15 years have passed since that memorable, sorrowful, by human judgment, day when our dear Father, the founder of two monasteries, passed into eternity: the Holy Dormition Nicholas Convent and the Holy Dormition Vasilievsky Monastery. Long before the start of the funeral service, despite the difficult situation in our region, material difficulties, overcoming a difficult path with many obstacles, people flocked to the monastery, driven by flaming love in their hearts for the ever-remembered Father Zosima, to prayerfully honor the day of his repose. We drove with gratitude in our hearts, keeping in our memory Fatherly love, his support, help and soul-saving instructions. We went to bring prayerful sighs to the Lord for the repose of Father’s soul in the village of the righteous, as well as for consolation in the current sorrows and difficulties.

The funeral service began the night before with a funeral all-night vigil. During the evening service, His Eminence Elisha, Metropolitan of Izyum and Kupyansk, and His Eminence Barnabas, Archbishop of Makeyevka arrived at the monastery to offer prayers together with the inhabitants and pilgrims of the monastery for the repose of the blessed elder. The parastas, which served as a bishop's rank, was headed by Archbishop Varnava. At the end of the parastas, in his sermon, Vladyka spoke about the life feat of Father Zosima, about the fruit of his earthly life - the establishment of a monastery for women and men with a House of Mercy: “The leaven that Father Zosima laid down is still in effect today. Despite temptations and troubles, this ship floats - souls are saved. This monastery is like an image of a spiritual ship in the desert of the world; here, to this day, acts of mercy are performed and prayer is offered.”

On the 15th anniversary of the blessed death of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima

The main theme of this year, which stirred up public consciousness and aroused great interest, is the century of tragic events that, without exaggeration, became a turning point both in the modern history of our country and in the entire European history of the past 20th century.

The Russian Orthodox Church, as part of the Christmas Readings, proposed a dialogue “1917 - 2017: lessons of the century.” One of the main consequences of the events of a century ago was open persecution against the Church: large-scale confiscation of church property, closure of monasteries, executions and repressions. As a result, over the next 70 years, only a few monasteries functioned on the territory of the Soviet Union, but before the revolution there were 800 of them.

In this regard, today we often hear about “interrupted monastic tradition.” At one of the monastic conferences in Moscow, Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Bunge), a theologian and hermit monk who has been living the life of a strict recluse for many years in a mountain monastery on the border of Switzerland and Italy, made an interesting report on this topic. It was called “Our predecessors in goodness. Modern Russian monasticism between the gap and continuity of tradition." As a result of his deep and detailed analysis, he concluded that despite the fact that outwardly the institution of monasticism was practically destroyed, there always remained such “icons” - elders who in their lives embodied the ideal of a true monk. The experience of their lives deserves the same attention as the experience of the saints of the first centuries, because “carriers of the Spirit”, they kept the “torch of monastic life” burning and, led by grace, prepared in the hearts of believers an amazing revival of the Orthodox Church and monasticism after the fall of the communist regime.

Notes on the Orthodox camp

For ten years in a row, every summer a children's day camp has been organized at the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery in the village of Nikolskoye. And, with God’s help, this year another “shift” took place within the walls of the holy monastery! From June 5 to June 24, 35 children lived a special, amazing life while studying in a day camp at the monastery Sunday school!

Thanks to the efforts of Mother Superior and the brothers and sisters of the monastery, the days at the camp this year were especially interesting, eventful and exciting! In addition to lessons in the Law of God, hikes, games, entertaining quests, sports relay races, children were given classes in acting, music, stage speech, chess, as well as various master classes (on decoupage, making decorative candles, soft toys, motan dolls , artificial flowers, quilling, ribbon embroidery). Everyone was busy with one common task - the work of building the temple of their soul! And we built it like this: for every good deed, the child received a small brick (symbolic, of course). For example, one could receive a brick for diligence and patience in work, for activity in conversation or play, for helping elders or classmates, for showing mercy, for a responsible attitude to a task, for sacrifice and dedication. The bricks earned were used to build the temple. And we illustrated the construction of this temple by jointly putting together a puzzle every day with the image of St. Basil's Cathedral.

Sermon on Easter evening

So the first day of Holy Easter has passed by the grace of God, we ended the Easter service with Vespers. According to the liturgical regulations, the second day of Easter is already coming - Bright Monday.

In the Gospel at Vespers we read how the Lord appeared to His disciples “through a closed door.” For two thousand years, these events are remembered year after year, as in the Upper Room of Zion, the doors and windows of which were closed “for fear of the Jews,” Christ appeared, stood among the disciples and said: “Peace be with you.” The first word after the Resurrection was “Rejoice,” we read on Holy Saturday. The Lord gives joy to everyone. And the second word of the Risen One is “Peace be with you” - the teaching of peace.

This is what I wish for all of you on the days of Holy Easter, that we live in peace, that we do not quarrel, that we leave the church in peace. “We will depart in peace,” says the priest at the end of the liturgy. So that we go into the world in peace, live in peace for the glory of God, so that we bear the burdens of our family cross in peace, so that we carry our life’s cross in peace, and in peace, thanking God for everything, so that we leave this life for eternity, to the Kingdom of Heaven. So that the peace of God, the peace of Christ, always accompanies us all in our daily lives. Here are my good bright Easter wishes for you on today's holy Easter evening. Calm down, calm down. The Optina elders said: “You must acquire peace in your heart.” But I always emphasize - not indifference to everything, detachment, as some have false humility. Detachment from everything is a sinful feeling. But to gain peace in the heart, and to be a joyful, bright person is already a feat, we must pray for this, for the peaceful state of our heart. So that the peace of God, the peace of the Risen Lord, will always accompany us in later life.

Sermon on Holy Wednesday evening

My beloved flock, by the grace of God the first half of Holy Week has ended, and we have directly entered the days of the Divine Passion of Christ. Mournful chants are heard mourning the moment when Judas the traitor matured and goes to betray his Divine Teacher. He confers with the Jewish host: “What do you want to give me, and I will betray Him to you?” Everyone consulted and assessed: “Thirty pieces of silver.” Just as the brothers once betrayed the righteous Joseph for thirty pieces of silver, so Judas betrayed the Savior for thirty of these pieces of silver, for he was a thief, that is, a thief. He loved money very much, he always went everywhere with a money box. But the Jewish Sanhedrin was afraid of the people. At night, secretly, it was necessary to commit a vile deed - to take the Savior into custody and condemn Him to death.

In the morning of this day we joyfully testified about the sinner wife, the harlot who repented and was forgiven by God, and in the evening we mourned the death of Judas. The Holy Fathers reasoned that it was not betrayal that finally destroyed Judas. If after the Resurrection he had fallen on his knees before Christ and asked for forgiveness, the Lord would have forgiven him, seeing his sincere repentance, for God’s mercy is limitless. Despair destroyed him. Judas realized what he had done when he saw the Savior bound hand and foot (as He is depicted in an ancient image), condemned, beaten and spat on. Desperate: “What have I done!” He did not have the spiritual strength to repent, to fall at the feet of Christ with the words: “Lord, forgive me!” He went and hanged himself.

Sermon on Holy Monday

By the grace of God, with the completion of today's service we have entered the great holy days of the saving Divine Holy Week. The solemn Palm Sunday has ended, and we hear wonderful words: “The Lord is coming to our free passion for the sake of salvation.”

On Holy Monday, the Church remembers the righteous Joseph the Beautiful from the Old Testament, one of the twelve sons of Patriarch Jacob. He defeated the enemy with his innocent suffering and patience. He was a prototype of Christ the Savior innocently suffering for us all, which is why the Church remembers him first during Holy Week.

The righteous Old Testament patriarch Jacob had twelve sons. The sons were engaged in cattle breeding and tended their father's herds. And with Jacob there was a youngest son, the young man Joseph, his most beloved. He never left his father's house, being a great consolation to him in his old age. Patriarch Jacob loved his youngest son very much and was afraid to let him go. At the same time, Joseph had a special purpose from God. He had special dreams that alarmed everyone living in the house: either the eleven stars in the sky worshiped him, or the moon and the sun, or the ears of grain. Secret envy was brewing in the brothers towards Joseph. They said, “So what? Will we bow to you, your father and mother and your brothers?”

Sermon on the day of remembrance of the Cathedral of Kiev-Pechersk Saints

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on the holy festive day of Lenten Sunday! How long has it been since fasting? A week? It's been two weeks already? And I thought it was only another week. This means that two weeks of fasting have already passed. Are you tired? Shall we fast or break our fast? Fast? Or maybe break your fast? Should I eat “white slurry”, milk, sour cream? We will not? Let's fast! The children say: “We will fast. But we won’t refuse chocolate candy.”

By the grace of God, two weeks of the Holy Great Lent have already passed and have flown by unnoticed. And during this Lenten time of grace, we thank the Lord for the fact that the Lord, despite our weaknesses and various temptations, helps us and strengthens us. We pray, we carry out the feat of daily service, we fight our weaknesses, we overcome difficulties, we fast, and we hope that the Lord will accept our feat in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is with this spiritual grace-filled hope that we spend the Lenten season. And may God grant that we all continue to fast in the future.

In this week, the third, the Church will prepare us to meet the Cross of the Lord. Next Sunday is the Worship of the Cross. We will solemnly carry out the holy cypress Cross, worship it and sing: “We worship Your Cross, O Master, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection.” The Church will give us spiritual support from the Holy Cross, so that we can meet the mid-half of Lent under the shadow of the Cross, peacefully end the Holy Lent and wait for Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ!

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosimas on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee.

The preparatory weeks from today began for the holy Great Lent. By the grace of God, from yesterday evening we began to sing a particularly sophisticated book, in which many hymns were compiled by the Monk Andrew of Crete - the Lenten Triodion, which contains all the services of God of the Holy Pentecost, Great Lent and the preparatory weeks for Holy Lent, and the services of Holy Holy Week, Divine Passion of Christ. And, Lord grant, that we, having started this book today, having turned the first page of it, would be able, with God’s help, to calmly serve it all, read it, receive spiritual tenderness, perform all God’s services, and joyfully meet the holy coming Great Lent, with joyfully go through the field of Holy Lent, overcome your weaknesses, overcome your passions and all your shortcomings, wait for the Divine Passion of Christ, and worship the Bright Resurrection of Christ!

