Elder Tikhon of Athos - spiritual mentor of St. Paisius the Holy Mountain
Report by Hieromonk Athanasius (Ivanov), delivered at a monastic conference at the St. John the Theological Monastery in Ryazan, May 16, 2021.
Hieromonk Tikhon (in the world Timofey Pavlovich Golenkov) was born in 1884 in the Russian village of Novaya Mikhailovka, then located on the territory of the modern Volgograd region. He visited about 200 Russian monasteries, visited Sinai and Palestine, and in 1908, at the age of 24, came to Holy Mount Athos.
Elder Tikhon showed himself to be a strict, even harsh, ascetic who loved heaven... During prayer, he abundantly dropped his tears at the feet of the Crucified One. He slept on boards, wore mended clothes, and made friends with mountain animals. He dug his own grave: he was not afraid of death and constantly glorified God. His appearance was as if out of this world: enlightened, peaceful, joyful and complacent.
Anticipating his death, he expected it without fear. Earthly angel, heavenly man. Many, many people wrote about him, and although the depths of his heart’s treasury remained hidden to us, they are known for certain to the knower of the heart, God.
One of the many biographers of Father Tikhon is also Hieromonk Agafangel Kalafatis, a former monk of the Iveron Monastery, and now a Karyan elder from the cell of the Holy Cross of the Simonopetra Monastery. Father Agafangel recalls Father Tikhon’s goodwill and love for people, his fervent prayer in remembrance of thousands of living and deceased, constant tears that bring joy, and his wonderful asceticism. His weapons were the cross and the rosary, but most of all he loved the Divine Liturgy, Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers.
Here is an almost complete biography of Father Tikhon, written by Elder Agafangel:
“Father Tikhon’s parents were pious people. They preserved the famous Russian piety of the last century. The elder said about his mother that she was a holy woman. On Wednesday and Friday she did not eat anything, she devoted all her time to prayer, and tears constantly flowed from her eyes. He himself also had the gift of tears. Tears were his daily food. He believed that tears are a sign of Divine mercy and that with their help the soul is washed.
Since childhood, he liked to visit monasteries. He could not wait until he himself received God’s blessing to leave the world in order to draw closer to God and devote himself to prayer, because nothing perishable brought him joy. He longed for heavenly eternity and endless joy.
When he learned to read and write, his love for psalmody and church music soon made him a wonderful singer. He always went to church and sang in the choir, becoming a regent after a while.
With the blessing of his parents, he decided to visit Jerusalem and the Holy Mountain. The God-loving young man set off on the journey along with other pilgrims. When he arrived in Constantinople, he met the steward of the Russian Svyatogorsk cell, Burazeri.
The housekeeper asked him:
- Do you want to become a monk?
“I want to,” he answered. – Make a bow, and from today you are a novice of our community of St. Nicholas.
With great joy and tears of gratitude, the young man asked to be allowed to venerate the holy places first.
Having made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he returned to the Holy Mountain and joined the Burazeri brethren on Holy Mount Athos. A year later he was tonsured a monk.
The love of silence and the thirst for exploits forced Father Tikhon to leave the good brethren of the monastery and settle in the most severe place of the Holy Mountain - on the terrible Karula. Here he lived in a cave for about fifteen years. His feat was severe and unrelenting. He made over six hundred bows a night. He ate once every three days, and often once a week.
Every Saturday he went to receive communion at the monastery of St. George and then immediately returned to his cave. His cave was located at the base of the monastery of St. George and has survived to this day.
At that time, in the monastery of St. George, there lived one old man, wise both in life and in God, whom he called his teacher. This elder, his teacher, gave him a patristic book every month. Returning it, Father Tikhon had to tell its contents, as well as what he understood from it. If the answer was not accurate, the elder did not change the book for him. Thus, he studied the works of all the fathers of our Church: John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Simeon the New Theologian and others. He especially fell in love with Saint Simeon.
When the mobilization of Russian monks began in 1914, Father Tikhon also came to the Russian skete of Thebaid. Representatives of the authorities, seeing him as if deprived of a body, began to ask where and how he lived. The Karul caveman inspired such respect that they released him so that he could continue his feat and pray for them. He immediately returned to his cave and now devoted himself even more to asceticism and prayer in order to replenish and strengthen his brothers fighting on the battlefield.
