The monastery of Father Zosima. Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (Sokur)
Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, who called himself a “simple rural priest,” was the confessor of the Donetsk diocese, an elder, an ardent prayer book and preacher, a fighter against the schism in Ukraine, calling for adherence to the Russian Orthodox Church. Many laity and priests came to his monastery for spiritual advice and guidance.
About the Synodik
Everyone should have their own personal synodik, at least carry a whole book of this with you, pray, remember it at every service. The teachers who raised you in kindergarten; the teachers who taught you; the doctors who treated you - remember them all, starting from your barefoot childhood.
And ill-wishers.
This is the synod of your life.
You read some life, or you heard about some old man, or they told you something about some old woman - let me pray for them, and they will pray for me.
And this constant synodik of yours - the book of your life, not a wasted life, namely spiritual life - will constantly be replenished, and you will always not have enough time to read it.
It will become larger and larger, and the prayer will flare up more, and your heart will be lighter, and you will truly pray for your entire life and for the whole world.
Otherwise, remember, Lord, the whole world, and that’s all.
How many people have such a synod? Once or twice I miscalculated, and so my life passed in vain. I’ve had a synodik since I was a teenager, and I’m always signing, adding, adding. And I bequeath, Lord: I will die, guys, put my synodik in my coffin. I’ll go to God and say: “Lord, I didn’t live my life in vain, I tried to pray and remember for everyone.”
About church candles
Whenever I visited monasteries or churches, I never interfered: I bought candles and quietly passed them on in advance. Where they will be placed, to which icon they will be placed, I gave this candle to God as a sacrifice. When will it burn there? Maybe in as much as a month. You bought a candle - it has already gone to the Throne of God just like an alms-giver. Everyone should know this. And don’t engage in this lie: just put it there with shaking hands, stand there looking at this candle, distract people from prayer. They knock down another candle and make their own. This is a sin, you shouldn’t sin with it.
Quietly he laid the candles to God, just as that widow brought two kopecks from a pure heart, put them in - and that’s it. She didn’t think about who her money would go to, the last two kopecks. She brought them to God.
How we relate to God
Once recently I was talking with someone and said: “When Christ comes to earth, will we accept Him? Let's reject Him. The tragedy of the trial will happen again, the tragedy of Golgotha and the crucifixion will happen again... We don’t need You, Lord, You are preventing us from living.”
The demon tells us: “Grab everything from life, take it quickly, life is short.”
Yes, life is one moment, short. But God does not command us to take sinful things from life. God tells us: “Don’t sin, don’t be proud.” And the demon tells us: “Be proud: I always mean something in life, I have achieved, I have created my own company or farm, I am driving around in a foreign car, this trough. I, I..."
Arrogance, pride. Where will the humble and meek God be in such an “I”?
Of course, God interferes, God says: “Do not fornicate.” Fornication is a mortal, grave sin. What about us? Since childhood... The older generation, I see, is even less depraved.
God says: "Don't be greedy." But everything is not enough for us: come on, give us wealth, houses, houses - give us everything, give us some comforts. Previously, they were lying on the floor and were healthy. Now let's have separate beds. He came here: “I’ll work hard...” Give him a separate meal, borscht doesn’t suit him. My God, how can there be God in such a heart? This is the kind of heart that is subject to Satan. Of course, God will interfere.
That is why again: “Crucify! Get away from us, God! Like these Gadarene inhabitants, for the sake of these pigs, for the sake of these swinish, bestial pleasures: “Get away from us, Lord!” Our life has something in common two thousand years ago with our present time. Everyone think about themselves. Who are you like?
About the unity of Holy Rus'
How good: the brethren stand peacefully, quietly around the throne, forming a circle of eternity, praying. We celebrate the Divine Liturgy - the liturgy of peace, the liturgy of love, the liturgy of unity. We are not divided, even though among us there are Russians, and there are Greeks, and there are Bulgarians, and there are gypsies. And grant, Lord, that this united spiritual family of our holy monastery will serve as a good example for our state, so that we will not be divided, but united into a single family of Holy Rus' and be saved all together, as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were saved.
Today we prayerfully honor the memory of St. Sophrony of Irkutsk. He was a native of present-day Ukraine, then a Little Russian, a graduate of the Kyiv Theological Seminary, and founded the famous present-day Zolotonosha Monastery in the Cherkassy province. From Kyiv he was sent to St. Petersburg, to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and then all the way to Siberia, and was sent as a bishop to Irkutsk. This is how it should be in subsequent generations. Indivisible, so that this Ukraine, Russia, does not exist, the Russian land in the person of St. Sophrony (which is why I always pray to him fervently) so that it unites us all, so that we are a single spiritual family and, as I said, brothers and sisters in Christ our Lord .
About thanksgiving to God
We endlessly cry out to God: “God, give us this, give us that.” Endlessly: both in church at liturgy, at Vespers and at Matins. “Give me, Lord! Give it, Lord! Give it, Lord!” - the singers cry out endlessly in a great voice.
“For you, Lord!” - it sounds only once at the end. This “For you, Lord!” how much we miss in life.
If the Lord gives some kind of gracious help, are we like the Samaritan?
Almost no, never. We forget to say a simple thing: “Glory to You, Lord! To you, Lord!
The man completed his journey safely and arrived home. Will he say, “Glory to Thee, Lord”? How many of you have said? Forgot. A sick person undergoes surgery. As the Lord asks, even the unbeliever sighs: “God, a heavy knife is laid before me. How, if I get up, won’t I get up?” Recovered: “For you, Lord!” – is there or not?
We sit down to eat - few of us read the Lord’s Prayer, unfortunately. We always need to pray before eating; we eat the gift of God. And for this gift of God we do not even honor the simple prayer: “We thank You, Christ our God, for filling us with Your earthly blessings, do not deprive us of Your Heavenly Kingdom...” What wonderful simple words sound in this holy prayer! And we, like pigs, hurry to the table.
Forgive us sinners, Lord, teach us, Lord, to give thanks.
The highest gratitude is gratitude to God for calling us all to faith: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is to this spiritual peace that we have come – to God. Always give thanks for this grace of God. Especially when you come to the temple: “Glory to You, Lord, once again in my life the Lord has vouchsafed me to cross the threshold of this temple.” Maybe one of us is standing in church for the last time today; he will no longer be able to come, they will sing him and bury him in a grave. And how we should thank the Lord for this joy: we stayed again, we prayed again. What a wonderful service, what wonderful singing, reading and what a wonderful common prayer, quiet, peaceful. Calmly.
For this grace of God of the true Orthodox faith, leading to eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven, we always lovingly thank the Lord: “Lord, no matter what, we remain believers, we are faithful to You, Lord, and we strive for You, Lord, we We come to You, Lord, and for this mercy, glory to You, Lord!”
Always take this gratitude into your heart.
But, the righteous Job the Long-Suffering says, you need to give thanks not only for good things, but also for trials.
Something was stolen - of course, it’s a pity, according to natural human concepts: “Oh, my God, they stole.” The coat was taken away, or the pennies were stolen, or the car was totaled, or whatever it was. Well, then: “Glory to Thee, Lord.”
Or maybe, in this car that was stolen, we would have crashed to death and destroyed our family. If they took you away, they took you away, let them take you away for your health. God will send more wheels. Maybe something else, and another, and another.
God humbles pride through illness, I know from myself and I tell everyone from experience. When you are sick, everything carnal retreats from you, you just groan and think: “What a sinner I am. And how you need to answer for your sins before God.” Here you immediately remember both death and the coffin. And as soon as the sores go away, you’ll look out the window at the women and look around, but you won’t even remember beyond the grave. Ask me now where your coffin is, I will say: I don’t know where that coffin is.
