Archimandrite Abel (Macedonov, in schema Seraphim).

“Live in mutual love,” Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov) uttered these words a month before his death, saying goodbye to the monks of the St. John the Theologian Monastery.

His whole life was a continuous service to the Creator, healing spiritual wounds, praying for the Russian land. Batiushka participated in the rescue of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos in the 1970s, when the monastery became very impoverished with Russian inhabitants, he revived one of the oldest monasteries in Russia - in honor of the holy Apostle John the Theologian near Ryazan. Clergymen and laity from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities hurried to confession to him. People came from America, France and even from Mount Athos for spiritual advice. Some of his spiritual children now lead monasteries and dioceses.

This year, on December 6, the brethren of the St. John the Theologian Monastery and everyone who knew Archimandrite Abel are celebrating the tenth anniversary of his repose: monks, military men, scientists and politicians, writers and artists, students, simple old women - all those who built his life under the spiritual guidance of the elder, his prayers and instructions.

Kolya monk

If we were transported to June 21, 1927 in the village of Nikulichi near Ryazan, we would witness the birth of a baby, with whom an amazing story was connected. Fellow villagers would tell us how his mother Feodosia Mitrofanovna and her mother-in-law went on foot to the Poshchupovsky Theological Monastery, where they fervently prayed before the miraculous image of the Apostle John - they asked for a healthy baby for Theodosia. The Lord heard prayers, Theodosius became pregnant.

Soon, in a dream, she saw an old man who gave her scissors and a piece of black cloth. Theodosia asked: “Why, grandfather, are you giving me this? I can't sew." The handsome old man replied: “This is not for you, but for your son who will be born.” Theodosia decided that her child would become a tailor. In fact, a piece of fabric meant monastic vestments, and scissors meant that the son would tonsure pious laymen as monks.

The baby who was born was baptized in the rural church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, on the patronal feast, July 9th. Before the christening, as expected, they prepared a treat and discussed what name to give the baby. And suddenly the mother-in-law, busy in the kitchen, heard a barely audible voice outside the window: “Name the baby Nikolai.” And so they did.

The baby often cried. The parents noticed that Kolenka calmed down when he was carried past the chapel. Then grandmother Tatyana suggested to Feodosia that icons be hung over his bed from four sides. And Kolya stopped crying. It was his first home "chapel".

royal doors

From early childhood, he loved the temple and dreamed of becoming a monk. All the children walked in the street, and he ran to the church, and when they took him away from there, he cried. Once he was asked to take prosphora to the altar. A five-year-old boy entered through the royal doors and was so stunned by what he saw that he did not notice how he leaned on the throne. Archimandrite Mina, who served at that time, did not scold the boy, but gave the prosphora and explained what was happening. Since then, Kolya began to dream that, like Archimandrite Mina, he would serve at the throne.

The Mother of God came to bless little Kolya more than once in a dream, and he was sure that She came to everyone. One day the Mother of God did not appear, and Kolya asked the boys if they had had Her that night or not. They didn't even understand what he was talking about.

They called him a monk. The boys brought him icons and exchanged them for bread. And he asked the Lord: "Make me really become a monk."

In 1934, the Tikhvin Church was closed in Nikulichi. For seven-year-old Nikolai, this was a real tragedy. For several days he did not eat, cried, thought that it was better to die. And the Mother of God again came to him in a dream to console him. She was in white clothes with the Christ Child. Such grace emanated from Them that all sorrows were forgotten.

When the temple was closed, seven-year-old Kolya did not eat for several days, he cried, he thought it was better to die. The Mother of God herself came to console him

Years later, Father Abel asked various icon painters to paint a visible image, but no one succeeded. Finally, he met an artist from Yaroslavl, who was blessed to paint icons by the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. But he didn't succeed either. Then the artist prayed with all his heart, turning to the Mother of God, and She showed him Her mercy - the icon was painted. Now similar, but smaller, it hangs on the wall next to the grave of Elder Abel in the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov in the Theological Monastery. “The monks really wanted to have such an icon,” says Hieromonk Melchizedek, a resident of the monastery. – And then a pilgrim arrived with this icon, quietly left it and left. We came, saw the icon and hung it next to the elder’s grave…”

After the church in Nikulichi was closed, Kolya began to go to a church located three kilometers from his native village. Local grandmothers gave him notes, and with the blessing of the priest, he read them while the priest took out the particles. Father Abel recalled that almost all the notes contained the names of the landowners Kublitsky, who built a temple in Nikulichi Tikhvin and did a lot of good to fellow villagers.

Church in the boiler room

When Kolya was in the second grade, he arranged a prayer corner in the boiler room of the school where his father worked. There were icons, lamps and even a censer. One day he decided to show this place to his classmate, whom he once saw in the temple: “Here, Lucy, look, here is my little church.” Then he and Lyusya and her friend played "church", "buried the dead" - Kolya prayed and censed, and his friends sang: "God rest with the saints."

In the third grade, he refused to join the pioneers. It was 1936! The objector was decided to be expelled from school, but the respected teacher interceded. Nicholas continued his studies. After classes in which children were taught that there is no God, he would come home, light a lamp in front of the icons and pray, gradually calming down.

Once he read in Lermontov's poem about the merchant Kalashnikov the following lines: "A copper cross with holy relics from Kyiv hung on his chest." “I wish I had at least a small piece of relics from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra,” the boy dreamed. And one day, this is what happened. The train in which the priest died was passing through Ryazan. Among the things they found a box with a particle of the relics of St. Lawrence of Turov. The casket was handed over to Ryazan Bishop Dimitry (Gradusov), the spiritual father of Kolya Makedonov. The boy begged the bishop to give him a "tiny piece" of the holy relics. He put it in the cross and, happy, began to wear it on his chest.

Next to the room in which Father Abel lived in recent years, a house church was built, where the priest prayed. In the foreground is a staff belonging to St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky)

A loaf of bread

Cases of God's miraculous help accompanied Archimandrite Abel throughout his life. “Once,” he said, “a big church holiday was approaching, and I wanted a lamp to burn in the house. And there was no Bogov's oil (that's how lamp oil was called). A neighbor came and asked: “Do you need God’s oil?” - "Need to. What do I owe him?" “A loaf of bread.”

He gave the bread, lit the lamp, but he himself is worried about what he will tell his parents, because he left the family without bread. Started cleaning to somehow justify himself. He brought order to the house, began to wipe the shelves and suddenly he sees - a loaf! Nikolai rushed to his knees and let's beat the bows, thank God.

One day he was walking to the Sorrowful Church, the only one functioning in Ryazan, and suddenly a strong blizzard arose - not a single light was visible. Wandered, strayed, exhausted, freezing, prayed to God for help. He sees - the old man waves his hand, Kolya followed him. And now the houses of the native village of Nikulichi have already appeared, and the old man has disappeared. Then the boy realized that it was Nikolai Ugodnik, whose name he and his village bore.

Blessed in spirit

On the path of life young Kolya met amazing people, as he himself said, "holy life." One of them was the blessed Polyushka, who lived in the village of Zakharovo. She was blind, but at the same time she knew the Psalter by heart. Long before the Great Patriotic War, she predicted its beginning. She also said that the Germans would be chased away from Ryazan.

In December 1941, the Nazis reached Zakharov, which is only 37 km from Ryazan. An evacuation was announced in the city, everyone rushed to collect their belongings, and believers, ten or eleven people, among whom was Kolya Makedonov, came to the Sorrowful Church and stood up for a cathedral prayer. Suddenly, a beggar woman runs into the temple and cries for joy: “Don't be afraid! I just saw our Saint Basil. He said that Ryazan would not be surrendered to the enemy. Everyone thought she was crazy. But the Germans really drove!

During the war, Kolya worked very hard, helped at home with the housework, the family had many children. He was very tired and prayed to the apostles Peter and Paul. But the trouble is that he did not have icons of these saints. Then he began to go to the grave of the blessed Lyubushka of Ryazan and asked her to help him find the icon. Once he went to a school friend, he sees - in the hallway, in the corner there is a wide board. He approached, turned it, and under a layer of dust the apostles - Peter and Paul. He is to his friend's grandmother - sell the icon, but she won't. “It is a sin,” he says, “to sell icons. Maybe the church will open again, and I’ll demolish it there.” Kolya went to Lyubushka's grave and told him everything. After some time, the grandmother, who was attacked by an incomprehensible fear, herself sent for Kolya. “Take the icon for yourself and order a prayer service for my health,” she asked.

Friends

In the Church of Sorrows, Kolya met Borey Rotov. Throughout their lives they carried a cordial friendship. Together they returned to Nikulichi from the temple. And along the way they gave biblical names to the surroundings - a pile of stones, denoting the destroyed temple, was called Jerusalem, thickets of weeping willows - the Garden of Gethsemane. There was also a Bethlehem, and even the oak of Mamre - a big old willow.

Once they sat down in the "Gethsemane Garden" and dreamed. Kolya says: "I want to become a schemer, and that I have a temple where I would pray." “And I,” says Borya, “I want to become a patriarch in order to be more useful to the Church.”

Years later, Nicholas was tonsured into a schema with the name Seraphim, and he prayed in his temple. And Boris became Metropolitan Nikodim.

