Peter the Wonderworker of Cetinje, Metropolitan Saint. Calendar of Serbian saints. in Serbian

The future saint was born in September 1748 (according to other sources - in April 1747) in Njegushi, from devout parents Mark Petrovich and Angelina (Andyusha), née Martinovich. The brother of his grandfather Damian - the famous Bishop Daniel - was the first of the Petrovich-Njegosha family to become a Montenegrin metropolitan. After Daniel's death in 1735, his uncle, St. Peter - Savva, and since then the metropolitan, and then the princely throne, became hereditary in the Petrovich family, passing from uncle to nephew. In 1758, Bishop Savva chose his ten-year-old nephew as his successor, seeing in him the future saint and people's leader. Calling him to himself, he said: “Come, son, to me, may the grace of the Most High rest on you, so that you will be useful to your people and your fatherland in everything. With me, our people also place hope in you for the sake of their well-being. the krin adorning these mountains will help you to be.” Living in the Cetinje Monastery, the future Saint studied book wisdom under the guidance of Metropolitan Savva and his mentor, the monk Daniel. At the age of twelve he was tonsured a monk with the name Peter (his worldly name remained unknown), and at seventeen he was ordained a hierodeacon. In 1765, the co-ruler and cousin of Bishop Savva, Metropolitan Vasily, went for the third time to Russia for help for Montenegro and took with Hierodeacon Peter to continue his education. But the teaching did not last long. On March 10, 1766, Metropolitan Vasily died in St. Petersburg and his nephew was forced to return home. Here he became the closest assistant to Metropolitan Savva, who ordained him a hieromonk, and soon made him an archimandrite. In 1768, an impostor Stepan Maly appeared in Montenegro, posing as miraculously escaped Russian Tsar Peter III. Prince Dolgoruky, sent from St. Petersburg to expose him, considered it useful for the interests of Russia to approve Stepan Maly as the ruler of Montenegro. In 1773, False Peter was killed by his Greek servant, bribed by the Skadar Pasha. After his death, troubled times came in Montenegro and Bishop Savva (relegated to the shadows during the reign of Stepan the Small) sent Archimandrite Peter to Russia for help. This trip was not successful, since Catherine II did not want to accept him. In 1781, the centenarian Metropolitan Savva died and his successor was his other nephew, Arseniy (Plamenats), unloved by the people, who replaced the bishop during the reign of Stepan the Small. Three years later he died and Archimandrite Peter was elected to the Montenegrin throne by all the people. On October 13, 1784, in the cathedral church in Sremski Karlovci, St. Peter was ordained by the Serbian Metropolitan Moses (Putnik) as Metropolitan of Montenegro, Skenderia and Primorsky. Having received the letter of ordination, the Saint left through Vienna to Russia, at the invitation of his acquaintance of Serbian origin, Major General S.G. Zorich. Even from Vienna, St. Peter wrote to the all-powerful Prince Potemkin, asking for an audience with the Empress. But Potemkin ordered the new Montenegrin metropolitan to be expelled from Russia three days after his arrival in St. Petersburg. Having learned about this later, Catherine II asked him to return, but St. Peter decided never to come to Russia again, although he told the messengers: “I ask Her Majesty to know that I will always be devoted to the Russian royal throne.” While Vladyka Peter was abroad , Skadar Pasha Mahmud Bushatli attacked Montenegro in 1785 and burned the Cetinje Monastery, devastating Primorye on the way back. Upon his return, the Metropolitan was met with ruin and hunger. Fortunately, the bishop brought potatoes with him, unknown until then in Montenegro, and this saved many Montenegrins from starvation. From his first steps on his native land in his new rank, the saint began to fight the custom of blood feud, which was a real scourge in Montenegro. Entire families died due to mutual hostility; many, out of fear for their lives, even fled to Turkey, where they converted to Islam. Saint Peter sometimes reconciled quarreling families with persuasion, sometimes with the threat of a curse. In 1796, Mahmud Pasha Bushatli again attacked Montenegro. On July 1, at the assembly in Cetinje, the leaders of all tribes signed an agreement called “Stega” (“Unification”), in which they vowed to help one another and “shed their blood for the Christian right-wing faith.” On July 11, near the village of Martinichi, the Montenegrins, under the leadership of their ruler, defeated the Turks. Mahmud Pasha himself was seriously wounded. St. Peter assessed this victory as “a miracle from the Lord God himself, to whom we bring glory and praise.” But the defeat did not teach Mahmud Pasha, who in September of the same year again invaded Montenegro. On September 22, 1796, near the village of Krusy, the Montenegrins, in a stubborn battle that lasted all day, again defeated the Turks, and Mahmud was killed and his head was carried to Cetinje. The skull of Skadar Pasha is still kept in a special casket in the monastery as a reminder to future invaders of the fate awaiting them.

The victories at Martinich and Krus opened a new page in the history of Montenegro, which achieved de facto independence. The attitude of the Russian emperors towards Montenegrins also changed. Having received news of the victory over the Turks, Empress Catherine II (shortly before her death) awarded St. Peter with the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky with diamonds, which was sent to Cetinje by Paul I along with the St. George's crosses for those who distinguished themselves. In 1799, this Russian emperor, who valued the Montenegrins for their knighthood, appointed an annual subsidy for Montenegro. In 1797, the Venetian Republic fell. Its possessions in the Montenegrin coastal region (Boka Kotorska and Budva) went to Austria. This caused confusion among the inhabitants of the coastal cities, who turned to St. Peter for help. The ruler visited Budva and its environs Braichi, Pobori, Maina and established civil rule there. The Austrian general Brady, who soon appeared, installed another ruler over the Orthodox Boki. The Austrians wanted to capture the Maina monastery (the long-time residence of the Montenegrin metropolitans) in order to turn it into their fortress. But the people's meeting, convened by St. Peter, did not allow them to do this. Later, the Austrians asked the ruler to sell the monasteries of Maina and Stanevichi and received the following answer: “Fill these bare stones with gold, and then you will not be able to buy me with your money... What we got with a saber, we will not give up without a saber, even if the hero’s blood was poured down to our knees.” blood".

On October 18, 1798, at the assembly in the Stanevichi monastery, the first lawyer was adopted, later called the “Legalist of St. Peter I.” (The second part of this law was adopted at the assembly in Cetinje on August 17, 1803). Beginning with the words “In the name of the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ,” the law consisted of 33 points (according to the number of earthly years of the Savior) and was adopted conciliarly and unanimously with an oath kissing the Cross, the Gospel and the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon. In 1798 St. Peter established the first Montenegrin government "Kuluk".

In 1804, the enemies of Peter I slandered him before the Russian Emperor Alexander I, who sent Count Mark Ivelic (a native of the town of Risan in Boka Kotorska) and the Montenegrin envoy to the Russian court, Archimandrite Stefan Vucetich (who wanted to take the place of the ruler) to Montenegro. Ivelich and Vuchetich brought with them a letter from the Holy Synod, which brought grave charges against the Metropolitan and his secretary Dolci and demanded that they appear before him for trial in St. Petersburg. But the Montenegrins stood up in defense of their bishop and, having gathered in Cetinje on May 1, 1804 for the Assembly, wrote a letter to the Russian Tsar, in which they rejected the unfair accusations against St. Peter and asked the tsar to send another envoy, of Russian origin, so that he could understand everything impartially. The new Russian envoy to Boka, Mauzersky, became convinced of the falseness of the accusations against the saint. On August 16, 1804, Metropolitan Peter and the Montenegrin elders swore allegiance to Russia. Good relations between the two countries were restored, which was important for them in the face of the impending danger from Napoleonic France.

In 1805, Austria ceded Boka Kotorska to France under the Treaty of Presburg. The residents of Boka, not agreeing to the French occupation, sent for help to Metropolitan Peter in Cetinje and the Russian admiral D.N. Senyavin to the island of Corfu. In February 1806, Russian ships and Montenegrin troops occupied Budva and the cities of Boka. In the Savin Monastery in Herceg Novi, St. Peter (in the presence of the Russian ambassador Stepan Sankovsky, General Count Ivelich and the commander of a detachment of Russian ships) consecrated the new flags of the Bokese cities.

In the spring of 1806 Senyavin from the sea, and Peter I from the land, locked the French in Dubrovnik. On May 25 and June 5, the Russians and Montenegrins won victories over Napoleonic troops near this city. In September 1806 united detachments of Russians (under the command of General Popandopulo) and Montenegrins (under the leadership of the ruler) defeated Marshal Marmont (who was helped by the Bosnian vizier). The French general Beauvais was captured.

On November 26-27, 1806, Admiral Senyavin captured the island of Korcula. In this battle, the Metropolitan’s brother Savva, who was awarded the Russian Order of St. George, 4th degree, especially distinguished himself. Emperor Alexander I granted Peter I himself a white hood with a diamond cross.

The joint successes of Russian and Montenegrin weapons made it possible to fulfill the long-standing dream of St. Peter on the creation of a Slavic-Serbian state under Russian protectorate with its center in Dubrovnik. He made this proposal in 1806. to the Russian Tsar. But the defeat of Russian troops near Friedland on June 2, 1807. led to the Peace of Tilsit, according to which Alexander I ceded Boka Kotorska to Napoleon.

The Montenegrins were left alone in their fight with the French. In 1808 Marshal Marmont took away spiritual power over the Orthodox Boki from Peter I and transferred it to his protege Benedikt Kralevich. In August 1808 10 thousand French under the command of General Clouser undertook an expedition into the mountains, but were defeated by the Montenegrins. (A.S. Pushkin dedicated his poem “Bonaparte and the Montenegrins” to these events). In 1812 Montenegrins won a victory at Skadar over the French allies - the Turks. And in September - October 1813. Peter I, with the help of the English fleet, captured all of Boka. December 27, 1813 General Gautier surrendered the last stronghold of the French - Kotor. At the assembly in the Bokese village of Dobrota, a decision was made to annex Primorye to Montenegro.

In 1814 Peter I turned to Alexander I to accept the united Montenegro and Boca under the protection of Russia, but the emperor asked the Montenegrins to leave Boca, which had passed to Austria by decision of the Congress of Vienna. And the Saint, reluctantly, submitted to the will of the king. May 1, 1815 Montenegrins left Kotor, losing their hard-won access to the sea. (At the end of 1899, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who visited here, characterizes these events in his poems as follows:

At that time, alien peoples

Rus' freed from chains,

We are the blessings of peace and freedom

They were lavished on them more and more generously;

And only brothers of the same tribe

Country of the same faith

To a greedy and arrogant power

It was given to us for the sake of...

Where your blood flowed in streams,

In the hearts of your coastal villages

Grabbed with greedy claws

Double-headed Austrian Eagle...

Only after the First World War did the Bay of Kotor return to Serbian rule, and in 1920. Russian ships will appear here again, but with the remnants of Wrangel’s army and Russian refugees.)

Hard times soon fell on Montenegro. The Austrians often denied Montenegrins access to Kotor, through which food supplies were supplied, and Alexander I did not issue the annual subsidy established by his father. The population constantly increased due to Orthodox families fleeing Herzegovina from Turkish oppression. In 1817, a terrible famine occurred, which lasted for several years. Some Montenegrins, fleeing hunger, entered the Austrian military service; many tried to move to Russia on their own. In 1822, the famine occurred again.

But, despite the difficult trials, St. Peter continued to gather Serbian lands. In 1820, the region of the Moraca River, liberated from the Turkish yoke, with the heartland of the Nemanjic dynasty - the beautiful Assumption Moraca Monastery - was annexed to Montenegro.

