Japanese Orthodox Mission St. Nicholas Kasatkin. Troparion to Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan. Last years of life and death

Japan for many centuries was a closed book for the whole world - they did not welcome communication with foreigners, they were not interested in the "benefits of Western civilization", and even more so they did not seek to comprehend other people's creeds. But everything miraculously changed when Hieromonk Nikolai (Kasatkin) first set foot on Japanese soil. February marks the 95th anniversary of his death. Through his efforts, Japan became closer and more understandable to Russia, he did, perhaps, more for the friendship of our peoples than all politicians before and after him.

Start of ministry

IVAN Dmitrievich Kasatkin was born on August 1, 1836 in the village of Bereza, Belsky district, Smolensk province, in the family of deacon Dimitry Kasatkin. When Vanya was five years old, her mother died, and the older sister, whose husband also served as a deacon in the village church, began to take care of the children. Looking at his relatives, young Vanya Kasatkin could not imagine any other path than the spiritual one. At first he studied at the Belsk Theological School, then he graduated with honors from the Smolensk Theological Seminary and in 1856 entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy on public account. In the spring of 1860, an announcement was posted at the academy inviting one of the graduates to serve as rector of the consular church in Hakodate. “I see some kind of sheet lying,” Bishop Nikolai later said. “I read it, it turns out that this is a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: does any of the students of the academy want to go to Japan in Hakodate to the Russian consulate as a priest or a monk.” Calmly reading this announcement, the young man went to the vigil, and here he suddenly had a desire to go to Japan without fail. Many years later, St. Nicholas told the students of the Tokyo Seminary: "I firmly admit, with all my unworthiness, that the will of God sent me to Japan."

The future Saint Nicholas submitted a petition to serve as a hieromonk (monk-priest) and, by his own admission, he never repented of this in his life.

On June 21, 1860, Ivan Kasatkin took monastic vows with the name Nikolai, and on June 29 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and the next day, a hieromonk. Then there was a long road to Japan. He spent the winter of 1860/1861 in the city of Nikolaevsk, where Bishop Innokenty (Veniaminov) of Kamchatka, the future Saint of Moscow, instructed the young missionary. Conversations with Vladyka Innokenty St. Nicholas kept in his memory for the rest of his life.

In July 1861, Hieromonk Nicholas arrived at the port of Hakodate. At that time, the decree of 1614 on the complete ban on Christian doctrine was still in force in the country. After the 1873 government law on freedom of religion, the difficulties of evangelism did not disappear: persecution, especially in rural areas, continued for a long time.

The first Russian Japanese

Saint Nicholas studied the culture and history of the country, mastered Japanese and Chinese writing to such an extent that he could read medieval Buddhist texts that were inaccessible to most Japanese. Saint Nicholas is called one of the first Japaneseists.

Founded by Archimandrite Nicholas, the Orthodox Church of Japan was the true Church of the first centuries of Christianity. “Working for the Lord with all humility and many tears and misfortunes” (Acts 20:19), Saint Nicholas began evangelism in Hakodate, acquired the first disciples there and sent them to preach in other cities and provinces of Japan.

There were no churches yet - parishioners met secretly in private homes in the Takashimizu community near Tokyo, in the parishes of the northern island of Hokkaido. Not everyone in Japan was happy with the new creed - in Kanpari, Takashimizu and Odawara, the pagans destroyed Orthodox churches, and in Duyumonji they stoned the Japanese priest Pavel Sawabe. In Sendai and Hakodate, the authorities imprisoned worshipers in dungeons. But - lo and behold - the policemen, who thoroughly interrogated Christians, suddenly became adherents of the teachings of Christ themselves. The disciples of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas had to compete in oratory with adherents of Buddhism, Shintoism, and atheism. Japanese brothers and sisters built Orthodox churches together, some parishioners donated their houses and plots of land to the community.

In April 1875, the first council of the Japanese Orthodox Church was held in Hakodate. Representatives of many communities of Japan came here: Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka. The main act of the council was the selection of candidates for ordination to deacons and priests. In July 1875 Bishop Pavel of Kamchatka visited Hakodate and ordained the former persecutor of Orthodoxy Pavel Savabe as a priest, and the catechist John Sakai as a deacon.

