Righteous Alexy Mechev. life

The Moscow elder, father in the world Alexy Mechev, was born on March 17, 1859 in the pious family of the conductor of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.

His father, Alexei Ivanovich Mechev, the son of an archpriest of the Kolomna district, was saved in childhood from death in the cold on a cold winter night by St. 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 Troitsky Lane to the Metropolitan Compound. When the children were having supper, Vladyka Metropolitan suddenly became alarmed, dressed quickly and went out to inspect the train that had arrived. In one of the sledges, he found a sleeping boy, left there through an oversight. Seeing the Providence of God in this, Metropolitan Filaret paid special attention and care to the child he saved, constantly caring for him, and later on for his family.

The birth of Father Alexy took place under significant circumstances. His mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, felt unwell at the onset of childbirth. The birth was difficult, very delayed, and the life of the mother and child was in danger.

In great grief, Alexei Ivanovich went to pray at the Alekseevsky Monastery, where Metropolitan Philaret served on the occasion of the patronal feast. Having entered the altar, he quietly stood aside, but the grief of his beloved regent did not hide from Vladyka's gaze. “You are so sad today, what are you doing?” he asked. - "Your Eminence, the wife is dying in childbirth." The saint prayerfully overshadowed himself with the sign of the cross. - "Let's pray together ... God is merciful, everything will be fine," he said; then he gave him a prosphora with the words: "A boy will be born, name him Alexei, in honor of St. Alexis, the man of God, celebrated by us today."

Aleksei Ivanovich took courage, defended the liturgy, and, elated with hope, went home. At the door he was greeted with joy: a boy was born.

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

All his life, Father Alexy reverently recalled the selfless act of his mother, who took her sister with her three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that she herself was closely with her three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. For the children had to build beds.

Among siblings and cousins, Lenya, as Alexei was called in the family, stood out for his kindness, quiet, peaceful character. He did not like quarrels, he wanted everyone to be well; loved to cheer, console, joke. All this came out piously from him. At a party, in the midst of games in the children's rooms, Lenya suddenly became serious, quickly moved away and hid, locking himself in from the noisy fun. Those around him called him “blessed Alyoshenka” for this.

Alexei Mechev studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He was diligent, executive, ready for any service. Graduating from the seminary, he did not have his own corner, which was so necessary for studies. To prepare lessons, often had to get up at night.

Together with many classmates, Alexei Mechev had a desire to go to university and become a doctor. But the mother resolutely opposed this, wishing to have a prayer book in him. “You are so small, where can you be a doctor, better be a priest,” she said with firmness.

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

After graduating from the seminary, Alexei Mechev was appointed on October 14, 1880 as a psalmist at the Church of the Sign of the Prechistensky Magpie on Znamenka. Here he was destined to pass a severe test.

The rector of the temple was a man of a tough character, unreasonably picky. He demanded from the psalmist the fulfillment of such duties that lay on the watchman, treated rudely, even beat him, it happened, and brandished the poker. The younger brother Tikhon, visiting Alexei, often found him in tears. Sometimes a deacon stood up for a defenseless psalmist, and he endured everything meekly, without expressing complaints, without asking for a transfer to another church. And later he thanked the Lord that he had given him such a school to go through, and remembered the rector Father George as his teacher.

Already a priest, Fr. Alexy, having heard about the death of Fr. George, came to the funeral service, with tears of gratitude and love accompanied him to the grave, 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” - the father called self-esteem, the human “I”, which immediately declares its rights when someone, willy or unwillingly, offends and infringes on it. “Such people should be loved as benefactors,” he later taught his spiritual children.

In 1884, Alexy Mechev married the eighteen-year-old daughter of a psalmist, Anna Petrovna Molchanova. In the same year, on November 18, he was ordained 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 helper on his path to Christ, he cherished the friendly remarks of his wife and listened to them the way one listens to his elder; immediately sought to correct the shortcomings she noticed.

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

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained by Bishop Nestor, manager of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, as a priest to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki Sretensky Magpie. The consecration took place in 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 rose large, well-visited temples.

Having become the rector of the one-state church of St. Nicholas, Father Alexy introduced daily worship in his church, while usually in small Moscow churches it was performed only two or three times a week.

Batiushka came to the temple almost from five o'clock in the morning, he himself unlocked it. Reverently venerating the miraculous Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God and other images, he, without waiting for anyone from the clergy, prepared everything necessary for the Eucharist, celebrated the proskomedia. When the appointed hour approached, he began matins, which he himself often read and sang; followed by 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’s empty ... Nothing will work out for you, you’re calling in vain.” But Father Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve. then Muscovites used to fast once a year during Great Lent. In the church "Nikolas-Klenniki" on Maroseyka Street, it was possible to confess and take communion any day. Over time, this became known in Moscow. A case is described when the behavior of an unknown woman at a very early hour on the banks of the Moskva River seemed suspicious to the policeman who was on duty. Approaching, he learned that the woman was in despair from the hardships of life, she wanted to drown herself. He persuaded her to leave this intention and go to Maroseyka to Father Alexy. Grieving, burdened with the sorrows of life, degenerate people rushed to this temple. From them went a rumor about his good abbot.

The life of the clergy of numerous small parishes of that time was financially difficult, and living conditions were often bad. Small wooden house, in which the family of Father Alexy was placed, was dilapidated, half-decayed; standing next to each other two-storey houses 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 excruciating shortness of breath. 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.

At that time, a merchant family very close to Father Alexy (Alexey and Claudia Belov) invited the righteous Father John of Kronstadt, who had come to Moscow, to their home, with whom she was in contact on charitable matters. This was done to meet Father Alexy with him.

“Have you come to share my grief with me?” Father Alexy asked when Father John entered. “I didn’t come to share your grief, but joy,” replied Father John. - The Lord visits you. Leave your cell and go out to the people; only from now on will you begin to live. You rejoice in your sorrows and think: there is no grief in the world greater than yours ... And 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 is easier for you will become."

The grace of God, abundantly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated in a new way life path Father Alexis. He accepted what was given to him as an obedience entrusted to him. He was, no doubt, prepared for the acceptance of the grace of eldership by many years of a truly ascetic life.

Those who were looking for help in the Maroseian temple, broken by difficult circumstances, mutual hostility, mired in sins, forgotten about God, Father Alexy met with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. The joy and peace of Christ were instilled in their souls, the hope for the mercy of God, for the possibility of renewing the soul, was manifested, the love shown towards them caused everyone to feel that they loved him more than anyone, pitied, comforted.

Father Alexy received from God 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 in varying degrees. In his deep humility, he 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. An indication of how to act in a particular case, the priest expressed only once. If the visitor objected, insisted on his own, then Father Alexy avoided further conversation, did not explain what the unreasonable desire would lead to, did not even repeat what was originally said. He could sometimes give the blessing required from him. To those who came with a repentant feeling and full of confidence, he provided prayerful help, interceding for them before the Lord for deliverance from difficulties and troubles.

Father Alexy gained fame as a kind father, who should be addressed in difficult moments for the family. It was not in his rules to read instructions, to denounce, to 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 in the conflict. And he was invited to trebs at critical moments. Coming to a family that was ready to fall apart, the priest brought peace, love and an all-forgiving understanding to everyone. He did not blame anyone, did not reproach, but tried, citing vivid cases of errors and delusions, to bring the listeners to the consciousness of his guilt, to arouse in them a feeling of repentance. This dispelled the clouds of malice, 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 had a direct bearing on him, and understand what new path he outlined for him.

In the lower residential floor of the temple, the priest opened an elementary parochial school, and also arranged a shelter for orphans and children of poor parents. The children also learned crafts that were useful to them. For 13 years, Father Alexy taught children the Law of God in the private women's gymnasium E.V. Winkler.

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

At that time, Father Alexy began to celebrate divine services in the temple not only in the morning, but also in the evening (Vespers and Matins).

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they did not differ in eloquence. What he said touched the heart with the depth of faith, truthfulness, understanding of life. He did not use oratory, focused the attention of the listeners on the gospel events, the lives of the saints, himself remaining completely in the shadows.

Father Alexy's prayer never stopped. By his own example, the priest showed that with the noise and bustle of life in the city, one can be far from everything earthly, have unceasing prayer, a pure heart, and stand before God even here on earth.

When asked how to improve the life of the parish, he answered: “Pray!” He urged his spiritual children to pray for requiems: “Once again you will come into contact with the departed... When you stand before God, they will all lift up their hands for you, and you will be saved.”

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 Kremlin was closed, part of the parishioners and choristers of the Chudov Monastery moved, with the blessing of Vladyka Arseny (Zhadanovsky), to the church of Father Alexy. Many young people and students appeared who saw that the revolution brought new disasters instead of the promised blessings, and now they were striving to comprehend the laws of spiritual life.

During these years, zealous young priests and deacons who had received an education began to serve on Maroseyka, including the son of Father Alexy, Father Sergiy Mechev, who was ordained a priest on Great Thursday 1919. They also helped in conducting lectures, discussions, in organizing courses on the study of worship. But the burden on Father Alexy kept growing. Too many wanted to get his blessing for any business, listen to his advice. Batiushka used to have to receive some of the visitors in his apartment in the clergy's house, built before the First World War by the famous publisher I. D. Sytin. Now one could see endless queues at the door of the house; in the summer, visitors stayed overnight in the courtyard of the temple.

Great was the humility of Father Alexy. He never took offense at any rudeness towards himself. “What am I? .. I am miserable ...” - he used to say. Once, having forced his spiritual daughter to recall in confession that she spoke badly about her relative and did not attach any importance to this, he said to her: “Remember, Lydia, that there is no one worse than you and me in the whole world.”

The priest eschewed manifestations of signs of reverence towards himself, avoided magnificent 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 embarrassment.

Due to the efforts of the Chudov sisters, in 1920, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon awarded the priest the right to wear a cross with decorations. Priests and parishioners gathered at the temple in the evening to congratulate him. Father Alexy, usually smiling and joyful, looked alarmed and distressed. After a short prayer, he turned to the people with contrition, speaking of his unworthiness, and, bursting into bitter tears, asked for forgiveness and bowed to the ground. Everyone saw that, accepting this award, he really felt unworthy of it.