And we should always be grateful to the Lord for illnesses. The Lord cleanses us through illness.
How to lay up treasures in Heaven
Do alms. “Alms are the queen of all virtues,” says St. John the Merciful. Mercy must always be there for everyone. Give to the poor, the unfortunate, help someone, work for mercy to the best of your ability and ability, so you will build yourself, brick by brick, a palace in eternity, heavenly abodes, your own chambers, your own rooms. These rooms and chambers are different. Some have beautiful palaces - they always give with all their hearts, even if it is little, what they have, but with all their hearts. They will have bright, joyful chambers. Others are gloomy. And still others will have some kind of dugouts there for their stinginess. In general, the hard-hearted are just for me, for me, it’s not enough, it’s not enough! - such people will have nothing in the next world, there will be only total hell for them, and total darkness, and the gnashing of teeth.
You gave a drink to the suffering person with your soul - not like you scooped up water: “Here, drink”, but with love: “Drink some water for your good health” - you have already laid a brick in your house. You fed a poor dog or a homeless cat, you fed the birds - you’ve already laid a brick. Only from the bottom of my heart, not like this: “Here, eat, get off me.” You fed someone poor and suffering with love: “For good health, Angel at the table, eat our food,” so you laid a brick.
If you don’t have something, at least smile a kind smile, spread your hands helplessly: “I would be glad, but my pockets are empty.” And the person is already happy, and you are no longer like an animal: “Leave me alone, get away from me,” but with joy and love. This is already a brick.
And so all our lives, brick by brick, and our economy continues into eternity, the economy of heaven.
Father Zosima was born in a prison hospital in the Sverdlovsk region, where his mother was serving exile for confessing her faith. Ivan’s childhood years (that was the name of Zosima’s father in the world) were spent in Avdeevka, a mining town not far from Donetsk. Here, after the end of exile and imprisonment, many sisters of the Ioannovsky Monastery settled, among whom was Mother Antonina, his mother’s sister. The future elder grew up in this monastic community.
At school Vanya Sokur was nicknamed “priest.” He was neither an October boy, nor a pioneer, nor a Komsomol member. “I have had one party all my life,” said Father Zosima, “this is Mother, I had one party charter - this is the Gospel and the Law of God... They bullied me a lot at school for going to church. They re-educated teachers, attracted schoolchildren: beat this priest there so that he doesn’t run to church!.. Persecuted, hated, I went and went to the temple of God, to spite the devil...”
From his childhood, Vanya Sokur dreamed of becoming a priest, but he was not able to enter the seminary right away - the era of Khrushchev’s persecution began, and his documents were not accepted. He studied at the technical school to become a veterinarian, and a year after graduating from the technical school he became a novice at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. After its closure, he decided to go to the Holy Spiritual Skete of the Pochaev Lavra. Father Zosima recalled with love his short stay in the monastery: in those years the venerable elders Kuksha of Odessa and the venerable Amphilochius labored in Pochaev.
Despite many obstacles, Vanya Sokur managed to enter the Leningrad Theological Seminary, and then the academy, which he graduated in 1975. Then he became a monk with the name Savvaty.
By assignment, he was sent to the Odessa diocese, to the Holy Dormition Monastery, where he was assigned to live in the very cell that had previously been occupied by the Monk Kuksha of Odessa. Father Savvaty also received the schema clothing of the Monk Kuksha, which the priest treated as a great shrine.
To care for his mother, Father Savvaty moves to the Donetsk diocese, where he becomes rector of the rural church of St. Alexander Nevsky.
During the years of Father Zosima's ministry in the village of Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district, the dilapidated village church was transformed. Father Zosima served in the church every day. As his children said, “his services were always long, monastic ones, but he prayed fervently.” Rumors about Father Zosima spread throughout Ukraine.
Schema-nun Thomaida recalled: “With difficulty they persuaded me to go to Alexandrovka, one old mother begged me to accompany her, a monk serves there: what a prayer there is! We left for Pokrov. It rained all the way, and I, a sinner, grumbled all the time on the bus: does it matter what church you pray in, the service is the same everywhere. Wet and chilled, we entered the temple. She stood near the doors, everything was dark, only the altar was glowing. I heard only two words from the priest: “Peace to all.” I had never heard such a thing and did not know that such a prayer existed. I burst into tears and cried throughout the entire service. The service passed in an instant..."
The elder's service in Aleksandrovka, especially the last two years, was confessional - the atheists oppressed him in every possible way, arrested him, and beat him. Until the end of his days, the priest’s broken lungs hurt, a hump grew on his back, and wounds opened on his legs.
In 1985, at the insistence of the authorities, the elder began to be transferred from church to church, so that within a year he changed three parishes... In 1987, Father Savvaty was appointed rector of the Vasilyevsky Church in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district.
“They decided to drive him to a place,” wrote schema-nun Thomaida, “where transport does not go. There is no public transport: no one will come to him there... Right next to the entrance to the temple there is a toilet and a garbage dump, the church yard is overgrown with weeds. The temple is abandoned, dilapidated, there is no iconostasis - instead of it there is a plywood board - it was scary to enter. Near the temple there is a burnt wooden shed - the priest’s house, the windows have grown into the ground, there are mice and rats inside...”
But Nikolskoye turned out to be a holy land - before the revolution there was an apparition of the Mother of God, nuns expelled from the Crimean monasteries lived here, a tradition was kept here that one day a monk would come to serve here and two monasteries would arise. And so it happened...
The fact that the blessed elder was serving in Nikolskoye soon became known everywhere, and people from all over the country went to the remote rural church, and then to the monastery founded by Father Savvaty, for prayer, for teaching, for help. As it is written in the elder’s biography, “Father Zosima found the right words for each person, speaking in his language, as if wedging into the wave of his thoughts: with a child, and with a simple peasant woman, and with a learned professor, and with a practical business executive, and with an impressionable poet - he spoke to everyone as an equal to equals, on their level.”
According to the doctors, the old man’s illnesses were enough to kill even ten people. But, despite his illnesses, until his death, which followed in 2001, Father Zosima performed senile service, prayed and received people. Before his death, the elder repeated again and again to his spiritual children: “Soon I will leave you. The last days of my life on earth remain. I leave a spiritual testament to everyone: even after your death, stick to Moscow, stick to the Russian Orthodox Church...”
Spiritual Instructions
◊ My late elder said: “In recent times people will depart from God, they will pray to Him little and please him, but from each clan they will choose a chosen one. And this chosen one will, with his prayer, his deeds, his suffering, beg for the sins of his entire family.” This is what monasticism of the 21st century is.
And often I say to those who come and ask to enter the monastery: I honor you all as God’s chosen ones from this prodigal, crazy world.
Not only pray to the Lord for yourself, but also for your entire family - and for the sins of your great-grandfathers, and for all your relatives, monks should, as they said in Rus', “beg God,” “beg.”
◊ Nowadays, the demon especially cultivates thoughts: everyone around us is “harassing” (they are doing - Ed.), causing damage, casting spells. And when the Lord sends us trials, we do not go to the temple of God - to the Mother of God and the Savior, no, the demon sends us: go to the witch, she will tell you. And this sorceress, a satanic grandmother: “You were “damaged” by your mother, your daughter-in-law was “damaged” by you, your son was “damaged” by you, there was someone else there.”
There was a peaceful Christian family. As soon as this fire of satanic malice, hatred, abuse ignites, the family will fall apart. This is how the demon beats and stirs.
