Virtual Museum of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Land of Arkhangelsk

Barnabas of Gethsemane
(1831 - 1906), hieromonk, confessor of the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, elder, reverend. Memory on February 17, in the Cathedrals of the Nizhny Novgorod and Radonezh Saints

In the world, Vasily Ilyich Merkulov, was born on January 24, 1831 in the village of Prudishchi, Venevsky district, Tula province, the last, 7th, child of the serfs Ilya and Daria Merkulov. His parents named him in honor of St. Basil the Great. As the elder recalled his childhood, he was nimble and agile. The virtuous life of his parents - especially his mother, his future tonsure - became the basis of mental and spiritual education. From an early age, he went to services with his elders, trying to memorize prayers. Pious parents sent their boy to a school of psalmists, where he studied the Book of Hours and the Book of Psalms. Once, during an attack of serious illness, a suffocating cough forced him to rise in bed, and at that moment the youth saw a young man in a light robe, who, leafing through a book, looked at him tenderly and meekly. The appearance of the angel was confirmed by instant healing - the pain subsided, as if there was no illness. According to his mother, the boy escaped death twice more thanks to God’s help: he remained alive under the wheels of a carriage and after falling from a stove. With the onset of adolescence, Vasily became serious and avoided noisy games.

In 1840, the landowner sold the Merkulov family to the village of Naro-Fominskoye, Moscow province. The new owner ordered Vasily to be trained in plumbing. In his free time from his craft, the youth visited the Zosima Hermitage, located not far from their home, where he met the hermit monk Gerontius, who soon became his confessor.

Novitiate in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

In 1850, his mother went with him on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. There, according to the memoirs of Elder Barnabas:

«
At the end of the service in the Trinity Cathedral, I went up to venerate the relics of St. Sergius and, when I venerated, I felt great joy in my soul. It was inexplicable to me at the time, but it overwhelmed me so much that right there at the shrine of the saint of God, I finally decided, if God willed, to enter under the protection of his monastery
.»

In 1851, the young man went to the Lavra. Soon his mentor, monk Gerontius, in the schema of Gregory, arrived at the monastery, and Vasily became his cell attendant. In 1852, with the blessing of his spiritual mentor, Vasily moved to the Gethsemane skete, located three miles from the Lavra. His spiritual father blessed him to obey the elder monk Daniel. Elder Daniel taught him to completely abandon his own will: according to the memoirs of Elder Barnabas, “ I could not do anything without the elder’s blessing, otherwise the priest would strictly punish me for my self-will.”

.»

Only on November 17, 1856, Vasily received a letter of release from the landowner, after which on December 23, 1857 he became a novice.

He spent several years in plumbing obedience in the Lavra. Later he was assigned to the candle box, and also received the blessing to read the Apostle and the teachings from the Prologue in church.

In 1859 he was transferred to the Cave Department of the Gethsemane Skete - the future Chernigov Skete - where he remained until his death. Here he had to lead pilgrims through the caves, while at the same time he served as a cell attendant to his elder monk Daniel.

With the blessing of his elder, Vasily also visited his first mentor, Schemamonk Gregory, who died in 1862. Before his death, Elder Gregory announced to him the will of God: to take upon himself the feat of eldership after the death of both of his mentors. At the same time, he gave him two large prosphoras and bequeathed to his disciple: “ With this feed the hungry, with words and bread, as God wants!”

“At the end of the conversation, Elder Gregory revealed to his disciple another purpose of God: he was to found a women’s monastery, moreover, far from Moscow. The elder told his spiritual child that the Queen of Heaven Herself would take care of the future monastery and would indicate its place. In Her name the monastery should be consecrated.

Foundation of the Iversky Monastery

At the end of 1863, Vasily for the first time went to the village (now city) of Vyksa, Nizhny Novgorod province, to look for the site of the future monastery.
A mile from the village, he chose a secluded place and prayed fervently here for a long time, then bowed to all four sides, dug a cross at the site of the future monastery, and placed a broken branch at the site of the holy altar. Soon, at his request, the place was consecrated by bringing there the locally revered miraculous Oran Icon of the Mother of God. On November 28, 1863, on the eve of the prayer service for the Oran Icon, Hieromonk Job from the Oran Mother of God Monastery was given a miraculous vision and assurance of the Mother of God Herself about the future monastery. The new Iverskaya monastery began in 1864 as an almshouse. Subsequently, the elder organized donations for the future monastery, directly supervised both the construction and the spiritual life of the monastery, drew up its charter, visited the monastery several times a year, corresponded with the nuns, and tonsured the novices.

Elder Monk

On November 20, 1866, after the death of Elder Daniel, novice Vasily was tonsured into monasticism by the builder of the Gethsemane skete, Hieromonk Anatoly, and named in honor of the holy Apostle Barnabas.

