Holy Intercession Monastery (Goloseyevskaya Hermitage)
In addition to churches and cells there was a summer residence of the Metropolitans of Kiev with the home church in honor of Venerable John the Much-Suffering of the Caves. On the territory of the monastery there was also a hotel, Lavra’s household farm and other buildings.
In 1852 the monastery was named the Holy Intercession Monastery in honor of Intercession of the Theotokos with the blessing of the ruling bishop St. Filaret, Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia (Amfiteatrov).
In Goloseyevo St. Peter (Mogila) and St. Filaret (Amfiteatrov) struggled with diligence in solitude. Many venerable monks worked in obedience and solitude to the Father Superior in Goleseyevo, such as St. Peter (Mogila), St. Filaret (Amfiteatrov, †1857, his memory on December 21 old style / January 3 new style), Venerable Parthenius of Kiev (Krasnopevtsev, †1855, his memory on March 17 old style / March 30 new style), Venerable Elder Aleksey Goloseyevskiy (Shepelev, † 1917, his memory on March 11 old style / March 24 new style), Fools for Christ Theophilus (Gorenkovsky, † 1853 his memory on October 28 old style / November 10 new style) and Paisiy (Yarotskiy, † 1893). All of them are glorified by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the realm of locally venerated saints.
In 1926, nine years after the October Revolution, Goloseyevskaya Hermitage was abolished. During the Soviet period all its churches and buildings were destroyed, except for the house of Kiev Metropolitans.
Three monks-priests who laboured hard to please God at the monastery at different times, were martyred for Christ and they now pray before the Master’s throne to the Lord for us. They are Kassian (Kuzyk), Ippolit (Semenov) and Philip (Bezugly).
During World War II the second line of defense for the city of Kiev passed through Holoseyevskay Hermitage. Fierce battles were held there. However, none of the projectile fell on the monastic cemetery where Venerable Aleksey Goloseyevsky was buried. During the years of persecution and the years of the terrible war, a little icon lamp was burning on his grave and many people came there to its unfading light seeking for the Light of Heaven.
In 1993 the monastery was opened as a small secluded monastery of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Archimandrite Isaac (Andronicus) was appointed as the Abbot. The same year, on October 4 new style, the relics of Venerable Aleksey Goloseyevsky were discovered and a home church in honor of Venerable John the Much-Suffering was opened. In 1996, according to the decision of the Holy Synod, Goloseyevskaya Hermitage became an independent monastery. The church in honor of God’s Mother’s icon, called "Life-Giving Spring" and the monastic cemetery were restored; a new church was built on the place of the former Metropolitan house; some new buildings were erected on the territory such as monastic cells, the administrative building, the house of the abbot with a home church in memory of the Holy Royal Martyrs, a hotel and other monastic buildings.
In God-pleasing act of convent’s revival many pious people help.
Nun Alipiya
In the Orthodox Church there are ascetic strugglers who are particularly loved by the people, strugglers dear to, and understood by, everyone. One person for whom the people have such love is Nun Alipiya (Avdeyeva), a spiritual struggler of our times. A constant stream of people seek her out — people distressed over life's misfortunes, the impoverished and those in despair, the sick, the indigent, and orphans — and all of them receive from her attention, concern, love, kindness, and consolation. This all resonates in the heart of the people, and they respond to the blessed Eldress‘ love. Matushka reposed in the Lord on October 30, 1988. Over 20 years have passed since Matushka‘s death, but her name has not been forgotten.
Books have been written about her life, and an enormous amount of information about miracles she has worked has been collected. However, those tomes are insufficient to record every instance of help rendered by the Eldress. Thousands of such accounts are treasured not in the pages of books, but in the hearts of the recipients of her blessed kindness. Their sheer number makes it impossible to relate them all. However, by God's will, God-loving readers are learning of some of them.
In life, Matushka Alipiya did not enjoy the renown which the blessed one has gained since her repose. Her life was quiet, inglorious, and severe. All of her life, the Eldress avoided fame, and was a stranger to praise. Quite often, she sought refuge in that most difficult of ascetic struggles, that of being a Fool for Christ. For much of her life, she had no haven; she avoided rest, and made her life more arduous through ascetic struggles which she bid from human sight.
The fact that she was a chosen one was made manifest in her childhood; as a child, she was already being Visited with revelations from God, was clairvoyant, and could read others' thoughts.
Nun Alipiya, baptized Agafia, was born into the family of a pious Mordvinian peasant named Tikhon Sergeevitch Avdeyev, in the Village of Vyshelei, Gorodischensky Uyezd, Penzensk Oblast', Russia. We have learned the Eldress' exact date of birth from a birth registry, recently discovered by descendants of the Avdeyev family, from the Church of the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul. According to the register, Agafia Tikhonovna Avdeyeva was born on March 3, 1905 (March 17 according to the new civil [Gregorian] calendar), to Vassa Pavlovna. She was baptized on March 4/17, and her sponsors [God-parents] were Timofei Gulyayev and Anns Danilova. At Holy Baptism, the future Eldress was named in honor of Holy Martyr St. Agafia, whom she greatly revered throughout her life. Matushka Agafiya revealed but few details of her life to others. From the bits and pieces that have become known to us, it is possible to form a basic impression of the Saint's childhood.
Matushka’s early years were spent in the ordinary course of peasant life in pre-Revolutionary Russia — going to church and pursuing classroom studies (although which school she attended is something we cannot say with any certainty). The strict observance of Church rubrics, fasting, and prayer demonstrated by the Eldress' parents set an example that instilled in her a pious aspiration toward, and love for, everything Church-related and God-pleasing. The family had a particular reverence for the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, patron saints of their village church, and to the end of her days, the ascetic continued to hold them in especially fervent regard.
During lenten periods, Tikhon, Matushka's father, would eat only dry toast and broth made from straw. Through the efforts of Vassa, Matushka's mother, the family observed the pious tradition of distributing alms and presents throughout the village. Vassa would give her daughter a basket to take around to needy villagers. What could be more instructive and edifying than the pious example set by one's parents? The Eldress inherited her parents' Virtues in full measure.
Whenever the parents were away, leaving the little girl alone, they would give her chores that a child could do: feeding the poultry and animals. However, the child's soul was opened up to God, and the Lord granted her to see what others could not. When she looked at the peasants, the state of each soul was revealed to her, and she could see who was going to church, and who to the bazaar.
