“The tradition of eldership in Rus' has not yet died out,” F.M. would say. Dostoevsky about Father Pavel Gruzdev. The great writer believed that the preservation of Orthodoxy in our country is the merit of the monks and elders. It is they who preserve faith in Christ and do not allow Orthodoxy to disappear from Russian soil. In 1996, the last elder, Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev, passed away. The life story of this remarkable man has been preserved in several books with stories written down from his words, as well as from the memories of his friends. The diary entries of Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev himself have been published. The book is called "The Lord's Grain of Wheat."
True stories
Father Pavel told many stories from his life to his friends.
Father had a wonderful gift of storytelling. His speech is full of funny old Russian words and expressions. He called bread “paposhnik”, vermicelli - “marmicelli”, soiled the floor with dirty shoes - “naslyandali”, etc. His favorite address to parishioners was “My dear ones.” With these words he preceded each of his stories and each sermon, so it is no coincidence that one of Pavel Gruzdev’s books was given this name. And everyone should study it. There is a lot of information about him in the collection “Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev)”, published in 2010.
Some of the priest's conversations were recorded on video and edited into a short film. Pavel Gruzdev is captured in the last years of his life. In his declining years, he could no longer walk well and was almost blind, but the kindness of this amazing old man and the simplicity of his character are very clearly visible in this film.
Pavel Gruzdev's stories about the past are imbued with great humor and colorful details, and his stories cover the entire long life of the archpastor, starting from childhood: he was born on January 23, 1910 in the village of Bolshoy Borok, which was located in the Mologa district of the Yaroslavl region, then there was life in Rybinsk , where the family was resettled after the flooding, monastery living with his aunt, work in the artel that replaced the monastery farmstead, then the Vyatka camps, where he was exiled as an enemy of the people, then a free settlement in Kazakhstan, on virgin lands, and, of course, the period priesthood in the Yaroslavl region.
Writing activity
The priest wrote down his instructions. He had a wonderful gift of storytelling. With the life-giving power of his words, he could heal his interlocutor.
The priest's most famous books were:
- Collection of stories The happiest day.
- My dear ones.
Stories The Happiest Day is the story of a priest's entire life. One of the book's chapters bears the same title. In it, the holy father talks about one of his days in the camp. Young girls were brought to them. They were not fed for several days on the road, but were given bread just before their arrival. Pavel saw one young girl crying bitterly. It turned out that all her rations had been stolen for three days.
Gruzdev had his daily rations saved in the barracks. He brought it to the girl, but she did not take it, saying that she would not sell her honor. He handed the girl some bread and ran outside the zone to pray. All his life he remembered this day as the happiest of his life.
The collection of stories describes the most important events of Gruzdev. Starting from his birth to his last days. The elder never lost heart, despite everything he had to endure in life. He looked at everything with love, treated everyone with compassion and understanding.
The biography of the archimandrite is very difficult. He endured a lot of troubles and hardships without losing his faith. Prayer, sincere kindness and deep faith helped him survive and become a spiritual guide for believers.
Pilgrims
People came to Father Paul from all over the country. They asked him for advice, blessings, and healing from illnesses. He helped everyone.
So, one woman asked him whether to perform an operation on her newborn granddaughter, in whom doctors discovered a heart defect. The elder told her not to rush - to wait a little and boldly go to the operation. When six months later, on the eve of the planned treatment, the girl was examined again, not even traces of the disease were found in her.
Father was a great seer. There was a case when a certain woman approached him for a blessing. She hoped that the great elder Pavel Gruzdev could not see what kind of thoughts were in a person’s head, and what kind of feelings were in his heart. She needed a blessing to evict one of her relatives from the apartment. Father didn’t even cross her - he said: “Go away from where you came!”
Father Pavel not only spoke the beautiful Old Russian language, he spoke excellently in criminal, prison jargon. They say that in the early 90s, when the country was in complete disarray - no work, no food, constant gas and electricity cuts, monstrous inflation, when the rise in prices for the most necessary food products outpaced the rise in wages by several orders of magnitude, a group turned to him young men asking for help with advice on what to do, how to be and how to live? He very energetically, flavoring his speech with choice obscenities, advised them to return home, get married, have children and simply live, fearing nothing.
Elder Pavel Gruzdev could save a person from any ailment forever with just a friendly pat on the back. He did it without pretense, somehow even in a friendly way. He was a very simple man. I always considered it my duty to feed and shelter a pilgrim or an ordinary wanderer in need of help. He loved to repeat gospel parables and often accompanied them with stories from real life.
Ministry of Shepherd
At the beginning of March 1958, Bishop Isaiah of Uglich ordained Pavel Gruzdev as a deacon in the Feodorovsky Church, in the middle of the month - as a presbyter, and three years later he was tonsured into monasticism. The rite of tonsure was performed by Archbishop Nicodemus of Yaroslavl and Rostov.
Serving since 1960 as the rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Verkhne-Nikulskoye, Mologsky district, having been tested by war, camps, torture and bullying, the elder, who retained his love for people and God, attracts pilgrims with his willingness to help everyone. Local residents respect the clergyman, who knows a lot about cattle breeding and helps with the winter calving of cows; this was influenced by the experience of camp work.
Wide fame did not affect the old man’s lifestyle, famous for his non-covetousness, modest clothing and simple diet. After being bullied in the camp, the elder lost sensitivity to cold and could walk barefoot in winter.
His priestly feat was marked by awards and new dedications, including:
- 1961 – purple skufia:
- 1962 - rank of hieromonk;
- 1963 - pectoral cross;
- 1966 - rank of abbot;
- 1971 - club;
- 1976 - cross with decorations;
- 1983 - ordination as archimandrite.
Pilgrims from all over the country come to the rector of the Trinity Church, some for healing, some for a word of consolation. Among the pilgrims are professors, outstanding scientists, artists and ordinary workers. The elder received everyone with love, consolation and guidance, regardless of rank and material condition.
Advent Story
Father Pavel Gruzdev believed that we should try to see the reflection of Christ in every person. He told this parable. There lived a woman in a certain village. She was a deeply religious person, observed all Orthodox traditions - she fasted regularly, constantly prayed and often went to church.
One day she had a dream in which she was told that the next day upon awakening, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself would come to visit her.
From early morning she put the hut in order, prepared delicious food - she cooked marmichel, fried eggs, baked a pie and sat down by the window to wait for the Savior.
