Prot Vsevolod Shpiller audio sermons. Archpriest Vsevolod Shpiller - Meeting - LiveJournal

; preacher.

Family

Born into the family of the architect Dmitry Alekseevich Shpiller, a hereditary nobleman. Sister - singer, People's Artist of Russia Natalya Dmitrievna Shpiller (-). Wife - Lyudmila Sergeevna, nee Isakova - maid of honor of the Russian Empress. The son is conductor, People's Artist of Russia Ivan Vsevolodovich Shpiller (-).

White Army volunteer

From secret reports of Soviet officials in Bulgaria it is clear that, as a Soviet citizen, Spiller encountered hostility from the leading clergy during the exarchship of the anti-communist Exarch Stefan (Shokov); Thus, in a letter dated May 7, 1948, the Charge d'Affaires of the USSR in Bulgaria, Kliment Levychkin, to Deputy Foreign Minister Vyshinsky, mentioned as a symptomatic incident in January of the same year, when Spiller was demonstratively removed from a meeting of priests as an “alien alien.”

Ministry in Moscow

Arrived in the USSR for permanent residence on February 5, 1950. Already on February 7, he had a conversation, at his personal request, with the Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR S.K. Belyshev, during which he spoke in detail about the situation in the Bulgarian Church.

By resolution of the Patriarch of Moscow Alexy dated February 10, 1950, he was appointed rector of the Elias Church in Zagorsk. In 1950 - inspector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, associate professor. In 1951 he was briefly rector of the Assumption Academic Church in the Novodevichy Convent. In 1951-1984 - rector of the St. Nicholas Church in Moscow.

He managed to create a large parish, many representatives of the intelligentsia were his spiritual children. He preached a lot, his sermons were recorded on tape and the tapes were distributed throughout the country among believers. The Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy became a favorite temple of the Moscow intelligentsia and artistic bohemia.

The spiritual and educational activities of Father Vsevolod were regarded by the authorities as anti-Soviet. The party leadership was irritated by his independent position, foreign connections and sermons, tape recordings of which were distributed throughout the country. The ecclesiastical position of Father Vsevolod was also difficult. He had to give personal and written explanations to the church authorities regarding the denunciations received against him. After the death of Patriarch Alexy, who patronized him, he was removed from the parish by decree of the new Patriarch Pimen and sent “to retirement” - into retirement without a pension or livelihood, and the renovationist archpriest Konstantin Meshchersky, who actively collaborated with the authorities, was appointed rector of the St. Nicholas Church. However, he died on August 13, the day he was supposed to assume the duties of rector. There were no new attempts to remove Father Vsevolod and he remained the rector of the temple until his death, when he was replaced by Vladimir Rozhkov.

Among his students are a number of Moscow clergy: Alexander Kulikov, Nikolai Krechetov, Vladimir Vorobyov (rector of the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church), Alexander Saltykov, Valentin Asmus, Georgy Kochetkov, as well as Evgraf Duluman, known for his activities in the field of “scientific” atheism.

Proceedings

• Word of the Cross: Conversations read during passions in the Nikolo-Kuznetsky Church in Moscow. M., 1993.
• Sermons. Farewell words. A series of conversations about the Eucharist. Welcome words. Krasnoyarsk: Yenisei Blagovest Publishing House, 2002.
• Pages of life in surviving letters. Krasnoyarsk: Yenisei Blagovest Publishing House, 2002.
• Pages of life in surviving letters. M., 2004.

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Notes

Bibliography

1. Archpriest Vladimir Rozhkov. Archpriest Vsevolod Dimitrievich Shpiller. // ZhMP. 1984, no. 7, pp. 36-38.
2. Shpiller I.V. Memories of Father Vsevolod Shpiller. M.: Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute; Brotherhood of the All-Merciful Savior, 1993.

Links

• // ZhMP 2002, № 7.
• Russian Orthodoxy
• In the Yakov Krotov Library.
• , "Cephas" (July 31, 2012).

Excerpt characterizing Shpiller, Vsevolod Dmitrievich

“I don’t understand, mamma, what is his relationship with Pierre?” - asked the son.
“The will will say everything, my friend; Our fate depends on him...
- But why do you think that he will leave anything to us?
- Ah, my friend! He is so rich and we are so poor!
“Well, that’s not a good enough reason, mummy.”
- Oh my god! My God! How bad he is! - exclaimed the mother.