Memorial service for those killed in the plane crash in Adler

Donetsk Diocese12/26/2016

December 26 in the churches of the city of Donetsk with blessing His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Donetsk and Mariupol, a memorial service was held for those who tragically died on December 25 in a plane crash in the Adler area. Funeral services were performed at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, St. Nicholas Bishops' Cathedral, Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Church of the Holy Great Martyr George. The cathedral prayer was led by the dean fathers of four districts of the city of Donetsk.

The clergy and laity of the Donetsk diocese express condolences to the relatives and friends of those who died untimely.

Assumption 2002

My beloved flock, greetings on the holy holiday! A highly solemn holiday - the day of the Assumption, the day of the end of the earthly journey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day of Her transmigration from earth to heaven, as we sing in sacred chants.

The Lord has vouchsafed this year, too, by the grace of God to end this holy year, for the feast of the Dormition ends the church year, and from the first of September a new church year of God’s mercy begins, a new circle of church holidays, the first of which is the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and then all the holidays go on. The Lord's and Theotokos even before the Feast of the Assumption. It is not death, but the Assumption - the sleeping Virgin Mary. Before us lies the wonderful Shroud of the Mother of God, where on her deathbed the Blessed Virgin Mary is symbolically depicted, surrounded by the holy apostles, and Her Son, the Savior, Jesus Christ, who descended from heaven, took the soul of His Mother in His hands, as we are told in the Akathist to the Dormition of God Mothers. Almost 2000 years ago this happened in Jerusalem, a lot of time has passed since then, but the memory of this event is sacred. Holy Gethsemane in Jerusalem preserves the place, the cave where the Queen of Heaven was buried. The Holy City of Jerusalem sacredly preserves all those places that were associated with the life of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And on the tomb of the Mother of God stands our Russian icon of the Assumption, all in gold, the miraculous icon of the holy Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Sermon by Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on All Saints Sunday

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on this Sunday holiday!

By the grace of God, we spent Great Lent, we celebrated Easter, we celebrated the bright holiday of Pentecost - the feast of the Holy Trinity, yesterday we celebrated the farewell of this holiday. And today, as if the result of the entire history of the Orthodox Church, overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, is the Council of all saints who have pleased God from the ages, a worldwide holiday of triumph. The whole world today celebrates the throne day of all the holy saints of God - starting from the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Dominions, Thrones, Principalities, Powers - from the Heavenly army, starting and ending with the earthly angels in the flesh, who pleased God and became equal to the Angels. Here are our great forefathers Adam and Eve, our forefathers, the great righteous Noah, Enoch and others. The great prophets, the Old Testament patriarchs, who lived by faith in the coming Savior, were saved, and at the Coming of Christ became heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, became equal to the Angels. Righteous Job the Long-Suffering, Righteous Joseph the Beautiful and other Old Testament righteous people, Simeon the God-Receiver, John the Baptist, who have already stood on the border of the Old and New Testaments.

December 29 / January 11 - memory of the holy martyrs of 14,000 infants killed by Herod in Bethlehem

“The Angelic Army of the Lord.” Icon from the Cave of the Bethlehem Infants. Church of the Nativity. Bethlehem

Kontakion, tone 6

In Bethlehem, the King was born, wolves from Persia came with gifts, / guided by a star from above, / but Herod was embarrassed and reaped babies like wheat, / and wept to himself, / because his power would soon be ruined.

Kontakion, tone 4

The Magi Star sent an envoy to the One Who was Born,/ and Herod sent an unrighteous army fiercely,// to kill me in the manger, like a lying Child.

Troparion, tone 1

Through the illnesses of the saints, who suffered for You, / pray, O Lord, / and heal all our illnesses, // Lover of humanity, we pray.

Holy Martyrs 14,000 infants killed by King Herod in Bethlehem. When the time came for the greatest event to take place - the Incarnation of the Son of God and His Birth from the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Eastern Magi saw a new star in the sky, foreshadowing the birth of the King of the Jews. They immediately headed to Jerusalem to worship the Born One, and the star showed them the way. Having bowed to the Infant God, they did not return to Jerusalem to Herod, as he ordered them, but, having received a revelation from above, they left for their country by a different route. Then Herod realized that his plan to find the Child had not come true, and ordered the killing of all male children aged two years and younger in Bethlehem and the surrounding area. He expected that among the killed children there would also be the Infant of God, in whom he saw a rival. The destroyed babies became the first martyrs for Christ. Herod's anger also fell on Simeon the God-Receiver, who publicly testified in the temple about the Born Messiah. When the holy elder died, Herod did not allow him to be buried with dignity. By order of the king, the holy prophet priest Zechariah was killed: he was killed in the Jerusalem temple between the altar and the altar because he did not indicate where his son, John, the future Baptist of the Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath of God soon punished Herod himself: a severe illness befell him, and he died, eaten alive by worms. Before his death, the wicked king completed the measure of his atrocities: he killed the high priests and scribes of the Jews, his brother, sister and her husband, his wife Mariamne and three sons, as well as 70 of the wisest men, members of the Sanhedrin.

Synod of the Murdered Children of Donbass

Died as a martyr as a result of hostilities between April 2014 and the present

2. Alexandra MAMEDKHANOVA 12 years old July 7, 2014, the car came under fire between Dobropolye and Svetlogorovka

Sermon on the week of the Nativity of Christ

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on the holy day of Sunday and the feast of the Nativity of Christ! By the grace of God, today is the Week of Christmas. A special day on which we remember relatives according to the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elder Joseph, to whom the Virgin Mary was betrothed, was entrusted with guarding Her virginity, and who witnessed the Nativity of Christ the Savior. He cared, as we read in the akathist today, about the carnal needs of Christ the Savior, supporting Him in childhood and adolescence. Holy Righteous Joseph was a witness to great mysteries - Divine revelations about Christ the Savior, and he put everything in his heart, marveling at what had happened.

King David, for “out of the line of David shall salvation shine forth,” it was said in Scripture. “From the root of David” came Christ the Savior. Last Sunday we read in the Gospel the genealogy of the Savior from David to the righteous Joseph the Betrothed.

And we honor the holy Apostle James, brother of the Lord, the first bishop of the Church of Jerusalem. He was the son of Joseph from his first marriage, and was brought up and communicated with the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Sermon by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Nativity Fast, which is now coming to an end, draws our attention to the spiritual feat of people who lived before Christ the Savior. Most holidays dedicated to the Old Testament prophets fall during the Nativity Fast. And services in honor of the Old Testament prophets help us understand the meaning and significance of the service that they performed.

The last two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ, called in the language of the Church Charter, Forefather Week and Father Week, are dedicated to all the Old Testament saints of God who kept the promise of the Savior’s coming into the world. They were faithful to this promise, despite the most difficult circumstances of their life at that time from a spiritual point of view.

Sermon by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh December 31, 1967

The Lord gave us another year of our lives to live to the end, and we entered this New Year, declaring our faith not only in God in general, but also that we believe in the Kingdom of God, which must come - first in an inconspicuous way in our souls, and then, through us, and in a noticeable, glorious, victorious way - for the whole world.

The first words of the prayer service we just sang are “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” We enter this year with faith that it can belong to the Kingdom of the Lord. What does it mean? When we look back at the past, the prayers we just read, sang, listened to tell us about repentance and thanksgiving. About repentance, because over the past years and the past year, we all, each of us, turned out to be unworthy of the name of man, the name of Christian, God's love and the love of people. We have something to repent of, because our life during this year hardly always, hardly often contributed to the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of jubilant, undivided, purest love. We need to repent, because of all people, we, Christians, are called to be co-workers with God so that His ways become the ways of men.

CHRISTMAS MIRACLE ADVANCE, OR ORTHODOX NEW YEAR (Natalia Klimova)

Varya dreamed. She had this little weakness. But, we must give her credit, everything that she mentally imagined was quite feasible. She did not at all want a luxurious life, expensive clothes, or travel to exotic countries. No no! She would like simple female happiness: for her husband to share her faith... The Potapov family lived well. By worldly standards, one might even say she lived well. The husband, Andrey, earns good money, has no bad habits, and loves his wife. Six-year-old daughter Dasha is growing up healthy, smart and obedient. So what else is Varvara missing for complete happiness?!

It just so happened that just a year ago Varya agreed to go with her friend on an excursion to a monastery located not far from the city. And there something happened to her. Extraordinary silence and peace entered the woman’s heart and did not want to leave it. Now Varvara could not live without the temple. At first, she simply came once a week, when there were no services, and sat quietly in a corner - recovering from the now hated bustle of the city. Then I bought several brochures and slowly began to join the church...

Sermon on the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on the great annual holiday of joy and triumph - the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary! The holiday when elderly parents, righteous Godfathers Joachim and Anna fulfilled their promise. For they, being barren and elderly, no longer expected to give birth to a child, but promised that if God gave them conception and birth, they would dedicate this child to God. And they holyly fulfilled their vow when they brought the three-year-old girl, Mary, to the Temple of Jerusalem. Dedication celebration! All the girlfriends of the Virgin Mary gathered, the surrounding girls gathered, all with lit candles. With the singing of psalms, the solemn procession came to the Temple of Jerusalem. And at this time, an elderly elder, the high priest Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, served and performed sacred rites in the temple. And he, moved by the Spirit of God, led the girl Mary into the very Holy of Holies, where the priest entered only once a year according to church custom. And everyone was amazed and surprised at this extraordinary event.

The Virgin Mary remained to be raised at the Jerusalem Temple. For at the temple there were separate rooms where boys dedicated to God were raised, and future servants of the temple were trained. And the girls in the other half were raised, also future servants of the house of God, the temple of God. They were taught to read and write, the fear of God was brought up, they studied the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, the books of the prophets. The girls learned needlework, singing and everything that was necessary for spiritual life.

