Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev: “In Solzhenitsyn there was a positive, life-affirming and bright mood of a Christian. Athos elder

Pro-to-i-e-rei Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-shev from 1914 to his gi-be-whether he was a b-go-chin-ny Vot-kinskaya and Galev- skoy in-lo-stey on the ter-ri-to-rii of modern Ud-mur-tiya. For the impeccable service of the Pra-glorious Church, he was repeatedly awarded by the eparchy-al-chi-al-heads. He is for-no-small active pro-sve-ti-tel-sky and social de-I-tel-no-stu: chi-tal lectures in the General -sven-nom-so-bran-nii, was an even-member of the Vot-kin-th-society of love-bi-te-lei mu-zy-kal-no-go and dra- ma-ti-che-sko-go art named after P.I. Tea-kov-ko-go. By the blessing of the holy great-ved-no-go John on Kronstadt, he became an institution-di-te-lem and pre-se-da-te- lem places-no-th Society of sobriety. During the First World War, Father Ni-ko-lai participated in the shaft in the work of those places-no-go from de-le-tion “All-Russian-this -th-th Zem-sko-th-th-for supplying the army. His many-year-old social and pre-da-va-tel-sky de-I-tel-ness was from-me-che-on se-reb-rya- noy me-da-leu of the Society of the Red Cross and the or-de-nome of St. Anne of the III degree.

Pro-and-e-ray Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-she-wa had four-ve-ro de-tey. Ra-no ov-do-vev, he lived with the younger do-che-ryu Var-va-roy, graduated from the gym-na-zia and the Higher Women's Courses in Ka-za -no. Var-va-ra Ni-ko-la-ev-na co-know-tel-but not you-ho-di-la for-husband, remaining under your father.

In August 1918, zhe-te-whether Vot-kin-ska, in the main work-bo-chie and serving for-yes, you-stu-pi- whether against the Soviet authorities. Pro-to-and-e-rey Ni-ko-bark, despite the danger, did not leave his arrival and continued to use his full pass -tyr-sky debt. Father Ni-ko-lai on the way-stvo-shaft dies-ra-yu-shchih, inspires-new-lyal pa-so-mykh. His daughter Var-va-ra is half-nya-la serving as sister mi-lo-ser-diya.

After the pressure of the resurrection of the city for-nya-whether the forces of the Red Army. After some time, in the urban co-bo-re, an-ti-re-li-gi-oz-ny dispute was held, on some rum in for-shi-that ve-ry you-step-drank about-and-e-ray Ni-ko-lai. On the next day, sacred-but-serve-te-la are-sto-va-li. The people later recalled that when they were-sto-you-wat from father Ni-ko-lai, his daughter Var-va-ra threw herself to the ro-di-te-lu and tightly hug him, so that no one could tear her off - neither red-no-ar-mei-tsy, nor the priest himself Nick. So they were increased together. In prison, they pro-si-de-li until January 2, 1919. Relatives of eco-nom-ki Cher-ny-she-vyh A.A. Mi-ro-lu-bo-va re-mi-na-et that with the se-sche-nii about. No-barking in prison found him calm, in a mo-lit-ve-n-on-stroke and "faithful to Jesus Christ." According to other vos-by-mi-na-ni-pits, Fr. No-ko-bark pro-strength to give him an ob-la-che-nie (ve-ro-yat-but - epi-tra-hil) for the performance of a divine service the same in the key-che-ni and especially-ben-but for the is-po-ve-di are-hundred-van-nyh.

Pro-to-and-e-rey Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-shev and his daughter Var-va-ra would have been raced on January 2, 1919. It is known that before shooting the arrow on the tre-bo-va-tion to remove the cross, he answered them: “Here I die - then take it off.” In-ho-ro-not-us, they would be on the Na-mountain treasure-house next to the Pre-ob-ra-women-so-bo-rum. Me-hundred of them in-gre-be-niya in-chi-ta-e-mo on-ro-house. There are cases of miraculous help for mo-lit-you to the pro-to-and-e-ray No-ko-bark in the is-tse-le-ni from the disease-ga vi-no -pi-tiya. Pro-to-i-e-rei Ni-ko-lai and his daughter Var-va-ra in-chi-ta-yut-sya in-that-ka-mi-kin-tsev for-gra-ni-tsey . In the church of St. John-on-the-Kre-sti-te-la in Berk-li, there is their image with my neuga-si-my lam-pa-doy.

March 7, 2018 -th Bla-go-ve-shchen-sko-go co-bo-ra Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-she-va and to-che-ri of his Var-va-ry.

Complete Lives of Hieromartyr Nikolai Chernyshev and His Daughter, Martyr Barbara

Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-shev was born in 1853, in the family of a priest-no-ka kin-sko-go for-vo-yes (namely, so-called-zy-val-sya in-so-lok, someone-ry now on-zy-va-et-sya go-ro-house Vot-kin-skom in Ud-mur-tiya). His father, An-drey Iva-no-vich Cher-ny-shev, was one of the most enlightened people in the village, from the West -ny for his pre-de-la-mi, not only his-and-mi pro-po-ve-dy-mi, but also research-follow-to-va-ni-i-mi in ob-la- sti kra-e-ve-de-niya. For-no-ma-ess-e-ve-de-no-em, he published-whether-co-val from his famous article “The Temple and the parish of Kam-sko-Vot-kin-sko th Bla-go-ve-shchen-so-so-bo-ra.

