How to become a priest?

Publication date 03.06.2010

In recent years, feature films have been devoted to the image of the Orthodox clergyman in our country. Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are frequent guests of various television programs on secular television channels and indispensable participants in the most important state ceremonies. However, the world of clergy still remains largely closed to the unchurched part of society. A correspondent for the newspaper “Vacancy” decided to find out how priests are trained in our city? To do this, we turned to the seminary teacher, rector of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Quick to Hear, Archpriest Father Boris (Bezmenov).

– There is an opinion that people are accepted into the seminary almost right away. Is it really?

– Under Soviet rule, it was very risky to come to us. Therefore, about 60% of the seminarians came from villages in Western Ukraine, where strong spiritual traditions were preserved. I even learned Ukrainian while working in the admissions office. Of the exams in the 60s and 70s, we only had dictation, interviews and singing. Today, the level of applicants has noticeably increased, “people with laptops” come to us, so the admissions committee has someone to choose from.

– What is the competition today? Relatively speaking, how many applicants are there for one place and what are the general requirements for future seminarians?

– It is difficult to give a specific figure, since anyone wishing to enter the seminary will have to go through a serious selection sieve. Let's start with the fact that, according to the established rules, the St. Petersburg Orthodox Theological Seminary, which is a higher specialized educational institution, admits males aged 18 to 35 years, with at least a secondary education, single or married in their first marriage. To be admitted to the interview and oral examinations, applicants must obtain a recommendation from the diocesan bishop or a certified recommendation from a parish priest. And then, in addition to passing oral exams on the biblical history of the Old and New Testaments, the Catechism, general church history, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Church Charter, applicants must write a statement on a biblical or church historical topic. The selection committee also checks knowledge of basic prayers, church chants, and an ear for music. A prerequisite is the ability to read the Psalter in Church Slavonic.

– And when do the entrance exams start?

– Seminary exams begin in mid-August. The classes themselves start from September 1. By the way, the training period is five years. Students are paid a stipend. Nonresident students, as well as all single students, are provided with a hostel and free meals. Moreover, of course, they can go out into the city, but must spend the night in a hostel.

- It’s not easy to do. But how is the graduate’s fate then decided? What is the distribution principle?

– Our seminarians are not only from the St. Petersburg diocese, but from all over Russia. Moreover, we have a faculty for foreign students. Everyone who graduates from the seminary then returns to their diocese, where the hierarchy distributes the graduates to parishes. It happens that capable students from other dioceses are left in St. Petersburg, but this requires the blessing of the bishop who recommended them for admission. And all the locals go to our Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir, and he decides where to send graduates to serve. Of course, every seminary graduate is precious. Today, almost every diocese has its own seminaries and theological schools. That's why many of our graduates become teachers.

– Is it true that before graduating from the seminary, a student must either find a spouse or become a monk?

– You can take holy orders only after first deciding your fate. You need to decide whether you are following the monastic path or getting married. Once you have been ordained, you cannot change your status. There are three options: a person takes monastic vows, or he gets married and has one wife for life, or a third, extremely rare and undesirable path: a person has not taken monastic vows, has not married, but is not ready to become a monk. This is called celibacy.

– Where do future clergymen find brides? After all, a seminarian cannot go to a dance in a nightclub, for example...

– Previously, finding a bride for a seminarian was a big problem. Today we have a regency class open at our seminary, where they train conductors of the spiritual choir. Mostly girls from religious families who want to receive spiritual education study there. Many of them marry seminary students and become mothers. We have examples where marriages take place after meeting on Orthodox sites.

The word Pop comes from the Old Church Slavonic Pop and may have been borrowed from the ancient Germanic pfaffo. Sometimes stands for "Shepherd of the Orthodox Sheep", an outdated, often ironic title for a priest. In the Orthodox Church, a priest - or otherwise a priest - is a clergyman who has the second degree of priesthood. Priests are also called presbyters, which means elder in Greek. The rank next to the priest is called Bishop.

Other articles on religious topics can be found in the section.

How to become a Priest

To become a priest you need to graduate from a theological seminary, which exists in many cities. The Theological Seminary is a higher educational institution. The duration of training is five years. Entrance exams take place in the summer; you can find out more precisely at the institution you decide to enroll in. You can also decide on exams there. Approximately for admission you need:

1. Pass oral exams on the Catechism and church history, both general and specifically Orthodox, and, of course, knowledge of the Old and New Testaments is required.
2. Knowledge of Old Church Slavonic is required.
3. Having an ear for music.
4. In addition to the exams, it is necessary to obtain a recommendation from the diocesan bishop or a recommendation from a priest certified by the bishop.
5. You can apply at the age of 18 to 35 years.

As in other educational institutions, students are paid a stipend. If necessary, some seminaries provide dormitory accommodation.

By the end of your studies, before you are ordained, you need to decide whether you will be a monk or get married. Once you have been ordained, you cannot change your status.

Although a priest is a profession in the worldly sense, in reality it is rather a calling and going to study at a theological seminary is at the behest of the heart, and not the call of the mind. After all, there are many other professions that are no worse if you do them with your soul, for the benefit of people. You can look for them at.

