|
 Fr.
Alexey was born in 1860, the son of a choir director in the service of
the great Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow (†1867). The family lived
in modest circumstances. "I never had a room of my own," Fr.
Alexey recalled. "All my life I've lived with people around!"
Judging from the only extant letter to his wife Anna, he was happily married;
they had several children before her tragically premature death. None
of the children appear to have remained close to their father with the
exception of a son Sergius who succeeded Fr. Alexey as priest at St. Nicholas'
church on Maroseyka street, before joining the ranks of Russia's New Martyrs
in 1941.
Fr. Alexey's success did not blossom overnight. Describing the early years
of his pastorate he said: "For eight years I served the Liturgy daily
in an empty church. One archpriest said to me: 'No matter when I pass
by your church, the bells are always ringing. Once I went in - nobody.
Nothing will come of it. You're ringing in vain." But Fr. Alexey
steadfastly continued serving and the people began to come, many people.
He would tell this story when asked how to establish a parish. The answer
was always the same: "Pray."
In his domestic life batiushka was extremely simple and humble. In his
study, in his little room, there were piles of books - some lying open,
letters, lots of prosphora on the table, a folded epitrachelion lying
together with a cross and Gospel, and little icons. The general chaos
indicated that Batiushka was always busy, that he never had spare time,
that there was always waiting for him at home, on the street, in church
- some great task calling for his love and self-sacrifice.
"Live
for others, and you yourself will be saved." This was Fr. Alexey's
motto. "To be with people," he would say, "to live their
life, rejoice in their joys, sorrow over their misfortunes.., herein lies
the meaning and way of life for a Christian, and especially for a pastor."
Fr. Alexey's own life was consumed in the service of others. Outside his
apartment the line of laboring and heavy-laden' stood from early morning.
And Batiushka managed to have a talk with each of them, to caress, to
console. Never was he ever alone. He was always with people, and in sight
of people; it was as though the walls of his room were glass - everything
was visible.
Fr. Alexey often said that "each person has his own particular path
to salvation. One mustn't set a common path for everyone; one mustn't
try to workout a formula for salvation which would apply to all people.
People are born with different natures, different abilities, intellects
and constitutions - so, too, they each go towards Christ at their own
pace, each on his own path. Because of this, Christianity considers equally
soul-saving the chaste monastic life and marital life, the priesthood
and laity, the rank of soldier and the rank of judge - as long as Christ
dwells in the heart. And the task of an elder or a spiritual father is
to uncover a person's calling and to point out to him the path which he
should take towards the Lord."
 With
his gift of clairvoyance, Fr. Alexey had no need to speak to his "patients"
in order to diagnose their maladies. And his "treatments" showed
this masterful physician to be a man "not of words, but of spirit,
of power": "It seemed that Batiushka didn't really say much;
from his face alone, his smile, his eyes, there streamed such gentleness,
such understanding, that this in itself comforted and encouraged a person
without any words. ...He actually, as he himself put it, 'unloaded' people's
sins; he transformed people from despairing, oppressed pessimists into
Christians constantly rejoicing in the Lord. One had only to glance at
his commemoration book, checkered with hundreds of names of both living
and dead, a book he always had with him, and one understood the words
which he spoke, pointing to his heart: “I carry you all here.”
The scope of Fr. Alexey’s pastoral influence may be judged by the
tens of thousands who gathered for his funeral. The liturgy was served
by Bishop Theodore Pozdeyev (later, archbishop and New Martyr), attended
by 80 clergymen – hierarchs, priests and deacons. The imprisoned
Patriarch Tikhon, freed for a few hours, met the cortege at the St. Lazarus
cemetery, where he served a lity for the deceased. Altogether, it was
a fitting tribute to this remarkable pastor who had been, for so many,
a stepping-stone to God.
Father Alexey, pray to God for us! |
