Стяжавшая любовь. Том III

Nun Alipiya, baptized Agafia, was born into the family of a pious Mordvinian peasant named Tikhon Sergeevitch Avdeyev, in the village of Vyshelei, Gorodischensky Uyezd, Penzensk Oblast', Russia. We have learned the Eldress' exact date of birth from a birth registry, recently discovered by descendants of the Avdeyev family, from the Church of the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul. According to the register, Agafia Tikhonovna Avdeyeva was born on March 3, 1905 (March 17 according to the new civil [Gregorian] calendar), to Vassa Pavlovna. She was baptized on March 4/17, and her sponsors [God-parents] were Timofei Gulyayev and Anna Danilova. At Holy Baptism, the future Eldress was named in honor of Holy Martyr St. Agafia, whom she greatly revered throughout her life. Matushka Agafiya revealed but few details of her life to others. From the bits and pieces that have become known to us, it is possible to form a basic impression of the Saint's childhood.

Matushka's early years were spent in the ordinary course of peasant life in pre-Revolutionary Russia – going to church and pursuing classroom studies (although which school she attended is something we cannot say with any certainty). The strict observance of Church rubrics, fasting, and prayer demonstrated by the Eldress' parents set an example that instilled in her a pious aspiration toward, and love for, everything Church-related and God-pleasing. The family had a particular reverence for the Holy Apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, patron saints of their village church, and to the end of her days, the ascetic continued to hold them in especially fervent regard.

During lenten periods, Tikhon, Matushka's father, would eat only dry toast and broth made from straw. Through the efforts of Vassa, Matushka's mother, the family observed the pious tradition of distributing alms and presents throughout the village. Vassa would give her daughter a basket to take around to needy villagers. What could be more instructive and edifying than the pious example set by one's parents? The Eldress inherited her parents' virtues in full measure.

Whenever the parents were away, leaving the little girl alone, they would give her chores that a child could do: feeding the poultry and animals. However, the child's soul was opened up to God, and the Lord granted her to see what others could not. When she looked at the peasants, the state of each soul was revealed to her, and she could see who was going to church, and who to the bazaar.

The little girl was quiet and contemplative, and prayed a great deal. Quite literate, she devoted all of her free time to reading religious books. Her favorite was always the Psalter. As a young lady, she continued to carry the Psalter with her wherever she went, and when visiting others, would open the book of the Holy Psalms and would pray, in an effort to keep from filling her mind with vanities and idle talk.

A serene childhood spent interacting with her own family was that spiritual foundation upon which the Eldress' subsequent asceticism was built. It was for a reason that Matushka would say in later years, «A peasant woman who works in the fields, who labors, and who glorifies God, will be saved.» Thus did she greatly value the peasant's hard work which, in combination with prayer and sincere praise to God can bring forth great fruits, and can evoke mercy from the Lord. Used to working assiduously, Matushka Alipiya engaged in ascetic struggle all of her life; she would work to physical exhaustion in struggling to care for her neighbor, to take in the stranger and the indigent, and in the ascetic labors of fasting, maintaining the vigil, and praying.

At the time of the Revolution, when Russia’s collapse came to pass, Matushka was still only a child of 12. Disaster struck like a mighty hurricane, sweeping away the bright years of childhood. This trial had to come so as to spiritually temper and strengthen Christ's chosen ones. In the 1970s, matushka revealed that the Revolution had a spiritual purpose. She would say that, in a sense, the Lord had allowed to happen events «that treated and healed the priests» and all of the faithful whose piety had become weak. It had been necessary for such cleansing suffering to come.

From certain sources, it was learned that Tikhon and Vassa, the Eldress' parents, had perished during the Civil War. They were executed by a Red Army firing squad while their child was not with them. Saved by chance, Agafia went to live with an uncle who put the child and her belongings into a cart and took her to his home. The accounts also relate that the child was briefly held by the forces of S.M. Budyonniy, who was touched by the child's tears, and who ordered that she be released.