On August 29, 1871, he was ordained a hierodeacon in the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery by Bishop Leonid (Krasnopevkov) of Dmitrov. On January 20 of the following year he was ordained hieromonk in the Vysokopetrovsky Monastery by Bishop Ignatius (Rozhdestvensky) of Mozhaisk.

On January 24, 1873, the Lavra governor, the Monk Anthony (Medvedev), approved Father Barnabas as the people's confessor of the Cave Department of the Gethsemane monastery. Soon he also became the fraternal confessor of the caves, and in 1890 - the confessor of the entire monastery.

In caring for the monks, the monk showed prudence and attention to each monk, “took upon himself to bear the infirmities of his spiritual children.”

Together with his cell attendant he lived in a house near the caves, receiving from five hundred to a thousand people every day. Pilgrims from all over Russia came to the perspicacious elder Varnava, he helped people repent, gave soul-saving advice, and through his prayers the suffering were healed. Most often, the elder advised the sick to pray more warmly and to begin receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ more often. In addition, he advised to refrain from excesses in everything. Pilgrims oh, "gentleness" and caution in his pastoral practice. Through the prayers of the ascetic, family troubles were resolved, and many healings occurred. He advised healing minor illnesses with strict fasting (“ bread and water will not do harm

"), in case of serious illnesses, he sometimes recommended certain doctors.

One of the most striking cases associated with the reverend elder was the healing of the peasant M. Ya. Svorochaev. One day, the wife of the paralyzed peasant Mikhail Svorochayev came to the elder; she asked to pray for the unfortunate man, who had been bedridden for ten years. Elder Barnabas blessed the woman and said: “ Pray, servant of God, pray: the Lord is merciful - your husband will rise.”

..." Returning home, the woman praised the Lord: the healed husband came out to meet her on the porch.

The elder also showed the gift of foresight. For example, when novice Zachary, the future elder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, arrived as a pilgrim to the Gethsemane monastery, the elder called him out of the crowd and called him “the Lavra monk.”

A legend has been preserved that in January [1] 1905, the passion-bearer Tsar Nicholas II visited the elder. Elder Barnabas not only confirmed the prophecy already known to the sovereign about the impending fate of martyrdom, but also blessed him to accept this fate, strengthening in him the will to bear his cross when the Lord was pleased to place this cross on him.

The elder predicted future persecution for the faith to many, and gave direct and precise instructions on how to live in their twenties, thirties and subsequent years. Elder Barnabas also predicted the coming revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, saying:

«Persecution against faith will continually increase. Unheard of grief and darkness will cover everyone and everything, and churches will be closed. But when it becomes unbearable to endure, then liberation will come... Temples will be erected again. Before the end there will be blossoming

» [2].

The elder conducted extensive correspondence with spiritual children, often answering letters without opening them. Among his spiritual children were the Venerable Seraphim of Vyritsky, Bishop Tryphon (Turkestan), and the philosopher K. N. Leontyev, who was entrusted to the leadership of the elder by the Venerable Ambrose of Optina.

In January 1906, the elder was diagnosed with acute catarrh of the respiratory tract, and his vision weakened. He died on February 17 of that year, taking confession in the Assumption House Church of the Sergiev Posad Charity House of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, having confessed more than 400 people. After making his last confession, the elder with the cross proceeded to the altar and died. The Monk Barnabas was buried on February 21, with a large crowd of brethren, spiritual children and admirers in the Iveron chapel of the monastery, behind the altar of the underground Church of the Archangel Michael, not far from the miraculous Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God.

Meeting Elder Gerontius changed the life of young Vasily: he wanted to become a monk

We know quite a lot about the life of the elder. He was born on January 24, 1831 and had the world name Vasily Ilyich Merkulov. It cannot be said that childhood was rosy, because the family belonged to serfs.

The young man grew up under the supervision of believing parents, was baptized and well brought up. I managed to visit the temple, and later I was even lucky enough to visit the Trinity-Odigitrievskaya Zosima Hermitage.

There the future monk met a local hermit named Gerontius.

This monk noted the boy among his spiritual children and made a strong impression on him. Apparently, the meeting did not happen by chance, but by the will of God, for in the 40s Vasily decided to become a monk.

Photo of Father Barnabas of Gethsemane

In 1851 he received the blessing of his parents. The landowner apparently released the peasant's son without any objections. And it was precisely this fate that was one of the most prosperous options for people of the peasant class.

Childhood and adolescence

Vasily's parents, Ilya and Daria Merkulov, were serfs. Good and God-fearing people, they rejoiced at the birth of their son and named him in honor of Saint Basil the Great. As the elder recalled his childhood, he was a nimble and active boy. Devout parents sent their boy to a school of psalmists, where he studied the Book of Hours and the Book of Psalms. Some time later, the landowner, the owner of the Merkulovs, sells them to the village of Naro-Fominskoye, Moscow province. The new owner, Prince Shcherbatov, orders the teenager to be taught plumbing. In his free time from his craft, Vasily visits the nearby Zosimova Hermitage and meets the hermit - the monk Gerondiy. This forces him to make a decisive change in life - to devote himself to serving God.

