Andrew the Blessed, Fool for Christ's sake
July 17 this year will mark the 255th anniversary of the birth of Andrei Ilyich Ogorodnikov (1763-1841), who during his lifetime gained wide fame far beyond the borders of Simbirsk.
He was born into a poor middle-class family. From the age of 7, Andreyushka “[...] in winter, in the most severe frosts, and in summer, regardless of any changes in the weather, he began to run through the streets of the city barefoot, wearing only a long shirt, and from that time on he became an object of reverent veneration and surprise for some, doubts and prejudices are for others, and for some, fortunately few, the subject of ridicule and mockery.”
P.L. Martynov wrote: “Deprived, apparently, of all the gifts of nature, crouched, having a pitiful appearance, Andrei Ilyich took upon himself the feat of foolishness and silence for the rest of his life. After the death of his parents, he and his sister Natalya, who served him until his death, took refuge in a hut built for him in 1813 by landowner E.A. Milgunova, on Panskaya Street […]. One of his usual activities was to stand in one place for hours at a time, swinging from foot to foot. […] So for whole days, and sometimes nights, he stood on the church porch or on the bell tower, in the bitter cold, barefoot, in only a shirt; he pulled cast-iron pots out of a blazing oven with his bare hands; kissed a boiling samovar, and it happened that he doused himself with boiling water - and all this had no effect on his health.”
In the first decades of the 19th century, St. Andrew lived in the parish of the Ascension Church.
“Particular attention of his contemporaries was drawn to Andrei Ilyich’s undoubted gift of foresight; everything he gave to those who met him had significance and meaning: whoever gave money, he got rich and became rich; to whom he offered a chip or land, he soon died; before the house passed into the wrong hands or before a fire, he came with a broom and began sweeping the owner’s yard.”
The clergy noted that the veneration of the blessed one intensified many times during the Patriotic War of 1812: “Many of the noble noble families began to visit the wonderful Russian holy monasteries.” But in the Sarov desert, Seraphim of Sarov “[...] refused to bless the Simbirsk pilgrims who came to him and, sending them to their native city to Andrei Ilyich, said: “Why are you bothering to come to me, the poor one, - you have better food than me, Andrei your Ilyich." Faith in him as a righteous man, patronizing Simbirsk with his prayers, was unshakably strengthened.
On November 27, 1841, the blessed one died. Bishop Gerasim wrote: “The flow of people of every class to his hut was extraordinary, the street was crowded with carriages.” The funeral of the poor tradesman was arranged “out of their zeal by the rich merchants and noble nobility. In a rich coffin, in an ordinary long shirt and barefoot, as he walked during his life, Andrei Ilyich rested for 5 days in his small cramped hut. […] On December 3, the remains of the blessed one were solemnly transferred with the blessing of Bishop Anatoly to the Ascension Cathedral for the all-night vigil, after which, then requiem services were celebrated all night at the tomb.”
Some noble Simbirians petitioned Archbishop Anatoly to bury Andrei Ilyich near the Church of the Ascension. But the Eminence could not give such permission - the law prohibited burial within the city. The Bishop chose the cemetery of the Intercession Monastery as the resting place of the elder, “where only noble people were usually buried.” In addition, the bishop's house was located in the monastery at that time.
During Soviet times, the Intercession Monastery and the necropolis were destroyed, and a public garden was built in its place. Only in the fall of 1991 was Andrei Ilyich’s grave discovered and restored. On June 3, 1998, Saint Blessed Andrew, the Fool for Christ, the Simbirsk Wonderworker was glorified among the locally revered saints of the Simbirsk diocese with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II. Then the holy relics of the blessed one were transferred to the church in the name of All Saints. And in October 2004, Blessed Andrei Simbirsk was canonized as a general church saint.
June 5, 2009 on a building on the street. Engelsa, 23, where there once stood the hut in which Andrei Ogorodnikov lived and died, a memorial plaque was unveiled. It was consecrated by Simbirsk Archbishop Proclus. Sculptor Oleg Anatolyevich Klyuev (b. 1961) made a board similar to a folding icon. In the center there is an image of Andrei of Simbirsk, and on the side doors there are reliefs, the saint’s hut and three Simbirsk cathedrals, including the Ascension Cathedral, on the porch of which Blessed Andrei was often seen.
