(24.05.1909–24.08.2002)
Biography
Childhood and adolescence. First steps in independent life
Alekseevich was born in the village of Chudskie Zahodtsy, St. Petersburg province, on May 24, 1909. His father, Alexey Ivanovich, served as regent of the church choir. Mother, Ekaterina Stefanovna, a pious woman, performed household duties and helped her husband in raising children. After his death in 1914, the entire burden of responsibility for the family fell on her shoulders.
From childhood, Nikolai was raised within the framework of Christian traditions. He happily served in the church in the village of Kobylye Gorodishche, learned to pray, and loved to listen to church singing. From time to time, when local pilgrims gathered on pilgrimages to holy places, Nicholas was taken with them.
As a youth, he was honored to visit the island of Talabsk (years later this place became a place of asceticism for him). Around 1920, the rector of the church in which Nikolai served took him to the city of Pskov. Their path lay along the surface of the lake. We made a stop on the island of Talabsk and visited the local seer Mikhail. The seer, having met the guests, gave the shepherd a small prosphora and Nicholas a large one.
Upon reaching a more mature age, Nikolai entered the pedagogical college in Gatchina. Upon graduation from technical school, he continued his education at the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute.
Nikolai had a strong-willed character. In 1929, driven by zeal for the Lord and spiritual impulse, he publicly and sharply expressed his indignation against the closure of one of the city churches. This courageous performance, contrary to the ideology and policy of the party, which was moving towards communism, caused discontent, and the institute management expelled the students from the number of students.
For some time, Nikolai taught physics, mathematics, and biology at a school in the city of Tosno, and served as a psalm-reader in the church in the village of Remda.
Prisoner of truth and conscience
The persecution of Christians launched by the godless government did not pass him by. In May 1930, he fell under the millstone of the state repressive machine: Nicholas was accused of counter-revolutionary activities and expelled from the territory of the RSFSR for two years. Arriving in the Ukrainian SSR, in the village of Sidorovichi, he again showed his religious activity - he got a job as a psalm-reader.
Soon, “caring” people were found who reported “to the right place” that Nikolai Alekseevich was conducting unhealthy propaganda activities, corrupting people with stories about God, and recruiting young people into the church choir. These signals did not go unnoticed. In March 1931, he was taken into custody in the “case of the kulaks.”
During the trial, it turned out that the accused Guryanov does not have any property, but only has rheumatism. And the accused himself did not admit his guilt. Meanwhile, the property issue was not a priority, because the matter concerned anti-Soviet propaganda.
In August 1931, Nikolai was sentenced to exile for three years in the Northern Territory. That’s how he ended up in Syktyvkar, where he participated in the construction railway track. Sometimes they had to work in icy water, which caused prisoners to die. Working in these inhuman conditions, Nikolai undermined his health. In addition, he suffered leg injuries while working with sleepers.
According to some sources, he was released in 1937, and according to others, in 1942. After his release, Nikolai Alekseevich, as not having the right to live in Leningrad, was expelled outside the city. For some period he worked as a school teacher in the Tosnensky district.
Priestly path
During the Great Patriotic War, due to leg illness, he was not mobilized into the army. During the period of fascist occupation, he was forcibly sent to the Baltic states.
In February 1942, Metropolitan Sergius of Vilna ordained him to the rank of deacon, and a few days later - to the rank of priest.
In 1942, he attended theological courses in the city of Vilnius. Then he served for some time in the Riga Trinity-Sergius Convent for women, after which he served in the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery.
Since July 1943, Father Nikolai served as rector of the Church of St. Nicholas, located in the village of Gegobrosty. According to the recollections of contemporaries, parishioners treated him with great respect; the shepherd himself treated them with great kindness, friendliness and responsiveness. It is noted that despite the poverty of the parish, it was distinguished by its amenities. No matter how difficult it was to find the funds necessary to repair and maintain the temple, with the help of God the temple was splendid.
In the period from 1949 to 1951, Father Nikolai studied by correspondence at the Leningrad Theological Seminary. After graduating, he continued his education at the Leningrad Theological Academy, but studied only for one year.
In 1956, father. was awarded the rank of archpriest.
In 1958, by order of the church authorities, he was transferred to serve in the Pskov diocese. For reasons of church economy and taking into account Father Nicholas’s own desire, he was appointed rector of the Church of St. Nicholas, located on the territory of the fishing island of Talabsk in Lake Pskov, the same place where the seer once handed him a large prosphora. The priest spent several decades of his life on this island.
Father Nikolai settled on the outskirts of the island in a tiny house, along with his mother, Ekaterina Stefanovna. The ascetic’s brothers died at the front and he, as best he could, smoothed out his mother’s grief, and she helped her beloved son as best she could.
At first, Father Nikolai aroused suspicion among the unbelieving part of the islanders, but over time people saw him as zealous and humble God's saint. He served alone, baked the prosphora himself, and did the repairs himself. It happened that he officiated in an empty temple. It was difficult, and one day, when he was tormented by strong emotions, a small child, as if delving into the consciousness of his wise husband, asked him not to leave. Father Nikolai took these words as the voice of God and was encouraged.
Along with fulfilling his pastoral duties, the priest tried to improve the island, planted seedlings, carefully watered them, carrying dozens of buckets of water from the lake.
Often, even without an invitation, he visited the homes of those who needed his pastoral consolation, word and blessing. It happened that Father Nikolai looked after the elderly and babysat the children of parishioners.
All this could not but affect people. When one of the residents wrote a slanderous denunciation against the priest, local fishermen, returning from fishing, contrary to custom, did not give her any fish. This is how they expressed both their attitude towards the shepherd and their attitude towards the informer, dumbfounded by their behavior.
Model of Orthodox eldership
Over time, the island of Talabsk, barely visible on the geographical map, began to be secretly called the island of Orthodoxy. The fame of Father Nikolai and his activities spread far beyond the outskirts of the Pskov land.
In addition to jealousy and zeal, he awarded the priest with the gift of foresight. They say that sometimes the elder even reported on the fate of missing people.
In the seventies, dozens of believers from different parts of the vast country began to flock to the priest. It happened that due to the large influx of visitors, he could not find even a minute to rest. True, he did not accept everyone. Sometimes he could allow himself a stern question: why did you come (came)?
Among the spiritual children of Father Nicholas were laymen, monks, and priests. He is rightfully considered one of the most revered elders of the 20th-21st centuries.
On August 24, 2002, my father rested in the Lord. Death found him at the place of his exploits, the island of Talabsk.
ELDERS / Father
All Nikolai Guryanov’s sermons contain a secret call - “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Father was gifted with spiritual eyes. He called for Orthodox faith, said that she is able to save a person in the most difficult times. He preserved the purity of Christianity as the inner light in the human soul. Nicholas’s last testament is “Don’t lose Easter Joy!”
Life
Nikolai Alekseevich Guryanov was born on May 24, 1909 in the village of Chudskiye Zakhody, St. Petersburg province. From an early age he was a servant of the Altar, a singer in the choir. Benjamin of Novgorod secretly tonsured him as a monk at the age of 8.
Guryanov honored the family of Tsar Nicholas and prayed to him, professing their holiness. He was arrested several times - in 1929 he was sent into exile in Ukraine, and in 1931 he was imprisoned a second time for his church-monarchist service. Father also served time in Pskov, Vyatka camps, and then in ITL, Syktyvkar.
Elder Nikolai Guryanov
During the years of persecution of the church, Nicholas was secretly made a bishop, and then accepted the schema with the name Nektarios. At that time, he courageously defended the Holy Places, protected the freedom of the Church from the atheists, and did not accept the Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius.
