This man was 78 years old, but at the same time he retained the vitality of his body and clarity of mind. Anatoly Berestov is a well-known and authoritative person among believers, today he has helped hundreds of sick and needy. By education, Berestov, a physician, once occupied the post of chief children's neuropathologist in Moscow. Many people know Anatoly Berestov not only as a spiritual mentor and priest, but also as the strongest neuropathologist, who understands a number of mental pathologies, as well as the nature of human addictions. The rehabilitation center he created helps hundreds of drug addicts and alcoholics cope with their addictions.
Despite the fact that Berestov was brought up in a classical communist family of atheists, various miracles and providence of God often happened in his life, which helped him to convert to faith.
Family and childhood of the future hieromonk
Anatoly Berestov was born in Moscow on September 11, 1938. In addition to him, the family had 2 more brothers: Mikhail and Nikolai. Berestov grew up as an ordinary child and did not stand out among his peers.
The boy's family was completely unbelieving. At school, children were taught communist atheism, and going to church was considered a stupid and shameful thing.
Prophetic joke
As an adult, Anatoly Berestov recalled a very revealing story from his childhood, when his own words, dropped around the church as a joke, became prophetic. Once, after school, he and his brother Michael passed a church and saw how people coming out from there carried twigs of birch. This action seemed to two inexperienced guys very funny, and Anatoly jokingly told his brother that when they grow up, he will become a priest, and his brother a monk. The guy could not even imagine then that with these words he determined both his future life and the fate of his brother Michael.
After leaving school, Berestov entered the feldsher school and began to work in his specialty. Then he was called up for military service and served in the city of Podolsk. Receiving leave, he came to Moscow and always visited the parental home.
Nun's fateful prediction
By that time, the brother of Anatolia - Mikhail Berestov - had become a believer and turned to the church. Disputes often arose between the brothers on this basis, since Anatoly refused to take religion seriously. During one of the next discussions, Mikhail said that he no longer intends to argue with his brother about God, because soon Tolik himself will understand everything and learn the truth.
Shortly before meeting his brother, Mikhail had a chance to visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he met with one nun. She said that soon, brother Anatoly will become a believer. Since the nun was quite an authoritative person in his midst, Mikhail decided not to rush things and not put pressure on his brother. He simply gave him the gospel, hoping that Anatoly would read it over time.
Decision to serve God
Meanwhile, Anatoly Berestov was seriously interested in medicine and decided to get higher education in this area. To do this, he entered the second Moscow Medical Institute. The young man studied well and was one of the best students. In his second year, during the curriculum, he was recommended to read one of the works of Vladimir Lenin, entitled "Marxism and Empirio-Criticism."
The book did not produce the desired effect on Anatolia. Instead of reinforcing the foundations of atheism and communism in the guy’s mind, she caused him complete misunderstanding. Berestov began to wonder what if this work was recognized as the height of philosophy, then what is the meaning of life.
It was during this period that he remembered the gospel that his brother had given him. Anatoly came home with the firm intention to read it, but, unfortunately, he could not find the book in the house. Having searched all the places where it could theoretically be, the future priest decided to turn to God mentally and asked to give him at least some sign.
Literally right after that, there was a knock on the door, and a neighbor appeared on the threshold, who had come to return that very Gospel. She said that she had taken him from Michael and forgot about him, and only now she remembered and came to return the book.
For Berestov this was a peculiar sign, he read the whole book and believed absolutely everything that was written there.
Successful career in medicine
Simultaneously with the knowledge of God's teaching, Anatoly continued his studies at the institute. When he was in his second year at a school, it became known that the guy was attending the temple. This was the reason for organizing a special meeting. They wanted to expel the student from the institute, believing that attending the temple was immoral behavior, unacceptable for a medical student. But his fellow students stood up in defense of the young man, who, fortunately, felt that expelling a talented student because of his faith was at least stupid.
Thus, Anatoly Berestov remained at the medical institute. After graduation, his career was very successful. He chose neuropathology as the main direction. In 1966, he became a resident, then a graduate student. Then he became an assistant professor of medical sciences, and soon a professor. For a long time he taught at a medical school. Since 1985, for the whole 10 years, Berestov served as the chief neuropathologist in Moscow.
