Father Benjamin. Father Benjamin

Father Benjamin, you have been serving in Severodvinsk for about a year and, of course, you understand the spiritual situation in the crews of the BVMB. What is the spirit of our warriors?

Over the course of the year, I have become firmly convinced that the formation of a parish here is only possible when, as a priest, I regularly go to sea with the crews. Then it is possible to determine which of the sailors is more inclined towards spiritual communication, spiritual life, and in the future to rely on them. What is the value of this flock and the importance of the churching of these people? In the fact that they are already warriors by definition, it remains to "correct" the worldview position. After all, every soul is by nature a Christian, but this needs to be revealed.

- What is the ministry of a garrison priest?

I have a wide range of missionary work, and the field is unplowed. According to statistics, 80 percent of the Russian army is baptized in Orthodoxy. But they never pray, they don't go to church, they never received communion. True, many wear a cross. At this, the connection with the Orthodox Church both began and stopped. I conducted a survey among more than half of the brigade's personnel, and the majority answered that they practically do not pray and do not go to church services on Sundays.

Probably, the circumstances should develop in such a way that a person remembers where he should strive and who to turn to. Well, maybe that's why they say: whoever did not go to sea did not pray.

During this year we have worked out the "coastal elements" - on the day of memory of the righteous warrior Feodor Ushakov, October 15, we went through the procession of the cross through the streets of Severodvinsk. Now the time has come, in other words, to work out the "sea elements" - to communicate with the crews directly at sea.

Faith comes from hearing. Where can sailors hear the Word of God? On the shore, their daily routine is very stressful, there are almost no free minutes, and at the same time, not every Sunday is a day off. Of course, the sea is also very busy, but nevertheless a priest will be on board for 24 hours. I think it is quite possible to carve out some minutes every day and provide the sailors with that hearing, from which faith is strengthened. After all, without her, every jump is past the stirrup.

- Father Benjamin, did you have any prerequisites for your appointment to the Naval Base?

In the army and especially in the navy, people who are familiar with the specifics, who know the service, are needed. It's important not to be a burden. Of course, it is a risk for a commander to admit on a warship a person who does not represent the appropriate rules of conduct. Well, in order to go with the crew to the sea, even I had to undergo special training and get admission.

I think one more point is important. Since 2005, I have served in the Sanaksar Monastery, where the relics of the invincible Russian admiral, the righteous warrior Theodore (Ushakov) rest, and before that I worked for three years in the Synodal Department for Interaction with the Armed Forces, in the sector of the Navy, with Archpriest Dimitri Smirnov. I remember how he talked about the cardinal change in his attitude towards the officers. When Father Dimitri began to lead the department, he was convinced: all admiral-generals are engaged in personal problems, the construction of their dachas, there is only one convolution, and that one is in a cap. The priest's views changed dramatically after direct communication with the highest echelon of the leadership of the army and navy: Father Dimitri more than once publicly declared that the healthiest part of our society is the armed forces, and added: if only because they are checked every year by doctors.

- How did service and faith combine in your life?

I was a person far from faith, completely absorbed in military service. Spiritually, my biography is as straight as an arrow, no searching.

Was born in the Chelyabinsk region. My dad was a naval sailor in the Pacific Fleet, he went through the entire Great Patriotic War. Father loved the sea, and many of his photographs were kept in our house in a midshipman's, in a vest. All this, apparently, "lay" in me. After graduating from the naval school in Vladivostok, in 1976 I arrived at the First Flotilla of nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet and served there for 21 years.

I was quite an average Soviet officer. I remember how in the late 1980s, articles in the magazines "Zvezda", "Novy Mir", "Neva" changed the worldview. The state-machine, which was aimed at the destruction of decent people, the Russian nation - all this was revealed. But we still lived according to socialist dogma. Then I realized that the commandments of socialism are a sheer plagiarism of the Gospel. Well, for example, the socialist "man to man is a friend, comrade and brother" and the gospel "love your neighbor as yourself" ...

Received the Sacrament of Baptism in 1991. Then Great Lent began ... But I don't eat cutlets, I don't eat fish. Kok cooked porridge especially for me and, as if secretly, added butter there. But I didn’t eat such porridge either. Fried potatoes on Saturday have become a delicacy for me. In a word, when I returned home from the campaign, my wife began to cry. This is how I fasted ...

In the early 1990s, they stopped going to sea, on combat duty, and I waited for the end of the service, which seemed no longer uninteresting. Then I was transferred to the Main Headquarters of the Navy in Moscow.

-O. Benjamin, difficult to control a submarine?

When the crew is spent, everything is on the machine. In general, technology teaches and helps to sober up. It is important that this reaches our warriors. I am sure that the reliability of the most modern technology on board the ship depends on the spiritual state of the crew. The commander sinned, did God knows what, and he has all the torpedoes on target? No. The Lord sees everything. If a person's occupation is connected with technology, then the Lord enlightens him through this.

In my practice, there was such a case. The ship left the factory after repairs. Before that, the officers proposed to consecrate it. Then, it was 1992, the command categorically opposed it. And what do you think? As a result, we put the unit into the standard turbine-generator mode 15 times. The chief designer arrived, took hold of his head, looking at the drawings, in which there are only two pipes and no more wisdom. There is pressure at the inlet, but not at the outlet. Where did it go? The construction is a pipe in a pipe, nothing else. If they didn’t want to consecrate the ship, you’ll get it. Then the Lord, of course, spared the personnel.

You treat technology with trepidation, oh. Benjamin. Perhaps that is why your transport is a reliable rare Volga?

Yes, it was done thoroughly. I got the car a year ago, providentially. I came on home leave, where my classmates gave it to me. This gift was especially useful when I went to Severodvinsk to my place of service: I was carrying an Orthodox library and an iconostasis in a trailer. Moreover, he selected brochures specifically for his sailors.

Here, of course, one has to move away from those most important qualities that must be acquired in a monastery: silence, inner concentration. In addition, excessive information content cannot be avoided in any way. You need to communicate with my flock, being on the subject of the main political directions, the tasks that the country's leadership and the High Command set for the fleet and the armed forces. And, of course, I want more people who wear shoulder straps to become active soldiers of Christ, about this my prayers.

