Victory over the last enemy. Cases of resurrection from the dead. Life of the Monk Confessor Sergius (Srebryanskiy)

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what exactly how

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Survivors of death

Death is one of the most amazing facts of human existence. There is no one who would manage to bypass it, it is a common destiny, the inevitable completion of our path. And hardly anyone could dispute this: that death there is, sure, probably everyone. But what such a death - the answer to this question for a believer and for an atheist will be completely different.

For the unbeliever, death is a natural, necessary tragedy, the end of all existence, a transition into nothingness.

But this is not the case for an Orthodox Christian who professes that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Luke 20:38). Faith in the Universal Resurrection, in righteous retribution, in future eternal life is one of the main foundations of a truly Christian worldview.

However, how often, especially in our age, one can hear these surprisingly careless and at the same time such terrible words: "What are you talking about! Who told you that all this will happen, did anyone return from there?" What can I say to this? Remember the resurrection of the Lord of the four-day Lazarus, the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus? But for the unbelieving interlocutor, the gospel testimony is not an argument. The argument is just what you can see, what you can ascertain for yourself.

And, probably, this is why it is in our times, the times of unbelief and some kind of terrible indifference to everything that belongs to the realm of the spirit, the Lord so often gives us such irrefutable evidence of the existence of the afterlife as the return to life of people who have already suffered an actual death ... People who have received the experience of being different and are able to transfer this experience to others.

Resurrection from the dead is a miracle that shakes both the one who has returned to this world and direct witnesses and eyewitnesses. The man was dead, his body, already lifeless, cooling, was about to rest in the bowels of the earth ... And this man is with us again! In the lives of many people, contact with such an obvious reality of the otherworldly existence produced a radical revolution: atheists were transformed into deeply ecclesiastical people; believers were awakened from the sleep of negligence, from the spiritual slumber in which, alas, many of us are immersed, forced to take seriously the preparation for the transition from time to eternity. For that preparation, which is, in fact, the meaning of our earthly existence.

The "ordinary" modern man rarely thinks about eternity: the temporal and the earthly are closer and more desirable. And when, independently of his will, the need comes to sum up the path traveled, it turns out that he is not ready for this. After all, not having remembrance of eternity, how to prepare for it? Meanwhile, this unpreparedness is the most terrible mistake that a person can make in his life. The most terrible because it is impossible to correct it. After death, there is no more repentance, there is no longer a way to change anything in his - eternal - fate, everyone will only accept what he has prepared for himself: his life, his deeds. And therefore, although the Resurrection will be Universal, for some it will become a resurrection into eternal life, and for someone - a terrible resurrection of condemnation (see: John 5:29).

None of us knows its hour, death does not reckon with anything, it takes away the old and the young, the weak and full of strength, those who are already tired of this life, and those who are still eager to enjoy it. That is why it is so important that the Holy Fathers called the memory of death - the remembrance of their departure from this life. It is so important that, according to the words of the Monk John Climacus, "as bread is more necessary than any other food, so the thought of death is more necessary than any other doing."

But it is also extremely important to understand what exactly awaits a person after death and how you should prepare for it. Indeed, often people, if they do think about death, they acquire the most false ideas about it and what follows, completely at variance with the teachings of the Orthodox Church and therefore all the more quickly destroying a person.

In the West, in particular in the United States, the phenomenon of death attracts the attention of not only believers and spiritual people, but also people of science. In recent decades, a large number of so-called "thanatologists" have appeared there, conducting research in this previously unknown field for science. The most famous of them are Raymond Moody, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Mikhail Sabom and a number of others. The results of their research removed a kind of "taboo" from the topic of existence beyond the grave, placing the world in the face of the indisputable truth: indeed, with the death of the body, the human personality continues to exist.

But what are the fruits of the recognition of this fact in the West, in an environment far from Orthodoxy? In other words, what is the attitude of Western people to the issue of life and death after returning from the world of otherness? As an answer to this question, here are some very characteristic excerpts from the famous book "Life After Life" by Raymond Moody:

"I believe that this experience (clinical death - Compiled by) has defined something in my life. I was still a child, I was only ten years old when this happened, but even now I retained the absolute conviction that there is life after death; I have no doubt about it. I'm not afraid to die. "

"When I was a little boy, I used to be afraid of death. I used to wake up at night, cry and throw tantrums ... But after this experience I am not afraid of death. That feeling disappeared. I no longer feel terrible at funerals."

"Now I am not afraid of dying. This does not mean that death is desirable for me or that I want to die right now. I do not want to live there now, because I believe I should live here. But I am not afraid of death, because I know where will I go after I leave this world. "

"Life is like imprisonment. But in this state we simply do not understand what kind of prison our body is for us. Death is like liberation, getting out of prison."

But for comparison, a completely different example - from the Ladder of St. John.

"I will not hesitate to tell you a story about Hesychia, a monk of Mount Horeb. He used to lead the most careless life and did not care about his soul at all; finally, falling into a fatal illness, for an hour he seemed completely dead. Recovering himself, he begged all of us. so that they would immediately depart from him, and, having closed the door of his cell, lived in it for twelve years, never saying a small or great word to anyone, and eating nothing but bread and water; but, sitting in a seclusion, as in the face of the Lord , was horrified and complained about what he saw during the frenzy, and never changed his way of life, but he was constantly, as it were, beside himself and did not stop quietly shedding warm tears. his cell and, according to many requests, only heard these words: “Forgive me,” he said, “whoever has acquired the memory of death can never sin.” We were amazed to see that in the one who had been so negligent before such a blissful change and transformation e "...

That image of the attitude towards death, this amazing fearlessness and carelessness, which we see so clearly in excerpts from Moody's book, is a consequence of a terrible deception, quite natural for people living in the environment of a world that has completely forgotten God, or who have a perverse, distorted concept of God. After all, a person departs from this life not simply by moving into some "other dimension". No, he departs in order to appear before the judgment of the God who created him. And therefore, only for a person who lived according to the commandments of the gospel, who in this life completely subjugated his will to his Divine will, death can be desired as a respite after labor, as the attainment of the expected reward. Only the one who departs from this life in repentance, with a conscience reconciled with God and neighbors, can not fear death. And for a person who has lived life without God and outside the Church, a sinner, death is truly fierce (see: Psalm 33, 22).

This is precisely the idea of ​​the death and the posthumous fate of a person in the Orthodox Church, and this is precisely the nature of the testimonies presented in this collection. It has two parts. The first included cases associated with the miraculous return of people who have already died to life. In the second, there are cases in which the very fact of death, as such, is not contained, but the experience of otherworldly existence is very vividly presented as an amazing and irrefutable evidence of the reality of existence other than earthly existence.

These incidents and events, of course, are amazing, supernatural, deserve all the attention in themselves. However, the purpose of this publication we see not only to tell about them once again, but to awaken in readers the memory of the transience and transience of this life, of the need to prepare for the transition to eternal life, and if for someone it is will serve as a reason for reviving such a mindfulness in oneself, then, probably, this small compiling work was not in vain.

Incredible to many, but a true incident

... I saw that I was standing alone in the middle of the room; to my right, encircling something in a semicircle, the entire medical staff was crowded. I was surprised by this group: in the place where she stood there was a bunk. What was there now that attracted the attention of these people, what did they look at when I was no longer there, when I stood in the middle of the room?

I moved over and glanced at where they were all looking. There, on the bunk, I was lying! I do not remember that I experienced anything similar to fear at the sight of my double, I was seized only by bewilderment: how is it? I felt myself here, meanwhile and there I too ...

I wanted to touch, grab my left hand with my right hand - my hand went right through, tried to grab myself by the waist - the hand went through the body again, as if through empty space ... I called the doctor, but the atmosphere in which I was was completely unsuitable for me: she did not perceive or convey the sounds of my voice, and I realized my complete disconnection from everyone around me, my strange loneliness, and a panic gripped me. There was something truly awful about that ineffable loneliness.

I looked, and only then the thought first appeared in front of me: has it not happened to me that in our language, the language of living people, is defined by the word "death"? This occurred to me because my body, lying on the bunk, looked completely dead.

Disconnection from everyone around me, my split personality would rather make me understand what happened if I believed in the existence of the soul, was a religious person, but this was not, and I was guided only by what I felt, and the feeling of life was so clear, that I was only perplexed by the strange phenomenon, being completely unable to connect my sensations with the traditional concepts of death, that is, feeling and conscious of myself, to think that I do not exist.

Remembering and later thinking over my then state, I noticed only that my mental faculties acted even then with such amazing energy and speed ...

I saw how the old nanny crossed herself: "Well, the Kingdom of Heaven is for him," and suddenly I saw two Angels. For some reason I recognized the Guardian Angel in one, and I did not know the other. Taking my arms, the Angels carried me straight through the wall from the chamber to the street. It was already getting dark, and a big, quiet snow was falling. I saw him, but I did not feel the cold or, in general, the change between room temperature and outside temperature. Obviously, such things have lost their meaning for my changed "body". We began to climb up quickly. And, as we rose, more and more space opened up to my gaze, and finally it took on such terrifying dimensions that I was seized with fear from the consciousness of my insignificance in front of this endless desert ... The idea of ​​time faded out in my mind, and I don't know how much we were still climbing up, when suddenly some vague noise was heard first, and then, floating out from somewhere, a crowd of some ugly creatures began to approach us with a shout and cackle.

Demons! - I realized with extraordinary speed and was numb from some special horror, unknown to me until then. - Demons! - Oh, how much irony, how much of the most sincere laughter would have caused in me just a few days ago someone's message not only that he saw demons with his own eyes, but that he admits their existence as creatures of a certain kind! As befits an educated person at the end of the 19th century, by this name I meant evil inclinations, passions in a person, which is why this word itself had for me the meaning not of a name, but of a term that defines a well-known concept. And suddenly this "well-known concept" appeared to me as a living personification!

Having surrounded us on all sides, the demons with shouts and shouts demanded that I be given to them, they tried to somehow grab me and snatch me out of the hands of the Angels, but, obviously, did not dare to do this. Among their unimaginable and just as disgusting to the ear as they themselves were to sight, howling and din, I sometimes caught words and whole phrases.

He is ours, he has denied God, - suddenly they screamed almost in one voice, and at the same time they rushed at us with such impudence that every thought froze from fear for a moment.

It's a lie! It is not true! - Recovering myself, I wanted to shout, but an obliging memory tied my tongue. In some incomprehensible way, I suddenly remembered such a small, insignificant event, moreover, related to a long past era of my youth, which, it seems, I could never remember. (Here the narrator recalled a case when, during conversations on abstract topics, one of his fellow students said: "But why should I believe when I can equally believe that God does not exist? And maybe He does not exist?" To which he replied: "Maybe not").

This accusation, apparently, was the strongest argument for my destruction for the demons, they seemed to draw in it new strength for the courage of attacks on me and already with a frantic roar turned around us, blocking our further path.

I remembered about prayer and began to pray, calling for help all the saints whom I knew and whose names came to my mind. But this did not frighten my enemies. A pitiful ignoramus, a Christian only by name, I almost for the first time remembered the One who is called the Intercessor of the Christian clan.

But, probably, my impulse to Her was ardent, probably, my soul was so filled with horror that, barely remembering, I pronounced Her name, when suddenly a white fog appeared on us, which quickly began to cover the ugly host of demons. He hid it from my eyes before it could separate from us. Their roar and cackle could be heard for a long time, but from the way it gradually weakened and became more muffled, I could understand that the terrible chase had left us ...

Then we entered the area of ​​light. The light came from everywhere. He was so bright, brighter than the sun. Light is everywhere, and there are no shadows. The light was so bright that I could not see anything; like in darkness. I tried to cover my eyes with my hand, but the light passed freely through the hand. And suddenly, from above, imperiously, but without anger, the words "Not ready" were heard, and my rapid downward movement began. I was returned to the body again. And at the end the Guardian Angel said: "You have heard God's decree. Come in and get ready."

Both Angels became invisible. Feelings of embarrassment and coldness and deep sadness about what had been lost appeared. I lost consciousness and woke up in a ward on a bed.

Doctors who observed K. Ikskul reported that all clinical signs of death were present and the state of death lasted 36 hours.

"Ikskul K." Incredible for many, but true incident. "
(Trinity leaflet number 58. Sergiev Posad, 1910)

Returning from the dead in modern Greece

About four years ago, we received a call with a request to introduce the Holy Mysteries to one elderly woman, a widow living in the suburbs of Athens. She was an old calendarist and, being almost completely bedridden, could not go to church. Although we usually do not perform such requests outside the monastery and direct people to the parish priest, nevertheless in this case I had a certain feeling that I should go, and having prepared the Holy Gifts, I left the monastery.

I found the patient lying in a poor room: not having her own means, she depended on neighbors who brought her food and other necessary things. I placed the Holy Gifts and asked her if she wanted to confess anything. She replied: "No, over the past three years there has been nothing on my conscience that has not been confessed, but there is one old sin that I would like to tell you about, although I confessed it to many priests." I replied that if she had already confessed it, she should not do it again. But she insisted, and this is what she told me.

When she was young and just married, about 35 years ago, she became pregnant at a time when her family was in a very difficult situation. The rest of the family insisted on an abortion, but she flatly refused. Yet in the end she succumbed to the threats of her mother-in-law, and the operation was performed. The medical supervision of the clandestine operations was very primitive, as a result of which she received a serious infection and died a few days later, unable to confess her sin.

At the moment of death (and this was in the evening), she felt that her soul was separating from the body as it is usually described: her soul remained nearby and watched as the body was washed, dressed and placed in a coffin. In the morning, she followed the procession to the church, watched the funeral service and saw how the coffin was placed in the hearse to take it to the cemetery. The soul seemed to fly over the body at a low altitude.

Suddenly on the road appeared two, as she described, "deacons" in shining stichera and orari. One of them was reading a scroll. As the car approached, one of them raised his hand and the car froze. The chauffeur got out to see what happened to the engine, while the Angels began to talk among themselves. The one who was holding the scroll, which undoubtedly contained a list of her sins, looked up from the reading and said: "It's a pity, there is a very serious sin on her list, and she is destined for hell because she did not confess it." "Yes," said the second, "but it's a pity that she should be punished, because she didn't want to do this, but her family forced her." “Very well,” the first replied, “the only thing that can be done is to send her back so that she can confess and repent of her sin.”

At these words, she felt that she was being dragged back into the body, towards which at that moment she felt an indescribable disgust and disgust. A moment later she woke up and began to knock from the inside of the coffin, which was already closed. One can imagine the scene that followed. After listening to her story, which I have outlined here in brief, I gave her Holy Communion and left, praising God who gave me to hear this ...

(Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose). "The Soul After Death". St. Petersburg, 1994).

Reanimated deceased

In the city of Roslavl, Smolensk province, lived a poor noblewoman Oknova, who had her own house here. After a long illness, she died; as usual, they washed her and put her in the coffin, and on the third day the assembled priests were already preparing to carry her body out of the house to the church, when, to everyone's amazement, she rose from the coffin and sat down: everyone was horrified, and when they made sure that she alive, they took her out of the coffin and put her back in bed. After her revival, her illness did not go away. The revived one lived for several more years.

About this event (which took place in the early 30s of the XIX century), she told the following: "When I was dying, I saw myself ascended up through the air and was presented to some terrible trial (presumably, an ordeal), where I stood before what - by men of a very formidable appearance, before whom a large book was unfolded; they judged me for a very long time: at that time I was in unspeakable horror, so that when I now remember this, I am in awe; many of my deeds were presented here, from adolescence made, even those about which I completely forgot and did not put in a sin. By the grace of God, however, it seemed to me that I was forgiven in many ways and already hoped to be justified, as one formidable husband strictly began to demand from me an answer why I poorly brought up her son, so that he fell into debauchery and perishes from his behavior. I justified myself with tears and trembling, explaining the disobedience of my son and that he was corrupted, being already of adulthood. The trial for my son lasted a long time, then I did not listen and neither requests, nor my cries; finally, the formidable husband, turning to another, said: let her go so that she might repent and mourn properly for her sins. Then one of the Angels took me, pushed me, and I felt as if I was going down, and, revived, saw myself lying in the coffin; lighted candles are burning near me and priests in vestments are singing. "

I was not so severely judged for other sins, she said, as for my son, and this torture was inexpressible.

Oknova also told that her son was completely corrupted, did not live with her and there was no possibility and hope to correct him.

***

One pious woman, always spending her days in prayer and fasting, had great faith in our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and always begged Her for protection. This woman was always tormented by her conscience about some sin she had committed in her youth, which she did not want to reveal to her confessor out of false shame, but when announcing it, she vaguely expressed herself in the following words: remembered ". In private, in her secret prayer, she daily repented of this sin of the Mother of God, always begged the Lady to intercede for her at the Judgment Seat of Christ for the forgiveness of sin. Thus, having lived to a ripe old age, she dies; when on the third day they were preparing to betray her body to the earth, the deceased suddenly resurrected and said to her frightened and amazed daughter: "Come closer to me, do not be afraid; call my confessor."

When the priest came, she said in the presence of the whole assembly of the people: "Do not be terrified of me. By the mercy of God and the intercession of His Most Pure Mother, my soul has been returned for repentance. As soon as my soul was parted from my body, at that very moment the dark spirits surrounded her and were preparing to lure her into hell, saying that she deserves it because, through false shame, she did not reveal her secret sin, which she had done in her youth.At such a cruel moment, an ambulance, Our Most Holy Lady, appeared and, like a morning star or like lightning, instantly dispersed the darkness of evil spirits and, commanding me to confess my sin before my spiritual father, she commanded my soul to return to the body. on my conscience, and which I was ashamed of confessing to my spiritual fathers from cowardice, I would have brought me down to hell if the Mother of God had not interceded for me. "

Having said this, she confessed her sin and then, resting her head on her daughter's shoulder, was transferred to an eternal and blessed life.

("Secrets of the Underworld". Compiled by Archimandrite Panteleimon. M., 1996)

Dying

I will tell you about one toiler, Pelagia, who lived sixty years ago in the village of Shipilovka, Kostroma district. This peasant woman lived in the same house with two daughters-in-law, whose husbands were away for most of the year to earn money. Their house was small and not rich: in addition to one cramped hut in which they were housed, there was also a stable for livestock in the yard. Pelagia first lived with the children in the same room; but then, for the secret nocturnal deeds of prayer and thought of God, she began to go into the vestibule, where she spent whole nights, going to bed only before dawn. Finally, in order to hide her exploits from human eyes, she decided to stay forever in that stuffy hut, and only from time to time did her beloved daughter-in-law spend the night with her. She did not want anyone but this daughter-in-law to see her prayer. And while the latter was sitting in this hut and doing needlework, Pelagia went into the passage and prayed.

Her food was the roughest; She even invented a special food for herself: she fluffed up rye flour thickly and used this raw dough instead of bread, and even then very little, and she rarely took other food. In the daytime, as usual, she spun flax and divided the money she earned into two parts: she gave one part to the church, and the other to the poor, moreover, so that at night she went to the house of the poor and quietly put her alms on the window, opening it a little, or threw the money into beggar.

One night the toiler, as usual, prayed in the entryway, and the daughter-in-law slept in the hut. Before the morning, the daughter-in-law woke up and saw that her mother-in-law was kneeling in a prayer position. After standing for several minutes in fear and embarrassment, she said to her: "Mother, and mother!" But there was no answer: Mother was already cold. Another daughter-in-law also came for homework. Seeing that their mother-in-law had died, they clothed the deceased and laid her on the table; and on the third day they put her in a coffin and were about to take her to church, when suddenly her face came to life, she opened her eyes, threw back her hand and crossed herself. The family got scared and rushed to the stove corner. After some time, the revived one said in a low voice: "Children! .. Do not be afraid, I am alive", and then she got up, sat down and with the help of her family got out of the coffin. “Calm down, children,” she said again. “Are you frightened, believing me dead? No, I am appointed to live a little longer. God, in His goodness, desires salvation for everyone and, by mysterious destinies guiding us to bliss, he arranges everything so that death itself , and the return to life has served many to the benefit! ".

What happened to her when she was considered dead, she almost did not say anything about this, only with tears she exhorted her children to live piously and move away from all sin, claiming that great bliss awaits the righteous in heaven and terrible torment - the wicked in hell! After that, she continued her hard-working life for six weeks, affectionately directing her mind's gaze to the land of the heavenly fatherland, and finally moved to heavenly homes.

(P. Novgorodsky "Flowers of Paradise from the Russian Land". M., 1891;
"Secrets of the Underworld". Compiled by Archimandrite Panteleimon. M., 1996)

Miracles of St. Joasaph

Your Eminence, Father Archimandrite Eugene!

I have the honor to inform you of the miraculous restoration of my son's health through the prayers of St. Joasaph, who rests with relics in the Holy Trinity Monastery in Belgorod. It would be desirable that this restoration of health was recognized as miraculous both by you and by others reading this letter; otherwise, it cannot be placed among the miracles performed through the prayers of St. Joasaph. It was like this: on August 29, 1881, my first son was born, who was named Alexander in holy baptism; a month after his birth, he was visited by an uninvited guest - a cough called whooping cough. I went to the doctors, but they did not give him any help in his illness; one of them even said: "Father John, I will tell you frankly: we do not have the means to cure whooping cough, and therefore you no longer worry; it can go away by itself either in 6 weeks, or in 3 months, and if it lasts up to six months, then count your son as dead. "

And it really turned out like this: on January 22, 1881, my son Alexander, a baby of five months, reached such a weak physical condition that there was no hope for his further earthly existence, and on January 23, I, going to church for divine services, Matins and Liturgy , blessed him and said to his mother, and to his wife: today, in all likelihood, our son will end; having said this, he went to church. After the divine services, he hastily returned home and, for the first duty, hastened to look at his son, but first he saw his mother all in tears, a sobbing and crying nanny, and then he saw his son with half-closed, dull and motionless eyes; took him by the hands, and they told me that life had stopped in them: they were cold and uncomfortable to lift from the chest: the emaciation of the whole organism was so amazing that it was difficult to express. After that I cried and, being in tears, mentally turned for help to the local saint of God - Saint Joasaph with the following words: “Most Reverend Joasaph, for your true Orthodox faith and good deeds the Lord has glorified you with the incorruptibility of your relics, let us also have the opportunity to glorify you and together with you and God, wondrous in His saints - make my dying son come to life (while I promised to go to worship the relics with him and his mother and sister), "- but did not have time to say so, finish his prayers, as the son opened his eyes and at the same moment began to show their movements, and then a smile; two hours later he began to seem to us thin, but not dying, and his coughing from that day on completely stopped. In the month of May of this year, 1881, I fulfilled my promise. To Father Benjamin, the treasurer of the monastery, he announced the miraculous restoration of his son's health and at the same time expressed his desire that this miraculous restoration of health be recorded in the book of miracles performed through the prayers of His Eminence Joasaph, but he advised me to report this in writing, to which I agreed.

