St. Nicholas of Japan life stories. Last years of life and death. What do they pray to the saint

(1839 - 1911) later became an archpriest; older sister Olga (1833 -?) married.

Despite extreme poverty, the boy was sent to study first at the Belsk Theological School, and then at the Smolensk Seminary. In the year he brilliantly completed the seminary course and, as the first student, was sent to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy at public expense, where he studied from up to a year.

This year, Ivan noticed an announcement with an offer to send one of those who graduated from the academic course to Japan to take the place 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 accept monasticism 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 Grigory (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 - 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 venerated in Japan, Saint 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 St. Nicholas Equal-to-the-Apostles to this day rest in the Yanaka cemetery, but some of the extracted particles of them 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 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

Text revision from: 29.08.2018 08:22:25

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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 another 20,000 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 spiritual 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, elevated to the rank of archimandrite, was placed at the head of the mission, 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 earnestly 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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On August 1, 1836, the deacon's family in the Berezovsky churchyard of the Belsky district of the Smolensk province (now the village of Bereza in the Tver region) received an addition. The newborn was destined for a long ascetic life. As was customary in those years, the lad followed the parental path, which 25 years later led him, already Hieromonk Nicholas, to Japan at that time. There he almost inseparably spent the remaining 50 years of his life in selfless service to the Orthodox faith, God, the Tsar and the Fatherland.

The happiness of Russia is that in those days it was represented by people of such a magnitude. And it is a misfortune that today the name of Nicholas of Japan is so little known to society. For it is not good for society to scatter such inspiring examples.

Many sources tell about the life and deeds of the Saint. First of all, the Diaries of Nikolai himself, which were considered lost and discovered by the famous Japanese specialist in Russian studies, Professor Nakamura Kennosuke, and subsequently published with his direct participation. A deep bow to him, to all Russian and Japanese ascetics who mastered the colossal work and gave this pearl to people! Among other sources, we mention the notes of Father Sergius (Stargorodsky) “In the Far East (Letters from a Missionary)”.

The japanalbum essay prepared on their basis is happy to bring to the attention of readers on February 16 - the day of memory of Nicholas of Japan. With deep gratitude to the author, who, out of Christian humility, refrained from mentioning his own name.

Start

“It must have been in 1857 or so (in 1860 - note). An offer came to the St. Petersburg Academy (Theological) from the Synod, whether any of the students would like to go as a consular priest in Hakodate to Japan, so that, if the opportunity presented itself, they could begin Christian preaching there as well. Several people signed up, but they all wanted to go as married priests. The student Kosatkin also approached the signature sheet. He had never thought about monasticism before, although he knew that he would be in the service of the church. "Shouldn't I go?" he asked himself. “Yes, you need to go,” sounded in his conscience. - Only unmarried. One thing: either married or a mission, and even in such a distance and in an unknown country. He signed that he wanted to go with the adoption of monasticism. And the next day he submitted a request for tonsure to the rector of the Academy. So suddenly this turn took place and took place forever: since then, Fr. Nikolai did not know and does not know anyone and nothing but the church and the mission planted by him.

So, from the words of Nicholas himself, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergius (Stragorodsky; 1867-1944), who began his pastoral ministry also in distant Japan, later spoke about the beginning of his journey.

I had to go through Siberia, with stops. In Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, about. Nicholas spent the winter enjoying the hospitality of another great missionary, Rev. Innocent. He instructed the guest about the future business and even cooked practically. Funny, with the "spirit of the times" household sketch from Sergius's notes:

“Do you have a good cassock? - Vladyka asked him once.
- Of course have.
However, Vladyka did not like the academic cassock.
- You go there, everyone will see what kind of de he is, what kind of priests they have. You need to give them respect right now. Buy velvet.
The velvet was bought, Vladyka immediately armed himself with scissors and cut out a cassock for Father Nicholas
- Well, that's better. Is there a cross?
There was no cross: he was waiting for Fr. Nicholas in Hokodate.
- Well, take at least this one, - Vladyka said, putting on the neck of Father Nicholas a bronze cross for the Sevastopol campaign. - Although it is not quite in shape, it is still a cross, and without it it is not good to appear to the Japanese. And not only the Japanese, and the Europeans will watch.”

In order to understand what world the young hieromonk found himself in when he descended to Japanese soil on July 2, 1861, it is useful to remember that at that time Japan had just opened up to Europeans, and opened up not of its own free will. And before that - two centuries of voluntary isolation from the "barbarian" outside world, accompanied by the brutal eradication of Christianity. It was regarded as a harmful doctrine, threatening the state itself. In the middle of the 19th century, times in Japan were changing rapidly, but so far any foreigner here fell, if not into enemy, then certainly into hostile territory. Especially a Christian priest.

“All the previous orders of the shogunal time were still in full force,” Sergius writes about this time. - The Japanese not only shunned the Europeans, but also directly hated them. Often, Europeans were cut down from around the corner with sabers and stones were thrown. Life in general was restless and even dangerous.

And this is from the diaries of Nikolai himself: “...then the Japanese looked at foreigners as animals, and Christianity as a villainous sect, to which only notorious villains and sorcerers can belong.”

It is easy to imagine a tall, fair-haired giant (and Nikolai was of considerable height) walking along the Japanese streets under the wary glances of local residents. The real "red-haired barbarian" - that was what Europeans were called at that time in Japan. This was later, many years later, any rickshaw in Tokyo knew where to take a rider named "Nikorai". And at first I had to live and work, as if under siege.

“At first, I had to limit myself only to serving in the consular church and fulfilling the requirements for the Russians who ended up in Hokodate,” Sergiy recalls. “Heterodox Christians did not yet have clerics, and now Fr. Nikolai became a shepherd for all of them ... Thus, all Christians, without distinction of religion, rallied among the crowd of pagans who hated them, in a close circle around Fr. Nikolai”

"Galileans"

One could not even think about preaching - it was possible to pay with one's life for the preaching of Christianity in Japan until 1868. Nevertheless, Nicholas used every opportunity to spread the Teaching. In July 1868, in the article “And in Japan the harvest is plentiful...”, he writes about how he began to secretly preach Christianity among the Japanese: “Meanwhile, I tried to do what I could, and for a direct missionary purpose. For the first time, of course, it was necessary to look for people who, having adopted Christianity, would be able, in turn, to serve to spread it ... "

A vivid episode of the conversion of the enemy into an associate, Father Nikolai described many years later, in 1911, already being an archbishop.

“Fifty years ago I came here to preach the doctrine of Christ; but then not only was no one in the mood to listen to him, but everyone treated him with enmity. One of the then enemies of Christianity is here, before our eyes, one of the most honorable among us. He was then known in Hakodate as a wonderful swordsman, so he was invited to give fencing lessons to the son of the Russian consul in Hakodate. Every day I met him there, and he always silently looked at me with a hostile air; finally, a hostile feeling brought him to me. When he arrived, he began rudely:
- You barbarians come to look out for our country; especially people like you are harmful; your faith is evil.
“Do you know my faith that you speak of it like that?” I asked.
- Okay, I don't know.
- And not knowing a thing, to vilify it - is it reasonable?
This somewhat stopped him; but he said with the same rudeness:
So what is your faith? Speak.
“Please listen,” I replied. And he began to talk about God, the One, God the Creator of the universe, God the Redeemer. As I spoke, the face of my listener cleared up, and, without ceasing to listen attentively, with one hand he took an ink from his belt, with the other - paper from his sleeve and began to write down my speech. An hour or an hour and a half later, he was not at all the same person who came.
“It's not at all what I thought,” he said when I finished speaking. “Speak some more,” he asked already affectionately.
“Come,” I invited. And he began to come every day; and a week later I was already a Christian at heart.

