“Please write... without distorting anything, so that the historical truth of my past life can be restored.”
From the will of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima

At the very end of last summer, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, famous not only in the Donbass, but also far beyond its borders, passed away to the Lord. He was the spiritual father of the priesthood of the entire Donetsk diocese, the brothers and sisters of the two monasteries he founded, as well as the beloved priest of many laity who followed him everywhere for a quarter of a century. His spiritual children included many famous businessmen and politicians, for example, Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Gennady Vasilyev and Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, whom the elder personally crowned.

Our information

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (in the world Ivan Alekseevich Sokur) was born on September 3, 1944 in the village of Kosolmanka, Sverdlovsk region. Since 1951 he lived in Avdeevka, Donetsk region, where he graduated from high school in 1961. Then he studied at the Donetsk Agricultural Technical School and was engaged in civilian work.
From 1968 to 1975 studied at the theological seminary and academy in Leningrad. He graduated from the Academy with a candidate's degree in theological sciences. In the same 1975, he took monastic vows with the name Savvaty and was ordained first as a hierodeacon, then as a hieromonk. After studying, he served in Odessa for several months, after which on December 25, 1975 he was accepted into the clergy of the Voroshilovgrad-Donetsk diocese. He conducted all his further spiritual and pastoral activities in Donbass. In 1980 he was elevated to the rank of abbot, in 1990 - to the rank of archimandrite. On August 21, 1992, he was tonsured into the schema with the name Zosima.
Reposed on August 29, 2002.

Ten years later

I myself first saw the priest in February 1992, in the midst of church unrest, provoked by the then head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Philaret (Denisenko), who was subsequently anathematized for causing a schism and other sins. Filaret sought to break with the Russian Orthodox Church and impose autocephaly on the Ukrainian flock. At a time when most of the clergy “out of fear for the sake of the Jews” supported him or took a wait-and-see position, Father Savvaty (that was the name of Elder Zosima before he accepted the great schema) was one of the few who firmly and unshakably stood for the unity of the Church . Father openly stated that “Filaret wanted to become Patriarch” - this is why he is seeking autocephaly.

By the way, among the very few clergy who in those troubled days uncompromisingly defended the unity of the Church in both word and deed was the then dean of the Donetsk district, Archpriest Gennady (Timkov). During the most intense period of confrontation, when the ruling Bishop Alypius, who spoke out against autocephaly, was excommunicated from the Donetsk see, he turned out to be the most prominent figure among dissidents in the diocese and, with his passionate sermons, instilled hope in people and strengthened perseverance. Father Gennady outlived Elder Zosima by just a month and a half and, at less than 49 years old, died on the very eve of the Feast of the Intercession. Holy Mother of God.

They say that the archpriest, who had recently been in a coma, suddenly came to his senses on the day when they celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the death of Father Zosima. He was informed that today they were commemorating the newly deceased Schema-Archimandrite. And he replied: “I know, we met THERE today.” Less than a week later, the archpriest also rested in Bose...

Having learned about the death of Elder Zosima, I remembered that about ten years ago he gave me various advice, which I did not listen to much at that time, because I had not even been baptized yet, but simply sympathized with Orthodoxy and wrote about it in the newspapers. Father dictated several such instructions for me to a certain Valentina Ivanova, who often went to see him in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, where he was already serving then. She wrote them down on pieces of paper and brought them to the editorial office. In these small messages, the priest listed my sins, turned to the Lord with requests to enlighten me, and also gave instructions regarding further newspaper publications about Orthodoxy. However, at the time I didn’t attach much importance to all this.

Only after the death of the elder, having shoveled through my papers, I found these notes with difficulty. At the very end of the last of them, dated November 23, 1992, it was written: “The next article will be about the great ascetics of the last, present time...” And only now, ten years later, I fulfilled this order of the priest and wrote an article about one from the ascetics of the “last, present time.” About Schema-Archimandrite Zosima himself.

And the people followed him

He became known as an old man almost at the age of 40, if not earlier. In Orthodoxy, an elder is not an age-related concept. This is how the people call those who see the sins of people who come to them, wisely instruct their spiritual children, and are distinguished by insight and a special gift of prayer...

A graduate of the Leningrad Theological Academy, Hieromonk Savvaty (the future Zosima) arrived in Donbass in the mid-70s - then he was 32 years old. In those dark times of “stagnation”, when the Church was closely “protected” by the authorities, rarely did any of the clergy dare to take “liberties” - they were limited to performing divine services and fulfilling requirements. Father Savvaty set to work energetically, zealously and informally. And although they assigned him to serve on the outskirts of Donetsk - in the village of Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district, very soon rumors about the young rector of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky began to quickly spread among believers in the regional center and beyond.

My mother and I then lived in the Kalininsky district of Donetsk,” says schema-nun Feofania from the St. Nicholas Monastery founded by the priest. “We heard a rumor that a priest has appeared in Aleksandrovka who confesses to everyone separately. This was very rare at that time - they mostly practiced general confessions. Mom asked me to take her there. And so we went to the Feast of the Exaltation. We were impressed by the service itself, the priest’s heartfelt sermon, and his cordiality. We began to go to Alexandrovka regularly.

Other believers, who were burdened by the formal churchism that reigned at that time and were looking for genuine spiritual life, also flocked to the Alexander Church. Gradually, a whole group of spiritual children formed around Father Savvaty, who obeyed him in everything and helped him, and also followed him wherever he was transferred.

Then almost all of them became the first inhabitants of the monasteries founded by the elder in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district. Thus, Father Zosima bequeathed to appoint Hieromonk Thaddeus, who had been brought up before his eyes since childhood, as the abbot of the Dormition St. Basil's Monastery. The housekeeper of the monastery is novice Viktor Ivanovich Grigorenko, who has been with the priest since 1976, shared with him all the hardships and helped him in all economic matters.

Many of the elder’s spiritual children also live in the almshouse created at the monasteries. “Once upon a time these old women fed me, gave me their last pennies,” Father Zosima said during one of his sermons. “And now it’s my turn to take care of them.”
Naturally, the growing popularity of the priest could not please the competent authorities fighting the “religious dope.” The “chekists” also aroused righteous anger because he did not agree to cooperate with them. They began to complicate the hieromonk's life in every possible way, insisting on his transfer to another church, then to a third, fourth... They were exiled to distant remote villages, in the hope that Father Savvaty's admirers would leave him behind. But the exact opposite effect was achieved - not only did his former spiritual children follow the persecuted priest, but many new believers also joined them. Martyrs and sufferers have always been loved in Rus'.

To break the priest, he was transferred mainly in winter, and to unheated, semi-abandoned churches, recalls Viktor Ivanovich Grigorenko. - For example, in December 1985 they were sent to the village of Andreevka, Velikonovoselkovsky district. Then it was 30 degrees outside - and the same temperature was in the building there. wooden temple. Despite this, the priest served the liturgy. His feet in felt boots were freezing, his hands stuck to the cup with Communion - he warmed them up a little near the heaters that we placed on the floor, and continued to serve... Almost the same frosts were there when he was - again in December! - he was sent to Nikolskoye, but he immediately began serving there too. And in what terrible condition the ancient St. Basil’s Church was there! When the priest entered there and opened the Royal Doors in the altar, one door fell off and collapsed. The floors were rotten, the roof was full of holes - when it rained, it flowed so much that they had to place basins all over the temple.

Elder Builder

But the priest never became discouraged or gave up, but immediately began to bring each new place into divine form.
“I was always amazed by his temple construction,” says Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. “Wherever he came to serve, he immediately started major repairs and construction. I remember how in 1980, when I was still serving as a psalm-reader in the Holy Dormition Church in Donetsk, on the holiday Pochaev Icon Mother of God we went to Father Savvaty in Aleksandrovka for the consecration of the new throne. He managed to make this throne at the very period when churches in the USSR were just being closed and destroyed. At that time it was almost a sensation.

In general, according to V. Grigorenko, this Alexandrovsky temple, thanks to the efforts of the priest, began to look “like a casket” from the inside. He built a lot of things there, even though the authorities forbade it. For example, the chapel that was built over the well was completely dismantled - they say, “it’s not supposed to.” Even in Velikonovoselkovskaya Andreevka, where Father Savvaty did not even serve for six months, he managed to cover the temple with bricks and improve the house for the priest. Afterwards he was engaged in beautification in another Andreevka (near Snezhnoye) - until he was transferred to Nikolskoye.

And there his talent for construction manifested itself in full force. In the very first year, the temple was repaired: they reroofed the roof, restored the iconostasis and the bell tower, which had been demolished by the Bolsheviks, installed electricity, expanded the house for the priest, built a baptismal church, then made a fence and a gate with arches, the drawing of which the priest himself drew. At first, there were almost no specialists at the construction site, but a hundred or more people came to work for the glory of God - both local residents and visiting spiritual children, many of whom lived here for weeks or months.

So gradually a monastery began to form in Nikolskoye, as if by itself. By the end of the 90s, two monasteries were founded here, essentially on the same territory: the male St. Vasilievsky and the female St. Nicholas. There are very few similar precedents in the Orthodox world.
At what rapid pace is construction going on here? last years and how much has already been built is difficult to describe, you just have to see it. Those who come here for the first time at first cannot believe their eyes - what they see does not coincide with established ideas about monasteries.

The new refectory church in memory of all the saints who shone in the Russian land, and the rest of the monastery buildings are made of light facing brick, the roof is made of green metal tiles, the windows and doors are made of fashionable expensive metal-plastic. In all cells and other premises, speakers are installed through which services performed in St. Basil's Church are broadcast - for those monks and inhabitants of the almshouse who, for some reason, cannot attend them. In their cells, the monks also have tape recorders with headphones so that they can listen to recordings of akathists, canons and other chants.

However, not all technical achievements and modern technologies are accepted here. Elder Zosima forbade having televisions and video recorders, and even in his will he emphasized that they “should never be in the monastery.”
According to his last will, as set out in this will, construction at the monastery continues today. The foundation of another temple has been laid, a hotel for pilgrims and a new almshouse are being built: the old one is already a bit crowded. They are building their own post office and even their own law enforcement station and various utility rooms. There is already a hospital, a library, a bakery, workshops, and an icon shop. All this is also made of expensive bricks, tiles and metal-plastic.

But they are building here in such a “rich” way, of course, not so that the monks will wallow in luxury and enjoy the delights of life. And in former times, churches and monasteries were always made from the most beautiful, high-quality and durable materials, striving to give God all the best. By the way, although the cells here are made in the “Eurostyle”, the decoration itself is quite ascetic. Yes, and people visit them mainly only in the evening and at night - when they pray and sleep. The rest of the time they perform various obediences or participate in divine services, which sometimes last six to seven hours at a time.
This begs the question: how, for what means and in just a few years did Elder Zosima manage to build this, as it is jokingly called, Euro-monastery almost from scratch? He did not knock on doors in search of money, did not bow to high offices, did not ask anyone for anything.

Except for God, to whom I prayed tirelessly. The benefactors themselves were: inspired by the example of active love for God and people, they offered selfless help. These were not the kind of donors who give to charity most often for any marketing reasons, a desire to score political points, or simply out of vanity. Usually, such wealthy people came to Father Zosima who did not advertise their good deeds, but rather the opposite, gospel commandment, sought to hide them. Yes, up to today Even in Nikolskoye itself, very few people know that both local monasteries, as well as many churches in Donetsk and far beyond its borders, were built mainly by the Energo concern, which is headed by Viktor Leonidovich Nusenkis, the spiritual son of Father Zosima.

Gratefully accepting help and donations from patrons, the elder, however, was concerned not only about the splendor of his monastery, but ordered his benefactors to take care of other churches and monasteries. First, he blessed the restoration of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Donetsk Svyatogorsk, to help restore the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Holy Mount Athos in Greece and the Gornensky Monastery of the Russian Mission in Jerusalem, and only then widespread construction was launched in Nikolskoye. With the blessing of Zosima (and, of course, the ruling lord Hilarion), the temples of Agapit of Pechersk, John the Warrior and the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (in Donetsk), and a church in honor of the prudent robber (in the Selidovsky correctional colony in the village of Ostroye) were also built or continue to be built. In addition, the schema-archimandrite gave his blessing for the restoration of the Holy Don Monastery in the village of Starocherkasskaya, Rostov region and the creation of the Orthodox gymnasium “Pleskovo” in the Moscow region.

“Life is easy with blessing”
In general, something special needs to be said about the priest’s blessing. Some came to Nikolskoye primarily in order to get it. Local pilgrims and inhabitants willingly tell stories from their lives - with different content, but with a similar ending. They say that for a long time something was not going well for them at work or at home, and soon after meeting Elder Zosima and his blessing, they began to notice with surprise that problems that seemed insoluble seemed to dissipate by themselves, things were going smoothly, illnesses were receding, in general - life is getting better.

There was no special mysticism here, the elder simply knew how to understand every person at first sight, to tell him exactly what he needed. this moment needs, to console, to nourish with grace. And, of course, pray fervently for everyone. People left him joyful and inspired; they seemed to have a second wind, helping them overcome all difficulties with ease. They were convinced with their own eyes that, as the economist Viktor Ivanovich said, “it’s easy to live with a blessing!”

