Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) was one of the most revered contemporary clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the end of the XX and early XXI century. In absentia, he was called the "All-Russian Elder." The legacy he left to his descendants is touching to the core. Back in the mid-90s, already quite old age, the Monk John Krestyankin very willingly received visitors who came to him in the Pskov-Caves monastery from all over Russia. This proximity made it very understandable for us. In the last years of his life, he gladly shared his memories. Therefore, we are very fortunate that we know more about Father John than about others and confessors who were martyred in those places from where the future archimandrite was destined to return.

Confession of John Krestyankin

People who were lucky enough to see Fr. John at least once have the most heartfelt and Nice memories. They tell how he inspired church services and as always he walked from the temple, surrounded by a crowd of old and young people who sometimes came just to see him. As Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) walked swiftly, as if flying, at the same time he managed to answer questions and distribute gifts intended for himself. How he kindly received spiritual children in his cell, seating them on an old sofa, and after a couple of minutes of conversation, doubts and anxieties immediately disappeared from a person. At the same time, the elder presented with icons, spiritual books and brochures, generously sprinkled with holy water and anointed with “butter”. After such a spiritual nourishment, it is impossible to imagine what kind of spiritual uplift people felt when they returned to their homes.

Caring for your spiritual children

In the corner of Fr. John's cell stood a bag of letters, to which he answered with his own hand. Only a few months before his death, his cell-attendant Smirnova Tatyana Sergeevna helped him answer the messages. Even on Father John's last Christmas, his spiritual children also received such familiar and such lovely postcards with personal congratulations.

John Krestyankin. Sermons

It was not for nothing that he was called the "All-Russian Elder", because he had the gift of clairvoyance, and there is a lot of evidence for this. Elder John Krestyankin during the Soviet era endured torture in the camps and miraculously escaped death several times. He became the author of numerous and very inspired sermons, which today have sold millions of copies. John Krestyankin seemed to know in advance that many people from the generation of the 70s would begin their journey to Orthodox faith from them and how they will need them. In one of the first books, John Krestyankin begins his construction of confession with an explanation main secret which all believers need to know. It was revealed to us by Jesus Christ Himself, and it is contained in the words Holy Scripture: "Without Me you can't do anything."

The perspicacious old man was an extraordinary prayer book, since in his prayers he always mentioned those people with whom he had ever met.

short biography

Vanya was born in the city of Orel in 1910 on April 11 (March 29 according to the old style), in the bourgeois family of the Krestyankins (Mikhail and Elizabeth). And he was their eighth child. He received his name in honor of St. John the Hermit, as he was born on the day of his memory. However, it is also interesting that on this day the memory of the Pskov-Caves holy fathers Mark and Jonah is also honored. And this is certainly no coincidence, since then for about forty years he will live in the Pskov-Caves Monastery, where he will become famous as a perspicacious old man.

Vanya's father died very early, and his mother was engaged in his upbringing. Relatives helped the family, among them was an uncle, a merchant Aleksandrovich.

From the age of 6, the boy served in the church, and at 12 he expressed a desire to become a monk, but this will happen much later.

In 1929, after graduating general education school, Ivan Krestyankin went to study accounting courses. Then he began to work in his specialty in Orel. But in his heart he always wanted to serve God. He had a lot of work, and because of this, he often did not have time for church services, therefore, at the prompting of the old woman Vera Loginova, he was forced to quit and in 1932 he moved to Moscow. Then the war began. He was not taken to the front because of poor eyesight.

Moscow. Postwar years

In Moscow in July 1944, Ivan Krestyankin became a psalmist at the Izmailovsky Church. It was this temple that the future archimandrite saw in a dream. After 6 months, John Krestyankin was ordained a deacon, and after 9 months he became a priest with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy I.

