Spiritual writer, doctor of chemical sciences, professor, scientist and teacher. Nikolai Evgrafovich was born in Nizhny Novgorod on August 17, 1892. His father belonged to the bourgeois class, his mother - to the merchant class. As a result of the influence of the literature of the Marxists and Renan, he was an atheist, becoming a military commissar in 1919-1921.
Only these notes can be found in the writer's diary about what has been written about the period of commissary in the writer's diary: “It is the hardest thing for me to remember all this evil that I committed in those years ... This whole nightmare ... All this was in the absence of a Christian faith .. ". In 1921, on the first of March, Christ appeared to Nicholas in a dream. That night, the Lord entered his heart, and since then, no matter what Nicholas did, no matter what he felt, he knew that Christ is always with him, and God's help never leaves him.
N.E. Pestov was known as a prominent scientist working in the field of mineral fertilizers. He was engaged in teaching activities in many of the largest universities in the capital. January 1941 was the time of defense of his doctoral dissertation and the beginning of writing a number of books that have not yet lost their methodological and scientific significance.
He began to engage in activities related to the writing of theological works in wartime, after the fall of 1943, Nikolai, his nineteen-year-old son, died in battle.
The first book that marked the beginning of the literary and spiritual period of Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov was a book with the title "To the blessed memory of Kolyusha, or a monument on the grave of his son." This book was based on letters from Nicholas from the front and various documents. After a while, this story was renamed by the author, receiving the title "Life for Eternity".
The memory of his son also served as a continuation of works on moral theology. It was the memories of his son that became the main motives for the creation of the most interesting two-volume "Paths to Perfect Joy" for writing the first edition of the book "Above the Apocalypse".
The mid-fifties became significant for Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov because it was then that he began work on his main philosophical and religious work. This is a multivolume dissertation with the unifying title "Contemporary Practice of Orthodox Piety (Experience in Building a Christian Worldview)". At that time, there could be no question of going to the printing industry to print something like that. Therefore, the release of "samizdat" was the only possible option, and the demand for the multivolume "Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety (Experience in Building a Christian Worldview)" was very high. It was copied many times on typewriters, and then, in our time, this work has become the beast of Orthodox literature.
Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov Life for eternity
Dedicated to the future defenders of the Fatherland
Approved for distribution by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church IS R16-520-0965
FOR THE FIRST TIME FULLY PUBLISHED LETTERS BY KOLI PESTOV
Foreword
Sorrow turned into joy
Here is a book that has been reprinted more than once. For many years it was reprinted on a typewriter under a carbon copy and signed with "GBR" - "God's sinful servant." In the Soviet years, there were forbidden topics; books on these topics could not be published officially. And faith in God itself was persecuted, and those who dared to talk about it could be comprehended by the harsh punishment of Soviet law. But there were people who were law-abiding in everything, who considered it their moral duty to God and people to proclaim the word of God and put the law of God above the law of man. One of such remarkable confessors of faith was Professor, Doctor of Chemistry Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov - “the sinful servant of God,” as he called himself.
The book "Life for Eternity" was the very first book written by Nikolai Evgrafovich. The reason for her appearance was tragic event - death of the beloved son Nikolai, who died in 1943 at the front at the age of 19 in his second battle. Nikolai Evgrafovich was very hard on the death of his son, but this mournful event was the beginning of a whole chain of joyful events.
The book about his son and all subsequent books are full of sincere, deep faith, Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote them from a pure heart. And because his heart was pure, his books led to God and to the Church many people who grew up in an atheistic state, brought up in families where they knew nothing about Christ.
Nikolai Evgrafovich did not live up to the time when his books began to be printed in printing houses and published in thousands of copies. But the story of his beloved son, who lived with faith and gave his life with faith so that others might live, still cannot leave the reader indifferent, cannot but urge him to think about the same deep questions about which this wonderful young man pondered.
This edition differs from the previous ones in that it consists of two parts. The first is the book “Life for Eternity”, which has been published more than once, and the second is the originals of Kolya Pestov's letters. Many of them are cited in Nikolai Evgrafovich's book - but not all, and not always completely. These letters are the most valuable evidence not only of Kolya himself and his loved ones, but also of the time in which they lived.
Letters seem to open two windows. Reading the letter, we see what the author saw. And we also get the opportunity to look into the soul of the author. We see the features of a bygone era, when much was different. The way of life, values \u200b\u200bwere different, the attitude of people to each other was different, the people themselves were different. Life was different, in some ways harder than now; there was no comfort we were accustomed to, but the little things of life did not absorb attention, it was drawn to real values, those values \u200b\u200bthat "are above the boundaries of the earth."
Everyday details, which are full of letters, create an impression of authenticity, the effect of presence. As you read, you can imagine what happened in that distant reality. The letters reveal a deep inner world a person seeking God, striving to live according to His commandments. These letters are all the more valuable because they belong to a very young man who has embarked on the path that leads to eternal life. The decisive milestones on this path are faith and loyalty, actions that elevate him above the bustle and noise of everyday life.
Let's pay attention to some features of that distant era, which are reminded of the letters of Kolya Pestov. Everyone knew that the mail was examined by military censors. Therefore, Kolya could not write that he asks to pray to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, he asked “to consult a doctor Panteleimonov”. The Pestov family lived not far from the Yelokhov Cathedral, so when Kolya managed to get into the church, he wrote that he "went to the Elokhovs." The nonsleep eye of the NKVD was designated "a visit to Anna Gavrilovna." This simple conspiracy was enough to lull the vigilance of narrow-minded military censors.
As you know, personal example has the strongest influence. Kolya Pestov's letters indicate that it is possible to preserve human dignity in difficult circumstances, it is possible to quietly, modestly, unnoticed everyday life significant, if not heroic deeds.
Eternal memory to the warrior of Christ Nicholas, who laid his life for his friends on the battlefield, and to his parent, the sinful servant of God - Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov!
Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko,
rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior of the former All-Sorrowful Monastery in Moscow,
head of the project "Invented stories about the war"
Nikolay Pestov. Life for eternity
Victory comes from You and wisdom from You,
and Your glory, and I am Your slave.
(2 rides 4:59)
Gloria…
(Luke 2:14)
The meekness of the soul is what adorns a person, makes him pleasant and sweet for everyone around him. Usually meekness is combined with simplicity and modesty. And if a warm, loving heart is added to this, then all this makes a person “the salt of the earth,” a “candle,” which is placed on a candlestick to shine on everyone in the house (Matt. 5: 13,15).
It was from the Lord that we had the good fortune to have a son who met these qualities. He matured spiritually early and was taken early by the Lord from the earth. He left us an image of a nineteen-year-old boy with a gentle, loving heart. In the last year of his life, he wrote a large number of letters that depict his gentle, simple, responsive soul, full of readiness to serve people. At the same time, these letters are filled with a purely Christian philosophy of life with uncomplaining obedience to the will of God and wise judgment, rare for a nineteen-year-old.
There is a custom to erect monuments on graves dear to the heart. There is no grave of our son near us - he is buried far from us, on the battlefield, in the fraternal cemetery. Let these lines be a monument to him, in which I want to describe his image, his life and deeds, the last heroic hours of his life and convey the foundations of his integral, deeply Christian outlook on the world.
Perhaps some people sometimes wonder how the covenants of Christ can be put into practice in today's environment and how one can be “wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). It seems to me that Colin's life provides a clear answer to both of these questions.
Basically, the content of what we have recorded relates to everyday life with its "little things of life." But is it not the sum of "little things" that makes up life, and is it not over "little things" that we stumble most of all? And isn't it the most important and great thing - to be “faithful in little” (Matt. 25:21).
My share in this work is a modest share. Everything basic belongs to Kolya himself - his letters, essays, diaries and his actions, words and thoughts. I just had to collect all this and, having chosen all that is valuable and significant, set out in the necessary sequence.
In relation to all the collected material, I did not remain in the role of an indifferent chronicler. Kolya lives in my heart, and I could not restrain myself from expressing those feelings that overwhelm him when thinking about Kolya.
The main decoration of the action is a half-frozen barracks; environment - modern youth in the form of cadets. The final scenes are at the front and the battlefield. And against this harsh background those delicate, fragrant flowers of Kolya's heart movements and thoughts blossomed, which fill the soul with that joy that every beauty awakens in the soul.
The Lord, as a caring gardener, grows spiritual flowers on earth - the souls of people who have managed to build their lives in accordance with His eternal Truth. He loves and admires these flowers of His. But He wants everyone who knows how to appreciate beauty to admire and enjoy it.
The fates of Christians who went through the crucible of Soviet times are different. Someone got a heavier share, someone less. The life of Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov, a famous spiritual writer, professor, doctor of chemical sciences, author of the books "Paths to Perfect Joy" ("The Experience of Building a Christian Worldview") and "Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety" is the path of a pious layman, an exemplary family man and quite loyal to the power of the citizen. However, behind the external well-being of his life in his mature years, there is an inner depth, intense work on his own soul ... Pestov's youth is also instructive - the years of wandering and falling away from God.
Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov was born on August 17 (4) in 1892 in Nizhny Novgorod and was the last, tenth, child of Evgraf Fedorovich Pestov from his second marriage. Father came from the middle class, mother - from the merchant class. Nikolai Evgrafovich recalls his parents that they were very kind people.
The family celebrated church holidays, but the boy was not taught to pray, only the nanny prayed in the family. The father died when the boy was 6 years old. From the age of 7 Nikolay has been studying Russian, literature, arithmetic with his sisters. Once a week, a deacon from the Elias Church comes to him and deals with the Law of God.
When the boy was 11 years old, his mother and sisters decided to send him to a real school. There he is fond of astronomy, chemistry, the Esperanto language, participates in theatrical performances... He even translated one of Chekhov's stories into Esperanto. The book by E. Renan "The Life of Jesus" had a negative impact on the life of the young man - after reading it, he became an atheist. At the same time, the young man gets acquainted with Marxist literature.
After graduating from a real school, Nikolai entered the chemistry department of the Imperial Moscow Higher Technical School. Lives in Moscow with his godfather, a wealthy merchant, mostly studies independently in laboratories and libraries, and gives lessons to schoolchildren. Attends the theater, leads the usual way of life for a young man.
In 1914 he entered the military school, becomes an ensign. As a chemistry specialist, he goes to the front, where he takes part in preparing soldiers for chemical defense. There was a case when Nikolai had to defuse a bomb: in order to take it to its destination and avoid an explosion, he had to take a deadly object in his hands and so ride in a truck shaking on a broken road. In 1916, the young man was promoted to second lieutenant, in the same year he married Rufina Dyachkova, the daughter of an attorney at law.
After the February Revolution, Nikolai Pestov was elected a member of the regimental committee and the regimental court. The review says about him: “He knows the service well and takes it seriously. A very tactful, disciplined and self-possessed officer. Possesses excellent abilities and knowledge. A wonderful companion, sympathetic and noble heart". For military distinction awarded the order St. Stanislaus III degree and the Order of St. Anna III degree.
After the October Revolution, he returned to Nizhny Novgorod, went to work at the Nizhny Novgorod city prodkom. Under the conditions of the offensive of the White Guard units of Pestov, both former officer being arrested. He avoids death during the "red terror", when every tenth of the prisoners was shot, having previously lined up all in a row. Tenth in the row was Pestov's father-in-law, who was standing next to him.
