Behold, what is good, or what is red,
but even the brothers live togetherѣ ? Ps.132:1.
(This is what is good and what is pleasant: brothers living together!)
1. What kind of spiritual and moral foundations do we have?
The answer to this question is quite simple: the spirituality and morality of our people are based on Orthodox teaching. This doctrine itself is based on faith in God, set out in the Orthodox Creed.
Actually, the very birth of our people occurred at the moment of baptism in the waters of the Dnieper. By accepting one faith, from more than two hundred tribes, the triune Russian people was formed. Exactly this way and no other way.
1.1. A little about the basic structure.
God created man in his own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Every person carries the image of God within himself, but likeness (likeness to Divine perfection) must still be acquired in synergy with Divine Grace.
We know from God's revelation that God is triune. And the man? Well, since it was created in the image, then apparently so is it. According to the words of St. Anastasius Sinaite (VII century) “... according to a certain image of the Holy and consubstantial Trinity: the causeless and unborn Adam is the image and image of the causeless God and Father - the Almighty and the Cause of all things, the begotten son of Adam is the predestined image of the born [from the Father] Son and the Word of God, and the departed Eve denotes the departed Hypostasis of the Holy Spirit .
Or the same, in the words of a famous modern priest: “A man, a woman and a child are three hypostases of a single human being. And only by finding a family, living and developing in it, does a person become human.” Let us add that becoming just a man is the upper limit for the Old Testament man. Therefore, the Old Testament family is only a prototype of the Christian family - the small Church. And for us, brethren, just the prototype should no longer be enough.
Christ who became man gave us the way to acquire the likeness of God - He created the Church. By His Grace, through the Church sacrament of marriage, he transformed the Old Testament family into a small Church. In turn, these small Churches make up parish communities - strictly speaking: the primary structures of the Church. Of course, not every person is called to a family, but everyone is called to life in a community. A Christian not on his own, but through the Christian community, through the liturgy (Greek λειτουργία - “service”, “common cause”) becomes involved in the mystical body of Christ - the Church created by Him.
It was through Christian communities that the people of God participated in resolving Church issues - the best elected representatives from the communities participated in Local Councils. Before Peter I, it was the parish communities that chose the priesthood for themselves.
All other relationships in our Fatherland were built on the same principle. An example of this: Zemstvos are elected bodies of local self-government, represented by elected representatives of self-governing communities (peasant, craft, trade, etc.). It was through communities, through the most respected elected people, that every Russian person participated in local self-government and was involved in governing the state through Zemsky Sobors. In Cossack communities, the principles of conciliarity and self-government were developed to an even greater extent.
It is this conciliarity, communalism and tradition of self-organization that have become the main conditions for invincibility in the centuries of our people. This is what allowed the Cossacks to take Siberia and even reach California. It was these conciliarity, communalism and self-organization that allowed us to take up arms more than once against the Tatars, Poles, and guerrilla warfare against Napoleon and Hitler. It is these innate, but largely forgotten qualities that should now help us wake up from the coma of the charm of Western individualism, cosmopolitanism and, excuse me, consumerism.
We must remember the life of brotherhood. We must, in the words of the wonderful ataman K. Lizunov, remember our main Russian weapon of mass creation and the original generator of trust - the community. We must begin to build our living environment, our way of life. Refuting the Satanist Marx: our consciousness must determine our being.
2.In search of spirituality moral principles modern Cossacks.
It is no secret that by now, due to various historical events, many important and main meanings of our existence have been lost. Thus, the Church Conciliarity established by Christ God - the basis and Spirit of conciliarity, community and self-organization of our people - was abolished as a result of Peter's reforms. As a result of the Stolypin reform, in the words of P.A. himself. Stolypin “drove a wedge” into the peasant community - the backbone of the state. The remnants of community and artel life were finished off by Khrushchev. The Cossacks, as “the only part of the Russian nation capable of self-organization,” were practically destroyed during the genocide of decossackization. The thousand-year tradition of the family has been destroyed and the family from the small Church has again become an Old Testament one. At the same time, everyone - for a long time and without a twinge of conscience - calls it traditional. IN recent years they are trying to destroy the institution of such a family - civil, i.e. registered under civil laws. In exactly the same way, shamelessly, what the law considers cohabitation, and the Church considers fornication, is now called “civil marriage.” The deceived society, little by little, has already justified not only these so-called “civil marriages”, but also all kinds of free (from God) relationships, and in recent years juveniles and LGBT people have risen in growth.