After the war, a powerful revival of the Orthodox Church began, more and more believers reached out to churches. At that time, people more than ever needed special sensitivity and compassion, as well as material assistance. Father John devoted himself completely to the service of the church and people, and at the same time studied in absentia at the Moscow Theological Academy. Then he began to write a candidate thesis about the holy miracle worker Seraphim of Sarov, but did not have time, because in 1950 he was arrested.

Camp

He spent several months of pre-trial detention in and on the Lubyanka. He was sentenced to 7 years under an article for anti-Soviet agitation and sent to a strict regime camp in the Arkhangelsk region. First, he felled wood in the camp, and in the spring of 1953 he was transferred to the disabled department of the camp near Kuibyshev in Garilova Polyana, where he began working as an accountant. In the winter of 1955, Father John was released ahead of schedule.

Campmate Vladimir Kabo recalled how kindness and love radiated from his eyes and whole face, especially when he spoke with someone. In all his words there was great attention and participation, sometimes there was a paternal admonition, brightened up with gentle humor. Reverend Father John Krestyankin really liked to joke, and there was something of an intellectual in these manners.

Pskov diocese

When he was released, he was strictly forbidden to return to Moscow. Therefore, he began to serve in the Pskov diocese of the Trinity Cathedral. The authorities vigilantly followed the active church activities of Father John and again began to threaten with arrest. Then he left Pskov and continued his ministry in the Ryazan diocese.

And on June 10, 1966, he was tonsured a monk with the name John. In 1967, I transferred him to the Pskov-Caves Monastery.

Reverend Elder

John Krestyankin lived in this monastery until his death. At first he was abbot of the monastery, and since 1973 - archimandrite. A year later, believers began to come to his monastery even from abroad. Everyone loved the elder very much for his high spirituality and wisdom.

In 2005, 95-year-old Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) was awarded a church order Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky I degree. At the same age, the elder introduced himself, it was February 5, 2006. His body rests in the caves of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery.

"Unholy Saints"

In his book “Unholy Saints and Other Stories”, he very excitingly and interestingly describes fragments of the life and cases of clairvoyance of the famous All-Russian elder and preacher John Krestyankin.

In 2007 he even created documentary under the name "Pskov-Caves monastery". In his film, he used unique documentary footage from 1986, depicting the great ascetics still alive, who spent most of their time in persecution. Among them was John Krestyankin. Struggling for a great feat, they preserved the treasures of faith.

In conclusion, it would be appropriate to recall the words of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin): “It happens sometimes that a person begins to languish and yearn for no reason. This means that his soul missed a pure life, felt its sinfulness, got tired of the noise and fuss and began (often unconsciously) to seek God and communion with him.

… It is easy to commit sins, but it takes a lot of effort and labor to rise from sin. But life is so short, and ahead of Eternity ...

It is necessary to begin resistance to the enemy who is torturing you with the sacraments. The first and most important thing is confession. You need to find that place in your life that gave the enemy the freedom to enter you. The enemy enters imperceptibly, and in order to expel him, you need to put a lot of work and effort. Know that the purpose of the enemy who guards you is to destroy your life…

... As for the sectarians, do not deceive yourself - everything is fine, except for the salvation of the soul, and is it really so wonderful? ..

Abortions (hell on earth, hell after death) - Blessing - God. living faith – Mother of God- Faith is unbelief. Helping Unbelievers Through Prayer - God's Will - Raising Children. About the power of mother's prayer - Pride. About imaginary righteousness - Spiritual Sword. There is no world. There is no heaven on earth, and we are not angels - Prayer. About the Jesus Prayer - New Beginners - Condemnation - Repentance - Charm - Sectarianism - Family life- Sorrow. Calamity as the mercy of God - Death - Dark forces. The enemy is strong, but only the Lord is omnipotent. On Spiritual Warfare - Trust in God - Church

Abortion (hell on earth, hell after death)

...Know that for each, at the will of the mother, an unborn baby, those others whom she will give birth to "joy" to herself will reward her with sorrows, illnesses, and mental hardness. This is the law. After infanticide, one cannot expect a prosperous life on earth, and it is even scary to think about life in eternity. One word - hell.

