At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, among the countless host of Orthodox saints, another appeared - the righteous Paul Taganrog. Taganrog , a small coastal city, brought to fame by the politicians born in it, actors and writers, finally found its Heavenly patron, praying for him at the Throne of the Most High. This story of God is our story.
Pious lad
From documents that have come down to us, it is known that the pious old man Pavel Taganrogsky, who earned unfading fame for his fasting and prayer life, was born in 1792 in a noble family living near Chernigov. He received his name in holy baptism in honor of the great ascetic of the Christian Church, St. Paul the Confessor - the Archbishop of Constantinople, who was martyred in 350 in the struggle against the heresy that prevailed then in Byzantium.
Paul's parents were very wealthy people. They owned vast land on which hundreds of serfs belonging to them lived and worked. They wanted to see their son in the future as it should have been for a true nobleman of the Catherine’s era - wealthy, educated and having a decent position in society.
However, the Lord put a completely different thing on the heart of the young man. From an early age, the future blessed Pavel Taganrogsky preferred solitude and prayer to his peers over a noisy and diverse society, and over reading scripture and the lives of saints over secular literature. But his real passion was to listen to the stories of wanderers who left their homes and traveled to the holy places with which the Russian land was so rich with a staff.
God's wanderers
It should be noted that in Orthodox Russia, this form of extreme religiosity was common at all times. From time immemorial, thousands of pilgrims, having in their knapsack behind their back only a loaf of bread and replaceable bast shoes, measured the boundless Russian roads, heading from one holy monastery to another.
In cold and heat, in rains and blizzards, they drove them forward indefatigable thirst for God and His Truth. And not only in Holy Russia lay their path - they reached in their wanderings the Egyptian deserts and the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem, where they kneeled down before the Holy Sepulcher. And then they went back to their homeland, not with El-Al planes, but with their little legs, bypassing the two seas, feeding on the road with the name of Christ.
The executor of God's commandment
Their stories determined the future life of Paul. When he was twenty-five years old, which, according to the laws of that time, was considered the age of majority and gave the right to independently dispose of property, his father allocated him the due part of the inheritance.
It included, in addition to significant land and the amount of money awaiting it in a bank account, three hundred serfs, or, as it was customary to say, "souls". Such a solid capital allowed the young man to lead a broad, befitting noble birth, life not only in Russia, but also in any of the European capitals.
However, Paul did not think of earthly goods. He remembered the Lord’s words about how difficult it is for the rich to gain the kingdom of heaven, and that only by selling his possessions and giving everything to the poor, you can enter the Highland. Pavel Taganrogsky did not look in those words for allegories, but fulfilled the covenant of God in the literal sense - he released the serfs into the wild, distributed the proceeds for the sold land and bank savings to the poor, and himself, blessed by his father and mother, went on a pilgrimage to holy places.
He devoted ten years to pilgrimage. After the prescription of times, there is no way to find out exactly where Pavel Taganrogsky has been during these years. The life of the saint, written many years after his blessed death, leaves this question unanswered. But it is known that at the end of the journey he settled in the coastal city of Taganrog, where, despising his noble birth, he led a simple and pious life, earning hard work a piece of his daily bread.
At port moorings
In those years, the main livelihood of the inhabitants of this coastal city was provided by the port, which received many merchant ships from all over the world. It was on his moorings that the holy righteous spent all days, with hard work and unceasing prayer, cleansing the soul of everything passionate and sinful. He was a loader, but is it quite clear to a modern person what this meant in those days?
The main commodity transported through the Taganrog port was bread. Before appearing on the tables with ruddy loaves, the grain had a long way to go in standard bags, the weight of which was strictly set - six pounds, that is, ninety-six kilograms. So it was accepted. Even at the conclusion of transactions, the merchants indicated in the papers not the total weight of the bread bought or sold, but the number of bags.
