AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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Barbara
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AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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Actually, this year marks a half century since Archbishop Andrei's consecration as a Bishop [ 1968 ] as well as 40 years from his repose tomorrow, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul.

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Helping Metropolitan Anastassy {Gribanovsky} of Rocor

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With Metropolitan Philaret {Vosnesensky} ( does anyone know who the glowering cleric behind them might be ?! )

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The beginnings of Novo-Diveevo Convent essentially founded by then Protopriest Adrian [Rymarenko], later Archbishop Andrei of Rockland, as pictured on the left holding his mitre

1st, the official versions of Abp Andrei's life, then some other details. Here is the write up from Novo-Diveevo itself - edited just a hair :

Archbishop Andrew then Protopresbyter Adrian Rimarenko, arrived from Germany, to the US along with his group of Russian émigrés in 1949. They were refugees, seeking to escape the yoke of communist rule. The group settled in Rockland County, in the Village of Nyack, New York and immediately opened a church. As others gathered around them a community began to form. At the request of Archbishops Nikon (Rklitzky) of Florida and Washington D. C. and Seraphim (Ivanov) of the Holy Trinity Monastery Father Adrian began gathering displaced female monastics in the Russian Diaspora and so Novo-Diveevo was established.

In 1951 a former Catholic convent was purchased with the help of several parishioners, a kind banker and whatever funds the group had.

Novo-Diveevo was moved within the Town of Clarkstown, in an area that was known as Spring Valley, but now is officially the hamlet of Nanuet , New York. They began their life in the New World with no means of subsistence, no knowledge of the English language, and no governmental assistance. But they had one desire in common – to freely worship God, to thank Him for the joy of their newfound freedom, which had been given to them by this unfamiliar and – for many – utterly unknown and incomprehensible land. It was Father Adrian’s dream to build not only a church and convent, but also an Orthodox cemetery and an old-age home to care for the elderly émigrés. In 1968, Father Adrian became Bishop Andrew of Rockland.

Until his final days, Archbishop Andrew continued to lead the spiritual life of the convent, delving as much as his health allowed him into the minutiae of monastic and practical life. Archbishop Andrew reposed on the feast day of Saint's Peter and Paul - July 12, 1978. - https://novo-diveevo.org

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A further expansion of Archbishop Andrei's Bio from the 35th anniversary of his repose :

Friday, July 12, 2013, the feast of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, marked the 35th anniversary of the repose of the ever-memorable Archbishop Andrei (Rymarenko) of Rockland, vicar of the Eastern American Diocese. As a Protopriest, Fr Adrian (in monasticism Andrei) founded Holy Dormition Convent "Novo-Diveevo" in Nanuet, NY. Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky +1976 г.)recorded this history in his compilation, My Work in the Vineyard of Christ:

The idea to found Holy Dormition Convent – a "New Diveevo" ? in the United States was first conceived in 1946, with the arrival in America of new Russian emigres after the Second World War, by Bishop Seraphim (Ivanov) and Bishop Nikon (Rklitsky). Certain preparatory measures were taken by the Diocesan Administration of the North American and Canadian Diocese, but the founding of the convent itself was realized in the summer of 1949, with the arrival from Europe of Protopriest Adrian Rymarenko, later Archbishop of Rockland, with a group of loyal collaborators. It was namely Protopriest Rymarenko who was tasked by Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko) with founding this convent under the supervision of his vicar, Bishop Nikon of Florida.

