Elder Aristocles of Athonite. Appendix II

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Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius of Athos (1838 - 1918)

Locally revered saint of the Moscow diocese. Glorification 09/06/2004
REMEMBRANCE DAY SEPTEMBER 6

“...First, God will take away all the leaders so that the Russian people will look only to Him. Everyone will abandon Russia, other powers will abandon it, leaving it to its own devices. This is so that the Russian people trust in the Lord’s help. You will hear that riots will begin in other countries and things similar to what happened in Russia, and you will hear about wars and there will be wars - now, the time is near. But don't be afraid of anything. The Lord will show His wonderful mercy".

Venerable Aristocles of Athos

“Father then said, among other things, that now God’s judgment on the living has begun and there will not be a single country on earth, not a single person who will not be affected by this. It started in Russia, and then further. He didn’t say anything comforting, he just kept telling me: Just don’t be afraid of anything, don’t be afraid. The Lord will show His wonderful mercy.” From the memoirs of the Abbess of the Gethsemane Jerusalem Monastery Varvara (Tsvetkova) dated 03/19/1917 (Journal " Orthodox Rus'", 1969 No. 1 (1991 No. 13 p. 10)).

“I said that the war is not over yet. “And there will be another one,” said the priest. “And you will learn about it in the country where you will be then, that German weapons are rattling on the border of Russia... Just don’t rejoice yet.” Many Russians will think that the Germans will rid Russia of Bolshevik rule, but this is not so. The Germans, however, will enter Russia and do a lot of things, but they will leave, because the time for salvation will not yet come. It will happen later, later...” From the memoirs of Abbess Varvara (Tsvetkova) dated 08/16/1918 (“Orthodox Rus'”, 1969. No. 1. (1991 No. 13 p. 10)).

I remember even earlier he said that I would not live to see that time. A Russia will still be saved. There is a lot of suffering, a lot of torment ahead. All of Russia will become a prison, he said, and he would have to beg the Lord for forgiveness. Repent of sins, and be afraid to commit even the slightest sin. We must try with all our might to do good, even the smallest: “After all, even the wing of a fly has weight,” said the priest, “ but God’s scales are accurate. And when the slightest good outweighs the balance, then God will show His mercy over Russia». From the memoirs of Abbess Varvara (Tsvetkova) dated 08/16/1918.

The elderly Mother Superior Varvara (Tsvetkova), in a conversation with us pilgrims in Gethsemane in 1973, recalled the Elder’s predictions that “ revival in Russia will begin after big bang near the river" After the events in connection with the Chernobyl disaster, I remembered this prediction of Elder Aristocles.

Bishop Alexander (Mileant) (Svetlana Devyatova, “Orthodox Elders of the 20th Century”).

“Now we will experience the pre-Antichrist time. God's judgment on the living has begun and there will not be a single country on earth, not a single person who will not be affected by this. It started with Russia, and then further.

And Russia will be saved. Much suffering, much torment. Everyone must suffer a lot and deeply repent. Only repentance through suffering will save Russia. All of Russia will become a prison, and we must beg the Lord a lot for forgiveness. Repent of sins and be afraid to commit even the slightest sins, and try to do good, even if only in the smallest way. After all, the wing of a fly has weight, but God has precise scales. And when the slightest good outweighs the balance, then God will show His mercy over Russia…

But first, God will take away all the leaders so that the Russian people will look only to Him. Everyone will abandon Russia, other powers will abandon it, leaving it to its own devices. This is so that the Russian people trust in the Lord's help. You will hear that riots will begin in other countries and things similar to what happened in Russia (during the revolution - ed.), and you will hear about wars and there will be wars - now the time is near. But don't be afraid of anything. The Lord will show His wonderful mercy.

The end will be through China. There will be some kind of unusual explosion, and a miracle of God will appear. And life will be completely different on earth, but not for very long. The Cross of Christ will shine over the whole world, because our Motherland will be magnified and will be like a beacon in the darkness for everyone.”

The prophecy of Schemamonk Aristoklei of Athos was made in. 1917-18

Brief Life Venerable Aristoklius of Athos (1838 - 1918)

Elder Aristokliy (in the world - Alexey Alekseevich Amvrosiev) was born in Orenburg in a pious peasant family. IN early childhood Alexey lost his father.

At the age of ten, after a serious illness, the boy lost his legs. Alexei's mother Matrona tearfully prayed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the healing of her son, vowing to dedicate her son to God, and herself, when her son reached monastic age, to go to a monastery.

On the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6, Alexey was miraculously healed. When her son turned seventeen, Matrona retired to a monastery.

In 1876, immediately after the death of his wife, Alexey Amvrosiev went to Holy Mount Athos and entered the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery. On March 11, 1880, he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Aristocles, in honor of the Cypriot martyr Aristocles of Salamis.

On December 2, 1884, the monk Aristoclius was ordained a hierodeacon, and on December 12 of the same year - a hieromonk. On February 12, 1886, Hieromonk Aristoklius was tonsured into the schema without changing his name.

In 1887, Father Aristoclius brought an olive branch to Moscow from the site of the truncation of St. Vmch. Panteleimon the Healer. From 1891 to 1894, rector of the metochion of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery. In those years, the monastery was located in a small city estate on Bolshaya Polyanka - it was donated to the monastery in September 1879 by the famous philanthropist Akilina Alekseevna Smirnova.

For several years, Father Aristoclius headed the metochion and was rector of the chapel of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon. The elder had the gift of healing and insight and received hundreds of people in need of help every day. The elder distributed numerous donations from believers to the suffering and paid for the education of children from poor families.

In 1894, after a false denunciation, the elder had to leave Moscow and return to Athos.

In 1909, the Council of Confessors of the St. Panteleimon Monastery again appointed Elder Aristoklius as rector of the Athos Metochion, and since November 29, 1909, the Elder has been in Moscow. Upon the elder’s return, thousands of people again began to come to the courtyard.

