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"Prophecies" of Elder Jonah of Odessa (Ignatenko). II part.
[an article from a series on the history of prophecy].

When articles today mention the “prophecy” of Elder Jonah of Odessa (in the world, Vladimir Afanasyevich Ignatenko, 1925-2012), most often there is a reference to the spiritual son of the elder, Archpriest Georgy Gorodentsev. Therefore, I suggest readers to familiarize themselves with the “Reflections” of Archpriest Georgy Gorodentsev himself on the “prophecy” of Elder Jonah of Odessa for 2016:
“In our troubled times, many people ask themselves: what will happen next?
Politicians and political scientists, scientists and ignoramuses, astrologers and other fortune-tellers are now trying to broadcast about the future, but ... most often, they are mistaken, "getting their finger into the sky."
Meanwhile, in the Church of God, since the Old Testament times, there is a whole host of true prophets who have always accurately predicted the future. There are such prophets in our time. One of them, oh Jonah, began asceticism in Odessa St. Assumption Monastery at the end Soviet era. I remember those times well - the second half of the 70s of the last century. We, young Odessa Orthodox who had just come to the faith, in our attempts, so to speak, to “cling” to the Church were like kittens thrown under the church threshold. Which were originally "picked up" by Fr. Jonah, then still a simple monk.
I remember a small house on the territory of the monastery, which he was in charge of. There was a kind of monastery power plant, consisting of several diesel engines decommissioned from submarines that generate electricity. Last thing Soviet authority sold to the monks at such an unthinkable price that it was more profitable to produce it yourself; especially given the constant power outages in the area.
And so, I remember, we are sitting in this house and, under the even rumble of diesel engines, with our mouths open, we listen to stories from monastic life and the lives of saints that the future elder told us. And which for us, people who grew up and educated in atheism, were real spiritual manna! Already then about. Jonah was distinguished by the deepest humility and love for God and neighbors. For which, apparently, the Lord gave him His grace-filled gifts of healing and prophecy (cf. James 4:6). I personally had the opportunity to verify the latter much later. When the prophetic words of the elder about one clergyman, due to the latter’s disobedience to his advice, were, unfortunately, fulfilled in the most terrible way.
But I will go directly to the well-known prophecy of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah.
The first time I heard it in this form:
“They say that before his blessed death, which followed in 2012, he predicted the following:
“The first Easter after my death will be well-fed; the second is bloody; the third is hungry, and the fourth is victorious (victorious) ... ".
And indeed, at least until now, the events in our Ukraine, where Fr. Jonah, developed exactly according to this prediction. The first Easter after the death of the elder, Easter of 2013, was indeed relatively well-fed; the second in 2014 was bloody, because a massacre was brewing in Odessa and a war in the Donbass; the third Easter in 2015 was really hungry, because by this time the cost of everything (except salaries and pensions) had tripled. Now it remains to fulfill the end of this prophecy about the victorious (victorious) Easter of 2016, which will soon come.
But here a natural question arises about the reliability of this prophecy!!!
Of course, if the elder, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah really spoke it, then it is quite reliable. But personally, I did not hear this from his lips; and then, perhaps, this is the fruit of someone's fantasies?!!!
But even the first glance at this prophecy shows that this is not so. I first heard it in the fall of 2014. And, of course, by this time a number of events predicted by him had already happened. Therefore, it would be possible, under the guise of "prophecy", to speak about the already former "full" Easter in the 13th; and about the "bloody" in the 14th; even then it was possible to guess by deduction that on the 15th Easter would be hungry.
But who in the fall of the 14th, in the midst of the “ATO”, could have guessed that the next Easter would no longer be bloody, but only hungry?!
But the Minsk agreements (Minsk-2), which significantly reduced the level of bloodshed in the Donbass, were concluded only in the winter of the 15th!
There is one more thing to pay special attention to. Many reduce this prophecy only to the events in Ukraine and the war in the Donbass. But in my opinion this is wrong. In fact, the disasters that have befallen the people of Ukraine, and especially the residents of Donbass, are only a part of the disasters that our country and our people have experienced over the past almost 100 years. During this relatively short historical period, we had: direct participation in two world wars, and the second was especially bloody for our people; there were three revolutions; were long Civil War and other wars; there were monstrous repressions of the Bolsheviks; there was the greatest persecution of the Church in the history of Christianity; there were periodic famines and total robberies, accompanied by complete impoverishment of the population, etc. So the current Ukrainian events are not the disease itself, but only one of its symptoms or stages.
A natural question arises, or rather three at once: why did this happen; when will it end; and will it ever end?
Answering the first of these questions, I will say the following. In my opinion, these disasters are the result of the betrayal by our people of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II, which led to the overthrow of the autocracy and the villainous ritual murder of the Tsar and members of his Family.
Why this seemingly ancient and private crime led to such unprecedented catastrophic consequences, I have repeatedly written. Because, as St. Paul, the Antichrist will not come until “until He who now restrains is taken out of the midst” (2 Thess. 2:7).
By “Restraining”, the holy fathers understood the Roman power and the Roman emperor, deriving the word “Restraining” from the word “power” - the Roman Power. But since Russia is the Third Rome, then the holy Tsar Passion-bearer Nicholas II is the last Roman Emperor. The overthrow of which was supposed to lead to the coming of the Antichrist, monstrous disasters and the rapid end of the world, which, according to the prophecies of the Apocalypse, should have come soon (3.5 years later) after the worldwide reign of the Antichrist.
However, in the 17th year of the last century, and throughout that century, by the grace of God and the Mother of God, this did not happen. It did not happen because the Queen of Heaven became the Queen of the Russian Land, which was clearly shown by the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God “Reigning” on March 2 (according to New Style), 1917, on the day of the so-called abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. By this appearance of the icon of the “Reigning” Mother of God, she showed that She became that one who restrains or Retains (we note the same connection of words: Reigning - Restraining), Which does not allow the Antichrist to come. But at the same time, our people, as a repentance, had to suffer a severe punishment for their especially grave sin of renunciation of the King of the earth and the King of Heaven. Which was expressed in the disasters listed above, the last of which are precisely the Ukrainian events.
Yes, all this is very, very hard, terrible and regrettable!!!
However, the fact that God did not punish us to the end, but through the prayers of the Mother of God and Her gracious intercession did not allow us to perish completely through the action of the Antichrist, inspires hope in God's mercy. He also sets a time limit for the action of satanic forces hostile to our people and country, for our sin of betraying the Tsar, so successfully for almost a hundred years, by the permission of God, acting against us, which is the direct cause of our disasters. This term is in the words: "Below, forever at enmity" (Ps. 102.9). After all, a century is literally a hundred years; one hundred years of punishment of our people, which have almost expired!!! Moreover, God "below in the age (i.e. less than a century, a little less than a hundred years) is at enmity."
And the prophecy of Father Jonah about the victorious (victorious) Easter of 2016 surprisingly fits into this period! Indeed, the most probable moment of the beginning of the countdown of these hundred years is March 2 (N.S.) 1917. For on this day the betrayal of the Tsar-Martyr by our people took place, when the army and the people did not rise up against the insane conspirators who illegally renounced the Tsar from the Kingdom. And it is from this moment that the disasters of our people and country begin: the lost, almost won war with Germany under the Tsar; Bolshevik coup; forcible introduction of communism (war communism); Civil War; famine and pestilence - famines in places, etc.
But, if this is so, then these hundred years should end on March 2, 2017, i.e. somewhat less than a year later. Considering that the Lord "below the age of war" (i.e., a little less than a hundred years), Easter 2016, which will be May 1 (according to New Style), is all the more suitable for this period. Therefore, it is quite possible that it is from her that the Lord will stop the actions of these executions on our people, which are much more serious than those of Egypt! Moreover, this prophecy is not even an old man, all the more transmitted to us through many intermediaries. No, this prophecy is contained in Holy Scripture - Ps. 103:9, and therefore it is quite reliable! And the words of the elder Jonah about this period, connected with the current Easter, fully correspond to this biblical prophecy!
But I'm only human, so I could be wrong. After all, as you know, man only proposes, but God disposes. Perhaps the Lord considers these hundred years not from the moment of the renunciation of the Tsar of our people (that is, not from March 2, 1917), but from the day of the villainous murder of the Tsar, i.e. from 17 or 18 July 1918?
Perhaps, but then all of the above still applies. Only it is necessary to slightly move the time frame of upcoming events relative to the last date.
Perhaps, finally, I'm wrong, ie. Did you understand the words of Holy Scripture too literally: “Below, for ever, he is at enmity” (Ps. 103:9)?
Maybe here a century is understood not as a hundred years, but another, indefinite period of time?
It is possible, but it is easy to check, just wait until mid-July 2018. If a little earlier than this time, the severe disasters over our people and country do not stop, then I was wrong.
What are we to do then?
If we have preserved the Orthodox faith, then we should also endure (for only “he who endures ... will be saved to the end” (Matt. 24:13) and thank God like this: “Glory to God for everything”!
If, nevertheless, I am right in my expectations, and, so to speak, the age-old turning point will occur, the age-old severe disasters over our people will stop, then we have HOPE!!!” (Archpriest Georgy Gorodentsev, Odessa).
* * *
As you can see, from the “Reflections” of Archpriest Georgy Gorodentsev himself, he himself did not hear this “prophecy” from the mouth of the elder Jonah of Odessa, but for the first time he heard this “prophecy” only in the fall of 2014, that is, he cannot be a witness and references to it are incorrect .
* * *
DTN.

“And then suddenly the moment came when I realized that that’s it, you can’t live like that, it’s time to save your soul ...”

“... life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when your adviser is your conscience!”

"It's good to be a monk! Here you are getting married - how many children can you have? And I'm not married, but do you know how many children I have? I'm so big!"
Man himself cannot be saved in any way, only the Lord saves us. And since the Lord saves, what do we need to do the main thing? .. We need to pray and work - "Lord help me, but don't lie down yourself."

We are orphaned - the great old man, the righteous man, the ascetic of piety, the keeper of the Word of God, the worker of the field of God, has left. For three days, tens of thousands of admirers of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah poured into the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Dormition in Odessa in an endless stream from all over Ukraine, Russia, and Moldova. Father Jonah will forever remain in the memory of all who knew him as a wise, joyful and perspicacious priest, a strict monk, a zealous fasting and prayer book, a sincere novice, as a man who generously shared his rich life experience, warming his love to everyone who turned to him for advice.

The name of the confessor of the monastery, a student of St. Kuksha of Odessa was well known to Orthodox Russian people. Elder Jonah usually took confession not far from the holy relics of St. Kuksha in the Dormition Church of the monastery. In recent years, the cell of the elder, which was located at the gates of the monastery, has always been crowded with many people. Some have been in line since 4-5 o'clock in the morning.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah not only instructed and comforted many people, strengthened them in faith, but I had to hear a lot from Orthodox Odessans about healings through the prayers of the elder. Father Jonah himself was seriously ill in recent years.
- oncological disease of the spine. Doctors say that only a miracle can be called the fact that Father Jonah lived the last years. It happens
- the elders, who healed many, themselves with humility bear the cross of serious illnesses.
It always seemed to me that Schema-Archimandrite Jonah is somewhat reminiscent of the Athos and Glinsk elders. Unusual humility and the spirit of love have always distinguished monk Jonah.

While still a simple monk, Jonah took care of many people. Muscovite V. tells the spiritual child Fr. Jonah: “I was once told: if you are in Odessa, try to meet the monk Jonah.” I remember the first time they brought me to the Assumption Monastery to Father Jonah. He went to obedience, walked with a scythe on his shoulder in a worn cassock with patches, and a large group of Orthodox people gathered around a simple monk who wanted answers to their spiritual questions.
At that time I heard amazing story, which took place in the Assumption Monastery. The late Metropolitan Sergius began to reprimand the brethren that many walk around in old worn cassocks. Everyone stood and listened to the reproaches of the bishop. But when they came up for a blessing, the monk Jonah suddenly appeared, who performed the obedience of a diesel driver.

