Great-great-cousin of John Olenevsky - about miracles and the life of the saint

Ivan Vasilyevich Kalinin, Olenevsky
(1854 - 1951), priest, confessor Memory May 18 - the day of the discovery and transfer of relics and glorification in 2001 (Penz.), July 24, at the Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church

Born on August 5, 1854 in the village of Olenevka, Penza district, Penza province. Mother - peasant Ksenia Ivanovna Kalinina, father unknown; He received his patronymic on behalf of his godfather, probably his uncle Vasily Ivanovich. His birth was foretold by wandering monks who said: “A saint will be born in this place.” From a young age, the boy was different from his peers. He never ate meat, played, baptized, married, buried, buried, sculpted churches, crosses from clay at the spring, about which he said: “I was born and the spring was born.”

He studied at the zemstvo school of his village Olenevka. He had poor health, but earned his living by doing small crafts - knitting scarves and mittens, shoemaking. From a young age he got up at night to pray, prayed with tears, and limited himself in food. He lived with his mother, and then with his widowed sister, in a small old house near the local Vvedenskaya Church, where he helped the priest as an altar boy, from the age of seven he read, sang and canoned in the choir. After the death of his sister, he took care of four nephews.

Even in his youth, Ivan received a blessing for spiritual achievement from the blessed old woman Feoktista. As a young man he led an ascetic life, wandered to holy places, and when, returning, he told people about Kyiv, Athos, the Holy Land, and they, admiring and envious of him, he consoled them: “I am alone, I live like a monk, and you have families.” , children, household. You go to church, here you have both Kyiv and Jerusalem.”

During the First World War, people came to him with the question: is he alive, how should he be remembered?
He, hiding his spiritual gifts, answered briefly or allegorically. To whom he will say: “Remember for the repose,” to whom: “Alive, he will come,” and to whom: “I got lost.” And to one woman, who was coming to him with the same question - how to commemorate, he himself came out to meet him, saying: “Run quickly to the station, meet your husband.” Before the revolution, Olenevka was the richest village with a strong economy. But in a storm of hard times, all this was destroyed. Ivan's old house also burned down. The parishioners themselves built him a new house under an iron roof.

In 1920, at the age of 65, he was ordained a celibate deacon by Archbishop John (Pommer) in the Penza Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

He served outside the staff at the Olenevskaya Church. As a clergyman he was deprived of voting rights. Father John was widely known; many sought to receive spiritual guidance or healing from illnesses from him. In 1924, a slander campaign was launched against him in the local press. As a result, his house was taken away from him, and he lived with relatives or spiritual children in neighboring villages.

In 1930, Deacon John moved to a small cell house built for him by his children.
He lived in it until his death. In 1930, after the arrest of the rector, the Olenevsky Vvedensky Church was closed, and Fr. John began to serve as a deacon in the Trinity Church in the village of Solovtsovka, as well as in the church in the village of Nikolaevka. In June of the same year, he, together with the clergy and parishioners, prevented the capture of the Trinity Church by renovationists, led by renovationist Archbishop Nikolai Rozanov, who arrived in Solovtsovka.

April 8, 1932 Fr. John was arrested. Involved in the group case of the “counter-revolutionary organization of clergy “True Orthodox””

together with a large group of rural clergy of the Penza diocese. He was accused of “campaigning through visiting pilgrims”, of “sowing religious infection and carrying out hidden work aimed at disrupting the activities of the Soviet government.” During interrogation, he refused to determine which direction in the Orthodox Church he belongs to. He stated that during the service he commemorates the Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky) and Bishop Kirill (Sokolov) of Penza, but knows nothing about Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) and Bishop Dimitri (Lyubimov) of Gdov.

On May 14, 1932, the Special Troika at the Plenipotentiary Representation of the OGPU in the Middle Volga Territory was sentenced to deportation outside the region for three years, but on May 22 he was released on his own recognizance.

Father John returned to live in Olenevka. Penza clergy used his advice on organizing assistance to the poor, and were interested in his opinion on how to relate to various kinds of self-proclaimed “prophets.”

On January 30, 1934, Father John was detained and placed in prison, but the next day he was released on his own recognizance. During the investigation, he testified: “The people consider me to be a righteous man and a seer, I did not dissuade them from this... To everyone who came to me with complaints or for advice, I gave this advice, reassured them and called for patience.”

