Father Alipiy was distinguished by special determination and fortitude. Once he burned a paper about the closure of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in front of the envoys, turned to them and said: " I'd rather be martyred, but I won't close the monastery ". When they came to take away the keys to the caves, he commanded his layman: " Father Cornelius, bring the ax here, we'll chop heads! "Those who came turned to flee.

For such determination and courage, as well as for the great work on the improvement of the monastery in those difficult years for the whole Church, Archimandrite Alipiy received the nickname Great Viceroy...

The famous restorer Savva Yamshchikov says:

"Father Alipiy and I are standing on the balcony, talking about icons. A car drives up: "We are from the financial inspection, with a check." The pastor elaborates:
- Who sent you?
- Like who? Regional Executive Committee.
- The fact is that I do not obey the regional executive committee. Metropolitan only.
- Okay, we'll call.
- No, you can't sew a call to the case. Bring me paper. It's not far, fifty kilometers there, and the same amount back. It's still early, you'll have time.
The financial inspectors left. After a while, the metropolitan calls:
- Alipiy, why don't you let me in?
I can't without your permission.
- Well, let me go, I order you.
- Vladyka, a telephone conversation cannot be sewn to the point. You give me a telegram, please, telegram. Your secretary will beat off, and in three minutes she will be here. My postman is fast.
Indeed, in half an hour the secretary brings a telegram. Here the financial inspection drives up, they quickly turned around. Archimandrite Alipy comes out to them with a telegram.
- Oh, they've arrived. So how is it?
- Well, how! Here is your telegram.
- I am now sending my contact on our car to the first secretary of the regional committee, Ivan Stepanovich Gustov. What are you? You represent the regional executive committee, and you have a document from the one you are fighting with, from the lord. You are atheists! How can I let you inspect the monastery with such a document? Go, and I'll call Ivan Stepanovich.
When the checkers left with nothing, I asked if Ivan Stepanovich was really going to call. Shrugged. Why say distract. They won't come again...
And so every day. Once he told me: “Sava, if they later paint my hagiographic icon, then it should consist of 25 hallmarks. According to the number of lawsuits that I won from the Soviet authorities. They drag me for one thing, then for another. But I am all the courts brilliantly won. "

***

Archimandrite Alipiy (in the world Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov) was born in 1914 into a poor peasant family in the village of Tarchikha near Moscow. In 1927 he moved to Moscow, where he graduated from high school in 1931, but often returned to the village, helping his sick mother. Since 1933, he worked as a worker on the construction of the metro and at the same time studied at the art studio at the Moscow Union of Artists.

Then, after serving since 1935 in the army, in 1941 he graduated from the art studio at the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.

From 1942 to 1945 he was in the active army, had a number of awards.

After the war he was accepted into the Union of Moscow Artists.

These dry facts of life help to better understand the characteristic features of the personality of the future Archimandrite Alipy the builder and restorer of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, a worthy successor to those builders whom we know from the history of the monastery.

More recently, one of the Pskov-Pechersky sheets spoke about preparations for closing during the Khrushchev persecution of the Church of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Confessingly openly opposed this at the suggestion to sign the decree, the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy. In front of the taken aback representative of the atheistic authorities, he took the decree in his hands and threw it into a blazing fireplace... And the monastery was not closed!

Truly a man of strength and reason, an integral, self-sacrificing personality was Archimandrite Alipiy in all manifestations of his Christian service. A vivid assessment of his character are his own words: " The one who goes on the offensive wins. Defending is not enough, you need to go on the offensive ".

Exactly one week separates the day of memory of the death of Archimandrite Alipiy - February 27 (dates according to church calendar) - from the day of memory of the most prominent steward of the Pskov-Caves Monastery - Abbot Kornily. Archimandrite Alipy was a worthy follower of the Monk Cornelius, he was also a builder, icon painter, an energetic, active, versatile person. Archimandrite Alipiy managed to restore the walls enclosing the monastery almost from ruins, carried out many other restoration and restoration works, paid attention to maintaining the icon-painting tradition of the monastery, he painted icons himself.

Let us dwell on some facts of the life of Archimandrite Alipiy. From a young age, Ivan Voronov had a deep faith and wanted to express it in the service of the Church. On February 27, 1950, he entered the Trinity-Sergius Lavra as a novice. On August 15 of the same year, he was tonsured a monk by the Lavra's abbot, Archimandrite John (later Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov), with the name Alipiy, in honor of the Monk Alipiy, the icon painter of the Caves. On September 12, 1950, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Patriarch Alexy, and on October 1, on the Feast of the Intercession Holy Mother of God, - as a hieromonk with the appointment of a sacristan of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1952 Father Alipiy was awarded a pectoral cross, and by the Easter holiday of 1953 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen. Along with the obedience of the sacristan, he was instructed to lead the artists and craftsmen who carried out restoration work in the Lavra. Then, until 1959, he took part in the restoration and decoration of a number of Moscow churches.

By decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy dated July 15 (July 28), 1959, hegumen Alipy was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery.

In 1961 hegumen Alipiy was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. In 1963, he was awarded the Patriarchal Certificate for diligent work on the restoration of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery. In 1965, on the patronal day of the monastery - the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God, he was awarded a second cross with decorations, later he was awarded the orders of the Holy Prince Vladimir III and II degree, and also awarded the Order of Christ the Savior and a cross II degree by His Beatitude Patriarch Theodosius VI of Antioch and All the East .

Father Alipy often preached, especially about Christian love, saying: " Christ who suffered on the Cross commanded us: "Love one another!" And therefore, in order to get rid of evil, only one thing is needed: to fulfill this last commandment of the Lord ".

Archimandrite Alipiy died on February 27 (March 12), 1975, having served the Lord in the monastic rank, exactly 25 years from the day he entered the Lavra as a novice. Early in the morning on Wednesday of Cheese Week, having asked forgiveness from everyone and forgiving everyone, he peacefully and quietly departed to the Lord.

From the Word spoken by Archimandrite Nathanael (Pospelov) on the 20th anniversary of the death of Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov):

In 1959, Father Alipy was appointed to the Pskov-Caves Monastery, who arrived in Pechory for the patronal feast in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. His pastoral zeal for the good of our Holy Monastery, his zeal for service, his talents immediately aroused for him a special love of the brethren of the monastery, the faithful of Pechersk, Pskov and pilgrims. Their zealous prayers and petitions helped to overcome all difficulties in order to establish Fr. Alypiy as the abbot of our monastery.

The confessor of the monastery, Hieroschemamonk Simeon (Zhelnin), inspired him to the feat ahead: " Go ahead, nothing will happen to you! "

Father Alipiy had the gift of words: more than once one had to hear from pilgrims: " Let's wait another week, maybe we'll hear Father Alipiy's sermon ". In his teachings, he supported the discouraged, consoled the faint-hearted:

"Brothers and sisters, you have heard calls to intensify anti-religious propaganda, do not hang your head, do not lose heart, this means that they have become tight."
- "It's a terrible thing to join the crowd. Today she shouts: "Hosanna!" After 4 days:" Take, take, crucify Him! they will ask: “Why?” - Answer: “Because yours is not true.” - “Why?” - “Because my conscience tells me.” - “How to recognize Judas?” - “He who dips his hand in salt, he will betray me” ", - said the Savior at the Last Supper. A daring student who wants to catch up with the teacher, with the boss, take first place, be the first to take up the decanter. The elders have not had breakfast yet, but the baby is already licking his lips, he has already eaten. The future Judas is growing. At 12 - one Judas If the elders did not sit down at the table, and you do not sit down. The elders sat down, sit down in prayer, and you. The elders did not take a spoon, do not take it either. The elders took a spoon, then take it. The elders began to eat, then you begin too. ".