After leaving the camps, he became a secret hieromonk. He served as a priest in several monasteries and churches. He studied in absentia at the Theological Academy, at the request of his mother, he was transferred to the Pskov Diocese on the island of Talabsk. There he served the Lord for 44 years until his dormition, which occurred on August 24, 2002.
Arriving on the island, the priest faced many difficulties. In those years, the media reported about the imminent victory over obscurantism, so he and his mother looked at him with distrust and wariness. But soon people saw that he was kind, friendly and good-natured.
The church in which Nicholas was to serve was in disrepair. Diocesan structures did not help, so the priest with the parishioners and residents of the Island independently looked for resources for its restoration.
Important! With his own hands, Nikolai built the temple, assembling the walls brick by brick. He also painted and built roofs. When the Liturgies began in the church, he personally baked the prosphora.
In addition to Nicholas's duties as a clergyman, he helped the village residents. Many men were engaged in fishing, so they left their homes for a long time. The priest helped the women chop wood, bring water, and look after children or the elderly. With his love and kind attitude towards people, he won respect and trust.
Orthodox education
Even as a child, Nikolai Guryanov served at the altar. The whole family participated in church life - the father served as regent, three brothers sang in the choir. At the age of 11, Nikolai, together with the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael, went to the island of Talabsk on parish business. Along the way they visited Blessed Michael. At that time he was ill and wearing chains, he was revered as a seer.
The blessed one treated the abbot to a large prosphora, and the boy to a small one and said: “Gostek has arrived.” His words turned out to be prophetic - in the future, Father Nikolai Guryanov served on this island. He often visited the grave of Blessed Michael and encouraged parishioners to pray to him.
Hagiographic icon of Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov
When Nikolai was 5 years old, his father died. Bishop Benjamin, who served at that time, practically became a father to him. The boy helped the bishop and adopted spiritual wisdom and courage from him.
One day the bishop said, “You are so happy that you are with the Lord,” and handed him the bishop’s cross as a blessing, which Father Nikolai took care of and kept for the rest of his life.
Reverence
While on the Island, Father Nikolai received a revelation from the Mother of God. He became an elder spiritual father, a comforter, a man of prayer, a miracle worker and a seer. People flocked to him, asking for advice and blessings.
Even during the life of Nikolai Guryanov, he was revered as a holy miracle worker, whose prayers the Lord loves and responds to. After his dormition, the people of God glorified him. People honor the works of Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov, immensely respect his great feat and gracious life with God. Akathists are composed for the priest, icons are painted, worshiped as the Holy One and the righteous.
Memorial Days
The memory of Nikolai Guryanov is celebrated on August 24. This is the day of his death. Another date is his birth on May 24th. On this day they also pray, light candles and remember the national saint.
Relics
Place of the last earthly refuge of Archpriest. Nikolai Guryanov marked it with a stone and showed it to his fellow villagers, parishioners and pilgrims. During his lifetime, he ordered that an ordinary cross be placed on his grave and did not bless the monuments.
The grave of Elder Nikolai Guryanov in the Pskov region
According to the will of the elder from the island, Nikolai Guryanov, his spiritual children and devoted friends were buried in the place where he indicated.
Facts about life
From early childhood, Nicholas was called a monk; he loved to retire to his room-cell. There were icons, books and portraits of kings. Among the friends there were guys who supported Nicholas and took part in the religious procession through the village, holding a cross and icons in their hands. The boy served the Liturgy alone.
In the last few years, the priest fasted heavily. His spiritual exploits are comparable to those of the ancient Fathers. In the last five years before his dormition, he did not wash. But no unpleasant odor not published. A pleasant fragrance always emanated from him, like the smell of prayer. This could even be observed from the chair on which Father Nikolai Guryanov loved to sit.
Interesting! Holy people say that not only the person himself, but also the place where he stands smells fragrant from prayer.
The doctors were more surprised than anyone - how at this age and living conditions no bad odors emanate from a person. They said: “Clean as a baby.” On rare occasions, he allowed himself to be wiped with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol when he was bitten by insects. He did not kill any living creatures.
A special fragrance is noticeable near the prayer corner. Before the Images to which he prayed. The priest himself said: “I don’t see myself without prayer.”
Nikolai Guryanov's prophecies have come true more than once. For example, when he was asked who would be in power after Yeltsin, he answered - a military man.
Commandments of Nikolai Guryanov
The elder always commanded to believe in the Lord, he said that God lives in the heart of man, there is no need to look for him. Saint Nicholas Guryanov especially revered Isaac the Syrian; he paraphrased his instruction: Know yourself - and enough is enough for you.
Book by Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov
The elder says that people are looking for confessors, but they completely forget about the Gospel, but it is the Gospel that is our mentor, the meaning of life, Living Faith, Hope and Love. Nikolai was upset that people were looking for man, forgetting about God. After all, if the Almighty did not send a confessor, then it is possible and necessary to be saved.
Father urged people to seek cleanliness, not listen to gossip, and not participate in conversations where the subject of discussion was something bad and dirty. He ordered not to pay attention to bad thoughts. He commanded to avoid falsehood, and to speak the truth without fear, but only with prayer and after asking for God’s blessing.
As for people, the priest said that everyone is weak and sometimes unjust. We need to learn to forgive, not to be offended, not to wish them harm, but on the contrary, to pray. It is better to move away from those who cause harm and not look for friends among people. Nikolai Guryanov’s instructions are that friends should be sought only in Heaven - among angels and saints. They will never betray or leave.
Quotes
As the elder said, a believer in the Lord always treats what surrounds him with love. They measure their lives by the Gospel, strive to do all their deeds according to the Word of God and ask Him for blessings at every hour.
Nikolai Guryanov wrote the book “Island of Divine Love”.
Cases of miraculous help from Father Nicholas
The elder healed various ailments and illnesses. People testify that when they came to Nicholas with old illnesses, they returned home healed. The elder’s prayers helped cure many diseases internal organs- kidneys, stomach, radiculitis, psychological illnesses - stuttering.
Icon of Nicholas Ostrovny (Guryanov)
Barren women, having received prayerful help from the elder and his advice, gave birth to children.
Father cured Metropolitan Pitirim Nechaev of diabetes. He asked him to open his mouth and put in several spoons of sugar, one by one. This dose is lethal for a diabetic. The frightened Vladyka tried to swallow the sugar. This is how healing happened.
The miraculous cure of a girl with cancer happened through the prayers of her mother to Nikolai Guryanov. When the healing was noticeable to the person who had recovered, the elder always said: “Just don’t give up spiritual life.”
When there was persecution of the Church in the 1960s, one woman reported on the priest. The commissioner came to him and spoke rudely and impartially, at the end saying that he would return at dawn and take him to prison.
Nikolai Guryanov prayed to the Almighty all night. Then a circumstance occurred that some people call an accident, and many saw in it a real miracle. Early in the morning a storm arose on the lake, although there had never been one at this time of year. For several days no one could get to the Island. After the storm passed and the weather improved, no one returned for the priest; they did not touch him anymore.
The biography of Nikolai Guryanov is interesting. He is a great elder, a miracle worker and recognized as a saint by the people of God. He always lived with the Lord and encouraged all people to offer prayers to Jesus Christ as if they were living the last day of their lives. The miracles of St. Nicholas Guryanov are numerous.
Documentary film about Elder Nikolai Guryanov
This event happened several years ago, but even today not a day goes by without me remembering it, the prophetic words of everyone’s beloved, recently deceased elder Fr. Nikolai Guryanov about the next ruler of Russia after Boris Yeltsin. And it was like that.
