Alexander Abramov, archpriest / Personalities / Patriarchy.ru

prot. Alexander Abramov

Alexander Alexandrovich Abramov
(born 1973), archpriest, rector of the Moscow St. Sergius Church in Krapivniki. Born on July 9, 1973 in Moscow. In 1990 he graduated from high school.

In 1995 he graduated with honors from the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov. In 1995-1998 he studied in his graduate school.

In 2000 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, and upon graduation in 2001, he entered the Moscow Theological Academy.

On April 22, 2000, he was ordained as a deacon by Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsk, and appointed full-time cleric of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow. He was responsible for the international contacts of the monastery and its social programs. He taught moral theology in a number of theological educational institutions in Moscow.

From 2001 to 2003 - employee of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate. Responsible for relations with the Roman Catholic Church, teacher at the MDA graduate school at DECR.

On April 28, 2002, he was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. He served as a cleric of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khoroshevo, Moscow.

From 2002 to 2005, he was a member of the editorial board of the DECR magazine “Church and Time” and a regular contributor to religious programs on Radio Russia.

In 2003, he was appointed clergyman of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York, USA.

In 2003-2005 he was the keymaster of the cathedral.

Since 2003 - employee, from 2004 to 2009 - secretary of the MP Representative Office in the USA.

In 2005, he was appointed representative of the World Russian People's Council to the UN.

In 2007, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest.

From July 27, 2009 to October 23, 2014, he was a member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 2009-2010, he served as the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in the USA, combining this work with serving as rector of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York.

On March 5, 2010, he was recalled from the United States due to the end of his assignment. On September 1, 2010, he was appointed acting First Deputy Chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church.

On October 6, 2010, he was appointed first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.

On December 27-28, 2011, he was relieved of his post as first deputy chairman of the Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.

He participated in the work of the Commission for the care of the Russian-speaking flock in America, created by decisions of the Synods of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America, as well as the Commission to study the parish situation in Ottawa, Canada, created by decisions of the Synods of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church Abroad.

He was repeatedly a member of delegations of the Russian Orthodox Church, participating in various church-foreign policy, inter-confessional, inter-Christian and Orthodox events, as well as scientific conferences.

He served as an expert in the delegations of the Russian Federation at the 61-64th sessions of the UN General Assembly and its relevant institutions: the Third Committee, the Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations, the Alliance of Civilizations, UNESCO, the Tripartite Forum on Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue for Peace, the Council of Rights person. He took part in the preparation of a number of UN General Assembly resolutions on religious issues. Vice-President of the Committee of Religious Non-Governmental Organizations Accredited to the UN.

The rector of the temple is St. Sergius of Radonezh in Krapivniki, Moscow.

Author of a number of publications in Russian and foreign publications.

Russian Orthodox Church

Born on July 9, 1973 in Moscow. In 1990 he graduated from high school.

In 1990-1995 studied at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov. In 1995-1998 Studied in graduate school at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University.

In 2000 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, after graduating in 2001 he entered the Moscow Theological Academy.

On April 22, 2000, on Lazarus Saturday, Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryev was ordained a deacon and appointed full-time cleric of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow. He was responsible for the international contacts of the monastery and its social programs. He taught moral theology in a number of theological educational institutions in Moscow.

In 2001-2003 - employee of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, responsible for relations with the Roman Catholic Church, teacher of the graduate school of the Moscow Academy of External Church Relations at the DECR.

On April 28, 2002, on Palm Sunday, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad (now His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus') ordained him to the priesthood. He served as a cleric of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khoroshevo in Moscow.

In 2002-2005 — Member of the editorial board of the DECR magazine “Church and Time”, regular contributor to religious programs on Radio Russia.

In 2003, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was appointed clergyman of the St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York. In the same year he was awarded the right to wear a pectoral cross. In 2003-2005 bore the obedience of the keymaster of the cathedral.

In 2003-2004 - employee, 2004-2009 - Secretary of the Representative Office of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA. In 2005, he was appointed representative of the World Russian People's Council to the UN.

