Today, the late father Andrei Afanasyev was abbot of the Kazan Alekseevo-Sergievsky desert in the village of Sazanye, which is located in the Serdobsky district of the Penza region. He was born in the city of Serdobsk on September 6, 1974. In the world, his name was Alexander. He attended secondary school No. 1 from 1980 to 1988 and, after graduating from eight classes, went on to study at Serdobsky Agricultural College, where he studied for a total of four years, until 1992. Then he was called up to serve in the army, where he gave his civic duty from 1993 to 1995.
Ascent to Church Service
Returning from the army again to his hometown of Serdobsk, he chose the path of a priest and began to obey the reader of the left choir, the singer in the right choir, the altar and the watchman of St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral. These were his first steps to the priestly ministry in the temple. And then he had to study again, and in 1997, two years after the army, Andrei Afanasyev enters training at the Theological Seminary in Saratov.
In the summer of August 1, 1998, he was ordained deacon, and the next day he received priesthood. In 2000, on December 12, Afanasyev was tonsured a monk in the Tikhvin Monastery with the name Andrey in honor of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Afanasyev Andrey was responsible for youth work. From 2000 to 2005, he became a full-time clergyman of St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, then - a teacher at the Sunday School and the head of the Blagovest program on local television.
Serdobsk diocese: Abbot Andrei Afanasyev
In 2005, he received the post of rector of the Kazan Aleksievo-Sergievsky desert. In 2009, he was appointed Dean of the Penza Diocese. In 2013, they were appointed Secretary of the Office of the Serdo Diocese. After completing his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy in 2016, he planned to continue his spiritual achievements, however, at dawn on August 15, 2016, Afanasyev Andrei appeared before the Lord. He was young and full of strength, because he was only 41 years old, but the ways of the Lord are mysterious, so we must hope that the abbot fulfilled his mission on this earth, since he had so soon passed away.
For all the years of his priestly ministry, Father Superior Andrei Afanasyev has become a true spiritual father and mentor for his flock. Indeed, the most important result of his abbot's work was the revival of the Kazan Aleksievo-Sergievsky monastery in the village of Sazanje, where now flows of pilgrims flock.
The funeral of Abbot Andrei Afanasyev
On August 15 early Monday morning in the village of Sazan'e, Serdobsky district, on the descent near the holy spring of the monastery’s monastery, the body of Father Andrew was found. At 6 a.m., this mournful incident was reported to the local police station. Abbot Andrei Afanasyev died a natural death, since no traces of violence were found on his body. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Penza region.
On August 16, in the village of Sazanye in the Kazan Aleksievo-Sergievsky Desert, the people and the entire spiritual brethren of the monastery said goodbye to the hastened abbot Andrei. A memorial Liturgy was served in the Kazan temple of the desert for the rector, which was led and led by Bishop Mitrofan of Serdobsky and Spassky, together with clergy of the Serdobsk diocese. After the Liturgy, the order of the funeral service of the newly-departed Andrew was performed. High-ranking guests, representatives of local authorities, Cossacks, law enforcement agencies, the education department and many other people arrived at the funeral service.
Afterword
After the funeral, Abbot Andrei was buried at the altar of the Kazan Church. A large number of parishioners gathered to say goodbye to their pastor who had gone to the Lord, among whom was the famous actor Andrei Sokolov, with tears in his eyes recalling his spiritual father Andrei, who literally lost his whole family in one year, and therefore his heart failed. The actor said that once they were making a film near the monastery, and then after talking with the abbot, almost the entire crew believed.
Afanasyev Andrey left in the hearts of people a bright image of the abbot of the monastery, an active and very cheerful person who will forever remain in the memory of the parishioners and in the monastery that he recreated again.