Схимонахиня Анатолия

Schema-nun Anatolia (in the world Zoya Viktorovna Yakubovich) was born on February 12, 1874 in Saratov into a poor noble family. In addition to Zoya and her sister Lydia, who later shared the monastic path with her mother Anatoly, three more children grew up in the family. Her mother was widowed early, and Zoya had to help with the housework. The children were raised in the Christian spirit, and Zoya read the Gospel every day from childhood. The sisters received their education at the Saratov girls' gymnasium. As in many noble families of those years, children knew almost nothing about such an essential side of Christian life as monasticism. By her natural gifts, Zoya was a real nun, but she prayed that the Lord would send her a groom - humble and meek. And the Lord heard her prayer: when she turned eighteen, she married water transport engineer Nikolai Ivanov, a man of deep faith, humble and meek. They lived very amicably, but the Lord did not give them children. A person can pray for years, go to church, observe established fasts, but completely not understand what spiritual life is. For such a person, religious life fits within the framework of material life, often obeying its laws. This is a time of spiritual hibernation, winter, blissful infancy, unaware of the difficulties and severity of a blessed, spiritual life. Sometimes the Lord Himself awakens a person - with a vision, a miracle, a special circumstance, and having lived his whole life religiously, the person then turns to God with all his heart for the first time; or awakens the soul with the word of another - His chosen one. Zoya showed interest in spiritual life thanks to Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganov), with whom the Yakubovich family was friendly. Her sister Lydia was of a secular mood. But one day, well dressed, wearing a large fashionable hat, she stood in the church and listened to the bishop’s sermon. This sermon struck her so much that from that time on she turned entirely to God. The sisters began to read spiritual books and visited the reclusive elder Hieroschemamonk Vasily in Sarov several times. These trips had a special influence on them: without changing their external lifestyle, they secretly began to lead a spiritual life, reading the Psalter and the Jesus Prayer. When Zoya was thirty-three years old, her husband died, she signed up with Elder Vasily and, with his blessing, on the fortieth day she and her sister entered the monastery. The first two years they lived in the community founded by the elder; he wanted to make them bosses, but they did not feel strong enough to fulfill this obedience. Then they lived for a year in the town of Undol in the Vladimir province, where the elder gave his blessing to found a hermitage. The place was remote - just a few houses, not even surrounded by a fence. Their arrival immediately attracted the attention of local residents. The devil does not sleep, and as soon as a feat for the sake of Christ is envisaged, he immediately raises an attack on the ascetic. Some of the local residents suspected that the nuns were very rich, and they planned to kill and rob them. But the plan could not be realized - the sisters soon left the desert. The overwhelming nature of their labors and exploits caused the sisters great embarrassment, and even more so, the elder’s wish that they become leaders of the newly established community. A paper had already been procured and sent from the Synod, according to which Zoya was appointed builder of the church, and she was not knowledgeable in either architecture or construction. With a confused spirit, they returned from the elder and on the way stopped in Diveevo to visit blessed Praskovya Ivanovna. They talked about their embarrassment. Praskovya Ivanovna says: – Give me the papers, I’ll read them. Zoya knew that the blessed one was illiterate, but she obeyed and handed her the synod paper. The blessed one immediately tore it into shreds and threw it into the stove. Turning to the image of St. Seraphim and pointing her hand at the sisters, she exclaimed: - Father Seraphim, your daughters-in-law, by God! Both of your daughters-in-law! Then she told them to go to Abbess Alexandra to ask to enter the monastery. There was no cell available, and they lived in a hotel for two weeks. From the very moment she entered the monastery, Zoya always kept her eyes downcast. The sisters went to church in single file so as not to talk. Zoya told how they taught themselves to be patient: “We receive letters or parcels and don’t open them that day, but leave them until the next day.” Zoya's first obedience was to make flowers for the vestment, then she was sent to the noble hotel to register the arriving guests. Then - to the monastery textile shop as an appraiser and saleswoman. Finally, I was transferred with my sister to the office to write letters to benefactors. Lydia had the gift of words, but Zoya did not, and the letters turned out short and dry. Then she was assigned to answer letters addressed to Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna. Now she visited the blessed one every day and was especially happy about this. She said that once she and her sister wanted to watch Praskovya Ivanovna pray at night. We were blessed by the abbess and came to the blessed one in the evening. And she immediately went to bed. At twelve o'clock she got up, demanded a samovar, drank tea and went back to bed, and in the morning, wagging her finger, she said: - Naughty girls, when there is a sukman (cloth sundress), crosses and bows, then pray. The novices understood her words in such a way that they should not take the feat before taking monastic vows into the schema. Soon Zoya fell ill with cancer; doctors gave her only a year to live and ordered her to immediately undergo surgery. Having received the blessing from the abbess, Zoya and her sister went to Kyiv and Optina to visit the elder Fr. Barsanuphius. Having learned about the purpose of their visit, the elder said: - There is no need to do the operation. I will give you oil from the Kazan Queen of Heaven, anoint the sore spot with it for forty days, and no surgery is needed. Then he began to talk and talked a lot about the upcoming sorrows and persecutions from leaders, from sisters, about misfortunes from demons and, raising his hands high, he said: - May God help you! God help you! God help you! But go boldly. The cover of the Queen of Heaven is over you. Upon returning from Optina, the sisters were tonsured into the mantle, and then soon into the schema. The sisters took