The little girl was quiet and contemplative, and prayed a great deal. Quite literate, she devoted all of her free time to reading religious books. Her favorite was always the Psalter. As a young lady, she continued to carry the Psalter with her wherever she went, and when visiting others, would open the book of the Holy Psalms and would pray, in an effort to keep from filling her mind with vanities and idle talk.
A serene childhood spent interacting with her own family was that spiritual foundation upon which the Eldress' subsequent asceticism was built. It was for a reason that Matushka would say in later years, «A peasant woman who works in the fields, who labors, and who glorifies God, will be saved.» Thus did she greatly value the peasant's hard work which, in combination with prayer and sincere praise to God can bring forth great fruits, and can evoke mercy from the Lord. Used to working assiduously, Matushka Alipiya engaged in ascetic struggle all of her life; she would work to physical exhaustion in struggling to care for her neighbor, to take in the stranger and the indigent, and in the ascetic labors of fasting, maintaining the vigil, and praying.
At the time of the Revolution, when Russia's collapse came to pass, Matushka was still only a child of 12. Disaster struck like a mighty hurricane, sweeping away the bright years of childhood. This trial had to come so as to spiritually temper and strengthen Christ's chosen ones. In the 1970s, Matushka revealed that the Revolution had a spiritual purpose. She would say that, in a sense, the Lord had allowed to happen events «that treated and healed the priests» and all of the faithful whose piety had become weak. It had been necessary for such cleansing suffering to come.
From certain sources, it was learned that Tikhon and Vassa, the Eldress' parents, had perished during the Civil War. They were executed by a Red Army firing squad while their child was not with them. Saved by chance, Agafia went to live with an uncle who put the child and her belongings into a cart and took her to his home. The accounts also relate that the child was briefly held by the forces of S.M. Budyonniy, who was touched by the Child's tears, and who ordered that she be released.
It is known that several times, Agafiya would go wandering off after saying goodbye to her relatives in the village of Vyshelei. To this day, descendants of the Avdeyev family recall how Matushka would come talk with her relatives. They knew that their relative was especially devout, that she prayed a great deal, and that she was of a monastic cast of mind. Several times, she would say that she was going to visit holy places. The Eldress wandered from monastery to monastery, going to all of the holy places that had escaped utter destruction. She also lived in Penza, and would visit the Church of the Holy Myrrh-bearers. In Penza, a certain pious family would take her in. Matushka was no stranger to hard labor: she worked as a day laborer, helped build and whitewash houses, and did everything without complaint and with thanks to God. In those difficult years, the Lord protected her and spiritually strengthened her to undertake new and remarkable ascetic labors. It was in such difficult trials that Matushka spent her youth. However, those trials did not break her or embitter her; on the contrary, they made her even more sensitive and sympathetic. She was ready to share and talk with anyone, she knew the meaning of labor, she understood the power of prayer, the value of a kind word, a good deed, and even of a little bit of charity. She set forth on the path of spiritual action, where one had to defeat not a visible, but the invisible foe, Where the battle was with one's own passions, where victory brought not earthly freedom, but freedom from sin. As a result, Matushka Alipiya was in the process of acquiring enormous grace from the Holy Spirit.
Outwardly Matushka was no different from other people in Russia. Like everyone else, she struggled to endure years of revolution and civil war, years in which the Church was under attack, years in which people battled with themselves and with their fellow citizens. Yet, unnoticed by those around her, Matushka was engaging in spiritual struggles. God alone knows the secrets of her heart, her prayers and tears, here pleas and cares. She revealed them to no one. However, what was observable could not remain hidden from others' eyes.
Seeing suffering, destruction, and human tragedy everywhere, Matushka Alipiya first and foremost strove to show great love towards others. That gift is a great one, a gift the Lord imparted to her along with other spiritual gifts. It was a gift that caused her to make sacrifices of herself for the sake of her neighbors' salvation.
The civil war years ended, and after a short and shaky peace, a spiritual war, an attack against the Church and against God, began. It was a war waged by «militant atheism.» Waves of persecution aimed at clergy and the faithful laity coursed throughout the land. Until her very death, Matushka Alipiya stood among the ranks of Christ's, warriors for the Faith in Christ. Where she was incarcerated is unknown. In those days, justice was swift; just being called a Christian meant that the sentence had already been decided: it was death. Of the trials — including ridicule and interrogations — attendant to incarceration, anticipation of death was the most difficult.
In prison, Agafiya struggled along with everyone else. It is known that Matushka Alipiya issued letter appeals from prison: she called for people to stand firm in the Orthodox Faith, and to love God. We do not know how long she was in prison. There are eyewitness accounts by people who visited her in prison. Even then, at such a young age, Matushka Alipiya already possessed the gift of clairvoyance and effectual prayer of the heart. However, she asked nothing for herself.
Matushka found herself in a holding cell from which every night people would be taken out to be shot. As she later related, with her in that cell was a priest and his son; the priest served a Panikhida [requiem] for the prisoners, but foretold that she would be released.
Thanks to the divine assistance of the Holy Apostle St. Peter, Matushka Alipiya was unexpectedly released. She found herself on a craggy shore, and had to spend the next 12 days crossing the hills in search of some kind of settlement. On her body, she bore a multitude of scars as a permanent reminder of that ordeal.
The life of a fugitive was not easy. She had no papers, no means of support, and no place to live; receiving a housing permit was out of the question. However, the Lord arranged her life so that she would not be noticed by the persecutors. She was released in about 1939.
Soon the Great Patriotic War [World War II] broke out. Based on some of Matushka’s stories, for a time she was in a concentration camp, in which she did not alter her spiritual way of life; she continued to help and pray for the suffering. Thanks to her clairvoyance and other spiritual gifts, she was able to facilitate the escape of many of her fellow prisoners.
Soon, the Lord arranged for her escape as well. She made her way through occupied territory and across the front lines, and lived for some time with a family with many children, in the village of Kapitanovka along the Zhitomir road, near Kiev.
We also know of an incident that took place when Matushka Alipiya stopped for the night in a certain village. All night, she did not even lie down on the bed prepared for her. Rather, faithful to her unchanging prayer rule, she knelt in prayer until morning.
