Hegumen Anatoly (Berestov) is the founder, director and spiritual father of the Soul Care Center of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt of the Moscow Patriarchate, a famous pediatric neurologist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor.

Born in 1938 in Moscow. After serving in the army, he entered the Second Moscow Medical Institute at the Faculty of Pediatrics. The future hieromonk was the best student, the only Lenin scholarship recipient on the course. During his second year of study, he came to faith thanks to his brother Michael (later schema-monk Raphael), who gave him the first Gospel. He regularly attended church services and openly professed the Orthodox faith. In the fifth year, the question of his expulsion “for immoral behavior” (visiting a temple) was brought up at a Komsomol meeting, but the students defended their friend, believing that faith in God was not a reason for expulsion from a higher educational institution. After graduating from the institute, he got married, although the marriage was unusual: his spiritual mentor, the famous elder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, advised him to become a monk. The young man was already in love and did not take the elder’s advice seriously, but took the blessing for marriage from the bishop. Having learned about this, the elder sighed: “Now there is nothing to be done - the blessing of the bishop is higher than mine. Keep in mind, Anatoly, you will live with her for 10 years, she will die, you will have two children from her, and you will still become a monk.” In 1977, his wife died, leaving him with two children to raise.

From 1966 to 1991 he was a resident, graduate student, assistant, associate professor, and professor. He taught at the Russian State Medical University. After defending his doctoral dissertation, in 1991, he was appointed director of a rehabilitation center for disabled people with cerebral palsy.

In 1993, he was tonsured a monk on Valaam with further obedience at the Moscow metochion of the Valaam Monastery, but until the beginning of 1996 he continued to work as a professor at the medical institute in the department of nervous diseases. Since 1995, hieromonk, in the summer of 1996, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, Father Anatoly organized the Soul Care Center in the name of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt, for the rehabilitation of persons affected by sects and the occult. Since the summer of 1998, the Center has been engaged in the rehabilitation of drug addicts, alcoholics and people with other types of addiction.

Currently, Hegumen Anatoly is the deputy head of the Department of Clinical Physiology and Non-Drug Therapy Methods of the Faculty of Clinical Medicine of the People's Friendship University of Russia.
Hegumen Anatoly (Berestov) is the author of a large number of scientific, medical and educational works, including “The Number of the Beast on the Threshold of the 3rd Millennium”, “Orthodox Sorcerers: Who Are They?”, “Sorcerers in Law”, “Conversations with an Orthodox Doctor” , “Spiritual foundations of drug addiction”, “Drug addiction cannot be cured, but it can be defeated.” Over the years of his service in the Russian Orthodox Church, Hegumen Anatoly (Berestov) made a significant contribution to strengthening the spiritual sobriety of the peoples living on the territory of the Russian Federation.

“Both a doctor and a priest deal with a sick person, and each helps the sick person in suffering. Only a doctor in his field helps physically, and a priest in his field helps spiritually. And therefore, when helping the sick, the doctor must approach him with prayer and love, love and prayer, and create a special atmosphere of love and desire to help around the patient. But love is sacrificial, so a real Orthodox doctor must sacrifice himself for the sake of saving the patient...”

/Fragment of an interview with Fr. Anatoly Berestov “A doctor must sacrifice himself,” 1999/

Aeromonk Anatoly - that’s what Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) was called at that time in the 90s and 2000s by all those who observed his numerous movements throughout Russia and abroad. In one month, he could fly thousands of kilometers and light the flames of hope in the souls of hundreds and thousands of people suffering from the ailments of alcoholism and drug addiction, the passions of sectarianism and the occult, and captivate local priests with the idea of ​​​​organizing Orthodox counseling centers in their parishes. Precisely counseling ones - not rehabilitation ones, as they are now called. After all, rehabilitation - the restoration of vital and social functions - is only part of the path to sobriety. And it is not some “rehabilitologist” (a fashionable word these days) or a psychologist who should accompany a person on this path as an integral, bio-psycho-socio-spiritual entity, but a counselor. In which the roles of the priest, psychologist and doctor essentially merge into one. This is exactly how it came together in the soul and in general on the life path of Father Anatoly.

Hegumen Anatoly (Berestov) is the founder, director and spiritual father of the Soul Care Center of St. Righteous John of Kronstadt of the Moscow Patriarchate, a member of the Public Council under the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Drug Control (FSKN of Russia) until its liquidation. In the past, he was a well-known pediatric neurologist, Doctor of Medical Sciences, and professor. In the early 90s, for some time he was the chief neurologist of the city of Moscow.

Born on September 11, 1938 in Moscow. After graduating from eight-year school, he entered medical school, graduating in 1957. That same year he was drafted into the army and worked as a paramedic at a military unit for three years. After demobilization, he entered the Second Moscow Medical Institute at the Faculty of Pediatrics. The future abbot was the best student, the only Lenin scholarship recipient on the course. In his second year at the institute, he became a parishioner of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is how he himself describes this moment in one of his conversations with a journalist: “I myself came to God in my second year of medical school. We were taught Marxism-Leninism very intensively, especially Lenin’s work “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism”. It was believed that this work contained all the answers to the fundamental questions of philosophy. I read and read it and finally realized that these were not the answers. So, nonsense that doesn’t explain anything. Reflecting on the questions of existence, he came to church and began to read the Gospel. And in the Holy Scriptures I found answers to the questions that worried me.” Student Anatoly Berestov since then began to regularly attend church services and was not afraid to openly profess the Orthodox faith. I read a lot of Solovyov, Lossky, Berdyaev. The dean of the institute, a wonderful children's doctor, did not know what to do with the rebellious student. At that time, the truth-teller Berestov, and this was the time of the so-called Khrushchev Thaw, was supposed to be expelled from the institute “for immoral behavior.” He was already in his fifth year when the issue of expulsion was brought up to the Komsomol meeting. However, the students defended their friend, believing that faith in God is not a reason for expulsion from a higher education institution. Then Khrushchev was removed, the political situation changed and Berestov was forgotten - no movement, no conversation, even left in the Komsomol committee. Along with faith came a great desire to become a priest. But they tried not to admit people with higher education to the seminary.