Approaching for the blessing, Father Jonah bent down and, in front of everyone, wiped his hands stained with engine oil and diesel fuel on Metropolitan Sergius's silk undershirt, and then, humbly taking the bishop's blessing, left. It must be said that Metropolitan Sergius also showed humility and wisdom worthy of an old man. Without saying a word about the act of the monk, Vladyka sent the monks of the monastery, who had the thinnest and patched clothes, new cassocks. Including father Jonah.
In Schema-Archimandrite Jonah's cell, among the icons, there was always a portrait of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. The elder called Suvorov the Russian Archangel and considered him a saint. The elder said that the commander was a great prayer book and won with the help of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit strengthened the Russian Archangel.
Even before the glorification of the holy Royal Martyrs, Father Jonah reverently revered them. According to his worldview, Jonah's father was a monarchist. The elder believed that if there was sincere repentance, then the Merciful Lord, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Queen of Heaven, would restore Holy Russia, headed by the Orthodox Tsar, the Anointed of God.

Some spiritual children of the priest said that the elder had a vision of the Mother of God, in which it was revealed that he should be saved in the Dormition Monastery in Odessa. There is a testimony of one of the cell-attendants of the elder - “The elder did not tell in detail about his youth. But I remember one story. One night he was plowing and accidentally fell asleep at the wheel of a tractor. Suddenly woke up, sees - in the headlights in front of the tractor is a woman. He turned off the engine, jumped out - no one was there. And in the place where the woman stood, a cliff. Father Jonah said that it was the Mother of God who saved him from death.

But it was not easy to get into the obedience in the monastery in those Soviet times. Assumption Monastery is a special monastery. Its history is closely connected with the names and activities of such prominent people and saints as St. Parthenius Kiziltashsky, prmch. Vladimir, Rev. Kuksha of Odessa, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky, Metropolitan Gavriil Banulesko-Bodoni, Archbishop Nikon Petin, Metropolitan Sergius, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and many other outstanding personalities…

According to legend, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Gabriel (Banulesko-Bodoni), Exarch of Moldovlachia, back in 1804, while in Odessa, expressed his admiration for the wonderful view and location of Alexander Teutul's dacha.
Having learned about the desire of Alexander Teutulus to build a church and a lighthouse here, he soon gave his blessing to equip a cenobitic male monastery on this site.
In 1814, a bishop's residence was founded on the donated land, and in 1820, Metropolitan Gabriel petitioned for the construction of a monastery. In 1824, the petition was finally approved.

Thus, in the first quarter of the 19th century, the Odessa Holy Assumption Monastery appeared in the south of Russia, which for two centuries was the center of spirituality and piety. Here they tirelessly pray for God to grant peace and prosperity to the restless world, for the Lord to bring the lost into the bosom of the Orthodox Church, for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, for teaching everyone the truth of God, for awakening those who are dormant in sinfulness to repentance.

Among the brethren of the monastery there are many spirit-bearing elders, to whom hundreds, thousands of people from all over Holy Russia turn. The Holy Assumption Monastery became a great school of spiritual life.

Today, when morality is being revived in Holy Russia, the traditions of monastic life are being revived, our society is increasingly experiencing an acute need to strengthen spiritual and moral principles. Of particular importance is the life experience of the best of the best elder monks, such as: Archimandrite John Krestyankin, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (Sokur), Archpriest Nikolai (Guryanov) and, of course, our Odessa elder - Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko) .

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (in the world Ignatenko Vladimir Afanasyevich) was born in the Kirovograd region on October 10, 1925, and was named in baptism in honor of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. He was the ninth child in the family. The time was hard, godless. His mother was 45 years old when she gave birth to little Vladimir. Parents were believers - father Athanasius, mother Pelagia. They lived very poorly, but joyfully - with God, under the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The family had one horse and two cows. As Father Jonah recalled: “The new government has come to rip us apart. A family of eleven! What kind of fists are we?.. One of the reasons for dispossession was that we did not hide our faith in God, we attended church.”

Father Jonah was instilled with love for God and people from childhood. He often told his spiritual children about hard peasant labor and peasant piety, about his childhood.
In the 30s of the twentieth century, the struggle against the church reached its climax, temples and monasteries were destroyed. Priests and monks were exiled to Siberia. Only 3 churches remained in Odessa at that time. During these years, little Vladimir went to school. Father often said:
“When I come back from school, I’ll go up to my mother and say ... At school they say there is no God, and my mother answers me - don’t believe Volodya, there is a God. Without God, it’s not up to the threshold, prayer and work will grind everything. These words of my mother help me now.”
“Prayer and work are two wings,” Father Jonah often said to his spiritual children.
In 1937, Father Jonah graduated from a four-year school and soon moved to Georgia. From 1941, at the age of sixteen, he worked in the oil fields until 1948. After the war, he moved to Moldova, where he lived until 1970.
For the first time, the priest came to the Holy Dormition Patriarchal Monastery in 1964, when he lived in Moldova.
This year is special for the monastery - on December 24, 1964, the Monk Kuksha of Odessa reposed. Admirers of the elder see God's providence in this - one elder was replaced by another.
In 1971, Father Jonah was accepted into the brethren of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery.
“The struggle against selfishness is hard, but everything is done in this world by the grace of God.”
On March 25, 1973, novice Vladimir was tonsured by His Eminence Sergius (Petrov), Metropolitan of Odessa and Kherson, into monasticism.
Love, meekness, humility, forgiveness, gentleness, unmemorable malice, non-judgment, insensitivity - all this, with God's help, the elder acquired during the years of his stay in the monastery, and passed it on to his spiritual children.
On April 8, 1979, Father Jonah was tonsured a monk by the abbot of the Holy Dormition Monastery, Archimandrite Polycarp in honor of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, miracle worker (March 31/April 13).
On February 22, 1990, he was consecrated to the priesthood by Vicar Bishop Ioannikius (soon to become Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk), in the Holy Dormition Church of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery.
In 1993, dear father Jonah became abbot, and on April 22, 1998, he received the rank of archimandrite. While still hegumen, the priest becomes one of the confessors of the Holy Dormition Monastery.
And so, until recently, in this monastery, the priest, having gone from novice to schiarchimandrite and spiritual father of the monastery, taught everyone who turned to him, instructed, accepted, admonished, begged, taught to always live with God, to thank God - both for sorrow and for joy.

“Schiarchimandrite Jonah has three heavenly patrons,” said Vladyka Agafangel, “Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, in whose honor he received his first tonsure, and in schema the prophet Jonah. The graceful qualities of these three great saints of the Orthodox Church, by the grace of God, are inherent in Elder Jonah and his ascetic life.”

For the last decades, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah has been the confessor of the Holy Dormition Monastery in the city of Odessa. People came to the elder not only from all over Ukraine, but also from Siberia, the Urals, and Moscow. Among the spiritual children of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah there are many monastic abbots, abbots of temples, monastics and ordinary laity. The elder received everyone with the same attention - both high-ranking government officials, and ordinary villagers and workers. I think that everyone who, by the grace of God, had a chance to talk with the elder, forever remembered the meeting with Schema-Archimandrite Jonah.

Seriously ill, Elder Jonah continued to receive the people. They say that even a week before his death, being already on his deathbed, lying in bed, he continued to receive. Metropolitan Agafangel himself told him: “Take care of yourself, father. After all, you have just recovered, and people tire you a lot. ” To which Father Jonah replied: “But why did I receive treatment? After all, I was sent here to help people with my prayers! How can such love for people disappear with the transition of the soul of an old man to Christ the Savior - the Source of Love. We know that in Eternity Father Jonah will not stop praying for us sinners.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah loved people. His sensitive heart accepted everyone who wanted to serve God, people, and the Fatherland. One of his presence with genuine sincerity inspired Love, Faith and Hope.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah firmly believed that the Lord and the Mother of God would not leave Holy Russia. Schema-Archimandrite Jonah mourned that politicians are tearing Ukraine away from Russia. Batiushka said: “There is no separate Ukraine and Russia, but there is a single Holy Russia. And the enemies decided to divide us in order to destroy Orthodoxy in Little Russia. But the Lord won't allow it."

Whoever felt the need or need for spiritual guidance, consolation or help from the priest, always got to him! Often the elder himself approached those in need. Tells the servant of God Lydia: “We live in Tulchin. I have long wanted to see the elder and ask him to pray for my family. Finally, we managed to pack up and we went to Odessa with pilgrims to the Holy Dormition Monastery to venerate the relics of St. Kuksha of Odessa. When we arrived at the monastery, we learned that Father Jonah had returned from Athos. But everyone said that we are unlikely to see him. And I hoped and the incredible happened, I not only saw him, but also received a blessing from him, when I put a candle, he came up to me and ... corrected my candle! … and anointed with oil!”

Father Jonah taught that one should not chase after worldly things, but first of all one should value life and spiritual things. "We must ask the Lord for the salvation of our souls." The servant of God Vyacheslav says: “We visited Father Jonah several times, due to family circumstances - we have a large family - we didn’t visit him for more than six months, what a joy it was when we were able to visit him and suddenly heard - how Vitalik is there? .. (this is our eldest son). Batiushka called our names and talked to us, although we saw him only once at that time and after that he had many visitors. We clearly felt his prayerful support and help. Soon I was able to get a good job, and my son's behavior (then a very naughty teenager) improved a lot. Another time we came to the monastery with a friend of my son: he really wanted to see the priest (then still an archimandrite) Jonah. They waited a very long time, but then a monk came out and asked for help to move a lot of heavy things and unload the car, we went to help, but he stayed, but he didn’t wait and left upset - and we were lucky when we returned, the layman came out and it was us led to the old man!

In addition to the blessing, we also received a gift, marvelous are Your deeds, Lord!
When the priest was very ill, he was very worried about the people who were waiting for him and specially came to him - very often he sent his cell-attendant to them with some kind of message or gift. It was a great consolation when the cell-attendant came out and handed out fruits or biscuits... different things... it was all from the blessed hand of Father Jonah. The cell attendant could have been given a note with a request.
Father Jonah says: “Complain to God alone, ask him, wait for help from him ...“ May the Lord heal you!

Father Jonah is an amazing old man for spiritual advice, both ordinary laymen and the "powerful of this world" came to him. Many who saw him said, "God speaks through him!"

The servant of God Andrei, editor of one of the Orthodox newspapers, warmly recalls his meetings with Father Jonah: “He taught me a lot and, above all, to condescend to the shortcomings and infirmities of people.” Fourteen years ago, I had the good fortune to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Father Jonah. “The reliquary cross that he gave me then is always with me.”
The elder once said: “... life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when your adviser is conscience!”
Batiushka was easy to handle, he had no theological education, but the Lord revealed many secrets to him.

One day the priest came out of the altar and said to one woman: “decide for yourself whether you need my help or not…” indirectly catching her in doubt.
Many were surprised by his insight. “Once, when it was possible to approach the priest freely, I had a conflict with the management at work. And they pressed me so hard that I decided to complain about my superiors. On the way to work, I stopped by the monastery. Batiushka met me on the threshold of the temple with the words: - where do you want the award? Here on earth or in the kingdom of heaven? I was in a hurry. And about. Jonah told me to immediately go to work, not to complain to anyone, and as the boss, the higher management would arrange a head-washing and he would blame me for everything, without justifying himself, ask for forgiveness. And so she did. It was hard. Got sick. And during the illness, the chief was removed ”(Servant of God Elena).