There were always a lot of people who wanted to get an appointment with Zosima. Mostly poor and sick ordinary people lined up to see him. But businessmen, generals, and politicians often came to the elder... As the governor of the Donetsk region, the new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, quite often visited Nikolskoye on unofficial visits. Moreover, Father Zosima even married him to his wife Lyudmila Alexandrovna, who also loved visiting the monastery. Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Gennady Vasilyev also visited the elder.

For everyone, he had the right words and answers to the questions that tormented him. But, of course, they did not satisfy everyone. After all, some came to the elder in the hope that he would approve of their own, not entirely godly plans. He made fun of such people or even kicked them out. There were just anecdotal cases. For example, one old woman asked: “Father, I don’t have enough money to pay for the light - bless me to rewind the meter readings.”...

“I am not perspicacious, but gluttonous”

Sometimes the schema-archimandrite warned those who came to him that if they continued to act “according to their own desires” and not according to God’s command, then this could end badly for them. So, according to one of the monks close to the elder, in 1996, the then famous Donetsk businessman, People's Deputy of Ukraine Yevgeny Shcherban came to see him twice. After listening to him, the priest gave a number of pieces of advice, but the distinguished guest did not heed them... And six months later, Yevgeny Shcherban and his wife were shot at the Donetsk airport.

In general, there are legends about the foresight of Elder Zosima. During his lifetime, he himself really did not like such conversations. Once he spoke about this with his characteristic humor: “I’m not insightful, but gluttonous!” Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the monastery and lay people who knew the schema-archimandrite confirm that he undoubtedly had the gift of foresight. However, they advise treating stories about cases of the elder’s clairvoyance with prudent caution, especially the enthusiastic “women’s fables” in which he is portrayed almost as a prophet.

Of course, what is most impressive is that Father Zosima predicted his death - accurate to the day and hour. Long before his death, it was revealed to him that he would die on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Somewhere a year or two before his death, he ordered that an akathist to the Dormition of the Mother of God be chanted every Wednesday. In general, after Easter, this holiday was his favorite. A week before, the priest celebrated the day of his Angel. In 2002, Zosima unexpectedly invited those who came to congratulate him, including Bishop Hilarion, to come to the Burial of the Mother of God (it takes place the day after the Dormition) - they say, bury her and me at the same time. And on the very eve of this date, when the elder was taken to the hospital, he ordered that the burial ceremony be performed this time in the evening, and not during the day, as in previous years. When leaving, the priest said: “You serve the Burial, and I will come to the Liturgy.” This is exactly what happened. He died in the hospital at 11:45 pm, just at the moment when the funeral service in Nikolskoye was ending, and the coffin with his body was brought to the monastery early in the morning, before the start of the Liturgy.

Father Zosima also foresaw the death of my mother. - says Bishop Hilarion. “She was seriously ill and was paralyzed. I was going to go to her in Lugansk on the second day of Easter, since on the Holy Day itself Christ's Resurrection was supposed to serve in Mariupol. And then the day before Father Zosima calls on the phone and so categorically declares: “Go, Vladyka, to your mother right on Easter, otherwise you will regret and repent later!” Even though I was busy that day and very tired, I still listened to him and visited my mother on the holiday - I shared Christ with her, ate a blessed egg... And literally the next day she died.

They say that the priest not only foresaw certain events, but often from the first glance at a person he could penetrate into his soul and guess what was tormenting and tormenting him. Some were embarrassed by the fact that he immediately began to list all their sins, and not “yet”, but specific ones, others were surprised that he seemed to read their thoughts...

When I first came to Father Zosima, he, among other things, warned me to be afraid of “trauma and rejection,” recalls Schema-nun Euphrosinia. - And just shortly before that, I had a kidney transplanted, which my mother gave to me. And when, two weeks after my trip to Nikolskoye, I was rushing to the hospital for procedures, I fell right on the roadway and tore a ligament in my leg. Then the donor kidney began to work worse... Then I came to the monastery again, stood there in the church, prayed that the Lord would reveal to me
He helped me decide on my life, and immediately reproached myself for constantly throwing me from side to side - now to the right, now to the left. I was then wondering whether I should go to a pedagogical school or apply to a monastery. And at the same time, I was afraid that I was so sick that no one needed me there or there. After that I go to the priest, and he says: “Yes, you should learn how to get married!” (And he was a monk who took a vow of celibacy). And he continues with literally the same words that I mentally uttered before: “Well, so that you don’t get thrown either to the right or to the left, I’ll cut you into a nun.”

He took other people's pain as his own

Father Zosima also shared a common illness with Schema-nun Euphrosyne - like her, the elder also had serious problems with his kidneys. Over time, he developed acute renal failure, and he lived only thanks to the fact that every other day he underwent hemodialysis for four hours - using the “Artificial Kidney” device, the blood was cleaned of toxins and waste.

Father also suffered greatly from osteomyelitis of the leg bones, on which he developed non-healing ulcers even when he served in Aleksandrovka. And in Lately this attack became so worse that he could hardly walk on his own, and he was carried in a wheelchair. These ailments were accompanied by a whole bunch of other diseases. The high temperature rose periodically - up to 41 degrees. He even experienced clinical death.
But despite all these unbearable sufferings, to the very last days he did not stop performing the Liturgy, preaching, talking with people, and building two monasteries at once. Even among healthy people, it is very rare that anyone is capable of this.

As soon as, after another severe crisis and exacerbation of illnesses, Father Zosima felt a little better, he immediately became cheerful and was eager to go to church and attend services. His joyful spirit and his perseverance amazed the treating doctors, and they, looking at the elder and communicating with him, also gained faith. Some of them became his spiritual children. Then he often used this “blat” - he asked doctors he knew to treat or perform surgery for free on sufferers who turned to him for help. In this way, the priest saved many lives.

And he simply begged others. People who were on the verge of life and death said that they clearly felt it prayer help, which helped them get out. For example, when the priest was still serving in Aleksandrovka, they brought to his church a woman from Trudovsky who was sick with leukemia. The doctors told her relatives that she was already hopeless and would not last a week - and they discharged her home. Die. She sat in a wheelchair for the entire Liturgy, during which the elder prayed for her at the throne - her condition did not noticeably improve, but she did not die within a week, as was predicted. The following Sunday the woman confessed and received communion. She felt a little better. In general, after two months she was already going to work with her own feet. And they say she is still alive, although more than 20 years have passed since then.

But more often they remember more “ordinary” stories. Like this. A young guy overdid it in weight training and developed an inguinal hernia. He complained to Father Zosima. He promised to pray for him. In the morning the guy woke up - the hernia was as if it had never happened. But then, they say, it appeared to the elder himself. In general, most of the priest’s spiritual children are sure that the reason he was so sick was that he took upon himself the infirmities and suffering of others.

Ordinary miracles
Zosima himself scolded those who spoke of him as a healer. He was always outraged by this not entirely healthy interest in miraculous healings and other supernatural phenomena.
He loved to repeat: “The real miracle is that the Lord brings great sinners into His Church. Look who's gathered here in the monastery? Former thieves, fornicators, prostitutes, in general - all the rabble, the trash of the human race. And everyone serves and prays to the Lord!”
But the most important miracle for believers, Father Zosima constantly emphasized, is the Eucharist and the service of God at which it is performed.

He himself was very reverent about worship and everything connected with the Church. Even in “stagnant” times, when it was difficult to get anything, he went to thrift stores, went to Mariupol, where sailors brought goods from abroad, looked for brocade and other fabrics for priestly vestments, and he himself went to Moscow for church utensils and books . He really loved that everything in the temple was splendid. But I personally never bought things for myself. He walked around in a patched-up cassock and a worn-out sheepskin coat.

The priest also collected various Orthodox shrines, as well as ancient utensils, ancient prayer icons, old vestments, banners, books... There are more than a hundred pieces of the relics of saints in the monastery alone - almost all the icons contain them.
Father Zosima even managed to find icons that belonged to saints, in particular, the Mother of God image of the “Three Joys,” which belonged to the passion-bearer Tsar Nicholas II himself.

Somehow the hat ended up in the monastery righteous John Kronstadt, which on the day of his memory is placed on the head of all those participating in the service.
By the way, the royal passion-bearers and righteous John were among Father’s most beloved saints.

And the diary of the Kronstadt shepherd “My Life in Christ” was his reference book. He even tried to imitate him. He also dreamed of building a House of Diligence near the monastery, with various workshops - icon painting, gold embroidery, blacksmithing, wood carving... Those who knew him closely say that Father Zosima was close to the holy righteous man and in spirit - he was just as joyful, cheerful and cheerful.

During his sermons, the priest also never tired of repeating to his flock: “Never lose heart, do not offend God’s mercy with your whining. Be joyful and bright! Pray to the Lord, but just don’t over-pray, don’t go crazy in your prayers - don’t fall into this spiritual delusion, which leads to even greater despondency and despair.”

They pray to him like a saint
The schema-archimandrite left many spiritual covenants. When in recent years they realized that the death of the elder was already close, some monks and laymen began to record his long sermons.
And those who simply listened to his words were continually amazed that during these sermons addressed to everyone, the priest gave very specific answers to questions that worried them, but were not expressed out loud. The elder seemed to see the innermost thoughts and aspirations of everyone. Therefore, many to once again not to bother the seriously ill priest with their problems, they even stopped rushing to see him, because they had no doubt that he would still hear them and bring them to reason.

Often during these sermons, Father Zosima denounced both those standing in the church and all those whom he considered enemies of the Church. He especially got it from, as he called them, “nationalist Banderaites, Filaretites, autocephalists, sectarians, psychics”... He also scolded careless Orthodox priests. In general, he was very straightforward, he spoke the truth, regardless of faces. Therefore, of course, he made a lot of ill-wishers for himself.

Many of the elder’s views were regarded as “politically incorrect” and did not fit into modern political realities. Sometimes those who came to the monastery were offended by some of his rather salty jokes and strong words. It is clear that, like everyone else, the priest also had plenty of shortcomings and sins - there is only one Lord without sin. Even the holy saints had many of them. But Father Zosima is not a saint! However, who knows...

During his lifetime, some considered the elder almost a saint. And as soon as the schema-archimandrite went to the Lord, they began to pray near the tomb not as for the deceased, but as for an already glorified saint of God. And now monks and pilgrims come to the chapel in which the elder rests, not only to pray for the repose of his soul, but to ask the deceased for help and advice. How they used to do this during his lifetime.

Some say that the priest appears to them in a dream, others simply feel his living help.
“Father Zosima said that in the next world he would no longer be sick, and therefore there he would only have to pray for all of us,” says Zinaida Ivanovna Onopchuk, chairman of the society of disabled people in the Kievsky district of Donetsk. “And not only those who knew the elder feel this prayerful help of his. A mother with many children, exhausted by a hopeless, miserable life, recently complained to me about her life. I advised her to address the priest as if he were alive. He shrugged his shoulders - he said, how am I going to address him if I never knew him?! And after a while she calls me so joyful and says: “I tried, on your advice, to pray to the elder - and I really felt that he was somewhere nearby and supporting me.”

This is not the only example of how even people who are completely unfamiliar with Father Zosima find gracious consolation from him. Therefore, the flow of pilgrims who came to Nikolskoye to see and hear the elder did not dry out even after his death. The chapel with the priest’s grave became the new shrine of the monastery.

Sergei Golokha

This material was borrowed from the site http://www.ortodox.donbass.com/

On August 29, 2002, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima died. The rector of St. Basil's Church in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, was known to the entire Orthodox world. He was known in Jerusalem, and on Holy Athos, and Moscow, and Kyiv.

But in the Donbass itself, not everyone had heard of him, and only a small handful of Nikolskoye residents went to their native rural church, in which, through the prayers of the Elder, many were cured human souls.
“He was only 58 years old. But wisdom, the power of faith and knowledge of the human soul made him an Elder in human understanding. People came to him from everywhere. For advice, help, blessing. Those who had the great happiness of communicating with him returned to peaceful life kinder, cleaner, brighter. He healed people's souls, thereby healing their bodies. His words were often prophetic.

And the events that took place were like miracles. He loved people infinitely. Everyone. Those who tortured him, forcing him to stand for days barefoot on a concrete floor, and those who sent him to serve from parish to parish, away from highways and civilization - in order to break him faster. It didn't break. He bore his cross with dignity, without wavering in his faith one iota. He baptized the children of his executioners. He forgave sins and believed in the bright nature of every person. He lived experiencing inhuman suffering.

He went through four clinical deaths and a fight against the disease. Doctors became believers as they interacted with him and were amazed at his courage. And he, dying, got up and served. His path is the path of the righteous. And righteous people are very rare now. Father Zosima was called the last saint of Rus', in the unity of which he sacredly believed. He planted good seeds. And they will bear fruit. The fruits of Good and Faith." This is what one of the Donbass newspapers wrote about the Elder on the anniversary of his death.

Nadezhda is not a native of Petrozavodsk. A long time ago, back in the days when there was no trace of a border between Ukraine and Russia, she came to cold and distant Karelia.

Her lot as a woman was not easy. She was left alone, with a sick child in her arms. She endured a lot of sorrows. And when it was especially unbearable with my heartache went to her native Donetsk region - to Elder Zosima. For advice.