This is how Fr. Alipy. If at a prayer in the church at Fr. Alipius sighs and tears appeared, then sighs and tears were immediately heard among those praying with him. Such was his strength of mind.

Father Alipiy always helped the needy, distributed alms, many who asked received help from him. For this, Father Alipiy had to endure a lot. He defended himself with the words of the Holy Scriptures about the need to render works of mercy and argued that works of mercy cannot be forbidden, this is an integral part of the life of the Holy Orthodox Church. Whoever forbids works of mercy infringes on the Church of Christ, does not allow her to live her own life.

As an icon painter and restorer, he took care to restore the bronzed dark iconostasis of the Assumption Church, interior painting Mikhailovsky Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church (restored the iconostasis of the chapel, restored the icon of the Saint, expanded the temple at the expense of the tower, strengthened the walls, restored the stylish dome (stylish - from the word "style" - a set of features characteristic of the art of a certain time and direction (in this case, Pskov school of architecture of the 15th-16th centuries).

The fortress wall-fence with combat towers and passages was restored, their coverings were restored. Six icons of the Mother of God in the Nikolskaya chapel were painted with his participation and guidance. On the feast of the Mother of God on July 8 and October 22, we put the icon of Kazan on the lectern, the cell icon of Father Alipy, painted by him.

He used his talents as a builder of the Moscow Metro in building a bridge across the Kamenets stream, opposite the Assumption Church.

Father Alipy has repeatedly criticized the lies about the Pskov-Caves Monastery and wrote an article about St. Cornelius in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (1970, Nos. 2 and 3), so as not to distort history.

Father Alipiy defended believers before the mighty of the world of this, took care of their employment. He wrote that the only fault of these people is that they believe in God.

Father Alipy was affable and sociable, he received visitors with love, shared his talents, and gave wise answers.

When civilian visitors asked him how the monks lived, he drew their attention to the Divine Liturgy, which was celebrated in the Dormition Church. " Do you hear?" he asked. The visitors replied: " We hear". - "What do you hear?" - "The monks sing". - "Well, if the monks lived poorly, they would not sing ".

When the faithful were carving flowerbeds in the monastery, the authorities asked: Who works for you and on what basis? "Father Alipiy replied:" It's the host nation toiling on their own land ". And there were no more questions.

He instructed the pastors of the church arriving at the monastery to diligently serve in his church.

"So, you, father, have left your church, and the demon will serve in your church ". - "How so?"- they objected to him. Father Alipiy answered in the gospel:" The devil will find an empty temple... "

During the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, he explained that the service in the temples should not stop, since cows do not go to temples, and not a single institution stops its work on the occasion of foot-and-mouth disease.

When they were not allowed to visit the caves, father Alipiy blessed every morning, at 7 o'clock, to serve a memorial service in the caves, so that believers would have the opportunity to visit the caves and commemorate their relatives and friends, especially those who died in the Great Patriotic War. A decree was sent to stop serving memorial services in the caves. With the blessing of Father Alipiy, panikhidas continued to serve. Asking Father Alypiy whether he had received the decree, Father Alipiy replied that he had received it. " Why don't you do it? "- the question followed. Father Alipiy answered that this decree was written under pressure due to weakness of spirit," I don't listen to the weak in spirit, I only listen to the strong in spirit ". And the service of funeral services in the caves was not interrupted.

Father Alipiy never went on vacation. And even, as he himself wrote, he did not go out of the monastery gates of his own accord, diligently diligently applied himself to the fulfillment of monastic vows. And he answered the accusers that if worldly evil spirits flow from the world into the monastery on a clean monastery courtyard, then this is no longer our fault.

At the beginning of 1975, Alipiy's father had a third heart attack. He had the memory of death in advance. In advance, a coffin was made for him with his blessing and stood in his corridor. And when asked: Where is your cell?"- he pointed to the coffin and said:" Here is my cell". In the last days of his life, hieromonk Father Theodorit was with him, he daily communed Father Alipy and, as a paramedic, provided him with medical assistance. On March 12, 1975, at 2 o'clock in the morning, Father Alipy said: " The Mother of God came, how beautiful She is, let's paint, we will draw "The paints were applied, but his hands could no longer act, how many heavy shells he dragged with these hands to the front line in the Great Patriotic War. At 4 o'clock in the morning, Archimandrite Alipiy died quietly and peacefully.

Metropolitan John served the funeral service with a congregation of monastic and visiting clergy. The loss was deeply felt even by civilian leaders. People did not rejoice at the merriment of the Shrovetide week, which was followed by the death of Father Alipiy.

Until his death, he taught the blessing for every monastic service and work and did not leave his obedience.

Give rest, O Lord, to the soul of Your ever-remembered servant, Archimandrite Alipiy, in Your Heavenly Villages, and have mercy on us, the unworthy ones, according to Your great mercy!

Awards

Church

Pectoral Cross (October 25, 1951)
pectoral cross with decorations (October 8, 1953)
patriarchal charter (February 21, 1954, for work in Lukino)
gratitude (February 11, 1955, for a valuable gift to the church and archaeological office - the icon of St. Nicholas of the end of the 16th century).
patriarchal charter (March 23, 1963)
Order of Christ the Savior and Cross II degree (July 11, 1963, awarded by Patriarch Theodosius of Antioch)
Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir III degree (November 26, 1963)
the right to serve the Liturgy with the Holy Doors open until the sacramental verse (1966).
Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir II degree (August 27, 1973)
pectoral cross with decorations (September 9, 1973)

secular

Awarded for good performance in the amount of 100 rubles (November 4, 1940, plant 58).
medal "For Military Merit" (October 15, 1944)
badge "Guard" (April 15, 1945)
Order of the Red Star (July 8, 1945)
medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War" (July 10, 1946)
medal "For the capture of Berlin" (January 8, 1947)
Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" (February 10, 1947)
medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (September 17, 1948)
Jubilee Medal "20 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" (December 1, 1966)
Jubilee medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (November 28, 1969)
anniversary medal "25 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War" (1970)
memorial sign "People's militia of Leningrad" (November 30, 1971)
badge "Veteran of the 4th Guards Tank Army" (1972)

After going through the entire war from 1942 to Berlin, he became a monk. Already at the post of rector of one of the last unclosed Russian monasteries, he gave battle to a many times superior enemy. He fought and won.

Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov, the future archimandrite and icon painter, was born in 1914 into a poor peasant family in the village of Torchikha, Moscow province. After graduating from a rural school in 1926, he moved to live and study in Moscow with his father and older brother. At the end of the nine-year plan, he lived in the village for two years, caring for his sick mother. In 1932 he began working at the Metrostroy, studied at the evening studio at the Moscow Union of Artists. And in 1936, Voronov entered the art studio organized by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, which in those years was equated with the Academy of Arts. In the same year, Voronov was drafted into the Red Army, where he served for two years. During this time, Ivan carried out a lot of work on the organization of art circles and art studios at the military units of the Moscow Military District.

