She prayed, begged, and suffered much for his sake. And the miracle did happen… After so many tears and sleepless nights… Her eyes were heavy with sleep, her legs grew weak from sorrow and weariness, but, standing before the icon of the Mother of God, Elena continued to whisper with her last strength: “Rejoice, O Mother of God, the Inexhaustible Cup that quenches our spiritual thirst.” And She interceded for her husband who was about to perish. Oleg, whose drinking sank him completely, gave up drinking. Overnight. After he venerated the miracle-working icon of the Most Holy Mother of God.
Elena Vakhrusheva
These events unfolded at the beginning of the twenty-first century. I met the Vakhrushevs ten years later. And all that time I knew them, not a drop of alcohol has passed Oleg’s lips. I remember how I visited them for the first time, in a small township of Sokolskoye of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. A small two-room apartment, bunk beds and icons in the icon corner. There were a lot of children’s books, including the Orthodox ABC’s, the Life of the saints with colorful illustrations, and also The Joy of Pascha—a collection of stories and poems by Russian writers.
Illuminated iconostasis As the family gathered in the evening, mom would read and draw with her kids, while their daddy worked with wood. He was busy making homemade iconostases, icon-cases, folding icons, and models of churches. His handicrafts were selling like hot cakes at craft fairs, and some even went abroad.
His models really impressed me then. They were made with precision, using the correct proportions; they weren’t some imaginary churches—these were miniatures of real structures. Even the interior was as it should be—icons, analogions, even candle stands. Sometimes Oleg made illuminated iconostases. Pale, calming light radiates from behind the icons and it seems as if they are give off light themselves.
Oleg Vakhrushev is a musician by profession. He’s very talented. He can play the piano, guitar, accordion, balalaika, double bass, and so many other instruments that it is easier to say what he can’t play… He met Elena during his studies at the Ivanovo music college. She was studying in the city of brides (that was Ivanovo’s nickname before.—Trans.) to be a public events producer.
Elena’s parents worked in the Ivanovo Circus, so Lenochka traveled with them all over the country, and her family was often invited to appear on television. She used to be very proud of this fact. Her father taught her acrobatics and balancing acts, saying, “This will be your livelihood.” Indeed, when Elena got married and came to live in Sokolskoye, there was no job for her as a producer, so she began to teach a circus art class at a local art center. Her husband worked at the community center.
Then they celebrated a happy event—their daughter was born. It was followed by sorrow. Oleg took to drinking. Life was hard during the tumultuous 1990s, and to earn money, he began to perform in restaurants and at dance events. And so it all has simply spun out of control…
Healing
Oleg couldn’t go a day without alcohol. Kicked out of the community center, he found another job only to be fired soon again. It got to the point where he started working at a morgue, and the reason why he held on there was because they offered him a 100-gram daily ration of vodka.
Caring for a young child, no money to live on, her husband a drunkard… Out of utter hopelessness, Elena started going to church
Caring for a young child, no money to live on, her husband a drunkard… From utter hopelessness, Elena started going to church. She ended up attending a Sunday school for adults organized in Sokolskoye by Rev. Fr. Michael Akinfin, at that time the rector of the Ascension Church in the Tsykino village.
“People came there for various reasons,” Lena recalled. “Some came simply out of curiosity. Others, like me, came there grieving. Batiushka said then: “To help others, you should begin with yourself. Try to live righteously, to take communion, and to pray.” So, I decided for myself—no matter what happens, I will do as I was told. And so I took to reading the akathist to “The Inexhaustible Cup” Icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. No matter what…”
Oleg Vakhrushev with children
She read it for a whole year. Oleg continued to drink and it seemed like there was no end to this nightmare. But then, one day… Oleg was lying at home during one of his awful drinking sprees, the TV working in the background. Lena was quietly reading the akathist. Suddenly they saw a news story that the “The Inexhaustible Cup” icon of the Most Holy Mother of God was being brought to Moscow from Serpukhov. That very same icon, its original image. Somehow, this news really hit a nerve with Oleg. He suddenly told his wife that he wanted to venerate this icon.
“I began to rush about and ran to Father Michael,” said Elena, “asking him to take Oleg to Moscow, but batiushka (truly, by Divine Providence!) was already planning a trip there. Oleg was in a deplorable state… But he still took him along. All the time my husband was away, I prayed. Dasha, my daughter, also prayed and batiushka also prayed while on the road. As he arrived in Moscow, he asked all priests he knew to pray for him as well. Oleg made it on time to venerate the icon. On the very last day, just before it was returned to its home. And then he immediately traveled back home... My husband told me later: ‘I went through hell…’ He was tormented by demons all the way home. It’s known as the ‘delirium tremens,’ but in fact it was an attack by demons… They knew that this fellow was about to escape from their clutches. He he was seeing mafiosi everywhere in his delirium, as if he was about to be killed. When he arrived home, he said, ‘I am here to say goodbye.’ My daughter and I got so scared that we locked all the windows and doors and began to pray right away. But he was thrashing around in delirium. And then suddenly I saw a completely different person in front of me. As if one thing had separated from another… He cried all day long. After that he was serene the whole week.”
