Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии (Jul 2023)
Archpriest Vladimir Zhokhov as a Representative of the Urals Educated Оrthodox Clergy in the 1960–1970s (Based on materials from his personal diary)
Abstract
The article analyzes contents of the personal diary of Archpriest Vladimir Platonovich Zhokhov, cleric of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Perm. The biography of Fr. Vladimir is well known, though his extensive literary activity is undeservedly forgotten; his diary has not yet been published, and its contents have not been subjected to scientific analysis. This article reveals the value of the personal diary of Fr. Vladimir, kept in his son A. V. Zhokhov’s archive as a documentary source, which is a precious historical evidence of the era experienced by the author and a description of his life. As for its structure, the diary consists of an introduction andmain part, an afterword and some notes. The article discusses the main part of the diary, which is of the greatest interest for research. The diary entries of the main part are dated 1966–1969 and represent the author’s daily comments on each chapter of the Bible read one-by-one. For the period of less than 4 years, the diary author had read and commented on the entire Bible. A distinctive feature of his commenting on the Bible is that the author, using various principles of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, resorts to his own poetry, as well as to the world poetry, painting and music. It is noteworthy that in the main part of the manuscript, after making comments on the Bible, the author always described numerous family events and his hobbies, as well as the state of parish life in the Perm diocese during the persecution period of the middle of the 20th century. It is usually believed that during that period a full-fledged spiritual and church life of a person was absent. However, the diary data testify that in the 1960s, despite strict control and restrictions on the part of the authorities, a large number of believers rushed to the temple for joint prayer and spiritual communion. Numerous shortcomings of the church life were also assessed on the pages of the diary, which forced the author to comprehend the events that took place at that time in the light of the analyzed passage of the Holy Scriptures. The reason for that was the ongoing conflict among the clergy, provoked by the church council and strong pressurefrom the controlling state bodies. The events that occurred in the Perm Holy Trinity Cathedral have been restored by the author of the article into a complete narrative based on a variety of diary entries. The author of the article has concluded that the daily reading and pondering on the Holy Scriptures passages was reflected not only on the pages of the diary, but also in the life of its author. Despite the anti-religious period, Fr. Vladimir was able to instill in his children a deep faith in God and preach the Word of God to most diverse social groups of people outside the walls of the temple, thanks to penetration into the spirit and meaning of the Bible. The notes on the church life of the Perm diocese are important for understanding the true picture of religious life in Perm during the Soviet period. In his personal diary, Fr. Vladimir is seen as a good shepherd, brilliant preacher and a caring person, showing an example of true Christian love and service to the Church.
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