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Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov Ivan Mikhailovich). Archimandrite Alipiy Voronov

Having gone through the entire war from 1942 to Berlin, he became a monk. Already as abbot of one of the last unclosed Russian monasteries, he gave battle to a many times superior enemy. He gave battle and won. The heroes of Die Hard are funny boys compared to the Russian knight in black clothes.
Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov, the future archimandrite and icon painter, was born in 1914 to a poor peasant family in the village of Torchikha, Moscow province. After graduating from rural school in 1926, he moved to live and study in Moscow with his father and older brother. After finishing his nine-year school, he lived in the village for two years, caring for his sick mother. In 1932 he began working at Metrostroy and studied at the evening studio at the Moscow Union of Artists. And in 1936, Voronov entered the art studio organized by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, which in those years was equivalent to the Academy of Arts. That same year, Voronov was drafted into the Red Army, where he served for two years. During this time, Ivan did a lot of work on organizing art circles and art studios at military units of the Moscow Military District.
After being demobilized in 1938, Ivan Voronov got a job as a dispatcher and forwarder at the secret military plant No. 58 named after. K. Voroshilov (now JSC Impulse, on Mira Avenue). Here he met the Great Patriotic War. The plant produced bombs needed by the front. But when the front line approached the capital, the factory management tried to evacuate in panic using official vehicles. The flight of leaders beyond the Urals, away from the war, was a common occurrence in the fall of 1941. But Voronov had the courage not to succumb to the general panic. The young dispatcher did not allow the factory vehicles to be used for the escape of his superiors, but used them to send bombs to the front.
Worried about the fate of his sick mother, Voronov went to his native village for several days, and when he returned to the capital, he found the plant abandoned. The bosses ran away after all! But there were workers on the ground, with whom Voronov decided to resume bomb production. Production was carried out at risk to life. The Germans were bombing Moscow, and any hit on the plant could turn it into a mass grave. But the production of bombs did not stop for a minute; malnourished and sleep-deprived workers exceeded the daily production quota by 300%. As Archimandrite Alypiy himself recalled, “our military plant was like a front, and we never left the factory.”
Ivan Voronov was called to the front on February 21, 1942. He went to war not only with a machine gun, but also with a sketchbook of paints.
Moving along the front line, he managed to restore the icons to local residents and fed the entire unit with the products that local residents gave him for restoring the icons.
At the front, Ivan Voronov created several sketches and paintings, several albums of “combat episodes.” Already in 1943, the master’s front-line works were exhibited in several museums of the USSR.
The command encouraged “cultural and educational work among the unit’s personnel,” which was carried out by the artist, and noted the skillful execution of tasks “to summarize combat experience and party-political work.” “All the work performed by Comrade Voronov is of the nature of creativity and novelty. In a combat situation he behaved boldly and courageously.”
Ivan Voronov traveled from Moscow to Berlin as part of the Fourth Tank Army. He took part in many military operations on the Central, Western, Bryansk and First Ukrainian fronts. God protected the future archimandrite; he did not receive a single injury or concussion. For his participation in battles, Voronov was awarded medals “For Courage”, “For Military Merit”, “For Victory over Germany”, “For the Capture of Berlin”, “For the Liberation of Prague”, and the Order of the Red Star. In total, the artist-soldier received 76 military awards and encouragements.
The war left an indelible mark on the soul of Ivan Voronov: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to a monastery.” Having become monk Alipius, archimandrite of the Pskov-Pechora monastery, in his sermons he repeatedly turned to military topics, often recalling the war: “I often went on night watches and prayed to God that we would not meet enemy scouts, so that no one would be slaughtered.”
Ivan Mikhailovich returned from the war as a famous artist. But the career of a secular painter did not attract him. “In 1948, while working plein air in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was captivated by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a resident of the Lavra, and decided to devote myself to serving the Lavra forever.”
Upon entering the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, his mother blessed him with the icon of the Mother of God “Quench my sorrows,” saying: “Mother of God, let him be carefree.” And he saw his mother’s blessing as effective. During tonsure, when it was necessary to determine his monastic name, the governor of the Lavra looked at the Calendar; the closest name for him to be the birthday boy turned out to be “Alipy”, the name of the Monk Alypy, the famous icon painter, who was educated by the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. After his tonsure, Father Alypius himself looked at the Calendar and read the translation of his new name: “carefree.” Therefore, when representatives of the authorities tried to intimidate him over the phone, he answered: “Please note that I, Alypiy, am carefree.” And as his heavenly patron, Father Alypius was also an icon painter.
He did not have a separate cell. The governor of the Lavra showed him a place in the corridor with the condition that if Father Alypius made himself a cell in this corridor by morning in one night, then the cell would be his. Father Alypiy replied: “Bless me.” And in one night he made partitions, lined the fenced-off cell inside with splinters, plastered it, whitewashed it, installed the floor, and painted it. And in the morning, the governor of the Lavra was extremely surprised when he came to Father Alypiy and saw him in his new cell at the table with a hot samovar.
Soon he was awarded the priesthood, and in 1959 he was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Alypiy held this responsible post from 1959 to 1975.
A very difficult task fell on his shoulders: not only to restore the shrines and antiquities of the famous Pskov-Pechersk monastery. But another task was even more difficult - to protect the monastery from being closed by the authorities.
Soviet times in general were a time of severe restrictions on all freedoms, including freedom of religion. Hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of priests, monks and bishops, were executed by the authorities only for faith and loyalty to God. Thousands of churches were destroyed, the rest were closed: even in large cities, the authorities tried to leave only one Orthodox church open.
The war forced the authorities to ease pressure on the Church and open some churches. But Khrushchev began a new round of struggle against the Church. He promised to show the last priest on TV. That is, he anticipated the present times, when television would replace God for people, and hoped to live to see them.
Here are the headlines of central and local publications of that time: “Pskov-Pechersky Monastery - a hotbed of religious obscurantism”, “Hallelujah squatting”, “Freeloaders in cassocks”, “Hypocrites in cassocks”. It was very difficult to resist the slander; it was even more difficult to preserve the monastery. In reports addressed to Metropolitan John of Pskov and Velikoluksky, Archimandrite Alypiy emphasized: “Newspaper articles filled with undeserved insults and slander against honest, kind and good people, insults to the mothers and widows of dead soldiers - this is their “ideological struggle” - the expulsion of hundreds and thousands priests and clerics, and the best ones at that. How many of them come to us with tears that they cannot get even a secular job anywhere, their wives and children have nothing to live on.”
What could one monk oppose to the apparatus of suppression of omnipotent power? He only had one weapon. But the most powerful weapon is the word!
The courage of his words is striking even when viewed from our liberal times. How amazing this bold and firm word sounded then! When they said to him: “Father, you can be imprisoned...”, he answered: “They will not imprison me, I will imprison them myself. There is no guilt on me." Even during the war, he learned that the best defense is an offensive.
Here are just a few examples showing how Alypiy repelled the attacks of the authorities. Some of the stories were told by monks, some became the property of popular rumor and were told by the Pecheryans.

State beggars

Archimandrite Alypius, being the governor, could answer anyone with a sharp word. The city authorities once called him:
- Why can’t you put things in order? After all, you have beggars in the monastery!
“Forgive me,” Father Alypiy answers, “but the beggars are not with me, but with you.”
- How is it with us?
- It’s very simple. The land, if you remember, was taken from the monastery at the Holy Gate. The beggars stand on which side of the gate, on the outside or on the inside?
- From the outside.
- So I say that you have them. And in my monastery all the brethren are watered, fed, clothed and shod. And if you really don’t like beggars so much, then you pay them a pension of 500 rubles. And if after that someone asks for alms, I think that person can be punished according to the law. But I have no beggars.

Interview for Science and Religion

In the late sixties, two journalists from Science and Religion tried to conduct a revealing interview with Alypiy.
-Who feeds you? - they asked.
He pointed to the old women. They didn't understand. Alypiy explained:
— One of them had two sons who did not return from the war, the other had four. And they came to us to dispel their grief.
“Aren’t you ashamed to look into the eyes of the people?” - another question.
- So we are the people. Sixteen monks were participants in the war, including me. And if necessary, put your feet in boots, cap on your head: “I appeared on your orders”...

