Глава XII. Временные отлучки старца Макария из своей обители: в Орловскую и Курскую епархии, в Киев и прочие. Посещение Оптиной Пустыни наместником Троицко-Сергиевой лавры о. архимандритом Антонием. Поездка старца Макария в Москву и Сергиеву лавру. Отношения Московского митрополита Филарета и лаврск

Amid the worries and troubles of both the external improvement of the monastery and the internal spiritual nourishment of the entire numerous Optina brotherhood, not excluding book studies, Elder Macarius found the opportunity to devote time to absences from his monastery - often for a short period of time, and sometimes for quite a long time, always, however, with the good purpose of providing spiritual benefit to others, and at the same time benefiting himself. So, in 1848, on October 4, he, accompanied by one novice, went with a consistory passport to the Oryol and Kursk provinces for a whole month. And an accident with the elder on the road forced him to stay outside his monastery for longer. On the same October 18th, a letter was received in Optina from the city of Sevsk notifying that Father Fr. Macarius, before reaching the city of Dmitrovsk, injured his hand due to the fact that the cart in which he was leaving the inn early in the dark accidentally fell over. The doctors - Dmitrovsky, and then Sevsky - thought that the old man had a broken bone in his right hand; That’s why they used bandages and lotions on his arm. The elder even began to feel some relief. But the reality turned out to be different. Optina rector Fr. Moses and his brothers, waiting for a long time for the elder to return, began to doubt whether the doctors understood his illness correctly. And therefore, having corresponded with the elder, they sent his cell attendant, Fr. Herodion with an experienced chiropractor, who found, instead of a fracture, a dislocated bone near the shoulder. The old man had to decide on a difficult operation in order to set the bone, which had already begun to heal, into its place. The pain was severe. But, with the help of God, the operation was very successful; and the old man that same day could already raise and lower his sore arm. And on November 20, he had the opportunity, to the general joy of the entire Optina brotherhood, to return home. Elder Macarius’s love for his Optina pets was so great that, despite his illness, he did not leave them without spiritual care throughout his stay at the hotel of the Sevsky Convent. To the letters he received from them, with his permission, although not with his own hand, he sent answers, with difficulty signing his name with his sore hand. The skete chronicler notes that the misfortune befell the old man as a result of the obsession of our primordial invisible enemy. This, by the way, was confirmed by the fact that one demon-possessed woman there, just before this misfortune, shouted threats at the elder in a man’s voice. The enemy wanted to deprive the Sevsky nuns of Sevsky nuns who had been waiting for their spiritual mentor for a long time; since, on the occasion of the newly chosen leader to replace the deceased, there was chaos in the monastery. But the Providence of God turned the elder’s very misfortune to the benefit of the embarrassed nuns of the monastery. For the elder, due to the late autumn time, hoping to travel to the Kursk province, thought to stay in Sevsk no more than three days. But the spiritual needs of both the newly installed abbess and the nuns, the elder’s spiritual daughters, required his stay there for more than one week in order to pacify them all. Which, with the help of God, was achieved by the elder. Another time, in 1850, Elder Macarius, also with a consistory two-month passport, traveled to Voronezh and Kyiv to venerate St. to the relics of the saints of God, taking with him the skete novice Ivan Ivanovich Antimonov 84 as a guide. Setting off on May 15, the elder entrusted the spiritual care of the brethren to the confessors, hieromonks Ambrose and Paisius, and the management of the skete, or supervision of external orders, to the skete hieromonk Nikon. Having commanded the brethren to have peace and love among themselves, he again allowed them to write to him about their spiritual needs, appointing their stopping places and promising to answer their letters - as all this was in fact. On this trip, by the way, along the way the elder visited his sister Varvara Nikolaevna Glebova on her estate, the village of Nikolskoye, Efremovsky district, Tula province. But two years after this meeting, precisely in December 1852, this pious person died in Petrograd from cholera. Patient and at the same time loving, responsive to the sorrows of others, the elder accepted at one time the sad news of the death of his beloved sister with submission to the inscrutable destinies of God's Providence and, together with deep sorrow, deepening his fatherly