Interviewed by Lyudmila Selivanova

Sacred-schen-no-mu-che-nick Ve-ni-a-min ro-dyl-sya January 19, 1873 in the go-ro-de Kolomna Mos-kov-sky guber -nii in the family of the priest Ioan-na Fa-min-tse-va and his su-pru-gi Mary. Education Ven-ni-a-min got-chil-chil in the Mos-kov Du-khov-noy se-mi-na-rii, which he graduated from in 1893 go-do. In 1894, he stepped into the temple in the go-ro-de Klin of the Mos-kov governorate.
In 1901 go-do Ve-ni-a-min Iva-no-vich was ru-ko-lo-wives in dia-ko-na ko temple-mu in the se-le Kar-po-vo Bo-go- the clan county, and in 1906 - in the priest to the Tro-itts-to-temple in the village Tro-itts-com Bron-nit-ko- go uez-da of the Mos-kov governorate. From 1912 to 1917, he served in the Pre-ob-ra-female temple in the village of Gar-ri, Dmitri-rov-sko-uez-da, and in 1918 he was re -we-den in the Cross-sto-voz-dvi-female temple in go-ro-de Ko-lomne. Since 1919, he began to serve in the church of the Nativity of Bo-go-ro-di-tsy in the village of Mes-shche-ri-no Ko-lo-men-go-go Yes. In 1925, the father of Ve-ni-a-min was raised to the rank of pro-to-and-e-rey, in 1931 he was taken to the grazh-den with a cross with decoration -i-mi. In his family he had two children, a son and a daughter. The son of Se-ra-fim, being sick from birth, died in 1934 at the age of two-twenty-five years old, the daughter of del-no, su-pru-ha father-tsa Ve-no-a-mi-na long ago died, and he lived alone, all his time and all-by-himself to the service of the Gos-in-du.
In 1936, the Meshche-rinsky village-council forbade the priest to walk with the mo-leb-na-mi through the house-mum pri-ho-zan. Before that, in order to walk with the mo-leb-n-mi, you had to get a certificate from the me-shche-rin am-boo-la-to-ria, that in se-le there are no epi-de-mi-che-diseases; since 1936, the work of the bot-ni-ki am-boo-la-to-rii from-ka-za-to-give tser-kov-no-moo so-ve-tu-tu-ki, and without a reference, the village council did not give permission to mob-lebs in the houses. The parish council nevertheless turned to the village council with a request: if it is not possible to walk with iko-na-mi and a cross, to some-eye-pri-ho-jean pri-kla-dy-va-yut-sya, then if-decide-shi-they go at least with a circle, to some-swarm -who does not attach-dy-va-is-Xia and in some-when-ho-jean can do-ro-hot-but put down money on the content temple, after that, as a priest-nickname, hello them on the holidays. But even this village council did not solve it, mo-ti-viruya by the fact that in the se-le epi-de-miia skar-la-ti-ny, although everyone would be it is known that these are only a few zhi-te-lei bo-le-li an-gi-noy.
On March 7, 1936, the parish council of the temple-ma na-pro-vil declared to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, in which the priest of the temple-ma pi- sa-li: “The parish-the-vet-vet-one hundred-but-for-one-for-one for the time a hundred-and-a-nd Pas-khi to a hundred-yang Central Commission at the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. If it is not possible to go with an iko-na-mi and a cross, to which one is attached, then it is not possible to go without everything , in good health, with the holidays-no-one and with-bi-paradise, the priest-no-ku for the pro-life and for the uplift on the-logs, and the old-ro-st on the -keeping the church-vi and also to pay-for-that on-lo-go ...
The inside-the-church-the-paths are too small, because the people, taken in the number of ho-s, do not always have time to go to church, - next-to-va-tel-but, remains the main home tre-bo-is-right-le-nie (crosses -y, po-ho-ro-ny), some-ryh is just a little bit, and going on holidays at the entrance.
The parish council asks the Cult-to-mission to give one or another explanation on this issue. " From-ve-ta to this letter when-ho-jean didn’t get it.
The summer of 1937 sharply intensified the desire to go to the Russian Pra-glorious Church. 26 no-yab-rya 1937 in the district-on-noy gas-zet-those "Vpe-ed" an article appeared under the name "So-ve-shcha-nie sel-ko-ditch and re-dak-to-ditch of sten-ga-zet ", in which-swarm as an example of the" under-break "de-i-tel- no-sti "tser-kov-nikov" so-about-the-priest Ve-ni-a-min Fa-min-tse-ve: "Meshche-rinsky pop all-mi spo-with-ba-mi py-ta-et-sya "in a friend-live-Xia" with a number of households and "come-close-to-Xia" to them. He is not averse to reading ga-ze-that number of households-ni-kam, “be-se-do-vat” with them about you-bo-ras, some statement, etc. In every such case, any fact, any newspaper note, he py-ta- e-xia-use-to-vat in the light that is good for you, the glue to the Soviet power, ve-dya counter-re-in-lu-qi- he-ny agi-ta-tion. "
Having read this lie, the father of Ve-ni-a-min from-great-wil-Xia to the chal-ni-ku of the local me-shche-rinsky to find out who the author is of this article, in order to personally explain the thread with him and ask, on the basis of what facts were-la-na-pi-sa-na-tya ... But the chief-nickname would answer this question from-ka-zal-sya, say, that, they say, this is a secret. Father Ve-ni-a-min, having heard such an answer, only with a hand-mah-nul, say in his hearts that “the so-vet power is greater there is nothing to write about, how to co-bi-rat these klya-u-zy, ”- and left.
In the beginning of 1938, the collaborators of the NKVD on-demand from the secretary of the Meshche-rin-village the one that made him co-answer with the goals of the NKVD ha-rak-te-ri-sti-ku on the priest. Sek-re-tar na-pi-sal, that the father of Ve-ni-a-min for-ni-mal-Xia ex-plu-a-ta-chi-her re-by-ti-shek, for-sta- having given them one-on-a-lot of wood-va, carried out without con-but-in-the baptism, without asking permission for this co-ve-ta, walked along some-rim home-mothers, where people are on-str-e-us anti-go-sudar-but that “from-ra-zha- it is on the work and on the set-up of the number of households. "
Do-do-do-do-shi-vat svi-de-te-lei: one of them, de-vyat-na-dtsa-ti-ni-teacher of the me-shche-rin school, according to -ka-hall, that the priest-nickname in na-cha-le yan-va-rya 1938 go-da sagi-ti-ro-val one of the teachers-te-lei of the school - he became read the Gospel and go to church, for which he was dismissed from school and left the village unknown -pup-nick, as the witness-de-tel asserted, said the hall: “Here wee-di-te, more-she-wee-ki so-hwa-ti-lis, did it become pe-re-ho - to go to the right-to-glorious faith, the in-ra-zo-van-tel teacher went to the right-to-glorious faith, and everyone says - There is no god; soon all the com-mu-ni-sts will be baptized. "
February 27, 1938, the father of Ve-ni-a-min was are-sto-van, was jailed in the prison-mu in the go-ro-de Ka-shi-re and on March 2 do-ask.
- Consequence of ras-po-la-ha-em ma-te-ri-a-la-mi that you are on po-ho-ro-nah ... w-hwa-la-whether Mus-so-li -ni and po-li-ti-ku fa-shiz-ma. Are you sure you do it?
- I don’t remember that. Perhaps there was some kind of talk-thief about between-na-native in-lo-nii, but I could not praise the fa-shists.
- How do you look at the note about you, at-pe-cha-tan-nyu in the newspaper “Forward” on 26 November 1937?
- This is a clean glue, there is no truth-di-in-th, not a single word.
- We follow that it is established-no-le-but that when you receive this ga-zet, you are in the place of the de-chta-ve-ta-li to the Soviet press. Do you know this?
- Actually, at that moment I was reading, I said that it was a pure lie, and I pro-forces to call me fa-mi-liu sel-ko-ra, to which I was told that it was a secret - with this I left.
- As with what kind of things you are agi-ti-ro-va-li pe-da-go-ga Che-ka-li-na, who-ry has become - to give up the church?
- Le-Tom 1937, yes I am s-del on the be-re-gu of the river. Ivan Ti-ho-no-vich Che-ka-lin came to me and asked me, is there a God? I replied that yes. And after that, we are with him for two hours about the life of Christ. He is in power with me Gospel. I gave it to him, after that he began to sow a church.
- Do you recognize yourself as guilty in the reported to you about-not-ny?
- I do not recognize myself as guilty about the information presented to me.
At this point, the whole thing was over, and on March 6, 1938, the investigation was over. March 9th troika of the NKVD at-go-in-ri-la father Ve-ni-a-mi-na to ras-stre-lu. Pro-to-and-e-rey Ve-ni-a-min Fa-min-tsev was raced on March 14, 1938 on the field Bu-to-in near Moscow and in-gre-ben in the common unknown mo-g-le.

