Based on the author’s collected memories of participants in the events described, memoirs, journalistic articles published in Russian and Russian emigrant publications, as well as on the documentary materials of the classified court proceedings that took place in Leningrad in 1967–1968, the article recounts the history and ideology of the underground anti-communist organization — the All-Russian Social Christian Union for the Liberation of the People (VSKhSON). The publication focuses on the fate of the founder of the All-Russian Social Christian Union for the Liberation of the People, the outstanding Russian Orthodox thinker Igor Vyacheslavovich Ogurtsov, who, in the early 1960s, along with a group of his associates, advocated for the synthesis of Christianity, patriotism, and social ideas against the communist system. Particular attention is given to the Program of the All-Russian Social Christian Union for the Liberation of the People. Written by Igor Ogurtsov 60 years ago, it remains relevant today in both scientific and political contexts. The author of the Program, while analyzing the communist system, not only predicted the inevitability of communism’s collapse but also proposed a specific path for the rebirth of Russia after the fall of the “party dictatorship” — a path rejecting the extremities of both socialist and capitalist perspectives and implying the country’s further development based on the principles of sociality and Christian ideals.

This article narrates the life journey, theological ideas, and pastoral practices of one of the eminent Orthodox ascetics in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church — Hegumen Nikon (Vorobyov) (1894–1963). In his youth, influenced by the spirit of the time, he was initially an atheist, fervently studied various sciences and philosophy. However, not finding what he sought in philosophy, he ardently turned to faith. In the “borderline state”, his soul experienced a somersault, and God revealed Himself to the one who sought Him with all the strength of his soul. In Minsk in 1930, Nikolai took monastic vows. He was given the name in honor of Hegumen Nikon of Radonezh, and later was ordained as a hieromonk. At that time of persecutions, this step was a true renunciation of the world and a direct path to Golgotha. In 1944, he was appointed the abbot of the Annunciation Cathedral in the city of Kozelsk. Here, he lived in an apartment held bynuns and kept a truly ascetic lifestyle. In a small room, he spent all his free time in prayer. His sermons made a strong impression on the believers, as he explained the Gospel, taught how to pray correctly, what humility and repentance meant as the foundations of spiritual life. In 1948, Father Nikon began to be driven from one parish to another: initially transferred to Belyov, then to Efremov, and further to Smolensk. His excellent sermons made many people restless, including, quite often, his fellow brethren. In 1948, from Smolensk, he was sent to the city of Gzhatsk (now Gagarin) — according to the father, in exile. Father Nikon led a strict monastic life. He had the gift of unceasing prayer, which was discovered accidentally. Hegumen Nikon’s constant readings included patristic writings, the Fathers of the Philokalia, the lives of saints, sermons, expoundings, and rarely — scientific, theological and philosophical works. Especially diligently and constantly he re-read and studied the works of St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), whom, being a truly spiritual father, he strongly recommended to all his spiritually close ones. The essence of his instructing was beautifully expressed in his letters, which were repeatedly published under various titles: “Repentance Is Left to Us”, “Letters on Spiritual Life”, “Give Heed to Yourself”, and others. He spoke and wrote about the essence of the Savior’s preaching, calling for spiritual and moral self-change through recognizing the damaged nature of humanity and its inability to heal itself from passions, primarily from the most foolish one — pride. Through this self-awareness, true repentance could be accomplished, turned to Christ the Savior, Who heals us.

This article delves into the works of Nikolay Nikolayevich Lisovoy (1946–2019) during the initial 45 years of his life, which coincided with the Soviet era. It was during this period that the main concepts of his creativity were formulated: the Orthodox Empire and its relation to the Church, the history of Russian theology, the history of the Russian Church and its saints, Russian conservative journalism from the late 19th to the early 20th century, and the Russian spiritual and political presence in the East. Nikolay Lisovoy’s youth was marked by the peak of his poetic creativity, and he primarily considered himself a poet. To the contemporary reader, Nikolay Lisovoy is largely known for his writings on the Holy Land and his activities in the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPPO). However, during the considered period of his creative output, these themes were not yet at the forefront of his attention, thus his main contributions to the development of Russian conservative thought remain practically unknown. Based on Nikolay Lisovoy’s personal archive and his early publications, the author analyzes his works written during the Soviet era, delves into the origins of his creativity, and identifies individuals who significantly influenced his formation. Of particular interest is the examination of Nikolay Lisovoy’s works at the intersection of disciplines: physics, philosophy and theology, semiotics and linguistics, history and canon law, historiosophy and political science. Nikolay Lisovoy’s creative output is explored using materials from his personal archive within the context of the epoch, taking into account individuals who had a particular influence on him, including his mother Olga Talantseva, Fyodor Sukhov, Vasily Shulgin, Archimandrite Innokenty (Prosvirnin), Tatyana Glushkova and others.