attention to her children (they had lost their father earlier), and at the end of his days he had the consolation of seeing that his wise advice, and especially his zeal for them Prayers to the Lord set some and confirmed others on the path of Christian pious life. But let's continue the interrupted thread of the main story. After meeting with his sister Varvara Nikolaevna, the elder was in Voronezh and Belgrade, Kursk province, to venerate St. the relics of St. Mitrofan and St. Joasaph Gorlenka, who was not yet glorified at that time; also in the Borisov women's hermitage and in the city of Kursk with Archbishop Iliodor, who visited the Optina monastery several years ago; and he had an apartment in the house of the honorary hereditary citizen Ivan Vasilyevich Antimonov, the parent of the novice Ivan Ivanovich Antimonov he took with him, where they lived for five days. The following circumstance forced the elder to do this. Ivan Ivanovich left home and entered Optina Pustyn against the will of his parent, without even telling him about it; why the father was dissatisfied with his son for his self-will. Therefore, it was necessary to reconcile them. Having spent a certain time in the house of Ivan Vasilyevich, the elder, with the help of God, achieved this goal. From here, through Sevsk, Elder Macarius and his guide arrived at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra on June 18 and were received with love and with special respect for the elder by the ecclesiarch of the Lavra, Hieromonk Meletius, the brother of Ivan Ivanovich Antimonov, and other monks who at one time believed in the beginning of monastic life in Optina Pustyn. They stayed in the monastery in the cells of Fr. ecclesiarch for ten days. At this time, they were repeatedly honored to venerate the holy miraculous icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the relics of the saints of God and St. Great Martyr Barbara in the St. Michael's Monastery. We were blessed by His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret, the founder of the Optina monastery, and were received by him with fatherly favor. We visited the inspector of the Kyiv Academy, Hieromonk Daniel, and the rector of the seminary, Archimandrite Anthony (Amphiteatrov), located near Optina Pustyn. Before leaving Kyiv, we were in the Goloseevsky monastery, where we listened to the Liturgy and received a blessing on the return journey from the Metropolitan Bishop who was there, who still left guests for several days; but due to the short expiration date of their passport, they could not stay in Kyiv any longer. And so, with a feeling of spiritual consolation and gratitude to God, the Mother of God and the holy saints, they said goodbye to their close acquaintances, the Lavra monks, who, out of love and zeal for Elder Macarius, presented him with gifts - some icons, some books or something else worthy of note. On July 4th, after lunch, the travelers set off from Kyiv and, through Sevsk, arrived in Orel, where they introduced themselves to Archbishop Smaragd, who also received the visitors very favorably and treated them to tea and fruit. In general, throughout his long journey, wherever Elder Macarius stopped, he received a very warm welcome everywhere. Those who knew him everywhere, out of their zeal, kept him for some time and treated him with deep respect and veneration. Finally, the elder and his brother accompanying him, having ridden on horseback 2040 miles in both directions for 70 days, to the general joy of the entire Optina brotherhood, arrived at his monastery on July 24, thanking the Lord with all his heart for keeping him safe and sound. Each time, upon returning from a long journey, Elder Macarius, as usual, continued to go about his business; Meanwhile, in the near future, after a trip to Kyiv, he was expected to travel to Moscow for a personal presentation to the Most Reverend Moscow Metropolitan Philaret, and then to the Holy Trinity Lavra to venerate St. relics of the saint of God, Ven. Sergius. It turned out like this. Back in 1849, in October, the abbot of the Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony, known for his intelligence and pious life, who at one time enjoyed the favor of the Moscow Metropolitan Philaret and the respect of the entire Moscow noble society, visited Optina Pustyn, accompanied by the aforementioned abbot of the Maloyaroslavets Monastery, the venerable Fr. Abbot Anthony. Both of them visited the monastery several times this time. There were also in the cells of the monastery leader Fr. Macarius, who presented Fr. the governor received several items from the monastery brethren - spoons and some chiseled items. Fr. accepted with love. The governor received these simple gifts and even wanted to present some of them to Metropolitan Philaret. Then, upon returning from the monastery to the monastery, the elders spent