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The Holy Hieromartyr '''Hilarion (Troitsky)''', Archbishop of Vereya, was an outstanding theologian, preacher, and valiant defender of the [[Church of Russia]] who suffered during the first decade of Bolshevik rule in Russia. A compatriot of Patriarch [[Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon]], he strongly defended the Church against the attacks of the communist regime and the Bolshevik backed [[Living Church]], its renovationists policies, and the Gregorian [[Gregorianism|Gregorian schism]]. His feast day is [[December 15]].
==Life==
Bp. Hilarion enjoyed great authority among the clergy and his fellow [[bishop]]s and had gained great respect for his mind and steadfastness in the Faith. But, before two years had passed since his consecration, Bp. Hilarion was sent into exile in Archangelsk. After a year he returned to Petrograd and became Patr. Tikhon's closest like minded advisor along with Abp. Seraphim (Alexandrov). Patr. Tikhon raised Bp. Hilarion to the rank of [[archbishop]] upon his return from exile. With this appointment Abp. Hilarion's activities broadened. He engaged in discussions with Yevgeny Alexandrovich Tuchkov, the plenipotentiary for Church affairs of the GPU, on the need for a ordered life in the Russian Orthodox Church on the basis of canonical law and labored to restore the ecclesiastical organization, without success.
Abp. Hilarion became a thorn in the side of the renovationists. On [[July 5]], 1923, he threw the renovationists out of the [[Sretensky Monastery]] as they tried to serve an All-night Vigil for the [[feast day|feast]] of the Vladimir [[Icon]] of the [[Theotokos|Mother of God]], and then after re-consecrating the [[cathedral]], returned the [[monastery]] to the Church. Abp. Hilariion had heated debates in Moscow with the Living Church [[priest]] [[Alexander Ivanovich Vvedensky |Alexander Vvedensky]] during which he exposed Vvedensky's cunning and lies. Recognizing Abp. Hilarion's influence, the renovationists exerted their influence with the Bolshevik government to have Abp. Hilarion sent to exile. In December 1923, Abp. Hilarion was sentenced to three years in prison and was sent to the Solovki prison camp (formerly the [[Solovetsky Monastery]]) on the White Sea.
At Solovki Abp. Hilarion preserved all the good qualities of the soul that he had gained through his ascetic labors, both before and during his [[monasticism|monastic]] life and as a priest and hierarch. One eyewitness related when a group of six clergy, of bishops and priests including Abp. Hilarion, were laboring as net-makers and fisherman, Abp. Hilarion paraphrased the hymns of [[Pentecost]], remarking "Formerly, the fishermen became theologians. Now the theologians have become fishermen."
In December 1929, he was transferred to Alma-Ata in Central Asia for a term of three years. Traveling under guard, he arrived in Leningrad, in rags after being robbed on the way, infested with parasites, and very sick with typhus. Lying in the Leningrad prison he wrote "on Saturday, [[December 28]], my fate will be decided (the crisis of the illness). I am unlikely to survive.” When told that he needed to be shaved, he replied, "You may now do with me whatever you wish." Our confessor of Christ died on December 28, 1929, at the age of forty four.
After obtaining permission to take his body for burial, Metr. [[Seraphim (Chichagov) of Leningrad and Gdovsk|Seraphim (Chichagov)]], who occupied the Leningrad [[see]] at the time, brought white hierarchical [[vestments]] and a white [[miter]] to the prison hospital. They vested him and took him to the church at the Novodevichy Monastery in Leningrad for the funeral and burial services in which Metr. Seraphim and Abp. Alexei(Simansky), Bps. Ambrose (Libin) of Luga, Sergius (Zenkevich) of Lodeinoe Polye, and three other bishops participated.
On [[May 10]], 1999, Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Vereya, was [[glorification|glorified]] as a [[saint]] by the Moscow [[Patriarchate]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]]. On the eve of his canonization, the Holy Hieromartyr’s [[relics]] were translated from St. Petersburg to Moscow and placed in the church of the Sretensky Monastery.
*[http://www.pravmir.com/article_821.html Reverend Hilarion Troitsky]
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=103704 OCA: Hieromartyr Hilarion, Archbishop of Vereiya]
*[http://www.orthodox.net/russiannm/hilarion-archbishop-and-hieroconfessor-of-verey.html Hilarion, Archbishop and Hieroconfessor of VereyVereya]
[[Category: Bishops]]
[[CategotyCategory: Bishops of VereyaVereyа]]
[[Category:20th-century bishops]]
[[Category: Saints]]
[[Category: Russian Saints]]
[[Category: Martyrs]]
