SAINT ELDER ANDRONICUS (LUKASH)
The Life of Saint Andronicus is taken from the book "An Example of Holy Life : The Holy
Elders of the Glinsk Hermitage" by Archpriest Alexander Chesnokov and Zinoviy Chesnokov and translated
by Aviv Saliou.
Schema-archimandrite
Andronicus (born Alexey Andreevich Lukash) was born on February 12,
1888 in the village of Lupa, Romensk region of Poltava Province, to a
family of peasants – Andrey and Akilina. His father was a village
postman, he had a cruel character and was an irritable and
hot-tempered man. In contrast to Andrey's hard disposition, Akilina
was a humble and deeply God-fearing woman. She was also a good
Christian and a caring wife. There were five children in the family:
Phillip, John, Barbara, Alexey and Vasiliy.
Akilina foresaw
Alexey's God-fearing future. She baptized him in the name of St.
Alexius Man of God and constantly took care of his upbringing. The
seed of her education
fell on good ground, and sprang up (Lk.
8:8) - as a boy he would quietly wake up during the night, kneel and
crossing his arms about his chest, would pray with what was amazing
for his tender age fervor for his mother, father, brothers and
sisters. Compared to other children he was remarkably humble and
possessed an unfaltering calm, qualities which he preserved until his
old age.
Alexey
was educated in a parish school in his village. He experienced
learning difficulties and, after graduating from school, his father
sent him to work as a coachman. The boy was so serious that his
father gave him the most demanding tasks. Following God's law, he
obeyed his parents in everything. While still a teenager, he had
already become disenchanted with the vanity of this world. In his
thoughts he was often immersed in another world where the name of God
was constantly glorified, he thought about monasteries and the
angelic way of life. As the years passed his desire to become a monk
strengthened.
Once on a Sunday,
while walking home after the Liturgy, Alyosha met a pilgrim, who foreseeing his monastic frame of mind, told him
about the many Russian monasteries, their rules and customs. He gave
special attention to the Glinsk Hermitage where they followed a
strict Athonite [from the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos in Greece] rule, which officially prescribed for spiritual guidance by an elder.
He also mentioned that the church services there were especially
long. The following Sunday the pilgrim
gave him the address of the Glinsk Hermitage and a letter of
recommendation to a monk he knew. When his mother learned of
Alyosha's decision, she, holding back her tears, took the little
cross off her neck and with it gave Alexey her blessing. This was
done secretly from his father.
In 1906 Alexey entered
the gates of the Glinsk Monastery. The monks made a huge impression
on him. The Elder would later recall, « I was overcome by tremendous
joy, my heart was touched and with my mind I turned to the Mother of
God and asked Her to accept me in the rank of the equal-to-the-angels
monks which She gathered in order to unceasingly glorify Her Son. I
gave the Mother of God a secret promise to serve Her, to overcome
everything, to be patient until the end of my days. Afterward, I felt
joy in my heart and hope in Her mercy. » The monks brought Alexey to
father John, for whom he was carrying a letter. At that time father
John's obedience was to be the cell-attendant of the hegumen of the
monastery. Father John lead the new arrival to the hegumen. Alexey
bowed to the ground and asked the hegumen to accept him in the
brotherhood, expressing his willingness to withstand without
complaint all the difficulties and hardships, if only to be near the
Lord's house. And the hegumen gave his blessing to include him in the
number of monks.
The novice was given
the obedience to work in the pilgrim's hotel of the monastery, where
he would spend three months. After which he was given the blessing to
wear the cassock and to be in obedience to Elder Hieromonk Aristokliy
(in schema – Schema-hegumen Anthony, departed in Glinsk Hermitage
in 1946). Then Alexey received a new obedience in the laundry room.
There he proved himself to be a hard-working, silent and humble
novice. Nine months later he was transferred to the monastery
refectory where he worked for two years. Then he was given the
blessing to wear the ryasa [cassock] and to serve in the hegumen's kitchen, where he prepared meals for
guests.
Three years later
Alexey was transferred to the Spaso-Illiodorov skete, which is about
three miles from the Glinsk Hermitage. Life there was decidedly
stricter; women were not allowed on the territory of the skete. In
such quiet solitude Alexey was initiated into ascetic life. Next door
to his cell lived a monk who spent almost all night in prayer.
