Elder Nikolai Guryanov - a true ascetic of Russian piety

Nikolai Alekseevich Guryanov
(1909 - 2002), archpriest Born on May 24, 1909 in the village of Chudskie Zakhodtsy, Gdov district, St. Petersburg province, into a pious merchant family. Father, Alexey Ivanovich Guryanov (+ 1914), was the regent of the church choir. After his death, his mother, Ekaterina Stefanovna Guryanova (+ 1969), was involved in raising the children. Subsequently, she became the closest assistant to her son Nikolai. Since childhood, he served in the church of Arch. Mikhail in the village Kobylye Settlement, Gdov district, traveled with pilgrims to holy places. A love of church and church singing was inherent in all family members. Nikolai's elder brother, Mikhail, became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The younger brothers, Peter and Anatoly, also had musical abilities, but little is known about them. All three brothers died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.

Even as a teenager, he visited Fr. Talabsk, where he later labored. Around 1920, the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael, in which the youth Nicholas served as an altar boy, took him with him to Pskov, where they traveled by water. We stopped to rest on the island of Talabsk. Here we visited Blessed Michael, the seer. Blessed Michael gave the priest a small prosphora, and Nicholas a large one and said: “Our Gostek has arrived...”.

After graduating from the Gatchina Pedagogical College, Nikolai entered the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. In 1929, student Nikolai spoke at a student meeting against the closure of one of the Leningrad churches, after which he was expelled from the institute.

He taught mathematics, physics and biology at a school in Tosno, Leningrad region. Then he served as a psalm-reader in a church in the name of St. Nicholas s. Remda, Seredkinsky district, Leningrad region. (now Gdovsky district of the Pskov region).

May 7, 1930 Leningrad district. The court sentenced him to two years of deportation from the RSFSR for two years for “counter-revolutionary activities.”

In July of the same year, he arrived in the village of Sidorovichi, Rozvazhevsky district of the Ukrainian SSR, where he got a job as a psalm-reader.

Local authorities began to receive denunciations:
“The act (activity) of the village of Sidorovich brings to your knowledge that in the village of Sidorovichi some nebazhani (undesirable) elements live and are engaged in agitation against the Soviet regime and collectivization, and the kurkuli (kulaks) themselves are liquidating and ruining the work.” .
“...In the month of July 1930. [Nikolai Guryanov] arrived in the village of Sidorovichi, took the position of clerk, and settled in the apartment of the chairman of the church community, Komarenko. Taking advantage of the fact that young people visited Komarenko’s adult children, he began to learn religious songs with them [meaning church chants], and sang them with them. He recruited young people into the church choir, and also advised them to go to church...”

On March 24, 1931, he was arrested in the “case of the kulaks of the village of Sidorovichi.” Since March 31, he was in Kiev DOPR N2. In the “property status” column of the arrested person’s questionnaire, it was written that “he has no property.” Medical certificate of health: “suffers from rheumatism of the joints.” It was a group case. In addition to Father Nikolai Guryanov, three more accused passed through it: Zakharyashevich Ivan Yakovlevich, Zakharyashevich Yakov Yakovlevich and Kopansky Alexey (Alexander?) Ivanovich.

From the indictment:

The investigation has established that the above-mentioned persons are indeed dispossessed kurkuli [kulaks] and from the moment of their settlement on the territory of the Sidoryansky village council they began to conduct a/c activities, campaigning against the events carried out by the Soviet government in the countryside, such as against grain procurements, collectivization, etc. They began to spread rumors that there would soon be a war, because here they put pressure on collective farms, and in Belarus on the construction of railways, and they also tried to persuade their neighbors, with whom they were friends, not to go to collective farms, since it would be bad on collective farms...

On the eve of the re-election of the village council, those who were not happy with the Soviet regime had a drinking party, and after the party they dispersed in order to disrupt the pre-election meetings, focusing on not letting communists into the village council, given that the Executive Committee had sent a communist to the post of chairman of the village council in Sidorovichi.

This group worked to prevent voters from voting for a communist under the pretext that “he is a stranger, we don’t know him,” and, moreover, “we have our own people,” as a result of which the pre-election meeting was disrupted...

He did not admit guilt: “I have never been involved in counter-revolutionary work and have never agitated anyone against the Soviet regime. I have nothing more to say. N. Guryanov."

