Our guest was an actress, director, People's Artist of Russia Elena Tsyplakova. Our guest spoke about her creative path, about coming to faith, and about those meetings and people who influenced her work and coming to God.
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A. Pichugin
Friends, this is "Bright Evening" on the radio "Vera". Hello, Alexey Pichugin is in this studio...
K. Matsan
And Konstantin Matsan. Good bright evening!
A. Pichugin
And this part of our program, this hour will be spent with us by Elena Tsyplakova - Soviet Russian theater and film actress, director, People's Artist of Russia. Hello!
E. Tsyplakova
Good evening!
Our dossier:
Elena Tsyplakova was born in Leningrad. While still a schoolgirl, she began acting in films. She graduated from the acting department of the State Institute of Theater Arts named after Lunacharsky, as well as the acting and directing departments of VGIK. Worked at the Maly Theatre. She has played more than 30 roles in films. As a director, she has directed more than 10 films. People's Artist of Russia. Married.
K. Matsan
Elena Oktyabrevna...
E. Tsyplakova
Maybe just Elena.
K. Matsan
Agreed!
A. Pichugin
Agreed!
K. Matsan
Your acting career began with a string of amazingly bright roles, a whole string. “The woodpecker doesn’t have a headache”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Adam marries Eve”, “We are from jazz” - there was a whole galaxy of such images that we all, of course, remember very well. And then, as if suddenly, there is a pause, and the actress Elena Tsyplakova seems to disappear from the screens. And there were a variety of speculations - up to the fact that the actress went to the monastery. What really happened, what was this change in life connected with, and what kind of change was it?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, in fact, it is probably difficult to judge only by the roles that were in the cinema, because I worked for six years at the Maly Academic Theater, and played quite a lot there. I went to study at VGIK for the second time, already at the directing department, and therefore I studied, and since 1989 I began to direct in films. Therefore, I worked all the time, but was not always on the screen. (Laughs.)
K. Matsan
That is, it was not some kind of life change - just a change of stage?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, I think that, probably, any actress who starts acting from childhood, from such youthful years, there come periods when there is a need for you, when you play some roles ... I had a big break - me now a new period, I'm starting to play mothers and grandmothers, because it's already such an age. Therefore, it is normal when there are some breaks. But for me it was not easy. It was just such a period of very serious and spiritual reflection on my life, and what I do, and a certain choice of what I can afford to play, what to star in. Because our cinema began to change - they began to offer roles that simply became uninteresting to me as a person, because I understand that no matter what I do, this is also a certain fruit - both before God and before people, then, What am I doing. It's time to take a serious look at your own life.
K. Matsan
And at that moment you already reasoned exactly like this, in these categories - “what am I doing before God?” in those years?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, probably in the earliest years - not quite, although, I want to tell you, I was, of course, very lucky, because my spiritual education began at the age of four, because I had a grandmother who began to read the Gospel to me from the age of four . I remember how shocked I was by what she told me, read to me.
A. Pichugin
Were you shocked as a child?
E. Tsyplakova
As a child, yes. I was shocked that Jesus and the saints walked on water. I tried to do this in the village when I came to my grandfather in the Novgorod region.
A. Pichugin
E. Tsyplakova
Nothing worked, I was terribly upset. When my mother managed to notice this, she pulled me out of the water by the shkiryatnik, because ...
A. Pichugin
Is the river deep?
E. Tsyplakova
You know, it was not deep in the village, but we rented a dacha near St. Petersburg, in Pudost, where it was deep near the shore. But very clean water. And so, I remember, I decided to walk around, I didn’t succeed - I’m sitting under water, I see how beautiful the algae around are, and such a hand from above my mother’s puller from there. He says: “Your neighbor told me - you stuck yourself in the river again!”
A. Pichugin
Do you sit at the bottom and worry that nothing happened?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes! And, no! I'm so very... I was angry! (Laughs.) I can't do it! (Laughs.)
K. Matsan
Such a childish fascination with miracles, yes, with everything wonderful?
E. Tsyplakova
K. Matsan
And what else struck a child at four years old in the Gospel?
E. Tsyplakova
It’s hard for me to say something now, of course, because ... But my grandmother took me to the church where I was baptized - this is in St. Petersburg, then still Leningrad ...
A. Pichugin
Leningrad - Hero City, yes.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, the Transfiguration Cathedral. And I remember that I had such a story of some kind ... For the first time I heard such a very important thing for myself. We had yard wars, and we, basically, were all adult guys, they lived in the yard, and I was also about five years old, already the sixth year. And suddenly I was standing behind a barn hiding from my neighbors - and suddenly I heard such a voice, I still remember it very well, as it was said: "Fear is a false feeling." In my childish mind, how would it be... Well, like, what is it? I was so surprised ... I think: what is this phrase all of a sudden I hear some kind of? And they began to explain to me that the situation that you are afraid of, when it happens, you are not afraid - you act. So this is a false feeling. I mean, I remember it very well. I did not understand then that such things could be heard, seen. Because I was very frightened when I watched the film "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" - I remember this ... We had such a small TV set - "Dawn". And I saw how the devil jumped out of the TV, and hid under the table. I mean, that was my fear at the time. Well, these are the most childhood memories.
But, in fact, I want to say that, of course, now, as an adult, when I sometimes dream of our yard, where I grew up, for some reason this only happens in my grandmother's apartment. We had neighboring apartments, and I don’t visit ... the apartment where we lived never popped up in my dreams. But Granny... And I still have her icons...
K. Matsan
Where was the gospel read?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes. I have granny icons of the Mother of God and Jesus Christ - also at my place, now in Moscow already. And I still have the Gospel that she read to me. Small, very good.
A. Pichugin
Let's go back to the original question. It seems to me that the time Kostya was talking about, the early 90s, the 90s in general, were not the best years for cinema. And in general, film production in our country either stopped, or something completely strange was filmed in the first half of the 90s, with rare exceptions.
E. Tsyplakova
Well, in 1992 I shot the film “I Trust in You”, and it was not at the box office, because the producers, the distributors looked and said: “Why do we need such a sad movie?” And I have a girl - well, a short story - gives birth to a child at the station, tries to commit suicide, as a result, she remains alive after the psychiatric hospital and goes to work in the temple, and the conversation is very important with the priest. She says: “I can’t, I can’t anywhere.” She says: "Go to those who are worse off than you." She says, "Where?" - "Go help the elderly." She says, "No, I can't." - "Go to the children!" And she goes to work in an orphanage, where the kids are four or five years old. And there is such a way of her, as it were, such a spiritual rebirth, of this heroine. And this picture got into Britannica as a phenomenon in Russian cinema, it was taken to festivals...
A. Pichugin
In the same years?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes. But for four years the picture just lay there, no one needed it.
A. Pichugin
In Russia - lay on the shelf, yeah ...
E. Tsyplakova
And then - yes, the festivals began, and it was shown only on television in fact.
A. Pichugin
Well, at least on TV!
E. Tsyplakova
Later, thank God!
A. Pichugin
Because I remember the same textbook example with Kara's film "The Master and Margarita", which, shot in 1994, probably, hit the screens only, maybe, in 2008.
E. Tsyplakova
Well, yes, about four years later, five years later, the picture came out.
A. Pichugin
Was this typical for the film industry of that time?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, in general, yes. At the same time, in general, only foreign paintings were bought for our rental. And this picture was obviously low-budget, filmed at the Voikovsky Center at the Twelve film studio. Moreover, the producer understood that all this, so to speak, was not very much like a rental, but they made this picture, and I am very grateful for this, because I really love this film.
A. Pichugin
Yes. In general, for actors, for directors - well, for the workers of the cinema itself ... I understand that the theater - it continued to exist ... I don’t know, maybe the actors in the troupe, of course, became worse, there was less money, but the theater still continued to exist in the 90s.
E. Tsyplakova
Well, yes, at least they played "Tselina". (Laughs.)
A. Pichugin
Did the film industry immediately feel this turning point after 1991?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, you know, so much has been written, but I don't particularly like, so to speak, all these art history cases ... Indeed, it was problematic, because many things could simply not start. Although already that censorship was not. I shot "Reed Paradise", which before it would have been impossible to even run at the script level.
A. Pichugin
Well, here, you see, even the point is probably not in art criticism, not in film criticism. It's just that over the past couple of years it has been very fashionable for us to revive the cult of the 90s - with a plus sign, with a minus sign, but everyone is discussing this. There are some exhibitions, everyone remembers. Apparently, almost 20 years have passed, and people are somehow trying to comprehend this period.
E. Tsyplakova
I think that to comprehend, and a certain longing after all for some such ... Still, the movie that was, it was still more directorial. Now producer films, now the producer dictates everything - from the material, sometimes to the actors, and so on. Moreover, those contracts that the director is now signing ... you immediately waive all rights, so if something doesn’t suit you and you try to “excite”, as they say, then they just change you, and that’s it.
A. Pichugin
And who is the director now on the set?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, he's leading the process. But everything else is ruled by producers - with their level of consciousness. (Laughs.)
K. Matsan
So we started talking about directors. You were taught, well, simply by outstanding representatives of this profession - Lev Kulidzhanov ...
A. Pichugin
Lioznova...
K. Matsan
Yes, Lioznova, Alov and Naumov.
E. Tsyplakova
Naumov, yes.
K. Matsan
I assume that they were supposed to be not just professionals, but also people with a very deep world ...
E. Tsyplakova
They were individuals, yes, yes.
K. Matsan
E. Tsyplakova
You talk about what kind of movie they made. They really made great movies, many. Both Kulidzhanov and Lioznova are simply amazing people, in fact. These are amazing ... And, of course, their personality is visible in all their work. It is not by chance that our philosophers talk about the level of their consciousness - there is a carnal, mental and spiritual level. And I always told my students - I taught a lot - also, both directors and actors: You must understand what level of human consciousness you either play or you stage about it. Because, how to say, being determines the consciousness of a person, the choice that a person makes in his life - how to act. So a lot depends on this. They were still spiritual people, highly educated. And from how we talked just in general, how we sorted out the material, it was amazing. I am very lucky in this sense.
K. Matsan
Was there any story, maybe some phrases that you once heard from them, carried with you through your whole life, that influenced you? Some conversation, maybe you remember?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, you know, I probably won’t be able to say one phrase. Well, because I believe that, in principle, a person's experience includes not only communication with teachers, but in general everything that a person sees, how he relates to everything. Because communication is great. I have 42 years in the cinema and a huge number of directors, actors, communication is such that it gives a lot of things.
K. Matsan
Elena Tsyplakova, People's Artist of Russia, is holding this "Bright Evening" with us today. Continuing the topic of teachers, who could you call - maybe not from directors, not from famous ones, but simply from those people with whom we met in life, Teachers with a capital letter? Who influenced you spiritually and ideologically?
E. Tsyplakova
You know, there was such a teacher on the course of Kulidzhanov, Tearful, and Naumov and Alov - Georgy Igorevich Sklyansky. He was the second teacher. He was an amazing person who worked with both Bondarchuk and Gerasimov. He was so quiet, inconspicuous, who always had a cross on his chest under his shirt, and he was a very thin and deep person. We talked with him, maybe even more than with all the teachers, because he taught a lot of classes, and we always visited him at home. That is, everything that we did, we discussed with him, talked. It was such a very important moment.
You know, my father - he was an amazing person, such a philosopher. He came at the age of 20 from the war as an invalid - shot through his legs, chest and that's it. He worked at home, he was an industrial graphic artist, but in moments when he wanted to talk, when he was sitting, drinking strong tea in the kitchen, he needed ears. Awareness, being - these were his speeches. First there was my older brother, then me. Many things are difficult to repeat, what he said, but it still remained in the mind. He was an amazing person. He left several amazing letters, in which for me such phrases are somehow amazing. For example, he writes there: “Do not let go of the joy of work, so as not to gain the burden of existence.”
K. Matsan
Yes it...
E. Tsyplakova
Such a message to a generation!
