Treskino. Kronid. Penza region, Kolyshleysky district

Kronid (Lyubimov)
(1859 - 1937), archimandrite, martyr. Commemorated on November 27, in the Cathedrals of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, Butovo and Radonezh

In the world Lyubimov Konstantin Petrovich, was born on May 13, 1859 in the village of Levkievo, Volokolamsk district, Moscow province. The boy's parents - sexton Pyotr Fedorovich and Agafia Vasilievna - were distinguished by their piety and deep faith, which they were able to pass on to their children. Archimandrite Kronid retained the most touching memories of his parents. Subsequently, his brother Luke became a priest.

He studied at the Volokolamsk Theological School, but did not complete the course and in 1877 entered the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. The probationary period lasted for more than five years, during which he performed various obediences.

On January 4, 1883, he submitted a petition to be accepted into the number of novices of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, and on February 2 of the same year he was appointed to the number of Lavra novices in connection with his good behavior and abilities. Appointed as cell attendant of the Lavra's governor, Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin).

On March 28, 1888, he was tonsured a monk with the name Kronid in the Gethsemane monastery by the cathedral hieromonk Abraham.

On September 25, 1889, he was ordained hierodeacon by His Grace Christopher (Smirnov), Bishop of Volokolamsk.

On May 23, 1892, he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk in the Cross Kazan House Church by Metropolitan Leonty (Lebedinsky) of Moscow and Kolomna.

Father Kronid was appointed superintendent of lithographs and photographs. Since 1896, he was the caretaker of the diocesan school of icon painting at the Lavra. Thanks to his tireless care, the school of icon painting “has completely changed for the better, both morally and academically, and in its very content.” He was a member of the examination committee for testing the brethren when submitting them for ordination to the priesthood.

From January 1902 he held the position of assistant treasurer of the Lavra. Since November 1903, he was confirmed as assistant treasurer of the Lavra and a member of the Spiritual Council of the Lavra.

In 1904 he was appointed inspector of the Diocesan School of Icon Painting and a member of its council.

On January 17, 1905, he was appointed economist of the St. Petersburg Trinity Metochion.

Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Fr. Kronid launched active efforts to restore the badly neglected Trinity Metochion; he put a lot of work and energy into repairing the courtyard church, the metropolitan’s chambers, abandoned premises, and a rental house. In one year the courtyard was completely transformed.

On May 11, 1906 he was elevated to the rank of abbot.

On May 9, 1908, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite by Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany) of Moscow and Kolomna in the Trinity Church of the St. Petersburg Trinity Metochion.

Apparently, the Trinity Lavra Metochion played an important role in the churching of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the future martyr who converted to Orthodoxy in 1891. There is no doubt that during the period of Father Kronid’s abbot they communicated, as evidenced by Elizaveta Feodorovna’s letter dated September 7, 1910 - to take under her spiritual guidance a sister of mercy who had the intention of entering the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

On January 9, 1915, he was appointed vicar of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra instead of the retired Archimandrite Tovia.

One of the first things the newly appointed governor did was to establish an infirmary for wounded soldiers in the Lavra.

The duties of the steward of the Trinity Metochion, and then the governor of the Lavra, did not relieve Archimandrite Kronid from pastoral work. He was not only a capable business executive, but also an experienced spiritual mentor, caring for his children, among whom were famous people: MDA professor A.I. Vvedensky, A.A. Yablonsky and his wife.

Archimandrite Kronid preached diligently and zealously. His teachings were distinguished by their simplicity of presentation and cordiality; they made an unusually deep impression.

Seeing the weakening of faith in Russian society, Archimandrite Kronid called on his compatriots to repentance, warning about the troubles coming from spreading freethinking and unbelief:
If the Russian people do not come to their senses and do not come to God in repentance, then our country is undoubtedly in danger of perishing from godlessness and anarchy.
There is day and night robbery in the city, and there will be no one to save from this. Will we then have to do the same as our ancestors did, who sent ambassadors to the Varangians to ask them to become their leaders, saying: “Our land is great, but there is no order in it: come and rule over us.” But something worse than this may happen: the enemies themselves will come to us uninvited, as the Mongols once came, and, taking advantage of civil strife, they will take over our country and will establish order in it in their own way .

In the summer of 1917, under the Provisional Government, Lavra printing houses were selected.

With the beginning of the work of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, of which Father Kronid was a member, he moved to Moscow, where he lived throughout the autumn and winter. After being elected Metropolitan of Moscow, and then Patriarch, St. Tikhon (Bellavin) becomes the holy archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and his closest assistant and close person becomes Archimandrite Kronid, who is part of the Patriarchal Administration.

