The book, published by the Zhukovsky Academy Publishing House, has already been dubbed: “The First Lives of Father Mikhail Vasiliev.” By the way, the fact that the work of the writer Nikolai Golovkin was published here, under the wing of the Air Force and the Air Force Academy, is also symptomatic. For the military, Father Mikhail is not just one of their own; Father Mikhail was next to the Russian soldier in Chechnya and Abkhazia, in Kosovo and Syria, in Novorossiya. And everywhere the Hero of Russia, Father Mikhail Vasiliev, walked with our paratroopers, assault troops, ahead of our main troops, risking his life.
Provided by the Publishing House of the Academy named after N.E. Zhukovsky
But “Airborne Father” is not only about hot spots and war. The book is just about life and about the fact that, it turns out, holiness is not somewhere far away, it is here, it is next to us.
Nikolai Golovkin managed to see this holiness through the details of the biography of Father Mikhail. See and capture. You read a book, and at first everything seems to be normal, the ordinary life of a young man, the son of a military man, then a student of philosophy at Moscow State University, then a graduate student in the department of scientific atheism. It would seem that everything is normal. Yes, coming to Church, family, blessing from the confessor, and now he is no longer Mikhail Vladimirovich Vasiliev, but Father Mikhail, and is already restoring the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the former barracks of the Sapper Battalion. Then he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Hot spots and a new temple – the first garrison temple in the new history of Russia at the main headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) in Vlasikha near Moscow – a temple-monument to those who gave their lives to the formation and development of the Strategic Missile Forces. And also a family, a beloved wife and six children.
Of course, such a vivid biography is captivating – you can’t tear yourself away from the book. But still, the main thing in it is that through these details of the life of Father Mikhail, written with great love, the image of not just a hero of Russia grows. No, before us rises the image of our contemporary, who managed with his whole life to embody the words of Christ: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
There are many epic scenes in the book that just beg to be included in a painting or a film script.
Here, as part of a reconnaissance company, Father Mikhail Vasiliev is ambushed in the Chechen Gorge. One soldier was wounded, and the priest prays over him all night, waiting for the helicopter to evacuate him. Later, doctors wondered how the paratrooper managed to survive with such a wound and such blood loss.
Here, in front of our paratroopers in Chechnya, there is a minefield in front, and militants are already supporting them from behind. And Father Mikhail takes the icon in his hands and leads the entire reconnaissance group through the minefield. In that battle, everyone returned to base.
One day, the commander of the airborne reconnaissance battalion called Father Mikhail and asked him to come to the airfield. Emergency! On the first jump of his life, the young soldier’s main parachute did not open, but the reserve one worked, and the soldier landed safely.
Despite the happy ending, the other fighters were terribly nervous, flatly refusing to take the next jumps. Understanding the situation, Father Mikhail read a prayer, sprinkled the reconnaissance battalion soldiers and parachutes with holy water, allowed the soldiers to venerate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Blessed Heaven,” and then also put on a parachute and jumped out of the plane. Second, immediately after the commander. And all the young fighters jumped after.
According to Father Mikhail, he was literally on the verge of death at least ten times… A sniper shot at him three times and missed him by several centimeters three times. From a distance, when it was generally difficult to miss even without an optical sight! The Lord saved – literally.
Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev:
“One day we were covered by a BM-21 MLRS – a multiple launch rocket system. It’s like a Katyusha, only bigger and scarier. And so, under fire, I found myself in the company of two people: one was an unbaptized Buryat, and the other was an Old Believer. The earth around me was shaking , sticks and pieces of earth are flying. We are huddled together in horror. We understand that this is the end. It is unknown when death will come, but we feel that it is close. I begin to confess my sins, and suddenly they catch up and also repent. It’s very scary, so it was easy to confess. At such a moment, the main thing is to have someone…
I am afraid of death, but over the years I am less and less afraid. The feelings become dull, and you just get tired of being afraid. When you come under fire for the first time, it seems like all the bullets are flying at you. And then you realize that a person is a tenacious creature, and in order for you to be killed, a lot of things must coincide. Well, if they kill for a just cause, thank God!”
Archpriest Mikhail Vasiliev, rector of the patriarchal metochion at the headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces, “died at the front” on November 6, 2022 in the Kherson region.
On the last page of the cover of the book, as a testament of the hero-priest to all of us, are priceless lines written by Father Mikhail to his friend shortly before his last feat:
“Serve God and the Fatherland! Many years to come! Always near. Glory to Russia!”
Source: rg.ru
