Ipatievsky Vestnik № 1 (29), 2025

The article is devoted to the location of the book of the prophet Nahum in the book of the Twelve Minor Prophets and the intertextual connections of the book of Nahum with other books of the minor prophets.

The article is devoted to the publication of a previously unknown work by one of the largest Russian theologians and ecclesiastical scholars of the Soviet era, Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin). The editorial board of the scholastic and theological journal "Ipatievsky Vestnik" timed the publication to the 25th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Michael. This work is accompanied by a preface and comments by Priest Georgy Andrianov, who discovered it in his own archive. The work of Archbishop Mikhail (Mudyugin) is devoted to the understanding of the concept of "Church" in the ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul. The author identifies the importance of the Church for modern Christians and argues with its inaccurate definitions. The study presents in an accessible form the evolution of the concept of "Church" in the apostolic era. A special value is attached to the work by comparing the ancient Christian idea of the Church with the author's contemporary in church situation. The archbishops’ work is a significant contribution to Russian biblical studies, in particular to the field of Orthodox interpretation of the ecclesiology of the Apostle Paul. Despite the fact that the article was written more than forty years ago, it does not lose its relevance due to the enduring importance of the Church in the life of an Orthodox Christian.

In all of Christian teaching, the concept of "Creativity" or the creative act is considered from the very beginning of human history as the foundation of freedom and the cause of not only human existence but of all creation. This work examines the philosophical and theological aspects of freedom and creativity in the context of Christian anthropology. Drawing on the ideas of N. A. Berdyaev, N. O. Lossky, and other Russian thinkers, it analyzes how freedom becomes the basis of a person's creative activity. Creativity is seen as an act born from unconditioned freedom, contrasted with determined evolution. Special attention is given to the impact of the Fall on human creative freedom and the possibility of its restoration through spiritual transformation. The study also explores the difference between secular and Christian understandings of freedom and responsibility.

The article is devoted to the topic of the sin of drunkenness in the Bible and in the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church. The description and Christian interpretation of the main subjects of St. Peter's are given. Writings that declare the attitude towards the use of wine, including excessive. The opinion of svt is also presented. St. Basil the Great, St. St. John Chrysostom, St. Ephraim the Syrian and Russian theologians of the XVIII–XIX centuries. on the sin of drunkenness and its harmful consequences for the human soul and body.

This article is of a historiographical nature and is devoted to the sources that scholars have identified in the kontakia of St. Romanos, which are still used in Byzantine worship today. During the review, the following sources discovered by scholars were identified: martyrdoms of saints, homilies and scriptural commentaries of the Holy Fathers, encomia, apocrypha, and antique literature.

The article develops the hypothesis put forward by Metropolitan Ferapont (Kashin) of Kostroma and Nerekhta about the identity of the Kostroma Alexander Monastery and the Ipatiev Trinity Monastery, known from 14th century sources. In support of the dating of the monastery's foundation as a memorial to Alexander Nevsky in 1330, proposed by Metropolitan Ferapont, an assumption is made about the connection of this event with the Church Council held in Kostroma in March 1330 under Metropolitan Feognost of Kiev. It is also suggested that the main shrine of the Alexander Monastery "on Kostroma" for some time could have been the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God — as a relic associated with the memory of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky.

The article is intended to reveal the content of the Moscow Patriarchate's relations with the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches in the 1960s –early 1970s on the basis of documents and materials from church and state archives, official church periodicals, testimonies of contemporaries and later research. The Churches of the African continent were in the focus of attention of Russian Church diplomacy, which was conditioned both by the interests of the Russian Church itself and by the priorities of Soviet foreign policy. Soviet diplomats and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia expressed interest in strengthening co-operation between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ethiopian Church. The strengthening of relations between the Russian Church and the Oriental African churches was greatly facilitated by contacts between primates, official church representatives and delegations, interaction at the inter- Christian level, including the struggle for peace, as well as academic co-operation. Moscow's assistance and support for the needs of African believers played a major role in the rapprochement of the Churches. The author of the article notes the close ties between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches, which served the Churches themselves and contributed to the development of relations between countries and nations.

The article is devoted to the question of the place and time of the earthly life and martyrdom of Saint Anthusa the Younger. This problem is considered in the context of the main hagiographic sources of the first millennium BC, involving the opinions of leading Western hagiographers. The author comes to the conclusion that Saint Anthusa supposedly suffered for Christ in the period from the end of the 6th to the 10th century in Persia. Additionally, the article describes the hymnography and iconography of the martyress.