My late parent told me about my middle brother, who is now priest in the Graivoronsky district, the village of Kryukovo, Ioasaph. He was born, according to the late parent, dead. Father was sorry to see him as such; he turned to God with the following words: "Lord, why did You deprive me of the happiness of seeing my son alive and how I sinned that through me he will not now be rewarded with the Kingdom of Heaven ?!" After that, he began to read the akathists: to the Son of God and His Mother, the Queen of Heaven - and while reading the akathist to the Mother of God, he mentally asked for the gift of life to the Monk Joasaph and added to his request that if he came to life, he would call him Joasaph, and he immediately cried out; then a priest was invited, the Sacrament of Baptism was performed, and in it the baby received the name Joasaph.

I testify about what was written in this letter that it was written as it was done, according to a pure Christian conscience, and I approve it by signing it with the attachment of the church seal.

1881, December 17 days. Kursk province, Timsky district, the village of Suvolozhie, priest Ioann Feofilov.

("Belgorod Wonderworker".
Lives, Creations, Miracles, and Glorification
Saint Joasaph, Bishop of Belgorod. M., 1997)

Father John of Kronstadt resurrects the dead

Island's wife, a perfectly healthy and prominent woman who already had three or four children, was pregnant again and was preparing to become the mother of the next child. And suddenly something happened.

The woman felt unwell, her temperature rose to forty, sheer impotence and pains unfamiliar to her hitherto tormented her intolerably for many days.

Of course, the best doctors and obstetric luminaries of Moscow were summoned, of which, as you know, there was never a shortage of clinics in the city of Pirogov. They also sent a telegram to Kronstadt to Father John ...

In the evening of the same day, a short dispatch came from Kronstadt: "I am leaving by courier, I pray to the Lord. John Sergiev."

Father John of Kronstadt already knew the O-family well before and visited their house during his travels through Moscow. And, summoned by a telegram, he entered the O-v's apartment on Myasnitskaya the next day, at about noon, in which by that time a whole crowd of relatives and acquaintances had gathered, humbly and reverently waiting in the large living room adjacent to the room where the patient lay.

Where is Lisa? - asked about. John, who entered the living room with his usual hurried gait. - Take me to her, and you all stay here and do not make any noise.

Father John entered the dying woman's bedroom and closed the heavy doors behind him. Minutes dragged on - long, heavy ones, which at the end took half an hour. In the living room, where a crowd of loved ones had gathered, it was as quiet as in a grave crypt. And suddenly the doors leading to the bedroom opened wide with a noise. At the door stood a gray-haired old man in a pastoral robe, with an old epitrachilia dressed over it, with a sparse, disheveled gray beard, with an unusual face, red from past prayer stress and large drops of sweat.

And suddenly, words almost thundered, which seemed terrible, coming from another world. "The Lord God was pleased to perform a miracle! - said Father John. - It was pleased to perform a miracle and resurrect a dead fetus! Lisa will give birth to a boy ..."

“Nothing can be understood!” One of the professors who came to the patient for an operation said embarrassedly, two hours after Father John left for Kronstadt. “The fetus is alive. The child is moving, the temperature has dropped to 36.8. I understand ... I affirmed and affirm now that the fetus was dead and that blood poisoning began a long time ago. "

Other luminaries of science, whose carriages kept rolling up to the entrance, could not understand anything either. That same night, Mrs. O-va was safely and quickly resolved as a perfectly healthy boy, whom I later met many times at T.'s on Karetno-Sadovaya Street in the uniform of a pupil of the Katkovsky Lyceum.

Evgeny Vadimov

***

Letter from Prince Lev Aleksandrovich Begildeev
(Sofia, Russian Invalid House)

"In reverence for the blessed memory of the late Father John of Kronstadt, I consider it my sacred duty, as a witness to the great power of his prayer, to report the following.

This was in 1900. I was a young officer of the 19th artillery brigade located in Vinnitsa, Podolsk province, and lived there with my mother and sister.

In January or February of this year, I first fell ill with typhoid fever, and then recurrent. My position was very difficult. The doctors, having exhausted all the means at their disposal, lost all hope. Then my mother, at my request, sent a telegram to Fr. John, asking his prayers. After that I passed out; my position was so hopeless that my mother, who loved me dearly, not wanting to see me dying, went into another room. The doctor, having prescribed an injection of camphor to maintain the activity of the heart, left for a while. My sister stayed with me, who was always near my bed, and one of my comrades in the brigade, who were on duty during my illness in turn. The sister claims that soon I stopped breathing, my pulse stopped and I lay like dead, but she persistently continued to do the injections prescribed by the doctor. After a while, she noticed signs of life in me: I began to breathe and a pulse appeared. I began to come to life. This moment, according to our assumptions, coincided with the moment of receiving about. John telegrams. After that, I slowly began to get better and recovered. My sister and mother (now deceased) firmly believed that by the power of prayer, Fr. John I was resurrected, others - that I was healed. "

I gave this letter from Prince L. A. Begildeev to the ordinary professor of the Belgrade University in the Department of Pathology, Doctor of Medicine Dmitry Mitrofanovich Tikhomirov. At the same time, I asked him a question: "Could the injection of camphor bring the prince back to life?"

To this the professor answered me: "After two typhus, after the cessation of brain activity, after the cessation of breathing and pulse, the injection of camphor could not bring the prince back to life. There was undoubtedly a miracle of St. John of Kronstadt."

(Sursky I.K. "Father John of Kronstadt". M., 1994)

The resurrection of the deceased through the prayers of the lay elder Feodor Sokolov

Below is an excerpt from the biography of the saint of our days, compiled from the stories of friends and admirers of the lay elder Theodore (+ 8/21 June 1973) by Professor G.M. Prokhorov.

In the summer of 1923 or 1924, Elder Theodore went to Siberia to buy eggs and butter. In the evening he drove past one village. And he sees: a large crowd of people has gathered near the house. They said to him: "A lonely woman died here; and she has many children, and all are small."

The elder asked to spend the night in this house. When all the people dispersed, he put a cross on the deceased’s chest, which was presented to him by a God-lover who walked to Jerusalem and from there brought this cross.

Elder Theodore began to pray for the woman, and the Lord raised her up. The elder helped her up and left this village at dawn.

There are hundreds of written testimonies of healing through the prayers of the elder. The Lord healed through the elder so many people at once that it was simply impossible to write down all cases of healings. In addition, the communist authorities repaired the elder and his admirers numerous oppressions.

About meekly enduring sorrows

In the early forties (XIX century - Ed.) in one of the southern provinces of Russia, Kharkov or Voronezh, I do not remember, the following remarkable event happened, about which at the same time one reliable person reported in writing to the late elder of Optina Hermitage, Father. Macarius.

There lived a widow, by birth belonging to the upper class, but due to various circumstances brought to the most miserable and constrained position, so that she with her two young daughters endured great need and grief and, seeing no help from anywhere in her desperate situation, began to grumble first to people, then to God. In such a state of mind she fell ill and died. After the death of their mother, the situation of the two orphans became even more intolerable. The eldest of them also could not resist a murmur and also fell ill and died. The remaining youngest grieved to the extreme both about the death of her mother and sister and about her loneliness, and about her extremely helpless position; and finally she was also seriously ill. Her acquaintances who took part in it, seeing that her death was approaching, invited her to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries, which she did; and then she bequeathed and asked everyone that if she died, she would not be buried until the return of her beloved confessor, who at that time was absent on occasion. She died shortly thereafter; but for the sake of fulfilling her request, they were in no hurry with the funeral, awaiting the arrival of the aforementioned priest. Day after day passes - the confessor of the deceased, detained by some deeds, does not return, and meanwhile, to the general amazement of everyone, the body of the deceased was not in the least exposed to decay, and she, although cold and breathless, looked more like asleep than dead. Finally, only on the eighth day after her death, her confessor arrived and, getting ready for the service, wanted to bury her the next day, after her death it was already the ninth. During the funeral service, it seems from St. Petersburg, a relative of her unexpectedly arrived and, carefully looking into the face of the woman who was lying in the coffin, said resolutely: “If you want, sing her as you please; that there are imperceptibly no signs of death in her. " Indeed, on the same day, the woman who was lying in the coffin woke up, and when they began to ask her what happened to her, she replied that she was really dying and saw paradise villages filled with inexpressible beauty and joy. Then I saw terrible places of torment and here, among the tormented, I saw my sister and mother. Then I heard a voice: "I sent them sorrows in their earthly life to save them; if they had endured everything with patience, humility and thanksgiving, then for enduring short-term tightness and need they would have been worthy of eternal consolation in the blessed villages you saw. But with their murmurings. they have ruined everything; for that now they are tormented. If you want to be with them, go and you and murmur. ”With these words, the deceased returned to life.

("Collection of Letters of the Optina Elder, Hieroschemamonk Ambrose".
Part I. Letters to the laity. M., 1995)

Liberation from the tenacious embrace of already come death

Theodore G. Guehne - Russian, Lutheran, resident of the city of Edmont in Canada - for many years suffered from an acute stomach ulcer, and no treatment brought him relief. On July 19, 1952, he started bleeding internally. He was taken to the hospital, where, in view of the extreme danger to his life, he immediately underwent surgery. During this operation, his heartbeat suddenly stopped and he "passed away." However, after the massage of the heart, which lasted for a certain number of minutes, it began to beat again. His wife and children, who were awaiting the result of the operation in the hospital, were informed that the heart could not remain without a beat for more than ten minutes: "But we do not know exactly how long your husband's heart remained without a beat," the doctor said. his death was longer than these ten minutes, since the access of oxygen to the brain had already been cut off; as a result, the process of decomposition of the brain had already begun with all the signs of mortal agony.Even if he had accidentally remained alive, his brain would have been damaged for the rest of his life ". His wife, who at that time was Orthodox only by name, writes:

“The next day, he began to convulse; he was tied to bed; a terrible agony set in. He remained unconscious for more than a week. During this period, a friend of our family, Mrs. Varvara Girillovich, advised us to serve a requiem for Blessed Xenia, saying: "You will see, in half an hour he will be better!" crossed the forehead and chest of my husband and then put the vial under his pillow.None of us knew at all who this Xenia was, but I immediately ordered a requiem in the church and already asked myself to also serve a prayer service in front of the Kursk Icon of the Mother of God, as I heard that many received help through prayers in front of this icon. Both services were immediately served. Half an hour later, my husband opened his eyes for the first time, pronounced my name and asked for "oil." o he is hungry and asks for food; but he said, barely audibly, "I feel better now." I then understood what he was asking for, and once again anointed him with a cotton swab and baptized him, after which he very soon fell asleep. From that day on, his recovery began.

When our daughter saw him for the first time after he finally regained consciousness, her father beaming with joy told her: "I have seen Angels; now I will live" - ​​and all asked to be shown the "blue icon". After some time, when he was already a little stronger, he said the following: he felt that he was somewhere in the middle of dark tunnels, trying his best to get over pipes in deep ditches where it was terribly cold. At that moment, when he was almost falling into some dark hole, above, on the surface of the earth, an old woman in a man's dress, in a short caftan and high boots appeared to him. She took his hand and tried several times to pull him out of there. Every time he felt that he was falling into some kind of swamp, she pulled him up and finally pulled him out of the dark hole into the light. There he saw what this woman was wearing, and also that she was dragging a sled with her, on which lay a blue icon of the Mother of God. The woman approached an unfinished church and began to bring bricks to her scaffolding in her sleigh. “I offered her my help in this matter, but she replied that she had to do it herself,” concluded Mr. Gyune, who knew absolutely nothing about Blessed Xenia. And only after a visit by Archimandrite Anthony (the current Archbishop of San Francisco), who brought him a book with a description of the life of Blessed Xenia and with her image, did he realize who she was and exclaimed: "This is the very woman I saw!"

His health was recovering with amazing speed. Mrs. Güne writes: “When we left the hospital, the elder sister of mercy was moved to tears: after all, no one in the hospital believed that my husband would remain alive! When I thanked the doctor, he said to me:“ Don't thank me; it was Someone who stood above me. ”And on August 26, on the day of commemoration of St. Orthodox Church and since then has been actively involved in her life, acting as an assistant to the church head. "

Quite recently, Mr. Guehne had the opportunity to see the original of the Kursk Icon of the Mother of God for the first time when he visited the Edmont diocese. He looked at her with reverent trepidation and immediately recognized this magnificent, truly miraculous icon, adorned with a brilliant bright blue robe, exactly as he saw it in the other world, carried by Blessed Xenia, who, being her foolishness in Christ, is above this world, opened the gates for him to eternal salvation, while giving us the opportunity to contemplate God's immeasurable mercy to humanity.

("Orthodox miracles in the XX century". M., 1993)

With gratitude to blessed Xenia

Recently we were visited by a pilgrim from Germany. Several years ago his daughter was dying. The girl lay for an hour lifeless. The doctors pronounced their verdict: hopeless ... And at that time he fervently prayed to Xenia. I didn't have time to ask how he found out about our intercessor ... But, most importantly, the girl came to life, and then recovered. My father vowed to go to seminary. He came to us already as a deacon - to thank Blessed Xenia.

("Orthodox miracles in the XX century". M., 1993)

"They tormented Me with their sins"

In the thirties, an Orthodox youth departed to the Lord. During the funeral service, he suddenly got up in the coffin and cried inconsolably. Calmed down, the boy told that hell had been shown to him. The horror of this place is inexpressible in human words. Then he saw the Most Pure Mother of God praying for the inhabitants of Gehenna and for the world lying in evil. Her face, shining with wondrous beauty, was worn out, tears rolled down him like a hail. Seeing me, She said: "You will not stay here, you will return to earth to the people. Tell them that they tortured Me with their sins: I can no longer pray for them, I am exhausted ... Let them take pity on Me!"

("Orthodox miracles. XX century". Odessa, 1996)

"How good I am ..."

... Two women arrived from Finland. One of them, a native of Sarov, married a Finn nine years ago. A year ago she brought him to Orthodoxy. Now they are going to get married. The second is from St. Petersburg, but lives in Helsinki. Her twenty-year-old son was without breathing for 18 hours. Suddenly, she says, she opens her eyes and asks to invite the priest from the Russian church and christen him. Baptized. He asks for help. The mother invited a nun, she anointed him with oil, and when she reached her feet, he smiled and said: "How good I am." With this I walked away.

(From a conversation with the treasurer of the Sanaksar monastery of the Samara diocese
O. Bartholomew. "Blagovest". Samara, No. 11, 1998)

The Power of the Elder's Prayer

One woman was on her way to Moscow, to the Elder Aristokles at the Athos courtyard, with her daughter. On the way, the daughter died. Hieroschemamonk Aristokles took pity on this woman and resurrected her daughter with his prayers. Such was the power of the elder's prayer. It was not long before his death in 1918.

(From the sermon of Archimandrite Daniel (Sarychev),
inhabitant of the Donskoy monastery in Moscow.
Radio station "Radonezh", July 10, 1998)

"So, I will have to answer ..."

Testimonies of a different being

In the pre-Easter broadcast of 1998 on the Moskovia TV channel, a story was shown about the resurrection of Valentina Romanova, who died in a car accident. Nun Marina (Smirnova) and Archimandrite Ambrose (Yurasov) told about the same story on the radio station "Radonezh" on May 1, 1998 (live).

In 1982, Valentina Romanova got into a car accident; at that time she was an unbeliever, not a church person. As a result of the catastrophe, her soul left her body, and she saw everything that subsequently happened to her. How they took her to the intensive care unit, how the doctors unsuccessfully tried to bring her back to life, and then pronounced her death. At first, Valentina did not understand that she was dead, because feelings and consciousness remained in her: she saw, heard, understood everything and tried to tell the doctors that she was alive. But the doctors did not hear her voice. Then she tried to push them under the arm, but nothing came of it. Valentina saw a paper and a pen lying on the table and wanted to write a note to the doctors, but this also failed. This state seemed to her very strange, and at that moment she was pulled into a kind of funnel, and she went into "another dimension." At first, Valentina was alone, but soon she saw a tall man on her left. She was very glad that someone was in such an unfamiliar place for her, and asked: "Man, tell me, where am I?" But when he turned to her and she saw his eyes, she realized that nothing good could be expected from this man. In fear, she ran away from him, but after a while she realized that everything was not so terrible, because she saw the light-bearing Youth, who took her under his protection. Together with him, they ran to the glass barrier, hiding behind which, they got rid of the persecution of the first, terrible man.

And then she saw in front of her a very deep cliff, under which there were many men and women, of different ages and different nationalities. An unbearable stench rose from below, while people themselves constantly defecated and sat on their feces. She asked mentally: "What is this?" And a voice explained to her that these were the people who committed the sins of Sodom.

Elsewhere, Valentina saw many children and two women, sitting with their backs turned to her. She thought, "Who are these children?" And again a voice explained that these were unborn children, killed in the womb, and that her children were also here. Then the thought came to Valentina: "It means that I will also have to answer for my sin." Then she was shown other places of torment, where the word was written: VICTIMS. She did not know what this meant, but when she was shown in turn what torments correspond to each vice, Valentina began to understand what sin and retribution for it were.

In the next place she saw fiery lava, and in this lava there were many heads, which either plunged into the fiery river, then surfaced out of it. And the same voice again explained that these were people who had previously practiced magic, witchcraft, bewitching, and extrasensory perception. Valentina thought: "How would I not be in this river." Although she had no witchcraft sins, she understood that in any of these places she could be left forever.

Then she saw a staircase leading to Heaven. Many people climbed this staircase; and she began to rise. Ahead of her, one woman climbed, who began to faint and crawl onto her. Valentina realized that if she moved a little to the side, the woman would fall down. Mercy for the falling woman and a desire to help her awakened in her heart. And as soon as this desire appeared in her, her rib cage began to increase in size, so that the woman was able to lean on her elbows and rest and then continue the ascent.

After her, Valentina began to rise. And suddenly she was in a place where everything was flooded with light; fragrance and grace emanated from everywhere. And when she gained new knowledge, when she understood what grace is, her soul was returned to the body in the hospital. A man was kneeling on the couch in front of her. Seeing that Valentina came to life, he immediately said: "Don't die anymore, I will compensate all the losses for your damaged car, just don't die anymore."

As it turned out later, Valentina had been dead for 3.5 hours. It would seem that the period is small, but nevertheless huge for the knowledge of the fate of the soul in the other world. Subsequently, Valentina met with Archpriest Andrei Ustyuzhanin and talked with him, which was also shown on the Moskovia TV channel. Once the mother of Andrei's father, Klavdia, was also dead - for three days and just after her resurrection she told about what she had seen in the afterlife. This case was on the lists in Soviet times, and now it has become common knowledge.

(Radio station "Radonezh"; live broadcast. May 1, 1998;
Vorobyevsky U. "Point Omega". M., 1999)

Sister Euphrosyne's story

This document is taken from the diary of Father Mitrofan Serebryansky, confessor of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent, and is preceded by an inscription in the corner of the first page: "I testify with my priestly conscience that everything that I have written down from the words of Sister Euphrosyne is true."

These words are reminiscent of the prayer of a priest during the rite of confession before the Cross and the Gospel: "I am the witness to this point." In this case, the priest Fr. Mitrofan testifies before God not only about the authenticity of the story of Sister Euphrosyne, but about its truth in the spirit and meaning of the love and truth of Christ, that which is revealed by the Cross and the Gospel.

The Monk Onuphrius the Great, whom Euphrosyne saw, is a famous ascetic of the 4th century (his memory is celebrated on June 12, O.S. / June 25, O. Art., On the day with the Blessed Princess Anna Kashinskaya). For sixty years he performed the feat of prayer all alone in the Thebaid desert. "The man of God," says the Monk Paphnutius of him, "met me there, covered from head to toe with white hair and girded with foliage at the thighs."

What connection could there be between the Thebaid Egyptian desert of the 4th century and the provincial town of Kharkov province in 1912? How can they intersect in a quiet monastery on Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow, where the sister of the last Russian Empress asceticised?

Nothing still seems to portend a terrible revolutionary storm, but the Lord has Grand Duchess Elizabeth and her confessor Fr. Mitrofan is already marked by the radiance of suffering for Christ.

Indeed, a thousand years to come with the Lord is like yesterday's day, and His saints participate in God's counsel, anticipating those who seek salvation to help. Where immortal life, a person manages, like the risen Christ, to enter with closed doors; time and space do not exist.

In the vision of Sister Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Father Mitrofan stand next to the Monk Sergei of Radonezh. Their spiritual relationship is intimate and at the same time obvious. It is no coincidence that Father Mitrofan received the name Sergius in the tonsure, and the Grand Duchess passed away as a martyr on July 18, the day of St. Sergius.

So, from the diary of Fr. Mitrofan Serebryansky, confessor of the Martha-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy: "I testify with my priestly conscience that everything that I have written down from the words of Sister Euphrosyne is true" (Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky).

"In 1912, June 25, at five o'clock in the evening, I really wanted to sleep. They rang for the all-night vigil, and I, unable to resist, went to bed and fell asleep. I woke up on June 26 at five o'clock in the evening. Relatives thought that I had died, but the suddenness of death forced them to call a doctor, who said that I was alive, but I was sleeping in a lethargic sleep.

During this dream, my soul saw many terrible and good things, which I will tell you in order. I see that I am completely alone. Fear attacked me. The sky is darkening. Suddenly, in the distance, something lit up. It turned out that the light comes from an old man approaching me with long hair and a long beard almost to the ground, in a long shirt belted. His face was so radiant that I could not look at him and fell on my face. He lifted me up and asked: "Where are you going, servant of God?" I answer: "I do not know." Then the elder said to me: "Get down on your knees" - and began to remind me of all my sins, which I had not confessed out of oblivion. I was horrified and thought: "Who is this that knows my thoughts?" And he says: "I am Saint Onuphrius, and you must not be afraid of me." And he baptized me with a big cross. "Everything is forgiven you. And now come with me, I will lead you through all the ordeals." He takes my hand and says: "What will happen - do not be afraid, just constantly be baptized and say: save me, Lord. And think of the Lord, everything will pass." Went. The Monk Onuphrius says: "Look at the sky." I look and see that the sky seems to have turned over and began to darken. I was frightened, and the Monk Onuphrius says: "Do not think evil, be baptized."

It became completely dark, the darkness was dispersed only by the light emanating from the Monk Onuphrius. Suddenly, many demons crossed our path, forming a chain. Their eyes are like fire; screaming, making noise, intending to grab me. But as soon as the Monk Onuphrius raised his hand and made the sign of the cross, the demons instantly scattered, showing the sheets covered with my sins. The monk said to them: "She repented of all her sins at the beginning of the path." And the demons immediately tore apart the sheets, wailing and shouting: "Our abyss! It will not pass!"

Fire and smoke emanated from the demons, which made a terrible impression amid the surrounding darkness. I cried all the time and was baptized. I didn't feel the heat from the fire.

Suddenly, a fiery mountain appeared in front of us, from which fiery sparks rushed in all directions. Here I saw a lot of people. To my question: what are they suffering for? - the Monk Onuphrius answered: "For their iniquities. They did not repent at all and died without repentance, not recognizing the commandments; now they suffer until the Judgment."

Move on. I see there are two deep ravines in front of us. So deep that they can be called an abyss. I looked into the ravine and saw many crawling snakes, animals and demons. The monk says: "We have crossed the fire. How can we cross this abyss?" At this time, as it were, a large bird descended, spread its wings, and the Monk says: "Sit on the wings, and I will sit down. Do not be of little faith, do not look down, but be baptized." We sat down and flew. We flew for a long time, the old man held my hand.