A priest is not just a profession, but a choice of a whole life path. Few are capable of it, because it requires not only certain knowledge and skills, but also a general disposition towards ordination, spirituality, responsibility and maturity. There are many common questions regarding church ministry. In particular, how to become a priest without a seminary? At what age can one choose such a profession? There are other questions, and all of them, without a doubt, require detailed and thorough answers. So let's find out how to become a priest, and who can devote themselves to serving the church.

Almost every man can devote himself to serving the church if he wishes. However, this path is not easy and requires great endurance and faith. Even before receiving theological education, a priest must show an inclination to serve, cultivate high moral qualities, tame his base and sinful aspirations and, of course, often attend church. It will be better if he studies church books and hymns in advance, becomes familiar with how the service is performed, and so on. This will greatly facilitate further learning.

Finding a profession and admission

Those who are wondering how to become a priest in Russia need to know certain rules. The primary task is to obtain an education at a theological seminary. Applicants must comply with the following rules:

age: from 18 to 35 years, male;

marital status: married for the first time or single;

After submitting all the required papers, the applicant undergoes an interview, during which the motives for admission, the sincerity of intentions, as well as the ability to correctly and coherently express their thoughts are assessed.

The entrance examination assesses knowledge of the Old and New Testaments, the Catechism and the history of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, applicants must pass a written exam - a presentation on a church-historical or biblical topic. Knowledge of basic prayers and chants, as well as vocal abilities, are tested. A mandatory requirement is the ability to read the Psalter in Church Slavonic.

How is the training going?

Those who are interested in how to become a priest should also know the conditions of study at the seminary. Entrance exams are held in August. Classes, as in other educational institutions, begin on the first of September. Studying in seminary is a tough test of faith and the correctness of the choice of life path. Strict discipline reigns in it, and not everyone can complete this stage.

Please note that students who come from other cities receive a place in a dormitory for all five years of study. Naturally, seminarians must strictly observe the rules of living there; in particular, they must spend nights in their room.

All students are provided with a scholarship. Young people who complete the training can expect to be ordained priests. This is possible only after going through confession and passing another exam. At the same time, we note that studying at a seminary does not guarantee obligatory ordination.

Parish priest or monk?

Before graduating from seminary, students must determine whether they intend to marry. This decision is very responsible, because it is no longer possible to change your marital status after initiation. So, the future minister of the church must either choose the path of a monk, who is forbidden to marry, or get married and become a parish priest. In this case, absolute monogamy is assumed not only from the man being ordained (he cannot divorce or remarry even if widowed), but also from his wife: she should not be a widow or divorced.

What happens after graduating from seminary?

Having completed their education, graduates are distributed among the parishes to which they are assigned. As the service progresses, it becomes possible to receive a new rank. The first level of the church hierarchy is the deacon. This is immediately followed by ordination. And the highest degree of priesthood is the rank of bishop. At the same time, those who want to know how to become a priest need to know one more detail.

Monks (those who choose celibacy) have more opportunities to move up in the church hierarchy. Only they have a chance to receive the rank of bishop and become a metropolitan, leading an entire diocese. In addition, the Patriarch is chosen exclusively from among the monks. If a graduate chooses the path of a married parish priest, he cannot rise above the archpriest in the position of rector.

Is it possible to become a priest without special spiritual education?

There is a question that interests many who want to devote themselves to the church. It goes like this: “Is it possible and how to become a priest without a seminary?” In fact, this is possible, but only if the head of his parish personally performs the dedication ceremony. It should be noted right away that receiving ordination in this way is practiced in very few churches. So you still can’t do without special theological education in a seminary. This is an indispensable condition for receiving rank.

Spiritual education in Belarus

For many, the important question is how to become a priest in Belarus. In this country there are a large number of relevant institutions where those who wish to devote themselves to the church can study. Let's try to list them. So, there are now three schools in Belarus, located in Minsk, Vitebsk and Slonim. In addition, there is a seminary and a theological academy in the capital. It is also necessary to mention the Institute of Theology at the Belarusian State University.

At the same time, only men with a higher theological education are accepted into the Academy. The future priest must be single or in his first marriage, and must be baptized. The Minsk seminary accepts both those with higher education and those with only secondary theological education. In addition, only those who have served in the army or are documented to be exempt from it can get here. Let us note that girls can also enroll in some departments of theological schools.

Thus, the choice of educational institutions is great, and here, too, everything is primarily determined by the sincerity of the motives and faith of the future clergyman.

What about Catholics?

Those who are interested in how to become a Catholic priest need to know some nuances. The path to serving in the church turns out to be even more difficult than is customary in Orthodoxy. The first difference is that in Catholicism there is no so-called white clergy. Thus, a priest cannot create a family. Future church ministers are trained in seminaries, which can be entered either after receiving higher education or after graduating from high school.

In the first case, the training will take four years, in the second - eight. It is worth noting that a young man who wants to come to the seminary must already be a devout Catholic and actively participate in parish life for at least two years. Having completed his studies, the future priest must serve in the church as a deacon for six months and make sure that the chosen path is correct. After this time, the rite of ordination and appointment to a specific parish are performed.

