16,951
edits
Changes
m
link
After his arrival in Russia Fr. Alexander was assigned as a [[priest]] in Helsinki, then a part of the Russian Empire. Here, as assistant to his archpastor, [[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Sergius (Stragorodsky)]], he defended the Orthodox minority against the proselytizing activities of the expansionist Finnish Lutherans. Then in August 1917 he was transferred to Christ the Savior Church in Moscow as an assistant priest to once again serve under his old archpastor from America, the future St. Tikhon.
He also arrived as two historic events were to unfold, the [[All-Russia Russian Church Council of 1917-1918]] and the Bolshevik coup of October 1917. He was an active participant in the Church Council and assisted St. Tikhon in the administration of the Moscow diocese. With the loss of state funding, the Church and the Cathedral had to look to other sources of funds. Fr. Alexander, with Fr. Nicholas Arseniev, the rector of Christ the Savior Cathedral, aided the establishment of a brotherhood that appealed to the Orthodox flock to defend and preserve the Cathedral, and to aid the starving.
Fr. Alexander's activities defending the Church naturally brought him the enmity of the Bolsheviks and led to his arrest for brief periods in May 1920 and November 1921 for violating decrees concerning church relationships. In 1922, the next stage of Bolshevik antagonism began as Church property, including [[icon]]s and [[sacred vessels]], were confiscated on the pretextof helping the poor and starving. Although St. Tikhon encouraged the Church's donation of funds for this purpose, this was not enough for the Bolsheviks. So, St. Tikhon issued a decree based on [[canon law]] that the [[clergy]] in Russia were not to surrender sacred vessels for non-ecclesiastical use. This brought St. Tikhon's arrest and numerous court trials in which the servants of the Church were accused of counterrevolutionary activity. These trials intensified the Bolshevik attacks and the increased shedding of blood of the clergy and faithful who defending God's Church.