Finally we sank down and stood on our feet among the snakes, cold and soft, which scattered from us. From many snakes, whole serpentine mountains were made. Under one such mountain, I saw a woman sitting. Her head was covered with lizards, sparks fell from her eyes, worms fell from her mouth, snakes sucked her breast, and the dogs held her hands in her mouth.

I asked the Monk Onuphrius: "What kind of woman is this?" He says: "This is a harlot. She has done many sins in her life and never repented: now she suffers until the Judgment. The lizards on her head are for decorating her hair, eyebrows and, in general, for decorating her face. Sparks from her eyes - because she looked different impurities. Worms - for speaking inappropriate words. Snakes - this is fornication. Dogs - for bad touch. "

Move on. The Monk Onuphrius says: "Now we will come to a very terrible thing, but do not be afraid, be baptized." Indeed, we reached the place from which smoke and fire were coming. There I saw a huge man, as it were, glowing with fire. Near it lies a large, fiery ball, and there are many spokes in it. And when this person turns the ball, then fiery spokes come out of the spokes, and demons are between the spokes, so you can't go through them. I ask: "Who is this?" The Monk Onuphrius replied: "This is the son of the devil, the incitement and deceiver of Christians. Whoever obeys him and does not keep the commandments of Christ goes into eternal torment. But you must be baptized, do not be afraid."

We walked through these wires freely, but noise and shouts came from all sides, coming from a multitude of demons standing in chains. Many people were with them. The Monk Onuphrius explained to me that people are together with demons because they were served during their lifetime and did not repent; the Last Judgment is expected here.

Then we came to a huge river of fire, in which there are many people, and screams and groans rush from there. I was embarrassed at the sight of the river, but the elder knelt down and ordered me to stand and look at the sky. I did so and saw Archangel Michael, who handed us a perch. The Monk Onuphrius took it by the end, and it threw itself across the river, three arshins from the fire. Although I was greatly afraid, I was baptized and, with the help of the Reverend, crossed over to the other side, finding myself in front of the wall.

We walked through the narrow door with difficulty and came out onto the huge snowy ice mountains, on which there were many people, and they were all shivering. I was especially struck by one who sat up to his neck in the snow and shouted: "Save, save!" I wanted to help him, but the Monk Onuphrius said: "Leave him, he did not let his father into his house in winter, and he froze; let him give his own answer for himself. In general, there are people here because they treated God and people. "

After that we came to a beautiful wide river, where the monk elder put me on a board and walked on the water himself. On the other side was a beautiful field covered with greenery, grass and forest. As we passed through it, we saw a multitude of animals that caressed the Monk Onuphrius.

We passed the field and came to a beautiful high mountain, which had three stairs, as if made of gelatin, and twelve streams of the purest water ran down the mountain. We stopped near the mountain. The Monk Onuphrius says: "You have seen all the terrible things for which people suffer. Live according to the commandments of the Lord. You have passed all this for two good deeds." But he didn’t say what. "Now I will put you in other clothes, and you have to climb, but not on these stairs."

The Monk Onuphrius poured water over me from a stream, washed me, and, my little blue dress, I do not know where it went. The elder put on a white shirt on me, made a belt out of grass and girded me. He made a hat from the leaves and ordered him to climb the mountain.

It was very difficult for me, but the elder held out his hands, and gradually I climbed half of the mountain, but I was so exhausted that the elder allowed me to continue up the stairs, leading me by the hand and making the sign of the cross three times. Then the elder led me into the church, put me in the middle and said: "Be your whole soul in God, here is a paradise residence." My God, what a beauty! - I saw there many wonderful abodes of indescribable beauty; trees, flowers, fragrance, extraordinary light. The elder brings me to one monastery and says: "This is the monastery of the holy wives Martha and Mary." The abode is not made of stones, but is covered with greenery and flowers. The windows are glowing through and through. Near the door, on both sides, from the outside, are Martha and Mary with burning candles in their hands.

The Reverend and I stood under the tree. I see: Angels are carrying six relaxed people to this monastery, and many people followed them there: the sick, the blind, the lame, in torn clothes and many children. I ask: "Is this monastery so large that it can accommodate so many people?" The elder answers: "The whole world of Christians can accommodate. So you are small, and the whole world is in you. Love everyone purely, but forget yourself, and hate the body that serves all passions. Try to mortify the body, and decorate the soul with good deeds. Look, carry a relaxed person. " "Who are they carrying this?" I asked. "Brother in Christ," replied the Monk, "the long-suffering Pastor Mitrofan and the long-suffering Grand Duchess Elizabeth are carrying him."

I saw Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in a white uniform, a veil on her head, and a white cross on her chest. Father Mitrofan was also in white clothes, on his chest was the same white cross. Until that time, I was completely unaware of the existence of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy. Elizaveta Fyodorovna and Father Mitrofan did not know and did not see.

When they drew level with Saints Martha and Mary, both Elizabeth Feodorovna and Father Mitrofan bowed to them. And then Saints Martha and Mary also entered the monastery, followed by us. The abode inside was beautiful. Father Mitrofan and Elizaveta Fyodorovna left the monastery again, already alone, and also with burning candles. They came up to us and bowed to the Monk Onuphrius, who turned to them and said to them: "I entrust you with this wanderer and stranger and bless you under your protection."

At the same time, the elder ordered me to bow down to Father Mitrofan and Elizaveta Fyodorovna. They both blessed me with a large cross. I say, "I'll stay with them." But the elder replied: "You will go some more, and then you will come to them." We're going. Wherever I look, everywhere they glorify the Lord. I cannot describe the beauty of paradise. Some other light: gardens, birds, fragrance; the earth is not visible, everything is covered, like velvet, with flowers. Wherever you look, there are angels everywhere: there are a great many of them.

I look: Christ the Savior Himself is standing, ulcers are visible on the arms and legs; face and clothes shine, so it is impossible to look. I fell on my face. Next to the Lord stood the Most Holy Theotokos with outstretched hands. Cherubim and Seraphim incessantly sang: "Rejoice, Queen!"

There were also many martyrs and martyrs. Some were dressed in episcopal robes, others in priestly, and still others in deacons. Others are in beautiful multicolored clothes; all have crowns on their heads. The Monk Onuphrius says: "These are the saints who suffered for Christ, endured everything humbly, with patience, followed in His footsteps. There is no sorrow and suffering, but always joy."

I saw many acquaintances of the dead there. I saw some there who are still alive. Saint Onuphrius strictly said: "Do not tell those who are still alive where you saw them. When the body dies, their souls will ascend here by the Lord, although they are sinners, but by good deeds and repentance their souls always abide in heaven."

Saint Onuphrius sat me down and said: "Here is your hope." Many saints began to pass in different clothes: both wonderful and poor; someone with a cross in their hands. The Monk Onuphrius takes me by the hand and leads me through paradise. Everywhere there is such a glorification of God and an incessant song: "Holy, Holy, Holy ..." Streams of silvery water flow. The Monk Onuphrius exclaimed: "Let every breath praise the Lord!"

We entered the Monk Onuphrius into one wonderful place where the Angels constantly sing: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts ... Glory to God in the highest ... and: Alleluia.

A wondrous sight opened before us: in the distance, in the unapproachable light, sat our Lord Jesus Christ. On one side of Him stood the Mother of God, and on the other - Saint John the Baptist. Hosts of Archangels, Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim surrounded the Throne; many saints of indescribable beauty stood near the throne. Their bodies are easily mobile, transparent; the clothes are shiny, of different colors. Around everyone's head there is a dazzling radiance. On their heads, some have crowns made of some special metal, better than gold and diamonds, and on others - crowns of paradise flowers. Some held flowers or palm branches in their hands.

Pointing to one of them, standing in the right lane, the Monk Onuphrius said: "This is Saint Elizabeth, to whom I have entrusted you." I really saw the one to whom the Monk Onuphrius had already led me, in the vision of human affairs. There she was among the crippled, the beggars, the sick - in general, among the suffering, whom she served on earth. And here I saw her, but in holiness, in the face of the saints.

"Yes, I see her," I replied to the Monk Onuphrius, "but I am not worthy of living with her. She is bright, and I am very sinful." The Monk Onuphrius said: "She still lives on earth now, imitating the lives of the holy wives Martha and Mary, keeping her soul and body clean, doing good deeds; her prayers and the cross of sorrows, which she meekly carries, lift her soul to heaven. there were sins too, but through repentance, the correction of life, she goes to heaven. "

With emotion, I was thrown to the ground. There was something like a crystal greenish sky under my feet. I see: all the saints in pairs approach Christ and worship Him. Elizaveta Fyodorovna and Father Mitrofan also went and returned to their places. Princess Elizabeth was dressed in shiny clothes, around her head there was a radiance and an inscription of luminous letters: "Holy long-suffering Princess Elizabeth." Her arms are folded across her chest; in one hand a golden crucifix. The beautiful face of the saint shines with unearthly joy and bliss; her wonderful eyes are raised up, in them are the holy prayers of a pure soul, who beheld God face to face.

On the left side of Saint Elizabeth stood the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, and on the right hand - Father Mitrofan, in bishop's vestments. The Monk Onuphrius said: “Do not think that you were worthy to see all this and will remain here now. No, your dead body is waiting for you, it is only your soul with me. When your soul enters your body and you will return again to the sinful long-suffering land, which is all bleeding, then I will bless you in the monastery where Princess Elizabeth and Father Mitrofan met you. "

I asked: "Is there such a beautiful abode on earth?" The saint answered: "Yes, there is, it flourishes and ascends to heaven through good deeds and prayers. Look, you have seen everything good and bad; and know that without the Cross and suffering you will not enter here, but repentance brings all sinners here. Look. : here is your body. " - Indeed, I saw my body, and I felt scared. The Monk Onuphrius baptized me, and I woke up.

For an hour and a half I could not speak, and when I did, I began to stutter. In addition, my legs fell to my knees, and I could not walk, they carried me around. The doctors couldn't heal me. Finally, on September 25, 1912, I was brought to the convent in the town of Bohodukhovo, Kharkov province, where the miraculous Kaplunovskaya icon of the Mother of God was located. On September 26, I received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, served a prayer service before this icon, and when I was brought to it and I venerated, I was instantly healed.

Then I remembered what the Monk Onuphrius said to me when I was near the Mother of God: "Here is your hope."

Right after my sleep, I decided to leave the world, and after the healing I could no longer wait for the opportunity to go to the monastery. They called me to enter the Bogodukhovsky monastery, where I was healed. But I told the nuns that I would like to get away from my acquaintances. I asked about Saints Martha and Mary, but no one knew about the monastery named after them. Once I came to my Bogodukhov monastery, and the nuns said to me: "Euphrosinia, you want to get away from your acquaintances. A sister has arrived from the monastery of Martha and Mary; our novice Vasilissa entered the same place."

Hearing this, I was horrified and delighted. Soon I received an answer from Vasilissa that I could go to Moscow. On January 23, 1913, I went and entered the monastery.

I cannot convey what I experienced when I entered the monastery church and heard the troparion singing to the holy righteous wives Martha and Mary. "

Recorded by Father Mitrofan on October 31, 1917.
("Ascetics of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy". M., 2000)

The vision of novice Olga

The vision of novice Olga was recorded in the Kiev Intercession Monastery by the care of Abbess Sophia (Grineva) in April 1917. Young Olga was a novice of the Rzhishchev Monastery. If I am not mistaken, this monastery was subordinated to Pokrovsky.

On February 21, 1917, on Tuesday of the Week of the Second Great Lent, at 5 o'clock in the morning, Olga ran into the psalter and, putting down three bows to the earth, said to the nun-reader whom she had come to replace: "I beg your pardon, mother, and bless: I have come to die." ... Half a joke, half a serious nun answered: "God bless, good hour. You would be happy if you died during these years." Olga at that time was about 14 years old.

Olga lay down on the bed in the psalter and fell asleep, while the nun continued to read. At half past six in the morning, the sister began to wake Olga, but she did not move and did not respond. Other sisters came, they also tried to wake up, but to no avail. Olga's breathing stopped and her face took on a dead look. Two hours passed in the anxiety of the sisters and in the bustle of the dead woman. Olga began to breathe and with closed eyes, in oblivion, said: "Lord, how I fell asleep!"

Olga slept for three days without waking up. During her sleep, she said a lot of such things that they paid attention to her words and began to write them down. The following was recorded from her words.

"A week before Tuesday of the 2nd week, I saw," Olga said, "an Angel in a dream, and he told me to go to the psalteries on Tuesday in order to die there, but so that I would not tell anyone about this in advance. When I walked on Tuesday in the morning to the psalteries, then, looking back, I saw a monster in the form of a dog running on its hind legs after me. - death with a scythe. I got scared, crossed myself and lay down on the bed, thinking of dying. Death came to me, and I fainted.

Then consciousness returned to me, and I saw an Angel: he came up to me, took my hand and led me through some dark and uneven place. We reached the moat. The angel went forward along the narrow board, and I stopped and saw the "enemy" (demon) who beckoned me to him, but I rushed to run from him to the Angel, who was already on the other side of the ditch and called me to him too. The board thrown over the moat was so narrow that I was afraid to cross it, but the Angel moved me, giving me his hand, and we went along some narrow path. Suddenly the Angel disappeared from sight, and immediately a multitude of demons appeared. I began to call on the Mother of God for help; the demons instantly disappeared, and the Angel reappeared, and we continued on our way. Having reached some mountain, we again met demons with charters in their hands. The angel took them from the hands of the demons, handed them over to me and ordered them to be torn. On our way, demons appeared more than once, and one of them, when I lagged behind my heavenly guide, tried to frighten me, but an Angel appeared, and on the mountain I saw the Mother of God standing at full height and exclaimed: “Mother of God! save me: save me! ".

I fell to the ground, and when I got up, the Mother of God became invisible. It was getting light. On the way we saw a church, and under the mountain - a garden. In this garden, some trees were blooming, while others were already bearing fruit. Beautiful paths were laid out under the trees. I saw a house in the garden. I asked Angel, "Whose house is this?" - "Nun Apollinaria lives here." This was our nun, who recently passed away.

Then I again lost sight of the Angel and found myself at the river of fire. I had to cross this river. The passage was very narrow, and it was possible to cross it only by crossing foot by foot. With fear I began to cross and did not have time to reach the middle of the river, when I saw in it a terrible head with bulging huge eyes, open mouth and protruding long tongue. I had to step over the language of this monster, and I became so scared that I did not know what to do. And then suddenly, on the other side of the river, I saw the holy Great Martyr Barbara. I prayed to her for help, and she stretched out her hand to me and led me to the other side. And already when I crossed the river of fire, then, looking back, I saw in it another monster - a huge serpent with its head held high and its mouth wide open. The Holy Great Martyr explained to me that everyone must cross this river and that many fall into the mouth of one of these monsters.

The further way I continued to walk with the Angel, and soon I saw the longest staircase, which, it seemed, would never end. Climbing it, we reached some dark place, where, behind a huge abyss, I saw many people who would accept the seal of Antichrist - their fate in this terrible and stinking abyss ... There I saw a very handsome man no mustache or beard. He was dressed in red. He seemed to me about 28 years old. He walked past me very quickly, or rather, ran. And when he approached me, he seemed extremely beautiful, and when he passed and I looked at him, he presented himself to me as a devil. I asked Angel: "Who is this?" "This," the Angel replied to me, "is the Antichrist, the very one who will torment all Christians for the holy faith, for the holy Church and for the name of God."

In the same dark place, I saw the recently deceased nun of our monastery. She wore a cast-iron robe, with which she was all covered. The nun tried to free herself from under her and was greatly tormented. I touched the robe with my hand: it really was cast iron. This nun begged me to ask the sisters to pray for her.

In the same dark place I saw a huge cauldron. A fire was lit under the cauldron. Many people were seething in this cauldron; some of them shouted. There were men and women. Demons jumped out of the cauldron and put firewood under it. I saw other people there standing in the ice. They were in the same shirts and were shivering from the cold; all were barefoot - both men and women.

I also saw a vast building there, and there are also many people in it. Iron chains hung from the ceiling were threaded through their ears. Huge stones were tied to their hands and feet. The angel explained to me that these are all those who in the temples of God behaved seductively and obscenely, talked themselves and listened to others; that's why the chains were stretched to their ears. Stones are tied to the feet of those who walked from place to place in church: he himself did not stand and did not allow others to stand calmly. The stones were tied to the hands of those who incorrectly and carelessly imposed the sign of the cross on themselves in the temple of God.

From this dark and terrible place, Angel and I began to climb up and came to a large shiny white house. When we entered this house, I saw an extraordinary light in it. In this light stood a large crystal table, and on it were placed some unprecedented heavenly fruits. The holy prophets, martyrs and other saints were sitting at the table. All of them were in multi-colored robes, shining with a wonderful light. Above all this host of God's holy Pleasants, in an indescribable light, the Savior sat on the throne of wondrous beauty, and at His right hand sat our Sovereign Nikolai Alexandrovich, surrounded by Angels. The sovereign was in full royal attire, in shiny white porphyry and a crown, and kept right hand scepter. He was surrounded by Angels, and the Savior - by the highest Heavenly Forces... Because of the bright light, I could hardly look at the Savior, but I looked freely at the earthly king.

The holy martyrs talked among themselves and rejoiced that it was recent times and that their number would increase as Christians would soon be tortured for Christ and for their rejection of the seal. I heard the martyrs say that churches and monasteries would be destroyed, and earlier they would drive out those living in them from the monasteries. They will torment and oppress not only monks and clergy, but also all Orthodox Christians who will not accept the seal and will stand up for the name of Christ, for the faith and for the Church. I also heard them say that our Sovereign will be gone and that the time of all earthly things is drawing to a close. In the same place I heard that under the Antichrist the Holy Lavra will ascend to heaven; all the holy saints will also go to heaven with their bodies, and all who live on earth, the elect of God, will also be caught up to heaven.

From this meal, the Angel took me to another supper. The table was similar to the first, but somewhat smaller. In the great council sat at the table the holy patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, archimandrites, priests, monks and laymen in some special attire. All these saints were in a joyful mood. Looking at them, I myself came to an extraordinary joy.

Soon Saint Theodosia appeared to me as a companion, and the Angel disappeared. With her we went on a further journey and climbed some beautiful hill. There was a garden with flowers and fruits, and in the garden there were many boys and girls in white robes. We bowed to each other, and they sang wonderfully "It is worthy to eat." In the distance I saw a small mountain; the Mother of God stood on it. Looking at Her, I was indescribably happy. The Holy Martyr Theodosia then took me to other paradise monasteries. The first on the top of the mountain we saw the monastery of indescribable beauty, surrounded by a fence of shiny transparent white stones. The gates of this monastery emitted a special bright shine. Seeing her, I felt a kind of special joy. The holy martyr opened the gates for me, and I saw a marvelous church made of the same stones as the fence, but even lighter. That church was of extraordinary size and beauty. There was a beautiful garden on its right side. And here, in this garden, as in the one seen before, some trees were bearing fruit, while others were just blooming. The gates to the church were open. We entered it, and I was amazed at its wonderful beauty and the countless number of Angels who filled it. The angels were in white, shiny clothes. We crossed ourselves and bowed down to the Angels who sang at that time "It is worthy to eat" and "We praise you, God."

A straight road from this monastery led us to another, similar in everything to the first, but somewhat less extensive, beautiful and bright. And this church was filled with Angels who sang "It Is Worth It". The Holy Martyr Theodosia explained to me that the first monastery was of the highest Angelic ranks, and the second - of the lowest.

The third monastery I saw was a church without a fence. The church in it was just as beautiful, but somewhat less bright. This was, according to my companion, the abode of saints, patriarchs, metropolitans and bishops.

Without entering the church, we went further and on the way saw several more churches. In one of them - monks in white robes and hoods; I saw Angels among them. In another church, there were monks along with worldly men. The monks wore white hoods, and the laymen wore glittering crowns. In the next monastery - the church - there were nuns in all white. The Holy Martyr Theodosia told me that they were schema nuns. The schema nuns in white robes and hoods, with them were worldly women in shining crowns. Among the nuns I recognized some of our nuns and novices who were still alive, and among them was the deceased mother Agnia. I asked the holy martyr why some of the nuns are in robes, while others are without robes, and some of our novices are in robes. She replied that some, not having received the mantle during their life on earth, will be awarded it in the future life, and, conversely, those who received the mantle during their lifetime will be deprived of it here.

Moving further, we saw an orchard. We entered it. In this garden, as in those previously seen, some trees were in bloom, and others with ripe fruits. The tops of the trees were intertwined with each other. This garden was more beautiful than all the previous ones. There were small houses, as if cast from crystal. In this garden we saw the Archangel Michael, who told me that this garden was the dwelling of the desert dwellers. In this garden I first saw women, and moving on, men. They were all in white robes, monastic and non-monastic.

Coming out of the garden, I saw a crystal roof in the distance on the crystal shining columns. There were many people under this roof: monks and laymen, men and women. Here Archangel Michael became invisible. Then a house was presented to us: it was without a roof, but its four walls were made of pure crystal. He was overshadowed by a cross erected as if in the air, of dazzling brilliance and beauty. In this house there were many nuns and novices in white robes. And here, between them, I saw some of our monastery, still alive. Still further there were two crystal walls, like two walls of a house that had been started by construction. The other two walls and roof were missing. Inside, along the walls, there were benches: men and women in white robes sat on them.

Then we entered another garden. There were five houses in this garden. The Holy Martyr Theodosia told me that these houses belong to two nuns and three novices of our monastery. She named them, but ordered their names to be kept secret. Fruit trees grew near the houses: the first had lemon, and the second had apricot; the third one - lemon, apricot and apple, the fourth - lemon and apricot. All of them had ripe fruits. The fifth had no trees, but planting sites had already been dug up.

When we left this garden, we had to go downstairs. There we saw the sea; people were crossing it: some were in the water up to their necks, others from the water only one could see their hands; some moved by boat. The holy martyr transferred me on foot.

We also saw the mountain. Two sisters of our monastery stood on the mountain in white robes. Above them stood the Mother of God and, pointing to one of them, said: "Behold, I give you for earthly mothers." From the blinding light emanating from the Queen of Heaven, I closed my eyes. Then everything became invisible.

After this vision, we began to climb the mountain. This whole mountain was strewn with wonderful smelling flowers. There were many paths between the flowers, different directions... I was glad that it was so good here, and at the same time cried that I would have to part with all these wonderful places, and with the Angels, and with the holy martyr.

I asked Angel: "Tell me, where do I have to live?" - Both the Angel and the holy martyr answered: "We are always with you. And wherever you have to live, you have to endure everywhere."

Then I saw the Archangel Michael again. The Angel accompanying me had the Holy Chalice in his hands, and he gave me Communion, saying that otherwise the "enemies" would have prevented my return. I bowed to my holy guidebooks, and they became invisible, and with great sorrow I found myself in this world again. "

“In the first days of her sleep,” M. Anna told me, “Olga kept looking for a cervical cross in her sleep. It was clear from her movements that she was showing it to someone, threatening someone, baptizing them and baptizing herself. When I woke up for the first time, I said to my sisters: “The enemy is afraid of this. I threatened them and baptized them, and he left. "

Then they decided to give her a cross. She firmly squeezed it in her right hand and did not release it for 20 days so that it was impossible to take it out of her by force. When she woke up, she let him out of her hand, and before falling asleep, she again took him in her hand, saying that she needed him, that she was easy with him.