Hell on earth, hell beyond the grave. And do you know why it is only this way and not otherwise? Yes, because you will be in charge of doing this terrible atrocity, deliberately killing the angelic infant soul.

“The retreat is on the earth, and we must hold on to the Church, for her Pilot is the Savior Himself…

... We ... will not doubt for a moment the omnipotence of God's Providence, which knows how to save the faithful and those who love God. Here is our weapon – love for God and the Church…

Now very many themselves are only just entering the Church, and they begin to be saved not from their own correction, but from criticism of the Church. Know that there is no salvation without the Church, and the Lord Himself is the Pilot»

Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)

The retreat is on the ground - Salvation in the Church"The latter will be greater than the former"

Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) (1910-2006) writes: “...Someone will not live to see that open choice - either faith, or bread, - but the choice of a life path: either for God or against God - is made in the life of every person both earlier and now, and until the end of life. Only on the scales is not yet a piece of bread. And that time will come. But when? God knows! How more people choose life against God, the sooner the last choice draws near.The earth will cease to give birth to bread from the malice of those who live on it. All nature will cry out to God from human iniquity. The field of life will be overgrown with thorns and weeds, and we are laborers in this field, laborers in God's field.

“The false earthly mind, which has become the guide of modern man, actively opposes spiritual life. Hearing words of instruction from confessors, so simple and seemingly accessible, hearing the Word of God, they cannot accept what these life truths are assimilated and understood only when they are fulfilled by life itself, otherwise the Word will be distorted and abused...

... The strength of the confessor in this battle is in prayer and in love for the soul of the child who desires salvation. The protection of the child is in trust in the confessor and in the consciousness of one’s sinfulness and in distrust of oneself ... ”

Elder John Krestyankin

The difficulties of the Church in the last times:false spirituality, departure from the way of the cross -Salvation in the patience of sorrows, the knowledge of one's weakness and humility

Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) (1910-2006):“The clergy is one of the treasures of salvation, bestowed and blessed by Christ on His Holy Church.

I am the Good Shepherd: and I know mine, and they know mine. ... And My voice will be heard: and there will be one flock, and one Shepherd(John 10, 14, 16).

And they went, and they go to this day, and they are saved, embodying God's decrees in life, and the Church of God and the peace of God were built by teaching, preaching, spirituality ...

"Fathers and mothers! You cannot be saved alone without your children.- and this must be remembered! What can we expect from children if our concern for them will be limited only to the desire to feed and clothe them? And who will do the rest? Street? School? And it is impossible, my dears, to forget one more thing. The words of a stranger, even a well-meaning one, affect the mind of a child, mother's word directly touches his heart, and the word and example of the father give the child strength and energy for incarnation ... "

Elder John Krestyankin

Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) (1910-2006) about raising children in our modern conditions In one of his sermons he says: “What is the reason, where is the root of the cruel and gloomy bad weather that surrounds the world and puts it on the brink of death? Are we not the destroyers of the home church, are we not the violators of the ancient rules of family order, are we not the ones who gave our children to be raised in a country far away, where they feed them with thistles and thorns and take them away from the Heavenly Father, take them away from earthly parents.

Life is hard work. And it becomes unbearably difficult when God is expelled from it. After all, when God is expelled from the house, they come to His place evil spirits who sow their deadly weeds. Gloom and darkness have long begun to carry out their deadly plans, rebelling on the family, on motherhood, which hides the future of the world - the upbringing of offspring. And we need to understand this, because this is our present and our future. And this is our responsibility to God. Terrible responsibility!