One day, Borya told a friend how wonderful it was to serve as a subdeacon with Vladyka Alexy (Sergeev) - you feel that you are about to take off like an angel. "Good for you. But my mother does not allow me, although Vladyka calls me to wait on him, - Kolya answered bitterly. “Afraid of being expelled from school.” “Tell me about me, they don’t exclude me.” Kolya came home and told his mother how Borya serves the lord like an angel, and that he himself wants this too. And my mother agreed. Friends celebrated this event at the Mamvrian Oak - they sang a troparion to the Guardian Angel and ate sticky caramels.

"My angel"

At first Nikolai was a subdeacon of Archbishop Alexy (Sergeev), but a year later Bishop Dimitry (Gradusov) was sent to the Ryazan cathedra. It was 1944. Kolya was worried whether the new bishop would keep him with him. And he had a dream - he was walking past the church, and an old man came out of it, bent over like St. Seraphim. Kolya understood that this was the new bishop, folded his hands for blessing and waited. And he comes up, hugs him, presses him to himself and says: "My angel."

Soon, already in reality, Nikolai was summoned by a summons to the draft board. On the way, he went to the temple, and they told him: “Don’t leave, help to dress the new bishop.” Bishop Demetrius arrived, and Kolya immediately recognized him as an old man from his dream. Vladyka came up and, just as in a dream, hugged him, pressed him to himself and said: “My angel.” And when he found out about the agenda, he said: “Stay, Kolya, finish your service, nothing will happen.” Indeed, it turned out that the summons was sent by mistake.

Vladyka Dimitri became the spiritual father of Kolya Makedonov and Boris Rotov and told them not to leave each other, that they would go through life together. And so it happened. Together they served as subdeacons in Ryazan, then in the Yaroslavl diocese, and later participated in the restoration of the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos.

Archbishop Demetrius came from a family of hereditary nobles. He was ordained a priest by Patriarch Tikhon himself. Vladyka Demetrius was a perspicacious elder. In 1944, Kolya's father died, leaving two brothers and two sisters in his arms. When he arrived at the temple, he did not say anything to anyone, put on his clothes and went to meet the bishop. And Vladyka leaned towards him: “Why don’t you, my angel, say that the Lord took your daddy to himself last night?” Kolya burst into tears. “Do not cry,” Vladyka consoles, “whoever has neither a father nor a mother, God Himself replaces the father, and the Mother of God the mother.” Father Dimitri helped Kolya, treated him like his own.

It's better to die

And my mother passed away the year before. The contractions began at home, the father was not around. She sent Kolya for grandfather. While he ran to the village council for a horse, while she was singled out, while they gathered ... Feodosia gave birth on the way in the cold, and the child died of hypothermia. After that, my mother became very ill and never recovered. She left painfully, the relatives could not stand it, they left the hut. And only Kolya remained nearby. He held his mother's head in his arms and prayed to God. Before her death, she saw her saint and exclaimed: “Martyr Theodosius!” And she left for another world.

Mom's sister told Kolya after the funeral that she advised her to have an abortion, but she refused. She remembered the Theological Monastery and the painting “The Last Judgment” in it, she said that it is better to die than to have an abortion.

"My pleasant"

Kolya had to leave school and go to work on a collective farm. He was worried that he had not completed his studies, but Vladyka Dimitri reassured: “Nothing, Kolenka, they will come to you from all over Russia to study the mind.” And so it happened. People from all over the country came to see Elder Abel at the John the Theologian Monastery.

In 1945, Vladyka Dimitry decided to ordain Kolya as a deacon. Before that, Nikolai came to the temple, and the nuns asked him to read the clock. Since he never read them, he lost his way. One nun scolded: "I'm going to be a deacon, but I can't read the clock." The humble Kolya inwardly agreed with this and decided to postpone the ordination. He went to tell the lord about this, and the holy fool Nyusha met him. "Where are you going, my darling?" he asks. "To the lord." Nyusha turned him towards the temple and said: “Go and pray. And remember, deacons don't read the hours." Then Vladyka repeated the same phrase to him with a smile – “deacons don’t read the hours” and ordained him.

tonsured

Once Vladyka Dimitry took Nicholas with him to the village of Krivopolyanye, where novices who wanted to become nuns were waiting for him. Vladyka secretly tonsured them at home, and sent the young man to the temple for vestments, the Gospel, a cross, and scissors. He went to church, but he himself is insulted - some women are tonsured, but he, who has wanted to become a monk all his life, is not. In the temple, Nikolai saw the miraculous Tikhvin icon and prayed - what is this being done, he can’t wait until he is tonsured a monk, and here it is. Then he was ashamed of his impudence and threw himself on his knees to ask for forgiveness.

At the age of 18, Nikolai Makedonov became the first tonsured in the Ryazan diocese after the revolution.

He came to the lord, and he said: “Well, my angel, you will receive what you asked for.” "I didn't ask you for anything." “He didn’t ask me, but he asked the Mother of God now in church.” And tonsured him a monk with the name Abel. He was 18 years old, and he became the first tonsure in the Ryazan diocese after the revolution. A little over a year later, in January 1947, Vladyka ordained him a hieromonk.

When Father Abel was already a priest, blessed Polyushka predicted a heart disease for him. Soon her words were confirmed, Father Abel's heart began to hurt badly, so much so that he began to prepare for death and told Bishop Demetrius about the illness. He took this seriously and secretly tonsured the 24-year-old father Abel into a schema with the name Seraphim. Through the prayers of the saints, Father Abel survived. Even the closest people for a long time did not know that he was tonsured into the schema.

The time of hegumen's labors

In 1950, Father Abel, under the compulsion of the Soviet authorities, left the Ryazan region and continued his zealous service in the Yaroslavl land. This irritated the authorities very much - a smear campaign was launched against the priest in the local press. In 1960, the priest had to leave.

He returned to Ryazan land again. Nine years later he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Ryazan Cathedral. And in February 1970, they were sent to Athos to the Russian Panteleimon Monastery.

As Father Abel himself said, the Greek authorities at first mistook him for a spy sent by the communists. At that time, the Greeks dreamed of expropriating the monastery and created unbearable conditions for the Russian monks. The police lived near the monastery. Father Abel's cell was secretly searched. But over time, they began to respect him.

When he went to Athos, he thought that he would be a simple novice, but he was chosen hegumen. The new obedience was given hard, a sick heart in a hot, humid climate often reminded of itself. Panteleimon Monastery at that time was being restored after a terrible fire. The monks carried sacks of cement on themselves, plastered, turned stones. Sometimes they didn’t get to the cell, they would sleep under a tree for two hours and then go back to work.

In 1978, a telegram came to the Holy Mountain about the death of Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). Father Abel really wanted to go to the funeral of a faithful friend, but he did not hope to get a visa soon. However, a miracle happened - the priest was allowed to leave for the USSR without any delay.

He was not destined to return back - the Providence of God kept him in his homeland. The Russian people were waiting for big changes, people had to be re-churched. When he left, he took with him the ancient traditions of Athos eldership.

On native land

In 1979, Archimandrite Abel was appointed honorary rector of the Borisoglebsk Cathedral in Ryazan and confessor of the diocese. And in May 1989, he was the abbot of the newly returned Church of St. John the Theologian Monastery. For 15 years, under the leadership of Father Abel, the monastery, which lay in ruins, was transformed. Monastic life was revived, temples were restored, many shrines were collected.

In the spring of 2004, Archimandrite Abel retired for health reasons. Continuing to live in the monastery, he spiritually nourished the monks and the laity. And two years later, on December 6, in the 80th year of his life, he peacefully rested in the Lord.

Galina Digtyarenko, photo by Oleg Serebryansky

Archival photos provided by St. John the Theologian Monastery

Abel's father

Alternative descriptions

James (1732-1794) English architect

Robert (1728-1792) English architect

William (1689-1748) Scottish architect

bible gardener

In the Old Testament - the first man, the father of the human race

The name of the writer Mickiewicz, the name of Kozlevich

Male name: (Hebrew) man, literally: red soil

Man without a navel

Gave a rib to a woman

Cain's father

Father of all living

That was the name of the economist Smith, mentioned in Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"

Man sculpted from red clay

paradise boy

First man

The Man Who Didn't Have a Mother-in-Law

The novel by the English writer George Eliot "... Bid"

It was he who had a piece of stolen apple stuck across his throat

Viktor Titov's film "... marries Eva"

Who was created on the sixth day?

The character of the operetta of the Austrian composer Karl Zeller "Birdseller"

Name of American actor Sandler

The architect whose buildings defined an entire cultural era in England

Scientist and inventor Alexei Dobrotvorsky claims that there has been only one indispensable person in history. Who?

A man made of clay on Saturday

Antediluvian monogamous

The only one who ended up in paradise while alive

first guy in paradise

A man deprived of a rib and navel

On the moon - Armstrong, on Earth - ...

Name of economist Smith

Women owe him a rib

The meaning of the male name (Hebrew) man, literally: red earth

The snake's first victim

The most famous biblical character

Member of original sin

Male name

First man

The first owner of the Adam's apple

Man number 1

Created on the sixth day

Both Mitskevich and Kozlevich

Father of Abel and Cain

clay man

Covered nakedness with a leaf

Man from Eden

First of the people

Eva is his lady

Banished from Paradise

The first of us

First among men

Deported from Eden

Tasted from the Tree of Knowledge

Both Smith and Miscavige

Made of clay on Saturday

Actor Sendler

Mickiewicz

first man

Left did not go from Eva

Kozlevich

Deprived of rib and navel

The film "... marries Eva"

First Man in Eden

Husband of the first woman

man created by God

The first inhabitant of Eden

Ancestor of mankind

Kozlevich (lit.)