Matushka also told of her travels to venerate the relics of Holy Hierarch Theodossy of Chernigov, which had been returned to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chernigov during the War. Matushka went on foot, and did not stop at any settlement; instead she spent the nights in the woods and fields. After venerating the relics of the Holy Hierarch she so revered, Matushka asked to spend the night in the church warden's home. He refused, but Matushka, prompted by the Holy Spirit, followed him, knowing that the Lord had sent her to this house for a reason.
Along the way, the warden encountered his wife, who was crying and wailing. In despair, she told the warden that their daughter had died in a stove fire. The father, followed by Matushka Alipiya, ran into the house. The devastated parents no longer tried to keep her from entering the house. They did not even notice her take out a flask of holy water, which she also called «living» water; she sprinkled the girl, and poured water into her mouth. The child came back to life, and the Eldress disappeared without a trace.
Another incident took place in post-war Belarus. At a market in a certain town, Matushka Alipiya saw a crowd of people surrounding a weeping family. During this time of famine, they had brought a domestic animal, a pig, to be sold. It was their sole means of survival. However, the animal was so weak that it seemed that it would drop dead at any minute. Just at that moment, while the animal was already turning blue, Matushka Alipiya made her way through the crowd, and responded enthusiastically to the people's sorrow. After secretly praying to God, she gave the pig some ordinary tar. The pig immediately came to life, and in amazement, the people looked for her. Where is the person who had saved the pig? She had disappeared into the crowd. When they caught up to her and started asking her about the medicine she had given, she told them that they were mistaken.
During the War, the Holy Dormition Kiev-Pechersk (Caves) Lavra was reopened, and Matushka Alipiya went to it in search of a spiritual home for a Christian soul in search of the Lord. At that time, a flood of people from all over the land, especially from Russia, came to the Lavra. The clergy of the Lavra were distinguished by great spirituality: these were priests who had endured trials in camps and exile. At that time, there were clairvoyant Elders who had become wise in spiritual life living there: Venerable St. Kuksha of Odessa, whose homilies Matushka Alipiya had occasion to hear. Likewise, the prior of the Lavra, Archimandrite Kronid, a person of great spirituality, an experienced teacher and spiritual director, became Agafiya's spiritual father, and tonsured her a nun with the name Alipiya (in honor of Venerable St. Alipius the icon painter of the Caves. Matushka occupied herself constantly with a number of obediences at the church: she washed and cleaned, and attended all of the services. We know that during this period, she pursued ascetic struggle in the hollow of an old linden tree not far from the well of St. Theodosius the Abbot of the Caves. Archimandrite Kronid blessed her to pursue that struggle, which she did in secret, by night. By day, Matushka continued to work at the church. In spite of her engaging in all of this ascetic activity, her attire was always neat and clean, and she did not appear in any way different from the other laborers. The tree in whose confines Matushka Alipiya prayed has not survived. Matushka engaged in these ascetics labors at a relatively early age — when she was between 42 and 46 years of age.
During the reign of the atheist powers, it was difficult to find a place in the Monastery, as militant atheist authorities would not grant the necessary permits. Women who came to the Lavra would often be sent to other women's monasteries that could accept those who wanted to move there. Matushka Alipiya never asked to go elsewhere, and she stayed at the Lavra. She dressed like everyone else, and did not put on monastic attire. At the time, secret tonsure was a very common practice. Many monasteries had been shut down, it was difficult to get a place in one of the remaining open monasteries, and even if one were to find such a place, he would be watched by the authorities. Many monastics had to remain in the secular world. Surrounded by such great elders at the Lavra, Matushka Alipiya absorbed their example and teachings with all her heart. Thus, Venerable St. Kuksha would teach tonsured monastics to do nothing for show, to do nothing openly, but to pray without ceasing and in secret. He taught them to endure anything, to humble themselves, and to dress just like anyone else in the secular world. This was a school whose lessons Matushka Alipiya remembered to the end of their days. The path to sanctity is thorny, and only those who follow it in profound humility will receive the Lord's peace and will be glorified.
After Archimandrite Kronid's death, Matushka Alipiya was provided spiritual nourishment by another Lavra elder, Schema—monk Damian, a man endowed with many spiritual gifts. He blessed her to undertake a different obedience, one that Matushka Alipiya performed for some time — to live in the corridor of a building housing the Lavra elders' cells. This was a school of humility, patience, vigil, and prayer, one which spiritually strengthened Matushka Alipiya for unseen warfare with the spirits of evil in the world.
Following the closing of the Kiev Caves Lavra, the Eldress once again spent years living as a hermit, this time in even more severe ascetic labors. People took her in, but the blessed one did not seek out a comfortable life, but rather would stay cold and hungry, in rat-infested cellars. To one who had spent years enduring trials and engaging in unheard of ascetic labors, these new trials ever more strengthened her resolve to voluntarily carry the Cross of monasticism.
Accustomed to constant spiritual activity and hard labor, Matushka Alipiya worked a great deal, as a day laborer and in construction. She remained faithful to her rule: she never slept at night, spending it instead in fervent and unceasing prayer to God. Her much-laboring body knew no rest, either by day or by night. She never slept in a bed, either in relatively young years, or in old age. During the times the Eldress was severely ill and had to lie down, she did not stray from ascetic labor: she would sleep on bare boards. Every night was a time of battle for her, a battle against both human physical exhaustion and the spirits of evil which arrayed themselves against her with unbelievable force.
After the closure of the Lavra in 1961, Matushka Alipiya became a parishioner of the Church of the Ascension on Demievka. The neighborhood was known as Stalinka during the Soviet years. There were very few functioning churches in Kiev, and the Church of the Ascension was widely known in Kiev. Many monastics were parishioners of that church. Matushka Alipiya was distinguished from other parishioners, both by the daring with which she addressed God, and by her spiritual cast of mind. Of course, Matushka's unusual clairvoyance could not remain hidden. By that time, Matushka Alipiya would often turn to another unusual and difficult spiritual struggle, that of being a Fool for Christ. This is the most difficult of ascetic struggles, for in it one offers up to God his entire being, including his reason, and in so doing, evokes ridicule and disparagement from those around him. The actions of such a Fool for Christ, while seemingly provocative or ridiculous, in fact have a profound significance which is revealed only later. With clairvoyant eyes, the fool for Christ sees spiritual mysteries, and adorns them in symbols and signs.