Nicholas I, who ascended the Russian throne in 1825, ordered the release of a subsidy to Montenegro that had been delayed since 1814 (for all years). Help from Russia helped Montenegrins survive the famine of 1830 - Last year life of the ruler.

On the evening of October 17, 1830 (the eve of St. Luke's Day), Peter I called his secretary Sima Milutinovic and dictated to him his will to the Montenegrins. In it, he appointed his nephew Radivoj (Rade), the future great Montenegrin poet Peter II Njegos, as his successor. The will ended with these words: “Cursed be the one who would attempt to turn you away from allegiance to pious and Christ-loving Russia, and any of you Montenegrins who would go against Russia of one tribe and the same faith as us, may God grant that the meat from his bones may fall away while he is alive.” , and there would be no good for him in this life and in the next." (translation by P.A. Kulakovsky, 1896). The next day, October 18, at the age of 81 and 46 years of archpastoral service, Saint Peter quietly departed to God without pain or mortal pain, surrounded by the elders of the Montenegrin tribes, to whom he gave his last instructions. “Pray to God and stick to Russia,” he told his young nephew before his death. Over his coffin on the Velim threshing floor in front of the monastery, the elders swore to live in unity and obey his successor. The saint was buried in the monastery church.

Exactly 4 years later - October 18, 1834. - by order of Peter II, the coffin was opened and the incorruptible relics of the saint were revealed. Then he was canonized, and his relics were placed in an open ark in the monastery church. The troparion and kontakion were written immediately after the glorification. The service and short life were written by Metropolitan Michael of Serbia (printed in Moscow in 1895).

Temples began to be erected in honor of the Wonderworker of Cetinje. One of the first was the church on the top of Lovcen, built in 1844. Peter II, in which he bequeathed to be buried. (This church, renovated in the 1920s according to the design of the Russian architect Krasnov, was destroyed by the communists in July 1972, and a pagan mausoleum was built in its place. Believers associate the catastrophic earthquake of 1979, the epicenter of which was in Montenegro.) And today in Prcanj near Kotor the church of St. Peter of Cetinski (like Lovcenski), and in distant Germany, in Dortmund, local Orthodox Serbs consecrated a chapel in his honor.

Miracles of St. Peter Cetinski

One day the Arnauts (Albanians), having gathered in large quantities, attacked the Montenegrin village of Salkovina, where there were very few defenders. At the decisive moment of the battle, when the Arnauts rushed at the Montenegrins with all their might and the latter were threatened with imminent death, a rider on a white horse appeared in front of the Montenegrins. One of the Albanians jumped up to him and shot at him twice, but the rider remained unharmed, and a green flame shot out from him, from which Arnaut ran, shouting to his people: “It is in vain to fight when St. Peter is in front of the Montenegrins.” The rest of the Albanians ran after him.

After this event, when they changed clothes on the saint, his shoes turned out to be full of sand. This means that he really came out of the tomb.

October 17, 1888 (on the eve of the day of St. Peter of Cetinje) near the village. Borki, Kharkov province, there was a crash of the royal train en route from Yalta to Moscow. Royal family miraculously survived. The Montenegrins, having learned about this, explained the salvation of Emperor Alexander III, who favored them, by the intercession of St. Petra. By decree of the Montenegrin Metropolitan Mitrofan (Ban), throughout Montenegro it was established on the day of St. Peter Cetinski's annual celebration of the miraculous salvation of the royal family.

At a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, held on April 19-20, 2000, the celebration of the Council of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Saints was established on the third week of Pentecost. Saint Peter of Cetinje, who was Metropolitan of Montenegro in 1784-1830, is also included among the St. Petersburg saints. Unfortunately, at present this Serbian ascetic can be called the most unknown saint of our Church.

Not in any of the numerous Orthodox church calendars published every year, we will not find his name. An exception is the book “The Spirit of Saints over Serbia” published in 1999 by the Russian branch of the Valaam Society of America, which contains brief information about him (but the name of the place of his exploits and resting place is incorrectly indicated). Meanwhile, it is difficult to find another such saint in the fraternal Local Churches, so closely connected with his beloved Russia and who suffered many injustices from its sovereign and “semi-state” rulers. But before the October Revolution, his name was widely known among us, books were published about him and articles were published in Russian Orthodox and Slavophile publications. I would like to hope that the decision of the Holy Synod will be the first step towards restoring our memory of St. Peter of Cetinje. For this purpose, we publish a biography of the saint and a translation of an article about him by a brother of the Cetinje Monastery, Protosingel Fr. Jovana (Puricha).

Saint Peter of Cetinje the Wonderworker, Metropolitan and Bishop of Montenegro (Peter I Petrovich-Njegos)

The future saint was born in September 1748 (according to other sources - in April 1747) in Njegushi, from devout parents Mark Petrovich and Angelina, née Martinovich. The brother of his grandfather Damian - the famous Bishop Daniel - was the first of the Petrovich-Njegosha family to become a Montenegrin metropolitan. After Daniel's death in 1735, his uncle, St. Peter - Savva, and from then on the metropolitan, and then the princely throne became hereditary in the Petrovich family, passing from uncle to nephew.

In 1758, Bishop Savva chose his ten-year-old nephew as his successor, seeing in him the future saint and people's leader. Calling him to himself, he said: “Come, son, to me, may the grace of the Most High rest on you, so that you will be useful to your people and your fatherland in everything. With me, our people also place hope in you for the sake of their well-being. will help you to be a krin decorating these mountains."

Living in the Cetinje Monastery, the future Saint studied book wisdom under the guidance of Metropolitan Sava and his mentor, the monk Daniel. At twelve years old he was tonsured a monk with the name Peter (his worldly name remained unknown), and at seventeen he was ordained a hierodeacon.

In 1765, Metropolitan Vasily, co-ruler and cousin of Bishop Sava, went for the third time to Russia for help for Montenegro and took Hierodeacon Peter with him to continue his education. But the teaching did not last long. On March 10, 1766, Metropolitan Vasily died in St. Petersburg and his nephew was forced to return home.

Here he became the closest assistant to Metropolitan Sava, who ordained him a hieromonk, and soon made him an archimandrite. In 1768, an impostor Stepan Maly appeared in Montenegro, posing as the miraculously saved Russian Tsar Peter III. Prince Dolgoruky, sent from St. Petersburg to expose him, considered it useful for the interests of Russia to approve Stepan Maly as the ruler of Montenegro. In 1773, False Peter was killed by his Greek servant, bribed by the Skadar Pasha. After his death, troubled times came in Montenegro and Bishop Savva (relegated to the shadows during the reign of Stepan the Small) sent Archimandrite Peter to Russia for help. This trip was not successful, since Catherine II did not want to accept him.

In 1781, the centenarian Metropolitan Savva died and his successor was his other nephew, the unloved Arseniy (Plamenats) among the people, who replaced the bishop during the reign of Stepan the Small. Three years later he died and Archimandrite Peter was elected to the Montenegrin throne by all the people.

On October 13, 1784, in the cathedral church in Sremski Karlovci, St. Peter was ordained by the Serbian Metropolitan Moses (Putnik) as Metropolitan of Montenegro, Skenderia and Littoral.

Having received the letter of ordination, the Saint left via Vienna for Russia, at the invitation of his acquaintance of Serbian origin, Major General S.G. Zorich. Even from Vienna, St. Peter wrote to the all-powerful Prince Potemkin, asking for an audience with the Empress. But Potemkin ordered the new Montenegrin metropolitan to be expelled from Russia three days after his arrival in St. Petersburg. Having learned about this later, Catherine II asked him to return, but St. Peter decided never to come to Russia again, although he told the messengers: “I ask Her Majesty to know that I will always be devoted to the Russian royal throne.”

While Bishop Peter was abroad, Skadar Pasha Mahmud Bushatli attacked Montenegro in 1785 and burned the Cetinje Monastery, devastating Primorye on the way back. Upon his return, the Metropolitan was met with ruin and hunger. Fortunately, the bishop brought potatoes with him, unknown until then in Montenegro, and this saved many Montenegrins from starvation.

From his first steps on his native land in his new rank, the saint began to fight the custom of blood feud, which was a real scourge in Montenegro. Entire families died due to mutual hostility; many, out of fear for their lives, even fled to Turkey, where they converted to Islam. St. Peter sometimes, through persuasion and sometimes through the threat of damnation, reconciled quarreling families.

In 1796, Mahmud Pasha Bushatli again attacked Montenegro. On July 1, at the assembly in Cetinje, the leaders of all tribes signed an agreement called “Stega” (“Unification”), in which they vowed to help one another and “shed their blood for the Christian right-wing faith.” On July 11, near the village of Martinichi, the Montenegrins, under the leadership of their ruler, defeated the Turks. Mahmud Pasha himself was seriously wounded. St. Peter assessed this victory as “a miracle from the Lord God himself, to whom we bring glory and praise.”

But the defeat did not teach Mahmud Pasha, who again invaded Montenegro in September of the same year. On September 22, 1796, near the village of Krusy, the Montenegrins, in a stubborn battle that lasted all day, again defeated the Turks, and Mahmud was killed and his head was carried to Cetinje. The skull of Skadar Pasha is still kept in a special casket in the monastery as a reminder to future invaders of the fate awaiting them.

In 1797, the Venetian Republic fell. Its possessions in the Montenegrin coastal region (Boka Kotorska and Budva) went to Austria. This caused confusion among the inhabitants of the coastal cities, who turned to St. Peter for help. The ruler visited Budva and its environs Braichi, Pobori, Maina and established civil rule there.

The Austrian general Brady, who soon appeared, installed another ruler over the Orthodox Boki. The Austrians wanted to capture the Maina monastery (the long-time residence of Montenegrin metropolitans) in order to turn it into their fortress. But the people's meeting, convened by St. Peter, did not allow them to do this. Later, the Austrians asked the ruler to sell the monasteries of Maina and Stanevichi and received the following answer: “Fill these bare stones with gold, and then you will not be able to buy me with your money... What we got with a saber, we will not give up without a saber, even if the hero’s blood was poured down to our knees.” blood".

In 1804, the enemies of Peter I slandered him before the Russian Emperor Alexander I, who sent Count Mark Ivelic (a native of Risan in Boka Kotorska) and the Montenegrin envoy to the Russian court, Archimandrite Stefan Vucetich (who wanted to take the place of the ruler) to Montenegro. Ivelich and Vuchetich brought with them a letter from the Holy Synod, which brought grave charges against the Metropolitan and his secretary Dolci and demanded that they appear before him for trial in St. Petersburg. But the Montenegrins stood up in defense of their bishop and, having gathered in Cetinje on May 1, 1804 for the Assembly, wrote a letter to the Russian Tsar, in which they rejected the unfair accusations against St. Peter and asked the tsar to send another envoy, of Russian origin, so that he could understand everything impartially. The new Russian envoy to Boka, Mauzersky, became convinced of the falseness of the accusations against the saint. On August 16, 1804, Metropolitan Peter and the Montenegrin elders swore allegiance to Russia. Good relations between the two countries were restored, which was important for them in the face of the impending danger from Napoleonic France.

...At that time, alien peoples
Rus' freed from chains,
We are the blessings of peace and freedom
They were lavished on them more and more generously;
And only brothers of the same tribe
Country of the same faith
To a greedy and arrogant power
It was given to us for the sake of...
Where your blood flowed in streams,
In the hearts of your coastal villages
Grabbed with greedy claws
Double-headed Austrian Eagle...

Only after the First World War did the Bay of Kotor return to Serbian rule, and in 1920. Russian ships will appear here again, but with the remnants of Wrangel’s army and Russian refugees.)