tonsure: Zoya - with the name Anatoly, Lydia - with the name Seraphim. Before accepting the schema, the sisters came to Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna for a blessing. The blessed one stood up and began to pray out loud: - Harvest, Lord, grain, wheat, oats, vetch and green flax, young, tall, for many years. At these words, she raised her hands and rose into the air herself. (The words “for many years” meant the long life of Anatolia’s mother. For the blessed one, flax meant prayer, spinning flax meant praying.) The hermitage of the schema-nice was very strict from the very beginning, they did not even go to church. Monastery priest Fr. Mikhail Gusev himself came to commune them with the Holy Mysteries. They spent all their time in contemplation and prayer, without speaking to each other. In the morning we drank tea, at two o'clock we dined on vegetables without oil. Abbess Alexandra, as the spiritual mother who received them from the tonsure, did not bless them to eat any oil, according to the words written on the schema: “My knees are exhausted from fasting, and my flesh has changed for the sake of oil.” “Better have some milk,” she said. Seraphim's mother endured this fast until her death, but Anatolia's mother was unable to do it. Weak by nature, exhausted by exploits and illness, she was completely exhausted and then took the blessing of blessed Praskovya Ivanovna to use the oil. When Anatoly’s mother fell ill with cancer, her sister often came to the blessed one and said: “I can’t live without Zoya, I can’t live without Zoya, I won’t be saved.” And Praskovya Ivanovna spoke about Mother Seraphim: - The girl is good, but all in the country, one head out. This is close to her death. And indeed, it happened that Seraphim’s mother fell, hit herself, and developed a cancerous tumor. Her cancer was painless, she gradually grew weaker and weaker, and so she died. Mother Anatoly told me that Seraphim’s mother was lying sick, weak, and her eyes were burning, and she was singing: “Christ is born...” (Christmas Irmos) Soon after the death of her sister, Anatoly’s mother began to experience temptations from demons. One day, the annoyance of the demons was so strong that Abbess Alexandra said: “Mother Anatoly will not live more than three days.” The enemies tickled and pinched her from head to toe, even under her nails, not allowing her to eat, drink, or sleep. Persecution of the Church began, and Abbess Alexandra said: “Mother Anatolia is fighting invisible enemies, and I am fighting visible ones.” Little by little, Anatoly’s mother began to recover from the first demonic attacks. She was blessed to go to church for early mass, but even in church the demons did not leave her. “I enter the altar, and they follow me,” she said. At this time, her cell attendant was novice Anastasia. The time has come for her to take the abbess’s blessing - whether to stay with Mother Anatoly or leave. They were discussing this when Anastasia was called to the abbess, and she accurately reproduced their entire conversation. Anastasia said to the abbess in surprise: “There’s no way you can approach us quietly, otherwise I would think that someone overheard and told you about it.” The abbess did not like being elevated, and turned the conversation to something else. The novice did not receive a specific blessing to live with the schema-monastery. “As you wish,” said the abbess. And then Anastasia began to remember the predictions of the blessed ones - how Pasha of Sarov forced her to crawl under the bed, give her a stick, take out the slop, etc., depicting to her the deeds of a novice; as blessed Maria Ivanovna asked two years earlier: “Who came? - and she herself answered: “The novice of the schema-montress.” Mother Dorothea, cell attendant of Blessed Maria Ivanovna, corrected her, but the blessed one continued to insist: “A novice schema-monger.” She remembered many other things, and she decided to stay. At first she was very happy with her obedience, but then she got bored. She looks out the window: it’s spring, everyone has gone out to clean the monastery, and she’s sitting in her cell. “Everyone will be saved, but I won’t be saved,” thoughts slowly creep up on her. And then there are demonic misfortunes. And they went with Mother Anatolia to Sarov to visit Hieroschemamonk Vasily. He was in seclusion and did not receive anyone; he conveyed the answers through his cell attendant, but received them personally. After visiting the elder and talking with him, the fears from demons decreased somewhat, although they did not stop. Anastasia said: “We’ll start praying at twelve o’clock at night, and they’ll drive nails into the ceiling.” I hear this, but what about mother?! Or at night we walk along a ditch, mother says: “Baptize me, baptize me!” The insurance continued until the schema-nice’s death, but subsequently, by the power of Christ, she had enormous power over the power of the enemy and told her spiritual children: “Never be afraid of them, demons are completely powerless, it’s a sin to be afraid of them.” Due to extraordinary feats and misfortunes, Anatoly’s mother developed pulmonary tuberculosis, which lasted until her death. At that time, there were no elders in Diveyevo, and the sisters began to turn to Anatoly’s mother for advice. She took a blessing from the abbess to receive the sisters and laypeople who came to the monastery. The monastery sisters went to see her on certain days. They revealed their thoughts and temptations to her, and she taught them humility, patience, and the unceasing Jesus Prayer. Her favorite reading was the works of St. Simeon the New Theologian, and among the modern ones - Ignatius Brianchaninov. But not everyone liked this obedience of the schema-montress, and she suffered a lot of sorrows for this. Some went seeking spiritual benefit, and some went to experience it. Envy began, complaints arose, slander began to spread to the abbess, so that she, too, changed her attitude towards her. Demons are cunning, and as soon as an ascetic zealously takes up the work of salvation, the Lord allows them to act through our passions and the passions of our neighbors - so that we can be healed. In 1924, a shma-monk with the name Raphael was tonsured into a mantle. In 1926, Bishop Seraphim (Zvezdinsky), an archpastor of high spiritual life, settled in the monastery. The bishop served the Liturgy every day from five o'clock in the morning behind closed doors. For Anatoly’s mother, he was support and consolation. She often turned to him for advice, and the archpastor said about her: “This is my