An unusual case was described by Kutsiv Vladimir Artemyevich, who was shocked by the foresight of the old man. Two years ago, he unwittingly witnessed the following. One of his friends, the father of four sons, had constant conflicts with his mother-in-law. When the mother-in-law found out that her daughter was pregnant for the fifth time, she made a scandal and either jokingly or seriously told her son-in-law - if a boy is born again, move out of the apartment. Frightened and confused, he told me this story. I don't know why I told him - let's go to Elder Jonah. I want to give him my book "Truth", and you turn to him with your request. We took his wife and went to the monastery. We were lucky when we arrived, Father Jonah met us and the first thing he said to me after I handed him the book was “I have been waiting for it for a long time”, although I saw him personally a long time ago, back in 2001. After that I called my friend's wife and prayed for an hour. She soon gave birth to a daughter.

Father Jonah was very attentive to those around him - here is an excerpt from the memoirs of Anton Pavlovich Kopach, a teacher at the Poltava Theological Seminary, who, when he was a novice at the Holy Dormition Monastery, served as a cell-attendant of Father Jonah for several years: “like many, I dreamed of such a spiritual guide, prayed about it. But I could not even imagine under what circumstances I would get to Father Jonah. Then he did not need cell phones at all. He was very independent and could well take care of himself. Jon's father suffered from a leg disease. Every evening he soared them. It was necessary to bring a bucket of hot water, and after the procedure, lubricate the legs with a healing ointment. This obedience was carried by a novice named Jacob. With the blessing of Jonah's father, he went to Athos, after Yakov's departure from 1998 to 2001, I was his cell-attendant, if you can call it that. I remember the first time I came to him with a bucket of hot water. He knocked and said why he had come. Come on, he says. While I was doing the procedure, Father Jonah silently prayed. Then he said: “You will be fine. God will give everything." With these words of his in my memory and in my soul, I lived and live all these years. Somehow he came to Hieromonk Jonah native brother. I am carrying water and I hear my brother talking about me: “Why do you need him, why is he walking around here?” And Jonah's father replies: "It's not him I need, but I need him."

While Father Jonah was soaring his legs, I read aloud a prayer rule or a book - whatever he asked. His favorite book was the teachings of St. Silouan of Athos.
Athos occupied a special place in the heart of the elder. He repeatedly visited there and always spoke with soul about the Holy Mountain. He really wanted to go there. In the Great
Lavra treated him very respectfully. But Father Jonah always said that the Mother of God showed him a place in the Holy Dormition Monastery, and that it was Her will that he be here.

He was a man of great humility. This absolute humility was manifested literally in everything. How many people the priest wiped away tears, how many he led to faith, only the Lord knows. For me personally, the priest was a support, joy and comforter, a prayer book for many years. How much love he had for people! He even on his deathbed, two days before his death, received people. And how we did not feel sorry for him! I will never forget how in late autumn, people already in warm jackets and hats, on the way from the temple to the cell, surrounded him and for a long, long time did not let him go, dressed in a light cassock. Batiushka was already blue from the cold, but he patiently blessed and handed out something. And it never occurred to anyone that the priest was very cold and it was time to let him go. Father, forgive us. How many times I ran headlong to the monastery to receive a blessing, to give a note with a request for prayer. Or at least from afar to see him and immediately my soul became calm. The priest had an amazing ability, when communicating with him or just seeing how he says something for the benefit of the soul, somehow all the problems and sorrows with which you came at once went into the background, and thoughts about the future life immediately became the first , about eternity, about God, some kind of calm appeared, strength to continue to live, endure sorrows, a “second wind” opened up, and you always left comforted (from the memoirs of the servant of God Lydia).

“11 years ago I had a moment where I wanted to commit suicide (at 21). It was at that moment that I was stopped and told about Fr. Jonah. I went to church, asked the priest for blessings on the way to the elder, and went to the monastery. Before the trip, she fasted for several days, so that upon arrival she would confess and take communion, and read prayers all the way.
It was a holiday and there were a lot of people. Some already in the evening, and I arrived at 6 in the morning. I took a queue (it was about 15th) and went to the temple. After the service, the monks brought the elder to his cell. People immediately entered, as many as they could fit, and I was already not the 15th, but about the thirtieth in line. All I could do was stand outside and pray. There were, of course, thoughts condemning others, but I drove them away and thought even more about prayer.
She did not get into the cell for a conversation that day and was very upset, but reconciled. When Father Jonah was already leaving, she thought: “Probably God thinks that I am not ready.” And at that moment he approached me himself. He did not say what, but gave a blessing. And only after many years I understand that he blessed my thoughts, because from that day on I began to reason differently. Some kind of balance and confidence in the future appeared inside me.

And then, for five months, every week I came to the monastery and every time I got to Fr. Jonah either in a cell, or for confession, or he simply approached me after everyone else, silently smeared with oil and moved on.
Of all the meetings and conversations with him, I didn’t just understand, but I felt that you need to be able to come to terms with any life situation inside. But only in soul and spirit, and the matter continues. Humility is the balance of soul and spirit. God rejoices in a humble spirit, as parents rejoice in an obedient child.” Unfortunately, I don’t know the author of these words, but I took the liberty of quoting them in this short article, because the conclusions that this wise girl made after meeting with the priest are very in tune with the story of another friend of mine, who received spiritual balance and confidence in tomorrow day through the prayers of a dear elder.

“... This is the first person who showed me that in order to be in this life “BE” with a capital letter, to be happy, to have peace of mind - you don’t need to have perfect health, a career, a lot of money, success, etc. I, as a teenager, thought that life is valuable when there is health, success, money. Now, it's not like that. Thanks to Father Jonah, and to people like him, for understanding that life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when you follow the path of your heart, your true conscience. and then it does not matter - in what you are poor or rich! (R. B. Alexander).

He got a difficult fate, he accepted all the pain and tears that pilgrims brought to the monastery. He himself was for many, as it were, the last hope and protector.

Igor Zhdankin, an artist and icon painter, says: “At one time I often managed to confess to Father Jonah. Sometimes during the Vespers in the Dormition Church, they let me into the ponomarka, where the priest came out of the altar and received confession, as always with great participation, warmth and sincere empathy. What heart will not melt from such love, and who will measure how many tons of cargo we have left under His stole! Therefore, the healthy and the sick, the rich and the poor, fathers, bishops, monks, believers and atheists aspired to Him from everywhere. He accepted everyone, prayed for everyone, and the love of Christ was enough for everyone.

One summer, a familiar priest and family from near Kiev came to rest with us, Fr. Vladimir. And, of course, he wished to meet the Elder. We arrived at the monastery, venerated the relics of the Monk Kuksha, lit candles, and after spending a little time in the temple, having learned that Father Jonah was in a ponomark, we hurried to him. It must be said that this was at a time when he broke his hip and could hardly move with the help of crutches. Therefore, he was not in the altar, but sat on a chair at the entrance to the altar and listened to kathismas. Batiushka, bless... God bless... Father Vladimir knelt down and began to confess. I walked away, stood at a distance, about two or three meters closer to the doors of the stock brand, and I did not hear them at all. Some time passed, maybe 10-15 minutes, when suddenly an elderly monk comes out of the altar with anger and screams very rudely and somehow angrily through his teeth - don't you hear, Jonah? - Prayer is going on in the temple, and here you are engaged in chatter, well, stop it! This is where everything inside of me flared up. Yes, who are you, they say, to point out such, and even to whom - Father Jonah himself, but confession is not chatter, and all this boils in me with curses and indignation ... And Father Jonah takes a crutch, gets up with difficulty from a chair, bows to the old man to the ground, rises with pain, looks into his eyes and in a tearful voice - FORGIVE ME, BROTHER ... The monk looked, silently nodded his head and disappeared into the depths of the altar. I don’t know about him, but I hid my tears, tears of shame and bitterness from my insignificance and pride, which so clearly manifested itself against the background of holy humility ... ".

And here is an excerpt from another memoir: “Father Jonah confessed in the aisle of the Assumption Church. The chapel is cramped, people will surround it with a tight wall, there is no air. And he sits there with his sore legs before the service, and throughout the service, and after the service. Everyone confesses. The other priests had already finished and went to the altar, and around Father Jonah the crowd of confessors was still standing. Huge popularity among the people was for the father of Jonah a heavy cross, which he resignedly carried. He was constantly surrounded by people, their veneration. And not just reverence, but almost adoration. Outwardly weak, sick, endured everything, did not reproach anyone. This was his martyrdom, his Golgotha. There were a lot of people around him, not quite adequate.

Many people came to the elder for advice. They say, father Jonah, bless me to do this and that. Father Jonah sighs, prays: "God help you!" And he never argued with people, even if he disagreed with something. For him, humility was paramount. The servant of God A. tells: “I was several times in the cell of an old man. His cell in the corner turret on the second floor was cold in winter, terribly hot in summer, as it overlooked the sunny side. In addition, constantly, smoky - downstairs there was a shower with stove heating. When this broken stove was kindled twice a week, the smoke seeped up, where the old monks lived, including Father Jonah. Elderly and sick, he never complained about it. He slept on the floor. There was a bed in the cell, but, as a rule, it was full of books and other things, gifts that people brought to Father Jonah. He often gave something from this bed to his guests.

On December 18, 2012, at the age of 88, after a severe long illness, the elder quietly departed to the Lord.

On December 22, His Eminence Agafangel, Metropolitan of Odessa and Izmail performed a funeral service for the deceased confessor of the Holy Dormition Monastery of Odessa, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko), co-served by His Eminence Alexy, Archbishop of Balta and Ananiev, His Grace Evlogy, Bishop of Sumy and Akhtyrsky, Rector of the Odessa Theological Seminary , the abbots of St. Constantino-Eleninsky Izmail and St. Iversky Odessa monasteries, Archimandrites Sergius and Diodorus, as well as numerous clergy who arrived from various dioceses of the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.

After the end of the liturgy, Metropolitan Agafangel addressed the tens of thousands of believers who had gathered that day to say goodbye to the priest, with an archpastoral word, in which he spoke about the difficult life and righteous service of the deceased elder. With tears in his eyes and grief in his voice, Vladyka emphasized that the future confessor of the monastery was born into a large peasant family with 11 children, and from childhood he worked hard to survive in those difficult and hungry times.
In 1971, already a mature man, he arrived at the monastery and humbly worked on many obediences: he was engaged in household work, mowed grass, and looked after animals.

Father Jonah, not having a higher secular education, here, in the monastery, in fasting and prayer, went through a difficult monastic school, spiritually ascending through all the steps - from novice to confessor of the monastery. Tens of thousands of people came to his cell and will come to his grave to ask for his prayers for the suffering and burdened, the sick and the mourning. And the elder did not refuse anyone, taking upon himself this pain and spiritual weakness. An example for him was the Monk Kuksha, who also devoted his life to serving God and people, and within the walls of this monastery, he carried his difficult cross of confession. Father Jonah had much in common with the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, who gladly met everyone who came to him for advice and help. Already seriously ill, being on his deathbed, Father Jonah radiated that indescribable light of love that warmed everyone, filling people's hearts with the warmth of faith and hope. Hot faith, a constant prayerful attitude, sacrificial love for the Church and the flock, zeal for the glory of God earned Father Jonah pan-Orthodox fame and deep reverence. Ordinary people, ministers, deputies, well-known politicians, and heads of state went to his cell for wise advice. Everything he did was devoted to the only need - a living sermon about Christ Crucified and Risen. His pastoral words were filled with warmth and concern for salvation, addressed both to those who came to him and to people living far from the monastery.

Today we have come here to honor the memory of this ascetic of piety. During his lifetime, he was content with little, was a strict ascetic and fasting. And now he doesn’t need anything at all, except for our prayers, so that the all-merciful Lord will rest his soul in the villages of the righteous. As it says in the rite of the funeral in a petition on behalf of the deceased: “My spiritual brethren and companions, do not forget me when you pray, but see my coffin, remember my love and pray to Christ, may my spirit deal with the righteous.”