February 5, 2015 in the temple complex of the new Spaso-Voznesensky Cathedral on the street. Minaev, a monument to Andrei Simbirsky was unveiled. The prayer service at the opening was performed by Metropolitan Feofan of Simbirsk and Novospassky (b. 1947). The patron saint of the city is depicted in full growth, in a long shirt, barefoot. In his right hand he holds two pieces of wood. Andrei Ilyich faces the cathedral. The author of the monument is Ulyanovsk sculptor Igor Stepanovich Smirkin, whose project won a competition announced in 2013.
On December 9, 2015, the relics of the heavenly patron of Simbirsk were transferred to the Spaso-Voznesensky Cathedral.
Prepared based on materials from the book “Goncharova Street”, Ulyanovsk
About the patron saint of the city - St. Andrew of Simbirsk
In the Ulyanovsk region, days will be held in memory of the heavenly patron of our city - St. Blessed Andrei of Simbirsk. What was this man like, whose memory has survived to this day?
Andreyushka was born on July 15 (4), 1763 in a poor family of Simbirsk townspeople Ilya Ivanovich and Anna Iosifovna Ogorodnikov, who raised their children in the Orthodox faith. The mother was particularly pious.
Until the age of three, Andrei could not move independently; all his life he uttered only two words: “Mama Anna.” At the age of seven he refused to wear ordinary clothes. At all times of the year he wore a long shirt and walked barefoot even in the snow. Ate simple food. Slept on boards or bare floors.
He never asked for alms. And when they gave, he shared the alms with those in need. He meekly endured insults and beatings. The holy fool gained the respect of the townspeople through his righteousness, insight, kindness and desire to help his neighbor.
Many memories of Simbirians have been preserved about various incidents associated with Andrei. Merchants and shopkeepers rejoiced if he took anything from them. This meant that there would be profit. If the blessed one thrust earth or a piece of wood into someone’s hand, he warned of imminent death. He came to the house and began to take revenge - to ruin or moving. He saved many from death or moral destruction. He cured terminally ill patients.
It was believed that it was thanks to his intercession before God that wooden Simbirsk, while Andrei was alive, did not suffer a single big fire. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov, who had never seen the Simbirsk blessed one, said to the Simbirsk people who came to him for blessings and advice: “Why are you coming to me, the poor one? You have something better than me - your Andrei Ilyich.”
The death of the 78-year-old man on December 10 (November 28), 1841, became the grief of all the townspeople. He was buried with great sorrow and honor at the walls of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Intercession Monastery. In 1893, at the expense of Simbirians, a rich monument made of cast iron was built at the grave of Andrei Ilyich, which became a place of pilgrimage.
During the times of militant atheism, the Intercession Monastery with the cathedral and cemetery were destroyed. The grave of the blessed one was desecrated and hidden under asphalt. However, true believers continued to come to this place. When the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church began in the country, archaeological excavations were carried out in Ulyanovsk in 1990 and the relics of the elder were found, after which they were solemnly buried. In 1998, with the official recognition of Andrei Ilyich as a local saint, his relics were transferred to the All Saints Church. A chapel was erected on the site of the grave.
In 2004, he was canonized as a general saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2015, Andrei’s relics were transferred to the Spaso-Voznesensky Cathedral.
In our city, the saint’s memory is celebrated twice a year: June 3 (the discovery of his relics) and December 10. This year, from November 10 to December 10, schools and other educational institutions in Ulyanovsk will host themed classes, quizzes, events and charity marathons, round tables, parent meetings and other events dedicated to St. Andrew, excursions to holy places.
On December 8, a seminar will be held at the St. Michael the Archangel Komarovsky Monastery to discuss the topic “Children are the future of Russia: spiritual and moral education of the individual.” And on December 9 and 10, the Divine Liturgy and prayer service will be served in the Church of All Saints.
Holy Russian Orthodox Church, Simbirsk holy fool, patron saint of Simbirsk Andrey the Blessed
Simbirsk has long been called the “noble city on the Volga”. Indeed, representatives of noble noble families of Russia lived and owned estates in the Simbirsk province. The city is famous for the writers, artists, historians, public and political figures who were born here.