Thanks to the selfless missionary work of Father Nicholas, more and more believers appeared in Japan. "The spiritual mission in Japan ... on the success of the conversion to Orthodoxy of a considerable number of Japanese ... cannot but attract the attention and full sympathy of all Orthodox Russia," Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov wrote to the Holy Synod, reporting on the need for episcopal consecration of Archimandrite Nicholas. In March 1880, the consecration of Archimandrite Nikolai as Bishop of Revel took place in the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Lavra. From that time on, Vladyka himself could ordain clergy for the young Japanese Church.

Saint Nicholas always acted gradually and always trusted in God's help. At the same time, Vladyka was an uncompromising person in matters of faith and the canonicity of worship. In everything, he relied primarily on the gospel words of the Savior and the apostolic rules, in fact teaching his flock a lesson of sincere and deep faith.

The ministry of Saint Nicholas required from him incredible strength, tension, self-discipline and endless hope in God's help: "I am forever alone - there is no one to share thoughts, sorrows, a difficult state of mind with; whether it will be of any use; if there are good signs, you are happy; if they are bad, you suffer like hell.

The Japanese flock has never seen a manifestation of hypocrisy, negligence or a cold, rational attitude of the lord to the cause of salvation, commanded by the Lord.

"And how many miraculous signs have already been in the young and ingenuously believing Japanese Church!" - wrote St. Nicholas. He repeatedly traveled around the Orthodox communities and everywhere turned to Christians with a sermon and fatherly instructions in the faith.

With whom you are?

DURING the war of 1904-1905, Bishop Nikolai found it impossible to leave the Japanese flock and was one of the few Russians who remained in Japan. The war years were perhaps the most difficult for the missionary. Vladyka blessed the Japanese to fulfill their civic duty and fight against the Russians on the emperor's side.

“So, brothers and sisters, do everything that the duty of loyal subjects requires of you in these circumstances. Pray to God that He grant victories to your imperial army ... But besides the earthly fatherland, we also have the Heavenly Fatherland. To it belong people without differences between nationalities, because all people are equally children of the Heavenly Father and brothers among themselves.Therefore, I do not part from you, brothers and sisters, and remain in your family as in my own family... Nevertheless, together we will fervently pray that The Lord quickly restored the broken peace," Bishop Nicholas addressed his flock.

However, as a Russian, he could not pray together with the Japanese for the success of the Japanese troops, and therefore he never attended the liturgies in the cathedral.

At the same time, the Russian Spiritual Mission took care of the prisoners of war. Orthodox Japanese, through the Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War created by Vladyka, helped Russian soldiers.

Four years before his death, Vladyka wrote: “It will be difficult for my successor, and he needs to be a man of strong patience and piety. a few seeds. The sprouts are showing, but how faded ... "

By 1912, the last year of the ministry of Archbishop Nicholas, 175 churches and 8 large cathedral churches were opened for Orthodox Christians in 266 parishes, and 40 Japanese clergy were in the clergy. In Tokyo itself, in addition to the Resurrection Cathedral, there were several churches; worship was conducted in Japanese. Under the mission, there was a theological seminary, which received the official status of a secondary educational institution in Japan, a women's school, an orphanage, a publishing house, and a library.

Saint Nicholas, with God's help, managed to accomplish a rare and practically impossible work for one person - the translation of Holy Scripture. During the last seventeen years, all the books of the New Testament and several liturgical books have been translated into Japanese and repeatedly verified.

Back in 1904, Vladyka wrote in his diary: “God, there is still a whole sea of ​​translations. But what use will they be! You only need to read and sing clearly in the Church, and listen attentively to those who pray - and a whole sea of ​​Christian teaching flows into the soul, illuminates the mind knowledge of dogmas, enlivens the heart of the saint with poetry, animates and moves the will following holy examples.This is a bright, living, authoritative sermon and prayer through the lips of the entire Church Ecumenical in the voice of the God-inspired Holy Fathers, in the aggregate as authoritative as the evangelists and apostles, the leaders of church prayer. .."

