Father Afanasy from Kadoma, Ryazan region

Father Afanasy: the power of God rules the world

Most people believe in God. After all, the Lord himself created us this way, placing in our hearts the desire to worship Him, the Almighty Creator of everything movable and immovable.

But how to maintain this faith? How not to stray too far from the Heavenly Father, how not to succumb to vain worries so much that you remember God only on major church holidays...

To help us, entangled in the wilds of life, such monks as Archimandrite Afanasy (Kultinov), confessor of the Merciful Mother of God Convent in the city of Kadom, Ryazan region, work.

People come to him from all over Russia to receive his faithful advice, to listen to his quiet, sincere discussions about the Orthodox faith, about the spiritual goals of everyone who has come into this world.

Father Afanasy knows how to choose such succinct and precise words that you believe him unconditionally. This is not surprising: the wise old man has seen a lot in his more than 70 years of life, and difficult trials made his soul sensible, perspicacious and compassionate.

On the path to monasticism, his mentors were real ascetics of the faith of the twentieth century - Father John Krestyankin and Archimandrite Father Alipy; His ordination to the priesthood was honored by the presence of the future Patriarch Kirill and Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov).

In his memoirs, Father Afanasy especially highlights the role played in his fate by the ministers of the St. Nicholas Church in Kasimov, Father Vasily Romanov, Father Vladimir Pravdolyubov and Archimandrite John (Krestyankin).

It was they who began to educate him, which subsequently led to the firm decision of the worldly man Anatoly Kultinov to throw aside all his achievements - a worthy profession (2nd mate on a ship), a reputation as a good worker - and go to church service in order to become a famous Father Athanasius.

The memories of Father Athanasius about the sermons of Archimandrite John, who knew how to raise the mind and heart of the listener to heaven with the Word of God, who knew how to lift and exalt a person above our sinful vale, cause great excitement in every believer.

Having such great teachers, the ascetic of God, the future Father Athanasius, himself became great, preparing for the daily feat of prayer to God and love for his neighbor.

Father Athanasius is ready to listen to any person, understanding how difficult it is for us to live in this wicked world, and his unshakable trust in God’s help strengthens his flock in true faith in the Life-Giver, with whom we will remain forever. Elder Afanasy himself suffers from a leg disease, but humbly endures physical torment and teaches humility to us, many sinners. He prays for us, and grateful people tell how the prayers of Father Athanasius healed them, alleviating physical and mental ailments.

Pilgrims visiting the holy monastery in Kadoma - the Holy Merciful Mother of God Monastery - speak enthusiastically about the special state of mind that arises during conversations with Father Athanasius.

Each person, like a gentle cloud, is enveloped by the elder’s compassionate love for all people, his ardent desire to ease the heavy burden of human life. Father Afanasy perceives the grief of those who turn to him as his own grief, praying to God for them day and night.

Do not miss the opportunity to see with your own eyes a person who has chosen a difficult path for himself and is purposefully walking along it towards Eternity. Contact us - and we will help you visit the Kadomsky Holy Mercy Monastery of the Theotokos at a time convenient for you.

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But if we put aside the jokes, it becomes obvious: the popularity of “possessions” and trips to “reprimands” is growing like an avalanche.

Demand easily finds supply: today Ryazan is carefully papered and plastered with advertisements from a certain company about recruiting groups for trips to Optina Pustyn, to Moscow “to Matronushka” and ... “for a lecture to Hieromonk Vladimir (removes damage and family curses).”

The name of the company is not indicated in the advertisements - only the telephone number and the website “Traveller”, which looks very similar to the website of the diocesan pilgrimage center.

Not long ago, a woman called the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese for clarification: what kind of center is this that takes people to “readings” to a certain hieromonk Vladimir? It turned out that she had dialed the number from the advertisement, but she became wary when she was kindly told that “Father is very strong, he helps everyone with everything,” and, most importantly, that almost everyone needs a “reprimand”! The woman was also informed that a trip to Father Vladimir costs 2,300 rubles, that he removes damage and family curses, and the “reading” lasts about 2.5 hours...

We, with the help of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese, decided to find out a little more about the mysterious activities of the fighters against corruption.

It turned out that the popular hieromonk Vladimir has his own website, pages on social networks, writes music in the style of metal (or hard rock? - difficult to determine), conducts public conversations at a cost of 8,000 for a four-day course and... is a “professor of MCA.”

What kind of educational institution is the mysterious MSA? Maybe the “International Slavic Academy”, on whose website in the “Testimonies” section there is an expected emptiness? More precisely, there is a certificate of registration of a legal entity - a public organization, but not an educational institution at all. In the register of members of even this ISA for 2015, the required surname was not found, so everyone is free to decipher the abbreviation to their own taste.

On the website of the mysterious hieromonk, in the “Biography” section, it is stated that he “studied at the theological department of St. Tikhon’s Monastery (spelling preserved - ed.).” Perhaps they meant St. Tikhon’s University, but not finding “St. Tikhon’s Monastery” on the map of Russia and the world, and even with a theological faculty, we left the question of the scientific status of “professor” Vladimir open….

According to the same personal website, Hieromonk Vladimir “since 2005, began to study exorcism in depth, ... traveled abroad and communicated with various Christian denominations, studying their experience.” And one can only guess in which country and from which confession he gained knowledge on the subtle issue of expelling spirits, among which in his conversations he especially singles out the so-called “spirits of the clan.”

Among other things, the personal website talks about the repeated “miracles and revelations” in the life of our hero. People who are at least superficially familiar with the basics of religious life will understand that a spiritually experienced person will not share such personal things with a wide audience. Unfortunately, such boasting is often characteristic of those in delusion.

Perhaps this is due either to the lack of theological education, or to the youthful occult experiences of the priest, which are also mentioned on the site...

On the social network page there are stories of “healing” with a description of how Father Vladimir’s “reprimand” is going: “On my second visit, during a prayer service, I had very strong reactions (screaming) to curses from people, my wife’s turning away from her husband, the spirit completeness - witchcraft for appearance, witchcraft for the destruction of a family, generational curse - the prodigal demon.” For those who have taken at least a parochial school course, this quote speaks volumes. But just in case, let’s clarify: the above passage is a typical example of slang of various kinds of “healers” and occultists; such rhetoric has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

Unfortunately, no matter how sad it is to admit, analysis of the website, videos, interviews and pages on social networks makes one suspect banal charlatanism, and put on stream. In the “Contacts” section on the website of Hieromonk Vladimir, as in developed network marketing, telephone numbers of “representatives” from different regions are presented...

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russian psychiatrists saw the cause of hysteria - imaginary possession - in the difficult living conditions of the common people. But today people (mostly women) from wealthy families consider themselves possessed and go for “reprimands.”

Archpriest Arseny Vilkov, head of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan diocese

So what's the reason? And what, exactly, is wrong with “reprimands”? Maybe we just shouldn’t worry too much about the pseudo-Orthodox leisure of some of our fellow citizens? We turned for help in resolving these issues to the head of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese, Archpriest Arseny Vilkov, head of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese.

— Father Arseny, I’m afraid that for the secular reader our attempt to understand the problem looks like some kind of not entirely clear internal church “showdown”...

Maybe. However, one should not think that by worrying about the activities of private pilgrimage firms, the priest is afraid of “competition.” The question here is the competence of those who take people to shrines. It’s sad when a person who wants to make a pilgrimage to Orthodox shrines, pray and receive spiritual benefits ends up not with a guide with a theological education, but with a figure who “enlightens” listeners throughout the trip with a set of parachurch superstitions. Still, in a pilgrimage center at a diocese or at a church, you are more likely to meet an employee competent in matters of faith.

