Archbishop Varlaam (Ryashentsev). Memo to a monk

(Ryashentsev Victor Stepanovich; 06/8/1878, Tambov - 02/20/1942, Vologda), archbishop. Permian. From the family of a merchant of the 2nd guild, the elder brother of schmch. ep. Herman (Ryashentsev). V. Ryashentsev graduated from the Tambov classical gymnasium in 1896, in 1900 - KazDA with a Ph.D. theology. 29 Sept. 1901 appointed teacher of Russian. and tserkonoslav. languages ​​in Ufimskoe DU. Oct 8 of the same year he was tonsured a monk with the name Varlaam, 9 Oct. Bishop of Ufa and Menzelinsky Anthony (Khrapovitsky) ordained hierodeacon, 10 Oct. - hieromonk. On March 5, 1902, he was appointed teacher of basic, dogmatic and moral theology at the Ufa Palace of Culture, from January. 1903 seminary inspector. At the same time he was the dean of the churches of the same faith in the Ufa diocese. In Aug. In 1906, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Poltava Palace of Culture, at the same time acting as chairman of the Poltava Diocesan School Council.

Jan 11 In 1913, in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, the naming took place, on January 13 - V. was consecrated as Bishop of Gomel, vicar of the Mogilev diocese, headed by the St. Petersburg and Ladoga Metropolitan. ssmch. Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky). When he was named bishop, V. said: “Difficult times have now come: many are falling away from the faith, rising up against Christ and His Holy Church. Now... it is necessary to defend the truth and testify loudly about it, to be, as it were, a confessor. And to be a confessor means to be a holy martyr. Such is the path of the saint." From Oct. 1918 to the spring of 1919 V. was in Kyiv, 29 April. In 1919, he was dismissed from the administration of the Gomel vic-stvo due to his failure to return to Gomel. On June 23, 1919, V. was arrested in Gomel on “suspicion of counter-revolution”, on July 5 he was sentenced by the Gubrevtribunal to 2 years of suspended imprisonment, and released from custody on the basis of the petition of 5,000 believers. After his release, he was appointed bishop of Mstislavsky, vicar of the Mogilev diocese, in 1922 he temporarily ruled the Mogilev diocese. On July 27, 1922, the first meeting of the Renovationist (see Renovationism) clergy took place in Mogilev, which was joined by V. After the release of Patriarch St. Tikhon from arrest in 1923. V repented for evading schism and on 16 Sept. In 1923 he was appointed Bishop of Pskov and Porkhov, at the same time, from June 17, 1924, he ruled the Gomel Vicarage. In con. 1924 V. was arrested in Pskov, sentenced to 2 years in prison, served time in the political isolator of Yaroslavl, released in 1926 without the right to reside in the Leningrad and Pskov provinces. Lived in Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Metropolitan. St. Agafangel (Preobrazhensky) was appointed to the Lyubim Vicar of the Yaroslavl diocese to replace the arrested in the spring of 1925 Bishop. Sergius (Melnikov).

In the spring-summer 1926 dispute between Metropolitans Agafangel and Sergius (Stragorodsky) about the locum tenensity of the Patriarchal Throne, V. was supported by Metropolitan. Agafangel, but did not take active steps. July 13, 1927 Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Met. Sergius V. was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Perm see, did not go to his destination, on November 24. retired the same year. In con. dec. 1927 Metropolitan Sergius, on the proposal of Metropolitan. Agafangel re-appointed V. as temporary manager of the Lyubim Vik-stvo. Feb 6 1928 as part of a group of Yaroslavl bishops headed by Met. Agafangel V. signed an appeal to Metr. Sergius, in which it was said about the separation of the Yaroslavl bishops from the Metropolitan. Sergius and the Provisional Patriarchal Priest established under him. Synod, while maintaining subordination to the imprisoned Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Met. ssmch. Peter (Polyansky). 11 Apr. 1928 Metropolitan Sergius and the Provisional Holy Synod removed V. from the management of the Lyubimsky vik-stvo and temporarily banned him from the priesthood with the requirement to submit a written renunciation of the conversion on Feb. 6 within a month. V. did not obey the prohibition. Soon, as after V. testified, the Yaroslavl bishops understood that, although “his conversion [metr. Sergius. - Auth.] misleads believers, but ... an open struggle will lead to defeat. Under the given historical conditions... the schism caused by our conversion leads to the weakening of the Church.” May 10, 1928 Metropolitan Agafangel, V. and vicar Bishop of Rostov. Eugene (Kobranov) sent a letter to Metropolitan. Sergius with an explanation of his position: “We ... do not interrupt our prayerful communion with the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Met. Sergius ... Orders of the Deputy, embarrassing our and popular religions. conscience and, in our opinion, violating the canons, due to the circumstances that have arisen on the spot, could not and cannot fulfill. In the Yaroslavl diocese, until the death of Met. Agafangel liturgical commemoration of Met. Sergius and petitions for authorities were not made at litanies. On May 30, 1928, V.'s ban on priestly service was lifted.

In the autumn of 1928, at the request of the seriously ill Metropolitan. Agafangel V. ruled the Yaroslavl diocese. Oct. the same year, after the death of the Yaroslavl Metropolitan, a member of the Provisional Patriarchal Synod, Archbishop. Pavel (Borisovsky). V. announced that only the reigning bishop should be commemorated in churches during divine services, and he himself - when he serves. Archbishop's attempts Paul to introduce in the churches of the Yaroslavl diocese a commemoration at the service of Metropolitan. Sergius and the civil authorities (archbishop Paul demanded this primarily from V. as his vicar) led to a new aggravation of the situation. In reports dated 25 Nov. 1928 (archbishop Pavel) and 20 Jan. 1929 (Metr. Sergius) V. asked to refuse the introduction of these prayers in the churches of the Yaroslavl diocese and leave the diocese in the position in which it was under Metropolitan. Agafangel. After an unsuccessful attempt to convince Met. Sergius and Archbishop Pavel V. declared that he would not serve until the violence against his will ceased, a significant part of the clergy and flock of the diocese supported him. On Easter 1929 V. and Archbishop. Pavel managed to find a compromise: V. resumed the priesthood on the condition that he would not be obliged to commemorate Met. Sergius and introduce a prayer for the authorities. In July 1929, V. was instructed to take over the administration of the Rostov Vik-stvo, in 1929 he was in charge of approx. 300 Orthodox communities.

7 Sept. In 1929, V. was arrested in Yaroslavl in the case of the "True Orthodox Church-monarchist organization", accused of "together with other persons ... conducting organizational work and agitation aimed at undermining and weakening the Sov. authorities". He was kept in the Yaroslavl detention house. Jan 3 In 1930, by a special meeting at the OGPU collegium, he was sentenced to 3 years of labor camps, sent to the Kotlas workshops of the Northern camps of the OGPU for special purposes, worked in a bookbinding workshop. On March 7, 1931, he was arrested in the camp, placed in the Kotlas detention center, on May 20, 1931, by a resolution of the OGPU board, V.'s sentence was increased to 10 years, the bishop was transferred to the SLON. Feb 22 1933 V. was released ahead of schedule, exiled to the Northern Territory, settled in Vologda. 19 Sept. 1934 V. submitted an application to the Vologda sector of the NKVD, in which he asked for early release from exile, 29 October. received a refusal.