After the publication in August 1918 of the Decree on the separation of the Church and the state and the instructions to the Decree, the clergy were deprived of all rights to manage church property. In the fall of 1918, the confiscation of property belonging to the Lavra began; for the authorities, Archimandrite Kronid became only the head of the Lavra. The land was secularized in the Sergius Monastery, and then on November 1, 1918, the People's Commissariat of Education established the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Antiquity and Art of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. A commissioner was appointed to the Lavra, without whose permission no meetings should be held.

At the beginning of 1919, a decree was issued by the Presidium of the Moscow Council on the transfer of monastery premises to the Department of Public Education. Lavra submits a petition for a land allotment. A labor artel is being created, the list of which numbers 224 people.

March 4, 1919 Fr. Kronid and the Lavra brethren appealed to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars with a request to prohibit the opening of the shrine containing the relics of St. Sergia:

In Posad, and then in the capital’s press, news appeared about the desire of a certain group of people to open and examine the relics of St. Sergius. It is inappropriate here to prove the holiness of the Reverend and the sincere reverent feeling of love that we, part of the Russian people, and finally the entire Russian Church, have for him. This is not the place to say what the Reverend is for us and other believers and how much recognition he also finds among non-believers as a great historical figure, as an example of love and meekness - those moral principles on which only human life can be built, in its personal manifestation and in the public-state. From here it is clear how dear St. Sergius and everything, absolutely everything connected with his memory is to us, to society, to the Russian Church. We honor his ideas, we honor his remains, we honor that little, infinitely dear to us, that has been preserved from the great prayer book, the great unifier of then divided Russia, a unifier in the name of brotherly love and peace of the people. After all, the material remains of past life are always sacred in the eyes of all peoples, and the ashes of fathers have always been and are thought of as inviolable; but he is even more dear when it comes to the spiritual ancestor, the connection with whom is not only tribal, but also ideological... We, the unworthy brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, who successively bear the duty of protecting the memory of the Reverend, address this memorandum to the People's Commissars in the name of love and peace, the holy covenants of the founder of the great Russian Lavra: do not allow what part of society will call blasphemy, and what you will call at least a political mistake.

Viceroy of the Lavra Archimandrite Kronid. Total: 77 signatures of the brethren.

But nevertheless, the opening of the relics of St. Sergius was carried out on April 11, 1919. By order of the civil authorities, a thick glass lid was placed over the relics, secured to the reliquary with the wax seals of the People's Commissariat of Justice.

On October 4, 1919, in the premises of the Lavra commissar, the transfer to the parishioners of the Lavra churches took place: Trinity Cathedral, the Church of St. Nikon, the Spiritual Church and the Smolensk Church. The remaining churches were sealed.

On November 3, 1919, at night, the Lavra monks were evicted to the Gethsemane monastery. All churches and cells in the Lavra were sealed, Archimandrite Kronid was removed to the Gethsemane monastery on January 26, 1920, on the second day of the liquidation commission.

On March 26, 1920, the Moscow Executive Committee issued a resolution: “On the closure of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the transfer of the relics of the Lavra to the Moscow Museum,” but the relics of St. Sergius remained in the Lavra. On May 7 of the same year the Lavra was finally closed.

After the closure of the Lavra, some of the monks remained to live in the Gethsemane monastery, while others, including Archimandrite Kronid, settled in private apartments in Sergiev Posad. In 1920-1922, Archimandrite Kronid lived in the village of Bratovshchina with the headman of the church, in 1922-1926 - in the Gethsemane monastery, in 1926-1929 - in the Paraclete monastery, from 1929 until his death - at the Kukuevsky cemetery in Sergiev Posad. Archimandrite Kronid visited the Kukuevskaya church, next to which Elder Alexy Zosimovsky was buried, and loved to sing there.

He continued to zealously support the monks. The monastic brotherhood continued for some time even after the monastery was closed. All this time, the journal of the Spiritual Council was kept. The 43 monks left in the Lavra while guarding the museum formed the “small Lavra.” By 1926, the monks remaining at the museum were dismissed.

Archimandrite Kronid never abandoned canonical subordination to the legitimate hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, did not break with Metropolitan Sergius and strictly condemned those who went into schism. Archimandrite Kronid also took care of the spiritual nourishment of his spiritual children from the laity. They, in turn, also showed concern for their spiritual father, providing him with material assistance and consolation in his sorrows.