From 1909 to 1918, two three-story buildings were built on the farmstead. One of them housed a library. The other was given over to charitable institutions, and on the third floor, in one of corner rooms, the priest built a house church in honor of his especially revered and beloved icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear.” The temple was consecrated after the death of the elder - on September 30, 1918, the rite of consecration was performed His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and All Rus' Tikhon.

On August 24/September 6, 1918, the elder rested in the Lord.

Rev. Aristoclius of Athos

The saint was born in 1846 in the Urals, into a pious peasant family of the Amvrosievs. Parents, Mikhail and Matrona, named their child Alexei. Soon Alexey lost his father.
At the age of ten, after a serious illness, the boy lost his legs. Praying to St. Nicholas of Myra about the healing of her son, his mother, Matrona, made a vow to go to a monastery as soon as Alexei matures, and not to see him again in this life. Through the prayers of the mother, on the day the Church celebrated the memory of the Saint, December 6/19, the Lord healed the boy.
The vow was fulfilled: when the Saint was seventeen years old, Matrona took monastic vows in Russia, and Alexei himself went to Athos.
When he was tonsured, the novice Alexei was given the name Aristoklius - in honor of the Cyprus schmch. Presbyter Aristoclius of Salamis. Hieromonk Aristoclius labored for more than a quarter of a century in the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on the Holy Mountain, and in the mid-1880s he was sent to his Moscow metochion. For ten years he headed the metochion and was rector of the chapel in honor of St. Vmch. Panteleimon.
Through the efforts of the Elder, the magazine “Soulful Interlocutor” began to be published at the Athos courtyard in 1888, which told about the life of Russian Svyatogorsk monks. Thanks to his educational activities, the Russian monasteries on the Greek island, which lacked the number of brethren, began to quickly be replenished with new prayer books for the Russian land, new ascetics and pillars of the Christian faith, among whom was the future great elder Silouan.
In 1894, due to a false denunciation, the Elder had to return to his native monastery on Holy Mount Athos, where he was elected treasurer and confessor of the monastery, and in 1909 the name of Hieroschemamonk Aristokle (by that time the Reverend had already accepted the schema) was first on the list of candidates for governor .
For fifteen years, while Father was on the Holy Mountain, his spiritual children sent letters to the Synod and Athos, begging for their beloved shepherd to be returned to them. Finally, the council of confessors of the St. Panteleimon Monastery again appointed Elder Aristoklius as rector of the metochion of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery in Moscow.
At the age of 70, the Elder returned to Russia. By that time he was suffering from numerous illnesses and needed a dedicated assistant. IN last years During his stay on Mount Athos, he became close to the novice Ipatiy (Stavrov). At the request of Elder Aristoclius, novice Hypatius was tonsured a monk with the name Isaiah, ordained and blessed to help the Elder in Moscow. Father Isaiah became not only the Elder’s cell attendant, but also his secretary, an indispensable assistant in all matters of the farmstead. The buildings of the courtyard at the time of the return of Father Aristoklius were in need of repairs, but there were no funds, since after his departure to Mount Athos in 1894, the parish decreased and the treasury was empty.
With the return of the Elder, thousands of people began to come to the chapel again. From 1909 to 1918, two three-story buildings grew up in the courtyard of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery: one for books, the other housed monastic services and charitable institutions, and on the third floor, in one of the corner rooms, Father built a house church in honor of the one he especially revered Icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear”.
In Moscow and far beyond its borders, they were well aware of Father Aristoclius’ gift to cast out demons, heal the sick, foresee the future, and even raise people from the dead through the power of his prayer to God. There is a lot of evidence left about this. Here are just a few of them.
Elder Isaiah was an eyewitness of the resurrection through the prayers of Elder Aristoklius dead girl. He himself spoke about this after his death Reverend Elder Daniel from Donskoy Monastery.
One day a woman came to Father Aristocles, carrying dead man's hands child. She said that they came from Ryazan because they had heard about the miracles of the Saint. The mother was bringing her sick daughter to him in the hope that Father would heal her. But on the way the girl died, and now the woman begged the Elder to revive the child. She did not doubt the power of Father Aristoclius’s prayerful intercession before the Lord and with faith expected a miracle. And a miracle happened: through the prayers of the Saint, the girl came to life and was healed of her illness. The mother hugged the revived child and could not find words of gratitude, but only repeated: “God bless you, Father, God bless you!”
From the memoirs of Mother Varvara (Tsvetkova): “According to the prayers of the Athonite Elder of God Aristokle in the Panteleimon Chapel on Nikolskaya<улице>Many miracles were performed, healings of the sick and unfortunate possessed. Father received endless visitors at Bolshaya Polyanka in the Athos courtyard, thirsty for his spiritual advice and guidance. Father always consoled us, prayed and told us what would happen.
I often remembered with pain how 10 days before his death I was with him, and he blessed me especially warmly: “Farewell, little child, goodbye...”
Once, in a conversation about the fate of Russia after the revolution, I told him that I hoped for the White Army. “No, don’t hope,” said Father, “because the spirit is not the same.” I asked him about the war, which had not yet ended, and he answered: “And there will be another... And you will learn about it in the country where you will be then... That German weapons are rattling on the border of Russia.” And so it happened, in Jerusalem we read exactly these words. Of course, in English. Father further said: “Just don’t rejoice yet. Many Russians will think that the Germans will rid Russia of Bolshevik rule, but this is not so.<...>It will be later, then...” I remember even earlier he said that I would not live to see that time. And Russia will still be saved. There is a lot of suffering, a lot of torment ahead. All of Russia will become a prison, he said, and it will be necessary to beg the Lord for forgiveness. Repent of sins, and be afraid to commit even the slightest sin. We must try with all our might to do good, even the smallest: “After all, even the wing of a fly has weight,” the priest said, “but God has precise scales.” And when the slightest good outweighs the balance, then God will show His mercy over Russia."
The earthly life of the Elder ended on August 24 / September 6, 1918.
Initially, Elder Aristoclius was buried in the marble crypt of the tomb of the courtyard. However, after the revolution, all monastic properties were subject to nationalization, and house churches were subject to liquidation. Searches, arrests, and confiscations began at the compound. In January 1919, the rector of the Panteleimon Chapel, Hieromonk Macarius, was arrested, and in 1921, Hieromonk Theophanes. Therefore, the spiritual children of the Elder in 1922 decided to rebury his relics. They buried them quietly so as not to attract the attention of the authorities. The monks carried the coffin with the incorrupt body of Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius out of the tomb, loaded it onto a cart and took it to the Danilovskoye cemetery. Eyewitnesses said that the pigeons, which the Elder loved to feed during his lifetime, flocked from all sides and, circling, formed a living cross in the sky. This dove cross accompanied the Reverend to his grave.
Now the relics of Saint Aristoclius reside in the Church of St. Vmch. Nikita at the Athos courtyard in Moscow.

Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius of Athos (1838 - 1918)

Locally revered saint of the Moscow diocese. Glorification 09/06/2004

Venerable Aristocles of Athos

Prophecies of Elder Aristoklius of Athos about Russia and the world from the memoirs of the Abbess of the Gethsemane Jerusalem Monastery Varvara (Tsvetkova) - The end will be through China, and Russia will be saved - Brief life of the Venerable Aristoclius of Athos

“Father then said, among other things, that now God’s judgment on the living has begun and there will not be a single country on earth, not a single person who will not be affected by this. It started in Russia, and then further. He didn’t say anything comforting, he just kept telling me: Just don’t be afraid of anything, don’t be afraid. The Lord will show His wonderful mercy.” From the memoirs of the Abbess of the Gethsemane Jerusalem Monastery Varvara (Tsvetkova) dated March 19, 1917 (Orthodox Rus' Magazine, 1969 No. 1 (1991 No. 13 p. 10)).

“I said that the war is not over yet. “And there will be another one,” said the priest. - And you will learn about it in the country where you will be then, that German weapons are rattling on the border of Russia... Just don’t rejoice yet. Many Russians will think that the Germans will rid Russia of Bolshevik rule, but this is not so. The Germans, however, will enter Russia and do a lot of things, but they will leave, because the time for salvation will not yet come. It will happen later, later...” From the memoirs of Abbess Varvara (Tsvetkova) dated 08/16/1918 (“Orthodox Rus'”, 1969. No. 1. (1991 No. 13 p. 10)).

The elderly Mother Superior Varvara (Tsvetkova), in a conversation with us pilgrims in Gethsemane in 1973, recalled the Elder’s predictions that “ revival in Russia will begin after a big explosion near the river" After the events in connection with the Chernobyl disaster, I remembered this prediction of Elder Aristocles.
Bishop Alexander (Mileant) (Svetlana Devyatova, “Orthodox Elders of the 20th Century”).*

There will be an end through China, and Russia will be saved

Brief life of the Venerable Aristoclius of Athos (1838 - 1918)

Elder Aristoclius (in the world - Alexey Alekseevich Amvrosiev) was born in Orenburg into a pious peasant family. In early childhood, Alexey lost his father.

On the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6, Alexey was miraculously healed. When her son turned seventeen, Matrona retired to a monastery.

In 1894, after a false denunciation, the elder had to leave Moscow and return to Athos.

From 1909 to 1918, two three-story buildings were built on the farmstead. One of them housed a library. The other was given over to charitable institutions, and on the third floor, in one of the corner rooms, the priest built a house church in honor of the “Quick to Hear” icon of the Mother of God, which he especially revered and loved. The temple was consecrated after the death of the elder - on September 30, 1918, the rite of consecration was performed by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Tikhon.

*http://www.f7x.ru/source/456

**http://priroda.inc.ru/blog/prorok/afonskii.html

The story of a spiritual daughter (nun Euphemia). Written around 26 XX century

Who is God as great as our God? You are God and work miracles! (Ps. 76, 14, 15).
Indeed, only God created and arranged in a miraculous way that I suddenly changed my whole life.
In 1910, at the end of July, I decided to serve twelve prayers to the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, so that the Mother of God would fulfill my desire. I must say that at that time I was only a Christian in name, although I took communion every Lent, but I had nothing religious either in my mind or in my heart, I had no idea about spiritual life and I prayed to God simply out of habit since childhood . I had a nanny who made me pray, especially at night, and when I didn’t want to, she said: “Pray, pray, otherwise horrible dream I’ll dream about it!..” And I never heard from anyone else about God. That's how I lived full of sins and all uncleanness when I decided to go to the Iveron Chapel for evening prayers.

After serving the twelfth prayer service, I was returning home from the Iversky Gate along Pyatnitskaya Street. I was in a sad mood, a kind of melancholy and foreboding filled my soul, and without even noticing where I was going, I suddenly turned from Pyatnitskaya not onto Kuznetskaya Street, as usual, but in the opposite direction and found myself on Polyanka. I came to my senses when I saw on the other side of the street an icon of St. Panteleimon with a lamp burning in front of it. “Where am I,” I think, “and why am I here?”

Then I realized: this is the Athos courtyard of the Panteleimon Monastery. My mother once told me that when I was still a child, she was here in the chapel, and there was the monk Aristocles, who told her very correctly about her life.
She crossed to the side where there was an icon with a lamp. Two women approached. I stopped, I don’t remember why. I think there was something stuck on there that I wanted to read. Suddenly women say to me:
-Are you visiting the old man too? Did you call?
- To which old man? Where should I call?.. - I didn’t understand. “They rang the bell without waiting for my answer. Father..., the future father of X..., came out and said:
- The old man is tired, and don’t bother him. He took it until four o'clock, and now it's seven, come back tomorrow!
Women grabbed the door and asked:
- We are newcomers, we can’t possibly come tomorrow, but we definitely need to see Father Aristoclius.

