John Bereslavsky is a bright and large scale personality in the circle of the modern spiritual elite. Fearless, fiery, zealous, in the common people he is called – John the Blessed.
Born in 1946 in Moscow. He graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages.Maurice Thorez (1970). Worked as a translator, taught English. Around the same time, he began his literary activity. For a long time he wrote «in the table», he began to publish only in the late 80’s. He studied at the music school named Ippolitova–Ivanova after him. After receiving a classical education, he gradually converted to the faith and joined the True Orthodox (catacomb) church, avoiding communist influence.
The Anointed of Wisdom
In 1985. John Bereslavsky was ordained a priest of the True Orthodox (catacomb) Church, and has been a bishop since 1992. Having been ordained by Metropolitan John Bondarchuk of the UAOC, Blessed John became the heir to the mystical traditions of the True Orthodox Church, leading the succession from Patriarch Tikhon and the Council of the New Martyrs of Solovetsky, headed by Patriarch martyr Seraphim Solovetsky, who spent 39 years in the Stalinist GULAG camps.
Currently, he is the spiritual head of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Mother of God of the State (heads the Council of Bishops), is in contact with prominent intellectuals and religious figures of Christianity, Islam and Buddhism in many countries.
His spiritual growth was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with the holy prayer book – the elder Evfrosiniya of Pochaev, who revealed to him the beauty of practical asceticism, the senile Orthodoxy of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual Search
In November 1984, the first books of Blessed John on the revival of holiness and spirituality in Russia began to be published.
The spiritual path of John Bereslavsky is inseparable from his creative talents. He wrote poetry. He belonged to the circle of Moscow poets of the 60s, closely associated with Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina. He studied Hebrew and Greek. In his youth, even before his conversion to the faith, he was the author of several novels and novellas, collections of poems, numerous theological, journalistic and religious-philosophical works. However, early religious aspirations forced a quick break with literary bohemia. A fascination with philosophy, Hebrew, Greek, and ancient and medieval mysticism followed.
His diverse work reflects the entire disharmonious palette of the modern world with its idiotic damage and heavenly height. Perhaps that is why his spirituality (which has a certain «aristocratic craziness», heavenly height and at the same time chivalrous generosity — Pushkin’s «mercy to the fallen»), his «sense of God» catches both intellectuals and young people who are «not spoiled» by book culture.
Creativity and works
In the early 90’s, the effort of like-minded people organized a charitable foundation and publishing house, which became known as the Center of the Virgin in Russia, the legal and Public educational foundation «Theotokos Center», named in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos the Virgin Mary the patroness and intercessor of the Russian land.
A genius of prophetic thought and a master of the word, Father John wrote many books and articles, several multi-volume publications, many of which have been translated into other languages. Among them are 40 volumes of the Word of the Mother of God — unique texts of the living revelations of the Mother of God and the Lord in Russia and around the world with comments and edited by Blessed John Bereslavsky. Through the joint efforts of the staff and associates of Father John, the Chronicle of the Russian Revelation, a 7-volume book on the mysteries of the Second Solovetsky Golgotha, was prepared for publication. The works of St. John bear the idea of the Messianic destiny of man, as the image and likeness of God, revealed in the unspeakable goodness, purity, beauty and non-possessive life, which was taught by Francis of Assisi, St. Nil Sorsky, St. Seraphim Sarovsky, Leo Tolstoy, etc.
After the fall of communism, an important factor in the bloodless development of events in Russia was the establishment by Father John of the renaissance movement «New Holy Russia», which included representatives of the thinking intelligentsia, priests, philosophers and many others — all who supported Russia with their hearts and souls.
As a participant in the events of August ‘ 91, he met with many political leaders in order to prevent bloodshed and violence, convincing them of the need to resolve the conflict peacefully.
The active anti communist position of Father John was another reason for the rejection of the imaginary ideals of the atheist era, the call to get out of the crisis and spiritual stagnation, and to turn to true spiritual values. He was the first in Russia who, after the fall of the communist regime, brought back to life the national idea – the messianism of the Russian people through the affirmation of the ideals of the New Holy Russia. Russian people to return to the eternal axioms of meaningful and active adherence to truth, morality, love and beauty, about the divine providence, in accordance with which the Russian nation should determine its future path.