Fr Adrian accomplished this undertaking with great success, approaching his task with zeal and an experience and talent that came naturally to him. He himself came from a lay background; his father was an industrialist in Russia. Fr Adrian received his education in a Realschule [an advanced secondary school – ed.], as well as at the St Petersburg Polytechnical Institute. He was received into the priesthood in accordance with his own spiritual wishes, and during the first years of the Bolshevik Revolution, at a time of the brutal repression of the Church by the Bolsheviks. While still a student in St Petersburg, Fr Adrian occupied himself with religious issues and was a student of the renowned theologian Fr Ioann Yegorov; his spiritual formation was further influenced by the Optina Elders, with whom he corresponded. He had a close relationship with Elder Anatoly, a disciple of Elder Ambrose, with Elder Nektary and with the last Optina Elder – Monk Vikenty, who, after the destruction of the Optina Hermitage by the Bolsheviks, lived with Fr Adrian for some time. It was these gracious acquaintances, as well as Fr Adrian’s natural gifts, that gave him an opportunity to be an experienced spiritual leader and outstanding administrator and organizer. After the repose of Fr Adrian’s matushka, also a remarkable Russian woman, Eugenia Grigorievna, on October 1/14, 1963, Fr Adrian accepted monastic tonsure with the name Andrei, and in 1968 was consecrated Bishop of Rockland, vicar of the Diocese of Eastern American and New York. On Bishop Andrei’s 80th birthday, March 15/28, 1973, for his outstanding accomplishments, he was elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Rockland.

Under Fr Adrian’s direction, Novo-Diveevo convent underwent many stages of growth and development… Among Fr Adrian’s most active assistants were his matushka, Eugenia Grigorievna, and his longtime and loyal collaborators, who left Russia with him: Prince DV Mishetsky, Dr AP Timofievich, and choir conductor PP Didenko...

Novo-Diveevo Convent is located approximately 25 miles from New York, in the Spring Valley region, and is a large Russian spiritual center. It comprises close to 40 nuns [fewer today—ed.] and novices, and 40 residents in a home for the elderly. The convent has two wonderful churches – a small one in the house first acquired by the convent, and another of medium size, built by the monastics. Among the multitude of holy items kept in its churches, the most remarkable are: an icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, smuggled out of Optina Hermitage, and a portrait of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov in the smaller church, which was painted during the saint’s lifetime. The full cycle of divine services is served daily at the convent, while on Sundays and feast days many of the faithful gather there. The convent is also home to a quickly growing Russian cemetery, now numbering over 2,000 graves. The real estate acquired by the convent over the years is now valued at several hundred thousand dollars. [ Probably MUCH more than that -- especially now, 5 years later ?]

One no less remarkable feat of Archbishop Andrei’s was the construction at the convent in 1972 of a large building to handle the needs of the convent and serve as a home for elderly women… Now half of this spacious building accommodates the nuns, while in the other reside these elderly women, who are grateful to God and Archbishop Andrei for taking care of them in their old age, and all financial obligations are cared for.

It bears noting that, for all of his great accomplishments, Archbishop Andrei was not a well man – in recent years, he [ could not ] even perform the divine services.

So it was that the evaluation given of Archbishop Andrei, then Protopriest Rymarenko, upon his arrival in America in 1949, that "his health is poor, and he is in no condition to undertake active work," was brilliantly disproved, while the words of God were confirmed: "for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9).

http://www.pravmir.com/the-35th-anniver ... vo-diveevo

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Barbara
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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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Before the Feast Day of St Peter and Paul - and the repose of Archbishop Andrew [Rymarenko] of Rockland - ends, I want to recount a little.

Apparently, those who went to Confession with Fr Adrian marveled at his incisive wisdom. They report that he never left a stone unturned, trying to extract the most hidden sin at its root.
Anecdotal evidence shows he displayed evidence of clairvoyance in the arena of Confession [ whether also in other areas of life, I don't know. If anybody does, please mention here ].

This is very much an Optina trait. Elder Barsanuphius was a more recent example of this type of "Confessional Clairvoyance". The former Colonel in the Army of the Tsar would remind his spiritual children of sins in earlier stages of their lives that they had buried so deeply away that even hints from the Elder did not produce that awaited moment of recognition. Finally, after the spiritual child had searched back in his or her memory to no avail, sharp detail of the incident was given by Elder Barsanuphius to jolt the memory of the astonished disciple.