Subsequently, a former samurai, and at the time described, a Shinto clergyman, Takuma Sawabe, was baptized with the name Pavel and became the closest assistant to the Russian missionary, the very first Japanese Orthodox priest. Other early adopters were Tokurei Sakai and Daizo Urano. Through their efforts, the seeds of the Orthodox faith began to be sown in the northern regions of Japan.

The memoirs of the future Patriarch Sergius about the first priests are interesting: “Paul and John quietly preached Christianity to their close friends in friendly conversations. Then many of the current priests converted, for example, Fr. John Ono, the best preacher in the Japanese church. All these were samurai, mainly from the northern provinces, with their dull accents and inelegant, according to Japanese concepts, manners. All of these were a kind of Galilean, whom the rest of the Japanese looked down on ... Those were truly heroic times, reminiscent of the early years of Christianity. The community lived fraternally, sharing with each other their meager wealth.

Pavel Sawabe sold his sword and armor, lived by his own work, the doctor Sakai earned his medical art and what he received he brought to the common good. After the approval of the sermon in Hakodate, Sawabe went to preach in his native city of Sendai, Father Anatoly from Russian missionaries remained in Hakodate, and Father Nikolai himself moved to Tokyo. He made friends with Buddhist bonzes, who were sympathetic to Christianity and even read the Gospel.

A very touching episode, conveying the atmosphere of the beginning of the spread of Orthodoxy in Japan, was left to us by Sergius: “The huge hall of the temple was packed with the public. Everyone, of course, was sitting on the floor with their legs crossed. Bonzes wanted to seat their guest in a European way. They didn't have chairs. Then the chief bonze, without hesitation, let Fr. Nicholas to his altar (which was not much more than half an arshin high), moved aside various incense burners and decorations, and politely offered Fr. Nicholas to take his place here. And the people quite calmly looked at the desecration of their shrine ...

In the meantime, the sermon yielded results - 12 people were baptized, a start was made, but a denunciation was written against Fr. Nikolai, which was not set in motion by his acquaintance old bonza, who was part of the troika of the “highest spiritual council” and good-naturedly laughed at the fright of Fr. Nikolai, who received from him a notebook with a denunciation for reading.

Monument

One of the main monuments left behind by Nicholas of Japan was the translation into Japanese of the Holy Scriptures.

Of course, upon arrival in Japan, the young missionary did not know the language, nor was he familiar with Japanese culture. The first time he served in the Russian consulate in Hakodate left no opportunity to fill this gap, without which it was impossible to carry out the mission to spread Orthodoxy. However, as soon as their own priests began to arrive to the "non-Orthodox" Europeans, and Nicholas himself got a little comfortable in a new place, he immediately hired teachers and diligently set to work.

The depth of his penetration into the subject is amazing. D. M. Pozdneev, the author of the “Japanese-Russian Hieroglyphic Dictionary”, published in Tokyo in 1908, assessed the level of knowledge achieved by Father Nikolai as follows: “Through constant reading of Japanese literature and constant communication with the Japanese, Father Nikolai achieved an amazing knowledge of Japanese spoken and written language. He had a strong foreign accent, but this did not prevent him from being understood by all Japanese from young to old, the richness of the vocabulary and the ease of constructing phrases gave his speech a power that enthralled all Japanese ... The phrases were short, the turns were the most unexpected, but extremely vivid and strong."

But the road to this was long and difficult. Father Nikolai himself testifies: “Having arrived in Japan, I, as far as I could, began to study the local language. A lot of time and effort was wasted before I managed to look closely at this barbaric language, positively the most difficult in the world, since it consists of two: natural Japanese and Chinese, mixed with each other, but by no means merged into one. Somehow I finally learned to speak Japanese and mastered that simple and easy way of writing, which is used for original and translated scholarly works. ... And people like the notorious Japanese expert, the Frenchman Roni, dare to write Japanese grammars! Good grammars, which have to be thrown into the corner like unnecessary trash, a week after arriving in Japan! Apparently, for a long time to come, those who study Japanese will have to learn it by instinct, through reading books and mechanically accustoming themselves to certain turns of spoken and written speech.

Here, one of the difficulties of the Japanese language, modern to Nicholas, and to us, is accurately noted - the organic mixture of two “layers” in it, the “original” Japanese and the Chinese introduced along with the hieroglyphic writing.

The task of mastering a new language, which has a different structure and logic, was obviously facilitated by the outstanding abilities of Father Nicholas for languages ​​in general. The diaries of the Equal-to-the-Apostles contain large fragments of his correspondence with the leaders of the Anglican and American churches in English, entries in French. Add to this the ancient Greek and Latin.

Armed with the necessary knowledge of Japanese, Nicholas immediately set about one of the main tasks of his later life - the translation of the Holy Scriptures. “Exactly at six o’clock in the evening, Pavel Nakai, his permanent colleague for translations, entered the cell of the bishop, a well-educated man, unusually hardworking and completely devoted to the Orthodox faith. He would sit on a low stool next to the bishop and begin to write as he dictated. The work usually lasted four hours and ended at ten in the evening,” describes the process Professor Kennosuke Nakamura, author of the preface to Father Nikolai's Diaries.

And here is a picture drawn by his own hand:

“Before me lie the Slavic and Greek texts of the service, with books at hand, contributing to the correct understanding of it. My colleague has Chinese and Japanese lexicons and grammars at hand, and we also have the Chinese text of the service, which we borrowed from Beijing from our Mission. Looking at the Slavic text and checking it with the Greek, I dictate the translation, trying to express the meaning with literal accuracy; the employee writes in Chinese characters mixed with Japanese alphabetic characters. The difficulty of translation at this stage lies in the fact that Japanese grammar is the opposite of ours, i.e. in Japanese, the subject must be put in front, between it and the predicate everything that is in the translation should be contained, no matter how many subordinate and introductory sentences, they should all come in front of the main predicate; in each subordinate and introductory - the same arrangement of parts. When a song or prayer is dictated and the syntactic relation of a part of it is established, then the finishing of what is written begins, and my main concern is not to allow one iota to deviate from the meaning of the text; my colleague, with no less concern, takes care of the correctness and elegance of the grammatical and stylistic construction of speech. This part of the work is the most difficult and painstaking. This is where Sino-Japanese scholarship is especially needed, because, firstly, you need to clearly know the meaning of each Chinese character in order to choose the most common and understandable character from many unambiguous characters, and secondly, you need to discuss whether to leave the Chinese pronunciation behind the character or give him Japanese ... In a word, you need to decide which language to learn the translation. When thinking about the importance of what we are translating, the most venerable learned language is kind to us ... but this language would be inconvenient even for average scientists, and for few scientists it would be completely incomprehensible. At the thought that what we have translated should be accessible to everyone, and that this should be precisely its main merit, the language of the masses, the language of the people, attracts us to itself, but then our translation would turn out so vulgar that it would be immediately neglected by everyone. , not constituting the common people. We are supposed to use the middle language. We try to follow this, although, due to the vagueness of the signs and the ambiguity of the boundaries, there is a wide field for endless disputes, in which I try in every possible way to defend the greatest general understanding, and my colleague - to protect himself from vulgarism and observe the elegance of speech.

