Saint Cossack Petro Kalnyshevskyi
December 6 is the day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We have already written about the soldiers, who were glorified and canonized by the Orthodox Church. More recently, the list of holy warriors was joined by our countryman – the last ataman of Zaporizhzhian Sich Petro Kalnyshevskyi.
Ataman of Zaporizhzhian Sich
Petro Kalnyshevskyi was born in 1691 in a Cossack family in Sumy Region. Further (although few) data about him dates back to the middle of the XVIII century, and it shows that the Cossack was an educated man and loved reading books.
In 1762, Petro was first elected as the ataman of Zaporizhzhian Sich. In the same year, he met with the Empress Catherine II in Moscow. Apparently, she did not like the ataman, as he was removed from his post occupied less than a year.
He was elected for the second time in 1765. This time, Petro Kalnyshevskyi was the leader of Sich for 10 years – till its destruction by the order of Empress Catherine. It should be noted that no one was elected for such a long term. Typically, one ataman was elected for a few years maximum.
Russo-Turkish War
During Russo-Turkish War in 1768-1774, Petro Kalnyshevskyi participated in the battles of Hadzhybei (now Odessa) and was awarded the highest order of the Russian Empire – the Order of St. Andrew and the rank of lieutenant general.
The last Cossack ataman was very religious person and donated money to a lot of Ukrainian monasteries and temples. During his life, he founded a dozen of churches in his native Sumy Region, in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. In addition, he devoted much attention and resources to social issues. There were 16 churches within the “Zaporizhzhiia Army Liberties”. If each had a church-parish and high schools. Also, there were hospitals for the sick and the elderly located at the temples, and they were kept with the money of the holy leader, too.
The tragedy of Zaporizhzhian Sich
Besides other activities, Kalnyshevskyi took care of Sich as well – on the one hand, he tried to preserve all Cossacks’ privileges, and on the other hand – to adapt Cossacks’ way of life to the new realities of the Russian Empire. Ataman raised material standard of Zaporizhzhian Sich. Moreover, he maintained Cossack traditions, cultivating freedom and democracy.
Such freedom was very annoying for imperial throne, as Zaporizhzhian Sich had a status of the state within the state; what is more, it was a democratic state. So, it was destroyed on the order of Catherine II. Although other realities were the pretext to. In the eyes of Russian nobles, Cossacks lands were rich place, where robbers and rebels lived.
In the summer of 1775, one hundred thousand soldiers surrounded Sich. Only several hundreds of men where there, while the others worked on farms. 80-year-old Petro Kalnyshevskyi realized the hopelessness of the situation. Despite the fact that the Cossacks were eager to defend their home, he would not shed Christian blood and ordered to surrender without resistance.
Solovetsky monastery
Ataman and officers were sent to the Solovetsky monastery in the North of Russia. Here, in the harsh conditions of imprisonment, Saint Petro spent over 25 years. His camera with the size smaller than 3 to 2 meters was located in raw basement. The prison cell almost didn’t receive light, and a small window looked at the monastery cemetery. The detention conditions were rather severe. According to unconfirmed reports, the prisoner was just taken out of the chamber to church three times a year: on Easter, Christmas and Transfiguration Day.
The last ataman was released only in 1801, when he was already 110 years old. During the years spent in prison, he lost his sight, had grown a beard and long hair. But Petro did not take off his Cossack clothes, which turned into rags by that time. Still, ataman was respected among local monks.
After his release, he was given the freedom of choice on the settlement. But the old man remained in the Solovetsky monastery, where he died in 1803.
The question of the canonization of Petro Kalnyshevskyi was considered during several recent years. Meanwhile, the information about him was gathered and his biography was studied. In 2008, he was glorified and added to the list of saints of Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided the canonization in 2014, and a solemn glorification was held at the Cathedral of the Intercession in Zaporizhzhia on November 13, 2015.
During the service, the icon of Saint Petro Kalnyshevskyi, painted specifically for this event, was carried in the center of the temple. The relics of St. Petro were inserted in the icon.
By the way, as the ataman was buried on the territory of Solovetsky monastery, so his transfer to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church seems unlikely nowadays.