A neighbor boy came to her and said:
“My mother is sick, she fell and can’t get up.” Let’s go, you can help,” and the woman answers him:
“I can’t, Jesus Christ promised to come to me,” the boy left with nothing.
The woman is sitting by the window again. Waiting. A fellow villager comes to her and asks:
— My cow is giving birth. You are the best at this matter. Let’s go, you can help,” and the woman said to him:
“I can’t, Jesus Christ must come to me,” the man also left.
It’s getting late in the evening, but the Lord still doesn’t appear. A wanderer turned into her yard and asked for an overnight stay, but she refused him too:
“I cleaned the house, prepared food not for you - Christ promised to visit me.”
The day ended, but God still did not come to her. She went to bed and dreamed of an angel. She asks him why God fulfilled his promises to her, and the angel answered:
- So He came to you three times, and you rejected Him.
- When?
— When the boy came to ask for his mother, when the man came whose cow was giving birth, and when the wanderer asked for an overnight stay.
Life before arrest
The parents of the future Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev were ordinary peasants - before the revolution they lived richly, had a strong house, a yard full of cattle, and a large plot of land. From childhood, Pavel learned all the rural wisdom - he knew how to cultivate the land, knew how to handle domestic animals - he could deliver a cow to a cow, he drove horses, he cared for poultry, he knew beekeeping, he was well versed in the properties of plants for which the floodplain meadows of Mologa were famous. and its tributaries.
So he would have lived as before, many generations of his ancestors lived before him, but the revolution came, changes began, and in the 20s they built a dam and flooded his native village of Bolshoi Borok, as well as many other surrounding settlements. All the residents moved, some where. The usual way of life was destroyed. Many went bankrupt and never restored their farms. Little Pavlush's father and mother sent him to his aunt in the monastery, where he began to work in the apiary, and at the same time look after the chickens and ducklings. Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev recalled those years with love and tenderness.
Pavel's childhood
The priest in the world bore the name Pavel Gruzdev. He was born in the Yaroslavl region in 1910. The elder’s homeland was the village of Bolshoy Borok.
Origin and birth
The boy's parents were peasants; in the pre-revolutionary years they lived very richly. They had a large plot of land, a good house, and a lot of cattle. Father and mother married in 1910. Before the war they had three children. The boy had two sisters. Pavel is the eldest in the family.
Family
From an early age he actively helped his parents. He knew how to care for livestock, understood beekeeping, knew the names and purposes of plants, and knew how to cultivate the land.
In 1914, my father went to war. The mother was left alone with the elderly and children. That time changed the usual way of life of peasant families. During his father's service at the front, the family was poor. Pavel, as the eldest, walked around the village, asking for bread for his mother and sisters, and carrying firewood from the forest on his back.
Honey
In his book “My Relatives,” the priest recalls one incident. He was then about 10 years old. He wanted to eat honey, but Mother Superior, the abbess of the monastery, did not allow it. The boy took the rat from the trap, found a piece of rags, dipped it in a tub of honey and coated the caught animal with it. Taking the rat by the tail, he brought it to the abbess, showed it and said that he had caught the animal in a jar of honey. Mother began to lament - the product, after all, is now considered defiled and is not suitable for food. She told the boy to take the tub and take it outside the monastery. And he’s glad - the rat didn’t spoil the honey. He ate himself and treated the sisters to the nuns.
It's time to go to confession. Little Pavlusha is afraid, crying, but cannot hide the truth - he repented to his father and promised that he would not do this again. The priest absolved him of his sin, but asked if they had eaten everything? If not, then let Pavlusha pour a can for him too, and he will pray to God for it. No sooner said than done. I brought him some honey too.
Arrest
A few years later, the monastery was closed, many monks were arrested, and the monastery itself was transformed into a labor artel. Pavel Gruzdev found a job here too. He was still engaged in agricultural work, and also, until May 1941, when he was arrested, actively participated in the social life of the artel.
On the eve of the arrest, a young man asked to stay at the Gruzdevs’ house for the night. The hospitable hosts sheltered the guest, trusted him, and he turned out to be an NKVD employee. The guest found out the information he needed regarding Paul’s religious life and reported this to his colleagues. At night, a “black raven” drove up to the house and Pavel Gruzdev was taken to prison. The future archimandrite remembered the investigator’s surname for the rest of his life – Spassky. He knocked out all his teeth and tortured him cruelly. But our hero had nothing to admit, and he did not renounce his faith even under torture.
They sent Pavel Gruzdev to a labor camp near Vyatka, and for many years he became prisoner number 513. But you can live in prison - there are people there too. Political prisoners were kept separate from criminals. They were punished more severely, but for some reason they were trusted more.
Teenage years and early life
The family was never able to restore their farm. The boy and his mother moved to live with their aunt in the monastery.
Life in the monastery
He remembered this period of his life with special love. In the monastery he worked in an apiary and mastered beekeeping. The boy grazed cows and horses and sang.
On January 3, 1930, the monastery was closed. Pavlusha moved to the Khutyn Monastery, which is located near Novgorod. Here he was dressed in a ryasophore and received the blessing of Bishop Alexy.
While in the monastery, the young man worked at the Derevyanitskaya shipyard, engaged in the construction of ships. After work, he sang in the monastery and rang the bells.
Work in the village
In 1932, the Khutyn Monastery also closed. Pavel returned to his homeland to his parents. Here he began working in the barnyard of the State Breeding Station.
At this time, an accident occurred at the Rybinsk Reservoir. The village fell into a flood zone. In 1938, Pavel and his father dismantled the frame of the house and floated it down the river to Tutaev. There they built a new house. The young man became a worker at the Zagotskot base and went to Leontief Church. He lived like this until 1941.
Arrest and exile
In May 1941, Pavel was arrested. Before his arrest, an unfamiliar young man came to his house and asked to spend the night. He was warmly received, but the guest turned out to be an NKVD employee. He needed information about the religious views of the owner of the house.
The very next day Gruzdev was taken to prison. He was subjected to severe abuse. The investigator knocked out all his teeth. But Gruzdev did not give up his faith even under terrible torture.
He spent many years in a labor camp near Vyatka. While serving his sentence, he wore number 513. Vera helped set up life in prison. Pavel was included in the category of political prisoners. They stayed away from those serving criminal sentences.
During his imprisonment he worked as a trackman. His duties included monitoring the condition of the railway tracks. Its main section was the road from the logging site to the camp. Gruzdev carried out his work very responsibly. Thanks to his position, he had the opportunity to go outside the camp and pick mushrooms and berries. The prisoners suffered greatly from a lack of vitamins; Pavel brought berries to his comrades to maintain their health. He collected and dried medicinal herbs himself.