Hieromonk Benjamin (Krashenninikov): "All the dignity of a man without God can lead to his death"

Five years ago, in the winter I had a chance to visit the Plyussky Deanery and meet with hieromonk Benjamin, although at that time his dignity was a priest, but I write this, believing that as the confessor of the Tvorzhkovsky monastery, he can be called a hieromonk.

As often happens, the priest has a lot of things to do, the temple is being renovated, the demand is in the villages, so they literally spoke on the go, in Father Benjamin's car. We shook along the country roads and talked about parish life and the problems of the spirit. Father Benjamin has three parishes, he says: "Sometimes the smoke goes out, you go on demand, one hundred thousand kilometers in two years." Father often drives the "five": the parishes are at a considerable distance from each other, you can't walk on foot, and transport in the area is rare, and you can't get enough money for trips. The machine turns out to be a necessary assistant in the priest's service. The road is absolutely deserted, the villages are quiet, with churches, sometimes wooden, and the Pskov region seems endless, what then is the enormity of Russia! Here we are on these roads and went here and there, from one parish to another.

The temple, in which Father Benjamin is the rector, was built in the pine forest of the Pskov wilderness in the name of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. The same saint who is prayed for "for children" and who gave money to Peter the Great for the creation of the Russian fleet, as we see, the saint's money turned out to be strong, the fleet was created by Peter and won. The Mitrofanievsky temple somehow fell on my soul with its peace and quiet, and I returned to Lositsy in the summer of 2007, for the saint's celebration, however, there was no time at all to talk with Father Benjamin. But from the winter trip in 2005, there was an interview in the car and a recording of a meeting with mother Benjamin, the leader of the community of homeless children and adults named after the New Martyr Benjamin (Petrogradsky). This text, God willing, we will publish in the future. In the meantime, a conversation with the priest.
R. B. Natalia

- Do you, father Benjamin, have your whole life on these roads: service and road, service and road?

- How did you get to the Church?

Born in 1961, in the Mari SSR, they lived there for a short time. Then we lived everywhere: our childhood was spent in Vyatka, Kirov region. But I was always looking for myself, there was an inner feeling of some kind of untruth. And passions, of course, were and came to light, and everything was tested on myself. In the army he served in the special battalion, the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then he worked at the state farm, twisted the steering wheel, then left for St. Petersburg. There, too, he twisted the wheel, then entered the Mukhinskoe (Higher Art School - approx.) At the faculty of artistic metalworking and studied to draw for four years. He graduated, taught, participated in exhibitions, but this whole life did not last long, because the soul was still screaming.

