13. Иеромонах Евгений

Under the leadership of Abbot Nifont, Hieromonk Eugene, a zealous servant of the monastery, reposed in Sarov at a ripe old age. This humble, reverent old man had a true image of piety and meekness. Therefore, the novices, entering the monastery, with special confidence learned from him hard work, prayer and other monastic virtues. His soul, imbued with piety, drew the attention of the new novices to him, and his senile treatment forced them to respect him and actively imitate his chastity, obedience, meekness and humility. In this way, He greatly assisted those seeking salvation to advance in spiritual life. Subsequently, he was elected confessor and for quite some time he underwent this obedience for the benefit of his neighbors. Due to his humility and sincere zeal for the salvation of his neighbors, he himself sought wise advice from experienced elders, and for this he had spiritual correspondence with reverent men, from whom he received edifying letters. Here we attach some of them. Most Reverend and Most Honorable Hieromonk O Christ, dearest brother and friend! Do not be surprised, dear brother, that when you reached the age of 1947, you began to feel heavier compared to your previous years. This is your eleventh year of walking down the mountain. Now that death often comes to your mind and makes you feel some fear or apprehension, because you have some mental infirmities behind you, I will say this to you, dear one, from sincerity: you will have neither fear nor fear of death if you heal these mental infirmities with the plaster of holy repentance, turning away from evil and doing good. Repentance, tears, conversion, the expected fruits of repentance with humility again open to us the arms of the Heavenly Father. And the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanses us from all sin. And without this (i.e., without the fruits of repentance), simply entrusting oneself to the protection of the most merciful God and the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel and all the Saints (except for unexpected deaths) is not enough to heal our spiritual infirmities. For we sing to God with the Prophet of mercy and judgment. His immeasurable mercy is; so is His justice. To cleanse our sins after baptism, He instituted the mystery of holy repentance. Whoever uses it properly is saved: what mercy! And whoever despises it, puts it aside, and does not use it, perishes: this is the judgment. Unless, by the name of spiritual infirmities, you mean the daily weaknesses that happen to the most Holy Ones, or in other words: venial sins, which do not deprive us true believers of grace. But even those must be cleansed by a pure confession to God before the spiritual Father, and we are obliged to get rid of them. Then fear and fear of death will not attack us. Will melancholy or the spirit of lack of faith and disbelief sometimes disturb us: but against them, you know the weapons. Faith and hope in our Savior and warm prayer to Him with humility will abolish all the arrows of the enemy, although kindled. Then with these weapons we will bring into action the same means that we use against the blasphemous demon. And so the God of peace will be with us forever! Having entrusted yourself to the continuation of your love and favor, and asking for your Holy prayers, may God grant me, according to His great mercy, always embrace true repentance and bring the fruits of it to Him. Regarding the desire for your health, salvation and all good things, I have to show your person with unflattering reverence and devotion. most humble servant and prayer leader Dearest brother and friend in Christ, I sincerely rejoice, thanking God, that you are healthy and satisfied with everything you need, and your mother Taisiya is being saved in the Lord. Naturally, judging, old people should die first: but it often happens to see an elderly priest burying a young man. I think that your mother would like to be buried by you, and you and I agree to this; but how will God arrange this.... Let us surrender our whole life to His will and mercy in Christ. It is very comforting for me to hear from you that you are extremely and indescribably pleased with your bosses, and that not only do you not want honor, but you don’t even think about it, and so on. This is as rare in the world today as a white fly. – Don’t grieve about the sciences because you didn’t have the opportunity to practice them. Instead of them, you can teach yourself in everything from Holy Scripture and become wise in piety: for it is good to strengthen hearts by grace and not waste, according to the word of the Holy Apostle Paul (Heb. 13:9). I don’t know why you, in your desire, become hopeless in seeing me and talking about the Lord!? True, I am already old, weak, sick, and have become insufficient for riding, and am not at all inclined towards it. But you are not in that state yet. If the occasion is favorable, if you wish, you can bow to St. Demetrius and St. Sergius and come and bow to the