The true spiritual friends of Fr. Alexis were his contemporary Optina ascetics - the elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Potapov) and the head of the skete hegumen Theodosius. Father Anatoly sent Muscovites who came to him to Father Alexy. Elder Nectarios said to someone: “Why are you coming to us? You have a father, Alexy.”

Father Theodosius, once arriving in Moscow, visited the Marosei temple. I was at the service, I saw how the processions of confessors were going, how earnestly and for a long time the service was going on, the commemoration was performed in detail, how many people were waiting for the reception. And he said to Father Alexy: “For all this work that you are doing alone, we would need several people in Optina. One is beyond strength. The Lord is helping you."

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who always reckoned with the recall of the priest in cases of consecration, suggested that he take on the task of uniting the Moscow clergy. The meetings were held in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but due to the conditions of that time, they were soon terminated. The attitude of the clergy towards the priest was very different. Many recognized his authority, some of the pastors were his spiritual children and followers, but there were also many who criticized him.

In the last days of May, according to the new style of 1923, Father Alexy went, as in previous years, to rest in Vereya, a remote town in the Moscow Region, where he had a small house. Before leaving, he served his last liturgy in the Maroseian church, said goodbye to spiritual children, leaving, said goodbye to the church. Father Alexy died on Friday 9/22 June 1923. Last evening he was joyful, affectionate with everyone, remembered those who were absent, especially his grandson Alyosha. Death came as soon as he got into bed and was instantaneous.

The coffin with the body of Father Alexy was delivered to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki on horseback on Wednesday, June 14/27, at nine o'clock in the morning. The church communities of Moscow, led by their pastors, came one after another to sing memorial services and say goodbye to the deceased. This lasted until the very morning of the next day, in order to give everyone an opportunity to pray. In the evening two requiem services were served: one in the church and the other in the yard. At the head of the clergy, Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky), rector of the Danilov Monastery, performed the Liturgy and the funeral service - Father Alexy requested this in his letter shortly before his death. Vladyka Theodore was then in prison, but on June 7/20 he was released and was able to fulfill the wish of the priest.

Easter songs were sung all the way to the cemetery. Confessor of Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who had just been released from prison, arrived at the Lazarevskoye cemetery to see off Father Alexy on his last journey. He was enthusiastically received by crowds of people. The prophetic words of the priest were fulfilled: “When I die, everyone will be happy.” Litiy was served by Archimandrite Anempo-dist. His Holiness blessed the coffin being lowered into the grave, the first to throw a handful of earth on it.

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

Ten years later, due to the closure of the Lazarevsky cemetery, the remains of Father Alexy and his wife were transferred on September 15/28, 1933 to the Vvedensky Gory cemetery, popularly referred to as German. The body of Father Alexy was incorruptible at that time. Only on one of the legs was the ankle joint broken and the foot separated.

All subsequent decades, the grave of Father Alexy was, according to the testimony of the cemetery administration, the most visited. Thanks to stories about the help received, and later publications, many people learned about Father Alexy and, asking for his intercession in their troubles and difficult life circumstances, were comforted by the priest.

Regularly it was necessary to add land to the grave mound, as those who resorted to the help of Father Alexy carried it away with them ...

On the first anniversary of the death of Father Alexy, the Marose community invited everyone who wished to write about their meetings with the priest, to which many responded. These memories were not of equal value; but in some of them cases of clairvoyance, examples of miracles, signs and prayerful help of the elder are attested.

One woman from Tula lost her only son. For six months there was no news from him; mother was in a difficult position. Someone advised her to contact Father Alexy. She arrived in Moscow, went straight to the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki, and at the end of the liturgy, together with everyone else, went to venerate the cross. A few more worshipers separated her from the priest, whom she saw for the first time, when he held out a cross to her over the heads of those walking in front of her and impressively said: “Pray as if for a living person.” Bewildered by surprise, she became embarrassed and hesitated to approach a second time. Not having the strength to calm down, she turned to the priest, who knew the priest well, and he brought her to his house. As soon as she entered the room and took the blessing, as the father, not yet hearing a single word of her, and she could not speak from excitement and tears that were choking her, took her by the shoulder and looking into her eyes with love and affection, said: “Happy mother, happy mother! What are you crying about? I tell you: he is alive!” Then, going to the writing table, he began to sort through the paper icons lying on it, saying: “My mother also visited me the other day: everyone is worried about her son, and he calmly works in Sofia at a tobacco factory. Well, God bless, ”and with these words he blessed her with an icon. It was during Bright Week. At the end of September, she received a letter from her son from Bulgaria, where he said that he was working in Sofia at a tobacco factory.

Olga Serafimovna, a person from the upper strata of society, deeply religious and churchly, was the head of the orphanage, which was under the patronage Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Often she visited the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki with the father of Father Alexy. And he visited the shelter at her invitation.

Once a boy who had learned to steal was brought to the reception of the priest. Batiushka, who opened the door himself and had not yet heard anything about him, said sternly to him: “Why are you stealing? It's not good to steal."

One lady, named Vera, who served in the church, received permission to see the priest during his illness. On the way to him, she kept thinking: “Lord! What should I do, because I have two sisters, both disabled, I support them, what will happen to them when I die? , and you also wear a scarf, sister of the church. Why do you take everything upon yourself, don't want to leave anything to God? No, that's what you are, leave all these doubts outside the threshold and believe that God will save your sisters better than you.

One woman came to ask the priest if she should marry. Her husband was captured by the Germans in the 1914 war. Almost 9 years have passed since then, and there is no news about him, but a very good person is wooing her. Instead of answering, the father said: “Here, dear, what cases happen: one woman came to me and said:“ Father, bless me to get married, since my husband has been in captivity for many years and he, apparently, is not alive. And a very good man is wooing me." I did not bless her, but she still got married. She just got married, after eight or nine days her husband returns from captivity. And now two husbands, and with them a wife, came to resolve the question, whose wife is she now. These are the cases ... ”The questioner was frightened and decided to wait, and a few days later her husband unexpectedly returned.

On one of the Fridays, at the end of the Liturgy, two girls dressed in black approached the priest with a request to bless them to enter the monastery. He blessed one of them willingly and gave a large prosphora, and the other said: “And you return home, you are needed there, and I will not bless you to the monastery.” The girl walked away confused and disappointed. Surroundings were curious about who and under what conditions she lives. The girl replied that she lived with a sick old mother, who did not want to hear about her daughter leaving for the monastery, because then she would be left all alone.

After the prayer service on Wednesday, a woman approached the priest, fell at his feet and, sobbing, began to shout: “Father, help! Father, save! I can no longer live in the world: the last son was killed in the war, ”and she began to beat her head against the candlestick that is near the icon of St. Nicholas. Approaching, the priest turned to her with these words: “What are you doing, how can you despair like that. Here is our great intercessor and prayer book before the Lord. And, helping her to her feet, he immediately began a prayer service to St. Nicholas, and he said to her: “Do three bow to the ground. There is no time for you to stand for a prayer. I’ll pray for you alone, and you go home as soon as possible, there great joy awaits you.” And the woman, encouraged by the priest, ran home. The next day, during the early liturgy, which was performed by Father Alexy, yesterday's visitor noisily ran in. She wanted to see the father as soon as possible, repeating in an excited voice: “Where is the father?” She said that when she came home yesterday, she found a telegram from her son on the table, which said that she should immediately come to the station to meet him. “Yes, here he is coming,” she pointed to the young man who was entering at that moment. The priest was called from the altar. With a sob, a woman fell on her knees in front of him and asked to serve a thanksgiving service.

During Great Lent, after a prayer service, a woman approaches Fr. Alexy: “Father, help me, I have been completely tortured by sorrows. You won’t have time to spend five, as it’s nine to meet. ” Batiushka, looking intently into her face, asked: “How long have you been taking communion?” Not expecting such a question, the woman became embarrassed and confusedly began to say: “Yes, recently, father, she was fasting ...” - “How recently? - the father repeated the question, - will it be four years old already? - “No, father, I just missed last year, but the year before last I was unwell.” - “And before this year you were in the village? That's four years for you." Realizing that the priest knew her whole life, she knelt before him, asking for forgiveness. “What are you asking me for? - the father remarked, - ask God, Whom you have forgotten. That's why you have overcome sorrows."

Father Sergiy Durylin, having become rector of the chapel of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God in the spring of 1921, continued to serve on Maroseyka on a certain day of the week. He said that on one of these days in 1922 a woman came to the temple, who cried a lot and told about herself that she was from Siberia, from the city of Tobolsk. During civil war her son was missing; she didn't know if he was alive or dead. Once, especially when she wept in prayer to the Monk Seraphim and was exhausted from tears, she saw in a dream the Monk himself. He was chopping wood with an ax and, turning around, said: “Are you still crying? Go to Moscow to Maroseyka to see Father Alexy Mechev. Your son will be found."

And so she, who had never been to Moscow, never heard the name of her father Alexy, decided on such a distant and difficult path at that time. I had to travel either in a freight train or in a passenger train. God knows how she got there. She found Maroseyka, the church and the priest, whom St. Seraphim pointed out to her. Tears of joy and tenderness flowed down her face. Already after the death of the father, it became known that this woman then found her son.

There are many testimonies 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. On the days of the memory of the priest, help unexpectedly came several times in paperwork, in urgent matters for repair work in the temple and church house; donations were received. It is known from experience that when in sorrow they turn to him: “Father Father Alexy, help me,” help comes very soon, Father Alexy received great grace from the Lord to pray for those who turn to him.

At the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000, the elder in the world, Archpriest Alexy Mechev, was canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church for public worship.

Currently, the relics of St. Alexis Mechev are in Moscow in the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.

Life according to the magazine:

Moscow Diocesan Gazette. 2000. No. 10-1. pp. 34-43.

Regent of the Cathedral Choir of Chudov.

All his life, Father Alexy reverently recalled the selfless act of his mother, who took her sister with her three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that she herself was closely with her three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. For the children had to build beds.

Among siblings and cousins, Lenya, as Alexei was called in the family, stood out for his kindness, quiet, peaceful character. He did not like quarrels, he wanted everyone to be well; loved to cheer, console, joke. All this came out piously from him. At a party, in the midst of games in the children's rooms, Lenya suddenly became serious, quickly moved away and hid, locking himself in from the noisy fun. Those around him called him “blessed Alyoshenka” for this.

At that time, a merchant family very close to Father Alexy (Aleksey and Klavdia Belov) invited the righteous father John of Kronstadt, who had come to Moscow, to their home, with whom she was in contact on charitable matters. This was done to meet Father Alexy with him.