In 1910, the seventy-four-year-old Bishop fell seriously ill. But weakness of heart could not tear him away from daily service, sermons, translations, instructions to the clergy and parishioners. The Christmas Liturgy in 1912 was the last of his life. On January 11, Saint Nicholas was admitted to the hospital, where doctors made disappointing predictions. Finding out from the doctor that he had been given only a few weeks, Vladyka tried to complete the main work of his life - the translation of the service into Japanese. One evening, Bishop Sergius (Tikhomirov), the successor of St. Nicholas, went to his hospital: “In front of the window of the room there is a small table ... on it are Japanese manuscripts, an ink pot, brushes, in front of Vladyka is a Slavic Triodion ... Vladyka in golden glasses , cheerful ... Who could say that this is an old man sentenced to death?"

On February 3/16, 1912, at 7 pm Tokyo time, His Eminence Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan, passed away. On February 4, all of Japan knew about the death of the missionary.

"The highest honor that Japan paid to the lord was that the Emperor of Japan himself sent a magnificent and huge wreath of fresh flowers to the coffin of the lord. ... Having begun under mortal dangers, Vladyka Nikolai ended his activity in Japan with approval from the height of the Throne..." Bishop Sergius wrote.

In 1970, the first evangelizer of Orthodoxy in Japan, Archbishop Nikolai (Kasatkin), was canonized as a saint.

Dimitri Shumov, priest, based on the book by G. E. Besstremyannaya "Japanese Orthodox Church"

Saint Nicholas, wishing to enlighten the people of Japan with the light of the faith of Christ, devoted himself entirely to this service, for which he was canonized as Equal-to-the-Apostles in 1970.

At the very beginning of his missionary service, he could have died at the hands of a Shinto priest, a former samurai, but the faith, wisdom, attention and love of St. Nicholas led this man, as well as 20,000 more Japanese, whom he baptized during his ministry, to Christ.

The future educator of Japan was born on August 1, 1836. His parents, Dmitry Ivanovich and Ksenia Alekseevna Kasatkin, named their son Ivan. The family lived in the Belsky district of the Smolensk province, where the village of Bereza is now located. Vanya's father served as a simple village deacon. The boy lost his mother at an early age. Ivan will help his father until the end of his life.

Extreme poverty did not prevent Vanya from receiving a spiritual education. At first, he studied at the Velsk Theological School, then at the Smolensk Theological Seminary, to which he traveled 150 miles from his native village on foot. Successful study at the seminary allowed the young man to continue his studies at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. In 1860, he noticed an announcement hanging in the academy that invited the rector of the church at the embassy in the Japanese city of Hakodate. At that moment, the theological academy was headed by Bishop Nektary, to whom his student, with emotion in his soul, told about his desire to be poisoned to Japan, but not as a white priest, but as a monk. Bishop Nektarios was impressed by the disciple's intention, and Vladyka informed the Metropolitan of Ivan Kasatkin's desire. This decision was fateful for Ivan.

Yesterday's student was tonsured a monk with the name Nicholas on June 21, 1860, eight days later he was ordained a hierodeacon, and the next day a hieromonk.

Monk Nikolai (Kasatkin) began his ministry in Japan at a troubled time for that country. In fact, between 1862 and 1868, Japan was in a state of civil war. Europeans, including Russians, were disliked here. Missionary work under such conditions was dangerous.

To understand whether it was possible to preach the Gospel among the population of Japan, it was necessary to be imbued with the spirit of this eastern people, and the young monk devoted all his time to studying the language and culture of the Japanese people, as well as Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism common in these lands, in which he achieved great success .

