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I posted a film about Abbot Vasily (Pasquier) on the website. This is a Russian priest originally from France, now the rector of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Alatyr, Chuvash Republic. Link to the film.

1. Hegumen Vasily. 2. Photo of the Temple of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Author - Dmitry Fedorishchev. Found on Sobory.ru

ABOUT IGUMENE VASILY

Father Vasily was born in the city of Cholet in March 1958. And the seventh child of the Pasquier family was named Pierre Marie Daniel. The parents, Henry and Martha, were deeply religious and, having included the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the name of their newborn son, they dedicated him to the Mother of God from birth.

The first years of his life, baptism, first communion, and schooling took place with little Pierre in the ancient village of Tiffauge, founded before the birth of Christ by the Roman Legion from the Caucasus.

The Pasquier family, which by 1967 had 9 children, was left without a mother. The care of six little brothers fell into the care of the father and the shoulders of one of the older sisters.

As a ten-year-old boy, Pierre helped the priest in the Temple during Sunday services, and in his free time he worked part-time for his father in the office as a courier, and even as a sociologist-statistician during the population census. At this age he enjoyed working on the farm and in nature.

When the older sister, who replaced the younger children's mother, decided to continue her studies, the father was forced to marry. These changes in the family brought with them many good and joyful moments.

As a young man, Pierre Marie Daniel thought a lot about his life. At the age of 15, religious impulses awakened in his soul. He felt that change was coming. In search of his place in the sun, he was interested in Eastern cultures: Hinduism, Buddhism, yoga, but not for long and not seriously, since his first Bible remained near him.

Having bought a backpack and a tent with the money he earned during the holidays, being 17 years old, Pierre Pasquier hitchhiked 1000 km. from home, to the south of France, to the “Ark” community. Pierre’s classmates did not recognize him when he returned a month later for the new school year. He became a serious, reserved, adult religious man, an ascetic. It was then that he embarked on the path of spiritual transformation, the path of repentance. This year, in his last year of study, he and his older sister Genevieve walked a lot to monasteries, visited homes for the disabled, orphanages, and worked on ecology. He realized that everything he learned in the “Ark” community, where his older brother Herve lived, everything he saw and heard, turned his life upside down irreversibly.

After school, Pierre felt that the Lord was calling him. He left home. He studied at an agricultural technical school, lived and worked on a farm. He completed his last year of study living in the Epiphany community.

Pierre Pasquier was not drafted into the army, according to the existing article “Refusal to perform military service for religious and moral convictions.”

In August 1980, Pasquier Pierre Marie Daniel became Father Basil, taking monastic vows with the name of St. Basil the Great. And in September, on the feast of the “Exaltation of the Holy Cross,” he flew to Jerusalem, to the newly opened monastery of “John the Hermit,” where he and 5 other young monks awaited the great work of restoration work and organization of a monastery with a deep historical past, starting from Christmas itself. Christ's. But in 1948 the monastery became empty and stood empty until 1975, when the Epiphany community rented buildings and land for its students, and Patriarch Maxim V of the Melctic Greek Catholic Church and the synod decided to open the monastery of St. John the Hermit.

Soon the young monk, Father Vasily, met with Archimandrite Daniel. Serving in the monastery of Chevoton, but living in Rome, the monk, theologian, spoke 16 languages, was a diplomat. Twice older than Father Vasily, he became his closest person, an exceptional adviser, taught him to love Orthodoxy and awakened his desire to become Orthodox.

For ten years, Father Vasily lived with this thought, ran secretly to the Orthodox Gornensky Russian convent, suffered punishment for this, worked hard for his monastery, and studied at the Theological Institute. He endured all the hardships of that time with dignity. Sometimes, when Jewish nationalists staged provocations and attacks, death was very close. He was ordained a deacon. Made a pilgrimage to Sinai. Conducted work at the Eastern Christian Center. I followed the numerous emigrants from Russia at that time and helped them. He ran at night to services at the Holy Sepulcher. I felt that his time was coming.
In the 90s, Father Vasily met with the then Metropolitan Alexy, the current Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', with Bishop Barnabas, Archbishop of Cheboksary and Chuvashia.
Orthodoxy occupied more and more place in his life.
October 4, 1993 was the last day in the Uniate monastery. He found himself at a reception with Patriarch Diodorus, who received him with love and blessed him to accept Orthodoxy in Russia, since Father Vasily already had a lot in common with this country. I wrote a letter to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. At my parents' home in France, the answer was waiting. I waited for a long time, through trials, worries and despair. In early January 1994, with a visa, an invitation and a round-trip ticket for ten days, Father Vasily stepped on board a Russian plane, firmly convinced that this was a one-way trip.