For "greater opportunity to serve the Motherland" he enters the Communist Party. Works in Vsevobuche (General military education), studies at the Higher Courses. Receives the rank of military commissar. His wife also joined the party. In 1919 he was sent to the Eastern Front, deployed against Kolchak. And here is the wife next to him. In the post of district military commissar, N.E. Pestov was appointed head of the Vsevobuch of the Priuralsky military district. He meets Trotsky, whom he later calls a "demonic personality." "For every killed revolutionary let us kill five counter-revolutionaries!" - said Trotsky. Bitterly, Pestov later admitted that he had earned the favor of Trotsky.
During his last visit to Yekaterinburg, Trotsky presented Nikolai Evgrafovich with his book with a dedicatory inscription: “To my friend and colleague N. Pestov as a keepsake. Leon Trotsky ".
In 1921, his wife left N. Ye. Pestov, in the same year he left the Red Army. This step was facilitated by a deep internal fracture. Once in a dream he sees that he is in the dungeon, the sisters are standing behind him, and Christ passes by him along the corridor, turning a loving and stern look at him. Uncle Pestov follows Christ. Nikolai Evgrafovich wakes up in confusion and immediately realizes that he is an unrepentant sinner, that there is dirt and blood around ... In a dream, he alone bowed to Christ, the sisters stood as if not seeing anything. Nikolai Evgrafovich writes that that night the Lord entered his heart and since then has never left him.
After his dismissal from the army, Pestov moved to Moscow, and was reinstated at the Moscow Higher Technical School. Relatives do not take him, calling him a "Chekist" by the back. By chance, he gets to a lecture by V. Martsinkovsky, leader of the Christian circles movement, entitled "Did Christ Live". “Suddenly, as if a veil fell from his eyes, into simple words The Gospel read by the lecturer, I heard the answer to the questions that tormented me, ”writes Nikolai Evgrafovich. Tears fell from his eyes, and he cried for the rest of the evening. The young man left the lecture as a Christian. He becomes a member of the Christian circle at MVTU. In the same year, he visits the Volga region, gripped by a terrible hunger, sees all the horrors of the typhus epidemic. In the circle he meets his future wife, Zoya Veniaminovna, and soon, in 1923, they get married. They have a son, Nikolai, a daughter, Natalya, and a son, Sergei.
New convictions do not allow N. E. Pestov to remain in the party, he destroyed his party card, did not pass the next registration and was expelled from the ranks of the RCP (b).
In 1924 he spent 40 days in Butyrki together with other members of the Christian circle. In prison, he meets a man who was a member of the church community in the name of St. Nicholas on Maroseyka. After leaving prison, he enters under the spiritual guidance of Fr. Sergius (Mecheva), becomes a member of the Marosei community. This temple becomes his second home. It then hosted all-night services, which lasted until the morning. In the church, Nikolai Evgrafovich becomes something like a headman. Here, his formation as a Christian takes place, he gradually accustom himself to the constant Jesus prayer, experiencing the full depth of evil into which his soul was immersed when he was not a Christian. His “general” confession of all the sins committed in life dates back to this time. He makes a pilgrimage to Diveevo, independently studies theological and philosophical literature, including Philosophy, books by V. Solovyov and P. Florensky.
According to her daughter's recollections, "from the Pope always breathed affection, silence and peace." He was reserved and courteous to everyone, and everyone loved him. Natalya Nikolaevna writes that her “feelings for her father over the years turned into feelings for God: a feeling of complete trust, a feeling of happiness - to be with her Beloved; a feeling of hope that everything will be settled, everything will be fine; a feeling of peace and tranquility of the soul, which is in the strong and mighty hands of the Beloved. " “Dad never punished us strictly, but mom said:“ Children are making ropes out of you! ” But dad answered: "Where love works, there is no need for severity." The father took the children to church, his daughter especially loved these trips, she writes that “it was happiness for me to be with my father for several hours”. But in the 30s all the churches were closed, there was nowhere to go, and at home the icons were hidden in a closet and closed with curtains. In the family, under the guise of the mother of Nikolai Evgrafovich, there lived a nun, mother Evnikia.
As the children grew up, the parents began to hire German governesses, and soon the children were fluent in German. One of the governesses turned out to be a sectarian, and sectarian letters came to the address of the Pestovs, which led to the arrest of Zoya Veniaminovna. Investigators told her that her husband was arrested, the children were in an orphanage, when asked "why?" answered: "Tell yourself," provoking the woman. All this happened to her in Samara, her husband was not there at that moment. Upon learning of what had happened, Nikolai Evgrafovich went to Samara. Wandering around the city in the evening, he read the troparion three times to the Monk Seraphim and asked to spend the night in the third house. It turned out that one of the girls who lived in it works in the prison hospital, where Zoya Veniaminovna was lying, and could tell him about her. Fortunately, my wife was soon released.
Once Nikolai Evgrafovich was on the train, thinking about his own things and did not participate in the conversation of fellow travelers. One of them, like many at the time, possessed by the demon of suspicion, said that the taciturn passenger was an enemy of the people and should be handed over to the appropriate authorities. With Pestov was the Bible - its discovery during a search would entail arrest. Fortunately, one of the participants in the company promised to give water to the threatening train before the arrival, and Nikolai Evgrafovich managed to leave the car on time.
Sometimes liturgies were served in the Pestovs' house. Those gathered spoke in whispers, and sang softly - "like mosquitoes buzz."
Nikolai Evgrafovich's professional career is developing successfully, he receives gratitude and diplomas for his hard work, working as a teacher and research assistant in various Moscow institutes and specializing in the technology of production of chemical fertilizers. The matter, however, is not without troubles. Pestov opposed the arrest of prof. Yushkevich, head of one of the departments of the Mendeleev Institute, and he was fired from the institute. The family is waiting for further reprisals, but Pestov is not even arrested. In 1941 he defends doctoral dissertation... In total, Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote about 160 scientific works, monographs and articles during his life. In 1944 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, in 1953 - the Order of Lenin, which was presented to him by Kalinin at the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
However, work does not prevent him from devoting a lot of time to children. He spent all his vacations with them - played tennis, croquet, volleyball, taught them to swim, rode a boat. In winter, he went with them to the rink and skated himself. In general, the atmosphere in the family was ascetic, and if it were not for the children, it would be sad. My father fasted strictly, and scandals constantly arose between him and his mother when she asked him to eat a modest one. The father strove for holiness, and his ascetic life was beyond the power of his wife. This caused tension in the family, the children prayed for peace between their parents and were very happy when they found them clinging to each other and cheerful.