When people are offered “reprimands”, attracted to pilgrimages not by the opportunity to pray at shrines, but by some kind of superstition, then it is obvious that the purpose of such trips is not to make a person spiritually richer, but simply to make money, to gather as many people as possible who are not knowledgeable about the issues faith.

— They say that Father Vladimir, for example, was blessed to practice exorcism by Elder Eli. And the activities of the center, which brings people to it, are blessed by Archimandrite Afanasy (Kultinov), confessor of the Kadoma Monastery of the Virgin Mary. Still, it sounds solid...

Today it is easy to hide behind the blessings of various elders and spirit-bearing fathers - but it can be impossible to verify the presence of such a blessing.

If you have any doubts about the benefits of a particular trip, you can contact the Diocese Pilgrimage Center. The diocesan center is not a monopoly on pilgrimage, but it unites everyone who takes pilgrimage groups somewhere, maintains contacts with churches and priests who organize trips for parishioners. Accordingly, it accumulates quite a lot of information.

In general, “readings” are carried out by an extremely limited number of priests who have the blessing of not just some elder, but the hierarchy of the Church (Strictly speaking, today we can only talk about the rite of exorcism carried out in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - ed.). And, most importantly, the number of those who need a “reprimand” is much smaller than it might seem.

- Who really needs it?

“Reprimand” is needed for people possessed by evil spirits. Of course, demons are close to all of us and constantly push us to commit some kind of sin. But obsession is a different phenomenon. This is the personal presence of a demon in the human body.

I have had the opportunity - only a few times in my life - to see such people. The demon spoke through someone - in his very special voice. I had to see how a person was thrown away from the shrine. This is not at all like people who are either mentally ill or simply consider themselves possessed.

Under Bishop Paul, who headed the Ryazan diocese in 2003-2013, at first there were a lot of people in the cathedral who were outwardly possessed: in the church they often shouted something, growled, and behaved in some other peculiar way.

But at one fine moment, the bishop from the pulpit told the “rabid” that if this behavior continued, they would no longer be allowed into the temple. And after that, the number of pseudo-possessions suddenly decreased!

This is a completely different phenomenon. Therefore, sending everyone to a “reprimand” is simply harmful.

— Why is “reporting” harmful, besides losing money?

But it must be said that most of those priests who conduct “reprimands” without the blessing of the clergy, by “reprimands” they simply mean prayers for health. Any priest can and often does such a prayer service, he just doesn’t present it as some kind of “unique offer” for ten thousand rubles...

And, for example, if I presented such a prayer service as something special, people would immediately run to participate. And the more wonderful my special “prayer order” is, the more peculiar I behave during it - the more, alas, it will seem spiritual, and I, of course, will be considered a clairvoyant seer. Delight in such things betrays our lack of churchliness, our lack of understanding of the essence of Christian life. And, unfortunately, there are those who make money from this.

Sometimes these are real mummers who have never been ordained to the priesthood, sometimes they are priests who have been deprived of their rank or banned from serving.

Not so long ago, a woman came to me who was recommended by just such a “father” to take five “reprimand” courses from him for ten thousand rubles each... And she collects money! This is the madness of our world, this is something that does not apply to real religious life at all.

We are talking about practices that are dangerous to the soul, and I want to protect people from them. Anyone who is rooted in the life of the Church and knows its teachings will not go to such events. But people who have little church, but are “interested”, are at risk...

Elena Fetisova, Logos newspaper

Commented by priest Dimitry Fetisov, editor-in-chief of the Logos newspaper, senior lecturer at the Department of Theology of the Russian State University named after S.A. Yesenina:

On the other hand, it is actually beneficial for a person to believe in “ancestral curses,” evil eyes, damage, and other external causes of his troubles. Because if you admit to yourself that the main reasons are our sins and passions, which we submit mainly voluntarily, and not under someone’s evil influence, then you will have to admit your own responsibility and the need for painstaking work to correct your life.

It’s much easier to blame your troubles on a demon, family, or an evil neighbor.

It is clear that demons really “prompt” a person, and family, parents influence us through upbringing, through habits learned from childhood. But everyone is free to overcome demonic thoughts and their habits through prayer, abstinence, and the sacraments of the Church - and not through searching for a magic pill from an exorcist.

But many in spiritual life choose the same principle by which they try to lose weight: “Leading a healthy lifestyle is very difficult, you need endurance and consistency - well, let’s buy a miracle tea on the Internet, although neither the composition nor the manufacturer is indicated on it. Suddenly it will help! How will it help? Will it lead you to your grave faster?

"From here straight to heaven"

The March issue of the magazine “Monastic Bulletin” has been published. Its theme is “Prayer and work: building the soul.” One of the materials is dedicated to the revival of the Merciful Mother of God convent in the village of Kadom.

"From here straight to heaven"

The village of Kadom in the Ryazan region is an amazing place where roads leading to famous pilgrimage points intersect: 90 kilometers to Diveevo, 60 to Sanaksar, and Vysha is not far away. Since 1997, the Merciful Mother of God Convent, closed in 1920, has been restored in Kadoma. It’s a five-minute walk from here to the Moksha River, where you can walk more than a kilometer along the shore, enjoying the silence and beauty of nature, but it’s unlikely that the nuns have time for such walks. The monastery itself borders on the world: cars pass nearby, on weekends, especially in the summer, you can hear the screams of people walking. There are monasteries in the Russian outback where it is easier to forget about the bustle of the world, but for the nuns of the Kadoma monastery, the lack of such greenhouse conditions does not prevent them from spending time in work and prayer. Guests and pilgrims are greeted here with love, which is why believers are drawn here.

Marked by the Virgin Mary

I arrived at the Monastery of the Mother of God on Holy Saturday. On this day, the Divine Liturgy in the monastery was celebrated by Bishop Dionysius of Kasimov and Sasovo.

“I always try to visit the Kadoma Monastery during Lent or on Easter days, serve here, communicate with Mother Abbess and the sisters,” said Bishop Dionysius in a short interview after the liturgy, meal and children’s holiday concert.

– I don’t know what the effect of my visits is for the monastery, but I always leave here with new strength.

Bishop Dionysius recalls that even on his first visit to the Kadoma Monastery (he has ruled the Kasimov diocese since its founding and his episcopal consecration - since November 2011) he felt like a child: “A child’s boundless faith that everything will be fine and all are yours.” sins will be forgiven by God.”

He himself was surprised by such feelings, because here, at first glance, there was no basis for them: no magnificent nature, as in the St. John the Theologian Monastery (where he visited Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov) more than once before his monastic tonsure (1927–2006) , and then he was the governor there for four years), not a single silence. Of course, compared to Moscow, Kadoma is very quiet, but you won’t be able to feel completely cut off from the hustle and bustle of life.

Bishop Dionysius understood the reason for his joyful, but difficult to explain experience when he came across a quote from the “Description of the Kadom Monastery” by priest John Kobyakov: “The city of Kadom is a purely Orthodox city, its inhabitants are devout and zealous for the temples of God. The city of Kadom is a happy city. Father Seraphim of Sarov said that the Mother of God once visibly appeared in this city - she blessed Kadom and still protects it. To maintain piety, she founded a nunnery here.”

