The Life of the Holy Righteous Alexy, Presbyter of Moscow

An elder in the world, the holy righteous Alexy Mechev, who gained fame in the first quarter of the 20th century, was born in Moscow on March 17, 1859 in the pious family of the regent of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.

His father, Alexey Ivanovich Mechev, the son of the archpriest of Kolomna district, was saved from death in the cold in childhood winter night Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. Among the boys from the families of the clergy of the Moscow diocese, selected according to the criterion of sufficient musicality, he was brought late in the evening to Trinity Lane at the metropolitan courtyard. The children were seated for dinner. Suddenly Vladyka became alarmed, quickly got dressed and went out to inspect the arriving convoy. In one sleigh he found a sleeping boy, left there due to an oversight.

Seeing the Providence of God in this, Metropolitan Philaret paid special attention and care to the child he saved, constantly caring for him, and later for his family.

Birth of Fr. Alexia happened under significant circumstances. His mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, felt very bad at the onset of childbirth. The birth was difficult, prolonged, and the lives of mother and child were in danger.

In great grief, Alexey Ivanovich went to pray at the Alekseevsky Monastery, where he himself served on the occasion of the patronal feast day Metropolitan Filaret. Having walked into the altar, he stood aside, but the grief of his beloved regent did not hide from the Vladyka’s gaze. “You’re so sad today, what’s wrong with you?” he asked. “Your Eminence, my wife is dying in childbirth.” The saint prayed over himself sign of the cross: “Let’s pray together... God is merciful, everything will be fine,” he said. Then he handed him a prosphora with the words: “A boy will be born, name him Alexy in honor of Saint Alexy, the man of God, whom we celebrate today.”

The birth of a zealous servant at the Throne of God significantly coincided with the time of the commission Divine Liturgy; The first minutes of the life of the future unceasing prayer book for suffering people were met and covered with the prayers of the great Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, who himself was an unparalleled man of prayer.

In the family of the regent of the Chudovsky choir, a living faith in God reigned, cordial hospitality and hospitality were shown; here they lived the joys and sorrows of everyone whom God brought into their home. The two-room apartment on Troitsky Lane was always crowded, with relatives and friends constantly staying, who knew that they would be helped and consoled here.

All my life about. Alexy recalled with reverence the selfless act of his mother, who took in her widowed sister and three children, despite the fact that she herself was close to three of her own - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. We had to build a bed for the children.

From his parents, Alexey adopted a kind-hearted attitude towards people, the habit of putting the convenience of others first, and constantly being in public.

Among his siblings and siblings, Lenya, as Alexei was called in the family, stood out for his kindness and quiet, peace-loving character. He avoided quarrels, wanted everyone to feel good; loved to cheer, console, joke. All this came out to him in a pious manner. When visiting, in the midst of games in the children's rooms, Lenya suddenly became serious, quickly walked away and hid, withdrawing into himself from the noisy fun. Those around him nicknamed him “blessed Alyoshenka” for this.

Alexey studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He was very diligent, efficient, ready for any service. When I graduated from the seminary, I still didn’t have my own corner, which was so necessary for studying. To prepare for the answer, he often had to study at night.

Together with many of his classmates, Alexey Mechev had the desire to go to university and become a doctor. But his mother resolutely opposed this, wanting to have him as a prayer book. “You’re so small, why should you be a doctor? You’d better be a priest,” she said firmly. Alexey could not go against the will of his mother, whom he respected and loved so much. Subsequently, Father was very grateful to her for her choice of life path.

After graduating from the seminary, on October 14, 1880, Alexey Mechev was appointed a psalm-reader at Znamenskaya, on Znamenka, in the Church of the Prechistensky Forty. Here he was destined to suffer a difficult trial.

The rector of the temple was a man of tough character, unreasonably picky. He demanded that the psalm-reader carry out such duties as were assigned to him, treated him rudely, even beat him, sometimes even brandished a poker. The younger brother Tikhon, visiting Alexei, often found him in tears. Sometimes the deacon stood up for the defenseless psalm-reader, but he endured everything without a murmur, without expressing complaints, without asking to be transferred to another church. And subsequently he thanked the Lord that He gave him to go through such a school, and the rector, Fr. George, remembered as his teacher.

Already a priest, Fr. Alexy, having heard about the death of Fr. George, readily came to the funeral service, accompanied him to the grave with tears of gratitude and love, to the surprise of those who knew the attitude of the deceased towards him.

Father Alexy said that such people show us our shortcomings, which we ourselves do not notice; they help us fight our “yashka”. We have two enemies - “okayashka” and “yashka”. “Yashka” the priest called pride, the human “I”, which immediately declares its rights when someone, willy-nilly or not, touches and infringes on it. “Such people must be loved as benefactors,” he later taught his spiritual children.

In 1884, Alexey Mechev married the daughter of a psalm-reader, Anna Petrovna Molchanova. In the same year, on November 18, he was ordained by His Eminence Misail, Bishop of Mozhaisk, as a deacon to St. George's, on Lubyanka, Church of the Sretensky Forty.

Having become a servant of the altar, Deacon Alexy experienced a fiery zeal for the Lord, and outwardly showed the greatest simplicity, humility and meekness. His marriage was happy. Anna Petrovna loved her husband and sympathized with him in everything. But she suffered from a serious heart disease, and her health became the subject of his constant concern. In the wife of Fr. Alexy saw a friend and first assistant on his path to Christ and was striving for improvement with her assistance. He valued his wife’s friendly comments and listened to them the way another listens to his elder: he immediately corrected the shortcomings she noted and was restful in the confidence that her loving eye would inspect and point out what he himself had not noticed and missed.

Children were born into the family: eldest daughters Alexandra (1887), Anna (1889), sons Alexey (1891), who died in the first year of life, Sergei (1892) and youngest daughter Olga (1896).

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained by Bishop Nestor, head of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, as a priest to the St. Nicholas Church, in Klenniki, of the Sretensky Forty. The consecration took place at the Zaikonospassky Monastery.

Little Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki was located on Maroseyka Street and its parish was very small; in the immediate vicinity there were large, well-attended churches.

Preparing for pastorate, Fr. Alexy had a cherished desire to get to some remote village, “where the people are simpler,” to devote himself to selfless service to people and unite them into a strong spiritual family in Christ in the image of the First One. Apostolic Church: “It seemed to me that among ordinary people this will be easier to achieve.”

Having received a parish in the capital, contrary to his wishes, Fr. Alexy completely surrendered himself to the will of God and firmly decided to work patiently in the place that God’s Providence showed him. He based his business on prayer and spiritual vigilance, placing success entirely on the blessing of God.

Having become the rector of the single-staff church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, Fr. Alexy introduced daily worship here, while usually in small churches it was performed only two or three times a week. Father came to the temple around five in the morning and unlocked it himself. Reverently venerating the miraculous Theodore Icon of the Mother of God and other images, he, without waiting for anyone from the clergy, prepared everything necessary for the Eucharist and performed proskomedia. When the appointed hour approached, he began Matins, during which he often read and sang; then followed the liturgy.

“For eight years I served the liturgy every day in an empty church,” the priest later said. - One archpriest told me: “No matter how I pass by your church, everyone calls you. I went into the church - it was empty. Nothing will work out for you, you’re calling in vain.” But oh. Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve.

According to the then established custom, Muscovites fasted once a year during Great Lent. In the temple of St. Nicholas the Klenniki on Maroseyka Street one could confess and receive communion any day. Over time, this became known to Moscow. A case is described when a policeman standing at his post found it suspicious that an unknown woman was walking along the banks of the Moscow River at a very early hour. When he approached, he learned that the woman had fallen into despair from the hardships of life and had come to drown herself. He convinced her to abandon this intention and go to Maroseyka to Fr. Alexia...

Grieving, burdened with the sorrows of life, dejected people flocked to this temple. From them a rumor spread about his good abbot.

The life of the clergy of numerous small parishes of that time was financially difficult, and living conditions were often poor. A small wooden house in which Fr.’s family lived. Alexia, was dilapidated, half-rotten; The neighboring two-story houses standing closely shaded the windows. In rainy times, streams, running down from Pokrovka and Maroseyka, flowed into the courtyard of the temple and into the basement of the house; the apartment was always damp.

Mother Anna Petrovna was seriously ill; she developed cardiac dropsy with large swelling and painful shortness of breath. She suffered severely and began to ask Fr. Alexia stop begging her. Anna Petrovna died on August 29, 1902, on the day of the beheading of the head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.

O. Alexy was very sad and inconsolable. Once, in a conversation about the meaning of sorrows, he spoke about himself: “The Lord visits our hearts with sorrows in order to reveal to us the hearts of other people. This is how it happened in my life. I had a great grief - I lost my friend’s life after many happy years life together. The Lord took her and the whole light darkened for me. I locked myself in my room, didn’t want to go out to people, poured out my grief before the Lord.”

At that time, the now glorified righteous saint Fr. John of Kronstadt. Fr. who knows him and is very close to him. For Alexy, the Belov merchant family, who lived in house No. 9 on Maroseyka and owned food stores located on its ground floor, invited him to their home. This was done, undoubtedly, to meet with the Kronstadt shepherd Fr. Alexia.

“Have you come to share my grief with me?” - asked Fr. Alexy, when Fr. entered. John. “I didn’t come to share your grief, but your joy,” answered Fr. John, the Lord is visiting you. Leave your cell and go out to people; only from now on will you begin to live. You complain about your sorrows and think - there is no grief in the world greater than yours, but you be with the people, enter into someone else’s grief, take it upon yourself and then you will see that your misfortune is small, insignificant in comparison with the general grief, and it will become easier for you "

After meeting with righteous John Kronstadt Fr. Alexy was invited to concelebrate with him in one of the Moscow churches.