One day a story happened that saved his life. In the fall, he went with his boss to check the routes. There was heavy fog and the road was not visible. At one point something got under the car's wheel. The boss began to shout at Gruzdev, accusing him of deception and dishonest work.
Returning to the camp, Pavel decided to check what happened on the rails. On the tracks he found a horse that had been hit by a train. The prisoner dragged her into a ditch. Not far away he saw the guy who was supposed to be driving the horses hanged. Pavel could not untie the rope. Then he began to pray, and the noose gave way. Gruzdev gave the guy a heart massage and artificial respiration. As a result, the hanged man was saved.
The rescued young man turned out to be German. For a long time he helped Pavel in prison. He shared bread with him every day.
Many priests served time in the camp. They really wanted to organize the Liturgy, but this was impossible in prison. The wife of the head of the pass issue helped conduct the service. She was very religious. The woman persuaded her husband to give the prisoners the opportunity to go into the forest and conduct a ministry. After the Liturgy, all the prisoners returned.
Pavel spent the last years of serving his sentence in Northern Kazakhstan. There he had to engage in the development of virgin lands. Thanks to his skills in working on the land, the young man was able to grow not only vegetables and grains, but also watermelons and melons.
Liberation and return to Tutaev
In 1953, Gruzdev was granted an amnesty. Prisoners were prohibited from moving freely around the country. Pavel's sister sent a telegram that their mother was dying. This made it possible to obtain permission to return to Tutaev.
How Pavel Gruzdev saved a German
Prisoner number 513, Pavel Gruzdev, was appointed as a trackman - he had to monitor the condition of the railway, or rather, the section of the route between the logging site and the camp. The “holy man,” as the guards called Gruzdev, always performed his work conscientiously and closely monitored the condition of the canvas. Thanks to this service, he could freely go into the forest outside the zone and pick mushrooms and berries there. As you know, prisoners were not given vitamins, but he brought strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries to his comrades under Article 58. I dried mushrooms and prepared medicinal herbs.
Then one day, and it was in the fall, he went with his boss, a prisoner like himself, Grigory Vasilyevich Kopol, to inspect the tracks. Throughout the entire journey of the locomotive, fog spreads along the track - nothing is visible, but Pavel is calm - he checked everything the day before. The road is fine. Suddenly the car jerked - apparently something got under the wheel. A few meters later the same thing happens again. The boss shouts: “You deceived me! The rails are not secured! You won't work here anymore! I’ll reduce the bread ration for two weeks!” And soldering is 800 grams. Penalties received 300.
As soon as we returned to the camp, Pavel Gruzdev ran back to see what was wrong with the rails? He checked - everything was normal. It’s terribly cold outside - it’s mid-autumn, it’s pouring rain, and it’s already dark, and the railway track is almost 8 km away. Somewhere in the middle of the journey, in the ditch where the locomotive first jerked, he saw a horse. She walked onto the tracks in the fog, went to bed, and the locomotive hit her. Same thing elsewhere. Prisoner number 513 stole horses into a ditch. While I was fiddling around, I heard sounds coming from a sleeper cutter that stood nearby. He went in there and saw that the guy who was supposed to graze these horses had hanged himself. What to do? How to remove it? There is no knife even close - if they find it on a prisoner, they will be shot without trial. There is also no way to untie it with your teeth - investigator Spassky knocked everything out. Pavel Gruzdev began to pray - and called upon the Quick to Hear, and Mikhail Klopsky, and the saint of God Varlaam, and John Chrysostom, whomever he remembered. Finally, the rope gave in, he untied the poor fellow, but the guy was no longer breathing. He gave him artificial respiration, cardiac massage, and began offering prayers again. Finally, a heartbeat was heard.
Gruzdev ran back to the camp, to the medical unit. It’s cold and raining outside, and Pavel’s clothes are all dry - such heat was coming from his body. I came running. He called the trolley, found a doctor and returned to the guy. Thank God, everything worked out. Then a court was appointed to try that shepherd boy. There was a war, they say, and he, a fascist German, committed sabotage. Prisoner 513, Gruzdev Pavel, acted as a witness. He told the judges: “The guy didn’t do it out of malice - he just didn’t pay attention and fell asleep. He didn't want to cause harm on purpose. He has a wife and children. The reason he climbed into the noose was because he was ashamed of his offense and was afraid. This is not sabotage on his part.” They believed it.
Then the German repaid Pavel’s kindness with a kindness - for a long time, while they lived in the same barracks, he broke off a piece of his bread ration and put it on Pavel’s bunk.
Test time, 1941-1947
For 6 years, Father Gruzdev lived without a name under number 513 in the Volosnitsa camp, located in Vyatlag, Kirov region. Only by the providence of God did the prisoner survive in conditions of severe cold, hunger, backbreaking work and abuse from the guards. The humility and patience of the worshiper of God irritated the camp leadership; they indulged the criminals who committed reprisals against Christians.
Book by Pavel Gruzdev “My Dear Ones”
The guards did not stop the criminals when the priest’s felt boots and outerwear were taken away, he was tied barefoot and half naked to a tree and left to die in the frosty night. The Lord was with the sufferer, saved him and returned him to the barracks.
The second time, the elder recalls, he was beaten half to death so that when he coughed blood came out of his throat, just because he asked permission not to work on the Nativity of Christ with a promise to give three norms on another day. The saint, as the priest is called in the camp, is assigned to a new job, as a lineman on a narrow-gauge railway along which timber was transported; he has the right to leave the camp without security.
While walking around the railway, Pavel collects berries, mushrooms, herbs, and uses them to support his starving comrades, giving some to the guards. One day, while checking the road with the boss, the priest noticed a horse killed by a train, and a man hanging nearby. The lineman rushed to save the hanged man, prayed over him, and saved the life of the young German.
The captured German did not look after the horse, it was hit by a train, and the prisoner, afraid of punishment, climbed into the noose. Pavel saved the German, then more than once saved the elder himself from hunger, and brought food to the lineman, which he shared with his comrades in the camp.
The war is over, the time of deportation has come to an end, the freed worshiper of God returns to his home, but his case is raised, a new arrest in 1949 and exile to Kazakhstan. Living with an elderly couple, Father Pavel works as a laborer, serves as a charterer and reader at the Peter and Paul Cathedral for five long years, after which a decree came to acquit the priest.