Prayer for rain

In summer, drought came to the Pskov region. Alypiy asked the district committee for permission to hold a religious procession to Pskov to pray for rain.
- What if it doesn’t rain? - asked the official.
“Then my head will fly,” answered Alypiy.
- What if it happens?
- Then it’s yours.
The religious procession to Pskov was not allowed. The monks prayed for rain in the monastery, and the district committee workers sneered:
“You’re praying, but it’s not raining!”
“If you had prayed, it would definitely rain,” Alypius thundered.
After the monks held a religious procession inside the monastery, the rains began to fall. Although according to forecasts, the clouds were heading in the other direction.

Protection with horns

The Pechersk authorities caused harm in small ways. One summer the chairman of the city executive committee sent a letter saying that the monastery's cattle were prohibited from leaving the monastery gates. In a response letter, the abbot warned that then “the monastic herd will force out tourists, and the bull will gore the guides who photograph the monks and bring a company of soldiers in caps into the temple at the most crucial moments of the service.”
No sooner said than done. Several dozen cows filled the monastery square, displacing tourists. And when a representative of the authorities tried to disperse the cows, the bull - the monks themselves were surprised - drove him into a tree and kept him there until seven in the evening.
The cows celebrated their victory in the pasture.

Elections in Pechersky style

In Soviet times, everyone had to take part in elections. Not excluding the monks of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Usually the box was brought directly to the monastery, where the voting ceremony took place. But the new secretary of the regional committee, outraged by the honor inappropriate for the Chernets, ordered to “stop the disgrace.” “Let them come and vote themselves.”
“Wonderful,” said Archimandrite Alypiy, the abbot of the monastery, upon learning about this. And then Sunday came, the long-awaited election day. After the liturgy and fraternal meal, the monks lined up in twos and, with spiritual chants, went through the entire city to the polling station. One can imagine the state of peaceful Soviet citizens who observed such a spectacle. When, to top it all off, the monks began to serve a prayer service right at the polling station, officials tried to protest. “It’s how it’s supposed to be with us,” answered Father Alypiy. Having voted, the monks just as decorously returned through the whole city to the monastery. Later, the ballot box began to be brought back to its place.

Blessing for communists

One day, two regional financial officials arrived at the monastery to check the income. Alypius asked them:
-Who authorized you?
They didn't have the order on paper.
- We have been empowered by the people!
“Then at tomorrow’s service we will ask you to go to the pulpit and ask the people whether they authorized you,” suggested Alypius.
- We have been authorized by the party! — the inspectors clarified.
— How many people are in your party?
- 20 million.
— And in our Church there are 50 million. The minority cannot dictate to the majority.
The next time, financial workers came with an order. Alypius answered them that, despite the order, he could authorize an inspection only with the blessing of the bishop of the diocese. Then they contacted the bishop of the diocese and received a “blessing.”
-Are you communists? - Alypius asked them.
- How could you, communists, take a blessing from a clergyman? I’ll call the regional party committee now, they’ll kick you out of the party tomorrow.
These “comrades” never came again.

Russian Ivan

Axe

Sometimes the enemy forced Alypius to resort to truly “black” humor. They say that when representatives of the authorities came to him for the keys to the caves in which the relics of the holy founders and brothers of the monastery lie, he met blasphemers with military orders and medals and shouted menacingly to the cell attendant:
- Father Cornelius, bring the ax, now we will chop off their heads!
It must have been very scary - they ran away so quickly and irrevocably.

Monastic plague

Before the arrival of the next state commission to close the monastery, Archimandrite Alypius posted a notice on the Holy Gates that there was a plague in the monastery and because of this he could not allow the commission into the territory of the monastery. The commission was headed by the chairman of the Culture Committee A.I. Medvedeva. It was to her that Father Alypiy addressed:
— I don’t feel sorry for my monks, fools, because they are still registered in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I can’t let you, Anna Ivanovna, and your bosses in. I can’t even find the words to answer for you and your bosses at the Last Judgment. So forgive me, I won’t open the gates for you.
And he himself once again boarded the plane and went to Moscow. And again to work hard, beat the thresholds, and once again win.

Attempt to close the monastery

But probably the most difficult moment for Father Alypius came when they came with a signed order to close the monastery. It was no longer possible to laugh it off here. Alypius threw the document into the fireplace and said that he was ready to accept martyrdom, but would not close the monastery.
— Was it really that easy to defend the monastery? - we asked the oldest resident of the monastery, Archimandrite Nathanael, who remembered these events well.
- "Just"? “In everything you need to see the help of the Mother of God,” the elder answered sternly, with unshakable faith. - How could we have defended without her...
Thanks to Alipiy Voronov, the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is the only Russian monastery that has never been closed. He invested a lot of effort and money into reviving the fortress walls and towers, gilding the large dome of St. Michael's Cathedral, and organizing an icon-painting workshop. In 1968, through the efforts of Fr. Alypiy announced an all-Union search for the valuables of the sacristy of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, taken away by the fascist occupiers in 1944. Five years later, monastery utensils were found. In 1973, representatives of the German consulate in Leningrad transferred their monastery.
Fr. is gone. Alypia March 12, 1975. Sixty-one years of earthly life, of which 25 years were monastic life.

(1914-1975)
Viceroy of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery (1959-1975)

Many years ago, in 1927, 13-year-old Vanya Voronov came to Moscow from Torchikha near Moscow. I came to conquer this city in a terrible time of hard times, “a time of great achievements.” His father and older brother lived in Moscow. Here Ivan completed his nine-year school, worked as a tunneler on the construction of the first stage of the Moscow metro, graduated from an art studio, and served in the army. In 1934, he received an apartment on the outskirts of old Moscow, on Malaya Maryinskaya Street (now Godovikova Street). The house in which Ivan Voronov lived in Moscow has not survived. New buildings of the seventies forever changed the appearance of one of the streets near Maryina Roshcha. In the surviving old photographs you can see how Ivan Voronov, wearing a hat and muffler, plays the characters of “Eugene Onegin” on the Moscow amateur stage. Torchikha has also changed a lot in recent years. Now you can only get to it on foot. The house in which the Voronovs lived has not survived. Now in its place is a transformer booth. But then everything was different.

Vladimir Herodnik relays the story of Father Alypiy: “After graduating from high school, I moved to Moscow, where I worked on the construction of the metro and at the same time studied in an art studio. My mother, Alexandra, was often sick and I often came to Torchikha. One day an accident happened on the train. I barely squeezed into the crowded carriage and helped the old woman free the bag jammed by the doors. But the fingers of his right hand were caught in the door, became limp and bled. Home we had to walk along the bank of the Severka River. I crossed myself with my left hand, lowered my right hand into clear water and said: “Most Holy Theotokos, who suffered for the sake of Your Son, heal me!” My soul felt lighter. Imagine my surprise when at home my fingers were able to move freely.” Indeed, God protected Ivan Mikhailovich all his life, and even in the most terrible years.

Before the Great Patriotic War, Voronov worked at the Moscow plant No. 58 named after. K.Voroshilov (now OJSC “Impulse” on Prospekt Mira). In 1941, when the plant management wanted to use vehicles for personal evacuation to the Urals, he did not allow this as a dispatcher, exposing the need to use vehicles to send bombs to the front.

In 1942, Ivan Mikhailovich joined the active army. “The whole long journey from Moscow to Berlin - a rifle in one hand, a sketchbook in the other.” Already an archimandrite, he said: “In the war, some were afraid of starvation and took bags of crackers on their backs to prolong their lives rather than fight the enemy; and these people died with their breadcrumbs and were not seen for many days. And those who took off their tunics and fought with the enemy remained alive.” Then he added: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to a monastery.”

