Published with the blessing of Most Reverend Ioannicius,
Metropolitan of Luhansk and Alchevsk.
Author: Archimandrite Vladimir (Orachev)

The world of the Saints is a world in which profoundly righteous people have realized and practised Christian teachings to the fullest extent. The Saints thus brought the realization of our Christian Commandments to their purest form. Conscientiously living a pious Christian life abstaining from worldly sins, their devout nature prevented them from having any desire to want anything belonging to another.

Deacon Philip Yelisseyevich Gorbenko was born on November 22, 1858 into a peasants' family living in Chernihiv Province.

His family lived in utter poverty and need. Young Philip could not attend the parish school like the other boys of his age. Being the only child in the family, he was content to occupy his time with housekeeping. Striving to help his parents, he pastured the cattle, fired the oven and kept the hut in order. All these things he did with diligence and obedience.

While looking after the cattle he spent much time in the open countryside alone to himself and his thoughts. The surrounding beauty of the forests and fields aroused his admiration for God's creation. He became increasingly aware of God's presence about him.

Philip's parents, Yelissey and Phevronia, were God-fearing people and brought up their son in the Spirit of the Holy Orthodox faith. The flickering of the icon lamp and candlelight in front of the icons, and the devout praying of his parents found a response in the child's soul and aroused the Holy Spirit in him and an all embracing love of God. Frequent attendance at the church and Eucharist of the holy life-giving sacraments of Christ further instilled the child's soul with Christ's blessings.

The Holy Gospel was the only book in the house. Philip's pious mother taught him the alphabet with that Holy Book. Learning to read in this way he grew to love this Book of Life from his early childhood.

As his countrymen later recalled, the priest of the local church who baptized infant Philip saw the Gospel in the infant's tiny hands. Without paying much attention to what he had seen, the priest thought it might simply be a parents' present and continued with the sacrament.

When the ceremony was over, the priest asked the infant's parents if what he had seen was indeed true. The parents of the baptized infant began to deny the presence of such an expensive present. That vision seen by the priest proved its significance afterwards. The Book of Life became an inseparable companion during the long life of Philip the elder.

There was no doubt that he had been chosen by God from the moment of his birth. The Gospel was always with him in a small linen bag that he constantly carried flung over his shoulder.

Without any formal education adolescent Philip impressed his peers with his uncommon reasoning. According to the recollections of witnesses, Philip once stopped during his play with children on the outskirts of his village, became thoughtful, and in a while pointed out to his playmates a house being built nearby. He told them that soon the house would be on fire. Nobody paid any special attention to his words. Everybody just laughed. Surprisingly, however, the house soon was on fire.

People also recalled that Philip could stop people passing by the village and become very thoughtful as if he could see into their mind and soul itself. Very often adolescent Philip told these passers-by about their future life only moments after such soul-searching moods. But, usually, due to his young age, nobody paid any attention to the boy's words.

Filled with a son's love for his parents, Philip stayed with them the rest of their lives constantly looking after their needs. After their deaths he left his parents' house and, along with a group of his countrymen, went to the city of Luhansk in search of a job. This was at the end of the 19th century. By that time Luhansk had developed into an industrial city. The iron foundry needed workers of different trades, and this is how Godly inspired Philip came to be a citizen of Luhansk.

With the money he had gained from selling his parents' house Philip bought a small house of his own on the bank of the Luhanka. He got a job as a watchman at the foundry control post. This is now the Lenin machine-building factory.

On the job Philip could see through every man. Paying no attention to those leaving the factory with good consciousness, he could by Divine insight detect others not so innocent. Any person who had fell victim to the sin of theft by attempting to steal from the factory was instantly noticed. With Christian compassion humble Philip admonished these individuals for their transgression. He convinced them of the error of their wrongdoing.

Nun Lyubov (Lydia Galchenko) told of such an occurrence. One of her acquaintances had decided to carry some screw nuts out of the factory by putting them into the inner pocket of his jacket in an attempt to hide the nuts from the control. To the great surprise of the culprit, Philip, who happened to be on duty that day, turned to the man saying, "Return the screw nuts that you have in your inner pocket and then you can pass!" Reproached at being so mysteriously found out, the man's conscience caused him to indeed do as he had been instructed. It was an occurrence the man would never forget.

Philip attracted the notice of many of the residents of Luhansk by his God-pleasing way of life, his compassion for people and his dedication to helping those in need. It was a common practice for him to give a cross, a small icon, communion bread, or a bun to people saying a good word for their betterment. Philip attracted the notice of many of the residents of Luhansk by his God-pleasing way of life, his compassion for people and his dedication to helping those in need. It was a common practice for him to give a cross, a small icon, communion bread, or a bun to people saying a good word for their betterment.