On February 26, the case against Fr.
John was terminated “due to his illness and old age.”
Contrary to government restrictions, Fr. John continued to receive those who sought his advice and guidance. He served in Solovtsovka, and after the church there was closed in 1935, he went to serve in the Assumption Church in the village of Knyazevka.

On October 24, 1936, following a denunciation about the reading of spiritual poems after the service, he was arrested and placed in the district prison of the village of Kondol, then in the prison hospital. On November 28 he was transported to prison in Penza. He was accused of “spreading rumors about himself as a “perceptive old man,” and the visits of his believers to a number of villages served as an opportunity for him to incite distrust in the Soviet system.”
At the trial he said:
“I don’t plead guilty.
People came to me with grief to talk. I didn’t say anything to anyone about Soviet power.” On March 19, 1937, a visiting session of the Special Collegium of the Kuibyshev Regional Court sentenced him to six years in prison. However, on May 26, 1937, at the request of his cousin, Fr. John, People's Commissar of Justice of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic G.N. Kalinin, the case was reviewed by a special board of the Supreme Court of the USSR. As a result, the sentence was overturned. The seriously ill elder, released in the summer, lived in Penza with his spiritual children, and by the end of the summer he returned to Olenevka, but for fear of arrest he was not accepted by his cousin. Crying: “Persecution everywhere... and relatives...”, barely moving his legs, he wandered to the village of Elizavetino, taking only a staff and an epitrachelion. Only two years later was Father Deacon able to return to his native Olenevka.

In October 1945, believers achieved a decision to open the previously closed Trinity Church in the village of Solovtsovka. On September 2, 1946, the temple was solemnly consecrated by Bishop Mikhail (Postnikov) of Penza. During the liturgy, the bishop ordained Fr. John as priest.

The last years of his life he was revered as an elder; he received pilgrims every day, showing the gift of insight, spirituality, healing and consolation.
He gave short advice and instructions, full of deep meaning, and healed the sick. Not only Orthodox Christians, but also local Muslim Tatars treated Fr. John with deep respect and often turned to him for advice. Father did not eat fish or meat, he prayed on his knees at night, and slept in a coffin. He continued to serve on holidays in the Solovtsov Trinity Church, which displeased the commissioner of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, who demanded that the diocesan authorities “stop these violations.” On March 26, 1951, the elder was severely beaten by unknown assailants. He foresaw the day of his death.

He died on August 6, 1951, at 7 a.m. Before his death, Fr. John received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. The funeral service in the Solovtsov Trinity Church was served by four priests. Coffin with the body of Fr. John was carried in his arms from Solovtsovka to the cemetery in Olenevka, accompanied by a large procession of believers. Place for his burial. John chose himself during his lifetime.

On August 5-6, 1996 [1], with the blessing of Archbishop of Penza Seraphim (Tikhonov), the opening of the coffin of Fr.
John, then he was transferred to the territory of the Solovtsov church and buried behind the altar. On December 27, 2000, by determination of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the name of Fr. John was included in the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. On May 31, 2001, his relics were transferred to the St. Sergius Church in the village of Solovtsovka. His grave has been preserved in the cemetery of neighboring Olenevka, and in the village itself there is the cell of Fr. John.

Prayers

Troparion, tone 4

Land of the Russian prayer book, / preacher of repentance and life in Christ, / from his youth, in labor and fasting, he was faithful, / in a time of great oppression and hardship from the godless, you endured / and to all You had a merciful heart for the afflicted,/ Our Father John./ / Hasten even now to help us, who honor you with love.

Kontakion, tone 2

Today the land of Penza glorifies John the Most Wonderful,/ in the host of new martyrs of the Russian Church, who has shone forth./ Through His prayers, O Christ God,// save Thy faithful people.

About the life of the great Patriarch of Alexandria

Saint John was born in the 6th century into a noble family in Cyprus. Almost no information has been preserved about the life of the young patriarch. It is only known that John married and had several children. But tragedy struck and his entire family died (wife and children). After this, the saint becomes a monk, a brotherly lover, a man of prayer and a faster.

The Saint's spiritual exploits gave him fame. And when the patriarchal see in Alexandria became weak, Emperor Heraclius and the clergy asked John to become patriarch.

The saint conducted his ministry honestly and worthily, took care of dogmatic and moral education, expelled and denounced heresy. But his main calling was beneficence and almsgiving to all those in need. At the beginning of his patriarchate, he ordered a count of all the poor and beggars in the city. There were more than 7 thousand of them. The patriarch gave all these people free daily food. Several times a week he went out to the porch of the monastery and received all those in need. He listened to them, helped them, gave alms. The saint never refused help.

