"We will wait for our happy meeting in the radiant Kingdom
of love and joy, where no one can separate us anymore."
Hieromartyr Vasily Nadezhdin
The name of Hieromartyr Vasily is closely connected with the name of another holy New Martyr--Count Alexander Ottonovich Medem (1877-1931; feast: November 23). Count Medem's personality is truly exceptional. Despite his noble origin, Alexander Ottonovich was well informed about the needs and difficulties of the common people and helped those in need to the best of his abilities and financial condition. Indeed he was a good fruit of a beautiful family tree. They used to say about his father: "He was a man of whom people kept the fondest memories." Alexander Medem was like that too. During the revolutionary riots people would shout: "Death to the landowners! Except Medem!"
Count Alexander Ottonovich Medem So Fr. Vasily Nadezhdin was a tutor to Count Alexander Ottonovich's children, which in itself is an excellent characteristic of the priest: the count read people well and surrounded his children with only very worthy ones.
On January 12, 1895, a boy was born in Moscow into the family of Fyodor Alexeyevich Nadezhdin, a palace official, and his wife Sophia Pavlovna. He was named Vasily. It so happened that Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky; 1873-1965), the future second First Hierarch of ROCOR, was among Vasily's relatives. Vasily knew very early that he would become a clergyman. He wrote to Vladyka Anastasy: "I want to graduate from a Theological Academy and become a priest--this decision is prompted by my soul, which is attracted by pastoral ministry. I know (and this is indisputable) that the more solid, extensive and significant my education is, the more valuable my service as a pastor will be for the Church cause and more interesting for me."
At the age of fifteen, he graduated from the Zaikonospassky Theological School, at the age of twenty-one--from the Moscow Theological Seminary and entered the Moscow Theological Academy. It was the time of the First World War, and classes at the Academy were not regular. In the middle of the first semester, Vasily went to Count Medem's estate in the Saratov province at the count's personal invitation. There, Vasily taught the Law of God to Alexander Ottonovich's children Fyodor and Sophia.
Hieromartyr Vasily Nadezhdin
The resumption of classes at the Academy coincided with the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. I will not delve into the subtleties of the reaction to this event by the Academy students—they were very diverse. February 1917... The February “bourgeois-democratic revolution” broke out, and to put it simply—the Emperor was betrayed. Vasily continued his studies at the Academy. His Life does not tell us how Vasily himself reacted to the violent upheaval. It says that At the end of the academic year the young man returned to the count's estate. We know that Medem was a convinced monarchist. His attitude to the events of February 1917 is absolutely clear. And he allowed Vasily to be his children’s tutor again after the young man had finished his first year at the Academy. This fact alone speaks volumes. We can assume that Count Medem and Vasily Fyodorovich were of one mind on this subject.
In the autumn of 1917, Vasily returned to the Academy in order to continue his studies. But soon the October Revolution broke out and in 1919 the Moscow Theological Academy was closed.
His Life tells us about these events briefly in two lines. But we can assume what everything that was happening caused a storm in Vasily's soul. A great empire was falling, all foundations were being trampled on, the people who came to power were unworthy of it, and the worthy ones were being humiliated, bullied, and destroyed both morally and physically. The fierce campaign of extermination of the clergy was unleashed. But Vasily had decided to follow the priestly path since his youth. How did he feel, seeing the world around him and his personal world crumbling? What did he think when he realized that all his aspirations and aims were turning into nothing at once? We'll never know.
After the Moscow Theological Academy had been closed, Vasily married Elena Sergeyevna Borisoglebskaya. Together they went to live in the village of Nikolsky Poim.1 A church was still active there, and Priest John Kozlov (a future professor at the Moscow Theological Academy), Vasily Fyodorovich’s fellow student at the Academy, served there. At that period, most churches were converted into clubs and granaries, and the presence of an active church was a rarity in villages. But since his Christian soul could not live without a living contact with God, Vasily deliberately chose a village with an active church in order to be able to attend services and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
Vasily and his wife Elena Sergeyevna Borisoglebskaya His Life is silent about why two years later Vasily decided to return to Moscow. But two months later Vasily was ordained deacon, and two days later he was ordained priest and assigned to St. Nicholas Church at the Solomennaya Storozhka in Moscow. How did it happen? From the Penza province straight to Moscow, and his ordination took place right away. Whether he was called by someone from the episcopate or whether he himself was looking for an opportunity to realize his ambition--we do not know. But the Lord Himself called His servant to his Golgotha--there can be no doubt about that.