Upon learning of the beginning of the war, Zoya Veniaminovna trembled and began to repeat: "They will kill Kolya, they will kill ..." - which later happened. The family did not go to the evacuation, remained in Moscow. The children did not run to the shelter during the bombing, but went to bed, having prayed and with firm faith that without the will of the Almighty "not a hair from the head will be lost."
In 1943, the eldest son Nikolai was killed in battle.
By the end of the war years, Nikolai Evgrafovich stopped hiding his beliefs. He hung all the walls of the office with icons and religious paintings by Vasnetsov and Nesterov. He went to church again and was not afraid to meet his colleagues or students there.
The students loved Professor Pestov. He didn't force them to memorize formulas, he didn't fight with cheat sheets, so no one used them. For exams and tests, he allowed students to bring with them and keep openly on the table any textbooks, notebooks and notes.
At the end of the 50s, Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote the first works on theology. He combined them into two volumes entitled: "The Paths to Perfect Joy, or the Experience of Building a Christian Worldview." In the same years, the first edition of the book about the son who died at the front was written, as well as the first edition of the book "Above the Apocalypse". At the age of 68, Pestov retires, or rather, he was fired for refusing to conduct atheistic propaganda in his academic work. Since then, he devoted himself to theology, studies the Church Fathers, gets acquainted with Catholic and Protestant theology and even says that this made his soul akin to Western Christianity. After getting acquainted with Western religious and philosophical works, he began to perceive the entire Christian Church as a whole, as a single tree with branches.
Nikolai Evgrafovich received many grateful responses, including from the patriarch: “People need your works very, very much. Thank you ... God bless you in all your deeds ... "(Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Pimen, May 14, 1977). 
Zoya Veniaminovna was also a person of amazing talents. She knew and remembered a lot of historical events, names, and you could listen to her for hours. She excitingly recited the poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Nadson and many other poets by heart. She lived in the spirit of apostleship: she could approach anyone in the church and ask: "Do you understand what they sing, what they read?" And then she was ready not just to explain, but to ignite the soul of the interlocutor with the same faith that she herself had. This happened especially often with young people. They listened to her with pleasure, often after serving somewhere in the park, she continued to share the most dear person with the person. This happened a few days before her death. After serving on the street in Sokolniki, she educated young female students for a long time. It was cold, Zoya Veniaminovna caught a cold, got pneumonia and died. It happened in 1973.
Nikolai Evgrafovich accompanied his wife to eternal life with an ardent tearful prayer. For over a year he endlessly read akathists and canons about the repose of the soul of his wife, often sat detached from life, not noticing the time, forgetting about everything ... But time healed his soul; in 75 he moved to a new apartment, life around him was in full swing, and he again became alive and joyful.
Over the years, the life feat of Nikolai Evgrafovich did not weaken, but only intensified. Children write that the father set himself up for such a clear and tough regime that sometimes he had only to be surprised at his endurance. The whole day of the elderly man was clearly scheduled - literally by the minute. He considered it his duty to prepare breakfast for his grandchildren and make sure that they were not late for class.
Most of the time after leaving work was spent receiving visitors. People were drawn to him like moths to the light. They were both old friends, former members of the Christian student circle, and "Marosei" friends, but there were also many young people among those who came. Nikolai Evgrafovich did not regret and was not afraid to give them the rarest books from the catalog of spiritual literature, always remembering that a book is useful only when it is read. In the last years of his life, he mainly concentrated all his work on the reproduction of spiritual literature that was not published by state publishing houses. Literature was taken to all ends in considerable quantities, which greatly pleased the "publisher" and gave him new strength.
Here is how one person close to him writes in his memoirs about Nikolai Evgrafovich: “Most of all I appreciated in him the understanding of the soul of people without long conversations, sometimes without words at all, even without a glance, but simply by one presence ...” Seeing off a visitor if he had a road ahead , he certainly prayed with the departing one about the upcoming journey.
Every week Nikolai Evgrafovich partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ during the early Sunday liturgy. All-night vigils, akathists, the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, the services of Holy Week, he usually read in secret. Slowly, touchingly and with deep concentration passed the hours of these prayers in his room. The grandchildren also took part in these prayers, reading the Trisagion, the Six Psalms and quietly singing along with the grandfather the familiar irmos.
During his lifetime, his grandchildren served as subdeacons in the Elias Church in Obydenny Lane on Kropotkinskaya, where the patriarch also served. The consecration of his grandson (monk Sergius) to the deacon was performed by Patriarch Pimen himself.
In the last months before his death, Nikolai Evgrafovich hardly got up. A severe stomach illness made itself felt. After Christmas 1982, his forces finally left him. He died on the night of January 14, 1982, on the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and on the feast day of St. Basil the Great, whom he greatly respected.
In conclusion, we present concise formulations-mottos, compiled by Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov for all occasions.
- To God - awe, the expectation of death, the final judgment, unceasing prayer.
- For people - love, friendliness, gentleness, non-condemnation and to be a servant to everyone.
- Prayer is thoroughness.
- Deeds - the will of the Lord.
- Words - great care.
- For thoughts - a conversation with the Lord (unceasing prayer) and the memory of death.
- The body is harsh.
- Food is moderation.
- Appearance - cheerfulness, vitality and helpfulness.
