This time we are talking with Metropolitan Longinus of Saratov and Volsk about elders and eldership. We all need the help of spiritually experienced people in our Christian lives. How can you get this help? Is it necessary to look for a “real old man” for this? In general, the elders - who are they, do they exist today? And what danger can be hidden behind the desire to communicate only with the elders, without paying attention to the opportunities that our church life and visiting the parish church provide?
- Vladyka, what is eldership?— Eldership is a special phenomenon that arose in monasticism and previously related only to monastic life. But in Russia in the 19th century, the elders went beyond the gates of the monasteries - or, more precisely, the world came to the monastery to the elders.
In general, an elder is the confessor of the brethren or sisters of the monastery. The fact is that living in a monastery implies spiritual guidance, the novice revealing his thoughts to the elder - the confessor, the abbot. This is the only way to learn science from sciences—spiritual work. In general, monasticism is something that we learn from each other. And although there are many wonderful books about monasticism that preserve its spirit, they still cannot replace live communication and the transfer of personal experience of struggling with one’s passions. Actually, this struggle is the goal and basis of monastic feat. That is why tradition is so important in monasticism, which is passed on “acceptably to each other” (there is such a Slavic word): from the elders to the younger, from those who have lived in the monastery for a long time to the newcomers.
Eldership assumes that the elder completely guides the beginner in spiritual life. Ideally, a person should not have any thoughts or wishes hidden from a spiritual mentor. He must trust all his actions to the elder, and do everything he does only with blessing. It is in such self-denial and obedience that the monastic tradition is passed on.
In the 19th century, thanks to the activities of the disciples of the remarkable ascetic, St. Paisius Velichkovsky, monasticism flourished in Russia, and one of the centers of the revival of monastic work became Optina Pustyn, which was later known throughout Russia as a monastery. In modern Romania there is the Neametsky monastery, which also became famous thanks to the works of Elder Paisius and his associates. And to this day, the word “elder” exists in the Romanian language, it is not translated. The elder is the abbot of the monastery, the elder is the abbess, the house in which the abbot or abbess lives is the elder.
In the 19th century in Russia, it turned out that lay pilgrims, ranging from simple peasants to famous educated people, began to come to the confessors of Optina Pustyn for confession or for advice on everyday issues. These are the Kireyevsky brothers, and the circle that subsequently formed around the Optina elder Macarius and was engaged in translations of patristic literature into Russian. This is N.V. Gogol, and F.M. Dostoevsky, and L.N. Tolstoy... Although Lev Nikolaevich was the greatest confusion and detractor of the Orthodox Church, nevertheless, he was drawn to the elders. After all, his famous departure from Yasnaya Polyana was not just a departure to Ostapovo station. There his relatives and admirers detained him, because they did not want him to reach his final goal. And he went specifically to Optina Pustyn... This very listing of the names of very famous people who left a deep mark in the history of Russian culture, literature, philosophy, suggests that the phenomenon of old age was of interest to the widest circle of society.
And in other Local Churches, eldership developed in a similar way. In the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to visit the confessor Elder Cleopa (Ilie), well-known throughout Romania, a man of unusual depth, an amazing ascetic for our time. He survived imprisonment and lived in the forest for a long time in the 1940s and 50s, hiding from the authorities during the persecution of the Church in communist Romania. By the 1990s, he was revered throughout the country as one of the greatest elders.
I came to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra when the well-known Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), a wonderful confessor, a real old man, was still able to do so. Thanks to the book of Bishop Tikhon (Shevkunov) “Unholy Saints”, Father John (Krestyankin) became known, without exaggeration, to all of Russia - but even before that the whole Church knew him. These elders were unusually loving people, patient, gentle in their interactions with those who came - and very demanding of themselves. This is a very important criterion.
And today there are many people (as a rule, these are monastic confessors) who not only fulfill their monastic obedience, but also help people who come to them from the world. In the akathist to St. Sergius there is a poetic comparison: “a vessel full of grace and overflowing.” This is probably how you can characterize every elder.
- This is a very beautiful characteristic. But in the philistine consciousness, an elder is, first of all, a perspicacious person. Just now you were talking about your meeting with the amazing Romanian elder Cleopas, and I really wanted to ask you: “Did he reveal something to you?”