Beware of this, always remember: it is not people who “embarrass” us – we ourselves are “embarrassed” by our sins, and everyone suffers for their sins. And if we suffer, we are not forgotten by God. We must always remember this and thank God for everything, like the righteous, long-suffering Job. Thank God not only for the good, but also for the bad: for all trials, for all sorrows, for all illnesses, for all adversities - for all glory to You, Lord.
This is exactly the kind of holy gratitude we should have: then we will be children of God...
◊ I repeat endlessly: this is a lie of our time, we are liars when we say: we were “damaged”, they cast a spell on us, they whispered about us - that’s all a lie.
People do not send, but allow. God’s permission also happens to a person through people, but people are not to blame here: the Lord gives. The book of righteous Job tells us about this. And we very often lie before God when we blame our sins and our suffering on someone else; Someone is to blame for something, not us.
It is a great sin for us that we think bad things about innocent people. The person does not even suspect that we are thinking some kind of abomination towards him. For this sin, for these bad thoughts, we will answer strictly at God’s judgment, and these people will testify against us.
Think about this. Never be inclined to think that you were “damaged”, that you were cast a spell, that you were damaged, and all other nonsense - this is God’s will. A prayerful sigh from our heart should come: “Lord, you give me illnesses, some kind of sinful fall - help me, give me the strength to calmly endure these illnesses, endure this fall, stand up after the fall, repent, realize everything...” Not be sinfully stubborn, like some of us: if you are stubborn in sin, I’m right, I’m right. These are proud and arrogant people, liars and deceivers before God.
You always need to have spiritual strength to realize that you are wrong, to have the strength to repent and correct yourself.
Everyone be your own judge: do not justify your sins, do not lie before God, do not persist in sin, soften, correct yourself, so that you do not go to hell for your sinful persistence, so that everyone is sure to be saved, so that we do not again hit the face of the Savior with our unrepentant sins ...
◊ Be especially afraid of thinking bad things about innocent people - what a grave sin this is.
Because of our stupidity, people fall into sin, because of our stupidity, families fall apart, because of our stupidity, children get sick, but we don’t think about it, we all blame someone. We blame our daughter, we blame our son-in-law - they are to blame. But you yourself, evil snake, are to blame for everything: through you, both your granddaughter and your child suffer. He blames everyone: “They don’t understand, they’re all evil, but I’m such an innocent sufferer, I’m like that...” - even paint an icon. This is a very difficult delusion, our pride.
Beware, be aware of it. I give food for thought: because of us, because of our inner pride, self-justification of our sins, our families suffer - and we do not realize.
They often come to me and complain about their children and grandchildren. I say: when the leaves on a tree are sick, what is treated - the leaves or what? So you yourself answered - the root, the parents are treated, then the children will come to life, then the children will be joyful, then the leaves will turn green again.
This is how we must act: look at the root, we must heal ourselves, humble ourselves, cleanse ourselves, and then the Lord will give purity to our generations.
◊ First of all, my dear ones, he will not ask us: what kind of temple did we build, what crosses did we put up, gold or silver, what bells will ring there... But what will God ask us at the trial? About our deeds, about our past life. Your deeds will either make you famous or you will be ashamed. This is what God will ask us about: did you feed the hungry, did you receive the beggar or the stranger, did you visit the one in prison, did you warm the orphan, this is what the Lord will ask us about at the trial - about good deeds...
As the famous doctor Haass said: “Hurry to do good - life is short!”
◊ The most sacred word is “mother”. This is the most holy word. God grant that we look after our parents, especially when they become helpless, weak, like children, not to grumble at them, not to be offended, not to think about which nursing home to send them to as soon as possible and wish them to die, but to feed them with love, help them in all their infirmities. So that we, with a pure soul, can stand at their coffin when their death comes.
I know from confessions: how many people are suffering now who treated their parents disgustingly during their lifetime. The parents have already gone into eternity - what pangs of conscience, and it’s already too late: the train has left, the red lights are on...
So take care of your parents. Treat them sacredly...
◊ “I serve the Fatherland!” - what could be higher than these words than serving the Fatherland. Just as a priest serves the holy altar, bringing his work and prayer to the altar of God, so every citizen must serve the Fatherland. Especially all government officials, military men, and you, brothers and sisters, must serve the Fatherland.
Then we will have patriotism, then there will be meaning in life, then we will have a peaceful, calm and long future life.
◊ The Lord gathered us under the arch of this sacred temple for the holy Divine Liturgy, for repentance, for communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and especially for prayer for each other. The Lord, the holy apostles, commanded us to pray for each other - and we fulfill this: we pray for health and for peace, we remember, we remember all benefactors, we always remember all enemies - we pray for everyone with comprehensive Christian prayer.
And God grant that our prayers be simple - without guile, without cunning, without hypocrisy - children's prayers. “Unless you are like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The most precious thing is when the heart prays, otherwise it often happens that the mouth speaks words, but the heart is silent, and the result is empty nonsense.
God grant that we simply pray, pray with our souls. The Lord does not require great prayers from us, and the holy saints of God knew the hard life of people: they never burdened the people with lengthy rules. “Pray briefly, but with your soul,” said St. Seraphim of Sarov. What rule did he give for people? “Our Father”, “Virgin Mary”, “I Believe” read - and for this thank God, and for this prayer in this crazy, heavy, God-apostate world - only from the bottom of my heart...
Help me, Lord, to strive for this pure, childlike, heartfelt prayer, so that the heart always prays, so that a sigh comes from the heart - then there will be joy in prayer, and meaning in prayer. And then at times we mumble, we try to read a lot of everything, but there is emptiness in our hearts - just muttering, just verbiage, just leaving the line.
Teach, Lord, how to pray correctly, always say prayer with a sigh of the heart. Especially when starting some business, always ask for God’s blessing, and always, when finishing some business, thank God - for this there will be God’s great help to us in our affairs and in our lives.
◊ How often I cite the example of our Russian princess Olga: how she prayed, how much she suffered for her son, Svyatoslav. But because of his cruel heart, the Lord did not look upon him: so he died a cruel death as a pagan. But the grandmother’s prayers were all fulfilled on her grandson Vladimir. And we honor, glorify, magnify our holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, grandson of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. Through the prayers of this great old woman, the Lord looked upon him, and he became not only a Christian himself, but also an educator of the Russian land.
That’s why I always say: don’t lose heart in your prayers! Some foolishly say: “Well, I’m praying, but no one hears me, I’ve been praying for two years already.”
We just pray for twenty more, forty more only - and God forbid that we pray without despondency until our last breath! So don't be discouraged in your prayers! Remember that ours will never be in vain - the Lord will hear us. Let our prayer not be fulfilled today - it will be fulfilled in ten years, it will be fulfilled for our grandchildren, but every word of God will certainly be fulfilled in our lives.
Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, in the world Ivan Sokur, is a highly spiritual and perspicacious elder. The kind, heartfelt, simple and instructive words that Father Zosima spoke during his lifetime reveal to us the world of genuine Christian spiritual life, embodied in repentance, prayer, mercy, heartfelt crying and love for others.
The elder menacingly denounced the passions and vices of the modern world, turning his righteous anger towards the schismatic autocephalists who were tearing apart Christ’s robe. His pastoral word sounded like thunder from the pulpit, calling on the Orthodox to stand firm in the faith.
The elder departed to the Lord on August 29, 2002. Not wanting to overshadow the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, he begged for one more day of life, prolonging the painful suffering with which the Lord visited him at the end of his days, and reposed peacefully on the day of the All-Merciful Savior, shortly before his birthday.