She first came to the monastery eight years ago. “Through the prayers of the Elder,” says Nadezhda, “I received an apartment. This was the most difficult time for me. When I first saw Father Zosima, I was confused. I want to express everything that hurts in my soul, but I cannot utter a word, but only cry bitterly. “I bless you for the arrangement,” the Elder said then, and we immediately got an apartment. And when he found out that I was from Petrozavodsk, he said that I studied with Archbishop Manuil at the Leningrad Theological Academy at the same time, and bowed to Vladyka.”

The elder always walked around in a simple old fur coat, saying: “How can I put on something good if I see poverty and human pain around me.” There were open wounds on his legs. But he endured the pain, forgetting about himself for the sake of helping people.

“Oh, my poor soul,” he often said when I approached him for a blessing. The elder felt my pain and worried about my son and me. He was very happy when I told him that my son agreed to work in the church and affectionately said: “Make sure that my baby is not offended.”
“I remember,” says Nadezhda, “how the Elder, passing by a praying woman who had lived in the monastery for a long time, said: “Gather together and then pray. We prayed earnestly." He always spoke with compassion for his interlocutor. He leaves his cell and immediately approaches the people who immediately surrounded him on all sides. Through his prayers many were healed. But he also denounced some. If you want, listen, if you don’t want, as you know. He talked about sins, and people rejoiced, repented, cried and thanked him. With reproof and advice, he pulled people out of the spiritual swamp. For this, many were grateful to the Elder.

Olga ANDREEVA

Material from the website of the Petrozavodsk and Karelian diocese

Father Zosima Sokura (1944-2002) is revered in Ukraine, as in Russia - Fr. Nikolai Guryanov. Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was the confessor of the Donetsk diocese, he predicted a war in Ukraine and strongly advised against hostility between two countries - Russia and Ukraine.

He was born in a prison hospital, experienced 4 clinical deaths, and emerged alive from the torture chamber. Before his death he said: “When I die, you will know that the clock on my table in the altar will stop.” The clock stopped on August 29, 2002 at 23:45.

Miraculously survived

Ivan (that was the name of Father Zosima before becoming a monk) was born in a prison hospital in 1944. His mother was serving a sentence for “religious propaganda,” and his father was killed at the front that same year. After his release, the mother of the future elder, Maria Ivanovna, went to live in the town of Avdeevka, Donetsk region, with her sister.

From the childhood memories of Father Zosima: “We had a peasant family. I remember digging the garden and harvesting the potatoes. They dug up the first bucket: “Take the bucket to the church to the priest, the potatoes are our labor.” They dug up the second bucket: “Our mothers there are sick, already old, helpless - take it.”... There they already dug up the third bucket. “... Poor Kharitinochka, twisted, sick, has been lying motionless for twenty years, bring it to them so that they have something to eat.” That’s how they taught good.”

As a child, many times the elder was on the verge of death and miraculously remained alive. I was sick a lot, and almost got hit by a train three times.

There was an incident when he was collecting coal on the railroad. Suddenly, trains rushed from both sides of the boy, and he, who found himself between two trains, saw that the third was rushing straight at him. There was nowhere to run. Ivan fell on the rails, having only time to shout: “Lord!” The locomotive passed over the child, leaving him completely unharmed.

IN school years Vanya Sokur endured a lot of ridicule from his classmates. Soviet teachers only egged him on: “You beat this “priest” there so that he doesn’t run to church!” The boys were happy to hit, but Ivan just smiled and asked: “Okay, that’s enough. Let me bless you."

"Not your way"

In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Photo from lifekiev.com

After graduating from an agricultural college, Ivan worked as a veterinarian for a year. It seemed difficult to find a specialty that would no longer correspond to his spiritual qualities. He had a compassionate heart, which responded with physical pain to the suffering of every creature. Once in early childhood he saved a sparrow from a cat and nursed it, but it died. Ivan cried for a long time and could not calm down.

Soon Ivan became a novice at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

The Lavra’s confessor, Elder Valentin (Semisal), predicted that he would be offered many times to become a bishop and once the head of the Russian Church in Japan, but this was not God’s will and he would have to refuse: “This is not your path.

Your path is to be a private village priest" Later this prediction came true.

In 1975, Ivan became a monk with the name Savvaty. He studied at the Leningrad Seminary, then at the Academy. As he himself recalled, his favorite place was the library.

“Strive for knowledge and you will always be useful and interesting,” the elder said while lying on his deathbed. — When my eyes still saw well, I read constantly. When I began to see poorly, I grieved, but God worked a miracle, and I can already see better. I’m already reading out the rule myself: at 4 o’clock in the morning, when this crazy world is sleeping, how good it is to pray...”

After graduating from the Leningrad Academy, Fr. Savvaty served in the village of Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district, Donetsk diocese. Although the parish was very poor and the church was in need of restoration, Father Savvaty did not take money for services. He said that even if a hundred people do not pay, the Lord will send one who will cover everything.

In the torture chamber

The Soviet authorities did not like the fact that many people gathered at Father Savvaty’s place. They took the priest to the village council, where they beat him and forced him to stand for a long time with his bare feet on the cold cement floor. And after some time they were sent to prison.

Once, after beatings, Savvaty’s barely alive father was thrown into a torture chamber.

In one of the versions, the Soviet torture chamber looked like this: there were no windows, the walls were covered with a rubber coating and quiet monotonous exhausting music was constantly playing - it was called a “music box”.

Usually the next day, prisoners in such a cell began to lose their minds: they threw themselves at the walls and screamed. Father Savvaty survived for three days, but later said that if it weren’t for prayer, he would have gone crazy.

After his imprisonment, Father Savvaty’s lungs were broken off, his hump grew, and he began to get sick often and a lot.

And when the conversation began about how all priests are aged Soviet power“worked for the KGB,” Fr. Savvaty only pointed to his hump - as a “trace of cooperation.”

On arrival

On arrival. Father Savvaty. Image from novom.ru

After prison Fr. Savvaty returned to his temple, to which people had already begun to come from everywhere. Schema-nun Thomaida recalls: “They hardly persuaded me to go to Alexandrovka; one old mother begged me to accompany her: “A monk serves there: what kind of prayer is there!” We left for Pokrov. It rained all the way, and I, a sinner, grumbled all the time on the bus: does it matter what church you pray in, the service is the same everywhere.

Wet and chilled, we entered the temple. She stood near the doors, everything was dark, only the altar was glowing. I heard only two words from Father: “Peace to all.”
I had never heard such a thing and did not know that such a prayer existed. I burst into tears and cried throughout the entire service. The service passed in an instant...”

Even then it was known about the prayerful help of Fr. Savvatiya, gifts of healing.

“During the service, a woman came into the temple,” recalls schema-hegumen Lazar, “and suddenly began to scream and bark. I look: Savvaty comes out of the altar and says:

- Demon, why are you stopping me from serving? I serve God, shut up now!..

The woman calmed down and quietly stood near the wall throughout the service.

One married couple my son was taken to serve in Afghanistan. There have been no letters for a long time. The father went to the elder:

- I have a son in Afghanistan...
“They are there like on Golgotha,” says Fr. Savvaty.
- Maybe he’s no longer alive - there’s been no news for 3 months?
- Alive, alive... When you arrive home, you will receive news...
When the father arrived home, he saw a letter from his son that he had been transferred to another unit...”

Naked

As soon as parish life began to recover, Fr. Another temptation awaited Savvaty: the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan passed away, and in search of a worthy candidate for the position of a new primate, His Holiness Patriarch Pimen himself set his sights on Fr. Savvatiya.

He was urgently summoned to Moscow. Father Savvaty categorically refused, in free expressions, the prestigious promotion, remembering the behest of his confessor.

But His Holiness was adamant, and all documents had already been issued to Father Savvaty as the new primate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Japan. Then God intervened - the next day Fr. Savvaty came down with severe pneumonia. Another priest went to Japan.

"We are not divided"

Roman Minin, “Miner’s Prayer.” Image: liveinternet.ru

In 1992, Father Savvaty accepted the schema with the name Zosima. He founded the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky monastery in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region. The sister community received the status of a nunnery in honor of St. Nicholas, and the fraternal community received the status of a monastery in honor of St. Basil the Great.

But the schema for Fr. Zosima did not become a renunciation of all earthly things. Father Zosima was one of those priests who “interferes in politics.”

He predicted war in Ukraine and called for maintaining church unity. He left his spiritual testament, where he said: “As I depart into eternal life, I say my last word to you, brothers, sisters and all those praying in our monastery: stick to the Russian Orthodox Church - salvation is in it.”

And in the monastery, Father Zosima said: “...It’s so good: the brethren are standing peacefully, quietly all around the throne, they have formed a circle of eternity, praying. Divine Liturgy, - we celebrate the liturgy of peace, the liturgy of love, the liturgy of unity.

We are not divided, even though among us there are Russians, and there are Greeks, and there are Bulgarians, and there are Gypsies... So we are not divided on national fascist grounds, we are all brothers and sisters,... a single spiritual family, our holy Russian Orthodox Church .

And God grant that this family serves as a good example for our state, so that we do not divide, but unite..."

In one of the conversations shortly before his death, Fr. Zosima said: “Forgive us, Lord, for our devastated Fatherland. That we, the Russian people, are being made artificial enemies - and yet we are all in the same font Kievan Rus, not Ukraine, were baptized. Dnieper is holy - for us sacred river. The Holy Dnieper unites three current nations. The holy Dnieper is our Russian Jordan. Forgive us, Lord, that we sow enmity - Muscovites, crests and other peoples - when we are all one Rus'.”

"If you make it hard"

“He who endures to the end will be saved...” Autograph of the elder. Image from fotopaterik.org

As a confessor, Zosima was always distinguished by simplicity and sobriety. “Don’t fall into mysticism—it’s harmful to the soul,” he warned. Our main miracle is liturgy, repentance and prayer.”

“Pray, but don’t beg. It is better not to pray enough than to pray too much. Do not go to extremes - extremes are not from God.

Do not be discouraged, do not give in to despair - there is no sin that cannot be cured by repentance: God is merciful, long-suffering and abundantly merciful.”

“So that the Lord does not become angry with us, always help those in need.”

“There are no dead ends in life, it’s all about our obsession with ourselves and our problems.”

“Be afraid to ruin each other’s mood. When, due to your dishonor, you become a burden to the people around you, when people around you begin to suffer from you, from your thoughts, from your sinful infirmities, from your whining, then take a closer look at yourself, because you are wrong.”

“The House of Mercy will stand until the end of time”

The first thing the elder built, reviving the parishes where he happened to serve, was a pilgrimage refectory. He considered it his duty to feed and water a person, and mothers always prepared a “brakes” for the journey for pilgrims from far away, even in the most difficult times.

The House of Mercy, the almshouse of the Holy Dormition Monastery, where there were about sixty elderly people, enjoyed his special care. O. Zosima gathered under his wing sickly grandparents who were doomed by the state to a miserable existence.

Father gave the House of Mercy special meaning in the spiritual life of the monastery: “The House of Mercy will stand until the end of time, the Lord himself walks here,” he once said.

Diseases and overcoming them for the benefit of others

Elder Zosima. Image from fotopaterik.org

After his stay in the "Music Box" the health of Fr. Zosima was completely upset. There were wounds on the legs from which blood oozed. At first, no one treated the disease, and erysipelas progressed so much that by 1995 the wounds on the legs reached the bones, and the temperature was almost constantly high: 39°, 40°, 41° - often reaching 42°.

And in this state he served and received people.

Vladimir, who often visited the elder, recalls: “It was already the beginning of twelve at night when I got to the priest - he asked, answered, when suddenly he suddenly passed out, closing his eyes. I froze, afraid to disturb the tired priest. After two or three minutes, Father Zosima came to his senses and said: “Sorry, I have a high temperature - about 42 degrees, I can’t stand it: I’m losing consciousness.”

Having received the instruction, I left the elder at about twelve.” Blessing me for the coming sleep, he said: “Well, go away. And I still have to read my schema rule.”

During his lifetime, Father Zosima (Sokur) spoke kind, heartfelt, simple and instructive words. They open to us the world of genuine Christian spiritual life, embodied in mercy, heartfelt crying and love for others. At the same time, this perspicacious old man menacingly denounced passions and vices modern world. His word sounded like thunder from the pulpit; he turned his righteous anger on the shameless schismatic autocephalists tearing apart Christ’s robe.

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima Sokur

Ivan Alekseevich Sokur (that was the name of Zosima’s father in the world) was born in the village. Kosolmanka, Verkhoturye district, Sverdlovsk region. This happened on September 3, 1944. His father died at the front that same year. Mother, Maria Ivanovna (future schema-nun Mariamna), was a peasant woman. She was friends with nuns, and for this she was sent to prison. There, in the hospital, her son was born. At first they wanted to name him Thaddeus (in honor of the apostle), but the mother’s acquaintances, who visited the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, received a blessing from schema-abbot Kuksha to name the baby John - in honor of John the Baptist.

The Path to the Priesthood

After her release, Maria Ivanovna and her son Ivan moved to live in Avdeevka, Donetsk region. Her sister lived there, who was a nun, and her name was Antonina. Once she was the spiritual daughter of Father John of Kronstadt himself.