In September 1997, with a small group of pilgrims, after the end of the patronal feast at the Pskov Snetogorsk convent of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I went to the island of Talabsk (Zalita) to the elder Archpriest Nicholas, known throughout the Orthodox world, for spiritual help and advice. At that time, I was expecting my entire family to move from Magadan to St. Petersburg, I wrote for a long time and could not finish the book, and therefore, on the advice of people, I went to the priest to find out when I should expect my relatives. Each of us pilgrims hoped to learn from the priest about the problem, and therefore the group gathered quickly, and we, without wasting time, set off.
It was quickly getting dark, the weather was deteriorating, a piercing wind blew with rain, and waves rose on the lake. The boat we were sailing in was literally tossed about by the waves. We prayed earnestly, asking God for forgiveness for our sins, considering this weather a reproach and test for us. But then the boat moored to the shore, we entered the island and began looking for accommodation for the night. Of course, it was too late to go to the priest, and the weather did not inspire hopes of meeting him. Over the course of the night, many of us thought through our questions, abandoned some vain and absurd ones, but others became more laconic and cordial.
In the early morning of September 23 or 24, 1997, I don’t remember exactly, we were greeted by completely different weather - a clear, surprisingly clean sky, complete calm and a beautiful sunrise. We, having prayed and thanked God for everything, went to the priest to his house. Pilgrims were already standing there, some were just approaching the cherished gate. As experienced pilgrims told us, the priest has already gotten up and is praying before going out to the new arrivals. We entered the courtyard and began to wait, watching everything happening around us. Suddenly, everything seemed to come to life: pigeons flocked to the roof of the house, and a few minutes later a white horse approached the gate gate, stopped, stuck its head over the fence and seemed to be waiting for the priest to greet...
There were about ten of us, many were visiting the elder for the first time, and, of course, we got to know each other, remembering everything that happened around us down to the smallest detail.
And then the door to the house opened, and the priest came out to us for a blessing and anointing with oil. One by one we approached him with excitement and trepidation, briefly told about ourselves: who and where we came from, and asked about our own.
I also asked when I should expect my people from the North, to which the priest replied: “Soon. They'll arrive soon." Having received the blessing to write the book and the advice to “don’t rush in haste,” I stepped aside. And only one woman asked the priest not about her own personal things, but about all of us. I will never forget my father’s answers.
— Father Nikolai, who will come after Yeltsin? What should we expect?
- Afterwards there will be a military man.
- Will it be soon?
-...His power will be linear. But his age is short, and so is he. There will be persecution against the monks and the church. The power will be the same as under the communists and the Politburo.
- And after that there will be an Orthodox Tsar.
- Will we survive, father?
- You are, yes.
After these words, Father Nikolai blessed the woman. Following her, each of us, standing aside with bated breath and hearing the words of the elder, once again approached him and was blessed for the return journey.
I confess to you that the main thing I remember from the elder’s words is that the new president will be a military man. Who did we think of at that time? Rutskoi, Lebed, someone else? But a year or two passed, and all of them remained unusable. Over time, the words of Father Nikolai began to be forgotten, but on December 31, 1999 at 15:00 in the afternoon, watching Yeltsin’s “renunciation” on TV, it was as if I woke up from a dream. The surprising thing is that on this day I was visiting another pilgrim, my old friend, who also witnessed the words of the priest. Together we recalled in detail these prophetic, exactly fulfilled words of Father Nikolai. Even the word “pogo(a)naya”, as if figurative and ambiguous, immediately became understandable, and now it was completely revealed.
My relatives are from the north, as Fr. said. Nikolai, we arrived soon, 2 months after the pilgrimage to our dear priest. And I still haven't finished the book. And soon the arrival of pilgrims to the priest was limited. And previously, deputies from Moscow, military men, and officials came to him in large numbers for advice and blessings.
I began to ask further about the “running” ruler. At a time when he had already become acting president, I went to one very famous and perspicacious abbot, who now lives in retirement in the oldest monastery in Rus'. What the abbot said shocked me even more because it exactly corresponded to the description of the new ruler given to him by the late elder Nicholas. I heard a lot of new things, which were told to me one on one in the cell of the monastery with great precautions that were not clear to me at that time. Now it is clear to me why the abbot was so careful and asked not to mention his name anywhere. I'll tell you about this another time.
Alexander Rozhintsev,
Member of the editorial board of the almanac "Orthodox Army"
especially for the site www.blagoslovenie.ru,
Moscow, December 31, 2002
From the Editor: in response to one of the skeptical comments on this prophecy, Alexander Rozhintsev, who wrote it down, responded additionally:
“The author of this article, Alexander Rozhintsev, is writing to you, who heard everything said from Father Nikolai. 1. The article was written in early January 2000, and was posted on the Internet later for technical reasons and not for any other reasons. 2. A military man is a KGB colonel, and also militant in spirit, which we all already know from Chechnya and so on. 3. RUNNING power, not rotten power, means that Putin will trust only the military and people in uniform and put them in power at all key positions in the state. Which is still happening. 4. But his age is small, and so is he. I want to clarify that the priest did not say “yes, and he himself,” but “like himself,” I later remembered this more literally and accurately, and did not correct it in this text. This is an ancient prophetic comparison - to compare the visible with the secret - the invisible, the obvious, with the hidden. The growth of a person is obvious, “his age is small, like himself” means not the length of time in power, but the actions of a person, and they will be small in the eyes of God, that is, all his attempts will be small (insignificant), which means they will or destroyed or changed decisively after him. 5. “There will be persecution against the monks and the church.” Persecution under Putin is the imposition of the Taxpayer Identification Number, the population census, the assignment of numbers to churches and monasteries, unrest and indignation because of this, as well as the expulsion of opponents of the Taxpayer Identification Number from such monasteries, and so on. as well as tax bondage for the Church. In a word, everything that we have experienced and are still experiencing. It was especially hard on the monastics, that is, the monks... 6. “The power will be like under the communists and the Politburo.” Here everything is completely simple - command methods, a narrow circle of decision-makers (the Politburo), the United Russia party and congresses, and, finally, Putin became the chairman of the United Russia party, by the way, quite recently. He also places his party members in all the places in the provinces, etc. So everything came true except the last phrase: “And after that there will be an Orthodox Tsar.” All that's left to do is live until it happens. Best regards, A.R.”
http://www.zaistinu.ru/articles/?aid=1131&comment=7351#c7351
Devotees of the Faith
Elder Nikolai (Guryanov)
It may be too early to declare the role in the life of the present Church that was assigned by the Providence of God to Father Nikolai (Guryanov), who labored for more than forty years on the island of Zalit in the Pskov region. Too little time has passed to evaluate his activities. But now we can say with all certainty that it was given to our Church at one of the most crucial moments 
Her existence.
Of course, when characterizing the activities of this ascetic, one can be completely satisfied with pointing to the general tradition within the framework of which the elder’s service to the Orthodox man took place from ancient times. It includes spiritual care the flock, strengthening its religiosity, maintaining in it zeal for pleasing God, maintaining in the human soul warmth and love for God and His commandments, proclaiming the Divine will to those who seek it, healing the moral shortcomings of people, caring for the moral growth of the Christian soul, necessary spiritual support those who are in sorrow or illness... In a word, an elder is one who, having achieved dispassion through personal feat, spiritually nourishes the church people and shapes their faith, fulfills a high and significant mission. At the present time of greatest spiritual impoverishment and deep darkness of spirit modern society eldership in itself is an invaluable gift to a suffering person who strives in today’s world to remain faithful to the Gospel Truth. And only those rarest chosen ones of God are called to him who are capable of making their lives an unceasing martyrdom. Therefore, the elder of our time, by the very fact of his existence, by virtue of his activity, deserves deep veneration and preservation of the memory of him by the entire Church of Christ, the entire people of God. The appearance of Father Nicholas can be considered a phenomenon of Russian religious life at the end of the 20th century. What is its uniqueness ?