Thus, the path of a Catholic pastor, although not in many ways, differs from how to become an Orthodox priest.

Age restrictions

As already mentioned in the article, only a man who is no younger than 18 and no older than 35 can enter the seminary, that is, after completing his studies, you can become a priest at 40 or earlier. However, some people begin to feel drawn to this calling much later than expected. They ask themselves: “Is it possible to become a priest in this case?”

An option for such people could be distance learning at a theological academy - where the age limit is up to 55 years. But there is one condition: the applicant must bear parochial obedience, and this must be documented. Even after admission, you must annually provide a reference from the place of obedience, and it must be certified by the ruling bishop.

In any case, the issue of priesthood after the established deadlines must be resolved on an individual basis.

How to become a priest's wife?

Many religious girls want to marry a priest. However, such a life is also a kind of calling, and not everyone is ready for it. But those who are still interested in how to become a priest’s wife need to know some details.

First of all, it is worth understanding that a young man studying at a theological seminary cannot meet people in the usual way, for example, by attending parties or concerts. The brides of future priests are usually girls from religious families who attend church or the regency class at the seminary. As we have already mentioned, the chosen one of the priest cannot be a widow or divorcee and, moreover, must be a virgin, however, like her fiancé. In this case, only the rector can give permission for a seminarian to get married.

By the way, certain requirements are also imposed on the profession of the future wife of a priest. She should not compromise her husband in any way. Previously, there was a regulation prohibiting church ministers from marrying actresses; this profession was considered unworthy.

Be that as it may, girls who want to join their destiny with a priest should be aware that this choice is fraught with certain difficulties. For example, a wife should follow her husband to any parish, even the most remote and poor one, and not complain that her husband pays much more attention to other people.

In addition, mother’s life often causes discussion among church parishioners; she is always in sight. Thus, this path involves high responsibility and requires great moral strength and endurance in order to be not just a companion, but also a support and reliable rear for your spouse.

Profession or calling?

Now we know how a person can become a priest. However, certain moral qualities should also be considered among the basic requirements: fortitude, patience, the desire to help in word and deed, love for people. Those who wish to become priests must be prepared to live according to special canons, to voluntarily renounce many joys and pleasures.

Not everyone is ready for such steps. And they must be done solely at the behest of the heart, only then does this path become truly righteous and good. And then the question of how to become a priest and how difficult it is fades into the background. And the desire to adequately prove oneself in this difficult field becomes paramount. Thus, the priesthood is not primarily a profession, but a vocation and choice that determines a person’s entire life.

Archpriest Andrey Khvylya-Olinter. Retired police colonel. Scientist, criminologist, religious scholar. In the past, deputy head of the Criminal Information Center of the Main Information Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. One of the leading experts in the field of non-traditional religions and destructive cults.

— Father Andrei, first of all, allow me from the editorial team of the portal “Rublev.com” to congratulate you on the day of your heavenly patron, Reverend Andrei Rublev.

It’s somehow unusual that a high-ranking employee of the Main Information Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs became a priest. Many of your colleagues still remember you as a police colonel - and not just a colonel, but a top specialist in the field of information systems and forensics. What did you do at the Ministry of Internal Affairs?

— I was involved in the development, implementation and operation of information support systems, including in forensic science, which are used in the investigation of crimes. Crimes are committed wherever a person is present and acts - therefore criminology covers all types of human activity. Accordingly, the development of information systems required a comprehensive study of many areas of life.

— This is not only the collection and analysis of data and fingerprints, as ordinary people usually think?

- Of course not. Even if you like some detective films or stories, there are a variety of databases in information systems. For example, restoring the appearance of a corpse, the appearance of a person based on his skull. Or drawing up an identikit, when witnesses are interviewed and a probable portrait of the criminal is made. The same applies to the description of various crimes, when it is necessary to catch serial ones from a huge pile, that is, committed by the same group or by the same person - according to the method of commission, according to other characteristics. We did a variety of mathematics—take image processing, for example. Let's say there is a photograph of a suspect, but it is “blurry.” And I had to develop an algorithm that allows me to get a very clear shot from a defocused image. From a mathematical point of view, everything turned out to be quite simple.

Of course, science does not stand still; it was only later that computer programs appeared.

— But you were a pioneer.

- In any case, one of the first in our country... It was vitally important! For example, bringing a defocused and blurry photograph into a normal image. To expose the criminal or, conversely, to prove that the suspect is not actually involved.

- What years were these?

- The nineties. Although I came there back in the late 70s. At first we mainly studied mathematics. The USSR did not yet have such technical means, and in order to process images, including fingerprints, it was necessary to purchase foreign equipment. And at first we became inventors, and such that, I remember, even the Americans were surprised!

We managed to create one of our first versions of a fingerprint system on a personal computer. The Americans believed that this was theoretically impossible. And we showed it to them on a personal computer, they decided that we were deceiving them. But it was very easy to prove: we asked them to run fingerprints on our input devices themselves and found everything we needed. It amazed them! It was not a modern computer, but something like Iskra. Now people have not even heard of it, they have already forgotten about such PCs. But we then neutralized the frailty of our technology by using very clever mathematics.