Immediately upon his arrival in Moscow, old acquaintances found him and invited him to their place. This winter, Father Vasily visited Tula, Kostroma, and Kolomna. His affairs in the DECR were slowly moving forward. At the same time, he attended the Patriarchal service for the first time in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Visited the elders: Fr. Nicholas on the island “Zalit”, who greeted Father Vasily with a bow and a verse from the psalm, “Dearly desired by the heart, Jerusalem, the Holy City, You are farewell, my unforgettable, My bow to You at the gates...”, which greatly embarrassed the young monk. And Elder John Krestyankin ordered to return to Moscow for the celebration of the Name Day of Patriarch Alexy II and say that Father Vasily was a gift to him for his Name Day from Father John Krestyankin. Having heard about such a gift at the festive service, the Patriarch laughed and promised to personally take care of Father Vasily’s business.

Soon, in the Danilov Monastery, Hierodeacon Vasily joined Orthodoxy, in the first week of Great Lent, on Tuesday, the day of the “Sovereign” Icon of the Mother of God. The modest joining ceremony was performed in French so that Father Vasily could understand what was happening to him. Over the next fortnight, he received communion many times and served with the Patriarch several times. Then I waited a long time for my documents and only in mid-April I received them and a direction to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. In the summer I was on Mount Athos, where I walked around all the monasteries with my companion, then still a hieromonk, now Archimandrite Jerome, whom Father Vasily met in Jerusalem, and who accompanied him during almost his entire subsequent stay in Russia.

Upon returning from Athos, His Holiness blessed them, at their personal requests, to the Cheboksary-Chuvash diocese. There, having arrived in the village of Maloye Churashevo for the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, having almost lost their heads, having never served once, kicked out by the local flock, they arrived at their permanent place of service in the village of Nikulino, Poretsky district of the Chuvash diocese.

With the ordination of Hierodeacon Vasily as a hieromonk in 1995, various demands immediately began: weddings, unction, funeral services, he went through the entire village to the sick and suffering, confessed and received communion. Soon, his long-cherished dream finally came true - he served in Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulcher as an Orthodox Priest. Those who knew him as a Catholic did not immediately allow him to attend the service. But after some formalities, Father Vasily could serve there more than once without hindrance. He served on Mount Tabor for the Transfiguration of the Lord, and in Gethsemane for the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Appointed Rector of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in the village. Nikulino in the fall, in the summer of 1996, Father Vasily, at the request of Fr. Jerome, transferred to the monastery of the Holy Trinity Monastery in the city of Alatyr and appointed dean.

Now, having become a little accustomed to Russian reality, Father Vasily begins to feel restrictions in his rights and freedoms, as a foreign subject and with the blessing of the Bishop of Cheboksary and Chuvash Archbishop Varnava, a long battle for accepting Russian citizenship begins, which ended only on May 13, 1998. During this time he was awarded a golden cross, then elevated to the rank of Abbot.

The path to obtaining citizenship is long and thorny. As soon as I arrived in the village. Nikulino began undergoing checks, pressure, was forced to come to the authorities, and was suspected of everything. Father Vasily endured everything. He is a simple man, the purpose of his stay in Russia is absolutely clear. After a year and a half of constant checks and suspicion, he deserved a solemn ceremony of receiving a Russian passport. In Cheboksary, officially, in front of the television cameras, Father Vasily became a citizen of Russia. The President of Chuvashia Fedorov N.V. sent congratulations with good wishes.

At the request of nun Tabitha, abbess of the Kiev-Nicholas Novodevichy Convent, Father Vasily, by Decree of the Bishop, was appointed to the position of senior clergyman in the nunnery, where for 5 years, until recently, he served faithfully, trying to the best of his ability to instruct the nuns of the monastery in monastic work.

By decree of Metropolitan Varnava of Cheboksary and Chuvashia, Abbot Vasily is relieved of his position as priest of the Kiev-Nikolaev Novodevichy Monastery in the city of Alatyr and is appointed to the position of rector of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Almost simultaneously with the new appointment, Metropolitan Varnava of Cheboksary and Chuvashia, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, bestowed on Abbot Vasily an award - a Mace, on the day of remembrance of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra in Lycia to Bar.