Demobilized in 1938, Ivan Voronov got a job as a dispatcher and freight forwarder at the secret military plant No. 58 named after. K. Voroshilov (now JSC "Impulse", on Mira Avenue). Here he met the Great Patriotic War. The plant produced the bombs needed by the front. But when the front line approached the capital, the factory authorities in a panic tried to evacuate using company cars. The flight of leaders beyond the Urals, away from the war, was a common occurrence in the autumn of 1941. But Voronov had the courage not to succumb to the general panic. The young dispatcher did not allow the factory vehicles to be used to escape the authorities, but used them to send bombs to the front.

Worried about the fate of his sick mother, Voronov left for his native village for several days, and when he returned to the capital, he found the plant abandoned. The bosses still ran away! But workers remained on the ground, with whom Voronov decided to resume the production of bombs. Production was carried out at the risk of life. The Germans bombed Moscow, and any hit on the plant could turn it into a mass grave. But the release of bombs did not stop for a minute, malnourished and sleep-deprived workers exceeded the daily production rate by 300%. As Archimandrite Alipiy himself recalled, “our military plant was like a front, and they didn’t go home from the plant.”

Ivan Voronov was called to the front on February 21, 1942. He went to war not only with a machine gun, but also with a sketchbook with paints.

Advancing with the front line, he had time for the locals to restore icons and fed the whole unit with the products that the locals gave him for the restoration of icons.

At the front, Ivan Voronov created several sketches and paintings, several albums of "combat episodes". The front-line works of the master already in 1943 were exhibited in several museums of the USSR.

The command encouraged "cultural and educational work among the personnel of the unit", which was carried out by the artist, and noted the skillful fulfillment of tasks "to generalize combat experience and party political work." “All the work done by Comrade Voronov is in the nature of creativity and novelty. In a combat situation, he behaved boldly and courageously.

Ivan Voronov traveled from Moscow to Berlin as part of the Fourth Tank Army. He took part in many military operations on the Central, Western, Bryansk and First Ukrainian fronts. God kept the future archimandrite, he did not receive a single wound or concussion. For participation in the battles, Voronov was awarded the medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For the Victory over Germany", "For the Capture of Berlin", "For the Liberation of Prague", the Order of the Red Star and the badge "Guard". In total, the artist-soldier received 76 combat awards and promotions.

The war left an indelible mark on the soul of Ivan Voronov: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to the monastery.” Having become a monk Alipiy, archimandrite of the Pskov-Pechora monastery, in his sermons he repeatedly turned to military topics, often recalled the war: “I often went to night patrols and prayed to God that enemy scouts would not meet, so as not to kill anyone.”

Ivan Mikhailovich returned from the war famous artist. As he himself recalls: “In the autumn of 1945, returning from the front, I brought about a thousand different drawings, sketches and sketches and immediately organized an individual exhibition of my front-line works in the House of Unions in Moscow. This exhibition helped me join the city committee of the Association of Moscow Artists and gave me the right to work as an artist. Every year I had one or two individual or group exhibitions, which showed my growth as an artist.

But the career of a secular painter did not attract him. “In 1948, while working in the open air at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was captivated by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a resident of the Lavra, and decided to devote myself to serving the Lavra forever.”

On admission to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, his mother blessed him with the icon of the Mother of God "Assuage my sorrows", saying: "Mother of God, let him be carefree." And he saw the blessing of his own mother as effective. During the tonsure, when it was necessary to determine his monastic name, the Lavra's abbot looked at the Calendar; the closest name, so that he would immediately be a birthday boy, turned out to be "Alypiy", the name of the Monk Alipiy, the famous icon painter of the Kiev Caves. After taking the tonsure, Father Alypiy himself looked at the Calendar and read the translation of his new name: "sorrowless." Therefore, when representatives of the authorities tried to frighten him on the phone, he answered: “Please note, I am Alipiy - carefree.” And as his heavenly patron, Father Alipiy was also an icon painter.

He did not have a separate cell. The governor of the Lavra showed him a place in the corridor with the condition that if Father Alypiy made a cell for himself in this corridor by morning, then the cell would be his. Father Alipiy answered: "Bless me." And in one night he made partitions, upholstered the enclosed cell inside with a splinter, plastered, whitewashed, arranged the floor, painted it. And in the morning the Lavra's governor was extremely surprised when he came to Father Alipiy and saw him in a new cell at a table with a hot samovar.

Soon he was awarded the priesthood, and in 1959 he was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Father Alipiy held this responsible post from 1959 to 1975.

The most difficult task fell on his shoulders: not only to restore the shrines and antiquities of the famous Pskov-Caves monastery. But another task was even more difficult - to protect the monastery from being closed by the authorities.

The Soviet era was generally a time of the most severe restriction of all freedoms, including freedom of religion. Hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of priests, monks and bishops, were executed by the authorities only for faith and fidelity to God. Thousands of churches were destroyed, the rest were closed: even in large cities, the authorities tried to leave only one Orthodox church open.

The war forced the authorities to ease pressure on the Church and open some churches. But Khrushchev began a new round of struggle with the Church. He promised to show the latest priest on TV. That is, he was looking forward to the present times, when the TV will replace God for people, and hoped to live to see them.

Here are the headlines of the central and local publications of that time: "The Pskov-Caves Monastery - a hotbed of religious obscurantism", "Hallelujah in a squat", "Freeloaders in cassocks", "Hypocrites in cassocks". It was very difficult to resist slander, it was even more difficult to save the monastery. In his reports addressed to Metropolitan John of Pskov and Velikoluksky, Archimandrite Alipiy emphasized: “Newspaper articles full of undeserved insults and slander against honest, kind and good people, insults to the mothers and widows of dead soldiers - this is their “ideological struggle” - the expulsion of hundreds and thousands priests and clerics, and the best ones. How many of them come to us with tears that they can’t get at least a worldly job anywhere, their wives and children don’t have anything to live on.

What could one monk oppose to the apparatus of suppression of omnipotent power? He only had one weapon. But the most powerful weapon is the word!

The boldness of his words is striking even when viewed from our liberal time. How amazingly this bold and firm word sounded then! When they told him: “Father, you can be imprisoned…”, he answered: “They won’t imprison me, I’ll imprison them myself. There is no fault on me." Even during the war, he learned that the best defense is an offensive.

Here are just a few examples showing how Father Alipiy repulsed the attacks of the authorities. Some of the stories were told by the monks, some became the property of popular rumor and told by the Pecherians.

State beggars

Archimandrite Alipiy, being the governor, could answer with a sharp word to anyone. The city authorities once called him:

Why can't you clean up your mess? After all, you have beggars in the monastery!

“Forgive me,” Father Alipiy answers, “but the beggars are not with me, but with you.”

- How is it with us?

- It's very simple. The land, if you remember, was taken from the monastery along the Holy Gates. On which side of the gate are the beggars, on the outside or on the inside?

- From the outside.

So I'm saying you have them. And in my monastery all the brethren are drunk, fed, dressed and shod. And if you don’t like beggars so much, then you pay them a pension of 500 rubles each. And if after that someone asks for alms, I think that one can be punished according to the law. And I don't have any.

Interview for "Science and Religion"

In the late sixties, two journalists from the "Science and Religion" attempted to interview Alipiy in revealing ways.

- Who feeds you? they asked.

He pointed to the old women. They didn't understand. Father Alipiy explained:

- One of the two sons did not return from the war, the other - four. And they came to us to dispel their grief.

"Aren't you ashamed to look into the eyes of the people?" - another question.