a lot of time in spiritual conversation. And immediately it was pleasing to Fr. the governor to honor Elder Macarius and the monastery with a precious gift - part of the relics of St. father Sergius of Radonezh from his foot finger. What a gift was accepted by Elder Macarius and all the hermits with great reverence and gratitude to the Lord and to the God-loving visitor to the monastery, who at the same time promised to send a cross with some shrines to the monastery. On October 24 of the same, after listening to the early Liturgy, the Optina elders - Fr. Abbot Moses and Father Fr. Macarius - they said goodbye to their dear guests with tears of mutual spiritual love, giving them an honorable farewell. And this is how Elder Macarius wrote about this visit to Fr. on the 31st of October, the abbot of the Lavra, Optina Pustyn, to his nieces, the nuns of the Sevsky Monastery: “All these days we were in pleasant troubles. On Friday evening, that is, the 21st, respectable and kind guests consoled us with their visit - the Lavra governor, Fr. Archimandrite Anthony with Malaya Yaroslavets abbot Fr. Anthony. How kind and pleasant his treatment was with us wretches, and even more so with me, worthless! One should have been surprised. It seems that he was breathing love - that everything was expressed by his tender feelings. Every word of his loving conversation was imprinted in our hearts; and my dull pen with the same intelligence does not have the ability to describe them. He rewarded our monastery with a shrine; and promised to send more. With what reverence I received the handicrafts of our monastery - spoons and turned things! – one had to be surprised. And I wanted to present them to the Metropolitan. Well, in a word, he left us a memory and an example of unflattering love and humility. What can we give him? Just keep this feeling in a grateful heart and pray to the Lord with a simple word: save him, Lord!” 85 Soon after this, precisely on November 10, I received it via mail from the same Fr. Archimandrite Anthony and the silver-gilded cross he promised to the skete church, on the top board of which there is a silver white image of the crucified Christ the Savior, decorated on the sides with multi-colored stones. Inside this cross are embedded: part of the life-giving wood of the Cross of the Lord, and below is part of the mantle of St. Sergius; and a place was left for investing the donated relics of this saint of God 86. A year after Elder Macarius visited the Kyiv shrines, for some reason he needed to go to the Maloyaroslavets Monastery. On October 11, 1851, he went there, accompanied by novice Ioann Polovtsev. From there, together with Fr. They drove to the Borovsky venerable abbot, Abbot Anthony. Paphnutia Monastery and after a kind meeting with the rector of that monastery, Archimandrite Gennady, we went to the Zosimova Women's Hermitage, which was under the special patronage of the Moscow Metropolitan Philaret and the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony. There they unexpectedly had to meet Fr. viceroy. Here is how Elder Macarius himself wrote about this to his Sevsk nieces: “On Monday we arrived early at Zosima Hermitage... Because of their (sisters’) abundance of joy and love, they did not know what kind of peace to give us. But we were pleased; and one cannot help but be grateful to the universal joyful and zealous greeting and the dissolved frank feeling. But at the very time of our stay with them, their joy increased: they received news that tomorrow, that is, the 16th, the father governor of the Lavra, Father Archimandrite Anthony, would come to them, and the day of his former angel, Andrew of Crete, would stay with them, on the 17th, which came true. On the 16th at 3 o'clock in the afternoon Father Archimandrite arrived; and for us this was such an unexpected consolation, so that even if we had written off for the congress, it would have been impossible to adapt it so well. His pleasant, loving, simple address, soulful and edifying conversations served as a great consolation for one and all. And during this time, all the sisters’ work and activities were abandoned except for the necessary ones; and everyone sat down at his and our feet and ate the spiritual food coming from his mouth” 87. Here, by the way, Elder Macarius is in the presence of Fr. The governor explained that some inaccuracies were noticed in the recently published academic Russian translation of “The Ladder”. Upon his return from the Zosima Hermitage, Fr. the governor did not fail to bring this to the attention of the metropolitan. Bishop through the spiritual daughter of Elder Macarius N. P. Kireevskaya expressed a desire for the elder to put his comments on paper and deliver them to him. Hieromonk Ambrose and Fr. took up this matter under the direct supervision of Elder Macarius. John Polovtsev. Having compared the