Osipov Alexey Ilyich is a famous Orthodox apologist and catechist. Doctor of Theology, Professor. Brilliant lecturer and publicist. A man of modest, ascetic life. We’ll talk about him today.
Biography of Osipov Alexey Ilyich. Personal life, wife
Alexey Ilyich was born on March 31, 1938 in the ancient Russian town of Belevo, which is located in the Tula region. But he spent his childhood and youth in the city of Kozelsk and the village of Optino, next to the famous Optina desert, an Orthodox monastery, at that time inactive.
The biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov and his personal life were determined by his acquaintance with Abbot Nikon. This meeting took place in early childhood and influenced the whole future life and fate of the boy. He grew up in a clear understanding of his path and tried in every way to resemble his teacher and confessor, Father Nikon.
A pious life, austerity, and prayer practice were the fulfillment of the life and biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov. The wife and family were excluded in such an almost monastic setting. Alexey Ilyich is not married, leads a modest life and works for the good of the Church of Christ.
Mentor Alexei - Abbot Nikon
Hegumen Nikon (Nikolai Vorobyov) is a priest and a spiritual writer. An ascetic known in Orthodox circles, leading an exceptionally clean, ascetic life, filled with prayer and love for those around him. The future Elder Nikon went through the crucible of revolution, civil strife and war. The experience of loss of faith, passion for sciences and philosophy did not pass him.
After spending years, he figured out that sciences do not study the human soul, do not deal with issues of death and sin, but, on the contrary, have only a superficial knowledge of the most important, from his point of view, issues. Then he went deeper into the study of Orthodoxy and went to the depths of understanding the evidence of the Epiphany and the importance of the spiritual path. He followed this path of faith all his life. At the age of 36, Nikolai became a monk. In those years, the monasteries were closed, and so he had to lead the difficult life of a monk in the world. So he worked until his death in 1963. In his life there were camps, and exiles, and many other sorrows and misfortunes, but he was not embittered, but remained a bright man, devoted to God and the Faith of Christ.
Abbot Nikon left many articles of a religious and apologetic orientation, as well as a large number of letters in which his opponents were ordinary people who sought advice and prayers from an old man.
Growth in Faith
Having got acquainted with the abbot Nikon in early childhood, Alexey Ilyich was imbued with the spirit of Orthodox piety, accustomed to a contemplative life and grew up under the strict guidance of his mentor. The elder immediately drew attention to the curious and diligent boy and taught him a lot. He gave Alesha to read Russian classics, Greek philosophers, and, of course, the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church - John Climacus and the collection "Philosophy of Love".
The elder followed the boy’s studies, his grades and leisure time. He taught him, for example, the game of chess, but then, when Alexey Ilyich had already grown up, he forbade playing chess, saying that it was a waste of time. To the puzzled questions of the young man, the old man replied that in transitional age, chess is a lesser evil compared to other stupid things that can swarm in the head of a teenager.
Education
Classes with Father Nikon and his serious recommendations helped Alexei Ilyich immediately enter the fourth year of theological seminary, passing the exams for the first three. The elder took care of Alexey Ilyich until the very end of his life and was for him the main support in spiritual growth. In the last year of his life, father Nikon was seriously ill, but, preserving a clear mind and a pure heart, did not cease to be a bright beacon in the biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov.
Teaching work
After graduating from seminary, Alexey Ilyich entered the Moscow Theological Academy, which in 1963 he brilliantly graduated with a degree in candidate of theology. The following year, Alexey Ilyich entered graduate school and began his teaching activities, which continues to this day. In addition to teaching, Professor Osipov conducts extensive church activities.
Over the years, he was a member of the study committee at the Synod and a member of the theological commission, took part in the Local Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church and various inter-church dialogues. But pedagogical work, conducting seminars and lecturing are the most important obedience and stand out in the biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov. The professor's enormous contribution to the cause of catechesis and apology of Orthodoxy is enormous.
Lecture activity
In his lectures, Alexey Ilyich talks about Orthodoxy, about spiritual life, about the heritage of the Holy Fathers. The erudition of the professor not only in theological matters, but also in questions of philosophy, psychology and culture has attracted the attention of more and more new listeners. Alexey Ilyich always finds the right words, speaks in simple terms about the complex issues of Being, motivates him to further knowledge and growth in faith, and devotes great importance to raising children.
The biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov in itself is an example of the correct church life, an example of piety and humility. Through the life of this amazing and modest man, Orthodoxy appears before us in all its historical significance, in its spiritual greatness, in its beauty and splendor. The truth of Orthodoxy, as Professor Osipov tells in his lectures, is easily proved, you just need to be open-minded and open-hearted about this issue.
Alexey Ilyich does not hide important issues of a negative nature - church problems, his own mistakes, ugly actions of clergy and the church clergy. He tells the audience about all this and frankly shares his thoughts on church life.
Spiritual life
The spiritual life in the biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov is a fundamental concept. She, as the holy fathers of the Church taught, is the only right life. The only true and most difficult way. Even to young Alexei Ilyich, father Nikon said that spiritual life is the greatest rarity among people in our time. People are used to confusing moral life with spiritual life. Very many are deceived in this and go the wrong way. Spiritual life, or the path of an ascetic, is constant remembrance of death, clear awareness, the purity of every second moral choice, and majestic calm.
Modern people are immersed in the anti-spiritual atmosphere of fuss. Vanity captures all the free time of such people and does not give them the slightest chance of stopping and understanding what is happening to them. First of all, on understanding ourselves, our lives and the meaning of these lives. And if a person does not think about the meaning of life, puts it at the mercy of vanity, then its existence becomes meaningless, ”says Alexey Osipov. In the biographies of many devotees of the church, this is repeatedly confirmed. Whatever a person may be in life, if he has a need to comprehend his being, then his life will gradually be transformed, structured, and he will gradually begin to move along the religious path.
Alexey Ilyich talks a lot about the patristic heritage, about the apostolic ministry and the holy martyrs of the twentieth century. His balanced position, deep faith and brilliant wit create an atmosphere of intellectuality and trust during lectures. But not only the professor pays attention to the holy fathers, he gives many examples of piety from the lives of ordinary people, ordinary husbands and wives. In the biography of Alexei Ilyich Osipov, there are also such people - pure, generous Christians, acquaintance with whom transforms and decorates the world.
Another misfortune of our time, according to Alexei Ilyich, is entertainment. Endless temptations and pleasures, like vanity, distract people from the main issues of existence. All these are attributes of a completely anti-Christian world in which there is no place for repentance and prayer. Man has no time to stop, think, raise his head and peer into the sky. Comprehend Eternity.
Anniversary
In 2018, Alexey Ilyich celebrated his eightieth birthday and, despite such a venerable age, he is still wise, witty and generous.
Throughout his long biography, Aleksey Ilyich Osipov teaches piety, works for the good of the church, and leads invisible abuse.