-You know, yes. There were three of us. And when he was informed that three hieromonks had come - students from Russia, he said: “Oh, the metropolitans are coming, let them through.” And two of us are indeed already metropolitans, the third is an archbishop...
But of course I'm joking. I think it was just a joke on his part. But seriously speaking, the most unnecessary thing in the Christian life is the search for insight. Under no circumstances should you strive for this. With this “demand for a miracle,” and a miracle on the go (if they go to the “elder” by bus), we profane everything - we profane faith, eldership as a phenomenon, and Christianity itself in general.
The elder is precisely a spiritual mentor. But any spiritual father must still know the person and be close to him for some time. A remarkable example of an elder of our time is, of course, the Monk Paisius the Svyatogorets, who spiritually cared for the convent in Suroti, now one of the best, most comfortable monasteries in Greece.
Therefore, when someone from the outside comes to an elder - real or simply known as such - and demands an immediate miracle and insights: “Come on, tell me my whole life, and what should I do next,” this is actually blasphemy. Not a single spiritually experienced person will succumb to such requests or claims and, most likely, will quietly and peacefully let such a visitor go home, telling him a few words of consolation. Where such sentiments begin to play along, there is no real spiritual life, no true eldership, and there never has been.
-Are there any elders at all these days?
- I think yes. Even today there are spiritually experienced people in monasteries and parishes. Without them it would be very difficult for the Church. But here you need to be very careful, do everything carefully and with reasoning. And we must be very careful of the type of relationship that is now widespread, including with God, which is expressed in the words: “You are for me, I am for you.”
“Nevertheless, many look for elders precisely in order to receive some special advice, guidance...
- There is a wonderful passage in “The Soulful Teachings of Abba Dorotheus.” Abba Dorotheos cites the words of Scripture: “Salvation is in much counsel,” but emphasizes: not in “council with many,” but “in much counsel” with an experienced person. But here, unfortunately, they like to do this: “Well, I was with such and such an elder, now let’s go to another elder, then to another one.” This is, of course, completely wrong. If we saw a spiritually experienced person and were able to stay near him, this is sometimes more important than long speeches. From the lives of many saints, we know that people, even just watching them from afar, were edified by this more than by words. There are such cases in the lives of St. Sergius of Radonezh, John of Rila, and many other saints. Because a person who has fulfilled God’s commandments and has been granted God’s grace is so different from those around him that he himself serves as an edification. But, I repeat, especially today, in our days, it seems wrong to me to go and look for the elder. At best, it will not bring any benefit. And, of course, an absolutely monstrous practice - when they pack buses for a “trip to the elder.” It's just business.
- As a rule, such trips are still made without blessing...
- No one can prohibit anyone from doing anything. We are free people, we live in a free country - I sat down and went wherever I wanted. Therefore, we - bishops, clergy - do not so much as “forbid” or “not bless,” but we try to explain that spiritual life does not consist in traveling from one elder to another.
You know, sometimes some people have a disdainful attitude towards ordinary priests, like: “I visited the elder - yes! And in our church - what kind of priests are they? They have a wife, children, and in general they are still boys...” Such neglect is essentially a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is poured out on every priest at the moment of ordination and gives him the power to “bind and decide.”
- Vladyka, you reminded us of Elder Paisius the Holy Mountain. I think that he still ministers to people through his books. Perhaps this is how modern man should seek spiritual guidance?
“I think a modern person needs to go to church, participate in the sacraments, read spiritual literature, including books by those people who were spiritually experienced and enjoyed the favor of their flock during their lifetime. And the Lord will send in due time everything that is necessary—a good confessor, a good church community. And if this is necessary for a person, he will take him to some monastery. And there he will meet a monk, perhaps not a famous one, not one of those to whom “spiritual tourists” go in busloads, but one who can give advice - which this particular person needs, and precisely at this time. And if a person hears this advice and implements it, he will receive the greatest benefit that can be obtained.
Newspaper “Orthodox Faith” No. 12 (608)
Fr. Vladimir Vorobyov, rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University. He spoke about the elders with whom he was personally acquainted. After the lecture, Father Vladimir answered questions about confessors and elders.
What to do if, despite great respect and gratitude to your confessor, there is no mutual understanding with him, and there is a desire to move to another confessor to whom you feel great closeness. It is not right?
