THE LIFE OF OF SAINT ANTONY, METROPOLITAN OF KIEV

PART THREE

In 1899, the time of Archimandrite Antony's arrival, spiritual life at the Moscow Academy was very low. There was much drunkenness among the students and attendance at the divine services was low. The teaching methods were dry and uninspired, and the students memorized by rote rather than actually learning. Here, as at St. Petersburg, there was no rapport or communications between pupils and professors. The faculty were stiff and remote.

Father Antony approached these problems with both zeal and compassion. By the end of the first year on the saint's rectorship drunkenness among the students had almost completely ceased and attendance at the divine services increased greatly. Saint Antony brought about a revolution both in content and method of teaching. The educational level of the students rose dramatically and a lively interest in theology budded. All this was accomplished not only by the openness, compassion and firmness of the saint, but also by his daily example of faith, patience, love, and a sincere monastic life.

By his second year as rector students who had never thought about theology before began to be attracted to the Academy. Many who had embarked on studies for other careers switched to the Moscow Theological Academy and began to think about service to Christ. Relationships between the students and faculty and among the students themselves became more Christian, fraternal and creative. For the first time, the students began to discover the holy fathers as the darkness of scholasticism was pushed back by their great spiritual father, Saint Antony Khrapovitsky. Soon, the new spiritual life and elevated level of education attracted attention all over Russia.

The Saint was, however, not left in peace to continue his progressive work. In 1893, Father Antony's mentor, Metropolitan Leonty reposed in the Lord. He was replaced by Metropolitan Serge Lyatidevski, an ardent Scholastic with an arrogant, condescending attitude toward the students. Saint Antony attempted to protect the students and the school from the Metropolitan's destructiveness, but the new hierarch responded by transferring him to Kazan in 1895.

Saint Antony arrived in Kazan at the Beginning of the 1895 --96 School Year. Within two months, he had entered so completely into the life of the academy that he had the respect of the professors and the love of the students.

Recollecting his student days in Kazan during the tenure of Saint Antony, Metropolitan Meliti of Harbin wrote:

" In his conversations with students, our rector often said that the spiritual life of the Academy should, above all, prepare servants of Christ's Church, and especially monastics who could dedicate themselves entirely to this great service. Our rector expounded this service to the Church with such beauty and power of conviction that many students who had been preparing for other careers completely changed their minds and chose monasticism. The monastic brotherhood began to grow. A significant number of widowed priests and deacons also entered the academy so that we had a large number of students who were already ordained. The exceptional gifts of our rector gave him the possibility of changing the system of education which existed at the time. He saw that a direct and constant contact with the students, which had been nonexistent before would have the most beneficial results. He accomplished this great task with the help of evening teas, which he arranged in the refectory.... At these evenings, often such questions were touched upon as a matter of the reestablishment of the patriarchate, the necessity of which was expounded [by Saint Antony]. Our rector often said that the question of why we do not have a patriarch... began to interest him from the age of 10....

"Our rector was distinguished by a remarkable memory. He said that he remembered everything that he had read from the age of 12. He astonished everyone with his remarkable memory at the Moscow Sobor of 1917, when he cited from memory the apostolic rules, whole pages at a time."

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LETTERS OF ST. ANTONY KHRAPOVITSKY TO THE MONK THEODOSY ON MOUNT ATHOS.

That the change of the Calendar does not constitute a heresy or a cause to break communion with the hierarchs who use the "new calendar." On the near impossibility of having a valid Pan-Orthodox Council.

Other writings of St. Antony of Kiev (Khrapovitsky) Bibliography on the hypostatic Word of God A Discussion of the Revision of the Catechism. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ not call himself God? The three visits of Mary Magdelene to Christ's Tomb