The first student of Father Nikolai Kasatkin was a Shinto priest, a former samurai named Takuma Sawabe. Sawabe earned a living by teaching fencing skills, which he also taught the son of the Russian consul in Hakodate, I. A. Goshkevich. Sawabe harbored hatred for all foreigners, and the preaching of Hieromonk Nicholas, in his opinion, could harm Japan the most. Then Father Nikolay asked Sawabe why, knowing nothing about faith in Christ, he judges her like that? The question confused the Japanese. The question was followed by conversations in which Sawabe's friends, the doctor Sakai Atsunori and the doctor Urano, also took part. The word of the Russian monk sunk deep into the souls of these people, and they themselves began to hold conversations about Christ among their entourage. The Orthodox Church in Japan began with these people. The three of them were secretly baptized in the office of the saint in 1868: Sawabe with the name Paul, Sakai with the name John, and Urano with the name Jacob.

In order to continue the work begun in Japan, it became necessary to organize a Russian spiritual mission here. The solution of issues related to the opening of the mission prompted the hieromonk in 1870 to return to Russia for some time. To open a mission, it was necessary to enlist the petition of the Holy Synod and obtain a decree from Emperor Alexander II. Questions were answered positively. Nikolai Kasatkin himself was placed at the head of the mission, elevated to the rank of archimandrite, and three hieromonk missionaries and a clerk were called as assistants.

Saint Nicholas returned to Hakodata in March 1871, and soon, when the ban on missionary activity was lifted in Japan, he moved to Tokyo with the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, where he continued to engage in translation activities. Translations of liturgical texts and Holy Scriptures remained the main business of an Orthodox missionary.

In Tokyo, Bishop Nicholas founded a seminary whose graduates also translated into Japanese. Both theological literature and the works of Russian writers and poets were translated. St. Nicholas called books the main way of preaching among the Japanese, who are so fond of reading.

A library was opened at the spiritual mission center, boys and girls were educated in an elementary school opened here, an orphanage, a catechism school and a seminary were also organized, a magazine was published, and in 1891 the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ was solemnly consecrated in Tokyo.

Archimandrite Nikolai showed special tact during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. For the sake of his flock, Vladyka decides not to leave Japan, but, being a son of Russia, he ceases to participate in public services, during which Orthodox Japanese prayed for victory in this war. Vladyka blessed his flock to fulfill the necessary duty to the Fatherland, but reminded that all people, regardless of whose land they defend, should not forget about the heavenly fatherland, because we are all children of the Heavenly Father. He urged "to fulfill our duty regarding our heavenly fatherland, which is due to anyone ..." and asked everyone to pray fervently to the Lord for the restoration of the broken peace.

In order to provide spiritual assistance to Russian prisoners of war who were taken to Japan, Father Nikolai asked the government for permission to organize a special Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War. And the letters with which Vladyka was allowed to address the captured were a great support for these people.

The personality of the saint and his deeds evoked a feeling of deep respect among the Japanese. In 1911, celebrations were held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Archbishop Nikolai Kasatkin's stay in Japan. The members of the Japanese Orthodox Church at that time were 33,017 Orthodox laity. Vladyka Nikolai himself turned 75 years old. By this date, the saint completed the translation into Japanese of the texts of Holy Scripture.

Saint Nicholas compared the years of his service in Japan to plowing. He wrote about this in one of his letters shortly before his death. He laid his life on the field of Christ and spoke of himself as a withered plow of a Christian, whose labors at least somewhat allowed the soul to be cleansed.

On February 16, 1912, Archbishop Nicholas of Tokyo and All Japan reposed in the Lord. This day is established by the Church as the day of memory of St. Nicholas of Japan.

Vadim Yanchuk

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Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, Archbishop of Japan, in the world Ivan Dimitrievich Kasatkin, was born on August 1, 1836 in the Berezovsky churchyard, Volsky district, Smolensk province, where his father served as a deacon. At the age of five he lost his mother. After graduating from the Belsk Theological School, and then the Smolensk Theological Seminary, in 1857 Ivan Kasatkin entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. On June 24, 1860, in the academic church of the Twelve Apostles, Bishop Nektarios tonsured him into monasticism and gave him the name Nicholas. On the day of memory of the chief apostles Peter and Paul, on June 29, monk Nicholas was consecrated to the hierodeacon, and on June 30, on the patronal feast of the academic church, to the rank of hieromonk. Then, at his request, Father Nikolai was appointed to Japan, rector of the consular temple in the city of Hakodate.