Paradise apple trees were planted in the monastery, which bloomed on the anniversary of the death of the elder
The elder liked to say that after his death the large altar clock, a unique landmark of the monastery, would stop. And so it happened. When the sad news about the death of the old man came from the hospital, the clock showed the time 23-45 (according to the data updated after publication, the time indicated in the title is not entirely correct). The clock stopped: time stood still, forever fixing the mournful hour of the elder’s departure into blissful Eternity. Currently, this clock is in the altar of St. Basil's Church.
It is also noteworthy that Father Zosima spoke to his children about his impending death in this way: “When you see the icon of St. St. John of Kronstadt with sprinkler, which means it’s time for me to leave.” “Father, this cannot be, there is no such icon,” his children were embarrassed. However, soon some benefactors from Russia brought him a gift of an icon of St. Ave. John of Kronstadt in half-length, on which he is depicted holding an asper in his hands. An icon of pre-revolutionary writing, written on two tongue-and-groove boards. Everyone realized that the hour had struck...
Let us turn to the elder’s biography, the glorious milestones of which are very instructive.
Ivan Alekseevich Sokur (that was the name of Zosima’s father in the world) was born in the village. Kosolmanka, Verkhotursky district, Sverdlovsk region, September 3, 1944. His father died at the front that same year. Mother, Maria Ivanovna, future schema-nun Mariamna, was a peasant woman. She was a lover of Christ and maintained friendly relations with nuns, for which she was imprisoned. There, in the hospital, her son was born. Initially, they wanted to name him Fadley in honor of the apostle, but the mother’s acquaintances, who visited the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, received a blessing from schema-abbot Kuksha to name the baby John - in honor of the Baptist of the Lord John.
Since 1951, the future elder lived in the city of Avdeevka, Donetsk region, where he graduated from school in 1961 with excellent marks. My mother’s sister, who was a nun, lived there and her name was Antonina. Once she was the spiritual daughter of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. He did not immediately enter the priestly path. First, from 1961 to 1964, he studied at an agricultural college and even managed to work as a veterinarian. Then, with the blessing of his spiritual mentor, he became a novice of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. There, by the will of God, he ended up in a cell where Schema-Abbot Kuksha (Velichko), glorified among the saints as St., once lived until his death. Kuksha Odessa. Ivan's confessor, schema-abbot Valentin, predicted many events in his life that happened later and, one might say, changed his whole life.
Initially, the future elder tried to enter the Moscow Theological Seminary, but the authorities actively prevented this. Persecuted by state security agencies, Ivan Sokur moved to Novosibirsk and served for a year as a subdeacon with Archbishop Pavel (Golyshev).
In 1965, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, immediately into his second year, and in 1974 he graduated from the Theological Academy in Leningrad and, having defended his dissertation on the topic: “The Valaam Monastery and its church-historical significance,” received the degree of Candidate of Theological Sciences. In 1975, Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod tonsured fourth-year academy student Ivan Sokur into monasticism in honor of Savvaty Solovetsky. After some time, he was ordained a deacon, and later a hieromonk.
The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God is celebrated in the monastery almost as solemnly as Easter
Immediately after his studies, the future elder was sent to the Odessa Holy Dormition Monastery. But the serious illness of his mother forced Hieromonk Savvaty to submit a petition for transfer to the Voroshilovgrad-Donetsk diocese, into the clergy of which he was accepted on December 25, 1975, receiving the place of a village priest in the church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the village. Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district. The temple was extremely poor, but through the diligence of Father Savvaty, many parishioners appeared in it, and soon the necessary repairs were carried out and all the purchases necessary for the life of the church were made. An iconostasis was erected, crosses, new icons, and various utensils were purchased. Subsequently, Metropolitan Hilarion (Shukalo) of Donetsk and Mariupol recalled: “I was always amazed by his temple construction. Wherever he came to serve, he immediately started major repairs and construction. I remember how in 1980, when I was still serving as a psalm-reader at the Holy Dormition Church in Donetsk, on the feast of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God we went to Father Savvaty in Aleksandrovka to consecrate the new altar. He managed to make this throne at the very period when churches in the USSR were just being closed and destroyed. At that time it was almost a sensation.”
Apparently, Father Savvaty performed a miracle worthy of the Lord: the feat of restoring the temple. All this time he lived at the temple, and his mother, who lived in Staromikhailovka, often came to him for services. She loved to pray, standing on the right side of the altar, and when the dates appointed by the Lord were fulfilled, Father Savvaty tonsured her into the great schema. There were legends about the peacefulness and meekness of Mother Mariamne. According to the former altar boy of the Alexander Church, currently abbot Zinon, she was a person of high spiritual life, a real Angel. Schema-nun Innocentia, who worked at the Alexander Church for many years, recalled: “Very good, courteous, hospitable. Father often raised his voice when they didn’t listen to him or did something wrong. Mother Mariamne to him: “Why are you shouting, you can’t be rude to people like that. We need to talk to people normally.” But the priest will shout, scold, and feel sorry for everyone. He was both strict and kind at the same time.”
In the Assumption Nikolo-Vasilievsky monastery, founded by Father Zosima.
Schema-nun Mariamne went to the Lord in 1981 at the end of Peter's Lent, on the eve of the feast of the holy supreme Apostles Peter and Paul during the reading of the Psalter and was buried in Aleksandrovka not far from the church.
The hierarchy appreciated the selfless work of the zealous hieromonk. In 1977, the future elder was awarded a pectoral cross, in 1980 he was elevated to the rank of abbot, and in 1983 he was awarded the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, III degree, and in 1984 - a club. The Soviet authorities did not like such active and courageous activities of the village priest, so he was humbled more than once, subjected to all kinds of humiliation. However, persecution only strengthened him in the feat of bearing the cross. Then they began to transfer Father Savvaty from one parish to another in order to deprive the flock and break the spirit of the priest who was inconvenient for them. Sorrows undermined his health, but did not break his spirit.
Temple interior
In 1985, he was appointed rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the village. Andreevka, Velikonovoselkovsky district. Having barely settled in a new place, after Easter 1986, he was transferred again, this time to the Holy Trinity Church in Makeevka, soon receiving an appointment as rector of the Holy Intercession Church in the village. Andreevka, Snezhnoye.
On November 22, 1986, the priest was appointed rector of St. Basil's Church in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district. Father Savvaty arrived in Nikolskoye at the very end of November 1986, and served for the first time in the Vasilyevsky Church on the feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here, finally, he found refuge until the end of his days.
Great prayerful and creative work lay ahead.
It was already freezing, and in the dilapidated church, as well as in the abbot’s house with gaping broken windows that had to be covered with a mattress, it was cold, a piercing icy wind was blowing. An abomination of desolation reigned all around. In the best traditions of godless times, a latrine and a huge garbage dump were located directly at the entrance heap. The beautiful majolica iconostasis, which was a decoration of the Vasilyevsky Church before the revolution, was barbarically broken and thrown away, and an ordinary plywood board took its place.
For a long time, fragments of this unique iconostasis were found in the ground, which the priest collected and kept as a shrine in the altar. It seemed that in order to restore the desecrated temple, it would be necessary to spend a lot of time and invest huge amounts of money. But what is beyond the power of man is possible with the Lord. Already in 1988, a baptismal sanctuary was erected here, the abbot's chambers and a refectory were built for pilgrims, of whom there were more and more. They flocked to the loving abbot for kind words and wise advice, and no one left unconsoled.
Meanwhile, in 1989, the church was given the St. Nicholas Church, which found itself in an even more terrible state. The scope of work has significantly increased, but this only increased the efforts of Abbot Savvaty tenfold. And these efforts were appreciated.
