Speaking about the elders in the Orthodox tradition, it is customary to consider this phenomenon as something like an amazing and impossible relic of antiquity in our days: Sergius of Radonezh, blessing Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo; Seraphim of Sarov, giving wise advice to Alexander I … Eldership is a living phenomenon of modern church life, and today the "Russian Seven" will tell you about the seven great elders of the 20th century.
Monk Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938) - Holy Mount Athos
Both the great ascetics and the young monks who prayed in the cells of the monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos, agreed that the Monk Silouan the Athonite "attained to the best of the Holy Fathers."
The future great elder was born into a family of Tambov peasants in 1866 and from his youth dreamed of becoming a monk. Parents did not oppose the decision of their son, but insisted that he first do military service in St. Petersburg. Immediately after the end of the service, Semyon - that was the name of the Monk Silouan before the monastic tonsure - went to Holy Mount Athos and entered the monastery of St. Panteleimon, also called Rossikon.
The Monk Silouan lived in the monastery for 46 years, but despite this he remained "unrevealed" for most of the brethren - he rarely received visitors and had little contact with the monks, but those who had the good fortune to turn to him with their questions and problems always received consolation. support and the wisest answers are the answers of a person to whom the Will of God was revealed.
This is how St. Nicholas (Velimirovich) remembered the Monk Silouan: “He was not strict with other people's sins, no matter how great they were. He spoke about the immeasurable love of God for the sinner, and led the sinful person to the point that he severely condemned himself. This marvelous confessor was a simple monk, but a rich man in love for God and neighbors. Hundreds of monks from all over the Holy Mountain came to him to warm themselves with the fire of his fiery love. But especially the Serbian monks from Khilandar and Postnitsa loved him. In him they saw their spiritual father, who revived them with his love …"
Promotional video:
Monk Nektarios (Tikhonov) (1858 - 1928) - Optina Pustyn
The Monk Nektarios (Tikhonov) was one of the most respected, charismatic and charming elders of Optina Pustyn. This amazing person, who undoubtedly acquired God's grace and possessed the gift of perspicacity, not only helped his spiritual children in the most difficult situations in life, not only suggested the right decisions to those who came to him with questions, but also literally made everyone who had the happiness of communicating with him fall in love with him. him.
Remembering the Monk Nektarios, his spiritual children say that he was both strict and affectionate, but always behind his words and teachings there was genuine insight and incredible love for everyone who entered his cell. However, the elder himself was not inclined to consider himself an elder: “The elder Gerasim was a great elder, because he had a lion. And we are small - we have a cat”- he repeated more than once.
The Monk Nektarios also spoke of his visionary gift with humility and even doubt: “I sometimes have forebodings, and it is revealed to me about a person, and sometimes not. And there was an amazing case. A woman comes to me and complains about her son, a nine-year-old child, that he is no good. And I tell her: "Be patient until he turns twelve years old." I said this without having any premonitions, simply because I know scientifically that at the age of twelve a person often changes. The woman left, and I forgot about her. Three years later this mother comes and cries: "My son died, he was barely twelve years old." People, it is true, say that, behold, my father predicted, but this was my simple reasoning in scientific terms. Later I checked myself in every possible way - did I feel something or not. No, I didn't have a premonition of anything. " However,no matter what opinion the elder himself adhered to about himself, most of the spiritual children of the Monk Nektarios left Optina Pustyn with new hopes, dreams and aspirations - and this was precisely his merit.
Elder Zosima (in schema Zechariah) (1850-1936) - Trinity-Sergius Lavra
Elder Zosima, who ascended to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, was gifted with very special spiritual gifts - both the Lavra monks and numerous pilgrims who came here from hundreds of cities were more than once surprised at how easily and freely both the past and the future of any visitor are revealed to him. Eyewitnesses say that the elder's visionary gift was simply fantastic - he could accurately predict what would happen to a person who came to him and how an unfavorable situation could be corrected.