Each verse was checked against the Vulgate (Vulgata is the Latin translation of the Bible of Blessed Jerome, the constantly supplemented and corrected version of which since the Council of Trent in 1545-47 has been the only acceptable canonical text of the Holy Scriptures of the Catholic Church), the Septuagint (Interpretatio Septuaginta Seniorum - "translation of the seventy elders" , a collection of translations of the Old Testament into ancient Greek, made in the III-II centuries BC in Alexandria.) and an English translation. In difficult places, the saint relied on the interpretations of St. John Chrysostom.

The titanic work of translating all the books of the New Testament and other sacred texts, hardly feasible for one person, continued for many years and did not stop even on his deathbed. Testimony of Nikolai’s successor, Bishop Sergius (Tikhomirov), who visited the mentor in the 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 the Slavic Triodion ... Nakai reads the Japanese translation ... Vladyka watches what is being read from another notebook ... From time to time they stop, insert a comma… Vladyka in golden glasses, cheerful… Who could say that this is an old man sentenced to death?”

Weekdays

Japan is changing rapidly. When Father Nicholas arrived in Hakodate, the shogunate was living out its last years, and in 1868 it was finally abolished. As a result of the Meiji Restoration, the emperor again took his place at the head of the state, from where he was, in fact, displaced several centuries ago. "Restoration" was accompanied by a rapid import of Western technologies, institutions, ideas, as well as the abolition of previous prohibitions.

“The European party took over the board,” writes Father Sergiy (Stargorodsky). - The Japanese attacked everything European. All kinds of schools began to open with teaching in European languages. A Russian school has also been opened. Father Nikolai became a teacher there, dividing his time between school and preaching, living in Concession (an area allocated for Europeans to live in Tokyo).»

Although many restrictions were still in place, this was no longer the atmosphere of open hostility that Fr Nikolai had experienced upon his arrival in Japan. The changes that have taken place made it possible to raise the question of opening an Orthodox mission in Japan. One of the two absences of Nikolai in Russia in 50 years was connected with these troubles. And on April 6, 1870, by the decision of the Holy Synod in Japan, the Russian Spiritual Mission was established, consisting of the head - Fr. Nicholas, elevated to the rank of archimandrite, three hieromonk missionaries and clerk.

The everyday life of the ministry was filled with everyday monotonous, but necessary work. Father Sergius (Stargorodsky) testifies:

“The bishop constantly receives a mass of letters from his catechizers and priests. Everyone is required to write monthly to the bishop about the state of their church. Catechists and priests are now up to 150 - monthly, therefore, 150 obligatory letters are sent, and moreover, optional ones. Moreover, the Japanese always considers it his duty to make a huge and, if possible, empty attack on a letter, at the end of the letter he will certainly apologize for writing only two inches, although the reader is inclined to say that the letter is more than two fathoms. Japanese letters are written on soft Japanese paper, the width of our usual postal four, and the length at will and according to the ability of the scribe. He scribbled one strip of paper, glues (with a narrow side) to it another, then a third. Is it objectionable to master 150 such epistles. Rev. he reads it all. In addition, in the morning she goes to teach at the catechism school in Koozimatsi. After dinner, he has lessons at the local catechist school. Then the translation of books, then buildings, then various reports, then endless visitors. It takes a lot of energy and dedication to do all this….”

And here is a vivid description by Father Sergius of the atmosphere in which Father Nicholas traveled through the Orthodox communities of Japan: “Sometimes Christians time a public sermon for the pagans for the arrival of the bishop. Some kind of public talking shop is hired, announcements are posted in advance about the arrival of the famous “Nikorai”, about preaching. At the appointed hour, people gather, of course, our “co-servants” come, as they call themselves in conversation with us, that is, bosses with their round shaved heads. He comes to establish the order of "junsa", that is, a policeman, sometimes several. Everyone sits down on the floor.

The meeting usually opens with a speech by one of the Kakhetists or especially talkative Christians, several people speak, then the priest, and finally the bishop, usually speaks for an hour, but no more: the listeners get tired. He is usually dressed in a cassock and panagia, but without a hood and without .... boot. The costume may not be quite customary for a Russian bishop, in a public meeting, and even for a sermon, but here it is impossible otherwise ...

After the speech, the preacher turns to the listeners with a question if any of them has anything to say against it. Sometimes a real dispute breaks out with shouts, gestures, ridicule, etc. Buddhists sometimes go over to a fight. The case ends with the intervention of the police. However, things never came to such scandals with the bishop, he is still respected by his opponents, and he, with his usual dignity, knows how to shame and calm the noisy ones. “I have lived in Japan for thirty years,” he once said on a similar occasion, “and I have never seen such rudeness. It's a pity that the good old Japanese manners are beginning to deteriorate."

One of the main difficulties faced by the mission was the insufficient number of priests and preachers. No matter how zealous and devoted to the Faith the first of the converts were, their strength was not enough, and the missionaries who were sent from Russia did not stay long: “... and people are good; but soon the well-known illness “home sickness” pestered them, and they returned,” Father Nikolai writes about this, and continues: “This, apparently, is the will of God - to form the Orthodox Church here by Japanese preaching forces. Diligent and selfless people are needed, but where to get them? Materialism overcame Japan; the former idealists, from whom our first preachers and priests came, are not at all visible. However, let's hope that God will send the people He needs.

The labors of educating a generation of local priests bore fruit by the time when the Orthodox flock in Japan suddenly grew many times over - streams of prisoners poured into the country from the battlefields of the Russo-Japanese war.

War

That was a tragic period in the life of Saint Nicholas. After the outbreak of the war, the embassy left Japan, and he remained the only Russian in the whole country. A sincere patriot of Russia, he could not leave his Church, to which he gave at that time 44 years of his life and work. It would not be true to say that the decision to stay was easy, without doubt or hesitation.

“Arthur Karlovich Vilm, a dragoman, was sent by an envoy to notify me that “the entire Embassy is leaving Yokohama and Japan on a French postal ship next Friday,” and to ask, “what do I think to do?” I said that I would consult with my servants of the Church and give an answer tomorrow ... I confess that it would be more pleasant for me to leave for the Fatherland, where I have not been for 23 years; but in the morning, during the celebration of the sacramental Rule, my conscience reproached me for this encroachment to leave such a young Church without supervision, and I firmly and joyfully decided to stay.

This is how the Saint casually describes the events that could cut short his earthly life. Much more suffering and feelings are read between the lines in his notes on the atrocities of the war, stories about which in many cases reached Japan.