Now a new stage has begun on the thorny path of Abbot Vasily. Through his efforts, local authorities decided to return the temple to its real owners. The condition of the church building leaves much to be desired. But the most important thing now for Father Vasily is that he sees how needed this temple is. We can say that there is no church yet, and a prayer service is served only on Sundays, but there are already parishioners. Patients and medical workers turn to him every day. He constantly unctions, confesses, gives communion, and blesses for treatment. Instructs doctors. The very fact that there is a church on the premises obliges the hospital management to reconsider some of their views on their attitude towards the place of work, and towards the people around them, and towards order inside the hospital and outside it.

Those who hunger and thirst not so much for physical health, but for mental peace, force Father Vasily to act. Without funds and professional specialists, on enthusiasm alone, he is ready not to leave the temple for days, work on clearing, cleaning and do any work, as long as the temple is restored, as long as the work moves forward. He is happy with every sacrifice, every tiny contribution. He collects bit by bit for materials and tools, for timber and plaster. For “Every giving is good...”.

Archimandrite Vasily (Pasquier Pierre Marie Daniel), was born on March 24, 1958 in the city of Cholay, western France. His parents Pasquier Henri Eugene-Pierre, born in 1924, and Gousseau Martha Marie Jeanne, born in 1920, were French employees by nationality. Pierre grew up in a deeply religious Catholic family and was the seventh of nine children.
In 1967, the family was left without a mother.

In 1965 he entered primary school, and in 1970 he entered a comprehensive college. As a ten-year-old boy, he helped the priest in the church during Sunday services and, in turn, at everyday early liturgies before school, and in his free time he worked for his father in his office as a courier. As a young man, Pierre thought a lot about his life and at the age of 15, religious feelings awakened in his soul. In the last year of his studies, he walked a lot to monasteries, visited homes for the disabled, orphanages, feeling an interest in nature, and studied ecology.

In 1976, after graduating from a general education college (with a special focus in biology and natural history), he left home to work on a farm and entered the agricultural technical school in the city of Castelnodary, in the south of France. At that time, Pierre was attracted to Orthodox theology through reading, and he developed a new worldview.
In 1978, he entered the Greek Catholic community of Epiphany in the city of Limoux in the south of France, where he served as assistant farm manager.

In 1979 he graduated from an agricultural technical school, majoring in agriculture, livestock breeding, and economics.

He did not serve in the army due to religious convictions. He was preparing to become a monk.

On August 6, 1980, he took monastic vows with the name Vasily, in honor of St. Basil the Great, whose feast day is January 1/14, and in the same year he was transferred to the Greek Catholic monastery of “John the Baptist in the Desert” in Jerusalem. In the fall of 1980, the Lord vouchsafed to meet Benedict, Patriarch of Jerusalem (Greek-Orthodox Church), who was able to convince Father Basil to join Orthodoxy. I was honored to attend the burial of Patriarch Benedict. After the election of the new Patriarch Diodorus, having attended a reception with him, Father Vasily’s desire to become Orthodox grew stronger.

In 1981 - 1986 he studied at the Theological School at the monastery "John the Baptist in the Wilderness" with a course in philosophy, 1984 - 1987 he studied in absentia at the Orthodox Theological Institute named after St. Sergius in Paris, but did not complete his studies.

In 1987, after an attempt to leave the monastery in order to convert to Orthodoxy, the monastery authorities sent monk Vasily to the monastery compound in France to improve agriculture.