Nicholas I, who ascended the Russian throne in 1825, ordered the release of a subsidy to Montenegro that had been delayed since 1814 (for all years). Help from Russia helped the Montenegrins survive the famine of 1830 - the last year of the ruler’s life.

Miracles of St. Peter Cetinski

One day the Arnauts (Albanians), having gathered in large numbers, attacked the Montenegrin village of Salkovina, where there were very few defenders. At the decisive moment of the battle, when the Arnauts rushed at the Montenegrins with all their might and the latter were threatened with imminent death, a rider on a white horse appeared in front of the Montenegrins. One of the Albanians jumped up to him and shot at him twice, but the rider remained unharmed, and a green flame shot out from him, from which Arnaut ran, shouting to his people: “It is in vain to fight when St. Peter is in front of the Montenegrins.” The rest of the Albanians ran after him.

After this event, when they changed clothes on the saint, his shoes turned out to be full of sand. This means that he really came out of the tomb.

October 17, 1888 (on the eve of the day of St. Peter of Cetinje) near the village. Borki, Kharkov province, there was a crash of the royal train en route from Yalta to Moscow. The royal family miraculously survived. The Montenegrins, having learned about this, explained the salvation of Emperor Alexander III, who favored them, by the intercession of St. Petra. By decree of the Montenegrin Metropolitan Mitrofan (Ban), throughout Montenegro it was established on the day of St. Peter Cetinski's annual celebration of the miraculous salvation of the royal family.

Bibliography

in Church Slavonic:

Metropolitan of Serbia Mikhail (Jovanovic) "SERVICE TO OUR METROPOLITAN, THE GOD-LOVING LORD OF MONTENEGRO PETER THE FIRST WONDERWORKER OF CETINI IN THE SAINTS" (with life). Moscow, 1895

in Russian:

Popovich L. "Montenegrin ruler Peter I", Kyiv, 1897

Rovinsky P.A. "Montenegro in its past and present", vol. 1, St. Petersburg. 1888

Alexandrov A.I. "Peter I Petrovich, Bishop-Metropolitan of Montenegro. His consecration as a bishop and the word he spoke after that", Kazan, 1895.

Frantsev V.A. "On the history of our relations with Black Mountain in early XIX centuries (Three letters from Montenegrin Metropolitan Peter I Petrovich Njegosh)" - "Russian Antiquity", 1908, January, pp. 239-242.

"Church Bulletin", 2000, No. 4

in Serbian:

"Life of Svetog Petra Cetinski" 1995

Mihajlovic B. "Metropolitan Petar I - Sveti" Cetinje, 1973

Mihailovich B. "History of the Great Mountain" 1975

Vukovich C. "Petar Prvi Petrovich. Fresco on the stone." Titograd, 1965

Vuksan D. "Envoy of Metropolitan Crnogorsk Peter I" Cetinje, 1935

The first of the Petrović-Njegoš family to become Metropolitan of Montenegro. After the death of Vladyka Daniel in 2010, Saint Peter's uncle Savva became his successor, and since then the metropolitan and then the princely throne became hereditary in the Petrovich family, passing from uncle to nephew.

Having received the letter of ordination, the saint left through Vienna for Russia, at the invitation of his acquaintance of Serbian origin, Major General S. G. Zorich. While still in Vienna, the saint wrote to Prince Potemkin, asking for an audience with the empress. But Potemkin ordered the new Metropolitan of Montenegro to be expelled from Russia three days after his arrival in St. Petersburg. Despite the protest, the saint was forcibly put into a carriage by the police, which was driven without rest, through Polotsk and Polochin, until they reached the state border and were expelled outside the country. Having learned about this later, Empress Catherine II asked him to return, but Saint Peter decided never to come to Russia again, although he told the messengers: “ I ask Her Majesty to know that I will always be devoted to the Russian royal throne."

While Vladyka Peter was abroad, Skadar Pasha Mahmud Bushatli attacked Montenegro and burned the Cetinje Monastery, devastating Primorye on the way back. Upon his return, the Metropolitan was met with ruin and hunger. Thanks to the fact that the ruler brought potatoes, which he acquired in Trieste, this crop was widespread in Montenegro. Thanks to potatoes, as evidenced by the records of Vuk Karadzic, many were saved from starvation.

From his first steps in his native land in his new rank, the saint began to fight the custom of blood feud, which was a scourge in the country. Entire families died due to mutual hostility; many, out of fear for their lives, even fled to Turkey, where they converted to Islam. St. Peter sometimes, through persuasion and sometimes through the threat of damnation, reconciled quarreling families. He also sought to eradicate theft among the people, folk customs, contrary to Orthodox teaching. Vladyka worked a lot in the field of educating the people and fighting poverty.

Struggle for independence

The Montenegrins were left alone in their fight with the French. In the year, Marshal Marmont took away the spiritual power over the Orthodox Boki from the saint and transferred it to his protege Venedikt (Kralevich). In August of the year, 10 thousand French under the command of General Clouser undertook an expedition into the mountains, but were defeated by the Montenegrins. In the year, the Montenegrins won a victory at Skadar over the French allies - the Turks. And in September - October of the year, Saint Peter I, with the help of the English fleet, took possession of all of Boka. On December 27 of the year, General Gautier surrendered the last stronghold of the French - Kotor. At the assembly in the Bokel village of Dobrota, a decision was made to annex Primorye to Montenegro.

Reverence

At the end of the 18th century, the center of the Montenegrin state were two regions: Montenegro and Brda (brdo - “mountain”). Montenegro covered the territory from Lovćen to Lake Skadar and was divided into four nahijas (nahia - “district”): Katunska, Crmnicka, Rijeka and Leshanska. Brda occupied the space north of the Zeta and Moraca rivers, it was inhabited by seven tribes: Belopavlichi, Piperi, Kuchi, Maraca, Rovci, Bratonozhichi and Vasoevichi. Before Peter I came to power, ties between the Montenegrin and Brdy tribes were very weak and fragmented, which had a Negative influence on issues of jointly confronting external threats.

Peter I Petrovic-Njegos came to power after the death of his uncle Vladyka Sava. After his ordination in 1784 by the Serbian Patriarch Moses Putnik, he went to St. Petersburg to receive financial assistance from Empress Catherine II. However, due to the intrigues of her favorite Prince Potemkin, Peter was unable to achieve an audience and was forced to leave Russia without achieving his goal.

The Skadar vizier Mahmud Pasha Bushatliya took advantage of the absence of the ruler in the country. Due to disagreements among the Montenegrin leaders, who were unable to organize resistance, he managed to reach Cetinje and destroy the Cetinje monastery. This was the last destruction of a Montenegrin shrine in history and the last time the Turks managed to reach the capital. Upon returning to Montenegro, Peter I was greeted by a devastated land. The blood feud that Stepan Maly eradicated blossomed with new strength, the people lived in hunger and fear. About 700 people died of starvation at that time. The ruler had to expend a lot of effort and all his authority to return the life of the state to its previous course.

In 1787, Russia, and in January 1788, Austria declared war on Turkey. The Montenegrins took the side of the allies and twice (in the battles of Martinichi - July 1796 and Krusi - October 1796) inflicted crushing defeats on the troops of the Skadar vizier M. Bushatliya.

The Cetinje Monastery is named after St. Peter of Cetinje (Peter I Petrovich-Njegos)

With these victories, Montenegro temporarily pushed back the Turkish danger. Peter I devoted the peaceful period to the internal structure of his country. In 1798, the first handwritten set of laws was created, known as the “Law of Peter I”. It consisted of 16 paragraphs, and was later supplemented by a 17th paragraph. Article 20 of this paragraph introduced mandatory payment of taxes to the state, which Montenegrins often rebelled against. During this period, a new body was formed state power"Government Court of Montenegrin and Brdy", popularly known as "Kuluk".

At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Major changes have taken place in the Adriatic. With the Treaty of Campo-Formia in 1797, Napoleon destroyed the Venetian Republic. Eastern lands The Adriatic (Dalmatia, Boka and part of the Montenegrin coastal region) came under the rule of Austria-Hungary and remained part of it until their conquest in 1807 by French troops.

Peter I acted quite actively in the current situation. With the support of the Russian squadron of Admiral D.N. Senyavin, detachments of Montenegrins and Bokelians fought successful battles with Napoleon’s troops in the area of Dubrovnik and Boka Kotorska for a long time. And only the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit by Russia, as well as increasing pressure from the Ottoman Empire, forced the Montenegrin ruler to return to solving more pressing problems. state tasks. During this period, Peter I paid great attention to establishing interaction with the Serbs and Bokelians.

After Napoleon's defeat in 1812, a wave of national liberation wars against the French swept across Europe. In this regard, on November 10, 1813, a council was convened in Dobrota and an agreement was reached on the unification of Montenegro and Boka and the creation independent state. However, the aspirations of the Montenegrin peoples were not justified this time either. The unification was opposed by powerful powers, by whose decision, at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was decided to transfer Boku under the rule of Austria-Hungary.

The overall result of the activities of Bishop Peter I Petrovich-Njegos turned out to be significant. The process of creating centralized state power progressed, and governing bodies appeared. Under the influence of the political and military authority of the ruler, the unity of the Montenegrin and Brd tribes intensified. For his services to the Montenegrin people, Peter I was posthumously canonized and is referred to by his descendants as Saint Peter of Cetinje.

THE LIFE OF OUR HOLY FATHER PETER THE FIRST, METROPOLITAN OF CETINIS, WONDERWORKER.

Almighty God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, gives every nation prophets, apostles and holy people who guide them on the path of salvation, lead them out of the darkness of unbelief and evil to the light of Faith and knowledge of God, giving them the hope of eternal life in the love of God and the Holy Spirit .

Thus, in ancient times, the lamp of the Serbian Church shone, lit by our blessed fathers Simeon and Sava, who planted their people, like the olive tree, in the spiritual paradise of Christ, becoming its guardian angels, evangelists of repentance and preservation of the people’s soul from all sin.; warning so that the people do not become wild olives and barren fig trees, so that they preserve faith and piety, threatening with the formidable definition of the Lord Himself: “I will come to you and remove your lamp from its place, unless you repent” (Rev. 2:5). And in recent times, when the love of God in many hearts is increasingly cooling, when the righteous Lord increasingly visits His people and punishes them for their sins, betraying their body, like the body of the long-suffering Job, into the hands of the enemy, in these difficult times the Merciful God sent to the people To his another wonderful apostle and prophet, martyr and hermit, Saint Peter 1, the wonderworker of Cetinje, the new enlightener, in truth solid base Serbian Church.

The year of birth of this crusader saint, the new Moses, lawgiver and peacemaker, is not precisely known. Most likely he was born in September, 1748, in the year of the Lord, in a place called Njegushi, from pious parents Marko Damianov (Petrovich) and Maria (née Martinovich). His grandfather, Damian, was the brother of the famous Metropolitan of Montenegro Daniel.

The then Metropolitan Savva of Skenderia and Montenegro, having seen in the ten-year-old boy the God-wise shepherd of the flock of Christ and the people's leader, chose Peter as his heir among the four sons of his nephew Mark. Calling him to him, he said to him: “May the grace of the Almighty rest on you for the benefit and service of your people. From this moment, together with me, our people place their hope in you. May the Most Good Lord help you to be a krin that adorns Montenegro and a light , enlightening her!"

After this, the young chosen one and future wonderworker Cetinje came to the Cetinje Monastery to study. Being endowed with special gifts of God and diligence, Peter succeeded in comprehending the sciences under the mentorship of the humble Bishop Savva and his teacher, the monk Daniel. At the age of 12, he was tonsured as an angel with the name Peter (his worldly name remains unknown to us), and at the age of 17 he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon.