In 1961, Ivan graduated with honors from Avdeevsk secondary school No. 1. But he did not immediately embark on the priestly path. First, from 1961 to 1964, he studied at an agricultural technical school and even managed to work as a veterinarian. Then, with his blessing, he became a novice Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. There, by the will of God, he ended up in the cell where Schema-Abbot Kuksha of Odessa once lived until his death. Ivan’s confessor, schema-abbot Valentin, predicted many events in his life, one might say, even his whole life.

Study in Leningrad

At first, he had an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Spiritual School; the state security service prevented this. Ivan Sokur moved to Novosibirsk and served for a year as a subdeacon with Archbishop Pavel (Golyshev).

From 1968 to 1975, he studied at the Theological Seminary and Academy of Leningrad, and he was immediately enrolled in the second year. In 1975, Ivan Sokur, at that time a 4th year student, was tonsured a monk by Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod with a name in honor of Savvaty Solovetsky.

Immediately after his studies he was sent to the Odessa Holy Dormition monastery. But the serious illness of his mother forced Savvaty to submit a petition for his transfer to the Donetsk diocese. There he began to serve as a village priest in the church of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky in the village. Alexandrovka, Maryinsky district. The church was poor, but Father Savvaty was able to make sure that the parishioners appeared, and the necessary repairs, and all the purchases necessary for the life of the church were made: the iconostasis, crosses, new icons. At that time, and this was 1980, churches in the USSR were basically closed, and Father Savvaty literally performed miracles, creating a worthy throne for the Lord.

Activity is punishable

In 1977 he was awarded and in 1983 - the Order St. Sergius Radonezh III Art., in 1984 - with a club. Soviet authorities have such active and courageous activities village priest didn’t like him, so he was repeatedly threatened and beaten. His health was failing. They began to transfer Father Savvaty from one parish to another in order to break the spirit of the priest who was inconvenient for them. Every year he moved from church to church, from city to city, from village to village, until in 1986 he became abbot of St. Basil's parish in the village. Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district (Lugansk region). And again, the first thing he does is repair, build and put everything in order. In 1988, he managed to build a baptismal chamber, abbot's chambers and a pilgrimage refectory.

In 1990, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and in 1992 he was tonsured into the schema, receiving the name Zosima. In 1997, thanks to his efforts, the almshouse for infirm people was tripled. In 1998, Father Zosima founded the Holy Dormition St. Nicholas Convent with fraternal and sister corps.

On August 29, 2002, Elder Zosima (Sokur) passed away. He knew that he would die soon. His body was buried on the territory of the monastery he built in a small chapel. His brainchild, the monastery, was put in order only in 2008. Patriarch Kirill himself came to consecrate him, who personally knew Father Zosima and spoke of him with great warmth.

Movies

The Ukrainian TV channel KRT created amazing films about the life of this outstanding, visionary old man: “The Life-Long Road”, “Funeral Prayer”. In 2005, the publishing house published the book “Schiarchimandrite Zosima (Sokur). A Word about Holy Rus'". In 2013, the second part of the same publishing house’s book about the elder, entitled “What the Soul Grieves Over,” was published.

About the prophecy of Zosima Sokur

Today, many years have passed since the day of his death, and only now many of his prophetic words have become painfully clear to the heart, since his most fatal predictions have come true. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted that he would be glorified as a saint in 2000 royal family Romanovs. In his sermons we hear him talk about how the end is approaching. The times of the Antichrist have already prepared their terrible disastrous scenarios, which are about to begin.

War, like the wrath of God, will fall on the Russian people. Blessed will be those who have not given birth, for this means that the children who are born today will die a martyr's death. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted blood, hard life and grief with tears. Today bombs are falling on Serbia, tomorrow NATO Satanists will bomb Kyiv and reach Moscow. Soon there will be more criminals than just normal people. There are guns everywhere, a man with glassy eyes can shoot another man for fun. The decline of morals in society. Betrayal of the Church, Motherland and all that is holy is being prepared.

Father Zosima (Sokur) warned that the whole battle would begin from Kyiv - from the cradle of Russian cities. From him it will roll across the entire Russian land and will not bypass Russia. Autocephalists will drive away true Orthodox clergy, many of whom will face prison and extortion.

According to him, “Western crests” will oppose the Orthodox faith. But monasticism will stand as an army against the servants of Antichrist until the very end of the age. There will be many more venerable martyrs and companions of monks; it is they who will courageously stand up at the moment when everyone bows to the Antichrist.

Father Zosima (Sokur) inspired all his children with the words that the Spirit of Rus' is powerful and invincible. The Russian bear sleeps, endures, but as soon as it wakes up and takes the club in its shaggy paw, and when it spins and hits, then all Masonic Europe will fly away from this Russian holy club. Mother Russia will stand, and there will be great grace there. The forces of the Antichrist will not defeat the Orthodox Church. The lamps of the true faith will always burn on the holy Russian land. The main thing is to be in the bosom of the Russian Patriarchal Church and its unshakable canons.

On August 29, 2002, the founder of the St. Nicholas Holy Dormition Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, reposed in the Lord. But people still rush to the priest - to the monastery. People still say: not “I’m going to Nikolskoye,” but “I’m going to see my father.”

They say that a long time ago, even before the revolution, Nikolskoye was sanctified by the Most Holy Theotokos with Her presence. And at the site of Her appearance, among the endless Donetsk steppes, a healing spring began to flow... And the people lived here wonderful! It is not for nothing that at the dawn of the last century, on the site of two modest wooden rural churches, St. Nicholas and St. Vasilievsky, two luxurious stone ones were erected in Nikolskoye. Their beauty was amazing, and the cost at that time was unthinkable. After the October revolution St. Nicholas Church destroyed, Svyato-Vasilievsky was closed. But the pious people continued to serve forbidden prayers at the spring of the Mother of God for a long time... It was then that a legend arose in Nikolskoye: when a monk comes to serve in the dilapidated St. Basil’s Church, two monasteries will open in Nikolskoye...

Hieromonk Savvaty (future Schema-Archimandrite Zosima) came here in 1986. To a dilapidated church without an iconostasis and to a burnt-out barn instead of a priest’s house. The priest was brought on the Day of Remembrance of St. John Chrysostom - also once persecuted for his faith. Father Zosima served the first service in Nikolskoye for the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. The wind was blowing through the temple, and during the Liturgy, the parishioners' feet froze to the floor... But after six months, an iconostasis appeared in the temple, and near the temple, literally from scratch, they built a priest's house, a baptismal station, and a refectory: Father Zosima always gave his blessing to feed the pilgrims. He knew what hunger was.

When did he find out? Maybe when, with his widowed mother, who at one time received a prison term for “religious propaganda” - attending the services of nuns, the spiritual children of John of Kronstadt - he lived on a meager twenty rubles a month? Or when Father Zosima himself was “chased” from one poor parish to another? This is how they wanted to break the “undesirable” one, who, in the era of eradicating any dissent and the wholesale destruction of churches, restored churches. And to which, despite any prohibitions and recommendations “from above,” people flocked from all sides. People who felt: there must be Someone in their life. That “Someone”, the path to Whom the priest opened for them.

“Save, O Lord, Thy people...”

Later, the priest’s spiritual children recalled that Father Zosima was driven to Nikolskoye so that people simply would not have the opportunity to get to him: there was no direct transport to the village, and there was no passing one either. But despite all the obstacles, people found their way to Father Zosima...

The time of Father Zosima's main service in Nikolskoye occurred during the collapse of the Union. Businesses were closing. People haven't received their salaries for months. Children fainted from hunger during lessons. And the old people committed suicide. People had nowhere to go. And they went to the priest. With their troubles, sorrows, grief and sorrows, sometimes they are simply simply hungry.

More spiritual father Father Schema-Abbot Valentin instructed him: “When you serve in the parish, people will come to you from afar. Always feed a person!” And Father Zosima religiously fulfilled this covenant: he fed all the visitors. And he blessed those who were especially poor to give them food for the journey. He often helped with money. “Hunger is the most terrible feeling,” said the priest.

The priest got into the habit of not taking money for his needs. Father Zosima was deeply convinced: a hundred people will not pay, but then there will be one who will give enough to help hundreds. And there were always benefactors...

Over time, a refectory, almshouse (House of Mercy), hospital, dental office appeared in Nikolskoye... Everything for the people.

"Let your light shine before men..."

The power of this man's influence was extraordinary. A five-minute conversation with Father Zosima restored people’s hope, the desire to live again... He radiated some kind of inner light and warmth that warmed and thawed the most despairing hearts. This ability to heal human souls (with prayer, words, glances) was the main miracle that people encountered in Nikolskoye. In some secret way, inaccessible to us, Father Zosima knew how to foresee and find exactly the only true way out that a person needed.

...Mother came to Father Zosima for a blessing for her son to enter the university. The woman was in despair: she had no money for her son’s education, and she had no confidence that her son would be able to enroll on a budget. Before she had time to utter a word, the elder said: “Don’t worry, mother, everything will be fine with your son. And when the guy manages his affairs, let him come to my monastery for two weeks.” The guy didn't make it through the competition. But his mother, remembering the priest’s words, did not allow him to take the documents, but sent him to live with his father Zosima. And the guy was actually enrolled in the university, but later. Now the guy wants to go to seminary.

…Once during a sermon, the priest turned to the woman and said: “When they kill you, mentally read the 50th Psalm three times, and the hands of the criminals will give up, and they will leave without causing you harm.” Then the woman was very surprised: who needs her at 60 years old? But a few days later, thieves actually broke into her apartment. They decided to deal with the interfering housewife simply: throw her out of the balcony. When the woman was almost thrown over the railing, she suddenly remembered the priest’s words. The woman did not remember the entire psalm. I mentally read the first three lines. And... the thieves left her without really causing any harm.

"Your faith has saved you"

This man’s faith passed all tests and was tempered in the crucible of suffering. Who knows, maybe that’s why he inspired such trust in people. People trusted Father Zosima with the most precious things - they gave their children to obey. And he became their spiritual father. A single family, brothers and sisters gathered around the priest...

The priest made the decision to found two monasteries in Nikolskoye, male and female, after clinical death, in 1998. Having received the blessing of the ruling bishop, Father Zosima set to work.

The ideal of monastic dispensation (monasticism in spirit, not in clothing) for the priest was the Optina Hermitage at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries: “...I cultivate in them the spirit of the Optina Hermitage, the spirit of love, the spirit of hospitality, the spirit of affability - this is what I constantly cultivate in them . Whether this upbringing of mine will be accepted depends on their hearts. God grant that the spirit of love of the great Optina elders of the 19th century will accompany our young holy monastery, so that you too will find all the consolation, support, joy and spiritual strength here to further carry your cross in life, to the glory of God.” The priests keep these covenants in the monastery to this day.

“And through your prayers you deliver our souls from death...”

The Most Holy Theotokos has always been considered the patroness of our Fatherland. And the Assumption churches were the main ones in most Russian monasteries. There is the Assumption Cathedral - an exact copy of the Kremlin - and in the Nikolsky Monastery: it was erected with the blessing of the priest after his death.

For monks all their earthly life path is nothing more than the path to death, preparation for the transition to eternity - preparation for the meeting with the Lord. Monk - a man dying for the world in resurrection future life. And the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos for him is the second evidence of immortality after the Resurrection of the Savior. A guarantee of reward for a future bright life.

Perhaps that is why the priest considered the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos to be the second holiday after Easter - the second Easter. These days, the Shroud and the temple were unusually richly decorated, always with fresh flowers. And always within three days the mothers renewed these flowers so that they were constantly bright and fragrant.

Father Alexander from Vladimirovka, which is close to Nikolsky, recalled that seven years before the priest’s death, at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos, someone called him and said that Father Zosima had died. Frightened Father Alexander rushed to Nikolskoye. When Father Zosima found out about the incident, he first laughed, and then suddenly became thoughtful and asked: “Can you imagine what it’s like to die at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos?” The priest repeated this question three times, and with such force, with such penetration that Father Alexander could not stand it and shed tears. Seven years later, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima rested in the Lord at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Father Zosima knew that he would die on the Assumption. It's hard to say what it was. Perhaps the gift of premonition? The inhabitants of the monastery remember very well how, in the summer of his death, the already seriously ill priest said to the old women whispering about him in one of the churches of the diocese: “No, I’m still alive. And when I die, I’ll tell you.” And later, at the monastery, he invited me to the burial: “I invite you to the rite of burial of the Shroud. Bury the Mother of God... Bury me.”

...Two days before the Dormition of the Mother of God, Father Zosima was taken to intensive care. Leaving the monastery, Father Zosima told the brethren in detail how to set up a canopy for the Most Holy Theotokos, where his coffin should stand... He said that he would arrive at the beginning of the Liturgy...

In the hospital, the priest was very worried that he would ruin the Assumption holiday for his brothers and sisters. So he died: not on the holiday itself, when it is appropriate to rejoice, but at the Burial of the Mother of God, when it is appropriate to cry. On the night of the Burial of the Mother of God, the monastery also mourned the priest.

Maria Volosyuk

Memoirs of His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol

Our acquaintance with the Elder occurred in 1980. I was a psalm-reader in the Holy Dormition Church in Donetsk. On the feast of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, we went to the church in the village of Aleksandrovka, where Fr. Zosima, then still Savvaty. There the new Throne was consecrated.

