“WHY DID YOU COME TO ME? THIS IS GURY - HE IS FROM GOD..."

Hegumen Gury

Biographical information.
Hegumen Gury
(Chezlov Yuri (baptized Georgy) Gennadievich) was born on July 25, 1934 in the city of Totma, Vologda Region, into a working-class family.
For many years he lived in the world, worked, had a family and children. At a time when atheism reigned, he fearlessly visited Orthodox churches. I especially often visited the Lazarevskaya Church, which is at the Gorbachevsky cemetery in Vologda. The family broke up, and he decided to devote himself entirely to serving the Lord. On October 4, 1981, in the Lazarevsky Church, the then reigning Archbishop of Vologda and Veliky Ustyug, Michael, tonsured Georgy Chezlov as a monk with the name Gury and ordained him to the rank of hierodeacon. Seven years later, on November 15, 1988, Archbishop Michael elevated him to the rank of hieromonk. Hieromonk Gury was one of the first inhabitants of the reviving Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery. He was often transferred to distant parishes. On April 18, 1996, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II awarded Hieromonk Gury the rank of hegumen. On January 29, 1999, due to deteriorating health, Abbot Gury was dismissed from staff, but even then he did not stop caring for his many spiritual children. On September 6, 2001, Abbot Gury, after a serious illness, reposed in the Lord. Based on materials from the newspaper of the Vologda diocese “Blagovestnik”.
I heard about Abbot Guria long before my first and only meeting with him - in the village of Derzhavino, Buzuluk district, Orenburg region, near the myrrh-streaming icons. The keeper of the miraculous Derzhavin icons, Olga Efimova, spoke of him as an old man by the grace of God. But we are often deceived by beautiful words and beautiful appearance, mistaking for spirit-bearing elders those who do not at all possess this grace of God. Epiphany in such cases can be too painful: someone completely surrenders their will to it. And the price of a mistake can be very high. Therefore, I treated Olga’s words with sufficient caution. And now - another pilgrimage trip to Derzhavino. In the Efimovs’ house there were already pilgrims who had arrived before us (now I can’t remember where from), and an unfamiliar, thin, gray-haired priest (“Hegumen Gury!” Olga joyfully whispered to me) anointed them with the miraculous world from the Derzhavin icons, and when they left, he began to anoint them peace and Samarans. He did this in an unusual way: first he painted a cross on his forehead, and then on his right hand on the inside of the wrist, so that the cross looked like a sword! - went into the palm. Olga Efimova told me that the priest came specially to show how to properly anoint with the oil from the icons. “The Mother of God told him about this and told him to hurry up. In order to quickly teach as many people as possible such an anointing that will strengthen them and help them not to accept the seal of the Antichrist.” After the anointing, I once again, without people, approached the priest and, introducing myself, asked if what I heard was true. But the abbot refused: “There was no apparition to me. Who am I for the Mother of God to come to me... And this is how one must be anointed. When you come home, be sure to anoint your loved ones with the ointment—both their foreheads and their hands.” “He doesn’t want worldly fame,” hegumen Gury Valentina’s cell attendant explained to me. “The Mother of God appeared to him and sent the priest to Derzhavino. Time is pressing, they are already starting to assign “numbers” to people... And she also told me that she saw with her own eyes how Abbot Gury rose into the air during prayer. He supposedly strictly forbade her from disclosing what she saw. I didn’t even ask about this - it’s clear that he would deny all this. It was or wasn’t, you won’t find out from him now... I still don’t know how true these words of hers are. Other spiritual children of Abbot Guria were not granted such a vision. Hegumen Gury looked quite strong, although he was very tired from the long journey. Gray-haired, with a searching gaze of deep and clear eyes, he seemed to glow with some kind of inner light. Far from being eloquent, he did not teach or preach to any of us. But when they asked his advice on what to do for those who, out of ignorance, accepted the Taxpayer Identification Number, he spoke with restrained pain: “They must definitely give up the “numbers” - and quickly! They went to confession, repented before the priest and did penance. — Should penance be strict? - Well, how strict... Sometimes a person doesn’t know what kind of piece of paper they gave him to sign. I would have appointed twelve prostrations to the ground - that’s all. The main thing is to abandon the “number”. That, in fact, is all we talked about then. No matter how warily I perceived the words of Abbot Gury’s cell attendant, my own impression from meeting him was the kindest. And not only mine. Samara pilgrims on the way back could not resist words of admiration: “What a wonderful priest... He glows so much!” Radiant...” Then Abbot Gury came to Derzhavino, already when the Image of the Savior bled. A terrible miracle! For all of us, this is a stern warning about the difficult times ahead and a call to repentance. For Olga herself, the keeper of the icons, according to the priest, this bleeding of the icon also foreshadowed serious trials. She will have to shed her blood... I remember how I persuaded Olga not to take these words to heart - nothing would happen to her. But not much time passed - and this prediction came true: unknown persons twice attempted on Olga’s life, aiming at her heart: two bloody wounds tore through her left shoulder and arm. Time passed and separate news reached about Abbot Guria: someone received a letter from him, someone met him on the station platform... He had long promised to come to Derzhavino, but still did not go. And at the beginning of September, the Samara spiritual children of Hegumen Guria from Vologda received the sad news of his death... When the sad news reached me, my soul reached out to Vologda - to say goodbye to him at least at his grave. And, if the Lord helps, meet those who knew the priest well during his lifetime. And my first attempt was successful. The very fact that, not knowing the city, I came to the Church of the Intercession-on-Kozlen, where the Bishop’s service was expected that morning, was the obvious mercy of God. And after the service, leaving the church, I thought: who to ask about the road to the