In 1990, the ascetic, growing from strength to strength according to his spiritual age, was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. This didn't make him proud. On the contrary, perceiving this as a kind of advance towards future affairs, he intensified his prayerful zeal and in 1992 he was tonsured into the schema by Bishop Alypius of Donetsk and Slavs. Schema-Archimandrite Zosima appeared to the Orthodox world: with this name he forever entered the history of eldership.
Years of creation continued. The beginning of the future monastery was laid by the almshouse equipped by Father Zosima in 1997, where infirm people, left to the mercy of fate, found refuge. To provide them with decent shelter in their old age, a temporary residence house located not far from the temple was rented from the village council.
The monks and nuns living there delight with good spirits and obvious well-groomed appearance. They remember with gratitude Elder Zosima, whom many were honored to know during his lifetime.
In 1998, on Holy Cross Sunday, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was admitted to intensive care with acute renal failure: his kidneys failed. The old man was dying.
In this serious condition, he experienced what is commonly called clinical death. As Father himself recalled, he had already seen the heavenly abodes, heard angelic singing indescribable in its beauty (only the Great Doxology of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra melody vaguely resembles this wonderful singing, he said).
Beyond the threshold of this life, he met with his companion and companion of prayer - Schema-Archimandrite Theophilos, who brought him back to earth:
- It’s still too early for you, the whole earth is crying for you.
It is not known whether Father Zosima had a revelation, or simply after returning from the other world he looked at things differently - but he set about building the monastery. One thing can be said with certainty is that he did nothing without the direction of the Lord, without the will of God, which was revealed to him in prayer.
The Lord wanted this exhausted Elder to accomplish the almost impossible. What he could not decide to do even in relative health was to erect a heavenly monastery on earth, a paradise for earthly angels, as monks are called.
“Tell from mouth to mouth about his prayers, teachings, deeds - from generation to generation, for a truly great man lived among us: confessor, monk, mentor, friend, brother and father...” Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol.
In 1998, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was officially appointed confessor of the Donetsk diocese and a member of the Diocesan Council. In commemoration of his high services to the Lord, on March 26, 1999 he was awarded the Order of Nestor the Chronicler, on April 20, 2000 - the right to wear a second cross with decoration, and on the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ - the Order of the Nativity of Christ - 2000, 1st degree.
In the same year, the St. Nicholas women's monastery was officially registered, and in 2001, the St. Basil's Monastery, under the blessed protection of which they gathered. The first governor of which was the ever-remembered Schema-Archimandrite Zosima. The Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievskaya monastery with its fraternal and sister buildings was consecrated.
In the last years of his life, the elder was seriously ill and on August 29, 2002, he passed away to the Lord. The Lord revealed to him the time of his death, which he repeatedly told his saddened children about, preparing them for this sad event. He was buried on the territory of the monastery monastery he built in a small chapel.
His brainchild, the monastery, was put in order only in 2008. Patriarch Kirill himself came to consecrate him, who personally knew Father Zosima and spoke of him with great warmth.
The Ukrainian TV channel KRT created amazing films about the life of this outstanding, visionary old man: “The Life-Long Road”, “Funeral Prayer”. In 2005, the Sretensky Monastery Publishing House published the book “Schiarchimandrite Zosima (Sokur). A Word about Holy Rus'". In 2013, the second part of the same publishing house’s book about the elder, entitled “What the Soul Grieves Over,” was published.
Today, many years have passed since the day of his death, and only now many of his prophetic words have become painfully clear to the heart, since his most fatal predictions have come true. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted that the Romanov royal family would be glorified as saints in 2000. In his sermons we hear him talk about how the end is approaching. The times of the Antichrist have already prepared their terrible disastrous scenarios, which are about to begin.
Today, the day of memory of Father Zosima, the monastery was visited by the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. He led the funeral Liturgy dedicated to the memory of the elder
Predictions of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima
War, like the wrath of God, will fall on our people. Blessed will be those who have not given birth, for this means that the children who are born today will die a martyr's death. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted blood, hard life and grief with tears. Today bombs are falling on Serbia, tomorrow they will bomb Kyiv and reach Moscow.
Soon there will be more criminals than just normal people. There are guns everywhere, a man with glassy eyes can shoot another man for fun. The decline of morals in society. Betrayal of the Church, Motherland and all that is holy is being prepared.
But monasticism will stand as an army against the servants of Antichrist until the very end of the age. There will be many more venerable martyrs and companions of monks; it is they who will courageously stand up at the moment when everyone bows to the Antichrist.
Father Zosima (Sokur) inspired all his children with the words that the forces of the Antichrist will not overcome the Orthodox Church. The lamps of the true faith will always burn on our holy land. The main thing is to be in the bosom of the Russian Patriarchal Church and its unshakable canons.
Many in Russia knew him, and in Ukraine everyone knew him and revered him, just as in Russia Fr. Nikolai Guryanov, we went to him in the same way as to Fr. Nicholas with all his sorrows, receiving healing and learning about his future. Zosima died 3 days after Fr. Nicholas. The Lord revealed the date of his death to him in advance.
The will he left is an important document of the entire Russian Church:
“Follow strictly the Russian Orthodox Church and His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
In the event of Ukraine's departure from Moscow, whatever the autocephaly, lawless or “legal,” the connection with the Metropolitan of Kyiv is automatically severed.
From the existing monasteries, then form a House of Mercy, which will fulfill the holy laws of mercy - serving people until their burial, and this commandment must be fulfilled by the monastery forever. Do not accept any threats or curses, because they are not canonical and lawless.
Stand firmly for the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the event of a fall from the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church - the ruling bishop does not exist, the monasteries pass into stauropegial management under the omophorion of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. I pray to God and hope that His Holiness the Patriarch will not refuse and will accept him under his omophorion.
If this is impossible, then the monasteries will come under independent abbot management in the likeness of the Valaam monastery at the beginning of our century, under the guise of bright future times of unity of Ukraine and Russia, which, I deeply believe, will inevitably come, with which I go into eternity.
Funeral service for the deceased elder
Create an effective Sunday school in monasteries for growing children, our future. There should never be televisions or other satanic video equipment in the monastery.
The main languages in the monastery should be Church Slavonic and Russian, the rest - as needed.
As I depart into eternal life, I say my last word to you, dear brothers, sisters and all those praying in our monastery: stick to the Russian Orthodox Church - salvation is in it...”
But these conversations were recorded in the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery 14 years ago, but it seems that Schema-Archimandrite Zosima is speaking to us from today. He talks about nationalism, Bandera, schismatics, love, hatred, Victory Day, the West and the Sun of Truth - our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Forgive us, Lord! You brought us love and peace, but we sowed evil and hatred. You brought humility to us on earth, but we perish in our pride. You brought love - and we hate and despise each other.
Forgive us, Lord, for our devastated Fatherland. That we, the Russian people, are being made artificial enemies, - and yet we were all baptized in the same font of Kievan Rus, and not Ukraine. The holy Dnieper is a sacred river for us. The Holy Dnieper unites three current nations. The holy Dnieper is our Russian Jordan. Forgive us, Lord, that we sow enmity - Muscovites, crests and other peoples - when we are all one holy Rus',” said Elder Zosima 12 years ago, during Great Lent 2002.
After the meal, all pilgrims and parishioners had their calendars blessed.
Come to Nikolskoye! Father's birthday is coming soon (September 3). Travel from Kyiv by Mariupol train to Volnovakha, then 20 minutes by minibus, and you are in an amazing monastery. At checkpoints, only young men are searched, but everyone is allowed through.
Come, you won’t regret it!