Through the wall Alexey could hear how he made prostrations and this
inspired his zeal for God. He lived in this skete for three years.
From there he was
called to serve in the army. He spent three and half years in Poland
as a simple soldier, being a disciplined, quiet, humble and
hard-working one. After training he was assigned to be servant to the
commander.
After the
demobilization, novice Alexey immediately returned to his beloved
monastery and received the obedience to work in the beehive. After a
short while, the First World War began. In 1915, together with monks
from the Glinsk Hermitage, he was mobilized. During his first battle,
he and the remainder of his company
were taken hostage and brought to a prison camp and later transferred
to Austria, where Alexey spent three and half years. In the camp, a
group of Baptist sectarians tried to convert him to their faith, but
he maintained his Orthodox faith.
Accustomed
to hard work, he worked so diligently that he attracted the attention
of the guards, who in turn sometimes gave him extra portions of
bread. He was liberated in the autumn of 1918.
After returning to
the Glisnk Hermitage, the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite
Nektariy, assigned Alexey to man the scales of the monastery mill,
which was not far from Putivl on the River Seym. In that period he
could generously give food to the needy and the destitute, ravaged by
war, people who came to him for help. A short while later, novice
Alexey was tonsured monk with the name Andronicus. He continued to
carry out his obedience at the monastery mill.
The years spent in
the monastery left their unforgettable mark and served his spiritual
perfectionment. Here the foundation was laid for his elevated ascetic
life. He rose with the sun for his obedience, which he accomplished
with great zeal, effort and skill. And he spent his nights in
constant prayer and with many prostrations (pokloni). He was very
austere as regards food and drink. He carried only the most essential
possessions : church and work clothing, a hard bed on which he lay
without undressing only for a short time. From then on, wherever he
was, he always firmly kept his monastic vows. All his life was
concentrated on one goal – salvation of his soul and the soul of
his neighbor.
In 1922 when the
monastery was closed, monk Andronicus moved to Putivl, where by that
time his mother lived. In 1925 Bishop Paulinus (Kroshechkin,
1879-1933, canonized in the year 2000 in the Russian Orthodox
Church), vicar of the Kursk Diocese, took monk Andronicus as his
cell-attendant and monk Andronicus moved to Kursk. Even though his
humility caused him to refuse the honor, he was later ordained
hierodeacon. After some time hierodeacon
Andronicus along with Bishop Paulinus moved
to Perm.
While
temporarily in Moscow, in 1928, Vladyka [bishop] Paulinus ordained him hieromonk, which was also done against his
will. In 1929, while seriously ill, hieromonk Andronicus received the
“angelic image”, the Great Schema, with the same name of
Andronicus (in honor of Venerable Saint Andronicus of Moscow). Soon
thereafter he was arrested and sent to Sakhalin.
On one occasion in
the gulag they brought Archbishop Nazariy, barely alive, who soon
died. At that time father Andronicus was a nurse and helped others
however he could. He made an epitrakhelion [priest's stole] out of a towel, on which he drew a cross with a piece of charcoal, he
served a panikhida (burial service) and buried the Bishop in a
separate coffin. For this act in 1936 father Andronicus was awarded a
pectoral cross
by his Eminence Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow.
After being
liberated from the camp, the camp director took him as a worker in
his home. In 1944 the director was appointed to work in Novosibirsk,
and along with the director's family father Andronicus moved there.
He was treated and loved like one of the family. He cooked for them,
took care of the garden and the animals, raised and educated the
children. As a remarkable testimony to his humility, it is worth
relating that he lived in the barn with the animals. There he
prepared a special place where he would rest, despite the pleas from
the family to live in a private room they'd prepared for him in their
home. God was the only witness to the ascetic exploits which father
Andronicus practiced in his little barn. When he learned about the
reopening of the Glinsk Hermitage, he employed all his efforts in
order to return to his beloved monastery. This took place in 1948.
In the hermitage
hieorschimonk Andronicus became the rural dean and spiritual father of
the brotherhood. However, not only monks came to offer him their
confession. And there was a reason for this: an elder's love for his
neighbor and his compassion attracts many people. One testimony tells
the story of how a woman came from far away to give her confession.