Then a thought flashed through me like lightning: “Oh, here they are to some old man. This is probably the one my mom had. No matter what, even if I die here in the hallway, I won’t leave until they let me go to him,” and, not remembering myself, I say:
- And I need it, I definitely need it!
- No no. “You come tomorrow,” he says.
“I won’t leave,” I declare, “I won’t leave for anything, I need, I need to see him.”

Apparently, he noticed my unusual state and let me in. I didn’t understand anything: why I came, and what I would say. I just felt that I would die if I didn’t see the old man. But if someone had told me even ten minutes in advance that I would go to the elder and want to see him so much, I would not have believed it. I was even opposed to any elders or visionaries; I never went to them. And here - it was as if some kind of force drew me. I'm coming in. An old man, rather plump, short in stature, with kind, penetrating eyes, comes towards us.

He seriously told me: “Go, sit down.” He sat down at the table. After being silent for a while and without asking what I needed, he looked at the image of the Mother of God hanging opposite the table, and, looking at it all the time, as if asking him something, he began to tell me. I listened in silence and suddenly realized that he was telling me my whole life, all my actions, even why I went to Iverskaya and what I asked for. I got goosebumps from horror, spasms squeezed my throat, some kind of wheezing escaped, my sobs were choking, I could no longer hold back, and the tears flowed uncontrollably. I cried to my heart's content. The elder waited until I calmed down, then blessed me with the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear” and said affectionately: “Well, now always come to me.” Will you?
Through tears, I answered in the affirmative and, still crying, left.

I don’t remember how I got home, I cried the whole way. Mom greeted me in surprise: “What are you doing?” I said that I was with the monk she once went to. From that time on, Father Aristoclius was inseparably in my thoughts. I was looking forward to the day when I could go to him again.

I'm coming. You won't be able to get past the people. Both in the front and in big room. Who is sitting, who is standing. It's stuffy. The door to the next room is closed, the priest there receives separately. Then he came out for a general blessing. Some left after the blessing, and those who needed it stayed for a separate reception. There were many sick people and children. The priest was especially attentive to the children: he anointed everyone with oil and gave them prosphora. It was my turn.

Well, have you come? - he turned to me and ordered me to follow him to his cell.
There he collected from different places a little money, wrapped it up and gave it to me:
- This is a blessing for you.

I left, and from then on all my thoughts changed, all my previous interests became alien to me, completely unnecessary. The image of the old man, his kind eyes, his love, especially his tender love to children, and at times strict fatherly reproofs, as if reprimands - all this amazed me. And all this was combined with such compassion and such sorrow for those who are in error...
At first I didn’t understand why the priest gave me money, because I serve and don’t need it at all. And only later did I understand the meaning of this, when I soon had to start working at home, and, I believe, with the blessing of my father, neither my work nor my money became scarce, and even a debt that I did not hope to receive was paid to me completely unexpectedly.
I come once - there are a lot of people, I had to wait a long time. I started listening to conversations. I hear: “We must ask the elder how he will bless.” Or - one called the other to her, and she answered: “I don’t know how the elder will bless. Will he allow me to come to you? After listening to such conversations, I thought: “Why are they really asking the priest for blessings for all sorts of trifles?” I ask one young lady:

You ask the priest’s blessing for everything, and does everyone really need to do that?
“Anyone can,” she said with a smile, “but spiritual children must ask the elder for blessings on everything; the elder does not like self-inflicted behavior.”
- And should I ask?
- Aren’t you his spiritual daughter?
- No, I never confessed to the priest.
- Well, if you were of spiritual life and father’s spiritual daughter, then it is absolutely necessary, without this it is impossible in spiritual life.
- I want it too.
- And you tell the priest. Only he does not accept everyone for spiritual care.

While we were talking, it was my turn. I remember there was some kind of trembling all over my body, my legs were shaking. As I entered the cell, I fell at his feet and said:
- Father, accept me and teach me spiritual life, I will obey you in everything and ask you everything.
He stood up silently, took the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear,” signed it, and covered me with the entire stole. I felt how he blessed me all over, pressing the icon to me, and said:
- Here, the Mother of God will be your helper in everything from now on. Listen to everything I tell you, and tell me everything, and no one else.

And the priest let me go with such kindness and blessing, anointing me all over with oil. From then on, I began to see the elder more often, either in church at mass, or at home, in his cell. I asked the gatekeeper, and they let me in through the back door straight to the elder, because I had to hurry to work. I once decided to go on foot to St. Sergius with my father... A lot of people were going to go with him. I went to the elder for a blessing. He blessed me with a smile and said:

After all, it will be very difficult for you to walk.
“Father,” I answer, “even though I have never walked on foot, if you bless me, I will go with your blessing.”
- Well, if you want, go. Only it will be very difficult for you to walk.
I still went, not understanding the power of his words. I got ready and made a shoulder bag. Mom had completely new cloth shoes, and she says to me:
-You put on my shoes, otherwise your feet will swell, then they will be just right for you, and now put on the insoles. But you won’t get there in yours.

We gathered at the Kadashevsky Church and after the liturgy and prayer service we went to the Krestovskaya outpost. The weather turned bad and it began to drizzle. And suddenly, having walked a little along Meshchanskaya Street, I stumbled so much that the sole on my right shoe fell off and was hanging only on the heel. What to do here? I really didn’t want to go home, so I tied the sole to the shoe and went like that. Because of the abnormal movement, my legs were so swollen that they couldn’t rise, and I was shuffling around with them instead of walking, and even through a small puddle I had to first move one leg, supporting it with my hands, and then the other.

So I got to the Khotkovo Monastery, there they somehow nailed my sole, but my legs completely refused to walk, and for the remaining twelve miles I had to hire a cart. Then only I remembered the elder’s words, but I did not regret that I went. And I remember, for the first time in my life I prayed like that, asking St. Sergius help me in my spiritual life. Until our people arrived, I was always at the relics of the saint. We spent two nights there and went back by train.