“So we are the people.” Sixteen monks are participants in the war, including myself. And if necessary, put your feet in boots, a cap on your head: “I appeared at your order” ...

Rain Prayer

In the summer, a drought came to the Pskov region. Father Alipy asked the district committee for permission for a religious procession to Pskov in order to beg for rain.

- What if it doesn't rain? the official asked.

“Then my head will fly,” Father Alipiy answered.

- And if - will be?

- Then it's yours.

The procession to Pskov was not allowed. The monks prayed for rain in the monastery, and the workers of the district committee ironically:

- You pray, but there is no rain!

“Now, if you had prayed, it would certainly have rained,” Father Alypiy said.

After the monks held a religious procession inside the monastery, it began to rain. Although according to forecasts, the clouds were heading in the other direction.

Horn protection

Pechersk authorities harmed in small ways. One summer, the chairman of the city executive committee sent a letter stating that monastery cattle were forbidden to leave the monastery gates. In a response letter, the abbot warned that then "the monastic herd will crowd out the tourists, and the bull will butt the guides who take pictures of the monks and bring a company of soldiers in hats into the temple at the most crucial moments of worship."

No sooner said than done. Several dozen cows filled the monastery square, driving out the tourists. And when a representative of the authorities tried to disperse the cows, the bull - the monks themselves were surprised - drove him up a tree and kept him there until seven in the evening.

The victory of the cow was celebrated in the pasture.

Elections in Pechersk

In Soviet times, everyone had to take part in elections. Not excluding the monks of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Usually the box was brought directly to the monastery, where the voting ceremony took place. But now the new secretary of the regional committee, indignant at the unbecoming honor for Chernetsy, ordered to "stop the disgrace." "Let them come and vote."

“Wonderful,” said Archimandrite Alipiy, the abbot of the monastery, upon learning of this. And then came Sunday, the long-awaited election day. After the liturgy and a fraternal meal, the monks lined up in twos and with spiritual hymns went through the whole city to the polling station. One can imagine the state of peaceful Soviet citizens who watched such a spectacle. When, to top it all off, the monks began to serve a prayer service right at the polling station, the officials tried to protest. “It’s the way it’s supposed to be with us,” Father Alipiy answered. Having voted, the monks just as decorously returned to the monastery through the whole city. In the future, the ballot box began to be brought back to the place.

Blessing for communists

One day, two regional financial workers arrived at the monastery to check on the income. Father Alipy asked them:

- Who authorized you?

They didn't have a written order.

We have been empowered by the people!

“Then at tomorrow’s service we will ask you to go to the pulpit and ask the people if they empowered you,” suggested Father Alypiy.

- We were authorized by the party! inspectors have clarified.

How many people are in your party?

- 20 million.

– And in our Church – 50 million. The minority cannot dictate to the majority.

The next time financial workers came with a prescription. Father Alypiy answered them that, despite the order, he could allow the inspection only with the blessing of the Bishop of the diocese. Then they contacted the Bishop of the diocese and received a "blessing".

- Are you communists? asked their father Alipiy.

- How could you, communists, take a blessing from a clergyman? I'll call the regional party committee right now, tomorrow you will be expelled from the party.

These "comrades" did not come again.

Russian Ivan

Archimandrite Alipiy himself said:

“On Tuesday, May 14 of this (1963), the steward hegumen Irenaeus organized, as in all previous years of monastic life, watering and spraying the monastery garden with rain and snow water, which we collect thanks to the dam we made near the gazebo, behind the fortress wall. When our people were working, they were approached by six men, then two more; one of them was holding a measure, with which they divided the former monastery garden land. He began to swear at the workers and forbid pumping water, saying that this water was not yours, ordered them to stop pumping. Our people tried to continue working, but he ran up to them, grabbed a hose and began to pull it out, another - with a camera - began to photograph our people ...

The steward told these unknown people that the viceroy had come, go and explain everything to him. One of them came up. The rest stood at a distance, photographing us; there are three of them left.

Leaving sideways from us, the man in the hat said: "Oh ... father!" I answered that I am a father for those people over there, but for you I am Russian Ivan, who still has the power to crush bedbugs, fleas, fascists and all kinds of evil spirits in general.

Axe

Sometimes the enemy forced Alipy to resort to truly "black" humor. They say that when representatives of the authorities came to him for the keys to the caves in which the relics of the holy founders and brothers of the monastery lie, he met blasphemers with military orders and medals and shouted menacingly to the attendant:

- Father Cornelius, bring an ax, now we will chop off their heads!

It must have been very scary - they ran away so quickly and irrevocably.

Monastery plague

By the time of the arrival of the next state commission to close the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy posted a notice on the Holy Gates that there was a plague in the monastery and, because of this, he could not let the commission into the territory of the monastery. At the head of the commission was the chairman of the Committee for Culture Medvedeva A.I. It was to her that Father Alipiy addressed:

- I don’t feel sorry for my monks, fools, forgive me, because they are registered in the Kingdom of Heaven anyway. As for you, Anna Ivanovna, and your superiors, I can’t let them in. After all, I am for you, and I won’t find words for your bosses at the Last Judgment how to answer for you. So forgive me, I won't open the gate for you.

And he himself - once again on a plane and to Moscow. And again to bother, to beat the thresholds, and once again win.

Attempt to close the monastery

But the most, probably, the most difficult moment for Father Alipiy came when they came with a signed order to close the monastery. Here it was no longer possible to laugh it off. Father Alipiy threw the document into the fire of the fireplace and said that he was ready to accept martyrdom, but the monastery would not be closed.

– Was it really so easy to defend the monastery? - we asked the oldest inhabitant of the monastery, Archimandrite Nathanael, who remembered these events well.

- "Just"? In everything you need to see the help of the Mother of God, - the elder answered sternly, with adamant faith. How could they survive without her...

A lot of effort and money was invested by Fr. Alipiy in the revival of the fortress walls and towers, the gilding of the large dome of St. Michael's Cathedral, the organization of an icon-painting workshop. In 1968, through the efforts of Fr. Alipiya was declared an all-Union search for the valuables of the sacristy of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, taken out by the fascist invaders in 1944. Five years later, the monastic utensils were found. In 1973, representatives of the German consulate in Leningrad handed them over to the monastery.

Not become about. Alipia on March 12, 1975. Sixty-one years of earthly life, of which 25 years were monastic life.

A Rhimandrite Alipiy (in the world Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov) was born in 1914 into the family of a poor peasant in the village of Tarchikha near Moscow. In 1927 he moved to Moscow, where he graduated from high school in 1931, but often returned to the village, helping his sick mother. Since 1933, he worked as a worker on the construction of the metro and at the same time studied at the art studio at the Moscow Union of Artists.

Then, after serving since 1935 in the army, in 1941 he graduated from the art studio at the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.

From 1942 to 1945 he was in the active army, had a number of awards.

After the war he was accepted into the Union of Moscow Artists.

These dry facts of life help to better understand the characteristic features of the personality of the future Archimandrite Alipy the builder and restorer of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, a worthy successor to those builders whom we know from the history of the monastery.

More recently, one of the Pskov-Pechersky sheets spoke about preparations for closing during the Khrushchev persecution of the Church of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. Confessingly openly opposed this at the suggestion to sign the decree, the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy. In front of the taken aback representative of the atheistic authorities, he took the decree in his hands and threw it into a blazing fireplace... And the monastery was not closed!