Father Nikolai Guryanov was born on May 26, 1910 in the Samolva churchyard, Gdov district, St. Petersburg province, into the family of a private landowner. Received Holy Baptism in the Archangel Michael Church. Mare Settlement. Since childhood he served at the altar. Love for the church and church singing was inherent in all members of their family: his father Alexei Ivanovich was the regent of the church choir; elder brother, Mikhail Alekseevich Guryanov - professor, teacher at the St. Petersburg Conservatory; the middle brothers, Peter and Anatoly, also had musical abilities, but little news remains about them. All three brothers died in the war. Father recalled it this way: “My father died in the fourteenth year. There are four of us boys left. My brothers defended the Fatherland and, apparently, did not dodge the fascist bullet... Thank the Heavenly Father, we live now, we have everything: bread and sugar, work and rest. I try to contribute that little penny to the Peace Fund that helps get rid of these hostilities... After all, war devours young lives. No sooner had a person opened the door to life than he was already leaving..."
There is a legend that Fr. Nikolay visited about. Zalita (at that time Talabsk) while still in adolescence. They say that around 1920, the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael, in which the youth Nikolai worked as an altar boy, took the boy with him to the provincial center. We got there by water and stopped to rest on the island of Talabsk. Taking this opportunity, we decided to visit the blessed one working on the island. His name was Mikhail. He was sick, all his life he wore heavy chains on his body and was revered as a seer. They say that the blessed one gave the priest a small prosphora, and Nicholas a large one and said: “Our guest has arrived,” thus predicting his future many years of service on the island...
In 1926, the future Elder graduated from the Gatchina Pedagogical School, and in 1929 received an incomplete pedagogical education at the Leningrad Institute, from which he was expelled for speaking out at a meeting against the closure of one of the nearby churches. After this, he was repressed and spent seven years in prison in Syktyvkar. After leaving prison, Nikolai worked as a teacher in schools in the Tosnensky district, since he was denied registration in Leningrad. During the war, he was not mobilized due to illness in his legs, which he injured with sleepers while working in the camp. After the Gdovsky district was occupied by German troops, Nikolai, along with other residents, was driven away by the Germans to the Baltic states. Here he becomes a student at the Vilna Seminary, opened in 1942. After studying there for two semesters, he was ordained to the priesthood by Exarch Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) at the Riga Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and then served in various parishes in the Baltic states. In 1949 - 1951, Father Nikolai studied at the correspondence sector of the Leningrad Seminary, and in 1951 he was enrolled in the first year of the academy, but after studying there for one year in absentia, he did not continue his studies. In 1958 he ended up on the island of Zalit, where he spent the remaining forty-four years of his life. In this list of facts from his biography, we will not find either a long stay in the monastery or long-term care from an experienced confessor. Consequently, those grace-filled gifts that he contained within himself were formed in him under the direct guidance of God. In the history of the Church there were such ascetics who achieved spiritual success without visible leaders. These include Saints Paul of Thebes, Anthony the Great, Mary of Egypt and others. These people, according to St. Paisiy Velichkovsky, “miraculously, according to the special vision of God, they were deliberately called to such a life that befits the perfect and dispassionate alone and requires angelic strength.”
However, this is not the only thing surprising about the phenomenon of the Zalitsky elder, and perhaps not even that much. He was formed and developed as an ascetic of extraordinary strength, not only without the necessary leader, “miraculously, according to the special vision of God,” but also during the most tragic period in the history of our Church, at that moment when an unprecedented campaign to liquidate it was launched in the country. By 1937, almost all Russian monasteries were destroyed, monks and nuns were shot or exiled to camps, and what survived was placed under the strictest control of the special services. By these actions of the authorities, the tradition of monastic activity was forcibly suppressed. Any secret attempts to maintain the way of life monastic life under the conditions of a totalitarian regime they were doomed. And at this time of rampant horrors of the atheistic system, which cut down the centuries-old tree of Russian Orthodoxy at the very root, in a country where the remnants of surviving religiosity were mercilessly uprooted, God’s providence nurtured... an elder - a personality of unprecedented magnitude and exceptional fortitude. For what and for whom? All this was unknown to anyone at that time and constituted the secret of God.
It is interesting that what the Zalitsky elder possessed at that moment when everyone suddenly learned about him and started talking about him - dispassion, love, insight, edification - was achieved by him long before he went out to the people. The Pukhtitsa abbess Varvara, who has headed the famous monastery for more than thirty years, told the author of these lines in one of her conversations that when she was a nun of the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery, Father Nikolai once said to her during a meal after a festive service: “Mother, how they will match you!” “What are you saying, father,” she answered, “after all, I have taken monastic vows and made a vow to the Lord.” But Father Nikolai repeated his words, as if he had not heard the objection: “How will they marry you, mother! Then don’t refuse.” After some time, the Vilna nun became the abbess of Pyukhtitsa and then she understood what kind of matchmaking was being discussed. festive table. But until the time set by God, the elder remained in a hidden place and in obscurity.
The time of “finding” the elder, when he opened the doors of his wretched cell to all those in need, came with the fall of the Soviet regime. This was the year not only of the proclamation of “democratic freedoms”, but also the year of the beginning of the second baptism of Rus'. From that moment on, the Russian Church began to absorb a huge number of converts. A rapid and tremendous growth began in newly opened parishes, theological and Sunday schools, and revived monasteries. The appearance of cities and villages was everywhere decorated with gold eight-pointed crosses. Shops with religious literature, workshops for church utensils, and periodicals not only of dioceses, but even of individual parishes appeared. Charitable institutions of the Church opened and pilgrimage services began.
All these gratifying and soul-gratifying phenomena could not, of course, cancel the laws of any development. The process of growth is always difficult in itself, contains many internal contradictions and always causes the action of an opposing force. It was not easy for the newborn flock that appeared in the Church to affirm in themselves the beginnings of a new life. People were too crippled by the previous decades of godlessness. The task of Christian growth, which in itself requires considerable internal tension, constancy and patience from a person, was immeasurably complicated by another fatal circumstance: the uncontrolled disintegration and disintegration of Russian reality that had begun. All the newly baked “bread” of the Russian Church, which found itself in very unfavorable conditions for further growth, required leaven of a very special strength to maintain its spirit. And, as we think, it was given to him by the Lord, the invisible Head of the Church, in the person of the elder Archpriest Nicholas. This is indicated by the elder’s unusual location - the island of Zalit, and the exceptional gift of insight that dwelt in him, and the extraordinary edification of his words, clothed in an extremely laconic form, reaching to the most hidden depths of the soul and causing radical changes in it. Truly, he was the “leaven” on which Russian Orthodox religiosity sprouted, is surging, and will continue to germinate, the Moses who led the “new Israel” to the “Promised Land.” He was the spiritual force that penetrated not only the souls of people who were drawn to Christ, but also yesterday’s communists and today’s liberals, and even forced them to revere God. Near him, all of newly baptized Russia, which had an idea of righteousness, at best, from books, received a clear, tangible idea of what Orthodox holiness is.
Why did people go to him? He didn't seem to say anything special. But from his wondrous and unexpected in its simplicity of instructions there was a breath of some kind of higher, heavenly wisdom, and in them a person, despite all the plainness and outward inexpressiveness of the elder’s words, unmistakably recognized the will of God, saw spiritually, freed himself from the captivity of ideas acquired by life, began to to see the path of his life in a different light, suddenly realized his untruth before God, himself, and other people. Those who survived this left the island with a feeling of deepest gratitude to the elder for the revelation they had experienced, as a result of which new strengths were discovered in them for further life in God. At the same time, it was endlessly amazing that to everyone, regardless of his age, profession, social status, disposition, character, moral level, he said something that concerned the innermost essence of his life.
