Grigory Rasputin - biography and predictions from a legendary person. Who was Rasputin really

He is not a public figure and not a man of art, not a famous commander, but known to everyone, far beyond the borders of his native country. He did not write a symphony, did not put words into a poem, he has more sins than good deeds, but many consider him a saint. He was born in a peasant hut, but spent his last years in the incredible luxury of St. Petersburg and Moscow noble houses, and even became the first friend of the latter. Russian emperor. He lived as best he could and died as he deserved. So who was Grishka Rasputin, a seer and healer or a deceiver and a thief?

It is believed that the Rasputin family has been going on since ancient times. It was as if a peasant named Izosim Fedorov came to the village of Pokrovskoye in the seventeenth century. He came, and became for arable land, that is, he took up the peasantry. We are wary of newcomers, therefore both he and his children were forever “sticked” with the nickname - Rasputa, which meant “crossroads”, “crossroads”. Let's find out together who Rasputin is and how a simple man managed to leave such a deep mark on world history.

Grigory Rasputin: biography of the Siberian holy fool

Historical information that Izosim Fedorov came to the village of Pokrovskoye in 1662. It was he who was a distant ancestor of Gregory, who will be born a little later. The yard census of the settlement of Pokrovskaya for 1858 has been preserved, almost two hundred years after the aforementioned events. Then there were already more than three dozen souls with such a surname, among whom was Grigory's father, Yefim. In the early morning of January 9, 1860, according to the metrics, a boy was born in the family of the coachman Rasputin and his wife Anna (Nyura) Parshukova.

Since it was not possible to baptize the baby on the same day, there was an accomplice and the priest was not in the church, it was decided to hold the ceremony the next day, the tenth. According to the Slavic Orthodox saints, the names of the children were given according to church holidays. Just on this day, the feast of the theologian and philosopher Gregory of Nyssa was celebrated. So Grishka Rasputin got his name. Ironically, or perhaps according to God's plan, but his namesake became famous for his frequent, powerful and destructive sermons against various kinds of fornication.

early years

Biography of Rasputin early years full of secrets and mysteries. At a more mature age, he himself was not averse to "casting a fog" in order to create an atmosphere of mystery around him. For example, about his birth, Gregory often called different dates, in the range of 65-75 years. nineteenth century. He usually added age to look more "old man" than he really was. In fact, Grishenka grew up weak and sickly, and there was not a year when the mother did not think that the fifth child in the family, but was just such, would go to the forefathers, without pleasing the parents.

The worst of all were springs and autumns, when the boy could not sleep at night for more than a month. Scientists believe that this may have been an early sign of hysteria, and perhaps schizophrenia. But there is no authentic information about this. From early childhood, he was taught to read and write by his grandmother and father, assigned to the postal service. The weak and frail boy spent more time in the company of old women, who happily told him stories from the Holy Scriptures.

Becoming a Personality: Philosophy of Sin and Redemption

Many people to this day are wondering who Rasputin is, how did he become exactly who we know him, what paths led him to the impending end? The guy grew up closed and unsociable, always looked askance, from under the cosmos of tangled black hair. However, he had a special disposition towards cattle, and therefore he was mainly engaged in horses and cows. It was enough for him to put his hand on the neck of the excited horse, to say a few words in a half-whisper, as the cattle immediately calmed down.

At the age of fourteen, Gregory fell seriously ill, so much so that his mother was already preparing to bury her only surviving son. He recovered suddenly, as he fell ill. It was rumored that the Mother of God herself in the heads of his bed helped. He memorized the texts of prayers by heart, earnestly pronouncing them in a dim room near the lamp. By the age of twenty, Grigory Rasputin, whose biography developed in strange cycles, married a peasant woman from a neighboring village, named Praskovya Fedorovna Dubrovina, which gave birth to three offspring - two daughters and a son.

Worth knowing

It was at this time that he first went on a pilgrimage. Having visited the Verkhotursky monastery, Rasputin finally turns to God. Wanderings do not end there, he goes to Jerusalem to bow to the shrines, to Greece on Mount Athos, looking for advice and teachings from the higher clergy. Returning home, a simple peasant, the son of a coachman, and even a driver himself, begins to fall into extremes, reminiscent of borderline states. He first plunges into debauchery in taverns, with women walking around, wine and cards, piercing songs and dances in a smoky delirium. He throws himself into a hole dug with his own hands, where he sits and prays for his sins, open to seven winds, the scorching sun and torrential rains.

It is believed that a special, own view of sin and its nature is developed by Gregory just then. He decides that only through a sin committed consciously and quite deliberately, one can receive real forgiveness and grace from the Lord. After all, how can you repent if you have done nothing? This conclusion became the cornerstone of his teaching. Revealing the abilities of a seer in himself further spurs Rasputin's confidence in his rightness.

The villagers and relatives never understood his spiritual impulses, did not yet know who Grigory Rasputin was and that his name would soon be pronounced along with the names of the most august persons of the state. He was mocked and laughed at. He really often looked like a madman. He completely refused meat, could not change shirts for months, not sleep, run barefoot around the village in the cold and shake his fists at Satan, singing psalms in a hoarse voice.

Often, perhaps, by coincidence, his terrible cries of repentance “until the trouble fell” and the prophecies of all kinds of punishments ended really badly. People were dying, the thatched houses of the peasants were on fire, the cattle were sick and dying. Well, how could dark and uneducated people not believe in the bliss of an old man who was nothing at all, but a little over twenty years old. Glory disperses quickly, because Grishka soon had a lot of followers, and even more followers.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin in St. Petersburg

What attracted and attracted women of various social groups, what made them travel hundreds and thousands of miles to see a black-eyed, thin guy in a dirty-white shirt and unwashed tufts of matted hair, earnestly screaming in a pit in the backyard of his hut, historians do not understand today. However, looking at some lifetime photos, at the heavy look from under the thick black eyebrows, even in our time, many are trembling. Thanks to such a magnetic effect on people, the unknown man Rasputin rose to the top, short biography which we are considering.

By the beginning of the new twentieth century, it was decided to go to bow to Kyiv itself, to the Lavra, which he did with success. On the way there and back, Gregory managed to make many useful acquaintances. Returning, he settled for a long time in Kazan, where he was welcomed by the mentor of the theological academy, Father Mikhail himself. Around the same time, he made acquaintance with Patriarch Sergius, known in the world as Ivan Starogorodsky, and also with Archbishop Feofan (Vasily Bystrov).

Many modern historians tend to think that it was the latter who played a key role in Rasputin's move to St. Petersburg. He introduced the "elder" into society, brought him together with the right people, including the Orthodox Bishop Hermogenes. By the way, it was Father Feofan who first told the daughters of the Montenegrin prince Njegosh about the existence of the "holy fool" who soon became king. Militsa and Anastasia, having met the new messiah, were so imbued that they brought it into the ears of the empress, as if it were a real miracle.

Lighter of royal lamps

Having arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of 1900, Rasputin himself had no idea how this could end for him. But he liked the rich and well-fed life, he loved red silk shirts, like gypsies, brand new creaky boots, sweet cakes and good wine. The Montenegrin sisters brought Gregory with the royal couple on Wednesday, November 1, 1905, about which there is even an entry in the diary of Nicholas II. The “old man” made a particularly deep impression on Alexandra Fedorovna, whom her husband affectionately called Alix.

Being far from her native land, in fact, in complete isolation from everything she knew and loved, the woman found in Rasputin an outlet, the voice of the true God. A huge role in this was played by the hemophilia gene, transmitted through the female line, and inherited from her mother. After all, the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich, who was born in the summer of 1904, turned out to be sick with this terrible and incurable disease. The Empress suffered, a certain mysticism and exaltation helped her fight frequent depression and panic attacks.

The story of Rasputin has only just begun. Be that as it may, communication with the “old man” had a beneficial effect on both the nervous and irritable Alix and little Alyosha. Then Gregory was just coming into power. He wrote a petition to have the second part, Novykh, added to his surname, in order to avoid confusion in his native village of Pokrovskoye. Tellingly, Rasputin cannot be called silverless. During the years of his life in St. Petersburg, he built a huge two-story house in his homeland, his wife had sewing machine, the only one in the whole village, the daughters flaunted in fashionable dresses and hats until they themselves moved to the capital.

Orthodoxy and Khlysty

A few years before the emperor himself appointed Rasputin as the “lighter of the royal lamps”, and in fact, almost the closest confessor of the royal family, in 1903, all kinds of rumors and gossip began to spread about his impartial adventures. The local priest Pyotr Ostroumov writes to the Tobolsk Consistory that Grigory behaves strangely with women, leads them in a crowd to a bathhouse, from where frantic cries and hysterical prayers are then heard. Many of these ladies turned out to be visitors, straight from St. Petersburg itself. The Holy Father says that Rasputin was influenced by whips or Christ believers already banned at that time, which became famous for nightly zeal to the point of ecstasy and self-flagellation. A special investigator was even sent to Pokrovsk, who did not find anything, although, to tell the truth, he did not look for it.

Only four years later, namely in 1907, a criminal case was first opened against Rasputin on charges of whipping. The negligent first investigator provided little data, did not carry out his work as expected, and therefore the inconsistencies in the case forced the Tobolsk bishop to resume the investigation again. Although these steps did not give anything, and in May 1907 the case was considered exhausted and closed.

Interesting

After the first case of Khlystism brought against Rasputin was completely closed and even somehow justified the elder, the folders with papers themselves physically disappeared from the Tobolsk consistory. The search yielded nothing until it was strangely found in Tyumen.

There have been rumors about this case for a long time. It was rumored that, as if having quarreled with the imperial couple, the Montenegrin Milica decided to take revenge on Rasputin for the years of life outside his mercy. According to another version, another sister, Stana, took up this, whose husband Nikolai, himself was friends with the monarchs for a long time, but lost influence with the advent of the “old man”. The historian Platonov claims that all the accusations were fabricated, but Bokhanov says that the story of Gregory is the first case in the world when black PR was skillfully used. How was it really? The whole truth about Rasputin will probably never be revealed.

Police control: the second part of the Merleson ballet

In 1090, for revelry, constant noise and bad rumors spreading around St. Petersburg like a plague, it was decided to send Grishka Rasputin from the capital home to the Tobolsk province. Not the order was late, the “old man”, as if he really foresaw the events, went to Pokrovskoye himself. In 1910 he returned, he also took his daughters with him, sending them to study at the gymnasium. At the same time, he was placed under surveillance, by order of Stolypin himself.

Throughout 1911, the royal couple were bombarded with letters and petitions. Metropolitan Anthony of the Holy Synod wrote to Nicholas about the pernicious influence of Rasputin himself and his false speeches, and Feofan himself, who so recklessly “pulled the peasant out of the mud” and made him a saint, turned to the Synod in order to express dissatisfaction with the approach of Gregory to the royal family.

Moreover, on December 16 of the same year, Rasputin came to Hermogenes on Vasilyevsky Island, managed to quarrel with him and the monk Iliodor and even fight, with all Russian immediacy. Then the “old man” left the capital and went to Jerusalem, after which he returned only on the twentieth of January 1912. At the same time, police surveillance was again established for him, which was not filmed until his death.

Already in February, Nicholas II himself personally ordered the reopening of the case of Rasputin's Khlystism in order to dot the i's. Based on the information received, the then chairman of the Third State Duma, Mikhail Rodzianko, an extremely intelligent and perspicacious man, recommended that the tsar drive out the "filthy peasant from the yard." However, everything ended in a completely different way and all charges were dropped in November 1912. But did Grigory's enemies believe such an investigation?

World War II and ostracism in the press

Like it or not, only Rasputin could persuade the emperor not to interfere in the Balkan conflict of 1912. This indeed led to a delay in the start of the First World War. Gregory always believed that destructive actions bring only grief and suffering to the peasant world, therefore he did not consider military operations expedient. He represented precisely the peasantry, no matter what clothes they put on, he loudly demanded an improvement in the delivery of grain to the capital.

Rasputin believed that Russia should immediately make peace with Germany and conclude an alliance with her by renouncing claims to Poland and the Baltic states. But all this no longer mattered of great importance, people stopped trusting the "old man", the attitude towards him changed dramatically. The writer Novoselov even published in the same year a funny little book called "Grigory Rasputin and mystical debauchery." True, the entire circulation was immediately arrested, the essay itself was prohibited, and the printing house that printed it was fined a tidy sum.

However, it was not possible to completely get rid of it, and copies clandestinely went from hand to hand. Hieromonk Iliodor, who once pulled Rasputin into the light of day, also decided to take part in the persecution and published scandalous letters from the empress to a simple peasant. Most likely, these were fakes, but as they say, the sediment remained. The Russian Masonic Supreme Council also published a pamphlet with devastating articles about the holy fool. They also tried to ban it, but it was not very successful.

The origins of the conspiracy: the death and legacy of the "holy elder"

It cannot be said that the years of the life of Grigory Rasputin were in vain, it was not true. He had a simply colossal impact on the processes taking place both within the country and outside it. Already by 1914, a real conspiracy had matured against the great holy fool, who was on a short footing with the emperor himself. General Nikolai Nikolaevich, the direct grandson of Nicholas I, volunteered to lead it, as well as Mikhail Rodzianko, who learned a lot during the investigation of the saint's case. The first attempt was already not far off.

In the year 14, Rasputin went with his daughters and his wife to Pokrovskoye to spend several weeks in thought and prayer. On July 12, according to the old style, the petty bourgeois Khionia Guseva from Tsaritsyn, who came to him, supposedly also for prayer, stabbed Grigory right in the stomach, seriously injuring him. As a result, he survived, having been treated for several months in the Tyumen hospital, and Guseva herself was recognized as crazy, fully justified and released with God on all four sides. Rasputin failed to prove her connection with Iliodor.

Political situation: background of the murder

Newspaper bullying is a powerful tool in the hands of a skilled manipulator. For almost the whole of 1916, regular devastating articles against Grigory Efimovich himself, as well as the Empress, who welcomed him so much, did not stop in the press. They wrote different things, even to the point that the Most Serene Empress has a sinful intimate relationship with the peasant Rasputin. And he himself felt that his time was running out, and his life was coming to its logical conclusion. This is probably why he kept repeating to the royal couple that they were alive, while he was unharmed. Contrary to the skeptic's chuckles, just this prophecy of the elder came true.