St Barsanuphius' earlier predecessor as Skete Elder, St Ambrose, was unsurpassed in this category. Though all the Optina lineage of Elders excelled in seeing the life sins of their spiritual children and pilgrims and visitors.

Perhaps Fr Adrian acquired this Optina hallmark quality from his close discipleship with Elder Nektary. Fr Adrian brought it 1st to his church service in Europe [ Berlin ] and later across the ocean to the East Coast of the US. This outstanding ability does not automatically make Archbishop Andrei a clairvoyant Elder. But certainly when compared with some of today's products [ Ephraim of Arizona, for example ], he appears a solid, authentic spiritual teacher.

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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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Unfortunately, not long ago, Novo-Diveevo Convent suffered a loss by fire of its candle factory. I didn't hear any further information as to the reason.

Regarding Elder Amvrosy's consummate skill in 'outing' submerged sins of his disciples, long lost to their conscious minds, see one example here : http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewto ... 510#p73510

I came here to write that an entire book was planned 20 years ago to be published called "Fr Adrian : Disciple of the Optina Elders". It never saw the light of day, at least up til now. Surely that would be very interesting.

I plan to summarize in this thread some known material about Archbishop Andrew's life.

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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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An intriguing aspect of the Chain of Optina Elders and their devoted disciples is the fact that some observers felt that ardent students of one Elder would tend to take on his appearance over time.

Hence it is that Hieroschemamonk Flavian, the cellarer of Optina, was somehow mirrored in the future Archbishop Andrew [Rymarenko], who had a great devotion to Fr Flavian. The latter had been a cell attendant to Elder Macarius and a model Optina monk. After St Macarius' repose, Fr Flavian served as cell attendant to Elder Hilarion, whose repose day was yesterday, October 1.

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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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Another word on the Optina Chain of Elders' highly refined way of confessing supplicants. Elder Theodosius [reposed 1920], the successor to St Barsanuphius as Skete Superior, showed this same remarkable ability as his spiritual father, Elder Barsanuphius. Perhaps it was transmitted from the one to the other. Anyway, both succeeded in eliciting the 'deepest thoughts and concerns' - and no doubt many other emotions as well, thus making the penitent feel like huge burdens had been lifted from their shoulders. In short, a confession with these and other earlier Optina Elders was not a dry enumeration of sins. Rather, it took the shape of an exhaustive examination of every corner of the person's soul.

If Elders like this abounded now, imagine : all psychologists and their ilk would have to close up shop. For the clairvoyant Optina Elders were able to see whatever the penitent was deliberately or unconsciously omitting, and speak to them in the right manner to unlock a true, deep-felt contrition and resolve to do better in the future.

Though not probably clairvoyant, Archbishop Andrew seems to have possessed some measure of this outstanding talent.

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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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With Novo-Diveyevo Convent celebrating its 70th Anniversary this October, much focus will naturally be on the founder, Archbishop Andrew, pictured on the flyer here :

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A quick video also includes many images, some seldom seen, of Abp Andrew. One can see his great piety in his stances looking up to Heaven !

Footage of the vast Novo-Diveyevo Cemetery is extensive. I didn't know the famous cemetery where many Russian emigres fleeing Communism are buried was that spacious. I pictured it for some reason as a backyard-sized plot, even though I know it wasn't THAT limited of a space. It's interesting to see the tidy rows of assumedly granite Crosses over each grave. May Archangel Michael watch over the ensemble.

One comic note occurs almost at the end of the video, at 4:00. Two clergymen enter the Church. But the robe of the 2nd one gets caught in the door !
The stuck black tail is only freed up when a layman in a blue shirt opens the door for the next monastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... VJflpqfsSk

Time for me to finish that plan to write up some details about the respected elder's life.

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Re: AbpAndrew[Rymarenko]: A Retrospective Look After 40 Years

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There is new autobiographical information contained in this gripping essay by Archbishop Andrew Rymarenko. One feels as though one has lived through the entire saga of events he describes.