beloved, most obedient child.” After he was deported to Melenki, she addressed him in writing, and in 1928 she visited him. Anatoly's mother was simple and ingenuous. They used to gather with their mother Raphaila to visit the bishop and agree that they should ask him. They arrived, sat, were silent. Raphaila’s mother makes signs that it’s time to ask, and mother says: “Raphaila, why are you pushing me?” The Bishop was touched and told them how the elders had gathered: they sat, were silent, looked at each other, were consoled and dispersed without saying a word. In 1927, the authorities announced the closure of the monastery. Anatoly's mother and Raphael's mother moved to the village of Vertyanovo and rented half of the five-walled hut. The place was noisy, but nothing else could be found. Mother Anatoly took a corner to the right of the entrance, hung icons, lamps, made a bed for herself on a chest and fenced it all off with a black calico curtain, so she had what she called a dungeon - a dark corner without windows. Raphael's mother was placed in the bright half of the hut; there they read the entire service every day, so that Mother Anatoly did not even go to church, but lived in complete seclusion. In her dungeon she received the sisters who came to her. All three windows facing the street were curtained with thick white curtains, and for Lent, black calico was added on top. Without leaving the house, Anatoly’s mother was deprived of fresh air, which was especially difficult for her with sick lungs, but she endured all this patiently and resignedly. Their owners turned out to be thieves, but even on such people Anatoly’s mother made an indelible impression. Once the owner told her that his comrades were trying to persuade him to leave for Arzamas, and at that time they would have robbed the nuns, but he answered them: “I will never allow this. A holy face lives with me.” They lived like this until the spring of 1930. Collectivization was underway. It was impossible to stay here. They tried to move to the village of Cherevatovo, but they had to leave from there too and settle in the village of Diveevo. We spent the summer, and in the fall we went to Murom. In Murom they had to change several apartments, and finally a woman they knew invited them to live in her village. It was a beautiful secluded place, deep in the forest. The landlady had a priest secretly living with them at the same time, and they always had services at home. In the fall of 1932, they were all arrested and taken to Vladimir. Vladimir prison - maximum security. Raphael’s mother had a very hard time with the separation from her mother and solitary confinement, and Anatoly’s mother said that she felt very good there. In silence and solitude she said the Jesus Prayer. They spent several months in prison, and mother Anatoly was sent home due to illness, and mother Rafaila was exiled to Petropavlovsk for three years. In 1933, Anatoly’s mother settled in Kulebaki. It was a great consolation for her at that time that there was a church nearby, where services were held daily, and her beloved monastery confessor, Fr. Mikhail Gusev. To the best of her ability, mother attended divine services every day. There was matins and mass there in the morning. On holidays they served an all-night vigil in the evening. The church was wooden, spacious, the iconostasis was painted by the Diveyevo sisters. In the fall of 1935, Raphael’s mother returned from prison and settled with her mother in the room on the chest. They lived like this for almost two years. In the fall of 1937, they bought a small house in Murom on the very edge of the high bank of the Oka. The owner of the house was the spiritual daughter of Mother Anatolia, Elizaveta Shch., since the house was bought with her money. Raphael's mother and Elizaveta occupied the room, and Anatoly's mother settled in the former storage room - a small room with a small window with a grille inserted into it. She lived in this room until her death. The room was not suitable for habitation, cold and dim, with an uninsulated floor, but Anatoly’s mother valued privacy most of all and endured everything for its sake. The war began and financial difficulties arose. I had to plant my garden with tomatoes and go and sell them at a better price. Previously, when they lived alone, they never cared about anything except prayer, and the Lord did not disgrace their hopes. They not only had what they needed for themselves, but they even had the opportunity to share with the poor. The winter of 1948–1949 arrived. Anatoly’s mother was sick all the time, noticeably weakened and tried to retire. She received the sisters who came to her less and less, and to one who asked to receive her, she answered: “I have nothing more to tell you, I told you everything; you know everything and understand everything.” In January 1949, she fell ill with pneumonia. Every day she became worse and worse. The sisters came to say goodbye to her, she crossed them, and then crossed the air again: “And this is everyone, everyone.” During her illness, the priests came to give her communion every day. On the evening of January 18, she became very ill; at eleven o’clock in the evening they sent for the priest. Father came at about twelve o'clock. I began to read the usual prayers. She just repeated: “Hurry, hurry!” At twelve o'clock in the morning on January 19, mother took communion (February 1, N.S.) and died quietly half an hour later. While still living in Vertyanov, she once told her mother Rafaila: “What happy people there are, they receive communion at the hour of death...” We know what kind of mother Anatoly survived the terrible enemy battle. Of course, she could not have endured it if she had not had special grace-filled help and consolation, but she never mentioned this even in a hint, she was so humble and afraid of any exaltation. Rafaila said that sometimes during a serious illness she saw how her mother’s face became angelic. Mother Anatoly received the Holy Mysteries every week, and at that time her face, always pale, became pink, and her always clear blue eyes shone with a special light. After communion of the Holy Mysteries, she never went out, but closed herself and drank tea alone in her cell. She always taught me to repeat to myself: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, deliver me from the snares and slander of the devil, O God, come to my aid!” Anatoly's mother was perspicacious. She told me long ago when and what passion would especially torment me. - When will there be peace? – I exclaimed. – There will be peace