God protected Ivan Voronov, despite the fact that death was always nearby. What is the terrible episode worth when, in front of the eyes of Ivan Mikhailovich, who was driving a Jeep with General Lelyushenko, a car with Army General Vatutin took off?! He went through the entire war as a member of the 4th Guards Tank Army as an ordinary rifleman, and received shell shock. But even during the terrible years of the war, his education came in handy. He created an artistic history of the tank army. Front-line works were already exhibited in several museums of the USSR in 1943. The description says that Ivan Voronov received many awards and commendations from the command, including the Order of the Red Star and the medal “For Courage.” I celebrated victory in Berlin. In 1946, a personal exhibition of his front-line works was organized in Moscow in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. After the war, Ivan Mikhailovich worked in Moscow as an “artist working under a contract with organizations.” Unfortunately, more detailed information about this stage of the life of Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov could not be found.

In 1950, Ivan Mikhailovich went to sketch in Zagorsk and “conquered and enchanted by these places, he decided to forever devote himself to serving the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.” He immediately applied all his skills and knowledge to the restoration of ancient shrines - wall paintings of the Trinity and Assumption Cathedrals, the Refectory Church, the Patriarchal residence in the village of Lukino (near the station "Peredelkino"). During his monastic tonsure, Ivan Mikhailovich was named Alipius (the Careless) in honor of the venerable icon painter of Kiev-Pechersk. Fate fully confirmed this historical parallel. Higher art education has once again found itself in demand.

In 1959, thanks to the skillful “diplomatic game” of Patriarch Alexy (Simansky), Abbot Alypiy was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and in 1960 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. The most difficult task fell on the shoulders of Archimandrite Alypius - not only to restore the shrines and antiquities of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, but also to protect the monastery from closure and from the slanderous campaign launched in the press. If you look only at the headlines of the central and local publications of that time, you feel uneasy: “The Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is a hotbed of religious obscurantism”, “Hallelujah” squatting”, “Freeloaders in robes”, “Hypocrites in robes”, “Devonian outcrops” " It was very difficult to resist this wave of slander; it was even more difficult to survive and preserve the monastery. In reports addressed to Vladyka John, Archimandrite Alypiy emphasized: “A stack of newspaper articles filled with undeserved insults and slander against Soviet honest, kind and good people, insults to the mothers and widows of dead soldiers - this is their “ideological struggle” - the expulsion of hundreds and thousands priests and clerics, and the best ones at that. How many of them come to us with tears that they cannot get even a secular job anywhere, their wives and children have nothing to live on.

They suffer because they were born Russian Christians.

It is impossible to describe all the vile methods of the “ideologists” with which they are fighting against the Russian Church. One thing can only be said: “Every earth-born rushes in vain.”

Talking about the methods of fighting the monastery, Archimandrite Alypiy gives a very illustrative example:

“On Tuesday, May 14th of this<196З>year, the housekeeper, Abbot Irenei, organized, as in all previous years of monastic life, the watering and spraying of the monastery garden with water, which we collect thanks to the dam we made near the gazebo behind the fortress wall in the ditch from melted snow and spring rains. While our people were working, six men approached them, then two more; one of them had in his hands a measure with which they divided the former monastery garden land, one of them began to swear at the workers and forbid them to pump water. He said that this water was not yours, and therefore ordered to stop pumping. Our people tried to continue working, but he ran up to them, grabbed the hose and began to pull it out, another with a camera began to photograph our people. The pump stopped working, probably sand got in there, because the puddle is very small and dirty. Moreover, the most active of them swore at the monks and people who help us, and called the worker Kunus a corrupt monastic henchman.

When I arrived there, the steward told these unknown people that the Viceroy had arrived, go and explain to him. One of them came up, it turns out, the same one, as our people say, the instigator. I asked what they want? The others stood at a distance, taking photographs of us; there are three of them left.

"Who you are?" - I asked again, and on whose behalf are you acting? They began to babble, calling District Committees, Regional Committees, etc.

"Are you a communist?" - I asked. He replied: “Yes.” I objected to him that it could not be that a person who thinks like that, reasons like that, and acts like that, could be in the Soviet Party. Illogical, rude, and irrational people cannot be in the party. If you consider yourself an employee of the City Committee, an honest and decent communist, and also your comrades in hats, then you should have, having seen the disorder on our part, immediately given me a written decree not to do this and that, and I would immediately accepted for execution, and you let's tumble the car into the mud and scold the monks and working people who came to rest, showing your lack of sound reasoning and your unbridledness, threatening to put us on trial for the fact that we breathed your air and drank your dirty water.

Walking away from us sideways, the man in the hat began to tease me: “Eh... father!!” I replied that I am a father for those people over there, and for you I am the Russian Ivan, who still has the power to crush bedbugs, fleas, fascists and generally all kinds of evil spirits.”

Father Alypiy was always tough but fair. And when they said to him: “Father, they can put you in prison,” he answered: “They won’t put me in prison, I will put them in prison myself. There is no guilt on me."

In a letter to the Kirov People's Court of Ufa, Archimandrite Alypiy wrote: “We are Christians, we are deprived of civil rights, and the enemies of the church take advantage of this and abuse it to their destruction. We believe that Truth will win, because God is with us.”

The truth has won... Let it take years for this to happen. The Pskov-Pechersk monastery is a wonderful monument to Archimandrite Alypiy. A lot of effort and money was invested in the revival of the fortress walls and towers, which were practically built anew; to cover with gilding the large dome of St. Michael's Cathedral, which for a long time was simply covered with roofing iron; to organize an icon-painting workshop in the tower above the Holy Gate. In 1968, thanks to the efforts of Father Alypiy, an all-Union readers' search for the treasures of the sacristy of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, taken out by the fascist occupiers in 1944, was announced. Five years later the treasure was found. In 1973, representatives of the German Consulate in Leningrad handed over the stolen priceless treasures of the sacristy to their rightful owner. Icons painted or restored by Archimandrite Alipius decorate the churches of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and the Trinity Cathedral in Pskov.

Over many years, Father Alypiy collected a wonderful collection of works of Russian and Western European painting. Now the masterpieces of this collection adorn the Russian Museum, the Pskov Museum-Reserve, and the local history museum in Pechory. “Leave everything to the people!” - this is the testament of a true collector and connoisseur of antiquities. Archimandrite Alypiy could rightly be called the “Pskov Tretyakov.” Unfortunately, he was not able to attend the opening of the exhibition “Russian painting and graphics of the 18th - 20th centuries from the collection of I.M. Voronov,” which opened at the Russian Museum a few months after his death in 1975.

The ascetic life of Father Alypius was honored with a blessed death. Abbot Agathangel (who, unfortunately, was also deceased) said this in his funeral homily: “2 hours and 30 minutes before his death, Father Alipius exclaimed that the Mother of God had come to him: “Oh, what a wonderful face She has!” Hurry to draw this Divine image!” “And no one else heard a single word from his lips.”

Andrey Ponomarev

A. Ponomarev. Archimandrite Alypiy / Andrey Ponomarev // Pskov land. History in faces. “These people are winging...” - M., 2007. - P.399 - 403.

Archimandrite Alipiy. Human. Artist. Warrior. Abbot. / Compiled by Savva Yamshchikov with the participation of Vladimir Studenikin. - M., 2004. - 486 p.

In the book of memories of Archimandrite Alipia there are pages of memory of those whom he helped to take the bright path of serving God and people. Priests, artists, writers, and most importantly, people in love with the abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery talk about the priest.

The publication contains many photographs taken over the years by Mikhail Semenov, Boris Skobeltsyn, as well as photos from the archives of Vladimir Studenikin and Savva Yamshchikov.

On March 15, 1975, thousands of people from Pskov, Leningrad, Tallinn, Moscow and other Russian cities came to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery to say goodbye to Archimandrite Alypiy (Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov). Earthly life ended, eternity began.
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... Many years ago, in 1927, 13-year-old Vanya Voronov came to Moscow from Torchikha near Moscow. I came to conquer this city in a terrible time of hard times, “a time of great achievements.” His father and older brother lived in Moscow. Here Ivan completed his nine-year school, worked as a tunneler on the construction of the first stage of the Moscow metro, graduated from an art studio, and served in the army.
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In 1934, he received an apartment on the outskirts of old Moscow, on Malaya Maryinskaya Street (now Godovikova Street). The house in which Ivan Voronov lived in Moscow has not survived. New buildings of the seventies forever changed the appearance of one of the streets near Maryina Roshcha. In the surviving old photographs in the archives of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, you can see how Ivan Voronov, wearing a hat and muffler, plays the characters of “Eugene Onegin” on the Moscow amateur stage.
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The dreams of childhood and youth were destroyed by the years of war. In 1942, Ivan Mikhailovich joined the active army. “The whole long journey from Moscow to Berlin - a rifle in one hand, a sketchbook in the other.”
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Already an archimandrite, he said: “In the war, some were afraid of starvation and took bags of crackers on their backs to prolong their lives rather than fight the enemy; and these people died with their breadcrumbs and were not seen for many days. And those who took off their tunics and fought with the enemy remained alive.” Then he added: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to a monastery.”
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Amazing old lady

An amazing incident occurred during the war with Archimandrite Alipius. When Ivan went to the front in 1941, his mother gave him a farewell icon of the Mother of God with the words: “Son, it will be bad, pray.”

One day, with a group of soldiers, Ivan was surrounded. There are Germans on three sides, a swamp on the fourth. In desperation, he remembered his mother's advice. I fell behind the squad a little and prayed as best I could. I returned to the soldiers, and there was some old woman standing there: “Are you guys lost? It’s okay, I’ll show you the path.” And she led the detachment to her own people. “Mother, I don’t know how to thank you,” Ivan told her. “You will serve me for the rest of your life,” answered the savior. Only then did Ivan understand what kind of “old woman” was in front of him.

Our enemies, the Germans!

Another incident that happened with Ivan Voronov.

On May 9, 2003, at a mass burial in the city of Pechory, the brethren of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery served a traditional funeral lithium. Among the speakers was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Aleksey Bogdanovich Turkov. In his speech, he told an amazing case of saving the cultural values of France with the help of Father Alypius:

“I, like my father Alipy (Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov), fought in the 4th Tank Army...

Our army captured the German city of Belnitz and the Debritsa camp, and the road to Potsdam and Berlin was opened. Everything around was on fire, in smoke, planes were bombing... We were traveling in an armored personnel carrier. Suddenly a command to everyone: stop! It is announced over the loudspeaker that the floor has been given to Lieutenant Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov (future father Alypiy). And then a strong voice is heard:

- Listen, listen! Voronov, a representative of the 4th Tank Army, speaks.

And addresses the Germans:

“Our enemies, the Germans, stop and remember that you brought from France the “goddess of beauty” whom we did not see. And if now, when we reach the heights, we destroy this sculpture, then humanity will not forgive us for this! Give up, for God's sake, I ask you, preserve this beauty, and you too will receive Divine faith!

And translator Maria Volonets translates his speech with tears. We were all just dumbfounded, he said it so strongly. After some time the offensive began. But where this goddess of beauty, as we called her, was, there was not a single battle. This sculpture was in my photograph, very beautiful. By order of Hitler, she was taken from France to Germany: the Mother of God is depicted on the pedestal, and an Angel flies to her. And everyone simply called her “goddess of beauty”...

We reached Berlin, turned around at the Brandenburg Gate and went to the city of Freiberg. And here again this Voronov speaks over the loudspeaker. And so he speaks strongly, strongly, and the translator Maria translates his words to the Germans:

— Dear citizens! We will not destroy this city, because your city is the city of our glory! Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov studied here. He married a German woman, Lisa-Christina, here (at first we did not understand why the name was double, then they explained to us that she received her second name when she was baptized into Orthodoxy). If you don’t meet us, then we are forced to take your city in battle!

Two German colonels and three ladies came out to meet us. I was sent to talk to them, since I spoke a little German. I approached them and saw that they were holding a portrait, and in the portrait there was Lomonosov in a wig, and at the bottom there were dates - when he arrived and left this city.

It was agreed that, despite the fact that there were many combat-trained Hitler Youth teenagers in the city, everyone would surrender and hand over their weapons. Thus, Freiberg was taken without a single shot, and the credit for this, of course, goes to Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov, the future Archimandrite Alypius.”

Autobiography

I, Voronov Ivan Mikhailovich, was born in 1914 in the village of Tarchikha, Mikhnevsky district, Moscow region, in the family of a poor peasant.

After graduating from rural school in 1926, he moved to live and study in Moscow with his older brother. After finishing his nine-year school, he lived in the village for two years, caring for his sick mother. In 1932, he began working at Metrostroy and preparing to enter the art institute.

In 1935, the construction of the metro was completed, and the Mossovet commission appointed me to work on the operation of the metro. First he worked as a cashier, then as a controller, and later as an assistant station attendant. In 1936, with the help of the Administration of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions, an art studio was organized, where I went to study, having been trained in the evening studio at the Moscow Union of Artists in the former workshop of Surikov.

In October 1936, I was drafted into the Red Army. In order not to interrupt his art studies, by decision of the draft commission he was left to serve in the Red Army in Moscow.

During my two years of service in the army, I had to work a lot to organize circles and studios at military units of the Moscow Military District.

In November 1938, upon completion of his service, he went to work at plant No. 58. From November 1938 to November 1941, he worked at this plant as a dispatcher and forwarder. This work, which took place constantly at night, gave me the opportunity to study. In May 1941, classes were over; received a studio diploma, and in June the war began.

At first, our military plant was like a front, and no one went home. And when the enemy approached Moscow, I, like everyone else, went out with arms in hand to defend the capital. When leaving for the front, I also took a sketchbook. And so from Moscow to Berlin: on the right is a rifle, on the left is a sketchbook with paints. I went through the entire war and took part in many battles. For writing the history of the Special 4th Tank Army, Generalissimo Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was personally awarded a high military award - the Order of the Red Star. He was also awarded medals “For Courage” and two medals “For Military Merit”; He received over a dozen medals for his participation in the liberation of various cities.

As written in his personal file, together with the unit with which he participated in battles, he received another 76 military awards and encouragements.

In the fall of 1945, returning from the front, I brought about a thousand different drawings, sketches and sketches and immediately organized an individual exhibition of my front-line works at the House of Unions in Moscow. This exhibition helped me become a member of the city committee of the Association of Moscow Artists and gave me the right to work as an artist. Every year I had one or two solo or group exhibitions, which showed my growth as an artist.

In 1948, while working plein air in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was captivated by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a resident of the Lavra, and decided to devote myself to serving the Lavra forever.

From March 12, 1949 to July 30, 1959, he worked on the restoration of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, using all his specialties. On July 30, 1959, by Decree of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, he was sent to the Pskov land to restore the ancient Pskov-Pechersk monastery, which by this time, after many wars and long years of its existence, had come to almost complete ruin.

I have been working as the Vicar of this monastery (and this is my monastic obedience) to this day.

Abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery Archimandrite ALIPIY (Voronov)
December 15, 1974

***

God preserved Ivan Voronov. He went through the entire war as a member of the 4th Guards Tank Army as an ordinary rifleman and received shell shock. But even during the terrible years of the war, his education came in handy. He created an artistic history of the tank army. Front-line works were already exhibited in several museums of the USSR in 1943. The description says that Ivan Voronov received many awards and commendations from the command, including the Order of the Red Star and the medal “For Courage.” I celebrated victory in Berlin. In 1946, a personal exhibition of his front-line works was organized in Moscow in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions.

In 1959, Abbot Alypiy was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and in 1960 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. The most difficult task fell on the shoulders of Archimandrite Alypius - not only to restore the shrines and antiquities of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, but also to protect the monastery from closure and from the slanderous campaign launched in the press.

If you look only at the headlines of the central and local publications of that time, you feel uneasy: “The Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is a hotbed of religious obscurantism”, “Hallelujah” squatting”, “Freeloaders in robes”, “Hypocrites in robes”, “Devonian outcrops” " It was very difficult to resist this wave of slander; it was even more difficult to survive and preserve the monastery.

