June 3 is the feast-day (the uncovering and translation of relics) of St. Moisei (Moses) of Ufa, the patron-saint of the Ural lands. On the night of June 2–3, 2002, his relics were uncovered and translated to St. Sergius Cathedral in the city of Ufa.1 St. Moisei of Ufa was included in the Synaxis of the Saints of Ufa, which is celebrated on June 3 as well.
Not long ago, the Lord vouchsafed me to venerate the relics of this saint whom I had known since childhood—all my life this saint’s icon, given by my ever-memorable grandmother, has been in the holy corner of our home.
I venerated this amazing saint’s relics for the first time at the Cathedral of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Ufa, and for the second time at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in the same city, where his holy remains were recently translated.
Cathedral of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Ufa
Archimandrite Moisei served as a priest for about forty years under the godless Soviet regime. His secular name was Nikolai Ivanovich Chigvintsev. He was born on July 27 (according to the old calendar), 1913, in the village of Bobrovka (now within the Troitsk district of the Chelyabinsk region) to a peasant family.
After Nikolai, his parents, Ivan and Eudoxia Chigvintsev, had two sons and a daughter, but Nikolai was not like them in character but was distinguished by his thoughtfulness and lack of worldly sense. He loved to read the Holy Gospel, the Lives of the Saints, learned the morning and evening prayers by heart, and often went to church.
In 1928, when Nikolai turned fifteen, he secretly left home for Ufa, where, as he had heard, there were Orthodox churches that had not yet been closed by the Soviet Government.
In Ufa, the young man came to the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Here on the church porch he met Alexander Dudinov, who was then seventeen. He came from the village of Nagaevo near Ufa. In the future, Alexander would become Hieroschemamonk Aaron. The two young men became friends, and their friendship continued until Archimandrite Moisei’s death.
To make a living, Nikolai Chigvintsev got a job as a furnace stoker at the Ufa station of the Kuibyshev Railway Line. Then he became a train driver’s assistant.
He devoted all his spare time to the St. Sergius Church in Ufa. In 1930–1936, the Soviet Government closed all the churches in Ufa, and tried to close the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. To accomplish this, an unbearable tax was imposed on the church and its clergy. But most of Ufa’s priests and deacons were in prisons at the time.
Monk Xenophon, who had come to Ufa from Mt. Athos, prevented the closure of St. Sergius Church, and began serving there as a priest. Together with Nikolai Chigvintsev, he started building stoves in private homes of Ufa residents, and sacrificed all the money he earned to pay the tax for the church. Thus, the life of St. Sergius Church did not stop.
In 1936, Nikolai Chigvintsev was drafted into the Soviet Army. He was sent to the Far East.
It was a hard time for the religious Nikolai, as the commanders and fellow soldiers did not acknowledge the Lord and never prayed. A disciplined soldier, Chigvintsev managed to fulfill his official duties and perform the prayer rule. He always read prayers in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening. And when he had free time, he took the Gospel out of his small suitcase and read it. His fellow soldiers looked at Nikolai in perplexity. One day, while Chigvintsev went to drill, the Gospel disappeared from his suitcase. Having discovered the loss of his priceless Book, Private Nikolai Chigvintsev approached the commander and said, “I won’t fall in until you return the Gospel.” Coming back to the barracks, he lay down on the bunk, stopped talking to everyone, and refused to take food and drink. He risked his life in such a struggle, because it was 1937. People were imprisoned for trifles, accused of any slander, and sentenced to death without trial. And now a private soldier refused to obey his commander! He could have been shot.
But the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos, to Whom Nikolai Chigvintsev prayed fervently throughout his protest, saved him. A general from the headquarters arrived at the barracks and spoke to Private Chigvintsev for a long time. Then he sent Chigvintsev to the infirmary for examination, after which Nikolai was discharged and sent back to Ufa. So he served in the army for only one year.
At the Ufa military enlistment office, where Private Nikolai Chigvintsev arrived from the Far East, they examined his hospital documents and gave him a referral to a mental hospital.
In the Ufa mental hospital, the attending physicians did not find any mental disorders in Nikolai Chigvintsev. On the contrary, Nikolai helped the orderlies take care of the seriously ill, helped kitchen workers do the washing-up and take food to the wards, and helped the janitor clear snow outside the hospital. But the medical commission was afraid to write a certificate that Chigvintsev was absolutely sane, and issued a certificate to the Ufa military enlistment office stating that N. I. Chigvintsev was mentally ill. That certificate was why Nikolai Ivanovich Chigvintsev was not conscripted into the army in 1941, although he was twenty-eight when World War II broke out.