academic translation with the Slavic translation of the Moldavian Elder Paisius and with the Russian translation of the former abbot of the Bolkhov Monastery, Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharev), they wrote out the appropriate comments. These extracts were delivered by the elder to the Metropolitan through the same Mrs. Kireyevskaya with the following humble letter: “Forgive me, Gracious Master, that I dare to bother you with my poorly-complicated lines. With the blessing of Your Eminence, conveyed to me through N.P. Kireyevskaya, calling for help from your archpastoral prayers, the newly published book of St. Having read John of the Climacus in the Russian translation with some of the brethren of our monastery and compared it with the translation of Elder Paisius, Archimandrite of Moldova, I made comments in which, in our understanding, I found discrepancies or words that did not express the spiritual mind in Russian, which, having compiled a special register, I dare to present for the discretion of Your Eminence. And throwing myself at the feet of Your Eminence, I ask forgiveness for this boldness of ours; and we by no means dare to assert the justice of our opinion, leaving it to your archpastoral discretion and decision; and if you deign to find anything or everything wrong, then we humbly ask you to cover it with your archpastoral love and condescension. Having repeatedly received the blessing of Your Eminence, and again I dare to ask for it, and, immersing myself in your prayerful protection and archpastoral mercies, I have the honor to abide with my due high veneration...” This letter was sent in early January 1852 and was the beginning of an interesting correspondence between the elder and the metropolitan. It cannot be said for certain that before the publication of spiritual books by Optina Hermitage (before 1845), Elder Macarius was well known to Metropolitan Philaret. When people close to the elder began to ask the bishop for a blessing to start the book business, the saint, no doubt, could not help but be curious about who would be preparing for the printing of manuscripts. In turn, Messrs., long known to the Metropolitan. The Kireevsky and other admirers of the elder could not help but speak highly of him as a wise man and a highly spiritual ascetic; through which the Metropolitan could not help but warm up to Elder Macarius. What kind of affection the Metropolitan had for him can be seen from N.P. Kireevskaya’s response letter to the elder, written in May 1849, which also mentions the assistance of the Moscow saint in the publication of the book of St. Nil Sorsky. “Having visited the Bishop,” Natalya Petrovna wrote, by the way, “I told him your gratitude for his gracious attention and read him a few lines from the beginning and end of the letter, where you mentally throw yourself at his feet and ask St. prayers and blessings. He listened to this with feeling and said: “Write to Fr. Macarius, that I ask the Lord, and send him God’s blessing, and I ask him to St. prayers. I inquired about Nil Sorsky; permission to print without asking the Synod, and soon you will receive his book for printing.” These are the bishop’s own words.” Finally, a review of Elder Macarius by the viceroy of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Fr. Archimandrite Anthony, in whom the Metropolitan had complete confidence, without any doubt, made a deep impression on the soul of St. Philaret. And the intelligent comments delivered to him by the elder on the academic translation of the Ladder, one might think, served as a kind of confirmation of all the praiseworthy reviews about him before the Metropolitan. As a result of all this, the wise saint, who was in no hurry in matters that required caution, finally decided to express in writing to the elder his desire to see him in person. Elder Macarius was also prompted to go to Moscow by other reasons, especially his poor health. For a long time, persons devoted to him persuaded him to go to Moscow to consult about his health with the doctors there; but to their repeated persuasion he only answered: “Let it be what God pleases,” or more often remained silent. By the way, on the occasion of the publication of books undertaken by the Optina residents, Elder Macarius, one might say, already, out of necessity, entered into correspondence with the Metropolitan. And in response to both his previous letter with comments and another, congratulatory one, in the same 1852 on the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, the elder was honored to receive from the Metropolitan the following letter: “Most Reverend Father Macarius! Christ is Risen! Accept this kiss from me for the common consolation of common faith. May the risen Lord grant you the joy He promised, fulfilled and unalienable. Sorry for the late thank you for communicating your comments