Путешествия о. Иоанна Кронштадтского по России

JUST as Christ the Savior went around the cities and villages of Palestine, healing every ailment and every ulcer in people (Matthew 9:35), so did the great Wonderworker Fr. John, a faithful servant of the Church and builder of the Mysteries of Christ, abundantly filled with the grace of the Risen Christ, during his many years of pastoral activity, visited many places in Russia, healing sick bodies and souls who flowed to him with faith. It is impossible to list all the places where the dear priest was invited to share both the sorrows and joys of people. It is difficult to retell what institutions he visited, called here by superiors and employees (he visited especially many theological seminaries). It is impossible to retell what good undertakings of societies and individuals Fr. sanctified with his prayer. John. He was invited everywhere, from the royal palace to the last hut of a poor peasant. It seems, without exaggeration (says the author of the essay: “Two days in Kronstadt”), the whole of vast Rus' in this case can be called one continuous parish of the good shepherd, Fr. John of Kronstadt. He consecrates the place chosen for the construction of a homeopathic hospital in memory of Emperor Alexander II, subsequently consecrates the hospital church next to it, visits the hospital again, examines it in all the smallest detail, talks with all the patients 13. They are laying the foundation stone for a church in Ozerki in memory of the sacred coronation of Their Imperial Majesties - Fr. is invited to perform the laying ceremony. John 14. It is necessary to consecrate a new church, built on the site of the dismantled wooden Suvorov Church in Konchanskoye, - they again invite Fr. John. They invite Fr. John to consecrate the Vindava sanatorium 15. Serves Fr. John in the church of the Institute for the Blind, on Pesochnaya Street in St. Petersburg. At the end of the liturgy, he addresses the unfortunate blind with a word of edification, full of necessary affection and warm sympathy for them 16. He personally blesses and takes an active part in the acquisition of a thousand-pound bell by the Sophronium Hermitage in the Kursk province. Grateful monks, in addition to sacred images and sayings, cast an inscription on one side of the bell dedicated to Fr. John, on the other - a relief image of Fr. John. The bell itself is named after this shepherd: “John of Kronstadt” 17. Father John takes an active part in the restoration of the Vazheozersk Nikiforov monastery, located among almost impenetrable forests in the deserted, deserted Olonets region. Thanks to his care for St. with the relics of St. Nikifor and Gennady a new valuable shrine is being built in the monastery. Bless this St. Fr. himself came to cancer in the distant and remote desert. John 18. Father John serves in a hospital in Moscow. They consecrate the church of the Shestakovo community in the Tver province - along with the highest black clergy, they certainly invite Fr. John 19. He is invited to consecrate a church in a leper colony in the Yamburg district of the St. Petersburg province. He visits lepers and takes pictures with them 20. He serves in the church of the Konstantinovsky Land Surveying Institute and addresses students with a lively, heartfelt, warm word 21 . He serves in the church of the 3rd Alexander Military School in Moscow and pronounces a deep word here about the Christian warrior 22. Serves in Yaroslavl and addresses the workers of the Yaroslavl large manufactory 23. He serves in Moscow in the church of the Boyev Brothers almshouse 24, in the church of the community “Quench My Sorrows” 25. Consecrates the church in the village of Peninsky, Gdov district 26, is at the celebration of the renovation of the church in the village of Opole, Yamburg district 27. He serves in the church of the Lepekhina hospital in Moscow 28, in the Moscow Asylum for the Blind 29. The Moscow Technical School of Emperor Nicholas I is celebrating its centenary - Fr. John. The church holiday of the church at the Institute of Railways is coming - they call Fr. John 30. O. John is present at the half-century anniversary of Golike photography. His prayer and blessing there also makes a “deeply touching impression” 31. The commercial St. Petersburg school celebrates its church holiday, Fr. John. Fr. is present. John at the consecration of the lower church in the Verkolsky monastery 32. Serves in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral 33. Serves in the Church of the Winter Palace. They invite you to serve Fr. John to Finland to the estate of the Holy Trinity women's community of Lintula 34. Consecrates Fr. John side church of the Prepolovenskaya Church in Ustyuzhna 35. Consecrates the chapel in Luga 36. They are opening a new passage in St. Petersburg - they invite Fr. John. After the prayer service, those present at the celebration ask Fr. John to take himself off 37 . Father John performs a prayer service on the occasion of the foundation of the new Oranienbaum rescue station of the Water Rescue Society 38. A prayer service is being served by Fr. John at the opening of a homeopathic hospital in St. Petersburg 39. Celebrates the liturgy at the Tolga Monastery 40. I often read in the newspapers about Fr. John such notes. “Yesterday with the fast train of the Nikolaevskaya railway. dor. Archpriest Fr. arrived in Moscow from St. Petersburg. John Sergiev. During the day Fr. John visited many of his admirers, acquaintances and patients, with whom he performed prayers. In the evening with the courier train Fr. John went back to St. Petersburg.” “On January 17, with a fast train from the Nikolaevskaya railway. dor. Archpriest Father John Ilyich Sergiev (Kronstadt) arrived in Moscow. From the station, Father John went to the Lepekhin hospital (on Pokrovka), in the church of which he performed the Divine Liturgy, which was preceded by a canon read by a respected pastor. During the liturgy, a wonderful choir of singers sang, who received the gratitude of Father John for this. At the end of the liturgy, Father John uttered a heartfelt word, after which he blessed the worshipers, who filled the small church in large numbers 41 . Having then visited some sick and acquaintances, the highly revered shepherd with a fast train of the Moscow-Kazan railway. d., at 1 a.m. 20 min. day, left Moscow for Samara.” The stay of the great Righteous Father, Fr. John and among the host of Nizhny Novgorod shepherds. “On October 3 of this year, Fr. visited Nizhny Novgorod. Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev, well-known throughout Russia, the rector of the Kronstadt St. Andrew's Cathedral, a shepherd-prayer strong by the grace of God. His Grace Nazarius, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, took advantage of the short visit of the highly respected pastor: he gathered the city priests in his chambers and asked Fr. John to talk with them. At 6 o'clock in the evening, Fr. entered the hall from the inner chambers together with the bishop. John, bowing low to the assembled clergy, said: – Hello, venerable fathers and brothers, fellow shepherds! A handsome old man stood before us. His face is clear, open, smiling pleasantly and cordially, precisely a complacently peaceful, gracious face. Bright, trusting, affectionate eyes, firm, confident speech attracted our common attention. In about. John has nothing painfully nervous and no electricity or magnetism, with which, as they said and even wrote, he has such a strong effect on listeners and even heals the sick. This is not in him at all. This is the most calm, even, cheerful, humble and helpful servant of Christ. He spoke to us while sitting with his head down. It's about. John does not shine with comparisons or rhetorical embellishments in general; he is simple, sincere, but so strong in faith and conviction that the words of St. Apostle Paul: “My preaching is not in words beyond human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power.” Having introduced us to Fr. John, the bishop asked him to share his many years of pastoral experience with the pastors of the diocese entrusted to him, to teach us how and with what we can beneficially influence the hearts of the flock in matters of faith and morality. Having listened carefully to the Right Reverend, Fr. John said something like this: – Venerable fathers and brothers, fellow shepherds! You yourself, as I see it, are people adorned with gray hair, which means you yourself are rich in life experience. I have nothing to teach you. But since you ask me how I achieve a beneficial effect on the hearts of people, I will tell you. I try to be a sincere shepherd not only in words, but also in deeds, in life. Therefore, I strictly monitor myself, my spiritual world, my inner work. I even keep a diary where I record my deviations from fulfilling the Law of God; I trust myself and try to improve. I'm busy all day, from morning until late at night. I carry out my pastoral service not only in Kronstadt, but for this I often have to travel to different places in Russia. I am besieged every day with requests, so sometimes it’s hard for me and I don’t want to, but I do, I try to satisfy all the petitioners. Wherever I am, and especially in Kronstadt, every day I myself perform the liturgy and sincerely, heartily and reverently offer a holy bloodless sacrifice to God for the sins of myself and all Orthodox Christians. Those praying see and feel my sincere, reverent service, and they themselves are imbued with holy feelings and pray fervently. At every Sunday liturgy I preach the living word of God. My teachings depict my inner life, my soul; I mercilessly punish human sins, vices and passions, I expose the errors of sectarians and schismatics. Thanks be to God! – I myself see the fruits of my pastoral labors. In St. Andrew's Cathedral, and it is large, there are up to five thousand people, and all this multitude listens to me as one person, no noise, no jostling, everyone's eyes are fixed on me. When I leave the church, people lovingly surround me, all with shining faces, everyone can see a gracious and joyful mood. All this is the fruit of my prayer and preaching. Forgive me, venerable fellow shepherds, for speaking this way about myself. God forbid that I say this for self-praise, God forbid! No, it’s not me who does all this, but the grace of God resting on me, the priest. I am often invited to pray in rich and noble houses, where they donate a lot. I share these funds with the poverty that has become so common in our time. I send my contributions to institutions and poor churches, and share them with my fellow pastors and poor people in general. In addition, my trusted one daily gives bread from my funds to a thousand poor people. But I must say that I don’t serve to everyone: drunkards, in general, who rely only on their legs, beg, I don’t serve to such people. They often bring sick people to me, the so-called demoniacs, and ask me to pray for them. In these cases I act by the simplicity of my faith. Usually such patients are very restless. When they are brought to me, they spit, kick and at the same time, as I noticed, they always close their eyes. But I order you to open your eyes. And since the patient does not open, I insistently demand: “open your eyes”! and at the same time I fix my gaze on him. The patient finally opens his eyes, and I, looking into his eyes, say: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forbid you, unclean spirit, come out of him!” and I bless the sick person. The patient calms down, begins to pray, and I give him communion. Oh, brothers! We have been given a lot of grace from the Lord God, and if we preserve this gift of God, then we are invincible. Here, venerable co-pastors, this is how I serve for the glory of God, for the Orthodoxy of the Church of Christ and the spread of the Orthodox faith. I say all this to you sincerely, as co-pastors, and at your request, for the benefit of the pastoral service of the Holy Church and our Fatherland.” The venerable Fr. talked with us for about two hours. John. And we were ready, it seems, to sit with him all night and listen to his gracious word. Unfortunately, at 9 o'clock. evening, the tireless shepherd of Christ had to leave us. Therefore, we had to part with the Venerable Fr. John, who, saying goodbye to all of us, kissed us, saying: “Holy and sanctified - from the One are all. Let us, venerable fellow shepherds, give each other a brotherly kiss” 42. As a result of repeated requests, in the summer of 1890 the world Prayer Book of Fr. John visited Kharkov. The news of the imminent arrival of Fr. John's arrival in the city quickly flew around all the neighboring towns and villages. When Fr. John was still far from Kharkov, people came out to meet him in huge numbers. The nearest stations to Kharkov were crowded with people long before the arrival of the train with the dear guest. Father John had to listen to a lot of requests everywhere, and many earnestly and convincingly asked him to visit them. By the way, Fr. John was invited to one of the Kharkov landowners P. Ryzhov to baptize the expected baby. G. Ryzhov met Fr. John in Kursk and heard wonderful news from him. Last night the venerable shepherd had a dream that Ryzhov had a son, was baptized and named Boris. This dream came true exactly. But here comes Kharkov. The station was so crowded that the railway administration was forced to protect Fr. John, unhook his carriage from the crush and, moving the carriage to a siding, attach it to a train leaving for Poltava. At the Ryzhovo station, closest to Kharkov, the carriage was uncoupled, and Fr. John, accompanied by a countless crowd of people, went to the Ryzhovka estate. Here a house was prepared for him in the garden - a mansion for the entire duration of his stay in Kharkov. In the first days, dear priest lived in “Ryzhovka” relatively quietly and calmly. But what began to happen here two or three days later is difficult to convey. It was necessary to witness the presence of Fr. John in “Ryzhovka” in order to have a complete idea of ​​what was going on there these days. People crowded everywhere. It even filled the garden. Flowers and flower beds in the garden were trampled and wiped off the face of the earth. Instead of rest for Fr. John began the same working days that he spends in Kronstadt, St. Petersburg and other places where he happens to be. During his stay Fr. John in the Ryzhovka estate, approximately 100 thousand people managed to visit him. There were days when 7-8 thousand a day came to him for blessing. After the first two days of Fr. Ioanna in “Ryzhovka”, she literally found herself in a state of siege. Thousands of people camped near the estate. Here they drank tea, ate a snack, and slept. Some waited in line for several days. “Ryzhovka” is located 10 versts from Kharkov. Almost every train brought there at least 500 passengers. There were so many tickets issued for each train that at other times would not be sold in two months. Thanks to the extraordinary crowd of passengers, 10–12 additional cars were attached to the train. A reinforced police detachment was sent here to maintain order. The city was also very worried. Long before the arrival of the great Righteous and Wonderworker, Fr. John, he had already begun to talk about him. “He saved my wife,” said one. She was already dying, all the doctors refused to treat her. I sent him a telegram. “Pray, I will pray too,” he answered. And suddenly an unexpected turning point occurred in her illness, which amazed the doctors, and she is now completely healthy. “He saved my son,” said another. Hundreds of such stories circulated around the city. And so, when Fr. John arrived in the city, he was literally besieged by people who earnestly asked him to visit one or another house where the sick were at that time. Many extremely touching scenes could be observed then in every house that Fr. visited. John. As soon as he has time to arrive somewhere, a crowd is now growing on the street. Many people ask the owners for permission to enter the house. If such permission is obtained, the rooms quickly fill with people. Enter Fr. John. Those present surround him, crowd around, kiss his hands, reverently approach him for the blessing. Parents with touching confidence bring their little children to him for blessing. Many bring the sick and crippled for him to lay his hands on them. And how much tenderness, how much expectation of something extraordinary shines through in all these gazes directed at him! Here is a young girl from among the intelligentsia. She waited with great impatience for a long time. John. Pushed aside by the crowd, the girl found herself behind everyone and looks at the good shepherd with tears. But here's about. John notices her and approaches her himself. In tears, she kneels before the meek altar server and presses the hem of his robe to her lips. Father John picks her up, blesses her, kisses her on the forehead, and she leaves him happy, joyful, touched. “Father!” is heard near Fr. John, the voice of some woman with a child in her arms. Bless: sick! Father John strokes the pale, emaciated child on the head, then pours tea from his glass onto a saucer. “Here, here,” he says, bringing the saucer to the child’s mouth. “Drink, drink!” – And the child obediently drinks tea from the hands of a stranger. “Nothing,” says Fr., blessing. John, God willing, will be healthy. If Fr. John decided to satisfy the requests of all Kharkov residents who wanted to receive him at home and pray with him, then he would undoubtedly have to live in Kharkov not for one and a half to two weeks, but for several months. On July 15, at the request of Kharkov Archbishop Ambrose, Fr. John served the liturgy in the city cathedral for the first and only time. He performed the liturgy in the concelebration of the entire city clergy. And “it was a misfortune, not a service,” as one of the eyewitnesses puts it. The crowd pressed forward and almost burst into the altar, pressing behind them. The singers sang in the altar. All exits were made in the altar in front of the royal doors. After the service, the iron bars in the cathedral were broken by the onslaught of the crowd. Fr. got out with difficulty. John from the cathedral, wearing only a cassock and no hat. The crowd of people near the cathedral was also extraordinary. The entire square and the streets adjacent to it were completely occupied by people. No police measures could be sufficient to restore order here. Under such conditions, it becomes clear why Fr. John could not accept the invitation from some church rectors and elders to perform divine services in any of the city churches. Due to the complete impossibility of performing prayer services in churches, Fr. John, not wanting to offend the people of Kharkov, decided, at the suggestion of His Grace Ambrose, to serve a prayer service on July 20 in the cathedral square. The cathedral square, as well as the neighboring streets and alleys, presented an unprecedented spectacle that day. The people were so crowded that, as they say, there was nowhere for an apple to fall. All the roofs of the houses were dotted with people wishing to see the Kronstadt shepherd. On this day, according to many testimonies, more than 60 thousand people attended the prayer service. The enthusiasm of the people during the prayer service increased to such an extent that when many years were proclaimed to the Sovereign Emperor and the entire Royal House, the crowd could not stand it and shouted: “Hurray.” How beneficial was the visit to Fr. John on the Kharkov people, and how grateful they remained to him, can be seen from the address presented by the deputation from the residents of the city of Kharkov about. John on the day of his 35th anniversary of priesthood. In addition, the people of Kharkov then presented him with a precious gospel. Many after leaving Fr. John made valuable contributions to churches and rich donations to charity. And how many people made an ardent vow to reform and lead a new life. And how many of them actually fulfilled this wonderful vow 43? Travel about. John along the Volga was some kind of triumphal procession. It is difficult to say who was greeted like this everywhere at this time, as Fr. John, wherever