The situation in the political arena of the world is unfavorable. Rasputin begged Nicholas not to join the First World War. He tried to convince the tsar to conclude a separate peace with Germany, which could be a real defeat for England. Therefore, for its part, London tried with all its might to prevent this, for example, to influence the Russian emperor, through relatives, for example, brothers, uncles and others. Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich Romanov, who was in London at that time, even wrote tearful letters.

Seeing that all this has no effect, and the tsar is more and more inclined towards the idea of ​​leaving the war, which for Russia could be an ideal solution to the problem. Such an alignment would definitely not suit Britain, it was necessary to urgently do something.

Yes, within the country, the attitude towards the holy fool has changed dramatically. It was his own fault. By the age of sixteen, he completely forgot what piety, humility, or a healthy lifestyle are. He did not save money at all, everything he received he immediately spent. He looked like a thief from the high road, his silk shirts were shiny with dirty collars. He could call ministers in the middle of the night, handing out instructions that, to his own surprise, were carried out in the morning. When the war nevertheless came to an end, he ordered to go to the front to bless the brave warriors. To this, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich said that he would immediately hang him on the first birch that turned up.

Assassination attempt: how Grishka Rasputin died

On the night of December 17, 1916, a drama unfolded, the characters of which are well known to posterity. Grand Duke Dmitry Romanov, and together with him his friend, and according to rumors, also a lover, Felix Yusupov, lieutenant Sukhotin, as well as the famous deputy Purishkevich, invited Rasputin to visit, for wine and sweets in the house on the Moika. They say that all the cakes and "Maderza", so beloved by the old man, were generously flavored with cyanide. But nothing had an effect on him, and then Yusupov shot him in the back.

While the conspirators were deciding where to put the body, it suddenly came to life, jumped up and ran. Gregory, probably, did not want to be saved like this never in his life. Poisoned and wounded with a pistol, he ran through the entire large yard, jumped over a rather high fence, but then three more bullets overtook him. According to eyewitnesses, Grigory was still rolling his eyes and clanging his teeth terribly. The peasant was tied up, wrapped in a curtain and thrown into the frozen Neva. When the corpse was fished out three days later, water was found in the lungs, which means that he was alive.

Burial of Rasputin and his exhumation

Almost two weeks later, on January 1, 1917, the body of Grigory Rasputin, the great holy fool, the old man and the Holy Devil, was fished out of the hole. It was decided to deliver him to the Chesme almshouse not far from St. Petersburg, where Alexandra Fedorovna thought to say goodbye to her faithful friend. But apart from her, no one was indignant, and even vice versa. They say that even the troops rejoiced and threw out pennants and salutes in honor of such a significant event.

The misadventures of the old man did not end there. They say that no one wanted to bury him, so the monk Isidore did it, who, according to church rules, did not have the right to serve the funeral. At first they wanted to send him to his homeland in Pokrovskoye, but the tsarina ordered to bury him on the territory of the temple of Seraphim of Sarov in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, which Anna Vyrubova had just begun to build.

After the February revolutionary actions, it was decided to exhume Rasputin's body in order to eliminate his influence on the minds of the people as much as possible, especially since he was buried in a holy place. Kerensky ordered General Kornil to dig it out, after which the coffin simply stood in the car for several days, and only on March 11 was finally burned. Eyewitnesses said that the lid flew off in the fire, and Grishka got up and sat down, horrifying everyone present. After that, his grave was desecrated several times.

Consequences of death and trace in history

In the twenties, the house of the Rasputin family was confiscated, and the entire household of his son Dmitry was nationalized. His wife Parasha and daughter Varvara were forbidden to participate in the elections as a "malicious element." Daughter Matryona, who, fortunately, had managed to finish her studies by that time, immigrated to Paris, and then moved overseas to the United States. In the thirties, all but Matryona were captured and their trace was lost in the dense Siberian forests and snowy wastelands.

After the death of the elder and up to the present day, the opinions of people are radically opposite. Some consider him a real saint, while others spit over his left shoulder at the mere mention of his name. But the fact that he was a really great iconic figure in the history of the Russian state, no one doubts. So what did the seer and holy fool leave behind?

From March to November 1917, the theaters made it fashionable to stage plays about Rasputin, mostly devastating and murderously low-grade and semi-pornographic content: The Love Adventures of Grishka Rasputin, The Trading House of Romanov, Rasputin, Sukhomlinov, Myasoedov, Protopopov and Ko", "People of sin and blood (Tsarskoye Selo sinners)", "Holy devil (Rasputin in hell)",

• In the cinema, he first appeared in the drama "Dark Forces - Grigory Rasputin and his
• associates."
• In 1915, historical chronicles were published, on which the elder also fell.
• In 1960, the feature film Rasputin's Night was released by a French director with Edmund Pard in the title role.
• In 1981, just a decade before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most popular film about Rasputin, called Agony, was released, directed by the controversial director Elem Klimov.
• In 2011, Gerard Depardieu played the main role in the film about Grishka, and he played very well, as if he felt the images.

The image of this really unusual man, who was able to rise into transcendental distances, was used repeatedly in music and painting. For example, the group Boney M. In the album of the 78th year, they voiced a real hit with the characteristic name Rasputin. Zhanna Bichevskaya and Gennady Ponomarev, Alexander Malinin and even the thrash group Metal Corrosion have songs about him. There is a mention of him in Yesenin's poems and Nikolai Klyuev more than once drew an analogy between the elder and himself. But the use of the name of the holy fool also had commercial significance.

• Rasputin vodka is produced in Germany by Dethleffen.
• Beer with the same name is sold in the Netherlands and the USA.
• New York has night club and a restaurant with the same name, and in the California town of Ensio, a Rasputin International Food store.

This list can be continued for a very long time, among its items you can find many entertainment and drinking establishments. Now the image of Rasputin is closely associated with Russia, and therefore has every chance to attract buyers. Even in the exotic Thai Pattaya there is a Russian restaurant called Rasputin.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (New, 1869-1916) - public figure late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, who gained fame as a healer, an "old man", able to heal people from serious ailments. He was close to the family of the last emperor, especially his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. In 1915-1916, he had a direct influence on the political decisions made in the country. His name is shrouded in a halo of secrets and mysteries, and historians still cannot give an accurate assessment of Rasputin: who is this - a great soothsayer or a charlatan.

Childhood and youth

Grigory Rasputin was born on January 9 (21), 1869 in the village of Pokrovka, Tobolsk province. True, in different sources there are other years, for example, 1865 or 1872. Gregory himself never added clarity to this issue, never giving the exact date of birth. His parents were simple peasants who devoted their entire lives to working on the land. Gregory was their fourth and only surviving child. From early childhood, the boy was sick a lot and was often alone, unable to play with his peers. This made him withdrawn and prone to solitude. It was in childhood that Gregory began to feel his chosenness before God and attachment to religion. There was no school in his native village, so the boy grew up illiterate. But he knew a lot in work, often helping his father.

At the age of 14, Rasputin became seriously ill and, being on the verge of life and death, managed to get out of a difficult condition. According to him, the miracle happened thanks to the Mother of God, who intervened and contributed to his healing. This further strengthened faith in religion and motivated the illiterate young man to learn the texts of prayers.

Transformation into a healer

After Rasputin turned 18, he went on a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery, but he never took the veil. A year later, he returned to his small homeland and soon married Praskovya Dubrovina, who would later bear him three children. Marriage was not an obstacle to the pilgrimage. In 1893 he embarked on a new journey, visiting a Greek monastery on Mount Athos and Jerusalem. In 1900, Rasputin visited Kyiv and Kazan, where he met Father Mikhail, who was associated with the Kazan Theological Academy.

All these visits again convinced Rasputin of his God's chosenness and gave him a reason to devote others to his healing gift. Returning to Pokrovskoye, he tried to lead the life of a real "old man", but he was far from a real ascetic. In addition, his religious views did not fit in well with canonical Orthodoxy. It's all about the powerful temperament of Gregory, who could not do without women, wine, music and dance. "God is joy and gladness", - Rasputin stated more than once.

People from all over the country flocked to a small Siberian village, eager to find healing and getting rid of diseases. They were not embarrassed by the illiteracy of the "old man" and his complete lack of medical education. But good acting skills allowed Grigory to convincingly portray a folk healer, using advice, prayers and persuasion in his manipulations.

Arrival in St. Petersburg

In 1903, when the country was in a pre-revolutionary situation and was completely restless, Rasputin visited the capital of the Russian Empire for the first time. The formal reason was connected with the search for funds necessary for the construction of the temple in his native village. However, there is another explanation for this. While working on the field, Rasputin had a vision of the Mother of God, who told him about the serious illness of Tsarevich Alexei and insisted on the imminent arrival of the healer in the capital. In St. Petersburg, he meets the rector of the theological academy, Bishop Sergius, to whom he turned for help due to lack of money. He brings him together with the confessor of the imperial family, Archbishop Feofan.

Doctor of the heir to the throne

Acquaintance with Nicholas II took place at a very difficult time for the country and the tsar. Strikes and protests took place everywhere, the revolutionary movement heated up, the opposition went on the offensive, and Russian cities hit by a wave of terrorist attacks. The emperor, worried about the fate of the country, was on an emotional upsurge, and on this basis he met the Siberian seer. In general, the entire revolutionary chaos was for Rasputin an excellent basis for manifesting himself. He heals, predicts, preaches, earning himself a colossal authority.

The good actor Rasputin made a strong impression on Nikolai and his family members. Especially believed in the gift of Grigory Alexandra Fedorovna, who hoped for his ability to save his only son from the disease. In 1907, Alexei's health deteriorated noticeably, and the tsar gave permission for Rasputin's approach. As you know, the boy suffered from a severe genetic disease - hemophilia, which is associated with the inability of blood to clot and, as a result, frequent hemorrhages. He was unable to cope with the disease, but he helped bring the crown prince out of the crisis and stabilize his condition. Incredibly, Gregory managed to stop the blood, in which traditional medicine was absolutely powerless. He often repeated: "The heir will live as long as I live."

Cases of whiplash

In 1907, Rasputin received a denunciation, according to which he was accused of Khlystism, one of the varieties of religious false doctrine. The case was investigated by Priest N. Glukhovetsky and Archpriest D. Smirnov. In their conclusions, they referred to the report of D. Berezkin, a specialist in sects, who relied on the insufficiency of materials due to the conduct of the case by people who did not understand Khlysty. As a result, the case was sent for further investigation and soon “fell apart”.

In 1912, the State Duma showed interest in this case, and Nicholas II ordered the investigation to be resumed. At one of the meetings, Rodzianko suggested to the emperor that the Siberian peasant be permanently removed. But a new investigation, headed by Bishop Alexy of Tobolsk, expressed a different opinion and called Gregory a true Christian, seeking the truth of Christ. Of course, not everyone believed in this and continued to consider him a charlatan.

Secular and political life

Having settled in the capital, Rasputin, together with the cure of Alexei, plunges headlong into secular life, getting acquainted with the tops of St. Petersburg society. Especially secular ladies were crazy about the "old man". For example, Baroness Kusova frankly declared her readiness to follow him even to Siberia. Using the trust of the empress, Rasputin puts pressure on the tsar through her, promoting his friends to high government posts. He did not forget about his children either: his daughters, under the highest patronage, studied at one of the St. Petersburg gymnasiums.

The city began to be flooded with rumors about the exploits of Rasputin. They talked about his crazy orgies and carousing, drunken brawls, pogroms and bribes. In 1915, due to the difficult situation at the front, the tsar left St. Petersburg and went to the headquarters of the Russian army in Mogilev. For Rasputin, this was a serious chance to further strengthen his position. The slightly naive empress, who remained on business in the capital, sincerely wanted to help her husband, trying to rely on Rasputin's advice. Through him, a decision was made on military issues, the supply of the army and the appointment to government posts. There is a known case when Rasputin decided on the offensive of the Russian army, which ended in complete collapse and the death of thousands of soldiers in the swamp. The tsar's patience was finally undermined by the rumor about the secret closeness of the Empress and Rasputin, which, in principle, could not be by definition. Nevertheless, this became an occasion for the political environment of the king to think about eliminating such an odious figure.

Just at this time, the book “My Thoughts and Reflections” was published from the healer’s pen, in which he presented the reader with his memories of visiting holy places and reflections on religious, moral and ethical topics. In particular, the author devotes a lot of time to presenting his opinion about love. “Love is a big figure, prophecies will stop, but love will never,” the “old man” claimed.

CONSPIRACY

The active and controversial activity of Rasputin disgusted many representatives of the then political establishment, who rejected the Siberian upstart as a foreign element. Surrounded by the emperor, a circle of conspirators formed who intended to deal with an objectionable character. At the head of the group of murderers were: F. Yusupov - a representative of one of the richest families and the husband of the tsar's niece, the emperor's cousin, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, and deputy of the IV State Duma V. Purishkevich. On December 30, 1916, they invited Rasputin to the Yusupov Palace on the pretext of meeting with the emperor's niece, who was reputed to be one of beautiful women countries.

The dangerous poison cyanide was sprinkled into the offered dishes of Gregory. But he acted too slowly and did not cause the expected effect. Then Yusupov decided to resort to more effective method and fired at Rasputin, but missed. He ran away from Felix, but ran into his accomplices, who seriously injured the healer with their shots. However, even being in a serious condition, he tried to escape and attempted to escape. But he was caught, and then thrown into the cold Neva, having previously been tightly tied and packed in a bag with stones. At the insistence of Alexandra Fedorovna, the body of Grigory was raised from the bottom of the river, then it was found out that Rasputin woke up in the water and fought for his life to the last, but, exhausted, choked. At first, Rasputin was buried near the chapel of the Imperial Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, but after the Provisional Government came to power in 1917, his corpse was exhumed and burned.

Rasputin's predictions

Interestingly, shortly before the assassination, Rasputin wrote a letter to the emperor, in which he predicted his own death no later than January 1, 1917. He claimed that he would die at the hands of a relative of Nicholas II, but his family would also die and "none of the children would be left alive." Rasputin predicted the emergence and collapse of the Soviet Union (“the arrival of a new government and mountains of the slain”), as well as his victory over Nazi Germany. Some of the predictions of the “old man” also apply to our days, in particular, he saw through the veil of times the threat of terrorism for Europe and rampant Islamic extremism in the Middle East.

