The relic of the church is the Pochaev Icon above the royal doors
—How did the authorities turn a blind eye to such a “hotbed of religious opium”?
—When a new wave of persecutions broke out in the 1960s, the authorities decided to close down one of the churches in the area, and their choice fell on Malye Yasyrki. But the sisters and the parishioners stood up for the church. Nun Akulina (Opevalova) and several parishioners plucked up the courage and travelled to Moscow. When Mother Akulina returned, the local authorities received an order from Moscow not to touch the church. However, after some time, they decided at least to take down the bells. Imagine: people gathered around the church, there was a tense hush, a tractor was driven up, they tied ropes to a bell, pulled—and then loud female crying resounded from heaven! Everyone was terrified. After a while, the atheists calmed down, saying that it had only seemed to them. They tried again—and again the crying was heard. When the crying rang out for the third time, everyone fled in horror. The church in Yasyrki was spared after that, but the church in Yacheyka was closed. However, they nevertheless hit the bell tower, after which it began to tilt and is now in an emergency condition—we have to prop it up with poles to prevent it from falling.
—As a rule, many relics are kept in churches that were not closed during the Soviet era. Are there any specially venerated icons in Malye Yasyrki?
—Yes. However, when Fr. Vasily passed away, the church was closed for a short time. Then it was reopened, but there had been periods when no services were celebrated in it because of the lack of a priest. And during these periods, the church was robbed. Many icons from Mt. Athos that had been kept in it were stolen. Unfortunately, they were never found. There are only three Athonite icons left: the “It Is Truly Meet”, “Quick to Hear” ones, as well as the Pochaev Icon above the royal doors, which is lowered on ropes—it was brought from the Pochaev Lavra by Fr. Vasily. It’s even surprising that they weren’t stolen.
The patronal Feast
—How long have you been serving at the Church of the Archangel Michael in Malye Yasyrki?
—In 2017 I was sent to this church to understand if it was possible to do something. We started looking, estimating and checking. When everything was washed clean, we did not get discouraged, but we faced the question: where should we start? Everything was leaking. When it starts raining, our old parishioners run with basins and buckets to catch the rain water. I said, “You’ll save the floors, but you won’t save the ceiling and the paintings.” We began to serve and repair the church on our own, as best we could. The refectory has already been reroofed. We mow the area around the church and tidy it. At the same time, we are restoring the inscriptions on the graves around the church, working in archives and looking for information. There are seventeen schemanuns buried around our church along with other nuns, and we have not explored everything yet. The Archangel Michael Orthodox Fund helped us restore the well by the church, where water used to be drawn for services and where the Blessing of the Waters used to be performed. The log wellhouse has become dilapidated, and the water has become undrinkable—it is polluted. We wanted to restore the well to its original state, but specialists arrived, assessed the situation and said that it was impossible. In the end we drilled a new well and reconstructed the chapel above the original well on our own with funds donated by people from across Russia through the Archangel Michael Fund.
The tombstone of Schema-Hieromonk Tikhon (Zolotukhin)
—Do you have many helpers? Do locals help you? As far as I know, you do lots of things on your own: level the ground on a tractor, rebuild the chapel above the well…
—There are those who help me, thank God, but there are not many of them. There are only seven local residents left in Malye Yasyrki, and three of them are paralyzed. Our current parishioners come mostly from neighboring villages and even from afar. Although the church stands almost in the forest and the road is over a mile away, their number is growing. We serve on Sundays and the great feasts—I live mainly at the monastery near the town of Borisoglebsk about forty-four miles away from Malye Yasyrki, because there is still nowhere to stay overnight in the village. Thank God, people from the surrounding villages have the desire to save the church. But how can those who receive a tiny pension or salary help? I explained to them: “If you can’t help financially, help with your work. Water the flowers, clean up for the feast and do any other possible work.” Before Pascha we all plastered the church fence together, washed and repaired the church and its territory. Unfortunately, we still have to do everything with our own hands.
Fr. Anthony building a chapel above the well by the church —How did you learn everything required for repairing the church?
