“A worthy priest is a friend of God. Without love it is impossible to help a person

: Vanga’s “phenomenon” completely fits into the classical framework of experiences of communication with fallen spirits.
, head of the Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Non-Traditional Religions. A.S. Khomyakova: There is no need to talk about Vanga’s Orthodoxy.
, head of the department of sectology at PSTGU: Vanga was a witch and was in contact with dark forces.
proved the anti-Christian essence of the Vanga phenomenon
: Vanga is an unhappy woman, a victim of dark forces.

Hieromonk Job (Gumerov): Vanga’s “phenomenon” completely fits into the classical framework of experiences of communication with fallen spirits.

Her parents - Pande Surchev and Paraskeva - were farmers. She was born in Strumica (Macedonia). The girl was born at seven months old and very weak. According to local tradition, the newborn was not given a name until it was firmly certain that the child would live. Therefore, the girl remained without a name for some time. The choice of name was determined by local folk custom: they went out into the street and asked the first person they met. The newborn’s grandmother left the house and heard the name Andromache from the first woman she met. Dissatisfied with him, she asked another woman. She told her - Vangelia.

His mother died when Vanga was three years old. Therefore, from early childhood she was taught hard work, which she retained until her death.

At the age of 12, an event occurred that changed her whole life. When Vanga was returning to the village with her cousins, a terrible hurricane lifted her into the air and carried her far into the field. They found it littered with branches and covered with sand. In addition to severe fright, there was pain in the eyes. Soon she went blind. In 1925, Vanga was taken to the city of Zemun to the home of the blind. She learned to knit, read, mastered Braille, and cook. These years were happy, but difficult life circumstances forced me to return home.

In 1942, she married Dimitar Gushterov. From that time on, she lived in Petrich, and at the end of her life in Rupta. She died on September 11, 1996.

Unusual abilities began to appear in her even in Strumica, when she lived in her father’s house. In 1941, she was visited for the second time by a “mysterious horseman”. From that time on, her supernatural abilities began to manifest themselves constantly. Many people came to her every day. She could tell a person's past. Reveal details that even your loved ones didn’t know. She often made forecasts and predictions. People left very impressed. It was clear that the invisible world was not closed from her.

A person, limited by the physical body, cannot experience the other world with his own strength. The Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers speak of two sources of our knowledge of the supersensible world: the revealed and the demonic. There is no third. Who gave Vanga information about the invisible world? Where did this amazing awareness come from? This answer can be found in the book of Vanga’s niece: “Question: Do you talk to spirits? – Answer: A lot come and everyone is different. I understand those who come and are constantly nearby” (The Truth about Wang, M., 1999, p. 187). The niece remembers. “I was 16 years old when Vanga spoke to me one day in our house in Petrich. Only it was not her voice, and she herself was not herself - it was some other person who spoke through her lips. The words I heard had nothing to do with what we had talked about before. It was as if some other person had intervened in our conversation. The voice said: “Here, we see you...”, and then I was told in detail about everything that I had done during the day up to that moment. I was simply petrified with horror. We were alone in the room. Soon after this, Vanga sighed and said: “Oh, my strength has left me,” and, as if nothing had happened, she returned to the previous conversation. I asked her why she suddenly started telling me what I did during the day, but she told me that she didn't say anything. I told her what I had heard, and she repeated: “Oh, these forces, small forces that are always near me. But there are also big ones, their bosses. When they decide to speak through my mouth, I feel bad, and then I feel like I’m broken all day. Maybe you want to see them, are they ready to show themselves to you?” I was extremely shocked and screamed loudly that I didn’t want to” (Vanga the clairvoyant and healing, pp. 11-12). In the second book this story is told with slight differences. Vanga said: “When they begin to speak in me, or rather, through me, I lose a lot of energy, I feel bad, I remain depressed for a long time” (The Truth about Vanga, M., 1999, p. 9). According to the teachings of the holy fathers and the centuries-old spiritual experience of Christianity, the feelings of oppression and despondency that Vanga speaks about unmistakably indicate that these forces are fallen spirits.

Other demons, who were the source of Vanga’s phenomenal awareness of the past and present of his many visitors, appeared under the guise of their deceased relatives. Vanga admitted: “When a person stands in front of me, all his deceased loved ones gather around him. They ask me questions themselves and willingly answer mine. What I hear from them is what I pass on to the living” (The Truth about Vanga, p. 99). The appearance of fallen spirits under the guise of dead people has been known since ancient biblical times. The Word of God strongly prohibits such communication: “Do not turn to those who call the dead” (Lev. 19:31).

In addition to the spirits that appeared to Vanga under the guise of “small forces” and “big forces,” as well as deceased relatives, she communicated with another type of inhabitants of the other world. She called them the inhabitants of the “planet Vamfim.”

“Question: Do those alien ships that are so primitively called “flying saucers” really visit Earth?

Answer: Yes, it is.

Question: Where do they come from?

Answer: From the planet, which in the language of its inhabitants is called Vamphim. That’s how, in any case, I hear this unusual word – Vamfim. This planet is the third from Earth.

Question: Is it possible for earthlings to contact the inhabitants of the mysterious planet at their request? With the help of technical means or, perhaps, telepathically?

Answer: Earthlings are powerless here. Our guests make contact in accordance with their desires” (ibid., pp. 13-14).

When a person enters into communication with fallen spirits, he finds himself in a spiritually hypnotic state. He does not perceive even the simplest questions of common sense. Why couldn’t Vanga’s relatives living with her see these cosmonauts, who were physical beings? Where did they leave their spaceship, which was also supposed to be a physical object?

K. Stoyanova reports various details about how Vanga communicated with the other world. And here we see typical mediumistic experiences that have been known for many centuries. “Only sometimes we could not understand why our aunt turns pale, why she suddenly feels bad and suddenly a voice comes from her lips, striking us with its strength, unusual timbre, words and expressions that are not in Vanga’s usual dictionary” (Vanga is clairvoyant and healing , p. 11). And another testimony: “And suddenly she spoke to me in an unfamiliar voice, which sent shivers down my spine. She literally said the following: “I am the soul of Joan of Arc. I came from afar and am heading to Angola. There is now blood flowing profusely there, and I must help establish peace there.” After a short pause, Vanga continued in the same voice: “Don’t blame anyone for than this soul. She is not yours. This is witnessed by the parent (our mother - Lyubka), who carried her in the trough when she was carrying her on her deathbed. Then in an instant her soul flew away, and another soul moved into her body. recovered to continue her earthly life. But now her soul is no longer related to you, children, and cannot recognize you." prayer vigil, - thus, secrets about the world around you will be revealed to you” (pp. 131-132) This whole speech is quite fantastic. What is clear is that she adhered to a view alien to Christian teaching about the possibility of instilling a soul in someone else’s body.

From Vanga’s experiences and her statements it is clear that she was close to such theosophists as E. Blavatsky and N. Roerich. In K. Stoyanova’s story about the arrival of the writer Leonid Leonov, there is the following detail: “Vanga was inspired then, and she talked about events that were fateful for his country. She made contact with a long-dead clairvoyant of Russian origin, Helena Blavatsky. We really heard amazing things” (p. 191). Theosophy of E. Blavatsky (her Buddhist name is Radda-bai) is hostile to Christianity. This fact is also very significant. When Svyatoslav Roerich visited Vanga, she told him: “Your father was not just an artist, but also an inspired prophet. All his paintings are insights, predictions. They are encrypted, but an attentive and sensitive heart will tell the viewer the code” (p. 30). It is known that the Council of Bishops in 2000 excommunicated N. Roerich, E. Blavatsky and others from the Church: “The Lord destined us to live in a time when “many false prophets appeared in the world (1 John 4:1), who come to us.” in sheep’s clothing, but inside they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15)… Old Gnostic cults are being revived and so-called “new religious movements” are emerging, which are revising the entire system of Christian values, trying to find a ideological basis in the reformed Eastern religions, and sometimes they turn to the occult and witchcraft. Paganism, astrology, theosophical and spiritualist societies, once founded by Helena Blavatsky, who claimed to possess some “ancient wisdom” hidden from the uninitiated, were revived. The “Teaching of Living Ethics”, introduced into circulation by the Roerich family and also called “Agni Yoga”, is being vigorously promoted.

Fortune telling using a magic crystal has been known since ancient times. In modern times, Cagliostro was engaged in prediction using a magic crystal. For Vanga, this was one of the main ways to find out secrets about the person who came. “Sugar is also one of the secrets of Vangin’s gift, since it requires everyone who visits it to bring a piece of sugar that has been in his house for at least a few days. When the visitor enters, she takes this piece. He holds it in his hands, feels it and begins to guess” (p. 189). Sugar was a type of crystal accessible to everyone that anyone could bring, keeping it under their pillow for 2-3 days.

All the above facts and evidence show that Vanga’s “phenomenon” completely fits into the classical framework of experiences of communication with fallen spirits. The inhabitants of the other world revealed to Vanga the present and past of people. The future, as the holy fathers teach, is unknown to demons. “Demons do not know the future, known to the One God and to His rational creatures to whom God was pleased to reveal the future; but just as smart and experienced people, from events that have happened or are happening, foresee and predict events that are about to happen: so cunning, experienced crafty spirits can sometimes assume with certainty and predict the future (Vita sanct. Pachomii, cap. 49, Patrologiae, Tom 73). They are often wrong; very often they lie and with unclear messages lead to bewilderment and doubt. Sometimes they can foretell an event that is already intended in the world of spirits, but has not yet been fulfilled among people” (St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). A Word on the Sensual and the Spiritual Vision of Spirits). Therefore, Vanga’s predictions are not only vague, but also fantastic.

“In 1981, our planet was under very bad stars, but next year it will be populated by new “spirits.” They will bring goodness and hope” (p. 167).

“We are witnessing fateful events. The world's two biggest leaders shook hands. But a lot of time will pass, a lot of water will flow away, until the Eighth comes - he will sign the final peace on the planet” (January 1988).

– “The time of miracles will come, science will make major discoveries in the field of intangibles. In 1990, we will witness amazing archaeological discoveries that will radically change our understanding of the ancient worlds. All the hidden gold will come to the surface of the earth, but the water will be hidden” (p. 224).

– “In 2018, trains will fly on wires from the sun. Oil production will stop, the Earth will rest.”

– “Soon the most ancient teaching will come to the world. People ask me: “Will this time come soon?” No, not soon. Syria has not fallen yet!