- Soul and memory - crying for sins.
- Time is frugality.
- To work - thoroughness and diligence.
- Money and material goods - generosity.
- Requests - attention and fulfillment.
- Oblivion for your personal interests.
- Thanksgiving to offenders and reproaches.
- Praises - silence and inner self-abasement.
- Temptations are flight.
- Laughter is abstinence.
- Memory is an abyss of committed sins.
- Patience is the attitude towards others.
- Sickness - patience with thanksgiving. Christians do not have the word "misfortune", but "the will of God."
Biography
NOT. Pestov was born on August 17, 1892 in Nizhny Novgorod. His father came from the middle class, his mother - from the merchant class. From 1903 to 1910 N.E. Pestov studied at a real school, and in 1911 he entered the chemistry department of the Imperial Moscow Higher Technical School (later - Bauman Moscow State Technical University). In 1915, from the fourth year of the MVTU N.E. Pestov volunteered for the front. From February to August 1918 N.E. Pestov served in the Nizhny Novgorod Cheka as a clerk, then in the City Prodkom. In December 1918 he joined the Communist Party. Then he worked in the Office of Vsevobuch at the All-Russian State Headquarters (Moscow). In September 1919 he was promoted to the rank of district military commissar and was sent to head the Vsevobuch Directorate to the Urals Military District. He remained in this position until 1921. In 1921, he experienced a spiritual experience that led him to faith. In July 1921 N.E. Pestov resigns from the ranks of the Red Army and in 1922 leaves the party. Returning to Moscow, he graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School and made a brilliant scientific career. He becomes a prominent scientist in the field of mineral fertilizer technology, teaches at many major metropolitan universities. In January 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation, wrote a number of books that still have not lost their scientific and methodological significance. In the 1940s. elected by the dean, and then appointed by the deputy director for educational and scientific work Moscow Engineering and Economic Institute named after S. Ordzhonikidze. Author of works of philosophical and theological content. Since 1943 he worked on the fundamental work "(Experience of the Christian worldview)". N.E. died. Pestov January 14, 1982. Buried at the cemetery at the Smolensko-Nikolsky Church in the village of Grebnevo, Moscow Region.
Publications
Books
- Pestov N.E. The path to perfect joy.
- Pestov N.E. Contemporary practice of Orthodox piety. Volume I.
- Pestov N.E. Contemporary practice of Orthodox piety. Volume II.
- Pestov N.E. Orthodox education of children. - St. Petersburg: Satis, 2010. ISBN 5-7868-0063-6. Circulation: 5000 copies.
- Pestov N.E. What is fasting and how to fast
- Pestov N.E. How to do the Jesus Prayer. - St. Petersburg: Satis, 2005.
- Pestov N.E. The light of perfect joy. - Siberian Blagozhnitsa, 2007. ISBN 978-5-91362-024-8. Circulation: 5000 copies.
- Pestov N.E. How to defeat the devil's nets (about resistance to dark forces). - St. Petersburg: Satis, 2005.
- Pestov N.E. Life for Eternity. // ISBN 5-87873-026-X Joint publication of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Tushino, Moscow and the Orthodox Brotherhood of St. John the Theologian.
Articles
- Pestov N.E. A true friend // Glinsky readings magazine, July-August 2007.
- Pestov N.E. Ways to Repentance. “We must be afraid of the dirt that nests in the recesses of our hearts” // Orthodoxy and World, 01.04.2009.
- Pestov N.E. The meaning of repentance. Why didn't the Lord want to deal with the “righteous”? // Orthodoxy and the world, 03/31/2009.
- Pestov N.E. On the attitude towards others // Orthodoxy and the world, 20.08.2007.
- Pestov N.E. Holy Bible .
Movies
Based on the book by N. Ye. Pestov, "The Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety", the film "The Purpose of the Christian Life and the Path of Passion" was filmed. - TK My Path, TK Union 2009-06-18.
Links
- The goal of Christian life and the path of salvation // Orthodoxy and the world, 27.04.2010.
- From outside to inside. Biography of N.E. Pestov. // Comp. Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Sergius (Sokolov). - Novosibirsk: Orthodox gymnasium in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1997.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
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Contents 1 Known carriers of the surname 1.1 Pestov 1.2 ... Wikipedia
Alekseevskoe military school Russian infantry school. AT Russian Empire was considered the third most prestigious after Pavlovsky and Aleksandrovsky. School holiday: October 22. Location: Moscow, Red Barracks. Camp: Khodynka ... Wikipedia
Alekseevskoe military school Russian infantry school. In the Russian Empire, it was considered the third most prestigious after Pavlovsky and Aleksandrovsky. School holiday: October 22. Location: Moscow, Red Barracks. Camp: Khodynka, ... ... Wikipedia
Cavaliers of the Order of St. George IV class on the letter "P" The list is made in alphabetical order of persons. Surname, name, patronymic are given; title at the time of awarding; number according to the list of Grigorovich Stepanov (in brackets the number according to the list of Sudravsky); ... ... Wikipedia
The book of his memoirs and about him,.
About him in the memories of his daughter, especially at 3 pm.
About Pestov's influence on Me, Zorin,.
Valery Lyubartovich
Orthodox ascetics on Staraya Basmannaya street in Moscow
Source: http://www.stphilaret.ru/favor/dnev36.htm, 1998.
According to church tradition, the ancient Basmanny settlement was the very place where Saint Basil, venerated in Moscow, lived ascetic for Christ's sake. He was born near these places, in the village of Yelokhovo , but he did his feat in the parish of the church in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, built in 1519. "dependent on the Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich" on the Intercession road (now called the Church of St. Nikita the Martyr on Staraya Basmannaya) ... Before the fire that happened on July 18, 1905, the image of St. Basil the Blessed of the 17th century was preserved in the refectory of the church, which was especially revered by parishioners and was placed in this church, apparently in remembrance of the life and exploits of the famous Moscow miracle worker at its walls. .
