The tradition has been established in the Russian Orthodox Church to rank only those righteous saints from whose death a significant period has passed. However, there have always been and are God's saints who deserve such piety for their contemporaries by their piety that universal rumor glorifies them long before the decision of the Holy Synod. Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) is such an unofficial but revered saint among the people. The book about his life, compiled by the nun Natalia (Andronova) and called the “Good Shepherd”, formed the basis of this article.
Grandson of the old woman Pelagia
January 14, 1949 in the pious Russian family of Nikolai Evgenievich and Nadezhda Vasilievna Novikovs, who lived in the village of Rakitino, Tula region, the first-born, named in holy baptism by Vasily, was born. After him, the Lord sent his parents three more children - brothers Sergey and Ivan, as well as sister Lydia.
The family in which the future shepherd was born has been closely associated with Orthodoxy since ancient times. Their fellow villagers still cherish the memory of his grandmother Pelagia, who deservedly gained the glory of the old woman. Even in the distant pre-revolutionary years, she twice made pilgrimages on foot to Jerusalem. Old-timers said that after the first such trip, the gift of insight began to manifest in it with all the evidence.
So, she predicted events with astonishing accuracy, which had yet to be accomplished. Having been able to visit the Holy Land for the second time, the old woman Pelageya (that is how everyone in the district has called it since then) has shown striking examples of healing the sick and driving out demons. In the early years, the future hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) witnessed all this.
He himself often recalled how, with wild cries, a demon-possessed man, brought for healing to Pelageya’s grandmother for healing, broke off, and suddenly he calmed down and spoke in a calm, intelligible voice after she, having sprinkled it with holy water, said a prayer. Of course, such scenes, of which there were many, left an indelible imprint on the emerging consciousness of the teenager.
The youth of the future zealot of faith
An important role in the religious education of the son was played by the parents themselves - people who were deeply pious, who built their lives according to the commandments of God and in accordance with the traditions of Orthodoxy. As a result, visiting a Soviet school as a child, hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) managed to remain a true Christian who did not stain himself with atheistic nihilism. It should be noted that he, like other children in their family, never joined either a pioneer or Komsomol organization.
Like most rural children, Vasily from an early age joined the work, helping his parents in the garden and in the field, on grazing and harvesting firewood. He was especially hard after his father died as a result of a serious illness, and his mother, who worked as a nurse in a district hospital, was left alone with four children.
Their family forever retained a memory of one very unusual circumstance associated with the last days of the life of Nikolai Evgenievich. Subsequently, it was said that shortly before his death, the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker, who was their ancestral shrine, unexpectedly faded in the red corner. The change in it was so significant that the features imprinted on it became almost indistinguishable. When the soul of the deceased left the body, the icon took its former form.
Good word about Nadezhda Vasilievna Novikova
By the way, having become a widow, Nadezhda Vasilievna was even more filled with religious feelings. Despite the extreme busyness caused by household chores and daily work, she spent a lot of time in the Church of St. John the Baptist, eight kilometers from the village, where, in addition to participating in divine services, she helped as much as his rector and his spiritual father Archpriest Mikhail (Chudakov).
In the past two decades, Nadezhda Vasilyevna voluntarily imposed restrictions on food adopted by the monks. She never tasted meat, and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, her entire daily diet consisted only of prosphora washed down with holy water. At every opportunity, Nadezhda Vasilyevna made pilgrimages to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where she took children with her.
Subsequently, Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov), whose photo is presented in this article, often recalled how deeply he sank into his soul the singing of monks that he had heard more than once on such trips. He also talked about how, thanks to his musical abilities, which had manifested even at an early age, he often stood up alongside the singers during church services and sang along with them.
Military service and the beginning of an independent life
After graduating from high school, and reaching military age, Vasily went to serve in the army. The Commission of the Military Commissariat, he was sent to the Northern Fleet, where for three years he served in a nuclear submarine. Here the young man came in handy with the skill to work developed in him from childhood. Conscientiously performing any work entrusted to him, the sailor Novikov deservedly earned universal respect.
Demobilized in 1970, the future hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) went to study at the Uzlovsky railway school and, after graduation, was assigned to the city of Ershov, where he began to work as an assistant locomotive driver. There, the Lord soon sent his bride Valentine.
After the wedding, the young couple settled in the city of Uzlovaya, Tula region, where they had three children - sons Alexander and Mikhail, as well as daughter Natalya. Soon, as a leading worker, Vasily was promoted to a managerial position.
An important turn in life
It would seem that what else to wish for a young man? However, hieromonk Vasiliy (Novikov) did not dream of such a fate, whose biography by that time completely fit into Soviet stereotypes. He considered the priesthood to be his true vocation, to which he strove with all his heart, but such a sharp turn in life required a considerable determination from him.
Since Vasily was a family burdened man, of course, he could not make such an important decision without the consent of his wife. Having told Valentina about his intentions, he met with her a categorical objection, the essence of which boiled down to the fact that she married “the driver, not the priest.”
Not daring to impose his opinion on his wife, and only praying earnestly to God to instruct His slave Valentina, Vasily went to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where near the shrine with the relics of the Monk Sergei Radonezhsky asked the saint for help and intercession in such an important matter. His prayers were answered and, returning home, the pilgrim found his wife softened by heart and full of readiness to follow him in a new field.
This story ended with the fact that on one of the days of Great Lent of 1993, the servant of God Vasily (Novikov) was ordained a deacon, and a week later he became a priest. Thus began his long-term service to God, on the path of which he embarked, having received in that the blessing of the great holy land of Russia - St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Sanctification and the beginning of spiritual achievement
Father Basil began his pastoral ministry in the village of Spassky, Tula Region, where he was sent after being elevated to the rank of. Since the 90s was a period that ended many decades of persecution of Russian Orthodoxy, many churches, especially those located in rural areas, were in very poor condition at that time.