You feel that the Mother of God is nearby and controls everything around you, blesses everything

“And I remembered my church youth,” continues the bishop (he began to become a church member in the mid-1990s during his first years at the institute). – I had the same experience when I first visited the Holy Mountain. There you feel that the Mother of God is nearby and controls everything around you, blesses everything. Then I realized where I got this feeling in Kadoma. I am sure that many other pilgrims feel the presence of the Queen of Heaven here. To say that this is the lot of the Most Holy Theotokos would be presumptuous, but the fact that this place is marked by Her grace is undoubtedly.

The Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, indeed, cared for not only the Diveevo, but also the Kadoma community, and there is still a connection between the two monasteries: the current abbess of the monastery, Abbess Justina, “underwent an internship” in Diveevo before her appointment.

But even today, according to Bishop Dionysius, the nuns have a living example - the monastery’s confessor, 79-year-old Archimandrite Afanasy (Kultinov).

To Kadom, to Father Afanasy

That’s why I came to Kadom because a few years ago Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov told me about Father Afanasy.

In 1961, when Sergei Pravdolyubov was 11 years old, he and his father, Archpriest Anatoly Pravdolyubov (1914–1981), a confessor who served time for the faith on Solovki, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, sailed on a motor ship along the Oka River along the Kasimov-Murom route, and The second mate, seeing the priest, invited him to his cabin, where they talked for a long time.

The assistant captain's name was Anatoly Kultinov. He was 24 years old, he was already interested in issues of faith, and a few years later he left the river fleet to serve in the Church. This was the future Archimandrite Athanasius.

I agreed to come to him in Kadom with the son of Father Afanasy, Archpriest Dimitry Kultinov, senior priest of the Merciful Mother of God Monastery. Father Dimitri said that several years ago Father Afanasy was in an accident and was injured; now he does not always have the strength to serve, but he still looks after the sisters of the monastery and from morning to evening receives in the church numerous pilgrims who specially come to the priest for spiritual advice, support and consolation.

At the bishop's service in the monastery, Father Afanasy prayed at the altar, and at the evening service, too. After the service, Father Dimitri took us to Father’s cell, where we talked for more than an hour.

First of all, of course, I told Archimandrite Afanasy that I had heard from Father Sergius Pravdolyubov about their long-ago meeting on the ship. The priest remembers the meeting itself, but what they talked about with Father Anatoly - no, 55 years have passed...

He did not know then that almost his entire subsequent life would be closely connected with the amazing Pravdolyubov family. A family where already in five generations all men become priests and where there are six new martyrs. He communicated especially a lot with Father Vladimir Pravdolyubov, brother of Archpriest Anatoly, uncle of Archpriest Sergius, now, thank God, alive.

Today Father Vladimir Pravdolyubov is the honorary rector of St. Nicholas Church in Kasimov. And in 1966, priest John Krestyankin was appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Church in Kasimov, where Anatoly lived.

A confessor who served five years for the faith, Father John irritated the powers that be with his activity and authority, which he deservedly enjoyed not only among believers. Therefore, he was constantly transferred from one parish to another, but St. Nicholas Church became the last parish church where he served. In June 1966, the priest was tonsured a monk, and a year later, by decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I, he was transferred to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, where he served and lived until his death (for almost 40 years) and where he became one of the most authoritative spiritual fathers. Many considered him an old man, and this was probably not an exaggeration.

Monk in spite of

The young riverman was already actively going to church, married his wife, but did not think about the priesthood and did not even understand what Father John meant when he told him: “Anatoly, look for a dimple for yourself.” However, after Father John left for Pechory, he asked his wife: “Zoe, will you allow me to go serve in the Church?” My wife said she didn't mind.

“And for the anniversary of the revolution, I gave them a “gift” - I left the river fleet,” recalls Archimandrite Afanasy. He remembers with a smile, but then he had no time to laugh.

He got a job at St. Nicholas Church as a stoker for 50 rubles a month, and his wife was expecting their third child. In a small town, everyone knows each other, and when yesterday’s riverman drove by on a cart with firewood, they shouted after him: “Navigator!”

Then in the village of Tuma, Klepikovsky district, he helped the artists painting the temple - he did the painting.

“And there was an elder, mother Varvara, now deceased,” says Archimandrite Afanasy. – She’s about five meters tall, but she’s strong-willed! Once I stood in the altar and exclaimed: “Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity.” She: “What are you doing, Anatoly?” - “Yes, I would like to serve.”

Mother Varvara went to the Commissioner for Religious Affairs and asked him to allow the bishop to ordain Anatoly, but the Commissioner only allowed him to be taken to church as a psalm-reader.

In February 1969, Anatoly was nevertheless ordained a deacon, and the commissioner did not want to miss his candidacy for priesthood. Perhaps he should have been a deacon at least until perestroika, but in the first days of 1970, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad came to Ryazan. A native of the Ryazan region, he came to his small homeland on a sad occasion - to bury his mother, Elizaveta Mikhailovna. The day before, the issue was resolved with the commissioner, and on January 3, the day of the funeral of Elizaveta Mikhailovna Rotova, the priestly ordination of Deacon Anatoly Kultinov took place.

Father Afanasy recalls that the then young hieromonks Juvenaly (now Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna) and Kirill (now His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus') were present at the ordination and then concelebrated with Metropolitan Nicodemus.

“And then,” continues Archimandrite Afanasy, “I began to get weird.” I came after the ordination and said to my mother: “Let’s live like brother and sister.” Father Vladimir Pravdolyubov, when I told him, exclaimed: “What are you doing? If you lose your mother, she will leave you.”

But try to prove to me, I’m a “saint”. Spiritual beauty has begun. When three years had passed and they brought me back to my senses, my mother told me: “Then you became like a beast, it was impossible to talk to you about anything.”

They had two more children (father Dimitri - in 1978, a month after the family moved from Tuma to Kadom). However, then Father Anatoly began to think about monasticism. In 1999, on Mount Athos, he took secret tonsure in the cell of St. Silouan. Confessed to Metropolitan Simon of Ryazan (1928–2006). The Bishop at first reproached: “Why have you shown self-will?”, but then said: “That means the Mother of God blessed you.”

Now Father Afanasy regards his decision at that time to take monastic vows critically.

“I had a friend in the river fleet, a third assistant engineer. This friend served in the Navy. But I didn’t serve, because when I was eight months old, my sister was lighting the stove, she didn’t look after me, I stuck my head in there and burned my hand (the priest’s left hand was badly damaged - author’s note).

And so, one day I was walking through the park with a friend, I had the badge: second mate. A sailor was sitting on a bench, saw us and said: “He served in the navy, but you didn’t.” By the “handwriting” - gait, shaking of hands - I immediately saw which of us was a sailor and which was not. So is monasticism. I am a monk, but I have no monastic experience - I did not labor in a monastery.

If I had understood then what a responsibility it was, I would not have taken monastic vows. Not because I don’t like monasticism, but because since I was a white priest, I had to remain one. Previously, if a priest and mother became a monk, he would go to a men's monastery, and she would go to a women's monastery. But my mother didn’t really want to, I persuaded her to become a monk. A year later she took monastic vows.

On the other hand, Father John (Krestyankin) gave me a tonsure cross, I understand this as a blessing for monasticism, although he probably foresaw all my falls.

The departure of one or both spouses to monasticism is not uncommon in priestly families, and although the rules of the Russian Orthodox Church allow this (by mutual consent, if the spouses are childless or all the children have already grown up and become independent), they treat this rule differently. In particular, when the draft document of the Inter-Council Presence “On Church Marriage” was discussed in 2015, some priests expressed doubts about how justified this was and in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel.

I ask Father Afanasy:

– If today a childless married priest or priest, whose children are all adults and independent, comes to you and says that he and his mother have decided to go to monasteries, or he alone wants to take monastic vows, and she doesn’t mind, would you advise him to go to become a monk?