On August 20, 1931, he was sentenced to deportation to the Northern Territory for a period of three years, starting from March 24, 1931.

He served time in Syktyvkar. Was at the construction of the railway. The work often took place in icy water. He received rheumatism and also seriously injured his legs from sleepers.

He was released approximately in 1937 (according to other sources - in 1942). He did not have the right to reside in Leningrad and was sent 101 km away. He worked as a teacher in schools in the Tosnensky district. When the Great Patriotic War began, he was not taken to the front due to a leg disease that he received in the camp. During the German occupation he was forcibly taken to the Baltic states.

On February 8, 1942, he was ordained deacon by Metropolitan of Vilnius.
Sergius (Voskresensky) and on February 15 - priest. According to PSTGU, even before his ordination he took monastic vows, but did not become a monk with robes and kept his monasticism a secret.

In the same year, he graduated from theological courses in Vilnius and was sent as a priest to the Riga Trinity-Sergius Monastery for women.

Then he was transferred to the Vilna Monastery of the Holy Spirit for men, where he was obedient to the guide.

Since July 1943 - rector of the church in the name of St. Nicholas s. Hegobrosts of the Panevezys deanery of the Vilna-Lithuania diocese.

In 1949-1951 He studied in absentia at the Leningrad Theological Seminary and the Leningrad Theological Academy; he studied at the academy for only one year.

In 1956 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest.

In 1958 he was transferred to the Pskov diocese. At his personal request, he was appointed rector of the church in the name of St. Nicholas on the island of Talabsk (Zalit) on Lake Pskov, where almost half a century of his pastoral ministry passed.

He led an ascetic life and became famous as a spiritual, perspicacious elder. In the early 1970s, Fr. Many people began to turn to Nicholas for advice and prayerful help; his spiritual children were among priests, monks and laity. He tried to say an encouraging word to everyone who came to him, strengthened and instructed them in faith, and called on them to treat everything that surrounds people with love. He read a lot, guiding others to thoughtful, intelligent reading, blessed them to study and receive an education, loved spiritual singing, author of such hymns as “Praise to the Mother of God,” “Prayer to the Guardian Angel,” “Savior, warm my soul,” “Brotherly hymn". Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II named Fr. Nicholas one of the pillars of Russian eldership.

He died on August 24, 2002 in his home on the island of Talabsk (Zalit) on Lake Pskov in the Pskov region. The island of Talabsk with the grave of the elder still attracts numerous pilgrims.

Childhood and youth

On May 24, 1909, in the village of Chudskie Zahody near Gdov, a child was born into an ordinary Orthodox family. At baptism they named the baby Nicholas, in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. His father Alexei Stepanovich Guryanov, the director of the church choir, died quite young, in 1914. And the care of four sons fell on the shoulders of mother Ekaterina Stepanovna. All of Nikolai's brothers took after their father - they had an ear for music. The elder Mikhail even taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. And the war took everyone away.

Portrait of Nikolai Guryanov

The mother was left with only Nikolai, and he had the opportunity to take care of his mother, who, as best she could, helped her son in his service to God until her death in 1969. The father foresaw this development of events, once telling his wife that it was this son who would “watch over” her in her old age. In his youth, Nikolai Guryanov, who had a sharp character, made a lot of effort to learn not to flare up over a trifle.

There is no doubt that faith helped this young man. From an early age, Nikolai was raised according to Orthodox traditions, served at the altar of a local church, and sometimes went with pilgrims on pilgrimages to holy places. So, in his youth he visited the island of Talabsk, where he later lived for so many years.

Nikolay Guryanov

Nikolai graduated from the Pedagogical College in Gatchina, entered the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute, and then he was faced with a choice between faith and a more or less quiet life in a country that denied God. In 1929, Guryanov was expelled from his first year at the university because he opposed the closure of a certain temple.

This speech did not prevent the closure of the temple, but at the same time closed the young man’s path to a university diploma. And, of course, the NKVD paid close attention to the champion of the faith. Nikolai returned to his native village, served as a psalm-reader and at the same time taught children mathematics, physics and biology.

Story

Zalit Island, belonging to the Talab Islands group, was called Talabsk until 1919 (Lake Pskov itself was also called Talabsk).

