Why vanga is not recognized by the Orthodox Church. How the Church treats the "clairvoyant" Vanga

15 years have passed since the death of the Bulgarian clairvoyant Vanga. One could not pay attention to the hype around this date in the secular media, but in the program “Russian Sensations”, which was broadcast on NTV, Vanga is shown surrounded by the clergy, during the christening. Moreover, even during her lifetime, she built with her own money in Rupita, where she lived, a temple in honor of St. Petka. Many non-church people compare her with the blessed Matrona of Moscow. What is the fundamental difference between them and how does the Bulgarian Orthodox Church treat Vanga?

Alexander DVORKIN, Head of the Department of Sect Studies, PSTGU:

I already wrote in Athos Tales about Metropolitan Nathanael of Nevrokop (Vanga lived on the territory of the Nevrokop diocese), how, shortly before Vanga’s death, messengers from her came to Vladyka and conveyed that Vanga needed his advice and asked to come to her. A few days later, Metropolitan Nathanael arrived and entered Vanga's room. In his hands he held a cross-reliquary with a particle of the Holy Cross of the Lord. There were a lot of people in the room, Vanga was sitting in the back, broadcasting something and could not hear that another person quietly entered the door, and certainly could not know who it was. Suddenly she broke off and, in a changed, low, hoarse voice, said with an effort: “Someone has come in here. Let him immediately throw THIS on the floor!” "What is it""? – the stunned people around asked Vanga. And then she broke into a frantic cry: “THIS! He is holding IT in his hands! THIS prevents me from speaking! Because of this, I can't see anything! I don't want THAT in my house!" yelled the old woman, kicking her legs and swaying. Vladyka turned around, got out, got into the car and drove away.
Vanga was a sorceress, she was in contact with dark forces. During her lifetime, she, like any person, could repent, and this is exactly what Metropolitan Nathanael hoped for, responding to her request. But, alas, she did not repent, and, naturally, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church treats her negatively. The witch herself really wanted to show her connection with Orthodoxy, since in this way she expected to attract new "clients". For this, she built the temple on the territory of her estate, but if you look closely, it can hardly be called Orthodox. Some external forms are observed, but the icons are terrible, the architecture is monstrous, everything is rude, clumsy, and in general everything is built around Vanga. It was supported by schismatic or openly sectarian pseudo-Orthodox groups. Anyone can dress up in a cassock, but this does not make him a priest.
Well, that someone had her godmother, so everyday Orthodoxy, in which only some external forms are observed, without connection with the content, and sometimes despite it, is even more widespread in Bulgaria than in Russia. In our country, too, sometimes unbaptized people become godparents - non-church parents invite their friends to be godfathers, without even wondering if they are baptized. The same thing often happens in Bulgaria.
But what is common between Vanga and the blessed Matrona of Moscow, I do not understand. Blindness? So Homer was blind. And the Venetian Doge Enrico Dondolo didn't see anything either. Nevertheless, he managed to lead the 4th crusade to the walls of Constantinople and led the treacherous capture of the Byzantine capital, unprecedented robbery and desecration of its shrines. Vanga was openly engaged in witchcraft, spoke about the special gift that she had after a traumatic brain injury, and took money for the reception. It was a well-established and well-established business, on which a lot of people profited - the whole environment of the Bulgarian sorceress. Blessed Matrona lay paralyzed, humbly carried her cross and prayed to God for the people who asked her about it.

Recorded by Leonid VINOGRADOV

Vangelia Pandeva, aka Vanga, is a Bulgarian clairvoyant, a person who remains for many a mystery covered in a mystic canvas. A lot was said about her, some considered her a saint, others considered her possessed. Her predictions to this day cause alarm in the hearts of people, and sometimes outright horror. With bated breath, we are waiting for the start of a nuclear war or destructive cataclysms in the near future. Undoubtedly, Vanga left a significant mark on the history of the 20th century, but the reliability of the facts about her is difficult to confirm or refute, only if you are not a psychic.