—When I lived in the world, I learned many professions as a self-taught person. I studied to be a tractor driver and a driver, and I mastered the specialties of crane operator, excavator operator, welder, bricklayer and many others myself. I enjoy learning something new. Later all this came in handy for me in the restoring the church.
—What is the state of the church building in Malye Yasyrki?
—Unfortunately, it is in a very deplorable state. If you look at its photos and videos, it will seem to you that everything is fine. But on site an understanding person will see how sad the situation is. The sanctuary has detached itself from the main part of the church so much that you can put your hand through it. In winter snow fell through this crack into the sanctuary—now we have filled it with improvised materials. It is cold, damp, and draughty in the church. Our singers in the choir freeze and catch colds. There is no heating here—only electric radiators. There used to be a boiler room here, but it has long since gone. Timber is rotten in many places so we have to replace the log crowns and the cladding. The crosses are about to collapse. The bell tower is tilting. We conducted a survey, and it turned out that the bell tower above the quadrangle must be fully reconstructed: the roof and the rotten walls should be dismantled and rebuilt. The Archangel Michael Fund has raised funds for timber and is now collecting money for metal for reroofing. I humbly ask everyone to take part in the fundraising for us to carry out the work before the bell tower collapses. When I was tackling the restoration, none of my acquaintances believed that I would succeed. But I believe that the Lord, the Archangel Michael, and the Mother of God will help us. We will pray, and everything will be sorted out. There will be people who will help us financially, and we will slowly save the church from destruction. That’s how it all happens.
The priest/builder —You became a priest in 1995 and over this time you have already restored six churches. How have you managed to do it?
—The problems were more or less the same as in Malye Yasyrki. People who came responded, and everything worked out. Someone was baptized here, someone else’s parents and relatives lived here… They told their friends about the church, and they were inspired and also helped. In the early 2000s, it was easier financially, and people from across the former Soviet Union responded to our requests: someone sent a penny, someone else came to help us, and so on... Donations came even from abroad: from Israel, Italy, Belgium, etc. And now we have the same principle: donors send us as much as they can. Some even send 100 rubles. Thus, some amount is gradually accumulated, and we can buy something. So we are slowly restoring the church with people’s help.
—Does it feel that village life begins to change when an active church appears?
—Of course! Young people change. When I arrived in one of the villages, I found children aged twelve and thirteen walking around drunk! I was shocked. I had to talk to them, explaining what awaited them in the future. They heeded my advice and began to attend church. And then the picture became absolutely different before my very eyes. Some are already married and have children. They are grateful for that conversation. In any village where church services begin, life changes: prayer works wonders—people are transformed.
—Do inhabitants of Malye Yasyrki and the surrounding area preserve their former love for the church and the traditions?
—In 2017, when I first came here and people heard that there would be a service in Malye Yasyrki, the church was packed. People were even standing outside, and I heard confessions for five and a half hours! Now in Malye Yasyrki I give unction to the remaining elderly residents, give them Communion at home, and young people travel to services from other villages and from far afield. Many come for the first time just out of interest and then do not forget our church. We now have between twenty and twenty-five parishioners at Sunday services. Most worshippers gather on the feast of the Pochaev Icon. Unfortunately, there are fewer of them from year to year—those who remember the old life in Malye Yasyrki, when a real pilgrimage was made on this day, are dying out. Last year we had one schemanun and one nun from the old community, while earlier up to seventy people would come from it. Under Fr. Vasily on this feast the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God would be lowered from the royal doors, as is customary in Pochaev. And there were many pilgrims: they rode on horse carts and walked to the feast from afar as in the olden days.
—How do you see the future of the church in Malye Yasyrki?
—The nuns I found alive in 2017 said that there was a prophecy that monastic life would be revived here. Now there are people who would like to live at the church of the Archangel Michael and lead a spiritual life. But unfortunately, there is nowhere to settle here at the moment; everything is dilapidated and leaking. And we have a dream and a plan to revive the community. All the conditions for this are available in Malye Yasyrki. But first of all we need to save the church.
The church community, headed by Igumen Anthony