The part about the persecution of the pastor-ascetics is appropriate for the Sunday of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors tomorrow.

Notes : I paid special attention to the future Abp Andrew's words about the desperate fear of repatriation. I had not thought that the problem would have extended to such as Fr Andrew, but he had left the Soviet Union only quite recently, so he was certainly highly eligible, according to the standards of Stalin's henchmen who even scoured Europe looking for Russians and others from any of the emigrations. The implication is that the services at the Church that Fr Andrew founded helped save him from the dreadful fate of Siberian camps or outright execution that awaited all returnees. See Book Review thread on this topic, which is in process.

I can't help but wonder if the young Andrew was involved with a YMCA group while a student in St Petersburg.

[Slight editing by me]


I. THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE THE ORTHODOX WAY OF LIFE

I GREW UP in a pious family… I was surrounded by that Orthodox way of life which for generations had been created by Holy Russia. In our family, life proceeded according to the church calendar, according to the yearly church cycle. Feast days were as it were the signposts of life. At home there were constant Divine services, and not only molebens, but all-night vigils also.
A strong impression was made on me by the early-morning Divine services, to which our mother took us and to which we went no matter what the weather, fall and winter: After these Divine services one always felt a kind of extraordinary inspiration, a kind of quiet joy.
Our family was wealthy… And the religious outlook with which our life was penetrated was naturally reflected in deeds also: we participated in the building of churches, set out tables with food for poor people, sent donations to prisons, hospitals, work-houses.
Of course, there were also sorrows, and illnesses, and deaths. But they also were accepted in the light of Christ. The awareness that “Christ is risen, and the life of man will be in the Resurrection of Christ” helped us to bear our misfortunes and reverses. Everything was experienced lightly and joyfully, without the strains so characteristic of many people.
This feeling of joy, this Christian way of life, were characteristic not only of our family, but also of the society which surrounded us.
After the Revolution of 1905, in place of the hopes and agitations there came disillusionment and desolation. People became as it were closed in on themselves. They were occupied with empty things, with little egoistic interests, visits, concerts, the theater. In human relations dryness and officialness reigned.
And I [attending the St. Petersburg Polytechnical Institute], coming up against this cold alienation, this desolation, for the first time experienced a feeling close, if not to despair, then to despondency, and my soul cried out: “I cannot.” Why did my soul cry out? Why did this cry burst out — “I cannot”?
I felt that I could not live as people around me were living. I felt that I was lacking that life, that Orthodox WAY OF LIFE, which had surrounded me in my childhood and youth, that lightness of heart which I felt. I had the impression that I had been deprived of the air which I had breathed.
I had to have life. And I began to seek…
[The lectures on Dostoyevsky of a certain professor] revealed sides of life which I had somehow not recognized earlier… I became acquainted with a Christian student group. But this group did not satisfy me. It was interconfessional. But I, raised from childhood in the conditions of the Orthodox way of life, needed precisely the confessional way; I needed the Sacraments, the feeling of sanctification, prayer.
All this was given to me by Archpriest John Egorov… He became the leader of a group of students who had left the Christian student group. I spent five years in his “school,” where there were 25 of us students, and for me there was opened up the elemental reality of the life of Christ’s Church, by which Holy Russia had lived. I understood that the Divine services are not merely a ritual, but that in them are revealed the dogmas of faith. They are the foundation of man’s reception of Divinity.
Then, the examination and study of the works of the Fathers of the Church and the Patristic writings revealed to me the paths of life.
When I had gone through the whole course taught by Fr. John, I had literally come back to life. I sensed the elemental power of Orthodoxy, I sensed. that air of life which it gave. I understood in what this life consisted. I came to know that freedom of conscience which we receive through the Sacrament of Repentance.