Deprived of immortality

Man #1

Who was in heaven while alive?

Gave a rib for his wife

Father of the first killer

Raw Material Supplier for Eva

Eva Raw Material Supplier

Poet... Mickiewicz

First person on earth

. "father" of mankind

Chauffeur... Kozlevich (lit.)

Forefather

Exile from Eden

Who was evicted from paradise?

Bender's driver's name

Tasting the forbidden fruit in paradise

Biblical monogamous reluctantly

He was evicted from paradise

PARADISE man

. bull's-eye

The first to know God's wrath

Biblical exile from Eden

Sinner in Paradise

The name of the poet Mickiewicz

The only one expelled from paradise

The very first ever donor

Who was before Eve?

Eve's predecessor

The first to know Eve

Eve's husband

He gave the men Adam's apples

He didn't have a mother-in-law (anecd.)

The only man who did not have a navel

Flying Skier Kid

First saw the earth

The first consumer of apples

Married to Eva

Giving people an Adam's apple

The representative of the stronger sex in Eden

Name of the driver Ostap Bender

He comes from Eden

The name of Kozlevich, Bender's companion

Actor Sandler

Gave my rib to Eve

The name of the driver "antelope"

The very first apple taster

Eve is made from his rib

earthly firstborn

God's firstborn on earth

Beloved for Eva

The world's first donor

Eve's rib donor

Firstborn on Earth

Athlete... Baby

The first person to eat apples

The only man from Eden

The first prophet of Allah

Man in Eden

Man from Eden

Mickiewicz's name

First homo sapiens

Kozlevich's name (lit.)

First donor, husband and father

Biblical Monogamous

Ancestor of the human race

Who did Eve see first?

The first guy in the universe

. "Draft Eva"

On the Moon, Armstrong, on Earth...

Gave a name to the nudist costume

Biblical first man

Biblical character, first man and father of the human race

English architect (1728-1792)

. "Bought" on the bull's-eye

. "Given" Eve his rib

. "Father" of mankind

. "Paradise" guy

. "Eve's Draft"

18th century poet

In general, a man in the flesh is a sinner; prone to temptation. you are adam and I am adam; we are all adams. Taken from the earth; forefather. Adam died neither to God nor to us, not a soul to heaven, not a bone to the earth, a broken pot. It was under Adam, in ancient times. New Adam, church Savior. Adam's tree, plant. Catalpa bignoides; plant Palolownia imperialis. Adam's head, dead head, that is, a human skull; tropical mandrake plant, Mandragora offic. or Atropa Mandragora, from the nightshade family. Rusten. black thistle, Centaurea scabiosa, umbilical, cone, shelobolnik, wasteland or wasteland, erroneously postushel. Vyat. plant Cypripedium calceolus, cuckoo boots. The biggest twilight, the dead head butterfly. Sphinx Caput mortuum, on the back of which you can see the image of a human skull. Lives on potatoes, in southern Russia [Western Europeans should double their s where it is pronounced firmly; we don't need it] harms the hives; this insect alone has a voice (others make a rustle, screech, little bustard): a sharp whistle from the lateral spiracles. Adam's beard, plant. Asclepia, whose root is a beard. Adam's bone arch. sib. petrified wood, especially thrown up by the sea. Adam's fig, plant. and fruit of Musa pararadisiaca, banana; Ficus indica, Indian fig tree. Adam's apple, Adam's apple, larynx, hard elevation on the throat of a person, from the head of the larynx. Paradise apple, a genus of the larger wedge-shaped lemon, Pyrus Malus paradisiaca. Adam's years, years, many years, more than a human age. Adam's summers from the beginning of the world. Adam's children, all people, in the sense of sinners. Adam's sin, disobedience, disobedience; weakness for temptation. Adam's fork, spoon, fingers, handful. Adamovshchina collected arch. sib. fossil wood and bones; the first goes to fuel and handicrafts; in some places such a tree that has not yet been petrified is called Noevism, but petrified Adamovism, Adam's bone

Unity man without a navel

exile from paradise

The name of the driver "antelope"

Who was evicted from paradise

Who did Eve see first?

Kozlevich Ostap Bender

Who was in paradise while alive

Who was before Eve

Who was created on the sixth day

Man from Eden

Father of Cain and Abel

Eve's first man

The character of the operetta of the Austrian composer Karl Zeller "Birdseller"

Paradise male

Ancestor of people

The novel by the English writer George Eliot "... Bid"

The very first husband on earth

Strong sex in Eden

Seduced by Eve

That was the name of the economist Smith, mentioned in Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"

Scientist and inventor Alexei Dobrotvorsky claims that there has been only one indispensable person in history. Who

The film "... marries Eva"

Film by Viktor Titov "... marries Eva"

Biblical exile from paradise

Seduced by Eve

ARCHIMANDRITE ABEL, in schema SERAPHIM (MAKEDONOV)

The simple, kind word of Father Abel deeply sunk into the soul and warmed the heart of a person. In February 1950, Father Abel was appointed to serve in the city of Uglich, Yaroslavl Region, in the church in the name of the holy Tsarevich Demetrius, who was slaughtered in 1591. Archimandrite Abel greatly revered the brutally murdered Tsarevich Demetrius and ordered him to pray for deliverance from Russia from all kinds of misfortunes. As a hieromonk, he spoke in Yaroslavl churches about St. Basil of Ryazan, and these stories were so touching that people never forgot about the feat of this saint. But, like St. Basil, Father Abel had to endure a lot of human slander. In the press, he was persecuted by the godless authorities. In the regional newspaper, a full-page article about him was printed “Charlatan of the 20th century”. It said that Hieromonk Abel is a drunkard, an immoral person and does not believe in God at all, but only pretends ... Then Vladyka summoned Father Abel to himself and with tears showed that they write about him in the newspaper. Father Abel encouraged Vladyka: “So this is not a death sentence. I am not afraid of this slander. And here you save yourself. Do not enter into an argument with slanderers. You are a sick person, and the authorities can deprive you of your position and livelihood.” “So, after this article, they won’t let you serve anywhere. And they won't take any job." "I know. But I'm not afraid. Release me with God to Ryazan. My two brothers and two sisters live there. They won't let you die of hunger. Each of them will give me a piece of bread a day. One for breakfast, another for lunch, a third for dinner, and the fourth piece I will give to a beggar like me.” Father Abel knew how to maintain humor in difficult situations, and most importantly, in everything he relied on the will of God. For several years, the Commissioners for Religious Affairs did not allow him to serve. “They hoped,” Archimandrite Abel recalled, that I would become angry with the Soviet government and join its enemies. When they saw that this was not happening, they began to persuade them to their side. They promised me a good job, a well-paid position, if only I would publicly renounce God. And I said that I would never renounce the One whom I loved and still love.

It was the time of Khrushchev's persecution of the church. He promised to show the last priest on TV soon. The pressure on the priests was terrible. Some could not stand it, removed their dignity and publicly, through newspapers, radio and television, renounced their faith. One can say about them in the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: "They came out of us, but were not ours." In Ryazan, the accountant, nun Fiva, and the secretary of the diocesan administration, Father Konstantin, were brought to trial for acquiring, without the knowledge of authorized roofing iron, for the repair of churches. In the criminal case, it was so directly recorded. They were sentenced to five years in prison for this. Bishop Boris (Skvortsov) asked in all the churches of Ryazan to pray for the condemned. And the Supreme Court of the RSFSR, having considered the cassation, acquitted them.

During the interrogations of the Commissioner, Father Abel always said that although political events in our country may change, however, as a clergyman, he will always instill in people patriotism, love for the Motherland, for their Fatherland so that they become worthy citizens of the Heavenly Fatherland. Father Abel accepted everything that happened to him as from the hand of God. He did not envy anyone, and, according to the words of St. Ambrose of Optina, he did not condemn anyone, did not annoy anyone - and he is respected by everyone. That's why I felt like a happy person. The hardest thing for him during this period was not to serve in God's temple, but not without the help of friends, Father Abel was restored to service.

At this time, the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos experienced hard times. The youngest inhabitant was seventy years old, others were under a hundred, and they no longer got up from their beds. And the Greek authorities were only waiting for their death in order to take the Russian monastery into their own property. Having learned about this, the hierarchy with great difficulty, but nevertheless convinced the Soviet authorities that the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos was the only center of Russian culture in the Balkans. Therefore, it must be preserved at all costs. Father Abel was offered to go to Athos. “How can I not want to go to the inheritance of the Mother of God,” he answered Vladyka. “This is God’s Providence, because it is the Mother of God Herself who calls me: “Go, work in My garden.” How will I answer her? Like, I don’t want to, I’m at home, in Russia, okay?” In 1960, Hieromonk Abel was added to the list of new inhabitants of the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. But for ten whole years he had to wait for permission to leave the Soviet Union. In Russia, he was checked for trustworthiness, no matter what he said abroad about the freedom of the Church and religion, and in Greece they feared that he would not turn out to be a communist, they were afraid of the penetration of communist influence into their country. From January 1960, he began to serve in the ancient Ryazan shrine - the Borisoglebsky Cathedral, in which St. Basil of Ryazan had previously served. To him, he miraculously sailed along the Oka on his mantle from Old Ryazan, devastated by the Tatars.