K. Matsan
Requires contemplation.
A. Pichugin
You are talking about Georgy Igorevich Sklyansky ...
E. Tsyplakova
A. Pichugin
That he walked with a cross under his shirt. And I look - he was very few years old, barely thirty.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, he was a believer, and this, of course, also influenced our students' minds too.
A. Pichugin
So why am I asking this? You are talking about your teachers - about Alov, Naumov, about Lioznova, Kulidzhanov. These are all the directors of the “thaw” period, as we say now, maybe even a little later period. What shaped them, do you think? You say they are individuals. But these personalities were formed in a very terrible time. These are children of the war and post-war period.
E. Tsyplakova
A. Pichugin
What else influenced them so much that gave them life? Yes, right there, in fact, a lot of people can be named - Tarkovsky, and Danelia, and a huge, huge number of directors. But it's the same... Where? These are children of their time, Soviet children.
E. Tsyplakova
It's hard for me to answer them. (Laughs) You are asking such a question, to be honest... I...
A. Pichugin
Well, you talked to them, and, probably, you have some thoughts on this?
E. Tsyplakova
You know, I probably won’t dare to speak about the spiritual life of these people, because you ask such questions in general that require certain, I don’t know, knowledge about spiritual life. I watched their films, we talked, we analyzed the passages that we staged, but I can’t answer for them. If you can, you ask about me, I ...
K. Matsan
And then I'll ask about you. You spoke about a teacher who had a strong influence on you, who walked with a cross...
E. Tsyplakova
I worked with Dinara Asanova, with interesting people in general, so...
K. Matsan
With a cross on his chest. Hardly - if I'm wrong, correct me - at that time it was safe to talk about faith like this in the kitchen and discuss.
E. Tsyplakova
He did not talk much at the institute - we talked, most likely, about this at home.
A. Pichugin
In your country, when, you say, your grandmother was reading the Gospel... And when did it begin to take shape in a conscious way?
E. Tsyplakova
At the age of 36, I seriously came.
A. Pichugin
E. Tsyplakova
Moreover, I was told about this at the age of 18. I came to Armenia to audition, and they took me to the Hripsime temple. I was like that somehow... Well, I don't know, I really liked the temple, because you go to it - and there is nothing around except the sky. Such an unfinished tuff. I went in - there was not much gold, nothing - one huge icon of the Mother of God, so strict. And I had such a thing happen there - well, I don’t know how you can call it - an indignation of the spirit or something else. This state of affairs was amazing. I stood, and then I ... And I was somewhere from the age of 16 ... There was such a serious reflection, because the father, his conversations about the meaning of life, about this and that, when a person comes to some perfect age. And I had such a question - when does a person become an adult in consciousness? And so I was told that a perfect life will begin at the age of 36-37. I was so surprised. I was 18.
K. Matsan
Who told you?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, I have this... You know how...
K. Matsan
Did you have such a feeling?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, you know, as it is said in the Gospel - I understand this now, then I didn’t really understand it ... And the Gospel says that “you hear a voice, and you don’t know where you came from, and you don’t know where you went - it happens with everyone who is born of the spirit. And indeed, at 36 - through sores, through some, well, so to speak, the accumulation of some kind of life experience, communication with people, I really came seriously. I had, probably, eight years of such a most serious repentance, consideration ... that is, revision ... I just shook up my whole life, all my behavior and so on was just ... It was very important to me then. And then there was a moment when I really refused a lot, because I even had a moment when I internally had to give up my profession altogether - apparently, in order to free myself from the fear of losing something. Because after all, many actors are believers, but at the same time they are afraid to talk about it openly, because they are afraid that, well, this is unformatted behavior for our producers and so on.
A. Pichugin
Why? It seems to me that indeed the number of believing actors ...
E. Tsyplakova
Well, now it's easier. And in the past, many people were afraid to talk about it. When I started talking about it openly, at first everyone pointed to the temple, twisted their fingers - that something was wrong with me, very many.
A. Pichugin
And now you are reading an interview - it turns out that everyone believed since the deep 60s and 70s ...
E. Tsyplakova
Well, apparently, they were shy, somehow afraid that ...
A. Pichugin
And they twisted their fingers at the temple.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, well, in general, there were different reactions. But that's not the point - the point is that I just went through some kind of internal rejection of this and returned. One of my believing friends says to me: “It’s interesting - you were filming, the Lord gave you a job, you were glorified, people believe in you, they somehow trust you, they treat you well. Have you now come to the main thing in life - and into the bushes, or what? And I needed to... And I gradually began to speak - by the way, with the picture "In You I Trust" and began to talk about the commandments, started talking about God. It was a very interesting experience for me. I shot my first series - "Family Secrets", 24 episodes, where I tried - for me it was a colossal spiritual experience - to analyze all the scenes with the actors, all the situations that occur between the guys, between the characters from the position of the Commandments, that is, lay like correct information. Lied - lied, chickened out - chickened out. Don't justify the sin you're committing. Because there are terrible stories of a family that do such things with each other because of money - “King Lear” is modern. And me...
K. Matsan
Have you been heard and perceived?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes. Well, to varying degrees, but you heard - but where was it to go? Only I am talking about this sense.
K. Matsan
No, I mean, in order to sort out the scene and play it this way, you need to have some experience - worldview, inner, right?
E. Tsyplakova
I have a very good library of ancient Christians, to be honest. I read a lot for myself, it was very important for me, besides the fact that the Gospel later already, the Old Testament. But I have a lot of ancient Christians. There are very interesting books in the libraries, which for me... I sat with a marker and underlined important thoughts for myself, re-read, thought. You know, in one of the sermons I read such an amazing phrase, where it was said that when reading Scripture, people should remember that it is not given for reading, but for revelation. And so many things were revealed later. Because when you think, when you pray and ask to understand, then many things begin to open up. It's such an amazing path. And, of course, I spoke at the level at which I could understand and feel it, because ... But it was interesting, because, for example, Yegor Beroev after work - we were finishing filming - came up to me and said: “ Lena, I want to be baptized. I want you to be the godmother." Several people in the group quit smoking. I have...
A. Pichugin
Well, now Yegor comes to us - already a very conscious believer.
E. Tsyplakova
Well, see how? There is some fruit! Movies sometimes do good things.
And I, you know, had a very interesting story with Family Secrets. When they passed, I once came to an event, a very famous lawyer approached me and said: “Lena, I have such a story connected with you ...” I say: “What? We are strangers." She says: “People came to me for three days and took away claims for the division of property. Without scandals, without everything, without demanding money back, nothing. I was so frightened - I thought they had denounced me, they didn’t want to talk to me, some article had come out somewhere ... And I couldn’t stand it and asked the tenth person why he was taking the claim. And they said to her: “You know, we watched the series “Family Secrets” and thought: “What are we sharing? Well, if they want it to be theirs, let it be."
K. Matsan
Awesome!
E. Tsyplakova
She says: “Why? Well, no one will return your money.” They say, “What is money? We are going to God." I was shocked, because when I started working on the series, I prayed and asked. I say: “Lord, I understand that I can not change the minds of people with this picture ...” Although I believe that cinema is an indirect life experience for people. Why is it so important to understand what we are filming and what kind of energy we put there, what thoughts, how we relate to it ourselves. I said: “Let them look... Well, at least even if they go to Church and think: “God, did I do this? I'm sorry, I won't do it anymore…” And then one lawyer told me that ten people took away her lawsuit after watching it. And this, of course, was such an amazing consolation to me from above that, in general, everything is correct. Thank God, somewhere there, we don’t really spoil our plans.
K. Matsan
You said that you had a period of repentance. I do not ask, of course, to reveal any personal secrets. I wanted to ask you this: as it seems to you, in principle, coming to faith often requires a person to change something in himself.
E. Tsyplakova
Certainly.
K. Matsan
What is the hardest thing about changing yourself?
E. Tsyplakova
I think the biggest problem is always the self. I am a hot person, and, of course, I had some ... That is, how? I always think quite definitely both in the acting profession and in directing, and therefore measuring myself, changing my worldview, is probably the most difficult thing. Because, as it is written in the Bible, “The Lord said: “I will write My Laws on the hearts, I will put them in their thoughts, and I will walk in them.” This is probably the greatest meaning of a person's life so that the Lord enters into you and through you ... After all, the gift of creativity that is given is not necessarily only cinema and art. That's all a person does.
Once, during a prayer, some amazing words came to me - that "repent, purify your hearts" - this is "do not interfere with Me to create through you and transform this world." I was... When I speak, I always talk about this, because, in general, this is probably the main meaning of the birth of a person - so that we transform this world and make it better. But this is possible only when a person really has the Law of God inside, when he is both in thoughts and in words. That is, when you measure yourself with this, all your actions. This is it, probably. very important, because only in this way, probably, something can be done. Because I used to think: “My God, something good is happening ...” Ah, I read from Clement of Alexandria in “Stromati” - an amazing thing about the commandment “Thou shalt not steal!”. He says that any artist who believes that he has created, he has done, is stealing the glory of God and will be punished. God, but what about when you, there, someone praised or something else? And suddenly I had such a thought that I used to unconsciously say “Thank God!”, And now I always say it consciously. I say: "Thank God!" and I am glad that, perhaps, I did not spoil the plan of some kind that is given to us in order for us to do this.
A. Pichugin
But you remember that officially - officially! - man, unlike other creatures created by God, has the ability to create?
E. Tsyplakova
A. Pichugin
Therefore, man is also a creator.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes Yes. This is his greatest gift.
A. Pichugin
They cannot be compared to God! Therefore, I think there is nothing wrong. The main thing here is not to be proud.
E. Tsyplakova
I’m talking about the same thing - that in fact all the glory is to God, and if we do it, it’s happiness when there is an opportunity to do something, such things. For me, the production of "Mother of Jesus" at the Noginsk Theater was a great happiness. You can't imagine - I went every other day, even on a small cloud, but there was a rainbow.
K. Matsan
This is Volodin's play, right?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, Alexander Volodin. It was a script for a movie.
K. Matsan
Of course we wanted to talk about it. Since you mention it, let's continue then. How did the idea come about in general? Where did the idea come from to turn to this particular material, which is probably not easy?
E. Tsyplakova
It's very difficult, yes. You know, the point is that... Well, here, probably, then you need to start a little bit from afar. I had a period when I fell ill. I worked out to such a state that I had the first group, and I lay for four months, I could not turn around myself at all. There is such a thing in the Gospel - “relaxed”. Here I was relaxed. Doctors could not understand anything, what and how. I was written off like that, I came to the hospital on my own legs, and left in a wheelchair.
And when I was lying, I prayed, and I said: “Lord, really, at the age of 50 - I already know so much, such an experience is some kind of colossal - both professional, and human, and spiritual - and what, is it so stupid to die?” I say: "I want to serve more." Well, as far as possible, I try to internally consider any of my work as a kind of service that I can kind of do in gratitude to God for what I had, have, maybe will, and so on. And I got up, they begged me. They begged me because... Moreover, they begged me in a very interesting way. Our friend settled with us - such a prayer book from the Bryansk region. My husband prayed, I prayed, and another Muslim doctor came, who also ... And he also prayed in another room - he left and also prayed. I got up. Walkers first - step, three, five, ten. Stroller... And that's it. And when I was still in a wheelchair, they invited me to Serpukhov for a festival and said: “Lena, we really want you to come to us as a VIP guest and so on.” I say: "Won't it bother you that I'm in a wheelchair?" Such a pause ... He says: “And you?” I say: “I won’t be embarrassed, many people live like this. I don’t know if I’ll ever get up or not, it’s not yet open to me.” He says: "Okay, come." So my husband took me there. They put me on stage. It turns out that they handed me “Vladimir the Brave” there - such a Gzhel figurine of very beautiful colors that guards their city. I met Yuri Pidenko there - he was then the deputy minister of culture of the region. And we talked about something, we talked wonderfully, very well, we got to know each other.