- I would not bless. If you are widowed, it's a different matter.

The deeper the faith, the more critical a person is of himself

The deeper the faith, the more critical a person is of himself. After all, it is difficult for us to accept many of the words of prayers about our sinfulness and abomination, because these prayers were composed by saints, and they saw themselves exactly like that - the most sinful. But saints are not born; they become saints by overcoming passions, temptations, falling and rising. Only if you forget about this, the story of Father Afanasy that he was sometimes zealous beyond reason can confuse and shock. His spiritual path was not easy, but the fruits are amazing.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (by the way, he also never lived in a monastery, but who can doubt that he was a real monk in spirit?) said that no one can believe unless he sees the radiance of eternal life on the face of another person. There is this radiance on the face of Archimandrite Afanasy; he has enough warmth and love for everyone who comes to see him in Kadom.

Two sisters, one destiny

Father Afanasy and his spiritual children began to restore the monastic community in Kadoma. Today there are nuns here who met him when they came to the Merciful Mother of God Monastery from other cities and regions, and they are all grateful to God for giving the monastery such a confessor.

The priest himself does not consider the revival of the monastery to be his merit, but says that the monastery was very lucky with the abbess. I was convinced of this immediately and during my two days in Kadoma my conviction only became stronger.

Previously, I had visited women’s monasteries infrequently, only on one-day group trips or during services, and this was clearly not enough to gain even a superficial understanding of women’s monasticism. But in the church media I read a lot of “horror stories” about women’s monasteries. Some priests, including monks, spoke about the very unfavorable state of modern female monasticism.

I don’t know how it is in other monasteries, but I can only say good things about Kadomsky Mercy and Mother of God. I would describe the atmosphere there in three words: love, openness, hospitality. This, of course, is the merit of both the confessor and Mother Abbess. Over the course of these two days, I heard from more than one person how meek and humble she is as a prayer worker, who never raises her voice to the nuns.

Of course, speaking in worldly language, I am not at all competent to talk about the spirituality of the abbess, but, communicating with her, seeing how she communicates with sisters, guests, workers, I could not help but agree with those who told me “in secret” about her amazing human qualities.

Mother Justina is 38 years old. Since the beginning of the revival of monastic life in Kadoma, she is the third abbess here. She was baptized at the age of 15. They came to God at the same time with their mother and younger sister. After school, she entered a pedagogical school, but the desire to completely connect her life with the Church was so strong that after four months she left and got a job as a cook at the church, and also began singing in the choir there.

At the age of 20, with the blessing of her confessor, she entered the Ryazan Theological School, and a year later she became a worker at the Solotchinsky Monastery (11 kilometers from Ryazan), so she completed her studies at the school in absentia.

“When I visited there for the first time, I wondered why all the people didn’t go to monasteries. The Lord gave me such grace that I saw only good things, and for the first six months I felt like in paradise in the monastery. Only then did the temptations and struggle begin. I thought: maybe this path is beyond my strength, I’ll leave. Thank God, the sisters supported me, the abbess, and the confessor of the monastery - I stayed and have no regrets.

Two and a half years later, Mother Justina took monastic vows. Following her, her sister, eight years younger, came to the monastery. After graduating from the 9th grade, she completed her secondary education as an external student, and was in no hurry to take tonsure - she was a simple worker for nine whole years.

In 2012, the sisters were transferred to Kadom. The fact is that the previous abbess, Abbess Evgeniya, a lawyer by training, was an assistant to Metropolitan Pavel of Ryazan, and when, during the division of the dioceses, the Kadoma Monastery went to the newly formed Kasimov and Sasov diocese, the bishop took his assistant to Ryazan, and she took two of her own with her.

There are only three sisters left in Kadoma. Two of them were already elderly, so the nun sisters Justina and Anastasia were transferred there, and Mother Justina, who had never thought about becoming an abbess, became abbess.

Today there are 20 nuns in Kadoma. We managed to communicate with some of them.

From district committee to nun

Nun Matrona is 70 years old and has been in the monastery for three years. A graduate of the Ryazan Agricultural Institute, she worked in agriculture for 32 years. She started as an agronomist on a collective farm, then worked at the Pitelinsky branch of the Institute of Potato Farming, where she rose to head of the laboratory. Since 1978, she worked in the Ryazan regional administration and was a member of the district party committee.

Her mother was a believer. She baptized them and her brother, took them to church, and the nun Matrona herself (in the world - Natalya Frolovna), despite her party affiliation, also remained a believer. True, she almost never took communion, only once, when she arrived on a business trip to Kyiv, she went to church and took communion. She says that not only to please her mother, but that she herself wanted it.

Nun Matrona recalls that at the Institute of Potato Farming, when she was already in charge of the laboratory, on Easter Monday she always brought colored eggs, gave them to the employees, and congratulated them on Easter. In 1979, she worked for the first year in the Ryazan regional administration and decided to preserve this tradition there too.

– I come, hand out eggs to everyone, say “Christ is Risen!” Everyone is silent. The deputy secretary of the party organization comes in, I also hand her an egg: “Regina Alexandrovna, Christ is Risen!” Her face changes: “Natalya Frolovna, how can you? You are a member of the district committee and with a red egg! “So what’s wrong? - I answer. “I’ve been in the party since 1970, and my parents have been raising me since 1946—there’s no getting around it.” The deputy secretary jumps out of the office, the employees are scared, they say to me: “Why are you doing this?” They were afraid for me that there would be trouble. But it worked out.

As I understand it, nun Matrona never had a family, but she did not think about monasticism. In 2001, she retired and began going to church more often, but primarily because she accompanied her mother, who could no longer go to church alone. But when my mother died in 2005, she not only began to join the church, but, according to her, did not leave the church at all.

She moved to the village, went to services in the neighboring village of Borki, where the abbot was abbot, they talked a lot. Gradually she began to think seriously about monasticism, the abbot blessed her, but both thought that she would take monastic vows and remain in the parish. With this petition, Natalya Frolovna came to Kasimov to see Bishop Dionysius.

Here, within the monastery walls, you pray differently

“Tomorrow you should be in Kadoma, in the monastery,” said the bishop. That's how I ended up here. The only thing I regret now is that I came to the monastery late. In recent years, I have read the monastic rule in the world, but here, within the monastery walls, you pray differently. It is impossible to explain this; there is a different feeling of prayer, a different internal state.

The main obediences of the nun Matrona are a candle box and a vegetable garden, which is located 30 kilometers from Kadoma. During her second obedience, she works almost in her specialty. Abbess Justina says so to her: “You are our chief agronomist.”

Not caught by the world

Sister Elizaveta is still a novice, but back in the year before last she wrote a petition for tonsure during the summer of Kazanskaya. One lives in the monastery for a year.

Novice Elizabeth is 10 years younger than nun Matrona. Originally from the Tambov region, she grew up without a father, her mother and grandmother were believers, and her godmother even sang in the church choir.

The godmother had three children, and they laughed at them with Elizabeth: 1960s, rural school. But the teachers were not oppressed. There were only eight-year-olds in the village, and in the 9th grade Elizaveta began going to another school, 8 kilometers away.

Then she entered the Tambov Pedagogical School as an art grapher, and there the Soviet world “caught” her: she joined the Komsomol, she was elected Komsomol organizer of the group. Elizabeth stopped going to church. As often happens, she came to God again through sorrow, but the novice does not go into details.