At that time, Bishop Savva had as his assistant Metropolitan Vasily, a very gifted and capable man, who in 1765 went to Russia of the same faith and only begotten for the sake of national and church needs and took with him the young hierodeacon Peter for his further education. But his studies in Russia did not last long: on March 10, 1766, Metropolitan Vasily rested in St. Petersburg, which forced Hierodeacon Peter to return to Montenegro. Since then, he stayed with Metropolitan Savva, who ordained him as a hieromonk, and soon elevated him to the rank of archimandrite. Living in the monasteries of Stanevichi and Cetinje next to the humble bishop, the young archimandrite grew spiritually, constantly working on his comprehensive education. Just as the once strong and energetic personality of Metropolitan Vasily inspired him with courage and determination, so now the humble Metropolitan Savva, inexperienced in worldly affairs, and the quiet monastic life filled his young soul with the heavenly dew of prayer, humility and fasting. From childhood, his mind was directed and confirmed in chastity, which became the root of his future boldness before God and people, the source of his God-bearing wisdom.

Once ignited, the spark of knowledge of God, the thirst to reveal the secret of the creation of the world by the Almighty Creator, under whose wing he grew, flared up more and more in the soul of the young monk. Everything occupied this pure and immaculate soul, which from a young age was given as a gift to the heavenly-earth Virgin, God-man Christ. He was interested at the same time in theology and natural sciences, history and geography; he studied languages and collected “mellow” spiritual books.

Brought up from childhood in harsh reality, he early learned the secret nature of evil, which hinders a person from the outside and inside and destroys the body of the people. Enlightened by the revelation of the Lord, he early realized that evil can be defeated only by the fiery zeal of a prophet and the simplicity of a dove. He saw a sharp Hagaryan sword raised over the head of his Orthodox fatherland, similar to the sword of Pharaoh over the head of the chosen Jewish people. Another, even more dangerous, internal enemy could not hide from his God-wise eyes: tribal enmity, blood feud, many vices that desecrated the people's soul, poverty, robberies and murders. The people grieved over their captivity, as the prophet Jeremiah once did: “We have become orphans without a father, our mothers are like widows. for their iniquity" (Lamentations 5:2-7).

The advice of the humble Bishop Savva and the peacemaking efforts of the people's leaders were unable to overcome the enmity and disunity of the brothers, which intensified after the death of the decisive Metropolitan Vasily and was aggravated by Hagaryan bribery. In it Time of Troubles The impostor Tsar Shcepan Maly appeared in Montenegro, who presented himself to the exhausted and divided people as God's messenger and peacemaker, the Russian Tsar Peter III. The simple-minded people, tired of evil and disagreement, sincerely accepted (to this day?) this mysterious person as their savior. The impostor king, addressing the people, declared that he had been sent from above to Montenegro. “Listen, Montenegrins, to the voice of the Lord God and the glory of holy Jerusalem,” he said. “I did not come here of my own free will, but was sent by the Lord God, whose voice I heard: get up, go, work and I will help you.”

The Turks, noticing that his appearance brought concern to the Balkan region, were looking for the slightest reason to kill him. At the courts of European kings they talked a lot about him, and he, having gained the trust of the majority of the people, asked and demanded that he live in peace with everyone, reconciled those who quarreled, expelled thieves and murderers. Ščepan Maly, having strengthened the secular power of the governor from the house of Radonich, thereby lowered the authority of the episcopal dynasty of Petrovich, around which for a long time Montenegrin tribes united. This false king, despite his imposture, loved Orthodoxy and was useful to the people. After the murder of the mysterious impostor in 1773 by servants bribed by the Turks, rudeness and passions flared up again among the people, and the seeds of discord began to bear terrible fruit."

At this difficult time, the young Archmandrite Peter was still unknown and unrecognized by anyone, but there was no one else in Montenegro who would establish peace and harmony in the country between the leaders and the people. Seeing the lack of freedom and danger that surrounded the people, noble Peter, filled with love for his brothers, with the help of God, decided to pacify the flaring evil elements that threatened to destroy the verbal flock of Christ. Having received the blessing of the elderly Metropolitan Savva, he went to Russia in 1777 to ask for help from his fellow Russian brothers, looking for a strong defender in the Russian autocrat for his small and poor Montenegrin people. However, his journey was in vain. The Russian Tsarina Catherine 11 refused to accept the Montenegrins, so Archimandrite Peter and those accompanying him were forced to leave St. Petersburg and return home. In the same way, the strong Austrian Empire, where Archimandrite Peter turned upon his return from Russia, remained deaf to requests for help.

In 1781, after the repose of the centenarian Metropolitan Savva, the question arose about choosing his heir. Despite the fact that the majority was in favor of the young Archimandrite Peter, nevertheless, Metropolitan Savva’s assistant, his nephew, Arseny Plamenets, whom the people did not like, was elected to the department. By the providence of God, young Peter was destined, like gold, to be purified in the crucible of testing, so that in due time he could shine brighter for all who thirst for the peace and rest of God.

After the death of Metropolitan Arseny Plamenets in 1784, everyone’s eyes turned to the young Archimandrite Peter. Against his will, forced by popular trust and love, reinforced by the support of Governor Radonich, the future saint went to Vienna to obtain permission from the Vienna Court to ordain him as a bishop by one of the Orthodox bishops then living in the Austrian Empire. Recommended on behalf of the leaders, the governor and the entire Montenegrin people as a God-loving and well-behaved shepherd, he receives permission from the Court for consecration by the Karlovac Metropolitan Moses Putnik. However, on the way from Vienna to Sremski Karlovci, one temptation happened, or “God’s visit,” as Saint Peter himself called this incident: he fell from the cart and broke his right arm. The crafty enemy of the human race seemed to want to prevent the right hand of St. Petra taught people peace, harmony and blessing. But these temporary obstacles were in vain. After six months, the Lord restored the saint’s health, and on October 13, 1784, cathedral church in Sremski Karlovci he was solemnly consecrated by three bishops as Metropolitan of Montenegro, Skenderia and Primorsky.

In his first archpastoral letter, Vladyka Peter called himself “an unworthy servant and slave of Jesus Christ,” expressing joy at his acceptance of the episcopal rank, and at the same time the triumph of his flock, who deigned that he be chosen, even against his will, as archpastor . He assured that he would try not to disappoint his flock and justify the hopes placed on him. “Having come sad and sorrowful,” he said, “having accepted ordination and seeing the improvement of the churches of God, I return full of joy.” Returning to the life that was predetermined by fate, Saint Peter promised that he would tirelessly preach the word of God and encourage his people to practice all the virtues commanded by the Lord. At the end of his speech, he asked Metropolitan Moses and the bishops who ordained him for love and prayerful memory, promising for his part: “And I, together with my flock, which, although far from here and hampered by troubles, will work and remain with you until the end of my life.” in a true union of faith, love and hope."

The new Metropolitan of Montenegro, Peter, according to one of his contemporaries, was a tall man, blue-eyed, with perfect facial features. Shiny hair and a long beard emphasized the dignity of his rank, and in his manner of treating people he looked like a genuine nobleman. Having received a letter of ordination from Metropolitan Moses Putnik, which stated that he was ordained to the rank of bishop at the request of the Montenegrin people and their representatives, the new Bishop of Christ set off again “on public affairs” through Vienna to Russia. First he went to his friend Zorich in the town of Shklovcho, and then, not finding him, he went further - to St. Petersburg. While still in Vienna, he wrote a letter to Prince Potemkin asking him to be accepted by Catherine 11. Potemkin was the same prince who had already let him go without help. And this time, due to my insolence, envy or slander evil people, Potemkin ordered the forcible expulsion of the blessed one from Petrograd three days after his arrival. “This prince,” St. Peter later noted with regret, seemed to be consciously trying with all his might to extinguish the love for the Orthodox Montenegrin people in the hearts of many respected people in Russia. Despite the protests of St. Peter, the police forcibly put him in a carriage, ordering him to drive the horses without rest day and night through Polotsk and Polochin right up to the border... He was accused of allegedly not being a bishop, but a deceiver, for While the ruler was suffering humiliation, asking for help for his people, knocking on the doors of the deaf, the Skadar vizier Mahmud- Pasha Bushaltia, the personification of the evil spirit, devastated native land St. Peter, and nailed his flock with suffering to the cross of Calvary. The godless pasha shackled the people in iron, cut them into pieces, filling the Skadar prison with convicts - and all in order to frighten them. Taught by satanic power, he deliberately quarreled some, bribed others in order to more easily conquer, enslave Montenegro with fire and sword. Finally, Mahmud Pasha with 18,000 soldiers, most of whom were Catholic Albanians, set out to conquer and kill the brave defenders of Montenegro, whose forces could not defeat such a formidable enemy. He killed or captured many, and burned the lands of the Cetinje Monastery. A cruel tyrant hanged a monk at the gates of the holy monastery in order to intimidate the inhabitants there. Having desecrated the Cetinje shrine, the pasha descended through Njegushi to Pashtrovichi, which he completely destroyed and devastated. Those of the inhabitants who did not die then from the evil sword and were not captured died from hunger, disease, and with the onset of winter, from cold. About 700 people died at that time, including women and children. Many, in order to somehow survive, lived in caves and miserable shacks built on a quick fix, ate tree bark, boiled roots and grass.

Such was the “consolation and greeting” with which Montenegro greeted the young Bishop Peter, who returned home to ashes and ruin. Instead of help and hope, he brought anger and humiliation to his unfortunate flock." powerful of the world this." Like the prophet Jeremiah on the ruins of Jerusalem, the ruler shed bitter tears, seeing the devastation of his country. Hundreds of desperate people descended from the caves to meet him at the ashes of the ruined Cetinje Monastery. Everyone's eyes were turned to him with hope, and the bishop only prayed to God, the only refuge and protector. Having kissed the charred threshold of the monastery, Metropolitan Peter blessed the people and took out from his travel bag everything he had brought: several crackers, which he immediately distributed to the children. Then he called the leaders of the people to a council. The only thing he brought from Europe to his suffering people was a bag of potatoes, which he received in Trieste for planting in Montenegro. As Vuk Karadzic noted, this blessed plant, until then unknown in those parts, saved many from starvation.

The most severe plague that tormented the people was blood feud and internecine enmity. The reasons for bloodshed and murder were the most insignificant: minor insults, theft of livestock, a sharp offensive word. This alone was enough to make the blood boil, so that the law of Lamech began to operate: “He killed a man for my wound and a boy for my wound” (Gen. 4:23). Thus began a circular blood feud between brothers, families, villages and tribes - head for head, blood for blood. From behind every bush, revenge could come for an unsatisfied grievance and an unpaid head. Mothers hid their sons, who were just beginning to walk, since every man's head was at gunpoint, so that even plowmen cultivated the land with weapons on their shoulders. There were also those who ran away from blood feud, hiding in Turkey, some even, ruining their souls, converted to Islam.

Quite recently, the ordained saint, knowing that civil strife is the root of all the people’s troubles, began his pastoral service with a call for mutual forgiveness, harmony and patience. After the restoration of the burnt Cetinje monastery, the ruler walked from one region of Montenegro to another, from one tribe to another, entering each house, begging, begging, advising and even threatening with a curse, just to reconcile people, eradicate long-term hatred, heal poisoned souls demonic strife, by the power of Christ’s love to unite a divided people. He often visited one or another brotherhood or tribe, negotiating reconciliation. If he failed to achieve agreement the first time, he continued his efforts until peace was restored. The Bishop himself came to some, gave the cross to others as a sign of God and his presence, and wrote letters and messages to others. There were often cases when he had to stand between warring people with his arms raised crosswise in order to stop the bloodshed that was about to happen or had already begun. In the omnipotent and omnipotent name of God the Almighty and Saint John the Baptist, the ruler then conjured the quarreling brothers, and if this did not help, he cursed.