In Vologda, V. led an ascetic life, performed secret services at home. Many people came to him for advice and guidance, V. also treated physical ailments with homeopathic remedies. The clergy often came to the archbishop, complaining about the unbearable conditions in which the Soviet government placed them, and asking for blessings to leave the priesthood and go to secular work; such V. strongly advised to endure to the end and not leave the service. V. took care of the former. inhabitants of closed mon-rei. Many of his spiritual children in Vologda, Zhitomir, Gomel, Orel and other cities, united by 2-3 people, settled in one apartment and led a monastic lifestyle. In Vologda, under the guidance of V., small monastic communities were created under the control of the former. igum. female monastery in Orel Evgeny (Timasheva), abbot. Seraphim (Chichagova), formerly. female residents. monastery in Riga, daughter of Met. ssmch. Seraphim (Chichagova). V. instructed his spiritual children in letters that were delivered to the recipients by members of secret communities. The bishop recommended to his spiritual children not to participate in public life, not to read Soviet literature, not to visit cinemas, theaters, to go to church regularly, to pray more, to read religion. literature. V. compiled for his spiritual children collections of teachings and extracts from the patristic books he had, these collections (“On Love and Friendship”, “How to Keep the Faith”, “Short Rules of Life”, etc.) to support those who were repressed for their faith: in 1937 he sent one of his spiritual daughters to Syktyvkar to help the exiled ex. Bishop of Vologda Stefan (Znamirovsky), helped with money and things to Bishops Barsanuphius (Luzin), Evgeny (Kobranov), Joasaph (Udalov), archpriest. Konstantin Grinevich (later Archbishop Varsonofy), Abbot. Cornelius (Afanasiev) and many others. others

Nov 11 1940 V. was arrested in Vologda and imprisoned in the internal prison of the UNKVD. During the search, 330 books, extensive correspondence, bishop's vestments, etc. were confiscated from him; the books were destroyed immediately, all other items - at the end of the investigation. V. was accused of having created and headed the territory of the Vologda region. "a wide-branched counter-revolutionary org-tion of churchmen ... Their main goal was an irreconcilable struggle against the Soviet regime with the aim of overthrowing it and restoring the monarchical system." Aug 26 In 1941, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Vologda Regional Court sentenced V. to death, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 25 November. 1941 execution was replaced by 10 years of labor camp. V. died in prison No. 1 in Vologda.

Cit.: Renan and his book. "The Life of Jesus": Exposition. content and critical analysis in the light of the gospel teaching. Poltava, 1908; Oh Christ. raising children. Poltava, 1910; Work is life. Poltava, 1912; Faith and reasons for unbelief. Poltava, 1912; Theosophy before the court of Christianity. Poltava, 1912; Speech when naming in ep. Gomelsky // PribtsVed. 1913. No. 2. S. 65-67; Letters from exile // VRSKhD. 1973. No. 108/110. pp. 36-45.

Lit.: John (Snychev), Met.. Splits // KhCh. 1991. No. 6. S. 33-34, 42; he is. Church. splits. pp. 106-108, 111, 115, 119, 120; Not to be forgotten: Book. memory of the victims of polit. repressions connected with the destinies of the Yaroslavl region: In 3 books. Yaroslavl, 1993. Book. 2. S. 79; Damascus. Book. 2. S. 393, 396, 397, 399, 422, 519; Investigation case of Patriarch Tikhon: Sat. doc. M., 2000. S. 899; Politburo and the Church. Book. 2. S. 325, 500, 530; Shkarovsky M.V. Josephism: a trend in the Russian Orthodox Church. SPb., 1999. S. 19, 130-136, 144, 189, 276-277.

A. V. Mazyrin, M. V. Shkarovsky

Archbishop Varlaam of Perm (in the world Viktor Stepanovich Ryashentsev) was born on June 8, 1878 in Tambov in the family of a merchant of the second guild Stepan Grigoryevich Ryashentsev. Mother, Maria Feodorovna, nee Zatonskaya, also came from merchants. The family had eight children. The way of life was traditionally Orthodox, fasts were strictly observed in the house. The religiosity and high spiritual mood of the mother were most transferred to her sons Victor and Nikolai (in the future also the bishop, Hieromartyr Herman, 1883-1937), who even looked more like their mother in face than other children.

Hereditary in the family were musical and artistic talent, light and cheerful disposition. Almost all the children received a higher education - economic, medical, and Victor and Nikolai - theological.

Stepan Grigoryevich, a native of peasants, had a textile store on the main street of the city, the family lived in a large two-story house. But after his death (apparently in the early 1890s), the widow, Vladyka's mother, was unable to conduct business and went bankrupt, the store was bought by clerks. A few years later I had to sell and big house and move to a small, one-story apartment.

Noteworthy are the words of Vladyka Varlaam, spoken at the time of his nomination as a bishop. They sound like a prediction of his confessional path:

Hard times have now come: many are falling away from the faith, rising up against Christ and His holy Church. Now, when the path of truth is reproached by many (see:), the shepherd can no longer be silent and endure sorrows in silence. It is necessary to defend the truth and testify loudly about it, to be, as it were, a confessor. And to be a confessor means to be a holy martyr. Such is the path of the saint.

The first time Vladyka Varlaam was arrested on June 23, 1919 in Gomel, "on suspicion of counter-revolution", but already on July 5 he was released on the basis of the petition of five thousand believers. After his release, Vladyka was appointed Bishop of Mstislav, vicar of the Mogilev diocese, and in 1922 he temporarily ruled the Mogilev diocese. From September 16, 1923, he was the bishop of Pskov and Porkhov, at the same time, from June 17, 1924, he ruled the Gomel vicariate.

The second arrest took place at the end of 1924 in Pskov. Vladyka Varlaam was sentenced to two years in prison and served time in the Yaroslavl political isolator. In 1926, he was released without the right to reside in the Leningrad and Pskov provinces and remained to live in Yaroslavl. Metropolitan clergyman Agafangel (Preobrazhensky) of Yaroslavl, Bishop Varlaam was appointed to the Lyubimsky vicariate of the Yaroslavl diocese to replace the arrested bishop.

On July 13, 1927, Metropolitan Sergius, Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Vladyka Varlaam was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed to the Perm cathedra. On November 24 of the same year, he was retired. At the end of December 1927, Metropolitan Sergius, on the proposal of Metropolitan Agafangel, again appointed Vladyka Varlaam as temporary administrator of the Lyubimsky Vicariate.

In July 1927, the Declaration of the Deputy Locum Tenens appeared patriarchal throne Metropolitan Sergius about loyalty to the Soviet regime. Its appearance was associated with an attempt by Metropolitan Sergius to provide the Church with a legal status in new historical conditions - under the conditions of the Soviet regime, which was not going to fall, but showed with all signs that it would exist stably for many years to come.

At the end of 1927, some bishops who did not agree with the Declaration announced their separation from Metropolitan Sergius, expressing their intention to rule the dioceses independently. February 6, 1928 from Metropolitan Sergius, with the preservation of subordination to the imprisoned Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan schmch. the Yaroslavl diocese also separated, headed by the most authoritative hierarch, Metropolitan Agafangel. Among the group of Yaroslavl bishops who supported the position of Metropolitan Agafangel was Vladyka Varlaam.

Soon, as Vladyka Varlaam himself later testified, the Yaroslavl bishops realized that although “his conversion [Metropolitan Sergius] misleads the faithful, but ... open struggle will lead to defeat. Under the given historical conditions... the schism caused by our conversion leads to the weakening of the Church.” Already on May 10, as a result of negotiations with Metropolitan Sergius, the Yaroslavl bishops, for the sake of preserving church world and Unity announced a return to prayerful communion with the First Hierarch. The incident was thus over.

In the autumn of 1928, at the request of the seriously ill Metropolitan Agafangel, Vladyka Varlaam ruled the Yaroslavl diocese until the death of the clergyman, which followed on October 16 of the same year. In July 1929, Archbishop Varlaam was instructed to take over the administration of the Rostov vicariate as well; in 1929, he was in charge of about 300 Orthodox communities.

On September 7, 1929, Archbishop Varlaam was arrested in Yaroslavl in connection with the case of the “True Orthodox Church and Monarchist Organization” and charged with “jointly with other persons ... conducting organizational work and agitation aimed at undermining and weakening Soviet power” . On January 3, 1930, by a special meeting at the OGPU collegium, he was sentenced to 3 years in labor camps and sent to the Kotlas workshops of the Northern camps of the OGPU for special purposes, where he worked in a bookbinding workshop.

On March 7, 1931, Archbishop Varlaam was arrested in the camp itself and placed in the Kotlas detention center. On May 20, 1931, by a resolution of the OGPU board, Vladyka's term of imprisonment was increased to 10 years, and he was transferred to the SLON. In 1933, the imprisonment in the camp was replaced by exile: Archbishop Varlaam was exiled to the Northern Territory and settled in Vologda.

Many people in Vologda turned to the elder-archbishop for spiritual advice and guidance. Vladyka also treated physical ailments with homeopathic remedies.

The clergy often came to the archbishop, complaining about the unbearable conditions in which the Soviet government placed them, and asking for blessings to leave the priesthood and go to secular work. Vladyka strongly advised such people to endure to the end and not to leave the ministry.