The grace of God, abundantly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated in a new way life path O. Alexia. He accepted what was said to him as obedience entrusted to him. Father Fr. New horizons opened up for Alexy. He was undoubtedly prepared for the perception of the grace of old age by many years of truly ascetic life.

Those who were looking for help in the Maroseya church, broken by difficult circumstances, mutual hostility, mired in sins, having forgotten about God, Fr. Alexy greeted with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. The joy and peace of Christ were infused into their souls, hope appeared in the mercy of God, in the possibility of renewal of the soul. Manifested in relation love for them gave everyone the feeling that they were loved, pitied, and consoled most of all.

An enemy of all violence, Father never imposed the burden of heavy obedience. Emphasizing the need for external achievement, even the smallest one, he pointed out that first of all one should weigh one’s strengths and capabilities. But what you have already decided to do, you need to do it at all costs, regardless of fatigue and other circumstances. Otherwise, the goal is not achieved. And he invariably demanded good attitude to family and friends.

“The path to salvation,” Fr. constantly repeated. Alexy, “lies in love for God and neighbors.” Love for one's neighbors should not be declared as supposedly aimed at all of humanity, but should begin by working on oneself in the small circle of one's family, in everyday life Everyday life, in relationships with those with whom the Lord placed us. We need to oppress ourselves for the sake of the people close to us, rebuild our soul, break our character so that it is easy for our neighbors to live with us.

O. Alexy had the blessed gift of clairvoyance. Those who came to him could see that he knew their whole life, both its external events and their spiritual aspirations and thoughts. He revealed himself to people to varying degrees. Out of deep humility, I always tried not to show the fullness of this gift. He usually spoke about any details, details of a situation still unknown to the interlocutor, not directly, but by talking about a similar case that allegedly took place recently. Father gave instructions on how to proceed in a specific matter only once. If the visitor objected and insisted on his own, then Fr. Alexy avoided further conversation, did not explain what the unreasonable desire would lead to, and did not even repeat what was originally said. He could sometimes give the blessing required from him. He helped those who came with a repentant feeling and full of trust, interceding for them before the Lord and bringing deliverance from difficulties and troubles.

Having the task of expanding the scope of pastoral activity, Fr. Alexy began to visit the nearby Khitrov market, which was notorious. He held conversations there with regulars of the city bottom. The visit to those places had to be abandoned after some time due to the ever-increasing workload in the church and calls for services in various parts of Moscow.

Fr. Alexy became known as a kind father, whom one should turn to in difficult circumstances for the family. It was not in his rules to read instructions, reprove, or analyze someone’s bad deeds. He knew how to talk about the moral aspects of family situations without affecting the painful pride of the parties to the conflict. And he was invited to services at critical moments.

Coming to a family that was ready to fall apart, the priest brought into it peace, love and an all-forgiving understanding of everyone. He did not blame anyone, did not reproach, but tried, by citing vivid cases of mistakes and delusions, to bring those listening to the awareness of their guilt, to evoke in them a feeling of repentance. This dispelled the clouds of anger; and the guilty began to feel that their actions were wrong.

Proper understanding often did not come immediately, but later, when a person, remembering the words of Fr. Alexy, looking deeper into his softened soul, could finally see that these stories were directly related to him, and understand what new way was intended for him.

In the lower residential floor of the temple, the priest opened a primary parish school, and also set up a shelter for orphans and children of poor parents. Children learned useful crafts there. For 13 years Fr. Alexy taught children the Law of God at the private girls’ gymnasium E.V. Winkler.

He blessed his spiritual daughter Maria, who came to his church as a teenage girl shortly after the death of her father, priest and artist Nikolai Alexandrovich Sokol, to paint icons ova, father o. Alexy contributed to the subsequent revival of ancient Russian icon painting, which had been forgotten for several centuries, giving way to painting.

Divine services in the church of Fr. Alexy at that time began to perform not only in the morning, but also in the evening (vespers and matins). On Sundays and holidays spoke sermons.

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they were not distinguished by eloquence. What he said touched the heart with the depth of faith, truthfulness, and understanding of life. He did not use oratorical techniques, focusing the attention of listeners on evangelical events, the lives of the saints, while remaining completely in the shadows.

Prayer to Fr. Alexia never stopped. She filled his temple, creating an atmosphere of prayer in it, which was felt by all who came. Using his example, the priest showed that with all the everyday noise and bustle of the city, you can be far from everything earthly, have unceasing prayer, a pure heart and to stand before God here on earth.

When asked how to improve the life of the parish, he answered: “Pray!” He called on his spiritual children to pray during the funeral services: “Once again you will come into contact with the departed. When you appear before God, they will all raise their hands in prayer for you, and you will be saved.”

O. Alexy greatly revered the shrine of the temple, the miraculous Feodorovskaya icon Mother of God and often served prayers before her. Once, on the eve of the events of 1917, during a prayer service, he saw tears rolling down from the eyes of the Queen of Heaven. This was also seen by the pilgrims present. The priest was so shocked that he could not continue the service, and the priest who served had to end it.

The number of worshipers in the temple increased. Especially after 1917, when those who left the Church, having experienced numerous troubles, rushed to churches in the hope of God’s help. After the closure of the Kremlin, part of the parishioners and singers of the Chudov Monastery moved, with the blessing of Bishop Arseny Zhadanovsky, to the church of Fr. Alexia. Many young people appeared, students who saw that the revolution, instead of the promised benefits, brought new disasters, and now sought to comprehend the laws of the spiritual world.

During these years, educated, zealous young priests and deacons began to serve on Maroseyka, including the son of Fr. Alexia O. Sergius Mechev, ordained priest on Holy Thursday 1919, Fr. Sergiy Durylin, Fr. Lazar Sudakov and others. They also helped in holding lectures, conversations, and organizing courses on the study of divine services. But the load on o. Alexia grew - too many wanted to receive his blessing for some matter, to listen to his advice. Father had previously had to receive some of those who came to him in his apartment in the clergyman’s house, built before the First World War by the famous publisher I.D. Sytin. Now one could see endless queues at the doors of the house; in the summer, visitors stayed overnight in the temple courtyard.

In difficult years civil war and general devastation, in the absence of information about its widespread distribution, among the residents of the middle zone there were many who wanted to sell everything here and move to the grain-producing southern regions of the country, to Ukraine. Fr. Alexy did not give blessings for moving, he warned against the dangerous step of running somewhere to one’s death. He cited the words of the Lord, spoken by Him as a warning to the Jewish people through the prophet Jeremiah (XLII, 10-16, 22), not to flee from Babylonian slavery to Egypt, where death from the sword, famine and pestilence awaits everyone. Those who remain will be shown God’s mercy and deliverance.

Fr.’s humility was great. Alexia. He was never offended by any rudeness towards himself. “What am I... I’m wretched...” he used to say. Having forced his spiritual daughter to remember in confession that she spoke badly about her relative, but did not attach any importance to it, he told her: “Remember, Lydia, that there is no one worse than you and me in the whole world.”

The priest avoided showing signs of reverence and respect towards himself, avoided lavish services, and if he had to participate, he tried to stand behind everyone. He was burdened by awards, they burdened him, causing him deep, sincere sorrow.

During the service, Fr. Alexy touched the hearts of those praying when he read and sang prayers of repentance. He read the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete in the first week of Lent with tears, and the pilgrims also cried. At Easter Matins, as his son Fr. recalled. Sergius, in a letter to spiritual children from exile, Father, joyful and rejoicing that night, sang with tears the ancient self-similar ikos, telling about the mourning of Christ by the myrrh-bearing women. It was felt that his entire inner self was sobbing at the words “we weep and cry out: O Master, arise, grant resurrection to the fallen.” He cried and cried out for himself, for fallen people, and asked to grant resurrection to everyone.

True spiritual friends Fr. Alexy had contemporary Optina ascetics - the elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Pomortsev) and the monastery leader Abbot Theodosius (Pomortsev). They were amazed at the feat of the Moscow elder “in a city as in a desert.” Fr. Anatoly directed Muscovites who came to him to Fr. Alexia. Elder Nektarios said to someone: “Why are you coming to us? You have o. Alexy."

O. Theodosius, having once arrived in Moscow, visited the Maroseya temple. I was at the service, I saw how the lines of confessors walked, how earnestly and long the service went on, the commemoration was performed in detail, how many people were waiting to be received. And he said about. Alexy: “For all this work that you are doing alone, we would need several people in Optina. This is beyond the strength of one person. The Lord is helping you."

In agreement with Fr. Alexy was the abbot of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, Archimandrite Arseny (Zhadanovsky), and from 1914 - Bishop of Serpukhov. He highly valued the pastoral activity of the priest, a wise city elder, “who brings no less benefit to people than any hermit. He, in the guise of a priest, was one of those ascetics about whom St. Anthony the Great, saying that the time will come when monks, living among cities and the bustle of the world; They will save themselves and lead others to God.”

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon always took into account the recall of Father in cases of consecration, then invited him to take on the work of uniting the Moscow clergy. The meetings took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but due to the conditions of that time they were soon discontinued. The attitude of the clergy towards Father was very different. Many recognized his authority, some of the shepherds were his spiritual children and followers, but there were also many who criticized him.

Twice the priest was called for an interview at the OGPU (at the end of 1922 and March 17/30, 1923). They were forbidden to receive people. The second time the conversation was short-lived, as they saw that he was seriously ill and suffered from very severe shortness of breath.

