Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov and his books. Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov

Biography

N. E. Pestov was born on August 17, 1892 in Nizhny Novgorod. His father came from the bourgeoisie, his mother from the merchant class. Nikolai was the last, tenth, child in the family.

In 1903-1910 he studied at a real school, where he graduated from an additional class, which gave him the right to enter a higher educational institution - in 1911 he entered the chemistry department of the Imperial Moscow Higher Technical School. In 1915, in his fourth year at school, he volunteered for the front. Having entered the Alekseevsky Military School, by August 1917 he was already a regiment adjutant with the rank of lieutenant. During a short vacation in February 1916, he married the daughter of a sworn attorney, Rufina Dyachkova.

From February to August 1918, N. E. Pestov served in the Nizhny Novgorod Cheka as a clerk, then in the City Food Committee; On August 13, 1918, he was arrested, but on November 2 he was released and was sent to work in the bodies of the Vsevobuch. In December 1918 he joined the RCP(b). He worked in Nizhny Novgorod until January 30, 1919. Then he worked in Moscow, in the Directorate of All-Russian Education at the All-Russian General Staff and, at the same time, studied at the Central Higher Courses for All-Russian Education. In the spring of 1919, among 15 thousand communists, he was sent to the Northern Group of the Eastern Front and after the victory of the Red Army in August he was summoned to Moscow. In September 1919, he was awarded the rank of district military commissar and sent as head of the Vsevobuch Department in the Urals Military District. He remained in this position in Sverdlovsk until 1921. He wrote about this period of his life in his diary:

Remembering all this evil that I committed in those years is the hardest thing for me... This whole nightmare... Karamazov’s dirt... All this happened in the absence of my Christian faith...

In the spring of 1921, he had a spiritual experience that led him to faith; in July 1921 he resigned from the ranks of the Red Army, and in 1922 he left the party. At this time, his first wife also left him, and he returned to Moscow and graduated from Moscow Higher Technical School.

In the fall of 1921, Pestov attended a lecture by V.F. Martsinkovsky and soon met the organizer of the Christian Student Circle at the Moscow Higher Technical School, Zoya Bezdetnova, with whom he married on May 20, 1923. In 1924, as a member of the Christian Student Circle, he was arrested, but was released on December 19. In Butyrka prison he met a parishioner of the St. Nicholas Church on Maroseyka, where he soon began to serve as headman.

Even before graduating from Moscow Higher Technical School, N. E. Pestov was enrolled as an employee Scientific Institute for Fertilizers(NIUIF). At Moscow Higher Technical University he was an assistant to Academician E.V. Britske and taught a course on fertilizer technology. Then, while continuing to work at NIUIF, he moved to, and later to the Military Academy of Chemical Defense, where he worked as head of the department of potassium salts until October 1933.

In 1933-1937 he worked at the department of technology of mineral substances (professor of the department since 1934). For refusing to speak at a meeting to condemn the arrested professor N.F. Yushkevich, in the fall of 1937 N.E. Pestov was fired from the Moscow Chemical Technology Institute. Two years later, he was elected by competition as the head of the department of chemical technology, where in January 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation “Physico-chemical properties of powdery and granular products of the chemical industry”; from December 1942 to December 1943 he was dean of the Faculty of Chemistry, and from October 1943 he was deputy director for scientific and educational work.

On November 4, 1944, N. E. Pestov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and in 1946 - the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War.”

N. E. Pestov is the author of works of philosophical and theological content. Since 1943, he worked on the fundamental work “(The Experience of the Christian World Outlook).” At the end of the 50s, N. E. Pestov wrote the first works on theology. These were mainly excerpts from the holy fathers and teachers of the Church on various issues of Christian life, combined into two volumes entitled “Paths to Perfect Joy,” as well as the first edition of the book “Above the Apocalypse.”

Died on January 14, 1982. He was buried in the cemetery in Grebnevo, Moscow region, next to his wife’s grave.