when they sing “Rest with the Saints,” but don’t expect this peace before. One nun told me. Shortly before the death of Mother Anatolia, she came to her. The schema-montress told her to reveal all her sins since childhood. With great contrition and tears she confessed her life. After listening, Anatoly’s mother said: “I take upon myself all your sins from birth.” Afterwards Mother Anatoly asked the cell attendant: – Did you console her, did you treat her to something? “She’s had her fill of tears,” said mother. Mother always received the revelation of thoughts while sitting, as the elders did, and we knelt down. You will come to mother with sorrow, with temptation. You will bury your face in her hem, cry and leave everything here. Where will it go? You fly home like on wings. About Archbishop Peter (Zverev) At the end of my life, the Lord blessed me to write my memoirs about the many clergy I met in my life. Of course, if I could have imagined this in my youth, I could have learned a lot then. And not only then, but also subsequently, I had the opportunity to meet many people and ask about everything in detail, but now these people have died and you can’t bring anyone back. I write what I wrote down before and what remains in my memory, right or wrong - I don’t know what I remember, that’s what I write. Archbishop Peter (Zverev) was born on February 18, 1878 and was named Vasily in holy baptism, in honor of Basil the Confessor (February 28). His father was a priest, Archpriest Konstantin Zverev. Subsequently, he served in the Moscow Kremlin and was the confessor of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. His mother's name was Anna. In addition to Vasily, they had two more sons: Arseny and Cassian and a daughter, Varvara. The mother said that the boys had already determined their inclinations from childhood. Each played in his own way: Arseny wrote papers and became an official; Cassian played the war, became an officer and was killed in the war of 1914, and Vasily loved to play the church service. Vladyka himself said that in his early childhood he always hurried to the beginning of the church service in their parish church and always walked next to his father. At the time when they saw the priest going to church, the bell tower was ringing three times, and the boy believed that they were ringing his father twice, and the third time for him. In his earliest childhood, Vasily saw the Savior in a dream. He told the children about this in front of me: “As a child, I was very fat and plump, and adults loved to squeeze me, but I couldn’t stand it and fought them off with my hands and feet. And now I see a dream. In our dining room there was a table against the wall, and now I see: the Savior in blue and red clothes is sitting at the table and holding me in his arms. And under the table there is a scary dog. The Savior takes my hand and extends it under the table to the dog with the words: “Eat it, it fights.” I woke up and from then on I never fought again, but began to grow up, trying to restrain myself in everything, not to get angry and not to do anything bad. All boys always want to try smoking. My father was strict, he said: “If anyone smokes, I’ll tear off their lips!” But I still wanted to try. I smoked a cigarette and went to church. It was Forgiveness Sunday. They sang: “Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, for I am in sorrow; hear me soon.” This was my favorite chant. But then my head began to spin and I had to leave the church. Since then I haven’t tried smoking.” Vladyka graduated from the Moscow gymnasium and took 2 courses at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, after which he transferred to the Kazan Theological Academy. There he became a monk in 1900 at the age of 22, was named Peter in the name of the Apostle Peter, and received the rank of hieromonk. After graduating from the Academy, he served as a hieromonk in Moscow in the diocesan house in Karetny Ryad (Sadovo-Karetnaya). Here the bishop already had spiritual children who were faithful to him until the end of their lives. Then he was rector of the Belevsky Monastery in the Tula province. During the war of 1914 he went to the front as a preacher. After the war, he was appointed rector of the Zheltikov Monastery in Tver. There were the relics of St. Arseny of Tver. At this time he had to redress the relics of the saint. The bishop said that the saint still wore ancient clothes, brown, of a completely different cut, with buttons on the sides. The saint was entirely incorrupt, only his legs were missing - one up to the knee, the other below the knee. Apparently they took away parts of the relics. In 1918, the Bishop was arrested for the first time in Tver. On February 1, 1919, he was named bishop in the Patriarchal chambers. On February 2, 1919, on the feast of the Presentation, he was consecrated bishop in Moscow by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon and appointed suffragan bishop of Balakhna in Nizhny Novgorod to Archbishop Evdokim, whom he had previously known well when he served in Belev, and Archbishop Evdokim then ruled the Tula diocese. Vladyka was 41 years old at that time. Belev is located not far from the Optina Hermitage, and the bishop had the opportunity to constantly communicate with the Optina elders, who, in turn, were very disposed towards him, valued him highly and sent many to him for spiritual guidance. Before accepting the bishopric, Vladyka visited Sarov and Diveyevo several times, and had a special affection for Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna. As her cell attendants said, “he sat at her feet,” and she reciprocated with her affection. She even gave him a canvas of her work, from which he subsequently sewed a bishop’s vestment for himself and kept it for his death. According to the stories of cell attendant Praskovya Ivanovna, he, together with the Diveyevo sisters, experienced that difficult time near the blessed one when the opening of the holy relics of Father Seraphim was delayed. The bishop also visited Father John of Kronstadt. I remember his story about how Father John fed him together with Mother Schema-Abbesses Tamar - first her, then him. The Lord brought me to know Vladyka immediately when he came to us in Nizhny Novgorod after his consecration. He was tall, thin, blond, had very long hair, never cut it, a reddish beard, clear, blue eyes: His voice was strong, with very good diction, so that when he later served in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and delivered a sermon, his every word was heard