So, there was no loading equipment in those years. A man just shouldered a 96-kilogram bag and carried it along the flimsy gangways to the shore or from the shore in a ship's hold. And then, running after the next one, but not hesitating, the artisan will see and exact for the negligence. And so all day. Well, the current bodybuilder pitching, think: would your muscles last for a long time?
This is how the future Saint Paul of Taganrog worked for many years. Together with everyone, he appeared on the quays in the early hours, when the outlines of the ships could hardly be guessed in the morning fog, and left them already under cover of night. If it became completely unbearable and darkened in the eyes from mortal fatigue, mentally prayed to Jesus, and the Lord sent strength to his humble slave.
Taganrog living servant of God Paul
Paul didn’t have his own house, so he rented houses in different parts of Taganrog, but mainly with kind and pious people. Initially, he had the opportunity to settle on the north-eastern outskirts, in the so-called Kasperovka, a vast area that once belonged to the commandant of the local fortress, Lieutenant General I.P. Kasperov. Then he moved to live in the fortress itself, and then for twenty whole years he settled with a large widow, E.N. Baeva, whose house was located on Banny Descent.
Avoiding the hustle and bustle of the city, Pavel Taganrogsky chose the outlying areas, and there, in the patriarchal silence of the wooden houses, he devoted himself entirely to serving God. According to the recollections of people who met with him in those years, the rooms of the righteous were always full of icons in front of which unquenchable lamps.
Since work in the port did not allow him to attend church on weekdays, he made up for it with long hours of night vigils, in which, by the light of the candle, he read endless akathists and canons to saints. On holidays and weekends, Paul did not miss a single church service, properly standing up and praying.
Voluntary Advisor and Comforter
It is known that the light of God is never hidden, and soon the inhabitants of the neighboring houses paid attention to the humble righteous man, and in his lonely dwelling people began to gather, their souls drawn to the words of Christ's truth. And Paul had something to tell them. He comprehended a lot during the years of wandering around the holy places, and he also learned a lot from the Holy Scriptures, which he read daily.
Seeing his righteous life and overflowing with the impression of the heard speeches, people began to involuntarily think about the meaning of their own life and what their true purpose is. Before them, pictures of the Heavenly Fatherland, the road to which their earthly life is, began to appear more clearly. Over time, Paul’s authority grew so much that people reached out to him for advice in everyday affairs and comfort in sorrows.
Monastic layman
How to describe the life that led Pavel Taganrogsky in those years? Not having taken monastic tonsure in any of the monasteries, which were visited by many during the years of wandering, he, nevertheless, was a true example of a pious monk, in the prime of his physical strength, and he was not in those years and forty years, protecting himself from worldly temptations and passions.
There is such a form of service to God - voluntary monasticism in the world. This is a very difficult test for a person, especially if he has not yet reached advanced years, and the urges of the flesh have not died out in him. The monks who spend their lives outside the walls of the holy cloisters, although subject to the same temptations, are at least protected from daily communication with the world and the temptations that it lurks in itself. But Paul was not afraid of the hardships of his chosen path and steadfastly carried the cross sent by God to him.
Feat of old age
So, in tireless works, prayers and close fellowship with everyone who went to him for spiritual instruction, years passed. Having reached advanced years, Pavel left work in the port and settled in Depaldovsky Lane, in a small wooden house owned by the local inhabitant Efim Smirnov. This house has survived to this day. A kind of memorial to the saint was created in it, and everyone can come there, bow to the place where Blessed Pavel Taganrogsky spent his last years of his life, whose wonders won him undying glory.
But before the Lord called His saint to the High World, the righteous Paul of Taganrog still had to become famous as one of the elders most revered among the people. Some clarification is required here, since in the religious sense the concept of “old man” has nothing to do with age, and there are cases when people who are not old by age have been awarded this honorary title.
The elder is first and foremost a mentor, a man to whom God sent down the gift of wisdom and insight. His spiritual eyes are given to see what is hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. Often it is to him that the Lord reveals His will. Often, true elders, endowed with the gift of miracles, are able to heal ailments and protect from imminent danger.