Bibliography

Books

• Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety. Volume I.
• Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety. Volume II.
• Orthodox education of children. - St. Petersburg. : Satis, 2010. -

The fates of Christians who passed through the crucible of Soviet times are different. Some suffered a more difficult fate, others less. The life of Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov, a famous spiritual writer, professor, doctor of chemical sciences, author of the books “Paths to Perfect Joy” (“The Experience of Building a Christian World Outlook”) and “Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety” is the path of a pious layman, an exemplary family man and completely loyal to citizen power. However, behind the external well-being of his life in his mature years, there is hidden inner depth, intense work on his own soul... Pestov’s youth is also instructive - the years of wandering and falling away from God.

Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov was born on August 17 (4), 1892 in Nizhny Novgorod and was the last, tenth, child of Evgraf Fedorovich Pestov from his second marriage. The father came from the bourgeoisie, the mother from the merchant class. Nikolai Evgrafovich recalls about his parents that they were very kind people.

The family celebrated church holidays, but the boy was not taught to pray; only the nanny in the family prayed. The father died when the boy was 6 years old. Since the age of 7, Nikolai has been studying Russian language, literature, and arithmetic with his sisters. Once a week, a deacon from the Elias Church comes to him and teaches him the Law of God.

When the boy turned 11 years old, his mother and sisters decided to send him to a real school. There he is interested in astronomy, chemistry, the Esperanto language, and participates in theatrical productions. He even translated one of Chekhov's stories into Esperanto. E. Renan's book "The Life of Jesus" had a negative impact on the young man's life - after reading it, he became an atheist. At the same time, the young man becomes acquainted with Marxist literature.

After graduating from real school, Nikolai entered the chemistry department of the Imperial Moscow Higher Technical School. He lives in Moscow with his godfather, a wealthy merchant, and mostly studies independently in laboratories and libraries, giving lessons to schoolchildren. He attends the theater and leads a normal lifestyle for a young man.

In 1914 he entered a military school and became an ensign. As a chemistry specialist, he goes to the front, where he participates in preparing soldiers for chemical defense. There was a case when Nikolai had to defuse a bomb: in order to get it to its destination and avoid an explosion, he had to take the deadly object in his hands and ride in a truck shaking on a broken road. In 1916, the young man was promoted to second lieutenant, and in the same year he married Rufina Dyachkova, the daughter of a sworn attorney.

After the February Revolution, Nikolai Pestov was elected a member of the regimental committee and the regimental court. The review says about him: “He knows his service well and takes it seriously. A very tactful, disciplined and self-possessed officer. He has excellent abilities and knowledge. A wonderful comrade with a sympathetic and noble heart.” For military distinction he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav III degree and the Order of St. Anna III degree.

After the October Revolution, he returned to Nizhny Novgorod and went to work at the Nizhny Novgorod City Food Committee. In the conditions of the offensive of the White Guard units, Pestov was arrested as a former officer. He escapes death during the “Red Terror,” when every tenth prisoner was shot, having previously lined everyone up in a row. Tenth in the row was Pestov’s father-in-law, standing next to him.

For “a greater opportunity to serve the Motherland” he joins the Communist Party. Works at Vsevobuch (General Military Education), studies at higher courses. Receives the rank of military commissar. His wife also joins the party. In 1919 he was sent to the Eastern Front, deployed against Kolchak. And here is his wife next to him. In the post of district military commissar N. E. Pestov was appointed head of the Vsevobuch of the Priural Military District. He meets Trotsky, whom he would later call a “demonic personality.” “For every revolutionary killed, we will kill five counter-revolutionaries!” - said Trotsky. Pestov later admitted with bitterness that he had earned Trotsky's favor.

During his last visit to Yekaterinburg, Trotsky presented Nikolai Evgrafovich with his book with a dedicatory inscription: “To my friend and comrade-in-arms N. Pestov as a keepsake. Leon Trotsky."