Oleg Vakhrushev on the bell-tower “When we were travelling to Moscow, it wasn’t simply scary—it was pure terror!” Oleg was sharing his side of the story. “I saw all kinds of visions—devilish tricks. We arrived at the Danilov Monastery (the icon was staying there) and entered church just as the akathist was being read. I read a prayer and venerated the icon... I felt nothing special at that moment. Nothing, except, zap!—and suddenly there was dead silence. I am not sure whether it was inside or outside. I was coming home by myself, as batiushka stayed for some business in Moscow. As I was going home, all kinds of horrific things started to happen again, the demonic temptations. It was truly spine-chilling, terrifying, infernal… When I read a prayer it would relax its hold for a while. And then it would start again. Back home, everyone knelt down, while Alyona (an endearing name for Elena.—Trans.) started praying. I don't remember how I fell asleep. And when I woke up, it was all over! I felt that I had become a different man. And I will never touch vodka again. It’s too terrifying.
The day when tearful Oleg Vakhrushev was pleading God to grant him forgiveness for everything he had done in his life became a turning point in the life of his family. It was then that Oleg, Elena and little Dasha became a true Orthodox family. Life with God became their life. It was even hard to imagine that only a few months ago Lena was forced to buy her husband a bottle of alcohol herself so that he wouldn’t stand in the way of having their apartment blessed.
That was when he began to build wooden iconostases and later learned blacksmithing. He gifted his first bouquet of roses to his Alyona. The flowers were like real ones, only made of iron
Their life changed completely. They began to attend church, go to confessions and receive communion. Oleg became a bell ringer in the Ascension Church. He was ringing bells like he lived and breathed it!
That was when he began to build wooden iconostases and later learned blacksmithing. He gifted his first bouquet of roses to his Alyona. The flowers were like real ones, only made of iron. Later on, he also created church utensils, wrought iron fences and stairs. It turned out he had gifted hands!
One of the forged iron products He and Fr. Michael became really good friends with. One day they went with him to the Tver region to the Ascension Orshin Monastery. Dasha was in the third grade at the time. When they returned, she pleaded to go there for good. But her parents allowed her to go to the monastery only when she turned twelve. She already felt like a misfit in the world.
Dasha was gone, but the Lord blessed them with more children. Vasilissa (with two “s,” just like it’s written in the menologion), Eudoxia, Eupraxia, Juliana and Tikhon were born into the Vakhrushev family. When I met Oleg and Lena, Tisha (endearing for Tikhon.—Trans.) was about two years old. A special, bright joy lingered inside as the result of our meeting. It was the joy to see them as another assurance of God's power and help from the Mother of God.
Tikhon
A new life, once again
Years passed. With a lump in my throat, I dialed Oleg’s number. I came to find out (even though there no is such thing as chance with God) that Lena had died.
“It was cancer,” he said. “We fought with it for two years... And, you know what, we had so much help coming from everywhere! And we felt the Lord was so near like He has never been before… Baitushka came to administer her Holy Communion every day.”
Now and then, Oleg still makes wooden church models
In 2017, Oleg was left a widower with five young children on his hands. But God didn’t forsake him. At first, he was gifted with his own house. Oleg assisted at the construction of Fr. Michael’s house, but it was never finished. Batiushka was assigned to serve at another diocese, so he left and gave his unfinished home over to the Vakhrushevs. Oleg Vladimirovich is still working on it, getting it into shape. At present, he rarely finds time to create church models, miniature iconostases, or metal roses—taking care of his children and building their home takes too much time. Meanwhile, his grown “nestlings’ have already started to leave the family nest.
Juliana Vasilissa recently got married and moved away; Eudoxia studies at a local college and to become a kindergarten teacher. Eupraxia entered a choir department at the St. Nicholas-Solba Monastery, while Juliana is about to graduate from the ninth grade and is also preparing to enter the Solba college. Not a single concert in Sokolsky goes without Ulya (an endearing name for Juliana.—Trans.) and Tikhon Vakhrushev. They are the laureates of the international children’s music competitions. Juliana plays trumpet and piano, while Tikhon—well, what instrument can’t he play? According to official music school records, he plays piano, trumpet and accordion, but he plays many other instruments as well As for the eldest daughter, Nun Mardaria, she was sent from her Orshin Monastery to serve her obedience at the Patriarchal metochion in Peredelkino. She’s been there for a few years now.
Nun Mardaria The children are their father’s joy. One can only imagine what life was like for him after Lena’s death. But the Lord arranged it all. Some time later, Oleg remarried. The daughter of his second wife labored in Orsha along with Nun Mardaria and so they met through their daughters. Not long ago, Galina was in the hospital, and, when she returned home, Ulya and Tikhon ran up to her: “Mommy, Mommy, why have you been away for so long?” It means, everything’s good at home, too. And again, joy, bright as the sun, envelops the soul…
“I pray before the ‘Inexhaustible Cup’ every day,” said Oleg Vladimirovich. “She is a part of our iconostasis, in the icon corner. I conclude my evening prayer rule with the prayer to Her. I also carry a small copy of it along with my documents. Because of this holy icon, not only was I healed, but I also found a living miracle and true happiness—my faith.”
From left to right: Nun Eve—a visitor from the Orsha Monastery, Galina—Oleg’s spouse, her daughter Nun Paisia, Vasilissa, Eudoxia, Tikhon, Juliana, Oleg, Euphraxia
