Writer Vladislav Pasechnik, who became a deacon, explained his decision

“MK” continues the series of articles “A writer changes his profession” with an article about a writer from Barnaul Vladislav Pasechnik, who, having received a master’s degree from the Altai Pedagogical Academy and having publications in the country’s leading literary magazines, decided to follow the path of church ministry. After training at the theological academy, he became a deacon and hopes to become a priest.

For the sake of the right to be called a father, Vladislav pushed even the creation of works into the background. In a conversation with our correspondent, Pasechnik told how the working day of a church minister looks like and how real life destroys the myth about “priests on Mercedes”. And, most importantly, he tried to explain how to combine philological love for the word and love for God, which, if you carefully read the Gospel, turns out to be one and the same.

– Vladislav, you were already an accomplished prose writer and critic when you thought about the priesthood. And where does the humanities need to be retrained as a priest?

– I thought about church service for a long time, but for the time being I did not find the courage to take the first step. Having already graduated from graduate school, working as a teacher at the Pedagogical University, I wanted to be at my desk again, to feel like a student. And now the old intention again made itself felt, I submitted the documents and entered the Barnaul Theological Seminary.

– What are the duties of a clergyman and a deacon – the youngest of the priests? What do you like most about the service? What are the prospects for church career growth – what to do to move to the next level?

“I like everything about the church service. In the seminary, I performed the obedience of a sexton (in other words, an altar boy, a church servant). It was my duty to help in the presbytery (inner temple, that is, in the holy of holies). I served the censer, read the hours, the liturgical apostle and prayers for communion. Even then, the determination ripened in me to eventually enter the senior clergy, that is, to become a clergyman. Clerics and theologians are trained in our seminary, some are ordained to the rank of deacon or even presbyter even before graduation.

Is there a fundamental difference between a deacon and a priest?

— A deacon is a clergyman of the second plan, his task is to complement and decorate the ministry of the primate (the priest who leads the service). A deacon performs some of the functions of a priest, but cannot perform the sacraments or perform the rites. This requires the dignity of a presbyter.

– In the USSR, during the aggravation of atheistic propaganda, they liked to talk about “priests who do not want to work.” What does your work day look like?

– The duties of a deacon, as well as an altar boy, include putting things in order in the presbytery, in other words, cleaning, often you have to help with the housework. If we talk about rural priests, then they often do not have assistants at all – the rector himself has to take care of the housework.

The deacon’s working day begins in the evening. It is necessary to prepare readings for tomorrow, prepare the altar, make sure that everything is in its place. A service is held depending on the date and day of the week. In the morning you come to the temple, change your clothes, prepare everything you need for the liturgy, then a service, a prayer service and a memorial service. After – breakfast in the refectory and, if necessary, labor obediences. Then a little rest, and in the evening – back to the service. Everything is measured and clear.

How much have your literary works changed in recent years? Have Orthodox motifs become especially strong in stories and novels?

– The works have changed recently, and a lot. Let’s start with the fact that I almost stopped writing. There are a couple of stories in which there are Orthodox motifs, but lately I have been trying not to take up the pen.

– How did your relatives react to the “change of profession”?

The family approved my decision. Some reacted calmly to him, others expressed stormy delight.

– Did you manage to make a splash at the reunion of graduates? Did your friends appreciate your deed?

– No, not at the meeting, because I did not go to it. I often see familiar faces in the church—colleagues, childhood friends, fellow writers. I approach, communicate with them, sometimes I can endure prosphora or antidor.

– In the West, the padre or pastor has developed an idea as a gloomy person walking in the heat in a black cassock. And how does being a deacon affect your appearance, your dress code?

– I try not to wear a cassock (a black long-skirted dress) outside the temple. We are not welcome to walk in a cassock or cassock around the city. I easily recognize familiar clergy even in lay clothes. Most of the clerics I know are cheerful, sociable people. Among other things, many of them work in other jobs, they have their own hobbies and hobbies. There are priests – teachers in secular universities, forensic psychiatrists, bikers, masseurs. A person cannot be completely hidden, hidden in a strict black uniform.

— But not only in Europe and the USA there are such stereotypes. In our country, for example, they like to talk about “priests on Mercedes”.

– The main stereotype is that all clerics are prosperous pot-bellied and swaggering snobs. This is not true. Most of the priests I know lead a very modest, if not meager, lifestyle. First of all, this concerns provincial ministers, especially priests in rural parishes. I have more than one familiar priest who does not have his own car, lives in a small family with a bunch of children and barely makes ends meet. There are, of course, exceptions, but for the most part, everything is far from being as simple as it looks from the outside.

– At the university, students are usually offered to forget everything they learned at school, and at work – everything they knew at the university. And do future priests have internships and practice?

— When I was ordained a deacon, I took a magpie, this is the church equivalent of an internship. I was drilled in the main cathedral of the city, they gave me instructions and advice. This is the most difficult time – I went to the service almost every day. But then it became easier, got used to it, adapted. I could still make mistakes, but the elders treated my failures with understanding and care. As one familiar father told me, the first seventeen years are the most difficult. Then it will get easier. I trust it with all my heart!

In general, worship is an excellent cure for graphomania. If you do not cure the disease, then at least you will stop it. It helps me personally.