Next, I would like to cite the reminiscences of Fr. Vasily’s contemporary, a daughter of Hieromartyr Vladimir Ambartsumov (1892-1937; feast: November 5). These memories best illustrate the purpose of Fr. Vasily’s appointment: "Different people attended the church, but... The parish makeup was primarily determined by the proximity of the Petrovsko-Razumovsky Academy... When after the Revolution teaching of the Law of God was banned in schools and the Petrovsko-Razumovsky Academy was closed, a group of its professors and teachers turned to the rector of St. Nicholas Church (Priest Vasily Nadezhdin) with a request to take charge of the religious and moral education of their children... Father Vasily responded to the request of the Academy professors with enthusiasm. He set up a youth choir that sang in the right kliros of the church ... He taught girls and boys not only church singing, but also church services, discussed the main questions of the faith, went to classical music concerts with them, and read and discussed literary works. Christmas parties for small children, which were prohibited at that time, were always held in Father Vasily's house... He was an excellent preacher. His favorite time to preach was at the Saturday matins after the Six Psalms... He did not polish his sermons, but he spoke vividly and with conviction, often speaking out against unbelief."
And in his new place of ministry Priest Vasily started doing what Count Medem had once called on him to do and for which he had an indisputable talent: he taught children. And he worked a lot with young people.
Simultaneously with his pastoral activities, Fr. Vasily managed to graduate from the Moscow Theological Academy, which was de jure closed, but de facto continued to train clergymen; in 1927, batiushka received a certificate and the degree of a Master of Theology.
In 1928, Fr. Vasily contracted tuberculosis. He went to Bashkiria for treatment. At his request, Priest Vladimir Ambartsumov remained at St. Nicholas Church. Fr. Vladimir was ordained priest right before these events--in 1927. Now it is clear that the memories of Fr. Vladimir's daughter can be trusted completely: she saw everything with her own eyes, and perhaps she participated in the events she wrote about.
When Fr. Vasily returned to Moscow, his life turned into a true nightmare. Dear reader, imagine for a moment that you are forbidden to live with your family, you are denied the right to raise your children and be in contact with your loved ones. You can't even come to see them--it's forbidden. Fr. Vasily would see his wife in a closet rented in a communal apartment. Honest and decent people were forced to behave like “criminals”: to hide and meet secretly.
No precautions saved Fr. Vasily from arrest. A dossier on him had been prepared for a long time, as evidenced by the nature of the charges against him. Therefore, it is not so important whether someone had betrayed the priest and his wife (who would meet in secret) or not.
On October 28, 1928, the priest was arrested and sent to Butyrka Prison. The charges read: "He organized a club of Christian youth, whose work he headed, educating young people in a tendentious anti-Soviet manner."
Arrest of Priest Vasily Nadezhdin
Fr. Vasily was interrogated on the fourth day. The investigator was interested in the young people: their names, surnames, organization of their admission to the choir and to the group for studying Church history, etc. Fr. Vasily answered their questions in detail, but in such a way that he did not say anything of interest to the investigation--no surnames and no evidence of the activity of the youth. Here is an extract from the interrogation protocol: "As for the youth who are close to me, they came to me themselves. All the people who visited me later had known each other since school where they had studied together. That's probably why they joined me as a group. In my church these young people sang in the choir... The youth did not engage in studying Church history, so I myself sometimes read them excerpts from the Church authors Bolotov and Lebedev on Church history, and read to them some of the works by Church writers (Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and others) in the original. I also shared my impressions of my trip to the Sarov Monastery, the stories associated with the Diveyevo Convent and Seraphim of Sarov...