In my last picture - the triptych "Buffoonery", one buffoon suddenly turned white - this was the end of my art work. I was baptized at the age of 33, right after the Nativity of Christ, when I was in a complete impasse, by the Providence of God I got to our elder father Nikolai Guryanov, and he told me: "You will be a monk, Benjamin." I was still in my rattles and fog, but inwardly I was already ready for changes and was looking for a way out. Then I went to see him for seven years, and played the steering wheel with Father Roman (Zagrebnev), was a sexton, and I often had to talk with Father Nikolai, asking for his help, his prayers. By the grace of God, I got to him a week before the death of Father Nicholas, he was already hanging on a cross, all his inner state was visible, he asked him: "Father, take me, don't leave me." He made a sign, blessed me, put his hand on my head, somehow it felt good right away. We were not at the funeral, we consecrated the church in the Housewarming Party of the Intercession of the Mother of God at that time, and I served there for a whole year. Then Vladyka suggested that I choose: Lyady or Housewarming. I chose Lyady.

Father Benjamin, when you start looking into yourself, you are horrified by the abysses that are inside, although outwardly you can be a decent person, you do not commit crimes, you do not break the commandments. But the heart and mind remain in the abyss, and when a person goes to God, he begins to see it especially clearly, to understand in himself, to notice this duality. And how is the spiritual life of a person who has become a priest, is the confessor of the Tvozhkovsk monastery?

- We won't talk about me. And I will answer your question with the words of the Gospel, because the Lord revealed to us everything about a person, and a person is always the same, any person of any age. The Lord spoke about the inner damage of a person, and about the heart of a person. When the Lord heals, and a person begins to see himself, this is the most important thing. The most important thing is to realize your inner damage, hence the whole height. Yes, and the saints say that the same St. Sysoy the Great, who raised the dead, said, "I would ask God for more repentance." And the saints walking the righteous path, the more they lived their lives, the more they were enlightened in the knowledge of their complete worthlessness, damage, and their failure. This is where the action of God's grace begins. The Lord said that grace is given to the meek and humble, but the Lord resists the proud. All the height is from here.

- Specify, please, father.

The more a person learns the truth about himself, the more he will enter into humility, rise above his sin.

- And will the grace of God touch him?

Of course. She sanctifies him. It is useless for the person himself not to correct himself. The Pharisees tried, and they became even more proud.

- Pride is such a subtle sin, a subtle trap, no one notices it in themselves?

Yes. The saints say that pride is the sum of all sins. Pride consumes all other sins, consuming them to grow itself. I will not eat in order to appear as a fasting person, I will not sleep in order to appear as an ascetic, I will not speak in order to seem silent - hence the inner state of human death. And the saints said, "I am a worm of worms." And they said it sincerely, from the depths of their being.

It is very difficult for a man in the world, Father Benjamin, to evaluate himself, so he is busy with the care of the world, and cannot turn his inner gaze into himself, it does not even occur to us. Maybe that's why there are so few Orthodox Christians, that's why the "small flock". And the Lord said, "Fear not, little flock, for I have overcome the world." Will there ever be many Orthodox Christians?

This is God's secret. And I can't answer why "small flock"? This is not a human area. I can say that the elect now are not whom God chose, but who chose God - the elect.

One of your parishes is the small village of Lositsy, how did you end up there? How did your life as a parish priest begin?

We arrived there with Father Roman (Zagrebnev) on Mitrofan of Voronezh, there was no priest in the church of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh at that time. And I was not yet a priest, but I saw this place and thought about how I could get here. And everything was resolved. When I was ordained five years ago, I was sent here. Many priests of our Diocese passed through this parish, and Father Valentin Mordasov served here.

- What kind of saint Mitrofan of Voronezh is that he gathers priests in this way?

Marine saint in the forest. The one who built the temple to St. Mitrofan was a sea man, and the temple to this saint is the only one in the Diocese, and in general it is a rare temple in honor of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh. Once we went to Plyussa for the bells, and there they presented us with an icon of St. Mitrofan. Here is such a miracle. We also have the relics of a saint, we in Voronezh in the Diocese asked Metropolitan Methodius for them. He himself gave us a particle of the relics of the saints.

We do not have Communion from the village, only our own children are from the Community of the New Martyr Benjamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdovsk. And all these villages of the Strugo-Krasnensky and Plyuska ones used to belong to the Gdovsky district. Before me, only the family of the director of the museum in Lositsy, the writer Margarita Yamshchikova (Al. Altayev), was in the parish, and now our children from the community also receive communion. The temple was robbed three times. The village itself is dead, and even now it has not become more alive. You go to the sick, although many have no need. Many are now dying of cancer, you come to talk, to console, so that they can receive communion, someone refuses, someone says: "I am an unbeliever." There are 20 people in Lositsy in total. Someone is still standing, and the rest are lying. You go to them, you receive communion after the service. Our grandmother is almost 95, she was brought from St. Petersburg, and here in the community she is looked after. We partake of her every Sunday. Now we serve with the blessing of the Lord both the resurrection and the holidays. We are building the vestibule to the temple.

How wise it used to be if you are alone - the road is for you to pray to the monastery and so that there is someone to take care of you in your old age, so that you do not remain in the world, unnecessary to anyone and do not die of hunger?

Yes, and for the monastics there was a benefit in caring for the sick. And it was much easier for the patient to live at the monastery, both spiritually and physically.

- So you divide your time of worship into three parishes?

I share. Friday-Saturday I serve in Lyady, Saturday-Sunday in Lositsy, and during the week I serve at the Tvozhkovsky monastery.

- Why is there a parish in the village where almost no one goes to church?

Donations from kind people.

- Surprisingly, the parish now rests not on donations from parishioners, but on benefactors?

My St. Petersburg friends and acquaintances help me. And it was necessary to make repairs, studied plastering, plastered the ceilings, not everything worked out right away, and you still had to have patience, to withstand the force of the blow on you.

- Can even ordinary repairs in the temple turn out to be a spiritual challenge?

Of course. We have a community in Lositsy, you have probably heard about it. The children came to Zayanye from Leningrad to their father Roman, and father Roman went to bless her with father Nikolai, and I am with him. Father Nikolai blesses Father Roman, turns to me - and me. And I'm not a priest yet, but Father Nikolai says: "You can, you can." With my heart I felt that my father was blessing me for these children. And when I was blessed to come to Lositsy, the children came after me from St. Petersburg.

- What kind of life is it, here in a remote place, in the village, with children, what is it like?