In reports addressed to Vladyka John, Archimandrite Alypiy emphasized: “A stack of newspaper articles, filled with undeserved insults and slander against Soviet honest, kind and good people, insults to the mothers and widows of dead soldiers - this is their “ideological struggle” - the expulsion of hundreds and thousands of priests and clergy, and the best ones at that. How many of them come to us with tears that they cannot get even a secular job anywhere, their wives and children have nothing to live on.

They suffer because they were born Russian Christians.

It is impossible to describe all the vile methods of the “ideologists” with which they are fighting against the Russian Church. One thing can only be said: “Every earth-born rushes in vain.”

In 1968, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Alypiy announced an all-Union reader search for the treasures of the sacristy of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, taken away by the fascist occupiers in 1944. Five years later the treasure was found.

In 1973, representatives of the German Consulate in Leningrad handed over the stolen priceless treasures of the sacristy to their rightful owner. Icons painted or restored by Archimandrite Alipius decorate the churches of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and the Trinity Cathedral in Pskov.

Over many years, Father Alypiy collected a remarkable collection of works of Russian and Western European painting. Now the masterpieces of this collection adorn the Russian Museum, the Pskov Museum-Reserve, and the Museum of Local Lore in Pechory. “Leave everything to the people!” - this is the testament of a true collector and connoisseur of antiquities. Archimandrite Alypiy could rightly be called the “Pskov Tretyakov.” Unfortunately, he was not able to attend the opening of the exhibition “Russian painting and graphics of the 18th-20th centuries from the collection of I.M. Voronov,” which opened at the Russian Museum a few months after his death in 1975.

The ascetic life of Father Alypius was honored with a blessed death. Hegumen Agafangel (unfortunately, also already deceased) said this in his funeral homily: “2 hours and 30 minutes before his death, Father Alipius exclaimed that the Mother of God had come to him: “Oh, what a wonderful face She has!” Hurry to draw this Divine image! “And no one else heard a single word from his lips.”

100th birthday

Abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, Archimandrite Alypiy

Archimandrite Alipius (in the world Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov; July 28, 1914, born in the village of Tarchikha, Lobanovskaya volost, Bronnitsky district, Moscow province, Russian Empire - reposed on March 12, 1975 in the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersk Monastery) - clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church , archimandrite, icon painter, artist, collector.

From July 28, 1959 to 1975, abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.

Savva Yamshchikov and Archimandrite Alipiy. Restorer and abbot.

Hitler's worst mistake was that if he had fought, as he himself said, with the Bolsheviks, perhaps the war would have turned out differently. But he fought with the Russian people, with our people and with their unshakable faith.

Savva Vasilievich Yamshchikov

Savva Vasilievich, you are one of the authors of the wonderful book “Archimandrite Alipiy. Man, artist, warrior, abbot.” It is known that you had the opportunity to be close to him for quite a long time. Please tell us how you met this wonderful shepherd and man?

In general, I have been lucky enough to meet a lot of amazing people in my life. Mostly these people, of course, are of the older generation - they were my teachers, from whom I studied directly, with whom I communicated for years, decades. With some these meetings were shorter. First of all, these are my university teachers, professors of the pre-revolutionary school. Many of them returned to teach at the university after serving significant sentences in the dungeons of the Gulag.

I will never forget our wonderful professor Viktor Mikhailovich Vasilenko, to whom in 1956 I came to study at the art history department at the university. I came to study, and he had just been released after a ten-year sentence.

These were people of amazing purity of soul and decency. They never complained about the terrible hardships and troubles that befell them, they accepted it as God’s punishment and tried to spend the rest of their lives telling us, the young, about the art that they themselves knew very well.

Then I was lucky enough not at the university, but at home to study for six years with the outstanding Russian art critic Nikolai Petrovich Sychev, who began his work in the pre-revolutionary years. He himself studied with the greatest specialist in Byzantine and Old Russian painting, Professor Ainalov. Sychev, together with our most famous scientist, academician Mikhail Pavlovich Kondakov, traveled for two years to holy places in Italy and Greece and copied many classical examples of painting. He wrote wonderful books on the history of ancient Russian and Macedonian art, and he was also an excellent restorer. When Nikolai Petrovich left the camps in 1944, he was the first to head our department of the All-Russian Restoration Center, which was located in the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent on Bolshaya Ordynka. Moreover, he was not allowed to come to Moscow for the whole week, so he lived in Vladimir and came only on Saturday and Sunday to inspect the work of our department. These were brilliant lessons.

None of our teachers succumbed for a minute to the atheistic Moloch who dominated our country. They continued to believe in God and serve God.

In Pskov, where I began to go on business trips as a restorer, I met Sychev’s student Leonid Alekseevich Tvorogov, who studied with him in the post-revolutionary years, and also spent his twenty years in the camps. Worked in the Pskov museum. He was a brilliant expert on Pskov, ancient Russian Pskov literature and icon painting. He was a true patriot of Pskov and always told us: “Stay in Pskov, and you will make a lot of world discoveries. There is an inexhaustible storehouse of materials, documents, and monuments here.” And these years of life and work together with Leonid Alekseevich Tvorogov are also unforgettable for me.

In Pskov, I met our outstanding scientist, researcher, poet Lev Nikolaevich Gumilyov, the son of Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilyov and Anna Andreevna Akhmatova. I became friends with him for many years and was one of his students. Lev Nikolaevich is a man who created his own theory and wrote brilliant books that are now reference books for us. He also spent a huge part of his life in dungeons and, again, never complained about it. Lev Nikolaevich taught us not only by passing on his scientific methods to us, introducing us to his theory, he taught us to live without complaining about fate.

Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov)

And among all my teachers, perhaps the main place belongs to Archimandrite Alypiy (Voronov), the abbot of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. It is not surprising that all this is connected with Pskov, since it is my favorite city. I spent more than one year there while on business trips, and now, with God’s help, I go there often. And that’s where I met him. Father invited me to come through one of my acquaintances, a restorer, because he knew about the icon exhibitions that I was doing at that time. He had my albums on ancient Russian painting, a catalog of exhibitions, my articles, and he just wanted to get to know me. And it was, perhaps, one of the most unforgettable meetings in my life.

They always greet you, as they say, by their clothes. Only then, over time, do they begin to get to know the person better. During your first meeting with Father Alypiy, what do you remember about his appearance, what struck you and has not been forgotten to this day?

Right from the first day, as soon as we met, I saw his amazing eyes, full of kindness: not sugary kindness, but the kindness of a person who went through the war, who knew what the horrors of war are.

Then he told us a lot about his military life. And one day I asked him why he, such a handsome, young, very capable artist, immediately after the war went to a monastery. But he told me: “Savva, it was so scary there! I saw so much death, so much blood that I gave my word - if I survive, I will serve God for the rest of my life and go to a monastery.” When the war ended, he organized an exhibition of his military works in Moscow, in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. She was popular. He organized an exhibition and immediately left as a monk at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. It is necessary to note a special detail - Father Alypiy did not graduate from either theological seminary or the Academy, he went there with obedience in his main profession - the profession of an artist, and became a restorer. He was very warmly received by the Holy Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, and instructed him to carry out restoration work in the Lavra.

Before that, restoration work there in churches and with painting monuments was carried out by a team led by Academician Igor Grabar, with whom, by the way, Archimandrite Alypiy studied in the pre-war years. But, as the priest later said, this brigade did not work very honestly: they took a lot of money, but the result was not very good. Having looked closely, he turned to his teacher: “Dear teacher! Unfortunately, the results of your work do not meet our requests and our requirements.” And he himself led a team of restorers, and for several years he brought many monuments of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra into order.

You said that there have always been warm relations between Patriarch Alexy I and Father Alypius. What do you think connected them? What did Father tell you about His Holiness Alexy?