Sermon on the day of remembrance of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew The beginning of the Nativity Fast

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on today’s holy holiday Sunday and the beginning of the holy Nativity fast!

How long until Christmas? Thirty-eight days, the smart women say. So there is very little left until the holy Christmas night.

By the grace of God, on this Sunday, the Lord gathered us under the arches of this sacred temple for common prayer, for our spiritual communication and spiritual renewal. And the Lord vouchsafed the priests at the throne of God to congregately celebrate the Divine Holy Liturgy, and us to quietly, peacefully pray in church on this holy Sunday day.

Father Deacon read the Gospel of the Merciful Samaritan to us during the Divine Liturgy: “Go and do the same.” The Lord calls us all to mercy, not to empty words, but to action. The Samaritan did not hesitate whether to help the Jew or not. He provided it without hesitation, despite the fact that there was hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews. He bandaged all his wounds, put him on his cattle, walked next to the donkey on foot, brought him to the hotel, served him all night, fed him, bandaged his wounds. In the morning, leaving further, he gives his last money to the innkeeper: “Take it, feed him, treat him until he gets up. If you spend too much, when I return, I will repay you my debt.” This is today’s gospel admonition: do not do good for the sake of profit, not for the sake of human glory, but for the sake of the glory of God.

It is now very fashionable for us to do good deeds, but alas, not for the sake of God, not for the sake of God’s meekness and mercy, but for the sake of human glory: I am a benefactor, I help! That’s why this help is nothing but emptiness.

SERMON OF THE SCHIARCHIM. ZOSIMA ON THE FEAST OF THE OZERYANSK ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on today’s holy and festive Sunday! By the grace of God, once again the Lord vouchsafed us to gather together under the arches of this sacred temple to celebrate the holy Divine Liturgy. The Lord has vouchsafed today to pray at the foot of the icon of the Mother of God of Ozeryansk, the patroness of the Kharkov region, the patroness of our southern region, Donbass, the land of our Russian patroness. Pray, ask Her for help for all of us, intercession, support, prayer and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord strengthened us to celebrate the Divine Liturgy today at the Throne of God, and strengthened you all to pray on today’s holy, blessed day of the Resurrection, Little Easter. Every Sunday is always the day of the Lord, the day of Little Easter, we sing the Resurrection of Christ, we glorify the Savior risen from the dead.

And on today’s holy day, the Lord has vouchsafed all of you in this church, during the Divine Liturgy, to pray for the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of God’s holy churches, for the salvation of us all, for our families. We prayed for all the lost in the world - “the faithful let us pray for the catechumens,” that is, for those who have not yet been baptized, but through our prayers they will come to God over time. They prayed for them, that the Lord would have mercy on them, announce them with the word of truth, and reveal to them the Gospel of righteousness. This is how we prayed for an unenlightened world. What a deep, wonderful litany this is on the eve of the Cherubic Song, and how we must pray with concentration at this moment, especially for the unenlightened. Whoever has unbaptized relatives, who has not yet come to God, it is at this moment that you need to pray for the conversion of them, lost, to the Holy Orthodox Church.

September 14-27 World Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross of the Lord

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 27, 1999

My beloved flock, I greet you all on the highly solemn holiday of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord!

Thank God that the Lord gathered us all at the foot of His Cross. The Lord gave us all a weapon against the devil - the holy cross. The holy cross accompanies us all from the day of our holy baptism, when the priest, having baptized us as infants, put it on us with his hand, saying the words: “speak the Lord: if anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and It is coming for me” (Matt. 16:24; 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27).

And this holy cross accompanies us all throughout our entire lives: night and day, on land and on waters, on journeys, in sorrow and in joy - our weapon, the holy cross, is always with us. The cross depicts the Savior who died for us all; On the reverse side of the cross are engraved the holy sacramental words: save and save - from all troubles, from all misfortunes, from all misfortunes, from all envious people and haters, from all enemies, visible and invisible, save and save us, Lord. And, having the cross on us, may we not be afraid of any evil spirits, may we not be afraid of anything evil - the Lord conquers everything. And I often tell you the words: with God nothing is scary. And give us, Lord, such deep, pure faith, so that we will not be afraid of anything. The holy cross is on me - well, what kind of evil spirits can cling to me: even sprinkle me from head to toe with salt or earth, or pour me over, and even “even if a man drinks something mortal, it will not harm him” (Mark 16:18; Luke 10 :19). This is what pure, deep faith should be. And grant, Lord, that we all have this pure, deep faith, and may the holy cross accompany us throughout our lives. And when our ashes are buried, may the holy cross overshadow us, may it sanctify us, awaiting the general resurrection from the dead. When the whole world sees the cross for the last time - the sign of the Son of Man - a fiery cross will appear in the sky, announcing the end of the world, announcing the coming Savior-Judge, announcing the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, but there will never be an end to it, as we sing in the Holy Creed in the glory of God...

Unfortunately, the further text of this sermon by Father Zosima has not survived. Trying to at least partially fill this gap, we offer the reader excerpts from other sermons containing the elder’s thoughts about the holy cross.

September 8/21 - NATIVITY OF THE HOLY LORD OF OUR VIRGIN AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY

Troparion, tone 4

Thy Nativity, O Virgin Mother of God,/ is a joy to proclaim to the whole universe:/ from Thee has risen the Sun of Truth, Christ our God,/ and having destroyed the oath, given a blessing,/ and, having abolished death, given us eternal life.

Kontakion, tone 4

Joachim and Anna were reproached by childlessness/ and Adam and Eve were freed from mortal aphids, O Most Pure One,/ in Thy holy Nativity./ Then Thy people also celebrate,/ having been freed from the guilt of sins,/ always calling Thy:/ the Mother of God and the Nourisher of our Life bears barren fruits.

We solemnly celebrate, dear brothers and sisters, the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary from barren parents, pious Joachim and Anna. From the first centuries of the Christian faith, the Holy Church established this holiday. The celebrated event - the birth of God's chosen Virgin - brought joy to the whole world, for the God-man Christ Jesus, who rose from Her, destroyed the curse of God that weighed on the criminal and accursed human race and brought down God's blessing on it, and, trampling death across all nations, gave people eternal life. This is how the Holy Church explains the reason for real joy.

The righteous parents of the Ever-Virgin mourned for a long time over their infertility, and long and fervently prayed to the Lord for the resolution of infertility, which was considered a punishment from God for sins; They did a lot of alms in order to bend to the mercy of the All-Merciful, and suffered insults from their fellow tribesmen. And in this sorrow and incessant prayer and charity, they were gradually purified in spirit and inflamed more and more with love and devotion to God, and thus were prepared by the Providence of God for the blessed birth of the Most Blessed Daughter, chosen from all generations to become the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

September 1 (14) is the first day of the Indict. Church New Year

To the Creator of all creation,/ having established times and seasons in His power,/ bless the crown of the summer of Thy goodness, O Lord,/ preserving Thy people and city in peace,// through the prayers of the Mother of God and save us. (troparion of indictment)

Friday, September 14, is marked in all Orthodox church calendars as the beginning of the indictment - the Church New Year.

Again and again the Holy Church calls us to enter the annual circle of sacred memories, where the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition are preserved in all their depth and completeness.

The new liturgical circle of the main, twelve church holidays begins with the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is celebrated on the seventh day after the Church New Year, September 21. The church liturgical year begins. It was the Most Holy Theotokos who appeared as the Door through which God entered into our lives. The feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on August 28, ended the yearly cycle of services.

The New Year is the most inconspicuous Orthodox holiday, which in the church calendar is called the beginning of the indictment. Unfortunately, we don’t know very well when our Orthodox church year begins and why it is called that?

August 28 (15) - THE DORMSION OF OUR HOLY LORD AND EVER-VIRGIN MARY. THRONTAL DAY OF THE monastery

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima's last sermon.

My beloved flock, greetings on the holy holiday! A highly solemn holiday - the day of the Assumption, the day of the end of the earthly journey of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the day of Her migration from earth to Heaven, as we sing in sacred chants.

The Lord deigned with His mercy to end this holy year, for with the Feast of the Dormition the church year ends, and from the first of September a new church year of God’s mercy begins, a new circle of church holidays, the first of which is the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and then all the feasts of the Lord and the Mother of God go on even to Feast of the Assumption. It is not death, but the Assumption - the sleeping Virgin Mary. Before us lies the wonderful Shroud of the Mother of God, where on her deathbed the Blessed Virgin Mary is symbolically depicted, surrounded by the holy Apostles, and Her Son the Savior Jesus Christ, who descended from heaven, took the soul of His Mother in His hand, as stated in the Akathist to the Dormition. Almost two thousand years ago this happened in Jerusalem, a lot of time has passed since then, but the memory of this event is sacred. Holy Gethsemane in Jerusalem preserves the place, the cave where the Queen of Heaven was buried. The Holy City of Jerusalem sacredly preserves all those places that were associated with the life of the Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary. And on the tomb of the Mother of God stands our Russian icon of the Assumption, all in gold, the miraculous icon of the holy Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

August 23 (10) is the day of remembrance of St. Lavrenty Chernigovsky

From the sermon of the schiarchim. Zosima on Sunday 08/23/98

...Life is interesting. I already want to go out to the sermon, I’m still standing in the Altar, listening. These are the wonderful elders of our twentieth century, pure, bright, kind. And now the brethren in the altar spoke, the people understood, not to these fat-bellied ones, but in silk robes and diamonds, they went, but to this lame old man, who could not really serve due to his weakness, only sang wonderfully and praised the Lord. And this lame, poor old man instructed thousands of people with his simplicity, his selfless love. But the people always feel, you can never deceive the people, where is love and where is falsehood, hypocrisy, double-mindedness. And Holy Rus' loved St. Lawrence. Not only during his life did hundreds of people strive to get to him, but especially after his death he became dear to everyone, for his relics were healing, and people simply came to the grave to cry, people came to receive grace-filled consolation, and they received it. And in our time, the Lord showed a miracle - he glorified the venerable elder Lawrence among the holy saints of God. His incorruptible holy relics, fragrant, were found in Chernigov, in the basement of the Cathedral. How much blessed joy, how many miracles there were from his holy relics. The relics were solemnly washed, dressed in the new holy schema and placed in the Cathedral. And not only the land of Chernigov, and the city of Chernigov, but the entire Russian land glorifies the wondrous old man.