In 1988 he completed advanced training courses in cheese making. On January 20, 1990, returning to Jerusalem, he was ordained hierodeacon by Archbishop Lutfi of Tarsky, Patriarchal Vicar of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. While attending the obedience of a guest at the monastery of “John the Baptist in the Wilderness”, I met many bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Metropolitan Gideon of Stavropol and Baku, Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich and Bishop Barnabas, Archbishop of Cheboksary and Chuvash. The latter guided Hierodeacon Vasily on the path of truth and helped him make a firm decision. After that, in October 1993, Father Vasily left the Greek Catholic monastery “John the Baptist in the Hermitage” in Jerusalem and found refuge in the Russian Gornensky Convent, where, with the help of Hieromonk Mark (Golovkov), now Archbishop of Yegoryevsk, he wrote a petition to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, about acceptance into communion with the Russian Orthodox Church.
On January 9, 1994 he arrived in Moscow and on March 15, 1994 he was accepted into canonical communion with the Orthodox Church with the blessing of His Holiness Alexy II. Since that day, Father Vasily has been a cleric of the Moscow Patriarchate, and upon joining, from April 18, 1994 to August 31, 1994, he underwent monastic obedience in the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery.
In the fall of 1994, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', he arrived in the Cheboksary-Chuvash diocese at the disposal of the Archbishop of Cheboksary and Chuvash Varnava, who on September 12, 1994 appointed Father Vasily to the post of deacon at the Church of the Nativity of Christ. Nikulino, Poretsky district, Chuvash Republic. On May 15, 1995, Hierodeacon Vasily was ordained hieromonk by His Eminence Barnabas, Archbishop of Cheboksary and Chuvashia and appointed second priest, and on October 6, 1995, rector of the same church.
On July 25, 1996, by decision of Archbishop Varnava, he was relieved of his post as rector of the Church of the Nativity of Christ. Nikulino of the Poretsky District of the Chechen Republic and was appointed a resident of the Holy Trinity Monastery in the city of Alatyr, Chuvash Republic, as a dean.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', on March 30, 1997, Archbishop Varnava of Cheboksary and Chuvashia placed a golden pectoral cross on Father Vasily.

On April 26, 1998, he was elevated to the rank of abbot. On May 13, 1998, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, B. N. Yeltsin received Russian citizenship and a passport. On September 30, 1998, Archbishop Varnava of Cheboksary and Chuvash was appointed to the position of economist of the Alatyr Holy Trinity Monastery.
On November 23, 1998, by decree of the Archbishop of Cheboksary and Chuvash Varnava, he was relieved of his post as housekeeper of the Alatyr Holy Trinity Monastery and, without expulsion from the brethren of the monastery, appointed senior clergyman of the Alatyr Kiev-Nicholas Novodevichy Monastery.
On May 19, 2003, by decree of Metropolitan Varnava of Cheboksary and Chuvashia, he was relieved of his post as priest of the Alatyr Kiev-Nicholas Novodevichy Monastery and appointed rector of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Alatyr, for the restoration of this temple.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II was awarded the Mace on May 22, 2003. On January 16, 2005, he was awarded the Bishop’s Certificate in connection with the consecration of the temple.

On April 29, 2006, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', he was awarded the Cross with decorations.

On March 13, 2008, he was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Culture, National Affairs, Information Policy and Archival Affairs of the Chuvash Republic, for many years of fruitful work in the formation of spiritual and moral values ​​of society, a significant contribution to the restoration of the Orthodox Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God of the year Alatyr and March 24, 2008 year with a bishop's charter, in connection with the fiftieth anniversary.

On March 27, 2008, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', Archbishop Alexander of Kostroma and Galich was awarded the Order of the Kostroma Diocese of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates, patron saint of the city of Kostroma.

On February 3, 2009, by order of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, he was awarded the Silver Medal “For his contribution to the development of the penal system of Russia”, for spiritual nourishment and the construction of a temple in correctional colony No. 2 in the city of Alatyr, Chuvash Republic.

In November 2009, he was appointed acting abbot of the Cheboksary Holy Trinity Monastery.

On December 25 of the same year, he was appointed by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to the position of abbot of the Cheboksary Holy Trinity Monastery of the Cheboksary-Chuvash diocese.

From Catholicism to Orthodoxy

Hegumen Vasily (Pasquier) is a French national, rector of the church in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God in the city of Alatyr, Chuvashia. About how he converted to Orthodoxy and moved to live in Russia.

- Father Vasily, tell us how you got the desire to become Orthodox?

- I was born in France in a Catholic family. My mother was religious, but she died early, when I was 9 years old. There were nine children in our family, and I was the seventh born. As a child and youth, I went to church and helped the priests. Until I was fifteen, I showed no interest in religion. In general, I did not feel any warmth in the Catholic church: the service is boring, sometimes they sing songs that can be performed on the guitar. After the second Vatican liturgical reform, the actions of a priest became excessively free - any priest or even a poet can compose his own canons and insert them into divine services. Some priests in parishes and monasteries try to preserve the church's liturgical canons, but in general in the Catholic Church there has been a move towards losing everything.