Archimandrite Alypiy was very close to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I. In Novgorod, he was the cell attendant of Archbishop Arseny (Stadnitsky), later a metropolitan, who did a lot to preserve monuments of ancient icon painting and fresco painting in Novgorod. My teacher Nikolai Sychev, while still young, before the revolution, with the help of Bishop Arseny, created an ecclesiastical and archaeological museum in Novgorod, which became the basis of the brilliant Historical, Artistic and Architectural Novgorod Museum-Reserve.

Patriarch Alexy I treated Father Alypius very warmly. There was another reason - Archimandrite Alypius had an amazing voice and hearing, and musical abilities. The Patriarch loved to concelebrate with him, especially in his courtyard in Peredelkino, in Lukin, where the priest also did a lot to restore the decoration of a small church.

At the end of the fifties, His Holiness the Patriarch instructed Archimandrite Alipius, then still a young monk, to restore the destroyed, but fortunately never closed, Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.

As you know, the monastery was badly damaged during the Great Patriotic War. The devastation, as described by eyewitnesses, was terrible. Did you happen to see the monastery in that deplorable state?

Yes. Certainly. I was there for the first time even when Father Alypius had not yet received this monastery under his protection. I saw these dilapidated walls; cows freely passed into the monastery territory through gaps in the wall. But three or four years passed from the moment when Archimandrite Alypiy was there, and I heard that restoration work was going on there. The work was carried out by my Pskov friends, architects and restorers, under the guidance of the famous master Vsevolod Petrovich Smirnov. Father Alypiy took part in the restoration himself - as a designer, he did not hesitate to take a trowel and work on laying out these walls. And when I got there with Vsevolod Petrovich Smirnov, I saw the monastery as some kind of restoration miracle. It was transformed, as if a caring hand had walked along the fortress walls, put the temples in order - they were surprisingly delicately and harmoniously painted, the domes were gilded or painted with appropriate paints. I was simply amazed. But that time I was not able to meet Archimandrite Alypius, and only a year later our meeting took place.

I will tell you an episode from our acquaintance with him. When we were talking, he said, “Where are you from?” I say: “I’m from Paveletskaya Embankment.” “Oh, near the Paveletsky station. “And I,” he says, “grew up in the village of Kishkino, Mikhnevsky district.” And I tell him: “Father, I spent eight years there - my mother and grandmother rented a dacha and lived with the peasants.” He says to me: “Yes, you and I were picking mushrooms in the same forest. Do you remember the big oak there? How many mushrooms did you pick there?” I say: “There were such visits when one day I sat down, crawled, and collected five hundred mushrooms.” Father Alypiy: “Here I am for the same amount. There is such an amazing oak there. Only white ones grow under it.”

This is the kind of person he was - simple, sincere, and immediately endeared you with his openness. Almost ten years of living together next to my father became for me one of the main chapters, so to speak, in my life. Everything that I and my fellow colleagues did, we all measured against what Father Alypiy would say, as he would suggest.

Did he often insist on his opinion or wishes? I mean the conversations you had with your priest about faith, about Orthodoxy?

No, what are you! He wasn't intrusive. He didn’t say: “Let’s go to church in the morning...”. His preaching came from within, and he often read these sermons to us on the Holy Hill, or at the table, while drinking tea, or during walks in the vicinity of the monastery. Of course, we accepted and went to services, but on major holidays, when tens of thousands of people gathered there, he had no time for us, because he was very busy. But we saw him on these holidays, especially on the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, on the patronal feast of the monastery - and that was already enough. You should have seen his enlightened face!

In general, he was a servant of the Mother of God. Our Lady was everything in his life. It was not for nothing that when he was dying, Archimandrite Agafangel, one of his most interesting companions, wrote in his farewell speech that when Father Alypius was dying, his last words were the following: “Here She is, here She is. I see Her, the Mother of God. Give me a pencil and paper! And he began to make a sketch and died with a pencil in his hand, trying to capture the moment the Virgin Mary appeared to him.

You said that Father Alypiy had the gift of a restorer and an artist. Is this a profession, after all, of the kind of high aesthetics, is it far from those economic problems that Father Alypius had to solve as a governor? Did he succeed in this combination?

Still would! He did everything, delved into everything, and everything worked out great for him. I saw this myself. Archimandrite Alypius was generally a universal person; he could do everything. He was an artist, he was a builder, he was a poet, he was, first of all, a preacher, he was the caretaker of an entire monastic brethren. He was a business manager - every tree and bush planted there, from the rose garden to the centuries-old trees - all of this was under his supervision.

I will never forget one incident. He and I were walking through the monastery, and there, on the slope from St. Michael’s Cathedral, a monk was mowing the grass, and suddenly (and the priest was a very temperamental person), Father Alypiy ran up sharply to this monk, raised his fists to the sky and began to frantically shout at him: “ What are you doing! What are you doing! Who allowed you to do this?!” The monk actually dropped his scythe out of fright. I then asked him: “Father, what did he do, why would you do this to him...?” “Yes, there are oak trees that I brought from Mikhailovsky, from the Pushkin estate and planted, they have been growing for the second year, and he mows them down! For me, this is the same thing as killing a child!”

Or, say, those famous pyramids made of sawn and split firewood. How carefully they laid out their efforts, and this process was personally monitored by Father Alypiy. You know, when logs are stacked on top of each other, the entire structure gradually rises up, and one log is placed at the very top. The wood is being properly dried and ventilated at the same time. It was so beautiful! Father himself made amazing pickles of cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms - he also did this himself. Cucumbers in general were famous not only in the monastery. Cucumbers were salted in the following way: in the fall they were lowered on a rope in a barrel into the river that flowed through the monastery, and the cucumbers were freshly salted and lightly salted until spring. The then Pskov party leadership sent to the monastery for a barrel of cucumbers on May 1 or Victory Day to hold ceremonial receptions. He also salted the tomatoes. When it was mushroom time, local residents collected mushrooms and brought them to the monastery, and Father Alypius himself bought and took them from them. I will never forget these porcini mushrooms that were literally amber in color. I've never tried anything like this again in my life. He did all this himself.

One day we were sitting with him in the evening, having tea, it was already quite late - we sat for a long time: firstly, he talked a lot, and secondly, it was interesting to listen. There was no time for sleep. And suddenly Father Theodorit comes - he was a paramedic and beekeeper in the monastery - and says: “Father, your favorite cow is there, something incomprehensible is happening to her - some kind of writhing, pain.” Father Alypiy says: “Well, Savva, let’s go and have a look.” We came to the barn, he began to feel her, and then he said: “Savva, you go away, you weren’t in the war, now Father Theodorit and I will perform an operation on her - she swallowed something.” And literally an hour later he came back happy and said: “Everything is fine, we gave her anesthesia, cut her belly, she ends up in the pasture swallowing a can of canned food. We got it out of her, and the day after tomorrow she will be on the mend.”

You can’t help but be amazed at the talents of this shepherd! Father Alypius, indeed, as you said, can be called a universal man. But still, restoration work remained his favorite activity - right?

Yes this is true. Father Alypius, using his skills as a restorer to the fullest, simply resurrected the monastery from the ruins. Before my eyes, a complete restoration of the monastery took place. He used me and my friends and colleagues to restore monuments and icons. And we gladly responded to his requests. I remember one sad story related to this. You will understand later why she is sad. Case One summer day he says: “Savva, let’s go to the Assumption Cave Cathedral, there behind the iconostasis (the iconostasis of huge icons was late - the beginning of the 20th century), it seems to me - there should be frescoes there from the 16th century. When the temple was being built, perhaps the Venerable Martyr Cornelius himself even wrote them.”

The Venerable Martyr Cornelius is one of the founders of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, whose head Ivan the Terrible cut off in anger, and then, repenting, he himself carried the lifeless body along the road to the St. Nicholas Church, and this road is still called the Bloody Road. St. Cornelius himself wrote icons and copied books, and there, in the temple, according to the priest, there should be frescoes. It was a sunny Sunday and I didn’t really want to work. I say: “Father, if you take out these icons there, they weigh a hundred kilograms.” And he says: “Everything has already been taken out - your job is to take the solvents and go.” I took a basic cleaning agent, came there - and there was already a stepladder there. “Here, let’s rinse at a height slightly higher than human height,” says the priest. He had already calculated everything in advance. And there, behind the icons, there is such a layer of dirt and soot that nothing, no frescoes, are visible.