How does the Orthodox Church relate to the Bulgarian seer

Kasimira Stoyanova, the niece of the clairvoyant who wrote the book "The Truth about Vanga", tells that some spirits, the forces of the other world help her work miracles and talk about the past, future and present. Who they were - angels or demons, will remain unknown, however, the Orthodox Church did not recognize anything sacred in Vanga, confidently declaring demonic possession. Although the prophetess herself considered herself a believer, the church protested against this, explaining her belief in reincarnation, which is a pagan prerogative. Due to too many charlatans and pseudo-clairvoyants, the relationship between the church and Vanga was extremely negative. She was considered the same owner of psychic abilities as Anatoly Kashpirovsky, Grisha Rasputin and Alan Chumak. Once Vanga was visited by Metropolitan Nathanael Nevrokopsky, at the request of the healer herself, and upon arrival he silently entered a room crowded with people, where Vanga was talking to people about something and did not hear him enter. In his hands he held a cross with a piece of the Cross of the Lord. A moment later her voice changed and she screamed, "He's got this in his hands! It's preventing me from speaking! Take it away immediately!" after which Nathanael left the premises and left. This convinced the church that it was right about Vanga's demonism. She herself did not try to convince anyone that she was right, saying that her gift is a gift from God and that she was granted by heaven the ability to see another world, invisible to us, in return for loss of sight.

The opinion of the higher clergy on Vanga's predictions

During her life, Vanga made many predictions related to various branches of human life. Among them are frightening, such as the approaching war, with Muslims or floods and other cataclysms that are coming soon. There are also shocking facts that make it clear that there are other civilizations outside our planet and contact will occur with them in the near future. But the Orthodox Church did not take them seriously, since it definitely believed that demons speak in it and it is impossible to believe the evil ones, in any case. A man from God will never tell his children about the impending doom, even if it should happen. Making a prediction, Vanga created a setting for fate, sentenced to certain thinking and actions, which could lead to its fulfillment. The priests are sure that this leads to the suppression of the will of a person, after which he can no longer control his fate, because he is sure of the veracity of what was predicted. The clergy urges people to use their understanding, not blindly believing the words of a prophetess who communicates with the world of the dead. Mankind must be free in its actions and the future is never determined.

Who recognized Wang as a saint?

There were many rumors about the reckoning of a blind clairvoyant to the saints, but this information is very contradictory. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church never intended to canonize Vanga, as one priest claims in response to a question. Meanwhile, he admits that there may be supporters of this movement, but they rather form part of a cult of the seer, not related to the clergy. However, from other sources it turns out that two years before the death of Vangelia Pandeva, the Bulgarian Church, represented by Patriarch Maxim, recognized the clairvoyant saint on October 14, 1994. Currently, two clergy are serving in her church, where a large number of people come for the holidays, admirers and followers of the blind seer.

Sometimes false information appears in the media that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonized Vanga as a saint. This statement is not true. Here is the official response to our site "Supervere.net", received from Bulgaria:

Prot. Vasily Shagan, Rector of the Church of St. Archangel Michael in Varna, Bulgaria:

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is not going to canonize Baba Vanga. I have never even heard of such a movement in our Church. If there is something like that, then this, I suppose, is a bunch of some ardent representatives of the Vanga cult. She really built a temple at her own expense, which was painted by one of the famous Bulgarian artists. But he obviously tried his hand at church painting for the first time, which resulted in something terrible, in the truest sense of the word.

You can confirm this information in Moscow, at the courtyard of the Bulgarian Patriarchate:

Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Gonchary

Goncharnaya st., 29, tel. 915-62-88 M. "Taganskaya"

Archimandrite Boris (Dobrev), Archimandrite Trifon (Krevsky), Priest Sergiy Rznyanin, Priest Mikhail Avramenko. Divine service daily. Liturgy at 8 o'clock, on holidays. and Sunday Liturgy at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., Vigil at 5 p.m. the day before.

Archimandrite Gabriel, Rector of the Bulgarian Metochion in Moscow(magazine "Druzhba" ("Russians"), No. 6 for 1990):

Firstly, the prophecies of Vangelia are far from always true. For example, she made a mistake in her predictions to my relatives. And secondly, the Bulgarian Church does not at all claim that Vanga's gift is from God. It may well be similar to that possessed by the slave mentioned in the Acts of the Holy Apostles.