Ni-ko-lak Cher-ny-shev, following the example of his father, became a priest, ending in 1875 the Vyatka Spirit -nuyu se-mi-na-riyu. From the first days of his own self-hundred-I-tel-noy life-no. No-ko-bark for-no-ma-et-sya pe-da-go-gi-che-sky de-I-tel-no-stu. For diligent work on teaching in national schools for those 25 years, he was awarded the order of St. Anne 3 - nope. In the years of the Russian-Japanese war, Fr. No-ko-lak pri-ni-ma-et active participation in the ra-bo-those places-no-go-ko-mi-te-ta Society of the Red Crete a hundred, for which he was awarded a se-reb-ry-noy me-da-lew.

Father Ni-ko-lai bu-duchi with true hri-sti-a-ni-nom could not equal-but-soul-but from-but-sit-sya to the troubles of the native and at -no-small sa-my active participation in the help of the guardians. One of the misfortunes that befell the people in the 19th century was drunkenness. For the fight against him and the enlightenment of the simple one-on-ro-yes, he, by the blessing of St. John-on-Kronstadt go, established the Vot-kin-society of sobriety and became its chairman-se-da-te-lem.

In the way of his father, he was a ra-zo-van-ney-shim man, known not only to his-and-mi- me-cha-tel-ny-mi pro-ve-dya-mi and be-se-da-mi, but also as a big valuer of art. For many years, he was an even-numbered member of the Vot-kin-th-society of love-bi-te-lei mu-zy-kal-no-go and drama-ma-ti-che-sko-go art-stva them. P.I. Tea-kov-ko-go.

All my life about. No-bark, in-hallowed-illumination of his-e-on-ro-yes, bringing him the word of God, for which he lowered-kal among Vot-Kin-sky live-te-lei for-serving respect and love. After each service in the Bla-go-ve-shchen-sky co-bo-re, he was escorted to the house by huge crowds on-ro-yes, to sa -my mouth in-pro-shay him and asking for the forgiveness of the good-word-ve-tion.

In the family of Fr. Not-a-barking would-lo-ve-ro de-tey. He was up to a hundred exact but ov-to-led and in the last time he lived with his youngest daughter Var-va-roy, ( 1888 year of birth), some-paradise, after graduation from the higher female courses in Ka-za-ni, ra-bo-ta-la in Vot -kin-ske teach-te-lem.

On-stu-pi-whether thunderous days of re-in-lu-qi-on-no-go re-re-in-ro-ta in 1917. The power in the village would be for-hwa-che-for more-she-vi-ka-mi. Their ko-mi-te-you, according to-by-mi-na-ni-pits of those-no-ka S.N. Lot-ko-va, co-hundred-I-whether in the main of the newcomers, who took-them-in-the-de-place-of-a-hundred men-rank who went to the front yes “more-wist-sky near-tails like tech-no-ka Gilyo-va, two brothers and sisters Ka-ze-no-vyh, mat-ro-sa Bird-ni- co-va. At the head of them was an illiterate criminal, Philip Ba-klu-shin, once for the murder of a slan-ny on Sa-kha-lin, but re-vo -lu-qi-her liberated-god-day-ny with an unlimited-urgent ka-tor-gi. “Terrible and vengeful, he led the local Council of ra-bo-chih, peasant and soldier-Danish de-put-ta-tov and became yes -vit and ter-ro-ri-zi-ro-vat everything on-se-le-nie. There were all-che-pressure-non-nias, shoot-outs without trial and consequence, on-force and gra-be-mi. Ter-pe-nie for-water-chan would-lo on the pre-de-le. It’s not better de-la about-hundred-I-whether in the surrounding se-le-ni-yah. Here is how they were described by the peasant A. Po [you] shev, who became par-ti-za-nom 12 ro-you of the Vot-kin-th half-ka: “Ver-nu- shi-e-xia soldiers-yes-you, those that are worse, who were previously marked in theft and mo-shen-no-thing, well, word- Vom lazy, someone earlier liked to drink at someone else’s expense, began to agi-ti-ro-vat, that it was necessary to take away the land from more so-hundred-I-tel-nyh-mu-zhich-kov, and without that, not-a-hundred-accurate-for-household, in view of what we have become before-ro-go- visas and good mu-zhich-ki began to se-yat only “about yourself”. And now, in our vo-lo-sti, it has become-lo-of-me-nyat-sya, in a way that the authorities have become celebrating, but sha-ta-yu - shchi-e-sya lazy-tyai ... ".

Not wanting such power, it was soon thrown off by the water people and the peasants of the surrounding villages, raising from the West Izhevskoe -Here is the kin-sky recovery. Pain-she-vi-ki sta-well-whether huge forces in the district-it is re-sta-ning to crush it, and after 100 days beauty entered the po-so-lok -nye. On the night of November 12, 1918, everyone who was able to eva-ku-and-ro-wa-sya and the last part of the Vot-kin-sky Na-rod-noy army re-went to the other bank of Ka-we along the bridge created by them. The bridge was blown up, without having time and not being able to eva-ku-and-ro-vat-sya, they were left alone with the “si-la-mi of the greater-she-wist gangs, so-hundred-I-shchih from Mad-Yar, Ki-Tai-tsev and La-ty-shey. Were there re-ki blood-vi. According to the infor-ma-tion of the mountain-no-go in-the-same-not-ra V.N. Gra-mat-chi-ko-va, on-strongly-but you-ve-zen-no-go more-she-vi-ka-mi from Per-mi to Vot-kinsk and become-she-go-de - the body of those events, namely, in this period from November 1918 to April 1919, it was about-of-ve-de-but pain -she of all races. According to the cir-ku-la-ram fin-from-de-loving of the NKVD and Vyat-ko-go gu-bis-half-ko-ma on-se-le-nie Vot-kin-ska in 1916 -du-stav-la-lo 28.349 man-lo-age, and in 1919 only 12.127 man-lo-age. Without taking into account the natural increase, reduce it by 2.3 times. According to various sub-accounts, from 5 to 7 thousand, thousands of people were not guilty of anything. Trouble didn’t bypass the peasant’s house either. According to the words of the cross-stya-ni-na Po [you] she-va “A lot of re-re-re-for-our families. A lot was taken away from them by lo-sha-days and ko-ditch, bread and clothes, since all this would have been left-le-but on the pro-of-the-ox of fate. May these var-va-ry be damned, hu-li-te-whether faiths and raz-ru-shi-te-whether all for-ko-new God-s and che- lo-ve-che-sky!”

