The brethren of the Optina Pustyn monastery filed a request for the canonization of the fathers Basil, Ferapont and Trofim - the monk Arcadius. Massacre in Optina Desert

Looking at the photographs of the last Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, peering into her sad eyes, it seemed to me that I was looking at the icon. It's amazing how many faces in photographs have become faces on icons. And who will become a saint, who will become a martyr, who will be a reverend, and who will leave this world simply remaining an Orthodox Christian, is known only to the Lord. Of course, everything happens according to the providence of God. So, by some providential ways, Igor Roslyakov (priest Vasily), Leonid Tatarnikov (monk Trofim), Vladimir Pushkarev (monk Ferapont) came to Optina Hermitage and became the New Martyrs of Optina.

Ierom.Vasily was born in 1960, arrived in Optina on October 17, 1988, was tonsured a monk on August 23, 1990, and after 3 months was ordained a hieromonk. The monastery did not even suspect that Igor Roslyakov was a master of sports, European champion in water polo. We found out about it by accident from the newspaper. Igor graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, and then the Institute of Physical Education and was the captain of the Moscow State University water polo team. Father Vasily was a hieromonk for only 2.5 years. When Father Vasily left earthly life for many people, the parishioners of Optina became a great test. So many people came to him for spiritual help, in difficult life situations, in need of comfort and support. .

Monk Trofim - Leonid Tatarnikov was born in 1954. He arrived in Optina in August 1990. On September 25, 1991 he was tonsured a monk. Monk Trofim was a tirelessly cheerful man, always joyful. They remember: Trofim was a true monk. He loved God and all people! There were no bad people for him. Any person could turn to him for help and get it.

Monk Ferapont - Vladimir Pushkarev, born in 1955. Dreamed of monasticism. In the summer of 1990, he came to Optina on foot from Kaluga (75 km from the monastery). He lived and studied in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. He took upon himself the feat of pure fasting even before the monastery. did everything wonderful. When he prayed, he forgot about earthly things, and was already out of time.

All of them were killed by a dagger blow on the bright Easter of 1993, 23 years ago. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, strange events took place in Optina throughout Holy Week. They themselves could not explain why. Everything was explained later, when during the Easter week the three murdered brothers were escorted to the Easter bells. On the evening of Passionate Saturday, a strange haze hung over Optina. The weather was very difficult. “God speaks to us not in colloquial language, but indicatively,” wrote the ascetic of our time, schemamonk Simon (from the book “Red Easter”).

There are many testimonies of the miraculous help of the New Martyrs. In 2003, monk Ferapont appeared to the pilgrims from Tula who arrived in Optina on April 17 (on the eve of the day of memory of the New Martyrs of Optina). The film “The Appearance of Monk Ferapont to Pilgrims in 2003” was made about this case. The line between our world and the mountain was erased. blue-white light.

Chapel in honor of the Resurrection of Christ at the burial place of the murdered Optina brothers. A place of special veneration for pilgrims.

Everyone who comes to Optina Hermitage will definitely come to bow to Hieromonk Vasily, Monk Trofim and Monk Ferapont in the chapel. They will pray, put a note to them asking for help, for consolation. They always help. Pilgrims bring many stories about miracles. And this flow will never run dry. The Lord has revealed to us prayer books, saints of God, who have conquered death.

Christ is Risen!

Optina New Martyrs - 20 years later

I wrote this material 20 years ago for the Segodnya newspaper. The published photographs were given to me in Optina Hermitage, where I was five days after the murder of the monks. Please note that the article was written for a secular publication.

Roman Vershillo

The Church Demands Protection from the Messengers of Satan

The murder of three monks, committed on the day of Orthodox Easter in the Svyato-Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, according to the leadership of the monastery, should change the relationship between the Church and state authorities. In 1988, when Optina Pustyn began to be restored with the active support of Mikhail Gorbachev, it seemed that high patronage would forever preserve the serene way of monastic life. Five years later, with three stabs of the knife, these hopes, it seems, were buried along with those killed - Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov), monks Trofim (Tatarinov) and Ferapont (Pushkarev).