No one is able to list all the works and good deeds of this new prophet and apostle, martyr and ascetic. He truly laid down his life for his friends, according to the word of the Lord (cf. John 15:13). Together with the apostle, he said every day: “Who is fainting, with whom would I not faint? Whoever is tempted, for whom I will not burn” (2 Cor. 11:29). And again: “He was like one who is weak to the weak, so that he might gain the weak. I have become all things to everyone, so that I could save at least some” (1 Cor. 9:22).

The saint especially cared for orphans. In his messages we read about how he defended one poor man, Pyotr Popadich, from the attacks of the Haiduks, who fed not only his family, but also his brother’s orphans. Saint Peter himself wrote that he always protected orphans, the old and the infirm, not only in Montenegro and beyond its borders. And if it was necessary to reconcile someone, he spared neither labor nor time. Here is one example of this. Fourteen times in one year he went to the Riech region to reconcile the Tseklinyans with the Dobrynyans. “Again,” adds Saint Peter, “when I think about the love that I had for the Rijeci region in my youth, I would forget all the work I put in and would again begin to indulge in labor and torment, just to know that my labors would at least reduce the evil a little or will stop. And I don’t regret anything more than the fact that the Riechka region put itself under a spell and created the beginning of evil; I will have to answer before God for my perjury and the bad example that I showed to others.” The saint said to the Tseklinians and Lyubotinians: “Remember, O Tseklinians, that the Lyubotinians are your brothers, and you are the Lyubotinians, just as their evil will not bring you anything good, so neither will yours bring you anything good.”

So he spoke and taught this to all people, all tribes and brotherhoods, asking even the Turks not to do evil, because we all have the same ancestors - Adam and Eve, and we are all children of one Father. The Bishop told people to live, as far as it depends on them, in peace and harmony among themselves. He exposed false holiness, and drove away slander as an ungodly evil. When someone slandered a girl named Obradovice from Kamenog in order to discredit her and destroy her happy life, the saint wrote to the slanderers that they were doing godless things because they condemned their neighbor, and demanded from them: “let such conversations stop.” He worked hard to eradicate thefts, robberies and any arbitrariness among the people, not sparing, as he himself said, either his life or what he had, constantly enduring great difficulties for the sake of national harmony and the general good.

It was not the gratitude of those to whom the Bishop did good, but the feeling of fulfilled duty that was the only consolation and reward for this “true son of the Fatherland.” When Saint Peter learned that where hatred had previously raged and blood had been shed, now harmony and peace had established themselves, he heartily thanked God, as if he had personally received an invaluable benefit, and prayerfully called out to Him, asking for fraternal harmony, peace and obedience among the people , about eternal goodness and prosperity. He always cited such cases as an example to others. So he often remembered Dzhura Tomov from Lower Dol and blessed his earthly remains. In one quarrel, Djuru was wounded by another Montenegrin. His wound was so severe that he was close to death. This could become a reason for endless blood feud. Meanwhile, when people came to his house and asked him: “Are you dying from your wound?” - Jura replied: “I’m not dying from a wound, but I’m dying from an illness, I swear on my deathbed.” With these words, this generous man peacefully departed to the Lord, ending the vicious circle of blood feud, and thereby earned a blessing from the Lord and His Saint.

If someone rebellious appeared among the people and persisted in evil and disobedience, Saint Peter left him under a terrible curse: “May the power of God strike him and he will not have happiness, success, and his house will remain empty.” Or in even more terrible words: “Whoever does not listen to me, let the great God bring a serious illness and curse on his house, and let him always dream that the blood that he shed is dripping into his food.”

He had no other strength and no other weapon to direct him to obedience, except God and his own tears, prayer, advice, oath and spell. He once wrote to the Austrian authorities in Kotor and Zadra regarding their complaints against the Montenegrins: “Your government has prisons, shackles, military force, police and other necessary force, but even with all this you cannot frighten evil and disobedient people and bring them to order, despite the fact that they do not live like the Montenegrins, scattered across the mountains at a distance of two days' journey, but close, in the cities ... But I have nothing from your strength and the people do not give me anything. Having nothing but a pen and a tongue, I cannot force anyone to obey.” It was not because the saint did not force anyone by force that he had no prisons or shackles, but he preserved the evangelical freedom of the people entrusted to him, knowing that only that is truly good when it is done voluntarily.

As much as Metropolitan Peter worked to lead the people onto the path of harmony and love, he also, even first of all, cared about the priests and monks, teaching them, instructing them to live according to the Law of God and set an example for others. Those of them who lived with the fear of God and were obedient, he blessed, and those who transgressed the Gospel commandments, he denounced, and, if necessary, excommunicated, as a sick part, from the healthy body of the Church.

As the second John the Baptist, he denounced one blasphemer, the priest Gabriel, who, for a bribe while her husband was alive, married the daughter of Mat Markovic to another, and married Bielic to his own daughter-in-law. The saint excommunicated Priest Gabriel from the Church, and forbade Christians, under threat of damnation, to invite him to perform any church rite. About this incident he wrote to the Tsiklinians: “to marry a daughter-in-law with a brother-in-law is the same as marrying sister, because a daughter-in-law, a brother’s wife, is like a sister.

Why was Saint John the Baptist beheaded by the damned King Herod, if not because he forbade the wife of his brother Philip to be married? Three times John’s head was buried in the ground and each time it rose up and each time it said the same thing: “It was not right for you, lawless Herod, to take the wife of your brother Philip!” So think about it,” Saint Peter reminded them, “what lawlessness, what a terrible and never unforgivable sin - to take a daughter-in-law as a wife!”

The saint also denounced the false saint Habakkuk, who was confusing the people. He reminded Christians to beware of the lies and promises of this impostor monk, so as not to be gullible and crazy. Another example is Stefan Vuchetich, whom Metropolitan Peter himself elevated to the rank of archimandrite, and he, having ascended on the wings of his own arrogance, began to sow confusion among the people, and became an ungrateful perjurer. The saint deprived him of his priestly rank, notifying the entire people so that everyone should avoid removing Vuchetich’s hair as a malicious troublemaker who thinks only about how to obtain earthly well-being for himself with lies.

If there were strife among people of the priestly and monastic ranks, the bishop, as a good shepherd, advised them to avoid this evil, telling them: “monk against priest, priest against monk - it’s a shame to even hear such things.” He demanded that the monastics not wander, but live in their monasteries, since he knew well that frequent moving from place to place is the source of all sorts of troubles for a monk.

The prudent husband worked hard to eradicate all superstition among the people and instill in them a healthy faith, raising them in true piety and Christian virtues. As if against terrible blindness and madness, he fought against superstition. With the light of Christ, the saint wanted to drive out from the people the fear of sorcerers, vampires, and evil spirits that darkened the people's soul, killing in it true piety and the fear of God - the only source of salvation and wisdom.

Metropolitan Peter demanded from the shepherds of the Church that they always, in every deed, look to him as he does to Christ, and that through them the light of the Gospel and the peace of God should settle in human hearts. “I,” the reverend father wrote to priest Mark Lekovich, and through him to the entire priesthood, “worked and am working so that Christian blood would not be shed, and you, as priests, must do the same.” If some Christian committed evil and was stubborn in his disobedience, the saint, under the threat of defrocking, demanded that the priests not perform any church rituals on him, and tried, like the ancient fathers, with severity to heal the spiritual ailments of the people entrusted to him.

At that time, another bad custom took root among the people. When the “Red Glory” was celebrated, many people celebrated this holiday for a whole week, as if the celebration consisted not in prayerful honoring of God and His saints, but in excessive food and cheeky behavior. It also happened that the guests ate everything clean, leaving behind poor orphans, hungry children, and empty houses. Seeing such an evil deed, Saint Peter one day came out to the Montenegrins with a cross, raised his hands to the sky and loudly exclaimed: “Listen to me, Montenegrins, and may God and these mountains hear me: who from now on will celebrate the “red glory” just as before, God grant that he celebrates with his blood!” This solemn and terrible prayer of St. Peter had such an effect on all Montenegrins that since then, like an obvious miracle, this bad custom has ceased.

The wonderful peacemaker Cetinski wanted all people to live in peace, all Montenegrins and Brjans - all the people entrusted to him. He begged them and conjured them by God Almighty to beware of wars and quarrels and to live in peace with everyone. But when it was necessary to lay down one’s soul for one’s neighbor in defense of one’s home, faith and Orthodox people from the invasion of the Hagarians and other conquerors, then the saint himself walked ahead of his people, as Moses and Joshua once did, defeating the enemies with the right hand of the Most High. Thus, when the Hagarians (in 1787) declared war on Russia, which was in an alliance with Austria, the Christian allies had high hopes for the help of the Montenegrins, great admirers of freedom.

Vladyka Peter, filled with compassionate love for all humiliated and oppressed Christians, helped Christian allies in this struggle. However, when the time came to make peace between powerful empires (in 1791), no one remembered St. Peter and his people. They were left to the mercy of the Hagarites. The godless and treacherous Skadar vizier Mahmud Pasha Bushaltija, who was in a quarrel with the Sultan, was constantly looking for a reason to again conquer and humiliate the Montenegrin people, gathered under the blessed protection of the holy ruler.

Metropolitan Peter, not tolerating any violence, begged the arrogant tyrant to leave the orphans alone and not shed Christian blood. “And if not,” the saint wrote to Pasha, “glory to God for that too: we will defend ourselves from your power and adversity with God’s help to the last.” Seeing that the tyrant did not deviate from his vile plan, Saint Peter worked day and night, just to unite all Montenegrins against a common enemy. And his work did not remain useless. At a meeting of leaders in Cetinje on May 1, 1796, a decision was unanimously adopted, the so-called Stega, in which the leaders of the people vowed to defend their homeland, “to shed their blood for the Orthodox faith.” They swore to help each other, and handed down a harsh sentence to the traitors: “let him and his family be in eternal shame and dishonor,” for he will be a traitor to “faith and law,” “a blasphemer of the name of God,” “an enemy of all the people.”

Before the battle with the Turks, Peter addressed the people with an appeal: “let every faithful son of the Fatherland, with arms in hand, stand up in defense of the Orthodox faith and precious freedom, be ready to repel the son of Mohammed, who committed treachery.

When the bloodthirsty Bushaltija with a superior army moved against Vladyka Peter and his Christ-loving people, Saint Cetinje, gathering his heroes, moved with them at the beginning of July 1796 to the village of Slatine in Belopavlichi. After serving the Liturgy in the holy church, he gave communion to his army, as the great martyr Lazarus once did in the Samodreje church in Kosovo, and inspired them with his speech, saying: “I begged the enemy not to shed innocent blood, but he does not want to. His army is large, but pitiful and unhappy, because God is not in power, but in truth. You defend your faith, your hearth, your face in front of the whole world! You, dear sons, are a free people, and there is no other reward for you for your holy struggle than precious freedom. Know that for a true hero the only reward is to defend the freedom of his dear fatherland. He who fights for a different purpose is not a noble hero, but a hired slave, whose courage has no price or dignity. After this, the saint blessed the soldiers, sprinkled them with holy water and entrusted them and himself to the All-Merciful God, Who sees everything and righteously guides everything. Saint Peter was firmly convinced that God would look after his righteous cause, and the Lord did not abandon this hope. Despite the fact that the Hagarites were three times stronger than the Christian army, God granted victory to the Montenegrins, as He once did to Israel against Amalek. This happened in a place called Martinici on July 11, 1796. Bushaltia himself was wounded in the battle, and the remaining small Turkish army fled to Podgorica in great fear. The battlefield was drenched in blood and littered with the bodies of killed Hagarians; many trophies and weapons were taken by the Montenegrins. As the saint himself later testified: “This victory was a miracle bestowed by the Lord God Himself, to whom we bring glory and praise.”