And reasoning with advice

Temptations of time, TIN, new documents

1. 70 years of captivity could not but leave an imprint on people. Captivity has passed, but a new misfortune is on the threshold - freedom and permissiveness to all evil
2. Experience shows that those who came to the Throne from rock music cannot serve for salvation ... Some cannot stand at the throne at all, and some sink to the bottom of hell with such iniquities that they did not even before taking the dignity
3. Some release religious literature on the computer, while others create disgrace. And, using the same technique, some are saved, while others die already here on earth.
4. Appeal to bioenergetics is an appeal to the enemy of God
5. You cannot simultaneously take in the Blood and Body of the Lord and urine. There is no blessing of the Church for the treatment of urine
6. Take cards: you are not yet asked about your faith and are not forced to renounce God
7. The seal will appear when he reigns and receives power, and there will be one and only ruler on earth, and now each state has its own head. And therefore, do not panic prematurely, but fear now the sins that open and corner the way for the future Antichrist

Sorrow, illness, old age

1. The time has come when a person is saved only by sorrows. So, everyone needs to bow at the feet and kiss the handle
2. It is necessary to look not for joy, but for that which contributes to the salvation of the soul
3. They don’t descend from the Cross given by God - they take it off
4. It is good that you mourn, it is a kind of prayer. Just don't let the murmur
5. In conclusion, I had a true prayer - and this is because every day was on the verge of death
6. The last believers will be in the eyes of God more than the first, more than those who have accomplished feats unthinkable for our time
7. Diseases - God's permission - contribute to the good of man. They slow down our crazy run through life and make us think and seek help. Usually, human help powerless, exhausted very quickly, and the person turns to God
8. It is necessary to fulfill the prescriptions of age, they are given to us from above, and whoever opposes them opposes God's determination about us
9. Gather together, confess and take communion - and with God give yourself to the doctors. Doctors and medicines are from God, and they are given to help us

God, His Providence and Salvation

1. The world is ruled only by God's Providence. This is the salvation of a believing person and this is the strength to endure earthly sorrows.
2. God does not consult with anyone and does not give an account to anyone. One thing is certain: everything He does is good for us, one good, one love.
3. Without everything is scary and life itself is not in life
4. Life is especially difficult now, but do you know why? Yes, because they completely departed from the Source of life - from God
5. Important not What do, but How and in the name Whom. This is salvation
6. There are no obstacles for those who want to be saved at all times, for those who wish are led along the path of salvation by the Savior Himself

Family, parenting, abortion, work and school

1. If your feelings include the apostolic definition of the concept of love (1 Cor. 13), then you will not be far from happiness
2. By the command of God, the first and most important blessing for creation, you must both receive from your parents. They are given sacramental knowledge about children, bordering on providence
3. Church canons you need to know: a possible difference in age plus or minus 5 years, more is unacceptable
4. For each - by the will of the mother of the unborn - baby, those others whom she gives birth "for the joy" of herself, will reward her with sorrows, illnesses,
5. If the votes are divided at the family council, then the voice of the spouse should be taken at the head
6. Work must be treated as obedience, and in professional terms, always be at the proper level, and not below average
7. Studying for the sake of killing time is a sin. Time must be valued

Monasticism

1. It is necessary to go to the monastery not because the family has collapsed, but because the heart burns with the desire to be saved by the difficult path and serve God undividedly
2. With the Lord, both saving and honest marriage is commendable. And each person chooses. But that both are cross-bearing, that's for sure
3. It is fitting for a monk to fight temptations on the spot: in a new place, the same demon will take up arms against you with redoubled force by right, for he once already won a victory over you, driving you out of the battlefield

Eldership, spirituality, priesthood

1. The elders you are looking for are no longer there. Because there are no novices, but only interrogators
2. retreats when they do not accept God's the first time, and then falls silent
3. To think for you in everything and to lead you like a blind man by the hand, I don’t see the point and benefit: you will become relaxed
4. Go to church, confess, ask many questions about your concerns. And only when you realize that out of many one is the closest to your soul, you will turn only to him.
5. The Minister of the Church needs a companion-assistant, not a hindrance
6. It is not befitting for a priest to play the part - this is a grave sin for him
7. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I (he ordained Father John - ed. note) said: “Fulfill everything that is written in the Treasury, and endure everything that you find behind it. And you will be saved"