And at the age of sixteen, my interest in spiritual knowledge awakened. I start looking for God. “If He exists, I must meet Him, I don’t know how, but I must,” that’s what I thought then. And, like all ardent young people, I begin to search for Him chaotically, I get carried away by Buddhism, Hinduism, but I don’t find anything serious there. Only one character awakens my attention - this is Gandhi, who did not use force against his enemies, but opposed them only with love and truth. But this search for truth does not pass without leaving a trace in my soul; I suddenly begin to feel that God is becoming closer to me. And then one day, in the window of an antique store, I see an Orthodox icon of the Savior in front of me and buy it. I have kept this icon for a long time. She awakens my interest in the Eastern Church and Orthodoxy. At that time I was re-reading a lot of books about Orthodoxy, about St. Seraphim of Sarov. And then I came across a book in French “My Life in Christ” by St. John of Kronstadt. I was shocked. In this book I suddenly find answers to many of my inquisitive questions.

In 1978, I became a novice of a Catholic community. Anti-Roman sentiment reigned in it, and I remember that I was punished all the time because at the litany I did not pronounce the name of the Pope. One day, as a whole community, we decided to convert to Orthodoxy, but our abbot prevented us from carrying out this intention, because he could lose certain power; he was frightened by the strict discipline of the Orthodox Church.

In 1980 I was sent to Jerusalem. In the Holy Land, in the monastery of St. John the Hermit, on the territory of which there is the cave of St. John the Baptist, the holy spring and the tomb of the righteous Elizabeth, the mother of the Baptist of the Lord, I take monastic vows. But my soul is not consoled by this. Observing the spiritual life of believers of various denominations and Churches, I am increasingly inclined towards Orthodoxy. Life in Orthodoxy and the Orthodox monastic brethren were more to my heart. Then in my heart I understood that these people were closer to the Lord God. When the new Patriarch of Jerusalem Diodorus was elected, our brethren went out to the celebrations, we met him at the gates of Jerusalem, and then we were at his reception. And again the feeling came over me that I needed to go to Orthodoxy.

- Do Catholics really honor the Orthodox Patriarch?

There is a tradition in the Holy City that when a new Patriarch of Jerusalem is elected, then all the Churches gather for a solemn meeting with him.

There, at a reception, I met the secretary of the new Patriarch, Archimandrite Timothy (now he is a metropolitan). Then I wished with all my heart to find myself a confessor, a wise mentor, a guide for my whole life. Unfortunately, I could not find a mentor for myself either in my monastery or in the Catholic Church. And so my choice fell on Archimandrite Timofey. I, like a naive boy, come up to him and say: “Take me as your child.” He answers me: “You understand, if I take you as a child, then you will need to convert to Orthodoxy.” This proposal of his tormented me for a long time, but still I decide to write a letter to the archimandrite, in which I express my desire to convert to Orthodoxy. My letter was intercepted by the brethren of the Monastery of St. John the Hermit. At that time, our abbot Jacob was in France, and he was informed of my intention. Hegumen Jacob ordered me to stay in the monastery: they excommunicated me from communion, removed me from the common fraternal meal, and put me on dry eating. During the service, for several days I knelt at the entrance to the temple, and then, on my knees, I had to ask for forgiveness from every brother passing by me. I endured these punishments quite easily with the thought that it was necessary to suffer a little for Orthodoxy.

But during this difficult time for me, our monastery was attacked by a group of fanatics - fundamentalist Jews. More than once they have already carried out their malicious attacks on Christian monasteries. They killed monks and priests. And so, when I was kneeling during the service at the temple, the fundamentalists shot at me, but the bullets, through the intercession of the Lord God, flew past. The Monastery of St. John the Hermit is located, as it were, at a dead end among the rocks, the fundamentalists were shooting from above, the matter could have ended in blood, because there was nowhere to hide, but a miracle - none of the brethren were hurt. Thank God, these hot events have passed and diverted the attention of the brethren from me; The abbot forgave me, punishing me not to think about Orthodoxy anymore, but I, in turn, decided, like a crazy person, that I needed to hide and wait for a more favorable moment.