You, of course, remember that in one of the cities of Macedonia, a servant girl, possessed by the spirit of divination, followed Paul and his disciples for several days in a row. She did not stop shouting: "These people are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." It seems to be something terrible in the words corresponding to the truth? But the Apostle, recognizing their spirit, stopped this doxology of the enemy, who broadcasts through her mouth, for the enemy, whatever he does, at first glance, is beneficial to a person, is certainly with a destructive purpose. The Apostle expelled this spirit from her, and she immediately lost the gift of divination.

True, among other gifts of the Spirit, St. Paul also mentions the gift of prophecy. This is sent down to some saints. But they, knowing the will of God, never revealed to people everything and everything about their fate, but only spiritually useful, saving on the difficult human path.

Priest Dionisy Svechnikov:

The church has a negative attitude towards Vanga's activities. Vanga never had anything to do with God, and her predictions had nothing to do with Divine revelations. For the authenticity of my words, I want to give a couple of examples from the book of Vanga's niece Kasimira Stoyanova "The Truth about Vanga", which make it clear that the Bulgarian healer was in direct contact with unclean spirits. Here is an excerpt from Casimira's story from this book: “I remember the day I turned 16. I remember precisely because, after dinner in our house in Petrich, Vanga suddenly began to speak, addressing me specifically. And it was no longer her at all, and I heard the voice of a completely different person: “You are always, every second, in front of us.” And then she told me everything that I did throughout the day ... I was dumbfounded. And then she asked her aunt why she said all this? Vanga was surprised: “I didn’t tell you anything.” But when I repeated everything I had just heard from her lips, she quietly said: “It’s not me, it’s others who are always near me. For myself, I call some of them “small forces”, it was they who told you about your day through me, and there are also “big forces”. When they start talking to me, or rather through me, I lose a lot of energy, I feel bad, I stay depressed for a long time. As can be seen from this passage, Vanga's revelations are nothing more than an obsession with evil spirits. And, of course, a feeling of despondency cannot arise from communication with angels. Here is another example, taken from the same book, from which we see that Vanga was in contact with demons of a non-lower order: the voice at such moments has nothing to do with her usual voice. He is very strong, having nothing to do with Vanga's everyday vocabulary ... As if some kind of mind is infused into her to report fateful events. She calls him "great strength" or "great spirit." I think it’s not worth saying who Vanga called “big spirits”.

I think all this information is enough for you to determine your attitude towards Vanga.

In 1994, at the expense of Vanga, according to the project of the Bulgarian architect Svetlin Rusev, the chapel of St. Paraskeva was built in the village of Rupite. The chapel was not consecrated by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, so they simply say “temple” about the building, without specifying its ownership.

Photos of the temple built by Vanga and her words.

“I have seen this Church since 1941, from April 6, and to this day. And I say to myself: here is my daughter, here is my son, my glory, this is everything for me ... "

I said that today is the fourteenth (October 14, the day of the consecration of the temple. - Ed.), And the Church is empty, and I was paralyzed. She could not move her leg, the body below the waist seemed to be stiff. And I got scared. Why was there no strength in my legs and I couldn't stand? I survived it. Said the church would be ready by that day. You can't build a garage for yourself, but I built a church with God's help!

Lord, Lord! There was no one in Petrich who would give at least 200 or 1000 leva. Nobody gave a penny. And now rumors are spreading that the money is stolen. Yes, my documents are in order, here they are, a whole bunch of papers, everything is written down to the last penny. Okay, let them swear, because all evil is because of money, because of this damned money.

Whether I am a church, or the church is Vanga, or I am Vanga-church, in any case, the temple wins. Early in the morning, when I go to church, at least a hundred souls are already waiting there. They had already prayed, lit candles, and gave five leva each. And, leaving, they say: "We put a candle for your health." Why? To keep you alive and well, they say. They come from America, and from other powers, how many of them - I won’t say for sure ... "

At the age of 12, Vanga became blind under tragic circumstances. Moreover, there are two versions, one, so to speak, official (blinded by falling into a tornado), which was told by Vanga and her followers, and the version brought to light from the police archives by the Bulgarian journalist Svyatoslav Todorkova (was raped and blinded by a rapist).