After graduating from medical school, Anatoly Berestov married, two children were born into the family, but in 1977 he was widowed. There was no need to think about a second marriage, since the young doctor did not give up his dream of becoming a priest. Berestov worked at the Department of Nervous Diseases of the Pediatric Faculty of the Medical Institute and was engaged in scientific work. From 1966 to 1991 he was a resident, graduate student, assistant, associate professor, and professor. He taught at the Russian State Medical University. After defending his doctoral dissertation, in 1991 he was appointed director of a rehabilitation center for disabled people with cerebral palsy. In the same year, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' ordained him to the rank of deacon.

In 1993, Father Anatoly took monastic vows, but until the beginning of 1996 he continued to work as a professor at the medical institute in the department of nervous diseases. Since 1995, he has been tonsured a hieromonk.

In the summer of 1996, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, he organized the Soul Care Center in the name of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt for the rehabilitation of persons affected by pseudo-religious totalitarian destructive organizations and the occult, since, according to him, while still working at the department of nervous diseases, he drew attention to the fact that that people, after visiting psychics and occultists, fell ill with serious, difficult-to-treat nervous disorders. The scientist accumulated his observations, and in the same 1996 his book was published - notes from a doctor-priest about the dangers of the occult to health. It was called "The Number of the Beast on the Threshold of the 3rd Millennium". The book caused a surprisingly powerful resonance around the world. Doctors and clergy called from Australia, New York, Germany... This is essentially the first work professionally written from a medical point of view on this very difficult topic.

Since the summer of 1998, the Center began to rehabilitate drug addicts, alcoholics and people with other types of addiction. During this time, the Center’s specialists provided assistance to more than 20,000 citizens of Russia, near and far abroad, who suffered from sects and the occult. Initially, this charitable, socially significant institution not only for Moscow, but also for Russia, for the entire Orthodox world, was located at the Krutitsky Patriarchal Metochion not far from the Proletarskaya metro station. Dozens of people turned there for help every day, coming from all over Russia.

This is how the priest describes that time in his interview with the anti-drug newspaper “Before it’s too late - Moscow” (No. 3 (15), March 2008): “Our center appeared in 1996 as a center for the rehabilitation of persons affected by the occult. At that time I worked in the Catechesis Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. In May, my book “The Number of the Beast,” written by a doctor and a priest, was published. And so, to our surprise, soon there was a growing stream of victims of the occult. And one of the first to arrive was a man from Tyumen Noyabrsk. And so a medical office appeared, Orthodox doctors were selected, and the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II was received. We started working. By returning victims of the occult to life and God, we, in the natural course of events, found ourselves drawn into the fight against drug addiction, its prevention and rehabilitation of drug addicts. It turned out that occultism, Satanism and drug addiction are not just phenomena of the same order, the same field of berries, twin brothers - they are links in the same chain, interdependent and feeding each other. There are two heads of a dragon, and they must be cut together. By the way, in LaVey’s Satanic Bible there is a whole program of desexing: rock, sex, prostitution, drugs. We were faced with the question: what to do? That is, as I already said, it was clear that it was impossible to sit and wait with folded hands. But there was no mass experience of Orthodox rehabilitation. Traditional medical methods, unfortunately, do not treat the soul (namely, it is the soul that suffers first). And so a rehabilitation program was developed, based on the rehabilitation of the soul through the restoration of communication with God.”

In 2005, Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) initiated an event that the Orthodox world had not yet known. He proposed holding an All-Russian conference in Moscow, which would make it possible to unite church structures, big business, government and society into a single fist against the drug addiction epidemic, which flourished wildly in Russia in those years. His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II actively supported this idea and it was brought to life!

On November 24, 2005, the All-Russian Conference began its work in the hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior “National sphere of responsibility: Government, Church, business, society against drugs.” At the opening of the conference, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II delivered a welcoming speech.

In his speech, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed the hope that this conference will be an important step towards creating a broad social movement capable of countering the spread of drug addiction and other forms of chemical dependency. Following this, a greeting from the conference participants from the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin was announced by the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District G.S. Poltavchenko. The presidential address, in particular, noted that drug addiction, as a social disease, cannot be dealt with only through administrative measures; it is necessary to unite the efforts of the entire society. V.V. Putin wished the conference participants successful and constructive work.

The purpose of the forum, organized with the active participation of Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) and the Orthodox Counseling Center of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt, headed by him, was to unite all layers of society for the prevention and treatment of drug addiction, the formation of an active civic position among the population to intensify work to solve this problem at all levels of government authorities, Church and society. It was then, at this event, almost as soon as he arrived in Moscow and entered the clinical residency at the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after V.P. Serbsky, for the first time I had the opportunity to work with Father Anatoly. He invited me to become the secretary of one of the sectional sessions of the conference “Medical, social and spiritual aspects of rehabilitation of drug addicts,” which he chaired together with Bishop Zosima of Yakutsk and Lensk. This is how our close cooperation began, which grew, if one can say in relation to the priest and the laity, into a friendship that lasted for 7 years in Moscow and continues to this day.