Archbishop Varlaam

While living in exile, Vladyka took care of the former nuns of the monasteries closed by the Soviet authorities. Many of his spiritual children in Vologda, Zhitomir, Gomel, Orel and other cities, united by 2-3 people, settled in one apartment and led a monastic lifestyle. Vladyka sent letters to them with spiritual instructions. He recommended visiting church regularly, praying more, and reading spiritual literature.

For the benefit of his spiritual children, Vladyka compiled collections of teachings and extracts from patristic books (“On Love and Friendship”, “How to Keep the Faith”, “Short Rules of Life”, etc.), which were copied by his Vologda followers. While in exile himself, Vladyka helped others who were repressed for their faith in any way he could: some with money and things, and some by sending his spiritual children to help.

In his memoirs about the life of church Vologda in the 1930s and 1940s, Archpriest Alexy Rezukhin, at that time a subdeacon of the Vologda bishop, wrote about Vladyka Varlaam in this way.

Among those in the free settlement in Vologda were at one time, in 1934-35, two bishops - Archbishop Varlaam (Ryashentsev) and Bishop Evgeny (Kobranov). Both of them went to pray in the temple at the Bogorodskoye cemetery. Of course, they did not take any part in the worship service.

Archbishop Varlaam was 55-56 years old, thin, straight, of medium height, gray-haired, with a small full beard, small features, a pointed nose and surprisingly clear small blue eyes. His hair was sparse and long. I saw Vladyka only a few times in the summer. He went to church only to the early liturgies, and I always went to the later ones, and he only went to holidays and stood at the end of the temple with right side at the table where the commemoration lay, a little ahead of the beggars. Vladyka was dressed in a gray, the simplest cloak, from under which a black cassock peeked out. On his head was a black worn skufia. Vladyka was very modest, cautious, did not make acquaintances with anyone in the church and did not talk, behaved in such a way that one could not notice him, left the service and immediately mixed with everyone. He lodged on Transportnaya Street.

Vladyka Varlaam, as I later learned, was a prominent bishop and elder. When I went to study at the Theological Institute, I met there an elderly Muscovite, an intelligent church man. Having learned that I was from Vologda, he, inflamed with spirit, said: “Archbishop Varlaam was there!” Further, he enthusiastically reported that Vladyka Varlaam was a great old man, the spiritual leader of many Muscovites. In Vologda, I knew the nun Kapitolina, the altar girl of the Church of the Nativity and Bogorodsk of the forties and seventies. Somehow, in a conversation with her, it turned out that she was the spiritual daughter of Archbishop Varlaam, and many Vologda nuns were led by this elder. Time has preserved the spiritual work of Vladyka in the form of a typescript on 42 sheets entitled “Instructions of the Most Reverend Elder Archbishop Varlaam (Ryashentsev). Memo to a monk.

Our great friend lives in Tula - the godmother of my daughter Maria - Natalia Alexandrovna Verkhovtseva, a ninety-two-year-old old woman who was well acquainted in the twenties with Vladyka Varlaam. The archbishop gave her and her mother, Vera Timofeevna, a photograph of himself with the following inscription on the back: “To the kindred in spirit and sincerely respected R.B. (to the servants of God) Vera and Natalia for a prayerful memory from Bishop Varlaam. January 11, 1927" Natalia Alexandrovna gave me this photo image, as well as the “Reminder to the Monk”, which was mentioned above.

In addition to the instructions to the spiritual children "Reminder to the Monk", some letters from Vladyka Varlaam from exile have come down to us.

The spirit of Vladyka's writings is truly patristic. The style is clear, concise, simple, devoid of any academic pretentiousness. His words come from the heart, from personal experience. And Vladyka himself emphasized in his works that questions of faith can only be comprehended by life itself.

From the investigation. Inner prison UNKVD. 1940

On November 11, 1940, Archbishop Varlaam was arrested for the last time and imprisoned in the inner prison of the UNKVD. During a search, they found 330 books, extensive correspondence, bishop's vestments, etc. The books were destroyed immediately, all other items - at the end of the investigation. Vladyka was accused of having created and led on the territory of the Vologda Oblast "a widely ramified counter-revolutionary organization of churchmen... Their main goal was an irreconcilable struggle against the Soviet regime in order to overthrow it and restore the monarchical system." On August 26, 1941, the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Vologda Regional Court sentenced Archbishop Varlaam to be shot. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 25, 1941, the execution was replaced by 10 years in the camps. But Vladyka Varlaam no longer had to serve this term: the Lord freed His faithful servant from earthly bonds - Archbishop Varlaam died on February 20, 1942 in the prison hospital in Vologda.

Here are lines from a letter from nun Sergius (Klimenko), who personally knew Vladyka's brother schmch. Herman:

“Acquire a Friend - the Lord,” used to say our modern martyr Archbishop Varlaam (Ryashentsev), who died in a Vologda prison. According to the thieves in the cell with whom Vladyka was imprisoned, when he died, the light radiated from him.

Information about the family of Bishop Varlaam is taken from the book: “Letters from Bishop Herman”, M., PSTGU, 2004.

Wise spiritual writer and mentor perspicacious old man, meek and humble ascetic, patiently enduring suffering. Metropolitan Manuel (Lemeshevsky), in his work “Russian Orthodox Hierarchs” about Archbishop Varlaam, wrote that he was “a humble monk, kind and cordial, loved church statutory services, and served as elders.”

Archbishop Varlaam (in the world Viktor Stepanovich Ryashentsev) was born on June 8, 1878 into a merchant family in the Tambov province. In 1896 he graduated from the Tambov classical gymnasium, in 1901 from the Kazan Theological Academy with a degree in theology. . On October 8, 1901, he was tonsured a monk, on October 9, 1901 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on October 10, 1901, a hieromonk. From 1901 to 1902 he taught at the Ufa religious school, in 1903-1906 he was an inspector of the Ufa Theological Seminary.

In 1906, in the rank of archimandrite, he was appointed rector of the Poltava Theological Seminary. Between 1906 and 1913 he wrote a number of theological works.

In 1913, Archimandrite Varlaam was consecrated bishop. When he was named Bishop of Gomel in January 1913, he said: “Times have now come hard, many apostatize from the faith, rise up against Christ and His holy Church. Now, when the path of truth is reproached by many (see: 2 Pet. 2:2), it is no longer possible for a shepherd to remain silent and endure sorrows in silence. It is necessary to defend the truth and testify loudly about it, to be, as it were, a confessor. And to be a confessor means to be a holy martyr. Such is the path of the saint." These words can characterize the whole further life of the blessed elder. (It should be noted that his brother Bishop German Vyaznikovsky (in the world Nikolai Stepanovich Ryashentsev) (1883-1937) was shot on September 15, 1937 in Syktyvkar prison. (In 2001, the Holy Synod of Russian Orthodox Church decided to include the name of Bishop Herman in the Synod of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.)

From the memoirs of Bishop Varlaam's niece G.L. Solopova: “At a distance from the big house, about half a kilometer from it, a small wooden house was built for the monastics Varlaam and Herman. They lived there when they came to the dacha. This house was called "skit". We, the children (and there were seven of us), ourselves understood that there was a special world here, and did not run, did not make noise around it. Father Varlaam was unusually kind and meek, his eyes shone with caress. You could never hear from him a raised, angry tone. Always even, calm, self-profound, amazing ... It was not for nothing that his family called him “gentle angel”, “quiet angel”. He was kind of unearthly! We treated Father Varlaam with involuntary reverence, surprise and even fear. We considered him a saint, although no one told us this."

In 1913, Vladyka Varlaam headed the Mstislav department and was the temporary manager of the Gomel department. On June 23, 1919, he was arrested in Gomel, but on July 5, 1919, he was released at the request of 5,000 believers. In 1922-1924 he was the temporary head of the Mogilev department.

In 1924 he was arrested in Pskov and sentenced to two years in prison. In 1924-1926 he was imprisoned in the Yaroslavl prison. On July 13, 1927, Vladyka became Archbishop of Perm, but on November 11 he was retired. From December 1927, he was the vicar of the Yaroslavl diocese, temporarily managing the Lyubimsky vicariate. There were about 300 communities in the vicariates under his jurisdiction.

