Father Joann Kuldmäe (1912-1965)

Guardian of the Meeksi stone of St John

Joann Kuldmäe was born on 3 July 1912 in Pankjavitsa, Pskov province, into the family of the farmers Vassili and Maria Kuldmäe. He graduated from Pankjavitsa primary school. On 26 August 1939, Joann married Maria Toomkure from Saatse: they had two children (Jüri in 1940 and Valentina in 1943). Joann's ambition was to become a clergyman: in 1939-1940, he studied at the Pechery seminary until its closure on 6 August 1940, when a decree from Acting President Maksim Und closed all private educational institutions in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. After that, Father Joann returned to his birthplace, taking up a post as a parish schoolteacher in the parish of St Nicholas in Pankjavitsa.

During the German occupation, Metropolitan Alexander (Paulus) of Tallinn and All Estonia ordained Joann as a deacon and priest in the church of the Transfiguration in Tallinn. His first place of service was the parish of St Paraskeva in Saatse and then the parish of the Nativity of Christ in Mõla, where he served for a total of nine years (1942-1951).

In 1951, Father Joann and his family moved to the diocese of Estonia. Bishop Roman (Tang) appointed him to serve as a priest in the border parish of the Holy Spirit in Luhamaa (1951-1965) and as a vicar in the parishes of Haanja-Plaani (1955-1961) and Mõniste-Ritsiku (1957-1958).

One of the congregations to which Father Joann was assigned from 8 February 1951 was the parish of St. John the Baptist in Meeksi, where he served as senior priest for a total of 12 years (1951-1964). The building of the new church in Meeksi in 1951-1952 and the preservation of the sacred St John's stone became Father Joann's greatest contribution to the church community in Setumaa during the Soviet era. However, Nikita Khrushchev's anti-religious turmoil did not leave Joann untouched, especially in connection with the failure to remove the Meeksi holy stone in time.

Built in 1927, the wooden Meeksi Orthodox church became unusable and in danger of collapse by the end of the 1940s. In 1950, the congregation decided to build a new, larger church next to the old one. Construction began in the autumn of 1951: the logs were bought at the congregation's own expense and the building was roofed in December. The diocesan administration, together with Bishop Roman, supported the parish's initiative and in June 1952 allocated 3,000 roubles to the project. In the autumn of the same year, regular church services began. Father Joann held the first service in the new sanctuary on 28 September 1952. However, the construction was approved by the Võru Inventory Office only on 27 January 1952 after a delay.

However, the clergy and the parish council were accused of not informing the executive committee about the church's construction in time and of not carrying out a technical inspection. Consequently, in early 1953, the executive committee banned services. In a letter dated 26 February 1953, Bishop Roman warned Father Joann that if such a mistake in his dealings with the executive committee was repeated, he would be dismissed from his clerical duties in the diocese of Estonia.

The congregation tried to defend the clergyman and to obtain official permission from Commissioner Pavel Kapitonov to hold services, sending an appeal on 12 March 1953. The letter stressed that holding services in an old and dilapidated church was dangerous and completely impossible. Kapitonov granted permission and signed a new contract with the parish on 26 December 1953. The completion of the Meeksi church eventually won the approval of the diocesan leadership. On the recommendation of Bishop Ioann (Alekseev) of Tallinn, the patriarch granted Father Joann the right to wear a golden cross in 1956.

At this point, the Soviet government began policy of eradicating pilgrimage traditions and holy places. Georgii Karpov, chairman of the Soviet for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, demanded in 1958 that the Estonian SSR Commissioner Kapitonov comply with the following prescriptions:

(a) prevent the influx of pilgrims to the holy sites;

b) identify the organisers of pilgrimages and subject them to administrative and criminal responsibility;

(c) persuade the bishop to ban pilgrimages and baptisms to holy sites.

At the end of 1958, Kapitonov began a background investigation of places of worship in the diocese of Estonia. From the results collected, it appears that the most popular pilgrimage was to the holy spring in the Puhtitsa convent. In second place were the Meeksi St. John's stone and the Saatse stone cross. There are two surviving traditions about the stone. It is believed that John the Baptist slept on the stone and left his footprint there. According to another tradition, Nikander, a sixteenth-century hermit from Pechery, prayed on the stone, which gave it miraculous powers. Prayer services were hold at the stone on Midsummer (7 July, according to the old calendar). Meanwhile, the holy stone cross of Saatse was venerated by local Setos and Russians on St Paraskeva's Day (31 July according to the old calendar) with an annual cross procession around the church.