She worked as a drawing and drawing teacher at school, then in a kindergarten, and in 1992 she was laid off and got a job as a graphic designer in a club. Her son just got married at that time and began to live separately. The working day at the club was from 16.00 to 23.00, there was a lot of free time, and Elizabeth asked to join the church choir.

– Imagine: choir in the morning, amateur performances in the evening, competitions in the afternoon, and this is during Holy Week! In 1994 I wrote a letter of resignation, since then only in the temple.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Simon of Ryazan, Elizabeth moved to the Klepikovsky district, where she helped build a church. She notes that there she had a much greater workload than in the monastery.

– I live in the monastery as if in paradise. I bake prosphora, Saturday and Sunday are days off. And at the parish there was: services, services, vegetable gardens, construction - it’s impossible to list everything.

Sister Elizabeth, together with another novice, provides prosphora not only to the monastery, but also to the nearest parish churches. Baking prosphora is a creative work, and Elizabeth’s artistic education came in handy at the monastery.

The Mother Superior's Sister and the Cowshed

Kadoma nuns pour the candles themselves. The monastery also has a subsidiary farm: several vegetable gardens, chickens, two milk cows and three heifers. The sisters make cottage cheese themselves and have made cheese a couple of times (in the refectory; there is no cheese factory in the monastery), but for now many dairy products have to be purchased. But the gardens feed the monastery: there are enough vegetables for the whole year not only for the nuns, but also for pilgrims.

Nun Anastasia, sister of Abbess Justina, works at the barn. She had the same obedience in the Solotchinsky monastery. There she learned to milk a cow. “In the monastery they will teach you everything,” says Mother Justina.

A local resident, a parishioner of the monastery, helps nun Anastasia. The abbess explains that she could give her sister one of the nuns as an assistant, but since in Kadoma, as elsewhere in the Russian province, work is difficult, and this parishioner - a mother of many children - was left without work, they decided to support the woman and pay her salary.

This is not easy, the monastery lives only on donations, but for now, with God’s help, there is enough to pay both this assistant and the singers. Among the sisters who sing, there are few who sing: on Sundays and holidays, Dimitri’s father’s wife, Mother Nana, her sister Ilona and their mother Natalya, are in the choir, and hired singers come on weekdays.

Repair and construction work is carried out by local men, and the monastery also pays them, if possible. Some of them confess and take communion, others simply go into the church to light a candle. The abbess is convinced that this work brings everyone closer to God in one way or another, and helps us think about the main thing, about the eternal.

School for the soul

In general, the nuns have little contact with local residents (Kadoma has a population of 6,000 people). Next to the monastery is the parish church - the Cathedral of Demetrius of Rostov. It has been revived before, and locals mostly go there, although there are few regular parishioners there. The majority, as in almost all Russian villages and small towns, come to church only to baptize a child or perform a funeral service for a deceased relative, less often to get married.

According to tradition, in monasteries these sacraments are performed only in cases where there are no parish churches nearby, therefore in the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos there are no baptisms, weddings, or funeral services, and if unchurched people come here, it is only for the bishop’s service - for the district the village is always an event.

And so... Even to Archimandrite Athanasius, who served in the Demetrius Cathedral before the revival of the monastery began, some residents said: “Father, before you were ours, but now you are not ours.” “Not ours,” because now he doesn’t baptize or perform funeral services.

Nevertheless, four years ago a Sunday school was opened at the monastery. Many doubted that anything would come of this idea: a Sunday school was already in the cathedral, and few believed that it would be possible to attract children and teenagers to the new school. But the school opened and the children came. Today there are more than 50 students studying here. The youngest are six years old, the oldest is 19.

The Law of God and the Fundamentals of Christian Morality are taught by nuns; Father Dimitri and the second priest, Father Mikhail, regularly hold conversations with children and answer questions. The Church Slavonic language is taught by a local teacher of Russian language and literature. The nun Athanasia, who is in charge of the Sunday school, notes that this teacher first came to school and then began to become a church member. Sister Afanasia, herself a philologist, says that she teaches Church Slavonic very well, knows how to interest children and explain it clearly.

In September 2015, a choir was created at the Sunday school. For this, they invited Elena Alexandrovna Popova, regent of the Dimitrievsky Cathedral and teacher of the local children's art school. Elena Alexandrovna agreed to try, but did not expect that there would be enough children with hearing to be able to organize a choir. Imagine her surprise when she saw many of her students among the Sunday school students.

On Bright Saturday, after the bishop's service, the children performed in the monastery library with a concert prepared for Easter and Victory Day. The children presented all the spectators with hand-made wax Easter eggs. Bishop Dionysius was also at the concert. He thanked the children, wished them to preserve Easter joy as long as possible and presented them with gifts.

The bishop performed the previous service in Kadoma on November 25, 2015, on the day of the celebration of the icon of Our Lady “Merciful” revered in the monastery.

“At this service, the children sang in the second choir,” adds nun Afanasia. - They sang litanies, the Trisagion. They had been studying with Elena Alexandrovna for only the third month.

Many of the students are children from unchurched families and came here on their own or with friends. Will they stay in the Church when they grow up? Will they pass on the faith to their own children? Mother Justina hopes so, but it is obvious that if the work situation in Kadoma does not change, most of them will disperse to cities and villages in search of work.

But one 15-year-old girl is already determined to come to the monastery. She came to Kadom with her grandmother several years ago from another area and became so attached to the monastery that she spends all her free time here, helps the sisters, and even before school she always goes to the temple to pray. She didn’t want to talk to me, she was embarrassed.

Prayer and work will grind everything

But the main monastic work is prayer. Wake up at 6.00 am, everyone reads the rules until 7.00, then break until 8.00. Abbess Justina explains that pilgrims arrive at the temple at seven and it becomes noisy. At 8.00 there is a liturgy, attended by all the sisters who are free from obedience in the refectory and prosphora.

After the nun's obedience service, lunch at 12.00, then work again, evening service at 17.00, dinner, general evening rule, then the sisters go about their business, lights out at 11.30. Such are the everyday life of a monastery.

On Saturday and Sunday, the nuns are free from some daily obediences, so I did not visit the prosphora, candle production, or vegetable gardens. On Sunday, according to the Diveyevo tradition, first the paraklis is served in front of the Merciful Icon of the Mother of God, and only then the liturgy.

If we talk about the outside, the monastery still needs to be restored and restored. Previously, there were four temples on its territory. Two have survived. The church in honor of the Burning Bush icon of the Mother of God now houses the Kadoma Sewing College. The building, where before the closure of the monastery there was a bakery on the first floor and the sisters' cells on the second, is occupied by the district police department. True, the police must vacate the premises in the near future, and this building will be returned to the sisters.

In the church where services are held, the iconostasis is still temporary, but there is already an agreement with craftsmen from Sergiev Posad to make a carved iconostasis.

In general, there is still a lot to be revived and built, but this is not the main thing.

“The monastery has everything to save the soul,” concludes Bishop Dionysius. “I often say to the abbess and sisters: “From here it’s straight to heaven.”

There were only 4 temples on the territory of the Kadoma monastery

There were only 4 temples on the territory of the Kadoma monastery. Three were located in the monastery itself, and the fourth was located near the village at Nikitskaya Dacha. The first is the main stone church in honor of the icon of the Merciful Mother of God.

This temple was built with donations from people in 1856. On August 20, 1857, the temple was consecrated. In 1860, they decided to expand the monastery a little, since it could accommodate a small number of people. Its expansion was carried out by the architect Chetverikov, who created a new image of it in the Russian-Byzantine style.

The Merciful Mother of God Monastery Kadoma. Photo: 151722.selcdn.ru

Then, after expansion, two chapels were added to the temple - in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord and in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The second temple was a warm wooden one. It stood on a brick foundation and was completely covered with iron.