In 1966, when Blessed Pelageya Zakharovskaya (or Polyushka Ryazanskaya), who by that time was living in Moscow, fell seriously ill, Father Abel went to her and gave communion. Polyushka used to call Father Abel herself: “Here, everyone came to me: fornicators, and harlots, and murderers - abortionists. Only father Abel did not come. Go, Nyusha, ask him to come. In December, Polyushka died. They buried her in Zakharov, buried her in the Borisoglebsky Cathedral. It was frosty and cold outside, but despite this, many people gathered to see off the blessed old woman on her last journey. Among them were peasants, and workers, and the intelligentsia. Different in their social status, they united in human grief over the loss of this prayer book. And at the same time they spiritually rejoiced that she would stand for them before the throne of God.

In 1970, Father Abel received a long-awaited visa to Greece, to Mount Athos. “I felt,” he recalled, “that the Mother of God Herself was calling me to Athos, to her inheritance. And when they dissuaded me from the trip, he explained that I was a novice of the Mother of God and would fulfill Her holy will. Of the 18 people listed for the trip, only five were given permission. And only a year later, four of them were able to go to Athos. In addition to Father Abel, the inhabitants of the Pskov-Caves Monastery also went. The Greek authorities received them with undisguised irritation. They settled not in fraternal buildings, but together with tourists. The police constantly searched the monks from Russia for the presence of communist literature or anything else prohibited. At that time, a junta of “black colonels” ruled in Greece, overthrowing the legitimate authority of the king. And on Athos, at the liturgy, they still commemorated "the pious King Constantine, Queen Anna Maria and the entire royal court." Therefore, the new rulers in every possible way prevented normal life in the Athos monasteries, and especially in the Russian St. Panteleimon, which they dreamed of expropriating. One of the monks who arrived could not stand the difficulties and left. Father Dosifey (Sorochenkov), father Sergius (Markelov) and father Ippolit (Khalin) remained in the monastery, with whom father Abel immediately developed warm, brotherly relations.

At that time, the abbot of the monastery was the elder of holy life, hegumen Ilian, from the monks of the Glinsk Hermitage, he had been on the Holy Mountain since 1904. Soon, in 1971, he died and the brethren chose Father Abel as the abbot of the monastery. According to the Athos tradition, they were elected by lot from three candidates. Their names were written on pieces of paper, which were placed in an ark with holy relics. Then they put him on the holy throne and the whole monastery began to pray to the Mother of God so that she would point to her chosen one. After the liturgy, the oldest schemnik pulled out a note. It contained the name of Archimandrite Abel. It was not easy for Father Abel to be hegumen's obedience. On Athos, abbots are both confessors and treasurers, and at night they serve the liturgy on Athos. Almost all night in prayer. It was not easy for other monks either, as they raised the monastery after a terrible fire. And they carried bags of cement on themselves, and they turned heavy stones, and they kneaded the mortar, and plastered. Sometimes there was not enough strength to get to the cell. We slept for two hours somewhere under a tree. The Greeks offered their help in every possible way: to send Greek monks for obedience. Father Abel understood what they were driving at - to slowly make the monastery Greek, and he refused them, citing his "inexperience".

The elder of Ryl, Father Ippolit (Khalin), recalled this time: “When it happened badly, you come to the grave to some ascetic, serve a panikhida, look - and strength resumed. They especially prayed for help to the then not yet glorified Elder Silouan of Athos. Wake up in the morning, look at the sky, and there the Mother of God blesses us. With joy you rise from the ground and begin to pray and work further ... "

The great Athos ascetic schemamonk Silouan passed away to the Lord thirty-five years before the arrival of Father Abel on the Holy Mountain. According to Greek tradition, three years after the death, the remains of the monks who died on Athos are dug up. Holiness is determined by the color of the bones. It is believed that the brighter they are, the more righteous the life of the ascetic was. The relics of Elder Siluan were very bright. His honest head was kept in the altar of the cathedral, because. she smelled strongly and there were even attempts to steal her from the monastery.

According to the book "There were many miracles." Ryazan, 2013

Life and suffering of the father and monk Abel

PART AND BEGINNING ONE

* Spelling XVIII - XIX centuries

This father Abel was born in the northern countries, within Moscow, in the Tula province, Alekseevsky district, Solomenskaya volost, the village of Akulova, the parish of the church of Elijah the Prophet. The birth of this monk Abel in the summer from Adam is seven thousand and two hundred and sixty and in five years, and from God the Word - one thousand and seven hundred and fifty and in seven years. He was conceived and the foundation of the month of June and the month of September on the fifth day, and the image to him and the birth of the month of December and March at the very equinox: and he was given a name, like all man, on March the seventh. The life of father Abel, from God, is eighty and three years and four months, and then his flesh and spirit will be renewed, and his soul will be portrayed as an angel and as an archangel. And reign<…>for a thousand years<…>the kingdom will arise when it is seven thousand and three hundred and fifty years from Adam, at that time<…>all his elect and all his saints. And they will reign with him a thousand and fifty years, and at that time there will be one flock throughout the whole earth, and one shepherd in them: in them all is good and all is more good, all is holy and all is most holy, all is perfect and all is perfect. And tacos reign<…>, as it was said above, a thousand and fifty years, and at that time from Adam there will be eight thousand and four hundred years, then the dead will rise and the living will be renewed, and there will be a decision for all and a division for all: they will rise to eternal life and immortal life, and who will give themselves over to death and corruption, and into eternal destruction, and the rest of this in other books. And now we will return to the first and end the life and life of Father Abel. His life is worthy of horror and wonder. His parents were farmers, and their other art was horse-shoeing, they taught their father Abel the same thing. He pays little attention to this, but he pays more attention to the Divinity and divine destinies, this desire to him from his youth, even from his mother's womb: and this will happen to him in these years. Now he is nine by ten years old from birth. And he went from this year to the southern countries and to the western, and then to the eastern and other cities and regions: and he wandered like this for nine years. Finally, he came to the northernmost country, and settled there in the Valaam Monastery, which is the Novgorod and St. Petersburg dioceses, the Serdobol district. This monastery stands on an island on Lake Ladoga, very far from the world. At that time, he was in charge of hegumen Nazarene: spiritual life and sound mind in him. And he accepted Father Abel into his monastery as he should, with all love, gave him a cell and obedience and everything necessary; then he ordered him to go, together with the brethren, to church and to the meal, and to all the necessary obedience.

Father Abel lived in the monastery only for one year, delving into and looking after the entire monastic life and all the spiritual order and piety. And seeing order and perfection in everything, as in ancient times it was in desert monasteries, and praise God and the Mother of God about this.

BEGINNING SECOND

Therefore, Father Abel took a blessing from the hegumen and went to the desert; which is a desert on the same island not far from the monastery, and we dwell in that desert one and unite. And in them and between them, the Lord God Almighty Himself, correcting everything in them, and perfecting everything, and laying a beginning and an end to everything, and a solution to everything: for He is all and in all and all acting. And father Abel began in that desert to apply labor to labor, and feat to feat, and from that many sorrows and great burdens, spiritual and bodily, appeared to him. May the Lord God let temptations on him, great and great, and barely bear him in measure, sent many and many dark spirits to him: let him be tempted by those temptations like gold in the furnace. Father Abel, seeing such an adventure above him, began to faint and despair; and he says in himself: "Lord, have mercy, and lead me not into temptation beyond my strength." Therefore, Father Abel began to see dark spirits and talk to them, asking them: who sent them to him? They answered him and said: "We were sent to you by the one who sent you to this place." And they had a lot of conversation and arguing, but nothing succeeded them, but only to their own shame and reproach: Father Abel appeared above them, a terrible warrior. The Lord, seeing his servant, making such a battle with the silent spirits and speaking to him, telling him secret and unknown, and what will happen to him and what will happen to the whole world: and other such many and many. The dark spirits felt this, as if the Lord God himself was talking with Father Abel; and be all invisible in the twinkling of an eye: terrified and fleeing. Therefore, two spirits took father Abel ... (Further, the compiler of the life of Abel tells how he received from these higher ones the great gift of divining the fate of the future) ... and telling him: “wake you a new Adam, and the ancient father Dadamey, and write if you saw you: and say thou hast heard. But do not tell everyone and write not to everyone, but only to my chosen ones, and only to my saints; write to those who can accommodate our words and our punishments. That's what you say and write." And other such many words to him.