When Anna Mikhailovna left with her son to visit Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhy, Countess Rostova sat alone for a long time, putting a handkerchief to her eyes. Finally, she called.
“What are you talking about, dear,” she said angrily to the girl, who made herself wait for several minutes. – Don’t you want to serve, or what? So I'll find a place for you.
The countess was upset by the grief and humiliating poverty of her friend and therefore was out of sorts, which she always expressed by calling the maid “dear” and “you.”
“It’s your fault,” said the maid.
- Ask the Count to come to me.
The Count, waddled, approached his wife with a somewhat guilty look, as always.
- Well, countess! What a saute au madere [sauté in Madeira] will be from hazel grouse, ma chere! I tried; It’s not for nothing that I gave a thousand rubles for Taraska. Costs!
He sat down next to his wife, resting his arms bravely on his knees and ruffling his gray hair.
- What do you order, Countess?
- So, my friend, what is it that you have dirty here? - she said, pointing to the vest. “It’s sote, that’s right,” she added, smiling. - That's it, Count: I need money.
Her face became sad.
- Oh, Countess!...
And the count began to fuss, taking out his wallet.
“I need a lot, Count, I need five hundred rubles.”
And she, taking out a cambric handkerchief, rubbed her husband’s vest with it.
- Now. Hey, who's there? - he shouted in a voice that only people shout when they are sure that those they are calling will rush headlong to their call. - Send Mitenka to me!
Mitenka, that noble son raised by the count, who was now in charge of all his affairs, entered the room with quiet steps.
“That’s it, my dear,” said the count to the respectful young man who entered. “Bring me…” he thought. - Yes, 700 rubles, yes. But look, don’t bring anything torn and dirty like that time, but good ones for the countess.
“Yes, Mitenka, please, keep them clean,” said the countess, sighing sadly.
- Your Excellency, when will you order it to be delivered? - said Mitenka. “If you please know that... However, please don’t worry,” he added, noticing how the count had already begun to breathe heavily and quickly, which was always a sign of beginning anger. - I forgot... Will you order it to be delivered this minute?
- Yes, yes, then, bring it. Give it to the Countess.
“This Mitenka is such gold,” the count added, smiling, when the young man left. - No, it’s not possible. I can't stand this. Everything is possible.
- Oh, money, count, money, how much grief it causes in the world! - said the countess. - And I really need this money.
“You, countess, are a well-known reel,” said the count and, kissing his wife’s hand, he went back into the office.
When Anna Mikhailovna returned again from Bezukhoy, the countess already had money, all in brand new pieces of paper, under a scarf on the table, and Anna Mikhailovna noticed that the countess was disturbed by something.
- Well, what, my friend? – asked the Countess.
- Oh, what a terrible situation he is in! It is impossible to recognize him, he is so bad, so bad; I stayed for a minute and didn’t say two words...
“Annette, for God’s sake, don’t refuse me,” the countess suddenly said, blushing, which was so strange considering her middle-aged, thin and important face, taking money out from under her scarf.
Anna Mikhailovna instantly understood what was happening, and already bent down to deftly hug the countess at the right moment.
- Here's to Boris from me, to sew a uniform...
Anna Mikhailovna was already hugging her and crying. The Countess cried too. They cried that they were friends; and that they are good; and that they, friends of youth, are busy with such a low subject - money; and that their youth had passed... But the tears of both were pleasant...