What struck me most was his courage. At a time when everything was being destroyed, churches and monasteries were closed - the consecration of the new Throne was something special, unheard of. After all, the clergy were all frightened, did not have their own opinions, and if they did, they kept them under wraps. And o. Savvaty always said directly what he thought, he was not afraid of anyone or anything. Never over the years have I seen any guile in him. He was a very honest, very sincere person.

Since then we have seen each other often. As a bishop, I admired the Elder for his desire for temple building. Aleksandrovka, Andreevka, Nikolskoye... In those places where Father Zosima served, churches were always restored and built. Over the 22 years of our acquaintance, I came to know him as a man who truly served God and Orthodox faith. He had a very rare, special God-given gift of prayer. He loved people, and people came to him for spiritual support, help, and faith.

He was fair. Both in rewards and in punishment. I was always afraid of offending people.

And also very modest in everyday life. For many years he wore a simple jacket. Clothes and household items were not important to him. But ancient icons, books, church vestments, utensils, he revered and never spared money on it.

As a bishop, I am grateful to him for founding the almshouse. He literally collected abandoned, useless old people. And they lived out the rest of their days in warmth, comfort and care. I myself repeatedly sent old people to Father Zosima who came to me in search of shelter. And then, arriving at the monastery, I saw their grateful faces.

Father Zosima will forever remain in our good memory, even just for the fact that he founded two monasteries. He called them “my village.” Father loved the monastic brethren very much and took care of them.

God gave him the gift of foreseeing certain events. And it always happened as he said. He foresaw my mother's death. She was paralyzed and sick. Father Zosima told me that I should go to my mother for Easter, otherwise I would stand at the coffin and reproach myself for not finding her alive. I, of course, went to my parents and spent several hours with my mother. Then I went to work in Mariupol, and on the way I was informed that my mother had passed away.

The motto of his life was to preserve the unity of the Church. He immediately began to fight autocephaly and trends of division. And the fact that the Donetsk diocese was one of the first to remain faithful to the Mother Church, the Moscow Patriarchate, is his merit, the merit of his prayer, his spiritual authority.

I really miss his advice and elder prayer; with his help, the most difficult problems were easily solved. difficult questions. And even today, I have been convinced of this more than once; if I turn to him in prayer, it turns out differently: I receive admonition on how to do the right thing.

We believe that Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was awarded the crown of glory - this was the constant goal of his life.

Memoirs of Schema-Archimandrite Alipius, abbot of the St. Basil's Monastery

For the first time I met Fr. Zosima (then he was still Savvaty) in 1976, when he served in Aleksandrovka. I then worked as a graphic designer at an enterprise. One believing woman told me: there is a monk serving there, he needs a good bookbinder - go.

And this meeting changed my whole life...

He lived by prayer, he loved to pray.

It used to happen, on holidays, when they baked a lot of prosphoras, they brought a lot of notes to the altar - he took out the pieces for a long, long time - he prayed for everyone. Sometimes, after Vespers, he would bless us at home: “Your Guardian Angel!” - and then he himself prays in the altar: he remembers everyone, does not leave anything out and does not leave anyone out.

He treated the service very responsibly: so that there was not even a speck on the holy throne, so that everything was done and read reverently, with the fear of God. And he taught us this attitude.

Father treated each icon, each saint with trepidation and instructed us: if you buy an icon, then so that it serves you not for decoration, but for prayer - come up, cross yourself and bow before the icon. He equally accepted both icons painted in the Byzantine style and in a pictorial manner. Didn't make any difference. What's the main thing? So that the icon helps to pray. “What does it matter,” said Father, “if the icon is wooden, but you don’t understand it? An icon should set the mood for prayer, be a window into the spiritual world.”

In recent years, Father has been very ill.

“I have a lot of ailments - for ten people, but I have to bear it alone,” he said. But looking from the outside, how he talked with people, showed concern, asked about everything and everyone, looking at his cheerful and lively face - no one would have thought that at that time he had a high temperature or was tormented by unbearable pain. He endured everything courageously, kept himself in control, and it was his courage and patience that surprised us most of all. And he constantly told us: “So that you don’t have sour faces. Never be discouraged, be cheerful, be a joy to people.

Do temptations happen? Well, without temptation there is no salvation. Fell? Get up and move on. But never be discouraged. Know that God will not leave us; if we left the world and came to serve God: God will never leave us.

The main thing is that there is peace between you. If there is peace, then there will be a monastery, and if there is no peace, then what is the use of buildings. They tolerate you - and you endure. Forgive each other, learn to forgive each other - then there will be peace between you, and everyone will be saved.”

Father laid out everything for us in advance, for many years: what and how to do. Sometimes he’ll call you over and let’s say: this is how it should be done. And I think: when will we have time, because we haven’t yet followed Father’s previous instructions, we haven’t even taken them up yet. And he seemed to answer my thoughts: “Well, I’m telling you this in advance, so that when I’m not there, you’ll do it.” And so he pointed out our whole life in advance.

And we live by this schedule of Father, and we believe that even today he is with us in spirit and helps us in our labors with his prayers.

From the memoirs of nun Varvara

...The center and meaning of life for the priest was the church and services. For him, it was not just the required performance of rites in the fullness of all circles of worship, he LIVED it! He did not just “remember” events or someone’s memory, it was direct participation in these events and living communication with the Church Triumphant. Never again have I seen a person so present - not to the shroud, but to the coffin(!) of a beloved dead person...

On Good Friday, for example, the priest said: “We stand before the grave dear person, let’s say our last “forgiveness” to Him…” or on Easter: “Go, proclaim to this sleeping world: we have seen Christ! We communicated with the risen Lord!” And it was not a rush of emotions, not beautiful phrases, it was REALITY, since they still resound in our hearts!

When he talked about some celebrated event, there was a feeling that he was talking about an eyewitness. Sometimes the details simply moved us. For example, on Candlemas he so colorfully described the three-hundred-year-old elder Simeon, who had been lying in weakness for many years, decrepit, shaking... And suddenly he gets up, goes out to meet the holy family, takes the Infant Christ in his arms, both from natural weakness and from the feelings overwhelming him. his legs give way, and righteous Anna rushes to him to support him...

You listen and involuntarily are transported in your heart there and contemplate this great event...

We still remember the “father’s litia” - it really was a deep prayer, and not a simple listing of the names of God’s saints. It seemed that they were all passing before the priest’s eyes, and he attracted the attention of the worshipers to many of them with just a few words: “... Mary Magdalene - who loved the sweetest Lord above all the blessings! hanged…” - for him they were real, living individuals and their feat was close.

Long before the holiday, he said: “And I already live for Christmas,” or: “And the Assumption is already in my heart...” I remember once, a few weeks before Lent, he gave an “exam” at a meal: he stood up anyone and asked: “How the first song of the Great One begins penitential canon? - and we all sang quietly together. Then from another: “And the second?” And so we sang the entire canon... Father said: “Learn everything by heart! You will have to serve in exile and prison without books, and then this will be a great consolation for you.” Father always prepared us for trials and persecution: “This time of peace will not last long.” He taught us: “Every holiday is like a star in the church firmament... cherish them, prepare for the meeting, experience each one as a life event! - because we were preparing for so long, waiting, and he just did it! - and has already passed... And that’s it! He is already in Eternity! And you can’t return a single moment back... Every time you leave the temple, think that this was the last service in your life, perhaps by this holiday next year the Lord will already call someone to himself.”

I remember how one day we started serving something wrong and were already singing “Quiet Light”, suddenly he “flew” into the temple, slammed the Royal Doors and forced us to start over - from the 9th hour! service. Father was very fond of magnificence, decorum and discipline in the service, and “bad” was the one who violated them... Nothing could stop Father! And we were afraid of him... Usually, after anointing with polyeleos, everyone had to go out somewhere, and people would simply “throw out” into the street, but if suddenly a rumor spread: “Father is coming,” the church square would immediately become empty...

He loved it very much when they sang the Lavra Great Doxology, he said that when he was in a state of clinical death, the Lord revealed to him the light and joy of eternal life, he heard angel singing, and now this chant each time distantly reminded him of those experiences.

Father was especially concerned about choir obedience, repeating: “Treasure this obedience, this is angelic obedience!” He took great care of the choir members: so that they would be rested and fed, and their necks would be treated so that they could sing! But if a person began to pity and cherish himself excessively, he became angry: “He is protecting his voice... the Lord will take His gift from you! The more I sing and serve, the stronger and stronger my voice becomes!”

He always said: “I judge a person not by what he does and how, but by how much he loves the temple!” And so that no one would lose the main thing - the service, he conducted a broadcast from the temple to all buildings of the monastery. Father did not have the opportunity to be in the church all the time, but he always closely followed the service, although he could communicate with someone at that time and resolve some issues. This was especially evident when he could casually say: “Who’s reading this now?” or: “What is he talking about!” Every word was important to him, and we knew it. They knew that even if the priest was not in the church, everything was under control! He could watch from the window who came and who left... so everyone tried to read, to show that, they say, I’m here! - to be visible, because they knew that the priest does not like “dark corners.”

Father was a connoisseur and connoisseur of true beauty. Listening to the recording of the Great Penitential Canon, which Patriarch Pimen read, he exclaimed: “What poetry!

And what is the power and greatness of this giant - the block of the church.” And when standing before the shroud, he always emphasized: “What beauty we contemplate! Mothers embroidered with their own hands!” Father valued handicrafts very much. Knowing how busy we were with dialysis, he often asked: “Show me how much you embroidered today!? Make just one stitch, and the Lord will count it as obedience!” When we brought him our works - the fruits of our labors, he carefully examined them, made adjustments and gave such advice that we were simply amazed at his wide knowledge, his subtle taste...

He was very sensitive to books, especially liturgical ones. God forbid if he sees someone writing in a book! And when they started or finished singing some book of the annual cycle of worship, the priest used to reverently venerate it...

He taught us to pray simply, he taught us to feel the living presence of God: “When you stand in church, remember all your teachers who taught you, educators, doctors, nurses who were there in difficult times, friends, acquaintances - and the service will fly by - you won’t notice... You go past the hospital - pray for the suffering, so that the Lord will strengthen them, comfort them, for the doctors, so that the Lord will instruct them to accept the right decision. If you drive past a school or kindergarten, pray for the children, for our future, for the teachers, so that the Lord will give them wisdom... So you will have constant prayer!” He himself had a synodikon, where he wrote down the names of all those who “passed through his heart” (he bequeathed the synodikon to be placed in his coffin after death). And we, trying to imitate him, all had synodics, remembering everyone who left a mark in our still so short life.

In general, the priest loved simplicity: “And then they start there: this Abba said this, and that Abba said that... Love the Optina elders, we should be close to the spirit of Optina - this is the Russian spirit of monasticism!” He loved Ambrose of Optina very much, often repeating his words: “Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, and where it’s tricky, there’s not a single one!”, “...don’t offend anyone, don’t annoy anyone, and to everyone - my respect.” He loved Pushkin, he often said: “Always remember the fairy tale about the fisherman and the fish, so as not to be like that woman with a broken trough...” He taught to cherish, to appreciate what you have: “It’s easy to lose, but it can be very difficult to get back.” I remember his words: “Be afraid of ruining someone’s mood...”

Father taught us not only with his simple and living words, with which he kindled our hearts, but above all with his personal example! His willpower was impressive. He could rise above his nature. There were moments when he felt especially bad (high blood pressure, temperature...), but there was a need for his presence, he could disregard all the exhortations and warnings of doctors and go out to the people in such a way that no one could even suspect that just five minutes ago the priest was practically was on the verge of death (such a miracle happened on Easter 2001).

I remember one case: even before the priest’s kidneys failed, he had an attack (a cerebrovascular accident), as a result of which he lost his speech. We called a neurologist from Donetsk. A great fear gripped us all, we were afraid of losing our Father... And when the neurologist arrived, such a huge giant uncle, and Father realized that they wanted to send him to the hospital (and he really didn’t want this), he began to gather all his strength, trying to get up and show that he was okay. When the doctor began to check his reflexes and suggested that he repeat “the crow croaked at the top of his lungs,” Father (who previously, in response to our attempts to insert a spoon into his mouth during convulsions, could only exhale in a fit of anger and resentment: “get out”), blurted out with his still naughty and burry tongue: “The cheese fell out, and such a cheat was with it!” - and he himself was so delighted with his trick!..

And this brought us all into indescribable joy! Krylov was one of his favorite authors...

He always demanded decorum and discipline, but he could not stand it when the inner was lost behind the external and there was no burning spirit. He said: “I don’t want it to be like in the army... The letter kills, but the spirit gives life... Don’t be begged for, frozen. The face should be bright and joyful. The monastic path is the path of joy!” Father spoke a lot about the love of God and the fact that a Christian has no reason to be despondent: “Why did the Lord create us? To save or destroy? Of course - to save!.. Never picture the Lord as cruel and punishing! By this you insult the Lord,” and, raising his index finger, he continued: “He is LONG-suffering and MUCH merciful!”

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima's feat of the cross

“The cup that I drink, you will also drink,” the Savior promised his disciples, and through them to all who find the courage to follow in His footsteps. Suffering and sorrow are the lot of all God's chosen ones. Because these sufferings are compassion for the Savior, the mystery of the redemption of the human race and cleansing from sin, the unbroken cup of Christ’s Love through the centuries.