But our contemporaries were amazing people, whose life is now almost a legend, who preserved the traditions of fiery asceticism in Christ during the years of cruel church persecutions of the 20th century. Among them are three Nikolai from Staraya Basmannaya street: Pestov, Varentsov, Ponyatovsky. Only now can we appreciate the contribution of these humble workers to the treasury of religious thought, to the preservation of Orthodox spiritual and moral values \u200b\u200band Christian ideals.
Until the mid-1970s, in the courtyard of house no. 20 on Karl Marx Street (and that is how Staraya Basmannaya Street was called then) there was a small two-story house - an outbuilding that had existed here since the 18th century. estates.
During the half-century post-revolutionary period of time, everyone who considered himself a friend, like-minded person or a disciple of a deep religious thinker, a zealous Orthodox Christian, a prominent scientist and teacher, Professor Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov, who lived in apartment No. 13 since 1926, tried to get into this house. The biography of N.E. Pestov not only amazes everyone who gets to know it with the events and life situations that fill it and sometimes seem deeply contradictory, but also fascinates with the presentation of practical spiritual experience on the way to a Christian worldview.
Nikolay Pestov was born on August 17 (New Style) 1892 in Nizhny Novgorod, in a family of hardworking people with little income. The boy lost his father early, and he was raised by his mother and nanny. The family was not particularly religious; children were not taught to pray. From the age of 11 to 18, Nikolai studied at a real school, where he got acquainted not only with Russian classical literature, but also with the works of the leaders of Marxism, the book "The Life of Jesus" by E. Renan and other philosophical works that sowed the seeds of atheism in his soul. In 1910. Nikolai Pestov entered the Imperial Technical School in Moscow at the Faculty of Chemistry. Complete course he did not succeed in training, since with the outbreak of the First World War, student Pestov considered it his duty to take a place in the ranks of the defenders of the fatherland, and he was enrolled as a volunteer cadet of the 1st category at the Alekseevsky military school. After completing an accelerated school course, Second Lieutenant Pestov gets into the 56th Reserve Infantry Regiment, stationed in the Pokrovsky Barracks in Moscow, by August 1917. he served in the ranklieutenant adjutant of the regiment at the front.
February 1918 finds N.E. Pestov in Nizhny Novgorod, where he serves as a clerk in the Cheka, in the city prodkom. After registering as a military specialist of the old army, he was sent to work in the bodies of the All-Learning Education, and in December 1918 he joined the party. Nikolay Evgrafovich fought on Eastern Front on the side of the "Reds", after which he was awarded the title of the district military commissar of the Priuralsky military district. About the years of his commission, he wrote in his diary: "It is hardest for me to remember all this evil that I committed in those years ... This whole nightmare ... All this was in my absence of Christian faith ..."
The gradual stabilization of the situation in Russia allowed Nikolai Evgrafovich to demobilize and return to Moscow in 1921 to continue his education. At the same time, he met a student, Zoya Bezdetnova, with whom they married in May 1923 in the Church of the Ascension on the Gorokhovaya Pole. Zoya Veniaminovna, after completing a course at the Moscow Higher Technical School, worked at the Moscow Alkaloid Plant, from which she received a three-room apartment on Staraya Basmannaya.
NE Pestov, after graduating from the Moscow Higher Technical School, made a brilliant scientific career. He becomes a prominent scientist in the field of mineral fertilizer technology, teaches at many major metropolitan universities. In January 1941. defends his doctoral dissertation, writes a number of books, some of them still have not lost their scientific and methodological significance and do not lie on the shelves of scientific and university libraries. In the 1940s, Nikolai Evgrafovich was elected dean, and then appointed deputy director for educational and scientific work of the Engineering and Economic Institute in Moscow, where he worked until his retirement in 1960.
This was the side of his life that took place in full view of all those who listened to his lectures, worked with him in research laboratories, met at scientific conferences, academic councils, in publishing houses. However, there was another thing that filled his life with a deep meaning, determined the essence of his actions and became a spiritual stronghold - the Orthodox faith.
For the commissar, party member Nikolai Pestov, a religious worldview did not exist, but then March 1, 1921 came, and he saw Christ in a dream. Then Pestov wrote in his diary: “That night the Lord entered my heart, and since then, no matter what he did or felt, I know that Christ was always by my side, always by my side and never leaves me. "
Having entered the Moscow Higher Technical School in the same year, he became a member of the Christian student circle, led by an outstanding figure of the Russian Christian student movementV.F. Martsinkovsky ... Acquaintance with Vladimir Filimonovich, who was soon expelled from the country for his religious preaching among young people, became a turning point in the life of Nikolai Pestov, which was now built by him according to the commandments of Christ. In 1922 he left the party.
Until 1924 The RHSD and its individual circles were registered and enjoyed all the rights of legal public organizations... In 1924. all the activities of the circles dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel among student youth, was banned, but some of the circle members continued to work illegally, held classes and even congresses of members of the movement in private apartments. About the time of repressions, arrests and exile of members of the circles, evidence related to the biography of the head of the Christian student circle (HSC) Vladimir Ambartsumov (1892-1937) has survived: “Following the ban, repressions, arrests, and exile fell upon the circle. But at that moment Vladimir Ambartsumovich [ Ambartsumov - V. L.] narrowly escaped arrest. Once he spent the night in the house of Nikolai Yevgrafovich Pestov, an active member of the KSK, later a well-known spiritual writer in Russia. Chekists came at night. The investigator who conducted the search did not know that Vladimir Ambartsumovich was the chairman of the KSK and, having held him all night while the search was going on, arrested Nikolai Yevgrafovich the next morning, released Vladimir Ambartsumovich. Early in the morning Vladimir Ambartsumovich walked through Moscow from one friend to another, but everyone had a light on at that early hour - searches were going on ... "
For his participation in the circle, Nikolai Evgrafovich was arrested and spent 40 days in Butyrki. In prison, he met a parishioner of the Church of St. Nicholas on Maroseyka and after a while became the spiritual son of its rector, Father Sergiy Mechev. Pestov stopped attending Renovationist churches, became an active member of the community of the Nikolskaya Church - a spiritual family created by the wise and pious pastor Father Alexei Mechev.