In 1842, the current chapel was built in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” of Smolensk, in memory of the miraculous deliverance from the cholera epidemic that engulfed the inhabitants of the settlement. The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God appeared to a certain parishioner of the Church of St. Nicholas in a dream and commanded: “Carry Me with the procession of the Cross around the entire village, and then the cholera will stop.” In a dream vision, this man was revealed to the place where this holy icon had been kept until now, namely in the attic of one of the town houses. Everything was done according to the word of the Mother of God, and the epidemic stopped.

In 1854, a stone chapel was built in honor of St. Nicholas in memory of the miracle from the image of the saint that occurred during the fire on July 6, 1853. The chapel was erected for the “unquenchable burning of oil.” In 1888, a second chapel was erected at the cemetery, according to local legend, in honor of Anastasia the Roman.

In 1939, the temple was closed after severe destruction. All decorations were destroyed. It is unknown where the icons were taken. In 1947, the temple was reopened for worship.

Life

Communist persecution of the church was expressed not only in the closure of churches, but also in repressions against clergy. Many ended up in camps, including Nikolai Guryanov. He was arrested for religious propaganda. Before the trial, the future Talab elder spent several months in Leningrad’s notorious “Crosses,” and after the verdict was announced, he served his sentence in Syktyvkar, in one of the “islands” of the terrible “GULAG archipelago.” There, prisoners built a railway in inhuman conditions, Nikolai became disabled - both of his legs were crippled.

Young priest Nikolai Guryanov

According to some sources, he was released in 1937, and according to others, in 1942. After his release, Nikolai, as a repressed person, was unable to obtain registration in Leningrad. I had to settle in the Tosnensky district. There, Guryanov was lucky - there were not enough teachers in rural schools, and he got a job, despite the fact that he did not have a higher education, and, on the contrary, had a criminal record.

When the Great Patriotic War began, disabled teachers were not accepted into the army. In addition, then they remembered about his criminal record. When Leningrad was surrounded by siege, Nikolai found himself in territory occupied by the Nazis and was forcibly deported to the Baltic states.

Icon of Nikolai Guryanov

It was during the occupation that Guryanov finally dedicated himself to God. In February 1942, on the 8th, he was ordained to the rank of deacon. Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) performed the ordination ceremony. Simultaneously with his ordination, Nikolai accepted celibacy - a vow of celibacy for the rest of his life. And already on February 15, 1942 he received holy orders. After completing the theological courses, Nikolai went to Riga, where he served as a priest at the Holy Trinity Convent. Then for almost a year he was the charter director of the Holy Spiritual Monastery in Vilnius.

Since 1943, Guryanov was the rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Gegobrosty in Lithuania. In 1956, Father Nikolai received the rank of archpriest. According to the recollections of his parishioner Rimma Orlova, Father Nikolai was distinguished by kindness and friendliness, he served with inspiration, glowing, involving all parishioners in the action of the service.

Nikolai Guryanov in the courtyard of his house

Not a monk, he led a stricter life than a monk. He observed asceticism in everything - in prayer, fasting, and human relationships. And he served God selflessly, setting an example for everyone around him. It is not for nothing that his parish was called “an oasis of Orthodox piety” in the middle of Catholic Lithuania.

Father Nikolai combined his ministry with his studies - in 1951 he received a diploma from the Vilna Theological Seminary, then studied in absentia at the Leningrad Theological Academy. And in 1958 he left to serve God on the island of Talabsk, forever linking his biography with him. People who knew Guryanov closely recalled that the name of the place of service was given to Father Nikolai by a certain elder to whom he went.

Talabsk Island, where Nikolai Guryanov lived

The end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s was the time of Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign, when the authorities declared a close victory over obscurantism, meaning Orthodoxy. Therefore, at Talabsk, Nikolai and his mother were greeted with suspicion. But the priest’s goodwill, meekness and patience helped establish good relations with the local residents.

With his own hands, Father Nikolai restored his dilapidated temple - he painted the walls and re-roofed it. He himself, without the help of the diocese, looked for funds for materials for repairs. I baked buttermilk with my own hands when services had already begun in the church. And he also helped everyone he could, looked after the elderly, nursed children, planted trees on the island.

Icon of Nikolai Guryanov

In the first years, having already established good neighborly relations with the residents of Talabsk, Nikolai often led services without a flock - people did not go to church under the influence of anti-religious propaganda. One of the village women even wrote a denunciation against the priest. A representative of the authorities came to the island, became rude and rude and said that he would take the archpriest away tomorrow.