In the fall of 1954, he returned to Tutaev, worked on the farm to improve the village, sang and served as a sexton in the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord, twice submitted a petition for ordination as a priest, but was refused. The reason is the presence of a criminal record, which was only cleared in 1958.
Camp Liturgy
Priests served their sentences together with Pavel Gruzdev. As he said, a whole diocese had gathered - two bishops, monks, abbess of monasteries, priests and a huge number of ordinary believers. Their big dream was to participate in the Divine Liturgy, but this is impossible in the zone. And yet, Paul’s friends figured out how to do this. The wife of the head of the passes, Anatoly Komkov, Lyolya, was a deeply religious woman. It was she who begged her husband to allow the prisoners to go out into the forest and hold a service. Pavel Gruzdev was appointed responsible for returning everyone back to the zone.
From the very morning the women were hurrying Pavel. Everyone was afraid that the permit would be canceled and nothing would work out for them. However, in due time, a large group of prisoners entered the forest. Along the way, they collected berries, then squeezed the juice out of them, and made a communion cup from a tin can. The altar was the stump of a felled tree. Everyone remembered the prayers by heart. They served from the heart. “There were more tears than I had ever seen in my entire life,” Pavel later recalled.
Everyone returned to camp. No one ran away, although there was such a possibility. No one wanted to let Paul down.
After some time, when the prisoners began to be transferred stage by stage to another camp, it started to rain, and in front of everyone, lightning struck that stump. It burned so that the consecrated place would not be desecrated later.
Kazakhstan
Pavel was transferred to Northern Kazakhstan to serve the remaining term of his sentence, and at the same time, to develop virgin lands. The plots were large - three hectares each. Whether you want it or not, you have to take it. And process it. It’s a difficult task, but Pavel is accustomed to rural work. Watermelons, melons, various vegetables, grains grew well for him, and soon he even got a cow. She gave birth to two calves that same year. Prosperity, prosperity and satiety came into the life of Pavel Gruzdev - the surplus was taken to the market and sold. With the money raised, they bought renovations and built houses. Life went on as usual.
And in 1953 an amnesty came out. From home, Gruzdev was informed that his father and mother were waiting for him and were missing him. Since former prisoners cannot freely travel around the country without a special summons, Pavel’s sister, who lived with her parents in Tutaev, sent him a telegram saying that his mother, being seventy years old, had given birth to twins and was dying. This was not true, but it turned out to be a good reason to allow Pavel to leave.
New life
Gruzdev returned to his native place. After long ordeals with documents and rehabilitation, he remained in Tutaev. He became a priest, rector of a church in the village of Verkhne-Nikulskoye. Gradually, his fame as a seer and healer from God spread throughout the Yaroslavl region, and then throughout the country. A long line of people flocked to him to confess, attend the service and listen to the sermon.
Already during his lifetime there was a rumor about him as a holy righteous man. This incident was told by Leningraders who came to him for a blessing before each campaign. They noticed that without the guidance of the archimandrite, fishing cannot be successful. Somehow the fishermen took with them, for company, a comrade, a popular journalist. He looked at everything, listened, and when he returned home to Leningrad, he published a libelous article “The Life of Father Paul” in his newspaper. The fishermen took it and came to show it to the archimandrite. He read it and ordered to throw the newspaper into the hole.
That journalist didn’t come to him anymore - he fished in other places, but not for long... until winter. One day he went to the river for ice fishing. I made a hole, and the ice around it cracked. He fell into the resulting wormwood. And so he died.
Father Pavel loved to use phraseological units in his speech; he spoke loudly, in the old Russian manner. The advice of Archimandrite Pavel Gruzdev was very simple. He taught his parishioners not to be proud and not to rise above other people: “If there is no simplicity in a person, it means he is stupid and is afraid to show it, or maybe he is hiding some kind of sin.” The same applied to those who were offended - smart people, according to him, never get offended.
It was no coincidence that Father Paul himself was compared to holy fools. He dressed poorly, lived meagerly, and with important and bureaucratic gentlemen he acted like a fool - this made it easier not to succumb to their provocations. They often came to him for inspections. And he will put on a torn shirt, roll up one trouser leg to the knee and let’s clean the cesspool in the toilet. They will stand and stand and leave with nothing: is it possible to talk with a person who is smeared with feces?
Gruzdev's advice
Communication with Father Pavel brought back life to even the most grief-stricken people; they became cheerful and cheerful. He always spoke simply to those who came to him, using aphorisms, short statements full of imagery, and Russian sayings in his speech.
One of the most important instructions is:
Conscience has no teeth, but it will bite to death.
Archimandrite Pavel
The worst thing, according to the priest, is to lose your conscience. He always said that a person without prayer is a bird without wings. You need to turn to God in a whisper every day.
He knew how to live, love, and taught this to those around him. The instructions were always simple in the old Russian style. He taught his parishioners to live without pride, in love for loved ones.
The Holy Father encouraged people to fast and pray modestly and quietly, so that no one would see. At the same time, fasting must be observed not only in food restrictions, but also spiritually.
Fast with the spirit, not the belly.
Archimandrite Pavel
Father talked about the need to try not to appear righteous in front of people. This must be done secretly, and then the Lord will reward and thank you for everything.
In the Leningrad canteen
In his stories, Father Pavel was not afraid to look funny and absurd. Thus, he loved to amuse his comrades with a story about how he had lunch in a Leningrad canteen. He visited this city often - he had many friends and acquaintances there.
He once came to Leningrad to visit Vladyka Nikodim. He was in a hurry on business, and suggested that Father Pavel, while he was away, go to some dining room and have lunch there. I gave the priest 25 rubles and left.
The old man went to look for a dining room. Some didn’t let him in because he was wearing felt boots, others because his tie didn’t meet the requirements. In the end, the priest found a canteen where they served set meals. He paid the money, took a tray of food, sat down at the table, put the suitcase under the chair and got ready to have dinner, but forgot to grab a spoon. There was nothing to do - I returned to the buffet, where cutlery was given out. He took a spoon and drank a glass at the same time. He went to his table and saw that some man was already sitting there and eating his soup. What to do? The priest pulled the second one towards him, broke the cutlet in half, and divided the mashed potatoes. I poured a glass of compote into two and began to eat my half. And the man looked at him silently all this time. Having finished his meal, the stranger got up and left. Father Pavel also had lunch and got ready to leave. Grab it, but there’s no suitcase. Stolen?! He looked around to see who to turn to, and under the next table he saw his luggage. The old priest realized that he had eaten someone else's lunch. He got scared, felt ashamed - he grabbed his belongings and ran across the road, in felt boots, in a long cassock, with a suitcase in his hand, and right at the red traffic light.