On February 6, 1928, as part of a group of Yaroslavl bishops, he separated from the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), supporting the position of Metropolitan Agafangel (Preobrazhensky). On April 11, he was banned from worship. On May 10, he announced his return to prayerful communion with Metropolitan Sergius, after which, on May 30, 1928, the Synod lifted the ban on serving.

In September 1929, Archbishop Varlaam was again arrested. He was accused of leading the counter-revolutionary organization TOC and sentenced to 3 years in prison. Vladyka served his sentence in the Sevitlager of the OGPU (Kotlas), then in the White Sea camps. In May 1931, Bishop Varlaam was sentenced to ten years in prison. He served his sentence on Solovki, was released ahead of schedule and sent to the city of Vologda for the remainder of his term.

It is known that in exile in Vologda in 1934-1941 he lived with a cell-attendant nun in an apartment where he secretly served, led a semi-reclusive lifestyle. According to the testimony of spiritual children, the ascetic sometimes received visitors who addressed him as spiritual elder. Occasionally, spiritual children came to him.

According to the testimony of Vladyka's spiritual daughter, nun Kapitolina (Kashina), in Vologda Vladyka lived under house arrest, he had no right to leave his cell. He lived opposite the Lazarevskaya Gorbachev Church, which was located in the cemetery, at the very exit from the city. He was allowed to come to church, but not to serve. According to the words of the spiritual daughter, Vladyka “served, went out with a candle, the Apostle read, but could not serve.”

Despite the ban, Vladyka corresponded with his spiritual children. Since he was being watched, the nun Kapitolina, under his dictation, wrote down his phrases that it would be impossible for another person to understand, signed the envelope and sent letters from Vologda or from the nearest Vologda villages.

In the camp, the nun was sent to the hospital barracks, just as Vladyka had predicted. There was also a “doctor-Jew”, about whom the seer warned. The naive girl was unaware of the danger that awaited her, she accepted gifts from him: pieces of bread and sugar. And when he once lured her into the office and locked the door behind him, she suddenly remembered the words of her spiritual father, rushed to the door, managed to open it and jumped out screaming. Through the prayers of the elder, the danger has passed.

Vladyka supported his spiritual daughter with letters. Once, six months before the end of her term, somewhere in the spring she received a parcel. In the package was something necessary and bread. There was also a note that the bread contained the Holy Gifts. It was written: "I am sending you bread, and in the bread is the Bread itself."

From the memoirs of the nun Kapitolina: “As soon as I read this, I began to cry, so cry, I could no longer read anything. I think: I should confess like that... I couldn't read any further. And when she could, she read what Vladyka wrote next, foreseeing tears: “Why are you crying? You go on Thursday (and Thursday was Great, before Easter) somewhere in a grove, there water flows (just like you saw everything!), Get up and confess, tell me everything, everything, and I will read it to you at this hour permissive prayer". And I have never in my life received communion the way I did on that day…” He ended his letter with the words: “You and I will not see each other again here. But, God willing, I'll see you later, and then we'll always be together. Just don’t be proud, but be humble and you will be saved.”

Vladyka always and everywhere remembered his spiritual children, prayed for the salvation of their souls, and corresponded with them. His letters to spiritual children contain many spiritual instructions, here are just a few of them:

“Greetings to my spiritual children!

Do not expect virtue like baking pancakes, it is achieved over the years, and what is needed is always, even to the grave, to force yourself to do every good thing, to mourn over mistakes and humble yourself, hoping that the Lord will not condemn the humble and contrite in heart.

And humility, again, is difficult to acquire, but at least strive for it, and reproach yourself like a publican. Everyone can do it. We must always fight against sin and reproach ourselves for malfunctions and sins, and humble ourselves, and mourn, for this the Lord will have mercy. And wait for serviceability in heaven, in the next world.

It happens badly when a person, in the event of a malfunction, is also impudent, does not humble himself, it is necessary to lag behind this. Archbishop Varlaam.

“I prayerfully greet all of you, my spiritual children!

I wish you all to follow the right path, God's, not turning at a crossroads, not losing your crown. So that this forever sad end does not happen to you, you must always renew the main foundations in your memory. What are these fundamentals? Many people think that they consist in prayer, in fasting, in chastity, in non-acquisitiveness. And this is partly true, and also very necessary, but still it is not the most important thing. The example of the Pharisee shows that both fasting and prayer may not be accepted by God. Nothing eats and the demon. And negligent virgins were chaste and had no possessions. However, all the indicated good deeds did not help the listed persons: they were rejected by the Lord because they did not have the main thing in their souls, they did not have salt that would salt spiritual deeds and make them suitable and good-fruitful. That's how important it is to have a foundation in the soul, a foundation. Yes, and in everyday affairs without a foundation, no work and no thing is stable.

So, what is the main basis of spiritual life? Especially angelic? The Word of God speaks of this clearly: “On whom shall I look,” the Lord asks, “only the meek and humble.” For obedience is more important than fasting and prayer. So, here is the main foundation: humility, obedience and meekness. Without them, all our exploits lose their value. A monk without obedience is the same as a layman. An angel who lives without obedience and lives according to his own will is a demon. He became a demon through disobedience and further contradiction and confrontation. As you know, our spiritual life is now going on in great disorder and without guidance. So we need to test ourselves even more, as the apostle advises: “Are we in the faith?” Or have already lost the main thing, i.e. basis, or are close to losing, deviated to an independent life, leaving the will of Grace, and at the same time losing the first Grace?

Here in the spiritual life the sin of disobedience and self-will is one of the most severe. On the contrary, obedience and humility are strong in themselves and without other exploits and even with great sins, as we see in the example of the publican, the harlot and prodigal son repentant. Archbishop Varlaam.

In 1941, Vladyka was arrested again, he was accused of leading the church-monarchist organization "True Orthodox Church" and sentenced to death, but later commuted to 10 years in a camp. Vladyka Varlaam died on February 20, 1942 in one of the camps in the Vologda region.

By his own life, His Eminence Vladyka confirmed and fulfilled the words spoken by him when he was named Bishop of Gomel. He managed to defend the truth and testify loudly about it, he was a confessor, courageously carried his holy cross until his last breath.

Spiritual advice and sayings of Archbishop Varlaam
Don't run mourning.

Fear vanity and self-price.

Do not look for joy and justice.

Be silent - and save your soul from many sins.

Endure the mournful with thanksgiving, this cleanses the sins.

Pray in your soul unceasingly - and you will avoid many misfortunes.

Spend every day as the last in your life - and you will not lose heart.

Do not analyze your thoughts - this enemy distracts everyone from prayer.

Do not attach yourself to anyone or anything, otherwise you will lose God and heaven. Love God and He will save you.

We are saved by faith and repentance, and not by the evaluation of deeds and serviceability

Thank God for His good deeds, for life itself and for salvation from sins.

Take care to have spiritual peace, and for this do everything slowly, with prayer, as if in the living presence of God, but say to yourself: “Perhaps I am living the last day.”

Try to say and do something kind to everyone - it will be a balm for them and for your wounds.

Endure all insults meekly, do not condemn the offender, saying to yourself: "This is for my former sins."

Never lose heart if you sin: Christ came for sinners.

Tolerate yourself and your weaknesses, do not be discouraged by them, but humble yourself - the Lord loves such.

Until the end of your days, consider yourself unworthy of the blessings of God and the gifts of grace, and do not stare at your good deeds from grace, and not from our exploits. Always consider yourself the first sinner...

Separate sins and passions from yourself, take them to the demon and fight them with prayer, humility, patience - you will receive a martyr's crown,

The enemy brings sin upon you through thoughts. Do not talk to him and do not analyze thoughts - you will avoid embarrassment. Talk with things, with people, and most of all with God. It is said: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).

Translate all sorrow and sorrow into prayer and rest in God: He saves and forgives those who repent.

Do not build any plans, but cast all your desires to the will of God and always say: "Lord, Thy will be done."

The soul is cleansed by fasting, prayer, contrition and weeping for sins, all patience and suffering, diligent labor, and above all and most importantly, the fulfillment of the commandments of God ...

Wait for the blow of the enemy after the visitation of grace.
About commandments God's
All the commandments can be reduced to two: 1. Love the Lord with all your soul and more than anything in the world. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself, and deny yourself. Seek not rest, but charitable labors, crucify your flesh with passions and lusts.