— Was the backwardness of technology compensated for by brain power?

- Well, yes. The Americans solved this using the unlimited capabilities of technology.

— How was your service? You eventually reached the rank of colonel?

- And not just a colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - I then held a post on the information conveyor, that is, in addition to purely scientific work, I was also responsible for the “operation” of our systems around the clock. And we served the detection of crimes not only in the USSR, but also at the level of international structures, Interpol, for example. People contacted us very often from our embassies, and from anywhere - from all countries, one might say. Russians, we are such a hectic people, we commit crimes in different countries (although this is not only a specific feature of Russians, but also of other peoples).

— Yes, and crimes were committed against Russians, that is, your field of activity was vast, the whole globe.

“And that’s why my schedule was frantic: during the working day there were from 60 to 70 combat calls alone. A “combat” call is when they call me, say, from our embassy in the Republic of South Africa and ask me to check on some person or something else. I hold the phone, use another phone to contact my subordinates (and I had about four hundred subordinates), convey the order to find such a person, this is done immediately, and I immediately answer the request by phone. These are battle calls. Several control cards with a red stripe, that is, at the ministerial level, and I must prepare the relevant documents and send them within the day. Combat mode.

- But how did it happen that a promising scientist, criminologist, Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Andrei Igorevich Khvylya-Olinter turned into “Father Andrei”? To change your life so radically...

- This can be compared to the birth of a child. On the one hand, it seemed to happen “suddenly.” How in a maternity hospital a woman suffers, strains and “suddenly” gives birth. On the other hand, the birth of a child was preceded by a long period of some events.

It somehow happened to me that since childhood I had a thirst for truth, if you like. Even if it was clothed in the form of an official ideology, Marxism-Leninism. After all, I read not only those works of Marx and Engels that are usually studied in institutes, but also many others. Especially Marx's early works. At first I followed the official ideology, but at the same time I really loved mathematics and philosophy. Teilhard de Chardin played the role, Stanislaw Lem and other similar philosophers. And I began to look for the reason, the meaning of our existence, but, however, within the framework of rational human activity. I began to create a gigantic theory that, at least for me, explained everything that was happening in the world. Yes, enormous erudition has appeared, but, you understand, in order to study all this systematically, you need to brew in the appropriate environment. And since I basically studied everything on my own, there was some superficiality in it, it was an endless race towards the horizon.

But there was another side. I painted (and my father painted, he is also a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR), and this feeling of the beauty of the world pushed me to think that this beauty has some kind of basis, some kind of Superprinciple.

- Just as physicists see the incredible intelligence of nature, even the human body, its body is an amazing super-mechanism...

- Yes. And at first everything was perceived as a certain property of nature, but then, when I got deeper into this matter, some well-known principles of the same nature, say, Hamilton's principle of least action, showed that behind all this there is clearly something else that is higher nature. We throw a stone - and it initially flies along the trajectory of the least action, that is, it seems to know where to move. And if we consider the functioning of the human body, the brain, if we get to such the highest natural systems and causes... It is clear that all this sooner or later leads to God.

Francis Bacon also said (and he is considered the founder of modern science) that partial knowledge leads away from God, but such complete, deep knowledge necessarily returns to Him. Take the great scientists, Nobel Prize winners, founders of quantum mechanics: Werner Karl Heisenberg, Max Planck - they are all deeply religious people. Not to mention Newton and so on. And our truly great Soviet scientists: the same academician Boris Viktorovich Rauschenbach, developer of control systems for Soviet spacecraft, one of the founders of Soviet cosmonautics, please - a deepest believer. By the way, he wrote interesting books on Orthodoxy. Aircraft designer Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, famous both in Tsarist Russia and in the USA. He has written wonderful books about the Lord’s Prayer. Many more examples can be given. The fact is that there are no fewer believers among scientists than among ordinary people.

And so my hobbies began to lead me to a dead end: that is, while constructing my gigantic theory, I kept discovering holes and weak points in it. This means that it was necessary to study new scientific works and new directions. It is clear that in the end these fruitless searches could lead to a madhouse or to some historical sects, which is actually the same thing.

But unexpectedly I met people who actually laid the foundation for me and showed me where everything was. One day I came to one of our greatest scientific philosophers, the head of the Department of Problems of Cognition at the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences. I came to him with my opuses on the recommendation of Anatoly Garmaev (he was not yet a priest then). And this philosopher, Genrikh Stepanovich Batishchev, read my opus with great interest, which briefly described my “theory” (I say this with humor), and suddenly he dumbfounded me. “You urgently need to be baptized and go to church,” he said. And then he introduced me to Father Dimitry Smirnov.

Gradually, I acquired a completely new circle of acquaintances: Anatoly Garmaev (he was not yet a priest), philosopher Genrikh Stepanovich Batishchev (baptized John), priest Daniil Sysoev (I began to contact him against sectarian activities while still an officer), Archpriest Feodor Sokolov (he was in charge of the security forces).

