Karaganda Elder Venerable Sebastian. Venerable Sebastian of Karaganda

20.09.2019

The holy new martyrs and confessors of the Optina Hermitage were worthy successors of the prayerful exploits of their holy predecessors - the venerable Optina elders.

Martyrdom and confession are a special gift of grace, and not everyone can receive it, not everyone can bear it. This requires a high feat of Christian self-denial and apostolic courage of spirit.

Confession and martyrdom for the name of Christ are the crown of the Christian’s holy ascetic life, his faith and love for the Lord, his humility, meekness and patience. They prepared for this feat with immaculate thought, unceasing prayer, pure faith, perfect virtue, unfeigned love, being in unity with the Holy Church.

And if the martyrdom of ancient Christians was, in most cases, in front of people, which was a kind of joy and consolation for the sufferers, then the new martyrs were not allowed to die as martyrs for the truth in the eyes of people. They were previously slandered and disgraced as disturbers of public order, as enemies of the law and society.

And this human slander for an innocent person was sometimes more painful than the physical suffering itself during persecution and imprisonment. St. also spoke about this. John Chrysostom “Nothing torments the soul and heart more than ridicule and slander.”

Terrible social and public upheavals and disasters befell many Christian states in the twentieth century. Over the years of external prosperity, a person’s life was formed inside the Church without the Church, for the Church could not help a person who had gone out entirely into the world and lived exclusively according to the laws of this world. That is why the Lord returned the lukewarm Christians of the early twentieth century to Himself through martyrdom.

“Blessed is he who does the will of God, and not his own, carnal will. I surrender with all my soul and with all my heart to Your will, Lord. Do with me as you please. He who does his own will has a slavish fear and attachment to earthly goods. Not having acquired fear God's will Can’t do God’s work.”

Reverend Confessor Sebastian (in holy baptism Stefan) was born on November 28, 1884 into a poor peasant family in the village of Kosmodemyanovskoye, Oryol province. Father Vasily and mother Matryona Fomina had three sons. The eldest Illarion was born in 1872, the middle Roman was born in 1877 and the youngest Stefan was born in 1884.

In 1888, parents took their sons to Optina Pustyn to be blessed by Elder Ambrose. On next year parents died. The elder brother Hilarion married, and the younger brothers remained in his family.

Three years later, Roman begged his brother to let him go to the monastery, and thus the blessing of Elder Ambrose was fulfilled. He entered the monastic monastery of St. John the Baptist in Optina Pustyn as a novice and was soon tonsured a monk with the name Raphael. Stepan missed his brother very much and asked to let him go to the monastery, but until he came of age he had to live with his brother’s family. In 1905 he came of age and he went to his brother Raphael in Optina Pustyn.

Stefan was assigned as a cell attendant to Elder Joseph at the monastery of St. John the Baptist. Elder Joseph entered a monastery from his early youth and was cell attendant to Elder Ambrose, living in his cell for fifty years. Stefan lived in this cell for almost eighteen years, until the monastery was closed in 1923. Stefan's brother, schemamonk Raphael, died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1908.

On May 9, 1911, Elder Joseph died, and Elder Nektarios moved into his cell. Stefan remained his cell attendant and became his spiritual son. He lived in this cell with Elder Nektarios for twelve years until the monastery was closed. Then for another five years, until 1928, in the village of Kholmishchi near Kozelsk, and so he lived with Elder Nektary for seventeen years, and with Elder Joseph for five years.

Under the leadership of these elders, Fr. Sebastian cultivated meekness, prudence, and a high prayerful attitude. Mercy, compassion and other spiritual qualities. Great love led him to take on the burden of old age at an exceptionally difficult time.

In 1917, in the Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage, Stefan took monastic vows with the name Sebastian. In 1923, two months before the monastery was closed, Fr. Sebastian accepted ordination as a hierodeacon, and in 1927 he was ordained a hieromonk by the bishop of Kaluga. After the death of Elder Nektarios in 1928, he was assigned to a parish in the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk), where he served in the Elias Church for five years and enjoyed great popularity and love there.

In 1933 Fr. Sevastian was repressed and sentenced to ten years in the Karaganda camps in Kazakhstan. In the camp about. Sebastian was beaten and tortured, demanding that he renounce God. But to this he said: “Never” - and he was sent to the barracks with the criminals. But faith and love, which were in the priest’s heart, prevailed. He led the entire barracks to faith in God. He led everyone who was there to true faith.

Following Fr. The nuns devoted to him went with Sebastian. They got a job in a nearby village and looked after Fr. Sebastian for all ten years of his imprisonment. Then they saved up money and bought a house in Mikhailovka, in the suburbs of Karaganda. At the end of 1943 O. Sebastian was released and settled in this house. With his blessing, they furnished the house and stayed in Karaganda for the rest of their lives.

When Fr. Sebastian settled in Mikhailovka, and monastics and lay people seeking spiritual guidance began to come to him from all over the country. During this period of persecution of the church, the words of St. Ignatius Brianchaninova: “Look everywhere for the spirit, not the letters. Now you would seek monasteries in vain. There are none...But you will always find monks in monasteries, in hostels, in deserts, and, finally, in secular houses.”

Everyone about. Sebastian received with love and helped arrange housing. Soon there were many spiritual children of Fr. Sebastiana. Elder nun Agnia, a wonderful artist and icon painter, arrived. She was the spiritual daughter of the Optina elder Barsanuphius, every year she went to his monastery and therefore knew Fr. Sebastiana. She said that Fr. Sebastian in his youth was very handsome, with a particularly bright face. He was friendly, affectionate with visitors and tried to do everything for everyone. Elder Barsanuphius called him blessed, and Elder Joseph loved him very much and said about him: “He is a gentle soul.”

The city of Karaganda grew, new villages were created, but there was only one church on the far outskirts of the city, and Fr. Sebastian, in his cell, in the house where he lived with four nuns, celebrated the Liturgy and Vespers daily. Soon the residents of Mikhailovka began to invite him to services.

And although there was no permission for this, the priest went from house to house without fail. Many were eager to see the priest; even dogs crawled out of all the gates to see him as he passed along the street. The residents of Mikhailovka worked hard to open a church, even sending representatives to Moscow.