In our troubled times, his consolation with which he consoles us is especially significant. Instead of how now schismatics sow confusion in our hearts: “the end for you, Muscovites, will come, we will win, and everything else.” And Elder Lawrence consoles us: “It’s not true! God will always win, in any place, and not some retreating evil spirits.” And about the current state, about this false patriarch of all Ukraine - the former Philaret, the elder spoke clearly: “So he will rise up against the Church, retreat from God, that the whole world will be amazed at his audacity.” Indeed, the whole world is amazed at Filaret’s audacity. All the Eastern Patriarchs are surprised, but where did such an arrogant stinking dog come from that barks at the whole Church? And you have to endure. And the elder said, consoling: “Do not be afraid! We will stand for unity and faith, and evil will recede - the one Russian Orthodox Church will remain.” This is the consolation Elder Lawrence gives us in our sorrowful days of schism and division. We are grateful to him for this kind consolation of his old age. And when our souls feel so sad, let us remember that Elder Lawrence consoled us, saying that we will remain in unity, we will stand, despite this evil and artificial division, the Church will survive - the one holy Orthodox Church. For this mercy and for this love of Elder St. Lawrence, we thank the Lord!

And on today the Liturgy was celebrated, on the throne lay the holy relics of the Venerable Elder Lawrence. And on his incorruptible relics, a part of his incorruptible body, we celebrated the holy Divine Liturgy in our church. He is dear not only to the city of Chernigov, but also to our entire holy Russian land. They composed a wonderful service for him, they composed an akathist, and we pray and magnify him. Not long ago we sang eternal memory to him: “Rest in peace with the Saints...”, and today we sing solemnly: “We bless you, Reverend Father Lawrence, and honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of angels.”

Today there are great celebrations in Chernigov, the elderly elder, Metropolitan Anthony, is performing the service of God, although he has already become weak, his spirit is strong. The Lord also sent him a vicar bishop, Ambrose - from the Kharkov priests they appointed him an assistant in his senile archpastoral labors. The land of Chernigov is famous. The Chernigov school is famous, where young men and women receive spiritual education, learn to serve in the church, to preside over a choir, and under the leadership of Elder Lawrence, the great regent, a wonderful connoisseur of spiritual singing, the science of music is easy for those who study it, and excellent regents emerge. And our regent also studied under the protection of the Venerable Elder Lawrence in Chernigov, and now the monastery church resounds with wonderful singing. So, thank God, that in our difficult times the Lord shows mercies, reveals wonderful elders, reveals new saints of God, illuminated by the light of Tabor glory. They shine even after death and give us all comfort. And we all, as soon as we hear the name of St. Lawrence, cross our foreheads immediately. Lord, this is a great old man! Comfort us poor souls in our earthly life! And we pray before his holy image that he will give us consolation and support for our weak human nature. And so that we bear our life’s cross with meekness and love, thanking God for everything, as the venerable elder Lawrence thanked God.

On today's holy Sunday, we have gathered in our holy temple of God for our common Christian prayer. Resurrection is Little Easter, a luminous day when we remember the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. And we sing a solemn song: “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus!” This joy of the Resurrection accompanies us every week, and every week, every Sunday, we strive to go to the temple of God to sing the bright Resurrection of Christ, to celebrate Little Easter, to celebrate the Lord’s Day, to pray with all our souls in the temple of God. And it becomes easy, and problems go away, are resolved peacefully, and families are pacified, and we easily endure the temptations that befall us, for with God everything is easy in life. And without God there is darkness, heaviness, despair, despondency, and so on. So, Lord, enlighten us to live with God, to always honor the Lord’s Resurrection Day. Put all the fuss aside! All the same, the demon endlessly tells us: markets, shops, vanity, laundry. Let's fuss, fuss! What about us? Six days should be bustling: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Who should give the seventh holy day to? (voices in the temple - to God) Lord God! And we will have time to do everything if we give it to God, and a peaceful week will pass with God’s blessing, and all our bustle will be resolved, and the shops and markets will not escape us. We will be with God. How our grandfathers and great-grandfathers honored the Lord's Resurrection Day. In the evening the bell in the church rang for the All-Night Vigil, he unharnessed his oxen, washed his face and quickly touched where? - Go to church to pray to God. And they reaped by hand, and plowed, and sowed, and tidied up, and managed, and gave birth to children in groups of tens and threes. And everything was fine and all right, and there were pious families, and there were normal wives, and there were normal husbands, because they lived with God. The Lord's Day has always been held sacred. And give us understanding, Lord, so that this mammon does not endlessly consume us, this endless vanity, this swamp that sucks us in. The Day of the Lord has come - on Monday we will do everything. All! I honored, prayed, took care of myself, everything will be fine. Will vanity run away from us? If you wait until Monday, you will work with new spiritual and physical strength on Monday. And what you are going to do on Sunday will not work out, there will be no success. And God willing, the week will begin, and everything will be fine, it will be peaceful. Like this. We always honor the Lord's Day!

August 6 (19) TRANSFORMATION OF THE LORD GOD AND OUR SAVIOR JESUS ​​CHRIST

40 days before He was given up to a shameful death for our sins, the Lord revealed to three of His disciples the glory of His Divinity. “And at the end of six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain alone, and was transfigured before them: and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17, 1-2). This is the event that the Lord had in mind when He said: “there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). Thus, the faith of the disciples was strengthened and prepared for the experience of the upcoming suffering and death of the Savior; and they could see in them not only human suffering, but the completely free passion of the Son of God. The disciples also saw Moses and Elijah talking with the Lord, and then they realized that He Himself was not Elijah or one of the prophets, but someone much higher: Who could call the law and the prophets to be His witnesses, because He was the fulfillment of both.

Sermon by the schiarchim. Zosima on the Transfiguration of the Lord (08/23/98)

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on the great annual feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the glory of the Lord, the Light of Tabor, which shone upon the Lord in night prayer on Mount Tabor! And the Lord calls us: strive for the Light. So that we all move away from the darkness of sin, from our passions, from vices, and strive for the non-evening Light, the uncreated Light, the Light of Tabor! In the middle of the night, the Light shone on the Savior, thereby He showed that this Light should shine on us too - the Light of Christ enlightens everyone! Mount Tabor is the great mountain of Palestine, on which the Lord prayed in night prayer and on which He was transfigured in Glory. Last night I told you that on the eve of His suffering, the Lord revealed His glory to strengthen the faith of the apostles. Two great prophets appeared to him during prayer - Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the zealot of the true faith, and the glorious Forerunner of the second coming of Christ. They appeared together, talking with the Savior about His last days, about what was about to happen in Jerusalem, about suffering, about death and about His glorious Resurrection. Triumph, joy - Christ shining in the darkness of the night, prophets talking with Him, cloud , enveloping them - the apostles look in delight and horror at this wonderful, inexplicable vision, only one delight: “It’s good for us to be here! Let us create three tabernacles (tents) to live in them always, in this Glory of God.” And suddenly a thunderous voice from Heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” And last night I spoke to you briefly about this holy obedience to God and the Church. That we are not some kind of workers in life, but holy novices. Especially in the Church of God we bear holy obedience, beginning with the Apostles. The Patriarch, Bishops, priests, deacons, laity, cleaners, prosphora makers, janitors - we all bear holy obedience to God and the Mother of the Church. We work for the Lord, for the salvation of our souls. “Listen to him” - we listen to God, we listen to the hierarchy, and we fulfill their will as the Will of God. Mount Tabor is a particularly fertile place. She is always covered with some special grace of the inexplicable Light. And today, the Greek clergy, our Russian pilgrims, and other religions ascend to Mount Tabor - everyone goes to sing the glory of the Transfiguration, the glory of the Tabor Light - “Thou art transfigured on the mountain, Christ our God”! As I already told you, what a moving troparion, it is familiar to all of us from childhood, when everyone walks in the procession of the Cross, and the singers solemnly sing: “Thou art transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God.” The priest in white vestments blesses apples, grapes, and water. Joy, celebration! The Savior, by the grace of God, has come. And this joy of triumph both in the city of Jerusalem and on Mount Athos, there is a special great celebration there today. The top of Mount Athos is crowned by the stone temple of the Transfiguration of the Lord. How the monks transported bricks and stones there remains a mystery, incomprehensible to the mind. The steep cliffs of Mount Athos are crowned by a stone temple. Once a year, only there is a service of God performed on the Feast of the Transfiguration. From all corners, from all monasteries and monasteries, monks rush with the blessing of the elders, so that there, in the clouds, they can sing the Glory of God. The top of Mount Athos is always covered by a cloud, there has never been a moment when it was visible, it is always hidden, as in a corolla. Young novices and gray-haired elders climb there along ladder ropes and along steep rocks to pray there on this day. And what a spiritual delight when, among the clouds on the top of Mount Athos, they sing in a courageous tune, “Thou art transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God.” One eyewitness described to me his inexplicable delight, indeed some kind of glory, all the faces of the singing and praying monks brighten, a transformation takes place. Such love, such kindness appears in everyone, during their earthly life, from the illumination of the glory of the Heavenly Holy Mount Athos. This great celebration is still taking place today. And today, monks from all corners of Mount Athos gathered there to sing among the clouds, in the likeness of Mount Tabor, the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And they pray that the glory of the Tabor Light will shine upon them and the whole earth. In Rus' they also loved the holiday of the Transfiguration, and in honor of this event they built churches of God. The famous Valaam monastery, the marvelous island of Valaam, and the main monastery cathedral were consecrated on the mountain in honor of the glory of the Lord, in honor of the Feast of the Transfiguration. The famous Solovetsky Monastery of Zosima and Savvaty - the main cathedral is also consecrated in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And among the wild nature, among these bad weathers, among the constant cold, the monks warm themselves, chanting the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. And today, Valaam, Solovki, and our other monasteries, cities and villages celebrate their throne day, singing the glory of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In Donbass, the Holy Mountains are also crowned with the Temple of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Tabor Glory. And when the Bolshevik Satanists closed the monastery, their first duty was to destroy this temple. The head was cut off from the Holy Mountains. So the Holy Mountains stand to this day, beheaded for now, but the brothers pray and sing the glory of the Light of Tabor, and the Transfiguration of the Lord is celebrated as the Throne Day.

