Archbishop Averky (; secular name Alexander Pavlovich Taushev, , ; – 13 April 1976) was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Archbishop of Syracuse and Holy Trinity, rector of Holy Trinity Monastery and rector of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, New York. A notable Russian Orthodox theologian and spiritual writer of the 20th century, publicist.
Biography Childhood in Russia Born on October 19, 1906 in Kazan, he was the only and beloved son of Pavel Sergeyevich and Maria Vladimirovna Taushev, a noblepeople from the Simbirsk Governorate. His father, a graduate of the Military Law Academy, served in the military judicial department before the 1917 revolution. Subsequently, Archbishop Averky recalled this period of his life as follows: "The nature of my father's service was the reason that we constantly had to travel around Russia. And I thank God that <...> I nevertheless saw it and deeply imprinted her in my childish heart. <…> These memories of our travels in Russia seem like a kind of dream to me, and they will never be erased from my memory until my death. It is unforgettable for me to visit the holy Kremlin, in the heart of Russia — the Mother See of Moscow, with its shrines, starting with the Assumption Cathedral, where our Sovereigns were crowned and the Primates of the Russian Church were enthroned. The Trinity-Sergius Lavra with the holy relics of the "mourner of the Russian Land", St. Sergius, Kiev Caves Lavra, Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Peter and Paul, St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals and the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg. I do not want to believe that now these are only "museum" values, that the church and national life that used to be there will not be revived".
He loved to read when he was a kid. After reading all the children's books in home library, including Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov, he began to read books of spiritual content that his father had. "I was most interested in the items in my father's huge closet in his office. I liked to climb there when my father went to work, and I was especially fond of reading the large Bible in Russian with numerous illustrations by Gustave Doré, which made a great impression on me. Then I enthusiastically read the "Guide to the Holy Land" and the "Guide to Mount Athos". My parents were not particularly "churchpeople," but they were deeply religious people, and my father was very fond of and subscribed to books of spiritual content published by St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos. When I got to these books, they especially struck me not only with their content, but also with the special spiritual fragrance that emanated from them. Reading these books, I just reveled in this wonderful fragrance, and I was sorry to part with these books, having put them back in the closet on the shelf. That's how I gradually got acquainted with the book "Invisible Warfare," which made a deep impression on me, and then with the book "The spiritual life: and how to be attuned to it" by Bishop Theophan the Recluse and with collections of his Letters. I was constantly walking around under the impression of what I had read, and somehow I began to become more and more alienated from the ordinary social life around me. But in those early years, I did not feel a special attraction to the God's shrine, I did not know and did not understand our wonderful, incomparable worship even then. It came later, gradually. In my soul, even then, at the age of 7-8, I subconsciously had a desire to lead a monastic life, detached from ordinary secular life, <...> in which I saw nothing attractive".
In January 1920, the Taushev family left their homeland after many wanderings: "I remember with what sorrow my heart was squeezed when we left the Russian land… With bated breath, we watched the last Russian lights on the horizon disappear. Goodbye, our poor long-suffering Homeland! And is it really forever?".
Life in Bulgaria At the end of January 1920, the steamer carrying the Taushev family stopped at the Bulgarian port of Varna. The city authorities accommodated the newly arrived refugees in dormitories. At first, they "enjoyed a quiet, peaceful life here, from which they managed to wean themselves in Russia during the terrible years of the revolution of the 1917-1920s. The Bulgarians welcomed us cordially and kindly". In the same year, a Russian gymnasium was launched in Varna, which enrolled 25 students, including Alexander Taushev. According to his memoirs, "I loved studying very much, and for me it was a real pleasure when we started studying some new subject. I especially loved history and geography, as well as the history of Russian literature. At one time he was fond of the Latin language". During his high school years, Alexander Taushev was strongly influenced by the , which was given to the Russian community, and its rector, Archpriest John Slunin. According to the memoirs of those who knew him in Bulgaria, at that time Taushev always looked solemn, sedated in his movements and conversation. He also was somewhat detached because he was a little deaf.
In the summer of 1925, Archbishop Theophan (Bystrov) arrived in Varna, who had a great influence on the young Alexander Taushev: "I was deeply struck by his extraordinary appearance, unlike other bishops I had seen before, his prayerful ministry and wonderful sermon, which inspired me with the spirit of ancient patristic writings, which I was fond of reading. And suddenly I found out that he had been hired for the whole summer a summer cottage five kilometers from the city, where he would live every summer, coming from Sofia, where he settled in the building of the Bulgarian Holy Synod. A particularly exalted spiritual joy seized my heart in the hope that I would often be able to see this genuine saint of God, who struck me so much with his spirituality, and perhaps even converse with him. I immediately came up with the audacious idea of asking him to be my "elder" — a spiritual father in monasticism, which I resolutely decided to accept after seeing in Vladyka Theophan the ideal of a monk and a saint. <...> It is difficult for me to express in words what I felt on my first meeting with this great saint. He breathed upon me an extraordinary peace of mind and such a fragrance of genuine holiness, which I have never had to meet anywhere else, neither before nor after". After that, 19-year-old Alexander Taushev decided "firmly, without the slightest doubt or hesitation" to become a monk. Alexander Taushev often visited the cottage where Archbishop Theophan lived, got acquainted with his cell-attendants and became one of them. When Archbishop Theophan was outside of Bulgaria, Alexander Taushev corresponded with him.