Countess Rostova with her daughters and already a large number of guests was sitting in the living room. The Count led the male guests into his office, offering them his hunting collection of Turkish pipes. Occasionally he would go out and ask: has she arrived? They were waiting for Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, nicknamed in society le terrible dragon, [a terrible dragon,] a lady famous not for wealth, not for honors, but for her directness of mind and frank simplicity of manner. Marya Dmitrievna was known by the royal family, all of Moscow and all of St. Petersburg knew her, and both cities, surprised by her, secretly laughed at her rudeness and told jokes about her; nevertheless, everyone without exception respected and feared her.
In the office, full of smoke, there was a conversation about the war, which was declared by the manifesto, about recruitment. No one had read the manifesto yet, but everyone knew about its appearance. The Count was sitting on an ottoman between two neighbors who were smoking and talking. The Count himself did not smoke or speak, but tilting his head, now to one side, now to the other, looked with visible pleasure at those smoking and listened to the conversation of his two neighbors, whom he pitted against each other.
One of the speakers was a civilian, with a wrinkled, bilious and shaved thin face, a man already approaching old age, although dressed like the most fashionable young man; he sat with his feet on the ottoman with the air of a domestic man and, throwing amber far into his mouth from the side, impulsively inhaled the smoke and squinted. It was the old bachelor Shinshin, the countess's cousin, an evil tongue, as they said about him in Moscow drawing rooms. He seemed to condescend to his interlocutor. Another, fresh, pink, guards officer, impeccably washed, buttoned up and combed, held amber in the middle of his mouth and lightly pulled out smoke with his pink lips, releasing it in ringlets from his beautiful mouth. This was Lieutenant Berg, an officer of the Semenovsky regiment, with whom Boris rode together in the regiment and with whom Natasha teased Vera, the senior countess, calling Berg her fiancé. The Count sat between them and listened attentively. The most enjoyable activity for the Count, with the exception of the game of Boston, which he loved very much, was the position of listening, especially when he managed to pit two talkative interlocutors against each other.
“Well, of course, father, mon tres honorable [most venerable] Alfons Karlych,” said Shinshin, laughing and combining (which was the peculiarity of his speech) the most popular Russian expressions with refined French phrases. - Vous comptez vous faire des rentes sur l "etat, [You expect to have income from the treasury,] do you want to receive income from the company?
- No, Pyotr Nikolaich, I just want to show that cavalry has much less benefits against infantry. Now figure out, Pyotr Nikolaich, my situation...
Berg always spoke very precisely, calmly and courteously. His conversation always concerned himself alone; he always remained calmly silent while they were talking about something that had nothing directly to do with him. And he could remain silent in this way for several hours without experiencing or causing the slightest confusion in others. But as soon as the conversation concerned him personally, he began to speak at length and with visible pleasure.
- Consider my position, Pyotr Nikolaich: if I were in the cavalry, I would receive no more than two hundred rubles a third, even with the rank of lieutenant; and now I get two hundred and thirty,” he said with a joyful, pleasant smile, looking at Shinshin and the count, as if it was obvious to him that his success would always be the main goal of the desires of all other people.
“Besides, Pyotr Nikolaich, having joined the guard, I am visible,” Berg continued, “and vacancies in the guards infantry are much more frequent.” Then, figure out for yourself how I could make a living out of two hundred and thirty rubles. “And I’m putting it aside and sending it to my father,” he continued, starting the ring.
“La balance y est... [The balance is established...] A German is threshing a loaf of bread on the butt, comme dit le proverbe, [as the proverb says],” Shinshin said, shifting the amber to the other side of his mouth and winked at the count.
The Count burst out laughing. Other guests, seeing that Shinshin was talking, came up to listen. Berg, not noticing either ridicule or indifference, continued to talk about how by transferring to the guard he had already won a rank in front of his comrades in the corps, how in wartime a company commander can be killed, and he, remaining senior in the company, can very easily be company commander, and how everyone in the regiment loves him, and how his daddy is pleased with him. Berg apparently enjoyed telling all this, and did not seem to suspect that other people might also have their own interests. But everything he told was so sweetly sedate, the naivety of his young egoism was so obvious that he disarmed his listeners.
- Well, father, you will be in action in both the infantry and the cavalry; “This is what I predict for you,” said Shinshin, patting him on the shoulder and lowering his legs from the ottoman.
Berg smiled happily. The Count, followed by the guests, went into the living room.

There was that time before a dinner party when the assembled guests do not begin a long conversation in anticipation of the call for appetizers, but at the same time consider it necessary to move and not remain silent in order to show that they are not at all impatient to sit down at the table. The owners glance at the door and occasionally glance at each other. From these glances, guests try to guess who or what else they are waiting for: an important relative who is late, or food that is not yet ripe.
Pierre arrived just before dinner and sat awkwardly in the middle of the living room on the first available chair, blocking everyone's path. The Countess wanted to force him to speak, but he naively looked through his glasses around him, as if looking for someone, and answered all the Countess’s questions in monosyllables. He was shy and alone did not notice it. Most of the guests, who knew his story with the bear, looked curiously at this big, fat and humble man, wondering how such a hulk and modest man could do such a thing to a policeman.
-Have you arrived recently? - the countess asked him.
“Oui, madame,” he answered, looking around.
-Have you seen my husband?
- Non, madame. [No, madam.] - He smiled completely inappropriately.
– You, it seems, were recently in Paris? I think it's very interesting.
- Very interesting..
The Countess exchanged glances with Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna realized that she was being asked to occupy this young man, and, sitting down next to him, began to talk about her father; but just like the countess, he answered her only in monosyllables. The guests were all busy with each other. Les Razoumovsky... ca a ete charmant... Vous etes bien bonne... La comtesse Apraksine... [The Razoumovskys... It was amazing... You are very kind... Countess Apraksina...] was heard from all sides. The Countess got up and went into the hall.
- Marya Dmitrievna? – her voice was heard from the hall.
“She’s the one,” a rough female voice was heard in response, and after that Marya Dmitrievna entered the room.
All the young ladies and even the ladies, with the exception of the oldest ones, stood up. Marya Dmitrievna stopped at the door and, from the height of her corpulent body, holding high her fifty-year-old head with gray curls, looked around at the guests and, as if rolling up, slowly straightened the wide sleeves of her dress. Marya Dmitrievna always spoke Russian.
“Dear birthday girl with the children,” she said in her loud, thick voice, suppressing all other sounds. “What, you old sinner,” she turned to the count, who was kissing her hand, “tea, are you bored in Moscow?” Is there anywhere to run the dogs? What should we do, father, this is how these birds will grow up...” She pointed to the girls. - Whether you want it or not, you have to look for suitors.
- Well, what, my Cossack? (Marya Dmitrievna called Natasha a Cossack) - she said, caressing Natasha with her hand, who approached her hand without fear and cheerfully. – I know that the potion is a girl, but I love her.
She took out pear-shaped yakhon earrings from her huge reticule and, giving them to Natasha, who was beaming and blushing for her birthday, immediately turned away from her and turned to Pierre.
- Eh, eh! kind! “Come here,” she said in a feignedly quiet and thin voice. - Come on, my dear...