He was one of the few who seriously analyzed and described the deep crisis of the modern church in the twentieth century. It is here, in his opinion, that the main reason for the spiritual degradation of modern society lies. The breadth of his worldview and the scale of his mind allow Blessed John not to be limited to the limits of a particular denomination, people or tradition, but to reveal the spiritual path in many ways as a unity of spiritual, moral ideal for humanity, which has universal importance and significance.
Post-communist period
The conflict between the old and new worldviews, including its religious and ethical components, is eternal. With the novelty and originality of Blessed John, it is not surprising that there are opponents who accuse him of «not following the fundamental church regulations and canons». Thus, some representatives of religious traditionalism, who are fundamentalist, because of their personal interests, boycott Father John and his works, not wanting to admit their own spiritual failure.
The conflict of two worldviews at all times results in the struggle of novelty for the preservation of their identity and living individuality against the framework of established and obsolete traditions, dead schemes. This is connected with numerous attacks by adherents of traditional church institutions on the activities of Blessed John — as an instrument of the Divine will, revealing to humanity the spiritual world as the highest reality of existence.
Father John calls on the modern man to restore his conscience, which has been stricken by sin and compromises. As a practitioner of faith, he is characterized by deep ecclesiasticism and loyalty to high moral ideals. He courageously and uncompromisingly defends his own point of view, forming an absolutely new look at various spheres of the secular and spiritual life of society. In the works of St. John, there is no deliberate secularism, a surface that is characteristic of many researchers of religion and publicists who» from the outside » observe religious processes. His view is always internally justified and convincing, conclusions and conclusions are based on a deep knowledge of the subject and the timeliness of the spiritual concept presented by him.
Writer, thinker, prophet
Blessed John Bereslavsky is an outstanding researcher of world philosophical thought, an expert on the phenomena and revelations of the Mother of God around the world. He is the author of extensive studies of outstanding people in Russia and the world. To date, the multi-volume composition of his works is a huge library, the study of which can take a lifetime.
His books are translated into different languages. They are read with equal enthusiasm by people of different ages, occupations and interests. He attaches great importance to the authenticity of the translation of sacred and spiritual texts into the languages of the world, and in his own research uses a comparative analysis of the ancient languages of the Jewish cycle (such as the Torah, Talmud, Mishnah, Perke Abot), the Bible, the apocryphal writings of the Old and New Testaments, ancient documents and manuscripts, the writings of the holy fathers of Christianity, Western and Eastern mystics and hesychasts. He has access to the wisdom of the teachers of Sufism and Zen Buddhism. The crown of his spiritual research is the works of recent years devoted to Theogamy (God-marriage), which reveals the purpose of coming to this world and the highest purpose of man as the image and likeness of God — entering into a spiritual marriage with God, joining in one with the Deity.
People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts Andrey Andreevich Tutunov writes: «A huge library of books by fr. John is a spiritual storehouse for modern society. In his books, he is a synthesis of many years of mystical revelations of the Word of the Mother of God around the world, reflecting the many sided experience accumulated over the centuries…».
English biographers are interested in his work. As an outstanding thinker of our time, Blessed John Bereslavsky is one of the elite intellectuals of the world this is how the English catalog «Who is Who» describes his activities, noting the special contribution of Blessed John to the treasury of the world community.
New shapes and styles
Blessed John created a new spiritual school of the Melchizedek priesthood, and educated hundreds of the most talented and most gifted students of Wisdom. His students become bright thinkers, theologians and mystics, continuing to develop the spiritual tradition of the Slavic-Theogamic spiritual school.
In the field of divine services, Blessed John developed the concept of completely new approaches to the liturgy, revealing the essence of the divine service in a variety of forms, making it accessible to ordinary people, and at the same time revealing at a new height all the depth and beauty of the liturgy, embodied in new vestments, banners and iconography. Mysticism is of the greatest importance in the divine service, it includes plastic prayer as an expression of the language of the heart in the form of plastic movements.
In the vocal and instrumental sphere, he introduced a number of new expressive elements using the richness of melos and phonetics of ancient and modern European languages, as well as compiled a new unique system of church frets vowels. In the creative art workshop, his students create masterpieces of painting and craftsmanship, develop new artistic forms and styles.
He introduced a new concept of education for children and teachers by founding the Family Institute. The basis of this concept is a special understanding of education as an inspired knowledge of the depths of universal truths through righteousness, holiness, spirituality beyond formalism and nachetnichestvo, through instilling love for learning, for the teacher and the ability to achieve a deep dialogue.