on the new translation of the Ladder. I gave them to the translators and do not yet have a report from them, which I expect and demand in order to talk with you about the book through your comments. Our mutual acquaintances, telling me information about you, aroused in me concern for your health, and from this the thought was born that I am telling you. You traveled far to the Kyiv miracle workers: why don’t you take a trip not so far - to the Moscow miracle workers and to St. Sergius? They would not leave your visit without blessing. By the way, you could listen to the advice of doctors, and we would take advantage of your communication. If I called you to my place, you could refuse without thinking. But as I call you to the Moscow miracle workers and to St. Sergius, I hope you will think about this not without attention. May the Lord arrange for Him what is pleasing. I ask for your prayers. – Filaret m. Moskovsky. April 3, 1852." This merciful, loving and humble writing of the great saint of Moscow, with the deep respect for him of Elder Macarius, evoked a remarkably humble response from the latter. This is what the elder wrote: “Christ is risen! Your Eminence, most gracious father and archpastor! You have deigned to pour out so much archpastoral and paternal mercy on me, honoring my thinness with your handwritten writing, that I am unable to fully express the reverence and the lowest filial gratitude I feel for the person of Your Eminence. Upon receiving such a dear sign of your favor to me, I kissed the words written by your holy right hand, mentally throwing myself at your feet. Do I dare to refuse such a gracious offer of yours and blessing for me, the worst, to bow to the great Moscow miracle workers and St. Sergius of Radonezh, our great intercessors and intercessors of salvation, which will serve as a great consolation for me? But also in reverence for the person of Your Eminence, I have long had a desire to receive personally your archpastoral blessing, which I have not been able to receive until now. Now, at the first opportunity, after the water has drained, I will consider it my happiness to fall personally at the feet of Your Eminence, with the blessing of our archpastor and father abbot. I dare, asking for your archpastoral blessing and holy prayers, with my deepest veneration and filial devotion, to fall at your feet and abide Your Eminence, most merciful father and archpastor, most humble novice, much-sinful hieromonk Macarius. April 8, 18S2." Simultaneously with the letter to Elder Macarius, the Metropolitan sent a special letter to Fr. Abbot Moses, asking him to release the elder to Moscow. But on the part of the humble and conscientious Fr. the abbot's delay could not even be expected, even if the metropolitan did not ask him about it. And so, with the onset of the month of May, the elder got ready to set off, inviting with him as a guide the above-mentioned, now cassophore monk, Fr. Ioanna Polovtseva. On the 8th, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, in the afternoon, Father Macarius invited all the monastery brethren to his place for tea and announced that in his absence he entrusted the supervision of the external order in the monastery to Hieromonk Paphnutius, and the spiritual care of the brethren, as before, to Hieromonk Ambrose. At the same time, he bequeathed to everyone to preserve peace and unanimity, as the main signs of Christ’s disciples, and not to abandon cell studies. At the same time, he noted: “So the secular sages show us the outcome - the paternal scripture. Recently, Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky sent me (as you heard) his book, in which he publicly admits that, having exhausted all the wisdom of Western philosophers, he was convinced that they had no truth; and it is hidden in the writings of the fathers of the Orthodox Church.” The next day, May 9, after the Liturgy at the monastery, a farewell prayer service with kneeling was served for those departing; and then there was a wonderful farewell to the elder by the brothers. After the prayer service, everyone hurried to the priest’s cell, where, as the chronicler put it, the triumph of Christ’s love took place in our love-poor time. Then all the monastery brethren and the majority of the monastery family followed the elder to the exit monastery gate. Fr. also came out there. Abbot Moses. Here the elders, worthy of each other, said goodbye, and the brethren saw off those departing across the river. Zhizdra, flowing about a hundred yards from the monastery, where the monastery, having received the blessing from the elder, obeying his desire, returned back, while the hermits escorted the elder and a little further. Finally, he left his wagon, blessed each brother and set off on his deliberate journey. Perhaps such a solemn farewell to the elder was arranged as a result of rumors that