Saint Tikhon (in the world Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin) was born (19) on January 31, 1865. From an early age, his father took the boy with him to the service, and his love for the temple became an integral part of his life. He received his education at the theological school of his hometown, and then at the Pskov Seminary and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy.
In 1888, Vasily Bellavin graduated from the academy and was sent to the Pskov seminary to teach dogmatics, moral theology and French. In 1891, a young teacher took monastic vows with the name Tikhon in honor of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. Ordained a hieromonk, he was transferred a year later to the Kholm Seminary, where he was appointed inspector.
In December 1898, Bishop Tikhon was appointed to the Aleutian American See, which was located in San Francisco. In 1905, St. Tikhon was elevated to the rank of archbishop, and two years after that he was transferred to one of the most honorable sees in Russia, — Yaroslavl.
In 1913, Archbishop Tikhon was transferred to the Lithuanian diocese — in Vilna. Here the ruler was caught by the war. By order of the Holy Synod, Archbishop Tikhon moved to Moscow, bringing with him the relics of the holy Vilna miracle workers, but soon moved from Moscow closer to his flock, almost to the front line. After the February Revolution, together with other archpastors, Archbishop Tikhon was dismissed by Chief Prosecutor V.N. Lvov from the Synod.
In 1917, Saint Tikhon was elected by the will of the church people to the Moscow diocesan see, after which the Synod awarded him the rank of metropolitan, and soon he was elevated to the restored patriarchal throne.
In his first address to the All-Russian flock, Patriarch Tikhon characterized the era the country was experiencing as the year of God’s wrath«; in the message (January 19) on February 1, 1918, he expressed archpastoral concern about the situation of the Church and condemnation of the bloody unrest. In the summer of 1921, after the horrors of the civil war, another disaster befell the Russian people: famine.
In February 1922, Patriarch Tikhon called on church councils to donate precious church decorations, unless they have liturgical use. However, on February 23, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee issued a decree on the seizure of church valuables for the needs of the hungry. The Patriarch responded to the decree with a new message to the flock, in which he declared the inadmissibility of confiscating sacred objects, the use of which not for liturgical purposes is prohibited by the canons of the Universal Church«.
Criminal cases were initiated in different cities of the country. The clergy were accused of obedience to their Patriarch, of announcing his Appeal, of trying to negotiate with the authorities to replace the issuance of church shrines with a monetary ransom, and sometimes of the fact that, unable to withstand the blasphemous behavior in the churches of agents of power who allowed themselves the most obscene forms of desecration of shrines, they did not remain indifferent to him.
During the civil war, stratification occurred among the clergy: renovationist groups appeared calling for revolution in the Church. By repelling anti-canonically modernist attacks, Patriarch Tikhon, in his messages to his flock, emphasized the inadmissibility of liturgical innovations. In May 1922, the patriarch was taken into custody at the Donskoy Monastery, and in June 1923 he was released.
During this period, as a result of the destructive actions of the schismatic Renovationists, church administration was beheaded: many bishops were expelled from the pulpits, most churches were captured by the Renovationists, the church people were thrown into confusion. After his release, Patriarch Tikhon addressed his flock with a message, saying that the «Russian Orthodox Church is apolitical and does not want... to be either a white or a red Church. It must be and will be the One, Conciliar, Apostolic Church».
In April 1924, the patriarch issued a new, short but meaningful Message exposing the serious crimes of the leaders of the renovationist schism. In this Address, on the basis of church canons and on behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church, the patriarch subjected the Renovationists to a canonical prohibition and confirmed that they, henceforth to the point of repentance, are out of communion with the Church.
On April 5, 1925, His Holiness Tikhon served his last liturgy at the Church of the Great Ascension on Nikitskaya.
On April 7, 1925, on the day of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patriarch Tikhon reposed himself with the Lord. In 1989, by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, was canonized.