Finally, in 1952, permission was given to open a house of worship, but church services were not allowed to be held in it. And after numerous demands, baptism and cell prayers, Fr. Sebastian walked at three o'clock in the morning through the dark streets to serve the liturgy. The priest finished the service before dawn, and everyone went home. Three years later, permission was received to open a church in Mikhailovka.

And in 1955 the temple was consecrated in honor of Christmas Holy Mother of God. The priest selected his own priests. First he looks closely at one of the parishioners, and then he calls him over and says: “You should be a priest.” Served Fr. Sebastian was the rector of the temple for eleven years. From 1955 to 1966 - until the day of his death. In 1957, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and awarded by Patriarch Alexy I with a diploma “For diligent service to the Holy Church.” In 1965 he was awarded a miter and a staff. Before his death, three days before his death, he was tonsured into the schema. Service to the Holy Church Fr. Sebastian performed for sixty years, from the time of obedience at the monastery of Optina Monastery to the abbot and ordination to the rank of archimandrite - from 1906 to 1966.

Father Sebastian was distinguished by impeccable fidelity to church institutions, constant concern for creating deep peace in human souls and high demands on everyone and, above all, on himself. His love was not condescending; he had the gift of great prudence. And always moderation in everything. And most importantly, he was always completely entrusted to the Providence of God. “There should be a golden mean in everything and moderation.

And in relation to God and one’s salvation, constancy is needed, not haste, not excessiveness,” he said. Such was his pastoral appearance. When communicating with him, it naturally became clear that the soul lives forever. That with death our life does not end, our main essence does not die, but only our body wears out.

He especially loved holidays Holy Trinity and the Ascension, as the completion of the work of redemption. Highly respected Fr. Sebastian St. , whose memory he commemorated especially solemnly and reverently, demanded this from his flock. He often said: “After all, in your families there is no peace and love between you. And who will help you if not he, the holy apostle of love? He put a lot of work into educating his flock. They said that a good half of Mikhailovka is an unspoken monastery in the world.

Closer to o. His brother Illarion, along with his daughter and granddaughter, also moved to Sebastian. On Sundays and everything holidays they came to Fr. Sebastian to the temple and took his blessing.

All spiritual children of Fr. Sebastian was not taken a single step without his blessing. He often cried when he confessed. Sometimes he got angry, but rarely, always as if wanting to force him to obey. He sometimes loved to joke, he had a subtle humor, light and friendly. He had the gift of foresight and saved his spiritual children from many troubles. He served every morning and evening and had long conversations with people, especially visitors. He himself delved into all the details of church life.

According to the inherited monastic custom, he especially loved funeral services and every day he diligently served requiem services, performing funeral services for the rest of his life. When he had little strength, a small room was allocated for him in the church behind the memorial service, where he could rest during the service, when he was bothered by pain or had severe weakness.

Father Sebastian was the rector of the temple for eleven years from 1955 to 1966, until the day of his death. Feeling his death approaching, he often reminded them to place their own people in priestly and leadership positions, although they were weak and infirm. Then everything will be unchanged, as it was under him.

Since January 1966, his health has deteriorated greatly, chronic diseases have worsened, but in Lent O. Sebastian himself tried to serve all the services. From the sixth week, his strength began to leave him. On Holy Saturday, after the end of the liturgy, he put on a robe and hood and went out to say goodbye to the people with a request to live peacefully, with readiness for every good deed.

A few days before his death, Fr. Sebastian was tonsured into the schema. According to the recollections of his spiritual children, after tonsure, the priest was filled with such grace that when looking at him, the soul trembled and one’s own sinfulness was acutely felt.

Schema-Archimandrite Sebastian died on Radonitsa, April 19, 1966. Fr. Sebastian at the St. Michael's Cemetery. Almost all the way his coffin was carried at outstretched arms. Traffic on the highway was stopped, and a procession of thousands saw him off, singing “Christ is Risen.” Bishop Pitirim (Nechaev) performed the funeral service for Fr. Sebastiana.

The relics of the Venerable Confessor Sebastian were found on October 12, 1997 and are now located in the Holy Vvedensky Cathedral in Karaganda.

Glorified in 1997 as a locally revered saint of the Alma-Ata diocese. On November 4, 1997, the venerable relics of the venerable confessor were transferred to new temple Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Karaganda. Canonized as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000. Commemorated on April 6/19 and in the Cathedral of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Having courageously endured all suffering and even death for the faith of Christ and for the Church, the martyrs accepted God’s grace to help Christians struggling on earth, especially during persecution. May veneration and prayer to them strengthen us to be courageous in our confession of faith, and through their intercession the Lord will have mercy on us all.

Righteous Men of Our Day

Priest Alexander UGOLKOV, Karaganda

The Monk Sebastian of Karaganda was distinguished by impeccable fidelity to church institutions, constant concern for creating deep peace in human souls and high demands on everyone and, above all, on himself.

His love was not condescending; he had the gift of great prudence. And always moderation in everything. And most importantly, he was always completely entrusted to the Providence of God. When communicating with him, it naturally became clear that the soul lives forever. That with death our life does not end, our main essence does not die, but only our body wears out.

His life was a continuation of the life in Christ of the God-bearing Optina elders, from whom he inherited the spiritual treasures of the patristic traditions. But in addition to the school of eldership, the Monk Sebastian also attended the “spiritual academy”, which was called “Karlag”. The suffering suffered in prison further purified and tempered his soul, brought him closer to God, strengthened his faith in Christ, and taught him to love people even more selflessly.
In a conversation with his spiritual children, the Monk Sebastian said that the Lord inexpressibly consoled his faithful slaves “those in chains,” and those grace-filled services that were secretly performed in the camp or in the miners’ dugouts were remembered by all confessors for the rest of their lives.

Despite all the measures taken by the godless authorities aimed at destroying the Church, the people surrounding the elder burned with the patristic spirit of Orthodoxy. This became visible evidence that the Church of God, persecuted but not expelled, mocked but not desecrated, beaten but not killed, flourished where death and oblivion were prepared for the followers of Christ. For “the truth then rejoices when they die for it,” said the Monk Sebastian. It was the patristic traditions that took root in Karaganda, sprouted and bore fruit.