Parishioners of the Ascension Church would always see Matushka Alipiya in church, either during or after services. Sometimes, she would pray for several hours before icons in the church, or while kneeling before the solea, or in the church yard behind the Altar.
It was at this time that the Lord sent her a temporary refuge. This was a house, on Goloseyev Street, from which the residents had been evicted, as it was to be demolished. Matushka Alipiya moved into this house, and people began to come visit her. After church services, many people would seek out Matushka for advice.
By this time, the Eldress was known throughout Kiev and beyond. It was God's will that, from this point, Matushka Alipiya should serve Him through another great ascetic labor, that of eldership, one manifested in serving one's neighbor through advice, prayer, and care for his salvation and edification.
The Eldress continued to perform this difficult service to the end of her days, receiving visitors at her cell on Goloseyeva Street, and later at No. 7 Zatevakhin Street. This was one half of a house near the ruins of Goloseyev Hermitage, a men's monastery established in the 17th Century. At the time the Eldress settled down at this holy site, the monastery was in ruins. However, people would gather at the grave of Goloseyev Elder Alexey (Shepelyov) in the cemetery behind the demolished church of the «Life-giving Spring» Icon of the Mother of God. From that time on, matushka Alipiya became the extension of the prayerful ascetic struggle of the Goloseyev Elders, lighting there the spiritual candle of faith and piety.
Gradually, the houses in the area of the Goloseyev Hermitage were demolished. The residents moved away, and Matushka Alipiya remained alone in the house, which miraculously escaped demolition. The portion of the structure abutting the Eldress‘ little cottage was soon torn down, and later the Eldress' spiritual children installed brick facing on her dwelling. One side of the house faced a deep ravine in which the Eldress loved to pray. Below, beyond the cemetery, there were several lakes amid little wooded hills. It was as if nature, with its unearthly beauty and calm, filled in the gaps left by the inhuman evil that had come crashing down upon the holy place. More and more, Matushka Alipiya's solitude and prayer were accompanied by visits from people seeking spiritual support. And the Eldress would open her doors to everyone with love and unusual care and concern. She would await them as cherished guests, having already prepared a repast for them, one that was simple but very tasty, as it was imbued with her ceaseless prayer and blessing. She would always give people simple, modest gifts, such as bread; in saying goodbye to her visitors, she would sign them with the sign of the Cross, and would fervently pray. How many tortured souls would calm down in her cell! People would come to her from all over the former Soviet Union. They included highly placed public officials, military officers, and ordinary people, young and old, monastics and lay people. Who could recount all of the examples of clairvoyance and healing demonstrated by Matushka! Every day, from morning to night, her cell doors remained open. The Eldress had to exert so much effort to warm, to feed, to pray for all of her visitors, to so turn her heart and soul that she might console one who was suffering, might turn away from him all of the evil of the enemy of mankind, might heal him of his ills. It was here that, with labor upon labor, she pursued her ascetic tasks.
For one with compassion, the pain he feels at a neighbor's suffering is even greater than it is for the one who is suffering. For the Eldress, to whom the Lord had revealed thoughts and actions, the past and the future, it was painful to see God's creation perishing, and to know what machination of the enemy lay in wait for everyone. She was sick at heart for everyone. What God ordered her to reveal, she would reveal, at the same time, being careful to show concern for her hearers' salvation.
The Eldress strove to hide in every way possible the spiritual gifts which the Lord had so richly endowed the blessed one; sometimes she even resorted to apparent madness, speaking allegorically. To bring a person to repentance, she would attribute to herself sins which had been committed by those with whom she was speaking. In speaking Matushka would always replace words of the feminine gender with the masculine forms. She said a lot in the Mordovian language so that the people with whom she was speaking would not understand what she was saying in prayer.
Amazingly, she never took affront at anyone as long as the insult was directed at her. Because of our sinfulness, it is typical of us ordinary humans to become affronted, to defend our positions, to try to prove that we are in the right and that one speaking against us is in the wrong, to brag, to engage in self-justification, and to look to gain some kind of benefit, some advantage. We are like the blind, from whom everything going on around us is hidden. Matushka Alipiya did not at all display such qualities. Her behavior and the manner of her mentation were profoundly outstanding. She saw the spiritual essence of events that are otherwise hidden from human sight, and in accordance with the Savior's commandment, prayed, «they know not what they do.» Accordingly, she encountered not the person standing before her, but with that spiritual being who was guilty of what had happened to the person. She did not utter words of reproach, saying, lo, you are not right, you are doing wrong, or why did you not listen to me! She was able to speak loudly and emotionally only with the enemy of mankind, whom she reproached for bringing harm upon man and God. That was true clairvoyance! In difficult situations she did not seek out help from people by using either her spiritual authority, or some earthly means. She always appealed directly to God as Father, and would receive from Him an answer and assistance. «Father» is how she addressed her prayers, and the Lord immediately responded to her daring requests.
At this time, Matushka Alipiya increased her ascetic struggles even more, by wearing chains. One of the chains consisted of a multitude of large keys, also expressing an important symbolic meaning. She would pray [for release from bonds] of the souls of those entrusted to her by God, and for each one, would put on a new large key. Likewise, s on her shoulders, she wore chains consisting of an icon of the Holy Martyr Agafiya, her heavenly patron prior to her monastic tonsure, or a wooden beam. This caused her to appear somewhat hunch—backed. Sometimes, Matushka was able to carry a bucket of sand a great distance, or would bring to church large amounts of foodstuffs to be distributed to the poor after a Panikhida [requiem service for the reposed], sometimes exceeding 10 to 15 kgs in weight. The Eldress would suspend this great burden from a pole that lay across her shoulders.
The Eldress would give all of the alms she received to God. She would light large candles in all of the candlestands at church, would put money in the collection boxes or under the napkins lying on the icons, would feed her many visitors, or, as a token of thanks, would give money to people who had done work in her cell. Her little house was furnished very modestly: a stove, a bed covered with little bags, a table, and chairs, and nothing more. When a certain nun thought to herself in Matushka‘s cell that it might be a good idea to make some repairs, she immediately asked the nun, «Why do need this trash, dear?»