After this preparation I came, in fact, upon an Elder — Fr. Nectarius, disciple of the great Elder Ambrose of Optina… Elder Nectarius showed me my path, the path of pastoral service, and prepared me for it with the help of his disciple, Fr. Vincent. He taught me that the confession of faith must be in godliness. The Divine must enter into every side of our life, personal, family, and public. And so in 1921 my pastoral activity began in my native Romny…
I was soon deprived of my flock and sent to Kiev under surveillance. There it was very difficult for me at first, but then I became close to a group of outstanding Kiev pastor-ascetics, who became my instructors and friends. Their activity and battle for human souls took place during the frightful time of the reveling of the atheists, against a background of demonic carnivals, in the heat of persecutions against the Church and believers, of massive arrests and executions. And all of them gave up their lives for what was already in my heart — for the quiet which I had experienced in childhood, for inward life, for strengthening oneself in faith, for the Orthodox way of life, for Holy Russia.
God had mercy on me then and delivered me from prison. On my shoulders lay the heavy responsibility to continue the work of the martyred ascetics…
The Germans came to Kiev… Churches were opened. The Lord helped us to re-establish the Protection Hospital Convent, in the church of which I became priest. Again one had to help people, feed them. We managed to reestablish the hospital, a home for the crippled and aged. But the famine was not only bodily, but spiritual as well. People who had been starved for the Church, for the Orthodox way of life, streamed into the churches. One had to quench their hunger. Then, after two years under the German occupation, we had to throw everything over and be evacuated.
The Soviets came.
Together with a group of people close to me, I ended up in Berlin. I was assigned as chief priest of the Berlin cathedral. For the course of nearly two years, under ceaseless bombings, Divine services were celebrated every day in the cathedral. The Lord helped us to preserve the Divine gift of the Eucharist of Christ so as to strengthen and confirm in faith the souls of our Russian people who had fled from Communism or had been brought by force to Germany. The church was constantly filled with Russian youth, who for the most part knew neither their homeland nor God nor the Orthodox way of life, but now instinctively were drawn to the Church, to Christ. One had to help them, caress them, teach them, instruct them.
But the war was approaching its end. Again one had to be evacuated — this time to Wurtemberg, to the small town of Wendlingen. There, in the difficult period which set in after the capitulation of Germany, being in constant fear of repatriation, our small group, under my guidance, erected a church and immediately instituted the great Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist. And we began again to create a quiet order of life, to create the Orthodox way of life. The Divine services were celebrated daily, life proceeded in godliness from Sunday to Sunday, from feast to feast. All around there blustered passions, animosity, an animal-like battle for survival. Many began to look on us as naive people who were not living in accordance with the times. But we lived, lived in God. Little by little the attitude towards us changed. Pilgrimages began. People who had gone to the depths of despair found peace of soul and a quiet joy with us and went away enlightened and calmed.
And then a new move — to America. And again one had to begin everything from the beginning. In the autumn of 1949 Archbishop Vitaly [of Jordanville] and Archbishop Nikon entrusted to me the establishment of a women’s monastery wherein to gather together nuns scattered in various countries of the Diaspora, and to establish for them the quietness of Christ and the Orthodox way of life. This assignment seemed beyond our powers… But the idea of establishing here, in America, a little corner of the Orthodox way of life, saturated in that elemental power of spirit by which I had lived and breathed since childhood, took hold of me, and I agreed, trusting in the help of God. And the Lord did not abandon us.
Nuns were gathered together. About a thousand D.P.’s were brought over from Europe, of whom a significant number settled around the monastery and formed, so to speak, a large Orthodox family… Most important, the Lord helped to create in New-Diveyevo that which had filled my soul from childhood. In the conditions of emigration, when the Russian people, confused in the midst of foreign conditions of life and non-Orthodoxy, were caught in the whirlpool of fate, the Lord helped us to establish in New-Diveyevo the Orthodox way of life, a church atmosphere of the quietness of Christ and of godliness; to establish Holy Russia in a foreign land.
But it is not yet enough to establish a monastic life; one must preserve it. For there is always the danger that life can be converted into a hothouse, a greenhouse, where it will be supported by artificial warmth, and as soon as the source of warmth ceases to operate, life will perish.
Therefore, there must be a constant source of life. Just as the earth and its vital juices constantly nourish vegetation, so our life also must be ceaselessly nourished by that elemental power which the Church of Christ gives, which is incarnated in the Orthodox way of life, in the Divine services, in, fastings, in prayers, in vigils, in all that which embodies our Holy Russia. This is the elemental power which places in the mouth of the man who is leaving his earthly existence the last words, “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit,” and gives him the possibility to depart into eternal existence with the name of Christ.