Only Ivan the Terrible can be compared with the inconsistency of assessment of the personality of Grigory Rasputin in Russian history. Grigory Rasputin, biography, interesting facts from whose life attract a large number of researchers. Much that this man could do is still not explained scientifically. about his life are not documented or deliberately falsified.

Grigory Rasputin-Novykh before meeting with the family of Nicholas II

Born into the family of a wealthy peasant in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk (now Tyumen) province, who had a mill on his farm. Various researchers consider 1864, 1865, 1969, 1871, 1872 to be the year of birth of G. Novykh (Rasputin). As dates of birth are considered 1.10, 23 January and 29 July.

It is believed that Rasputin got his nickname because of his dissolute (immoral) behavior. It would be strange for a person awarded such a contemptuous nickname to use it as a surname. Rasputin is the son of Rasputa (rasputa is an indecisive, insecure person).

"Crossroads" in Russian is "crossroads". According to Grigory Efimovich himself, his entire native village had the surname Rasputin - living at a crossroads. Only he, after walking around the holy places, took the prefix New to himself in order to distinguish himself from his fellow villagers. Intercession - from the Church of the Intercession, which was in the village.

In childhood good health didn't differ. His peasant labor strengthened him - he had to plow, work as a coachman, fish, walk with carts.

Rasputin Grigory Efimovich - interesting facts from life:

• At the age of 18, he quit peasant labor and went on a pilgrimage through the monasteries of Siberia to the Verkhoturinsk monastery in the Perm province.
• In 1890 he married a pilgrim, a peasant woman.
• In 1893 he went to the Athos Monastery in Greece and to Jerusalem.
• After walking around the holy places, he became famous for his ability to heal and predict the future.
• He possessed the innate abilities of a hypnotist, spoke wounds, could turn any objects into talismans.
• He was a devout Christian, but did not always agree with canonical dogmas. Perfection for him was the connection of nature and God, he argued that you can pray both in the monastery and in the dance.

According to G. E. Rasputin himself, he came to St. Petersburg in 1905 at the call of the Mother of God to help Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia.

Grigory Rasputin after meeting the family of Nicholas II

In 1907 he was called to the imperial court to treat the heir during one of the strongest attacks. Prayers stopped the bleeding and was left with the heir as a healer.

Gradually he acquired influential acquaintances, became a confessor and adviser to the queen, who called him " dear friend”, “old man”, God’s man and considered him a saint. He spoke familiarly with the royal couple, expressed his opinions directly, without flattery and worship. They believed that they heard the voice of the people. He gave advice to the tsar on the pressing problems of state administration and personnel issues.

Repeatedly subjected to checks at different levels of the life path of the "old man" - no one would let a horse thief, a thief and a rapist near the king and heir. The initiator of one of the checks was P. A. Stolypin. Even the all-powerful prime minister with his administrative apparatus could not find crime in Rasputin's past life. None of the checks revealed anything that could discredit the "old man".

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was like that with those in power, interesting facts from life are that in everyday life he preferred a Spartan lifestyle. He did not aspire to luxury, did not save money and parted with them easily, like every Russian loved to goof off and “splurge”.

The stronger the influence of the simple peasant Rasputin on the emperor's family and his entourage became, the greater the indignation it caused in the upper strata of society pushed away from the tsar.

A huge role in the appearance of a negative negative opinion was played by newspapers, in which everything was clearly done by order of someone who really needed it. It was the press that formed an opinion about a riotous lifestyle in the form of constant drinking, partying, debauchery.

The “old man” was also accused of treating people without special education. Moreover, few people attached importance to the fact that Rasputin treated more successfully than many certified doctors.

Very often, his influence on officials and nobles was explained by relationships with their women - wives, daughters, etc. Rasputin's influence on the emperor is attributed to leapfrog with the appointments of senior officials.

The most immoral accusation was the confidence of the press in the sexual relationship between Rasputin and the queen.

Most likely, the "old man" was not absolutely holy in relations with women, but he was hardly the sexual monster that everyone was used to describing.

An indirect confirmation of Rasputin's sexual restraint can be the story of the examination, which, after the October Revolution, the Cheka conducted one of his first secular "mistresses" - the maid of honor of the Empress Vyrubova. She herself demanded this, as a result of which it was confirmed that Vyrubova was a virgin (strange, because she was married, though unhappily).

Rasputin found cleansing from sins in repentance and prayers for many hours.

At the end of June 1914, an attempt was made on Rasputin, as a result of which he was wounded in the stomach. From the village of Pokrovskoye, where he was being treated, he wrote letters to the emperor, in which he conjured him from entering the war, otherwise predicting a blood-drenched empire and the collapse of the dynasty.

A few days before the death of the "old man", the emperor was given 16 pages written by Grigory Rasputin, interesting facts from the life of the future were presented with prophetic certainty. For many years, the original text was kept in the archives of the special services of the USSR - Russia. Among the predictions were the following:

• the imperial family will perish if Rasputin is killed by aristocrats; if the killers are from the lower strata of society, nothing threatens the imperial family;
• in Russia in 1917 there will be several coups. The royal family will die in a city far from the capital;
• a socialist revolution will take place in Russia, but the Bolshevik regime will fall;
• in Germany, after the defeat in the first world war, a strong leader will appear;
• on the basis of the Russian Empire, another empire will arise;
• Russia will defeat Germany in the next war;
• man's exploration of space and the landing of man on the moon;
• proof of the possibility of reincarnation by European scientists, which will give impetus to a wave of suicides;
• the appearance of Lucifer and the approach of the end of the world;
• the leak of a deadly virus from US secret laboratories (possibly AIDS or another flu strain);
• poisoning by people of water, earth and sky, which will lead to a wide spread of numerous ailments and deaths of people;
• abrupt climate change due to deforestation, construction of dams, destruction of mountain ranges;
• there will be man-made disasters, such as accidents at nuclear power plants;
• during one of the storms (geomagnetic, solar or climatic), Jesus Christ will return to people to help them and warn them about the end of the world;
• from a lake (Loch Ness?) in Scotland a huge animal will come out, but will be destroyed;
• will develop Islamic fundamentalism, which will declare war on the United States, and it will last 7 years;
• the fall of morality and morality, human cloning;
• there will be a third world war, after which peace will come.

December 30, 1916 G. E. Rasputin was found under the ice of the Malaya Moika. According to the official version, the murder was committed by representatives of high society. Among the killers were members of the emperor's family. At first they tried to poison Rasputin with potassium cyanide, then they shot him twice in the back. They put a bag over the body, tied it up and lowered it into the hole. During the autopsy, it was found that the "old man" tried to breathe under water and died as a result of drowning.

But there is nothing in the official autopsy report about a control shot in the forehead, the trace of which is clearly visible in the surviving photographs in the archives of the British secret services.

The UK had a reason. Rasputin persuaded the Russian emperor to a separate peace with Germany, which could not please the Russian allies in the First World War.

The century that has passed since the death of G. E. Rasputin not only clarified who he really was, but confused the knowledge about his life. Grigory Rasputin, biography, from life in many respects remain a mystery in our time. It just so happened - the more significant a person is for the Slavic world, the more they pour mud on him. Will we know for sure who he was? Magician, sorcerer, sorcerer, psychic, villain or holy protector of the Russian land?

The modern writer-historian Yuri Rassulin, discussing the personality of the elder Gregory, says: “It is not possible to explain the paradoxical combination in one person, / Grigory Rasputin / of holiness and vice - one of the witnesses lied. Who: the Jew Aron Simanovich with Sergei Trufanov, who renounced God and His Holy Church, or the Holy Royal Martyrs and Passion-bearers; the pervert Felix Yusupov with the satanist Zhukovskaya or the nun Maria - she is the faithful maid of honor of the Empress Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva (Vyrubova)? The whole question again rests on who to believe? Everyone is free to make their own choice...

Grigory Rasputin is the cause of all troubles from the point of view of many. Too many believed the dirty rumor. Through the nasty, nasty thoughts that swarmed in the heads of representatives of the Russian intelligent society, and from there spread into the souls of ordinary people, the sacred image of the Sovereign was desecrated in the thoughts and feelings of the sons of the Russian People. The shadow of the betrayal of the God-anointed Tsar lay on the relationship of the Russian People with God. Not only the Family of the Holy Crowns was insulted, but also the entire Russian People, one of whose representatives, close to the Tsar, was and is Grigory the New (Rasputin). The Name of God is also blasphemed, because at prayer, Grigory Efimovich healed Tsarevich Alexei in the Name of God, helped other people, and there is plenty of evidence of this.

And until the deepest misconception about his personality and his role in Russian history is eliminated, there is still a reason to make claims to the Russian Autocrats and to introduce bewilderment into the minds of Russian people in connection with the events of that fatal historical period for Russia. In the accusations again sounding today against the Russian peasant, it is not difficult to see the old desire to present an account to Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Through slander about Grigory Rasputin-New, the dignity of their royal service and the height of their Christian feat are called into question. Thus, the memory of the holy crowned bearers is again insulted. Is this the kind of repentance the Lord expects of us? The truth must prevail. Otherwise, the vainly inflicted insult and the innocently shed royal blood will cry out to Heaven for vengeance. And this will continue until sin is subjected to spiritual healing, i.e., repentance.

Who was really Grigory Rasputin, Olga Vladimirovna Lokhtina answered briefly and clearly during interrogation at the Extraordinary Investigative Commission. To the question of the investigator: - What kind of person do you consider Rasputin to be? She answered directly:
I consider him an old man.
- What does it mean?
“An old man who has gone through all his life experience and achieved all the Christian virtues.”

For many, both then and today, Lokhtina's testimony will not seem convincing. Well, from the fact that the eccentric woman said something there. No one wanted and does not want to believe her. Indeed, General Olga Vladimirovna Lokhtina, abandoned by everyone and expelled from home for her devotion to Grigory Rasputin, was not taken seriously. Most considered her crazy, less often treated her as a holy fool. Yes, of course, you can not believe Lokhtina, and she was wrong. But the whole point is that this is exactly how the Holy Royal Martyrs treated Gregory. Can't we believe the Holy Royal Martyrs too? And God? After all, Grigory the New (Rasputin) testified about God and directed people to God, worked miracles, prophesied, healed. Yes, he healed, and was it by demonic power? And the repeated healings of Tsesarevich Alexy by Grigory the New, witnessed by contemporaries, also by demonic power? Does this mean that the Heir to the Russian Throne was healed of an incurable, deadly disease by the devil? This is how it turns out in accordance with the testimony of the liar Yusupov, the Jew Simanovich, the sexually horny Zhukovskaya, the banished Trufanov, the leader of the revolutionary Duma Rodzianko, the social revolutionary Prugavin and those who, unrestrainedly and madly striving to get into their company today, continue to believe precisely them, and not Holy Royal Martyrs.

It is no coincidence that the word "believe" is used in the previous paragraph. Indeed, the question of Rasputin is a matter of faith, faith in God, faith in the holiness of the Royal Martyrs and Passion-bearers, faith in Their Friend and prayer book, and only then in words and testimony. If we believe that the Lord has glorified the Russian Crowned Crowns, we believe in Their holiness, then we love Them, and trust Them, trust Their opinion, especially in matters of decisive importance for the fate of the Orthodox Power of the Russian and the Russian People, in matters of fundamental character. But it turns out that the question of the historical role of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New in the fate of Russia and the attitude towards his personality is just a question not of secondary importance, but of principle. Why?

Let's answer frankly. Because if we consider Grigory Rasputin to be a scoundrel, then the conclusion is inevitable: the Tsar and the Tsarina are criminals, because they showed a criminal blindness that is unacceptable for Their position, they brought a person led by the devil closer to themselves, which turned into a grave tragedy for the person entrusted to them by God people and the death of the Orthodox State of Russia. It is this interpretation historical events they are still trying to impose on us the forces that destroyed both the Russian Tsar and the Russian Autocracy. What could be worse than this accusation? If Rasputin is a scoundrel, it must inevitably be admitted that all those who betrayed the Sovereign are not traitors at all, but guardians of the good of the Fatherland, rescuers. Their protest against the unsatisfactory, moreover, criminal, from their point of view, reign of the last Emperor is legitimate and just, and the oppression they suffered from the supreme royal authority elevates them to the rank of persecuted in the name of the people's good. Everything is turned upside down, complete nonsense arises in the interpretation of the events of the reign of Nicholas II, and the basis for canonizing the Tsar and Tsarina disappears.

A third option is also possible, which, along with the recognition of the sanctity of the Royal Family, implies the justification of those who were forced to be in opposition to the Russian Crowned Crowns, including some members of the imperial family. This point of view is based on a somewhat strange assumption that the Russian Autocrats are, of course, saints, but, having found themselves in the spiritual captivity of a “political adventurer”, “charlatan” and “hypnotist”, they turned out to be incapable of governing the Russian State and were completely disoriented in political questions. This statement contains an inexplicable contradiction. How can holiness be combined with obedience to the flattering spirit of sectarianism, alien to Orthodoxy and hostile to God? And what is the reason - in their spiritual blindness, the captivity of their will, and by whom? A rogue, a lecher, a whip, an opponent of the Orthodox faith!? But it follows from this that the faith of the Tsar and Tsaritsa was vain if it brought such bitter fruits for the whole Russian land. This assumption is terrible for every Orthodox who loves a tortured Royal Family and unshakably believes in their holiness.

But, perhaps, the horror of the tragic events of the revolution experienced made Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, in the face of death, realize their mistake and repent of it, pay a terrible price for their blindness, and the Lord painful death purged them after undeniable remorse? But there is no such evidence. There is evidence to the contrary that all members of the holy Royal Family continued to believe in their Friend until the end of their days, sacredly kept the memory of him.

