“And no one will take your joy away from you... No one can take your joy away from you
Clouds flew by, miles flew by, words like water, intertwined into news and conversations, evaporated in the background. Against the backdrop of clouds saturated with blue reflections, the leaves were even yellower and still disease-ridden. They were glowing. Next to them stood black cinders, completely ruined by death. It’s also scary to be naked: you will leave sin, and it seems like a husk, just a worldly thing, but sometimes it seems that you yourself will disappear, and in the end you will not leave a stone unturned from your personality. How hard it is: can you reach such a depth in your soul, where the Kingdom of God is, where the angels sing, or will you remain in the dark, with monsters, a beggar, wandering along the barren horizon of the square with nothing. There is a fear of walking on waters. But it’s better to walk along the sea than to swarm in puddles. If you carry the Cross, the Resurrection will come.
And here we are in the temple asking that the Mother of God cover the ashes and ugliness of aphids, exhausted by our souls, with Her unfading beauty. With the readers, everyone calls: “Rejoice, even to me, naked of good deeds, who does not leave behind Your cover and grace. Our joy, cover us from all evil, from everything utter, from everything that is outside of Christ.”
The Liturgy is taking place. We drank Living Water. Banners, Procession of the Cross. And joy splashes beyond all measure. "Many years!" and the priest’s speech flows into the designation of the finale:
— Happy holiday, my dears, happy holiday! Come, take communion as often as possible, especially on the Intercession, you have the throne only once a year. The Lord said that if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have eternal life in you. What about our worries, our affairs? The Holy Fathers wrote that if you put all earthly blessings on one scale and the Liturgy on the other, the Liturgy will outweigh. Happy holiday, take communion!..
Then the warden of the parish added to the general brew of delight:
- Today is our patronal holiday. This sound is not so familiar to us: this is only the second time it has taken place here. And you bring a holiday to us from Chelny. On this day there should be joy in every house in our village, in every family. Because our church, which is peace, happiness, consolation, and tranquility for us, has such a triumph. How the heart and soul rejoiced at the Procession of the Cross is simply some kind of miracle. How are you, Father Dmitry, with your cries of “Let us pray to the Lord!” You warmed us to prayer, You raise us from the grave for joy with your voice. And the choir filled the entire temple with celebration and beauty.
- It was the grace of God that was given to you. And here’s a task for you: to preserve this spirit of prayer, this joy until the next Liturgy, until the next meeting,” concluded Father Alexander.
And I would like to end with the words of the Gospel: “But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” Amen.
Lyudmila PROMTOVA
Today, on the name day of Archpriest Gennady Nefedov, who recently reposed in the Lord, he is remembered by his colleagues, students and parishioners of the Epiphany Church in Kitay-Gorod, where the priest was rector for more than a quarter of a century.
I'll see you again
and your heart will rejoice,
and your joy
no one will take it from you
Cherish the opportunity to worship
, Rector of the Nikolo-Perervinsky Seminary
Father Gennady was born in 1942, his infancy occurred during the difficult war years. At school, and often in the courtyards, believing children then went through bullying and nagging from their peers and teachers. From his youth, Father Gennady was distinguished by a strong and deep faith.
Together with him we were subdeacons with His Holiness Patriarch Pimen. I don't remember him ever making a joke. He was always such a collected, principled, purposeful, energetic young man. He turned out to be a devout and zealous priest in his ministry. A true shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep(John 10, 11).
Father Gennady greatly valued the opportunity to worship and shared it with others, attracting young people. He could not simply recreate the temple and continue to quietly serve in it. This is how the Regency Singing Seminary, icon painting school, gymnasium, and teacher courses were born. How many priests, regents, singers, and icon painters, raised under the care of Father Gennady, are now working for the Church.
The walls are not that difficult to recreate. The main thing is human souls
The walls are not that difficult to recreate. The main thing is human souls. Father Gennady gave a lot of strength in this field of salvation. I did not go to God empty-handed.