The killer - Nikolai Averin, a native of the village of Volkonskoye, located ten kilometers from Optina Pustyn - made a dizzying journey from God to the devil. He told the investigator that he “came to God” during his military service in Afghanistan. He challenged the Almighty for the first time in 1991, having raped a woman for "religious" reasons. The unusual motive saved the criminal from prison: he escaped with a special psychiatric hospital, which he safely left six months later with a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Having committed this new, more terrible crime, Averin claims during the investigation that he is connected by "spiritual bonds" with Satan. The killer went to fulfill his will, armed with a Finnish knife, a sawn-off shotgun with three grapeshot cartridges and a double-edged sword of his own making. Each of the murder weapons was engraved with "Satan 666," a number that symbolizes the Antichrist in the New Testament. The criminal used only the sword. Its specially curved 60-centimeter blade, thrust into the liver region from behind, tore the insides and exited at the throat.

Throwing an overcoat and a sword at the monastery wall, Averin fled the scene of the crime. After a week of wandering around the Kaluga and Tula regions, he returned to Kozelsk, located three kilometers from the monastery, where on April 24 he was arrested. Averin gave extensive testimony, but did not express remorse. It follows from the materials of the interrogation that the offender came to the monastery twice to kill one of the clergy. On the night of April 13, he also penetrated the Fraternal Corps, but changed his mind, because it seemed to him "dishonest to kill unarmed monks." On April 15, the killer went into the room where the children of the pilgrims were sleeping, and also did not carry out his plan ... On Easter Day, Averin was present at the service and the procession, intending to shoot grapeshot at the crowd. However, the threat of imminent reprisal forced him to abandon this thought. At 7 o'clock in the morning on April 1, after the Paschal service, the Optina bell-ringers, monks Trofim and Ferapont, performed the blagovest. According to Averin, it was the ringing of the bells that forced him to come out of hiding and stab the monks in the back.

The clergy and the prosecutor's office differ in their interpretation of what happened. According to Vladimir Yershov, head of the investigative department of the Kaluga Regional Prosecutor's Office, "there was no actual crime," since the perpetrator apparently acted in a state of insanity. He denies the existence of "religious underpinnings in the Optina case." The Kozelskaya militia also classify the murder as “domestic”.

The assistant to the governor of Optina Hermitage, hegumen Melchizedek (Artyukhin), refuses to recognize “open service to Satan as madness. There are always people possessed by a demon, and this is their free choice. He comes up with his version of what happened. In his opinion, Averin was a member of a satanic sect, which instructed the former "Afghan" to carry out the ritual murder. “There is evidence that on the night of Easter there were four more suspicious people on the territory of the monastery,” says Father Mslchizedek. “They watched the murder happen. One of them was seen over the body of Hieromonk Vasily. The pilgrims heard him say: "We'll get them anyway."

The murderer fully deserved the death penalty, the monks of Optina believe, although they do not intend to make this demand openly. “With this murder, the Satanic forces wanted to demonstrate their power and impunity,” Father Filaret believes. The offender himself asks to be judged as a completely normal person.

The prosecutor's office does not completely reject the version that Averin belongs to a secret sect. The investigation managed to find out that shortly before the murder, Averin traveled to Moscow and Kyiv in search of like-minded people in the "war with God."

The monks of Optina accuse the authorities of "conniving at the spread of satanic and occult literature, not adequately patronizing the Orthodox Church", traditionally the most influential in Russia. "It is necessary to ban the activities of Satanic sects in Russia," says Abbot Melchizedek. Relations between the Church and the state are regulated by the Law of the RSFSR on freedom of conscience, adopted in 1990. It does not suit the leadership of the ROC, since the state is deprived of the right to control the activities of religious associations and is obliged to register any organization. Patriarch Alexy and the church community offer the Supreme

Council of the Russian Federation to amend the Law on Freedom of Conscience. The bodies of the Ministry of Justice support the proposals of the ROC, which will give officials the opportunity to patronize already registered organizations, as well as suspend the registration of new associations.

The Orthodox Church is ready to give up part of its independence in order to limit the activities of the “anti-Orthodox front”. “Following the murder of the three Optina monks, we can expect widespread terror against the higher hierarchs,” says Abbot Melchizedek. The monastery walls, destroyed in the 1930s, have been restored. They can be useful to the Church, besieged by the enemies of the faith.