On the first day of each month, the priest served a prayer service with the blessing of water. There were so many people that there was no free space in the entire apartment. They stood, sat on the floor, lay down. Many with children... And the priest in full vestments, so solemn, served with the hierodeacon and choristers. After the prayer service, he anointed people with oil and distributed icons; some asked for advice, and he, despite his fatigue and illness, satisfied everyone with love and such cordiality, especially visitors with children. Surprisingly, he loved children, he would start talking to them...
And he was always, always surrounded by children; they were so devoted to him that they did not want to leave their father. It used to be that the elder would walk from his cell through the yard, and the people would be waiting for him, he would bless everyone, then they would give him a small box with food for pigeons, and the priest would pour it in and bless it with a prayer. And so every morning, and the pigeons sit anywhere, waiting for him. Then the elder entered through the back door, and the children were already waiting for him along with the elders, but only adults were allowed in from the front door. First, he received everyone with their children, and then went into a large room, all filled with icons, like a chapel, for a general blessing. Father was exhausted by the people, there were days when he received more than one thousand people.

The ways of the Lord are mysterious... Sometimes it seems to us that we choose them ourselves. However, we ourselves can only deviate from what the Lord has destined for us and blindly poke ourselves in the wrong direction, so that we can then be surprised at our own foolishness and inexplicable stubbornness in it. How many mistakes will we make, how many sins will we make before we come to understand the truth of the Gospel word and the need to follow it...
But, glory to the Almighty, there are also born among us those for whom God’s Providence shines as a guiding star from childhood, for whom early years His Word is clear and the meaning of our existence, secret for many, is revealed. Like Magi, they joyfully follow the Star of Bethlehem, so that at the end of the journey they can bow and bring the gifts of their asceticism to the Lord our God. To the One Immortal, Who tirelessly calls upon us for salvation, remembrance, Who, even nailed to the cross, prayed to the Almighty to forgive those who crucified Him, for they do not know what they are doing(Luke 23:34), Who still forgives us such things that, it seems, cannot be forgiven.
Called by the Lord - those whose spiritual eyes have never been obscured by the veil of vanity and ignorance, who early learned the joy of prayerful communication with Him, are full of inescapable love for us and are ready with a smile to carry not only their fateful cross, but also try to put their shoulder under our every times when we resort to them for help, complaining about the unbearable burden of our own. Often burdened with many illnesses and endless temptations, having learned the meaning of uncomplainingly bearing heavy suffering, when we strive to escape from the easy ones, they are the pillars of the Christian faith, for the sake of whose prayers the Creator still extends the days for us to repent - they, sympathizing with spiritual and physical weakness ours, send up their prayers for us, and the Lord grants us healing, helps us avoid the wiles of the evil one, removes the darkness from our eyes, so that the abyss opens up to us, on the edge of which we found ourselves thanks to self-will and blindness.
In this life, God’s ascetics serve for us as irrefutable proof and testimony of the Creator’s inexhaustible mercy towards us, His omnipresence and the unshakable truth of His promise. Through the prayers of the righteous, the Creator shows us His Power, through them we receive admonition and strengthening in faith, and even despite our unworthiness, they beg us for salvation and eternal life.
The Orthodox Church is rich in such saints of God. And among them now in Heaven the great old man tirelessly prays for us Russian land, Athonite ascetic and Moscow wonderworker, Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius. About him worldly life Few evidence has reached us. And what's so surprising about that? Monks rarely talk about themselves. By taking on an angelic image during tonsure, a monk renounces his past life
Father Aristoclius did not seek earthly glory and therefore did not like to talk about himself. According to fragmentary information, he was born in the Urals into a simple peasant family, presumably in 1838. His parents, pious Christians Mikhail and Matrona, named their child Alexei. Having lost his father in infancy, Alexei experienced poverty early on. But even earlier, his mother, as a true Christian, taught him to pray and told him, as best she could, about God, the Queen of Heaven, His saints and Angels, and introduced him into that only world important for the salvation of our soul, which the future saint of God chose for himself. The misfortune that happened to him in adolescence only confirmed Alexei in the correctness of his chosen path. At the age of ten he became seriously ill, as a result of which his legs became paralyzed. Praying to Saint Nicholas to intercede before the Lord for the healing of her son, Matrona made a vow to go to a monastery as soon as her son entered monastic age, and not to meet with him again in this life. And who does not know in Rus' St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker and the first helper to all those who mourn, who flow to him with faith? Matrona knew too. That's why I pinned all my hopes on him. And she was not deceived. The Lord heeded the intercession of His holy Saint, the sincere faith and prayers of the loving mother of His future ascetic. On the day the Church celebrated the saint, December 6/19, God healed Alexei.
He was not even eighteen when his earthly paths with his mother diverged: Matrona took monastic vows here in Russia, and Alexey went to the island of monks - Holy Mount Athos, where the Mother of God herself was, is and always will be the permanent Mother Superior and Goalkeeper. It was She who, by the will of God, arrived here on a ship, destroyed the idolatrous temples with the power of the Word of Her Son and laid the foundation for monasticism, forbidding a woman to set foot on the shore of the Holy Island.
For more than a quarter of a century, Father Aristoclius labored in the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon on Holy Mount Athos, and this is what the novice Alexei was named in honor of the Cypriot hieromartyr Presbyter Aristoclius of Salamis when he took monastic vows. And although we have not received evidence of how these years were given to him, we can say with confidence that the path to the Lord is never easy or simple. From patristic literature we know how difficult the monastic feat is, how many temptations the evil one prepares every minute, just to remove the prayer from the angelic lips of the monk, sow doubt in his heart, discredit the prayer book in the eyes of the brethren, force him to grumble and abandon his chosen path, so that in the end ultimately destroy his immortal soul. And man would not be able to survive this struggle if it were not for the gracious help of the Almighty, who is ready to come to our aid every moment. It is known that the mere mention of His name puts the demonic hordes to flight. However, we can only guess and draw about this period of the Athonite ascetic by reading the travel notes of the pilgrims who visited the monastery on the Holy Island in those years.