In the monastery of Barnabas of Gethsemane he found a second mentor - monk Daniel

At the age of twenty, the future saint found himself on the threshold of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and entered it. Elder Gerontius accompanied the novice Vasily.

The governor of the Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony (Medvedev), also treated Vasily with special respect.

The walls of the monastery seemed too crowded to the novice Vasily, he asked for privacy.

A month later, the novice asked to be sent to a more secluded place. The governor yielded and ordered that the Lavra monk, the elder of the Gethsemane skete, Daniel, take a novice to him.

This man taught Vasily a lot, who, in turn, carried out the obedience of a mechanic in the monastery. He learned to work with tools in his peasant adolescence.

Novice of the Gethsemane Skete

He was especially confirmed in this when in 1850 he visited the Trinity - Sergius Lavra with his mother. A year later, Vasily went there together with Gerondiy, who decided to end his life near the relics of Sergius of Radonezh, and in 1852, with the blessing of the governor of the Lavra, Anthony moved to the Gethsemane monastery, located three west from the Lavra. This monastery lived according to the rules of the Sarov Hermitage, described by the Sarov elder Paisius the Great. During his stay at the monastery, the monk Daniel (Skhimovsky) had a particularly great influence on the future elder. On February 17, 1856, Vasily received a letter of release, that is, freedom from the landowner. On December 23, 1857, he became a novice. And only almost ten years later, on November 20, 1866, after the death of Elder Daniel, Vasily took monastic vows and subsequently carried out the feat of eldership under the name Barnabas (“child of mercy, son of consolation”).

At the request of Elder Gerontius, novice Barnabas founded the Iveron Convent

Years passed, obediences changed, until in 1861, the dying schemamonk Gregory (the same Elder Gerontius) asked his student to take on the feat of eldership when both of his mentors died.

Iversky Convent in Vyksa (founded by Barnabas of Gethsemane)

He also said that Vasily should found a women’s monastery in a remote place remote from Moscow, such is the will of God. In this mission the help of the Holy Mother of God will be revealed, so there is no need to be afraid.

Two years later, in 1863, novice Vasily actually became the founder of the Iversky Convent (Vyksy).

People's confessor

In 1871, Barnabas was ordained as a hierodeacon, on January 10, 1872, as a hieromonk, and some time later, the governor of the Lavra confirmed him in the rank of national confessor of the Caves of the Gethsemane monastery. From this moment on, Barnabas's fame among believers began. Pilgrims from many parts of Russia come for his blessing. In the testimonies of contemporaries who communicated with him, we find many examples of the Elder’s foresight. In January 1905, the martyr Emperor Nicholas II himself went to confession to Barnabas.

After the death of the last of the mentors, Father Barnabas became an old man

In 1865, Vasily’s second mentor, Elder Daniel, also died, so a year later the novice took monastic vows. They named him Barnabas.

From this moment on, he takes on the heavy burden of old age. It’s difficult for Father Barnabas, because he is not a miracle worker. But the suddenly found Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God helps. She works miracles - heals people.

1872

the year when Hieromonk Varnava became the people's confessor

People came to the icon, and then went to the elder for advice, help, and consolation. There is a rumor that Nicholas II once came to consult with the elder, but the details of this event are unknown.

Since 1872 he has been Hieromonk Varnava, and exactly a year later he has been the people’s confessor of the Cave Department of the Gethsemane Skete (the future Chernigov Skete).

On February 17, 1906, Barnabas of Gethsemane confessed to one woman, went to the altar and died on his knees. The same date is the day of his memory.

Elder Barnabas (Merkulov)

The story of the French woman Mary Magdalene Hamel

I lived for several months with the T-x family when I saw Father Barnabas for the first time. For a long time now I had heard stories about the priest, stories full of reverence and love, and I felt a great desire, mixed, I confess, with a considerable amount of curiosity, to see the object of such veneration.

My Catholic imagination painted me an image of Father Barnabas, similar to our famous Catholic priests with inspired gestures, perfumed hands, elegant and eloquent. Suddenly we were told that Father Barnabas had arrived. To my surprise, I saw that a short, gray-haired monk came out of the carriage, with extraordinary simplicity, nothing like what I had imagined, but the expression on his face breathed with such love, such kindness and affection that involuntarily tenderness filled my soul. However, I immediately tried to expel this feeling from my heart and made all possible efforts to dispel my first reverent impression, saying to myself: “Now, I’ll start kissing this old monk’s hand, like everyone else does here: no, you won’t wait.” and with these words I hastened to leave; but it was as if someone was forcefully pulling me and Father Barnabas.