Moscow Wonderworkers. Then you will see me too, if I am alive, and you wish. In 1812 I was not far from you, in the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky Monastery. If they wanted, they could then see me. You were not then in the sad state in which I was, accidentally at noon, at the risk of my life, expelled almost without everything I needed, then burned, plundered, having no place to lay my head, in need of everything I needed, not knowing the end of my fate, and moreover, I myself lived a quarter during the autumn and winter, and lived in Nizhny for almost two months and a half from September 28 to September 10 December. It is also not clear to me why the spiritual position leads you to confusion of spirit, and is difficult and burdensome for you? The number doesn’t seem to be that large—about a hundred. Parish priests have more. Moreover, you should already have acquired the skill, because you’ve been going through it for almost ten years. And although you thought and are thinking about refusing, you fear the Builder Father (and I add: spiritual children, and especially God), so as not to bring offense to Him (and them) through this. In the meantime, I will not have a personal meeting with you, but out of love I consider it necessary to give you the following friendly advice. God called you to this position lawfully and correctly, through the Builder with the brethren, with the personal blessing and approval of his Bishop; and you, out of love for the Savior, who said: Feed my sheep (John 21:17), at the time of the ordination of Priest, and at the time of this election, agreed to it; Therefore, you should go through it while you have the strength. Will you have the most legitimate and blessed guilt against this? Wherever you are called to be, brethren, let you abide in this before God (I Corinthians 7:24). Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life (Apoc. 2:10). Hold it, O imashi, so that no one may receive your crown (chapter 3, v. 11). But you insist: great holiness and wisdom must be acquired, but I, you say, know my shortcomings. True, it is! The entire priestly office requires this. When did you agree to be a Priest of the Lord; They agreed then to be diligent about both wisdom and holiness. And, without a doubt, you can obtain them from God. All things are possible to those who believe and ask. And it is necessary to perform a liturgy of no less holiness, and even greater, as well as to be a confessor. For sometimes, according to the court of the Bishop, the Priest is prohibited from performing the liturgy, and is left in clergy, if he is skilled in it. And on the contrary, sometimes the power of the clergy, for its abuse, is taken away, and the celebration of the liturgy is left to him. But you speak again, painfully and difficultly. Is it true! But not eating is still completely inconvenient and impossible. And for great deeds and great labors there are also rewards, just strive on your part to pass this title, as it should before God. If you are converted, I will raise you up and stand before Me: and if you bring forth honor from the unworthy, you will become My mouth (Jeremiah 15:19). Converting a sinner from the error of his ways will save the soul from death and cover a multitude of sins (James 5:20). Here are the awards! To help you will be the grace of God, always healing the weak and replenishing the impoverished, and the advice of your experienced elders, and the decisive command of your Bishop, from whom you can sometimes, in case of doubtful cases, according to the definition of the church, demand instruction for yourself, without mentioning any persons at all. And when you are completely exhausted in your health, and you see yourself no longer able to carry out this position, foresee someone else to take your place, no less or more worthy and capable than you; Then, out of love for God and neighbor, you can humbly renounce it, so that your successor can better guide the flock of Christ, and you would spend your last days paying attention to your own salvation. However, may the Lord God enlighten you with His grace, which is more useful and salutary for you to choose: but on dark and open questions, based on guesses alone, I cannot say anything more than what has been said. As a sign of my love and gratitude, I am sending you the book Chronicler from 1206 to 1534. I ask you to accept it with the love with which it is sent. Wishing you a soul-saving passage to the Holy Pentecost, I congratulate you on the coming bright feast of the Resurrection of Christ, the celebration of which may be bright and joyful in the Lord. Finally, having wished you peaceful and worldly blessings and all heavenly things, I have to approach your person with unflattering reverence and sincere love, asking for your holy prayers with the continuation of Christian love. March 7th day of Your Reverence, 1816. My dear brother and friend in Christ, Moscow. most humble servant and prayer leader Novospassk. monastery Hieromonk Michael