Time passes, I already got up - I walked with a cane, and suddenly he calls me and says: “Lena, I was appointed director of the Noginsk Theater. Give us something."
K. Matsan
Let's pause for a moment and return to this topic. Let me remind you that our guest is the People's Artist of Russia Elena Tsyplakova. Alexey Pichugin and Konstantin Matsan in the studio. See you back in the studio in a few minutes.
A. Pichugin
Friends, hello again! This is "Bright Evening" on the radio "Vera". Here, in this studio, Alexey Pichugin...
K. Matsan
And Konstantin Matsan.
A. Pichugin
Our guest is an actress, director Elena Tsyplakova. Hello again.
E. Tsyplakova
Good evening.
A. Pichugin
You stopped in our conversation on the fact that you were offered to stage something, something for the time being, at the Noginsk Theatre.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes. And I started looking. I think... I really wanted to find a spiritual play that would talk about the problems of a person's choice in his spiritual life. And suddenly I think like this: “Volodin!” And started looking. I think, "I haven't read this play before, this script." This script was for a movie. And I called at twelve o'clock in the morning - there was just a feeling: now, I found that I was interested in what I want. I called Yura and said: "Yura, I found it." He says: "Come tomorrow!" It was surprisingly simple. I arrived the next day, and, in fact, the issue that we were staging this play was resolved. Of course, I added two gospel quotations to it at the beginning and at the end of the play. It was very important for me to add this in order to somehow concentrate on a certain relationship, because the play is very ambiguous, and I like it for that. Because it makes a person think. That's how much I heard the reactions of people who watched - apparently, I was very lucky ... Marina Shramenko and Arseniy were at the play, because I starred in their program "Caring Conversation", and I said that I was staging a play. They came to the premiere. And they wanted to make a play.
K. Matsan
We are talking about the TV channel "My Joy".
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, this is the TV channel "My Joy". Thank God, yes.
A. Pichugin
And about our current colleagues - Marina Shramenko and our producer Arseniy Fedorov.
E. Tsyplakova
Great! And they sent three cameramen and filmed this performance in two runs. This is a great happiness for me, because today, when I have the opportunity to perform somewhere, I always take this performance, show it to people - it has an amazingly perfect effect on them. We came up with an action in the theater and after the performances we distribute free Gospels and spiritual literature, which helps me too ... And Vladyka Irinarkh gives people free to distribute in good hands (nrzb.) ...
K. Matsan
Bishop Irinarch of Krasnogorsk.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, he is in charge of the prison ministry in the Synod. I arrived, we have been friends since the time when he was the ruler in Perm. We were friends there and talked a lot. I came because I was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Belogorsky Monastery. And here, when he appeared in Moscow, arrived, I said: “You must have free literature! Let's enlighten people." And we are doing this performance as an educational action. That is, after the performance, people come out ... And on the 6th, the performance was staged ... Unfortunately, it rarely goes on. It is quite difficult for the actors, because the play has very complex texts, there is a lot based on the Word of God, but they rarely play, because the city is small, and, of course...
A. Pichugin
And the actors are all Noginsk?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, this is a repertory performance. And I was so glad - I was at the theater on the 6th, there was an absolutely full hall. And we distributed 250 Gospels. And they bring kids. You know, this is a great joy, because later they told me that they brought kids from the gymnasium, and for a week, they say, they were seething, discussing, surfing the Internet, discussing the Gospel, reading and somehow taking it very seriously. This is very pleasing, because in fact for me, as a believer, this is probably the most important work. In other works, it is not possible to speak frankly about faith, about God, to such an extent, although in “Family Secrets” I spoke about the commandments, about that ... with a hero ... We generally have a mystical picture, because I have a hero there Healed from cancer through repentance. This then happened to my mother. We begged her with stage IV oncology, she had metastases. The surgeon did not believe it until he saw the pictures - then we made a tomogram layered with contrast fluid. Because we were in the hospital with my husband, and our friend was also praying at a distance. Mom prayed - she is a believer. They read the prayer of George the Victorious that “I believe, Lord, that You raise the dead, heal the living, help us!” Because, as it is written in the Gospel - that "Paul looked into the eyes of a man and saw in him the faith necessary to receive healing." This is what happened up to this point.
K. Matsan
I am very happy that Elena Tsyplakova is our guest today, because I have the opportunity to ask a question about one of my favorite films. As a child, of course, I grew up on the film "D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers", and, of course, I knew all the songs by heart. And, as I now understand, the lyrics of these songs helped in many ways to come to faith later. Because I heard...
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, I say that this is the first prayer on the screen: “Saint Catherine, send me a nobleman!”
K. Matsan
That's exactly what I wanted... That's exactly what I wanted to ask you. Because, of course, I understand that I listened to “Although God forbade duels, but I feel talent for the sword ...”, “Lord, you see this body ...”, and I understood that if in my favorite film the hero talks about God, so there is a God. It was very easy and simple for a child at the age of four, at five, to trust this, to believe in it, and then, as an adult, the questions “is there a God?” did not occur. Of course there is, since Aramis sang about him.
And in the same row is the song “How glad I am that from childhood I learned one remedy: if you want happiness in life, pray to your saint. Saint Catherine, send me a nobleman!”, which was sung by your heroine. By the way, I don't know if I did the vocals... Was that your voice?
E. Tsyplakova
No no.
K. Matsan
Well, your heroine sang. In any case, you spoke this text. How much at that moment did you think about the fact that, perhaps, in addition to the will of the authors of the text and music, under the guise of such a light lyrical song, perhaps the deepest thing in life is sung - about prayer, about holiness in general, about turning to God?
E. Tsyplakova
At that moment, of course, consciousness... I was 19 years old... There were only some intuitive things, not very conscious. Because intuitively, after many years, I began to understand that even the choice that I made - those roles that I agreed to and so on - it was still more intuitive. But if necessary, I began to prove it and began to formulate it somehow for myself. At the time, of course, I didn't really understand.
K. Matsan
And over time somehow?.. Have you thought about it?
E. Tsyplakova
Certainly. In general, the word creates... The Fourth Gospel begins with what? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and through the Word all things were made that were made.” That is, I also always talk with my students and with actors ... Why do I always clean up dialogues where I work as a director, without fail? Because the word creates. We create reality around us by speaking, just as the mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart. And a person in his life simply creates a certain reality by what he says. It is very important. I understand it.
K. Matsan
Well, now you joked like that, half laughing, that it was the first prayer on the Soviet screen ...
E. Tsyplakova
Yes. Well, actually...
K. Matsan
You can seriously think about this as well. Indeed, really...
E. Tsyplakova
Certainly. Certainly! I just want to tell you that, you know, such a strange idea of so many unbelieving people that all Christians are such gloomy people, everyone is constantly under sin ...
K. Matsan
Yes! Gloomy...
E. Tsyplakova
And this is not true, because in fact both the apostles and everyone said: rejoice, because when a person realizes what is happening, a completely different outlook on life - consciousness completely changes. It is truly a joyful life. I live many times happier, brighter and more cheerful - well, such normal cheerfulness, and not bad, as they say. That's why...
You know, I once... I had such a very serious question. I once sat, so I had several days of such silence and no ... no fuss, running around. I sat and prayed. And I say: Behold, Lord, You gave many saints an understanding of what sin and passion are. Here I am, today's Tsyplakova, an artist, director, well, explain what sin and passion are? My today's, modern... And I have such very interesting thoughts. The Lord created man. Could he have made him imperfect? I say "No". This means that all the feelings and emotions that a person has have an ideal, divine basis. Demons cannot create anything of their own - they can only distort and pervert. This means that the perversion of the ideal quality is sin and passion. Well, that's how it was explained to me. They tell me: “Here is anger” ... And I used to be angry. Well, because it's hot. I always have “checkers naked!” Ever since childhood. I say: "Mortal sin!" They tell me: “And at the base is the ideal Divine quality.” I had such amazement, I think: “What?” The thought came: "Hatred of sin, of chaos and disorder." I read from one of the elders that if you do not hate sin, you will never be completely cleansed of it.
A. Pichugin
Actress and director Elena Tsyplakova is our guest today in the Bright Evening program.
K. Matsan
You said in the last part of the program that when you came to faith, maybe you even wanted to ... there were thoughts about leaving the acting profession ...
E. Tsyplakova
K. Matsan
And you needed it to free yourself from the fear of losing something. You uttered this word - "free yourself". In general, it seems to me that for someone who looks at Orthodoxy and the Church from the outside, it may seem that, as we said, Orthodox people are so gloomy, such dull people - there is such a stereotype. But that's just a stereotype. And there is a stereotype that faith requires everything to be abandoned - now nothing will be possible.
E. Tsyplakova
Nothing like this. You know...
K. Matsan
And you said the word "freedom". How does faith give freedom?
E. Tsyplakova
Yes! Because where there is spirit, there is freedom.
K. Matsan
And how does this happen in practice?
E. Tsyplakova
A person is actually freed from material power over you. After all, this is very important! And Berdyaev, by the way, in the sense of creativity - wonderful words: what, he says, repentance should lead to the beginning of a new creative life. That is, you can’t focus only on the fact that I am a sinner and I can’t go anywhere ... These are all these restrictions ... It seems to me that just such true repentance leads to inner freedom, because it is said that “those who are led by the Spirit under the law." There is a complete change of consciousness.
K. Matsan
And to joy.
E. Tsyplakova
And to joy, of course! Certainly! Because in fact - yes, you realized that you ... So you realized - what is the Lord doing? He said, “Do you understand? Don't do more!"
K. Matsan
“Go and sin no more!”
E. Tsyplakova
“Go and sin no more! And don't do it! Live, be happy, create! Live in this world!" The Lord says to you: "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." That is, a person owes this joy and light during his lifetime ... I even wrote this to my friends on Facebook ... Someone died there - and they write: “Kingdom of Heaven!” I say: “Brothers, the Kingdom of Heaven must be desired by a person during his lifetime, and not after death! Because after death he will go there, sorry for what he has gained. And during life it is necessary that a person reveals this. Because it is necessary to understand that the spirit is spiritual... Man is a spirit, first of all. In the meantime, we are at the level of the flesh, by whom we are enslaved - to that we are slaves. Either we cater to the flesh... There are a huge number of spiritual people - it is said in the Gospel that first they are spiritual, and then spiritual. But, that is, anyway, when a person comes to this, a completely different life begins for him. It begins joyfully, indeed, because you are freed from the negativity that you have, which does not allow you to live normally.
A. Pichugin
And please explain this meaning of the phrase that a person who has already died should not wish for the Kingdom of Heaven.
E. Tsyplakova
No, I do not mean that ... Everyone wants, only after death. I'm talking about what you want in life.
A. Pichugin
E. Tsyplakova
I'm not saying it's not necessary...
K. Matsan
Not what not to do, but what...
E. Tsyplakova
I'm just saying that it's better to wish in life, so that a person understands this in life. Because - yes, relatives, friends, priests can beg, whoever undertakes, writes notes and so on, begs the soul of a person. This is really very important. but it is better for a person to understand this during his lifetime. Live happily. That is, he...
And even in Revelations, this moment is very interesting, when they showed John these 144 thousand who were in the spirit in whitened robes, he says: “And the sun will not burn them, and will not, there ... and wipe away a tear ... “That is, it is during life. But in the spirit of people...
K. Matsan
Well, that is, it means that the wish for the Kingdom of Heaven is not a form of wishing only at a funeral.
E. Tsyplakova
Yes, that's what I was talking about.
K. Matsan
Something that concerns everyone in general all the time.
Do you know what else I would like to ask? At the beginning of the conversation, you said that you had a period when you began to play mothers and grandmothers.
E. Tsyplakova
K. Matsan
I suspect that it is probably not so easy for an actress to enter this period and accept it?
E. Tsyplakova
Why? Fine! I am many years old!
K. Matsan
You just talk about it. Is that a joy for you too?
E. Tsyplakova
K. Matsan
Progress on this age scale?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, of course. I am 57 years old. I can no longer play some young girls. Therefore, this is normal.