"Have you come to share my grief with me?",- Father Alexy asked when Father John entered. - “I didn’t come to share your grief, but joy,” replied Father John. - The Lord visits you. Leave your cell and go out to the people; only from now on will you begin to live. You rejoice in your sorrows and think: there is no greater grief in the world than yours ... And 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 is easier for you will become".

Father Alexy gained fame as a kind father, who should be addressed in difficult moments for the family. It was not in his rules to read instructions, to denounce, to analyze someone's bad deeds. He knew how to speak without affecting the painful pride of the parties in the conflict. And he was invited at critical moments. He did not blame anyone, did not reproach, but tried, citing vivid cases of errors and delusions, to bring the listeners to the consciousness of his guilt, to arouse in them a feeling of repentance.

In the lower residential floor of the temple, the priest opened an elementary parochial school, and also arranged a shelter for orphans and children of poor parents. The children also learned crafts that were useful to them. For 13 years, Father Alexy taught children the Law of God in the private women's gymnasium E.V. Winkler.

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they did not differ in eloquence. What he said touched the heart with the depth of faith, truthfulness, understanding of life. He did not use oratory.

The number of people praying in the church kept increasing, especially after 1917. After the Kremlin was closed, part of the parishioners and choristers of the Chudov Monastery moved, with the blessing of Vladyka Arseny (Zhadanovsky), to the church of Father Alexy. There were a lot of young people and students.

During these years, zealous young priests and deacons, who had received an education, began to serve on Maroseyka, including the son of Father Alexy, Father Sergiy Mechev, who was ordained a priest. They also helped in conducting lectures, discussions, in organizing courses on the study of worship. But the burden on Father Alexy kept growing. Too many wanted to get his blessing for any business, listen to his advice. Batiushka used to have to receive some of the visitors in his apartment in the clergy's house, built before the First World War by the famous publisher I. D. Sytin. Now one could see endless queues at the door of the house; in the summer, visitors stayed overnight in the courtyard of the temple.

Great was the humility of Father Alexy. He never took offense at any rudeness towards himself. “What am I? .. I am miserable ...” - he used to say. Once, having forced his spiritual daughter to recall in confession that she spoke badly about her relative and did not attach any importance to this, he said to her: “Remember, Lydia, that there is no one worse than you and me in the whole world.”

The priest eschewed manifestations of signs of reverence towards himself, avoided magnificent 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 embarrassment.

Currently, the relics of the holy righteous Alexy Mechev are in the Moscow church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki.

Prayers

To the shepherd of Christ, Father Alexis, / having fought a good feat, / you confessed the Orthodox faith in the darkness of iniquity / and, as a comforter and a spiritual doctor, / all who flowed to you, healed you. / Help us, believing / faithful, honor love for the neighbor to be affirmed.

Ying troparion, the same voice

Help in troubles, console in sorrow, / good shepherd, Father Alexis. / With the feat of elderhood, the world has shone, / faith and love of Christ in the darkness of iniquity confessed thou, / sick of the heart for all those who flow to God. / And we pray honoring you with love.

Troparion for the transfer of relics, tone 4

The day of a new triumph has come, / the city of Moscow rejoices, / and the whole Russian country rejoices / with new spiritual stumps, / today is a sacred celebration / in the transfer of the honest and multi-healing relics / of the righteous and miracle worker Alexis, / as if it were shining, blessed, most luminous / consuming the darkness of ailments and passions from those who sing diligently, / save us with your prayers, / / ​​righteous Alexis, our father.

By the simplicity of faith you have reached the height of humility, / in prayer and doing good deeds, / you have been enriched with spiritual gifts / and you have been enlightened with the light of Christ, / helper and comforter, Father Alexis. bring me to salvation by your prayers.

You lifted up great labors of love and mercy, / righteous elder Alexis, / from the holy shepherd of Kronstadt, a blessing to help the afflicted, / put people's troubles and sorrows on your frame. / But we, who lead you as a prayer book, are bold to the Lord, with tenderness we call you: // pray to Christ God that our souls be saved.

Awards

• Cross with decorations (1920)

Literature

• "Good Shepherd". Life and Works of the Moscow Elder Archpriest Alexei Mechev / Compiled by Sergei Fomin based on materials from the personal archive of Elena Apushkina. - M.: Palomnik, 2007. 784 p. (B-ka "Russian Orthodoxy of the XX century").
• Biography of the Moscow Elder Father Alexei Mechev. Compiled by nun Juliana (in the world Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova). M.: Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, 2005. - 271 p.
• Akathist to Saint Righteous Alexy, Presbyter of Moscow. - M.: Russian history, 2003. - 32 p.
• Life of the Holy Righteous Alexis, Elder of Moscow. Cases of clairvoyance, intravital and posthumous miracles, signs, prayerful help of the elder about Alexy Mechev. - M.: Russian Chronograph, Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, 2002. 79 p.
• Salt of the earth. Compiled by Sergei Fomin based on materials from the personal archive of Elena Apushkina. - M., 1998. - 335 p.
• Alexander Dobrovolsky. Stories about the elder Alexei Mechev, about the miracles he performed, and about other miracles. Alexander Solodovnikov. Poetry. - M.: Mega-Service, 1995. - 95 p.
• Moscow father. Memoirs about Father Alexey Mechev. M: St. Danilov Monastery, 1994. - 112 p.
• Father Alexei Mechev. Memoirs, sermons, letters. Ed. N. A. Struve. - Paris: YMCA-Press, 1989. - 391 p.

“Remember your leaders who preached to you the Word of God, and considering to the end of their lives, imitate their faith.” ()

Believing Muscovites are well aware of the name of the far-sighted priest Archpriest and his son Archpriest Sergius, rectors of the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki on Maroseyka. Two or three decades ago, people still met who personally communicated with Father Alexei, and his name was reverently commemorated not only in Moscow, but also in distant Central Asia and in the Baltic states, where the spiritual children of the elder performed priestly service. By the providence of God, the fleeting time did not remove, but brought the priest closer to us. In 1990, the church of St. Nicholas, closed in 1932, was returned to the Church, and the newly formed Marose community feels its successive connection with the spiritual children of Father Alexei and Father Sergius. Now we have the opportunity to read in printed publications those memories of the Marosean shepherds, which for more than half a century were passed from mouth to mouth, copied by hand, retyped on a typewriter. Particularly valuable to us are the already two editions of The Biography of a Moscow Elder, compiled by his spiritual daughter, an outstanding icon painter, nun Juliania (Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova), and the luxuriously designed third volume from the series Russian Orthodoxy of the 20th century, containing huge material from the archives of another spiritual daughter of Father Alexei, Elena Vladimirovna Apushkina, who had the good fortune to live to see its publication.

The special role of Father Alexei in the history of the Russian Church lies in the fact that he put into practice the idea of ​​a “monastery in the world”, created an Orthodox community, which, after his death, withstood the test of time and, in the era of the most severe struggle of the state with religion, served as the leaven of the Christian way of life, testifying faith and love for God and people about the eternal gospel Truth. For Father Alexei, it was not an abstract teaching, a set of strict rules or a cultural tradition, it was life for him, and he could say with the Apostle “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (). He joined his flock to this life in Christ, carefully delving into the essence and soul of each person, embracing each with his merciful love, taking upon himself the grief and hardships of all. This experience of upbringing with love is infinitely dear and necessary to us even now, and in order to assimilate it, we must inwardly draw closer to the personality of the priest, enter with our hearts into the life that he lived. For the sake of this, we offer the reader a brief biographical sketch, compiled on the basis of published works about the blessed elder.

Biography of Archpriest Alexei Mechev

Archpriest Alexei Mechev was born on March 17, 1859, into the pious family of Alexei Ivanovich Mechev, director of the Metropolitan Choir of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin. A. I. Mechev was the son of a priest of the Kolomna district of the Moscow province and in childhood he was saved from death in the cold by St. Philaret of Moscow himself, who made the boy his pupil. Saint Philaret followed the life of the Mechev family and more than once showed foresight in relation to the regent's son, the future father Alexei. The very birth of Father Alexei took place with the prayerful assistance of the Saint. On the feast day of St. Alexis the Man of God, he committed Divine Liturgy in the Alekseevsky Monastery and drew attention to his beloved regent, heartbroken. Upon learning that Alexei Ivanovich's wife was dying in childbirth, Saint Philaret comforted him with the words: “Let us pray together… merciful, everything will be fine. A boy will be born, name him Alexei in honor of St. Alexis the man of God we are celebrating today.” And Father Alexei venerated the memory of St. Philaret all his life, recalled his care for their family, considered him the highest model of pastoral work, and he himself followed the example of the Hierarch in his self-sacrifice and ruthless exactingness towards himself in the performance of his pastoral duty. In the home life of the Mechevs, the character of the future “people’s father” was formed: love and cordiality, openness, hospitality, readiness to sacrifice one’s comforts for the benefit of one’s neighbor reigned here; the two-room apartment was always full of people, so that little Leni never had his own corner, from childhood he was used to being in public, invariably remaining simple-hearted and peaceful.

The future priest studied first at the Zaikonospassky School, and then at the Moscow Theological Seminary. Wanting to give himself to the service of people, he was going to enter the university after the seminary and become a doctor, but his mother wanted to see him as a priest, and the young man, out of obedience to his mother, assumed the duties of a psalmist at the Church of the Sign of the Mother of God on Znamenka. Here he had to endure a lot from the abbot, who treated the psalmist severely, insulted and even beat him. Meek Alexei endured everything with patience and subsequently thanked God for giving him such a school to go through, and he remembered his rector, Father George, as a teacher with great love.

In 1884, Alexei Mechev married Anna Petrovna Molchanova and was soon ordained a deacon. The ordination took place at the Nikitsky Monastery, and the young deacon was appointed to the Church of the Holy Great Martyr George, which is in the passage of the Polytechnic Museum.

Father Alexei loved his family. Anna Petrovna also dearly loved her husband, fully understood him and sympathized with him in everything, was his first assistant on the path to Christ, he cherished her friendly remarks and listened to them as one listens to his elder; immediately corrected the shortcomings noticed by her.