The objectives of the conference included promoting self-realization through spiritual growth, creativity, and sports; development of systems of psychological and spiritual protection against drug addiction in the regions and at individual enterprises; dissemination of experience in the treatment and prevention of “psychoactive addictions” in rehabilitation centers of the Russian Orthodox Church. The experience of the Counseling Center of Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) was proposed as a basis. In addition, the work developed by the Center’s staff together with representatives of the scientific community under the leadership of Father Anatoly was discussed there. Concept of drug addiction prevention in Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church." This large-scale event greatly “rocked” our society and united our people in strengthening the fight against drug addiction. And the great credit for the fact that it took place belongs to him - it would seem, not to the rank of the clergy, but only to the hieromonk. But it’s not about ranks, it’s about deeds and calling.

At the same time, Father Anatoly for many years combined the leadership of the Center and work with the suffering, traveling/flying around cities in Russia and abroad with lectures, conversations and sermons, consultations with services in the church of St. Seraphim of Sarov at the Moscow Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Organs, where there is also always a great need for spiritual nourishment for sometimes practically medically hopeless patients.

A person cannot be healthy without keeping the commandments of God. No believer will deny this. Father Anatoly always reminds of this in his lectures to the laity, including in scientific institutions, medical universities, and sermons to his parishioners. Few people today would deny that it is impossible to teach children a healthy lifestyle without teaching them the Law of God. The priest-doctor always emphasized this in his missionary and educational work. He emphasized in his writings that in modern science, unfortunately, there are no such concepts as sin, mercy, and the grace of God. And in my work I have always strived and strives for the fact that the time will come when science will no longer be able to do without these concepts. Indeed, today it sometimes becomes scary when observing the processes taking place in society - the spiritual disintegration of society continues to intensify. The attack on people is taking place on all fronts - in the economic, political, social, and spiritual spheres. There is a proliferation of the occult, esoteric vision of the world, hence the increasingly snowball-like mass of esoteric sects of small and large caliber. From the point of view of the Orthodox faith, on which the work of the Counseling Center is based, as Father Anatoly constantly reminds in his sermons, there is a general “Satanization” of the country and our neighbors. One of the “successful” examples of such a process is the destruction of the national self-identification of the population, which is in full swing in Ukraine, which, it is possible, may soon become and is already becoming, with the help of sects and subcultures, a serious problem for our country. In these conditions, maintaining the spiritual and physical health of the individual becomes a pressing problem. And here such “burning” shepherds as priest Anatoly Berestov, in those years when few people dared to talk about it, played a colossal role as unique catalysts for the human thought of our compatriots in the right direction, one that was really capable of improving the health of the Russian population. Then there were only a few of them, those who worked in large, strategically significant Russian cities - Archimandrite Rafail (Karelin), Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev, Archpriest Alexander Shargunov, Archpriest Pyotr Andrievsky (+2012), Archpriest Konstantin Bufeev, Archpriest Vladimir Pravdolyubov, Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov , Archpriest Vadim Leonov, Archpriest Andrey Khvylya-Olinter, Archpriest Alexander Novopashin, Priest Daniil Sysoev (+2009), Priest Georgy Maximov. Of course, here the name of Father Anatoly Berestov is in the forefront. His sermons, powerfully charged with both scientific and medical information and evangelical comparisons, could not leave anyone indifferent.

Hegumen Anatoly (Berestov) is the author of a large number of scientific, medical and educational works: “The number of the beast on the threshold of the Third Millennium”, “Orthodox sorcerers: who are they?”, “Sorcerers in law”, “Conversations with an Orthodox doctor”, “Seduction ( about dietary supplements)", "Black clouds over Russia, or the ball of sorcerers." He, both independently and in collaboration with medical and scientific workers, published a number of materials on problematic issues of the prevention of antisocial behavior and modern rehabilitation of drug users: “Spiritual foundations of drug addiction”, “Drug addiction cannot be cured, but you can defeat it”, an excellent Bogolsov and medical scientific analytical work in several parts “Comparative analysis of the Orthodox method of rehabilitation of drug users and the 12 steps program”, published in the specialized scientific journal "".

On December 15, 2007, in the conference hall of the National Scientific Center for Narcology, a round table meeting “Modern methods of rehabilitation of persons with chemical dependence” was held, which was very significant for the decision on the further vector of development of church counseling for alcohol and drug addicts. The concept of prevention of alcoholism and drug addiction in the Russian Orthodox Church". The organizers of this event were the Moscow Society of Orthodox Doctors and the Scientific and Methodological Department for the Prevention of Addictions and Rehabilitation of Persons with Dependent Behavior of the Counseling Center of Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt, which was created to provide methodological support for the activities of the Center. At that time, as now, the question of the Russian Orthodox Church’s attitude to the possibility of combining the patristic tradition of combating passions with thousands of years of successful practical experience and the “12 steps” program, born in the USA in 1937 on a freshly baked Protestant basis, arose again in the church environment. The discussion was emotional, multi-polar, and therefore productive. Employees of specialized government services and clergy present at the event, who have been working in the field of helping chemically dependent people for many years, listened carefully to the position of each speaker.

The result of the round table was a resolution addressed to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', with an unequivocal “no” - incompatible. It helps - yes, but outside the church fence, they are not on the same path together. For a detailed justification of the expert position from the point of view of medicine and theology, see. The position of each of the meeting participants is presented in summary at the link. The afterword to this event, prepared by me with the blessing of Father Anatoly, explained in detail the final opinion of the representatives of the expert community present there.

In 2008, Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) and his co-authors developed and submitted for consideration to government authorities and the leadership of the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation “The Concept of Prevention and Rehabilitation of Persons with Drug Addiction on the Territory of the Russian Federation”, which in many ways became the “precursor » some sections of the State Analytical Policy Strategy until 2020.