At first, preaching the gospel in Japan seemed completely unthinkable. According to Father Nikolai himself, "then the Japanese looked at foreigners as at animals, and at Christianity as a villainous church, to which only notorious villains and sorcerers can belong." It took eight years to study the country, people, language, customs, customs of those among whom they were to preach, and by 1868 the flock of Father Nikolai already numbered about twenty Japanese. At the end of 1869, Hieromonk Nicholas in St. Petersburg reported to the Synod on the results of his work. The decision was made: "To form a special Russian Spiritual Mission for preaching between the Japanese pagans of the Word of God." Father Nikolai was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed head of this Mission. Returning to Japan, the future saint handed over the Hakodat flock to Hieromonk Anatoly, and he himself transferred the center of the Mission to Tokyo. In 1871, persecution of Christians began in the country, many were persecuted (including the first Orthodox Japanese, later the famous missionary priest Pavel Sawabe). Only by 1873 did the persecution cease somewhat, and the free preaching of Christianity became possible.

In the same year, Archimandrite Nicholas began building a church and a school for fifty people in Tokyo, and then a theological school, which in 1878 was transformed into a seminary.

In 1874, His Grace Pavel, Bishop of Kamchatka, arrived in Tokyo to ordain candidates from the local population recommended by Archimandrite Nicholas. By this time, there were four schools operating under the Mission in Tokyo - catechism, seminary, women's, clergy, and two in Hakodate - for boys and girls. In the second half of 1877, the Mission began to publish regularly the journal "Church Herald". By 1878, there were already 4,115 Christians in Japan, and there were numerous Christian communities. Worship and teaching in the native language, publication of books of religious and moral content - these are the means that allowed the Mission to achieve such significant results in a short time.

On March 30, 1880, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Archimandrite Nikolai was consecrated as a bishop. Returning to Japan, the saint began to continue his apostolic labors with even greater zeal: he completed the construction of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Tokyo, set to work on a new translation of the Liturgical books, and compiled a special Orthodox Theological Dictionary in Japanese.

Great trials befell the saint and his flock during the Russo-Japanese War. For his ascetic labors in these difficult years, he was awarded the rank of archbishop.

In 1911, half a century had passed since the young hieromonk Nicholas first set foot on Japanese soil. By that time, there were 33,017 Christians in 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, 1 archbishop, 1 bishop, 35 priests, 6 deacons, 14 singing teachers, 116 catechizer preachers.

On February 3, 1912, at the age of 76, Archbishop Nicholas, the Enlightener of Japan, peacefully reposed in the Lord. On April 10, 1970, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church issued an act of glorification of the saint as equal to the apostles, for in Japan the saint had long been revered as a great righteous man and prayer book before the Lord.

Where he studied from up to a year.

This year, Ivan noticed an announcement with a proposal to send one of those who graduated from the academic course to Japan to the position of rector of the Resurrection Church at the recently opened Russian consulate in Hakodate, and on the same day, during the vigil, he suddenly decided that he should become a monk and go to Japan. The rector of the academy, Bishop Nektary (Nadezhdin), blessed his impulse. Thanks to the personal dying intercession of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Gregory (Postnikov), the future saint - a half-educated but promising student - was not only presented with a place in Japan, but was also awarded the degree of candidate of theology without submitting an appropriate qualifying essay. However, for a number of disciplines Ivan Kasatkin was not certified, because. I missed a whole year of study.

Being summoned to Russia for consecration, in the years Archimandrite Nikolai visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Kyiv and Odessa, collecting voluntary donations for the construction of a cathedral in Tokyo. With active support from Russia, the cathedral was consecrated on March 8, becoming one of the greatest buildings of the Japanese capital, widely known among the Japanese as "Nikorai-doo" ("Temple of Nicholas") in honor of the illuminator of Japan.

Archbishop Nicholas died on February 3. The funeral took place with a huge gathering of people, both Christians and other Japanese and foreigners. Even the Japanese emperor Meiji sent a wreath to the saint's funeral, the first time such an honor was given to a foreign missionary.