This article is an exposition of the Orthodox approach to such everyday aspects of life as name, clothing, and words of gratitude. This cultural phenomenon has deep roots in the history of civilization, relying on quite significant principles of existence. At the same time, focusing on the importance of veneration of the heavenly patron assimilated in Holy Baptism, the author examines both the practice of the primordial Russian, deeply ecclesiastical etiquette of keeping the icon of the saint after whom one was named, and the alternative views of other Local Churches where this tradition is not so developed. Describing the principles of the correspondence of clothes to human nature, an assessment of the influence of the Holy Scripture and traditions on this phenomenon is given. As a result, a deep decline in the culture of choosing clothes among all social groups is noted. The final part of the article contains a discussion on the topic of the principle of remembering gratitude and the elementary benevolence of people towards each other.

The article is devoted to the history of a little- known non-canonical Orthodox jurisdiction known as the “Orthodox Church of the All-R ussian Patriarchate”, created by the self-sanctified, defrocked former priest of the Orthodox Russian Church Seraphim (Ustvolsky). The years of creation and greatest activity of this group (1902–1908) fell during the years of the hierarchal service on the North American continent of St. Tikhon (Bellavin), the future His Holiness Patriarch of the Orthodox Russian Church, who led the host of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church in the twentieth century. Constantly facing the schismatic and fraudulent activities of the false Metropolitan Ustvolsky, Saint Tikhon, in addition to the colossal work of preaching the Orthodox faith to the people of the USA and Canada, was quite deeply immersed in activities aimed at countering Ustvolsky and exposing his anti-canonical actions. From the sources cited in the article, it is clear that the future patriarch ploddingly collected information about non-canonical activities, reacting to them based on the possibilities available to him. The history of Ustvolsky’s group revealed not only problems in matters of the Orthodox mission in Canada among emigrants from Eastern Europe, primarily among former Ukrainian Uniates, but also revealed a number of new problems: Protestant proselytism among former Uniates, the problem of nationalism among Ukrainian Uniates, mistrust and prejudice towards to the Russian clergy, rapid divisions among the Uniates and the creation of new non-canonical formations, a lack of educated Orthodox clergy for the spiritual care of Orthodox communities and counteracting the schism. Despite the rather short period of Ustvolsky’s activity, his followers confused the Orthodox residents of Canada for some time and then dissolved into the rapidly developing jurisdictional diversity of North America.

Marshal of the USSR Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky is known for his great knowledge of military science, but his outstanding diplomatic talent remains little known. The commander's abilities in the field of international contacts proved to be in demand by his homeland during the preparation and conclusion of the peace treaty between the USSR and Finland in the spring of 1940, the visit of the Soviet delegation to Nazi Germany in the fall of 1940, negotiations for the surrender of German and Japanese troops, as well as during official meetings of foreign delegations of military specialists, the preparation of departmental documents about cooperation between the Soviet Union and other countries, investigating incidents of international importance. The article is a continuation of the research of the marshal’s spiritual roots that has been conducted by the author for several years and has been published in the Ipatievsky vestnik magazine.

The article describes the previously unexplored period of service in the city of Kostroma by one of the outstanding hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, who served in Bulgaria in 1921–1950, Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev). His Eminence is currently canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. The future saint arrived in Kostroma at the age of 30. He was ordained a hieromonk and was appointed to the post of inspector of the Kostroma Theological Seminary. Father Serafim stayed in Kostroma for only one year. The available biographies of St. Seraphim do not contain any materials about his ministry during this period. In connection with the 75th anniversary of Archbishop Seraphim's repose, which is celebrated at the church level in 2025, the editorial board of the scientific and theological journal Ipatievsky Vestnik instructed two permanent authors of the publication to find and prepare for publication historical and other materials that may shed light on an unexplored stage in the life of a famous spiritual figure of the Russian Diaspora. As a result of painstaking work, it was possible to reconstruct the life path of St. Seraphim on Kostroma land. The article provides previously unpublished data and photographic materials, as well as tells about the modern veneration of the saint in Kostroma land. The authors would like to thank Sergey Popov, Director of the State Archive of the Kostroma Region, for his assistance in preparing materials for this article.

This article provides a brief biographical information about Sergey Nikolaevich Romanovsky, a teacher of historical disciplines at Kostroma Theological Seminary, and a list of his research works. The publication also provides links to archival sources and literature where the person of S. N. Romanovsky is mentioned. This material was prepared as part of the work on the second volume of the scientific publication Kostroma Theological Seminary. Historical encyclopedia".

In the work of the head of the Kostroma Metropolitanate, the article by I. A. Shalina "The Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God" (Orthodox Encyclopedia. Vol. 71. Moscow: Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2023. Pp. 355–382) is reviewed from the point of view of the reliability of the historical information presented in it. It is noted that, despite the interesting and extensive materials on iconography included in the article, its historical part does not stand up to criticism and contains errors, apparently due to the lack of work by the editor on the text of the article.

The review provides an overview of the book by Archimandrite Makariy (Veretennikov) "The Patriarch-S chemer", dedicated to Patriarch Nikon of Moscow and All Russia. The review shows the peculiar features of the book, both in methodological and factual terms. Special attention is paid to the structure of the work. An important place in the review is given to demonstrating the unique developments of the author of the book.