Fr. Igor Rozin blessing holy water on the Feast of the Lord's Nativity, Loor.

469-btrl#"{lAaf M1?r^ (3+/{ruL{- \4aw6b 4|ffqx Wl4

Trom this do!,frz* this hour _

fro* this minute, let us striue to loue jodaboue all, and fulrtll His hob will.

--St. Herman ofAlaska

tor the Mission of Thue Orthod,ox CbristianityEstablished witb the blessing of St. John Maxirnouitch,

Arcbbishop and Wonderworker of Sbanghai a,nd, San Francisco.

Vol. 49, No. + (rgr) July-August, Lor3 ISSN: oojo-S8lg

rs7 Ascent to the Summit: The Life and Martyric Death of Fr. Igor Rozin

Front czuer: Fr. Igor Rozin in the Church of St. George the Victory-bearer inTyrnya uz, Kab ardino -B alkar Republic, Russia.

THE ORTHODOX WORD is published bimonthly (except for a combine dJmuary-April issue ) by the St.Hsman ofAlaska Brotherhood (ww.sainthermanpress.com). Periodical postage.paid at Platina, California.$4.00 per issue, $7.00 per double issue. Subscriptions; $ l9 for one year, $33 for rwo years, $46 for three yers.Student subscriptions: $16 forone year, $29 for two years, $41 for three years. Foreign subscripdon rates: $30for one year, $54 for two years, $75 for three years. Foreign studenr subscriptions: $25 for one year, $48 fortwo years, $67 for three yeers. Ofice ofpublication: l0 Beegm Gorge Road, Platina, California. Copies ofsome back issues available from St. Herman Press at wwvr',theorthodoxword.com. Copies of back issues mdof individual articles available from National Archive Publishing Co., P. O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, Michigan48106-0998. Copyright 2013 by the St. Heman of Alaska Brotherhood. POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges to THE ORTHODOX \7ORD, P. O. Box 70, Platina, California96076-0}7}.

Fr. Igor Rozin (Itoor) blessing his parishioners with holy water, October zooo.

Behind him, dressed in an acolyte robe, is his son Andrew (see pp.r8r-86).

Ascentto tbesummitTHg LIFE AND MARTYRIC DEATH

oF FR, IcoR RozrN

TVte Proui.d,ence of God always abid,es with tbe saints,

preseruing and, strength ening thern.

-$s. Isaac the Syrian

INrRoouctroN

furs rs rHE sroRy ofyet another martyred pastor who has sufferedI at the hands of the Muslims in our days, showing his conrempo-

raries in the twenty'first century an example, not only of piety, but un-doubtedly of sanctity as well.l This is the story of a man who for manyyears, risking his own life, saved others from physical death, and thenbegan to labor to save souls. It is the story of a man who was bapdzedat the age of thirty-six, ordained to rhe priesthood at fomy-rwo, andreceived a martyric death at forty-four. It is the story of a clergymanof the Stavropol diocese whowas murdered on the day of the com-memoration of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, bishop of Stavropol, whomhe especially venerated.

The future Priest Igor came to God when he was no longer a

young man. However, his whole life's path was not only a prepara-tion for his future spiritual life and martyric death but a prefiguring

I Thanslated from the Russian, with minor editing, from the booHetAscent to theSurnmit: Tlte Lfe and Marryric Deatb ofPiest lgor Rozin (Moscow: St. Ignatius of Stav-ropol Publishing House, zooz).

r57

,ff

rN€ ff&{*l? r\J f d{}}f,rVOTHE ORTHODOX\T/ORD

of rhem. 'S7hen he was still an unbeliever, he received a warningabout his marryric death, and this made a deep impression on his

entire life. He always loved childr€rr, and now there are many in his

church. He always strove to climb to the summits of mountains,

and then ascended from earthly summits to spiritual ones. He loved

puriry, and attained to a puriry like that of mountain snow. He was

an alpine rescuer for many years and saved people for earthly life;

then, as a priest, he guided them to the salvation of their souls; now

he is interceding for all of us before the heavenly throne.

Grant rest, O Lord, to the soul of slain Priest Igot, and by his

holy prayers forgive us our transgressions!

r. Feivtrrv eNp MouNTArNs

Tbe uisible world is only a preParatory threshold to habitations that are

incomlnrasly more magnif.cent and spacious. Here the irryage of God

mut be adnrned with its fnal feanres and colors, so ds to receiue the

most perfect resemblance to the AJI-hob, All-perfect Original, that it*tght enter into the chamber in which the Original exists lnffibly.

-St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

The city ofTynyauzis located in the mountains of the Kabardino-

Balkar Republic,2 in the Elbrus district. It is a small city with a popula-

tion of zr,ooo, where people knowone another from childhood. Ninetypercent of the population is Muslim, and so the division benareen ethnic

Russians and non-Russians is quite distinct. Like everywhere in the

North Caucasus, in Tyrnyauz a person can be subject to attacks and

ridicule merely for the fact that he is Russian, and even more so if he

is Orthodox. Ignorance of the locd language will lead to a situation in

2 The Kabardino-Balkar Republic is a republic of the Russian Federation, located

in rhe North Caucasus. Not far from the city of Tyrnyauz is Mount Elbrus, which at

r8,5oo feet is the allest mountain in Europe.-Eo. i

rt8

i n, S c tee f KXtc F - j{(sh rfpt, lt e. ft q, cq {?ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT

which people will not converse with a person, even in public places. Itwas in such circumstances that Igor lived.

\7hen he was a litde more than twenty years old, Igor had a

dream: he was surrounded by Muslims, who were stabbing him witha knife. "Dreams sent by God bear within themselves an irresistible

conviction. This conviction is comprehensible to Godt saints, butis. inscrutable to those still in the struggle against the passions," says

St. Ignatius. The dream madg a profound impression on Igor. \7e donot know how he understood it, or the nature of his refections onit when he was still a totally unbelieving young man, but, according

to his Matushka,3 during his whole subsequent life there was a sad-

ness and concentration in,his eyes. As St. Ignatius has written, "The

property of all visions sent by God consists in the fact that theybring humility and contrition to one's soul, filling it with the fear ofGod and with a consciousness of one's sinfirlness and insignificance."

Igor liked to hike in the mounrains, and met his fusure wife at a

mountaineering competition. Katherine was a simple Russian girl whoalso participated in the competitions. She was born and raised in a

large peasant family in a village in the Ural Mountains, not far fromwhere St. Symeon of Verkhoturye had lived. She had been baptized as

a child, but like Igor was an unbeliever.

The young family moved to the village of Terskol, a ski resort

near Elbrus, at an elevation of 7,ooo feet. Igor took a job at thenewly created avalanche prevention service, and became its first di-rector. The family was given a place to live: a small prefabricated

house without water or other conveniences, consisting of nvo rooms

and a small terrace. Th.y lived there until the birth of their fourthchild-only then were they given a more comfortable home. But, as

Matushka Katherine related, "\[e lived and were h"ppy."The family increased in size with each passin g year. The firstborn

was Maxim, followed by Iliya, Alexandra, Eugenia, and Andrew.

3 Matusbk*: an affectionate term for a priest's wife or a nun.-ED.

w*tur,{ atr T {24 Tf'Cf,} r r,e

ttDWi+/6#

( o t-t f * {{tfi '€ {/^/3 f kTHE ORTHODOX \UTORD

,.After the birth of our third child, people looked ar us as though

we were strange," Matushka recalled. "\[hen they saw that we were

expecting our fourth, everyone began trylng to convince us to have

an abortion." But the couple stood firm and would not kill their

children, despite the difficulties of having alatge family'

From Matushka Katherinet accounts, it is evident that the fam-

ily was harmonious: there were no quarrels or conficts, husband and

wife lived in concord, a4d they both loved the children very much.

Igor spent much of his time in rhe mountains, but devoted all his

free time to his family. He never punished the children, but he did

not permit them to be overly familiar. He would speak with them

very seriously.

There were many animds in their home. As he had done in his

childhood, Igor would keep all the homeless dogs and cats that he

found. Ail hi; friends knew this, and would bring him all their "un-

needed" animals. Igor would begin each morning with a walk to_ the.

woods with his foundlings, who loved him limitlessly'

The door of the Rozin home was never locked when they were

home, and was always open ro everyone-both to those they knew and

those they did not know. Even when the family was awayr thlY would

hang a nore on the door indicating where the key was to be found.

The Rozins were distinguished for their hospitality, and there was

always someone livingwith them. They would receive everyone. Here is

one incident: Maxim had earned a few dollars at the tourist center. At

thar time there was a man living in their house whom they did not know

well. Katherine accidentally found the same money in the man's pocket'

but did not tell anyone about it. On the contrary, when he left she gave

him some money for the road, and only when he was gone did she tell her

husband about the theft, and he reacted just as calmly'

"seeing your neighbor's lack, be merciful to your neighbor: he is

p"rt of yooi says St. Ignatius. And again: "Love for one's neighbor is a

p"rh th"t leads to lovsfor God. Therefore, Christ deigned to mystically

i"k ,h" form of each of our neighbors-and Christ is God"'i.r

G6J iJ 7f-i f ( dl

I

*1 \kKc1tt6o

ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

After the birth of their fourth child, Igor was given a house witha bathtub and a toilet. Igor himself put in the heating and added asecond storey.

The Rozins lived at a very picturesque spot: Mount Elbrus roseup on the left, forests surrounded them, and the small Baksan Riverfowed beside their home. "Beaury, tranquility, stars, and the majes-tic mountains," is how Matushka Katherine described it.

Igor loved the mountains very much. He was a first-class moun-taineer, a rwo-rime champion of the sporr. He climbed ro the sum-mits of mountains of all categories, even in winter, but he found themeaning of his life in rescuing people.