And so Father Dimitry Smirnov invited me to somehow attend a baptism. I came to him in the afternoon, during lunch break, and there my grandmother brought her two older grandsons and granddaughter to be baptized. An empty temple, I stood on the sidelines, didn’t know anything, didn’t follow the rites, didn’t understand anything. I stand, stare, and am interested. When the baptism began, suddenly a strange, new feeling washed over me for the first time - I didn’t understand what was happening to me, but I felt as if wings had grown behind my back... And when the baptism ended, I was supposed to go up to Father Dmitry and thank him him, to say some words - and I silently crawled out of the church and spent the rest of my working time walking around Moscow, everything inside me was ringing.

- But you were just a spectator then.

“I just stood on the side of the wall and didn’t understand anything.” As a result, for some time, by inertia, I followed the rational path, I pounced on Christian literature, and began to read even more. And so I became stronger in the rational, rational sense that God exists, and that’s all.

I started walking to different religious buildings, visiting Muslims, Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists. Just go and have a look. But the feeling that I was “at home” arose only in the Orthodox church. Nowhere else. So I went on for about another year. As a result, like a snowfall, I was baptized in the Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy, Father Valentin Asmus baptized me, by complete immersion, as expected. A big role was then played by my godmother Valentina Fedorovna Chesnokova, the world's largest sociologist (very modest, apparently she was a secret nun, worked at the Institute of Sociology, she has wonderful books on sociology).

- But you did not stop at baptism and, in the end, accepted holy orders. How did your colleagues and your family react to this?

- God called. Everything is God's will. Although during the period of churching this sometimes took an anecdotal turn. We had such a category of officers who were attracted to women, and at the same time wore such well-groomed beards. And no one protested against beards. But as soon as I began to grow my beard, “for religious reasons” (it was also trimmed, short, that is, outwardly almost no different from these Don Juans), an onslaught against my beard began!

“Andrey Igorevich! So that tomorrow you come without a beard! You’re an officer!”

And this despite the fact that there were many there with beards, and no complaints were made against them. I also had some very funny incidents: I spoke at the Collegium on Zhitnaya with a serious report on the information and operational system, there were heads of all departments and generals. And suddenly I see them laughing, giggling. And I say serious things. Then I notice with horror that I switched to Church Slavonic. And then I took courses in the Church Slavonic language, and I had to take an exam in it, and I had a fixation on this in my head.

- “Because”, “because”, “back and forth, we don’t speak languages”?

- That's about it. But I was already the talk of the town there, they knew that I was Orthodox...

But seriously, my acceptance of the priesthood, of course, was the will of the Divine. I understand this now. For example, for some reason I began to create a library of priests and liturgical literature. Just felt the need to study it. Then there was a moment: Bishop John of Belgorod (chairman of the Missionary Department), when I was working on a reference book on destructive religious organizations, so that no one would interfere with me, sent me into “seclusion.” And such a moment comes: the directory is completed, and Vladyka John suddenly announces to me: “In three days you will be ordained deacon.” This is the year 2002.

I went to Moscow. At first my wife thought that I would become a monk. Well, you can imagine, there was panic: they say, the collapse of the family and so on. Relatives started talking that I was selling the apartment now, and there was a stir. But you see how the Lord turned everything around.

In 2000, I retired from the Ministry of Internal Affairs due to age, I was ordained as a deacon in 2002, and in 2004 I was ordained as a priest.

— Perhaps at that time your internal state was already brought to this?

“I’m telling you, it’s the same as becoming a mother: a girl, a girl - they hear something about the birth of a child, they, of course, form some idea about motherhood, about the birth of a child. But when it actually happens, it’s a qualitative leap! And it is infinitely different from all theoretical concepts. This is completely different now. So it is with ordination.

When a person becomes a priest, and if this happens sincerely (there are, of course, opportunistic cases - there are few such cases, but there are: when a priest-priest pushes his child to make such a choice), he becomes a completely different person.

— It happens that the priesthood is accepted as one of the new, popular “professions”, as a way to get a good job.

— Among the priests there are also living people. That's why it happens differently. But still, the bulk of priests are hard workers, this is a cross. And even more so bishops, being a bishop is generally a very difficult cross.

— Father Andrei, today the Church celebrates the memory of St. Andrei Rublev. How do you yourself perceive his personality and work - a man of faith, art and the silent theology of Ancient Rus'?

— This period is called by many scientific researchers the period of Russian revival. If in the West, in Western civilization, the Renaissance period contained a clear element of fighting against God, the replacement of God with man-theology, then in our country the revival is expressed primarily by the work of Saint Andrei Rublev. And it is enough to remember his icons, look carefully and deeply to understand that our revival contained the flowering of all the basic values ​​of Christianity. First of all, love, truth, tolerance in everyday life and social life, but unshakable standing in faith - religion and love in the broadest sense.

We look at the images of St. Andrei Rublev and see love - and this love extends to God and to the entire earthly world, including nature. And, of course, we see a person’s special place.

- But Andrei Rublev did not leave behind any letters, messages, teachings...