Unfortunately, we live in times of global substitution of the main meanings...
This year we celebrate the beginning of the Local Council of 1017-1918. Two centuries before it, Councils did not meet in Rus'. None at all. And so, with great effort, with Highest resolution it took place. Considering what a terrible time it began, it is not surprising that various political crooks tried to “privatize” this Council. But the Lord did not allow it. And the Council restored the election of the priesthood with the participation of the laity, which made it possible to elect St. Patriarch Tikhon. But now the Conciliarity of our Church has again been trampled upon. Local Councils are a sham, if only because the laity present there are not authorized to represent anyone. The election of the priesthood is a fiction, because no one - in fact, and to be honest - asks the parish in which the priest is ordained for an opinion. Therefore, I don’t know what the priest feels when he reads the “Teaching News,” where the condition for performing the liturgy is “The priest must be a chosen person...”.
Even what is now called parish communities in our Church is, in fact, not communities. As a rule, these are unfamiliar people who meet once a week for years and remain unfamiliar. However, in the Church now, everything is exactly the same as in our families: people enter into marriage dishonestly, marriages are often not celebrated. Heads of families do not want to take full responsibility for providing for and managing the family. Instead, they shifted part of their responsibility onto their wives and, together with them, are entirely busy earning money to improve their living conditions, vacations abroad, a new car, etc., etc. At the same time, those children who were nevertheless allowed to be born are left in the care of the streets and schools. And without trusting God this situation cannot be corrected.
So what to do with all this now? Yes, many people understand that something is wrong, but they don’t know what or how to fix it. Even if they read it somewhere, as it should be, they still don’t understand. There is no living example - neither around, nor among parents. Yes, and my grandparents no longer had any. But we all regularly read and hear in church about how we should build our lives and the lives of those whom the Lord has given us to manage, but “ It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified"(Rom 2:13). And the fact that there are no examples around (or few of them) does not excuse us in any way: The servant who knew the will of his master, and was not ready, and did not do according to his will, will be beaten a lot; (Luke 12:47). This means that if not out of trust in God, then at least out of fear of punishment, you need to start changing your life. Punishment, by the way, will not only come later - if everyone honestly looks at their current life, they will see that they are bearing it now. And vice versa: take a closer look at the families who have taken the path of fulfilling God's law.
Let's start again from the beginning: man - spirit, soul, body... What comes first for you and me? Is the soul more important than the body? Those who live not in fornication, but in a family - how do they build their families as cells of a tolerant society or, nevertheless, as small Churches? Do husbands treat their wives wisely, as the weakest vessel, showing them honor as joint heirs of the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7). Are children taught in the doctrine of the Lord (Eph. 6:1)? Do wives abide in faith, love, holiness and chastity? Are people saved by bearing children (1 Tim. 2:15)? Do children obey and respect their parents (Eph. 6:1)?
To further reveal the essence of the issue of building a family - a small Church, I will quote the Apostle from the wedding ceremony:
“Let wives submit to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the Savior of the body. But just as the Church submits to Christ, so do wives to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing in water through the word, so that He might present the Church before Him in glory, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. , but so that she is holy and blameless.
So husbands should love their wives as they love their bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, just as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His Body from His flesh and from His bones. Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I speak in relation to Christ and the Church. As for you, let everyone love his wife as himself, and let the wife fear her husband" Eph 5:20-33
And so the main question is the salvation of the soul? The duty of the head of the family is understood in accordance with what God commanded through the mouth of the apostle? Based on the results of the answers, we draw an intermediate conclusion: only those who can answer these questions affirmatively for HIMSELF can consider that he lives at least in part of the tradition of our pious ancestors. And this is just a small touch to the question of who is a real Cossack and who is a mummer.
Let's move on. Cossack community. Of course, I do not claim absolute objectivity, but almost all Cossack societies that I know are now created according to the principle: the one who registered the legal entity - he is also the ataman - announces recruitment to the “Cossacks”. Funny? Unfortunately, it's no longer a laughing matter. This is one more touch to the question of mummers.
Well, not about them now. There are still Cossack societies in which there are Cossacks. They make up their minds quite sincerely, swearing on the Cross and the Gospel “to serve the Orthodox Faith, the Fatherland and the Cossacks.” Everything seems to be fine. But here's the problem - there's a lot of turnover. Serve and serve - see how everything works - and serve this“Cossacks” lost their desire.