The work of an alpine rescuer is to search for people lost inthe mountains, who are often frozen and barely dive. Frequently a

rescuer finds only their corpses or whar remains of them. He thenhas to carry them through the severe mountain conditions and foulweather. He has to be physically and emotionally hardened.

Igort mountaineer friends gready valued and respected him, andwere not afraid to climb mountains if he was with them. They allbelieved that "if Rozin is in the mounrains, everything will be fine."According to the testimony of rhe chief of the rescue sration at Terskol,Igor was sent on the most dificult rescues, and was always successful arcarrying out his assignments. "God preserves Rozinj' the other rescuerswould say, and they would enrrusr their lives to him without fear whenthey were on the same rope with him. This was confirmed on manyoccasions.

Once, not long before his ordination, Igort safety knot cameundone when he was at a grear height. He went into a free fall forover rto feet. Those who were working with him had no doubt thatIgor was dead. One can only imagine their amazement when, rrans-mitting what had happened ro those on rhe ground by walkie-talkie,they heard Igort calm voice: 'I'm all right." In fact, he had escaped

with minor injuries.In the words of Sr. Ignatius, "During their earthly life, men are

ilIi

J-

r6t

THE ORTHODOXWORD

given a variety of situations b;' inscrutable fate. None of these situations

is accidental. Like problems to be solved, like lessons to be learned,

God's Providence arranges drat each person work out his salvation by

doing God's will in the situation in which he is placed."

Here are the recollecdons of one of Igort mountaineering friends

about their joint winter ascent of Mount Shkhelda, a grade 5b peaka

It was New Year's Day. 'I came from Moscow to see Igor, and gready

desired to spend the holidays in the mountains. Igor agreed to go. On

the way he took on the most complicated work and the main part

of the load. But when there were only three to six hundred feet left

to the summit, he said that it would soon be the eve of Nativiry [i.e.,

January 6] and we would have to go down. For me, as a mountaineer,

climbing to the summit was the pinnacle of my dreams, and therefore

I was quite upset, but Igor said that it was more important to him to

be in church than at t"he summit. \7e both had to return.'When

we were already at the bottom I asked Igor: "Listen, Igor-for me it's understandable : I have ambition and youth, and live in a

big city, and so forth. But why do you do it? You have a home, a fam-

ily, household chores, five children...." To this Igor replied: "I simply

consider that, if I work as a rescuer in the mountains, and there are

people that try grade 5 or 6 peaks on New Year's Day, then I've got

to go up, too."

*There cant be someone with an evil heart up therei said Fr.

Vyacheslav Chuchev, Igor Rozin! confessor, "and I think the Lordcalled him to serve Him because of his mercifulness, his pure heart,

and his meekness, and because he would at any moment come tothe aid of any person, no matter what his religion or nationality. He

rescued them all, considering them his brothers and sisters, to whom

he had to render physical assistance. He was one of the best rescuers

4 Mount Shkhelda is located in the Republic of Georgia. A grade 5b peak consists

ofvertical or near vertical rock, requiring ropes and a high skill level-Eo.

t6z

ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT

in the Elbrus search-and-rescue service. Later he used to say rhar rhehigher you go up into the mountains, the closer you ger ro God."

z. Couruc ro rHE FerrH

Faitb in Cbrist is W. He who nourishes himsetf by faith receiu,es, euen

during his eartb$ sojoum, a taste of tbe etemal life that is appointed tothe rigltteous afer the cornpleiion of that sojaurn. It is irnpossible to mterinto natural existence without bauing been bom according to the law ofnature. It is impossible to enter into a relationship with God, in whicbnur trae life consists, uitbout haaing entered into Christianity by meansof hob Baptism.

-St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Let us take a look at how the furure manyr came co the Faith.Matushka Katherine says rhat this process was "gradual and conscious."

It all began when the chil&en in his family became seriously ill. Karh-erine didnot know whar to do. Finding no help from doctors and almostdespairing, she once happened to meet a believing woman who, afterhearing about the mother's woes, simply replied, "Take the children tochurch, and have them confess and receive Communion."

As a drowning man grasps at a srra% the worn-out mother tookthis advice. Every Sunday she took all her children and drove the eightymiles to the city of Baksan, where the nearest Orthodox church was lo-cated. It was very difficult to make such a trip in winter, in the moun-tains, and with the children. They had to wake up at four in the morn-ing, and each time rhey wenr, had to make arrangemenrs for spendingthe night. Bur the Lord looked upon the fairh and labor of this womanand took away the chil&en's illness.

From that dme on, Katherine's life took a rorally differenr turn.She accepted Orthodory with her whole heart. Igor regarded thischange in the life of his family quite calmly. He did not hinder it,but neither did he show any particular interest. Sometimes he would

I:,Il$t

IIl-

16j

Pfr^rtt ,ftr3@56frW Y kl+&u<THEORTHODOX\TORD

drive his f"-ily to Baksan, but would not go to church himself. Butsome time later he became extremely pensive. On the one hand, he

could not understand what was compelling his wife and children toundertake such a difficult trip every Sunday instead of resting; on theother hand, he saw the results (so far, only outward ones): his childrenwere healthy. At the same time, Katherine was telling her husband a lorabout Christianity and suggesting that he receive holy Baptism. Oneof the arguments she bi,ought forward was about death: ''We'll die andwe'll be with the Christians-but where will you be ? Don't you wantto be together with us?'

One more incident infuenced Igor. He sent his son Iliya (who was

then twelve years old) to relatives in TVer for a vacation. [n the same

train compartment with him was a drunk man who condnually cursed

and screamed. The boy was terrified, and began to pray. The out-of-control drunken man suddenly fell asleep and slept all the way to Tver.'When Iliya returned home he told this story to his parents. It made'a

great impression on lgor.However, the following incident was the deciding one. His young-

est son Andrew fell ill. He was mken to Nalchik for intensive care.

Katherine stayed with her son in the hospital, while .Igor spent thenight outside, in his car. In the morning he told his wife about a dream

he had had. He dreamt that demons came up to the car, lifted it upinto the air, and were carrying it over the hospital while whooping andyelling. Igor was frightened and began to pray. Then he saw a huge

bright cross. The de'mons set the car on the ground and instantly disap-peared.

Igor made the decision to be baptized. Later, after he had become a

priest, he told his children, "It was you who brought me to the Faith."But, having made his decision, Igor could not bring it to reality rightaway. As if foreseeing his subsequent God-pleasing life, the enemy ofthe human race began setting up all kinds of obstacles. Somethingwould always happen on the day assigned for the baptism. Either the

car would break down; the priest would be sick, or $or would get an

t64

ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT

urgent call to go to work. This went on for a rather long tirne, untilKatherine, recognizing the snares of the evil one, decided to "rrick"him. "Igor, ler's go plant potatoes!" And so they went offto rhe coun-try garden, with nothing and no one hindering them. \Zhen they weredriving past the church, she asked her husband to stop so she couldbuy some candles. \fhile he was in the church, Igor was seized by astrong desire to be baptized, and he left rhere as a baprized OrthodoxChristian. "He had an icon of the Savior in his hands, a baptismal crosson his chest, and he was all aglow," said the newly baptized man's wife.The priest who baptized Igor remarked, "\fhat's with you? Everyonecomes to their bapdsm as rhey would to a festive celebration, but youlook as ,ho"gh you're going to plant poratoes-in work clothing!" Igorjust shrugged his. shoulders. This took place in ry94. The future marryrwas thirty-six years old.

ln t}re words of Sr. Ignadus, *ln the baptismal font the ftllen irnage

is restored, and man is born into eternal life by warer and the Spirit.Henceforch the Spirit,'til7ho had receded from man at his Fall, beginsto accomrpany him durlng his earthly life."

From that dme on Igor began ro go ro church with his family. Buteven here the enemy did not leave him. Igor noticed that he had onlyto enter the church and spend no more than fifteen minures rhere, andhe would feel poorly. His stomach would be tied up in knots, his backwould hurt, or his legs would lose their strength. He would leave thechurch to sit down for a while, and all the pains would go away. \7henhe went back to church, everything would hurt again. Igor was per-plexed and decided nor ro leave the church. He began to force himself,and very soon these temptations passed without a rrace.

There was one more similar incident. Being a mountaineer, Igorhad a whole assorrment of pains: radiculiris (spinal infammation),stomach ulcers from the .orrrt*, use of dry rations, and joint andhead pain from frequent falls. One summer he was sent for ffearmenrto the Pyatigorsk sanarorium for two weeks. 'S7'hen the doctors exam-ined the parient, they told him that he had bleeding stor4ach ulcers,

t6,

THEORIHODOXITORD

but said they were unable to help him. "\Ufe[, if they can'L they cant,1

thought Igor, and he began attending the nearest church every day. The

two weeks passed, and before his departure the doctors examined him

again, and with amazement said, "Your ulcers have scarred over and

rriat.d." Thus did the Lord show His servanr that it is He'$rho is the

Physician of souls and bodies.

Soon after Igor's full catechesis, he received a blessing to read at

the kliros.5 He bore all the burdens of his apprenticeship patiendy and

cdmly. However, he was able to learn Church Slavonic without any

particular difficulty. He had a naturally good ear, which played no

small role in helping him master church singing. For two years, right

up to his ordination, Igor sang and read on rhe kliros, and learned the

order of services well.

3. A Moonl oF HUMTLITY

Many approacb the Lord, but not rnany rnake up their mind to followHim.

-St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

If tou want to follou otur Lord Jesus Cbrist, keE His cornrnandrnents.-Pitpn

, ltour beart to endare hamiliati.on with equanimity, loae those

wbo ofend you, burnble yourself before all, and restrain your desires. Let

loar tongue and lips be silent, and do not eond.emn anyone in your heart,

-Abba Isaiah of Scetis

As we have seen, Igor received baptism at a matute age. Two years

later, he and his wife had a church wedding. Another three years

passed before he was ordained to the priesthood, and after one year

and nine monrhs of ministry, the Lord summoned him through a mar-

tyric death.