That is why people from ancient times went to them, each with their own troubles and needs. Someone asked the seer to look into the future, to tell what to do in this or that life situation, someone was looking for deliverance from bodily weakness, and someone was hungry for the elder's prayers before the Lord for the forgiveness of his sins.
Many Russian monasteries were famous for the elders who lived in them. Suffice it to recall Optina deserts with its galaxy of holy fathers and the famous Diveevo - the brainchild of St. Seraphim of Sarov. A wonderful image of the old man Zasima was created by Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky in his novel The Brothers Karamazov.
Life at rest
But back to the pious Paul of Taganrog. He was forced to quit his job at the port by his advanced age and his constant companion - bodily weakness. He got this opportunity thanks to the voluntary donations of those who turned to him for spiritual help, since by that time the fame of the wise and shrewd old man had spread all over the region.
From the memoirs of those close to him, it is known that the righteous Pavel Taganrog, finally freed from worries about his daily bread, rose still dark and with the first blows of the bell went to the temple of God, where he did not miss a single service during the day. It was a great pleasure for him to correct the lamps, for which there was always a small bench with him, and to wipe the icons with a specially brought towel from the house.
Between services, blessed Pavel Taganrogsky often went to the bazaar, located not far from the church. Appearing with a canvas bag over his shoulders and walking through the rows, he found words of instruction and comfort for everyone. Often he approached a stranger and, after reading a short prayer over him, suddenly made him an accurate and accurate remark on the case, which he probably could not have been informed about before.
Many considered it an honor to give him something from their goods, but it was noticed that he did not take it from everyone. Sometimes, not only did he not take what was offered to him, but he also waved a stick at the giver. As a rule, it soon became clear that behind the one who had caused the elder's unexpected anger, there were some dark and dirty deeds.
The elder Pavel Taganrogsky spent his nights, as before, in vigil and kneeling prayers. He convinced everyone who came to him with a heartfelt passion for the need for steady observance of the posts prescribed by the Orthodox Church, and for the beneficialness of the liturgical order established by her. He constantly did his beloved “Jesus Prayer” and taught this to others.
Gift of miraculous insight
In the last years of his life, miracles of insight, which were shown by the elder Pavel Taganrog, became widely known. The saint, according to contemporaries, was able to see with an inner gaze both the past life of a person and the future. Moreover, without waiting for the next pilgrim's repentant story of his sins, he knew how with a truly noble tact - he also received proper education at the time - to rebuke him without offending his pride.
They say, for example, how once, when his cell was full of people, the old man, without turning to anyone specifically, suddenly began to speak with anger about someone’s grave sins, drawing at the same time the specific circumstances of the incident. Everyone took this only as a figurative illustration of his instructions, but when everyone left, one of those present delayed and, left alone with the old man, fell in repentant tears at his feet. Everything told to the smallest detail corresponded to the fact that with a heavy burden lay on the heart of this person.
The following fact from his life testifies to the ability of Pavel Taganrogsky to look into the future. He himself received spiritual nourishment from the hieromonk of the nearby monastery of Father Damian (Kasoti). He was a very pious and humble man, unwilling to chase worldly fame and honors, for which he was incredibly loved by Pavel Taganrogsky.
The saint often confessed to him and asked for blessings in all his affairs. And then one day, to the great amazement of his spiritual father, he suddenly predicted to him that the Lord would lift him to a height above which nothing could happen in the world. The servant of God doubted then, but ... It may seem unbelievable, however, the modest Taganrog monk Damian, in 1879, after the death of his spiritual child, became the patriarch of the holy city of Jerusalem and acquired the right to be the first of the inhabitants of the Earth to take control of the Holy Grace Fire coming down for Easter ... What could be higher than this?
The death of the righteous and subsequent glorification
The Lord endowed His faithful slave to live to a very old age. He left this mortal world on March 10, 1879 at the age of eighty-six. Despite the fact that his veneration did not stop even after his death, the glorification of Paul Taganrog in the form of saints dragged on for one hundred and twenty years. It is known that the question of his canonization was brought up for consideration by the Holy Synod in the pre-revolutionary years, but further fatal events that fell on Russia prevented it from being brought to an end.