A photograph of St. Moisei of Ufa After his discharge from the mental hospital, Nikolai Chigvintsev worked in many places, suffering many hardships, but continued to attend the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Ufa. He considered himself unworthy to pray inside the church and stood in the vestibule or in the porch. The church rector, Fr. Dimitry Logachevsky, who had long noticed this strange man, spoke about him with Archbishop John (Bratolyubov), who blessed Nikolai Chigvintsev to write intercession lists for health and repose and submit them to the altar. In fact, many people kept flocking to the church (the only active church in the area) not only from all over Ufa, but also from the surrounding villages. Nikolai accepted Vladyka’s blessing as a gift from God. He entered the altar, where he would bring intercession lists for health and repose, with great awe and fear of God.
In 1945, Archbishop John (Bratolyubov), who then ruled the Diocese of Ufa, saw in the humble Nikolai Chigvintsev a true saint of God. Domineering and strong-willed by character, Vladyka had served eleven years in prison for his faith in God, but had not renounced Christ. He saw that Nikolai longed for monastic life, and after a few weeks he invited him to take monastic vows.
According to the stories of his spiritual children, Nikolai had been clairvoyant even before serving in the church. He walked the streets of Ufa in bast shoes, a long rustic caftan, girdled with a sash, wearing a felt hat, and with a wooden cross on his chest, which had been given to him by some stranger who had once come to St. Sergius Church. Local boys teased Nikolai, calling him “blessed” and “fool”, throwing stones and sticks at him. But Nikolai bore the bullies very calmly and endured everything patiently.
On August 19, 1945, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Nikolai Chigvintsev, an acolyte at St. Sergius Cathedral in Ufa, was tonsured a monk with the name Moisei by His Eminence John (Bratolyubov). On the same day, Monk Moisei (Chigvintsev) was ordained hierodeacon. A month later, in September 1945, he became a hieromonk and was assigned to serve at St. Sergius Cathedral as a reader with the duties of a priest.
Those around him believed that Hieromonk Moisei was otherworldly. He was meek, humble and gentle, and was continuously in a prayerful state. His spiritual children whom he counselled did not always understand him, because he often spoke in parables. He was understood only by those to whom the Lord Himself revealed the meaning of his instructions. Even some clergymen did not understand that there was a high level of spirituality behind the asceticism and feigned foolishness of this monk.
Hieromonk Moisei kept all the fasts strictly. He never ate meat, and he didn’t eat anything during the first week of Lent and Holy Week. On non-fasting days, he ate only once a day, at three in the afternoon. His food was very simple: rye bread, potatoes, sauerkraut, cucumbers and kvass. When his spiritual children and parishioners would bring him food, he would give it away to others.
Fr. Moisei loved to read the works by Sts. Basil the Great and Seraphim of Sarov. Valeria Rzhevskaya, a parishioner of St. Sergius Church, recalled: “Father Moisei looked like St. Seraphim—just as bent. And he was very simple. He always carried a hatchet in his belt, like St. Seraphim. He wore canvas boots both all winter and summer. He lived by St. Sergius Church. As you walked past his gate, he could see you through a crack; he would call you over, bless you, and always give you a blessed treat: a piece of bread, or a dried crust, like Father Seraphim. He never turned down his visitors. I still have his dried crust, as if I had just received it. There’s no smell, it’s not moldy.”
The reposed Archimandrite Elias (Bobrovnikov) would say about Hieromonk Moisei’ ascetic life: “Father Moisei dressed shabbily. In winter, he wore a hat of God knows what kind and age, sewn felt boots, and a coat or a sweatshirt with holes and patches. The length of his sleeves could be different: one arm was half out, the other was hidden. His cassocks were also old and patched.
“Father Moisei greatly venerated St. Seraphim of Sarov and tried to imitate the ‘poor Seraphim’ in his life. Father Moisei’s righteous life makes him related to St. Seraphim of Sarov.”