“You are the salt of the world,” the Savior said to his disciples, that is, the essence and meaning of the existence of this visible creation. And as long as there are those who, out of their love for the Lord and fallen humanity, drink His Cup, this world will exist.

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, from the womb of his mother-confessor until his righteous death, was a great sufferer. It was in these sufferings and sorrows that the greatness and heavenly beauty of his spirit, not subject to the earthly laws of nature, were fully revealed. “I stand before the crucified Lord and always think - behold, tomorrow is my Golgotha. And if it weren’t for the joy of Christ’s Bright Resurrection, our strength would have faded from this sorrow,” said the Elder, exhausted under the weight of his cross.

And his illnesses were such that, as the doctors said, they would have been enough to kill even ten people. And the first thing that amazed, amazed, and awed was how the Elder, in such illnesses, was not only alive, but also served and himself consoled those who were suffering.

Father’s legs began to hurt back in Aleksandrovka, but after torture and interrogation he had large wounds, the size of a nickel, from which blood oozed. But Father himself still walked on his own feet and served in the temple of God.

At first, no one treated the disease, and erysipelas progressed so much that by 1995, the wounds on his legs reached the bones, and he almost constantly suffered from high fever: 39°, 40°, 41° - often reaching 42 °. And so, despite such a difficult condition, overcoming the weakness of the flesh with superhuman efforts, he performed his elder service, prayed and received people: “The first thing that stuck in my memory of Father,” recalls Sergius, “was when the weak Elder was brought under the arms to the baptismal church, he could barely sit, and these were the first words I heard from him: “Love is above all,” and he repeated again, “Love is above all...”

“It was already the beginning of twelve at night when I got to Father,” Vladimir recalls, “he was having a casual conversation, joking, when suddenly he suddenly passed out, closing his eyes. I froze, afraid to disturb the tired Father. A series of two or three minutes. Zosima came to his senses and said the words that struck me most: “I’m sorry, I have a high temperature - about 42°, I can’t stand it: I’m losing consciousness.” Having received instructions, at about 12 noon I left the Elder. Blessing me for the coming sleep, he said: “Well, go away. And I still have to read my schema rule.”

As nun Agapita said, Father went to bed after his evening rule around 2, and at 4 in the morning the light came on again: he was reading morning rule. And sometimes Father did not sleep at all, as was the case on Epiphany 2002: “After the night festive service The elder blessed the brethren to rest until lunch, and he himself went to receive guests, recalls Vladimir Nikolaevich. - He blessed us to come in the evening. At 5 o'clock we came in - the Elder was busy. At 8 o'clock he receives people. Only after 10 did we get to him for a blessing: “Father, haven’t you rested yet?” - I asked the Elder. “Can you really relax with you? “I’ll have a rest from you in the next world,” the Elder laughed good-naturedly and added, “Yes, perhaps you won’t give it there either...”

Father knew how to give people joy. Dying, exhausted, he spoke simple and kind words, and with his bright humor he cheered up our sad souls. “And no one knew how much it cost him,” says Mother Agapita, who attended the doctor’s appointment with Fr. Zosima, - As soon as the visitors left, the Elder immediately grew weaker: his temperature rose, he often groaned - the pain was unbearable...” These unbearable pains are the price he paid in the spiritual struggle for the salvation of a person, a soul that turned to him for help, Father begged with sweat and blood in a literal sense, as the Lord revealed to some of his children:

Having left Father’s place and not yet recovering from joy, I sat down on a bench near his window. Thinking about everything that was happening, I still did not know with what labors Father begged for our child. And the Lord revealed it to me. Mother, who was caring for the elder, came out of the cell and stood behind me. Another woman came out to meet her, and they were talking about something among themselves, but I didn’t hear their conversation. But I heard only one thing: “I don’t know what to do - like the Liturgy, like a basin of blood.” After that, I understood how hard it was for the Elder to pray for us” (R. B. Anna).

When Archimandrite Modest, together with the brethren from Starocherkassk, visited the schema-monk in intensive care and with his sensitive heart comprehended the meaning of his suffering, tears flowed in streams from the blue eyes of the gray-haired old man: he could not contemplate this great feat of love of the humble sufferer without tears.

After Fr. Zosima experienced clinical death, he felt relieved: to the joy of his children, he himself walked with his own legs and performed divine services. Thanks to his benefactors, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, together with the brethren of the monastery, made a number of pilgrimage trips to the great shrines of the Orthodox world: to the holy Mount Athos, throughout Holy Rus' (Kievo-Pechersk Lavra, Zadonsk, Diveevo, St. John's Monastery in St. Petersburg), to the Holy Sepulcher to the Holy Land. These trips were spiritual consolation and reinforcement for Fr. Zosima, which the all-merciful Lord granted before elevating his chosen one to his personal Golgotha.

From a book about help through the prayers of Father Zosima during his life and after his death

Galina Nikolaevna Kormishina, Donetsk region, Mariupol:

I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the fact that, through the prayers of our Father Zosima, He saved my relatives from death during Chechen war 1996.

My children and I left Grozny before the 1996 war, but my sisters and their families remained under bombing in Grozny. I was very worried, I didn’t sleep at night, I prayed. I decided to go to Father Zosima to find out about the fate of my three sisters and their families. I told everything to my father. He asked, “How do you pray?” I told him that I read everything I could get my hands on: Holy Bible, akathists to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Psalter. She said that I pray for them as if they were alive, but maybe they are no longer alive. He closed his eyes and sat there for a long time. eyes closed. I thought he had fallen asleep and wanted to leave, but he stopped me with his eyes closed and said: “I didn’t tell you everything.” Father Zosima opened his eyes and said: “What is going on in Grozny now. How many Russians and Chechens are dying for the sake of profit for a bunch of “new Russians.”

I was very worried what he would tell me about my relatives. Finally he told me that all my relatives were alive, and even the apartments in which they lived were all intact. I fell at Father Zosima’s feet with joy and began to kiss his hands with tears of joy and gratitude. Then she stood up and walked with her back to the door, thanking everyone and bowing. Father Zosima laughingly said: “Turn around and walk normally.” I reached the door and came to my senses: “Father Zosima, they didn’t bless me with an icon!”

He said: “Thank God! It's gone." This is because I was crazy with joy. Father said: “Why didn’t you write me the names of your relatives? I will pray for them." And what a miracle! The war ended, and all my relatives remained alive and well, and all their apartments remained intact.

I thank Father Zosima for his fervent prayers and will forever pray for him.

Servant of God Love, Makeevka:

I come to Father Zosima for a blessing to go to work (the child is 1.5 years old). I received the blessing, I went up to the door and suddenly the priest stopped me and said:

Lyuba, how is your father-in-law?

I stand and think, why did the priest remember him? He didn’t go to church, he brought his grandchildren to Nikolskoye to be baptized twice, and for some reason he was afraid of the priest. He said that the priest pierced him right through with his gaze. Father says:

Give him my words. Let him repent of his past communist life and take communion so that we can pray for him. He is on his deathbed.

And we didn’t see my father-in-law for a whole month; we were in the village with my parents. I’m driving in the car and thinking, probably during this time he got sick and now I’ll see him dying. I arrive, approach the house, and he is standing cheerful, grazing a goat. I conveyed the priest’s words, to which he replied: “What did the priest remember about me? If I go to church, it’s only to him.” My father-in-law asked me for literature to prepare. I read it, but still didn’t want to go to church with us. Time passed, he fell ill and was hospitalized. I said that it was necessary to take communion, and he replied that he himself wanted to go in his car. I told my father about this, and he said: “Let him not come here anymore, because he won’t get there. Invite your priest home or take him to your local church.” When I conveyed these words to my father-in-law, he replied: “Why invite my father home when I’m dying?” After clarification about afterlife, we agreed with him to go to church every other day. In the morning I called, but he changed his mind and said: “Take grandma first, she’s already old, she’s going to die sooner. And then, after her, I’ll go.” Five minutes later my mother-in-law calls and cries: “Dad died. I went out into the yard, fell and that’s it.” On the third day we went to Nikolskoye to serve a memorial service. We go in, and the priest says: “So he died without repentance. What darkness he has found himself in, what gnashing of teeth he hears now. And only you can beg him.” He told his mother-in-law to go to church, pray, bake pies and distribute them. “Beg him like that and you yourself will be saved.”

Servant of God Zoya, Vladimir region, Gus Khrustalny:

I saw Father Zosima only once, a year before he transferred to eternal life, on the day of the Apostle John the Theologian. At that time he was undergoing hospital treatment in Donetsk, but came to the liturgy, albeit at the very end, and delivered an excellent sermon. During the sermon, he seemed to be completely beaming and joyful. Speaking about the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, he also called us to love one another.

He spoke with difficulty. He was short of breath, but his face radiated joy. He was jubilant. And with a smile he said: “I’m like a bun. Only the bun left my grandfather and grandmother, and I also left the doctors. I need to get tested every three hours. I took time off to congratulate you on your patronal feast, but I cannot stay for the meal. I need to get tested on time.” And he went to the exit, blessing everyone at once. But this seemed not enough to me, and I decided to approach him and take his blessing.

And suddenly the priest shouted, looking just above me: “What are you doing here?” There’s nothing for you to do here!” And with his wooden rosary he hit me where it hurt. I had a pea-sized tumor in the posterior parietal region just to the left, and it was painful for me to comb my hair and wash my hair. And sometimes, turning awkwardly in bed, I also felt pain. Having arrived from the monastery, I expected that the migraine would go away, but the attacks repeated many times. But the tumor stopped hurting, and I simply forgot about it. And when I remembered a year later, I couldn’t find the place where she was.

Thank God that He gives us people like Elder Zosima!

I listened to Father Zosima’s sermon about the Dormition Fast, in which he said:

“The Assumption Fast, it’s only two weeks, leave all the fuss.” And I decided to put up wallpaper. I made some glue and brought it into the bathroom to cool. A two-year-old child was in another room. I put it on the floor and just turned away to pour water when my child sat down in the hot paste. The burns were severe. I didn’t go to the hospital because I knew there was ointment for burns. They brought the ointment, but the bubbles, like pears, remained. I was afraid to cut them at home. I had to apply ointment to the wounds and blisters. I had a fever all night. We didn't sleep. There was only one thought: how can we convey everything that happened to the priest so that he can help with his prayers. We prayed ourselves.

And the next morning my parents went to Nikolskoye to receive unction. They enter the yard, and Father Zosima comes towards them, leaning on a stick, and says: “Why, grandfather, did you sleep the whole night, and the child suffered?” Dad replied that he found out about this too late, because I didn’t want to upset anyone.

Father sent my parents to me, and by the time they arrived, according to Father’s prayers, a miracle happened. A friend of mine, who already knew about what had happened, brought me a woman in the morning who is preparing ointment for burns. This woman cut off the blisters, applied bandages with ointment and told the child to get up and walk. At this time the parents arrived. Afanasy stood up, took the stick in his hands and said: “Dad, mom, pray. I’m like Father Zosima: his legs hurt and so do mine.” We had tears in our eyes, we could not believe that a two-year-old child could say such a thing. And five days later we already thanked the priest for his prayerful help. Father heard us from a great distance when we asked for help.

Instructions from Elder Zosima. From the chronicle of 2002

“Be patient, hardworking. Holy hard work is the most important thing for a monk. They drive away the demon of fornication and others. Do not disdain any work. St. Job Pochaevsky loved work, especially the garden. They buried him in the garden and found him imperishable relics. Calluses are visible on his hands - he was not afraid of work. And his hands are soft: when they put them in the braces, they bend, like those of a living person. This is what hard work means! And if you slack off and be lazy, you will never become monks.

Father asked the brothers and sisters to sing “I see Your palace.” There were no notes, we didn’t know them from memory, so we went to get the notes. To this Father Zosima said: “They should know by heart. You will serve from memory. The time will come - on your bunks you will sing “The Hall” with tears and eat gruel.”

“Chamber” is my favorite chant. It’s dark in the temple, only candles are burning. Only in one altar is light a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven. And we ask the Lord: “Illuminate the robe of my soul and save me... (Sigh)... from the sleep of sin.” Wake up! Do not retreat from the Lord, the light must overcome the darkness in our lives. May the Lord save you from this sinful dream. Meet the “Chamber” with love, with candles, with tears. I bequeath to you: when the time comes for my death, to sing “The Chamber.” With a tear, do not be shy about this tear, so that the Lord will enlighten the robe of the soul. Conquer this temptation (sleep, laziness, negligence), so that darkness does not overtake you, but so that every soul is enlightened by the spiritual light of Tabor.

Help each other! Pray for a person if you see that he is depressed. But prayer can do anything.

Suffering is sent from God, not from people. Everything is God’s will, thank God for everything! The Savior endured everything, the holy saints of Optina and Pechersk. St. John Chrysostom said: “For everything, glory to God.” And with these words he went into eternity, imitating Job the Long-Suffering. He is alive and shows us the way to Eternity. A difficulty has arisen - kiss the holy cross, open the book righteous Job, read. If you do not read the book of righteous Job several times a year, you are not worthy to be called a Christian. Patriarch Sergius, persecuted by the “saints,” read the entire Bible in Lent in five ancient languages. Patriarch Alexy I, with a huge workload, read the Bible in three languages: Russian, ancient Greek, Church Slavonic.