5 Kiras: the place in church where the services are read and qunS'---ED'

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ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

It would be good to describe in more detail what kind of man rheLord called to the feat of martyrdom. Igor had an athletic build andwas quite tall (six foot three). He had a pleasant outward appearance,

thick hair, large blue eyes, and a gaze that penetrated right into thesoul of the person he was speaking wirh. One of his characteristic rraitswas his reserved manner: he spoke briefy, succincdy, and only aboutwhat was necessary. The Holy Fathers recognize silence as one of thehighest virtues which lead to salvation: 'If you wanr ro be saved, pre,serve silencel' teaches Abba Daniel of Scetis.

Al*"yr serious, he smiled'extremely rarely. He did not like idleconversations and jokes at all. He could not understand how onecould joke for no reason, just for the sake of laughter, and he wouldsometimes get up and leave a conversarion if he saw that it wouldgo on for a long time. In conversations he would always patientlyhear out the person he spoke with, never interrupting him, neverarguing, never forcing his opinion on hirn. He was always collectedand, as it were, within himself. Those who knew him noticed in hima certain quality not of this world. Tbey are not of the world, euen as Iam not of tbe world, said the Lord in the Gospels (Joh" ryz$), and thiscould be especially sensed when talking with Igor.

He trusted people in everything and respected them, accepting each

person as he was. He always co-suffered with people and prayed foreveryone, especially for those in sorrows, even if they were drunkards.He tried to vindicate people. If someone was fired, he would stand upfor him, and he would have faith in every unfortunate soul. He was

law-abiding and very respectable. He strove never ro be late anywhere.He was distinguished by rare qualities of soul, such as humility-hewas always sa)nng, ''!il(rho am I? I'm no one at dl!" St. Anthony theGreat once said, "My son, first of all, do not consider yourself to be

anything. From *ris is born humility." Sr. Ignatius Brianchaninov ex-

plains his words in this way: "To consider oneself as nothing consisrs

in not acknowledging oneself as having any kind of virtue or merit."Igor did not flatter ot'hers and was not a man-pleaser. People were

t67

THE ORIHODOX'IrORD

even sometimes offended at him for this. But, as St. Ignatius notes,"Not only love for God, but even the very remembrance of God is de-

stroyed by man-pleasing."

Igor did not like it when people talked about him or photographed

him, bur in this regard things often failed to turn out the way he want-

ed. Both when he was at work on rescue crews and later, when he had

become a priest, he was often filmed. Matushka recalls that once, when

he found out that theib was a television crew outside, he simply didnot leave his house. \7hen he did not succeed in avoiding encounters

with them, he would invariably sigh: "No matter how I run from tJrem,

I run into them anyway!"He did not like excessive familiarity. He regarded everyone equally,

and did not distinguish people by their faith or nationality. He wouldnot become offended, even if he was not understood.

He was dependable, and did not divide requests into importantand unimportant ones. He served his neighbor with zeal' in trivial, ei-eryday needs, and would respond with the same alacrity to an extraor-

dinary summons to the mountains to save someonet life. The local

people knew about this, and would make use of it. Igor was frequendy

awakened at night by drunkards or addicts who asked him to take

them somewhere, and such trips could take all night. His wife pro-

tested against this, but he would reply that he could not refuse when

he was asked. She finally complained to his confessor, and received a

blessing to forbid him to make trips like that. Only then did Igor agree,

and he ceased to drive drunkards around.

If he was asked for financial help, he would always give, even the

clothes off his back. He was absolutely unmercenary. ln his home he

had only t.he necessary furniture-most of which he had made him-self-and a minimum of clothing. As Matushka Katherine relates, "S7e

v/ere never robbed-there was nothing to take. All our wealth consist-

ed in our children, icons, and books." The family lived according to the

Lord's commandment: Lay not ap for yourselues treasures upon earth,

ahere motb and rust dotb corrilpt, and wbere tbieues Qreah through and

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ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

steal: but lay up fnr yourselues treasures in beauen, wbere neither mothnor rust dotb conup4 and where tbieues do not break througb nor steal:

for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:r9-zt).He had peace and oneness of soul with his wife. As Matushka said,

"\il7e eyen thought alike." The children loved and respected him as theirfather, After his baptism he constantly talked to them about God. Ifhe heard his children judging anyone, he would put a srop to it. Theyobeyed him from the first word.

The whole family often gathered for domestic prayer. They sang

Akathists,6 and would invite a priest to their home to serve Molebens.TIgor would rise early and go to bed late, and did not like to waste

time. In the morning he would pray and then walk three to five miles.H. gf."dy loved animals, especialll' .dogs. They sensed this and re-sponded in kind. They would follow him in a pack and protect him,and were even jealous of him around people.

Igor was a patriot, and gready loved his homeland. W'hen, duringthe time of perestroika, the borders were opened, all of his relatives be-gan to leave for Israel.8 Only Igor and his parenrs remained. His familywas experiencing material need, and his wife began ro try ro convincehim to emigrate. She had all the necessary documents, but he said,"I'm a patriot,' and no further discussions on this theme came up inhis family.

It would be good to complete the portrait of Fr. Igor with the fol-lowing sayrng of St. Niphon, bishop. of Constaqria on Cyprus,e which,i! seems !o us, in ail'fairness could refer to Fr. Igor: "ln the last timesthose who truly serve God will wisely conceal themselves from menand will not perform signs and miracles among rlrem as at the presenrtime. They ryrll go by the path of activiry mixed with humility, and in

6 Akatbist: a hymn, divided into thineen parts, dedicated to rhe Lord, a sainr, ora sacred event.-Eo.

7 Moleben: a service of supplication or thanksgiving.-Eo.8 Fr. Igorwas evidendy ofJewish ancestry.-Eo,9 t+thcennrry, commemorated on December 21.-Eo,

i

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THE ORTHODOX\T/ORD

the Kingdom of Heaven they will be greater than the Fathers who wer€glorified by signs."

4. PRrrsrHooo

77ae selaants of the True God worship Hirn in spirit and; in trath. Godseeks, that is, He desires to baue sucb worshippers.

" -St. Ignadus Brianchaninov

\il7hat changed in Igor's life after he became Orthodox? Outwardly,almost nothing. As before, he loved the mountains, rescued people, andfought avalanches. But on all Sundays and feast days he *d hir wife andchildren went to church services, and in their free time they made pilgrim-ages to Stavropol, where a large piece of the relics of St. Ignatius is kept,and to Vladikavkaz, ro rhe relics of St. Theodosius of the Caucasus.ro

Igort inner life changed at the core. He began to read a great dealand, once he comprehended what he had read, he would embody it inhis own life. He began to set aside much time for prayer-from theaccounts of other mountaineers we know that Igor always prayed inthe mountains. W'e do not know precisely what took place in the soulof the future marryr. Ve can only judge by the fruits, and fruits therewere-it was impossible not to notice them.

*Splendid and wondrous are the fruits of the Spirit! They change

the whole man! The Holy Scripture is conveyed from rhe book to thesoul. The word of God and the will of God, the 'Word and the Spirit,are inscribed by an irrvisible finger upon the tablets of,tl-re soul-uponthe mind:andthe heart,"'writes St. Ignatius. Igor's confessor, Fr. Vy-acheslav, noticed them and suggested that he accept the priesthood.

This suggestion was totally unexpected by Igor. He had always con-sidered himself as someone who did not know or understand anything,certainly not as someone womhy of the priesdy rank. 'The duties of a

10 fig+S,commemorared on Joly 26.-Eo.

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ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT

pdesti writes Fr. John Maslov,ll 'are insffuction (the spreading of theteachings of the Gospel), priesdy service (by means of which believersassimilate the salvific work of the Redeemer), and guidance (the moralperfecting of chrisdan$." Igor had an excellent understanding of thecomplexity of these duties and therefore hesitated for a long dme. Hecited his ag. (he was already forty-two), his poor memory,

"id hi, l".kof a seminary education.

But Fr. Vyacheslavwas insistent in his suggestion. A church had beenopened in Tyrnyauz, and there was no betrer candidate than Igor Rozin.Despire his hesitations,Igor showed obedience and agreed. "Have obedi-ence to your farher as a constant pledge in y.our heart, and the fear of Godwill make its abode in you,a reaches St. Anthony the Great.

On July r9lAugusr r, r9g9, the commemoration day of St. Sera-pfiim of Sarov, Igor Rozin's ordination to the diaconate took place.Three days larer, on rhe feast day of Equal-to-the-Aposdes Mary Mag-ddene, he was ordained to rhe priesrhood. The ordinations were pei-formed by Bishop Gideon of Vladikavkaz.

Matushka Katherine relates that after he received the rank of rhepriesthood, Igor became calm, meek, and joyful, and grace wafted fromhim.'It w-as so good that we were simply amazed: why had this hap-pened? After all, ure're sinners. If this is how much the Lord loyes sin-ners, how much more musr He love the righreous!"

But Igor's priesthood totally shocked his friends. They could in noway understand why he, a famous mountaineer, a rwo-time champion ofthe sport, someone respected at work and loved by his family, would sud-denly become a simple parish priest. But Fr. Igor had already cast aside allhesitation and doubt, and he entered upon his new path wirh joy.

The newly opened church in Tyrnyauz in which Fr. Igor served wasquite. small and not in very good order. "There was no church as such.The authoriries designated an old building, built before the Second\(orld \Var. It was half rorren, widr holes in the walls and a leaking

rr Schema-archimandriteJohn Maslov (tyz-t991, an elder of Glinsk Monas-tery.-Eo.

T7T

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

Fr. Igor (cenrer) in front of his church in Tyrnyauz with one of his daughters

and Fr. Leonid, the diocesan dean.

roofl' related Matushka. Fr. Vyacheslav added, "Although the parish

he ended up with was not an easy one, they were his own people. He

became rhe recror of a church in the city in which he had been born.