Soon after this first meeting, I became seriously ill with two internal inflammations. The danger was so great that the two doctors who treated me, after a consultation, decided that it was necessary to telegraph my sister in Africa, to warn her of my dangerous situation, so that she could see me again before the operation, which they considered necessary, but for the outcome which they did not guarantee. My temperature remained at 41° (Reomur); the suffering was so great that I screamed for hours and for five days I could not only sleep, but I could not even close my eyelids, despite the unbearable fatigue that tormented me.

The doctors were still in the living room and talking about my illness, when a relative and neighbor on the T-kh estate, Mr. S., arrived. He was returning from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and his first question was:

- Well, what about your French girl? “It’s bad,” they answered him.

“Apparently, she is very sick,” said Mr. S. “After all, you know that I myself am completely sick, and, despite this, Father Barnabas ordered me to definitely come to you today to bring this Iveron Icon of the Mother of God to the sick French woman.” . I wanted to postpone my trip to you until tomorrow, telling the priest that I was not feeling well and was afraid of getting tired driving along the bad road that divides our estates. Which one is here? Father didn’t want to listen. “No, no, you will take the image this evening, you hear, certainly this evening to the sick Frenchwoman.”

Sister T-x brought me the priest’s blessing. With tender joy I kissed the holy image of the Mother of our Lord. Then, putting the icon under my pillow, for the first time during the entire duration of my illness I fell into a deep sleep, and when an hour later the doctors came to look at me again, the temperature dropped by several degrees, and they found my situation so improved that they decided to wait until the next day to decide whether the operation would be necessary (an hour ago they considered it necessary). The next day I was almost out of danger, and the doctors were amazed to see how quickly I recovered from my dangerous illness. It is easy to understand with what impatience I awaited the next visit of Father Barnabas after my healing, which I attributed entirely to his prayers.

Six months have passed since I saw the priest again, and this second meeting with him is deeply etched in my memory thanks to the truly fatherly kindness that the elder showed me here. After dinner we all gathered in the living room around Father Barnabas. I sat a little further away, but close enough to hear everything the priest said. There were fruits on the table, and Father Barnabas distributed them to family members, then, taking a branch of grapes, he came up to me.

- Well, Mary Magdalene, you will also share our meal, here you go, eat this branch of grapes.

“Father,” I answered, “my name is not Mary Magdalene: I was named Mary in honor of the Mother of God.”

“No, no, Mary Magdalene,” the elder said quietly. (Five years later I accepted Orthodoxy and the name of Mary Magdalene, but at that time the thought of changing my faith did not even occur to me.)

Some time later I had a strange dream about my father. I see myself in T’s living room, and Father Barnabas is talking with the owner of the house. It’s as if I’m standing a little to the side and asking myself with curiosity; “Is it true that Father Barnabas has the gift of clairvoyance from the Lord, as they say about him? Will he guess what I’m thinking about now, and will he tell me whether I should send my sister to Russia or not?” Suddenly, as if Father Barnabas turns to me and says: “No, no, leave your sister to live where she lives, she will get married and be happy, and you wait three years, in three years and you will be happy.” At this point I woke up and with my eyes open I still clearly saw the priest in front of me. I immediately told Mrs. T. everything and asked her to tell the priest about this when she saw him. Father has arrived. I entered the living room to greet him.

- Oh, father! - Madame T told him. - I forgot to tell you that the other day Mademoiselle Maria saw you in a dream...

“You shouldn’t believe dreams,” the elder interrupted her. - Satan often takes on the wings of an angel in order to deceive the faithful even in a dream.

Then, turning to me, the priest added:

- If you believe in dreams, I will come to you in a dream.

“Oh, father, now I will believe,” I exclaimed, “I will believe on purpose so that I can see you often in my dreams.”

“That’s what she is,” Father Barnabas said with a smile. Then, to my great amazement, he added:

- And leave your sister to live where she lives, she will get married and be happy, and you wait three years, in three years and you will be happy (this was word for word what the father told me in a dream, and note that Mrs. T. didn’t have time to tell him anything about my dream).

“But, father, how will my sister get married,” I told him, “she lives so far away, in Africa, and doesn’t know anyone there.”

- She will return to her home.

“No, father,” I argued, “she can’t return so soon: she lives so well in the place where she is now.”

“Well, smart girl, you know better than me: but you’ll see,” said Father Barnabas.

A few months later I learned that my sister was returning to France to get married. And the happiness that my father predicted for me related to my acceptance of Orthodoxy, which happened exactly three years later.

When Father Barnabas came to T-m again, I ran to meet him, asking for his blessing to go to France for my sister’s wedding, for the wedding that he so wonderfully predicted for me several months ago. But, to my surprise, the priest resolutely opposed my departure. At first, jokingly, he began to say:

- You want to dance at a wedding and break your leg, will it be pleasant for you to return to Russia lame? “Then he added seriously: “Are you sure that your sister will be happy with you, that you will not upset her happiness?” Do you know who she is marrying?

Then only I remembered an incident from my early youth, namely, that my future son-in-law proposed to me when I was about 17 years old, and I stood in front of my father, amazed by his wondrous insight.