Increasingly people began to take notice of these uncommonly extraordinary demonstrations of Philip's goodwill to his fellowman. In addition to this, every prediction he made came true without fail. As with Christ, he seldom spoke directly on a subject choosing instead to speak in an allegorical manner using parables. Because of this it was difficult for people to understand the true meaning of his words.

Unfortunately, the wicked people of the town did not like this God-given gift Philip possessed. As darkness does not like the light, and ice does not like the warmth, the wicked of heart, fearing truth and righteousness, did not like Philip. Thus it came to pass that our Godly Lord and his Holy Mother chose to glorify their prayer servant, Philip.

In 1905, during the construction of gunpowder depots, the factory where Philip worked was to receive a shipment of timber. Four workers accompanying the timber, and attracted by the temptation for enriching themselves, decided to steal one of the timber carts hoping their action might go unnoticed. When they arrived at the control post Philip counted the carts and asked them, "And where is the missing cart? The fourth one is not here. Will you be richer after you listen to the Devil and loose your souls? It would be better for you to resist this temptation for the timber and return to your previous favor with God."
Realizing that Philip was aware of their transgression, the thieves became frightened. Fearing that he might expose them the men talked things over and decided Philip would have to be killed.

Having waited till night (the shift change taking place at midnight), the four robbers stole up to Philip as he was walking to his post. One of the villains raised a stone intending to strike Philip. At the same time the dark sky lit up with indescribable beauty. Philip fixed his eyes on the spectacle above him and began to pray. The malefactors, knowing from others of this uncommon thing with the righteous man said wonder-struck, "Look, Philip sees something again!"

Philip gazed up at the sky and saw our Heavenly Mother trodding on the clouds. Realizing that Philip had begun to pray aloud "The Cross Prayer" crossing himself as he did so, the awe-struck evildoers saw each words pronounced by Philip imprinting itself on the sky. Soon a phrase was formed saying, "May God resurrect and may His enemies scatter".

The robbers standing nearby saw only the brilliant light, but did not see our Heavenly Mother on account of the wickedness in their hearts.

Before him, as Philip recalled, he saw the entirety of the Virgin's journey as well as other kneeling heavenly virgins. As Philip said, the Mother of God went all the way from Rodakovo in the west to Millerovo in the east. After the vision disappeared Philip continued to pray to the Most Holy Mother of God.

After a short while he witnessed the Mother of God again, but in different attire, walking on the clouds from Krasnodon in the south to Starobelsk in the north. The hands of the Most Holy Mother of God were folded cross-shaped as seen on the icon "Tender Emotion" from the cell of St.Seraphim of Sarov. A singing monk followed our Most Holy Mother of God. Mark, who had lit a lantern in his hand, headed the procession. Mark lived in Luhansk and was called "Little Mark" by the people. He lived up to the fifties of the 20th century. Mark bore an outstanding feat of God's fool called "yurodivy" in Russia ('the Fool-for-Christ'). He always sat at the church entrance and turned to all passers-by with the words, "Give a kopeck to Little Mark". He did not take any other money, only a kopeck. He was a short thin man, always walked barefooted wearing a cassock.

All the monks in the procession were dressed alike, each wearing cassocks and skullcaps. Mark was followed by pairs of monks carrying gonfalons.

As the malefactors told afterwards, a high brick wall began to form in front of them when the strong radiance from Heaven appeared. Philip, though standing nearby, had vanished.
Meanwhile, Philip, turning to the right, saw the Virgin dressed in white coming toward him.

Stopping in front of Philip the Mother of God stamped with her little foot and a shining knob began to form from the sparks she stood upon. Stepping upon this radiant raised ground the Mother of God took a shawl from Her shoulders and covered Her head with it. After that She turned to Philip speaking these words:

"Philip, by my son's will you found yourself here in Luhansk and God's Providence has led you here to serve Him and His people here. From this day forth the blessing of the One whom I bore and my help will be with you. You also will help His people here from this day on. You will drive away demons with your prayers. You will heal people and make them listen to reason. No one will trouble you while you have my intercession. And remember this day of my appearance in the city of Luhansk teaching everyone to honor it. I will also say this about your city, that by the time of the end of the world it will be called "Holy City of Luhansk ." And many people will come here on the eve of those terrible days without even knowing why. And my help and blessing will be with them then on the Day of Judgment. I will be the intercessor of this place and its solicitor before God."