What does it mean that there is no mutual understanding with your confessor? It can be different. It happens that people have such different temperaments and moods that they simply do not understand each other. This happens quite often in life. Confessors are, for the most part, not holy people, very good people, but not saints, so the kind of mutual understanding that one would like to achieve may not be achieved. With holy people this is always easier, because with holy people their temperament and character fade into the background, and grace acts more powerfully. So, this may be the case, and it may be that with another priest it is easier to establish contact and mutual understanding.
I think that in a number of cases you can openly tell your confessor about this and, with your blessing, you can move on to the priest with whom you have contact. After all, relationships with a confessor are very important for a person’s spiritual life. If it doesn’t work out with this confessor, but it might work out with another, then you can’t proceed from some formal prohibitions that you can’t change your confessor (and this is a common opinion among us), it seems to me that you can’t proceed from such prohibitions.
But the fact is that the confessor accuses you of some shortcomings, of some passions. It happens that the confessor is very busy, he does not have enough time or energy. And you take it personally: my confessor treats me badly. And if a person, for such reasons, goes to another confessor, then this is a big mistake.
If you ask your confessor: “Father, I don’t find mutual understanding with you, but with the other priest I have complete contact. Give your blessing to leave,” and he will say: “Of course, go quickly!” - this is not a very suitable way to solve the issue. In such cases, they usually seek some kind of arbitration advice. If you manage to find a spiritual person, an elder (now there are very few such elders), but you need to find a third person who can understand and consult with him on what to do. So as not to rely on your passions, your passionate spiritual movements, so as not to be based on them, otherwise there may be a big mistake. Communication with your confessor is very important. If you are very grateful to him, if he is very respected by you, if the Lord once brought you to him, then it is not just like that. And it’s impossible to break this connection just like that, because something has become difficult. Difficulties do not mean that you have to immediately move on to someone else, with whom it may or may not be easier. So you shouldn’t rush in such things, but you need to be very careful.
But in principle, I think that such cases happen, and this is quite natural. And you can solve them.
Father, why did you go to different elders? Maybe there was something you weren't happy with? Did the elders have friends?
I think elders can have friends. Why not. Saints had friends, even Christ had friends.
Why did I go to the elders? You know, I haven't traveled much. I could well have visited many more contemporary elders. I was able to visit Bishop Afanasy (Sakharov). I still can’t forgive myself for not going to see him. I could visit many more wonderful elders. But I was always ashamed, I thought: “I have a spiritual father, he tells me everything, I don’t have questions that I could also ask the elder, why will I distract the elder and burden myself?” That's why I didn't go. And now I am very sorry, because if there is an opportunity to see a holy person, then never miss this opportunity. This is the most precious thing in life. Even just seeing him, looking at him, standing next to him is the most precious experience that will put everything else in its place in your soul and life. That’s why I went to the elders whenever possible. But I asked Father Vsevolod: “Can I go to Father Tavrion?” He blessed: “Yes, yes, go.” He never showed any jealousy and didn’t think that I wanted to leave him.
I have not yet spoken about Father Tikhon Pelikh, whom Father Arkady and I also knew closely. He was also a wonderful old man. I had to communicate closely with him for a long time during the life of Father Vsevolod.
I think, if there is such an opportunity, then you need to go to the elders, only these should be real elders. There is no need to obey frivolous curiosity and act on the principle: where the people go, there I will go. It's not necessary. But if it is known that there is such a holy person, then it would be good to see him.
How did you manage to meet the people you are talking about now? Did you somehow look for them? Where can we find elders now?
For example, I saw the recently glorified elder Schema-Archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsov). This is Elder Glinsky, he spent his last years in Sukhumi. He was a great old man, now he has been canonized in Ukraine. How did I see him? Very simple. In the summer we went to the Caucasus on a trip, at the end we crossed the pass and went down to Sukhumi, and naturally came to the temple, and Father Seraphim stood in the temple and confessed. That's how I saw him.
I came to Father Tikhon when I was studying at the seminary and could not get to Father Vsevolod. And Father Tikhon was then serving in Sergiev Posad and it was possible to get to him. And I started going to him.
I don’t even remember how we got to Father Seraphim (Tyapochkin), on purpose or while passing through. But I heard about him from my close friends and decided to go to him. I didn’t have any questions for him. I arrived, and my friends, his spiritual children, happened to be there. Then still young Natasha, now Mother Natalya Boyarintseva, took me to Father Seraphim and said: “Father, here is Volodya. We've known each other for a long time." He looks at me and says: “He will be a priest, a priest.” She says: “Volodya gave me spiritual books to read.” “Well, even more so.”