Just as two heterogeneous media that cannot mix will always have a visible boundary separating, say, water from oil, so the information about Grigory Rasputin is clearly divided among themselves by the nature of the statement into two groups. Based on the first group of testimonies, a righteous life is a person, an ascetic. The second group of evidence leads to the conclusion that the same person is a rogue, a swindler, a libertine, etc. But this does not happen with God. One does not match with the other. An evil tree cannot bear good fruit. If a person is a prayer book, and his prayer has miraculous power, and this is nothing but a gift of God, a manifestation of grace, the action of the Holy Spirit in a person, is it possible for such a person to be a fornicator or an adulterer?

If we believe the opponents of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New, the Lord allowed terrible, cynical lawlessness to triumph, seduction and fornication to be committed, covered up by talk about faith and the Name of God for many years. And this happened on such an incredible scale that, apparently, one takes aback from just one list of seduced victims, if one could be presented to the human court. Of course, one could cite a long philosophical discussion on the topic of ambiguity, confusion and inconsistency of human nature, that "truth with falsehood from time immemorial in one wheel rolls across the wide world." But, as Grigory Efimovich once exclaimed: “And God, what about God!?” After all, to assert that Divine grace was contained in a dirty, vicious, foul-smelling vessel defiled by fornication, is this not a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

CHAPTER 1.
Go wander...

Holy Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye
appeared to Rasputin in a dream and said:
"Gregory, go, wander and save people."

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born in the Ural village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province, on January 9, 1869. The next day, in memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the baby was baptized with the name Grigory, which means "awake." His parents, Efim Yakovlevich and Anna Vasilievna, already had four children, but they all died at an early age. Thus, Grisha Rasputin grew up as the only child in the family. He was in poor health. He preferred solitude to games with peers, and it, in turn, set him up for prayer. Grisha's mother, frightened by his isolation and detachment, tried to push her son towards his peers. But he said the same thing: “I don’t need any friends. I have God" (1).

In addition to the Lord, Grisha loved His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos, and often called her in his children's prayers. One day he fell seriously ill and was near death. And so, during a severe fever, Grisha saw a tall, beautiful Wife in dark monastic robes beside his bed, quietly calming him and promising a speedy recovery. And he suddenly became healthy.

As Rasputin's daughter Matryona wrote: " All the household subsequently had no doubt that the Mother of God healed him - so great was Gregory's prayerful love for the Queen of Heaven" (2) .

Already from the age of fourteen, Gregory began to deeply comprehend the Gospel. Not being able to read, he remembered by heart the gospel texts that he heard on church services. Subsequently, he recalled that the words Holy Scripture made an indelible impression on him. Once, having heard that “the Kingdom of God is within you,” the lad Gregory rushed into the forest because he realized these words so deeply that something inexplicable began to happen to him. Rasputin later said that it was then, in the forest, at prayer that he felt God. “As soon as he understood this, peace descended on him. He saw the light... He prayed at that moment with such ardor as never before in his life. (3) .

From that time on, Gregory showed the gift of clairvoyance. “He could sit near the stove and suddenly declare: “It’s coming stranger". And indeed, a stranger knocked on the door in search of work or a piece of bread ... The guest was seated at the table next to him ... Almost every evening in their house, dinner was shared with strangers ”(4) . In his youth, Gregory was subjected to slander from outside. The Lord, as it were, was preparing him for humility and patience, so that he could adequately endure the lies and slander that would fall upon him in the future.

“I had many sorrows,” Rasputin recalled, “wherever a mistake was made, as if like me, but I have nothing to do with it. In the artels he endured various ridicule. He plowed diligently and slept little, but still he thought in his heart how to find something, how people were saved.

These thoughts were noted Holy Mother of God. Rasputin's daughter, Matryona, wrote: “Once my father was plowing and suddenly he felt that the light that was always present in him was growing. He fell to his knees. Before him was a vision: the image of the Kazan Mother of God. Only when the vision disappeared did the pain pierce the father. It turned out that his knees rested on sharp stones, and the blood from the cuts flowed directly to the ground ”(6) .

Since then, he began to visit nearby monasteries. Changed my lifestyle. He stopped eating meat, gave up the habit of smoking and drinking wine, and began to pray earnestly. “I dug a cave in my barn and prayed there for two weeks. After a while, he started wandering again. Saint Simeon of Verkhoturye commanded him to do this. He appeared to him in a dream and said: "Gregory, go, wander and save people" (7).

And Rasputin went as a wanderer on a pilgrimage for 500 miles to the Siberian settlement of Verkhoturye to bow to the righteous Simeon who appeared to him, whose relics rested in the Verkhotursky Nikolaev Monastery.

In this monastery, he found spirit-bearing elders - the monk Adrian, the founder of the Kyrtom monastery and the schemamonk Elijah, who spent the last years of their ascetic life there. But Elder Macarius of Verkhoturye, who became his spiritual mentor, had a special influence on Rasputin. This elder lived in the forest, in the Oktai skete. At first, he carried obedience in the household of the Verkhotursky monastery, he was a shepherd. And he did not leave prayers to the Lord. Contemporaries described his prayerful boldness as follows: When early in the morning he prays with raised hands, the whole herd of cows freezes, listening to his prayer. Then he overshadows him with a cross, and the animals go to pasture in the forest on their own. All day long they graze in the forest, and in the evening they return to the skete, safe and sound” (8).

Elder Macarius of Verkhoturye had the blessed gift of solitary prayer, which he taught Grigory Rasputin. This Oktai prayer book brought up in Rasputin self-abasement, patience of sorrows and a constant prayerful appeal to the Lord. Gregory resorted to his spiritual advice all his life. Elder Macarius was a righteous man, whose blessings the Tsar and Tsaritsa asked for in their telegrams. And in 1909, a personal meeting of the Oktai prayer book with royal family, which Rasputin arranged through Bishop Feofan (Bystrov). The diary of the eldest daughter of Princess Tatyana says: “I was terribly glad to see Father Macarius, Vladyka Feofan and Gregory” (9) .

In the Verkhotursky Nikolaevsky Monastery, near which the elder Macarius labored, Rasputin lived for a whole year as a novice. While fasting and praying at the relics of the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, Rasputin was healed of insomnia that tormented him. Righteous Simeon, who blessed Gregory for wandering, became his favorite saint and patron. It is his icon that he will present at the meeting to the Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II.

Gregory did not leave the Mother of God with her care. So during the next pilgrimage, “on the way, in one house, he met the miraculous icon of the Abalak Mother of God, which the monks carried around the villages. Gregory spent the night in the room where the icon was. He woke up at night, and the icon was crying, and he heard these words: “Gregory, I cry about the sins of people: go, wander, cleanse people of sins and remove passions from them” (10) .

Rasputin, a novice of the Mother of God, continued to wander, and, removing passions, he even gained the ability to cast out demons. So in one of the monasteries, he healed the nun Akilina from this severe spiritual illness. “This nun lived in the Oktai Monastery in the Urals, not far from Yekaterinburg. A peasant woman by birth, very healthy by nature, she suddenly began to suffer from seizures, which greatly intensified and became periodic. In front of her frightened sisters, she either writhed in convulsions, then fell into an enthusiastic delusional state, then she experienced extraordinary sensations; she was thought to be possessed by demons. During such an attack, Rasputin appeared. He then walked as a wanderer in the Urals. One evening he asked to spend the night at the Oktai Monastery.

“He was received as a messenger of Providence, and immediately brought to the demoniac, who was in a fit. He was left alone with her, and in a few minutes he healed her with a powerful spell ”(11).

Grigory Rasputin, remembering the order of the Mother of God and the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, walked around many holy places as a wanderer. These are, in addition to the Verkhotursky Monastery, the Tyumensky and Abalaksky monasteries closest to his native village and the Sedmiezerskaya Hermitage, as well as distant shrines - Optina Pustyn and Pochaevskaya Lavra. Later, he went on a pilgrimage to Sarov, New Athos and Jerusalem, where he prayed at the tomb of the Lord. During pilgrimages, he imposed special fasts on himself and, like secret chains, wore the same underwear for half a year without washing, and, as he himself put it, "without laying hands on the body." It was his kind of ascetic work.

The wanderer Gregory wore real chains. As he himself recalled: “I was still learning to wear chains for three years” (12). About the asceticism of Gregory, his daughter wrote: “He went to the most remote monasteries on foot and barefoot. He ate poorly, often went hungry, upon arrival at the monasteries he fasted and exhausted himself in every possible way. Quite accurate information says that at that time he wore heavy chains, which left noticeable scars on his body. He associates with holy fools, blessed, all kinds of God's people, listens to their conversations, delves into the taste of spiritual exploits ”(13). But when the chains began to cause vanity in Rasputin, he left them. I began to pray more.

Wherever he was - whether at work, while traveling, on the road or on vacation - he always found time for prayer. As he himself recalled: “Often he walked for three days, ate only a little! On hot days, he imposed a fast on himself: he did not drink kvass, but worked with a day laborer ..., worked and ran away to rest for prayer. When he pastured his horses, he prayed. This consolation has served me for everything and about everything... I also found one consolation among the consolations of all; I read the Gospel a little every day, but thought more” (14).

Fasting, prayer, fellowship with spirit-bearing elders cultivated in Gregory the ability of spiritual reasoning.

In the early 1900s, Rasputin was a spiritually mature person, an experienced wanderer, as he calls himself. A decade and a half of wanderings and spiritual searches turned him into an old man, wise by experience, able to give useful spiritual advice. And that drew people to him. At first, not many peasants from the surrounding villages revered him. Later, the fame of an experienced wanderer diverges more widely. People come to him from afar, he accepts everyone, arranges accommodation for the night, listens and gives advice. Rasputin begins to read and write, masters the Holy Gospel so that he knows it almost by heart, interprets it for everyone. This behavior aroused the suspicion of the church authorities, and when they began to suspect him of heresy, an investigation was appointed, which was soon stopped, but then resumed again. Bishop Alexy of Tobolsk conducted it. Having studied the case of Elder Gregory, he, as follows from the conclusion of the Tobolsk Spiritual Consistory, “considers the peasant Gregory the New Orthodox Christian, a very intelligent, spiritually inclined person, seeking the truth of Christ, able to give good advice to those who need it" (15).

Friend of the Royal Family

Rasputin was for the royal family
one of the closest people.
"Our Friend" - so the King and Queen
called the man of God Gregory.

In 1903-1904. Grigory Efimovich decided to build a new church in his native village. But he had no money to build.

Then Grigory decided to find benefactors and in 1904 left for St. Petersburg with one ruble in his pocket. Upon arrival in the capital, tired and hungry, the first thing he did was go to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra to venerate the holy relics. For the last five kopecks I ordered a prayer service (for 3 kopecks) and a candle (for 2 kopecks).

Having stood for a prayer service, he perked up and went to an appointment with the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius (Stargorodsky), who later became Patriarch.

With him he had a letter of recommendation from the vicar of the Kazan diocese, Archimandrite Khirsanf (Shchetkovsky), who acted as vicar of the Kazan diocese, and later bishop of Kazan. He met Rasputin upon his return to Pokrovskoye from a pilgrimage to Kyiv. Grigory Efimovich stayed in Kazan and made a great impression on the "Kazan church authorities" (see paragraph 55).

“The bishop,” Rasputin recalled, “called me, saw me, and then we began to talk. Telling me about St. Petersburg, he introduced me to the streets and other things, and then to the high-ranking ones, and then it came to the Tsar’s Father, who showed me mercy, understood me and gave money for the temple ”(16) .

To impress the most influential bishop in St. Petersburg, Bishop Sergius, Rasputin was helped by the gift of spiritual reasoning, which the Lord endowed him with. Grigory Efimovich was listened to with interest by both ordinary people and educated priests and even bishops.

As the lady-in-waiting of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna A. A. Vyrubova wrote: “After an early mass in some monastery, having communed the Holy Mysteries, the pilgrims gathered around him, listening to his conversations .... A completely unlearned man, but who spoke in such a way that both learned professors and priests found it interesting to listen to him "(17). .

Bishop Sergius introduced Rasputin to the confessor of the Royal Family, Archimandrite (later Archbishop) Feofan (Bystrov), who had already heard about the elder and his gift of prophecy, especially about the case of the "shuttering of the sky" that occurred in Pokrovsky.

“There will be no rain for three months until the Intercession,” Grigory once said. And what? And so it happened: there was no rain, and people were crying from crop failure. When the news of this reached Petersburg, the ascetic Fr. Feofan, then still an inspector of the Theological Academy, said in tenderness: “Here is Elijah the prophet, who closed heaven for three years with months,” and since then began to wait for the opportunity to see the prophet with his own eyes ”(18) . A personal meeting with Rasputin made a great impression on Father Feofan. At the beginning of his acquaintance with him, he considered him "a true man of God, who came from the common people" (19).

Archimandrite Feofan presented Rasputin as a man of God to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and his wife Milica, who brought the elder to the royal family. The date of the first personal meeting is November 1, 1905. At the same time, Sovereign Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “We met a man of God - Grigory from Tobolsk province.” (20) .

Subsequently, in his letters, diaries and personal conversations, he will call Grigory Efimovich like that - "Man of God, old man."

Rasputin met the Tsar in a difficult time for Russia. The country was engulfed in political strikes. Fighting groups of revolutionaries were created, eager to overthrow the Orthodox Monarchy.

Representatives of international Jewish capital, who hate Christianity and yearn for complete control over the finances and natural resources of Russia, were preparing an armed uprising against the autocratic power. And representatives of the Russian intelligentsia from among Western liberals supported the revolutionary movement proceeding, as it seemed to them, from the great idea - "freedom, equality, brotherhood."

This idea was actively introduced into the consciousness of various strata of Russian society by Freemasons, among whom were people who sincerely believed that the implementation of these slogans would bring great benefit to our people. Thus, the idea of ​​a monarchy, the power of an autocratic Tsar, began to be considered outdated among the liberal intelligentsia and not only hindering, but also harmful to "peace, prosperity and progress" in Russia. Such sentiments penetrated even into the minds of the bearers of state power, moreover, even into the reigning House of Romanov.

In the context of the retreat of the elite of the Russian state from the Orthodox monarchy, Tsar Nicholas II sought support in the people, who in their mass believed in the sanctity of the royal power of the Anointed of God.

The representative of just such a people was Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, a simple Siberian peasant, endowed with a great gift of bold prayer to the Lord, thanks to which miracles were accomplished. But, at first, the Tsar and the Tsarina were impressed by another gift of God that Rasputin had - the gift of spiritual reasoning, which aroused the desire of the Autocratic Sovereign Emperor to talk for a long time with a simple peasant.