His monograph "Return to Life", dedicated to the issues of Orthodox counseling for people suffering from various forms of drug addiction and alcoholism, and technologies for working with them, is still in demand by the Russian community to this day, has been republished several times in Russia and translated into a number of Eastern European languages.

Information and analytical collection prepared by Father Anatoly Berestov together with Yu.B. Tuzikova (Shevtsova) and N.V. Kaklyugin, the author of these lines, "Caution - methadone (Methadone replacement therapy in harm reduction programs)" after publication in 2006, it was sent to all regional divisions of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia, the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation, some specialized public organizations and Russian medical communities, having played a very significant role in developing a negative position in our country towards such destructive initiatives for the domestic drug treatment industry, lobbied by interested employees of some non-governmental organizations, now called “foreign agents”, financed by transnational foundations and international charitable organizations of anti-Russian orientation, primarily associated with the American “philanthropist” George Soros. For the full electronic version of the publication, see the link. Somewhat later, in response to this serious fundamental work, a lampoon was published in the form of a kind of humoresque, ridiculing the fully justified position of the authors, with the appropriate title “Caution - pseudo-narcology”. At the head of the group of lobbyists for the idea of ​​​​introducing methadone replacement therapy in Russia were such names as Mendelevich And Zykov. Remember these names. The second one especially. Today they have become quiet on this score, they work more carefully and sophisticatedly, trying not to reveal their goals and objectives for the future, but they do not change the essence of their liberalism regarding the reform of the drug treatment service according to a destructive scenario for the country. They just put others in their place. But we remember everyone by their first and last names. And the basis, the basic methodological platform for countering all these destructive trends in Russian anti-drug policy was laid by Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov), ​​for which he receives special gratitude from those who understand what happened in those dashing 90s and 2000s, and what is happening Now. In continuation of the topic, at one time, following the investigations of Father Anatoly, I published an analysis “Preventive programs to reduce harm from drug use and human rights in Russia” which remains. Then Father Anatoly and I responded more than symmetrically to Professor Mendelevich and his co-authors in our work “Reducing harm from opiates using the method of substitution therapy (response to the critical remarks of Prof. V.D. Mendelevich and co-authors “Caution - pseudonarcology.”) There were no more objections .

In 2007, on the initiative of Father Anatoly, with the support of the Varna Metropolitanate in Bulgaria, a car rally was organized across the country from Varna to Sofia in order to stop the legal distribution of the drug methadone there under the guise of treatment to Bulgarian drug addicts. Upon arrival in the Bulgarian capital, the country's Central Telegraph Agency (analogous to the Russian ITAR-TASS) gave a powerful rebuke to everyone involved in this initiative that is killing the youth of Bulgaria. Then I, being only a young clinical resident at the State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry named after V.P. Serbsky, with the permission of its director, the late Tatyana Borisovna Dmitrieva (May the Kingdom of Heaven be with her, incredible spiritual strength, spiritual strength and stamina, great erudition and intelligence was a man!), spoke at the CTA Bulgaria on behalf of all Russian medicine and specifically the Serbsky Center with an appeal abandon this savage pseudo-treatment and instead develop professional treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug addicts on the territory of Bulgaria on the principles of refusing to take any psychoactive substances, the so-called “drug-free treatment”. It was on that trip in the city of Varna with the support of the DOC Fr. Anatoly, the first Orthodox Counseling Center for alcohol and drug addicts in Bulgaria was opened, in which Bulgarian doctors also joined the work. By analogy with the Russian one, it was also named in the name of the holy righteous John of Kronstadt.

It should be especially noted once again that the geography of flights and travels of Father Anatoly during his active missionary work in the field of anti-drug and anti-sectarian education is incredibly large - from North to South, from West to East, from Chukotka to Abkhazia, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. A lot of visits to Ukraine, where his words were always awaited.

In 2008, in co-authorship with me, Father Anatoly Berestov wrote and published a book with the financial support of caring patrons. “Legal drug aggression in Russia (Chronicles of an undeclared war)”, which describes in detail the catastrophic deadly situation identified in various regions of Russia regarding the growing consequences of taking narcotic substances extracted from medical preparations dispensed from pharmacies without. It also contains multi-page and long-term correspondence with absolutely indifferent, to say the least, officials from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. People call this unsubscribe. It is on their conscience that thousands, tens, hundreds of thousands of people died from such drugs as “Coaxil”, “Tramadol”, “Zaldiar”, “Tussin Plus”, “Glycodin”, which were freely sold in pharmacies for many years before our protests together with the central apparatus of the Federal Drug Control Service of Russia. , all codeine-containing drugs, from which skilled drug addicts have learned to extract desomorphine, which kills in almost months of consumption, highly toxic, necrotizing injection sites and surrounding tissues and bones. Today they are banned and a thing of the past.

"Neo-Pentecostalism: A Virus in Christianity". It became a desktop almanac for those who, at the time of reading it, could not yet figure out what kind of phenomenon this is in the Christian world and what its danger is for people who fall into organized neo-Pentecostals, hiding under the more decent name of “Evangelical Christians.” , rehabilitation centers and “churches,” and for the political system as a whole.

Published in 2012 in the scientific specialized journal “Narcology”, the work “Spiritually oriented rehabilitation of persons with chemical dependence using specialized Orthodox biofeedback training”, prepared by the authors under the scientific guidance of Father Anatoly, became a description of many years of activity in the DPC of a very interesting methodology, here organically combined with Orthodox practices and which gave a much more powerful therapeutic effect than its basic, secular version. A truly unique and invaluable experience.