Early in the morning, about 3:00 or 4:00 AM, after her nightly kneeling vigil, the Eldress would begin her labors: she prepared food for her visitors (always knowing beforehand how many would come), went five kilometers on foot — with a heavy load on her shoulders — to catch the trolley to church. It was only after the late Liturgy that she would eat, and would feed those who were already waiting for her after church. Her visitors knew what she blessed them to do: They would first visit the grave of Ven. St. Alexey (Shepelyov) and then would come to see her. The visitors all prayed together, and sat down to eat together. The Eldress would eat but once a day, and at that, very little, but she would offer her guests food in abundance. Unbeknownst to them, the food they consumed would heal them of diseases, strengthen them spiritually, and impart the grace of the Holy Spirit, for the food had been imbued with the Eldress' prayer and blessing.
The food Matushka prepared had another quality: it would miraculously multiply in quantity: eyewitnesses attest to the fact that she put more foodstuffs into a single pot than it should have been able to contain, and that a far greater number of visitors were fed from that single pot than its volume should have permitted. There was enough food for everyone, and while Matushka herself did not eat much food, she would bless everyone to eat enormous bowls of borscht and kasha, and would also give each person an enormous piece of bread. This was of profound significance, but its meaning was known only to God and Matushka; after eating her food, people suffering from incurable illnesses would find themselves healed. Quite often, the healing was immediate, happening right there in her cell. On returning home, her visitors would forget about their illnesses, as if they had never been. Matushka did everything quietly and imperceptibly. She did not like to play the role of some exalted eldress who would openly «pontificate,» dispensing teachings and instructions, and openly performing healings. The healings would happen in inconspicuous, ordinary ways, through food, and through ointment that Matushka prepared from ordinary plants without any inherent healing properties, and that she would give to the sick. Matushka used the idea of «ointment» because people found greater assurance in using familiar, ordinary, materials. With the help of such ointment, she intentionally defined her activity as healing treatment; she hid her gift of miracle-working, and shunned the very title «miracle—worker.» By her blessing, simple tar, or water, or ordinary plants were endowed with grace, and imparted enlightenment and healing.
On every Wednesday and Friday throughout the year, Matushka Alipiya would neither eat, nor drink water. Only once did the Eldress admit to her cell-attendant, «How I am burning up inside! How it burns! I want a drink of water so much!» When offered a drink of water, Matushka immediately refused. During the first week of Great Lent, and during Passion Week, she likewise did not eat or drink.
Sometimes, Matushka would maintain a strict fast during times of drought. During several episodes of severe drought, she would not eat or drink for two weeks at a time, and when the Lord answered her prayers and sent the rains, she would display for Him her childlike joy by playing in the rain.
Likewise, when there was a thunderstorm looming, she would delay it until her the spiritual children and visitors in her yard had eaten. «Well, let the people eat! We are praying and eating quickly; I am not pleading for a long [delay].» After the people had thanked God following their meal, the rain would pour down.
On Pascha, a certain visitor did not heed the Eldress, and at the meal in the Eldress' cell, gave out cognac to everyone. On account of that sin, Matushka Alipiya continued to fast for an entire year, finally breaking her fast on the next Pascha.
It was always quiet and prayerful in the Eldress' cell. She did not permit idle talk, empty rhetoric, or gossip. As soon as anyone started to engage in such idle conversation, she would cut it short in her typical way, saying «All right, no twisting verbiage!» Often, Matushka would spend several hours alone in prayer in the solitude of the forest or in a ravine. By day, she would also be in church. Once, nuns entering the church to pray saw that there were many lighted candles in the candlestands. At first surprised, they soon understood the reason for such festivity. Before the ambo, Matushka Alipiya was kneeling in fervent prayer. On another occasion, while one of Matushka's spiritual children was in mortal danger, the Eldress knelt for several hours with her arms upraised in prayer, and by her payers, the woman was spared from death. There were times when people would come to Matushka in sorrow, and she would immediately go with them or by herself to church for a Panikhida, so that these people's deceased relatives might pray for them, and so that the Lord might grant them consolation and mercy. In this way, Matushka Alipiya also set an example of fervent prayer for the reposed, something that was also a distinguishing feature of her piety. Throughout her life, the Eldress fervently prayed for her relatives, for her parents Tikhon and Vassa, for her grandparents Sergei, Domna, Pavel and Evfirnia. In church, she always offered full Panikhidas for the repose of their souls, and asked all of her acquaintances and all those who held her in spiritual esteem to pray for them.
Matushka always knew who was coming to see her, and would call into her cell those who were still on their way to see her. For example, Raissa was coming to see her, and was bringing her a fish. In her cell, Matushka called out, «Raya, bring the fish.» Raissa came in, with the fish. Or she would call out, «Come over; I am waiting for you,» and soon, the person she was calling would arrive.
Her visitors relate that she was quite capable of addressing one or another of her children in a loud voice, asking them to come to their senses, or giving them advice. By her prayers, everything was set right. When someone with whom she had been speaking in spirit arrived, the circumstances of what had transpired would become clear.
For example, there was an argument in a certain family to which she was close. In her cell, Matushka asked them to make peace with one another. By the Eldress' prayers, the conflict died down, and the very next day, they decided to go see Matushka. Upon their arrival, they learned what the Eldress had been saying during their argument, and they were amazed by her clairvoyance.
When the electricity to her cell was cut off, she would loudly call the woman who had installed the electrical wiring, «Vera, give me light!» and immediately, there would be light.
Likewise, after listening to people's woes, Matushka would sternly address those who had offended them. For example, she asked that an apartment be returned to the people from whom it had been taken: «just how much can you torture people? Give back the apartment! Give it back!» Afterwards, the guilty party himself went to the organization that handled housing assignments, and renounced his claim to the apartment.
Here is another example of the Eldress' clairvoyance. She happened to tell her cell attendant to come over, as an elder from Mt. Athos would be arriving. The next day, it turned out that she had had no visitors other than a single priest. That priest later went to live on Mt. Athos, and now is spiritual director of a monastery on the Holy Mountain.
