C Hiarchimandrite Eli (Nozdrin) about the Optina new martyrs killed on Easter 1993:
Three books have already been written. But I will tell you what I know and saw. This, of course, was a contract killing, specially prepared for the purpose of preventing the revival of Optina Pustyn. Then they did a lot of mischief: they broke lanterns, threw stones at the windows. And this murder was someone's task. They probably paid money for it. I don’t know if this murderer is still alive today or not? The crime was deliberately timed to coincide with Easter in order to darken the joy of the celebration. This happened before, especially in the first years after the revolution, before great holidays there were riots near churches. When I was in Saratov, they threw a smoke bomb at the Trinity Cathedral. Young people were not allowed into the church so that they would not be grafted into the Church. So it is here - the murder was committed with the intent to turn those seeking Christian perfection away from the monastic path. The Easter night service had ended, and preparations were already underway for the early morning Liturgy. Hieromonk Vasily went to confess to the monastery of John the Baptist. The monks Trofim and Ferapont had already preached the gospel. The killer was drunk. He did his job boldly. First he stabbed the monks-ringers with a knife, then he rushed at Father Vasily. One woman said: she saw a beast running from the dead, climbing over the wall of the monastery.
The bodies of the monks Trofim and Ferapont were taken to Kozelsk. And Father Vasily was carried into the Vvedensky Church as a dying man, where he lay bleeding on the floor. His condition had nothing in common with the tragic fright that occurs with sudden death. He had a very calm face. He didn’t utter much of a groan, well, just a little bit, like a child, he let everyone know about what he was undergoing. I saw him die - his face exuded peace. Apparently Hieromonk Vasily was predetermined by the murderers as a victim. But neither for Trofim nor for Ferapont - for none of these three, death was unexpected. She didn't take any of them by surprise.
After Easter night, having offered prayers and called the world to prayer, they calmly left. For the monks Trofim and Ferapont, we asked at the Kozelsky morgue that their bodies would not be cut up additionally and that no tests would be carried out on them.
Then the brothers were buried. From a human perspective, this is a very sad moment in Optina history. How can you raise your hand against your brother? Why was it necessary to kill the monks? They didn't even lay a finger on anyone. They did only good deeds. And in their death they became like the Savior, suffering, like Him, innocently. It is clear that the crime was directed at the monastery itself. The goal is the ruin of monasticism as a spiritual family: others will not reach out, will not come, will not stay in the monastery. This is the plan of this demonic rebellion against the God-established way of life. This is how the devil’s envy towards those seeking salvation, the hatred of demons towards those who follow Christ, betrays itself. A chapel was erected over the graves of the murdered. They are martyrs.
And coming to the brothers’ graves, talking and asking, people feel prayerful help. Their souls are with God. Kingdom of Heaven to Hieromonk Vasily, monk Trofim, monk Ferapont.
to Schema-Archimandrite Elijah:
- Why, for what edification did the Lord allow such evil, this murder?
- There is a struggle going on. There is the devil, and there are his servants. All this darkness could not help but react to the beginning of the revival of the monastery. Previously, the devil acted through the system of state atheism - they dispersed, arrested, and shot monks. Now this is not the case, which means that those who do not want to believe in God voluntarily submit themselves to Satan. There was a period of early Christianity in the history of the Church - the first four centuries after the Nativity of Christ. Then paganism fought against the faith of Christ. So it is now. Then there were martyrs, martyrs, and now they exist.
—What is most important for modern Christians? What should we do now?
“You cannot say more than what is said in the Gospel.” To be saved, everyone must acquire a certain amount of spiritual experience. Compare the death of the righteous and the death of the sinner. The state of joylessness in which the last one dies, and the joy in which the souls of Christians depart to the Lord. Both prayer and sin are not only individual, but have cosmic significance.
— Father, if our freedom is so important to God Himself, why do monks cut off their will? Why don’t they resist evil, go under the knife or endure martyrdom day after day?
— The monk surrenders to obedience in order to stop his pride - the root of all evil, the most harmful function of the soul.
And eromonk Vasily (Roslyakov)
“Cut with Your Word the stone womb of mine, pierce the stone of my heart and bring out the sources of tears.” Did Hieromonk Vasily, cut by the killer’s knife, cry while dying in the Vvedensky Church? No. Possessing the greatest, according to the teachings of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), with the gift of God to man - the gift of speech, he wrote the most important thing - the Canon of Repentance. This line is from there, preceded by a prayer to Rexham “without Me you cannot do anything” - go to my heart! Having received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, Hieromonk Vasily died in Christ. He left the body and settled down with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8), realizing at the apogee of his life the formula of St. Silouan of Athos “it is impossible to live like a Christian; in a Christian way one can only die.” First - for the world: at that time, Igor Roslyakov left there a brilliant career and titles worthy of rebirth, at least from the players of his own team. Then - in the monastery, crucifying with Christ every day, so that on Good Friday 1993 the fearful ones could still loudly announce from the pulpit: “Behold, we are ascending to Jerusalem” (Mark 10:33). Hieromonk Vasily was 33 years old.