Since 1935, he began to quickly go blind.

On November 11, 1937, the NKVD authorities opened a case against Archimandrite Kronid. The already blind and infirm old man was arrested on November 21 and charged (literally, with the original spelling preserved) that

“During the investigation and based on intelligence data, it was established that the person who settled in the city of Zagorsk returned from exile. the rector of the Trinity Lavra monastery, Archimandrite “KRANID” LYUBIMOV, restored his connections among the monastics of the k/r-minded churchmen of the mountains. Moscow and districts of the Moscow region, to which pilgrimages of monastics and religiously inclined clergy are systematically observed. LYUBIMOV KRANID, an active church leader, was repeatedly received personally at the Trinity Lavra. the tsar and other court dignitaries, is hostile to the Soviet regime, and conducts monarchist agitation among those around him...”

On the day of the arrest, investigator Bulyzhnikov interrogated Father Kronid.

– Who from the former royal family visited the former Sergius Monastery, where you were the governor? – the investigator asked.

– The former Sergius Monastery enjoyed special patronage of the former house of the Romanovs; as the abbot of the monastery, I repeatedly had to receive various court nobility, dignitaries and members of the reigning house in the monastery.

– How many monks were there when you were governor?

– In 1917, before the revolution, there were about 900 monks and about 700 civilian workers in the monastery and its branches.

– How many monks live in Zagorsk and other nearby areas?

– I personally know that part of the brethren found work as parish priests in Zagorsk and other nearby areas. In total, I approximately know about 25-30 such monks...

– Who visits your apartment in Zagorsk?

– As a former abbot of the monastery, I was periodically visited by the monks of the Lavra.

– Explain the purpose of the monks of the former Lavra visiting your apartment?

– My apartment in Zagorsk was periodically visited by the monks of the Lavra, who came to visit me as a former governor and leader and for advice.

– The investigation has evidence that you continue to lead the monks of the former Lavra. Do you confirm this?

- No, I deny it. But, indeed, there were cases when my apartment was visited by monks who came from the region specifically for this purpose to see me as a former governor; the majority of the monks came to the city on their own business and came to see me.

– What is your attitude towards Soviet power?

– By my convictions, I am a monarchist, a follower of the true Orthodox Church, and I recognize the existing Soviet government as a believer: it was sent to the people as a test of their faith in God’s Providence.

– From your testimony it is clear that you continue to lead the monks of the former Lavra, therefore we demand truthful testimony from you.

“The monks really visited me, but there was absolutely no guidance over them on my part.

– You are accused as a member of a counter-revolutionary group of churchmen, we invite you to give truthful testimony about your counter-revolutionary activities.

– I repeat that, according to my convictions, I have been a monarchist to this day; the monks of the former monastery were brought up in the same spirit by me... I confirm that the monks of the former Lavra periodically visited me in Zagorsk, but I do not recognize me as a member of the counter-revolutionary group.

– Name your like-minded people... from among the monks.

– I refuse to give evidence to the question posed...

– The investigation has evidence that you systematically received your admirers in your apartment, do you confirm this?

– I received my admirers, acquaintances and relatives at my apartment in the city of Zagorsk, where they came from different places, but mostly from Moscow.

– Explain the purpose of your admirers visiting you in the city of Zagorsk.

– They visited me solely for the purpose of visiting, inquiring about my health and with the aim of providing me with financial assistance.

– The investigation demands to name the persons who came to you in Zagorsk.

– Until recently, I was visited in Zagorsk by my admirers, whom I refuse to name, I quickly forget their names and surnames.

On December 8, 1937, an indictment was fabricated against Konstantin Petrovich Lyubimov and others, which stated:

...in the city of Zagorsk and its environs, a significant monarchist-minded part of the monks of the former Trinity-Sergius Lavra, including those who returned from exile, was grouped, joined by the most reactionary part of the Zagorsk clergy. The ideological leaders of this counter-revolutionary group were the governor of the former Trinity-Sergius Lavra, who in the past enjoyed the special favor of the former royal house of the Romanovs, the ardent monarchist Lyubimov Konstantin Petrovich, and the former dean of Zagorsk and other areas, the nobleman Archpriest Dmitry Fedorovich Bayanov. This counter-revolutionary monarchist group, a group of monks and clergy, preserved until the last days the continuation of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra as an illegal monastery, while maintaining the Lavra’s statutory order of relationships among themselves and [in relation to] Archimandrite Kronid; the old special monastic order of church services was preserved in the likeness of the previous service in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in the Church of Peter and Paul, and after its closure in the church of the Kukuevsky cemetery; Branches of the illegal monastery were opened on houses, such as in the house of a large Zagorsk homeowner and merchant Nikolai Mikhailovich Sychev, where 6 monks and nuns lived in small rooms - like cells with a “seer”, Elder Hippolytus [Yakovlev - former confessor of the Lavra] and Abbot Nicodemus... . This entire group of monks and clergy provided every possible support and assistance to the monks who returned from exile, who, with the direct assistance of Archpriest D.F. Bayanov. as a dean, they were also employed as ministers in churches in the city and region.