The revealed prophecies of holy people always had saving purposes. Through repentance and aversion from sinful life, through prayer, people were given the opportunity to avoid impending large and small disasters. So God commanded the prophet Jonah to proclaim: “Another forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed!” (John 3:4). The prophet walked around the city for three days and called for repentance. “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God regretted the calamity which He said He would bring upon them, but did not bring it” (Jon. 3:10).

There is some kind of fatal doom in Vanga’s predictions that she made. K. Stoyanova asked her aunt:

“Question: If it turns out that you see, with the inner vision given to you from above, an imminent misfortune or even the death of a person who has come to you, can you do anything to avoid the misfortune?

Answer: No, neither I nor anyone else can do anything.

Question: And if troubles, even catastrophic ones, threaten not just one person, but a group of people, an entire city, a state, is it possible to prepare anything in advance?

Answer: It's useless.

Question: Does a person’s fate depend on his inner moral strength and physical abilities? Is it possible to influence fate?

Answer: Not possible. Everyone will go through their own. And only your own way” (The Truth about Vanga, p. 11).

Vanga herself did not realize that she was communicating with the world of fallen spirits. Nor did her many visitors understand this. What saves us from being seduced by fallen spirits is life of grace in the centuries-old experience of Christianity, the spiritual nerve of which is the sincere and daily fulfillment of the commandments of the Holy Gospel. This attitude teaches spiritual sobriety and protects from harmful charm. “Let us refrain from ignorant, harmful desires and desires for sensory visions, outside the order established by God!... Let us reverently submit to the establishment of God, who covered our souls with thick curtains and shrouds of bodies during our earthly wanderings, separating us with them from the spirits of creation, covering and who protected them from the fallen spirits. We do not need a sensual vision of spirits to complete our earthly, difficult journey. For this we need another lamp, and it is given to us: The lamp of my feet is Your law, and the light of my paths (Psalm 119, 105). Those who travel under the constant radiance of the lamp - the Law of God - will not be deceived either by their passions or by fallen spirits, as Scripture testifies" (St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). A word on the sensual and spiritual vision of spirits).

pravoslavie.ru

Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev, head of the Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Non-Traditional Religions. A.S. Khomyakova: There is no need to talk about Vanga’s Orthodoxy.

This text says that the woman had the gift of prophecy, prophecy, and she prophesied the right things - she said about the Apostles: “these people are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way to salvation.” It would seem that it is absolutely impossible to find fault with her words, but since her gift served as a means to enrichment, and we cannot understand the nature of this spirit that spoke through her, the Apostle decisively intervenes in this situation and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ commands that the spirit left this woman.

As for Vanga herself, we cannot accuse her of any self-interest, but a huge number of people fed around her, including the Bulgarian special services and just the people who led the region where she lived. It was a commercial project that was controlled by the Bulgarian secret services. She may have said the right things, but the nature of this phenomenon needs to be investigated. Of course, many of the statements that are attributed to Vanga cannot be verified, but much of what is attributed to her does not correspond to and even contradicts the Christian Orthodox faith.

...After all, the gift of divination is not a gift that requires a person to be canonized. This gift can manifest itself in different ways; various influences from the spiritual world can occur, including negative ones. ...

As for the fact that people go to the Vanga temple, I saw the iconostasis of this temple - it is a completely non-Orthodox temple, and the icons in its iconostasis have nothing to do with the Orthodox canons. Of course, they may object to me that we and Moscow are full of such churches in which this “Latin daub” is present, but in the temple that was built under the leadership of Vanga, there are not just “Latin daubs”, but images of semi-occult content. Even just from the point of view of knowledge of the icon painting craft, one can say that this has nothing to do with the icon.

Again, I repeat, about much of what is attributed to Vanga, we cannot say whether she said it or not. But if she really said all this, then there is no need to talk about Vanga’s Orthodoxy. Evil spirits, indeed, often influence people and, trying to win them over, sometimes tell them the right information. However, they do this in order to seduce a person, so that when he completely trusts the voices, at some point they give him completely wrong information and incite him to rash actions that will destroy him and lead his immortal soul to hell.”

http://rusk.ru/

Alexander Dvorkin, head of the department of sectology at PSTGU: Vanga was a witch and was in contact with dark forces.

Vanga was a sorceress and was in contact with dark forces. During her lifetime, she, like any person, could repent, and this is exactly what Metropolitan Nathanael hoped for when he responded to her request. But, alas, she did not repent, and, naturally, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has a negative attitude towards her. The witch herself really wanted to show her connection with Orthodoxy, since in this way she hoped to attract new “clients”. For this purpose, she built a temple on the territory of her estate, but if you look closely, it can hardly be called Orthodox. Some external forms are respected, but the icons are terrible, the architecture is monstrous, everything is rude, clumsy, and in general everything is built around Vanga. It was supported by schismatic or openly sectarian pseudo-Orthodox groups. Anyone can dress up in a cassock, but that will not make him a priest.

Well, that she was someone’s godmother, everyday Orthodoxy, in which only some external forms are observed, without connection with the content, and sometimes despite it, is even more widespread in Bulgaria than in Russia. In our country, too, sometimes unbaptized people become godparents - non-church parents invite their friends to be godparents, without even asking whether they are baptized. The same thing often happens in Bulgaria.

But I don’t understand what Vanga and Blessed Matrona of Moscow have in common. Blindness? So Homer was blind. And the Venetian Doge Enrico Dondolo saw nothing either. Nevertheless, he managed to lead the 4th Crusade to the walls of Constantinople and led the treacherous capture of the Byzantine capital, unprecedented robbery and desecration of its shrines. Vanga openly practiced witchcraft, spoke about a special gift that appeared to her after a traumatic brain injury, and took money for the reception. It was a well-organized and well-established business, from which a lot of people profited - everyone around the Bulgarian sorceress. Blessed Matrona lay paralyzed, humbly carried her cross and prayed to God for the people who asked her about it.

http://www.nsad.ru

The Athonite monk proved the anti-Christian essence of the Vanga phenomenon

The publication of the book, which perhaps for the first time sets out the Orthodox view of the phenomenon of Vanga, whose centenary of birth was celebrated in Bulgaria last month, caused a lively discussion in Bulgarian society.

On March 15, in the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the resident of the Athonite Monastery Zograf Hieromonk Vissarion, with the support of the rector of the same monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Ambrose, presented his book “Peter Deunov and Vanga - the prophets and forerunners of the Antichrist.”

At the presentation, the author of the book said that, having read a large number of reviews about meetings and communication with Vanga and Pyotr Denov, he found among them numerous evidence that both mentioned their communication with dark forces. According to him, Vanga periodically experienced painful trance states and used magical techniques when treating people (for example, to cure some diseases it was necessary to slaughter a black rooster and eat its heart).

According to the author, these aspects of the activity of healers are in no way compatible with Christian doctrine. Moreover, both healers did not consider themselves servants of the Lord. Despite the fact that Vanga called herself a child of the Orthodox Church, in the temple she built there is a deliberate violation of a number of church canons (for example, the iconographic image of the prophetess stands in the place where the image of the Savior is usually located). In addition, Vanga recognized the transmigration of souls and other anti-Christian ideas.

The reason for the widespread popularity of Vanga and the appearance of calls, even from some Orthodox clergy, for her canonization, the author considers the consequences of the anti-religious propaganda instilled in communist Bulgaria, which taught people to explain phenomena that are difficult for them to understand with familiar concepts, but devoid of their true meaning.

During a lively discussion, the presentation participants spoke out for the need to further develop an Orthodox assessment of the life and teachings of various occult figures and to develop the spiritual enlightenment of people. The rector of the Russian metochion in Sofia (the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker), Hieromonk Zotik (Gaevsky), proposed translating the book into Russian for its distribution in Russia, where there is great interest in the life and prophecies of Vanga.

http://www.radonezh.ru/

Hieromonk Vissarion: Vanga is an unhappy woman, a victim of dark forces.

Interview given by Hieromonk Vissarion, author of the book “Peter Deynov and Vanga - prophets and forerunners of the Antichrist” to the newspaper “24 Hours”

One part of the book is devoted to the analysis of Deunov’s teachings, and the other to Vanga, a modern sorceress. Both of them are already in the hands of God, but the bad thing is that they managed to introduce into society a substitute for Christianity called occultism. He operates as if in ecclesiastical terms, but in reality he pulls people in a different direction. This trick made me write about Denov and Wang.

How do you explain this to people, many of whom consider Vanga a saint?

This is the fruit of an atheistic upbringing. Our people were kept in spiritual ignorance precisely in those years when the Vanga phenomenon appeared. People who have forgotten the true criteria of holiness and spirituality can easily get lost.

Society itself can find arguments in favor of whether Vanga was a saint or not. Just look at the forces with which she communicated. How they behaved with her. There is a lot of evidence that they tortured Vanga.

Her fan Velichka Angelova, in her book “Vanga’s Prophecies - the only connection between heaven and earth,” describes cases when the above-mentioned forces forced Vanga to sweep away cobwebs at night, then undress and put on clothes again. Pointless things. When Vanga tried to resist, they, according to her stories, pushed her down the stairs and she broke her leg. All these things show the dark nature of these forces.

God doesn't deal with his creatures like that. God does not behave like a tyrant. It is well known that Vanga fell into a trance. This is not a divine state, but on the contrary: the medium (in this case Vanga) falls into a trance under the influence of dark forces that use his body as a soulless thing.

No one deliberately wants to denigrate Vanga - her fans themselves write about these things. They write because they do not understand their true essence. Velichka Angelova describes the moment when Vanga growls like a dog, threatens those around him that he will do harm to them, and breaks bones. These moments show people who Vanga really was - an unhappy woman tormented by evil forces. Many times she complained of headache. After the trance I felt bad. All this is very important for understanding whether she was a saint or not.

“And even if she was a victim, she helped people.”

This is precisely the question. This help can come from two sources. One is divine, manifested through God, saints or healing from icons. The other is a trick, because evil forces cannot attract people to themselves by preaching death and destruction. Their trick is to appear to help. And people without spiritual criteria turn to people like Vanga. Vera Kochovskaya is also one of the psychics of this kind.

Where are Vera Kochovskaya and Baba Vanga now?

Unfortunately, God’s word says that the place for sorcerers who were engaged in summoning the dead (Vanga herself said that she communicated with the souls of the dead) belongs not with God, but in the lake of fire. This is literally written in the Holy Scriptures. We can trust God's word, but we have free will not to trust. However, a Christian must believe the words of God and build his life in accordance with them. The Russian Archimandrite Varnava described one incident that occurred shortly after Vanga's death. She appeared to her sister Lyubka and told her: “Enough, enough liturgies. Enough. They don't help me. On the contrary, I am in the darkness of hell and they are burning me.” Of course, it cannot be proven that this vision is 100% correct and it shows where Vanga is now. But many facts lead to this conclusion.