Leaving Moscow for the position of deputy chief regional narcologist for rehabilitation work offered in Krasnodar, my father and I published two parts of an extremely serious, thoughtful work from the point of view of psychiatry and theology entitled “Spiritual and religious aspects of the rehabilitation of persons with mental and behavioral disorders caused by including substance abuse." They were published in issues 4 and 5 of the journal “Narcology” for 2013. In part, this work became a kind of summing up of our joint practical work with Father Anatoly at the Soul Care Center in Moscow and its theoretical justification based on many years of dynamic observations of our patients and their relatives.

Over the years of his service in the Russian Orthodox Church in the field of anti-drug and anti-sectarian social activities, Abbot Anatoly (Berestov) certainly made an invaluable contribution to improving the drug situation on the territory of the Russian Federation. Those who came after him should remember this, study the path already taken in this direction and not step on the same “rake” again. The road was once paved by Father Anatoly like an icebreaker through polynyas, glaciers and impassable hummocks of misunderstanding of some officials, drug experts and clergy. For which we bow deeply to him from all of us: his students, employees, from those guys who, together with specialists, went through all the stages of sobering up and coming to a life free from alcohol and drugs, sects and the occult during the years of active work of the Orthodox Counseling Center in the name of the saint Righteous John of Kronstadt, first at the Krutitsky patriarchal courtyard, and then not far from the Lyublino metro station, as well as a suburban spiritual community in the city of Dedovsk, Moscow region. And also great gratitude from their relatives who finally breathed a sigh of peace, and who themselves, through the Center, found the path to churching and soul salvation, and who finally led their children to a healthy full life, creating their own families and the birth of healthy children - future patriots of their Fatherland and faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Dear father Anatoly! It was you who gave many priests and doctors in Russia and beyond its borders in those years when it was somehow scary not only to touch, but also to talk about these things, a powerful impulse to engage in all this, so difficult, but also just as soulful and the bright work of saving lost souls from all those passions and evils that our enemies are diligently bringing down on them and on our heads and hearts. More and more new schemes are being invented to kill our youth, we counterattack in response, and offer retaliatory moves to the relevant government services. This war is endless, but who if not us?! After all, a doctor, priest or psychologist, like any other person who sincerely wants to help his neighbor, can never stay away from trouble, even if it does not come to his own home. And if the Christian soul is alive in him, he will continue to sacrifice himself, his personal time, and sometimes family time, just as you have done all these years, infecting us with your example. Seven years next to you, shoulder to shoulder, taught me a lot.

Have many happy summers, our dear father! On this day of your 80th birthday, I sincerely congratulate you on this anniversary! Always with you in prayer. And when I’m in Moscow, I’ll always try to visit you.

This man turned 78 years old, but at the same time he retained the vigor of his body and clarity of mind. Anatoly Berestov is a well-known and authoritative personality among believers; to date he has helped hundreds of sick and needy people. Berestov is a physician by training and once held the position of chief pediatric neurologist in Moscow. Many people know Anatoly Berestov not only as a spiritual mentor and priest, but also as a powerful neuropathologist who understands a number of mental pathologies, as well as the nature of human addictions. The product he created helps hundreds of drug addicts and alcoholics cope with their addictions.

Despite the fact that Berestov was brought up in a classic communist family of atheists, various miracles and God’s providences often happened in his life, which helped him convert to faith.

Family and childhood of the future hieromonk

Anatoly Berestov was born in Moscow on September 11, 1938. Besides him, there were 2 more brothers in the family: Mikhail and Nikolai. Berestov grew up as an ordinary child and did not particularly stand out among his peers.

The boy's family was completely unbelieving. At school, children were taught communist atheism, and going to church was considered stupid and shameful.

Prophetic joke

As an adult, Anatoly Berestov recalled a very revealing story from his childhood, when his own words, dropped near the church as a joke, became prophetic. One day he and his brother Mikhail walked past a church after school and saw people coming out of there carrying birch branches. This action seemed very funny to the two inexperienced guys, and Anatoly jokingly told his brother that when they grew up, he would become a priest, and his brother would become a monk. The guy could not even imagine then that with these words he determined both his future life and the fate of his brother Mikhail.

After graduating from school, Berestov entered the paramedic school and began working in his specialty. Then he was called up for military service and served in the city of Podolsk. When he received his leave, he came to Moscow and always visited his parents’ house.

Fateful prediction of a nun

By that time, Anatoly’s brother, Mikhail Berestov, had become a believer and turned to the church. On this basis, disputes often arose between the brothers, since Anatoly refused to take religion seriously. During one of the regular discussions, Mikhail said that he no longer intended to argue with his brother about God, because soon Tolik himself would understand everything and know the truth.

Shortly before meeting his brother, Mikhail had a chance to visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he met with a nun. She said that soon brother Anatoly would become a believer. Since the nun was a fairly authoritative person in her environment, Mikhail decided not to rush things and not to put pressure on his brother. He simply gave him the Gospel, hoping that Anatoly would read it over time.

Deciding to Serve God

Meanwhile, Anatoly Berestov became seriously interested in medicine and decided to receive higher education in this field. To do this, he entered the Second Moscow Medical Institute. The young man studied well and was one of the best students. In his second year, during the curriculum, he was recommended to read one of Vladimir Lenin’s works entitled “Marxism and Empirio-Criticism.”

The book did not have the desired effect on Anatoly. Instead of strengthening the foundations of atheism and communism in the guy’s mind, she caused him to completely misunderstand. Berestov began to wonder if this work is recognized as the height of philosophy, then what is the meaning of life?