In 1921, N. E. Pestov’s wife left him, and in the same year he resigned from the Red Army. This step was facilitated by a deep internal fracture. One day in a dream, he sees that he is in a dungeon, the sisters are standing behind him, and Christ passes by him along the corridor, turning a loving and stern look at him. Uncle Pestov follows Christ. Nikolai Evgrafovich wakes up in confusion and immediately realizes that he is an unrepentant sinner, that there is dirt and blood all around... In a dream, he bowed to Christ alone, the sisters stood as if seeing nothing. Nikolai Evgrafovich writes that that night the Lord entered his heart and since then has never left him.

After being discharged from the army, Pestov moved to Moscow and was reinstated at the Moscow Higher Technical School. His relatives do not accept him, calling him a “chekist” behind his back. By chance he comes across a lecture by V. Martsinkovsky, the leader of the Christian circles movement, entitled “Did Christ Live?” “Suddenly, as if a scale had fallen from my eyes, in the simple words of the Gospel that the lecturer read, I heard the answer to the questions that tormented me,” writes Nikolai Evgrafovich. Tears flowed from his eyes, and he cried for the rest of the evening. The young man left the lecture a Christian. He becomes a member of the Christian circle at Moscow Higher Technical School. In the same year, he visited the Volga region, gripped by a terrible famine, and saw all the horrors of the typhus epidemic. In the circle he meets his future wife, Zoya Veniaminovna, and soon, in 1923, they get married. They have a son, Nikolai, a daughter, Natalya, and a son, Sergei.

New convictions do not allow N. E. Pestov to remain in the party, he destroyed his party card, did not pass the next registration and was expelled from the ranks of the RCP (b).

In 1924, he spent 40 days in Butyrki along with other members of the Christian circle. In prison, he meets a man who was a former member of the community of the temple in the name of St. Nicholas on Maroseyka. After leaving prison, he comes under the spiritual guidance of Fr. Sergius (Mecheva), becomes a member of the Maroseya community. This temple becomes his second home. At that time there were all-night services that lasted until the morning. In the temple, Nikolai Evgrafovich becomes something like an elder. Here his formation as a Christian takes place, he gradually accustoms himself to the constant Jesus Prayer, experiencing the full depth of evil into which his soul plunged when he was not a Christian. His “general” confession of all the sins committed in life dates back to this time. He makes a pilgrimage to Diveevo, independently studies theological and philosophical literature, including the Philokalia, books by V. Solovyov and P. Florensky.

According to the daughter’s recollections, “dad always smelled of affection, peace and quiet.” He was reserved and polite with everyone, and everyone loved him. Natalya Nikolaevna writes that her “feelings for her father over the years turned into feelings for God: a feeling of complete trust, a feeling of happiness - to be with her Beloved; a feeling of hope that everything will work out, everything will be fine; a feeling of peace and tranquility of the soul in the strong and mighty hands of the Beloved.” “Dad never punished us strictly, but mom said: “The children are making ropes out of you!” But dad answered: “Where love operates, there is no need for severity.” The father took the children to church; the daughter especially loved these trips; she writes that “being next to my father for several hours was happiness for me.” But in the 30s, all the churches were closed, there was nowhere to go, and at home the icons were hidden in a closet and covered with curtains. The nun Mother Evnikia lived in the family under the guise of Nikolai Evgrafovich’s mother.

When the children grew up, parents began to hire German governesses, and soon the children spoke fluent German. One of the governesses turned out to be a sectarian, and sectarian letters began to arrive at the Pestovs’ address, which led to Zoya Veniaminovna’s arrest. Investigators told her that her husband had been arrested, her children were in an orphanage, and when asked “why?” They answered: “Tell me yourself,” provoking the woman. All this happened to her in Samara; her husband was not around at that moment. Having learned about what happened, Nikolai Evgrafovich went to Samara. Wandering around the city in the evening, he read the troparion to St. Seraphim three times and asked to spend the night in the third house. It turned out that one of the girls who lived there worked in the prison hospital, where Zoya Veniaminovna was lying, and could tell him about her. Fortunately, the wife was soon released.