In the last days of May, according to the new style, O. Alexy went, as in previous years, to rest in Vereya, a small town in the Moscow region, where he had a small house. Before leaving, he served his last liturgy in the Maroseya church, said goodbye to his spiritual children, and when he left, he said goodbye to the temple.

Fr. passed away. Alexy on Friday 9/22 June 1923. The last evening he was joyful, affectionate with everyone, remembered those who were absent. Death occurred immediately as soon as he went to bed.

The church communities of Moscow, led by their pastors, came one after another to sing requiems and say goodbye to the deceased until the very morning of the next day. To give everyone who came the opportunity to pray, two funeral all-night vigils were served in the evening - one in the church and the other in the courtyard. The liturgy and funeral service were performed at the head of the host of clergy by Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky), rector of the Danilov Monastery. Shortly before his death, Fr. Alexy wrote a letter to Bishop Theodore, asking him about this. Vladyka Theodore was then in prison; on June 7/20 he was released and was able to fulfill the priest’s wish.

Easter chants were sung all the way to the cemetery. Conduct o. Alexy, the confessor of Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who had just been released from prison, arrived on his last journey to the Lazarevskoe cemetery. He was enthusiastically received by many people. Father’s words came true: “When I die, everyone will be happy.” His Holiness blessed the coffin being lowered into the grave and was the first to throw a handful of earth on it.

During his lifetime, Father Alexy told his spiritual children to come to his grave with all their difficulties, troubles, and needs. And many went to see him at the Lazarevskoye cemetery.

Ten years later, due to the closure of the Lazarevskoye cemetery, the remains of Fr. Alexia and his wives were transferred on September 15/28, 1933 to the Vvedensky Mountains cemetery, popularly called German. The transfer was attended by members of the Maroseya community, icon painter Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova, psalm-reader and regent of the left choir of the Church of Peter and Paul in Lefortovo, Klavdiya Nikanorovna Nevzgodina, headman of the Church of St., which was already closed in 1932. Nicholas in Klenniki, neuropathologist Sergei Alekseevich Nikitin, who had just returned from the camp after serving his term, in the future - Bishop Stefan. Bishop Stefan said that the body of Fr. Alexy was incorruptible at that time. Only on one of the legs the ankle joint was broken and the foot was separated.

All subsequent decades, the grave of Fr. Alexia was, according to the cemetery administration, the most visited. People learned about the elder by listening to stories about the help they received, and later by reading publications about him. Many, asking for his intercession in their troubles and difficult everyday circumstances, were consoled by the priest.

After the Great Patriotic War A white marble monument was erected above the priest’s grave behind a wooden cross. They say that this was done by one of his spiritual children who emigrated to the West. O. Alexy spoke out that they would forget the name of the place where the Maroseyka temple is located (Maroseyka was renamed Bogdan Khmelnitsky Street), and that spiritual children would come to him from France.

In the absence of inscriptions on the cross and the monument, the reference point for those coming for the first time was “two crosses”, the second of them being the small one above the monument. After some time, the wooden cross was removed by the nephew of Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova; she used wood for icon boards.

We regularly had to add land to the grave mound: those who asked Fr. Alexy's help took her away with them.

In the 1990s, after the opening of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, the monument was inscribed. At the bottom of the tombstone again stood Fr. Alexy words of the Apostle Paul:« Friend Bear your friend’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”

During his priestly life, Fr. Alexy created an amazing spiritual community in the world, which truly revived, as he wanted, the spirit of the ancient Apostolic Church. Fr. Alexy and his community, later headed by his son Fr. Sergiy Mechev, attracted and united many wonderful people- priests and laity. This community was one of the few that withstood the times of the most terrible persecution and raised a new generation of zealous ministers of the Church and pious church people who embraced the spirit of genuine, grace-filled Christian life, which was taught by Fr. Alexy.

In 2000, the central event of the anniversary celebrations was the consecration of the recreated Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior and the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church that took place there. One of the main acts of the Council was the canonization of many ascetics of faith and piety, who glorified the Lord with their righteous life, as well as with martyrdom and confession. Among those canonized at this Council were righteous old man Alexy, presbyter of Moscow, and his son, Hieromartyr Sergius.

After the glorification of the righteous Alexy Mechev as a saint, a decision was made to acquire his venerable relics. On June 16, 2001, by a specially created Patriarchal Commission headed by His Eminence Bishop Alexy of Orekhovo-Zuevsky, the relics of Elder Alexy were found at the Moscow cemetery “Vvedenskie Gory”, at the place of his burial, and taken to the Novospassky Monastery to prepare them for public veneration.

With special solemnity, with the presentation of temple icons and banners of many churches, with the ringing of bells and prayerful singing, the venerable relics of the newly glorified saint of God were held on September 29, 2001 Procession of the Cross transferred from the Novospassky Monastery to the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, where Elder Alexy worked as rector for 30 years. The next day, September 30, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II celebrated the festive Divine Liturgy here.

Now, as in the days of his life, a human river flows to the relics of the righteous Alexy, the Elder of Moscow, from morning to evening.

There is a lot of evidence of grace-filled help in various needs through prayers to the elder. Many such cases were noted during the restoration of the temple on Maroseyka. During the days of Father’s memory, help came unexpectedly several times with paperwork and urgent matters. repair work in the temple and church house; donations came in. It is known from experience that when in grief they turn to him: “Father Fr. Alexy, help,” - help is comingvery soon. This strengthens the belief that Fr. Alexy received from the Lord the great grace to pray for those who resort to him.

This is how the temple was named by the people, who from time immemorial had a tendency to abbreviate names.
Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova, later nun Juliania, became a famous and highly revered icon painter. Most of our modern icon painters are directly or indirectly her students. At the Moscow Theological Academy, Maria Nikolaevna organized an icon painting circle in 1958 and led it for 23 years, trying to reveal spiritual meaning to students Orthodox icon. Icon painting works, including mentoring, were continued by the students of Nun Juliana: in the Moscow Theological Academy and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - Ekaterina Sergeevna Churakova, in Moscow - Irina Vasilievna Vatagina, who heads the icon painting school at the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki and is a professor at the Faculty of Church Arts at the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute.

Audio program about St. right Alexia Mecheve Alexandra Nikiforova:

Moscow elder Father Alexy Mechev was born on March 17, 1859 into the pious family of the regent of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.

His father, Alexey Ivanovich Mechev, the son of the archpriest of Kolomna district, as a child was saved from death in the cold on a cold winter night. Among the boys from the families of the clergy of the Moscow diocese, selected according to the criterion of sufficient musicality, he was brought late in the evening to Trinity Lane at the metropolitan courtyard. When the children were having dinner, Vladyka Metropolitan suddenly became alarmed, quickly got dressed and went out to inspect the arriving convoy. In one sleigh he found a sleeping boy, left there due to an oversight. Seeing the Providence of God in this, Metropolitan Philaret paid special attention and care to the child he saved, constantly caring for him, and subsequently for his family.

The birth of Father Alexy occurred under significant circumstances. His mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, felt unwell at the onset of childbirth. The birth was difficult, very long, and the lives of mother and child were in danger.

In great grief, Alexey Ivanovich went to pray at the Alekseevsky Monastery, where Metropolitan Philaret served on the occasion of the patronal feast day. Having walked into the altar, he quietly stood aside, but the grief of his beloved regent did not hide from the bishop’s gaze. “You’re so sad today, what’s wrong with you?” he asked. - “Your Eminence, my wife dies in childbirth.” The saint prayerfully made the sign of the cross. “Let’s pray together... God is merciful, everything will be fine,” he said; then he handed him a prosphora with the words: “A boy will be born, name him Alexei, in honor of Saint Alexis, the man of God, whom we celebrate today.”

Alexey Ivanovich was encouraged, defended the liturgy and, inspired by hope, went home. At the door he was greeted with joy: a boy was born.

In a two-room apartment on Troitsky Lane, in the family of the regent of the Chudovsky choir, a living faith in God reigned, warm hospitality and hospitality were shown; here they lived the joys and sorrows of everyone whom God brought to be in their home. It was always crowded, relatives and friends constantly stopped by, who knew that they would be helped and consoled.

All his life, Father Alexy recalled with reverence the selfless act of his mother, who took in her sister and three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that he himself was close to his three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. We had to build a bed for the children.

Among his siblings and siblings, Lenya, as Alexei was called in the family, stood out for his kind-heartedness and quiet, peace-loving character. He did not like quarrels, he wanted everyone to feel good; loved to cheer, console, joke. All this came out to him in a pious manner. When visiting, in the midst of games in the children's rooms, Lenya suddenly became serious, quickly walked away and hid, withdrawing into himself from the noisy fun. Those around him nicknamed him “blessed Alyoshenka” for this.

Alexey Mechev studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He was diligent, efficient, ready for any service. When I graduated from the seminary, I still didn’t have my own corner, which was so necessary for studying. To prepare homework, I often had to get up at night.

Together with many of his classmates, Alexey Mechev had the desire to go to university and become a doctor. But his mother resolutely opposed this, wanting to have him as a prayer book. “You’re so small, why should you be a doctor? You’d better be a priest,” she said firmly.

It was hard for Alexey to give up his dream: the activity of a doctor seemed to him the most fruitful in serving people. He said goodbye to his friends with tears, but he could not go against the will of his mother, whom he respected and loved so much. Subsequently, the priest realized that he had found his true calling, and was very grateful to his mother.

After graduating from the seminary, Alexey Mechev was appointed on October 14, 1880 as a psalm-reader at the Znamenskaya Church of the Prechistensky Forty on Znamenka. Here he was destined to undergo a difficult test.