The best article for you, go to: Prayer of the Mother of God “Unbreakable Wall”

John had a presentiment of his imminent death. Due to illness, he was forced to leave his post and department, going to his home island of Cyprus. During the crossing, he had a dream where a luminous man said: “The King of Kings is calling you.” The Patriarch considered this dream a sign of imminent death. Arriving in his hometown, the Merciful One departed to the Lord in peace.

Used materials

• “May 31 is the day of the discovery of the relics and glorification of the holy confessor John of Olenevsky,” page of the official website of the Penza diocese:
• “In the Penza region, the house-cell of the locally revered Saint John of Olenevsky was taken under state protection,” page of the Pravoslavie.Ru
  (06/27/2005):
• A brief biography of the holy elder John of Olenevsky, page of the website of the Church of John of Olenevsky in the village. Olenevka, Penza region:
• Troparion and Kontakion to Hiero-Confessor John Olenevsky (Kalinin) // Official website of the Russian Orthodox Church:

[1] Brief biography of the holy elder John of Olenevsky, page of the website of the Church of John of Olenevsky in the village. Olenevka, Penza region,

Great-great-cousin of John Olenevsky - about miracles and the life of the saint

December 12, 2021 Society

Journalist Tatyana Ilyina
We drove about fifteen kilometers by car, places unfamiliar to me.

— Tell me, please, how to get to Pilotnaya Street? — I asked a passerby.

- Yes, right here.

Turning to the right, the car slowly moved along bumps and holes along the row of houses. I parked my car at the right house.

A friendly elderly woman invited me to come in. We found ourselves in a spacious house, immediately entering the kitchen. The purpose of my visit is to talk with a relative of the priest John Olenevsky, Valentina Ivanovna.

Valentina Ivanovna, as if apologizing, said: she remembers little about her relative; she was 12-13 years old then. Slowly, word by word, a conversation began. The owner's daughter was also at home. Valentina Ivanovna shrugged her shoulders, saying that I myself don’t know who I relate to him.

“My grandmother Daria Yakovlevna was the cousin of Ivan Olenevsky, then everyone called him Ivan. My grandparents lived on the Moika River Embankment. Daria Yakovlevna was a dressmaker, she even sewed coats; she learned to sew from her parents. Grandfather came from a very poor family. Subsequently, someone got him to work for the railroad. And when they already lived together, they had a small shop, then there was a store for which grandmother and her parents sewed. They were more or less wealthy. They lived in a two-story house, the bottom of which was brick and the top was wooden, with an outbuilding for residents and outbuildings. They welcomed the orphans and the poor and fed them. This house stood for quite a long time, but just recently I passed by and the house was demolished.”

Valentina Ivanovna remembered a case when a cow from their herd did not go home, ran past the house every time and did not come in, then Ivan helped.

“Mom complained about this trouble to my grandmother. She, in turn, told her cousin Ivan that even though they lived far from each other, there were no buses back then, everyone walked everywhere. But people from everywhere came to the market, some selling potatoes, some selling something else. So Daria Yakovlevna saw someone from Olenevka at the market and asked her to convey a request to her brother Ivan to come and help. Then they didn’t think that he was, I don’t know who he was, but they knew that he had some kind of gift. Ivan came and drank tea. He says to my mother: “Sasha, now a woman will come to you and ask for three things, and you try not to give.”

Indeed, a woman came and asked for one thing, then another, then a third. Alexandra was able to somehow make an excuse and not give anything. That woman had a bad reputation.

Valentina Ivanovna smiled and said that Ivan helped with the cow, walked around, whispered something, maybe sprinkled him with holy water. From that day on, Burenka always ran home from the herd.

John Olenevsky rarely visited the family of my interlocutor’s mother. But he remembers that he spent the night with them once. What was not offered, he chose the stove:

“No, no, I’m on the stove!” She herself was small, but she remembers his appearance - slender, even thin, of average height and good disposition. It even seemed to me that Valentina Ivanovna was happy because she knew and saw the priestly confessor John Olenevsky:

“And he saw me, and I saw him. And now there’s an icon for it.” We all suddenly decided that Valentina’s face was similar to that of her righteous relative.

He often visited the house on the Moika River Embankment, sometimes hiding from persecution for his faith and religious activities with his cousin. Perhaps when his house was taken away due to slander, he was forced to live with his grandmother Valentina Ivanovna.