Another of the Eldress' features was her great feeling of thankfulness, both to God, Whom she always thanked for everything, and to anyone who ever did her the slightest kindness. You might not even take notice of it, but Matushka always saw everything, and would say, «Thank you! May God save you! I bow down to the ground before you.» On one occasion, when she was drenched with rain and chilled to the bone, a man who previously had not wanted to let her into his house, called her to come in and get warm. This was at a time when the Eldress had not yet found a place to live. He heated the stove, and allowed her to spend the night. A few days later, his wife encountered Matushka at church, and the Eldress said to her, «Did you know that your husband's name has been recorded by God? Do you know what he did for me?!»
If any of the people who came to see the Eldress helped with the domestic chores or in the garden, she would always give him a little money. Of course, no one wanted to take it, but it was impossible to turn down the Eldress' insistent requests.
Matushka blessed those about to enter her cell to first read the Symbol of Faith [i.e. the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]; in that one who entered attested to his belonging to the Orthodox Faith. For Matushka, the truth of the Orthodox Faith was indisputable. After her death, just as she did in life, Matushka has continued to guide people to Orthodoxy and to bear witness to the fact that salvation can be found only in the canonical Orthodox Church. A certain youth, who had started visiting the Pentecostals, but had not told Matushka of it, often heard her make veiled warnings not go to them. When it came down to his final decision, she directly pronounced a ban: «Save yourself here! The Truth is here!» In response to his complaint that in Orthodoxy, he did not understand anything, Matushka foretold that he would soon meet a priest who instruct him on everything. That came to pass. Later, that youth became a priest. Also, there was a certain man who came to see the Eldress, and who, before Baptism, had espoused Judaism. He did not tell Matushka about that fact, but the Eldress praised him for doing right by coming to Christ.
Those who revered Matushka Alipiya were especially confused and troubled by her attitude to then Metropolitan Philaret of Kiev. More than once, she foretold that he would take away churches, and that there would be a schism; she also cut the eyes out of his photograph in the calendar. When «Metropolitan» Philaret would serve in the Ascension Church, Matushka Alipiya would loudly criticize him before all of the people: You are renowned and famous, but you will die as just a man. She told a certain nun to tell all of her acquaintances that there would be a schism, and that the true Church would be subjected to insults, but that there was «salvation only in the canonical Orthodox Church.» When «Metropolitan» Philaret, now the defrocked and excommunicated Michael Denisenko, created a schism and organized a self-styled church, and in so doing trampled all of the canons of the Orthodox Church, the truth of Matushka’s words was revealed for everyone to see.
The catastrophe in Chernobyl was a particular source of pain for Matushka Alipiya. Over the course of one year prior to the tragedy, it troubled her soul and prompted her to pray ever more fervently. On several occasions, she said that the land, water, and air would be poisoned, that it would take place during Passion Week, and that it would happen in the region of Polessk. She would speak of the «atom coming toward Kiev.» She prayed with all her heart that the Lord might weaken this punishment, and spare the children. However, it was all to come to pass. When the catastrophe occurred, Matushka said, «I live with the pains of others.» In those difficult days, the Lord sent Matushka Alipiya to stop the panic among the people, to comfort people and to save them from spiritual death. Matushka did not bless people to move away; she sought to persuade them to turn to God, to make the sign of the Cross over their food, and, fearing nothing and trusting in the Lord, to eat everything.
People, but by no means the devil, can have doubts about whether a given spiritual struggler is truly pious. It is not through hearsay that the devil knows of the grace of the Holy Spirit given by the Lord to his faithful servants. Aware of the power of Matushka Alipiya's prayers and of her miracle—working, he attacked her with awful hatred. Once a young girl saw Matushka Alipiya fighting in a ravine with some awful man. Matushka‘s cell attendant, who was standing right next to her, could see only Matushka, apparently struggling with someone, but someone who was invisible. On another occasion, when the cell attendant came to see Matushka, she found her severely bruised. When she asked what had happened, the Eldress replied that the enemy had appeared to her and had beaten her against a rock. By night, he would appear in the guise of people knocking on the doors, and after the Eldress would make the sign of the Cross over the doors, there would be an awful knocking, whistling, and roaring.
Not having the strength to wage invisible battle with the Eldress, the enemy would do battle with her through visible means, through people. The authorities knew of Matushka's activities, and that groups of people would meet with her. Often, a district militiaman would come to her and say, «People gather together here at your home; we will demolish your house.» People in her cell would come to her defense, saying «this is our Matushka, and no one...» But the Eldress would jump in with a laugh, and say «No one will bother me. The man in charge will not allow me to be disturbed.» And the militiaman would leave. Several times, a tractor came to demolish the house, but through the blessed one's prayers, it was unsuccessful. It once happened that as the tractor began the work of demolition, the Eldress began to pray, looking up to the Heavens. Tears poured from her eyes, but she saw no one and heard nothing. She implored God, and He heard her: touched by her tears and prayers, the workers stopped their evil work. Quite often, ambulances would come to the Eldress' house to take her away to a psychiatric hospital. At those times, Matushka would give the blessing for everyone in her cell to read the 90th Psalm, «He that dwells in the shadow of the Most-high...» Then she would go out to the doctors and say, «The commander in chief of the militia has not ordered me to go with you.» And the ambulance would go away. On one such occasion, Matushka amazed a doctor who by demonstrating her clairvoyance: she amazed the physician by describing the disease afflicting her, and the doctor left, shocked and reflective.
There was a worker, whom Matushka called «Anka,» at a sawmill not far from the Eldress’ cell, and who took a particular dislike to her. He strove in every way possible to annoy Matushka, but she humbly endured all of his unpleasantness.
Some of the Eldress' visitors, not understanding the meaning of eldership, sanctity, and asceticism, were under the misapprehension that she was a fortune—teller who would tell their fortunes, etc. The Eldress would put an immediate stop to such thoughts. «What am I then, a fortune-teller?» repeating aloud what they had been secretly thinking. «I am not a sorceress or a fortune—teller, and I am not about to tell you about your men or your education.» That is how she criticized a young maiden who did not understand the difference between an Orthodox ascetic and an old women who told fortunes.
It once happened that a certain man came to her and said «Old woman! Look, I have three very expensive dachas [country cottages]. I will sell them and give you every penny, if you will only tell me how you heal people and how you pray to God. What is it? Do you pray to God until midnight, and then summon «him»? He had in mind the spirit of evil. Matushka said nothing, and resting her head on her hands, lapsed into silence. Her appearance was distant and contemplative. She remained silent for a long time. The man waited, waited, and then started to prod her, «Our conversation isn't finished.» Matushka solemnly replied, «Why would I need your pennies? I have bread, I have potatoes, and I do not need anything else.»