After 20 days, she no longer took him, explaining that they stopped taking her to dangerous places where "enemies" met, but began to lead her to paradise monasteries, where there was no one to be afraid of.

Once, during her wonderful dream, Olga, holding a cross in one hand, let her hair down with the other, covered it with the headscarf she had on her neck. When I woke up, she explained that she had seen beautiful young men in crowns. These young men also gave her a crown, which she put on her head. It was at this time that she must have put on the headscarf.

On March 1, Wednesday evening, Olga woke up and said: "You will hear what will happen on the twelfth day." The sisters who were here thought that this was the date of the month and that some change might happen to Olga on that date. Olga replied to these thoughts: "On Saturday." It turned out that it was the 12th day of her sleep. On that day, at our monastery they learned about the Tsar's abdication from the throne. I was the first to know about it by phone from Kiev. When Olga woke up in the evening, I said to her in terrible excitement: "Olya! Olya! What's wrong: the Emperor has left the throne!"

Olga calmly replied: "You only heard about it today, but we have been talking about it there for a long time. The Tsar has been sitting there for a long time with the Heavenly King." I asked Olga: "What is the reason for that?" "What was the reason for the Heavenly King that they did this to Him: expelled, reviled and crucified? The same reason for this King. He is a martyr." "Well, - I ask, - will it be?" Olga sighed and replied: "There will be no Tsar, now there will be Antichrist, but for now there will be a new government." - "And what, it will be for the best?" "No," he says, "the new government will cope with its affairs, then it will take over the monasteries. Get ready, all get ready for the journey." "What journey?" - "Then you will see." "And what should you take with you?" - I ask. "Some handbags". - "And what will we carry in our bags?" Then Olga told one old secret and added that they would all bear the same.

"And what will happen to the monasteries? - I continue to pry. - What will they do with the cells?" Olga answered vividly: "You ask, what will they do with the churches? Will some monasteries be crowded? Will they persecute everyone who will stand up for the name of Christ and who will oppose the new rule and the Jews. They will not only press and persecute, but they will cut joints. Just do not be afraid: there will be no pain, as if they will cut a dry tree, knowing for Whom they suffer. "

“But we,” I say, “are persecuting others in the monastery as well.” "That," he replies, "will not be imputed, but this persecution will be imputed."

At this conversation, the sisters took pity on the Emperor: "Poor, poor, - they said, - unfortunate sufferer! What a reproach he endures!" At this Olga smiled cheerfully and said: "On the contrary, he is the happiest of the happy. He is a martyr. Here he will suffer, but there he will be with the Heavenly King forever."

The 19th day of my sleep, on Saturday, March 11th, Olga woke up and said to me: "Hear what will happen on the 20th day." I thought it was the day of the month, but Olga explained: "Sunday." On Sunday, March 12, was the 20th day of her sleep ... (Further, the visions do not relate to the afterlife and the personality of the Emperor). "

... After that she was in great thought and melancholy for a long time and cried. When asked by the sisters, she answered: "How can I not cry when I no longer see anything of what I saw, and everything here, even that which was pleasant to me before, now everything is disgusting to me, and then there are these questions ... Lord, would rather go there again! ".

When later the former with Olga was recorded in Kiev, she said: "Write - do not write: all the same - you will not believe it. Now is not the time. Unless they will only believe when one of my words begins to be fulfilled."

Such are the visions and wonderful dream of Olga. I saw this Olga and her old woman, talked to them. Olga looks like an ordinary peasant teenage girl, illiterate, in no way outstanding. Only her eyes were good - radiant, clear, and there was no lie or flattery in them. But how was it possible to lie and pretend in front of the whole monastery, and even in such an environment - almost 40 days without food or drink? !! .. I believed and I believe: Amen I say to you: even if he doesn’t accept the Kingdom of God, as if he’s a child, (Luke 18:17).

(Nilus S. "On the Bank of the River of God". St. Petersburg, 1996;
"Russia before the Second Coming". M., 1993)

Ordeals

In the winter of 1923-24, I fell ill with pneumonia.

For eight days, the temperature was kept at 40.8 degrees. On about the ninth day of illness, I had a significant dream.

Even at the very beginning, in half-oblivion, when I tried to do the Jesus Prayer, I was distracted by visions - beautiful pictures of nature, over which I seemed to float. When I listened to the music or stared at the wonderful landscapes, leaving prayer, I was shocked from head to toe by an evil force, and I soon began to pray. From time to time I came to my senses and saw clearly the whole environment around me.

Suddenly my confessor, Hieromonk Stefan, appeared near my bed. He looked at me and said: "Let's go." Remembering with all my heart the teaching of the Church regarding the danger of trusting visions, I began to read the prayer "May God rise ..." After listening to it with a quiet smile, he said: "Amen" - and seemed to take me with him somewhere.

We found ourselves as if in the bowels of the earth, in a deep underground. A stormy stream of black water flowed in the middle. I wondered what that would mean. And in response to my thought, Father Stephen without words, mentally answered me: "This is an ordeal for condemnation. Condemnation is never forgiven."

In a deep stream, I saw my friend, who was still alive at that time. With horror I prayed for her, and she seemed to come out dry. The meaning of what she saw was this: if she had died in the state in which she was at that time, she would have perished for the sin of condemnation, not covered by repentance. (She used to say that in order to turn away from sin, children must be taught to condemn wrongdoing people). But since her mortal hour has not come, she can be cleansed by great sorrows.

We went up to the source of the stream and saw that it flows out from under the huge, gloomy, heavy doors. It was felt that behind these gates - darkness and horror ... "What is this?" - I thought. "There are ordeals for mortal sins," the host thought to me in response. There were no words between us. Thought responded directly to thought.

From these terrible, tightly closed gates, we turned back and seemed to rise higher. (Unfortunately, I do not remember the entire sequence of what I saw, although I convey all the visions quite accurately).

We found ourselves in a ready-to-wear store. There were a lot of clothes hanging on hangers all around. It was unbearably stuffy and dusty. And then I realized that these dresses are my mental wishes for good clothes throughout my life. Here I saw my soul, as if crucified, hung on a hanger, like a suit. My soul was as if transformed into a dress and was suffocating in boredom and languor. Another image of the suffering soul was here in the form of a mannequin, planted in a cage and carefully dressed in fashion. And this soul was suffocating from the emptiness and boredom of those vain vain desires with which it amused itself in life mentally.

It became clear to me that if I died, my soul would suffer here, languishing in dust.

But Father Stefan led me on. I saw, as it were, a counter with clean linen. Two of my relatives (who were still alive at the time) endlessly shifted clean linen from place to place. Nothing particularly terrible, as if this picture did not represent, but again incredible boredom, yearning of spirit breathed over me. I realized that this would be the fate of my relatives if they had died by that time; they did not commit mortal sins, they were girls, but they did not care about salvation, they lived without meaning, and this aimlessness would have passed along with their souls into eternity.

Then I saw like a classroom filled with soldiers looking at me reproachfully. And then I remembered my unfinished work: at one time I had to deal with crippled soldiers. But then I left, did not answer their letters and requests, leaving them to fend for themselves in the difficult transitional time of the first years of the revolution ...

Then a crowd of beggars surrounded me. They stretched out their hands to me and spoke with their minds, without words: "Give, give!" I realized that I could help these poor people during their lifetime, but for some reason I did not. An indescribable feeling of deep guilt and complete impossibility to justify myself filled my heart.

We moved on. (I also saw my sin, which I never thought about - ingratitude towards the servants, exactly the fact that her work took her for granted. But the image of what I saw was forgotten, only the meaning remained in my memory).

I must say that it is very difficult for me to convey the images I have seen: they are not captured by words, coarse, dim.

The scales blocked our way. On one bowl my good deeds poured in an incessant stream, and on the other empty nuts fell with a noise and scattered around with a dry crackle: it was a symbol of my vanity, self-esteem. Apparently, these feelings completely devalued everything positive, since the bowl of empty nuts outweighed. There were no good deeds without an admixture of sin. Horror and melancholy gripped me. But suddenly, from somewhere, a pie or a piece of cake fell onto the bowl, and the right side outweighed. (It seemed to me that someone had "loaned" their good deed to me).

So we stopped in front of a mountain, a mountain of empty bottles, and I realized with horror that this was an image of my pride, empty, pompous, stupid. The host thought to me in response that if I died, then during this ordeal I would have to sort of open every bottle, which would be backbreaking work and fruitless.

But then Father Stefan swung like some kind of giant corkscrew, representing grace, and all the bottles opened at once. I, relieved, went on.

It must be added that I wore monastic clothes, although at that time I was just preparing for my tonsure.

I tried to follow in the footsteps of my spiritual father, and if I did, snakes would come out and try to sting me.

The confessor was at first in the usual monastic attire, which later turned into a royal purple robe.

Here we come to the raging river. In it stood some evil humanoid creatures, throwing thick logs at each other with fierce malice. Seeing me, they screamed with a kind of insatiable malice, devouring me with their eyes and trying to pounce on me. It was the ordeal of anger, manifested, unrestrained. Looking around, I noticed that saliva was crawling behind me, the size of a human body, but without forms, with a woman's face. In no words can I convey the hatred that sparkled in her eyes that were relentlessly looking at me. It was my passion for irritability, as if identical to the demon of irritability. I must say that I felt my passions there, which I developed and fed in life, as something one with the demons that arouse them.

This saliva all the time wanted to entwine and strangle me, but the confessor rejected it, mentally saying: "She has not died yet, she can repent." Perseveringly, looking at me with inhuman malice, she crawled after me almost to the end of the ordeal.

Then we came to a dam, or dam, in the form of a kind of rampart with a complex system of tubes through which water seeped. It was an image of my restrained, internal anger, a symbol of many different mental evil constructions that took place only in my imagination. If I died, I would have to squeeze through all these tubes, filter with incredible torment. Again a feeling of terrible unrequited guilt seized me. "She's not dead yet," thought Father Stefan, and took me further. For a long time after me there were screams and a furious splash from the river - anger.

After that, we again seemed to have climbed higher and found ourselves in some kind of room. In the corner, as if fenced off, stood some kind of monsters! I realized that these were ordeals for obscenity, obscene anecdotes, indecent words. I was relieved to think that in this I am not sinful, and suddenly I heard these monsters in terrible voices began to speak: "Ours, ours!" And I remembered with amazing clarity how, as a ten-year-old schoolgirl, I wrote some nonsense on pieces of paper with a friend in class with my friend. And again the same irresponsibility, associated with the deepest consciousness of guilt, seized me. But the presenter with the same mentally spoken words: "She's not dead yet" - took me away. Nearby, as if leaving this fenced-off nook, I saw my soul in the form of a figurine enclosed in a glass jar. It was an ordeal for fortune-telling. I felt here how fortune-telling humiliates, belittles the immortal soul, turning it as if into a lifeless laboratory preparation.

Further, in the opposite corner, as if through the windows leading to the adjacent lower room, I saw countless confectionery, arranged in rows: these were the sweets I ate. Although I did not see demons here, these manifestations of greediness, carefully collected during my life, emanated from demonic malice. I would have to absorb it all again, this time without pleasure, but as if under torture.

Then we walked past a pool filled with a ceaselessly rotating hot, as if molten, golden liquid. It was an ordeal for mentally perverted voluptuousness. A fierce flour emanated from this molten moving liquid.

Then I saw the soul of my acquaintance (not yet dead) in the form of a flower of a wonderful color and absurd in shape. It consisted of marvelous rose petals folded into a long tube: there was no stem or root. The confessor approached, cut off the petals and, having planted them deeply in the ground, said: "Now he will bear fruit."

Nearby stood the soul of my cousin, all through and through with military ammunition, as if the soul, in fact, did not exist. This brother was very fond of military affairs for his own sake, did not recognize any other occupations for himself.

After that, we moved to another, smaller room in which the freaks stood: giants with tiny heads, dwarfs with huge heads. There and then I stood in the form of a huge dead nun, as if made of wood. All of these were symbols of people who led an unauthorized ascetic life, without obedience and leadership: some were dominated by bodily feat, others had too developed rationality. As for myself, I realized that there would be a time when I would leave obedience to my confessor and die spiritually. (This is what happened when, in 1929, violating the advice of Father Stephen, I went into schism, not wanting to recognize Metropolitan Sergius, the future Patriarch. Having broken off from the tree of life, I really dried up internally, mortified, and only through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos of our Mother of God did I return into the bosom of the Church). My feet seemed to be on the floor, but after a fervent prayer to the Mother of God, I again got the opportunity to go further after Father Stephen. It was not an ordeal, but, as it were, an image of my future deviations from the correct path to salvation.

Then a row of huge empty temples stretched along which we walked for an exhaustingly long time. I could hardly move my legs and mentally asked Father Stefan about when this path would end. He immediately thought to me in response: "After all, these are your dreams, why did you dream so much?" The temples we passed through were very tall and beautiful, but alien to God, temples without God.

From time to time there began to meet analogies, in front of which I, kneeling down, confessed, while the presenter stood next to me, waiting. The first priest to whom I confessed was Father Peter (our cathedral archpriest, to whom I really confessed for the first time after this dream). Then I did not see the spiritual father during the confession, but I confessed often at the lecterns. All this told me about my future life, about salvation through the frequent Mystery of Confession.

Suddenly we heard a kind of drumbeat and, looking around, saw in the wall on the right an icon of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, who seemed to me to remind of himself. The saint stood in a nod to his full height, alive. I remembered that I had stopped praying to him lately.

Then, as we went on, Saint Nicholas of Mirliki came out to meet us. It was all pink and gold, like a rose petal pierced by the golden rays of the sun. My soul shuddered from contact with the shrine, and I threw myself down in horror. All mental ulcers ached painfully, as if naked and illuminated from within by this amazing closeness to holiness. Lying on my face, I meanwhile saw how Saint Nicholas kissed the confessor on the cheek ... We went on.

Soon I felt that the Mother of God could come down to us. But my feeble sin-loving soul was swept away desperately by the impossibility of direct communication with the shrine.

We went and felt that the exit was close. Almost at the very exit, I saw the ordeal of one of my acquaintances, and on the way out - one nun, who seemed to be thrown up on the board. But here the sins of others did not attract my attention at all.

Then we entered the temple. The porch was in the shade, and the main part of the temple was flooded with light.

High in the air near the iconostasis stood a slender figure of a girl of extraordinary beauty and nobility, clothed in a purple robe. The saints surrounded her in an oval ring in the air. This wonderful girl seemed to me unusually familiar, dear, but I vainly tried to remember who she was: "Who are you, dear, dear, infinitely close?" And suddenly something inside me said that it was my soul, given to me by God, a soul in the virgin state in which it was from the baptismal font: the image of God in it was not yet distorted. She was surrounded by her patron saints, I do not remember who exactly - one, I remember, was as if in the ancient saint's clothes. A wonderful light poured from the window of the temple, illuminating everything with a gentle radiance. I stood and watched, freezing.

But then from the twilight shadow of the vestibule a terrible creature came up to me on pig's legs, a depraved woman, ugly, low, with a huge mouth, with black teeth across her belly. Oh God! This monster was my soul in its present state, a soul that distorted the image of God, without! Figurative.

I trembled in mortal despairing anguish. The monster seemed to want to cling to me with malevolence, but the presenter pushed me aside with the words: "She's not dead yet," and in horror I rushed after him to the exit. In the shadows, around the column, sat other similar monsters - alien souls, but I had no time for other people's sins.

Leaving, I looked around and again with longing saw in the air, at the height of the iconostasis, that dear, close and long-forgotten, lost ...

We got out and walked along the road. And then, as it were, my forthcoming earthly life began to be depicted: I saw myself among the ancient, snow-covered monastery buildings. I was surrounded by nuns, as if to say: "Yes, yes, it's good that I came." They took me to the abbot, who also greeted my arrival. But for some reason I terribly did not want to stay there, wondering at myself in my sleep, since during this period of my life (before the illness) I was already striving for monasticism.

Then somehow we got out and found ourselves on a deserted road. A majestic old man sat beside her with a large book in his hands. The confessor and I knelt in front of him, and the elder, tearing out a leaf from the book, gave it to Father Stephen. He took it and - disappeared. I understood - died. The old man also disappeared. I was left alone. In bewilderment, with fear, I walked forward, further along the deserted sandy road. She led me to the lake. It was sunset. A faint church ringing came from somewhere. A forest stood like a wall on the shore of the lake. I stopped in complete bewilderment: there was no road. And suddenly, gliding above the ground, the figure of the confessor appeared in the air in front of me. He had a censer in his hands, and he looked at me sternly. Moving towards the forest, facing me, he burned incense and seemed to call me. I followed him, not taking my eyes off him, and entered the thicket of the forest. He slipped through the tree trunks like a ghost, and the whole time he burned, staring at me relentlessly. We stopped in a clearing. I knelt down and prayed. He, silently gliding around the clearing and without taking his stern eyes off me, dropped it all and disappeared - I woke up.

Several times during this dream I came to my senses, saw the room, heard the breathing of a sleeping relative. Consciously not wanting to continue the dream, I read the prayer, but again, against my will, I seemed to leave myself.

When I finally woke up now, I clearly understood that I was dying, and then all my life I felt like aimless, not preparing me for eternity.

“Life was lived for free, for free,” I repeated, and with fervent prayer I clung to the Queen of Heaven, so that She would ask me for time to repent. "I promise to live for Thy Son," poured out from the depths of my heart. And at the same moment, like a graceful dew, it poured over me. The heat was gone. I felt lightness, a return to life.

Through the shutters, in the cracks, I saw the stars calling me to a new, renewed life ...

The next morning the doctor ascertained my recovery.

(Nun Sergius (Klimenko).
"The past unfolds the scroll ...". M., 1998)

Meeting with the Lord

Earlier, when I just came to the Orthodox faith, it seemed to me that the Lord, seeing our sinfulness, no longer shows us His miracles. But what happened to me shortly after made me think differently. And I am ready to tell you about everything. But for this, perhaps, I'll start in order.

My path to Orthodoxy turned out to be difficult and painfully long. I was born during the active construction of "heaven on earth", when it was persistently suggested that there is no God, and that "religion itself is the opium for the people." Orthodoxy was denigrated most of all. And in my soul is firmly rooted attitude to the faith of the ancestors as something backward and primitive.

But the question of what is the meaning of earthly existence began to worry me quite early. And since childhood, I tried to comprehend the secrets of nature, studying it. Having spent more than one year on this, I did not receive an intelligible answer. Intuitively, I felt that behind the material manifestation of life there is an unknown and, possibly, more diverse and complex life. I guessed that the inner nature of man, his soul is somehow connected with the invisible life. At one time I was fond of psychology and philosophy. But various theories did not inspire confidence in me, and I ceased to be interested in them.

At that moment, the concept of "Creator", "Creator" was already hovering in my mind. But I stubbornly avoided the concept of "God", which I associated with fanaticism. And as a result, with all the recklessness, she plunged into the endless multitude of Eastern beliefs that so temptingly promise to reveal the Truth. Suddenly I began to guess that I was being stubbornly led by the nose, trying to completely lead me away from the Truth.

No longer relying on my own strength, realizing only my complete insignificance before the Incomprehensible, I then prayed to the Creator with all sincerity and despair that overwhelmed me: "Lord, bring me to You! Show the path leading to You, the Truth! ..". From that moment on, I only lived and breathed this inner prayer-supplication.

And the Lord heard me. And he opened the way to Himself. I received holy baptism. Soon the Orthodox faith, deeply touching me, became the only meaning of life. I was shocked that all my life I had been walking next to Truth, completely unaware of it. Perhaps, in order to treasure the faith of my ancestors, the Lord brought me to her so thorny path.

The mercy and generosity of the Almighty towards me did not end there. Suddenly I found an extraordinary state of inner peace and tranquility, unknown to me before. At the same time, my long unhealthy body miraculously suddenly freed itself from the captivity of numerous ailments. The body revived, feeling a long-forgotten youthful freshness. And it seemed to me then that I received all these extraordinary gifts forever.

This went on for more than one month, while I diligently comprehended church life with its amazing Sacraments. At first, I did not at all realize why these new powers were given to me. And instead of multiplying them and cherishing them, I began to spend them unwisely and recklessly. Gradually, more and more indulging in perishable vanity, I began to neglect the services, forgetting about the Sacraments, so nourishing and purifying the soul. And what was the result? All the gifts given to me by grace from above, I just as suddenly lost. It was then that all my previous illnesses returned to me, but with even greater force. And inner peace was replaced by an exhausting darkening of the soul. As if the grace of God did not touch me at all.

By that time I was already forty years old. And in my arms is a late child, who is only five and a half years old. You had to take care of him, feed him, dress him. And having forgotten about the most important thing - about the salvation of the soul, I completely plunged into the everyday whirlwind. My existence without God again began to resemble a meaningless, hectic run, from which I constantly felt only incredible tiredness.

Fortunately for me, the Lord again looked at me and heard my weak but desperate call. And this time He showed His unlimited mercy. Even the day before, completely unaware of anything, I was still indulging in worldly vanity. I worked as an artist and tried to fulfill a large order on time. The sharply deteriorating health made me immediately go to the doctor at the end of work. I have not sought medical help for a long time. And the dry words of the surgeon: "Tomorrow is urgent for an operation ..." - came as a shock to me. Everything inside me immediately went cold. Suddenly my whole life, a life in which there was no longer time to stop and think, suddenly and abruptly stopped, frozen in front of a terrifying unknown. "How can I? .. What will happen to me? What will happen to my loved ones, to my little child?" will she appear before the Lord? .. "

Solving the financial difficulties of my family, I worked day and night, completely forgetting about God. For more than a month I have not visited the church, have not confessed, and have not received the Holy Mysteries. The accumulated unrepentant sins weighed down the soul. But I justified such a long non-attendance in front of my aching conscience and before God by temporary circumstances, severe fatigue and lack of time. With the sudden news of what was to come, my whole life and its values ​​changed instantly. And on this long and painful night before the operation, I did not sleep at all, thinking that the most important and unique thing for me now was only the salvation of my soul. The awareness of his sinfulness led to burning despair. And everything inside me burned with a painfully burning fire. Having hardly waited for the morning and leaving the preparations for the hospital, I rushed headlong into the familiar monastery to the priest, whom I had always confessed to, hoping that he would not refuse me help. To my great happiness, my father was in the monastery. I spent more than an hour in heartfelt repentance and crying for my sins. The Lord was so merciful that he did not refuse me the Communion of the Holy Mysteries. It immediately became easier for me. The sacraments lifted a heavy burden from my darkened soul. And the instructions of the priest, who did not hide the truth, set me up for the worst, helped me a lot to cope with animal fear and properly prepare myself for the operation. Finally calming down, I surrendered myself to the will of the Almighty.

