Kyiv: in St. Sophia Cathedral found a secret tomb

The tomb with the relics of the Kyiv Metropolitan Raphael Zaborovsky was found in St. Sophia Cathedral. Previously, it was believed that they were destroyed by the Soviet authorities.

The event is reported by the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, quoting Ukrinform:

“On the eve of the Day of Kyiv, in the St. Sophia Cathedral of the National Reserve “Sophia of Kyiv”, work was carried out to carry out an architectural sounding of the tomb of Rafail Zaborovsky. Until recently, it was believed that the bones of the Kyiv Metropolitan were destroyed in Soviet times, but the relics miraculously survived. To preserve the memory of the man, gave the Ukrainians the “architectural face” of Kyiv, a commission for the canonization of Raphael Zaborovsky was created.

The ministry notes that “during the time of Rafail Zaborovsky” masterpieces of architecture were laid, built or restored in Kyiv: the bell tower of the Kiev Caves Monastery, St. Andrew’s Church, the Old Academic Building of the Kiev Mohyla Academy, the bell tower and walls of Hagia Sophia, the Greek Catherine’s Monastery on Podil, Gate of Zaborovsky and the Metropolitan Palace in the courtyard of St. Sophia Cathedral.

After the death of the Metropolitan, his body remained incorruptible and was in the public domain for inspection in the underground crypt of St. Sophia Cathedral. In the middle of the 19th century, the entrance to the metropolitan crypt was covered with cast-iron slabs.

For a long time it was believed that the bones of Zaborovsky, kept in the funds of the reserve, were destroyed, as was the case in Soviet times: with the wording “they have no scientific value.” However, research in recent months has disproved this.

To date, it is known that in 1937 the tomb of Metropolitan Raphael was discovered by archaeologists, and objects from the burial are stored in the funds of the National Reserve “Sophia of Kyiv”. Archival documents practically did not leave hope that the relics are still in Sofia – the fact of extracting the skull and bones of the deceased archpastor from the tomb is documented. The ministry says:

“But the excavations in 1937 were led by Theodosius Movchanovsky. A scientist who graduated from a theological seminary and, according to some evidence, planned to become a priest, clearly understanding that Metropolitan Raphael was one step away from canonization. Could such a person destroy the relics of a saint? Modern Ukrainian scientists have unraveled secret. Theodosius returned the relics to the crypt and walled up the tomb. Thus, he preserved the relics of the metropolitan. Current scientists consider this act of an archaeologist a feat. After all, in the 20-30s, the Soviet government destroyed everything that was connected with the church and spirituality. Movchanovsky himself was shot for anti-Soviet activities in 1938”.

Reference.
Raphael Zaborovsky, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia, was born in 1677 in the Polish town of Zaborov, which is in the Lvov Uyezd. His father was a Polish gentry of Rome, and his mother was a Greek-Russian Confession; at Baptism, he was given the name Michael.

At first he studied at the Polish Schools, and then continued the sciences at the Kyiv Academy until Philosophy, which, as well as Theology, he finished already in Moscow, where Rev. Stefan Yavorsky, former Protector of this Academy. By tonsure, the Rhetoric is directly defined by the Teacher; then he was taken into the fleet by the Ober-Hieromonk and, upon his return from the Companies, was consecrated to the Archimandrite of the Tver Kolyazin Monastery and appointed as an Assessor to the Theological College, in which he was present until it became the Holy Synod.

On October 29, 1725, he was consecrated Bishop of Pskov and Narva, remaining as before a Member of the Holy Synod. In 1731, on April 13, he was granted the Archbishop in Kyiv and arrived there in October of the same year; and when Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, according to the Report of the Holy Synod in 1743 on June 16, indicated to be in Kyiv as before the Metropolia, he was granted the Metropolitan, and in this rank he died on October 22, 1747, at the age of 71 from birth. The Gravestone Word was spoken to him by the then Prefect of the Academy of Kyiv, and after the Archbishop of Mogilev, Georgy Konissky, from the Theme: for the lamp shine and burn.

This Pastor, in his 16-year reign of the Kievan Metropolis, renewed the Sophia Cathedral and the whole Kiev-Sophia Monastery, and especially the Kyiv Academy. He corrected all the School buildings in it, added a second floor to them and added the Annunciation Congregational Church almost with his own dependency; sent students to foreign lands for education to teaching positions, from among whom, through Simon of Todor (after the former Bishop of Kostroma and finally Pskov), he started teaching the languages ​​​​of Hebrew, Greek and German at the Academy.

Since then, the Kyiv Academy has become famous for many famous scientists who came out of it, who distinguished themselves in all states, and in his time, out of gratitude, she called herself Kiev-Mohylo-Zaborovsky. He wrote many different spiritual works and Teachings, but all of them remained handwritten in the library of the Kyiv Academy, and only two Teachings were printed in Moscow in 1735.
(Source: Historical Dictionary about writers of the clergy of the Greek-Russian Church who were in Russia / Metropolitan Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov); [Подгот. текста, сост. и предисл. П. В. Калитина]. – M.: JSC “Rus. Dvor”; Sergiev Posad: Pilgrim, 2002. – 406, [1] With.)

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