During the years of total atheism, the pilgrimage of the city’s pilgrims to a one-story wooden house in Turgenevsky - formerly Depaldovsky - Lane did not stop, where he spent the last years of earthly life and where the saint of God died. People walked to a modest chapel in the Old City Cemetery - the resting place of his relics. The official canonization of the elder Paul Taganrog became possible only after perestroika radically changed the state policy regarding the church.
The issue, the solution of which was once prevented by the revolution, was again submitted to the Synodal Commission. As a result of her decision, the glorification of Pavel Taganrog in the face of the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church took place in June 1999. With the solemn procession of the cross, its miraculous relics were transferred from the cemetery chapel to the main church of the city - St. Nicholas Cathedral.
The sign of God in the Taganrog sky
During this ceremony, many recalled the prophecy that the righteous old man left shortly before his death, and which was recorded by the owner of the house, Efim Smirnov, who was present at the time. Through the thickness of years, foreseeing the transfer of his own relics, the saint said: "They carried Paul to the grave, and from the grave to the cathedral."
Telling about this solemn day, one cannot fail to mention the event, which witnessed the whole Taganrog. Pavel Taganrog, whose relics finally found their worthy resting place, showed the world an unforgettable miracle, described in detail in those days by most Taganrog newspapers and plunged atheists into bewilderment.
The fact is that at the time when the rector of the cathedral was reading the life of the newly-glorified Paul written on the day of canonization, a bright rainbow circle suddenly appeared in the clear and cloudless sky around the sun standing at that hour above the domes of the cathedral. This unique phenomenon was observed for an hour and was perceived by those present as a certain sign from above.
What was the general amazement when, melting in the sky, the rainbow circle gave way to the clouds that formed in the form of a cross. Skeptics can verify the reliability of all of the above by revealing the numbers of the Taganrog Truth, Hammer, Veteran of the Don and several other newspapers published in Taganrog in late June 1999. The description of this event indicates that the elder Pavel Taganrog, whose miracles during his lifetime gained him popular fame, does not leave his city to this day.
Pilgrimage to the saint
The canonization of Pavel Taganrog contributed to his even greater fame among Orthodox Russians. Today, thousands of pilgrims from all over the country come to the city to worship shrines associated with his name. They can be seen both in St. Nicholas Cathedral, where miraculous relics rest, and at the chapel in the Old Cemetery - the place of his former burial, and in Turgenevsky Lane, where the room is now restored, or, as the elder called it, the "cell" in which Blessed Pavel Taganrogsky spent the last years of his life. A photo of this house is provided at the end of the article.
By the grace of God and the care of Christ-loving Taganrogs, they managed to preserve the genuine things that the holy righteous once used. There are few of them, since he lived extremely modestly, being content with only the most necessary things, but they all keep within themselves the Grace of God, generously revealed by the Lord through His greatest saint, who was Saint Paul of Taganrog.
What helps people visiting his "cell" and the prayer created in it - this is irrefutably confirmed by numerous reviews of pilgrims and entries in a special book designed to record all cases of the manifestation of the miraculous power of the saint. As in past years, people turn to him for a variety of reasons. Do not take into account the documented facts of the healing of the sick and the cases when the prayer to the elder helped to avoid grave and seemingly inevitable troubles.
The Orthodox Church teaches us that the holy saints of God have not been given the power to work miracles themselves, but, having found themselves at the throne of the Most High, they have the Grace to intercee with Him for those who, with faith and purity of heart, address them in their prayers. People often have the most diverse circumstances under which they cannot do without the intercession of Heaven, so the nature of their requests is very different. It is only important that the request does not go beyond the framework of Christian ethics, and the worshiper has in his heart a deep faith in the omnipotence of God. We will also say with spiritual awe: “Holy Father Paul, pray God for us!”