But in the hearts of believing Orthodox Ulyanovsk residents the name of one Simbirian, who was born in our city in the middle of the 18th century and lived here all his long life, is carefully preserved. This is the name of not a person from the noble nobility, not an outstanding official or statesman, not a victorious warrior or city planner. This is the name of a simple urban beggar who had neither perishable wealth nor talents as a servant of the arts. But this man was so rich in the grace-filled gifts of faith and philanthropy that both during his life and after his righteous death he was revered by the powers that be, the clergy and ordinary believers.
The name of this righteous man is Andrei the Blessed, the Fool of Simbirsk for Christ's sake, in the world - Andrei Ilyich Ogorodnikov.
It was not civil exploits or military valor that glorified him, but from a very young age he voluntarily accepted the feat of deep humility, renunciation of all the blessings of life, the feat of so-called foolishness, to which he was faithful until the last days of his life.
More than a century and a half has passed since the death of the saint, but the grave containing the remains of St. Andrew the Blessed is attracting more and more people. Orthodox believers and those who, finding themselves in difficult life circumstances, are looking for moral support come here.
What kind of person was Andrei Ilyich and how did he leave behind such an unfading memory? We will outline the story of his life, as far as it is revealed to us from the stories of his contemporaries and the written and printed sources that have reached us.
Andrei Ilyich was born in Simbirsk on July 4, Old Style (July 15, New Style), 1763 and was named in honor of St. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete.
His parents Ilya Ivanovich and Anna Iosifovna Ogorodnikov were poor, devout Simbirsk townspeople who lived in the Podgorny part of Simbirsk.
Until the age of three, Andrei Ilyich was a “sidney”, drinking and eating from the hands of others; then he began to walk, but did not say anything except “Mama-Anna” or simply “Anna”, and so on throughout his life. He gave answers to questions addressed to him with sounds, gestures, movements of his hands or head - affirmative or negative and, undoubtedly, quite consciously.
Until the age of seven he wore ordinary clothes. With the onset of this age, I stopped wearing outer dresses and shoes. Regardless of any changes in the weather, he walked the streets of the city barefoot, wearing only a long shirt.
From that time on, Andryusha became the subject of reverent veneration and surprise for some, doubt and prejudice for others. Meanwhile, with a careful look at his life, one cannot help but see that all his external actions and deeds served as an expression of spiritual life.
From his earliest years, the boy directed his spiritual gaze to Heaven, to God, while not paying any attention to earthly things: he did not recognize the hassle of food, clothing, or human conventions. In his own life he adhered to severe asceticism. From an early age, blessed Andrei did not sleep enough, and only on the ground or on bare boards. He was seen sleeping on a bench with his head hanging on his weight, not resting on anything.
He could seem detached from his mind only in cases of contact with the external side of life. In public life he often appeared as naive as a child. Caring for food, clothing, and decency remained, as it were, unknown and unnecessary for him.
Andrei Ilyich's food was the simplest: he did not drink wine or meat, but, according to the stories of those who knew him, loved tea and black bread spread with honey. Due to his extraordinary abstinence, his body was as dry as grass and very light.
Andrei Ilyich never gave his body rest. From a very young age I slept little, and only on bare boards or on the ground.
The meekness of his character and gentleness were amazing. Despite any bullying - the mockery of drunken and impudent people, the reproaches of ill-mannered and playful children - Andrei Ilyich never lost his temper and did not even defend himself, remaining unperturbed, he moved away from the insulters.
The extraordinary behavior and lifestyle of Andrei Ilyich attracted the eyes and attention of people of all classes, ranks and status - poor and rich, unknown and noble. The strengthening of faith in his righteousness - a faith that has survived more than one and a half hundred years, without diminishing in its strength until our time - was facilitated by the talents he demonstrated.
So, everything that he gave to passers-by had a special significance and meaning: whoever Andrei Ilyich gave money, he soon got rich and rich, and whoever he offered a chip or land, he soon died. Simbirsk merchants considered it especially lucky when Andrei Ilyich, running past the shops, took something at the suggestion of one or another of them, since it happened that on the same day or soon they were rewarded for their generosity with the extraordinary success of trade turnover. By his perspicacity, the blessed one always found out who brought him gifts with what zeal.