About the terrible so-be-ty-yah of those days, witness and sa-mi pa-la-chi. Yes, pre-se-da-tel of the kin-sko-go ChK Lin-de-man on the question of the pre-se-da-te-la revvo-en-so-ve-ta Zo-ri-na , doesn’t he miss in Vot-kin-sk, te-le-gra-fi-ro-val: “You work in a row-doch-but, but admit that something cool-del. Terrible, but out of nerves, not from a part, and went wild, after that, yes, I myself for-me-tea. And his ra-bo-that would be you-yav-le-ne-enemies and their subsequent uni-thing.

Enemy number one was the right-in-glorious spirit-ho-ven-stvo. In May 1918, at the Ple-nu-me of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), there was a decision about na-cha-le an-ti-tser-kov-no-go ter-ro -ra. And already in November 1918, the chairman of the Cheka of the East Front of the La-cis from-da-et to Vyatka and Perm order: “In the whole front-the-howl in-lo-se on-blu-yes-is-sa-maya shi-ro-kaya and unbridled agi-ta-tion of the spirit-ho-ven-stva of pro- tiv Soviet power. ... In view of the obvious counter-re-in-lu-qi-on-noy ra-bo-you of the spirit-ho-ven-stvo, I pre-pi-sy-vay to all front-line-to-you calculate-to-mom to pay special attention to the spirit-ho-ven-ness, to establish a careful supervision of them, to put shoot each of them, regardless of his rank, who dares you to take a word or deed against the Soviet authorities. The order was accepted that it was called “from the fly”. In na-cha-le de-kab-rya 1918, Lin-de-man joint-places-but Zo-ri-nym go-to-vyat evil-thing-me-ro-pri-i-tie, someone-swarm is named “pro-gram-ma No. 490”. 13 de-kab-rya (n.s.) Zo-rin and his help-no-ki come to Vot-kinsk. Zo-rin soon-re te-le-gra-fi-ru-et in Revvo-en-so-vet: “In-not-del-nick I am Sem-kov Sha-posh-ni-kov ez-di-li Here-Kinsk arrange-and-whether there are three mi-ting-ga, between the pro-chim, one in co-bo-re went to-free-but ho-ro-sho in the church-we would be op- for-nen-you are somehow successful, but once-be-whether toch-ka. Op-po-nen-that was the father of Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-shev, someone-ro-go more-she-vi-ki "successful but once-bi-li." But not in discussions like op-po-nen-ta, but simply are-sto-va-li and bro-si-li to prison. The people, in the after-du-u-scheme, remembered that when they became are-sto-you-wat from Ni-ko-lai, his daughter Var-va-ra bro -si-la to the father and firmly hugged him, that no one could tear her off, neither red-no-ar-mei-tsy, nor the priest himself . So they were increased together. In prison, they pro-si-de-li until January 2, 1919.

On this tragic day, did you take them out of prisons, and dis-stre-la-whether on the bank of the pond (on-against us-nesh-not-go Museum of P.I. Chai-kov-sko-go). Kras-no-ar-me-ets, in-pro-siv-shi-sya to warm-sya in one of the neighboring houses of the ras-say-zy-val: “Ras-str-li- wa-whether it’s long-but-gri-go-go, but somehow you couldn’t, did a few you-shots, and he kept on until the next-not-something whispered, pe-re-bi-para gu-ba-mi. Undoubtedly, it would be the next of his lifetime saints prayers. On tre-bo-va-nie, remove the cross Fr. No-ko-barking from-ve-til: “Here I’ll die then and take it off.” Together with him there would be a ras-str-la-na and Var-va-ra, still about-having his father and de-living with him the fate of mu-che-no-ka for Christ.

After the release of God-de-tion Kol-cha-kom Vot-kin-ska, in a-re-le 1919, yes, here-kin-tsy found-ka-lo-lo-e-go lu-bi-mo-go ba-tyush-ki and his do-che-ri and arrange-and-whether in the Bla-go-ve-shchen-sky so-bo-re all-for-native-noe pro-shcha -tion. This event is not from the pas of our people, they are from the co-le-tion to the co-le-re-re-yes- wow him. It’s just that it would be unknown, but there are a hundred of them for-ho-ro-non-niya. Lu-di him, all over vi-di-mo-sti, ta-and-whether. And only in the 90s of the last hundred years one-for-the-bla-go-che-sti-vaya resident Vot-kin-ska opened it. They are ho-ro-not-us at the walls of the Pre-ob-ra-women's church.

Sacred-but-mu-che-nick Ni-ko-lai Cher-ny-shev and mu-che-ni-tsa Var-va-ra include-us in the me-sya-tse-words of Russian Pra-in-glorious Church-vi re-she-ni-em Holy-no-go Si-no-da March 7, 2018 (journal No. 6), with definitive le-no-eat holidays-no-va-niya of the day of pa-me-ti 2 January-va-rya.

Father Nikolai, please tell us about the Icon Painting School in Klenniki. Who are her students? What are the conditions for admission? What disciplines are taught?

