599
edits
Changes
→Life: Correted grammar and removd a repetitive clause.
During the Autumn of 1911 Fr. Joasaph was appointed assistant inspector of the Kazan Theological Academy at the request of its rector, [[Bishop]] Alexis (Dorodnitsyn). At the Academy he was appointed president of the Council of [[missionary]] courses and worked in the Tatar mission and with the [[Edinoverie]]. On [[July 11]], 1912, he was appointed by the Holy Synod as acting superior of the Kazan Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery with the rank of [[igumen]]. With his fine mind, administrative flair, and ability to get along with all kinds of people, the young igumen soon brought the community to a flourishing state. At the monastery, he began building a [[chapel]] in the Old Russian style over the [[relics]] of St. [[Ephraim of Kazan|Ephraim]], metropolitan of Kazan. The chapel, however, was destroyed in 1972, during the Soviet era, to make way for a garage. In 1915, Fr. Joasaph was raised to the rank of [[archimandrite]] and appointed president of the Pedagogical Council and the Economic committee of the Kazan missionary courses at the academy.
As 1918 began ecclesiastical life in Kazan changed radically following the Bolshevik takeover of the government of Russia. By September 1918, Bolsheviks Bolshevik forces had conquered Kazan. Metropolitan James (Pyatnitsky) of Kazan, also Jacob, and Bishop Boris (Shipulin) had followed the White Army in retreat, and Bishop Anatolius of Chistopol, the rector of the Academy, had gone to Moscow to attend the [[All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918|All-Russian Local Council]], leaving the city without any bishops. Additionally, almost all the members of the diocesan council were out of the city. It fell upon Archimandrite Joasaph to take on the administration of the Kazan diocese alone in an environment where the majority of the churches were closed because of the departure of a significant proportion of the [[parish]] [[clergy]] and as arrests and shooting were taking place everywhere. On [[September 20]], a Red Army commander burst into the [[altar]] at the Spassky [[monastery]] in the Kazan Kremlin while Archim. Joasaph was celebrating the [[Divine Liturgy|Liturgy]] and declared that the Kremlin was to be closed to the public and declared a military citadel. The Red authorities, with restrictions, allowed Archim. Joasaph to remove the most venerated holy objects from the Kremlin churches. With the help of the nuns of the Monastery of the Mother of God, these holy objects were move moved in a silent procession to the Kazan monastery, and the Kremlin churches were closed on [[September 22]] as the Bolsheviks began looting the churches in the Kremlin and shooting several priests in the Kazan region.
As news of these shootings was reported , Archim. Joasaph inscribed the martyrs' names into the martyrologies and diptychs, actions that were confirmed by Bp. Anatolius, who returned to Kazan on [[September 26]] and took over the leadership of the [[diocese]]. Later, the Kazan Kremlin was reopened to the public when Kolchak's army relieved pressure on Kazan. Archim. Joasaph led the restoration of the churches and served the first service in the [[cathedral]] on [[April 7]], 1920. Also in April, Patriarch Tikhon, upon learning that Metr. James was not returning to Kazan, appointed Bp. [[Cyril (Smirnov) of Kazan|Cyril (Smirnov)]] as Metropolitan of Kazan. On [[July 12]], Archim. Joasaph was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] Bishop of Mamadysh, a vicariate of the Kazan diocese, by Metr. Cyril and Bp. Peter (Zverev) of Balakhinsk. While remaining the [[abbot]] of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery, Bp. Joasaph was appointed to live in the Kizichesky Monastery.
On [[August 6]], Metr. Cyril was arrested by the Bolsheviks in Kazan and taken to Moscow, leaving Bps. Anatolius and Joasaph to lead the Orthodox in the Kazan. On [[November 8]], 1920, they consecrated Archimandrite Athanasius (Malinin), who was a lecturer in the Kazan Theological Academy, as Bishop of Cheboksary and vicar of the Eparchy of Kazan.
In the spring of 1921 the [[w: Cheka|Cheka]] learned that the Theological Academy was still functioning under the guise of theological courses. This resulted in the arrested arrest of Bp. Anatolius, the rector of the Academy, and all the professors on the charge of organizing an unlawful academic organization. While the professors were soon freed, Bp. Anatolius remained in prison in Moscow. With the imprisonment of Bp. Anatolius, Bp. Joasaph was again in charge of the Kazan diocese.
With the agreement of Metr. Cyril, with whom Bp. Joasaph maintained contact in the Taganka prison, he . He and Bp. Athanasius proceeded to consecrate Archimandrite Andronicus of the [[Seven Lakes Hermitage of the Mother of God|Seven Lakes Hermitage]] to the [[episcopate]] and transferred him to the [[Monastery of St. John the Forerunner (Kazan)|Monastery of St. John the Forerunner]] in Kazan. In November, Bp. Joasaph obtained permission from the Bolshevik authorities permission to reopen the Kazan Theological Academy under the rectorship of Professor Protopriest Nicholas Petrov, the superior of the church of St. Barbara. The academy continued in existence for two years until Bp. Joasaph's exile from Kazan in 1924.
In early 1922, Bps. Joasaph and Athanasius greeted Metr. Cyril who had been released from prison on his return to Kazan. In April 1922, Bp. Joasaph was confronted with the requisitioning by the Bolsheviks of the valuables in the Kazan churches. He was able to save many ancient and valuable pieces of church property from the Spassky monastery, but not the royal doors made of silver. In 1922, in connection with the confiscation of church valuables, 24 clergy of all ranks were killed by the Bolsheviks in Kazan province.
After defending himself before the GPU, stating that his actions were ecclesiastical, not political, Bp. Joasaph was called to Moscow by the authorities on [[May 12]], 1924. Upon his arrival in Moscow he immediately visited Patr. Tikhon, whom he had not met before. On [[May 29]], he presented himself to the GPU. The next day he was cast into Butyrki prison. Not finding anything of which to accuse him, he was released on [[May 6]] after obtaining his signature on a document that declared he would not leave the city. He went to live in the [[St. Daniel Monastery (Moscow)|Danilov Monastery]].
On [[April 25]], 1925, Bp. Joasaph signed an act that transferred the leadership of the Church to Metr. Peter. In Moscow, Bp. Joasaph became the trusted representative of Metr. Peter and locum tenens of the patriarchal throne while living in the Danilov monastery. He took part in Metr. Peter's negotiations with the authorities concerning the organization of a Holy Synod, and warned him in good time about the so-called Gregorian bishops. In the autumn of 1925, he composed a declaration concerning the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Soviet State. On [[December 1]], 1925 Bp. Joasaph was arrested in the Danilov monastery in connection with the affair of Metr. Peter and was interned in the inner prison of the OGPU. On [[June 3]], 1926, he was exiled to Turukhansk by the OGPU for three years. On [[June 30]], 1926 he was sent in exile to Turukhansk region, arriving there in August.
After Metr. Sergius published his notorious declaration in July, 1927, Bp. Joasaph actively opposed him, resulting in his being retired by Sergius. In August, 1927 Bp. Joasaph renewed his correspondence with Metr. Cyril, who was living in the same region. Returning from his three-year exile in the summer of 1929, Bp. Joasaph stopped for two months in Yeniseisk. There he chose the town of Kozmodemyansk in the Mari republic when he was ordered to live in one fixed domicile. While living in Kozmodemyansk, Bp. Joasaph continued his ties with Kazan, especially with the nuns living there.
years=1922 - 1937|
after=?}}
{{end box}}
==Sources==