Vanga had many theological misconceptions. She spoke about rebirth, about Roerich’s teaching “Agni Yoga,” which was officially renounced by the Church. She said that Denov was a saint. And he was declared a man who had excommunicated himself from the Church, a heretic, and a dangerous false teacher. She spoke about fatalism, about metempsychosis (the transition of the human soul from one body to another). In her opinion, Christ does not have a figure, and it is known that Christ took on human flesh. That is, she distorts faith due to communication with spirits. And as a result, he receives communication with the dark forces of evil.

I compared in detail the treatment used by the holy fathers with Vanga’s treatment. The difference is amazing. Vanga had many magical elements. For example, if a person had insurance neurosis, Vanga advised him to slaughter a rooster, take out the heart and put it in a bottle of wine, then eat and drink the wine. Elder Paisios said that many magicians mainly treat people possessed by demons, and whose illnesses were not due to natural factors, but due to dark forces.

Because of her connection with demons, Vanga could “help,” but the souls of physically healed people turned out to be connected with demonic influence. We must look not only at what has become of some people's bodies, but also at what has happened to the sinful soul. It is no coincidence that God says that people who call the dead fall into sin before Him. Is it possible to ignore God's words and start thinking with our human thinking? God thinks in eternal categories, and human thought is aimed at the earthly world.

The priest from Petrich announced that Vanga should be canonized as a saint

Yes, bishop's vicar Angel Kochev. I deeply regret that, called to be a teacher of people in the right faith and lead them to eternity, he is trying to canonize worship of evil, because it was evil forces that lived in her body. And instead of explaining to people what a sorceress, a magician and a psychic are and that these phenomena are denied by God, he tries to set evil as an example.

Prof. Svetlin Rusev says that clergymen like you are a disgrace both for the church and for the faith, and Dynov and Vanga are a gift of fate for this unfortunate land.

Unfortunately, Svetlin Rusev is a representative of the occult society, which does not want to follow the voice of Christ and John of Rylsky, but bows to the occult teacher, which is Peter Deunov. He had claims to divinity - he considered himself either a reborn Christ, or the Father, or the spirit of truth. Denov said: “Christ came 2000 years ago, the son came, and now the Father has come to Bulgaria” and endorses himself. Could a Christian, such as he thought himself to be, blaspheme like that?

Denov is essentially the forerunner of the Antichrist, because the Antichrist, when he comes, will claim that he is God. The bad thing is that quite a lot of people will be deceived by his miracles, his personality, as if bringing light, which in reality will cover the darkness. Denov is dangerous because he had natural abilities as a spiritual leader. His word was filled with power, but it did not lead to true Christianity, but to the abyss.

At the moment, there is a revival of interest in Eastern teachings, in the occult, and Dynov is an excellent example of just such an occult leader with proven hypnotic abilities.

The Holy Synod has been repeatedly asked questions, but so far it has not expressed an official point of view on the Vanga phenomenon. Why are our spiritual teachers silent instead of showing us the right path?

Unfortunately, you are right. In important matters, metropolitans should lead the people, not the people of metropolitans. They must show firmness and determination. But understand, for many years the Church deliberately deprived itself of its best children.

State security agents worked in the Church and they led it in the wrong direction. Metropolitan Clement was indeed a GB agent. State security made sure that people who were not always worthy of this honor ended up in seminaries and the Theological Academy. But each of us has a responsibility, including spiritual leaders. God will ask everyone why he didn't do what he should have done.

We church representatives are not at the level we should be, but we are part of this society. The media expects priests and metropolitans to be angels of God in the flesh. We are not God's angels, but we should try to be. Let each person look within himself before pointing his finger at another and saying, “He has sinned, he has fallen.”

But you are right that the bishops have been silent for a long time about Vanga. I now hope that there will be a public debate on these important issues. I want the teachings of Christ to be heard. And everyone can make their own choice of whom to believe - sorcerers, occultists, Svetlin Rusev or the teachings of Christ. But you need to give a person the opportunity to make his choice.

Much has been written about Lyudmila Zhivkova’s circle and about her interest in the occult in the last years of her life. Among those close to him were Svetlin Rusev, Bogomil Rainov, as well as Svyatoslav Roerich, who was invited to make an exhibition and was even awarded. All of them are erudite creators, intellectuals, with the help of whom Lyudmila Zhivkova managed culture in Bulgaria. And Vanga was close to them. Maybe the activities of the top of society somehow affected the people?

Undoubtedly, they influenced the holistic movement of Bulgarian society towards the occult and, unfortunately, Vanga had patrons at the highest levels of power. She was the connection between the occult, the dark and ordinary people, because not only party functionaries, but also people from the people came to her. And it was Vanga who was the bridge through which the dark forces entered the Bulgarian’s soul. But Lyudmila Zhinkova, and now Neshka Robeva, who is considered a positive person in society, also played an undoubted role. She really has a lot of positive sides - you can see it in her face. She raised our girls who became world champions in rhythmic gymnastics and glorified our country. This cannot be forgotten. But Neshka Robeva supports Vanga! And again we come to the conclusion that there is a lack of spiritual education and spiritual criteria. While the Old Testament categorically names people like Vanga - predictors, magicians, fortune-tellers, sorcerers, psychics, etc. - a sin before God, the priest from Petrich, called by God to be a teacher, says: “Let's canonize Vanga.” This shows how Bulgarian society is moving through time - towards an occult perception of events. This is my pain and that is why I wrote this book - to make a comparison between the occult and true Christianity, and let each person make his own choice.

It used to happen that people went to the priest for spiritual advice, covering hundreds of miles on foot. Nowadays it’s enough to go online and in a couple of clicks find yourself on the desired page. It may have become somewhat easier for the questioners, but it is harder for the shepherds, since the number of questions is growing exponentially. And although the sins that a person faces remain the same, the priest has to find the answer to a specific person’s question individually each time. Priest of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, Hieromonk Job (Gumerov), talks about how to build communication and relationships with parishioners, and about his experience in answering “questions to the priest.”

Every priest has had to answer the same questions for many years. Based on your experience, can you give advice to young pastors on what to consider when responding?

The person whom God appointed to be a confessor must constantly acquire active love within himself. I think that the most important thing is that the one who seeks spiritual help feels that the priest is involved in his needs and problems. Any person, even one who does not have a subtle structure of the soul, feels very well how they treat him: either formally, albeit very politely, or they show heartfelt sympathy.

I remember many years ago reading a small book, “58 Advice from the Elder of Athonite.” I was literally captured by one thought, to which I kept returning later: do not miss the opportunity to please God by treating people kindly. We often look for what good we can do to save ourselves. But we don’t think about it and don’t realize that such an opportunity is nearby. Treating people kindly is nothing more than a manifestation of active love in everyday life. You need to constantly remember this. And the first thing a shepherd should do when a person turns to him for advice is to show him goodwill and openness. This is the basis on which he should build further communication with the interlocutor. I noticed that if this did not work out, if there was some kind of coldness in the first words, then more often than not there would be no further positive result.

For everyone who comes to him, the priest must pray, at least briefly. The Lord, seeing that we sincerely want to participate in his problems, gives His all-powerful help to the shepherd.

It is important that the priest does not show his interlocutor that he is busy. Everything must be done so that a person who comes in need does not feel that the priest is in a hurry or tired. The priest's attention should be completely occupied by the interlocutor who came to him for advice. Sometimes I tell my parishioners: “Don’t be embarrassed, tell me, I have enough time.” And this greatly helps a person overcome stiffness or get rid of the imaginary fear that he is taking up a lot of the priest’s time.

On the other hand, everything must be done with reasoning. If the conversation is not directed, albeit gently, in the right direction, it can continue for hours. Those who come to the priest have a need to speak out. A person believes that if he talks in every detail about what worries him, then the priest will be able to help him more easily. For many who come with serious problems, a long and detailed story provides psychological relief. Therefore, it can be very difficult for a pastor to find the necessary measure in communication.

What is the most difficult thing for a priest to communicate with parishioners? How do you manage to find the right words? What literature do you use?

The shepherd is a co-worker with God. The Lord, Who placed him in this ministry, helps and strengthens him with His grace. Without this it is impossible to bear such a heavy cross. Saint John of Kronstadt wrote: “My God, how difficult it is to confess properly! How many obstacles there are from the enemy! How gravely you sin before God by confessing improperly! How the word becomes impoverished! How the source of the word is blocked in the heart! How the tongue changes the mind! Oh, how much preparation is needed for confession! How much one must pray for the successful completion of this feat! (My life in Christ. Vol. 2).

When I am scheduled to confess, I begin to pray in advance so that the Lord will help me fulfill this obedience and benefit people.

The performance of the sacrament of confession is undoubtedly the focus of pastoral activity, since the human soul is cleansed and reborn. But even just a conversation or answer to a letter requires special internal composure. When I started answering letters from parishioners, at first I did not realize the difficulty of this matter. After some time, I realized that if a letter is written with pain, then you need to let at least part of this pain pass through yourself, otherwise you won’t be able to help. You can write the answer very accurately and correctly from a theological point of view, but it will not work if there is no empathy.

To answer a variety of questions, we had to turn to a variety of sources. He often turned to the works of Saints John Chrysostom, Ignatius Brianchaninov, Theophan the Recluse, John of Kronstadt and others.

Secondly, I also relied on the knowledge that I had. You can call me an “eternal student.” I have been studying and studying all my life. At the age of seventeen, a very important event happened to me: I made a choice of life path. Before that, I had to make decisions: who to play with, where to go on vacation, and so on. But not a single such choice could affect my life. Finishing school radically changed my situation. What to do next? Since I had a real interest in learning, it was clear to me that I needed to continue learning.

As I review my past life, I am amazed at how thoughtfully God is involved in the life of an individual. Knowing the natural capabilities of everyone, He sows seeds into the soul in childhood and adolescence, which must then sprout and bear the fruits he needs for spiritual life and salvation. Now, with inner excitement and gratitude to the Lord, I see that He directed my educational interests in the direction that led me to theology and the priesthood. By the will of God, I was led to theology by philosophy, which in the Middle Ages was called the “handmaiden of theology” (“philosophia est ministra theologiae”). Philosophy began to interest me at school. We lived on the outskirts of Ufa. In our regional library I discovered the classical works of R. Descartes, G.W. Leibniz, G. Hegel and other philosophers and became very interested in them. After graduating from high school, I wanted to enter the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University, but they only accepted people with work experience (at least two years). My mother persuaded me to enter the history department of the Bashkir State University. There I completed four courses and moved on to the fifth. But my desire remained unsatisfied, because it was impossible to obtain a second higher education in the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly for me, the rector of the university, who knew about my passion for philosophy, suggested that I try to transfer to the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University. Everything went without any difficulties, and I was accepted into the third year. A very busy life began; during the academic year I had to pass exams and tests for three courses. After graduation, a three-year postgraduate course, a candidate's dissertation in the field of sociology.