It was further stated that the defendants involved in the case pleaded not guilty. All those involved in the case were accused of

“These constituted a counter-revolutionary monarchist group of monks and clergy... This counter-revolutionary monarchist group maintained an illegal monastery, a continuation of the former Trinity-Sergius Lavra, providing assistance to monks who returned from exile and conducted counter-revolutionary agitation...”

How the investigation was conducted in this case and in three other cases of clergy and monks of the Zagorsk region is indicated by the certificate attached to these cases from the case of an investigator who worked in the NKVD, who was accused of “working as the head. Zagorsky RO NKVD MO made illegal arrests of innocent Soviet citizens and, through physical coercion, forced them to sign interrogation protocols with fictitious facts fabricated in advance by him... through deception and threats, forced witnesses to sign protocols with fictitious accusations against them..."

The Military Tribunal, in its verdict, established that other employees of the regional department took part in the same criminal activity, following the example of investigator Sakharchuk, to whom Sakharchuk gave ready-made interrogation protocols, personally fabricated for them, instructing them to seek the signing of the protocol,” that the protocols and cases were fabricated , can be seen from the mass of factual errors contained in them.

On December 7, 1937, the troika of the NKVD of the USSR in the Moscow region sentenced Archimandrite Kronid, Archpriest Dmitry Bayanov, Abbot Xenophon (Bondarenko), Abbot Nikodim (Monin), Abbot Azaria (Pavlov), Hieromonk Gideon (Cherkalov), Hieromonk Jacob (Marochkin), Hieromonk Seraphim (Krestyaninov), hieromonk Lavrenty (Nasonov), hieromonk Gideon (Smirnov), monk Georgy (Potapov) to be shot. Archpriest Vitaly Lukashevich, priest Alexey Bystritsky, nun Anna (Samoilova), Sychev Nikolai Mikhailovich received 10 years in forced labor camps.

In 1938, two more investigative cases were fabricated among the clergy and monastics of Zagorsk, as a continuation of this case, where 16 people were involved.

Archimandrite Kronid was shot on December 10, 1937 at the Butovo training ground of the NKVD.
Buried in an unknown grave. On November 14, 1958, he was rehabilitated.

In August 2000, he was canonized by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Troparion, tone 1:

Following St. Sergius from his youth, / Father God-Wise Kronida, / you acquired faith in the Holy Trinity / and even in your old age you preserved blood. / Likewise, we, your children, cry out to you in love: / glory to Him who gave you the strength of patience, / glory to Him who crowned you like a martyr, / glory to Him who saves our souls through you.

Kontakion, voice 2:

As a faithful disciple of the Venerable Sergius, / through obedience, humility and prayer / you purified your soul, Kronida, ever-memorable, / and by God’s providence you were worthily appointed as abbot of the Trinity Monastery. / During the days of fierce persecution / for Christ and the brethren entrusted to you / like a martyr you suffered. / For this reason, now, standing before the Holy Trinity, / pray to the Lavra of Sergius to be more established / and to save our souls.