It is no coincidence that the Blessed One of Simbirsk is considered the intercessor. Woody Simbirsk, as is clear, burned more than once. But during Andrei Ilyich’s lifetime there were never huge devastating fires in the city. “As long as blessed Andreyushka is alive, there will be no fires,” the city residents said with confidence. And indeed, according to contemporaries, while neighboring Kazan burned almost to the ground, there were no fires in Simbirsk while Andrei Ilyich was alive.
It is interesting that after the death of the saint, fires in Simbirsk resumed. Perhaps the absence of fires was due to the fact that one of the Blessed One’s daily activities was frequent and quick transitions from one part of the city to another? After such transitions, he could stand in one place in some kind of internal contemplation for hours, shifting from foot to foot, swaying from side to side, like a bell tongue, and uttering something intelligible to only one: “Boom, boom, boom...” Didn’t awaken Do the Simbirsk people, blessed in this way, lead to repentance and righteous life in God, to renunciation from the vanity of life?
All this elevated Andrei Ilyich’s feat in the eyes and opinion of the people. Faith in him as a righteous man who patronizes Simbirsk with his prayers has strengthened.
In addition to his insight, many noticed other extraordinary abilities in Blessed Andrei, including the gift of healing. There were cases that confirmed the opinion that the elder, who had the gift of speech, carried out the feat of silence.
In this regard, the following case is remarkable. Once a famous Simbirsk landowner experienced terrible melancholy, mental anguish, an illness that drove her almost to madness. In this position, she met the blessed one on the porch of the temple and asked for help and intercession before God. To which Andrei Ilyich replied: “You will be healthy,” and immediately disappeared from sight. And the petitioner was healed.
Respect for St. Andrew as a man of righteous life, worthy of veneration, began to increase noticeably from 1812, from the beginning of the Patriotic War. The battles of those years ignited the national consciousness, moral and religious feelings of the Russian people.
Many of the noble noble families began to visit Orthodox holy monasteries, including the Sarov Hermitage.
The great righteous saint of the Russian Land, Saint Seraphim, who labored there, refused to bless the Simbirsk pilgrims who came to him and sent them to his fatherland with the words: “Why are you bothering to come to me, the poor one, - you have better things than me, your Andrei Ilyich...” .
Many people tried to give something to Blessed Andrei Ilyich. But he saw through the spirit the mood and spiritual structure of a person and did not always accept a treat or a gift.
One person brought him apples wrapped in a scarf, which he was sorry to give along with the apples. Andrei Ilyich accepted the apples and returned the scarf to the owner.
One Simbirsk landowner from across the Volga sent a whole cart of provisions for the holiday: butter, eggs, cereals, honey, etc. But this landowner did not feed her serfs well. Andrei Ilyich himself carried out the food, tubs and bags he had brought from his own small house, put it back in the cart and indicated with signs that everything would be sent back.
Merchants especially diligently gave alms to Andrei Ilyich, who considered it happiness when the blessed one did not refuse to accept funds or treats. After all, the one from whom Andrei Ilyich took something was unusually successful in trading that day.
All his life, blessed Andrei Ilyich, chosen for a special spiritual feat, waged an invisible battle with the spirits of anger, defeating his weak flesh. He abandoned many conventions, shoes, clothes. Spiritual growth was accompanied by Andrei Ilyich’s intensification of ascetic deeds. There are cases when he could pull cast iron pots straight from the fire. Many times he kissed the boiling samovar, and even if he doused himself with boiling water, he did not suffer at all because of it. Townspeople often saw him standing barefoot in the snowdrifts for whole nights. In particular, he often stood in the snowdrifts of the night in front of the altar of the Ascension Cathedral, which was located on Bolshaya Saratov Street. In the severe winter frosts, Andrei Ilyich stood in the cold water of Lake Marishka.
