Akathist to St Meletius of Kharkov by martyr Pyotr Grigoriev

Abstract

The published document, the akathist to St Meletius, Archbishop of Kharkov and Akhtyr, written by martyr Peter Grigoriev (1895–1937) is for the first time introduced into academic circulation. The work was copied by hand, the exact date of the published manuscript could not be established; most likely it belongs to the third quarter of the 20th century. The special feature of the akathist to St Meletius is that it is written in Russian language in verse form. The introductory article describes the akathistography in Russian as an important example of liturgical creativity – a stratum of church tradition, which is most subject to change. This was manifested in a special way in the 20th century, when newly written gymnographical works were not published or subject to church censorship. The article provides biographical information about Fr Pyotr Grigoriev, the compiler of the published Akathist. Martyr Peter was arrested on the night of October 17–18, 1931 and sent first to the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the “Soslovets” crossing of the Murmansk railway and then to Volgolag. On September 22, 1937 he was sentenced to death by shooting by a special troika at the Department of NKVD of the USSR in the Yaroslavl region; the sentence was executed the next day in the same isolation unit of department III. Martyr Pyor Grigoriev was canonized as a saint of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia by the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church held on August 13–16, 2000.

Keywords

• akathist
• liturgical creativity
• divine service in the 20th century
• russian language in the divine service
• new martyrs and confessors of the russian church
• martyr pyotr grigoriev
• акафист
• литургическое творчество
• богослужение в xx в.
• русский язык в богослужении
• новомученики и исповедники церкви русской
• свщмч. петр григорьев