Bishop Vissarion (Nechaev), who served as a priest for more than thirty years, understood like no one else the exceptional significance for salvation in Christ of precisely those passages from the word of God that are heard for the edification of parishioners during the All-Night Vigil or Vespers. Therefore, in compiling their "Commentaries," the priest and then the hierarch "strive to facilitate the understanding of the paremias for those who, hearing them read during divine services, seek spiritual edification in them" (Faith and the Church, 1901, book 2, p. 320).

Let us briefly consider how the "Commentaries on the Paremia" are constructed. At the beginning, the author provides a brief understanding of the content of this biblical book, its title and the writer. Then (and this is especially important) the connection between what we have heard in the church reading and the preceding events of biblical (or evangelical) history is revealed. What follows is the "classical" explanation of the biblical text, verse by verse. And, finally, Bishop Bessarion builds a kind of "bridge" between the paremia and the event celebrated (commemorated) by the Church. The latter is a skillful ecclesiastical pedagogical method: let us ask ourselves: how many of us, even with a good knowledge of Church Slavonic, which makes it easier to understand reading, are able to see through the prism of biblical history the Old Testament prototype of a church feast?

The main principle of interpreting biblical verses for Bishop Bessarion is the explanation of the word of God with the help of the word of God itself, that is, the author not only points to parallel passages in the Bible, but also analyzes them in detail, necessarily attaching patristic interpretations to each verse. And only after that he cites the data of contemporary biblical science, which makes such interpretations the most interesting and complete. "The interpretations are set forth with remarkable simplicity and clarity. There are no unnecessary words. The author's goal to edify readers is fully achieved. A clear, bright thought is conveyed in a transparent, clear, sometimes highly artistic language. With brevity of speech, there is a remarkable fullness and depth of thought" (Tserkovnye Vedomosti, 1894, No 30, p. 1041).

Source - http://klikovo.ru/db/msg/8485

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Bishop Vissarion (Nechaev) and His Interpretive Works

Bishop Vissarion (in the world - Vasily Petrovich Nechaev) was born on March 13, 1822 in the village of Kaledine, Krapivinsky district, Tula province in the family of a deacon. His origin from the clergy disposed him to gradually comprehend the classical three-stage system of education: theological school, seminary, and academy, which he brilliantly accomplished. In 1844, Vasily Nechaev graduated from the Tula Theological Seminary, then was admitted to the Moscow Theological Academy, where he completed his studies as a master of the XVI year (graduation of 1848) among the best students. The term paper of the MThA student Vasily Nechaev was dedicated to the outstanding Russian hierarch, theologian and historian, St. Dimitry of Rostov.

Seeing the talents of the young graduate of the academy, the school council sought to send him to teach in Moscow theological schools, but in the absence of a vacancy, Master Nechaev in 1848 was appointed a teacher of logic, psychology, patristics and Latin at the Tula Theological Seminary.

In the theological and educational field, Vasily Nechaev had to become an innovator – the courses he taught had neither a clear teaching program nor textbooks – all this had to be developed and tested by the teacher himself. But here he was given complete freedom of pedagogical creativity, the seminary authorities in no way sought to impose on the novice teacher any templates or instructions for improving the teaching of the academic disciplines entrusted to him. Moreover, V. Nechaev continued to work in Tula on the preparation of his master's work for publication, using for this purpose the manuscripts of St. Demetrius of Rostov, kept in the private collection of M. P. Pogodin. The book was published the following year ("St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov", Moscow, 1849) and was highly appreciated by contemporaries.

The growing fame of the author of the work on St. Dimitri prompted him to be transferred to Moscow, and since 1849 Vasily Nechaev taught church and biblical history, church archaeology and church law at the Bethany Seminary (near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra); in 1850 he was confirmed in the degree of master and the title of professor, and at the end of 1852 Vasily Nechaev received a professorship at the Moscow Theological Seminary, where he taught the Holy Scriptures and the Greek language.

As noted by the bosses and colleagues who knew the young professor closely, Vasily Nechaev was completely alien to secularism and strove to be ordained to the priesthood. His wish came true: in December 1853, he was ordained a priest, continuing to teach at the Moscow Theological Seminary, at the same time being a teacher of religion at the 1st Moscow Cadet Corps. But in 1855, Priest Vasily Nechaev left teaching and devoted himself entirely to pastoral service – St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, appointed him priest of the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, where Fr. Vasily served for over thirty years.

The name of Priest Vasily Nechaev (later Bishop Vissarion) would have remained hidden under the thickness of almost a century and a half that passed during his service in the Tolmachevo parish, if in 1859 he had not joined the publishers of the journal "Soul-Useful Reading", which was then edited by two Moscow priests - V. I. Lebedev and A. M. Klyucharev (the future Archbishop of Kharkov Ambrose;  1901). But the first publisher soon died, the second accepted monasticism and episcopacy, and thus all the works of the publication of "Soul-Useful Reading" fell entirely on the shoulders of the priest Vasily Nechaev, who set the main task of the journal "to serve the spiritual and moral instruction of Christians, to satisfy the needs of general edifying and nationwide spiritual reading." Both in the pastoral field and in the good cause of spiritual enlightenment, he asceticized for almost thirty years, which in no way prevented him from taking care of his parishioners in a fatherly way and zealously treating the duties of a parish priest (later archpriest and rector of St. Nicholas Church).