Orthodox stories

For a long time I wanted to learn the wondrous and saving work of prayer - the Jesus Prayer, but no one in our area could really explain to me how to properly take on this, and nothing came of it myself, although I read both the Philokalia and St. Paisius Velichkovsky, and Saint Theophan the Recluse. But, apparently, the soul was not yet ripe for this holy work, probably, I myself was still standing on the first step of spiritual ascent, where my mind and soul were not yet fertilized with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the guardian angel, who dreamed in my morning dream, sang to me sadly : “Anaxios, anaxios, anaxios!”, which in Russian means: “Unworthy, unworthy, unworthy.” So, I took another leave from the service, asked for more at my own expense, and went to the mountains of Abkhazia, where, I heard, there were desert elders skilled in the Jesus Prayer. In Sukhumi, in an Orthodox church, they told me in detail how and where they could be found, they took me to the Bzyb Gorge, and there I found a fellow hermit traveler. And so, after a long and difficult journey, I am at the door of the cell of one of the elders. The door in the hallway was made of thick ash boards, darkened by time, fog and bothersome winter rains. In the upper part, an ancient cast cross with a crucifix was cut into the board, and under it, in crooked letters in white paint, was the inscription: “St. Archangel Michael.” I knocked on the door with a crutch and exclaimed: “Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us!” Footsteps were heard behind the door, the creaking of bolts being pulled back, and an old voice loudly said: “Amen!” The door opened, and a tall, somewhat bent, gray-haired old man appeared on the threshold. He squinted in the light and, holding his palm over his eyes, peered friendlyly at me. He was dressed in an old gray cassock, belted with a wide leather belt, and on his chest was a priestly eight-pointed cross. - Bless, father! - I said and cupped my palms. - In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, may God bless you with the best. Crossing himself, he kissed my head. We went into the cell, because of the small windows it was twilight. I prayed to the icon, making three bows and another bow to the elder. He also gave me a bow from the waist. “Sit down, servant of God, on the bench, rest, and while I prepare the meal for us.” I took off my knapsack and put it under the bench, sat down and looked around. The walls of the cell were hastily made from logs darkened with age and soot, between which shreds of whitish moss stuck out. Bunches of dried herbs, roots, bunches of dried mushrooms, onions, garlic, bags of cereals and baskets of crackers are tied to the matitsa - the main ceiling beam. Underfoot, purring benevolently, hovered a skinny tricolor cat - the guardian and keeper of the old man's supplies, the thunderstorm and destroyer of the countless mouse tribe. Opposite there was a stove made of wild stone, like a Russian one, heated in a white way, that is, with a chimney. Above the hearth there is a copper icon “The Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. The firewood was already burning merrily in the firebox, food was boiling in the cast iron pots, gurgling, and the smoky kettle was already beginning to make noise. The old man stood with a grip, looked at the fire, and his lips moved and his thick snow-white beard moved regularly. He said the Jesus Prayer. He was an old monastery monk and not just a monk, but a holy monk, named Kronid in honor of the martyr of Alexandria. During the war, he was a medical orderly and carried many wounded soldiers from the battlefield, for which he received two Orders of Glory. Afterwards he told me that at the age of 18 he was called up for active service in the tsarist army - the Nikolaev army. And soon he found himself in a position somewhere in the Pinsk swamps. And he was also a nurse. During two world wars he did not fire a single shot from a rifle. He already had such convictions. And the Lord protected him, and he was never wounded, although, while carrying out the wounded, he himself constantly crossed the deadly fiery line. He considered himself a peaceful man and served in church from a young age. He loved this entire Orthodox world, the world of the church dear to his heart, with its soul-penetrating divine service, the gentle faces of holy icons, which were complemented by the lilac flow of incense, the crackling and lights of many candles, the reverently slow tread of the clergy in golden brocade vestments, the loud reading of ancient, leather bound books. Divine Church Slavonic language with amazing words - “blessed-leaved tree.” The choir singing of the stichera of John of Damascus: “The funeral sob creates a song - alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” Silent tears rolled from the eyes, and the soul seemed to ascend along with streams of blue incense to the very dome of the temple, from where Christ the “Ardent Eye” looked down from above. After the Second World War, his relatives thought that he would get married and live in his native Volga town, but he did not marry, but entered a monastery as a novice. Humble, he acquired even greater humility and meekly bore obedience: in the stable, in the kitchen, in the garden and, finally, in the temple. Years passed, and he was cut into a ryasophore, and then into a small schema with the name Kronid. Well, Kronid is Kronid, that’s what Father Archimandrite wanted. Time passed, and he was ordained