Fr. Igor spoke of the residents of Tyr nyauz with true love. He had to

creare his church. Vith a hammer and an axe in his hands he restored

and ourfirred the worn-out old building the local authorities had given

him. His whole family helped him in this, and he carried the beams

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ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

he needed from the forest on his own old 'Moskvich."2 They did thepainting and whitewashing, and built rhe ahar themselves."

\[e have already noted that 9o percenr of the residents of ]rny-auz were Muslims, and rherefore a large number of parishioners werenot expected. But this did not bother Fr. Igor. He first of all wantedto serve God. Fr. Igor served his first Liturgy there on the feast of rheDprmition of the Mother of God. People came ro the church rightaway-some to attend the services, and some to have a look at thepriest. Batiushkar3 regarded the parishioners with love.

Fr. Igor served on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on feast days.

On W'ednesdays they would read the Akathist to the icon of theMother of God 'Inexhaustible Cup." Batiushka used to say, "If onlyone person comes to a service, I'll serve ffiywaf And serve he did:his entire time as a,priesr he never left out a single service, despire the*reats against him that emerged from the very first days of his minis-try. He did nor like it when he was disuacted from serving: "You don'tunderstand-I m serving God and cant be disuacted by all sorts ofother matters. Things can be decided after services." He served unhur,riedlp with attention and reverenc€. He did not believe in doing rhingshastily.

Fr. Igor was very embarrassed by his lack of educarion, and severaltimes asked Vladykata to bless him to enrer a seminary. But Vladykawould not give his blessing, and only said, "It would be better for you toread more books. Everythingyou need is there." And so Fr. Igor set asideall his spare time for reading. His Marushka recounred that he had bookseverywhere, and that he was constandy reading. He read the Handbook

for Clergymen a4d Blessed Theophylact's Explanation of the Gospels, as

well as sermons, teachings, mdrhe Liues of Saints. He loved the elders ofOptina and Valaam, and among the Holy Fathers he emphasized Sr. JohnChrysostom and St. Gregory Palamas. He especially revered St. Ignatius

12 Moskuicb: a common Russian automobile,-Ep.L3 Batiushka: an affectionate term for apriest or a monk.-Ep.La lrladlka: an afbctionare term for a bishop.-Eo.

I

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THE ORTHODOX\TORD

Brianchaninov. There was not enough literature for him in the diocese, so

he asked all his acquaintances to send him books.

St. Ignatius writes, "The writings of the Holy Fathers are all composed

at the inspiration of or under the infuence of the Holy Spirit. He whois guided by them has, without any doubt, the Holy Spirit as his guide.'Again, iA.ssimilate the thoughts and spirit of the Holy Fathers by reading

their writings. The Holy Fathers reached the goal-salvation. Ifyou have

oneness of mind'and soul with the Holy Fathers, you will be saved.' Fr.

Igor assimilated these teachings of St. Ignatius well.

In Fr. Igort home he had a small cell, separated by "

wooden par-

tition, for prayer and reading. He himself made a table, two benches,

and bookshelves. There was nothing in the cell but icons and books.

Batiushka did not like excess.

Fr. Igor had a special attitude toward fasting. He observed it strictly.

He tasted no food before 3 pM, as is set forth in the ancient monasdc

Typicon. But it must be noted that he was strict only toward himself.He relaxed the fasts for others in accordance with their strength, and

would even permit them to eat butter and rnilk. He would say, 'Donttake on something beyond your strength.' Thus, Fr. Igor was far frombeing a pharisee. "Let your fasting be judiciousi says Abba Dorotheus,

and St. Gregory of Sinai adds, "If you want to attain salvation ... youshould ... take at appropriate times a litde from whatever victuals hap-

pen to be at hand, but never eat to satiety. In this way you will avoid

growing conceited, and by thanking God for everything you will showno disdain for the excellent things He has made. This is the counsel ofthose who are wise in such matters."r5

There are some brief newspaper articles that Fr. Igor wrote for allthe residents of Tyrnyauz. In one of them, dedicated to Great Lent, he

wrote : 'hcting in the spirit of the love and mercy of God, the Churchdoes not apply the rule of fasting in its fullness to children, the in6rm,

15 St. Gregory of Sinai, 'On Prayer: Seven Texts-6. How to Partake ofFoodi The

Pbilokalia: The Comphn Tert,vol.4, trans. G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos

W'are (London & Boston: Faber & Faber, 1995), p. z8I.

I

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:

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ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT

and the aged. Those who are infirm of body, just like the healthy, are

obliged to do works of love and mercy during the holy Forty Days, andmust likewise avoid sin. The Church statutes also prescribe abstinencefrom marital relations by mutual coruent, in addition to refrainingfrom various sorts of entertainment. The dme of the Fast is set asidifor the reading of the Holy Scriptures, prayer, and divine contempla-tion, as well as refecting on one's sins, weeping over them, and cleans-

ing them through the sacrarnents of Confession and Communion."The parishioners loved dreir pastor. Tiust between him and them

was established immediarcly-after all, Fr. Igor had been born in Tyrny-auz, artd many people knew him from childhood. Fr. Igor was the firstpriest there after an almost century-long interruption. Everything hadto be started from scratch. People knew little about Orthodory andGod. He had to do a great deal of pastoral and missionary work.

Before long people were really being drawn to him. $n active par-ish community formed, consisting mostly of educated people and in-tellectuals. The parish grew, and in less than two years it became largerthan many of the long-established parishes of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Fr. Igor organized a Sunday school for children and adults at thechurch. It often happened that at 6rst a child would come, and thenhe would bring his parents with him. Batiushka loved children, andchildren were drawn to him. He inculcated love for the Church andfor the Divine services in children, but did so unobtrusively and un-noticeably.

The parishioners loved Fr. Igor for the simplicity of his dealingswith them and for his unfeigned kindness toward the people aroundhim. Fr. Igor liked to repear the words of St. Ambrose of Optina: "GIo-ry to God for everything, and my respects to everyone." And that is

how he lived, following the Gospel commandments.Thanks to Fr. Igor's missionary activity, many Balkarsr6 in Tyrnyauz

became Christians. It should be noted that some Muslims had great re-16 The Balkars are a Turkic people of the Caucasus region, comprising approxi-

mately fifteen percent of the population of Kabardino-Balkaria.-Eo.

17,

THE ORTHODOX\UTORD

spect for Batiushka, and would even come to ask his advice. He never

refused them, but would he ar them out and explain things to them. Manyof them, when meeting him on the street, would stop and sincerely greet

him. Sometimes they would stop by the church, and some were eyen sej

credy bapdzed. They did this secretly because, according to their laws,

a person who "betrayed" the religion of Allah was threatened by expul-

sion from their community and even death. But the rnore courageous oftlem, once they came to know the truth, were bapdzed, Often these were

society's "6gg6x515"-alcoholics and vagrants. There was one case when a

Muslim was bapdzed fifteen minutes before his death.

One woman, who accepted Orthodoxy under Fr. Igor's influence,

became a regular parishioner of the church. This is what she herself

related:

I'm indebted to Batiushka Igor for acquainting me with the Church. Itwas a torturous process for rile, because by nationality I'm a crimean

Tatar and in my childhood and teen years I was raised in the Muslim

faith. Therefore, when I found myself in our litde Orthodox church,

which had jusr been opened in a dilapidated building that had for-

merly been a bacteriological lab, much was foreign to me. On a sub-

conscious level I was even afraid of the Cross-this was a foreign

rradirion, with foreign customs and manners. I was drawn only by the

recognition that Christ is Love. Glory be to God that I met Fr. Igor

and his family at the very beginnirg of my path to Christ. The weak

recognition that Christ is Love, which drew me to Orthodory, which

had not been part of my tradidon, was strengthened and confirmed

in me under Batiushka's guidance.

I emphasize the word "guidance." For Fr. Igor, even the words "to

guide" were foreign. In my consciousness his character was connected

with the words of the Gospel,: Learn of Me; for I arn rneek and lowly

in beart (Matt. u:L9). H. served sincerely, simply, and naturally. He

never oppressed anyone with his authority, his position, or his frame

of mind. The atmosphere around him was such that a person who

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was seeking God would involuntarily and unnoticeably begin to be

attracted to the services. He would sense the need for repentance, and

the beauty of Orthodoxy would be revealed to him. We lived near Fr.

Igor, and this brought grace into our lives. Only now do we understand

to what degree he took our burdens upon himself,

For many people who came to our church, he was the first priesr

in their lives. F{e embodied the whole Orthodox priesthood for us,

the whole Orthodox religion. This was very fortunate for us, since inthis man, who had not eveh received a traditional priestly education,

were united Christ's virtues: love for people, humiliry, and meekness.

He did not bind us by his own wjll, but bound us by submission toGodt will.

In our contact with him, we really felt that Christ is Love. Through

him I and my children (twins, Ira and Yura, who were seven and a

half years old when they were baptized) re ceived a living sense of the

presence of the God-man, Jesus Christ. My daughtet who saw Baci-

ushka for the first time in vestments during services, asked, "Marnx,

is that Jesus Christ ?"

Fr. Igor worried over and prayed for each parishioner. If someone

did not come for a long time or was sick, he would visit them, and

confess and commune them if necessary. He did not care at all aboutmoney, and did not take any for performing special services. No matterwhat he was asked to do, he would do it: he performed baptisms andfunerals, but never even mentioned being paid to do so.

There were many sectarians in Tyrryatrz. Fr. Igor warned people

about them, and did not permit his parishioners to have contact withthem or receive them in their homes. But if one of them accepted Or-thodoxy with all their heart, Batiushka would receive them into thecommunity. One of his female parishioners had spent fifteen years in aBaptist sect before coming to the Orthodox Church.