Saint Nicholas left behind a cathedral, 8 temples, 175 churches, 276 parishes, one bishop, 34 priests, 8 deacons, 115 preachers and 34,110 Orthodox believers in Japan, laying a solid foundation for the Japanese Orthodox Church.

Relics and veneration

The veneration of the saint began during his lifetime and manifested itself during an unprecedented funeral. The chips from his coffin were preserved by the people as a shrine. The holy relics of the Archbishop were consecrated on February 9 at the Yanaka Cemetery, one of the most respected cemeteries in the Japanese capital.

Long revered in Japan, St. Nicholas, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, was glorified as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church on April 10. In the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, his canonization followed in the year.

Not only the Orthodox honored the memory of the great pastor, but all of Japan knew and revered the saint. Even 58 years after his death, when during the canonization the believers wanted to transfer his holy relics to the cathedral, they were not allowed to do this, saying that St. Nicholas belongs to the entire Japanese people, regardless of religion, and his remains should remain in the national cemetery. Thus, the relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas to this day rest in the Yanaka cemetery, but some of their extracted particles are still in different churches: in the Tokyo Cathedral there is a relic of St. Nicholas, an icon with particles of relics recently appeared in the Hakodat Church, in the year of Metropolitan Tokyo Daniel handed over a piece of the missionary's relics to the parish in his homeland, in the village of Mirny, and on September 17 of the year - to the Vladivostok Assumption Church. In early February, Bishop Seraphim of Sendai handed over a particle of the relics of the saint for the future church in Minsk. A particle of the saint's relics is also found at the St. Nicholas Metropolitan Cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America in Washington.

Karpuk Dmitry Andreevich, "The St. Petersburg Theological Academy during the years of study of St. Nicholas of Japan", report at the conference The Spiritual Heritage of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas of Japan: On the Centenary of the Repose, Nikolo-Ugresh Orthodox Theological Seminary, February 21, 2012, http://old.spbda.ru/news/a-2590.html . see also Issue of 1861. Course XXIV

Before Vanyushka Kasatkin began to bear the name Japanese Nikolai, he was the son of an ordinary village deacon and was close friends with the admiral's children of the Skrydlov family, whose estate was located next to the father's temple. Friends once asked him about what he wants to become, and immediately decided that he would follow in the footsteps of his father. But Vanya dreamed of becoming a sailor. However, his father reined in his dreams of the sea and sent him to study at the theological seminary of the city of Smolensk, and then, as one of the best students, he was sent at public expense to study at the theological seminary of St. Petersburg.

In this city, childhood friends, Vanya and Leont Skrydlov, who became a graduate of the naval cadet corps, met. When asked why he did not become a sailor, Vanya replied that it was possible to surf the expanses of the sea and the ocean as a ship priest.

Japanese Nicholas: the beginning

In his fourth year at the Theological Academy, Ivan learned from an announcement that the Russian Imperial Consulate in Japan needed a priest. Consul of Japan I. Goshkevich decided to organize missionaries in this country, although at that time there was a strict ban on Christianity there.

Ivan, at first, having heard about the Chinese mission, wanted to go to China and preach to the pagans, and this desire had already been formed in him. But then his interest spread from China to Japan, as he read with great interest "Notes of Captain Golovin" about captivity in this country.

In the first half of the 60s of the XIX century, Russia under Alexander II sought to revive, the time has come for great reforms and the abolition of serfdom. The trend of missionary work abroad intensified.

Training

So, Ivan Kasatkin began to prepare for missionary work in Japan. On June 24, 1860, he was tonsured a monk with the name Nicholas in honor of the Great Wonderworker Nicholas. After 5 days he was consecrated a hierodeacon, another day later - a hieromonk. And on August 1, Hieromonk Nicholas, at the age of 24, leaves for Japan. He dreamed of her as of his sleeping bride, who needs to be awakened - this is how she was drawn in his imagination. On the Russian ship "Amur" he finally arrived in the land of the Rising Sun. In Hakodate, Consul Goshkevich received him.