One day Nikolai Evgrafovich was traveling on a train, thinking about his own things and not participating in the conversation of his fellow travelers. One of them, like many at that time, overcome by the demon of suspicion, declared that the taciturn passenger was an enemy of the people and should be handed over to the relevant authorities. Pestov had a Bible with him; its discovery during a search would have resulted in arrest. Fortunately, one of the company members promised to give the threat to drink before the arrival of the train, and Nikolai Evgrafovich managed to leave the carriage on time.

Sometimes liturgies were served in the Pestov house. Those gathered spoke in whispers and sang quietly - “like mosquitoes buzzing.”

Nikolai Evgrafovich’s professional career is developing successfully, he receives thanks and certificates for his hard work, working as a teacher and researcher at various Moscow institutes and specializing in the field of chemical fertilizer production technology. The matter, however, is not without troubles. Pestov spoke out against the arrest of prof. Yushkevich, the head of one of the departments of the Mendeleev Institute, and he is fired from the institute. The family is waiting for further repressions, but Pestov is not even arrested. In 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation. In total, Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote about 160 scientific works, monographs and articles during his life. In 1944 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, in 1953 - the Order of Lenin, which was presented to him by Kalinin at the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

However, work does not prevent him from devoting a lot of time to his children. He spent all his holidays with them - he played tennis, croquet, volleyball with them, taught them to swim, and went boating. In winter, he went to the skating rink with them and skated himself. In general, the atmosphere in the family was ascetic, and if it weren’t for the children, it would have been sad. My father fasted strictly, and scandals constantly arose between him and my mother when she asked him to eat a quick meal. The father strove for holiness, and his ascetic life was beyond the power of his wife. This caused tension in the family, the children prayed for peace between their parents and were very happy when they found them clinging to each other and cheerful.

Having learned about the start of the war, Zoya Veniaminovna trembled and began to repeat: “They will kill Kolya, they will kill...” - which is what subsequently happened. The family did not go to evacuation and remained in Moscow. The children did not run to the shelter during the bombing, but went to bed, having prayed and with the firm faith that without the will of the Almighty “not a hair from their heads would be lost.”

In 1943, the eldest son Nikolai died in battle.

By the end of the war years, Nikolai Evgrafovich stopped hiding his beliefs. He covered all the walls of his office with icons and religious paintings by Vasnetsov and Nesterov. He went to church again and was not afraid to meet his colleagues or students there.

The students loved Professor Pestov. He didn’t force them to memorize formulas, didn’t struggle with cheat sheets, so no one used them. For exams and tests, he allowed students to bring with them and keep open on the table any textbooks, notebooks and notes.

At the end of the 50s, Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote the first works on theology. He combined them into two volumes entitled: “Paths to Perfect Joy, or Experience in Building a Christian Worldview.” In those same years, the first edition of the book about his son who died at the front was written, as well as the first edition of the book “Above the Apocalypse.” At the age of 68, Pestov retired, or rather, he was fired for refusing to conduct atheistic propaganda in his academic work. From then on, he devoted himself to theology, studied the Fathers of the Church, became acquainted with Catholic and Protestant theology, and even said that this made his soul akin to Western Christianity. After becoming familiar with Western religious and philosophical works, he began to perceive the entire Christian Church as a whole, as a single tree with branches.

Nikolai Evgrafovich received many grateful reviews, including from the patriarch: “People really, really need your work. Thank you... May the Lord bless you in all your affairs..." (Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen, May 14, 1977).

Zoya Veniaminovna was also a person of amazing talents. She knew and remembered a lot of historical events, names, and you could listen to her for hours. She captivatingly recited by heart the poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Nekrasov, Nadson and many other poets. She lived in the spirit of apostleship: she could approach anyone in the church and ask: “Do you understand what they are singing, what they are reading?” And then she was ready not only to explain, but to ignite the soul of her interlocutor with the same faith that she herself had. This happened especially often with young people. They listened to her with pleasure, often after the service somewhere in the park she continued to share with the person what was most dear to her. This happened a few days before her death. She educated young female students for a long time after the service on the street in Sokolniki. It was cold, Zoya Veniaminovna caught a cold, got pneumonia and died. This happened in 1973.

