30 (17) April is the commemoration day of the holy confessor Mikhail Novitsky
Mikhail Konstantinovich Novitsky was born on 26 July 1889 in the Mozyr district of provincial Minsk, and grew up in the lively household of Archpriest Konstantin Novitsky and Matushka Stefanida, alongside twelve siblings. After his gymnasium years, his academic path took him to St Petersburg’s Institute of History and Philology. In 1914, the year he graduated, he joyfully married Zinaida - herself a priest's daughter, born to Father Nikolai Korzun - and began teaching Latin at the boys’ gymnasium in Minsk. Though he was a brilliantly intelligent and widely read gentleman with a superb secular education, he leaves us a wonderful example: setting aside worldly prestige, he wholeheartedly offered his life to serve the Church.
In 1914 the First World War began. Because of poor eyesight, he was exempt from military service, and together with his family he was evacuated to Omsk, where he continued teaching. In 1920 he returned to Minsk, was ordained to the priesthood, and assigned to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Uzda. Soon he was elevated to archpriest and appointed dean.
Father Mikhail Novitsky and his family
His flock grew to love him dearly. He worked hard for them, always ready with a helping hand or a kind word. When the terrible hunger struck between 1930 and 1931, the villagers made sure his wife and children had enough to eat. Even those with no faith would come to talk with Father Mikhail, and he welcomed them all with love.
Time has kept for us a rare witness - his sermon:
“What we call evil has two meanings. There is real evil: fornication, envy, theft, and countless vices worthy of strong condemnation and punishment. But people also call hunger, death, illness, and poverty "evil"; yet these are not evil in the true sense. If they were, they would not become for us a cause of good, they would not curb pride, root out carelessness, or make us watch over ourselves and be more attentive to our own lives. The suffering that punishment brings is thought of as evil, not because of what it is, but because of what people think about it.
A ruined rich man thinks it a great evil that he cannot enjoy fine clothes and rich food, while a poor man would count himself happy to have enough bread and the simplest clothing. A doctor is called skilful not only when he tells the sick man to eat well, walk in the park, or take a holiday in the sun, but also when he deprives him of food, makes him hungry and thirsty, confines him to bed, turns his house into a prison, blocks out the light, causes him pain, cuts his body, and prescribes bitter medicine - and still he is called a doctor. Is it not strange, then, to praise such a man, yet blame God if He allows death, hunger, or illness?
Many are troubled: one lives in sin, oppresses others, steals and robs, yet meets no misfortune; another lives modestly, shows mercy and justice, yet suffers illness and poverty. Why does one wrongdoer get punished while another dies without punishment? Why does one righteous man prosper while another lives in hardship?
Right here we see the greatest work of providence. If all the wicked were punished here and all the good rewarded, the Day of Judgement would be unnecessary. But if none were punished and none rewarded, many would grow worse. God does not punish all, so that we may know there is a resurrection of the dead and a universal judgement to come. He punishes some, so that the careless may reflect on their lives.
If everyone received here exactly what they deserved, faith in the resurrection would fade; if no one received anything according to their deeds, many would fall even further.
We find another reason why good men so often hurt while wicked ones prosper. If God gave out punishment the moment anyone did wrong, our whole human family would have been wiped out long ago; we could not have survived. In the Gospel it is written that whoever says to his brother, "You fool!" shall be in danger of hell fire - but who among us is not guilty of this? One who swears oaths, even truthfully, acts from evil. Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her is already an adulterer.
If our clear and open sins are so serious and each deserves punishment, what shall we say of our hidden sins? Then we see clearly God’s providence, which does not punish us for every sin. So next time you see a scoundrel getting away with robbery or a shameful life, do not look outwards in anger. Look inwards. Bring your own conscience out into the light, go over your own life, and admit to your failings. Then you will see that it is you, first of all, who would suffer if every wrong were punished on the spot. And we must not complain against God because He sends us trials of every kind. We must bear them with patience. Do not be troubled if, at a quick glance, the way a man acts and the fate he meets on earth seem to have nothing in common. Above all, never use that as an excuse to claim there is no God.
Let the example of Saint Catherine and other Christian martyrs always be before us. They rejected wealth and earthly comforts that attract so many of us. Only the desire to be with Christ drew them on, and their faith in God, in the possibility of union with Him, they sealed with their blood. And they were not few - our Christian Church counts its martyrs in the millions.
Nor should we let it upset us when the world calls believers backwards, unlettered, or even ignorant. This is nothing new. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: "The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified... for the Jews a stumbling block and for the Greeks foolishness... but the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:22 - 23, 25).
So let us keep faith in Christ crucified - not only in words, but shown in our lives. For nothing in this world is stronger than faith. Faith helps a man bear heavy sorrows; faith gave strength to the martyrs; faith - and faith alone - enabled the apostles, simple and unlearned fishermen, to bring nations and kingdoms to Christ…”
Holy New Martyr Mikhail Novitsky
Time and again, the authorities tried to get Father Mikhail to renounce his God and his priesthood. Each time, he flatly refused these suggestions. His beloved Matushka Zinaida supported him fully and was ready for any trial for the Lord’s sake.
He had five children who were not admitted to school, so he taught them at home. (Three of his elder sons died in World War II. His second son, Nikolai, on 10 October 1942, covered the embrasure of a bunker with his own body and was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.)
In 1933 the church was closed. Through the authorities, a demand was printed in a local newspaper telling Father Mikhail to stand up in public and renounce God. He refused to do any such thing. Instead, he carried on saying his prayers and leading services in the little hut where the church watchman lived.
In 1935, during Holy Week, on the night from Great Friday to Great Saturday, a man was sent to Father Mikhail; he had bribed the church warden, who had served in the church for many years. Together they came to the priest and demanded church valuables, but when he refused, they beat him with great cruelty.
The Paschal service on 28 (15) April 1935 became his last on earth. On Great Saturday he served the Liturgy and blessed the Paschal breads. He stood through Matins with great difficulty; he could no longer serve the Liturgy, but served the Typika and gave the exclamations from his bed. So many people gathered that the small hut could not hold them; the windows were opened so those outside could hear. He served Great Vespers on Pascha, lying in bed; on the second day he again served the Typika, unable to rise. That day he called a priest from a neighbouring parish, made his confession, and received Holy Unction. From seven o’clock the next morning he could speak only a few words. His wife and the visiting priest read the Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Gospel…
Archpriest Mikhail Novitsky died from his injuries on the third day of Pascha, at about three in the afternoon on 30 April 1935, and was buried in the parish cemetery in Uzda.
Later, both men who had beaten him confessed their crime and other evil deeds after long suffering on their deathbeds. Thus the Lord revealed the truth.
On 28 October 1999, Archpriest Mikhail Novitsky was canonised by the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church as a locally venerated saint. In August 2000, he was added to the host of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia for veneration throughout the Church.
Material prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