Bulgarian journalist Svyatoslava Todorkova found archives of meteorological observations from the beginning of the 20th century. (0:11:40) “I made a statement at the meteorological service. They made me an archival certificate from 1900: Were there any natural disasters in this area? Tornadoes or large winds? And they told me that there was nothing like that.

She also managed to find a police report in Novosel, where Vanga lived at that time “From a police report of 1923, Strumica, Macedonia: A girl of about 12 years old was found unconscious by local residents on the outskirts of Novosel. The doctors confirmed it at the hospital. She was raped. Moreover, the criminals gouged out her eyes.”

To prophesy, or as she herself says - “guess”, Vanga began only at the age of 30, before the start of the Second World War. Moreover, here is how she describes her first contact with otherworldly forces:

(0:19:23) Vanga: “A stranger comes and asks: Do I know him? I say "No. He says that he is Saint John Chrysostom. He said that the next day there would be a war. And what will he tell me: who will die and who will live. When I started to predict, everyone called me crazy, but after four hours ... the war began.

(0:20:53) Correspondent; "Do the dead speak?" Vanga: “Yes, they are still talking. They are standing next to each other” Correspondent: “Wait, are they here?” Vanga: “Yes, they stand and talk about themselves. For example, someone comes to me and is looking for a son. A voice says to me: tell him that his son is dead."

"Seraphim answered with humility: - He walked towards me, like others, like you, he walked, as if to a servant of God: I, a sinful Seraphim, think that I am a sinful servant of God, which the Lord commands me, as a servant I pass on the first thought that appears in my soul to God’s instruction and I say it without knowing what is in my interlocutor’s soul, but only believing that God’s will tells me so for his benefit. As iron - forging, so I convey myself and my will to the Lord God: as He pleases, so I act; I have no will of my own; but what God pleases, I convey.

Life, instructions, prophecies of St. Seraphim of Sarov wonderworker.(http://www..htm)

Although, of course, there are also visits to saints, but for a short time, for spiritually beneficial communication. But I have never heard or read that voices sounded in the head of a saint. I cannot fail to point out this difference. Moreover, the voices sounding in Vanga's head torment her, do not give her peace.

(1:06:49) Vanga's friend: “She was very tired. She always said she had a headache. You, she said, are now going home to sleep. And I'll be tortured all night long. Who tormented her, I don’t know.”

Although, in the film this is explained as the voices of not saints, but as the souls of the dead. That the Church does not recognize either. The voices of the dead, according to the teachings of the Church and the experience of the saints, cannot sound by themselves. Only saints can appear from that world to help people, but not the simple dead in any way, in order to chat with those who remained on earth, through a medium.

Vanga's neighbor Vasilka Stoyanova (0:22:57) “Once a woman came to Vanga with her husband sick. Vanga ordered to catch a bird, pull out a heart, put this heart in a glass of wine and bring it to her so that it would stand with her for one evening. Then Vanga said: Your husband should eat this heart and drink wine. He did just that, after which he suddenly stopped hurting. ”

Attitude towards people

Vanga: (0: 29:15) “Listen, I’ve been wondering since April 6, 1941, and still haven’t seen a single womanizer, but every second woman is a whore”

Divination and Curse

Vanga herself often said that she was cursed. That everyone she loves is dying. The first husband, Demitar, became an alcoholic and died in 1962. Before marrying Vanga, he left the most beautiful girl in the village, with whom he was already engaged. Lover Ivan Blagoy, who committed adultery with a fortuneteller and had a wife and four children, hanged himself (0:32:43 -0:36:00)

Vanga knew that fortune-telling is a mortal sin (1:14:10) “She told visitors that fortune-telling is a mortal sin. In moments of fatigue, she complained to her relatives that she was not doing a God-pleasing deed, and was afraid that she would be severely punished. The seer was afraid of death, and of what awaits her beyond the grave ... "

And in order to remove the curse, she decides to build a temple and thereby remove her curse (0:36:05).

I must say that the church built by Vanga is very strange. It was painted by some secular modernist artist. As a result, something turned out not only not churchly, but even simply terrible, more reminiscent of a mockery of the Church (see photo inside and outside)

But, it seems to me that the attitude to the construction itself, to the construction of the church itself, is more important. Why did she build it? From scattered quotes, it becomes clear that Vanga was afraid of death, she was afraid of punishment for unholy fortune-telling. And she believed that she could make amends not by personal repentance, but by this very construction, and by the fact that she would be reproached in this church.

