Priest Alexander Krasnov

PART I

Prelude

We are going to Elder Anthony. Who he is - schema-monk, hieroschemamonk, novice, monk, bishop or priest - we do not know for certain. About six months ago, questions began to be heard about a certain elder who had a vision of the end of the world. At first, I laughed it off, and in general tried to attribute everything to people's disbelief in the official, to the desire to find the truth somewhere outside the walls of the hierarchy. He even preached a sermon on this topic. But the questions did not subside, their number even increased. It would be unwise not to pay attention to them, especially since the questions cannot be called stupid! Moreover, being a great admirer of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), I have repeatedly found the consonance of the words of the elder with what the great theologian and Holy Hierarch of the 19th century, Bishop Ignatius of the Caucasus, affirmed in his life and word on the basis of Holy Scripture and Patristic Tradition! And then the parishioners said: "Father, you should go to the elder!"

At one of the diocesan hierarchal services, in the presence of a large gathering of clergy, I heard a conversation about a certain Anthony, still a tsarist archpriest, who had suffered a lot under the Soviet regime, there were Solovki, Kolyma, and so on and so forth. The children abandoned their father and then Anthony, a priest of the Living God, went to work as a stoker in a small town. People loved "their priest" very much! No, there was a church in the town, there were rectors who were better or worse, but, as usual, they were regularly changed, sometimes people could not even remember their names! God also knows the bishop. But there was Anthony the fireman! At night, visitors appeared near his stoves and asked to be baptized, blessed, buried, prayed, in general, for everything that the Orthodox soul needs! I could not stand it anymore and asked: "So this is the old man who settled in our city?" "Haven't you been to him yet?! - I heard in response a surprised exclamation of a priest I knew, - We are going tomorrow, if you want, come with us." And I agreed.

Now we are going to the outskirts of a big city, to the private sector, to the house of a woman who sheltered such a famous elder. And he was famous not so much for his unusual fate as for his vision of the last years of the world's existence and prophecies about how and who could be saved. With the general interest in this issue, it is clear that Fr. Anthony was not in danger of obscurity! At least, that's what I thought before the meeting.

First meeting.

The front car stopped - we arrived. A small neat house, near the gate we are greeted by a woman with a friendly smile - my companions, apparently, are well known to her, immediately questions begin about the health of mothers, children, etc. I expected black dresses, scarves, deliberately gloomy clique faces (for some reason, this is considered a true Orthodox appearance), but I saw normal people with a smile on their lips. Several more women came out of the house, among them were parishioners of our church.

I go in and... I freeze.

This state cannot be conveyed in words, it is the experience of some kind of childish delight and trepidation at the same time. A hundred-year-old old man was reclining on a metal bed. He was very tall, probably about ninety meters tall, and had unusually regular Slavic features. A huge beard and long, slightly curly hair on his head were white. No, it was not a gypsy gray hair, this whiteness was, as it were, the personification of the essence of this man. His entire appearance, the image of a monk, an ascetic of the first times of Christianity, struck with its grandeur and spirituality, prayerfulness. And only the eyes were somewhat different - they radiated some extraordinary freshness and kindness. A slight smile played on her lips, kind, affectionate, I would say, warming. "Come in, holy fathers, come in!" "Yes, I think, saints! I did not have time to have this thought, and the elder answered, as if continuing his first phrase: "Yes, everyone has enough sins, but the holiness of a priest is of a special kind, it is not the holiness of an ascetic, acquired by God's mercy and help, depending on the absence of sins. The original holiness of a priest is bestowed, not erasable! Some will manage to spill over, but the Lord will make up for it - bad, but his own!"

Those around me did not understand, of course, that they heard the answer to my thought, and I took note of it - I need to be careful! Everyone took turns kissing the elder and, at his invitation, sat down on the chairs that stood by the bed. "There have just been orators," the elder nodded his head to his chairs, and grinned, "they proved the absurdity of the Last Judgment, the end of the world, heaven and hell, they say, all the dark fishermen invented it! Maybe they had heard the truth, but they could not understand it - there was no higher education! We, bright heads, do not deny the existence of God, not as a Person, but as a universal cosmic mind. And their quotes are selected for another soul-destroying theory. And I'm lying and thinking," the smile disappeared from his lips. Anthony, if only it was their zeal for study, and not teaching! They finished and are waiting for what I will say. And what to say, there is nothing to say - only stupidity!

I will respond to stupidity with stupidity! Have you seen a demon, I say?! Well, they replied with resentment: "We are serious, and you are joking!" and I answered them that you dare to quote the Gospel, and you are familiar with the Holy Fathers, with their works, but you have no understanding! You have come to find confirmation of your superstitions and, first of all, the idea that the Church is useless, that it is not necessary in the matter of salvation, alas, I am not your helper! Yes, he was. Yes, he was not accepted into the clergy of several dioceses. But can this be a reason for blasphemy against the Church with Her dogmas?! You are trying to turn the Gospel against the Church, and who gave it to you if not the Apostolic Catholic Church! And for the sake of the demon I am not joking for you, it is not a joke to see him, re-read St. St. Seraphim of Sarov or St. Ignatius Brianchaninov!

They are silent, and there is nothing to say to them - to see is to know, and to know is no longer faith, but knowledge! And a conversation about faith. About faith, it seems, it is easier to talk - faith, try, find out where the truth is, I believe in this, and he believes in another! At first glance - everything is logical! Alas, only for the first one!"