Complex. Our entire society opens up through children. They are naked, as if without skin, everything is frank, everything is out. And you can see how deep the degree of defeat of our society is.

Father, here they drive along the beaten paths: to Izborsk, to the Pechery, to the Holy Mountains, to Porkhov, to Nikandrova Pustyn, and who will go to such a wilderness? No one? What kind of people live here? What kind of hellish people are there?

God sent me here, to Lyady. The temple was here in a kindergarten, in a manger, so everything is biblical. The revival of our church in Lyady began with a manger, God is merciful. There was once a temple of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Lyady, but there was dancing, a club, and we decided to build a new temple in a new place, the local administration supported us, did not interfere, even helped. They helped as much as they could. And the Lord tested us: how much we need it. By the grace of God, the temple is already standing, we will consecrate it at the end of December. God willing, we will serve by Christmas.

- Has the Transfiguration Church remained a club for young people?

Yes. And they still dance there. There are many accidents, childhood tragedies in the village: someone drowned, someone crashed, because there is an old cemetery next to the temple. People do not understand that it is impossible to dance in the temple. But the people saw how a new temple was now erected, rejoiced, although they did not believe that we would build it. We began to build it in May: the Temple of the Ascension of the Lord.

- Are there many parishioners in Lyady?

The parish is very promising for a priest. There is a school there, there are children who come from the surrounding villages, you can talk to them. And the population is one and a half thousand. There are twelve people in the service. Hopefully there will be more in the new temple. We both baptize and funeral, but we do funeral, however, while more than baptize, we very rarely marry.

- Is the iconostasis ready?

No. A lot of things are needed. As soon as these thoughts begin - throwing, so immediately you say: "Lord, bless! Lord, help!" A person immediately appears who offers his help. Everything happens in a miraculous way.

- By prayer?

Yes, at our request the Lord gives us.

- He can't refuse?

Never. Just as the sun cannot but shine and warm, so the Lord cannot but give.

- And what can we give to the Lord?

There is nothing to give: "The sacrifice of praise will glorify Me," says the Lord. A sacrifice of praise. And what to give him, if "everything is Mine." Our body, our mind, and beauty are all His. What can we give him? See the mercy of God and praise Him.

- Isn't the Sacrament of the Eucharist, when we partake of communion, our thanksgiving to the Lord for everything?

- "He who does not eat My body, who does not drink My blood, has no part of Mine." The Lord says, if you want to live, take Me into yourself, and I will revive you. Without Me, you have no part, no matter how beautiful and smart you are. All the virtues of a person without God can serve to his destruction.

- How did you end up in the Tvorozhkovsky monastery, Father Benjamin, Vladyka blessed you?

He blessed to nourish. There were prayers there, but there was no service. He began to travel and serve. I go from Losits, where my first visit.

- A convent is a specific ministry, father, what spiritual problems are aggravated?

One problem, the Lord said, a woman is a weak vessel.

- She herself seems strong, but, in fact, is this weakness?

Her strong point is weakness. If she returns to this, understands the essence of the blessing of God, the Creator Himself, everything will be fine. The whole height of a woman is in weakness, but when she takes up other supports, her height is lost, and she is damaged - which is a consequence of the non-fulfillment of the Law of God. What the Creator has established must be fulfilled. Otherwise, spiritual illness begins. And He also demanded from men: "Learn from Me, for you are meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" —that is the whole height of a man. As soon as you humble yourself, feelings will immediately go to God, and a woman is given more to feel, to comprehend God with her heart, and not with her mind, like a man. And then the Lord gives grace, understanding, purity of heart.

As far as was known, although the priest was ill more than once, he was relatively little and rarely. In the right cases, I went to the doctors. The Apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy even then gave advice in illness: for the sake of stomach and your frequent ailments, drink a little wine with water ... But Father John did not always obey the instructions of the doctors. For example, once doctors ordered him to eat meat during fasting: otherwise, bad consequences threaten. He refused. The doctors insisted. Then the priest announced that he would ask the mother's blessing by telegraph. This spiritual eagle replied with a telegram: "Better to die, and not break the fast!" Of course, Father John obeyed his mother unquestioningly. I think that such an imperative order could have been given by one out of a thousand, and perhaps out of millions of mothers! And it is not surprising that a person of similar strength of mind was born from her. The history of the great saints testifies to us that they also had great mothers: Saints Basil, Gregory, Chrysostom, Augustine were born of glorious mothers, the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Saint Seraphim of Sarov were brought up by strong and holy mothers. Filaret of Moscow, Theophan the Recluse were born of pious parents. And in general, if we look through all the Cheti-Minei (I once did this), we will see that either both parents of the saints were pleasing to God, or one of them, mostly a mother, and sometimes a grandmother. And only in very exceptional cases did holy children have bad parents; for God everything is possible!

No wonder it is said in the Word of God that for the piety of parents the Lord blesses their descendants up to the twentieth generation! And he punishes for their sins - up to the third and fourth tribes (Ex. 20).

But I was always amazed at something else in Fr. John: an amazing strength in carrying out incredible labors in shepherding. After all, just think: from three o'clock in the morning until eleven or twelve at night he was busy. Busy with people. We ourselves, from our own experience, know how difficult it is to transfer people in general. Man is a heavy creature! For sinful, broken, corrupted. If the Lord Himself once exclaimed: “... how long will I be with you? how long will I endure you? " - that is all the more difficult for us. And we like to retire from people at least for a while, to "take a break" from them. Therefore, they build separate houses, separate rooms, shut the doors; they work in offices, but they are in a hurry to go home, and even at home they are asked not to bother them.

And Father John had neither solitude nor rest almost all day and night! And who have you been with? With the sick, with the unfortunate, with the suffering ... This is especially difficult.

In Paris, I sometimes had to visit insane asylums that could accommodate up to five thousand patients. In one of them, the chief doctor, a believing Catholic, told me in the office

- I ask you: pray for me! With these unfortunate people, it seems to me, I myself am beginning to go crazy!