And nok Trofim (Tatarnikov)
Trofim is one of that sunny breed of people who retain light activity even under a hood. This monk revealed the mystery of Christ to everyone. “He gave all things to all” (1 Cor. 9:22), was strong for the weak. Even Colorado beetles were afraid of his prayers: when he plowed the gardens of all the old women in Optina, the striped pests crawled away. Being an Optina bell ringer - the belfry in Optina was then located right on the ground, and his appearance itself was like a bell ringing - he was the epicenter of attraction for children and teenagers in the area. This one, of course, was expelled from the monastery, but he did not leave monasticism. Therefore, he was returned back and Leonid was tonsured into monasticism with the name Trofim. But the “pet” (as his new name is translated from Greek), fed from the Holy Mysteries of Christ, continued to lavish gifts like a king. And not only jokes and scarves stored up for the holidays for the children and grannies who were around him. When they baked their first bread in Optina, and the baker was Trofim (“breadwinner” is the second meaning of the name), he invited everyone to the feast. And when they were satisfied (John 6:12) ... he bore penance for everyone. Having received only the “firstfruits of the holy image,” he acquired the polycross.
And nok Ferapont (Pushkarev)
The whole life of the monk Ferapont is intimately connected with the presence of the Virgin Mary. He himself is meek, quiet and silent. The baby was born on September 4/17, the day of the celebration of the Burning Bush icon of the Mother of God. On the 40th day, miraculously in those communist times, he was baptized with the name Vladimir (slav. “ruling the world”). In adulthood, he labored at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in order to receive a recommendation for monasticism in the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage, performing the simplest obedience at the church - he cleaned public toilets. When a recommendation was received from Bishop Vladimir, now Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine, he went to Optina, where in 1991 on Kyriopascha - a rare coincidence of the holidays of Easter and the Annunciation - he was dressed in a cassock. In October of the same year, on the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, he was tonsured a monk with the name Ferapont (“servant”) in honor of St. Ferapont Belozersky - the founder of two monasteries of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He will be the first to be pierced by a weapon, but we always talk about this Alpha as an Omega: A monk is the secret of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Path to God
Igor grew up. For him, as for every person coming of age, the world opened up differently. Gone were the carefree childhood dreams, and harsh reality took its place. The insatiable world with its godless wickedness, greed and self-interest, which, according to the Apostle, lies entirely in evil (1 John 5:19), increasingly revealed its true face to the young men.
Little by little, through various sorrows and temptations, God allows man to know that our life is a vapor that appears for a short time and then disappears (James 4:14). And if a person spent it in sinful pleasures, indulging in lawlessness and uncleanness, then his soul will be filled with fetid perspiration and will forever remain in the stench of his passions, burning with painful fire. On the contrary, a righteous soul, like the fragrance of incense smoke sacrificed to the One Almighty God, will find eternal joy and heavenly joy.
After graduating from school, Igor competed for the car plant team. Later, upon entering the Faculty of Journalism, he began playing for the university team. While studying at the university, Igor very soon realized that he could not work as a journalist: he did not want to write false articles, and he saw no point in fighting ossified untruths alone. The only consolation for the soul at that time was still the nightly contemplation of the mysterious stars, which was accompanied by the birth of new poems and reflections.
It happened that in early spring Igor opened the window and breathed in the fresh coolness of the night with pleasure. The last spring snow fell in sparkling snowflakes on the floor, and thin crystal icicles grew on the windowsill. The amazing heavenly twinkling evoked a feeling of peace, and my soul felt light and calm. Truly the prophet says: The heavens will tell the glory of God (Ps. 18:2). And for this you do not need knowledge of languages, because heaven has one language, known to every soul, or musical literacy, since the song of heaven sounds in every heart with a harmonious, unforgettable melody. And just as someone who heard beautiful singing, giving the soul indescribable joy, would hardly begin to revile the singer, but, on the contrary, would have good feelings towards him, so true love for creation invisibly passes on to the Creator.