K. Matsan
No, this is a professional question. There is a more ideological question, perhaps, that... I admit that for some this is some kind of stress, this is such an undesirable... inevitable, but undesirable thing. And you...
E. Tsyplakova
You know, I treat every year of my life as an accumulation of some experience of this kind - both human, and mental, and spiritual. And I don't mind my age at all. I speak openly about this everywhere, because for me, in general ... How long the Lord will give me to live, I don’t know, but, nevertheless, I would never want to return to the age that I was before, because there were charms and joys, but I realized a lot of things, I think in a completely different way, I live differently - I would not want to be the same as I was before.
K. Matsan
Could you decipher this idea - that is, something was wrong then?
E. Tsyplakova
Well, of course, of course. I didn't understand a lot of things. I said that I had such a very serious period of analysis of my own life, such repentance, when I took myself apart simply by the bones - all the actions that I did.
A. Pichugin
It is quite possible that another ten years will pass, and you will say...
E. Tsyplakova
And there will be more, of course!
A. Pichugin
Right now, here is 57 years old - something is wrong, but already ... Well, yes, there is already normal growth ...
E. Tsyplakova
Well, of course. Every age... After all, the Lord gives, slowly teaches.
K. Matsan
But look, there is an opinion that over the years, in principle, a person, understanding more and more about life, gaining experience, actually becomes more cynical - “yes, I already know everything about this life - people are what they are There is"...
E. Tsyplakova
In general, cynicism is not a divine quality at all. Even Blok once wrote that in general any irony is not a divine quality. I don't remember exactly how he said it...
A. Pichugin
Well, it depends on what situation... If a doctor approaches a patient without a sound - sound, I emphasize - share of cynicism, he will not be able to treat him. If a priest approaches his parishioner...
E. Tsyplakova
Well, you know, I think that cynicism... It's better just brotherly love, maybe some kind? Will it be higher?
K. Matsan
It seems to me that cynicism is just some kind of psychological barrier so as not to go crazy.
A. Pichugin
But this psychological barrier, so as not to go crazy, for you, if not for a doctor, will be called cynicism. But he will not be outwardly different from him.
E. Tsyplakova
I will not argue with you, but I do not consider cynicism a good quality.
A. Pichugin
Terminology...
E. Tsyplakova
I had it too. And there was slander. You know, I even had a completely amazing dream about slander. I was like that - sharp on the tongue before. I suddenly have a dream that I live in a house, I have a snake - it's so small, brown and poisonous, I'm friends with her. And I suddenly have a dream - I go to bed, she is in bed with me, I wake up - she curled up on my tongue, at the end of my tongue, she also sleeps.
K. Matsan
What a terrible dream!
E. Tsyplakova
Moreover, such a detailed, color in general. I get up in horror in a dream, go to the mirror, look, think: “My God! Now I will try to take her out, she will hit me with her tongue, poison me. That’s all, I mean, I walked, walked, then I thought: “Ah, I’ll slip my finger, slip my nail - if she even hits, hits the nail.” I, therefore, tear it out of my tongue, tear off my head, throw it, run, take a glass of clear water and rinse my mouth and listen whether I was poisoned or not. I then wake up - in a dream I dreamed that I was already sweating. I wake up, and I have such a thought: "slander." That is, it was just the period of my such repentance. I suddenly had this dream. I think: “My God, how much I have sinned with this!” I could offend a person, say some such sharp thing and so on. That is, I understood how deadly it is for a person who does this for himself. I stopped allowing myself - gradually. Naturally, some things didn’t work out for me right away, but I already shepherded myself in this sense, I didn’t allow myself to do this anymore.
K. Matsan
You have been teaching and communicating for many years, and you have probably already communicated with different generations of students.
E. Tsyplakova
K. Matsan
And remember yourself as a student. How do you think how generational priorities are changing, in particular, those with whom you see each other? How are we different from those who studied with you on the course?
E. Tsyplakova
Oh, it's hard for me to answer this question. In general, to be honest, I don’t like any such generalizations, because I believe that in general there are no two identical people in the world, this is how the Lord created us. All different. And so to generalize, to be honest, I don’t really like it. Because...
K. Matsan
Don't generalize. Tell me about your personal observations.
E. Tsyplakova
You know, this is probably the eternal problem of the adult generation and youth. Because we ourselves grow up, our tastes change. And we ourselves react differently to everything. Therefore... But I can say that when I took courses from Nesterova, when I taught there and was the dean, very young people come into the directing profession, who do not yet have such serious experience. And I tried with all possible forces, with conversations, so that they would show exactly their personality, their view. Because every person is unique.
A. Pichugin
Thanks a lot! Our time has come to an end. Let me remind you that the director, actress Elena Tsyplakova, was visiting the Bright Evening program on radio Vera today. Thank you very much for visiting us today. Alexey Pichugin...
K. Matsan
Konstantin Matsan. Thank you for the amazingly warm and deep conversation.
E. Tsyplakova
And I wish everyone a joyful existence, life, the Kingdom of Heaven within you!
A. Pichugin
Thank you! All the best! Be healthy!
K. Matsan
An unexpected meeting with a famous actress and director Elena Tsyplakova at the All-Russian Orthodox Conference "Christianity-2000", which was held in Samara in mid-May, she delighted and surprised: her name was not on the list of participants in this theological forum. And the first question that was asked to Elena expressed this bewilderment:
- What are the fates of you - to us? At the conference, you stayed close to Matushka Joanna, Abbess of the Samara Iversky Monastery...
She invited me to the conference. On my last visit to Samara, I met Mother Superior and Archbishop Sergius of Samara and Syzran. I have good friends in your city: Yuri Kharitonov and Vyacheslav Sonin, the chief architect and chief trustee of the construction of the Memorial Temple in the name of Great Martyr George the Victorious. I came to Samara at their invitation, and when I found out about the theological conference, I wanted to go.
—
Is it professional or worldly interest?
- You can say professional. In recent years, I have been directing, and this work has a lot in common with the work of a teacher. For a while, I taught myself. Now, as a member of the expert commission of the Goskino of Russia, I am reading scripts and, of course, I must be fully armed so as not to let films that corrupt the audience, give distorted ideas about Orthodoxy, be shown on the screen.
- It is easy to say... But is it possible at all to combine such heterogeneous concepts: Orthodoxy - and cinema, the illusory world of seething passions, acting, pretense? ..
- When I came to faith, at first I had the only desire - to leave my profession, because today it is really very difficult to exist in the cinema, trying to simultaneously observe God's commandments, to go to repentance. But then the understanding of the main thing came that the Lord gave commandments to all people and everyone in his place must fulfill them. “In every place of His dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul…”
There is a tremendous power in cinema, a terrible power. And any film is also a kind of sermon. Another thing is what and how it says. They throw a stone, and what will happen as a result - a collapse will happen or some wonderful flower will bloom from the seed thrown along with the stone - that's what is very important. The Gospel says: by their fruits you will know them. The fruits are what people of art say, what they do, what they put on the screen. For me, the directorial work on the film “In You I Trust” was a gift from Above, when I was able to express my Orthodox ideals and at the same time show without embellishment what happens to children who were betrayed by their parents.
- This is the same film about a young woman who abandoned her child, and then through the Church, through repentance came to an orphanage and ... found herself in real hell? .. This film shocked me with its chaste frankness. Very true, in my opinion, that elusive line was found that separates pity for disadvantaged children from sugariness, there is no savoring of cruelty, vulgarity, triumphant evil, so familiar to many films of our days. So this is your show?
This film has had an impact on my life. You can't touch fire and not get burned. I realized that it was not enough to show in all its ugliness the life of abandoned children; If you can at least do something for them, do it. So I became a member of the International Charitable Society, a member of the Board of Trustees of the orphanage in Strogino. For more than three years I have been living with their problems, trying to somehow help. These guys were still lucky enough to meet a kind and caring mother: Tamara Filippovna Buyanova, the director of the orphanage, grew up in an orphanage herself and knows how each of these thirty-five boys and girls needs a sense of security, family warmth, love and kindness. However, they do not go to the other extreme here. Pity should be reasonable, sentimentality only to the detriment. In a real family, children are prepared from childhood for the daily difficulties of life. So in Strogino, children are taught to be housewives and housewives. Girls sew and embroider, knit and cook, put things in order. Boys master men's crafts - they learn how to plan and saw, hammer nails. There are many beautiful children's drawings and interesting crafts in the house.
- So, they will not go out into the world without arms ... But this is being done more and more for the body, but for the soul?
- All the guys are baptized. In their rooms they have icons, Orthodox books. The orphanage is spiritually nourished by Father Stefan from the Boriso-Gleb Church in Moscow. No matter how difficult it is with money, Tamara Filippovna uses every opportunity to take the children to holy places, on pilgrimages to monasteries.
In general, shelters and orphanages must be under the protection of the Church. Everything, of course, is the will of God, but it will also be strictly asked of us whether we have done everything to help these children who have endured so much grief find peace in their souls.
- You did not immediately come to faith. But for some reason, seeing you in many films, I was always sure: you are Orthodox. Some kind of deep light in the eyes - after all, if it exists, you can’t hide it, and if not, you can’t portray it with any acting tricks.
- You know, I've been baptized since childhood, I loved to go to church with my grandmother. But at the age of eighteen, I clearly heard the idea that came from somewhere above that the most important thing for me would begin after 36 years, that all this was vanity, and a real, full life was ahead. But by the time I reached this threshold, in my soul, despite outwardly complete well-being, there was a disastrous devastation, as if someone was pushing me to the abyss. And suddenly I felt: it’s not I who want this, it’s the demon persistently dragging me into the abyss. That’s when I realized how weak I am in essence, I don’t have my own strength to resist the enemy - and I prayed to the Lord: “Save me, God, don’t let me die! ..” So through pain, through despair, with God’s help, I nailed to saving shore, to the Church. And I really do not just exist now - I live! I travel a lot around the country, but I try to go to church as often as possible, at least once a week. I really like the temple in the name of the icon "Life-Giving Spring" in Tsaritsyno. I love old, praying cloisters. On one of my trips, when I found myself in the city of Revda, Yekaterinburg region, not far from the place where the Royal Martyrs were killed, I learned that the Crucifixion was bleeding in the local church. The Lord vouchsafed me to venerate this Cross... I find answers to many of my questions from Father Gennady Zverev, a priest of St. Sophia Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo.
I spent Holy Week at the church. She carried obedience on candlesticks and in the sacristy, it was an indescribable state of peace, spiritual harmony, joy. Only in the church fence, in the fullness of church life, is it known what true happiness is. For me, it consists in serving God in the place where He has placed.
- Are you strict about the scripts of films that you are offered to work with?
- Yes. But if earlier I simply refused to work with some scenarios, now I am explaining why. I give people the opportunity to understand why the proposed option does not suit me as an Orthodox person.
—
So what: can we hope that we will still see a good domestic film directed by director Elena Tsyplakova?
- Now I am working on a literary material of high spirituality that has interested me very much. I really want to bring it to our Russian viewers ...
Zoya Bardina
Unfortunate is that believer who cannot share the Good News with those whom God sends to him, in the place where the Lord has placed him. Especially if this person also belongs to the so-called. to the highest circles of the art world, where human glory is simply like “Our Father”… Glory to the Lord that His children serve in many places. They are God's missionaries, carrying the saving fire of faith to others with their talents, with all that the Lord has given them. The triumph of faith in Jesus Christ is the creed of such people.
Elena Oktyabrevna Tsyplakova - director, Honored Artist of Russia, Dean of the Film and Television Faculty of the Natalia Nesterova Academy of Education. Her name is noted in the encyclopedia "People of Our Millennium" as a person of the millennium. She was awarded the medal "For Faith and Good", and her creative awards can be listed endlessly. In the creative world, they talk about her as a truly believing person. She does not hide her faith.