“There was a prisoner of war Khrisanf Platonovich Birich from Hirosaki, a laborer on Sakhalin, during the war the head of a free squad. He talked about such cruelties of the Japanese that you are horrified. There were no foreign correspondents at that time, there was no one to play the humane role in front of, and therefore they showed themselves in their natural form: masses of civilians were beaten for no reason, women were raped, other women and children were chopped and shot just like men; many Russian convicts were shot in masses under the pretext that "this people, they say, are good for nothing"; even insane patients were dragged out of the hospital and shot...”

After that, one can only guess what inner nobility it cost St. Nicholas, a true patriot of Russia, to recognize the enemy's right to patriotism. The following lines from his Diaries hardly give an exhaustive idea of ​​this, nor of the immeasurable complexity of the ethical choice that confronted him:

“Having stayed, I will do what I have done hitherto: manage church affairs, translate services. But I will not participate in the celebration of the Public Divine Liturgy until the war is over, for the following reason: during the Divine Liturgy, I pray with you for the Emperor of Japan, for his victories, for his army. If I continue to do this even now, then everyone can say about me: "He is a traitor to his Fatherland." Or vice versa: “He is a hypocrite: he prays with his lips for the granting of victories to the Emperor of Japan, but in his heart he wishes the very opposite.” So, you worship alone and pray sincerely for your Emperor, his victories and so on. Love for the Fatherland is natural and sacred. The Savior Himself, out of love for His earthly homeland, wept over the unfortunate fate of Jerusalem. So, the war will begin, serve a prayer service for the granting of victories to your army; it will win, serve a thanksgiving service; at ordinary divine services, always pray fervently for your fatherland, as befits good patriotic Christians. I, if possible, will come to the Church for Vespers and Liturgy and stand in the altar, performing my private prayer, which my heart tells me; in any case, the first place in this prayer, as always, will belong to the Japanese Church - its well-being and growth. I think that it is better to stop using bells for this time, so as not to irritate and not provoke to rude actions those who did not have time or did not want to understand that here is not a Russian Church, but completely Japanese; Christians know even without ringing that from 6 o'clock there is vigil, and from 9 o'clock in the morning Mass.

Among the tests sent to the Saint during this period, the most difficult, undoubtedly, were those connected with the arrival in Japan of tens of thousands of Russian prisoners of war. There is quite reliable information about their number: only about 72 thousand people during the years of the Russo-Japanese war. This difficult problem almost completely fell on the shoulders of Bishop Nicholas. There is no number of his caring concerns about the fate of the prisoners, the distribution of money, donated things and books, crosses and icons. Everywhere his personal concern and participation: whether the conflict is between the lower ranks and officers, whether the Russian is threatened with punishment from the Japanese for the most insignificant offenses - he defends himself with his chest.

“August 19 / September 1, 1905. Friday. 14,000 Gospels were brought from the binder Chrysanthus. In total there will be 68,000 - all prisoners of war according to the Gospel. Having finished with the distribution of crosses, we will begin to send out the Gospels.”

The Diaries describe a story about how silver crosses were ordered for all prisoners of war, and then it turned out that red copper appeared on their scrap. Vladyka personally investigated this issue and found out that the manufacturer had reduced the silver content by 5% due to the increase in the cost of materials and did not report this. Most of all, he was tormented by the fact that people might suspect one of his subordinates of uncleanliness. What the Saint did not take to heart: “... The colonel also said that the Sendai prisoners of war of the lower ranks kept 4 banners taken out of the battle at Mukden, the Japanese found out about this, probably from the Poles, and are trying to find them, but the Russians still well hidden.

It was during these years that the greatness of the many years of work of Father Nicholas on the establishment of Orthodoxy in Japan was clearly manifested. After all, all the cares for the spiritual nourishment of the flock so unexpectedly and unfortunately had to be taken over by the local priests who had been brought up by him. “The Japanese Church actually already exists before the eyes of all of Russia,” writes the Saint, who is usually stingy with praise. - Japanese priests served 70 thousand Russian prisoners here and acquired their common love and respect; would this be possible if all our servants of the Church were servants, and before that were baptized, only because of the bread?..”

How can one not recall the well-known question that the abbots asked to novices who wanted to take tonsure: “Did you come to the monastery for the sake of Jesus or for the sake of the couscous bread?” Apparently, some critics of the archbishop's flock were reproached, but he, like a good shepherd, protected them from evil tongues with the above words.

It is touching to read a word to his subordinates, to whom the Saint addressed in 1906 in a speech at the closing of the Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War (Horyeo-an-kwai): “Our clergy were invaluable comforters for prisoners of war. We have the best evidence of this from the prisoners of war themselves in their numerous letters, in which they describe how they did not hope to find any Christian consolation here, and how they were delighted when the Japanese "priests" unexpectedly appeared to them, whom they received everywhere with such the same reverence with which they were accustomed to treat their natural clergymen in Russia... The prisoners of war took their good feelings home with them, and in many thousands of places in Russia a kind word about Japanese priests and deacons, good Japanese Christians, the Japanese Orthodox Church will be expressed and repeated... »

Testimony of one of the prisoners of war, officer Georgy Seletsky Fr. Nikolai leads in his Diaries: “Your sending of Fr. Sergius Suzuki and his ministry, distinguished by such splendor, which you will not find anywhere else and here in Russia, makes us even more religious than we have been until now. I don't know if it's a peculiarity of our position or really outstanding ministry of Fr. Sergius make me and many others during the service forget everything and remember only about prayer. A wonderful sermon delivered by Fr. Sergius to the words “Hallowed be Thy name”, made a rare impression on me and many others and, I am sure, will remain in my memory for the rest of my life and will always serve as a guiding star for me during my wanderings around the globe ... I cannot keep silent about the deep respect that Fr. Sergius. God grant that at least half of our Russian clergy enjoy the same respect.

Thoughts about the war and Russia

The following excerpts from the Diaries of the Saint fully reflect the sadness of the Motherland, tormented by military defeats and revolutionary frenzy. They do not want to comment, and they do not need any comments. We leave the reader to make his own conclusions.

April 2 (15), 1904. “What grief, what great grief! The beauty and strength of the Russian fleet - Makarov - drowned! Russia is paying for its ignorance and its pride: it considered the Japanese an uneducated and weak people; did not prepare, as it should, for war, but brought the Japanese to war, and even missed it for the first time; so they go from success to success, and the Russian fleet in these countries almost no longer exists.

I knew Makarov as a 12-year-old boy, when in 1861 I wintered in Nikolaevsk on my way to Japan; in a cadet jacket I saw him at his father's house. And what a warm participation he had in the construction of the local Cathedral! He wrote articles, published a pamphlet about the construction of the Cathedral in order to attract donations; and he himself collected in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where he went on purpose for this ... Give him, Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven! Rest in peace to the souls and all who drowned with him!

They take by cunning and deceit; of course, you need intelligence for these qualities, but the mind is base, the mind of a cat lying in wait for a mouse, the mind of a kid who unexpectedly trips himself up harder. This is exactly how Makarov died with the Petropavlovsk ... But the Japanese are masters of this. In this they have long outdone us; we are simpletons before them. But, I guess this last one is more for the first time; but a decently bloody nose, and we can take up the mind and collect our thoughts. Let's see who will beat who on land. If Kuropatkin (note - the commander of the ground forces in the Russian-Japanese war, was dismissed after a series of crushing defeats) is defeated by the Japanese, then you can really be sad.