The murder of monks in Optina Hermitage on April 18, 1993- the murder of three monks of the Russian Orthodox Church - Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov) and the monks Ferapont (Pushkarev) and Trofim (Tatarnikov), committed in the monastery of Optina Pustyn on Easter night on April 18, 1993 by the mentally ill Nikolai Averin.

Nikolai Averin

Nikolai Nikolayevich Averin was born on June 13, 1961 in the Kaluga Region. In 1990, he first came to the attention of law enforcement agencies by committing rape, but the victim withdrew the statement. A year later, in April 1991, Averin again committed rape, involving grievous bodily harm to his victim. However, on August 8, 1991, he was sent to a psychiatric clinic, having been declared insane.

In February 1992, Averin was discharged from the hospital. He was given the third group of disability. Averin returned to his native village of Volkonskoye in the Kaluga region, located not far from Optina Pustyn.

April 18, 1993

After the murder, Averin threw a knife and disappeared into the forest.

Murder investigation. Averin's arrest

The bodies of the monks were found an hour later. All units of the local militia were alerted.

Interrogation of witnesses<…>brought an amazing result: the pilgrims clearly distinguished the ringers in the morning twilight ... they saw how the monks fell one after another, but no one saw the attacker. So, three pilgrims saw that someone dressed in a black naval overcoat jumped over the fence of the belfry and ran away; all three women, independently of each other, decided that the bell ringers had become ill and the man who had run would now bring the doctor. These women approached the belfry and for some time did not dare to approach the monks, deciding that their malaise was caused by the severity of the Paschal fast. Only when the blood flowing from the wounds of the monks became visible on the boards of the platform, the pilgrims realized that they were witnesses of the crime. The other two women observed the moment of the attack, but also could not give any satisfactory description of the perpetrator; according to them, what happened looked like the monks silently fell on their own and the attacker was not visible until he ran from the belfry towards the Skete gates. Of course, the investigation encountered some curious phenomenon of subjective perception, but it should be recognized that in everything connected with the fate of the dead monks, there is a lot of mystical, rationally inexplicable.

The knife found at the crime scene was sent for examination, which established that the fingerprints on the handle belonged to a resident of the neighboring village of Averin. Meanwhile, the killer went through the woods to the Tula region, where he committed theft in one of the cooperatives, then decided to return home, where he was detained.

Averin spoke in detail about all the murders. A forensic psychiatric examination declared him insane, having diagnosed him with schizophrenia. After that, Averin was sent to a special hospital of a closed type. His further fate is not exactly known, perhaps he is still in a psychiatric hospital.

, Kaluga region

The murder of monks in Optina Hermitage on April 18, 1993- the murder of three monks of the Russian Orthodox Church - Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov) and the monks Ferapont (Pushkarev) and Trofim (Tatarnikov), committed in the monastery of Optina Pustyn on Easter night on April 18, 1993 by the mentally ill Nikolai Averin.

Nikolai Averin

Nikolai Nikolayevich Averin was born on June 13, 1961 in the Kaluga Region. In 1990, he first came to the attention of law enforcement agencies by committing rape, but the victim withdrew the statement. A year later, in April 1991, Averin again committed rape, involving grievous bodily harm to his victim. However, on August 8, 1991, he was sent to a psychiatric clinic, having been declared insane.

In February 1992, Averin was discharged from the hospital. He was given the third group of disability. Averin returned to his native village of Volkonskoye in the Kaluga region, located not far from Optina Pustyn.

April 18, 1993

After the murder, Averin threw a knife and disappeared into the forest.

Murder investigation. Averin's arrest

The bodies of the monks were found an hour later. All units of the local militia were alerted.

Interrogation of witnesses<…>brought an amazing result: the pilgrims clearly distinguished the ringers in the morning twilight ... they saw how the monks fell one after another, but no one saw the attacker. So, three pilgrims saw that someone dressed in a black naval overcoat jumped over the fence of the belfry and ran away; all three women, independently of each other, decided that the bell ringers had become ill and the man who had run would now bring the doctor. These women approached the belfry and for some time did not dare to approach the monks, deciding that their malaise was caused by the severity of the Paschal fast. Only when the blood flowing from the wounds of the monks became visible on the boards of the platform, the pilgrims realized that they were witnesses of the crime. The other two women observed the moment of the attack, but also could not give any satisfactory description of the perpetrator; according to them, what happened looked like the monks silently fell on their own and the attacker was not visible until he ran from the belfry towards the Skete gates. Of course, the investigation encountered some curious phenomenon of subjective perception, but it should be recognized that in everything connected with the fate of the dead monks, there is a lot of mystical, rationally inexplicable.