Father Barnabas came to T-m in the last week of Maslenitsa. He was in the hall with his whole family, and at the other end of the large long house I was talking with the old English woman who was in charge of the household. Seeing that she was carrying a dish of game in her hands, I told her:

- Please, be kind, save all this game for me for breakfast and in general for the next week: everyone here eats lean, and I will eat to my heart’s content, because I don’t intend to fast, firstly, I can’t stand lean; I’m so anemic that I’m sick even from Catholic fasting (with butter and eggs), and the smell of your vegetable oil makes me sick, and besides, I really love game.

After these words, I returned to the hall, and the priest, seeing me, said:

“Come here, Mary Magdalene, come and sit next to me.”

I sat down next to him, and the priest took my hand:

—Are you a Christian, Mary Magdalene?

“Oh, yes, father,” I answered.

- How do you make the sign of the cross?

I started making the sign of the cross and involuntarily crossed myself in the Orthodox way.

“Father,” I said then, “I cannot be baptized as our church requires: my hand involuntarily rests first on my right shoulder - in the Orthodox way.” Father Barnabas smiled.

- This is good, Mary Magdalene, and let your fast also be Orthodox.

I was completely confused and quickly ran to the Englishwoman.

- No, no, dear, give all this meat to the people; I will try to fast like all of you, and I hope that the priest’s prayers will help me, because, imagine, he reproached me for my gluttony, as if he had heard everything that I recently told you. Yes, I’ll try to fast, but if I get very weak, you’ll tell me to roast a lamb, won’t you?

I confess that I added this sad ending about the lamb to my good intention to fast, because at that time my faith in the power of the priest’s prayer was not yet as strong as it later became.

I will not lengthen my story by describing in detail how Father Barnabas resolutely kept me at T’s when I was at one time thinking of leaving my family, or how the priest looked for me in the crowd when I was in the Chernigov monastery. The priest’s spiritual children know well how the elder guessed their presence, despite the crowd that hid them from his eyes. I will only say that at each meeting with the priest, his insight and wondrous kindness attracted me more and more, and the thought of converting to Orthodoxy arose in my soul. Every day this desire gripped me with greater force. Father Barnabas clearly read in my soul, although I never told him about my desire to change my faith; but he patiently waited for the moment when I was ready for this great change in my life.

One autumn day, as I remember now, it was September 17, 1904, my father suddenly immediately said to me:

- Well, what are you waiting for, the time has come, it’s time for you to become Orthodox.

“Father, I’m really thinking about this,” I answered, “but I’m not ready yet, I don’t know how to speak Russian, I won’t even be able to confess.”

“It’s okay, you’ll learn,” said the priest, “go to Bishop Tryphon, tell him that I sent you: he will understand you and will help you in everything.”

We had this conversation with the priest on September 17, and on the 26th of the same month, in Moscow, in the Church of the Great Martyr Catherine, Father John A., to whom Bishop Tryphon sent me, joined me to Orthodoxy. Before confession, Father John asked me:

- You will need to change your name, what do you want to take?

“Father Barnabas always called me Mary Magdalene,” I answered, “and therefore it seems to me that it is best for me to choose this name.”

“Oh, without a doubt, if Father Barnabas called you that, we will call you Mary Magdalene,” said Father John.

And that evening at the all-night vigil they read the Gospel about Mary Magdalene. Father A. and I were deeply amazed by this.

After receiving the Holy Mysteries, I went to Trinity to venerate the holy relics and receive the priest’s blessing. I missed the train, and I had to arrive at the Chernigov caves only at 8 o’clock in the evening, the priest was already in his cell, and they didn’t want to let me see him, saying that Father Barnabas was already resting and that I should come tomorrow. At that moment I heard the key turn in the lock of my father’s room, and the voice of Father Barnabas called me:

- Maria, come here, I was waiting for you. Are you Orthodox?

“Yes, father, from today,” I answered, amazed that father already knew about this before anyone had time to tell him about it.

Father invited me to go with him to his monastery on Vyksa, and I had the good fortune to be among those who were present at the elder’s anniversary on October 13, 1904.

Some time after what was described, I almost got married. Now, when I remember the past, my proposed marriage seems to me true madness. My fiancé was a Protestant, much younger than me and completely unsuitable for me either in character or position. I say this now, but at the time I thought completely differently. Father Barnabas was against this wedding from the very first minute. He responded evasively to all my attempts to get a blessing from him.

“It’s not me who’s getting married, I’ll tell you anyway that I’m not blessing you, but you’ll still do it your own way.”

Then I began to assure myself that these words were still like a blessing, and so I managed to convince myself of this that I gave my word to the young man, and we scheduled the wedding for January 30, having made all the necessary preparations regarding the dowry and documents. And during all this time, since my conscience was not clear, I avoided talking to the priest about my engagement, although I met him several times. If I could see more clearly at that time, I would have noticed that the priest in every possible way expressed his dissatisfaction with my future marriage. He spoke about this to everyone who came to him; he went to the estate of Mr. S., T.’s closest neighbor, but refused to visit the latter because their French wife had decided to marry without his blessing.