Then Metropolitan Agafangel performed the rite of burial of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah.
After the end of the funeral service, the coffin with the body of the elder was surrounded procession around the cathedral, and then at the fraternal cemetery of the Holy Dormition Monastery, His Eminence Agafangel performed a Litiya for the deceased confessor of the monastery. After the last archpastoral prayers, the body of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah was buried. Forever now in our memory will remain this luminous memorial service. The seminary and monastic choir sang like an angel, and together with the incense smoke our prayers ascended to the Throne of God. What a blessing that we are Orthodox. The bitterness of the loss of the holy elder among all who were at the memorial service was replaced by a quiet joy for his soul. We all go to the last earth line. But after all, this feature does not mean the end of life, but this is a birthday into eternal life.
Odessans will always remember the old man. His stay was a gift from God for the inhabitants of Odessa.

The Kingdom of Heaven to the newly-departed servant of God, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, the great Russian elder, clairvoyant monk, good father. May the land of Odessa not become impoverished with such spiritual talents. We will pray for you before the Lord God, dear Schema-Archimandrite Jonah! Pray for us, sinners, when you come to the Kingdom of Heaven!

“God give rest to the soul of Your newly-departed servant Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, forgive him his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him eternal memory!”

On December 18, in Odessa, a man who was called the conscience of Orthodoxy in Ukraine passed away to the Lord.

On December 18, 2012, at the age of 88, after a severe long illness, the confessor of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko) reposed in the Lord. Schema-Archimandrite Jonah enjoyed great spiritual authority among believers. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, during his visit to the Holy Assumption Monastery in July 2010, had a lengthy conversation with Father Jonah.

Father Jonah was born in 1925 and was the ninth child. The whole earthly life of Father Jonah was marked by hard work. He could not even finish secondary school: he had to work to help his parents. During the Great Patriotic War he worked at a defense plant, and after the victory - as a tractor driver, and a miner, and in the oil fields. A wonderful story happened to him in his youth. He plowed at night and accidentally fell asleep at the wheel of a tractor. Suddenly woke up, sees - in the headlights in front of the tractor is a woman. He turned off the engine, jumped out - no one was there. And in the place where the woman stood, a cliff. Father Jonah said that it was the Mother of God who saved him from death.

Closer to the age of 40, he fell ill with tuberculosis. “... And then suddenly the moment came when I realized that it was impossible to live like this and it was time to save my soul ...”, - said Father Jonah. In the hospital, seeing how the sick were dying, he swore to God that if the Lord healed him, he would become a monk.

Hearing that hermit monks, holy ascetics, lived in Abkhazia, Father Jonah went on foot to the Caucasus. For several years he lived there among the monastic brethren.

The Monk Kuksha blessed him to go to Odessa, to the Holy Dormition Monastery. They did not immediately take him to the monastery, and he dug a cave in the clay on the seashore, where he settled. Father Jonah got into the monastery thanks to the skills of a tractor driver. He lived in the monastery as a simple worker. He worked at the cowshed. And, as they say, the first years he suffered a lot there. They humbled him, even poured mud over him. He also slept somewhere, next to the cows.

For more than 40 years Father Jonah labored as a monk. People came to him for advice from all over the former Soviet Union. According to the testimonies of spiritual children, Father Jonah had the gift of healing.

The funeral service and burial of the confessor of the Holy Assumption Monastery of Odessa, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, took place on Saturday, December 22, on the feast of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy", after the Divine Liturgy. The funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail.

I learned about Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko), the old comforter from Odessa, a month before his death. By the grace of God, I came to him for a blessing when he already received only a few of his closest spiritual children. Cleansed by the crucible of illness, he humbly endured pain in his back. I spent an hour and a half near the bed of Father Jonah. He was brought from intensive care a few hours earlier, but the priest was cheerful, and most importantly, he was joyful, like a child. All this time, the priest spoke animatedly about his life, interspersing memories of his own life with stories about the saints of God from Holy Scripture, he spoke about them as if about his closest relatives: in detail, urgently and distinctly. With extraordinary speed, the priest put books for us, in which he unmistakably found places to read. And these were passages that spoke of the incompatibility of the Holy Spirit with carnal uncleanness. He also lamented about Western Europe and America, mired in the depths of prodigal sin. Lines were read from the reflections of the righteous John of Kronstadt on the Sacrament of the Eucharist, denouncing the formal attitude to the Sacrament of some believers, as well as chapters from the book of the Athos monk Simeon about love.

Father Jonah never spoke about his sufferings, but was filled with reverence and gratitude to God for the gifts he had received. He mentioned that there are many Angels with us now. He constantly turned to the Mother of God. And next to his bed was a photograph of the Goloseev ascetic Alipiya.

His favorite image, before which he prayed in recent months and before which he rested, was the icon of the Syrian Mother of God, He also called her "Search for the Lost." It was a copy of one icon, which streamed myrrh in the temple in the form of a tear of the young Mother of God. The father spoke like this: “And Baby Jesus strokes Her neck and says: don’t cry, Mom, I will have mercy on everyone, I will save everyone for whom You are crying.”

Father's voice, weak from illness, but so gentle and sweet, suddenly began to sound loud, bold and solemn, when he spoke about David and Moses. The priest, as it were, apologized that he had received many honors and gratitude from people for the many healings received by people through his prayers and through the anointing with holy oil, which he tirelessly composed from all the shrines where he visited, gathering oil from lamps in front of miraculous icons and relics. Hopeless patients were specially sent to him, and sometimes they were healed. “It is God who does everything, and not the wretched Jonah,” he proclaimed several times, alien to conceit. He considered his illnesses a retribution for excessive human glory and complained that his illnesses interfered with his mission - to receive Confession from people, and he considered this the main thing in his ministry. “Now I can’t go to church to confess,” he lamented.

Constantly referring to the prophets David and Moses, he allegorically drew a parallel with his own life. The most inconspicuous among his brothers, Father Jonah was chosen for high service, like King David. And like Moses the God-seer, he firmly led his flock across the Red Sea to the promised land. And during our retreat from the norms of Christian life, without judging anyone, he went forward, not paying attention to the wall of water on the right and left. Burning with a thirst for prayer, he taught it to his children.

Amazing peacefulness and meekness allowed the priest, who is alien to any conformism and concessions to “this world”, which already subjugates many believers, somehow affectionately get along with everyone and in all circumstances. It was visited by the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and well-known hierarchs of the Church. He loved and pitied everyone, he prayed for everyone. His children-benefactors rebuilt the monastery.

Alien to selfishness and self-interest, he became the support and conscience of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, especially in Odessa, leaving behind a good memory in the monastic brotherhood, and in the seminary, and among the townspeople. Everyone knew him, many abbesses built monasteries according to his precepts. Imitating the prophet Jonah, he preached all his life: repent in order to turn away the wrath of God, which hung over the earth, rabid in sins.

The priest reposed on the eve of the celebration of St. Nicholas in winter. Like Nicholas the Wonderworker, his simple-hearted childish heart did not know God's refusal. A year and a half ago, he came down with many ailments, the main of which was heart failure. And in Kyiv, he is implanted with a pacemaker, and he ... runs away in a wheelchair from the hospital to Jerusalem, to the Holy Sepulcher! The priest was brought to the plane in an ambulance: who could forbid him to fly if he received a blessing from the Lord!

He spent three hours in Kuvuklia, not noticing people and remaining unnoticed by the flow of pilgrims. And he got to his feet, and returned to his native Odessa Assumption Monastery to the relics of the Monk Kuksha, which are in this monastery. One parishioner, seeing the priest, going out, as usual, for confession, exclaimed in her hearts: “Father, why is he resurrected?”

He contrasted the spirit of despondency with a prayer shield, as well as a joke, good laughter.

With his inherent childish mischief, he could beat any serious "military" situation, like Vasily Terkin, reducing the pathos of universal sorrow to the level of humility, gentleness and forgiveness.

Batiushka blessed me and gave me a copy of the Syrian Icon of the Mother of God, which he greatly revered and considered miraculous. She accompanied his death. This paper copy of the icon became myrrh-streaming and wonderfully fragrant two weeks before his death. And this is a sign that Father Jonah was a favorite of the Mother of God, who warned us about his imminent death.

Ion's father was a modern hesychast, he spent most of his time in deep heartfelt prayer and silence, concentration and sobriety. He lived in the presence of God and the Mother of God, used every moment to immerse his mind in his heart, to find peace and joy in the Holy Spirit with heartfelt prayer.

Like the great confessors of Athos, he was a dove at Confession, which gathers his chicks under his wings, warms, nourishes and protects from bad weather. Without denouncing strictly, allegorically naming the sins that his pure mind, aspiring to God, revealed to him about the penitent, he moved people to remember and name grave shameful sins, without which Confession has no power of purification.

The complete rejection of idleness was laid down by his peasant childhood and life before the monastery. Diligence and various spiritual pursuits have become a strong bulwark against spiritual delusion, which conveniently accompanies even people who have been rewarded with blessed visions.

The last day, when he was conscious, his spiritual child Elena spent next to the priest, constantly reading akathists, and the priest sang along with her. At this time, he did not need painkillers, as the power of prayer overcame the pain. All night Elena read the Psalter - we all need at least one living soul to be near, especially in the hour of death, which is not easy even for ascetics.

He found a little rest from constant prayerful work in the memories of the pilgrimage to Athos and to other shrines of the world. He was sensitive to the beauty of nature, loved all living creatures, especially donkeys. And in the courtyard of his cell lived tame squirrels.

Batiushka was swift and agile, accustomed to performing many and difficult obediences from the hierarchy. He confessed to thousands of people. When the priest went to the temple, he was accompanied by crowds of two or three hundred people, lining up in a corridor on his way. His main distinguishing feature was that he never visibly felt burdened by the fact that he was surrounded by a crowd of suffering, although at times he became exhausted. He recovered quickly because he wanted to give his talents to people.

Thanks to the attention and care of Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmail, Father Jonah lived for several more years. Having settled the ascetic near the Bishop's chambers, the Metropolitan in every possible way protected his sacrificial impulse from self-exhaustion, limiting the reception of people who, with endless worldly problems, would not give him a minute to rest.

After the last Communion, Father Jonah underwent stubborn and painful attempts to resuscitate him.

Father Jonah did not hide from the suffering people crowding around him. Thousands of people considered him a spiritual father. And thousands more rushed to the doors of his cell to learn the will of God from a true elder, to receive healing and spiritual advice from him.

It's only Russian elders like that - in the thick of the crowd day and night; and not painfully, but joyfully, they met an endless string of people, literally blocking and overpowering the spirit of despondency and despair of the whole crowd, infecting people with inspiration and joy. Elder Jonah had only one weapon - love, love, love. Seeing a person for the first time, the priest could kiss his whole face, feed him a bun, generously anoint him with holy oil, give icons and books - this was enough to inspire hope for the best in a person.

"Ah, that's how a Christian loves!" - thought everyone who fell under the "shelling" of father's love. Batiushka reprimanded the possessed people not with a breviary, but with his fiery, sacrificial, compassionate prayer, which he could not stop - he breathed it, his heart beat with it, his pure mind was occupied with it. Also, his miraculous oil, collected from all the shrines that he constantly visited, being renewed by grace, undoubtedly healed and healed bodily and mental ailments. Batiushka saw these ailments, but in his meekness and humility he never showed his child, respecting the freedom of every human will. He could reveal to a person the most hidden evil, but in wise covert abstract plots that revealed a purulent ulcer of the soul. After confession with the priest, people returned to the joy of the forgiveness of sins. He was a spiritual surgeon, but very kind, with such an arsenal of painkillers that even great sinners were not afraid of him. But this punishment by love (“the righteous will punish me with mercy”) acted more strongly than penance. Cutting down the root of sin, the priest aroused disgust and pain of conscience towards him. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

He conveyed the spirit of achievement and love to his children. There was no hypocrisy in him at all.