In the mid-1880s, we meet Hieromonk Aristoklius in Moscow, on Bolshaya Polyanka, where at that time the courtyard of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery was located. For ten years he headed the metochion and was rector of the chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, erected opposite the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, on Nikolskaya Street near the Kitai-Gorod wall. This site for the chapel was donated by the Tula merchant Ivan Ivanovich Sushkin, the brother of Father Macarius, the abbot of the Panteleimon Monastery on the Holy Mountain. The chapel, the second in a row (the first, small, no longer able to accommodate everyone, was built ten years earlier at the Epiphany Monastery on the same Nikolskaya Street), was erected with donations from Muscovites and consecrated by Bishop Misail of Mozhaisk on June 2, 1883. They say she was beautiful and majestic. Unfortunately, only photographs of this wonderful chapel have reached us, and descriptions of its architectural and artistic merits - after the revolution, it suffered the fate of many of our spiritual values, of which no stone was left unturned.
Newspapers of those years wrote that the new chapel was rich in relics brought from Athos: there was the crucifixion of Christ, and the ark with holy relics, and the miraculous icons of the Savior, the Great Martyr Panteleimon and the Mother of God: Tikhvin, “Quick to Hear” and Iveron. The chapel became the center of celebrations in memory of the healer. On the day of July 27, when the entire Orthodox world pays tribute to the memory of the holy great martyr, every year Nikolskaya Street was filled with an endless stream of pilgrims following
procession for the relics of a healer being transferred from the old chapel at the Epiphany Monastery to the new one. So that all those praying could venerate the miraculous icons, they were taken out on this day under a specially constructed tent. Healings were repeatedly noted at these shrines - this is how the Lord showed His mercy to those who sought It with faith. But it was not the shrines alone that attracted Muscovites to the Athos chapel.
Those who sought the Word of God heard the heartfelt pastoral word, felt in Hieromonk Aristocles a kind and God-inspired mentor, and reached out to the priest for spiritual nourishment. The good shepherd never refused anyone. Having learned from his own experience of need, he could not remain indifferent to the despair of poverty and, like the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, he transferred donations from some to the needs of others, paid for the education of children from poor families, and helped like a saint. Nicholas the Wonderworker, marry off brides, arranged the lives of many people, admonished, instructed, prayed for his children, wishing for their salvation with all his heart and soul. During the years of pastoral service in Moscow, Father Aristokliy put a lot of effort into bringing distant Athos closer to Moscow. The pages of the magazine “Soulful Interlocutor” published by the metochion from 1888 to 1918, that is, 30 years, told about the life of Russian monks on the Greek island, each issue reported on how the Panteleimon Monastery lives, introduced the lives of Athonite ascetics, patristic interpretations and churches of the Moscow diocese. And our compatriots did not remain in debt to the island of monks - they generously did good to Rusika: with their money, Athonite monasteries restored dilapidated buildings damaged by fires, erected new churches in honor of saints revered in Rus', and acquired the necessary utensils. And in the Moscow courtyard of Athos, book publishing activities expanded more and more: spiritual literature with the outline of the Holy Mountain was increasingly in demand. We see that Father Aristoclius made an invaluable contribution to the creation of an indestructible bridge that connected Holy Rus' with Holy Athos. Thanks to his educational activities, Russian monasteries on the Greek island, which suffered from a small number of brethren, began to quickly be replenished with new prayer books for the Russian land, new pillars of the Christian faith, among whom was the future great elder Silouan, the author of famous spiritual teachings.
But how could the evil one survive this? He had long been knocked off his feet, not knowing how to appease this inexhaustible source of Divine love and goodness, which was so generously poured out on Muscovites, strengthening their faith in the Creator of everything and the desire to follow Him. That is why the unclean one sowed envy in the hearts of those who served the priest. And letters flew to Holy Athos, complaints to the Holy Synod: “Take our abbot away from us, he is plundering the monastery property, ruining the courtyard...” And the priest had to leave Moscow and go to his native monastery. This happened in 1894, shortly after a bell weighing more than 818 pounds rang in the bell tower of the Athos St. Panteleimon Monastery - a gift from the Samara merchant I.M. Pleshakov, cast at the Moscow bell foundry of Andrei Samgin. Before casting, Father Aristoclius served a prayer service at the factory, and the parishioners he invited threw silver coins into the mold. The bell came out great. The inscription on it reads: “This bell was cast in Russia, in the city of Moscow, during the reign of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III in memory of the miraculous saving of His life with the August Family on October 17, 1888.”
And again, we can only guess how another fifteen years of monasticism of the Athonite ascetic passed in the Panteleimon Monastery. From the messages of the same “Soulful Interlocutor” you can find out that Father Aristoklius was elected treasurer (here’s a “plunderer” for you!) and confessor of the monastery, and in 1909 the name of Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius (which means he had already accepted the schema, which crowns a high spiritual feat ) was first on the list of candidates for the abbot of the monastery.
The lot then fell to someone else, but this does not at all detract from the priest’s merits before the Lord, who gave him many gifts, insight, prayerful boldness, and ineffable God-inspired wisdom - only Divine elders are adorned with such gifts. This is the crown of earthly life in Christ. And it was no coincidence that the lot then fell to someone else - the Creator prepared a different lot for Elder Aristoclius - he had to return to Russia again as a shepherd and rector of the Athos metochion. This is what the council of confessors of St. Panteleimon’s Monastery, edified by its permanent Abbess, decided.
At that time, Elder Aristoclius was already over seventy. He suffered from numerous illnesses and needed a person devoted to him. In the last years of his stay at the monastery, he became close to novice Ipatiy Stavrov, who was blessed to go to Athos by his confessor, the then famous Moscow priest Valentin Amphitheatrov. The Mother of God indicated to the elder that he should take Hypatia as his cell attendant and go with him to Moscow. When the priest informed the council of confessors of his decision, they initially did not agree: why take a novice when you can choose a monk who has been tested by more than one year of trials? However, the priest insisted, and at his request, the novice Ipatiy Stavrov was tonsured as a monk with the name Isaiah, ordained and blessed to go to Moscow to help the priest. And indeed, Father Isaiah became not only the elder’s cell attendant, but, as they say, his