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexei Mechev received the priesthood. His Grace Nestor, the manager of the Moscow Novospassky Monastery, ordained him. From that day on, the whole life of Father Alexei was inextricably linked with the small church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki in the very center of Moscow, at the beginning of Maroseyka Street, where he carried out the feat of priestly service for thirty years.

The spiritual life of most of the small Moscow parishes of those years was like stony barren soil: services were not held here every day, rarely attended, the parishioners usually served once a year during Great Lent, following custom rather than the inclination of the heart. When embarking on pastoral service, Father Aleksey Mechev set himself a clear goal - to eliminate the gap that had formed between the people and God, to soften human souls, to make them capable of perceiving the richest treasure of the Orthodox liturgical and ascetic tradition. Returning to people the treasure of patristic spiritual experience, the young priest began by establishing in his temple the daily celebration of matins and liturgy, at first only in the morning, but soon supplemented it with the evening service. “I wanted to give Moscow,” the priest later said, “one temple, where every believing birthday boy, if desired, could hear the magnification of his saint on the day of his Angel.” The true churching of the parish could not be accomplished instantly; this required years of humble prayer by the priest for the souls entrusted to him by the Lord. According to Father Alexei himself, for eight years he served the liturgy every day in an empty church. And the power of his love melted the ice of indifference. The nature of this love is shown by an incident that took place at the beginning of his ministry. On the very eve of the Nativity of Christ, he was invited to give communion to the sick. At the end of the morning service, the priest immediately went to the address he had left. With some difficulty he found somewhere in the attic a small tattered room, completely empty. Here lay a seriously ill woman, and near her pale, half-starved children sat and crawled on the floor. This extreme poverty shocked Father Alexei. He came directly from the temple, he had money with him and, leaving, he left his wallet there without hesitation. I returned home without a penny. The family began to ask for money to buy something for the holiday. Pretending to be extremely busy, the priest ordered to wait; meanwhile, he himself fell into thought: did he do the right thing, leaving nothing for himself ... there are children and children here; there is poverty and here is poverty. He began to pray fervently. Again they ask for money and tell them to wait. Already in the evening, shortly before the beginning of the vigil, the bell rang: they brought a package of money and a note with a request to commemorate such and such relatives. Batiushka was struck by this mercy of God for the mercy rendered, and as he himself was forever established in the faith, so in others he later strengthened faith in the never-slumbering Providence of God.

The love of Father Alexei, combined with the deepest faith and prayer, not only moved him to give the last to those in need, but was capable of something much more: she had the audacity to rescue a man who despaired of himself from the pit of death. The following case can serve as an example: “Somehow, after an early Mass, on a weekday, a drunken, ragged man, shaking all over, approached the priest, and, barely uttering a word, turned to the priest: “I completely died, I drank. My soul perished… save me, help me… I don’t remember being sober… I lost the image of a man…”. Not paying attention to his disgusting appearance, the priest comes very close to him and, lovingly looking into his eyes, puts his hands on his shoulders and says: “My dear, it’s time for you and me to stop drinking some wine.” - "Help, dear father, pray." Father, taking him by right hand, leads to the pulpit and, leaving him there, goes to the altar. Having opened the curtain of the royal doors of the main Kazan chapel, solemnly throwing open the royal doors, a prayer service begins, saying in a majestic voice: “Blessed is our ...” and, taking the dirty ragamuffin by the hand, puts him next to him at the very royal doors. Kneeling down, with tears, he begins to earnestly offer up a prayer to the Lord God. The ragamuffin's clothes were so torn that his body was exposed when, following the example of the priest, he bowed to the ground.

At the end of the prayer service, the priest signed the unfortunate man with the cross three times and, giving him the prosphora, kissed him three times.

After a short time, a decently dressed man approached the candle box and, buying a candle, asked: “How would I see Father Alexei?” Upon learning that the priest was in the church, he joyfully announced that he wanted to serve a thanksgiving service. The priest who came out to the pulpit exclaimed: “Vasily, is it you” ?! With a sob, the recent drunkard rushed to his feet, the priest also shed tears, began a prayer service. It turned out that Vasily received a good place and settled down nicely.”

Gradually, the working and burdened, seeking support and consolation, learned more and more about Father Alexei. Pilgrims from all over Moscow flocked to Maroseyka, to the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, and the priest began to be invited to trebes in different parts of the city. On all feast days and Sundays, the priest delivered teachings, usually on the topics of the daily Apostolic and Gospel readings or the life of the saint being celebrated. In the mouth of Father Alexei, the Word of God acquired all the Divine power inherent in it, penetrated into the innermost recesses of the soul and evoked a response in feelings of guilt and repentance. Batiushka encouraged people to receive communion regularly, more frequently than was customary in parish churches. He tirelessly reminded parents of their duty towards their children, the duty of moral education and constant care, taught everyone love for God, close and merciful, and for His sake - love for neighbors, selfless, sacrificial love, which begins with attention to oneself, with struggle with our own shortcomings and then extends to those with whom the Lord brings us together in everyday life. there is the energy and engine of Christianity, and the mind is only the working power of the heart, - the father believed. To be with people, to live their lives, to rejoice in their joys, to be saddened by their sorrows - this is what he saw as the purpose and way of life of a Christian, and especially a pastor. Here are excerpts from some of the sermons and conversations of Father Alexei:

“... With tears I ask and pray you - be the sun, warming those around you, if not all, then the family in which the Lord has made you a member.

Be warm and light to those around you; first try to warm your family, work on it, and then these works will lure you so much that the circle of your family will already be narrow for you, and these warm rays will capture more and more people over time, and the circle you illuminate will gradually increase. and increase...

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 give light to others.

Meanwhile, we ourselves walk in darkness, not only do we no longer shine on 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 many sins, and therefore we ourselves cannot achieve to shine and warm others ... ”(From a sermon for a week about a blind man, 1919).

“... There are moments when you really want to help some person, it is undoubtedly the Lord that disposes his heart to save another; only be pure vessels, that He may work through you and have an instrument in His hands.

The Lord does not get 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. We sometimes consider it excusable when you get tired, irritated, or something else (allow yourself), but no matter what circumstances you are, no matter how tired or sick you are, you must do only as Christ commanded ...

Only the Lord can embrace everyone with love, and therefore we can love everyone only through Christ ...

A priest should belong to the people, come and take what I have, everything that I am rich in, and I am rich in church service, tears, I cry about sins ...

There is no need to be angry with those who offend you, because for the sake of their malice, hatred, they are already moving away from God, therefore losing everything, because without God what is a person good for, and the Lord gives you the opportunity to save them if he brings you together. with them, and if so, then they lead you to God, to paradise, to bliss, is it possible to be angry with them? ..

We must imitate the love of God. The opportunity to do good to someone is God's mercy to us, so we must run, strive with all our heart to serve another. And after every deed of love, you feel so joyful, so calm in your soul, you feel that you need to do it, and you want to do good more and more, and after that you will look for someone else to caress, console, encourage. And then the Lord Himself will dwell in the heart of such a person: “We will come to him and make an abode with him.” And since the Lord is in the heart, such a person has no one to fear, no one can do anything to him ...

Prayer is an important and necessary thing. It is necessary and possible to pray anytime and anywhere. As soon as a thought appears, you feel tempted to sin, you see that you are about to fall, so you need to turn to the Lord and to the Mother of God: “Mistress, help me, I want to be good, help me to be Your pure son,” and for now we will pray the evil thought will disappear. And then we will get used to it and will always pray. Every business must begin with prayer.

We must not annoy each other; when we see that a person is having a hard time, we need to approach him, take on his burden, lighten, help in any way possible; By doing this, entering into others, living with them, one can completely renounce one's Self, completely forget about it. When we understand this and prayer, then we will not disappear anywhere, wherever we come, and whoever we meet ”(From a conversation on the life of St. Macarius the Great).

The pastoral work of Father Alexei was not limited to the walls of the temple, he also worked in the Society for Public Reading and opened a church school for the poorest children of his parish. Gradually many spiritual children rallied around him. By the tenth anniversary of the priest's ministry, the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki had already been overhauled by the zeal of wealthy parishioners, new, solid vestments were purchased. Everyone who enters here feels that he has unexpectedly found himself in an earthly paradise, where everything rejoices with sincere, simple, holy joy. Batiushka himself was a living expression of this joy, the mere sight of him removed from the heart all the ice of deadly sin, destroyed all the partitions separating people. He strove to give his parishioners what people thirsting for spiritual life sought and found in monasteries, he instilled a love for worship and taught the harsh science of self-denial, setting them on the path of active love for their neighbors.

In 1902, father Alexei suffered a heavy personal grief, his mother Anna Petrovna died, leaving four juvenile orphans. Subsequently, the priest recalled the grief he experienced: “The Lord visits our hearts with sorrows in order to open the hearts of other people to us. So it was in my life. A great sorrow happened to me: I lost the girlfriend of my life after many happy years of living together. The Lord took her and the whole world grew dark for me. I locked myself in my room, did not want to go out to people, poured out my grief before the Lord. The Kronstadt shepherd brought the grief-stricken priest out of this inner crisis, placing him in a new field of service to people. The family close to Fr. Alexei invited Fr. John, who had arrived in Moscow, to their house, and a meeting of the two shepherds took place here. “Have you come to share my grief?” Father Alexei asked. – “I did not come to share grief, but joy,” replied Father John, “the Lord visits you; leave your cell and go out to the 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, it is so hard for you. And 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. Father John immediately pointed to prayer as the first most powerful means in the proposed feat.

After the first meeting with Father John, Father Alexei had the opportunity to serve with him in one of the Moscow churches. The grace of God, which richly rested on Father John, illuminated the entire life path of Father Alexei in a new way.

“I listened to the words of Father John, and the people in front of me became different. I saw sorrow in their hearts, and my own sorrowful heart reached out to them; their grief drowned my personal grief. I wanted to live again to console them, warm them, love them. From that moment I became a different person: I truly came to life. At the beginning I thought I was doing something, and have already done a lot; but after I had to see Father John of Kronstadt, I felt that I had not done anything yet.

At an early adolescence, she came to Father Alexei for confession and became his spiritual daughter Maria Sokolova, the orphaned daughter of Father Nikolai Sokolov, rector of the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary. From the very first confession, the girl wrote down the words of the priest and kept her diary constantly until his death. The spiritual guidance of Father Alexei determined the entire further life and creative path of Maria Nikolaevna, the future nun Juliana, an outstanding icon painter and life writer of the priest.