Of course, it was memorable for me and meant a lot. But I didn’t have any questions, I didn’t ask anything. But, of course, such communication is remembered for a lifetime.
And today, who do you recommend turning to among the elders? Very necessary.
And today I don’t know who to turn to. Many people turn to Father Elijah. Father Eli is a wonderful father. But he is very sick and now it has become difficult to get to him. Many now name some other elders. But I don't know them. It so happened that now I don’t know anyone. Therefore, I cannot send it to someone.
Is it necessary to treat a confessor as an elder? Is it necessary to seek the advice of elders if there is a confessor? And in what cases?
No, you don’t need to treat your confessor as an elder if he is not an elder. You need to treat him as a confessor. This is very difficult and it is important to learn how to do it. A confessor, although he is not an elder, is given to a person by God. And in our time, finding a real confessor is also not at all easy. If the Lord leads you to a real confessor, if you can become a real spiritual child, then this is God’s greatest gift. If you have the right attitude towards your confessor, then the Lord will show you the spiritual path through him and, perhaps, will reveal the will of God through him, although he does not have the gift of clairvoyance. But it will be revealed to you, according to your faith, this happens very often.
It depends exactly on how you treat him. One must treat a confessor with love for Christ’s sake, and not with partiality. Treating a confessor with partiality is a sin. This is not only futile, but also very dangerous. Some choose as their confessors those priests who for some reason they like best. Sometimes they choose the young and handsome, or for some other reason. It is not right. The relationship with your confessor should be spiritual, not emotional.
You need to treat your confessor with trust, selflessly, i.e. don't expect to get anything from him. I don't mean money or gifts. Often we want to be in a special position in church: if I am closer to the priest, I will come and be the main one or the main one. This is also self-interest. Relationships should be selfless. You need to treat your confessor with humility. The task of a confessor is, first of all, to show us our sins and shortcomings. It means hurting us. This can only be done when a person comes with trust and humility. So you come to the doctor, the doctor says: “You need an injection or surgery.” And you believe him, and out of obedience you begin to suffer and suffer - they prick you, cut you, perform unpleasant procedures, because you believe the doctor and believe that he is doing this for your health. You should treat your confessor the same way. So the doctor says: “You know, you have a serious illness.” Now they even tell the patient that he has cancer. Who enjoys this? Suddenly they tell you that you have cancer. But the confessor also says: “You know, you have pride. You don’t know how to behave, you’re behaving boorishly.” This is unpleasant to hear. But the confessor must tell us this. And we must accept this with gratitude, with trust, with the desire to improve. Then it will be a real relationship.
And when you like to be stroked on the head, this is not a spiritual attitude, this is self-interest. We want the priest to only console, encourage and never make any comments, but as soon as he says something unpleasant, then the priest is bad. “Father has gone bad,” you hear this very often. Father used to be good, but now he has gone bad.
If there is a confessor, then thank God. But if there is an opportunity to get to a holy man, to an elder, then I think a real confessor will not mind, he will definitely send you to him.
It happens that even a very good confessor finds it difficult to answer some question or give some advice. It is really difficult to say whether to marry this man or not. They come up very often: “Father, bless me to get married.” "For whom?" "Here's to this one." You think: “Oh, Lord have mercy! What will happen from such a marriage! And everything is already set up for them, they have already agreed on the wedding. And the priest is in a very difficult position. And it happens that the priest cannot stand his temper and follows the lead of his spiritual children. He doesn't say what he has to say, he just can't refuse. This is bad. To be a priest, for your information, is very difficult. It's hard to hurt a person, it's hard to tell people something they don't want to hear.
What should a spiritual child do in the event of the death of his confessor? My friend says that there cannot be several real confessors. And now she doesn’t have a confessor, she goes to different churches. The idea that a confessor is no longer needed seems strange and wrong to me. Is it correct?
I think you are absolutely right. A person may have several confessors throughout his life. I had several very good confessors.
When should you go to the elder, and when to your parish priest?