as a hieromonk. But he didn’t have to walk in the monastery for long as a hieromonk, Khrushchev’s persecution broke out, the monastery was closed, and the monks dispersed in all directions, and Father Kronid, having taken the archimandrite’s blessing, left for Abkhazia, where he found a secluded place in the remote, uninhabited mountains. The old man rattled his grip and placed the cast iron emanating with fragrant steam on the table. - Well, God bless, Alyosha. Today we celebrate the position of the honorable and multi-healing robe of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, which is the tunic, in the glorious and most famous reigning city of Moscow. Bows are incoming and outgoing; the rule is waist bows. At meals, if it happens on Wednesday and Friday, we eat it with butter. Father Kronid took a bottle of sunflower oil from the shelf and placed it in the middle of the table, laid out a couple of old aluminum bowls, unpainted wooden spoons with crosses on the handles. He took rye crackers from the basket and crumbled them into a cast iron pot and poured oil into it. The hearty smell of mushroom soup spread through the cell. “Now we eat meals twice: lunch and dinner, and once during fasting, when with a libation of oil, and when with dry eating. My spiritual children bring me butter, flour, salt, vegetables - from their garden, and the rest - from the forest: nuts, chestnuts, medlars, dzhonjoli, mushrooms and even divy honey. Having said a prayer and blessed the meal with a priestly blessing, the priest poured the stew into bowls, and we quickly began to eat in complete silence. Even a trained cat walked around and did not meow. Then we drank tea with blackcurrant leaves and dry raspberries. A jar of dark forest honey was placed with it. I was very tired from the journey, and after eating I felt very sleepy. The eyelids closed. And I vaguely heard the words of the prayer: “Your belly is a holy meal, having the heavenly bread - Christ, from Him everyone who eats does not die, as everyone says, the Mother of God, the Nourisher. You have given joy to my heart from the fruit, wheat, wine and oil you have multiplied. In peace together I will fall asleep and rest.” - Lie down, lie down, Alyosha, on the bench. I fell onto the bench. Father covered me with some kind of torn tarpaulin, crossed me and began to wash the dishes. I slept and woke up and fell asleep again, and the priest still stood in front of the icons, praying and bowing to the ground, coughing and groaning. Mice were running under the bench, and a cat was chasing them madly. The walkers were knocking, a heavy slanting rain began to fall outside the window, drumming on the windows and roof. Early in the morning, Father Kronid was no longer in the cell. I washed my face in a stream of ice-cold water. I said my morning prayers and sat on a bench in front of my cell, waiting for the priest. The sun was rising from behind the mountains, turning the snowy rocky peaks gold and purple. Below in the valley a thick fog swirled, dark spruce forests ran up onto the mountains from below and stopped at some level, then there were bare rocks - gray and rusty from the mosses clinging to them, and even higher - glaciers shining with snow and a bright blue sky. Below the spruce belt there were deciduous forests: beech, small oak, all kinds of bushes, alpine glades with various herbs and a surprisingly bright flower kingdom. In the bushes and deciduous forests, birds sang in every way, various insects flew and buzzed, and above all this God’s world, an eagle smoothly circled high in the sky. Soon Father Kronid came and began to straighten the fence of his garden. I approached him and was blessed. “For years now I’ve been planting corn, or millet in our opinion, but I get little; As soon as the millet is poured, the owner comes from the forest to take the tax. The owner is serious, what a glutton for passion. It comes more in the evening, in the dark. I knock on the saucepan and throw burning firebrands at him. He leaves, but is angry: he growls, grumbles, and breaks everything around himself. Sometimes it comes at the end of winter. He will rise from the den hungry. Once he leaned on the door and scratched everything with his claws. “Father,” I asked, “how do you survive the winter here?” - And with God's help, Alyosha, with God's help. Of course, in winter there is no way either here or from here. The snow is so high that it's higher than your head. We stock everything up from the summer, from the fall. And in winter we have a cell seat. We pray the Jesus Prayer, some verbally, some mentally, and those who have reached perfection, pray with the heart, that is, the mind connects with the heart. I also have neighbors, they are not visible now, their cells are covered with leaves and bushes. We don’t bother each other, because we all went through a long monastic obedience of 10-15 and 20 years, and at the end of obedience the soul began to ask for peace and solitude. So we were blessed by the abbot to live in the desert and went into these wilds, here we are saved. “There,” the priest pointed with his hand, “lives Flegon, there is Father Mardarius, and there is Father Misail. And up the river lives Father Pavsikakiy, a strict elder, hegumen, with his novice Prov, and next to him is an earthly angel - Father Charalampius and his cell attendant - Father Smaragd. This is our brotherhood. - Well, what if you get sick, father, and, God forbid, die - alone in your cell in winter? “We, Alyosha, usually don’t get sick in the