My studies in philosophy, history, sociology, and literature greatly helped me subsequently respond to letters. When I became a church member (this happened in April 1984), I was worried that I had spent so many years studying secular sciences, which, as it seemed to me, would no longer be useful to me. But it turned out that my reasoning was naive, and the Lord arranged everything in such a way that I simply needed all my knowledge.

- Whose experience helped you in your spiritual choice and subsequent priestly path?

I think that the greatest influence on me was my mother, who, although she was baptized only in old age, was always very close internally to Christianity in terms of her soul (abundance of love, desire to live in peace with everyone, responsiveness to everyone). She did not miss a single opportunity to say some kind word to us. This was her need. She never scolded us. Already in old age, she told me that her mother, my grandmother, forbade her to do this. Dad was often transferred for work to different cities. When my mother said goodbye to my grandmother (it was clear that they would not see each other again), my grandmother said: “I ask one thing, do not hit or scold the children. If you hit even once on the hand, my mother’s blessing will leave you.” But mom would never have done that: she was simply incapable of it. My mother’s love, her attitude towards people, of course, formed the basis on which my personal faith was born. This helped me, without any sorrows or shocks, smoothly come to the realization of the need to be baptized and become a Christian. I then worked as a senior researcher at the Academy of Sciences at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for System Research.

I came to the priesthood by obedience to my confessor. When I became a church member, my spiritual mentor, priest Sergius Romanov (now he is an archpriest), four years after that, said that I should teach at the Moscow Theological Academy. Such a thought could never have occurred to me. But since I had complete confidence in his words, I easily agreed. Everything happened quite quickly and settled down without any obstacles. I met with the vice-rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, Professor Mikhail Stepanovich Ivanov, who offered me a course called “Christianity and Culture.” He asked me to write a program. On the appointed day, he and I came to Archbishop Alexander (Timofeev), the then rector of the academy. Apparently, he had already made a decision, so the conversation was short. After a few introductory phrases, he looked at the pieces of paper that were in my hands and asked: “What do you have?” I said, “This is the course syllabus.” He took the sheets, put his finger on some line and asked how I understood this question. I answered immediately, and this satisfied him. He had no more questions. Turning to Mikhail Stepanovich, with his characteristic energy, the bishop said: “Prepare for the council.”

Under Bishop Alexander there was a mandatory requirement: teachers who came from secular institutes and did not have theological education had to graduate from the seminary as an external student and then from the academy. I graduated from the seminary in May 1990, and passed the exams for the academy the following academic year. In the fall of 1991, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology. Since September 1990, I began teaching the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the academy, and basic theology at the seminary.

In September, my second year of teaching at the academy began. Father Sergius says that it is time to file a petition against the priest. And I agreed with the same readiness. Some time passed. And then one day (it was on Saturday around noon) the Vice-Rector for Educational Work, Archimandrite Venedikt (Knyazev), called me. He said: “Come today to the all-night vigil, tomorrow you will be ordained.” I immediately got ready and went. On Sunday, the week before the Exaltation, between two holidays, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, on September 23, I was ordained.

- What was your path to the monastery like?

I was already sixty years old. Gradually he grew old and began to remember his long-standing desire to become a monk. While the children were small, of course, this was out of the question. But now they have grown up. In addition, although I had been a healthy person all my life, a streak of constant illness began. There was one more circumstance: the son joined the army and fought in Chechnya in an offensive group. I think the Lord specifically sent me all these trials, which prompted me to think about the monastic path.

I decided to read the akathist to the Mother of God for 40 days. Before and after the reading, I asked the Most Holy Theotokos to reveal God’s will to me through Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), since I was then teaching at Sretensky Seminary and he was the only abbot of the monastery with whom I was in close contact. And the Mother of God fulfilled my request exactly: ten days later I was walking home from the seminary and walked around the temple on the south side to go to the gates of the monastery. Father Tikhon was walking towards me, we said hello, and the first words he said to me were: “When will you move in with us? We have prepared a cell for you.” After that, I returned home and told my wife about what happened. Mother told me that this is the will of God. She added: “I feel good only when you feel good. If you feel good in the monastery, then do it, and I will be patient.” A month later I arrived at Sretensky Monastery. I took monastic vows in April 2005.

You have been teaching in theological schools for many years, and you yourself came to receive spiritual education, already being a candidate of philosophical sciences. What changes do you see in the system of education and training of future pastors?

For me this is a very important and even painful topic. Under Archbishop Alexander, they talked a lot about the moral state of students and the quality of teaching. Structural transformations by themselves cannot increase the level of spiritual education. After all, as Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity) said, theological schools are strong in tradition and closeness to the Church.

The most serious difficulty is that students come to the seminary not from some desert island, but from the world around us, from our sick society, affected by many ailments. Some lack not only Christian, but also general education. It is impossible to re-educate a person who came to seminary at the age of 18 in five years of study; he already has a fully formed spiritual appearance. And life in the hostel is such that sometimes they don’t take the best from each other. All this leads to the fact that some seminarians very easily fall under the influence of the spirit of the times. This then affects their service. Most often, this manifests itself in the desire to combine high service to God and people with service to oneself, without missing the opportunity to acquire something or make friends among wealthy people. This is where I see the serious consequences of the destruction of traditions.

- For several years, you ran the “Questions to the Priest” column on the Pravoslavie.ru website, which was in great demand and helped many people come to the Church. What place did this project occupy among your priestly obediences?

The column was created in 2000 even before my arrival at the Sretensky Monastery. At this time I taught the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at Sretensky Theological Seminary. Then the editors of the website Pravoslavie.ru “often asked me to answer some letters. Then I became a resident of our monastery and my participation in the column became regular. Along with performing priestly duties, answering “questions to the priest” became my main obedience. It must be said that preparing and publishing answers to questions on the site was only a small part of the work. The number of letters that came in was gradually growing, the vast majority were purely personal, and the answers were sent to the authors at their address, it’s difficult to say, because I never counted. Maybe more than 10,000. As time went on, the Pravoslavie.ru website became the most visited of all religious portals. In recent years, 1500-1800 letters arrived per month, and during Lent and on holidays the number of letters doubled. Answers to questions that were of general spiritual interest were posted on the site. Hieromonk Zosima (Melnik) and I answered personal letters together. Young and energetic, he took the lion's share of the letters himself, for which I am grateful to him.

When you manage to help someone, you always feel joy. But I also had constant pain. Most of the letters remained unanswered: it is impossible to give more than what you have. The growing flow of letters literally overwhelmed us. This obedience greatly limited my monastic work, for which I will have to answer to the Lord at the Judgment. By this time, there were about 1,370 answers in the archive of the “Questions to the Priest” section. Therefore, the acceptance of letters was stopped. Now I spend more time communicating with parishioners in person. Our parish numbers about 900 people.

-What do you most often get asked about? What questions are you most excited about?

The invisible audience with whom I had to communicate was very heterogeneous. Many of the letter writers had experience of spiritual life. They asked to explain a certain passage from the Holy Scriptures, to give a theological assessment of some work or cultural phenomenon. For example, one of the letter writers was interested in the Orthodox attitude to A. Dante’s “Divine Comedy.” Another asked to comment from the point of view of Orthodox spirituality on the image of the holy fool in “Boris Godunov” by A.S. Pushkin. For example, there was a question: how to relate to the work of the religious philosopher Lev Karsavin. Answers to such questions later made up an entire section of my book “A Thousand Questions for a Priest.”

Many letters arrived from those who had recently come to the Church. Having encountered the first difficulties in their spiritual life, they asked for pastoral help. Almost everyone who comes to faith at a conscious age has problems in relationships with loved ones who are far from faith. The authors of these letters asked for advice on how to act in a difficult, sometimes painful life situation.

My greatest joy was receiving letters from people who asked me to help them enter the temple. Sometimes these letters were very short and simple: “I have never confessed, please advise me what to do.” And I always, no matter how busy I was, no matter how many letters came, I tried to be sure to answer these questions, because it was noticeable that something significant was emerging in a person’s soul, the Lord awakened some kind of sprout of faith that could easily wither , if you don't take care of it. You feel some kind of reverent affection for such a person. I tried to answer these letters in great detail, despite any degree of fatigue.

- Were there any letters that upset you or caused anxiety?

Having lived thirty years in a very happy marriage, it is always difficult for me to hear about family dysfunction, which often ends in the breakup of the family. This is a tragedy. Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets said: “The only value of life is family. As soon as the family dies, the world will die. Show your love first of all in your family.” And he also said: “When the family is destroyed, everything will be destroyed: both the clergy and monasticism.” It seems that the family was literally crushed by the vices and sins of our sick society. It is hard to see that the state makes no attempt to curb the corrupting effects of television, radio, the Internet, and the low-quality press. Unfortunately, clergy do not impartially remind government officials of their responsibility for the moral health of the people. I am deeply convinced that representatives of the Church at all levels of the hierarchy must maintain a distance from power. Otherwise, their conscience becomes bound by earthly relationships.

- This year you turned 70 years old. How are you coping with this age?

The ideas of ordinary consciousness about old age are extremely primitive. In fact, the Creator has endowed every age with wonderful virtues. “The glory of young men is their strength, but the adornment of old men is gray hair” (Proverbs 20:29). The sacred writer calls gray hair “the crown of glory” (Proverbs 16:31), meaning a person who has chosen the path of righteousness in life. Old age is usually complained about by people who entered old age empty-handed, having not collected spiritual and moral wealth.

In old age you experience the joy that fills a navigator when his ship has completed a dangerous voyage and entered calm coastal waters. There comes that calmness that is known to a person who has been entrusted with difficult work, and he sees that the work has come to an end. Life is a special work that God entrusts to everyone. To want to exchange old age for youth means to be like the king of Corinth, Sisyphus, who almost lifted a heavy stone to the top of the mountain, but it fell. We have to go down and start all over again. I remember in December 1996, when I was teaching at the Moscow Theological Academy, the vice-rector of the academy, Professor Mikhail Stepanovich Ivanov, celebrated his 55th birthday. It was a weekday. During the break between lectures, he treated us (there were several people) to some pastries prepared in our refectory. Speaking about his 55th birthday, he, whose duty was to ensure that students did not get two marks, said: “This is probably the only case when two twos are better than two fives.” I remained silent, but internally did not agree: returning to the age of 22 means rolling down a stone that has already been lifted up the mountain, and then lifting it again for 33 years.