From the sermon of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima on Sunday, August 16, 1998

I greet all of you, my beloved flock, on today’s holy and festive Sunday! Did you pray well? ( voices in the temple - Yes!) What did you read the Gospel about today? Come on, tell me. (voices inaudible) Wait, ladies. First, the righteous men. The priests all fell silent in the altar, slept, forgot. So what was the Gospel read today? This is how we listen. So what did you read the Gospel about today? (- about demoniac... healing) Yes, yes, yes, yes, about healing whom? Bes-no-va-to-go. We found this out. This is how we pray, we stand in church - we went to the market, baked pies and cooked borscht, and they say, in church we prayed to God. Yes?! This is our prayer that we read, who knows, but we don’t hear and we don’t understand. So who, doctor, did you read the Gospel about today? ( Doctor - On the healing of a demoniac). Right! Tell me what was there, otherwise Seryoga the blacksmith forgot. ( Doctor - He was possessed). Well! What was he doing there? ( doctor - The Lord healed him, father).

By the grace of God, on today’s holy Sunday, the Lord has vouchsafed us to pray together, as one spiritual family! The Lord strengthened us, priests, as a united family, to stand at the throne of God and pray for all of you. And the Lord strengthened you to put aside all worldly cares (as we sing in the Cherubic Song), and also vouchsafed you to pray on today’s Sunday in our rural church of God. For this mercy of God, our common prayer in our holy temple, we thank the Lord. And grant, Lord, that we who come to the temple feel here as neither guests nor strangers, but as one spiritual family, striving for God, striving for salvation, striving for the inheritance of eternal life. This is exactly what we lack now – unity. We are all separated both in life and in church, some kind of strangers, incomprehensible to each other. And it’s very difficult for us in life. And the houses are separated, even the neighbors, and they don’t know about each other, who is how, what’s how. If a person gets sick, we have no idea what is happening to the person. The deceased has been lying there for a week, decomposed, and none of the neighbors even know about the person. This terrible, terrible alienation, disunity has been depressing us all very much lately. That’s why we strive for something common, for the Temple of God, monasteries, monasteries, so that together we feel like one family. Not this terrible loneliness, a self that is unnecessary to anyone, but rather spiritual unity, so that by the union of love, as we sing on Holy Wednesday, we are connected, as the Apostles of the Saints were once connected. And God grant that we all feel like a single spiritual family, a monolith, supporting each other! How we need this, especially in our time, during our loneliness, such despondency, our oppression. Enlighten us, Lord, to be one flock, so that the Lord will be the One Shepherd for us all, to the Glory of God!

Patriarch Kirill: I ask everyone to maintain spiritual unity

“I appeal from here to all of Rus' - to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, to all other countries where Holy Rus' lives with its spiritual and cultural tradition,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed in his words in the Assumption Cathedral Moscow Kremlin on the day of remembrance of St. Peter of Moscow, wonderworker of all Russia.

“I ask everyone to preserve that spiritual unity, the founder of which was the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, that unity that was protected by the hierarchs of the Russian Church, including St. Peter. It is no coincidence that the saint gave his entire life in order to preserve this unity. He traveled through the dioceses of devastated Rus', he reconciled the distraught feudal princes, he awakened a feeling of love for the united Fatherland, he tried to reconcile everyone so that Rus' would accumulate strength and overthrow the foreign yoke.”

“His great feat is an answer to all those who say that there is nothing in common between Russia and Ukraine, that the history of Russia begins almost from the 17th century,” the Patriarch emphasized, “This is an answer to all those who believe that the Church is in Ukraine and in Russia these are two different Churches. This is one united Church of Holy Rus', cemented by the exploits of St. Peter, St. Alexis, the great saints of the Kiev Caves, and St. Sergius of Radonezh. And we believe that this spiritual unity will save all of historical Rus' from spiritual destruction, from temptations, from new idolatry, from the transgression of God’s commandments. It will not let us sell our spiritual birthright for lentil soup. We pray to Saint Peter that, standing before God, he will incline His mercy to historical Rus' - to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.”

St. Basil's Monastery is located in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region, on the site of the former rural St. Basil's parish, in which in 1912, at the expense of parishioners and benefactors, instead of the old wooden church, a stone church was built, consecrated in honor of St. Basil the Great. In 1954, the temple was restored in its current form with one dome and a bell tower and has not been closed since then.

Even after the October Revolution, a legend arose in the village of Nikolskoye: when a monk comes to serve at St. Basil’s Church, two monasteries will open here. Hieromonk Savvaty (future Schema-Archimandrite Zosima) arrived in 1986 to a dilapidated church without an iconostasis and to a burnt-out barn instead of a priest’s house. Through the efforts of Abbot Savvaty, the temple was restored, a baptismal chamber with abbot's chambers and a pilgrimage with a refectory were built. In 1990, the abbot was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, and in 1992, he was tonsured into the schema with the name Zosima. A fraternal building was built, an almshouse and a House of Mercy for the care of the infirm and elderly were established. And in 2001, the St. Nicholas sister community of the village of Nikolskoye was given the status of a monastery, and in 2002, the St. Vasilievsky Monastery was registered.

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was the abbot of the monastery until his death (in August 2002). Currently, the Holy Archimandrite and rector of the monastery is Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. On May 7, 2005, Metropolitan Hilarion elevated the abbot of the monastery, schema-abbot Alypius (Bondarenko), to the rank of schema-archimandrite.

Temples of the monastery: St. Basil's stone church with a hipped bell tower above the entrance; Refectory Church of All Saints who shone in the Russian Land, built for the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ; The cold stone church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a bell tower above the entrance, built in 1910, is located on the opposite side of the village and belongs to the monastery. For a long time it was closed and was used as a warehouse, workshops, and slaughterhouse. Now it has been restored, services are held there on Sundays and great holidays during the warm season. In the priest’s house there is a house church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” for worship in the winter season.

The monastery has a bakery, a library, a medical outpatient clinic for residents, and workshops (carpentry, wood carving, gold embroidery, sewing, icon painting, furniture making).

In 2004, a house church was opened in the almshouse of the monastery in honor of the Monk Sampson the Host. The construction of the bell tower with the gate church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God has been completed. The construction of the Holy Assumption Cathedral is being completed.

http://donetsk.eparchia.ru/monasteries/

Chapel of the Mother of God in honor of Her miraculous icon of the Sign of the Kursk Root. It is located three and a half kilometers from the monastery. Assigned to the Holy Dormition Monastery.

St. Nicholas Chapel is located at the western entrance to the village, near the road on the right. Built in 2003. Assigned to the Holy Dormition Monastery.

St. Basil's Chapel is located at the eastern entrance to the village, next to the road on the left. Built in 2003. Assigned to the Holy Dormition Monastery.

Chapel pillar-monument. Monument to the soldiers of the First World War of 1914-1917. The monument was opened in 1917 and restored in 1991.

Saint Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky is a holy treasure.

http://russian-church.ru/viewpage.php?cat=donetsk&page=18

Comments and discussion

A few more links on Father Zosima and Nikolsky:
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/put/060412174909
http://www.ortodox.donbass.com/news/200608/zosima.htm
http://www.forestpark.com.ua/ru/sights/
http://pravoslavye.org.ua/index.php?
action=fullinfo&r_type=news&id=13274

On August 29, 2002, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima died. The rector of St. Basil's Church in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, was known to the entire Orthodox world. He was known in Jerusalem, and on Holy Athos, and Moscow, and Kyiv. But in the Donbass itself, not everyone had heard about him, and only a small handful of Nikolskoye residents went to their native rural church, in which, through the prayers of the Elder, many human souls were cured. “He was only 58 years old. But wisdom, the power of faith and knowledge of the human soul made him an Elder in human understanding. People came to him from everywhere. For advice, help, blessing. Those who had the great happiness of communicating with him returned to peaceful life kinder, cleaner, brighter. He healed people's souls, thereby healing their bodies. His words were often prophetic. And the events that took place were like miracles. He loved people infinitely. Everyone. Those who tortured him, forcing him to stand for days barefoot on a concrete floor, and those who sent him to serve from parish to parish, away from highways and civilization - in order to break him faster. It didn't break. He carried his cross with dignity, without wavering in his faith one iota. He baptized the children of his executioners. He forgave sins and believed in the bright nature of every person. He lived experiencing inhuman suffering. He went through four clinical deaths and a fight against the disease. Doctors became believers as they interacted with him and were amazed at his courage. And he, dying, got up and served. His path is the path of the righteous. And righteous people are very rare now. Father Zosima was called the last saint of Rus', in the unity of which he sacredly believed. He planted good seeds. And they will bear fruit. The fruits of Good and Faith." This is what one of the Donbass newspapers wrote about the Elder on the anniversary of his death. Nadezhda is not a native of Petrozavodsk. A long time ago, back in the days when there was no trace of a border between Ukraine and Russia, she came to cold and distant Karelia. Her lot as a woman was not easy. She was left alone, with a sick child in her arms. She endured a lot of sorrows. And when it was especially unbearable, she went with her mental pain to her native Donetsk region - to Elder Zosima. For advice. She first came to the monastery eight years ago. “Through the prayers of the Elder,” says Nadezhda, “I received an apartment. This was the most difficult time for me. When I first saw Father Zosima, I was confused. I want to express everything that hurts in my soul, but I cannot utter a word, but only cry bitterly. “I bless you for the arrangement,” the Elder said then, and we immediately got an apartment. And when he found out that I was from Petrozavodsk, he said that I studied with Archbishop Manuil at the Leningrad Theological Academy at the same time, and bowed to Vladyka.” The elder always walked around in a simple old fur coat, saying: “How can I put on something good if I see poverty and human pain around me.” There were open wounds on his legs. But he endured the pain, forgetting about himself for the sake of helping people. “Oh, my poor soul,” he often said when I approached him for a blessing. The elder felt my pain and worried about my son and me. He was very happy when I told him that my son agreed to work in the church and affectionately said: “Make sure that my baby is not hurt.” “I remember,” says Nadezhda, “how the Elder, passing by a praying woman who had lived in the monastery for a long time, said: “Gather together and then pray. We prayed earnestly." He always spoke with compassion for his interlocutor. He leaves his cell and immediately approaches the people who immediately surrounded him on all sides. Through his prayers many were healed. But he also denounced some. If you want, listen, if you don’t want, as you know. He talked about sins, and people rejoiced, repented, cried and thanked him. With reproof and advice, he pulled people out of the spiritual swamp. For this, many were grateful to the Elder.