This publication, commemorating the 5th anniversary of Nikolay Lisovoy’s passing, aims to initiate a comprehensive study of Nikolay Lisovoy’s spiritual and scientific legacy from the first 30 years of his creative path, which unfolded during the Soviet period, and and introduce it to the scientific society. By 1991, Nikolay Lisovoy laid the foundations of concepts that are extremely relevant to conservative thought today. The most important of them is the idea that Russia was and remains an Orthodox Empire, destined to resist the entropy threatening humanity and originating from the West. Above all, he considered himself a conservative.

The author of the article has been a disciple of Nikolay Lisovoy since 2003, actively promoting his works. After being ordained as a priest in 2013, he regularly performed confession, communion, and administered the last sacraments for the scholar and his spouse.

The article focuses on the works of the renowned Russian religious thinker Viktor Trostnikov and his perspectives on the Soviet period. The primary question guiding his creative output was: “What was the ultimate meaning behind the sufferings and hardships that befell Russia in the 20th century?” Viktor Trostnikov’s reflections on the Soviet epoch, which largely coincided with the greater part of his life, appear more objective and significant compared to the reasoning of authors adhering to either pro-communist or anti-communist views. Viktor Trostnikov regarded Marxism as a heretical doctrine that, through its pseudo-scientific nature, poisoned the minds of the Russian people. The religious nature of Marxism influenced the Christian sentiments of the people, facilitating the success of the October Revolution. The doctrine of communism was a Christian heresy, Christianity without Christ. During the Soviet era, the Russian people retained the ability to believe in something higher than the material world. Leninism provided the people with an inspiring and uplifting dream. The Christian paradise in the heavens was replaced by a terrestrial communist utopia in the future. Throughout the Soviet period of Russian history, state atheism failed to dismantle the deeply rooted traditional spiritual and moral values of Orthodox civilization within the people’s souls. Viktor Trostnikov highlighted instances of genuine asceticism during the Soviet era. Despite the USSR being an atheistic state until its dissolution, covertly our country remained the Third Rome. Viktor Trostnikov proposed considering the history of Russia of the 20th century, including revolutionary events and the Soviet era, from the perspective of Russian civilization. Crucially, during this challenging period, the people managed to preserve the core of their culture and civilizational identity, which was “camouflaged by external godlessness”. Viktor Trostnikov offered a distinct understanding of Stalin’s figure, the relationship between authorities and the people during the Soviet era, the role of industrialization in Soviet history, and the role of art in the country’s life.

This article explores the phenomenon of religious revival among the Orthodox youth in the Soviet Union during the 1970s. The author argues that during this period, some processes took place within a segment of the intellectual Soviet youth that could be described as the Soviet religious renaissance. This phase coincided with Brezhnev’s rise to power and a temporary easing of anti-religious persecution. In the 1960s–70s, the USSR passed several legislative acts that improved the conditions for believers and religious organizations, granting them comparatively greater rights. However, the state retained the authority to intervene in the Church’s internal affairs and rigorously control its activities, leading to a decline in the number of Orthodox parishes from year to year. Nevertheless, a religious-oriented vector was forming in the minds and souls of the thinking Soviet youth. In the 1970s, several movements emerged, actively seeking forms of spiritual life. One notable phenomenon of religious dissidence was the preaching activities of priest Dmitry Dudko. In 1974, followers of Father Dmitry organized the enlightening “Ogorodnikov Seminar”, named after one of its founders. The seminar studied theological and philosophical literature, which its participants struggled to obtain. The seminar later began publishing the journal “Obshchina” (Community). Simultaneously with the Moscow christian seminar, the religious and philosophical Goricheva-Krivulin Seminar emerged in Leningrad. The article delves into the history of Orthodox samizdat (self-published works and underground press) in the 1970s, particularly the journals “Obshchina” (Community) “Veche” (Popular Assembly), and “Moskovsky Sbornik” (Moscow Collection). The Orthodox revival of the 1970s culminated in the early 1980s due to severe repression by Soviet authorities. Typically, those representatives aligned with Russian patriotic ideologies received the longest prison sentences. The author concludes that the ideas of nationally-oriented, patriotic figures and publicists remain relevant to this day.