Fr. Moisei’s spiritual children related that he wore chains, slept on a bunk made of two planks, and put a block of wood covered with a rug under his head. Fr. Moisei did not like worldly fuss, always shunned idle and empty talks, and was far from worldly chores. His dwelling was always very modest. First he lived in a dugout near the cemetery next to St. Sergius Church, then in a shed, then in a bathhouse.
In 1973–1975, Archbishop Theodosius (Pogorsky) of Ufa and Sterlitamak became seriously concerned about Hieromonk Moisei’s poor living conditions and invited him to move from the old bathhouse to the bishop’s house opposite the church. Fr. Moisei replied that he was too sinful to live in clean rooms, but obeying Vladyka, he moved to the basement of the bishop’s house. Archbishop Theodosius (Pogorsky) would often say later, “What a man the Lord sent to the Diocese of Ufa! Father Moisei wholly devoted himself to the service of God!”
Although Fr. Moisei served as a priest, he continued to do a lot of physical work. Always getting up at three or four in the morning, he cleared the snow around the church fence in winter and took it out on a sleigh to a faraway ravine. In the summer, he swept the church courtyard, sawed and chopped firewood, and planted trees. In his tiny garden, he grew a some potatoes, beets, carrots, and other vegetables, weeding, watering, and hoeing himself. He sewed his own cassocks, shirts, hats, and mittens, and made his boots and slippers himself. Fr. Moisei would tell his spiritual children: “Work hard, always work hard. A person should not live idly. We will give God an answer for everything there.” And he would tell the clergy: “We priests should not cling to earthly things. We serve the Lord.”
Fr. Moisei’s health was poor, but he took his illnesses with humility, saying, “We must also be sick.” Ten years before his repose, Hieromonk Moisei began to have swollen legs and a sore heart. The doctors diagnosed varicose veins and a benign tumor pressing on his heart area. The elder wore a damp cloth on his chest to reduce his heartache. Fr. Moisei never complained about his infirmities, serving at the church until his death and performing all the services of need. The Lord endowed Fr. Moisei with many spiritual gifts for his love for others, his meekness and humility. Many times, both clergy and laity noted that the father-confessor of the Diocese of Ufa, Archimandrite Moisei, was a man chosen by God. The faithful regarded him as a living saint in his lifetime.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, where the relics of St. Moisei of Ufa rest
Back in 1947, His Holiness Patriarch Alexei I (Simansky) of Moscow and All Russia said of the thirty-four-year-old Hieromonk Moisei, who came to the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra with Archbishop John (Bratolyubov) of Ufa and Bashkiria: “This is a fourth-century monk.” Then the Patriarch presented Fr. Moisei with an icon with the words: “Grant prayer to him who prays.” In 1967, Archbishop Hilarion (Prokhorov) of Ufa and Sterlitamak stated: “Not only the churches of Ufa, but the entire Diocese of Ufa is alive through the prayerful labors of Fr. Moisei.”
People noticed that Fr. Moisei was not an ordinary man, but was sent by the Lord, that he concealed his holiness with the asceticism of feigned foolishness. Hieromonk Moisei possessed the gifts of clairvoyance and healing through prayer.
He saw the evil thoughts of people. An ordinary-looking woman once came to St. Sergius Church, but Fr. Moisei not only did not allow her to venerate the cross, but even kicked her out of the church several times. It turned out that the woman was actively engaged in witchcraft.
Fr. Moisei sometimes lamented after the Liturgy: “100 people have taken Communion today, but only twenty of them have received Christ. They approach the Chalice only with their feet, without preparation, without contrition, without the fear of God.” He saw through people.
In the 1970s, some artists from Moscow came to Ufa, having been invited to renew the frescoes at St. Sergius Cathedral. They met Fr. Moisei and said with amazement, “This is the first time we have seen such an elder: with gray hair and the pure eyes of a child.”
However, this simple-looking elder did not allow the artists from Moscow to fresco the altar because of their passion for alcohol and tobacco. Batiushka treated holy objects with great reverence.
Hieromonk Moisei went in any weather to perform services of need both in Ufa and villages outside the city. He baptized, confessed, administered Communion, gave divine unction, and performed funeral services. One day, in late autumn, he went by boat to a village lying across the Belaya River. He was bearing the Holy Gifts. The weather was nasty; it was raining with a strong wind blowing and big waves rolling. But no sooner had Fr. Moisei gotten into the boat and it had sailed away from the bank than the rain and wind stopped and silence fell. The boatman was struck by this, but the elder said humbly, “I’m going to give Communion to people.”