July 18 (31), 1904. “The Japanese beat us, all nations hate us, the Lord God, apparently, pours out His wrath on us. Yes, and how else? Why would we love and favor? Our nobility has been corrupted for centuries by serfdom and has become depraved to the marrow of its bones. The common people were oppressed for centuries by the same serfdom and became ignorant and rude to the last degree; the service class and the bureaucracy lived on bribery and embezzlement of public funds, and now at all levels of service there is the most unscrupulous embezzlement of public funds wherever it is possible to steal. The upper class is a collection of monkeys - imitators and admirers of France, England, Germany and everything else foreign; the clergy, oppressed by poverty, barely contain a catechism - is it up to them to develop Christian ideals and illuminate themselves and others with them? darkness and rottenness; and we are so strong that we will throw hats on everyone ... No, it is not for nothing that the current disasters are falling on Russia - she herself has attracted them to herself. Only create, Lord God, that this be a punishing rod of Your Love! Lord, don't let my poor Fatherland get upset in the end! Spare and save him!"

October 19 (November 1), 1904 “Melancholy presses! You walk, you talk, you do your job, but the worm is constantly gnawing there, in the depths of your heart: the war is to blame, bloody, incessantly unsuccessful for Russia, so that the thought comes to mind whether the Lord has abandoned Russia, as he abandoned the Jewish people when they fell into idolatry? And does Russia really deserve the grace of God? Is there much that is pious in it? The upper and intelligent classes are completely corrupted by unbelief and sedition. The clergy - is there much value in it in the eyes of God? Although in a microscopic form, and I have this experience: I have been waiting for a missionary here for 35 years, I ask, I am looking for him and - no! Four Academies at 35 cannot produce one missionary! Monstrous! Then what? .. Yes, what! Would not look at the light of God! The pen falls from the hand.

"Easter 1905 (record after the battle of Tsushima). It can now be seen to what a disaster this has led Russia. But will she even now understand this formidable lesson given her by Providence? Will she understand that she does not need a large fleet at all, because she is not a sea power? The royal brothers were at the head of the fleet hitherto, first Konstantin Nikolaevich, then - hitherto - Alexei Alexandrovich, they demanded for the fleet as much as they wanted, and took as much as the hand took; impoverished Russia, depleted its resources - for what? To buy shame! Now the Japanese own millions of Russian battleships. It was not the need for a fleet that created the Russian fleet, but vanity; mediocrity, however, did not know how to decently arm him, that's why everything went to dust. Will Russia now renounce the role of a great maritime power that does not belong to it? Or will everything be blinded - will it be drawn again to create a fleet, to deplete its funds, which are very necessary for more essential, for truly essential, like the education of the people, the development of their internal wealth, and the like? After the Tsushima battle, 7281 sailors were taken prisoner, including 415 officers. All our prisoners are now 67,700 people. »

“God is punishing Russia, that is, he has retreated from her because she has retreated from Him. What a wild frenzy of atheism, bitter hostility against Orthodoxy and all sorts of mental and moral abominations now in Russian literature and Russian life! Hellish darkness enveloped Russia, and despair "Will there ever be a light? Are we capable of historical life? Without God, without morality, without patriotism, a people cannot exist independently. And in Russia, judging by its vile not only secular, but also spiritual literature, faith in the personal God, into the immortality of the soul; it is a rotten corpse in morality, almost all of it has turned into dirty cattle, not only over patriotism, but over every reminder of it scoffs. "Russia is now being scourged. Disgraced, dishonored, robbed; but does this sober her? The satanic laughter of joy at this from end to end resounds through her. laughs at this shame and death, is it not already in the clutches of an evil demon? Violent madness has seized her, and there is no one to help her, because her most evil fury is against God, whose very Name she tramples into the mud, her lips breathe blasphemy. Of course, there is a small remnant of goodness, but it is apparently so small that it is not said about him: “The seed is holy for her standing ...” The soul groans, the heart is ready to burst. The only consolation is that death is just around the corner, not for long to suffer the sight of all the abominations, violent godlessness and falling into the abyss; the curse of God is brought upon me by my fatherland."

The defeat of the Russians lived with acute pain in the heart of Nicholas of Japan, who was elevated to the rank of archpastor after the war. Thoughts about this for many years, hauntingly, broke out on the pages of the diary.

“... Baron Nikolai Nikolaevich Hoven, who was the censor of all correspondence at the main headquarters of our army in Manchuria; a fat man, but extraordinarily lively, as if dancing on a sofa; said and energetically affirmed a completely new idea: “What should we do if half of our soldiers did not want to fight - that’s why the defeat!”

"Major General Kurosawa. We talked for a long time, changing Russian and Japanese. Incidentally, and about the past war. He frankly said that the fault of our defeats “lies with the officers, who are inactive and devoted to drunkenness. The Japanese military class, raised by the centuries-old shogunate, stands on the covenant: win or die. Soldiers from the common people - unconsciously, but follow the same. In Toyohashi, the General, kindly saying goodbye, left the car, accompanied by his young adjutant.

Outcome

The war ended, and the years of everyday, largely administrative work flowed again. Property affairs, constant financial reports on the spending of donations, squabbles over the maintenance of catachizers and priests. Being scrupulous to the very last detail, the archbishop demanded the same from his ministers, constantly lamenting their imperfections in matters of strict fulfillment of duty and the preservation of the Christian content of their affairs. Arranging the affairs of the seminary, enrolling students, including those from Russia, also became his daily concern. Of course, services and the continuation of translations of sacred texts, which he continued to deal with until the very last days.

Archbishop Nicholas died on February 3 (16), 1912 in Tokyo. Many people of all classes and religions came to pay their last bow. The emperor of Japan sent a wreath of fresh flowers to the coffin. They buried Nicholas of Japan at the Yanaka cemetery, which every year during the cherry blossom days becomes one of the most beautiful corners of the capital.

What gave Christianity to Japan during the few decades that the Saint spent there? From his conversation with a Protestant from Kyoto in 1908: “Forty years ago you could not enter a bookshop without having a book with vile pictures shoved under your nose, you could not enter a hotel for dinner, so as not to come across obsceneness; now there is nothing like it. Who cleared the air of Japan from bad miasma? Spirit of Christ, blowing on her from Christian countries. An even more striking example. Forty years ago the population of Japan was 25 million; today it is 50 million. In the two and a half thousand years of Japan's existence, only 25 million have been born, and in the last forty years only 25 million have also been born. What is the reason for this inconsistency? Before the opening of Japan, infanticide was practiced on a large scale, despite government prohibitions, especially in some provinces, as in Akita in the north; parents did not leave more than two children - the rest were thrown into the river to be eaten by fish and the like; at that time there were no shelters for poor children, hospitals for the sick, almshouses for the elderly. All this together slowed down population growth. Now we don't hear about infanticide; the country was filled with charitable institutions. What does Japan owe for all this? Christ the Savior; His life-giving Spirit blew over Japan and carried away the deadly veil that hung over it. There are still few Christians in Japan; but already all of Japan is under the influence of Christ. See how Christ walks in the world and gradually takes possession of it.