“You are the bleeding heart of the Kazakh country, blessed Karaganda. There are many places of sorrow for the prince of darkness in your land” (Song 6 of the canon of the service “To the Council of All Holy New Martyrs and Confessors, who have shone in the land of Kazakhstan”), the Holy Church now prayerfully sings, and addresses the patron of this long-suffering land with these words: “To whom Shall we liken you, Sebastian, to our father? Is it Sergius, who gathered the Russian land like kokosh under the krill? Is it Seraphim, who raised every feat and inflamed the love of the heart? Is it Ambrose, who nourished the soul with honeyed words? With them now remember the city of Karaganda and the country that you loved so much” (Song 5 of the canon of the service “To the Council of All Holy New Martyrs and Confessors, who shone in the land of Kazakhstan”).

The Monk Sebastian was strict and kind, insightful and original. He tested the hearts of those who came to him, gave them not only consolation, but also guided them on the path of achievement. He humbled and placed a person before spiritual difficulties, without fear and without pitying him with little human pity, because he believed in the dignity and rational quality of the soul and in great power God's grace helping seeker of truth. The main traits of Saint Sebastian were humility and wisdom. And its light was like a bright sword cutting through the soul. All Orthodox Karaganda residents are well aware of the wonderful words of the reverend elder: “Love purity like the apple of your eye, so that you will be God’s temple and home. Without chastity it is impossible to become attuned to God.”

Father Sevastian (in holy baptism Stefan) was born on November 28, 1884 into a poor peasant family in the village of Kosmodemyanovskoye, Oryol province. Father Vasily and mother Matryona Fomina had three sons.

In 1888, parents took their children to Optina Pustyn to see Elder Ambrose. Stefan, although only four years old at the time, remembered this visit well. Soon after this, the father died, and a year later the mother left this life. The middle brother, Roman, entered Optina Pustyn. Stefan dreamed of following his brother, but his older brother, Hilarion, in whose care Stefan remained, for a long time was against it.

And only in 1905 a long-standing dream came true; Stefan was accepted as a novice in Optina. He was assigned as a cell attendant to Elder Joseph, at the monastery of St. John the Baptist.

What does monasticism mean? The Monk Macarius of Optina calls it “the perfection of Christianity, consisting in fulfilling the commandments of God.” The novice Stephen entrusts himself to the elders, learning in obedience to do the will of God. This is how he himself later spoke about it: “Blessed is he who does the will of God, and not his own, carnal will. I surrender with all my soul and with all my heart to Your will, Lord. Do with me as You please. He who does his own will has a slavish fear and attachment to earthly goods. He who has not acquired the fear of God cannot do the will of God.”

In 1917, Stefan took monastic vows with the name Sebastian, in 1923 he became a deacon, and in 1927 he became a hieromonk.

In 1933, the priest’s life ended and his confessional life began; he was arrested, sentenced to 7 years in the camps and sent here, to Karaganda, to Karlag.

“Father Sebastian recalled about his stay in the camp that they beat, tortured, and demanded one thing: renounce God. He said, "Never." Then he was sent to a barracks with criminals. “There,” they said, “they will quickly re-educate you.” You can imagine what the lessons did to an elderly, sick, weak person, a priest. But faith and love, which were in the priest’s heart, prevailed. He led the entire barracks, down to one person, to faith in God, everyone who was there. And not just to faith, but to real faith” (Tatiana Tortensten).

Scary Stalin's camp. It seems incredible that one can remain a Christian and keep the Gospel commandment to love one’s neighbor. For a piece of bread or a cup of gruel, people were ready to kill each other; prisoners were systematically and cruelly turned into animals, exterminating everything human in them.

And under these conditions, the monk managed not only to preserve, but also to increase his monastic exploits. He lived contrary to Gulag values, the main slogan of which is “man is a wolf to man.” On the contrary, the harsher and more terrible the actions of the tormentors, the more love the monk responded to them. Human memory has preserved touching incidents telling how some free people, feeling sorry for the priest, gave him food, and he shared it with the prisoners. “They will give him mittens, and the next day he comes again - without mittens, he goes up to the bull and warms his numb hands on it... He gave it to someone...” And such love could not help but find a response in human hearts. Many loved the priest, many came to faith in God through him.

When Father Sebastian was finally released in 1939, something unexpected happened. He said to his spiritual children: “We will live here. Here all life is different, and the people are different.” It would seem quite natural for a person to leave a place where he experienced so much grief, where the earth itself is already groaning from human sorrow. But he chooses a different path. The path of true monasticism, which is, in the words of one contemporary ascetic of piety, “the gift of prayer for the whole world.” So in Karaganda, in a raging sea of grief and sorrow, an island of hope appears, a ship of salvation - the Monk Sebastian.

What was he like? Outwardly completely simple, meek, humble, very rarely strict. Many who saw him for the first time could not believe that in front of them was THE SAME Father Sebastian. The inner life was hidden from everyone, the feat that he carried was invisible to others. Here are the memories of him by the late Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev): “For all his unusually high spiritual gifts, Elder Sebastian was very sickly. His illness began with a nervous shock. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he was the first and favorite student of Elder Joseph of Optina. When Elder Joseph died, he was so shocked that he suffered paresis of the esophagus. All his life he could only eat liquid, soup-like food: mashed potatoes, washed down with kvass, a mashed apple - very little, a liquid, half-raw egg.

Sometimes a spasm seized his esophagus, he coughed and could no longer eat, he remained hungry. One can imagine how hard it was for him in the camp, when they fed herring and did not give him water. Elder Sebastian was reserved, spoke little, but he had an amazing combination of physical weakness and spiritual - I won’t even say strength, but friendliness, in which any human pain, any anxiety dissolved. When a confused, indignant person drove towards him, thinking of throwing out all his rage, all his irritation, he calmed down on the way and, having met the elder, calmly, objectively explained his question to him, and he calmly listened to him, sometimes , preventing a wave of irritation, immediately gave him a short answer.”

His prayer never stopped. Vladyka Pitirim, who often came to Karaganda (sometimes, as he himself said, for only one word: yes or no), had the opportunity to spend the night in the elder’s cell. Waking up at night, he saw that despite the fact that the priest seemed to be sleeping, the rosary in his hands was constantly moving.