Soon I was sent to study at the St. Sergius Orthodox Institute, located in Paris. This was a real consolation for me. There I studied for two years in the correspondence department, but I did not have the chance to graduate from college; I was called back to set up a monastery courtyard in France. Since I was an agricultural specialist, I needed to organize a farm in France. I worked on a farm for three years. I had to give up the thought of studying: it is impossible to work on a tractor and study at the same time. There was a lot of land on the site, and besides, there were about 300 sheep. We also had another undertaking - we began to raise goats and organized milk production. The organization of this entire economy was entrusted entirely to me.

- It must have been difficult for you?

It was very difficult. There was not the slightest time to study.

Our community in the metochion seemed to split into two camps: the laity, those who created this metochion, and the monastics, those who considered themselves the absolute master and strived for dominance. Many unfair things happened. Once I spoke at a meeting and in my words supported the laity - the injured party. Among the laity there were also highly spiritual people with pious lives. The brethren did not like my performance, and they sent me back to Jerusalem - as if away from sin.

In my return to the Holy Land I saw the Providence of God. Soon I was ordained as a deacon. It was a big event. And I was sent on a pilgrimage to Egypt. I was given only 10 days to travel. And, in order not to waste a minute of time, I decided to go that same day. But, unfortunately, the bus tickets were sold out. And this was also, as it turned out later, the Providence of God. The bus I was planning to take was ambushed by terrorists. The terrorists took the Arabs out of the bus, and shot all the other passengers on the bus.

In Alexandriysk I met Orthodox elders. In particular, Lord Damian. He spoke a little French. And I managed to talk with him. I sensed insight in his words. He met me as a future Orthodox believer, spoke warmly and gave me instructions on the “Spiritual Ladder” of St. John. The schema monk Archimandrite Pavel was also there. He was harsh with people from other faiths, but with me, on the contrary, he was soft and frank. There in Egypt I also visited the Coptic monastery, where the venerable Abba Macarius the Great, Paisius the Great, Arseny the Great - all our fathers who collected the Patericon - labored. I lived in this ancient monastery for several days and received unforgettable impressions from my stay there; I was especially delighted by the night services.

Then I returned to Jerusalem again. At that time, there was a war in the Persian Gulf, code-named Desert Storm. I remember how Iraq bombed Israel. We all saw this and deeply felt what was happening. Bombs were falling all around.

The ground shook. And we equated all these events with the events of the end of the world. We were ready for anything. But, fortunately, the end of the world did not come, but great changes began in Russia.

- You probably mean the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Yes it is. After this event, a large flow of emigrants from Russia poured into the Holy City. There were many Russians around: refugees, pilgrims, and first hierarchs. In the monastery we met many hierarchs, in particular, we met Metropolitan Alexy, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

In the monastery, I was obedient to the guide accompanying the pilgrims who arrived to us. I met Archimandrites Gury and Ermogen, who served in the Pukhtitsa convent. Meeting them was extraordinary. It took place at the font of John the Baptist. Father Ermogen baptized at the font. And I naively approached him with a request to baptize me too. We spoke in English, and Father Ermogen told me to go to Russia. In the end, these words came true.

- When did you meet your friend, Father Jerome (Shurygin)?

At the same time. It was an extraordinary meeting. At that time, Father Jerome served in Jerusalem. In 1992, he accompanied a delegation of several monks from Mount Athos and priests from the Stavropol diocese. We, the Catholics, had Holy Week, and the Orthodox had Holy Week. Therefore, knowing that the Orthodox have a strict fast, I treated them to tea, juices and fruits. This was my first meeting with Father Jerome. And then I didn’t say a word to him. But for some reason I remembered his look; it seemed to me that with this man my life would radically change.

There was another pilgrim who greatly influenced me. It was a wanderer from the city of Vladivostok. It took him exactly three years to get to the Holy City on foot. And he celebrated Holy Easter in Jerusalem. Someone advised him to come to our monastery to stay. And he was given obedience to help me dig a trench for the foundation of a house under construction. You understand that digging a hole in the aisles of mountainous areas is very difficult - stone on stone. But the wanderer was strong and worked with me cheerfully. He and I became friends; we had a lot in common spiritually. After the evening service, he secretly made his way to my cell and there, during our spiritual conversations, he convinced me to meet with Father Jerome. One evening he secretly led Father Jerome into my cell. Father sat with me, listened to my desire and said: “Be patient. The time for transition has not yet come, because I myself cannot yet accept you. There will be troubles."