About the priest, confessor, rector
his spiritual children remember

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov recalls:

Father Vsevolod was a brilliant confessor; he had the gift of attracting any person who came to him in a few minutes. A variety of people came: Soviet officials, writers, musicians, scientists, ordinary people, men and women, old and young. Father Vsevolod knew how to literally reach everyone’s heart and address a person with such love that he immediately opened up to meet him. Pastoral love, of course, should be a characteristic of every confessor, but it is found in such a bright form, in such completeness, very rarely.

Father Vsevolod was never sentimental, leafy, there was no falsehood in him. He was never a formalist, never proceeded from any biased, legalistic traditions and norms. When there was a living person in front of him, he tried to feel what this person was hurting and how he could be helped, whether this person could be inspired to do good, instill hope in his heart, whether it was possible to somehow please, console, warm him.

In addition, he knew how to literally show in a few words what faith in God is. That is, not just a philosophical worldview or traditional education, but a living experience of unity with God, communication with Him. He made this feel so vividly that after talking with him a person already understood what another life was. He realized that he had never seen or heard anything like this anywhere, and that it was precious to him. And a person who at least once talked to Father Vsevolod usually never left; he tried to communicate with him as much as possible.

During confession, Father Vsevolod never delved into any canonical burrs; he always spoke about the essence of a person’s spiritual state and always distinguished real repentance from a formal listing of sins. Father Vsevolod told how, in his youth, he and Lyudmila Sergeevna visited her father’s estate, a little west of Pochaev, then, before the war, it was still Poland. A Catholic bishop came there to visit. He said that he had to visit Catholic women's monasteries and confess to the nuns. Their confession could be very formal and superficial. Someone, for example, in confession says that she ate sprat during fasting. And sometimes he wants someone to truly sin, in order to see real repentance in the person. He said this, of course, as a joke, Father Vsevolod was simply very disgusted by such a formal attitude towards confession. Father Vsevolod sought living, real communication with God, and he directed every person to this communication with God.

Father Vsevolod was an extraordinary man, so it was difficult for him everywhere: both in Bulgaria and in our country. There are people who are head and shoulders above those around them in their talents, in their gifts. He was a very bright, richly gifted man, and at the same time he was very humble. Father Vsevolod very quickly found good in every person and turned to this good. So you come to him, he will say a few words, and you feel head and shoulders above what you were before, everything ordinary and bad goes away, and all the best awakens. He could lift you up and guide you to God very quickly.

Father Vsevolod never took a formal approach to obedience. He not only gave freedom to man, but considered it necessary. He even said that the system of obedience that existed in Russia before the revolution and shortly after it in wonderful and famous communities somehow disarmed a person in the face of Soviet power. After all, if a shepherd in such a community is arrested, then his flock, which is accustomed only to following the shepherd and listening to him, turns out to be not entirely prepared for independent life.

Father Vsevolod believed that it is necessary to reveal in a person his freedom, his own standing before God. A person must be taught to be alone with God. Father Vsevolod believed that spiritual life is the secret of communication between two personalities, God and man, and there should not be any interference between them. We need to lead a person to God. The confessor should not interfere, but help this. And he knew how to do it.

He always treated every good initiative very well. I remember that he never made any comments to another priest, although he was much older and more experienced. He treated all his co-workers with great respect. If someone wanted to preach a sermon after the Gospel, he never interfered. Father Vsevolod always spoke to all people very respectfully and kindly, but he was very hurt by any rudeness.

Father Vsevolod himself was a very joyful person. He knew how to rejoice in the Lord. He also had this gift: a very subtle sense of humor. This sense of humor never left him; even in the most difficult circumstances, he knew how to joke about himself. Here is one example: he had a stroke, an ambulance was called, and orderlies carried him out on a stretcher from the fifth floor. At this time, a man came into the entrance, saw him and exclaimed in horror: “Father Vsevolod, what happened?” And Father Vsevolod, lying on a stretcher, tells him: “The removal of the body took place at so many hours.”

In his old age, he already served with all his strength; he had to be supported by arms. He repeatedly wanted to leave the state, but Father Pavel (Troitsky) did not allow him, and neither did Patriarch Pimen, and he served obediently, although he no longer had the strength. Until the very last opportunity, he came to the temple and served. People always waited for him after the service, asking for his blessing. Although he no longer had the strength to bless, he would definitely joke and smile. And in this sense, his death is very significant. He died on January 8, the second day of Christmas, and before the holiday he received a letter from Father Paul. They began to read it to him, but it was difficult for him to even listen, he only said: “It says: Christ is Risen!” And he repeated three times “Christ is Risen!” And these were his last words.