The temple was built and consecrated in 1865. There are also 2 altars in the temple: one is consecrated in the name of the Nativity of the holy Prophet of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, and the second is in the name of the holy prophet of God Elijah.

The outer temple looked like a simple house, without a dome and one storey.

The third church was built thanks to the permission of the diocesan authorities in the 9th century. This is also evidenced by the inscription inside on the wall - 1882. The temple was built of stone and had three thrones.

Its main chapel was consecrated in the name of the icon of the Mother of God “The Burning Bush”, the second chapel was consecrated in the name of the Archangel Michael of God, and the third chapel was consecrated in the name of St. John the Theologian.

This temple, like the first one, was built with donations from benefactors. In order to decorate the iconostasis of the temple, great masters and painters came from afar.

Temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Burning Bush”. Photo: in.prihod.ru

We are also talking about another temple. The fourth temple was located in the village of Nikitkino. This village was located 12 versts from the city of Kadoma. It was a wooden two-story temple with 5 domes, built in 1866.

It was erected for the sisters living in the convent, who came here in the summer, going out for agricultural work. Thus, they had the opportunity not only to work, but also to attend worship services.

1866

this year they built a temple in the village of Nikitkino, it was the fourth temple of the monastery

There were two altars in the temple: the first - in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, and the second - in the name of Saints Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky. It is also worth noting here that there were utensils and ancient icons that were plundered after the revolution.

Father will reprimand you or be careful - a spiritual abyss!

Meeting at the temple

“Sonya and I are going to a lecture tomorrow...” I hear a whisper behind me in the church. “Well,” I think, “well: who needs to go to a beauty salon, who needs to be lectured.” Modern women's leisure! But if we put aside the jokes, it becomes obvious: the popularity of “possessions” and trips to “reprimands” is growing like an avalanche. Demand easily finds supply: today Ryazan is carefully papered and plastered with advertisements from a certain company about recruiting groups for trips to Optina Pustyn, to Moscow “to Matronushka” and ... “for a lecture to Hieromonk Vladimir (removes damage and family curses).” The name of the company is not indicated in the advertisements - only the telephone number and the website “Traveller”, which looks very similar to the website of the diocesan pilgrimage center. Not long ago, a woman called the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese for clarification: what kind of center is this that takes people to “readings” to a certain hieromonk Vladimir? It turned out that she had dialed the number from the advertisement, but she became wary when she was kindly told that “Father is very strong, he helps everyone with everything,” and, most importantly, that almost everyone needs a “reprimand”! The woman was also informed that a trip to Father Vladimir costs 2,300 rubles, that he removes damage and generational curses, and the “reprimand” lasts about 2.5 hours... We, with the help of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan Diocese, decided to find out a little about the mysterious activities of fighters against damage more details.

"Ancestral Curses"

It turned out that the popular hieromonk Vladimir has his own website, pages on social networks, writes music in the style of metal (or hard rock? - difficult to determine), conducts public conversations at a cost of 8,000 for a four-day course and... is a “professor of MCA.” What kind of educational institution is the mysterious MSA? Maybe the “International Slavic Academy”, on whose website in the “Testimonies” section there is an expected emptiness? More precisely, there is a certificate of registration of a legal entity - a public organization, but not an educational institution at all. In the register of members of even this ISA for 2015, the required surname was not found, so everyone is free to decipher the abbreviation to their own taste. On the website of the mysterious hieromonk, in the “Biography” section, it is stated that he “studied at the theological department of St. Tikhon’s Monastery (spelling preserved - ed.).” Perhaps they meant St. Tikhon’s University, but not finding “St. Tikhon’s Monastery” on the map of Russia and the world, and even with a theological faculty, we left the question of the scientific status of “professor” Vladimir open…. According to the same personal website, Hieromonk Vladimir “since 2005, began to study exorcism in depth, ... traveled abroad and communicated with various Christian denominations, studying their experience.” And one can only guess in which country and from which confession he gained knowledge on the subtle issue of expelling spirits, among which in his conversations he especially singles out the so-called “spirits of the clan.” Among other things, the personal website talks about the repeated “miracles and revelations” in the life of our hero. People who are at least superficially familiar with the basics of religious life will understand that a spiritually experienced person will not share such personal things with a wide audience. Unfortunately, such boasting is often characteristic of those in delusion.

Everything was mixed up in the house...

In the videos with sermons, an amazing mixture is striking: the speaker has just convincingly, inspiredly and theologically seemed to be correct about Christ, His role in the salvation of man, about the indifference of people towards him... And then “click” - and discussions begin about the influence of “spirits of the race” on life and about demon-possessed infants - in complete contradiction with the Holy Scriptures, where it is said about the world after the coming of the Savior: “In those days they will no longer say: “The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” but everyone will die for his own iniquity" (Book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, verses 29-30). Perhaps this is due either to the lack of theological education, or to the youthful occult experiences of the priest, which are also mentioned on the site... On the page on the social network there are stories of “healing” with a description of how Father Vladimir’s “reprimand” goes: “On the second visit during During the prayer service, I had very strong reactions (screaming) to curses from people, a wife’s turning away from her husband, a spirit of completeness - witchcraft on appearance, witchcraft for the destruction of a family, a generational curse - a prodigal demon.” For those who have taken at least a parochial school course, this quote speaks volumes. But just in case, let’s clarify: the above passage is a typical example of slang of various kinds of “healers” and occultists; such rhetoric has nothing to do with Orthodoxy. Unfortunately, no matter how sad it is to admit, analysis of the website, videos, interviews and pages on social networks makes one suspect banal charlatanism, and put on stream. In the “Contacts” section on the website of Hieromonk Vladimir, as in developed network marketing, telephone numbers of “representatives” from different regions are presented...

Gather more people

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Russian psychiatrists saw the cause of hysteria - imaginary possession - in the difficult living conditions of the common people. But today people (mostly women) from wealthy families consider themselves possessed and go for “reprimands.” So what's the reason? And what, exactly, is wrong with “reprimands”? Maybe we just shouldn’t worry too much about the pseudo-Orthodox leisure of some of our fellow citizens? We turned for help in resolving these issues to the head of the Missionary Department of the Ryazan diocese, Archpriest Arseny VILKOV.

— Father Arseny, I’m afraid that for the secular reader our attempt to understand the problem looks like some kind of not entirely clear internal church “showdown”... Perhaps. However, one should not think that by worrying about the activities of private pilgrimage firms, the priest is afraid of “competition.” The question here is the competence of those who take people to shrines. It’s sad when a person who wants to make a pilgrimage to Orthodox shrines, pray and receive spiritual benefits ends up not with a guide with a theological education, but with a figure who “enlightens” listeners throughout the trip with a set of parachurch superstitions. Still, in a pilgrimage center at a diocese or at a church, you are more likely to meet an employee competent in matters of faith. When people are offered “reprimands”, attracted to pilgrimages not by the opportunity to pray at shrines, but by some kind of superstition, then it is obvious that the purpose of such trips is not to make a person spiritually richer, but simply to make money, to gather as many people as possible who are not knowledgeable about the issues faith.