The knife found at the crime scene was sent for examination, which established that the fingerprints on the handle belonged to a resident of the neighboring village of Averin. Meanwhile, the killer went through the woods to the Tula region, where he committed theft in one of the cooperatives, then decided to return home, where he was detained.

Averin spoke in detail about all the murders. A forensic psychiatric examination declared him insane, having diagnosed him with schizophrenia. After that, Averin was sent to a special hospital of a closed type. His further fate is not exactly known, perhaps he is still in a psychiatric hospital.

On April 18, 1993, a monstrous atrocity was committed in Optina Hermitage on Easter night - Hieromonk Vasily and monks Trofim and Ferapont were killed. Not everyone knows that Father Vasily, already a monk, prepared for publication the works of the holy fathers and Russian philosophers in the Psychological Journal of the Academy of Sciences. In the early 1990s, any publication of this kind was perceived as a revelation, like a breath of fresh air. Just as in the 19th century, for the Russian educated society, the books on mental prayer, which were published in Optina, were a revelation. About what Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov) was like, what it was like to work with him, and what kind of atmosphere was in the Hermitage in the early 1990s, Natalia SHALASHNIKOVA, at that time the executive secretary of the Psychological Journal, recalls.

about. Vasily at the graves of the Elders

April 18 is a sadly memorable date for Optina Pustyn. In 1993, on Easter night, Hieromonk Vasily and monks Trofim and Ferapont were killed in the monastery.

Many articles have been written about this tragic event in newspapers and magazines, the sincere and touching book “Red Easter” by N.A. Pavlova and others. All of them contain a biography of the murdered Optina martyrs, as well as stories of relatives and friends, friends and acquaintances about meetings, common affairs and joint work.

It is this kind of work with Hieromonk Vasily that I want to tell you about. I didn’t talk about this before, because. did not consider the participation of Father Vasily in our common cause something special. But time passes, and, as often happens, there is a "revaluation of values." Memory comes to life, and, gradually, my opinion changes. And now we must return to the distant 1990, and much will become clear. Now that time is called the "dashing 90s." But then, what was happening, what we felt, was called “the spirit of rebirth”, “a breath of freedom”, a free wind.”

Yes, we can say that society has freed itself from stereotypes in the minds imposed by orthodox materialism, the question of the spiritual beginning in a person has acquired its meaning and relevance.

At that time, I worked as an executive secretary of the editorial board of the Psychological Journal of the Academy of Sciences. The issues of “filling the spiritual vacuum” were discussed at the meetings of the editorial board, and my proposal was accepted to introduce a new rubric for the publication of fragments from the works of Orthodox philosophers and scientists unpublished in our country, as well as from the manuscript heritage of the Optina Elders. So it became necessary to visit Optina Pustyn.

The editor-in-chief of the journal, a prominent Russian psychologist, Andrei Vladimirovich Brushlinsky clearly understood how valuable a story about Christian perfection could become for the spiritual development of people. He supported my idea - to invite Optina monks to work in this column.

We have prepared a letter to the rector of the monastery of the Holy Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Evlogy (Smirnov). The letter contained a request for assistance to our journal in publishing materials available in the monastery library, contributing to the revival of spirituality in society, as well as enlightenment in the field of history and philosophy of the Russian Orthodox Church. With this letter I came to the monastery.

So, 1990, the beginning of autumn. The weather is fine; road, nature, pines to heaven. But most importantly, the people! A lot of people, mostly young, busy with the most diverse work, and having one goal: to revive, restore Optina, support and strengthen the belief that our life will change for the better. The atmosphere of general enthusiasm, manifestation of attention, mutual assistance, trust and joy from communication and awareness of the benefits of one's work - all this created a feeling of true freedom, and the "wind of change" turned one's head! And the matter was disputed!