he appeared. On June 24, having celebrated the liturgy at the Rybinsk Convent, Fr. John set off on the steamship Brave down the Volga. The ship did not touch the shore before Kostroma. Only at the very beginning of Fr. John went by boat to the coastal dacha of the manager of the Rybinsk pier, Mr. Khlebnikov, and opposite the dacha of the manager of the shipping companies, Mr. Ratkov-Rozhnov, a water prayer service was served for his family on the deck of the ship. At this time the ship, of course, was standing. Now the deck of the steamer took on a unique appearance, which attracted the special attention of numerous visitors to the Brave. Several icons were hung on the white wall of the 1st class cabin, in front of which a lamp was always burning. There was a covered table with a holy chalice against the wall. St. were relied upon on it during services. cross and St. gospel. To the left of the table is a lectern with liturgical books. All this remained the same for the entire duration of Fr.’s journey. John on the ship, due to the frequent performance of morning services and holy water prayers here. By evening the ship arrived in Kostroma. A sea of ​​heads could be seen along the entire embankment. Everyone was understandably waiting for the dear priest. Many went out in boats and entered the ship from the other side. It took a lot of effort to protect Fr. John from the onslaught of the masses when he went ashore to visit one seriously ill woman in the city. The next day, Matins was served on the deck of the ship, followed by a prayer service for the water. At this time, the ship was standing at the pier in the city of Yuryevets. Both the ship and the pier were crowded with people praying. Among the patients brought onto the ship, one paralytic especially attracted attention. They didn’t bring him - he couldn’t walk at all - but, in the Gospel way, they brought him on a stretcher for blessing to Fr. John. The priest handed out crosses to everyone present as a blessing. Not reaching 12 versts to Nizhny Novgorod, Fr. John was met on a special ship by the people of Nizhny Novgorod. Both ships went together one after the other. The news of the arrival of the respected shepherd in Nizhny quickly spread throughout the city. The steamer, which departed at 5 and a half o'clock in the afternoon from the city's Airplane pier, was full of people who wanted to see Fr. John and receive a blessing from him. A little earlier, some went separately to greet Fr. John on the river police launch. Father John admired the beautiful views of Nizhny Novgorod for a long time. When “Gennady Ratkov-Rozhnov” approached from the city, whose deck and bridge were full of people, Fr. John himself entered the ship to join the arrivals. Everyone who was here received from the respected shepherd the blessing they ardently desired. There was so much delight among those gathered here. So much sincere and deep joy. There are so many regrets and complaints that dear father does not want to stay with them in the city and bless their homes and families. At the end of the 7th hour, “Brave” set off on its further journey. “Brave” also did not enter Kazan, but stopped only in sight of the city at the oil industry to receive oil. This short-term stop was immediately known at the shipping piers, and all the families of agents and employees of the shipping company hurried in boats to the oil plant to receive a blessing from the venerable shepherd. Father John graciously received everyone onto the ship, graciously talked with those who arrived, caressed the children and blessed everyone, giving each an icon for prayerful memory. The citizens of Kazan could not help but mourn the fact that only a lucky few were able to use Fr. John, while everyone wanted to see the venerable priest as their guest. There was still hope for a visit to Fr. John of Kazan on the way back from the lower reaches. Therefore, many sent telegrams to their relatives, acquaintances, and employees living in the lower Volga cities, earnestly asking them to notify them about the time of their return journey. John along the Volga. In Stavropol, “Brave” was met by the Samara archpriest and some citizens of Samara, who arrived here on a special steamer. Having blessed everyone who met him on his ship, Fr. John, at the request of the latter, went to their ship and there served a prayer service with the blessing of water “for those who want to sail on the waters.” Then the Brave moved further down the Volga. Before reaching the city, the “Brave” was met by another steamer, on which were members of the Samara City Council and several members of the City Duma with the Samara city mayor. This is how one of the participants describes this meeting. “The faces of all the travelers shone with joy from the expectation of seeing that man whom all of Russia reveres - Orthodox and non-Orthodox - whose name is known far beyond the borders of Russia. It seemed to all of us that the ship was too slow, but then, as if on purpose, the wind rose, the waves raged, and the rain began to pour down. Near the Annaevo dacha we met Myasnikov’s steamer, which landed on the Brave few Samarans who had managed to go to meet Fr. John before us. Soon after that we saw the Brave, whose captain signaled to us that our steamer should approach his deck. It is impossible to express what our hearts felt when we stepped onto the deck of the Brave. Our excitement increased even more when we learned that we would be immediately received by Fr. John. Another minute, and we enter the 1st class cabin and stand before the great Russian shepherd. His kind, meek, radiant face, his caressing gaze, his voice creeping into the soul touches us to tears. He honors us not only with a blessing that is precious to everyone, but also with a kiss. What a blessing it was for Samara: he tells us that he is staying with us for a day, that he is glad to see the people of Samara, that he thanks us for the meeting” 44 . The mayor asked Fr. John to serve a prayer service in the square in front of the newly built cathedral, for which he received full consent. He announced the opening of the House of Diligence in Samara, the first contribution to the construction of which was made by Fr. John. Meanwhile, the ship was approaching the pier. Literally the entire shore was filled with people who had been heading here in droves since early morning. The people did not disperse, despite the fact that it soon became known to everyone from the telegram that Fr. John will arrive in Samara at three o'clock. With great tension and impatience, everyone wanted to quickly see one of the most popular spiritual shepherds of the Orthodox Church and receive a blessing from him. But then the “Brave” arrived and docked at the pier. When the ship stopped at the pier, Fr. John greeted everyone gathered from the deck. For some time he hesitated to go ashore, talking on the deck of the ship with the city authorities, who had come here to receive the blessing of the highly respected guest of Samara. At this time, the mayor, coming out to the people, announced that tomorrow, June 28, the priest would serve matins and liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral, and at 12 o’clock a prayer service at the new cathedral. Along the streets along which Fr. John, the people gathered in such numbers that the help of the police was needed to maintain order. At 9 pm, also accompanied by police, Fr. John arrived back at the Aircraft Wharf. Having taught the blessing to the public waiting for him on the pier, so as not to be besieged by the crowd again, he moved on his ship to the other side of the Volga, where he spent the night. On the morning of June 28, at about 7 o'clock, several boats left to meet the dear guest. A mass of people had already crowded around the landing stage of the Samolet shipping company since dawn, so the police were again forced to clear the road. John to the crew. At seven o'clock in the morning, with a huge crowd of people, Matins began in the Kazan Cathedral, followed by the Liturgy, performed by Fr. John in the concelebration of numerous clergy. The cathedral church, of course, could not accommodate everyone who wanted to listen and see the divine service of the dear shepherd. At 12 and a half o'clock in the afternoon, banners were brought to the square on the eastern side of the newly built cathedral, and numerous clergy in expensive vestments gathered. Here, on a vast platform, deliberately built for this purpose in front of the church, Fr. John performed a water-blessing prayer with the local clergy. It was impossible to take in the mass of people who had gathered here. People filled not only the square, but also the nearby streets, standing in the windows of the cathedral, on balconies, in carriages, etc. Troops were invited to help the police maintain order. The soldiers, holding hands, surrounded and guarded the platform with a human chain. However, some managed to climb onto the platform even over the railing. At the end of the prayer service, Fr. John got into the carriage and drove off, guarded from the masses of people by mounted police soldiers. During the distribution of the consecrated Fr. For John, the tightness and crush of the waters were unimaginable. Driving past the Alekseevsky orphanage, Fr. John blessed the children who came out onto the balcony, and blessed the pupils of the Nikolaev orphanage, who stood in rows on the street waiting for the priest to pass. The city honored its dear guest with lunch. Present at the dinner were: His Eminence Gury, the Vice-Governor, members of the City Council and other honored guests. During lunch, many good wishes were expressed to the dear priest. Conduct o. John gathered at the pier: the vice-governor, the governor of the office of the head of the province, the highest civil and military officials of the city. Father John rode accompanied by the mayor and some other citizens of Samara, and again rode under police protection. On both sides of the descent to the landing stage, a company of soldiers was located on trellises. Their officers were also here. Entry to the landing stage by unauthorized persons, for fear of crowding and possible accidents to people, was strictly prohibited and was allowed only for particularly valid reasons. Thanks only to such measures and the presence of all police officials with the chief of police at the head, the farewell of Fr. John boarded the ship without any fuss and the usual crush in such cases. Soon the signal whistle was sounded from the Brave, and the ship, with Samara’s dear and rare guest standing on its balcony, set sail from the shore at 3 o’clock. Dear Father, Fr. John bowed to the people, thanked them for their warm welcome and blessed the audience remaining on the shore. On the “Votazhny” we went to see Fr. John before Syzran mayor and some other persons. A special steamer “Samaritan” also set off for Syzran with the accompanying audience. Behind the departing steamer, several boats with people sailed out, wanting to take another look at the respected shepherd. The love of the people of Samara towards Fr. Ioannou seemed to have no boundaries. One local fisherman, wanting to do something outstanding to mark the arrival of Fr. John, presented him as a gift, as a special rarity, a recently caught sterlet - arshinnik. Visit about. John did not go unmentioned in the chronicles of Samara. In commemoration of the visit and prayerful stay in Samara, Fr. John, the Right Reverend Gury addressed his flock with an appeal, in which he invited everyone to make feasible donations for the construction of a stone church with a church school attached to it in the Trans-Samara settlement. Vladyka was the first to personally make a donation for such a worthy monument to the general pious delight evoked in the residents of Samara by the visit of Fr. John. He also expressed the desire that the proposed church be built in honor of that St. saint of God, whose name is Fr. John of Kronstadt. On the day of arrival Fr. John in Saratov, people already in the morning moved to the steamship piers and crowded around the bishop's house. By the time the “Brave” arrived, there were a lot of people standing on the shore. To meet the respected shepherd, on the steamship aircraft landing stage there were, led by the head of the province, the senior chairman of the judicial chamber, the city mayor, some vowels of the Duma, the police chief, the abbess of the convent, and the highest city clergy. At 5 o'clock in the evening the halt whistle of the Brave was heard. When the ship approached the pier, Fr. John, standing at the side of the upper deck, greeted the Governor-Prince and everyone who met him: – Hello, your Excellency, happy holiday to you! I came to visit you. Hello, Orthodox Christians. Hello sister nuns! “You are welcome,” the governor of the province responded to these greetings, and several people from the audience began to wave their hats and scarves. When the gangplank was ready, eminent persons of the city entered the ship with the head of the province, Prince Meshchersky. Having risen to the wheelhouse, they approached Fr. for blessing. John, who kissed all the representatives of the city who met him. Saratov responded with his consent to the invitation to visit them. The appearance of Fr. made a striking impression on the crowd. John. “The crowd stirred and trembled; more prudent people retreated to the walls and railings. Another minute, two calm, and it’s difficult to describe what happened. Some kind of spontaneous flow, frantic shouts of the police: “give way, let me in”! - mixed with crying and hysterical cries: “Father, bless,” the cries of women and children who were almost run over. Quickly, as if they had rolled down rather than gotten off, several policemen rushed past us, then Fr. John, who was supported by one hand by the head of the province, Prince Meshchersky, by the other by the mayor and those closest to them... The “pure” public, which spontaneously rushed after them, crowding and crushing each other, barely managed to stop. Down on the shore, a reliable chain of policemen protected Fr. John and his retinue from the crush. He was quickly put into a carriage, which, with several horsemen in front, sped off towards the bishop’s house” 45. About the degree of enthusiasm with which the people greeted Fr. John in Saratov, can be judged, for example, because one woman, without waiting for the steamer to stop completely, rushed from the shore directly into the water in her clothes in order to attract the attention of the priest and see him sooner. Father John stayed with the Reverend Nicholas. Together with the bishop, he went out onto the balcony to the people who stood in a dense crowd in the courtyard of the bishop’s house and were languishing in anticipation of receiving the priest’s blessing. Evening service Fr. John listened to the bishop in the house church in front of a huge crowd of worshippers. Since Fr. John remained in the bishop's chambers, but some of the people spent the whole night in the courtyard of the bishop's house. "Saratovsky Leaf" the next day of Fr. John in Saratov describes it this way. “On June 30 at 6 and a half o’clock the bell rang for matins in the cathedral. Soon a carriage with His Eminence Nicholas and Fr. left the courtyard of the bishop's house. John. The people surrounded the carriage in such a crowd that the horses could only walk. There was such a dense mass of people near the cathedral that there was no way to get through it from the front entrance. Eminence Nicholas together with Fr. John barely managed to get into the lower room of the cathedral, from where they went upstairs through an internal passage. People began to be allowed into the church only when matins had already begun. The crowd moved closer and closer to the altar, wanting to see Fr. John. Many even climbed onto the railings near the choirs. Outside, the entire square was filled with people. The lower part of the bell tower, the roofs above the side entrance doors, the boulevard fence - all of this was literally covered with people. Liturgy of Fr. John did it himself. Afterwards the prayer service began. The latter was supposed to serve in the square, but when they brought the icons to the porch, they saw that the cathedral was surrounded by such a mass that it was absolutely impossible to carry the icons any further. I had to serve a prayer service at the entrance. The people moved like a wall towards the porch. Screams were heard... At the end of the prayer service, Fr. John blessed everyone with the cross, and the procession again moved to the church. Mass is over. Carriage from Fr. John had difficulty moving through the masses of people, despite the fact that 6 mounted guards were riding ahead. The people again gathered near the bishop's house, onto the balcony of which the Right Reverend and Fr. John. The latter blessed the people and thanked them for such a warm welcome that everyone here gave him. The streets at this time were so crowded with people that even traffic along Moskovskaya and Police streets was suspended. Father John visited eminent citizens of the city and the Duma. Upon entering the Duma premises, the great shepherd loudly greeted the vowels: - Peace be with you, honorable vowels. Hello, good people! A prayer service was served in the Duma, with singers of the Alexander Choir singing. After the prayer service everyone approached the cross. Father John blessed everyone, and His Grace Nicholas sprinkled St. water Then Fr. John and the Bishop went out onto the balcony, from which the dear priest sprinkled the entire crowd of people standing below with St. water. The crowd crossed themselves and asked for blessings. Many people shouted: - Thank you, dear! live many years!.. Father John was extremely touched by this enthusiastic reception and said about the Saratov residents that “this meeting pleases him, as proof of the religiosity and good direction of the minds of the Saratov residents. From the fact that the Reverend, the head of the province and the mayor of the province, these representatives of spiritual power, administrative and public administration, took part in the welcoming meeting with equal heartfelt participation, Fr. John concludes that these three powers, in their influence on the population, are animated by one goal, united in one direction - in the spirit of religion and faith. Only such a direction is capable of giving the right life to the fatherland and protecting it from those unrest, from that free-thinking that plagues Western Europe. It was precisely because the rulers and people there shied away from religion that freethinking arose and, following it, various disorders that culminated in the appearance of anarchists.” 