The article examines the main “internal” theme of S. S. Averintsev’s research, which has a paradigmatic character both for him as a scientist and for Christian philosophy of culture as a whole. This is the problem of Christianization of culture as a unique paradoxical process of filling and transformation of old pagan forms of culture under the influence of new Christian content. This process is shown by S. S. Averintsev as a model of paraphrase and paradox as forms of transcending consciousness for the openness of the gospel message. The article discusses the works of S. S. Averintsev dedicated to different periods of world culture from antiquity to the 20th century. In his diverse problematic, S. S. Averintsev uses the method of “revealing” transcendent elements of culture based on the analysis of cultural morphology. In particular, it is shown that the synthesis of the conditional pagan “West” and the biblical “East”, realized by Orthodox New Rome (“Byzantium”), was the main cultural and historiosophical theme of S. S. Averintsev, which unfolds in his works on the material of different historical epochs and different cultural regions. In his works on the culture of the 20th century, he provides a diagnosis and prognosis of processes in contemporary culture, and critically analyzes key concepts of cultural analysis during this period. According to S. S. Averintsev, Christian culture, especially in the era of secularization, de facto can become a kind of “compensator” for the lack of Christian life. On the other hand, the task of Christian culture is to provoke the awakening of Christian life, to penetrate into everyday life as a meaningful transcendence. This allows us to consider his concept as an original response to the challenge of secularization.

Despite historical, cultural, and religious storms and instabilities that intermittently cloud interstate relations, the shared Orthodox faith has consistently fostered the strengthening of ties between the Russian and Greek peoples. Within Orthodoxy, authorities for the Church are not only the texts of sacred books but also revered individuals—saints. The veneration of ascetics unites different nations in a single spiritual realm. Biographies of Russian saints garner significant interest among Greek readers. Apart from numerous translated and compiled works, there exist many original research pieces. Some Russian ascetics are even more renowned in Greece than in their homeland. A particular phenomenon is the veneration of Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea (Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky). This article attempts to trace the origins, scale and nature of the veneration of St. Luke in Greece. Greeks first learned about Archbishop Luke of Simferopol and Crimea during his lifetime, in 1957, when a lecture about him was delivered for the first time. However, the true nationwide popularity of St. Luke’s name was earned thanks to the efforts of Archimandrite (since 2013, Metropolitan of Argolis) Nectarios (Antonopoulos). He first heard about St. Luke in the summer of 1996. Archimandrite bought a book about Archbishop Luke by Archdeacon Vasiliy Marushchak, “The Blessed Surgeon: The Life of Saint Luke of Simferopol” in Crimea and commissioned its translation into Greek. He then extensively traveled to the places where the saint once lived. For many years, Antonopoulos independently collected archival materials and interviewed people who knew Valentin Voyno-Yasenetsky. As a result of this work, in 1999, Father Nectarios published his book “Archbishop Luke. A Saint Pastor and Physician Surgeon” in Greek, which has been reprinted multiple times (the 28th edition was released in 2020). This article discusses this and other publications dedicated to St. Luke in the Greek language. It also focuses on academic conferences devoted to understanding the legacy of the saint. As of 2016, more than 40 newly constructed churches dedicated to St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky) were consecrated in Greece. The article details the most famous centers of veneration of the saint in Greece and some of the churches built and consecrated in recent years. Additionally, it provides some information on the veneration of St. Luke in the Balkan Peninsula and Cyprus.