In 1926 he graduated from the Russian gymnasium with a gold medal. After that, with the blessing of Archbishop Theophan, he entered the Faculty of Theology at Sofia University. On June 3, 1930, he successfully passed the exam with a total score of 5 points. After graduating with honors from Sofia University, Alexander Taushev had the opportunity to get a place in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, but he decided "to serve as the leader of the Russian Church, to work in the spiritual field of our Russian people." He decides to go to serve in Carpathian Rus (now the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine). "I regularly received the newspaper Orthodox Carpathian Rus, and so I had the intention to go to Subcarpathian Rus — then it was Czecho-Slovakia — where there was at that time a spontaneous return of the masses of the enslaved and oppressed for centuries of the Russian people, people torn from Mother Russia for centuries; [return] from the union with Papal Rome, forcibly imposed on them by the enemies to their native paternal Eastern Orthodox faith". Alexander sent the petition and received a response from Bishop Joseph (Cvijović) that he might be offered the position of assistant secretary of the Diocesan Administration in the city of Khust. He received a blessing for this from Archbishop Theophan (Bystrov), who also gave him money for travel, since his parents did not have the means to buy a train ticket. He left Bulgaria with mixed feelings: "On the one hand, the sorrow of separation from my Abba, (Archbishop Theophan) and with my parents, whom I loved very much, on the other hand, I am glad that one way or another, with the blessing of my Abba, I am approaching the realization of my cherished dream — to become a monk, and at the same time on the territory of the Ruthenian land, which even officially bore the name "Subcarpathian Rus" that attracted me. I was glad to think that I would devote myself to such a lofty cause, missionary service for the return of our deceived and oppressed brothers in faith and blood to their native fatherly faith."
Ministry in the Carpathian region On April 23, 1931, Alexander Taushev arrived in Transcarpathia, and on May 1 of the same year he was enlisted in the service of a junior official of the diocesan administration. He remained in this position until June 1, 1932. On May 6, 1931, on the feast of the Great Martyr George, he was ordained a reader by Bishop Joseph in the church of the village of Čumalovo. On May 17, 1931, at the St Nicholas Monastery in the village of Iza, Khust district, he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Averky in honor of Equal-to-the-Apostles Abercius, Bishop of Hierapolis. The next day, he was ordained a hierodeacon, remaining in the service of the diocesan chancery and performing deaconal duties at the bishop. On April 7, 1932, on the feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, he was ordained a hieromonk by Bishop of Mukačevo and Prešov in a monastery in the village of Domboky.
On April 18, 1932, the secretary of the Diocesan Administration, Sergei Ryasnyansky, informed the rector of the Orthodox church in Užhorod, Archpriest Mikhail Meygesh, that the ruling bishop, "in view of the need to support and strengthen Orthodoxy in Užhorod," was sending Hieromonk Averky (Taushev) to his disposal. The duties of the young missionary included serving and preaching on the eve of the Easter holidays, helping in the confession of believers. On June 1, 1932, Hieromonk Averky was transferred to St. Nicholas Monastery to serve as an assistant rector and to serve parishes in the villages of Nankovo and Boroniava. On August 20, 1932, the secretary informed the Parish Committee that the bishop had decided to appoint Hieromonk Averky as assistant rector and asked for decent living conditions in the city. On September 9, 1932, at the request of believers in Užhorod, he was appointed assistant rector of the Intercession Church. On November 12, 1932, Hieromonk Averky sent Bishop Damascene a letter and the first issue of the Parish Bulletin, which he planned to publish in order to inform members of the Orthodox community. On the reverse side we find a positive resolution of the bishop. On July 2, 1933, the First Congress of Carpatho-Russian Youth was held in Užhorod. Six priests attended the meeting: Archimandrite Alexius (Kabalyuk), Archpriest Iriney Khanat, Hieromonks Sabbas (Struve), Innocent (Chopik), Philip (Gardner) and Averky (Taushev). After the festive liturgy, 40 people, mostly young people, applied to leave the union for Orthodox Church. On August 7, 1933, Hieromonk Averky was appointed acting rector, and on August 23, 1934, he was appointed permanent administrator of the Užhorod parish. On July 1, 1935, Hieromonk Averky was appointed rector of the parish in Užhorod with the right to receive a state fee (Congrua portio).