The biography of Patriarch Kirill’s current confessor, Schema-Archimandrite Elijah (Nozdrin), has been published more than once in many sources. It is quite short, but there are moments in it that can be perceived by current Russian society as some kind of contradictions.
He was born in 1932 into a family of Orthodox Christian believers and, according to him, began to consciously pray at the age of three. However, in 1949 he joined the Komsomol. Although a few years later, according to his confession, he burned his Komsomol card and became an opponent of the Soviet regime. These views, as well as other political views of Father Elijah, will be discussed below.
Bishop Nikodim
For now, it is worth saying that his seminary years and his formation as a monk and priest occurred in the sixties of the last century. He studied at the Leningrad Theological Seminary (the very name of this church educational institution of the Soviet era is already an oxymoron for any believer).
At the same time, Eli was tonsured a monk and elevated to the rank of hieromonk by none other than Bishop Nikodim (Rotov). Metropolitan Nikodim is a somewhat controversial figure, around whom passions do not subside to this day. On the one hand, at some point he became a sort of “Soviet functionary” on the foreign policy front, and acted in this capacity consciously and publicly. On the other hand, at that time there was no more inconvenient personality in his person for commissioners for religious rights and other “professional Soviet atheists”: using his authority, including close relations with the highest Soviet nomenklatura, he defended the interests of the Church with all his might.
The fact that the Leningrad Seminary did not close, and priests were ordained during the Soviet years (most importantly, during the “Khrushchev Thaw”, which was a thaw for anyone except the Church) and the chain of succession of clergy was not interrupted - all this was the merit of the Metropolitan Nicodemus.
At the same time, it is interesting that in the church environment, when they say “Nicodemusites,” they mean church hierarchs who are active in the world. For example, the most famous “Nikodimite” in the Russian Orthodox Church today is its current primate, Patriarch Kirill.
Pskov-Pechersky Monastery
After completing his studies in 1966, Father Elijah ended up in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Pskov Pechory of the Soviet era is a separate and dramatic story, also full of contradictions.
During the years of obedience to Father Elijah, Archimandrite Alipiy (Voronov) was the archimandrite of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery. It was he who published an article in the newspaper “Soviet Russia” in which he stated the need to find and return to the monastery relics stolen by the Nazis (they were found and returned). He also burned the order of the Soviet authorities to close the Pskov-Pechora Monastery.
Confessor of Optina
In 1976, Father Eli comes to Athos. Lives in prayer and work in the skete of the Panteleimon Monastery. Here his formation as the confessor of this monastery takes place. In the meager lines of Father Elijah’s official biography it says: “He managed to prevent the closure of the monastery.”
Further, since the late 1980s, there has been clergy in Optina Pustyn. By the way, the return to the fold of the Russian Church of this shrine, on the territory of which in Soviet times there were filtration camps, prisoner of war camps, and sanatoriums, also happened in a paradoxical way. The fact is that this monastery was transferred to the department of the Russian Church in 1987 by the Soviet government on the initiative of one of the Politburo members.
In 2009, a year after the Local Council of the Russian Church and the election of Metropolitan Kirill as patriarch, Father Eli became the patriarchal confessor and moved to the Patriarchal Metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Skhemnik in the world
In 2010, Father Eli accepted the great schema, becoming schema-archimandrite. But at the same time he turned into a public person. And here again is a paradox: monks, having accepted the great schema, take on additional vows and obediences and go even further, so to speak, from the world. With Father Eli, it seems, everything turned out the other way around, again turning out in an unexpected way.
This publicity began to be associated with all sorts of “scandals” and very loud epithets addressed to him in connection with his political statements. Father Elijah is now called differently, either “a perspicacious old man”, or “a false old man” and “an opportunist and a politician.”
Political Views
It is worth telling at least briefly about the views of the schema-archimandrite. The fact is that in a political sense, Father Eli manages to displease everyone. On the one hand, he is a cardinal opponent of Soviet power and the Soviet legacy.
Lenin is a Russophobe, Stalin is a bandit. Detachments, incompetent orders of Stalin during the Great Patriotic War (despite which they won) - it would seem a complete set of ideological cliches. However, no.
In 2011, Father Iliy spoke out against mass protests on Bolotnaya, calling the protest wave “an attempt at new unrest,” and now he speaks of the need to elect a “faithful president.” And here a certain image of a “guardian” with a corresponding set of ideologies already emerges.
And again, no - Father Ily compares Boris Yeltsin with St. George the Victorious and in one of his interviews convinces of the need to erect a monument to the first Russian president. And a few years later he participates in the opening of a monument to... no, not to Yeltsin, but to Ivan the Terrible.
The most common opinion from people, at least who have warm feelings for Orthodoxy and the Church, about Father Elijah: “Father is simply incompetent in matters of politics, you leave him alone with politics.”
Neither ours nor yours
But if we analyze all these political statements and actions of the patriarchal confessor, we get the impression that this is a unique form of foolishness: the desire not to join any of the formal or informal political strata, to say things that would not fit into any modern Russian ideological paradigm. After all, for example, Grozny and Stalin are completely identical in the mass consciousness, and expressing hostility towards one, and then attending the opening of a monument to the other, is somehow strange.
And how can all this be combined with a respectful attitude towards Yeltsin, open sympathy for Putin and calls to “prevent unrest” in 2011-2012?
However, in all such actions and words of Father Elijah, a very clear, consistent line can still be traced - increasing the influence of the Orthodox Church in Russia. For him, the Church is much higher than politics, market conditions and any ideology.
And, from this point of view, he is by no means paradoxical, like those clergy, and even Soviet party leaders, against the background of whose activities his life passed.
In Rus' there have always been spiritually insightful people, who were called elders. Moreover, they fell into this category not because of their advanced years, but thanks to special wisdom that emerged as a result of diligent prayers and labors for the glory of God. Previously, such elders lived mainly in Optina Hermitage, where pilgrims from all over Russia came for advice and blessings. Today this tradition is being revived, and Elder Elijah, who will be discussed in our article today, played a significant role in this process.
For the sake of meeting this amazing man, people are ready to spend several days in Optina Pustyn, waiting for his visit and at least one encouraging word. As pilgrims say, not a single misfortune can hide from the gaze of Elder Elijah. He will encourage, support and guide everyone. Much of what he does is perceived as something miraculous, although the elder himself believes that everything in this world happens only according to the will of God. Who is he, Elder Elijah from Optina Hermitage? Let's get to know him together.
Meeting the Elder
Schema-Archimandrite Elijah is difficult to find in one place. Despite the fact that he recently turned eighty-five years old, he is always on the move. And how could it be otherwise, if the old man has so many things to do and responsibilities that you wonder where he gets the strength for all this? Although the schema-archimandrite himself trusts only in God. He is sure that everyone in this world is given a burden according to their strength and understanding. After all, the Lord is merciful, and therefore will never scourge the children of his beloved.
Elder Eli manages to do everything. He often travels around Russia and holds meetings with ordinary people, and besides this, he does not forget to visit Optina Pustyn every week. After all, it was he who was blessed for the restoration and revival of this ancient monastery. And judging by how he looks now, the old man did an excellent job.
Not long ago, the schema-archimandrite was appointed confessor to Patriarch Kirill himself, with whom they had known each other for several decades. This appointment became the reason for Elder Elijah’s forced move to Peredelkino.