46 Везде появление о. John was an outstanding event; everywhere masses of people met and saw off their dear guest. But the farewell in Saratov, in terms of the degree of enthusiasm of the mourners, in its grandeur, and finally, with all this, in its remarkable order, really stands out from a number of other farewells that have ever befallen Fr. Иоанна в этот раз. To Fr. appointed for departure. John's time, troops were gathered at the Airplane Pier to help the police, who formed a chain on both sides of the passage on the embankment. Together with Fr. John, the Most Reverend Nicholas himself, the governor of the province and other authorities arrived at the pier. The Vladyka and the head of the province entered together with Fr. Иоанном на пароход. Everyone stood on the pier with their heads uncovered, and when the ship set off at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the clergy, led by their archpastor, sang the many years three times in honor of the departing guest. The impression from these solemn farewells was most touching. Not only those who said goodbye to the priest cried, but also those accompanying him could not help but cry. Coastal factories and factories around the city blew whistles as the Brave passed them. Father John was very pleased with everything he saw in Saratov, and at the first telegraph station along the way, a welcoming telegram was sent from the steamer Brave to the Saratov ruler with all his God-protected flock. On the morning of July 1, the steamer “Brave” stopped in Dubovka, and then at the oil industry in sight of the city of Tsaritsyn, the final destination on Fr. John along the Volga. During the stay, boats began to approach here, and a steamer also approached and stopped next to the Brave. On the ship, crowded with people, were the pupils of the Tsaritsyn orphanage, who sang the entrance “It is worthy to eat.” There was also a deputation from the townspeople with representatives of the city clergy, who earnestly invited Fr. John to visit their city. Partly due to fatigue, partly due to lack of time, Fr. John could not fulfill the requests of the Tsaritsyn residents and only drove past the city, and after the steamer turned back, from the steamer deck he greeted the whole multitude of townspeople who filled the embankment and piers. Then four steamships with the public followed him, and as soon as the “Brave” stopped again at the oil barge, numerous passengers from the accompanying ships began to hastily descend onto the barge. ABOUT. John was about to come out to them for a blessing, but soon had to retire to the deck of his ship, due to the rapidly accumulating audience at the oil field. Among the mourners, seated along the side of the oil barge, were the pupils of the orphanage, up to 50 people, with their young boss, who sang harmoniously. “It is worthy to eat”, “Save, Lord, Thy people”, and a short hymn. Having said goodbye to the residents of Tsaritsyn, blessing everyone, Fr. John set off on the Brave back up the Volga. «Было очень жарко. The approaching warm night gave the passengers of the Brave the full opportunity to be on the deck of the ship more than usual, admiring the unique beauty of the banks of the wide royal river, with almost sheer cliffs and hillocks - these, according to legendary legends, were the favorite hangouts of the formidable Volga robbers. And when the inquisitive thought was directed even further into the depths of the past centuries, then the question presented itself to her: was the entire coastal space once covered with water by the lower reaches of the gigantic Volga, because hundreds of miles above its mouth they are found, they say, in the fields, far from the shores, remains characteristic only of the seabed. Is there any connection between the ancient name of the Caspian Sea, the Khvalyn Sea, and the name of the city of Khvalynsk? 47 On Sunday, July 3, in the morning, the steamship “Brave” stopped at the pier in the village of Alekseevki, Khvalynsky district, Saratov province. “On the second of July at 8 o’clock in the evening a telegram was received that Fr. On the 3rd, John of Kronstadt, traveling from Saratov to Samara, will be in the village of Alekseevka and intends to serve Matins in the local church,” writes one eyewitness. Such unexpected news shocked the residents of the village of Alekseevka so much that many of them at first did not want to believe it. “Is it conceivable, they said, that one who did not deign to visit the cities, despite their requests, could come to our village”? Meanwhile, the news of the arrival of Fr. Joanna quickly rushed through the village, filling the hearts of the townsfolk with genuine joy. Many cried and cried loudly with tears in their eyes: - Lord, where do we get this from, why do You send us sinners such grace? “Everywhere they started talking about the great guest, many came to their father to consult on how best to meet him. Indeed, there was a lot to think about. The church, on the occasion of its renovation, was all cluttered inside with scaffolding in several tiers. The general opinion was that the stage should be dismantled and everything put in proper order. Without any hesitation, work began. Everyone worked so hard that by 10 o'clock, beyond expectation, everything was cleaned up, and the church seemed to be renewed, everything in it took on the appearance of decency and decency. The next day, early in the morning, at 4 o'clock, people began to gather at the church and arrange themselves in two lines in the direction from which Fr. John. In the mass of people gathered from everywhere, there were noticeable many schismatics who came to see the one about whom they had heard so much, in their opinion, incredible. Priest with representatives of the village. Alekseevki went to the steamship pier, located almost two miles from the village. At 6 o'clock a messenger arrived from the ship and ordered the bell to ring in the morning, saying that Fr. John has arrived. When the first sound of the big bell rang, the hearts of all those present involuntarily trembled and, devoutly crossing themselves, everyone said with joy shining on their faces: - Thank God, Fr. has arrived. John of Kronstadt. - There was movement on the ship: everyone, pushing and crowding the other, tried to take a more visible and more advantageous place. Каждому хотелось стать поближе к дороге, чтобы лучше рассмотреть о. John. But then along the road the leading mounted gendarme appeared, and behind him the troika... The mass of people began to sway, as if a roar passed through it from one end to the other, and it flashed: “Then there was dead silence... Everyone seemed to freeze, fearing that they might miss or overlook their dear guest. Those standing in front, having met Fr. John, did not want to stay in place, but rushed after him. The closer Fr. John to the church, the more the crowd behind him grew. Nobody wanted to be left behind. Respectable old men and women - even they forgot about their decrepit old age, and they immediately ran in the crowd among their sons and grandchildren, not lagging behind them. When the train stopped, a thick crowd of peasants surrounded Fr. John and, without taking their eyes off him, with a pleading gaze, asked him for all his blessings. He left the carriage cheerfully and cheerfully and blessed everyone who approached him. With a radiant and joyful face, he entered the church and, having prayed here, affectionately greeted everyone with the words: “Peace to all, my dear brothers and sisters!” The good news was replaced by a ringing sound. At the beginning of the service, Fr. John was at the altar. When the stichera on “I cried to the Lord” were sung, he, wearing a bright red stole, went out to the choir and sang along with the singers. An inexpressibly strong impression on those praying about. John performed the reading of the canon of St. before the royal doors. Trinity and ordinary Sundays. This was not a simple reading, but a living, enthusiastic glorification of God, combined with lamentation about the sinfulness of human nature. During the reading, the soul of an attentive Christian first came into delight and tenderness, then fell under the weight of the consciousness of its sinfulness, then again became excited and delighted, then again plunged into tearful crying about its sins. And such an excited state among the worshipers continued throughout the entire service. Following the Matins without exit, the liturgy began, which was celebrated by Fr. John, co-served by several priests. Sacred delight and tenderness during the celebration of the liturgy are unnoticed by Fr. John passed on to those praying, so that all of them, having grief in their hearts, boldly glorified God with one mouth and one heart. After the liturgy, Fr. John, with a cross in his hands, went out to the people, and, allowing them to approach the cross, told those present a short, but strong and convincing instruction. “I congratulate you on the holiday of the bright Resurrection of Christ, brothers and sisters,” this is how Fr. John. Светлая радость заметно играет на ваших лицах. Я желаю и молю Бога, чтобы радость ваша была чиста и свята. Я радуюсь, что вы радуетесь. I rejoice and grieve together... I grieve for your fallen brethren, for the so-called Old Believers, of whom, as I heard, there are a lot in your village. К ним мое слово, слово истины и любви»... В дальнейшем наставлении о. John found out that there is no salvation outside the Orthodox Church, that alienation from it will not go unpunished, that opposition to its shepherds inevitably entails eternal destruction, just as in the Old Testament the opponents of Moses, God's messenger, perished. In conclusion, Fr. John turned to the spoken Old Believers with a tearful appeal so that they would abandon their destructive stubbornness, would not walk like sheep without a shepherd, but would boldly and fearlessly follow the voice of the legitimate church shepherds who would lead them to eternal life. After this, handing over the cross to the hieromonk, Fr. John entered the altar and here, kneeling before the throne, placing his hands on it, he prayed in silence for a long time. When he finished the prayer, upon leaving the altar, he was introduced to the local volost elder, the leader of the Bespopovtsy Old Believers, a developed and sensible man. Father asked him why he was in schism? Is it because his parents blessed him for this? To the affirmative answer of the foreman, Fr. John said that in this case, parental suggestions cannot be followed. At the same time, he reminded his interlocutor that the Savior, who commanded self-sacrificing love for all people, not only for parents, but even for enemies, at the same time said: “Unless anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brother and sisters, and also his own soul, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). To this, the foreman remarked that it is difficult to lag behind what a person has become accustomed to from an early age. “Of course, it’s not easy,” Fr. said to this. John, - because every habit, like drunkenness and smoking, becomes second nature for a person, but with the efforts and assistance of God it is possible and necessary to overcome every harmful habit. With fatherly tenderness, in the name of God, Fr. John, his interlocutor, like his own son, come to his senses, leave his disastrous delusion and move into the saving bosom of the Orthodox Church. Apparently touched by the sincerity and cordiality of this speech, the interlocutor immediately expressed his consent to follow the advice of Fr. John, saying: “I am very glad that I see you, father!”, and, according to the custom of the Orthodox, accepted his blessing and asked for his prayers. The inspired words of the highly revered shepherd, their obvious beneficial effectiveness and, in general, the extraordinary nature of the occasion, could not fail to make a very strong impression on all those present. A quick and obvious recognition of the correctness of Fr. John from the side of a person who, due to his official position and personal merits, enjoys special authority and respect in the eyes of schismatics, undoubtedly further strengthened the impression of the words of the highly revered shepherd. Blessing all those who come along the way, Fr. John went from the church to the house of a local priest, to whom he handed 100 rubles to give to one poor woman with a large family. From here, accompanied by the clergyman, he departed for the steamship pier. Here many were already awaiting his arrival both on the shore and on the steamship pier, decorated with greenery. Blessing those seeing off, Fr. John distributed crosses as a keepsake of himself. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon the ship sailed, taking with it Fr. John, standing on the upper deck. Those remaining on the pier watched the retreating steamer until it disappeared around a bend. The assembled people began to disperse peacefully, saying: - This is God’s mercy. Whom has God brought to see? 48 The next stop was in Stavropol. The Stavropol steamship pier stood out for its special decoration. Both the barriers and the cornices of the pier were covered with red material, and in addition, the columns were intertwined with green branches, and the cornices were also decorated with bouquets of wild herbs and flowers. A path was made from red material along green branches from the pier to the sandy shore to the place where the prayer service was supposed to be performed. This path was lined with trees on both sides. There were a lot of people standing on the pier and on the shore, and at a distance from all sides there were many crews of various kinds who had arrived 6 miles from Stavropol to meet Fr. John. As soon as the steamer stopped and the gangplank was brought onto the deck to Fr. City officials with chains on their chests and two local priests appeared to John. At the invitation of the latter, the priest went ashore and together with them performed a water-blessing prayer in the open air at a prepared place. The singers from the city sang. It was already late when the ship approached Simbirsk. Here they expected Fr. John earlier. By the time of the priest’s expected arrival, the Samoletskaya steamship pier was positively crowded with people. A local correspondent writes: “our quiet Simbirsk has rarely seen such a mass movement. Although then the news quickly spread that Fr. John will arrive in Simbirsk no earlier than 12 o'clock at night, the crowd at the pier not only did not thin out, but increased even more. As soon as the steamer “Brave” appeared, the steamer “Energechny”, on which the city governor, Fr. the rector of the seminary, the abbess of the convent, the mayor with a deputation from the city and some other high-ranking officials of the city of Simbirsk. When both ships met, the passengers of the Energetic moved onto the steamer Brave, and here on deck, having accepted the blessing of Fr. John, grouped around him and talked with him until the steamer stopped near the city. At this time Fr. John was given a telegram from the Right Reverend Barsanuphius, who was not in Simbirsk at that time. It was already 12 o'clock at night. In deep silence, the people prepared to meet the respected shepherd. Welcoming all those present, Fr. John promised to serve in the city tomorrow. Due to the late hour, he did not go ashore and soon retired to his cabin. Slowly and reluctantly, people went home. Some stayed all night on the shore at the pier, so that in the morning they could seize the opportunity to talk with the priest or, at least, receive a blessing from him. The steamer, in order to avoid any disturbances, set sail from the shore and stopped for the night a little further. The news is that Fr. John will serve in the cathedral, quickly spread throughout the city. From the early morning of July 5th, people began to gather in droves to the cathedral square. It is impossible to describe what was happening among the people at this time. Such moments are not described, but only felt. I will perform Matins and follow it with the Liturgy of Fr. John performed the ceremony in the cathedral with a huge crowd of people and 10 priests co-serving. At the end of the liturgy, a prayer service was served on a specially constructed platform in the square. Everywhere Fr. appeared after the service. John, thousands of people gathered, eager to receive a blessing from him. K o. The sick were brought to John, and some of the unfortunate were even brought to him. They prayed with inexpressible tenderness and deep faith, seeing before them such an effective prayer book as Fr. John, about whom they heard so much, to whom they still strived so much. Father John thanked the Simbirsk people for their warm welcome. Just as he was greeted cordially in Simbirsk, he was seen off so cordially. He was seen off by the city governor, the rector of the seminary, the mayor and other city authorities. To protect the path along which Fr. John, three companies of soldiers are positioned on trellises. Saying a heartfelt goodbye to those seeing them off, the priest handed out crosses to everyone as a blessing. Having risen above the city to the camp of the Simbirsk Cadet Corps, the steamer Brave stopped. Along the shore opposite the camp, cadets were lined up in rows, led by the corps director himself and teachers. Father John disembarked in the provided boat and drove up to the shore. When he blessed all the cadets, they harmoniously sang many years and “Save, Lord.” Here they brought bread and salt to the priest on a carved wooden dish with a Russian towel. The people of Kazan were very sorry that Fr. John did not visit their cities while passing down the Volga. In their grief, they were only consoled by the hope that they would be worthy to receive him on the way back. Their ardent desires were destined to come true. Even on the eve of the expected arrival, from 8 o'clock in the evening, the Airplane wharf on the Volga began to overflow with a huge mass of people, which gradually grew more and more. The entire path from Kazan to the pier all night until the morning was dotted with pedestrians and carriages. The carriages of the horse-drawn railway, leaving one after another, could not accommodate everyone who wanted to travel. By dawn, not only the Samoletskaya pier, but the entire Volga coast was completely dotted with people who had not slept all night and with feverish impatience constantly directing their gaze to the lower part of the Volga. At the beginning of the 6th hour on the morning of July 6th, the “Brave” finally appeared on the horizon. Up to 5 steamships, standing steam and overcrowded with passengers, quickly rushed towards him. Ahead of everyone was the state-owned steamer "Sviyaga", where the Kazan mayor and other representatives of the city were located. When this steamer caught up with the Brave, Fr. John greeted those who met him from the upper deck. The steamships stopped, and through the raised gangway the passengers of the Sviyaga transferred to the Brave. The mayor was the first to accept Fr.'s blessing. John, then the rest came up one after another for blessing. Meanwhile, the “Brave” managed to moor to the pier, which was nothing but a solid mass of heads, swaying like waves. Just about. John went down to the pier when he was literally knocked down and squeezed by a huge crowd. There was no way to go further, and we had to go back. The situation turned out to be very difficult. Then the mayor went out to the crowd, into the very middle of it, and loudly said several times that Fr. John will not come out until the crowd disbands and allows a free arrival, and such behavior of the crowd will completely deprive Kazan of the happiness of seeing Fr. within its walls. John and that he can be seen in the cathedral, where he will celebrate mass today. These words had the desired effect. Those standing in front, holding hands, formed two continuous chains with free passage. But as Fr. approaches. John to the prepared crews, the pressure became stronger, so that it was no longer possible to restrain it. Squeezed on all sides, Fr. John moved forward slowly, without, however, refusing to bless anyone. By the way, with a special joyful feeling he blessed and kissed one child, whose parents, bringing him to Fr. John, they declared that this child was saved from obvious death by the prayers of a respected pastor in absentia. “With extraordinary efforts Fr. John was finally taken out of the crowd of thousands and literally carried into a carriage, where the mayor sat next to him. As soon as the carriage, escorted by mounted police guards, started moving, a crowd of several hundred people rushed after it. Some, with obvious risk, rushed to the steps of the carriage, grabbed and kissed Fr.’s hand. John, touched his clothes and then raised the touching hand to their lips. Many knelt down and made the sign of the cross. Others threw envelopes into the stroller. Along the entire route from the pier to the city and along all the streets along which Fr.’s crew followed. John, the people greeted their dear guest with low bows. At all the street intersections along which Fr.’s crew followed. John, there were whole crowds standing. It was difficult to get through the fortress due to the mass of people running there from everywhere, and behind the many carriages rushing to the cathedral. Matins was first served in the cathedral, at which Fr. John, as usual, read the canon, and immediately after it the liturgy performed by Fr. John in the concelebration of numerous clergy. Most of the Kazan clergy gathered in the altar, who followed the service of Fr. with intense attention and reverence. John. The church was so crowded with people that there was no way to enter it. The crowd stood like a strong wall facing