Bishop Alexander, now Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, chairman of the department for youth affairs, also visited us. He lived in the monastery of St. John the Hermit at the invitation of our abbot for a whole week. At one time, the abbot was in Russia, and there he met Bishop Alexander, and mutually invited him to our monastery. Every evening I took tea to Vladyka in the living room, and we chatted a little in English and a little in Russian; at that time I already knew a few words in Russian.

- And in the Catholic monastery they had no idea about your sympathy for the Orthodox?

Of course, we guessed it. My relationship with my brethren became complicated. They tried in every possible way to protect me from communication with Orthodox Christians. They forbade me from attending Orthodox services from Saturday to Sunday at the Holy Sepulcher. I was desperate. It was unbearable to live a double life. I decided to approach Father Jerome. And so he says to me: “Well, move on tomorrow.” It was easy for him to say this, but what was it like for me?

I remember this day well, it completely changed my life. It was October 24, 1993. After the morning service, the eldest of the brethren made a remark to me: “I noticed that you have not received communion lately. What's happening?" He asked sternly, demanding an account from me. Then I could no longer be a hypocrite: I didn’t believe in Catholic communion, so I didn’t take communion. I could no longer hide my intentions and said: “It’s good that we started talking about this, I’m leaving.” Of course, they began to read instructions to me about the monastic vow, about monastic duties, about obedience, but I answered that God was calling me to a different kind of obedience. I collected my things, which fit in a small backpack, and went to Father Jerome.

Father Jerome then labored in the Gornensky women's monastery. The abbess of the monastery allowed me to live in the monastery. I lived there for several weeks. Since I was a monk, I was put on general obedience, and I again began to receive pilgrims. I had good relations with everyone in the monastery, and my mother sent me to take a blessing from Patriarch Diodorus. Archimandrite Timofey greeted me joyfully. Only one circumstance frightened them: the city of Jerusalem is small and rumors spread quickly in it; the Orthodox did not want to quarrel with Catholics. But when Patriarch Diodorus learned about my intention to go to Russia, he immediately blessed me. “You’ll be fine there,” he said.

- And you went to Russia?

Not right away. First, he returned to France to earn money for a plane ticket to Moscow. And when I had enough money, I went to Russia.

Interviewed by Alexander Danilov
Orthodox newspaper "Holy Intercession" No. 15 (27)
Orthodox newspaper "Holy Intercession" No. 16 (28)

Message from a certain elder to Archimandrite Vasily, blessed in God, about the schema

I bow from my unworthiness to your reverence, my dear lord, the all-honorable God-blessed Vasily, truly a great and glorious archimandrite throughout the world, father to fathers, mentor of the high path, wise soul, penetrating with his mind all inspired books, second abbot, not in name, but in deeds and by faith equal to his holiness! And Christ glorified you more than even him as his faithful slave and servant of his mother: for he, having begun to build the church, was called by God and went to him, but you not only created the church, but also created the stone walls near the holy monastery, where the dwellings of the saints and the courts of the venerables, constantly praising the glorified God in the Trinity, glorifying Him who was incarnated in two essences from the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin Mary who became man, who accepted crucifixion and death for our sins.

And what, my lord, sent me a letter about, asking, as it were, about the great and holy schematic image, in which you have long wanted to be clothed, you are not asking about this as an ignorant person, but you are testing my wretchedness, as it befits a teacher to test a student and a master to test a slave. And I will not tell you from myself about the holy schema, but from the holy books, more from Christ himself, I will remind you of the parable of the man who built his house and his stable on a rock.

Don’t think about sand, don’t think about building a temple, don’t think about rivers and rain or fierce winds hitting the building, let my lord Vasily hear about the holy schema that he wants to accept.

You created stone walls around the entire Pechersk Monastery on a solid foundation, high and beautiful; and first of all he collected his wealth for this, then he burned the brick with fire, and finished the job with water and mortar. But this is not the kind of holy construction when they create the temple of God within themselves so that the Holy Spirit can dwell in it.