Many pilgrims wonder how to get to meet him. They plan visits specifically to Peredelkino, but this is not worth doing. After all, it is almost impossible to find the elder here. He comes to his home for rare moments of relaxation and does not receive visitors. We will tell our readers a little later about the best way to see and communicate with the elder.
If God wills
Many people want Elder Iliy (Peredelkino) to talk to them. “How to get an appointment with the elder and will he accept?” - these are the main questions of visiting pilgrims. Of course, the schema-archimandrite will not be able to satisfy all those who suffer, but, as local monks say, if God wills it, the meeting will definitely take place. Usually Elder Elijah receives people in the refectory before lunch, where those who have arrived are seated at tables, and the line moves around these tables. If people make noise in line or argue, he will personally disperse or reconcile the guests.
Closer to 16 o'clock, the elder retires to rest, and when he returns and whether he will return on this day, only the Lord knows. The monastery has its own Internet resource (www. optina.ru), where you can find out where Elder Elijah is now and when the next reception will take place.
Schema-Archimandrite's early years
The future elder Elijah, or in the world Alexey Nozdrin, comes from a simple peasant family. He was born in the Oryol region and still loves these places very much. He comes here most often and oversees many parishes.
Despite the fact that in the thirties of the last century atheism was completely enforced, the Nozdriny family was very devout, and from an early age the boy regularly attended church. From the age of three, he could no longer imagine himself without prayer and, in his own words, turned to God for advice in absolutely any situation.
There were four children in the family, but it was Alexei who had to help his mother raise them. His father died at the front, and the boy took upon himself all the care of his mother and loved ones. By nature he was generously endowed with kindness, hard work and humility. In addition, the young man was distinguished by his intelligence, quick wit and desire for knowledge, which helped him complete his studies in high school.
While serving in the army, a story happened to Alexei, which he later regretted for a long time. Surrendering under the pressure of his commander’s persuasion, he joined the Komsomol and received a Komsomol card. However, the young man believed that a person who believes in God cannot be a party member. He ardently repented that he had allowed himself to be persuaded to do this act, and soon burned the ticket given to him.
In the fifties of the last century, Alexey graduated from a vocational school in Serpukhov and was sent to work in Kamyshin.
Peredelkino
The dacha village of Peredelkino is located in the Moscow region. The nearest railway stations are Peredelkino and Michurinets. The town is famous not only for the monastery and Elder Elijah, but also for the fact that famous writers and artists lived and worked there at one time. Among them are Alexander Fadeev, Bella Akhmadulina, Valentin Kataev, Bulat Okudzhava, as well as Korney Chukovsky, who held his famous bonfires here, where Rina Zelenaya, Arkady Raikin, Sergei Obraztsov performed. The house-museums of Okudzhava, Pasternak, Chukovsky and Yevtushenko are located here.
Choosing a path
Since the young man trained as a builder, he was sent to build a new factory. However, it was at this time that Alexey realized that he did not feel any craving for his profession at all, and began to visit the only functioning temple in the city more and more often. There he often communicated with his clergyman, and he once advised the young man to try to enter a theological seminary. This proposal seemed very interesting to Alexey, and after much thought he moved to Saratov, where he entered the seminary.
Seminary studies
The years of study were not easy for Alexey. During this period of time, mass persecution of the church began in the country, as a result of which churches and Christian educational institutions began to close.
The seminary in Saratov was closed, and the young man had to continue his studies in Leningrad. Here he graduated not only from the seminary, but also from the academy. During these years, he met the future Patriarch Kirill, communication with whom gave him great pleasure. As the patriarch later recalled, Alexey seemed to him a lively, intelligent and very kind person who literally saw everyone from the inside, and was very sociable by nature.
In Leningrad, he received monastic vows and took a new name - Ilian. He began his service in several parishes of the city and region. In the first years of obedience, he was ordained as a monk with priestly rank.
Formation of the spiritual world of an elder
Ilian was very thoughtful about his responsibilities and read a lot. Under the influence of the lives of the saints, his spiritual worldview and attitude towards serving the Lord were formed. He was especially inspired by the opportunity to devote his life to service in the Athos Monastery. For this reason, Ilian spent ten long years in the Pskov-Pechersk monastery. Here he could often be found having intimate conversations with Elder John Krestyankin.
Finally, he was sent to Athos, where he served as a monk and lived in a secluded cell. The years spent in the monastery of St. Panteleimon gave the elder a lot. In silence and prayer, he learned the secrets of the human soul, which greatly helped him in his future activities.
Revival of Optina Pustyn
By the beginning of the nineties, the situation in the country had changed dramatically. Temples and monasteries began to be revived everywhere, and the people were drawn to faith in their souls. Such a massive outburst revealed an acute shortage of priests, who by this time were scattered in different parts of the world. Ilian was also called from Athos and was entrusted with the important mission of restoring the Optina Monastery. By this time, it had been in complete desolation for more than ten years and needed a person who could take on the real feat of reviving the holy place.
In the same year, the elder received the highest rank, according to which he completely renounced the world and devoted every second of his life to the Lord. Since accepting this rank can be considered as being born in God, the elder received a new name - Eli. The elder has been serving in the Optina Monastery for about thirty years, and the monastery owes its current status to the tireless efforts of the schema-archimandrite. Quite deservedly, this place is considered the center of Orthodoxy, where tens of thousands of pilgrims come every year.
Optina Pustyn
The Optina Pustyn Monastery, or, as officially, the Vvedensky Stavropegic Monastery, was founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century, one might say relatively recently. The Kaluga land is rich in famous associates, who gave rise to the monastery. Although, according to legend, the first founders of the monastery include... the robber Opta, who repented of his sins and took monastic vows under the name Macarius. And this was at the end of the seventeenth century. For his monastic feat, Macarius chose a forest place on the banks of the Zhizdra River. Gradually, students reached out to the monk, and pilgrims began to come, seeking consolation. It was decided to build the first church in the monastery - the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The history of Optina Pustyn was not always joyful. The monastery experienced periods of desolation, when only two monks lived within the walls of the monastery, and prosperity, when Optina was transferred to the Kaluga diocese, and the monastery received well-deserved attention. In the difficult years for the church after the revolution, Optina Pustyn was closed, but it was given the status of a museum. A rest house began to be located there. During the Second World War, first a hospital and then a filtration camp were located on its territory. But the times of desolation and ruin passed when in 1987 the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now the monastery has been completely restored, and most importantly, the eldership has been revived.
Honorary mission
For eight years now, the schema-archimandrite has been fulfilling the most honorable mission that an Orthodox clergyman can imagine. He is the confessor of Patriarch Kirill. Surprisingly, the elder himself believes that this work represents his sacred duty, and even left the monastery so dear to his heart to settle in Peredelkino. From here it is much closer for him to get to Moscow and communicate with his spiritual child.
Warm relations have long been established between the patriarch and the schema-archimandrite, so they are only strengthening every day. The elder’s prayers also play an important role in this process. They are credited with incredible power, because where Elder Eli is, there is always a place for a miracle.
Many Orthodox Christians think about how to get to Elder Elijah in one or another life situation. And those lucky ones who managed to do this tell amazing things about the schema-archimandrite. Each pilgrim has his own story of meeting and communicating with the elder, because he literally saved many from spiritual blindness and other problems.
Some talk about how, without even looking at the pilgrim, the schema-archimandrite answered all the questions that tormented the soul of the person who came for an answer. At the same time, depending on the situation, the elder found comforting or accusatory words.