For orphans and children of poor parents, Father Aleksey arranged an orphanage and an elementary school in the lower floor of his church; thanks to his care, the children participated in the life of the temple and subsequently emerged as useful workers. Batiushka taught lessons in the law of God at his school, and in the summer he and his children took a trip to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He communicated with children in his apartment, always using love and affection as the most effective means of education.

An episode related to the events of 1905 testifies to how the priest knew how, defeating evil with good, to influence even revolutionary youth: “... a whole crowd of students came to the father’s church during Matins. Batiushka was at the altar and heard male voices, dance tunes. Those who entered were so outrageous that the frightened psalmist barely finished the Six Psalms. Someone advised the priest to drive them out, but he only prayed fervently. One of the students separated from his comrades and entered the altar. The priest, who was standing at the altar, quickly turned around, affectionately met the madman: “How nice to see that young people start their day with prayer… Have you come to remember your parents?” Struck by such an unexpected cordial treatment, the newcomer muttered dumbfounded - "Yes-ah-ah ...".

At the end of Matins, the priest turned to those who came with a word in which he reminded these young people, striving to fight for broad happiness, about the family, about the parents who love them, who place hopes on them that when they receive an education, they will become their breadwinners ... He spoke so from the heart, so sincerely and lovingly, that he touched them, many wept; some stayed to sing mass, and then became his friends and pilgrims, and some became spiritual children. They confessed to the priest that… they had come to “beat” him… the student who entered the altar was supposed to provoke a scandal.

A few days later, with the same intention, the female students came and started defiantly talking to the priest, trying in every possible way to prick him, that he was only serving, but he had to help the poor ... The result was the same. Father's love conquered them. It was from that time, the father said, that young students began to visit his temple. Father Alexei was a very special person, incomparable with any of his contemporary Moscow pastors. He walked his own way, walked the highest way - the way of love. He was now completely lost in someone else's grief and in someone else's suffering, dissolving his sadness in a common sorrow. Those who came to him felt relieved and overjoyed despite their deep grief. By a mysterious act of prayer, Father Alexei bore their misfortunes upon himself, and passed on his grace and joy to them, becoming for everyone not only a shepherd, not only a father, but also a caring mother. In his tender heart, human grief was experienced very sharply and painfully: months, years passed, and he, shedding tears and groaning, as if from severe physical pain, recalled the deplorable circumstances of some strangers and for the first time he saw people. People always crowded around the house of Father Alexei - on the stairs, in the yard. Among ordinary people professors, doctors, teachers, engineers, artists, artists appeared here. Non-Orthodox (Armenians), Mohammedans, Jews, and even unbelievers came to him. Some came in deep anguish, others out of curiosity, wanting to look at famous person, some as enemies to expose or offend. And with all established their own special, individual relationship. Everyone got something from him. Many linked their spiritual life with him forever. How many there were who, having once found themselves in the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, were kept here forever. This is how the Marosei community was formed, which in its diversity can be compared with Russia: all classes, conditions, ages, professions, degrees of development, and nationalities found their place here. Without any formalities, legal ties and rules, the community existed as a closely knit whole, everyone who voluntarily united with it voluntarily carried out their labors and sacrifices for the benefit of the community.

“The Maroseya community,” Father Pavel Florensky wrote in 1924, “was, in its spiritual sense, the daughter of Optina Pustyn: here life was built on spiritual experience. Father Alexei taught with his own life, and everything around him lived, each in his own way and to the best of his ability participated in the growth of the spiritual life of the entire community. Therefore, although the community did not have its own hospital, however, numerous professors, doctors, paramedics and sisters of mercy - the spiritual children of Father Alexei - served the sick who turned to Father Alexei for help. Although there was no school, a number of professors, writers, teachers, students, also the spiritual children of Father Alexei, came with their knowledge and connections to help those who needed it. Although the community did not have its own organized shelter, nevertheless, those in need or who asked for help were clothed, shod, and fed. Members of the Maroseya community, penetrating into all areas of life, everywhere with their work helped Father Alexei in the matter of “unloading” the suffering. There was no external organization here, but this did not prevent everyone from being united by a single spirit. There were people in the community who went to church every day, and there were people who went to church once a year. There were people who prayed every day, and those who pray occasionally. There were people who were already ready for monasticism, and people who had not yet entered properly into. Father was everything to everyone. Coming to the Elder Father Alexei, he was faced with a force based on experience and experimental knowledge of himself and others. He called everyone to this experienced Christianity.

The recollections of his close friend, His Grace Arseniy Zhadanovsky testify to what people received from the Marosei priest, what was his nourishment of human souls: that is why the priest had many cases of turning to the path of salvation for people who, being in the cycle of life, considered themselves lost, despaired, did not dare to go to an ordinary confessor, but were looking for someone outstanding, special, and they found this special in father Alexei.

So, Father Alexei burned with love, and if he did not talk about love, then his gaze, every movement testified to it. With his attitude towards people, he preached what we read at Easter in touching word St. John Chrysostom: “Come, all of you, to the great Feast of the Resurrection of Christ - those who fasted and those who did not fast, those who came early and at the last hour, - all come without hesitation. On this great day, the doors of Divine love are open to everyone.” Further, Father Alexei possessed common sense and a penetrating mind, which gave him the opportunity to develop in himself a great spiritual experience, which, in connection with his constant vigilance over himself, manifested itself in the ability to heal the sinful ulcers of people. Father Alexei without words understood the feelings of all who turned to him as a spiritual father; he was well aware of human weaknesses and, without indulging them, somehow especially carefully, delicately, gently touched the soul of everyone<…>

Father Aleksey was also helped to guide the soul of a person by his sagacity, based on the same spiritual experience. When he began to talk with his interlocutor, the latter noticed that his entire inner life, with mistakes, sins, perhaps crimes, was known to the end by Father Alexei, that his gaze somehow physically sees everything, not only reflected in external events and deeds, but not even out of the depths of thoughts and feelings. Father Alexei not only understood and saw someone else's life, but was able to find its solution, often unknown to the visitor himself.

Father Alexei not only knew how to talk about the symptoms of mental illness and their deep causes, but also pointed out radical means to cure them.

First of all, he demanded repentance, but not formal, but deep, sincere and humble, with tears, capable of producing a rebirth, a renewal of the entire inner nature of the sinner. Therefore, Father Alexei did not like confession according to a note, but demanded a conscious attitude to his actions, a firm intention to improve. “Always consider yourself guilty,” he said, “and justify others.”

To repent for the priest meant, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, to put off the old way of life of the old man and put on the new man, created according to God (; ). And since such repentance is often hindered by our weak, flabby will, paralyzed by bad habits and passions, then, according to Father Alexei, everyone who wants to lead a life in Christ should pay attention to the strengthening of this will ... ” .

The bonds of spiritual kinship connected the Marosei priest not only with the rector of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, Bishop Arseny, but also with the great lamps of the Optina Hermitage, primarily with the head of the monastery, Father Theodosius and Father Anatoly the Younger (Zertsalov), whom Father Alexei knew personally and about whom responded with the words: "We are of the same spirit with him." Father Anatoly always sent Muscovites to Father Alexei, and Father Nektary once said to someone: “Why are you coming to us, you have Father Alexei.” The fact that the Moscow city elder did one common thing with the monastery elders is evidenced by the memoirs of Seraphim Ilyinichna Stezhinskaya, the spiritual daughter of the elder Barsanuphius of Optinsky. After the death of her elder, this woman experienced her spiritual orphanhood very hard. She did not know anything about her father Alexei. One evening, towards the end of the vigil, she went to the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki, stood in front of the Theodore icon of the Mother of God and began to fervently pray that the Mother of God would send her a spiritual father and mentor. The service is over, but she still stands and does not take her eyes off the face of the Queen of Heaven. Suddenly, Father Alexei appeared from behind the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, approached S.I. and, joyfully blessing her, said: “Do not grieve, tomorrow come to my house, you will live with me, and I will be your spiritual father.” S. I. accepted these unexpected words as an answer to her prayer and from then on she settled with the priest and served him until his death.

The storm that broke out in 1917 awakened all layers of society from spiritual hibernation, the people went to temples. A small church in the center of Moscow, where the famous priest served, now more and more accepted under its prayer cover people who had lost their property, security and ground under their feet, who were desperate, mired in sins, who had forgotten God. Here they met cordial friendliness, compassion and love, received support, came into contact with the Divine light, joy and peace of Christ. Hope for the mercy of God was instilled in their souls. And not only the desperate came here, but also spiritually advanced people seeking senile guidance. After the Kremlin was closed, the rector of the Chudov Monastery, Bishop Arseniy Zhadanovsky, blessed his spiritual children, the “Chudov orphans,” to be fed by Father Alexei and join the Marose community. During these years, the clergy of the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki was replenished with young zealous priests, among them - father Sergius Mechev, the son of the priest, who took the priesthood in 1919, father Sergius Durylin, father Lazar Sudakov. Now every clergyman once a week led a conversation in the temple. Father Alexei talked on Mondays, explaining the active path of the Christian feat using examples from the life of saints, and from the end of 1919 he conducted additional conversations on Wednesdays in his apartment, sharing with the audience his great personal experience fellowship with the flock. The favorite topics of these conversations were confession, repentance, Christian marriage, and the upbringing of children. The priest invariably warned his brothers on the altar against a formal attitude towards the human soul.

The numerical growth of the Marosean community, the replenishment of it with “Chudov sisters” allowed Father Alexei to make his parish church even more like a “monastery in the world”, to introduce statutory worship in it. He instructed the Chudovskys to sing and read in the church and gradually brought the service in his church to the monastic order. About the significance of this for the inner, spiritual life of the parish, the father’s son, Father Sergius, beautifully said in one of his sermons:

“We know that in our time, worship services in parish churches are distorted to a large extent: one festive service, one service similar to another, because everything that makes it difficult and not entertaining is released, and instead of that, completely inappropriate ones are inserted along the way. Divine services are concert hymns, and Divine services are not a preparation for eternity, but for the same life from which a Christian must flee, in relation to which he must “become more peaceful” ...

