Return of the Moscow Theological Academy to the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1948

Abstract

In this article the reader will learn about the history of the resumption of theological and spiritual life of the Moscow Theological Academy within the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Gradually, step by step, the historic buildings of the Moscow Theological Academy were handed over to the Church. Largely due to the diplomatic talent of His Holiness Patriarch Alexis, numerous letters of request and petition to the Council on the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by G. G. Karpov, were granted. However, this was not easy. After three hierarchs of our Church - Metropolitans Sergii (Stragorodskii), Alexii (Simanskii) and Nikolai (Yarushevich) - met with the head of the USSR government, Stalin, the process of recreating the system of spiritual education began. But it was not possible to be content with the premises of Novodevichy monastery due to the increasing number of students for a long time. Eventually, the conditions were favourable for the return of the Moscow Theological Academy to the cell of the Venerable Sergius. The complexities of the process of transferring the historic buildings are the subject of this article.