Father Nicholas: The history of the Parish Icon-Painting School of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki began during the service of the holy righteous Alexy Mechev and his son, Hieromartyr Sergius, in our church at the beginning of the 20th century. The school was founded by a parishioner of the Temple, one of the closest spiritual children of Father Alexy, Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova, who in secret monastic vows bore the name Juliana. She was a person who revived the traditions of ancient Russian icon painting, one of the few who were then seriously and truly engaged in this amazing work. Maria Nikolaevna brought up the students of her school, not only explaining the meaning and purpose of the icon, the difference from the picture, the features of the iconic language, but also practically teaching this holy craft. In the 1920s and subsequent years, in the era of the destruction of traditions, Maria Nikolaevna was engaged in the preservation of traditional culture, creation and creativity based on the experience of the Church - because of which the Church was persecuted, because of which she was hated. Few people were doing this at that time, and Maria Nikolaevna rarely met with understanding not only among artists, art historians, historians, but even in the church environment, because ancient icon was considered something outdated. Father Alexy and Father Sergius taught Maria Nikolaevna the patristic attitude towards the Icon.

Among her closest students was Irina Vasilievna Vatagina, together they worked at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Maria Nikolaevna passed on to her the subtleties of icon painting, Irina Vasilievna studied with her pedagogical techniques for your future students. Irina Vasilievna long years was an employee of the Andrei Rublev Museum and the spiritual child of Archpriest Vsevolod Shpiller, who in the 1970s began the restoration of the Moscow Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church. The icon-painting and spiritual experience of Maria Nikolaevna was close to him, he was grateful for participation in icon-painting works in the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church of Irina Vasilievna Vatagina. At that time, Father Alexander Kulikov, the closest co-servant of Father Vsevolod, served there, who, after his death, took over spiritual guidance Irina Vasilievna.

When the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki was opened in 1990, Father Alexander Kulikov became its first rector and immediately, in 1991, he decided to restore the icon painting school in the Temple. At the petition to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II for the opening of the School, it was stated: "... to restore the icon-painting and spiritual traditions of the work of the nun Juliana." Together with Irina Vasilievna, many icon painters, restorers, masters of church crafts came to the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, most of whom were brought up in the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church under Father Vsevolod. There were also new generations of artists - masters of church arts.

Today, along with the main adult department of the Parish Icon Painting School, its Children's Department operates. Father Alexander gave very great importance so that from an early age, children who come with their parents to the Temple would be accustomed to seeing the icon and its practical comprehension. It is important to start mastering icon art as early as possible, literally from school years as it was in the Middle Ages in ancient Russia and Byzantium. As you know, education began precisely in childhood, when the child got used to this wonderful world during the development of his personality. The main emphasis in our School is on the practical development of the icon, on the “copying” by children of the same fragments of icons, frescoes and works of arts and crafts that serve as models for adult student icon painters. Of course, it is impossible to demand an exact “scientific” copy from young children - the child has his own world, his own view, his own vision of the icon, but there are certain learning requirements. Along with icon painting, the fundamentals of icon making technology are also studied. Students should know how a board is prepared, how it is primed, how to prepare paints, in what order they are applied, and how an icon is covered with a protective layer. Here are the basics of materials science, and the sequence of the icon-painting process itself. In addition, we now teach academic drawing, because sometimes we see capable and talented people, but who have absolutely no school. The history of Russian art and Christian art in general is taught, and more recently the History of the Church. Since this is a parish school, disciplines such as the New Testament and Liturgy are comprehended during the participation of students in worship.

Children, teenagers and students study at our school. Almost from the beginning of the functioning of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute (now the University), its rector, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, turned to Archpriest Alexander Kulikov with a request to shelter the icon painting faculty within the walls of the Parish Icon Painting School. The Faculty of Church Arts of PSTGU started here.

The students of the School are the parishioners of our Church, but to the best of our ability and ability, we accept people from other churches, sometimes they come from afar, and some of them come to us for advice. As a rule, admission to the School is carried out on the recommendation of the confessor.

Children enter the School without any tests, dropping out occurs later in the learning process. Beforehand, we conduct an interview with the parents and the child and ask them to bring us some work in order to see the level of the child’s preparation and understand where we should start learning, what to talk about with him, what tasks to give him. Approximately the same thing happens with adults - first of all, we are not interested in a document about the education they received, but what a person can do, however, the requirements for admitting adults are more serious.

What is the peculiarity of teaching icon painting to children and teenagers? How does the child perceive the icon?

Elena Chernysheva: The Children's Icon Painting School began operating in 1991, and this children's department was actually created by Larisa Alekseevna Fedyanina. She is a teacher, artist, icon painter, parishioner of our Church. It was she who developed the methodology and teaching programs, according to which we are still working. Children begin to engage in icon painting at the age of 7-8, when the task of copying becomes clear to them. Since this is an educational task, the children receive fragments of icons as samples. They start with simple ornaments, images of animals and plants. At the same time, the child knows from which icon the image was taken, we tell him about this, or he himself must find out. The degree of difficulty of the tasks depends on the level of abilities of the child, so the lessons are individual. Children study all together in the same class, but each has its own separate task. Those who study younger art and different types decorative and applied arts. Now there are very small students, from 4 years old, we teach them developing drawing, children learn to use tools, paint and color. Pupils are very interested in classes at the Icon Painting School, no matter how you come, everyone works very painstakingly, carefully, over every detail, and the premises of the School are always full. Our School also teaches the Fundamentals of Iconology - a synthetic subject that includes the Law of God, Liturgy, Art History. School students regularly go on excursions, including to the Andrei Rublev Museum. Children should see with their own eyes those treasures of ancient Russian culture that are in our country!

Sometimes parents bring their children with the desire to immediately make their child an icon painter. However, over time, children understand that before painting icons, one must work and learn a lot. If by the age of 15 the desire to paint icons, to become a professional in this art persists, if the child’s parents and he himself see the opportunity to work further in this area, then he moves to the senior group, where he takes preparatory courses, in order to then enter an art or theological university . At the same time, the requirements are very seriously increased.