Fr. Igor did not consider all rypes of new technology to be satanic

inventions, although such an opinion is widespread among Orthodox

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THEORTHODOX\OrORD A:

Christians these days. However, he himself did not watch television,and learned the news from his neighbors. In rhis way his childrenlearned to spend more time reading-they gready loved to read theLives of tihe Saints.

\[hen he heard confessions, he would hear out each person to theend. He did not interrupt t'hem, but did not like it when a penitentjustified himself or began to explain himself Due to his humility, hedid not take anyone or.l as a spiritual child, but.he never refused tocounsel people.

In liturgical questions, Fr. Igor always consulted with the diocesandean and his o-wn spiritual farher. He would either ravel to see rhemor call them on the phone. He did nor ffusr himself

As we have noted, Fr. Igor was a humble man. He was always thefirst to ask forgiveness. rilZe would like ro presenr rwo insrances of hispastoral practice.

The first occasion was on the Feast of Christ's Nativity. This wasthe first Nativity that Fr. Igor was serving as a priesr. Pardy due to hislack of knowledge of the Church canons, pardy because of the distanceof his church from the cenrer of the city, and pardy as a result of hisgreat zeal, he announced to all his parishioners that only small childrenwould be communed on the feast, and he asked the others ro receive

Communion on an earlier day. He explained this by saylng that aftert'he service everyone would break the fast and there would be joking,overeating, and excessive drinking, and this would profane Holy Com-munion. According to his opinion, a communicant should preserlrehimself in prayerful quiet. \trfle are not justifyipg Fr. Igor-t]rere are

no canons prohibiting communing on feast days. Fr. Igor was simplyacting out of a lack of experience. But no marrer what the reason, hewarned everyone and did nor go back on his word.

Despite this, one woman very much wanted to receive Communionspecifically on that day, and she approached the chalice. Fr. Igor softlyrefused her. She went away very upser. After the Liturgy Batiushkaasked her forgiveness, but she did not even wanr to listen to him. After

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this incident the woman continued attending the church, but at everyconfession'would bring it up, and could in no way forgive Fr. Igor. Hecontinually asked her forgiveness for a year and a half, but she.did notcalm down and even said to him, "I hate you." Ofcourse, her behavior wasfar from Christian, but we are inreresred in something else : how, thanksto the priest's patience and humility, the Lord resolved this siruation.

On Sunday, May ry, zoor, the woman came to church, acknowl-edged her fault, sincerely asked forgiveness, and confessed. Batiushkacommuned her with joy. That very day he was killed. Now that womanhonors Fr. Igor and thanks God ihat she was reconciled with him be-fore his death.

The second incident took place before the beginning of Lent inzoor. Fr. Igor wanted to serve in church every day during the 6rstweek. But for him to do this meanr requesting time offfrom his work

I

J

Fr. Igor serving in his house church dedicared to St. George.

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THE OMHODOX\TORD

at the rescue station, since it was his turn ro go up into the mountains.He explained in detail how important it was for him to be in churchthat week and said that he was ready ro go up into the mounrains ar

any other time. But his superiors either did not understand or did notwant to understand, and they did not let him go. They even accused

him of being a "poor and unreliable employee," and this was after renyears of work at the station.

Fr. Igor humbly took all the blame upon himself and wrote a lerterof resignation, saying that, for him, serving God was above everything,although he knew only too well that this would leave him with practi-cally'no money, since a priestb income was very small. But Batiushkaplaced all his hope in God. "The crown of all good works consists inplacing all onet hope in God. Hasten to Him alone with all your heartand all your strengthl' says Abba Isaiah.

"O All-seeing and Almighty One ! 'With

lack ofhope in myself, withhope in Thee, I entrust myself to Thy most holy will, Thine endless wis-dom, and Thy goodness,' Fr. Igor repeated rhe words of St. Ignadus.

\ire would also like to mention t}re mudslide that descended onthe city of Tyrnyauz on July r8, zooo. This was a frightful natural ca-

tastrophe. The avalanche of water, rocks, and mud wiped our every-

thing in its path. The fow of water was so powerful that huge concrere

slabs, the kind houses are constructed from, foated on rop like logs.The Lord preserved Fr. Igor's family from this disaster, but Batiushkacould not look upon what happened with indifltrence. Fr. Igor issued

an appeal "to friends, colleagues, citizens, and all believers, to do whatthey can to help the residents of the city of Tyrnyauz, who have losttheir dear ones and have been left without shelter and possessions." Ac-cording to his words, "the scale of the disaster was significandy greaterthan the official media reported. An enormous number of people wereunable to leave the city, while it was impossible to live any longer inhomes that had been damaged by the avalanche, and had been sub-jected to fooding." Fr. Igor believed that the Church should take uponitself the responsibility for the future survival of the city's. residents.

18o

ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT .

He served Molebens daily, that the Lord might turn away Hiswrath and help the city, bur, according to Matushka Katherine, no onecame to the church at that time. It was a miracle rhat the flood watercame right up to the walls of the church but no higher. The churchsuffered no damage.

Several miracles that took place during Fr. Igor's life have been re-corded. He, however, attached no significance to them, and did noteven nodce them.

One incident took place during the reading of the Akathist to theicon of the Mother of God, the "Inexhaustible Cup." According to theaccount of a woman who was presenr and praying in the church, herhusband was healed.

There was anorher incident of healing. A parishioner of the church,an aged woman named Melitina, was paralyzed in half of her body. Sheasked the priest to come and confess and commune her, which he didwithout delay. \U7hat was the general astonishment in the church when,a week later, Melitina was at the service! The first thing she did was togo up to Fr. Igor and thank him, to which he responded, "\flhat doyou mean? You're the onewho communed, and God healed you." Andhe added a few other words that proved to be prophedc: "You know,Melitina, you'll oudive me. They'll bury me first, and only then willyou die."

5. ANonusnra

Tltelt do not g0 the roltal way, like the rest, but choose for themselues shortpaths, fu which they clearly corne quickly to their abodes.

-St. Isaac the Syrian

As we know, Batiushkafiad a large family, and all irs members playedan active part in the life of the parish. Matushka sold candles, taughrat the Sunday school, and sang on the kliros. Their younger daughter,Sasha, was a good choir director. Their older daughw, Zhenya, baked

r8r

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

prosphorarT and was learning to paint icons. Their two older sons were

like guardians of the church, and kept order while their younger sotr'

Andrushka,rs helped his father in the altar. It is about him that wc

would like to speak in more detail.

Andrushka was the youngest, the fifth child in the Rozin family.

Andrew's birth could be called a miracle, since his mother was ex-

tremely sick with botulism during her pregnancy. However, she recov-

ered, and the child was born healthy.

\[hen Andrushka was i litde more than three years old, he fell se-

riously ilI. He was taken to the hospital in Nalchik, and on the way the

child'had a vision. He told his mother, "I see Llncle on the Cross." Hismother understood that he had seen the Lord, and she made up her

mind that he would get well. And that is what happened-the doctorthelp was unnecessary. After this, the thought came to her mind that

Andrew's death would be unusual.

\fhen the family started attending church regularly, the child was

6ve years old, and he veiy much wanted to serve in the altar. He got uP

his courage and asked the family's confessor, Fr. Vyacheslav, about this.

Thus, at five years of age, he began serving in the Lord's altar-beforehis father-and he zealously served for three and a half years, right up

to his own death. After Igor became a priest, Andrushka served withhis father at every service. During all three and a half years, the boy didnot miss a single service. Fr. Igor and he had a small cell at the church,

with two beds, a table, a stool, and some books.

Due to the many injuries he had received in the mountains,

Batiushka had a poor memory, and Andrew was an irreplaceable help

to him. Once he had gained experience, he would often prompt his

father as to which exclamation he had to give, or what was coming

next according to the rule of the service. And so, they served together:

Fr. Igor and his litde acolyte.

17 Prospbora: bread prepared specially for the Divine Liturgy.-Eo.18 The three names cited here are diminutives: Sasha for Alexandra , Zhenya for

Eugenia, and Andrushka for Andrew.-Eo.

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Andrew neYer watched television, but loved the Lives of Sainrs.He would not go to sleep without hearing one, and would wair unrilhis mother or father would read ro him. Things like this would h"p-pen: the child would be sleeping, and suddenly, without wakirg ,rp, h.would get out of bed, cross himself three times, make rhree full pros-trations, and continue sleeping, without opening his eyes. Evidenrlythis righteous child would be at prayer even in his sleep.

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Fr. Igor's son Andrushka. Fr. Igor (before his ordination) is in the background at right.

THEORTHODOX\TORD :

From a very young age he be came used to not eating before services inthe morning, and he gready love d God's temple. Prayer was an inirnuable

part of his life, andhe liked to commune often. But,like all children, hc

could be lively and mischievous, and he loved to ride his bicycle.

Once the boy was running around and playing, and suddenly asked

his mother, 'Mama, what would happen if I died?"

Taken somewhat aback, his mother said, "'Well, if you die, we'll

bury you in the Orthodox way." It is impossible to know now why he

asked this, but at the dme'everyone ffeated it as a joke. But such a

thought had even occurred ro his mother. She sensed with her rnater-

nal hiart that he would soon die, and that his death would be unusual,

connected with torment.Matushka Katherine recalls that at the beginning of Septembei

nor long before the child's death, in response to all his questions, a

sffange Ihooght would persistently follow. For example, Andrew would

say, "Mama, my tooth hurts.""Of course, we'llhave your tooth reated when we go to Tyrnyauz."

But inwardly, she would have the rhought, "I(/e dont need to treat his

tooth-heb going to die."

"Mama, buy me a new suit and track shoes for school'1

''W'ait a litde-we'll get some money and then we''ll go zrnd buy

everything." But inside there was the same thoUght, "He doesnt need

anything anymore."