However, old age is different. The Bible contains the expression: died “in a good old age” (Gen. 25, 8; 1 Chron. 29, 28), “full of life” (Gen. 25, 8; 35, 29; Job 42, 17), “in peace "(Luke 2:29). This refers to those whose lives were righteous and pleasing to God. A person who did not strive to live with God, but spent his days in vain, will not bear fruit in old age. “Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap: whoever sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8).

http://e-vestnik.ru/interviews/ieromonah_iov_gumerov_5145/

Conversation with Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) about pastoral ministry

Hieromonk Job Gumerov. Photo by A. Pospelov. Pravoslavie.Ru

Father Job, please tell us how you became a priest?

I became a priest out of obedience. At first I was an ordinary parishioner. Our whole family joined the church on April 17, 1984. I remember well: it was Maundy Tuesday. Then I became the spiritual child of Priest Sergius Romanov (now he is an archpriest). He entrusted me with the obedience of priestly service.

When I was baptized and became an Orthodox Christian, a special world opened up before me, into which I entered with great joy and hope. Fulfilling what my spiritual father told me was an axiom for me. Five years after I began my life in the Church, Father Sergius once told me: “You need to teach at the Theological Academy.” This was completely unexpected for me. Teaching at the Theological Academy seemed so different from my scientific studies at that time that even the thought of it never crossed my mind. Now I have no doubt that this was in accordance with the will of God, His plan for me.

And therefore everything worked out without any obstacles. I met with the vice-rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, Professor Mikhail Stepanovich Ivanov, who offered me a course called “Christianity and Culture.” He asked me to write a program. On the appointed day, he and I came to Vladyka Alexander (Timofeev), the then rector of the academy. Apparently, he had already made a decision, so the conversation was short. After a few introductory phrases, he looked at the pieces of paper that were in my hands and asked: “What do you have?” I said, “This is the course syllabus.” He took the sheets, put his finger on some line and asked how I understood this question. I answered immediately, and this satisfied him. He had no more questions. Turning to Mikhail Stepanovich, with his characteristic energy, the Bishop said: “Prepare for the Council.” So I became a teacher at the Theological Academy, without ever striving for this.

Under Bishop Alexander there was a mandatory requirement: teachers who came from secular institutions and did not have theological education had to graduate from the Seminary and then the Academy as external students. I graduated from the seminary in May 1990, and passed the exams for the Academy the following academic year. In the fall of 1991, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology. Since September 1990, I began teaching the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the Academy, and Basic Theology at the Seminary.

At the end of May 1990, Father Sergius Romanov said that I needed to submit a petition for ordination as a deacon. Again, without any hesitation or doubt, I answered: “Okay.” Soon after this, I met Archbishop Alexander in the corridor and asked to see me. He asked: “For what reason?” - “About ordination.” He set a day. When I arrived, he immediately said without any introductory words: “On the day of the Holy Trinity.” Then he added: “Come in three days. Live in Lavra. Pray.”

In September, my second year of teaching at the Academy began. Father Sergius says that it is time to file a petition against the priest. And I agreed with the same readiness. Some time passed. And then one day (it was on Saturday around noon) the Vice-Rector for Educational Work, Archimandrite Venedikt (Knyazev), called me. He said: “Come today to the all-night vigil, tomorrow you will be ordained.” I immediately got ready and went. On Sunday, the week before the Exaltation, between two great holidays (the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) - September 23, I was ordained. So, out of obedience, I became a priest. I see God's will in this. I didn't include mine.

How did it happen that you came to the Church from a non-Orthodox family? After all, this was also of great importance for your subsequent pastoral ministry.

I think that the greatest influence on me was my mother, who was baptized in old age, but in terms of her soul (abundance of love, desire to live in peace with everyone, responsiveness to everyone) she was always very close to Christianity internally. She did not miss a single opportunity to say some kind word to us. This was her need. She never scolded us. Already in her old age she told me that her mother, my grandmother, forbade her to do this. We had to leave because dad was often transferred to different cities. When the grandmother last saw her daughter, she said: “I ask one thing - don’t hit the children or scold them. If you hit your hand even once, my mother’s blessing will leave you.” But mom would never have done that: she was simply incapable of it.

My mother was born in 1915 in Urda, Astrakhan province. She said that when she was a teenager, she regularly had to take an old woman to church. It was probably a neighbor.

My mother's parents were not the typical Muslims, as we know from life and books. Grandmother Zainab and grandfather Hasan even (albeit in a peculiar way) took part in the Easter holiday. My grandmother had a box with some land. She sowed grass in it in advance and put colored eggs there. On Easter Day they went to congratulate their Orthodox friends. After all, the city where they lived had a mixed population.

Mom was seven years old when she was given a special test. And she turned out to be capable of sacrificial love. Her father Hasan fell ill. I think it was typhus. When they discovered signs of a fatal illness in him, they built a hut for him in the garden so that he could lie there. This was a harsh but necessary measure to protect the rest of the family from illness (he had six children). Since he needed care, it was decided that my mother would live in a hut, feed him and look after him. They brought food and placed it in a certain place. Mom took and fed father, washed clothes, changed clothes. She was old enough to understand the mortal danger of the disease and realize what awaited her. However, she did not give up and did not run away, but showed that sacrifice that has always distinguished her. Her father died, but the Lord God preserved her, although they lived in the same hut and communicated closely.

From that time on, a special bond was established between her and her late father, thanks to which she escaped death several times. During the war, when my brother (he is two years older than me) and I were still very young, a typhus epidemic broke out in Chelkar, where we lived. Barracks were set up for the sick. Unfortunately, my mother developed some kind of illness at this time. The temperature has risen. The local doctor demanded that she move to the barracks for patients. Mom refused. She said that there she would become infected and die, and her young children would not survive. Since my mother resolutely refused, the local doctor warned several times that she would bring a policeman. But she still did not agree, and she gave a final warning: “If you don’t go to bed today, then tomorrow morning I will come with a policeman.” Mom couldn't sleep that night. She expected something irreparable to happen in the morning. And so, when she was in the most alarming state, her father appeared and said: “Go to the experimental station. The professor will help you...” To my great chagrin, I didn’t remember the last name. The phenomenon was so significant that my mother, despite the night (and she had to walk several kilometers), went. This was the Aral Sea experimental station of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, which was organized by academician Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. She was located in the Big Barsuki sands in the Chelkarsky region. Many exiled specialists worked there. Mom found the house of a professor whom everyone in Chelkar knew. He could not work as a doctor because he was an exile. However, people, of course, approached him unofficially. Mom woke him up. He showed kindness and attention. He immediately assessed the situation and made a diagnosis at his own risk. He did not find typhus in his mother. The conclusion he wrote did not have the force of a certificate, but the Lord arranged everything so that it protected my mother. When the doctor and policeman came in the morning, my mother handed me a piece of paper from the professor. The local doctor looked and said: “Okay, stay.”

My mother repeatedly told me this amazing story, in which the action of Divine Providence was so clearly manifested. She said that her father appeared to her several times and suggested this or that decision when she was in danger of death.

The story I have told may seem incredible to some and may be viewed with distrust. But one must also admit that it is “incredible” that out of all six of Hassan’s children, only my mother became a Christian - she took communion and received unction. She lived to see the ordination of her eldest grandson Paul (now a priest) as a deacon. I sent her a photograph where he was photographed with us on the day of his consecration in the courtyard of the Lavra. Then, when I talked to her on the phone, she said: “Solid!” Now the priest’s two grandsons and the priest’s son constantly remember her at Liturgy.

Someone might say that she came to Christianity because her son became an Orthodox priest. This is a superficial explanation. Its main drawback is that cause and effect are reversed.

Undoubtedly, I myself came to Christianity solely thanks to the education that she gave me. Her moral influence on me was decisive.

- What else contributed to your coming to Christianity, which happened back in the Soviet years?

Russian and European culture. Since childhood, my education and upbringing took place in a culture that is genetically connected with Christianity: Russian and Western European literary classics, painting, history. Therefore, in the years of the birth of my religiosity, I did not face the problem of choice. For me, no religion other than Christianity was possible. I remember back in the late 60s I wore a pectoral cross. I can't remember how I got it. It was an ordinary church cross made of light metal with the image of the crucified Savior and the inscription “Save and preserve.” I wore it for so long that the image was partially erased and became barely noticeable.

When I think about my path to Christianity, I come to a thought that is obvious to me: the Lord God led me to faith. He not only acted through my mother, who also prepared her for Christianity from childhood, but also kept me safe.

I was sometimes uncontrollably active. For this reason, he found himself in the clutches of death several times. But the Lord preserved me. I will remember this incident for the rest of my life. Not far from us was the Green Construction Trust. You could enter its territory through huge metal lattice gates. There was a deep puddle in front of the entrance. At some point, for some reason, the gate was removed from its hinges and leaned against metal posts. I was wearing summer shoes. I couldn't get through the puddle. Then I decided to use one of the gate leaves. I inserted the legs between the vertical rods and placed them, as if on steps, on the cross beam that held the rods together. I moved my legs and moved sideways - from one edge of the sash to the other. Since I was hanging on it, under the weight of my body it began to fall. I fell backwards into a deep puddle. And a heavy gate fell on me. They would have killed me if it had not been for the layer of liquid in which I sank. I didn’t choke because I was able to stick my face between the metal bars. I couldn’t lift the gate and get out. They were very heavy. Then I began, holding onto the bars, to crawl on my back to the upper edge of the gate. I succeeded until my head rested against the upper transverse beam, which, like the lower one, connected metal rods. For some reason, no one was close to help me at this time. Then, I think, a miracle happened. With my small hands I was able to lift the heavy gate leaf and climb out. All my clothes were soaked with dirt to the last thread. Mom didn’t scold me then. But she was surprised: “Where could you get so dirty?” In order not to frighten her with what happened, I did not tell this story.