“I want,” she says, “to make a movie that could be called truly Christian. Today, a lot of scripts are being written, but all of them are at the level of spiritual understanding by people of this world, but spiritual understanding is higher. If a person does not think spiritually, he is not whole. Her films: "Reed Paradise", "I Trust in You", "Family Secrets", affecting the lives of completely different people on a social and cultural level, carry a holistic awakening of a person. Elena does this not only as a director on the screen, but also as an organizer and presenter of many spiritual and moral programs. She was the director-consultant of the television program "There is Hope" of the Christian center "Renaissance". For several years in a row, she has been invited to be the host of the Christian festivals "Star of Bethlehem" and Easter concerts. Students of the creative workshop of Elena Tsyplakova, rethinking their lives, come to faith in God.
“When at the age of 36 I truly believed in God,” she says, “I reconsidered my whole life, because I think: living faith is not what a person says, but how he lives, his way of life. I read a lot, prayed and asked the Lord to give me the gift of understanding, the gift of knowledge. For example, she asked for the wisdom of God every time she went to appear in various talk shows. I agreed to participate, because I am convinced: everywhere you need to talk about Christ. After all, the Lord said: "You will be my witnesses in all the earth." I try to go on such programs where you can talk about God, because the Orthodox are called to missionary work. Sometimes secular people do not perceive even a priest as well as a famous artist.
I know that if it were not for the Lord, I would no longer be alive. I was very sick ... But a miracle happened in my life. By faith through repentance, I was healed of many ailments. I openly testify to this. During that difficult period of illness, with great faith I called out to God: “Lord, I know that You heal the sick, raise the dead, and I am alive. So you can heal me too!” And, thank God, the Lord heard my prayers. I do not deny medicine, it is, of course, necessary.
From a spiritual point of view, there are different levels of faith: there are people who believe, but they cannot accept healing without medicine, and it happens that a person is able to accommodate the miracle of God and a miracle happens in his life.
I believe that faith is real, only the one that you live every day is alive. Having learned the spiritual laws of being, you must apply them in your own life.
From early childhood, Lena heard about God. From the age of four, grandmother Katya (as Lena called her) read the Gospel to her granddaughter. Once, while relaxing with her grandfather in the village, four-year-old Lena tried to walk on the water ... And she was terribly upset that she did not succeed. Then she tried in another place - in the country near St. Petersburg. Mom pulled her daughter out of the deep river by the scruff of the neck, where Lena was sitting in the clear water, watching the underwater world. So Lena grew up, watching the world around her, and from the age of 16 she began to seriously reflect on the meaning of life.
Elena's father was an artist without education, because at the age of 16 he went to the front, and at 20 he returned from the war as an invalid. But he became the best graphic artist in St. Petersburg. Her father was also a philosopher. Often, sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea, he talked about what being, consciousness, creativity, life itself is, and his daughter sat and listened. The father's thoughts remained somewhere deep in the daughter's mind. And the Lord gave her His signs.
With God's help, Elena's consciousness changed: “In my first inner cry, I exclaimed: “Lord, how can you love yourself? You said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." And if I don’t love myself, and I understand that I’m living wrong, I’m doing it wrong?” In prayer, God answered me: “Share everything that you have. Good - cultivate, and from the bad, if possible, get rid of. Why does the Lord say leave the worries of tomorrow to tomorrow? Because every day He gives something to sort out within oneself, to develop one's world further. Any situation is a test before God, the main thing is what fruit you will bear as a result. We can dream about the future, remember the past, but eternity is happening today, today we bring the fruit of our soul before God. It remains with us forever. If you do not love your neighbors today, you cannot forgive someone - this is your today's fruit. When people do not appreciate the day they are living, they simply unconsciously miss a lot of things, do not understand what they have done.
I bear witness to God with my body. I had many diseases, including deadly malaria. They were going to put me on hormones, I weighed 116 kilograms, but I couldn’t do anything about it, no matter what diets I tried. The problems went away when I firmly and with faith proclaimed: “I will not take hormones. I want to be healed by faith! Lord, I ask You to heal me." There was a serious repentance. My illnesses are gone and my life has changed.”
Elena's mother, Zoya Vasilievna, according to her daughter, is a sincerely believing Christian. “She has an absolutely childish and bright faith,” says Elena.
- She so sincerely addresses the Lord: “Jesus, you help me ...” She says that she still has to live and do a lot of things. She does everything with prayer. Sincerely trusting God, my mother was healed of a terrible disease. My husband Pavel, my friend Vitaly Voskoboynikov and other friends prayed for my mother. When I found out that she had cancer, I did not hide the diagnosis from her, I did not want to deceive. Didn't do any chemistry. And my mother had such a strong faith! She has gone metastases left after the operation of cancerous tissue, because she would not survive a radical operation. Our wonderful surgeon Dmitry Vladimirovich Dvoryankin, when he looked at the results of tomography, was surprised: “There really is nothing!” Of course, it was the most difficult for him to believe in a miracle. God bless! Now my mother went to the village for the summer.
After Elena came to God, she began to perceive her work as a ministry, according to the principle written in the Gospel: “Do you think, do you say, do everything as before
the Lord." When you do something in front of people, you can value their opinion of yourself in different ways. But when you do your work before the Lord, you understand that every work,
which is entrusted to you by the Creator, you dedicate to Him and turn it into service, as far as it
Maybe.
“The first thing I did after a serious repentance and rethinking of my life,” Elena Tsyplakova continues her story, “was my television series: “Family Secrets.” I worked in a whole new way with actors. We analyzed all the situations that the actors had to play from the position of the Biblical commandments. There was a wonderful reaction to the picture. One woman, a lawyer, told me that within two days 10 people came to her to pick up claims for the division of property, and no one demanded that she return the unearned money. She was frightened, thinking that she was somehow slandered, they decided not to deal with her ... Finally, she could not stand it and asked the tenth client: “What happened?” He said, "You know, we watched Family Secrets and thought, why are we sharing?" She was surprised: “But no one will return the money to you!” He answered her: “What is money? We are going to God! This is probably the only thing I prayed for! Every day on the set began with a prayer. Everyone looked at me with big eyes, then they got used to it, and no one cursed anymore, no one smoked on the set, there was no drinking, during the filming God performed a lot of miracles. So, Yegor Beroev, a young actor was baptized during the picture, I became his godmother. Several people quit smoking ... So there is a fruit!
I really wanted people, looking at what is happening on the screen, to say to themselves: “Lord, forgive me, and I did the same.” This is the most important thing that I dream about as a director, so that people, with God's help, return from the hell they drive themselves into when they stop loving each other and start hating.
It always seemed strange to me to hear from people that "my religious views are my own business." This is an illusion. Because a person can be seen by his actions; according to what he is in life. When I became a believer, I wanted to change everything and immediately: “From today I start a new life. I will live as the Lord reveals to me, as He teaches through His Word. And it doesn’t matter if I get fired from my job or not – the Lord will protect, manage.” All my fears that I would lose my job because I became a sincere Christian were false.
In the creative life of Elena Tsyplakova, there was such a thing when her expectations were not fulfilled. She calmly perceives such moments: “There is nothing accidental in this world. As the elders used to say: "He who believes in chance does not believe in God." For certain reasons, I was not able to make the film "The Doomed". "Doubled" is a story about informal climbers (amateurs) who live near Krasnoyarsk in an amazing reserve in rocky outcrops. The script written by Yuri Korotkov was very interesting, but the ending of the story was tragic. The project stopped before filming began. I was very worried then. And now I understand very well that the Lord did not allow this film, so that it would not be my fruit in time. Because I would make a picture that romanticizes suicide - one of the terrible sins. I thank God it didn't happen."
When Elena communicates with people, then just spiritual understanding is not enough for her. For her, any manifestation of God in man is of great interest. She wants to see deeper. According to her, "it's amazing, it's interesting to talk to people about how they begin to feel God, how He manifests in their lives." There is a meeting with God through another person. And through such communication, Elena is internally enriched.
Elena Tsyplakova is a creative person. Constantly filming something, working on something new. Elena plans to shoot a picture called "PIR" based on the story of the same name by Maxim Yakovlev, an Orthodox journalist who became a writer. Now Elena has finished the script and is looking for money. History can touch anyone because it gives food for the soul and mind. The picture is not action, not commercial. But here is just a story about how the Gospel life can happen today in the fate of a person. Elena is also working on the script for The Tale of Boris and Gleb. Very interesting projects are being planned together with the Friendship of Russia and Serbia Society. In addition, she, together with her husband Pavel, created the Transfiguration Cultural and Educational Center.
“A person has a body, soul and spirit,” she says about the goals of the center. Everything must develop in harmony. Our center is aimed at various programs: a healthy lifestyle, art, necessarily spiritual and educational. I believe that the most important problems are related to the spiritual ignorance of people. There are words in the Gospel: “I will liken a wise man who builds his house on a stone, and not a wise man on sand.” People have a set of scattered knowledge of the truth, not united into a single faith, so all this is just sand. I would like us to, according to the words of the Apostle Peter, as “living stones built a spiritual house out of themselves ...” (1 Peter 2: 5) We called our center “Transfiguration”, because the most important change in a person is the transformation through the Lord of his feelings, consciousness, deeds, all life. There are people who can already come to work at the center, for example, the animator Katya Glushchenko, who works with children from the age of 4, 5. They, still speaking poorly, come up with scripts themselves, draw, shoot, voice. Katya has films made by children: "Noah", "God created the world." I want there to be a student center in Transfiguration. But this is an investment system. There is no finance. The center has existed for the second year, so far we are carrying out only individual programs. Everything has its time. The most important thing is that I do not lose heart!
Listening to Elena Tsyplakova, watching her life, we can say with confidence that she and people close to her live by faith, through the triumph and joy of faith.
There have been many miracles in my life,” she says. – The Lord said that “these signs will accompany those who believe in me,” that “he who believes in me will do more, for I am going to the Heavenly Father.” I can say one thing - I am a believer! The Lord gave me faith, and so many things in my life, like mountains, just moved!
On June 23 of this year, Russian Line published. The article was called "Artist Elena Tsyplakova, producer of the sect "Sofia" from Dnepropetrovsk." This is not the first time we have published the materials of the Dialog Center, they have never aroused any suspicions in us. It was felt that they were written by Orthodox people. This text did not cause concern either. The facts cited by its authors left no doubt that in the case of the Dnepropetrovsk spiritual center "Sofia" it was a sect.
However, about a month and a half after the publication, Elena Tsyplakova’s associate at the Sofia center, Helena Melnikova, called us, who began to denounce RL with fervor for the fact that we “slandered the honest name of the famous artist and director”, “a real ascetic in the field of Orthodox enlightenment of the people” . To be honest, after a month and a half, we did not immediately remember the publication about Tsyplakova. When, finally, we figured out what kind of publication we were talking about, the first thing we did was recommend that Ms. Melnikova contact the Dialog Center, with a link to which we published the material. However, she stated that the article was published in the local newspaper as a material of the St. Petersburg news agency Russkaya Liniya, but nothing was said about the Dialog Center, and resolutely demanded that we refute the "evil slander."
The next day, Elena Oktyabrevna Tsyplakova herself called. On the contrary, she did not denounce, she complained about untruth, about slander, she was looking for sympathy. She emphasized that she spends her personal savings on the needs of the Sofia center, and in the article of Dialogue she is allegedly accused of self-interest. Wishing to impress us with authority, E. Tsyplakova told about the warm relations she had with Archbishop Sergius (Poletkin) of Samara, Metropolitan Vladimir (Kotlyarov) of St. Petersburg, who, at their personal meeting, was surprised at her deep knowledge of Holy Scripture and even, supposedly , blessed her for preaching. And with the famous archpriest from Tsarskoe Selo Gennady Zverev, according to the famous actress and director, she has friendly relations at all. However, having caught that the reference to acquaintance with these authoritative people did not make the proper impression on us, Elena Oktyabrevna again returned to the topic of slander and injustice against her. Skillfully using professional skills, by the end of the telephone conversation, she so endeared herself to the editor-in-chief of the RL (a person who, in general, has considerable life experience) that he was almost ready to look at what was happening through her eyes.