— He left behind icons. Take “Trinity” - I could talk about this icon for a week. It contains the highest semantic range: both the New Testament and the Old Testament elements. The composition of three angels repeats the letter “SH” - this is a sacred letter, especially highlighted in the ancient Jewish alphabet, which marks sacred objects. And here are the angels, they are lined up in the form of this letter. This is not immediately noticeable, because their mutual arrangement simultaneously repeats the circle, as a symbol of completeness. You can talk a lot about this icon; in my opinion, it is worth many worldview volumes, philosophical and theological. Objects behind the angels, the tree of life (this is a symbol of the Church), a building, a mountain, and so on. And, of course, the most important thing is the cup on the throne. It occupies a central place, the geometric center of the entire circle. The New Testament sacrifice is Christ Himself. And the middle angel, the symbol of Christ, points to his own sacrifice.

Therefore, for me, these images of Andrei Rublev are always a means of powerful cleansing. And in my cell (you can still see) this icon of the Trinity is always present. Rublev is not only my saint, but also one of the most powerful words in Orthodoxy in its heyday.

— It turns out that Rublev’s work is also theology, only theology in colors?

- Exactly. And in general, the icon as such is theology in color, just as, say, the Church Slavonic language is linguistic theology. Of course, icons are also different, there are similar to a painting, “partes”, secular versions. But we are talking about a canonical icon. Such an icon is prayer, yes, theology in color, but theology is, first of all, prayer. A theologian is, first of all, a prayer, and not a learned lecturer.

In our country, the Church recognizes only a few theologians with a capital letter. John the Theologian, Gregory the Theologian, Simeon the New Theologian... Of course, we have theological faculties that annually produce new theologians. But with all due respect to them, the Church calls only a few saints great “Theologians”. Therefore, an icon is both theology and prayer. Even when it is being made (we know all the stages of making boards, gesso and paints) - all this is accompanied not just by prayer, but by a special ascetic state of the icon painter, from which he has no right to leave.

By the way, I, too, have been drawing all my life and especially respected such symbolic versions of writing, that is, meaningful ones. And when the question of my baptism arose, the priest, seeing all my artistic aspirations, purposefully chose the Rev. Andrei Rublev as my patron saint. I admit, I myself had an idea to seriously engage in this, and I even tried to do something myself, but for many, many years I have had to deal with counteracting destructive religious organizations and cults... The fight against sects is a completely different area, and, alas, , takes all your strength. But we have no right to abandon this struggle for the spiritual security of the peoples of Russia. If not us, then who?

— Thank you, Father Andrey, for this conversation, and once again accept our congratulations on your name day, Angel Day!

— As far as I understand, your Orthodox information portal “Rublev” is also named after the Rev. Andrei Rublev? That is, today is also your editorial team’s name day. Therefore, for my part, I congratulate your team and your readers. God bless you!

Photo: personal archive of Rev. Andrei Khvylya-Olintera, A. Egortsev

In this article you will learn how to become a priest. Kiev priest Grigory Kryzhanovsky told Pravmir about this. Read!

Petya jumped with a parachute, but Vasya did not, and Petya tells Vasya how great it is. But Vasya looks at Petya and thinks: this way you can break all the bones, and this happens!

Why quit a great job? Why work in construction with a higher education?

By the way, it is not necessary to change your job. Wash the dishes as before, but you can wash them and feel happy. I discovered in my 30s that I don't like washing dishes, but rather splash around in warm water. All my life I thought that I loved washing dishes, but my wife denounced me.

It takes a lot of courage to admit this to yourself. You seem to be good, but in reality you love pleasure. You do good deeds, but you yourself love praise and attention.

In a large family, you need to compete for parental attention. You have to put your shoes on the shelf, make your bed, and for this they tell you that you are good - but you are the same as everyone else, although you realize this at 30.

No matter how good you are, no matter how many years you have been in the Church, over time you will learn that you are the same as others, like believers and non-believers, in terms of the degree of your distance from God. But God is everywhere and always, and the question is whether you let Him into yourself.

The feeling that Petya experienced while jumping with a parachute - how to convey it? The word becomes scarcer and ceases to be significant. Divine services, chants, temple construction, paintings, all this splendor is an attempt, an attempt.

Madness, actions - that's what really amazes people. Someone's example convinces them that they need to change. And God changes a person. How and when this happens is a mystery. For some during life, for others right before death, at the moment of death or after it - but the Lord will give to everyone who asks.

It takes courage to be a believer. This is not just a ritual: go here, come here, light a candle, take a blessing. If a person truly seeks beyond his strength God, who is merciful, forgiving, and gives grace and energy, he is a brave man, he decides to live forever. This is a serious decision and responsibility.

I grew up in a closed, large family with little contact with the world. For example, for a long time I did not know that there was such a thing as divorce. I had many uncles and aunts throughout the Union, we saw them regularly, and they all had full-fledged families. And already at school I learned that it happens like this: a boy without a dad, but not because his dad died.