So why the turnover? What's wrong?
Recently, in 133 responses from the “People's Council” I read the following: “ Cossacks... without legalized service and “Cossack territories” in which the corresponding way of life operates is nothing more than a folk club, supplemented specific forms self-government (ataman, circle, etc.).”
- Did we vow to serve the “folklore club” by kissing the Cross?
Yes, we gathered, we communicate, we are like-minded, but communication does not go further. I forgot - there are also “events” to maintain law and order, bishop services, religious processions... And service to the Fatherland? What about the way of life?
What other way of life, without cohabitation on Cossack territory? Without a community? And the community is not just meetings to chat - it’s life in its entirety. This in itself is already a service: to limit your private “wants” for the sake of a common goal, to forgive the infirmities of your brothers, and to feel gratitude when they forgive you.
« Bear each other's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ" (Gal.6:2)
Among the Cossacks there has been a lot of talk about unification for a long time. About some kind of abstract unification “in general”, without filling this concept with a real meaning - something like: unite “for everything good, against everything bad.” But almost no one talks about the fact that this unification should take place through the Cossack brotherhood - the essence of the community.
It is life in the community, in brotherhood, that teaches both practical Cossackism and practical Christianity. Both us and our children. Serving your brothers is serving both God and the Cossacks. Serving God and the Cossacks is serving the Fatherland.
Someone will say that now is not the right time, urbanization, it is not possible for everyone to live on earth in villages - honestly, there would be a desire, and then again it is a question of trust in God. Our community is a living example of this. We couldn’t get the allotted land for free - the Lord helped us buy it. And then - at every next step - be it the transfer of part of the agricultural land for the construction of a village, or communication issues, or processing issues.
I am convinced that it is life in a community (stanitsa or farm), on the land and from the land, that imbues a Cossack with the Cossack spirit from childhood. Gives him the opportunity to provide for his large family - a small Church, and in his absence, in wartime, to be calm about its food. Actually, this is the way of life that ensures the main tradition - the military one.
However, if someone thinks otherwise, you can probably do some other serious joint business (for an example, see below in "special unit"), which would bring everyone together for a long time and regularly, with the same goal - to bear each other’s burdens and learn practical Christianity - to build brotherhood - to build the Church.
3. Conclusions.
Let's return to the task at hand: the search for the spiritual and moral foundations of the modern Cossacks.
Yes, we live in an era of global destruction of spiritual and moral foundations, primarily through the substitution of main concepts and meanings.
In order not to get caught in these networks, not to die yourself and to make your families happy (and at the same time, by the way, to preserve the Fatherland of our ancestors for our children) - obviously, everyone needs to start with themselves. Ask God for gracious help and resolutely take the path of acquiring His image. This matter cannot be moved forward without a good priest and the sacraments of the Church. In parallel with this, begin (very carefully so as not to break anything - exactly as the apostle teaches) to build, entrusted to you by God for management, my small Church (family). And at the same time, together with my brothers, begin to build our The Church, as the mystical body of Christ, is a community. Let's build our brotherhoods and unite the efforts of our fraternal communities in defending the Motherland. It's difficult. From experience: it is especially difficult to trust each other in a brotherly way and serve each other in a Christian way. But I repeat: this is not just beautiful and correct words, but truly - WORK and FULFILLMENT of the oath once given to God: “To serve the Orthodox Faith, the Fatherland and the Cossacks.”
Special part.
As a unifying joint endeavor, we propose to join in the work of creating a Cossack territorial defense battalion from the irregular territorial defense units already existing in the Cossack societies of the region. These Cossack units, stationed at their place of residence in the region, should be structurally included in the created BTTO.
Together we need to prepare proposals for amending the nuclear weapons law, including a plan to create a Cossack territorial defense battalion. A capable irregular military unit with a specific combat mission reflected in the current mobilization plan Yaroslavl region. The mobilization plan should determine the list of protection objects (bridges, roads, schools, kindergartens, water utilities, etc.) and form the basis for combat training activities for the Cossacks of the Yaroslavl departmental Cossack society. First of all: training to develop a mobilization deployment plan linked to specific tasks and objects.
Once again: constant training with reference to specific objects at the place of deployment - AT YOUR HOME. And this in itself is a serious man’s business. At the same time, it is interesting, and creative, and routine, and difficult - a REAL man's business. And not all sorts of photo/video reports about “events”.