And yet I was not calm: the approach of my marriage, instead of making me happy, filled my heart with inexplicable horror and despair. Finally, two days before the 30th, when the wedding was scheduled, I could not stand it and decided to go see the priest in order to beg, if not his blessing, then at least his prayers for me.

I arrived at the Chernigov caves, trembling with fear, anticipating the elder’s displeasure. I was waiting for him on the porch. Father did not call me to his cell, as he always did, he went out onto the porch and, approaching me, said in a stern voice:

- Why did you come up with the idea of ​​marrying an unbeliever? Give me your ears, I’ll tear you out.

And with these words, right there in front of everyone, he grabbed me tightly by the ear, and then, leading me into his cell, the priest turned to me with an even more stern face and said:

- What did you plan to do and why did you come to me?

- Father, I came to ask for your blessing.

-What blessing?

- Father, my wedding is the day after tomorrow, I ask for your blessing.

- Your village priest will bless you... Why did you come here?

- Yes, I need your blessing, father!

- Go away, go away, what a blessing there is, I won’t bless you. Do you know that I was recently near you at S.’s estate, but I didn’t stop by because of you. And I will never come to you again, I understand, never again. Well, go away, you have nothing to wait here.

With these words, the priest went into his inner cell, but almost immediately returned and asked: “Well, are you still here, what, what are you waiting for?”

- All your blessings, father.

- I told you that I wouldn’t bless you. Leave!

- I won’t leave, father!

- So what are you going to do?

“I’d rather refuse my fiancé, but I won’t leave without your blessing.”

“If you refuse, you’ll cry yourself,” said the priest, but then he added, not so sternly: “You know, I never give blessings for the crown before Lent.” Lent is not the time to rejoice: you need to pray and cry about your sins, and you still want to marry an unbeliever. He says that he will convert to Orthodoxy, this is only to marry you, he is deceiving you, believe me, you will see for yourself. And you will come to me to bow with tears and thank me. Is everything ready for you?

- Father, the wedding should be the day after tomorrow.

“Put it off until after Easter, and then you’ll see for yourself.” Well, daughter, God bless you, go home, and if you listen to me, I’ll come, I’ll come on purpose to see you, I understand, I’ll come on purpose on Thursday or Friday at Maslenitsa. Tell T that I'll be with them.

After this, the priest blessed me, and I still left with a lighter heart, although I cried all the way home without drying my eyes.

Indeed, Father Barnabas came to T-m on Friday, February 10th. This was his last visit, because on the following Friday, February 17, his holy soul departed to the Lord.

My greatest consolation, a consolation that will live in my soul as long as I live on earth, and which helped me survive the terrible, inexpressible grief that struck us all, was the joy of Father Barnabas when he learned of my obedience in the matter of marriage. Every time the priest spoke about this, he smiled cheerfully, otherwise he was so weak, so exhausted by illness and so, apparently, grieved, parting with all his spiritual children. We did not notice that he was saying goodbye to us; but he clearly foresaw his death.

Mrs. T-a asked him if he would come to them to fast.

“No, you won’t have me with you anymore after fasting,” the elder said quietly, then, turning to me, he added:

“And the nun for whom I prepared a cell in the Iveron Monastery and who was planning to get married, I will see you on the fourth, fifth week of Lent, and then I will tell you everything.”

On February 18, we learned the sad news that our good, dear old man had left us to move to heaven, where his holy soul had lived for a long time. On February 21, the priest’s funeral took place, and I really bowed to the ground with tears and thanked him for everything he was to me. Immediately at the priest’s coffin, I took the wedding ring off my hand and said to the priest, as if he were still alive: “Neither now nor after Easter did you want this: I will never marry this man.” And the answer to these words was the feeling, while I was kissing the priest’s left hand, that his right hand rose to bless me. I felt this so clearly that I remained bent over for several minutes to give the priest time to cross me, despite the police, who forcibly pulled me aside, and the huge crowd, which pushed and crowded me, so that, in turn, they could approach the remains. our dear old man.

Returning to T, I hurried to return the ring to my fiancé, which was supposed to unite us forever, and at the same time decisively told him: “Father told me to wait until Easter and then he will tell me what to do. Now he is gone, he can no longer bless us, and therefore I will not be your wife; I promised this o. Barnabas, when she said goodbye to him forever. Here is your ring, try to forget me.”

A few hours later, one of the elder’s spiritual children suddenly says to me:

“You know what, I just saw the priest, or rather, I felt his presence so clearly that my whole heart was filled with joy.” His face was as if in a fog, I clearly saw only his hands, and, what was strange, Barnabas’s father, who never wore rings during his life, had a gold wedding ring on his finger. What could this mean?