the iconostasis, which could not but complicate the sacred rites. The stuffiness was so strong that rain literally poured from the ceiling both in the church and in the altar. Not only the church, but people filled the entire porch, the bishop’s courtyard, the entire square, and the street leading to the cathedral. At the end of the service in the cathedral, to protect Fr. John from the inevitable and dangerous crush, they had to lead him out of the cathedral through the bishop's chambers by the back door. But even here there was such a crowd of people that the carriage could not drive up, and it took extraordinary efforts to snatch and carry Fr. John, carried away by the crowd, which rushed after the speeding carriage. At the request of Mrs. X., Fr. John served a prayer service for water in her house. But for fear of being strangled by the crowd at stopping places, from visiting other houses, Fr. John was forced to resolutely refuse. In Kazan, as in other cities, Fr. John was honored with a dinner, where many toasts were made to the health of the dear priest. Having visited famous people of Kazan, Fr. John went to the steamship pier. The entire road from the city to Ustye and the entire Ustye were again completely covered with people, who had now gathered here to see off the dear shepherd. Along the descent to the pier where the Brave stood, there were trellises of soldiers. But, despite this, some of the audience managed to approach Fr. John was still on the shore, and others even got onto the ship. It is remarkable that one Tatar was very pleased when he managed to receive the blessing of Fr. John. On the ship were city authorities and some representatives of the clergy. ABOUT. John, despite his fatigue, was extremely pleased with his visit to Kazan, warmly thanked the mayor, blessed him with the image, calling on the grace of God for the further management of his “enlightened and so significant and pious city,” to which he wished “true happiness and divine protection.” At 6 o'clock the "Brave" set off up the Volga, accompanied by the state-owned steamer "Sviyaga" with the mayor and several passengers. Thousands of people, completely dotting the shore of the Estuary, steamship piers, various ships and boats, with naked heads and low bows, silently saw off the departing steamer. The dear traveler stood on the upper deck of the ship, saying a fervent prayer for the Orthodox Kazan people. The pier, dotted with people, had almost disappeared from view, and Fr. John, brightly illuminated by the red rays of the sun setting behind the high Volga mountains, stood inspired on the deck, raising his left hand high with his straw hat, and making the sign of the cross with his right... Also touching and solemn was the meeting of Fr. John and in Nizhny Novgorod. All the eminent persons of the city came on the ship to meet us. Among them were the famous and most respected governor Baranov, Baron Delvig, the Rukavishnikovs and many other outstanding public figures known throughout Russia. The common people were also worried, as they were worried in other places. Also, everyone vying with each other hurried to the dear priest to receive his blessing. Also, finally, everyone saw him off enthusiastically, cordially, just as they saw him off in other cities and towns where he happened to be on this trip. Conversation between Father John of Kronstadt and pastors 49 God brought me, one person writes, to be a witness and participant in a wonderful conversation that our great pastor-prayer-man Father John of Kronstadt had with other shepherds of the Church of Christ. – It was June 21, 1904 in the mountains. Sarapul, where the priest arrived at the invitation of His Grace Bishop Micah of Sarapul. The surrounding clergy gathered in the hall of the local religious school in anticipation of the priest invited there. When he appeared at the door of the hall, all those present greeted the dear guest by singing: “Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us together”... Father first went to the school church, venerated the Holy Spirit. throne, and then returned to the hall and invited everyone to sit around the table. His wonderful conversation with those gathered began. “I am very glad,” said the priest, to see you and talk with you; I thank you for gathering here, and I thank those who served me today during the liturgy for their common prayer. Nothing animates a person more, in any matter, than the consciousness of communication, community in friendly work. And in God’s work, in serving one’s neighbor, it is especially difficult to experience the feeling of loneliness. True, we all live in the Holy Church, with all the righteous of God who have departed from the world, but even on earth we need help from our brothers, both spiritually, prayerfully, and in life itself. “That’s why I especially thank you for your sympathy; it says that we are all doing the same thing. You, brethren, my co-servants, undoubtedly have a question in your soul, how do I have the audacity to travel all over Russia like this, to pray for so many who ask for my prayer. Perhaps someone will call this insolence... But I would not have decided, brethren, on such a great undertaking if I had not been called to it from above... It was like this. Someone in Kronstadt fell ill. They asked for my prayer help. Even then I already had this habit of not refusing anyone’s request. I began to pray, committing the sick person into the hands of God, asking the Lord to fulfill His holy grace over the sick person. will. But suddenly an old woman (a native of Kostroma) comes to me, whom I have known for a long time... She was a God-fearing, deeply religious woman who spent her life as a Christian and ended her earthly journey in the fear of God. She comes to me and insistently demands that I pray for the sick person only for his recovery. I remember then I was almost afraid: “How can I, I thought, have such boldness?” However, this old woman firmly believed in the power of my prayer and stood her ground. Then I confessed my insignificance and my sinfulness before the Lord, saw the will of God in this whole matter and began to ask for healing for the pain... And the Lord sent him His mercy, he recovered. I thanked the Lord for this mercy. Another time, through my prayer, the healing was repeated. Then, in these two cases, I directly saw the will of God, a new obedience from God - to pray for those who would ask for it. And now I myself know, and others report that healings occur through my prayer. Particularly amazing are the healings of the possessed, who always suffer terribly. And there have been cases where sometimes they bring someone possessed by an evil spirit, spewing blasphemies and at the same time speaking, obviously unconsciously and completely incoherently. And after I read prayers over him, the patient becomes joyful, calm, and receives St. in peace. Secrets that I had previously tried my best to avoid. And it is remarkable that such patients remember almost nothing of what they said in a state of possession. It is clear that they were then doing someone’s will that was not their own, a will that was contrary to the will of God—a demonic will. Often demons hold power over a sick person possessed by them for a long time and resist for a long time. Then the sick utter the words: “we are old, we have long received power over him (that is, the sick)”... But the power of God, which the demons tremble, defeats them. About my state of mind, I can tell you that I am fulfilling the ancient great rule: nosce te ipsum (know yourself). This, in fact, is the content of my whole life: and to this day I do not stop “getting to know myself.” Through this consciousness of myself, I recognize my helplessness in all respects, and this makes me humble. True, everything that I do good, I do by the grace of God. But I see God’s help in everything and consider myself the most careless, the worst of all Russian shepherds, because if someone else had these gifts of God that I receive, he would have done much more good than I have. Constant study of my nature forces me to be constantly careful and constantly ask God for grace-filled help to cleanse me from sins. And this same knowledge of my human weaknesses makes me help others, and pray for them, sympathize, forgive, etc. The study of my human nature is especially valuable to me because through this I learn the main properties of God; I know for myself, I have experienced how merciful, long-suffering, omnipotent, and “quick to obey” our Lord is in helping us: He is the source of our mental and physical health, spiritual purity, and spiritual strength. But I, brothers, continued the priest, 50 I do not lead an ascetic lifestyle. Do not think that I consider this something worthy of imitation; no, perhaps there would have been much more success in my activities if I had arranged my life with a more ascetic stop. But the conditions of my service deprived me of the opportunity to be an ascetic. I also read newspapers, but I often regret wasted time. There is a lot of unnecessary, completely useless writing there. But what I always read without fail is the canons that are supposed to be read daily at morning. From this reading, one might say, I was brought up in church life. And what infinitely deep content lies in these canons, in these daily memories of the great righteous, of their holy life, of their exploits! – Through this reading, the soul little by little gets used to church life, to church memories, little by little it becomes imbued with the mood of those people whom the saint pleases. The Church becomes enlightened, ceases to be self-closed: it becomes strong in the fight against sin. And as soon as someone makes this reading of the canon a daily rule, he will rise spiritually every day, ascend from strength to strength. But I especially love reading St. Scripture of both testaments. I can't live without reading this. So much content here! How many laws of life of the human soul have been revealed! How much a person striving for spiritual renewal can glean from here in order to be reborn from evil to good. The Holy Scriptures are especially necessary for the preacher. There is an inexhaustible topic for sermons here; Just be able to edify yourself and edify others. Here, brothers, is what the Lord told me to tell you, the priest said, thinking. I didn’t think about what to tell you in advance, I only said what God had laid on my soul.” Then one of those present asked: “Tell me, father, during your constant travels, how do you fill your free time? Do stopping and changing it make an impression on you? “I pray, I pray constantly,” Fr. quickly said. John, I don’t even understand how you can produce time without prayer. Truly prayer is the breath of the soul.” 51 “Tell me, father,” the questioner continued, “what makes you so focused in prayer during the liturgy, when sometimes there is so much chaos and everything around that can interfere with prayer?” - I achieved this only through habit. Learning to quickly concentrate in prayer and master oneself is a big task. Through continuous work on yourself you can achieve this. What is very necessary here is repentance, a quick reproduction in one’s soul of the image of Christ, or the Cross of the Lord, and full awareness of one’s spiritual impurity and helplessness. The first questioner was replaced by a second one. - He said: – Teach, father, to fight despondency in the work of shepherding. At first there is terrible despondency from one’s own sinfulness. You give up when you remember the words: doctor, heal yourself... Teaching doesn’t come to mind then. And now despondency! - It's in vain. Here you need to remember about duty. The thought of duty should have a compelling and encouraging effect on the shepherd. “You are authorized by the Church, you must do,” this thought should both inspire the shepherd and, of course, disperse any despondency. And this is despondency from the enemy! - answered the father. “But here’s another type of despondency—from the blasphemous thoughts that appear in the head during the most sacred moments of the service. “Well, this is despondency,” Father John said energetically, directly from your lack of faith. The point is that blasphemous thoughts should be despised: fighting here is unnecessary and harmful - you just don’t need to pay attention! But if whatever thoughts lead to despondency, this is due to weakness of will. This means that you give these thoughts time to dominate you, perhaps even enjoy them... This only leads to despondency! So you don’t need to bring your soul to despondency! Don’t you know how “quick to listen” the Lord is, how quickly He fulfills all your requests? And so, at the very beginning, with fervent prayer you drive away all spiritual confusion from yourself; at the right time, the sinful mood captured by prayer completely disappears, and can never bring a truly and ardently believing person to despondency... “But, father,” the co-questioner continued, I still experience a particularly difficult state of despondency at the sight of triumphant evil. - This is another matter. This is truly difficult to experience; I often have to go through a similar situation. Here you need to strengthen yourself with prayer and firmly believe that the Lord is able to turn even the most evil into good, through His only known paths. This ended the conversation with the shepherds of the mountains. Sarapul of Father John. “Many people thanked him for these minutes, which were memorable for them for a long time.” After this, the priest still had time to conduct a private conversation about modern shepherding and its task. Father said that the work of shepherding is becoming more and more difficult at the present time, the struggle of a shepherd is gradually becoming more and more subtle, and even more so, shepherds must be at the height of their calling. The shepherd in his mood must completely renounce all selfish moods; to become like the biblical shepherds in their “standing in the spirit.” For this, shepherds need complete caution and concentration, constant crucifixion of themselves for the sake of their flock. The conversation turned to modern life. Father drew attention to the mood of modern society. “An amazing disease has appeared today - this is a passion for entertainment. There has never been such a need for entertainment as there is today! This is a direct indicator that people have nothing to live for, that they have forgotten how to live a serious life, work for the benefit of those in need and an inner spiritual life. And they started to get bored! And they exchange the depth and content of spiritual life for entertainment! What madness! Like children devoid of reason! Meanwhile, entertainment is already a social vice, already a public passion! This is where shepherds should direct their energies; they must bring into life the content it has lost, return to people the meaning of life. Well, of course, shepherds must prepare themselves for this... “Pastors must protect our people from these “entertainments.” He does not yet know “entertainment”: the people know honest, healthy work, they know a holiday - a day of prayer and rest. And instead of rest they offer him “entertainment”, often immodest and harmful! And how much self-delusion must people have in order to instill their corrupt tastes in the people, to remake life according to their views... Shepherds must be at the height of their calling.” Consecration of the Surskaya St. John the Theological Women's Community voyage of our steamship "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker" along the Pinega River, writes one of the companions, 52 although wide, but in places very shallow, due to sandy rapids, by the local name - sastrugi, in mid-June can be considered a special miracle sent by the Lord through the prayers of our companion and owner of the steamship - Fr. John. Usually, the Pinega River, when the spring waters decline, becomes shallow until it is completely impossible for not only a steamboat to navigate it, but a small boat - a shuttle - is dragged by hand through the sastrugi to deep places. She was the same now, but shortly before the passage of the great wonderworker Fr. John, within two weeks, the rains came and filled Pinega with water. Our steamer "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker" from the north. Dvina to Pinega on the night of June 16th. The weather was beautiful and hot; I couldn’t believe that we were in the deep north. Almost during the entire voyage along Pinega we were above, on the deck, and often enjoyed the pleasure of talking with our dear and most friendly host, Father. This journey, I am sure, left in each of us - companions - wonderful, never indelible memories. Not reaching s. Sura 40 versts, we stopped at the monastery of the righteous Artemy Verkolsky, beautifully located on the left, high bank of the river. Pinega; the majestic new cathedral, other temples and monastery buildings - stone, beautiful architecture, preserving the character of local antiquity, everything is white - the same walls surrounding it, among the greenery, evoke a bright, reverent feeling in the viewer. The newly appointed abbot of the Verkolsky monastery, Hieromonk, and his brethren arrived on the ship and asked dear Father to visit them, which he did. Having served mass and accepted the icons presented by the rector as a blessing to the new monastery in Sura, Fr. John accepted the invitation to the meal; At the end of it, having given a blessing to the abbot and all the brethren, he left the monastery, accompanied by singing and the ringing of bells. When the steamer left, for a long time about. John, standing on the upper bridge, without a hat, made the sign of the cross and bowed to the monks and people gathered on the shore. On the same day, June 18, our steamship “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” approached the village of Sura, greeted from afar by the ringing and singing of the nuns of the new Sura community. On the pier, decorated with flags, greenery, and red cloth, they were waiting for Fr. John: Sursk clergy, his relatives, abbess of the Leushinsky monastery - Taisiya with the nuns of the Sursk monastery, disciples and female students of the church. parish school, and Suryans, young and old, crowded on the shore, trying to see their great fellow countryman and benefactor, receive a blessing, and hear his dear word. Father John did not forget anyone - he greeted everyone and caressed the children. From the pier, the world prayer book Fr. John rode in a carriage to the St. Nicholas Church, prayed, examined it, then visited the priests: Fr. Nicholas, Fr. Alexander, deacon Fr. George Makkaveev and left for a new community, where a room was prepared for him during his stay in Sura. The next day, June 19th, Fr. John served in St. Nicholas parish church. The liturgy was celebrated with great solemnity; in concelebration with Fr. John had 6 priests, three deacons, and the nuns of the Sursk community sang. At the end of the liturgy, the torch of Orthodoxy, Fr. John said a word in which, with his characteristic simplicity and persuasiveness, he taught the people against the schism and the schism teachers who still existed among the Suryans, although now in much smaller numbers. In his teaching, Fr. John spoke of the succession of the Priesthood from the Apostles; At the same time, with special energy he addressed the people who filled the church with the question: is the schism legal? Does the right of schism teachers belong to the Apostles? - No, no and no! From ignorance, crookedness, greed and other defilements and fabrications of hell! You, friends, Suryans, tell the schismatics that in their error there is no salvation, but only destruction, and that there is still time for them to repent and convert to the bosom of the mother Orthodox Church. There are quite a lot of schismatics here and in other places, and in Rus' in general, perhaps a million or more, but this does not serve as proof of their rightness, but only as proof of the greatness and immensity of our Empire, which includes the children of the true Orthodox Church, much more than a million or two, but hundreds of millions.” Speaking these words, Fr. John was completely