Every season has its own beauty. But autumn was still closer to Igor. She reminded us that every thing has not only a beginning, but also an end, and everything is subject to decay, except the soul. He was already beginning to understand that the body of a Christian, like an autumn tree, dies for a while in order to be resurrected in the heavenly spring for eternal summer. Sometimes in the evenings Igor walked through the autumn Kuzminsky Park, stirring up the leaves, enjoying the beauty of autumn nature and reflecting on its secrets and riddles. On such evenings he came home especially thoughtful. A caring mother, noticing his sadness, asked: “Why are you so sad today?” But Igor was in a hurry to go to his room, trying to be alone with his thoughts. He sat down by the window again, picked up a pencil and wrote poetry. And when it became especially sad, he began to thank and praise everything good in rhyme. And - oh, miracle! – this made my soul feel light and light. “Man has the sadness of this age because he does not thank God,” he said, when he was already a hieromonk. “The Apostle Paul calls us to give thanks for everything and rejoice, constantly crying out to the Lord with a repentant heart.”
Igor especially loved to glorify “Izbyanaya Russia” - ancient Holy Rus'. The many poems he wrote at that time sincerely and from the bottom of his heart testify to how dear Russia was to him.
Sometimes he went somewhere to the village and there, despite the bad weather, he walked for a long time in the rain, and when asked how he could spend so much time outside in such bad weather, he answered with a smile: “This is my weather!” And indeed, it was “his weather.” The wet, deserted village streets, the unique fragrance and rustling of autumn leaves in the rain gave his soul an amazing, quiet feeling.
Once, while at a competition in Holland, Igor met a young Dutch translator. They began to correspond. Soon the time came to go to the next competition in Canada, but Igor was included in the list of “not allowed to travel.” He was charged with “spying with foreign citizens.” Igor was very upset by such injustice, but this event had a great influence on his future life. It would seem, what's good here? - Lies and slander. But the All-Wise Providence of God skillfully arranges everything for the salvation of the soul. A history teacher, a parishioner of one of the Moscow churches, noticed that Igor was upset about something. She questioned him and advised him to contact a priest.
And so Igor crossed the threshold of the temple for the first time. But it is often so difficult to take this first step! But when a person, with God’s help, finds the strength to come to the first confession, what peace does his soul acquire! And what can this peace be likened to? Where can I find the words to describe it? For where God is, there is peace. How touching it is to see people who have just turned to faith! This is because a great multitude of Angels are in joy over this soul, and heavenly joy, like blessed fire, descends into the believing heart. The soul tirelessly thanks God and sweetly cries out: “Christ is Risen!” and the whole Heavenly Church exclaims: “Truly He is Risen!” Truly Christ is Risen in the soul, awakened from sinful sleep and risen to eternal life!
Returning home from the temple, Igor flew as if on wings. It seemed to him that the service was invisibly continuing. Carefree birds, perched on the branches of trees, finish singing hymns of praise. The green park, distinguished by its ever-present hospitality, quietly hums the Great Doxology. And the white-winged dove, having risen importantly onto the step, seems to be preparing to pronounce a petitionary litany.
Just as a person hides under the roof of his warm home in a severe cold, so a soul, when in trouble, hurries under the protection of God. And if at least once he visits the Church, this majestic ship, confidently sailing amid the storm of the sea of life, he will no longer want to leave the joy of the presence of God that he has experienced.
Soon Igor met Hieromonk Raphael, who was then serving at a parish in the city of Porkhov, Pskov province, who, mentoring the future monk, had a beneficial influence on his future life path. Igor fell in love with this priest very much and, already in the monastery, remembered him with gratitude. Through Father Raphael, God sowed in the soul of the future martyr the seed of love, which grew and became like a tree planted at the springs of water, the life-giving waters of the Wisdom of God, and grew the fruit, which is the crown of martyrdom, in its time.
On November 18, 1988, Father Rafail died in a car accident, 60 kilometers from Novgorod. The funeral service took place on his day of the Angel - the Council of the Archangel Michael and other incorporeal Heavenly powers. “From the moment we received the news of the death of [hieromonk Raphael] ... until communion there was incredible spiritual grief,” wrote Igor, “and after communion there was peace of mind, a feeling of peace in the heart. The Lord makes it clear about the fate of Father Raphael. He is among the ranks of Angels and constantly prays for us.”
The day after the death of Raphael’s father, Igor wrote a poem:
I would find heavy words About life, about the coldness of the grave, And my speech would be so bitter That I wouldn’t say even half of it. But I want to cry in silence And go out into the world with bright eyes. He who rushed like lightning across the earth is clothed in light under the heavens.
The grace of God strengthened Igor more and more, showing him the saving path of sorrows. “The more love he spoke, the greater the suffering of the soul; the more complete the love, the more complete the knowledge; the more ardent the love, the more ardent the prayer; the more perfect the love, the more holy the life.”