START THIRD

Father Abel came to his senses, and starting from that time to write and say what is appropriate for a person; This vision was to him in the thirtieth year of his life, and it was completed at the age of thirty. He went wandering for twenty years, he came to Valaam for twenty and eight years; that year was from God the Word - one thousand and seven hundred and eighty and five, the month of October, the first day of the sun. And this vision happened to him, a wondrous vision and a vision alone in the wilderness - in the summer from Adam seven thousand and two hundred and ninety, and in the fifth year, the month of November on the solar day, on the first day, from midnight and lasted at least thirty hours. Since that time, he began to write and say what suits whom. And he was ordered to go out of the desert to the monastery. And he came to the monastery of the same year, the month of February on the first day and entered the Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos. And he became in the middle of the church, all full of tenderness and joy, looking at the beauty of the church and at the image of the Mother of God ...... (Then a new vision is told, as if it had dawned on Abel, moreover, as if an inexplicable power)<…>going into his inner; and united with him, allegedly one .... man. And began to do and act in him and them, supposedly by his natural nature; and until then you have acted in him, until you study him in everything and teach him everything<…>and dwell in the vessel, which was prepared for it from of old. And from that time, Father Abel began to know everything and understand everything: (an unknown power) instructing him and admonishing him with all wisdom and all wisdom. Therefore, Father Abel left the Valaam Monastery, so he was commanded by the action (of that power), _ to tell and preach the mysteries of God and his destiny. And he walked around various monasteries and deserts for nine years, went around many countries and cities, spoke and preached the will of God and His terrible judgment. Finally, at that time, he came to the Volga River. And he settled in the monastery of Nicholas the Wonderworker, the title of that monastery was Babaika, Kostroma diocese. At that time, the abbot in that monastery was the name Savva, simple life; obedience in that monastery was to father Abel: to go to church and to a meal, and sing and read in them, and meanwhile write and compose, and compose books. And he wrote in that monastery a wise and wise book, ... in it it is written about the royal family. At that time, the Second Catherine reigned in the Russian land; and showed that book to one brother, his name is father Arkady; he showed that book to the abbot of that monastery. The abbot also gathered the brethren, and made a council: send that book and father Abel to Kostroma, to the spiritual consistory, and be sent taco. The spiritual consistory: the archimandrite, the abbot, the archpriest, the dean and the fifth secretary with them - a complete collection, received that book and Father Abel. And they asked him if he wrote that book? And from what he took to write, and they took a fairy tale from him, his business is that and why he wrote; and they sent that book and with it a fairy tale to their bishop. At that time, Bishop Pavel was in Kostroma. Whenever Bishop Paul received that book and a fairy tale with it, and ordered Father Abel to be brought before him; and said to him: "This book of yours was written under the death penalty." Then he ordered him to be sent to the provincial government and his book with him. And byst taco father Abel was sent to that reign, and his book with him, with her also a report.

PART II. CONCERNING THE FOURTH

The governor and his advisers accepted Father Abel and his book and saw in it wise and wise, and most of all, royal names and royal secrets are written in it. And they ordered him to be taken to the Kostroma prison for a while. Then they sent Father Abel and his book with him by post to St. Petersburg to the Senate; with him for the guard an ensign and a soldier. And he was brought straight to the house of General Samoilov; at that time he was commander-in-chief of the entire senate. Father Abel was received by Mr. Makarov and Kryukov. And they reported about it to Samoilov himself. Samoilov, on the other hand, looked at that father Abel’s book, and found it written: supposedly the Empress Second Catherine, will soon lose this life. And her death will be sudden, and other such things are written in that book. Samoilov, seeing this, was very embarrassed about it; and soon called his father Abel to him. And the speech to him with the fury of the verb: “what an evil head you dared to write such titles on the earthly god!” and hit him three times in the face, asking him in detail: who taught him to write such secrets, and why did he take such a wise book to write? Father Abel stood before him, all in goodness, and all in divine actions. And answering him with a quiet voice and a humble look; saying: I was taught to write this book by the one who created heaven and earth, and everything else in them: the same commanded me to compose all secrets. Samoilov, hearing this, and swear all to foolishness; and ordered Father Abel to be put under a secret in secret; and he himself made a report to the Empress herself. She asked Samoilov who he (Abel) is and where he came from? Then she ordered Father Abel to be sent to the Shlushenburg fortress, to the number of secret prisoners, and to be there until the death of his belly. This thing was in the summer from God the Word - a thousand and seven hundred and ninety in the sixth year, the month of February and March from the first numbers. And byst taco father Abel was imprisoned in that fortress, by the nominal order of Empress Catherine. And he was there all the time - ten months and ten days. Obedience to him was in that fortress: pray and fast, weep and weep, and shed tears to God, lament and sigh and weep bitterly; at the same time, he still has obedience to God and to comprehend his depth. And spend taco time father Abel in that Shlyushenskaya fortress, until the death of Empress Catherine. And after that he was still kept for a month and five days. Then, when the Second Catherine died, and instead of her, her son Pavel reigned, and this sovereign began to correct what was due to him; replaced General Samoilov. And instead of him, Prince Kurakin was appointed. And that book was found in secret cases - which Father Abel wrote; Prince Kurakin found it and showed that book to Tsar Pavel himself. Sovereign Pavel soon ordered that the person who wrote that book be found and it was told to him: that person is imprisoned in the Shlyushensky fortress, in eternal oblivion. He immediately sent Prince Kurakin himself to that fortress to examine all the prisoners; and ask them personally who is imprisoned for what, and remove the iron fetters from all. And take the monk Abel to Petersburg, to face Tsar Pavel himself. And be a taco. Prince Kurakin corrected everything and accomplished everything: he removed the iron shackles from all the prisoners, and told them to expect the mercy of God, and introduced the monk Abel to the palace to His Majesty Emperor Paul himself.

START FIFTH

Emperor Paul took Father Abel into his room, received him with fear and joy, and said to him: “Lord, Father, bless me and all my house: so that your blessing may be good for us.” Father Abel answered him: “Blessed be the Lord God always and forever and ever.” And he (the king) asked him what he wanted: whether to be a monk in a monastery, or choose some other kind of life. He also answered him again and again with the verb: “Your Majesty, my most merciful benefactor, from my youth my desire is to be a monk, and to serve God and His Divinity.” Sovereign Pavel talked with him what else was needed and asked him in secret: what would happen to him; then he ordered the same Prince Kurakin to take (Abel) to the Nevsky Monastery, to the number of the brotherhood. And at the desire to clothe him in monasticism, to give him peace and all that is necessary, Metropolitan Gabriel was ordered to carry out this work from Sovereign Paul himself, through Prince Kurakin. Metropolitan Gabriel, seeing such a thing, was both surprised and horrified with fear. And the speech to Father Abel: everything will be fulfilled according to your desire; then clothe him in a black robe and in all the glory of monasticism, according to the personal command of the sovereign himself; and the metropolitan ordered him, together with the brethren, to go to church and to the meal, and to all the necessary obedience. Father Abel lived in the Nevsky Monastery only for one year; then the pack and abie went to the Valaam monastery, according to the report (i.e., with the permission of the sovereign) of Paul, and compiled another book there, similar to the first, even more important, and gave it to the hegumen father Nazarius, he showed that book to his treasurer and to the other brethren, and giving advice to send that book to the Metropolitan of Petersburg. The metropolitan received that book, and seeing in it is written secret and unknown, and nothing is clear to him; and soon he sent that book to the secret chamber, where important secrets are made, and state documents. In that ward, the head is Mr. General Makarov. And seeing this Makarov that book, and everything incomprehensible to him is written in it. And reported to the general who governs the entire senate; Report the same to Emperor Paul himself. The sovereign ordered that Father Abel be taken from Valaam and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. And be a taco. They took Father Abel from the Valaam Monastery and imprisoned him in that fortress. And he was Abel there, until the sovereign Paul died, and his son Alexander reigned instead of him. Obedience to Father Abel was the same in the Peter and Paul Fortress as he was in the Shlushenbur Fortress, the same time he sat there: ten months and ten days. Sovereign Alexander reigned, and ordered Father Abel to be sent to the Solovetsky Monastery: among these monks, but only to have supervision over him; then he got his freedom. And he was at large for one year and two months, and compiled another third book: it also says how Moscow will be taken and in which year. And that book reached the Emperor Alexander himself. And the monk Abel Abie was ordered to be imprisoned in the Solovetsky prison, and he would be there until then, when his prophecies come true by the very thing.

And Father Abel was all the time in the Solovetsky prison for ten years and ten months, and he lived there in freedom - one year and two months: and he spent that whole time in the Solovetsky monastery exactly twelve years. And he saw in them good and unkind, evil and good, and all and all: there were such temptations to him in the Solovetsky prison, which it is impossible to describe. Ten times he was under death, a hundred times he came to despair; a thousand times he was in unceasing exploits, and the other temptations were to the father of Abel, the number is numerous and numberless. However, by the grace of God, now, thank God, he is alive and well, and prosperous in everything.

