St. Filaret (Philaret) Drozdov (1782–1867)

KONSTANTIN GAVRILKIN

Vasilii M. Drozdov was born into a clerical family in Kolomna and studied at the seminary in St. Sergius Lavra, where he also taught after graduation and was tonsured a monk with the name Filaret. Brilliant eru­dition, colorful preaching, and a gift for languages were decisive in his appoint­ment in 1812 to the post of rector of St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he had been teaching since 1810, and in 1817 he was elevated to the rank of bishop of Revel and vicar of St. Petersburg. During his rectorship (1812–19), Filaret completely revised the curriculum of all the Russian ecclesiastical schools, introduced the study of European scholarly literature, and prac­tically created biblical studies as an aca­demic discipline in Russia. Because of his organizational skills and effective leader­ship, he was also gradually introduced to a number of state and ecclesiastical com­mittees, including the holy synod in 1819. Very shortly, however, because of intrigues and the growing influence of conservatives over Tsar Alexander I, he was removed from the capital though, after short terms at Tver’ and then Iaroslavl’, he was appointed archbishop of Moscow in 1821, becoming metropolitan in 1826.

From 1814 to 1826 Filaret was active in the Bible Society, believing that translation of the Scriptures into modern Russian (they were then available only in Church Slavonic) would revive the Russian Church. However, after printing a few books (the Psalms in 1822 and the New Testament in 1823) the society was closed down at the beginning of Nicholas I’s reign (1825–55) amid accusations that its leadership, includ­ing Filaret, were “freemasons” seeking to destroy the Orthodox Church. Filaret remained at odds with Nicholaevan bureau­crats, and after the early 1840s would not attend meetings of the synod until the begin­ning of Alexander II’s reign in 1855. Never­theless, it was during the rule of Nicholas I that Filaret acquired the reputation of being a great hierarch. Despite his withdrawal from the synod, he was consulted on every important question, and his opinions, deci­sions, and reviews of various ecclesiastical and secular subjects were regularly published. Even though he was academically brilliant, Filaret did not have the opportunity to develop truly scholarly work after he left St. Petersburg, although he continued to fol­low European scholarship throughout his life. Administrative and pastoral duties, together with frequent liturgical services and constant preaching, consumed his time. His ascetical lifestyle, pastoral wisdom, administrative efficiency, remarkable knowl­edge of the patristic tradition and of canon law, and, most of all, his unrivaled preaching, made him the most influential bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century, overshadowing every other Russian ecclesiastic from the 19th century onward. He was canonized in 1994.

SEE ALSO: Russia, Patriarchal Orthodox Church of

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Filaret, Mitropolit of Moscow (1873–85). Sochineniia: slova i rechi, 5 vols. Moscow: A. I. Mamontov.

Filaret, Mitropolit of Moscow (1877–84) Pis’ma к namestniku Sviato-Troitskoi Sergievy lavry arkhimandritu Antoniiu, 1831–1867, 4 vols. Moscow: A. I. Mamontov.

Filaret, Mitropolit of Moscow (1885–8) Sobranie mnenii i otzyvov po uchebnym i tserkovnym voprosam, 6 vols., ed. Savva, Archbishop of Tver’. Moscow: Synod. Tip.

Filaret, Mitropolit of Moscow (1903–16) Polnoe sobranie rezoliutsii, 5 vols. Moscow:

Dushepoleznoe chtenie.

Tsurikov, V. (ed.) (2003) Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (1782–1867): Perspectives on the Man, His Works, and His Time. Jordanville, NY: Variable Press.