He tried not to crush each person, not to turn him into a meaningless, sinful, little worthless person who only repents and nothing else, but he tried to elevate, inspire, lift each person out of his weakness, open to him a different horizon, a different perception of the world. And therefore, every person left him reborn.

Archpriest Nikolai Krechetov recalls:

- All the shepherding of Fr. Vsevolod was the shepherd of love. And, above all, this was manifested in his Eucharistic service. After all, when he came to the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church, the so-called “synodal” custom of receiving communion infrequently was quite widespread. Parishioners received communion during Lent, sometimes on holidays. But there was no custom of receiving communion on Christmas, Epiphany, Holy Saturday, or Easter. I remember there was even a comic episode. I was once standing at the Chalice with the archdeacon. It was probably around Christmas. And so he stands and grumbles: “Well, people have gone completely crazy, they take communion on Christmas, on holidays!”

And Father Vsevolod called all parishioners to the Chalice, to regular communion, and on great holidays - it goes without saying. This is our Sacrament of Love - the Sacrament of Sacraments! I’m not even saying that every Liturgy the priest pronounces the words: “Approach with the fear of God and faith.” John Chrysostom says: “You stood, listened, sang prayers and left without receiving communion.” Father Vsevolod lit the fire of Eucharistic life throughout Moscow.

It was surprisingly warm, calm and clear with him. How he slowly, deeply and expressively uttered exclamations at the Divine Liturgy, how he moved - everything was subordinated to the Eucharistic rhythm. He made sure that I, then still a deacon, entered on time, crossed myself on time, bowed on time, for example, before “Peace to all” or “Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Unfortunately, this still happens today, especially among young clergy who often do not know the tradition; the exclamation “Peace to all” or some other exclamations are pronounced, if not quickly, then perhaps very hastily. He was never in a hurry; if he said “Peace to all,” then he turned to the Royal Doors, bowed while singing “And to your Spirit,” then returned to the Throne. Everything was subordinated to the deep Eucharistic rhythm, the rhythm of love for God, for people, for service.

Father Vsevolod also had absolute pitch, and I must say, perhaps this is little known, when he was in the Kiev cadet corps, he was the regimental singer. He had amazing diction, he spoke quietly, but he could be heard in all corners of the temple. Once, when I served with him, he stood me next to me and said: “Stop, listen, how to read!” - and pronounced the great litany. Then he says: “This is how you should read!” Since then I have read like this all my life.

Father Vsevolod read the Gospel amazingly, especially the Passionate Readings. At first, due to my dense ignorance, I believed that he had some kind of oratorical techniques, and only then, when I served with him for ten years, I realized that he had a deep insight into the meaning of what he was reading, if you like, even participation in the events that the Gospel narrates. He read with deep penetration into the text of Holy Scripture. After all, the Church Slavonic text was written in periods. In a period, thought grows, then thins out, grows, then thins out again, and he felt this deeply and conveyed it to everyone. I was lucky enough to even record several of his readings and I always listen to them. And this strength, this inner strength is transmitted through the tape recording, it is felt. This is the spiritual power that he possessed, which God gave him - the power of love.

Archpriest Alexander Saltykov recalls:

- I even see Father Vsevolod in front of me. I can say that I see him all the time, not with some kind of spiritual vision, of course, but simply in my memory. I always keep Father Vsevolod in my memory simply because he was the kind of person whom those who knew him never forgot.

Father Vsevolod had an approach to people, because very different people came to him. There are many confessors who have access to a large number of people. These are good confessors.

We, young people, were attracted to something extraordinary about him. What was extraordinary was simply the fact that he was a man from another world, another culture, which in many ways had already been lost.

How he became my confessor is a case so remarkable, unusual and profound that it is impossible to tell so simply and, probably, there is no need. And when I found myself in his flock, I realized that God had led me to a significant person, to a great personality. In general, it seemed to me that he had an established image of a person in front of him. He was preparing for a meeting with his spiritual child or just a person, thinking about him. You can say “analyzed”, “evaluated”, but I’m afraid of these words, because it’s all somehow cold.

In clergy, the main thing is love, love for a person as one’s child; In clergy, a system of relationships should be built, like in a good family. A good confessor is a confessor who treats every person in a fatherly way. He can relate this way through the gift of the priesthood, but there must be a revelation of this gift in spiritual experience. And then, loving the people who come to him, the priest becomes a good confessor. Everything is relative. When we talk about a good confessor, we speak based on personal experience, or in comparison with other confessors. Father Vsevolod, of course, had this gift of love to a huge extent, he was a man undoubtedly focused on man’s relationship with God, so to speak, with a deep gift of understanding man, because understanding man is, of course, not everyone’s lot .