Having said these things the Mother of God blessed Philip and left. For some time after hearing and seeing these things he could not move. Enormous joy filled his soul. He said that during the vision he had seen himself standing in his usual clothes with a stick in his hand while at the same time he had seen himself lying in a long tunic with his face to the ground. "I do not know where I was: standing, or lying on the ground," he said.

When he came to, Philip saw the robbers lying on the ground blinded by the radiance of the heavenly light.

Being asked by people what they had seen that night, and why they had not been blinded also, they only said that they had seen a bright light.

After this pious people began to ask Philip about what had happened, and he, overcome with spiritual joy, told the people of the city about the apparition of the Virgin, about Her promise to the city, and his spiritual responsibility to the people of the city. During all the subsequent years Philip said the appearance of the Most Holy Mother of God had not been Her Grace to him alone, but it was intended as a demonstration of mercy and motherly protection to all the Orthodox residents of Luhansk.

Elder Philip retained his memory of that great and historical day throughout his life calling on all the Orthodox people of Luhansk region never to forget that Easter joy, that day when the Most Blessed Sovereign proclaimed, "Honor this day as the Easter," he said. This occurrence happened on June 13, 1905.

After some time, Philip, along with other pilgrims, set out to worship the shrines connected with the earthly life of Christ the Savior in Jerusalem.

One can only imagine how his heart trembled when he kissed the Tomb of the Life-Giver - the only tomb that will not give up its dead on the day of universal resurrection.

Philip also visited holy places connected with the life of the Most Holy Mother of God and God's Holy Disciples. Leaving for home, he took a small branch of the Membrane oak with him as a blessing from the Holy Land. During his long pilgrimage he made a stop at Ilyenko station, now located in Rostov region of Russia. To everyone's surprise he produced the small branch of the Membrane oak and, having dug a small hole, he carefully planted it. Many people asked him in bewilderment why he had left the little branch there on such a barren place. Philip answered,"Here it will be necessary."

At first many people could not understand his answer, but in due time they came to see God's Hand in Philip's action. The planted little branch took root, grew stronger, and soon turned into a strong young oak. A holy spring gushed out of its roots. Many people come to that place today. The faithful call this spring St. Paraskeva Friday Spring. People coming to the spring see an oak that was planted at the beginning of the last century by Philip.

Time passed. Hard ordeals fell upon the Church and the people. The foundations of people's lives were shattered and universal persecutions began.

One day many people gathered at Philip's place. He took an empty can and said, "Roll it on the floor to each other." The people did as he had directed. Philip watched them and said, "When the commune comes, you will be doing so in the commune. A boiler will fly over the yards and you will say, "Pour me a handful." And they will pour, but you will have nothing of your own."

Many ordeals fell upon the peasantry and the Cossacks during that hard time. Philip tried to comfort and support everyone, and to strengthen everyone's faith. He often visited Stanitsa of Luhansk, a Russian Cossacks' village in the region, as well as other neighboring settlements and farmsteads. When necessary he helped many people with his advice by telling them where to go and how to escape.

The elder's God-loving soul suffered together with his people. Within a short period of time, during the thirties, all the temples in the city were closed. The majority of them were being blown up. The clergymen were being exiled. Holy Ascension Church in the settlement of Alexandrovka was the only temple in the area still holding services. Philip went there on foot from the city. Being present at the public worship there, he often recalled his pilgrimage to the Holy Land telling the parishioners, "Pray. Jerusalem is here!"

On one of the days of that time, during the fiercest persecutions against the church, the conversion of wood into stone took place as a result of the elder's prayer. It happened when Philip, together with a group of his friends, were hurrying to the temple for a holiday observance. His loving heart was breaking when he heard the stories people were telling him about their sorrows and ordeals. "Pop," as he was simply known by the people, "The last days must have come. Is the Antichrist already in power?"

There was an old count's county estate next to the temple. It survives to this day. Passing the count's park the elder was met by a group of young communists blocking his way. They laughed at him with jeers questioning the foundations of his faith, and, like all evil-doers, demanded a miracle as proof of his religious convictions.

"Hey you, God's servant! Prove to us that your God exists! Not by word, but by deed!" they shouted.

The stump of a tree lay near where they had met Philip. On one side of it were cut-marks of an axe and on the other side the stump was rotten due to its age. Insects had hollowed out an opening through the core of the stump.

Philip the elder kneeled by this trunk of a felled tree, raised his hands to the sky and appealed to God. After the prayer the elder hit the trunk three times with his staff and pronounced, "May this oak converse into stone in the memory of me and in the evidence of God's wonders and for those who will not believe everything that was told about me. This stone will be a visible evidence of my life. This stone will lie till Doomsday strengthening the weak people in their faith."