In 2007 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest.

By order of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in 2009-2010. acted as a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA, combining this work with the obedience of the rector of St. Nicholas Patriarchal Cathedral in New York. In 2010 he was awarded the right to carry a club.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of March 5, 2010 (journal No. 27), he was recalled from the United States due to the end of his business trip and sent to the disposal of His Holiness the Patriarch.

On September 1, 2010, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, he was appointed acting. First Deputy Chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of October 6, 2010 (journal No. 99), he was appointed first deputy chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27-28, 2011 (magazine No. 176), he was relieved of the post of first deputy chairman of OROiK.

Member of the Inter-Council Presence. He participated in the work of the Commission for the care of the Russian-speaking flock in America, created by decisions of the Synods of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America, as well as the Commission to study the parish situation in Ottawa, Canada, created by decisions of the Synods of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Church Abroad.

He served as an expert in the delegations of the Russian Federation at the 61-64th sessions of the UN General Assembly and its relevant institutions: the Third Committee, the Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations, the Alliance of Civilizations, UNESCO, the Tripartite Forum on Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue for Peace, the Council on human rights. He took part in the preparation of a number of UN General Assembly resolutions on religious issues. Vice-President of the Committee of Religious Non-Governmental Organizations Accredited to the UN.

[edit] Publications

Human dignity of believers as an object of legal protection // Alexander Abramov, I. Ponkin // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 2011. - N 6. - P. 64-73[5]
Religious culture at school: education of a free personality in the traditions of family and people // Alexander Abramov // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 2012. - No. 1. - P. 64-66[6]
Collaboration in the field of education. Issues of teaching the fundamentals of religious culture at school // Archpriest Alexander Abramov // CV No. 20 (464) October 2011[7]
The fight against defamation of religions in UN resolutions // Archpriest Alexander Abramov // ZhMP No. 6 June 2011[8]

How do families of priests live?

How does a priest’s family live in a modern secularized and sometimes downright hostile world? How do priests and mothers raise their believing children who study in our soulless incubator schools? How do they even live surrounded by prying eyes, both parishioners and people far from the church?