The rest of the time before the operation, I just repeated the Jesus Prayer. Trying not to lose her, I lay down on the operating table. When the anesthesia "went" and a chill was felt in the mouth, thoughts began to blur, as if melting. And I managed to say in my mind only: "Lord, in your hand ..." But then, gathering my strength, feeling the importance of this prayer at such a crucial moment in my life, I nevertheless finished: "... I betray my soul."

Before this incident, I have repeatedly undergone operations under general anesthesia. And every time I came to, there was only a feeling of deep sleep without dreams. And this time ... When I finished the prayer, it was as if I flew out somewhere. At the same time, consciousness did not leave me for a split second. It was as if I had surfaced in another dimension. I admit right away that what began to happen to me from that moment was outside of earthly sensations and concepts. And for all the paucity of human language, it cannot be fully described. But I still dared to do it, guided by the will from above.

Nothing in me or outside me and remotely resembled the earthly. Everything human sensations disappeared immediately. Everything earthly is gone, disappeared without a trace. But I knew for sure that it was me and that all this was happening to me. The sensations of oneself were so not earthly bright and whole that it is not possible for the human mind to appreciate it. On earth, burdened by the flesh, the sensations of oneself are very limited and closed on their own "I". In addition, human consciousness, constantly torn apart by a stream of thoughts and a flurry of emotions, has no integrity, as I realized after a while, assessing my state THERE.

So, my mind was concentrated together clearly and clearly. The next moment I suddenly wanted to define myself, to realize: what I am, what I am? And my consciousness suddenly and invisibly suddenly separated from me. And I saw myself from the side. And I was able to examine myself in great detail. On the earth, this sounds, at least, strange and improbable. But THERE is its own reality and its own laws of being, absolutely not subordinate to our understanding ...

In terms of time, this whole episode happened very quickly. But the temporal concepts THERE are also unique: time THERE, as it were, exists in time. And the moment when I looked at myself from the outside was an independent and capacious piece of time in the general course of instant events that did not stop for a moment.

The next moment I saw a huge bright space in front of me, causing a calm, bright joy. This immense light space stretched to the horizon, which was clearly visible. And behind me, I felt, there was a line separating me from the abyss (this is how I felt the place from which I had just "come"). I was, as it were, on a plane, under which there was a dark and deaf abyss. This invisible and unknown plane separated that oppressive, gloomy abyss from the endless light space in which I now found myself.

Even on earth, before the operation, I desperately prayed that the Lord would give me at least a little more time, at least a little of it, to distribute debts to my neighbors. I painfully prayed to Him that He would give me this opportunity. And when I was THERE, there was only one goal in me. Everything in me was subordinated to her and concentrated on this goal. It was an irresistible desire and certainly to get to HIM. Who was above everything and in everything, to whom everything is subordinate. The word "God" was absent in my mind at that time. But I clearly knew that this was the Last Instance, the Actor of everything, the Judge. I needed to get to HIM with a REQUEST. With the REQUEST, which I brought with me from where I had just come, and more important than which there was nothing in me and for me. This was the only thing that mattered to me. I didn’t even realize, didn’t think about what this request was. But it was precisely this REQUEST that was the only driving factor that forced me with an irresistible thirst with all my being to strive for HIM - that was what filled and overwhelmed all of me.

For a moment, I felt completely alone. But it was only just a moment. Because the next moment (regardless of me and my motivation) a movement suddenly began in which I was no longer alone. And I immediately felt this someone's presence, although I had not yet seen anyone. But someone or something very warm, large, reliable suddenly appeared from somewhere next to me, taking care of and accompanying me in the movement that suddenly began. There was a feeling that such an unexpected appearance of someone was given from the highest consent, from sympathy for me, who had fallen into unfamiliar conditions, in support and direction of me. And I immediately felt confidence and trust in the unknown guide and tried to convey my intentions to my companion. But this turned out to be completely unnecessary, since he knew everything about my intention here even without my notification. And, unquestioningly obeying my main desire-goal, he carried me along.

I will make a small digression to complete my story. A couple of days after the operation, a neighbor visited me. I told her without any details that during the operation I was "traveling". Then she remembered that more than seven years ago, also under general anesthesia during the operation, she also "traveled". She began to describe everything in great detail, and I was struck by the amazing similarity (even in small things) with my impressions. The impressions of her journey were so strong that she remembered everything with clarity that did not fade from time to time for more than seven years. But there was one in our "travels" with her, and a very significant difference. Namely: no one accompanied my friend THERE, and she felt THERE a feeling of immeasurable loneliness. I can also add that she is a person who believes in God, but not Orthodox and unbaptized, denying Christ as Savior.

Now I will continue my journey again. The satellite that guided our movement with him was felt by me more and more clearly. I was more and more aware that he is obliged to show me all this from Someone's higher permission and I must go through this entire route, determined for me from above. But I still had only one goal most of all - to get to HIM as soon as possible. My companion seemed to immediately catch everything that was happening in me. Any movement in me immediately, like a thought, was transmitted to him, as if during a conversation between two people who understand each other well. But the language of our communication with him was not at all human. Having caught my impatient desire, my guide obeyed me unquestioningly. We soon found ourselves in a confined space, in the center of which was a kind of funnel. This funnel was tilted into some unknown space under ours, as if inside it. In indecision, I stopped very close to this funnel. My guide also stopped. We seemed to be waiting for something, feeling that we needed to stop.

Now I had the opportunity to see my companion with all the details. He was neither man nor woman. Long wavy hair fell from the head to outstretched wings and merged with them. He was wearing a robe that hid his limbs. My whole companion - his head, face, long flowing hair, wings and clothes - shimmered, shimmering with waves of color, which was very much like the shimmer of light over the mother-of-pearl surface of a sea shell. His body did not resemble rough human flesh in quality, but, as it were, consisted of opaque dense ether. The scent that emanated from my companion was not just a scent. It was an unusually wonderful spiritual aroma, the likes of which I had never felt in earthly conditions. His face, radiating unearthly peace, was soft and calm. There were eyes, a nose, and a mouth on the face. But all this was one, without sharp boundaries and outlines, thus even more expressing the softness and beauty of the face.

Later, on earth, I tried to understand why my companion was so strikingly familiar to me, as if it reminded me of someone. After a while, I remembered. Yes, yes, undoubtedly - "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev! The amazing faces of the icon reflect the same equanimity and calmness, the same softness and beauty of unearthly tranquility. And even the external similarity, the proportions of the face and body are very close to the appearance of my companion, which very much resembled, by the same, the images from the ancient Russian icons. And it seemed to me that in the deed of prayer, the holy icon painters revealed the true vision of the invisible world, hidden from sinful, fleshly eyes.

While I was looking at my companion, he made it clear to me in the affirmative that we were at my desired goal. All the time of our communication, I also clearly felt that, obeying me, he was more than that controlled and completely subordinate to the will from above, which invisibly, but inherently guided and controlled him all the time. I also felt just as clearly that my companion knew what I was not privy to. But for some reason I did not even have the slightest desire to know more than what was allowed to me from above.

The next moment I saw how people like me, with their guides, suddenly emerging from somewhere, rush into the funnel with lightning speed and disappear there, as if being sucked into it. They, like colorless transparent shadows, flickered one after another. The companions kept their wards between the wings, carefully covering their invaluable load with them. The space where I stayed with my guide for a reason that was not yet clear to me was for them only a short moment on the way to their goal. My companion, watching the flickering shadows, smoothly turned his head, and I saw his equally beautiful profile. For a while, he calmly watched what was happening, as if waiting for something. Suddenly an irresistible craving arose in me - the desire to follow along with everyone into this funnel. But my companion instantly caught what was happening in me and immediately made me understand that I should join him. Without hesitation, I immediately, in an instant, found myself under his outstretched right wing. And from there, as from a safe haven, I watched what was happening. My impatience grew more and more, and I wondered: what are we waiting for? I was so eager to submit to the general movement and follow the beckoning funnel. But my companion seemed to be waiting for the moment to tell me what I myself should have guessed and not insist on my own. In the end he told me: "It's not time yet."

He told me this very convincingly and firmly. And I immediately, without hesitation, agreed with him, as if instantly understood everything that I was not HERE. From that moment on, I suddenly felt how I began to move down, already in a completely different space. It was as if I fell out of that dimension and went down, flew already alone, without my guide. But his sudden disappearance did not alarm or frighten me in the least.

I fell through a white fog, rather, it was a white light, and I was serene, good and calm. All my desires, which until then occupied my entire being and were the most significant and important for me, suddenly disappeared, dissolved, leaving no trace. The bliss that I felt in return cannot be expressed, since I have not experienced anything at least somewhat similar in my life (and I had no idea about it at all). Everything around was filled with a state of endless and boundless LOVE for me and for those around me.

It was the all-encompassing LOVE, the LOVE emanating from HIM, the LOVE that permeated and embraced my entire being, responding in me with childish devotion and equally disinterested love for its Creator. Blissful thrill, boundless happiness filled me. All of me seemed to exist only for the sake of this quivering love for HIM, at the same time absorbing the LOVE radiated by the Almighty with all of me. And there were no boundaries, no limit to the depth of this all-embracing and all-pervading LOVE. It seemed that everything that exists in general is only LOVE and nothing more.

For a while I sank like this, enjoying unearthly serene happiness and sweet bliss. But when I went down below and was already out of the white light, the feelings of bliss disappeared immediately and without a trace. And I was instantly possessed by an inhuman cry-cry. I kind of came to my senses: after all, I could not convey to HIM the most important thing, for the sake of which I had come all this way. And the realization of this plunged me into indescribable horror.

Having directed my "gaze" upward, I began to cry out to God. The concept-word "God" has already appeared in my mind. I cried out to Him with despair and crying, constantly repeating: "Lord, forgive me! Lord, save my child!" - but not yet in words, but as if with his whole being. The feeling of unbearable sorrow was immensely deep in me. It was as if I had lost something that was the only meaning of my being, and now consisted only of inhuman pain, an inconsolable cry and incessant groaning for God. Yes, because I lost that boundless LOVE, and it was painful, sorrowful and unbearable for me. It was as if every second I was dying again and again, burning incessantly from the excruciating pain that announced me.

Later, on earth, every now and then I mentally returned to the memories of that boundless divine LOVE and to the memories of unbearable sorrow, comparing them. Probably, it was no coincidence that I was shown such a huge difference in these states. Now they, these states, like two points between God and darkness, constantly remind me of the meaning of my earthly existence and of what I should strive for in this life with all my might. The memory of the pain and sorrow that I experienced as a result of being cut off from God made me think that even having experienced this, I can only vaguely guess about the despair and suffering in which sinners languish in hell, inconsolably crying out to God. And their terrible pain is great not only because they burn in hellish fire, but also because they are cut off from God, from His boundless LOVE. And this isolation from God is not a burning in hell, and sophisticated demonic torments and fierce tortures are not the result of complete isolation and absolute insecurity of Divine LOVE? Now I realized that human nature, completely preoccupied with absorbing worldly concerns, is not able to understand all the horror and hopelessness of a sinner languishing in hell. We live on earth as if death, with its inevitable changes in being, would not touch us personally.

My hopelessly crushed cry did not stop and more and more tore my soul. This went on for some time ... But suddenly at some point I distinctly felt that I was seeing Him. And His presence immediately filled everything with white light. It was something powerful and all-embracing, without specific forms, filling everything that exists and emitting a dazzling white light, the light of the unfading Eternal Sun. The dazzling majesty of the Creator caused in me even greater trepidation and sobbing. I was shocked and absorbed in everything that was revealed to me. Then I noticed that there was someone else next to Him, but much less, and its outlines in general silhouette resembled human ones: a head and, as if the upper part of folded wings and shoulders, everything else was immersed in a white fog-light. I also didn’t see the face, as it also dissolved in white light. I felt love and warmth emanating from him in relation to me, and also the fact that he was familiar to me with this warmth and sympathy for me. This someone, so perceptibly familiar to me, spoke to HIM (God), and I clearly understood that this conversation directly concerned me. He seemed to intercede for me before God. And into my desperate cry, which was not interrupted for a moment, suddenly involuntarily burst into an incredible force of contrition for its sinfulness, which grew more and more.

And the Lord seemed to listen to my cry. And the fact that I was finally heard by Him began to have a calming effect on me, as if His LOVE, which I had lost, began to return to me again. But, oddly enough, my broken cry still did not stop, it became deeper and stronger.

At some point, the white light and everything that it contained began to disappear, as if dissolving. And I felt myself descending into denser layers. From contact with this density, the sensations gradually began to change to less pleasant ones. Crying-prayer in me still did not stop, and moreover, it intensified, but expressed already, along with repentance, and deep gratitude to the Almighty.

I descended lower and lower, until suddenly I heard voices already sounding on the earth, and scraps of the phrase: "... She wakes up ...". Although there were no bodily sensations yet, somehow I felt that I was being shifted somewhere. I saw a white fog in front of me and thought that maybe I was going back to where I had just come down from. Later I realized that it was a hospital wall covered with white tiles. But before that, for a long time I could not understand where I am. At some point, I realized that I was already crying out to the Lord, in human language. Sometimes I interrupted my earnest prayer to the Lord in order to ask questions addressed to the voices I had heard earlier: "Where am I? .. Am I on earth? .. Am I a man? ..".

In response, I heard the soft voice of my sister, calming me down with affirmative answers. Gradually, I slowly began to realize that it was really me, that I was on earth, and that everything that should have happened to me, but what exactly, I had not yet realized, had already ended.

Before the operation, I was very afraid that I might not wake up and that my loved ones would be shocked by this loss, that it would be very difficult for them without me. And my petition to HIM (to God) consisted of a request to leave me still on earth in order to "distribute debts to my neighbors." And most importantly, my sinfulness had a very strong effect on me. And I was well aware that I could not "leave" in such a bad state of affairs ...

My desperate cry-crying continued, and I felt that I was being burned with a red-hot iron. Later I realized what burned me so unbearably. They were tears. They streamed from my eyes, so that all the clothes around my neck were wet. Gradually all of me began to fill with aching bodily pain. And I felt myself slowly returning to my body.

My return to my body was long and unpleasant. Especially at the first moment of awareness of what is happening. I felt an unpleasant earthly weight, which, like molten lead, poured into me, strong grief and deep disappointment from returning to earth.

But, in spite of such negative and unpleasant sensations, in my cry-cry, along with gratitude, there was also the realization that my request was nevertheless heard by Him ...

According to the nurse, I cried out to God for more than an hour and a half, desperately and tearfully. They persuaded me with difficulty not to make noise, because there were still patients in the ward, after which I stopped praying aloud, but I continued to do this in my thoughts for a long time, until I fell into sleepy oblivion.

They began to operate on me at six o'clock in the evening. At two o'clock in the morning I woke up, remembering everything very vividly. I was more and more seized by an unrelenting desire to get up and write down everything that happened to me. The confidence grew more and more that I should do this not for myself, but for someone else. As if someone was forcing me to do it. At that moment I had the impression that what happened to me THERE was so natural and there was nothing special about it. It seemed to me then that any human soul is close to all those experiences that I had THERE, that it is available to everyone ... But the demand, growing from somewhere above, still forced me, as it were, to capture, fix on paper what remained in my memory ... And, still perplexed about the demands from the outside that were not clear to me, I finally got out of bed, obeying the calls from above, and with difficulty controlling my body, relaxed after anesthesia, wrote everything down.

Before that, I had never had to write. And I was very struck by the feeling that something was in control of my hand. From somewhere it easily poured into my consciousness that I had to write down. And it was not difficult for me to do it. At some point, I suddenly thought: “Maybe someone needs this; maybe this story about an extraterrestrial journey will help someone gain faith that our life is not just a short and meaningless moment on earth and the meaning of this brief moment is so important for the future, imperishable life. And most importantly, by my example someone will be able to gain faith in the true God. " Earlier, before what happened to me, I was often tormented by lack of faith and doubts. I came to Orthodoxy some nine months ago. And now I know for sure: there is God!

***

After a while, I decided to supplement my notes with what, I hope, can be of some value to a believer.

This operation took place on March 14, 1996, during Lent. And what happened to me during it, I'm sure, was not a dream. It was undoubtedly a reality. Sleep impressions tend to fade and fade from memory. Even the brightest events of day life are gradually dimmed and forgotten. And this! .. I remember everything, down to the smallest details, so vividly! ..

And what happened to me the first time after the operation can also be attributed to amazing. Truly, the Lord's generosity has no boundaries. He will punish the sinner with great love. Having honored me with a serious test, He generously rewarded me, opening the veil of the mysterious and inaccessible to many mortals. And what I acquired in a short moment of trials deeply entered my soul.

After returning to earth for about three more months, there was a feeling that I had not quite returned to my body. It felt like I was like a newborn baby. And the whole world was perceived by me in a completely different way. It was an extraordinary feeling of unity with everyone living on earth, as if I were one body with all people, a feeling of equality before the Almighty with any person, even the most wretched and sinful. I was very keenly aware that we are one for God, and therefore I developed a deep awareness of responsibility for everyone. I felt that we have no right to offend our neighbors and we need to live only in love for each other. There was a surprisingly deep feeling of love for everything earthly - nature, plants - and an amazing feeling of enjoying every moment of earthly life. It was as if a feeling of sincere gratitude for everything to the Almighty was born in me. For everything that happened to me, is happening and can happen more. There was a sincere desire not to sin anymore and not to offend others.

After the operation, the fear for the child's fate completely disappeared. I realized how the Lord infinitely loves all of us and cares about all of us, only we do not always understand this and often resist His good will. And much deeper I realized that every our request to God will undoubtedly be heard.

One of the most valuable acquisitions I received THERE was the complete absence of fear of death. Before, before believing in God, I often woke up at night, experiencing a chilling, grave horror of death. Life with such a horrifying end seemed to me then senseless and worthless. I saw that we, people, like primitive insects, swarm in earthly worries-passions, creating fragile and short-lived structures - the structures of ants. And she understood more and more that a person is stubbornly looking for the meaning of life in this process, inventing numerous and most complex theories of being to justify his swarming. And it was already impossible to hide from oneself the fact that all this instantly disintegrates in the face of such an inevitable and inevitable fact as death. The widespread theory of being that we live to procreate also did not comfort me. And, obviously not wanting to accept the frightening inevitability, I relentlessly tried to find a more reliable justification for human existence. Intuitively, I felt that there is still a deeper and more undeniable justification for every human life. And now, thanks to Orthodoxy, I managed to radically change my attitude towards earthly life and death. I realized that life, to which we so desperately and convulsively cling to, turns only into dust and dust at the feet of the Lord. And the experience given to me from above really showed that there is no death (in the understanding of an unbelieving person). And there is only getting rid of everything that is superfluous and interfering and the acquisition of the wholeness of the true "I" in an indissoluble connection with God. The consciousness that the true reality is THERE, and our earthly so-called reality is only an imaginary reality, nothing more than an illusion taken for reality, has firmly entered into me. And if my "journey" can only be called the first step to death, then death itself is deliverance from earthly existence in endless painful passions.

Now death for me is no longer a frightening inevitability, darkening reason, causing an animal fear of the unknown. Death for me is now a liberation, a gift from God. The earthly stay, in comparison with the heavenly one, turned out to be so immensely painful and oppressive, and the unforgettable memories of the "white light" are so sweetly real that replacing earthly vegetation with a heavenly abode would now be just happiness and a dream for me. But ... Even then, when I was on the way FROM THERE, instead of horror before death, I was seized by an all-consuming horror for my sinfulness. And when my consciousness returned to my body, the fear of sin completely supplanted the animal fear of death. And the horror of the fact that I did not atone for my sins before God is so great that it makes me think no more about heavenly bliss, but about eternal burning. Now I understand that only the death of a righteous man is deliverance, and the death of a sinner is terrible in its hopelessness. I began to understand more and more that the Lord only needs a soul, washed with tears of repentance.

Yes, pain is an ordeal. But, probably, this is the only thing that can deeply shock a person, forcing him to change his view of earthly existence itself and revive him to a new life. We do not so appreciate this gift - life, forgetting about a short moment, given by the Lord. I clearly remember that THERE I retained the most pronounced traits of my character, which guided me and THERE. This is assertiveness and anxiety, inability to wait. Now I can only conclude that you need to educate your character here on earth. THERE it will be too late. THERE we will only be presented with a fait accompli ...

The attitude to food was unusual in the early days after the operation. I will not hide the fact that all my life one of my sins was gluttony, with which I either successfully fought, then fell into it again. The first time after the operation, I did not feel like eating at all. Not that there was no physical desire, but simply this process of eating suddenly lost its meaning for me, becoming simply incomprehensible. THERE my soul was satiated with the goodness of the Lord, and nothing more was required of it. And she did not expect any other substitute for spiritual food, living with unearthly grace. Thus, an absolutely amazing state was revealed to me, when neither the flesh nor the soul was burdened with coarse physical food (which I did not want to touch at all). But my soul nevertheless returned to earth, back to my body. It was impossible to get away from this, it had to be accepted as a will from above. And the body eventually demanded its food. At first I was very grieved that my soul was increasingly falling into a sleepy state, a state of dullness and imperceptibility. My connection with that which was THERE, from a mighty stream gradually turned into the thinnest thread. The thread that nevertheless connects me with that world. And with this connection I manage to survive now in this harsh and indifferent world. Yes, the earthly world is seen so cold and callous in comparison with the Heavenly ...

For a long time, upon returning FROM THERE, I kept silent about another fact that was amazing to my consciousness. I understood that he can cause painful despondency in most people. But now, with the passage of time, gradually returning to my usual mundane existence, I realized that what I was hiding could open the eyes of many people to our true earthly existence.

The first three days after returning to earth were especially painful for me. What I, going down, saw and felt from contact with the ground, plunged my renewed soul into a depressing state. The earth appeared to me as a huge stinking trash heap, littered with mountains of living human corpses teeming on it. Their swarming and created an imaginary appearance of life on earth. A terrible unearthly stench emanated from these living human corpses, from which my soul suffocated and incredibly suffered. From this earthly nightmare, which I earlier, living here, did not notice and did not suspect about, my soul was torn back to the sky. It seemed to me that my true homeland was THERE, in heaven, and here I was again by some ridiculous accident, by a strange mistake. I came back FROM THERE like a newborn baby. And I had the complete helplessness of this newborn, vulnerable baby and insecurity from contact with the terrible earthly reality that opened up to me.

I was especially traumatized by close contact with people. Many of them had latent strong aggression and anger, and I saw this with all frankness. It seemed that their wrathful contents were about to splash out of them, and they only with difficulty restrain this internal onslaught. Their inhuman looks, burning from somewhere from within, like red coals; eyes full of anger and anger gave me incredible mental pain. I felt very sorry for these people, and at first I sincerely cried for their sins. But gradually it became more and more difficult for me to come into contact with them. At some point, I felt that my mournful crying for them had stopped, and the feeling of resentment that suddenly appeared was growing.

It was an insult for these people, for their such disastrous condition, but it began to torment my soul unbearably painful. I came to my senses and began to pray for myself. But, obviously, she was late ... The earth really lies in evil. Being here on earth, we remain only perishable, weak people. And along with this resentment, something bad entered me, something oppressive and heavy, imperiously enveloping everything inside, causing a state of painful gloom after a light, unearthly joy.