Like the Apostle Paul, who called on the Athenian pagans to pray to a God they did not know and whose temple they had, Christ's Apostle Nicholas of Japan came and called the Japanese to worship Christ, whom they were quite ready to accept.

Wreath on the grave of Archbishop Nicholas of Japan

Having spent his whole life in isolation from the Motherland, but never mentally parting with it, the Saint even half a year before his death reflects on the future of the Russian Church: “(March 21 / April 3, 1910. Sunday of the Cross.) the clearest idea was formed that the Patriarchate should be restored in Russia. Individuality, responsible before God and conscience, individuality must govern. At once the whole scheme of church government arose in my mind. The topic is rich for future reflections. And when was the Patriarchate restored? In the days of the most difficult test in December 1917. With a prophetic gift, the Saint saw that the only salvation of Orthodoxy in Russia, which allowed him to stand.

Much later, Father Sergius (Stargorodsky), a pupil of St. Hierarch, assumed the patriarchal throne in September 1943. Archbishop Nicholas instructed him for many years after his departure from Japan, about which the patriarch himself, being an archimandrite, wrote in his missionary diaries in 1897.

Monuments to Nicholas of Japan are the Temples of God, erected during his lifetime by his labors and cares. Let us also bring him a prayer of thanksgiving for his feat of life and the glorification of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Tokyo Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ "Nikorai-do"

From the book “In the Far East (Letters from a Missionary)” by Patriarch Sergius (Stargorodsky), who arrived in Japan after graduating from the Theological Academy as a missionary shortly before the consecration of the cathedral: “October 20, 1890 Tookyo. “Surugadai. Nikolay,” we repeated the memorized phrase several times, the driver made the most courtly curtsy, covered my legs with a blanket, and we drove off. There are a lot of European ones on the first streets from the station, there is even a horse-tram. We passed the bridge, several gates, admired the ridge of the palace roof, but our attention was riveted by the hill ... and on the hill our Orthodox church was white, shining with its cross in the clear sky. Here it is, this is the banner of Christ, raised from the very middle of paganism, boldly preaching Christ in the face of the whole world. Yes, much has been said about this cathedral. There were people who gave their last pennies to him. I have been to Kyoto and I know with what solemnity few Orthodox speak of our Tookei Cathedral. He is for them the same as St. Sophia for the Greeks, or Novgorodians, is their visible center, their banner, their support in cowardice, the guarantee of their future triumph.

The cathedral was built on donations from Russia with the active participation of Admiral Makarov, who died in the Russo-Japanese War. Hieromonk Nikolai managed to obtain a subscription to raise funds during his trip to Russia at the end of 1869. In a relatively short period of time, we managed to collect a colossal amount - about 300,000 rubles!

More than twenty years later (March 20, 1891) Sergius (Stargorodsky) enthusiastically and in detail describes the decoration of the cathedral. “An amazing wealth of utensils in the new cathedral! I think that a rare cathedral in Russia can now equal ours.

The donations of Nechaev-Maltsev are especially precious (one of the founders of the Museum of Fine Arts named after Alexander III in Moscow, the current Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts - note). For all three thrones, he ordered Ovchinnikov a complete set of sacred vessels. And all this in one style, and all this is highly artistic. What kind of donation this is can be judged by the altar cross in the main altar, it is a arshin or more in size and is made of pure silver (gilded) with a cast silver crucifix of very large sizes, it is even difficult to wear it in religious processions. The memorial service is also magnificent: on a large silver foot, which is all occupied by candle chandeliers, rises a cast of silver Golgotha ​​with the same crucifix (five inches in size), and on the sides are cast figures of the Mother of God and John the Theologian. Also good are the arks for all three thrones. How much could all this cost?!

Another benefactor. Samoilov, donated to the main throne another ark, of huge size, gilded silver, with beautiful relief images, with enamel. Some Moscow lady donated a jug to keep the peace. This is also a rarity of its kind: silver, covered with enamel, a beautiful image of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. It costs 5000 rubles.

Yes, our Orthodox know how to sacrifice. This generous gift of the mother church will remain forever memorable for the Japanese.”

Alas, during the great earthquake and fire of 1923, all the utensils and thrones were melted. The Cathedral itself was badly damaged, but was subsequently reconstructed.

It was not otherwise than by the providence of God that the temple was able to stand. Before the earthquake, there were demolition attempts, direct threats to set fire to it in 1906 during the riots in Tokyo due to dissatisfaction with the size of indemnities and annexations imposed on defeated Russia. It came close to the massacre of the cathedral at the beginning of the war. “March 18/31, 1904. Thursday. In the Japan Daily Mail today, under the heading "A question": "Mr. Hanai Takuzo and others ... made an inquiry in the Lower Parliament, to which, fortunately, the Government did not have time to answer. The request concerned the land on which the Greek Cathedral was erected on Surugadai. This land is not leased out indefinitely. She is only on loan to the Russian Embassy. But now there is no Russian Embassy here. Therefore, the interrogators want to know on what basis this land is held under the Greek Cathedral? To this the editors add: “There are many Japanese who do not like the Russian Cathedral. He dominates the city too much and looks down on the imperial palace.”

In December 2005, in Tokyo, next to the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Nikorai-do), with the blessing of Daniel, Metropolitan of Tokyo and All Japan, the first monastery of the Japanese Autonomous Orthodox Church was formed. Hieromonk of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Gerasim (Shevtsov) became the rector of the monastery, consecrated in honor of Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas of Japan

Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Hakodate

The temple is a 15-minute walk from Jujigai Tram Station. During the fire that almost completely destroyed Hakodate in 1907, Japan's first Orthodox church burned to the ground. At the initiative of St. Nicholas of Japan, it was restored under the guidance of a self-taught Japanese architect, Deacon Moses Kawamura. A few years before his death, the Saint in every letter to his homeland asked for this temple, and streams of donations flocked. “From Orenburg, from A. I. Sarankin, a former prisoner of war, a good letter concerning the gathering for the Temple in Hakodate. He knows merchants who will willingly donate if they promise to procure the Order of Anna of the 3rd degree for them. “Countess Elisaveta Vladimirovna Shuvalova sent 3,045 yen through her manager to the Temple in Hakodate. Save her, Lord! » The temple was completed after the blessed death of St. Nicholas, by September 1916, and consecrated on October 15 of the same year by Bishop Sergius (Tikhomirov) of Japan. The iconostasis was made in St. Petersburg in the 1910s, and among other icons of the temple there were many works by the Japanese icon painter Irina Yamashita.

Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin in Kyoto

The wooden church, consecrated in May 1903 by St. Nicholas, is currently a cathedral. At the end of the Second World War, the authorities demanded > to demolish the building, but this was prevented by the end of hostilities. Now the temple has the status of a material cultural value of the city of Kyoto. In 2000, during a visit to Japan, Patriarch Alexy II visited him.

Church of Matthew the Apostle in Toyohashi

The wooden building, built in 1913, was able to survive the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and air raids in the last world war. Now it has the status of an important cultural monument of the Japanese state - two more Japanese Orthodox churches have the same high level of official recognition: the Nikorai-do Cathedral and the church in Hakodate.