Another incident caused even more worry. We lived on the territory of the radio center (my father worked as the head of radio communications at the airport). They had to put up another mast. At that time, long pieces of rail were used to bury them and secure the mast guys. I was in the yard and saw a cart driving through the gate. She was carrying rails. I ran towards him and quickly jumped onto the cart, sitting on top of the rails. The horse had difficulty carrying the load. To get to the mast installation site it was necessary to drive along a path between the beds. Suddenly one wheel slid off the hard ground and ended up on the dug up ground. The weight pressed him into the loose earth. The horse did not have enough strength to drag the cart further. The driver, who, unlike me, was walking next to her, began to whip her. The poor animal made a jerk, but the cart did not budge. Then the horse began to move to the side and turned the shafts at right angles to the cart. The driver did not have time to think and whipped the horse. She jerked forward. Everyone who has ridden carts knows: if the shafts turn at a right angle while riding, the cart will tip over. And so it happened. I fell first, then the rails fell to the ground. I found myself under them. I don’t remember at all how the rails were removed. I was lying in a narrow but fairly deep hollow between the beds, and rails lay across the top, without causing me any harm.

There were other cases when I was clearly in danger, but I remained alive and was not even injured. Now I know that it was a miracle. God protected me. Then I thought, of course, in other categories. However, every time I had a vague awareness that something unusual had happened, that someone had saved me. I am sure that these incidents and their successful outcome quietly prepared me for the conscious faith that I acquired several decades later.

- How much knowledge of culture does a priest need?

If a person is cultured, then it is easier for him to understand and communicate with everyone - both simple and educated people. For a priest, this opens up greater opportunities for missionary work. We are talking about an internal mission, since our society is a society of mass unbelief. Culture makes it possible to deeper and more fully understand the greatness of Christianity. It reveals a vision of Christianity in history, its spiritual and moral uniqueness. Based on historical material, one can see the differences between the lives of Christians and representatives of non-Christian societies (for example, pagans).

- What qualities are necessary for a clergyman in the first place, without which he is completely unthinkable?

It is obvious that the most important spiritual qualities, both for a priest and for any Christian, are faith and love. However, it is known that no virtue is autonomous. The Monk Macarius the Great says: “All virtues are connected with each other like links in a spiritual chain, they depend on one another: prayer - from love, love - from joy, joy - from meekness, meekness - from humility, humility - from service, service - from hope, hope comes from faith, faith comes from obedience, obedience comes from simplicity” (“Spiritual Conversations”, 40.1).

Since we decided to analytically highlight the most important spiritual and moral qualities, I will name one more virtue - spiritual courage. The fact is that faith and love are constantly tested in life. And courage does not allow you to waver. The Holy Apostle Paul calls: “Watch, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

The priest is a co-worker with God, and when a person accepts the priesthood, he makes a direct challenge to demonic forces. At the same time, he may clearly not think about it. A person has to overcome both external and internal obstacles. Either the enemy tempts and entices you to leave this path, then human weaknesses are revealed, and sometimes you need to have the courage to act according to your conscience in the face of difficulties and dangers.

And I’ll add one more thing: a priest must be absolutely free from greed. If there is even a small grain, it can imperceptibly begin to grow and manifest itself detrimentally.

- If we talk about the current situation, what worries you most about young priests?

The most troubling thing is the isolation from the church-priestly tradition. It feels very painful. Until the end of the 80s of the last century there were few churches. After his ordination, the young priest came to serve in the temple, where there were ministers not only of middle age, but elderly and even very old. They were the custodians of the experience of previous generations. Serving together with such fathers is priceless. When I was ordained in 1990, I found two archpriests in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - Dimitry Akinfiev and Mikhail Klochkov. Both were born in 1928. They had vast priesthood experience. Father Dimitri served for 54 years. He knew the Divine Service Rules perfectly. I learned a lot from him.

You can successfully study at the Seminary and even at the Academy, but the lack of experience of generations cannot be compensated for by any knowledge. Over the past twenty years, the number of churches in the country has increased several times. For example, in the Moscow region - 10 times. This means that almost 90 percent of priests began serving alone - in newly opened churches. They turned out to be really cut off from the experience of previous generations and from tradition, and do not have the opportunity to perceive the living experience of many generations.

I can clearly see how seriously this affects the ministry. The point is not only the lack of liturgical experience, but also of pastoral and ethical experience.

Another reason for many painful phenomena in modern church life is that clergy are part of modern society. Young men do not enter theological schools from any special tribe. They are supplied by our morally sick society. At the age of 18, a person already has a fully formed spiritual appearance. After five years of study, it is not easy to re-educate him. Many grew up in non-church families, some of whose parents are still not churchgoers. Many came to faith at school. Some people lack normal upbringing. All this leads to the fact that some seminarians very easily fall under the influence of the spirit of the times. This then affects their service. Most often, this manifests itself in the desire to combine high service to God and people with service to oneself, without missing the opportunity to acquire something or make friends among wealthy people. This is where I see the serious consequences of the destruction of traditions.

- Father, what would you like to wish to the seminary graduates?

You need to constantly and hard work on yourself. I advise you to thoroughly study the life and pastoral feat of such grace-filled priests as Saints John of Kronstadt, Alexy Mechev, Archpriest Valentin Amfitheatrov, etc. It is necessary to take their service as a model and work hard throughout your life in order to approach perfect service. We must not forget for a minute about our chosenness: “A great person is a worthy priest, he is a friend of God, appointed to do His will” (Righteous Saint John of Kronstadt).

Hieromonk

By origin - Tatar. In 1966 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, then graduate school. He defended his PhD thesis at the Institute of Philosophy on the topic “System analysis of the mechanism of change in social organization.” For 15 years he worked as a senior researcher at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for System Research of the Academy of Sciences.

He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary, and then the Moscow Theological Academy. He defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology.

He taught basic theology at the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the Theological Academy.

In 1990 he was ordained a deacon, and the same year a priest. Served in the Church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir in Starye Sadekh, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki, Ivanovo Monastery.

Since 2003 he has been a resident of the Sretensky Monastery.

Conversation with Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) about pastoral ministry

— Father Job, please tell us how you became a priest?

“I became a priest out of obedience. At first I was an ordinary parishioner. Our whole family joined the church on April 17, 1984. I remember well: it was Maundy Tuesday. Then I became the spiritual child of Priest Sergius Romanov (now he is an archpriest). He entrusted me with the obedience of priestly service.

When I was baptized and became an Orthodox Christian, a special world opened up before me, into which I entered with great joy and hope. Fulfilling what my spiritual father told me was an axiom for me. Five years after I began my life in the Church, Father Sergius once told me: “You need to teach at the Theological Academy.” This was completely unexpected for me. Teaching at the Theological Academy seemed so different from my scientific studies at that time that even the thought of it never crossed my mind. Now I have no doubt that this was in accordance with the will of God, His plan for me.

And therefore everything worked out without any obstacles. I met with the vice-rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, Professor Mikhail Stepanovich Ivanov, who offered me a course called “Christianity and Culture.” He asked me to write a program. On the appointed day, he and I came to Vladyka Alexander (Timofeev), the then rector of the academy. Apparently, he had already made a decision, so the conversation was short. After a few introductory phrases, he looked at the pieces of paper that were in my hands and asked: “What do you have?” I said, “This is the course syllabus.” He took the sheets, put his finger on some line and asked how I understood this question. I answered immediately, and this satisfied him. He had no more questions. Turning to Mikhail Stepanovich, with his characteristic energy, the Bishop said: “Prepare for the Council.” So I became a teacher at the Theological Academy, without ever striving for this.

Under Bishop Alexander there was a mandatory requirement: teachers who came from secular institutions and did not have theological education had to graduate from the Seminary and then the Academy as external students. I graduated from the seminary in May 1990, and passed the exams for the Academy the following academic year. In the fall of 1991, he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology. Since September 1990, I began teaching the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament at the Academy, and Basic Theology at the Seminary.

At the end of May 1990, Father Sergius Romanov said that I needed to submit a petition for ordination as a deacon. Again, without any hesitation or doubt, I answered: “Okay.” Soon after this, I met Archbishop Alexander in the corridor and asked to see me. He asked: “For what reason?” - “About ordination.” He set a day. When I arrived, he immediately said without any introductory words: “On the day of the Holy Trinity.” Then he added: “Come in three days. Live in Lavra. Pray.”

In September, my second year of teaching at the Academy began. Father Sergius says that it is time to file a petition against the priest. And I agreed with the same readiness. Some time passed. And then one day (it was on Saturday around noon) the Vice-Rector for Educational Work, Archimandrite Venedikt (Knyazev), called me. He said: “Come today to the all-night vigil, tomorrow you will be ordained.” I immediately got ready and went. On Sunday, the week before the Exaltation, between two great holidays (the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross) - September 23, I was ordained. So, out of obedience, I became a priest. I see God's will in this. I didn't include mine.

— How did it happen that you came to the Church from a non-Orthodox family? After all, this was also of great importance for your subsequent pastoral ministry.

— I think that the greatest influence on me was my mother, who was baptized in old age, but in terms of the structure of her soul (abundance of love, desire to live in peace with everyone, responsiveness to everyone) she was always very close to Christianity internally. She did not miss a single opportunity to say some kind word to us. This was her need. She never scolded us. Already in her old age she told me that her mother, my grandmother, forbade her to do this. We had to leave because dad was often transferred to different cities. When the grandmother last saw her daughter, she said: “I ask one thing - don’t hit the children or scold them. If you hit your hand even once, my mother’s blessing will leave you.” But mom would never have done that: she was simply incapable of it.

My mother was born in 1915 in Urda, Astrakhan province. She said that when she was a teenager, she regularly had to take an old woman to church. It was probably a neighbor.

My mother's parents were not the typical Muslims, as we know from life and books. Grandmother Zainab and grandfather Hasan even (albeit in a peculiar way) took part in the Easter holiday. My grandmother had a box with some land. She sowed grass in it in advance and put colored eggs there. On Easter Day they went to congratulate their Orthodox friends. After all, the city where they lived had a mixed population.

Mom was seven years old when she was given a special test. And she turned out to be capable of sacrificial love. Her father Hasan fell ill. I think it was typhus. When they discovered signs of a fatal illness in him, they built a hut for him in the garden so that he could lie there. This was a harsh but necessary measure to protect the rest of the family from illness (he had six children). Since he needed care, it was decided that my mother would live in a hut, feed him and look after him. They brought food and placed it in a certain place. Mom took and fed father, washed clothes, changed clothes. She was old enough to understand the mortal danger of the disease and realize what awaited her. However, she did not give up and did not run away, but showed that sacrifice that has always distinguished her. Her father died, but the Lord God preserved her, although they lived in the same hut and communicated closely.