(0:36:30) Vanga: “The church will work day and night. Here ... This is not a city church for you, so that it works by the hour, it will be open all day. And two men to guard"

Moreover, wanting to cleanse himself with such an act, Vanga absolutely does not want to bear the fruit of personal repentance. He does not want to give up fortune-telling, although this has become the only condition on the part of the Church. Repent, give up fortune-telling, and we will consecrate your church. But that did not happen. It is significant how negotiations are being conducted between Vanga and a representative of the Church on the eve of the alleged consecration of its construction

(1:18:31) Vanga: "The service will be on Thursday evening!" Priest: "We can't come. All people can, but priests, monks can't." What is it?! On Friday the 14th we will consecrate the church!

Priest: "A priest can't do that. The church is one. If you feel like a part of this Church, you have to do it right.”

Vanga: “On Friday you will come to consecrate the church! Everything! Yes, you just come there, hallelujah, hallelujah and that's it "

The priest set a condition: the temple would be accepted and consecrated in one single case: if Vanga repented and renounced fortune-telling forever ... Vanga refused, and the temple was not consecrated like that ... then she opened the temple on her own. Instead of icons on its walls, images of Vanga herself "

Pay attention to the tone with which she speaks. She orders the priest to come and bless! Moreover, according to her, it's so easy to do “come, hallelujah, hallelujah and that's it.” Terrible behavior of an eccentric old woman - there is no other way to call it. But here you need to understand why she behaves this way. She seems to be extremely scared. After all, if "Hallelujah and that's it," then you can do without a priest. Built and everything! But no, she is mortally afraid of punishment, she is mortally afraid of being left without forgiveness, without "protection". She urgently needs to “launch” the church, to force services to begin there. It seems to her that in this case everything will be forgiven her! And so she gets annoyed when the priest expresses his refusal to come on the day appointed by Vanga.

It is necessary to point out the non-Christian behavior of Vanga, the lack of humility, pride, and arbitrariness. She herself decided to build a church, she herself appointed the day of consecration, and orders to come and consecrate, even if it was only an appearance “come, hallelujah and that’s it.”

But another episode shows that Vanga treated the construction of the church as a magical act.

(1:17:30) “In 1994, two years before Vanga’s death, the church was finally built. Relatives said that on the eve of the opening of the temple, the prophetess was more worried than ever, and at the last moment she even replaced the overly magnificent opening ceremony with a chamber family celebration.

Direct speech (1:17:46) “Tomorrow, when we will consecrate ... I’m scared ... so that I don’t fall into a trance when I enter ... Therefore, I don’t want anyone to be around ... No one I trust... If I fall into a trance in the church, then that's it!... "

Obviously, it seems to her that if she does not fall into a trance, then she has been forgiven, but if otherworldly forces attack her in the church, "that's it." She does not understand what repentance is, and that building a church, donating millions has nothing to do with it, that only heartfelt repentance is needed. And this suggests that she is extremely far from the Church. I also note that I have never seen anywhere that it was said that Vanga attended services or at least once took communion. Correct me if this is not the case. However, one gets the impression that she was very far from the Church.

last years of life

(0:43:55) "In the last days of her life, Vanga felt extremely bad. She suffered from nightmarish visions, constantly lost consciousness, and spoke some incoherent phrases. This is a fragment of her dying interview. Vanga: “Oh, what clowns are around. Leave me at least now so that my heart does not shake"

Vanga amassed a large fortune by the end of her life. Vanga's bodyguard Petr Kostadinov says: (0:49:20) “I personally deposited 16 million leva into Vanga's account. It was only part of her fortune."

(0:49:30) “This is a fragment of her dying interview. In the last minutes of her life, Vanga did not talk about global things, did not make loud predictions. The elderly woman was more worried about how her relatives would divide her inheritance.