It was during this period that he remembered the Gospel that his brother gave him. Anatoly came home with the firm intention of reading it, but, unfortunately, he could not find the book in the house. Having searched all the places where she could theoretically be, the future priest decided to mentally turn to God and asked to give him at least some sign.

Literally immediately after this, there was a knock on the door, and a neighbor appeared on the threshold, who had come to return that same Gospel. She said that she took it from Mikhail to read and forgot about it, and only now remembered and came to return the book.

For Berestov this was a kind of sign; he read the entire book and believed absolutely everything that was written there.

Successful career in medicine

Simultaneously with the knowledge of God's teaching, Anatoly continued his studies at the institute. When he was in his second year, it became known at the educational institution that the guy was visiting the temple. This became the reason for organizing a special meeting. They wanted to expel the student from the institute, considering that visiting a temple was immoral behavior unacceptable for a medical student. But his fellow students came to the defense of the young man, who, fortunately, considered that expelling a talented student because of his faith was at least stupid.

Thus, Anatoly Berestov remained at the medical institute. After graduation, his career was very successful. He chose neuropathology as his main direction. In 1966 he became a resident, then a graduate student. He then became an associate professor of medical sciences, and soon a professor. For a long time he taught at a medical institute. Beginning in 1985, for 10 years, Berestov held the post of chief neurologist in Moscow.

Personal life of a priest

The story of the future priest’s marriage and subsequent married life was also not without miracles. After graduating from medical school, he was in love with his future wife and firmly intended to marry her. At this time there was one famous elder from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He strongly advised Anatoly to abandon the idea of ​​getting married, and to choose the path of a monk, since this was precisely the fate destined for him. But the young man did not intend to give up and took a blessing for marriage from the highest-ranking bishop.

Then the elder confessor said that Berestov would live with his wife for only 10 years, and then she would die, leaving him with two children. Paradoxically, all the elder’s words turned out to be prophetic. Berestov's wife died in 1977.

Many years later, in 1991, Anatoly received the rank of deacon and began to serve in the Tsaritsyn Church. After 2 years, in 1993, he was finally tonsured a monk, and in 1995 he was ordained a hieromonk.

Appointment to a leadership position

Since 1991, the priest has gained experience in managing rehabilitation centers. It was this year that he was appointed to the position of director at a children's center for the rehabilitation of patients with cerebral palsy.

At the same time, until 1996, Father Anatoly Berestov did not leave medicine - in the status of a professor of science, he worked at the department of nervous diseases at the medical institute.

Rehabilitation center of Anatoly Berestov

Over time, he came up with the idea of ​​​​creating his own center, where he could provide spiritual and psychological assistance to victims of various occult organizations and sects, of which a lot appeared in the country in the late 90s.

In 1996, Hieromonk Anatoly Berestov received the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch himself for this good cause. Thus, the Soul Care Center named after Righteous John of Kronstadt was created. As originally intended, it provided assistance to all those who became victims of pseudo-seers, Satanists and other sectarians. People who had been subject to hypnosis and mass zombies for a long time converted to the Christian faith and received spiritual food for healing. Since the head of the center was a neurologist with considerable experience, he understood and knew how to provide psychological rehabilitation to such victims, and, if necessary,

Multidisciplinary assistance to those in need of healing

In 1998, an extraordinary event occurred at the center: many people who had suffered from the activities of one of the satanic sects were admitted for rehabilitation. The problem was that almost all of the victims turned out to be drug addicts. After this incident, Anatoly Berestov, whose center had previously dealt only with spiritual rehabilitation, realized that he had to provide help to drug addicts and alcoholics.

Since then, he has developed a special program for drug and alcohol addicts, which has been successfully used for more than 10 years. The most amazing thing is that, according to Berestov, after rehabilitation, healing occurs in more than 90% of all cases.

Not just a spiritual savior, but also a highly qualified physician

The most common and terrible diseases of our time are HIV infection and cancer. Those who are faced with a similar misfortune are looking for all kinds of support, and the Anatoly Berestov Center provides it. Despite the fact that it is very difficult for an ordinary person to believe such statements, the priest says that their center has experience in treating AIDS. During repeated prayers, the disease recedes, and HIV infection goes into a kind of “dormant” state, which allows the infected person to live a long and fulfilling life. Berestov states that at one time he counted 18 people who came to the center with this terrible disease and were healed, and after 1997 he simply stopped keeping such statistics.

The same thing happens with cancer patients. In addition to healing prayers, Father Anatoly offers those who turn to him for help consultations with his acquaintances oncologist-surgeons, because Berestov still has strong connections in the medical field, and he is considered a very authoritative neurologist to this day.

Books written by a priest

Anatoly Berestov is a priest and an active one who also manages to publish his own books. This amazing person has a number of original publications in the field of child neurology and pediatrics. He also wrote many original works that are devoted to such current social problems as drug addiction, alcoholism, and the occult.

And, like a real doctor, of course, in his works he could not help but touch upon such a problematic issue as the relationship between the church and medicine.

Among his works published over different periods of time, the following are especially popular among readers:

• "Conversations with an Orthodox doctor."
• "Spiritual foundations of drug addiction."
• "Sorcerers in Law."
• "The Occult Defeat of Man."

leader and confessor DOC John of Kronstadt

Hegumen Anatoly

(in the world Anatoly Ivanovich Berestov; September 11, 1938, Moscow RSFSR USSR) - Russian religious and public figure,clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, doctor, chief pediatric neurologist of Moscow (1985-1995), Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, psychiatrist, pediatrician, spiritual writer .

Born in 1938 in Moscow into an unbelieving family.