Now, walking along the monastery paths, seeing the slender temple buildings, golden domes with shining crosses, it is hard to imagine what was here 20 years ago. The temple where services were held is Vvedensky. Semi-destroyed Kazan and Mary of Egypt. There was a lot of work to be done! After all, until recently there was a “Selkhoztekhnikum” on the territory of the monastery. And I remember what Optina was like. in 1973 everything was shown to us by a bus tour with an enticing title: "Kaluga of Tsiolkovsky, Optina Pustyn of Dostoevsky." Yes ... There was a literary museum in the skete, and in the Vvedensky Cathedral, guys worked on turning, milling and some other machines; in Kazan, a tractor drove right through the opening of the altar. Well, in the Refectory there was a club with cinema and dancing. So it was...

And now. 1990 and everything has changed. This is the result of the active, disinterested work of many people who came to Optina at the call of their hearts.

I really wanted to work together with everyone, but I understood that my contribution was the publication in the Psychological Journal of materials that contribute to the revival of spirituality in society. In order for the Optina monks to participate in the preparation of such materials, it was necessary to obtain the permission of Archimandrite Evlogii.

Holy Gates, photo from the early 1990s

I was very worried, because I saw how busy the inhabitants of Optina were.

I thought that Father Evlogii would not be able to help me: he simply had many more important things to do.

I confessed, took communion, prayed to the Monk Ambrose of Optina and went to Archimandrite Evlogii. And everything that happened next, I still remember as a miracle!

Father Evlogy received me very cordially, was not at all surprised at the request for help in the work for the magazine, but, on the contrary, said that he understood how important and timely such publications would be. He invited me to come tomorrow and promised to find helpers for me.

The next day, Father Evlogii introduced me to his assistants—Hieromonk Ipaty (Khvostenko), Hierodeacon Vasily (Roslyakov) and novice Yevgeny Lukyanov—and explained why he had chosen them for this work. He noted their knowledge of the foundations of patristic teachings and their ability to clearly present Orthodox dogmas. Special words were said about Father Vasily: a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, even before the opening of Optina Pustyn, he had a desire to work in an Orthodox magazine.

Father Vasily himself said that he gladly accepted the offer to collaborate in the new section of the Psychological Journal and was ready to give his knowledge for the benefit of such a good undertaking: reporting to the scientific audience of the thoroughly forgotten patristic tradition. And I realized that we could do what we set out to do.

Hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov). Conversations with pilgrims.

Archimandrite Evlogii noted how important and timely such educational work is in an academic journal, and suggested that, as the first publication, we discuss some of the issues raised in the work of Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky, not yet famous at that time) “Spirit, Soul, Body”. Further, the father governor advised us to go to the library, allowed me to use books and blessed all of us for work, saying that he would be waiting in two days with a report. We went to the library, discussing the title of the new rubric as we went. Father Ipatiy suggested: "Christian Anthropology". Father Vasily did not agree: "Too scientific." Eugene and I asked to take into account the "spiritual experience". So far nothing has worked.

When we entered the library and saw empty shelves and piles of books on the floor, Father Vasily said: “Well, now we will look for “treasures of spiritual experience” - which became the name of the rubric.

Now we had to find Archbishop Luke's book Spirit, Soul, Body. But, alas, what we found could not be called a book: in the paper folder there was a bundle of thin sheets with typewritten text with omissions and errors, in some places even without page numbering.

To be honest, I thought I should switch to something else. But Father Vasily decided that it was too early to cry. “We need to pull ourselves together, shudder and focus!” are his words. We did just that and made a plan for working with this “book”, highlighting the chapter: “The brain and the spirit. Spirit in nature. Father Vasily suggested starting with a brief biographical sketch of the learned theologian Archbishop Luke and promised to quickly prepare it. We again perked up, but not for long - it was impossible to collect the text of the book. Father Vasily offered to look for something in return among the books scattered on the floor, and go to the father-viceroy with a new version. He believed that a lot of useful things could be gleaned from little-known instructions and teachings from the handwritten heritage of the Optina elders and ascetics of piety.

Father Vasily summed up the results of our search, and we decided that we were ready to go to the father governor with a report.