From that time on, a special bond was established between her and her late father, thanks to which she escaped death several times. During the war, when my brother (he is two years older than me) and I were still very young, a typhus epidemic broke out in Chelkar, where we lived. Barracks were set up for the sick. Unfortunately, my mother developed some kind of illness at this time. The temperature has risen. The local doctor demanded that she move to the barracks for patients. Mom refused. She said that there she would become infected and die, and her young children would not survive. Since my mother resolutely refused, the local doctor warned several times that she would bring a policeman. But she still did not agree, and she gave a final warning: “If you don’t go to bed today, then tomorrow morning I will come with a policeman.” Mom couldn't sleep that night. She expected something irreparable to happen in the morning. And so, when she was in the most alarming state, her father appeared and said: “Go to the experimental station. The professor will help you...” To my great chagrin, I didn’t remember the last name. The phenomenon was so significant that my mother, despite the night (and she had to walk several kilometers), went. This was the Aral Sea experimental station of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing, which was organized by academician Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. She was located in the Big Barsuki sands in the Chelkarsky region. Many exiled specialists worked there. Mom found the house of a professor whom everyone in Chelkar knew. He could not work as a doctor because he was an exile. However, people, of course, approached him unofficially. Mom woke him up. He showed kindness and attention. He immediately assessed the situation and made a diagnosis at his own risk. He did not find typhus in his mother. The conclusion he wrote did not have the force of a certificate, but the Lord arranged everything so that it protected my mother. When the doctor and policeman came in the morning, my mother handed me a piece of paper from the professor. The local doctor looked and said: “Okay, stay.”

My mother repeatedly told me this amazing story, in which the action of Divine Providence was so clearly manifested. She said that her father appeared to her several times and suggested this or that decision when she was in danger of death.

The story I have told may seem incredible to some and may be viewed with distrust. But we also have to admit that it’s “incredible” that out of all six of Hassan’s children, only my mother became a Christian—she took communion and received unction. She lived to see the ordination of her eldest grandson Paul (now a priest) as a deacon. I sent her a photograph where he was photographed with us on the day of his consecration in the courtyard of the Lavra. Then, when I talked to her on the phone, she said: “Solid!” Now the priest’s two grandsons and the priest’s son constantly remember her at Liturgy.

Someone might say that she came to Christianity because her son became an Orthodox priest. This is a superficial explanation. Its main drawback is that cause and effect are reversed.

Undoubtedly, I myself came to Christianity solely thanks to the education that she gave me. Her moral influence on me was decisive.

— What else contributed to your coming to Christianity, which happened back in the Soviet years?

— Russian and European culture. Since childhood, my education and upbringing took place in a culture that is genetically connected with Christianity: Russian and Western European literary classics, painting, history. Therefore, in the years of the birth of my religiosity, I did not face the problem of choice. For me, no religion other than Christianity was possible. I remember back in the late 60s I wore a pectoral cross. I can't remember how I got it. It was an ordinary church cross made of light metal with the image of the crucified Savior and the inscription “Save and preserve.” I wore it for so long that the image was partially erased and became barely noticeable.

When I think about my path to Christianity, I come to a thought that is obvious to me: the Lord God led me to faith. He not only acted through my mother, who also prepared her for Christianity from childhood, but also kept me safe.

I was sometimes uncontrollably active. For this reason, he found himself in the clutches of death several times. But the Lord preserved me. I will remember this incident for the rest of my life. Not far from us was the Green Construction Trust. You could enter its territory through huge metal lattice gates. There was a deep puddle in front of the entrance. At some point, for some reason, the gate was removed from its hinges and leaned against metal posts. I was wearing summer shoes. I couldn't get through the puddle. Then I decided to use one of the gate leaves. I inserted the legs between the vertical rods and placed them, as if on steps, on the cross beam that held the rods together. I moved my legs and moved sideways - from one edge of the sash to the other. Since I was hanging on it, under the weight of my body it began to fall. I fell backwards into a deep puddle. And a heavy gate fell on me. They would have killed me if it had not been for the layer of liquid in which I sank. I didn’t choke because I was able to stick my face between the metal bars. I couldn’t lift the gate and get out. They were very heavy. Then I began, holding onto the bars, to crawl on my back to the upper edge of the gate. I succeeded until my head rested against the upper transverse beam, which, like the lower one, connected metal rods. For some reason, no one was close to help me at this time. Then, I think, a miracle happened. With my small hands I was able to lift the heavy gate leaf and climb out. All my clothes were soaked with dirt to the last thread. Mom didn’t scold me then. But she was surprised: “Where could you get so dirty?” In order not to frighten her with what happened, I did not tell this story.

Another incident caused even more worry. We lived on the territory of the radio center (my father worked as the head of radio communications at the airport). They had to put up another mast. At that time, long pieces of rail were used to bury them and secure the mast guys. I was in the yard and saw a cart driving through the gate. She was carrying rails. I ran towards him and quickly jumped onto the cart, sitting on top of the rails. The horse had difficulty carrying the load. To get to the mast installation site it was necessary to drive along a path between the beds. Suddenly one wheel slid off the hard ground and ended up on the dug up ground. The weight pressed him into the loose earth. The horse did not have enough strength to drag the cart further. The driver, who, unlike me, was walking next to her, began to whip her. The poor animal made a jerk, but the cart did not budge. Then the horse began to move to the side and turned the shafts at right angles to the cart. The driver did not have time to think and whipped the horse. She jerked forward. Everyone who has ridden carts knows: if the shafts turn at a right angle while riding, the cart will tip over. And so it happened. I fell first, then the rails fell to the ground. I found myself under them. I don’t remember at all how the rails were removed. I was lying in a narrow but fairly deep hollow between the beds, and rails lay across the top, without causing me any harm.

There were other cases when I was clearly in danger, but I remained alive and was not even injured. Now I know that it was a miracle. God protected me. Then I thought, of course, in other categories. However, every time I had a vague awareness that something unusual had happened, that someone had saved me. I am sure that these incidents and their successful outcome quietly prepared me for the conscious faith that I acquired several decades later.

— How much knowledge of culture does a priest need?

- If a person is cultured, then it is easier for him to understand and communicate with everyone - both simple and educated people. For a priest, this opens up greater opportunities for missionary work. We are talking about an internal mission, since our society is a society of mass unbelief. Culture makes it possible to deeper and more fully understand the greatness of Christianity. It reveals a vision of Christianity in history, its spiritual and moral uniqueness. Based on historical material, one can see the differences between the lives of Christians and representatives of non-Christian societies (for example, pagans).

— What qualities is necessary for a clergyman in the first place, without which he is completely unthinkable?

— It is obvious that the most important spiritual qualities, both for a priest and for any Christian, are faith and love. However, it is known that no virtue is autonomous. The Monk Macarius the Great says: “All virtues are connected with each other like links in a spiritual chain, they depend on one another: prayer - from love, love - from joy, joy - from meekness, meekness - from humility, humility - from service, service - from hope, hope comes from faith, faith comes from obedience, obedience comes from simplicity” (“Spiritual Conversations”, 40.1).

Since we decided to analytically highlight the most important spiritual and moral qualities, I will name one more virtue - spiritual courage. The fact is that faith and love are constantly tested in life. And courage does not allow you to waver. The Holy Apostle Paul calls: “Watch, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).

The priest is a co-worker with God, and when a person accepts the priesthood, he makes a direct challenge to demonic forces. At the same time, he may clearly not think about it. A person has to overcome both external and internal obstacles. Either the enemy tempts and entices you to leave this path, then human weaknesses are revealed, and sometimes you need to have the courage to act according to your conscience in the face of difficulties and dangers.

And I’ll add one more thing: a priest must be absolutely free from greed. If there is even a small grain, it can imperceptibly begin to grow and manifest itself detrimentally.

— If we talk about the current situation, what worries you most about young priests?

— What worries me the most is the isolation from the church-priestly tradition. It feels very painful. Until the end of the 80s of the last century there were few churches. After his ordination, the young priest came to serve in the temple, where there were ministers not only of middle age, but elderly and even very old. They were the custodians of the experience of previous generations. Serving together with such fathers is priceless. When I was ordained in 1990, I found two archpriests in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - Dimitry Akinfiev and Mikhail Klochkov. Both were born in 1928. They had vast priesthood experience. Father Dimitri served for 54 years. He knew the Divine Service Rules perfectly. I learned a lot from him.

You can successfully study at the Seminary and even at the Academy, but the lack of experience of generations cannot be compensated for by any knowledge. Over the past twenty years, the number of churches in the country has increased several times. For example, in the Moscow region - 10 times. This means that almost 90 percent of the priests began serving alone - in newly opened churches. They turned out to be really cut off from the experience of previous generations and from tradition, and do not have the opportunity to perceive the living experience of many generations.

I can clearly see how seriously this affects the ministry. The point is not only the lack of liturgical experience, but also of pastoral and ethical experience.

Another reason for many painful phenomena in modern church life is that clergy are part of modern society. Young men do not enter theological schools from any special tribe. They are supplied by our morally sick society. At the age of 18, a person already has a fully formed spiritual appearance. After five years of study, it is not easy to re-educate him. Many grew up in non-church families, some of whose parents are still not churchgoers. Many came to faith at school. Some people lack normal upbringing. All this leads to the fact that some seminarians very easily fall under the influence of the spirit of the times. This then affects their service. Most often, this manifests itself in the desire to combine high service to God and people with service to oneself, without missing the opportunity to acquire something or make friends among wealthy people. This is where I see the serious consequences of the destruction of traditions.

— Father, what would you like to wish to the seminary graduates?

“You have to constantly and hard work on yourself. I advise you to thoroughly study the life and pastoral feat of such grace-filled priests as Saints John of Kronstadt, Alexy Mechev, Archpriest Valentin Amfitheatrov, etc. It is necessary to take their service as a model and work hard throughout your life in order to approach perfect service. We must not forget for a minute about our chosenness: “A great person is a worthy priest, he is a friend of God, appointed to do His will” (Righteous Saint John of Kronstadt).

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 3

✪ READ. Issue 13. Two-volume book about. Job (Gumerova)

✪ Book: A thousand questions for a priest

✪ Lecture 30. The Russian Orthodox Church at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Subtitles

Biography

Born on January 25, 1942 in the village of Chelkar, Aktobe region, Kazakh SSR, into a Tatar family. In 1948, the Gumerov family moved to Ufa, where Shamil spent his childhood and adolescence. In 1959 he graduated from high school.

In 1959 he entered the history department of the Bashkir State University. He completed four courses and transferred in 1963 to the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University, which he graduated in 1966.