“The attitude towards Father Pavel was like an x-ray”
Source: Pravoslavie.Ru
Today, on the next anniversary of the departure to the Lord of Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev), we publish the memoirs of hegumen John (Titov), abbot of the Rostov Boriso-Gleb monastery on Ustye.
Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev)
The first time I saw Father Pavel was in 1991 at the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery. He came to celebrate the namesake of Abbot Eustathius[1] on October 3 and to the feast of Demetrius of Rostov on October 4. I was still a novice then. Everyone looked forward to each meeting with Father Pavel with trepidation, because the attitude towards him was like an x-ray: Father Pavel could see the dirt that you yourself do not notice. When a person is sick, on the one hand, he must find out about the disease in order to be cured, but on the other hand, it is scary to find out. This is precisely the fear I had before Father Pavel.
When Father Pavel came to the monastery, he treated everyone kindly, tried to encourage them, say something, pat someone on the head, say a word. And he only blessed me and that’s all, and I myself didn’t go for rapprochement. And I was already one of Father Eustathius’ assistants, and Father Pavel’s coldness towards me did not escape his attention. He told me that it was no coincidence that Father Pavel kept me at a distance.
When I became a hieromonk, one day, in 1993, I needed to go to Father Paul. Trouble befell my close relative, my nephew, he seriously crashed on a motorcycle, and I went to Tutaev to Father Pavel to ask for his prayers. Father Pavel greeted me very warmly, blessed me, hugged me and asked:
- Hegumen?
- No, Father Pavel, what kind of abbot am I?
He says:
“Hegumen, hegumen,” and he patted me on the shoulder again.
Then they came to his cell. I began to talk about the purpose of my visit and ask him to pray for my nephew. Then he poured cold water on me:
- Let him die.
I speak:
— Father Pavel, he’s young.
Father Pavel was silent for two minutes, then he patted me on the shoulder again and said:
- Leshka will live. Tell him that Father Pavel is praying for him. We will also have a wedding.
When I arrived back at the Yakovlevsky Monastery and called my sister, I found out that in fact there was a serious danger, but now the crisis had passed. Thank God, everything happened according to Father Pavel: Lesha survived and got married.
After this conversation, I somehow began to relate to Father Pavel more simply and I was not so afraid of him, but still the reverence and awe remained.
Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev)
In the fall of 1994, on Father Eustathius’ namesake (at that time he was already an archimandrite, but had not yet become a bishop), Father Pavel led the service, was present, and we co-served. And now Father Pavel nods to me, and I have to give an exclamation. I, wanting to show my zeal for serving God and hoping that Father Paul will like it, put all my mental and physical strength into this exclamation and bow to him. I hoped that Father Pavel would appreciate my efforts, but here he gives me such “praise”! He looks and says:
- Why don’t you bow? Proud! - and to Bishop Eustathius: - He is proud and does not bow.
And I just bowed! I guess that means he didn't notice. And Father Pavel says something else about my pride. I'm starting to make excuses:
- Father Paul, I bowed.
But this only made my situation worse. After his words, I thought it would be better for me to die. If the brick fell, the vault collapsed, it would already be happiness for me.
The liturgy ends, I stand at the throne, neither alive nor dead. Everyone went to congratulate Father Eustathius. Only Father Pavel and I remained in the altar. He’s sitting on a chair, and I’m standing at the other end of the altar, I can’t come to my senses, I can’t move, because I no longer have any strength. And then Father Pavel calls me to him. I'm coming. As if nothing had happened before, he pressed me to his chest, pressed his nose to my forehead, held me and said:
- Go, congratulate your father. After all, you are a vitija. And no matter what happens, don’t leave the monastery. Be together. Do not leave.
I think: yes, “vitia”, I can’t say a word at all, there was no reason to call me “vitia” either before or after. And I was aware of this. But I had doubts then, in fact I was already thinking about leaving for another monastery: I began to make things up, that I was doing the wrong thing, there was too much unnecessary trouble, I came to the monastery for the wrong reasons, to take care of economic affairs, and so on... But then I soared with happiness that Father Pavel pressed me to his chest. I have no strength in my legs, I can’t walk, but I’m happy.
Then Father Eustathius comes to the altar, looks at me with understanding eyes: this, of course, is serious, to receive such a scolding from Father Paul from the throne. The holidays end, and Archimandrite Eustathius and I have a serious conversation about what he heard about me from Father Paul in the altar. I see that he is upset, he wants to help me, so that I repent of something, change something in my life. Still, he considered me his assistant and trusted me a lot, and so he decided to talk to me frankly:
“I see that Father Pavel treats you coldly.” It happens that he jokes with someone, says something to someone, but he blesses you and that’s it. Maybe there is something you forgot about, think about it.
But I can’t say anything to the father governor, I’m just glad, I’m in that state when Father Pavel caressed me, pressed me to his chest, I don’t need any more words and I don’t want to say anything...
Two weeks later, on October 17, 1994, Father Superior, having arrived from the diocese, called me to his reception room to discuss monastic affairs. At the end of the conversation he says:
- Here, read it.
He gives me a document, and I read the decree on my appointment as abbot of the Boriso-Gleb Monastery[2]. This did not make any impression on me, and I said that I had no health for it.
Archbishop Micah (Kharkharov), Abbot Theodore (Cazanov), Mother Fevronia, Abbot John (Titov) and the brethren of the Boriso-Gleb Monastery
After this conversation, Father Superior left for Valaam for two weeks, leaving me in charge of the monastery. One evening I went to the diocese to visit Bishop Micah [3] with the firm intention of convincing him that I was not capable of being an abbess at the Boriso-Gleb Monastery. The Bishop and I talked for about an hour. He talked about his abbess at the Zhirovitsky Monastery. At the end of the conversation, the bishop tells me:
- Well, try, if you can’t handle it... it’s never too late to give up.
After Father Eustathius arrived, he and I went to see Father Paul about the decree to transfer me to another monastery. We were sure that Father Pavel would not bless. I remembered his words, spoken then at the altar, so as not to leave Father Eustathius and to be together.
When we came to Father Pavel and told the situation, he said:
— Did you receive the decree? Received. So do it. If you try to get away with it, you will answer to God. Great is the venerable[4] before God, no matter what happens, do not leave the venerable one!