A REAL correspondent tried to find out about this during an interview with Vinnytsia priest Vitaly Goloskevich and his wife Victoria, who are raising three children. “It’s very interesting how families of priests are formed?” For example, yours. To what extent is everything regulated by the church here? Vitaly: - It’s different for everyone. But often this question arises acutely while studying at the seminary - you can only get married before you are ordained. Some of my classmates were inclined towards the monastic path. But from the very beginning I did not see myself as a monk. It is clear that finding mother is not easy. A priest cannot divorce. Even if he is actually divorced, he has no right to remarry. And if he does this, he is deprived of his rank, and he becomes a layman. - Interestingly, the Church sometimes allows divorce for ordinary believers, but not for priests... Vitaly: - Church divorce does not exist at all, no one can separate. The family is destroyed by the spouses themselves, for example, by cheating on each other. But laypeople can take permission for a second marriage. A priest has no such right. If, nevertheless, the family breaks up, he lives on his own, without a wife. Victoria: - We have such cases. For example, when mothers die, the priests are left with the children themselves. Vitaly: “Some of them take monasticism... So, while studying at the Kyiv Seminary, I thought: “To get what you want, you need to ask God for it and pray.” . The building in which I lived was located near the distant caves. After classes we often went to pray to the monks of Pechersk. There are the relics of Euphrosyne, the venerable abbess of Polotsk. I think: “There is one reverend woman, I will pray to her.” I knelt down in front of the shrine with the relics, and everyone was surprised: “Why has Vitaly been whispering something to this saint for so long?” And I prayed that the Lord would help her prayers to find me a soul mate. So that there is love, understanding, a real mother. After all, being a priest’s wife is not easy - it’s a completely different way of life. I thought: “Where to look for her? In the church?” Victoria: “Back then there were still few young people in churches. Now half of the parishioners are young people. And before - only a few. Vitaly: - You can’t tell all the details... In general, everything turned out through prayer: the Lord took his hand, led him and said: “This is yours.” We met after the all-night service for the Dormition of the Mother of God. I took Victoria to her high-rise building; along the way we talked about spiritual and philosophical topics and went our separate ways. She probably didn’t even think that I would come up again... Victoria: - Well, we visually knew each other for a long time. I was a parishioner of the Church of the Resurrection (near the department store), and Vitaly read in the choir there during the holidays. Vitaly: - It was just the last days before the school year, I had to leave soon. I woke up in the morning and it dawned on me: “I have to find her!” I found the house, but I didn’t even know her entrance. I decided to go into any apartment and ask around, maybe they could give me some advice. And there are 6 apartments on each floor, and in such large houses usually no one knows anyone. I went into the first entrance, went up to the second floor and called the apartment at random. My grandmother opens the door, I start telling her who I’m looking for, maybe she can give me a hint. She listened to me halfway, turned around and shouted: “Vika, they came to you!” Victoria: “I ended up in exactly that apartment!” As people say: fate... Vitaly: - The Lord heard the prayers... - Technical question: the priesthood can only be given married, but married people are accepted into the seminary? Vitaly: - Of course, even with children... But in general, education itself does not give holy orders. You can graduate from the Seminary and Academy and remain a layman. Receiving holy orders is a Sacrament, where the bishop ordains first a deacon and then a priest. — How did you get married and become a priest? Vitaly: — We got married when I was in my fourth year at the seminary. 5 days after the wedding, I went to study... I graduated full-time from both the seminary and the academy. I came from Kyiv once a month and a half for a few days. And I received the rank already in the third, penultimate year of the academy. Victoria: - We got married, and after that we studied for another 5 years, he in Kyiv, I in Vinnitsa. We saw each other periodically. And when we finished our studies, Elizaveta was born, now she is 11 years old. We also have Roman, 9 years old, and Sofia, 4 years old. — Have you been believers, church people since childhood? Vitaly: — I come from a family of priests. Grandfather, great-grandfather, as far as we know, everyone in our family was a priest. The only thing is that none of my grandfather’s sons became a priest. But the dynasty did not end. Since childhood, I went to church and attended my grandfather’s services. But during my school years I didn’t even think that I would be a priest. He was going to become a doctor, like his father. But there was a moment in life when the Lord took you by the hand and said: “You are going the wrong way.” And now I understand: medicine is not my thing. — Father Vitaly, how do you get into the seminary? Vitaly: — When I entered, I didn’t have time to prepare and the proper knowledge - I decided to become a priest too unexpectedly. And the competition was 5 people per place. The school curriculum does not include the study of theological subjects. And the entrance exams are very serious: Holy Letter, New Testament, Old Testament, singing (I couldn’t sing at all), knowledge of many prayers from memory. Moreover, the exams were postponed a day earlier. In the written work, among the proposed topics, there was only one where I was able to understand the meaning of the task: “Why do I want to become a priest?” And although there were topics to choose from, I had no choice: I didn’t know anything about anything else. The next day there was an oral exam, I was sure of failure. But I came across such a ticket that I answered all the questions. I don't even know how I knew them. When the time came to take the singing test, my future curator, whom I didn’t know at all at the time, began to sing with me: that is, he sang and I sang along. And then he says to the other examiners: “Well, how did we sing?!” And then they told everyone: “Look at Goloskevich, he is the only one who passes the knowledge.” All the will of God…

Currently, in Russian Orthodoxy, much is changing in the social status of the priest. Long ago, this person was thought of more as a hermit monk who devoted his life to service and prayer, but today ministers are more open to people and, in parallel with spiritual activities, can also engage in social activities. Such is Father Alexander, a priest of the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which is located in Moscow.

