The ministry of Archpriest Gregory Ponomaryov (1914–1997) in the epoch of persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54700/2n40pe25

Keywords:

pastoral theology, asceticism, Russian Orthodox Church, Church history, new martyrs, confessors, prayer, time management

Abstract

Archpriest Gregory Ponomaryov served in the Trans-Ural region, kept the faith, despite severe persecution. After returning from the concentration camp and exile to the ministry, as a missionary, he helped people (who had received an anti-religious upbringing) to join the Church. To do this, he collected apologetic materials, compiled collections of patristic teachings (“Flower Beds”), wrote articles (“samizdat”). His personal feat is reflected in the spiritual diary, which traces the zealous struggle with passions and the urge to virtues, ascetic attitude to the time released by God for spiritual growth. The diary was constantly re-read by Archpriest Gregory so that his ‘spiritual construction’ would not stop. The ministry of Father Gregory finds parallels in the ministry of his great contemporary, the elder Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), and is of interest for research on pastoral theology.

Author Biography

  • Priest Pavel Serzhantov, Sretensky Theological Academy

    Serzhantov Pavel Borisovich
    PhD in Philosophy;
Associate Professor
    of the Sretensky Theological Academy

References

Беглов А. Л. В поисках «безгрешных катакомб»: Церковное подполье в СССР. Москва, 2008. @@ Beglov A. L. V poiskakh «bezgreshnykh katakomb». Tserkovnoe podpol’e v SSSR [In search of ‘sinless catacombs’. The Church underground in the USSR]. Moscow, 2008.

Гавриил (Бунге), схиархим. Тоска, печаль, депрессия. Духовное учение Евагрия Понтийского об акедии. Москва, 2014. @@ Gavriil (Bunge), skhiarkhim. Toska, pechal', depressiya. Dukhovnoe uchenie Evagriya Pontiiskogo ob akedii [Melancholy, sadness, depression. The spiritual teaching of Evagrius of Pontus about Acedia]. Moscow, 2014.

Григорий (Лебедев), еп. Толкование на Евангелие (от Марка и Луки). Москва, 2006. @@ Grigorii (Lebedev), ep. Tolkovanie na Evangelie (ot Marka i Luki) [Interpretation of the Gospel (Mark and Luke)]. Moscow, 2006.

Кибирева Е., Пономарева О. Исповедник веры протоиерей Григорий Пономарев. 1914–1997 гг. Жизнь, поучения, труды. Т. 1. Москва, 2006; Т. 2. Москва, 2007. @@ Kibireva E., Ponomareva O. Ispovednik very protoierei Grigorii Ponomarev. 1914–1997 gg. Zhizn', poucheniya, trudy. T. 2 [Confessor of faith Archpriest Grigory Ponomarev. 1914-1997. Life, teachings, works. Vol. 2]. Moscow, 2006.

Лавринов В., прот. Екатеринбургская епархия. События. Люди. Храмы. Екатеринбург, 2001. @@ Lavrinov V., prot. Ekaterinburgskaya eparkhiya. Sobytiya. Lyudi. Khramy [Yekaterinburg Diocese. Events. People. Temples]. Yekaterinburg, 2001.

Марченко А., прот. Вопрос о возрождении духовного образования в Молотовской (Пермской) епархии в годы Великой Отечественной вой­ны // URL: https://bogoslov.ru/article/1418608 (дата обращения: 10.11.2021). @@ Marchenko A., prot. Vopros o vozrozhdenii dukhovnogo obrazovaniya v Molotovskoi (Permskoi) eparkhii v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny [The question of the revival of spiritual education in the Molotov (Perm) diocese during the Great Patriotic War]. Available at: https://bogoslov.ru/article/1418608 (accessed 10.11.2021).

Пономарева О. Отец Григорий. Жизнь, посвященная Богу. Москва, 2006. @@ Ponomareva O. Otets Grigorii. Zhizn', posvyashchennaya Bogu [Father Gregory. A life dedicated to God]. Moscow, 2006.

Сорокин В., прот., Бовкало А. А., Галкин А. К. Духовное образование в Русской Православной Церкви при Святейшем Патриархе Московском и всея России Тихоне (1917–1925) // Вестник Ленинградской духовной академии. 1990. № 3. С. 41–63. @@ Sorokin V., prot., Bovkalo A. A., Galkin A. K. [Theological education in the Russian Orthodox Church under His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Russia (1917–1925)]. Vestnik Leningradskoi Dukhovnoi akademii [Bulletin of the Leningrad Theological Academy], 1990, no. 3, pp. 41–63. (In Russ.)

Цыпин В., прот. История Русской Православной Церкви. 1917–1990. Москва, 1994. @@ Tsypin V., prot. Istoriya Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi. 1917–1990 [The History of the Russian Orthodox Church. 1917–1990]. Moscow, 1994.

Kibireva E., Ponomareva O. Ispovednik very protoierei Grigorii Ponomarev. 1914–1997 gg. Zhizn', poucheniya, trudy. T. 1 [Confessor of faith Archpriest Grigory Ponomarev. 1914-1997. Life, teachings, works. Vol. 1]. Moscow, 2007.

Downloads

Published

2025-12-18

Issue

No. 1(5) (2023)

Section

Historical Theology

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Serzhantov P. B.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.