“Yeah… These priests are getting really drunk,” I heard the end of the sentence as I walked through the church courtyard past a bench on which two women were sitting. It looked like they had come to the funeral service, which was about to begin.
“Oh, don’t tell me,” nodded the second one. — Here in our area all the priests drive Mercedes. And the money is just shoveled away. That’s how they row!
– Look, look, I’ve arrived. In a foreign car! – the first one perked up, pointing with an indignant look at one of our priests getting out of an old Nissan.
– How much does this cost?
– I don’t know, but it’s expensive!
– We got too greedy…
***
I felt very offended. I wanted to intervene and say that in this “expensive foreign car,” which is already a hundred years old and which one parishioner donated to him, the father with many children carries a bunch of his children (one of them is disabled) and goes to church services here from the neighboring town where he lives. And he does this in those moments when the car is running. And she often stands in the courtyard for weeks, because “her paws ache, then her tail falls off”…
I wanted to say that yes, there are different priests. Someone may be rowing with a shovel. And I already forgot why I ever came to church, because I was not a shepherd for a long time, but an “effective fulfiller of demands.” But there are only a few of them. But Judas was next to Christ and still betrayed Him. And they always were, these Judases. This is terrible, but it’s a fact…
I also wanted to tell you about Father Evgeniy, my great friend from a distant provincial town, in whose small two-room apartment, where there are “seven people in the shops”, some criminals, alcoholics, drug addicts are constantly “hanging around”… The priest and his always pregnant mother feed and water them, put them to bed, launder them, give them money (which We always don’t have enough ourselves) for treatment and travel. They deceive them, “throw them away,” but they still feel sorry for them and warm them up. Because they believe that evil can only be defeated with good. And there Markusha, a recidivist thief and a full-blown alcoholic, confesses, takes communion and joyfully sweeps the church yard. He and I are friends and in the summer, when I come to that small town, we drink tea together in Father Evgeniy’s lodge. And I can spend hours listening to the ex-bandit talk about his past. And that he thanks God every day that he, drunk and dirty, was not pushed away here…
And I also wanted to talk about Father Oleg, who persuaded Marinka, her drug-addicted neighbor who accidentally became pregnant, and who, according to doctors’ forecasts, would have given birth to an ugly and terminally ill child, not to have an abortion. Promising that he would adopt. Fifth, to his one-room apartment. And he would adopt her if she gave it up. But, after seeing the baby after the birth, however, he was all sick, who was given at most a month to live, she decided to leave him. In the evenings, he and the priest prayed together. And the baby survived. Always in need himself, Father Oleg helped her with money and got her a job. His mother was sitting with the baby. Marina gave up drugs a long time ago, got married, and gave birth to another girl. And now she and her husband Sergei are one of the most devoted parishioners of Father Oleg…
…I wanted to tell a lot of things, but I just opened my mouth when suddenly some woman ran into the two “gossips”. She apparently also came to the funeral service, because she was dressed in black.
–What are you saying! – she almost screamed.
— What’s wrong? – the ladies were surprised.
I was also surprised, because I was already accustomed to the fact that people “non-locals” who come to the church only for Baptisms, funeral services, the blessing of Easter cakes and for holy water, and now also for “forced” public conversations (and, to be honest, this is what all three looked like), as a rule, do not defend the Church, but enthusiastically criticize it.
– How can you talk about people if you don’t know them at all!
— Everyone knows this!..
The argument was growing, and I even began to fear that the ladies would fight, but by some miracle the dialogue “steered” into a peaceful direction. And in the end, the third woman told us all (and I also sat down to listen) her story, from which it became clear why she so fiercely rushed to the defense of the clergy.
***
Lyudmila (that was the name of the defender) was, as she herself said, “an average Soviet citizen from an average Soviet family.” Neither her parents nor she believed in God, and the priests were considered thieves and scoundrels, making millions of fortunes by befuddling gullible grandmothers.
– I remember our neighbors were husband and wife Pasha and Nina. They sometimes went to church and on Easter they always brought us a red egg out of friendship. Dad and mom took the egg, but behind their backs they called the neighbors UO — mentally retarded…
It is now, after the death of her husband, that Lyudmila settled in the capital. She was invited to join her company by old acquaintances as chief accountant. And so she spent her whole life in Siberia. She was born there, got married there, gave birth and raised a son and daughter there. Both received an excellent education, created their own families, and her daughter gave her her beloved granddaughter Mashenka.
Lyudmila and her husband also raised their children in the “average Soviet spirit,” and God was absent from their family. Although no. He was absent from the life of his son, who, according to the parents at that time, was a sane man.
— Daughter Vera was always, as we thought, a fool and became interested in Eastern philosophy, parapsychology, and then took her to different churches. But we quickly stopped this matter and returned it to its “average” course. The girl is obedient, she did not contradict us… Even when she got married. For the time being. And then Vera and her husband Igor met Father Maxim. Visiting some mutual friends.
“He somehow bewitched them, as I thought then,” recalls Lyudmila, “and they were baptized, joined the church, began to constantly go to his church, confess, receive communion and take Mashenka there, which was a blow for me. Now I’m even ashamed to remember how I behaved,” admits Lyuda. – She called every day, insulted, threatened to send both of them to a mental hospital. There was just some kind of demonic possession… At least my son-in-law is kind and calm. I endured it all. “Don’t worry, mother-in-law,” he said, “you’d better come in for some pies.”
***
And then one day Igor and Vera decided to bring Lyudmila to their church and introduce her to Father Maxim. To show that everything is normal, there are no UOs here, everyone is ordinary people. Well, somehow push her in this direction. There was just some kind of holiday at Sunday School, and Mashenka was supposed to perform after the Liturgy. This is how they were “lured.”