throughout the church. Only Archbishop Hilarion had the same voice, only even stronger. The bishop lived in Nizhny Novgorod, like his predecessors, in the Pechersky Monastery on the banks of the Volga. In ancient times, the Pechersky Monastery was located about two miles from the city, but a collapse occurred, the monastery collapsed into the Volga, only one church remained, and the monks settled closer to the city, in the so-called Near Pechery. In 1919, Near Pechery was at least three hundred years old from its foundation. The monastery was in decline. The brethren were small in number. The Bishop brought several monks with him. Immediately started full statutory service. He served on all major and minor holidays, and during the all-night vigil he always stood in the church in the abbot’s place opposite the revered icon of the Pechersk Mother of God, and often read the Six Psalms himself (especially when fasting). No singers could withstand such a long service, and the bishop attracted the people to the service. Behind the right choir there was a lectern, here was the manager of the service, his cell attendant, Brother Alexy, and all those who were zealous sang and read. On minor holidays, the all-night vigil lasted five hours; on Sundays - six o'clock, and on twelve o'clock - seven o'clock, that is, from five in the evening to twelve at night (the bishop often did not have time to drink a cup of tea after the all-night vigil). Vladyka served slowly, pronouncing every word clearly and loudly. He censed slowly around the church, so that they had time to sing the entire psalm (polyeleos). “Praise the name of the Lord” was sung by all the people in two choirs according to the Athonite chant, both psalms in full. During the first hour and after the Liturgy, the bishop always blessed the entire people. On weekdays, when he had time, the bishop served the early Liturgy himself in the house church. Every holiday he preached a sermon after the Liturgy; In addition, he started teaching the Law of God to children in the monastery. He taught them himself. The children became so attached to him that they used to stand in a crowd at his porch, waiting to see if he was going somewhere, and seeing him off in a crowd. Vladyka always told them something here, more often from his life, from childhood memories. Sometimes he celebrated the all-night vigil and the whole night. I remember that on Christmas Day the all-night vigil began at ten in the evening, and immediately after it there was an early mass, during which many received the Holy Mysteries. Despite the length of the service and the simplest singing, the church was always full of people. The bishop never read akathists during the all-night vigil, but demanded that all kathismas be read out in full; I read akathists at prayer services. Vladyka especially loved the Psalter. I always told everyone to read it. Once they invited him to serve an all-night vigil in some church and almost released the kathismas (they left a few words). The Bishop called the abbot and said to him: “Why don’t you love King David? Love King David." The bishop always served memorial services in full, according to the rules, with the seventeenth kathisma without any abbreviation. I remember how he said: “Who will serve such a memorial service for me?” Also, his funeral service lasted several hours (without any shortcuts). He especially loved and strictly observed the church rules. Even the songs at the canon were sung by everyone. In Voronezh, the bishop said to his cell attendant: “Your Peter is sinful in everything, but he never violated the rules.” In the Pechersky Monastery, the ancient cathedral in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God was launched. The walls and ceiling were blackened with soot. The Bishop invited the people to help clean the church and was the first to climb the ladder and wash part of the ceiling. I remember that before the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, every day, after Vespers, prayer services were held in the church with a service and akathist to the Dormition of the Mother of God, following the example of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. This is how the bishop prepared to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. Often on patronal holidays, the bishop was invited to serve in city churches. The people immediately felt and loved the bishop and followed him. But Archbishop Evdokim did not like this popularity. He began to envy him, and their initially friendly relationship turned into open hatred. But people did not know this and still invited them to serve together. It was hard to watch how they stood together on the pulpit. His Grace Evdokim stood all black, and Bishop Peter was as pale as a sheet. I remember the bishop’s story. On Forgiveness Sunday 1920, Archbishop Evdokim served in the city, and sent Vladyka to serve in Sormovo. It's outside the city, far away. Everyone walked then; there were no cabs. On the way back, Vladyka deliberately went to say goodbye to Archbishop Evdokim before Great Lent at the Diveyevo courtyard, where he always lived. He entered his chambers, bowed to the holy icons, bowed at his feet and approached with the words: “Christ is in our midst.” But instead of the usual answer: “And there is, and there will be,” Archbishop Evdokim answered: “And there is, and there will not be.” The Lord turned and left. The first week of Lent has begun. The Bishop was present at all services. I remember that the service lasted a total of 13–14 hours a day. In the middle of Lent, Bishop Evdokim transferred the bishop to live in Kanavino. He insisted that the Bishop, as Bishop of Balakhninsky, should settle in the Gorodets Monastery (Gorodets is located on the banks of the Volga above Nizhny Novgorod). In Kanavin (beyond the Oka, opposite Nizhny Novgorod) at the Moscow station itself there was a Gorodets courtyard. The bishop settled there and lived for a little over a year. It was very noisy and hectic there; the courtyard overlooked the railway tracks. In May 1921, the bishop was arrested again. Living in Kanavin, he often served in Sormovo (close distance). Here, as elsewhere, the people were very warm towards him. The arrest of the bishop caused a three-day strike at Sormovo factories. The authorities promised to release him, but instead sent him to Moscow: first to Lubyanka, and then he spent some time in Butyrka prison, after which he was transferred to Taganka. At that time, up to twelve bishops and many clergy gathered there. We brought them prosphora and vestments there, and they