His wonderful insight was obvious to everyone who turned to him. When I came to see him for the first time (it was in 1985, when I, as a student at the Pedagogical Institute, was doing an internship at school), he unexpectedly asked me from the threshold of his house: “Have you learned how to write the particles “not” and “neither”? “?”, - thereby letting me know that he knows me even without my explanation. Then, inviting me into the house, seating me at the table and placing a plate of strawberries with sugar in front of me, he continued: “So you are our philologist. Have you read Dostoevsky?”
He clearly saw the past, present and future life of his children, their internal structure. But how carefully he handled the knowledge about man that the Lord entrusted to him as His faithful servant! Knowing the whole truth about a person, he did not allow a single hint that could hurt or hurt his pride. In what a soft form did he clothe his edifications! “Take it easy,” he greeted my acquaintance with this advice, who had not even had time to say two words, who had adopted a somewhat harsh manner of treating his wife. This happened often and with many: having arrived with one purpose, a person left with that revelation about himself and with that lesson that he did not expect to hear and receive.
Love, forbearance and long-suffering towards one's neighbor were the main points of his instructions. The servant of God 3. came to the priest with her sadness: her daughter-in-law was unfaithful to her husband. Father Nikolai, seeing her in the crowd of people who had arrived, invited her to his house, sat her on a chair and then, after a pause, told her: “Don’t divorce them, otherwise you will suffer in hell.” The woman, unable to bear it, burst into tears and then for a long time kept in her soul the lesson of love taught to her on the island. Subsequently, life in her son’s family improved.
Father himself was merciful and condescending to the repentant people who came to him. One visitor, standing near the fence of the elder’s house and, from the shame that tormented him, did not dare not only turn to the elder, but even raise his eyes to him, heard the quiet voice of Father Nikolai. “Go and call him,” he said to his cell attendant. She invited the newcomer to the elder, who anointed him with oil and kept saying: “The mercy of God is with you, the mercy of God is with you...” And his oppressive state melted and disappeared in this ray of father’s love. However, the elder could meet those who did not have repentance in a different way. “Don’t come to me again,” he told one pilgrim. It was scary to hear such words from the great righteous man.
Fulfilling the blessing given by the elder required self-denial and self-sacrifice from the person asking, a willingness to go against himself and his desires. An acquaintance of mine, having received a prestigious appointment from the ruling bishop to a parish located in the center of the city, went to the island for a blessing. However, Father Nikolai ordered the priest to go to another place: to a remote village, where there was a huge church, desecrated and damaged during the years of persecution, requiring large capital investments, where there was no housing and where the entire parish consisted of five old women. But if a person found the strength to follow what the elder told him, then later, over the years, he received enormous spiritual benefit from this. Violation of this blessing always resulted in grave consequences for the questioner, which he later bitterly regretted. There were also those among those who came who, having received a specific blessing, then changed their minds and again pestered the elder with a request to bless them.” new option" “Live as you wish,” the priest once answered one of these petitioners.
Father was a great lover of simplicity. “Where it’s simple, there are a hundred angels, but where it’s sophisticated, there’s not a single one,” he repeated the St.’s favorite saying. Ambrose of Optina. One day he taught a whole crowd of people an expressive lesson in simplicity, without saying a single word. When he came out to all those who had arrived and crowded around his porch, the people trembled at the appearance of the elder. Then a slight impatience ran through the crowd. Everyone wanted to quickly talk about their own things; each, without noticing his neighbor, considered his own to be the most important and significant. But the elder was silent. At this time, a local fisherman of about fifty walked past the gate, immersed in his everyday and simple thoughts. Father suddenly called him by name. The fisherman stopped, took off his headdress and went to Father Nikolai. The elder blessed the fisherman, on whose face a good-natured smile shone. After that, the fisherman pulled his hat on his head and headed towards the gate. This silent scene lasted no more than two minutes. But many understood its meaning. The elder seemed to be saying to those gathered: “Find simplicity in your attitude towards yourself, and you will find blessings.”
Many experienced the enormous power of Father Nikolai’s accusatory words. He knew how to speak uncomplicatedly and dispassionately, but at the same time with amazing accuracy and depth, so that his word penetrated into the most hidden and secluded places of the human soul. I remember one time I was going to see him. My old seminary acquaintance S, a capricious and stubborn man who led a life that was not impeccable in all respects, found out about this. “Ask him about my future,” S. asked me. And the elder pointed out his future to him, “And S, tell me,” the priest said to me at the end of the meeting, hinting at the “darkened” side of his life, “that he must answer to God.” will". When I later reproduced these words of the elder over the phone, they caused S, an absolutely “unsentimental” person, to momentarily lose the power of speech. There was silence on the telephone receiver. Only the light crackling background of the device could be heard. It seemed that the person at the other end of the line had completely disappeared. Feeling embarrassed that I had accidentally learned someone else’s secret, I interrupted this endlessly prolonged silence by resuming the conversation. I remember something else too. One woman brought a high-ranking official from Moscow to Father Nicholas on the island in the hope that the elder’s blessing would help him move even higher. “Bless him, father,” she asked, leading her “protégé” to Father Nikolai. The elder looked not at him, but as if through him, and without long prefaces or circumlocutions he suddenly said: “But this is a thief.” The humbled and ashamed official, who had forgotten what remorse of conscience was over the years and had become accustomed to looking at life from top to bottom from his work chair, left the elder’s cell in a depressed and confused state.
The elder had a subtle sense of humor and sometimes put his denunciations in a rather peculiar form. One day a gentleman came to him, who had a passion for tasty, varied and plentiful food. “Come to me at six o’clock in the evening,” Father Nikolai told him and after a pause he unexpectedly added, “you and I... will eat.” At six o'clock the gentleman stood near the door of the elder's cell, from behind which came the smell of fried potatoes. Knocking on the door, the visitor said loudly: “Father, I have come.” After some time, due to closed door the old man’s voice was heard: “I’m not waiting for anyone.” After standing for a while, the discouraged gentleman went outside the fence of the house.
No one knows for certain what feats Father Nikolai performed on the island. He hid it from everyone, didn’t let anyone get close to him, and took care of himself, except for the last ten years, when he could no longer do this. Lately it has been very difficult for him to bear his weakness. Seeing how it was not only difficult for the elder to speak, but even to sit, how he was straining his last strength, I somehow sympathetically told him: “Father, you should lie down...” Father Nikolai, without raising his bowed head, answered: “Only lazy people lie down.” Another time, in response to the same sympathetic proposal to rest, coming from another person, he remarked: “Rest is a sin.” From these meager remarks one can partly predict the extent of his physical feat.
Father was a man of the deepest faith and did not doubt for a second the divine protection extended over every believer and over the entire Church as a whole. “Everything will be as you need,” he often told fearful people, as if saying that no circumstances have power over a Christian if he has genuine, undoubting faith. The elder did not have even the smallest part of that painful hysteria with which many in the Church are seized and besotted today. This hysteria, generated by our unbelief, fills us with empty fear and forces us to energetically fight any chimeras, but not the true enemies of our salvation. To one young man’s question: “Will there be a war?” the priest gave an astonishing answer. He said: “You shouldn’t only ask about this, but you shouldn’t even think about it.” Thinking about this answer, you involuntarily remember the Gospel: “When the Son of Man comes, will he bring faith to the earth?”
There were a great many such cases in his life. There is no doubt that he had a powerful impact on the consciousness of today's Orthodox Christian, on the new generation church people. The simple memory of him today supports the faith of many and strengthens the soul. The very fact of the existence of such a person for many is that invisible and, perhaps, not fully realized thread that connects them with God and the eternal tradition of Orthodoxy.