Nikolai Evgrafovich escorted his wife to eternal life with a fervent, tearful prayer. For more than a year, he endlessly read akathists and canons about the repose of his wife’s soul, often sat detached from life, not noticing time, forgetting about everything... But time healed his soul; in 1975 he moved to a new apartment, life around him was in full swing, and he again became alive and joyful.

Over the years, Nikolai Evgrafovich’s life feat did not weaken, but only intensified. The children write that their father set himself up for such a clear and strict regime that sometimes one could only be surprised at his endurance. The elderly man's entire day was clearly planned out - literally minute by minute. He considered it his duty to prepare breakfast for his grandchildren and make sure they were not late for classes.

Most of the time after leaving work was spent receiving visitors. People were drawn to him like moths to a light. These were old friends, former members of the Christian student circle, and “Maroseans”, but there were also many young people among those who came. Nikolai Evgrafovich did not regret and was not afraid to give them the rarest books from the catalog of spiritual literature, always remembering that a book is only useful when it is read. In the last years of his life, he primarily concentrated all his work on the reproduction of spiritual literature that was not published by state publishing houses. Literature was taken far and wide in considerable quantities, which greatly pleased the “publisher” and gave him new strength.

This is how one person close to him writes in his memoirs about Nikolai Evgrafovich: “What I valued most in him was his understanding of the souls of people without long conversations, sometimes without words at all, without even a glance, but simply with his presence...” Seeing off a visitor if he had to travel , he certainly prayed with the departing person about the upcoming journey.

Every week Nikolai Evgrafovich received the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the early Sunday liturgy. All-night vigils, akathists, Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, he usually read the services of Holy Week privately. Slowly, touchingly and with deep concentration, hours of these prayers passed in his room. The grandchildren also took part in these prayers, reading the Trisagion, the Six Psalms and quietly singing along with their grandfather’s familiar irmos.

During his lifetime, his grandchildren served as subdeacons in the Elias Church in Obydenny Lane on Kropotkinskaya, where the patriarch also served. The ordination of his grandson (Monk Sergius) to the deacon was performed by Patriarch Pimen himself.

In the last months before his death, Nikolai Evgrafovich almost did not get up. A severe stomach illness made itself felt. After Christmas 1982, his strength finally left him. He died on the night of January 14, 1982, on the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the day of remembrance of St. Basil the Great, whom he greatly revered.

In conclusion, we present concise wording-mottos compiled by Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov for all occasions.

1. To God - trembling, anticipation of death, the Last Judgment, unceasing prayer.
2. To people - love, friendliness, affection, non-judgment and to be a servant to everyone.
3. Prayer is thorough.
4. Actions are the will of the Lord.
5. Words - great caution.
6. Thoughts include a conversation with the Lord (unceasing prayer) and the memory of death.
7. The body is harsh.
8. Food - moderation.
9. Appearance - cheerfulness, vitality and helpfulness.
10. Soul and memory - crying about sins.
11. Time - frugality.
12. Labor - thoroughness and diligence.
13. Money and material wealth - generosity.
14. Requests - attention and fulfillment.
15. Your personal interests are oblivion.
16. To the offenders and reproaches - thanksgiving.
17. Praise is followed by silence and internal self-deprecation.
18. Temptations - escape.
19. Laughter - abstinence.
20. Memory - an abyss of sins committed.
21. Treat others with patience.
22. To illnesses - patience with thanksgiving. Christians do not have the word “misfortune,” but “the will of God.”

Nikolay Evgrafovich Pestov

Dedicated to future defenders of the Fatherland

Approved for distribution by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church IS R16-520-0965

KOLYA PESTOV'S LETTERS ARE PUBLISHED IN COMPLETE FOR THE FIRST TIME

Here is a book that has been reprinted several times. For many years it was retyped on a typewriter as a carbon copy and signed “GBR” - “sinful servant of God.” During the Soviet years, there were taboo topics; books on these topics could not be published officially. And faith in God itself was persecuted, and those who dared to talk about it could face the severe punishment of Soviet law. But there were people who were law-abiding in everything, who considered it their moral duty before God and people to proclaim the word of God and put God’s law above human law. One of these remarkable confessors of faith was professor, doctor of chemical sciences Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov - “God’s sinful servant,” as he called himself.