transformed; he was not a seventy-year-old shepherd, but a warrior of Christ, full of energy, who stood in defense of the faith and the Mother of the Orthodox Church. On the nineteenth of June, Sunday, at 6 o’clock in the evening, the all-night vigil was solemnly served in the new church of the women’s community, in the middle of it, at the table with the accessories of the altar and altar, prepared for consecration. With o. John at the all-night vigil was concelebrated by 8 priests and 6 deacons, and the nuns sang. At the end of the all-night vigil, the clergy and guests were invited by Fr. John for evening tea in the room occupied by him. The next day, the 20th, at 9 o’clock the bell of the new community church announced the blessing of water, and then the ceremony of consecrating the new church began. John and the clergy who participated in the all-night vigil the day before. After the consecration of the church, a liturgy was celebrated with special solemnity, at the end of which Fr. John spoke a deeply meaningful word about the meaning and goals of the women's monastery and the responsibilities of its nuns who dedicated themselves to God. Word on the consecration of the church of the St. John the Theological women's community established in the village of Sura And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and judgment, in kindness and mercy. And I will betroth you to Me in fidelity, and you will know the Lord. ( Hos. 2:19–20 ). The Lord, who wonderfully provides for our common salvation, vouchsafed me to found a monastic monastery in my native village and to consecrate this new church with it. – This is God’s greatest mercy to me and to the sisters of the young monastery, and to the residents of this village, since the monastery, first of all, is a holy place of constant godly deeds of prayer, obedience and all Christian virtues, and can serve as an excellent living example of piety and work life for everyone around. For a long time, from the first centuries of Christianity, monasteries were fenced with walls separating them from worldly dwellings - and exit from them was not always and not at all times allowed, for the sake of preserving the silence and silence of the brothers or sisters, and for the sake of removing them from the bustle of the world. So the real monastery is surrounded by a fence all around as a sign that the sisters must protect themselves and protect themselves from all temptations of life and be the holy and chosen flock of the good Shepherd Christ, remaining forever within His fence. Dear sisters! I want to talk with you about how you can live and work in this holy monastery. Your first task, sisters, should be contemplation and prayer; the second is constant abstinence in food and drink, purity of thoughts and feelings, bodily labor and unquestioning obedience, teaching yourself meekness and humility according to Christ’s commandment: learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart. (Matthew 11:29). These are your main responsibilities. Let's talk about them: you did not choose Me (John 15:16), says the Lord to His disciples, but I chose you. So the Lord says to you: I chose you and called you here into this new fence. Upon entering the monastery, you enter into a spiritual union with your Lord, betrothed to Him with an incorruptible, eternal betrothal. To you I refer the words of the Lord quoted at the beginning of this word: I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in judgment, in kindness and mercy. And I will betroth you to Me in fidelity, and you will know the Lord, that is, how good and merciful and righteous He is in all His ways. So, you, virgins, betrothed to the immortal, eternal, most holy bridegroom Christ, must bring to Him, as if an expensive incorruptible vein or dowry, constant virginity and purity of soul and body. Without purity of soul and body, a nun is not a nun. This is the will of God, says the Apostle Paul to Christians, your holiness, keep yourselves from fornication, and each one acquire his own vessel in holiness and honor, and not in lustful passion, like the pagans who do not know God (1 Thess. 4:4). Next, your inner work should be contemplation and prayer. To maintain mental and physical purity, we need to remember God, His closeness to us, His omniscience, holiness, justice and truth as often as possible. The Holy King-Prophet David says: I will foresee the Lord before me, as he is on my right hand, let me not move (Ps. 15:8), that is, let me not be shaken, lest I sin. If worldly people should remember God as often as possible in order not to sin and to do the truth, then monastics should constantly remember Him, sitting, walking, standing in prayer, doing work, and talking with each other or with worldly people. Ap. Paul tells us all: pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). What does it mean to pray without ceasing? This means constantly remembering God and secretly calling on Him for help, secretly repenting, secretly giving thanks, secretly and openly glorifying Him, for there are three types of prayer: doxology, thanksgiving and petition. External, daily prayer is also necessary; For this purpose, for outdoor public prayer, the sisters gather in their church. Continuous prayer is necessary because our invisible enemies are constantly awake, and day and night they tempt us with various sinful dreams, through attacks of various passions: blasphemy, wickedness, doubt, unbelief, malice, envy, prodigal uncleanness, murmuring, disobedience, despondency, laziness, etc. We are all told: be sober and watchful, for your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour; Always resist him with firm faith (1 Peter 5:8). In order for the spirit of prayer to always burn and not fade in us, we must always observe extreme caution in the consumption of food and drink; Always eat and drink abstinently, in moderation, never burden yourself. With a stomach full of food and drink, a person is incapable of sincere prayer, cannot feel the desire for God and is drawn to sleep. Through the lust of gluttony, the demon most of all overthrows and takes people captive: the fall of the first people, Adam and his wife, followed from the womb, as well as from an evil look at the forbidden fruit. And monastics, too, first of all, the enemy takes captive through the lusts of the belly and various lusts; This food, he says, I don’t like, this tea is not good, or I want to eat and drink more often or more than I should - this should not happen in the monastery. Excessive eating and drinking leads to cooling towards God and prayer. The fall of man begins from small, apparently, sins that lead to big ones. Monastics must obey the monastic rules, both in food and drink: not to eat secretly in their cells, not to keep food in their possession, and thereby not to console the enemy. Further, nuns must constantly work, that is, engage in some kind of manual labor, and for this, nuns are assigned various obediences according to the needs of the monastery. They must constantly obey the boss or older sister; grumbling and disobedience in the monastery are intolerable, as well as grumpiness, condemnation, gossip, talkativeness; they subject the guilty to ejection from the monastery: remove the evil from you, samekh (1 Cor. 5:13), says St. Ap. Paul. Sisters must learn meekness and humility every day, as the meek and humble Christ the Lord commanded us: learn from Me that I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. By the sweat of your face you will eat your bread (Gen. 3:19), the Lord said to Adam, doomed to hard labor for his sin. And I will also say to you, spiritual sisters: you came to the monastery to atone for your sins through prayer, repentance, humility, obedience, abstinence, and labor. Atone for your sins through spiritual and physical labors, and achieve the salvation of your souls with eternal glory. Be faithful to the Lord, who has betrothed you to Himself as His brides, and justify your faithfulness in deeds. Amen. S. Sura, Arkhang. gub., Pinezh. county A prayer service proclaiming many years to the Sovereign Emperor and the entire Royal House was served by the saint of God, Fr. John and other clergy in the middle of the church at the end of the liturgy, and they also read the Highest decree on the opening of the Sursk women's community; in brief words about. John explained the importance of the decree. The entire monastery; cells, corridors, dining room, kitchen and other rooms were sprinkled with holy water. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the clergy and all the guests present at the consecration were invited to the reading room, where the tables were already set for lunch. The wooden building of the reading room is very spacious and bright; its length is 5 fathoms, width is 4 fathoms and height is 7 and a half arches, illuminated by 8 large windows; There are very spacious choirs above the entrance to the reading room. In connection with the reading room there is a fairly large living space, separated from the front hall for the dresses of visitors, and there is also an entrance from the street. Those invited to dinner, more than 70 men and women, were seated at two large tables placed the length of the hall. The table setting did not leave much to be desired, nor did the dinner itself; one forgot that this was 2,000 miles from the capitals, in the deep north, where the steamship first arrived 9 years ago, and men, women and children came running to see it as if it were some kind of monster. With the blessing of Fr. A prayer was read by Archpriest Ioann Ilyich; at the end of it, the novices of the new monastery quickly began serving food to the guests. The harmonious spiritual chants of the nuns were heard in the choir, which continued throughout the entire dinner. The first toast was proclaimed by the host, Fr. John, for the health of the Sovereign Emperor and the entire Royal Family - the answer was a loud, unanimous “hurray!” those present at dinner and the people standing around the reading room building and at the open windows. Toasts to His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg, Bishop of Arkhangelsk Ioannikiy were offered to Fr. John, to this the guests present and the nuns and the choir responded with a thrice sung of many years. Many of those present made toasts and speeches dedicated to their dear host, Fr. John, the benefactor of the homeland, the organizer of the women's community, the organizer of magnificent local churches, schools and other local charitable institutions. From speeches dedicated to Fr. John, was distinguished by a special depth of thought and poetic form in the poem - a poem by the abbess of the Leushinsky convent, M. Taisiya, in which she draws the great personality of Fr. John, his wondrous deeds for the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind. Speech by local priest Fr. Alexandra, who best expresses Suryan’s deep gratitude to her great fellow countryman Fr. John, we quote it verbatim. Allow me, as one of the participants in today’s church celebration, to congratulate, and at the same time thank you for the establishment and consecration of the Surskaya convent. This day, the day of the consecration and opening of the monastery, will forever remain a significant and historical day in the Sursky church chronicles. On this day, so to speak, a new direction was given to the religious, moral and economic development of Sura. Nine years ago, you, dear father, for the first time served to morally and materially uplift Sura, dear to your heart. In your speech at the consecration of the Sura parish church, you, father, vividly and truthfully described the moral and material state of Sura. You said that with extreme regret you noticed that many of the Suryans are in complete ignorance and poverty - they walk around as dark, half-starved beggars, in rags, you felt sorry for them, and now your most loving heart spoke - you came to their aid. You built for the Suryans a most magnificent stone three-altar church, shining with gold and especially the wonderful faces of the Savior, the Mother of God and His saints, a two-class parochial school with a women's department attached to it, where the children of the Suryans learn the law of God, reading, writing, and girls, in addition, needlework, a shelter for orphans learning accessible and necessary crafts, you finally founded a public shop - to meet the needs of the local population without paying additional commission interest and abundant profit. This is not enough. Your loving heart does not stop there. And so you are erecting a new lamp for your dear Sura, a women’s monastery. Of course, everyone knows that monastic monasteries contribute not only to religious and moral education, but also to the improvement of the material life of the local population. Guided by this conviction, you established a monastery in Sura, dear to you, so that through the daily celebration of Divine services according to the rules of St. Church, observing fasts, and tirelessly working to give a living example to the local population of the need for unceasing prayer and hard work. Considerable honor in the improvement of St. The Surskaya monastery also belongs to the highly revered mother abbess Taisia. How many sleepless nights did this great old lady spend before our eyes in the beautification and preparation of St. monastery for consecration. And how much moral work she did is impossible to describe. A lot of worries and troubles fell to the lot of the abbess of the young monastery, nun Varvara, but, of course, the main worries and labors still lay ahead of her. We are grateful, Suryans, deeply grateful to you, Father! May the merciful Lord prolong the most precious life of our great fellow countryman and benefactor, Fr. Archpriest John Ilyich and the life of his faithful and tireless assistant in the improvement of St. Abbess Taisia's monastery! May he, the Wise One, and the head of the young monastery, nun Varvara, be wise in the development and moral improvement of St. monastery. And He will grant all of us, participants and participants in today’s rare church celebration, His peaceful and supremely good and long life” (Sursky parish priest Father Alexander Ivanov). In response to this deeply felt speech by Fr. Alexander, the singing nuns in the choir and the guests in the hall sang many summers in unison and loudly three times, and the dear host Father cordially thanked the speaker. Subsequent toasts were offered by Fr. Archpriest Ioann Ilyich for his closest collaborators in organizing the community: Abbess Taisia ​​of the Leushinsky Monastery, nun Abbess of the community Varvara and Deacon of Sursky Fr. George Makkaveev, the main manager of the construction of the community, other buildings and the main initiator of profitable enterprises for the benefit of the dear Sura. The Suryans, led by the foreman, came to thank dear Father for all the benefits shown to them, for the unparalleled concern for their needs. Father John loudly proclaimed: “For the health of my fellow Suryans” and personally treated the deputies who thanked him and the peasants standing at the windows with sparkling overseas wine. One must see how full of joy and love the eyes of these simple people were, turned to their dear fellow countryman, benefactor Fr. John in order to judge the importance of what he was doing for his homeland. Representatives of local authorities and guardians of order at the consecration ceremony: assistant police officer Baron Shtromberg and bailiff E.I. Zorich also brought congratulations to the venerable Fr. Archpriest John Ilyich with the opening of the community and wished him many, many more years of health, the benefactor of his native northern region. The dinner ended with a prayer of thanks sung by all present. The appearance of the community is simple, but beautiful and makes a solid impression. The community building is two-story, made of logs, roofed with iron, and in addition to the premises for the refectory, kitchen, and storerooms, has twenty spacious, high, light cells, each of which can accommodate 3 and 4 sisters. To the east the building ends in a dome with a cross above the church. The church has two lights, high, spacious, and can accommodate more than 600 people with its choir. The iconostasis is five-tiered, carved from linden wood, not gilded or painted, which is very beautiful and harmonious with the icons of fresh, brilliant writing. 53 There are two passages to the church: one from the corridor of the lower floor, and the other from the upper - directly to the choir; this arrangement provides many conveniences: firstly, for prayerful solitude, and, secondly, to avoid the bad influence on the health of the sisters of autumn bad weather and winter frosts, reaching minus 40° or more, during the transition from the cells to the church, if it were separate. The community is surrounded by a new high fence; outside its fence, those nearby belong to it: the reading room building (where lunch took place), and the historic old clerk’s house, where Fr. John spent his childhood; Now this house is enclosed in another, which forms, as it were, a cover to protect it from bad weather and so on. influence of time. Public store, steamship "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker", a steam mill, a brick factory and interest on the capital transferred to Fr. John to the new community will ensure its existence. The Sur community, having as its prayer book and patron the highly revered Fr. Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev of Kronstadt will undoubtedly succeed in saving its inhabitants and, as an example to the population around it, we wish her every success from the bottom of our hearts. May 25th is the day of the Holy Trinity. There is great excitement in Kronstadt. Father John for the last time before leaving for his homeland solemnly serves a mass and prayer service in St. Andrew's Cathedral on the occasion of the birthday of the Empress. A bright sunny day, after two days of continuous rain, contributes to the festive mood of the public, which, by the end of the service in the cathedral, poured out onto the streets of Kronstadt and accumulated in a thick mass in those places where Fr. John. With difficulty I made my way to the dam of the so-called Ust-Canal in the military harbor, where his own steamship “Lyubezny” was already waiting for the priest. The public was allowed here only with tickets. By half past two in the afternoon, when from the distant shouting and excitement in the crowd one could guess that Fr. John is already on his way, on the deck of the little “Lubezny” there was such a mass of people seeing off to St. Petersburg that I wondered where Fr. himself would fit. John. But, thank God, they somehow fit in. It was only difficult to set sail from the shore, since the mourners, with tears in their eyes, grabbed the side of the ship and did not want to let go of the ship for a long time. When the ship finally separated from the shore, a loud voice was heard from the crowd: “Father, dear! I am a poor official, I tried to see you four times, and all in vain! Help, for God's sake! There is grief in my family!” The priest asked the ship to approach the pier and handed over a bag of money to the one who asked. Finally, the "Dear" pulled away and headed towards the exit of the harbor. At this time, Petrovskaya Embankment appeared from behind the military ships and on it was a whole sea of ​​human heads. Screams and crying were heard, scarves flashed in the air, and several separated from the shore and headed across our steamer. But here is the exit from the port; We passed by several beauties: formidable cruisers and battleships, on which at that time, on the occasion of the Tsar's Day, flags of all countries were flying and music was thundering, and we went out into the bay. Far ahead, among the hazy horizon, the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral shone, and behind, like the wings of white gulls, the scarves of Fr.'s spiritual children flashed in the air. John. There was a stop in St. Petersburg to disembark mourners from Kronstadt. On the Promenade des Anglais. Ioanna was greeted by the abbess of the Ioannovsky Monastery he had recently founded on the Karpovka River in St. Petersburg, and Mother Angelina with the nun Eupraxia. Some fishmonger merchants presented the priest with a yard-long live sterlet, and on the sidewalk, opposite the pier, a crowd instantly grew. “Dear father, you are our father, farewell! Happy swimming! Come quickly!” “Dear” arrived in Shlisselburg only at 11 o’clock in the evening. Here two steamships were already waiting for us - “Shestovets” and “Agafia”, provided for the journey of Fr. John by the Vytegorsk merchant A. Loparev, since the “Dear” sits very deep and is inconvenient for sailing through canals. With great difficulty we transferred to new ships. Since everyone was very tired during the day and it was time to go to bed, Fr. John went to the cabin of the small Shestovets, on which the owner of the ship himself, who had come to meet the priest from Vytegra, was waiting for him, and I and the accompanying Fr. John, the rector of the Nikiforov Monastery, Hieromonk George, settled on the “Agathia”. Having said goodbye to the last mourners, we immediately set sail and entered the Alexander II Canal. “Shestovets” walked ahead, “Agafia” trudged behind it. Steamers usually have the right to travel along canals no more than 7 versts per hour, but we walked at a speed of 10 versts and therefore by 9 o’clock in the morning on May 26th we were already in Ladoga. An unexpected stop. John in Novaya Ladoga alarmed the entire population of the city. The news is that Fr. John will celebrate mass in the Church of St. Clement, with the speed of lightning, flew around all the surroundings, and the people flocked to the church. When the mass ended, there was a huge crowd of people in the square in front of the church. Father John, having difficulty sitting down in the troika given to him, went to the house of the merchant Spirov, where he was invited to dinner. And then this whole mass began to stir and rushed after the crew. I, who was riding in the other carriage behind the priest, had to shout all the time along with the coachman for fear of crushing someone. Despite all precautions, the apartment Spirov besides us, Fr.’s companions. John and the invited guests of honor, about forty people from the crowd. Everyone complained about their misfortunes and illnesses and asked for blessings. Father John treated everyone kindly and blessed everyone. Having had lunch after a short prayer service and thanking the hosts for their hospitality, we went to our ships and immediately set off on our further journey. Having passed the wide and rather busy mouth of the Volkhov, we again entered the boring, monotonous canal. An endless dam, overgrown with low willow trees, stretches out, from behind which the steel-gray Lake Ladoga appears from time to time on one side, and the same endless towpath on the other side. Behind the towpath, flooded meadows stretch for many miles, and here and there, on a hillock, groups of trees can be seen, and occasionally a village with a white church will appear. Due to the fact that the canal was almost free of ships, we proceeded without delays and by 6 pm on May 26th we arrived in Sviritsa. Sviritsa is a small village, concentrated mainly near the office of the chain shipping company. Here we boarded a large sea-type steamer "Bayan" and, taking the empty "Shestovets" in tow, entered the mouth of the river. Sviri. Here the area immediately changed. Instead of the boring low banks of the canal, the free, lively and fast beauty of Svir began. We are already within the Olonets province. The higher we rise along the river, its banks become more mountainous. Among the forest, elevated meadows and fields sown with grain, every now and then you come across villages, the inhabitants of which, having learned from afar who is traveling on our ship, pour out onto the shore in a motley crowd, bow to the ground, throw their hats up and try in every possible way to express about. John with my sympathies. As soon as we stopped at one pier to get firewood, a group of young girls immediately brought several bouquets of lilies of the valley to the priest. How much joy, how much happiness was written on the face of every old woman who managed to receive the blessing of Fr. John. Father John strokes the head, pats the shoulders, touches the eyes of the sick, and the latter, happy, return home with great moral uplift. On the morning of May 27, we passed the formidable and largest rapid on the Svir, Sigovets, which got its name from the abundance of whitefish that are always caught here. Finally, at 5 o’clock in the evening, we arrived in Voznesenye and, having collected firewood, went out into Lake Onega, releasing the “Shestovets”, which went to Vytegra by canal. Lake Onega – Vytegra River – Visiting A. P. Lopareva – Vytegorsky Pogost We went out to Lake Onega. It was dead calm. We walked in a straight line east, to the mouth of the Vytegra River. “That’s when I completely rest,” says Fr. John, - only on a ship is there an opportunity to spend time in complete peace. My popularity is sometimes difficult for me: I can’t show myself anywhere, I can’t go anywhere freely without being noticed.” And, really, it's only worth somewhere about. As John steps onto the shore, a crowd surrounds him on all sides, and it takes great effort to free himself from its embrace. It belongs to itself only when it is surrounded on all sides by water. On a small deck of a few square arshins, he has freedom for a short time as a reward for a whole year of living exclusively for others. However, even in this short time of leisure, I rarely see the priest idle. Either he is reading the Holy Gospel, then he is writing down his impressions in his diary, then he is thinking about the sermon for the next day, since it is a rare day that we do not stop somewhere to serve mass. And only occasionally he walks along the deck, contemplating nature and admiring it. In the city of Vytegra, meeting Fr. Joanna was especially solemn. Despite the fact that it was already late, the whole city poured out onto the embankment, where the clergy and city authorities met the priest on the pier decorated with flags and covered with red cloth. In several carriages we went to the Loparev estate, located away from the mountains. Vytegra is three miles away, and we stopped at the famous Loparevsky Palazzo. The late Loparev came from a family of coachmen; Thanks to Russian ingenuity and lucrative contracts for the construction of locks on the Mariinsky system, he became a millionaire and decided to build a house in which he would not be ashamed to receive visiting dignitaries. On the morning of May 28, Fr. John served mass in the city of Vytegra and spoke a word against the schismatics, of whom there are many here. After mass, in the Loparevs’ house, the hospitable hostess A.P. Lopareva offered us lunch, which was attended by about 35 invited people. Much was said in honor of Fr. John's speeches, but the most cordial and sympathetic was the short speech given impromptu by the missionary of the Vytegorsky district, priest N. Georgievsky. Here is the approximate content: “Deeply revered Fr. archpriest! Last year in the Vytegorsk Cathedral in your speech you said: “It gives me great joy to travel to all the cities of my dear Russia.” And for us you always bring true pleasure! In fact, as soon as you, father, enter any town or city, despite weekdays, the joyful, solemn ringing of a large bell is heard, a council of employees gathers with you, merchants close their shops, peasants throw harrows and plows into the field, mothers bring their children in droves for initiation. A religious uplift of spirit is noticed, and the warmth of prayer intensifies. Just as surrounding objects heat up from an ordinary fire, often catch fire and burn with a huge common fire, so your prayerful flame embraces everyone, both those serving and those praying, and the whole church prays with you - more diligently, warmer!” In the evening Fr. John walked for a long time in the small garden and in the garden he read the evening rule. The next day in the morning we made a trip to the Vytegorsky churchyard, where the priest served mass. In the locks – At the Nevorotina plant – Beloozersky Canal – Night alarm in the Goritsky Convent At each gateway there was a touching scene of the priest’s meeting with the instantly gathering people. “You are our red sunshine! My dear darling! Pray for us sinners!” – was heard from the crowd, who extended dozens of hands folded for blessing towards our ship from behind the airlock railing. When the water let into the lock lifted our steamer to the height of its sides, it took a lot of effort for us to set sail, since the people standing on the shore, clinging tightly to the steamer, did not let go for a long time. Everyone wanted to complain about their misfortunes and get consolation. Father distributed copper icons and crosses to many, although it was not easy, because there was a dump and people risked falling into the water. Having passed through the St. locks with great delays. Peter, St. George and St. Alexandra, we entered the river. Kovzhu and by 3 o’clock in the morning they arrived at the mouth of the Udashka River, where the large Nevorotin sawmill is located, making boards with 120 workers for 90 thousand rubles. This is where we stopped. Since it was already three o'clock in the morning, we stayed on the ships until the morning. In the morning about. John served mass 9 miles from the plant, in the Resurrection parish, where he preached a sermon on the topic “how we should live in love and harmony.” After mass, the priest, as usual, went to see the local priest. At this time, a crowd of workers with their wives and children had already gathered at the Nevorotins’ house. Here about. John served a prayer service, after which he blessed and consoled the suffering for a very long time. What kind of complaints did the priest have to listen to! Women in particular resort to his help a lot. One has a drunkard’s husband, another has no children, the third has some kind of incurable disease. And about everyone. John will console everyone, caress everyone, and give hope to everyone. After the prayer service we were offered lunch, during which a choir of local amateurs sang spiritual things. When the champagne was served, toasts began to Fr. John, hosts, local clergy, etc., Fr. John also remembered the poor who, by the sweat of their brow, earned a piece of bread and, taking a glass of champagne, went into the next room, where from behind the backs of the choristers several dozen eyes of workers, women and children were looking at our meal. It was necessary to see with what reverence these workers crossed themselves and took a sip of wine from the hands of the revered shepherd. Meeting with the steamship "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker” – On Lake Kubenskoye – Spaso-Kamensky Monastery – Sad consequences of the ice drift – O. Totma on the river Sukhona Our entire journey from Kirillov to Lake Kubenskoye was some kind of triumphal procession of Fr. John. What happened here is beyond description. Entire villages, from small to large, poured out to meet us and ran for several miles, falling to their knees, stretching out to Fr. John's hands and being baptized. There was a fence along the way - and a motley crowd, without thinking, climbed onto it, jumped down and again ran after the steamer until the canal ended and a lake began, along which it was no longer possible to run. At one lock I noticed a very pretty girl, about twelve years old, who had already run about eight miles and was now earnestly asking for a cross. But here she never managed to give anything, since the thrown crosses and icons were instantly picked up by others. When the steamer, leaving the lock, went along the canal, I again saw a tireless girl among the running crowd. First she took off the scarf from her head, then she also took off her blouse, since it was very hot. By the end I saw her already running with her long hair flying through the air, wearing only a shirt. She carried her entire wardrobe in her hand. I asked the helmsman to come closer to the shore, and, seizing an opportune moment, very successfully threw a card about the tireless girl. John. She picked her up and, pressing her to her chest, still continued to run until the canal ended and a small lake began. Finally, at 7 pm, at the 12th lock we met our own large steamer, Fr. John "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker,” who came for the priest from Sura. Three young nuns, the ship's servants, greeted us with tears. It turned out that they had been waiting for us for eleven days, since the priest had planned to leave Kronstadt earlier on May 15, but then postponed his departure. Having reloaded your luggage from the “Shestovets” and “Kema” onto the large and comfortable steamer “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker,” we said goodbye to the hospitable and kind gentlemen. Nevorotin, Loparev and P.V. Kachalov and went to Lake Kubenskoye, which was only a few miles away. “Shestovets” and “Kema”, and the small railway steamer that later joined them, greeted us farewell for a long time with intermittent whistles. It turned out original and touching. Night found us in the middle of Lake Kubenskoye, where, due to thick fog, we had to anchor. When dawn broke, a very beautiful Spaso-Kamensky Monastery appeared in front of us, surrounded on all sides by water. The entire island on which this monastery is built has a circumference of about 200 fathoms; therefore, except for a small courtyard, a short distance between the church and the hotel, the entire surface of the island is occupied by monastery buildings, and a rescue station nestled in the eastern part of the monastery. Since it was about 8 o’clock in the morning, the priest decided to serve mass in the monastery, and therefore ordered to land on the island. Even from a distance, we noticed the ruins of a completely new one-story house and could not understand what the reason for the destruction was, since there could not be an earthquake, and in the event of a fire, the walls would have been smoked and the logs would have been charred, which was not noticed here. At the monastery we were told that everything was done by the ice drift last spring. Something terrible happens here every year when the rivers open up. Under the pressure of the water, the ice floes, piled one on top of the other, like countless enemies about to attack, crawl onto the shore, then onto the walls and, finally, even climb onto the roof of a high cathedral. Huge stones, picked up from the bottom by an ice mass, rise with the same mass to a terrible height. On the shore of the island to this day lies a stone weighing 500 pounds, removed after the ice drift from the roof of the monastery cathedral. The ancient Spaso-Kamensky Monastery, founded in the 13th century, currently makes a sad impression. Poverty and desolation are appalling! The altars in the altars stand empty and only in one small chapel was Matins going on when we arrived. One can imagine how delighted those five monks who made up the entire brethren of the monastery were when Father John unexpectedly appeared in the church. Having served mass and contributed a substantial sum to the needs of the monastery, the priest said goodbye to the happy brethren, and at about 10 o’clock. In the morning we set off on our further journey. An hour later we entered the river. Sukhona, called Ramanga in its upper reaches. - “Well, no, father, as you like, but I’m happier than you. You are a local resident, and he, the red sun, drives past you every year, well, it’s not a wonder that he stopped by. Me is another matter. Now I’m making my way from Poltava to Solovki on a pilgrimage, but I accidentally ended up in Kamensky with you, and suddenly - such happiness! I received communion at Father John of Kronstadt’s place! I never dreamed of this happiness!” – The hieromonk of the Kamensky Monastery, to whom these words were addressed, in turn tried to prove to the praying mantis that he and his brethren were happier than her. Such a dispute took place on the shore of Kamensky Island, near our ship, before leaving Fr. John from the abbot's apartment, a few minutes before our departure. How now I see the face of this old woman. How much sincere happiness, how much faith in her extinct eyes, wet with tears! A whole event happened in her life. From her conversation with the monk, I learned that she had long dreamed of seeing the priest, but did not dare to go to Kronstadt: she was afraid that they would not be allowed to see him. And suddenly, such a happy meeting. For a long time afterwards she stood kneeling on the pier of the monastery and looked after our steamer. “Here it is, my dear, dear Northern Dvina,” Father John quietly whispers, peering with delight and reverence at the place where the river. Vychegda, having met with r. The Sukhona, or otherwise the Malaya Dvina, turned left and spilled over into the wide, mighty Northern Dvina. Many times in his life Father John had to sail along the Northern Dvina. As a young man, an unknown student at the Theological Academy, he traveled this way from St. Petersburg to his homeland. Now he has been passing here for many years in a row, surrounded by glory and universal love and respect, helping those in need with a generous hand. Whether the peasant’s cattle die, whether the hut burns down, or the church needs repairs, but one’s own funds are not enough, all hope lies with the priest. Father will come and help. True, people often abuse the trust of Father John, and the money given to satisfy a serious need does not reach its destination. But this is a common phenomenon in any charity, and it is impossible to eradicate this evil. However, even here the charm of the name of Father John does its job. Everyone knows that the priest, when helping people in need with money, not only does not make inquiries about the person who asks for help, but often gives money without counting it, just for luck - as much as he gets his hands on. He will only look into the eyes of those who turn to him with his pure, good gaze. Therefore, one must already be too spoiled a person to decide to deceive the priest. And this is the strength of Father John. The common people approach him with the fear of God, seeing in him an inspired priest and a true shepherd father, to whom they can bow their tired head, worn out by work life. - “Hello, Orthodox, hello, dear children, hello, womb, hello, grandmother!” These are the usual phrases that Father John addresses to the common people when our ship approaches the shore. And you need to see with your own eyes how much happiness, how much quiet joy these few words spoken by Father John bring in order to understand that he is for the Russian people and how strong the faith is in this downtrodden people! Say just two words to this people: “for faith and fatherland!”, and they will immediately turn into such a hero that they will have no equal in strength. At the entrance to the Northern Dvina, we met a very beautiful steamship, crowded with pilgrims returning from Solovki. On the ship they recognized Father John standing on the wheelhouse, and people began to stir, waving their hats and scarves. This was the first greeting from the Northern Dvina, to which the priest joyfully responded, standing with his head naked and holding his straw hat high in the air. The next day, June 4th, we passed by the provincial town of Solvychegodsk district - Krasnoborsk, famous for its squirrel fur fair (November 30th), and soon entered the Arkhangelsk province. In one place, near the village of Lyablova, we had to stop to get firewood. The shore here is high and steep. The peasants, recognizing Father John’s steamship, began to descend towards us along the sloping plane - as they say, “in their own carriage.” They sit on all fours and go down, as if on a sled, from an icy mountain. The venerable priest, a local priest, and his mother came down from the mountain in the same way. They approached the ship, and, not seeing Father John, they sang “Heavenly King.” Father John came out onto the deck and invited them to board the ship. The flock followed their priest onto the ship. It was impossible to let everyone in, because