Subsequently dark forces ruthlessly attacked me, taking revenge on me, as I felt, for my rebirth. Through people close and dear to me, these "inhumans" tried to destroy me and the light in me. With bitterness, I felt my helplessness. And only a continuous connection with God - prayer and faith - saves me.

Once, a far from old man came to the monastery where I attend services. He sank very low from drunkenness, and an unpleasant tart smell emanated from him, since his clothes were soaked in whatever he wore. I did not notice how he was next to me, and from the smell that suddenly hit my nose, I involuntarily turned around. And the first thing that occurred to me was: how do we stink with our sins without noticing this? And what do our Guardian Angels have to endure from us? .. The second thing I thought: probably the Lord brought this unfortunate man here, to the temple, during the service for a reason. This is a good reminder to us sinners of our deplorable state.

And the Lord often reminds us of our true state, sending us sorrows and diseases. Subsequently, it was confirmed that my disease belongs to oncology and is simply called cancer. That surgical intervention in my body was generally contraindicated for him, as it can aggravate the situation, causing a rapid growth of metastases. It turned out that, in haste, the surgeon made a medical error. And instead of the alleged wen, which has grown rapidly over the past month and a half and causing severe headaches, he removed the cancer.

Before the operation, the very word "cancer", like the suspicion of this disease in myself, terrified me. But after what happened to me THERE, the illness of the body, which had caused previously inhuman despair, ceased to be terrible for me. Sickness of the soul - that is what made sense for me and made me shudder at the thought of its consequences. The realization that the illness of the body is only a reflection of the illness of the soul changed my attitude towards life. At some point, I was struck by a secret similarity in the sound of two words - "cancer" and "sin". Sin is a cancer of the soul, I realized. And if sin is not avoided in time, then it can completely take over the soul and lead it to destruction. Then the death of the body will only be a consequence of the death of the soul. I don’t know what would have happened to me if before the operation I had not cleansed my soul with repentance. I’m even scared to think about the likely outcome. I suspect that, burdened with many sins, my soul could not rise up. Rather, she would be doomed to fall into the abyss ...

Some acquaintances now look at me as at a doomed patient, trying to hide their sympathy. But I myself know that it was with this disease that my true healing began, the healing of my sick soul, affected by the tumor of sinfulness. And I realized that this operation was more on the soul than on the body. It was as if they had removed a heavy, oppressive flap that separated me from God. Although the doctor made a mistake, I don’t think to be annoyed about this, or even more so to scold him, because I believe: everything happened with the highest consent. And I am very grateful for everything to the Almighty.

Sometimes I wondered why I was honored with such a favor. For what such merit was I granted to experience all this? And I could not find an answer to this question, remembering that my whole life was just a crime before God. And I think that only the intercession of my deeply religious ancestors saved me from the pernicious abyss, at the edge of which I stood so close all my unreasonable life. Yes, only their strong prayer before the Lord for an unreasonable perishing child could do such miracles with me, a desperate sinner. And the prayer for me, I think, was strong, since all my ancestors, both through my mother and through the father’s side, turned out to be priests. The suffering death of one of them, Archpriest Alexy Porfiriev, is described in the recently published two-volume book of Hieromonk Damaskin (Orlovsky) "Martyrs, Confessors and Ascetics of Piety in the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th Century." I learned all this when I came to the faith and began to be keenly interested in who my relatives were, because I vaguely remembered that as a child I accidentally heard from a conversation between adults that my great-grandfather was a priest. Later I learned from archival data that he was a very respected archpriest in Nizhny Novgorod. The surviving relatives, having in the family the well-known and for that paid with their lives, the servants of the Orthodox Church, carefully concealed from us, children, the whole, sometimes very terrible, truth, since they lived in incredibly difficult conditions of persecution.

Glory to our Lord for everything, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

(The story of a resident of St. Petersburg Natalia Sedova.
"Lampada", supplement to the Orthodox newspaper "Blagovest".
Samara, No. 1, 1998)

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There was a storm of rain all night. In the morning it was quiet, but the rain is still falling a little; we decide to build a church and serve. In a neighboring fanza, Xenophon contrived to bake prosphora with such a temper, however, that one could hardly chew; today we bought hops instead of yeast so that the prosphora would come out better by Sunday. At 9.30 in the morning, the church was set up, it came out very beautiful: I can't see enough. Squadrons and our wagons arrived. I cleaned the church as best I could. In the corner they drove a stake and a board to it - this is an altar, covered it with a red tablecloth and a napkin, put a folding icon on it, an offering to the 36th division, and a candle. I put a regimental icon on the throne, in front of it there are two candles in tall candlesticks, on the sides of the holy antimension there are crosses: the Grand Duchess and the one presented to me by the spiritual children of the city of Orel. It turned out so comfortable that not only me, but absolutely everyone who came to pray with us is delighted. You will enter this church and you will forget that this is China, Mukden, war ... As if for a moment you were transported to your native Russia!

Made a proskomedia; I finally remembered all the living and the dead, for whom I was used to praying in my own church, especially the birthday girls! How gratifying it was to serve! And how merciful the Lord is: as soon as the liturgy began, the rain stopped and the sun began to shine! Everyone's spirits were noticeably heightened; the soldiers sang enthusiastically!

After the liturgy, he served a short prayer service to the holy martyrs; After all, we have a lot of birthday girls in the regiment, both relatives and friends, God grant them health! After dinner, dear guests came to us: General Tsurikov and military agents, Bulgarian and Prussian majors, very nice people; now they took photographs of us at the camp church.

At 3.30 pm I went to see my neighbor, Father; I say to Mikhail: "I will go alone: ​​after all, it's only two miles." And what? I looked around and saw: Mikhailo was walking in the distance. "Why are you?" I ask. “I can’t let you go alone, even though it’s close,” he replies, and he walked me to the Nezhinsky bivouac.

I went to church last night and this morning to read the rule. How quiet and peaceful it is! Complete relaxation of the mind. Suddenly, somewhere not far away, a rifle shot rang out, and a bullet whizzed through the bivouac between our and the commander's tent. We are lost who could shoot. Hunghui? Hardly: in the daytime and, moreover, very close to the bivouac would not dare. Most likely, a soldier in a nearby bivouac was cleaning a gun, but forgot to take out the cartridge. So the Lord saved us. We are positively surprised how the bullet flew through the entire bivouac and did not hit anyone, and many soldiers heard its whistle. Miracle! Just think, how many times the Lord saves people from various troubles, but they do not even notice! How just are the holy fathers, insistently demanding from people "sober", attention to everything that is happening inside and outside their being! Then there would be half the number of unbelievers!

Today we will serve all-night vigil, the first in the camp church; notified everyone; at 5.30 pm a service was scheduled.

The Chinese return from the fields, ragged, dirty - sorry to see ... I gave the smallest a silver patch. And what? Like mushrooms, Chinese chicks grew from somewhere, and they were all small, we had to dress everyone until the piglets came out. I hid my wallet and show with signs that there is no more money, but they don’t believe and started tricks: they start showing me various sores on my body, saying: “Lomailo,” that is, “we are sick”. I laughed; had to "cure" and "sick"! Ah, children, children! .. Everywhere they are the same: cheerful, trusting, simple; they are jumping and frolicking near our bivouac. They do not care that tomorrow, perhaps, "Japanese" will come here, "boom, boom" will begin and "pills" (guns) will start talking. A crowd of Chinese people will gather, among them you will forget a little.

Today during dinner a fairly decent Chinese man with a three-stringed bandura came up to the table, with him his daughter, a girl of six or seven years old; it is perfectly combed into three braids with pink bows, and the cheeks are a little rouged (this is the custom of all Chinese women); she is dressed in a colorful dress, a pretty girl; also, like her father, saluted us in a military manner. The Chinese man asked permission for the girl to sing for us. The commander gave permission, and we listened to the original concert: the father very calmly played something sad on the bandura, and the daughter sang. Obviously, her hearing is wonderful and her voice is angelic, but she sings through her nose, as they should. We were all very pleased to see this couple. The father has an unusually good-natured face, and he treats his daughter very tenderly; probably forced by need. We gave them two rubles.

At 5 o'clock I prepared everything for the service; all our former visitors and neighbors gathered; the service began ... For some reason it seemed to me that we had never served so solemnly: everything came out somehow okay, even the singing! I performed censing around the whole church; and how strongly the singing then had an effect on the soul: “Thou art created all wisdom”, “Glory to Ty, Lord, who created everything”, when everything created: heaven and earth, people, animals, cereals, grass, trees - everything is right there before your eyes! The smoke of the censer rushed straight to heaven, and with it our common heart "hallelujah" (glory to Thee) to the Lord for everything. I myself read the stichera, the canon - Mikhailo, but I held the Gospel in my hands instead of an analogy; soldiers come up, kiss, and next they sing and sing: "You are my fortress, Lord, you are my strength, you are my God, you are my joy ... Visit our poverty ... glory to your strength, Lord! .." The words must be heard here, in the war, when, perhaps, now nothing human will help us, but only our Power is God! And the singers are already singing: "Cleanse me, Savior, my iniquity is many, build up from the depths of evils, I pray ... direct me to the path of Thy commandments." God! Is it possible to listen to all this without emotion? We have sinned and are worthy of Your extreme disgust, O Lord, but cleanse, Savior, with our suffering the sins of our dear fatherland: we do not grumble, we endure, we humble ourselves, we thank; just forgive and call "everyone and everything" from the depths of the fall to a new life pleasing to you! Our night praises and prayers are over! The moon rose, illuminated our church with its mysterious light. And it stands like a “quiet haven” in the middle of the naval sea and invites everyone to her to strengthen her mental and physical strength, to calm her down! I went back to church to read the rule ...

The weather is good and warm. We not only rested, but even recovered. Yesterday, after serving the Holy Liturgy, under the wonderful impression of the emotional pleasure I had experienced, I sent a telegram to the organizer of the church, Her Highness Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, and received the following reply today: “Mukden. Priest Mitrofan of Srebryansky. So happy that we could pray in the marching temple; with you in prayer unity, God help you all! Elizabeth ". May the Lord bless her Highness with His grace!

Today is Sunday. With great joy I prepared for the service of the Holy Liturgy. The service began at 9 o'clock; The corps commander, the brigade commander, our squadrons, sappers, the engineering park and the headquarters of the 17th corps were present. The weather was perfect and everything was conducive to our celebration. The sermon spoke to the Gospel, that we, like the ancient ascetics, in the campaign must endure hunger, cold, heat, thirst. They, pleasing God, humbled themselves by fasting and other exploits, but we will tolerate a little now. After the liturgy, the cornet Krupsky took a photograph of the church and of me in vestments. At one o'clock in the afternoon I had a snack, and at 2 o'clock Mikhail and I were already on our way to the squadrons. At 3 o'clock he served in the 6th squadron and immediately left for the 5th squadron, standing eight miles away, in order to serve there too and have time to return to the bivouac before dark. We were driving, we had already traveled five versts, we were looking: a cloud of dust was approaching, it turns out, this is the 5th squadron going to a new parking lot; had to return home. In the evening, the news came that the missing volunteer Rukavishnikov was found in the hospital for treatment. When he lost his way and was left alone in the middle of the field, the hunghuzes attacked him and wounded him in the arm. The horse threw him off and ran away. He passed out from loss of blood. The infantry found him in Gaoliang; the wound has already rotted and gangrene has begun; now the finger has been cut off and he is recovering.

NOTES

Alexandra and Militsa Khostnik, pupils of the Oryol women's gymnasium, pupils of Fr. Mitrofan.
Varya Burba is a student of the parish school, set up by the care of Fr. Mitrofan Srebryansky.
Officer, treasurer of the regiment.

It's still frosty at night; but as we have become accustomed to the heat and rains, so now we are beginning to get used to the frost: we have already gotten used to sleeping having dressed. This morning I read the canon of St. Andrew of Crete in Russian translation, could not resist and suggested to one very educated gentleman, whom I met in Mukden at the headquarters, so that he would understand how wonderful the content of our liturgical books is. And what? An hour or two passes, this gentleman brings me a little book and gives it to me with the words: "No, father, something I didn't understand this canon!" With sadness to pain, I put the cherished book on the camp table and went out for a walk. I come to the tent. There is no book on the table. Seeking. She is not there, is she really lost? I go to the train, I look: under the gig, Xenophon lies on the chumiz and reads ... the canon of penitence. It was he who removed the tent and, interested in the book, took it. "Do you like it?" - I ask. “Oh, father, I never read better in my life; painfully good: the whole soul melted after reading. What sinners we are! Thank God that now we suffer at least a little! " - answers. It is a fact. Apparently, the Lord was pleased that two people of completely different education and position expressed their opinion on the same book! Here it is, the opinion of a simple man, a kind of "fisherman". He is simple in soul and in his simplicity, while reading this, he sooner and closer felt God as a Father and recognized himself as a sinful son.
Today in our tent all of our people drank coffee and tea, each vividly recalled something from his life, and most importantly, made assumptions about the war: how soon will it end, how soon will new battles begin. We look forward to every minute of the start of the battle. Our troops have reached Yantai today, and maybe even passed it. During lunch we hear a voice from the road: "Capetana, capetana, lomailo!" They looked around: a young Chinese merchant was standing, holding a basket in his hands and showing that he had been robbed by soldiers. Nick and I went. Vl. Bukreev to analyze this case. The Chinese man immediately pointed out to five of our soldiers that during foraging in the field they took away his paper, tobacco and pears. The search confirmed the validity of the complaint, and the soldiers were facing trial, but they begged to be punished at home and vowed never to do so again. The Chinese man was triumphant: they paid him the losses and said that now the soldier would also be punished. Several Chinese have already gathered. We thought that it would give them great satisfaction, but something completely unexpected happened: having received the money, they were completely satisfied and, upon hearing about the punishment of the soldiers, they all knelt down and howled furiously, begging the "captain", that is, Lieutenant Colonel Boukreev, not to punish the soldiers ... Now, they say, war, what to do? We are not offended and happy with the money. At the same time, one even cried. This scene amazed me: I never thought that the Chinese could do this, being really offended. Yes, the apostle's word is true that in every nation there are people who are pleasing to God according to their deeds. Night is coming; a cold wind was blowing. Hastened to the tent, put on a warm cassock and galoshes. Today is somehow sad in the evening: the stars are not visible, the sky is covered with clouds, there is dust and smoke from fires in the air. All the time, troops are marching past us to Liaoyang. 24th; slept badly at night; from the cold, the horses broke off the hitching post and rushed around the bivouac; one even ran into our tent and broke the rope. The morning is gray; the strong wind then turned into a storm; clouds of dust; cold. I am terribly worried lest our church be destroyed. At 11 o'clock in the morning, volleys of cannons were heard ahead, and now the firing goes on without interruption. It has begun! .. Lord, have mercy on us, sinners, bless and help us!

The morning is the liveliest: all over the bivouac there is a stomp, the soldiers with a merry laugh ask the trepak, clap their hands, beat each other on the sides, they are echoed by the vegetated horses, and the musician is one for all - Mr. Frost, Red nose! You say we have despondency! No, no: everywhere laughter, jokes. After all, frost to the Russian person is a brother and a reliable ally against enemies. All day we have great fun on the occasion of the frost, our soldiers directly laugh at the sight of the passing officers in hats. Well, there are also hats: right the Eiffel Towers! Something incredible: you can freely make two out of one; and they order such on purpose: they imagine that it is beautiful and belligerent.
Today is a great holy day - the memory of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, and we, despite the frost, prayed in our church, sang a prayer to the monk and magnificence before the icon painted on the outside of the church. In this icon, Saint Sergius blesses the Grand Duke Demetrius of the Donskoy for the battle with Mamai. This blessing then brought down the grace of God on the Russian army! And now? Yes, and now the relatives of the Tatars - the Japanese - have risen against us. "O saint, help us through your prayers to defeat the enemy, so that peace may descend to earth as soon as possible!" With such feelings we prayed in our church. He congratulated the birthday man - lieutenant Sergei Shauman, cleaned up the church and rather warm up in the tent - drink tea, and most importantly, warm up his hands. However, I will have to leave the method of warming my hands with a hot kettle: one staff officer told me that this could cause rheumatism in my hands. I'm sitting warm; I put my feet on the bench; and it’s so good: I don’t want to get up; took the book and began to read. They dined as if they were chasing us: they swallowed as soon as possible, no longer thinking about whether they chewed good or bad, but only the bacon and soup would not freeze. What would the doctors say, my dear wife, when they saw how their father was handling dinner ?! But doctors are with us at the same table, they themselves swallow with might and main, and loving creatures are far, far away: they will not see! And, taking into account the extenuating circumstances, they will forgive. Thank God, we are all completely healthy at the bivouac. Tomorrow is Sunday and the memory of St. John the Theologian; how I would like to serve the liturgy, but the prosphora issue is of the first importance here. Neighbors-sappers left, the Chinese destroyed their stove, and Mikhail traveled around the whole city, the station and achieved nothing; So, with sadness in my heart I decide to serve the All-Night Vigil today, and tomorrow the Mass. I am standing near the church gig, sharing my sorrow with my friends Xenophon and Michael. Suddenly the soldier Nechaev says: “Father, don’t worry, we’ll now make a stove, and there will be prosphora. After all, Galkin is a stove-maker! " I don’t believe, of course, such happiness, but I bless. Now my "stove-makers" dismantled part of the cemetery fence and dug a quadrangular hole in a ditch, laid it out with bricks, covered it with earth, made a pipe - everything was right - and an hour later they flooded it. Xenophon set the dough, and at 9.30 pm he brought hot prosphora to the tent. I was directly amazed: I can't believe my eyes, but he says: "Look, father: the stove is so good that you can bake a pie and bread!" Yes, our amazing soldiers! Bless them God! I happily went to serve the all-night vigil; again rushed from our sinful mouths of prayer and praise to the Creator of all and glorification of the holy apostle of Christ John the Theologian. I fell in love with my little church. I stand in it alone after the service or in the evening by the light of a wax candle, and suddenly it becomes easy on my soul, as if I were not in Manchuria, but there ... at home! Here and tonight I am in it. The wind flutters the linen icons: they rustle, the images of the saints move, as if they, saints, come to life, and speak quietly. Everything around froze. The Lord sent His veil from heaven to tired people - a dream, only the daytime ones barely audibly tinkle with their spurs. Suddenly, a wild cry is nearby: "Oo-oo-oo-oo!" Shuddered. It was an owl that screamed at the cemetery. It is time, then, to visit the bed. I received a telegram from Her Highness from Sergiev Posad: “Prayerfully with you all; just prayed for mass and prayer for the granting of victory; God save you and holy saint. Elizabeth ". There are no words to express how we are all grateful to the Grand Duchess for her truly motherly attitude towards us.

It's a little warmer today. I got up and ran to the church to get ready and prepare everything for the service. I vividly remembered when I was preparing a cold church for the service in the winter in the village of Lizinovka as a deacon; also, it used to happen, and you blow into your hands, and put them in your pocket for a minute, and I myself sweep the dust, take out clothes, vessels, and look for the day's Gospel. So it is now: in the cold, I sweep frozen flies and dust, place holy vessels on the altar and lay out sacred clothes on a bench made of Chinese fanza. Thank God everything is in order; 8.30 ... read the "entrance", put on, start the clock and proskomedia; then the Holy Liturgy, as the statute says, "hurry", since my pilgrims are all shaven and shaved people; the cold wind blows everything through their hairs on their heads, and they noticeably huddle. Well, the Lord is with you. He will forgive. The divine service was finished at 10 o'clock; I even managed to say a short sermon on the Gospel being read. Today, by the grace of God, it was somehow most gratifying to serve; I don’t know why. Xenophon served a censer, carried out a candle and even, imagine, sang! He is always so radiant when I bless him to serve him, and he treats this matter with great reverence.
We cleaned up with Michael in the church; I come to the tent ... Dear Nick. Vlad.! He made me hot, hot coffee: a glass and a roll are already on the table. I was very touched by his heartfelt solicitude, and indeed he always treats me like a family, and I pay him the same. Sinner, warmed himself with great pleasure with coffee and also grabbed a glass of tea with lemon. Well, now let's get down to business: we need to put all the church property into boxes and disassemble the church: we are about to set out from here too. Before lunchtime, we finished work, they removed everything, hid it, and it started raining, as if the Lord was holding the heavenly abyss until the time when we finish cleaning the church. We dined in the rain, then drank tea in the tent; I wanted to go to the squadrons, but in the rain I did not dare; if the weather calms down, I'll go tomorrow morning. He lay down to rest, but the clerk comes from the post office and says: “You, father, there are no letters, but there is a parcel. You will receive a summons tomorrow. " How can you endure until tomorrow? I call Michael, put on capes and run to the post office; waved a mile away, and did not notice. The official gave it out at once. It turned out from Orel: my dear Evd. Alex. and Ekat. Serg., Thanks for the consolation! Without feeling our legs under us, we rushed back. He sat in the tent and uncorked the box himself. He bowed to the icon of the Holy Martyr John the Warrior and put it on his neck. I watched the "pictures" with pleasure, the chocolate was divided in half by Xenophon and Michael. And how good that tea was sent. Chinese is cheap here, but not tasty. Thank you a thousand times for everything. I "lived" the whole evening.

It's a wonderful morning. I decide to go to the squadrons to serve; it is thirty-five miles there. We left at 10 o'clock in the morning with Mikhail on horseback. We passed the familiar bridge over the Yellow River and rolled next to the canvas railroad... What a difference compared to September 15! Then there was not a soul here, now trains run, and again crowds of Chinese workers level the embankment. Life again. We are advancing. How joyful in my soul! But somehow the Lord will bless our work ?! Maybe we will face new challenges? The will of God be done! Let's go, talk. I have one thought sunk deep in my heart: “Oh, if only I could find the squadrons assembled and serve with them! Maybe they are fighting? " From there, the sounds of firing really began to be heard. Here is the Suyutun station, which was then abandoned and stood without windows and doors; now there are people, new doors, windows, and on the platform there are heaps of boxes with shells; gig carts constantly drive up to the station, take the shells and take them to the position: hot fight! Something ahead was envied on the way; the train seems to be moving. Horses pricked up their ears, snoring; the Friend under Michael is especially worried. We are approaching closer. It turns out that a steam locomotive and a carriage are lying on the embankment, completely broken - they have just collided. Sappers are working, clearing the way. A broken weapon is lying nearby; around the mass of troops and carts. We ford the Shakhe River and after three miles drove into the village of Shulintsy, where our three squadrons are stationed. With a sinking heart, I drove up to the fanza of the staff-captain Podgursky: at home? Oh joy! At home, all of ours, even the 5th and 6th squadrons, are expecting a big battle the next day, and today only the 4th squadron is in reconnaissance. How can I thank the Lord that I just got into my free time? And how everyone was glad my arrival! We decided to pray first in the 5th and 6th squadrons, which are three miles further away, and in the 1st and 2nd - at 5 pm. Again we go near the road line. Cannonade thunders to the left. A familiar picture is before our eyes: shells, haze, stretchers with the wounded are bursting.
The Chinese carry on their shoulders two wounded Japanese; behind them in the cart are two more prisoners: small, so nimble. Have arrived. Squadrons gathered in the courtyard of the fanza, set up a table, laid straw instead of a carpet, and the mass service began. The thunder of the firing was so great that we tried to sing louder. As soon as they began to serve, the infantry and artillery soldiers, having heard our singing, ran to us to pray. I preached a sermon on the theme that our army should rely not only on earthly leaders, but also on the help of the heavenly inhabitants, the holy people of God, of whom the first Chosen Voivode is our Lady, the Mother of God, therefore we do not need to lose heart, but, courageously and bravely working on the battlefield, pray to the Blessed Virgin and the saints, asking for their help and blessings. After the service, he congratulated the knights of St. George; our regiment was given fourteen St. George's crosses. How gratifying it was on my soul when I returned! At 5 o'clock he returned to the village of Shulintsy, where everything was also ready for prayer, and here he served in the presence of the corps commander and his headquarters; the sermon spoke on the same topic. Lord, in what position I had to be! Amid the thunder of fire to preach! I sent a note to the 4th squadron with a request to inform me if it is possible to serve a prayer service with them. They answered that it was impossible. For the night I took refuge at Podgursky's, who fed me and gave me tea, otherwise I hadn't eaten anything since morning. He lay down on a stone with a cloak. During the day he was worried and could not sleep for a long time.