— As for the “blessing” of Father Afanasy, I can immediately say: absolutely false information. This rumor has already spread widely, so that Archimandrite Athanasius wrote an official letter of refutation. I will quote literally verbatim: “I have not given this pilgrimage center a blessing for its activities and am not competent to give such a blessing.” Father explained that in private conversations with some of those who came to him, he actually heard about Father Vladimir, but did not “bless” trips to him, but only explained that he was unable to forbid anyone to go to the priest about whom , in general, knows nothing. Unfortunately, this is a common thing: a person hears and accepts as a “blessing” what is beneficial for him to hear. Today it is easy to hide behind the blessings of various elders and spirit-bearing fathers - but it can be impossible to verify the presence of such a blessing. If you have any doubts about the benefits of a particular trip, you can contact the Diocese Pilgrimage Center. The diocesan center is not a monopoly on pilgrimage, but it unites everyone who takes pilgrimage groups somewhere, maintains contacts with churches and priests who organize trips for parishioners. Accordingly, it accumulates quite a lot of information. In general, “readings” are carried out by an extremely limited number of priests who have the blessing of not just some elder, but the hierarchy of the Church (Strictly speaking, today we can only talk about the rite of exorcism carried out in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - ed.). And, most importantly, the number of those who need a “reprimand” is much smaller than it might seem.

- Who really needs it?

“Reprimand” is needed for people possessed by evil spirits. Of course, demons are close to all of us and constantly push us to commit some kind of sin. But obsession is a different phenomenon. This is the personal presence of a demon in the human body. I have had the opportunity - only a few times in my life - to see such people. The demon spoke through someone - in his very special voice. I had to see how a person was thrown away from the shrine. This is not at all like people who are either mentally ill or simply consider themselves possessed. Under Bishop Paul, who headed the Ryazan diocese in 2003-2013, at first there were a lot of people in the cathedral who were outwardly possessed: in the church they often shouted something, growled, and behaved in some other peculiar way. But at one fine moment, the bishop from the pulpit told the “rabid” that if this behavior continued, they would no longer be allowed into the temple. And after that, the number of pseudo-possessions suddenly decreased! This is a completely different phenomenon. Therefore, sending everyone to a “reprimand” is simply harmful.

The dangers of “telling off”

— Why is “reporting” harmful, besides losing money?

If a healthy person gets a real “reprimand”, then he runs the risk of becoming possessed of a demon: a demon expelled from someone else must rush somewhere. And here he is - a man who came simply out of curiosity. So there is a serious danger of being damaged spiritually. But it must be said that most of those priests who conduct “reprimands” without the blessing of the clergy, by “reprimands” they simply mean prayers for health. Any priest can and often does such a prayer service, he just doesn’t present it as some kind of “unique offer” for ten thousand rubles... But, for example, if I presented such a prayer service as something special, people will immediately run to participate. And the more wonderful my special “prayer order” is, the more peculiar I behave during it - the more, alas, it will seem spiritual, and I, of course, will be considered a clairvoyant seer. Delight in such things betrays our lack of churchliness, our lack of understanding of the essence of Christian life. And, unfortunately, there are those who make money from this. Sometimes these are real mummers who have never been ordained to the priesthood, sometimes they are priests who have been deprived of their rank or banned from serving. Not so long ago, a woman came to me who was recommended by just such a “father” to take five “reprimand” courses from him for ten thousand rubles each... And she collects money! This is the madness of our world, this is something that does not apply to real religious life at all. We are talking about practices that are dangerous to the soul, and I want to protect people from them. Anyone who is rooted in the life of the Church and knows its teachings will not go to such events. But people who have little church, but are “interested”, are at risk...

Elena FETISOVA

Commented by priest Dimitry FETISOV, editor-in-chief of the Logos newspaper, senior lecturer at the Department of Theology of the Russian State University named after S.A. Yesenina:

— One of the reasons for fictitious demonic possession is pride. It is very difficult for a person to live an ordinary, “low-key” life. Some people make duck lips, take “selfies” and collect “likes” on the Internet, imagining themselves as a Hollywood star - while others attract attention by acting in a temple, growling and howling at services. Or not growling, but only sighing and telling everyone about his own “possession” - such, in essence, quiet hysteria. On the other hand, it is actually beneficial for a person to believe in “ancestral curses,” evil eyes, damage, and other external causes of his troubles. Because if you admit to yourself that the main reasons are our sins and passions, which we submit mainly voluntarily, and not under someone’s evil influence, then you will have to admit your own responsibility and the need for painstaking work to correct your life. It’s much easier to blame your troubles on a demon, family, or an evil neighbor. It is clear that demons really “prompt” a person, and family, parents influence us through upbringing, through habits learned from childhood. But everyone is free to overcome demonic thoughts and their habits through prayer, abstinence, and the sacraments of the Church - and not through searching for a magic pill from an exorcist. But many in spiritual life choose the same principle by which they try to lose weight: “Leading a healthy lifestyle is very difficult, you need endurance and consistency - well, let’s buy a miracle tea on the Internet, although neither the composition nor the manufacturer is indicated on it. Suddenly it will help! How will it help? Will it lead you to your grave faster?

Source: Logos No. 10(12) from December 16, 2016

Memoirs of Archimandrite Afanasy (Kultinov). Part 1

Archimandrite Afanasy (Kultinov) with his mother (now schema-nun)

I was born in 1937 in the village of Bolshoye Lyakhovo, Ermishinsky district, Ryazan region.
My mother was engaged in farming, she worked all day, she had no time to raise us. We didn't have a church. The closest temple is in Savvatma, eight kilometers away. Accordingly, they didn’t go to church, they kept faith in their souls. They almost didn’t pray either... But there was faith. And when I was studying in Toropovo, my mother told me: “Don’t join the Octoberists, or the Pioneers, or the Komsomol.” And I didn’t join, since my mother said. I was not particularly harassed for this. After all, we lived in the village, here this matter was not followed so closely. Perhaps, according to God's Providence, everything turned out this way. Although, it must be said, given the low level of culture, the moral state of young people was still better than it is now. People were cleaner. When I was a boy, kissing a girl was a big deal. The shame is terrible. It is completely different now... Piety, it does not go away immediately, it is depleted over generations. After three or four generations, our godlessness became very visible. But before it was not so noticeable... Moreover, the period of war had a very beneficial effect on human feelings. Every family suffered: either the father did not return, or the brother... In every house there was this wound, people bore the burden of grief and were compassionate, there was love. Although we lived without information - we only installed electric light in the village in 1956. In 1946, I was nine years old and in second grade. We didn't have notebooks. True, they were sold, someone might have bought them, but my mother didn’t have enough money, so we cut up newspapers, sewed them together and wrote on them. We wore whatever we had to wear; of course, there were no galoshes either. They cut something like lasts out of wood and then tied them to boots with strings. The clothes were also the most primitive.

The food was very meager - we didn’t even see rye bread. Hunger. Women grated potatoes and baked bread from them. They also ate quinoa, and they also made bread from it. Sorrel was collected. And then they made bread from acorns... True, my mother didn’t bake bread from acorns - it was very heavy, hard, and then it felt like a stake in her stomach. But the strangest thing is that despite all these difficulties and sorrows, no one was particularly sick then: whatever wound appeared, two or three days - and everything healed. And now each wound lives for months. Maybe it's an environmental issue? Probably, the reserve of physical strength, like faith, was passed on from the parents. I notice that we are stronger than our children, children are stronger than grandchildren - people are getting smaller due to their health. And they become smaller in spirit. My mother is ninety years old, and she tells me: “My son, nothing hurts... Nothing... I feel good.” Although she had a heart defect.

Our teachers did not oppose atheism: “man came from a monkey” and all that... They all knew the truth, but it’s very difficult to go against the grain, to say that you are a believer, that man was created by God. We all followed the line of least resistance. There was no firmness of faith to confess Christ. Although the Pravdolyubovs were different. Father Vladimir, when he was a boy, answered in class that the world was created by God, and the teachers gave him stakes. The Pravdolyubovs did not renounce; they were already confessors at school, as children. But we couldn’t do that, we didn’t receive such an upbringing.