Have you even read all the Gospels during Lent? You can’t cope here with just one monastery. And there is all of Russia. And the great saints found it at this time. They learned from these books how to endure suffering. Who remembers which apostolic word is read in Holy Saturday on proverbs? “The kvass is small, but the whole dough ferments.” So these holy fathers are small in number, but they defeated the entire machine of Freemasons, schismatics, and renovationists. This is what it means to feed on the word of God!

Prison awaits you all, gruel. Apartments will not save you if you renounce God. Read the book of Job the Long-Suffering, you will feel supported. And do not say to God: “For what?”, but “For everything, glory to God.” Lord strengthen you!

Yesterday I told you: “Wake up!” And my soul cries out to you. I see you sleeping. And Judas is approaching. And today the brothers and sisters sing: “I see Your palace, O my Savior, adorned and without clothes, I am not an imam, but I enter into it. Enlighten the robe of my soul, O Life-Giver, and save me.” I wish this enlightenment of the soul for myself and for you, my beloved flock. I give you food for thought. I tried to wake you up, and again I see that everyone is sleeping. I couldn't wake you up. This is where we stand. After sleep there is always a fall and betrayal. Fear the betrayal of Judas, but be faithful. The Lord is waiting for our awakening. And he will wait. Don't be discouraged, shake off your sleep. “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.” There is still time, God’s patience is great. God, who does not punish, is merciful, waits. How sad it is to look at your disfigured faces! They lose their human beauty from sleep. Awake, unfortunate, damned soul!

I am afraid to give those sleeping a brotherly kiss and blessing at the throne. Wake up! Evil time. Gethsemane ends, Golgotha ​​begins.<…>“Take care, my soul, not to be burdened with sleep.” Not a simple dream, but the dream of Gethsemane, when Christ betrays himself. Wake up. It will be too late when they take you by surprise and you become traitors. May the Lord strengthen you all!

Strive to be a ray of light! The Lord will not leave. “Go and sin no more” is the apogee of Christian life. The Lord will forgive, will not judge, will help you, together with the Mother of God, to carry the cross and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord is waiting. I wish that your heart will be filled with the image of the repentant harlot and that gloomy Judas will leave you. And with light - into Eternity. (Father's Word on Great Wednesday)

“The cut is cut...” What words! Here is spiritual food for the rest of your life, a spiritual supply. Great days... Place these moments in your heart. You need to know these services by heart. Bishop Grigory Chukov was on death row. They were pardoned, and they rejoiced like little children. Vladyka knew the Liturgy by heart, and kept a piece of antimension and sewn-up relics in his boot. They began to serve the Liturgy. The prisoners and the prisoners were silent, each praying attentively in their hearts. For the Body of Christ - black bread with bran and sawdust, for the Blood - juice was squeezed out of cherry berries. The Bishop broke it (there was no knife) and distributed it on pieces of paper. So they and the pieces of paper reverently ate Communion. Holy Rus'!!! This is how they died! And not like it is now:

“Oh, breathe... look at the sky.” They strove in spirit for the Body and Blood of Christ. And they went to their death without being horrified. It was a procession of joy. They sang “Rest with the Saints,” remembered their names and joyfully went to their deaths. These are our roots!

May the Lord protect you from the betrayal of Judas! May this not happen to you! God grant that we do not sell the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit and loyalty to Holy Rus'! Keep the Orthodox faith with love, with fear, with a peaceful heart. Tomorrow is either heaven or hell for you. Choose - either life or death. Help, Lord, you to choose the path of the prudent thief, the path of the harlot, but not the path of Judas, and peacefully spend the days of the Holy Passion. Grant, Lord, to worship the Divine Passion of Christ and sing Easter - the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

This is the way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven - the path of Christ's humility. No reprimands, no myrrh-streaming icons and miracles - repentance. John the Baptist said, “Repent.” The path of Christ of humility, greatness, spiritual beauty. Let every soul strive for the spiritual path. Consciously come to repentance. Do not blaspheme in word or deed... Do not confess where several people are at general confession. Only one at a time! Come consciously, remember at least one sin, but not according to the book. Consciously hate sin; If you don’t hate, you’ll never get rid of it, you’ll be a slave to sin and lust. Come consciously, the Lord is waiting. Like a prudent robber, even at the 11th hour, on your deathbed, sigh. A sigh of repentance opens the gates of heaven.

Yesterday I was told such a case. The brothers undertook to break a dry tree, and on it there was a birdhouse. How the starling flew out of it, how it attacked the workers, screaming so much that everyone fell from the tree. This is how to protect your home and children! I think about this starling with respect. Nature itself gives us images of our life. Our path in life is difficult. This starling showed us what to do so that our families were protected. The birdhouse teaches us courage. This is how courageous a Christian woman should be.

There were few people at the service in the temple. Father said: “Where are the people? They are sitting in the garden. And if they loved God, honored the day of the Apostle of Love, John the Theologian, God would give everything. And so - everything froze. The Day of the Apostle John the Theologian is a great annual holiday, but we have a departure: my turn, not mine. How easy it is to lose trust and never regain it. You are all rotten. I convict your insides with strong words. You really are like that inside, but you also don’t like it. I bless you to always honor this day. “Cleanse the insides of the bottle.” You hurted me. Formal performance is spiritual death.”

We deprive ourselves of joy with our sins. Live holy, pure, humbly. Where there is pride, there is no joy, only arrogance. A poor old woman prays, and a joyful smile illuminates her, her face, wrinkled like a crust of bread, glows with spiritual light. The Lord will not leave! Do not deprive yourself of the fruits of spiritual joy.

Are you hungry for truth? Open the Gospel. Not like the sectarians. Chapter such and such, verse such and such - this is blasphemy. And their interpretation is from their own mind, but ours is from the holy fathers. God forbid, pervert the word of God. Let this not happen! You feel that a person is proud, like sectarians, get away from this disgusting... “Our Father” does not know and argues, proves. Get away from these people, drive them away from you. How many of them came up to me! I’m reading “May God Rise,” and they’re running, breaking their legs. You will never prove anything, you will only damage your soul.

May God grant that we spend this Holy Week peacefully in families and at work. Keep peace, joy, meaning. Store canned food for the winter. Try to do alms: you did it yourself, with your own hands, from your own hands and give alms.

Just don’t offend God with your careless life. And if we insult, darkness, melancholy, and sorrow remain. May this not happen to us! Fight this temptation. Not like today. I came - the corpses were standing in the altar. That one is baking bread, that one is somewhere else... Treasure this evening. Treat services with love. Leave vanity, go to the Lord. The Lord is waiting for everyone, leave everything, go to the Lord, then there will be joy. Otherwise there will be no joy. Run to the temple to pray, celebrate, rejoice! May God grant that you understand my words for the rest of your life! Christ is Risen!

If the demon of anger attacks, run to another room, to the toilet - calm down, reason everything out and come back, solve all the problems peacefully. And if there is a quarrel, first ask for forgiveness - defeat the demon...

We turn to God: “Help me, Lord!” It came true - they immediately thanked me. And I tell you: never omit thanksgiving either in church or at home.

The Lord vouchsafed this Sunday evening to thank the Lord for the past week. And we ask to forgive our sins and blessings for our future lives. Whatever happens, thank God for everything. For illnesses, sorrows, trials, we thank the Lord. "God bless!" - as the life of St. says. John Chrysostom. We have no excuse - there are plenty of books. Everyone should read the life.

They performed the rite of monastic burial for Fr. Elijah. By the middle of the funeral service, Father arrived. He was outraged to the depths of his soul by the fact that they sang somehow, the stichera were read, and not sung. He said: “You are soulless. A brother in Christ has fallen asleep, why not sing stichera? How you feel will be the end. O. Elijah is an example of a monk, a clergyman: meek, humble, took communion, received unction. Pray to him for the granting of a Christian death. And you don’t need anything from anyone - complete soullessness.

We are filled with joy when peace and comfort fill our hearts. The Light of Tabor will shine on earth until the end of time.

God grant that you have a bright, joyful, pure look! Strengthen, Lord, to fight all temptations, to defeat the devil and in the light of Your face, Lord, to see salvation! Amen.

Will

I am a sinner Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, the founder of two monasteries (the Assumption St. Basil's Monastery and the Assumption St. Nicholas Convent), I leave my last will:

and after my death, sacredly and eternally, until your last breath, keep all testaments, those sacred traditions, that peculiarity of the services recorded by brothers and sisters in the monastery charter, preserving them to the smallest detail and not allowing any deviations;

stick strictly to Russian Orthodox Church and His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus';

in the event of Ukraine's departure from Moscow, whatever the autocephaly - lawless or “legal” - the connection with the Metropolitan of Kyiv is automatically interrupted.

From the existing monasteries, then form a House of Mercy, which will fulfill the holy laws of mercy: serving people until their burial. And the monastery must fulfill this commandment forever. Do not accept any threats or curses, since they are not canonical and lawless.

Stand firmly for the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the event of a fall from the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church (there is no ruling bishop), the monasteries pass into stauropegial management, under the omophorion of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. I pray to God and hope that His Holiness the Patriarch will not refuse and will accept him under his omophorion.

If this is impossible, then the monasteries will come under independent abbot management in the likeness of the Valaam monastery at the beginning of our century, under the guise of bright future times of unity of Ukraine and Russia, which, I deeply believe, will inevitably come, with which I go into eternity. For construction issues:

The construction of the main cathedral of the monasteries is founded and carried out in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and will be similar to the Patriarchal Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The main shrine is the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, painted on plinth, in the likeness of the miraculous Kiev-Pechersk icon of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. High altar consecrate in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the right side chapel - in honor of the Venerables Anthony and Theodosius and other wonderworkers of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and call it the Pechersk chapel. The left side aisle will be consecrated in honor Venerable Zosima and Savvaty and other wonderworkers and new martyrs of Solovetsky and call it the Solovetsky chapel.

The lower church of the cathedral should be consecrated in honor of All Saints from the ages who have pleased God and called All Saints. Services in the cathedral can only be performed at Sundays, vigils and great holidays.

The second church of the monastery is the Church of St. Basil the Great and is called Vasilyevsky. At the almshouse, a temple will be consecrated in honor of Sampson the Receiver.

At the holy gates, a bell tower and a gate church are built in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God with the revered image of the Iveron Most Holy Theotokos, painted on Athos.

Under Nikolsky convent refectory (for both monasteries) church in honor of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. At the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker women's monastery building with a house church in honor of the holy righteous John the Russian Confessor with revered shrines:

Ark with the relics of the holy righteous John the Russian Confessor; Icon of the holy righteous John the Russian Confessor, painted on Athos.

On the shore of the reservoir, a women's Znamensky monastery is being built in honor of the icons of the Mother of God "The Sign" of Kursk Root and Novgorod with a chopped wooden church in honor of the icon "The Sign", a cell building and a wooden chapel over the treasury.

In the village of Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district, a women's monastery is being built in honor of the holy blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky and the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. At the Alexander Nevsky Church, a sister building with a house church in honor of the Iveron Blessed Virgin Mary is being built.

A memorial chapel will be built over the grave of my mother, schema-nun Mariamna.

A guest courtyard for pilgrims with a refectory hall in a new almshouse is being built near the bell tower and the Holy Gates of the monastery. At the monastery, set up an exemplary apiary with a beekeeper's house and a chapel in honor of Zosima and Savvaty. A fraternal building with a refectory hall on the ground floor is being built near St. Basil's Church.

I bequeath the refectory church and the Future Assumption Cathedral to be consecrated To His Holiness the Patriarch Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. From September 2003, a monastery school will be created at the monastery, in which the following will be studied:

History of monasticism.

Asceticism.

Creations of the Holy Fathers.

Homiletics. Liturgics.

Sect studies.

Other church disciplines.

Also create an effective Sunday school for the growing children of our future. There should never be televisions or other satanic video equipment in the monastery.

The main languages ​​in the monastery should be Church Slavonic and Russian, the rest - as needed. As I depart into eternal life, I say my last word to you, dear brothers, sisters and all those praying in our monastery: stick to the Russian Orthodox Church - salvation is in it.

I give forgiveness to everyone from the grave, may God forgive you and have mercy on you according to His great and rich mercy. Those who came to me for spiritual guidance, stay in the holy monastery: brothers and sisters will help you and guide you on the path of salvation. Kneeling down, I ask for forgiveness from His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion and His Eminence Bishop Alipia.

I ask the farewell and permission prayer to be read by His Eminence Bishop Alipius, who tonsured me into the Great Angelic image- holy schema.

Everything that belonged to me during my life is accepted by the brothers and sisters of the monastery after my death. Give the icon of the Kazan Mother of God in a gilded silver frame to Metropolitan Hilarion for prayerful memory. The image of the Most Holy Theotokos “Three Joys”, which belonged to the martyr Tsar Nicholas II, should be given as a memorial to the benefactor of our monastery, Viktor Leonidovich Nusenkis.

I beg you, brothers and sisters! Keep the holy monastic charter, unity among yourself, love, brotherly love; sacredly fulfill the sacred traditions of the monastery, remain in obedience to Father Viceroy and Mother Abbess. The Lord will not leave you even after my death and will always be with us, protecting the monastery from all evil. Whatever temptation happens, repent and correct yourself. Release those who wish to leave the monastery as laymen, having removed all monastic and monastic robes.