When the priest returned in 1909, he was greeted with flowers and happy smiles by thousands of Orthodox Christians, into whose souls, like into fertile black soil, the pastoral word of Father Aristoclius fell and grew in them as a tree of desire to live not according to their own will, but under his spiritual guidance. All the years after the priest’s departure, they wrote letters to the Synod and Athos, begging him to return them good shepherd, who has wonderfully arranged the lives of many. And now they were incredibly happy about the long-awaited meeting with a person very dear to them.
But the priest didn’t know whether to be happy or upset. Of course, such a touching reception testified to how much Muscovites needed him, how they were waiting for his spiritual advice and instructions. He was upset by something else - the desolation that reigned in the courtyard. After all, with his departure, people stopped visiting the chapel in such numbers, and the treasury was empty, there was nothing to repair the buildings, and the current appearance of the courtyard did not very please the elder. There was a lot of work to be done, but my strength was no longer the same. Large publishing activities required new warehouse space. And we know that the priest wrote a petition to the Holy Synod in March 1912: “Our monastery is for the maintenance Orthodox faith and religious feelings among the people publishes spiritual and moral books and leaflets, but we do not have a warehouse suitable for books, why are the books stored in dilapidated wooden warehouses and basements, which is why they are subject to damage... We have an urgent need to build a stone building, more convenient and safe... We also have with Highest resolution a shelter for crippled soldiers with 8 beds, which is located in a dilapidated building, which also forces us to build a new building both for the shelter and for the brethren and servants living in Polyanka, because where the brethren now live, the premises require a lot of repairs for safe their lives."
Permission was received, and construction of the farmstead began. By the end of the priest’s life, two three-story buildings had grown up on Bolshaya Polyanka: one for books, the other housed monastic services and charitable institutions, and on the third floor, in one of the corner rooms, the priest built a house church in honor of his especially revered and beloved icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear." True, he himself did not have to serve in it: it was consecrated on September 30/October 13, 1918, and the priest passed away a month earlier - on August 26/September 8, on the day of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon Holy Mother of God. The Athos abbess showed concern for her prayer book in this too, taking his soul to Heaven on the feast of Her icon, a shrine widely revered in Rus'.
But before moving on to this event, I would like to talk about the pastoral care that the Lord rewarded Muscovites in those rebellious years, sending His chosen one to Russia, crowned rare gifts. They knew well in Moscow and far beyond its borders about the gift of Elder Aristoclius to cast out demons, heal, foresee the future and even resurrect by the power of the Word of God. There is a lot of evidence left about this.
Here are some of them. Elder Daniel from the Donskoy Monastery recently recalled such an incident resurrection of the dead
The story of the nun Euphemia: “Often the possessed were brought to Father Aristocles’ chapel. And when he scolded them, and then anointed them with oil, they squealed, and barked, and whined, and some were literally twisted and shook - it was scary to see. And the priest ordered the demons to leave, and they obeyed him. One day they brought a demon-possessed woman to him. She resisted so much that two strong men could hardly hold her, and only because they tied her with a rope, which she kept trying to tear off herself. When she was placed in front of the elder, he looked at her so sternly and said: “Who gave you permission to enter it, huh?” And then, possessed by some thin, shrill voice, as if not even herself, she answered: “I did not enter her. She herself, herself! She fornicated with a blacksmith, having a lawful husband... And I had the right to enter into her!” Through the prayers of the elder, the Lord healed this woman in front of everyone. This is the gift the elder had - the demons were afraid of him. Yes... And here’s another incident with one of my friends who lived near the Khitrov market. Her life was not going well, and one day it was so hot that she decided to drown herself. She ran to the bridge and was about to throw herself into the Moscow River, when suddenly some force threw her back. There was no one nearby, but an inexplicable fear attacked her, and she wanted to quickly get away from that place, and the determination to take her own life disappeared somewhere. For a long time she was haunted by the fear that gripped her on the bridge that night. She was advised to go to Elder Aristoclius - he knows everything. And she came to the priest, told him everything that happened. And the elder listened and said: “
God's Power pushed you away. Even though you are a dissolute woman, it’s because of your kindness that you won’t sit alone and won’t drink a mug of water alone - that’s why the Lord has mercy on you.” These words of the elder turned her soul upside down. And you know, she reformed and began to go to the elder for advice. This is where we met her. That's how it happens. Everyone comes to God in their own way.” But what happened in the Busorin family. They told how their beloved grandfather was possessed by a demon and Before everyone's eyes, he turned into a decrepit old man. “Grandmother kept hoping that the doctors would help - she took him from one luminary to another, but there was no point: grandfather melted like a candle. One day my grandparents were riding on a tram past the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. And an unfamiliar man came up to them to ask about something, and then said: “What is your dad’s illness?” When his grandmother explained everything to him, that it was not his father, but her beloved husband and, by his years, far from being an old man, the stranger advised them to turn to the elder Aristocles, who was in the chapel of the healer Panteleimon, telling him many wonderful things about the priest. Grandfather didn’t even want to hear anything: from affectionate, calm, he suddenly turned into abusive and even aggressive, which no one had ever noticed in him before. But still, he loved his grandmother very much, and she managed to persuade him to go to the chapel. He was silent the whole way, and on the threshold of the chapel he flatly refused to go. The whole family had to forcibly drag him to the priest. When the old man looked sternly at his grandfather, the grandfather shook all over, turned pale, and began to shout: “I’m going to jump out and fly out the window!” Father Aristoclius prayed, anointed my grandfather with oil, and soon my grandfather completely recovered.”