As I already said, we did not have a temple. At the age of thirteen, my mother and I went to receive communion in the village of Savvatma. A priest came to our street to serve holy water prayers. I remember when I was a teenager, about thirteen or fourteen years old, my mother said: “Come to the cross, the priest will sprinkle it.” But I didn’t go. The guys didn’t go, and I didn’t go... I’m ashamed. This was the faith. She was kept inside, but found no confession.

My mother Zoya also didn’t go to church much then, but her aunt, Mariamne, went to church and persuaded me: “Anatoly, let’s go to church. Come on, come on...” She visited the elder Archpriest Iakov Tsvetkov, who was then nearly ninety years old. It was she who first brought me to the priest, and I received communion at his home.

Father Jacob the elder was humble. He was missing one eye - I don’t know how he lost it. He had to go through a lot. He was sent into exile, and on the way they looked at him and said: “Grandfather, go home, there’s nothing for you here...” The guards released him. And he came to Kasimov. Father Jacob's legs hurt very much. He will serve, and then he will raise his foot on a stool, take off his boot - there is half a boot of blood. These were such ascetics. This is how I first met a man who, outwardly, seemed to be nothing special, but at the same time was a deep man of prayer.

When I took Holy Communion for the first time at Father Jacob’s, I took the cross myself, kissed it and laid it down. I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to behave. Well, of course, I confessed. Then I tell him: “Father, I won’t drink wine or vodka, not at all.” And he looks at me and asks: “Where did you read it?” I say: “I don’t know, I decided so.” - “My dear, perfect people can drink vodka, but imperfect people can’t drink a drop.”

So the Lord brought me to church through Aunt Mariamne. And before that, when I lived in another apartment, I almost ended up with the Baptists. They are so active, annoying - they would drag me down, because I was striving for God. So the Lord saved me from them - I started going to St. Nicholas Church. The first three years it was very difficult for me. I'm tall. When I come, I stand at the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God (in the church, as you enter, it’s on the right side)…

Father Vasily Romanov, an ascetic who was ninety years old, served in the St. Nicholas Church. He was an artist. Then Father Vladimir Pravdolyubov served with him, and later Father John (Krestyankin)[1]. So they began to educate me. Then I was already a family man. In the year sixty-three, my mother and I got married: we went to Father Anatoly Pravdolyubov, the brother of Vladimir’s father, eight kilometers from Kasimov, and he married us.

By that time I was the second mate, the question arose about my leaving my job, since I had made a firm decision to go into church service. It was very difficult to leave because there were people there who worked in a well-known department. Some were happy, others were sarcastic that they would get to the director for me. But the director (he traveled, even went to Czechoslovakia, which was rare at that time) looked at me for a long time, examined me carefully, carefully, and then said: “You submitted a petition - I signed it. I let you go". A worthy man. But it was the year sixty-seven, fifty years of Soviet power were celebrated, and I gave them a gift - a letter of resignation.

Then a commission of seven people met. The head of the city was present, and the entire conversation was conducted by a KGB representative. So he starts asking me questions: “Why did you leave? Why are you this, and why are you that?...” I begin to explain to him that I read holy books, I am leaving by faith. “What did the Church give you? Why are you so eager to go there? “Well, let me tell you what the Church gave me. I, being the second mate of the captain, imitating my superiors, when I was working, opened the cargo, took what I needed: I needed to unwind the rope - we’d unhook it twenty meters and take it home. If you need toys, the kind they carry, or forks from Pavlovo, nickel-plated, we open the seals and take them. And without consequences, conscience was silent. And when I started going to church, I no longer touched a single load. Now I take care of myself. My conscience convicts me if I commit a sin or steal. This is what the Church gives me.” I see it works. Then the KGB officer says: “Well, you raise your daughter, she will be a black sheep.” I said, “No, it won’t.” - “Well, what benefit does your going to church bring to society?” I say: “People come there who have worked all their lives. Now they are pensioners, it’s difficult for them, but I cook for them so that they can pray, so that they have warmth (I worked as a stoker at the temple). It’s an honor...” - “And how do you, captain’s assistant, carry firewood on a sled?” — it was they who began to hurt their pride. “I,” I say, “don’t think there’s anything bad in this. I don’t steal, I don’t do anything bad.” This is the kind of interrogation they gave me.

In general, these were difficult times. My daughter Natasha was born in her sixtieth year. At school, the teacher, a Tatar, asked her: “Natasha, do you wear a cross?” - “I wear it.” - “And I am a believer, and I wear.” And she began to talk to her, asking her about everything along the way. But back then it was strict. Finally he says: “Take off the cross.” Then they called me. This is where my confession began. I went, talked to them, confessed to God. They fell behind.

I was already determined then. And the Pravdolyubovs helped me out. They all took risks, and first of all Father Vladimir, who spiritually nurtured me. I took from him what I could take.

I remember how Father John (Krestyankin) came to us. Here’s what’s curious: when he appeared in our church, I went to Father Jacob in embarrassment: “Father, a Catholic priest has arrived.” Small beard. The cross gives a special kiss. Doesn't let you kiss your hands. And only later, when I began to serve Father John, I realized who had come. I saw and felt him preaching. He took a book, it seemed, he read... but I think he took it simply to hide his strength. He took the book and with his sermon lifted you up there, into heaven, and did terrible things. He elevated your mind and heart... There is an abyss under you - you think that you are about to fall from such a height and break yourself! So he could raise and elevate a person. And, of course, he saw everything. For example, he told me how many times he was transferred from church to church, kicked out... And then I realized that this was all said about me.

One day some monk came to us, perhaps possessed. This monk gathered those who were in the church gatehouse and shared a piece of bread: “This is grace, join in with it.” “Oh, perspicacious...” everyone who was there fell to him: the servants, the cleaning ladies. Father John comes in the evening and says: “Tolyushka, why did you come up to him? The man is sick. You have to be careful...” But he wasn’t there, and they didn’t tell him anything. Well, these cleaning ladies of ours repeatedly saw how, when Father John entered the church, the lamps on the pulpit suddenly lit up on their own.

Then I was given the following test: my ears began to make noise, apparently the enemy was attacking, and my thoughts began to wander. I told Father John - he anointed me, and everything went away. And then some attacks began on me, other thoughts: “You won’t be saved... You’ll perish...” - and all that. He comes up to me and says: “You yourself will be saved, and your family will be saved!” - answered directly to my thoughts. These were the moments. In sixty-six, Father John left us. I myself was still a layman at that time, but I wanted to serve God in the priesthood.

(To be continued)

Recorded by monk Pavel (Shcherbachev)
[1] Archimandrite John (Krestyankin; † 2006), having returned from prison, was first appointed to the Pskov diocese, and then moved to Ryazan, where he served as a priest for a total of almost 11 years. https://www.pravoslavie.ru/guest/070507105120

Many people leave very good reviews about Father Afanasy

Many people leave very good reviews about the priest. Here is one of them: “...I spoke very briefly about my sadness, that I was tired of being obedient to my superiors, tired of working in a place where even priests are in no hurry to go to the sick.
And here! Oh miracle! Father Afanasy, as I feel now, in a word and on my forehead - you have to work according to your strength, and when your strength ends in prayer, you need to take a break!!!!
Father blessed and gave oil for anointing children in distant Yakutia in an orphanage-boarding school for the path..."

Review of the trip to Father Afanasy