My father and mother did not profess Jesus Christ, they were materialists, good people of Soviet views. They didn't say we had to be kind, they were just kind to us. And kindness is even more important than decency.

I graduated from the physics and mathematics class with a gold medal, and in 1995 I entered the KPI. I decided to study to become a programmer. I thought about law school, but didn’t go because court cases turned me off.

When, in my second year, one department head hired me to work in an organization associated with the Ministry of Justice, I worked there for a year and a half as a computer systems engineer and realized that I did not want to be a lawyer for moral and ethical reasons. In addition, the work of a programmer was more creative.

Then I worked at Golden Telecom for five years, working in the financial department with database and accounting systems. Here, over time, I became interested not in the applied aspect of programming, but in the aspect of developing database architecture and systems analysis.

When I moved to Foxtrot, a completely Ukrainian company, I noticed a difference in mentality. Golden Telecom was half an American company, which means different approaches and principles. The most important thing here is the skills of a specialist. In a foreign company you understand that the Minister of Economy cannot become the Minister of Health. The corporate spirit reigns here; you yourself value the opportunity to earn money above all else.

In a Ukrainian company, you must be, first of all, a person - a cool guy, a friend, a fellow countryman, in general, one of our own. Narrow specialization is not so important here: having worked in domestic business, you already fully admit that the Minister of Economy can become both the Minister of Internal Affairs and Health. Here they recruit a team rather than specialists.

At the same time as working, I was studying as a full-time student. My boss was a workaholic, from him I learned patience, the ability to surpass yourself - when you can’t anymore, but you’re still working.

After Foxtrot, I worked for a year at MTS. During that period, I spent a lot of time on hobbies: psychology, introspection, worldview concepts. These are apparently innate inclinations: my older brother became a psychiatrist.

It was then that I began to become interested in Christianity - after I came across Alexander Men’s book “The Son of Man.” I was no longer interested in making money. While I was helping my parents support their family, this was important, but now the children had grown up, the older ones were settling into their lives, the younger ones had finished school, I was no longer needed as a breadwinner and could devote more time to myself.

I was planning a family life. I had a sad experience in a relationship with a girl - I liked her, but I didn’t marry her. I was in search, constantly thinking about how to become happy. People often associate happiness with something external. The present is not enough for him, he needs guarantees of the future, and this makes him extremely tormented.

At some point I realized that I don’t like disappointments, I’m afraid of them. If I live to be 70 and only then learn the truth, it will mean that my whole life has been a mistake. And I thought with youthful maximalism: it’s better to find out this truth tomorrow.

For some reason I remember this moment - it happened at night, around 2 o’clock. I loved staying up late, looking at the burning windows of high-rise buildings around me: these are thousands and thousands of different destinies that I don’t think about until I sit by the window. Happiness, unhappiness, everything is seething, or is already asleep, or has already disappeared.

And I say to myself - why is all this? And at this moment I decide that I could pay for the truth with the most precious thing - my life. I made this decision and forgot about it, but from that moment my life began to change dramatically.

I started reading books dedicated to the soul and God - and once again changed jobs, moving to Philip Morris. This is a tobacco manufacturer. Now I changed jobs not due to earnings - I was more interested in the team, relationships with people.

And my brother starts going to church. I was a provocateur, I loved to scare people, to laugh at people, and now I’m probably the same, I just got into the habit of doing it softer, so that it would be beneficial, to laugh at myself rather. So, my brother tells me about Jesus Christ, and I answer him: “Was there a boy?” He was very angry with me then.

In general, when my boss returned to work at Philip Morris from maternity leave, I said that I was fed up with this smoking and that I was quitting. I went nowhere, went to live in the country.

It was a period when everything came naturally. It was rather difficult for me before this. By this time I have already fasted, lived on the balcony for six months, slept on a rug - these were my ascetic practices - and went to church, to the St. Cyril Church.

Those around me were frightened by my behavior. They told my mother: “your son is crazy, but it’s okay, you have five more normal children.” Classmates - all capable mathematicians, materialists - shook their heads, saying that a man had disappeared.

I re-read a ton of literature. I was especially struck by Anthony Sourozhsky’s book “Man Before God.” I entered into a state of conversation with the author where I ask a question and find the answer on the next page. I understand what this man is preaching for me. By this time, I was already in my second year of evening catechetical school at the parish of St. Catherine on the street. Polupanova.

One and zero - what could be less? We know that zero can be approached from the right and left. What can you see when you can't see anything? Nothing, but you can feel it. When you're sitting on a tricky math problem, you need insight. When you are looking for God, you can read the wisest mentor, sensei, guru a thousand times - and you will not understand anything.

I had my eureka moment when I became an active churchgoer. Fighting for my ideals, I fail. If earlier I strived for everyday success, now this failure was my success. In what sense? My mother consoled me, and I told her: everything is God’s will. And she: do you really believe that?

And then I understand that this is just a familiar phrase. I don’t know the will of God, I don’t know God, and His will interests me only when it is combined with mine. It was a moment of horror: God forbid that God’s will be for everything!