II. HUMANISM VERSUS TRUE CHRISTIANITY

IN AMERICA there is no Stalin, no Communism, no persecutions against the Church. Therefore, emigrants who do not know actual spiritual life might think that Orthodox life in America should be an ideal of Orthodox life and that one should live just as the old Russian emigrants live here. But have our Russian emigrants found here what is the true ideal of the Christian — godliness, the acquirement of peace of heart through repentance? Have they found that elemental reality which the Church should be and with which a man departs into eternal life — sanctity, purity, sobriety?
Alas, it seems to me that the life not only of non-Orthodox Americans, but of Orthodox Russians as well proceeds not according to the laws of the Church, but according to the principles of humanism. Very many of those who consider themselves Orthodox are actually Christians only in form, but they live according to their own understanding, complying only with the commands of their flesh. American life, with its satiety and comfort, acts extraordinarily in favor of the acceptance of humanism. And therefore it is not astonishing that laymen often make demands to their pastors to go “in step with the times,” and the pastors often fulfill these demands…
But the religious-moral foundations do not change; why, then, should priests change? Against contemporary man the same temptations, the same passions and seductions battle that tempted men a thousand years ago. Sin remains sin forever, and not a jot or tittle of the law of Christ changes: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all else will be added unto you.”
The most important thing is to create a pure heart and keep it that way. Here there can be no talk of reforms. The Lord Himself has already given us everything needful in His Church.
But here the question arises: how can we apply to ourselves this wealth given by the Lord? Let us turn to the history of the Church at the time when humanism was striving to supplant true Christianity and replace it with an outward, false Christianity {the 18th century}. Then it was that the Lord raised up a hierarch who gave us for our life the method of true Christianity. In the True Christianity of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk you will find everything needful for the inward life of man. St. Tikhon speaks of the Word of God, which must be incarnated in life, of spiritual wisdom, of the human heart, of sin, of repentance, of Christian good deeds, of the Holy Church, of the duties of a Christian.
In our emigrant epoch humanism manifests itself with fearful power. Our church life proceeds for the most part outwardly; inward life is being forgotten. The slogan of humanism in our times is again: “Appear to be a Christian, but live according to the laws of the flesh,” and involuntarily we ask ourselves the same tormenting question, which stands always before us: What should we do? The work of St. Tikhon, On True Christianity, is the answer to this question.
This work of St. Tikhon became the foundation of my whole pastoral life. In 1921, in blessing me for pastoral work, Optina Elder Anatole told me: Take the True Christianity of Tikhon of Zadonsk and live by its directions.”