He was the same age as the century and survived all the terrible cataclysms of Russian and world history of the 20th century: the October Revolution, civil war, collectivization, repressions of Stalin's time, the second world war, Khrushchev's persecutions... The stormy and cruel time, which broke more than one fate and brought enormous changes to the consciousness of people, could not influence the ideals of his soul: despite the rapid whirlpool of history, which he, as a man of his time, was captured, these his ideals remained unshakable by any external force and, perhaps, as a result of his experience, grew even deeper into the recesses of his God-loving soul. His inner “cage,” built on the foundation of the Gospel commandments, withstood all blows from the outside, turned out to be stronger than all the horrors of the time and rose immeasurably above this age. In this sense, his amazing life can be an example for all those who think that in the conditions of the apocalyptic end there is no way to remain faithful to God in everything and to the end.
On August 24, 2002, Elder Nikolai completed his high, exceptional mission and left us for eternal rest. God alone knows what incredible, inhuman tension this life, which He had prepared for us, was filled with. special role~ to testify to the truth about Christ to people excommunicated from God and His Church, at the very end of the 20th century, terrible in its historical events. Many are afraid of a future without a righteous man. However, without fear of falling into error, we can say the following: great is the people who, even in apostasy reality, give birth to people who, in their spiritual scale, resemble the ascetics of the first centuries of Christianity. And it cannot be that a people, disfigured beyond recognition by the cruel “experiments” of the 20th century and yet not losing the ability to give birth to such people, and most importantly, to learn their spiritual lessons, does not have its own special purpose in the future.
The morning of the last earthly day of the beloved and unforgettable Father Nikolai was quiet and clear... The night passed quickly and unnoticed after countless painful days and nights of prolonged illness, when Father whispered in exhaustion: “My precious ones, I’m barely alive, every cell of me hurts. If you knew how bad I feel.” For the last three years, Father was apparently fading away: his flesh was melting away, drying up, his whole body was already incorporeal. We were amazed at the greatness of the Elder’s spiritual feat, which exceeded human strength. Truly: before our eyes stood an Earthly Angel, flaming in unceasing prayer for our entire sinful world. The greatness of the spirit of Abba Nicholas was fragrant with the holiness of the ancient Fathers of the Church, who served God with complete self-denial. What kind of spiritual deeds did he undertake out of love for the Sweetest Jesus, invariably repeating: “All my life I only knew and loved the Lord and thought about Him. I am always with the Lord!” Only an ascetic who had cleansed his soul of earthly and corruptible things could say this.
The power of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord magnified the Lamp of the Church Father Nicholas during his life and crowned him even more after his blessed death, like the Ecumenical Teacher John Chrysostom, who, during the transfer of the honorable relics from Comana to Constantinople, after thirty years, as soon as the Church asked forgiveness from the persecuted Saint , saying: “Take your throne, father,” he raised his right hand and blessed with the words: “Peace to all!”; like the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, who took the prayer of permission from the hands of the priest during the funeral service.
During the vesting of the all-honorable body of the spirit-bearing Elder Nicholas, an ascetic of faith and piety of our days, an all-Russian shepherd and loving spiritual father, we were privileged to behold the glory of God resting on him: when they brought the altar Cross and the Gospel to Father, with which the priest stands before the Lord to enshrine them into the hands of the deceased, he carefully and reverently raised his right hand and took the Cross himself - as he always held it during his earthly journey, thereby testifying that there is no death, but there is eternal life in Jesus Christ. The Elder opened his left hand slightly so that the Holy Gospel could be placed in it, and then quietly laid his fingers on it...
The morning of Saturday, the twenty-fourth of August 2002, was quiet and blessed. All nature froze, foreshadowing the great last hours of the celestial on earth. Batyushkin’s dream was bright and calm. Exhausted from earthly prayerful labors and bearing the sorrows and illnesses of the whole world, in the last three nights he rested like a child. Some kind of unearthly lightness appeared in Father’s whole body, his bones seemed to have lost their earthly heaviness, and it became completely easy to carry him: it seemed that he was weightless, and in his heart there was hope that this was a dream for recovery, that Father would feel better soon he will get stronger and get better. Constantly at night, the Elder, even during bodily sleep, prayed: we saw him making the sign of the cross or raising his hands before the Throne of the Most High - as during the Divine Liturgy at the Cherubim and the Grace of the World... Often, often, he offered a bishop's blessing with both hands. “I sleep, but my heart watches” (Song, 5:2), - this was the gift of prayer the Elder had. The face of the Elder shone in the light blue of the cell, his holy hands, which healed and strengthened thousands of suffering and sick people, exuded light and grace. The breath of the righteous man was the life-giving Jesus Prayer, which he constantly performed with his heart and barely tangible with his lips. The priest’s radiant beard often hid inexpressible pain and bitterness. When we asked: “Father, does something hurt you?!” - he answered: “My precious ones, that I... Grief, how much grief there is on earth... How I feel sorry for you all...”. “What will happen, father?” - “Grief,” he answered, “hunger”... We prayed and cried... The elder soothingly encouraged:
“There will be some bread, I’ll pray.” He warned us about spiritual hunger.
After many years of sleepless nights of prayer for the entire suffering world, this night of sleep was a dream of complete rest for the soul of the righteous. The quiet joyful bliss of Father was felt to be guarded by Angels - such grace was felt in everything. From time to time we went up to his bed, carefully straightened the blanket, and peered into the features of his dear, beloved face. Tears flowed naturally from our eyes, we knelt down, making prostrations to the quiet, holy worker. This was a natural movement of our hearts, for our whole life, especially in the last three months, when Father melted before our eyes like a candle, was given into service, sincere and reverent, to the spirit-bearing father, who dedicated his entire life to God and his neighbor.
Still, wanting to wake up Father, quietly touching his shoulder, they asked: “Father, are you getting up?”... “I’ll sleep... I’ll lie down... some more, I’ll sleep”...
They offered him something to drink, he happily agreed, almost without opening his eyes. I drank a few spoons of holy water. Lately The old man ate little. He constantly accepted only sacred things: holy water, prosphora, cathedral oil, which stood next to him in a mug with a blue cross.
We read the morning rule quietly so as not to disturb. The daily Apostle and the Gospel opened. Romans chapter 14:6-9:
“He who distinguishes the days distinguishes for the Lord; and he who does not discern the days does not discern for the Lord. Whoever eats eats for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat does not eat for the Lord, and thanks God. For none of us lives for ourselves, and none of us dies for ourselves; and whether we live, we live for the Lord; whether we die, we die for the Lord: and therefore, whether we live or die, we are always the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died, and rose again, and came to life, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
From the book: "Russian elders and ascetics of the 20th century"
On August 24, 2002, at the age of 93, the famous elder, mitred Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov, died. After his death, it became known that at one time he took secret monastic vows, which he hid out of humility. Elder Nicholas was granted many gifts of the Holy Spirit, among them the gifts of clairvoyance, healing, and miracles.Born on May 24, 1909 in the village of Chudskie Zahodtsy, Gdov district, St. Petersburg province, into a pious merchant family. Father, Alexey Ivanovich Guryanov (+ 1914), was the regent of the church choir. After his death, his mother, Ekaterina Stefanovna Guryanova (+ 1969), was involved in raising the children. Subsequently, she became the closest assistant to her son Nikolai. Since childhood, he served in the church of Arch. Mikhail in the village Kobylye Settlement, Gdov district, traveled with pilgrims to holy places. A love of church and church singing was inherent in all family members. Nikolai's elder brother, Mikhail, became a professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. The younger brothers, Peter and Anatoly, also had musical abilities, but little is known about them. All three brothers died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.