“Besides, I gave talks dedicated to the anniversaries of the First Ecumenical Council, Gregory the Theologian and Basil the Great. Actually, in church I preached precisely on these themes, and at home I just read some documents of that era to the young people. We have never discussed any particular issues regarding the existing regime or any aspects of the relations between Church and State, not to mention purely political issues. Though we did touch on political matters, albeit briefly and casually, in everyday context; for example, an opinion was expressed that the Government's policy towards the lishentsy’s children and towards the lishentsy in general was cruel...2
“When it comes to arrests of church people, my view is that it is difficult to draw a distinct line between ‘the church’ and ‘the anti-Soviet’, and that, therefore, there may be excesses on the part of the authorities... My young people have been involved in church activities since 1921. There are around ten of them in total, not more... When we raised the question of confession--that is, the possibility of reconciliation of believers with the surrounding environment--I took the following stance: there are limits (different for everyone) within which every Christian can reconcile with the non-Christian reality surrounding him; If these limits are violated, he must come to terms with the possibility of unpleasant changes in his living conditions, otherwise he is not a Christian. One must be a Christian not only in name..."
There are the Lives of some New Martyrs where you need not write much. The New Martyr himself, or his family, or the protocols of his interrogations tell us everything about him. The Life of Hieromartyr Vasily is one of them.
Batiushka was sentenced to three years in the infamous Solovetsky special purpose forced-labor camp (SLON). But he never reached it: during the transfer, sea navigation ended, and at the transit camp Fr. Vasily contracted typhoid fever that decimated prisoners in 1929-1930. In the camp hospital, Fr. Vasily was infected, and gangrene set in. His wife came to visit him here in Kem.3 She brought him parcels every day. What was it like to be very close to your loved one and not be able to help him in his suffering: to give him proper care, bandage his wounds carefully, embrace him, cheer him up with a kind word, and just talk?!
Solovetsky special-purpose camp
"Morning and evening I walk along the wooden fence with wire at the top and reach the hospital... I see the top of the frozen window, send greetings and pray. At three in the afternoon I bring a parcel... Then receive a note written in a weak handwriting. That's all! The night passes in anguish and tormenting dreams. Every time the door to our apartment opens, I look if they've come to tell me the tragic news. They cut his hair, he has changed a lot and has lost weight; they say that bandaging is painful and exhausting to him..."
That's how his wife recalled those terrible days. I won't even dare speculate here about what these daily parcels cost her: it was at least some human food that a typhoid fever patient could eat—carefully dried white bread was a constant joy for exiles and the only food more or less available to sufferers; and clean linen… Parcels collected with the last money, tearfully torn away from the children’s needs…
"Today a sad thought came to my mind (but it seems to be the right one) that I should write a farewell letter in case of my death... Because if I contract typhoid fever, I won't be able to write anymore, I won't see or hear from anyone close to me, and I won't be able to give them anything except this letter provided that it's written in advance...and the Lord allows it to reach my loved ones... This letter should replace me, bidding farewell to me, attending my funeral, which will take place here in the absence of my loved ones, without their prayers and tears... The first word is addressed to you, my dear, beloved, and the only one... First of all, I bless you for your love, for your friendship, and for your faithfulness to me... May God's will be done! We will wait for our happy meeting in the radiant Kingdom of love and joy, where no one can separate us anymore, and you will tell me about how you lived your life without me, how you succeeded in raising our children in a Christian way, and how you managed to instill in them the horror before and disgust for the dismal godless worldview and imprint the radiant image of Christ on their hearts."
Fr. Vasily wrote this letter of farewell, a letter of testament, on December 24, 1929--a few days before contracting typhoid fever. He surely had a premonition of his illness. And he took care to say goodbye to his family, realizing that later he would not be able, would not have the strength to do that.
Typhoid fever is a terrible disease. In labor camp conditions, it was absolutely incurable. To recover you would need good care, good nutrition with a special diet, medications and vitamins. None of this could be found in the Gulag camp hospitals. Typhoid fever killed Fr. Vasily in less than two months. He reposed in the Lord on February 19, 1930.
His wife was allowed to stay with the body overnight before burial. Fr. Vasily was buried at the cemetery in the town of Kem. Before passing into eternity, the priest was vouchsafed to partake of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ. His last words were: "O Lord, save the pious, and hear us."
