Invisible Wings of the Elder Basilisk

 

In the middle of the XVIII century in Tver province in a simple peasant family, a boy was born. He was named Vasily. In the future he was to become one of Russia's most famous elders, a hermit.

In pre-revolutionary Russia everyone knew about the elder Basilisk and turned to him in prayer.

Prayer was the main title of the elder Basilisk. In the 18th century, it was not easy to become a hermit and establish a new monastery. О. Vasilisk was able to do both.

And it all began with a childhood dream. The boy loved going to temple. He really wanted to fly to God, so he stopped for a long time near the icons that depicted angels, looking at their wings. He was sure that the cause was wings. Since then, the boy began collecting all the feathers he could find in the village: geese, chickens, ducks...

Having collected enough feathers, Vasiliy stapled them into the form of wings, found a steeper hill and tried to fly ... but he failed.

His father caught him in the act. He and the local patriarch explained to the future ascetic that there are other wings that lift to God, but they are invisible - fasting, prayer, humility ... So, at the very beginning of life, the Lord showed the way to the future great elder.

This path was very difficult, full of sorrows. Vasily became a monk, was a hermit in the Bryansk forests, the Konevets monastery and Siberia. He received the name Basilisk and attained the gift of Jesus prayer. The elder Basilisk found these invisible wings, of which he had dreamed as a child.

At the end of his life, feeling that the Lord would soon call him to himself, Fr. Basilisk wanted to pass on his experience to others and establish a monastery in Turinsk, where he was living at the time.

The establishment of the monastery required the permission of the Synod. A friend and associate of the elder Basilisk, Fr. Zosima Verkhovsky. He was received by the minister Prince Golitsyn. In the capital were well aware of Fr. Basilisk. The prince asked how he was doing, and what the elder's request was. Fr. Zosima handed the minister a piece of birch bark, on which Fr. Basilisk had written a request to establish a monastery. The prince assured him that the request would be fulfilled. And so the monastery in Turinsk arose.

The venerable Saint Basilisk of Siberia is commemorated on January 11. This saint knows how to reach heaven, to rise to God.