However, we agreed that Tsyplakova and her associates would prepare and send material refuting "slander against the spiritual center "Sofia" from Dnepropetrovsk."
ABOUT WOLVES AND SHEEP...
On September 10, we finally received the text of an article by a certain Olga Dmitrieva. We were alarmed that in the lengthy text no answer was given to a single point of accusation of sectarianism: neither about "aura measurements", nor about "fortune telling and removal of corruption", nor about the preaching practice of the head of the center "Aunt Sophia". And most importantly, some passages of the article left no doubt that the author of this text is a real sectarian. However, the God-loving reader can verify this for himself. Below we publish the text of the article in the form in which it was sent to us (all emphasis in the text is the author's).
Wolves in sheep's clothing?
Pseudo-Orthodox media labels ....
Opinion on the material "Artist Elena Tsyplakova - producer of the Sofia sect"
“And now, I say to you, get away from these people and leave them: for if this enterprise and this work are from men, then it will be destroyed, but if from God, then you cannot destroy it; beware lest you also turn out to be enemies of God." (Acts 5:38-39).
It can be hard to figure out what is true and what is false. The Gospel gives us a clue: "By their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:16).
In Dnepropetrovsk for 13 years there has been a Spiritual Center of the Orthodox Faith, a home church that does a lot of educational work among people who are thirsty to know the truth. Here they study the Word of God, read the Gospel and psalms, turn to the Creator with prayers for help. The head of the center is Sofia. Many people visit this center for more than one year. On big holidays - Christmas, Trinity, Easter, Intercession - people from near and far abroad come here. The fruits of Sophia's work are thousands of people who radically changed their lives through repentance and turning to God. Many have been cured and embarked on the path of truth, faith, many have discovered the gifts of creativity. The Gospel of John says, "A man cannot take anything upon himself unless it is given to him from heaven" (Jn 3:27).
Today, the need for Orthodox enlightenment of our fellow citizens is especially acutely felt. Many, feeling the lack of this knowledge, reached out to Christian literature, began to listen to sermons from TV screens, and visited churches. Of course, it is difficult for an unprepared soul to understand all the diversity of currents and trends in Christian literature. Everyone talks about God. And each - in its own way.
If you think about it, the Holy Gospel itself is compiled in a similar way: from Matthew, from Luke, from John, etc. The Holy Spirit filled each of them, but the apostles covered the same events in different ways (this was influenced by the individuality of each of them). Orthodoxy, probably, therefore dominates over all other directions in Christianity, since by the very name it gives everyone the right to glorify the Almighty.
Unfortunately, we all live in the turmoil of the earth, and how many people we have - so many opinions. In this situation, perhaps the main rule for every Orthodox Christian should be the biblical rule "do no harm." Everyone who serves our Lord Jesus Christ, first of all, should be concerned about the enlightenment of the lost, about the awakening and repentance of souls.
In what ways and through whom this is accomplished - only the Lord knows. It is not for nothing that it is said: "Judge not, and you will not be judged." The ways of the Lord are inscrutable, and the Holy Spirit dwells in many of God's children. True, to the extent to which they deserve it (say, to what extent they repented and cleansed themselves).
In the Dnepropetrovsk Spiritual Center there is also an ensemble of spiritual singing "Sofia". For several years he has been giving charity concerts in Ukraine and Russia together with Elena Tsyplakova, Honored Artist of Russia, film director, Dean of the Directing Faculty of the Humanitarian University N. Nesterova. The ensemble holds lecture-concerts in various places and for different audiences. These speeches everywhere have the same impact: people begin to see their life problems in a new way, from the point of view of the Orthodox Christian faith. This view of life is revealed to them in the accessible form of modern hymns and sermons. "People's sermon" - this is how one Orthodox priest called the work of the group. As another minister of the church said, the ensemble with their sermon opened the way to where ministers of the faith are not invited. And here is another review "... The traditional concert will long remain in the memory of those who were lucky enough to attend it. For in just two hours people received the necessary information about spiritual life, filled their souls with melodies that flowed from the stage like pure spring water" (Newspaper "Dnepropetrovsk Pravda" N3 01/23/04 Christmas meetings of Elena Tsyplakova - a sip of spring water to awaken society")
"... A festive concert, held at the Shevchenko Music and Drama Theater, completed the meeting of E. Tsyplakova. Truly divine chants of the Sofia ensemble conquered the audience. I would like to add that "Christmas Meetings" is not a commercial project, and is addressed first of all, children left without parental care.All the proceeds from the project will be used to purchase gifts and provide assistance to children from boarding school No. 7 and the Barvinok shelter soul and God in the heart.
An article in the newspaper "Zarya" dated 17.01.04 "How to make hearts alive", an article "Glory to the Most High" in the newspaper "Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation SK Novosti" - 26.11.03, an article "Healers in serials" in the newspaper "Antenna TV network" - 08/10/03 and many other appearances on radio, in magazines and TV testify to the great interest in the personality of E. Tsyplakova, in the songs of the "Sofia" ensemble and in the activities of their leader Sofia.
The work of the spiritual center and the ensemble convinces us of the truth of the prophetic predictions of Patriarch Sergius: “Just as He (the Lord) sends Judges and Prophets to ancient Israel, so He sends people in his church at times of emergency exceptional giftedness like prophets, strong in spirit and faith. Having no official (!) appointment (like the Lord himself and the Apostles), these people by the deed come forward from the general mass (of the people) and become leaders of others. But this leadership has no official character, is not a position established in the church and does not always keep within the service framework. Like every prophecy it is a personal (!) feat of such people, the matter of their personal inner spiritual enterprise and zeal for God and the Church of God. ("The last fate of Russia and the world." Patriarch Sergius and his spiritual heritage. Moscow, Patriarchy, 1947, pp. 68-69)
The desire of all righteous people for justice, for respect for the rights and freedoms of every person is natural. And it is embodied, as a rule, in very specific actions, which also give good results.
"...Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion." This right includes freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's own choosing and to freely manifest one's religion or belief, either alone or in community with others, in public or in private, in the performance of religious and ritual rites, rites and teachings. No one should feel pressure that would diminish his freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice (Art. 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). Art. 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is not accidentally attributed to the natural and inalienable rights of man. This means that a person receives these spiritual values from the moment of his birth, and no one has the right to forbid him to enjoy these freedoms.
Totalitarian structures, first of all, try to establish control over what citizens think and believe. This is an attack on the freedom of citizens.
It should be noted that when confessing religious beliefs, issues related to freedom of speech may arise. And after many years of absence of this freedom, we all, oh, how it is necessary to learn to use this freedom without infringing on anyone's rights. After all, according to the logic of things, freedom of speech implies the responsibility for what is said.
Let us return, however, to the topic of our article.
So, in the Dnepropetrovsk newspaper "Mir" a small note was published with the signature "Russian Line", where false facts about the activities of the "Sofia" center were cited in a derogatory and insulting form. The article also contained appeals and advice to the leaders of the Patriarchy and the Orthodox hierarchy.
Trying to identify the authors of this material discrediting more than one good name, we managed to find out that the "Russian Line" itself has nothing to do with authorship. She is the organizer of the collection and distribution of materials that come to the site. The author of the material discrediting the honor and dignity of merit. artist of Russia E. Tsyplakova, the head of the spiritual center "Sofia", as well as members of the ensemble, turned out to be some kind of public organization, or some kind of center called "Dialogue", which supposedly was only organized in 2004, or is already registered , or is still in the process of official registration. They refused to talk to us when we came to them about the article. At the moment, the structure has I.O. a leader who, apparently, is somehow familiar with the technologies of positioning himself in a certain environment. For example, reception No. 1 is the most elementary: you need to find the "Elephant" by name, but hang and start .... you know what!
According to the understanding of this organization, for example, participants in the "Sofia" center should wear a pectoral cross only with permission (that's just who?), And the lyrics must be coordinated without fail (again, with whom?), And participate in charity tours, only with their, apparently, "Dialogue" of blessing, and only after the "interview", that is, "dialogue" with this organization. (The Moscow and Samara dioceses, they say, are underperforming in this regard).
A quite natural question arises in this situation: why did the representatives of this organization, living in the same city as Sofia, have no opportunity (or desire?) to meet and get acquainted with the team? Why didn't they honestly and openly subscribe to the material, but tried to pass it off as the "voice" of the St. Petersburg "Russian Line"?
Why do they consider themselves entitled to trample on other people's rights, damage the honor of truly worthy people, name labels and give "advice" to the highest leaders of our Church of Christ? And there are a lot of "why" that arise when reading the materials of this, in my opinion, pseudo-Orthodox and very "yellow" newspaper. As it turned out, the editorial office of the newspaper "Mir" and the organization (or center?) "Dialogue" are located in the same building. So what was the purpose of the authors and editors of this material? The thoughtful reader will answer this question himself. I want to ask: save their souls, Lord!
I would like to note that in their performances on television, radio and in concert halls, Elena Tsyplakova and the ensemble "Sofia" urge people to fulfill the commandments of God, visit Orthodox churches and partake of the Sacraments of the Church, and also change their lifestyle based on the Christian Orthodox worldview. As a result, people turn to God, to the Church, go to Orthodox churches, and there is evidence of this. Similar articles cross out all the good fruits of these speeches and sometimes interfere with their organization. And I want to ask a question, who are the authors of such articles serving?
Olga Dmitrieva, Dnepropetrovsk
To our rather mild criticisms about the content of the article, expressed by the assistants of E.O. Tsyplakova Gelena Melnikova and Denis Kuznetsov, who sent us this text, we received a response that the article was personally reviewed by Elena Oktyabrevna and approved by her. However, next we received another text - more serious and thorough - a letter to the editors of the "Russian Line". It can be seen that the authors of this text not only know how to write correctly and to the point, but they are, apparently, Orthodox people.
We also submit the text of this letter to the judgment of the God-loving reader in the form in which we received it.
"insulting people and damaging the cause of God"
Dear employees of the Orthodox News Agency "Russian Line"! Glory to Jesus Christ!
Orthodox Christians, members of the Spiritual Center "Sofia" from Dnepropetrovsk are addressing you.
We were unpleasantly surprised to say the least when we read in the little-known local newspaper Mir, positioned as a "newspaper for the whole family", an article entitled "Artist Elena Tsyplakova - producer of the Sofia sect", printed with reference to the "Russian Line". to inform you that this base libel is replete with perverted facts and opinions, casts a shadow on the honor and good name of Elena Tsyplakova, Sofia, members of our song group and all members of a large spiritual society that has gathered under the roof of the Center.We not only categorically disagree with the fact that what is written in the note, but they are also amazed at the incompetence and uncleanliness of the author, who, judging by its content, never even came close to our Center, but did not hesitate to slander him, so to speak, "by hearsay".
As we have learned, the authorship of the opus belongs to one of the members of the newly created public organization "Dialogue" (cooperating with the editors of "Mir"), which has recently been busy declaring slogans about the fight against sects with Komsomol enthusiasm. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in any constructive dialogue with the organization of the same name - our proposal to communicate directly did not find a response. It is also noteworthy that the Dialogians did not sign their note, but, obviously, to give weight, they passed it off as an editorial material for the Russkaya Line, where they themselves previously sent this product of their creativity.
What is the Spiritual Center "Sofia" really?
It has existed for 14 years (and not 10, as stated in the note) and is named after the Heavenly Patroness of the founder of the Center - the Wisdom of God Sophia. All these years, in their free time (and on Sundays after the Divine Liturgy), people gather here who strive to fill their leisure time with high Christian content, spend it in prayer, in glorifying the Lord, in spiritual communion. Here the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are studied, verses and songs are born for the glory of God. In vain "fighter against sects" ironically that " songs are "spiritual", but not author's (they get them "from heaven")"- because it is very regrettable if a person proudly ascribes to himself what is given to him by God, and also if melodies and verses do not come from heaven, but from another source that can be seen everywhere today. Therefore, the members of the ensemble "Sofia" do not talk about themselves as songwriters, avoid praise and give all the glory to the Lord.