In addition, maintaining the Cossack territorial defense battalion in combat readiness could become a constant practical task for the leadership of a separate Cossack society. And the widespread implementation of this task in combination with the creation of Orthodox-motivated traditional communal Cossack settlements could generally become the main meaning of the very existence of the modern Cossacks.
Dear Natalya Vladimirovna, venerable fathers,
dear brothers and sisters!
Welcoming you all cordially, I gladly convey to you the fatherly blessing and wishes of God’s help in your labors from His Eminence Metropolitan Mercury of Rostov and Novocherkass, head of the Rostov Metropolis, chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, who entrusted me with representing him at this Round Table.
The beginning of the formation of systematic education among the Cossacks The south of Russia is associated with the general reform of education in Russia, undertaken by Empress Catherine II at the end of the 18th century, and then with the reform of Russian education under Emperor Alexander I in 1804. The main result of the undertaken reforms was continuity, as we would say now, primary and basic stages general education , – parish and district schools and gymnasiums in the Don and Kuban.
And the Ministry of Public Education, and the Russian Orthodox Church, and the military administrations in collaboration provided formation and development of an original regional Cossack component in district, district schools and gymnasiums. The basis of this component is Orthodox education, education in accordance with Christian spiritual and moral values and ideals, without which Cossack education is generally unthinkable, neither in the past, nor in the present, nor in the future. In addition to Christian education, applied military disciplines were taught. In the 19th century they began to lay down basics of professional military Cossack education: This education was given in regimental and brigade schools, the purpose of which was to train junior command staff of the Cossack army.
It is noteworthy that training could also take place in adulthood, which was not at all considered shameful, and the state and the Church tried in every possible way to support the Cossacks’ desire for high-quality specialized education. As a result, the system Cossack education appear Sunday schools and classes for adult Cossacks.
Thanks to such close cooperation between the Church and the state, the active interest of representatives of the Cossack intelligentsia in preserving their original culture, Cossacks of the South of Russia to the beginningXXcentury had a well-organized education system, including a Cossack regional component, focused on military-patriotic and Orthodox education, while implementing state educational standards. During this period, the first specialized higher education institutions appeared.
Formulated in 1833 by the Minister of Public Education Sergei Semenovich Uvarov triune principle « Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality» became the basis of Cossack education for many decades and incarnated in the form of a man Cossack culture, a faithful son of the Orthodox Church and a true patriot of Russia. Thus, it is formed special system of Cossack education, combining the skills of a defender of the Fatherland with a commitment to Orthodox traditions and values.
With the beginning Civil War In Russia, Cossack cadet corps were closed.
Revival of cadet educational institutions V modern Russia started in 1992. The Cossack educational system began to be built in various types: the Cossack school, the Cossack cadet corps, and cadet classes appeared in some ordinary schools. The first cadet corps as military educational institutions of a new type began to appear first in Novocherkassk, Rostov-on-Don and Novosibirsk, then in Voronezh, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Currently, there are already about 40 of them. Today, Cossack cadet corps is one of the most original and dynamically developing areas of domestic education.
Of course, the main goal of educating and training cadets is the formation of a highly moral and educated personality - a person who knows the history and cultural traditions of Russia well, a true patriot and an active Christian.
At present, in the regime of maximum state favor for the revival of the original traditions of the Cossacks, it is not enough just to declare allegiance to the glorious past and talk about the need to restore traditions. We need specific practical steps to train teachers and develop educational and methodological support for educational organizations with Cossack specifics.
It becomes fundamentally important to understand the prospects of Cossack education from the point of view, first of all, of axiology and to improve on this basis the conceptual provisions of modern Orthodox Cossack education. This emphasis on the Orthodox component is all the more important because the tradition of military-patriotic education was adopted in Soviet era Suvorov schools; In addition, there is a whole network of schools with the so-called ethno-confessional component, in-depth study of one or another traditional culture. And yet, despite this, Cossack schools and cadet corps occupy a very special place in the modern Russian education system.
If we return to the original premise from which the entire modern system of Cossack education originates, then its uniqueness and originality become obvious. Sometimes you can hear statements regarding the priority of universal human values over traditional ones, that the latter have largely lost their relevance and significance for education. But despite the changing historical circumstances, by and large the specifics and prospects for the development of domestic Cossack education are determined by the same principles as centuries ago. Let us remember the words of the Minister S.S., whom I have already mentioned. Uvarov addressed to Emperor Nicholas I: “... For Russia to strengthen, for it to prosper, for it to live, we are left with three great state principles, namely: 1. National religion. 2. Autocracy. 3. Nationality» .