The rector of the temple was a man of tough character, unreasonably picky. He demanded that the psalm-reader perform duties that lay on the watch, treated him rudely, even beat him, and sometimes waved him with a poker. The younger brother Tikhon, visiting Alexei, often found him in tears. Sometimes the deacon stood up for the defenseless psalm-reader, and he endured everything resignedly, without expressing complaints, without asking to be transferred to another church. And subsequently he thanked the Lord for allowing him to go through such a school, and remembered the abbot, Father George, as his teacher.

Already a priest, Father Alexy, having heard about the death of Father George, came to the funeral service, accompanied him to the grave with tears of gratitude and love, to the surprise of those who knew the attitude of the deceased towards him.

Then Father Alexy said: when people point out shortcomings that we ourselves do not notice, they help us fight our “yashka”. We have two enemies: “okayashka” and “yashka” - that’s what the priest called the human “I”, which immediately declares its rights when someone, willy-nilly or not, touches and infringes on it. “Such people must be loved as benefactors,” he later taught his spiritual children.

In 1884, Alexy Mechev married the daughter of a psalm-reader, eighteen-year-old Anna Petrovna Molchanova. That same year, on November 18, he was ordained as a deacon by Bishop Misail of Mozhaisk.

Having become a servant of the altar, Deacon Alexy experienced a fiery zeal for the Lord, and outwardly showed the greatest simplicity, humility and meekness. His marriage was happy. Anna loved her husband and sympathized with him in everything. But she suffered from a serious heart disease, and her health became the subject of his constant concern. In his wife, Father Alexy saw a friend and first assistant on his path to Christ; he valued his wife’s friendly remarks and listened to them the way another listens to his elder; immediately sought to correct the shortcomings she noticed.

Children were born into the family: Alexandra (1888), Anna (1890), Alexey (1891), who died in the first year of his life, Sergei (1892) and Olga (1896).

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained by Bishop Nestor, head of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, as a priest to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki Sretensky Forty. The consecration took place at the Zaikonospassky Monastery. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki on Maroseyka was small, and its parish was very small. In the immediate vicinity there were large, well-attended temples.

Having become the rector of the single-staff Church of St. Nicholas, Father Alexy introduced daily services in his church, while usually in small Moscow churches they were performed only two or three times a week.

The priest came to the temple almost at five o’clock in the morning and unlocked it himself. Reverently venerating the miraculous Theodore Icon of the Mother of God and other images, he, without waiting for anyone from the clergy, prepared everything necessary for the Eucharist and performed. When the appointed hour approached, he began Matins, during which he often read and sang; then followed the liturgy. “For eight years I served the liturgy every day in an empty church,” the priest later said. - One archpriest told me: “No matter how I pass by your church, everyone calls you. I went into the church - it was empty... Nothing will come of it, you’re calling in vain.” But Father Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve.

According to the then-current custom, Muscovites fasted once a year. In the St. Nicholas-Klenniki Church on Maroseyka Street one could confess and receive communion any day. Over time, this became known in Moscow. A case is described when a policeman standing at his post found the behavior of an unknown woman suspicious at a very early hour on the banks of the Moscow River. When he approached, he learned that the woman was in despair from the hardships of life and wanted to drown herself. He convinced her to abandon this intention and go to Maroseyka to Father Alexy.

Grieving, burdened with the sorrows of life, dejected people flocked to this temple. From them a rumor spread about his good abbot.

The life of the clergy of numerous small parishes of that time was financially difficult, and living conditions were often poor. The small wooden house in which Alexy’s father’s family lived was dilapidated, half-rotten; The neighboring two-story houses standing closely shaded the windows. In rainy times, streams, running down from Pokrovka and Maroseyka, flowed into the courtyard of the temple and into the basement of the house; the apartment was always damp.

Mother Anna Petrovna was seriously ill. She developed cardiac dropsy with large edema and painful shortness of breath. Anna Petrovna died on August 29, 1902.

At that time, a merchant family very close to Father Alexy (Alexey and Klavdia Belov) invited to their home someone who had come to Moscow, with whom they were in contact on charity matters. This was done so that Father Alexy could meet him.

“Have you come to share my grief with me?” asked Father Alexy when Father John entered. “I didn’t come to share your grief, but your joy,” answered Father John. - The Lord visits you. Leave your cell and go out to people; only from now on will you begin to live. You rejoice at your sorrows and think: there is no greater grief in the world than yours... But you be with the people, enter into someone else’s grief, take it upon yourself, and then you will see that your misfortune is insignificant in comparison with the general grief, and it will become easier for you.” .

The grace of God, abundantly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated the life path of Father Alexy in a new way. He accepted what was indicated to him as obedience entrusted to him. He was undoubtedly prepared for the perception of the grace of old age by many years of truly ascetic life.

Father Alexy met those who were looking for help in the Maroseya church, broken by difficult circumstances, mutual hostility, mired in sins, who had forgotten about God, with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. The joy and peace of Christ were instilled in their souls, hope was manifested in the mercy of God, in the possibility of renewal of the soul, the love shown towards them gave everyone the feeling that they were loved, pitied, and consoled more than anyone else.

Father Alexy received from God the gracious gift of clairvoyance. Those who came to him could see that he knew their whole life, both its external events and their spiritual aspirations and thoughts. He revealed himself to people to varying degrees. Out of deep humility, I always tried not to show the fullness of this gift. He usually spoke about any details, details of a situation still unknown to the interlocutor, not directly, but allegedly talking about a similar case that had recently taken place. The priest gave instructions on how to proceed in a specific matter only once. If the visitor objected, insisted on his own, then Father Alexy withdrew from further conversation, did not explain what the unreasonable desire would lead to, and did not even repeat what was originally said. He could sometimes give the blessing required from him. To those who came with a feeling of repentance and full of trust, he provided prayer help, interceding for them before the Lord for deliverance from difficulties and troubles.

Father Alexy became known as a kind father, whom one should turn to in difficult moments for the family. It was not in his rules to read instructions, reprove, or analyze someone’s bad deeds. He knew how to talk about the moral aspects of family situations without affecting the painful pride of the parties to the conflict. And he was invited to services at critical moments. When he arrived, the priest brought peace, love and all-forgiving understanding to everyone. He did not blame anyone, did not reproach, but tried, by citing vivid cases of mistakes and delusions, to bring those listening to the consciousness of his guilt, to evoke in them a feeling of repentance. This dissipated the clouds of anger, and the guilty began to feel wrong in their actions. Proper understanding often did not come immediately, but later, when a person, remembering the words of Father Alexy and looking deeper into his softened soul, could finally see that his stories were directly related to him, and understand what new path he was charting for him.

In the lower residential floor of the temple, the priest opened an elementary parochial school, and also set up a shelter for orphans and children of poor parents. Children learned useful crafts there. For 13 years, Father Alexy taught children the Law of God at the private girls’ gymnasium E. V. Winkler.

Having blessed his spiritual daughter Maria, who came to his church as a teenage girl shortly after her father’s death, to paint icons, the priest contributed to the further revival of ancient Russian icon painting, which had been in oblivion for several centuries, giving way to painting.

At that time, Father Alexy began to perform divine services in the church not only in the morning, but also in the evening (vespers and matins).

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they were not distinguished by eloquence. What he said touched the heart with the depth of faith, truthfulness, and understanding of life. He did not use oratorical techniques, focusing the attention of his listeners on gospel events and the lives of saints, while remaining completely in the shadows.

You shouldn’t take on impossible feats, but if you decide to do something, you should do it at all costs. Otherwise, you won’t do it once, then again, then again, and then you’ll think: why did you do this, since it was completely in vain. (Persistence in goodness, without which spiritual growth is impossible).

Never treat the Gospel as if it were a fortune-telling book; and if any important questions arise, consult with more knowledgeable people.

One must approach reading the Gospel with a prayerful mood.

Be stricter, stricter in spiritual fasting; those. learn to control yourself, humble yourself, be meek.

When you see something bad around you, look at yourself right now to see if you are the reason for it. When bad thoughts attack you, especially in church, imagine Who you are standing before, or open your soul and say: “Mistress, help me.”

If, while venerating the image, you are troubled by some thoughts (of little faith, etc.), pray until they disappear.

You have to consider yourself worse than everyone else. If you want to get irritated, take revenge, or do something else, quickly put up with it. We must save ourselves and others. Look after yourself more strictly, and be more lenient towards others, study them in order to treat them as their position, character, mood requires; For example: nervous man, uneducated, and will demand from one calmness, from another - delicacy, or something else, it will be reckless; and we must watch ourselves strictly.

If thoughts of little faith appear, especially before communion, say now: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.”

Regarding written confession. It’s not enough - he listed all the sins and the end, and nothing happened; but it is necessary for sins to become disgusting, for all this to burn out inside, in the heart, when you begin to remember... and then the sin will be disgusting, and we will not return to it, otherwise we will do the same thing again. - What if you forget? - And if something hurts, you won’t forget where it hurts, then I’ll point it out.

You must always tell the truth, and if you are forced to tell a lie, then you must talk to the person and turn things around in such a way as to save the one who is mistaken by forcing him to do this; for example: I have never lied and will not lie, and if you need it, then I will probably do it only if you take it upon yourself, etc.

There is no need to judge others; in someone else's house, if you are served a small meal on a fast day, you should not neglect or refuse. And at home you can fill this gap by strengthening either physical fasting, and most importantly, spiritual fasting: i.e. don’t get annoyed, don’t judge, etc.

You need to do this in everything: if you need to do something, now remember how Jesus Christ would have acted here, let this be your guide in everything. So gradually everything bad and sinful will retreat from you.

I do not bless saying anything about others that could spread bad rumors about others; and it is our duty to speak edifying and useful.