The author of the immortal novel “Oblomov”, Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov, heard about blessed Andrei from childhood. Ivan Alexandrovich’s deeply religious mother, like all the townspeople, certainly revered the holy man and told her son about him. The I. A. Goncharov Museum now houses a portrait of St. Blessed Andrei Simbirsk, written, of course, during his lifetime and kept in the Goncharovs’ house. There is reason to believe that Blessed Andrei, who often visited the homes of Simbirians, also visited the Goncharovs. Perhaps the oral memories of Goncharov’s relatives gave the famous biographer of Goncharov E. Lyatsky the basis to say that in the Goncharovs’ house “holy fools found shelter.”
Andrei Ilyich lived in constant heroism and all kinds of hardships for 78 years. Before his death from bodily weakness and exhaustion, he took to his bed (November 21, 1841). Hearing about his illness, people flocked to him in large numbers for a blessing, considering it a great happiness to kiss his hand.
The death of the blessed one worried not only the residents of the city, but also the people of the surrounding villages. Everyone sought to pay their last Christian debt to the deceased. According to the description of eyewitnesses, during the burial and removal of the blessed one, “only one of the city residents remained in his house who was not able to take a single step. Even inveterate schismatics of various sects were present in the church during the liturgy and reverently escorted the coffin to the burial place.”
Six days of farewell to the deceased had no impact on the deceased - decay did not touch his remains.
Andrei Ilyich's grave was prepared on the south side of the monastery church. Soon after the burial, a cast-iron slab was placed on it with an inscription about the origin, time of birth and death of Andrei Ilyich. In this form, the grave remained until 1893, when, according to the thought and initiative of His Grace Barsanuphius of Simbirsk, a monument with a picturesque image of the blessed one was erected with donations from Simbirsk benefactors.
In the late 20s - early 30s, the grave of the revered elder was lost. For many decades it was hidden under a layer of broken brick, rubble and asphalt. However, Orthodox Simbirians for many decades came to the place where the cemetery of the Intercession Monastery and the monastery itself were previously located, prayed and sought consolation from the one whose remains were invisibly hidden by this land.
Today, the saint of God, revered by the townspeople, again preserves his earthly fatherland. At the beginning of September 1991, during work organized by the Ulyanovsk diocesan administration, Andrei Ilyich’s grave was found. In 1998, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Blessed Andrei was canonized and ranked among the ranks of Saints. From this moment on, the righteous man, standing and praying for our entire city before the Throne of the Most High, is physically next to his earthly fellow citizens. The entire Orthodox Simbirsk prayed, again asking for help and intercession from their newly glorified saint, their dear saint of God.
And at the Council of Bishops in 2004, he was glorified as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is impossible to describe all the cases of healing of people who came to the grave and to the relics of the blessed one. Andrew to the Church of All Saints in Simbirsk.
Great and difficult is the feat of foolishness. This means completely forgetting yourself, in your own opinion, depriving yourself of all significance, all dignity among rational creatures. This means directly submitting yourself to reproach, directly considering yourself worthy of these blasphemies alone. It was the saints of God who labored in foolishness and initially pacified the source of all temptations and temptations – pride, called “the mother of all sins.” Having humiliated themselves, putting aside concern for corruptible flesh, these ascetics made only one thing the subject of their concern - the immortal human soul.
The popular faith gave Andrei Ilyich the name “blessed” - and not in vain. His whole life was a constant feat against spiritual poverty. The annual commemoration of the newly glorified holy blessed Andrew is June 3 (new style) - the day of glorification and discovery of honest relics and December 10 (new style) - the day of the blessed one's righteous death.
The list of 12 nominees for the second stage of the regional competition “The Name of the Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk Territory” includes this name, the name of a person who suffers for the good of his native land. Let the highly spiritual appearance of Elder Andrei serve as a guiding star for us in our desire to cultivate in ourselves those precious virtues with which the ever-memorable Andrei Ilyich Ogorodnikov, saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, patron of Simbirsk, Andrei the Blessed, adorned his life.