He kept silent for a while and then added, "Till it blossoms." With these words the miracle took place. The group of taunting disbelievers and other people present were struck by what they had seen with their own eyes.

To this day the stone remains there serving as a place of reverential worship for believers who remember Deacon Philip the elder and honor his memory.

Another interesting incident worthy of description happen to that same stone oak.

During the construction of a cinema the builders wanted to remove the stone to the other end of the park. They bound the stone with chains and attempted to remove it, but to everyone's surprise the chains broke like threads and the stone remained in place.

During the hard times when the church was persecuted nobody troubled the elder, but his house was put under observation. The militia observed his visitors, took down their names and interrogated them. Philip himself used to say, "They have no evidence to justify arresting me."

But one day Philip and his novice, Mariyka, were taken to the militia. They were taken to the chief's reception room. The chief began to shout at the elder and struck the table with his fist. Philip listened to him and then said, "You'd better take care of your son instead of shouting here at me and threatening me." After those words the secretary ran into the room and told the chief that his son had been run over by a car. The chief understood then that it was not just an old man who was sitting in front of him and said, "If my son survives I will let you go and nobody will ever trouble you. Now, sit in this room and pray that my son survives."

Philip did not have to wait long. The chief came back and told him the boy had come to and was not injured. Thus, nobody ever troubled the elder until the last days of his life.

In the course of twenty years there was no active temple in the city and no priest. During that period the elder served as a bright guiding lamp for many of the unhappy spiritually sick people, and for those who had lost their faith entirely. He performed his spiritual service for them bringing many back to faith and salvation saving their souls from spiritual ruin.

On the eve of the Second World War many people noticed the elder praying for long periods of time. These people-loving deeds further softened his heart causing him to weep for the despair of his people. His soul grieved over the forthcoming terrible ordeals that all the people were doomed to go through.

When war did break out many people were being sent to the front, but before leaving they went to the elder to get his blessing and to listen to his holy prayers. As Nickolay Khimich recollected, he went to see Philip before going to the military enlistment office and asked him for his blessing and prayers. Then, even though enduring many hard times during the war, being guarded by God, he survived. As a veteran of the entire war he presently lives in St. Petersburg. There are other similar examples of those who served in the war with Philip's blessing and survived.

The elder told all the people coming to him, "May only bees and flies fly over you and the bullet never trouble you."

Before the German occupants came to the city people asked the elder, "Pop, the Germans are close, what shall we do?" He always tried to comfort these people saying, "What of it? The Germans will shoot here and there and leave." His prediction came true. The Germans entered Luhansk and left it without any battles. There were no street battles.

People afterwards recalled that several hours before the bombing, and even during it, the elder ordered everybody who was at his place (about thirty people) to lie on the ground and to ask the Mother of God to save the only remaining bread-baking plant so that people would not starve. And indeed, during the air raid the bread-baking plant did not suffer. Only the bathhouse next to the plant was destroyed.

During the war many people also came to Philip to inquire about their relatives whether they were alive or not. He told some of these people that their relatives were alive, and he told others to pray for them. He told some people simply to hurry home. Everything happened just as he said it would.

In 1940 the house where the elder lived was pulled down and he got a new place at 96 Chelyuskintsev Street. There, during the war, he built a new house and remained at this location until his death, except for some time during the war when he left for the village of Yelan in Rostov region.

Georgiy Khryma told about his wife, Natalya. Preparing to visit Elder Philip for the first time, she tried to imagine what kind of house the elder had. When she entered his little house he greeted her saying, "I have a big house: three floors," and pointing her to his three shelves with spiritual books that hung one above the other. He himself used to sing about his dwelling, "A brick hut and a hole in the middle of the yard. I'm a rich man, but I have not many years to live."

The bell hanging at the entrance to the cell was imprinted upon the memory of many people who visited his house. At any time of the day or night the elder could tell his lay sister, Mariyka, "Go, Mariyka, ring the bell. A soul has gone up to the skies." Then the elder would kneel and pray for the recently departed pronouncing his or her name. People who knew the elder did not doubt that somebody would soon report about a 'just passed away' person who bore the same name as the elder had pronounced in his prayer.

The righteous men with their keen ear and sagacious wise mind could see, not only people coming directly to them, but could see the sufferings of people who had never visited them, and about whom they could never hear.

