Serve the Orthodox Faith and the Fatherland. Diary of a Military Chaplaintranslated

Priest Vasily Alfeev dreamed of becoming a military man as a child. The choice of the patriotic young man was influenced by Soviet films beloved by everyone in those years, such as “Only Old Men Go to Battle” and “In the Zone of Special Attention.” But he did not enter military school - the Lord directed him along the spiritual path. And after graduating from the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy, he still connected his life with the army, becoming a military priest.

From the very beginning of a special military operation, he goes “behind the ribbon” to help our soldiers carry out their difficult military service. And literally from the first days of his ministry, Father Vasily kept a diary, which formed the basis of his recently published book entitled “Serving the Orthodox Faith and the Fatherland. Diary of a military priest."

– There were and are political leaders in the army, and the institution of the military clergy is being revived because there is a need. We are in no way replacing political officers; each of us has our own tasks, we complement each other. The political officer is engaged in political preparation, oversees discipline, applies for awards, and performs many other tasks by the sweat of his brow. We priests do spiritual work. A fighter does not always go to the political officer. Not…