performed the cathedral service in the cell. My uncle, Pavel Timofeevich Sokolov, who was sitting at that time, said: “The bishops will stand at the table, but it is small, there is nowhere to put the missals. But there is not a single deacon. According to the position, the first litany must be read by the eldest, and so the metropolitan begins the great litany, and then all the bishops, according to seniority, read the litanies in turn.” In the Tagansk prison, Vladyka fell ill from exhaustion and was hospitalized. He developed boils on his head. At the end of July, the bishop was assigned to a convoy to Petrograd. Before departure they gave a meeting. Three of us came: his brother’s wife, V.N.’s spiritual daughter and me. Vladyka told us that he had arranged for us to go out earlier and wait around the corner until they were brought out, and then we would approach them. He was taken out together with some man. We approached and walked with them under escort all the way to the station. There they were brought into the carriage, then released again, and Vladyka spent several hours with us, until departure, in the vestibule of the carriage. He told us a lot here, but I don’t remember well, because almost sixty years have passed since that time. He told everything from the very beginning, how he was arrested and lowered into some basement, where everyone was together, men and women. What happened there is impossible to imagine. Then he told how they were transferred from Butyrki to Taganka. All the prisoners said goodbye to him with tears, even all the guards came out. “I remembered,” said the bishop, “the farewell of the Apostle Paul.” Then he told me how he sat on Lubyanka with some sailor. It was tedious to sit without anything to do, so they made themselves spillikins from broken glass and took them away with straws. Of course, they did not sit silently. The Bishop never stopped preaching. In the end, the bishop took off his cross and put it on the sailor. In general, when he was in prison, we did not have time to send him crosses. The Bishop converted people to faith, took off the cross from himself and put it on the convert (at that time crosses were not yet removed in prisons). The bishop stayed in Petrograd until December and on the 23rd, on Anastasia the Pattern Maker, he was released and immediately came to Moscow. All-night vigil and mass for the Nativity of Christ were served at the Marfo-Mary Convent, and on the second day of the holiday he served at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. During these days, he received an appointment to Tver again as a vicar, Bishop of Staritsky, and again settled in the Zheltikov Monastery, where in 1918 he was rector. In Zheltikov he again introduced the same rules as in Pechory. The people remembered him and greeted him with joy. At this time, Archbishop Evdokim, together with Metropolitan Sergius, wrote an appeal to believers calling on them to donate church valuables to help the starving people of the Volga region (in 1921–22 there was a drought and terrible famine). This appeal was brought to Vladyka by the Diveyevo nun Mother Margarita. I remember that on Forgiveness Sunday, Vladyka read it and said about Archbishop Evdokim: “I’ve been waiting for this. But Metropolitan Sergius is deaf: he hears what needs to be heard, but does not hear what should not be heard.” The governor of the Tver diocese at that time was Bishop Alexander. He joined the drafters of the appeal. This was the beginning of renovationism. Vladyka stayed in Zheltikov for less than a year and after Archangel Michael was again arrested and sent to Moscow. Bishop Theophilus of Novotorzh, Archimandrite Veniamin (young, twenty-one years old), Archimandrite Innocent and several priests were brought with him. They were kept in Butyrki all winter. Then they were transferred to Taganka and just at the time of the standing of Mary of Egypt, on Thursday in the fifth week of Lent in 1923, they were sent with a large convoy to Tashkent. Before departure we were given a personal meeting. The bishop's head was bandaged. I remember I sat next to the bishop and kissed his hand. Many repeat offenders were sent to the same stage; there was a reinforced escort, and at the Kazansky station they were not allowed to even get close. There I saw Vladyka for the last time. From Tashkent he was sent into exile in Perovsk (now Kzyl-Orda). He stayed there for more than a year. In the summer of 1923, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon was released. He submitted a list of bishops without whom he could not govern the Church, and Vladyka Peter was among them. At the end of the summer of 1924 he was returned to Moscow. Here he temporarily had to manage the Moscow diocese, and on July 16, 1925, he arrived in Voronezh to help Metropolitan Vladimir, and after the death of the latter, on December 24, 1925, he was appointed Archbishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk in Voronezh. Here the ruler began his activities with all his might. He served and preached, gathering thousands of people. He had a special, grace-filled power that attracted people to him. He was committed in jealousy and love for God, in pity and in love for people. The Bishop was offered a choice of two dioceses: Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh. Vladyka chose Voronezh, since he always especially revered the saints of Voronezh, Mitrofan and Tikhon, and Archbishop Anthony. In Voronezh, the Bishop was not close to the clergy, but he was especially close to the people, of whom a great multitude gathered for his services. Under him, an almost complete return of the clergy from renovationism began. In Voronezh, the Bishop was accompanied by his father, Archimandrite Innocent. The bishop’s closeness with him began back in Tver. Father Innocent, quiet and meek, was Vladyka’s closest assistant in everything. From Voronezh, the Bishop sent Father Innokenty to Sarov and Diveevo for a musical akathist to St. Seraphim and served this akathist in Voronezh every Wednesday. At one time, blessed Praskovya Ivanovna predicted for him three prisons, which had already passed, and therefore the bishop no longer feared anything. “There won’t be a fourth.” Blessed Maria Ivanovna of Diveyevo warned him through his mother Margarita: “Let the Bishop sit quietly, otherwise the Queen of Heaven will abandon him,” but he, remembering the words of Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna, did not pay attention to this. Finally, on November 16, 1926, he was arrested, sent to Moscow, and from there to