III. GODLINESS: TO KEEP WHAT IS GOD’S IN HONOR

WHAT TO DO? With such a question I appealed in 1921 to an Optina Elder…. After going through the frightful revolutionary years of 1917, 1918, and 1919, when everything was collapsing and being destroyed, I came to a state which was simply pathological: why fight when everything is coming to an end? My outlook was transmitted to my close ones. The Revolution, the chaos as it were confirmed my words for those around me.
I became a priest, but the condition of my soul remained the same. And thus it was that I went to Optina to the Elder with the question: What to do?
The most important thing the Elder {Nectarius} told me was this:
“The Church of Christ goes as it were on a railroad track. The path of the rails is known, it is defined, but you and I must pay attention to what happens in the coach which is on the rails. In the coach occurs the personal life of a man. A man goes in and goes out of the coach, and there will be an end, to the rails, but the end of each person is separate: one leaves the coach earlier, another later, and here it is that Christian godliness is necessary.
“The dogmas of faith, faith itself is revealed to us, and none of us doubts it; but the confession of faith must be in godliness. ‘No one is good: save God alone’ — this is to hold what is God’s in honor. It is the Divine that must be our concern; it must enter into all sides of our life. personal, family, public. Godliness is disclosed to us by the daily Divine services. At the daily Midnight Service is read the 17th Kathisma, which is a disclosure of God’s Righteousness by the Prophet David to his son Solomon. And the Church offers the 17th Kathisma in order to reveal our inward being. One of the methods for godliness is given by the Holy Church in a spiritual exercise which trains our mind to the remembrance of the Name of God — ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.’ Monastics are given a prayer-rope, but for a priest in the world the prayerful remembrance of his spiritual children can serve for training in the remembrance of the Name of God.”
And so: What to do? The Elder said: “Live in such a way that what is God’s will be in honor; and the first, the chief thing is your mind, which must be in God.”

IV. EXHORTATION TO SOLZHENITSYN

“For a hundred years Noah called people to him, but only the dumb animals came.”
Elder Nectarius of Optina

On July 22, 1975, the Russian writer A. I. Solzhenitsyn visited Archbishop Andrew in New-Diveyevo Convent and talked with him for more than an hour. Archbishop Andrew greeted Solzhenitsyn, who was then already known world-wide for his flaming anti-Communist talks, with the following brief address:

DEAR, deeply-respected Alexander Isaevich:
I have thought much, and am. thinking much, about you; and involuntarily, while thinking of you, there arise before me two places in Sacred Scripture. One is from the Old Testament: the image of righteous Noah. It was revealed to him by God that there would be a world-wide flood which would destroy all those who remained in ungodliness. But for the salvation of those who would remain in godliness, those who still preserved all that is God’s in honor, God commanded Noah to build an ark. And Noah began to build an ark, and at the same time to call the people to repentance…
But the sky was clear, not a cloud; the whole of nature, as if indifferent to the sins of men, remained solemnly quiet. Men heard Noah, but shrugged their shoulders and went away. The building of the ark was finished, but only the family of Noah entered it. They entered the ark, not yet to escape the flood, but to escape the ungodliness which was everywhere… And finally the rain came; the water began to rise and inundate everything. Now the frightened people hastened to the ark, but the doors closed by themselves, and no one else was able to enter…
Thinking of you, I involuntarily presented to myself this magnificent figure of Noah calling the people. Thus you also, my dear one, are calling people from the ungodliness of Communism! They hear you, they applaud you. They heard Noah also and, it may be, expressed their enthusiasm. Yes, they heard… but they did not obey, and perished!
Noah called men from something, from ungodliness. But he also called them to something: to godliness, and to a concrete godliness: to the godliness which was in the ark! And here I recall another place in the Sacred Scripture, the Epistle of the Apostle Peter: This they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth made of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men (II Peter 3:5-7).
If all this is to be destroyed thus, then what a holy life and godliness must we have! This is what the New Testament Ark is: godliness, preserving what is God’s in honor!
In your recent address you said that you were born a slave. That means that you were born after the Revolution. But I saw everything that happened before the Revolution and what prepared it — it was ungodliness in all forms, and chiefly the violation of family life and the corruption of youth… With grief I see that the same thing is happening here also, and indeed in the whole world. And it seems to me that your mission also is — to call people from ungodliness to godliness!
And the source of godliness is Christ!

Source: Orthodox Word, Vol 63, 1975, St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, California
The Restoration of the Orthodox Way of Life by Archbishop Andrew of New-Diveyevo – True Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe


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