The study and fulfillment of the commandments of God is the basis of all spiritual life, since every commandment will certainly heal some passion in a person, and without them it is impossible to be cleansed of sins and heal the soul. No deeds, even fasting and prayer and participation in church services, will not help if a person does not try to be humble, meek, truth-loving, merciful, chaste, peacemaker, patient, gentle, loving everyone, as Christ taught (see Matt. chapter 5).

About humility
Humility is a direct path to heaven and God, the main key to receiving grace and enlightening the soul, a formidable sword against the demon, the rapid destruction of all his machinations, the rapid purification of the soul from passions, a strong guarantee of salvation and the replacement of all feats and together their divine completion. Humble yourself, and the Lord save me (Ps. 114:6). Who will I look to? Only for the meek and humble (cf. Isaiah 66:2). Learn from Me, said the Lord. - like meek and lowly in heart (Mt. 12:29). Evil entered the world through pride - so fell angels and man. Salvation is acquired through humility and repentance - this is how thieves, tax collectors, and adulterers entered paradise. Only with humility does a ray of grace enter the heart, and the spiritual eyes of a person open, and he sees that world, the world of Divine objects. Only with humility can one feel the heavenly smell of Christian virtues… Humility is born from distrust of one’s mind and one’s views, from checking them with the word of God and the teachings of the Church, and most importantly, from obedience to a spiritual mentor and father. Where there is obedience, there is the Spirit of God...

He who is proud of his mind and believes in his views without trying to verify them is always on a dangerous path and certainly suffers from great deviations in spiritual life.

About prayer
The purpose of prayer is a humble conversation with the Lord and falling to Him in a feeling of repentance and tenderness, but not at all delight, so to speak, with spiritual dishes, that is, the process of prayer ...

The Jesus Prayer, like any other prayer, receives strength not from the mechanical pronunciation of holy words, but from “sympathy” for them, from a feeling of humility and contrition, from repentant falling down to the Lord for mercy. Without these feelings, it will turn into an empty sound and self-deception. Therefore, make every prayer, including Jesus, from the heart, not as a lesson and a rule, but as a cry from your heart, grieving painfully, seeking the Lord and His life-giving grace. To do this, never worry about the number of prayers and prostrations and limit the rule better time, in accordance with time, deeds and skill, for example, half an hour, an hour, two, better on the advice of a spiritual father. Sometimes you can read and reread one psalm for an hour and cry enough. This will be real prayer, and this will replace all the rules.

Do not look for pleasant sensations and lofty joy in prayer, and do not enjoy yourself... Read more about the Jesus Prayer and delusions from St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (Vol. 1) and in the letters of St. Theophan the Recluse about spiritual life...

Do not look for joy, but daily prepare for death, spending the day prayerfully, as if in the living presence of God, without frivolity, laughter, jokes, idle talk, but, on the contrary, in silence, contrition of heart, sighing to God through a short prayer ...

Ask the Lord in prayer not for joy, but first of all, crying for sins in order to wash your soul; ask yourself a contrite and humble heart. This is a sacrifice pleasing to God, and He does not accept any other from our fallen nature. For this, he forgives sins, as the Psalmist says: Humble yourself, and the Lord save me (Ps. 114:6), and grant peace of mind ...

Do not look for tears in prayer and do not look back much at past and confessed sins, if this leads you to despondency and shakes your hope for God's mercy. This is also a trick of the enemy: looking back upsets a person and makes it difficult to move forward to God.

Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ
Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ is the greatest moment of life: the soul meets and unites with the Divine. In order not to receive communion in court and condemnation, you need to test yourself and prepare, or, as they say, fast, that is, fast, confess, read the rules ...

It was useful for everyone, even for the laity, to take communion once a month, and with collected life and humility even twice. With deep feelings from grief, illness, misfortune and depletion of spiritual forces, from overwhelming and extraordinary spiritual labors, even more frequent Communion is allowed and there is a need ... Dying and experiencing mortal danger also have a need for almost daily Communion ...

On the relationship with neighbors
Do not be upset with your neighbor, meeting coldness on his part instead of love, otherwise the Spirit of God will be upset with us, and this is a great misfortune. To avoid disappointment:

Do not look for friends on earth, but have and look for a friend of the Lord and the saints, headed by the Mother of God.

If a friend happens, thank the Lord who gave him, but do not console yourself with him, but with the Lord, so that the feeling of loneliness does not disappear from you. And you will not be alone, but the Lord will be with you,

Do not change the Lord for anyone and do not divide your heart, but give him entirely to the Lord and love your neighbor not independently, for the sake of his goodness, and not selfishly, for the sake of your consolation, but for the Lord's sake, as His child, love in the light of God's love, as we love Easter, clean and bright.

Try to serve everyone, again in the name of God, and not out of respect and sympathy for each other, if possible, love everyone equally, in a brotherly way, but do not wait for reciprocal love and do not console yourself with it, if it happens, so that the heart does not lose love for God and did not exchange heavenly joy with the Lord for jealous torment and annoyance with man.

When dealing with people, remember that all people are weak and can offend you unjustly, do not be embarrassed by this and do not be tempted; attribute evil to the devil, and consider insult as a punishment for you for any sins, especially for pride and self-esteem, and do not consider yourself better than others, better than the offender - he has nothing to do with it, he is a simple transmitter of the will of God.

If you are upset with someone, then know that you are proud, love yourself, and not God and neighbors, and forgot about your sins and about humble yourself and endure. Repent of all this and reproach yourself. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5).

Say it's hard, but God's help perhaps, and most importantly, you will become a friend of the Lord and, consoling yourself with this, you yourself will become burdened even with pure friendship, since everything of God is indescribably sweet, and human is burdensome and stinking. So, do not be discouraged, love everyone and run away from everyone, do not look for friendship ...

About temptations
Whoever is saved correctly, that is, who seeks repentance, contrition, patience and service to others, daily experiences sorrows and reproaches from enemies who hate the right path. . No one ascended to heaven, living cool (St. Isaac the Syrian), the way of God is a daily cross. The main path of spiritual life is humble prayer and patience. The enemy opposes this most of all and directs on a person, for example, during prayer all sorts of thoughts, sometimes good or theological, but not related to the cause of salvation directly and at the moment, or encourages you to analyze the life and character of people, to recall the details of what you have experienced ... Everything superfluous , even good, drive from the heart. Let thoughts be only business and prayer...
About resentment and anger
Do not think evil of anyone, especially do not do evil to anyone, for evil is from the devil, and God hates him. Therefore, remember: for any evil, even in thoughts, if you do not reject it with a feeling of repentance and contrition, you will certainly receive retribution from the Lord: either sorrow, or attack, or painful battle from the enemy. As long as evil is in you, until then the enemy will be in you, and your prayer is not accepted by God. So take pity on yourself, do not invite trouble on yourself and run away from every evil thought, as from a demon, as from a hellish fire that will burn you ...

If you do not forgive, the Lord will not forgive you. Endure insults, troubles, injustices, do not dare to blame your neighbor for them out of pride. Believe me, the fault lies not in him, but in you: the Lord wants to cleanse your sins, so he sends you, as it were, undeserved grief and resentment, but again I remind you that it is deserved by you, your sins, different, different, former. And accept sorrow with joy, as a cleansing medicine from the Lord Himself, and consider the offender a heavenly friend, a healer of your soul. Then no offense will disturb your soul, but will call you to repentance, will increase the health of your soul and make it useful to God.

Be afraid to judge the offender, reproach, etc.: after all, he is your benefactor, allowed by God to cleanse your sins, for your humility and patience. If you have few sins, but they offend you a lot, then again do not worry, you will receive retribution from God for everything, it is said: Blessed are you, when they reproach you and suffer and say all kinds of evil against you lying to Me, rejoice and be glad, as if your reward is much in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12). Be at peace for the offender: there is a strict Judge over him - the Lord, who will judge both him and you without hypocrisy. But do not rejoice if the offender falls into trouble, yet he was your healer, admitted or directly sent by God. By condemning or gloating over his misfortune, you yourself become a friend of the demon. Therefore, you will act in truth if you think only good things about everyone, pray for everyone and do good to everyone, especially offenders, they are your healers and spiritual friends.