So in 1906, in a letter to P. A. Stolypin, the Sovereign wrote about his third meeting with the Siberian wanderer: “He made an extraordinary impression on Her Majesty and me, and our conversation with him lasted more than an hour instead of the planned five minutes” (21) .

During this meeting, Rasputin presented the Tsar with the image of the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye. The highest persons, in turn, introduced Grigory Efimovich to their children, who sincerely fell in love with him.

It is known that when he saw Rasputin for the first time, Tsarevich Alexei joyfully exclaimed: “New!”, That is, new person in the Royal Palace. This word turned out to be true in the spiritual assessment of Rasputin. After long wanderings in holy places, studying the Holy Scriptures and the lives of the saints, Grigory Efimovich appeared in the palace spiritually renewed, NEW man. Subsequently, he even received official permission to change the surname Rasputin to the surname Novy.

The Tsar’s younger sister, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, described one of Rasputin’s meetings with the Tsar’s children as follows: “I still remember how they laughed when little Alexei pretended to be a rabbit and jumped back and forth around the room and, suddenly, completely unexpectedly Rasputin caught the boy by the hand and led him into the bedroom, and the three of us followed him.

There was such silence, as if we found ourselves in a church. The lamps in Alexei's bedroom were not lit, the only light coming from the lamps burning in front of several beautiful icons. The child stood very still with this giant whose head was bowed. I realized that my little nephew was praying with him…” (22) .

So the Siberian elder taught the royal children to the most important thing in the life of a Christian - to prayer. And, thanks to him, they understand all its importance. With complete trust in Rasputin, in their letters, the royal children congratulate him on Orthodox holidays, ask him to pray for success in his studies, and report that they themselves are praying for him. Rasputin became one of the closest people to the royal family. “Our Friend,” is how the Tsar and Tsaritsa called the man of God Gregory. And this is no coincidence. So even Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich called his friend the holy fool Vasily, who was his closest assistant and adviser.

Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II decided to revive this ancient tradition through the man of God Gregory. The king wanted to have with him an old man from the common people. This is how Rasputin appeared to them - a representative of the peasantry, the most numerous estate in Russia. He, with a developed sense of common sense, a popular understanding of usefulness and, from his worldly experience, who firmly knew what was good and what was bad, became a true Friend and adviser for the royal couple.

Gregory, for his part, sincerely loved his Sovereign. Here is what Prince N. D. Zhevakhov reports about this: “Rasputin’s love for the Tsar, bordering on adoration, was really unfeigned, and there are no contradictions in recognizing this fact. The tsar could not but feel this love, which he appreciated doubly, because it came from someone who, in his eyes, was not only the embodiment of the peasantry, but also its spiritual power ”(23).

Grigory Rasputin appeared to the Sovereign as an old man, a man of God, continuing the traditions of Holy Russia, wise in spiritual experience, able to give soulful advice. Even in public affairs, overshadowed by the grace of God, Rasputin turned out to be a Friend, an adviser to Sovereign Nicholas II, as his Friend, the foolish Vasily, turned out to be an adviser to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

Elder Gregory warned the Tsar against decisions that threatened the country with disaster, was against the last convocation of the Duma, asked not to print anti-monarchist speeches in the Duma, and on the very eve of the February Revolution, insisted on bringing food to Petrograd - bread and butter from Siberia, even invented the packaging of flour and sugar to avoid queues. And he was completely right, because it was in the queues during the artificial organization of the grain crisis that the St. Petersburg unrest began, which grew into a revolution.

The former director of the police department, Deputy Minister of the Interior, General P. G. Kurlov, noted that Rasputin had the gift of delving deeply into current state affairs. The general wrote in his memoirs that he "was amazed at his innate intelligence and excellent understanding of current issues, even of a state nature" (24) .

Having become a spiritual and practical assistant to the Sovereign Emperor, having sincerely fallen in love with the entire royal family, Elder Gregory had special prayerful care for the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia, that is, blood incoagulability.

With this disease, even the most insignificant wound, the most insignificant bruise caused excruciating pain and could lead to death. The disease was incurable, and even the best doctors of that time could not help the heir. And only the prayerful intercession before the Lord of the elder Gregory not only eased the suffering of Tsarevich Alexei, but more than once saved him from inevitable death.

The first case of prayerful assistance to the heir occurred in 1907. The three-year-old prince, walking in the garden in Tsarskoe Selo, fell and hurt his leg. He had internal bleeding. The Tsar's sister, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, later recalled: “The poor baby lay in terrible agony, with dark circles under his eyes, all crooked with a terribly swollen leg.

The doctors just couldn't help. They looked more frightened than any of us and were whispering the whole time. The doctors did not know what to do, hour after hour passed, and they lost all hope. The time was late, and I was persuaded to go to my room. Then Alix [Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna] sent for Rasputin. He arrived at the palace around midnight or even later...

Early in the morning, Alix called me to Alexei's room. I just couldn't believe my eyes. The baby was not only alive, he was healthy. He was sitting in the crib, the fever was gone, there was no tumor at all ... Later I learned from Alix that Rasputin did not touch the child, he simply stood at the foot of the bed and prayed.

And, of course, many said that Rasputin's prayers and the healing of my nephew were just a coincidence. But, firstly, any doctor will tell you that an attack of such a disease cannot be cured in a few hours. Secondly, coincidence can only explain what happens once or twice, and I can’t even count how many times it happened” (25) .

Prayer book for the Tsar and Russia

War Instigators
and revolutionary turmoil
understood that while Rasputin
prays for the Tsar and Russia
they will not be able to carry out their plans.

It should not be assumed that Rasputin was sent by the Lord only as a healer of the heir to the throne. Miraculous healings were a visible sign for the Sovereign and Empress that this was a man of God. Tsar Nicholas II believed that Gregory was sent by God as a spiritual assistant to his royal service.

It was precisely this attitude towards Rasputin that the Investigator of the Cheka of the Provisional Government testified to. In his official note, he said that "Their Majesties were sincerely convinced of the holiness of Rasputin, the only real representative and intercessor for the Sovereign, His family and Russia before God" (26).

“Prayer standing before God for the Heir is only a small part of Rasputin’s service to his Sovereign,” is written in the book “From Under the Lie”. “He was a prayer partner of the Anointed of God for the Russian Autocratic Kingdom, and he was often exposed to human sophisticated cunning, diabolical malice, hidden from the eyes of the tsar” (27).

The prayerful intercession of the elder was so great that the Sovereign Emperor admitted: “If it were not for the prayers of Grigory Efimovich, I would have been killed long ago” (28).

The elder helped a lot in his royal service and in practice. Thanks to the gift of insight and reasoning, he was able to look into the human soul, knew the thoughts of the closest royal servants, and therefore, when appointing them to high posts, the Emperor took into account the opinion of the elder. In addition, Gregory perspicaciously saw the consequences of certain government decisions.

Understanding this, the Sovereign again turned to the advice of his Friend, the man of God Gregory. And he, above all, tried to protect Russia, the Russian Kingdom from war. The elder foresight saw that it would bring untold suffering to the Russian people, which would cause general discontent and provoke a revolution, which the reformers of Russia of all stripes, and especially the haters of the Orthodox autocracy, were so eager to make.

The organization of the world war was part of the plans of international Jewish capital, which aspired to dominance throughout the world. To do this, it was supposed to push the foreheads of the most powerful Christian powers - Russia and Germany. It was decided to implement the Jesuitically sophisticated and Jewish-hateful plan by fomenting a conflict between Orthodox Bosnia, Herzegovina and Austria-Hungary, which had occupied them since 1878. And in 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed these occupied territories, that is, legally annexed them. Then almost the entire political Russian elite insisted on declaring war on Austria-Hungary. It was believed that Russia, the guardian of universal Orthodoxy, was bound to help her fellow Slavs. It would seem that this is bad? However, Russia has not yet recovered from the war with Japan and internal revolutionary uprisings. Therefore, a war in the Balkans could be like death for us, since it would cause a new revolution. But the jingoistic patriots demanded that the Tsar intercede for the Slavic brothers. And he was ready to give in to them, if not for Rasputin. The elder convinced him not to enter into conflict in the Balkans.

But a year later, Montenegro asked to intervene in the current situation. Germany, in turn, sided with Austria-Hungary and announced an ultimatum to Russia that if she intervened in the conflict, Germany would declare war on Russia. And again, only thanks to Rasputin, the world slaughter was prevented.

But the question of starting a war on the side of the Balkan countries was especially acute for the Russian Tsar in 1912, when Montenegro, Serbia and Bulgaria began military operations against Turkey. Emperor Nicholas II, wishing to liberate Constantinople from the Turks, was ready to support them, and Austria-Hungary, considering Montenegro part of its territory, was ready to go to war with Russia.

Remembering that the first attempts to unleash a world massacre failed because of Grigory Rasputin, the Masons decided to kill him. An assassination attempt was organized on him in Yalta. The mayor, General Dumbadze, intended to bring Rasputin to the iron castle, which stood over the sea beyond Yalta, and throw him out of there. For some reason, this attempt fell through.

Nevertheless, the political situation was such that it seemed that the plans of the instigators of the world war, such a war, that, according to F. Engels, "the crowns flew into the mud," would come true. The king was already ready to announce mobilization. But Rasputin urgently achieved a meeting with him, and knelt before the sovereign, with tears in his eyes, begging him not to start a war. According to the testimony of the then Prime Minister Count S. Yu. Witte: “He [Rasputin] pointed out all the disastrous results of the European fire, and the arrows of history turned differently. War was averted" (29) .

The global conspiracy failed. The Masons were defeated, the Russian revolutionaries were left with nothing. The Siberian peasant, the man of God Grigory, stood in the way of the Russian and world catastrophe!

He constantly prayed that the Lord would incline Tsarevo's heart to peace. And the instigators of the war and revolutionary unrest realized that while Rasputin was praying for the Tsar and Russia, they would not be able to carry out their plans.

And then it was decided to kill the Siberian elder. But, first of all, to destroy it spiritually - to slander, slander, slander. To create from him the image of a dissolute Grishka and an obedient to this devil, weak-willed, incapable of anything monarch. The issue of discrediting the Russian monarch through Rasputin was so important for the Masons that they considered it at their congress in Brussels, as M. V. Rodzianko testifies in his memoirs (30). In the campaign of lies and slander that had befallen Rasputin since 1910, the meanest and most cynical means were used. The writer N. A. Teffi in the book “The True Queen” recalls how she and other writers and journalists were invited to specially organized meetings with supposedly Rasputin. At these meetings, he drank, led unbridled and obscene. But Teffi, with her writer's intuition, realized that these performances were organized to "perform some dark, very dark things unknown to us" (31) .

Rasputin's double was also reported by M. V. Rodzianko (32). And Princess Yu. A. Dan, close to the Empress, wrote: “It got to the point that Rasputin was debauching in the capital, while in fact he was in Siberia” (33). But the journalists did not want to find out the truth. The pages of the media, almost completely controlled by the Masons, were filled with "evidence" of Rasputin's ugly behavior. Mounted photographs were printed in huge editions in which he was surrounded by prostitutes.

It should be noted that lies and slander fell upon Elder Gregory in the same way as in his time upon the righteous John of Kronstadt, who was on friendly terms with the Tsar Alexander III and who in St. Petersburg society was maliciously called "Rasputin of Alexander the Third." It is characteristic that during his lifetime this holy righteous man was accused of the same “crimes” as Elder Gregory: heresy, money-grubbing, self-interest and depravity.

All this, both in one and in the other case, was done in order to destroy the spiritual union of the Tsars and God's saints, a union that stood up as an insurmountable wall before the destroyers of the Orthodox monarchy. Throughout 1913, a cruel, organized persecution of Grigory Rasputin-New was carried out in magazines and newspapers. And from the beginning of 1914, they began to talk about the inevitability of war with Austria. The demon of the Russian revolution, Ulyanov-Lenin, spoke about it this way: "A war between Austria and Russia would be very useful for the revolution (in all of Eastern Europe)" (34) .

However, Rasputin again stood on the road to world slaughter and revolution, who, in an interview with an Italian correspondent, announced the impending catastrophe: “Yes, they are starting ... But, God willing, there will be no war, but I will take care of it” (35).

And then the question of the murder of Elder Gregory arose on the agenda of the haters of the Orthodox monarchy. Today we cannot determine how the petty bourgeois Khionia Guseva was involved in the attempt on his life. The elder himself believed that Hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), who later became an employee of the Bolshevik Cheka, persuaded her. But the fact that behind the backs of Iliodor and Chionia stood secret powerful forces - no doubt, because Rasputin was mortally wounded by Chionia immediately after the assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne, Prince Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, the Serbian capital. And, as you know, it was this murder that caused the start of the First World War.

Gregory blesses Russia

Protopopov had a vision
Gregory in heaven, with uplifted hands
blesses Russia, saying,
that he keeps it.

While the seriously wounded old man was in the hospital on the verge of life and death, Austria-Hungary began hostilities against Serbia. Tsar Nicholas II decided to protect the Orthodox Serbian people from the aggressor and announced mobilization. Germany issued an ultimatum that this mobilization threatened Austria-Hungary and demanded that it be cancelled. The ultimatum was rejected. Then Germany declared war on Russia. Almost all researchers of the life of Grigory Rasputin agree that if he had been next to the Tsar at that time, there would have been no war.

But what happened happened, and Rasputin had no choice but to resign himself and pray for the Russian army to win. The elder Gregory, who hated the war, began to advise the Sovereign to bring it to a victorious end. With his prayers, he strengthened the spirit of Tsar Nicholas II, just as St. Sergius of Radonezh strengthened the spirit of Dmitry Donskoy. The sovereign felt this and said: “I lived through all this difficult time only thanks to his prayers” (36).

On the advice of the elder, the Sovereign Emperor became the Supreme Commander of the Russian armies. This greatly cheered up the troops. By the spring-summer 1916 military campaign, Russia, unlike Germany, was in full readiness. Everything indicated that the Russians would win.