had spread that he was going to Moscow at the call of the great Moscow hierarch. It seems, however, that the old man’s previous farewells, when he left for a long time, were not without interest. On May 15, in the afternoon, the skete coachman 88 returned from Maloyaroslavets with the horses on which he had taken the elder there. With this coachman, the skits received their first letter from the priest, in which he, after a detailed description of the path to Maloyaroslavets, deigned, according to his custom, to attribute his fatherly benevolence: “Abide, brothers, in self-reproach and love; and the peace of God will be with you.” Elder Macarius remained away for about a month and a half, including travel to Moscow and back. During this time, the new bishop Gregory (Mitkevich), who took the Kaluga See on December 9, 1851, after his predecessor, Bishop Nicholas, deigned to visit Optina Pustyn. He arrived on May 31 and stayed for several days. The bishop was very attentive and kind to everyone and everything in the monastery. Having been in the monastery, he wished to visit the cell of the monastery leader and elder Macarius. Entering the hall, he asked: “This is the reception room, I think? And I want to see the elder’s cell.” Then, accompanying the Right Reverend Fr. Abbot Moses ordered the door of the cell to be unlocked. Entering there, the bishop prayed at the holy icons, then, looking at the cabinet, he said: “Ah! Books? And, putting on his glasses, he began to run through the glass of the table of contents. Then he turned to another cabinet: “And there are books here too? That's how much! This means that the elder uses them. Whose is this?” O. Abbot explained that the elder's own. After this, having examined the monastery and the apiary with it, he returned to the monastery. Having served the Liturgy at the monastery on June 3, the Right Reverend wished to serve in the monastery the next day. Having listened to the vigil in the skete church in the evening and returning to the monastery for the night, he, in a conversation with Fr. The abbot asked: “And to whom do (the brethren) have the revelation?” Father Superior replied: “They have a revelation to the elder Fr. Macarius." “This is the main thing,” the bishop continued. “That’s what it’s all about.” This is the source of salvation. Either a person will fall too low or rise too high. The first is bad, and the second is followed by beauty. Isn't it true? “Exactly so, Your Eminence,” answered Fr. Abbot. “Some people, by self-inflicted behavior, will fall into such a mess that it can be difficult to correct.” Further, the bishop spoke about how important he considers the revelation of thoughts, through which the heart is purified and passions fade, and concluded the conversation with the word of Scripture: the wicked are taken captive by lack of conscience (Prov. 11:6). This conversation, remarkable in all respects, served as the topic for the Bishop, which he delivered the next day in the skete church after the Divine Liturgy. But let’s continue the conversation about the journey of Elder Macarius. He arrived in Moscow on May 14, in the morning at 9 o’clock, to the Kireevsky house, which was located at the Red Gate, where the owners were waiting for him as a blessing from God. But as soon as the elder had time to get out of the cart, a messenger from Metropolitan Philaret came to find out when the elder was expected? Father Fr. was moved to tears. Macarius with the attention of the merciful ruler; and hastened to show the Metropolitan his sincere gratitude - to appear to him in person. On this same first date, the Metropolitan deigned to invite him to his meal. How the elder then spent his time in Moscow, we borrow information from his handwritten letters to his Sevsk nieces. On the next, 15th, day of May, he wrote as follows: “12th hour. After mass, we were honored to receive a blessing from the Bishop and were privileged to have a conversation with him. I was with him for about an hour; I spoke (the Bishop) about various subjects, more spiritual, and above my dignity; he showed his archpastoral mercy - he ordered me to come at the second hour to dine, where he promised to introduce my wickedness to the Right Reverend Gregory of Kazan. Well, am I worth it? I’m afraid that this will not be a condemnation for me.” (The same) “On the 15th, after my letter to you, I was honored to be a table-fellow of two hierarchs; truly not according to my dignity, looking at my careless life, and woe to me! For my name is higher than my deeds, and I, the accursed one, catching glory, flee far from reproach; but I have no equality with both. But what to do? Lord! In the image of fate, save me, unworthy.” “Today (probably on the next 16th) the Bishop has again blessed me to visit him, and I will go there at 8 o’clock for mass and hope to receive his blessing.” “May 17th. Thank