Initially, it is important for us that the child has an interest in the icon, so that he learns to see it, understand its meaning and purpose. The child does not mechanically copy the sample - he must understand what lies behind each of its details. In the icon-painting language there is no place for any accidents, but there are quite certain patterns that the child should be aware of. Not every modern man, even having an art education, is able to perceive this language without studying. It is unusual, its study begins with ornaments, then comes figures and compositions. After all, while learning the Russian language, we all first wrote sticks, hooks, then letters, words, phrases, dictations. Only then did presentations and compositions come when a person had already learned all the laws of the Russian language. The same patterns and methodological features now have to be mastered by studying the icon-painting language. But not as fast as we would like! Brought up on academic art, we have forgotten how to see, understand and feel the language of icons - that is why it takes so long to learn it, and it is better to start from childhood.

How do you feel about the statement that “the youth today is not the same”? What, in your opinion, should be done to instill in them a love for art, for spiritual life?

Father Nicholas: I think these problems have always been there. The statement of one ancient Greek philosopher is known, who was also dissatisfied with the youth of his day. It's been going on since the days Ancient Greece and Egypt.

Iconography was not originally a compulsory discipline for everyone, but now there are other disciplines that it is desirable for all of us to know from childhood - Holy Bible, the history of our country and the world as a whole. Each person has his own talent, some musical, some literary, artistic. Here, of course, there is a certain selection, and those who feel a thirst for working with an icon come to us to study. Not everyone does it equally well, but it is important for us in these years to “infect” with this thirst and show the beauty of the icon, at the same time its simplicity and wisdom, openness and mystery, so that a person gradually yearns to comprehend it more and more.

What to do? Try to master the icon yourself, love it and “infect” with this love as much as you yourself feel it, those for whom it is really dear and important. Love for art, spiritual life should be instilled, first of all, by parents in the family, as well as teachers at school, museum workers, etc.

It happens that we encounter both indifference and indifference, but we still try to show everything we can. Even if the children do not become icon painters in the future, this memory from childhood will change them in some way, at least for a drop, in their adult life.

It is planned to hold an exhibition of your Icon Painting School in the Gallery-Refectory "Bread House". Will it be an exhibition exclusively of the children's department, or will the work of students of the transitional and adult departments be presented too? How many works will be presented?

Father Nicholas: The exhibition will present the work of the Children's Department of the Icon Painting School of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki. About 50 works will be exhibited. We will select the most expressive and suitable drawings of our children for the entire period of the School. And here we will not limit ourselves, since we do not often hold such exhibitions.

Will the exhibition have a specific theme? Or will appear different plots?

Father Nicholas: The exhibition is called "The Icon through the Eyes of a Child". On it you will see the images of the Saints familiar to you in children's refraction - how a child could see this icon that has long been known to everyone with his own eyes, what to understand, feel, what to learn in it. These are plots of Russian icons, and Byzantine, and Balkan ones - holidays, ornaments, fragments of icons, frescoes, mosaics and book miniatures. In general, everything that belongs to the world Orthodox fine arts.

Now you, together with the Andrei Rublev Foundation, are discussing a project to organize a children's icon painting school at the Andrei Rublev Museum. Please share your expectations from this project.

Father Nicholas: We are waiting for another place to appear where the icon would be dear, where it would be studied intently without any approximations, without any commercial component. We want truly talented people to appear here who would be ready to devote their talent to the comprehension and development of this craft, which has come down to us from the depths of centuries, but which is in demand today and which will be in demand in the future. It is important that this connection is not interrupted. We expect that the principle that both His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and representatives of our intelligentsia often speaks about here will be implemented - this is the relationship between the Church and culture.

In fact, there are no fundamental disagreements between the Church and culture. Here, it seems to me, there is an opportunity to unite the efforts of the clergy, church workers, employees of the Andrei Rublev Museum and other specialists who would be ready to make efforts in order to transfer their theoretical knowledge about the icon and practical icon painting skills.

Press Service of the Foundation Reverend Andrew Rublev

The book "Introduction to the Temple" includes articles on masterpieces of church art and painting on Christian themes - the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, St. Basil's Cathedral, the Church of the Transfiguration in Kizhi, the murals of the Ferapont Monastery, "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev, paintings by Alexander Ivanov "The Appearance of the Messiah ” and “Requiem” by Pavel Korin, Western temples and temples of Russia. The last section of the book contains reflections on what kind of temples are needed today. Edition is joint project Cultural and educational fund "Transfiguration" and St. Philaret's Orthodox Christian Institute.

His friends and colleagues in secular and ecclesiastical work - well-known art historians, teachers and clergy - came to express their opinion about the book and congratulate the author.

He said that the book is not only a collection of previously published articles. Each of them had to be seriously revised to make a publication addressed primarily to those who are preparing for baptism and churching, as well as to those who have been going to church for a long time, but are not aware of the spiritual and artistic content of church architecture, murals, icons. When creating the book, the key for the author was the image of the introduction to the temple Holy Mother of God, described in the apocrypha “Protoevangelium of James” (II century): the joy of little Mary, the future Mother of God, who, forgetting about everyone around her, rushed to the temple, “jumping for joy”, and the universal joy of the people, who, seeing this, “fell in love her".

I would like a modern person, upon entering the temple, to spiritually rejoice, so that he not only sees something new for himself, but accepts the best that is in the temple as his own, as if he recognized it - yes, that's how it should be to be... But it is better to show this now not in a large sequentially written book, but in separate "flashes": temples, their interior decoration, icons. After all, they are all about one thing - about what pleases, revealing the content of our faith, - the author said.