Sometimes he suddenly rose from bed, as if called by someone, and for some time, looking somewhere into the distance, prayed. What did he see then? What trouble? Whose pain? It is unknown to us, but thousands of grateful hearts honoring the memory of St. Sebastian are clear proof that requests addressed to him did not go unanswered.

And people, exhausted by their troubles, flowed to him in an endless stream, came and found consolation and joy, found for themselves new life in God. What attracted people most to him? What made him that lamp that stands in a high place, shedding blessed light around itself?

The answer is undeniable: he was the bearer of the blessed Easter joy, which cannot be contained within the framework of a logical definition, but which is perceived by the soul. filled with the inexplicable and joyful light of Divine grace. There is one episode in the life of the monk, which, at first glance, is not entirely clear.

“On Lazarus Saturday, April 2 (the monk died on April 19), something very significant and extremely important happened for the priest. At 3 o'clock in the morning he woke up his cell attendant and asked to call Father Alexander to him. All beaming and trembling with joy, he told something to Father Alexander, his confessor. Nobody knows what they talked about. We only know that Father Alexander confessed the priest and gave him communion, since he went to the altar to receive the Holy Gifts. After communion, the priest sang: “Christ is Risen!” - and sent the novice to wake up and call the girls from the choir to him so that they would sing Easter to him. The girls came, all wearing white headscarves, and sang the troparion of Easter, the stichera, and the irmos of the canon. When everyone sang, the priest asked: “Who’s there in the kitchen? Tell them to boil three types of eggs: soft-boiled, hard-boiled and in a bag.” All this was done.

In the morning, the priest asked the cell attendant to bring him milk: “Well, he said, it’s all kvass and okroshka. Why are you still crushing me with kvass? You should give me some milk." The cell attendant went to the store and brought milk.

No one contradicted the priest. The cell attendant poured milk into a mug and very timidly said: “Father, today is only Lazarus Saturday, then Holy Saturday there will be, and then only Easter. If today was Easter, how many colors would we have, how many Easter cakes would we have!” He looked at everyone and said: “Yes.:. that's it! - He pushed the cup of milk away - the milk had gone far! Give me some okrosh then.”

What was incomprehensible to those close to the priest at that time, those ineffable words “which a man cannot retell” (2 Cor. 12:4), were a foretaste of Easter joy, which is paradise. The elder belonged to those people for whom, according to His Eminence Metropolitan Methodius, “The Resurrection of Christ was not a holiday of the annual cycle, but an event of their personal life. Hell, in all its god-fighting fury, was not scary for them - they already belonged Eternal Life"(Easter message).

Shortly before his death, the priest addressed his children with in the following words: “I ask you all one thing: live in peace. Peace and love are the most important thing. If you have this among yourself, you will always have joy in your soul. We are now awaiting the onset of Bright Matins, the onset of the Easter holiday - the salvation of the soul for eternal joy. How can you achieve it? Only peace, love, sincere heartfelt prayer. You will not be saved by anything that is outside of you, but only by what you achieve inside your soul and in your heart - peaceful silence and love. So that your gaze never looks askance at anyone. Look directly, with readiness, at any kind answer, at any good deed. With my last request I ask you about this.”

And how strange it is that even now, having before us the example of the life of the saint, we console ourselves with false conclusions about the impossibility in our time of fulfilling the Gospel commandments. The life of a righteous man teaches and convicts us; the gospel ideal, which seems so distant from reality to us, appears before us in the guise of a wonderful old man who endured incredible suffering, trials of his faith and retained love and purity, humility and compassion. And we, who call ourselves his children, cannot help but follow him.

Even at the time when the elder was the cell attendant of the Monk Joseph, he called his novice “Leto” for his mercy and love for people. So we, his little-faithful novices, ask on this day of his sacred glorification to warm the fierce winter of our passions with the love of Christ, to melt the heart ice of our unbelief, so that we too can always glorify Christ God, who glorified His wondrous saint, the Venerable Sebastian, “the pious confessor of faith and image of spiritual meekness."