When I washed the first window, a magnificent 16th-century fresco face of St. Savva the Sanctified was revealed. Father Alypiy says: “Although he is not your namesake (my namesake is Savva Vishersky), but still Savva. There will be eight huge figures here - taller than human height." “Okay,” I say, “father, I’ll go to Moscow, take my colleague to help, and we’ll restore it.” And he says: “No, no Moscow - you’re under arrest. Call Kirill in Moscow so that he can come urgently.” And so he didn’t let us go here for ten days, until we washed all the frescoes, and until the amazing ancient Russian beauty was revealed. And the priest had already arranged everything: they installed doors to the deacon, Kirill painted icons in the style of the 19th century, and surrounded the place with a metal fence. It was joy. Archimandrite Alypiy immediately published his discovery in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate; he instructed me to publish it in the magazine of decorative arts, then in an album about Pskov. And then he once told me: “Savva, look at the frescoes for now, if I die, they will kill me again.” I say: “Father, what are you saying, this is unique, this is what Saint Cornelius wrote, this is like relics, like the flow of myrrh.” A month after his death, in 1975, the icons were put in place, and for thirty years now we have been fighting to get it open again. And I cared a lot about this, and I tell the clergy about this.

Some time after this incident, Kirill, my friend, became interested in enamels in the Byzantine style: he restored the technique of their production, since we had a kiln in our workshop. Everything was done according to Byzantine models - and it was not some kind of hack work. Kirill's processing principle was completely restored. When we showed the first samples to the priest, he said: “We need these enamel icons to be embedded in the wall of the monastery.” We first made a small icon for the St. Nicholas Church: it was placed and solemnly consecrated. Then they made a large icon in front of the entrance, above the holy gates of the Assumption. It took us a long time to make these icons—it took us a whole year. Then they made the Mother of God Hodegetria where St. Nicholas Church and the Bloody Road are.

Father Alypiy received great pleasure from our work - we saw and felt this. And then one day Kirill and I arrived at the monastery, we looked, and not a single icon of ours was there. The priest had a decisive character. We think: “So I looked at it, didn’t like it and removed it.” We come to his chambers. The cell attendant met us. At this time the priest was changing his clothes. We look - Nikola is hanging in the red corner with a lamp - he didn’t reject it. He comes out and says: “Well, did you miss your enamels?.. The story is completely paradoxical. A delegation of Orthodox priests arrived, I think from America, looked at these enamels, then went to Moscow. And at a reception with His Holiness Patriarch Pimen, they said: “Your Archimandrite Alypius is a billionaire, he has Byzantine enamels, which at world auctions cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, just embedded in the wall.” The priests took them for real Byzantine enamels. Pimen immediately called His Holiness and told them to remove it. Alypiy began to explain to him, but he didn’t care: “No, that’s not necessary.”

These enamels were removed, and after the death of Father Alypius they were lost. Archimandrite Zinon only preserved Nikola.

It is known that Father Alypiy took a tough position in relations with the authorities. Some government officials were even afraid of him. Have you witnessed such relationships?

He was generally very good at finding a common language with the authorities. He found a common language, first of all, in the fact that he did not allow the only monastery in the Soviet Union to be closed when the wholesale destruction of churches by the robber Khrushchev was underway. When representatives of the authorities came to the priest, he told them: “Look at the monastery - what a deployment here, tanks will not get through here, half of my brothers are front-line soldiers, we are armed, we will fight to the last bullet, you can only take us out of the sky with aviation. And as soon as the first plane appears over the monastery, in a few minutes the whole world will be told about it on the Voice of America and the BBC.

He had a good relationship with the first secretary of the Pskov regional party committee, Ivan Stepanovich Gustov, by the way, a very decent person.

Father Alypius always did everything for the good of the monastery. Of course, they found fault with him, and there were frequent trials. “Where did you buy the timber? It's stolen." And the priest answered: “Do we have shops? I would buy it in a store with pleasure.” “Where do you get incense?” — he was constantly pestered with such claims. He said: “Savva, if you write my hagiographic icon, be sure to write the stamps: twenty-five ships that I won.” So he was joking.

All of Russia came to see him. Ivan Semenovich Kozlovsky constantly visited all the holidays - our wonderful singer, and artists, and writers, and bosses went to see him - I saw the chairman of the Council of Ministers and our cosmonauts there. People came to see him, and he knew how to talk to everyone. But the main thing for him was service to God, he never forgot about it, and this did not become a wall for those who came, and thus he, as a catcher of human souls, succeeded more than anyone else, converting people far from God to ours. great Orthodox faith.

The book you published about Father Alipia talks about his most important ministry - the ministry of a shepherd who leads people to God. Please tell us about this?

I know, I saw that Archimandrite Alypius opened the eyes of many people to the world again. You can read all this in our book. He gave many the joy of communicating with God. How many underground artists came to Father Alypius and abandoned their demonic activities and turned to real realistic painting. Such an example is given in the book in the memoirs of Father Sergius Simakov. Father Sergius was also an underground artist, he came with his father, saw Archimandrite Alypiy, talked with him and began to paint pictures on a religious theme, and not only began to paint pictures, but became a priest, rector of a church near Uglich. Last year, his mother, who shared his obedience with him, died, and he now accepted monasticism - he became Hieromonk Raphael and paints magnificent paintings related to Russian history, to the history of the Russian Church. And there are many such examples.

The task of those who participated in the creation of this book is to glorify the name of Archimandrite Alypius. Vladimir Aleksandrovich Studenikin is one of the creators of the book, a churchgoer, he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Academy, and practiced during the summer holidays at the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery. Father Alypiy loved him very much and trusted him to lead excursions. Volodya also learned antiques - Father Alypiy instilled in him this taste of a good collector. Vladimir is now one of the real, good collectors, he has an antique store on Prechistenka “Orthodox-Antique”. Two years ago Volodya came to me and said: “Savva, I’ll give you money, we must definitely publish a book in memory of the priest.” We first conceived it as a memoir, and then, when the book was already ready and was in the printing house, they gave me the manuscript of Andrei Ponomarev, a talented young historian who wrote a magnificent chronicle of the life of Archimandrite Alypius, and at the same time Volodya caught it on the Internet. I called him from Pskov, offered to publish excerpts from the manuscript in a book, and he told me: “We won’t count the money, we’ll publish it in full.” And this publication, I believe, is superbly maintained from the ecclesiastical side, and most importantly, it is a wonderful tribute to the memory of Archimandrite Alypius. We hope that after the book is published, there will be other people who will remember something about Father Alipia, and we will continue to perpetuate the memory of our father, who helps us live now. In our prayers we always turn to his bright image, we always remember him and always re-read his sermons, which are spoken not in official language, but in the language of an enlightened, intelligent man, and at the same time, of simple origin, from a peasant family.

People like Father Alypiy are gradually becoming less and less in our lives. There are few lamps that illuminate and sanctify our lives. More and more of the evil spirits rushing towards us that you spoke about. What can we do?

This evil spirit, this grief that has befallen our Motherland - everyone knows about it and everyone sees it. And we must fight this. Everyone must fight in their place. Don't give in, because they are demons. And the Lord was tempted by the devil, and we are mere mortals, they knock on us all the time and knock with their hooves. What to do? Pray, work and believe.

You know, I believe that all this evil spirits that rushed towards us, into our lives, is a phenomenon of troubled times, it will all pass. And what our people did, defeating fascism, not allowing us to conquer our Motherland - the exploits of people like Archimandrite Alypiy and millions of our soldiers and officers - their exploits will never be forgotten.

Hitler’s worst mistake, our emigrants also said this, and our wonderful thinker Ivan Ilyin wrote about this superbly, that if he had fought, as he himself said, with the Bolsheviks, perhaps the war would have turned out differently. But he fought with the Russian people, with our people and with their unshakable faith. Therefore, this war of his was doomed to defeat in advance thanks to people like Archimandrite Alypius.

