Blessed Elena Afanasyevna Dertyeva came from the noble Dertyev family. Her father was an official serving in Arzams. Her parents raised Elena in the fear of God and provided her with a home education befitting her rank. From childhood, she expressed a desire to dedicate herself to the monastic life, but despite her gentle and meek nature, beloved by all, her parents would have none of it.
When she was 14 or 15 years old, Father Nazarius, an ascetic of the Sarov Hermitage and the abbot and restorer of the renowned Valaam Monastery, visited her father's house while passing through Arzamas. Elena revealed her desire to him, and he tried to persuade her parents not to oppose their daughter's intention, but they refused. Then, choosing a time when she was alone with Father Nazarius, Elena asked him what she should do. The elder told her, "Be a fool for Christ's sake, cover your mind with madness; this way you will be saved and please God." Elena accepted this advice and prayed to God to help her fulfill it.
After some time, Elena found a suitable suitor, and despite her repeated attempts to dissuade her from marriage, her parents decided to give her in marriage. A wedding day was set. Elena was dressed in her wedding gown, adorned with all her jewelry, and brought to the church. Before the ceremony, the priest, as usual, asked her, "Are you marrying of your own free will?" "I do not wish to," she boldly replied, "but my parents are forcing me against my will." The priest paused in amazement, but her relatives, who were present, said, "Go on, Father, why look at a child?" The sacrament was performed, and the newlyweds were brought to the house of Elena Afanasyevna's father, where the wedding table had been prepared. The newlyweds were seated in the best place. The house was one-story, the windows were open, and in front of it, in the middle of the street, there was mud and a huge puddle. Suddenly, the bride quickly rose from the table, jumped out the window, threw herself into a puddle, and, covered in mud, began tearing at her wedding clothes. The guests, witnessing this strange occurrence, quickly dispersed. The groom departed for his village, and rumors spread throughout the city that the bride had been corrupted.
Her parents tried to reason with Elena through persuasion, tears, and threats, but nothing worked. She seemed insane, deaf and uncomprehending, and yearned to run away from home. Finally, her parents abandoned her to the mercy of God, and she left their home, finding no shelter. She wandered the streets, acting like a fool, knocking over merchants' wares, for which she was beaten and rejected. Street urchins especially teased and bullied her. She spent four years like this, then was sent to a mental hospital in Nizhny Novgorod. There, of course, they couldn't help her and sent her, as incurable, to the Nikolaevsky Monastery . But even there, she was greatly unwelcome. Then the abbess of the Alekseevsky Monastery, Marya Petrovna Protasyeva , took pity on her, took her under her protection, placed her in her community, assigned her a senior novice sister, and ordered her not to be allowed anywhere. But Elena struggled, knocked on doors, and if she did manage to escape, she was slow to surrender, trying to display her foolishness as much as possible. Over time, however, she subdued herself, stopped fooling around, and only occasionally made noise, scolded whomever she felt like, and occasionally even fought.
It was then that those around her began to notice that she wasn't crazy at all, but rather very intelligent: her speeches were allegorical, and sometimes even revealed her gift of foresight. If she scolded, it turned out she was actually scolding for good reason. Those who knew of any secret sins were even afraid to show themselves to her.
She wore secular clothing, not monastic, befitting her noble rank: a cotton dress and a cap. She always carried a handkerchief, which she constantly folded and unfolded. She almost never lay down to sleep, dozing sitting up, waking frequently. If she was given tea, she poured it from her cup to her saucer until it either cooled or spilled. If offered food, she mixed everything together—cabbage soup, porridge, kvass, or something else—and then ate a little, engaging everyone in conversation so they wouldn't notice what she was doing.
Over time, not only the sisters of the community, but all the citizens of Arzamas became convinced that Elena Afanasyevna was not at all insane, but a fool for Christ's sake. But she herself continued to hide behind the guise of insanity until the very end of her life, abandoning the foolishness of Christ only in the most important cases. Numerous testimonies of her clairvoyance have survived. Thus, in 1813, Olga Vasilyevna Strigaleva was elected abbess of the Alekseyevskaya community , although she had long hesitated and refused this heavy burden. Elena Afanasyevna sent her a note, written during the lifetime of the abbess Maria Petrovna Protasyeva, with the following content: "Jesus Christ's words - Alena says: Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon yourselves, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The words of my Savior. Written on April 21, 1813."
The community had an old wooden building. One day, Elena, pointing to it, said to the sisters, "How nice it would be to build a church here in honor of the Martyr Barbara." After her death, Praskovya Ivanovna Mukhina, a Moscow merchant woman who had joined the community, built a stone hospital building on this site, along with a beautiful church dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. Trees were planted throughout the monastery. Elena Afanasyevna left them alone, except for one that grew opposite her cell. She often shook it, as if trying to uproot it, saying, "You're sitting in my place." Later, when she died, the abbess, Olga Vasilyevna, intended to bury Elena in the very spot where this tree had grown, and so it was cut down.
But most remarkable of all is Elena Afanasyevna's prediction to Archimandrite Anthony (Medvedev) , the abbot of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius . He first saw her when he was still a layman, not only having no intention of becoming a monk but even opposed monasticism altogether. Arriving in Arzamas late one evening with a noble family and staying at an inn, he, an inquisitive man, began questioning the innkeeper about the town's attractions. This simple woman immediately pointed to Elena Afanasyevna, claiming that she would recognize and predict. This was confirmed by the noblewoman, the future Father Archimandrite's companion, who, aware of some of his religious misunderstandings, remarked to him, "She'll get you!" The young doctor became intrigued and early the next morning set out for the Alekseyevskaya community. Here, after matins, he asked to be escorted to the blessed one's cell. Elena Afanasyevna, greeting him in the most ordinary manner, began to mock his fashionable hairstyle, tailcoat, and overall attire, enthusiastically commenting on how long hair and a loose black dress would suit him very well. Then, taking some gingerbread and nuts, she gave them to him, saying, "These are for your patients." "I have no patients here!" the doctor replied. "These are for your patients," Elena Afanasyevna repeated. The visitor went to the inn, inclined to regard Elena Afanasyevna as truly insane. But as he approached the apartment, he was met by a footman who said, "Where have you been? We've been looking for you, and looking for you... We've had a misfortune: the gentlemen nearly died of smoke poisoning." It turned out the landlady had blocked the chimney and the guests had been poisoned by carbon monoxide, and Anthony had only been saved by leaving early for the Alekseevskaya community. It was then that it was explained that the nuts had been sent by Elena Afanasyevna to the sick—those who had been poisoned by carbon monoxide. Many years later, when the young doctor's religious doubts had dissipated, and he himself, tonsured under the name Anthony, donned black vestments and grew his hair long, the other mysterious utterances of Blessed Elena were also explained.
Later, living in Arzamas, he frequently visited Blessed Elena, venerating her as a righteous woman, but she continued to act foolishly before him. This continued even until her death. Venerating her as a saint of God, Anthony visited her just before her death. Seeing her suffering, he took pity on her, dissolved magnesia in a glass, and offered it to her to drink. But she grabbed the glass and splashed it in his eyes, saying, "This is not the medicine I want!" Then she begged him to call a priest to confess and administer Holy Communion, which was granted.
She died on March 28, 1820, on Easter Sunday, in the presence of the abbess and many of the monastery's sisters, while the first Easter Vespers were being celebrated in the church. On April 1, Thursday of Bright Week, her burial took place amidst a countless gathering of people.
Source: https://arzblag.ortox.ru/blagochinie/istoriya/podvizhniki/blazhennaya-elena-afanasevna-derteva/