In contact with

The blessed elder Schema-Archimandrite Sebastian (Stefan Vasilyevich Fomin) was born on November 10, 1884 in the village of Kosmodemyanskoye, Oryol province, into a poor peasant family. The father's name was Vasily, the mother's name was Matrona. They had three sons. In 1888, parents took their children to Optina Pustyn to see Elder Ambrose. Stefan remembered this visit and the gentle eyes of the gracious elder for the rest of his life. When Stefan was 4 years old, his father died, and a year later his mother died. 5-year-old Stefan was attached to his middle brother Roman for his gentle soul
and a soft heart.
But Roman chose the path of monastic life and in 1892 begged his older brother Hilarion to take him to Optina Pustyn, where he was accepted as a novice at the monastery of St. John the Baptist.
Hilarion, in whose family five-year-old Stefan remained to live after the death of his parents, had a different character: he was demanding, unkind.
Stefan studied well and graduated from a 3-grade parish school.
The parish priest gave him books to read. From birth, Stefan was in poor health and did little work in the field, but mostly in the pastures as a shepherd. It was a joyful consolation for Stefan, in the winter time free from peasant work, to visit his middle brother Roman in Optina Pustyn, who later took monastic vows with the name Raphael.
Having a strong desire to take the path of monastic life, Stefan was accepted into the monastery of Optina Pustyn as a cell attendant to Elder Joseph, after whose death, in 1911, he came under the elder leadership of Father Nektary and remained with him until 1923 as a cell attendant. Thus he was imbued with the gracious spirit of the Optina elders. Stefan was tonsured in a mantle with the name Sebastian in 1917, when the time of persecution of the Church of Christ began.
The Optina Pustyn museum was organized on the territory of the monastery. The monastery no longer existed, but Elder Nektarios remained to live with his cell attendants in the old man’s hut and, exhausted under the burden of sorrows, continued to receive people. In 1923, at the end of the fifth week of Lent, a liquidation commission began working in the monastery. Church services stopped. The monks gradually moved out. In 1927, monk Sebastian accepted the priesthood from the Bishop of Kaluga. After the death of Elder Nektarios in 1928, Father Sebastian came to the city of Kozlov, where he received an appointment to the Elias Church. He served there from 1928 to 1933 until his arrest. During this period, he fought in Kozlov against the renovationists and did not leave communication with the brethren of Optina Pustyn who lived in dispersion.
In February 1933, Sevastian's father was arrested. During interrogations, the priest gave a direct answer: “I look at all the activities of the Soviet government as the wrath of God, and this government is a punishment for people. I expressed the same views among those close to me, as well as among other citizens with whom I had to talk about this topic. At the same time, he said that we need to pray, pray to God, and also live in love, only then we will get rid of this. I was not very pleased with the Soviet government for closing churches and monasteries, since this destroys the Orthodox faith.”
He was sentenced to 7 years in prison and sent to logging, despite his poor health and damaged left hand. But even in exile, he spent Sundays in prayer and conversation. The priest also spent his night shifts in prayer, never allowing himself to sleep. “I was in prison,” the priest recalled, “but I didn’t break my fast. If they give me some gruel with meat, I won’t eat it, I’ll exchange it for an extra ration of bread.”
After his release, he remained in the village of Bolshaya Mikhailovka, near Karaganda, and cared for all those striving for God, coming to their houses and performing services, although there was no permission for this from the authorities: “the people in Karaganda were faithful - they will not give them away.” People in the surrounding area loved Father and believed in the power of his prayers. The elder’s spiritual children began to come from all over the country; he received everyone with love and helped them settle in their new place. Often the elder blessed the nuns who came to him for spiritual guidance to live with some family, which was in the spirit of the Optina elders. Such mothers became like guardian angels of the house.
Only in 1955 did believers obtain official permission from the authorities to register a religious community in Bolshaya Mikhailovka, and through joint efforts they managed to build a temple, which was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The priest selected his own priests. A monastic female community gathered around him. Archbishop Joseph (Chernov) of Petropavlovsk and Kustanai said about his community: “Father planted grapes here, which he then grew with tears... A small church, not visible from the ground, but the pillar burns to the sky.”
December 22, 1957, on the day of the celebration of the icon Mother of God « Unexpected joy", O. Sebastian was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and awarded the patriarchal diploma “For diligent service to the Church.” In 1964, on the day of his Angel, he was awarded the bishop's staff - an award that has no examples.
Church services were for Fr. Sebastian an integral condition of his inner life. In his conversations, his favorite image was the holy Apostle John the Theologian; he often called on his flock to venerate this Apostle of Love.
Father Sebastian greatly revered holy icons and said that they were given to us to help us from dark forces, that there are icons that are special in the glory of grace, there are miraculous images prayed for over centuries, which, like streams, carry grace from the Lord. He cited the words of Elder Nectarius of Optina that wisdom, reason and prudence are gifts of the Holy Spirit that lead to piety. Father had a subtle sense of humor and loved to joke, but always in a friendly manner.
He spared no time in talking with the man. The authorities, seeing his authority, tried in every possible way to close the temple, but they did not succeed: the priest, as soon as they called him, disarmed them so that they were completely speechless and after his departure they were surprised: “What kind of old man is this that we Can't we do anything?" O. Sebastian always taught to rely on the will of God in everything. He loved nature, felt sorry for animals, and once saved newly born kittens. He helped people with his secret prayer. About the possessed he said: “Here they will suffer. And there the ordeal will be painless.” O. Sebastian cared about the salvation of everyone, this was his goal. He asked: “Live more peacefully.” Very important
Glorified in 1997 as a locally revered saint of the Alma-Ata diocese.

On October 22 (November 4), 1997, the holy relics of Elder Sebastian were found and transferred to the new Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Karaganda. Canonized as holy new martyrs and confessors of Russia at the Jubilee Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for church-wide veneration.

Deacon Dimitry Ogoltsov

Teachings of the Rev.

SEVASTIAN of Karaganda
You can pray in any place, at any time: standing, sitting, lying down, while working, on the road. It’s just a sin to talk in church.

Bear with each other's weaknesses and shortcomings - this is salvation. Fire is not extinguished with fire, but with water. And evil is conquered by love!
We need to be sick, otherwise we will not be saved. Diseases are gifts from heaven!

Why do some people suffer almost their entire lives, get sick, endure sorrows, insults, etc.? For parental and ancestral sins. These sufferers, like a living sacrifice, are offered in atonement for the sins of their parents and grandparents.

The hardest heart, looking at such sufferers, can soften and become sympathetic and compassionate towards its neighbor. The salvation of the soul depends on this.

To eradicate envy, you need to look at those living worse than you, then there will be peace in your soul, not confusion. And you will stop being jealous.

How good, how easy it is to die when there is nothing superfluous! And there will be shelter in the Kingdom of Heaven!

If you yourself do not have mercy on your neighbors and, what is even worse, do not forgive, then how will you ask the Lord for mercy and forgiveness?

Do not allow self-willed fasting without blessing, everything must be kept to the golden mean, there is no sin for the weak and sick to have a little refreshment the night before communion.

For non-observance of fasts for no reason, the time will come when illness will befall you, then you will have to fast against your will.

Moderation, abstinence, reasoning, timeliness, gradualism are useful to everyone and in everything.

Only in church is a person renewed in soul and receives relief from his sorrows and illnesses.

In the matter of your salvation, do not forget to resort to the help of the holy fathers and holy martyrs. Through their prayers the Lord delivers from passions. But don’t think about getting rid of them on your own. Do not rely on yourself until death in the fight against passions. Only the Lord alone is able to deliver from them those who ask Him for help. And don’t look for peace until your death.

Those who like to talk a lot, idle talk and joke, at the end of their lives the Lord takes away their speech.

Newspaper " Life-giving spring» No. 7 (66), March 2008

Venerable Schema-Archimandrite Sevastian Karaganda, in the world Stepan Vasilyevich Fomin, was born on October 28, 1884 in the village of Kosmodemyanskoye, Oryol province, into a poor peasant family. After the death of his parents, five-year-old Stepan began to live with his older brother’s family.

His middle brother took monastic vows in Optina Pustyn. Stepan graduated well from a three-year parish school; the parish priest gave him books to read. The boy was in poor health, could not participate in field work, but went after cattle and was a shepherd. Often in winter he visited his brother in Optina Pustyn.

On January 3, 1909, he was accepted into the monastery of Optina Pustyn as a cell attendant to Elder Joseph, after whose death in 1911, he came under the elder leadership of Father Nektary and remained with him until 1923 as a cell attendant. In 1917, he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Sebastian.