Father Vsevolod, in turn, had his own confessor, the wonderful elder Pavel (Troitsky), and this helped him a lot in his spirituality, because in difficult cases he consulted with Father Paul about his spiritual children. A confessor and an elder are two different things. In my opinion, God sent him this old man, who lived in the wilderness, in the forest, went through the hardest prison trial in his spiritual growth and was granted by the Lord numerous spiritual gifts, insight, and wisdom. Father Vsevolod was with him in the closest spiritual unity. I think the Lord sent him to Father Vsevolod so that he would be with him in eternity.

There is one special moment here that occurs very rarely - the phenomenon of complete spiritual unity. One was far away, in continuous prayer, the other was here and testified about God to society, but both acted in complete unity. This was the case before society and before individuals, because, I repeat, in fact, this is inseparable: what a priest is in dealing with private people, so is he in society.

To understand, to help, to solve some difficult issues... These are not words, this is compassion! You know, as the apostle says, “weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice.” But a bookish understanding of this truth is one thing, and another thing is the kind of compassion in which souls merge. This is the essence, I would say, of spiritual achievement. The souls of the confessor and the repentant person who comes to him merge in this compassion. This is why we all love and honor Father Vsevolod so much.

I never separate him from myself, even today, precisely because in his feat of compassion for the soul of the repentant he united with this soul. It’s not just “I forgive and allow,” I forgive and allow everyone, and that’s it. The Lord, of course, forgives and allows, but the priest here said: “I am a rusty pipe.” This is a feat of compassion.

We all feel obliged to Father Vsevolod. He shaped the path of many of his parishioners. This is the most important thing - the gift of empathy, the gift of Christ’s compassion, the highest example of which is given to us by the compassion of the Mother of God for Christ, when “a weapon will pierce the soul.” This compassion, not verbal, but heartfelt, real, church compassion, Christ’s compassion, this is the gift of spirituality, which is very rare. It was this that Father Vsevolod had in abundance.

Archpriest Valentin Asmus recalls:

“Father Vsevolod raised me with his very appearance. In Bulgaria he had long hair and walked down the street in a cassock. In Moscow, he wore secular clothes, cut his hair and shaved his beard. Both had the same meaning - not to stand out from the local clergy, to be “like everyone else,” to think not about external things, but about what is more important.

It is known how Father Vsevolod revered the monastic order. I remember how he tried to kiss the hand of a simple, non-ordained young monk.

The entire ministry of Father Vsevolod took place in obedience to two elders - Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) and Hieromonk Pavel (Troitsky), whom he found soon after he parted with Vladyka Seraphim. In all the most important matters of life, Father Vsevolod followed the advice of his elders, even if they were given contrary to his own views. However, in the field of theology (in the broadest sense), Father Vsevolod did not consider himself bound by obedience to the elder. Regarding Archbishop Seraphim’s polemic against Archpriest S.N. Bulgakov, he once told me: “One day you will understand that the monks do not understand something.” On my first visit to the apartment on Chernyakhovsky Street, Father Vsevolod showed me and other guests the then recently published book by O. Clement about Patriarch Athenagoras, speaking with great respect about this hierarch.

When in Bulgaria Russian monks launched a struggle against the new calendar introduced by the Bulgarian Patriarch Kirill, Father Vsevolod, of course, knowing about the Vladyka’s harsh statements against the new calendar, expressed confidence that in these conditions the Vladyka would not support the struggle of his faithful zealous children, because that he would not oppose the Church. Even at the most difficult moment of his life, when the two clergy closest to him were transferred to other parishes, Father Vsevolod firmly said: “The will of the ruling Bishop must be accepted as the Will of God.”

With all this and many others, Father Vsevolod taught us churchliness, protecting us from any extremes characteristic of youth, which found favorable conditions for development under the abnormal conditions of church life in the era of “developed socialism.”

Archpriest Alexey Emelyanov recalls:

“I went to confession with Father Vsevolod only once. My mother brought me to him. At that time I had spiritual and emotional quests and difficulties. I was a teenager and, as usually happens at this age, I stumbled over all sorts of absurdities in life. And so our family came to the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church to Father Vsevolod... His unique voice, exclamations with an unusually noble and subtle musical intonation, aristocratic appearance. I thought there was something regal about her. And his unusually vivid sermons, his prayerful mood, which was transmitted to those praying during the service! It's impossible to describe. Words cannot express this.

So, I found myself in the confessional room in the bell tower of the St. Nicholas Church. Father Vsevolod had a very special gift of spirituality, and this gift of his was also prophetic. It’s quite difficult for me now to tell the details of that confession from Father Vsevolod, but I can say that he felt me... Although, as often happens, something spiritual is not immediately revealed to those who communicated with the elder. Now I can testify to this. His active spiritual aspiration towards man was completely extraordinary. For me, he was a man completely incomparable with everything ordinary in the world.