But the vain and vindictive Mahmud Pasha did not understand the obvious sign of God, in his madness he hastened to take revenge and already in September of the same 1796 he attacked Montenegro. This time too, Vladyka Peter went out to meet the Turks with his heroes, even braver after the first God-given victory. The saint admonished his soldiers with these words: “Let us rush against the enemy of our faith, our dear Serbian name and our precious freedom. Be united as never before and do what is worthy of your name." Having called upon God for help and blessed the army, the ruler and his soldiers set out against the enemy. In the vicinity of Krusi, in the Leshan region, a terrible battle broke out with the Turks. The bloodshed continued from 8 am until the dark night of September 22, 1796. The Hagaryan army was completely defeated, its leader Mahmud Pasha died from the sword, thus receiving a reward for his deeds. He was beheaded by the brave Montenegrin Bogdan Vukov from Zalaz, hitherto unknown to anyone, who struck down the arrogance and impudence of the Turkish tyrant, just as King David once put Goliath to shame.

After this God-given victory, little Montenegro marked the beginning of a new period in its history, annexing Beloplavić and Piper to its territory, establishing its state unity through the prayers and exploits of St. Peter. The people were actually convinced that the right hand of the Almighty was protecting the Cetinje saint, and therefore every day they respected him more and more and resorted to him for help and advice. The entire Christian world rejoiced and marveled at the glory, wisdom and courage of the Cetinje ruler and the heroism of his people. And those who still remained under the Hagarian yoke looked at Saint Peter and his brave army as the last hope for salvation.

Taking care of the Orthodox people outside the Cetinje region, Metropolitan Peter, after the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, went to the seaside settlements of Braice, Pobor, Maine and the city of Budva, wanting to take under his protection the Orthodox people of this region, oppressed for centuries by the Latin heresy, with the hope of giving to give his poor people access to the sea. However, by the decision of the “powers of this world,” for whom the sorrow and suffering of ordinary people mean nothing, this region was transferred to the possession of the Austrian Empire. Saint Peter in these coastal regions had only spiritual power. When the place of the Austrian governor of Rukavina was taken by a new military commander, General Brady, he began to make every effort to take away this power from Metropolitan Peter and appoint another ruler here. He demanded that it be transferred to the needs of the military Orthodox church in Main. The Bishop, not wanting to desecrate the shrine, opposed this demand and convened a people's meeting, at which all its participants declared that they would not allow the desecration of the shrine, and would not allow the temple to be turned into a military barracks as long as at least one of them was alive. The shrine was saved, but the sorrows and suffering of the Orthodox in these parts did not stop.

Vladyka was on good terms with the Russian Tsar Paul I, who provided him with his assistance and even awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. The next king, Emperor Alexander I, treated Montenegro very coolly. At this time, Montenegro was in constant military clashes with Austria and was forced to come into contact with the French. This gave rise to some, despite allegiance to Montenegro Orthodox Russia, to slander Saint Peter at the Russian court.

To understand the current situation, Tsar Alexander I then sent Count Ivelić and Archimandrite Stefan Vucetich, Archimandrite Stefan Vucetich, who had rebelled against his good guardian with the intention of taking the sovereign throne himself, to Montenegro. The plans of this “two” included “revealing” to the Montenegrins their “domestic enemies,” meaning Vladyka Peter himself and his secretary Dolcia. In a letter compiled by the Synod of the Russian Church, Saint Peter was accused of negligence and laziness, and some of the then Russian bishops argued that the bishop committed a mortal sin by mortgaging church property from one merchant to save Montenegrins from hunger. The Bishop was accused of leaving his people without law, rarely visiting his flock, that in Montenegro the monasteries were empty, children were not anointed with Holy Chrism at baptism, and church books sent from Russia were not read at all. They added to this that such omissions pose a great danger to the Christian faith in Montenegro and Brdy, and they called Saint Peter the teacher of evil and debauchery.

The Synod demanded that he either justify himself before the court or repent and summoned him to Russia for this. If he did not show up for trial, the Synod threatened to excommunicate the bishop from the Church and convene the Orthodox Montenegrin and Brdy people to elect a more worthy shepherd.

Hearing about these accusations, the Montenegrin leaders and the entire people took the protection of their bishop. They did not accept the royal envoys, who, having arrived in Boka, already began to turn people against St. Peter, intending to fraudulently send the bishop to St. Petersburg, and then, having condemned him, send him to Siberia for eternal imprisonment. Defending their archpastor, the leaders of the people gathered the Assembly on May 1, 1804, where they composed a letter and sent it to the Russian Tsar. This letter said: “Our bishop did not deserve to have someone treat him so unfairly and tyrannically in his own house, therefore, while we are alive, no human power is able to do anything similar and unpleasant to him. Our Metropolitan has never been under the authority of the Russian Synod. He only enjoyed the moral protection of your Imperial Majesty, and still no one protects us. Now, instead of the expected strong defense, we are beginning to suffer severe persecution.” The leaders asked the king to send a more conscientious representative to Montenegro, a Russian born, who would personally become convinced of the groundlessness of all the accusations against Saint Peter. A little later, the Assembly sent its response to the letter of the Russian Synod, expressing in it its attitude towards the bishop in the following words: “We are happy that our country is ruled by such a person as Bishop Peter I Petrovich. He was accused based on a false denunciation, and he, by the way, freed his people from their enemies, which is known to the whole world.” The letter also said: “The Holy Fathers accuse our Bishop of laziness and think that he has the same opportunities that you have in Russia, driving around in gilded carriages and having time to exercise in the Holy Service. We don’t have this: our bishop walks around his flock on off-road roads with bloody sweat.” So the Montenegrin people rose to the defense of their beloved shepherd.

Soon after this, relations with Russia of the same faith and same blood improved, thanks to the arrival of a new Russian representative, Mauzersky, in Boka. However, the unclean conspiracy against the lord did not pass without victims: the lord’s secretary, Abbot Dolchia, was injured. A native of Herzegovina, a Catholic monk, he was nevertheless very devoted to St. Peter. Despite all the intercession of the ruler, who tried to save the innocent, he was accused of being a French subject and a traitor, and was sentenced to death by hanging. A little later, the sentence was changed to life imprisonment, and Dolchia soon died in prison.

At that time, Napoleon's troops captured Dalmatia. According to the peace treaty concluded in Tilsit, it was to be transferred to Austria and Bock. Defending his land, Saint Peter and his troops heroically fought against the French in alliance with the Russians and defeated the strong Napoleon. This struggle continued until the formidable conqueror was defeated by the allies and exiled to the island of St. Elena. Several times Metropolitan Peter had to meet with the French commandants, Marshals Marmont Gautier and Bertrand, who marveled at the dignity of the bishop, his prudence, strength of character and fortitude. The Orthodox in Boka had to endure a lot of suffering. At the suggestion of the aforementioned Marmont, in 1808 the French deprived the bishop of spiritual power in Boca, placing in his place a certain Benedikt Kralevich. However, the people continued to secretly turn to St. Petru. Kralevich himself admitted that almost all Orthodox Christians, and especially the priests, remained devoted to their archpastor.

When the British and Montenegrins finally recaptured Boka from the French, it was placed under the control of Vladyka Peter. At the Assembly in Dobroti in 1813, even the unification of Boka and Montenegro was proclaimed, but soon, to the great chagrin of St. Petra, Boka, by the decision of the “powers of this world,” was again transferred to Austria.

Saint Peter, who dreamed of creating a single “Slavic-Serbian kingdom,” was very happy when he learned about the uprising of Serbian Orthodox slaves led by Karadjordje, and established constant contact with him. When he heard about the death of the hero, he wrote with tears in his eyes about the shame and reproach that the entire Serbian nation would have to suffer because of his murder.

He said that this terrible crime inflicted an “incurable wound” not only on the present, but also on future generations, on all honest and good-thinking people of the Serbian people. Fervently hoping for the liberation of all enslaved Orthodox Christians from the Hagaryan yoke, he enthusiastically notified his people about the uprising of the Greek brothers of the same faith and thanked the Lord for the fact that “the Christian army is successfully moving forward and is increasing and multiplying in number every day. Thanks to the help of the ruler, in 1820 Moraca and Rovci, with the beautiful Moraca monastery, the possession of the Nemanjic, were liberated from the Turkish yoke and annexed to Montenegro.

Defending his people from enemies who surrounded him on all sides, St. took a lot of care. Peter and about the internal order of the people entrusted to him by God. He opened the people's chancellery, which dealt with administrative and judicial matters. There was no compulsory governing body under him. It is not known that anyone was sentenced to death under him. “I have,” the bishop wrote in one letter, “neither a whip nor a stake to force anyone except my own tongue and pen, and then only when they listen to me.” Knowing, by the way, that without law and general order it is impossible to avoid anarchy and anarchy, from which a lot of evil occurs and a lot of fraternal blood is shed, Saint Peter insisted that a “written rule” be adopted - a law to which everyone would be subject. Until now, the people lived without laws, guided only by their age-old customs and orders.

The first set of laws adopted by the Assembly of Leaders was called "Stega" and consisted of six points. He was accepted "in the name of the Most Holy, Consubstantial and Consubstantial, Eternally Worshiped and Inseparable in the Three Hypostases of the Life-Giving Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Calling on the Most Holy Name of the Lord God Almighty for help, the leaders of the people, tribe of tribe, one region to another, gave an honest and “respectful” word that they would not betray or deceive each other, they declared that they would defend the holy temples and monasteries with arms in hand , their homes, wives and children with the help of the Almighty, the glorified God in the Trinity, and consign traitors to damnation. This set of laws became a preparatory stage for the creation of the so-called “St. Peter’s Law”, the first part of which was adopted on October 18, 1798 at the Assembly in the Stanevici monastery, and the second - at the Cetinje Assembly held on August 17, 1803. This “Legalist” began with the words “in the name of the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ” and consisted of 33 points, according to the number of years our Lord lived on earth for the sake of our salvation. All the people's leaders unanimously and unanimously accepted this "Legalist", vowing to take care of it and adhere to everything that is indicated in it. They confirmed their oath by kissing Honest and Life-giving Cross, the Holy Gospel and the holy relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon.

The “Legalist” determined how to deal with the murderers of innocent people, and established punishment for them, because, as the law said, without punishing an evil and unauthorized person it is impossible to maintain “unity, peace, tranquility and any good order.” It further indicated how to deal with those who take away someone else’s wife or girlfriend, and what to do with the priest who marries such people. Responsibility for the thefts was then determined. Since the greatest bloodshed in the country occurred due to theft, this evil was blamed primarily on those parents who did not want to raise their children kindly and keep them in the fear of God. Further, the “Legalist” spoke about debts, about the purchase and sale of property, about quarrels in the bazaars and near churches, “which is why not only the bazaars are in turmoil and the people return back unsatisfied, but also the temples of God are subject to desecration and desecration through quarrels.” The new law also defined a tax on the maintenance of courts and authorities. At the same time, Metropolitan Peter himself was cited as an example, who was the first to donate all his income from the lands of the Cetinje Monastery to this purpose. The new law prohibited fighting. At the end of “The Lawyer” there was a reminder to the judges - when they sit in court, let them remember that by the voice of the people, according to the will of God, they were appointed judges, not as mercenaries, but as true fathers and patriots of the Fatherland; let them pray to the Lord to grant them enlightenment of reason, strength and wisdom, so that the Lord will reveal to them what is righteous, holy and pleasing to God; let them remember their oath and promise not to abuse their position; let them not judge biasedly, but in truth, “because there is the Judgment of God”; let them patiently listen to the explanations of both sides and not take bribes; and let the people listen to honest and decent judges and love them.

