Nikolai Alekseevich Guryanov Biography

Elder Nikolai Guryanov Nikolay Guryanov - biography Nikolai Guryanov - an Orthodox religious figure, archpriest, poet. One of the most revered elders of the Russian Orthodox Church of the late 20th - early 21sts. There are Talab Islands in the Pskov region, on one of which is the village of Island Pully. In the old days, there was a collective farm named after the revolutionary Ivan Zalit, hence the name of the settlement.

About half a century in the local temple, one of the most respected by the Christian world, Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov served God and people. Childhood was born a priest on May 24 of the year in the miracles of the Gdovsky district. Parents, Orthodox people, at baptism gave the baby the name Nicholas, in honor of St. Nicholas the Miner. The father of the family, Alexei Stepanovich, who served as a regent at the church choir, died at a fairly young age.

Ekaterina Stepanovna, the mother of four sons, had to lift children alone. All sons inherited from the parent musical abilities, and the first -born Mikhail even worked as a teacher at the conservatory of the northern capital. All three brothers died in the war, and Nikolai was left alone with his mother. Until the end of her life, she supported him, helped in works, ministry to God.

I died in May. Young Nikolai had a hot character, could have started because of the mere nonsense. Self -education helped to overcome itself, and undoubtedly a true faith in God. Since childhood, he observed Orthodox traditions, helped the altar in the local church, and sometimes committed pilgrimages in saint for Christians. Even in early youth, he visited the island of Talabsk, where he later lived and served for many years.

Nikolai Guryanov, in his youth, graduating from the Gatchina Pedagogical College, Guryanov decided to continue his studies and entered the pedagogical university of Leningrad. Here the young man had to choose between his beliefs and the opportunity to live in a state in a state, where faith in God was persecuted. His speech against the closure of one of the temples caused the expulsion from the first course of the institute.

The church was still closed, as the road to the higher education of Nikolai was closed. In addition, the young advocate of Vera became the object of observation of the NKVD employees. He returned to his native village, where he sang on the choir and read psalms in a local temple. In addition, he worked at school - he taught children physics, biology and mathematics.

The old man’s life arranged persecution of believers, the communist power not only covered the church, but also pursued clergymen. Many were exiled to the camps, including Guryanov. He was accused of religious propaganda and before the trial was held in one of the most stringent institutions - the Leningrad prison "Crosses". Here, convicts from hard labor ate their “guilt before the Motherland” - they built a railway.

The conditions of detention of prisoners were inhuman, and many simply did not survive. Guryanov made hard work disabled - he crippled both legs. Information about the date of his release differs - according to some sources, this happened in M, according to others - in the year. Nicholas could not get Leningrad registration - the status of the repressed did not allow this.

Then he settled in one of the villages near G. Tosno, and began to work as a teacher. Here Guryanov, one might say, was lucky - in the village schools there was an acute lack of teachers, and he was accepted even if there was a criminal record in a biography. The Great Patriotic War broke out. The disabled teacher was not mobilized because of her worthlessness.

At the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, Nikolai was on the territory captured by the Nazis, and was sent to the Baltic states on a forced manner. Father Nikolai Guryanov during this period Guryanov made the final decision to completely devote himself to serving God. At the beginning of the year, Metropolitan Sergius conducted a ceremony of his ordination to the rank of deacon.

Then the old man took the vow of life celibacy - Celibath. Having graduated from the courses of theology, he went to serve as a priest in the female Holy Trinity Monastery G. after some time observed compliance with the charter of worship in the Holy Dukhov Monastery of Vilnius. A large segment of Guryanov’s life is connected with the service of the abbot of the Church of St.

Nicholas in the Lithuanian village of Gregobosta. In the year he was dedicated to Archpriest San. As Rimma Orlov recalls, one of the parishioners of the temple, Father Nikolai was a very bright person. He talked with believers affably, conducted the service with inspiration, unobtrusively introducing parishioners to the service. He was not a monk, but life led much more strict than monastic.

The rejection of bodily pleasure was strictly observed, devoting himself to moral and spiritual comfort. He set an example for all people with his selfless service to the Lord. His parish was popularly called the “island of Orthodoxy” inside the Catholic Baltic states. In parallel with the service, the abbot was trained - in the year he graduated from the Vilnius Theological Seminary, and then entered the correspondence department of the theological Academy of Leningrad.

In the year he went to serve the Lord in the Temple on the island of Talabsk. He remained here until the end of his days.According to the testimonies of close to Nikolai, the place of service was indicated by the old man with whom he talked a lot. At the beginning of the X, the peak of Khrushchev’s activity in the fight against “Orthodox obscurantism” came. That is why the arrivals who arrived on the island of the elder and his mother were accepted by wary.

Over time, the meek, friendly disposition of the priest managed to arrange people to himself, and good relations with local residents were established until the end of his days. Father Nikolai got a dilapidated temple, which he began to restore. He changed the roof on his own, painted the walls. I did not ask for funds for repair materials from the diocese - I was looking for everything on my own.

When the first services began, with their own hands, the round bread - the mallows necessary for church sacraments. In addition, he always helped people than he could: he looked after the kids, looked after the elderly, and planted trees. Despite the fact that good relations were already working with the inhabitants of the island of Nicholas, at first, the service often passed without parishioners.

People were simply afraid to go to the temple because of the pressure of the authorities. One of the locals made a denunciation of the elder, and a man from power structures arrived in Talabsk. He was extremely impartially expressed about religion, rude and threatened that the next day he would take the priest from the island. Father Nikolai Guryanov spent the elder in the prayers all night, and in the morning a real miracle happened.

A storm began on Lake Pskov, and within three days from the mainland there was no way to get to the island. And then suddenly the authorities were not up to Guryanov, they seemed to be forgotten about him. In the X News about the good deeds of Father Nicholas, the entire Soviet Union flew around. Behind the prophecies of the old man, people from all over the country gathered.

Father Nicholas called the arrived strangers by name, and he was never mistaken. He gave people advice, warned about possible troubles, explained how not to encounter them. The priest treated the demons with particular pity - he carried out rites of expulsion of evil spirits. He spent nights in prayers for healing from deadly diseases. Preaching and giving instructions, Father Nicholas was always extremely tactful - he did not humiliate human dignity, he was kindly treated for help.

Nikolai Guryanov in the year Nikolai Guryanov was awarded the headdress of the highest clergy - Mitroy and the right to serve the liturgy with open royal gates to the "Cherubim". In the year, he was awarded the Higher Archpriest Church Distinction - the right to ministry with open royal gates to “our father”. Before the collapse of the USSR and in the post -Soviet time, the state began to support the Orthodox churches, and the number of parishioners of Father Nicholas increased.

They began to read it not only in Russia, but also abroad. So, in one of the provinces of Canada, an Orthodox monastery was founded with its blessing. Nikolai Guryanov became the prototype of the main character of Pavel Lungin's film “Island”.

And at the turn of the century, the holy father made a prediction regarding the future of Russia, the true meaning of which is still the subject of disputes. They may be familiar.