About the Author
Victor Petrovich Guryev was born in 1842 into a priest's family in the Moscow province. He received his education at the Moscow Theological Seminary, where he studied theology, philosophy, literature, history, mathematics, Latin, Greek and German. He was ordained a priest at the age of 19.
Father Victor was a natural-born pastor and missionary. He continuously combined his service before the throne of God with teaching free of charge in several schools, such as the Zemstvo School in Shelepikhino and the parish school at the Church of the Protection in Fili where he served as rector for 34 years.
Father Victor's "Prologue in Sermons" was a yearly series of short sermons he compiled and delivered in church. In the temple, he did not leave a single Sunday and feast day without preaching, which at that time was rare.
Father Victor addresses his flock in simple, conversational language; his methods are straightforward, his examples are clear. He speaks about the most pressing issues: the harm of drunkenness; the saving power of communion; what is needed to meet death not with horror, but with joy.
Recognition of his pastoral experience and authority was the confirmation of Father Victor in the position of dean (1902-1906), and then confessor (1907) of the Khoroshyovsky District.
For his honorable service as a priest, for his diligent work in teaching and for the careful improvement of the parish church, Father Victor Guryev was awarded: a nabedrennik, a purple skufia; a kalimavkion, a gold pectoral cross, the Order of Saint Anna of the 3rd and 2nd degree, and in 1889 he was allowed to wear a precious cross strewn with diamonds, presented by parishioners.
On January 14, 1912, Archpriest Victor reposed. He was buried at the Theophany Cathedral in Dorogomilovo, in the Vagankovo Cemetery. Father Victor's pastoral service was continued by his sons: Peter and Vasily.
To the Pious Readers
In presenting to your attention, pious readers, the teachings which we have composed according to the guidance of the Prologue, we consider it our duty to tell you what prompted us to write them.
Once, the famous church orator, Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, while speaking about the relics of Saint Demetrius of Priluki, remarked on the relics of the Saints as follows: "Why do they rest before us for so many centuries, as if they have only recently fallen asleep? Are they here merely to receive our veneration? But what need is there for our reverence towards those whose reward lies with the Most High, who enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven? If they remain visibly among us, not being taken to heaven by their incorruptible bodies, it is precisely so that they may guide and teach us, to show us the path of eternal life."
If such is the expression of the ecclesiastical orator regarding the relics of the Saints, then what can be said about their very lives, lives that, to our fortune, have been preserved for us, if only in writing? Do they not indicate to us not only the path to eternal life but, along with this, do they not also reveal to us the very gates leading to the Kingdom of Heaven? Oh, truly, yes! With what virtues did the Saints adorn themselves? What feats did they not accomplish? What lessons for salvation did they not impart to us? Do we wish to learn from them the love of God? Their love was such that "neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword... could separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:35-39). Do we wish to strengthen our faith through their examples? Their faith was so strong that they "conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies" (Hebrews 11:33–34). Shall we find it necessary to learn from the Saints about hope in God? We will find that they held "unswervingly to the hope we profess" (Hebrews 10:23). Shall we resolve to learn patience from them? We see that some of the Saints "were tortured, refusing to be released... others faced mockings and scourgings, and even chains and imprisonment; they were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to the test; they were killed by the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated;... they wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:35–38).
Thus, truly, we can boldly assert that there is no virtue with which the Saints did not adorn themselves, there is no feat that they did not accomplish, and that, after the word of God, we will not find better lessons for salvation anywhere except in their lives.
And so all this prompted us to take advantage of such lessons from the Prologue, and to offer these lessons to your attention, pious readers, with the aim of confirming you in faith, strengthening you in hope and making you perfect in love.
We pray to the saints of God that they may cover the shortcomings of our teachings with their inherent all-embracing and all-forgiving love; may they grant benefit to the souls of those who honor them, and may they make both the writer and those who honor these teachings worthy of God's mercies.
December 6, 1888. Moscow district, village of Fili. Archpriest Victor Guryev.
Once, the famous church orator, Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson, while speaking about the relics of Saint Demetrius of Priluki, remarked on the relics of the Saints as follows: "Why do they rest before us for so many centuries, as if they have only recently fallen asleep? Are they here merely to receive our veneration? But what need is there for our reverence towards those whose reward lies with the Most High, who enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven? If they remain visibly among us, not being taken to heaven by their incorruptible bodies, it is precisely so that they may guide and teach us, to show us the path of eternal life."
If such is the expression of the ecclesiastical orator regarding the relics of the Saints, then what can be said about their very lives, lives that, to our fortune, have been preserved for us, if only in writing? Do they not indicate to us not only the path to eternal life but, along with this, do they not also reveal to us the very gates leading to the Kingdom of Heaven? Oh, truly, yes! With what virtues did the Saints adorn themselves? What feats did they not accomplish? What lessons for salvation did they not impart to us? Do we wish to learn from them the love of God? Their love was such that "neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword... could separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:35-39). Do we wish to strengthen our faith through their examples? Their faith was so strong that they "conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies" (Hebrews 11:33–34). Shall we find it necessary to learn from the Saints about hope in God? We will find that they held "unswervingly to the hope we profess" (Hebrews 10:23). Shall we resolve to learn patience from them? We see that some of the Saints "were tortured, refusing to be released... others faced mockings and scourgings, and even chains and imprisonment; they were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to the test; they were killed by the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated;... they wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:35–38).
Thus, truly, we can boldly assert that there is no virtue with which the Saints did not adorn themselves, there is no feat that they did not accomplish, and that, after the word of God, we will not find better lessons for salvation anywhere except in their lives.
And so all this prompted us to take advantage of such lessons from the Prologue, and to offer these lessons to your attention, pious readers, with the aim of confirming you in faith, strengthening you in hope and making you perfect in love.
We pray to the saints of God that they may cover the shortcomings of our teachings with their inherent all-embracing and all-forgiving love; may they grant benefit to the souls of those who honor them, and may they make both the writer and those who honor these teachings worthy of God's mercies.
December 6, 1888. Moscow district, village of Fili. Archpriest Victor Guryev.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