She bore this thought within herself and uied to chase it away-she was afraid to tell it to Fr. Igor. Two weeks before his death the

boy began to refuse food. \il(rhen they tried to persuade him, he would

reply, '\rhat do I need to eat for? I need rc get out of the habit ofitJ And so he lived on rea alone. His mother was amazed, but did not

force him to eat.

It happened on Septemb er 7, Looo. Out of carelessness, some workers had I"ft * open barrel of an explosive mixture next to Fr. Igor's

house in Terskol, and it exploded while Andrushka was playing nearby.

He ended up in the very cenrer of the fiery explosion. The explosion

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ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT A

cras so strong that it scamered pieces of iron around. The wave of theblast sent Andrew fying, but he gor up and went home. As he walked,smoke poured from him as from a piece of smoldering wood. He wassdll burning when he reached home. Almost all his skin was burned,and so was his baptismal cross. At rhat time his parents were in Nal-chik, on an obedience from rheir spiritual father.

Andrushka came home charred, black, and smoking, but he didnot cry, screarn, or complain. His sisters were at home.'When they sawhim they were indescribably horrified, and called an ambulance. Theboy was calm. He went inro the kitchen and asked for something todrink, but he could not mke the cup of water in his hands-they nolonger obeyed him. He wenr over to the icons and started praying, andthen asked, "Am I going to die ?" He asked that they bring a bottle ofholy water to the hospital.

It took four hours ro ger to Nalchik, and Andrushka prayed aloudthe whole way. His behavior astounded his doctors. His sisters latersaid that rhe look in his eyes was no longer of this world: "He lookedat us as if from far away.'

"Andrushenka, how do you feel?" rhey asked him. "Is it bad? Doesit hurt?

"I've got to endure. I have to endure."And he did endure. He did nor urrer a single word of complaint-

and he was only nine years old. IThen rhey arrived ar the hospital, hehimself gave his first name and surname, and asked, "Do my parenrsknow?"

Burns covered 87 percent of his body, and were of the most severe

degree. It was arnazing that Andrew was conscious and spoke. The waythe boy bore everything was a real miracle. It was as if he did not no-tice his condition, and was only worried that he was not in the altar,and was missing services.

People reacted symparhetically to this tragedy. Everyone-Chris-tian and Muslim alike-gave blood for Andrew. Even when he was nolonger among the living, people kept coming, day and night.

18t

Andrushka lived four daYs

the feast d"y of the Beheading

took him.

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

after the explosion. On SePtember

of St. John the Forerunner' the

On September 14, there was a hierarchal service planned in

Nalchik, and Fr. Igor was obliged ro attend, and therefore he had to

serve rhe funeral and burial foi nit son, not on the third day after his

repose, as is customary to do, but on- the.second day' His wife tried to

.it ni^ out of going to the service, but he replied, "I have no right to

miss the service' I'm a priest first of all'"-_ Fr. Igor took the death of his beloved litde assistant courageously,

with submissiveness to God, and with amazing humility. "Death is a'

grear mystery. It is a man's birth from earthly, temporal life into eter-

nityi'writes St. Ignatius. ,,

on Andrew', g,",,. a simple wooden cross was erected, and a cen-

ser was carved, orr lt. Afte, hir d."th all the members of his family be-

came closer to one another and acquired a more serious attitude.

6. THE, LeSr SIx MoNrss oF FR. Icois Lrrn'

When ,ne is self.ess and ded,icated, to God)s will, d,eath itself is n-nt fight-ening. A true seruant af Cbrist cornrnits hh suul and bis eternal fa,te into

Cbrist's hands.

-$s. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Fr. Igor continued ro serve. He did not know that the Lord had ap-

point.diim only half a year of life, but from this time on' the thought

of d.".h did not leav. hi*. This could be seen in his words, his choice

of reading material, and his sermons. According to the teachings of St.

Anrhony"the Grear: "Remember that your iniquities have reached their

fullrr.ss, that your youth has already passed' It has come-the time of

yoo, a"p"*or. h*r'.olne, the time *ht" yot''Inust give an account for

y.", i.^.ar. Know that brother cannot redeem brother there; a father

.*rro, free his son. Forestall your acdons with the remembrance of

r86

ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

your deparnrre from your body, and do not forger the recollection ofcrernal condemnation. Acting thus, you will not sin unto the ages.'

'Whether it was the dearh of his son rhat infuenced Batiushka,whether ir was the more frequenr threats of the Muslims, whether heremembered the dream he had had in his youth, or whether he receiveda revelation from God, we do nor know. But everyone-his family, hisparishioners, and, of course, his spiritual farher-noticed that Fr. Igorchanged, becoming more thoughdul and concenrrared. Earlier, Fr. Igorhad told his parishioners how rhey should live and go to church, andhow to correctly prepare for Confession and the reception of ChristtHoly Mysteries. But now he spoke more and more often about death,about life beyond the grave, and about martyrdom. His favorite themefor sermons became: Fear not thern whicb kill the body, but are not ableto kill the soul (Matt. ro:28).

Fr. Igor would say, "Our life is nothing. Real life begins with death.Life will be t'here, while this life is only a preparation." St. Ignatiuswrot€ concerning this: "I am a sojourner on the earth. My wanderingsbegin from rhe cradle, and end in the coffin. Earthly life is a momen-tary, deceptive dream. Eternity is inescapable."

Fr. Igor said about martyrdom: "This is a special cross, senr by God.Perhaps only one out of rhousands is given rhat crown by the Lord."

He also called upon everyone to read Patristic books as much as

possible, and to work out their salvation through enduring aflictionsand forcing themselves. He strengthened people's faith, comfortedthem, and encouraged chem. He called upon them nor ro be afraidbefore people of other,faiths, but to place all their hope in God. Hewould say, "You can be saved in rhe world. You should try ro be likea desert-dweller in the midst of this civilization." That is how he him-self lived-as a hermit in the inner chamber of his heart. He couldcorrecdy be called an interior hermit, for he did not cut himself offfrom people-he loved them. He loved everyone: both those near anddrose far away, both neighbors and strangers, both the Orthodox andthe heterodox, who hated him so much.

i

t87

r88

I

L

THE ORIHODOX \TORD

He suffered greatlY

his parent's rejection of hipreachitg about Orthodand their incomPrehension

his life. Th.y lived in Ty*fatJZ, where the church \Mas'

but they were not baPdzed

and did not attend churcL

Fr. Igor was their loving son

and regarded his Parents withdue respect, but he under-

stood that the greatest gift

he could give them would

consist of helping them to'be-

come Orthodox. However, he

approached this very fuendY,

placing all his hoPe in God,

taking into consideration

their age and the fact that

they had lived their whole

lives under an atheist regime'

His mother was the first to come to church. She was baptized at

theageofsixty.two,notlongbeforethedeathofherson.Thiswas; f"",", day for him. In o,," iho'ograph Fr' Igor 9an

be seen smiling

iro"dly *, h. l"r, his mother, who has just received Communion' ven-

erare tle cross. According to Matushka Katherine, he smiled very rare-

t , *U during their whoie life together she only saw him that happy a

few tim.s. His father was baptized later'

Fr. Igor had one -o"^d'"""': to finish the remodeling of the

church.Hewasworriedbecausetherewerenofundsfort]rerenova-,i* *orL. Matushka related that, on Pascha'le when there would be

19 Pascha' the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ'-Eo'

Fr. Igor with one of his rare smiles'

ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT

many more people than usual in church, the floor would begin tocrack and sway, and she would be afraid that it would not hold up andwould collapse. However, everything would turn out well, and she andBatiushka would breathe a sigh of relief after the service was oler. Burtoward the end of his life, Fr. Igor reconciled himself to the starc ofthe chu-rch, as well as to the crowded conditions and the poverty. Heunderstood that this was not the most important thing, and he wouldsay, 'There's enough room for the people, so no more is needed."

It should be noted that, just as at home, Fr. Igor made everytJringin the church himself FIe was a sffong man and carried stones himself,and worked as a cabinetmaker, carpenter, and metalworker. He dideverything with joy, and work was nor a burden to him. He even

baked prosphora if there was no one else to do it. The parishionerswould always say, "'What tasty prosphora Batiushka has!" Tluly he dideverything for God.

His congregation consisted only of women. Only toward the endof Fr. Igort ministry did two men come. One of them, a young mannamed Andrew Vasiliev, replaced Batiushka's reposed son in the altar.He began to help Fr. Igor in every way, and quickly learned to be an

acolyte. Once, Fr. Igor said to Andrew, "You know-youre going tobe a monk." Andrew replied that he was planning ro get married, andwas not thinking of ,monasricism at all. Batiushka repeated seriously,"However, you'll be a monk." \il(hy did Fr. Igor say this? As we shallsee, very soon his words were precisely fulfilled.

Although he was a married priest, when Fr. Igor was ordained hebegan ro live a monasdc kind of lift. \7e know that he devoted himselfto monastic activities, such as the Jesus Prayer. But he carefully con-cealed this, not wanting to do it for show.

There were no monasteries or monks in the region, and Fr. Igor con-tacted his spiritual father infrequendy, and this was mostly by telephone.How then could he have acquired, in such a short time, so many virtuesthat others, who lived for many years in monasteries, could not acquire ?

It is not a matter of time, place, or age, but of a man's zeal for God. The

r89

me

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

an? Vhar Muslims? The wind was srrong last night and the

f.rf down." He prerended nor ro norice rhat the wind had only

down the fence around the church'

Early one morning, two weeks before- the murder' an anxious Mus'

Iim ranio Batiushk"'Jho*. and began knocking g" "ll the windows

*a ao"tt. Matushka went out and asked him what he wanted' He

**r.d to speak with Fr. Igor- It was very t*ly' *.d Matushka did

not want to wake her husband. She asked him why he was s: agitat-

.J, "H", something happened?" 1!d sh; heard in reply' "I know-I

heard it myself. fhly **t:to kill Badushka." Even that time Fr. Igor

remained calm.