“I was led to theology by philosophy, which in the Middle Ages was called the “handmaiden of theology” (“philosophia est ministra theologiae”). Philosophy began to interest me back in school. We lived on the outskirts of Ufa. In our regional library, I discovered the classical works of R. Descartes, G. W. Leibniz, G. Hegel and other philosophers and became very interested in them. After graduating from high school, I wanted to enter the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University, but they only accepted people with at least two years of work experience. My mother persuaded me to enter the history department of the Bashkir State University. There I completed four courses and moved on to the fifth. But my desire remained unsatisfied, because it was impossible to obtain a second higher education in the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly for me, the rector of the university, who knew about my passion for philosophy, suggested that I try to transfer to the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow University. Everything went without any difficulties, and I was accepted into the third year. A very busy life began; during the academic year I had to pass exams and tests for three courses.”

In 1969 he entered graduate school, which he graduated in 1972. He prepared a Ph.D. thesis on the topic “System analysis of the mechanism of change in social organization,” which he defended in December 1973.

After completing his postgraduate studies, in July 1972 he worked at the Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences (INION) of the Academy of Sciences. From June 1976 to December 1990, he worked as a senior researcher at the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for System Research (VNIISI) of the Academy of Sciences. During these years, he met the Russian sociologist Valentina Chesnokova, in whose social circle his professional vision was formed.

On April 17, 1984, with his entire family (wife and three children), he received holy baptism with the name Athanasius (in honor of St. Athanasius the Great).

From September 1989 to 1997 he taught basic theology at the Moscow Theological Seminary and the Holy Scripture of the Old Testament at the Moscow Theological Academy. In May 1990, he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary as an external student, and in 1991, also as an external student, from the Moscow Theological Academy. In 1991 he defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of theology.

On April 5, 2005, he was tonsured by the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), into monasticism with the name Job in honor of the righteous Job the Long-Suffering.

In 2003-2011, he led the “Questions to a Priest” column on the website “Orthodoxy.Ru”.

On April 10, 2017, during the Liturgy in the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' elevated him to the rank of archimandrite.

Family

Work on the canonization of saints

In 1997-2002, on behalf of the clergy, he prepared materials for the canonization of saints. Among them are canonized saints: Righteous Matrona of Moscow, Metropolitan Macarius (Nevsky), Archbishop of Uglich Seraphim (Samoilovich), Bishop Gregory (Lebedev), Archpriest John Vostorgov, Martyr Nikolai Varzhansky, Bishop Nikita of Belevsky (Pribytkov), Ray Neofit Lyubimov, archpriest Sergius Goloshchapov, Archimandrite Ignatius (Lebedev), Hieroschemamonk Aristoklei (Amvrosiev), Mikhail Novoselov, Anna Zertsalova, schema-nun Augusta (Zashchuk) and others.

He also collected materials for the canonization of Archpriest Valentin Amfitheatrov, the ascetic of piety of the Moscow St. John Monastery nun Dosithea, the elder of the Novospassky Monastery Hieroschemamonk Filaret (Pulyashkin), Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich, the spiritual writer Evgeniy Poselyanin. However, the Synodal Commission for Canonization did not make a decision on their glorification.

Publications

Books

1. Gracious Shepherd. Archpriest Valentin Amfitheatrov. M., publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate, 1998, 63 p.
2. The trial of Jesus Christ. Theological and legal view. M., publication of the Sretensky Monastery, 2002, 112 pp.; 2nd ed. M., 2003, 160 pp.; 3rd ed., M.., 2007, 192 p.
3. Questions for the priest. M., publication of the Sretensky Monastery, 2004, 255 p.
4. Questions for the priest. Book 2. M., edition of the Sretensky Monastery, 2005, 207 p.
5. Questions for the priest. Book 3. M., edition of the Sretensky Monastery, 2005, 238 p.
6. Questions for the priest. Book 4. M., edition of the Sretensky Monastery, 2006, 256 p.
7. Questions for the priest. Book 5. M., edition of the Sretensky Monastery, 2007, 272 p.
8. Questions for the priest. Book 6. M., edition of the Sretensky Monastery, 2008, 272 p.
9. A thousand questions for the priest. M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2009, 896 p.
10. The Sacrament of Anointing (unction). M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2009, 32 p.
11. Holy baptism. - M., 2011. - 32 p. (Series “Sacraments and Rites”).
12. What is marriage? - M., 2011. - 64 p. - (Series “Sacraments and Rituals”).
13. Cross power. - M., 2011. - 48 p. - (Series “Sacraments and Rituals”).
14. Sacrament of repentance. - M., 2011. - 64 p. - (Series “Sacraments and Rituals”).
15. The spiritual life of a modern Christian in questions and answers. Volume 1., M., Sretensky Monastery, 2011, 496 p. Volume 2.. M., Sretensky Monastery, 2011, 640 p.
16. Law of God, M., Sretensky Monastery, 2014, 584 p. (co-authored with priests Pavel and Alexander Gumerov)

Articles

1. The truth of faith and life. The life and works of the Hieromartyr John Vostorgov. M., publication of the Sretensky Monastery, 2004, 366 p.
2. “If we want to be the salt of the earth...” John of Kronstadt. - Siberian Lights, 1991 No. 5, p. 272-278
3. Three quarters of academic theology (Spiritual heritage of the Additions to the works of the Holy Fathers" and "Theological Bulletin") - Bogoslosky Bulletin. M., 1993. [T.] 1. No. 1-2, pp. 21 - 39. .
4. Right and Truth [the trial of Jesus Christ]. - Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1993. No. 5. p. 57 - 74.
5. Good sowing. Russian writer Alexandra Nikolaevna Bakhmeteva. - In the book: A. N. Bakhmeteva. Stories for children about the earthly life of the Savior and Lord our God Jesus Christ, M., 2010.
6. Guardian of church tradition. - In the collection: “The Lord is my strength. In memory of Archbishop Alexander (Timofeev)", Saratov: Publishing House of the Saratov Metropolitanate, 2013, p. 88 - 93.
7. Image of Heavenly Fatherhood. - “Orthodoxy and Modernity”, 2014, No. 27 (43).
8. A clergyman's handbook. M., 1994. (Articles in the section “Dictionary of Preachers”):
   1. Archbishop Ambrose (Klyucharyov)
   2. Archpriest Valentin Nikolaevich Amfitheatrov
   3. Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky)
   4. Archpriest Alexy Vasilievich Belotsvetov
   5. Professor Archpriest Alexander Adreevich Vetelev
   6. Bishop Vissarion (Nechaev)
   7. Archpriest Pyotr Viktorovich Gnedich
   8. Metropolitan Gregory (Chukov)
   9. Archbishop Dimitri (Muretov)
   10. Bishop John (Sokolov)
   11. Archpriest John Vasilievich Levanda
   12. Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov)
   13. Metropolitan Macarius (Nevsky)
   14. Archbishop Nikanor (Brovkovich)
   15. Archbishop Nikolai (Ziorov)
   16. Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich)
   17. Archpriest Vasily Ioannovich Nordov
   18. Metropolitan Platon (Levshin)
   19. Archpriest Rodion Timofeevich Putyatin
   20. Priest Mikhail Dimitrievich Smirnov
   21. Archpriest Petr Alekseevich Smirov
   22. Archpriest Pyotr Aleksanrovich Sollertinsky
   23. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk
   24. Metropolitan Filaret (Amphitheaters)
   25. Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky)
9. Great Soviet encyclopedia:
   1. Koenig R.
   2. Quetelet A. (together with A. Kh. Khrgian)
   3. Znnetsky F.V.
   4. Mills C.R.
10. Encyclopedia “Russian writers.  1800-1917" (Encyclopedia Publishing House):
    1. Albertini N.V.
    2. Ambrose (Grenkov A.M.), teacher.
    3. Antonov A.V.
    4. Aristov N. Ya.
    5. Babikov A. Ya.
    6. Bassistov P. E.
    7. Bakhmeteva A. N.
    8. Bakhtiarov A. A.
    9. Belyankin L. E.
    10. Bludova A. D.
    11. Boborykin N. N.
    12. Bulgakov M. P. (Metropolitan Macarius)
    13. Bukharev A. M.
    14. Valuev D. A.
    15. Vasilchikov A. I.
    16. Vekstern A. A.
    17. Gavrilov F. T. (author's edit - A. A. Ufimsky)
    18. Glinka G. A.
    19. Glukharev M. Ya. (Archimandrite Macarius)
    20. Govorov G.V. (Bishop Theophan the Recluse)
    21. Gorbunov I. F. Gorbunov O. F.
    22. Danilevsky N. Ya.
    23. Delvig A. I.
    24. Elagin V. N. (jointly with A. L. Varminsky)
    25. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
    26. Innokenty (Borisov)
    27. Iriney (Falkovsky) (jointly with M. P. Lepekhin)
    28. Ismailov F. F. Karsavin L. P. Kashkarov I. D.
    29. Kotzebue O. E.
    30. Koyalovich M. I.
    31. Kurch E.M.
    32. Leonid, Archimandrite (Kavelin)
    33. Menshikov M. O. (with the participation of M. B. Pospelov)
    34. Nikodim, bishop (Kazantsev N.I.)
    35. Passek V.V.
    36. Pobedonostsev K. P. (together with Sergeev)
    37. Poletika P.I.
    38. Radozhitsky I. T. (together with M. K. Evseeva)
    39. Ricord L. I.
    40. Romanov V.V.
11. Orthodox Encyclopedia:
    1. Avarim
    2. Avdiy
    3. Haggai
    4. Absalom
    5. Aviafar
    6. Adonisedek
    7. Aquila and Priscilla
    8. Amphitheaters V. N.
    9. Theological Bulletin

Co-authored with priest Pavel Gumerov

1. Eternal memory. Orthodox burial rite and commemoration of the dead. M., Publishing House of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2009, 160 p. - 2nd revised edition, M.. 2011.
2. Christian's house. Traditions and shrines. M.: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2010, 63 p.

Scientific publications

1. Systemic-semiotic invariants of culture. - In the book: System Research. - M., 1982, pp. 383-395.
2. Methodological problems of system analysis of an organization. In the collection: "Philosophical and methodological foundations of system research. System analysis and system modeling. M.: Nauka, 1983. P. 97-113.
3. Development and organization. In the collection: “System Concepts of Development”, M., 1985. Issue 4., pp. 70-75.
4. Global tasks and problems of “universal ethics”. - In the collection: The concept of global problems of our time. - M., 1985.
5. Ecological values ​​in the cultural system. In the collection: System research. Methodological problems. Yearbook, 1988. -M.: Nauka, 1989. - P.210 - 224.
6. Philosophical and anthropological problems of ecology. - In the collection: Ecology, culture, education. M., 1989. P. 96-100.