Father Gennady and I were especially united by the Iverskaya Chapel, which stands on Red Square. Historically, since the 17th century it belonged to our Nikolo-Perervinsky monastery. Destroyed after the revolution, it was rebuilt in 1995 and assigned not to Pererva, but to the Epiphany Church of the former Epiphany Monastery, where Father Gennady was rector. The very next year, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, on the eve of the Easter celebration of the Iveron Icon, a prayer service was served in the chapel, and the list of the image, written by the students of the icon painting school founded by Father Gennady at his church, was solemnly conveyed to us with a huge religious procession. Now this is the main shrine of our St. Nicholas Cathedral.
We perform akathist singing in front of the Iveron Icon around the clock. Every day at 16.00 the akathist is read by the priest, and the rest of the time - by students of our seminary, parishioners, simply believers who need to pray strictly before this image. Miracles work from the icon. Those who suffer, for example, from drinking wine or smoking tobacco come to her. “Pray in front of the icon,” I tell them. - You can even stay overnight to pray. Our Lady will help! Without a doubt." Then they came up to me more than once and admitted: “That’s it! I received relief from my illness." Once, the Most Holy Theotokos even delivered a guy who prayed at the icon from theft. And before that, a successful person always had to steal something somewhere.
The Iverskaya icon, in prayerful memory of Father Gennady, now very firmly binds our once monasteries of St. Nicholas-Perervenskaya and Epiphany.
“He planted in my soul that which bore the fruits of the priesthood.”
My meeting with Father Gennady took place on autumn Kazan, November 4, 1981. At that time I was a quite successful young scientist, a former athlete, I had a family, an apartment, and an interesting job. My daughter was growing up. Live and rejoice, but what is joy without God? Everything went awry: the work no longer brought satisfaction, and the family boat began to leak... It was necessary to look for the meaning of life. And then the Lord sent Father Gennady to us.
I was not a militant atheist, but I did not like churchmen - this was reflected in the atheistic propaganda in the Pioneers and the Komsomol, where I was one of the activists - a member of the Komsomol committee of a large research institute. But despair took its toll, and on the recommendation of Olga Alexandrovna Veteleva, the daughter of Archpriest Alexander Vetelev, the priest’s spiritual father, I went to talk with him.
Father Gennady turned our hearts and eyes to God
Irina, my wife, and I saw a young priest, he was not yet 40 years old, with an amazing look of bottomless blue eyes that looked at us very carefully. I wanted to tell everything, without hiding anything, and we talked that time for more than three hours, completely opening our souls to him, without embellishing anything in our lives and without justifying ourselves in anything. A significant change took place inside us: if earlier we looked intently at each other, noticing everything, now we simply began to look in one direction - Father Gennady turned our hearts and eyes to God, and everything was completely different and just settled down.
Father, I remember, then listened to us patiently, and then concluded: “I don’t see you without each other, and no matter what decision you make, come to church.” We asked Father Gennady for spiritual guidance, and he did not refuse us. Soon he was transferred to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Bogorodskoye, where nearby was the house in which I was born, and, probably, as a child, my grandmother Olga, with whom we lived together, took me to this temple. May the kingdom of heaven rest with her! My superficial atheism, quickly cracking, began to crumble, and I realized that God was always there and led me to Himself through thorns all these many rebellious young years. And I got “ripped off” significantly on this journey, so that my first confession with the priest lasted for hours - how many indecent things had been done. Although for atheistic youth professing epicureanism: we only live once, this was in the order of things.
Then “working church days” began for our family. Sports and science taught me patience and work, but in the Church I felt like a beginner in everything. At first, I could not stand for more than a quarter of an hour during services - my whole body ached, and my mind melted. I asked the priest: “Why do grandmothers stand rooted to the spot, and I, an athlete, can’t stand it for more than ten minutes?” “Your muscle group is developed differently, but it is not suitable for static loads,” he answered.
As was typical for Soviet citizens, it seemed to me that priests were poorly educated people, and what should I, a candidate of sciences, learn from them? But the priest himself turned out to be a candidate of theology, having graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, where he later taught, and having gone through the army and the school of subdeaconry with Patriarch Pimen. He answered many difficult questions that had puzzled me for a long time.