The cell house where the elder lived was exceedingly modest. It was built of red brick and was small and narrow inside, 2.5 by 3 meters and about 2.5 meters high. The furnishings were notable for their scarcity amounting to asceticism. There was a couch with its back turned to the west. It stood to the right of the entrance by the wall. The bed consisted of three planks covered by a spread and a brick covered with straw that served as a pillow. There was another bed, a suspended bed that was held up by two supports in which the elder's lay sister, Mariyka, slept. There were two small windows in the cell: a tiny one facing the west and another one that was a bit larger facing the south. Several icons hung over the head of the bed, among them the image of the Luhansk icon of the Most Holy Mother of G. A pail of water rested on a stool to the right of the entrance. To the left of it was a stove with a tiny one-legged table nearby. But, to make up for this, there were a lot of books. The elder kept some of them on the shelves, others in a special little suitcase. He himself liked to read and asked people coming to him to read aloud.

A great number of people came to that small poor cell every day to see the elder and to hear his words of wisdom. Philip visited the village of Yelan in Rostov region very often. He went to see a girl, Olga, who had been ill from her birth. The elder spoke about her, "She is simple and pure like a child. Many things are open to her and her prayer is like a column from the earth to the heaven."

A poor widow lived in that village. She had many children and nothing to feed them. Philip took a girl named Mariyka from that family to educate. She became his lay sister and took care of him till the last days of his life.

The war was not over yet, but the front line fell far back. It was prohibited to go anywhere without proper documents. Once the village council chairman noticed Philip and began to shout at him. He threatened to report the elder to the police if he did not come to him for registration each time he left and returned. The elder listened to him in silence, took out a knitted mitten from his pocket and gave it to the chairman saying, "Take it. It will come in handy for you."

The chairman waved his hand at Philip, took the mitten, and, still grumbling, went to the field. At the end of the day the thresher broke and the chairman began to mend it, but it worked and his hand was severed. He began to feel in his pocket and found the elder's mitten. He remembered the words the elder had told him and understood that he would have lost both hands had it not been for that mitten for his unhurt hand. After that incident the chairman always bowed to Philip every time they met, never demanding anything of him anymore.

It was the first post-war winter. There were no severe frosts in December of 1946. It rained during all the winter months resulting in a big spring flood. Nevertheless, the elder still took a pail of water and poured it under the tree. The soil around the tree was remained cracked from the previous intense summer heat and the water was consumed. "Collect as much water as you can and store it up for the summer," the elder kept saying, foreseeing the drought and starvation of the forthcoming year.

One day, coming back from the public worship, the elder met a woman sectarian. Seeing him she began to defend the righteousness of her faith. "And you, and those around you shall perish!" she said. The elder went on without saying a word. People surrounding him began to ask, "Pop, is she right? You didn't object to her, did you?" The elder replied, "Look at her. She is blind."

That woman wanted to go to the post office. Opening the first door, she went in, but could not find the second door. The people watched her for a long time noticing how she searched for the exit between the two doors, but could not find it. That episode turned out to be more convincing to the people than any argument about who had been right.

Leaving that place Philip said,"You see, she knows there must be an exit, but she can't find it. The same thing is so about the sectarian apostates: They know about Christ's Church, but do not adhere to its salutary sacraments. Therefore, like blind people, they make no headway."

Right after the end of the war, by God's Providence, Bishop Nickon, who headed Donetsk and Voroshilovgrad diocese, initiated Philip into the holy orders and he became a deacon.
The following story preceded that initiation. One evening, when Bishop Nickon was at the public worship, malefactors broke into his house and stole a lot of church books and valuable things.

Setting great hopes on God's Providence, Bishop Nickon began to pray, hoping that the Lord would help return the valuable stolen books. One of the women workers of the dioceses advised the Bishop to ask Philip, knowing that many people in the city appealed to him. The Bishop gave his blessing to his assistant to go to Philip and to ask him for his holy prayers about the stolen things.

The assistant came to the elder and told him everything. Having listened to his story, the sagacious elder began to pray and soon he told the bishop's assistant to go to a neglected house in a certain place where the stolen books and things lay.

The bishop's assistant thanked the elder and, on returning, told the bishop everything the elder had told him before. Bishop Nickon and the cathedral dean, Euphemeus (Kachan), went to that old neglected house. Their surprise was great when they discovered sacks with the stolen things placed by the walls.

Bishop Nickon, who had honored the elder before knowing about his righteous life, considered it important that the beneficial strength granted to the elder should be marked with holy orders. He initiated Philip in St. Nickolas Cathedral in Luhansk (the city was called Voroshilovgrad then). After the public worship the bishop often invited the elder to lunch to speak and to share the meal with him. The elder was always a desired guest in the bishop's house.