Heavenly Angel of the land of Simbirsk
Brief biography
Archbishop of Simbirsk and Syzran Anatoly. In the world - Andrey Ivanovich Maksimovich. Born in 1766 in a noble family in Little Russia. In 1790 Graduated from St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. Since 1792 - priest. In 1809 became a monk and was appointed rector of the St. Petersburg Seminary and professor of theological sciences. Since 1812 - Bishop of Poltava. Since 1816 - Archbishop of Minsk. From May 8, 1832 to 1842 headed the newly opened Simbirsk diocese. Thanks to his concerns, a Theological Seminary was opened in Simbirsk, and it was built on September 15, 1841. The Holy Trinity Summer Cathedral, a monument to the First Patriotic War, was consecrated. It was Vladyka Anatoly who received the honor in 1841. to conduct on his last journey the future all-Russian saint - blessed Andrei (Ogorodnikov), Christ for the sake of the holy fool, the Simbirsk wonderworker. He was wise, gentle and eloquent. Once, during the visit of Simbirsk by Emperor Nicholas I in 1836, he said heartfelt words to him: “The Providence of the Almighty has assigned us the humble fate of living far from your throne! But this distance does not distance us from your heart... We look at you like a dew-bearing cloud in a thirsty land: everything is enlivened by your presence, everything grows and ripens under your influence.” Nicholas I liked the speech, and, according to his contemporaries, he was very kind to the Simbirians. After retiring, Vladyka Anatoly settled in the poor Syzran Ascension Monastery of the Simbirsk diocese. He died there on February 14, 1844. and was buried in the monastery church of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. The exact location of the burial was unknown until recently.
News
About eight years ago I first read the biography of His Eminence Anatoly. "How so! - I thought, - I have been to Syzran so often, and until now I have not been able to visit this holy place - at the grave of the Vladyka, in the Feodorovskaya Church! For some reason I immediately felt that this place was sacred. However, something didn’t work out. And at the end of the summer of this year, there was a message in the press that the honorable remains of Archbishop Anatoly of Simbirsk and Syzran were discovered in the Feodorovsky Church of the Ascension Monastery in Syzran. And that at the level of the Patriarchate and two Archbishops - Sergius of Samara and Syzoran and Proclus of Simbirsk and Melekess, the issue of moving the remains to Simbirsk was resolved positively. So the question of whether I was going to Syzran or not was not even raised - of course I was going... ...I constantly caught myself thinking: for some reason I always want to write - “holy relics”, and not “honest remains”; “life”, not “biography”...
Ascension Monastery
Although the regular bus arrived in Syzran a little late, I found the monastery amazingly quickly. It was pleasantly surprising that every passerby I asked knew the monastery and confidently showed the way to it. And here I am standing in front of the monastery gates. An elderly, benevolent novice led us to the only church still functioning today, the Ascension Church. It’s a late hour, around eleven in the evening, a huge, completely empty temple, in the middle on a raised platform is a closed oak coffin with the remains of Vladika Anatoly, at the feet is his large portrait. The Word of God sounds solemnly and resoundingly under the arches of the temple - the brethren, replacing each other every hour, continuously read the Gospel. I stand quietly on the sidelines and pray to the best of my ability. At the same time, quite touching feelings came over me: it seemed like it should be a little scary at night in an empty church - but there was no fear, on the contrary - a feeling of something unearthly, solemn; it seems that sadness should also overwhelm us - the coffin, death, the seeming victory of corruption, but no - in the soul there is an expectation of joy, a holiday, the confidence that before us are the holy relics of the Celestial and only the earthly Church, for some reason it is still delaying the glorification of this undoubted Pleasant of God. And that tomorrow he will have a big, big holiday - he, after 160 years, will go home! TO YOUR Cathedral City! What fear, what sadness!