Olga ANDREEVA. Material from the website of the Petrozavodsk and Karelian diocese http://eparhia.onego.ru

The life and blessed death of Elder Zosima
“Please write... without distorting anything, so that the historical truth of my past life can be restored.”
From the will of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima

At the very end of last summer, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, famous not only in the Donbass, but also far beyond its borders, passed away to the Lord. He was the spiritual father of the priesthood of the entire Donetsk diocese, the brothers and sisters of the two monasteries he founded, as well as the beloved priest of many laity who followed him everywhere for a quarter of a century. His spiritual children included many famous businessmen and politicians, for example, Vice-Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Gennady Vasilyev and Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, whom the elder personally crowned.

Our information

Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (in the world Ivan Alekseevich Sokur) was born on September 3, 1944 in the village of Kosolmanka, Sverdlovsk region. Since 1951 he lived in Avdeevka, Donetsk region, where he graduated from high school in 1961. Then he studied at the Donetsk Agricultural Technical School and was engaged in civilian work.
From 1968 to 1975 studied at the theological seminary and academy in Leningrad. He graduated from the Academy with a candidate's degree in theological sciences. In the same 1975, he took monastic vows with the name Savvaty and was ordained first as a hierodeacon, then as a hieromonk. After studying, he served in Odessa for several months, after which on December 25, 1975 he was accepted into the clergy of the Voroshilovgrad-Donetsk diocese. He conducted all his further spiritual and pastoral activities in Donbass. In 1980 he was elevated to the rank of abbot, in 1990 - to the rank of archimandrite. On August 21, 1992, he was tonsured into the schema with the name Zosima.
Reposed on August 29, 2002.

Ten years later
I myself first saw the priest in February 1992, in the midst of church unrest, provoked by the then head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Philaret (Denisenko), who was subsequently anathematized for causing a schism and other sins. Filaret sought to break with the Russian Orthodox Church and impose autocephaly on the Ukrainian flock. At a time when most of the clergy “out of fear for the sake of the Jews” supported him or took a wait-and-see position, Father Savvaty (that was the name of Elder Zosima before he accepted the great schema) was one of the few who firmly and unshakably stood for the unity of the Church . Father openly stated that “Filaret wanted to become Patriarch” - this is why he is seeking autocephaly.
By the way, among the very few clergy who in those troubled days uncompromisingly defended the unity of the Church in both word and deed was the then dean of the Donetsk district, Archpriest Gennady (Timkov). During the most intense period of confrontation, when the ruling Bishop Alypius, who spoke out against autocephaly, was excommunicated from the Donetsk see, he turned out to be the most prominent figure among dissidents in the diocese and, with his passionate sermons, instilled hope in people and strengthened perseverance. Father Gennady outlived Elder Zosima by just a month and a half and, at less than 49 years old, died on the very eve of the Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. They say that the archpriest, who had recently been in a coma, suddenly came to his senses on the day when they celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the death of Father Zosima. He was informed that today they were commemorating the newly deceased Schema-Archimandrite. And he replied: “I know, we met THERE today.” Less than a week later, the archpriest also rested in Bose...
Having learned about the death of Elder Zosima, I remembered that about ten years ago he gave me various advice, which I did not listen to much at that time, because I had not even been baptized yet, but simply sympathized with Orthodoxy and wrote about it in the newspapers. Father dictated several such instructions for me to a certain Valentina Ivanova, who often went to see him in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, where he was already serving then. She wrote them down on pieces of paper and brought them to my office. In these small messages, the priest listed my sins, turned to the Lord with requests to enlighten me, and also gave instructions regarding further newspaper publications about Orthodoxy. However, at the time I didn’t attach much importance to all this.
Only after the death of the elder, having shoveled through my papers, I found these notes with difficulty. At the very end of the last of them, dated November 23, 1992, it was written: “The next article will be about the great ascetics of the last, present time...” And only now, ten years later, I fulfilled this order of the priest and wrote an article about one from the ascetics of the “last, present time.” About Schema-Archimandrite Zosima himself.

And the people followed him
He became known as an old man almost at the age of 40, if not earlier. In Orthodoxy, an elder is not an age-related concept. This is how the people call those who see the sins of people who come to them, wisely instruct their spiritual children, and are distinguished by insight and a special gift of prayer...
A graduate of the Leningrad Theological Academy, Hieromonk Savvaty (the future Zosima) arrived in Donbass in the mid-70s - then he was 32 years old. In those dark times of “stagnation”, when the Church was closely “protected” by the authorities, rarely did any of the clergy dare to take “liberties” - they were limited to performing divine services and fulfilling requirements. Father Savvaty set to work energetically, zealously and informally. And although they assigned him to serve on the outskirts of Donetsk - in the village of Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district, very soon rumors about the young rector of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky began to quickly spread among believers in the regional center and beyond.
“My mother and I then lived in the Kalininsky district of Donetsk,” says schema-nun Feofania from the St. Nicholas Monastery founded by the priest. “We heard a rumor that a priest has appeared in Aleksandrovka who confesses to everyone separately. This was very rare at that time - they mostly practiced general confessions. Mom asked me to take her there. And so we went to the Feast of the Exaltation. We were impressed by the service itself, the priest’s heartfelt sermon, and his cordiality. We began to go to Alexandrovka regularly.
Other believers, who were burdened by the formal churchism that reigned at that time and were looking for genuine spiritual life, also flocked to the Alexander Church. Gradually, a whole group of spiritual children formed around Father Savvaty, who obeyed him in everything and helped him, and also followed him wherever he was transferred.
Then almost all of them became the first inhabitants of the monasteries founded by the elder in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district. Thus, Father Zosima bequeathed to appoint Hieromonk Thaddeus, who had been brought up before his eyes since childhood, as the abbot of the Dormition St. Basil Monastery. The housekeeper of the monastery is novice Viktor Ivanovich Grigorenko, who has been with the priest since 1976, shared all the burdens with him and helped him in all economic matters. Many of the elder’s spiritual children also live in the almshouse created at the monasteries. “Once these old women fed me, they gave me their last pennies,” Father Zosima said during one of his sermons. “And now it’s my turn to take care of them.”
Naturally, the growing popularity of the priest could not please the competent authorities fighting the “religious dope.” The “chekists” also aroused righteous anger because he did not agree to cooperate with them. They began to complicate the hieromonk's life in every possible way, insisting on his transfer to another church, then to a third, fourth... They were exiled to distant remote villages, in the hope that Father Savvaty's admirers would leave him behind. But the exact opposite effect was achieved - not only did his former spiritual children follow the persecuted priest, but many new believers also joined them. Martyrs and sufferers have always been loved in Rus'.
“To break the priest, he was transferred mainly in winter, and to unheated, semi-abandoned churches,” recalls Viktor Ivanovich Grigorenko. - For example, in December 1985 they were sent to the village of Andreevka, Velikonovoselkovsky district. Then it was 30 degrees outside - and the same temperature was in the wooden temple there. Despite this, the priest served the liturgy. His feet in felt boots were freezing, his hands stuck to the cup with Communion - he warmed them up a little near the heaters that we placed on the floor, and continued to serve... Almost the same frosts were there when he was - again in December! - he was sent to Nikolskoye, but he immediately began serving there too. And in what terrible condition the ancient St. Basil’s Church was there! When the priest entered there and opened the Royal Doors in the altar, one door fell off and collapsed. The floors were rotten, the roof was full of holes - when it rained, it flowed so much that they had to place basins all over the temple.

