|
 Thousands
mourned the death in 1923 of the popular, clairvoyant lay-elder of Moscow,
Archpriest Alexey Mechev. But the Lord did not leave his spiritual children
orphaned. Many had already discovered in his son, the still young Priest
Sergius, a worthy and equally gifted successor.
The Saint Nicholas parish on Maroseyka, where his father served, was still
small when the future priest and new martyr, Sergius, was born on 17 September
1892. He was the fourth child and arrived in a household that was already
cramped for space and pinched financially. The frequent shortage of food
was at fault for the boy's weak constitution, but he had a strong-willed
character inherited from his mother, Anna Petrovna. Her death in 1901,
was hard on him, but fortunately he had a close bond with his father,
who was tenderly affectionate and even years later, in his letters, continued
to address his son endearingly as "Sergunchik," signing them,
"with many kisses from your papa who loves you." Fr. Alexey
saw in his son his successor, but he felt the boy should choose his own
path, and for that reason declined to send him to a diocesan school, where
students were expected to become priests. Instead, Sergius received a
secular education at a regular school, and received his religious training
at home and in church, principally by observing his father in the altar.
Upon graduating, he fulfilled a dream by taking a trip abroad, to Switzerland
and Italy, and then entered the medical faculty at Moscow University.
Although he later transferred to the philology department, he acquired
sufficient knowledge to work as a nurse at the front when the war came.
There he met his future wife, Evfrosinia Nikolaevna. They were married
in 1918. While Fr. Sergius had still not made up his mind to enter the
priesthood, he was active in the Church; he participated in a student
theological circle and avidly studied patristics. As a member of a commission
formed to negotiate relations with the new government, he came into frequent
contact with Patriarch Tikhon, who became very fond of him and urged him
to become a priest. His decision to do so was inspired by a discussion
he had with Elder Anatole of Optina in the fall of 1918. The following
April, on Holy Thursday, he was ordained by Bishop Theodore Pozdeev at
St. Daniel's Monastery.
 Fr.
Sergius served at the Maroseyka church until his arrest in November 1929.
Like so many clergy, he did not recognize Metropolitan Sergius' Declaration
of 1927, which essentially brought the Church under government control.
He was charged with heading a counter-revolutionary underground church
and sentenced to three years' exile in the far north, near Arkhangelsk.
His matushka managed to visit him with their three children (another had
died in infancy), and he kept in touch with his spiritual children, writing
to them individually and addressing five letters to them in common, letters
that have been preserved. It was several months after his term had expired
that Fr. Sergius was finally released; he was never free again. A second
arrest followed in March 1934, carrying a five-year sentence. He spent
some years in hiding, wandering from place to place, before being arrested
yet again. The spiritual daughter with whom he was imprisoned reported
that he was almost certainly executed in early November 1941; elsewhere,
his martyric death is commemorated December 9. Fr. Sergius entered the
ranks of Russia's New Martyrs for his uncompromising stand in ecclesial
matters. His principal renown, however, rests upon his pastoral skills.
The Maroseyka parish was unique in Moscow in cultivating an inwardly monastic
orientation. Fr. Alexey often said that his task was to create "a
monastery in the world," by which he meant a parish family guided
towards the same goal of sanctity and deification as the monastic. Fr.
Sergius held the same principle although later on he stopped speaking
of it as a "monastery in the world," because others had adopted
this term as meaning some kind of community of secret monks or nuns who
lived in the world while under obedience to monastic vows. Instead, Fr.
Sergius took from ancient Russian church practice the term "repenting
family." He also referred to his parish as a "repenting-liturgical
family." It was very apt. As a spiritual director, he strove to cultivate
in his flock a spirit of repentance and he encouraged frequent attendance
at church services, which he considered to be the best school for the
development of spiritual life. The excerpts that follow illustrate his
effective approach.
Father Sergius, pray to God for us! |