Writing activity

Work with parishioners from different countries, as well as communication with Orthodox believers in the media and the Internet, prompted the priest to write 2 books: the first is about Sunday services, the second is about the importance of Lent. On the pages of these publications, the priest explains to readers in an accessible form complex fragments of Holy Scripture that not everyone understands.

Outside the temple: the ordinary life of Patriarch Kirill

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ

This book will be useful both for deeply believing Christians and for those beginning to join the church. It contains the words of Sunday's Gospel readings. And this is a great help for anyone who cannot concentrate on the texts during the service or simply does not understand the meaning of certain fragments written more than 2000 years ago.

On the pages of the book “Having Seen the Resurrection of Christ,” the author Alexander Abramov makes an attempt to explain the meaning of the words of the Sunday Gospel readings so that everyone can understand them, regardless of age and level of education.

This book is not a retelling of the Gospel, it contains real texts of the Holy Scriptures and the author’s reflections on the relationship between man and God.

Spring of our hope

The second book of Father Alexander is called “The Spring of Our Hope”, the work is devoted to the issues of the Great Pentecost, or, in other words, Great Lent. In this book, the priest conducts a conversation with the reader and explains in detail the meaning of each day of Lent.

He also shares tips:

how best to spend this day;
what foods you can include in your diet;
What foods are prohibited to eat during Lent?

In addition, in his book, Alexander Abramov helps to better understand the liturgical texts that can be heard at Lenten services.

In general, the book “The Spring of Our Hope” contains invaluable assistance for entering Lent, its full understanding and correct implementation.

The archpriest does a tremendous amount of work every day for the glory of the Lord and for the needs of his flock. His role as a clergyman is priceless and worthy of being an example for literally everyone.

Love for God is equal to love for one’s neighbor - it is this truth that the priest considers the goal of his life and with all his heart he tries to convey it to the masses.

In this video you can watch a short sermon by Alexander Abramov.

[edit] Sources

JOURNALS of the meeting of the Holy Synod of December 27-28, 2011 / Official documents / Patriarchy.ru
Composition of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church / Official documents / Patriarchy.ru
How has the composition of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church changed? | Orthodoxy and peace
Archived copy. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. [ inaccessible link
] Retrieved September 8, 2021.
Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate
Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate
[1]
Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate

Biography

The biography of priest Alexander Abramov initially resembles the life of many Soviet citizens. Another thing is surprising - having been born at a time when churches were closed, moreover, in a family of convinced communists, the boy had no idea how different his life and destiny would be when, studying the history of religion at the university, he first felt his Path.

Archpriest Alexander Abramov

Origin and birth

The future rector of the temple was born in July 1973, in Moscow. Sasha’s parents were typical representatives of their time - they followed the ideas of the Communist Party, being, moreover, its members. Needless to say, the boy’s upbringing was more secular than religious—Sasha Abramov had never heard or thought about God before entering the university.

About other famous clergy:

Archpriest Evgeniy Popichenko
Archpriest Vadim Leonov
Archpriest Evgeny Sokolov

The boy's childhood was no different from this period in the lives of many other children - Sasha grew up as an ordinary boy, with the exception that he always stood out for his special curiosity.

Alexander graduated from school with a silver medal in 1990. It is worth noting that already from school the boy had an interest in such a subject as history. A love for this discipline was instilled in Sasha by his teacher, who, in addition to teaching, had experience working as a guide in the museum named after V.I. Lenin.

Student times

From early childhood, the boy’s father dreamed that he would definitely graduate from university; for this reason, Sasha, after graduating from school, became a student at the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. It was during his student days that Alexander Abramov began to become interested in Orthodoxy, and during this period his path as a minister of the church began.

Interesting! While visiting an excursion to an abandoned church, Sasha Abramov was so impressed by the grandeur of the temple that he really wanted to visit the active church. Soon after attending a church service, the future father Alexander was so struck by the church singing and vestments of the clergy that he decided to be baptized.

When Alexander Abramov graduated from the university in 1995, brilliantly defending his thesis on a topic related to the history of the church, he was already a believer.