Optina deserts, Elder Elijah: find out how to get

The main difference between a real confessor and others,only trying to resemble the old man, is in wisdom and humility. One of the most famous and mysterious representatives of the Russian clergy, who became the symbol of the oldest monastic monastery in Russia - Optina desert, as well as the personal spiritual mentor of the Russian Patriarch Cyril, is Elder Elijah. This man is a rare example of a light, sublime and pure state of mind. That's why hundreds of people from all over the country are looking for meetings with him every day.

Who are the elders?

Every person goes through his own lifeby way of. In order not to get off the right track, not to fall into the abyss, he needs someone who will point the landmark, will not let him get lost, and at the right time will support and guide the way. Such helpers since time immemorial in Russia were the elders. They were respected and feared at the same time, because they are followers of the ancient Russian wise men who have absorbed the Great Wisdom with the blood of their ancestors. Many elders possessed the gift of divination and healing, but the main goal of this elder is to know the revelation of God and spiritually help the needy.

Elder Elijah: biography

Iliy was born (in the world - Alexey AfanasievichNozdrin) in 1932 in a large family peasant family in the village of Stanovoi Kolodez Orel region. His father, Athanasius, was seriously wounded during the Patriotic War in 1942 and died in a hospital. Mother, Claudia Vasilievna, alone brought up four children. After graduating from school in 1949, Alexey was conscripted in the army. In 1955 he entered the Serpukhov Mechanical College, and after his graduation in 1958 he was sent to the Volgograd Region for the construction of a cotton mill in Kamyshin. But not finding himself in the profession of a builder, he decided to devote his life to God, having entered the seminary of the city of Saratov. In 1961, in connection with Khrushchev's persecution and pressure on the church, the seminary was closed, and Alexei was forced to move to Leningrad, where he continued his studies at the theological academy and took monastic vows with the name of Ilian.

Since 1966 he served as rector in the Pskov-Pecherskymonastery, and in 1976 was sent to carry obedience to the abode of the Russian Great Martyr Panteleimon on the Holy Mount Athos in Greece. There the future elder Eli lived in a mountain monastery and was confiding in the Panteleimon monastery. In the late 1980s, it was recalled back to the USSR and sent to the Optina restored deserts, which had become desolate for the past 65 years. Here, Elijah accepted a great schema, providing for a complete alienation from the world for reunification with God, and also tonsured with the name of Elijah.

Over the next 20 years, he revivedin the cloister of the eldership, which eventually restored the former greatness to Optina. In 2009, the elder Eli was appointed confessor of the Patriarch of All Russia Kirill and moved to his residence in Troitsko-Sergiyeva Lavra in the village of Peredelkino, Moscow Region. In April 2010, on the Easter holiday, the elder was elevated by the Patriarch to the dignity of Shiarchimandrite.

The history of the monastery

Optina Pustyn is an Orthodox monastery formen, located two kilometers from the city of Kozelsk in the Kaluga region. According to an ancient tradition, the monastery was founded at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries by the repentant robber Optia (or Opti) who adopted monasticism under the name Makarii. Optina monastery served as a haven for the elders and elderly people living in separate buildings of the monastery, but under the spiritual guidance of one abbot. The first mention of this monastery can be found in the scribe books of Kozelsk, dating back to the reign of Boris Godunov.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Optina Desert experienceddifficult times in connection with the constant quitrent of the state for the war with the Swedes and the construction of St. Petersburg, and in 1724 was generally abolished in accordance with the Spiritual Regulations and attached to the Savior's Transfiguration Monastery, located in the neighboring city of Belovo. Two years later, by the order of Catherine II, the monastery was restored, and the construction of new churches began on its territory, which continued until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Optina became one of the largest spiritualOrthodox centers of Russia, on all sides, pilgrims and sufferers stretched from it, some of whom settled in a monastery arranged in 1821. As the donations were received, the monastery acquired land and a mill.

In 1918, the Optina desert was closed according tothe decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, and in 1939, on the territory of the monastery, on the order of L. Beria, a concentration camp for five thousand Polish soldiers, shot later in Katyn, was organized. From 1944 to 1945 years. Here is a filtration camp for Soviet officers who returned from captivity.

Optina deserts today

Only in 1987 the Soviet governmenttransferred the monastery to the disposal of the ROC. From this moment, active restoration of the monastery began, both material and spiritual. The ideologist and coordinator of the restoration of the Optina monastery monastery is the elder Eli. It was thanks to this man that the monastery again gained fame as the largest center of Orthodoxy and pilgrimage. Its unique energy and beauty of temples attract thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. On the territory of the monastery there are 7 functioning temples:

• The Vvedensky Cathedral is the main temple of the monastery;
• The Church of St. John the Baptist and the Baptist of the Lord in the Ioanno-Predtechensky Skete;
• Temple of St. Hilarion the Great;
• Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God;
• Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God;
• Church of the Transfiguration;
• Temple of the icon of the Mother of God "Sporite of loaves".

Peredelkino

The holiday village of Peredelkino is located inMoscow region. The nearest railway stations are Peredelkino and Michurinets. The town is famous not only for the monastery and the elder Elijah, but also for the fact that famous writers and artists lived there and worked there. Among them, Alexander Fadeyev, Bella Akhmadulina, Valentin Kataev, Bulat Okudzhava, as well as Korney Chukovsky, who held his famous bonfires here, where Rina Zelenaya, Arkady Raikin, Sergei Obraztsov performed. Here are home museums Okudzhava, Pasternak, Chukovsky and Yevtushenko.

How to get to the monastery?

Given that the Optina desert is nearrailway stations "Peredelkino" and "Kozelsk", it is not difficult to reach it by rail. From the Kiev railway station in Moscow, trains run in the direction of Kaluga or Sukhinichi. Kozelsk can be reached by bus from Teply Stan metro station.

Owners of cars, given the currentthe abundance of various navigation systems and maps, and there will not be any special problems with finding the right way. But if you get to the monastery - it's not tricky, then how to get to the old man Elijah at the reception is a completely different matter. Before you start out for this purpose, you should know in advance about the routine of the day in the monastery, as well as about the schedule of admission.

If it pleases God

Many people want the elder Eli to talk to them(Peredelkino). "How to get to the reception to the old man and will he accept?" - these are the main questions of visiting pilgrims. Of course, schiarchimandrite will not be able to satisfy all the suffering, but, as the local monks say, if God wills, the meeting will necessarily take place. Usually Elder Elijah takes meals in the refectory, where the arrivals are at the tables, and the queue moves around these tables. If people make noise in the queue or argue, then he will personally disperse or reconcile the guests.

Closer to 16 o'clock the elder leaves to rest, andWhen he comes back and returns on this day, one Lord knows. The monastery has its own Internet resource (www. Optina. Ru), where you can find out where the Elder Eli is now and when the next reception will take place.

The Power of Prayer

It is believed that the elder's prayer has a doubleforce, because this is an enlightened prayer. It is said that if he prays for the repose of the soul, the soul of the sinner can be freed even from the hellish captivity. An amazing case occurred in the Optina desert. Once in the hermitage to Elijah was brought a soldier, seriously wounded in Chechnya. Doctors did not know how to save the military and did not dare to surgery, since he was unconscious, and the bullet was a few millimeters from the heart. The prayer of the elder Elijah "Let God Risen" made us believe in the miracle of desperate doctors - the wounded came to himself and opened his eyes. After the operation, the soldier began to recover.