You live more by your mind, your thoughts, your heart is poorly developed, you need to develop it: imagine yourself in the place of others.

If it were so easy to be saved, we would all have been saints so long ago.

We must treat those around us with all attention, and not carelessly, then the Lord, seeing our attention, will show attention to us.

The Risen Lord demands our resurrection.

Don’t you dare, don’t you dare be proud, there’s nothing to be proud of, you see 1/100 of the share behind you, but you don’t see 99.

The good shepherd. M., 2000

People turn to the shrine with prayers for the well-being of the family. You can ask for advice and help in difficult times for the family. If a marriage is falling apart, then the priest tries to bring peace and love into it, to teach everyone to forgive the sins of their neighbor. Miraculous relics free you from drunkenness, prayers at the shrine with holy relics alleviate even the most terrible illnesses, help with everyday needs and troubles.

In 1859, Alexy Mechev, later known as a saint and righteous man, was born in Moscow. His father was the regent of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.
A homely atmosphere always reigned in the family of Alexy Mechev, guests were welcome here, they lived with the sorrows and happy moments of everyone who came to the house. Faith in God was something special for each of this family.
Alexy's educational years were spent at the Zaikonospassky School, after which he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary. From his parents, the guy learned the ability to think first about the good of others, and then about himself. When he graduated from the seminary, he did not have his own corner, so he often had to study at night.

From October 14, 1880, Alexy Mechev was a psalm-reader at the Znamenskaya Church of the Prechistensky Forty. Staying here became a real test for the young clergyman.

Alexy's rector was Father George, who was famous as a man with a disgusting character. More than once the psalmist suffered from unjustified pickiness and rude attitude. He experienced beatings more than once, but continued to listen to the abbot and carry out his orders. Alexy didn’t even have the thought of asking to be transferred to another church. When did Fr. Gregory left this world, Alexy, who was at that time in the rank of priest, came to the funeral service of his teacher, and with tears in his eyes saw him off on his last journey, expressing words of gratitude for such a school of life. Father said that such people make us better by pointing out our shortcomings.

In 1884, Alexy Mechev decided to take the psalm-reader’s daughter, Anna Petrovna Molchanova, as his wife. In the same year he became a deacon of the Church of the Sretensky Forty. They lived happily married. Anna Petrovna loved her husband with all her heart and supported him in all his endeavors. But the woman suffered from heart disease, so her husband’s concerns were focused on only one thing. Alexy considered his wife a friend and helper on the path to Christ. She helped him improve, only he listened to her and knew that only a loving eye could point out what he had missed in himself.
There were five children in their family: Alexandra (1887), Anna (1889), Alexey (1891), Sergei (1892), Olga (1896). Son Alexei died when he was only a year old.
On March 19, 1893, Bishop Nestor Alexy Mechev was ordained a priest of the St. Nicholas Church of the Presentation of the Forty, in Klenniki. The celebration took place in the Zaikonospassky Monastery.

After some time, Alexy became the rector of the one-person church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, for his participation daily services were performed here.
The priest came to the temple every day around five o'clock. Having venerated the holy images, he himself began to prepare everything necessary for the Eucharist, and then performed the proskomedia. At the set hour Alexy conducted the morning service, it happened that he himself read and sang himself, followed by the liturgy.
They said that this temple would be empty, but people, burdened with the sorrows of life, flocked to the monastery, further glorifying its good abbot. Alexy warmly greeted everyone who came to the temple, instilling faith in the hearts of even those who were far from God. Alexy loved to repeat that the path to salvation lies in love for the Almighty and one’s neighbors.

The priest was endowed with the gift of foresight. The Christians who came to him emphasized that Alexy could read not only what happened to them, but also understand their deep emotional experiences. The priest spoke only once about what a person should do in a particular case. If the person who came to him began to argue, then Alexy not only stopped giving instructions, but also avoided further conversation with his guest.

Alexy deeply revered the miraculous Fedorov Icon of the Mother of God. During one prayer service in 1917, the priest saw tears rolling down from the eyes of the Mother of God. The pilgrims present in the temple also witnessed the miracle. For Alexy, what happened was such a shock that he simply could not continue his service.

From that moment on, the number of parishioners began to increase.

All sorts of material benefits only upset the priest; he did not like to take part in magnificent services. Any reward became a cause of deep sorrow for him.

One of Fr.'s friends Alexia, Fr. Theodosius said that only with the will of God can he cope with so many matters on his own.
One day, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who always turned to the priest for advice, invited Alexy to take part in the work of uniting the entire Moscow clergy. Meetings of the clergy were held in the Church of Christ the Savior, but circumstances developed that they were discontinued. The attitude of the clergy towards Alexy was different: some loved him, some criticized him.

On June 9/22, 1923, Alexy departed to the Kingdom of Heaven. On his last day he was joyful and affectionate to everyone. Death came as soon as he went to bed.

Alexy was canonized only in 2000 at the anniversary Council of Bishops.

Currently, the miraculous relics of St. Alexy Mechev are located in Moscow in the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.

From the publishers

“Moscow Elder” is the name of Alexei Mechev’s father. Sent “to the people,” to the suffering people by the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, he was one of those on whom Holy Rus' rests. Optina elders Rev. Anatoly and Nektary always sent Muscovites to Father Alexei. “Why are you coming to us? You have Father Alexey,” one of the Optina elders said to a Moscow pilgrim who came to Optina Pustyn.
“Merciful love” is what attracted crowds of pilgrims to the priest. Not only from all over Moscow, but also from all over Russia, people went to the small church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki on Maroseyka, and no one left the priest without spiritual help and consolation.
The rector of the Optina monastery, Abbot Feodosia, who visited the church on Maroseyka on one of his visits to Moscow, saw the number of people trying to get to the priest for confession, the fervor and length of the service, the crowd waiting for the priest. The amazed abbot of Theodosius said to Father Alexei: “Yes, for all this work that you are doing alone, we would need several people in Optina. This is beyond the strength of one person. The Lord is helping you.”
This book is a living testimony to the luminous Moscow priest. Its title – “Advice to a Christian Girl” – is conditional; these are teachings recorded by one of Father Alexei’s spiritual children. Unfortunately, we do not know who made these recordings. Most likely, Maria, a novice of the Chudov Monastery, was one of those who, after the closure of the monastery in 1919, ended up in the church on Maroseyka: “When we lost the Chudov Monastery, and like sheep without a shepherd, we scattered everywhere, not knowing where to lay our heads, then many We went to Maroseyka to visit Father Alexei, and the kind father, with extraordinary love and affection, took us, mournful, sad orphans, under his care..."
This book will be of interest not only to girls. The teachings of Father Alexei, which expressed the very essence of faith, are directed to all Christians seeking salvation.