After graduating from school, he entered the paramedic school, became a doctor, and served in the army in Podolsk.

Later he studied at the Moscow 2nd Medical Institute at the Faculty of Pediatrics.

As a conscientious student, Berestov read this Leninist work from cover to cover and was horrified:

“If this is the height of philosophy, then what is the meaning of life? Where can I find him?

And he remembered the Gospel that his brother gave him. He began to look for this Gospel at home. I searched for three days.

I searched the whole apartment, but could not find it, although I remembered exactly where I left the book.

On the third day, exhausted, he sat down on a chair and said to himself: “Lord, if You exist, now, this minute, send me the Gospel!”

And at this very second the doorbell rings. A neighbor comes in: “Anatoly, I borrowed a book from Misha to read and forgot to give it back. Take it, please".

His blood began to pound in his temples. This was the Gospel.

After graduating from the institute, he got married, although the marriage was unusual: his spiritual mentor, the famous elder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, advised him to become a monk.

The young man was already in love and did not take the elder’s advice seriously, but took the blessing for marriage from the bishop.

Having learned about this, the elder sighed: “Now there is nothing to be done - the blessing of the bishop is higher than mine.

Keep in mind, Anatoly, you will live with her for 10 years, she will die, you will have two children from her, and you will still become a monk.”

In 1977, his wife died, leaving him with two children to raise.

Scientific and medical activities

From 1966 to 1991, he worked his way up from a resident, a graduate student, an assistant, an associate professor, to a candidate (later - doctor) of medical sciences and

Professor of the Department of Pediatric Neuropathology at the Russian State Medical Institute.

From 1985 to 1995 he served as the chief neurologist of Moscow. Since 1991, he has directed the Rehabilitation Center for disabled people suffering from cerebral palsy.

Church service.

In December 1991, he was ordained as a deacon and began serving in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring” in Tsaritsyn, not far from the Rehabilitation Center.

In 1993, he was tonsured a monk on Valaam with further obedience at the Moscow courtyard of the Valaam Monastery. In 1995 he was ordained hieromonk.

The rector of the temple is St. Seraphim of Sarov - Patriarchal Metochion at the Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Organs of the Moscow Medical Academy named after I.M. Sechenov, employee of the Russian Orthodox University.

Orthodox psychiatrist. Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor. After defending his doctoral dissertation in 1991, he was appointed director of the Rehabilitation Center for disabled people suffering from cerebral palsy. At the same time, he was ordained as a deacon by His Holiness the Patriarch. For two years he combined work at the Center with service in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source”. In 1993, he took monastic vows at the Valaam Monastery (after the death of his wife in 1977, he had to raise two children alone).

Head of the Counseling Center in the name of the Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt for the rehabilitation of drug addicts of the Moscow Patriarchate, located at the Krutitsky courtyard in Moscow.

Biography

In the beginning there was a word

Father always had plenty of miracles in his life. Here's one of them. When Father Anatoly was still a pioneer, he and his brother Mikhail were walking near the Rizhsky station. The brothers saw a large group of people come out of the local church with birch branches (apparently it was on Trinity Sunday). Then it seemed crazy to them: a century of scientific and technological progress - and here it’s like the Middle Ages! Tolya laughed, hit his brother on the back with his palm and exclaimed: “Well, it’s okay, you will be a monk, and I will be a priest.”

Many years have passed since then. Misha became a true monk. Now he is the schema-monk Raphael. Father Anatoly is also a clergyman and also a monk. The words spoken for the sake of ridicule came true exactly.

However, before this happened, many events took place in the fate of Father Anatoly, including miraculous ones. After school, he graduated from paramedic school, became a doctor, and served in the army in Podolsk. And on duty he often came to Moscow. He often came home. At this time, his brother Mikhail had already become a believer. And every time they met, the brothers argued for a very long time about faith. Anatoly proved the absurdity of belief in God. They often argued to the point of frenzy. And they parted as enemies. And then one day, shortly before the end of the service, Anatoly comes home again, meets with Mikhail and starts an argument again. To which the brother completely unexpectedly laughed. "Why are you laughing?" - Anatoly was surprised. “It’s no use arguing with you, you yourself will soon become a believer,” the brother replies. “For me to become a believer?! This will never happen!” - Anatoly soared. To which his brother responded by telling him the following story.

The Old Nun's Prophecy

The whole point was that shortly before this, Mikhail visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he met a nun who had spent 25 years in Stalin’s camps, became disabled there and walked on crutches. They said about her that she was a seer and a person of great spiritual life.

He approached her and asked her to pray for her relatives. She told him: “Oh, Rafail, it’s you!” - “I’m not Raphael, I’m Mikhail!” - “Yes, yes, I know that you are Raphael. I know that your father John will become a believer at the end of his life, just like your mother, Anna. But - rejoice - your brother Anatoly will soon become a very believer! But for your brother Nicholas must be prayed for." So she called all her relatives exactly by name. And so it happened. And brother Nikolai is really the only person in their family who did not approach faith in God.

The brother’s story did not make any impression on Anatoly: they say, you never know what your old women will say... But the arguments stopped.

Time has passed. Anatoly was already studying at the Second Medical Institute. In his second year, he was recommended to read Lenin’s book “Marxism and Empirio-Criticism.” As a conscientious student, Berestov read this Leninist work from cover to cover and was horrified. He didn’t see any philosophy there, but only continuous swearing. He thought: “If this is the height of philosophy, then what is the meaning of life? Where can I find it?” And he remembered the Gospel that his brother gave him. And he began to look for this Gospel at home.