Truly a man of strength and reason, an integral, self-sacrificing personality was Archimandrite Alipiy in all manifestations of his Christian service. His own words serve as a vivid assessment of his character: "The one who goes on the offensive wins. It is not enough to defend, it is necessary to go on the offensive."

Exactly a week separates the day of memory of the death of Archimandrite Alipy - February 27 (dates according to the church calendar) - from the day of memory of the most prominent steward of the Pskov-Caves Monastery - Abbot Kornily. Archimandrite Alipy was a worthy follower of the Monk Cornelius, he was also a builder, icon painter, an energetic, active, versatile person. Archimandrite Alipiy managed to restore the walls enclosing the monastery almost from ruins, carried out many other restoration and restoration works, paid attention to maintaining the icon-painting tradition of the monastery, he painted icons himself.

Let us dwell on some facts of the life of Archimandrite Alipiy. From a young age, Ivan Voronov had a deep faith and wanted to express it in the service of the Church. On February 27, 1950, he entered the Trinity-Sergius Lavra as a novice. On August 15 of the same year, he was tonsured a monk by the Lavra's abbot, Archimandrite John (later Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov), with the name Alipiy, in honor of the Monk Alipiy, the icon painter of the Caves. On September 12, 1950, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Patriarch Alexy, and on October 1, on the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, he was ordained a hieromonk with the appointment of a sacristan of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1952 Father Alipiy was awarded a pectoral cross, and by the Easter holiday of 1953 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen. Along with the obedience of the sacristan, he was instructed to lead the artists and craftsmen who carried out restoration work in the Lavra. Then, until 1959, he took part in the restoration and decoration of a number of Moscow churches.

By decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy dated July 15 (July 28), 1959, hegumen Alipy was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery.

In 1961 hegumen Alipiy was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. In 1963, he was awarded the Patriarchal Certificate for diligent work on the restoration of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery. In 1965, on the patronal day of the monastery - the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God, he was awarded a second cross with decorations, later he was awarded the orders of the Holy Prince Vladimir III and II degree, and also awarded the Order of Christ the Savior and a cross II degree by His Beatitude Patriarch Theodosius VI of Antioch and All the East .

Father Alypy often preached, especially about Christian love, saying: "Christ who suffered on the Cross commanded us: 'Love one another!'

Archimandrite Alipiy died on February 27 (March 12), 1975, having served the Lord in the monastic rank, exactly 25 years from the day he entered the Lavra as a novice. Early in the morning on Wednesday of Cheese Week, having asked forgiveness from everyone and forgiving everyone, he peacefully and quietly departed to the Lord.

From the Word spoken by Archimandrite Nathanael (Pospelov) on the 20th anniversary of the death of Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov):

In 1959, Father Alipy was appointed to the Pskov-Caves Monastery, who arrived in Pechory for the patronal feast in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. His pastoral zeal for the good of our Holy Monastery, his zeal for service, his talents immediately aroused for him a special love of the brethren of the monastery, the faithful of Pechersk, Pskov and pilgrims. Their zealous prayers and petitions helped to overcome all difficulties in order to establish Fr. Alypiy as the abbot of our monastery.

The confessor of the monastery, Hieroschemamonk Simeon (Zhelnin), inspired him to the feat ahead: "Act, nothing will happen to you!"

Father Alipiy had the gift of words: more than once one had to hear from pilgrims: "Let's wait another week, maybe we will hear Father Alipiy's sermon." In his teachings, he supported the discouraged, consoled the faint-hearted: "Brothers and sisters, you have heard calls to intensify anti-religious propaganda, do not hang your head, do not lose heart, this means that they have become tight." - "It's a terrible thing to join the crowd. Today she shouts: "Hosanna!" After 4 days:" Take, take, crucify Him! they will ask: “Why?” - Answer: “Because yours is not true.” - “Why?” - “Because my conscience tells me.” - “How to recognize Judas?” - “He who dips his hand in salt, he will betray me” ", - said the Savior at the Last Supper. A daring student who wants to catch up with the teacher, with the boss, take first place, be the first to take up the decanter. The elders have not had breakfast yet, but the baby is already licking his lips, he has already eaten. The future Judas is growing. At 12 - one Judas If the elders did not sit down at the table, and you do not sit down. The elders sat down, sit down in prayer, and you. The elders did not take a spoon, do not take it either. The elders took a spoon, then take it. The elders began to eat, then you begin too. ".

This is how Fr. Alipy. If at a prayer in the church at Fr. Alipius sighs and tears appeared, then sighs and tears were immediately heard among those praying with him. Such was his strength of mind.

Father Alipiy always helped the needy, distributed alms, many who asked received help from him. For this, Father Alipiy had to endure a lot. He defended himself with the words of the Holy Scriptures about the need to render works of mercy and argued that works of mercy cannot be forbidden, this is an integral part of the life of the Holy Orthodox Church. Whoever forbids works of mercy infringes on the Church of Christ, does not allow her to live her own life.

As an icon painter and restorer, he took care to restore the bronzed dark iconostasis of the Assumption Church, the interior painting of the Mikhailovsky Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church (restored the iconostasis of the table iconostasis, restored the icon of the Saint, expanded the temple at the expense of the tower, strengthened the walls, restored the stylish dome (stylish - from the word "style" - a set of features characteristic of the art of a certain time and direction (in this case, the Pskov school of architecture of the 15th-16th centuries).

The fortress wall-fence with combat towers and passages was restored, their coverings were restored. Six icons of the Mother of God in the Nikolskaya chapel were painted with his participation and guidance. On the feast of the Mother of God on July 8 and October 22, we put the icon of Kazan on the lectern, the cell icon of Father Alipy, painted by him.

He used his talents as a builder of the Moscow Metro in building a bridge across the Kamenets stream, opposite the Assumption Church.

Father Alipiy was distinguished by special determination and fortitude. When he burned the paper about the closure of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in front of the envoys, he turned to them and said: "I'd rather be martyred, but I won't close the monastery." When they came to take away the keys to the caves, he commanded his cell attendant: "Father Cornelius, bring an ax here, we will chop heads!" Those who came turned to flee.

Father Alipy has repeatedly criticized the lies about the Pskov-Caves Monastery and wrote an article about St. Cornelius in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (1970, Nos. 2 and 3), so as not to distort history.

Father Alipiy defended believers before the mighty of this world, took care of their employment. He wrote that the only fault of these people is that they believe in God.

Father Alipy was affable and sociable, he received visitors with love, shared his talents, and gave wise answers.

When civilian visitors asked him how the monks lived, he drew their attention to the Divine Liturgy, which was celebrated in the Dormition Church. "Do you hear?" - he asked. The visitors answered: "We hear." - "What do you hear?" - "The monks sing." - "Well, if the monks lived poorly, they would not sing."

When believers were carving flowerbeds in the monastery, the authorities asked: "Who works for you and on what basis?" Father Alipiy replied: "These are the host people working on their own land." And there were no more questions.

He instructed the pastors of the church arriving at the monastery to diligently serve in his church.

"Here, you, father, have left your church, and a demon will serve in your church." - "How so?" - they objected to him. Father Alipiy answered in the gospel: "The devil will find an empty temple..."

During the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, he explained that the service in the temples should not stop, since cows do not go to temples, and not a single institution stops its work on the occasion of foot-and-mouth disease.