Elder Builder
But the priest never became discouraged or gave up, but immediately began to bring each new place into divine form.
“I was always amazed by his temple construction,” says Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. “Wherever he came to serve, he immediately started major repairs and construction. I remember how in 1980, when I was still serving as a psalm-reader at the Holy Dormition Church in Donetsk, on the feast of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God we went to Father Savvaty in Aleksandrovka to consecrate the new altar. He managed to make this throne at the very period when churches in the USSR were just being closed and destroyed. At that time it was almost a sensation.
In general, according to V. Grigorenko, this Alexandrovsky temple, thanks to the efforts of the priest, began to look “like a casket” from the inside. He built a lot of things there, even though the authorities forbade it. For example, the chapel that was built over the well was completely dismantled - they say, “it’s not supposed to.” Even in Velikonovoselkovskaya Andreevka, where Father Savvaty did not even serve for six months, he managed to cover the temple with bricks and improve the house for the priest. Afterwards he was engaged in beautification in another Andreevka (near Snezhnoye) - until he was transferred to Nikolskoye.
And there his talent for construction manifested itself in full force. In the very first year, the temple was repaired: they reroofed the roof, restored the iconostasis and the bell tower, which had been demolished by the Bolsheviks, installed electricity, expanded the house for the priest, built a baptismal church, then made a fence and a gate with arches, the drawing of which the priest himself drew. At first, there were almost no specialists at the construction site, but a hundred or more people came to work for the glory of God - both local residents and visiting spiritual children, many of whom lived here for weeks or months.
So gradually a monastery began to form in Nikolskoye, as if by itself. By the end of the 90s, two monasteries were founded here, essentially on the same territory: the male St. Vasilievsky and the female St. Nicholas. There are very few similar precedents in the Orthodox world.
The rapid pace of construction here in recent years and how much has already been built is difficult to describe, you just have to see it. Those who come here for the first time at first cannot believe their eyes - what they see does not coincide with established ideas about monasteries. The new refectory church in memory of all the saints who shone in the Russian land, and the rest of the monastery buildings are made of light facing brick, the roof is made of green metal tiles, the windows and doors are made of fashionable expensive metal-plastic. In all cells and other rooms, speakers are installed through which services performed in St. Basil's Church are broadcast - for those monks and inhabitants of the almshouse who, for some reason, cannot attend them. In their cells, the monks also have tape recorders with headphones so that they can listen to recordings of akathists, canons and other chants.
However, not all technical achievements and modern technologies are accepted here. Elder Zosima forbade having televisions and video recorders, and even in his will he emphasized that they “should never be in the monastery.”
According to his last will, as set out in this will, construction at the monastery continues today. The foundation of another temple has been laid, a hotel for pilgrims and a new almshouse are being built: the old one is already a bit crowded. They are building their own post office and even their own law enforcement station and various utility rooms. There is already a hospital, a library, a bakery, workshops, and an icon shop. All this is also made of expensive bricks, tiles and metal-plastic.
But they are building here in such a “rich” way, of course, not so that the monks will wallow in luxury and enjoy the delights of life. And in former times, churches and monasteries were always made from the most beautiful, high-quality and durable materials, striving to give God all the best. By the way, although the cells here are made in the “Eurostyle”, the decoration itself is quite ascetic. Yes, and people visit them mainly only in the evening and at night - when they pray and sleep. The rest of the time they perform various obediences or participate in divine services, which sometimes last six to seven hours at a time.
This begs the question: how, for what means and in just a few years did Elder Zosima manage to build this, as it is jokingly called, Euro-monastery almost from scratch? He did not knock on doors in search of money, did not bow to high offices, did not ask anyone for anything. Except for God, to whom I prayed tirelessly. The benefactors themselves were: inspired by the example of active love for God and people, they offered selfless help. These were not the kind of donors who give to charity most often for any marketing reasons, a desire to score political points, or simply out of vanity. Usually, such wealthy people came to Father Zosima who did not advertise their good deeds, but rather, on the contrary, according to the Gospel commandment, sought to hide them. So, to this day, even in Nikolskoye itself, very few people know that both local monasteries, as well as many churches in Donetsk and far beyond its borders, were built mainly by the Energo concern, which is headed by Viktor Leonidovich Nusenkis, the spiritual son of Father Zosima.
Gratefully accepting help and donations from patrons, the elder, however, was concerned not only about the splendor of his monastery, but ordered the benefactors to take care of other churches and monasteries. First, he blessed the restoration of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Donetsk Svyatogorsk, to help restore the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Holy Mount Athos in Greece and the Gornensky Monastery of the Russian Mission in Jerusalem, and only then widespread construction was launched in Nikolskoye. With the blessing of Zosima (and, of course, the ruling lord Hilarion), the temples of Agapit of Pechersk, John the Warrior and the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (in Donetsk), and a church in honor of the prudent robber (in the Selidovsky correctional colony in the village of Ostroye) were also built or continue to be built. In addition, the schema-archimandrite gave his blessing for the restoration of the Holy Don Monastery in the village of Starocherkasskaya, Rostov region and the creation of the Orthodox gymnasium “Pleskovo” in the Moscow region.

“Life is easy with blessing”
In general, something special needs to be said about the priest’s blessing. Some came to Nikolskoye primarily in order to get it. Local pilgrims and inhabitants willingly tell stories from their lives - with different content, but with a similar ending. They say that for a long time something was not going well for them at work or at home, and soon after meeting Elder Zosima and his blessing, they began to notice with surprise that problems that seemed insoluble seemed to dissipate by themselves, things were going smoothly, illnesses were receding, in general - life is getting better.
There was no special mysticism here, the elder simply knew how to understand each person at first sight, tell him exactly what he needed at the moment, console him, and imbue him with grace. And, of course, pray fervently for everyone. People left him joyful and inspired; they seemed to have a second wind, helping them overcome all difficulties with ease. They were convinced with their own eyes that, as the economist Viktor Ivanovich said, “it’s easy to live with a blessing!”
There were always a lot of people who wanted to get an appointment with Zosima. Mostly poor and sick ordinary people lined up to see him. But businessmen, generals, and politicians often came to the elder... As the governor of the Donetsk region, the new Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, quite often visited Nikolskoye on unofficial visits. Moreover, Father Zosima even married him to his wife Lyudmila Alexandrovna, who also loved visiting the monastery. Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Gennady Vasilyev also visited the elder.
For everyone, he had the right words and answers to the questions that tormented him. But, of course, they did not satisfy everyone. After all, some came to the elder in the hope that he would approve of their own, not entirely godly plans. He made fun of such people or even kicked them out. There were just anecdotal cases. For example, one old woman asked: “Father, I don’t have enough money to pay for the light - bless me to rewind the meter readings.”...

“I am not perspicacious, but gluttonous”
Sometimes the schema-archimandrite warned those who came to him that if they continued to act “according to their own desires” and not according to God’s command, then this could end badly for them. So, according to one of the monks close to the elder, in 1996, the then famous Donetsk businessman, People's Deputy of Ukraine Yevgeny Shcherban came to see him twice. After listening to him, the priest gave a number of pieces of advice, but the distinguished guest did not heed them... And six months later, Yevgeny Shcherban and his wife were shot at the Donetsk airport.
In general, there are legends about the foresight of Elder Zosima. During his lifetime, he himself really did not like such conversations. Once he spoke about this with his characteristic humor: “I’m not insightful, but gluttonous!” Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the monastery and lay people who knew the schema-archimandrite confirm that he undoubtedly had the gift of foresight. However, they advise treating stories about cases of the elder’s clairvoyance with prudent caution, especially the enthusiastic “women’s fables” in which he is portrayed almost as a prophet.
Of course, what is most impressive is that Father Zosima predicted his death - accurate to the day and hour. Long before his death, it was revealed to him that he would die on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Somewhere a year or two before his death, he ordered that an akathist to the Dormition of the Mother of God be chanted every Wednesday. In general, after Easter, this holiday was his favorite. A week before, the priest celebrated the day of his Angel. In 2002, Zosima unexpectedly invited those who came to congratulate him, including Bishop Hilarion, to come to the Burial of the Mother of God (it takes place the day after the Dormition) - they say, bury her and me at the same time. And on the very eve of this date, when the elder was taken to the hospital, he ordered that the burial ceremony be performed this time in the evening, and not during the day, as in previous years. When leaving, the priest said: “You serve the Burial, and I will come to the Liturgy.” This is exactly what happened. He died in the hospital at 11:45 pm, just at the moment when the funeral service in Nikolskoye was ending, and the coffin with his body was brought to the monastery early in the morning, before the start of the Liturgy.
- Father Zosima also foresaw the death of my mother. - says Bishop Hilarion. “She was seriously ill and was paralyzed. I was going to go to her in Lugansk on the second day of Easter, since on the very feast of the Resurrection of Christ I was supposed to serve in Mariupol. And then the day before Father Zosima calls on the phone and so categorically declares: “Go, Vladyka, to your mother right on Easter, otherwise you will regret and repent later!” Even though I was busy that day and very tired, I still listened to him and visited my mother on the holiday - I shared Christ with her, ate a blessed egg... And literally the next day she died.
They say that the priest not only foresaw certain events, but often from the first glance at a person could penetrate his soul and guess what was tormenting and tormenting him. Some were embarrassed by the fact that he immediately began to list all their sins, and not “yet”, but specific ones, others were surprised that he seemed to read their thoughts...
“When I first came to Father Zosima, he, among other things, warned me to be afraid of “trauma and rejection,” recalls schema-nun Efrosinia. - And just shortly before that, I had a kidney transplanted, which my mother gave to me. And when, two weeks after my trip to Nikolskoye, I was rushing to the hospital for procedures, I fell right on the roadway and tore a ligament in my leg. At the same time, the donor kidney began to work worse... Then I came to the monastery again, stood there in the church, prayed that the Lord would reveal His will to me and help me decide in life, and immediately reproached myself for the fact that everything time throws me from side to side - now to the right, now to the left. I was then wondering whether I should go to a pedagogical school or apply to a monastery. And at the same time, I was afraid that I was so sick that no one needed me there or there. After that I go to the priest, and he says: “Yes, you should learn how to get married!” (And he was a monk who took a vow of celibacy). And she continues with literally the same words that I mentally uttered before: “Well, so that you don’t get thrown either to the right or to the left, I’ll cut you off as a nun.”