In 1923, monastic services were completely stopped and the authorities began to evict the monks. The fraternal cells were rented out by the museum to those who wished to do so as summer cottages. All this time, Father Sebastian was under the spiritual guidance of Elder Nektarios of Optina.

In 1927 he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk by the Bishop of Kaluga.

He was the cell attendant of Elder Hieroschemamonk Nektary until his death on April 29, 1928. With the Elder’s blessing to go serve in the parish after his death, Father Sevastian went first to Kozelsk, then to Kaluga, and then to Tambov, where he received an appointment to the parish in the city. Kozlov, to the Elias Church, the rector of which was Rev. Vladimir Nechaev, father of the future Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev), from whom Fr. Sebastian will take the schema. During the arrest, Rev. Vladimir O. Sebastian took care of his large family.

He served in the Elias Church from 1928 to 1933 until his arrest. Father did not like non-prayerful musical singing and tried to arrange reverent monastic singing at his parish. During this period, he fought in Kozlov against the renovationists and did not leave communication with the brethren of Optina Pustyn who lived in dispersion.

In February 1933 he was arrested. During interrogations, the priest gave a direct answer: “I look at all the activities of the Soviet government as the wrath of God, and this government is a punishment for people. I expressed the same views among my associates, as well as among other citizens with whom I had to talk on this topic. At the same time, he said that we need to pray, pray to God, and also live in love, only then we will get rid of this. I was not very pleased with the Soviet government for closing churches and monasteries, since this is destroying the Orthodox faith.”

Subsequently, Father Sebastian said: “When I was forced to renounce Orthodox faith, then they put me in one cassock for the whole night in the cold and assigned a guard. The guards changed after 2 hours, and I stood in one place without a change. But the Mother of God lowered such a “hut” over me that I felt warm in it. And in the morning they took me for interrogation and said: “If you have not renounced Christ, then go to prison.”

He was sentenced to 7 years in prison for logging, despite poor health and a damaged left hand.

He served his sentence in the Karaganda ITL (Karlag) - “the Karaganda state farm-giant of the OGPU.” By the mid-30s, a huge “model” farm was created in Karlag with its own factories, industrial workshops, and scientific programs. At the same time, the future Karaganda community begins to emerge. Father Sebastian’s spiritual children appear in the zone; his former children gradually gather and await his release.

“I was in prison,” the priest recalled, “but I didn’t break my fast. If they give me some gruel with meat, I won’t eat it, I’ll exchange it for an extra ration of bread.”

After his liberation on April 29, 1939, Father Sevastian settled in the suburbs of Karaganda. “My dears,” the priest told the sisters, “we will live here. We will bring more benefit here, this is our second homeland.”

He cared for all those striving for God, coming to their homes and performing services, although there was no permission for this from the authorities - “the people in Karaganda were faithful - they will not give it away.” People in the surrounding area loved Father; the elder’s spiritual children began to come from all over the country; he received everyone with love and helped them settle in their new place. Often the elder blessed the nuns who came to him for spiritual nourishment to live with some family, which was in the spirit of the Optina elders. Such mothers became like guardian angels of the house.

Karaganda Elder Venerable Sebastian

In 1944 the community arranged for itself house church in the village Bolshaya Mikhailovka - the village began to be slowly populated by “fathers”. In the 50s, the life of the Karaganda community began to improve. In 1953, permission was received for a house of worship, and in 1955, the religious community was registered.

The priest selected his own priests. A monastic female community gathered around him. Archbishop Joseph (Chernov) of Petropavlovsk and Kustanai said about his community: “Father planted grapes here, which he then grew with tears.” “A small church, you can’t see it from the ground, but the pillar burns up to the sky.”

Father maintained the impeccable execution of the church charter, not allowing omissions or abbreviations during services. Church services were for him an integral condition of his inner life. In his conversations, his favorite image was the holy Apostle John the Theologian - he often called on his flock to venerate this Apostle of Love. Father Sebastian greatly revered the holy icons and said that they were given to us to help us from dark forces, that there are icons that are special in the glory of grace, there are miraculous images prayed for over centuries, which, like streams, carry grace from the Lord. He cited the words of Elder Nectarius of Optina that wisdom, reason and prudence are gifts of the Holy Spirit that lead to piety.

Father had a subtle sense of humor and loved to joke, but always in a friendly manner. He spared no time in talking with the man. Each of his advice led to well-being.

The authorities, seeing his authority, tried in every possible way to close the temple, but they did not succeed: the priest - as soon as they called him - disarmed them so that they were completely speechless and after his departure they were surprised: “What kind of old man is this that we Can't we do anything?"

St. Sebastian (Fomin), Karaganda, confessor

Father always taught us to rely on the will of God’s Providence in everything. He also loved nature, felt sorry for animals, and once saved newly born kittens.

About those possessed by demons, he said: “Here they will endure, but there the ordeal will pass painlessly... I don’t want to take off your crosses. Here you will suffer, but in Heaven you will gain a greater reward.” The priest had spiritual wisdom and great patience. If someone grumbled about his neighbor in front of him, he would say: “I tolerate you all, but you don’t want to tolerate the only one.” If anyone doesn’t get along, he worries: “I’m the abbot, but I listen to you all.”

He cared about everyone's salvation, that was his goal. He asked: “Live more peacefully.” Once, during a conversation about people’s morals, the priest said and even pointed out: “You can’t touch these people, because of their pride, they will not tolerate a reprimand or a reprimand. But for others, according to their humility, it is possible.” He attached great importance to prayers for the departed, and urged others: “Pray for the departed most of all. Thank God for everything! Thank God for everything!"

Having absorbed the traditions and gracious patristic spirit of Optina Pustyn and being a student of its great elders, having endured exile and imprisonment in Bolshevik concentration camps, he, by the inscrutable destinies of God, carried out his senile service in the capital of the sultry steppes of central Kazakhstan, long-suffering Karaganda.

Elder Sebastian of Karaganda died April 19 1966, on Radonitsa, buried in the Mikhailovskoye cemetery.