In March 1959, the commissioner recommended to Bishop Joann that he stop pilgrimages to the Kuremäe spring and ban prayer services and baptisms in Meeksi and Saatse. Kapitonov and Karpov ensured that the bishop obeyed this recommendation. There was no way for the bishop to stand in defence of places of worship and parishes. The closure of the Puhtitsa convent in the early 1960s was neither by protests nor the proposal to register it as a parish. Indeed, protesting could be punished. For example, in August 1963, Commissioner Jaan Kanter had Father Joann, together with the members of the Meeksi parish council, disciplined for failing to move the holy stone, which they had been ordered to do in 1959. Father Joann lost his right to conduct services: he was also dismissed by Bishop Aleksii on 'health grounds'. In his letter of 2 September 1963 to the bishop's secretary, Nikolai Kokla, Ioann confirmed that, being seriously ill, he had been unable to comply with the commissioner's order to remove the shrine.

The order ultimately had to be obeyed. The wooden bark surrounding the stone was demolished and the stone was dug into the same soil. In November 1963, the Meeksi congregation elected a new church elder and council: Father Vilemon Talomees was appointed as priest.

After this painful ordeal, Father Joann's health did not improve. On 21 January 1965, he passed away in Määsi: his body rests in the cemetery of Luhamaa parish.

Author

Andrei Sõtšov

Sources

Eesti Õigeusu Piiskopkonna Teataja 2. aprillil 1951, Nr. 2.

Eesti Piiskopkonna Teataja 11. novembril 1955, Nr. 3

Eesti Piiskopkonna Teataja 25. aprillil 1956, Nr. 1

”Õigeusu kirikutes (kogudustes) teeninud vaimulike nimekiri”. Tallinn, 1975; Koostaja August Kaljukosk. EAA.5437.1.64, käsikiri. Rahvusarhiiv

David Papp. “Eesti Apostliku õigeusu vaimulikud”. Biograafiline leksikon (16.-20.saj). EAA. 5410.1. 247-249, käsikiri. Rahvusarhiiv

Andrei Sõtšov ” Eesti õigeusu piiskopkond Stalini ajal aastail 1945-53″ Tartu, 2004

ERA R-1989 – 3 – 464 Meeksi Ristija Johannesse kiriku kogudus (1945–1990)

ERA R-1961–1–22. L 67–107

ERA R-1961–2s–42, lk 51–54. G. Karpov P. Kapitonovile, 19.12.1958.

GARF R-6991–1–1732, lk 12. Капитонов, Павел. Отчётно-информационный доклад Уполномоченного по делам русской православной церкви при Совете Минстров СССР по Эстонской ССР за I полугодие 1959 года. Таллин, „ 15 ” января 1959 г.

ERA R-1961–2s–46, lk 20–21; vrd GARF R-6991–1–1732, lk 20. Капитонов, П. Секретное письмо (No. 13/c от 10. III-1959г.) тов. КАРПОВУ Г. P. Kapitonov kirjutab (siinkirjutaja tõlge): Minu soovitusel keelas piiskop Joann Kuremäe kloostrile ja Meeksi ning Saatse vaimulikele palverännakute, ristikäikude ja palveteenistuste pidamise püha paikade juures.

ERA R-1961–2s–46, lk 20–21; vrd GARF R-6991–1–1732, lk 20. Капитонов, П. Секретное письмо (No. 13/c от 10. III-1959г.) тов. Карпову Г.

ERA R-1961–1– 95, lk 14–15. Капитонов, П. Отчётно-информационный доклад Уполномоченного по делам русской православной церкви при Совете Минстров СССР по Эстонской ССР за 1959 год. Таллин, „29” января 1960 г.

Заявление от верующих прихожан храма „Пюхтицкого подворья” 29. XI 59 г. SM usuasjade osakonna arhiivitoimikus „EAÕK Kuremäe (Pühtitsa) abiklooster” (nr 8). Lk nummerdamata.

Published: 14/09/2021

Funded by Estonian Research Council grant PRG1274