Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of New York and Eastern America, was born Georgy Nikolaevich Voznesensky on March 22 / April 4, 1903, in Kursk, Russia, into a pious Orthodox family. His father, Archpriest Nicolas Voznesensky, came from a lineage of priests and was a passionate pastor and a deeply prayerful man. He later became a monk, taking the name Dimitri, and subsequently became a bishop (later Archbishop of Hailar). The Voznesensky family had five children: two sons and three daughters. From a very young age, Georgy grew up in an atmosphere of Christian love and church life.
In 1909, the family moved to the Far East, where Georgy completed his basic education. When the atheists came to power, his family moved again to Harbin, a city with a vibrant ecclesiastical life, where Georgy studied at the Polytechnic Institute. During this time, he was profoundly influenced by the works of Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, and his teachings on Christian life and the constant remembrance of death deeply resonated with him. From that moment, worldly life ceased to interest him. In 1930, Georgy was ordained as a deacon, and in 1931, as a priest. That same year, he took monastic vows under the name Philaret, in honor of Saint Philaret the Merciful.
Gradually, a monastic community formed under his leadership, characterized by a consistent spiritual life, reading the Holy Fathers, and contributing to the work of orphanages and schools in Harbin. His spiritual guide during those years was the blessed Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, with whom he shared a particularly warm relationship until the latter's death in 1936.
Father Philaret had a truly compassionate heart. He gave away everything he had, sometimes even his clothes, and relieved those in need in any way he could. He was filled with great love for the Word of God and knew the entire Gospel by heart. His name was known far beyond the borders of Harbin province. In 1933, he was appointed as the abbot and in 1937 as archimandrite.
In 1931, Manchuria was occupied by the Japanese. In 1945, the Soviet Army defeated the Japanese, and the communist regime was established in China. For those Russians who managed to emigrate to the West or Australia, a period of pain and trials began. The Soviet government began requiring Russian emigrants to obtain Soviet passports to show that there was no oppression of believers in the USSR.
At that time, the "Newspaper of the Moscow Patriarchate" claimed that there was no persecution of the Church in the Soviet Union and that the only conflict was with counter-revolutionaries. Archimandrite Philaret refused to commemorate the atheistic regime and publicly declared the true negative situation for Orthodoxy in Russian lands. Consequently, he was repeatedly called for interrogation, persecuted, and his house was set on fire, with the windows and doors sealed. However, the Lord saved his life, and he managed to escape safely, suffering severe burns to the lower part of his face and neck.
The good shepherd did not abandon his flock until all who had obtained visas left China. Only in 1962 did he depart for Hong Kong.
He soon settled in Australia, in Brisbane. In 1963, he became a bishop in Australia. In 1964, Bishop Philaret attended the Council of Russian Hierarchs in Diaspora held in New York. Metropolitan Anastasius was then in advanced age and was about to retire. Elections were held for his successor, but the two candidates tied. To maintain peace in the Church, Saint John Maximovitch, Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, proposed a third candidate, the relatively unknown Bishop Philaret, who was the most recently ordained. Thus, in 1964, the Russian Church Abroad appointed Metropolitan Philaret as its third primate.
As head of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Saint Philaret remained steadfast in maintaining Orthodoxy's independence from the Moscow Patriarchate, which had succumbed to the atheistic regime. At the same time, he worked hard for the peace of Orthodox Christians and sought to quell divisions within the Russian Church Abroad. He worked with gentleness but also zeal to preserve the patristic tradition and defended Orthodoxy against the dangers of ecumenism, countering the "branch theory."
During his tenure as primate of the Russian Church Abroad, the canonization of several saints occurred, including Saint John of Kronstadt (1964), Saint Herman of Alaska (1970), Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg (1978), the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (1981), and Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (1982).
Saint Philaret was a lover of monasticism, as it allows a person to dedicate themselves entirely to God. In his own words: "According to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, the monastic way is, in itself, the straight path to the Heavenly Kingdom when completed as it should be."
His sermons were substantial, simple, and clear. According to the testimony of many, his rhetoric was comparable to that of Saint John Chrysostom. With profound awe and respect, he approached the Holy Mysteries of Christ, reminding his flock that: "The Divine Communion is a fire. No one can forbid it unless there are serious canonical obstacles. A Christian should partake of the Divine Communion as often as possible. For this reason, the Divine Communion is received before the Beautiful Gate, as it symbolizes our closeness to the Kingdom of Heaven and urges us upward!"
While he was a shepherd full of care and love for others, he was extremely strict with himself. He lived a truly ascetic life: sleeping only two or three hours a day, eating very little, and watching with paternal concern the sorrows and joys of his flock, often staying awake in prayer for them. His spiritual children were witnesses to many miracles performed by him, both during his life and after his repose.
Their testimonies speak eloquently of the immense power of his prayers.
The life of Metropolitan Philaret, equal to that of angels, culminated in his blessed repose on November 8/21, 1985, on the feast day of the Archangel Michael and all the Bodiless Powers.
Metropolitan Philaret was buried in the Holy Trinity Monastery of Jordanville. Thirteen years after his death, it was decided that he should be transferred to the crypt beneath the Holy Altar of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. The opening of his tomb occurred on October 28/November 10, 1998. Archbishop Laurus of Syracuse and Holy Trinity, Bishop Hilarion of Manhattan, Archimandrite Luke, and the brethren were present at this occasion and witnessed the complete incorruption of his relics. His body was white and even soft. The vestments, cross, and icon of the Theotokos remained bright.
The faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad received the incorruption of the relics of the holy hierarch Philaret as a miracle granted to us by God for the strengthening of our faith.
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Chronology of Saint Philaret's Confessional Struggle Against Ecumenism
1. On December 2, 1965, Metropolitan Philaret sent a denunciation to the “Ecumenical Patriarch” Athenagoras, rebuking him for the unlawful “lifting of the anathemas.” In the letter, Metropolitan Philaret writes: “We have inherited a legacy from the Holy Fathers that everything in the Church must be done in a lawful manner, with one mind, and according to the ancient traditions. If any of the Bishops, even the Primates of the autocephalous Churches, do something that is not in accordance with the teaching of the Church, every member of the Church has the right to protest against it. The 15th Canon of the First and Second Council of Constantinople in the year 861 states that ‘those Bishops and clergy who break communion even with their Patriarch, while he publicly preaches heresy and teaches it publicly in the Church, will be deemed worthy of the appropriate honor.’ In this way, we are all guardians of the truth of the Church…”
2. On May 21, 1968, Metropolitan Philaret wrote an open letter to “Patriarch” Athenagoras. He states: “Under certain conditions, the intention of the Ecumenical Throne to convene a Great Council of representatives of all Orthodox Churches could indeed be a joyful event. However, the convocation of a Council does not always bring joy. And a Great Council, even if many autocephalous Churches participate in its proceedings, does not automatically have the honor of being recognized as the Church expressing the authentic voice of the Church and upholding the traditions of the Apostles and Holy Fathers. However, every new Council must be in full harmony with the previous Ecumenical Councils. The Council of Ephesus under Dioscorus appeared to be quite full, but it is known today as the Robber Council. The Grace of the Holy Spirit enlightens a Council and makes its voice the voice of the Orthodox Catholic Church only when the Council is convened to condemn, according to Holy Tradition, the innovations and arbitrary dogmas that are subjected to the powerful of this world, who want to introduce into the Church a heretical epidemic…” (Letter of Metropolitan Philaret, May 21, 1968).
3. On July 14, 1969, Metropolitan Philaret wrote his first Open Letter to all the Patriarchs and Bishops of the autocephalous Churches, denouncing them for their sinful silence regarding the heresy of Ecumenism. He writes: “... We observe, however, that no one in a higher position than ours raises their voice. And this fact compels us to speak, so that we will not be accused at the Second Coming of having seen the danger of Ecumenism against the Church and yet not having warned its Bishops.”
4. In 1972, Metropolitan Philaret wrote his Second Open Letter, rebuking the bishops throughout the world for their silence regarding the heresy of Ecumenism. In the same letter, he names the innovation of the new calendar as the first step toward the delusion of Modernism. He writes: “In our first sorrowful Letter, we wrote in detail about the incompatibility, from an ecclesiological point of view, of the Orthodox Church’s participation in the World Council of Churches, presenting accurately the violence and dishonor done against Orthodoxy by the participation of Orthodox Churches in this Council. We demonstrated that the basic principles of this Council are incompatible with the Orthodox Teaching and Dogma of the Orthodox Church. Therefore, we protested against the acceptance of this decision made at the Pan-Orthodox Council of Geneva, where the Orthodox Church was accepted as an organic member of the World Council of Churches. Alas! In recent years, there are many glaring evidences that in dialogues with the Heterodox, some Orthodox delegations have accepted a purely Protestant ecclesiology, which gradually leads to a Protestant-like approach to the problems of the Church’s life, from which arises the modern secularization and unbearable innovations of it. We see this in the Modernist Movement of the “Living Church” in Russia in recent decades. At the first assembly of the founders of the Living Church on May 29, 1922, its objectives were established as “the revision and change of all aspects of Church life, as these become imperative according to the demands of contemporary life” (The New Church by Professor V. Basil Titlinov, Petersburg-Moscow 1923 p. 11). The Living Church was an attempt to reform itself to the demands of the conditions of a Communist state.”
5. On the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1972, in the Holy Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Montreal, Canada, the Holy Synod under the presidency of Metropolitan Philaret synodically anathematized Ecumenism and Modernism.
6. In December 1975, Metropolitan Philaret wrote another [anti-Ecumenism] text regarding the so-called “Thyateira Confession,” which had been issued by the archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain Athenagoras (Kokkinakis), with the approval of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, under Patriarch Demetrius, to demonstrate that this ecumenical official Confession is entirely heretical in spirit, encouraging prayer and communion with all sorts of heretics, whom it fully recognizes and includes within the Body of the Church, without setting any boundaries on it!...
7. On August 18, 1983, the Holy Synod of the Russian Church in Diaspora anathematized the heresy of Ecumenism. The act states: “To those who speak against the Church of Christ and teach that the Church of Christ is divided into what are called ‘branches,’ which differ from one another in teaching and way of life, or that the Church does not exist visibly, but will be formed in the future when all ‘branches’ or denominations or even religions unite into one body, and who do not distinguish the priesthood and the mysteries of the Church from the priesthood and mysteries of heretics, but say that the baptism and Eucharist of heretics are sufficient for salvation, as well as to those who commune knowingly with the previously mentioned heretics or support, disseminate, or defend their newly revealed heresy of Ecumenism under the guise of fraternal love or the proposed unity of separated Christians, ANATHEMA.”
For his full life and works, visit this link:
https://blessedphilaret.blogspot.com/