Many people write that Eli is able to cure mental anguish with one or two words or make a person think about his life, completely changing it in the future. And the elder does not raise his voice, does not accuse, but can penetrate into the very essence of the pilgrim standing in front of him and understand what exactly he needs.
The elder always knows which of those present to give an icon that he personally brought from Athos, and who a book, the reading of which will help the pilgrim to see spiritually.
There are known cases when, after the prayer of the elder, people were healed in the most miraculous way. The story of a soldier on the verge of death is widely discussed. His relatives brought him to the monastery in the hope of a miracle. The man no longer regained consciousness and only after the elder’s prayer he opened his eyes, and soon stood up. Doctors simply threw up their hands regarding this case and could not find a worthy scientific explanation for it.
Elder Elijah, Optina Pustyn: how to get there
If you really need to see the elder, then feel free to go to Optina Pustyn. True, no one knows when the schema-archimandrite will come here. However, he visits the monastery almost every week and freely communicates with pilgrims in the refectory. Therefore, be sure to pray before going to the monastery and be sure that the Lord will give you the opportunity to talk with the elder if this is necessary for the good of your soul.
A person, having accepted the baptism of Christ, has the opportunity to take the Christian path of saving his soul. Awareness and choice of this path occurs either according to the faith of parents from infancy, or already in adulthood. In order to follow the right vector, an Orthodox Christian is looking for a spiritual mentor.
The Orthodox faith is famous for its confessors. One of these bright shepherds of Orthodox Christianity serves in the Church of the Transfiguration in Peredelkino - Father Iliy Nozdrin.
He is the confessor of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and not only him. Hundreds of thousands of believers are trying to meet him, so many are interested in the question: how to get to Peredelkino when Father Iliy receives people.
The glory of the man of God was bestowed upon the priest by people who received and are receiving help in their spiritual and mental torments, everyday problems and issues that are insoluble for humans.
The biography of Father Ilya Nozdrin began in 1932 on March 8, in the Oryol region, the village of Stanovoy Kolodets. The family was peasant. As the priest himself says, interest in prayer appeared at an early age, about 3 years.
He graduated from school and completed military service. Father Ily was a Komsomol member, but deeply repented of this act and burned his Komsomol card.
It is no wonder that with that non-stop atheistic propaganda, many people were simply deceived by the illusory ideals of communism. At baptism, the future elder was named Alexei in honor of the man of God Alexei, whose memory is celebrated on March 30. In Serpukhov, Alexey Nozdrin graduated from a technical school with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Having received assignment to the city of Kamyshin, Volgograd region, the spiritual formation of the future priest began. The city had the only temple in honor of Nicholas the Ugodnik, where Alexey met his first spiritual father, priest John Bukotkin.
While it was in effect, he sent him to the Saratov Theological Seminary, but Eli received his spiritual education at the Leningrad Theological Academy.
The Elder's Prophecies
In wide circles of Orthodox Christians, the Elder of Optina is known for his predictions about Russia.
Unfortunately, these prophecies are not very optimistic, so the elder calls on all citizens of our country to unite and revive the true Orthodox faith in their souls.
Elder Eli predicted difficult trials for Russia and Ukraine, which, in his opinion, are inevitable and cannot be prevented in any way.
In his predictions, the priest speaks rather vaguely, without naming either specific dates or specific events.
But his words suggest an unambiguous way out - a return to the origins of the holy Orthodox faith, not just in words, but in deeds. After all, it is not enough to simply build churches, decorate them and stand for long services; you need to let the Lord into your heart, love your neighbor with all your soul and live according to the commandments and biblical canons.
Father is confident that the time for the spiritual revival of Russia will definitely come, and then we will be truly invincible.
The spiritual formation of Father Elijah
In 1966, on March 13, Alexei took monastic vows with the name Ilian, in honor of one of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste. Father Eli served in many churches of the Leningrad diocese. He spent the most time, 10 years, in the Pskov-Pechersk monastery. There they decided to leave for Athos.
At the beginning of March 1976, the Holy Synod sent the priest for monastic obedience to the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. The spiritual creations of Silouan of Athos had a great influence on the monk Elijah.
Such spiritual experience required realization. At the end of the 80s, the restoration of Optina Pustyn, famous for its elders, began. It is to this monastery that Father Elijah receives the appointment of the monastery’s confessor. This place is forever associated with his name.
How to get to Optina Pustyn, where Father Eli sometimes holds receptions in 2022, worries many people, because it’s not easy to find him there. This monastery, where the priest was tonsured into the great schema, becomes a place for the restoration of a special service in Orthodoxy - eldership. Although he himself says that this is not the goal, but the matter of saving human souls.
At the beginning of April 2010, the priest received the rank of schema-archimandrite. How to get to him now in 2022 in Peredelkino, Father Ily does not have a clear schedule, because under his leadership a large number of missionary services take place in various cities of Russia.
They require the personal presence of an elder, despite his advanced age. Peredelkino has become a place of pilgrimage, where now you can most often meet with Father Iliy. He is a frequent guest in the spiritual church, which is located in the elder’s small homeland - the Oryol region. The elder is the spiritual patron of this spiritual center.
Since 2012, active construction work has been underway here; one of the results has become a temple in honor of the Presentation of the Lord, an Orthodox gymnasium, a livestock farm, a crafts factory, a children's and sports ground.
In the future, further development of infrastructure and construction of a cottage village.
History of the monastery
Optina Pustyn is an Orthodox monastery for men, located two kilometers from the city of Kozelsk in the Kaluga region. According to ancient legend, the monastery was founded at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries by the repentant robber Opta (or Optius), who became a monk under the name Macarius. The Optina monastery served as a haven for elders and elders, living in separate buildings of the monastery, but under the spiritual guidance of one abbot. The first mentions of this monastery can be found in the scribe books of Kozelsk dating back to the reign of Boris Godunov.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Optina Pustyn experienced difficult times due to constant taxes to the state for the war with the Swedes and the construction of St. Petersburg, and in 1724 it was completely abolished according to the Spiritual Regulations and annexed to the Transfiguration Monastery, located in the neighboring city of Belev. Two years later, by order of Catherine II, the monastery was restored, and construction of new churches began on its territory, which continued until the beginning of the twentieth century.
Optina became one of the largest spiritual Orthodox centers in Russia; pilgrims and sufferers were drawn to it from all sides, some of whom settled in the skete, built in 1821. As donations came in, the monastery acquired land and a mill.
In 1918, Optina Pustyn was closed according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, and in 1939, on the territory of the monastery, by order of L. Beria, a concentration camp was organized for five thousand Polish soldiers, who were later shot in Katyn. From 1944 to 1945 a filtration camp for Soviet officers returning from captivity was located here.
How to get to Elder Iliy Nozdrin
Reviews of meetings with Father Eli bring so much light, warmth, and grace. These are just the impressions of those who met, what people feel when they are physically close to him. How to get to him, well-known persons in the public media space share their stories: Irakli Pirtskhalava, Evgeny Mironov, Boris Korchevnikov in the TV program “The Word” on the Spas channel.
But this does not mean that only famous people can get to the priest; it only confirms that without God it is impossible for anyone to build a happy life and walk the path on Earth with dignity.
The choice is up to the individual. Father gives an explanation about cancer patients, comparing the universal way of life with a cancerous tumor. A huge number of people come to him with this diagnosis, for healing, relief of the disease. But not everyone has the opportunity to travel distances to meet a seer in person.