With the blessing of Father Sergius, he was in the church something like a headman - he sold candles, walked with a plate, participated in church meetings. Approximately at the same time, accustoming oneself to the creation of the "Jesus Prayer" refers: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Then Nikolai Pestov realized that his first confession in the Church, at the beginning of his spiritual awakening, was not complete and deep enough. He recalled: "Then I decided to bring this called the "general confession" of the sins of the whole life. After listening to me and saying a prayer of permission, the priest said: "Never again remember your previous sins. They have departed from you forever!" What joy I felt then ... "
By the end of the 1920s, persecutions of believers and clergy began, monasteries and churches began to close. The daughter of Nikolai Evgrafovich, Natalya Nikolaevna, recalls the life of the Pestov family at that time: “Mom constantly collected and packed parcels, sent them to camps and prisons, brought up Tanya, an orphan for three years, and children of the arrested often spent their holidays here. The nun Eunikia from the Suzdal Monastery lived twenty-seven years in the family; the sister of the Martha and Mary monastery, the nun Magdalene, constantly stayed with us ... where are we went to service " .
In 1929. Father Sergiy Mechev was arrested and exiled, two years later the church of St. Nicholas on Maroseyka was closed and destroyed. But the spiritual communion of a part of the "Mechevites" continued in the secret house church, consecrated in one of the rooms of N.E. Pestov's apartment by Father Sergius. The icons were hidden in a closet behind a curtain, and the table, which served as an altar, was covered with a veil. Relatives and friends, as well as clergymen who remained faithful to the "patriarchal" church, gathered for the services, which were performed by the priests of the closed churches in deep secrecy.
Natalya Pestova recalled these services in the following way: “It was solemn and mysterious. The day before they cleaned up, discussed dinner, cooked. We were warned, asked to be serious and not to tell anyone anything. Father sat in the Pope’s office. Even before dawn they hurried to him for his confession. orphaned spiritual children. ”In the dark narrow corridor, near the door of the study, crying old women were huddled together, and my mother carefully unlocked the door itself, admitting only those who were expected. Liturgy was served in the morning, during which they sang like mosquitoes buzzing. They spoke to each other only in whispers, meaningfully exchanging glances, sobbing and sighing deeply. We children looked at all this with surprise " .
In the fall of 1943. Nikolai Pestov's son died at the front, to whom his father dedicated one of his books - "Life for Eternity". By the end of the war years, he stopped hiding his beliefs, went to churches, not being afraid to meet colleagues there, and began to work on philosophical works. Deep reflections on the meaning of life, the desire to make his spiritual experience known to others led Nikolai Evgrafovich to write his first works on theology, combined into two volumes entitled Paths to Perfect Joy, as well as the first edition of the book Above the Apocalypse.
Since the mid-1950s, N.E. Pestov began work on the main religious and philosophical work of his life - the multivolume dissertation "Contemporary Practice of Orthodox Piety (Experience of Building a Christian Worldview)". Many people quickly learned about his works, especially young people, who found spiritual and moral support in them. Many visitors came to Staraya Basmannaya, to the Pestovs' house, who received not only the necessary books from the richest home library, but also spiritual consolation, as well as the joy of meeting with the owner of the house. N.E. Pestov found time for everyone, whether it was his old friend from the student circle or a young seminarian. Many of his friends, admirers and students reprinted and delivered throughout the country the works of the scientist, which nowadays began to appear in separate multi-thousand copies. One could recall dozens of names of modern church hierarchs, venerable clergy, famous scientists-philosophers and historians, whose young years were spent in spiritual communion, common prayer and in conversations with Nikolai Evgrafovich. He greatly venerated the Russian ascetics of piety and, in particular, spoke with reverence about his only meeting with the nun grand duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna in 1916, which left a deep mark in his memory .
Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Yurievsk Pitirim (Nechaev) and Archbishop of Kerch Anatoly (Kuznetsov) were frequent guests in the house of N.E. Pestov in his youth. Writer Leonid Borodin came from Irkutsk to buy books from his spiritual library and “samizdat” works by Pestov. The young scientist, later a well-known historian Alexander Rogov, reprinted many of Nikolai Evgrafovich's works and, in particular, has the subtitle "Dissertation for the degree of candidate of theological sciences GBR" These three letters had nothing to do with the initials of the author and meant "the sinful servant of God." In the office of the owner of the house, the walls of which were hung with icons with lighted lamps, the general prayed with concentration together with Nikolai Evgrafovich Soviet army Mikhail Konstantinovich Baranovsky.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Varentsov (1862-1947), with whom Nikolai Evgrafovich, despite the age difference of 30 years, had a strong friendship and spiritual closeness, was among his soulmates. N.A. Varentsov was a prominent Russian businessman, businessman and philanthropist before the revolution. Under his leadership, such large enterprises of the country as the Moscow Trade and Industrial Partnership, the Bolshaya Kineshemskaya Manufactory, cotton ginneries in Central Asia... After the revolution, Varentsov was repeatedly arrested, although he did not oppose the nationalization of his factories and plants, did not seek refuge abroad, but tried to be useful to his homeland and new government... A man of deep religious convictions, he, in a Christian way, humbly treated his fate as a disadvantaged and persecuted member of society, whose knowledge and experience were not needed by anyone.