ADVICE FOR A CHRISTIAN GIRL

How to achieve humility? Enter into yourself more often: consider yourself worse than everyone else.
No matter what sin you fall into, repent, and the Lord is ready to receive you with open arms.
Be like a child in everything: both in matters of faith and in matters of life.
Watch yourself. If you want to live a spiritual life, take care of yourself. Every evening, review what you did good and what you did bad, thank God for the good, and repent of the bad.
When you are praised, and you notice various shortcomings in yourself, then these praises should cut like a knife into your heart and arouse the desire for correction.
Be careful about unclean thoughts.
If you notice a tendency toward sin, make two bows to the Lady with the prayer: “Most Holy Theotokos, through the prayers of my parents, save me, a sinner.” The spirit of your parents will merge with your spirit in prayer.
The Gospel must be read more carefully.
Since the Lord's Prayer is an abbreviated Gospel, you need to approach it with proper preparation.
While fasting physically, fast also spiritually, do not be insolent to anyone, especially your elders, this fast will be higher than the physical.
Work hard to educate your younger brothers and sisters; influence them by example and remember that if you have any shortcomings, they can easily adopt them. And the Lord will demand an account in this matter.
Doing good is our duty (against vanity).
You shouldn’t take on impossible feats, but if you decide to do something, you should do it at all costs. Otherwise, once you don’t do it, then again, then again, and then you will think why you did it, since it is completely in vain (perseverance in good, without which spiritual growth is impossible).
Never treat the Gospel as if it were a fortune-telling book; and if any important questions arise, consult with more knowledgeable people. I had a teacher here, and she also puts notes on the icons.
One must approach reading the Gospel with a prayerful mood.
Be stricter, stricter in spiritual fasting; that is, learn to control yourself, humble yourself, be meek.
When you see something bad around you, look at yourself right now to see if you are the reason for it. When bad thoughts attack you, especially in the temple, imagine before Whom you stand or open your soul and say: “Mistress, help me.”
If, while venerating the image, you are troubled by some thoughts (of little faith, etc.), pray until they disappear.
You have to consider yourself worse than everyone else. If you want to get irritated, take revenge, or do something else, quickly put up with it. We must save ourselves and others. Watch yourself more strictly, and be more lenient towards others, study them in order to treat them as their position, character, mood requires; for example, a nervous person and an uneducated person, but if we demand from one calmness, from the other - delicacy or something else, it will be reckless; and we must watch ourselves strictly.
Every day, like a mother, repent of your sins to the Mother of God.
What right do we have to despise others?..
You have to be more moderate in your eating, otherwise gluttony harms digestion. Even water should be consumed in moderation.
If thoughts of little faith appear, especially before communion, say immediately: “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.”
Regarding written confession. It’s not enough - he listed all the sins and the end, and nothing happened; but it is necessary for sin to become disgusting, for all this to burn out inside, in the heart, when you begin to remember... and then the sin will be disgusting, and we will not return to it, otherwise we will do the same thing again.
- What if you forget?
“And if something hurts, you won’t forget where it hurts, I’ll point it out.”
You must always tell the truth, and if you are forced to tell a lie, then you must talk to the person and turn things around in such a way as to save the one who is mistaken by forcing him to do this; for example, I have never lied and will not lie, and if you need it, then I will probably do it only if you take it upon yourself, etc.
There is no need to judge others; in someone else's house, if you are served a small meal on a fast day, you should not neglect or refuse. And at home you can fill this gap by strengthening physical fasting, and most importantly, spiritual fasting, that is, not getting irritated, not judging, etc.
You need to do this in everything: if you need to do something, now remember how Jesus Christ would have acted here, let this be your guide in everything. So gradually everything bad and sinful will retreat from you.
I do not bless saying anything about others that could spread bad rumors about them; and it is our duty to speak edifying and useful.
You live more by the mind, by thought, the heart is poorly developed, you need to develop it: imagine yourself in the place of others.
If it were so easy to be saved, we would all have been saints so long ago.
We must treat those around us with all attention, and not carelessly, then the Lord, seeing this, will pay attention to us.
In the temple, stay away from those who like to talk.
You don’t have the strength of will, but now you need to develop strength of will. (There was a severe hunger strike.)
The Risen Lord demands our resurrection.
Don’t you dare, don’t you dare be proud, there’s nothing to be proud of, you see the hundredth part behind you, but you don’t see the ninety-nine.
Bad thoughts attacked me... I probably didn’t pray enough. We need to drive them out. As soon as bad thoughts begin, if there is only one, start praying, and if there are more than one, take some serious book or start some business.
It's time to discard frivolity, we must take everything seriously.
Put a strict order in everything: at such and such a time - to study, at such and such a time - to read, etc. If you need to go somewhere, why not go, read - why not read, and so that there is order in everything.
Father found something necessary and necessary in this. Living in a family, although no one interfered with me in anything, I did not know how to fit myself into some kind of framework, I did not know how to establish this order. Oncoming obstacles forced me to retreat, and most importantly, I myself did not see anything necessary in this establishment of order, at the same time I wanted the priest himself to give me something to do, so that I could carry out some (external) “feat”, and asked the priest about it. At first he didn’t answer anything, and when he asked if I had established order in my life, I answered that it wasn’t working out. He listened silently, never reproached, and when asked to give me a “feat,” he affectionately remarked: “Well, I’m telling you - establish order, but you keep telling me that I can’t.” Only then did my eyes open, and I saw in my easy attitude towards this word of the priest disobedience, frivolity; I did not attach much importance to the simple and, it seemed, casually said, “strange” requirement for order. He, it turns out, looked at this as a kind of feat for my character. And then again the priest reminded me about this very seriously. “Be sure to establish order... Otherwise, I used to always receive everyone, but now they forced me to reduce the reception, so I can see for myself how much I have done.”
“We need to reassure mom, not bring anything to her attention.” Respect for her is the first duty. And be sure to check yourself every evening. Well, if you fail, then put three bows to the Mother of God and ask Her for forgiveness.
Drive away bad thoughts by reading; physical labor is needed here. Imagine yourself on Calvary, here is the cross in front of you (the priest extended his arms to the sides)... blood is flowing... Speak with your thoughts: your spiritual father, they say, did not tell me to listen to you.
– I see a lot of nasty things in myself.
“But life is given to us for this purpose, to get all this out of ourselves.”
– It seems that God’s mercy will soon end...
– God’s mercy is indescribable.
- Father, I wanted not to take communion today.
- Why, did you confess?
- Yes, I’m very bad...
- Well, it's none of your business...
- Father, I want to be meek and humble.
- Who doesn’t tell you?..
- Father, can I not take communion today?
- Why?
- So, the heart is very unclean.
- When will it be clean for you?
- I had a bad dream...
- This happens from excess in food, from empty talk; and since this always happens to you, then you always wait for it... When you wake up, get up right away, don’t cover yourself with the blanket. What you undertake must be done at all costs.
– How to stick to the golden mean, so as not to be gloomy and overly cheerful?
- When you see that a person is despondent near you, you come, for example, to... you see that she hangs her nose (the priest lightly hit me on the nose with his finger), then you need to pull yourself together, be cheerful, encourage the other, and if she goes everything is smooth, then we need to talk about serious things, and not chat; generally care about the benefit of others and do everything for the benefit of others; and not only arrange deeds this way, but also words; if, for example, you see what everyone is saying, well, come on, they say, I’ll say, but what is this?.. Before you say, you need to think, you can remember Christ, how He would act here, and then, how your conscience says , do and say so; this will be the golden mean.
During Easter week there is no need to read the Psalter, but instead of Vespers and morning prayers hours are due. “When should we finish reading the Psalms?” The priest hesitantly remarked with a smile: “It seems that the Psalter ends on Wednesday...” (An expert in the charter; so great was the priest’s humility.)
Everything should be in order, and there should be a certain time for eating, and if you came late and you want to eat, then, of course, you can, eat as much as you need. In general, to have order.
A person who truly loves forgets himself completely, forgets that he exists, he thinks only about how to save someone else. We must try not only with actions, but even with words not to seduce another.
If you please, if you please, go to church.
(The fact that there is no time for reading.) “Well, it’s you who says something... but I charge you with the duty of reading...”
You can take communion every week, just abstain from the main sin.
You know your duty, and you need to fulfill it calmly and firmly. You need to read the Jesus Prayer. Just as a person always thinks about his favorite object, so he should think about the Lord and carry Him in his heart.
– How to acquire love for God?
– We need to remember more often what the Lord has done for us and what He is doing. Everything, even everyday affairs, must be sanctified by Christ, and for this, the “Jesus Prayer.” How good and joyful it is when the sun is shining, just as good and joyful it will be in our souls when the Lord sanctifies everything in our hearts.
It’s often good and you feel like you’re going straight, then suddenly that mood disappears, and you just can’t get there.
- Well, okay, okay... that means you’ll sleep well to this.
By the concept of “falling asleep,” the priest always meant the loss of sobriety and spiritual alertness over oneself.
Somehow, during the all-night vigil, a storm of all kinds of the most opposite thoughts and feelings agitated my entire being; I approach the festive icon (behind the canon). The priest anoints him with oil, peers and in a whisper, hesitantly asks: “Are you sleeping, aren’t you?”
We must remember that if the Lord is always looking at me, because He knows everything, then how can I act against Him.
Sometimes you long with all your soul for union with the Lord in the sacrament of Holy Communion, but the thought that you recently received communion stops you...
– This means that the Lord touches the heart, so all these arguments are no longer appropriate.
I think we need to establish a routine for life: it is recommended to sleep seven hours a day (I slept no more than five or six hours), well, if you get up at seven o’clock, then count back seven hours and go to bed that way; otherwise it affects health. Later I noticed that all the ascetics, from the ancient to the modern, and all the monasteries followed a strict, once established order of life.
– It is difficult to live without sin when there are such deprivations in life (there was a hunger strike).
- Well, why, don’t sin...
- I’m depressed, father.
- There is no need to be discouraged, remember, as they say: “my spirit is sad within me,” and then “let me remember the ancient days, learn...”. So you remember everything and be comforted.
That you think a lot about yourself, you are proud; But you know, whoever thinks a lot about himself means he doesn’t live well... And you love yourself, so love yourself as you should.
Jealousy came to me to learn the “Jesus Prayer” and asked the priest to teach me.
– “The Jesus Prayer” is a serious matter, more often you need to think about who Jesus is for me.
If someone speaks badly about others, and even in church, you just need to answer that I myself am a sinner, why should I look at others. We don't go to church to talk.
Jealousy to learn the “Jesus Prayer” burned me.
– The “Jesus Prayer” is a serious matter. You must constantly have the Lord before you, as if you were in front of some important person, and be, as it were, in constant conversation with Him. At this point you will be in an elevated state.
You need to be more moderate in your food.
What can you and I be proud of?.. Sins?..
Parents, if they have any shortcomings, should be treated more leniently.
- Father, it happens that you oversleep in the morning, but when you get up, you quickly run to mass, and no longer pray at home...
“Well, if that’s the case, you can pray in church, but there must be order in everything.”
If anyone in the church talks or asks about anything, tell me and don’t answer.
You should definitely pray morning and evening.
Before reading the Gospel, cross yourself and say: “Lord, give me some understanding, let me understand what is here”; and after this it happens that you accidentally find some kind of insight and you begin to understand the meaning of this or that; and then you need to take and write down these thoughts.
Establish order in everything... Be good to your mother, don’t quarrel with your sisters, don’t offend your aunt. Well, this will be yours for now, and then we’ll take something else.
So that you have order in everything... I had one German here, and with the Germans you know what order is in everything, so he told me: he had guests there... and he had such order: like ten o’clock so that everyone is in place. Now it’s time to go to bed, he announces that in ten minutes the fire will be put out. But everyone thought he was joking, no one paid attention to it. Suddenly, they look - it’s dark... And I ask him: “What about the guests?” “But whatever they want,” he says, “if they are so disorderly.” Even though he is German, there is a lot to learn from him.
Drive away bad thoughts, and when they appear, drag them by the ear and into the sun. (Father pulled me by the ear.) Be stricter with yourself (the conversation was about abstinence in food, father was very serious), you’re still sleeping, make sure you don’t oversleep. You need to pray like a child, with firm faith. Well, wait, I’ll set you free for this – by the ears.
Eating too much means you have no intelligence, when even an extra cup of water can excite us.
If you don’t obey your spiritual father, it means you have no devotion to God. I beg you, for God’s sake, take care of yourself... for God’s sake, be attentive... The Kingdom of Heaven is boring, and only those who make efforts delight it, and you won’t lift a finger.
“Father, sometimes it’s so hard that you want to go to someone and cry.”
- No, you have one garbage dump - Father Alexey, you throw everything into it, but others don’t need it.
– How can you distinguish fasting from ordinary times, since now almost everything is the same: fasting and no fasting, you don’t feel fasting at all? (there was a hunger strike).
– Strengthen spiritual fasting.
– Should this post always be there?
“You had a very good idea, but where are we always going to be, and here you will be tormented by the fact that, they say, I’m not doing something and you’d rather do the right thing.”
If you want, destroy passions now, otherwise it will be too late. I had one lady here, and she had a passion - to take what belongs to others; She told me with tears that she was in the same house and then she saw a silver spoon and, when everyone left, she took it. Now it torments her, but she can’t cope with herself, it has become a habit for her.
– Father, they say the “Jesus Prayer” must be read not only with love, but also with fear, but I don’t feel any fear.
- With fear... and think about what the Lord has given and is giving to you, and how do you thank Him?.. Look brightly into the distance, there is no need for despondency. (Dismissing you from confession.) And you try so that I can not only pull you out by your ears, but put you in the same place, but every time a little higher.
Consider yourself the worst of all - and even so you are the worst of all.
You're all asleep, and now it's time for confession. Maybe I’ll have to... I’m ready, but what are you going to do here?.. (Anxious time.)
- What should we do now, father?
- Well, I think God is merciful - nothing, but for this you need to pray more, and be better yourself.
Be good, from now on. Today, Mary of Egypt, even though you’re not Egyptian, it’s all the same. So with today and begin, and I will pray for you, that the Lord will give you mortal memory. Be a good support for your mother, a leader for your sisters, look how many obediences I have given you.
“Father, I read prayers, but it’s all somehow without a soul.” Father remained silent, and I repeated the same thing.
- Yes, read it carefully, without any soul, in Tolstoy’s style, or what?..
There is no need to be irritated, there is no need... Wish everyone happiness and you will be happy yourself (against envy).
(Against questions in confession based on books.) Someone here told me that he read some kind of sin in a book and did not understand what it was, and so he began to do everything to somehow find out what it was; I bought different books and read them. Finally, I understood and became a fan of this sin. So I don’t approve of these questions; You don’t know and you don’t need to.
When you are in someone else’s house and they serve something savory on the table, you should not refuse and thereby condemn others. My father was close to Metropolitan Philaret and that’s how it was; Metropolitan Philaret often visited someone there... Once he came one day, found lunch, and there was fasting, the owner was embarrassed, he didn’t know what to do - fasting, and he had chicken or something... And the metropolitan came to the table himself tried everything... That's how they did it.
– Sometimes according to the regulations it is not supposed to put prostrations, for example, before Pentecost and other holidays?
- And to this I will say this: sometimes you feel that you are not worthy to look at the icon, at the Face of the Lord, how can you not bow down; I, for example, cannot help but bow to the ground when they sing: “Let us worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...” (all-night vigil before the resurrection). Not abstaining is not a sin, but bowing down is a sin?..