He took other people's pain as his own
Father Zosima also shared a common illness with Schema-nun Euphrosyne - like her, the elder also had serious problems with his kidneys. Over time, he developed acute renal failure, and he lived only thanks to the fact that every other day he underwent hemodialysis for four hours - using the “Artificial Kidney” device, the blood was cleaned of toxins and waste.
Father also suffered greatly from osteomyelitis of the leg bones, on which he developed non-healing ulcers even when he served in Aleksandrovka. And recently this misfortune has worsened so much that he could almost no longer walk on his own, and he was carried in a wheelchair. These ailments were accompanied by a whole bunch of other diseases. The high temperature rose periodically - up to 41 degrees. He even experienced clinical death.
But despite all these unbearable sufferings, until his very last days he did not stop performing the Liturgy, preaching, talking with people, and building two monasteries at once. Even among healthy people, it is very rare that anyone is capable of this.
As soon as, after another severe crisis and exacerbation of illnesses, Father Zosima felt a little better, he immediately became cheerful and was eager to go to church and attend services. His joyful spirit and his perseverance amazed the treating doctors, and they, looking at the elder and communicating with him, also gained faith. Some of them became his spiritual children. Then he often used this “blat” - he asked doctors he knew to treat or perform surgery for free on sufferers who turned to him for help. In this way, the priest saved many lives.
And he simply begged for others. People who were on the verge of life and death said that they clearly felt his prayerful help, which helped them get out. For example, when the priest was still serving in Aleksandrovka, they brought to his church a woman from Trudovsky who was sick with leukemia. The doctors told her relatives that she was already hopeless and would not last a week - and they discharged her home. Die. She sat in a wheelchair for the entire Liturgy, during which the elder prayed for her at the throne - her condition did not noticeably improve, but she did not die within a week, as was predicted. The following Sunday the woman confessed and received communion. She felt a little better. In general, after two months she was already going to work with her own feet. And they say she is still alive, although more than 20 years have passed since then.
But more often they remember more “ordinary” stories. Like this. A young guy overdid it in weight training and developed an inguinal hernia. He complained to Father Zosima. He promised to pray for him. In the morning the guy woke up - the hernia was as if it had never happened. But then, they say, it appeared to the elder himself. In general, most of the priest’s spiritual children are sure that the reason he was so sick was that he took upon himself the infirmities and suffering of others.

Ordinary miracles
Zosima himself scolded those who spoke of him as a healer. He was always outraged by this not entirely healthy interest in miraculous healings and other supernatural phenomena.
He loved to repeat: “The real miracle is that the Lord brings great sinners into His Church. Look who is gathered here in the monastery? Former thieves, fornicators, prostitutes, in general - all the rabble, the trash of the human race. And everyone serves and prays to the Lord!”
But the most important miracle for believers, Father Zosima constantly emphasized, is the Eucharist and the service of God at which it is performed.
He himself was very reverent about worship and everything connected with the Church. Back in “stagnant” times, when it was difficult to get anything, he went to thrift stores, went to Mariupol, where sailors brought goods from abroad, looked for brocade and other fabrics for priestly vestments, and he himself went to Moscow for church utensils and books . He really loved that everything in the temple was splendid. But I personally never bought things for myself. He walked around in a patched-up cassock and a worn-out sheepskin coat.
The priest also collected various Orthodox shrines, as well as ancient utensils, ancient prayer icons, old vestments, banners, books... There are more than a hundred pieces of the relics of saints in the monastery alone - almost all the icons contain them. Father Zosima even managed to find icons that belonged to saints, in particular, the Mother of God image of the “Three Joys”, which belonged to the passion-bearer Tsar Nicholas II himself. Somehow the hat of Righteous John of Kronstadt ended up in the monastery, which on the day of his memory is placed on the heads of all those participating in the service.
By the way, the royal passion-bearers and righteous John were among Father’s most beloved saints. And the diary of the Kronstadt shepherd “My Life in Christ” was his reference book. He even tried to imitate him. He also dreamed of building a House of Diligence near the monastery, with various workshops - icon painting, gold embroidery, blacksmithing, wood carving... Those who knew him closely say that Father Zosima was close to the holy righteous man and in spirit - he was just as joyful, cheerful and cheerful.
During his sermons, the priest also never tired of repeating to his flock: “Never lose heart, do not offend God’s mercy with your whining. Be joyful and bright! Pray to the Lord, but just don’t over-pray, don’t go crazy in your prayers - don’t fall into this spiritual delusion, which leads to even greater despondency and despair.”

They pray to him like a saint
The schema-archimandrite left many spiritual covenants. When in recent years they realized that the death of the elder was near, some monks and laymen began to record his long sermons.
And those who simply listened to his words were continually amazed that during these sermons addressed to everyone, the priest gave very specific answers to questions that worried them, but were not expressed out loud. The elder seemed to see the innermost thoughts and aspirations of everyone. Therefore, many, in order not to once again bother the seriously ill priest with their problems, even stopped rushing to see him, because they had no doubt that he would still hear them and bring them to reason.
Often during these sermons, Father Zosima denounced both those standing in the church and all those whom he considered enemies of the Church. He especially got it from, as he called them, “nationalist Banderaites, Filaretites, autocephalists, sectarians, psychics”... He also scolded careless Orthodox priests. In general, he was very straightforward, he spoke the truth, regardless of faces. Therefore, of course, he made a lot of ill-wishers for himself. Many of the elder’s views were regarded as “politically incorrect” and did not fit into modern political realities. Sometimes those who came to the monastery were offended by some of his rather salty jokes and strong words. It is clear that, like everyone else, the priest also had plenty of shortcomings and sins - there is only one Lord without sin. Even the holy saints had many of them. But Father Zosima is not a saint! However, who knows...
During his lifetime, some considered the elder almost a saint. And as soon as the schema-archimandrite went to the Lord, they began to pray near the tomb not as for the deceased, but as for an already glorified saint of God. And now monks and pilgrims come to the chapel in which the elder rests, not only to pray for the repose of his soul, but to ask the deceased for help and advice. How they used to do this during his lifetime.
Some say that the priest appears to them in a dream, others simply feel his living help.
“Father Zosima said that in the next world he would no longer be sick, and therefore there he would only have to pray for all of us,” says Zinaida Ivanovna Onopchuk, chairman of the society of disabled people in the Kievsky district of Donetsk. “And not only those who knew the elder feel this prayerful help of his. A mother with many children, exhausted by a hopeless, miserable life, recently complained to me about her life. I advised her to address the priest as if he were alive. He shrugged his shoulders - he said, how am I going to address him if I never knew him?! And after a while she calls me so joyful and says: “I tried, on your advice, to pray to the elder - and I really felt that he was somewhere nearby and supporting me.”
This is not the only example of how even people who are completely unfamiliar with Father Zosima find gracious consolation from him. Therefore, the flow of pilgrims who came to Nikolskoye to see and hear the elder did not dry out even after his death. The chapel with the priest’s grave became the new shrine of the monastery.

Sergey Golokha

This material was borrowed from the site http://www.ortodox.donbass.com/

The Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery consists of two parts - the Vasilievsky male and Nikolaevsky female monasteries, located in the same fence and located in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region, on the site of the former rural parish in honor of St. Basil the Great. The first mention of St. Basil's parish in the village. Vasilyevka (now the village of Nikolskoye) appears in archival records since 1859. There was a wooden church here until 1912. In 1912, at the expense of parishioners and benefactors, a warm stone church was built and consecrated in honor of St. Basil the Great. In 1934, the temple was closed and suffered greatly from atheists; its entire upper part, 9 domes and a bell tower were demolished, and the uniquely made faience iconostasis was completely destroyed. In 1954, Vasilyevsky Church was restored in its current form with one dome and a bell tower and has not been closed since then. In 1986, Abbot Savvaty (Sokur) was appointed rector of St. Basil's parish. Through his efforts, the temple was restored; in 1988, a baptismal church with abbot’s chambers and a pilgrimage with a refectory were built. In 1990, Abbot Savvaty was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, and in 1992 he was tonsured into the schema with the name Zosima. Over time, the number of people who wanted to serve God in this place under the spiritual guidance of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima increased. In 1998, a fraternal building was built, and in 1999, a sister building. In 1997, the monastery rented a “House of Temporary Residence” from the village council, located on the territory adjacent to the church, where, through the efforts of the brothers and sisters, the almshouse “House of Mercy” was built for 50 people to care for the infirm and elderly. At the moment there is a new almshouse, built in 2003 for 100 people with a temple in honor of St. Sampson the Stranger. In 2001, the sister community was given the status of a monastery, and in 2002 a monastery was registered. The convent is run by Abbess Anna (Morozova). The abbot of the monastery is Schema-Archimandrite Alypiy (Bondarenko). The Holy Archimandrite and rector of the monastery is Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. A communal charter was introduced at the monastery. Daily services are held in the monastery. In the nurses' quarters and in the almshouse the Psalter is read indefinitely. On Sundays and great holidays during divine services, the brotherly and sisterly choirs sing antiphonally. The monastery has a bakery, a library, a medical clinic for residents, workshops: carpentry, wood carving, gold embroidery, sewing, icon painting, and a furniture making workshop. The inhabitants of the monastery are engaged in agriculture. There is a Sunday school for children. The monastery receives pilgrims. In the basement of the nursing building there is a pilgrimage room for 200 people, and there are hotel cells for clergy.

The Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery, the founder of which was Father Zosima, is known far beyond the Donetsk region.

Until 1959, the village of Nikolskoye, where the monastery is located, consisted of two villages - Nikolskoye and Vasilievka, each of which had its own churches: in Nikolskoye - a two-domed temple in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (erected in 1911), in Vasilyevka - a temple with nine domes in honor of Basil the Great (built in 1912). The latter was decorated with a unique faience iconostasis, the cost of which at that time reached four thousand rubles in gold.

St. Nicholas Church has not survived to this day: after the revolution of 1917, it was almost completely destroyed and was used as a granary for a long time. In the Vasilievsky Church, which went through difficult times during the revolution and civil war, services were resumed in the 40s. Both monasteries found a second life with the appointment of abbot Savvaty, widely known among the people as schemamandrite Zosima, as rector of the Vasilyevsky parish.

Old-timers say that the emergence of a monastery in Nikolskoye was predicted by one of the nuns of the Crimean Paraskevinsky monastery. The prophecy said that the monastery in Nikolskoye would be erected after the arrival of the monk.

Construction began in 1996, when Father Zosima, who was already ill at that time, decided to build two monasteries in the village: a male and a female one. In a short time, several residential buildings, a refectory church in honor of All Saints who shone in the Russian land and an almshouse for one hundred people were erected.

In 2001, the sister community was given the status of the Holy Dormition Nicholas Monastery, and in 2002 the Holy Dormition Vasilievsky Monastery was registered. The monasteries became places of pilgrimage for thousands of adherents of the Orthodox faith. People come here to venerate the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear” and to pray over the tomb of Father Zosima.

Construction continues at the monastery to this day. In 2003, a gate church with a bell tower was built in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Basil the Great. At the same time, the construction of the Assumption Cathedral began - a smaller copy of the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow.