St. Dimitriy Tuptalo,
Metropolitan of Rostov, was a Russian hierarch of the 17th century, a
remarkable preacher, and religious writer, professor of theology and ascetic,
but also miracle worker. Heis venerated today in the Russian Church but also in
the entire Orthodox space.
Childhood
St. Dimitriy was born in 1651 in
Makarovo, 40 km from Kiev, being baptized as Daniel. His father, Sava
Grigorjevich Tuptalo (†January 5, 1703) was a soldier and often he was missing
from home for a long time. Child's education was the particularly concern of
the mother, Maria Michajlovna (†March 29, 1689), who gave him a Christian
education. Soon the family moved to Kiev (1661), at that time located in
Poland, and at the age of 11 years, Daniel entered the Orthodox Academy of Kiev
(established by metropolitan Peter Movilă (Mogyla) some decades before), whose leader was at that
time Innokenty Gizela (c. 1600-1683), a brilliant preacher and defender of
Orthodoxy. Thanks to him, Daniel could develop during the study (1665-1665) a
great charisma to explain the Scriptures and became sensitive to catechizing
the faithful Church.
Monk
A few years later (July 9, 1668,
being 17) Daniel entered the Monastery of St. Cyril and received the monastic
tonsure, named Dimitriy, after St Demetrius of Thessalonica. In addition to the
usual ministries in monastery, which he performed with obedience, the young
monk managed to complete the studies and to begin his missionary literary work.
He was ordained a priest on May
23, 1675 at Holy Trinity Monastery in Gustyn, Prykuly district, and immediately
was appointed by the Archbishop Lazar Baranov of Chernigov as preacher.
Further, during this period went on pilgrimage to see different holy places in
Belarus and Ukraine, at that time partly, in possession of the Greek Catholics.
He was appointed in the next years as minister in several cities, as Chernigov
(1675) and Slutsk (1677).
 |
| Lazar Baranovich of Chernigov |
In 1678, after a trip to Vilnius, he established in
Baturyn, at the court of Hetman Ivan Samoylovych. His sermons were typical for
the Baroque period, consisting namely in metaphors, allegories, rhetorical
figures, questions and answers, especially on moral topics.
Starting in 1680 the hieromonk
Dimitriy lived mostly at Pecerska Lavra in Kiev, where he wrote many sermons,
especially against the local mores, especially alcoholism and easier life. Soon
it was given to him the leadership of several monasteries, always against his
will, because his only desire was to live in asceticism and quietly. In this
way he was abbot of Transfiguration Monastery of Maksakov, Borsna district
(1681), and the following year to the monastery of St. Nicholas in Baturyn.
Every time he tried to resign, but without succeed. His friends - including St.
Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernigov (celebrated on 5 February) - managed to
persuade him to remain abbot.
Writing the Lives of the Saints and other works
This period of his life was
devoted to theological writings, being concentrated upon the ambitious project
of integrating all the lives of Russian saints into a single work, which he
published as The lives of the saints between
1684-1705. His resources were the Greek Menologion of Saint Symeon
Metaphrastes, the Menologies of Metropolitan Makarij (1482-1563), the
Collections of Vitae of the Bollandists, the Annals of cardinal Baronius, and
the Lives of the Saints of Piotr Skarga, which means both orthodox and catholic
sources. His compositions, which he never pretended to be original, are until
today very popular in the Slavic space.
Together with his popular writing
about the saints, he wrote also a Research
on the fake faith of the schismatic (Rotsysk one cuz brynskoi raskolnitsei),
a polemic work against the Raskolniks (Old Believers), the Russians who didn’t
accept the liturgical reform of Patriarch Nikon form 1666. Dimitriy sees the
error in the popular inculture and not directly in their faith. He also wrote a Catechetic Compendium.
Also he found time to study the
ecclesiastical history of the Russian Orthodox Church, so he wrote a Chronicle of the Lavra Pecerska, a Chronicle of the Russian tsars and
patriarchs, a Catalogue of the Russian metropolitans, and also other works, especially homilies.
 |
| Monument in Makarov, near Kyiv |
For 25 years, Saint Dimitriy
devoted all the powers of such works, but besides the time spent to these, he
was praying in church or alone. He was living in the company of the saints not
only in writing but also in prayer, living their lives, suffering their
torments with them and studying the smallest details in all the documents
relating to them.
In return for his love for the
saints, God gave him often visions. On August 10, 1685, he saw in a dream St.
Great Martyr Barbara, notably honored by him. He asked her to intercede for him
before the Lord, but she admonished him because praying "like the Roman
Catholics", that means by meditating on the five wounds of our Lord.
Indeed, the influence of Roman Catholic theology and spirituality was visible
in the Russian Church in the cult. But after that St. Barbara smiled and
comforted him. On November 10, the same year, Saint Orest appeared to him, the
one of whom Dimitriy composed his life in the same day and he said: "I
suffered more torment for Christ than those you remembered." Then he
showed him a deep wound in the left side, saying: "Behold, this was done
by a red hot iron". Then he stretched out his right arm and showed his
veins that had been cut up to the elbow height and added: "Here, these
were cut" Then showed him similar injury to his left arm, repeating the
same words and then he showed that he had wounds on his knees, saying:
"These have been cut". After that, he stood right and finally said,
"You see, then, that I suffered more pain than you have remembered"
St. Dimitriy asked St. Orest if he was one of the five Saints Martyrs whose
feast is on December 13, but the martyr replied: "Not Orest of the five
Holy Martyrs Church, but he who is honored today and whose life you just made
it".
 |
| Saint Orest |
Metropolitan
In 1694 Dimitriy was named abbot
of the monastery of St. Peter and Paul in Hluchiv, in 1697 at the monastery of
St. Cyril in Kiev and in 1699 he was named Archimandrite at the Transfiguration
Monastery from Novhorod-Siverskyj. On
March 23, 1701 Dimitriy was ordained a bishop in Moscow, being appointed
metropolitan for Siberia and Tobolsk. His poor health and his need to have
access to the texts necessary to continue the writing of the saints’ lives,
made him to ask to be moved elsewhere. He was named in the Diocese of Rostov
and Yaroslavl in January 4, 1702 and then he had a vision, in which it was
discovered to him that he will have to
find the eternal rest there in the monastery of St. James (Spaso-Yakovlevsky
monastyr), in Rostov.
During his life in Russia,
Dimitry opposed both the Old Believers' and Peter the Great's ecclesiastical
policies. He also made invaluable contributions to the Russian education,
opening a school and a small theatre in Rostov, where his own plays could be
staged.
Dimitry was also active as a
composer. Many of his Penitential Psalms achieved a wide circulation, not only
in the Ukraine but in the Balkans too, and many of them have become an integral
part of Ukrainian folk-song tradition through the kobzari (itinerant blind singers).
Dimitry is credited as composer
or compiler of the first Russian opera of 6 hours, the Rostov Mysteries (1705).
It is an oratorio on the lives of Russian saints, based on the
"Cheti-Minei", published in four volumes in 1689, 1690, 1700 and
1705. The same source inspired Pushkin to write Boris Godunov in 1825.
 |
| Hierarchical stick |
Shortly before his death,
Saint Dimitriy completed his monumental work, the Lives of the saints (in
1705), and further took only the care for his community. He tried very hard to
turn the religious life and manners of his contemporaries. Despite his frequent
illnesses, he continued a strict canon in his life and never left his unceasing
prayer. He also established a theological seminary near his home, where he has
assumed much of the teaching.
The burial
Saint Dimitriy has foreseen his
death three days before. He bowed to the ground and asked for forgiveness from
clergy and singers who served with him. After that, he closed himself in his
cell, in a fervent prayer. The next day morning, October 28, 1709, he was found
dead, kneeling at prayer. Contrary to the saint's wishes, which he expressed in
his will, the clergy and people of Rostov asked the locum tenens of the
patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Stephen Yavorsky of Ryazan, who had come for
the funeral, to conduct the burial at the cathedral church of the city.
Metropolitan Stephen insisted on
burying the body of his deceased friend beside St Joasaph, who was St. Demetrius's
predecessor. However, a grave was not prepared until the arrival of
Metropolitan Stephen, even although about a month had elapsed since the saint's
death.
Due to the urgent departure of
Metropolitan Stephen from Rostov, a hastily constructed wooden frame was placed
into the grave, in which the body of the saint was buried on November 25. This
circumstance, foreseen by the Providence of God, led to a quick uncovering of
the relics.
 |
| The shrine with the Relics of the Saint Dimitriy |
In 1752 repairs were being done
at the cathedral church of the Trinity in the monastery, and on September 21,
was discovered the incorrupt body of St Demetrius. The place of burial had been
affected by dampness, the oaken coffin and the writing on it were decayed, but
the body of the saint, and even the omophorion, sacchos, mitre and silken
prayer rope were preserved undamaged.
After the uncovering of the holy
relics many healings were worked, which were reported to the Synod, by whose
order Metropolitan Sylvester of Suzdal and Archimandrite Gabriel of Simonov
arrived at Rostov to examine the relics of St Demetrius, and to investigate the
incidents of miraculous healings.
 |
| Cathedral in Rostov, where the relics of St. Dimitriy are to be found |
Veneration
The Russian Church proceeded with
the official recognition in April 22, 1757. His celebrating day is the day of
his death, October 28, or November 10, according to the gregorian calendar.
Also another celebration is on September 21, the finding of his miracle-working
relics in 1752.
His relics are until today in the
cathedral church of St. Jacob monastery on Rostov. A reliquary containing the
right hand of St. Dimitriy is today in the St. Michael Church from the village
Polovki, Chernigov region.
Troparion (hymn) of the saint
„O, lover of Orthodoxy and uprooter of schism, healer of Russia and new
advocate before God, by thy writings thou didst heal the minds of the foolish.
O blessed Dimitriy, thou harp of the Spirit, entreat Christ God, that our souls
may be saved!”
More icons and reliquary, to be found here: http://sfintisiicoane.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/sfantul-ierarh-dimitrie-mitropolitul-rostovului-rusia-28-octombrie/
No comments:
Post a Comment