Prohibiting all violence and calling for loyalty to the Fatherland, the compiler of “The Lawyer,” Saint Peter himself, obliges everyone: priests, princes and tribal elders, every owner of the house, to teach their neighbors and tell them: “Live peacefully with everyone, in love, fear God , turn away from evil." All his life, Saint Peter tried to convince and teach Montenegrins to adhere to this law for the sake of the people's well-being. For this he had to endure a lot of suffering, since the Law was often violated even by those who affirmed it, opposing mutual peace and harmony with their self-will and licentiousness.

Knowing how necessary and useful education is for educating young people and instilling good customs in the people's soul, Saint Peter wanted to found a school and a printing house, but, unfortunately, this desire of the bishop was never fulfilled due to poverty and the turbulent situation in the country. He himself became a teacher: gathering children around him, St. Peter taught them to read and write and the Orthodox faith, and sent the most capable students to study in Russia and Austria. Desiring with all his heart to enlighten the Montenegrins more with the light of the Gospel, Vladyka negotiated with the Russian bishops about the transfer Holy Scripture into the vernacular.

Disease and hunger were frequent “guests” among the people who lived “between snakes and scorpions,” among stone mountains, completely separated from the rest of the world. St. Peter taught people how to protect themselves from diseases, especially plague and cholera, which swept through Montenegro in a deadly wave, leaving behind a deserted desert.

The years following the war with the French were especially difficult. Austrian neighbors in Boka Kotorska often closed bazaars from Montenegrins, and promised help did not arrive from Russia. In addition, the Lord allowed the lean years to pass, and a famine occurred such as the living could not remember. The people suffered equally from hunger and from the Hagarites. And everyone with their difficulties turned to Vladyka Peter with hope. The Lukovichi orphans turned to him, asking for bread and consolation, with the following words: “We kiss your hand, the hem of your clothes... your foot and your footprints.” The leaders of both Morach, led by the governor Mina, expecting an attack by the Hagarians and seeking protection from St. Peter, they wrote him the “Book of Lamentations”, informing him: “We convey a great lamentation from both Morach and Haiduk. It is impossible to live or stay here because of hunger and attacks of the strong on the weak.” The saint himself left the following record about those days: “...for a month now the people have not eaten bread, only roots and herbs of all kinds.” In that hungry year of 1817, the ruler himself did not even have the means to buy salt, and he feared that “we won’t keep anyone alive, but we’ll lose ourselves and won’t help the people.” In one of the letters of that time, he wrote: “... knowing that the people have nothing to live on, we see no mental or physical benefit in increasing the number of people: either they will die of hunger, or, due to cramped living conditions and disadvantages, one he will drive away and kill another, therefore, in my pitiable reasoning, it is better for infants to die from scabs after Holy Baptism than, having matured, to be forced by hunger and shortages to rob other people’s property and to drive out and kill their brothers.”

The famine again kindled the passions of blood feud and theft, which had been calmed by the long efforts of Vladyka Peter. As they say, evil does not travel alone. Plague appeared in the areas bordering Austria, and the Austrians, as a protective measure against the epidemic, closed the bazaars. And what about the crusader Saint Cetinje? He wept with those who wept, suffered with those in need, shared with them everything he had, consoled them, inspired them with faith, and asked them to beware of contagious diseases. St. Peter pawned his personal and monastic belongings in order to buy bread for orphans in times of famine, and weapons in years of battle. “When a Montenegrin’s house leaks,” said this new merciful Samaritan, “it seems to me that it’s dripping down my collar.” What he had as his property is clear from the bishop’s letter to his friend dated December 22, 1820: “My expenses exceed my income, I spend everything on people's needs, receiving nothing in return except everyday anxiety and headaches. I pawned my most precious things and fell into debt.”

Vladyka Peter did not like his people to settle in foreign countries and serve others. Therefore, he strongly interfered with the envoys of the Viennese court when they came to recruit Montenegrins into the Austrian army. However, after some time, seeing the multiplication of troubles and attacks by the Turks, St. Peter himself saw that for many Montenegrins, resettlement to other countries, and above all to Russia of the same faith, was salvation from death. On his recommendation, the first 80 people from the village of Khumtsi went to Russia. Many of the Montenegrins then decided to resettle. On this occasion, the bishop personally addressed Tsar Alexander, but never received any answer. After listening to the daily complaints of hungry and desperate people, he finally decided to send 800 Montenegrins to Russia by ship without prior agreement. At the same time, he wrote to the Russian Tsar: “Look, Most Gracious Sovereign, at my seventy-year-old gray hair, help my labors!” Having sold everything they had, people set off on three ships to Russia. When they reached Constantinople, the Russian envoy Stroganov took pity on the settlers and gave them food and medicine, but delayed their departure to Odessa for two weeks, citing the fact that he had not received any instructions in this regard from the Russian authorities. The Turkish authorities, having learned about this and considering the settlers their subjects, wished that all the arriving people would be transferred to Turkey. It all ended with Stroganov transferring the Montenegrins onto three Russian ships and sending them to Boka. The wanderers were on the road for forty days. During this time, some of them fell ill, others died of hunger and were thrown into the sea. Those who nevertheless survived the voyage and reached Rose were placed in quarantine upon arrival. Sick and needy, they wrote: “we entrust ourselves to the Lord and our ruler to take care of our future.” The Bishop wrote a consoling letter to the quarantine, accompanying it with tears of compassion, but could not help them in any way, since the wanderers’ property had already been sold. Coming out of quarantine, in order to find food for themselves and somehow survive, Montenegrins began to rob and kill, looking for food for themselves. Hundreds of hungry families were again heading to Montenegro. Many of them returned to their homeland, continuing to live in robbery and robbery. One of these wanderers wrote down his memories: “We were dead from hunger, converted to Islam, we robbed the whole country and brought a lot of evil and misfortune to people. And they came again to Cetinje, seriously ill, without any property, naked, homeless, without rights and the most necessary things for life.” Starving groups of these sufferers wandered around Montenegro, threatening even the monastery in which St. Peter lived, adding new wounds to this Cetinje martyr.

Meanwhile, old age was approaching, his legs ached from great labors and exploits, and misfortunes and worries multiplied, replacing one another. Montenegro was facing a new hungry year, 1822, about which the saint wrote: “I remember many times of hunger, but I don’t remember anything like this in my life.” And in the last year of his earthly life, 1830, there was also a famine. “Today is the third day since the people have no bread,” he wrote then to Jeremiah Gagich. And the people of Grokhov wrote to him in the same year: “We inform you that for many days now we have been living only with God and your help.”

Due to famine and other disasters, blood feuds and other vices began to gain momentum again. People stopped respecting all authority, and this was the hardest thing for Vladyka Peter. He no longer had the strength, as before, to keep up everywhere on his own. Nevertheless, he continued to work to maintain unity and restore order and peace. He knew well that only with his constant attention, his authority and his word could he save the country from destruction. The last years of his life were bitter and martyrdom, but his love and self-sacrifice were enormous, and his faith in Almighty God was immeasurable. Since, due to old age and illness, the bishop himself could not walk around the country, calm and console the people, he sent others in his place, sending with him numerous letters and his cross, as a sign of God’s blessing, invisibly accompanying the envoys with his secret prayers to the Omnipresent. God, so that their work does not remain fruitless. He addressed his flock not only as a brother, teacher, friend in misfortune, but also as a strict father. In some cases he asked and blessed, in others he reminded, reproached, conjured and even sent curses.

Wanting to establish good neighborly relations with the Austrians, for the sake of free trade with the Bokelians, Saint Peter did not tire of admonishing the Montenegrins so that they would not go to Boka to steal and rob and thereby discredit the Montenegrin people. He wrote that a good neighbor is the kindest friend, and the country that is closest to home is the best.

When military clashes occurred between quarreling tribes in the Katun region, St. Peter sent monk Stefan Lazarevich there with a letter that said the following: “With great regret and tears I say that all your enemies and evil spirits of the whole world could not bring you as much harm and shame as you bring to yourself. And that then complain and cry if you love evil more than respect, and do not listen to what I teach you and what I advise, what I ask and conjure.” The Bishop exposed the quarrels, saying that they had retreated from God and lost the fear of God, forgotten all shame, “they do what they know, but do not know what they are doing.” He wrote to them: “You do not listen to those who wish you well, and when a liar appears among you, you begin to believe him...”.

The Cetinje sufferer became like his Lord in his boundless love for everyone, even giving his soul for everyone, without demanding anything in return. Sacrificing everything, he sacrificed to the end. “I have grown old,” he wrote in the last year of his life, “more from the evil and disobedience of the Montenegrins, and not from the years of my life.”

The Lord loved those whom the Lord entrusted to him endlessly, just as the Lord did His disciples: He blessed them, sometimes blamed them, and even conjured them “by the power of God Almighty,” “by the Honest Cross,” “ Holy Mother of God, all the archangels, angels and saints who have pleased the Lord from time immemorial,” with health, happiness and well-being. He loved them, filled with Gethsemane suffering and compassion, and when he reproached them, reminding them how “your heart shrinks from your sin.” He knew, of course Vladyka knew how people deeply respect his words and fear his tears like thunder, which is why he had the courage, according to God, to write so strictly to them, referring to his gray hair and the suffering endured for them, just to lead them to peace and harmony. Feeling that the end of his earthly journey and boundless labors, worries and cares for the souls entrusted to him was approaching, the saint considered it godly to see George, the son of his younger brother Savva, as his successor.In order to prepare him for such a responsible service, St. Peter sent him to study in Russia, at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. However, George was more inclined to military service than to the clergy, and asked the Bishop to bless him on the military path. The Bishop allowed him from the duties of the clergy and called to him another nephew - Radivoy-Rade , the son of his younger brother Toma, seeing in him a worthy and highly gifted successor. When Rade arrived in Cetinje, a tall old man in a long black robe was waiting for him in front of the monastery, leaning on a silver staff. His long beard and hair, according to the stories of contemporaries recorded by Ljuba Nenadovich, were no different from white silk, and the skin on his face and hands was the color of wax. Montenegrins stood around him with their heads uncovered, standing near the saint who still walks the earth. He was a holy ruler who made an indelible impression with his appearance, words and deeds. This was a wise people's leader, a chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Peter rested in the Cetinje Monastery on St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke on October 18, 1830, in the forty-sixth year of his archpastoral service amid labors and concerns. On the eve of the feast of St. Apostle Luke revealed to the Bishop that the end was approaching. He invited his secretary Sima Milutinovich to his cell and asked him to write down his will and last will. This will has come down to us as an example of the attitude of the saint towards the flock entrusted to him, which St. Peter kept and protected as his own soul. In it, the holy metropolitan asks every Montenegrin and Brđanin, young and old, to forgive him with all his heart if he has offended or sinned in any way, and he himself forgave everyone. Next, he expresses his request to the people to mourn him and bury him in peace, silence and love, and to swear on his dead chest not to touch anyone and not to shed blood until St. Day. George. On behalf of the True God, he addressed everyone so that they would not encroach on church property, all clergy would be respected and taken care of. The ruler designated Radu Tomov as his heir, who, he hoped, would be a man of action and reason. At the end of his will, he blessed all his good, faithful and obedient children, commanding them to always adhere to the one-faith and only-begotten Russia, leaving them for the needs of the people the money he received as help from the Russian Tsar, for which he was once slandered.