N.A. Varentsov lived nearby, in house # 31 on Staraya Basmannaya, and N.E. Pestov's wife Zoya Veniaminovna and daughter Natalya Nikolaevna helped the sick old man during the war years, whose sons had been drafted into the army since the beginning of the war, shared food with him ... Shortly before his death, Nikolai Aleksandrovich presented Zoya Pestova with his talisman - an unworked semi-precious stone, which he had bought during a trip to India. This relic is carefully kept together with the only photograph of N.A. Varentsov in the family of N.N. Pestova-Sokolova.
The writer A.A. Solodovnikov (1893-1974), who knew N.E. Pestov well, left the following memories of N.A. Varentsov: “The fate of this man is unusual and at the same time quite typical for the era of revolutionary elements ... The rich man, the owner of the 11 millionth fortune. Lucky and courageous in business, he managed to defend the Russian Central Asian cotton industry from the attempts of American bankers to strangle it by dumping. After 1917 he lost everything and became a beggar in the full sense of the word. Having gone through such spiritual overloads, he He did not lose the clarity of his soul, he perceived everything with gratitude and died, repeating: “Glory to God.” To one woman who took care of him, he said: “Through you, God made me to know His love for me. Thank God!" .
Perhaps this kind woman was Natalya Grigorievna Ponyatovskaya, the daughter of an outstanding philologist, curator of the manuscript department of the Rumyantsev Museum Grigory Petrovich Georgievsky, the wife of another close friend of Nikolai Evgrafovich, Nikolai Pavlovich Ponyatovsky. The representative of the old Polish aristocratic family N.P. Ponyatovsky served in the Red Army, and then studied at the Military Medical Academy. The authorities learned that the deacon's son Nikolai Ponyatovsky had signed a protest of believers against the closure of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and he was expelled from the Academy's audience. A few years later, he managed to enter the medical faculty of Moscow State University and receive a medical diploma. N.P. Ponyatovsky became famous in Moscow as an excellent doctor-homeopath. During the war, he became the head of a large military hospital, as well as the personal physician of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I .
The Poniatovskys lived in the neighborhood of the Pestovs, in house number 22 on Staraya Basmannaya, and led a truly Christian lifestyle, filled with sympathy and help to others. The famous art critic, specialist in ancient Russian art Svetlana Vitalievna Gnutova, whose father, conductor and musician V.D. Gnutov, settled with his family in 1971. in the former apartment of the Poniatovskys, told the writer of these lines that among the residents of the house, the memory of those dozens of people is still alive, who came to the doctor N.P. Ponyatovsky every day not only to receive help from physical suffering, but also to strengthen them morally in difficult life situations. The son-in-law of N.P. Ponyatovsky was a prominent Moscow priest, Archpriest Anatoly Serafimovich Kaznovetsky (1926-1995), who served in the Yelokhovsky Cathedral, the churches of John the Warrior and All Saints on the Falcon, in the patriarchal missions in Alexandria (Egypt) and in New York.
By the way, the grandchildren of Nikolai Evgrafovich also chose the church path in life, like their father, Natalia Pestova's husband, Archpriest Vladimir Petrovich Sokolov (1920-1995). One of them, Seraphim (Sergius in monasticism), a candidate of theology, carried an honorable and responsible obedience as senior subdeacon of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and was then an inspector of the Moscow Theological Academy. Called to the high hierarchical service, Vladyka Sergius is now Bishop of Novosibirsk and Berdsk. Two other grandsons became Orthodox priests and rectors of Moscow churches: Father Nikolai - in the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi (near the Tretyakov Gallery) and Father Fyodor - in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Tushino.
In 1975. The Pestovs moved to a new apartment, their old house was demolished. However, every Sunday Nikolai Evgrafovich came to the early liturgy at the Church of Elijah the Commonplace and received the Holy Mysteries. During a serious illness, Nikolai Evgrafovich was in unceasing prayer, he died on January 14, 1982. and was buried in the cemetery at the Smolensko-Nikolsky Church in the village of Grebnevo, Moscow Region.
The memory of Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov remains among the residents of Staraya Basmannaya Street, where he lived for almost 50 years, and among former students of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology, and the I.E. Ordzhonikidze, who received extensive knowledge in the field of exact sciences from their professor. In the books that he wrote and left to posterity as a treasury of the practical spiritual experience of a modern Christian, readers find detailed advice on organizing a Christian life, prayer rule, raising children, and many other aspects of Orthodox life.
Old Basmannaya Street in Moscow became a "witness" of a difficult and long life, joint prayer and Orthodox work of three friends and associates, three Nikolaevs - Pestov, Varentsov and Ponyatovsky. They were not destined to find out that Karl Marx Street in 1990. will acquire its former, old Moscow name. They did not have a chance to hear the bell ringing of the revived "Basmanny" churches - the Great Martyr Nikita, Saints Peter and Paul, the Ascension of the Lord. They did not live to see July 23, 1991, when a procession of thousands, led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, carried the holy relics of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov at the beginning of their journey to the Diveyevo Monastery, past their houses on Staraya Basmannaya Street. But they believed in the revival of the country, worked for its good and participated in the enlightenment and upbringing of the people of God, as well as people who stand behind the fence of the Church and seek the truth of life ...
Notes
1. G.P. Georgievsky. In the homeland of Basil the Blessed // ZhMP, 1947, ј4. P. 33-37.
2. V.D. Tsvetkov. Old Basmannaya Sloboda in Moscow with a historical and archaeological description of the parish (Nikitsky) church. Manuscript. OPI GIM, F.104, Op.1, D. 6, L. 137-144.
3. Ibid. L. 192.9. N.E. Pestov. From the memoirs about the founders of the Martha-Mariinsky community in Moscow ... // Ibid. Pp. 138-147.
10. Alexander Solodovnikov. Treasures of the Vvedensky mountains. Moscow magazine. 1992, no. 3. S. 55.
11. Serafim Chetverukhin. Tolmachi. Memories of Father. M., 1992.S. 37.