Many sick people were healed through the prayers of Hieromonk Moisei. People came to him from all the cities and towns of Bashkiria, as well as from Kiev, Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg), and Chelyabinsk. Batiushka helped all those suffering.
People who knew Fr. Moisei said that if he gave his blessing for a long journey or for an operation, then everything would be fine. But if you didn’t heed his words, nothing good would come of it.
Archimandrite Moisei traveled to the holy sites of the country during time off on almost every year. He was well known everywhere and was welcomed with joy. Together with other priests, he served at the Kiev-Caves Lavra, the Pskov-Caves Monastery, and the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, where he was loved and regarded as a saint of God and a visionary.
Sometimes it happened that Ufa residents went to various holy places to seek the blessing or advice of elders, and they were told, “Why did you travel so far? You have your own pillar of Orthodoxy in Ufa—Fr. Moisei.”
Archimandrite Moisei foresaw the day and year of his repose. Two years before his death, he told his spiritual children Alexandra and Raisa, who sang in the choir, that the Most Holy Theotokos had left him to live on earth for two more years. The day before his death, he ordered the church courtyard cleaned, the logs and firewood removed, and the garbage swept up, saying: “There will be a lot of people here tomorrow.”
Fr. Moisei lived in piety and holiness for sixty-eight years and departed to the Lord on June 3, 1982. He predicted, “My voice will fall silent on Trinity Sunday.” This prophecy came true.
Archimandrite Moisei prepared for his death in a Christian manner; over several years he had made himself a coffin with his own hands, instructed his numerous spiritual children, and served in the cathedral with prayerful inspiration and the fear of God to the end.
Fr. Moisei fell asleep in the Lord in his cell during the Divine Liturgy. He remained on his feet until the final moments of his life. Sensing the approach of death, the archimandrite asked his cell-attendant Stephanida to make up his bunk with clean bed linen. His voice was slightly altered at that moment, and his eyes were burning, but the cell-attendant did not understand what was going on. Batiushka lay down on the bunk and began to depart to God. It was the death of a truly righteous man.
Shrine with the holy relics of St. Moisei of Ufa
After the end of Divine Liturgy, Archimandrite Moisei’s death was announced from the ambo. During the service, Bishop Anatoly (Kuznetsov) of Ufa and Sterlitamak (later: Archbishop of Kerch and Vicar of the Diocese of Sourozh) read the canon for the departure of the soul and a prayer before the altar table, and after the Liturgy, he celebrated the first Litia for the newly departed archimandrite. This was followed by the reading of the Gospel and the celebration of Litias at the coffin. The face of the newly reposed Fr. Moisei was beautiful and noble.
On the day of the funeral, many people came to the Cathedral of St. Sergius of Radonezh, wishing to bid farewell to their beloved mentor. Vladyka Anatoly read the Absolution and delivered a funeral oration in which he stressed Archimandrite Moisei’s main traits: ardent love for the Lord and his neighbors, humanity and simplicity in communication, Christian humility and asceticism in his personal life. The bishop called Fr. Moisei a saint, and concluded his speech with the words: “Father Moisei truly deserves the Heavenly Kingdom.”
Archimandrite Moisei was buried, according to his will, at the Demskoye Cemetery in Ufa at the feet of Archbishop Theodosius (Pogorsky) of Ufa and Sterlitamak, whom he had loved and venerated very much and whose grave he had tended. Fr. Moisei had also prepared his grave in advance. It had already been dug, covered with planks and earth, and even a cross had been erected, as if someone had been buried there for a long time.
Even after his repose, Archimandrite Moisei helps the faithful in their lives when they pray to him.
On May 29, 2001, by decision of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints at the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, nineteen years after his repose, Archimandrite Moisei (Chigvintsev) was canonized as “venerable” for local veneration in the Diocese of Ufa.
On the night of June 2–3, 2002, St. Moisei’s holy relics were uncovered and transferred to the St. Sergius Cathedral in Ufa. Icons of St. Moisei of Ufa have been painted. Many people come to the Cathedral of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Ufa to venerate Fr. Moisei’s relics, receiving help in various needs of life and healing. Currently, the relics of St. Moisei of Ufa are kept at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ufa.
Holy Father Moisei, pray to God for us!