Do not accept those who have retreated back: they are like Judas and are under eternal damnation God's. Wandering elder hieromonks, if they do not comply with the monastic rules, are not accepted into the ranks of the brethren, but into the almshouse.

Once again I beg the brothers and sisters to maintain unity. Don't divide the monasteries! In case of artificial separation, do not obey and be together.

From the grave I send God’s blessing and give kisses to everyone, I ask for your holy prayers, and God's grace will not leave you.

I ask you to write the historical truth about the holy monasteries and icons, without distorting anything, so that the historical truth of my past life can be restored.

Remain protected by God, brothers and sisters of our monastery.

May God's blessing be on all of you, on the monastery, on your families, on our benefactors.

Save yourself in the Lord!

The founder of the Assumption St. Basil's and Assumption St. Nicholas monasteries is poor

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima.

I ask you to read this testament at my coffin before the last kiss and distribute it to everyone.

I give from the grave, lifeless and speechless, Peace, Love and God's Blessing.

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima.

On Sunday, April 3, I and my friends visited the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery.

When the walls of a new monastery are erected on Earth and another candle of monastic prayer is lit before the Throne of the Lord in Heavenly Jerusalem, not only angels and people rejoice, but the entire universe rejoices: the sun, the moon, and myriads of stars. The birth of a monastery is an event of universal scale, and, as a rule, it is preceded by a chain of special miraculous signs - signs of the Lord's mercy to the human race.

They say that a long time ago, even before the revolution, Nikolskoye was sanctified by the Most Holy Theotokos with Her presence. And at the site of Her appearance, among the endless Donetsk steppes, a healing spring began to flow...
The Mother of God herself overshadowed all this with her mercy: here, in Nikolskoe, many pious people flocked to settle. Here, in this new Nazareth - the place of the manifestation of the Power of God, the exiled nuns from the Crimean monasteries found refuge, finding consolation among sorrows and deprivations at the feet of the Most Pure Virgin. Thus, monastic prayer ascended to the Lord from Nikolskaya Vesi long before the founding of the monastery.

And the people who lived here were wonderful! It is not for nothing that at the dawn of the last century, on the site of two modest wooden rural churches, St. Nicholas and St. Vasilievsky, two luxurious stone ones were erected in Nikolskoye - in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (erected in 1911) and in honor of Basil the Great (built in 1912). Their beauty was amazing, and the cost at that time was unthinkable, as evidenced by the remains of a certain wonderful faience iconostasis from St. Basil's Church: many large city churches could not afford such expensive decoration.

After the October revolution, St. Nicholas Church was destroyed and St. Vasilievsky was closed. But the pious people continued to serve forbidden prayers at the spring of the Mother of God for a long time... It was then that a legend arose in Nikolskoye: when a monk comes to serve in the dilapidated St. Basil’s Church, two monasteries will open in Nikolskoye...

And old-timers also say that the emergence of a monastery in Nikolskoye was predicted by one of the nuns of the Crimean Paraskevi monastery. The prophecy said that the monastery in Nikolskoye would be erected after the arrival of the monk.

So, Vanyusha Sokur, the future Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, had not yet been born, but in the Book of LIFE the Lord had already prescribed him earthly path. Holy Trinity The Lord Almighty, from the vain ways of men, saw the man after His heart and, long before his birth, chose him as the instrument of His all-good will.

Hieromonk Savvaty (future Schema-Archimandrite Zosima) came here in 1986. To a dilapidated church without an iconostasis and to a burnt-out barn instead of a priest’s house. The priest was brought on the Day of Remembrance of St. John Chrysostom - also once persecuted for his faith. Father Zosima served the first service in Nikolskoye for the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. The wind was blowing through the temple, and during the Liturgy the parishioners' feet froze to the floor... But after six months an iconostasis appeared in the temple, and near the temple, literally from scratch, they built a priest's house, a baptismal station, and a refectory: Father Zosima always gave his blessing to feed the pilgrims . He knew what hunger was.
When did he find out? Maybe when, with his widowed mother, who at one time received a prison term for “religious propaganda” - attending the services of nuns, the spiritual children of John of Kronstadt - he lived on a meager twenty rubles a month? Or when Father Zosima himself was “chased” from one poor parish to another? This is how they wanted to break the “undesirable” one, who, in the era of eradicating any dissent and the wholesale destruction of churches, restored churches. And to which, despite any prohibitions and recommendations “from above,” people flocked from all sides. People who felt: there must be Someone in their life. That “Someone”, the path to Whom the priest opened for them.

Later, the priest’s spiritual children recalled that Father Zosima was driven to Nikolskoye so that people simply would not have the opportunity to get to him: there was no direct transport to the village, and there was no passing one either. But despite all the obstacles, people found their way to Father Zosima...
The time of Father Zosima's main service in Nikolskoye occurred during the collapse of the Union. Businesses were closing. People haven't received their salaries for months. Children fainted from hunger during lessons. And the old people committed suicide. People had nowhere to go. And they went to the priest. With their troubles, sorrows, grief and sorrows, sometimes they are simply simply hungry.
Even the priest’s spiritual father, Schema-Hegumen Valentin, instructed him: “When you serve in the parish, people will come to you from afar. Always feed a person!” And Father Zosima religiously fulfilled this covenant: he fed all the visitors. And he blessed those who were especially poor to give them food for the journey. He often helped with money. “Hunger is the most terrible feeling,” said the priest.
The priest got into the habit of not taking money for his needs. Father Zosima was deeply convinced: a hundred people will not pay, but then there will be one who will give enough to help hundreds. And there were always benefactors...
Over time, a refectory, almshouse (House of Mercy), hospital, dental office appeared in Nikolskoye... Everything for the people.

The power of this man's influence was extraordinary. A five-minute conversation with Father Zosima restored people’s hope, the desire to live again... He radiated some kind of inner light and warmth that warmed and thawed the most despairing hearts. This ability to heal human souls (with prayer, words, glances) was the main miracle that people encountered in Nikolskoye. In some secret way, inaccessible to us, Father Zosima knew how to foresee and find exactly the only true way out that a person needed.

This man’s faith passed all tests and was tempered in the crucible of suffering. Who knows, maybe that’s why he inspired such trust in people. People trusted Father Zosima with the most precious things - they gave their children to obey. And he became their spiritual father. A single family, brothers and sisters gathered around the priest...
The priest made the decision to found two monasteries in Nikolskoye, male and female, after clinical death, in 1998. Having received the blessing of the ruling bishop, Father Zosima set to work.
The ideal of monastic dispensation (monasticism in spirit, not in clothing) for the priest was the Optina Hermitage at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries: “...I cultivate in them the spirit of the Optina Hermitage, the spirit of love, the spirit of hospitality, the spirit of affability - that’s what I constantly cultivate in them Whether this upbringing of mine will be accepted depends on their hearts. May the spirit of love of the great Optina elders of the 19th century accompany our young holy monastery, so that you too may find all the consolation, support, joy and spiritual strength here for the future. bearing your life's cross, for the glory of God." The priests keep these covenants in the monastery to this day.

The Most Holy Theotokos has always been considered the patroness of our Fatherland. And the Assumption churches were the main ones in most Russian monasteries. There is the Assumption Cathedral - an exact copy of the Kremlin - and in the Nikolsky Monastery: it was erected with the blessing of the priest after his death.
For monks, their entire earthly life path is nothing more than the path to death, preparation for the transition to eternity - preparation for the meeting with the Lord. A monk is a person who dies for the world in the resurrection of the future life. And the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos for him is the second evidence of immortality after the Resurrection of the Savior. A guarantee of reward for a future bright life.
Perhaps that is why the priest considered the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos to be the second holiday after Easter - the second Easter. These days, the Shroud and the temple were unusually richly decorated, always with fresh flowers. And always within three days the mothers renewed these flowers so that they were constantly bright and fragrant.
Father Alexander from Vladimirovka, which is close to Nikolsky, recalled that seven years before the priest’s death, at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos, someone called him and said that Father Zosima had died. Frightened Father Alexander rushed to Nikolskoye. When Father Zosima found out about the incident, he first laughed, and then suddenly became thoughtful and asked: “Can you imagine what it’s like to die at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos?” The priest repeated this question three times, and with such force, with such penetration that Father Alexander could not stand it and shed tears. Seven years later, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima rested in the Lord at the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Father Zosima knew that he would die on the Assumption. It's hard to say what it was. Perhaps the gift of premonition? The inhabitants of the monastery remember very well how, in the summer of his death, the already seriously ill priest said to the old women whispering about him in one of the churches of the diocese: “No, I’m still alive. And when I die, I’ll tell you.” And later, at the monastery, he invited me to the burial: “I invite you to the rite of burial of the Shroud. Bury the Mother of God... Bury me.”
...Two days before the Dormition of the Mother of God, Father Zosima was taken to intensive care. Leaving the monastery, Father Zosima told the brethren in detail how to set up a canopy for the Most Holy Theotokos, where his coffin should stand... He said that he would arrive at the beginning of the Liturgy...
In the hospital, the priest was very worried that he would ruin the Assumption holiday for his brothers and sisters. So he died: not on the holiday itself, when it is appropriate to rejoice, but at the Burial of the Mother of God, when it is appropriate to cry. On the night of the Burial of the Mother of God, the monastery also mourned the priest.......

Eight years have passed since the founder of the St. Nicholas Holy Dormition Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, reposed in the Lord. But people still rush to the priest - to the monastery. People still say: not “I’m going to Nikolskoye,” but “I’m going to see my father.”

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

So we went to the priest. And I had the chance to go to his chapel twice. The first time was right after the service, standing in line with pilgrims like us. They went in, lit candles, mentally turned to Father Zosima with their petitions and left, giving everyone the opportunity to visit him. And the second time, when there was half an hour left before leaving Nikolskoye, we decided to walk through the streets of the monastery again. The time was approaching one o'clock, the pilgrims from Donetsk and other nearby cities had almost left. When we approached the chapel, there was no one near it. So Natasha and I went in again and knelt before the grave of this holy man. There was a feeling in our souls that we had visited Zosima’s living father.

Entrance to the monastery

Leaving into eternity, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima bequeathed as the apple of his eye to preserve in the monastery the ancient Jerusalem Rule, all those features of the services that he, as a zealous servant, inherited from his mentors. Father Zosima lived by the beauty of divine services; each of his services was an unforgettable celebration, truly “heaven on earth.”
And this special “Zosimov” solemnity and majesty of the services is the spiritual heritage that the inhabitants of the monastery sacredly preserve and thanks to which pilgrims get the impression that the Elder is alive, that he still leads the entire monastery today: “He’s just serving in another church now, somewhere near"

One of the features of St. Nicholas traditions is that worshipers often (even on Bright Week) pray on their knees, which also comes from the Elder (by the way, in many Athos monasteries during Bright Week, kneeling prayers are allowed) Father himself explained this custom this way: “How can you listen to the Lord’s Prayer while standing? Only you must be on your knees, with reverence and trepidation, to turn to our Heavenly Father. And when one day one of the pilgrims was tempted in her thoughts by the fact that in Nikolskoye so many people pray on their knees during the service, then the Elder himself answered her thoughts in a conversation with her." "And you know how I used to, when my legs were healthier, love to pray on my knees: and you, too, pray on your knees to the Lord, when you feel tenderness and reverence in your heart - this pleases the Lord."

With the blessing of Father, in Nikolskoye it is customary to kiss icons not at the image, but at the frame of the icon case - out of humility, as Father Zosima explained and did so himself: “Are we worthy with our sinful lips to touch the sacred image? No, we only kiss the frame... "

With the blessing of Father Zosima, the Indestructible Psalter is read in the Almshouse and the nursing corps. And the entire annual and weekly cycle of worship is performed strictly as the Elder himself determined it.

Nuns are buried here

Chapel where Father Zosima is buried

Flowers are here at any time of the year

Painting of the chapel dome

Burials near the chapel
Priest Tikhon (1898-1991), Archpriest Platon (1871-1920) Archpriest Peter

Spring


The shrine of the St. Nicholas Monastery is a holy treasure.
With the blessing of the Elder, a treasure was dug near the St. Basil's Church, which was consecrated in honor of Zosima and Savvatius of Solovetsky. At this treasure trove, Father performed water-blessing prayers. “I prayed that God would grant this water the power to heal various diseases,” the schema-monk once said. And the Elder’s prayers worked a miracle: the bitter and salty water, which at first was impossible to drink, became sweet and pleasant.

Pilgrims take this water as a shrine, many having experienced its healing power.

A monastery store where you can buy icons, church utensils, buy candles, and order prayers for health and peace.

Refectory for pilgrims.
We were in the refectory. We ate very tasty cooked rice soup and wheat porridge. The refectory is spacious. Everyone is treated to free food here. Few of the pilgrims know that during the pilgrimage meal (one of the most difficult obediences) they work for Christ for the sake of the schema nun - after all, Father Zosima blessed them for this holy work.
And in the kitchen on the wall, also with the blessing of the Elder, there is an inscription: “Keep quiet - the Jesus Prayer is being said.”
The schema-monk often repeated like the alphabet: “When your hands are working, do not idle, but say the Jesus Prayer, and you will have spiritual fruit, and your work will be blessed.”

Father especially loved flowers - these islands of paradise on a sinful earth. Here are the first spring flowers near the refectory.

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