* * *

“Why did all the holy apostles, every single one of them, accept the crown of martyrdom, die on crosses, were beheaded by the sword, and the Apostle John the Theologian lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully? - Father Alexy once asked, “because the Apostle John had such unparalleled, great, irresistible Christian love that even the tormentors submitted to its power, and she disarmed the persecutors, she extinguished their anger and turned it into love.” Father Alexy had just such a love for his neighbors, and all his instructions, sermons and words were about love. He was rich in this merciful love, and it seemed to everyone who came that Father Alexy loved him most of all.

Alexy Mechev born March 17, 1859 in Moscow in the pious family of the regent of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.

From birth, Father Alexy’s life is connected with the name of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna. At one time, he saved Father’s father from death in the cold and, seeing God’s providence in this, he subsequently took care of the saved child, and subsequently of his family.

During the birth of Father Alexy (and the birth of his mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, was difficult) he prayed together with Alexei Ivanovich Mechev for the successful release of his wife from the burden and predicted: “ A boy will be born, name him Alexy in honor of the saint we celebrate today. Alexy, man of God».

Alexy grew up in a family where there was a living faith in God, love, and a kind-hearted attitude towards people.

All his life, Father Alexy recalled with reverence the selfless act of his mother, who took in her sister and three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that he himself was close to his three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. We had to build a bed for the children.

Alexey had a quiet, peace-loving character; he loved to cheer, console, and joke. But he retreated from the noisy fun, and in the midst of the games he suddenly became serious and ran away. For this they nicknamed him “blessed Alyoshenka.”

Alexy Mechev studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary, after which he dreamed of going to university and becoming a doctor in order to serve people most fruitfully. But the mother opposed this: “ You're so small, why should you be a doctor? Be better off as a priest" It was hard for Alexy to leave his dream, but he did not go against the will of his beloved mother. Subsequently, he realized that he had found his true calling, and was very grateful to his mother.

After graduating from the seminary, Alexy was assigned to the Znamenskaya Church of the Prechistensky Forty. The rector of the church, Father George, was a tough and picky man. He demanded that the psalm-reader perform duties that were assigned to him, treated him rudely, and even beat him. But Alexy endured everything without complaint and made no complaints. Subsequently, he thanked the Lord for allowing him to go through such a school. Already being a priest, Father Alexy came to the funeral service of Father George, accompanying him to the grave with tears of gratitude and love.

« Such people should be loved as benefactors.“, he later taught his spiritual children. They point out shortcomings that we ourselves do not notice, and help us fight our “yes”. We have two enemies: “okayashka” and “yashka” - the priest called this self-love, the human “I”.

In 1884, Alexy Mechev married the daughter of a psalm-reader, 18-year-old Anna Petrovna Molchanova, and was ordained a deacon. Seminary suitors approached Anna, but she refused them all. But as soon as she met Alexy, she firmly told her widowed mother: “ I’ll go for this little one" His marriage was happy. Anna Petrovna had a “character” and in photographs of her early youth she looked out from under frowned eyebrows. But mutual love this character has noticeably improved. In subsequent photographs, this look warmed up, the tension in the facial features smoothed out. Anna dearly loved her husband and deeply sympathized with him in everything. But she suffered from a serious heart disease, and her health became the subject of his constant concern. In his wife, Father Alexy saw a friend and first assistant on his path to Christ; he valued his wife’s friendly remarks and listened to them the way another listens to his elder; immediately sought to correct the shortcomings she noticed.

Children were born into the family: Alexandra (1888), Anna (1890), Alexey (1891), who died in the first year of his life, Sergei (1892) and Olga (1896).

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained as a priest of the small one-person church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki Sretensky forty. Father Alexy introduced daily worship in his church, while usually in small Moscow churches it was performed only two or three times a week.

« For eight years I served the liturgy every day in an empty church., - the priest later said. - One archpriest told me: “No matter how much I pass by your church, everyone calls you. I went to church - it’s empty... Nothing will come of it, you’re calling in vain«».

But Father Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve. According to the then-current custom, Muscovites fasted once a year during Great Lent. In the St. Nicholas-Klenniki Church on Maroseyka Street one could confess and receive communion any day. Over time, this became known in Moscow.

Once, a policeman standing at his post seemed suspicious about the behavior of an unknown woman at a very early hour on the banks of the Moscow River. When he approached, he learned that the woman had become desperate from the hardships of life and wanted to drown herself. He convinced her to abandon this intention and go to Maroseyka to Father Alexy. After this incident, people grieving and burdened with the sorrows of life flocked to this temple. Father hurried to pay attention and comfort to everyone.

A small wooden house in which Fr.’s family lived. Alexia, was dilapidated, half-rotten; the apartment was always dark and damp. Soon Mother Anna Petrovna began to develop cardiac dropsy with swelling and painful shortness of breath. She suffered so much that she began to ask her husband to stop begging her and died on August 29, 1902, on the day of the beheading of the head of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John.

Father Alexy was inconsolable. The light had faded for him and he did not want to go out to people. At that time, the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt arrived in Moscow. O. Alexey had a meeting with him. " Have you come to share my grief with me?"- Fr. asked him. Alexy. " I didn’t come to share your grief, but your joy, - answered Fr. John. — Leave your cell and go out to people; only from now on will you begin to live... Enter into someone else’s grief, take it upon yourself and then you will see that your misfortune is small, insignificant in comparison with the general grief, and it will become easier for you».

The grace of God, abundantly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated the life path of Father Alexy in a new way. He entered upon the path of elderhood, for which he had already been prepared by many years of ascetic life.

Father Alexy greeted everyone who came with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. It seemed to everyone that they loved him the most, pitied him, and consoled him. Father never imposed the burden of heavy obedience, pointing out that first of all one should weigh one’s strengths and possibilities. But what you have already decided on, you must do at any cost, otherwise the goal will not be achieved.

« The path to salvation, - Father Alexy constantly repeated, - lies in love for God and neighbors" We need to oppress ourselves for the sake of the people close to us, rebuild our soul, break our character so that it is easy for our neighbors to live with us. " Be everyone's sunshine- he said.

Father Alexy is now never left alone, from morning to evening he gives himself to people; for them he is no longer only a shepherd, but a father and a caring mother. Soon all of Moscow was talking about the elder. The church can no longer accommodate everyone, “from early morning until late at night there is a crowd of people, among ordinary people, professors, doctors, teachers, writers, engineers, artists, actors appear.” At one time, Father Alexy began to visit the nearby Khitrov market, which was notorious. He held conversations there with regulars of the city bottom. But soon, due to the increasing workload, he had to give it up.