Orthodox Church, preaching Orthodoxy

1. If it had been planted with a fist, then it would not have been on earth for a long time
2. Others do not need to talk about God when they do not yet have the inclination to hear about Him. You provoke them to blasphemy
3. Faith will come to your spouse in response to your labors and wise behavior with him in everything
4. Let us not flatter ourselves with the thought that we can be more just than the Lord, but let us obey His commands given to us by the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers, and this obedience will be both saving for us and beneficial for those close to us.
5. Be afraid to fall away from the Mother Church: she alone is holding back the lava of anti-Christian revelry in the world now!

Years in the city of Orel in the family of Mikhail Dmitrievich and Elizaveta Illarionovna Krestyankin. He was the eighth child in the family. The boy was named John in honor of St. John the Hermit celebrated on this day.

As a child, he served in the temple, was a novice at the Oryol Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov), known for his monastic rigor. When Vanya was two years old, his father Mikhail Dmitrievich died. A deeply religious and pious mother was engaged in raising her son. Father John preserved in his grateful memory the labors of love of those who led and instructed him spiritually. From infancy to youth, these are the Oryol archpriests: Father Nikolai Azbukin and Father Vsevolod Kovrigin. At the age of 10, he experienced the influence of Archpriest-Elder Georgy Kosov from the village of Spas-Chekryak, Oryol Territory, who was the spiritual child of St. Ambrose of Optina.

Father John received his first indication of future monasticism in his adolescence from two friends - bishops: Archbishop Seraphim (Ostroumov), the future holy martyr, and Bishop Nicholas (Nikolsky). Orel old nun Vera Alexandrovna Loginova, blessing him for life in Moscow, looked into the distant future of the young man John, arranging a meeting with her on Pskov land.

After high school he graduated from accounting courses and, having moved to Moscow, worked in this specialty.

Monasticism was taught by the priest and the monastic charter of life, and living elders who labored in the Caves monastery: Hieroschemamonk Simeon (Zhelnin), Schema-Archimandrite Pimen (Gavrilenko), Archimandrite Afinogen (Agapov), the vicar, Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov); also recent Valaam elders: Hieroschemamonk Michael (Pitkevich), Schemamonk Luka (Zemskov), Schemamonk Nikolai (Monakhov); Bishops who lived in retirement in the monastery: Bishop Theodore (Tekuchev) and Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov).

Father John is known and revered in the most different countries peace. Words cannot express what Father John meant to his spiritual children and to the entire Russian Orthodox Church. Last years, due to age and illness, he was not able to receive all those who thirsted for his advice. However, letters from different parts of the world continue to arrive at the address of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. The sermons, the books of Father John continue to open a new one, spiritual world for thousands of people and bring yearning souls to God.

Among the most famous and popular books compiled on the basis of his conversations and letters are “The experience of building a confession”, “Sermons, reflections, congratulations”, “A handbook for monastics and laity”, as well as a collection of “Letters from Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)”. The conversations and letters of Father John have been translated and published in foreign languages.

Archim. John (Krestyankina)

My dear family and friends! The day of my life has bowed to sunset. And I've been notified twice already. For the first time ten years ago, but someone's prayers bowed the Lord to mercy and prolonged my stay in the earthly vale. And now, on December 2, 2004, I visibly saw that I had already crossed the river of my life, and I was standing on the eve of Eternity. And as gratitude to God and the Holy Mother of the Church, and most importantly, as a testimony that the Providence of God leads us along life path, I leave these brief notes as a mirror reflecting this obvious truth. My scattered episodic narratives have been recorded since 1981. And these were not stories about me, but illustrations of some life situations for others from my life. Now, when this “patchwork quilt” has taken shape, and I have turned over the pages of my life, returning to the past, I myself was touched, seeing the richness of God's mercy to me, a poor and sinful person. And on the threshold of the New Life, the Life that has matured on earthly pastures, I stand with bated breath in anticipation of a meeting with my Lord, a meeting that my soul has longed for all my life. And to you, as a request for a prayerful memory of me, I leave these notes about life in God and a testament verified by my very life:

