third degree.
Materials used from the site pravmir.ru

How do I feel about this organization? She is foreign to me. I think that the public burning of someone's portraits, all these costumes, is a little inconsistent with what the church preaches. They are very similar to our Russian nationalists. Those whose ideas are sewn with white thread. There is no historical background, there is only senseless pride and the desire to show off. In this regard, the opinion of Archpriest Alexy Uminsky is closest to me.

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