- Oh, it will be easy for me to explain this to you... Father approved my decision; I just returned the ring to my fiancé and told him that I would not be his wife. It's over between us. How I thank you for telling me about your vision; Now I have no doubt and do not regret it: I see clearly that I have fulfilled the will of God.

I must add here that every day after that I saw and understood more and more clearly and understood from what terrible danger my father saved me and what an unhappy life my life would have been if I had not then listened to our dear, perspicacious elder and had married against his wishes.

In the 4th week of Great Lent, I came to Moscow to fast: I confessed on Saturday and received Holy Communion on Sunday, that is, on the first day of the fifth week. On the night from Saturday to Sunday I had a dream, that is, I can hardly call it a dream, because the dream was so light that at the same time I was aware of everything that was happening around me. I saw myself in the Chernigov monastery. The weather is rainy, damp, there is a huge crowd around me, and I sadly ask myself how I can get through this crowd to Father Barnabas, whose cell is supposedly locked. Suddenly the door opened, and Father Barnabas, coming out onto the stairs, called me: “Come here, Mary, I’ll feed you.” The crowd, seeing that he addressed me, first moved a little apart, and then again squeezed me from all sides. Then the priest seemed to come up to me again, took me by the hand and, leading me into the cell, repeated: “Come, come here, Maria, I’ll feed you.”

After that, the image of the elder disappeared, and I found myself in the cell alone with the priest’s cell attendant. My heart sank with a feeling of emptiness and complete loneliness. Trembling all over with some kind of unaccountable fear, I turned to my father’s cell attendant, asking him: “For God’s sake, father, tell me, where is Father Barnabas?”

- He went to say goodbye; “Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow he leaves us forever, you won’t see him again,” Father P answered me.

“Lord,” I shouted, “will I really not receive his last blessing,” and with these words I seemed to run out onto the porch to find the priest. Again the crowd seemed to suddenly move apart to let the coffin pass, and in this coffin I recognized Father Barnabas.

I see that the coffin has been placed in the cell under the image, and we are again alone with the elder: Father P., me and some other unknown wanderer. Then, throwing myself on my knees, I say to the priest with a bitter sob: “Father, have you really left me completely alone after you promised to feed me, what will I do without you? Father! Father, don’t leave me, have pity on me!..”

And suddenly it was as if the old man opened his eyes, sat down in the coffin and said to me with a smile: “Why are you crying, what are you upset about?..” - and after blessing me, he added for the third time: “I told you that I will feed you.” , well, calm down, I will, I will feed you.”

And then the elder closed his eyes and lay down in the coffin again. After that, everything disappeared, but in my soul there remained a bright consolation and confidence that our dear father did not leave me forever, but that he continues to lead my life, as he has done until now.

I hurried to get up and tell my family members about my dream. Everyone was silent for a long time when I finished, and then one of the young Ts suddenly exclaimed:

- Why are you surprised, because the priest promised you that you would see him on the 4th, 5th week of Lent, so he came to you as he promised. Returning from the funeral of Father Varnava, I accidentally met a priest from the village of Kotova from near Naro-Fominsk in the carriage. The elder spent his childhood in this village, and members of his family and his father Ilya Merkulov are buried there. Father Theodore (that was the name of the priest) told me a lot about the hardships and difficulties that the poor church was going through.

His simple story and the minute of our meeting made a deep impression on me, and upon returning home, I decided to set up a piggy bank and collect whoever could give what for the benefit of this church every Sunday.

The consecration of the renovated church was supposed to take place on May 28, 1906, and Father Theodore promised to write to me so that I could be at the consecration, but there was still no letter from him. I decided that I would not send money before I collected 50 rubles in my piggy bank. I placed my piggy bank under the portrait of Father Barnabas, asking him to bless my collection, and every time someone put money there, I counted how much was added. Now I was sure that I had collected about 32 rubles. One morning one of our girls comes to me and says to me:

- Do you know what a strange dream I had today? In a dream I see some man I don’t know who says to me: “Go tell Marya Nikolaevna that she has more money in her piggy bank than she thinks.” He even told me how much, but I forgot, I only remember that it was the number 7.

“What nonsense,” I answered, “I’m sure that I collected 32 rubles, and until I reach 50, I won’t open the piggy bank.”

Mrs. T-ya mpe noticed that the dream was so strange that if she were me, she would now open the piggy bank: “Who knows,” she added, “if it was the father of Father Barnabas who came to warn us that money is really needed for the consecration of the temple , maybe they are a little short, and your money will be very useful.” Then I hurried to open the piggy bank and found 57 rubles 37 kopecks in it. The whole family was so surprised by this that they began to add as much as they could to the collected money, and in one minute I had already accumulated 70 rubles, which I immediately sent to Kotovo, where they received them on the eve of the consecration of the temple.

My story is over. Unbelievers and indifferent people will probably see in him several accidents, more or less strange, but the spiritual children of the priest will find in him that wondrous kindness and insight that was sent down by the Lord to our dear elder, and that Christian love that lives forever and that surrounds us and now, keeping our souls for God and comforting our orphaned hearts.