Extremely meager in funds, Father Alexy still did not ignore the needs and grief of his neighbor. Once on Christmas Eve, the priest, who himself had large family, left the entire contents of his wallet with a sick woman whom he came to give communion. Arriving home, he thought bitterly: “ There is poverty there, and there is poverty, there are half-starved children, and there are half-starved children - did I do the right thing, that I gave everything to others, and left nothing for my own?“The Lord miraculously resolved the bewilderment of the righteous man. Unexpectedly, a benefactor appeared who donated a sufficient amount to Father Alexy.

He was never offended by any rudeness towards himself. " Am I... am I poor..." - he used to say. The priest avoided showing signs of reverence and respect towards himself, avoided lavish services, and if he had to participate, he tried to stand behind everyone. He was burdened by awards, they burdened him, causing him deep, sincere sorrow.

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they were not distinguished by eloquence. Their main advantage was that they carried practical instructions - how to be and what to do.

When asked how to improve the life of the parish, he answered: “ Pray!"He called on his spiritual children to pray during the funeral services: " Once again you will come into contact with the departed. When you stand before God, they will all raise their hands in prayer for you, and you will be saved».

Father did not approve when parents, rushing to church, left their children alone without supervision. Blessing the mother and child, and pointing to the baby, he impressively told her: “ Here are yours both Kyiv and Jerusalem».

In the lower residential floor of the temple, Father opened a parochial school, set up a shelter for orphans and the poor, and for 13 years taught the Law of God at the E.V. girls’ gymnasium. Winkler; contributed to the revival of ancient Russian icon painting, which gave way to painting, by blessing his spiritual daughter Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova (later nun Juliania) to paint icons.

Father Alexy greatly revered the shrine of the temple, the miraculous Theodore Icon of the Mother of God, and often served prayer services in front of it. One day, on the eve of the events of 1917, during a prayer service, he saw tears rolling down from the eyes of the Queen of Heaven. The pilgrims present also saw this. The priest was so shocked that he could not continue the service, and the priest who served had to end it.

Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki

Interior of the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki on Maroseyka

The number of worshipers in the temple increased. Especially after 1917, and among them there were many young people, students, disillusioned with revolutionary ideals. After the closure of the Kremlin, some of the parishioners and singers of the Chudov Monastery moved to the church of Father Alexy. Young educated priests began to serve in the church, helping Father Alexy in conducting lectures, conversations, and organizing courses on the study of divine services. Among them is the son of his father Alexy father Sergiy Mechev, ordained a priest on Maundy Thursday 1919, now also canonized as a hieromartyr.

During the difficult years of the civil war and general devastation, many wanted to move to the grain-producing southern regions of the country, to Ukraine. Father Alexy did not give blessings for the moves, citing the words of the Lord spoken to the Jews through the prophet Jeremiah not to flee from Babylonian slavery to Egypt, where death awaits everyone. Those who remain will be shown God's mercy and deliverance.

Father Alexy created an amazing spiritual community in the world. One of the few, this community withstood the times of the most terrible persecution and raised a new generation of zealous servants of the Church and pious church people. Special attention deserves the tradition of agape in the community. On the night from Saturday to Sunday (from about 1919), an all-night vigil was served, then a liturgy, and after it, a meal was held in one of the premises of the temple with communication on spiritual topics and the reading of psalms. The meals were called agapes. Initially, Father Alexei himself organized the conversations using agapes, but gradually he began to transfer the situation into the hands of those gathered.

« Here in advance, whoever could, brought some vegetables, bread, sugar or caramel sweets for tea. Tables, benches, chairs were placed; the clergy and the priest came. Father took part in the common meal and, as at conversations on Wednesdays in his apartment, said something, touching on the most pressing issues of life and relationships. Did anyone present speak out?».

O. Alexy also built interpersonal spiritual and emotional relationships. He began simply with an attentive, responsible, compassionate attitude towards his spiritual children, then he began to establish relationships between them, constantly working “to create a close spiritual family.” He sent one of the sisters to visit another who was sick; He gave her something edible to take away, and when they returned late, he blessed one sister to spend the night with the other. And I rejoiced when the evening was spent reading good spiritual literature, and always in joint prayer at night. I didn’t bless going to places where there were more stories about news and other chatter. He blessed us to periodically gather without him, indicating what to read and what to pay attention to. Gradually Fr. Alexy taught his spiritual children to serve each other in whatever way they could, to live in each other’s joys and sorrows.

Father Alexy's true spiritual friends were his contemporary Optina ascetics - the elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Potapov) and the monastery leader, Abbot Theodosius (Pomortsev). They were amazed at the feat of the Moscow elder “in a city as in a desert.” Elder Nektarios told someone: “ Why are you coming to us? You have o. Alexy».

Archimandrite Arseny (Zhadanovsky) revered the priest as “a wise city elder, bringing no less benefit to people than any hermit”; and His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, always taking into account the recall of Father in cases of consecration.

Twice the priest was called for an interview at the OGPU. They were forbidden to receive people. The second time the conversation was short-lived, as they saw that he was seriously ill and suffered from very severe shortness of breath.

Bishop Arseny said: “ But if prayer invigorates and refreshes a person, then taking on the suffering of others crushes the shepherd’s heart and makes him physically sick" Father Alexy began to suffer from a heart disease from which he later died...

In the last days of May, Father Alexy left for Vereya, where he had rested the previous years. He had a presentiment that he was leaving forever. Before leaving, I served in my church last liturgy, said goodbye to spiritual children and the temple.

- Father, how hard it is to think that you will be gone.

- Stupid, I will always be with you...

Father Alexy died on Friday, June 9/22, 1923. Death occurred immediately as soon as he went to bed.

The liturgy and funeral service were performed by Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky), which the priest himself asked him to do in a letter shortly before his death. Vladyka Theodore was then in prison; on June 7/20 he was released and was able to fulfill his wish. Easter hymns were sung all the way to the Lazarevskoye cemetery. His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who had just been released from prison and was greeted with delight by the people, came to see Father Alexy off on his final journey. Father’s words came true: “ When I die, everyone will be happy».

Ten years later, due to the closure of the Lazarevskoye cemetery, the remains of Father Alexy and his wife were transferred to the Vvedenskie Gory cemetery, popularly called German. Over his grave stood a marble monument with a small cross above it. In its lower part are carved the words of the Apostle Paul, so close to the heart of Father Alexy: “ Bear each other's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ«.

Relics of the holy righteous Alexy Mechev

At the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000, Archpriest Alexy Mechev was canonized for church-wide veneration. Father Alexy was canonized simultaneously with his son, Hieromartyr Sergius, and with many new martyrs and confessors of Russia. In 2001, the relics of the holy righteous Alexy of Moscow were found and transferred to the Church of St. Nicholas. Currently the relics of the holy righteous Alexy Mechev are in the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.

Holy Righteous Alexy Mechev

Troparion, tone 5:
Help in troubles, comfort in sorrows, / good shepherd, Father Alexy. / By the feat of eldership you shone forth to the world, / you confessed the faith and love of Christ in the darkness of lawlessness, / your heart ached for all those who come to you // And now pray to God for us, who honors you with love.

Kontakion, voice 2:
You have undertaken great works of love and mercy, / the righteous elder Alexie, / from the holy shepherd of Kronstadt you have received a blessing to help the suffering, / you have placed the troubles and sorrows of people like chains on your frame. / We, leading you boldly to the Lord as a prayer book, call to you with tenderness: // pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

From the spiritual teachings of Elder Alexy Mechev

“In times of sorrow, one must not grumble or argue with God, but rather pray to Him with gratitude. The Lord is not like men; People, if they suffer something from someone, try to repay, but the Lord tries to correct us even in sorrows. If we knew how others suffer, we would not complain.”

“With tears, I ask and pray you, be the suns that warm those around you, if not everyone, then the family in which the Lord made you a member.”

“Be warmth and light to those around you; first try to warm your family with yourself, work on this, and then these works will attract you so much that for you the family circle will already be narrow, and these warm rays will over time capture more and more new people, and the circle illuminated by you will gradually become more and more increase and increase; so be careful to keep your lamp burning brightly.”

“The Lord says: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world,” by this He says that it is our duty to shine for others. Meanwhile, we ourselves walk in darkness, not only do we not shine for others, therefore we must turn to the Lord, ask Him for help, because no matter how strong we are, no matter what advantages we have, we are still without God is nothing; and then we have a great multitude of sins, and therefore we ourselves cannot achieve the goal of shining and warming others. And the Lord calls us to His Church and says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Stop relying on your own self, seek help from Me. In such difficult times, can we say that death is far from us, no... to many of us [it] is very, very close. So hasten to fulfill your duty to which the Lord has called you, because, as He Himself said, when night comes, then no one can do; whatever we do, good or evil, is all over. Therefore, hasten to understand what your duty is, which we must fulfill with fear and trembling, what talent has been given to you from the Lord.

And I want to cry, and cry, and cry, seeing how many of you lived to see gray hair and did not see your duty, as if there was no grace, nothing touched them, as if they were blind from birth. You can’t abuse God’s mercy endlessly, spend your time in arrogance, anger, hatred, and enmity. The Lord is calling: come to Me while you are alive, and I will give you rest.”

“There are moments when you really want to help some person, this, undoubtedly, is the Lord’s heart for the salvation of another; just be pure vessels, so that He can act through you and have you as an instrument in His hands.”

“The Lord is not angry even from the Cross, he stretches out his hands to us and calls us. Although we all crucify Him, He is love and is ready to forgive us everything. With us, it is sometimes considered excusable when you get tired, get irritated or something else (allow yourself), but no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, no matter how tired or sick you are, you must do only as Christ commanded.”

God's Law. Holy Righteous Alexy Mechev