A modest memorial plate in the native village of St. Nicholas. It would be worthwhile to write the following lines from the diary on this plate: “A decree was received from the Holy Synod, which says that he, the Holy Synod, “... listened to the report approved by the Highest on March 24 on my elevation to the rank of Archbishop with the assignment of the name “Japanese”. .. So it is true that I have been renamed Archbishop. Well, okay."

P.S "They understand with the mind, but do not reach the heart" Conversation with Archpriest Artemy Rublev, Rector of the Church of Nicholas of Japan in the village of Mirny, Oleninsky District, Tver Region

Saint Nicholas, Equal-to-the-Apostles, Archbishop of Japan, is the third Russian saint in the entire history of Christianity in Russia, glorified as Equal-to-the-Apostles after the holy princes Olga and Vladimir. He founded and was the first hierarch of the Orthodox Church in Japan.

There was no person in Japan, after the emperor, who would have enjoyed such fame in the country. It was enough to say one word "Nikolai" and literally every rickshaw in Tokyo immediately knew where the guest had to be delivered. They wrote about him that it was the duty of every Russian person to know about him in as much detail as possible, because such people as Archbishop Nikolai are the pride and adornment of their country.

Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas(in the world Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin) was born on August 1, 1836 in the Berezovsky churchyard of the Belsky district of the Smolensk province in the family of a poor deacon Dimitri Ivanovich Kasatkin. The mother died when the boy was five years old. The saint loved his father very much, gratefully remembered him and sent him part of his salary until the very death of his parent.

Having brilliantly graduated from the Belsk Theological School and the Smolensk Theological Seminary, in 1857, among the best students, he was admitted to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy for state expenses (maintenance).

In 1860, having accidentally read an invitation to take the place of the rector of the house church at the Russian consulate in Hakodate in Japan, he, a 26-year-old youth, quite unexpectedly decides to go to Japan to preach Christianity. Then in 1860, on the day of memory of the chief apostles Peter and Paul, he was tonsured a monk with the name Nicholas. “I dreamed a lot about my Japan,” he later recalled. - She was drawn in my imagination as a bride waiting for me with a bouquet in her hands. Here the news of Christ will be carried in its darkness, and everything will be renewed.

On the way to Japan, the saint spent the winter in Siberia, where he met with the illustrious missionary, Archbishop Innokenty (later Metropolitan of Moscow, Apostle of America and Siberia), who affectionately received him and blessed him. Seeing the poor cassock of the hieromonk, Bishop Innokenty bought good velvet and he himself cut out a cassock from it for Father Nikolai. He also laid on Father Nikolai a pectoral bronze cross received for participation in the Crimean campaign.

On July 2, 1861, Hieromonk Nicholas arrived in Hakodate (Hokkaido). But it was extremely difficult for the young monk to start missionary activity. On the one hand, he was overcome by doubts about the correctness of the chosen path. Thoughts about family life and about returning to Russia relentlessly pursued him. “The Lord alone knows how much torment I had to endure in these first years. All three enemies - the world, the flesh and the devil - rose up against me with all their might and followed me on their heels in order to overthrow me in the very first dark, narrow place.

On the other hand, the political situation was quite acute. Later, the saint recalled: “Then the Japanese looked at foreigners as beasts, and at Christianity as a villainous sect, to which only notorious villains and sorcerers can belong.” Profession of the Christian religion was prohibited under pain of death.

Saint Nicholas began to study Japanese, in his words "a barbarian language, positively the most difficult in the world, since it consists of two: natural Japanese and Chinese, mixed with each other, but by no means merged into one." He studied for 14 hours a day, attended literary meetings and pagan temples, and after eight years of hard work he achieved what he became, as it were, a natural Japanese, who knows history and all Japanese literature, both ancient and new, having thoroughly studied Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism.

Little by little, the saint of God began to sow the seeds of Christian teaching. The first Japanese to convert to Orthodoxy was a former samurai and priest Takuma Sawabe(1835-1913), excellent swordsman, member of a secret society hostile to foreigners. Once he went to the saint to express his contempt and hatred for the Christian faith. However, after a week of such conversations, Sawabe became a Christian in his soul, then he converted to Orthodoxy, receiving the name of Paul in holy Baptism. Serious trials immediately fell upon Sawab. His wife went mad and burned down her own house a few months later in a fit of illness. Then he was imprisoned. But the trials only strengthened Paul's zeal, and in 1875 he was ordained a priest.

Priest Pavel Savabe

A year later, Sawabe brought his friend, doctor Sakai, to Father Nikolai. A year later, the doctor Urano joined them. Much later, at baptism (Fr. Nikolai was in no hurry with it, giving his disciples the opportunity to better assimilate the truths of the new faith), they received the names of the apostles: Paul, James, John.

Inspired by the success of his sermon, and also taking into account the positive changes in the political life of the country, Father Nikolai decides to petition the Holy Synod for the opening of a Russian spiritual Orthodox mission in Japan. In April 1870, by order of the Holy Synod in Japan, an Orthodox mission was opened, consisting of a chief, three hieromonks and a clerk. Hieromonk Nikolai was appointed head of the mission and elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

The Church of Christ, founded secretly in Hakodate, began to grow and strengthen throughout Japan. Temples began to be built, divine services were held, public debates and interviews were held, Christian communities were formed, schools and seminaries were opened. In recognition of the merits of Archimandrite Nicholas, the Holy Synod on March 30, 1880 in St. Petersburg ordained him Bishop of Japan.

Leaving the Hakodat church for Hieromonk Anatoly (Tihai), who arrived from Russia, on February 4, 1872, Saint Nicholas moved to Tokyo. In the middle of the Japanese capital, on the Surugadai hill, which was bought by Russia for the Russian mission, the Resurrection Cathedral was erected, which received the name Seidoo-Nikorai(Temple Nicholas). Nearby there was a theological seminary, a women's school, a missionary administration, a printing house, the dwelling of the archbishop and his closest assistants. By this time, there were already 216 Orthodox communities in Japan, and the number of those converted to Christianity was approaching 19 thousand.

The main work of the saint, begun back in Hakodate, was the translation into Japanese of the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books. For thirty years, with great zeal, St. Nicholas worked on the translation. It was the most painstaking work. For 4-5 hours of work, he managed to translate no more than 15 verses. He translated almost the entire Old Testament, the entire New Testament, the entire circle of liturgical books, as well as the Orthodox Confession of St. Demetrius of Rostov, the catechism, the Brief Sacred History, and much more.

Bible in Japanese

From the former students of the seminary, a whole team of translators was formed, working on the translation of not only Russian theological, but also Russian fiction. The saint wrote: “Let them translate and read. Having learned Russian literature, having learned Pushkin, Lermontov, Count Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, one cannot but fall in love with Russia. In addition, the saint arranged an excellent Orthodox library. There were more than 12 thousand European books in it (in English, French, German, but most of all in Russian).

According to the testimonies of the Japanese Christians, Bishop Nicholas served as a living image of missionary self-sacrifice. He gave all his material resources to the needs of the Church, thereby covering the shortcomings in the maintenance of schools, editorial offices, and preachers. He did not refuse to donate to the construction of new prayer houses and to the occasional needs of poor Christians, to provide for poor families after the fires and earthquakes that are so frequent in Japan. At the same time, Vladyka himself sometimes did not have the simplest and most necessary: ​​for example, at home he could be seen dressed, like some hermit, in a rough cassock, patched in places, and walking on the street with a cane in his hand.