The elder instructed his spiritual children not to treat prayer without proper attention and constantly develop in himself the ability to pray with real benefit to the heart and soul. “I testify with my conscience,” said the elder, “that the Monk Sergius with his hands upraised stands at the throne of God and prays for everyone. Oh, if you knew the power of his prayers and love for us, then every hour you would turn to him, asking for his help, intercession and blessings for those for whom our heart hurts, for our relatives and loved ones living here on earth and who are already there - in that eternal life."
Elder German (1844-1923) - Zosimova Pustyn
The confessor of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and the sisters of the Martha-Mariinsky monastery, the highest dignitaries of the state and many church hierarchs, Elder German did for the development and prosperity of the Zosimov Hermitage as much as perhaps no other monk from those who labored here did for her. The fame of this amazingly perspicacious and humane elder was so loud that thousands of Orthodox pilgrims from all over Russia flocked to Zosimova Hermitage, and not one left without good advice from a wise monk.
Elder Herman taught his spiritual children to be strict with themselves, explaining this by the fact that being strict with oneself is an opportunity to gain God's grace. “… Only because the Lord has mercy on me, because I see my sins: my laziness, my negligence, my pride; and I constantly reproach myself for them - here the Lord helps my weakness …”- he said.
Elder Simeon (Zhelnin) (1869-1960) - Pskov-Pechersky monastery
In the 50s of the XX century, the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery near the border with Estonia became one of the most visited monasteries in Russia. Military and civilians, poor and rich, happy and unhappy people travel here on trains, fly on airplanes and stand in huge queues - and all this in order to see and ask for advice and help from a single person - Elder Simeon.
Eyewitnesses and spiritual children of the elder say that not a single person left his cell restless, not a single one doubted the advice of a wise monk. However, like the Monk Nektarios, Elder Simeon did not consider himself God's chosen one. “Yes, I’m not a seer at all, the Lord gives his chosen ones a great gift of insight, but here longevity helps me - I entered the house earlier than others, and I know his order better. People come to me with sorrows and doubts, and an agitated person is like a child, he is all in the palm of his hand … A misfortune happened to a person, so he loses the accuracy of his spiritual eyes, falls into either despondency, or insolence and bitterness. And I know the worldly circle well, and I have lived a long life, and I myself am protected from troubles and temptations by the Lord's power, and how can I, in the measure of my small strength, not support my brother, a companion on the earthly road,when he got tired earlier than I …”- he said.
Elder John (Alekseev) (1873-1958) - New Valaam
Elder John (Alekseev) was the confessor of New Valaam and took care of the pilgrims who came here. Contemporaries remember Fr. John as a deep and incredibly sensitive person who knew how to console everyone who came to him with problems or questions.
Much of the spiritual heritage of the elder has come down to us in the form of letters - Elder John until his last days wrote to his spiritual children about how to learn to live according to the commandments and find peace of mind. Here is a fragment of one of these letters: “Try not to condemn anyone for anything. What you don’t want, don’t do that to others. Remember that for every idle word we will give an answer before God at the Last Judgment. You cannot serve two masters. Make peace with your rival so that he does not imprison you. So that there is no enmity with anyone, otherwise prayer will not please God, it will even serve in sin. How will God have forgiveness for our sins when we ourselves do not forgive?"
Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) (1910-2006) - Pskov-Pechersky monastery
One of the most famous elders of the 20th century, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) became the spiritual father for hundreds of thousands of people not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. Six years have passed since the elder's death, but his books on the construction of confession and prayer, as well as collections of letters and teachings, are still passed from hand to hand and are printed in huge print runs. Many churched people who are still only moving towards the comprehension of Orthodoxy discovered this religion for themselves thanks to John (Krestyankin).
For about 40 years Archimandrite John was a resident of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and all these years the number of pilgrims coming to him with their questions and problems grew. Eyewitnesses say that over the years it became more and more difficult for the elder to move from his cell to the temple or the dining room, and the reason for this was not his age - the reason was that the pilgrims surrounded Father John as soon as he went out and literally did not allow him to step step.
This is how Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) recalls Father John: “… his love for man, faith and hope for the Providence of God were so great that people, coming to him even with seemingly insoluble problems, left the priest's cell filled with just consolation, and new strength to life. This was another rare feature inherent in Father John: he spoke as having the power from God to give vitality and lead after Christ …"