I did not take the predictions themselves, I just showed how Vanga lived, how she treated the Church, and how she died. And I can conclude that the saints could not appear to her, but the demons could. Moreover, a person outside the Church is defenseless against the spirits of malice. If only because he completely forgets that demons appear in the form of angels too. A person outside the Church is deprived of the gift of discerning the spirits of evil, and often perishes, surrendering to them.

Sometimes false information appears in the media that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonized Vanga as a saint. This statement is not true. Here is the official response to our site "Supervere.net", received from Bulgaria:

Prot. Vasily Shagan, Rector of the Church of St. Archangel Michael in Varna, Bulgaria:
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is not going to canonize Baba Vanga. I have never even heard of such a movement in our Church. If there is something like that, then this, I suppose, is a bunch of some ardent representatives of the Vanga cult. She really built a temple at her own expense, which was painted by one of the famous Bulgarian artists. But he obviously tried his hand at church painting for the first time, which resulted in something terrible, in the truest sense of the word.

You can confirm this information in Moscow, at the courtyard of the Bulgarian Patriarchate:
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Gonchary
Goncharnaya st., 29, tel. 915-62-88 M. "Taganskaya"
Archimandrite Boris (Dobrev), Archimandrite Trifon (Krevsky), Priest Sergiy Rznyanin, Priest Mikhail Avramenko. Divine service daily. Liturgy at 8 o'clock, on holidays. and Sunday Liturgy at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., Vigil at 5 p.m. the day before.

______________________________________________________________

Archimandrite Gabriel, Rector of the Bulgarian Metochion in Moscow(magazine "Druzhba" ("Russians"), No. 6 for 1990):
Firstly, the prophecies of Vangelia are far from always true. For example, she made a mistake in her predictions to my relatives. And secondly, the Bulgarian Church does not at all claim that Vanga's gift is from God. It may well be similar to that possessed by the slave mentioned in the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
You, of course, remember that in one of the cities of Macedonia, a servant girl, possessed by the spirit of divination, followed Paul and his disciples for several days in a row. She did not stop shouting: "These people are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." It seems to be something terrible in the words corresponding to the truth? But the Apostle, recognizing their spirit, stopped this doxology of the enemy, who broadcasts through her mouth, for the enemy, whatever he does, at first glance, is beneficial to a person, is certainly with a destructive purpose. The Apostle expelled this spirit from her, and she immediately lost the gift of divination.
True, among other gifts of the Spirit, St. Paul also mentions the gift of prophecy. This is sent down to some saints. But they, knowing the will of God, never revealed to people everything and everything about their fate, but only spiritually useful, saving on the difficult human path.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Priest Dionisy Svechnikov:
The church has a negative attitude towards Vanga's activities. Vanga never had anything to do with God, and her predictions had nothing to do with Divine revelations. For the authenticity of my words, I want to give a couple of examples from the book of Vanga's niece Kasimira Stoyanova "The Truth about Vanga", which make it clear that the Bulgarian healer was in direct contact with unclean spirits. Here is an excerpt from Casimira's story from this book: “I remember the day I turned 16. I remember precisely because, after dinner in our house in Petrich, Vanga suddenly began to speak, addressing me specifically. And it was no longer her at all, and I heard the voice of a completely different person: “You are always, every second, in front of us.” And then she told me everything that I did throughout the day ... I was dumbfounded. And then she asked her aunt why she said all this? Vanga was surprised: “I didn’t tell you anything.” But when I repeated everything I had just heard from her lips, she quietly said: “It’s not me, it’s others who are always near me. For myself, I call some of them “small forces”, it was they who told you about your day through me, and there are also “big forces”. When they start talking to me, or rather through me, I lose a lot of energy, I feel bad, I stay depressed for a long time. As can be seen from this passage, Vanga's revelations are nothing more than an obsession with evil spirits. And, of course, a feeling of despondency cannot arise from communication with angels. Here is another example, taken from the same book, from which we see that Vanga was in contact with demons of a non-lower order: the voice at such moments has nothing to do with her usual voice. He is very strong, having nothing to do with Vanga's everyday vocabulary ... As if some kind of mind is infused into her to report fateful events. She calls him "great strength" or "great spirit." I think it’s not worth saying who Vanga called “big spirits”.
I think all this information is enough for you to determine your attitude towards Vanga.

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