Just think of what tension in general, and especially prayer, people demanded from Father John: after all, almost everyone was expecting a miracle! Easy to say! And the Gospel says that after the healing of the bleeding one, Christ felt "the power that went out" from Him. " Probably, something similar happens in other miracle workers. What tremendous strength was needed to endure all this every day, months, years, up to almost eighty years! This is what strikes the most about Father John.

But Divine grace supported him in such a continuous feat. Serving daily Liturgies, unceasing heartfelt prayer, invoking God's power during prayer services - this strengthened and probably renewed his natural strength.

In addition, I think, he was gladdened by the fact that he was constantly among the believers, that is, among the best people!

But what a struggle the "angel Satan" waged against him! In the Diary, he constantly writes about it! And it is not surprising that from time to time the priest went on vacation: now to his homeland, then to his friends ... Even the apostles after the sermon needed this, and Christ Himself took them to a place secluded from the people.

And even his prayer itself demanded a tremendous waste of energy. It is easy for us ordinary people to serve; but to pray the way he prayed - you need strength! Or to preach sermons: we explain exactly to the listeners, like a lesson in class, and every word burned with him. Once in Serbia, an old and sensible devotee asked me (in Serbian):

- Father Vladyka! What does it mean? One will say “God” and “dumb nishta” (there is nothing); and the other will also say “God”, and “the fire is ignited” (the fire will light up)?

Here, too, with Father John, everything was always with “fire”. And it was from this that his prayers were strong, and his sermons were effective. The latter, in their content and from the oratorical point of view, did not represent anything extraordinary. As a teacher at the St. Petersburg Academy, I once asked a topic for a lecture: to identify a preacher by a sermon. And I hid the author, of course. This time, three speakers gave, according to the sermon, the following response:

Another said:

- An ordinary preacher. An ordinary sermon.

And only the third said:

- But this is the great Father John of Kronstadt! - to the general surprise of the entire audience, I said.

Then the question arose, why is his sermons so simple and ordinary? The answer was clear: the strength of his words was not in the originality of his thoughts and not in their oratorical presentation, but in the strength of his spirit: his words breathed with flame ... Just as the Serb said: one will say "God" - and "dumb nishta"; and the other will say the same word "God" - and "fire ignited."

The Apostle Paul also wrote, our strength is not in convincing words, but in the manifestation of spirit and strength!

And Father John spent tremendous energy in his service to God and people. But with all that, he lived to be almost eighty years old. In the words of King David, “if in strength,” that is, with special strength, a person can live for eighty years. Everything comes to an end.

Shortly before his death, he also fell ill. Before that, I managed to be with him twice more. Once, being already a hieromonk, I was invited to concelebrate with him at the Liturgy. He was in charge. I stood before the throne on the left side. And as soon as he exclaimed with his usual strength: "Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit", like lightning, a clear consciousness pierced me, expressed in my mind in the following words: "God! What a spiritual giant he is! " And contemplating this with obviousness, I, in meditation, closed my mouth with a service book. "What a giant." Suddenly he stretches out his left hand to me, pushes the book away from his lips, says imperiously:

- Do not think! Pray!

He probably saw my secret thoughts about him.

My last visit was about six months before his death. A fellow in the academy, Hieromonk Sh-m, and I visited Fr. John because of my friend's illness. Father came out to us already weak. Inviting us to sit down, he wearily asked us:

- And what do you want from me, the old man?

- Father, - I answered freely, forgive me for this, Lord! - if you were a simple old man, then Russia would not come to you.

- Well, well, - he waved his hand, not wanting to argue.

- Tell us something to save the soul.

Then he took in his hands the cross hanging on the chest of my friend, and, looking at it, began to pray. Then he began to kiss him repeatedly and for a long time; pressed him to his forehead, kissed him again. Then he did the same with my cross ... All this was done in silence, for several minutes. Then he said:

- Monks, monks! Don't look back! Remember the wife of the Den!

- Father! Tell me, where did you get such fervent faith?

- Faith? He asked, and thought for a minute. Then he answered with firm clarity: - I lived in the Church!

- And what is it - lived in the Church? I asked.

“Well,” he continued with some surprise at my question, “what does it mean to live in the Church? I have always been in church life ... I served the Liturgy ... I loved to read liturgical books and menaea in the church. Not the Chetya-Minea (Lives of the Saints), although they are beautiful too! - and liturgical menaea, stichera, canons ... Here! I lived in the Church!

Unfortunately, at that time I did not write down the whole conversation in more detail, but these words about the meaning of the Church have engraved in my memory for the rest of my life.

Having thanked the priest, we left ... Soon my friend died in his youth. I ... still live, by the grace of God. And I often remember his words ...

Fr. John's illness did not go away. They waited for the end. And on December 20 (old style), 1908, the priest died. This news instantly spread throughout Russia. They buried him in the convent he created in St. Petersburg, "on Karpovka".

I did not manage to get to the church for the funeral service, and I walked far behind the coffin in the immense crowd of people. All movement here was stopped. But the hearts of thousands and thousands of people breathed: in one place they sang "Rest with the Saints", another group began "Eternal Memory", the third - "Holy God" - the funeral ... A big groan stood over these spiritual children of the priest. Sometimes I heard shouts:

- We will never see such a father again!

- Dear father! Pray for us!

In the basement floor of the monastery church - light, faced with white marble - a white marble tomb was prepared on the floor. And here they laid the honest relics of the holy priest. Now, instead of Kronstadt, the pilgrimage "to Karpovka" began. Daily services ... Constant memorial services. Miracles again. Universal reverence. The Holy Synod decided to consider the day of Father John's death as non-educational in theological schools. The tsar turned to Russia with a special manifesto - about its meaning and veneration. And the people took away the memory of him in their hearts and wrote it down in "remembrances" ...

Thus began the glorification of the priest in the Church. And it won't be long to wait when it will end with his canonization as a saint.

Three years ago (1948) I was in Leningrad and learned that the monastery "on Karpovka" was closed, but everything there, including the tomb, remains intact.