What she said exactly to Fr. Andronicus is bound by the
confidentiality of confession, but after hearing her he began to cry
while saying “how could you insult the Lord in such a way?” His
grief over her soul and her sins stunned the woman. Walking away from
the analogion, she said, “I will go home to spend the winter, and
if the Lord wills it, I will sell my cow so that I can return here
again.”
As the rural dean,
fr. Andronicus gathered the community and the pilgrims together for
the general obedience. And he did this gently and inconspicuously. For example, if they needed to work in the garden, Fr.
Andronicus would be the first to take up a shovel or a rake and begin
working. He could easily invite anyone who wasn’t busy to go with
him and clean the stable and remove the manure. Be it in the forest,
or when preparing firewood for the monastery, or planting in the
garden, tidying or some other chore, Fr. Andronicus was always the
first to act, and his example inspired everyone.
Having reached the
height of divine love, Elder Andronicus possessed such inner peace
that he never needed for anything. Constantly longing for the Kingdom
of Heaven, he displayed exceptional compassion for others and always
worried about them first. Here is an example of this. Once someone
sent him a package of pears. He was almost never alone in his cell
and of course on this occasion everyone in the room received a pear.
Andronicus put his pear aside for later. Someone else entered the
cell and there weren’t any pears left. Andronicus offered his own
pear. The man protested saying, “You probably haven’t even tasted
a pear yet.” The Elder sliced the pear and said, “Here, I’ll
taste, and you taste.” Half disappeared. Then someone else entered
and he divided the rest of the pear in half. Then another guest
arrived until finally there was nothing left for father Andronicus.
Many astonishing
things took place in the monastery thanks to the prayers of elder
Andronicus. A novice named Sergei was sick with pneumonia. His
condition became so acute that that the doctors' interventions didn’t
help. His condition worsened and he was expected to die soon. Father
Andronicus gave him the Holy Unction [the sacrament of anointing the sick] and Holy Communion and prayed for him. On the third day Sergei awoke
completely healed. Subsequently Sergei took the monastic vows with
the name of Hippolytus. After the closure of the Glinsk Hermitage, he
lived on Mount Athos in the Panteleimon Monastery [the Russian monastery on Mount Athos].
There are many
similar stories. One of them is remembered here. Once father
Andronicus became ill himself. He had a brain hemorrhage. The illness
was very serious and everyone around him had already given up hope of
his recovery. He was given the Holy Unction and Communion. In his
hopeless condition he didn’t eat anything for three days. At the
same time a monk named Adrian, who worked in the stables, suddenly
became ill and died three days later. Father Andronicus’ cellmate
told him about this, and father Andronicus replied, “The Lord sent
an angel to take my soul, but on the way He lead him to another, so
that I may live a little longer for people's sake.” Shortly after
those words, father Andronicus asked for some water and began to feel
much better. He ate and soon regained his strength and health.
Father Andronicus
was uncommonly meek and humble. He honored the bishops like Christ
Himself. When the presiding bishop came to the Glinsk Hermitage,
father Andronicus would serve him personally, bringing him water,
heating his stove, cleaning the floors.
When in 1955 the
bishop of Sumy, Eustratios, endowed Fr. Andronicus with the rank of
abbot, Fr. Andronicus contested the bishop, saying that the rank of
schema already surpasses all honors and that it is the ultimate
award.
The Elder tried to
avoid leaving the monastery and always said that a monk who leaves
the monastery’s territory, even for a short time, never returns the
same as he was before leaving. However, once the superior blessed Fr.
Andronicus to go to the center of the diocese in order to take care
of some business. Fr. Andronicus highly valued obedience and was an
example to all of obedience. Therefore, he humbly accepted to
accomplish the task.
Once after having
talked with Fr. Andronicus, bishop Eustratios asked the Elder to
bless him and make the sign of the cross over him, just as he does to
everyone else. Fr. Andronicus obeyed, as was his duty before the
bishop, and gave his blessing to the bishop, who then asked that when
Fr. Andronicus goes to bed he also bless the bishop’s cell too.