And so the priest, understanding all this, did what many people first of all cause embarrassment and condemnation. He understood that it was necessary to give believers a real, authentic service, not a surrogate, not an imitation, an eternal service, consisting in Orthodox liturgical experience. Without such worship, Christian work is unthinkable. Here, first of all, it is not the practice of a parish church or even a monastery that is taken, but the service according to the books according to which it should be performed, and it begins to be performed from day to day, begins to be performed in the evening and in the morning - to the astonishment of some, the embarrassment of others, and perhaps ridicule of the third, begins a genuine communion with eternity through worship.

And then begins a true spiritual life, which, it seemed, could not be in the world. Batiushka works on us as a confessor and as an elder: he begins the work of spiritual dispensation, to which many, many Russian people aspired, and which they had previously received only in the setting of a monastery, and it seemed to them that it could not be otherwise.

Batiushka proceeded not from theory, but from life, from the knowledge of the human heart. He understood life very well in his spiritual creativity, in his spiritual creation, which he manifested so unexpectedly and often not in the way we would like - he proceeded from a genuine knowledge of the human soul and the situation in which we are all placed.

The pastoral ministry of Father Alexei extended far beyond the boundaries of the parish of St. Nicholas. Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, turned to him for advice when the question arose of consecrating someone, since the elder knew everyone. The Saint always considered his opinion, but now he offered to take on the task of uniting the Moscow clergy. Batiushka lovingly accepted the will of the Patriarch and worked with enthusiasm in this matter. At the meetings that took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior under his chairmanship, the priest shared his experience of pastoral leadership. The authority of the elder was recognized by many, but not by all, and the ferment of minds extended to the clergy as well. Religious youth who united in circles to study the New Testament, Father warned against arbitrarily interpreting the Holy Gospel and advised them to do so under the guidance of a priest.

The year 1920 was especially intense in terms of the breadth of the all-round activity of Father Alexei and his co-servants, of whom there were five at the church, except for the deacons. The father's strength was already falling, but he still received the people; sometimes the reception of visitors ended at about two in the morning.

In the autumn of 1921, in the church of St. Gregory the Theologian, the People's Theological Academy of the city of Moscow was opened, in which anyone could study. Batiushka gave an introductory lecture here: “The height of pastoral ministry and what a priest should be,” which, as it were, summed up his own life feat. The elder developed in detail the idea that the basis of pastoral ministry is prayer, love for the parishioners, entering into their needs and earnest worship; the priest must pray for all the people entrusted to him by God, and with prayer and love heal their infirmities and mental illnesses. Classes at the Academy did not last long and soon had to stop.

By public holidays father continued to serve. As before, every time he went out with a sermon, and his favorite topic was the word about love. In these days, when anger, cruelty, sorrow, and grief seemed to have grown to the limit, he often wept while preaching. His heart ached for everyone.

In 1922, even more difficult times came for the Church. Sorrows and worries approached Father Alexei as well, but they still shattered against his spirit. It was forbidden to commemorate St. Tikhon, a questionnaire was sent out on the registration of religious organizations, a decree was issued on the seizure of church valuables in connection with the famine in the Volga region. The seizure of valuables in the church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki cost the priest dearly. Some priests of Moscow signed questionnaires, saying: “We cannot destroy our family with our own hands,” and came with repentance to Father Alexei. And he voice full of love and compassion said: “I cannot demand martyrdom from them. didn't tell me to. And I… I myself… My business is different… special… I am lonely, I sit in a “lair”. I decide only for myself, there is no one behind me. I won't sign." The man to whom the priest said these words, he asked not to pass them on to anyone: “Everyone is looking at me to do as I do.” And you should have seen the expression with which he said it! The man bowed at the feet of the priest and left.

In the deep autumn, the priest was summoned to the GPU. In his absence, Father Sergius and all his spiritual children who lived near the temple fervently prayed for the priest in the temple. Batiushka returned, but the reception of visitors was now completely stopped. They said that Father Alexei was ill and did not accept.

The year 1923 has come. The father was getting worse. Everyone who saw the priest that winter noticed that he was somehow special, bright, shone with a particularly spiritual, unearthly, incorruptible light, with which the same unearthly, quiet joy was combined. On Forgiveness Sunday, the priest served the Divine Liturgy, after which, as usual, he went out to the pulpit with a sermon; not holding back tears, he asked everyone for forgiveness: “I will not be with you for long ... I have nothing against any of you, and if I gain boldness, I will pray for all of you. Maybe I couldn’t, didn’t manage to give to any of you what you expected from me ... forgive me ... forgive the sinful one. And the priest bowed to the people to the ground.

During the entire Great Lent, except for the reading of the canon of St. Andrew of Crete, the priest served only once, on the day of his name day (March 17, O.S.). When he was taken home, barely alive, at home he was awaited by a second call to the GPU. For a long time they did not know how it would end. However, the priest returned again and said: “... They were afraid of my shortness of breath, they were afraid that I would die with them, so they let me go so soon ...”. He uttered these words easily, but it was clear how hard this second interrogation was for him.

All care for the flock and the church, the elder was already openly transferring to his son, Father Sergius. On one of the last days of May, the priest cried a lot during the divine service, he served his last liturgy, after the service he blessed everyone with icons, leaving, turned to the altar, crossed himself three times and bowed, said goodbye to his church. In this last month of his life, he sought to quickly leave for Vereya, where he usually rested in the summer. Now he was going there to die, he wanted to write his funeral word in freedom. On Friday, June 9/22, Father Alexei died. The news of the death of the elder came to Moscow on Saturday, and only on Wednesday morning did the modest funeral carts with a white coffin stop at the church. On the hands of spiritual children, the coffin was brought into the temple while singing “From the Spirits of the Righteous…”. In the evening, two requiem services were served to give everyone the opportunity to pray. The church did not close all night. The church communities of Moscow, headed by pastors, came continuously; they sang memorial services and said goodbye to the deceased until the morning.

On June 15/28, at ten o'clock, the liturgy began, which was served by the rector of the Danilov Monastery, Bishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky), accompanied by thirty priests and six deacons. In his will, Father Alexei turned to Vladyka Theodore with a request to serve the liturgy and the rite of the funeral service for him. Vladyka Theodore was then in prison, but, released on June 7/20, he was able to fulfill the elder's wish on 15/28.

About eighty people of the clergy came to the funeral service. It ended at four in the afternoon. At the end, the word of the priest to his spiritual children was read and several funeral speeches were delivered. Everyone was given the opportunity to say goodbye. Spiritual children followed their elder to the very Lazarevsky cemetery.

To meet the deceased, Saint Tikhon arrived at the cemetery, having been released from prison a few hours earlier. The First Hierarch of the Russian Church served a litia for the deceased; when the coffin was lowered into the grave, he was the first to throw earth on it and began to bless the people. The father's son Father Sergius served a full memorial service. People from all over Moscow gathered for this great spiritual celebration. On the one hand, there was intense grief over the loss of an irreplaceable pastor, and on the other hand, everyone was overwhelmed with joy on the occasion of the unexpected release of His Holiness. And Father Alexei, as it were, died for this joy to be granted to the Church.

Father Alexei during his lifetime often told his children to come to his grave and share with him their spiritual needs, spiritual needs and problems. And many at first went to the Lazarevskoye cemetery to visit his grave. Then, when in 1934 the body of the priest was transferred to the Vvedenskoye (German) cemetery, they began to go there and still go to his new grave.

Now, thanks to the stories and books about Father Alexei, many people who did not know his grave ask for his prayers and help in various matters, and receive consolation from the priest.

Audio program about St. rights. Alexia Mechev Alexandra Nikiforova:

The Moscow Elder Father Alexy Mechev was born on March 17, 1859, into a pious family of the conductor of the Chudovsky Cathedral Choir.

His father, Alexei Ivanovich Mechev, the son of the archpriest of the Kolomna district, was saved from death in the cold on a cold winter night as a child. 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 Troitsky Lane to the Metropolitan Compound. When the children were having supper, Vladyka Metropolitan suddenly became alarmed, dressed quickly and went out to inspect the train that had arrived. In one of the sledges, he found a sleeping boy, left there through an oversight. Seeing the Providence of God in this, Metropolitan Filaret paid special attention and care to the child he saved, constantly caring for him, and later on for his family.

The birth of Father Alexy took place under significant circumstances. His mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, felt unwell at the onset of childbirth. The birth was difficult, very delayed, and the life of the mother and child was in danger.

In great grief, Alexei Ivanovich went to pray at the Alekseevsky Monastery, where Metropolitan Philaret served on the occasion of the patronal feast. Having entered the altar, he quietly stood aside, but the grief of his beloved regent did not hide from Vladyka's gaze. “You are so sad today, what are you doing?” he asked. - "Your Eminence, the wife is dying in childbirth." The saint prayerfully overshadowed himself with the sign of the cross. - "Let's pray together ... God is merciful, everything will be fine," he said; then he gave him a prosphora with the words: "A boy will be born, name him Alexei, in honor of St. Alexis, the man of God, celebrated by us today."

Aleksei Ivanovich took courage, defended the liturgy, and, elated with hope, went home. At the door he was greeted with joy: a boy was born.

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

All his life, Father Alexy reverently recalled the selfless act of his mother, who took her sister with her three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that she herself was closely with her three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. For the children had to build beds.

Among siblings and cousins, Lenya, as Alexei was called in the family, stood out for his kindness, quiet, peaceful character. He did not like quarrels, he wanted everyone to be well; loved to cheer, console, joke. All this came out piously from him. At a party, in the midst of games in the children's rooms, Lenya suddenly became serious, quickly moved away and hid, locking himself in from the noisy fun. Those around him called him “blessed Alyoshenka” for this.

Alexei Mechev studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary. He was diligent, executive, ready for any service. Graduating from the seminary, he did not have his own corner, which was so necessary for studies. To prepare lessons, often had to get up at night.

Together with many classmates, Alexei Mechev had a desire to go to university and become a doctor. But the mother resolutely opposed this, wishing to have a prayer book in him. “You are so small, where can you be a doctor, better be a priest,” she said with firmness.

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

After graduating from the seminary, Alexei Mechev was appointed on October 14, 1880 as a psalmist at the Church of the Sign of the Prechistensky Magpie on Znamenka. Here he was destined to pass a severe test.