Of the approximately seven hundred monks who left then, only two or three returned. One of them was Elder Athanasius from the cell of the Holy Cross in Provat, who was a very close friend of Father Tikhon. God was pleased that he betrayed his spirit in my arms. Subsequently, Father Tikhon told me a lot about him. He had incessant mental prayer. He prayed day and night, never ceasing to call on God even when he was talking or sleeping. When Father Tikhon talked about this, he also mentioned about himself: “And I, my child, when I sleep, my heart says a prayer... When you say a prayer,” he told me, “your heart should stick to the prayer from above,” and he depicted it’s a finger on the wall, like glue that sticks together.”
After fifteen years of ascetic exercises, the elder left Karulya and moved to the Kaliagra region. Here he had a vision of Easter night, and he joyfully sang the entire sequence of the Resurrection of Christ. The next morning his confessor came and told him to go to the Stavronikita monastery, to which his cell was assigned, and be ordained as a priest. He did just that.
Since there was no church in his kaliva, he began its construction with great diligence and reverence. He had no money, and so he decided to go to Kareya to look for donations. On the way, he met a monk and told him that he wanted to build a church in honor of the Holy Cross, but did not have the money for this. The monk was amazed because just that day he received a money transfer in order to give the money to someone who wants to build a temple. Father Tikhon's joy and excitement knew no end. He immediately invited builders and rebuilt the small room of his cell into a church, which he loved very much.
During the Divine Liturgy, the elder came to an exalted spiritual state, so that, starting the service in the morning, he did not notice how evening came. With great reverence he read the prayers of the Divine Liturgy, which he had learned by heart. He read them not to himself, not loudly, but so that they could be heard. During the Cherubic Song and the Eucharistic Canon, he, together with the Angels, sang the hymn in heaven, after that he saw with spiritual vision what was happening on the Holy Throne, and completed the Liturgy, not noticing how time passed. He did not wait for the evening to read the rule for Holy Communion, but began it already at noon. He spent the whole day preparing for the next Divine Liturgy and communion. The elder said that a believer, in order to become a communicant of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, must prepare for this all twenty-four hours.
During the proskomedia, for many hours in a row he remembered the names from the notes. Also at the end of the Liturgy, he commemorated all the names again. When he grew old and could no longer serve, I came to him, celebrated the Liturgy and left the Holy Gifts, which he cut into pieces and received communion every day. From those who baked prosphora, he demanded that this be done with prayer and reverence, for the prosphora became the Body of Christ. He showed me how to prick the prosphora dough in five places so that there are no voids in it. Wine should be just as good.
With great simplicity, he told me that angels, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs, saints, unmercenaries and all saints are present when we remember them at proskomedia, and also come to the aid of everyone for whom particles are taken out.
Father Tikhon's spiritual advice was a drop of his heartfelt experience.
“To find a good confessor,” he told me, “you need to pray for three days, and then - how God will enlighten you. And on the way, while you are going to your confessor, you need to pray that the Lord will enlighten him and he will give you good instruction.”
“Always pray before starting any work. Say: “My God, give me strength and enlightenment,” and after that start your business; and at the end say: “Glory to God.”
Elder Tikhon of Athos reposed on September 10/23, 1968 in the cell of the Holy Cross. In the mentioned cell, Fr. In the last years of his life, Tikhon received monks from all over the Holy Mountain, including the future elder Paisius the Holy Mountain. Dying, Elder Tikhon bequeathed his cell to Father Paisius, promising him to “come and see him.” As Elder Paisius later recalled: “It was September 10, 1971, midnight. I was saying a prayer and suddenly I saw my Elder entering my cell! I jumped up, grabbed his legs and kissed them reverently. I did not understand how he freed himself from my hands, entered the temple and disappeared. Of course, no one understands how such events happen. And they cannot be explained logically, which is why they are called miracles. I immediately lit a candle (at the time this happened, only my lamp was burning) to write down in the calendar the day when the Elder appeared to me, so as not to forget. When I saw that it was the day of his dormition (September 10), I was very upset that this day passed completely unnoticed for me. I believe that the good father will forgive me, because that day from dawn to dusk I had many visitors, I was very tired, exhausted and completely forgot about everything. Otherwise, I would have done something to benefit myself and to please the Elder with the all-night vigil.”
The Monk Paisiy Svyatogorets recalls a lot about his spiritual father in the book “Fathers of Svyatogorsk and Svyatogorsk Stories.” Below we present several memories of Elder Tikhon.