Owing to his extreme old age, Deacon Philip could not often be present at the public worship, but he was always at the bishop's worship. On account of his low and weak voice the elder delivered short prayers. There are people still living who remember the elder's presence at public worship.

After Bishop Nickon went to Odessa, having become the Archbishop of Odessa and Kherson and governor of Donetsk and Voroshilovgrad diocese, Father Philip ceased to frequent the public worship, as man's flesh is weak. Soon he was unwell and ceased to leave his cell altogether.

People recollect that one day when they were waiting for Archbishop Nickon before the mass, Philip the elder, who stood in the deacon's sacerdotal robes with a censer in his hand said sternly, "Light your candles in your hands and kneel! Archbishop Nickon is coming and the Lord Himself is with him!"

People from different places came to see the elder. The fame of his righteousness had spread very far. Sick and suffering people and those with grief, misfortune and need went to see him, to listen to him and to pray with him.

The things he said came true without fail, even if it was many years later. The precious gift of divine reasoning helped the elder to half-open the gift of seeing into human hearts and fortunes.

The Luhansk image of the Mother of God was among the icons that were in the cell of Deacon Philip. The elder retained the beneficial memory of the appearance of the Heavenly Queen through all his life, and on June 13 of every year solemnly celebrated that beneficial appearance. Usually on that day Bishop Nickon performed Divine Liturgy and led the religious procession. On that holiday the elder brought the image he had kept in his cell to the church ceremony before which prayers were sung.

After Luhansk was renamed to Voroshilovgrad people asked the elder, "Pop! What will our icon be called now? Our city is not Luhansk any more, is it? You won't have the heart to call it the Voroshilovgrad icon, will you?" And only the elder's confident reply could disperse all the doubts. We can make sure of the fulfillment of his words many years later.

"The city was, and will be, Luhansk. And the name of that bandit will be erased from the pages of history as the name of a hero. And the people will forget him. And he who calls the image of the apparition of the Mother of God by his name will have lumps on his tongue," said the elder.

The image that was in the elder's cell was painted by a certain painter and depicted most realistically the Virgin in every detail.

Philip the elder often said that people who did not know him then and those who would be living later would still glorify the Luhansk-root icon of the Mother of God, but not the one he had. A new icon would be painted to commemorate that event. He also said, "People will walk with the icon crosswise through all the city. Foreigners will come and worship. And you will follow them singing and rejoicing."

It happened like that. After Deacon Philip's death the image disappeared from his cell. Not until Lent of 1992, under Archbishop Joannicky of Luhansk and Starobelsk, did a hermit monk of Pskov monastery in Russia, the best icon-painter of our time, paint a new Luhansk icon of the Mother of God. The new holy image was painted in the Byzantine style and has no likeness in the entire Orthodox world.

At the present time the Luhansk-root icon of the Mother of God, by the blessing of Archbishop Joannicky, is placed in St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral in that city adorning the place of worship by its presence. Every Wednesday a special prayer of the Most Holy Mother of God is pronounced before the beginning of the liturgy.

Having such a patron of the city and region, the Orthodox people pray about protection from all disasters, for peace and harmony in our Motherland, and ask for necessary well being. Almost everyone present at the public worship approaches the icon saying, "Most Holy Mother of God, save us!'

The elder distributed among the needy people everything that had been brought to him by others. He took special care of orphans and widows, and often sent bags of food to hospitals and prisons. Philip himself ate very little.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays he ate nothing. Common meals to which he always invited others were very modest: borshch (a cabbage and tomato soup), porridge and bread with kvass (non-alcoholic drink made from fermented bread and water).

Monk Gabriel (Ponomaryov) who knew St.Kuksha of Odessa the elder as well as Philip the elder, being a gifted icon-painter with a subtle perception of the surrounding world, comparing those two elders, said he has seen the icon image of the saint in the image of St.Kuksha of Odessa, and he compared Philip's image with that of a prophet, a wise ascetic. He spoke particularly about Philip's eyes. He said he had never seen such eyes and such a look.

People who knew Philip remember him in his extreme old age. Even at the beginning of the last century he was considered a wise elder already - Granddad Philip. He was tall, thin and slim though age did not bend him. He had regular nice features and read without spectacles till his last days. Philip often spoke the Ukrainian dialect and by means of parables - allegorically, but never explained their meaning.

When people asked the elder how old he was, he replied in Ukrainian, "Oh, how old I am? Nobody knows. I am so-and-so years old, still more so-and-so and half so-and-so. That's how old I am."