Surprisingly, when I started reading spiritual literature, I began to better understand physical chemistry, which was the area of my professional activity. And in family and social life, the priest comprehended such depths that it sometimes caused me awe and reverence. He saw what was waiting for me around the corner in life situations. He never ascribed to himself clairvoyance, but he clearly possessed spiritual prudence even in his youth. He said: “If you come to me as Gennady Nikolaevich, then you will receive advice from Gennady Nikolaevich, and if you come to Father Gennady, having prayed earnestly to God, then I can say what I myself did not know and did not know, but simply by voicing it “What the Lord wants to convey to you.”
He spiritually saw beyond horizons that were foggy for us
We did not undertake any serious business without consulting with the priest. They went to him with their And looking for a blessing, but they left puzzled, with a completely unexpected solution to the problem, accepting it consciously, with complete trust in Father Gennady. He never insisted, but he knew how to push the boundaries, since he spiritually saw beyond horizons that were foggy for us. Only once in all 36 years of our communication did he show persistence, even categoricalness. It was the 1990s, no one thought about science, they thought more about trade, their daily bread. And at that time I headed a private scientific and technical center, which existed quite successfully, despite the devastation prevailing in the country. And so Father Gennady began to confidently recommend that I defend my doctoral dissertation: “Otherwise,” he says, “you’ll just die.”
I didn’t want to die, but it was impossible to do anything at that moment: my work was classified as “secret”, and it had many venerable opponents with respectable academic titles. But, through the prayers of the priest, I unexpectedly received a call from the institute and, informing me that the bar had been removed, offered to return in order to continue my scientific research! Recent opponents became assistants in the work on the monograph. As a result, I defended my doctoral dissertation and subsequently received the title of professor. I was awarded my Doctor of Science diploma on November 4, the day of the celebration of the autumn Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. There was a patronal feast day in our church at that time, Patriarch Alexy II served, and the priest not only congratulated me, but also introduced me to His Holiness. For a long time it was not clear why I needed this high status of Doctor of Sciences? But in recent years, it has become increasingly clear what Father Gennady saw even then: a degree saves you from many of life’s ups and downs and protects your scientific direction of work.
In 1990, the priest invited me to join the “twenty” of the new reviving community of the Epiphany Church. I was very happy about this and became an active member of the parish - I taught at Sunday school together with my wife Irina, both of us became part of the parish meeting. And in 1992, Father Gennady led me into the altar and blessed the altar server’s obedience.
Our eldest daughter married a young man, an altar boy at our church, who later became a priest. In many ways, the priest contributed to the conclusion of this marriage, which took place, no doubt, through his prayers, although he always denied that “he had nothing to do with it.” As time passed, our youngest son began to serve at the altar, and then our four grandchildren.
A big event in my life was the meeting with Father John (Krestyankin), to whom I went twice with Father Gennady to the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. The elder greeted us very kindly and with love. He had long spiritual conversations with Father Gennady, and he blessed me to continue doing science and helping Father in everything.
Our family has known Father Gennady for more than 35 years. A warm relationship developed between our families: we all went hiking together, went on pilgrimage trips by car, had intimate “bath gatherings” and simply visited each other. Father baptized all our grandchildren, consecrated our city and country houses, and performed the funeral service for our parents. Over all these years, Father taught us to look at life soberly, to try to seek God’s Providence in everything and to verify our thoughts with the advice of our confessor.
Father left us, but there is no feeling of hopelessness and inconsolable grief, but there is quiet sadness and faith that we will all be together again, Father will definitely meet us and take us to the heavenly abodes. The kingdom of heaven to you, dear Father Gennady! And I am very happy and consoled by the thought that little Gennady Nikolaevich Nefedov lives on earth - the father’s full namesake and grandson, the son of the priest Father Nikolai Nefedov and my godson.