“He came to the Holy Mountain and, like an innocent flower, grew in the garden of the Mother of God, prospered and began to smell fragrant with his virtues, as we will see later.
His first abode was the Burazeri monastery, where he lived for five years. However, not finding peace here because of the many Russian pilgrims, he took the blessing and moved to Karulya, where he labored for fifteen years. He spent the entire time of his stay on Karul in harsh exploits. His handicraft was large and small bows in conjunction with the Jesus Prayer and reading. He borrowed books from monasteries, from which he also received a blessing - crackers from the “excess ukrukh”. In gratitude for this, he performed an additional certain number of prayers on the rosary. Thus, he labored diligently to become an Angel internally, and not just externally have an angelic image.
After Karuli, he moved to Cape Kapsala (above Kaliagra), to a cell that belonged to the Stavronikita monastery, and took upon himself the care of one elder. When this elder died, he, having taken his blessing in advance, remained to live in his kaliva. Since then, he not only did not weaken his spiritual exploits, but strengthened them even more, for which he received the abundance of God’s grace, struggling with zeal and great humility.
Divine grace revealed him to people, and numerous sufferers began to flock to him for advice and consolation. Some asked him to accept holy orders so that he could help people even more, through the Sacrament of Confession, giving them remission of sins. He himself gradually became convinced that there really was such a need to help people, and agreed to accept ordination /.../
He really liked wretched things. He also loved non-covetousness, which made him free and gave him spiritual wings. And so, with an inspired soul, he labored sternly, not feeling physical labor, just as a child does not feel tired when he does the will of his father, but, on the contrary, feels the love and tenderness of his father, which, of course, cannot even be mentally compared with the Divine grace-filled consolation .
As I have already said, his handicraft was spiritual deeds: fasting, vigil, prayer, bows, and so on, and not only for himself, but also for everyone (the living and the dead). When he was already old and could not rise after bowing to the ground, he tied a thick rope high and held on to it in order to get up. Thus, even in old age, he continued to make prostrations, worshiping God with reverence. He observed this rule until he went to bed, after which, having rested for twenty days, he passed into true and Eternal Life, where he rests with Christ forever. Until his old age, he constantly observed the same rule of dry eating that he had in his youth. He considered cooking to be a waste of time: well-prepared food does not correspond to monastic life. Naturally, after so many exploits and with such a spiritual dispensation, good food did not evoke any feelings in him, for Christ dwelt in him, Who delighted him and nourished him with heavenly food.
During his conversations, he always talked about sweet paradise, and tears of tenderness flowed from his eyes. When worldly people asked him about anything, his heart was not distracted by vain things /…/
For Father Tikhon, almost every day of the year was Easter, and he always lived with Easter joy. One could constantly hear from his lips: “Glory to Thee, O God, glory to Thee, O God.” He advised everyone: “Let us say “Glory to Thee, O God,” not only when we feel good, but also when trials come to us, for the Lord allows them as medicine for the soul.”
The elder grieved greatly for the souls suffering from the godless authorities in Russia. He told me with tears in his eyes: “My child, Russia is still suffering penance from God, but it will survive everything.”
The old man did not care about himself at all. He also was not afraid of anything, because he had a great fear of God (he was, as it were, bound by it) and reverence... Since his mind was constantly in God, he acquired bodily insensibility, and therefore did not experience the slightest anxiety from flies or mosquitoes, nor from lice, of which he had thousands. His whole body was bitten, and his clothes were covered with red spots. My thoughts tell me that even if insects sucked his blood with syringes, he still wouldn’t feel it. In the elder’s cell, everything was given complete freedom: from insects to mice.”
Russia bears penance from God
Elder Tikhon grieved greatly for the souls suffering from the godless authorities in Russia. He spoke to Father Paisius with tears in his eyes:
“My child, Russia is still suffering penance from God, but it will survive everything.”
This is the prayer of Elder Tikhon, which he wrote with great sorrow and many tears and which he sent to suffering souls in Russia like a balm from the lot of the Mother of God:
“Glory to Christ Golgotha!
O Divine Golgotha, sanctified by the Blood of Christ! We ask you, tell us how many thousands of sinners you have cleansed with the Grace of Christ, repentance and tears and brought into the Bridal Chamber of Heaven! O Christ the King, with Your ineffable love and grace You filled all the heavenly palaces with repentant sinners. Here too, down below, you have mercy and save everyone. And who can adequately thank You, even if he had the mind of an angel! Sinners, hurry up. Holy Golgotha is open, and Christ is blessed. Fall down to Him and kiss His holy feet.