By the way, the Spiritual Center operates in the private home of Sophia and her large family. In another way, it can be called a home church, for the creation of which the priest-professor Father Gleb Kaleda advocates in the book "Home Church". We are in communion with Orthodox clergy, one of whom is Fr. Valery - spiritually feeds us. Now, with the blessing of Metropolitan Iriney of Dnepropetrovsk and Pavlograd, we are preparing the opening of a Sunday school with the priest. A church choir was formed in Sophia's house, which sings in the church of St. Ignatius the God-bearer in Dnepropetrovsk, where Fr. Valery. The best choristers make up the backbone of the "Sofia" ensemble.
As for the label "totalitarian sect", it should be noted that for almost a decade and a half of the existence of the Center, neither the diocesan church authorities, nor the departments for religious affairs of the regional state administration and the city executive committee - none of those who can be considered an expert in matters of religion, did not oppose our activities and did not accuse us of anything like that. The same can be said about the numerous priests and bishops in Russia, with whom Sophia herself, E. Tsyplakova, and the ensemble cooperate closely and extensively for the glory of God. In churches and at church events, the song group "Sofia" performed at the invitation of the bishops and priests of the Russian Orthodox Church. And in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, the ensemble not only performed - it had the honor of opening and closing the concert, which, moreover, was named with the words from the song "Sofia": "Who dedicated his soul to God." For your information, "deceive church leaders, posing as a harmless Orthodox ensemble"It would be simply impossible: the content of the songs was subjected to thorough checks by the organizers of the concert, who, perhaps, like no one else, understand such issues.
Moreover, Orthodox priests and hierarchs have repeatedly expressed their approval and gratitude to the staff. " From the bottom of my heart I express my sincere and warm gratitude to you and the wonderful ensemble "Sofia", which you lead so talentedly, for participating in the celebrations on the occasion of the All-Russian Days of Slavic Literature and Culture in Samara", - writes, referring to E. Tsyplakova, Archbishop Sergiy of Samara and Syzran. And here is a quote from a letter of thanks to the Honored Artist of Russia Tsyplakova E.O., the Ensemble of Contemporary Spiritual Singing "Sofia" from the rector of the Patriarchal Metochion in the Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery (g .Moscow) by Archpriest Vladimir Chuvikin: " On behalf of the pupils of the Perervinsk Theological School and the parishioners of the Nikolo-Perervinsk Monastery, we thank you for visiting our monastery and for the spiritual chants that you sang".
In the light of the foregoing (and this is only a small part of what could be told), the instructions published in the Dnepropetrovsk newspaper to "organizers of festivals and the missionary department of the Moscow Patriarchate" how to distinguish Orthodox from sectarians sound rather absurd. We sincerely doubt that the level of competence and spiritual maturity of the members of the Dialog society gives them the right to "enlighten" priests, bishops, archbishops and metropolitans from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Dnepropetrovsk, etc., who greet and bless activities of the ensemble "Sofia". It is doubly surprising to read the "denunciations" in a newspaper headed by a man known for his recent affinity with esotericists and occultists.
The concerts of the ensemble "Sofia" are charitable, as evidenced by independent sources as well. In the material "Sophia" to the glory of the Wisdom of God", published in "Tsarskoye Selo newspaper" on May 28, 2004, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation V. Vasiliev says: " In only one day of their stay in Tsarskoye Selo, the ensemble managed to give three concerts: in the St. Sophia Cathedral, in the Round Hall of Pavlovsky Park and performed in front of cadets of the Naval Engineering Institute. Of course, all the concerts were charitable, since the members of the ensemble see the meaning of their activity in serving God and people, although, of course, such an active concert activity would be difficult without good donors.". It must be said that one of these donors is the Honored Artist of Russia, film director, dean of the Faculty of Cinema and Television of the University of Natalia Nesterova, chairman of the Council of Young Filmmakers of Russia Union Elena Oktyabrevna Tsyplakova. She organized a significant part of the ensemble's concert trips for her own hard-earned money "And the money raised from the concerts in Dnepropetrovsk was donated to the needs of a boarding school for orphans. By the way, the Spiritual Center helps pupils of such institutions (and not only them) all the time, and not only after concerts. All this somehow does not really remind "business under a religious and spiritual mask", which they tried to incriminate us.
The judgments expressed in the "dialogue" note are distinguished by one-sidedness and tendentiousness. So, according to the author, the ensemble "Sofia" "strums" on guitars in front of the Holy Altar", while the Church itself has nothing against this way of glorifying the Lord - as well as against singing Zhanna Bichevskaya, Fr. Oleg Skobli and I would like to advise critics to study Holy Scripture more closely, in particular, pay attention to Psalm 150, which contains a direct call to glorify God by playing musical instruments.
The "terms" of the type " pseudo art ensemble" or " singing sect"who give out with their heads amateurs trying to talk about art and religious studies. Trumping with the now fashionable words "totalitarian sect", the newly-minted "witch hunters" obviously do not quite understand the meaning of this expression, and certainly have more than a vague idea of the most the so-called "sect". Everyone who has ever visited our Center will laugh at the story that its founder is called "aunt". TV show on the Dnipropetrovsk "34 channel".
As for Sophia herself, who is "deified" by the members of the Spiritual Center, she is an amazing and extraordinary person, generously endowed by God. Having embarked on the difficult path of serving the Lord and fully devoting herself to this cause, she carried away thousands of people who live not only in Dnepropetrovsk, but throughout Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and other countries. All of them consciously, through repentance, came to God, to the Orthodox Church. "By their fruits you will know them," the Savior taught, and the good fruits of Sophia's activity are evident.
Based on the foregoing, we express the hope that you will do everything in your power to correct the consequences of the publication of a slanderous article on your website and in the Mir newspaper, because it is not only about insulting specific people, but also about damaging the cause of God.
Sincerely,
members of the Spiritual Center "Sofia":
Vladimir Bobechko,
Vasily Malysh,
Sergey Rudnev,
Helena Melnikova,
Denis Kuznetsov,
Vera Eliseeva,
Sergei Sudakov,
Marina Sudakova,
Ekaterina Boykova
WHAT IS REALLY
Undoubtedly, the letter edited by RL is a much more serious document than Dmitrieva's article. From it we learned many new and important facts, for example, that the center "Sofia" is spiritually nourished by an Orthodox priest. However, even in this letter there are only unfounded statements in "distortion of the meaning of the TV show", in the one-sidedness and tendentiousness of the authors of the note of the "Dialogue" center, but not a word about measuring the aura and removing damage.
We decided to figure everything out ourselves and agreed to meet with E.O. Tsyplakova. One of the authors of this article, Sergei Grigoriev, met with a famous artist. As a result of a long conversation, it turned out that Elena Oktyabrevna herself, although she does not attend church very often (1-2 times a month), nevertheless, she professes herself an Orthodox Christian, like her mentor, Sofia Ivanovna Svyatoduh, head of the Dnepropetrovsk center "Sofia" . Elena Tsyplakova spoke about the many-sided activities of the center, about the wide connections of its members with the Orthodox clergy. In particular, according to Elena Oktyabrevna, Father Valery Gordin, rector of the Dnepropetrovsk church of St.
We contacted Father Valery by phone. Batiushka said that he does not conduct any divine services (and of course the liturgies that Tsyplakova spoke about) at the Sofia center, but from time to time he visits the center when he is invited to conduct classes with the kids in the Sunday school operating at this center. Although not a parishioner of his church, the head of the center, Sophia Svyatodukh, nevertheless participates in the sacraments in his church, albeit not regularly and not often. It cannot be said that the diocese has a negative attitude towards the activities of the Sofia center, but, on the other hand, as far as Father Valery knows, none of its leaders turned to the ruling bishop for a blessing for preaching.
At the same time, in the course of the conversation with Elena Tsyplakova, on the merits of the Dialog's accusations, it turned out that they really do measure the aura, but without any psychics, using exclusively special "scientific" equipment. For this purpose (determining the human aura, the existence of which, according to E. Tsyplakova, is a scientifically established fact), the center uses a special camera Aura-6000, manufactured by the American company Kolents and brought from the USA to the Dnepropetrovsk center by some well-wishers of the Sofia center . Depending on the nature and spiritual state of the subject, who is connected to the sensors of the Aura-6000 camera, the configuration and color of the multi-colored light bulbs of this device changes. Moreover, as Elena Oktyabrevna emphasized, the price of these "studies" of the aura in the "Sofia" center is extremely low, in fact, it only covers the current costs of maintaining and operating the chamber. According to E. Tsyplakova, in the Dnepropetrovsk center, the definition of aura costs ~ 200 rubles, while in Moscow they ask for 900 or more rubles for such "research". In general, in Dnepropetrovsk the aura is measured almost charitably.
By the way, E. Tsyplakova has no material benefit from the activities of the center, rather the opposite. The head of the center, S. Svyatodukh, also does not aim at material gain. The center is located in her own house, where she lives with her husband, who also selflessly participates in the activities of the center: if there is no priest, he leads the congregational prayer of the congregations in the center "Sofia".
According to E. Tsyplakova, Sofia Ivanovna does not remove any damage or evil eye, as they viciously slander her in "Dialogue". She "just"... reprimands the possessed.
Elena Oktyabrevna also refuted the statement of the authors of the note that "their leader, "Aunt Sophia", sits on the royal throne at her meetings according to the iconography of Sophia - the Wisdom of God". In fact, while preaching, Sofia Ivanovna simply " sits in front of the assembled in an armchair on a small dais".
All of the above only confirms the conclusions of the note "Dialogue", there remains only one question: do Sophia Svyatodukh and Elena Tsyplakova deliberately mislead their adherents, or do they "obtain" this from deep spiritual ignorance. It is significant that, while calling their listeners to spiritual purification in the Orthodox Church, its leaders themselves never became full-fledged Orthodox Christians, neglecting regular participation in the sacraments of the Church and attending statutory services in the temple. Will they be able to bring someone into it without the grace-filled help of the Church?!
"Physician! Heal thyself" (Luke 4:23).
The actress and director spoke in an exclusive interview about how she lives today, what she is working on and how faith in God has radically changed her life.
The feeling of happiness now and in youth, of course, is different, because we change every day, - says Elena. - A person can be happy in the most inconvenient situations. And you can have everything, but feel miserable. A person's life depends on the level of his consciousness. What is it - carnal, mental and spiritual? Earlier, in my youth, in difficult moments I thought: how can I bear it? Now I know that the Lord always gives trials according to one's strength. And now I no longer complain about the difficulties, I rejoice, realizing that I can cope with them.
There was a period when I was alone thinking about taking a vow of celibacy. I can’t give birth to children ... And then I said to myself: “Does God need this? Maybe I'm hot. After all, the Lord blessed not only the monastic way of life, but also the family. And suddenly a person close to me spiritually appears. “Lord,” I asked, “lead me yourself.” And literally in the near future I met Pasha.
Photo by Sergey Dzhevakhashvili
fateful car
This is a wonderful story that is involved in cars. I had a "six", which I bought with the rest of the fee for the film "Reed Paradise". I learned to drive this car, crashed it more than once ... They told me: “Lena, why don’t you buy yourself a new one?”. And I: "No money." Once I prayed and said: “Lord, I can have a car if someone gives it.” Then a friend from television calls and says: “We will have a program, they will play a car on it. Come, suddenly he will get you. I prayed, arrived in Ostankino, the shooting was already nearing its end, and I still hadn't won anything. In the last competition, the Na-Na group came out with fishing rods, on which there are rubber toy fish. In each - a token, in one of them the main prize. And suddenly Lenya Yarmolnik took his fish and said: “Can I give it to Lena?” He gave it to me, opened it, and there was a car! “Imagine,” I say. “The Lord gave me a car through you.” And then everything developed funny. I call to pick up this car, and they tell me that only on Monday. And this is July 12 - the day of Peter and Paul. I think it’s good, how good - I will have a car on such a holiday, because I also bought the first one on the day of Peter and Paul. As a result, she took her brand new "ten", started to ride it, and gave the old "six" to friends. But I've only been driving the new car for a few months.