He saw the essence of the ongoing processes and never blessed people with what they were not yet able to do. Of course, he mourned the apostasy, on the wave of which iniquity intensifies. And he did not bless to take neither the TIN, nor even electronic and biometric documents. But when he was asked about this by people who were trapped by circumstances or weak in faith, he remained silent, as if he did not even hear the repeated question. Delicacy was inherent in him in everything.

Father Jonah went through the most difficult feat of life, the main result of which was unshakable humility, which alone burns all the intrigues of the enemy of the human race. Born the ninth child in the family, he began to work from the age of thirteen, and when he came to his monastery in Odessa at the age of 40, he laboriously laid the path to grace, the path to the pinnacle of spiritual work - unceasing prayer. At first he was not taken to the monastery: thin, emaciated, not of this world. Before joining the monastery, he spent a year in Georgia, laboring next to the well-known prayer book Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly.

Batyushkin’s favorite saint is Alexy, a man of God, who, for his special closeness to God, otherworldliness, unparalleled chastity and non-possession, was beaten by rough-tempered people, among whom lived the son of a wealthy Roman dignitary.

It was impossible to look at the priest, his aged face was more beautiful than his youthful beauty. The voice was also like a crystal bell, gentle and affectionate.

Already at the end of his life, the priest also had to put up with a lot from his cell-attendants. One of them locked him up, didn't feed him. It helped that the priest had to pave the way to monasticism through honest and hard work. When the priest was not taken to the monastery, he spent the night in armfuls of leaves and in a cave, and waited until the circumstances favorably changed in his favor. In the time of theomachy it was difficult to get into the monastery. Haymaking began, the summer harvest, and there were not enough workers in the barnyard of the monastery. And Vladimir Ignatenko (as he was called in the world) knew how to mow, and in diligence he had no equal, in patience and service to God. He did a lot and quickly. prostrations.

Batiushka was a novice for 15 years, doing the hardest work (he worked at the monastery power plant), and yet he had tuberculosis - as an echo of a hungry childhood and poor nutrition in post-war years. The priest had diabetes, and oncology, and a bypass heart, but this could not overshadow his constant joy of spirit, inspiration of life. Consoling people, the father often, in a fatherly way, will give a pretty penny for ice cream. His favorite dish was dumplings with nuts and olives.

He blessed to have houses with land, so that in the last times they would not depend on the mark of the number of the beast, without which it would be impossible to sell or buy. Therefore, he suggested preparing for these times already now: to live chastely and confess and take communion as often as possible.

Ten years ago, Batiushka used to go haymaking. And for the spiritual children it was a whole event. People around him were accustomed to asceticism. From 5 o'clock in the morning there was already a queue near the father's gate. With his bedridden illness and regular emergency ambulance visits, access to him became difficult. But people were on duty for up to 3-5 days, praying. Batiushka was very worried when his beloved spiritual children could not get to him. Overcoming the effects of drugs and pain shocks, the priest tried to be in shape through force - for the sake of the people who were on duty on the street in any weather. Most of all, he lamented that he could not get up and confess.

Here are just a few testimonies of the spiritual power of his prayer.

One woman brought her atheist husband to the monastery. The atheist ran up to the elder, called him by name and bowed to the ground.

The monastery watchman Mikhail had a son who had a tumor in his stomach, and he was taken for an operation. However, the father did nothing without the blessing of Father Jonah. He canceled the operation and ordered the boy to be brought to him. The doctors forbade him even a sip of water, and the priest ordered him to eat a bun, after which the tumor disappeared.

Batiushka was not against operations. He blessed one woman with a mastopathy operation, she also went to be treated by Father George the herbalist, but soon died.

He blessed another woman, a cancer patient, whom the doctors gave three days to live, to congregate and receive communion daily, and she still lived, and her family became church.

His child, Lyudmila, came to him, and the priest so consoled her: soon her mother died, dearly loved by her. And the father then joyfully told her that her mother had gone through the ordeal.

At first, the Athonites did not recognize the priest, as he came to the monastery late - there virgins become elders who have lived all their lives on Athos, not seeing women. But when an incident occurred that revealed the special reverence of the Queen of Heaven for Elder Jonah, the Greek newspapers wrote about this incident, their opinion about him changed. And Batiushka became a welcome guest on Athos, he lived there for several months.

And it was like that. When he prayed in the altar at the Kikk Icon of the Theotokos, the robe covering her face rose by itself so that the priest could see the icon.

Batiushka pitied the whole world, lamented over America and Western Europe, which were forgetting God, and prayed for the conversion of Muslims.

The priest passed away as a reverend. AT last days they didn’t let him in, but one of his children, whom he blessed to work in his cell three months ago, was admitted through the elder’s prayers and brightened up the hours of his dying languor, which outwardly did not express itself in the father. In the morning they came to Saint Barbara to give communion. He himself crossed himself with difficulty, he himself swallowed the Holy Gifts. The Great Martyr Varvara has the grace to give Communion before her death, to admonish the dying with the Holy Gifts. And it was December 17, the day of her memory. After Communion, the priest did not regain consciousness. And exactly one day later, during which the priest was given injections, his breathing quietly stopped. People who applied to the hand of the deceased during the last 5 days felt its softness and warmth.

And now his body at the festive service to St. Nicholas rested in the middle of the temple. The gospel sounded all the time, interrupted by memorial services, priests succeeded each other, people crowded around the tomb of the righteous day and night. When the body was taken out for burial, the sun shone on the sea of people. Father Jonah was buried in a crypt, from which in 2000 the relics of St. Innocent of Kherson were removed.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah visited Jerusalem 18 times, Athos 19 times, Sinai and Cyprus 10 times.

Abbess Pelagia of the St. George Monastery said that while still a laywoman she visited the priest, and he came up and covered her with his mantle. Later, she and her sisters became his spiritual children. When she begged the priest to visit the monastery, he said that he knew about everything, but didn’t he walk there with his legs. And yet, somehow, mother managed to quietly take the father to the monastery right from the cell. For a whole week Father Jonah confessed and nursed the sisters. However, a day later, all of Odessa was already in Danilki. They saw mother in the cell of Jonah's father and figured out where he could have disappeared. And crowds of people stood on the sides of the path near the temple in the cell of the priest.

Father Valery rejected the offer of ordination because of his wife's disagreement. But father Jonah blessed him for the priesthood by phone, and then at the meeting told him to serve as a psalmist for two years. Indeed, two years later, the wife agreed to become a mother. When Fr. Valeriy had doubts, when he went to the batiushka for a general blessing, while listening to the lives of the saints, he heard about the ordination of the famous nineteenth-century ascetic Parthenius of Kiev. Jonah's father turned to him with approval. When Father Valery nevertheless asked the same question, Father Jonah said - you heard the life. By humility, the priest gave all the answers for those who came through reading.

When asked how to be saved, he invariably spoke of monasticism, investing in this concept the acquisition of chastity and the Jesus Prayer. Books about prayer and the rosary he handed out rigorously and several times. He also insisted that believing men wear beards.

In Odessa, where he lived in a monastery for about 5 decades, in this huge city, of course, there were many unfortunate, lost, fallen away from the faith, spiritually ill people with a poisoned consciousness. Batiushka performed that prayer service that averted many from death and led to salvation.

Father Jonah, according to the testimony of one Greek Metropolitan, visited his monastery on the island of Crete, not only in spirit, but also in body, while not leaving his cell. The day before, they exchanged greetings, feeling spiritual kinship in the bosom of Greek-Russian Orthodoxy, as St. John of Kronstadt called it, emphasizing the unity, continuity and integrity of the spiritual tradition of the Greeks and Russians. And at night there was a soft knock at the door of the Metropolitan's cell, followed by the receding steps of a barefoot man. And in the morning, the Metropolitan calls the children of Father Jonah and asks if the priest puts on his shoes when he gets up for the night prayer, and found out: no.

His heartfelt love for his mother organically grew to filial love for the Mother of God and for matushkas - ascetics of monasticism. He always warmly remembered his mother, who from childhood planted in his soul longing for Heaven. When the icon “I am with you and no one is with you” from St. George’s Monastery was brought into his cell, the priest exclaimed: “The Mother of God herself has come to me!”

He, like a child, rejoiced at the arrival of the nuns, his children, admiring the purity of their souls, he did not want to let them go from him, even exhausted from pain. Abbess Pelagia says that she saw the transfigured face of the priest, enlightened, with the skin of a childish, spiritualized beauty.

When asked about the end times, he said soon. One woman asked what to cook for these times and received the answer: everything is already prepared for you. Soon she died suddenly.

He said to others: you will suffer hunger for the sake of salvation. After all, then the choice between the Cross and bread will be relevant.

One priest, who served in the Chernobyl zone in a village of 14 people, father Iona did not bless to change the place of service, saying that he would be saved there. Batiushka, after serving there for 12 years, rested peacefully, avoiding many temptations.

Batiushka loved the service so much that he left an hour and a half before the Liturgy: he had to pay attention to the crowd of those accompanying him, who numbered more than a hundred, and at the proskomidium take out many particles for the children, whose troubles he knew in spirit. He loved singers, and an amateur "Jonin Choir" was created in the monastery. Once a rural old man came to him with a flute and tried without success to perform something church for him. Batiushka, taking pity on him, asked him to play "Cossack". And everyone was happy. Another time someone brought a violin, and the priest sang to its accompaniment. No one saw him angry and irritated, but only complaining about the mistakes of his children.

In the altar, the priest merged with all the servants, considering himself equal among the brethren. He was always with the people. At first there was a cell outside the gates of the monastery, where he came to feed his flock. And the people confessed during the service, invariably returning to the altar after the "Our Father" to take communion. He lived the Holy Mysteries, therefore, while living on Mount Athos, where they even bought him a cell of a child, he became a participant in hesychasm, which includes daily communion and spiritual contemplation.

At confession, he recalled sins, in the case of grave sins there were pauses - he prayed long and hard for the forgiveness of the sins of repentant sinners.

Having a strong body, by the age of 87 he had suffered many diseases. Perhaps the reason was that he bore the sins of many people. After all, his brother at the age of 90 came to his hospital for 30 kilometers on a bicycle.

And in the hospital, through the window, the priest gave the people everything he had: bread, fruit, and money.

When no one was allowed to see him, he managed to throw rosaries, brochures, and icons through the window into the crowd to console him. He somehow found a way out of any situation in order to show paternal affection and love to everyone who rushed to him. All who wanted had access to it if they showed patience and prayerful zeal.

Batiushka said that new, strong, young people are coming to replace the elders. He did not complain about the spirit of the times, but actively opposed it, teaching everyone to stand firm in Orthodoxy.

Nun Euphrosinia (Mukhametzyanova), Kazan.

On December 18, 2012, at the age of 88, after a long and severe illness, the confessor of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko), passed away to the Lord.

On December 22, 2012, His Eminence Agafangel, Metropolitan of Odessa and Izmail celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the deceased confessor of the Holy Dormition Monastery of Odessa Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko) in concelebration with His Eminence Alexy, Archbishop of Balta and Ananiev, His Grace Evlogy, Bishop of Sumy and Akhtyr the Seminary of Archimandrite Seraphim, the abbots of St. Constantino-Eleninsky Izmail and St. Iversky Odessa monasteries of Archimandrites Sergius and Diodorus, as well as numerous clergy who arrived from various dioceses of the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.

Then Metropolitan Agafangel performed the rite of burial of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, at which the mayor of Odessa A.A. Kostusev, the First Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Nina Karpacheva, people's deputies of Ukraine, heads of state authorities, law enforcement agencies, well-known political figures, representatives of the public prayed.

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“And then suddenly the moment came when I realized that everything, you can’t live like that, it’s time to save your soul ...”

“... life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when your adviser is your conscience!”

"It's good to be a monk! Here you are - nitsya - how many children can you have? And I'm not married, but do you know how many children I have? I am so many children!”

Man himself cannot be saved in any way, only the Lord saves us. And since the Lord saves, what do we need to do the most?