Almost half a century of apostolic service in Japan, Saint Nicholas was subjected to persecution and slander, he was even called a Russian spy.

The Russo-Japanese War was the most mournful and difficult period for Father Nikolai - it was a hostility between his homeland and the country to which he gave all his strength. He did not forget the first and did not renounce the last, remaining with his flock in Japan.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905

However, he did not take part in public worship, because according to the order of worship (and the blessing of St. Nicholas of Japan himself), Japanese Christians prayed for the victory of their country over Russia: “ Now, since war has been declared between Japan and my homeland, I, as a Russian citizen, cannot pray for Japan's victory over my own fatherland. I also have obligations to my homeland and that is why I will be happy to see that you are doing your duty towards your country.» Having stopped all correspondence with Russia, he devoted himself entirely to translation work.

With the consent of the Japanese government, the saint formed the Society for the Spiritual Consolation of Prisoners of War, for whose care he selected five priests who spoke Russian. Each captive who arrived in Japan (their total number reached 73,000) was blessed by the Japanese church with a silver cross. The prisoners were supplied with icons and books, they were helped financially. Temples and monuments were built at the burial places of our soldiers with the assistance of the saint.

The rare tact and wisdom shown by Saint Nicholas during the war years further enhanced his prestige in the eyes of not only the Japanese people, but also the government and the emperor himself. In 1911, the 50th anniversary of his apostolic ministry was assessed as having contributed to the development of civilization in Japan. By this time there were already 266 communities of the Japanese Orthodox Church, which included 33,017 Orthodox laity, 1 archbishop, 1 bishop, 35 priests, 6 deacons, 14 singing teachers, 116 catechist preachers.

Nervous tension and overwork exacerbated the cardiac asthma that Vladyka suffered from. His strength began to fade rapidly. In January 1912, Vladyka was placed in a hospital, where on February 3, at the age of 76, he peacefully reposed in the Lord. The funeral service, which took place in the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, was performed mainly in Japanese. Among other wreaths, a wreath from the emperor of Japan stood out - this honor was awarded to foreigners extremely rarely.

His tomb still remains in Japan a shrine of the people and the whole Church, and St. Nicholas himself is revered as a great righteous man and a special intercessor in prayer before the Lord.

Troparion, tone 4
The apostles are of the same morals and the throne, the servant of Christ, faithful and God-wise, the chosen flower of the Divine Spirit, the vessel overflowing with the love of Christ, the land of Japan to the enlightener, Saint Nicholas, hierarch equal to the apostles, praying to the Life-Giving Trinity for all your flock and for the whole world.

Kontakion, tone 4
The country of Japan welcomes the wanderer and the stranger, equal to the apostles to St. Nicholas, in it you first recognized yourself as a stranger, both exuding the warmth and light of Christ, you turned your enemies into spiritual sons, distributing the grace of God, you created the Church of Christ, about her now pray, and her sons and daughters cry out to you: rejoice in our good shepherd.

NON-EVENING LIGHT OF THE RISING SUN. Saint Nicholas of Japan

original name: The non-evening light of the rising sun. Saint Nicholas of Japan
Year of issue: 2005
Genre: Documentary, historical
Released: Russia
Producer: Anastasia Sarycheva
Duration: 00:52:48

A film about St. Nicholas of Japan - Archbishop Nicholas (Kasatkin), who accomplished the great feat of preaching about Christ in the Japanese islands. From the very birth, the Lord led Ivan Kasatkin to the seminary and monastic vows, and then to the great apostolic service in a country with a thousand-year-old pagan culture, in which, nevertheless, by the beginning of the 20th century, steamboats and steam locomotives appeared, a strong army and navy. It was necessary not only to study the language and culture of this people, it was necessary to understand and love these people with all my heart. To love so that the sermon about Christ Crucified would touch their hearts too. With the help of God it happened.

It seems, what kind of connection can there be between Japan and a native of the remote Smolensk village, Ivan Kasatkin (in monasticism - Nikolai)? But it was our compatriot, a simple guy from the family of a village deacon, who was able to become an Equal-to-the-Apostles educator of Japan and the first founder of an Orthodox church in this country. Rising majestically in the center of Tokyo, the Temple of the Ascension of the Lord or Nikolai-Do (St. Nicholas Temple), as the Japanese used to call it, still attracts many pilgrims from all over the world to this day.

Born on August 1 (13), 1836 in the Smolensk province in the village of Bereza. Behind him are the Belsk Theological School, the Smolensk Theological Seminary and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Diligent study for many years, a sincere desire to be useful to people and preach the Christian faith led Nikolai (who had already taken monastic vows) in 1860 to Japan as a missionary. At that time, it was allowed to establish the first diplomatic mission in Hakodate. It was not an easy task to preach the gospel to the Japanese people. Japan, always hostile to everything foreign and alien to Christian ethics, held fast to its customs. The confession of Orthodoxy in this country has been banned for more than 2 centuries. And besides, there are also samurai customs, when, defending his honor, a samurai must end his life with the help of hara-kiri. But Nikolai took up the assigned tasks with diligence and diligence characteristic of him - for 8 years he studied everything related to Japan, its history, language and customs, re-read a bunch of literature in Japanese, mastered the language itself to perfection, spoke fluently only with a slight accent . The former samurai Sawabe became the first student and follower of Father Nikolai. Initially hostile, after several conversations with Nicholas, he began to show interest in Christian teaching, and later he was baptized and even was ordained a priest. Later, they were joined by the doctors Sakai and Urano, who also took holy orders and received the names of the apostles James and John. And Sawabe was named Paul. After the persecution of Christians in 1871, when all the old decrees against Christianity were destroyed, Father Nikolai began to build a temple, a school, and then a religious school. He translated into Japanese a huge number of liturgical books and compiled a theological dictionary. It was difficult for Nikolai's father at the time, he was the only Russian in the mission. He declined the offer to return to his homeland and remained in Tokyo. He ordered all his parishioners to pray for the victory of Japan, while he himself silently prayed that Russia, beloved by him, would win. As far as possible, he tried to visit his captive compatriots and help them in every possible way. During the war, the number of people who accepted the Christian faith only increased. And by 1912, the number of baptized Japanese was over 34,000. In 1906, Saint Nicholas was elevated to the rank of archbishop for his missionary work and ascetic labors. In 1912, at the age of 76, the saint peacefully passed away into the other world. He was buried in an ancient cemetery in Tokyo. In 1970, Nicholas was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. To this day, he is revered in Japan as a true righteous man and a great prayer book before God. It is customary to celebrate the memory of the saint on February 16. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, he was like an epic hero - tall, strong physique, with large features, his gaze exuded strength and inflexibility. There is even a comparison of St. Nicholas with a hero, who also came from a remote village. Always feeling the mood of anyone who came to him, he gave advice and admonished the suffering with warmth and paternal care. In addition to his ardent faith, his success in preaching Orthodoxy to the Japanese was also due to the deepest understanding of the spirit of the Japanese people, their culture.