At 5.30 am rifle fire rumbled, and about two versts from us shells from the guns howled and screeched. We drove back to Mukden. Thank God, I had time to serve, we drove safely, only in the last ten miles an incident happened to me. The path went through the wilderness; There are no soldiers, and on the occasion of the new moon crowds of Chinese roam ... God knows them, maybe they are hunghuz? Michael says: "Father, let's pass this place as soon as possible!" They rolled ... Suddenly my horse stumbled and fell. No wonder! Having run seventy miles, I was tired; I flew over her head, and she jumped up and jumped over me. All this was a matter of a minute. I bruised my left leg and head a little, but soon everything went away. With the help of Mikhail I sat down in the saddle again, and walked away at a step. The Chinese at that time overtook us and laughed heartily, looking at my funny figure with disheveled hair. A little later I myself laughed, remembering my fall. This is for me to teach, "but I do not extol myself," otherwise I already imagined myself: that's a fine fellow - he traveled seventy miles, served, and wow.
Well, that's horrible. I arrived at the bivouac, and ours are already going to leave tomorrow morning; hence, thirty miles again. Tired. I wanted to write, but I didn't have the strength: I went to bed.

Early in the morning, like a flock of ravens, crowds of tattered Chinese flew into our bivouac, God knows where they knew about our departure. With the greedy eyes of poverty, they looked at empty bottles, canned food boxes, soldiers' huts, the remains of plague. All this with a screech and a fight will immediately be scattered upon our departure. Woe, woe! .. A cry from the chest involuntarily breaks out at the sight of this: after all, the chumiza, the Gaolian, firewood, perhaps from their own fields and yards! .. What happiness is it to believe in the end of earthly life, all these sufferings, resurrection, transformation, renewal of everything; without this, where would one get the strength to endure such tests? Yes, the Chinese are suffering a lot without fighting themselves! At 9 o'clock in the morning we set out in the direction of the Shahe station. Goodbye hospitable Mukden! Farewell, bivouac, where we lived comparatively well and calmly enjoyed the service of the Holy Liturgy! Is there something ahead of us? Many say that we will have to go to Mukden again; well, we'll see. The marching movement was carried out as usual, as always; there was only one adventure: at the crossing over the railway line, our four-wheeled wagon with horses overturned, but everything remained intact. I went ahead; my soul was heavy, a kind of foreboding. I drive away gloomy thoughts: after all, I am a Christian, I believe in God's providence and am ready to accept new trials. Suddenly a thought flashed through my head: “What if we have to give in? No, this is impossible ... But if? Oh, then I will not return to Russia, home: I’m ashamed, I’ll stay to serve in Siberia! .. ”None of us doubts the victory. The Lord punishes and pardons, he does not give trials beyond his strength, but he will also give deliverance - victory. Let's be patient! We crossed the Shahe River, and what then? The divisional transports are going back ... Isn't the presentiment deceived? "Where are you going?" - I ask the transporters with bated breath. "Retreat" - I hear a terrible answer. Indeed, our forces retreated eight versts and lost a lot of guns. How long, Lord, forget us? Really to the end? No, let us not stop loving You and hoping for Your help! We stopped with the headquarters of the corps and two squadrons in the village of Hanchenu. The fire was terrifying, hundreds of wounded. Meanwhile, late in the evening they were sent to say that our troops would not leave the Shakhe River, even though everyone had to die; retreated only from the vanguard positions. I lay down, but, of course, I could not close my eyes for a long, long time; physical fatigue was added to the mental burden: after all, in one and a half days I made more than a hundred miles on horseback. Finally, the firing died down, and I forgot. However, our peace did not last long: the bowl of the bitterness experienced was not yet overflowing. And at one o'clock in the morning the wind howled, thunder roared, lightning flashed and it poured rain as if from a bucket. So, again dirt, again torment! I lit a candle; Nick woke up. Vl .; every minute we expect the tent to fall; our neighbors Alalykin and Shauman are shouting, calling the orderlies: their home has already been torn apart by the wind. So they suffered almost until dawn.

In the morning there was another downpour, so much that I had never experienced anything like that: at once our village was on the island. Everyone is against us: let us be resigned! Ordered to speak at Suyutun; the troops are in their previous positions; only headquarters are moved. Tomorrow is our patronal holiday, and we are on the march. The Liturgy, of course, will not have to be served, even if we managed to choose a minute to serve a prayer service! And that is doubtful. The roar of firing is terrifying: haze, fires of exploding shells, screeching and howling of grenades ... Hell! In the neighboring forest, near the village of Linshipu, where I served as a massacre, shells burst, bullets whistle, death hovers ... With inexpressible sorrow I look at the rows of stretchers and carts with the wounded. Moving forward. A few fathoms have just driven away from the village, I see: there is a tent of the Red Cross, a dressing station of the 35th division, an infirmary where the sufferers are being carried. My soul could not bear it; The Holy Gifts are with me: I turned my horse and went to the infirmary. I ask: "Is there a priest?" The doctor says: “No, but it happens very much. Yesterday, three of those who died of wounds were buried without a funeral service. " I offered my services. The doctor was very happy, and the nurse was already running to me with the words: "Father, please stay, now they will bring many wounded to us!" I happily stayed and was in the infirmary until 3.30 pm. Many wounded were brought in with me. I blessed everyone, consoled everyone as I could. Lord, what torments these sufferers are going through and how the wounded need a priest! You sit next to him on the ground, on the straw, and he almost audibly asks for blessings and prayers. Several times tears came to my throat! If God bless, I will now help the wounded as much as I can by visiting the infirmary. At 6 o'clock in the evening I arrived in Suyutun, found our bivouac and somehow wrote down what I had experienced. I greeted the evening with sadness: there is no all-night vigil and it is unthinkable to serve; And now I go to bed, not knowing if there will be a prayer service tomorrow. Six soldiers were wounded in our regiment, and Lieutenant Timofeev's ear was concussed by a shell; he remained in the ranks. One of our soldiers was hit by five bullets! Now our wagon train was divided: heavy wagons, sick horses with Lieutenant Shauman and veterinarian Alalykin went to Mukden, and we, with a light wagon train, remained with two (1st and 2nd) squadrons.

In the host of confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church there is a couple who, as it were, embodied the fate of a generation. The most gentle, loving spouses, and then, years later - the priest and his cell attendant, they were called by the Lord for one service - to support people spiritually in times of open persecution of Orthodoxy. They are Archimandrite Sergius (Serebryansky) († 1948, Commemorated on March 23 / April 5) and Mother Elizabeth. For more than half a century they have not been here on earth, but they are there, with God, in the higher and bright world. And to us today, often discouraged and unable to find the strength to endure the tight circumstances of everyday life, they left a surprisingly joyful example of faith and how one name - Christians - should make us for each other the most faithful, zealous helpers in bearing life's trials, without which personal salvation would also be impossible.

Village father

... the 30s. Russia, which has changed beyond recognition. "We've been replaced by life", - Marina Tsvetaeva will write about this time. Behind the flyleaf of the official chronicles about the successes of socialist construction, terrible things were hidden: overcrowded prisons with their own "planned economy", heaps of cases with a stroke "to be shot", spread across the country like a grid of the circulatory system, the structure of the GULAG. For some, as for Tsvetaeva, this is a time of despair, for others - an intense search for those who survived, as they said then from the “former”, who carried the light of the former, “pre-traumatic” life. Their faces, voice, manner of communication instilled peace, and the soul received an instant certificate: "Behold the man!"... For many, the very ability to withstand and survive depended on the success of this search. One of them was a priest from the village of Vladychnya, Tver region, Father Sergiy. To his house, a log cabin, covered with shingles, they drove one by one and whole families from all over the neighborhood and from afar. And they all knew: it was worth crossing the threshold of a wretched hut, and, here it is, life in Christ, true love not this time and "not the local measure." Everything about the priest amazed: his appearance, complete gentleness and some kind of angelic clarity, complete absence of hostility or only annoyance towards people, although he had suffered a lot. He accepted everyone who came as sent by the Lord Himself, and to the young priests he often said: "There are no bad people, there are people for whom it is especially necessary to pray." And he prayed. “Sometimes you come to him, - recalled one resident of the village - and he, my heart, is standing in the front corner on his knees, his hands raised above, like a dead person. " Those who came to Father Sergius for the first time were surprised by another circumstance. Weak, seriously ill with myocarditis, the priest himself patiently looked after the bedridden nun, who was his cell attendant. And only later was the story of their life and rare affection for each other revealed.

Calling in election

Its beginning dates back to the past century, when both of them were still young and were called Mitrofan Vasilyevich and Olga Vladimirovna. Both are children of priests, he is from near Voronezh, she is from the Tver diocese. Fate brought them together in Warsaw. In those years, under the influence of populist ideas, Mitrofan Vasilyevich was carried away by the idea of ​​obtaining a "practical" education, which could be converted to social service, and chose the Warsaw Veterinary Institute for himself. For a while, the long-standing desire to become a priest and continue the spiritual education, the foundations of which had been laid by the seminary, turned out to be postponed. However, in Warsaw, among the students who were mostly indifferent to the faith, in a Catholic environment, the soul began to experience a hitherto unknown feeling of longing for the Lord, a real spiritual hunger, and Mitrofan Vasilyevich began to attend church with redoubled zeal. It was then that Olga Ispolatovskaya appeared on his way. This meeting responded with the memory of a familiar, simple and kind way of life, familiar from childhood, where everything is really, in God's way, arranged, and ended with the return of the young student to the hereditary path of a priest hand in hand with a faithful, understanding mother, ready to share with husband and the joys and difficulties of spiritual service.

Several years later, Fr. Mitrofan was already the rector of the Intercession Church in Orel and spiritually nourished the 51st Chernigov regiment, whose chief was the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. The Serebryanskys had almost no private life. Batiushka was in public all the time, confessing, receiving communion, delving into all the details of parish life. Even then, he was appreciated as a deep, serious preacher. And few people knew that the humble priest and his mother were carrying out a secret feat following the example of Fr. John of Kronstadt. In their youth, both of them wanted to have children, but since this desire was not destined to come true, they decided by agreement to continue living in chastity, taking on the upbringing of three nieces - orphans.

1908 prepared an unexpected turn for Serebryansky. When Elizaveta Fyodorovna was working on the project to create the Martha and Mary Convent, a note from Fr. She liked Mitrofana more than other projects. For its implementation, she invited the Orlov priest to the place of the confessor and abbot of the temple. By that time, Fr. Mitrofan already had considerable experience. Behind him remained two years of service as a priest in the Chernigov regiment during the difficult time of the Russian-Japanese war. However, parting with Eagle was difficult: Fr. Mitrofan loved his flock, and people did not want to part with him. Only through exceptional circumstances - a disease that aggravated every time he thought about giving up - received certification that this new obedience was special providence of God, oh. Mitrofan resigned himself to the need to move to Moscow.

The Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna acquired her main assistant in his person, about which she wrote to the Emperor: “For our case, Fr. Mitrofan is a blessing of God, because he laid the necessary foundation. He confesses me, nurses me in church, gives me great help and sets an example of a pure, simple life - so humble and simple in his boundless love for God and the Orthodox Church. "

When, after the coup of 1917, the abbess of the community was arrested and the monastery was in the care of Fr. Mitrofana, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, knowing about the works of the Serebryansky and that they have long lived a celibate life, tonsured the priest into monasticism with the name Sergius in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh and raised to the rank of archimandrite, and mother Olga - to the nun with the name Elizabeth.

Through trials

In the 1920s, for Fr. Sergius and Mother Elizabeth began a difficult period: both of them shared the fate of the persecuted with thousands of other clergy. The usual way of life was crumbling, it seemed that the soil was leaving from under our feet. What helped them to survive? In an evangelical way, childish, complete, unconditional trust in God, surrender of oneself and one another to His love and His omniscience, and a constant readiness to put a shoulder under the crossbar of the cross of life that has become common for them. The reason for the first arrest of Fr. Sergius was served by the fact that during the confiscation of church valuables, he read the message of Patriarch Tikhon in the church, fully sharing his thoughts that one should not give up church vessels in order to avoid sacrilege. On March 23, 1923, he was arrested, followed by five months of waiting in prison without charge, followed by exile to Tobolsk for a period of one year. Less than two months have passed since Fr. Sergius to Moscow, as was followed by a new charge of "anti-Soviet agitation" and imprisonment in Butyrka prison. And then Matushka Elizabeth, neglecting the danger to herself, began to have the strength to work for his release, until, finally, the OGPU Commission dismissed the case, and Fr. Sergius was released. By this time, the Martha-Mariinsky monastery was destroyed, and the Serebryansky settled in the homeland of mother Elizabeth in the village. Lady. There, in the midst of persecution, Fr. Sergius continued to strive as a confessor and preacher, using the time allotted to him to enlighten and support his neighbors.

In 1931 a new test awaited them. In a trumped-up case, the OGPU troika sentenced Fr. Sergius to five years of exile in the Northern Territory. He was then already 65 years old. The place of settlement for the priest was a remote village on the river. Pinega. The 30s were the most difficult years for the exiles. Peasant farms were ruined by forced collectivization, bread was issued strictly on ration cards in the most limited quantities, and parcels reached only at a time when there was a steamship traffic along the river. And in these circumstances, Mother Elizabeth undertook a long and dangerous journey from the center to the extreme north. With great difficulty, she reached Fr. Sergius, having made his way in places on a raft together with one of the inhabitants of Orel, who later also took monastic vows. In a settlement where there were many exiled priests, the Serebryansky and their companion lived in a small house as a tiny monastic community.

Despite his illness and advanced age, Fr. Sergius, together with other exiled priests, worked at logging, trying to fulfill the assigned quota, single-handedly uprooted stumps, and with the humility with which he accepted his fate as a prisoner, he won the respect not only of the exiles, but also of the camp authorities, who petitioned for his release. 1933 brought them a long-awaited release. But in Vladychna, due to fears of incurring blows from the authorities on other priests, the Serebryansky were forced to lead a private life - to pray without going to church. Towards the end of his life at Fr. Sergius discovered the gift of clairvoyance and healings, and he, referring everything only to the One God, only humbly said: “It's the grace of the priesthood at work».

Until 1948 about. Sergius bore the feat of prayer for Russia, for the people, prayed for the granting of victory to our country during the Great Patriotic War. The residents of the village also felt the effectiveness of his prayer. Vladychna, where the military unit was located, and a big battle was expected. Many then left the village, but the priest did not budge. And during all this time, not a single bomb fell either on the temple or on the village, and the fighting turned in a different direction.

Today, in the last place of his earthly ministry, Fr. Sergius (Serebryansky), a small church was erected in his honor. The church reveres him as a confessor. But even today, the memory of this outstanding pastor of the 20th century is associated with the memories of his companion - Mother Elizabeth, the "Guardian Angel", known to few during her lifetime, but who turned out to be able to overcome distance and cold, and literally "lay down her soul for her friends." Someone might say, “how typical it was, how many went this way,” but this was the very simplicity that raised people to the pinnacle of holiness and Christian marriage and Christian brotherhood.

Life of the Monk Sergius (Srebryanskiy),

Archimandrite of Tver, confessor († 1948)

The Monk Confessor Sergius, Archimandrite of Tver (in the world Mitrofan Vasilyevich Srebryansky) was born on August 1, 1870 in the village of Trekhsvyatskoye, Voronezh district, Voronezh province, into a priest's family. Like most of the children of priests, Mitrofan Vasilyevich graduated from the Theological Seminary, but did not immediately become a priest, but entered the Warsaw Veterinary Institute. In Warsaw, he met his future wife, Olga Vladimirovna Ispolatovskaya, the daughter of a priest who served in the Intercession Church in the village of Vladychnya, Tver province. They got married on January 29, 1893. In Warsaw, Mitrofan Vasilyevich again began to reflect on the correctness of choosing his path. In my heart there was a fiery desire to serve people, but is it enough to limit ourselves to external service, to become a specialist and help the people, peasants, just in running the economy. The soul of the young man felt the incompleteness of this kind of ministry, and he decided to enter the field of priestly ministry.

On March 2, 1893, Bishop Anastasy of Voronezh ordained Mitrofan Vasilyevich to the rank of deacon. On March 20, 1894, Bishop Vladimir (Sokolovsky) of Ostrogozhsky ordained him to the rank of presbyter, with the appointment of a regimental priest of the 47th Dragoon Tatar Regiment.

On January 15, 1896, Father Mitrofan was appointed to the Dvinsky military-serf cathedral, and on September 1, he took up the post of teacher of the Dvinsky primary school... In September of the following year, the priest was moved to the city of Oryol and was appointed rector of the Intercession Church of the 51st Dragoon Chernigov Regiment, whose chief was the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

In Oryol, Father Mitrofan devoted himself entirely to the service of God and spiritual help to the flock. He was a comforter for many and an excellent preacher. The flock reached out to the sincere and zealous shepherd. A strong parish was created, and this allowed him to take on the difficult task of building the temple, which he successfully carried out. He created a library and a school in the parish. Father Mitrofan donated all the funds received from benefactors to the church, school and library. In 1900 he was awarded a gold pectoral cross.

In the summer of 1903, a solemn glorification took place in Sarov Venerable Seraphim... The future ascetic was also present at these celebrations. Here he was introduced to Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and made the most favorable impression on her with his sincere faith, humility, simplicity and lack of any guile. In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began. On June 11, the 51st Dragoon Chernigov regiment set out on a campaign to the Far East. Father Mitrofan went with the regiment. The priest had no shadow of doubts, no thoughts of evading the fulfillment of his duty. Wherever the opportunity presented itself, he and his assistants set up a camp church and served. Together with the regiment he took part in battles, performed divine services on the battlefield under enemy fire, admonished the wounded and buried the dead. While serving in the army, Father Mitrofan kept a detailed diary, which after the war was published as a separate book. The diary gives a complete picture of him as a humble pastor, faithful to his priestly duty.

On March 15, 1905, Father Mitrofan, as an experienced pastor and confessor, was appointed Dean of the 61st Infantry Division and served in this position until the end of the war. On June 2, 1906, he returned to Oryol with the regiment. For outstanding pastoral services shown during the war, Father Mitrofan was elevated to the rank of archpriest on October 12, 1906 and awarded a pectoral cross on the St. George ribbon.

In 1908, the Grand Duchess, the Monk Martyr Elizabeth, worked hard on a project to create the Martha and Mary Convent. Proposals for the construction of the monastery were submitted from several persons. Father Mitrofan also submitted his project; his project pleased the Grand Duchess so much that it was he who laid the foundation for the structure of the monastery. For its implementation, she invited Father Mitrofan to the place of the confessor and abbot of the temple in the monastery.

Father Mitrofan submitted a petition for transfer to the monastery and on September 17, 1908, he was appointed rector of the Intercession and Martha-Mariinsky churches in Bolshaya Ordynka, the confessor of the monastery.

The Monk Martyr Elizabeth, when Father Mitrofan moved to the monastery that was still being built, saw a sign of God's special favor.

Having settled in the monastery, Father Mitrofan immediately set to work to build a full-fledged spiritual life in the community entrusted to his care, giving himself up to him with all his heart. He often served, sparing no effort, instructing those few more sisters who came to live in the monastery.

Despite the difficulties and novelty of the undertaken business, the monastery with God's blessing, humility and the labors of the abbess, father Mitrofan and the sisters' confessor of the monastery developed and expanded with success. In 1914, it had ninety-seven sisters, a twenty-two-bed hospital, an orphanage for girls, a Sunday school with seventy-five students, a library, a canteen for poor women burdened with families and day laborers.

On October 2, 1916, Father Mitrofan was awarded a miter "for excellent and zealous service to the Holy Church, labors due to wartime circumstances and useful activity in the Martha and Mary Convent"

Almost immediately after the 1917 revolution, an armed raid was made on the Martha-Mariinsky monastery, which by God's grace ended well, no one of the monastery sisters suffered. However, the Grand Duchess was soon arrested. Shortly before her arrest, she handed over the community to the care of Father Mitrofan and sister-treasurer. The Grand Duchess was taken to the Urals, to Alapaevsk, where on July 5 (18), 1918, she was martyred. Having lived in marriage for many years, Father Mitrofan and his wife raised three orphan nieces and wanted to have their own children, but the Lord did not allow their wishes to be fulfilled. Seeing in this God's will, calling them to a special Christian feat, they made a vow of abstinence from married life. This was after they had moved to the Martha-Mariinsky monastery. For a long time this feat was hidden for everyone, but when the revolution took place and the time of general destruction and persecution of the Orthodox Church came, they decided to take monastic vows. The tonsure was performed with the blessing of Saint Tikhon the Patriarch of All Russia, who knew Father Mitrofan well, in 1920. Father Mitrofan was tonsured with the name Sergius, and Olga Vladimirovna with the name Elizabeth. Soon thereafter, Patriarch Tikhon elevated Father Sergius to the rank of archimandrite.

In 1922, the godless authorities seized church valuables from churches. Many clergymen were arrested, some were shot. Although the confiscation of valuables from the temples of the monastery took place without any excesses, yet Archimandrite Sergius read the Patriarch's message in the church about the seizure of church valuables from churches, for which he was arrested on March 23, 1923. For five months he languished in prison without charge, and then on August 24, 1923, he was exiled for one year to Tobolsk.

Archimandrite Sergius returned from exile to Moscow on February 27, 1925, although he was allowed to perform services and deliver sermons, while he was categorically forbidden to hold any administrative position in the parish. Father Sergius returned to the Martha-Mariinsky monastery, but Archimandrite Sergius did not have to serve in the monastery for long.

In 1925, the authorities decided to close the Martha and Mary Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, and exile the nuns. Part of the building was selected for a polyclinic. On April 29, 1925, on the false denunciation of the polyclinic workers, Archimandrite Sergius was arrested and imprisoned in Butyrka prison. On July 2, at the request of Matushka Elizabeth and their friends, Archimandrite Sergius was released.