The parish priest is the third category of priests. They are completely different. A confessor is one thing, a parish priest is another. Not every parish priest can be a confessor. A confessor is a spiritual father, the person to whom your heart is open, who knows you, who constantly prays for you and suffers from your illnesses. He will stand before God for you. He takes responsibility for you, he doesn’t just tell you: “You can’t do this,” he painfully searches for the right path for you. And the parish priest may not be interested in you at all. These are different things. Therefore, who is better to go to? It's better to go to someone who cares about you more seriously.
If you have the opportunity to go to an elder, a real elder, then that’s good.
If there is no spiritual father, but a serious issue needs to be resolved, who can you turn to for spiritual advice?
To a spiritual person, to a spiritual priest. You need to look for the most experienced one. You need to pray, you need to ask around so that you can be shown a sensible, experienced confessor who can give advice, and you can go to him. If suddenly no one is around you... I remember asking my elder, what to do if there is absolutely no one to go to, as, for example, during persecution. He said this: “Pray better and then start doing what your conscience tells you, try to renounce all passions and think about what to do according to your conscience. And start doing it. And pray. If something works out, it means God’s will is there. But if you pray, start doing something and nothing works out, then God’s will is not there.” The idea is very simple - if you sincerely, from the bottom of your heart, with contrition, with repentance, with humility, pray, ask and try, then the Lord will definitely show you. It will simply indicate the circumstances of life. It will not leave you in a disastrous state. We think that everyone has died, I am the only one left and will die. No, the Lord will not leave.
How to get to the elder who is currently receiving? And how not to make a mistake. Usually they talk about people who have already died. This is very interesting, but I need advice now. There is no one to turn to. There have already been sorrows from wrong advice.
This problem has always been and always will be. I can only tell you one thing from my own experience. When I was young, I also heard a lot about various elders and saints. These were the years of Soviet power. And there was no one around me. For many years I did not have any confessor and I did not know where to go. I was a believer, but I didn’t even know which temple to go to. We were very intimidated in those days. And our parents scared us, they said: “If you go to church now, they will kick you out of school, from the university, and maybe they’ll put you in jail.” So we were afraid, we didn’t trust the priests, because there were informants among them. From a young age I began to pray: Lord: “Give me a spiritual father.” And then he also asked, as I now understand, very boldly: “Show me an old man from whom I can find out Your will. I want to do according to Your will. Who should I ask? And I shared the spiritual father and the elder. And I prayed for so many years, and only then, after dozens of years, I realized that the Lord literally fulfilled my request. I had both a spiritual father and an elder who wrote to me: “This is the will of God.” And the Lord did not give me just any old man, but exactly the one I asked for, who revealed the will of God to me.
God is merciful. If we search and ask with all our hearts, if we ask for good, if we want to do truly well, to arrange our lives spiritually, then the Lord will definitely answer. Maybe not right away. Maybe you need to pray, work hard. But there is no need to doubt this for a single minute. But if you have such a desire, I am deeply convinced that the Lord will not leave it unanswered.
It's not easy, and rightly so, it's not easy. If it were easy, we wouldn't value it. There is a saying: “What comes easily is worth little.”
Is it possible to go to the elders and have the desire to confess to the elder? Because they are great prayer leaders.
This question is posed a little frivolously in my opinion. Such a good desire may be good, but you no longer understand what an elder is.
An elder, in the sense in which we spoke today, is, first of all, a very tortured person. We once told Father John Krestyankin: “Father, there is absolutely no time to pray.” And he replies: “What kind of prayer is that? You talk and talk all day, and then you can only make one bow for tomorrow. No prayer." There is no time or energy left. The elders are exhausted to the last extreme, the elders do not confess, they have no time to confess. They answer briefly and quickly if you get to them. And to confess - to your confessors.
How to find out the will of God. I can't get married?
We need to pray. You need to look for the will of God, ask around.
Are there elders in Russia now like Seraphim of Sarov or the Optina elders?
I don’t think anyone can answer this question. Because people understood who St. Seraphim of Sarov was many years after his death. He was canonized only 70 years later. And then by the direct will of Sovereign Nicholas II, and the Synod was against canonization. Now, when the whole world honors St. Seraphim, when so many miracles have happened, now we know who he is.