The next day we again gathered in the library. Both father Vasily and novice Evgeny (also a graduate of Moscow State University, a physicist) suggested considering, as an option, Gogol's text “On those spiritual dispositions and our shortcomings that cause embarrassment in us and prevent us from being in a calm state”, previously completely unpublished.

Archimandrite Evlogy listened to us attentively, looked with regret at the folder with the text “Spirit, Soul, Body” and agreed with the opinion expressed by Father Vasily regarding the preparation for publication of Gogol's text.

Thus, the issue of the first publication in the Psychological Journal was resolved. Here's what happened: the title of the rubric: "Treasures of spiritual experience"; an introduction with the rationale for the publications that we wrote with Father Vasily; text by N.V. Gogol, published in full for the first time; comments of the philologist V.A. Voropaev, psychologist V.A. Eliseeva; and, most importantly, the participation of the Optina heritage - the opinion of Father Ipatiy and novice Evgeniy. (PJ, vol. 12, No. 3, 1991).

So, with the help of the monks of Optina Hermitage and with the blessing of the father-governor, we worked together for almost 3 years. 7 materials were published.

In 1990, together with Father Vasily, Father Ipatiy and novice Evgeny, a long-term plan for future publications was drawn up. The purpose of our efforts is to provide an opportunity to learn Christian anthropology more fully and deeply. Therefore, the plan included fragments from the work of Archbishop Luke “Spirit, Soul, Body”, which was not published at that time, from the work of St. Theophan the Recluse, “The Path to Salvation”, which had not been republished since 1908, from the works of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, “Ascetic Experiences”, the patristic heritage of Isaac the Syrian, Gregory of Sinai, Nil of Sora, as well as little-known instructions and teachings from the manuscript heritage of the Optina Elders.

Active work began in Moscow. Together with Evgeny Lukyanov, we tried to follow the planned plan.

When Fr. Evlogii was ordained Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, we, on the advice of Fr. Vasily, went to see him in Vladimir to show the first results of the work begun with his help. Blo this is in 1991. Vladyka received us with a smile, approving the general idea of ​​the first publication of The Key to the Soul of Man based on Gogol's text, and gave us a good parting word for further work.

And Father Vasily and I continued to cooperate. In PZh No. 6 v. 12 for 1991, the material “Three sides of the life of the soul” was published according to the teachings of St. Theophan the Recluse. When we were preparing comments on the text, Father Basil emphasized how important it was for the publication in the Psychological Journal of St. Theophan's revelation about the desire to create a section - religious psychology, because the program of this psychology was supposed to reflect the composition of human nature.

In 1992, we were again in Optina Hermitage, we were present at the skete at the water-blessing service. Then, together with Father Vasily and novice Evgeny, we discuss possible options for Treasures of Spiritual Experience. Then Father Vasily suggested turning to the works of famous Orthodox philosophers N.A. Berdyaev, I.A. Ilyina, I.M. Andreeva. As before, his advice was very reasonable, and the work turned out to be interesting.

A water-blessed prayer service at the Skete is performed by Abbot Ilian (Nozdrin, now Schema-Archimandrite Eli). On the right, Hierodeacon Vasily (Roslyakov)

We walked for a long time in the monastery garden, admiring the phlox and chrysanthemum flowers. Father Vasily, usually restrained and laconic, smiled and said that, surrounded by such beauty, peace and kindness, he feels able to be useful and is glad that the novice Yevgeny and I share his views. We thanked him for participating in the work for the journal, and said that we were preparing for publication, on his advice, the essay “On the Psychological Nature of Moral Feelings” (based on the works of Professor N.M. Andreev). Father Vasily said that he was always glad to help us both in word and deed; but asked, as before, not to include him among the authors. We walked for a long time along the paths of the garden, sat on a bench near the belfry. Father Vasily suggested returning to the work of Archbishop Luke "Spirit, Soul, Body", because. the complete book has finally come out of print, and we will be able to fulfill what we promised Vladyka Evlogii at the very beginning of the work under the heading “Treasures of Spiritual Experience”.

But who could have known that this was our last conversation!

Procession for Easter 1993. The last hours of Fr. Vasily.