Spaso-Prilutsky Dimitriev Monastery, where Abbot Gury served. The gaze slid over many faces - and settled on an intelligent man, as they say, “aged.” He answered my question willingly, and while we were walking to the trolleybus stop (we happened to be on the way), he began to talk about the history of this ancient monastery. I asked if he knew Abbot Guria. - But of course! - my travel companion responded. — Not only that: although we didn’t know each other during the war, we served in the same units, in the coast guard. Yuri Ivanovich Sokolov—that was the name of my companion—talked about how he met the priest in the cathedral, and he greeted him with an invariable joke, understandable only to those familiar with maritime affairs: “Have you come?” Well then, shall we drink tea on the klotik? And the klotik is the highest part of a ship’s mast... His character was kind and flexible. A lot of people came to see him, they even came from other cities. He accepted confession unusually - he will draw all your sins out of you... Everyone tried to go to confession with him. He often served prayer services with akathists, and many believers came to him for unction. They said that after the unction he fell ill because he took upon himself the burden of many human sins. Yuri Ivanovich advised me to find the spiritual child of Abbot Guria - Glykeria, who lives in Priluki, not far from the monastery. ...On the penultimate day of my business trip, already preparing to leave for Samara, I was worried: I still hadn’t found Glykeria, I hadn’t visited my father’s grave. And she prayed to herself: “Father Gurie, if you have boldness before the Lord, help!” And the next morning everything went like clockwork. I found Glikeria, talked to her, and she herself suggested that I go together to the Gorbachevskoye cemetery, to the priest’s grave. Glykeria said: “We met Father Gury in 1994, he then served in the monastery - almost from the day it opened. I didn't have very good things to say about him, and I stayed away from him at first. Then this man who slandered the priest came to a bad end - he doesn’t even have a cross on his grave... Well, I began to take a closer look at the priest - so meek, humble. Two priests came out to receive confession, so they stood up more to him, because of this the confession was delayed. Father Galaktion was the rector at that time, and he will say: “Father, you are delaying the service!” But it was not his fault. He listened to everyone very carefully. Moreover, he was old, and his hearing was bad. One day he was beaten so badly for the Lord that after that he became hard of hearing. When I myself got to know him better, I came and repented: “Father, forgive me, a sinner. They told me all sorts of things about you, but I believed it...” He listened to me so well, he didn’t even take offense, he didn’t get angry, he forgave everything with love. In fact, I never saw him lose his temper or make an angry face. He treated me like family - it had not yet been said that I would be his spiritual child, but he somehow accepted me with all his soul. I also began to confess to him and approached him with my questions. I often went to the monastery, the priest told me: “Go whenever you can, go every day!” There was no icon of the martyr Glyceria anywhere, I could not find her. And then one weekday I came to the monastery, and the priest gave me something in an envelope. I say: “Father, what is this?” And he smiles: “But open it, you’ll see.” I opened it and there was an icon of the martyr Glyceria. A little cracked on one side, but for me it was such a joy... Then they brought me another icon from Athos, but Father’s gift is more valuable to me. We were not with the priest for long. Where there was a gap, they sent him there. Now to one parish, then to another. His health was poor, he lived with one kidney - we didn’t even know, and he had to endure so much. He was trouble-free - one and a half hundred kilometers away they call a sick person, he goes. And he came to us in Priluki, a cell was left behind him in the monastery for some time, there he confessed to his spiritual children, talked with us, and instructed. In recent years, he fasted especially strictly. There’s nothing to say about meat, but here I practically didn’t eat fish, or even eggs—most often I ate vegetables. I prayed a lot. The monastic rule itself is very strict, large, so in his synodik only eight hundred names were written down for those who died without repentance. He greatly revered the Tsar-Martyr and the Royal Passion-Bearers. I have been to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra many times, traveled with my spiritual children to Diveevo, to the Ivanovo region, and somewhere else, I don’t know exactly... It seems that since 1997, Abbot Gury began to say that it is impossible to accept a tax identification number. That year I went to the Diveyevo monastery, and just then one woman came to us from the North and said that they were introducing “numbers” there, and they were giving out salaries only by cards. I interrupted again: “Father,” I say, “but our Orthodox Churches from the West—Athos, Greece, Finland—have long warned us about this...” So he instructed us not to accept “numbers” instead of names. Father suffered a lot. One day he was supposed to spend the night in my apartment, but for some reason he didn’t come. Suddenly at night they knock. “Open up, police!” I don’t open it, I ask what they need from me at such a late time. “Is Yuri Gennadievich Chezlov with you?” And this is the worldly name of our priest. I pretended to be a fool, I said, I don’t know anything, and there is no Yuri Gennadievich here. And if, I say, you need something, come during the day, I won’t open it to anyone at night. The Lord covered, everything worked out. I still don’t know who came for the priest and why... Many women came with repentance for the sin of abortion. And Abbot Gury blessed them to make 500 prostrations for each abortion - not on one day, but according to his strength. Bow down slowly, with the sign of the cross and contrite words: “Lord, forgive me, a murderer, for the babies killed in my womb!” But even when she bowed down for all the murdered children, repentance should not leave the mother’s heart. “When you wake up in the morning,” Abbot Gury instructed, “even before the prayer rule, get up on your knees and pray: “Lord, have mercy on my nameless children who died in my womb, for my faith and my tears, for the sake of Your mercy. Lord, do not deprive them of your Divine Light.” You need to pray like this all your life.