However, the Elder
could also oppose the bishop if the circumstances required him to.
When the ruling bishop prohibited feeding pilgrims from the monastery
kitchen, Fr. Andronicus, being a member of the monastery committee,
spoke out against the bishop’s ruling, saying that it wasn’t the
monks who fed pilgrims, but rather the pilgrims who fed monks,
insofar as they send and bring everything to the monastery. The
community supported the Elder and the common meals with monks and
pilgrims continued.
Fr. Andronicus loved
to take part in all the community’s work. On holidays after the
services he wouldn’t go and relax, he would read several chapters
of the Gospel, Akathists, then he would run to the kitchen to peel
potatoes for the common meal, after electing a monk to read the lives
of the saints while they worked so that there wasn’t useless
chatter and instead they listened to the word of God. Fr. Andronicus
even helped to clean the toilets when needed, without being
squeamish, even though he was a very clean and tidy person.
He received his
brothers in the community and his spiritual children at any time of
night or day. He was extremely attentive to each of them. In the
evening, Fr. Andronicus read five chapters of the Gospel, one rosary
with 30 prostrations [kneeling to the floor].
Then he made separate prostrations to Christ the Saviour, to the
Mother of God, to his Guardian Angel, Archangel Michael, Saint John
the Baptist, Saint John the Apostle, Saint Andronicus, the Saint
Apostles Peter and Paul, St Andrew the Apostle, St Luke, St Mark, St
Matthew, the Saint Prophets Elijah and Moses, Saints Joachim and
Anna, Zachary and Elizabeth, Simeon the God-Receiver and the
Prophetess Anna, Saint Hierarchs Basil the Great, Gregory the
Theologian, John Chrysostom, Nicholas, Alexis, Theodosius, Ioasaf,
Germogen, Peter, Arseni, Stephan, the Great-Martyrs Pantaleon,
George, John the Warrior, Demetrios of Thessaloniki, the Saint
Martyrs Nestor, Guria, Shamuna and Habib, the Great-Martyrs Barbara,
Catherine, Aquilina, Tatiana, Faith, Hope, Love, Sophia, Paraskevi,
Saints Equal to the Apostles Nina, Mary Magdalene, Thecla, the
Venerable Saint Mary of Egypt, Saint Martyr Thomais of Alexandria,
the Venerable Saints Seraphim of Sarov, Sergius of Radonezh, John,
Tikhon of Kaluga, Athanasios the Great, Pachomius the Great, Barlaam,
Ioasaf, Abner, Martinian, John the Long-Suffering, Alexis the Man of
God, Simeon of Verkhoturye, Job of Pochaev, Right-Believing Princes
Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir, Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen.
After these
prostrations, Fr. Andronicus continued to make prostrations for the
sake of his superior, for his spiritual children, for his friends,
for the departed brothers of the community and for his relatives.
Then he went to bed for a short time. He awoke at two in the morning,
sometimes earlier, and didn’t go back to bed. He used to say, “I
will weary those who weary me.” He carried out his prayer rule of
500 rosary prayers without hurrying, making prostrations with
attention and reverence. After his 500 prayer rule with the rosary,
he read more prayers with the rosary to the saints and then began
reading the Gospel, the Psalter with remembrance for the departed and
Akathists. He also loved reading the daily service for the departed.
He had this book with him during his exile and in the labor camps.
Part of Fr.
Andronicus’ obligations as rural dean included checking up on the
night watchmen. In addition, if a novice overslept or became ill, or
if someone didn’t come to the night service, Fr. Andronicus went to
their cells to find out why the brother was absent.
Fr. Andronicus never
refused to offer his blessing and prayers for pilgrims about to go on
their journey home. He elected a time when there were no church
services, the people assembled, and Fr. Andronicus read the prayers
himself for travelers, and he gave the Holy Unction and Communion to
the pilgrims and monks.
When the Glinsk
Hermitage was closed again in 1961, Fr. Andronicus went to the
Stavropol Diocese to stay with his former cellmate (Paulinus). Later,
when Paulinus left to study, Fr. Andronicus moved to Tbilisi under
the tutelage of Metropolitan of Tetritsqaro Zinovy, who at the time
was already a hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Schema-hegumen Andronicus helped in the Alexander Nevsky Church - he
served, heard confessions, helped with the Proskomedia [office of oblation before the Divine Liturgy],
read prayer lists and even stayed on to be watchman. In time,
Metropolitan Zinovy found a small house in town where Fr. Andronicus
was to live until he passed on into eternity.