START SIX

Now from Adam there are seven thousand and three hundred and the twentieth year, and from God the Word a thousand and eight hundred and the second for ten. And we hear in the Solovetsky Monastery, as if the king of the south or the west, his name is Napoleon, has captivated cities and countries and many regions, and has already entered Moscow. And he plunders and devastates all churches and all civil ones in it, and everyone crying out: Lord have mercy and forgive our sin. I have sinned against You, and there is no one worthy to be called Your servants; let the enemy and the destroyer come upon us, for our sin and for our iniquity! and other such cry all the people and all the people. At the same time, when Moscow is taken, remember the sovereign himself the prophecy of Father Abel; and soon ordered Prince Golitsyn to write a letter on his behalf to the Solovetsky Monastery. At that time, the chief there was Archimandrite Hilarion; the letter is written in this way: “turn off the monk father Abel from the number of convicts, and include him among the monks, for all complete freedom.” It is also added: "if he is alive and well, he would go to us in St. Petersburg: we want to see him and talk something with him." Tako is written on behalf of the sovereign himself, and the archimandrite is attributed: “to give father Abel money to run, which is due to St. Petersburg and all that is needed.” And this personal letter came to the Solovetsky Monastery on the very Intercession, on the first day of October. The archimandrite had always received such a letter, and seeing it written in such a way, he was greatly surprised at it, and at the same time horrified. Knowing for himself that he did many dirty tricks to Father Abel and at one time wanted to completely kill him, he wrote a letter to Prince Golitsyn in this way: “now Father Abel is sick and cannot be with you, but perhaps next year in the spring, and so on. Prince Golitsyn always received a letter from the Solovetsky archimandrite, and showed that letter to the sovereign himself. The sovereign ordered to compose a personal decree to the most holy Synod, and send it to the same archimandrite: so that the monk Abel would certainly be released from the Solovetsky Monastery, and give him a passport to all Russian cities and monasteries; at the same time that he would be pleased with everything, dress and money. And seeing the archimandrite named decree, and ordered Father Abel to write a passport from him, and release him honestly with all contentment; but he himself became sick from many sorrows: the Lord struck him with a fierce disease, and so he died. This Archimandrite Hilarion innocently killed two convicts, put them and locked them in a death prison, in which not only a person cannot live, but it is inappropriate for any animal: the first in that prison is darkness and overcrowding beyond measure, the second is hunger and cold, need and cold above nature; the third smoke and waste and the like, the fourth and fifth in that prison - the scarcity of clothes and food, and from the soldiers torture and abuse, and other such abuse and anger, many and many. Father Abel heard all this and saw all this. And starting to talk about this to the archimandrite himself, and to the officer himself, and to all the corporals, and to all the soldiers, he spoke to them and said: “Children, what are you doing that is objectionable to the Lord God, completely contrary to His Divinity? If you continue from such an evil undertaking, then soon you will all perish an evil death and your memory will be consumed from the land of the living, your children will be orphaned, and your wives will remain widows! They hear this from Father Abel such speeches; and they grumbled bitterly at him and made counsel among themselves to put him to death. And they put him in the same heavy prisons. And he was there throughout the great fast, praying to the Lord God and calling on His Holy Name; all in God and God in him; the Lord God cover him with His grace, and with His Divinity from all his enemies. After that, all the enemies of Father Abel perished and their memory perished with a noise; and he remained one and God with him. And father Abel began to sing a song of victory and a song of salvation, and so on.

PART III. CONCERNING THE SEVENTH

Therefore, Father Abel took a passport and freedom to all Russian cities and monasteries, and to other countries and regions. And he left the Solovetsky Monastery of the month of June on the first day. That year was from God the Word - a thousand and eight hundred and the third for ten. And he came to St. Petersburg directly to Prince Goditsyn, his name and fatherland Alexander Nikolayevich, the gentleman is pious and God-loving. Prince Golitsyn, seeing Father Abel, was glad to see him to the core; and beginning to ask him about the fate of God and about His truth, father Abel began to tell him everything and everything, from the end of time to the end. And from the beginning of time to the last; but he heard this and was horrified, and think another thing in his heart; then he sent him to the metropolitan to appear to him to be blessed by him: Father Abel created tacos. He came to the Nevsky Monastery, and appeared to Metropolitan Ambrose; And he said to him: "Bless the lord, the holy servant, and let him go in peace and with all love." The Metropolitan saw Father Abel, and hearing such speeches from him, he answered him: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, as if visiting, deliver deliverance to His people and to His servant, the monk Abel.” Then bless him and let him go, and speak to him, “Be with you in all your ways the Guardian Angel”; and so forth shall I say, and send him away with great pleasure. Father Abel, seeing his passport and freedom to all regions and regions, and flow from St. Petersburg to the south and east, and to other countries and regions. And went around many and many. He was in Tsaregrad and in Jerusalem, and in the Athos mountains; From there, the paki returned to the Russian land: and found a place where he corrected all his own and completed everything. And he put an end and a beginning to everything, and a beginning and an end to everything; there he also ended his life: he lived a long time on earth, until his old age. He was conceived in the month of June, the foundation of September; images and births, the months of December and March. He passed away his life in the month of January, and was buried in February. Taco and decided our father Abel. A new sufferer... He lived all the time - eighty and three years and four months. He lived in his father's house for nine to ten years. Wandered for nine years, then in monasteries for nine years; and after that, father Abel spend ten years and seven for ten years: spend ten years in deserts and in monasteries, and in all spaces; and for seven to ten years, father Abel spend your life - in sorrows and in hardships, in persecution and in troubles, in misfortunes and in hardships, in tears and in illnesses, and in all evil adventures; still this life was seven to ten years for him: in dungeons and in locks, in fortresses and in strong castles, in terrible judgments, and in severe trials; in the same number he was in all blessings and in all joys, in all abundance and in all contentment. Now it is given to Father Abel to dwell in all countries and in all regions, in all villages and in all cities, in all capitals and in all spaces, in all deserts and in all monasteries, in all dark forests, and in all distant lands; it really is like this: and now his mind and mind are in all firmaments ... in all the stars and in all heights, in all kingdoms and in all states ... rejoicing and reigning in them, ruling and dominating them. This is a true and real word. Therefore, even higher than this, the spirit of Dadamey and his flesh Adamia will be born as a being ... And it will be like this always and without ceasing, and there will be no end to it, it's like that. Amen.

From the life of the Russian common people, sometimes from its darkest environment, more than once people came into the light of God with unshakable faith in their convictions, openly expressed without fear, to the point of self-denial. The mysterious spiritual tension and the strange talk of these people affected not only the everyday situation, but also went further. The poor nobleman Tveritinov appears with a protest against Peter the 1st and puts a written complaint against him to God, in the presence of the sovereign, in the church, on the chandelier in front of the holy icon. The Tambov peasant Kondraty Selivanov creates a whole creed, seduces many people into flocks, and for too half a century extends his influence to all estates and to all of Russia. The illiterate Don Cossack has been fighting Catherine for almost two years and is shaking the foundations of Russia. These people, for all the absurdity, ugliness and often monstrosity of their state of mind, certainly deserve psychological study. They remain bright spots on the historical picture of our everyday life, and it is impossible not to pay attention to them.

The monk Abel also showed remarkable spiritual strength, but he limited himself to predictions alone and left several mystical literary works about the creation of the world and man - a mixture of biblical tales with his own additions, often incomprehensible. Filled with inserts from the Holy Scriptures, they certainly occupied the common people like the so-called "Sleep of the Virgin", which was kept by the Russian people as a talisman and a jewel: the scribes took good money for it. Dark rumors about Abel and his prophecies still circulate in Russia. There is no doubt that he foreshadowed the death of Catherine and Paul, and then the ruin of Moscow by the enemy. Several information about him and his works themselves are published in Russkaya Starina 1875 (I, 414 and 815). But the paperwork itself about him was preserved under the title: “The case of the peasant of the patrimony of Lev Alexandrovich Naryshkin Vasily Vasilyev, who was in the Kostroma province in the Babaevsky monastery under the name of Hieromonk Adam, and then called Abel and about the book he composed. Started on March 17, 1796, 67 sheets. This case was sent on August 29, 1812 to the Minister of Justice Dmitriev at his suggestion, and in 1815 it was returned to the archive from the Minister of Justice Troshchinsky. We present an extract from this case.

Abel was born in 1757 in the Tula province of Aleksinsky district, in the village of Akulova, and came from Naryshkinsky peasants. From an early age, he began to travel to different places and took the vows in the Valaam Monastery of the Novgorod diocese. From this monastery, he went to the desert, and then reached the Volga River and settled in the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, nicknamed Babaevsky, the same one where Bishop Leonid, memorable to Moscow, recently died. It was here that he wrote those notebooks that caused him so much trouble and trouble and the contents of which will become clear below.

The Governor-General of Vladimir and Kostroma, Lieutenant-General Zaborovsky, in a letter to Count A.N. Samoilov dated February 19, 1796, secretly reported that His Grace Pavel, Bishop of Kostroma and Galicia, sent Abel to the Kostroma governorship with a book he had composed and his own testimony. “In order to extract a confession from this madcap and villain, whether he had any participants, a new interrogation was made to him secretly by the ruler of the governorship, but without any success, except for a dark testimony about a certain Jew Theodore Kryukov, whom Abel recognized as the Messiah and whom he saw in Orel " . Abel, shackled in glands, a book he had composed and two interrogations made to him by His Grace Pavel and General Zaborovsky, were escorted to Petersburg under a strong and strict guard ensign Maslenikov and one non-commissioned officer.

Abel told Bishop Paul that he wrote his book himself, did not write off, but composed from a vision, for, being in Valaam, having come to church for matins, just as if Paul the Apostle was caught up to heaven and there he saw two books and what he saw, He wrote the same thing, but did not disclose his composition to anyone. He agrees with the Church in all dogmas and has no hesitation or contention. He called himself the Forerunner Horny, and then he wrote about himself also according to that vision. Regarding the 16th page of the names written by him, of course, they are royal and on the back of that page are these speeches: “now she is over sixty from birth, and when her husband gave her power, over three ten years” and further, he remembered the owner now Empress Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. He saw all this when he was taken up to heaven. However, he does not affirm all this as the truth, inasmuch as he can relate this to the temptation of the enemy.

