And finally, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (now having acquired a completely different look), like any first church, was extraordinarily dear to the young priest. He became dear to me from the very first day, also because I was ordained in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, which bears the name of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo (after the side chapel), and was baptized in Ilyinsky in Obydensky. This love sometimes reached such stupidity that I once mentally chose a place for my future grave there (you know? a kind of narcissistic romanticism). In addition, later, a few years later, I learned from the younger sister of my late grandfather that her grandfather was the rector of it, that is, my great-great-grandfather, priest Pavel Smirnov, who was also buried here.

But an important factor was also a purely spiritual moment. Even in the seminary, when the guys asked where I would like to serve, in the city or in the village, I had to answer that there are advantages and disadvantages everywhere. In this sense, the Altufyevsky Church (at a time when there were no terrible "people" around) was an ideal in my understanding. Ten steps - and you are outside Moscow, and there are as many transport leading to Moscow as you want, that is, any Muscovite can get there without any trains, although this option is also possible. The distance from residential development is quite large; a forest, a large pond where ducks used to swim; on the territory of the temple there are trees that probably saw both the builder of the temple, the nobleman Nikita Akinfiev, and my great-great-grandfather. And the trees are my favorite oaks. Silence, peace, at the service you can hear the birds singing, rare cars are almost unheard, nightingales... a wooden gatehouse, with a porch, flowers, a bench between two, I think, linden trees, the holy spring of St. Macarius of Zheltovodsk nearby.

We served in weeks: the rector Fr. Michael for a week, I for a week, and the holidays together. In 10 years, we quarreled only twice. The first one was reconciled in half an hour, the second one was the next day. All household chores are on the abbot, and later on the headman. So there was something to regret if some kind of bungling would lead to the loss of this paradise on earth. And I, as a novice priest, still needed a "hothouse" atmosphere.

He wrote a lot, but not yet about what he wanted, but it is pleasant to remember, since what he once grumbled about is now forgotten. Although in his mind he always understood: if you live in paradise, you appreciate every breath of air. The same thing was said by his priest friends, who had already had a taste of grief. I never forgot about the possible transfer, especially since my peers were transferred from church to church quite regularly.

Thank you to everyone who showed obedience and thereby made it possible to spend the first half of my service in Altufievo. But after the regime in the country began to change and on the day of the Icon of the Mother of God "Assuage My Sorrows" I learned that I was entrusted with the restoration of the Church of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh – a great saint who before his death took schema with the name in honor of Macarius of Zheltovodsk and was previously the abbot of the Makarievsky Monastery – I very easily, which even surprised me. transferred this message, later confirmed by the decree of His Holiness Pimen. No wonder our whole family drank water only from the Makariev spring for ten years. I was especially pleased that there is a direct bus between the two churches, and soon the Altufyevo - Dmitrovskaya metro was launched. So I did not have to part with those with whom I had grown together in ten years – as it is said in the rite of holy baptism, "splintered".

And a year later, the small Mitrofanievsky Church could not accommodate everyone, since it was built for an orphanage, where 80 orphans were raised, so our warden Vasily Sergeevich Krivozertsev came up with the idea of bothering about the Annunciation Church, which stands a kilometer away. Thus, after a while, two churches were formed in our parish, the number of those who recorded sermons increased dramatically, and it became more and more difficult to somehow regulate this spontaneous process. When, about five years ago, people began to come to me from different places with a request for some cassette tapes, I realized that resistance was losing all meaning, and from that time on I lifted all restrictions on the distribution of audio recordings.

But the imperfection of oral preaching has always bothered me, and when our parish publishing house offered to edit and publish the sermons, after thinking for several years (also about five), asking the blessing of my spiritual father, I decided on the first experiment that is in front of you. I will be very glad if some of what has been said, and now written down and published, will be useful to someone. You can read from either end, although we have begun to adhere to an approximate chronology. And for those who cherish the Altufiev period of our communication, we decided to revive the book with old, but dear to us photographs.

Even before you started reading, I apologize for the audacity of the very fact of publication. Those depicted in the photo – for having to do it without their permission; prose writers – for style; preachers – for their earthy tone; theologians – for possible involuntary mistakes, which sometimes arise in hyperbole. And so do all those who think that this is said about him (often after a sermon people come up with resentment, and this is not true – I was talking about myself, not about them at all). If possible, forgive my obvious infirmities.

And I ask everyone who likes the book to pray for the workers of the publishing department of our Sisterhood in honor of the Grand Duchess Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna. Despite the cramped conditions, they perform their obedience and need prayerful help. If it were not for their many years of perseverance, this book would not have taken place. And whether there will be another, a third, etc., depends on who will be more, satisfied with it or not, what time will show and any of your criticisms and wishes, which, of course, we will not all be able to "put into practice", but we will listen to everyone with attention. Write to the address: 103 287 Moscow 287 PO Box 40.

Ned. Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov

The Day of Election to the Patriarchal Throne

St. Tikhon, Patriarch of All Russia,

confessor and martyr,

5/18 November 2000, 0.21 a.m.