Holiday need. Missionary arguments
Father Gennady loved to organize holidays. When I first came to the Church, I was captivated by this: it turns out that it can be so. It came from his heart, he wanted everyone to get together. On the days of the twelve feasts, a parish feast was organized. He poured himself a small glass and walked around literally everyone with it. There was so much joy and fun coming from him that he simply exuded it. Perhaps this property appeared in him over the years as a result of a deep prayerful experience of communion with God. After all, this power must be taken from somewhere in order to share it so generously with others? But he already had that joy about which it is said that he no one will take it from you(John 16:22).
At the festive table, the priest always addressed us with a short word. He related high spiritual meanings to our everyday life, so that we could be fully imbued with them. He tried to say something very warm. His family initially lived within the church tradition, but we, the parishioners, for the most part did not. Therefore, Father Gennady constantly sought to help us spiritualize our entire lives, right down to everyday life. He emphasized that there should be no division between life in the Church and outside.
“The meal is a continuation of the service,” he instructed. For a long time he himself headed the everyday parish meal. No one even sat down at the table until Father Gennady came and blessed the food. And we had to wait longer and longer, as the priest’s workload grew, until he began to give his blessing to start without him.
I remember that on my birthday, on my name day, they gave flowers to my father, and he distributed them to everyone who worked hard, cooking, setting tables, and cleaning. He himself went and distributed these flowers. It will still come and find you, like missing sheep(Luke 15:4) to personally give you this flower. It was so touching and dear.
For me, his image is associated precisely with joy. Joyful man!
When a new icon appeared in the church, Father Gennady was so happy! For me, his image is associated precisely with joy. Joyful man! At children's Christmas trees he was unusually cheerful, sparkling and even mischievous. The authority of the abbot did not suffer at all from this.
The Church of the Epiphany has always been exemplary. This is how a temple should be, where the dean presides. Many parishes looked up to the Epiphany Church.
When the sons of Father Gennady - the current fathers Nikolai, John and Andrey - were still young altar servers, the service was so graceful and well-coordinated in execution that it seemed that it could not have been better. None of them will ever make a mistake during the service, will not sneeze, will not cough - no unnecessary movements, and everything that happens during the service is strictly in unison. Everything was always so harmonious and beautiful that everything human during the sacred rite came to naught and did not reveal itself in any way. The service was strict but joyful. His services were also distinguished by perfect intelligibility and regularity: not quietly - not loudly, not quickly - not slowly - everything was as it should be.
We had a now deceased employee, Nikolai Markhaev. At first he had difficulty entering church life. And then one day he went to fix something, it seemed like a window, to Father Gennady’s house. He enters the priest’s room and sees a rug in the prayer corner with icons... And this rug is all fumbled, worn out in bows. How impressed he was then! He later told everyone about it. This played a big role in his churching and, there is hope, in the salvation of his soul.
“What will I tell Father Gennady in confession?!”
I once went to the village and there, going to my neighbors for water, I accidentally drowned a bucket in the well. It’s just that by that time the rope had apparently already frayed and broke. I think: “What should I do?” The neighbors had not been seen for a long time. Maybe let this bucket lie there? How will you get him out of there now? Came home. But the thoughts don’t leave me: “What will I say to Father Gennady in confession?! What will he answer me? I didn't sleep well all night. The next morning I got dressed and immediately went to get a bucket. Although he understood that it was almost impossible to get it, unless by pumping out all the water from the well. The only tools I had were a rope and a hook on it. However, not even 10 minutes had passed before I pulled out this bucket! I am sure that only through the prayers of Father Gennady I was able to do this.
Firstly, it was because of him that I decided on this adventure, otherwise, if it weren’t for this habit instilled in us by the abbot of feeling that there is sin, I would have given up on this sunken bucket, no one saw anything...
Secondly, a miracle really happened. I immediately hooked my hook into a small loop, 2 by 2 cm in diameter, that remained on the handle of the bucket from the broken rope. I didn’t even pick it up by the handle!
Our grandson was born very sick, and I didn’t know who to pray to, in front of which icon. Everyone just gave different advice. I addressed this question to Father Gennady. He thought for a very long time, prayed, and then said: “Pray before the icon of the Mother of God “Healer.” Do you know this icon? So pray in front of her.” I bought a small icon and began to pray. And after quite a bit of time, I found a large icon of the “Healer” - someone simply put it on the landing, as if the Lord Himself had sent it through the priest’s prayers. It really amazed me then.