Therefore, Father Eli tells not how to get an appointment with him, but how to find God, the way to Him, what needs to be done without delay, without waiting for the opportunity to meet in person.
There is not much time, because a Christian cannot rely on himself; we don’t know whether each of us has this time. This means that we need to correct ourselves not from the next Monday or the first of the month, but now.
Lenten days are a time of repentance, and there is no convenient time for it; it should be here and now, as soon as the awareness of one’s sinfulness and godlessness comes.
Skhemnik in the world
In 2010, Father Eli accepted the great schema, becoming schema-archimandrite. But at the same time he turned into a public person. And here again is a paradox: monks, having accepted the great schema, take on additional vows and obediences and go even further, so to speak, from the world. With Father Eli, it seems, everything turned out the other way around, again turning out in an unexpected way.
This publicity began to be associated with all sorts of “scandals” and very loud epithets addressed to him in connection with his political statements. Father Elijah is now called differently, either “a perspicacious old man”, or “a false old man” and “an opportunist and a politician.”
Instructions from Father Elijah
Father attunes a person’s soul to God’s Providence, and not to fate, as many people believe. When choosing fate, we choose uncertainty, because it is a consequence of a person’s different choices, which most often leads to the most terrible truth about us. The most terrible truth is sin; each of us has this seed of aphids.
If the law of physics, chemistry, and nature is violated, the entire development process becomes distorted and incorrect.
Even if you break a legal law, there is punishment. But what happens if the most basic law - God's - is violated. What else do we need to prove the existence of this law and recognize the primacy of God’s law in human life?
We hear and see the consequences of a planetary scale every day: in the news, around us, in our lives. Finding Father Elijah in Peredelkino in 2022 is just as difficult as getting to see him now; you can rely on the reviews of those who attend meetings with him.
The official information of the Patriarchal Compound in Peredelkino does not have information about the plans of Father Elijah, here is an example of what the will of God is, if you really have an important spiritual question, the Lord will lead you to it.
If the priest serves the Divine Liturgy, you can take his blessing, so it would be more correct to focus on the schedule of services of the Patriarchal Compound of the Church of the Transfiguration in Peredelkino.
Keep in mind that Father Eli travels a lot, so when organizing your trip, take extra time, plan the pilgrimage for several days, then the likelihood of meeting will increase.
Father Eli, Schema-Archimandrite, spiritual mentor of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill and the Holy Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage.
Father Eli
Ilya Nozdrin was destined from childhood to become a “man of God”
Family
Alexey Afanasyevich Nozdrin, was born on March 8, 1932 in the Oryol province in the village of Kolodez, into an ordinary peasant family. In a family where faith in God was honored.
Father - Afanasy Nozdrin,
Mother - Claudia Nozdrina.
In addition to little Alexey, the family had 3 brothers and a sister.
Father Elijah's birthday
At the time of Alexei’s birth, his paternal grandfather Ivan was alive. Ivan Nozdrin served as headman of the Church of the Intercession in his village.
In the difficult year of 1942, the Nozdriny family suffered tragic losses. My father died at the front, and my grandfather died the same year.
After the death of Alexei's father, her mother decided to devote herself to her children and family and never remarried.
Alexei Nozdrin was baptized in infancy near the nearby village of Lukino.
From a young age, thanks to the efforts of his mother, the child learned to read books, especially books with prayers were easy for him. Even his boy friends called him “Divine.”
There are always many people around him asking for help. And he doesn't refuse anyone
According to the stories of little Alexey's contemporaries, a case is widely known in his native village: in 1947-1948, Alexey was robbed.
He prayed in tears before the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and found a hot loaf of wheat on the ground
Years of study
1949 - completed his studies at the Stanovokolodez secondary school.
Military service
Father Eli perceived her as a black streak in life, due to forced entry into the Komsomol
As Father Eli himself believes, this time is a black streak for him. This is due to joining the Komsomol by decision of the military authorities.
After the army, he realized that this was a sin against God. Repenting, he couldn’t think of anything better to do to fix it and simply burned the ticket.
1955-1958 - student at the Serpukhov Mechanical Engineering College.
After completing his studies at the technical school, he was sent to work in his specialty in the Volgograd region, Kamyshin.
The city of Kamyshin was one of the rare cities where an Orthodox church operated in the late 50s.
The road to God
John Bukotkin, the first spiritual mentor of Father Elijah
In the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the future Father Elijah met his first spiritual mentor, John Bukotkin.
At the suggestion and thanks to the help of Father John, he enters the Saratov Theological Seminary.
I have already completed my studies at the Leningrad Seminary, and then my studies at the Academy.
There, in Leningrad, Alexey Nozdrin took monastic vows with the name Ilian, in honor of one of the forty martyrs of Sebaste. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) performed tonsure.
1966-1976. Service in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
Pskov-Pechersky Monastery
One of the largest and most famous monasteries in Russia with a centuries-old history.
The name of the monastery is associated with the caves located in it, called “created by God.”
In 1473, the cave church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, excavated by the Monk Jonah in a sandstone hill, was consecrated here.
This year is considered the year the monastery was founded. The hill in which the Assumption Church and the caves created by God are located is called the Holy Mountain.
In the spring of 1976, I already served obedience in the Panteleimon Church, which is located on Mount Athos.
Elder Eli
1989 returns to Russia and, by decision of the Holy Synod, goes to Optina Pustyn to help restore the monastery.
As you and I can see, the biography of Ilya Nozdrin is rich in moving to various churches and monasteries.
In the early 90s, he was tonsured into the great schema with the name Eli.
For 20 years, Father Eli served as an elder in the Optina Pustyn Monastery.
During these years he was called Iliy Optinsky.
Iliy (Nozdrin) served in the Optina Desert for 20 years.
2009 is a new important test; he is the confessor of Patriarch Kirill, with whom he studied at the theological academy.
2010 Archimandrite Iliy Nozdrin became a member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church and a member of the Commission on the Organization of the Life of Monasteries and Monasticism of the Inter-Council Presence.
In April 2010, Patriarch Kirill elevated him to the rank of schema-archimandrite in the cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The Life and Blessings of Elder Elijah
Schema-Archimandrite Eli (Nozdrin) turned 85 years old this year. He was born 15 years after the revolution on the very day it began. And the day of his naming, which according to Orthodox tradition falls on the eighth day after birth, for him coincided with the celebration of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God. His whole life is marked by the patronage of the Most Holy One, and everything he does is in fulfillment of the will of the Empress to strengthen the state.
Today, in memory of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste, Father Elijah has his namesake.
Schema-Archimandrite Iliy (Nozdrin) on Mount Athos
War
Even before the revolution, in his native village of Stanovoy Kolodez, on the Oryol land, his grandfather Ivan was the headman of the Intercession Church, built with the personal funds of local peasants and operating for more than a century. However, by the time of the birth of the grandson in the family of the son Athanasius and his wife Claudia, services in this temple were performed only secretly, or even somewhere in their homes. That is why the newborn was baptized in the neighboring village of Yakovlevo in the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. They named it Alexy in honor of Alexy, the man of God.
V.A. Kravets and the restored temple in Yakovlevo
Already in our days, in 2001, Valery Alekseevich Kravets, a tractor-combiner driver from the Oryol region, once came to the then schema-hegumen Iliy, who had already returned from Athos to the reviving Optina Monastery, to consult on a family issue, but let slip that there was no church in the area. And Father says:
- Start construction!
He has eyes like saucers.
