Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии (Nov 2023)
Missionary Brotherhood at the Printing House of St. Job of Pochaev in Ladomirova in the Carpathian Mountains during the Second Period of Its Existence (1934–1945). Part 1: Preface and Minutes of the Spiritual Council Meetings, Nos. 1–170
Abstract
Records of the “Book of Resolutions of the Spiritual Council of the Missionary Brotherhood at the Printing House of Rev. Job Pochaevsky in Ladomirova in the Carpathian Mountains” highlight the second decade of work of the Typographical Brotherhood of St. Job of Pochaev in Slovakia. In the material preceding the publication, the author used previously unconsidered documentary evidence about the life of Brotherhood, preserved in unpublished documents and in hard-to-find periodicals in different languages. The article contains evidence from both Russian and European publications. It also includes those from various documents regarding the progress of formation of Brotherhood founded in 1923, peculiarities of the relationship of its founder Archimandrite of Pochaev Lavra Vitaly (Maksimenko) with the Serbian Church administration and with the Synod of Bishops of Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, as well as beginning of the revival of the Pochaev Lavra Printing Houses on the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic and the ministry of Brotherhood after the move of its founder to the USA. Most of the article is devoted to the history of the implementation of basic tasks of Brotherhood: its work for Orthodox compatriots in the countries of the Russian diaspora, and for the enslaved Church in Soviet Russia. Based on documents from foreign archival collections, the author tells in detail about the spread of Brotherhood’s activities in the part of Soviet territory that became available for Christian preaching with the outbreak of the new world war, about the funding sources for this work, and also about close interaction and various support by state institutions of the Bulgarian Kingdom, the Synod and individual bishops of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The article reports on cooperation with the Romanian Orthodox Mission in Transnistria and on the peculiarities of editorial and publishing work with respect to the expansion of potential audience, and also on the distribution of book and magazine products of Brotherhood. Using materials from private correspondence, the published “Book of Decrees…” and other documents, the author describes the process of preparing and organizing the evacuation of Brotherhood from Slovakia to Germany at the end of the war, and its subsequent moving to Switzerland. The Appendix contains documents on the relationship of Brotherhood with the Serbian and Bulgarian Churches. In the first part of the presented material, records 1–170 of the meetings of the Spiritual Council are published. Biographical information about members of the Spiritual Council constantly mentioned in the text is given in the list preceding publication, and about others — in page footnotes. There are also some explanations of the events described, and references to those existing publications that are based on a review of sources and therefore deserve special attention.
Keywords
