Hieromonk Joseph, Elder of the Optina Hermitage

Elder Father Joseph was of humble origin. He was born into a peasant family on November 2, 1837 and was named John in holy baptism, in honor of St. John the Merciful. His father Evfim Litovkin was a wealthy peasant in the village of Gorodishche, Starobelsky district, Kharkov province, and his mother Maria came from a clergy background. Despite the lack of secular education, his family represented a type of healthy, peasant family that is now, unfortunately, becoming obsolete. Fear of God and love for others—these were the simple principles that guided his parents in raising their children and in their relationships with people. High religiosity, feasible alms, long prayers at home, at which all the children were sure to be present, this was the environment in which the spirit of the future elder was born. As a boy he was of a cheerful, even playful character; learning was easy for him, although due to his living conditions he could not receive a systematic education. But what school could not give him, he later abundantly compensated with self-education and reading relevant books. Young John did not have to live long under the shelter of his parents' cares. Already eleven years old, he lost his parents and had to embark on an independent path of life. After staying with his older brother for some time, necessity forced him to seek means of living through personal labor. His brother was burdened with a large family. His elder sister was a nun and, being in need herself, could not help him; and so the lack of funds forced him to hire out to merchants for feasible work. His life was not easy at this time; his needs were very great. The elder himself said that he then had to endure cold, hunger, and many other hardships. Once he almost froze to death while walking on some errand in the winter. Another time, thieves robbed him on the road. He also had to hire out for hard day labor... The environment in which he was forced to move was also far from matching his inner mood. The freedom of morals of serving youth, rudeness, intemperance in words and actions, had a depressing effect on his young, pure soul. Finally, in his later years, he got a good position. His owner, a wealthy miller, fell in love with him very much and even began to marry his daughter to him. But God's providence preserved him for another life. The seed of Divine love, sown by the caring hand of his mother in his sensitive soul, could no longer die out. Worldly life began to burden him little by little. The thought of monasticism matured in his soul. He was drawn to both Athos and Kyiv, and so, having asked for leave from the owner for a pilgrimage, he went to the Borisov women's hermitage, Kursk province, where his older sister was a nun, and on her advice, he decided to go to the Optina hermitage, to the elders there. It was 1861. He came to Optina just at the time when the great elder Ambrose was living there. With his characteristic insight, Fr. Ambrose immediately saw in him an extraordinary monk. He brought him closer to himself and, after a short obedience in the fraternal kitchen, made him his cell attendant, which he remained until the elder’s death. Being in constant communication with him for thirty years, John grew spiritually under his direct guidance. Father Ambrose loved him, trusted him and, seeing in him the future elder and his deputy, he used to tell the nuns. “This Ivan will be useful to us and you!” The elder’s cell attendants did not greet the young monk very friendly; in particular, one of them caused him a lot of deliberate troubles, so that the initial life in the monastery seemed difficult to him and he was drawn to ask to leave Optina. The thought embarrassed him to go to Athos, and he was already close to fulfilling his intention, but Fr. Ambrose held him back. One day, unexpectedly approaching him and touching his shoulder, Fr. Ambrose said: “We are better than on Athos!” Interrupted in his dreams and amazed by the elder’s foresight, John once and for all abandoned any thought of moving to another monastery and until his death he invariably worked in the Optina Hermitage. In 1872 he became a monk with the name Joseph; in 1878 he was ordained a hierodeacon, and in 1881, on October 1, on the opening day of the Shamorda Community, he was ordained a hieromonk. From that time on, Elder Fr. Ambrose especially brought Fr. Joseph and treated him not only as a favorite student, but also as a useful assistant; and when the elder, soon after this, moved from Optina to the Shamordino Community he created, he no longer took Fr. Joseph, as he usually did before, but left him in the monastery and ordered him to go to his cell. With so many things to do to build the community, the elder could no longer personally satisfy all the needs of his many spiritual children, and now Fr. Joseph. But, despite such a clear preference for the elder, despite the fact that even during his lifetime many already turned to him, the name of Fr. Joseph always remained somehow in the shadows. He never exposed himself, but always hid behind the name of the elder. Everyone respected him, but somehow little was said about him. But despite the fact that in appearance and in his treatment of people he bore little resemblance to his great teacher, his spirit completely penetrated him. And when after the death of Fr. Ambrose and the short senescence of Fr. Anatoly the question arose about who should be an elder, everyone unanimously turned to him; and for sixteen years he humbly bore the burden of old age, growing in silence from strength to strength and finally reaching great