My dear children of God! Believe God, trust in His always good will for us. Accept everything in life, and joy, and joylessness, and prosperity, and villainy, as the mercy and truth of the ways of the Lord. And fear nothing in life except sin. Only he deprives us of God's favor and gives us over to the power of the enemy's arbitrariness and tyranny. Love God! Love love and each other to the point of selflessness. The Lord knows how to save those who love Him.

Bibliography

1. Chernyshev V. Blessed memory writer Oleg Volkov.. Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate.. Moscow. 1996 No. 3. p. 47..
2. John (Krestyankin). Sheet of the hospital church of St. blgv. Tsarevich Dimitri. Moscow. Hospital Church of St. blgv. Tsarevich Dimitry.. 0 No. 18. 6 p.. Sermon
3. John (Krestyankin). Sermon on Forgiveness Sunday. blgv. Tsarevich Dimitri. Moscow. Hospital Church of St. blgv. Tsarevich Demetrius. 0 No. 16. 8 p. Sermon
4. Derzhavin I., archpriest.. Rural father / Recorded by Anton Zhogolev.. Blagovest.. Samara. 1995 No. 15..

Biography

Childhood

was eighth and last child in the family of the Oryol philistines Mikhail Dmitrievich and Elisaveta Ilarionovna Krestyankin. Since childhood, he served in the temple, was a novice of the famous Archbishop of Oryol Seraphim (Ostroumov) (the future holy martyr, canonized in 2001). Already at the age of six he was a sacristan, then he acted as a subdeacon. At the age of twelve he expressed his desire to be a monk for the first time. In the biography of the elder, this story is described as follows:

At a civilian job

I remember how he walked with his light, swift gait - he didn’t walk, but flew - along the wooden walkways to our barracks, in his neat black jacket, buttoned up with all the buttons. He had long black hair - the prisoners were cut bald, but the administration allowed him to keep it - he had a beard, and in some places the beginning gray shone in his hair. His pale thin face was directed somewhere forward and upward. I was especially struck by his sparkling eyes - the eyes of a prophet. But when he spoke to you, his eyes, his whole face radiated love and kindness. And in what he said, there was attention and participation, and fatherly admonition, brightened up with gentle humor, could sound. He loved a joke, and there was something of an old Russian intellectual in his manner.

Initially, he worked at a lumberjack. In the spring of 1953, for health reasons and without his request, he was transferred to an invalid separate camp unit near Kuibyshev - Gavrilov Polyana, where he worked by profession as an accountant. On February 15, 1955, he was released ahead of schedule.

Service in the Pskov and Ryazan dioceses

After his release, he served in the Pskov diocese (in Moscow, as a previously convicted person, he was forbidden to live), was a member of the clergy of the Pskov Trinity Cathedral. The activity of the recently released priest caused dissatisfaction with the authorities, he was again threatened with criminal prosecution. Then, in 1957, he would have been forced to leave Pskov and continue serving in the rural parish of the Ryazan diocese. Initially, he was the second priest in the Trinity Church in the village of Troitsa-Pelenitsa, from December 1959 - the Church of Cosmas and Damian in the village of Letovo, from June 1962 - rector of the Resurrection Church in the village of Borets, then - St. Nicholas Church in the village of Nekrasovka. Since the spring of 1966, he was the rector of the St. Nicholas Church in the city of Kasimov. On June 10, 1966, he became a monk with the name John.

At the time of the late 50s, when the Soviet authorities forcibly closed numerous churches, Father John Krestyankin wrote: “We will not deprive ourselves of the church when we can, but we will also learn to carry it with us: exercise your heart in gentleness, your body in purity, both will make you a temple of God.”