desert, but on the contrary, the Lord heals us here from physical and spiritual illnesses.” Sometimes even from very severe ones, such as consumption, stomach ulcers, mental confusion, asthma. Well, death is not scary for us, it is the gateway to eternal life, union with the sweetest Father Christ. We are preparing for this. Yes, I also have a coffin in the cellar. Let's go, I'll show you! Indeed, Father Kronid had a strong, prepared coffin in his cellar. — To us desert dwellers, the Lord usually reveals our hour of death through our prayers. This is how the mortal will begin, I will repent, partake of the spare holy gifts, go down into the cellar, light a large lamp with wooden oil in front of the icon, lie down in the house, slam the lid, and, if I have the strength, read the canon for the outcome of the soul, and there the Lord will accept my sinful soul. And the brothers visit me from time to time even in winter. They come through deep snow on snowshoes - these are skis. They will see that Hieromonk Kronid has died, they will sing over the body, perform the burial and place the Honorable Cross over the grave. For lunch today, Father Kronid prepared pea soup with onions, stewed potatoes with sauerkraut, we also ate mountain garlic - wild garlic, and drank mint-chamomile tea with forest honey. After lunch, the priest asked: “Well, Alyosha, have you come for the Jesus Prayer?” - Yes, father, follow her. “I won’t refuse, Alyosha, I won’t refuse this good request.” You are not my first and you will not be my last, God willing. Well, what do you think, Alyosha, can everyone master the Jesus Prayer? - What are you talking about, father, what is everyone there, of course, only the chosen ones, and those who have cleansed their souls of sins. And for the most part, of course, they are monks and especially hermits who have left the world. - But no, Alyoshenka, but it’s not at all like that. Whoever gave you this concept was not even close to mastering the Jesus Prayer. Just as during the Great Flood one could only be saved in Noah’s Ark, so in our disastrous time, when the dirty waves of universal evil overwhelmed the universe, one can only be saved in the Orthodox Church. In this image of Noah's Ark. And the doors of the church for salvation are open to everyone, and Christ was crucified on the Cross not for the sake of the elect, but for the sake of the entire human race. Likewise, the Jesus Prayer is not for the elect, but for all who want to be saved and unite with Christ by this golden ladder and ascend to Him. And those who approach the Jesus Prayer do not have to be pure and sinless, for this is a prayer of repentance: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” It is this prayer that transforms the sinner into the pure. She cleanses him of sinful dirt. But you just need to keep in mind that when starting the Jesus Prayer, you must love Christ with all your heart, read the Holy Gospel every day and not only read, but also live according to the Gospel, fulfill all the commandments of Christ, go to church services, partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Anyone who wants to receive saving grace from the Jesus Prayer, when approaching it, must move away from sinful life. The Jesus Prayer will cleanse you of old sinful filth, but it will be invalid if a person continues to sin. The Athonite elders testified that to every prayer appeal: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!” - a response is heard from heaven: “Child, your sins are forgiven you.” But if one who practices the Jesus Prayer continues to sin, heaven is deaf for him, closed, and there is no response from God. In the evening we sat on a bench in front of the cell and admired the flaming mountain peaks, illuminated by the setting sun. - Father Kronid, why do you have the name of the Archangel Michael written on your door? - Oh, Alyosha, this is a protective name. His demons are afraid. And the demons are sent to us - legions. Their demonic prince is trying in every possible way to drive us away from here. He really doesn’t like the fact that here there is constant prayer to Christ and the Mother of God, a bloodless sacrifice is performed - the Eucharist. We greatly disturb and annoy the Lord of the Underworld. What can I say about myself: one day a nasty goat with green glowing eyes climbed into the door. He looked at me, shook his beard, and began to bleach so vilely that my ears began to itch. I burned him with the sign of the cross, and he disappeared as if it had never happened, but the whole day there was a foul smell. Then one day I woke up from a cat’s scream. I see that the whole cell is infested with vipers. The cat is on the stove: its fur is standing on end, it is screaming with fear with a heart-rending cry. Woke up, I wonder where so many snakes come from: are they from a demon or did they crawl in to hunt for mice? There are a lot of snakes in our mountains. I stood up on a bench and read the prayer: “May God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered.” And well, sprinkle these bastards with holy water. They hissed, jumped, rose up, huddled into a ball, which rolled out the door like a whirlwind. I don’t see the demons themselves, but they often do dirty tricks on me, especially from twelve to one in the morning, when I read the “Midnight Office”, they either make me feel terrible melancholy or have blasphemous thoughts. Once I was walking near a cliff, I heard someone below me moaning so pitifully, calling for help. I went downstairs, searched