I tried to explain that this was not useful for the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery, that there was no point in pulling the brethren apart. Father Pavel did not listen to any of this.
We sat down at the table, sat, and then he began to say words about me that I absolutely did not deserve. I didn’t deserve it then, and I don’t deserve it now either. When we went back, Father Eustathius told me:
- Forget the words that Father Pavel said. He spoke for me, not for you.
By this, Father Pavel seemed to rehabilitate me before the Father Superior, which largely influenced our relationship with him, which was of great importance for the revival of monastic life in the Boriso-Gleb monastery and for me personally. I understand that something is not given based on my merits; Father Pavel wanted to support the monastery to which I was appointed abbot. Thus, relations with Father Eustathius, which had cooled for some time, evened out. I was transferred to the Boriso-Gleb Monastery, and I soon moved there.
Abbess of the Tolga Monastery Varvara (Tretyak), Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev), Archimandrite Evstafiy (Evdokimov), Abbess John (Titov)
Every month Father Eustathius and I went to see Father Pavel, and then, when Father Pavel was ill, we visited almost every week. At meals with Father Paul, we received spiritual lessons in monastic life, which by that time almost no one had experience of. Father Paul had that monastic spirit without which it is impossible to become a monk. But I just needed to feel it, because when you have responsibility for a monastery and have no experience, it’s scary. You can live by the letter, but from somewhere you also need to be nourished by the spirit. And at Father Paul’s table the main thing was not the meal, at which we sat and talked about our affairs, but the main thing was the happy opportunity to be imbued with the monastic spirit from Father Paul. Everyone sitting at the table understood this, of course. He sought to nourish him with spiritual food, realizing that he was leaving and needed to teach people to live like a Christian.
What Father Pavel said was perhaps not perceived at first, but it was felt—the joy of communication, the thirst for this communication was felt. And after some time, the benefits were already recognized. Sometimes the words of Father Pavel were realized only years later. They were said so that someday they would provide help, so that one could rely on these words.
Of the lessons that Father Pavel taught me, some became absolutely necessary. I don’t know how life would have turned out in the monastery without what Father Pavel taught. When you are not entirely sure whether you are doing the right thing or not, and there is nothing to rely on, then mistakes can be very serious. I am grateful to the Lord who sent me support when I became a viceroy. I understood that without Father Pavel, Father Eustathius and their support I could not survive. Father Paul, for example, said words that were not immediately perceived, but were remembered and later helped to survive:
— Three monks are a monastery. Three monks and five idiots - what kind of monastery?!
And to confirm his words about the Varlaamo-Khutyn Monastery he said:
— Recently there were three monks in Varlaamo-Khutynsky, but what a high life the monastery was! Where can you get thirty monks now... Collective farm... Let you have three monks, but let it be a monastery.
So he warned me not to be embarrassed by the lack of crowds. His words gave some perspective, and there was no hopelessness. He said:
“God willing, then the old monks will come.” And maybe from Athos.
I think that Father Paul’s words about old monks can be attributed to Father Athanasius[5], Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, who in the last years of his life came to live in our monastery. He spent more than forty years at the relics of St. Sergius; for the last 14 years he was a senior in the Trinity Cathedral. His advice and conversations were also lessons for me in monastic life. Father Afanasy, like Father Pavel, also sometimes seemed to talk about nothing. But these stories had a monastic spirit. He recalled how he came to the Lavra and found 70 people there who were still former monks - “old men,” as he said. And what was the attitude of the young brethren towards these monks! Father Afanasy told how he felt when he saw the old monk ahead: he needed to perform some kind of obedience, it would seem that he had to do it by running, and a monk was walking ahead, a real old monk - he said: “like an Angel.” He says: “You walk and are afraid to breathe, so as not to somehow disturb him, and you wait for him to pass, so as not to overtake him. And if he meets you halfway, you bow to the ground.” It was a reverent and reverent attitude towards the exploits that they carried out, towards the years of life that they lived, passing through prisons and camps. Father Afanasy, comparing today's life in monasteries with that life, said: “And now what? Now a young resident can pat an old man on the shoulder and not wonder how old he is or who is in front of him.” Father Afanasy found peace in the Boriso-Gleb Monastery; he was drawn here, but he could not leave the Lavra, St. Sergius. Father Afanasy brought me to Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). For this I am equally grateful to God: if I had not communicated with Father Paul, I probably would not have had meetings with these elders.
Father Afanasy (Alafinov) with the icon of the Resurrection of Christ. 1984
On many issues, Father Pavel’s words come to mind exactly when needed. “Why do I need all this?” — that’s exactly what I thought several times when Father Pavel told me something. It would seem that it was once completely forgotten, unnecessary. After two or three years, after five years, these words became so important that they solved some problem. You remember what Father Paul said to him, you begin to think about him, you feel the need for his prayers and you feel that help is coming from him. After trips to his grave, problems were also usually solved.
I think many people can say this. Everyone who had contact with Father Pavel, everyone whom he supported at one time, is somehow connected with each other. Sometimes you meet a person, communicate with him and feel sympathy for him, and then you find out that Father Pavel also played a serious role in this person’s life.
On the other hand, people who did not know Father Paul, but only heard stories about him, did not see how he treated people, in what context he uttered certain words, retelling something about Father Paul, sometimes lose the most important thing, his spirit. So, they say that Father Pavel swore. With whom, how and for what? Probably in order to reassure people. And if after this Father Pavel’s interlocutor had no desire to swear, then that means something! They said that Father Pavel could drink. But if the people with whom he sat at the table and drank after that knew when to stop, then that also means a lot.
When Father Pavel was asked for prayers, he said, pointing to his heart: “I have you here.”
Boris and Gleb Monastery. Photo: A. Pospelov / Pravoslavie.Ru
And, of course, I think he felt responsible for the monastery to which I was appointed abbot. The last years of Father Pavel’s life coincided with the revival of the Boriso-Gleb Monastery and with my abbess here. And the fact that Father Pavel showed such warm and lively participation in the life of the monastery, I consider not my merit, but a monastic necessity.
Knowing that I have no experience and therefore can bring on many sorrows and troubles by recruiting brethren, Father Paul said:
“Don’t be afraid to put ten righteous people outside the gates: the Lord will not forsake the righteous, for that a crown will be given to the righteous, and you will be rewarded for taking care of the flock.” But be afraid of introducing a wolf or a black sheep into the herd - you will lose the herd.
