In 1993, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Institute and the Brotherhood in the Name of the All-Merciful Savior published the book Father Arseny on the basis of samizdat, which was loved by believers and quickly sold out. However, I knew that Fr. Arseny's spiritual children still had many memories that were not included in the book. More than 20 years have passed since Fr. Arseny's death, Kira, Yuri, Natalia Petrovna, Yulia, Lyuda and others who were previously friends with me have already died (in 1995 they would have been 9293 years old), their children and grandchildren were reluctant to give what they had written, or even refused. Why? It was difficult to understand, but it was so. Nevertheless, with the blessing of Fr. Vladimir Vorobyov, it was possible to collect 12 memoirs for the third edition (1998), and another 16 memoirs for the fourth edition with great difficulty.

Now I am over 90 years old, but what Fr. Arseny said still lives in me, reminding me of the need for deep faith in the Lord, constant prayer and faithfulness to the great Gospel truth, expressed in the words: love your neighbor as yourself.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Bykov.

A village is not worth without a righteous man, says a Russian proverb. Who are these righteous men, if our Russia still stands, having gone through the terrible 20th century?

These righteous men are the best people of our people, in whom the inextinguishable fire of faith burned, bishops and priests, monks and simple believers, peasants and workers, nobles, merchants, factory owners, teachers, soldiers, representatives of all classes, who were shot, exiled to torture and death in camps, persecuted for their faith in God, for faithfulness to the vocation that was given to them by God.

The lives of these people are the most beautiful pages of our history, an example of faith, loyalty and courage to us and all subsequent generations. These people, who have not departed from God even in the face of death, are many, many thousands. Almost all of them have already left this world, but there are still witnesses of their lives who can tell about them, about their confessor's feat and martyrdom.

A little more time will pass, and these witnesses will be gone. Our time is the last when it is possible to record and collect invaluable testimonies about the lives of many ascetics and confessors of the 20th century. To collect, preserve and make known the biographies of the righteous is the most important task of our time and our duty to God and people. A people who have preserved the memory of their past will be able to hope for the future, testimonies about the lives of our new saints are the best means of good education of younger generations.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Institute is collecting and processing materials related to the fate of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church repressed in the 20th century. The Institute has created an information system based on the personal data of more than 14,000 hierarchs, priests, monastics and ordinary believers who suffered for Christ during the recent persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church. The commemoration book of the new martyrs, compiled on the basis of this information and containing the names of the victims of the current day, is read today in monasteries and parishes throughout Russia.

The editors appeal to all living witnesses, to people of the older generation, to workers of libraries, archives and museums, to those who are already doing this work, with a request to report all little-known information about the life of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century, its clergy and well-known figures to the Department of Contemporary History of the Russian Orthodox Church at the address: 113184, Moscow, Novokuznetskaya Street, 23B; fax 953-56-97; e-tail pstbi.ccas.ru.