Such was the Church of the Depreciation of the Honest Trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord in the village of Spassky, the priest of which was hieromonk Vasily (Novikov). The fiery sermon of the priest, addressed to the hearts of his new villagers, helped him to find among them many voluntary assistants in the restoration of the shrine.
When, thanks to their labors, backed up by his own zeal, the temple was brought into proper shape and religious life was revived in it, the diocesan authorities transferred another church, located in the neighboring village, and almost completely destroyed under his care. It was, once known throughout the district, the temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. He was also able to be restored with the help of God-loving villagers and voluntary sponsors whom Father Vasily found.
Monastic tonsure
At Holy Week of Lent 1997, the Lord called His heavenly Hall to the wife of his father, Vasily Valentina, after which the father finally moved to the village of Spassky in the Tula region, where he spent the rest of his life. In April 2006, with the blessing of the diocesan ruler, he accepted a secret monastic tonsure with the preservation of his former name.
On this day, his ministry began in the “angelic rank,” as for centuries they spoke of those who, having rejected the transient joys of the world of vanity, devoted themselves entirely to serving God. It is known that, in addition to Father Basil, then another 14 people were tonsured as monks, who laid the foundation for the creation of a new monastery.
Spiritual Shepherd
Remaining, as before, rector of the village church, hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) of Tula - it is customary to dignify him, tirelessly cared for the deanery and grandeur of church life. Thanks solely to his zeal, the murals that had fallen into disrepair were restored, a baptismal building and an almshouse were built, a Sunday school for children and their parents was opened, and a choir of choir singing was organized.
Always immersed in parish affairs, hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) did not forget about the feats of monasticism, the main of which at that time was constant internal prayer, a vow for the fulfillment of which he made during tonsure, as well as regular prayer night vigils. Residents of the village recalled how often the light in the window of Father Basil did not die out throughout the night.
Having begun to make such prayers privately, that is, at home, in isolation from everyone, the priest soon transferred them to the temple, where he gathered everyone. He accompanied liturgical texts with the reading of the Psalms and akathists. The night vigil was completed by the always deeply thought out and brilliantly executed sermon of Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov).
An ardent supporter of monarchism
In his political predilections, Father Basil was a convinced monarchist who believed that only autocracy could provide Russia with peace and prosperity. Being a sincere admirer of the innocently murdered sovereign Nicholas II, he perceived his death as an atoning sacrifice made on the altar of the fatherland.
Having repeatedly visited the village of Taininsky, where the local priest performed the Rite of Repentance in the crimes of the Bolsheviks in those years, the father and in his church many times repeated this rite. Such a practice has greatly contributed to the fame that he gained in the 2000s.
An important role was played by the fiery sermon of Hieromonk Vasily Novikov (August 2007) on the significance of true faith in human life, and its inadmissibility to be replaced by worship of worldly and coming values. The video recording of this speech was widely distributed on the Internet.
At the same time, a film appeared in which such vivid representatives of the spiritual life of Russia of those years as Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov), Elder Nikolai (Guryanov) and Hierodeacon Avel (Semenov) address the Russians with pastoral instruction, accompanying their words with prophecies about the future countries.
Fighter for the purity of faith
The following year, Father Vasily submitted a statement to the diocese’s leadership on his withdrawal from the state, and on the possibility of continuing pastoral work at his place of residence, which is provided for in one of the articles of the current Church Statute. His request was granted, and since then, the sermon of Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) sounded for all who gathered on the appointed days near his house in Spassky.
It should be noted that Father Vasily has always been distinguished by his high integrity and never compromised on matters of faith and many other aspects of modern life. In particular, he publicly expressed his extremely negative attitude towards ecumenism and globalism. In this regard, it is known that Hieromonk Vasily (Novikov), whose fiery sermon sometimes touched upon these problems, was repeatedly attacked by the authorities, who saw signs of extremism in his speeches.
The death of the righteous
The last pious deed of Father Basil is the erection of a font in the village of Ivankovo over a holy spring dedicated to the Kazan icon of the Mother of God. This building, which was consecrated on November 4, 2010, was built by him with the help of spiritual children, as well as voluntary donors. The work took a lot of strength from the priest, because even at the beginning of the same year, he caught a cold by catching a cold, and for the next months he tried to transfer the disease on his feet, which did not let him go.
Father Vasily did not turn to doctors for help, preferring folk remedies and prayer. However, in November, his condition worsened so much that he could be unified once again, and he could only partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ without rising from his bed. Finally, in the early morning hours of November 11, 2010, while reading one of the canons, he quietly departed to the Lord.
Uncanonized saint
On this day, many priests and spiritual children visited a house in which their last prayer was offered by their brother in Christ and spiritual mentor - hieromonk Vasily (Novikov). The cause of death of this devotee of piety was, no doubt, not only in the affliction that befell him, but also in the extreme exhaustion of the forces devoted to the service of the church.
The burial of Father Basil took place at the confluence of a huge number of people who came to the village of Spasskoye from all over the country to take their spiritual mentor and teacher to the last journey. But even after the days of commemoration of the deceased, established by church tradition, passed, the grave of hieromonk Fr. Vasily (Novikov) is regularly visited by his admirers. An unquenchable lamp always flickers on it.
They all believe that one day, among other Russian saints, their spiritual mentor, hieromonk Vasily (Novikov) will be glorified in the face of the saints. Troparia was compiled for him shortly after his death, and the day is not far off when on the next anniversary of his death he will sound in all Russian churches.