During classes, I remember, the priest told us that elementary discipline is very important for spiritual life: if you get up to pray, then every day at the same time. When someone asked him something in his classes, the first thing Father Gennady did was return the question: “What does the Gospel say about this?” In recent years, he has instructed us to read the peaceful litany several times during the day. He lamented: “No one prays at the service. It is necessary, he taught, to repeat these words together with the deacon at the service. And throughout the day, mentally return to them several times.”
Through it, Heaven itself looks at us
I recognized Father Gennady in 1992, when I entered the icon painting school at the Epiphany Church. For me, his appearance is associated with two concepts - intelligence and joy.
My first vivid impression of the priest of those times was his smart, attentive, keen eyes, but the most striking thing was their rare color - an unusually rich sky blue hue. I noticed this during his sermons, when with inspired words he revealed to us the secrets of the Heavenly Kingdom and the path to it. Father had the habit of raising his eyes up to the sky during a sermon, and it seemed that the heavens were reflected with their blueness in his eyes. Sometimes it seemed that Heaven itself was looking at us through it...
The second vivid impression is the joy of his spirit. At that time I was a furious neophyte, a “cool monastery” who had read ancient patericons, tales of repentant lament and severe asceticism. And my father taught catechism classes for us back then, if I’m not mistaken. And one day in class he told us what a Christian should be. And what? Joyful and prayerful, according to the Apostle Paul (cf. 1 Thess. 5:16), because joy in the Lord lifts our prayers to Heaven. He gave us the example that joy is like warm air that lifts a balloon up. If the air is cold, then the balloon will not take off, but if it is heated and it becomes warm, then only then will the balloon fly to the sky. Until this moment I had been holding back, but then it exploded! I said passionately: “The Holy Fathers commanded us to cry for our sins, and you are telling us about some kind of balloon!..”
Father, looking at me, immediately understood everything and did not object to this, but, smiling slyly, began to tell another story - about the bride. “The beautiful bride is waiting for her wonderful groom,” the priest began, “and the wait lasts a long time... And here he comes!..” Everyone held their breath... “And the bride, standing up to meet the groom, suddenly hesitated and said to him: “Wait a little, now I I’ll go and see how much dirty laundry has accumulated...” Then everyone laughed in unison, including me, suddenly realizing the wrongness of my position, and, anticipating an ugly outcome of the event, I waved my hands: “Father, I got it, I got it, that’s enough!” But the priest was relentless and told this sad story...
What a wonderful lesson he gave me then! How grateful I am to him! And how lucky we are that it was he, our dear father Gennady, who taught us the basics of Orthodoxy!
The question related to the joy of Christ is relevant, and perhaps especially now, when the Apocalypse is unfolding before our eyes.
Let us rejoice in Christ our Savior, no matter what!
Photos by prot. Gennady Nefedova - Alexey Ososkov
“So now you also have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. And on that day you will not ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” - John. 16:22-24.
The disciples sincerely loved Jesus, and therefore were saddened by His speeches about His imminent departure. They did not fully understand what He was talking about, and therefore their sadness was quite natural. Jesus hastens to warn them that the day will come when He will see His friends again and then no one will be able to take away from them the joy of communicating with Him. Jesus immediately clarifies that they have the opportunity to have perfect joy, i.e. a joy that nothing can darken or diminish - this joy is imperishable, for it has an eternal nature.
Although a person’s life on earth is very limited in time, his soul is eternal and, according to a person’s earthly choice, inherits either eternal torment in hell, or the eternal joy of life with God, which the inhabitants of heaven already have, i.e. inhabitants of heaven, constantly in the glory of God (the presence of God). Perfect joy is an integral part of the state of the celestials, since they are never separated from the Holy God who created them, whose greatness and mercy they constantly contemplate.