Spiritual leader and Peacemaker
As a spiritual leader, Blessed John has senile and prophetic charisma, and as a church pastor, he inherits the holy fatherly tradition of non-possessive, ascetic, spirit-bearing Orthodoxy and light-centered Christianity, paying special attention to the path of holiness through the practice of the holy ascetic fathers.
It is noteworthy that he communicates not only with other branches of Christianity, but also with other religions, such as Islam, Buddhism, etc. His social circle includes sheikhs, cardinals, spiritual leaders, and political figures. Along with his openness and dialogue, his ability to present Divine messages and prophetic texts in an accessible and clear way, with the disclosure of deep secrets and mystical heights, is striking. As a spiritual leader, he traveled half the world, held many conferences and meetings. At one of the meetings, the leader of the Russian Muslims, Heydar Jemal, said that the experience of Father John is invaluable for the Muslim world.
For his creative and social activities, Blessed John was awarded a number of international awards and honorary titles. His contribution to the consolidation of peace has been repeatedly recognized by the International Association» Teachers for World Peace » at UNICEF and UNESCO. His desire to unite the progressive Russian creative and spiritual intelligentsia resulted in the creation of the «Independent Association of Russian Religious Writers and Philosophers»in St. Petersburg in 1995.
Identity and versatility
Probably, there is no genre in which the blessed John would not work. Divine sermons, exegesis, historical essay, current journalism, philosophical diaries, satire, spiritual fairy tales and parables, original mystical poetry comparable to Russian and world spiritual classics (I recall Juan de la Cruz, «The Pigeon Book», Rumi, Tagore), research and translation of the books of the Bible, dogmatic theology, aphorism, mystery… And everywhere, even in the most serious and difficult works for the uninitiated reader, there is a characteristic freedom and vividness of the author’s presentation, clarity and some unearthly illumination, transmitted in addition to words.
The topics addressed by the author are also very diverse. First of all, this is the image of God as It can be seen by modern man, who has known the highest ups of the spirit and falls into the depths of the deepest insignificance, a man who is mad, if not from diabolical temptations, then from divine ecstasy. Through the prism of this vision of God (nothing like this can be found today in any of the theologians of the «traditional» school), Blessed John comprehends the history of the Universal Church, the relationship of world religions, the secrets of the human soul and the spiritual path. This understanding is always new, bright and deeply grounded.
His books are living writings
Books by fr.John, as the author himself says, reflects the facets of a certain eternal «Universe of Wisdom», which unites all the fabrics and layers of existence. The highest level of spirituality, the height of creative insight and the depth of prophetic vision, bring the undoubted fruits of the activity of Blessed John. According to one of the historians of Russian culture, «the seals of practical spirituality that are found in his works, the deep continuity of images and relationships reveal in him the recipient of the mystical experience of the greatest Russian saints, directly transmitted to him from the living carriers of the grace and blessing of the Solovetsky New Martyrs.»
A separate theme in the work of Blessed John – Solovki. In the XVIII century, on the island of Anzer, the Holy Mother of God appeared to the monk Jesus and said that a Second Calvary of Her Divine Son would be erected on this place, and rivers of blood would flow here. This prophecy was fulfilled during the years of Stalinist terror. The six-volume cycle of spiritual and historical essays «Solovki – the second calvary» describes the phenomenon of the Russian calvary of the twentieth century. Solovetsky calvary is not an allegory, not a symbol or a metaphor, the author claims, but a historical and spiritual reality that is of extreme importance for the future of Russia and the world.
Among the books of fr.John’s special category consists of heavenly revelations, which he receives from God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, angels and saints through spiritual «inner hearing». This unprecedented gift is rare these days. Collections of revelations meet with an interested response from mystics, theologians and religious intelligentsia of Russia and foreign countries. Many people perceive them with hostility, but the content and the phenomenon of these revelations are certainly important for the modern reader interested in the problems of spirituality.
In conclusion
It is obvious to many today that Father John is an outstanding representative of the Russian religious intelligentsia, who embodied in his life, asceticism and creativity the best of its qualities: high culture, the broadest erudition, freedom and boldness of views, sincere pain for the fate of the fatherland and civilization, wisdom and simplicity, prophetic power that allows you to see the coming century. In recent years, Blessed John has traveled extensively to European countries, North America and East Asian countries on a peacekeeping mission, where he never tires of teaching about the spiritual and universal truths revealed to him by Divine Wisdom.
The books of St. John are now available to foreign readers who are interested in the activities of St. John, which led to the emergence of an unsurpassed Russian theological school in Russia.