Even as a teenager, he visited Fr. Talabsk, where he later labored. Around 1920, the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael, in which the youth Nicholas served as an altar boy, took him with him to Pskov, where they traveled by water. We stopped to rest on the island of Talabsk. Here we visited Blessed Michael, the seer. Blessed Michael gave the priest a small prosphora, and Nicholas a large one and said: “ Our Gostek has arrived... ".
After graduating from the Gatchina Pedagogical College, Nikolai entered the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute. In 1929, student Nikolai spoke at a student meeting against the closure of one of the Leningrad churches, after which he was expelled from the institute.
He taught mathematics, physics and biology at a school in Tosno, Leningrad region. Then he served as a psalm-reader in a church in the name of St. Nicholas s. Remda, Seredkinsky district, Leningrad region. (now Gdovsky district of the Pskov region).
May 7, 1930 Leningrad district. the court sentenced him to two years of deportation from the RSFSR for two years for “ counter-revolutionary activities ».
In July of the same year, he arrived in the village of Sidorovichi, Rozvazhevsky district of the Ukrainian SSR, where he got a job as a psalm-reader.
Local authorities began to receive denunciations:
« The act (activity) of the village of Sidorovichi brings to your knowledge that in the village of Sidorovichi some nebazhani (undesirable) elements live and are engaged in agitation against Soviet power that collectivization and the kurkuli (kulaks) themselves liquidate and disintegrate work ».
"...In the month of July 1930 [Nikolai Guryanov] arrived in the village of Sidorovichi, took the position of clerk, and settled in the apartment of the chairman of the church community, Komarenko. Taking advantage of the fact that young people visited Komarenko’s adult children, he began to learn religious songs with them [meaning church chants], and sang them with them. He recruited young people into the church choir, and also advised them to go to church... "
On March 24, 1931 he was arrested under " to the case of the kulaks, S. Sidorovichi". Since March 31, he was in Kiev DOPR N2. In the column of the arrestee's questionnaire "property status" it was written that " has no property ". Medical report on health status: " suffers from rheumatism of the joints ". The case was a group one. In addition to Father Nikolai Guryanov, there were three more accused: Zakharyashevich Ivan Yakovlevich, Zakharyashevich Yakov Yakovlevich and Kopansky Alexey (Alexander?) Ivanovich.
From the indictment:
The investigation has established that the above-mentioned persons are indeed dispossessed kurkuli [kulaks] and from the moment of their settlement on the territory of the Sidoryansky village council they began to conduct a/c activities, campaigning against the events carried out by the Soviet government in the countryside, such as against grain procurements, collectivization, etc. They began to spread rumors that there would soon be a war, because here they put pressure on collective farms, and in Belarus on the construction of railways, and they also tried to persuade their neighbors, with whom they were friends, not to go to collective farms, since it would be bad on collective farms...
On the eve of the re-election of the village council, those who were not happy with the Soviet regime had a drinking party, and after the party they dispersed in order to disrupt the pre-election meetings, focusing on not letting communists into the village council, given that the Executive Committee had sent a communist to the post of chairman of the village council in Sidorovichi.
This group worked to prevent voters from voting for a communist under the pretext that “he is a stranger, we don’t know him,” and, moreover, “we have our own people,” as a result of which the pre-election meeting was disrupted...
He did not admit guilt: “I have never been involved in counter-revolutionary work and have never agitated anyone against the Soviet regime. I have nothing more to say. N. Guryanov."
On August 20, 1931, he was sentenced to deportation to the Northern Territory for a period of three years, starting from March 24, 1931.
He served time in Syktyvkar. Was under construction railway. The work often took place in icy water. He received rheumatism and also seriously injured his legs from sleepers.
He was released approximately in 1937 (according to other sources - in 1942). He did not have the right to reside in Leningrad and was sent 101 km away. He worked as a teacher in schools in the Tosnensky district. When did the Great Patriotic War, he was not taken to the front due to a leg disease that he received in the camp. During the German occupation he was forcibly taken to the Baltic states.
On February 8, 1942, he was ordained deacon by Metropolitan of Vilnius. Sergius (Voskresensky) and February 15 - priest.
According to PSTGU, even before his ordination he took monastic vows, but did not become a monk with robes and kept his monasticism a secret.
In the same year, he graduated from theological courses in Vilnius and was sent as a priest to the Riga Trinity-Sergius Monastery for women.
Then he was transferred to the Vilna Monastery of the Holy Spirit for men, where he was obedient to the guide.
Since July 1943 - rector of the church in the name of St. Nicholas s. Hegobrosts of the Panevezys deanery of the Vilna-Lithuania diocese.
In 1949-1951 He studied in absentia at the Leningrad Theological Seminary and the Leningrad Theological Academy; he studied at the academy for only one year.
In 1956 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest.
In 1958 he was transferred to the Pskov diocese. At his personal request, he was appointed rector of the church in the name of St. Nicholas on the island of Talabsk (Zalit) on Lake Pskov, where almost half a century of his pastoral ministry passed.
He led an ascetic life and became famous as a spiritual, perspicacious elder. In the early 1970s, Fr. Many people began to turn to Nicholas for advice and prayerful help; his spiritual children were among priests, monks and laity. He tried to say an encouraging word to everyone who came to him, strengthened and instructed them in faith, and called on them to treat everything that surrounds people with love. He read a lot, guiding others to thoughtful, intelligent reading, blessed them to study and receive an education, loved spiritual singing, author of such chants as “ Praise to Our Lady», « Prayer to the Guardian Angel», « Savior, warm my soul», « Brotherly anthem" Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II named Fr. Nicholas one of the pillars of Russian eldership.
The outstanding pastoral feat that Father Nikolai accomplished throughout his life is evidenced by the church awards he received: in 1952 he was awarded the right to wear a golden pectoral cross, in 1956 - the rank of archpriest, in 1988 he was awarded a miter and the right to serve with open royal doors to the Cherubimskaya. In 1992, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II awarded Father Nicholas the right to serve the Liturgy with the royal doors open until the Lord's Prayer.
According to the recollections of eyewitnesses (from the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate 12 - 2002):
"In August, Father Nikolai fell ill, but everyone hoped for his speedy recovery - how could we live without a priest?! But on Saturday, August 24, late in the evening, black, sad news came from the island - Father Nikolai left us. And on Sunday, at the morning service, Archbishop of Pskov and Velikoluksky Eusebius announced to the parishioners about the death of Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov and called on everyone to pray for the repose of his soul. Sunday, the eve of the funeral, all of us - spiritual children, clergy, believers, spent in grief. Many immediately began to look for an opportunity getting to the island, which was not always easy in normal times, and especially in those days.
And then came Monday, August 26th. In the morning, the fog did not clear for a long time, and ships were not allowed to enter the lake until 10 o’clock. But as soon as visibility became better, numerous ships rushed to the island: the passenger “Rocket”, on which the majority were clergy, fishing boats, military boats, small boats, pleasure boats, yachts. And there were many more people wishing to get to the island of Talabsk (Zalita), where the coffin with the body of Father Nikolai stood, to say goodbye to him and pray for the repose of his soul, than there were ships.
And so our boat moored to the skeleton. When we, believers from Pskov, approached the Church of St. Nicholas, where the coffin with the body of Father Nicholas stood, we saw a large crowd of people in front of the entrance to the temple, many of them had arrived yesterday. The temple was full of people, an endless stream of people flowed to the coffin, covered with flowers, paying their last debt of love to Father Nicholas. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the church; many people wished to receive communion on this day. The service was led by Archbishop of Pskov and Velikoluksky Eusebius, who then led the funeral service. At 12 o'clock the coffin with the body of Father Nikolai was carried out on the shoulders of the clergy and placed below, on the porch of the St. Nicholas Church, in which Father Nikolai served for more than forty years. Many clergy stood near the coffin, and below, on the grass, stood hundreds of people repeating the words of prayer, holding candles, wiping away tears.