Mother Varvara (Tsvetkova) was the spiritual child of Father Aristoclius, in 1922 she miraculously left revolutionary Russia for Jerusalem, as her father had predicted for her, entered the monastery in St. Gethsemane, and became an assistant to Abbess Mary. This is what she told her close friends, and they told us: “Through the prayers of the Athonite Elder of God Aristokle, many miracles were performed in the Panteleimon Chapel on Nikolskaya, healings of the sick and unfortunate possessed. Father also received endless visitors at Bolshaya Polyanka, the Athos courtyard, who thirsted for his spiritual advice and guidance.
Father had a long-term friendship with my family, by the grace of God, and everything he said certainly came true. He loved my parents very much and was my mother’s confessor. I often went to see my father, because after the revolution my father was in prison every now and then, sometimes for a long time.
How was it possible to believe it? He spoke about this in 1918, shortly before his death, but everything happened according to his word in 1922: his brother unexpectedly and inexplicably left prison with an order to be deported abroad, and a few days later his father was released without any apparent reason. We did not understand anything, but nevertheless, together with the professors whom the revolutionaries sent abroad as unnecessary, we were sent to Germany.
Truly it was a miracle for us. Dear father was no longer with us. I often remembered with pain how 10 days before his death I was with him and he blessed me especially warmly: “Farewell, little child, farewell...” I remember once, in a conversation about the fate of Russia after the revolution, I I told him that I hoped for the White Army, which was then formed. “No, don’t hope,” said the priest, “because the spirit is not the same.” I asked him about the war, which had not yet ended, and he answered: “And there will be another... And you will learn about it in the country where you will be then... That German weapons are rattling on the border of Russia.” And so it happened. In the Palestinian Post in Jerusalem we read exactly these words. Of course, in English. Father further said: “Just don’t rejoice yet. Many Russians will think that the Germans will rid Russia of Bolshevik rule, but this is not so. The Germans, it is true, will enter Russia and do a lot, but they will leave, since there is no time for salvation yet. It will be later, then...” I remember even earlier he said that I would not live to see that time. And Russia will still be saved. There is a lot of suffering, a lot of torment ahead. All of Russia will become a prison, he said, and it will be necessary to beg the Lord for forgiveness. Repent of sins and be afraid to commit even the slightest sin. We must try with all our might to do good, even the smallest: “After all, even the wing of a fly has weight,” the priest said, “but God has precise scales. And when the slightest good outweighs the balance, then God will show His mercy over Russia.”
The priest even knew in advance that he would be buried at the Danilovsky cemetery. This can be seen from the story of Father Aristoclius’s spiritual daughter, A.P. Solntseva, who really wanted the elder to visit her at home. When she finally dared to ask him about it, the priest affectionately answered her: “My beloved child, soon, soon I will come to you. I’ll come forever.” When the priest soon died without ever visiting her, she refused to believe it, since the elder never deceived anyone. And she lived in Dukhovsky Lane, next to the Danilovsky Cemetery, and always asked, when she saw a funeral procession, who was being buried. And one day I heard: “The Great Elder, Hieroschemamonk Aristoklius.” Shocked, dropping the buckets, she walked, crying, behind the priest’s coffin and kept repeating: “I’m sorry! Forgive me, father, that I, stupid, didn’t believe you...” This funeral took place in 1922, while the Athonite ascetic died on August 26, 1918. So what happened? Why did the elder have to change his burial place?
After the Dormition of Hieroschemamonk Aristoclius, the funeral service was performed by three Moscow rulers at once: Bishop Arseny, Bishop Tryphon (Turkestan) and Bishop Joasaph, abbot of the Epiphany Monastery, who at that time was acting as Metropolitan of Moscow. Many came to say goodbye to the priest, mourning the loss of a great spiritual mentor and helper in a deplorable vale. In the marble crypt of the semi-basement-tomb of the courtyard they laid his body, which had left earthly suffering, decorating the resting place of the Athonite ascetic and the Moscow wonderworker with brocade and everlasting lamps and lamps.
However, the elder did not have to rest in the tomb for long. According to Soviet decrees, all monastic properties after the revolution were subject to nationalization, and house churches were subject to liquidation. And in the courtyard, I don’t understand what started.
Instead of service - searches, arrests, confiscations. The Greek consul in Moscow addressed the new authorities in September 1918 with an appeal: “The Greek Kingdom certifies that the courtyard of the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Bolshaya Polyanka is the property of the Greek Kingdom.”
80 years have passed since the blessed death of Elder Aristoclius. How many generations have changed! Those who personally knew the priest left. But new people come to him, and the great old man helps everyone, consoles, admonishes - does not leave anyone unattended. And we, who in mysterious ways ended up at his grave, we, who had not heard anything about him until recently, feel his inescapable love for us, the careless, his heartfelt prayer for us, his endless desire to save us, the living. And you understand that it is through his holy prayers that the Lord is still prolonging our days, everything is waiting for our repentance. And our immortal soul involuntarily calls for the intercession of the great elder of the Russian land before the Creator for us: Father Aristocles, pray to God for us!

Grateful for the help (miraculous deliverance from death) received through the prayers of Elder Aristoclius in January 1998, servant of God Anna Andronova

Notes:
1 Now the ark is in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Sokolniki
2 Now this icon of the Savior is in the Church of Florus and Laurus on Zatsep
3 Now she is in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki, on Maroseyka
4 Now she is in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Znamenie” in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda, near the Rizhskaya metro station, 1998.

My beloved children!

I would endure everything for your sake - may the Lord save you! If only I could lead you to Him! If only you could be saved! I have no greater concern than to bring you to the Lord, and there is no more serious matter than the salvation of the soul...

Father Aristoclius