ИЗБРАНИЕ ПАТРИАРХА АЛЕКСИЯ I — 2 февраля 1945

ELECTION OF PATRIARCH ALEXY I February 2, 1945 Recording of the broadcast    • ИЗБРАНИЕ ПАТРИАРХА АЛЕКСИЯ I — 2 февраля 1945   Sergei Vladimirovich Simansky was born on October 27, 1877, in Moscow to a noble family. In 1888, Sergei Simansky entered the first grade of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, then transferred to the Nikolaevsky Lyceum, from which he graduated with a silver medal. In 1896, he entered the law faculty of Moscow University, graduating in three years. He then volunteered for a year in the 7th Samogitian Grenadier Regiment, where he was promoted to junior and then senior non-commissioned officer (sergeant). In August 1900, he retired with the rank of ensign. In the fall of 1900, he entered the Moscow Theological Academy. On February 9, 1902, at the Gethsemane Skete of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Bishop Arseny (Stadnitsky) of Volokolamsk, rector of the academy, tonsured Hieromonk Alexy a monk with the name Alexy in honor of Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow. On March 17, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 1903, Bishop Arseny ordained him a priest in the Lavra's Trinity Cathedral. In 1904, he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, and in August of that year, he was appointed inspector of the Pskov Theological Seminary. On September 18, 1906, at the Trinity Cathedral in Pskov, Bishop Arseny, who had been transferred to the Pskov Diocese, elevated Hieromonk Alexy to the rank of archimandrite. He served as rector of the Tula and then Novgorod seminaries. On April 27, 1913, in the Cathedral of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem in Novgorod, he was named Bishop of Tikhvin. The consecration took place on April 28 in St. Sophia Cathedral in the Novgorod Kremlin. The service was led by His Beatitude Gregory IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, who was in Russia celebrating the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. During the revolutionary years, he made an invaluable contribution to the development of church life under the new conditions and was also involved in caring for the wounded. On February 21, 1921, by Patriarchal decree, he was appointed First Vicar of the Petrograd Diocese with the title of Bishop of Yamburg, with residence at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1926, he was appointed Administrator of the Novgorod Diocese with the title of Archbishop of Tikhvin, later of Khutyn. He assumed control of the diocese on September 2, 1926. During this period, he became a member of the Synod and a close aide to Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky). He participated in drafting Metropolitan Sergius' Declaration on the attitude of the Patriarchal Church toward Soviet power. On May 18, 1932, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan with the title "Starorussky," and on August 11, he became Metropolitan of Novgorod and Starorussky. On October 5, 1933, he was transferred to the Leningrad See while retaining control of the Novgorod Diocese. During the Great Patriotic War, during the siege of Leningrad, he remained with his flock, regularly celebrating services and encouraging and comforting the faithful. Fundraising for defense and aid to the wounded and orphans continued throughout the war in the churches of the Leningrad Diocese. In total, more than 13 million rubles were collected between 1941 and 1944. For organizing patriotic activities during the siege, Metropolitan Alexy and a group of clergy were awarded the "For the Defense of Leningrad" medal. After the death of His Holiness Patriarch Sergius (in May 1944), he became Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne. On February 2, 1945, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church elected him Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The enthronement took place on February 4 at the Patriarchal Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo, Moscow. Under Patriarch Alexy in the post-war years, war-damaged churches were restored, church publishing was revived, theological schools were opened, ties with Orthodox Christians in the diaspora were reestablished, and monastic life was revived at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, closed by the authorities in the 1920s. On April 10, 1945, a historic meeting took place between Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR I.V. Stalin and Patriarch Alexy, Metropolitan Nikolai of Krutitsy, and Archpriest Nikolai Kolchitsky. On August 22, 1945, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a resolution granting church bodies legal rights to acquire vehicles, produce church utensils, etc. This same resolution also requested that local Soviet authorities not interfere with church communities' ringing of bells. Under Patriarch Alexy I, Renovationism had completely disappeared by 1946. His Holiness made a significant contribution to the resolution of ecclesiastical unrest within the Russian Orthodox diaspora. His Holiness's high spiritual authority facilitated the restoration of relations with the Polish and Finnish Churches. His efforts culminated in the establishment of the Orthodox Church...