In the "Psychological Journal" No. 4 for 1993, material prepared together with his father Vasily on the works of N.M. Andreeva. The publication ended with the words of Vladyka Evlogii, dedicated to the memory of Hieromonk Vasily: “A monstrous atrocity on Easter night 1993 ended the life of one of the best confessors and preachers of Optina Pustyn. The hope that the light of his life will shine forever, warming our souls with kindness, faith and love, can serve as a consolation to our grief.

Funeral service for the murdered Optina brothers. 1993 Vvedensky Cathedral of Optina Hermitage.

Chapel at the burial site of the murdered Optina brothers

Interior view of the chapel

Photo site optina.ru
Natalia SHALASHNIKOVA, Neskuchny Sad magazine

A film from the series "SAINTS". "Monks sentenced to death" (2010)

Movie Information
Name: THE SAINTS
original name: Monks sentenced to death
release year: 2010
Genre: Documentary cycle
Producer: Denis Krasilnikov
Leading: Ilya Mikhailov-Sobolevsky
Expert: Arkady Tarasov

About the movie: The documentary cycle-investigation "Saints" will tell about the amazing fate of people whose lives are still shrouded in a halo of mystery. The hosts of the program, Candidate of Historical Sciences Arkady Tarasov and journalist Ilya Mikhailov-Sobolevsky, find amazing facts about the biography of Russian saints, communicate with relatives and eyewitnesses of the miracles they performed and visit holy places. On the Easter holiday of 1993, a triple murder was committed on the territory of Optina Hermitage. At the crime scene, operatives found weapons - a homemade sword and a dagger with the numbers 666. Despite the years that have passed, many questions remain in this case. Program host Ilya Mikhailov-Sobolevsky is conducting his own investigation of this mysterious crime. He is trying to find out who needed to kill the bell ringer and two monks? And why are those who died among the people glorified as saints?

DIE FOR THE FAITH

Movie Information
Name: DIE FOR THE FAITH
Original name: Died for the faith. Optina New Martyrs
release year: 2010
Genre: Documentary
Country: Russia
Producer: Dmitry Martynov
Production: TV channel "NTV"

About movie:
The film tells about the clergy killed in Russia. Over the past 20 years, 26 priests and two monks have been killed. There are no such statistics anywhere in the world. The murder of clerics is not only a crime against the law, to a greater extent it is a crime against God. And when the Church canonizes the martyrs, ordinary people lose the brightest and purest people.

The first high-profile crime against the clergy in the new Russia took place on September 9, 1990, when Archpriest Alexander Men was killed on the path to the Semkhoz railway station. On April 18, 1993, in Optina Hermitage, immediately after the Easter service, a resident of a neighboring village, disguised as a pilgrim, entered the monastery and stabbed three monks to death: monks Ferapont and Trofim and hieromonk Vasily. And on November 19, 2009, in the Moscow church of the Apostle Thomas on Kantemirovskaya Street, an unknown man in a mask shot Rector Daniil Sysoev. In the late 80s, Daniel was one of the first clergy who came to Optina Hermitage. Together with Father Vasily, they began to raise the monastery and together received the martyr's crown - with a difference of sixteen years ...

Easter 1993 in Optina Hermitage began, as usual, with the Easter Midnight Office, followed by a procession to the St. John the Baptist Skete. The service ended at six o'clock in the morning, and the brethren went to break their fast in the refectory. After the meal, monks Trofim and Ferapont returned to the monastery belfry to proclaim to all people the joy of the Risen Christ. Literally ten minutes later, the Easter bells stopped. In the predawn twilight, the inhabitants who ran out saw two monks belfries on the platform. Both lay motionless. The third was hieromonk Vasily, who was on his way to confess the pilgrims at the skete Liturgy, which began at six in the morning ... Some of the pilgrims saw a man in an overcoat running up to the ringers. Traces were found on the roof of the barn, which stands near the eastern wall of the monastery, and an overcoat was lying next to the barn. When they lifted it, they saw a small dagger from the inside. The blade was shiny. There was a feeling of some kind of unreality: the killer could not have had time to wipe it to a shine, and why would he need it? But here, under the wall of a wooden two-story outbuilding, which is between the shed and the skete tower, they found a huge bloody sword ...

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