this would slow down the stacking of firewood, as a result of which the commander of the steamship ordered not to let the rest in. In view of this, many resorted to a trick: they would take two or three logs and take them to the ship, and then straight to the priest for his blessing... Many books and samples had to be distributed here. The kids also received a gift. Having loaded the firewood, we set off on our further journey and soon passed the monastery of the Kholmogory convent. Several nuns who were on the shore noticed our ship and rushed to the bell tower to ring. But since it was far from the bell tower, while they were running, our steamer had already gone far, and we did not hear the ringing. Only two people went with us from Pinega: the local deacon and the timber merchant S.K. Kyrkalov, who came here to meet Father John. Severian Kuzmich Kyrkalov calls himself a “peasant”. This is a highly interesting personality. He walks simply, like most wealthy peasants engaged in trade; behaves extremely modestly. Being a deeply religious man and seeing in Father John a great man of prayer and an exemplary shepherd, Severian Kuzmich reveres the priest so much that he will never allow himself to wear a hat in his presence. That’s how Kyrkalov’s uncovered head remained in my memory. I saw her in Pinega, and among the shifting sands of Sura, and then, on the way back, on the dusty streets of Arkhangelsk. The priest did not like this, and he more than once asked S.K. to cover his head. Then Kyrkalov resorted to cunning: “I forgot my hat at home,” he said. In Arkhangelsk, Kyrkalov has huge sawmills and brick factories; another plant is being built somewhere in Siberia: a hundred miles from Sura, downstream, in an area called Shotova Gora, is his residence, his base of operations, so to speak. Here is his native village, his home and farm. S.K. Kyrkalov donates a lot to the church. In Arkhangelsk, he built at his own expense the farmstead of the Sursky Monastery, in his native village he is building a stone church and is a regular donor to the Ioannovsky Monastery in Sura. Now S.K. Kyrkalov met us in Pinega so as not to be separated until Arkhangelsk itself. On the ship he took the most modest place, somewhere near the kitchen, on the stacked firewood. It would be difficult to imagine this man as a businessman with an annual turnover of several hundred thousand rubles. The three nuns on board the ship were most worried. “For mercy,” they cried, “what a holiday for us is the arrival of our dear father. For a whole year, after all, we wait for him, for his arrival, and then we live for the whole year. But if the ship doesn’t reach Sura, we’ll have to stay on it and won’t see the priest in Sura! Our “commander” did not lose hope of getting to Sura either. If it rains in the upper reaches, the water will immediately rise, “she, Pinega, is crazy here,” he said. But there was little hope for rain; he was gone for a long time. The hot sun was burning with might and main in the transparent sky. On the high, steep banks, a mighty forest dozed off in majestic silence. In one place we saw a religious procession passing through a clearing. The peasants asked the Almighty for rain. God forbid, if we have to ride horses,” one of Father John’s companions, Baroness T., tells me. “Here, every mile, there is a mountain, and such that it’s scary to even look down.” You'll suffer. Baroness T. has been traveling with Father John for many years. I cannot remember without feeling sympathy for this person. Being a woman from an aristocratic circle, the wife of a man, and now holding a prominent position in a ministry, the baroness left the world, put on a black scarf, and now occupies a small cell in the house of industry in Kronstadt, performing the duties of a librarian and in charge of the sale of spiritual books. For sixteen years, she said, she suffered from a debilitating female disease. She traveled to all foreign resorts in hopes of improving her health; but, alas... it was all in vain. Finally, she decided to turn to Father John, who had just entered into glory. “Father prayed, and the illness vanished as if by hand!” - she told me. “Then I felt that I could no longer remain in the environment around me. I went to my father and asked his advice on what I should do. And he told me: help the poor and thank God. Since then I left the light, and now I am happy that I can listen to mass and receive communion from the priest almost every day. On the road, the Baroness always occupies the most modest place, does not, like others, interfere with Father John’s eyes, sits somewhere in a remote corner and tries to be unnoticed. In the baroness’s cabin there is always a huge supply of all kinds of crosses, icons, spiritual brochures and similar useful things for the people. She purchases all this on her own initiative and at her own expense, and distributes it at every opportunity. The baroness also has a lot of sweets - whole boxes of gingerbread and sweets. “I have everything for the kids,” she says, “I really love giving gifts to the kids.” After all, the other boy had never seen a gingerbread since birth. But the baroness herself is a strict faster: she doesn’t eat not only fish, but even butter. It feeds exclusively on cucumbers, potatoes and olives. In the Novgorod province we did not know how to refuse all kinds of offerings from the peasants. One woman begs to accept a towel from her work, another a dozen eggs, a third a loaf of bread and a cup of strawberries. They refuse the money offered. This is for him, the red sun; Please ask me not to offend me, the old woman, with your refusal. From your own labors, after all! - she begs. Here, in his homeland, it is completely different. First of all, they ask for money. Since it is inconvenient to ask for a whole herd, the peasants very cleverly take up positions at different points of the road, scattered over several miles at some distance from each other. Every now and then, having heard our bell, a man or woman comes out of the thicket of the forest onto the road, and, having accosted Father John’s carriage, they leave only when they receive what they ask for. We arrived at the Verkolsky Monastery at about 10 o’clock in the evening, falling behind the priest and arriving half an hour later than him, since we had to wait for the return of the ferry on which Father John had crossed Pinega before us. There was a near disaster on this ferry. When Father John and his crew were brought onto the ferry, a crowd, mostly women and children, rushed after him, and the ferry, already sitting almost level with the water, began to sink. Many jumped into the water and returned to the shore in the ford, while others had to be transferred to a boat and brought back in it. At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, on the opposite bank of the Pinega from us, we finally saw the homeland of Father John - the village of Sura. It’s a very small village, but from a distance it seems to you that you see a small county town. Next to the old wooden church in the name of St. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker majestically looks out over the surrounding area, a large new stone church in the name of the same saint, surrounded by a beautiful stone fence with an iron lattice. Right there, next door, there are two large stone houses; in one there is a school, in the other - a monastery shop. A little further from behind the church one can see a beautifully-architected chapel built over the grave of Father John’s parent, a priest’s house and a number of large spacious huts. All this is the creation of Father John. It was a bare place,” the coachman explained to us, “except for an old church on the bare sand, there was nothing here.” And now you can’t even recognize the old church, Father Ivan renovated it, and he built a new one, which is to everyone’s surprise. And indeed, when I later examined the church built by Father John, I was amazed by its splendor. At first we took all these buildings for a monastery; but it turned out that the monastery was not yet visible. The monastery is located on the village side and is closed by peasant buildings on the Pinega side. Having gone down a very steep mountain to the river, we saw on the opposite bank of the Pinega, decorated with flags and greenery, a pier. Here, an hour before our arrival, all of Sura with the sisters and the abbess of the Ioannovsky Monastery met their wonderful fellow villager. They say it was a wonderfully touching and majestic picture, which Fr. and I saw. George didn’t have to, which we later very much regretted. Having crossed to the opposite shore by ferry, we slowly trudged along the shifting sand on our tired horses. The sun is burning mercilessly. The wheels of our tarantass cut deep into the sand, and the horses stop to catch their breath. Finally, we climbed the mountain and, driving past two churches and a school, we found ourselves almost on a straight street, bordered on both sides by rows of large spacious huts. There are boards for pedestrians near the huts, since it is very difficult to walk on the sand, in which your feet get stuck deep. The street was completely empty, since the entire village was in the monastery where Father John was. Finally, the roof of the monastery church with a dome made of galvanized iron appeared, and we, having passed twenty yards, turned right and drove into the vast monastery courtyard, surrounded by a temporary wooden fence. Having entered the monastery courtyard, we turned sharply to the left and stopped at the porch of the main building, connected to the monastery wooden church. The entire population of Sura was here. Following the nun who showed us the way, Fr. George walked past the entrance to the church; We went up the steep wooden stairs to the second floor and entered the apartment of the abbess of the monastery. Around a large table, in a spacious, bright room, sat about fifteen people of the most diverse audience. There were nuns, clergy, excise and forest officials with their wives and children, and several peasants. Most drank tea. Father John, in a cassock as white as snow, walked around the rooms, taking turns talking to one or the other. Seeing us with Fr. George, he addressed us with the usual friendliness and helpfulness: “Here are my dear companions, well, please, refresh yourself from the road!” Since we have already eaten, Fr. Georgy sat down on the sofa next to a tall man with a thick light brown beard, a tanned face and calloused hands - obviously a farmer, and I sat between Fr. George and a pretty, good-natured old woman, dressed the way all peasant women dress here. “This is my sister, and this is my nephew,” Father John told me, pointing to my neighbor and to the neighbor Fr. George. Neighbor o. Georgiy turned out to be my neighbor’s own son. In a distant corner of the room sat two more nephews of Father John - the younger children of his sister, also dressed like peasants and behaving extremely modestly. The two older nephews are married and engage in arable farming with their families. Here the selflessness of Father John was clearly evident. Another in his place would have made all his relatives rich, giving them the opportunity to live easily and richly. But for Father John, all people are equally close, and he does not give advantage to his relatives, whom he helps, but no more than to everyone else. And his relatives do not complain, because for a long time they have been accustomed to look at him as a special person, not of this world. Here I learned that even in childhood, the son of psalm-reader Ilya Sergiev, small, thoughtful Ivanushka enjoyed special respect among his fellow villagers. If the man’s horse goes missing, they go to ask Ivanushka to pray, if some kind of grief happens, or if someone gets sick, they go to Ivanushka again. But the wonderful boy grew up, and his glory, like the sun, shone over Orthodox Russia. And in the wild, harsh desert, among the dense forests near the shifting sands, where once, except for a dozen huts and a dilapidated wooden - poor church, there was nothing, the walls of the majestic stone church began to turn white, golden crosses shone over the young monastery growing by leaps and bounds. All literate Russia still knew in the north the homeland of the great Russian scientist Lomonosov. Now all Orthodox Russia will know Sura, the homeland of its venerable shepherd. Just four years ago, Father John laid the foundation for the Sura monastery. And now there are already 120 sisters in Sura, most of whom came here to the harsh, wild area from the farthest ends of Russia. Only the smallest percentage of nuns are natives of the Arkhangelsk province. The young nuns did not gather here for an easy life and not for a well-maintained monastery. It is difficult to create a good farm in a short time on loose sand. There is no garden, no vegetable gardens, no cultivated fields here yet. Everything will have to be created with hard work under the most difficult conditions, since the northern summer is short. Three months will pass, during which the sun almost never leaves the horizon, and a cold, stormy autumn will come. At the beginning of October, almost everything here is already covered with snow. The sun first appears for only a few hours, and then almost disappears completely. A long, harsh winter is coming. Mail arrives here only once a week. Communication with distant Russia is only by horse and reindeer. For almost nine months, all of nature is immersed in a deep sleep. A deep silence reigns, broken only by the ringing of the bell calling the sisters to the monastery church, and the howling of the wind and the groan of the blizzard, merging with the hungry howl of wild animals. It was to this monastery that young girls gathered, consciously ready at the same time for any kind of self-sacrifice. I have seen a lot of male and female monasteries in Rus', but I have never seen anything like this before. Not a monastery, but some kind of institute. Whatever the nun, she is a seventeen to eighteen year old child. The eldest of them, excluding, of course, the abbess, is about thirty years old. So what? According to the priest and mother abbess, all the sisters fulfill their duties with remarkable zeal. Each one uncomplainingly bears her obedience, no matter how difficult it may be. So strong is the spirit imparted to them in ardent sermons by their spiritual father and patron, the great righteous man, Father John. Among the novices of the Sursky Monastery there are a lot of Kronstadt and Peterhof natives who decided to come here solely out of a feeling of deep reverence for our dear Father, Father John. One can therefore imagine what a holiday the arrival of Father John in Sura represents for the sisters of the monastery. During Father John's stay in Sura, many sisters were delivered from more difficult obedience. Thus, day laborers were hired at the monastery sawmill and brick factories, where the sisters usually work, to give the nuns the opportunity to see their dear priest, confess and receive communion from him. On the day of our arrival, Father John served Vespers here. The next morning, a big event awaited the entire monastery: general confession and communion with Father John. The next day, in the morning, Father John solemnly, in front of a crowded church, served mass, during which, turning to the young nuns, he delivered a deeply felt sermon on how nuns who dedicated themselves to God should live. Knowing the human soul well, dear priest in his sermon touched on those issues that represent the most sore spots in the lives of nuns. Towards the end of the sermon, suppressed sobs began to be heard in the church, which then turned into continuous loud sobbing. When, having finished the sermon, Father John said: “Repent!”, everything in the church merged into one common roar. Ceremoniously, with reverence, the nuns began to approach one after another to receive communion. Father John himself gave communion to everyone who was in the church. The house, or rather the hut, in which Father John was born, previously stood at a completely different end of the village and has now been moved here next to the monastery and covered, like the house of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, with a cover by admirers of Father John. The hut, like all the huts here, is made of thick logs. Light enters the two surviving rooms through small windows with cloudy green glass. The first, larger room is almost entirely covered with images and pictures of spiritual content. A portrait of Father John also hangs here. In the corner, in front of the images, there is a simple table covered with a tablecloth, on which there is a bowl of water and candles prepared for the prayer service. In the second room, of the things contemporary with Father John that were in his parents' possession, only a stone millstone in a wooden box survived. That's all the simple decor of Father John's hut. Having traveled 36 miles to the grove and back on horseback, Father John returned remarkably cheerful and joyful. Father was very pleased with the condition of the recently rebuilt and decorated skete church in the name of the Holy Trinity. Everyone was simply amazed at the energy of this wonderful man. To get up before everyone else, serve Matins and Mass, and, without rest, travel 36 miles along a difficult road in terrible heat - and not get tired, at 74 years of age - as you wish, but this is not an entirely ordinary thing. Throughout our journey, we more than once had to meet Father John’s peers, his classmates at the seminary. But what decrepit old people all these are compared to him: he seems like a young man if you see his schoolmate. Returning from the grove and having drunk tea, the priest immediately went to inspect the newly built house of the priest Fr. George. From the window of the owner of the house, located on the second floor, Father John could see, in full view, his entire Sura, in the foreground of which stretched a wide monastery courtyard with all its buildings, some already completely finished, and some still unfinished and covered with scaffolding. For a long time, the priest could not tear himself away from the sight of Sura, dear to his heart, so transformed thanks to his labors, and finally, turning to the priest Father George and his wife, he said: “You know what, I’ll stay here in your room to spend the night.” Of course, the owners were incredibly happy about this and began to fuss, wanting to make the bed more comfortable. From the windows of the monastery, the nuns saw how the priest stood for a long time before going to bed at the open window in a white cassock and looked at everything he had created, and before retiring, he blessed the young monastery. The next morning, June 9, Father John celebrated mass in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Beautiful, shining with the gilding of an expensive iconostasis, the church was crowded with worshipers. In addition to the peasants, all the sisters of the Sursky monastery gathered here, who did not want to miss a single service of their adored benefactor and patron. After mass, everyone went to the chapel over the grave of the dear father’s father, where the latter served a requiem mass. After that, until almost three o’clock in the afternoon, the tireless Father John made visits to Sura: he visited all the priests in their apartments, visited his sister, went to the monastery shop, where he blessed the sister-clerks, and stopped at the school, where one of the students read him a poem. When the priest left school, the children poured out into the street to see him off. There are about forty students in all; Everyone is dressed like an institute: in dark brown dresses and white capes. In Sura, everyone tried to persuade Father John to stay a few more days. “Look at the clouds on the horizon,” the Suryans said, “just look, the water will rise and your steamer will come right here.” But the ascetic Father John was not created for an idle life. Sitting around doing nothing is the most tiring thing for him. And in Sura everything had already been done, and besides, his arrival was eagerly awaited on the Volga. Before the Volga, we still had to visit Arkhangelsk, Kholmogory and