“God,” says the schema-monk, “will manage everything.”
As Father Eli likes to explain in such cases: “God will build, I will pray,” - you, they say, have nothing to do...
So, by a miracle of God, almost without interruption from the current agricultural work of the tractor-combiner driver, the temple rose.
With the blessing of Father Elijah, the Church of the Intercession was also revived in his native village of Stanovoy Kolodez. And in Father’s childhood, when he still had to sit at his desk, the closed church was converted into a school. Previously, peasant children learned to read and write the Psalter in church. But only under Soviet rule the entrance was cut right through the altar, and the steps were laid out from tombstones, leveling the cemetery that was nearby. The kids, of course, knew nothing about this. And the adults became increasingly silent. The year when the future schema-archimandrite entered first grade was during the most severe repressions.
Children were educated in accordance with the instructions of Soviet propaganda. Many nasty things were said about the royal family. But Christmas and Easter were still celebrated in the village, despite any prohibitions. Is it that the deep meaning of these celebrations, in isolation from divine services, became increasingly emasculated for fellow villagers.
Alyosha was lucky: he had a very religious aunt who lived in Moscow. She often visited them. Of all the nephews - and this is also his older brother Ivan and his younger ones Sergei and sister Anya - Alexei was the most sensitive to everything religious and holy from an early age. It was with him that they left all the churches that were still open in their native lands, and went to the existing churches of Orel. As he grew up, his aunt brought Alexei spiritual literature that was already rare at that time and taught him how to read and write in Church Slavonic.
Alexey Nozdrin at the technical school
So, having studied later, after school, in 1955-1958, at the mechanical engineering college in Serpukhov and finding himself assigned to a cotton mill under construction in the city of Kamyshin in the current Volgograd region, young Alexey first of all asked: “Where is the temple?”
During the Great Patriotic War, although it was the only one in Kamyshin, the St. Nicholas Church was opened in 1944. By the way, one of two operating at that time for the entire region (the second was only in the regional center). How providential that this young specialist was assigned here.
Here he found his first spiritual mentor - Archpriest John Bukotkin - a front-line soldier, holder of the Order of Glory, III degree, who fought on the 3rd Belorussian Front and in East Prussia.
“I prayed unceasingly throughout the war,” said Father John. – I had a cross on my chest.
These are those who, by the power of God, won a terrible war. Even if they met in the region, then by the name assigned to the regional center, glorifying the Generalissimo: Stalingrad. By the way, before, from 1589 to 1925, this city glorified the Queen of Heaven and was called Tsaritsyn.
The rector of their St. Nicholas Church was Archpriest John Potapov, who served 10 years in Stalin’s camps, so they all had something to remember and talk about.
In response to his stories about miraculous salvation during the war[1], Alexei was one of the first to tell his confessor what he himself had witnessed and participated in through God’s intervention during the war years.
On the Presentation of the Lord in 1943, 10-year-old Alyosha was returning from the village of Kryukovka, where he had gone to visit his godmother, and already on the approach to his native village of Redkino (since 1969, part of Stanovoy Kolodez), a German car suddenly overtook him, braked sharply, and A drunken Fritz tumbled out of it. The Russian frosts were difficult for the Germans, but vodka was even worse. Amid the cackling of his colleagues, this soldier vomited, the door slammed and the car accelerated. And the tablet remained lying in the snow. It was Alexey who raised him. And as soon as I approached the village, my inner voice insistently commanded: “Walk on the rails!” If he had walked the usual way, he could have been searched at the SS (SS, or Schutzstaffeln - security detachments - O.O.) point that was on the way to the house. And the tracks in the snow would have given it away. The trail could have been followed by shepherd dogs, of which a whole pack was later released. And now, from home, he watched through the window as the Nazis searched for the loss: they used a special machine to compact snow along the entire road, then carefully scraped it off meter by meter.
The boy opened the tablet - and German maps with military installations marked fell out of it.
And the boy, having made his way home from the side of the vegetable gardens, where this wonderful railway track lay, with which more than one mystical story is connected, opened the tablet, and two maps fell out of it: one detailed topographical one and the other the same, but with maps military facilities, and even some piece of paper with unfamiliar words. There were no adults at home except my grandmother: my father was at the front, my mother worked from dawn to dusk.
But then a captured Red Army soldier ran into the house - Father even remembered his name: Andrey. The Germans put him in charge of taking care of the horses, and they were assigned to the Nozdrins’ barn. Usually the prisoners were supervised, but here he suddenly broke out from under supervision... Quickly realizing what the boy had found, he immediately ordered to throw the tablet into the stove, hid the papers in his bosom and disappeared.
A drunken officer who had lost something, rumors spread throughout the village, was immediately shot. But judging by the further development of events, they did not risk reporting the loss to the Fuhrer, otherwise those who dealt with their subordinates would face the same end.
However, this story did not add to the vigilance of the fascists, who were completely unruly in what they then thought was occupied territory forever. Andrei stole the uniform from one of them and, running, began to make his way to the front line. There he was almost shot, mistaking him for an enemy, but he somehow convinced his people that he had an important report.
With o. Kirill (Pavlov)
Thus, the maps and explanations of the enemy’s strategic plans found by Alyosha ended up in the hands of the commander on the Kursk Bulge, Marshal Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, and he gave an emergency (even not coordinated with Stalin) order to open fire on the enemy fortifications marked on the maps. In fairness, it should be noted that he already had three tips from scouts and from captured German sappers, but the maps that arrived in time turned out to be the decisive argument.
On August 5, 1943, Oryol was liberated, and the first fireworks display of the entire war was given in Moscow on this occasion.
Schema-Archimandrite Ily often talks about how Hitler, known, wanted to make Orel the capital of Ostland - the center in his dreams of already conquered Russia, to establish his headquarters here in Orel. But God’s Providence did not allow his plans to come true.
The liberation of Orel became a key stage in the Battle of Kursk, which determined the turning point of the entire Great Patriotic War. From the strange and shameful defeats, which the recently deceased front-line soldier Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) recalled: “At the beginning of the war, our tanks and planes burned like plywood; As soon as Messerschmitt appears, gives a burst, and our planes crash,” we switched to the Victory strategy. “When the Church and believers prayed with tears, asking the Lord in their prayers for the victory of Russian weapons, the prayer reached the Lord. And He soon changed his anger to mercy,” said Father Kirill.
The true essence of this Victory is evidenced by more than one story from the life of Schema-Archimandrite Elijah, who was then a teenager who, in a country that had proclaimed state atheism, had not lost his thirst for prayer and the memory of God.
Lieutenant General V.S. Ivanovsky and Elder Iliy
On December 24, Saturday last 2016, Lieutenant General Vladimir Sergeevich Ivanovsky was appointed chief of the TU-154 flight - he flew to Syria to carry out a responsible combat mission. An acquaintance suggested that on the way to the airport we should stop at Peredelkino, where Schema-Archimandrite Iliy, who had been transferred closer to His Holiness from Optina Hermitage for several years, was receiving the people. This is how the first meeting in my life with the elder took place. Immediately - tea, warm intimate conversation. The general glances at his watch and is already openly nervous: he has to fly to complete a mission! But Father still won’t let him go...