Fr. Andronicus kept
the thought of death and eternal torments fresh in his mind. Thus, he
maintained the fear of God within himself. Thanks to his God-pleasing
life, the Lord granted Fr. Andronicus the gift of clairvoyance. A
visitor to the Glinsk Hermitage remembered how she had wanted to
complain to Fr. Andronicus that it was so hard living without a
spiritual guide. The Elder was in a hurry at the time, he was
accompanying someone, and as he passed the woman [without having
heard her complaint] he said incidentally, “There are no spiritual
guides now. Books, read books!”
In 1963
Schema-hegumen Andronicus, with the blessing of the Patriarch Alexei,
was raised to the level of Archimandrite [chief of the fold] by Metropolitan Zinovy. However, from the day of having received the
award until his death 11 years later, due to his profound humility,
Fr. Andronicus never wore the miter [honorific head covering worn by bishops and archimandrites] a single time.
It was with great
love that Fr. Andronicus visited Saint Alexander Nevsky Church, where
he served alongside Bishop Zinovy, and where he took Holy Communion
on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. After the Liturgy and occasional
religious rites, the Elder did not sit down to relax. Instead, he
would find solitude and read the Holy Gospel. After lunch, in the
time leading up to Vespers, Fr. Andronicus could be found in the
little chapel located in the church courtyard. The door was always
open to visitors. There he listened to people’s confession,
comforted them, gave them useful advice and instruction. The devil’s
ruse did not impede Fr. Andronicus. He taught using examples from the
Holy Bible and the lives of the Holy Fathers. He took great care to
protect people from pride and from judging others. In a conversation
with one visitor he told the story of a monk he had known who was
very quiet, humble and meek, but when the monk judged another person,
the Lord’s Grace instantly left him.
The churchwarden of
Alexander Nevsky Сhurch told of one incident which gives us an idea
of [the depth of] Fr. Andronicus’ prayer. Before the Liturgy Fr.
Andronicus would usually stay in church from the evening until the
early morning, without shutting an eye and spending the whole time in
prayer. On one of these occasions, some time at the end of the
1960’s, the churchwarden was spending the night in the church to
serve as watchman. In the night he saw that the church full of
worshipers. The thought flashed through his mind that he had fallen
asleep on his watch and that someone had opened the door. He looked
at the clock and realized that it was 2 a.m. He looked for the keys
and found them in their usual place. Terribly frightened, he looked
again inside the church. Fr. Andronicus was praying and making
prostrations before the icon of the feast, surrounded by many people
who were also praying. The churchwarden, overcome with fear, stood
frozen. As soon as the Elder ceased praying, the church stood once
again empty. In the morning, the churchwarden told of what he had
seen, unable to explain everything due to his excitement.
Nonetheless, being familiar with the God-pleasing life of Elder
Andronicus and of the power of his prayer, we can conclude that the
Celestial Church served alongside the great “spiritual athlete”
during his ascetic feats here on earth.
Fr. Andronicus told
some of his disciples, monastics, that every hour we must be active
in prayer, for the Lord said: “Watch and pray” (Matthew 26: 41)
and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Th 5: 17). When you pray, one
should think of his dying hour, with fear of the everlasting fire.
Let not the thoughts of this life’s hardships trouble us, for it is
through many tribulations that we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is
not the place which sanctifies the man, but the man who sanctifies
the place. Where the monk is, there you’ll find the monastery; live
a monastic life and you will have a monastery. Live a well-reasoned
and pure life, repent and pray, so that you are not overtaken by
sudden death and the wrath of the Lord. Many have gone to sleep and
never awaken. Similarly, when we go to bed, we do not know if we will
awake from our sleep in the morning. Do not abandon the morning rule
of prayer.