We wanted the best, but it turned out, as they say, as always.
“I didn’t like Father Maxim right away,” says Lyudmila. — Red-haired, fat, even immense, the “grouse” is red and shiny. “You need to eat less,” I decided. She constantly wipes away the sweat, sparse hairs stick to her skull…
Lyuda stood at the service for ten minutes at most. Just this time was enough for her to thoroughly study Father Maxim. And then she went to wander around the courtyard. I also studied the cars that were parked there.
“I remember the jeep,” he recalls, “big, cool.” “Probably a fat ass,” I decided.
I wandered and wandered and went into the temple again. Communion was just beginning there.
– I almost fainted! The priest puts the same spoon in everyone’s mouth. They brought the shaking grandmother under her arms. On one’s last legs. He’s coughing until he starts to cough. He gave it to her. Then to some sick boy. Arms and legs hang like whips, eyes are meaningless, saliva is dripping… Then to someone else. And then to my Mashenka. “Are you crazy,” I later say to Verka and her husband, “you can pick up anything here!” And they told me something about “grace falling”…
What finally and irrevocably convinced Lyudmila of the correctness of her atheistic views and dislike for cunning priests was how money was thrust into Father Maxim’s hand after the service, when he blessed someone’s car. And then one of the church aunts, having caught up with him, handed him a couple of envelopes with the words:
— They gave you some money here, father…
— I felt so disgusted that I didn’t even wait for my granddaughter to speak, I left,” says Lyuda. “I then told the children not to even mention their church anymore. And Father Maxim does nothing but drink, eat and rakes in money. And they, fools, are happy to try. They opened their mouths, hung their ears, fasted, bowed and brought their envelopes to him… These envelopes simply did not give me peace. I can’t sleep when I imagine how much money he has.
***
And a month later disaster struck. Vera, her husband and daughter went to the village to visit friends for a wedding.
“They called me from there, telling me how good it was there, beautiful, fun,” recalls Lyudmila. – Forest, lake, fresh air. And they threatened (jokingly, of course) to give up everything and move there forever. We decided to return in the evening. I felt something and persuaded me to wait until the morning. They didn’t listen.
The phone rang at night. Lyuda, half asleep, didn’t even understand at first what had happened. Noise, screams, Vera sobbing into the phone…
— Mom, Mashenka… Accident.
It was not in vain that Lyudmila asked her daughter and her husband not to rush. It started to rain at night. On a slippery road, the driver of a KamAZ truck lost control and flew into their car at full speed. Just where Masha was sitting. Vera and Igor surprisingly escaped with scratches…
When Lyudmila ran into the hospital, Igor was trying to revive his wife, distraught with grief. Father Maxim was praying right there on the sidelines. And the crippled and broken girl was dying. No, the doctors, of course, tried to save her, but the situation was hopeless.
“I remember someone came out in a white coat and said to prepare for the worst,” says Lyuda. – That the count is literally in minutes. And Mashenka won’t live until the morning… As if in delirium, I saw that the priest approached his howling daughter and son-in-law, said something sternly to them, almost shouted. They began to pray together. And I wanted to grab him by his red beard, shake him and yell: “Where is your God?!? Why does He allow this?!!!” But then for some reason I myself got up and approached them.
Through the veil of nightmare, Lyudmila heard unfamiliar and strange words:
«Already desperate with a fierce illness and approaching death, return, Christ, to your stomach and give comfort to those who cry, and all Your holy miracles…»
«The daughter of Jairus, who was already dead, because God gave life to her…»
«Let your glorious miracles reach us even now…»
«You have an abyss of mercy, O Christ God, hear the prayer of your servants…»
An abyss of mercy… Surprisingly, Lyudmila became calmer.
– What if this God really exists? — she thought. – And He really is merciful?.. And He will create a miracle?
Minutes passed, hours… morning came. The doctor came out.
“Later,” he waved to us.
“Hear the prayer of Your servants,” Luda thought.
…Lunch, evening…
Mashenka survived. She came to her senses. But doctors said that her spine was severely damaged and she would never walk again. However, this was already a miracle.
***
That evening Lyudmila, as always lately, was at Igor’s house with Vera. My daughter was cooking something in the kitchen, and she was studying with Mashenka.
The doorbell rang.
“Father Maxim, hello,” Lyuda heard her son-in-law’s voice.
Vera looked into the room and called her mother for dinner. But she refused. She still avoided the priest, although after that night’s prayer she felt calmer. But when Mashenka fell asleep, she still went into the kitchen.
The conversation was about some kind of clinic.
“They won’t help you in our city,” the priest said urgently. – We need to fly to Moscow. And there is my former parishioner, head. clinic. They deal with such children. And at the same time, relax and travel. Expensive? Money is not your concern.
Lyudmila looks, and Father Maxim takes out an envelope.
— Such a thick envelope, similar to the ones that the woman shoved at him at the yard and which did not let me sleep for a long time… I put it on the table and got ready to go home…
…Two years passed. Mashenka has traveled to Moscow more than once for treatment and rehabilitation. And every time Father Maxim helped them with this. And she slowly begins to get up. And then, God willing, he will go.
Now Lyudmila knows that he helps so many people — both children and adults. Although he himself has been in need of treatment for a long time. He has heart disease, blood pressure, diabetes. What is there? People donate money to him, and he gives it away. There has long been a joke in the church that it’s time to open a “Magic Envelope” charity foundation here…
“That’s it,” Luda finished her story. – I myself still don’t go to church often – it’s bad, I know. But I don’t judge priests anymore. Who knows what’s really there…
She fell silent. Those women and I were silent too. Well, what else can you say?
Elena Kucherenko
Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Investment in the Soul!
Orthodox stories from life