heights of spiritual perfection. Fr. spent a whole half a century in the monastery. Joseph. His life was not rich in external events. His activities were not as well known as those of his great teacher. In silence his spirit was created, and perhaps his life would have remained a mystery to the world if not for the sensitivity of loving hearts that preserved their memories of him. Due to his great humility, the priest did not like to talk much about himself, but what we know completely depicts his meek appearance. Throughout his life, the priest had no special friendship for anyone, but he was equally peaceful towards everyone, and everyone loved him. If he happened to have trouble with someone, then the priest covered everything with his humility and no one ever had any malice against him. He treated his great elder with great reverence and always listened to him in everything without reasoning. How highly he rated Fr. Ambrose and how little he valued himself can be seen from the fact that in one of his letters he wrote: “What do I mean without my father? That’s it—zero.” And if I say, then only what I heard from the priest or what I read in a book," To the laity and to the monastics who besieged Fr. Ambrose, he was always helpful, affectionate, and attentive, and soon acquired such universal love that many began to turn to him directly in addition to the elder. But he never took upon himself the eldership without permission and did everything only with the blessing of the elder. And Father Fr. Ambrose himself highly valued him, and even before he received the rank of hieromonk, he sent many to him and often blessed him to go to the hotel for a spiritual conversation with someone. How much he was already progressing spiritually at that time can be seen from the fact that his advice was always identical with the advice of the elder, having received answers from him, they always heard it word for word. and one doubting person kept checking Father Joseph until Father Ambrose hit her on the head and sternly said: “Don’t test her anymore!” Thus, even during his lifetime Fr. Ambrose was, as it were, the beginning of Fr. Joseph, and growing under his direct leadership, he became more and more imbued with his spirit. In 1888, in the month of February, Fr. Joseph became seriously ill. He developed a fever and was almost dying. Fr. Ambrose was very upset by his illness and once at a general blessing he said: “After all, he was my right hand!” His illness was so serious that Fr. Ambrose sent many to say goodbye to him, and when he recovered, the priest joyfully said: “Fr. Joseph was dying, but he was resurrected!” During this illness, according to the testimony of some people, he was honored with a miraculous appearance of the Mother of God. The priest himself, in his humility, reluctantly answered questions when he was asked about this, but his cell attendant, who followed him during his illness, heard one night that someone was talking to the sick person. Unable to make out the conversation, he looked behind the screen where Fr. Joseph, but saw no one except him, lying motionless on the bed. Nevertheless, he once said to one of the priest’s spiritual daughters: “If only you knew what your spiritual father is like!” But no matter how she asked him to tell her the secret of her confessor, he only answered: “Ask him yourself!”, and the priest, of course, did not tell her anything; but after his recovery, somehow in a conversation about. Ambrose with a certain Mrs. N about the Mother of God, the elder said to her: “Ask Father Joseph what kind of Mother of God!” All this gives us the right to assume that Fr. During his illness, the Mother of God appeared to Joseph, which of course he revealed to Fr. Ambrose, but out of humility hid it from everyone else. Soon after his illness, he was appointed confessor and assistant to the elder, and so that he could study and confess without leaving him, an extension was made to his shack. With the resettlement to Shamordino, Fr. Ambrose, Archimandrite Fr. Isaac chose Fr. Joseph as his confessor; and after the death of the elder Fr. Ambrose and the monastery leader Fr. Anatoly, at the suggestion of Archimandrite Fr. Isaac and with the consent of the elder brethren, Fr. Joseph was unanimously elected head of the monastery and confessor of the monastery brethren. Now everyone who had previously turned to the deceased elders began to turn to Fr. Joseph. Not only the sisters of the Shamordino monastery, but also monastics from other monasteries and many lay people began to come to Optina, seeking reassurance from the new elder and answers to perplexed questions. And the deceased elder satisfied everyone. People of the most opposite social positions found answers to their spiritual needs from him. His simple, uncomplicated words penetrated directly into the soul, dispelling the darkness and bringing with them peace and silence. Everyone who visited the elder at least once became his devoted spiritual children forever, and the number of his admirers increased noticeably, so that his name became known in almost all corners of Russia. There was some inexplicable attractive force in him. All-covering love shone in his eyes, and at times they took on some very special expression. They became somehow radiant, as if sheaves of light were emanating from them - at the same time, his face took on an expression of such kindness that the soul involuntarily yearned for him, and involuntarily bowed its knees before this extraordinary man. In the last years of his life, he seemed to be completely transformed: he became somehow light, as if airy, and one priest, testifying