He never treated people inconsiderately and often replied to people who appealed to him for treatment, "I am not a doctor. Why have you come to me?" Nevertheless, he healed people and drove away demons by the touch of his hand. He blessed the visitors by giving them bread and sometimes water from his pail that stood at the entrance to his cell. He was known to say, "He who drinks my water will store up intelligence."

It's well known that not only holy water possesses beneficial healing properties, but also the water from some reservoirs and wells that have been places either visited by holy men or because of the presence of wonder-working icons near them. Those who drank water from the elder's cell and who were sprinkled by that water got rid of various illnesses and misfortunes. But above all the elder prayed for people asking the Lord for miraculous help to cure the sick people.

There were also some curious people who wanted to know more about the elder, how he lived, what he did at night. As witnesses say, Philip prayed kneeling all night.

A countryman told such a story, "Once I stayed at Elder Philip's for a night. People who were there broke up and left. The elder began to pray. I listened for a long time and then dozed off. Later I woke up and heard him still praying. I wondered to myself when he was going to sleep. Still later I woke up again and saw him kneeling with his hands crosswise on his chest, but his feet did not touch the floor. He was lifted from the floor. In the morning the elder told me, "Do not tell anybody about everything you saw last night until my death."

Like ancient ascetics, nobody ever saw him sleeping. He could only doze lying on his side with his head on a brick.

During the day dozens of people came to see the elder. His yard was never empty. People came with their troubles as well as mental and physical pains. He did not deny assistance to anybody except those who came with ill intentions.

On the Easter holiday Philip liked to send visitors to lonely, old and needy people asking these visitors to take everything they had brought and give it to those people. His longing was that Easter should come into each house even though it might be only in the form of some small assistance or just tender caring.

Philip gave financial means for rebuilding to those whose house had been burnt down, and by his wise advice he prompted people as to where and how to build a better house. He also gave cattle, agricultural implements and sowing wheat to poor peasants.

Avoiding the gratitude of those he had helped, and observing customary evangelical secrecy, the elder appointed his confidential people to go and give to the needy people. Most of all he liked to give bread. Because of this he was remembered with a white bun in his giving hand.

When a righteous man by way of great feat of conscience and prayer reaches the righteous state of the first man and recovers all the gifts lost by the human soul through the Fall, he will become the people's zealous servant.

In 1955 Bishop Nickon received an invitation from Moscow to take part in the Archbishops' Conference. The elder sent his lay sister, Mariyka, to the bishop saying, "Go, go and tell the bishop not to go there!" His lay sister did as directed, but with great doubt as to whether the bishop would listen to her. At that time there was Mother Marqueline in the diocese. She drove Mariyka away saying, "Who are you to point out what the bishop should do?"

During their trip a terrible accident happened to Bishop Nickon, which severely affected his health. Soon after treatment was over the bishop came to see the elder. He wanted to thank him for the holy prayers that had been offered up in his behalf.

The elder taught people to give themselves up to God's will and to live in prayer. He advised them to receive the Eucharist more often and not to miss the Divine Liturgy.

In the last days of his life when he almost never left his cell the elder got very upset when, on Sunday, people came to him without having attended the public worship before. He drove such people away saying, "Go away, you bastard."

Shortly before his death, Bishop Nickon sent his secretary to the elder to take him to Odessa. By that time Philip was bedridden and unable to make the trip. Mariyka was also against the trip. Both Bishop Nickon and Philip passed away in the same year - 1956.

Father Philip lived to a great age, and when it was time to die people grieved a lot about his forthcoming parting. But he comforted everyone saying, "Come to me as to a living person. When you come to my grave, call me, and I will hear you and help you in your trouble."
These words seemed incomprehensible to the people. However, everything became clear after his most blessed death.

People went to Deacon Philip when he was alive and keep going to him now. He helped a lot of people during his lifetime, and he keeps helping now.

At the elder's request he was given the Eucharist when already infirm. The priests of St. Nickolas Transfiguration Cathedral Archpriest Euphemeus (Kachan) and Father-Superior Vladimir (Dobritsky) usually gave him the Eucharist.

Ten days before his death Philip the elder began to prepare for leaving this world. The elder looked at the cherry tree through the small window in his cell. The leaves were falling off the tree. When tears came into his eyes he said, giving a deep sigh, "Oh, my God. Oh, my world." His righteous soul trembled at the contemplation of his impending meeting with God.