Elder Gregory's prayers for Russia inspired Tsar Nicholas II with complete confidence in this victory. The enemies of Russia understood this and continued to do everything to destroy the union of the Tsar and the man of God. The meanest, most rabid slander was used, designed to denigrate them both.

By 1916, the slanderous myths about Rasputin, spread by the leftist liberal and tabloid press, are doing their dirty work. The majority of the so-called "educated" society began to see Rasputin as a source of evil. The “libertine Grishka” created by the myth-makers replaced the true image of the Siberian elder in the minds of the Russian people. How strong the influence of the myth-makers turned out to be is evidenced by the fact that the Queen's sister believed in the image of the "libertine" - Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fedorovna. Considering that the ground for the physical elimination of Rasputin has been prepared, high-ranking persons begin to organize the murder directly. Among them: “Vasily Alekseevich Maklakov, a left-wing radical, one of the leaders of Russian Freemasonry and the Cadet Party (he took out poison and developed a plan for the murder); Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich is a right-wing radical, extremist, poseur and rhetorician, one of those who discredited the patriotic movement of Russia with his stupid self-satisfied activities; Prince Felix Feliksovich Yusupov - a representative of the aristocratic mob, the upper ruling strata of society, a member of the Mayak Masonic Society; the representative of the degenerate part of the Romanovs, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, two-faced, torn apart by political ambitions; representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, deprived of national consciousness, Dr. Lisavert and Lieutenant Sukhotin" (37) .

Why did each of them personally need to kill Rasputin? It is unlikely that we will ever be able to find the answer to this question. But it can be argued that they all imagined themselves to be the saviors of Russia. The "monarchist" Purishkevich "saved the Tsar from the influence of a libertine", the constitutionalist Yusupov saved Russia from the dominance of the autocracy. As he himself said: “If Rasputin is killed today, in two weeks the Empress will have to be placed in a hospital for the mentally ill. And when the Emperor is freed from the influence of Rasputin and his wife, everything will change; he will become a good constitutional monarch" (38). As for the ambitious, conceited Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, he was most likely convinced that by killing Rasputin he would perpetuate his name for centuries.

But behind all of them, taken together, stood powerful Masonic forces, who understood that by killing Elder Gregory, they would deprive the Tsar of spiritual support. Killing Rasputin, they killed a prayer book for the Tsar and Russia.

The vile, atrocious crime was committed in the morning, on December 17, 1916, in the house of Prince Yusupov. Rasputin was lured there under the pretext of helping Yusupov's sick wife, Irina. There he was treated with poisoned food. Time passed, but the poison did not work ... Then Yusupov invited him to pray. There was a crucifix in the room. Rasputin approaches the crucifix, kneels down to kiss him, at which point Yusupov shoots him in the back. Rasputin falls. After that, the prince went to the office, where the accomplices in the crime, who had drunk by this time, were waiting for him - Purishkevich, Dmitry Pavlovich, Lisavert, Sukhotin. After some time, Yusupov went into the room where Rasputin lay. And a little later, when Purishkevich went in the same direction, Yusupov suddenly heard a hysterical cry: “Purishkevich, shoot, shoot, he is alive! He's running away!" Purishkevich with a pistol rushed to catch up with the fleeing Rasputin. The first two shots are misses. The third shot hit him in the back, ... the fourth shot, - Purishkevich recalls, - hit him, it seems, in the head ... He fell face down in the snow in a sheaf and shook his head. I ran up to him and kicked him in the temple with all my might. After some time, while transferring Rasputin's corpse, Prince Yusupov attacked him and with wild frenzy began to beat him on the head with a heavy rubber weight, aiming at the temple. Blood spattered in all directions, and when Yusupov was dragged away, he was all spattered with blood ”(39).

After brutal torment, Rasputin was thrown into an ice-hole near Krestovsky Island. As it turned out later, he was thrown into the water while still alive. After the search for Rasputin began, his galosh was found near the hole. Having examined the hole, the divers also found the body of the tortured old man. His hands and feet were entangled with rope; he freed his right hand to cross himself already in the water, his fingers were folded into three fingers. Rasputin was buried by the Tsar and the Tsarina, their daughters and A. A. Vyrubova. After the funeral, the body of the elder, like the relics of a saint, was placed under the altar of a church under construction in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov. But even after his death, he worried the haters of the autocracy. After the February coup d'état, the head of the Provisional Government, the freemason Kerensky, gave the order to dig up Rasputin's body and secretly bury it in the vicinity of Petrograd. But on the way, the truck “spoiled” and then the body of the old man was unloaded and burned. One of the organizers of the burning of the man of God Grigory Rasputin-New, a certain N.F. Kupchinsky subsequently wrote: “The fire flared up more and more and in its light we carefully, eagerly peered into the features of the old man .... Undoubtedly, in the future it would be the relics of the saint ”(40) .

A month later, on the night of the martyrdom of the elder Gregory, the Minister of Internal Affairs A. A. Protopopov had a vision recorded from his words in the diary of the Hofmeistrina E. A. Naryshkina: “Today, January 15, 1917, Protopopov came here to Tsarskoye Selo to tell his dream; open heavens, and in the heavens - Gregory, with uplifted hands, blesses Russia, saying that he protects her ”(41).

Posthumous veneration of Elder Gregory,

like a holy martyr.

Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna deeply mourned the death of their Friend, Elder Gregory, who was revered as a righteous man during his lifetime. When they were imprisoned in Tobolsk, they kept his letters as a shrine. Passing the box with them to Dr. Derevenko, so that he secretly took them out and hid them, the Sovereign said, “Here is the most valuable thing for us - Grigory's letters.”

Tsarevich Alexei after his death said: "There was a saint - Grigory Efimovich, but he was killed" (42). The king, as a great shrine put on himself pectoral cross, taken from the murdered martyr Gregory, and the Tsaritsa with her children wore his image, written on medallions. “He is a martyr,” said Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. As modern researchers of Rasputin's life M. Smirnova and V. Smirnov write: “A month after the assassination, Alexandra Fedorovna published a small brochure entitled “The New Martyr”. It outlined the biography of Grigory Efimovich and carried out the idea that he was a man of God and, by the nature of his death, should be revered as a martyr ”(43).

This life, in numerous copies, instantly dispersed among the common people, who treated Rasputin as a miracle worker. This is evidenced by the fact that, having learned about his death, many Petersburgers rushed to the hole in the Neva River, where Elder Grigory was drowned. “According to police reports, they collected water there, consecrated with his blood, and carried it home as a shrine” (44) . V. M. Purishkevich, an eyewitness to this, wrote that “whole strings began to flock to the Neva, mainly women, from the very top to the bottom, with jugs and bottles in their hands, in order to stock up on the water consecrated by Rasputin’s remains” (45) . When Elder Gregory was buried in the altar of the Seraphim Church, which was under construction, people came to her and collected snow around her (46).

The veneration of Rasputin as a righteous saint increased after the coffin with the remains of Rasputin was opened in March 1917 at the direction of the Provisional Government. Eyewitnesses of this saw that they turned out to be incorruptible and even emitted a slight fragrance. Then the people began to flock to the tomb and disassemble it into pieces in order to have at least a small particle from the last refuge of the old martyr (47) .

The main reason for the veneration of Rasputin as a saint was the numerous miracles that took place both during his lifetime and after his martyrdom. But before we talk about them, let's remember those special gifts that the Lord rewards His chosen ones. It is the gift of consolation, the gift of reasoning, the miraculous gift of healings, which in turn comes from the gift of prayer, and the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy. Of these gifts, God's saints are usually endowed with one or more. The man of God, Gregory, possessed all kinds of these gifts.

The Gift of Solace

People close to him spoke of the gift of consolation as follows:

“He is a good, simple religious Russian man. In moments of doubt and spiritual anxiety, I like to talk with him, and after such a conversation, my soul always feels light and calm” (48). “When I have worries, doubts, troubles, it’s enough for me to talk with Gregory for five minutes to immediately feel strengthened and reassured” (49). (St. Tsar - Martyr Nicholas II).

“In our house, he was a model of politeness and modesty ... I especially appreciate in Gr. Eph. His gift of comfort. In the most difficult moments of life, he always finds the same right word, some insignificant advice - and a way out is found ”(50) . (Princess I. V. Golovina).

“Like a doctor diagnosing a physical illness, Rasputin skillfully approached people who were suffering spiritually and immediately guessed what a person was looking for and what he was worried about. Ease of handling and kindness, which he showed to his interlocutors, brought reassurance” (51). (Colonel D.N. Loman).

The gift of consolation that Elder Gregory possessed was always combined in him with extraordinary kindness and mercy. “Rasputin is an absolutely honest and kind person who always wants to do good and willingly distributes money to those in need” (52). (S. Yu. Witte, in 1905-1906 Chairman of the Council of Ministers).

“When I saw him in the nursery, I felt kindness and warmth emanating from him” (53). (Sister of St. Tsar Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Olga).

The gift of consolation especially affected the Empress Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who was in extreme nervous exhaustion due to the incurable illness of the heir to Tsarevich Alexei. But thanks to Rasputin, her depressive states passed as if by themselves.

The Gift of Reasoning

The gift of reasoning did not appear in Grigory Rasputin immediately, but after a decade and a half of wanderings, conversations with spiritually wise people, with elders. During this time, he deeply studied the Holy Gospel, could interpret it and even read it by heart.

All this made him a man capable of giving spiritual advice to people. At first, peasants from the surrounding villages flocked to him for guidance. Later, people from far away began to arrive. Bishop Alexy of Tobolsk concluded that he considers him "an Orthodox Christian, a very intelligent, spiritually inclined person, seeking the truth of Christ, able to give good advice to those who need it" (54) .

Even priests and bishops listened to Grigory Efimovich with interest. So in Kazan, where he stopped on the way from the pilgrimage to Kyiv: “Kazan church authorities, including Fr. Anthony (Guria), rector of the Kazan Theological Academy, and hegumen Khirsanf (Shchetkovsky), acting vicar of the Kazan diocese .... treated Grigory as a pious and gifted layman, he was warmly received by them ”Thanks to the gift of reasoning, it was in Kazan that Rasputin gained such fame that Hirsanf gave him a recommendation to St. Petersburg to Bishop Sergius (Stargorodsky) (55) .

Metropolitan Veniamin Fedchenkov also liked to talk with Elder Gregory and wrote: “He spoke quite witty. In general, Rasputin was a completely outstanding person both in terms of a sharp mind and in terms of religious orientation ”(56) .

Vasily Rozanov, a famous philosopher, admired the gift of reasoning that Rasputin was endowed with from God. This happened after he heard his opinion about the attitude of the official Church towards Leo Tolstoy. As Rozanov recalled, Elder Grigory said: “He / Tolstoy / spoke against the Synod, against the clergy - and he was right. Moreover, he is taller, stronger and purer than them. But he did not speak against them, but against the words that they have. And these words are from Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. And here he himself and his writings are small” (57) .

Thus, Rasputin showed that, humanly, Tolstoy may seem right when he speaks out against the shortcomings that specific ministers of the Church have. But since the entire fullness of the Church lives according to the teachings of its great teachers, it turns out that in teaching the Church, Tolstoy puts himself in their place. But the whole point is that his teaching is simply insignificant compared to their teaching.

“Grigory,” writes Rozanov, “is a man of genius… So simply the Siberian peasant said the idea that solves everything” (58).

Former chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Prince N.D. Zhevakhov said about Rasputin's gift of reasoning that he clothed “theoretical propositions [about God, about faith] in a form that allowed their experimental application, and not in the form of philosophical fogs .... In his ability to popularize Divine truths, which undoubtedly presupposed a certain spiritual experience, lay the secret of his influence on the masses” (59) .

Miraculous gift of healing

The kind, sympathetic, merciful elder Gregory could not remain indifferent to the grief of others. He always tried to help this or that person, both financially and with his gift, to heal incurable diseases. There is no doubt that the miraculous gift of healings came from his bold prayerful standing before God. This boldness came to him as a result of pilgrimage in holy places and teaching from the famous Ural elders - the monk Adrian and the schemamonk Elijah, and especially from the holy elder Macarius of Verkhoturye.

He began to pilgrimage from his youth. And wherever he was, whether at work, on the road or on vacation, he always found time for prayer. As he himself recalled: “Often he walked for three days, ate only a little! On hot days, he imposed a fast on himself: he did not drink kvass, but worked with a day laborer ..., worked and ran away to rest for prayer. When he pastured his horses, he prayed. This consolation has served me for everything and everything” (60).

Rasputin was an exemplary family man and always returned home from wanderings. But even at home, doing daily peasant labor, he did not forget about prayerful labors. He dug out a cave for himself and prayed there fervently and alone, like a monk.

In addition, he loved to perform secret prayers in the forest. He most likely learned this from his spiritual mentor Macarius of Verkhoturye, who constantly prayed in the forest.

The elder Gregory did not leave such a habit even when he became acquainted with the highest Petersburg society and was a member of the royal family. G. V. Sazonov wrote about it this way: “When we lived in the country, the children saw him in the forest, immersed in prayer ...

The general’s neighbor, who could not hear his name without disgust, was not too lazy to follow the children into the forest, and indeed, although an hour had passed, she saw Rasputin immersed in prayer ”(61) .

Anna Vyrubova, as a spiritual child of St. Righteous Father John of Kronstadt testified that "Father John considered him a wanderer with the gift of prayer" (62) .

The elder Grigory used this gift of bold prayer to help not only his neighbors, but also animals, which, like the poet Sergei Yesenin, who was closely familiar to him, Rasputin considered "our smaller brothers."

Already in his youth, Gregory showed his gift of miraculous healing of an animal. According to him, his daughter Matryona wrote: “Once at dinner, my grandfather said that the horse was lame, possibly sprained the tendon under the knee. Hearing this, the father silently got up from the table and went to the stable.

The grandfather followed and saw how the son stood near the horse for a few seconds in concentration, then went to the hind leg and placed his palm directly above the hamstring, although he had never even heard this word before. He stood with his head slightly thrown back, then, as if deciding that the healing had happened, stepped back, stroked the horse and said: “Now you are better.”

After this incident, the father became like a miracle worker veterinarian and treated all the animals on the farm. Soon this practice spread to all animals in Pokrovsky. Then he began to treat people. "God helped" [he said] (63) .