Father Nikolai prayed all night, and in the morning miracles began, or coincidences, as one prefers to think of it. A storm began on the lake, and for three days it was impossible to get to the island from the mainland. And then the authorities seemed to forget about Guryanov.

Nikolai Guryanov in the garden

In the 1970s, Nikolai Guryanov, who was already called Elder Nikolai, gained unprecedented fame. His prophecies came true, and therefore people came to him from all over the Soviet Union. The elder unmistakably called strangers by name, warned them of the dangers that threatened them, and told them how to avoid them.

He felt sorry for those possessed by demons, performed rituals of exorcism, and begged God for healing from incurable diseases. Nikolai Guryanov, among other things, was very tactful in his sermons and statements, gave instructions without humiliating the dignity of the person who asked for help.

Nikolay Guryanov

In 1988, the elder was awarded the miter and the right to serve with the Royal Doors open until the “Cherubim”, and in 1992 - the right to serve the liturgy with the Royal Doors open until the “Our Father”. This is the highest church distinction for an archpriest. There were rumors that Nikolai Guryanov was secretly ordained as a bishop, but then these awards are called into question, because the episcopal rank itself gives such rights.

In the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods, when the church began to receive state support, the number of admirers of Elder Nicholas increased both among Russians and among Orthodox Christians abroad. In Canada, with his blessing, a monastery was founded.

Nikolai Guryanov and Valerian Krechetov

Olga Kormukhina, Konstantin Kinchev and other famous creative people came to the elder for his blessing. In addition, in the late 1990s, the elder predicted the future of Russia, and the true meaning of these prophecies is still debated to this day.

As Igor Izbortsev, the author of a book about the elder, wrote, the island of Talabsk was called the island of Orthodoxy. Actually, Father Nikolai was a “blessed island” for believers. In one interview, the elder was asked what bothered him about his contemporaries. And he answered: “Unbelief.”

“Go to the temple and believe in the Lord. To whom the Church is not a mother, God is not a Father” - every Orthodox Christian needs to remember this quote from Elder Nicholas.

"For love!"

Talab residents produced smelt fish, famous throughout Russia, which was supplied to Moscow, Riga, Warsaw and even to the imperial court. In 1790, a stone St. Nicholas Church was built here with public money. Then three more chapels appeared on the island. The temple and chapels are the only things that survived when the Nazis set fire to the island during the war. Talabsk became a desert - not a tree, not a bush. All residents were driven into slavery. After the victory, those who survived returned home and began to build on the ashes. When the priest arrived on Zalit, the houses were already standing there, but there were still no trees. And Father Nikolai took up the task of landscaping the island. To water the seedlings, he carried 100 buckets of water a day from the lake. Father's main assistant was his mother. Mother Ekaterina Stefanovna was widowed at an early age and raised four sons alone. The elder's three brothers died in the war. “And during these harsh years, the priest accepted the priestly rank. Before that, Nikolai Guryanov went through prisons and a camp, where, together with other prisoners, he laid the railway to Vorkuta,” Lyudmila Azarkina told AiF. For the last seven years, she has been collecting documentary evidence about the fate of the priest, which was included in the book “Servant of God.” After the death of Father Nikolai, Lyudmila received archival evidence that the priest had been rehabilitated. “Father went to prison in the 30s, as a young man in his early twenties. The reason was that he did not hide his faith and opposed the closure of churches,” says Lyudmila. “He spoke sparingly about the camp period. The elder’s spiritual children recall this story from the priest: “You are walking along a narrow path in the snow. There are corpses of prisoners everywhere. Someone is still alive. They hold out their hands: “Bread, bread.” “But there is no bread. They fed us stew with worms.” One day, a group of prisoners had to stand waist-deep in a river for a day, which had already begun to be covered in ice. Everyone except Nikolai Guryanov died.

Father said that in the severe frost, when there were no shoes or mittens, he was always warmed by the prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” When the time came for Father’s release, he was thrown outside the camp gates. All around is the polar night and endless tundra. And he was exhausted to such an extent that he could barely stand on his feet. With God's help, Nikolai Guryanov, either on foot or by train, reached his native land. Father did not complain. He often repeated: “Never forget, even in the darkest days of your life, to thank God for everything. He is waiting for this and will send you new blessings and gifts. A person with a grateful heart never lacks for anything.”