The bishop of Kostroma, finding heresy in the book of Abel, believed that for this, on the basis of a decree of 1737 on November 14, he should have been brought to a secular court; but as in his book he gives a daring and harmful talk about the person of the empress and about her royal family, what is the important secret, relating to the first two points, then, having removed the monastic robe from Abel (on the basis of the decree of 1762 on October 19th) for research and admission according to the laws, the bishop behind the guard introduced him to the Kostroma governorship.

In the Valaam Monastery he had a vision that the Messiah expected by the Jews had already appeared and that he would find him in Orel among the merchants of the Jews under the name of Feodor Kryukov; according to this vision, Abel went to Orel and found the named Kryukov, talked with him about the Holy Scriptures and received an invitation from him to meet again in the same year in Kyiv. Abel returned again to Valaam, from here he undertook a campaign to Tsar-grad through the cities of Orel, Sumy, Kharkov, Poltava, Kremenchug and Kherson. Through all the aforementioned places he passed with a poster passport. From Kherson he moved to Tsar-grad by sea with one sufficient Kherson Greek.

All of the above was sent to Count Samoilov along with Abel, in which money was found 1 ruble 18 kopecks. At this time, Catherine had already prepared papers on granting the succession to the throne to Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich.

"Put the first in the first place,
and then everything else will take
their places"

Holy Fathers

Dear friends!

Today I want to tell you about an amazing and wise man, an honorary citizen of our native city of Ryazan, a zealous servant of God - Archimandrite Abel (Macedonov). This year marks the 90th anniversary of his birth.
The future blessed elder, Archimandrite Abel, in the world Nikolai Nikolaevich Makedonov, was born on June 21, 1927 in the village of Nikulichi, Ryazan province. “I was born into a large peasant family even before collectivization. Grandmother managed everything, grandfather was not there. The family was very hardworking, Orthodox, with traditions. We went to a prayer service both at the Nikolo-Radovitsky Monastery and at St. John the Theologian. How good, grace, but in the Theological Monastery it is heaven.

My grandmother, the father's mother, had seven children, then she took four more. Her husband died young. She didn't break down, she ran the whole household. She was truly respected. I have never heard anyone rudely answer my grandmother. Everyone showed friendliness and love. The best teacher is the family. Sometimes, it seems, you speak to a child, but it goes past his ears. But he puts it together like a piggy bank. He remembers the way the family does it. Everyone was busy with work: everything is ours, and we have to work from dawn to dusk.” Nikolai Makedonov began attending school at the age of eight. From school, Nikolai brought out the best that he could get in it. He saw samples of the loftiness of the soul in the works of Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev. During these years, as Father Abel recalled, he went to services in the Ryazan Sorrowful Church, at that time the only one in Ryazan - all the rest were closed. There, Kolya Makedonov met Borey Rotov, the future Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod Nikodim. From the service, they often went together to the village of Nikulichi. Once the boys started talking about which of them would like to become in the future. Kolya admitted that since childhood he dreams of becoming a schema monk. Borya, on the other hand, dreamed of bringing as much benefit to the Russian Church as possible. Their wishes are almost fulfilled. Subsequently, Kolya Makedonov was tonsured into the schema with the name Seraphim, and Boris Rotov became the right hand of the Patriarch as chairman of external church relations. Throughout their lives, they helped each other, supported in overcoming everyday difficulties. The boys survived all the horrors and hardships of the past war: hunger and cold, caring for their daily bread and early work in childhood. “Several times,” recalled Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, “I heard from Vladyka Nikodim a touching story that cut into his childish consciousness and related to the period of the war. The enemy approached Ryazan. In the Church of the Sorrowful Icon of the Mother of God, a prayer service for victory was served daily and a prayer was read to St. Basil of Ryazan, the patron saint of our region. And at the most critical moment, when people no longer had any hope of being saved from the capture of the city by the Nazis, a rumor spread among the believers in the temple that Saint Basil had appeared and said that he would not give up his native city and people to the desecration of the enemy. And so it happened!”

Once during the war, when Nikolai was 14 years old, such an incident occurred. There was hunger. The guys called him to the state farm. There, they say, carrots are very good, sweet, large. He succumbed to the temptation, pulled, went home, knocked. The door was opened by the father. The boy thought that he would praise, say: “Well done!”, And he took this carrot and this carrot of the boy - and this and that! And then he threw it into the nettle and said: “This is the first and last time. Do not disgrace our family. In our family, no one has ever taken anything from someone else. You can sell, buy, exchange, but you can’t take it without asking.”

During the war, the future father of Abel, Kolya Makedonov, worked around the house all day, took care of his younger brothers and sisters. His father worked in the hospital; mother was busy at work all day. And he worked around the house: he baked, and washed, and sewed - he sewed his brothers and sisters. Relatives gave him food on rations, and Kolya thought: "Now they will eat, but Easter will come - and there will be nothing to put on the table." He poured real flour, sugar, he carried all this into the chest, in the canopy. And Holy Week came up, and my mother said: “I thought they would give rations, but it turned out that they postponed it, they would give it only by May. How will we be by Easter? “Mom, it will be by Easter!” He brought it, and she: “Where did you get it?” “You brought everything.” - “How did you have the strength to sit hungry, and that’s all ...” - and fell silent.

Father Abel happened to receive monastic vows from Vladyka Dimitry (Gradusov) in Rannenburg, in a temple on the site of the former Rannenburgskaya Peter and Paul Hermitage. The place is amazing, historical. After the Petrovsky victories, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov built a monastery called the Rannenburg Peter and Paul Hermitage. According to legend, at this place Peter Alekseevich miraculously escaped from the attack of robbers. Father Abel recalled: “I turned 18, I already took a vow of celibacy. And I was waiting for the day of the tonsure as a holiday! Then I began to serve, I never moved anywhere - I didn’t look for where it was better, where it was more profitable. And where they send him, he went there and never objected.

A large and important segment of the life of Father Abel was also connected with the Yaroslavl land. In 1948, the Administrator of the Ryazan diocese, Archbishop Dimitry (Gradusov), was transferred to the Yaroslavl cathedra. He takes with him father Abel, who by that time had become a hieromonk, and subdeacon Boris Rotov. Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, who in those years was the altar boy of the Fedorovsky Cathedral in Yaroslavl, recalled:

“The simple, kind word of Father Abel deeply sunk into the soul and warmed the heart of a person. As a hieromonk, he spoke in Yaroslavl churches about St. Basil of Ryazan, and these stories were so touching that I never forgot about the feat of this saint.

Father Abel suffered from the Soviet authorities. The press began to persecute him. In the regional Yaroslavl newspaper about him, a full-page article was printed "Charlatan of the XX century." It said that the rector of the Smolensk church, Hieromonk Abel, is a drunkard, an immoral person and does not believe in God, he only pretends to be pious.

Bishop Nikodim (Boris Rotov)

At that time, Bishop Isaiah (Kovalyov) of Uglich was the temporary administrator of the diocese, who loved and respected Father Abel very much. Isaiah summoned the hieromonk to his place and showed the article.

“So it’s not a death sentence. I am not afraid of this slander. And here you save yourself. Do not enter into an argument with slanderers. You are a sick person, and the authorities can deprive you of your position and livelihood.”

Father Abel was transferred back to the Ryazan diocese, to a remote parish.

Father Abel knew how to keep humor in difficult situations, and most importantly, he relied on the will of God in everything. For several years, the commissioners for religious affairs did not allow him to serve in the church.

They hoped, - the archimandrite recalled, - that I would become angry with the Soviet government and join its enemies.
It was during the reign of Nikita Khrushchev, who promised to show the last priest on TV. The pressure on the priests was terrible: some could not stand it, removed their dignity and publicly, through newspapers, radio, and television, renounced their faith. But Father Abel, during interrogations of the Commissioner, always said that political events could change, but he, as a clergyman, would always instill in people patriotism, love for the Motherland, for their Fatherland, so that they would become worthy citizens of the Heavenly Fatherland.

Vladyka Nikodim (Boris Rotov) served as chairman of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. These years fell on the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli conflict (the war unleashed by the British and the French against Egypt, supported by Israel, also affected the Holy City), full-scale hostilities, international conferences, and arms supplies to the region. Representing the Russian Orthodox Church abroad in those difficult years, given the hostile attitude towards our Motherland, was not an easy task. Arriving in Moscow, Vladyka Nikodim reported to His Holiness Patriarch Pimen that the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece was dying out. The youngest resident is 70 years old, the others are under 100. And the Greek authorities are waiting for their death in order to take the Russian monastery into their own property. With great difficulty, Vladyka Nikodim convinced the Soviet authorities that the Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos was the only center of Russian culture in the Balkans. Therefore, it must be preserved at all costs.
In 1960, Hieromonk Abel was added to the list of new inhabitants of the Holy Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. For 10 years he had to wait for permission to leave the Soviet Union. From January 1960, Father Abel began to serve in the Borisoglebsky Cathedral, in the ancient Ryazan shrine. In 1963, hegumen Abel received a patriarchal award - a cross with decorations; in 1965 - the rank of archimandrite. In 1969, Archimandrite Abel was appointed rector of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Ryazan.