In the morning on the day of his death Philip asked the people to wash his face, to comb his hair and to dress him in clean clothes. After that he bade farewell to everyone and lay quietly listening to the canon on the departure of the soul. Having looked at the clock he said, "That's all. The Liturgy is over and it is time for me to leave." This is how the soul of that righteous man moved with peace to the eternal life.

As it was mentioned before, the elder was born on November 22, 1858, on the day when the Orthodox holiday of the Virgin's image "True Intercessor" is observed. Many people coming to the elder spoke a prayer to that icon dozens of times. The elder also honored the icon greatly during his life. It's astonishing that the elder, a zealous worshipper of the Mother of God and Her holy image, passed away to eternity exactly 98 years after his birth, on his birthday, November 22, 1956.

The burial of Deacon Philip took place at a big concourse. Archpriest Euphemeus Kachan of St. Nickolas Tranfiguration Cathedral performed the funeral service in that cathedral. According to Philip's wish he was buried in the cemetery near the present bus terminal.
The elder indicated the place of his grave twenty years before his death. One day while coming back from the village of Novosvetlovka, in the company of others, he made a stop in a field where geese were pastured and said, "I will be buried at this cemetery." He took his staff and began to draw on the ground. "Here a Jew will be buried, next to him another Jew. That will be the beginning of a new row of graves. They will dig my grave, the first one in the second row, but a Jew will need it more badly and they will take it away from me. Then they will dig another grave hastily and I will rest there." He indicated the grave and drew a cross. "And to the right of me widow Catherine will be buried. She is a nice woman, but all her life she had only sorrows and grief. When you come to me, do not forget her, for she has nobody to take care of her. Years will pass and a temple will stand there." The people, amazed at what they had heard, asked him, "Will it will be Christ Resurrection Temple?" "No." the elder answered, "It will be in honor of the Virgin."

Before that the elder wanted people to bury him in the yard near his cell. He even began to instruct people on how to prepare a burial vault, but then after thinking about it said, "You will never be able to do it." Years passed and a city cemetery really came into existence in that field. It happened with the graves exactly as the elder had said. And the temple he had predicted is being built in honor of the Annunciation of the Mother of God now as well.

All earthly restrictions of room and space are abolished when righteous men influence human souls. And if a living man, even being a righteous one, can at a certain moment speak and be preoccupied with only one person, in heavenly time of his being his mind undergoes a transformation and in the twinkling of an eye he is then capable of communicating with, helping and reasoning with a great number of people.

In the eternal life the most complete development of the human soul takes place, the soul's entire features flourish - those features that were previously seen in earthly man only in slight outlines. The thoughtfulness and tender caring in people that were seen in the righteous men in the earthly period of their existence acquire larger dimensions in their heavenly life.

The entire life of Elder Philip was dedicated to service to God and to his neighbors and was holy indeed. Being all the time in unceasing prayers, gentleness and good deeds, he prayed not only in the daytime, but also at night tirelessly and continuously without giving himself any physical rest until his death. He received from God the great gifts for the righteous and holiness in his life: the gift of never ending prayer, the gift of sagacity and the blessing of healing.

People who met and remember him, and those who appealed to him with their troubles and misfortunes believe that the soul of this righteous elder moved to heaven where he is an incessant intercessor at the throne of the Lord Almighty.

Now regular burial rites take place at the grave of the elder. The great concourse of people at his grave shows the effectiveness of appealing to him, for if anyone who heard about him and came to him one or two times and had not received any assistance, he would not come back. Meanwhile the number of people coming to his earthly remains increases.

People do not come repeatedly to where they have been denied assistance. The belief in the elder's assistance shows the inexhaustibility and strength of his good deeds for the benefit of the suffering people.

When you begin to feel bad and such circumstances appear that you are at a loss to know any way out, you think of the man who took people with his strong and reliable hand from the gates of death saving them in the most hopeless situations. "You called for me. I have come to your aid."

Besides the saints who are radiant in their holy crowns and are generally adopted by the Orthodox Church we have many intercessors who are called on for help though they have not yet been canonized.

Many righteous men rendered miraculous assistance during their lifetime. And the grateful legacy they leave behind, the confidence in their closeness to God and their posthumous apparition make people still call on them for help just as they did during the lifetimes of these men.

We have reverence before the righteous man who has not yet been canonized by the Church. This reverence precedes the canonization of these righteous men.

Author: Archimandrite Vladimir (Orachev)
Translated and published on the Internet with the blessing of the author, Archimandrite Vladimir (Orachev),
by Victor Khorishko
Luhansk 2003-2008
Edited by Rubin Renfrow, Braxton, MS, USA,

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