Glorified in 1997 as a locally revered saint of the Alma-Ata diocese. The relics of the Venerable Confessor Sebastian were found 22 of October 1997; now they are in the Holy Vvedensky Cathedral in the city of Karaganda.

Canonized as the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for church-wide veneration.

Awards:
— Patriarchal diploma “For diligent service to the Church” (1957)
- miter and staff (1965, for the day of the Angel)

Troparion of the Hiero-Confessor Schema-Archimandrite Sebastian of Karaganda, tone 3

Servant of the Holy Trinity,/ earthly angel and heavenly man,/ spiritual successor of the Optina eldership,/ Christ’s hierarch and confessor,/ all-honorable monastery of the Holy Spirit,/ About Father Sebastian, venerable one,/ ask for peace/ and great mercy for our souls.

Kontakion voice 3

In the joy of the Risen Lord, / the reverend Elder of Optina, a celebrant, / a sharer of martyrs and confessors, / a co-servant of the sacred mysteries of God, / an earthly Angel and a heavenly man, / a magnificent decoration of the city of Karaganda, / a fair amount of pilgrimage to the Kazakh country, / the praise of the Russian Church, / we will please, faithfully,/ we cry out to him with joy:/ Rejoice, Sebastians, venerable our father.

Prayer to St. Sebastian, Elder of Karaganda

Oh, most honorable and sacred head, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the abode of the Savior with the Father, the disciples and successors of the elders of Optina, the brightest adornment of the city of Karaganda, the God-given prayer book of the Kazakh country, the God-glorified pastor of the Russian Church, the intercessor of the orphans and widows, the gratuitous physician of the weak, the rule of faith and piety, venerable cohabitant and partaker of martyrs, venerable our God-bearing Father Sebastian! Eagerly running to you, we bring a warm prayer: from your treasury, give to our poverty; by your humility put down our pride; our passionlessness has fallen into our passions; Wakefulness will drive laziness away from us; Awaken our insensibility with tear currents; Revive us with vigil from negligence; With your prayers, kindle the flame of prayer in us; Make us brotherly with love; Give us the spirit of meekness and humility, the spirit of purity and piety; Free us from passions and many ailments and lead us to true repentance. For in your mind you constantly had in your mind the Son of God crucified for us on the Cross, and constantly have that sweetest Name in your mind and in your heart and teach us, so that with the flame of love we will prepare to meet that terrible day of judgment, and we will be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven with you. , glorify and glorify the Triune Power of our God: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

February 5 (movable) – Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church
April 19
October 22 – Finding of relics

In the world, Stepan Vasilyevich Fomin, was born on October 28, 1884 in the village of Kosmodemyanskoye, Oryol province, into a poor peasant family. After the death of his parents, five-year-old Stepan began to live with his older brother’s family. His middle brother took monastic vows in Optina Pustyn. Stepan graduated well from a three-year parish school; the parish priest gave him books to read. The boy was in poor health, could not participate in field work, but went after cattle and was a shepherd. Often in winter he visited his brother in Optina Pustyn.

In 1917, he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Sebastian.

On January 10, 1918, Optina Pustyn was closed, although the monastery continued to exist under the guise of an agricultural artel. Many, especially young novices, unable to withstand the hard work and harsh demands, left Optina. At the same time, a museum was established on its territory. By this time the monasteries no longer existed. Everyone lived practically one day at a time. In 1923, monastic services were completely stopped and the authorities began to evict the monks. The fraternal cells were rented out by the museum to those who wished to do so as summer cottages. All this time, Father Sebastian was under the spiritual guidance of Elder Nektarios of Optina.

In 1927 he was ordained to the rank of hieromonk by the Bishop of Kaluga.

Hieromonk Sebastian (Fomin), city of Kozlov. 1928 Hieromonk Sevastian (Fomin), city of Kozlov. 1928 He was the cell attendant of Elder Hieroschemamonk Nektary until his death on April 29, 1928. With the Elder’s blessing to go serve in the parish after his death, Father Sevastian went first to Kozelsk, then to Kaluga, and then to Tambov, where he received an appointment to the parish in Kozlov, to the Elias Church, the rector of which was Rev. Vladimir Nechaev, father of the future Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev), from whom Fr. Sebastian will take the schema. During the arrest, Rev. Vladimir O. Sebastian took care of his large family.

Subsequently, Father Sebastian said: “When they forced me to renounce the Orthodox faith, they put me in one cassock for the whole night in the cold and assigned guards. The guards changed after 2 hours, and I stood in one place without a change. But the Mother of God lowered such a thing over me “hut”, that I felt warm in it. And in the morning they took me for interrogation and said: “If you have not renounced Christ, then go to prison.”

He was sentenced to 7 years in prison for logging, despite poor health and a damaged left hand.

He served his sentence in the Karaganda ITL (Karlag) - the “Karaganda state farm-giant of the OGPU.” By the mid-30s, a huge “model” farm with its own factories, industrial workshops, and scientific programs had been created in Karlag. At the same time, the future Karaganda community begins to emerge. Father Sebastian’s spiritual children appear in the zone; his former children gradually gather and await his release.

“I was in prison,” the priest recalled, “but I didn’t break my fast. If they give me some gruel with meat, I won’t eat it, I’ll exchange it for an extra ration of bread.”

In 1944, the community established a house church in the village. Bolshaya Mikhailovka - the village began to be slowly populated by “fathers”. In the 50s, the life of the Karaganda community began to improve. In 1953, permission was received for a house of worship, and in 1955, the religious community was registered.

Father maintained the impeccable execution of the church charter, not allowing omissions or abbreviations during services. Church services were for him an integral condition of his inner life. In his conversations, his favorite image was the holy Apostle John the Theologian - he often called on his flock to venerate this Apostle of Love. Father Sebastian greatly revered holy icons and said that they were given to us to help us from dark forces, that there are icons special in the glory of grace, there are miraculous images prayed for over centuries, which, like streams, carry grace from the Lord. He cited the words of Elder Nectarius of Optina that wisdom, reason and prudence are gifts of the Holy Spirit that lead to piety.

Father had a subtle sense of humor and loved to joke, but always in a friendly manner. He spared no time in talking with the man. Each of his advice led to well-being.

Father always taught us to rely on the will of God’s Providence in everything. He also loved nature, felt sorry for animals, and once saved newly born kittens.