At that time in this country for more than 200 years there was a ban on Christianity. Nikolai of Japan is taken to work. First of all, he studies culture, economics, history and starts translating the New Testament. All this took him 8 years.

Fruit

The first three years were the hardest for him. Japanese Nikolai closely watched the life of the Japanese, visited their Buddhist temples and listened to preachers.

At first, he was mistaken for a spy and even dogs were set loose on him, and the samurai threatened with reprisal. But in the fourth year, Nicholas of Japan found his first like-minded person who believed in Christ. It was the abbot of a Shinto shrine, Takuma Sawabe. A year later, they had another brother, then another. Takume received the name Pavel at baptism, and ten years later the first Japanese Orthodox priest appeared. In this dignity, he had to go through difficult trials.

The first Japanese Christians

Money was very tight. Consul Goshkevich often helped Father Nikolai, who gave money from those of his funds that are usually kept for "extraordinary expenses." In 1868, there was a revolution in Japan: newly converted Japanese Christians were persecuted.

In 1869, Nikolai traveled to St. Petersburg to seek the opening of a mission. This was to give him administrative and economic independence. Two years later, he returns to the rank of archimandrite and head of the mission.

In 1872 Nikolai of Japan received an assistant in the person of a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Academy - Hieromonk Anatoly (Quiet). By this time, there were already about 50 Orthodox Japanese in Hakodate.

Tokyo

And even then St. Nicholas of Japan leaves everything under the care of the priest Pavel Sawabe and Father Anatoly and moves to Tokyo. Here he had to start all over again. And at this time, he opens a Russian language school at home and begins to teach the Japanese.

In 1873, he passed a legislative act on religious tolerance. The private school was soon reorganized into a theological seminary, which became Father Nikolai's favorite brainchild (besides theology, many other disciplines were studied there).

By 1879, there were already several schools in Tokyo: a seminary, catechism, clergy, and a school of foreign languages.

By the end of Father Nikolai's life, the seminary received the status of a secondary educational institution in Japan, the best students of which continued their studies in Russia in theological academies.

The number of believers in the church increased by hundreds. By 1900 there were already Orthodox communities in Nagasaki, Hyogo, Kyoto and Yokohama.

Temple of Nicholas of Japan

In 1878, the consular church began to be built. It was built with charitable money from the Russian merchant Pyotr Alekseev, a former sailor of the Dzhigit ship. At that time there were already 6 Japanese priests.

But Father Nikolai dreamed of a cathedral. To raise funds for its construction, it is sent throughout Russia.

The architect A. Shurupov worked on the sketch of the future temple of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Father Nikolai bought a plot in the Kanda area on Suruga-dai hill. The English architect Joshua Conder built the temple for seven years, and in 1891 he handed over the keys to Father Nikolai. The consecration was attended by 19 priests and 4,000 believers. In the people this temple was called "Nikolai-do".

Its scale for Japanese buildings was impressive, as was the increased authority of Nicholas of Japan himself.

War

In 1904, due to the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian embassy left the country. Nicholas of Japan was left alone. The Orthodox Japanese were mocked and hated, Bishop Nicholas was threatened with death for espionage. He publicly began to explain that not only the national Russian religion, patriotism is a true and natural feeling of any Christian. He sent an official appeal to the temples, where it was ordered to pray for the victory of the Japanese troops. So he decided to save the Orthodox Japanese from contradictions: to believe in Christ and be Japanese. By this he saved the Japanese Orthodox ship. His heart was breaking, and he did not participate in public worship, but alone prayed at the altar.

Then he took care of the Russian prisoners of war, of whom there were more than 70 thousand by the end of the war.

Bishop Nikolai, who had not been in Russia for 25 years, felt the approaching darkness with his perspicacious heart. To escape from all these experiences, he plunged headlong into translations of liturgical books.

On February 16, 1912, at the age of 75, he gave his soul to his Lord in the cell of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. The cause of death was heart failure. During his half-century activity, 265 churches were built, 41 priests, 121 catechists, 15 regents and 31,984 believers were brought up.