Likewise, here is how Matushka responded to a woman's insistent plea that, in the vocabulary of various healers and fortune-telling women, she «pass on» some [information] to her. She replied, «And what should I pass on to you? What should I pass on to you?» She pointed to her old skirt, as if to say that that was all she owned.
The subject of making a change in the calendar held a special place in Matushka's life. Such a trend already exists in the Orthodox world, fulfilling what the Eldress had foretold. Before her death, Matushka shifted her calendar to show that Lent had begun before it was yet Lent, or that it was already Pascha when everyone else was still in Lent. Things done by a Fool for Christ, though seemingly inadequate or impious, are always intended to make people think, to make them see from another perspective that they are going astray, and to think better of their convictions. To some, her actions were a source of temptation, but the Eldress, who was acting in obedience to God's directions, paid them no mind, and endured their condemnations. After a while, Matushka once again began to observe the Fast with everyone else.
People came to Matushka from all over the Soviet Union with a wide variety of problems. Some had family problems, some had problems with work or housing, some asked for healing from disease, for a blessing to enter a monastery, or a blessing to marry. It would be impossible to recount them all. One did not have to tell Matushka his problems, for they were already known to her before any question had been asked. Those who from experience were already aware of her clairvoyance would even converse with her mentally, posing their questions to her in their thoughts. The Eldress would immediately reply. If such a conversation was going on in the presence of several or more visitors, the Eldress would give an allegorical answer that, while seeming to be about herself or some outside party, was in fact relevant to the person affected by the given subject. All of this was done so as not to be a source of embarrassment or a source of idle curiosity on the part of those whom it did not concern.
As someone schooled and experienced in spiritual warfare, someone capable of sober analysis, Matushka Alipiya would always warn those seeking after spiritual direction and advice on how to be pleasing to God, to beware of apparent asceticism. Two youths who happened to come to see her wanted to become solitaries, living in the caves of the Caucusus, to emulate the ascetics of old. They could not manage to ask her about it, as there were a great number of people present, and they did not want to talk in front of everybody. However, Matushka anticipated their questions. In front of everyone, she said, «Here are people who want to live in the mountains, like the ascetics of old.» With a smile, she continued, «Now is not the time. That is not your path.» To another man who also wanted to go off to become a bee—keeper in the mountains, she said, without him having to ask, «Buy honey at the bazaar, do not abandon your wife, or you will be lost.»
For a young man who was preparing to enter a monastery, Matushka prepared a test of obedience. She asked him to stack some cans in an . arrangement that was not quite convenient or correct. The young man of course arranged them as he thought best. Matushka said to him, «He wants to become a monk, but does everything in his own way.»
Two girls were coming to see the Eldress for the first time, and were talking as they walked. One of them said that she dreamt of doing good works — selling her possessions and giving the proceeds to the poor. They encountered an old woman who said with a bit of sarcasm, «And just what is it that you are selling?» In a moment, Matushka Alipiya had brought the girl, who was lost in romantic ideas, back down to earth.
People wanting to marry would ask the Eldress’ blessing. A future priest asked her advice about marriage. For a long time, Matushka stood. her arms upraised, and looking to the Heavens. Then she said, «There, they are saying to marry, but I do not know.» In this way, she would submit herself to God's will, and not ascribe any authority to herself. A young seminarian was going through the courtyard of the Ascension Church. and heard «Anna, Anna, Anna!» He walked a bit farther, and Matushka Alipiya approached him, adding, «You can, you can marry!» His bride was called Anna. To a certain young lady, the Eldress once happened to say, «You are going to marry Valery. He is short in stature, lives with Evdokiya, and wears a cap.» She had described the girl's future husband. This disconcerted the young lady, but soon it all came to pass.
If the Eldress forbade someone from marrying, and they nonetheless did marry, they suffered for it all their lives.
Families that were suffering from demonically-provoked quarreling would be fortified by Matushka's efforts. The wife of a priest from Moscow had decided to leave her husband and enter a monastery. In furtherance of that decision, she went to visit Kiev's holy sites. She also wanted to visit Goloseyevo and its Eldress, Matushka Alipiya. She was on her way back after first bowing down at the grave of Elder Alexey (Shepelyov) of Goloseyevo. However, on her way back, she saw that the road was blocked by a simple barrier, near which some old woman was stirring about, constructing a fence out of old boards, and murmuring. «To block the road!» This turned out to be Matushka Alipya, and the woman realized that the way to the monastery was not for her.
The wife of a Moscow general came to ask the Eldress to pray for her atheist husband. The woman was forced to go to church in secret, keeping it from her husband. But the Eldress revealed to her the husband's secret: «You should thank the Mother of God, and God as well! He has been a believer since childhood, but was afraid to tell you. Now don't be afraid of anything. Go straight to your husband, tell him everything, and live with God!» A week later, the general himself came to thank her.
The blessed one would welcome monastics with particular love, calling them «usual kin», or people «from our village». Many monastics had entered the monastery after receiving her blessing. That is a difficult path, strewn with many sorrows and temptations. With her advice, and first and foremost, with her prayers, Matushka Alipiya helped them overcome the difficulties and worthily carry their life-long Cross.
She spoke a great deal about patience, encouraging people to be patient, no matter what sorrows they might encounter in life. She counseled the nuns, «Be quiet, say 'I ask your forgiveness,’ and you will not die.» Or she would say, «Endure! Oh, how hard it will be — endure everything.» It was by such faith that Matushka Alipiya lived.
More than once, Matushka Alipiya prophesied the revival of the Goloseyevo Hermitage, although at the time, that possibility seemed entirely unrealistic. The atheist regime's attitude toward the Church remained unchanged, and the monastery was in an awful state of desolation. However, the Eldress continued to assert, «Here there will be a very large and beautiful church and monastery.» She also said about her house that there would be a church on the site. In addition, she said that it was a holy place, and that three Elders were interred under her house. During excavation of the foundation, skulls were found in the walls of the trench. The tractor had not damaged the graves.