This was my insight, a new turning point in my life. All my dreams are starting to come true. I begin to feel God, search for Him, run after Him. After reading the books and lives of the saints, I begin to look for God’s people in the Church and outside it - meetings, communication, disappointments... Experiencing and seeing miracles is terrible in its own way, because at some point they will end, and you will have to pay for them, as and for all happiness.

In church, I became familiar to people as a diligent parishioner thanks to some of my instilled qualities from childhood. My aunt once said: maybe you’ll become a priest? And then someone else: go ahead and be ordained, you will serve the liturgy for children.

The first time I heard this, I fainted: I am a distant, unworthy person. And then the circle narrowed and the time came when I prayed: “Lord, I want this. Do you, Lord, want this? Let me know". A prayer of gratitude appeared not only for what I have, but for the fact that You exist, Lord. I am insignificant, but God's mercy is immeasurable. It is this feeling of gratitude that gives courage to ask: “What do you want, Lord?” In the phone call they told me “Axios!”

Although I didn't have a job, I constantly found one for myself. I'm a workaholic - I just love to work. This is a model of behavior: in a large family it is impossible not to work; parents have never been idle.

At that moment I am rebuilding the house, turning the cottage into a solid dwelling. I make money from transportation and construction. I dreamed of a private house, of a family - and now it all appeared: both a house and a woman who accepted my proposal. That same year I entered the seminary, for which I took the blessing of my wife - she was exactly the person thanks to whom I, faint-hearted, made up my mind.

By the time I was ordained, my relatives and their parents had already become church people; they all found in the Church a solution to their problems that were, in principle, unsolvable in the world.

This year we celebrated the 9th anniversary of the deaf community at the Ionin Monastery. Deaf people are essentially foreigners who are unable to learn our language. And only we can learn their language and help them.

Who doesn't want to learn a deaf language as a child? I lived in Vinogradar, not far from boarding school No. 6. You think: that would be great, and you forget about it. And when I entered the third grade of the seminary and they began to teach us sign language, it turned out that I was capable of it.

As a deacon, I was asked to come to Ioninsky, where services were held with the help of a translator. The deaf took a closer look at me and decided: “This is the future priest! We need him to learn – we need him.” After all, there are things that a person wants to discuss with a priest directly, without an interpreter.

Overall, I realized that this was an opportunity to serve people. And not ordinary people, but deprived people and at the same time people of God who fulfilled God’s commandment “be like children.” They are active, trusting, open - but in their own environment.

Language is a culture-forming factor, so it is a separate people. Sign language forms a national minority in the territory. In Europe this has already been formally prescribed. A foreigner is born into an ordinary family! If parents do not learn the language of their child, the child will find people of his “nation” and will not fully return to the family.

Before the revolution, the Church translated liturgical texts into sign language. There were almshouses and parochial schools for the deaf in St. Petersburg. In Kyiv, a priest also began teaching the deaf. He had two deaf daughters, and he had enough money to send one of them to study. She returned and taught her sister and father, who began to teach the children.

The revolution interrupted this endeavor, like many others. It became even worse when Stalin spoke to the effect that the deaf are inferior, and their language is also a manifestation of inferiority. Then the deaf were forbidden to communicate in their language and were forced to keep their hands in their pockets. The tradition of liturgy for the deaf was completely lost, and only in the 90s did the Orthodox Church in Kyiv begin to engage in translations.

Difficulties arose with the translation of some theological terms and texts, those in which the teaching about Christ is concentrated - we had to largely start from scratch, creating gestures denoting these concepts.

Now almost all liturgical texts have been translated. After all, once a language has been developed and there is a dictionary, the rest is a matter of technology. A video dictionary of sign language for liturgical terms has been created. We have collected everything we have learned and are disseminating the information.

Now is the age of rapid information development. God gives revelation to people, and they use it for good or evil. Mobile phones - it’s as if they were specially invented for the deaf so that they could type SMS. The Internet is also for them.

There are many of us - 20 people at a service, but about 60 in total. Now we have six to eight translators - more than in the Minsk and St. Petersburg communities, which are older than us. Recently we have been to Lutsk, Chisinau, the Moscow region, Zhitomir, and we are going to Kherson.

What do we preach? There are already believers there. Only that it is possible and necessary to translate the service. We need to embrace these people too. God chose them, and we can help ensure that their faith is realized through wide and full participation in the liturgy.

There is nothing special or special about my priestly service in this community. Only knowledge of sign language. The feelings, emotions, and everyday issues of these people are the same as ours. The divine service itself, of course, has its own specifics. First, the translator must be a believer. Know the divine service, understand the content and meaning of prayers, dramaturgy. He must have feelings!

If I were deaf, a purely technical, unemotional translation would not suit me. I would like my brother or sister to translate, for example. The service flows; there is a visible and an audible part of it. And the audible must be translated into visual. Thus, the “video sequence” in worship for the deaf is more intense. And since this “channel” is overloaded, you cannot “throw” unnecessary things into it.

Father should express himself simply, not abstrusely. The translator needs discreet, non-distracting clothing, the priest needs a trimmed mustache. I'm lucky with my mustache.

Magazine "To the Right", No. 1, 2014