Andrey Borisovich Efimov recalls:

- The ministry of Father Vsevolod has always been a ministry of love. And his spirituality is a spirituality of love. To understand this, to feel the touch of his heart, it was enough to simply come to his service. His priestly ministry was always like communion with his beloved. It was always non-standard, it was always different even from his previous advice or demands. Not only his pastoral advice, or recommendations, or even clear instructions, but everything in them was different, everything in them was absolutely alive, no formula, no standard, and therefore it is very difficult to characterize this ministry. It could only be experienced with heart and soul.

Father Vsevolod said that a good confessor knows the state of his spiritual children and what is happening to them. But such knowledge, such penetration into human souls is possible only in the spirituality of love.

1917 (end of October) - participated in the battles in Kyiv, was wounded (in Kyiv, soldiers and officers of the Russian army and students of military schools who remained faithful to the oath, opposed units of Ukrainian nationalists and detachments of the “Reds”). 1918-1920 - In the rank of officer, he fought on the fronts of the Civil War as part of the Volunteer Army. Since 1921 in exile (Constantinople, Gallipoli, then - at the end of 1921 - moved to Bulgaria). 1927 entered Sofia University (Bulgaria). 1934 Married Lyudmila Sergeevna Isakova. 1934 - ordained to the rank of deacon, then to the rank of priest. He served in parishes in Bulgaria under the omophorion of Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) in the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Pazardzhik (1934-1944) and in Sofia (1945-1950). 1950 - returned with his family to Russia (USSR). 1950-1951 - inspector of the Moscow Theological Academy. I lived with my family in Sergiev Posad for a year. From 1951 to 1984 he was rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy. For a long time he lived with his family in an apartment arranged in the bell tower of the Nikolo-Kuznetsk Church.

Born into the family of architect Dmitry Alekseevich Shpiller. Sister - singer, People's Artist of Russia Natalya Dmitrievna Shpiller (1909-1995). Wife - Lyudmila Sergeevna, nee Isakova. The son is conductor, People's Artist of Russia Ivan Vsevolodovich Shpiller (1935-2003).

White Army volunteer

He studied at the Vladimir Cadet Corps in Kyiv. At the end of October 1917 he took part in battles in Kyiv on the side of government troops against the Red Guards. Was injured. In 1918-1920 he took part in the Civil War as part of the Volunteer Army and was promoted to officer.

Years of emigration. Ministry in Bulgaria

He emigrated in 1920 with the army of General P.N. Wrangel, lived in Constantinople, Gallipoli, and at the end of 1921 he moved to Bulgaria. Like many Russian officers, he lived in poverty in emigration and was forced to go to work in a company that was engaged in the recovery and discharge of shells located on sea vessels that sank near the Bulgarian coast. He risked his life doing this dangerous work. He proposed a method that would facilitate the release, after which he received a responsible post in this company. The money he earned gave him the opportunity to obtain higher education, entering university in 1927.

Graduated from the Faculty of Theology at Sofia University. From June 20, 1934 - deacon; On June 21, 1934, he was ordained priest by Bishop Seraphim (Sobolev) (ROCOR), parish priest of the Assumption Church in the city of Pazardzhik, Plovdiv diocese. At the same time he taught humanitarian subjects at the gymnasium and the agricultural institute.

From 1944 he lived in Sofia, at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cults of Bulgaria Petko Steinov, he worked in the commission to develop draft legislation on the separation of church and state, while remaining a cleric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

From January 1, 1945 to February 1, 1950 - assistant rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Week in Sofia.

At the beginning of 1947, he was “restored” to Soviet citizenship in accordance with the June 14, 1946 decree on the restoration of former subjects of the Russian Empire to USSR citizenship, which involved the consideration of a personal file by a special commission.

Secret reports from Soviet officials in Bulgaria indicate that, as a Soviet citizen, Spiller faced hostility from the leading clergy during the exarchship of the anti-communist exarch Stefan Shokov; Thus, in a letter dated May 7, 1948, the Charge d'Affaires of the USSR in Bulgaria, K. Levychkin, to Deputy Foreign Minister Vyshinsky, mentioned as a symptomatic incident in January of the same year, when Spiller was demonstratively removed from a meeting of priests as an “alien alien.”

In the summer of 1948, he visited Moscow as part of a delegation of the Bulgarian Church that participated in the Meeting of Heads and Representatives of Autocephalous Orthodox Churches; From the delegation, at the insistence of the USSR government, all candidates undesirable for the Soviet leadership and the Moscow Patriarchate were excluded.