As noted by the chief researcher of the Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts Russian Academy of Arts, Doctor of Arts, despite the fact that the book "Introduction to the Temple" is written about outstanding masterpieces, to which entire volumes are devoted, it contains new facts, debunks common myths. And most importantly - the author, having analyzed the essence of church art, showed one of its main qualities - understatement, a mystery that determines the essence of the image.

The book managed to achieve harmony in the combination of church and art history views on church art, - emphasized the leading researcher of the Institute art education and Cultural Studies of the Russian Academy of Education, Ph.D. ped. Sciences. - I was struck by her language, the warmth with which she spoke about the fate of people associated with these masterpieces.

The problem of discrepancy between ecclesiastical and secular specialists was also noted, Chief Editor magazine "Art in School", head of the laboratory psychological problems artistic development Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation, Dr. of Psychology. Sciences. According to him, the book managed to bridge the gap between the religious and the secular in culture. He described the chapters of the book as positive evidence that unites people and contributes to the growth of interest in church art in the pedagogical environment.

Head of the Department of Old Russian Painting of the State Historical Museum, Ph.D. art criticism was glad that the book could be used as a guide for excursions and lectures on church art.

This is not just a wonderful book in all respects - both in scientific and in the style of presentation of the material. By studying it, the person who has to talk to the sightseers can use it as a guide. Now schools bring children to museums, and one can imagine how difficult it will be for school teachers to show them icons. I think that this book can be very helpful here, - said Lyudmila Petrovna.

According to Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev, icon painter, member of the Patriarchal Commission on Art History, cleric of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, the book has a special quality, one of its main advantages is the warmth with which each monument is described, its form and content, which confirms the novelty and tradition of church art.

The executive editor of the “Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate” called the book a personal testimony to the fact that ecclesiastical art is turned not only to the past, that even now freedom of creativity is possible. As Sergei Valeryevich emphasized, "we are capable of more than just imitation of some mythological Russia." And that it is church art that convincingly answers the question “Does a Christian have freedom” with “yes”.

This is the starting point for church art, which allows you to enter the temple. The author of the book speaks about this very delicately, very gently, unfolding his thought in different contexts, - he concluded.

Reference
Alexander Mikhailovich Kopirovsky - candidate pedagogical sciences, Master of Theology. Professor of the Department of Philosophy, Humanities and Natural Sciences of the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute. Author and teacher of the courses "Church Architecture and Fine Arts", "Religious Aesthetics", "Christian Aesthetics", "Introduction to Theology". More than 15 years he worked in Moscow art museums. Member Russian Association art historians. Author of more than 200 publications on scientific, theological and church art topics.

Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev, a cleric of the church in honor of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, shared his memories of the writer with the Patriarchy.ru portal, having been the confessor of the Solzhenitsyn family over the past few years.

- Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn was escorted to last way in accordance with Orthodox tradition. Tell me, please, what was the writer's path to faith?

— I would like to refer to the book by Lyudmila Saraskina, dedicated to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, which was recently published in the Life of Remarkable People series. In this book, the biography of the writer is described most fully and soberly.

Alexander Isaevich grew up in an Orthodox, deeply believing family and from the very beginning was aware of himself Orthodox Christian. These were the years of militant atheism, so at school he had problems with classmates and teachers. Naturally, he did not join either the pioneers or the Komsomol. Pioneers tore off his cross, but each time he put it on again.

At that time, in the Rostov region (Rostov-on-Don), where the writer was born and lived at that time, churches were closed one after another. By the time he grew up, there were no functioning churches left in the district hundreds of miles from Rostov. At that time, the ideas of Marxism and Leninism were being imposed, as we know, not just actively, but aggressively. In educational institutions it was necessary to study "diamat". A young man, Sasha Solzhenitsyn, became interested in Marxism, dialectical materialism, and this came into conflict with his childhood beliefs. Something unbearable was put on the fragile soul. At that time, many broke under this burden.

As Alexander Isaevich said, it was a period of painful doubts, rejection of children's beliefs and pain. He saw that there was no truth in what was going on around him. But the theory, smoothly expressed in books, tempted.

A truly return to God and a rethinking took place not even at the front, but already in the camps, after the war. In these most painful moments of his life, he remembered the “leaven” that was given by his mother to the family. Therefore, it cannot be said that his coming to faith was abrupt and unexpected. Faith was passed down in his family from generation to generation, and it turned out to be stronger.

The change that happened to Alexander Isaevich in the camps, he described in his 1952 poem "Akathist". In a sincere, poetic form, he talks about that breakdown, about what happened in his soul during this change:

Yes, when am I so empty, clean
Did you dispel everything from good grains?
After all, I also spent adolescence
In the bright singing of Your temples!

The wisdom of the book sparkled,
My haughty piercing the brain,
The secrets of the world appeared - comprehended,
The lot of life is malleable like wax.

Blood seethed - and every streak
A different color seethed ahead, -
And, without a rumble, quietly, crumbled
Building of faith in my chest.

But passing between being and non-being,
Falling down and holding on to the edge
I watch in grateful awe
For my life.

Not by my mind, not by desire
Its every kink is consecrated -
The meaning of the Supreme with an even radiance,
Explained to me only later.

And now, by the returned measure
Having scooped up living water,
God of the Universe! I believe again!
And with the forsaken You were with me...

- Alexander Isaevich himself said about himself that he was "not an expert in church matters." What aspects of church life interested him?

- He, of course, was not a “church person” in the sense that he was not interested in church canons, the structure of worship, the organization of one or another outside church life. It was the life of the soul. Life as prayer and as the fulfillment of the gospel. But what he suffered and worried about, if we talk about aspects of the life of the Russian Church, is that the Church is in a depressed state. It was open, obvious, naked and painful for him. Starting with divine services, which are becoming more and more incomprehensible and performed separately from the people, and ending with less and less participation of the Church in the life of society, in caring for young people and older people. He was interested in how the life of the Church should be built in accordance with the Gospel.