About diseases
Sores and infirmities are sometimes difficult ... But they are allowed by God for our salvation, they lead to humility, to the consciousness of one's sinfulness, they make us fear sin, think about the salvation of the soul ... They must be endured with humility, like a cross, not to grumble, but to give thanks, because for patience God will give a crown and salvation. Without sores and patience there will be no crown, no salvation.

Do not be discouraged, if you bear infirmities and sores, do not be irritated, through them you will receive eternal profit. So endure them with gratitude, and do not consider the annoyance and impatience that arise in you as your own, but take them to the demon, who through them tries to deprive you of the crown.

About spiritual life
Spiritual life is an invisible, but constant battle with the passions and thoughts of sin, which demons throw at us and kindle. Therefore, a Christian layman is a warrior on earth, and a monk is doubly and should behave like a warrior on the battlefield, that is, not indulge in fun and gluttony, not sleep, not be carried away by buying and selling, but be on guard, fight and receive crowns. Put on, it is said, the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:11), that is, the exploits of fasting, prayer, teaching in the fear of God, obedience, etc., and more in humility, so that you can stand up against the wiles of the devil and overcome them ...

Spiritual fruit is love, peace, joy, patience (Gal. 5:22). The fruits of hostile dominance are the opposite: irritation, anger, impatience, despondency, impurity, fornication, a sea of ​​​​thoughts (even unbelief and blasphemy) ...

The main battles to which a monk and every Christian is subjected are as follows: the battle of arrogance, the battle of gluttony, the battle of self-interest, the battle of fornication.

The abuse of arrogance usually occurs among educated people who read and know a lot and try to test the faith with reason and comprehend the dogmas as far as possible. This mood is otherwise called rationalism and cleverness. This scolding is very difficult, and a person is always defeated by thoughts of unbelief and lack of faith ... There is one remedy: realize that all thoughts of doubt are from the enemy, and completely abandon them, that is, do not talk, do not analyze and do not believe them, but calm them down. yourself by the infallible teaching of the Holy Church and the experiences of the saints... Ask the Lord for a living faith, and then you will understand everything yourself and see spiritual objects with spiritual eyes or with a special inner feeling that touches and tastes what, although invisible, but real, truly exists .

The second scolding is gluttony. Usually it happens not at the beginning of a feat, when jealousy is strong, but after a long time, when jealousy weakens. The more zealous a person is at the beginning, the stronger this scolding can be later.

Blessed is he who follows the middle path, that is, observes moderation in everything and avoids excess and tries to eat food without savoring, not reveling in voluptuousness (tastier, more pleasant), but with thanksgiving to God, with reasoning about the benefits for the body. Sweets are very dangerous in the spiritual life: lust feeds on them. Therefore, they should be used only to the necessary extent, as a kind of medicine... From satiety there is scolding of lack of faith, fornication, irritation, etc. Therefore, the Lord said: "Woe to you who are full" (cf. Lk. 6, 25)... It is very bad to pray on a full stomach. The soul is hungry and as if dead. All long-term people were certainly also fasting. It is better to eat more often, but little by little, with the fear of God, thanking the Lord, taking care of the necessary support for the body ...

Third scolding - covetousness, or concern for the means of life, also develops gradually . Blessed is the one who is content with his daily bread and does not look ahead beyond today, placing undoubted hope in the Providence of God ... The consequence of greed is dryness and coldness of the heart in relation to others, lack of sympathy, unmercifulness, envy, despondency, irritation, vanity, sometimes despair, grumbling against God, blasphemy... Blessed are those who live in poverty and impartiality. Such people are rich in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and become friends with the one who has impoverished us for the sake of the Lord.

Fourth scolding - prodigal, as natural, struggles to varying degrees with all those who are being saved, until the longed-for purity or humility is achieved.

About exploits
All feats (fasting, prayer, prostrations, etc.), even the Jesus Prayer, are only help for correct walking, are tools for cultivating the field of the heart, but not the most sought after thing, not the very object. And the subject is to achieve repentance and purification of the soul, to have a contrite and humble heart. This is the most pleasing sacrifice to God, and then the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all the works of God and for the purification of the soul.

All feats are, as it were, a spiritual alphabet, and if a student is conceited about the alphabet, but does not study science and does not acquire knowledge, then he loses everything. Similarly, a Christian loses if he boasts of exploits and gives them an independent justifying force, but does not care to come through them to salvation, that is, to deep repentance and humility, to the patience of insults and slander, to unhypocritical love for one’s neighbor, especially for the unfortunate and needy ...

To delight in ascetic labors, even if it be through the Jesus Prayer, is spiritual voluptuousness and sinfulness… He who delights in ascetic labors invariably falls into delusion, considering himself pleasing to the Lord, but in essence remains even more selfish and proud, far from God and spiritual purification. All exploits are for him, as it were, pleasant entertainment, like music and a concert. Such people also have few temptations - the enemy adds his sweetness to pleasant sensations, and they are in his power, delighting themselves, but not caring about the purity of their hearts.

Whoever outwardly saves himself and appreciates his deeds, it is useful and even necessary to reduce all these deeds, increase service to his neighbors, especially the unfortunate ones, accustom himself to the memory of death and all kinds of patience.

The main feelings with which one must go through labors and deeds are the deepest humility and fear of God, constant repentance and sincere consciousness that I am nothing in the eyes of God, everything in me is sinful and bad, and if there is good, then this is not mine, but a gift of God, given by His grace, but not for my merits and deeds. Let us not be proud of our deeds - we must strive, for we were created for good deeds.

... Look for those who do not talk about ascetic deeds at all, although they do them, who seek humility, contrition and are conscious of their complete penitence in everything, but do not lose heart at all, but hold fast to the Lord and in Him place the hope of their salvation ...

If a person forgets the main goal of life and begins to be proud of his efforts and exploits as an independent value, then he creates madness, just as if a student were proud of the ability to read, write and did not begin to study science or a traveler in the desert walking for spring water, having made a long journey, he would stop halfway and begin to boast of the difficult path he had traveled, but he himself would not reach the spring and, in the end, would die of thirst.

In ch. 6 in the Gospel of Matthew the Lord called such righteousness, praise, that is, exploits without acquiring purity of heart, fruitless, Pharisees, and in ch. 5 said: If your righteousness does not surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, then you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. So, everyone who strives and prays, remember that it is not fasting and prayer, and prostrations, and akathists that matter in themselves, but their fruit , grown by them with the help of God, consisting in contrition of heart, humility, deep faith, repentance, purity of heart ...

About monasticism
The monastic life, or angelic life, does not consist in tonsure, but in the deeds of the gospel (angelic) life, that is, in deep heartfelt love for God, in all purity and virginity, in all self-forgetfulness, in a zealous, warmed God's love serving others in the work of salvation and their needs. Whoever does this, in the eyes of God, is already a monk, even though he has not been tonsured...

Monasticism is the path of repentance and purification of the soul from passions, which is achieved by moving away from the world and worldly fuss, since the world lies in evil...

Monasticism is a feat of a pure life, it is a rejection of all base, carnal, all the more stinking feelings, like animals, unworthy of a person created in the image of God, and obscuring and destroying all spiritual feelings, all the fragrances of the virtues and their beneficial effects ...

Monasticism, like the life of any Christian, is a struggle, or spiritual warfare, with strong enemy and the destroyer of souls - a demon. Bear our battle to the flesh and blood, but to the principles, to the authorities, to the ruler of the darkness of this world, to the spiritual malice in the heavenly places. Therefore, you must put on the whole armor of God, so that you can be able to resist the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11-12). One must always be vigilant and sober, which is why the monastic life is otherwise called the sober life.

Monasticism is the path of repentance, self-sacrifice, malice, but not peace, not honor, not self-pleasing and satiety…

The main rule of spiritual life, and even more so of monastic life, is the revelation of thoughts to the elder, that is spiritual father and where possible ongoing guidance, personal or written. Where revelation and obedience operate, the enemy and all his wiles are inactive and put to shame: they burst like soap bubbles under the influence of the power of God through revelation...

A short path to the victory of passions is not to engage not only in sinful, but also in all sorts of superfluous thoughts, as if we were spending the last day of life. To think only about work and obedience for this day, devoting all the rest of the time to heartfelt prayer (Jesus's) and contrition for sins ...