Jealousy not for God often boils up in the spiritual children of elders. This misfortune did not spare the flock of Abbot Guria. He was “divided”, and in fact torn into pieces by some of his especially close spiritual children. The last years of his life were poisoned by secret or obvious enmity and intrigue. Glykeria complains that during these years the priest was practically isolated from most of his spiritual children. Part of the Vologda clergy did not accept it either. He died in a hospital in the small Vologda town of Sokola. While he was conscious, he silently endured unbearable pain, only moaning. The kidney completely failed, the pressure rose to 300, the lungs and throat swelled... On August 24, Father Gury, struggling, still spoke with his spiritual daughters and blessed them. The children living in Sokol and those coming from Priluki asked the hospital administration for permission to care for the priest not sporadically, but day and night, replacing each other. They were denied this. And at night, Abbot Guria was given an IV in a sitting position (he could not lie down) and left alone. Losing consciousness, he fell from the bed, bleeding his face. From that time on, Abbot Gury no longer came to his senses. But every day he accepted from the hands of his faithful children a tiny tiny piece of artos or prosphora soaked in Epiphany water. “Let’s go up to him: “Father, take artos and holy water!” - and he’ll open his mouth and accept it,” Glyceria continued. “As soon as he got over it, his throat was swollen, but he accepted holy things until his last day.” We all diligently cheered up in front of him, even though he did not open his eyes, but heard, and we tried to assure the priest that everything would be fine, that he would recover. But what a recovery - it was heading towards death. And on September 6, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, he departed to the Lord. (Later, in the editorial office, I opened the Orthodox calendar for this day - and among many names of saints I saw the name of St. George Limniot. But in Holy Baptism, Abbot Gury was George. Such mercy of God...). His funeral service was held in the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Dionysius, co-served by the brethren of the monastery and the visiting clergy. They buried him in a good place, near the Lazarevskaya Church, where in former years he often visited as a layman and where he was tonsured as a monk. Here, at the Gorbachevsky cemetery, many Vologda clergy lie next to him. From the grave of Father Guria, the church is clearly visible and the bells can be heard. We arrived at the cemetery on March 15, and nine days ago, when we celebrated six months since his death, Glikeria was here with her spiritual sisters. And now there were candles and still fresh flowers on the grave... Returning to Samara, I went to one of the houses on a quiet street in the old city, where Abbot Guria is remembered and prayed for as a deceased spiritual father. And the servant of God Anna, rejoicing at the unexpected news from the priest, told me how in confession he convicted her of a sin that she did not even consider a sin - he convicted her gently, without reproaching: he gave her an example of a certain woman who there was such and such a case in life... She talked about spiritual advice that helped her so much in life. And it seemed that the priest himself was next to us at the festive table on the day of Forgiveness Sunday. Was Hegumen Gury a great elder? Only the Lord knows about this. One thing is certain for me: he was a man of God, a tireless man of prayer and a loving father of all his spiritual children. The good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