Photos for publication were provided by Sergiy Fritch
During his lifetime, Father Zosima (Sokur) spoke kind, heartfelt, simple and instructive words. They reveal to us the world of genuine Christian spiritual life, embodied in mercy, heartfelt crying and love for others. At the same time, this perspicacious old man menacingly denounced the passions and vices of the modern world. His word sounded like thunder from the pulpit; he turned his righteous anger on the shameless schismatic autocephalists tearing apart Christ’s robe.
Schema-Archimandrite Zosima Sokur
Ivan Alekseevich Sokur (that was the name of Zosima’s father in the world) was born in the village. Kosolmanka, Verkhoturye district, Sverdlovsk region. This happened on September 3, 1944. His father died at the front that same year. Mother, Maria Ivanovna (future schema-nun Mariamna), was a peasant woman. She was friends with nuns, and for this she was sent to prison. There, in the hospital, her son was born. At first they wanted to name him Thaddeus (in honor of the apostle), but the mother’s acquaintances, who visited the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, received a blessing from schema-abbot Kuksha to name the baby John - in honor of John the Baptist.
The Path to the Priesthood
After her release, Maria Ivanovna and her son Ivan moved to live in Avdeevka, Donetsk region. Her sister lived there, who was a nun, and her name was Antonina. Once she was the spiritual daughter of Father John of Kronstadt himself.
In 1961, Ivan graduated with honors from Avdeevsk secondary school No. 1. But he did not immediately embark on the priestly path. First, from 1961 to 1964, he studied at an agricultural technical school and even managed to work as a veterinarian. Then, with his blessing, he became a novice of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. There, by the will of God, he ended up in the cell where Schema-Abbess Kuksha of Odessa once lived until his death. Ivan's confessor, schema-abbot Valentin, predicted many events in his life, one might say, even his whole life.
Study in Leningrad
At first, he had an unsuccessful attempt to enter the Spiritual School; the state security service prevented this. Ivan Sokur moved to Novosibirsk and served for a year as a subdeacon with Archbishop Pavel (Golyshev).
From 1968 to 1975, he studied at the Theological Seminary and Academy of Leningrad, and he was immediately enrolled in the second year. In 1975, Ivan Sokur, at that time a 4th year student, was tonsured a monk by Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod with a name in honor of Savvaty Solovetsky.
Immediately after his studies, he was sent to the Odessa Holy Dormition Monastery. But the serious illness of his mother forced Savvaty to submit a petition for his transfer to the Donetsk diocese. There he began to serve as a village priest in the church of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky in the village. Alexandrovka, Maryinsky district. The church was poor, but Father Savvaty was able to make sure that the parishioners appeared, and the necessary repairs, and all the purchases necessary for the life of the church were made: the iconostasis, crosses, new icons. At that time, and this was 1980, churches in the USSR were basically closed, and Father Savvaty literally performed miracles, creating a worthy throne for the Lord.
Activity is punishable
In 1977, he was awarded, in 1983, the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, III class, and in 1984, with a club. The Soviet authorities did not like such active and courageous activities of the village priest, so he was repeatedly threatened and beaten. His health was failing. They began to transfer Father Savvaty from one parish to another in order to break the spirit of the priest who was inconvenient for them. Every year he moved from church to church, from city to city, from village to village, until in 1986 he became abbot of St. Basil's parish in the village. Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district (Lugansk region). And again, the first thing he does is repair, build and put everything in order. In 1988, he managed to build a baptismal chamber, abbot's chambers and a pilgrimage refectory.
In 1990, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and in 1992 he was tonsured into the schema, receiving the name Zosima. In 1997, thanks to his efforts, the almshouse for infirm people was tripled. In 1998, Father Zosima founded the Holy Dormition St. Nicholas Convent with fraternal and sister corps.
On August 29, 2002, Elder Zosima (Sokur) passed away. He knew that he would die soon. His body was buried on the territory of the monastery he built in a small chapel. His brainchild, the monastery, was put in order only in 2008. Patriarch Kirill himself came to consecrate him, who personally knew Father Zosima and spoke of him with great warmth.
Movies
The Ukrainian TV channel KRT created amazing films about the life of this outstanding, visionary old man: “The Life-Long Road”, “Funeral Prayer”. In 2005, the publishing house published the book “Schiarchimandrite Zosima (Sokur). A Word about Holy Rus'". In 2013, the second part of the same publishing house’s book about the elder, entitled “What the Soul Grieves Over,” was published.
About the prophecy of Zosima Sokur
Today, many years have passed since the day of his death, and only now many of his prophetic words have become painfully clear to the heart, since his most fatal predictions have come true. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted that the Romanov royal family would be glorified as saints in 2000. In his sermons we hear him talk about how the end is approaching. The times of the Antichrist have already prepared their terrible disastrous scenarios, which are about to begin.
War, like the wrath of God, will fall on the Russian people. Blessed will be those who have not given birth, for this means that the children who are born today will die a martyr's death. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted blood, hard life and grief with tears. Today bombs are falling on Serbia, tomorrow NATO Satanists will bomb Kyiv and reach Moscow. Soon there will be more criminals than just normal people. There are guns everywhere, a man with glassy eyes can shoot another man for fun. The decline of morals in society. Betrayal of the Church, Motherland and all that is holy is being prepared.
Father Zosima (Sokur) warned that the whole battle would begin from Kyiv - from the cradle of Russian cities. From him it will roll across the entire Russian land and will not bypass Russia. Autocephalists will drive away true Orthodox clergy, many of whom will face prison and extortion.
According to him, “Western crests” will oppose the Orthodox faith. But monasticism will stand as an army against the servants of Antichrist until the very end of the age. There will be many more venerable martyrs and companions of monks; it is they who will courageously stand up at the moment when everyone bows to the Antichrist.
Father Zosima (Sokur) inspired all his children with the words that the Spirit of Rus' is powerful and invincible. The Russian bear sleeps, endures, but as soon as it wakes up and takes the club in its shaggy paw, and when it spins and hits, then all Masonic Europe will fly away from this Russian holy club. Mother Russia will stand, and there will be great grace there. The forces of the Antichrist will not defeat the Orthodox Church. The lamps of the true faith will always burn on the holy Russian land. The main thing is to be in the bosom of the Russian Patriarchal Church and its unshakable canons.
Schema-Archimandrite Zosima, in the world Ivan Sokur, is a highly spiritual and perspicacious elder. The kind, heartfelt, simple and instructive words that Father Zosima spoke during his lifetime reveal to us the world of genuine Christian spiritual life, embodied in repentance, prayer, mercy, heartfelt crying and love for others. 
The elder menacingly denounced the passions and vices of the modern world, turning his righteous anger towards the schismatic autocephalists who were tearing apart Christ’s robe. His pastoral word sounded like thunder from the pulpit, calling on the Orthodox to stand firm in the faith. 
The elder departed to the Lord on August 29, 2002. Not wanting to overshadow the great feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, he begged for one more day of life, prolonging the painful suffering with which the Lord visited him at the end of his days, and reposed peacefully on the day of the All-Merciful Savior, shortly before his birthday. 
Paradise apple trees were planted in the monastery, which bloomed on the anniversary of the death of the elder
The elder liked to say that after his death the large altar clock, a unique landmark of the monastery, would stop. And so it happened. When the sad news about the death of the old man came from the hospital, the clock showed the time 23-45 (according to the data updated after publication, the time indicated in the title is not entirely correct). The clock stopped: time stood still, forever fixing the mournful hour of the elder’s departure into blissful Eternity. Currently, this clock is in the altar of St. Basil's Church. 
