Lev Shlosberg’s Telegram blog post, 31.10.2024

18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА

18+ THE PRESENT MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG

In 2007, a foundation stone was laid in Pskov in front of the Mironositsky cemetery, on the site of the future memorial in remembrance of political repression. Since then, each year on 30 October, a modest city-wide meeting has been held there. It has ever since then held its place for official events. It was first visited and opened by the mayor of the city. Events have included speeches by relatives of the victims, funeral liturgies, reading out the names of the deceased, a minute of silence, and the laying of flowers and wreaths. During 2020 and 2021, there was an interruption due to Covid-19 restrictions, after which time the meetings were resumed. Hence, the meetings took place once again in 2022 and 2023. This year, for the first time, the memorial event at the foundation stone was “not included as an official city event” as it turned out, by the city’s cultural institution, the House of Officers, traditionally responsible for the task of organising the event. The city authorities have slowly moved away from commemorating the victims of the 20^th Century. Despite this, the Memorial Day for Pskov’s victims of political repression was still held.

The secular authorities, although they walk bearing crosses simply for show, did not take into account (simply not considering, or rather blind to the fact) that according to the church calendar on 30 October, according to the Liturgical instructions, a  “Commemoration of all Orthodox Christians who were innocently killed by anticlerical violence or were innocently imprisoned” takes place.

On this day, by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on the 23-24 September 2021, the following order of worship was determined: a) in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Christ the Savior – there would be a Divine Liturgy and requiem by the episcopal rank; b) in all dioceses, if possible at the places where innocents were murdered, funeral services by the episcopal rank; c) in the church at the Butovo firing range, which is one of the centres for preserving the memory of both the New Martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church, as well as all those innocents who were killed by the militant atheists or who were imprisoned. There is also a Divine Liturgy and a memorial service (which preserves the established tradition of the extra–liturgical practice of reading the names of those killed here at the firing range); d) funeral services in theological academies and in seminaries with the participation of students e) funeral services in parish churches and monasteries.

On June 13, 2016, the Holy Synod approved the following texts of funeral petitions for all those killed during the years of repression to be included in the liturgical services:

“In blessed repose, grant eternal rest, O Lord, to Your departed servants, innocents who were killed during difficult times, those who suffered and were tormented, who received a bitter death in exile and imprisonment, whose names You Yourself, O Lord, weigh, and create eternal memory for them.”

And so it is in every church, including the temple of the Holy Myrrh–Bearing Women, in front of which stands the exalted and repeatedly mourned Pskov memorial granite stone.

It is clear without any clarification how these liturgical texts are viewed today. And nothing can be done. Everyone understands this.

Today, the relatives and loved ones of the repressed victims came to the memorial stone in front of the Myrrh-Bearing Church in Pskov. And they read the names of the dead.

I would like you, reader, to watch today the recording made at the foundation stone on October 30, 2010, when the then rector of the Church of the Holy Myrrh–Bearing Women, Archpriest Pavel Adelheim – himself a victim of repression, and a son and grandson of repressed men. After serving not just a short litany, but rather a full-fledged memorial service, he addressed the audience with a sermon. Unfortunately, less than three years would pass before his tragic death. The country was not yet aware of the tragedies to come, but Pavel saw and spoke about the important idea – about the crimes of the previous century, and about the obscurity of the new one. The sermon starts at 54:47 here.

I am ashamed of the Pskov city authorities. But after all, God will ultimately be the judge of everything.