There is an image: to see a mountain, you need to move far enough away, but it is not visible up close. Being close to an elder, very often you do not understand who is in front of you. It is known that elders have very difficult cell attendants or cell attendants who do not understand who is in front of them. And they literally torture their elders. And then time passes and it turns out that this is what a saint he was. God does not immediately reveal the holiness and greatness of such ascetics. Maybe time will pass and we will find out that we lived next to a great saint - Father John Krestyankin, for example. Or someone else. But now it is impossible to answer this question.
Does every Christian need a spiritual director?
I think that everyone should have a spiritual leader. Another thing is that not every person wants this. If a person does not want to, then it is impossible to force such leadership on him. He simply will not obey, he will not want anyone to control him or command him. He is a free citizen of a free country! And if a person sincerely seeks spiritual life, then a leader is needed.
What did the elders say or advise when a person has sorrows: poverty, difficulties in his personal life, problems with people around him? When sorrows press from all sides. Humanly speaking, there is no need to expect improvements.
They always said: be patient, humble yourself and pray.
Do elders have a hierarchy?
Hierarchy is when you are the director, you are the deputy director, and you are the head of the department.
Elders do not have such a hierarchy. But, of course, there are greater and less great elders.
If you cannot fulfill a blessing, how terrible a sin is this?
It happens in different ways, depending on what kind of blessing it is. Actually, the real blessing is one that can be fulfilled.
Sometimes a person feels literally driven into a corner and does not know how to live further. A spiritually experienced elder, endowed by God with the gift of clairvoyance, can come to his aid.
Who are they?
Elders are ordinary people, just like us. Only by virtue of their exploits for the sake of the Lord did they receive various gifts from Him - miracles, clairvoyance, healing. Elders. That's what the Orthodox call them. They can see the future as the present, and you can turn to them for advice in a difficult situation.
The very definition of old age is ambiguous. This can be used to designate the entire clergy of the Church, since from Greek “presbyter” (priest) is translated as “elder”, “elder”. An elder is a person with spiritual authority, a person who has received from God the gift of special spiritual guidance for Christians.
Among the miracle workers of the last days, our contemporaries, Father John (Krestyankin) and Father Nikolai (Guryanov) stand out.
Father John
Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) was the confessor of the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Born in 1910 into a family of Oryol townspeople, he served in the church from childhood. After school, he received professional education in accounting courses. He worked in his specialty, first in Orel, then in Moscow, while visiting the temple.
In 1945, while celibate, he was ordained to the rank of deacon, then to the priesthood. For his gift of preaching and fatherly care, he enjoyed the love of parishioners. His candidate's work (at the end of the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy) on Saint Seraphim of Sarov remained unfinished - in 1950 he was arrested for seven years for “anti-Soviet agitation” and sent to Kargopol Lag in the Arkhangelsk region. His fellow prisoners recalled: “When he spoke to you, his eyes, his whole face radiated love and kindness. And in what he said there was attention and participation; there could also be a fatherly instruction, brightened up with gentle humor.”
After his release in 1955, Father John continued his ministry in various churches in the Pskov and Ryazan regions, and then in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Almost immediately after Father John settled in the monastery, rumors about him spread throughout the Soviet Union. Thousands of people came to him for advice and blessings.
Fast train with all stops
At the monastery, Father John was sometimes jokingly called “an express train with all the stops.” He did not walk, but glided like a light ray, elusively, smoothly and quickly. If he was in a hurry to perform some obedience, he would run past the hands stretched out to him for a blessing. But, having run, he often returned just as quickly and quickly asked: “Well, what have you got there?” And he immediately began to answer the still unasked question, revealing his innermost knowledge about a person’s life. Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) recalls that once, while still a novice in Pechory, he witnessed the following picture: Father John, surrounded by pilgrims, was hurrying through the monastery courtyard to the church. Suddenly a tearful woman rushed to him with a three-year-old child in her arms: “Father, bless him for the operation, the doctors require it urgently, in Moscow.” Father John stopped and firmly told the woman: “No way. He will die on the operating table. Pray, treat him, but do not perform surgery under any circumstances. He will recover." And he baptized the baby.
Then they, the novices, were horrified by reflection, wondering: what if Father John was mistaken? What if the child dies? What will his mother do to him if this happens? One cannot suspect the elder of vulgar opposition to medicine: there are many known cases when Father John both blessed and insisted on an operation. Among his spiritual children there were many doctors. What will be next? Will the grief-stricken mother come to the monastery and start a monstrous scandal, or will nothing like that happen, will the child recover, as Father John predicted?