Matryona also recorded a special case of healing, which can even be called the salvation of a person from inevitable death. “Once, after a day spent on the road, my father asked for lodging and bread in one of the huts. The hostess, somewhat dejected, let him in. The reason for the woman's concern immediately became clear. On the bench, under a pile of blankets, lay a girl. It looked like she was dying. The father approached her. The child was unconscious, the only sign of life was barely audible breathing and sometimes a groan. The father asked to be left alone with the patient. The girl's parents left. The father fell on his knees near the bench, put his hand on the child's feverish forehead, closed his eyes and began to pray. He said that he did not feel the flow of time at all.

Worried parents kept opening the door and looked with amazement at the man frozen in prayer. Finally, the girl stirred, opened her eyes and asked:

- I am alive?

A minute later, she did not resemble a dying one in any way ”(64) .

Elder Gregory showed his gift of miraculous healings on many people, but above all he helped the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from an incurable disease - hemophilia, that is, blood incoagulability, in which every abrasion, every bruise could turn into a heavy, martyr's death for the prince.

The first case of prayerful assistance to the heir occurred in 1907. The three-year-old prince, walking in the garden in Tsarskoe Selo, fell and hurt his leg. We have already written about this case in this book.

Grand Duchess Olga also confirms another case of the healing of Tsarevich Alexei, which some eyewitnesses call nothing more than the miracle of the resurrection of the heir from the dead.

It took place in Poland, in the suburbs of Warsaw - Spala. As in Tsarskoye Selo, the prince accidentally hurt his leg, and it swelled terribly. The temperature rose above 40 degrees, the pulse was almost not felt. A council of doctors from E. Botkin, S. Fedorov, K. Rachfuss, S. Ostrogorsky could not do anything. They had no hope of recovery. The situation was so critical that throughout Russia it was announced that the prince was seriously ill. Prayers began to rise up in churches for his recovery. The Empress sent an urgent telegram to Elder Gregory in the village of Pokrovskoye with a request for prayer help, and soon received an answer from him:

“God heard your tears and your prayers. Don't be sad. The little one won't die. Don't let the doctors torment him too long." As soon as this telegram was received, the recovery of the dying heir to the throne immediately began.

As Olga Alexandrovna testifies: “An hour later my nephew was out of danger. Later that year, I met Professor Fedorov, who told me that the healing was completely inexplicable from the point of view of medicine ... Rasputin definitely had the gift of healing. There is no doubt about it. I have seen these results with my own eyes and more than once. I also know that the most famous doctors of the time were forced to admit it” (65) .

The miracle of the resurrection from the dead is considered to be the healing of Anna Vyrubova, who was in a severe railway accident. As S. P. Beletsky, Acting Director of the Police Department at that time, recalled: “The situation of A. A. Vyrubova was then very serious, and she, being all the time in oblivion, was already admonished with a deaf confession and communion of holy mysteries. Being in a delusional, feverish state, without opening her eyes all the time, A. A. Vyrubova repeated only one phrase:

– Father Gregory, pray for me!…

Having learned about the plight of A. A. Vyrubova from the words of Countess Witte ... Rasputin ... arrived in Tsarskoye Selo in the emergency room of the infirmary, where A. A. Vyrubova was taken ...

At that time, in the ward where A. A. Vyrubova lay, were the Sovereign with the Empress, the father of A. A. Vyrubova and Princess Gedrolts. Entering the ward without permission, and not greeting anyone, Rasputin went up to A. A. Vyrubova, took her by the hand, and, stubbornly looking at her, loudly and commandingly said to her:

“Annushka, wake up, look at me!”

And, to the general amazement of all those present, she opened her eyes and, seeing Rasputin's face leaning over her, smiled and said:

Gregory, is that you? Thank God!

Then Rasputin, turning to those present, said:

"He'll get better!" (66) .

And so it happened. Vyrubova survived and soon recovered, although, as Rasputin had predicted, she remained crippled for the rest of her life.

Through the prayers of Elder Gregory, the wife of O. V. Lakhtin, the real state councilor, was healed. At the investigative Cheka under the command of Rudnev, she testified: “I saw Rasputin for the first time on November 3, 1905. I was very ill with neurasthenia of the intestines, which chained me to the bed. I could only move by holding my hand against the wall... The priest father [Roman] Medved took pity on me and brought me together with Rasputin... From the moment Fr.

The gift of Elder Gregory to heal extended not only to Orthodox Christians. There is the following testimony of the Jew Ivan Simanovich, recorded by the investigating Cheka of the Provisional Government: “From 1909 to 1910, I began to experience signs of a nervous disease called the dance of St. Vitus. Since the announcement of the disease, I have turned to doctors ... Among the doctors who used me, I can name Professor Ruzenbach and Dr. Rubinko ... In 1919, Rasputin, having learned from my father about my illness, offered to take me to his apartment ... Rasputin, remaining with me in the room alone, he put me on a chair and, sitting opposite, looked intently into my eyes, starting to stroke my head with his hand. At this time, I experienced some special state. This session, I think, lasted about ten minutes. After that, saying goodbye to me, Rasputin said: "Nothing, all this will pass!" And indeed, now I can certify that after this meeting with Rasputin, my seizures did not resume ... I attribute this healing exclusively to Rasputin, since medical remedies only alleviated the form of seizures without eliminating their manifestations ... John Simanovich, a student of 20 years old, of the Jewish faith » (68) .

There are cases when, through the prayers of Rasputin, the possessed were cured. We have already written about the cure of demonic seizures by the nun Akilina in the Oktai Monastery. Elder Gregory himself spoke of his gift to heal as follows: “If you do not look for self-interest anywhere and strive, as if to console, call on the Lord spiritually, then the demons will tremble from you, and the sick will recover” (69) .

Giftforesight

The gift of clairvoyance or, as it is also called, the gift of clairvoyance manifested itself in Rasputin as a child.

Modern researchers of his life M. Smirnova and V. Smirnov write: “We know very little about Rasputin's childhood years. Especially interesting are the examples of his peculiar childish clairvoyance. He very ingenuously explains why he could not afford to take someone else's thing, no matter how attractive it was to him. Quite sincerely, he writes that this was caused not so much by an aversion to theft, but by his conviction that all other people see the same thing as he does. And he saw the following: “I myself immediately saw if one of my comrades stole something, hid this thing somewhere far away” (70) .

Rasputin's daughter Matryona spoke about Rasputin's clairvoyance in childhood from his words: “In his presence, it was a waste of time to lie. Once a horse dealer, trying to raise the price, praised his goods. Father took grandfather aside and warned:

- He's lying.

The grandfather, of course, waved it off. After a while, the horse, for no apparent reason ... died ”(71).

Subsequently, the gift of clairvoyance from Elder Gregory developed more and more, so that he could even read the thoughts of another person.

Archbishop Tikhon (Troitsky) testifies to the following incident: “Once a group of students visited Elder Gabriel (Zyryanov)… There was also the young Vladyka Tikhon (Bellavin), [the future Patriarch], and Rasputin was among the guests…

Elder Gabriel later told Vl. Tikhon that when Rasputin told him that he was going to Petersburg, the elder thought to himself: “You will disappear in Petersburg, you will deteriorate in Petersburg,” to which Rasputin, having read his thoughts, said aloud: “And God? And God? (72) .

Once Rasputin predicted the future for the students of the Moscow Theological Academy, which completely came true. As Bishop Feofan (Bystrov) recalled:

“To the students of the academy, whom he saw for the first time, he correctly said - to one that he would be a writer, to another ... he pointed out his illness, and to the third he explained:“ you simple soul but your friends abuse it” (73) .

Prince N. D. Zhevakhov recalls the case when the elder Grigory perspicaciously said about a certain Dobrovolsky: Rasputin was literally confirmed: Dobrovolsky was soon arrested, having been convicted of poisoning his wife ”(74).

An interesting case is recalled by the lady-in-waiting of Her Majesty Anna Vyrubova. When her friend came to meet the elder with a hidden bottle of wine, the following happened: “Grigory Efimovich, looking at her intently, began to tell how at one station a monk treated him to tea, hiding a bottle of wine under the table, and, calling him a saint, asked questions.

"Am I a saint? Grigory Yefimovich shouted, slamming his fist on the table, “and you are asking me to help you, why are you hiding a bottle of wine under the table?” The embarrassed lady turned pale and confusedly began to say goodbye ”(75).

Vyrubova also testifies about another case: “I remember once in the church a postal official approached him and asked him to pray for the patient. “Don’t ask me,” he replied, “but pray to St. Xenia.

The official, in fright and surprise, exclaimed: “How could you know that my wife’s name is Xenia?” Further, Anna Vyrubova writes: “I could tell hundreds of such cases, but they, perhaps, can be explained one way or another, but it is much more surprising that everything he said about the future came true” (76).

And here we come to the prophetic gift that Elder Gregory was endowed with from God.

Prophecies

Rasputin began to prophesy from his youth. After wandering around holy places, feats of asceticism, communion with spirit-bearing elders and bold prayers to the Lord, “Gregory began to no longer speak, but to speak, thinking for a long time before giving an answer. And his answers, enigmatic, abrupt, began to resemble prophecy and reading in the hearts of people” (77).

The first prophecy of the elder Gregory, who appeared in St. Petersburg, can be attributed to 1907, when one day Vyrubova asked him if she would be happy in marriage. Anna Alexandrovna was engaged to a lieutenant of the fleet, and everyone thought that she had a wonderful future. However, Elder Gregory said: “The wedding will take place, but you will not have a husband.”

Subsequently, it turned out that Vyrubova's husband was seriously ill and could not live a normal life. family life. So the words of the old man came true.

Vyrubova's marriage proved unhappy, and she soon separated from her husband. Here is what she said about this at the investigation of the Cheka of the Provisional Government:

“I met Rasputin in 1907 from Milica Nikolaevna ... I was very worried, especially since she said: “Ask him for anything you want. He will pray. He can do everything with God ... I, preoccupied with marriage, as I knew my fiancé very little, asked if I should get married. Rasputin replied that he advised to get married, but that the marriage would be unhappy ... Having lived with my husband for a year and a half ... I divorced, as it turned out that he was suffering from a mental illness ”(78).

Before the beginning Russo-Japanese War Grigory Rasputin prophesied that the Russian fleet would soon die in the Battle of Tsushima. And so it happened. As Bishop Feofan (Bystrov) said: “At that time, the squadron of Admiral Rozhdestvensky was sailing. Therefore, we asked Rasputin: "Will the meeting with the Japanese be successful?" Rasputin replied to this: “I feel in my heart, he will drown” ... And this prediction later came true in the battle of Tsushima ”(79).

The closer the revolution of 1917 approached, the more gloomy the prophecies of the elder Gregory became. He foresaw that a revolt would begin in the capital in lines for bread, and therefore he advised the Tsar in every possible way to supply the city with food. One of the letters of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna to her husband said: “He [Rasputin] had something like a vision at night ... it’s hard to retell, he says that all this is very serious ... He suggests that wagons with flour, oil and sugar. This is even more necessary at the moment than shells and meat... To do this, it is necessary to reduce passenger traffic, destroy the 4th classes these days and instead of them attach wagons with butter and flour from Siberia.... Discontent will grow if the situation does not change. People will shout and tell you that this is impossible... But this is a necessary, important measure...” (80) .

Everything happened just as he prophesied. It was with the lack of bread in Petrograd that the February Revolution began.

Elder Gregory also prophesied about his own death. In his diary entries about Russia on the eve of the revolution, Maurice Palaiologos wrote: “His devoted friends, Mrs. G. and Mrs. T., ... were struck by his sad mood. He told them several times about his imminent death. So he said to Mrs. T.: “Do you know that I will soon die in the most terrible suffering? But what to do? God has destined me a lofty feat to die for the salvation of my dear Sovereigns and Holy Russia ”(81).

Speaking of his death, Elder Gregory prophesied that on the fortieth day after his death, a severe attack of illness would occur. Archpriest George Shchavelsky wrote in his memoirs: “Shortly before his death, the elder predicted that ... after his death, the heir would become seriously ill ... On February 24, 1917, after dinner, when the Emperor was visiting the guests, I, standing next to prof. Fedorov, I ask him:

- What's new in Tsarskoye? How do they live without an old man? There are no miracles over the coffin yet.

- Don't laugh! Fedorov remarked to me seriously.

Have miracles begun? I asked again with a smile.

- You're really laughing! In Moscow, where I was visiting for the holidays, they also laughed about Grigory's prediction that Alexei Nikolaevich would fall ill on such and such a day after his death. I told them: "Wait a minute to laugh - let the indicated day pass!".

I myself interrupted the vacation given to me in order to be in the royal on that day: you never know what can happen on this day! On the morning of the day indicated by the elder, I arrive at Tsarskoe Selo and hasten straight to the palace.

Thank God, the heir is completely healthy! The court scoffers, who knew the reason for my arrival, began to make fun of me: “I believed the elder, but the elder missed this time!” And I tell them: "Wait to laugh - the ides have come, but the ides have not passed!". Leaving the palace, I left my phone number so that in case of need they could immediately find me, and I stayed in Tsarskoye for the whole day. In the evening, they suddenly call me: “The heir is bad!”.

I rushed to the palace. Horror - the boy is bleeding! We barely managed to stop the bleeding…. Here is the old man for you… You should have seen how the heir treated him! During this illness, the sailor Derevenko once brings a prosphora to the heir and says: “I prayed for you in the church, and you will pray to the saints to help you recover soon!”. And the heir answers him: “There was Saint Grigory Efimovich, but they killed him.

Now they treat me and pray, but there is no benefit. And he used to bring me an apple, pat me on the sore spot, and I immediately feel better. Here is an old man for you, here you can laugh at miracles” (82).

The most terrible and, unfortunately, completely fulfilled prophecy, the elder Gregory wrote in his suicide letter to the Sovereign. In particular, it says the following: “I am writing and leaving this letter in St. Petersburg. I foresee that even before the first of January I will pass away from life .... If hired assassins, Russian peasants, my brothers, kill me, then you have no one to fear from the Russian Tsar. Remain on your throne and reign....