If you want to create such a holy monastery, you decide to lay the foundation of the Holy Trinity within yourself, otherwise, to renew yourself with the holy schema, as they say, “to settle accounts with your possessions,” then first of all, praying to God, sit down and write your vow, gathering your thoughts that you will become you will keep until death: a day or two a week or a month, whether you will fast from food or drink, or spend the night in prayer, or not talk to people, and not leave the monastery on a votive day, or do alms from your handicrafts, or fulfill any human request, or forgive anger. And if you give your promise, he will give you his. If you want to take analav and kukol without reasoning, looking at those who are only called a schema, then even if they work in fasting and prayers, all the same, not having a solid foundation, their temple falls - not from the rain, not from the wind, but from their own foolishness; sometimes they abstain from everything, sometimes they live weakly, they say: “It’s a holiday now,” or: “For the sake of a friend, I’ll eat and drink,” or: “The Christians called, I’ll start a prayer again later” - all this is as if one were creating, and the other ruined, or as if, washing after a dead man, touching him again. Many, it is said, dried up their bodies through fasting and abstinence, but their lips became stinky, because they did this without reasoning, and therefore they found themselves far from God. And Lot was not tempted in Sodom with the wicked, but in Zoar he became defiled with his daughters.

And you, having pleased God in Balti and in monasticism and having lived a soul-healthy life, taking upon yourself the schematic burden, forget all the past, like the apostles, and strive for the future. Reckon earthly sorrow for a trifle and always worry about heavenly life according to the rule of your vow. Do not, like Lot, strive to forget sorrow in drunkenness, but carefully imitate Christ’s life. After all, the Lord, having made a vow about himself to all the apostles, fulfilled it, and you promised to all the brethren, fulfill this, then you will have a common God with them, a common love, a common reward, common crowns, and you will create one soul in many bodies, and for the sake of You will accept everyone's reward.

Here I am sowing seeds in your furrow, words about godly work. See for yourself, if there are tares here, you will uproot the evil seed and punish me. If it is wheat, then do not sow it along the road, nor on a stone, nor among thorns. Even if three parts perish, I hope that from one you will be able to reassemble a hundredfold with God’s help, if you consult with him about the schema.

You know everything about the lives of the holy fathers, how, laboring with vows, they achieved crowns. Nothing could destroy their temple: neither honors, nor titles, nor glory, nor sorrow, nor need, nor persecution, nor laziness; neither himself, rushing at them in every possible way, could bring their affairs down from the vow. But just as a copper ax harms itself with dry wood, so the devil does evil to himself, and those who are strong in faith gain crowns for themselves through temptation. The weak one falls not through the devil, but through his own unreason, destroying good undertakings with evil thoughts, like quicksand.

And if you want to build a spiritual temple, put faith in its foundation and let hope and love be the bricks; bind with chastity, like water, the dirt of your flesh, so that your soul may rise like a temple. Support her like a pillar with God's help, so that if rain and water flows fall in any way, she will remain like a rock for good and evil people. Bring your mother and wife into the temple, that is, meekness and humility. After all, meekness pleases God, but humility takes you to heaven. Protect yourself on all sides, as from thieves, with the fear of God and prayer, and set a wise mind as a guard, so that if you happen to be in a city, or among the people, or in a village, or at a trade, you would not let your heart be scattered there with thoughts. , but would remain in the middle of everything, as if inside a cell, reflecting on the separation of the soul from the body, listening to oneself, as if having gone into the desert.

If you arrange all this with God’s help and do not become proud, judging others, then, looking at the light with your free eye in your mind, you will see the Father of the light, as Job said: “Before we heard only by hearing, but now my eye sees you,” not the physical , but spiritual; “In the light of your countenance, O Lord, let us go and rejoice in your name forever.” But, my lord, he will strengthen your soul not to break your vow. For “Promise,” he said, “and you will reward.” And more: “It is better not to promise, than, having promised, not to repay.” In the same way, the apostle condemns us, saying: “Why didn’t we fight until there was blood, struggling against sin?”

For all this, my dear lord and benefactor, do not be angry, do not hate me, not from the mind, but from the foolishness of the one who wrote all this, but, having torn it apart, throw it to the ground. After all, my words, like a web, fall apart on their own, for they cannot cleave to any benefit without the moisture of the Holy Spirit. And not like a teacher, fatherly and harmoniously, I instruct you, but with all my simplicity I talk to you only because your love and mine opens your lips. You choose from what is written what you want, what will be better for you, you know about everything wisely, my dear sir, honest Vasily.

I, a sinner, pray to the Lord that you may be in good health, live peacefully, build the house of the Holy Mother of God and serve God worthily; and you will certainly receive reward with all the holy forefathers and fathers, with the apostles and patriarchs and reverend abbots with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Theodosius, whose son and successor you are in Christ Jesus, our Lord.