Only He, being of good womb, can heal your ulcers! ABOUT! We will be happy when the multi-compassionate Christ deigns to wash His most pure feet with great humility, fear of God and hot tears and kiss them with love. Then the gracious Christ will deign to wash away our sins and open to us the doors of paradise, where in great joy, together with the Archangels and Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim and with all the saints, we will forever glorify the Savior of the world, the Sweetest Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit , Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity. Hieromonk Tikhon, Holy Mountain."
Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius - the place of Archimandrite Tikhon’s service to God
After demobilization from the army, Archimandrite Tikhon entered the Moscow Theological Seminary. This happened in 1950.
Afterwards he graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy.
1950
this year Archimandrite Tikhon began studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary
Here he was awarded the degree of candidate of theology. He taught pastoral theology, as well as the Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments.
Already while teaching at the Theological Academy, Father Tikhon acquired many fans from among her students. The unofficial title of “lamp of faith” was assigned to him.
It flared up especially brightly during the elder’s stay within the walls of the Trinity Lavra.
A fragment of a general photograph of the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Circa 1960. Archimandrite Tikhon second from right
In 1953, Tikhon accepted monasticism and holy orders at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Five years later he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Since 1959, he has been giving lectures on Pastoral Theology at Moscow theological schools. The result of this activity was the writing of a textbook on this subject.
Already while teaching in schools, he began to become a clergyman.
1963
this year the archimandrite became an associate professor
At the theological academy he was also a confessor. In 1963, the archimandrite became an assistant professor. He was never a confessor at the Lavra, but many turned to him for confession.
The future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen (Izvekov) at that time filled the post of vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
He loved Tikhon very much and assigned him to read the second sermon at one of the two Divine Liturgies. The first one was read by the governor himself.
Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Photograph from the early 1940s. Archimandrite Tikhon stayed within these walls for 18 years
The archimandrite was trusted to work in large, responsible positions. So, since 1954, he served as the steward of the Lavra.
In September 1955, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy (Simansky) blessed him to the position of treasurer of the monastery.
1955
in September of this year, Father Tikhon was blessed with the position of treasurer
Father Tikhon was distinguished by his exceptional work ethic: in addition to his main duties, he was also in charge of the candle box and acted as regent in the choir.
People who knew him said that the old man slept no more than twenty minutes at a time.
Archimandrite Tikhon: confessor, preacher, theologian, teacher, writer
Archimandrite Tikhon lived 82 years. During his life, he earned enormous spiritual authority in the Orthodox world.
An indicator of this can be the fact that many monks of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra elected him as their confessor.
Photo collage. Two photographs of Archimandrite Tikhon Agrikov are combined: in his youth and shortly before his death
The elder taught at the Moscow Theological Academy. After him, the training courses beloved by the academy's students remained. In addition, he gained fame as a great preacher. His sermons were not distinguished by high style, but they were high in spirit.
The priest’s spiritual children retyped them on a typewriter and distributed them underground. This threatened them with very sad consequences, because the Soviet government equated such actions with high treason.
Father Tikhon suffered from Soviet rule. Due to persecution, he had to live for many years in the Caucasus. Here he lived alone, like a hermit.
The elder described his life path and spiritual experience in his books. They are very popular both among the clergy and among the laity.
Archimandrite Tikhon - an outstanding church writer
Like any person with a subtle spiritual orientation, Father Tikhon had the talent of a writer. He wrote several books, the most famous of which are: “Inspired at the Trinity”, “Mother of Light”, “Direct Path to God”, “Diligent Intercessor”.
They are dedicated to the years of life spent by the archimandrite in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the biography of the archimandrite, and theological issues.
Archimandrite Tikhon, in the schism Panteleimon, shortly before his death. He is considered an outstanding church writer. His books are used in teaching the basics of preaching theology
The elder’s first books were published in the 60s and 70s of the last century. They were so popular that they were reprinted on typewriters and distributed underground. Nowadays they are also very popular among believers and the clergy.
This is due to the fact that they are written in simple language, with great feeling and faith. As a result, after reading them, the reader’s soul is purified and he himself becomes closer to God.