On the day before his death, the humble saint of God sat as usual in the spacious monastery kitchen by the fire. The Montenegrin leaders who came to him gathered around him. He gave them advice and final instructions, repeating that his end was approaching. The Bishop spoke like a caring owner preparing to leave his home for a long journey. Then great weakness came over him. The leaders took him to a small cell with one window, in which St. Peter, as a true faster and desert dweller, spent his entire life. The elder sank down onto his bed and here, praying to the Lord and blessing Montenegro and all the people, quietly, without pain and mortal agony, he gave up his spirit to God. Having learned about his repose, all of Montenegro grieved for him, for he was left an orphan; all the coastal Christians who were under the Hagaryan yoke sighed heavily, having lost their comforter and prayer book before God.

A zealous apostle of the Christian faith, a fiery preacher of brotherly love, harmony and freedom, was buried in the monastery church. During the funeral service on the square in front of the monastery, the people in the crowd, crossing their guns over the holy body of the bishop, swore with tears to live in love among themselves, to maintain peace and harmony, to obey the Rada of Tomov. Some feared that bloodshed might occur during the burial of the saint. But, thank God, the Lord sent a peaceful angel into the hearts of people. Everyone who listened to the bishop’s will cried, and most of all, his former enemies wept without holding back their tears. The people swore to carry out the posthumous will of their dear archpastor in everything. Rade Tomov, overwhelmed with grief over the loss of his uncle and teacher, taking the heavy burden of the primacy on his fragile shoulders, wrote on October 22, 1830: “In our country everyone mourns for him, and most of all his enemies, they experience such a sense of loss. Imagine what it’s like for us, his family! »

4 years after the repose of the bishop, on the same day of St. Apostle and Evangelist Luke (in 1834), his coffin was opened and intact and incorruptible relics were found. This joyful news for everyone about God’s glorification of His saint was announced to the people on the same day by Peter II, next after Rade, the successor of St. Peter Cetinski. This is how this wise heir of his holy uncle wrote in his solemn message: “We bring to your attention, pious people, how we are on the 18th of this month, on St. The Apostle and Evangelist Luke opened the tomb of my blessed and departed ancestor and your archpastor Peter, and as soon as they opened the tomb, they found his body, our good and holy archpastor, whole and incorruptible. We announce this super-joyful event to you, pious people, because we know that you too will thank the Almighty Creator, Who is your good father, the strong shepherd of the Church and the flock of Christ, your protector and deliverer, among us in the holy body. Since even in his temporary life he was ready to give his soul and body for us, now we pray to him as a saint and saint of God, as a man of prayer and intercessor for us, as for his sons, before Almighty God. I think, pious Christians, that you remember the words of St. Peter, which he told you: “Live in peace, harmony and unity.” I think you cherished and kept these holy and divine words in your heart until the Pleasant of God was revealed among us. And now, I hope you will keep them tightly, because you see here among us the one who bequeathed them to you, incorruptible and holy. I think that you are all convinced that a Montenegrin who does not follow the covenant to live in peace, harmony and unity, St. Peter will be an adversary both in this world and in the next. And those who have enmity among themselves, be reconciled, and then you will be pleasing to both God and your Saint Peter. For the rest, I entrust you to the Lord and his Pleasant, the newly revealed Saint, and I remain a well-wisher to everyone.”

The people, who during his lifetime called St. Peter “the holy lord,” heard this joyful news and headed to Cetinje from all over Montenegro to venerate his holy relics. People also came from Brda and Boka Kotorska, praising the Lord for His gift. Even 9 ()-year-old old people came through the mountains off-road to worship the newly-minted Pleasant of God and the Pillar of the Orthodox Faith of their fatherland. According to Vuk Karadzic, who was in Cetinje in those days, up to one and a half thousand souls gathered around the saint’s body. And let there be malicious opponents, darkened by false reason, who could not leave alone even the holy relics of the true shepherd, just as during his life they did not leave him without evil slander. They failed to stop this sea people's love flow to the holy relics of Peter Cetinje. “No mortal,” noted Ljubo Nenadovich, “in any Christian nation will be shown such veneration: they swear by his name, call for help, in the sorrow of illness they come to his relics for consolation and healing!”

To what extent did the Montenegrins during the life of St. Peter was afraid of his miraculous words and oaths, so much, and even more, they were afraid to do something that he would not like, now that he had become closer to God. He sees, knows and will always monitor whether his people live in faith and love, harmony and respect. And as in life, he now remains a helper to good people, and a reproach and punisher to evil people. I have always remembered and still remember his every blessing and curse. What he blessed remained blessed, what he cursed never prospered. The people say about him: “The Holy Apostle Peter in Rome denied Christ three times, but our Saint Peter in Cetinje - not once.” And they often cry: “Help, Saint Peter!” - because he is flesh of our flesh, our reliable intercessor before God and the praise of the entire Church of God. It did not remain a secret that throughout his life, regardless of worldly duties, Saint Peter remained a great faster and man of prayer; Until his death, he invariably lived in a dim cell, next to the monastery church. Few people saw him laugh or talk much. Usually he was deep in thought and prayer, busy caring for his flock. No matter who of the sick came to him, after the bishop read a prayer over him, rarely did anyone not receive healing.

After the God-bearing ruler was canonized and his relics were glorified by the power of the Holy Spirit, many churches were erected dedicated to Saint Peter. The first of them was built on Mount Lovcen in 1844 by the prudent Peter, in honor and good memory of the saint, and as a tomb for himself. IN Lately When the fear of God disappeared in people, the faith and love of many for Saint Peter cooled. The chapel on Mount Lovcen disappeared. But the ruler, who always suffered for his people, who in his old age wrote: “if I had lived among the Turks, I would not have suffered as much oppression as I suffer from the Montenegrins,” found refuge in Boka, which he loved so much during his lifetime. In Prchna, near Kotor, believers are building a new temple in the name of St. Peter, similar to Lovchensky. In the city of Dortmund in distant Germany, his children scattered around the world recently built a modest chapel to the Lord and St. Peter, but for your own salvation. We, many sinners, fall to him and cry out in prayer: “To St. Father Peter, wonderworker of Cetinje, pray Holy Trinity, Triune God, may he enlighten our darkness! "

TESTAMENT AND TEACHINGS OF ST. PETER

The God-wise Saint Cetinje was a talented writer. Everything that he wrote, he never wrote for fun or human praise, or the desire to create his own philosophy and science. His messages are close in spirit to the messages of the Holy Apostle Paul, just as there is much in common in their lives. Every word that comes from his pen exudes the fragrance of double love: love for God and the people entrusted to him, and self-sacrifice. Everything that was written was written from the cross of Calvary: hence the simplicity and complete sober sanity.

Here we present his testament - a posthumous will, and soulful excerpts from his messages based on one of the latest editions, prepared by Cedo Vukavich, entitled: Peter the First Petrovich. Frescoes on stone, Luch Library Publishing House, Titograd, 1965. Offering an excerpt from one of his instructive songs. The Holy Bishop also wrote one unfinished " Brief history Montenegro", he also wrote songs published by Trifon Dzhunich, publishing house "People's Book", Cetinje, 1961.

POSTHEATH WILL OF ST. PETER

From us, Vladyka Peter

To the noble gentlemen of the spiritual and temporal rank, the leaders and elders and all the people of Montenegro and Brdy, my most heartfelt final greetings.

Each of you knows and sees well how long ago I weakened and can no longer do it due to old age, and most of all from all the torment and labor that, during my long life, for the people of Montenegro and Brdy, I accepted and endured, for the freedom of the Christian faith and our fatherland, protecting the people and orphans as his own soul. Seeing and knowing your weakness and incurable disease, and approaching death, I wrote several necessary letters and books, and instructed to send them after my death, so I wrote and leave this book to you and all the people of Montenegro and Brdy, which you all listen to and understand before you bury me.

I ask every Montenegrin and Brđanian, young and old, who I have sinned or offended in some way, I ask you to forgive me with all my heart and soul, just as I forgive everyone, young and old, who has sinned me in any way, forgiving once and for all, and on Last Judgment of God at the Second Coming of Christ.

Firstly, I leave my last valuable testament to all the people and by the Almighty God of the whole world, the Creator and all the powers of Heaven, I conjure everyone so that I will be modestly buried and mourned in peace in the silence and love of the people, and so that the villain will not utter a single bitter word to the villain until then. words.

Another request and by the Strong Almighty God conjuring that on my chest you will give your word to affirm our faith throughout our entire country and diocese, in all regions, villages and tribes, so that no one touches anyone for anything until the day of St. George, and until then I hope in the Lord our Savior that the meaning of a righteous life will be spread throughout Montenegro, which I myself begged and cried for from my ever-present patron and protector, and I told some of you this before, that I care about you and the general well-being and pious life, as God knows it and as you all will know and see in due time.

In addition, most of all I ask you and everyone, by the true God Almighty and by an everlasting testament, I conjure that no one will ever touch the church goods and property; This is for the sake of all of you and your happiness, respect every church minister, monk, as my servants and yours, take care of them, help them, just as I treat them, always be attentive. And in my place, as heir and manager of all my national and church property, I leave my nephew Rade Tomov, in whom I trust as a man of action and reason, as far as the Heavenly Father has blessed him, and whom I forever entrust to our God and King and to all the people of Montenegrin and Brdy with all my heart and all my soul.

At the end I will also tell you and clarify: Oh, brothers and peoples of Montenegro and Brdy! Listen and know from me, who never deceived you and did not wish anything bad, at my death I declare God’s truth: how unpleasant everyone is greedy and greedy, who thought and said that without deserving Moscow money, he spent it all and only divided the brethren a little the money that the Russian Tsar sent to the people. Everyone who thinks so is mistaken and sinful, and I conjure you from my deathbed and declare to everyone that I have not spent anything from that Moscow money on anything, but they are all intact and untouched. I received that money from the king at my request, in my honor and at my disposal for the benefit of the entire Serbian people, but not to spend it without great need and great need. That's how it was. I haven't spent any of that money. In addition to what he spent on maintaining the national court until it was abolished by strong and insane people. For both that and the remaining money, I remain before God and people. But I myself asked the Russian Tsar and patron about that money to decide what to spend that money on, and the Tsar replied that he would direct official representative, who will accept that money and manage it through the state office, which he organizes in our country. The biggest wound in my heart, which I will take with me to the coffin, is that I did not live to see this day.

If someone from our people does not accept my last words and instructions as the truth, or if he does not listen to what is written in this will and tries to bring confusion and discord among the people by word or deed, no matter who he is, worldly or spiritual person, on my deathbed I curse and anathematize both him and his descendants and the entire family, so that no traces of him and his house remain on earth.

In the same way, may God reward those who try to separate you from your allegiance to pious and Christ-loving Russia. And if any of you, Montenegrins and Brjans, even thinks of abandoning the patronage and hopes for our same-faith and consanguineous Russia, may the All-Merciful God cause such a thing that his living flesh will fall off, and all earthly blessings will depart from him forever. To all the good and faithful who will listen to and fulfill my last message, my most zealous fatherly and archpastoral blessing from generation to generation and forever and ever - Amen.