Matushka Alipiya rendered inestimable help in keeping the Ascension Church from being demolished in connection with the building of the design institute. As a result of the appeals filed by the Eldress in Moscow, the building plans were revised. Believers learned of this from the authorized representative for religious affairs, who in conversation mentioned her name, and explained by whose intercession the church had been spared.
Matushka had a particular love for God's church. She was very worried whenever they planned to close a church of God, to deprive [people] of Divine Services. The faithful would often turn to her for prayerful intercession in that regard. Matushka would loudly exclaim, «Return the keys, open the church! There will be no rain, and there will be no grain, unless you open the church!» These are the kind of «orders» Matushka would issue, and by her prayers, services in the church would resume.
A certain woman asked her to pray for the reopening of the Church of the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul. Matushka began a peculiar conversation: «Well, the Apostles Peter and Paul, eh? Will we return the church? Yes, we will return it! First we will return the Lavra — right? And then the Church of Apostles Peter and Paul, right?» Soon what she had said came to pass. First the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was reopened, and then the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
Several times, Matushka had prophesied the reopening of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, her favorite holy place, a place about which she loved to talk. One month before its reopening, she said joyously, «They are already lighting the vigil lamps in the caves.»
The Eldress was severely ill for about a year. Physically weak, she was forced to lie down, but even then she did not give her body rest: she lay on bare boards. Matushka's spiritual children did not abandon her in this difficult time. They arranged it so that every night someone would stay at her little house. During this period, she would commune in her cell. Her healing took place on the feast of the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, whom the Eldress especially loved. She rose from her sickbed, and with incredible effort, and accompanied by her cell attendant and a nun, went to church. After they had all had Communion in church, Matushka returned home already more invigorated, and from that point would once again go to church each Sunday.
Many times, the Eldress foretold the day of her death. She would ask, «And what day is October 30?» When she would be told that it was Sunday, she would not respond. She also would say that she would die during the first snow. She gave a certain woman the Church calendar, and asked her to count off the days. When she came to the 30th, the Eldress stopped her and circled that day. The woman guessed that it was to be Matushka's last day, and she began to weep. That incident could also have presaged the fact that today the faithful especially commemorate Matushka Alipiya on the thirtieth of each month.
Knowing that she would soon be translated to the Lord, the Eldress prepared her spiritual children for that event. Several times, she directed that they should come to her grave and ask her just as they had while she was alive. Several months before her repose, a certain nun, sensing that they soon would be parted, asked her, «To whom do you leave us?» Matushka affectionately replied, «You, dear, I leave to the Mother of God!» To a priest who greatly revered her, she said, «Come to me at my grave, and talk with me as with a living person. I helped you in life, and I will help you then as well.» She gave a blessing to honor the place where she pursued her ascetic struggles, and to come to her little house just as they had when she was alive. «I am not dying, but am here with you. Come, walk around the cottage, call out, and I will hear you.»
On the next to last Sunday before her death, Matushka suddenly began to prostrate herself before each person at her home, and to say, «Forgive me!» Then she stood up, raised her head heavenward, and sincerely and fervently appealed to the Lord, «Forgive me!» With upturned face, she continued her plea without ceasing. She had already said goodbye to everyone.
In her last week of life, she blessed a certain woman to come read the Psalter for her. She said, «Come for three days to read; no more will be needed.» The woman read on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday evening, she blessed her cell-attendant to go to church, and to put candles in the candlestands, but not to light them. She gave a commemoration book to be offered in church in the morning, and warned her that after the service she was to «race quickly, so that I would not have gone.» After the service, many people gathered together in her cell. Everyone hurried to see her one last time, and to say goodbye. Matushka prepared herself, fixing everyone with a very solemn, very piercing gaze. Thrice, she moved her eyes cross-wise, and gave her blessing for the people to go to the Kitaev Hermitage to pray to Venerable Sts. Dosifei and Feofil. At the moment her spiritual children bowed down to the Venerable Ones, Matushka departed to the Lord. At the same time, a cloud appeared in the clear-blue sky, moved over the place where Matushka Alipiya‘s spiritual children were praying, and from it, thick, dense snow began to fall.
The next morning, nuns of the Monastery of St. Florus came to vest the Eldress according to the monastic rite. The Eldress' body was warm and soft. Hieromonk Roman Matiushyn, who had come with the nuns, served the first Panikhida.
On that day, nature took on an unusual, festive appearance. The earth,the trees, Matushka' cell, the ravine, the forest — everything was covered in white rime-frost. Matushka lay looking young, her face unwrinkled, and there was a smile on her white face. On the day of her funeral, the sky was blue, there was no breeze, all was quiet, and there was an otherworldly peace, a sense that the Kingdom of Heaven was present. The funeral was served on November 1, 1988 with all due solemnity by the clergy of the Holy Ascension St. Florus Monastery, with a great crowd of people in attendance. Matushka Alipiya was interred in the St. Florus Monastery section of the Lesno Cemetery of the city of Kiev.
Since that time, the people's love for the Eldress has continued unabated. In keeping with her blessing, people continue to come to her with their burdens, and then to leave with a sense of relief. News of the miracles that had begun to occur at the blessed one's grave became more and more wide-spread among the people, and soon a steady and endless stream of people began to flow to their intercessor. From morning until late in the night, there were people at her tomb, and on the 30th of each month, there were so many that in order to venerate her memorial Cross, one had to stand in line for several hours.
With the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir (Sabodan) of Kiev, the relics of Nun Alipiya (Avdeyeva) were uncovered by clergy of the Holy Protection «Goloseyev Hermitage» Monastery early in the morning on May 18, 2006, and were taken in solemn procession to the monastery, whose restoration the blessed one had foretold.
As the Eldress had said, on the site of her house, a chapel with five cupolas was erected. Initially, Matushka's holy relics were set out for veneration in the great Church of the Life-giving Spring. Later, they were transferred to the crypt below the church, and installed in a marble sarcophagus. The traditions established at Matushka's grave in the Lesno Cemetery continue to be observed at the monastery. On the 30th of each month, on the anniversary of Matushka's death, on her birthday — March 16, and on the day of the uncovering of her relics - May 18, festivities take place, a meal is prepared for the people, many Panikhidas are served, people come from all of the countries of the CIS, and from the Near and Far Abroad. Over 50,000 people gathered together for the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Eldress’ repose.