If the boyars and nobles kill me, and they shed my blood, then their hands will remain stained with my blood, and for twenty-five years they will not be able to wash their hands. They will leave Russia. The brothers will rise up against the brothers and will kill each other, and within twenty-five years there will be no nobility in Russia.

Tsar of the Russian land, when you hear the ringing of bells informing you of the death of Gregory, then know that if your relatives committed the murder, then not one of your family, that is, children and relatives, will live longer than two years. They will be killed….” (83) .

Anticipating his own death, and then the death of the Royal Family, like climbing Golgotha, back in 1913, the elder said to Tsarevich Alexei: “My dear little one! Look at God, what wounds he has. He endured at one time, and then he became so strong and omnipotent - so you, dear, so you will be cheerful and we will live and visit together. See you soon". As Elder Gregory predicted, it came true. Together with the royal family, he lived in earthly life, doing only good, but for this he suffered only reproach and slander. Just like Rasputin, the royal family was ritually murdered.

Their death is strikingly similar from the very beginning - the murder of the old man and the royal family took place in the basement. Then a dog was thrown to the place of the murder, then their bloodied clothes were burned. Both in one and in the other case there was a reburial and burning of the bodies.

But the main thing is that in heaven, according to the prophecy of Elder Gregory, they saw each other, met in joy, that is, in the Kingdom of God. "To live and visit together" - this is said about their commonality of both earthly and heavenly fate. Having stayed on earth, they forever began to live together in heaven and pray together for the salvation of Russia.

Therefore, while venerating the Royal Martyrs as saints, we must also venerate Elder Gregory, a prayer book for Russia. And it is necessary as soon as possible to canonize the prophet and miracle worker, the man of God, the martyr Grigory Rasputin-New. As the righteous elder Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov said: “We are already late. Russia bears penance for Gregory. It is necessary to quickly cleanse Gregory and all our Russian from untruth ... "(84) .

Veneration of Elder Gregory

in our time. New wonders.

Rasputin was revered as a righteous man by the chiigumen Jerome (Verendyakin). When in 2001 he was asked to bless Igor Evsin's book about Grigory Efimovich, The Slandered Elder, after listening to its text, in the presence of his cell-attendant, Hierodeacon Ambrose (Chernichuk), he gave his blessing, saying that Rasputin was a righteous man, a saint of God.

One of the first who publicly declared the righteousness of the elder was a well-known priest, spiritual writer and poet, a remarkable preacher of the late twentieth century. Dimitri Dudko. “Rasputin stood for Orthodoxy,” he wrote, “he was deeply Orthodox himself and called on everyone to this. I was especially struck by the way he, being shot and thrown into the water, kept his fingers folded in sign of the cross. The cross, as you know, means victory over demons. In the face of Rasputin, I see the entire Russian people - defeated and shot, but who retained their faith even when they died. And he wins!" (85) .

The wide veneration of the man of God Grigory Rasputin-New began with preparations for the glorification of the royal family in the saints. Moreover, both among the people and among the clergy.

One of the members of the commission for the canonization of the royal martyrs, Father George (Tertyshnikov), told Archpriest Valentin Asmus that when Rasputin was discussed at a meeting of the Commission, and the accusations that were brought against him, the accusations fell one after another .... And so, in the end, one of the members of the commission said with a smile: “But it looks like we are already engaged not in the canonization of the Royal Family, but in the canonization of Grigory Efimovich?” (86) .

Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Georgy (Tertyshnikov) carefully studied the materials related to Rasputin, since he had the obedience to prepare a report on the topic - is the personality of Grigory Efimovich an obstacle to the glorification of the Royal Family. When Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Kolomna read this report, he remarked to Father George, “Judging by your materials, Rasputin should also be glorified!” (87) .

Alas, Rasputin's canonization did not take place at the Bishops' Council in 2000. However, the opinion of many about him has changed for the better. So in 2002, the former administrator of the Ivanovo and Kineshma diocese, Archbishop Ambrose (Shchurov), at the Tsarist Orthodox-Patriotic Readings, held in Ivanovo on May 18, said: “Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was subjected to many attacks from the enemies of Russia. The press instilled in people an aversion to him, thus trying to cast a shadow on the Sovereign and his August family.

Who really was Grigory Efimovich Rasputin? He wasn't a bad person. This is a peasant, a hardworking and very pious man, a great prayer book, wandering a lot in holy places ... Such a pious person as Grigory Efimovich could not, of course, create all sorts of outrages that were attributed to him. There was a special double who deliberately made a row, drank in taverns, led an immoral lifestyle. And the press inflated it” (88) .

In 2008, Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye Vikenty in live Soyuz TV channel and Resurrection radio station, answering a listener’s question why Grigory Rasputin was near the Holy Royal Family, he noted: “The Royal Family was slandered and slandered, accused of all sorts of sins, and now we see that this is not true. Maybe something similar happened with Grigory Rasputin, because the Royal Family, the Sovereign had a very pure life and understood the situation, people. They could not bring closer to themselves such a person as Grigory Rasputin is presented to us now.

Regarding the actions of the press in relation to Rasputin and the falsification of documents, the author of this book has a personal letter from the elder Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) to the servant of God Irina with an answer to the question of how he feels about Rasputin. Here is the letter verbatim:

"Dear Irina! Your letter to me contains a question - my opinion about the personality of Rasputin G. I will say frankly - now it is positive, before, under the influence of all lies and slander, I thought negatively. After reading in Yakovlev's book about the murder of Rasputin by Masons, a ritual murder, I radically changed my attitude towards him.

Our Lavra resident, the teacher of the Academy, Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov), who is a member of the commission for the canonization of saints, was sent to St. Petersburg to get acquainted with archival documents for the canonization of the Royal Family, says that in the press of that time and documents of that time there is only a lie and slander against the Tsar and his environment. It may be that Rasputin also had some weaknesses and weaknesses inherent in every person, but not the ones that were attributed to him. At the terrible Judgment of God, everything will be presented in its true form. God bless you. With uv. Arch. Kirill".

How amazingly exactly the words of the perspicacious elder Kirill (Pavlov) echo the words of another elder Grigory Rasputin-New, who said: “What they are accused of - innocent, see you at the judgment of God! There the orator will not be justified, and all the tribes of the earth.

Will we justify ourselves there, having not yet canonized the Friend of the Holy Royal Family, Martyr Gregory?

But another elder of our time, Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov, as previously reported, said: “Penance carries poor Russia... It is imperative to cleanse the memory of the elder from slander ... This is necessary for the spiritual life of the entire Russian Church ”(89) .

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) spoke about Archpriest Nikolai Guryanov: “In our last times, Elder Nikolai is a lamp similar to Seraphim of Sarov” (90) .

Father Nicholas spoke with the saints in his prayers. And he spiritually saw that Grigory Rasputin was a holy righteous man. As Father Nikolai himself stated, he “had a notice about this from the Lord and the Royal Saints” (91) . When the Council of Bishops did not canonize Rasputin, Father Nikolai, greatly upset, took steps himself to glorify him as a holy martyr.

With the blessing of Father Nicholas, the Life of Elder Gregory and an akathist to him were written. In addition, he blessed to paint his icons. He kept these icons in his cell, and gave their photographs to hundreds of his spiritual children.

After the blessed death of Father Nicholas, the admirers painted his image - in one hand the priest holds a cross, and in the other a small icon of the martyr Gregory. In September 2002, the image became abundantly myrrh-streaming. Then they took a photo of this miracle. Large drops of the world are clearly visible on it. Photos of the myrrh-streaming image were multiplied. One of them came to Yekaterinburg to the servants of God Elena and Vera. They greatly revere Father Nicholas and the martyr Gregory, and therefore began to pray before the image that came to them. Time passed and the paper photograph in their house became myrrh-streaming (92) .

The documentary film "Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar Gregory the New" (directed by Viktor Ryzhko, 2009) captures the abundant myrrh-streaming of various images of Elder Gregory.

In 2004, in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, an icon with Father Nicholas, Tsesarevich Alexei and Elder Grigory healed a dying man of forty, who, according to doctors, had only a few hours to live (93) .

So the Lord Himself glorified two of His Saints in a visible way - the elder Nikolai (Guryanov) and the martyr Grigory Rasputin-New.

A miraculous manifestation of God's favor to the memory of Elder Gregory is the fact that every year, in December, no matter what the weather, no matter how cold, a willow blossoms near the burial place of Rasputin. This happens on the day the elder is killed, and the flowering lasts only fifteen minutes ...

NOTES

1. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. 25.

2. Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar, the man of God Gregory. M. 2000. S. 45.

3. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. 23-24.

4. Ibid. S. 19.

5. Grigory Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. M. 2001. S. 23.

6. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. 35.

7. Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar, the man of God Gregory. M. 2000. S. 54.

8. Ibid. From 54.

9. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 112.

10. Ibid. T. 3. S. 17.

11. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 2. S. 167.

12. Grigory Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. M. 2001. S. 25.

13. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. 41

14. Grigory Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. M. 2001. S. 24-25).

15. O. A. Platonov. The crown of thorns of Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. P.95.

16. Grigory Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. M. 2001. S. 43.

17. A. A. Taneeva (Vyrubova). pages of my life. M. 2000. S. 142.

18. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 3. S. 17.

19. R. Bats. V. Marchenko "Confessor of the Royal Family". M. 1997. S. 47.

20. M. Smirnova V. Smirnov. Rasputin. Mound. 2004. From 25

21. Ibid. S. 27.

22. Ibid. S. 42.

23. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 503.

24. Ibid. T.2 S. 318.

25. M. Smirnova V. Smirnov. Rasputin. Mound. 2004. S. 27.

26. Note by Rudnev V. M. “The truth about the Russian royal family of dark forces” // Russian archive. M. 1998. Cit. According to "From under the lie. Emperor Nicholas II. Grigory Rasputin. S-Pb. 2005. S. 109.

27. From under the lie. Emperor Nicholas II. Grigory Rasputin. S-Pb. 2005, p. 110.

28. The royal bird calls to God. M. 2009. S. 127

29. From under a lie. Emperor Nicholas II. Grigory Rasputin. S-Pb. 2005. S. 107.

30. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 267.

31. Ibid. T. 2. S. 240.

32. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 138

33. Dan Yu. A. The True Queen. M. 1998. S. 95.

34. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 2003. S.249

35. Ibid. P.286

36. The royal bird calls to God. M. 2009. S. 127

37. O. A. Platonov. The crown of thorns of Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. P. 248.

38. A. N. Bokhanov. Rasputin. Anatomy of a myth. M. 2000. S.359

39. O. A. Platonov. The crown of thorns of Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. S.250.

40. //How I burned Rasputin's body. Actual report by F. P. Kupchinsky. Cit. according to Russian messenger. No. 21-23//, 2002, p. 16).

41. Diary of Hofmeistrina Naryshkina E. A. With the Royal family under arrest. Latest news. 1936. No. 5533. 01/15/28/1917. Cit. By Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar Gregory the New. M. 2000. S. 285.

42. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 2. S. 111.

43. M. Smirnova V. Smirnov. Rasputin. Mound. 2004, p. 86.

44. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 2003. S.249

45. Purishkevich V. M. Diary. "How I Killed Rasputin". M. 1990. P. 135. Reprint from the Riga edition of 1924. Cit. according to Russian messenger. No. 21-23, 2002, p. 17.

46. ​​//Russian Bulletin. No. 21-23.// 2002. S. 17.

47. The case of the murder of Grigory Rasputin // Russian Word 1917. March 9-22. Cit. according to Russian messenger. No. 21-23, 2002. P. 3.

48. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 254.

49. Tsvetkov V. G. New friend. Nizhny Novgorod. 2004, p. 100

50. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 45.

51. Ibid. S. 144.

52. O. A. Platonov. The crown of thorns of Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. P.3.

53. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 41.

54. O. A. Platonov. The crown of thorns of Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. S. 95.

55. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 17.

56. Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov). At the turn of two eras. M. 1999. S. 134.

57. M. Smirnova V. Smirnov. Rasputin. Mound. 2004, p. 32.

58. Ibid. S. 32.

59. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 499.

60. Grigory Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. M. 2001. S. 24.

61. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 2003. S. 249

62. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 216

63. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. 19.

64. Ibid. S. 50.

65. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 48-49.

66. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 140.

67. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 1996. S. 84

68. Ibid. S. 312.

69. Platonov O. A. Crown of Thorns in Russia. The conspiracy of the regicides. M. 1996. P.23.

70. M. Smirnova V. Smirnov. Rasputin. Mound. 2004. S. 12.

71. Rasputin. Memories of a daughter. M. 2000. S. 19

72. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 46

73. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 2003. S. 56

74. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 1. S. 459.

75. Taneeva (Vyrubova) A.. A.. Pages of my life. M. 2000. S. 143.

76. Ibid.

77. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 3. S. 17.

78. Radzinsky E. S. Rasputin. Life and death. M. 1996. S. 95.

79. Ibid. S. 56.

80. Ibid. S. 400

81. Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. T. 2. S. 165.

82. Ibid. T. 1. S. 110.

83. Bats Foma. Wheat and tares. M. 1997. S. 156

84. The Royal Bird calls out to God. M. 2009. S. 133

85. Tsvetkov V. G. New Friend. Nizhny Novgorod. 2004, p. 116.

86. The Royal Bird calls out to God. M. 2009. S. 117.

87. Ibid. S. 117

89. The Royal Bird calls out to God. M. 2009. S. 63

90. Ibid. S. 747

91. Ibid. S. 107

92. Ibid. S. 762

93. Tsvetkov V. G. New Friend. Nizhny Novgorod. 2004, p. 142.

Grigory Rasputin. Biography

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born in the Ural village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen district.
Tobolsk province January 9, 1869 The next day, in memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa,
the baby was baptized with the name Gregory, which means "awake." From the age of fourteen
Gregory began to deeply comprehend the Gospel. Not being able to read, he memorized the gospel
texts that I heard at church services. From that time on, Gregory showed the gift of clairvoyance.
He could sit near the stove and suddenly declare: “A stranger is coming”

Lit .: Taneeva (Vyrubova) A, Radzinsky E, Tsvetkov V; Bets Foma, Platonov Oh,
Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), Purishkevich V, M. Smirnova, Evsin I.

RUSSIAN MONARCHIST,
2011-05 .