Solovki for 10 years. When Vladyka was seen off in Moscow at the Northern Station, he shouted: “Are there any Diveyevo people here?” There were two Diveyevo sisters there. He told them: “Give my regards to blessed Maria Ivanovna.” Vladyka arrived in Solovki in the spring of 1927. At that time, many bishops, clergy and monastics were imprisoned there. In Solovki, the bishop was initially in the 6th company of the department within the walls of the “Kremlin” (monastery); then he was transferred to the 4th company. There he visited and buried Father Innocent, who died on December 24, Art. Art. 1927. In 1928, Vladyka was transferred to Anzer to the VI department. There he worked as an accountant in a warehouse (katerk), where only priests worked. Vladyka wrote from Anzer that he lives in a secluded deserted place, sees few people and feels like a hermit. There, in solitude, he composed an akathist to St. Herman of Solovetsky and sent it to Moscow for testing. From Anzer, the bishop wrote that he was grieving at a distance from the grave of Father Innocent. He also recalled his former cell attendant Father Seraphim, who had previously died in the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersk Monastery, “they were connected with him by mutual love.” He remembered and asked to find his cell attendant, Father Paphnutius, who was still alive at that time, and asked to convey his blessing to him. Father Paphnutius, as I remember, always explained to the Bishop the meaning of dreams. Copies of a number of letters written by the Bishop from Solovki have been preserved. Below is the story of the nun Arsenia, who was in Solovki with the bishop. During the dispersal of the Solovetsky Monastery, the authorities invited the monks who wished to remain in the monastery as civilians. Sixty monks agreed to stay. They were given a church in the cemetery in honor of St. Onuphrius the Great. Every day there was a service there: from 6 o'clock in the evening the all-night vigil and at 4 o'clock in the morning - the Liturgy. At first, the authorities treated the believers leniently: the imprisoned bishops and priests lived separately, as did the nuns. They attended all church services and worked the day shift. At 4 o'clock in the morning mass was served until 6 o'clock in the morning. At 6 o'clock in the morning there was a general rise and verification, after which the bishop went to the bread-slicer. He blessed the bread, and the priests cut it and distributed rations. At 6 o'clock in the evening, after the end of work, the all-night vigil began. Vladyka always read the Six Psalms. At eight in the evening the all-night vigil ended. Check-in, lights out, and everyone went to bed. The Bishop was in the center of the monastery, in the “Kremlin”. Those believers who were on Anzer (island) sailed to Solovki to receive communion. There was heavy mud on Solovki; wooden walkways were laid for pedestrians. They said that the authorities respected the bishop so much that when they met him, they went into the mud, giving way to him. But then the management changed. They sent the son of a priest (Uspensky) to command the camp. He immediately removed the crosses from the churches. At this time, the Bishop converted to the Orthodox faith and baptized an Estonian woman in the Holy Lake. For this he was sent on a penal trip to the island of Troitskoye. Typhoid fever began there. On the island, continues nun Arsenia, to the right along the bridge, Koprskaya; According to legend, Peter the Great, when he built the first boat and sailed in it across the White Sea, served a thanksgiving prayer there. On the left is the monastery of Anzer (St. Eleazar). Near the monastery there is a dilapidated hut and a chapel in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God (on the site of the appearance of the Mother of God and the Monk Eleazar to the Hieroschemamonk Jesus). In the chapel it was written that during her appearance the Mother of God said: “On this place let a monastery be built in the name of the Suffering of My Son. Let 12 monks live and fast all the time, except Saturday and Sunday. The time will come when the believers on this mountain will fall from suffering like flies.” The monastery of Golgotha ​​was founded there. When typhus began, a hospital was located in the monastery. Vladyka fell ill with typhus and was taken to the hospital. There he was ill for 14 days. The Bishop would have suffered the illness, but he did not take food. Arseny's mother was at the pier at that time, and the bishop's things were kept with her. A hieromonk came from Solovki to the sick bishop and introduced him to the Holy Mysteries. Arseny's mother repeatedly sent the bishop his tonsure scroll, which she kept, but he sent it back. On the day of his death, her sister-hostess came to her. She said that there had been a turning point in the illness; The bishop should have recovered, but he doesn’t eat anything. Arseny’s mother asked: “What is he wearing?” - “In a government-issued short shirt.” Then Arseny’s mother again sent the scroll, which the bishop kept for death (for the day of death). When they handed it to him, he said: “What a point she sent it. Now sponge me down. You can’t wash me.” They put a scroll on the ruler, and he died in it. In the same room as the Bishop lay a veterinarian, his spiritual son. On the day of the bishop’s death, at 4 o’clock in the morning, he heard a noise, as if a flock of birds had flown in. He opens his eyes and sees the holy great martyr Barbara with many virgins. She went to the bishop’s bedside and gave him Holy Communion. Among the virgins accompanying her, the doctor recognized the holy martyr Anisia and the great martyr Irina. He told the Archbishop of Poltava and others about this bishop. On the same day, at 7 pm, the bishop died. Before his death in the evening, he wrote everything on the wall with a pencil: “I don’t want to live anymore, the Lord is calling me to Himself.” And so on several times. For the last time he wrote “no” - and his hand fell: the bishop died. It was on the feast of the icon of the Queen of Heaven “Quench my sorrows” - January 25, 1929, at seven o’clock in the evening, - 50 years old. When the bishop died, he was taken to the morgue. The Bishop lay in a scroll, and they wanted to bury him separately. Even at the beginning of the typhus epidemic on the island, a large hole was dug in the fall and all the dead were placed there, and the hole was covered on top with spruce trees cut down for this purpose. By order of the chief, the bishop was placed in a common grave. They put him on the edge, covered him with a tree: The local chief did not allow him to be buried separately. Then the prisoners submitted an application asking for permission. Finally they allowed it. On the fifth day the bishop was buried; It was a day off, Sunday. Even when the bishop had just fallen ill, they sent him all the small vestments, the mantle and the small omophorion. When we received permission to bury separately, we immediately canceled the former cash receipts from the bishop and bought food for the funeral, cooking all night. The household department made a coffin in the workshop for 8 rubles. 