When they were not allowed to visit the caves, father Alipiy blessed every morning, at 7 o'clock, to serve a memorial service in the caves, so that believers would have the opportunity to visit the caves and commemorate their relatives and friends, especially those who died in the Great Patriotic War. A decree was sent to stop serving memorial services in the caves. With the blessing of Father Alipiy, panikhidas continued to serve. Asking Father Alypiy whether he had received the decree, Father Alipiy replied that he had received it. "Why don't you do it?" - the question followed. Father Alipiy replied that this decree was written under pressure due to weakness of spirit, "I do not listen to the weak in spirit, I listen only to the strong in spirit." And the funeral service in the caves was not interrupted.

Father Alipiy never went on vacation. And even, as he himself wrote, he did not go out of the monastery gates of his own accord, diligently diligently applied himself to the fulfillment of monastic vows. And he answered the accusers that if worldly evil spirits flow from the world into the monastery on a clean monastery courtyard, then this is no longer our fault.

At the beginning of 1975, Alipiy's father had a third heart attack. He had the memory of death in advance. In advance, a coffin was made for him with his blessing and stood in his corridor. And when they asked him: "Where is your cell?" - he pointed to the coffin and said: "Here is my cell." In the last days of his life, hieromonk Father Theodorit was with him, he daily communed Father Alipiy and, as a paramedic, provided him with medical assistance. On March 12, 1975, at 2 o'clock in the morning, Father Alipiy said: "The Mother of God has come, how beautiful She is, let's paint, let's draw." Paints were given, but his hands could no longer act, how many heavy shells he dragged with these hands to the front line in the Great Patriotic War. At 4 o'clock in the morning, Archimandrite Alipy died quietly and peacefully.

Metropolitan John served the funeral service with a congregation of monastic and visiting clergy. The loss was deeply felt even by civilian leaders. People did not rejoice at the merriment of the Shrovetide week, which was followed by the death of Father Alipiy.

Until his death, he taught the blessing for every monastic service and work and did not leave his obedience.

And today, expressing our love for Father Alipiy, we commemorate the day of his memory, the day when he completed his voluntary bloodless martyrdom, and again we remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the apostolic words: Remember the good shepherd, the late mentor of Father Archimandrite Alipiy and looking at the end of his residence, imitate his faith. Amen.

For years he lived in Tarchikha with his mother, worked on a collective farm.

On September 25 of the same year, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Rus', and on October 14 he was ordained a hieromonk. Appointed sacristan of the Lavra.

On August 11 of the same year, he accepted the economy and property of the Pskov-Caves Monastery from Abbot Augustine.

Truly a man of strength and reason, an integral, self-sacrificing personality was Archimandrite Alipiy in all manifestations of his Christian service. His own words serve as a vivid assessment of his character: "The one who goes on the offensive wins. It is not enough to defend, it is necessary to go on the offensive."

Father Alypy often preached, especially about Christian love, saying: "Christ who suffered on the Cross commanded us: 'Love one another!'

Father Alipiy always helped the needy, distributed alms, many who asked received help from him. For this, Father Alipiy had to endure a lot. He defended himself with the words of the Holy Scriptures about the need to render works of mercy and argued that works of mercy cannot be forbidden, this is an integral part of the life of the Holy Orthodox Church. Whoever forbids works of mercy infringes on the Church of Christ, does not allow her to live her own life.

As an icon painter and restorer, he took care to restore the bronzed dark iconostasis of the Assumption Church, the interior painting of the Mikhailovsky Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church (restored the iconostasis of the table iconostasis, restored the icon of the Saint, expanded the temple at the expense of the tower, strengthened the walls, restored the stylish dome (stylish - from the word "style" - a set of features characteristic of the art of a certain time and direction (in this case, the Pskov school of architecture of the 15th-16th centuries).

The fortress wall-fence with combat towers and passages was restored, their coverings were restored. Six icons of the Mother of God in the Nikolskaya chapel were painted with his participation and guidance.

Father Alipiy was distinguished by special determination and fortitude. When he burned the paper about the closure of the Pskov-Caves Monastery in front of the envoys, he turned to them and said: "I'd rather be martyred, but I won't close the monastery." When they came to take away the keys to the caves, he commanded his cell attendant: "Father Cornelius, bring an ax here, we will chop heads!" Those who came turned to flee.

Father Alipiy wrote more than once criticizing the lies about the Pskov-Caves Monastery and wrote an article about St. Cornelius in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate so that history would not be distorted.

He defended believers before the mighty of this world, took care of their employment. He wrote that the only fault of these people is that they believe in God. He was friendly and sociable, lovingly received visitors, shared his talents, gave wise answers.

When civilian visitors asked him how the monks lived, he drew their attention to the divine service that took place in the Dormition Church. "Do you hear?" - he asked. The visitors answered: "We hear." - "What do you hear?" - "The monks sing." - "Well, if the monks lived poorly, they would not sing."

When believers were carving flowerbeds in the monastery, the authorities asked: "Who works for you and on what basis?" Father Alipiy replied: "These are the host people working on their own land." And there were no more questions.

He instructed the pastors of the church arriving at the monastery to diligently serve in his church. "Here, you, father, have left your church, and a demon will serve in your church." - "How so?" - they objected to him. Father Alipiy answered in the gospel: "The devil will find an empty temple..."

During the epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, he explained that the service in the temples should not stop, since cows do not go to temples, and not a single institution stops its work on the occasion of foot-and-mouth disease.

When they were not allowed to visit the caves, father Alipiy blessed every morning, at 7 o'clock, to serve a memorial service in the caves, so that believers would have the opportunity to visit the caves and commemorate their relatives and friends, especially those who died in the Great Patriotic War. A decree was sent to stop serving memorial services in the caves. With the blessing of Father Alipiy, panikhidas continued to serve. Asking Father Alypiy whether he had received the decree, Father Alipiy replied that he had received it. "Why don't you do it?" - the question followed. Father Alipiy replied that this decree was written under pressure due to weakness of spirit, "I do not listen to the weak in spirit, I listen only to the strong in spirit." And the funeral service in the caves was not interrupted.

Father Alipiy never went on vacation. And even, as he himself wrote, he did not go out of the monastery gates of his own accord, diligently diligently applied himself to the fulfillment of monastic vows. And he answered the accusers that if worldly evil spirits flow from the world into the monastery on a clean monastery courtyard, then this is no longer our fault.

Until his death, he taught the blessing for every monastic service and work and did not leave his obedience.

Compositions

• Obituary "Hieroshimonk Michael". JMP, June 1962
• "Where are the treasures of the Pechora Monastery", the newspaper "Soviet Culture", October 5, 1968
• "The Monk Martyr Cornelius, hegumen of the Caves." ZhMP, 1970
• "Ancient frescoes of the Pskov-Caves Monastery". ZhMP, 1970
• Obituary "Bishop Ioanniky". ZhMP, 1970

In the same year, the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery published for the first time a collection of sermons by Archimandrite Alipiy.