We have to fly to carry out the mission - but Father Iliy still won’t let me go... “He begged me off!” - the general now admits
- He begged me off! – Vladimir Sergeevich now admits. - When he finally blessed me, gave me an icon, I left - the whole road was stopped. I have already moved into a military police car (V.S. Ivanovsky - Chief of the Military Police of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - O.O.) in order to get through the traffic jams faster. I arrived at the airport, and it turns out that the previous plane, which was supposed to take off at 15:00, is still standing on the runway... While I was at Father Elijah’s, everything changed. I was ordered to take off on this first plane. Although, since Wednesday, when the late General Valery Khalilov and I played football for the last time, we agreed, as he suggested: “Let’s fly together, I’ll introduce you to Doctor Lisa, let’s talk...” But the board was so loaded with medicines for Syrian children, that I removed 18 more people from the A.V. Ensemble. Alexandrova: it’s easier for men to mobilize. I urgently call them to the airport, and we fly out on the same “Tushka”, we refuel in the same way in Sochi... And their wives are flying on an evening plane that crashed into the sea...
No matter how much you think about the essence of wars and disasters, it, of course, lies in the spiritual realm. When it was given to take peace from the earth, and to kill one another (Rev. 6:4). Just as demons are allowed to cause evil to people (which we find confirmation in the book of Job, as well as in a lot of examples from patericons). But on the other hand, the right to beg and save is inalienable from those who have devoted themselves entirely to God.
Archpriest-front-line soldier John Bukotkin, knowing on which front the main battles were taking place, blessed Alyosha Nozdrina to enter the Saratov Seminary, and after its closure during the Khrushchev persecutions in 1961, to continue his studies at the current St. Petersburg Seminary, and then the Academy.
A.I. Bakin with Schema-Archimandrite Iliy
When, during his years of study, his now living classmate Alexei Ivanovich Bakin visited him there and tried to argue with a quiet friend from his school years about communism, about Marx, he suddenly received such a rebuff that he still shudders and shudders:
– With what firmness he, even then, in his relatively young years, defended his faith even in the very rampant Khrushchev persecutions! At school he was still more silent. But he had this ardor and zeal for God and the Church from a young age.
There, at the academy, Alexei Nozdrin was tonsured into monasticism by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) with the name Ilian (which means “solar”) in honor of one of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste. The same archpastor will ordain him as a hierodeacon and soon as a hieromonk.
This is how spiritual service will begin first in the parishes of the current St. Petersburg Metropolis. A few years later, in 1966, Hieromonk Ilian will enter the only non-closed Pskov-Pechersk monastery in the country, where after the war the Valaam elders who ended up in Finland after the revolution returned, and a year after his admission Father John (Krestyankin) came. In communication with these ascetics, the spirit of the modern heir to the elders was tempered.
Athos
And then - 10 years of asceticism on Mount Athos.
No matter how you try to extract something from Father Elijah about Athos, he smiles like a child and tells wonderfully simple stories.
About how he ended up in the Assumption Cathedral of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra in the early 1970s, and Father Jeremiah (Alekhine), later Schema-Archimandrite, attacked him there for 40 years as the permanent abbot of Panteleimon’s Russian Svyatogorsk monastery, swoops in:
- Let's go, let's go to Athos!
“But we were already scheduled to go there,” Father Ily recalls now.
“Later,” he says now, “I answer him.”
Father Jeremiah himself waited for 14 years to be sent to Athos, and Father begins to tell how he found him when he arrived on the Holy Mountain after only a year and a half. In general, he speaks more willingly about others than about himself. This is all he is - as if dissolved in attention to another...
– Father Jeremiah came to Athos a year and a half earlier than me. He lamented that it was only when he was 60 that he managed to get out there. He worked and humbled himself. He either sawed wood, or plastered, or went to Thessaloniki to buy groceries. It was only later that there were more brethren in the monastery, but before that, how did we live? They will unload our supplies onto the pier. We'll pick them up in just a day. And they paid me within a month, probably. There were about 10 of us, even less. We didn't have time to do everything. And then Father Jeremiah did the shopping for everyone and carried food. He was very caring and never raised his voice to his brothers. Although we had a lot of work then.
– Was everything destroyed?
- Yes, of course, everything was already dilapidated. After the revolution, no one was allowed from Soviet Russia to Athos, and the Greeks created obstacles; the decline of the monastery meant the transfer of the Russian monastery to them. In addition, two fires happened.
- Is this with you?
- No, not with me. The forest was burning near the hotel even earlier.
– How were monastic traditions preserved?
– We, one might say, did not find our predecessors. Of the previous ones, only Carpatho-Russians were there. Although they didn’t arrive much earlier than us. These are brothers from Transcarpathia. We all struggled as best we could.
- Is there a lot of swearing there?
- Yes. Of course, the enemy is pestering. The devil fights everywhere. But in such a holy place it is, of course, easier to pray.
– How did the brethren resist demonic attacks?
– I resisted with prayer. Services are held there every day. Although there were only a few of us, we served in two churches. There they differ: Pokrovsky was built in the Old Russian style, while Panteleimonov already bears the stamp of the early 19th century. When the brethren moved from Rusik, then they built this Panteleimon Cathedral. Although earlier the monks wanted to build another, even larger cathedral for their patron. But then the revolution began, 1917. Nothing succeeded. Many of the old brethren died while there was all this unrest in Russia. Recently, when they were preparing for last year’s celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Russians’ stay on Mount Athos, a small temple was restored on Rusika. It was consecrated in 1920. And a similar one was built in the Elias monastery.
“The working monk is bothered by one demon, but the idle one is attacked by a hundred.”
If you constantly work on obedience, this also helps in the fight against demonic attacks. A working monk is bothered by one demon, but an idle monk is plagued by a hundred.
- Father, did you obey in Rusika?
– I was there for a short time. And so mainly in the Panteleimon Monastery itself. Not so often, but I had to visit Xylurgu - this is the place where Russian Svyatogorsk monasticism originated. Krumitsa also visited our monastery: when he was on Mount Athos, he often stayed there.
– What kind of obedience did you carry out on Athos?
– Everything that concerned the life of the monastery. Because at first there were only a few of us, we took on everything. Then, little by little, the brothers began to arrive. But first it was necessary to restore everything. They helped me recreate the cell of Elder Silouan.
- At the mill?
- Yes.
- Father, what kind of obedience did you have at the mill?
– The mill as such was no longer working then. Although previously there were three sections, flour was ground in shifts, but then there were many monks in the monastery. But there are few of us, so we focused on restoring the temples, and in the process of this work we also made a chapel for Elder Silouan. The roofs of the cathedrals themselves were covered, otherwise it could have completely collapsed. At first they worked themselves, then workers began to appear.
I've been doing obedience in the office lately. Of course, before there were a lot of people in the monastery, and the service in the office was varied: someone was responsible for the papers for pilgrims, someone served in the abbot, another for the brethren - and I had to manage all this myself.
– You also performed the duties of the confessor of the brethren?
- Yes.
– Did you communicate with other monasteries? Somehow did you gain Svyatogorsk experience from them?
– Of course, brethren from other monasteries came to us, and we visited other monasteries.
– Who did you communicate with?
“I used to have to serve in the Bulgarian Zograf monastery. We recently made a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, and again served in Zograf. In the Greek monastery of Dochiar, people often visited the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear.” We have been in close contact with the abbot of the monastery, Xenophon Alexy, for a long time. They loved to visit the Xiropotamus Monastery.
-Have you met Elder Paisius?
-Where was he?
“He has his last cell, Panaguda, not far from the Kutlumush monastery.