A prayer rule is assigned to a monk in accordance with his strength, age, work and obedience. It usually consists of morning and evening prayers with the addition of the reading of the canons, akathists, the Psalter and the word of God - the Gospel with the Apostolic Epistles. In addition, one hundred, or three hundred, or five hundred Jesus prayers are given. (Quotes from "Memo to a monk")

On January 2, 1958, I arrived in Vologda after several months of looking for shelter anywhere. I wanted to work in the Church. The search was completely hopeless, not a single bishop received me, they looked in surprise, with such a hidden, and sometimes obvious smile, and said that “no need.” Well, of course, a girl who was born in Paris, with a strange biography, where there is both a link and a prison, and not married, and without any marks in her passport. Nobody accepted. And Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), who I knew from Paris, did nothing but write letters to one bishop, then to another. All that is now called Golden ring I traveled - and Vladimir, and Kaluga, and Smolensk!

And then one day Bishop Michael (Chub) sent me to the city of Gzhatsk, where hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) lived. He said two words to me about him, and my heart flared up: is it really true? I will not talk about what happened now, because this is a very special topic, probably the biggest one in my life. But still, it was impossible to work there. I didn’t have a residence permit or money, and Father Nikon kept repeating: “Try to Vologda.” I asked: “Have you been there, you know?” He didn't know anyone there and never had been. And this is even further from Moscow and even colder. It was already December, I was wearing shoes and a cold coat from Tashkent.

And yet I ended up in Vologda. After Vladyka Onesiphorus stunned me in Kaluga, he kicked me out of the church: “Why are you coming? We don't need any clerk. I type my letters myself." He, apparently, was simply frightened - some kind of Komsomol member, I didn’t look like a church at all, I didn’t wear handkerchiefs. I left him in tears and saw a sign "Employment" on the forecourt. Since I did not know the Soviet language at all, I began to think about what such a long word could mean? And I thought that it could be "getting a job." Decided to come in. I went in and in one of the offices I saw an announcement about the recruitment of workers to the Far North for three years and for five years to the Far East - to cut wood, do something else, I don’t remember. Upon his return, he was promised a big salary. And I realized that I found a way out. And I kept the family, which had to be pulled out of terrible conditions: a broken, sick stepfather, a sick mother and younger sisters and brothers. I decided to go where they took me for three years. And already, it was, signed up for this case. But then they told me: “Give me your suitcase,” and in it I had a book and an icon, which I would never hand over for disinfection from insects. I asked: “Can I come the day after tomorrow?” “Please, we have a departing party on January 2nd.” And it was the end of December.

I immediately went to Father Nikon. With enthusiasm, she told that she had found a job, asked permission to leave shrines with him. He was so happy: “Well, thank God, they found it! Where?" When I told him, he looked at me in surprise, not understanding my joy, and said: “No, you don’t have to go there.” I was surprised: “How?!” Listed all the positives I thought. He said again: "Go to Vologda." He firmly said so.

And I went to Vologda, right with my suitcases I came to the cathedral. It was January 2nd. And for me, January 2 is a very special, holy day: this is the day of the death of Father John of Kronstadt and the day of the angel of Bishop Ignatius (Bryanchaninov). And here I come, the end of the service, the priest is standing with a cross, and next to him is blessing Archbishop Gabriel (Ogorodnikov), to whom I had to hand over the letter written by Metropolitan Nikolai. I was very afraid of this moment, because the last time in Kaluga the archbishop attacked me right in the church. I went up to the bishop and said: “Vladyka, here is a letter from Metropolitan Nikolai to you.” And he to the whole church: “Oh-oh-oh! From Bishop Nicholas! Let's go, let's go! Now let's drink some tea, read the letter. Come with me". I didn’t believe my luck, but I immediately thought that it would be even harder when he said: “We don’t need it.” I've heard that "don't" dozens of times.

He took me to his place (he lived in a small house near the church), and so I stayed in Vologda. It was a miracle. Although even then I didn’t understand that Father Nikon, who repeated “go to Vologda”, didn’t just say it like that. He always carefully concealed his perspicacity, chuckling, he used to say: “Glutton and you? Yes, I know them."

Once in Vologda, I found monks and nuns there who survived terrible years persecution. In those days it was not customary, and it was dangerous to talk about all the horrors of those years. And now I understand that the Lord has vouchsafed me close fellowship with confessors of the faith. It is a pity that they did not have to write down their stories.

The deepest imprint in my soul was left by the nun Anna (Rogozina). When we met, she was already about eighty years old. She was cut before the revolution. I remember one of her stories about how in the Patriarchate during these difficult years, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, she was given a letter for the bishop, I think Stefan. And he had to deliver this letter to one of the terrible camps beyond the Arctic Circle. There was no question of sending the letter by mail. For men, priests, all this was very, very dangerous. A nun was best suited for such a task. Now everyone knows that during these years the Church was largely based on the exploits of women, and especially faithful nuns! Mother Anna went with this letter.

She said: “Oh, Olenka, you know how scary it was to go through the forest at night! There were some animals there, and also scarier people. I was so afraid of them!” She lived all her life in the Vologda Assumption Monastery, and here !!!

She also said: “And you know, I remember now: that night passed like a moment. As if the Lord had endured. She did not go one night, of course. And she came, delivered a letter. And then she started looking. After all, it was necessary to act with great caution. It was impossible to ask and find out, and here the strength of faith and devotion to the will of God were tested. All I asked was, "Lord, help me!" And so, when she got to the right place, it turned out that a week before that, Vladyka had been shot. She had to return to Moscow with a letter. But I don't have enough words to convey her story!

Once, when I decided to tell her about the miraculous help of the Mother of God to our family, manifested through the revered ancient family Tikhvin icon, which was taken by the Chekists during the last arrest of my stepfather, she removed the silver Tikhvin icon from her chest. Mother of God and gave it to me.

She had a spiritual daughter - Kapitolina (Kashina). The people called her mother Kapitolina. She dressed in a scarf, a long skirt, but few knew that she was tonsured with the name Seraphim. (In Vologda, those who were tonsured into the robes were called "manatee nuns", for a long time I could not understand what this meant.) Very soon we became close. Wonderful person! Clever, delicate, with some innate nobility. She did not go to school for a single day, and from childhood she was sent to this same monastery in Vologda. There she grew up, there she learned to read and write, sang well, read, knew the charter very well. After the revolution, when the monastery was destroyed, many nuns were arrested and exiled. Of the survivors, many went to work as cleaners in different places; Of course, they tried to settle down at the church, but very soon there were only two functioning churches left in Vologda. Young Capushka was taken to the Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God which later became a cathedral. She worked first as a cleaner, and later as an altar girl, lived in a small closet under the bell tower, where I often came, and she told me many, many, many things. In particular, she told me about the wonderful Vladyka Varlaam.

One day I came and saw this photo. Vladyka Varlaam is on it, this one, small, and the second - I still don’t know who. If you could find and find out who it is! In general, I don’t look at photographs, they don’t tell me anything, a person tells me. It was the only time in my life when I saw and exclaimed: “Oh, what a face!” And she says, “Do you like it? I will give you! His name is Vladyka Varlaam, I will tell you about him.” And she gave me this photo. Since then, and this was in 1958 or 1959, since then I have this photograph. Everything that I remember about Vladyka Varlaam, I will now try to tell you.

He went through many exiles and arrests, from 1919 to 1940 he was in prison or exile almost all the time. Terrible conditions, Solovki - he went through all this. After the end of the next term, he was exiled to Vologda under house arrest. He had no right to leave the cell. He lived opposite the Lazarevskaya Gorbachev Church, in the cemetery, at the very exit from the city. He was allowed to come to church, but not to serve. Mother Kapitolina said: “Vladychenka served, went out with a candle, the Apostle read, but he could not serve.”

Vladyka was in correspondence. And since he was being followed, he used the services of Kapitolina, whom he affectionately called Kapushka, for her illiterate handwriting and inability to write. And he “wrote” phrases to individuals in an allegorical sense, very significant, which it would be impossible for another person to understand; that is, Kapushka wrote, she also wrote the address and sent it from Vologda or from the nearest Vologda villages.