During the time while Father Sergius was in prison, the Martha-Mariinsky monastery was closed, and the sisters were arrested. Some of them were exiled relatively close - to the Tver region, but most were exiled to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

Father Sergius and Mother Elizabeth left for the village of Vladychno, Tver Region, and settled in the house where Mother's father, Archpriest Vladimir Ispolatovsky, once lived. At first, Archimandrite Sergius did not serve, but he often went to pray at the Intercession Church, where he began serving in 1927.

Immediately upon arrival, and even more after Archimandrite Sergius began serving in Vladychna, many of his spiritual children began to visit him. Among those around him, he was known as a prayer book and a man of a holy life. People began to turn to him for help, and some, according to their faith and the prayers of the righteous man, received healings. Despite the bonds he had endured and the difficult time of persecution, Archimandrite Sergius continued to ascend as a confessor and preacher. He used the time allotted to him for teaching in faith, supporting and enlightening others.

On the denunciation of ill-wishers from among the villagers, Archimandrite Sergius was soon arrested again. On April 7, 1930, the OGPU Troika sentenced Archimandrite Sergius to five years of exile in the Northern Territory. The priest was then sixty years old, and after several prison sentences, exile, stages, he was seriously ill.

Archimandrite Sergius was settled in a village on the Pinega River in the Arkhangelsk Region. Many exiled clergy lived here. Nun Elizabeth came here to visit him. Father Sergius, nun Elizabeth and Maria Petrovna Zamorina, one of his spiritual children, lived in the house as a small monastery community. Father Sergius, thanks to his ascetic life, soon became known as a deeply spiritual elder, to whom many confided their troubles, in whose prayerful intercession they believed.

After two years of exile, the authorities decided to release him due to the old age of the priest, his illnesses and the successfully performed work. In 1933, Archimandrite Sergius returned to Moscow, where he stayed for one day - he said goodbye to the closed and ruined monastery and left with nun Elizaveta to the village of Vladychno, in which he lived a deeply ascetic life until death, diligently nourishing his spiritual children.

During the Great Patriotic War When the Germans captured Tver, a Soviet military unit was located in Vladychna and a big battle was supposed to be here. The officers suggested that the residents move further from the forward positions, some left, but Archimandrite Sergius and nuns Elizaveta and Militsa (that was the name of Maria Petrovna Zamorina in the tonsure) remained. Almost every day, German planes flew over the location of the military unit, but never a single bomb fell either on a temple or on a village. This was noted by the military themselves. Suddenly, part of it was removed from position, as the fighting unfolded in a different direction, not far from the village of Mednoye. Local residents, eyewitnesses of these events, attribute the miraculous deliverance of the village from mortal danger to the prayerful intercession of the Monk Confessor Sergius.

For his confessional feat, a righteous life and deep humility, the Lord endowed Archimandrite Sergius with the gifts of perspicacity and healing. People went to Saint Sergius in an unceasing line for spiritual advice, prayer and healing. Practically everyone received great consolation through the prayers of the elder.

On March 23 (April 5), 1948, the blessed ascetic Sergius peacefully departed to the Lord. After the death of Archimandrite Sergius, his veneration as an ascetic and prayer book not only did not diminish, but over time it increased even more. Many believers came to the grave of Archimandrite Sergius to pray and receive spiritual consolation and intercession.

The Lord glorified His saint, the Monk Sergius the Confessor, together with a great host of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in August 2000 at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the same year, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, on November 28 (December 11), the imperishable remains of St. Sergius the Confessor were solemnly uncovered. By decree of the Archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky Viktor (Oleinik), the Resurrection Cathedral of the city of Tver became the permanent residence of the shrine with the venerable relics of St. Sergius the Confessor. A few months later, in the village of Vladychnya, on the site of the saint's burial, the skete of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy was opened, whose spiritual father was the Monk Sergius. In 2001, a wooden church dedicated to St. Sergius the Confessor was built and consecrated in the skete.

Under the care of Metropolitan Sergius of Voronezh and Borisoglebsk Sergius (Fomin), with the blessing of Archbishop Viktor of Tver and Kashin, on September 16, 2006, an icon with a particle of the relics of St. Sergius the Confessor was brought to the city of Voronezh as a permanent place of residence, which, with the blessing of the ruling bishop of the Voronezh Seminary Diocese, became the Dormition Temple.

The memory of the Monk Archimandrite Sergius the Confessor and Wonderworker is celebrated twice a year: March 23 (v. Art.) - the day of the blessed death of the ascetic; November 28 is the day of uncovering his honest relics.

Compiled by the reader Konstantin Reva

Literature:

Damaskin (Orlovsky), hieromonk. Life of Archimandrite Sergius (Srebryansky) // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1999. No. 03. S. 39-55.

"There are no bad people, there are people for whom you especially need to pray ..." // Orthodox Voronezh №4 (113) 2008.

Venerable Confessor Sergius (Srebryanskiy) // Voronezh Diocesan Bulletin No. 12 (66-67) 2000

Venerable Confessor Sergius (Srebryanskiy). // Martyrs, confessors and devotees of piety of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th century. Book three. S. 549-603.

Glorified saints (saints, monks and new martyrs). Book one. Voronezh, ed. Voronezh-Lipetsk Diocese, 2003.S. 352-374.

Tsarev Sergius is a priest. Breath of eternity. Word on the day of commemoration of the Monk Confessor Sergius. // Orthodox Voronezh №1-2 (110-111) 2008

Troparion, voice 8:

Dobly of the Russian warriors to the shepherd, / of piety and faith, a strong adamant, / of the Monk Martyr Elizabeth, a vigorous companion, / wise mentor of the sisters of the monastery of Mercy, / gently enduring bonds for Christ / and the great gifts of the Holy Spirit, honored equal, / confession of Christ and Christ Thou hast served him well / / salvific humility bestowed upon us.

In troparion, voice 1:

Having bound the bliss of purity of the heart, / God-wise Father Sergius, / enjoying the divine kindness, / the organ of the divine Comforter appeared, / you saw the suffering Christ in your neighbor, / You appeared to be a partaker of this humility. your labors. / / Glory, the kindness of your shepherd's work

In troparion, voice 2:

The mercy of a tireless preacher, / and a pious prayer book about us, / a wise mentor, and a great confessor, / a pretext wonderworker, and an intercessor before God diligent, / of the reverend and God-bearing father of our Sergius, / singing gloriously loudly, we pray: / ask the Lord / remission of sins and great mercy.

Kontakion, voice 3:

Thou art the temple of the Divine Spirit, and the singer is tireless of the evangelical virtues. / Thou hast served God, the Church and the Fatherland, / Thou hast taught us to love God and neighbor by his word and life. / Thou didst confess fearlessly before the persecutors the Word that appeared in the flesh, / Thou hast endured severe hardships and bonds. / For this, for the sake of Christ God, the great talent is received, / abundantly show signs of grace. / Sergius is a wonderful father, pray / and to us your sinful child // in heaven to perceive an invincible treasure.

Akathist to the Monk Martyr Sergius of Srebryansk

Kontakion 1

Chosen by God's command to the cross of pastoral ministry, a fair prayer and comforter of the warm, righteous Martha and Mary, a zealous admirer, the Radonezh miracle worker of the same name and confessor, our venerable father Sergius, as if we had the boldness to the Lord from all of us in misery and freedom, on the path a song crying incessantly:

You served your neighbor with an angelic burning, reverend, from youth, if you are unworthy of yourself in the deep humility of spiritual shepherding in vain, both having a warm intercessor, St. We, however, see such a providence of God for you, see the face:

Rejoice, from the veils of the vessel chosen by the Holy Spirit to be provided;

Rejoice, called from infancy to the service of the King of Glory.

Rejoice, beloved childish fast;

Rejoice, son of comfort and child of obedience.

Rejoice, for you have longed to work for those who are suffering;

Rejoice, for you have become strong in Orthodoxy in a foreign country.

Rejoice, you negligent about your peace;

Rejoice, for you have given everything to yourself in God's hands.

Rejoice, asking for admonition from your heavenly patron;

Rejoice, for you have received the grace of the priesthood from his saints' relics.

Rejoice, honorable minister of the Holy of Holies;

Rejoice, O Queen of Heaven, dear admirer.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

Seeing for yourself the grace of the priesthood clothed, you glorified the Creator of all in your deeds, you did not hide the talent given to you from God in the earth, whose name is love, but you have multiplied it a hundredfold. Even after death, do not pour out the currents of your merciful miracles, and give quick help to those who cry:

Alleluia.

Mind misunderstood, understand, seeking, good-for-nothing, you pouted from above to receive admonition, how terrible is this Mysterious Brutal and how terrible is Yours, Lord, Crucifixion. Having thought about it, let us remember this:

Rejoice, for with fear and trembling you were to take out the Holy Trapeza;

Rejoice, for thou didst approach the Holy Mysteries with great diligence.

Rejoice, intercourse angels and reverends joy;

Rejoice, guardian of spiritual and bodily purity.

Rejoice, honest to the image of the meek shepherd;

Rejoice, you who laid down your soul for the sheep of speech.

Rejoice, for you are not scarce in prayer for your flock;

Rejoice, and strengthen us, the faint-hearted.

Rejoice, full of all benevolence;

Rejoice, the land of Muscovy and Tver, you are a true prayer book.

Rejoice, for you dwelt here holy and blameless;

Rejoice, for you have instructed you to take out your children from above to think.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

By the Providence of God in the city of Eagle, shining wherever his flock with prayers, as if an eagle covered its chicks with krills, take out the eyes of your mind, beholding the Cross of Christ, consoled the mournful and sad, let your light shine before men, always call you:

Hallelujah.

Have any unhypocritical, you gave everything to yourself to the Creator of the higher and lower Redeemer, and you were the helper to those who suffer in the wretchedness, the comforter of the mourners, the guide of those lost in the sea of ​​worldly cares, the nourishment hungry for truth, the mentor who babies in virtue, crying as follows:

Rejoice, zealous sower of the word of Christ;

Rejoice, diligent prayer book for the flock.

Rejoice, for you have lifted the feat of the temple-creator;

Rejoice, for you have gathered the repository of the inspired writings.

Rejoice, for the instruction in the law of the Lord has made the youths understand;

Rejoice, without silver, despising all earthly acquisitions.

Rejoice, gathering spiritual fruit;

Rejoice, love, joy, peace, gaining patience.

Rejoice, for you were a soldier of the Lord;

Rejoice, for you crucified your flesh with passions and lusts.

Rejoice, having endured abstinence;

Rejoice, walking in Dus and bearing our burdens.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

Thou hast abandoned the stormy aspirations of this world, Father Glorious, and shouted to kiss the honest relics of the Sarov wonderworker, blessed Seraphim. The honest two are also connected, the Great-named Princess Elizabeth and the meek shepherd Mitrofan, bless me for cooperation and be that inherent assistant. We, rejoicing at this, sing the song:

Hallelujah.

Hearing the words of God and holding in my heart, as if the good shepherd and his flock are one essence, you pouted your mother-in-law from the warrior against the godless Hagaryans, but we marvel at your love, we sing the song:

Rejoice, for you did not leave your flock in battle;

Rejoice, sharing with her all the hardships of a military life.

Rejoice, humbly enduring coldness and heat;

Rejoice, for you consoled the warriors from the Holy Meal.

Rejoice, for you did not call upon them to be afraid of the hour of death;

Rejoice, for you have adequately accompanied those to the heavenly villages.

Rejoice, for the Merciful Princess took care of your soldiers;

Rejoice, for this righteous woman, an unceasing prayer.

Rejoice, guarding your neighbors by your intercession;

Rejoice, you correct those who perish in sins.

Rejoice, reconciliation of souls desperate with God;

Rejoice, rejoicing to the repentant sinner according to Bose.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

In vain, blessed father, as the power of God in weakness is perfected, when the grieving widow Princess Elizabeth forgave the godless enemy to eat and the abiye departed from this world, more than all his kindness, having loved God and serve your neighbor, you cried in your heart:

Hallelujah.

Seeing the Great Mother Elizabeth, how wonderful your life is and how praiseworthy, she tried to put her words to the top of the canon of the monastery. Then cry out to thee from the Orlovskys' border, proclaiming to the sit:

Rejoice, for you call upon someone to be the abode of the Holy Spirit;

Rejoice, for you teach unceasing prayer and sobriety.

Rejoice, the words of eternal life I will take out the verb;

Rejoice, your teaching people shine with the light of the Gospel.

Rejoice, for you have revered the image of God in every man;

Rejoice, for you have admonished the likeness of God to acquire your children.

Rejoice, having entered the House of the Lord with the fear of God;

Rejoice, you negligent about your peace.

Rejoice, amusement and joy to those who come running to you;

Rejoice, you who are jealous of the apostolic service.

Rejoice, for you have never forgotten about the free Passion of the Lord;

Rejoice, Queen of Heaven, as you blessed the Abbess of your monastery.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer

The preacher is God-bearing in sight, your Oryol flock, with great sobs and groans, is embraced by the fast: do not leave us orphans, beloved father, exclaiming and crying to the highlander:

Hallelujah.

Ascend the light of your life, illuminating the cities and powers of the Russian state. Thus, the words of the Gospel were fulfilled, as it is not fitting for a lamp to stand under a bunk, but to shine on the candlestick for all. Even so for you, for the great service in the monastery of the saint to the called, we sing the song:

Rejoice, two krats from the Lord by taking away the right hand, enlightened;

Rejoice, healed from the icon of the Most Pure Goalkeeper.

Rejoice, having asked for a blessing for a new service from the spirit-bearing elders;

Rejoice, completely subjugating yourself to the will of God.

Rejoice, putting all your strength on holy obedience;

Rejoice, joyful Grand Duchess by obedience to the humble.

Rejoice, diligent keeper of purity of mind;

Rejoice, diligent money-grubber of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Rejoice, fragrant censer;

Rejoice, chosen vessel of grace.

Rejoice, Paradise Krine, vegetated in the Russian land;

Rejoice, tree of blessedness, adorned with virtues.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

Although I will choose the temple of the Holy Spirit to create for myself, thou art, blessed father, into the monastery of the Lazarev sisters with all my heart to serve God and our neighbors, copied wallpaper: the good part of you, like Mary; in prayer, and merciful, like Martha, in deed, by the same you showed us the path of virtue, always saying:

Hallelujah.

The wondrous servant of Saints Martha and Mary, seeing thee blessed Elizabeth, was touched in heart and rejoiced in spirit, as if the merciful Lord did not leave one alone, crying out to her sister:

Rejoice, with the word of the Lord, comfort those who are suffering;

Rejoice, obey the words of the Gospel.

Rejoice, wise teacher of the knowledge of divine truths;

Rejoice, for the purity of the Orthodox faith, inherent in the zealous.

Rejoice, in the councils they never left their flock;

Rejoice, cleanse the souls of your children from harmful passions and sins.

Rejoice, river, for nothing can shake the power of Christ;

Rejoice, for you strengthened the sisters of the monastery in arduous labors.

Rejoice, for you taught those to know your weakness;

Rejoice, for the words: "You cannot do anything without Me," you loved.

Rejoice, spiritual guide to nuns;

Rejoice, guide to salvation for those who are monastics today.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

A strange miracle and gloriously did the Lord work in the days of your earthly life, when you reveal to the young woman in a dreamy vision, together with the long-suffering Princess Elizabeth, in heavenly devilry worshiping the Heavenly Bridegroom doing, in robes bright garments and incorruptible crowns crowned to God:

Hallelujah.

All be in the lower and higher, no way backslide the Eternal Word. Ole a terrible sacrament, ole the goodness of God, for the Lord who is foreknew, that and the preselected, the same for your heavenly glory in sight, we cry:

Rejoice, chosen for the cross of confession from youth;

Rejoice, having achieved the exaltation of the village with many labors and sorrows.

Rejoice, abiding in the heights of the abode of Martha and Mary;

Rejoice, there is always praying for us.

Rejoice, dressed in white robes of mercy and long-suffering;

Rejoice, who was announced by the Lord of the coming sufferings for the truth.

Rejoice, with Venerable Sergius and Saint Elisabeth coming to the Most High Throne;

Rejoice, seer with his face to the Face of the King of reigning.

Rejoice, glorified in the cathedral of new martyrs and confessors;

Rejoice, negligent about earthly glory, shining with heavenly glory.

Rejoice, for you have despised the wisdom of this world;

Rejoice, for you have loved the highest Wisdom and the Truth of Christ.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

The whole angelic nature was astonished, in vain your godly life is holy, for in the flesh you appeared as incorporeal and you were able to put to death the sinful passions, with chastity and humility the wiles of the wicked ruler of the world, conquering and turning that cunning into nothing, we sing these works, your works of yours.

Hallelujah.

Vetiya many-blessed, like we see the mute fish about you, Father Sergius, they will be perplexed to say how to antagonize Christ, who impudently wants to ruin the abode of mercy, recognizing that the good shepherd and the father of the child-loving apostate, the city of the Eagle, is wondrous vegetation, the shame of the great ages embraced by God. We, seeing such a miracle, truly cry:

Rejoice, glorifying the Lord, it is time for the martyrs to repent;

Rejoice, for you took care of her sisters from the captive Princess.

Rejoice, for you gave spiritual consolation to the grieving;

Rejoice, for the monastic deed was the first to secretly lift.

Rejoice, Saint Tikhon on the blessed monastic path;

Rejoice, for you have clothed yourself with the angelic rank with joy and trembling.

Rejoice, for you have kept the vows of monasticism from that hour to death;

Rejoice, reproach of every kind, like a promise you have endured.

Rejoice, spiritually living in the flesh, on heavenly earth;

Rejoice, you have obtained the beads of Christ's dragon.

Rejoice, for thou didst receive the name of the Russian sorrowful man;

Rejoice, for you walked along his path in prayer for the Fatherland.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

To save the sacred object from desecration, preaching the word of the pastor of Christ, St. Tikhon: it is not worthy to give up the Lord's Cup to be trampled upon. In the same way, deserve to suffer as a confessor, singing out:

Hallelujah.

You were the wall, Father, to everyone who came running to you with faith, consolation was given to all the grieving and embittered, deprived of true shepherds in the days of godless persecutions. The same for us who come to you and ask for your merciful intercession from the Lord of Heaven, wake help and take a strong one, crying as follows:

Rejoice, ruled the seven Ecumenical Councils for the keeper;

Rejoice, unshakable pillar of Orthodoxy.

Rejoice, image of great patience;

Rejoice, expeller of enemy doubts.

Rejoice, for you have joyfully endured the bonds of prison;

Rejoice, thank God you exclaimed for everything.

Rejoice, you have completed your life under the Protection of the Most Holy Lady;

Rejoice, Thou art with a leadership in the Tver limits.

Rejoice, for in your exile the persecuted children were gathered together;

Rejoice, you have passed away from the sowing of the earth to the Heavenly abode.

Rejoice, and according to your repose, he who does not leave us;

Rejoice, strengthening us by the manifestation of your relics.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

We offer all-earnest chanting to you, Confessor Sergius, how could you endure a fraction of untruth and trampling, deprivation and exile, equal to the sand of the sea's abuse, singing to this:

Hallelujah.

Ikos 11

We see the light-giving lamp, Saint Sergius, when in exile you carry the real, immaterial fire of the Jesus Prayer in your heart, send you praise to the Creator of all, so we also revere you:

Rejoice, having received the severity of the Pinezh exile with humility;

Rejoice, and in this exile you were comforted by visiting your children.

Rejoice, for in your old age you endured hard work;

Rejoice, for you have been marvelously honored with God's help.

Rejoice, in persecution of their prayer, ceaseless;

Rejoice, comforted from above from the Zealous Intercessor.

Rejoice, for you have borne the burden of your inherent sorrows;

Rejoice, and you have not left your elders in the bonds of heroism.

Rejoice, height of spiritual insight;

Rejoice, depth of divine humility.

Rejoice, ascended to the height of heavenly virtues;

Rejoice, imputed all earthly things.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

The grace of giving, delighting, grants you the Lord with the gift of unceasing prayer, opening Heaven. But we, seeing the multitude of your miracles, in the image of your exile, you have perfumed, currents of wondrous healings, offended by a quick intercession, from the invasion of a foreigner weigh your glorious deliverance, we sing to you:

Hallelujah.

Singing your dormition, we praise you all, like an animated temple of the Holy Spirit: in your life, glorify the Holy Trinity, showing the true image of reverend and righteousness. Teach us too, many sinners, to do God's will of God, crying out to thee:

Rejoice, after your departure I am a warm intercessor for us;

Rejoice, for as birds of birds go to heaven, your departure is a chant.

Rejoice, heavenly prayer book of the Russian earth;

Rejoice, for you have illuminated the land of Tver with the manifestation of your holy relics.

Rejoice, for you have glorified those with the fragrance of God;

Rejoice, for thou didst grant us your incorruptible power to kiss.

Rejoice, pouring out many different miracles;

Rejoice, you who are lazy to prayer.

Rejoice, conversion to repentance, relaxed in spirit;

Rejoice, inherent illumination of the light of the Gospel.

Rejoice, our strong intercession;

Rejoice, vigilant helper in sorrow.

Rejoice, Venerable Confessor Sergius, good and zealous pastor of prayer.

Kontakion 13

Oh, delightful and glorious, new miracle worker, / praiseworthy confessor, our father Sergius! / Receive now this little prayer of ours, / in tenderness of hearts we offer you, / and pray our Lord Jesus Christ, / may he save us from all the misfortunes of the enemy, / from the invasion of a foreigner and internecine strife, / and vouchsafes us in unceasing prayer and repentance / to preserve the Orthodox faith to the end and the good coming in Heaven, chanting to God: // Hallelujah.

This kontakion is read three times, then ikos 1 and kontakion 1.

PRAYER

O SACRED HEAD, Blessed by Father Sergius, THE HOLY SHEPHERD, THE INSOLENT Prayer, SERAPHIM'S LOVE FOR THE LORD'S BURNING; YOU, BO JACO ONE FROM ANCIENT APPEARED ESI, I WILL TAKE OUT CHRIST PRESENTING. DON'T REJECT US, THE POWERFUL, WHO DO NOT DARE TO TAKE OCHES TO THE SKY; Hear, O Father of the sacred, relentlessly REQUEST OUR, and ascended I FROM US, dale drooping, CO throne of the Most Holy Trinity, be preserved by the mercies of the Lord's church his holy from schisms and heresies, let him deliver powers our Russian from enemies visible and invisible, AND WILL ALL Ratseev IN YOUR HONEST POWER TO THE FUTURE AND PRAYER TO YOU, AT ANYWHERE NEEDS: THE SHEPHERD OF GOODNESS AND APOSTOLIC ZEALITY, ALWAYS REPENTANCE AND IN PRAYER DURATION IN Prayer, Militant courage and the mercy of God YES, WE WILL BE ACCEPTED BY YOUR REPRESENTATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE FULFILLED, BY THE DEPARTMENT OF OUR PERVOUS MOTHERLANDS, AND THE BLESSED VOICE OF THE LORD CHRIST HAS BEEN GIVEN BY YOUR MISSION, HAVE BEEN GIVEN AMEN.