- Yes, he was. Was he recently canonized? I came to him. True, he didn’t know Russian. And I don’t really understand Greek. But what he told people can be read in his books. The main thing is communication, seeing each other, praying together.
– Have you been to Simonopetra? Have you communicated with Elder Emilian (Vafidis)?
- Was. As with Elder Paisius, I communicated with him. Both there and there there were always many Russians.
– What can we learn from Athos now?
- I'm sorry, what?! Feat! On Athos, life is always a feat. Fasters and laborers live there. When our spoiled worldly men come there to live, it is, of course, a little difficult for them. At night there are services. The cuisine is meager and does not always meet the needs of those who are used to eating in restaurants. You still have to work physically.
– And when you lived in the Panteleimon Monastery, how did you find food?
“We didn’t starve, there wasn’t much need.” There was always something for the meal somehow.
- Did the brothers provide for themselves?
- Yes. They worked and prayed. The Lord did not leave.
– What is the rule of the monks on Athos?
– It’s different for everyone.
-What was your rule there?
– Prayers, canons.
– There is now a lot of literature about the Athonite ascetics. There they even write about the Svyatogorsk norm of bows of 1000, at least 300 bows per day. Yes?
– We are all weak now. These are no more than 12. As many as anyone can. Now during Lent – more, of course.
– Father, how did you learn prayer on Mount Athos?
“We were constantly busy there with service.” The Jesus Prayer, of course, was read in cells, in church, and at obediences. In general, the cell people always prepared very carefully for the service, praying before going to church.
– Did you pray the Jesus Prayer continuously?
- How did it turn out?
– How can one learn to pray in the world?
– The Lord gives prayer to the one who prays. Are you praying? So pray!
- God willing, in the mornings and evenings. How about the Jesus Prayer?
“The Lord gives prayer to the one who prays. Are you praying? So pray! And one more thing: we must try to live more detachedly and measuredly.”
– Modern man in a megalopolis is busy with mental activity. And he also sits at the computer at night. We must try to live more detachedly and measuredly. Be blessed to live according to the Charter, describe: what, when. Of course, it will not always be possible to strictly observe the Charter in the world, but we must still try to make life more orderly.
Own land
Revival of Optina
That is why Father Eliy blesses us to live on earth, to return from the city to the village. Here a person is more inscribed in the rhythms of winter, spring, summer, and autumn established by God. He reads, as Father Eli often recalls the words of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, the Book of Nature, revealed to us, like the Holy Scriptures, by the Creator Himself.
In the village it is easier to believe, to return to your church roots. Here you are no longer pushed around by the devastating hassle of the metropolis, the consumer dictates of advertising, or the endless office time pressure. Man on earth is self-sufficient. Here it is more tangible how God blesses a person’s work, and he lives by it. No matter what world cataclysms occur: a power outage, and at the same time the abolition of total domination in the life of a contemporary of the Internet and telecommunications, the collapse of the financial system, sanctions... - man will live on earth! This internal a priori independence is very important from a spiritual point of view. Here is the line of resistance to the Antichrist civilization of Babylon.
Therefore, during the revival of the Optina Monastery, where Father Ilian was sent after 10 years of his exploits on Mount Athos, attention was paid not only to the revival of the monastic cenobitic Rule, but also to the development of their own monastic economy: the Optina brethren always fed from their labors.
Revival of Optina
Here Father was already tonsured into the great schema with the name of another Sebastian martyr Elijah (translated from Greek as “sun”) and received the blessing to revive the tradition of eldership, for which Optina has always been famous.
Born and raised in the village, he knows how difficult rural life is, but also how saving. This experience was suffered by the generation of Elder Elijah. He remembers how the Russian man was purposefully “beaten off” from the ground. People were forcibly driven to collective farms, where they didn’t even pay wages, forcing them to work for workdays. Under Stalin, whose years of rule coincided with Father Ilya’s childhood, exorbitant taxes were imposed on any livestock, every fruit tree, every currant bush in the garden. So people simply cut everything down and stopped raising poultry and livestock. At every opportunity they fled to the city. And the stereotype of the unacceptability of life on earth was fixed in the minds for generations.
Elders Father Eli and Father Valerian
But even in that difficult time, recalls Archpriest Valerian Krechetov, who is also celebrating his 80th anniversary this year, people had some kind of inner strength and vitality, children in the villages were brought up in the main Christian virtue - the spirit of thanksgiving. They valued food because they saw how hard it was to get it. They respected work, especially parents, which means they grew up fulfilling the commandment to honor father and mother (see: Ex. 20: 12). In general, he says, they valued everything: clothes, a roof over their heads, tools of labor. Because there was nothing. But there was mutual assistance. Children learned to share from an early age. Every little thing was a joy! And today the spirit of satiety gives rise to apathy and despondency, despite all the vanity.
Ksenia Stepanishcheva
Lawyer Ksenia Stepanishcheva, who repeatedly came to Father Elijah back in Optina Pustyn for advice, was worried that her husband, a former paratrooper, was looking for adrenaline in skydiving. In the early 2000s, it became unsafe: specialists began to leave flying clubs, stowing parachutes turned into “Russian roulette,” and every year there were some incidents and accidents during jumps. The wife was overcome with anxiety, which she decided to share with Father Iliy, when suddenly in front of her he himself began to scold quite mature men who, out of boredom, had bought motorcycles for themselves in order to race for the same adrenaline:
“Work more on the earth - you will never be bored”
– You have families! Children! If you crash or become crippled, they will disappear. We need to improve agriculture. Start working! Work more on the earth - you will never be bored. You don't need to ride a motorcycle.
Ksenia came home and told everything to her husband. He doesn’t know how this blessing worked indirectly, but by that time the father of two children no longer went skydiving, but, to the surprise of everyone, took up farming. And soon, with the blessing of Father, the long-awaited third child was born into the family after an eight-year break.
Having many children is something from which, just like from saving life on earth, the Russian people were purposefully weaned. A woman, contrary to the apostolic admonition that she would be saved by bearing children (see: 1 Tim. 2:15), was loaded with “socially useful work,” be it exceeding the plan on a collective farm or in city production, and they had to hand over babies to incubators-nurseries, then - to kindergartens.
Evgenia Uleva, with the blessing of Father Ilya, gave birth to eight children. For his first daughter, the elder accurately predicted her meeting with her future husband five years earlier, and now she herself has already become a mother. And with the second daughter there is an interesting story. Once they came with their mother to Father Elijah, and he said:
Uliev family
“You will go to the village of Burnashevo, you will find Ira there, who has cows, and go out,” he turns to his daughter, “and marry her son Maxim.”
We went there, found the house, met the mother and son...
“The most amazing thing,” says Evgenia, “is that the young people fell in love with each other at first sight!” And we soon got married. Now they live in the village, they are already raising two children, they are happy, they have their own herd of cows.
Polunin's father Konstantin and son Nikolai
The family of former Muscovites Konstantin and Alla Polunin is now overjoyed at the blessing of moving to the village. Their children are now studying at home, and from typical “stuck up” metropolitan schoolchildren, as their mother says, they have turned into winners of many Olympiads. Not to mention the fact that they just became much healthier.
And Father blessed the family of Fyodor and Sofia Belavin to start farming. The Optina Pustyn Monastery even gave them an old combine harvester for a small fee, with which they cultivate the land and harvest crops in the neighborhood of the monastery. In their young years they are already raising three children.