We have become orphaned - the great old man, the righteous man, the ascetic of piety, the keeper of the Word of God, the worker of the field of God, has left. For three days, tens of thousands of admirers of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah poured in an endless stream from all over Ukraine, Russia, and Moldova into the Holy Dormition Patriarchal Monastery in Odessa. Father Jonah will forever remain in the memory of all who knew him as a wise, joyful and sagacious priest, a strict monk, a zealous fasting and prayer book, a sincere novice, as a man who generously shared his rich life experience, warming his love to everyone who turned to him for advice.

The name of the confessor of the monastery, a student of St. Kuksha of Odessa was well known to Orthodox Russian people. Elder Jonah usually took confession not far from the holy relics of St. Kuksha in the Dormition Church of the monastery. In recent years, the cell of the elder, which was located at the gates of the monastery, was always crowded with many people. Some were in line from 4-5 o'clock in the morning.

- oncological disease of the spine. Doctors say that only a miracle can be called the fact that Father Jonah lived the last years. It happens

- the elders, who healed many, themselves with humility bear the cross of serious illnesses.

It always seemed to me that Schema-Archimandrite Jonah is somewhat reminiscent of the Athos and Glinsk elders. Unusual humility and the spirit of love have always distinguished monk Jonah.

While still a simple monk, Jonah took care of many people. Muscovite V. tells the spiritual child Fr. Jonah: "Somehow they told me: if you're in Odessa, try to meet the monk Jonah." I remember the first time they took me to the Assumption Monastery to Father Jonah. He went to obedience, walked with a scythe on his shoulder in a worn cassock with patches, and around a simple monk a large group of Orthodox people gathered who wanted answers to their spiritual questions.

At that time, I heard an amazing story that happened in the Dormition Monastery. The late Metropolitan Sergius began to reprimand the brethren that many were walking around in old worn cassocks. Everyone stood, listened to the reproaches of the bishop. But when they came up for a blessing, the monk Jonah suddenly appeared, who performed the obedience of a diesel driver.

Approaching for the blessing, Father Jonah bent down and, in front of everyone, wiped his hands, stained with engine oil and diesel fuel, on Metropolitan Sergius's silk undershirt, and then, humbly taking the bishop's blessing, left. It must be said that Metropolitan Sergius also showed humility and wisdom worthy of an elder. Without saying a word about the act of the monk, Vladyka sent the monks of the monastery, who had the thinnest and patched clothes, new cassocks. Including father Jonah.

In Schema-Archimandrite Jonah's cell, among the icons, there was always a portrait of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. The elder called Suvorov the Russian Archangel and considered him a saint. The elder said that the commander was a great prayer book and won with the help of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit strengthened the Russian Archangel.

Even before the glorification of the holy Royal Martyrs, Father Jonah reverently revered them. In terms of worldview, Jonah's father was a monarchist. The elder believed that if there was sincere repentance, then the Merciful Lord, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Queen of Heaven, would restore Holy Russia, headed by the Orthodox Tsar, the Anointed of God.

Some spiritual children of the priest said that the elder had a vision of the Mother of God, in which it was revealed that he should be saved in the Assumption Monastery in Odessa. There is a testimony of one of the cell attendants of the elder: “The elder did not tell in detail about his youth. But I remember one story. One night he was plowing and accidentally fell asleep at the wheel of a tractor. He suddenly woke up and saw a woman standing in front of the tractor in the headlights. He turned off the engine, jumped out - no one was there. And in the place where the woman stood, there was a break. Father Jonah said that it was the Mother of God who saved him from death.

But it was not easy to get into obedience in the monastery in those Soviet times. Assumption Monastery is a special monastery. Its history is closely connected with the names and activities of such prominent people and saints as St. Parthenius Kiziltashsky, prmch. Vladimir, Rev. Kuksha of Odessa, Bishop Porfiry Uspensky, Metropolitan Gabriel Banulesko-Bodoni, Archbishop Nikon Petin, Metropolitan Sergius, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and many other outstanding personalities...

According to legend, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Gavriil (Banulesko-Bodoni), Exarch of Moldovlachia, back in 1804, while in Odessa, expressed his admiration for the wonderful view and location of Alexander Teutul's dacha.

Having learned about the desire of Alexander Teutulus to build a church and a lighthouse here, he soon gave his blessing to equip a cenobitic male monastery on this site.

In 1814, a bishop's residence was founded on the donated land, and in 1820, Metropolitan Gavri-il petitioned for the construction of a monastery. In 1824, the petition was finally approved.

Thus, in the first quarter of the 19th century, the Odessa Holy Assumption Monastery appeared in southern Russia, which for two centuries was the center of spirituality and piety. Here they tirelessly pray that God would grant peace and prosperity to the restless world, that the Lord would bring the lost into the bosom of the Orthodox Church, for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, for teaching everyone the truth of God, for the awakening of those who are dormant in sinfulness to repentance.

Today, when good morals are being revived in Holy Russia, the traditions of monastic life are being revived, our society is increasingly experiencing an acute need to strengthen spiritual and moral principles. Of particular importance is the life experience of the best of the best elders-monks, such as: Archimandrite John Krestyankin, Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), Schema-Archimandrite Zosima (Sokur), Archpriest Nikolai (Guryanov) and, of course, our Odessa elder - Schema-Archimandrite Iona (Ignatenko).

Father Jonah was instilled with love for God and people from childhood. He often told his spiritual children about hard peasant labor and peasant piety, about his childhood.

In the 30s of the twentieth century, the struggle against the church reached its climax, temples and monasteries were destroyed. Priests and monks were exiled to Siberia. Only 3 churches remained in Odessa at that time. During these years, little Vladimir went to school. Father often said:

“When I come back from school, I’ll go up to my mother and say... At school they say there is no God, and my mother answers me: don’t believe Volodya, there is a God. Without God, it’s not up to the threshold, prayer and work will grind everything. These words of my mother help me now.”

“Prayer and work are two wings,” Father Jonah often said to his spiritual children.

In 1937, Father Jonah graduated from a four-year school and soon moved to Georgia. From 1941, at the age of sixteen, he worked in the oil fields until 1948. After the war, he moved to Moldova, where he lived until 1970.

For the first time, the priest came to the Holy Dormition Patriarchal Monastery in 1964, when he lived in Moldova.

This year is special for the monastery - on December 24, 1964, the Monk Kuksha of Odessa reposed. According to the elder's readers, they see God's providence in this - one elder was replaced by another.

In 1971, Father Jonah was accepted into the brethren of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery.

“The struggle against selfishness is hard, but everything is done in this world by the grace of God.”

On March 25, 1973, novice Vladimir was ordained a monk by His Eminence Sergius (Petrov), Metropolitan of Odessa and Kherson.

Love, meekness, humility, forgiveness, non-malice, unmemorable malice, non-condemnation, insensitivity - all this, with God's help, the elder acquired during his years in the monastery, and passed it on to his spiritual children.

On April 8, 1979, Father Jonah was tonsured a monk by the abbot of the Holy Dormition Monastery, Archimandrite Polycarp in honor of St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, miracle worker (March 31/April 13).

On February 22, 1990, he was consecrated to the priesthood by Vicar Bishop Ioannikius (soon to become Metropolitan of Lugansk and Alchevsk), in the Holy Dormition Church of the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery.

In 1993, dear father Jonah became abbot, and on April 22, 1998, he received the rank of archimandrite. While still hegumen, the priest becomes one of the confessors of the Holy Dormition Monastery.

And so, until recently, in this monastery, the priest, having gone from a novice to a schiarchimandrite and confessor of the monastery - everyone who turned to him, instructed, received, admonished, begged, taught to always live with God, thank God - and for sorrow, and for joy.

“Schiarchimandrite Jonah has three heavenly patrons,” said Vladyka Agafangel, “Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir, Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, in whose honor he received his first tonsure, and in schema the prophet Jonah. The graceful qualities of these three great saints of the Orthodox Church, by the grace of God, are inherent in Elder Jonah and his ascetic life.

For the last decades, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah has been the confessor of the Holy Dormition Monastery in the city of Odessa. People came to the elder not only from all over Ukraine, but also from Siberia, the Urals, and Moscow. Among the spiritual children of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, there are many monasteries, abbots of temples, monastics and ordinary laity. The elder received everyone with the same attention - both high-ranking government officials, and ordinary villagers and workers. I think that everyone who, by the grace of God, had a chance to talk with the elder, forever remembered the meeting with Schema-Archimandrite Jonah.

Seriously ill, Elder Jonah continued to receive the people. They say that even a week before his death, being already on his deathbed, lying in bed, he continued to receive. Metropolitan Agafangel himself told him: “Take care of yourself, father. After all, you have just healed, and people tire you a lot. To which Father Jonah replied: “But why did I receive treatment? I was sent here to help people with my prayers!” How can such love for people disappear with the passage of the soul of an old man to Christ the Savior, the Source of Love. We know that in Eternity Father Jonah will not stop praying for us sinners.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah loved people. His sensitive heart accepted everyone who wanted to serve God, people, and the Fatherland. His mere presence with genuine sincerity inspired Love, Faith and Hope.

Schema-Archimandrite Jonah firmly believed that the Lord and the Mother of God would not leave Holy Russia. Schema-Archimandrite Jonah mourned that politicians were tearing Ukraine away from Russia. Batiushka said: “There is no separate Ukraine and Russia, but there is a single Holy Russia. And the enemies decided to divide us in order to destroy Orthodoxy in Little Russia. But the Lord won't allow it."

Whoever felt the need or need for spiritual nourishment, consolation or help from the priest, always got to him! Often the elder himself approached those in need. Tells the servant of God Lydia: “We live in Tulchin. I have long wanted to see the elder and ask him to pray for my family. Finally, we managed to pack up and we went to Odessa with pilgrims to the Holy Dormition Monastery to venerate the relics of St. Kuksha of Odessa. When we arrived at the monastery, we learned that Father Jonah had returned from Athos. But everyone said that we are unlikely to see him. And I hoped and the incredible happened, I not only saw him, but also received a blessing from him, when I put a candle, he came up to me and ... corrected my candle! ... and anointed with oil!”

Father Jonah taught that one should not chase after worldly things, but first of all one should value life and spiritual things. "We must ask the Lord for the salvation of our souls." The servant of God Vyacheslav says: “We visited Father Jonah several times, due to family circumstances - we have a large family - we didn’t visit him for more than six months, what a joy it was when we were able to visit him and suddenly heard how Vitalik is there? .. (this is our eldest son). Batiushka called our names and talked to us, although we saw him only once at that time and after that he had many visitors. We clearly felt his prayerful support and help. Soon I was able to get a good job, and my son's behavior (then a very naughty teenager) improved a lot. Another time we came to the monastery with a friend of my son: he really wanted to see the priest (then still an archimandrite) Jonah. They waited a very long time, but then a monk came out and asked for help to move a lot of heavy things and unload the car, we went to help, but he stayed, but he didn’t wait and left upset, and we were lucky when we returned, he left the cell-attendant and it was us who led us to the elder!

In addition to the blessing, we also received a gift, marvelous are Your deeds, Lord!

When the priest was very ill, he was very worried about the people who were waiting for him and specially came to him - very often he sent his cell-attendant to them with some kind of message or gift. It was a great consolation when the cell-attendant came out and handed out fruits or biscuits... different things... all of this from the blessed hand of Father Jonah. The cell attendant could have been given a note with a request.

Father Jonah says: “Complain to God alone, ask him, wait for help from him ... “May the Lord heal you!

Father Jonah is an amazing old man for spiritual advice, both ordinary laity and the “powerful of this world” came to him. Many who saw him said, "God speaks through him!"

The servant of God Andrey, editor of one of the Orthodox newspapers, warmly recalls his meetings with Father Jonah: “He taught me a lot and, above all, to be condescending to the shortcomings and infirmities of people.” Fourteen years ago, I had the good fortune to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Father Jonah. “The reliquary cross that he gave me then is always with me.”