60 kopecks The panagia was written on cypress. We wrote all night. At 5 o’clock in the morning we went to the utility unit in Anzer, four miles away, there they buried the bishop in the kapterka (warehouse), put all the vestments in a coffin and took him away. Four punks were digging a grave at that time. We arrived and discovered a common grave. All the dead were lying black, and Vladyka was lying like the Savior, in a shirt, with his hands folded on his chest, white as if boiled. There were needles sprinkled on the face. Three priests lifted him from the grave on sheets, combed his hair, wiped his face and began to dress him right on the ground. He was all white, soft, as if he had died yesterday, only one sore leg had turned black (even when he was inspecting the monastery building in Belev, a brick fell on his leg; it always hurt him). They dressed the bishop in a purple robe, a new one, and all new vestments. They put velvet slippers on their feet (they sewed them at night, they worked all night). They sang: “Let your soul rejoice in the Lord,” and began to put a prayer into the bishop’s hands. And all three priests signed. Arseny’s mother asked: “Why are you signing? They don’t sign their names during prayer, do they?” They answered: “If time changes, the ruler will come out with the relics [the relics of the Holy Martyr Peter were found on June 17, 1999], it will be known who buried him.” The manuscript was signed by Archimandrite Konstantin Almazov (St. Petersburg), Father Vasily from Barnaul and Father Dimitry from Tver. They buried the bishop downstairs opposite the altar (the altar of the church) on the half-mountain. They put up a cross. There is a Christmas tree at the head, and three firs at the feet. The Lord died last, no one died after him, typhus ended, and it was warm. One of the priests who buried Vladyka, while passing through Moscow, said that when they buried him and buried the grave, suddenly a pillar of light appeared over the grave and the Vladyka was in it, and he blessed them. After the death of the Bishop, his things were distributed to the priests, and the Bishop bequeathed the panagia with the Last Supper (mother-of-pearl) to Archbishop Hilarion. But Bishop Hilarion had already died of typhus in the Leningrad prison during his transfer to Kazakhstan. They also said that before this time, Vladyka began to see dreams (he loved to interpret dreams). He wrote to Moscow that his dreams foreshadowed his imminent release. Vladyka took his imprisonment very hard. He had a very lively, active character, and imprisonment bound him all around. When I fell ill, I realized that these dreams were not about liberation, but about death. In the Golgotha ​​hospital, the doctor was a Tatar and the orderlies were also Tatars. Previously, somehow the bishop had to be with them. They went on a hunger strike, and the bishop received many parcels and supported them with them. Remembering this, they diligently looked after him... They also said that when the bishop was dying, all the foreigners sang prayers in their own languages. After my mother’s death, I saw in her a letter from the Optina elder Father Anatoly, with whom she corresponded. With his blessing, my mother turned to Vladyka Lavrenty (he was shot on October 24, 1918), the predecessor of Vladyka Peter. After this, mother asked the elder to give his blessing to contact Vladyka Peter. I remember Father Anatoly’s answer: “You are asking for a blessing to contact Bishop Peter. God bless. How happy you are that the Lord sends you such wise leaders.” Vladyka came to us in February, and I only got to him in July. I was used to seeing Vladyka Lawrence in Pechery, a tall, holy personality, and I thought: who is worthy to replace him? But they persuaded me, and I came on weekdays to some small holiday, to the all-night vigil (I think, St. Anthony of Pechersk) in July. We are standing in the church, waiting for the ruler to enter. He comes in and I see a glow around him. I was not yet 16 years old then. This changed my whole life. And Vladyka had been looking for me even earlier. He told his mother that he wanted to know her eldest daughter. And my mother always took my younger sister with her. During this all-night vigil, I sat on the bench in front, sideways to Vladyka. He looked at me intently (I didn’t know, but just felt very awkward), and after that he told my mother that he now recognized her eldest daughter: “She came and sat down opposite me.” Soon he called me to his place. He gave me three books to read and told me not just to read, but to bring every word to my heart. Soon he blessed me to read in church; I didn’t dare, because I naturally burr, but after his blessing I began to read clearly. After that, he gave me the Psalter, and after my mother’s death he blessed me to become a monk. Vladyka was a devout monk, he loved the monastery and monasticism with all his soul, especially the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where he always wanted to end his life in the schema. Vladyka was by nature very simple and trusting; he believed all people and suffered a lot from this. The bishop observed his fasts exactly according to the regulations. I was told that in Voronezh he didn’t even eat butter on Wednesday and Friday. The wife of the bishop's brother told me that after his death in a dream in their room, she saw him standing in the air in a bright radiance, blessing. I recognized Vladika Peter in 1919, and saw him for the last time in 1923, so the Lord led me to be in communion with him for only four years. In 1924, in the summer before his return, I entered Diveevo and never saw him again. In Solovki, Vladyka became especially friendly with Archbishop Hilarion. I remember they said that in Solovki they commemorated the senior bishop “Solovetsky”. Hilarion was the eldest, and as soon as he was put on the ship (sent to the prison camp), in the church during the service they sang “The Most Reverend Peter, Archbishop of Solovetsky.”