Vladyka was perspicacious. I will tell you one fact. It was the 1930s, but not yet 1937. In Vologda, almost all the surviving nuns of the Assumption Monastery were arrested. And Kapitolina's mother was the youngest in age. The trial began, they were sentenced to long terms, it was very difficult. She was not touched. She told me that she complained to Vladyka: “Behold, the Lord did not honor me,” and Vladyka, consolingly, answered her with something spiritual. And so a few months go by. Once in the summer, in the midst of the summer heat, she, as always, takes a blessing, about to go to her place, and the lord says to her: “Wait, Kapushka, sit a little longer.” “Vladyka, it’s dark, I’m afraid.” "Well, sit down for a while." And he began to tell her, without revealing his insight: “You know, the time is now, anything can happen. You never know. If you are also arrested, keep in mind: beware ... people like you are usually sent to the first-aid post as a cleaner, well, what else are you capable of? The main thing is to be careful... and there are all sorts of doctors, especially Jews. Be careful, be careful! Anything can be… well, go with God now.” He blessed her, then again he said: “Well, wait, wait a minute,” and he took out a warm shawl for her. And she says, she was so simple: “Yes, it’s hot, Vladyka, why?” - “Well, not now, so then you will put on that she is lying around with me? Take it, take it." She took it and came home. A truck stops at night: they came to arrest her.

I remember she told me: “They came, can you imagine, and I tell them: oh, I ate all my crackers.” It turns out that when there were general arrests, she cooked herself crackers. We were allowed to take linen with us; she packed her things in tears and confusion, and when she opened the bag in prison, she saw that she had taken only pillowcases.

And then there was the trial. She recalled an interesting moment. One of the pilgrims of the monastery was tried. She was asked: “Did you conduct anti-Soviet agitation?” And that old woman did not hear well and said: “So, a dark person, how not to lead? Of course she did." In Vologda, the blind were called dark, and there was a blind old woman living with her, named Afanasia. "Did you do underground work?" “So everything is under the floor. But how? And cucumbers, and cabbage, and everything else. Mother Kapitolina told me this story as an anecdote. And so the nuns, novices and pilgrims who remained at large were given five years each. And she is three. Or, I don’t remember ... or they gave everyone seven, and she got five. When the verdict was read out, she was surprised aloud: “Why am I only three?” And they all laughed; she was still very young.

They sent her to the camp along with the thieves. Terrible contingent, female criminals, rude, depraved. She said: “I, Olenka, at first did not understand what they were saying, but they didn’t speak Russian and they laughed at me. And I saw something like that… on the road.” They brought them to the North and began to distribute them to work. The cap was placed in some kind of hospital corner. She didn't even compare it with what Vladyka had told her. She recalled: “Just don’t tell anyone, I knew by heart the akathists to the Savior and the Mother of God, how glad I was! When it was possible, she went to the bank of the river and there, on the bank, she prayed with tears. She also said, “Do you know what the Jesus Prayer is? It is only there that you can find out. Nowhere and never have I prayed like that.” Of course, I didn't know what she knew, but certainly praying "out there" is very different from praying out in the open.

“And the Jewish doctor I worked with was very good. He often brought me pieces of bread, sugar, helped me. And once he came with a smile, brought something. And I look: I locked the door behind me with a key. I didn't even think of anything. He came up to me, began to say something, and then stood up like that... then I understood everything - I immediately remembered the words of Vladyka! If I had not remembered his words, I would not have had time to do anything. I immediately rushed to the door, he left the key in the door, opened it and jumped out with a cry.

And then she continued to live in the camp, received letters once a month, and there was always some word from Vladyka. Once, already six months before the end of the term, somewhere in the spring she received a parcel. In the package was something necessary and bread. There was also a note that the bread contained the Holy Gifts. It was written allegorically, not by the hand of the lord, but dictated to them that “I am sending you bread, and in the bread is Bread itself.”

“As soon as I read this, I started crying, crying so much, I couldn’t read anything anymore. I think: I should confess like that! You know, I asked the Lord for one thing: “Let me confess before I die, I went through such a thing ...” She didn’t know all this dirt before. “For a long time I could not read again. And when she could, she read what Vladyka wrote next: why are you crying? You go on Thursday - and Thursday was the Great, before Easter - somewhere in the grove, there is water flowing (just like you saw everything!), Get up and confess, tell me everything, everything, and I will read it to you at this hour permissive prayer. And I have never in my life received communion the way I did on that day…”

It seems to me that in addition to the holiness and spiritual care of Vladyka Varlaam, this is also evidence of the reality of such spiritual nourishment in those terrible years. He ended his letter with the words: “We will not see each other here again. But, God willing, I'll see you later, and then we'll always be together. Just don’t be proud, but be humble and you will be saved.” She often reminded me of those words of his.

When she was released six months later, her first question upon her return was: “Is Vladyka alive?” - “Yes, yes, thank God, he is alive, but he was imprisoned. He is in prison, in Vologda. But there are dates. She rushed to fuss about a date, but it turned out that he had been shot.

I want to read a few lines written by Vladyka Varlaam's niece G.L. Solopova about the life of the Ryashentsev family: “Away from the big house, about half a kilometer away, in the middle of the field, a small wooden house was built for the monastics Varlaam and Herman. They lived there when they came to the dacha. This house was called "skit". We, the children (and there were seven of us), ourselves understood that there was a special world here, and did not run, did not make noise around it. Father Varlaam was unusually kind and meek, his eyes shone with caress. You could never hear from him a raised, angry tone. Always even, calm, self-absorbed, amazing… No wonder the family called him “gentle angel”, “quiet angel”. He was kind of unearthly! We treated Father Varlaam with involuntary reverence, surprise and even fear. We considered him a saint, although no one told us this." Here is an image of Vladyka Varlaam.

Memories of a nun

Date of Birth: June 22, 1974 Country: Russia Biography:

Born on June 22, 1974 in the city of Izobilny, Stavropol Territory, in a family of workers. Baptized in infancy.

In 1989 he graduated from secondary school No. 1 in Izobilny, in 1992 - Polytechnic Lyceum No. 1 in Stavropol. In 1998 he graduated from the Stavropol Theological Seminary.

While studying at the seminary on July 17, 1996, he took monastic vows with the name Varlaam in honor of St. Varlaam Khutynsky. With the blessing of Metropolitan Gedeon (Dokukin) of Stavropol and Baku, the inspector of the seminary, hegumen Peter (Kuzovlev), took the vows.

September 15, 1996 in cathedral app. Andrew the First-Called in Stavropol was ordained a hierodeacon by Metropolitan Gideon, on September 27 in the same church - a hieromonk. Appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Sotnikovskaya Blagodarnensky district of the Stavropol Territory.

After graduating from the seminary in 1998, he was appointed cleric of the church of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, Ipatov. In 1999 he was appointed rector of the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the village of Karmalinovskaya, Novoaleksandrovsky district, Stavropol Territory.

On December 25, 1999, he was appointed rector of the Church of the Intercession in the Sleptsovskaya village of the Sunzhensky district of the Republic of Ingushetia.

In 2004 he was appointed Dean of the Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic. In the same year, he was appointed rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael of God in Grozny, with the preservation of all previously assigned obediences.

By the day of Holy Easter in 2005 in the Cathedral of ap. Andrew the First-Called Stavropol was elevated to the rank of abbot. In 2010 he was awarded the right to wear a club.

In 2005, he became a member of the Public Council under the President of Ingushetia. On October 9, 2006, by decree of the President of the Chechen Republic, he was approved as a member of the Public Chamber of Chechnya. In March 2011, he was included in the working group on strengthening interethnic relations in the Chechen Republic.

In August 2011, he was transferred to and appointed assistant rector of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in the city of Murom, as well as the director of the Orthodox gymnasium in honor of St. Ilya Muromets.

In December 2011, he was appointed acting Rector of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery Murom.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of June 7, 2012 () he was appointed to the post of rector (abbot) of the Transfiguration Monastery in Murom.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 26, 2012 () he was elected Bishop of Makhachkala and Grozny.

Bishop on January 18, 2013 in Moscow. January 27 for Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Divine services led His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and All Russia Kirill.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of March 19, 2014 () he was appointed abbot of the Novo-Sinai Monastery in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, Sunzhensky district of the Republic of Ingushetia.