Vologda. Therefore, dear father was in a hurry, and our departure was finally decided. Father John returned from the grove at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and lay down to rest a little after the tiring journey. Soon the rest of the pilgrims arrived. Later than everyone else, the sisters of the monastery returned, having gone to the grove on foot. The latter were caught in the rain on the way, and they returned completely wet. Having rested for no more than an hour, dear priest went to the farewell dinner table, around which all his close relatives, acquaintances and collaborators in the creation of the monastery had already gathered. The Suryans caught every word of the priest and did not take their eyes off him, wanting to see enough of him before saying goodbye. Father John spoke in turn with one and then with the other, giving each the necessary instructions regarding his specialty. “As long as I live, I will not leave you in my care,” Father John said at parting to the sisters of his monastery, “but when I die, then the Lord God will not leave you. Be only pious and worthy sisters of your monastery. Stay in Arkhangelsk In Arkhangelsk we were informed that on June 13th they waited all day for the arrival of Father John, and many, thinking that dear father might arrive at night, stood guard on the banks of the Dvina until the morning. Father John, who had been standing all the time on the bow of the steamer and not taking his admiring gaze off the approaching city, at the sight of the monastery with which we passed, bared his head and made the sign of the cross. “This is where my teenage years passed,” he turned to me, pointing to the garden and the seminary building, which appeared not far from the Archangel Monastery. Father looked lovingly at every building in the city and gave me detailed explanations. “This monastery, in the name of Archangel Michael, was built 400 years before the founding of the city,” he said. “It now houses the Church Archaeological Society.” And over there is a wooden house - this is the diocesan girls' school, behind it you can see a large stone house - this is the house of the bishop. Now look further, this is our Sursky farmstead. On the river embankment itself I saw a newly rebuilt two-story wooden building with a chapel. Opposite this house we landed at one of the piers, cluttered with bags of bread. From the pier, Father John first of all went on a visit to the bishop, from whom he was immediately received. The Bishop invited the priest to participate in concelebration with him the next morning in his home Church of the Cross, promising to send his carriage for Father John. From the bishop, Father John went to the neighboring Church of the Annunciation, built by residents of Kholmogory and Veliky Ustyug. There he served mass. At this time, in the courtyard of the Sursky Ioannovsky Monastery, a crowd of people had gathered and a few sisters, the inhabitants of the courtyard, were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Father John. The fact is that we brought with us a nun from Sura, who was supposed to replace the “elder” sister of the metochion, who was dying. Therefore, the occasion in the courtyard was eagerly awaited by the dear priest, who promised to arrive from the church with the Holy Gifts and give communion to the dying woman. I saw this nun who was led into Father John's room when he finally arrived from church. She hung in the arms of the sisters who supported her, barely moving her legs, exhausted, powerless, with sunken, dull eyes, with a face as yellow as wax. It seemed that she would not reach the end of the room and would die immediately. But then she was led into Father John’s room and the door was immediately closed behind her. Father began holy confession. At this time, all the stairs and passages between them were crowded with people. There was no one! And an official without a job, with a petition in his hands, and young students, and merchants, and some girl with an atrophied hand, and a host of other sick and suffering people. The police bailiff fussed with all his might to establish at least some order to prevent a stampede. But then the door opened, and a nun who had already received communion appeared. She was still supported by the arms, but she walked much more cheerfully, with visible spiritual uplift. In the evening of the same day, when Father John, having made visits to the governor and several other persons, again stopped by the courtyard and, together with others, sat down at the common tea table, I, turning back, to my great surprise, saw a sick nun sitting without any outside help on a chair, behind the great wonderworker Father John. Even a blush began to appear on her cheeks. She looked cheerfully at those around her and eagerly listened to every word spoken by her dear father. I pointed it out to Father John. He quickly turned around, nodded his head at her and said: “Thank God, thank God, no one like God!” – On the third day of our stay in Arkhangelsk, I was even more amazed to see the same nun, completely healthy and thriving, appearing for mass in the huge Holy Trinity Cathedral, crowded with worshipers, where Father John served. She stood among the crowd without any outside help and prayed fervently. On the day of our arrival, Father John served Vespers in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, built on the site, according to legend, indicated by Peter the Great himself. After Vespers in the cathedral, Father John went on a visit to the rector of the seminary, who lives in the building in which the priest himself once studied. Having made a visit to the rector, during which the latter gave Father John a report on the activities of those educational institutions that benefit from his financial assistance, dear priest, accompanied by the rector and his family, went to the seminary garden, to the same garden where many years ago, as a young man, he sat with books, preparing for exams. Having walked to the deepest end of the garden, Father John suddenly stopped in front of a tall, slender and strong tree, the branches of which had grown widely and hung over the path and neighboring bushes. Father John took off his hat, and, as if greeting an old comrade, touched the tree with his hands: “Here is my peer,” he said, turning to us: “Here was my favorite place in the garden.” Under this tree I most often spent my leisure time and read books. While we were walking around the garden, a crowd began to gather in the latter, which gradually surrounded Father John and made further walking almost impossible. From the seminary we went to the diocesan women's school, which also enjoys the care of Father John. Here the priest visited a seriously ill pupil and, after drinking a glass of tea from the boss, went to the house of the local merchants Selyaninov, where a room had been prepared for him. By the way, they also let some strange old woman through from the street. “Oh, thank them,” she wailed, “they missed it!” “I, father, came here from Yekaterinodar, specifically just to get to him,” she turned to me. “You see this hand,” she extended her right hand to me, moving her fingers, “after all, it was dangling three years ago from paralysis, and he, merciful, cured it with his prayer. “I went to Kronstadt to see him then and now I’ve been healthy for three years, and I’m still working!” But now my son, a carpenter, has taken up an unlucky business: he has become a binge drinker. I thought, I thought... I saved up a penny and came back to my father again. Eh, if only they would let him see him! “Soon the priest came out, and the old woman was one of the first to approach him. Having heard her request, Father John went with her to the corner with the icons, and, kneeling down, prayed. Having finished the prayer, he turned to the other petitioners, listening to each one individually. The old woman came up to me, beaming. - Everything turned out so happily! It’s not for nothing that she came,” she said, not taking her eyes off Father John, who stood at the end of the room, talking with some old man. Going to Arkhangelsk, Father John did not expect to stay there for more than two days. But here such a mass of all kinds of requests and invitations awaited him that the priest decided to stay one more day, promising to celebrate mass in the cathedral on the day of departure. From the Church of the Cross, Father John again drove to his courtyard, where he had to sort through a whole heap of letters and telegrams received from all over Russia. On June 16, Father John served mass for the last time in the cathedral, during which he delivered a deeply felt sermon on how to educate youth in the faith and protect them from the harmful influence of some writers who deny all the foundations of Orthodoxy. We made the entire journey from Kholmogory to Vologda in five days. During these days I witnessed two scenes that will remain in my memory forever. I heard a lot about the events that took place through the prayer of Fr. John. I also saw people who experienced the effect of Father John’s prayer and were cured of one or another illness. I myself, apart from the amazingly rapid recovery of the nun that took place in the Sura metochion, in Arkhangelsk, after the priest’s prayer, had never seen anything before. And now, before my eyes, two incidents occurred, which I will leave to the reader to judge. I myself convey only what I saw, without any embellishment, and I accurately name the places in which the described facts occurred in order to give those who wish to check what is described with local residents. Even on the evening of June 18, when we passed by the village of Troitsky, located on the border of the Arkhangelsk and Vologda provinces, we noticed a cloud of white smoke far on the horizon. The further we moved upstream, the thicker the smoke became. Finally, soon we were completely surrounded by a veil of fragrant smoke and enjoyed its smell. The forests in the surrounding area, tundra and juniper were burning. On the morning of June 19, we stopped at the village of Yagryshi, 120 versts from Kotlas. The peasants did not immediately come to the church, which Father John had already entered, since the majority were located outside the outskirts. Everyone fearfully awaited the approaching fire, which slowly but surely did its terrible work, getting closer and closer from the tundra to the villages scattered on the banks of the Dvina. However, the news of the unexpected arrival of Father John quickly spread around everyone, and soon the Yagrysh church was filled with peasants from several villages. Everyone asked Father John to pray for the sending of rain, which had not happened in this area for three months. And Father John prayed. Wanting to take photographs, I left the church before the end of the service and began installing the apparatus on the deck of our steamship “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker." While I was fiddling with the devices, clouds began to approach from the south, and a shadow fell on the hot ground. When the mass ended, and Father John, accompanied by a huge crowd of people, leaving the church and heading towards the ship, it began to rain. Everyone looked joyfully at the cloud-covered horizon and devoutly crossed their naked heads. When dear father came out on deck and the crew of the steamship began to drop anchor, the entire shore was covered with a huge crowd of people. Many were forced to enter the water in order to see the dear priest closer, and did not take their enthusiastic gaze off Father John. Finally, a venerable gray-haired old man came out of the crowd and, bowing to the ground to Father John, said the following: “Your high blessing! For three months we did not have a drop of dew, the drought depleted our land, our fields; the fire surrounded our villages on all sides and threatened our homes, and so you, at our request, prayed for us, and the Lord sent us rain. Please accept our gratitude, Your Reverence.” At the last words, the whole people, as one person, fell to their knees. Many were crying. - No one like God, no one like God! - said the priest, affectionately nodding his head to everyone. As the steamer set sail from the shore, several people sang psalms; the people took it up, and the voices of a powerful chorus of a thousand-strong crowd continued to fly for a long time after our retreating steamer. Only a terrible downpour, drumming on the roof of our ship, finally drowned out the voice of the crowd, which did not want to disperse even in the rain. The name of Father John is associated with many cases where the matter concerns not the healing of the sick, but things that have nothing to do with the nervous system and human psyche. Two such incidents happened before my eyes during our trip. I just told you one of them, naming exactly the place where it happened. I do not name where and with whom the second incident occurred, since I do not consider myself to have the right to make public the names of the persons in whose family grief occurs, especially since the fact itself is interesting here, and not the names of the persons involved in it. In one merchant family, which had long been conducting a large wholesale trade, as a result of the unfortunate passion for wine of its head, things began to deteriorate. The bills came due, but the family could not pay them, since at that time all the capital was in circulation, and there was not enough cash. Three days after our arrival in the city where the said family lives, an inventory of the property and all the luxurious furnishings belonging to them was to be made. The family was in terrible grief. They invited Fr. John, who served the prayer service. The next day, before we left for our further journey, one of the local residents, whom I had met the day before, came up to me and said: “Do you know what happiness N.N. brought to the family. John? -What's the matter? - I ask. - Yes, of course: soon after his departure, some merchants came to them and bought goods for six thousand rubles. Now they have the opportunity to get rid of the property inventory.” – A lot of such incidents happened and are happening in the life of Father John. At about 12 o'clock at night on June 19th we passed by Kotlas and sailed upstream of the Sukhona. The night became noticeably darker, especially since the sky was overcast with clouds, from which rain fell from time to time. By 8 o'clock on June 20th we arrived at Veliky Ustyug. This time, dear priest served mass in the Cathedral of St. Procopy of the Righteous. When Fr. John was about to return to the ship; he was asked to visit a sick young man who had been hurt by a horse and was now lying at home, unable to move. According to those who asked to visit him, the doctors refused to treat him, so the patient developed something like gangrene. When Father John came to the sick man, he told him: “If you can pray with faith, then pray and hope, and the Lord will hear you and help you.” “I believe, father, I believe with all my heart, pray for me,” the young man answered him. Father John began to pray. When, after finishing the prayer, Father John, having said goodbye to his family, headed towards the exit, the sick man himself rose from his seat, threw his crutches aside and, staggering, went to accompany Father John to the exit. “Look, mom,” he said, “I can already hold myself without crutches.” Such a rapid metamorphosis interested even Father John himself, and he told the patient that when he recovered completely, he should write him a letter about himself. From Ustyug to Vologda we sailed a distance of three days, stopping every day to serve mass in the villages we met along the way. Everywhere, as before, people flocked from all sides and besieged the priest with all sorts of requests, and, to the honor of those who turned to him, it must be said that all these requests were more about satisfying moral, spiritual needs than about material help. In one place, during our stop near a small village where we were getting firewood, a woman, along with other peasants, came onto our ship, carrying some strange creature on her back, pressed tightly against her. The monkey is not a monkey, but it doesn’t look much like a human either. The hunched body on long crooked legs and with equally long and thin arms was pressed tightly against the mother’s back. The large elongated head with sunken cheeks hung forward and seemed ready to tear away from the thin neck with a huge Adam’s apple. It turned out that this strange creature is 19 years old. His mother lowered him onto the deck of the ship at the feet of Father John. - Pray, dear, for him. He has been asking you for a long time. So he doesn’t understand anything, because he’s poor, but he’s been asking to see you for a long time,” she turned to the priest. The little wretched creature raised its crazy eyes upward and smiled at Father John. Father took his head in his hands and began to stroke and caress him. “This happened to him out of fright,” his mother explained to us: when he was still a boy, in his fifth year, he was frightened at a fire. Since then he has become sick and stupid. – After Father John’s blessing, the little creature noticeably perked up. It was happy. He rejoiced, vaguely realizing that he was caressed by the same, always kind, Kronstadt father, Father Ivan, whom his family remembered so often from childhood. When our ship set sail from the shore, behind a crowd of women who had gone knee-deep into the water, I saw Stepushka, that was the name of the frightened boy, sitting on the shore, completely cheerful. He threw pebbles up and rejoiced like little children rejoice. The women surrounded him and looked with curiosity at him, then at our retreating steamer. Obviously, something happened to Stepushka that usually doesn’t happen to him. And suddenly, in the silence, hysterical screams are heard. A young woman, supported by an old woman and a lock watchman, is brought to the steamer. “Dear Father, help her!” - the old woman shouts. - What's the matter, grandma? - asks Father John and goes to the edge of the deck to see the crying woman closer. “Father, grief happened to me,” says a young woman, apparently no older than 18 years old, through tears: “I didn’t live with my husband for a year, and he killed himself while drunk.” Now I am left alone with the child. And I don’t know whether it’s possible to pray for him, whether it’s possible to give remembrance for a sinful soul to the church. Father John told her that it was possible and necessary to pray for a sinful soul, and that he himself would pray for her, but that she should not be commemorated in church. S.P. 1900 August 17. S.P. 1898 August 20. Moscow Ved. 1902 Jan 1 Church Gazette 1901 No. 46. A. A. 3ybin. Essay on the life and work of Kronstadt Archpriest Father John Ilyich Sergiev. Page 158 villages Petrograd 1893. Samara newspaper, 1894 month. June 27 et seq. days. Saratov Leaf. 1894 month June 30 et seq. Ya. I. Z-kiy O. John of Kronstadt on the Volga in the summer of 1894. Pp. 61. St. Petersburg. 1895 Saratov Diocesan Gazette. 1894 month July. This little-known but interesting conversation by Fr. John of Kronstadt, placed in the Novgorod Diocesan Gazette of 1904. The entire conversation consisted of individual stories from the priest about himself, which were not particularly close in content to each other. Here is some illustration of the priest’s constant prayer. He was invited to appear in a general photographic group. He agreed. And during the photographer’s various preparations, he suddenly sighed: “Lord our God, who created us in Your image and likeness, illuminate us with the Light of Your Face.” The mood of those present, of course, immediately changed. Some time later, when they sat down to drink tea, the priest, to everyone’s surprise, again prayerfully and thoughtfully said: “Lord, Lord, ineffable sweetness, feed us with Your truth.” After this sigh of his prayer, without exaggeration, one can say that those around him had a dull sense of taste: this is how the words of the great prayer book sounded both in the ears and in the heart... In this description, we use the excellent work of Mr. Zhivotovsky. The icons were made in the icon-painting workshop of the Leushinsky Monastery.