The rector of the temple was a man of a tough character, unreasonably picky. He demanded from the psalmist the fulfillment of such duties that lay on the watchman, treated rudely, even beat him, it happened, and brandished the poker. The younger brother Tikhon, visiting Alexei, often found him in tears. Sometimes a deacon stood up for a defenseless psalmist, and he endured everything meekly, without expressing complaints, without asking for a transfer to another church. And later he thanked the Lord that he had given him such a school to go through, and remembered the rector Father George as his teacher.

Already a priest, Fr. Alexy, having heard about the death of Fr. George, came to the funeral service, with tears of gratitude and love accompanied him to the grave, 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” - the father called it that way, the human “I”, which immediately declares its rights when someone, willy or unwillingly, offends and infringes on it. “Such people should be loved as benefactors,” he later taught his spiritual children.

In 1884, Alexy Mechev married the eighteen-year-old daughter of a psalmist, Anna Petrovna Molchanova. In the same year, on November 18, he was ordained 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 helper on his path to Christ, he cherished the friendly remarks of his wife and listened to them the way one listens to his elder; immediately sought to correct the shortcomings she noticed.

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

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained by Bishop Nestor, manager of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, as a priest at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki of Sretensky Magpie. The consecration took place in 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 rose large, well-visited temples.

Having become the rector of the one-state church of St. Nicholas, Father Alexy introduced daily worship in his church, while usually in small Moscow churches it was performed only two or three times a week.

Batiushka came to the temple almost from five o'clock in the morning, he himself unlocked it. Reverently venerating the miraculous Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God and other images, he, without waiting for anyone from the clergy, prepared everything necessary for the Eucharist, performed. When the appointed hour approached, he began matins, during which he himself often read and sang; followed by 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 to the church - it’s empty ... You won’t succeed, you’re calling in vain. ” But Father Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve.

According to the custom then in force, Muscovites fasted once a year. In the church "Nikolas-Klenniki" on Maroseyka Street, it was possible to confess and take communion any day. Over time, this became known in Moscow. A case is described when the behavior of an unknown woman at a very early hour on the banks of the Moskva River seemed suspicious to the policeman who was on duty. Approaching, he learned that the woman was in despair from the hardships of life, she wanted to drown herself. He persuaded her to leave this intention and go to Maroseyka to Father Alexy.

Grieving, burdened with the sorrows of life, degenerate people rushed to this temple. From them went a rumor about his good abbot.

The life of the clergy of numerous small parishes of that time was financially difficult, and living conditions were often bad. The small wooden house in which Father Alexy's family was housed was dilapidated, half-decayed; the two-story houses that stood close together 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 excruciating shortness of breath. Anna Petrovna died on August 29, 1902 on the day.

At that time, a merchant family very close to father Alexy (Alexey and Claudia Belov) invited to their home who had arrived in Moscow, with whom she was in contact on charity. This was done to meet Father Alexy with him.

“Have you come to share my grief with me?” Father Alexy asked when Father John entered. “I didn’t come to share your grief, but joy,” replied Father John. - The Lord visits you. Leave your cell and go out to the people; only from now on will you begin to live. You rejoice in your sorrows and think: there is no grief in the world greater than yours ... And 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, richly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated the life path of Father Alexy in a new way. He accepted what was given to him as an obedience entrusted to him. He was, no doubt, prepared for the acceptance of the grace of eldership by many years of a truly ascetic life.

Those who were looking for help in the Maroseian temple, broken by difficult circumstances, mutual hostility, mired in sins, forgotten about God, Father Alexy met with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. The joy and peace of Christ were instilled in their souls, the hope for the mercy of God, for the possibility of renewing the soul, was manifested, the love shown towards them caused everyone to feel that they loved him more than anyone, pitied, comforted.

Father Alexy received from God 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 in varying degrees. In his deep humility, he 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. An indication of how to act in a particular case, the priest expressed only once. If the visitor objected, insisted on his own, then Father Alexy avoided further conversation, did not explain what the unreasonable desire would lead to, did not even repeat what was originally said. He could sometimes give the blessing required from him. To those who came with a repentant feeling and full of confidence, he provided prayerful help, interceding for them before the Lord for deliverance from difficulties and troubles.

Father Alexy gained fame as a kind father, who should be addressed in difficult moments for the family. It was not in his rules to read instructions, to denounce, to 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 in the conflict. And he was invited to trebs at critical moments. Arriving, the priest brought her peace, love and an all-forgiving understanding of everyone and everyone. He did not blame anyone, did not reproach, but tried, citing vivid cases of errors and delusions, to bring the listeners to the consciousness of his guilt, to arouse in them a feeling of repentance. This dispelled the clouds of malice, 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 had a direct bearing on him, and understand what new path he outlined for him.

In the lower residential floor of the temple, the priest opened an elementary parochial school, and also arranged a shelter for orphans and children of poor parents. The children also learned crafts that were useful to them. For 13 years, Father Alexy taught children the Law of God in the private women's gymnasium E.V. Winkler.

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

At that time, Father Alexy began to celebrate divine services in the temple not only in the morning, but also in the evening (Vespers and Matins).

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they did not differ in eloquence. What he said touched the heart with the depth of faith, truthfulness, understanding of life. He did not use oratory, focused the attention of the listeners on the gospel events, the lives of the saints, himself remaining completely in the shadows.

You should not take on unbearable feats, but if you decide on something, then you must perform it at all costs. Otherwise, you won’t do it once, another, a third, and there you will think: why did you do this, since it is completely in vain. (Fortitude in the good, without which spiritual growth is impossible).

Never treat the gospel like a divination book; and if any important questions come up, consult with more knowledgeable people.

The reading of the Gospel must be approached with a prayerful mood.

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, whether you are the reason for this. When bad thoughts attack you, especially in the temple, imagine who you are standing before, or open your soul and say: “Mistress, help me.”

If, while applying to the image, you are embarrassed by some (unbelieving, etc.) thoughts, pray until they disappear.

You have to consider yourself the worst. If you want to get annoyed, take revenge, or do something else, rather humble yourself. We must save ourselves and others. Take care of yourself more strictly, and be more condescending towards others, study them in order to treat them as required by their position, character, mood; for example: a nervous person, uneducated, but will demand calmness from one, delicacy from another, or something else, so it will be reckless; and we must strictly watch ourselves.

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

Concerning the written confession. It is not enough that he listed all the sins and the end, and nothing happened; but it is necessary that sins become disgusting, that all this burns out inside, in the heart, when you begin to remember ... and then sin will be disgusting, and we will not return to it, otherwise it will be right there and again for the same thing. - And 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 need to talk to a person and turn the matter in such a way as to save the one who is mistaken, forcing him to do it; for example: I have never lied and will not lie, and if you need it so, 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 they serve meager food on a fast day, one should not neglect and refuse. And at home, you can fill this gap by strengthening either bodily fasting, and most importantly - spiritual: i.e. Don't get angry, don't judge, etc.

In everything you need to act like this: something needs to be done - now remember how Jesus Christ would have acted here, let this be a guide for you in everything. So gradually everything bad, sinful will recede from you.

I do not bless to say anything about others that can spread bad rumors about others; but instructive, useful - our duty to speak.

You live more with the mind, 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 our attention, will also show us attention.

The resurrected 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 behind you, but you don't see 99.

Good shepherd. M., 2000

“Why did all the holy apostles, every single one, receive a martyr's crown, perish on crosses, be beheaded by the sword, while the Apostle John the Theologian lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully? - Father Alexy once asked, - because the Apostle John had such an unparalleled, great, irresistible Christian love, that even the tormentors obeyed her strength, and she disarmed the persecutors, she extinguished their anger and turned into love. Father Alexy had just such a love for his neighbors, and all his instructions, sermons and words are about love. He was rich in this merciful love, and it seemed to everyone who came that Father Alexy loved him the most.

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

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

At the time of the birth of Father Alexy (and the birth of his mother, Alexandra Dmitrievna, was difficult), he prayed with Alexei Ivanovich Mechev for the successful resolution of his wife from the burden and predicted: “A boy will be born, name him Alexy in honor of St. Alexis, man of God.

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

All his life, Father Alexy reverently recalled the selfless act of his mother, who took her sister with her three children after the death of her husband, despite the fact that she herself was closely with her three children - sons Alexei and Tikhon and daughter Varvara. For the children had to build beds.

Alexey was distinguished by a quiet, peaceful character, he liked to cheer, console, joke. But he moved away from the noisy fun, at the height of the games he suddenly became serious and ran away. For this, he was nicknamed "Blessed Alyoshenka."

Alexy Mechev studied at the Zaikonospassky School, then at the Moscow Theological Seminary, after graduating from which he dreamed of entering the university and becoming a doctor in order to serve people most fruitfully. But the mother opposed this: "You are so small, where can you be a doctor, better be 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 appointed to the Church of the Sign of the Prechistensky Magpie. The rector of the temple, Father George, was a tough and picky person. He demanded from the psalmist the fulfillment of such duties that lay on the watchman, treated rudely, even beat him. But Alexy endured everything resignedly and did not express complaints. Subsequently, he thanked the Lord that he had given him such a school. Already being a priest, Father Alexy came to the funeral of Father George, with tears of gratitude and love, seeing him off to the grave.

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

In 1884, Alexy Mechev married the daughter of a psalmist, 18-year-old Anna Petrovna Molchanova, and was ordained a deacon. Seminary grooms approached Anna, but she refused everyone. But as soon as she met Alexy, she firmly said to her mother-widow: “I’ll go for this little one.” His marriage was happy. Anna Petrovna was with "character" and in the photographs of her early youth she looked out from under frowning eyebrows. But mutual love this character is markedly improved. In subsequent photographs, this look warmed up, the tension of 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 helper on his path to Christ, he cherished the friendly remarks of his wife and listened to them the way one listens to his elder; immediately sought to correct the shortcomings she noticed.

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

On March 19, 1893, Deacon Alexy Mechev was ordained a priest of a small one-state church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Klenniki Sretensky Magpie. 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,- later said the father. “One archpriest told me: “No matter how I pass by your church, everyone calls you. I went into the church - it’s empty ... Nothing will work out for you, you’re calling in vain.”

But Father Alexy was not embarrassed by this and continued to serve. According to the custom then in force, Muscovites fasted once a year during Great Lent. In the church "Nikolas-Klenniki" on Maroseyka Street, it was possible to confess and take communion any day. Over time, this became known in Moscow.