I asked Valentina Ivanovna if she turned with prayers to her ancestor - the ascetic of the Penza land, St. Righteous John Olenevsky. She pressed his icon to her and said that I often turn to the Lord himself. The daughter of my interlocutor entered the conversation:

“And here I am turning to you. Once we visited the Trinity-Sergius Church in Solovtsovka, there were problems, I prayed to Father John and asked for help. I whisper, if you heard me, give me at least some sign.”

Then I go out, and my husband asks: “What is that red spot on your forehead?” I answered that I don’t know, I don’t see myself.”

During the conversation, Valentina Ivanovna said that she worked at the Main Post Office as a foreman of letter sorters. At school she really liked geography and got straight A's. In life, I had to sort out correspondence from different cities in our country and around the world with an understanding of where it was located on the geographical map. She can still unmistakably say that this city, for example, is located in America. Valentina Ivanovna was repeatedly awarded trips for good work, and she traveled a lot around the world.

I, in turn, told small stories I had heard concerning Father John. My old friend Nina Ivanovna says:

“I was lucky enough to see Fr. John. In my youth, my friend and I decided to go to Elder Ivan. He was very perspicacious, he would give advice to whom, instruction to whom. Everyone was drawn to him. The road is long, we walk. A friend asks me:

- Nink, what are you going to ask?

- Don't know. And you?

“And I’ll ask whether I’ll stay with Kolka or not.”

The elder was already in poor health and received people lying down. When I entered the room, he asked what I was doing. I replied that I was studying. So study, study and study - Father John gave instructions. Nina Ivanovna happened to study a lot in life, graduate from several universities.”

I would like to share Anna Ivanovna’s story. When the reburial of Father John Olenevsky took place, they opened the grave and began to lift the coffin. Everyone present tried to touch the coffin, touch the shrine. And she suddenly looked up and saw a glow of multi-colored colors and notified everyone. She also showed me a small tablet, she said that she got it from the priest’s coffin. During illness, he applies it to himself and helps her.

And Anastasia Grishanina shared this story:

“I am grateful to life for the fact that I had a wonderful Uncle Vanya - my mother’s brother, a real mentor... This is roughly how I learned about his meeting with St. Righteous John of Olenevsky and about his miracles.

His uncle came to him as a young man in Olenevka during the difficult war and post-war years, more than once when he needed to establish himself in life: in moments of confusion and when his parents were persecuted by atheists.

There were always a lot of people at Father’s place, people sat next to him on that famous bench, stood, most were middle-aged women.

Some of the instructions were said personally to everyone, some were spoken out loud in front of everyone. So, many women came and asked the elder: how to pray for husbands who still have not returned from the front? He answered everyone differently, to some he said, “Pray for your peace,” and to others he gave hope, “Remember for your health.” The women returned with words of gratitude: “that’s how it happened!”

Uncle Vanya related an incident that is now relayed in the life of the Righteous One. It happened before everyone’s eyes: St. John of Olenevsky, then just a modest clergyman, said to one of the women waiting for their turn to talk to the priest: run quickly to Penza I! Your husband is there! The woman was surprised, because her husband had not returned from the war yet! But still I went back to the city. And she met her husband.

Such stories were not written down at that time, they were passed on from mouth to mouth, and were kept in the memory of those who came to the priest. And they were overgrown with various details that the people endowed them with.

As for my uncle’s questions to Fr. John, they were very personal. He said only later: everything came true as the priest promised.” After listening to my stories, Valentina Ivanovna suddenly shrugged her shoulders chillily and said that “goosebumps ran down my spine.”

PS Of course, Valentina Ivanovna did not let us go until she treated us to something delicious.
I'm glad to meet you. I am glad that such a wonderful, kind, sincere person lives on our Penza land and is a relative of the Holy Righteous John of Olenevsky. Photo source: https://welcome2penza.ru

Prayer to John the Gracious Patriarch of Alexandria

Of course, there are people who have never experienced financial difficulties in their lives. But there are very few such people. You can also meet people who are content with other sublime values ​​that the Lord sent them. But such cases are generally exceptional. Most often, people stay in poverty for a very long time and try in every possible way to fix it.

It is safe to say that all parents think about the comfortable existence of their children. Many work in the hope of getting rich quickly, many rely on their own strength. But maybe it’s worth asking the Heavenly powers for help? Prayers to Saint John the Merciful will give you confidence, deliver you from poverty and improve your financial well-being.