What kind of support it was, it is impossible to imagine to a person who was not in my shoes and did not feel the assigned responsibility. After all, different people came to the monastery. Sometimes a seemingly pious person comes, you refuse him, feeling some kind of anxiety, and he leaves, swearing.
Father Paul said that the governor should also show a stick, then you will see whether it is a sheep or a wolf: if it bares its teeth, it means it is a wolf. The governor must tend the sheep and drive out the wolves. It is difficult to take such a step so as not to “admit someone to God,” as everyone usually says when coming to the monastery. It is only later, having experience, that you can somehow understand the situation and see that the more daring a person is, the less piety he has, the less desire he has to work for God. Many show their boldness for the boldness of serving God. And when they started telling me: “So-and-so, you don’t let me go to God,” I thought: that means you’re going to the wrong place or from the wrong place, because you can’t not let you in to God; ten more times you’ll come, whoever you want, you won’t be able to drive them out with a stick, but you’ll run after everyone and call them a roll of bread—there won’t be enough rolls. With the words of Father Pavel, I have repeatedly put such people in their place. Such teachings in two or three words form the basis of our attitude to life. Until you remember something from what you read... And here: “Don’t be afraid to drive out ten righteous people, be afraid to introduce one black sheep or a wolf into the flock” - and everything falls into place. In many cases, the words of Father Paul, not understood at first, then bore fruit like seeds.
You can read a lot, all of this may be deposited in your memory, but it will be a burden that you drag around, which you can use to show your knowledge, but you cannot apply this baggage in any way. And Father Pavel’s words were often brief and always useful. For example, regarding whether or not one should be interested in the enemy of the human race. A lot of books began to come out about the world of demons, and many people became interested. These books read like novels. And I also had an interest in this: you need to know the enemy. Father Pavel clearly put everything in its place:
“We are too lazy to find out about God, but we get into it.”
Hegumen John (Titov), abbot of the Boris and Gleb Monastery Photo: A. Pospelov / Pravoslavie.Ru
It's so simple. In a nutshell. If we go there, then we get it. If we peer into the abyss, then the abyss peers into us. Don’t go there, don’t look there, but look at God, look where the saints are calling.
I was struck by several cases of shrines that Father Paul blessed me long before his death, and then seemed to have forgotten about it.
Six months, and maybe more, before his death, Father Paul blessed me with an icon of St. Dorotheos of Yuga, which was painted in the Mologa Monastery, where one of his aunts was the senior icon painter. Father Paul once took this icon and said:
- This is for you.
Then he looked and added:
“It would be necessary, of course, to restore it,” and put it back on his table. Then he says: “Well, it’s okay, you can restore it.”
After some time, Father Pavel, looking at the Shestokovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, painted on canvas, which was nailed to the wall in front of his bunk in the guardhouse, said:
“Father Eustathius has Shestokovskaya, Father Grigory has it, this is for you.” Well, then you can take it, it’s nailed to my wall.
A few months before the death of Father Pavel, Father Eustathius and I visited him. He said:
- I have some manteika for you. Well, they’ll take things apart later, then you’ll get it, not now. Things were transported, they were folded and are now difficult to find.
All this was soon forgotten: well, he promised and promised. And after the death of Father Paul on the day of his funeral, Father Eustathius, after the funeral meal, addressing Father Paul’s brother Alexander Alexandrovich, Marya Petrovna (the future nun Pavel, cell attendant of Father Paul), says:
- I need nothing. Only the mantle in which I served the first memorial service for Father Paul and his staff.
At the memorial meal for Father Pavel (Gruzdev)
They began to look for the robe and staff, but could not find it. And then Father Eustathius glanced at the curtain by the window - and there were two manteikas hanging on a nail. I don't know how they got there. Father Eustathius takes off these two manteikas, and then we remember that Father Pavel promised them to us. Father Eustathius says:
“I don’t need anything else, so I take one manteika and give one to Father John.”
And he put on this manteika, brought it to his monastery and hung it in his cell.
On the ninth day we sit at the table at the funeral meal, and in Father Pavel’s cell Tolya, Volodya Belov, Father Gregory, and Marya are sorting out things. And Volodya Belov takes the icon of St. Dorotheus of Yuga, which Father Paul promised me a long time ago, and says:
- I need nothing. I'll take one icon.
I look: this is the same icon that, it seems, was blessed for me. My heart sank a little, I remembered that Father Pavel blessed her for me. And then something completely incomprehensible happened. Vladimir says:
“Well, I take this icon,” he approaches the table with this icon, “and give it to Father John.”
He wasn’t there when Father Paul blessed this icon for me, and I forgot all about it!
After some time, Father Gregory and Tolya remove the Shestokov Icon from the wall. Tolya says to Maria Petrovna:
- Give me some tablecloth to cover the icon.
I look, and this icon has also already been blessed for me. And Tolya wraps it in a tablecloth, brings it and hands it to me. This is how the Shestokovskaya Icon came to me. And then Father Pavel’s rosary, a skufa came, then Alexander Alexandrovich brought a rug from Father Pavel’s cell, then Tolya brought Father Pavel’s favorite boots from the 30s, boots and a jacket, in which I later went to visit Father Nikolai on Zalit.
Father Nikolai [6] amazed me with his serious attitude towards the shrine. I wore Father Pavel’s skufa for two years without taking it off, because I didn’t have time to buy another one: it fit well, I wore it and wore it. And Tolya brought boots and boots and says: he himself or one of the brothers is blaspheming (thank God, there were enough other boots to leave these intact!). So I put on Father Pavel’s blouse when I went to see Father Nikolai, not only because it was a shrine for me, but also because it was warm and there was nothing else to wear at that moment.
Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov
When I arrived to Father Nikolai, he took off my skufa, put it on himself and said:
- This is a good little thing, because it’s simple. Go in this one.
And before that they tried to give me a skufa trimmed with good fur, but I refused it: I would have to answer for such a skufeka. Well, he told Father Nikolai that this blouse was also Father Pavel’s.
And Father Nikolai, without that foolishness to which we are subject when we talk about something holy, but showing how important it is for him, said:
- Father, bless me to kiss.
He took the jacket that I was wearing and kissed the edge of it as if it were a shrine. For me, this was a lesson for us to take more seriously everything that is sanctified by prayer, with reverence, so that we do not act like fools. Moreover, Father Pavel said more than once: “Now there are no holy fools, now there are only half-fools.” Two words, but they put it in its place. Father Nikolai did not meet Father Paul, but spoke of him as a man of great spirit and holy life.