The book “Life for Eternity” was the very first one written by Nikolai Evgrafovich. The reason for its appearance was a tragic event - the death of his beloved son Nikolai, who died in 1943 at the front at the age of 19 in his second battle. Nikolai Evgrafovich took the death of his son very hard, but this sad event became the beginning of a whole chain of joyful events.

The book about his son and all subsequent books are full of sincere, deep faith; Nikolai Evgrafovich wrote them from the bottom of his heart. And because his heart was pure, his books brought to God and to the Church many people who grew up in an atheistic state, brought up in families where they knew nothing about Christ.

Nikolai Evgrafovich did not live to see the time when his books began to be printed in printing houses and published in thousands of copies. But the story of the beloved son, who lived with faith and gave his life with faith so that others could live, still cannot leave the reader indifferent, cannot but encourage him to think about the same deep questions that this wonderful young man thought about.

This edition differs from the previous ones in that it consists of two parts. The first is the book “Life for Eternity”, which has been published more than once, and the second is the original letters of Kolya Pestov. Many of them are quoted in Nikolai Evgrafovich’s book - but not all, and not always in full. These letters are the most valuable evidence not only about Kolya himself and his loved ones, but also about the time in which they lived.

Letters open up, as it were, two windows. Reading the letter, we see what its author saw. We also get the opportunity to look into the soul of the author. We see the features of a long-gone era, when many things were different. The way of life and values ​​were different, the attitude of people towards each other was different, and the people themselves were different. Life was different, in some ways harder than it is now; We didn’t have the comfort we were used to, but the little things in life didn’t absorb our attention; it was focused on real values, those values ​​that are “above the bounds of the earth.”

The everyday details that fill the letters create the impression of authenticity, the effect of presence. As you read, you can imagine what happened in that distant reality. The letters reveal the deep inner world of a person seeking God, striving to live according to His commandments. These letters are all the more valuable because they belong to a very young man who has embarked on the path leading to eternal life. The decisive milestones on this path are faith and fidelity, actions that elevate him above the bustle and noise of everyday life.

Let us pay attention to some features of that distant era, which Kolya Pestov’s letters remind us of. Everyone knew that the mail was viewed by military censorship. Therefore, Kolya could not write that he was asking to pray to the great martyr and healer Panteleimon - he asked “to contact the doctor Panteleimon.” The Pestov family lived not far from the Yelokhov Cathedral, so when Kolya managed to get into the temple, he wrote that he “went to the Yelokhovs.” The watchful eye of the NKVD was designated by “a visit to Anna Gavrilovna.” This simple conspiracy was enough to lull the vigilance of narrow-minded military censors.

As you know, personal example has the most powerful influence. Kolya Pestov’s letters testify that it is possible to maintain human dignity in difficult circumstances; you can quietly, modestly, unnoticed, perform significant, if not heroic, deeds in everyday life.

Eternal memory to the warrior of Christ Nikolai, who laid down his life for his friends on the battlefield, and to his parent, the sinful servant of God - Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov!

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko,

rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior of the former Sorrow Monastery in Moscow,

head of the project “Uninvented stories about war”

Victory comes from You and wisdom comes from You,

and Your glory, and I am Your servant.

(2 Ezra 4:59)

Gloria…

(Luke 2:14)

Meekness of soul is what adorns a person, makes him pleasant and sweet to everyone around him. Usually meekness is combined with simplicity and modesty. And if a warm, loving heart is added to this, then all this makes a person “the salt of the earth,” a “candle” that is placed on a candlestick to give light to everyone in the house (Matthew 5:13,15).