He was concerned about the problem of the unity of the Church. This is something about which the heart of a believer cannot but ache. Alexander Isayevich felt this as a personal pain. He saw that church divisions, of course, affect society as well. Schism XVII century, he perceived as an insurmountable problem. He was extremely respectful of the Old Believers, he saw how much truth was in them. And he worried that there was no real unity, although canonical communion was observed.

All the problems of any divisions in church life were extremely painful for Alexander Isaevich.

– Now many people recall the writer’s famous “Lenten Letter” to Patriarch Pimen (1972) and say that Solzhenitsyn expected and demanded from the Church a more active participation in the life of society. What were his views on this matter at the end of his life?

- Alexander Isaevich himself was one of those people who could not be silent, his voice was constantly heard. And, of course, he was convinced that the words of the Savior, “Go preach the gospel to every creature,” must be fulfilled. One of his convictions, his idea was that the Church, on the one hand, must certainly be separated from the state, but in no case be separated from society.

He believed that this is completely different, that these are directly opposite things. Inseparability from society must be more and more manifest. And here he could not but see the encouraging changes of recent years. He perceived with joy and gratitude everything positive that was happening in Russia and in the Church, but he was far from calm, because over the years Soviet power the whole society has become mangled and diseased.

He understood that if the sick person leads the sick person or the lame person leads the lame, do not expect good. That activity, to which he called, that inseparability from society should in no case be expressed in a violent, overwhelming system of thoughts and actions, familiar to the Soviet era.

The Church, he believed, on the one hand, is called upon to lead society and more actively influence public life, but in no case should these days be expressed in the forms that were adopted in the ideological machine that broke and mangled people. The situation changed in last years. And he could not help feeling new dangers.

Once he was asked about what he thinks about the freedom for which he fought, how he relates to what is happening. He answered with one precise phrase: "There is a lot of freedom, little truth." He was well aware of this danger of substitution, and therefore was far from calm.

When he returned to his homeland and began to travel around Russia, all of her plight. And this concerned not only the economic side, but also its spiritual state.

He, of course, saw a fundamental difference between what was in the 30s, 50s, and the current state of affairs. He was not a dissident who was always in confrontation with everything. This is not true. There are people who try to present it like that. But he wasn't like that. Always, despite the exposure of these terrible wounds of society by him, a mighty life-affirming force is visible in what he wrote and did. He had a positive, life-affirming and bright attitude of a Christian.

— A.I. Solzhenitsyn was one of the outstanding thinkers of the last century in Russia. Tell me, did not a contradiction arise in his soul between reason and religious feeling?

- The contradiction took place in the years of his youth, starting from the senior classes of the school, during the front-line years. It was a time when all the temples were closed, and there was no one to consult with when church life was almost completely destroyed by the Bolshevik machine of repression. Then there was a contradiction. What began in the camps was a return to the origins of faith, a revival of a sense of responsibility for every step and every decision.

Of course, Alexander Isaevich was an ambiguous person. They will argue about it and should argue about it. With a personality of such magnitude and magnitude, it cannot be otherwise. This person did not just repeat memorized thoughts after someone, but went to the gospel truth through his own search.

His Holiness the Patriarch, in the word with which he honored Alexander Isaevich at the funeral, quoted the gospel commandment from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the exiled for the sake of truth." This applies to the long and painful pages of the life of Alexander Isaevich. The words of the Savior also apply to his entire life, from his school years to his last days: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Of course, we focus on the first part of this phrase. But I saw that he experienced bliss and spiritual saturation, possible in this earthly life, and joy in his last days came to him for the fulfillment of his calling.

He said: “If I myself built my life according to own plan, then it would all consist of terrible mistakes. Now I can see it. But the Lord kept correcting and rebuilding my life, sometimes in an invisible way, sometimes in an obvious way. Now I see that everything turned out in such a way that it could not have been better.” These are the words of a deeply believing person, grateful to God and accepting with gratitude everything that the Lord sends him.

- Could Alexander Isaevich be called a parishioner of any church? How often did he go to church?

- When we met Alexander Isaevich, he was already sick and almost never left the house. When the Solzhenitsyn family returned to Russia, Alexander Isaevich and Natalya Dmitrievna came to our church and got acquainted with the clergy and parishioners. After that, Natalya Dmitrievna began to come often and ask to come to confession, consecration and communion of her husband in their house in Trinity-Lykovo.

This form of our communication was connected only with the fact that Alexander Isaevich no longer had the strength and opportunity to come to services himself. I must say that I visited them regularly, and not occasionally.

— What memories of the deceased will you have as a priest and confessor?

“Most of all, I was struck by the simplicity and artlessness. Amazing tenderness and care for each other always reigned in their family. This is also a manifestation of his Christian attitude towards his loved ones, building the house of a small Church. This is what really amazed me. Artlessness, simplicity, sensitivity, care, attentive attitude - all this was characteristic of Alexander Isaevich.

At the time we met him, he was asking himself a question—a question to which the answer had previously been obvious to him: what he should do. He said: it seems to me that I have fulfilled everything, it seems to me that my calling has been fulfilled; I don't understand why I'm left. Everything that he considered necessary for himself to say and write, everything has been done, all the works have been published. What's next? The children grew up, he gave them a real upbringing, the family has a structure, as it should be. And in this situation, I had to remind him that if the Lord leaves you in this world, it means that there is some sense in this, and you, please, pray about this, to understand why this time was granted. And then, when some time had passed, he said: "Yes, I understood, this time was given to me for myself - not for external work, but for looking into myself."

He spoke about this in one of his interviews: old age is given to a person in order to peer into himself, to evaluate, rethink and treat every moment of his life more and more strictly.