7. FnnLINGs or AnANDoNMENT

Sorrows end,ured,for the Lord)s sake are preciuus t0 Hi,m beyond' all ptrayers

and sacrif.ces. flrt ofrringt of the rughious are tbeir teArs, and tbeir ttghs

are sacrif.ces Pleasing to God'.

-$g. Isaac the Syrian

Several days before his death Fr. Igor began to feel a kind ofaban-

donment by God. It was during the Paschal perio-d' and.everyone was

singing "Christ is riseni bot thtrt was no joy in his.soul' He felt cast

"rii", "* though a heavy stone lay on his soul' Matushka saw what was

t tt or, *itliFr. Igor, t.""^" worried, and asked' "'What's the matter

*lrt"yool It's Pascia, and youre 1o

gl99my' I(/hy dont you smile?"

Blt h. replied that he irimself could not explain what was going on

with him-his soul was "groaning"'

'It is that you're afraiit Is it that you re sorry you became. a priest ?"

"you doni understand-I'm not looking back. But I'm thinking-

what if t}re Lord doesnt strengthen me?'

"rU(/hat are you talking about?"

But he did not say "rrjything

else. \7hen his wife tried to lead him

into conversation "g"in,

he said, "Only a priest can understand me'"

192

ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

From rhis conversation it is

evident thar Fr. Igor knew abourhis impending dearh and waspreparirg for ir.

According ro the recollec-tions of peopl. who knew himwell, the week before his dearhwas the most difficult. *He

was

Yery sorrowful;' relared Marush-ka Katherine. "He consideredhimself a worthless, proud man.I was eyen becomirg frighrened.No matter what rhe topic of con-Yersation, he would turn it to thetopic of dearh. Four days beforehis death he said, 'Marushka, pre-pare yourself for trials. The worsris yet to come.' Then he startedto talk about the children: rhat Ishould nor abandon rhem, thar Ishould always be righr beside rhem.child."

Batiushka was now frequently sayrng to everyone, "you're not pray-ing for me. You've all abandoned me. I've been left all alone." Thi, -",quite similar to the pre-death state of Fr. peter Sukhonosov, who also,three months before he was attacked by bandits, said on several occa-sions, "You've all abandoned me, and I m left alone."2r

On April z7/May ro, Batiushka was preparing to go home after theLiturgy, when an unshaven young man with a cigarette in his lips cameup to him and, in an overly familiar way, asked him when he wtuld bein the church again: "I have something to ralk ro you about, which will

- z1 Fr' Peter was caprured by chechen rerrorisrs in ry99. His body has not been

found.-Eo.

Fr. Peter Sukhonsov, who was murderedby Chechen rerrorists in rg99.

We rhen spoke a litde abour each

l

i

,{

193

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

be of inreresr ro me and you." Fr. Igor replied that he would be at

church on Sarurday and Sunday. The man contemPtuously threw down

his cigarerte and srarred to leave. Vhen some young men who looked

like hirrr, standing in a small group not far away, shouted, "\7here are

you going ?" he replied, "I'11 be back."

ii. Igor t Matushka was present during this conversation, and had

no ,roobl. idendfyittg th.ar man afterward. It was he who, two days

later, wirhout hesitating, sabbed Batiushka with a knife. "I saw noth-

I

i

t

I

t

I

I

tffi

ffi

ing odd in himi' she related, "only defiant cynicism-nothing else."

.Not long before his death, Fr. Igor's spiritual father, Fr. vyacheslav,

came ro ,.. hi-, and spenr rwo days with him. Fr. Igor related his

whole life to him in deiail, confessed, and shared with him everything

that lay on his soul like a $onc'Without a doubt, this conversadon

and confession gready suengtlrened him, and at dre samc timc prc-

pared his soul for its Passage to eterniry.- From the live s of the

'first martyrs *e know that they awaited the hour

of their death with joy. Many examples could be cited: the Forty Martyrs

of Sebaste, Grear-martyr George, and the glorious Martyr Gordius, who

was sorry only that "he could not die for Christ many times'"

St. Ignatius rhe God-bearer, when he learned about his impending

death (tJ be eaten alive by wild beasts), wrore to his fock: "I am afraid

of your love,lesr it should do me an injury.... Pray, then, do not seek to

confer any grearer favor upon me rhan that I be sacrificed to God.... onlyrequesr in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not

or,-ly ,p."k, but truly will, so that I may not merely be called a christian,

burreally found ro t. on". For if I be truly found a christian, I may also

be cafiei one, and be then deemed faithful, when I shall no longer apPear

to the world. Nothingvisible is eternal.... May I enjoy the wild beasts that

are prepare d for me; and I pray that they may be found eager to rush upon

-., *hi.h also I will entice to devour me speedily, and not deal with me

as wirh some, whom, out of fear, they have not touched. But if they be

unwilling to assail mq I will compel them to do so.... Now I begin to be a

disciple, and have no desire after anythingvisible or inviSible, that I may

194

ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

attain toJesus christ. Let fire and the cross; ler the crowds ofwild beasts;let breakings, rearings, and separations of bones; ler cutting offof mem-bers; let bruising to pieces of the whole body; and let the very torment ofthe devil come upon me: only let me attain toJesus christ" (st. IgnatiusofAntioch, Episde to the Romans, chapters ,-1,).r,

But we likewise know from rhe lives of the marryrs that, having thedesire to suffer, they did not always experience joy and inspiration ofspirit. Thus, from the lives of the first Russian marryrs, RighcbeliwingPrinces Boris and Gleb, we know that Prince Boris knew rhat he wafthreatened by death, but he was a christian and desired to ac accordingto thd Gospel. He dismissed all his soldiers and in grear sorrow..rt.r.Jhis tent and ordered that Vespers be served. Afterwards, when he beganreading rhe Six Psalms, rhe murderers arrived, but he did not interrupihisprayer to God. \flhen he finished praying, he asked forgiveness ofhis as-sassins, andwith the words "O Lord, receive my spirit in peace," he rurnedto those who had been sent and said, "Brethren, approach and finish whatyou have been commanded ro do!" Theypierced the heart of the holyprince with their swords. Likewise, Prince Gleb, when he heard about theplanned attempt on his life, was in sorrow, bur byprayer to God overcamehis despondency and sorrow and accepted death as his brother had.

Prince Igor of Chernigov, whose name Fr. Igor bore, when he waswarned during the Liturgy that people wanted to kill him, mentallyprepared himself for everything with tears: "O Lord! Look down uponmy infirmity that, hoping in Thee, I might endure all. Vouchsafe totake me from this rebellious, dismal world, into Thy light."

Archpriest Michael cheltsovz3 described his state when he heard

22 Zhe Ante-Nicene Fatbers, vol. l (Buffalo, N.y.: Christian Literature, rgg5. Re-print, Peabody,Mass. : Hendrickson, ts g +), pp. z l- z 6.

23 New Hieromartyr Archpriest Michael chelmov (Itglo, commemorated De-cember z5) was arrested for the fifth time in ryzzand senrenced to death. However, thissentence was later commuted to five years' imprisonment. After serving this sentence hewrote a memoir entitled Recollections of a Condernned Man about what He Endured (inRussian). He was shot after his sixth arrest eight years later.-Eo.

19,

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

his death sentence: "I felt

recogn rzed the whole gravity' bi

terness, and hopelessness ofsituatiolr. Something heavy and

cheerless oppressed my hearL

and dull, indefinite thoughethat I could not express in words'

wandered through -y head."

According to Fr. Vyacheslav,

during the final days before his

death Fr. Igor secluded hirnself

frequendy and for long Periods,going off for long walks in his

beloved mountains.

Prison photo of New Hieromart1r

Archpriest Michael Cheltsov.

8. FR. Icon s MenrYRrcDE,errt

Tlte Lord's disclPles are not on$t

those who are called Christians because of Hit nArne, but those who nuly

confess Him to be tbeir Lord. Sbarne, timidity, and hesitation are in'

supportable when one confesses Hirn. Confession requires decisiae self'esy

,rrr. Surl, a confession w)s ffired to the Lord by the, holy martyrs, wbo

d,renched. tbe wiole exl)anse if the eartb witb their blood and proclaimed

tbeir hollt witness to ibt knowledge of God and reuerence for God to the

whole uorld.

-St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

Fr. Igor sensed his impending death, and those close to him did as

well. As"Matushka Karherine related, "\(/e spent May rz at the church,

and the service went along calmly. Afterwards, there were confessions,

and then Fr. Igor prayed. That day some believers came and, as always,

rg6

ASCENT TO THE SUMMIT

we put them up ar our house for the night. Fr. Igor turned down din-ner, and only had a glass of tea. Then he wenr ro spend the nighr inthe church, since there was not enough room for him at home. Forsuch occasions he kept a folding bed, a blanket, and a sleeping pad inchurch. That night he slept in the vestry." On Sunday, April3o/May ry,zoor, when Iliya awoke in the morning, he said to his mother, "Mama,I have a sffong feeling that someone in our f"-ily is going to die ro-day." Fr. Igor himself fek especially heavy. His suffering and rormentwere evidenr, but he placed all his hope in God and prayed.

It was the day of the commemorarion of St. Ignatius Brianchani-nov. That moming Fr. Igor did not urrer a single word. He was veryconcenrrared-entirely within himself Then he served the festal Lit-urgy and a Moleben, after which he was asked to go somewhere rocommune a sick woman. He took the Holy Gifts and went.

All the parishioners dispersed, and only one woman was left in thechurch. At that dme three young men, about twenty-five years of age,entered the church and asked for Badushka. The woman replied thathe was gone, but that he would soon rerurn and they coulJ wait forhim. They agreed and waited in the srreer.