The elder once said: “... life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when your adviser is your conscience!”

Batiushka was easy to handle, he had no theological education, but the Lord revealed many secrets to him.

One day the priest came out of the altar and said to one woman: “decide for yourself whether you need my help or not...” indirectly catching her in doubt.

Many were surprised by his insight. “Once, when it was possible to approach the priest freely, I had a conflict with the management at work. And they pressed me so hard that I decided to complain about my superiors. On the way to work, I stopped by the monastery. Batiushka met me on the threshold of the temple with the words: “Where do you want the reward?” Here on earth or in the kingdom of heaven? I was in a hurry. And about. Jonah told me to immediately go to work, not to complain to anyone, but as a boss, the higher management would arrange a head-scratcher and he would blame me for everything, without justifying himself, ask for forgiveness. And so she did. It was hard. Got sick. And during the illness, the chief was removed ”(Servant of God Elena).

An unusual case was described by Kutsiv Vladimir Artemievich, who was shocked by the foresight of the old man. Two years ago, he unwittingly witnessed the following. One of his friends, the father of four sons, had constant conflicts with his mother-in-law. When the mother-in-law found out that her daughter was pregnant for the fifth time, she made a scandal and either jokingly or seriously told her son-in-law - if a boy is born again, move out of the apartment. Frightened and confused, he told me this story. I don’t know why I told him – let’s go to Elder Jonah. I want to give him my book Truth, and you turn to him with your request. We took his wife and went to the monastery. We were lucky when we arrived, Father Jonah met us and the first thing he said to me after I handed him the book was “I have been waiting for it for a long time”, although I saw him personally a long time ago, back in 2001. After that I called my friend's wife and prayed for an hour. She soon gave birth to a daughter.

Father Jonah was very attentive to those around him - here is an excerpt from the memoirs of Anton Pavlovich Kopach, a teacher at the Poltava Theological Seminary, who, when he was a novice at the Holy Dormition Monastery, performed the duties of Father Jonah’s cell-attendant for several years: “like many , I dreamed of such a spiritual mentor, I prayed for it. But I could not even imagine under what circumstances I would get to Father Jonah. Then he did not need cell phones at all. He was very independent and could well take care of himself. Jon's father suffered from a leg disease. Every evening he soared them. It was necessary to bring a bucket of hot water, and after the procedure, lubricate the legs with a healing ointment. This obedience was carried by a novice named Jacob. With the blessing of Jonah's father, he went to Athos, after Yakov's departure from 1998 to 2001, I was his cell-attendant, if you can call it that. I remember the first time I came to him with a bucket of hot water. He knocked and said why he had come. Come on, he says. While I was doing the procedure, Father Jonah silently prayed. Then he said: “You will be fine. God will give everything." With these words of his in my memory and in my soul, I lived and live all these years. Hieromonk Jonah was once visited by his own brother. I am carrying water and I hear my brother talking about me: “Why do you need him, why is he walking around here?” And Jonah's father replies: "It's not him I need, but I need him."

While Father Jonah was soaring his feet, I read aloud a prayer rule or a book - whatever he asked. His favorite book was the teachings of St. Silouan of Athos.

Athos occupied a special place in the heart of the elder. He repeatedly visited there and always spoke with soul about the Holy Mountain. He really wanted to go there. In the Great

Lavra treated him very respectfully. But Father Jonah always said that the Mother of God showed him a place in the Holy Dormition Monastery, and that it was Her will that he be here.

He was a man of great humility. This absolute humility was manifested literally in everything. How many people the priest wiped away tears, how many he led to faith, only the Lord knows. For me personally, the priest has been a support, joy and comforter, a prayer book for many years. How much love he had for people! He even on his deathbed, two days before his death, received people. And how we do not feel sorry for him! I will never forget how in late autumn, people already in warm jackets and hats, on the way from the temple to the cell, surrounded him and for a long, long time did not let him go, dressed in a light cassock. Batiushka was already blue from the cold, but he patiently blessed and handed out something. And it never occurred to anyone that the priest was very cold and it was time to let him go. Father, forgive us. How many times I ran headlong to the monastery to receive a blessing, to give a note with a request for prayer. Or at least from afar to see him and immediately my soul became calm. The priest had an amazing ability, when communicating with him or just seeing how he says something for the benefit of the soul, somehow all the problems and sorrows with which you came went into the background, and at the first immediately became thoughts about the future life, about eternity, about God, some kind of calmness appeared, strength to continue to live, endure sorrows, a “second wind” opened up, and you always left comforted (from the memoirs of the servant of God Lydia).

It was a public holiday and there were a lot of people. Some already in the evening, and I arrived at 6 in the morning. I got in line (it was about 15th) and went to the temple. After the service, the monks brought the elder to his cell. People immediately entered, as many as they could fit, and I was already not the 15th, but about the thirtieth in line. All I could do was stand outside and pray. There were, of course, thoughts condemning others, but I drove them further and thought even more about prayer.

She did not get into the cell for a conversation that day and was very upset, but reconciled. When Father Jonah was already leaving, she thought: “Probably God thinks that I am not ready.” And at that moment he approached me himself. He did not say what, but gave a blessing. And only many years later I understand that he blessed my thoughts, because from that day on I began to reason differently. I have some kind of balance and confidence in tomorrow.

And then, for five months, every week I came to the monastery and every time I got to Fr. Jonah either in a cell, or to confession, or he simply came up to me after everyone else, silently smeared with oil and moved on.

Of all the meetings and conversations with him, I not only understood, but felt that I should be able to come to terms with any life situation inside. But only in soul and spirit, and the matter continues. Humility is the balance of soul and spirit. God rejoices in a humble spirit, as parents rejoice in an obedient child.” Unfortunately, I don’t know the author of these words, but I took the liberty of citing them in this short article, because the conclusions that this wise girl made after meeting with the priest are very consonant with the story of another friend of mine who received spiritual balance and confidence in the future through the prayers of a dear elder.

“... This is the first person who showed me that in order to be in this life “BE” with a capital letter, to be happy, to have peace of mind - for this you do not need to have perfect health, a career, a lot of money, success , etc. As a teenager, I thought that life is valuable when there is health, success, money. Now, it's not like that. Thanks to Father Jonah, and to people like him, for understanding that life becomes valuable when you live it honestly before people and God, when you follow the path of your heart, your true conscience. and then it doesn’t matter whether you are poor or rich!” (R. B. Alexander).

He got a difficult fate, he accepted all the pain and tears that pilgrims brought to the monastery. He himself was for many, as it were, the last hope and protector.

Igor Zhdankin, an artist and icon painter, says: “At one time I often managed to confess to Father Jonah. Sometimes, during the Vespers in the Assumption Church, they let me into the ponomarka, where the priest came out of the altar and received confession, as always with great participation, warmth and sincere empathy. What heart will not melt from such love, and who will measure how many tons of cargo we have left under His Epitome-Rachel! Therefore, healthy and sick people, rich and poor, fathers, bishops, monks, believers and atheists aspired to Him from everywhere. He accepted everyone, prayed for everyone, and the love of Christ was enough for everyone.

One summer, a familiar priest and family from near Kyiv came to rest with us, Fr. Vladimir. And, of course, he wished to meet the Elder. We arrived at the monastery, venerated the relics of the Monk Kuksha, lit candles, and after spending a little time in the temple, having learned that Father Jonah was in a ponomark, we hurried to him. It must be said that this was at a time when he broke his hip and could hardly move with the help of crutches. Therefore, he was not in the altar, but sat on a chair at the entrance to the altar and listened to kathismas. Batiushka, bless... God bless... Father Vladimir knelt down and began to confess. I walked away, stood at a distance, two or three meters closer to the doors of the ponomarka, and already completely did not hear them. Some time passed, maybe 10-15 minutes, when suddenly an elderly monk comes out of the altar with anger and screams very rudely and somehow angrily through his teeth - can't you hear, Jonah? - Prayer is going on in the temple, and you are engaged in chatter here, well, stop it! This is where everything inside of me flared up. Yes, who are you, they say, to point out such a thing, and even to whom - Father Jonah himself, but confession is not chatter, and all this boils in me with curses and indignation ... And Father Jonah takes a crutch, gets up with difficulty chair, bows to the ground, rises with pain, looks into his eyes and in a tearful voice - FORGIVE ME, BROTHER ... The monk looked, silently nodded his head and settled down in the depths of the altar. I don’t know about him, but I hid my tears, tears of shame and bitterness from my insignificance and pride, which so clearly manifested itself against the background of holy humility ... ".

And here is an excerpt from another memoir: “Father Jonah was confessing in the aisle of the Dormition Church. The chapel is cramped, people will surround it with a tight wall, there is no air. And he sits there with his sore legs before the service, and throughout the service, and after the service. Everyone confesses. The other priests had already finished and went to the altar, and around Father Jonah the crowd of confessors was still standing. Huge popularity among the people was for Jonah's father a heavy cross, which he resignedly carried. He was constantly surrounded by people, their veneration. And not just reading, but almost adoration. Outwardly weak, sick, he endured everything, did not reproach anyone. This was his martyrdom, his Golgotha. There were a lot of people around him, not quite adequate.

Many people came to the elder for advice. They say, father Jonah, bless me to do this and that. Father Jonah sighs, prays: "God help you!" And he never argued with people, even if he disagreed with something. For him, humility was paramount. The servant of God A. tells: “I was several times in the cell of an old man. His cell in the corner turret on the second floor was cold in winter, terribly hot in summer, as it overlooked the sunny side. In addition, it was constantly smoky - there was a shower with stove heating below. When this broken stove was kindled twice a week, the smoke seeped up, where the old monks lived, including Father Jonah. Old and sick, he never complained about it. He slept on the floor. There was a bed in the cell, but, as a rule, it was full of books and other things, gifts that people brought to Father Jonah. He often gave something from this bed to his guests.

On December 18, 2012, at the age of 88, after a severe long illness, the elder quietly departed to the Lord.

On December 22, His Eminence Agafangel, Metropolitan of Odessa and Izmail performed a funeral service for the deceased confessor of the Holy Dormition Monastery of Odessa, Schema-Archimandrite Jonah (Ignatenko), co-served by His Eminence Alexy, Archbishop of Balta and Ananyevsky, His Grace Evlogy, Bishop of Sumy and Akhtyrsky, Rector of Odessa, Rector of Odessa the convent seminary of Archimandrite Seraphim, the abbots of St. Constantino-Eleninsky Izmail and St. Iversky Odessa monasteries, Archimandrites Sergius and Diodorus, as well as numerous clergy who came from various dioceses of the Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches.

In 1971, already a mature man, he arrived at the monastery and humbly worked in many obediences: he was engaged in household work, mowed grass, and looked after animals.

Father Jonah, not having a higher secular education, here, in the monastery, in fasting and prayer, went through a difficult monastic school, spiritually ascending through all the steps - from novice to confessor of the monastery. Tens of thousands of people came to his cell and will continue to come to his grave to ask for his prayers for the suffering and burdened, the sick and the grieving. And the elder did not refuse anyone, taking upon himself this pain and spiritual weakness. An example for him was the Monk Kuksha, who also devoted his life to serving God and people, and within the walls of this monastery, he carried his difficult cross of confession. Father Jonah had much in common with the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, who gladly met everyone who came to him for advice and help. Already seriously ill, while on his deathbed, Father Jonah radiated that indescribable light of love that warmed everyone, filling people's hearts with the warmth of faith and hope. Hot faith, a constant prayerful attitude, sacrificial love for the Church and the flock, zeal for the glory of God earned Father Jonah pan-Orthodox fame and deep reverence. Ordinary people, and ministers, and deputies, and well-known politicians, and heads of state went to him in a cell for wise advice. Everything he did was dedicated to the only need - a living sermon about Christ Crucified and Risen. His pastoral words were filled with warmth and concern for salvation, addressed both to those who came to him and to people living far from the monastery.