From the Lord we were blessed to have a son who met these qualities. He matured spiritually early and was taken early by the Lord from the earth. He left us the image of a nineteen-year-old youth with a meek, loving heart. In the last year of his life, he wrote a large number of letters that depict his gentle, simple, sympathetic soul, full of readiness to serve people. These letters are at the same time filled with a purely Christian philosophy of life with uncomplaining obedience to the will of the Lord and wise prudence, rare for a nineteen-year-old.

There is a custom to erect monuments on graves dear to the heart. There is no grave of our son near us - he is buried far from us, on the battlefield, in a common cemetery. Let these lines be a monument to him, in which I want to describe his image, his life and actions, the last heroic hours of his life and convey the foundations of his integral, deeply Christian worldview.

Perhaps some people sometimes have questions about how one can live out the covenants of Christ in a modern setting and how one can be “wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). It seems to me that Colin’s life gives a clear answer to both of these questions.

Basically, the content of what we recorded relates to everyday life with its “little things in life.” But isn’t it the sum of the “little things” that makes up life, and isn’t it the “little things” where we stumble most of all? And isn’t the most important and great thing to be “faithful in small things” (Matthew 25:21).

My share in this work is a modest share. Everything fundamental belongs to Kolya himself - his letters, writings, diaries and his actions, words and thoughts. I just needed to collect all this and, having selected everything valuable and significant, present it in the right sequence.

In relation to all the collected material, I did not remain in the role of an indifferent chronicler. Kolya lives in my heart, and I could not restrain myself from expressing the feelings that overwhelm him when thinking about Kolya.

The main setting of the action is a half-frozen barracks; environment - modern youth in the uniform of cadets. The final scenes are at the front and the battlefield. And against this harsh background bloomed those tender, fragrant flowers of Kolya’s heart movements and thoughts, which fill the soul with the joy that all beauty awakens in the soul.

The Lord, like a caring gardener, grows spiritual flowers on earth - the souls of people who have managed to build their lives in accordance with His eternal Truth. He loves these His flowers and admires them. But He wants everyone who knows how to appreciate beauty to admire and rejoice in it.

Spiritual writer, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, professor, scientist and teacher. Nikolai Evgrafovich was born in Nizhny Novgorod on August 17, 1892. His father belonged to the bourgeois class, his mother belonged to the merchant class. As a result of the influence of the literature of the Marxists and Renan, he became an atheist, becoming a military commissar in 1919–1921.

About what is written about the period of commissarship in the writer’s diary, only these notes can be found: “Remembering all this evil that I committed in those years is the hardest thing for me... This whole nightmare... All this happened in the absence of my Christian faith.." In 1921, on the first of March, Christ appeared to Nicholas in a dream. That night the Lord entered his heart, and from then on, no matter what Nikolai did, no matter what he felt, he knew that Christ was always with him, and God’s help never left him.

N.E. Pestov was known as a prominent scientist working in the field of mineral fertilizers. He was engaged in teaching at many of the capital's largest universities. January 1941 was the time of defending his doctoral dissertation and the beginning of writing a number of books that have not yet lost their methodological and scientific significance.

He began to engage in activities related to writing theological works during wartime, after Nikolai, his nineteen-year-old son, died in battle in the fall of 1943.

The first book that marked the beginning of the literary and spiritual period of Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov was a book entitled “To the blessed memory of Kolyusha, or a monument at the grave of his son.” This book was based on Nicholas's letters from the front and various documents. After some time, this story was renamed by the author, receiving the title “Life for Eternity.”

The memory of his son also served to continue his work on moral theology. It was the memories of his son that became the main motives for creating the most interesting two-volume book “The Path to Perfect Joy” for writing the first edition of the book “Above the Apocalypse”.

The mid-fifties became significant for Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov in that it was then that he began work on his main philosophical and religious work. This is a multi-volume dissertation with the unifying title “Modern practice of Orthodox piety (The experience of building a Christian worldview).” At that time there could be no question of going to the printing industry to print something like that. Therefore, publishing “samizdat” was the only possible option, and the demand for the multi-volume “Modern Practice of Orthodox Piety (The Experience of Building a Christian World Outlook)” was very great. It was copied many times on typewriters, and then in our time this work became a gem of Orthodox literature.