Sofia Belavina and children, their own wheat fields
There are also educational institutions in the capital, for example, the private school “Integration”, the director of which, Aksana Vyacheslavovna Dolgaleva, was blessed by Father to buy a country plot and organize an extensive educational and experimental farm.
“Begin,” he admonished. - It will be hard, but do it!
Children should at least just get acquainted with life on earth. Behind it is the improvement of both the physical and moral strength of the people, sobering up from all sorts of ghosts, chimeras, addictions and utopias of both the past and the present century.
Schema-Archimandrite Iliy on the Belavins' farm
Father Eli, a student of the St. Petersburg theological school, blesses the fulfillment of the prophecy-testament of one of its pillars, St. Seraphim Vyritsky: Russia will live from the earth.
In the end, for whom did these heroic generations conquer the Russian land? For whom are they still begging for peace and life?
You can get to the temple in Peredelkino by train and bus
- By bus No. 468 from the Odintsovo station to the Peredelkino platform.
- By train (or bus) from Odintsovo station to Bakovka station. Next - on foot, crossing the Minskoe highway, along the asphalt road connecting the Minskoe and Borovskoe highways.
- By train from Moscow to the Peredelkino station from the Kievsky railway station it takes about 20 minutes.
- By car you can get to Peredelkino along Borovskoye or Minskoye highways. From Odintsovo, through Lesnoy Gorodok, exit onto the Minskoye Highway, turn around at the nearest junction towards Moscow, and in the area of the village of Bakovka, turn left (at the traffic light) onto the Budennovskoye Highway and drive about 2 km to Peredelkino.
To get to the Transfiguration Church from the Peredelkino station you need to walk in the direction of the train along the highway, do not cross the path.
How to get to the monastery?
Considering that Optina Pustyn is located near the Peredelkino and Kozelsk railway stations, getting to it by rail will not be difficult. Electric trains run from Kievsky Station in Moscow in the direction of Kaluga or Sukhinichi. You can also get to Kozelsk by bus from the Teply Stan metro station.
Car owners, given the current abundance of various navigation systems and maps, will also not have any particular problems finding the right path. But if getting to the monastery is not a tricky matter, then how to get to Elder Elijah for an appointment is a completely different question. Before setting off for this purpose, you should find out in advance about the daily routine at the monastery, as well as the reception schedule.
Real stories of Elder Elijah helping those in need
Pilgrims write:
The meeting with Father Elijah took place in the fraternal building, behind closed doors.
There were three of us pilgrims, and each of us could talk relatively calmly with the priest.
I had prepared in advance words in my mind about my internal troubles and everyday troubles, which at that period of my life particularly overwhelmed me, giving rise to icy despondency and indifference to everything in my soul.
I wanted to ask the priest for his holy prayers (after all, the prayer of a strong man can do a lot) and find out how to live further.
When my turn came, I, embarrassed by my physical superiority, knelt before Father Elijah and unexpectedly said to myself: “Father, increase my faith!”
“Faith?” - the priest intoned. I was surprised. Then he smiled well, so affectionately that he immediately warmed my heart.
Words and time have lost their meaning.
Everything except one thing has lost its meaning - to stand like this for the rest of your life next to your father on your knees, and bask in his rays - in Greek his name means Sun.
How long did it last? Maybe ten minutes, maybe an eternity.
From that day on, I began to more vividly understand the words of the Apostle - “cover with love,” having experienced the warmth of true love.”
These were real miracles of the priest.
I have to fly to complete the mission, but Father Iliy still won’t let me go... “He begged me off!” - General Ivanovsky admitted
It is believed that the prayer of Elder Elijah has special power.
Here's what those he helped say: once an intelligence officer who was mortally wounded in Chechnya and spent five months unconscious in various hospitals was brought to his monastery.
Schema-abbot Iliy prayed over the officer - and he opened his eyes, consciousness returned to him. After this, recovery began.
Grishin, M. Russian Bulletin from 09/04/2003. Reviews from people about Elijah.
The Power of Prayer
It is believed that the prayer of an elder has double power, because it is the prayer of an enlightened one. They say that if he prays for the repose of the soul, then the soul of a sinner can even be freed from hellish captivity. An amazing incident also occurred in Optina Pustyn. One day, a soldier who was seriously wounded in Chechnya was brought to Elijah’s monastery. The doctors did not know how to save the soldier and did not dare to operate, since he was unconscious and the bullet was a few millimeters from his heart. Elder Elijah’s prayer “May God rise again” made desperate doctors believe in a miracle - the wounded man came to his senses and opened his eyes. After the operation, the soldier began to recover.
Video
In this video there is a conversation with Father Eli about the temptations that a person encounters along the path of life, and how he can avoid them.
Lent, which this year began on February 23, for believers is not only abstinence from certain foods, but also a time of special spiritual trials. In communication with clergy, some ask questions about the soul, about life, some seek to strengthen faith, and some seek guidance and hope for healing.
They say about Father Elijah that he is one of those righteous people on whom the world rests. They are called elders, and they have always occupied a special position in the Russian Orthodox Church.
People from all over the country come to them for help, healing, blessing, guidance; every word of the elder is perceived as a prophecy. It is believed that his prayer has double power because it is the prayer of an enlightened one.
We used to go to the famous elder Father Elijah in Optina Pustyn. But since 2009, when the Local Council elected him as confessor to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', you can get to him at the Patriarchal residence in Peredelkino, near Moscow.
The Transfiguration Church in Peredelkino is the residence of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'
The Transfiguration Church said that there is no schedule for Father Elijah’s arrival, adding that he usually does not come in the first two weeks of Great Lent. You can find out if he is in Peredelkino by calling the temple phone number +7
or priest’s assistant Georgy Bogomolov
+7
. Also on the Odintsovo-INFO website, readers share information when Fr. Iliy visits the Odintsovo district.
Elder Eli
They say that in order to get to Father Elijah, people come to Peredelkino more than once. But believers do not despair, because they believe that the meeting will happen when it should happen, according to the will of God. The elder receives only a few people a day—conversations take a lot of time. And he almost always comes only for divine services, and receives them after it.
Who are the elders
Thousands of pilgrims visit the Optina Monastery every day. This is not surprising: the monks carefully record all the miracles that are performed here through the prayers of monks or laypeople who were honored to venerate the relics of the saints or personally communicate with the elders.
What is old age anyway? This is a monastic feat, through the labors of which the monk is given insight and a subtle connection with God. The elders are monastic shepherds who can instruct, admonish, and bless actions. They feel a person subtly, they are perspicacious, more is revealed to them than not just a monk, but even a layman. But there is no need to perceive the elders as fortune tellers. Here we are talking more about spiritual mentoring, prayer help or blessing: for marriage, monasticism and obedience. People, not understanding the true purpose of the elder, try to get to him as an adviser in all everyday questions: whether to sell an apartment, whether a husband/wife is cheating, blessings for exams and which car is better to buy. And these are not jokes, but real questions with which petitioners go to the priesthood. But most issues can be resolved by your confessor or priest in the church you are visiting. Especially when it comes to family ups and downs. And material issues are even more beyond the scope of awareness of church ministers.
What then can you ask the elders about? First of all, about the spiritual. If a petitioner wants to become a novice in a monastery or take monastic vows, there is no way to do this without a blessing. But the elder can bless a specific monastery. Or not give your blessing at all. You can ask an elder for prayerful help in case of serious illnesses; through his prayers many miracles are performed. But we must understand that during this period the person himself must bear sincere repentance and begin to live according to the commandments of the Christian faith.