At the same time, such thoughts were not fruitless self-digging, they served as the basis for feasible service even in recent times. Already a weak man, he nevertheless did not allow himself any relaxation or carelessness. He strictly planned his schedule until recently. Along with such a strict work schedule, he tried to accept people. Many and many, completely from different circles. And he tried not to leave unanswered - in a personal conversation or in writing - everyone who addressed him.

Many called him and are now calling him a recluse, they say that he supposedly retired and did not participate in anything. This is not entirely true. Many people came to him, many asked for help.

The fact that he was buried by Orthodox rank, is not just a tribute to tradition. This is evidence that a person who truly served Christ and His Church completed his earthly life.

Interviewed by Maria Moiseeva

CHERNYSHEV, Archpriest Nikolai, cleric of the church of St. Nicholas of Myra in Klenniki.

Date of birth - 09/16/1959, Moscow.

The ending high school– 1976

Baptized in 1978 by Archpriest Alexander Kulikov in the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church.

Secular education - higher: Artistic and graphic faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Lenin 1978-1983

Service in the USSR Armed Forces - 1983-1984

Studying icon painting with I.V. Vatagina, then with Archimandrite Zinon (Theodore).

Work as a restorer in the department of restoration of easel and tempera painting of the All-Russian Research Institute of Restoration - 1985-1987

Work as a restorer at the MDA - 1987-1988

Participation in the painting of the Intercession Church of the MDA - 1987-1988.Participation in the organization of the icon-painting school at the MTA.

Studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary - 1988-1991.Ordained a deacon on November 26, 1989 by His Eminence Alexander, Archbishop of Dmitrovsky.

Diaconal practice - in the MDA and in the church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy.

From 03/27/1991 - full-time deacon of the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.
Ordained to the priesthood on January 4, 1992 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia in the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki. From 01/04/1992 - regular priest of the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.

State award - medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow".

Church awards:
01/03/1995 - gaiter
04/12/1999 - kamilavka
04/28/2002 - pectoral cross
04/12/2012 - club.
09/16/2004 - Order of St. Andrei Rublev III degree.
Holy Week 2007 - elevated to the rank of archpriest.
09/29/2009 - Order of St. blgv. Prince Daniel III degree.
December 22, 2014 was awarded a medal Reverend Sergius Radonezh.

Since the time of baptism, he has been actively studying the theory and practice of icon painting. Participates in the paintings of the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church in Moscow, the Church of St. vmch. Demetrius of Thessalonica in the village of Dmitrovskoye (Moscow Diocese), Intercession Church of the MDA and others.

1988-1990 - teaching icon painting in the icon painting school organized with his participation at the Moscow State Academy of Arts.
Since the founding of PSTBI (1992) (now - PSTGU) - Associate Professor of the Department of Iconography of the Faculty of Church Arts.
Permanent cleric (deacon, then second priest) of the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki since the resumption of services there (12/17/1990).
Member of the Patriarchal Art History Commission since its foundation. April 18, 2017 by order His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia was appointed Deputy Diocesan Antiquities Keeper of Moscow.
Since the return of the St. Nicholas in the Klenniki Church combines the deaconal, and then the priestly service in it with work on the restoration of the aforementioned temple: the Kazan, and then the Nikolsky altars, Nikolsky and part of the Kazan chapel were painted, the Royal Doors of the St. Nicholas iconostasis, temple, lectern icons, etc.
Since the founding of the parish icon-painting school at the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki (1991), together with I.V. Vatagina (until her death in 2007) teaches icon painting there.
Graduates of the parish icon-painting school now teach icon painting at the Faculty of Church Arts of PSTGU, at the icon-painting courses "Co-action", work in the icon-painting and restoration workshop "Kanon", paint icons and wall paintings for many churches of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Under the direction of Archim. Zinona Fr. Nikolai and his brigade painted the iconostasis of the side aisle of the temple of the Novovalam Monastery.
Together with the students, the wall of the refectory of the church of St. Pervomuch was painted. Stephen in Vézelay (France).
Together with a team of graduates of the FCC PSTBI and the parish icon-painting school, the dome of the church of St. Sergius in the village Pleskovo (Patriarchal Compound).
A brigade organized by Fr. Nicholas from his students under the guidance of archim. Zenon painted St. Nicholas Cathedral in Vienna (Austria).
Icons about. Nicholas and his disciples are in various dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as in Italy, Germany, Sweden, and other countries.
Since the mid-2000s, he has regularly held master classes at the parish icon-painting school of the church of St. Sergius in Stockholm (Sweden).
Author of a number of articles on church culture, on the theory of icon painting, as well as on contemporary figures of church culture: nun Juliania (Sokolova), M.N. Grebenkov, L.A. Fedyanina, I.V. Vatagina, A.G. . Zinone (Theodore). The articles were published in the Moscow Journal, the journals Alpha and Omega, Monuments of the Fatherland, Art school”,“ Artistic Council ”,“ Neskuchny Garden ”, etc.

Participated in the organization of the conference "Church, Museum, Culture" (1992).
Speaks at church and public events dedicated to the preservation and revival cultural heritage and problems of church culture today.In the temple, he holds weekly gospel talks with parishioners.

Maintains relations with the clergy and employees of PSTGU; Moscow churches: St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy, the church of St. indefinitely Cosmas and Damian on Maroseyka, St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, Intercession in Fili, other Moscow parishes, with the church of St. Sergius in Stockholm (Sweden), pervomuch. Stephen in Vezelay (France), St. Nicholas in Vienna (Austria), with museum staff, restorers, art historians, icon painters.

Married, has three sons.

After the death of Archpriest Alexander Kulikov, from April 2009, he temporarily acted as rector of the church.