Reverend Father John! Pray to God for us sinners! ... So I wrote down what I remembered about him. No matter how you describe it, it still cannot give such an impression of him as the living authentic words of the father himself ...

Our journey through the Plyusskoe Deanery continues, and we talked about parish life and problems of the spirit mainly in the car of Hieromonk Benjamin (Krashenninikov). Father Benjamin has three parishes, until recently there were four. Father Benjamin often drives the "five", the parishes are at a considerable distance from each other, you can't walk on foot, and transport in the area is rare, and you can't get enough money for travel. The car turns out to be a necessary assistant in the service of the priest. The road is absolutely deserted, the villages are quiet, with churches, sometimes wooden, and the Pskov region seems endless, what then is the enormity of Russia! Father Benjamin says: "Sometimes the smoke goes, you go on demand, in two years one hundred thousand kilometers." Here we are on these roads and go here and there, from one parish to another. And we ask Father Benjamin.

In the photo: Father Veniamin (Krashenninikov) and Father Dimitri Ulyanov (right)

Do you, Father Benjamin, have your whole life on these roads: service and road, service and road?
Yes.

How did you get to the Church?

Born in 1961, my parents were driving through and lived for a short time in the Mari SSR, and I was born there. Then we lived everywhere: our childhood was spent in Vyatka, Kirov region. And I was always looking for myself, there was an inner feeling of some kind of untruth. And passions, of course, were and came to light, and everything was tested on myself. In the army he served in the special battalion, the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then he worked at the state farm, twisted the steering wheel, then left for St. Petersburg. There, too, he twisted the wheel, then entered the Mukhinskoe (Higher Art School - approx.) At the faculty of artistic metalworking and studied to draw for four years. He graduated, taught, participated in exhibitions, but this whole life did not last long, because the soul was still screaming. In my last picture - the triptych "Buffoonery", one buffoon suddenly turned white. This was the end of my art work. I was baptized at the age of 33, right after the Nativity of Christ, was in a complete impasse, by the Providence of God I got to our elder father Nikolai Guryanov, and he told me: "You will be a monk, Benjamin." I was still in my rattles and fog, but internally I was already ready for changes and was looking for a way out. Then I went to see him for seven years, and played the steering wheel with Father Roman (Zagrebnev), was a sexton, and I often had to talk with Father Nikolai, asking for his help, his prayers. By the grace of God, I got to him a week before the death of Father Nicholas, he was already hanging on a cross, all his inner state was visible, he asked: "Father, take me, don't leave me." He made a sign, blessed me, put his hand on my head, somehow it felt good right away. We were not at the funeral, we consecrated the church in the Housewarming Party of the Intercession of the Mother of God at that time, and I served there for a whole year. Then Vladyka suggested that I choose: Lyady or Housewarming. I chose Lyady.

Father Benjamin, when you start looking into yourself, you are horrified by the abysses that are inside, although outwardly you can be a decent person, you do not commit crimes, you do not break the commandments. But the heart and mind remain in the abyss, and when a person goes to God, he begins to see it especially clearly, to understand in himself, to notice this duality. And how is the spiritual life of a person who has become a priest, is the confessor of the Tvozhkovsk monastery?

We will not talk about me. And I will answer your question with the Gospel words, because the Lord revealed to us everything about a person, and a person is always the same, any person of any age. And the Lord spoke about the inner damage of a person, and about the heart of a person. When the Lord heals, and a person begins to see himself, this is the most important thing. The most important thing is to realize your inner damage, hence the whole height. Yes, and the Saints say that the same Sysoy the Great, who raised the dead, said, "I would ask God for more repentance." And the Saints walking the righteous path, the more they lived their lives, the more they were enlightened in the knowledge of their complete worthlessness, damage, and their failure. This is where the action of God's grace begins. The Lord said: "The meek, the humble is given grace, but the proud the Lord resists." All the height is from here.

Specify, please, father.

The more a person learns the truth about himself, the more he will enter into humility, rise above his sin.

And will the grace of God touch him?

Of course. She sanctifies him. It is useless for the person himself not to correct himself. The Pharisees tried, and they became even more proud.

Pride is such a subtle sin, a subtle trap, no one notices it in themselves.

Yes. The saints say that pride is the sum of all sins. Pride consumes all other sins, consuming them to grow itself. I will not eat in order to appear as a fasting person, I will not sleep in order to appear as an ascetic, I will not speak in order to seem silent - hence the inner state of human death. And the Saints said "I am a worm of worms." And they said it sincerely, from the depths of their being.

It is very difficult for a man in the world, Father Benjamin, to evaluate himself, so he is busy with the care of the world, and cannot turn his inner gaze into himself, it does not even occur to us. Maybe that's why there are so few Orthodox Christians, that's why the “small flock”. And the Lord said "do not be afraid, little flock, for I have overcome the world." Will there ever be many Orthodox Christians?

This is God's secret. And I can’t answer why “small flock”? This is not a human area. I can say that the elect now are not whom God chose, but who chose God - the elect.

One of your parishes is the small village of Lositsy, how did you end up there? How did your life as a parish priest begin?

We arrived there with Father Roman (Zagrebnev) on Mitrofan of Voronezh, there was no priest in the church of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh at that time. And I was not yet a priest, but I saw this place and thought about how I could get here. And everything was resolved. When I was ordained five years ago, I was sent here. Many priests of our Diocese passed through this parish, and Father Valentin Mordasov served here.

What kind of saint Mitrofan of Voronezh is that he gathers priests like that at his place?