On February 17, 1970, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Rus', Archimandrite Abel was sent to Athos to carry out monastic obedience in the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on the Holy Mountain. On February 27, 1970, two Russian monks arrived on Athos, having received visas for a permanent settlement in the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. One of them was Archimandrite Abel.

What lies behind these nine years of Fr. Abel's ministry on Mount Athos? Huge work!

In his memoirs, Father Abel often returned to the first steps on Athos, they are very vividly preserved in his memory. Surprisingly, he remembered the dates and days of the week, the weather, the smallest details.

Father Abel recalled: when he arrived at Athos, in the Panteleimon Monastery, the service was going on in parallel in two places ... and the brethren were only 14 people, and most of them were motionless. “It got to the point that I alone served for three years without a shift, and the service there is early, at night. It is necessary to serve at night, and then the evening service. And also, after all, the brethren, sick and infirm. You walk around with a cross, return from service to your cell, change into dry clothes and think: well, maybe today there will be no one ... Look, they come: from the governor, from the ministry, then ambassadors, then someone else. Say goodbye to some - others will immediately appear. And there they already struck the bell - you have to go out by vespers, and then into the night ... "

“The Greek police lived in our monastery. When I went to Thessaloniki on business, my cell was always searched. They were looking for a walkie-talkie, something else. This house has been preserved, where the post was, where the police lived. They also went to work.

Since there is no one to serve, I served all alone, permanently. I later visited Athos everywhere, traveled a lot, often served with tears. They saw it. Then the Greeks began to treat me with love. The skin of the face quickly tanned, I was always swarthy. Yes, and I got the “Greek”, almost Athos, Macedonian surname.

... I found people who came to Athos even before the revolution. Father Ilian, rector, who is from Myshkin, his sister wrote to him about me. The other is a Muscovite in the past, father Eutychius, an altar boy. They are of the same age. Here are two Russian elders. Of course, thanks to them, the monastery was preserved for the Russians. I was interested in everything, wrote everything down, tried to communicate with the priest every day. I understood that he would soon die, and I had to live here. I wanted to know more about history. There are traditions, continuity, they have been there since 1904!”


An unusually large number of representatives of the highest Athos authorities gathered for the enthronement of Father Abel in 1972. The envoy of the Iveron monastery lowered the episcopal robe on the shoulders of the new hegumen - a sign of a special privilege. A monk from the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius handed him the abbot's baton.

Father Abel resolved the internal affairs of the monastery, received Greek and foreign government delegations, participated in solving external problems that arose between the Athos monasteries, and was responsible for the economic condition of the monastery.

But the main activity of abbots is spirituality. It was hard for Father Abel to carry out hegumen obedience with a sick heart - heat all year round, high humidity. But he didn't give up. In the 1970s, when Archimandrite Abel was on the Holy Mountain, he was awarded the Order of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church of St. Clement of Ohrid and the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir II and III degrees. The obedience on the Holy Mountain lasted for almost nine years.

Attention, composure during prayer was a bright hallmark of Father Abel. Many people who knew him well noted that during the service he was always extremely concentrated and even seemed strict and impregnable. But in everyday life he was so kind and affable that it seemed to be a completely different person, not the one who had just been seen dressed in priestly clothes.

His ideal of prayer is to always remember that God is near and sees everything. This image of unceasing prayer, about which St. Basil the Great speaks, was inscribed on the heart of Father Abel. Batiushka taught: “The main thing is inner prayer and inner content in any person.”

Having not studied at the seminary, he knew the Holy Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints very well. He could tell the life of almost any saint - where this or that saint lived, when he suffered, his exploits. In life I tried to imitate their virtues.

In 1978, the priest came from Athos to Leningrad for the funeral of his spiritual friend, Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). In the cathedral church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, he happened to read a permissive prayer over the deceased bishop. Shortly after the funeral, he complained of feeling unwell and was forced to go to the hospital for examination. The results of the medical examination turned out to be disappointing, and Bishop Yuvenaly said: “Father Abel, I have to grieve you ...” So the priest remained in his homeland. It is noteworthy that even on Athos, when Father Abel talked for a long time with Schema-Archimandrite Ilian, asking him about the life of Athos, he, by the way, often told Father Abel the same story. One priest came to Athos to die there, but the Lord judged otherwise and blessed him to return back to Russia. Father Ilian very often recalled this incident, and it began to seem to the priest that the abbot, probably, was forgetting that he had already spoken about this more than once. And only when Father Abel had to return to his homeland, he understood the meaning of this repetition.

When in 1989 the Monastery of St. John the Theologian was returned to the Church, Father Abel was appointed its vicar. The priest had to face considerable difficulties: everything was ruined, the churches were unsettled, there was almost no housing ... but the experience of overcoming difficulties on Athos undoubtedly helped him.

Here is another example from his life then. On the eve of the consecration of the Theological Cathedral, which took place on May 20, 1989, hard work was underway to erect a cross on the dome. They ended just a few hours before the arrival of Archbishop Simon, who consecrated the altar of the temple and celebrated the first Divine Liturgy on it. But by this time, the doors and part of the windows had not yet been installed in the temple. And Father Abel, when the archbishop was seen off, instead of going to rest, remained sitting in the church, guarding the throne from random passers-by, rural goats and sheep, who then freely roamed the territory of the monastery.

First of all, Father Abel took care of the internal monastic affairs of the brethren.

In the service, all the brethren approached him for blessings. He greeted everyone, asked everyone: “How are you doing? Why are you so gloomy today, what happened to you? Where is this one? Why is it not? And where did he go?” "Daddy, he's gone." - "Where did you go?" “He went to study.” “What does he have there? Exam? Let's pray, let's pray."

Imbued with a special love for the Mother of God, the Abbess of Holy Mount Athos, Father Abel, in the days of Her memory, blessed to serve all-night vigils, which is performed in the monastery to this day. It was to Father Abel that the St. John the Theologian Monastery owes its revival.

For 15 years, during which Father Abel headed the monastery, the holy monastery was transformed. Monastic life was revived, all statutory divine services began to be performed measuredly and solemnly, churches were restored, consecrated and well-decorated, in which many Orthodox shrines appeared - the relics of God's saints, both Russian and ecumenical, revered icons, including those painted in the 19th century on Athos, other church and historical relics. All residential and outbuildings on the territory of the monastery, as well as the holy spring, which attracts the Orthodox from all over Russia, were put in order.


The holy monastery has become a place of all-Russian pilgrimage. Archimandrite Abel put a lot of effort into the prosperity of the monastery. His diligent service was noted by the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was awarded the Order of the Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, III degree (1993), a patriarchal letter (1995), and the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, III degree (2003). On August 11, 2000, Father Abel was awarded the medal "For Merit to the Fatherland" II degree.

With the blessing of Father Abel, the brethren nourished (nourish - spiritually guide) children's Orthodox camps. In Ryazan, a new direction of work with the younger generation has arisen - the children's and youth organization "Orthodox Knights".

Working with military personnel, veterans, training clergy for the army, for difficult service in hot spots - the list of undertakings is truly inexhaustible.

Chapels were created in hospitals and hospitals with the support and help of Father Abel. One of these chapels was created in the Ryazan military hospital during the most difficult times of the first Chechen war in 1995. Working with the wounded, working with the relatives of the dead, caring for the suffering - today in the hospital it is already unthinkable to treat without such spiritual support. Subsequently, the chapel was rebuilt into a temple and consecrated in honor of St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky), the great surgeon. This temple is the heart of the hospital to this day.

The fame of the priest goes far beyond the monastery. In the glossy edition of “Persons of the Year” published on the eve of 2006, all residents of the city discovered the nomination “Confessors of Russia” and saw, among others, a photograph of Archimandrite Abel. Batiushka greeted this news with his usual humor, and waved his hand: “Well, what can I say!” And in his native Ryazan, when he was presented with the badge of the Honorary Citizen of Ryazan, he shed a tear. Respect and sincere love of fellow countrymen is the highest reward.
“I consider myself the happiest person,” said Archimandrite Abel, “because I was born in the Ryazan land. How many saints she gave, how many famous people - scientists, artists, writers - grew up here!

The people of Ryazan loved and revered Archimandrite Abel. Father Abel died after a short but serious illness, at the age of 80 on December 6, 2006.


His fate is amazing. Continuous service to God, continuous healing of spiritual wounds, continuous prayer for the Russian land. Strengthening faith in the fate of Russia and in the strength of the Russian people.

He knew that Russia had a future. He knew that in this future people would rely on their historical roots, on the spiritual heritage and ideals of their ancestors preserved through the efforts of many ascetics. On faith in Holy Rus', faith in the people and the righteous, faith in the purity, strength and multifaceted talents of the Orthodox people.
“In Aleksey Tolstoy’s “Walking Through the Torments” through the lips of Ivan Telegin, this faith is expressed in soul-grabbing words: “Even if only one county remains of us, Russia will be reborn!”

Father Abel fought for the preservation of this last frontier. And in this aspiration, he, a thin and unprotected person, stood on a par with the heroes - the defenders of the Russian land on the fields of great battles. His battlefield is marked very clearly.