Awards

Church

• pectoral cross (October 25, 1951)
• pectoral cross with decorations (October 8, 1953)
• patriarchal charter (February 21, 1954, for work in Lukino)
• gratitude (February 11, 1955, for a valuable gift to the church and archaeological office - the icon of St. Nicholas of the end of the 16th century).
• patriarchal charter (March 23, 1963)
• Order of Christ the Savior and Cross II degree (July 11, 1963, awarded by Patriarch Theodosius of Antioch)
• Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir III degree (November 26, 1963)
• the right to serve the Liturgy with the Holy Doors open until the sacramental verse (1966).
• Order of the Holy Prince Vladimir II degree (August 27, 1973)
• pectoral cross with decorations (September 9, 1973)

secular

• was awarded for good performance in the amount of 100 rubles (November 4, 1940, factory 58).
• medal "For Military Merit" (October 15, 1944)
• badge "Guard" (April 15, 1945)
• Order of the Red Star (July 8, 1945)
• medal "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War" (July 10, 1946)
• medal "For the capture of Berlin" (January 8, 1947)
• Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" (February 10, 1947)
• medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (September 17, 1948)
• Jubilee Medal "20 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" (December 1, 1966)
• Jubilee medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (November 28, 1969)
• anniversary medal "25 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War" (1970)
• memorial sign "People's militia of Leningrad" (November 30, 1971)
• badge "Veteran of the 4th Guards Tank Army" (1972)

Literature

• Website about Archimandrite Alipy (Voronov)

Used materials

• Page on the website of the Pskov-Caves Monastery

Yamschikov S. My Pskov. Pskov, 2003 - 352 p.

After going through the entire war from 1942 to Berlin, he became a monk. Already at the post of rector of one of the last unclosed Russian monasteries, he gave battle to a many times superior enemy. He fought and won. The heroes of "Die Hard" are funny boys compared to the Russian knight in black clothes.
Ivan Mikhailovich Voronov, the future archimandrite and icon painter, was born in 1914 to a poor peasant family in the village of Torchikha, Moscow province. After graduating from a rural school in 1926, he moved to live and study in Moscow with his father and older brother. At the end of the nine-year plan, he lived in the village for two years, caring for his sick mother. In 1932 he began working at the Metrostroy, studied at the evening studio at the Moscow Union of Artists. And in 1936, Voronov entered the art studio organized by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, which in those years was equated with the Academy of Arts. In the same year, Voronov was drafted into the Red Army, where he served for two years. During this time, Ivan carried out a lot of work on the organization of art circles and art studios at the military units of the Moscow Military District.
Demobilized in 1938, Ivan Voronov got a job as a dispatcher and freight forwarder at the secret military plant No. K. Voroshilov (now JSC "Impulse", on Mira Avenue). Here he met the Great Patriotic War. The plant produced the bombs needed by the front. But when the front line approached the capital, the factory authorities in a panic tried to evacuate using company cars. The flight of leaders beyond the Urals, away from the war, was a common occurrence in the autumn of 1941. But Voronov had the courage not to succumb to the general panic. The young dispatcher did not allow the factory vehicles to be used to escape the authorities, but used them to send bombs to the front.
Worried about the fate of his sick mother, Voronov left for his native village for several days, and when he returned to the capital, he found the plant abandoned. The bosses still ran away! But workers remained on the ground, with whom Voronov decided to resume the production of bombs. Production was carried out at the risk of life. The Germans bombed Moscow, and any hit on the plant could turn it into a mass grave. But the release of bombs did not stop for a minute, malnourished and sleep-deprived workers exceeded the daily production rate by 300%. As Archimandrite Alipiy himself recalled, “our military plant was like a front, and they didn’t go home from the plant.”
Ivan Voronov was called to the front on February 21, 1942. He went to war not only with a machine gun, but also with a sketchbook with paints.
Advancing with the front line, he had time for the locals to restore icons and fed the whole unit with the products that the locals gave him for the restoration of icons.
At the front, Ivan Voronov created several sketches and paintings, several albums of "combat episodes". The front-line works of the master already in 1943 were exhibited in several museums of the USSR.
The command encouraged "cultural and educational work among the personnel of the unit", which was carried out by the artist, and noted the skillful fulfillment of tasks "to generalize combat experience and party political work." “All the work done by Comrade Voronov is in the nature of creativity and novelty. In a combat situation, he behaved boldly and courageously.
Ivan Voronov traveled from Moscow to Berlin as part of the Fourth Tank Army. He took part in many military operations on the Central, Western, Bryansk and First Ukrainian fronts. God kept the future archimandrite, he did not receive a single wound or concussion. For participation in the battles, Voronov was awarded the medals "For Courage", "For Military Merit", "For the Victory over Germany", "For the Capture of Berlin", "For the Liberation of Prague", the Order of the Red Star. In total, the artist-soldier received 76 combat awards and promotions.
The war left an indelible mark on the soul of Ivan Voronov: “The war was so terrible that I gave my word to God that if I survive this terrible battle, I will definitely go to the monastery.” Having become a monk Alipiy, archimandrite of the Pskov-Pechora monastery, in his sermons he repeatedly turned to military topics, often recalled the war: “I often went to night patrols and prayed to God that enemy scouts would not meet, so as not to kill anyone.”
Ivan Mikhailovich returned from the war as a famous artist. But the career of a secular painter did not attract him. “In 1948, while working in the open air at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow, I was captivated by the beauty and originality of this place, first as an artist, and then as a resident of the Lavra, and decided to devote myself to serving the Lavra forever.”
On admission to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, his mother blessed him with the icon of the Mother of God "Assuage my sorrows", saying: "Mother of God, let him be carefree." And he saw the blessing of his own mother as effective. During the tonsure, when it was necessary to determine his monastic name, the Lavra's abbot looked at the Calendar; the closest name, so that he would immediately be a birthday boy, turned out to be "Alipius", the name of the Monk Alipiy, the famous icon painter, who was brought up by the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. After taking the tonsure, Father Alypiy himself looked at the Calendar and read the translation of his new name: "sorrowless." Therefore, when representatives of the authorities tried to frighten him on the phone, he answered: “Please note, I am Alipiy, carefree.” And as his heavenly patron, Father Alipiy was also an icon painter.
He did not have a separate cell. The governor of the Lavra showed him a place in the corridor with the condition that if Father Alypiy made a cell for himself in this corridor by morning, then the cell would be his. Father Alipiy answered: "Bless me." And in one night he made partitions, upholstered the enclosed cell inside with a splinter, plastered, whitewashed, arranged the floor, painted it. And in the morning the Lavra's governor was extremely surprised when he came to Father Alipiy and saw him in a new cell at a table with a hot samovar.
Soon he was awarded the priesthood, and in 1959 he was appointed abbot of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Alipiy held this responsible post from 1959 to 1975.
The most difficult task fell on his shoulders: not only to restore the shrines and antiquities of the famous Pskov-Caves monastery. But another task was even more difficult - to protect the monastery from being closed by the authorities.
The Soviet era was generally a time of the most severe restriction of all freedoms, including freedom of religion. Hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of priests, monks and bishops, were executed by the authorities only for faith and fidelity to God. Thousands of churches were destroyed, the rest were closed: even in large cities, the authorities tried to leave only one Orthodox church open.
The war forced the authorities to ease pressure on the Church and open some churches. But Khrushchev began a new round of struggle with the Church. He promised to show the latest priest on TV. That is, he was looking forward to the present times, when the TV will replace God for people, and hoped to live to see them.
Here are the headlines of the central and local publications of that time: “The Pskov-Caves Monastery is a hotbed of religious obscurantism”, “Hallelujah in a squat”, “Freeloaders in cassocks”, “Hypocrites in cassocks”. It was very difficult to resist slander, it was even more difficult to save the monastery. In his reports addressed to Metropolitan John of Pskov and Velikoluksky, Archimandrite Alipiy emphasized: “Newspaper articles full of undeserved insults and slander against honest, kind and good people, insults to the mothers and widows of dead soldiers — this is their “ideological struggle” — the expulsion of hundreds and thousands priests and clerics, and the best ones. How many of them come to us with tears that they can’t get at least a worldly job anywhere, their wives and children don’t have anything to live on.
What could one monk oppose to the apparatus of suppression of omnipotent power? He only had one weapon. But the most powerful weapon is the word!
The boldness of his words is striking even when viewed from our liberal time. How amazingly this bold and firm word sounded then! When they told him: “Batiushka, they can put you in jail…,” he answered: “They won’t put me in jail, I will put them in jail myself. There is no fault on me." Even during the war, he learned that the best defense is an offensive.
Here are just a few examples showing how Alypiy repulsed the attacks of the authorities. Some of the stories were told by the monks, some became the property of popular rumor and told by the Pecherians.