But Father John still continued to “ply” between the temple and his cell, surrounded by pilgrims filled with hope and gratitude, which indicated a positive outcome of the matter.
Father John did not like being called an elder. He said: “Don’t confuse the elder and the old man. And there are different old people, some are 80 years old, some are 70, like me, who are 60, there are old people and young people. But the elders are God’s blessing to people. And we no longer have elders. An old man is running around the monastery, and we are following him.” Humility was one of his many spiritual qualities.
Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) died at the age of 95. He was buried in the caves of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
“You love vodka, but you don’t love God”
An elder, if he is truly from God, will never impose his opinion, demanding unquestioning fulfillment of all instructions and worship of himself. Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov from Zalit Island, hiding his spiritual gift, said during his lifetime: “Contact first of all not to me, but to the Lord!” Father Nikolai was distinguished by his simplicity in conversation, often sang something folk, and loved proverbs: “Live simply and you will live to be a hundred.” Some choir director arrives, and Father Nikolai from the doorway says, “Si-sol-re-sol” and smiles. Father was most often joyful. He literally gave out love to everyone. He easily explained complex life situations, like a ball of tangled threads. And he did this not only with words, but also with actions. To enlighten some, he spoke allegorically. I always asked only for prayers for myself.
One day, an unbeliever came to the island in the morning on his business. Having free time, he looked into the church, where Father Nikolai drew attention to him - suddenly he quickly approached him and said: “You love vodka, but you don’t love God.” Then he went to the altar. This man, who really loved to drink, was puzzled by this providence of an unfamiliar priest and defended the entire Liturgy. After the service, Father Nikolai approached him again. But at the same time he already said: “Well, now you love God, but you don’t like vodka.” From that time on, that man completely stopped drinking.
One of Father Nikolai’s spiritual children wrote that in December 1999, she and her future husband went to the priest to ask for blessings for marriage. The situation was not easy, since both were seriously ill before marriage. The elder practically did not accept then. There was a notice on the gate: “Do not disturb Father Nikolai!” They decided to deliver the letter through the cell attendant. Unsuccessfully - the cell attendant guards the health and peace of the elder! Gone. It's hard and sad at heart. And suddenly, completely unexpectedly, the cell attendant runs out with the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and says: “Father blesses you for your marriage.” But they didn’t even express their request to the elder!
The spiritual gifts of Father Nikolai Guryanov were manifested in many ways: he helped change the lives of people who had lost hope, he could call strangers by name, he warned of possible danger, he begged for the seriously ill. At the same time, regardless of ranks and titles, he could, according to some spiritual vision of his, send the guests home. Behind this was not a desire to offend a person, but a desire to provide an opportunity to comprehend one’s past life and return back with repentant feelings.
Blessed darling
Elder Lyubov Ivanovna Lazareva was born on September 17, 1912 in the village of Kolodezi, Kaluga province. Her family was very religious: her father was the headman of a village temple, her mother raised the children. Left an orphan, the girl was taken in by a close relative. At the age of 18, Lyubushka went to Leningrad to visit her brother, who helped her get a job at the Red Triangle factory. But soon Lyubushka decided to become a wanderer. She visited many monasteries, but the most dear place for her was Vyritsa, where she spent hours praying at the grave of her spiritual father, Hieromonk Seraphim. The small, dry old woman always stood out for her meekness and prayerfulness. Many people noted her insight and gift of miracles.
The blessed one’s spiritual daughter, Valentina, recalled: “One day my grandson George fell ill: pus was oozing, staphylococcus... I went to Lyubushka: “George is dying!” She prayed and said: “He will live.” And everything worked out. Then my daughter fell ill with rubella, and again, through Lyubushka’s prayers, the disease went away.”
The old woman was also known for “building temples,” that is, she begged the Lord for the appearance of new or the revival of destroyed churches. One of them was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
These were the true elders who help people even after their death. It’s good for those who had such mentors in their spiritual guidance, you say. But what to do if there is no elder nearby?
Pious pilgrims, preparing to visit a particular monastery, try to find out whether there are spiritually experienced mentors there to whom they can open their hearts and seek advice. The Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Optina Pustyn, the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery have always been a storehouse of true wisdom, passed on from one elder to another, and that is why people flock there seeking spiritual guidance and help.