to his priestly word in print, stated that he saw an unearthly radiance around his head. In his answers, the priest was always decisive, brief and taciturn; but if anyone, after consulting with him, still insisted on his opinion, or contradicted it, then the priest in such cases gave everyone freedom of action. But only those who listened to his first words could be convinced of their gracious power. His first words were always unmistakable. Many stories, both written and oral, have been preserved about the priest’s foresight. But the priest did not like it when people told him about this. Due to his great humility, he considered himself to be nothing, and tried to hide his spiritual gifts as much as possible. But they could not escape the gaze of the spiritual children devoted to him, and now that the priest is no longer there, one can speak about this loudly, without fear of offending his great humility. The volume of the brochure does not make it possible to talk about everything in detail, but a complete biography of the deceased elder will tell the world many cases of his insight and the grace-filled power of his prayer. And Father’s prayer book was extraordinary. He repeated the Jesus Prayer incessantly and never missed his cell rule. Even during his activities with visitors, he did not give up prayer, and the name of Jesus was always on his lips. He blessed everyone to say verbal prayer as often as possible; about heartfelt prayer, he said that it comes on its own, as the heart is cleansed and becomes skilled in verbal prayer. To those who doubted the power of the grace-filled Jesus Prayer, he said: “Blessed are those who do not see but believe!” From constant work, the strength of the old man, who was already not in good health, began to weaken. In 1905, the priest refused the post of monastery commander and at the same time ceased to be considered the official confessor of the brethren. The reduction in labor should, apparently, have given some peace to the tired old man, but it was precisely the last years of his life that were overshadowed by great sorrows. In his declining days, with his physical strength weakening, the enemy took up arms against him with special force, wanting at least now to break his humility. But the priest complacently accepted all the sorrows, and no matter how much the enemy attacked him, he defeated all his intrigues with his extraordinary humility. Neither a bitter word nor an annoying movement disturbed the peace of his soul; and if one of his spiritual children, in unreasonable jealousy, began to complain or condemn someone, then the priest always said with his constant humility: “Eh, if we were better, then we would be better!” There is a story that supposedly Fr. Ambrose spoke about the late elder: “Father Joseph will surpass me.” But considering his life, we cannot point out anything in which the late elder surpassed his great teacher. Neither in achievement, nor in spiritual wisdom, nor in the multitude of admirers, he was in any way superior to Fr. Ambrose. But if we remember the sorrows that he suffered at the end of his spiritual achievement, when by right he could have already enjoyed universal respect, and the humility with which he accepted them, it will become clear to you that these words could only refer to his humility; and humility, as the holy fathers said, is the height of perfection. Since 1907, the elder began to feel ill often. He had been suffering from chronic malaria for several years, and little by little it began to worsen. Father often suffered from it, but God still protected him for the benefit of his many spiritual children. His physical suffering was also aggravated by the severity of spiritual sorrows that depressed him, and all of this together quickly began to bring him closer to the grave. But despite his physical weakness and almost constant illness, he still continued to receive visitors. As soon as the priest felt better, the door of the hut opened and everyone who thirsted for consolation or his old age blessing went there again; and the priest did not refuse anyone. But since 1911 it began to weaken noticeably. Although he still received visitors, they apparently weighed on him. All this time he was in some kind of special prayerful mood, and at times he completely retreated into himself. Despite all the increasing weakness and the fever, which at times reached 39 degrees, the priest, until his death, retained his memory and clarity of spirit, and daily, unfailingly, he performed his usual rule. His love was so great that despite his suffering, until his last breath he did not refuse his blessing and advice to those who wished. But his life was apparently fading away. During the last four weeks of his life, he ate almost no food, sustaining himself only with a small amount of warm water. At the beginning of his illness, he received unction and during it repeatedly received Holy Communion. Tain. A few days before his death, the monastic brethren, the Shamorda and Belev sisters and many lay people came to say goodbye to him, kissing his hand and receiving his last blessing. On May 9, at eleven o’clock in the evening, the blessed elder quietly rested. The Shamorda sisters bitterly mourned their unforgettable elder. For sixteen years he led them, raising them spiritually, and now the Shamodin monastery became orphaned again. But the seed sown by Fr. Ambrose, ripened in the hands of Fr. Joseph. The young community grew into a majestic monastery, a small seed bore a luxurious fruit, and when the weeping sisters asked the dying elder to whom he was now entrusting Shamordino, he calmly answered - God.