The personal life of the priest
The history of marriage and further married life with the future priest was also not without miracles. After graduating from a medical institute, he was in love with his future wife and was determined to marry her. At that time, his spiritual mentor was a famous old man from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He strongly advised Anatoly to abandon the idea of marrying, and to choose the path of a monk, since it was such a fate that was destined for him. But the young man did not intend to give up and took the blessing for marriage from the highest rank of bishop.
Then the elder-confessor said that with his wife Berestov would live only 10 years, and then she would die, leaving him two children. Paradoxically, all the words of the elder were prophetic. Berestov's wife died in 1977.
Many years later, in 1991, Anatoly received the rank of deacon and began to serve in the Tsaritsyno temple. After 2 years, in 1993, he was still tonsured a monk, and in 1995 he was ordained a hieromonk.
Management appointment
Since 1991, the priest gained experience in managing rehabilitation centers. This year, he was appointed director of the children's center for the rehabilitation of patients with cerebral palsy.
However, until 1996, Father Anatoly Berestov did not leave medicine - in the status of a professor of sciences, he worked at the Department of Nervous Diseases at the Medical Institute.
Rehabilitation center of Anatoly Berestov
Over time, he came up with the idea of creating his own center, where he could provide spiritual and psychological assistance to victims of various occult organizations and sects, of which a lot appeared in the country in the late 90s.
In 1996, Hieromonk Anatoly Berestov received the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch for this good deed. Thus, the Counseling Center was created in the name of the righteous John of Kronstadt. As originally conceived, it provided assistance to all those who became victims of pseudo-seers, Satanists and other sectarians. People who for a long time fell under hypnosis and massive zombies converted to the Christian faith and received spiritual food for healing. Since the head of the center was a neuropathologist with considerable experience, he understood and knew how to provide psychological rehabilitation to such victims, and, if necessary, psychiatric help.
Multidisciplinary care for those in need of healing
In 1998, an extraordinary event took place in the center: a lot of people who suffered from the activities of one of the Satanic sects came to rehabilitation. The problem was that almost all the victims turned out to be drug addicts. After this incident, Anatoly Berestov, whose center before this case was engaged only in spiritual rehabilitation, realized that he should provide assistance to drug addicts and alcoholics.
Since then, he has developed a special program for drug and alcohol addicts, which has been successfully used for more than 10 years. The most amazing thing is that, according to Berestov, after undergoing rehabilitation, healing occurs in more than 90% of all cases.
Not just a spiritual savior, but also an upscale medic
The most common and terrible diseases of our time are HIV infection and cancer. Those who are faced with such a disaster are looking for all kinds of support, and the center of Anatoly Berestov provides it. Despite the fact that it is very difficult for an ordinary person to believe such statements, the priest says that their center has experience in treating AIDS. During repeated prayers, the disease recedes, and HIV infection becomes a kind of "sleeping" state, which allows an infected person to live a long and full life. Berestov claims that at one time he counted 18 people who came to the center with this terrible disease and were healed, and after 1997 he simply stopped keeping such statistics.
The same thing happens with cancer patients. In addition to healing prayers, Father Anatoly offers those who turned to him for help consult their acquaintances of oncologists and surgeons, because in the medical field Berestov had strong connections, and he is considered a very authoritative neuropathologist to this day.
Books written by a priest
Anatoly Berestov is a priest and an active public figure, who also manages to publish his own books. This amazing person has a number of copyright publications in the field of pediatric neurology and pediatrics. He also wrote a lot of author's works, which are devoted to such social issues as drug addiction, alcoholism, and occultism.
And, like a real doctor, of course, in his works he could not help addressing such a problematic issue as the relationship between the church and medicine.
Among his works published at different periods of time, the following are especially popular with readers:
- "Conversations with an Orthodox doctor."
- The Spiritual Foundations of Addiction.
- "Warlocks in the law."
- "Occult defeat of man."