Young and old gathered to see Father Nikolai off on his last journey. Many came from afar, some with small children. There were residents of the island and believers from the Pskov region and other dioceses. And a lot of clergy and monastics gathered, no one counted how many, but probably at least two hundred people from all over Russia.
Before the funeral began, Archbishop Eusebius of Pskov and Velikoluksky said a farewell word addressed to all those present. " First of all,- said Vladyka Eusebius, - I want to assure everyone that we are really burying Father Nikolai Guryanov, no matter how sad it is for all of us. These days, a feeling of unspeakable sadness takes over us. The lamp of pure love for the Lord, the good shepherd, the zealous man of prayer, has gone out. Each priest has his own personal file, where everything related to his service is entered. Before traveling here, I opened the personal file of Archpriest Nikolai and found there only gratitude for his selfless service. With his prayers and impeccable life, Father Nikolai acquired great spiritual gifts for himself, acquired sincere love people. He was always characterized by patience, humility, a desire to help and turn to repentance; no one was rejected by him, misunderstood or consoled. Father Nikolai will always be an example of a true shepherd for us, everyone will keep his fatherly instructions and advice in their hearts. And now, when Father Nikolai stands before the Lord, let us pray for the repose of his soul, for the granting of the Kingdom of Heaven to him ".
The funeral service began. The sun was shining brightly, a soft breeze flew in from the lake and immediately subsided, shaking the flames of the funeral candles. The church was surrounded in a dense ring by people with candles in their hands, putting their grief into the words of joint prayer. Meanwhile, we all slowly approached the priest’s coffin and kissed his hand for the last time. His hand, holding the azure enamel cross, was so soft and cool, as if the priest was sleeping. I remembered his father's farewell blessing. He seemed to be telling us again: " Take heart, my children, somehow you will now remain here, in a world where there are so many temptations and sorrows... “Even in his last hours on earth, Father Nikolai invisibly gave us his last command to pray and live according to the commandments of God. This is how we said goodbye to Father Nikolai, and this is how he said goodbye to us.
At the end of the funeral service, the coffin was carried around the church in which Archpriest Nikolai, a faithful servant of the Lord, served for so many years. And so the funeral procession, accompanied by measured, rare, mournful strikes of the bell, headed to the place of its final resting place, to the cemetery. The coffin was carried by eight clergymen, and many people followed them. The road went past the house where Father Nikolai lived. Here the procession paused, the coffin swayed three times, making its final bow to the worldly home, and then moved on.
At the gates of the cemetery, the laity paused - only the clergy went to the grave itself, because there was no room for everyone. But the coffin with the body of Father Nikolai was not immediately buried. His spiritual children, priests from Moscow, had just arrived in Pskov and asked to wait another thirty minutes until their boat sailed to the island. Meanwhile, last words of farewell and prayer were said at the grave.
And finally, tired, out of breath people came up - they carried an icon, flowers and were grateful to the Lord that they still managed to see off their spiritual father on his last journey, to pay his last respects to him. And the bell kept ringing sadly and protractedly, and its sounds pierced the warm lakeside air, they were heard throughout the island. This ringing of sorrow echoed in the hearts of both those who came to the island to see off Father Nicholas on his last journey, and those who could not come, and these are the majority - many thousands of Orthodox people throughout Russia, and not only in Russia... All they prayed that day for the repose of the soul of the newly deceased servant of God, Archpriest Nicholas.
The Kingdom of Heaven is yours, dear father!"
IN last years of his life o. Nicholas carried out a voluntary feat, resigning himself to the fact that some of the people around him said on his behalf that the elder allegedly gave his blessing to glorify Grigory Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible and many other absurd things. But if you look carefully, so all life o. Nicholas was a great feat, which, let us believe, he coped with and now has boldness before our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory, honor and worship with His Beginning Father and with the Holy Spirit, always now and ever and unto ages of ages! Amen.
Somehow, having long ago read about the elder and the elder himself, it came to mind that the name of this ascetic definitely needs to be remembered more often, and therefore to this day Fr. Nikolai Guryanov is recorded in our book of the Living and we submit memorial notes for the Liturgy in his name.
Although we believe that we need his prayers more for us, unworthy!
Lord, rest the soul of Your ever-remembered servant Archpriest Nicholas in Your Heavenly Villages, and have mercy on us sinners, as we are Good and Lover of Mankind!
With love,
RB Dmitry
From the memories of. Valeriana Krechetova...
- Father Valerian, they say that many miracles happened at Father Nicholas on the island of Talabsk?
- Yes, two people were driving to him one day and discussing among themselves: “ They say that the elder is a miracle worker, he works miracles " They arrived and asked: “ Show us some miracle ». – « Oh, a miracle?- says the father, - OK then" He went to the switch, turned the light on and off, on and off again. They just grinned: “ Is this a miracle?»
They boarded a boat and arrived on the mainland, and there were people there, cars were parked, there was hustle and bustle. These two come up and ask: “ And what happened?» – « Yes, we are repairing the power line, because no one in the entire area has had light for two days now. " It was then that they realized what this priest meant - he turned on the light and turned it off.
And recently, one servant of God told a story, recalled how he went to visit his father. He thinks: he will have to travel by boat, so as not to lose his watch. And his watch was new, good. I started looking for other houses, searched, but couldn’t find them. I put on new ones and went. They were sitting with the priest, talking, and he suddenly asked: “ Have you lost your watch? » – « No, father, I didn’t lose it " But I thought about it!
– Did you come to Nikolai Guryanov for advice from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II?
- Yes. I remember that we once came to consult with Father Tikhon (Shevkunov) about the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). We were together. Father calmly said: “ Well, what is this for? “He understood perfectly well why they were doing this: control was needed. But an Orthodox person does not need to be controlled; he works honestly. When they asked the priest (though not that time): is this a seal? He says: " This is not a seal. So far, thank God ».
– So a barcode is not a seal yet?
- No, this is all the eve of the seal of the Antichrist... When they asked the priest, the video recording was turned on, and then, when he had already said everything, they stopped - it turned out that the device was not working. Then they asked for a blessing, the priest blessed - they recorded a second take. The Patriarch nevertheless asked. Then another take, already the third. And there is this entry: “ What it is?- asks the priest. - The first time I've heard " Everyone asked and asked. This, of course, is not the case with an elder. He said that and that’s it. And with him, as an artist, the takes are better. This is inappropriate.
– Father Valerian, you have communicated a lot with elders in your life. And what, besides love, is characteristic of them?
– Well, first of all, they are always with God. They themselves walked in the presence of God and reminded others that there is a Lord and this is a manifestation of love. Of course, humility is characteristic. And asceticism, a strict attitude towards oneself: food was always very modest, sleep - there was abstinence in everything. They strictly cut off all thoughts of mistrust and suspicion of elders and superiors. One day I told Father Nikolai, “Father, I heard something like this,” and he said so sharply to me: “ Do not believe!»
I remember, I was still young, I started talking, I came to Father Sergius Orlov: “ Here, father, this and that " And he answers: “ We are good, but others - yes " Then I realized that you can’t judge anyone. And I was convinced of this later, indeed, I received confirmation of this. They didn't talk bad about anyone or anyone. When Father Nikolai began to be asked: “B Atyusha, what are you talking about Grigory Rasputin, about Ivan the Terrible? " And he: " Do we really talk badly about them? We speak well ».
– By the way, father, how did Father Nikolai feel about Ivan the Terrible and Grigory Rasputin?
- I just told you. " Are we talking badly about them? We speak well " It's clear?