Fr. Igor returned and heard about the visitors rhat were waitingfor him. He asked that rhey be called in, then wenr into the altar toput the Holy Gifts back. He did not even divesr, and wenr out ro talkwith the visitors. Only one of them approached him-Ibrahim Kha-paev-and Fr. Igor invited him into rhe sacristy. A few minutes wenrby when the woman, who was sitting in the back of the church, heard agroan and ran to the sacristy. The murderer had already done his deedand was coming out, stepping over rhe fallen Fr. Igor.

'When he saw the woman, he was ready to use the knife on heras well, but she instantly remembered her children and said to him,"You're going to kill me ? But I have children!" It is not likely that com-passion touched his callous soul. As is well known, there is a law ofblood revenge in the caucasus, and the fear of retribudon at rhe handsof relatives is subconsciously presenr in the psychology of the local

197

THE ORTHODOX\TORD

people. In addidoo, the murderer believed.'h-"'--T::"dlif,"t:*Pguyrt-o rrr

of his faith he had accomplished a heroic feat, whereas the murdcf

women is nor approved of i' Sharia law' ftor;ov::,tht did'':'

him, since h. diJ nor inrend ro hide, and so he did not touch her'

was stillcommend

left unhindered, just as he had corne'

The woman ran over to the bleeding Fr' Igor' who

and heard his lasr words: "Inro Thy hands, o Lord' I

sPirit." 1 c,--r^-. ^^r.^^r ^^. :

At that time, one of the girls from the Sunday school -came

a lit"

,t" ,"rti., than usual- \fhen il" '"* this horrific picture' she.ran into

the street and screamtJ, iB"'io'hka's been murdered! Batiushkat been

murdered!" fn. ,.r."* were heard by Fr' Igort son Iliya' who was

nearby, and he ran inro rhe church. Batiushka was sdl alive and madc'

an effort ro say somerhing, but he was no longer -able' Khapaev had

nor left Fr. tgo, a chance ro survive. All rhree fa.al wounds had been

delivered prof.rsionally: ro rhe liver, rhe hearr, and the.*.:l1T::1,*"";;:iJ';^;;h,-ir, ,r,. arms of his ,:^, having communed

chrisr,s Holy Mysreries, wirhout having had rhe chance to divest' It

was rhe fifth Sunday after pascha, the sunday of the Samaritan voman'

and the commemoration of St' Ignatius'-*;;

Ig;; *", *oty 'imilar

to"the wise Samaritan woman' who re'

ceived the Lord -nfi Ji-i"' ht""' and was likewise made worthy of

death for Christ's ,;.hG; Tht Go'p"l reading fo1 tlat day read'

Whosoeuer d,rinketb i;;r iuater that t ibotl gtot htm shall neuer tltirst;

but tbe water that t ihott gi" him sball be in bim a well of water spring-

ing up into euerlasti"s l'ft (John +'.t+)' ,

Matushka was iri,f," -oo"'"ins when she was informed by radio

that she needed * ;t Jo*t immediatelv' She understood that her

oremonitions that ;;;;d had not deceived her' and she began her

5.#;;;kt;;-.h* som"ething had happened to Iliva' But then' as

she said, 'I was coming down' *]-"" * insistent thought came to me:

'Priest Igor... Prier,b;'i and it was so distinct' so clear' that I under-

stood that it was g";'hk" who was in trouble' \(/hen I came downI

ffi

iffi

rg8

ASCENTTOTHESUMMIT

there was a car waiting for me. Everyone was standing around upsetand silent. To learn the truth, I asked, 'should I go get a medicJ re-port?' The reply was, 'No, you need a black kerchief I understood ev-erything right away'' She did not find him among the living.

Half a year earlier, Matushka had buried her son, and now she wasburying her husband. She received his death bravely, with submission,as something from the hand of God: "Glory be ro God, that He hasgiven our f"-ily a marcyr!,Glory be to God!"

People kept coming and coming. The diocesan dean, Fr. Leonid,arrived, looking as though he were in a trance, and began to servea Litya.za Many promises were made at Fr. Igor! funeral. G. Gubin,the vice president of the republic, speaking on behalf of President v.Kokov, promised the orthodox believers of Tyrnyaaz help in buildinga new church.

Fr. Igor was buried beside Andrew, and another simple wood-en cross was erected. M*y people were present. There was a sffongdownpour, the wind was blowing, and the wearher was quite dismal. Iiseemed as though all of nature was proresting against the crime. But as

soon as the coffin was lowered into the grave, everything calmed down.The sun came out, and nature, as well as the souls of those present, be-came quiet and joyful. Matushka Katherine related that Fr. Igor lay inhis coffin looking extraordinarily bright and peaceful.

Thus ended the earthly life of a new confessor and passion-bearerof the much-suffering Russian land. But, as St. Ignatius writes, "Godhas so wondrously orilered the work of our salvation that evil, hav-ing an evil goal and acting with the intention of harming a servanr ofGod in dme and eterniry instead assists in his salvation.'\7e knowthat death is the passage to eternal blessedness for the righteous, andthat those who die in the Lord begin a new bemer life and enter intoa blessed eternity. The Aposde Paul writes that neither tribulation, nordistress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor peril, nor the sword, nor the

2a Litla: a brief memorial service.-Eo. i

199

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

death of Christ's soldiers could seParate them from

in Christ Jesus, and they are accounted as sheep for

Rom. 8,Jj-i6).

the love ofthe slaughter (

We believe thar Fr. Igor is standing before the Lord in the glory ofi

a hieromarryr, for he who suffers with Him is glorified with Him (c[

Rom. 8:r7). He who has endured revilement, dishonor, suffering, and

death for Him \rhom he loves, without having seen Him (cf I Pea,

r:8), will be glad with exceeding joy when His glory is revealed (cf. Ipet. 4:r3), and will delight abundandy in eternal blessing, according to

rhe promise z Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither baue entered into

theieart of *in, the things which God hatb preparedfor thern that loae

Him (I Cor. z:9; cf.Is.'e4za)Appearances of Fr. Igor after his death, either alone or with his son

Andrew, have always been joyful and radiant. \(rhen one young man

who had known Fr. Igor well started smoking, Batiushka began to aP-

pear ro him in dreams with the words "Don't smoke !" He quit smok-

irg.A few days after the funeral, an overwrought woman came to see

Fr. Igor's wife. Her son refused to become orthodox, and problems

withlebts had arisen. Matushka replied, 'Did Fr. Igor help you during

his tife? Have no doubts, take his photograph, and ask for help'" Two

days later that woman's son was bapdzed, and the debts were miracu-

lously sraightened out.

\7hen \Me asked Matushka whether Fr.

plied, "\Tithout a doubt." And she added,

Igor had helped her, she re-

"The murderer brought us

husband and be left withbut it is a ioy to have such

both grief and joyl' It is hard ro lose one s

four children in a Christian-hating country'

an intercessor before God!We will end this chapter with rhe words of Fr. Igor's spiritual fa-

rher, Fr. Vyacheslav: "The picture that has passed before us of the un-

usual life of the priesr Fr. Igor, of his ffagic and martyric death, is a

refection of the rrue victory of good over evil-a victory not through

force, but rhrough his preaching of the Gospel truth, through his con-

zoo

ASCENTTO THE SUMMIT

fession of the Fairh even unto death. Such preaching-his preachingin life and his preaching in death, the beginning of which was madiby our Lord Jesus Christ Himself-is comprehensible and close to theheart of every orthodox believer. There is no need for a multitude ofquotes and theological proofs ro see in Fr. Igor's life and martyric deaththose traits which allow us to say that a uue shepherd has gone fromus. He has gone to the Lord...."

EprrocuB

Oar fate in etemity is in our own hands, for God. will rend,er unto eachone accord.ing to his deeds. ,

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov

.Aftg, Batiushka's funeral, Muslim children ran around the churchandjoyfully yelled, "That's it! Now you have no Bariushka! Now youllhave no services!' But this satanic scheme was nor brought to fulfill-ment: from time immemorial, the Orthodox Church has"rrood on theblood of the marryrs.

The diocesan dean, Fr. Leonid, came immediately from Nalchikto serve, and the parish was nor left without services. Twenty daysafter the murder, the young Andrew Vasiliev, who had been Fr. Igor'sacolyte, was ronsured a monk with the name Igor, in honor of theRight-believing Prince of Chernigov and in memory of the martyredBatiushka. Then the bishop ordained him to the priesthood. Thusdid Fr. Igor's predicdon come true. The hieromonk continues ro serveto the presenr day in Tyrnyauz, and also works to bring the Faith toprisoners located in his diocese.

Fr. Igor's children, remembering his wishes, chose the path of thechurch. Iliya followed in his father's footsteps. He enrolled in the Stav-ropol seminary and dreams of returning rcTyrnyauz. Eugenia entered aschool for iconographers. Sasha is still in school and continues to leadthe choir in the church. Matushka Katherine works at the mereoro-

2Cr

THE ORTHODOX \TORD

logical station and devotes

her free time to the ch

Their eldest son, Maxim,came an alpine rescuer.

Batiushka's parents had e

Church wedding. His motherbegan to attend church regu-

larly, to sing on the kliros, and

to teach at the Sunday school,

as her son had wanted. Like-wise, Fr. Igor's sister Victoriabegan to come to church more

frequently with her two children.

Ibrahim Khapaev, onthe very d"y of the murder,i

went to the police, where he

made a. declaradon that he

had killed a man for being an

Orthodox priest who served

God and preached Ortho-dory. Three months earlier Khapaev had been tried for the aftempted

murder of one of his reladves, but had been acquitted. In the case of Fr.

Igor's murder, the judge considered him to be insane.

The whole Caucasian fock, along with all Orthodox Christians,

have obtained one more intercessor before God, one more man who

laid his life down for his friends.

Holy Fr. Igor, pray to God for us !

Hieromonk Igor (Vasiliev) (center)

and parish in front of the new

St. George Church in Trynyauz.

202

Grave crosses of Fr. Igor (right) and his son Andrew.