It is also noteworthy that Father Zosima spoke to his children about his impending death in this way: “When you see the icon of St. St. John of Kronstadt with sprinkler, which means it’s time for me to leave.” “Father, this cannot be, there is no such icon,” his children were embarrassed. However, soon some benefactors from Russia brought him a gift of an icon of St. Ave. John of Kronstadt in half-length, on which he is depicted holding an asper in his hands. An icon of pre-revolutionary writing, written on two tongue-and-groove boards. Everyone realized that the hour had struck...
Let us turn to the elder’s biography, the glorious milestones of which are very instructive.
Ivan Alekseevich Sokur (that was the name of Zosima’s father in the world) was born in the village. Kosolmanka, Verkhotursky district, Sverdlovsk region, September 3, 1944. His father died at the front that same year. Mother, Maria Ivanovna, future schema-nun Mariamna, was a peasant woman. She was a lover of Christ and maintained friendly relations with nuns, for which she was imprisoned. There, in the hospital, her son was born. Initially, they wanted to name him Fadley in honor of the apostle, but the mother’s acquaintances, who visited the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, received a blessing from schema-abbot Kuksha to name the baby John - in honor of the Baptist of the Lord John. 
Since 1951, the future elder lived in the city of Avdeevka, Donetsk region, where he graduated from school in 1961 with excellent marks. My mother’s sister, who was a nun, lived there and her name was Antonina. Once she was the spiritual daughter of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt. He did not immediately enter the priestly path. First, from 1961 to 1964, he studied at an agricultural college and even managed to work as a veterinarian. Then, with the blessing of his spiritual mentor, he became a novice of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. There, by the will of God, he ended up in a cell where Schema-Abbot Kuksha (Velichko), glorified among the saints as St., once lived until his death. Kuksha Odessa. Ivan's confessor, schema-abbot Valentin, predicted many events in his life that happened later and, one might say, changed his whole life.
Initially, the future elder tried to enter the Moscow Theological Seminary, but the authorities actively prevented this. Persecuted by state security agencies, Ivan Sokur moved to Novosibirsk and served for a year as a subdeacon with Archbishop Pavel (Golyshev). 
In 1965, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, immediately into his second year, and in 1974 he graduated from the Theological Academy in Leningrad and, having defended his dissertation on the topic: “The Valaam Monastery and its church-historical significance,” received the degree of Candidate of Theological Sciences. In 1975, Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod tonsured fourth-year academy student Ivan Sokur into monasticism in honor of Savvaty Solovetsky. After some time, he was ordained a deacon, and later a hieromonk.
The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God is celebrated in the monastery almost as solemnly as Easter
Immediately after his studies, the future elder was sent to the Odessa Holy Dormition Monastery. But the serious illness of his mother forced Hieromonk Savvaty to submit a petition for transfer to the Voroshilovgrad-Donetsk diocese, into the clergy of which he was accepted on December 25, 1975, receiving the place of a village priest in the church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the village. Aleksandrovka, Maryinsky district. The temple was extremely poor, but through the diligence of Father Savvaty, many parishioners appeared in it, and soon the necessary repairs were carried out and all the purchases necessary for the life of the church were made. An iconostasis was erected, crosses, new icons, and various utensils were purchased. Subsequently, Metropolitan Hilarion (Shukalo) of Donetsk and Mariupol recalled: “I was always amazed by his temple construction. Wherever he came to serve, he immediately started major repairs and construction. I remember how in 1980, when I was still serving as a psalm-reader at the Holy Dormition Church in Donetsk, on the feast of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God we went to Father Savvaty in Aleksandrovka to consecrate the new altar. He managed to make this throne at the very period when churches in the USSR were just being closed and destroyed. At that time it was almost a sensation.” 
Apparently, Father Savvaty performed a miracle worthy of the Lord: the feat of restoring the temple. All this time he lived at the temple, and his mother, who lived in Staromikhailovka, often came to him for services. She loved to pray, standing on the right side of the altar, and when the dates appointed by the Lord were fulfilled, Father Savvaty tonsured her into the great schema. There were legends about the peacefulness and meekness of Mother Mariamne. According to the former altar boy of the Alexander Church, currently abbot Zinon, she was a person of high spiritual life, a real Angel. Schema-nun Innocentia, who worked at the Alexander Church for many years, recalled: “Very good, courteous, hospitable. Father often raised his voice when they didn’t listen to him or did something wrong. Mother Mariamne to him: “Why are you shouting, you can’t be rude to people like that. We need to talk to people normally.” But the priest will shout, scold, and feel sorry for everyone. He was both strict and kind at the same time.” 
In the Assumption Nikolo-Vasilievsky monastery, founded by Father Zosima.
Schema-nun Mariamne went to the Lord in 1981 at the end of Peter's Lent, on the eve of the feast of the holy supreme Apostles Peter and Paul during the reading of the Psalter and was buried in Aleksandrovka not far from the church.
The hierarchy appreciated the selfless work of the zealous hieromonk. In 1977, the future elder was awarded a pectoral cross, in 1980 he was elevated to the rank of abbot, and in 1983 he was awarded the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh, III degree, and in 1984 - a club. The Soviet authorities did not like such active and courageous activities of the village priest, so he was humbled more than once, subjected to all kinds of humiliation. However, persecution only strengthened him in the feat of bearing the cross. Then they began to transfer Father Savvaty from one parish to another in order to deprive the flock and break the spirit of the priest who was inconvenient for them. Sorrows undermined his health, but did not break his spirit. 
Temple interior
In 1985, he was appointed rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the village. Andreevka, Velikonovoselkovsky district. Having barely settled in a new place, after Easter 1986, he was transferred again, this time to the Holy Trinity Church in Makeevka, soon receiving an appointment as rector of the Holy Intercession Church in the village. Andreevka, Snezhnoye.
On November 22, 1986, the priest was appointed rector of St. Basil's Church in the village of Nikolskoye, Volnovakha district. Father Savvaty arrived in Nikolskoye at the very end of November 1986, and served for the first time in the Vasilyevsky Church on the feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here, finally, he found refuge until the end of his days. 
Great prayerful and creative work lay ahead.
It was already freezing, and in the dilapidated church, as well as in the abbot’s house with gaping broken windows that had to be covered with a mattress, it was cold, a piercing icy wind was blowing. An abomination of desolation reigned all around. In the best traditions of godless times, a latrine and a huge garbage dump were located directly at the entrance heap. The beautiful majolica iconostasis, which was a decoration of the Vasilyevsky Church before the revolution, was barbarically broken and thrown away, and an ordinary plywood board took its place.
For a long time, fragments of this unique iconostasis were found in the ground, which the priest collected and kept as a shrine in the altar. It seemed that in order to restore the desecrated temple, it would be necessary to spend a lot of time and invest huge amounts of money. But what is beyond the power of man is possible with the Lord. Already in 1988, a baptismal sanctuary was erected here, the abbot's chambers and a refectory were built for pilgrims, of whom there were more and more. They flocked to the loving abbot for kind words and wise advice, and no one left unconsoled.
Meanwhile, in 1989, the church was given the St. Nicholas Church, which found itself in an even more terrible state. The scope of work has significantly increased, but this only increased the efforts of Abbot Savvaty tenfold. And these efforts were appreciated.
In 1990, the ascetic, growing from strength to strength according to his spiritual age, was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. This didn't make him proud. On the contrary, perceiving this as a kind of advance towards future affairs, he intensified his prayerful zeal and in 1992 he was tonsured into the schema by Bishop Alypius of Donetsk and Slavs. Schema-Archimandrite Zosima appeared to the Orthodox world: with this name he forever entered the history of eldership.