In the book of Sergei Vladimirovich Alekseev “Icon Painters of Holy Rus'” there is a chapter dedicated to the first Russian icon painter. In particular, it says the following: “In the Near Caves of the ancient Kiev-Pechersk Lavra lie the relics of St. Alypius, who is rightfully considered the ancestor of all Russian icon painters. And although not a single icon has survived to this day, about which it can be said with complete certainty that it belongs to the brush of the saint, the life and service of the saint are a model for all subsequent generations of isographers.” In the 20th century, Rev. Alypiy became the heavenly patron of the artist Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov, who took monastic vows on August 28, 1950, in the name of the famous icon painter of Kiev-Pechersk. After 9 years, Father Alypiy will become the abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, and until 1975 he will protect the monastery from closure. The book we bring to your attention today talks about this. It is called “Defender of the Holy Monastery.”

The abbot of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, Archimandrite Alypiy, is known as a great ascetic, icon painter, artist, monastery builder and restorer, who restored the monastery from ruins. He was called the Great Viceroy, and he called himself a “Soviet archimandrite.” From 1959 to 1975, he headed the holy Pskov-Pechersk monastery and defended it from the authorities. The stories about how this happened made up this book. In addition, the author-compiler of the book briefly tells the amazing biography of the priest. And in the preface, the editor gives his short story connected with the monastery and Archimandrite Alypius. Here's what he writes:

“Part of my life was intimately connected with the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery. I came here as a child in Soviet times on excursions, when I didn’t have a grain of knowledge either about the Savior or about the Holy Church. All my knowledge revolved around my grandmother’s fussy worries about painting eggs and baking Easter cake on a certain day of the year and the stories adults told me during the New Year celebration about some kind of Christmas, which in general, as it seemed to me then, was the same thing. Perhaps that's all. But over time, more and more involuntarily, I acquired invisible connections with this holy abode of ascetics and spiritual elders. As if climbing from a dark basement along the stairs to a bright exit, step by step I began to gradually get to know this place.

Meetings with “exotic” monks at that time, heated discussions with them, first conclusions. And here I am, a second-year student, not yet baptized and terribly proud, coming here for the first time to “live.” And these three days of living in a room common to all workers will open up a new world for me. And the soul will desire to be baptized. Here for the first time I heard this strange and somehow flowery name - Alypiy. Over time, my knowledge about this mysterious man expanded. Small articles and memoirs of contemporaries revealed this personality to me more and more. Perhaps there was something in it from my grandfather, an old front-line soldier, who himself once liberated these places from the Nazis. This direct, uncunning and courageous mind of the priest, a big loving heart, responsibility for people and the assigned work very much reminded me of my old man.

And although my grandfather was a simple communist, you know, it was a man’s honest faith in something bright. Having gone through six years of war and three years of post-war service, having suffered from the repressions of the Stalinist regime, he still remained an honest communist. How can one not remember Father Alypiy, who called himself a “Soviet” archimandrite. And one more small detail: they were both born in 1914. And what a pity that my grandfather did not have time to discover God within himself, did not have time to enter the bosom of the Church. But I have deep confidence that the soldier Archimandrite Alypiy is now praying in the world of the Mountain for all such simple and honest warriors who went through the most difficult trials of the twentieth century and the hardships of war, but remained human.”

Why the author calls Father Alypius a soldier can be found out from the biography. As the book says, “Ivan Voronov was called to the front on February 21, 1942. He put a sketchbook with paints in his bag. In his free time between battles, he did not interrupt his painting. There are memories where the archimandrite said that while advancing with the front line, he managed to restore icons from local residents and fed an entire unit with the products that were given to him for good work. Over the course of a year, Ivan Voronov created several sketches and paintings, several albums of “combat episodes.” And already in 1943, the master’s first front-line works were exhibited in several museums of the USSR.

Ivan Voronov traveled from Moscow to Berlin as part of the Fourth Tank Army. He took part in many military operations on the Central, Western, Bryansk and First Ukrainian fronts. God protected the future archimandrite; he did not receive a single injury or concussion. For his participation in battles, Voronov was awarded medals “For Courage”, “For Military Merit”, “For Victory over Germany”, “For the Capture of Berlin”, “For the Liberation of Prague”, the Order of the Red Star and the “Guard” badge. In total, the artist-soldier received 76 military awards and encouragements. The war left an indelible mark on the soul of Ivan Voronov: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to a monastery.” Having become monk Alypius, archimandrite of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, in his sermons he repeatedly addressed military topics and often recalled the war.

Ivan Mikhailovich returned from the war as a famous artist. But the career of a secular painter did not attract him. Here are his memories: “In 1948, working in the open air in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was captivated by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a resident of the Lavra, and decided to devote myself to serving the Lavra forever.” Upon entering the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, his mother blessed him with the icon of the Mother of God “Quench my sorrows,” saying: “Mother of God, let him be carefree.” And he saw his mother’s blessing as effective. Having been tonsured after the famous icon painter, Father Alypiy looked at the Calendar and read the translation of his new name: “carefree.” Therefore, when representatives of the authorities tried to intimidate him over the phone, he answered: “Please note that I, Alypiy, am carefree.” And as his heavenly patron, Father Alypius was also an icon painter.

Thanks to Father Alypiy, his brave and strong word, the Pskov-Pechersk monastery became the only Russian monastery that never closed. Many memories remain of that confrontation between the godless state apparatus and the true defender of the holy monastery, the native Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Thanks to the records of parishioners, the stories of monks and people close to the priest, today we can plunge into that gloomy atmosphere of persecution and show how Father Alypiy repelled the attacks of the authorities. Here, for example, is what Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) recalls: “The Lord does not love the fearful. This spiritual law was once revealed to me by Father Raphael. And he, in turn, was told about him by Father Alypius. In one of his sermons, he said: “I had to witness how in war some, fearing starvation, took sacks of breadcrumbs with them on their backs in order to prolong their lives rather than fight the enemy; and these people died with their breadcrumbs and were not seen for many days. And those who took off their tunics and fought the enemy remained alive.”

One day, when they once again came to demand the closure of the monastery, Father Alypius bluntly announced: “Half of my brethren are front-line soldiers. We are armed, we will fight to the last bullet. Look at the monastery - what a dislocation there is. Tanks won't get through. You can only take us from the sky, by air. But as soon as the first plane appears over the monastery, in a few minutes it will be told to the whole world via the Voice of America. So think for yourself!” “I can’t say,” says Bishop Tikhon, “what arsenals were kept in the monastery. Most likely, this was a military trick of the Great Viceroy, his next formidable joke. But, as they say, there is a grain of humor in every joke. In those years, the brethren of the monastery undoubtedly presented a special spectacle - more than half of the monks were order bearers and veterans of the Great Patriotic War. Another part - and also a considerable one - went through Stalin’s camps. Still others have experienced both.” Read about how this courageous brethren, led by their governor, defended the monastery in the pages of this small book.

At the end of the program, I would like to note that, after all, the main thing in the life of Father Alipy, in his own words, was love. She was his invincible and incomprehensible weapon for the world. “Love,” said the Great Viceroy, “is the highest prayer. If prayer is the queen of virtues, then Christian love is God, for God is Love... Look at the world only through the prism of love, and all your problems will go away: within yourself you will see the Kingdom of God, in man - an icon, in earthly beauty - shadow of heavenly life. You will object that it is impossible to love your enemies. Remember what Jesus Christ told us: “Whatever you did to men, you did to Me.” Write these words in golden letters on the tablets of your hearts, write them down and hang them next to the icon and read them every day.” With these words of Archimandrite Alypiy (Voronov) we will conclude our program.

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Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov Ivan Mikhailovich). Archimandrite Alipiy Voronov

(1914-1975)Viceroy of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery (1959-1975)

Autobiography

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(1914-1975)
Viceroy of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery (1959-1975)