This is precisely the basis of the joy of every believing person saved by the blood of Jesus Christ - the joy of salvation from the power of sin and, as a consequence of this, the opportunity to be in communion with his Savior, for sin, which previously stood as a wall between sinful man and the Holy God, has been removed.
The Apostle Paul tells us that we should always rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always; And again I say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). “Rejoice always,” he elaborates in his letter to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:12). This joy does not depend on external causes and circumstances and is constantly replenished from the inexhaustible Source of Eternal Life.
And yet it must be admitted that there is something that can deprive a believer of this perfect joy.
The first reason for loss of joy is the absence of prayer or its insufficiency. As we have already said, the cause of joy is fellowship with our Savior. Following Paul's words "rejoice always" comes "pray without ceasing." If we do not pray or pray rarely and little, then, accordingly, we deprive ourselves of the fullness of joy: we receive little because we ask little.
The second reason for the loss of perfect joy is sin. Yes, the same sin that was removed from us through faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ at our repentance. From the Word of God we know that “whoever is born of God does not sin” because he is delivered (free) from the power of sin. But if we are not awake, do not guard ourselves and our salvation, then we can (unintentionally or intentionally) commit sin. If you have lost joy, you should check yourself: is there any untruth in your life. Sin, whether open or hidden, blocks the channel that connects us to the source of joy.
We understand that sin is not the norm of life for a Christian; on the contrary, it is unnatural. Thank God that all spiritually regenerated people, filled with the Holy Spirit, have the power to live holy lives and abide in the perfect joy that Jesus speaks of.
Our Lord, we humbly come to You in prayer: in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, lead us through this life until your coming to Heaven, keep us pure, be our Guide and Comforter, so that nothing can disturb the perfect joy of our stay in You. Glory to You and Your Son, now and forever. Amen.
This is joy: to live with Christ here on earth;
It is a joy to be there with Him in the heavenly land.
Lips cannot describe this joy;
This joy will always remain!
“Let nothing take away your hope”
The purpose of life for each of us is to become perfect and holy, to be true children of God and to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. But let's think: maybe for the sake of our present life we are depriving ourselves of a future life, maybe for the sake of everyday worries and worries we are neglecting our main goal?
Fasting, vigil and prayer in themselves do not bring the desired fruits, because they are not the goal of our life, but only a means to achieve it.
Adorn yourself with virtues. Learn to cut off passions from your soul. Cleanse your heart from all filth and keep it pure, so that the Lord will come and dwell within you, so that the Holy Spirit will fill you with holy gifts.
My beloved children, all your diligence and care should be focused on this. This must continually be your main goal and aspiration. It is appropriate to pray to God about this. Ask the Lord daily, but inside your heart, not outside it. And when you find Him, stand with fear and trembling, like the Cherubim and Seraphim, for your heart has become the throne of the Most High.
But to find the Lord, you need to humble yourself even to the ground. For the Lord, being ashamed of the proud, loves and visits the humble in heart.
If you fight this good fight, the Lord will strengthen you. In this battle we will face our weaknesses and shortcomings. This is a mirror of our spiritual state. He who does not fight this battle will never know himself.
Beware of even small falls. If through your own inattention you have committed a sin, do not fall into despair, but rather perk up in spirit and fall before God, who has the power to lift you up.
Each of us has deep-seated weaknesses and passions, many of which are hereditary. You can’t snatch them out right away and you can’t defeat them with laziness and despondency. Only patience, diligence, perseverance, care and attention can help eradicate them.
Excessive sadness conceals pride. Thus, it is harmful and dangerous for us. Often it is inspired by the devil, trying to make us stop fighting.
The path leading to perfection is long. Pray to God that he will grant you the strength to patiently accept falls and get up quickly, and not stand, like children, in the place where you fell, crying and sobbing inconsolably.
Watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation. Do not despair if you constantly fall into old sins. Many of them are naturally strong and have become a habit. But with time and diligence they too are overcome. Let nothing take away your hope!
From the series of brochures “The Voice of the Fathers” of the Paraklitou Monastery, Oropos, Greece
Translation from Modern Greek: editors of the online publication “Pemptusia”.