Today we have come here to honor the memory of this ascetic of piety. During his lifetime, he was content with little, was a strict ascetic and fasting. And now he doesn’t need anything at all, except for our prayers, so that the all-merciful Lord will rest his soul in the villages of the righteous. As it says in the rite of the funeral in a petition on behalf of the deceased: “My spiritual brothers and associates, do not forget me when you pray, but see my coffin, remember my love and pray to Christ, may my spirit deal with the righteous.”

Then Metropolitan Agafangel performed the rite of burial of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah.

After the end of the funeral service, the coffin with the body of the elder was surrounded by a procession around the cathedral, and then at the fraternal cemetery of the Holy Dormition Monastery, His Eminence Agafangel performed a litia for the deceased confessor of the monastery. After the last archpastoral prayers, the body of Schema-Archimandrite Jonah was buried. Forever now in our memory will remain this luminous memorial service. The seminary and monastic choir sang like an angel, and together with the incense smoke our prayers ascended to the Throne of God. What a blessing that we are Orthodox. The bitterness of the loss of the holy elder among all who were at the memorial service was replaced by a quiet joy for his soul. We all go to the last earth line. But after all, this feature does not mean the end of life, but this is a birthday into eternal life.

Odessans will always remember the old man. His stay was a gift from God for the inhabitants of Odessa.

The Kingdom of Heaven to the newly-departed servant of God Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, the great Russian elder, a perspicacious monk, a good father. May the land of Odessa not become impoverished with such spiritual talents. We will pray for you before the Lord God, dear Schema-Archimandrite Jonah! Pray for us, sinners, when you come to the Kingdom of Heaven!

"God give rest to the soul of Your newly-departed servant Schema-Archimandrite Jonah, forgive him his sins, voluntary and involuntary, and grant him eternal memory!"

A year ago, on December 18, 2012, in Odessa, in the Holy Dormition Patriarchal Monastery, the confessor of the monastery, one of the most revered elders of our Church, passed away into eternity, whose words: “There is no separate Ukraine and Russia, but there is one Holy Russia,” are preserved many hearts...

He was born on October 10, 1925 into a large peasant family in the center of Soviet Ukraine; now these are the lands of the Kirovograd region; at baptism he was named Vladimir, in honor of the Baptist of Russia ... What time was it? That year, having suffered, Patriarch Tikhon died and the persecution of the Church intensified; in that year the monstrous "Union of the Atheists" was created, later renamed the "Union of Militant Atheists." "Through godlessness - to communism!" - was the slogan of this organization. Remarkable state forces were involved in the process of godlessness, as a result of which Volodya Ignatenko had to grow up as a man who does not know God. Simultaneously with the state “storming of heaven”, a renovationist schism was planted within the Church…

The story is old, but in connection with the preparations for another schism in Ukraine (the "orange" group is being promoted to prominent positions in the UOC), it is worth recalling that the fighters against the church tradition of the 1920s came up with the so-called. "living church", which Patriarch Tikhon and the believing people did not recognize...

Before Easter 2013, a priest appeared to one woman (her husband is the spiritual child of Father Jonah) in a thin dream at dawn and clearly said: “Tell them: I am alive!” He appeared to his full height, was in his schema robes, with a priestly cross ... She did not know to whom "them."

"To them" - perhaps not only to his spiritual children, but also to the new fighters against the Church, the new "Westernizers" of renovation...

In the 1920s and 1930s, all institutions created to fight the Church, as well as the curators of these organizations from the NKVD, faced an obstacle of insurmountable force. The family was the obstacle. Orthodox family.

According to the plan of the Anti-Religious Commission, drawn up by militant atheists, by 1936-1937 religion was supposed to be expelled from its most secluded corners. The most secluded corner is the family, where a conversation between a mother and a child takes place.

Elder Jonah repeatedly recalled his mother: “I was 11 years old in 1936, I was the youngest, the ninth in the family. At school they tell us: why pray, we will make cars, we will make the Dneproges and there will be communism, everyone will be equal, everyone will be in abundance ... I come home and say: “Mom, at school they say: there is no need to pray, they will make paradise.” She: “Children, do not listen to the atheists, you must pray! There will be no paradise on earth… Labor and prayer save a person…” In other homes, mothers and grandmothers answered “enlightened” children: “They have no God. And we have it!”

The 1937 census, after a decade and a half of frantic anti-religious propaganda, showed that 55 million (this is 56% of the population who took part in the census, aged 16 and over) are believers.

Now, in the 21st century, attacking the family, including the institution of motherhood, dashing pseudo-Europeans have clearly taken into account the experience of their predecessors.

During the years of collectivization, the Ignatenko family was dispossessed. The elder recalled, without judging, with humility: “Everyone took ... the last cow. Why were they dispossessed?! Because my father worked very hard all his life ?! In his parents, he saw a model of marriage: “Mother to father and father to mother never cheated, because they were with God…”

Strange as it may seem, not much is known about his life. Some information is contradictory. He graduated from the fourth grade, he had no opportunity to study further. By worldly standards, he was an uneducated man. But the elder knew more about people than he could say. This was realized later.

In his youth, he worked as a tractor driver on a collective farm, one day, from exhaustion, he fell asleep at the wheel. The tractor drove by itself. Vladimir opened his eyes and saw a man in front of him - a woman! He braked sharply and jumped out of the cab. There was no one. But there was a ravine under the wheels of the tractor. The elder knew that the Mother of God had saved him.

In search of work, he went to the coal region, worked as a miner. Then he moved to the Caucasus, worked hard and hard in the oil fields. Having learned about hermit monks living in Abkhazia, he went to them and lived among them, as they say, for several years. He dreamed of his mother. The monks said: praying for you, longing. He returned to Ukraine. Lived in Moldova. Was married. In 1964, he first came to the Holy Dormition Odessa Monastery. In that year, the famous elder, Fr. Kuksha (Velichko). Vladimir wanted to become a novice, he was not accepted. Near the monastery, in a clay mountain above the sea, he built himself a cave-dugout, lived in it; they say he even spent the winter there. He was tech savvy. The monastery was without electricity. Vladimir adjusted the operation of the diesel plant. Five years later, in 1971, he was accepted into the ranks of the brethren.

How they came and came to Fr. Kuksha, so over time they began to come from all over the world to Fr. Jonah. There were always a lot of people around him. People queued up for confession, sometimes from three or four in the morning. But when he was not very ill (he suffered from a disease of his legs), he often spoke with groups of people - both in his cell and in the air - on the monastery paths.

It is interesting that for years he told people the same thing - about a difficult childhood, about the words of his mother, spoke about Seraphim of Sarov, did not get tired of repeating that conscience is more expensive than millions and that it is easy for someone who has lost his conscience to steal, slander, kill , rob, rape... They follow a broad path, but we, Orthodox, do not envy them. According to his convictions, he was a monarchist, statesman, he loved and respected the Tsar and his family.

With all the repetitions, his conversations had, as it turned out, an enduring, universal character. In his words, each person could find something personally addressed to him. Looking now at some of the videos posted on YouTube, one is surprised that the words of the elder, delivered, say, five years ago, are relevant, as if they were born in the molten magma of today. Here he speaks about faith and suddenly, ingenuously, about the West: “We must adhere to our Orthodox faith, this is the correct faith. Fulfill the Law of God. The law of God is not violated (does not change), but the law of the state is violated. There was an All-Russian law, and now it is Ukrainian. It was the Westerners who seduced. And in the West - fiery hell.

When we read Semyon Divnogorets, the book of life was opened to him: in the East, Paradise is sweet, and in the West, fiery Gehenna. Therefore, you can not obey the West. Believe them.

But people believed and defeated such a big country ... ".

Jonah's name means "dove". He was humble and heavenly like a dove. Never got angry or argued with anyone. She just nods her head, “Well, yes, yes…”. And continue on. It happened that he was severely offended. He treated this with humility: the fate of an old man.

Meet the spiritual children of Fr. Ions can be everywhere, he had so many of them. Everyone has their own story.

That brought me together with Vladimir, a retired police colonel. He held the most serious positions, including the head of the internal security service of the Odessa police, in fact, this is the counterintelligence service. But his career began in the small town of Smela. In the early 1990s, he worked as the head of the linear department of the transport police at the station. T. Shevchenko. In law enforcement agencies, it is customary to “shuffle leading cadres”. Vladimir was offered to move to Odessa, to take the same position. Under normal circumstances, this would be a promotion. But in those years, entire gangs operated in the police, in Odessa they stole wagons, selling goods through the market. Vladimir did not want to move, the work was debugged, his unit took first place. He was already a church person, knew Fr. Jonah. In church, during the service, he mentally turned to him, unable to make a decision: enlighten me, Father Jonah! Suddenly, an unfamiliar woman approached him and asked: - Are you Volodya, do you work in the police? .. Father Jonah gave you two prosphora and a blessing to go to Odessa. Everything turned out well. You can write memoirs about the service in Odessa. Over time, Vladimir took the post of police chief of the Odessa railway, which runs through six regions. Then he was invited to work in the internal security service. He began to visit Fr. Ions. He brought some of his colleagues to him. He recalls a difficult incident when a colleague was going to play his daughter's wedding in Lent. Jonah's father did not bless. But the family colleague was ridiculed, they say, he found someone to listen to, some kind of monk ... The misfortunes began with the fact that a colleague was driving a truck with champagne and vodka to the wedding, he had an accident, everything was smashed to smithereens. Then the punks attacked the groom, cut his cheek. And when the wedding was played, during the dance, a colleague fell out of the blue so that he tore his ligaments, broke his bones, and ended up in a cast. But it didn't end there either...

Why, it is known that if a person went to an elder and received advice, he must fulfill it.

Father Jonah was sometimes very laconic, but his every word was so weighty at the same time that it changed fates.

Novice N., very young, asked the priest for blessings to become a nun. And he blessed. This girl's father was an important rank. He rushed to the monastery, was furious, swore and threatened, even said: I will kill, I will kill! Father Jonah calmly, even as if cheerfully, looked at him: “Well, kill; If you kill me, you will take all my sins upon yourself.” This had an amazing effect. It ended with the official becoming a church himself and becoming a spiritual child of Fr. Ions.

About the weight of the words of Fr. Jonah was also spoken by my other "accidental" acquaintance, George from Uzhgorod. He says: “We arrived in Odessa as a group just before the New Year, on December 30, 2011. In the temple to Fr. Jonah was a queue, as they said, a small one. At other times, people waited a week to confess. There were 5-6 people. I wanted to tell him a long list of sins. He began like this: “I trust in the material world, I depend too much on it ...” And I wanted to continue. He stopped me gently, but sternly:

George went to church occasionally. Now he is a student of the Theological Academy.

Servant of God Lyudmila has been ordering for Fr. Jonah funeral services. She was his spiritual child and traveled 500 km to see him for many years. She was in the monastery on the day of his death. There was a frost, unusual for Odessa. A prayer service was served at the image of the Mother of God "Healer" for the health of the sick Fr. Ions. Suddenly the bell rang twice. A monk came in and said that the priest had died. The temple was filled with loud sobs. To the general weeping, Father Pavel excitedly began to serve a memorial service ... Lyudmila says: “All these days and nights from December 18 to December 22, 2012, the weather was cold and frosty, and the windows and doors of the cathedral where our Batiushka lay were shaking from a furious ferocious wind ... Never before I have never seen so many fresh flowers in my life in the middle of winter. The whole cathedral was decorated with huge bouquets of roses, mostly white and red. I thought it was like Easter. And she came. On December 22, 2012, on the day of the burial, the wind died down, the sun came out and smiled so brightly and kindly at all of us, as if warming our orphaned souls. And when everyone unanimously sang “Christ is Risen from the Dead”, grief was replaced by Paschal joy in the soul ... "

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