Years of creation continued. The beginning of the future monastery was laid by the almshouse equipped by Father Zosima in 1997, where infirm people, left to the mercy of fate, found refuge. To provide them with decent shelter in their old age, a temporary residence house located not far from the temple was rented from the village council. 
The monks and nuns living there delight with good spirits and obvious well-groomed appearance. They remember with gratitude Elder Zosima, whom many were honored to know during his lifetime. 
In 1998, on Holy Cross Sunday, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was admitted to intensive care with acute renal failure: his kidneys failed. The old man was dying.
In this serious condition, he experienced what is commonly called clinical death. As Father himself recalled, he had already seen the heavenly abodes, heard angelic singing indescribable in its beauty (only the Great Doxology of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra melody vaguely resembles this wonderful singing, he said).
Beyond the threshold of this life, he met with his companion and companion of prayer - Schema-Archimandrite Theophilos, who brought him back to earth:
- It’s still too early for you, the whole earth is crying for you.
It is not known whether Father Zosima had a revelation, or simply after returning from the other world he looked at things differently - but he set about building the monastery. One thing can be said with certainty is that he did nothing without the direction of the Lord, without the will of God, which was revealed to him in prayer.
The Lord wanted this exhausted Elder to accomplish the almost impossible. What he could not decide to do even in relative health was to erect a heavenly monastery on earth, a paradise for earthly angels, as monks are called.
“Tell from mouth to mouth about his prayers, teachings, deeds - from generation to generation, for a truly great man lived among us: confessor, monk, mentor, friend, brother and father...” Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. 
In 1998, Schema-Archimandrite Zosima was officially appointed confessor of the Donetsk diocese and a member of the Diocesan Council. In commemoration of his high services to the Lord, on March 26, 1999 he was awarded the Order of Nestor the Chronicler, on April 20, 2000 - the right to wear a second cross with decoration, and on the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ - the Order of the Nativity of Christ - 2000, 1st degree.
In the same year, the St. Nicholas women's monastery was officially registered, and in 2001, the St. Basil's Monastery, under the blessed protection of which they gathered. The first governor of which was the ever-remembered Schema-Archimandrite Zosima. The Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievskaya monastery with its fraternal and sister buildings was consecrated. 
In the last years of his life, the elder was seriously ill and on August 29, 2002, he passed away to the Lord. The Lord revealed to him the time of his death, which he repeatedly told his saddened children about, preparing them for this sad event. He was buried on the territory of the monastery monastery he built in a small chapel. 
His brainchild, the monastery, was put in order only in 2008. Patriarch Kirill himself came to consecrate him, who personally knew Father Zosima and spoke of him with great warmth. 
The Ukrainian TV channel KRT created amazing films about the life of this outstanding, visionary old man: “The Life-Long Road”, “Funeral Prayer”. In 2005, the Sretensky Monastery Publishing House published the book “Schiarchimandrite Zosima (Sokur). A Word about Holy Rus'". In 2013, the second part of the same publishing house’s book about the elder, entitled “What the Soul Grieves Over,” was published. 
Today, many years have passed since the day of his death, and only now many of his prophetic words have become painfully clear to the heart, since his most fatal predictions have come true. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted that the Romanov royal family would be glorified as saints in 2000. In his sermons we hear him talk about how the end is approaching. The times of the Antichrist have already prepared their terrible disastrous scenarios, which are about to begin. 
Today, the day of memory of Father Zosima, the monastery was visited by the ruling bishop, Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol. He led the funeral Liturgy dedicated to the memory of the elder 
Predictions of Schema-Archimandrite Zosima
War, like the wrath of God, will fall on our people. Blessed will be those who have not given birth, for this means that the children who are born today will die a martyr's death. Father Zosima (Sokur) predicted blood, hard life and grief with tears. Today bombs are falling on Serbia, tomorrow they will bomb Kyiv and reach Moscow. 
Soon there will be more criminals than just normal people. There are guns everywhere, a man with glassy eyes can shoot another man for fun. The decline of morals in society. Betrayal of the Church, Motherland and all that is holy is being prepared. 
But monasticism will stand as an army against the servants of Antichrist until the very end of the age. There will be many more venerable martyrs and companions of monks; it is they who will courageously stand up at the moment when everyone bows to the Antichrist.
Father Zosima (Sokur) inspired all his children with the words that the forces of the Antichrist will not overcome the Orthodox Church. The lamps of the true faith will always burn on our holy land. The main thing is to be in the bosom of the Russian Patriarchal Church and its unshakable canons. 
Many in Russia knew him, and in Ukraine everyone knew him and revered him, just as in Russia Fr. Nikolai Guryanov, we went to him in the same way as to Fr. Nicholas with all his sorrows, receiving healing and learning about his future. Zosima died 3 days after Fr. Nicholas. The Lord revealed the date of his death to him in advance. 
The will he left is an important document of the entire Russian Church:
“Follow strictly the Russian Orthodox Church and His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
In the event of Ukraine's departure from Moscow, whatever the autocephaly, lawless or “legal,” the connection with the Metropolitan of Kyiv is automatically severed.
From the existing monasteries, then form a House of Mercy, which will fulfill the holy laws of mercy - serving people until their burial, and this commandment must be fulfilled by the monastery forever. Do not accept any threats or curses, because they are not canonical and lawless. 
Stand firmly for the canons of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the event of a fall from the unity of the Russian Orthodox Church - the ruling bishop does not exist, the monasteries pass into stauropegial management under the omophorion of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. I pray to God and hope that His Holiness the Patriarch will not refuse and will accept him under his omophorion. 
If this is impossible, then the monasteries will come under independent abbot management in the likeness of the Valaam monastery at the beginning of our century, under the guise of bright future times of unity of Ukraine and Russia, which, I deeply believe, will inevitably come, with which I go into eternity. 
Funeral service for the deceased elder
Create an effective Sunday school in monasteries for growing children, our future. There should never be televisions or other satanic video equipment in the monastery. 
The main languages in the monastery should be Church Slavonic and Russian, the rest - as needed.
As I depart into eternal life, I say my last word to you, dear brothers, sisters and all those praying in our monastery: stick to the Russian Orthodox Church - salvation is in it...” 
But these conversations were recorded in the Holy Dormition Nikolo-Vasilievsky Monastery 14 years ago, but it seems that Schema-Archimandrite Zosima is speaking to us from today. He talks about nationalism, Bandera, schismatics, love, hatred, Victory Day, the West and the Sun of Truth - our Lord Jesus Christ. 
“Forgive us, Lord! You brought us love and peace, but we sowed evil and hatred. You brought humility to us on earth, but we perish in our pride. You brought love - and we hate and despise each other. 
Forgive us, Lord, for our devastated Fatherland. That we, the Russian people, are being made artificial enemies, - and yet we were all baptized in the same font of Kievan Rus, and not Ukraine. The holy Dnieper is a sacred river for us. The Holy Dnieper unites three current nations. The holy Dnieper is our Russian Jordan. Forgive us, Lord, that we sow enmity - Muscovites, crests and other peoples - when we are all one holy Rus',” said Elder Zosima 12 years ago, during Great Lent 2002. 
After the meal, all pilgrims and parishioners had their calendars blessed.
Come to Nikolskoye! Father's birthday is coming soon (September 3). Travel from Kyiv by Mariupol train to Volnovakha, then 20 minutes by minibus, and you are in an amazing monastery. At checkpoints, only young men are searched, but everyone is allowed through.
Come, you won’t regret it! 
Photos for publication were provided by Sergiy Fritch