I searched for three days. I searched the whole apartment, but could not find it, although I remembered exactly where I left the book. On the third day, exhausted, he sat down on a chair and said to himself: “Lord, if You exist, now, this minute, send me the Gospel!” And at this very second the doorbell rings. A neighbor comes in and says: “Anatoly, I borrowed a book from Misha to read and forgot to give it back.

Take it, please." Anatoly took it. His blood began to pound in his temples. It was the Gospel. And he, of course, immediately rushed to read it. And he immediately believed what was written there.

Blessing of the Elder

After graduation, Anatoly got married. The marriage was somewhat unusual. His confessor, a famous elder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, advised him to become a monk. However, the young man was already in love and did not take the elder’s advice seriously. And he took the blessing for marriage from the bishop. When the elder found out about this, he just sighed: “Now there is nothing to be done - the blessing of the bishop is higher than mine. Keep in mind, Anatoly, you will live with her for 10 years, she will die, you will have two children from her, and you will still become a monk ". Everything happened as the elder said.

Anatoly Berestov's life in medical science was as bright as his life today in the Church. In a short period of time, he became a candidate (and then doctor) of medical sciences, a professor in the department of nervous diseases at the Medical Institute (now a university), and for 10 years he served as the chief neurologist of Moscow.

In the early 90s, Anatoly Berestov was offered the position of director of the country's largest Rehabilitation Center for people with disabilities suffering from cerebral palsy. He devoted himself entirely to serving the disabled and brought the center to the international level. At the same time, in December 1991, he was ordained as a deacon and began serving in a church in Tsaritsyno, not far from the Rehabilitation Center. But the era of timelessness and “democratization” was approaching, breaking everything that could be broken.

Twice Condemned

Father Anatoly's brother, Father Raphael, was already a resident of Holy Mount Athos. But the life of Father Anatoly himself at that time no longer resembled the life of a church leader, but like a mystical thriller or a hard-boiled detective story.

I had one employee who, as it turned out, was connected with bandits,” the priest recalls.

At first he persuaded me to give them part of the premises for a fee. Then the militants themselves showed up and gave me a week to think about it, threatening to kill my family if I didn’t yield. I showed them the door and informed the police. They knew about it immediately. Some “well-wishers” called the center and said that they would soon kill me. On May 8, 1993, after a service in the Tsaritsyn Church, I left the church and saw a man lying on the porch with severe signs of beatings. Seeing me, he stood up and asked: “Are you Anatoly Ivanovich Berestov? I need to talk to you.” “We will talk to you when you return to normal, but now you need to go to the hospital,” I said. To which he replied: “I was supposed to kill you today, but after I found out that you were a priest, I refused. And now I paid for it...”

In 1993, Father Anatoly accepted monasticism on Valaam with further obedience at the Moscow metochion of the Valaam Monastery. At the same time, his book “The Number of the Beast on the Threshold of the Third Millennium” was published, revealing the ins and outs of the occult. This book was a stunning success, including abroad. In many ways, it predetermined the author’s future life. A stream of patients, victims of the occult and totalitarian sects, came to Father Anatoly. With the blessing of the Patriarch, Hieromonk Anatoly opens the Rehabilitation Center, now the Counseling Center of St. Righteous John of Kronstadt, at the Patriarchal Krutitsky Metochion. Already working here, he was sentenced to death a second time. This time - to the astral.

Once the priest spoke on the radio denouncing psychics and other sorcerers. Such speeches by the priest always aroused their insane rage. So this time they called the radio and - no, they didn’t swear - they announced from a group of psychics that they were condemning Father Anatoly to astral death. The most interesting thing is that when the priest returned to his home, to an ordinary Moscow apartment, some kind of devilry began to happen in his room: laughter, neighing, knocking on the door, on the ceiling. My son looked in: “What’s going on here?” The poltergeist lasted about 40 minutes. Then Father Anatoly stood up for prayer, prayed, sprinkled the room with holy water - and everything went away.

Save us, Savior!

I’ve wanted to treat drug addicts for a long time,” says Father Anatoly. - But I didn’t know how. A plan for a rehabilitation program could not formulate in my head. In 1998, I was a pilgrim on a ship from Odessa to the Holy Land and I was made the confessor of the voyage. More than 500 passengers confessed to me. One day, when we were leaving Athos - we were standing on the roadstead opposite the Russian Panteleimon Monastery - I went down to the cabin and suddenly heard amazing monastic singing. The distance to Athos itself was great; no singing from there would have reached us.

I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Just imagine - with the deafening roar of the ship's engines. Then I went out on deck and was surprised to see hundreds of passengers leaning against the side rails. People shouted: “Look, a cross!” And indeed: a huge Orthodox six-pointed cross stretched across the water from the shore to the ship. It was formed on water ripples - where the cross was visible, these ripples were completely absent.

This phenomenon accompanied us for several minutes. Then the cross was quietly covered with the same water ripples. Then, when we served a prayer service before the relics of the holy saints that the monks brought from the Panteleimon Monastery - the head of the healer Panteleimon, the hand of John the Warrior and the head of Silouan of Athos - I attached an icon to these shrines. In the evening, when I entered my cabin, I smelled an amazing aroma. It emanated from the icon and spread over the next two days... Then on the Holy Land, on Mount Tabor, I observed the descent of the Blessed Cloud, in which lights shone - on the night of the Transfiguration of the Lord. For a long time I could not understand: why does the Lord show me so many amazing phenomena?

But when I arrived in Moscow and came to the Counseling Center, I realized: I need to deal with drug addicts. And then the idea immediately came on its own and how to do it. Now I realized that those amazing phenomena were like a supply of beneficial forces for me in a difficult fight against drug addiction.