Могила Старца ИЛИЯ. Оптина Пустынь.

On November 6, 2025, my mother and I went to Optina Pustyn to visit the grave of Elder Elijah, the churches of the Holy Monastery, and the graves of Father Vasily (Roslyakov), whom we knew in life, Trofim, and Ferapont. It was important for me in this past and very difficult year to visit Optina Pustyn and Father Elijah's grave. The road to Optina Pustyn, as I said in this video, is a little life. We left rainy Moscow, and very soon the sun began to shine; the weather was beautiful. In Optina, the first thing we did was visit Father Elijah's grave. My mother discreetly filmed me standing at the grave and sent me the footage that evening, which was used in the making of this video. Until the very end, I wasn't sure I needed to put together any footage of this trip and show it to people, but then I realized that many people probably wanted to receive a small "greeting" from Schema-Archimandrite Elijah and see his grave. I had a lot on my mind, and most importantly, on a weekday (Thursday), there were practically no people there. Pilgrims were brought, but they quickly venerated the cross, quietly plucked roses from the flowers on the grave, tucked the buds into their shirts, and quickly departed for the "next stop." I was able to stand quietly, without lines or noise, by the grave, venerate Father Elijah's cross, and simply think and reminisce. A phrase Father Elijah had said during one of our meetings at the skete came to mind: "Come whenever you're near..." Now his words take on a completely different meaning... We visited two churches. We visited the graves of the murdered Optina monks, among whom we knew Father Vasily (Igor Roslyakov), who played water polo with my father, both for different clubs and for the Moscow national team. We met the monk Eusebius, who was one of Elder Elijah's cell attendants in the final months of his life. I met Eusebius at our last meeting with Father Elijah on the last day of January 2025. Eusebius gave me my first-ever rosary as a keepsake, which now accompanies me everywhere and has accompanied me on all my travels this year. Eusebius arranged for a meal, and we were treated to a delicious meal at the monastery itself, and then he gave my mother and me a wonderful tour of the Optina Elders' cells, telling their story and the history of Optina Monastery itself. We were overwhelmed with emotion and grace. I even showed some footage in my video to share this blessing with my dear subscribers. From there, we went to Kozelsk to visit Matushka Anna, who asked us to bring Eusebius to her as well. She fed us deliciously, and we spent a long time talking about a variety of topics, recalling Father Elijah and hearing many interesting stories about his life. We arrived home around 3:00 a.m. On the morning of November 7th, sad news arrived: Father John Mironov, another great Elder, had passed away. Probably the last of the ancients. Unfortunately, I never got to interview him, but you saw in my blog that I did everything in my power and even more. I received a blessing from Kirill, Bishop of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, back in February, but then there were always reasons why I couldn't film. Despite my difficult family situation, I continued to contact the Lavra and the entourage of Elder John Mironov, reminding them of my presence, but apparently it was not God's will, and this film was never destined to be released. Blessed memory to the newly departed Hieroschemamonk John (Mironov). Learn more about me - subscribe so you don't get lost online: My Telegram channel: https://t.me/RomanAkimovLive VK group for my original program "Dialogues with Legends": https://vk.com/dialogi_s_legendami My event host website: https://romanakimov.ru/ I welcome subscriptions, collaborations, and just friendship!