In April 1949, the responsible employee of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church, V.S. Karpovich, in a note to the Chairman of the Council, G.G. Karpov, reported on the “inexpediency of moving Archpriest V.D. Shpiller from Bulgaria to the USSR” due to the fact that he was “a careful supplier Moscow Patriarchate information about the situation in the Bulgarian Church"; Karpovich also noted by way of clarification that Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) (also then under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church) “is extremely stingy in sending information and limits his interests to the framework of his diocese (deanery)”; proposed to allow Shpiller to travel to the USSR “later, when the balance of power within the episcopate of the Bulgarian Church is determined in favor of a firm course towards the Moscow Patriarchate.”

Ministry in Moscow

Arrived in the USSR for permanent residence on February 5, 1950. Already on February 7, he had a conversation, at his personal request, with the Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR S.K. Belyshev, during which he spoke in detail about the situation in the Bulgarian Church.

By resolution of Patriarch Alexy of Moscow dated February 10, 1945; was appointed rector of the Elias Church in Zagorsk. In 1950-1951 - inspector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, associate professor. In 1951 he was briefly rector of the Assumption Academic Church in the Novodevichy Convent. In 1951-1984 - rector of the St. Nicholas Church in Moscow (where he was replaced by Vladimir Rozhkov). He managed to create a large parish, many representatives of the intelligentsia were his spiritual children. He preached a lot, his sermons were recorded on tape and the tapes were distributed throughout the country among believers.

Activities of Fr. Vsevolod, his contradictions with the headman of the temple appointed by order of the secular authorities led to his removal from the post of rector. In his place, Archpriest Konstantin Meshchersky was appointed, who for many years actively collaborated with the authorities, including as a figure in the renovation movement. However, he died on August 19, 1966, the day he was supposed to take up his duties as rector. After this Fr. Vsevolod continued to be the rector of the temple until his death.

Among his students are a number of Moscow clergy: Alexander Kulikov, Nikolai Krechetov, Vladimir Vorobyov (rector of the St. Nicholas Church since 1997), Alexander Saltykov, Valentin Asmus.

He performed the last liturgy in his life on December 19, 1983 (Nikolin's Day). Died January 8, 1984; was buried by Archbishop Job (Tyvonyuk) of Zaraisk and buried at the Kuzminskoye cemetery in Moscow.

Vsevolod Dmitrievich Shpiller(July 14, Kyiv - January 8, Moscow) - priest, since February 1950 - of the Russian Orthodox Church; archpriest; preacher.

White Army volunteer[ | ]

On June 20, 1934, he was ordained a deacon, and on June 21, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of the Russian Church Abroad. He served as parish priest of the Assumption Church in the city of Pazardzhik, Plovdiv diocese. At the same time he taught humanitarian subjects at the gymnasium and the agricultural institute.

Since 1944, he lived in Sofia, at the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cults of Bulgaria Petko Steinov, he worked in the commission to develop draft legislation on the separation of church and state, while remaining a cleric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (BOC).

From January 1, 1945 to February 1, 1950 - assistant rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Week in Sofia. In 1946, Father Vsevolod met Patriarch Alexy of Moscow, who visited Bulgaria on a pastoral visit.

From secret reports of Soviet officials in Bulgaria it is clear that Spiller, as a Soviet citizen, met with hostility from the leading clergy during the exarchship of the anti-communist Exarch Stefan (Shokov); Thus, in a letter dated May 7, 1948, the USSR Charge d'Affaires in Bulgaria Kliment Levychkin to Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Vyshinsky mentioned as a symptomatic incident in January of the same year, when Spiller was pointedly removed from a meeting of priests as an “alien alien.”

In the summer of 1948, he visited Moscow as part of a delegation of the Bulgarian Church that participated in the Meeting of Heads and Representatives of Autocephalous Orthodox Churches; At the insistence of the USSR government, all candidates undesirable for the Soviet leadership and the Moscow Patriarchate were excluded from the delegation.

In April 1949, a responsible employee of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Karpovich, in a note to the Chairman of the Council, Georgy Karpov, reported on the “inexpediency of Archpriest V. D. Shpiller moving from Bulgaria to the USSR” due to the fact that he was “a careful supplier of the Moscow Patriarchate information about the situation in the Bulgarian Church"; Karpovich noted by way of clarification that Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) (then also under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church) “is extremely stingy in sending information and limits his interests to the framework of his diocese (deanery)”; proposed to allow Shpiller to travel to the USSR “later, when the balance of power within the episcopate of the Bulgarian Church is determined in favor of a firm course towards the Moscow Patriarchate.”

Ministry in Moscow[ | ]

Arrived in the USSR for permanent residence on February 5, 1950. Already on February 7, I had a conversation, at a personal request, with the deputy chairman of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, during which he spoke in detail about the situation in the Bulgarian Church.

Among his students are a number of Moscow clergy: Alexander Kulikov, Nikolai Krechetov, Vladimir Vorobyov (rector of the St. Nicholas Church since 1997),

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