Numerous translations about. John from one parish to another were connected with the influence of the authorities, who did not like the active priest, who not only preached excellently, but also was engaged in the economic arrangement of the churches in which he served. In 1967, Patriarch Alexy I signed a decree on his transfer to serve in the Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery. Returning to the diocese, he learned that while he was in Moscow at a reception with the Patriarch, it was decided to transfer him from Kasimov to another parish (already the sixth in ten years), but it was canceled due to his departure to the monastery.

Elder

From 1967 until his death he lived in the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Since 1970 - abbot, since 1973 - archimandrite. Already a year after Fr. John settled in the monastery, believers from all over the country began to come to him - for advice and blessings. The archimandrite was also visited by Orthodox people from abroad. Believers considered him an old man and revered him for his high spirituality. His biography describes a typical day for Fr. John:

Immediately after the end of the Liturgy, the reception began. In the altar, issues were resolved with the visiting clergy, on the kliros the relatives who had come with the priests were waiting for their turn, in the church local parishioners and visiting pilgrims were waiting. Batiushka left the church surrounded by many people when it was time for dinner. But even on the street, belated questioners and curious ones ran up, whose attention was attracted by the assembled crowd. And the curious, having become curious, found in the center of the crowd at first an attentive listener, and in the future also spiritual father... Having reached his cell only with the ringing of a bell for dinner, he literally threw off his hood and mantle and ran away. After dinner, the journey from the refectory to the cell lasted at least an hour, and again in the crowd. And in the cell, visitors were already waiting for him, and in the evening a reception was scheduled for those leaving that day. And so every day. Not a day, not a month, but from year to year, until the Lord gave strength. In his phenomenal memory, the priest for a long, long time kept the names of those who addressed him, and prayed for everyone.

Already a very old man, Archimandrite John could not receive all the believers who wished to receive spiritual help from the elder, but until very recently he answered letters from many people from all over the world. Some of them were published - several editions of the "Letters of Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)" were published. Among Orthodox believers, the publication of his sermons and other books, including The Experience of Building a Confession, became widely known. The basis for this work was the conversations of Archimandrite John, which were held in the seventies of the XX century in the Pskov-Caves Monastery during the first week of Great Lent, after reading the penitential canon of Andrew of Crete.

Archimandrite John himself did not like very much when he was called an elder. Once he said to believers:

Do not confuse the old man and the old man. And there are different old people, who are 80 years old, who are 70, like me, who are 60, there are old people and young people. But the elders are God's blessing to people. And we don't have elders anymore. An old man runs around the monastery, and we follow him. And now the time is like this: "There are millions of two-legged creatures, we all look at Napoleons." And we need to learn that we are all essential uselessness and are not needed by anyone except God. He came and suffered for us, for me, for you. And we are looking for the guilty: the Jews are to blame, the government is to blame, the governor is to blame. "Take, eat, this is My Body" - because of me He was crucified. "Drink - this is My Blood" - He shed it because of me. And I am a participant in everything. The Lord is calling, calling us to repentance, to feel the measure of our guilt in the disorder of life.

Father John Krestyankin is widely revered by believers as a preacher and All-Russian elder, and the prospect of his future canonization is discussed. In his book Unholy Saints and Other Stories, Archim. Tikhon (Shevkunov) cites many cases of foresight by Archim. John. .

Notes

Links

• Seeing the evening light. Meeting with an old man. Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery. 2004
• Would you pray to St. Spyridon Trimifuntsky. Memoirs of N. A. Pavlova about Archimandrite John (Krestyankin). Vera newspaper, May 6, 2008.
• Life, morality, faith. About Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)

Categories:

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• Born in 1910
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• Deceased in 2006
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• Archimandrites of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Oryol and Livny diocese
• Repressed in the USSR
• Prisoners of Lefortovo Prison
• The dead in the Pskov-Caves Monastery

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