Marine saint in the forest. The one who built the temple to Saint Mitrofan was a sea man, and the temple to this Saint is the only one in the Diocese, and in general it is a rare temple in honor of Saint Mitrophan of Voronezh. Once we went to Plyussa for the bells, and there they presented us with an icon of St. Mitrofan. Here is such a miracle. We also have the relics of a Saint, we in Voronezh in the Diocese asked Metropolitan Methodius for them. He himself gave us a particle of the relics of the saints. We do not have communion from the village, only our own children are from the Community of the New Martyr Benjamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd and Gdovsk. And all these villages of the Strugo-Krasnensky and Plyuska ones used to belong to the Gdovsky district. Before me, only the family of the director of the museum in Lositsy, the writer Margarita Yamshchikova (Al. Altayev), was in the parish, and now our children from the community also receive communion. The temple was robbed three times. The village itself is dead, and even now it has not become more alive. You go to the sick, although many have no need. Many are now dying of cancer, you come to talk, to console, so that they can receive communion, someone refuses, someone says: "I am an unbeliever." There are 20 people in Lositsy in total. Someone is still standing, and the rest are lying. You go to them, you receive communion after the service. Our grandmother is almost 95, she was brought from St. Petersburg, and here in the community she is looked after. We partake of her every Sunday.

Now we serve with the blessing of the Lord both the resurrection and the holidays. We are building the vestibule to the temple.

As it used to be wise, if you are alone - the road is for you to the monastery, so that there is someone to take care of you in your old age, so that you do not remain in the world, useless to anyone and do not die of hunger.

Yes, and for the monastics there was a benefit in caring for the sick. And it was much easier for the patient to live at the monastery, both spiritually and physically.

So you divide your time of worship into three parishes?

I share. Friday - Saturday I serve in Lyady, Saturday - Sunday in Lositsy, and during the week I serve at the Tvozhkovsky monastery.

Why is there a parish in a village where almost no one goes to church?

Donations from kind people.

Is it surprising that the parish now rests not on donations from parishioners, but on benefactors?

Yes. My St. Petersburg friends and acquaintances help me. And it was necessary to make repairs, studied plastering, plastered the ceilings, not everything worked out right away, and you still had to have patience, to withstand the force of the blow on you.

Even a simple temple renovation can be a spiritual challenge?

Of course. We have a community in Lositsy, you have probably heard about it. The children came to Zayanye from Leningrad to their father Roman, and father Roman went to bless her with father Nikolai, and I am with him. Father Nikolai blesses Father Roman, turns to me - and me. And I am not yet a priest, but Father Nikolai says: "You can, you can." With my heart I felt that my father was blessing me for these children. And when I was blessed to come to Lositsy, the children came after me from St. Petersburg.

What kind of life is it, here in a remote place, in the village, with children, what is it like?

Complex. Our entire society opens up through children. They are naked, as if without skin, everything is frank, everything is out. And you can see how deep the degree of defeat of our society is

Father, here they drive along the beaten paths: to Izborsk, to the Pechery, to the Holy Mountains, to Porkhov, to Nikandrova Pustyn, and who will go to such a wilderness? No one? What kind of people live here? What kind of hellish people are there?

God sent me here, to Lyady. The temple was here in a kindergarten, in a manger, so everything is biblical. The revival of our church in Lyady began with a manger, God is merciful. There was once a temple of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Lyady, but there was dancing, a club, and we decided to build a new temple in a new place, the local administration supported us, did not interfere, even helped. They helped as much as they could. And the Lord tested us: how much we need it. By the grace of God, the temple is already standing, we will consecrate it at the end of December. God willing, we will serve by Christmas.

Has the Transfiguration Church remained a club for young people?

Yes. And they still dance there. There are many accidents, childhood tragedies in the village: someone drowned, someone crashed, because there is an old cemetery next to the temple. And people do not understand that it is impossible to dance in the temple. But the people saw how a new temple was now erected, rejoiced, although they did not believe that we would build it. We began to build it in May: the Temple of the Ascension of the Lord.

Are there many parishioners in Lyady?

The parish is very promising for a priest. There is a school there, there are children who come from the surrounding villages, you can talk to them. And the population is one and a half thousand. There are twelve people in the service. Hopefully there will be more in the new temple. We both baptize and funeral, but we do funeral, however, while more than baptize, we very rarely marry.

Is the iconostasis ready?

No. A lot of things are needed. As soon as these thoughts begin - throwing, so immediately you say: Lord, bless! God help me! A person immediately appears who offers his help. Everything happens in a miraculous way.

By prayer?

Yes. At our request, the Lord gives us.

Can't he refuse?

Never. Just as the sun cannot but shine and warm, so the Lord cannot but give.

And what can we give to the Lord?

There is nothing to give: “The sacrifice of praise will glorify Me,” says the Lord. A sacrifice of praise. And what to give him, if "everything is Mine." Our body, our mind, and beauty are all His. What can we give him? See the mercy of God and praise Him.

And isn't the Sacrament of the Eucharist, when we partake of communion, our thanksgiving to the Lord for everything?

"He who does not eat my body, who does not drink my blood, does not have a part of mine." The Lord says, if you want to live, take Me into yourself, and I will revive you. Without Me, you have no part, no matter how beautiful and smart you are. All the virtues of a person without God can serve to his destruction.

How did Father Benjamin end up in the Tvorozhkovsky Monastery, did Vladyka bless?

He blessed to nourish. There were prayers there, but there was no service. He began to travel and serve. I go from Losits, where my first visit.

A convent is a specific ministry, father, what spiritual problems are exacerbated?

One problem, the Lord said, a woman is a weak vessel.

She herself seems strong, but, in fact, is this weakness?

Her strong point is weakness. If she returns to this, understands the essence of the blessing of God, the Creator Himself, everything will be fine. The whole height of a woman is in weakness, but when she takes up other supports, her height is lost, and she is damaged - which is a consequence of the non-fulfillment of the Law of God. What the Creator has established must be fulfilled. Otherwise, spiritual illness begins. And He also demanded from men: "Learn from Me, for you are meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" —that is the whole height of man. As soon as you humble yourself, feelings will immediately go to God, and a woman is given more to feel, to comprehend God with her heart, and not with her mind, like a man. And then the Lord gives grace, understanding, purity of heart.

Save me, God.

The information service of the Pskov diocese provides the postal address of the Lositsk parish of the Church of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh. Perhaps someone from fellow countrymen or benefactors will be able to help the parishes of Father Veniamin: Pskov region, Plyussky district, Lositsy village, temple. St. Mitrofan Voronezh, priest Veniamin Krashenninikov. Phone 8-233- 27 837

To be continued.