Last Liturgy
And in the morning, September 15, the Liturgy took place. The last one for Vladyka Anatoly on the present Samara land. And the procession around the Ascension Cathedral of the monastery is like a farewell to the monastery, which for him all these years was, albeit a reliable, but still a temporary refuge and which - who knows! — may have escaped complete destruction thanks to his heavenly intercession. Before the removal of the Holy Gifts, the dean of the Syzran district of the Samara diocese, Archpriest Grigory Kobernik, who served the Liturgy, asked the Ulyanovsk priest Alexy Skal to tell the numerous believers about the life path of Archbishop Anatoly. Father Alexy said that the purpose of Vladyka’s life was to serve the Holy Church of Christ, to serve at the altar of our Lord and Savior. This was the first Bishop of the Simbirsk department. At that time, Simbirsk was part of the Razan Metropolitanate. But by the time of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the land of the fertile Simbirsk land, newly annexed to Russia, began to be awarded to eminent Russian dignitaries, military leaders, in a word, people who had significant services to Russia and the Tsar. Simbirsk even began to be called “the city of a nobleman on the Volga.” There were more and more churches, since every nobleman considered it his duty to build a church on his estate. Therefore, the question inevitably arose about the formation of an independent Simbirsk diocese. And as the most wise, venerable Archpastor, the Holy Synod recommended that the Tsar send the Bishop of Minsk, Archbishop Anatoly, to Simbirsk. He was no longer young; he was 67 years old. But with zeal and diligence he began to undergo his ten-year obedience at the Simbirsk department. The Bishop made enormous efforts to introduce people of other faiths and foreigners to Orthodoxy. In 1842, “due to loss of strength,” Archbishop Anatoly of Simbirsk and Syzran asked to retire. He could have stayed in Simbirsk itself, for example, in the well-appointed Pokrovsky Monastery, but due to his modesty, he did not want to create a situation where there would be two Bishops in the cathedral city at the same time - he and the newly appointed Vladyka Theodotius. But he did not want to leave the Simbirsk land completely, since it was in it that he wanted to be buried.
And he chose the small Ascension Monastery in Syzran. But since in Soviet times the city of Syzran became part of the Kuibyshev region, today, said Father Alexy Skala, fulfilling the last will of Bishop Anatoly, we will transport his honorable remains to his cathedral city - to Simbirsk-Ulyanovsk. His presence there is very necessary - the city, in the spiritual sense, is disfigured. Of the 33 churches during Soviet times, only three survived. Two monasteries, a seminary, and two religious schools were destroyed. Only on one night from February 17 to 18, 1938 in Ulyanovsk, the “homeland of atheism,” 70 priests and five bishops were shot! This is how the Church was destroyed. I would like to hope, said priest Alexy, that with the return of Vladyka Anatoly, something will change for the better. Through these honest remains we can touch the bright and joyful time when Rus' was Holy, when the Orthodox Sovereign was at the head of the country, when the Church was the basis of the life of Russian citizens. Now we are the reapers of the field that we did not sow. Whether that time of grace will return depends on you and me. Let the life of Vladyka Anatoly be our example, Father Alexy Skala concluded his speech.
Finding
I asked Hierodeacon Diodorus, who witnessed these events, to tell us about the circumstances of the discovery of the honest remains of Vladyka Anatoly. “The monastery was returned to the diocese in 1996,” says Father Diodorus. — Recently, a food concentrates factory was located here. Accordingly, church buildings were rebuilt to suit his needs. Now Abbot Mark is actively carrying out restoration and construction work here. The territory is cleared, garbage is removed, and the monastery is gradually regaining its former splendid appearance. The remains of Archbishop Anatoly were found in Feodorovsky, the oldest church of the monastery. Several years ago a decision was made to restore it. But before making external cosmetic repairs, we decided to dig holes near its walls and check the quality of the foundation. At the beginning of October 2003, when they were digging a pit near a column on the left side of the main hall of the temple, a worker’s crowbar fell into a previously unknown crypt. Another one was found nearby. The one that was closer to the iconostasis belonged, as the father governor found out in the archives, to Vladyka Anatoly, and the other belonged to Archimandrite German, one of the abbots of the monastery at the same time. The Bishop’s miter and vestments are perfectly preserved. Archbishop Sergius of Samara and Syzran came here, the remains were raised and a lithium was served before them. There are three altars in the temple. In the right altar - the chapel of Archangel Michael - the Soviet “owners” dug an inspection hole for cars. One of the shrines of the Samara diocese - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Feodorovskaya - was in this church. Now she is in the Kazan Temple of Syzran.” The dean of the Syzran district, Archpriest Grigory Kobernik, said this: “This is a great event. It is probably God’s providence that today the reburial of Vladyka Anatoly will take place on Simbirsk land. I don’t hope that through his prayers the Lord will not abandon us. The saints all stand before God and pray for us.” ...And at noon on September 15, a group of cars left the gates of the Ascension Monastery. A few hours later, they were already preparing to meet the coffin with the honorable remains of Bishop Anatoly in Simbirsk. The bright sun shone all the way, it was quiet and warm. And how could it be otherwise? Another page of his earthly life has ended - after 160 years, the founder of the diocese returned to his city. After all, God has everyone alive... The abbot of the Syzran Ascension Monastery, Abbot Mark (Alekseev), who also arrived in Ulyanovsk, said that the return of Archbishop Anatoly to Simbirsk is a great event for Syzran. In recent decades, his remains were truly in the “abomination of desolation” - there was a warehouse, a water tower, and a garage. Now they will be buried with dignity in Simbirsk and special honors will be given to them. He also hopes that the arrival of the remains of Bishop Anatoly will give a new impetus to the spiritual development of the Simbirsk diocese.