Barnabas of Gethsemane was canonized in 1995, believers can pray to him for guidance

In 1995, on the day of the Radonezh saints, Barnabas of Gethsemane was canonized and canonized.

February 17

Memorial Day of Barnabas of Gethsemane

The relics of the saint are kept in the church in honor of the Chernigov Icon of the Mother of God (Chernigov Skete).

His spiritual son and follower is St. Seraphim Vyritsky.

Since the canonization occurred recently, there are no rules for what to pray for in front of the icon of Barnabas of Gethsemane. But we know that saints themselves do not answer prayers, but pass them on to God, so you can make any requests.

Icon of Barnabas of Gethsemane

But it’s better if they echo the life of the saint, so it’s worth asking him:

• About strengthening in faith;
• About finding a way out of difficult life circumstances;
• About the forces needed to accomplish an important task;
• About help in difficult work.

Prayers

Troparion, tone 5

From the youth of Christ, having loved God more purely,/ you were the son of consolation,/ like Father Barnabo./ By your name your life was:/ to the afflicted, and to the poor, and to the King,/ the shepherd of the Now, you have appeared, the comforter and healer./ Remember us, O blessed One Father,/ may God, the giver of life, grant us comfort// and great mercy through your warm prayers.

Kontakion, tone 2

To the sorrowful one of the Russian land, St. Sergius/ from his youth you followed, O holy Barnabo,/ and the covenant of your elder, this rexhago:/ as God willeth, feed the hungry with word and bread,/ according You have fulfilled the truth to the end./ For this reason, even now we pray to you;/ do not forsake us, comforting father, // with your heavenly love.

Organizer of the Iveron Monastery on Vyksa

Eldership in Rus' was a special form of monasticism. The elders left behind not only a purely spiritual, but also a material embodiment of this spirituality - monasteries that lived under their influence. A lot of effort and work about. Barnabas contributed to the creation of our Iversky convent. The monastery traces its history back to 1863, when the first nuns appeared in the almshouse that was built here. Thanks to the efforts of the elder, by the beginning of the 20th century the monastery began to flourish.

On February 17, 1906, the elder passed away. And on the 19th, in response to the request of the sisters of the Iveron Monastery to bury the elder within the walls of the monastery, the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod responded with a telegram that the deceased would be buried in the brotherly cemetery of the Gethsemane Skete. In 1913, the question was raised about renaming the Vyksa Convent Iversky Varnavsky Convent. But his decision was apparently hindered by war and revolution.

Prayers

Troparion, tone 5

From childhood you loved Christ God purely, / you were the son of consolation, O Reverend Father Barnabas. / According to your name and life, / you appeared to the afflicted, the poor, and the King, / a meek shepherd, a comforter and a healer. / Remember us, gracious father, / may God, the giver of life, grant us comfort and great mercy through your warm prayers.

Kontakion, tone 2

From your youth you followed the saddened figure of the Russian land, the Venerable Sergius, O holy Barnabas, / and the covenant of your elder, who recited: / “This is what God wants: / feed the hungry with words and bread,” - you truly fulfilled it to the end. / For this reason, we now pray to you; / do not forsake us, comforting father, / with your heavenly love.

Greatness

We bless you, Rev. Father Barnabas, and honor your holy memory, teacher of monks and interlocutor of Angels.

Prayer

O Reverend Father Barnavo, our meek and comforting shepherd, merciful helper and warm prayer book for us! You were a child of God's blessing from a young age, and you showed the image of obedience to a parent, obedience to the Lord and service to others. Having loved the commandments of the Lord, you flocked to the Lavra of St. Sergius, and you appeared as his faithful disciple. While staying in the monastery of the Mother of God by the command of Abbot Anthony, you acquired the spirit of humility, meekness and patience, and you received the gift of reasoning and insight into spiritual thoughts from God. For this reason, you were a spiritual mentor to the monastics, the creator of the nuns of the Iverskaya monastery on Vyksa River, and to all the suffering and sick, you were a healer and merciful guardian even until the hour of death. After your repose, God will show many mercies to those who honor your memory, and the monk will teach you faithfully. In the same way, we pray to Thee, righteous Father, as before, intercede before God with Thy prayers for all people in every rank to acquire the spirit of comfort and gain for everyone: for the young, to preserve obedience and chastity through the fear of God; in the age of existence - the love of God and the consent to acquire; for those who are hungry - not only to be satisfied with their daily bread, but especially to be satisfied with the word of God; for those who cry - to be comforted; an exile and a wanderer - to find shelter; beings in prison - to be freed from bonds; for the pious - to grow in the Spirit of God and achieve humility. Descend to us in all the paths of our life, and moreover, beg our Lord for the forgiveness of our sins and untruths and direct our feet to the light of God’s commandments, so that with one heart and mouth we glorify the Most Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.