And it is also impossible not to talk about how Father Pavel appeared to me twice in a dream after his death. I don't know how much of this can be called a dream. Both times it was an illness, both times before the holidays. Once in memory of Alexander Nevsky, on the night of September 12. Another time on the night of the memory of St. James, in December. I'll tell you about this case.
Once I came to Father Eustathius at the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery on business. I knew that when I was there, two or three boxes of ball valves were taken there, and now I wanted to ask Father Eustathius for them for the Boriso-Gleb Monastery:
— Father Viceroy, bless 20–30 ball valves.
He says:
- No.
I didn’t answer him, but I thought to myself: “I’m stuck.” Well, okay, I didn’t show it. A not very light feeling came after that and began to tighten me up a little. On the way back I stopped in Zaluzhye. Some organization there was falling apart, and they gave me these faucets and something else - like a cornucopia. I think: well, okay, we can live without you with a mustache.
After that, I began to go to the monastery to visit Father Eustathius less often. And so, on the day of remembrance of St. James, I got ready to go to the Yakovlevsky Monastery. The day before we served an evening service in our monastery, and in the morning, I think, I will go to the Liturgy at the Yakovlevsky Monastery. And after the service I became very ill and was in a semi-fainting state. I lie in my cell at night, then I fall through, then I come to my senses again, the temperature is high. The light is on, the cell is small. During one of these failures, when I was losing consciousness, I literally saw Father Pavel in reality in the house of my late aunt. I open the door from the room to the kitchen and look: Father Pavel is sitting at the table by the samovar: flannel shirt, felt boots. I didn’t expect to see him there so much that I was confused, standing in the doorway. Father Pavel felt that someone had entered, turned and said:
- Well, come on in.
And so, I pass, fold my hands and, as usual:
- Father Paul, bless.
Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev)
And I put my hands under the blessing, because he is sitting without glasses, and even with glasses he could hardly see. And then I come across his gaze, peering intently at me. I was amazed that his eyes were completely sighted, that he saw everything. I understand this clearly, but I don’t have time to answer anything yet. Father Pavel blessed, presses him to his chest, as it happened then in the altar and then, as happened many times, squeezes him in his arms, I kneel in front of him, he rests his nose on my forehead, and I, remembering his words “Come in,” say:
- Father Pavel, I am alone.
Because Father Eustathius and I came all the time. He presses me even tighter and says:
- I know.
He begins to tap on the back, pounding so well, like a father, that everything that happened would fly away. And he utters words that are etched in his memory for the rest of his life:
- Don't get lost.
And then I find myself back in my cell, looking at the ceiling, at the light bulb, feeling the smell of Father Paul in the cell and hearing the echo of his words. I was greatly amazed, I felt that I was recovering, just like then at the altar, I felt calm and joyful. True, I was not able to go to the service at the Yakovlevsky Monastery that day.
After some time I arrived in Rostov; some need in the monastery forced me to go to the tower where various plumbing fixtures were located. I took the keys, went in, looked - and there were really no drawers with taps. Then I told Father Eustathius everything: about what I saw Father Pavel, and about my suspicions, and that now I really didn’t see these cranes. Father Eustathius says:
- I told you that I gave them away.
It is unknown what would have happened if Father Pavel had not appeared. He again supported me: among the many vain everyday problems, I had to not get lost with the people with whom the Lord brought me together.
When Father Pavel came to the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery, he more than once said: “Martyrs, martyrs.” And lately I very often sang the song: “Comrade Stalin is coming, my dear father is coming.” And when I was already in the Boriso-Gleb Monastery, Father Pavel also sang this song repeatedly, and then added: “But maybe it will work out. Great is the venerable one before God. Whatever happens, don’t leave the monk.”
In the most difficult situations, I always remembered the words of Father Pavel that we must persevere, that it is not a matter of numbers, not of external power, but of the spirit that exists in this place.
Abbot Ioann (Titov)
Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev). Documents for the biography. Memories of Father. Father Pavel's stories about his life. M.: Father's House, 2005. pp. 89–103.
[1] Evstafiy (Evdokimov; born 1951), retired Archbishop of Alexander and Yuriev-Polsky. Now he is the honorary rector of the metochion of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra at the Church of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God in the village. Glinkovo, Sergiev Posad district, Moscow region. - Ed.
[2] Founded in 1363 with the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who showed the hermits Fyodor and Paul the place to build a temple in the name of Sts. blgvv. knn. Boris and Gleb. The monastery flourished under the patronage of the royal Rurik family, associated with Sts. passion-bearers by blood and family ties, but from 1764 it began to quickly decline. After 1917, the monastery was abolished, and in 1995 it was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
[3] Micah (Kharkharov; 1921–2005), Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov. He managed the Yaroslavl diocese in 1993–2002. A lot of materials are dedicated to Vladyka Micah on the portal Pravoslavie.Ru, for example, the memoirs of his cell attendant, Abbot Theodore (Casanova), now Metropolitan of Volgograd and Kamyshin): “Vladychenka” // https://pravoslavie.ru/65115.html - Ed.
[4] In the 16th century. in the Boriso-Gleb Monastery he labored in the monastic rank of St. Irinarch. Having acquired grace-filled gifts through an ascetic life, St. Irinarch was also rewarded with the gift of foresight. His relics rest in secret. Memory 13 (26) January.
[5] Afanasy (Alafinov; 1932–2002), Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, served in the Trinity Cathedral at the relics of St. Sergius for almost 40 years. Sergius. - Ed.
[6] Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov (1909–2002), a famous elder, served on the island of Zalit from 1958 until his departure to the Lord. About him, see the selection of materials: “In memory of Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov (August 24, 2002)” // https://pravoslavie.ru/55660.html - Ed.
End of life and memory
Towards the end of his days, Pavel Gruzdev, the last elder of a holy life, became completely blind. He had never had any money, and here he didn’t even have enough for medicine. “Everything is God’s will,” he repeated without resentment or despondency. Didn't complain. Died in hospital on January 13, 1996.
The priest was buried in Tutaev, now Romanov-Borisoglebsk, Yaroslavl region. As Father Pavel predicted: “I was born useful, but when I die, I won’t leave you,” - for more than 10 years the priest has been lying in the fence of the local cemetery, and the path to the grave of Pavel Gruzdev has not been overgrown with grass - pilgrims go to him all year round and carry flowers.