everything around, there was no one. I began to climb up, suddenly from above, from the mountain, a rockfall began, such boulders were jumping past that I broke out in a cold sweat from fear. It’s good that there was a canopy in the rock. I stood under the visor and said a prayer, and that’s how I was saved. And then there's the bear. Huge Caucasian bears live here. So, the demon brought it to my cell. What do I have edible for him? It was spring, and almost everything had been eaten clean during the winter. Of the living creatures there is only one skinny cat, and he is a sinner. As he began to shake the door, the cell began to shake. I was in the hallway and began to shout a prayer through the door: “He who lives in the help of the Most High will dwell in the shelter of the heavenly God.” The bear became even more furious. Well, now my uncle will knock down the door. I took the heavy copper cross in my left hand and took the burning brand out of the stove. With the Jesus Prayer, he opened the door, hit the bear on the flat head with a cross, and quickly stuck a firebrand into its snarling mouth. There was such a howl, such a growl that I almost went deaf. The bear, pounding his head with his paw, rushed into the forest. He screamed and howled like mad. In addition, he left a huge stinking pile at the doorstep and a path all the way to the forest. Based on these signs, I decided that this was not a werewolf, but a real bear, and I probably burned his tongue and throat badly, since he screamed so hard. Of course, Alyosha, I am far from saintly. I repent of what I have done, a sinful old man. The demon also unleashed a bear on St. Seraphim of Sarov, but Seraphim tamed and pacified the beast, and it even took bread from his hands. But I, a sinner, have not reached and will not reach such heights, and I had to drive away the raging beast with both a cross and a brand. The next day, until the evening, the elder and I prepared firewood for the winter in the forest. While on vacation, the elder continued to explain to me about the Jesus Prayer. “Now, Alyosha, is a time when the material tends to jump to the fore, and the spiritual tends to be pushed into a corner.” In this struggle, the Jesus Prayer is a great weapon for an Orthodox Christian; it drives away all sinful, evil thoughts, establishes in the soul peace, goodness, tranquility, and a benevolent attitude towards all of God’s living creation. It prepares us for the Kingdom of Heaven and forever, here on earth, unites us with Christ through prayer bonds. Start studying the Jesus Prayer with a deep repentant mood and observing gradualness. First, the prayer must be pronounced with the lips. This must be a diligent and perhaps years-long exercise. This step of Jesus prayer is simple, pronounce it with your mouth, but thoughtfully. This is one difficulty that you should always keep the words of prayer in your mind. Wherever you are and whatever you do, always quietly pronounce the prayer. There are circumstances when you have to stop the prayer, but do not leave it at all, but renew again. After stubborn works, the prayer is gradually passing into our mind. And the mouth is no longer moving, and prayer is in our mind. If it weakens, then we adjust it with effort, and over time it becomes self -high, maybe only in a dream we don’t hear it, but some also hear her in a dream. And the highest stage is heart prayer. It is not achieved by anyone. This is already perfection when prayer from the mind passes into the chest cavity and gradually connects with our heart. And the heart itself is constantly - both day and night - creating a prayer already outside our will. Only I want to keep you, what can not be done: it is forcibly drive a prayer with the mind in the heart, use all sorts of breathing techniques, surveillance of the pulse and equate artificially prayer to the heartbeat. You can ruin your health and do nothing more. Everything is done gradually, without these tricks. Little by little, from the step to the step of Jesus, prayer will come by itself according to the will of God. Start today, Alyosha. Live around me, and I will observe and help you in this difficult work. And when you return home, then turn to the monks, to the monastery closest to your land. Do not try to advance in this work yourself, otherwise you will be confused again. Feed somewhere at the monastery. The monks are better than others understand this work, since the monk without Jesus prayer is like a soldier without a gun. So, I lived with the priest how much my possibilities allowed. Father blessed me to leave. We said goodbye, and my father of Smaragd spent me before the UNKA gorge. That's all, perhaps, but when I got to Sukhumi, I recalled the intercession of Abraham for Sodom: “Will you really destroy the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in this city? " And the Lord said: "I will spare Sodom for the sake of fifty righteous." And said Abraham: "And if there are twenty righteous people?" And the Lord said: "I will not destroy the city for the sake of twenty righteous." And said Abraham: "And if there are ten?" And the Lord said: "I will not destroy the sake of ten." Our world, drowning in evil and sin, is still the prayers of the righteous who live in monasteries, caves, gorges, clefts, who are either day and night: “Lord, have mercy on us, for the sake of your saint, do not die your creatures, as you are like you Thou God in the Holy Trinity of Combined and inseparable always, now, and ever, and forever and ever, you are our God! Amen".