Once, the policeman who was on duty seemed suspicious of the behavior of an unknown woman at a very early hour on the banks of the Moskva River. Approaching, he learned that the woman had despaired of the hardships of life and wanted to drown herself. He persuaded her to leave this intention and go to Maroseyka to Father Alexy. After this incident, people grieving and burdened with the sorrows of life were drawn to this temple. Batiushka was in a hurry to pay attention and console everyone.

A small wooden house in which Fr. Alexy, was dilapidated, half-decayed; the apartment was always dark and damp. Soon Mother Anna Petrovna developed cardiac dropsy with edema and excruciating 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 Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John.

Father Alexy was inconsolable. The light went out 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. Alexy arranged a meeting with him. "Have you come to share my grief with me?"- asked him about. Alexy. “I did not come to share your grief, but joy, answered about. John. - Leave your cell and go out to the 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, richly resting on the Kronstadt shepherd, illuminated the life path of Father Alexy in a new way. He embarked on the path of eldership, for which he had already been prepared by many years of ascetic life.

Father Alexy met all those who came with cordial friendliness, love and compassion. It seemed to everyone that he was loved the most, pitied, consoled. Batiushka never placed 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 need to do it at all costs, otherwise the goal is not achieved.

"The Way to Salvation" Father Alexy constantly repeated, - lies in the love of God and neighbor. We need to oppress ourselves for the good of people close to us, rebuild our soul, break our character so that it would be easy for our neighbors to live with us. "Be for all" suns "- he said.

Father Alexy is now never left alone, from morning to evening he gives himself to people, he is no longer only a shepherd for them, 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, people crowd, among ordinary people, professors, doctors, teachers, writers, engineers, artists, artists appear." At one time, Father Alexy began to visit the nearby Khitrov market, which was notorious. He held conversations there with the regulars of the city bottom. But soon, due to the ever-increasing workload, he had to leave it.

Extremely meager in means, Father Alexy still did not pass by the need and grief of his neighbor. Once, on Christmas Eve, the priest, who himself had a large family, left the entire contents of his wallet with a sick woman whom he came to take communion. Arriving home, he thought bitterly: “Here is poverty, and here is poverty, there are half-starved children, and here are half-starved children - did I do the right thing, that I gave everything to others, but left nothing to my own?” The Lord miraculously resolved the bewilderment of the righteous. Suddenly, a philanthropist appeared who donated a sufficient amount to Father Alexy.

He never took offense at any rudeness towards himself. "What am I... I'm miserable..." he said. The priest eschewed manifestations of signs of reverence towards himself, avoided magnificent services, and if he had to participate, he tried to stand behind everyone. He was burdened by awards, they burdened him, caused him deep, sincere grief.

The priest's sermons were simple, sincere, they did not differ in eloquence. Their main advantage was that they carried practical advice- 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 for memorial services: “Once again you will come into contact with the departed. When you stand before God, they will all lift up their hands in prayer for you, and you will be saved.”

Batiushka did not approve when parents, striving to go to church, left their children alone without a guardian. Blessing the mother with the child, and pointing to the baby, he said to her impressively: "Here is your Kyiv and Jerusalem."

In the lower residential floor of the temple, Father opened a parochial school, arranged a shelter for orphans and the poor, for 13 years he taught the Law of God in the women's gymnasium E.V. Winkler; contributed to the revival of ancient Russian icon painting, which gave way to painting, blessing his spiritual daughter Maria Nikolaevna Sokolova (later nun Juliana) to paint icons.

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

The number of worshipers in the temple increased. Especially after 1917, and among them there are many young people, students who have become disillusioned with revolutionary ideals. After the Kremlin was closed, part of the parishioners and choristers of the Chudov Monastery moved to the church of Father Alexy. Young educated priests began to serve in the church, helping Fr. Alexy in conducting lectures, discussions, and in organizing courses on the study of worship. Among them is the son of father Alexy father Sergiy Mechev, ordained a priest on Great Thursday 1919, now also glorified in the face of saints as a holy martyr.

In the difficult years of the civil war and general devastation, many wanted to move to the grain-growing southern regions of the country, to Ukraine. Father Alexy did not give his blessing for moving, 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. The rest will be shown the mercy of God 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 brought up a new generation of zealous servants of the Church and pious church people. The tradition of agape in the community deserves special attention. On the night from Saturday to Sunday (approximately since 1919) all-night vigil, then the liturgy, and after it in one of the premises of the temple a meal was arranged with communication on spiritual topics and the reading of psalms. Meals were called agapas. Initially, Father Aleksey himself organized the agape conversations, but gradually he began to transfer the situation into the hands of the audience.

“Here in advance, who could bring something from vegetables, bread, sugar or caramel sweets for tea. Tables, benches, chairs were arranged; the clergy and the priest came. Batiushka took part in the common meal and, as in conversations on Wednesdays in his apartment, he told something, touching on the most pressing issues of life and relationships. Someone from those present spoke.

Father Alexy also built interpersonal spiritual and spiritual relations. He began simply with an attentive, responsible, compassionate attitude towards his spiritual children, then he began to establish relationships between them, constantly working "on the creation of a close spiritual family." He sent one of the sisters to visit another who was ill; gave her something to eat, blessed, when they returned late, one sister to spend the night with another. And he rejoiced when the evening passed in the reading of good spiritual literature, and, of course, in joint prayer at night. He did not bless me to go where there are more stories about the news and other chatter. Blessed to meet periodically without him, pointing out what to read and what to pay attention to. Gradually about. Alexy taught his spiritual children to serve each other in whatever way they could, to live each other's joys and sorrows.

The true spiritual friends of Father Alexy were his contemporary Optina ascetics - the elder hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Potapov) and the head of the skete hegumen Theodosius (Pomortsev). They were amazed at the feat of the Moscow elder "in the city as in the desert." Elder Nectarios said to someone: “Why are you visiting us? Do you have about. Alexy".

He revered the priest and Archimandrite Arseny (Zhadanovsky) as “a wise city elder who brings people no less benefit than any hermit”; and His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, always taking into account the recall of the 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, as they saw that he was seriously ill, suffering from very severe shortness of breath.

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

In the last days of May, Father Alexy left for Vereya, where he spent the past years on vacation. He had a premonition that he was leaving forever. Before leaving, he served the last liturgy in his church, said goodbye to his spiritual children and the church.

Father, how hard it is to think that you will not be here.

Foolish, I will always be with you ...

Died Father Alexy on Friday June 9/22, 1923. Death came as soon as he got into bed.

The liturgy and the funeral 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 desire. Easter hymns were sung all the way to the Lazarevsky cemetery. His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, who had just been released from prison and was greeted with enthusiasm by the people, arrived to see Father Alexy on his last journey. The words of the Father were fulfilled: "When I die, everyone will be happy."

10 years later, in connection with the closure of the Lazarevsky cemetery, the remains of Father Alexy and his wife were transferred to the Vvedensky Gory cemetery, popularly referred to as German. Above his grave stood a marble monument with a small cross above it. In its lower part, the words of the Apostle Paul, so close to the heart of Fr. Alexy, are carved: "Carry each other's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ."

At the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000, Archpriest Alexy Mechev was canonized for general church veneration. Father Alexy was canonized at the same time as 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 acquired 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.

From the spiritual teachings of Elder Alexy Mechev

“During sorrows, one should not grumble and argue with God, but pray to Him with gratitude. The Lord is not like people; people, if they suffer something from anyone, try to repay, but the Lord tries to correct us even in sorrows. If we knew how others endure, we would not grumble.”

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

“Be warm and light to those around you; first try to warm your family with yourself, work on it, and then these works will lure you so much that the circle of your family will already be narrow for you, and these warm rays will eventually capture more and more new people, and the circle illuminated by you will gradually increase and increase; so try 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 our duty is to shine on others. Meanwhile, we ourselves walk in darkness, not only do we no longer shine on 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 many sins, and therefore we ourselves cannot achieve to shine and warm others. And the Lord calls us to His Church and says: “Come to Me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest,” stop relying on your self, seek help from Me. In such a difficult time, is it possible to say that death is far from us, no ... for many of us [it] is very, very close. So hasten to do your duty, to which the Lord has called you, because, as He Himself said, when the night comes, then no one can do it; whatever we have done, good or evil, is the end of everything. Therefore, hasten to understand what is your duty, which we must fulfill with fear and trembling, what a 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 have gray hair and did not see your duty, as if there was no grace, nothing touched them, as if they were blind from birth. It is impossible to abuse the mercy of God without end, to spend time in exaltation, malice, hatred, 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, the Lord has such a heart for the salvation of another; only be pure vessels, that He may work through you and have an instrument in His hands.”

“The Lord does not get 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. We sometimes consider it excusable when you get tired, irritated, or something else (allow yourself), but no matter what circumstances you are, no matter how tired or sick you are, you should only do as Christ commanded.

Troparion, tone 5:
Help in troubles, comfort in sorrows, / good shepherd, father Alexis. / By the feat of the elders, you shone forth to the world, / you confessed the faith and love of Christ in the darkness of iniquity, / aching in your heart for all those who flow to you / And now pray to God for us, honoring you with love.

Kontakion, tone 2:
You lifted up great labors of love and mercy, / righteous elder Alexis, / from the holy shepherd of Kronstadt, a blessing to help the afflicted, / put people's troubles and sorrows on your frame. / But we, who lead you as a prayer book, are bold to the Lord, with tenderness we call you: // pray to Christ God that our souls be saved.

Prayer to the holy righteous Alexy of Moscow Mechev:
Oh, all-honorable and blessed Father Alexy, marvelous elder of Moscow and all the Church of Russia praise and joy! Having great love for the Lord, immutably fulfilling the gospel covenants, thou didst lay thy soul for the flock, with a merciful heart, aching for all who ask for thy help. Accept this little prayer of ours, and as in your earthly life you wiped away every tear, eased every sorrow, so now, merciful prayer book and our intercessor, take our hardships, illnesses and sorrows, fill the suffering heart with joy, beg the Humane God for forgiveness countless sins of ours, but having cleansed the soul with repentance, let us proceed to doing good. Hey, good elder, be a good shepherd to us, instructing us on the path of salvation, so that with your prayers we will immaculately pass the path of our life and find the Heavenly Fatherland, where you with the angels and all the saints stand before the Throne of the Holy Trinity, glorifying the Beginningless Father with His Only Begotten Son and the Most Holy , and Good, and His Life-Giving Spirit forever and ever. Amen.