Glorified in 1997 as a locally revered saint of the Alma-Ata diocese. On November 4, 1997, his holy relics were found and transferred to the new Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Karaganda.

Canonized as the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in August 2000 for church-wide veneration.

Awards

Patriarchal Certificate “For Diligent Service to the Church” (1957)
miter and staff (1965, for the day of the Angel)

Troparion, tone 3

Kontakion voice 3

Reverend Confessor Sebastian of Karaganda He is revered not only in Michurinsk, where he served for several years, but also in Karaganda (here he lived the second half of his life, having ended up in Kazakhstan not by his own will and remaining there) and in, where his monastic path began.

Rev. Confessor Savastian of Karaganda was born in 1884 in the village of Kosmodemyanskoye, Oryol province, into a peasant family. His parents died early, and Sevastian (and then Stepan) was raised in the family of his older brother. He could not do heavy work, having suffered serious injuries while still in early childhood left hand, and he was assigned to walk behind the herd. In winters, the boy studied at a parish school.

In 1908, the middle of the three Fomin brothers took monastic vows in Optina. And a few months later Stepan came to him. On January 3, 1909, he was accepted into the monastery, assigned the obedience of cell attendant under Elder Joseph.

Sevastian of Karaganda in Optina Pustyn

In 1911, Rev. Joseph died. His death shocked the novice, who spent the first two - infantile, so important - years of his monastic life with him almost continuously. After the death of Fr. Joseph Stepan moved to the cell of Elder Nektary (more precisely, Father Nektary moved to the cell of the late Father Joseph, and Stepan remained with him). In 1917, a few months before the closure of the Optina Hermitage, he took monastic vows with the name Sebastian.

The monastery was “liquidated,” but it continued to exist for some time as an agricultural artel. Soon, however, this “half-existence” became impossible. And in 1923, after the arrest of Elder Nektarios, Fr. Sebastian (already ordained as a hierodeacon) settled in Kozelsk. In 1928, he was ordained a hieromonk, and Elder Nektarios died soon after. Fulfilling his will, Fr. Sebastian went to serve in the parish - first in Kaluga, and then, at the invitation of Fr. Vladimir Nechaev, in Kozlov. It must be said that Father Vladimir had never been to Optina, so he never got together for parish affairs. But he corresponded with Elder Nektarios and knew that Fr. Sebastian is his student.

Sevastian of Karaganda Service in the Elias Church in Michurinsk

Serving in, Fr. Sebastian endured what was unusual for himself, a seasoned hermitage life monk, grief. For example, he was annoyed with the regent, a lover of cheerful and loud “operetta” singing. The priest insisted that he approach him before the service for a blessing and make suggestions about the need for “prayerful singing.” The regent protested: “The altar is his, the choir is mine.” But the strict hieromonk led his line - and they still sang in to a greater extent in a monastic way.

The singers also gave him a lot of trouble. For the holiday, they demanded vodka for themselves or for vodka. This is how it was from time immemorial, and in the church environment they treated it condescendingly. O. Sebastian did not like these “orders”. He was ready to feed, clothe, and put on shoes. Giving them vodka, to the displeasure of the singers (sometimes very active displeasure), is a no-no.

To Kozlov to about. Sebastian was attended by people close in spirit - Optina residents, Shamordino nuns, laypeople connected in some way with Optina or Shamordin. A small community has formed. In 1933, the priest, along with the “Shamordinkas” Varvara, Agrippina and Fevronia, was arrested.

Arrest

During interrogation Fr. Sebastian was asked about his attitude towards the Soviet government, towards its “measures”. He answered these questions in good faith: “I look at all the activities of the Soviet government as the wrath of God, and this government is a punishment for people. I expressed such views among my associates, as well as among other citizens with whom I had to talk on this topic. At the same time, he said that we need to pray, pray to God, and also live in love, only then will we get rid of this. I was not very pleased with the Soviet government for closing churches and monasteries, since this destroys the Orthodox faith.”

On June 2, 1933, the verdict followed: “Fomin Stepan Vasilyevich, accused under Art. 58-10, II of the Criminal Code, imprisonment in a correctional labor camp for a period of seven years.”

Despite the fact that the medical commission recognized Fr. Sevastian was unfit for heavy physical labor and was sent to logging, right here in the Tambov region. A year later they were transferred to Karlag. After his release, he remained in Karaganda, settling with his novices.

In Karaganda

At that time, many “religious people” found themselves in Kazakhstan (and especially in Karaganda). When freed from the camp, they did not leave (some remained in the position of exile, others simply had nowhere to return). Elder Sebastian was now with them. He called Kazakhstan “his second homeland.” Here he served - first at home, and in the 1950s in Karaganda, after much trouble among believers, a temple was opened. In 1957, Fr. Sebastian was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

As in any small, relatively closed circle (a family, essentially), from time to time the community he gathered began to “grind.” And all mutual displeasure, resentment - everything fell on Startsev’s head. He suffered: “I tolerate you all, but you don’t want to tolerate one thing... I am the abbot, but I listen to you all.” And he asked and begged: “Live more peacefully, more peacefully!”

In the second half of the 1950s, the elder’s relationship with Metropolitan Pitirim was renewed (not yet a metropolitan, of course: in 1959 he “equaled in rank” to Father Sebastian). They had not seen each other since the early 1930s, when the Nechaevs had to move to Moscow. But now the connection between them was not broken until Fr.’s death. Sebastiana.

“He had,” Bishop Pitirim recalled about the elder, “an amazing combination of physical weakness and spiritual—I won’t even say strength, but—affability, in which any human pain, any anxiety dissolved. When a confused, indignant person drove towards him, thinking of throwing out all his rage, all his irritation, he calmed down on the way and, having met the elder, calmly, objectively explained his question to him, and he calmly listened to him, sometimes , preventing a wave of irritation, immediately gave him a short answer.”

On April 19, 1966, having received monastic vows from Bishop Pitirim, Elder Sebastian died. He was buried at the city Mikhailovskoye cemetery. In 1997, he was glorified as a locally revered saint of the Alma-Ata diocese, and his relics were transferred to the Karaganda Church of the Nativity. In August 2000, the glorification of the Venerable Confessor Sebastian took place for church-wide veneration.