Monks from other
monasteries, including from the Lavra of the Venerable Saint Sergius,
as well as hermits from the four corners of Russia, came to visit
Elder Andronicus. Fr. Andronicus accepted them all with joy,
diligently and earnestly teaching them all to follow the Lord’s
commandments through good deeds, obedience, meekness and humility.
Many students from the Moscow seminaries and theological academies
also visited the Elder. He would tell them: “Study God’s Law,
possess a pure heart and soul. The garment of your soul is true
faith, prayer, tears, repentance… This garment should always remain
with you, and God will not abandon you.”
Fr. Andronicus would
say: “Live humbly and quietly and you will be saved!” For him all
people were saints, he suffered and prayed for everyone. One monk
wrote about how Fr. Andronicus, when he received confession, would
not only absolve the sins of the repentant, but also the sins of all
the monks and hermits, and all the people who were suffering. He said
that they are suffering and weeping and are asking for his prayers.
Once, when he was praying for the son of a certain doctor (the son
had attempted suicide), a demon appeared and struck Fr. Andronicus so
hard that the pain lasted for a long time. The possessed cried out
that they would burn him.
While teaching the
many who came to seek his counsel, Fr. Andronicus never wavered from
his prayer rule. What is more, he read the works of the Church
Fathers and the lives of the Saints and often cited examples of the
lives of God’s Saints and Martyrs during his conversations with
people. The Elder recorded edifying sayings from the Church Fathers
and from Scripture, then reprinted these recordings and distributed
them to his spiritual children. All this was done by Fr. Andronicus
out of a concern for people’s well-being, desiring to warn them or
prevent them from erring, or to force them to think deeply about
something. Sometimes he helped people through physical gestures, for
example, as novices told, he could tap them on the forehead with his
finger, as if he were tapping the thought they needed into their
heads. And all this was done with great care, sympathy and kindness.
Something could sound sharp, but not harsh, affectionate, even
gentle, without being sugary or overly affectionate. In everything
there was a sense of balance and equilibrium, as well as an
understanding of the state of mind the person happened to be in.
Father
Andronicus, when asked what one should do if someone offends or
annoys you, replied: “Don't see, don't hear.” By this he
entreated people to focus primarily on themselves, to begin with
oneself and to find the cause of spiritual laxity within oneself. He
said that there was nothing worse than pride, which was worse than
fornication and greed, for it was pride that made the Angels fall and
became demons. Thus people with their pride resemble demons. When
asked what he fears, the demon replies: “humility.” For God, the
humility of the sinner is more welcome than the pride of the
righteous. In response to question of what the monk should do in his
cell, father Andronicus replied: “Cry. If you plant a tree and
don't water it, it dries out. Thus the monk sitting in his cell needs
to add tears to his prayer rule. By the tree I mean prayer, and by
watering I mean tears that must be asked of to the Lord, saying:
“Give me tears and the remembrance of death.” Otherwise, hell
awaits us.” Concerning the question – what is the fear of God? -
the elder answered: “Do nothing according to your own will, in all
places feel God's presence, and then do everything as if you were
before God, rather than before people.”
A
prayer from father Andronicus' prayer book
“Save,
O Lord, and have mercy on all who hate and offend me, and who do mean
things to me, and do not let
them perish because of me, a sinner... Save, O Lord, and have mercy
on all whom I have tempted with my madness and have lead away from
the path of salvation, whom I have lead to commit evil and
unspeakable deeds, by Your Divine Providence return them to the path
of salvation. All who have abandoned the orthodox faith and have
become blinded in corrupt heresies, by the Light of Your knowledge
illuminate them and count them among Your Holy, Apostolic, Universal
Church.”
Elder Andronicus
recommended every monk and layperson to read the 17th
Kathisma of the Psalter, and after finishing it, to read his own
prayer list of names, beginning with the the prayer quoted above
directed to the Lord about the salvation for those who have offended
us.
At the end of his
life, the Schema-archimandrite Andronicus often told his disciples:
“I am handing you over to the Mother of God. She will not abandon
you. She has chosen you, it is She who will save you!” He also
spoke thus to laypeople, that he was handing them
over to the Mother of God.