Back at the pulpit
In front of a large crowd of people, on the morning of September 16, the Divine Liturgy was held in the Neopalimovsky Cathedral of Simbirsk, which was celebrated by Archbishop Proclus of Simbirsk and Melekess with a host of clergy. After it, a memorial service was served for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Anatoly. God wished that the return of Vladyka Anatoly coincided with the 15th anniversary of the revival of an independent department in Ulyanovsk in 1989. The co-presence of these two Bishops in the church was very significant - the founder Archbishop Anatoly and Archbishop Proclus, the Bishop who, in fact, revived the Simbirsk department again after 167 years. Unlike his predecessor, Vladyka Proclus received a diocese where there were not 500, as under Vladyka Anatoly, but only 4 active parishes and about a million unchristened, unchurched souls! This has never happened before. God grant that this gracious union of two Bishops will further spiritually strengthen the entire diocese.
Rest in peace with the saints!
Before the burial of the Bishop in the old city cemetery of Ulyanovsk, next to the altar of the Church of the Resurrection, the solemn word was again spoken by Priest Alexy Skala: “...today the seventh Archpastor is buried in Simbirsk land. Bishop Anatoly honored Blessed Andrei by blessing his burial in the Pokrovsky Monastery. And just yesterday, as soon as we installed the coffin of Vladyka in the Neopalimovsky Cathedral, we called from the Holy Synod and said that the question of the all-Russian glorification of Blessed Andrei was decided to be brought to the Council of Bishops in 2004 (by the decision of the Council he was glorified as an all-Russian saint - S.S.
). It was not in vain that the first Simbirsk Archpastor returned to our city.”
The coffin with the remains of Vladyka, in the presence of Archbishop Proclus, was lowered into a grave dug between the graves of Vasily Asafovich Pifiev, who once served as the chief of the Simbirsk city police, and his son. One of the clergy present at the ceremony casually remarked: “Pythiev, I think, would be glad to have such a neighborhood.” The inscription on the Cross reads: “The first Simbirsk Archpastor, His Eminence Anatoly, Archbishop of Simbirsk and Syzran, is buried under this Cross. 1766-1844 The diocese was ruled for ten years - 1832-1842. In Your Kingdom remember him, O Lord!” Now, with the help of God, the honorable remains of all the Simbirsk Bishops who ended their earthly journey on Simbirsk land are in the cathedral city and their location has been precisely established: - Archbishop Anatoly (Maximovich) (+ 1844) - in the old city cemetery; — Bishop Theodoty (Ozerov) (+ 1858) — under the altar of St. Nicholas Cathedral; — Bishop Evgeny (Sakharov) (+ 1888) — under the altar of St. Nicholas Cathedral; — Bishop Barsanuphius (Okhotin) (+ 1895) — under the altar of St. Nicholas Cathedral; — Bishop Gury (Burtasovsky) (+ 1907) — under the altar of the Znamensky chapel of St. Nicholas Cathedral; — Bishop Joachim (Blagovidov) (+ 1929) — in the old city cemetery; — Archbishop John (Bratolyubov) (+ 1959) — at the old city cemetery. Archbishop Mitrofan (Grinev) and Bishop Vladimir (Gorkovsky) were executed in Ulyanovsk by the atheistic authorities in 1938. The exact location of the execution is currently unknown. Saints of Simbirsk, pray to God for us!
In the pictures: Archbishop of Simbirsk and Syzran Anatoly;
Procession with honorable remains in Syzran; grave of Archbishop Anatoly in Simbirsk. Sergey Seryubin Photo by the author. 11/19/2004