These words, written down by the priest, can still be seen in his house. Free admission. Everyone can look at the situation that surrounded the old man on the island for almost half a century. When one day they asked the priest why he was in prison, they heard: “For love, my precious ones! For love!

Memory

The film “The Word of Truth”, filmed in 2003, tells that the elder supported Tsardom and called for the canonization of Grigory Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible. But, according to fans of Nikolai Guryanov, in recent years the elder, due to his weakness, depended on his entourage, which began to pass off all sorts of speculation as the priest’s speeches. Their opinion is confirmed by an article by Yuri Maksimov in the magazine “Holy Fire”. But the fact that Father Nikolai spoke respectfully of the royal family still seems to be true.

Nikolai Guryanov's grave

The Society of Devotees of the Memory of the Righteous Nicholas of Pskovezersk (Nikolai Guryanov) was created. There is an icon, as well as an Akathist and a Canon to our Righteous Father Nicholas of Pskovezersk, the Bishop of God.

The book “Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov” was published in the “People of God” series of the Sretensky Monastery Publishing House. Photos of the old man are available to any Internet user.

Model of Orthodox eldership

Over time, the island of Talabsk, barely visible on the geographical map, began to be secretly called the island of Orthodoxy. The fame of Father Nikolai and his activities spread far beyond the outskirts of the Pskov land.

In addition to zeal and zeal, God rewarded the priest with the gift of foresight. They say that sometimes the elder even reported on the fate of missing people.

In the seventies, dozens of believers from different parts of the vast country began to flock to the priest. It happened that due to the large influx of visitors, he could not find even a minute to rest. True, he did not accept everyone. Sometimes he could allow himself a stern question: why did you come (came)?

Among the spiritual children of Father Nicholas were laymen, monks, and priests. He is rightfully considered one of the most revered elders of the 20th-21st centuries.

On August 24, 2002, Father Nikolai Guryanov rested in the Lord. Death found him at the place of his exploits, the island of Talabsk.

Instructions from Father Nicholas to spiritual children

1. Our life is blessed... A gift from God... We have a treasure within us - a soul. If we save it in this temporary world, where we came as strangers, we will inherit Eternal Life.

2. Seek purity. Don’t listen to bad and dirty things about anyone... Don’t dwell on an unkind thought... Flee untruths... Never be afraid to speak the truth, only with prayer and, first, ask for blessings from the Lord.

3. You need to live not only for yourself... Try to quietly pray for everyone... Don’t push anyone away or humiliate anyone.

4. Our thoughts and words have great power on the world around us. Pray with tears for everyone - the sick, the weak, sinners, for those for whom there is no one to pray.

5. Don't be too strict. Excessive strictness is dangerous. It stops the soul only at external achievement, without giving depth. Be softer, don't chase external rules. Converse mentally with the Lord and the saints. Try not to teach, but to gently suggest and correct each other. Be simple and sincere. The world is like God’s... Look around - all creation thanks the Lord. And you live like this - in peace with God.

6. Obedience... It begins in early childhood. From obedience to parents. These are our first lessons from the Lord.

7. Remember that all people are weak and sometimes unjust. Learn to forgive and not be offended. It’s better to move away from those who cause you harm - you won’t be loved by force... Don’t look for friends among people. Look for them in Heaven - among the saints. They will never leave or betray.

8. Believe in the Lord without doubt. The Lord Himself lives in our heart and there is no need to look for Him somewhere there... far away.

Author:

Tatiana
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From the memoirs of priest Mikhail Maleev:

“Once, we took a trip to Zalit Island to visit Father Nikolai Guryanov. We sailed along Lake Pskov on an old rusty fishing boat... From a distance the island seems overgrown with trees. Father planted many of the trees himself, with his own hands, when he moved here from Lithuania in 1958. We had to transport them from the mainland, and then water them for a long time in order for them to take root... You can imagine how difficult it was to carry up to a hundred buckets of water along the slopes every day. But now the trees with a dense crown softly cover the small house of Nikolai’s father. How many Orthodox people from all cities and our entire country have been here over the years, united by one thing: love for God and his Orthodox Church...

Archpriest Vasily Shvets with father Nikolai Guryanov