One day I had a dream: I leave the entrance, but there is no car - they stole it. A month later, I left the entrance in the morning, I look, but my “ten” is really not in the yard. I laughed, there was no fear, no resentment, no annoyance. As the saying goes, God gave, God took. I had to take my old one from my friends, but it stalled all the time, the battery ran down, it never started. Got bored with her. I go out on the road, I stand with my hand up, I try to hail a taxi. Nobody stops. I'm nervous - I understand that I'm late for classes at the institute, and it's cold - it's January after all. And in despair I say: “Lord, send me a man to help!” And then the car stops. "Would you like a ride?" I ask the man behind the wheel. He opens the door, I sit down and, in order not to be silent on the road, I ask: “What is your name?” Him: "Paul. I was born on Peter and Paul." “And I got two cars on the day of these holy apostles,” I tell him. - True, one was stolen, and the other does not work. Pasha: "What's wrong?" Me: “Battery is dying all the time. What are you doing?" He smiled: "I'm diluting the batteries." So that's how we met. Pasha brought me to the institute, gave him money for a new battery. And in the evening he picked me up, drove me home and changed the battery. It turned out that we live side by side - on the same street, and we began to be friends.
Two rainbows on your wedding day
As time went on, we continued to communicate. I saw that Pasha liked me as a woman. One day he suddenly asked: “Why do you treat me only as a friend?” She said: “Pasha, for a long time there have been no married men for me, there are only brothers, and I treat you like a brother.” And he answered: “In fact, I have been divorced for a long time, I just haven’t stamped my passport yet.” Six months later, we signed at the registry office, and three years later, on October 16, we got married. By the way, in the church of Peter and Paul, which stands on Petro-Pavlovsky Lane. And when they left the church, two vertical rainbows appeared in the sky - in October you don’t see this often ...
Pasha is a pleasant, good person, a believer, very interesting in spiritual terms, we have the same worldview, he also sees and feels a lot, he also has powerful energy. And now we have been together for the twelfth year, and together everywhere - both at home and at work. He helps me, is engaged in administrative activities and carries me by car. Otherwise it is impossible. So I disappeared for two years and 10 months on the set. What family can handle that?! Therefore, we decided not to subject our lives to such tests.
Thank God, there is a lot of work now. Just went on the air "Black Cat", "Beautiful Life". The series "Coal" will soon be released on Channel One - there is a story of a mining family, and I play the mother of the main character. Just finished filming the 8-episode film "Birth Certificate". A very touching melodrama about a young woman who finds herself in a difficult life situation. There were great actors and so did I. Now I'm glad I'm finally home.
Resilience from parents
The path to faith began from childhood. From the age of four, my granny read the Gospel to me, told about the saints. I was so shocked to hear that Jesus and the saints could walk on water that I kept trying to walk on the river myself, but I couldn't. Terribly upset. After all, the Mother of God was brought into the temple at the age of three, which means that already from this age it is necessary to begin the spiritual education of the child in order to grow a full-fledged personality. I first heard a voice at the age of four or five. I participated in yard wars, fought with sticks. And suddenly I heard a voice from somewhere: “Fear is a false feeling.” So surprised. And then, many years later, I read in the Gospel: “And you hear a voice, and you don’t know where He came from and where He went. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” There are three gifts of the Lord - to see, hear and feel with the heart.
At the age of 18, I arrived in Armenia, and I was shocked by the Hripsime temple in Etchmiadzin there. He stood on a hill, no decorations inside. From my youth, I wondered: when will I finally begin a full life? And in this temple I heard: “Your full life will begin at the age of 36.” It was at this age that I seriously came to faith.
I was helped in difficult times by stamina, which, probably, was transmitted from my parents. My dad's name was October. He was born in 1925, when it was considered fashionable to give such names to children. I joked: “Thank you for not calling me a tractor.” Dad came back from the war at the age of 20 disabled - he had been shot in both legs and lungs. For more than 30 years he suffered from an open form of tuberculosis, during coughing attacks, tissues in his lungs were torn, there were bleedings ... But dad was a unique person and such a strong spirit that he fully lived with his serious illness. Mom took care of my father, and she also had to protect me and my older brother, constantly boil dishes and cutlery in a pan with bleach so that we would not get infected. And then suddenly dad said: "I'm tired." He lost a lot of weight, weighed only 33 kilograms, and after seven months he was gone. Died at 58. And shortly before his death, he, lying in bed, danced a gypsy. I didn't hear any moans or complaints. This was not accepted in our family.
My father was an industrial graphic artist, my mother first worked as a paramedic, and then became an assistant to the father. One of the artists has always lived in our house. Then there were no computers, and dad came up with phototypesetting. He was one of the last artists who could write types with a brush. I also drew, went to art school. I remember, while studying at VGIK, I came home for the holidays and painted a still life. Dad looked and said: "Well, yes, three square centimeters are picturesque." In other words, he laughed at me. And when she began acting in films, she completely abandoned painting. But the attraction to her remained. I think when life becomes calmer, there will be time, then I will start drawing again.
"Don't lose the joy of work"
At the age of 14, cinema began in my life. Director Dinara Asanova's husband, like my parents, was an industrial graphic artist. And he came to us with his wife. Dinara was in a beautiful blouse, which she knitted herself. I also knitted. So on the basis of knitting we met. I didn't even know she was a director. A year later, Asanova came again. She was launching her first film and decided to try me for the main role - a girl with whom the main character is in love. So I starred in the wonderful film "The woodpecker does not have a headache," which was well received. The French director Truffaut, after watching the film, congratulated Asanova and sent a telegram. I have never had any stardom or arrogance. My father was always very strict with himself and with us, he instilled respect for work from childhood. When I was studying in Moscow, my father sent me a letter, it seemed to be addressed to my entire generation. There, one of the phrases is very close to me in life: “Do not lose the joy of work, so as not to gain the burden of existence.” Hence I have a serious attitude to work. And when I first saw myself on the screen, sitting in the auditorium, there was some strange feeling, no delight. I have always been critical of what I do.
Yes, and Dinara did not want the guys who starred with her to become actors. Protected us, as she said, from this "terrible" profession. As a result, only three of her wards: me, Marina Levtova and Olya Mashnaya became actresses. For me, there was no question of choosing a profession. I thought about only one thing: where to study. I entered GITIS, but due to the fact that I was constantly filming, after the "School Waltz" I had to go to Lev Alexandrovich Kulidzhanov and Tatyana Mikhailovna Lioznova at VGIK. Before that, I had auditioned for the film “Karl Marx. Youth". But I said that if I act again, then they will definitely kick me out of GITIS. “They will kick me out, so we will take it,” Kulidzhanov replied. I came to VGIK, and they took me. Whatever is done is for the best.
I often turned down big roles in order to play something new in an episode. Therefore, directing comes naturally to me, my acting sense is satisfied when my artists play well in the frame. A few years after graduating from VGIK, I again entered this institute. In the workshop of Alexander Alov and Vladimir Naumov, a female director was recruited for the second year. There was a competition - seven young girls for one place, they took me.
Miracles happen to me
I sometimes hear that directing, acting is acting. When I seriously came to God at the age of 36, my first reaction was to leave the profession. It is difficult to exist in this space with such a worldview - one must either lie, which many do, or close oneself ... And I am a fairly open person. With all that I like to think, read, sit, I definitely need to communicate. For eight years, I seriously reviewed my life, repented. For me then it was important to understand: can I live without my profession if I can’t exist in it with my worldview.
Photo by Sergey Dzhevakhashvili
I work spiritually on the set. Firstly, I remove everything vulgar from the script (mat, swearing) - I am a cleaner. And be sure to talk with the actors on spiritual topics - many are interested. I regard filming as an opportunity to preach, to share spiritual experience. After all, I have a colossal experience, and so many things happened in my life that secular people call miracles. For me, this is a natural manifestation of God in life. Here is one of the latest - we begged my mother from the fourth stage of oncology. They cut out a huge tumor in her intestines, sewed up her rectum and carried out a colostomy (a part of the intestine with a hole. - Approx. "Antennas") to the side. After the operation, Pasha and I came to her hospital. They sat next to her, prayed, put their hands on the sore spot, as it is written in the Gospel. And my healer friend Vitaly Voskoboynikov prayed from a distance and taught us what to do. At night, my mother came out with a throat and a half liters of black blood. Soon, all metastases disappeared from her, and the sutures quickly began to heal. And then there was no need for a colostomy. The surgeon who operated on my mother did not believe it at first, and then said: “A miracle!”
Once, a mother in the village ate an apple, threw the core out the window, and a tree grew from its seeds, from which we are now picking apples. Mom is no longer there, but she did not die of cancer.
And then a miracle happened to me. I got so drunk during the filming of two huge series that I fell ill. Having finished shooting “A Woman Without a Past”, she immediately began working on “Carmelita”, and these are 266 and 288 episodes - at least 6 days a week and 12 hours, and sometimes more. I was the main director, and I broke down - fell ill, could not even walk. My producers sent me to Germany, but they didn’t do anything special there either, they didn’t find out the cause of the disease and never made a diagnosis. As a result, I was given the 1st disability group, I was discharged from the hospital and was confined to a wheelchair. I sat and thought: “It’s so stupid to die at 50 - no, I don’t want to, I know so much, I can do so much.” And they begged me, I got on my feet, I'm alive, I'm working. And the doctors wrote in my anamnesis: "Spontaneous improvement." After that, I received the title of People's Artist, two prizes for acting in the film "I See the Goal" at international film festivals. I played a colonel - the head of the school of snipers. My heroine has an order there - the Red Star. I remember that I came to the shooting, and they give me a dummy of the order. I offered the director Zhenya Sokurov to shoot with my dad's real Star. This film is my bow to the people who went through the war.
The kingdom of heaven is within us
Everything is fine. I enjoy life every day because every day is a gift from God. After all, you can do something new, talk to someone, help someone. Pasha and I have everything - friends, an apartment, a house in the village, which we built together. They brought in a dog (a Welsh Corgi breed. - Approx. "Antennas") - a beautiful cheerful girl. For a long time I did not allow myself to keep pets - often on the road, but this dog is small, you can take it with you. She has a complicated name Alkmena, but at home Pasha and I call her Topa, because she stomps very funny.
God did not give me children, but I have many godchildren. Unfortunately, I do not often communicate with all of them, but I pray for them and hope that many of them will somehow become spiritually enlightened. During the filming of Family Secrets, Yegor Beroev came up to me and said: “Lena, I would very much like to be baptized. Wouldn't you be my spiritual mother?" I agreed, and then I also brought Yegor to a very good priest, Father Alexei, at whom he and Ksyusha got married.
They ask me what I dream about, and they laugh when I answer that I want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And not only later, but now to live with him. The state of happiness, joy, peace - this is the Kingdom of Heaven, it is within us. It must be experienced in life.
Dossier:
She was born on November 13, 1958 in Leningrad in the family of graphic artists Zoya Vasilyevna and Oktyabr Ivanovich Tsyplakov. While still at school, she began acting with director Dinara Asanova.
In 1979 she graduated from the acting department of VGIK (workshop of Lev Kulidzhanov and Tatyana Lioznova). She worked at the Maly Theater (1979-1985). In 1985 she graduated from the directing department of VGIK (workshop of Alexander Alov and Vladimir Naumov). Actively filmed in the 1970s and 1980s, playing about 40 roles. (“The key without the right to transfer”, “School Waltz”, “D” Artagnan and the Three Musketeers”, “Adam marries Eve”, “We are from jazz”, “Happy, Zhenya!”.
She directed more than 10 films and series, including Citizen Runaway, Reed Paradise, Family Secrets, Striped Summer, First Love, While the Village Sleeps.