On the picture:

Hegumen Gury (Chezlov);
Lazarus Church in Vologda. Olga Larkina 03/22/2002

Prayers

Troparion, tone 3

Lead by the Spirit of God, Holy Hierarch Father Guria, / the country of China with the light of the Gospel, enlightening, / heresies and schisms in the land of Taurides, kind to the conqueror. / Diligently plant the words of Christ in it body, / also for those who honor your multi-healing powers, / pray to Christ God / the mind of truth to us grant // great mercy to our souls.

Troparion, tone 4

Chinese lands to the enlightener / and the Word of God in it, a zealous planter, / Praise to the Russian Church / and the establishment of our lands, / teacher of martyrs / and a warm prayer book for your people to God e,/ to the holy hierarch Father Guria,/ pray to Christ God/ to grant peace to our Fatherland/ / and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion, tone 8

Chosen miracle-working and devoted servant of God, / to our holy father Gurie, / praise to the Tauride Church / and joy to our land, / we will sing your song in prayer, / as you have great boldness towards the Master of heaven and earth, / from all passions, mental ailments and bodily freedoms,/ let us all call to you in tenderness:/ Rejoice, our holy father Guria, // praise and consolation to the Crimean lands!

In kontakion, same voice

God-wise teacher of meekness and humility, wondrous champion of mercy and non-covetousness, / the manifest light of Christ’s teaching to your faithful people, / do not forsake us, Holy Hierarch Father Guria, / / ​​love for those who extinguish your holy memory!

Essays

• On the Divine institution of the episcopal rank
  , August 17, 1853 (master's thesis).
• Conversations between the priest and parishioners about worthy preparation for receiving the Holy Mysteries
  .
• “Letters from Beijing about the successes of Orthodoxy in China,” Irkut.
  Ep. Ved. , 1863.
• Report on the status and activities of the Beijing mission
  .
• Christ.
  read , 1864, part 1.
• Confession of Faith of the Molokans. Donsk. shelf
  , 1875.
• About the Skopchen teaching
  , 1877.
• “Words and Speeches”, Tavrich.
  Ep. Ved. , 1882, No. 8.
• “Letters on the translation of the New Testament into Chinese”, Rus.
  archive , 1893, book. 11, 394.
• “Letters to the Reverend. Jacob about Russian and Greco-ros. church in China in the 17th-19th centuries,” Rus.
  antiquity , 1884, vol. 43.

Literature

• Palimpestov, P., “Reverend. Gury (from my memories)", Rus.
  archive , 1888, III, 165-170.
• Bulgakov, p. 1401, 1413.
• Tolstoy, Yu., No. 388.
• Stroev, P., 291, 490.
• Gatsuk, Calendar for 1883
  , 453.
• Rodossky, A., Slov.
  playback St. Petersburg spirit. acad. , 125-126.
• N.D., 50, 78.
• Savva, archbishop, Chronicle of my life
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• Lists of bishops
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• Proceedings of K. D. A.
  , 1873, August, 346; September, 426-427; 1874, January, 20-21; April-June, 125-127; 1877, March, 653; July, 240; 1878, November, 444; 1879, January, 266, 273, 275; April, 54; 1882, June, 6; July, 327.
• Myself. Ep. Ved.
  , 1868, № 2, 28; 1874, № 3, 50.
• Izv. Kazan. Ep.
  , 1868, № 2, 33; № 3, 92-95; 1869, № 4, 98; 1882, № 8, 186-187; 1887, № 5, 111-112.
• Christ.
  read , 1875, July, 539.
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• East.
  Vestn. , 1884, November, 476; 1885, November, 20; 1888, November, 6.
• Right
  reviewed , 1868, November, 140; 1871, January, 313-314; 1873, January, 593-594; 1875, May, 10-20; 1878, May, 711; 1879, September, 198-203; 1882, April, 787-789.
• Rus.
  antiquity , 1888, January, 84 p/s. 1.
• Rus.
  archive , 1912, No. 9, 86 p/s. 1.
• BEL
  , vol. VII, 724, 725.
• BAYU
  , vol. 7, 748.
• ES
  , vol. IX-a, 912.