The remains of General Denikin and philosopher Ivan Ilyin will find rest in their homeland

On October 2, 2005, the remains of General Denikin and great Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin will come back to Russia to be reburied at the cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

On April 26, 2005, Maria A. Denikina, daughter of General Denikin, a well-known leader of the White Movement, was granted Russian citizenship by a special decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ms. Denikina, on her part, made known the last will of her deceased father who wished to be buried in Russia.

At about the same time, it became known that Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin who died in emigration expressed the same wish.

According the Russian president’s decision, an interdepartmental commission, which included representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, was formed to prepare the reburial.

General Denikin, Ivan Ilyin and their wives will be buried in Moscow, at a special plot in the Donskoy Monastery’s cemetery, which will be henceforth used for such reburials.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia and in accordance with the decision of the head of the Russian State, a National Reconciliation Memorial will appear in the Donskoy Monastery.

In an interview after the celebrations marking the 625th anniversary of the Kulikovo Battle, His Holiness Alexy made this remarks concerning the forthcoming reburial of General Denikin and philosopher Ivan Ilyin:

‘Many of our compatriots had to leave their homeland after the October Revolution, and this was a great tragedy for Russia. The first to have his remains reburied was writer Ivan Shmelev. His remains now lie in rest at the Donskoy Monastery. Recently the wish has become known that the remains of General Denikin and philosopher Ivan Ilyin and their wives be transferred and buried, according to their wills, in their homeland.

‘We should at long last remove the barrier that separated emigrants from their compatriots who continued to live in Russia after the revolution. Negotiations are held today about the reunification of the Church Outside Russia with the Church in Russia, for she is flesh of flesh and blood of blood of our people. For 80 years, the Russian people who had to live in exile justified the church division by the fact that power in Russia belonged to a theomachist force that persecuted the faithful. But now these obstacles have gone by God’s mercy, and we all should together seek to overcome the divisions of political nature which existed in the past. We hope that the Russian Church Outside Russia and the Church in Russia will soon reunite.

‘Many Russian people, whose life ended outside their homeland and who found rest at cemeteries in other countries dreamt of being buried in their homeland. And today’s events are the fulfillment of their innermost wishes. I see it as one of the important symbols in the process of reunification of the two parts of the tragically divided Russian people – whose who lived in their homeland and those who lived in emigration’.

At present the remains of General Denikin reside at St. Vladimir’s Cemetery near New York. His wife was buried in the Ste Genevieve de Bois Cemetery near Paris. Ivan Ilyin and his wife died and were buried in Switzerland.

The memorial events will be attended by representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Russian Church Outside Russia, the Western European Exarchate for parishes of the Russian tradition under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

On September 28, 2005, the coffin with General Denikin’s body will be placed at the Church of Our Lady of the Sign under the Bishops’ Synod of the Russian Church Outside Russia. The clergy of the Church Abroad will conduct a requiem service there.

Then the coffin will be brought to St. Nicholas’s Cathedral in New York.

On the same day, a requiem service for Ivan Ilyin and his wife will take place at the Church of the Resurrection in Zurich, Switzerland, and next day, at the Cathedral of the Elevation of the Cross of the Church Outside Russia in Geneva.

Finally, a prayer for the rest of the souls of General Denikin, Ivan Ilyin and their wives will be said on September 30, 2005, at St. Alexander Nevsky’s Cathedral in Paris by the clergy of the Western European Exarchate for Russian Parishes under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The requiem service will be attended by representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Church Outside Russia.

With the blessing of Patriarch Alexy, Bishop Merkury of Zaraisk, administrator of the Patriarchal Pairshes in the USA, will participate in the memorial events in New York and Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun in the memorial events in Paris. The official delegation, which will accompany the remains to the place of their rest, will include Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations, and Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), father superior of the Meeting of Our Lady of Vladimir monastery in Moscow.

On October 2, 2005, the remains of our unforgettable compatriots will be brought to the Lesser Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

On the next day, the foundation of stone the National Reconciliation Memorial will be laid down.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy will lead the requiem service at the Major Cathedral of the monastery, after which the remains of General Denikin and Ivan Ilyin and their wives will be buried in the presence of state officials and prominent political and public figures.