State beggars

Archimandrite Alipiy, being the governor, could answer with a sharp word to anyone. The city authorities once called him:
Why can't you clean up your mess? After all, you have beggars in the monastery!
“Forgive me,” Father Alypiy answers, “but the beggars are not with me, but with you.
— How is it with us?
— It's very simple. The land, if you remember, was taken from the monastery along the Holy Gates. On which side of the gate are the beggars, on the outside or on the inside?
- From the outside.
So I'm saying you have them. And in my monastery all the brethren are drunk, fed, dressed and shod. And if you don’t like beggars so much, then you pay them a pension of 500 rubles each. And if after that someone asks for alms, I think that one can be punished according to the law. And I don't have any.

Interview for "Science and Religion"

In the late sixties, two journalists from the "Science and Religion" attempted to interview Alipiy in revealing ways.
- Who feeds you? they asked.
He pointed to the old women. They didn't understand. Alipy explained:
- One of the two sons did not return from the war, the other - four. And they came to us to dispel their grief.
"Aren't you ashamed to look into the eyes of the people?" - another question.
So we are the people. Sixteen monks are participants in the war, including myself. And if necessary, put your feet in boots, a cap on your head: “I appeared on your orders” ...

Rain Prayer

In the summer, a drought came to the Pskov region. Alipiy asked the district committee for permission for a religious procession to Pskov in order to beg for rain.
- What if it doesn't rain? the official asked.
“Then my head will fly,” Alypiy replied.
- And if - will be?
- Then it's yours.
The procession to Pskov was not allowed. The monks prayed for rain in the monastery, and the workers of the district committee ironically:
- You pray, but there is no rain!
“Now, if you had prayed, it would certainly have rained,” Alipiy retorted.
After the monks held a religious procession inside the monastery, it began to rain. Although according to forecasts, the clouds were heading in the other direction.

Horn protection

Pechersk authorities harmed in small ways. One summer, the chairman of the city executive committee sent a letter stating that monastery cattle were forbidden to leave the monastery gates. In a response letter, the abbot warned that then “the monastic herd will crowd out the tourists, and the bull will butt the guides who take pictures of the monks and bring a company of soldiers in hats into the temple at the most crucial moments of worship.”
No sooner said than done. Several dozen cows filled the monastery square, driving out the tourists. And when a representative of the authorities tried to disperse the cows, the bull - the monks themselves were surprised - drove him up a tree and kept him there until seven in the evening.
The victory of the cow was celebrated in the pasture.

Elections in Pechersk

In Soviet times, everyone had to take part in elections. Not excluding the monks of the Pskov-Caves Monastery. Usually the box was brought directly to the monastery, where the voting ceremony took place. But now the new secretary of the regional committee, indignant at the unbecoming honor for Chernetsy, ordered to "stop the disgrace." "Let them come and vote."
“Wonderful,” said Archimandrite Alipiy, the abbot of the monastery, upon learning of this. And then came Sunday, the long-awaited election day. After the liturgy and a fraternal meal, the monks lined up in twos and with spiritual hymns went through the whole city to the polling station. One can imagine the state of peaceful Soviet citizens who watched such a spectacle. When, to top it all off, the monks began to serve a prayer service right at the polling station, the officials tried to protest. “It’s the way it’s supposed to be with us,” Father Alipiy answered. Having voted, the monks just as decorously returned to the monastery through the whole city. In the future, the ballot box began to be brought back to the place.

Blessing for communists

One day, two regional financial workers arrived at the monastery to check on the income. Alipy asked them:
- Who authorized you?
They didn't have a written order.
We have been empowered by the people!
“Then at tomorrow’s service we will ask you to go to the pulpit and ask the people if they empowered you,” suggested Alypiy.
- We were authorized by the party! inspectors clarified.
How many people are in your party?
— 20 million.
- And in our Church - 50 million. The minority cannot dictate to the majority.
The next time financial workers came with a prescription. Alipiy answered them that, despite the order, he could only allow the examination with the blessing of the Bishop of the diocese. Then they contacted the Bishop of the diocese and received a "blessing".
Are you communists? Alipiy asked them.
- How could you, communists, take a blessing from a clergyman? I'll call the regional party committee right now, tomorrow you will be expelled from the party.
These "comrades" did not come again.

Russian Ivan

Axe

Sometimes the enemy forced Alipy to resort to truly "black" humor. They say that when representatives of the authorities came to him for the keys to the caves in which the relics of the holy founders and brothers of the monastery lie, he met blasphemers with military orders and medals and shouted menacingly to the attendant:
- Father Cornelius, bring an ax, now we will chop off their heads!
It must have been very scary - they ran away so quickly and irrevocably.

Monastery plague

By the time of the arrival of the next state commission to close the monastery, Archimandrite Alipiy posted a notice on the Holy Gates that there was a plague in the monastery and, because of this, he could not let the commission into the territory of the monastery. At the head of the commission was the chairman of the Committee for Culture Medvedeva A.I. It was to her that Father Alipiy addressed:
“Forgive me, my monks, fools, I don’t care, because they are registered in the Kingdom of Heaven anyway. As for you, Anna Ivanovna, and your superiors, I can’t let them in. After all, I am for you, and I won’t find words for your bosses at the Last Judgment how to answer for you. So forgive me, I won't open the gate for you.
And he himself - once again on a plane and to Moscow. And again to bother, to beat the thresholds, and once again win.

Attempt to close the monastery

But the most, probably, the most difficult moment for Father Alipiy came when they came with a signed order to close the monastery. Here it was no longer possible to laugh it off. Alipiy threw the document into the fire of the fireplace and said that he was ready to accept martyrdom, but the monastery would not be closed.
Was it really that easy to defend the monastery? we asked the oldest inhabitant of the monastery, Archimandrite Nathanael, who remembered these events well.
- "Just"? In everything you need to see the help of the Mother of God, - the elder answered sternly, with adamant faith. - How could they defend without her ...
Thanks to Alipy Voronov, the Pskov-Caves Monastery is the only Russian monastery that has never been closed. He invested a lot of effort and money in the revival of the fortress walls and towers, the gilding of the large dome of St. Michael's Cathedral, and the organization of an icon-painting workshop. In 1968, through the efforts of Fr. Alipiya was declared an all-Union search for the valuables of the sacristy of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, taken out by the fascist invaders in 1944. Five years later, the monastic utensils were found. In 1973, representatives of the German consulate in Leningrad handed them over to the monastery.
Not become about. Alipia on March 12, 1975. Sixty-one years of earthly life, of which 25 years were monastic life.