Translated into modern language and taking into account current realities in relation to the process of education and socialization, this is, first of all, spiritual, moral and military-patriotic education. The practical implementation of these directions involves the creative processing of rich cultural and spiritual heritage along with the involvement of pedagogical innovations, the creation of a special educational environment in which spiritual and moral education based on the Orthodox worldview acts as the main organizing factor. Of course, such an integrated approach requires not only special training and retraining of clergy and teachers, but also building long-term church-state relations in this area, coordinating a joint development strategy, which is what we are seeing in many regions. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the authorities state power, education administration for their readiness to actively cooperate with the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of development of Cossack education. I hope that our joint work will continue to be just as fruitful.
The Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis, together with the Synodal Committee for Interaction with the Cossacks, the leadership of dioceses with a traditionally Cossack population, are largely responsible for the preservation of the Orthodox component, the spiritual and moral development of students of Cossack cadet corps, gymnasiums, and kindergartens. But our good intentions in relation to the modern system of Cossack education will be truly realized only if the leadership of educational institutions and territorial Cossack communities pays primary attention to preserving the Orthodox component.
In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of His Holiness Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Rus', which he said at a meeting of the Supreme Church Council on September 9 of this year. The revival of the Cossacks, according to the Holy Lord, “ is a very important part of the revival of our national traditions, customs, but, most importantly, the Orthodox spirit, which always enlivened and filled the life of the Cossack community» .
God grant that the development of the Cossack education system will contribute, among other things, to the spiritual and moral healing of our society, the establishment of Christian values in the life of the people, and the closer familiarization of our contemporaries with the faith, with the rich spiritual and cultural heritage of Orthodoxy.
Thank you very much for your attention.
The musical creativity of the Cossacks is rooted deep into the historically established folk and spiritual culture, the continuity of which continues to this day. Touching upon this aspect, we should touch upon the topic of the spiritual and religious foundations of musical creativity as an integral part of Russian and world culture. Spiritual musical art, which has a centuries-old ancient tradition, was transformed in the Christian era into that spiritual and moral basis that predetermined the vector of development and content of the creativity of many church and secular figures; it also significantly influenced the formation of the Cossack musical culture.
Story ancient culture indicates that in ancient world music was considered a mysterious, destructive element due to its exciting and seductive influence on the human psyche.
In discussions about the role of musical art, the poet O.E. Mandelstam (1891 - 1938) mentions that the distrust of music as a kind of magical, bewitching force was so great that the state subordinated it to its control, declaring it its own monopoly and choosing the musical mode as a means and model for maintaining political order and civil harmony - eunomia (“benevolence”) . But even in this capacity, “the Hellenes did not dare to give music independence: the word seemed to them necessary, a faithful guardian, a constant companion of music. Actually, the Hellenes did not know pure music - it belongs entirely to Christianity” |3|.
Later, thanks to Christianization Ancient Rus', sacred musical art, combined with the word, its moral and semantic content, played a significant role in the formation of song choral culture, in the formation of the personality and creativity of many church and secular figures. In addition, it was a moral, ethical, artistic and aesthetic basis classical music modern times. Orthodox Russian choral art was also created on the basis of church singing. Here, as in temple architecture and icon painting, talented creators appeared. The forms of Russian church chant developed gradually until the 18th century inclusive. Thus, in The Tale of Bygone Years Nestor Chronicle mentions the fact that even under the Kyiv Tithe Church - the first church in Rus' - a choir and a singing school had already been created |2; 6|. Influencing human psychology along with other components religious art, church chants elevated, ennobled the soul, attuned the personality to deep spiritual experiences and formed high moral feelings. It is known that one of the most educated representatives of the “golden age” of Russian holiness, Rev. Joseph Volotsky . Thanks to the development of his singing talent, he made a significant contribution to Russian culture, developing church choral art. As the saint’s biography relates, his voice “hovered like a swallow” under the arches of the church during a church service, and the melodies of the Joseph-Volotsk Monastery that have come down to us, recorded in the hook notation of St. Joseph, are currently the object of scientific research by specialists in the field of spirituality. and church music)