In
Fr. Andronicus' cell there were only a few books and icons, with
which he prayed. He dressed very simply and he carried no money,
instead he immediately gave everything to the needy. He implored
others also not to carry money: “For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”
(Matt. 6:21). According to the word of God, he placed his heart in
the heavenly treasures, where he also elevated his mind. A constant
remembrance of death was his faithful watchman, guarding the heart of
the righteous man from becoming attached to temporary and corruptible
things, while inspiring him with a thirst for the eternal. The
God-pleaser spent 68 years in the monastic life and his blessed end
was met, by God's Providence, away from his native monastery.
In
November, 1973, during the morning prayer “God, cleanse me a
sinner...” the elder began to speak incoherently and inaudibly,
soon his speech would leave him entirely and his left side became
paralyzed. Many assumed that he only had a few hours left to live,
but God's Providence foresaw that he should live a bit longer to be
of service to his spiritual children. Metropolitan Zinovy visited him
daily. His speech recovered in 25 days, but his left side remained
paralyzed. Unable to go to church, Fr. Andronicus prayed unceasingly
in his cell, took Holy Communion daily. During the first week of
Great Lent, Fr. Andronicus felt a bit better and was even able to
sing the Irmos [the initial verse of the canon] “He is my Helper and Protector...” However, on the third week his
condition worsened and he became unable to eat. On March 17, 1974, on
a Sunday, at half past five in the morning, Fr. Andronicus lost
consciousness. This state lasted until ten in the evening when he
clearly spoke: “God's mercy covers everything”, then he began to
bless someone. Clearly, thanks to his strict ascetic life, the Lord
allowed him to see his brothers in the spirit from whom he was
departing. Then, he came to and said quietly: “I am going to die.”
Then he closed his eyes and no longer spoke to anyone, although he
understood everything and was fully conscious. The elder's strength
lessened and on March 21,
on Thursday, at around 6:00 a.m. Fr. Andronicus, peacefully and
without pain gave his spirit to the Lord.
On
March 21 the coffin of the departed Schema-archimandrite Andronicus
was placed in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where Metropolitan
Zinovy conducted the great panikhida [requiem service]. The elder's
body remained in the cathedral until March 26. Numerous panikhidas
were sung and the Holy Gospel was read at his side by local and
visiting priests.
On
March 26, Archimandrite Ioann (Maslov, 1932-1991), accompanied by
other members of the clergy, conducted the Liturgy of the
Presanctified Gifts. The burial rites were carried out by
Metropolitan Zinovy with the clergy. Hegumen Ilarion (Prikhodko,
1932-2008) read the eulogy, during which he stressed the fact that
Fr. Andronicus was a hard-working man, a
man rich in spirit and deep in faith. His heart was full of
compassion and love for every person, he lived not for himself but
for the people. That is why it is entirely fitting to call him “a
sufferer for human souls”. In the memoirs of Archimandrite Paulinus
a description is given of a woman who was healed from the lid of the
elder's coffin during the funeral service in the cathedral.
On
April 30, on the 40th day after Schema-archimandrite
Andronicus departed, His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch
of All Georgia David V visited the elder's grave. At the cemetery His
Holiness Patriarch David placed a red Easter egg on the righteous
man's grave, and addressing Fr. Andronicus he said: “Father
Andronicus! Christ is risen! We know that you are now in the Kingdom
of Heaven. What made you different in this life? You had no enemies
and, therefore, everyone loved you. Your loving heart was open to
all. Pray for us, so that we too can share in the joy of your
beatitude.”
The
oral tradition has preserved accounts of people who received divine
help through the elder's prayers after his death. For example, a nun
from the Krasnogorsk Monastery, Maria, told of how she grieved
terribly after Fr. Andronicus' death. At that time she had an amazing
dream. Sister Maria recalls that “On the third day after his burial
I saw Fr. Andronicus in a dream surrounded by Angels. I ran closer –
Fr. Andronicus was dressed in gold and was serving at the Altar. He
approached me, tapped the sign of the cross on my head and said: “Why
are you crying? Tell the brothers and everyone: I see and hear, let
them tell me everything, I will help everyone. And I hear you too, do
not grieve. Let them tell me everything.”
And
to this day many gather from all directions to Father Andronicus'
grave. The sick take soil from around the grave, and that soil,
through the prayers of the elder, gives them comfort and healing.