God! Now we have been living in Moscow for the fourth day, and we have corrected some things, and some have. I wrote to you about our successful arrival and about receiving a blessing from the Bishop; and now in the morning, having free time, I am writing these lines to you, or talking with you. Yesterday, it is not too early, I received letters from Pustyn from you, from the brethren, and all sent in my name to Pustyn.” "May 18th. Today is the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit; and I, a sinner, was vouchsafed beyond my dignity to be a co-servant with the Metropolitan in the Chudov Monastery. He served the Liturgy, and I was among those serving. Thank the Lord!” “In memory of Alexei Metropolitan (May 20) I was in Chudov. Vladyka served, and I stood at the altar with M... Afterwards I had a snack with Vladyka; and he blessed me to go to the Lavra. I'm thinking of going there tomorrow or Friday. And you, it seems, are raving in the heat about my imaginary height, not understanding that I mean nothing. Vladyka still said almost nothing to me; and when he speaks, he will see my foolishness and lazy and careless life. He, perhaps, thought to find in me some high talents and spiritual fruit; but I am alien to all this and am alone from the sinful and weak. You can ramble as you wish, but I know better in reality.” m26th May. I am writing to you from the Lavra of St. Sergius, saint of God, where we arrived on Friday the 23rd, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. And on the same day the bishop came here. The next day after Matins we served a prayer service to St. Sergius, where we also remembered your names. After lunch we went to the monastery; and the father governor came there and showed us all the establishments there. We were there for the all-night vigil and mass on Sunday; there they started talking. And on the same day, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna arrived at the Lavra. This morning we arrived at the Lavra: the Bishop will serve.” “I am writing after mass... In the church we stood in the altar, and we could see the Grand Duchess and her son quite well... Thank God that our sovereign Court has such zeal for the saint of God, St. Sergius, they came on purpose to worship. We just spent the night in Moscow.” “May 30th. I am writing the second to you, beloved children in the Lord, from here from the Lavra, where we will stay until Sunday or Monday...” “Thank the Lord! Having been honored to stay in the Lavra of St. Sergius and venerate his holy relics, yesterday the pack returned to Moscow. That’s why I wrote to you, why now I find it unnecessary to describe to you our stay there. I will only say that through the prayers of the saint of God we had a very good time there. The Bishop graciously and fatherly received us and saw us off with a blessing and an icon of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos; and blessed the coral rosary from his holy hands.” It seems necessary to make a small insert here. In January 1859, the new head of the Optina monastery, Hieromonk Paphnutius, while in Moscow, introduced himself to Metropolitan Philaret, who received him graciously and very kindly, asked about the Optina elders, Fr. Macarius, Fr. Archimandrite Moses and Fr. Abbess Anthony, and in conclusion, blessing him, added: “Tell Fr. Macarius, that I wear the rosary that he and I exchanged; and now I have them in my hands.” These words show that the elder, out of deep humility, kept silent about the exchange of rosaries with the Metropolitan. We continue to talk about the separation. Makaria with Fr. the governor of the Lavra in the elder’s own words: “Oh. the governor showed his great love for us and provided us with everything: images, books, tea, sugar, a samovar, money, a cassock and a kamilavka with a hood; gave his horses and a calm carriage to Moscow; He himself took us 10 miles away, where we drank tea. And o. F. with o. D. was escorted until halfway along the road, that is, until he spent the night. By order of the bishop, we stayed in the monastery and monastery for 10 days. I presented to him that our deadline was approaching, and he said: “We can postpone it; when necessary, I will write to your bishop, but you need treatment in Moscow.” We only have 7 days left, and no one has been here yet, what should we do? Asked about. the abbot send another extension of two weeks. Meanwhile, we will often talk by letter - which is what I do in every mail: I write to my brothers and sisters, that is, to you, and you write to me and don’t be bored” 89 . This ends the information provided by Elder Macarius himself about his stay in Moscow and the Lavra. You can see from them how glad he was and what love the Metropolitan and the Lavra governor showed for him, and on the other hand, how humble the elder was! On June 13, Father Fr. left. Macarius from Moscow. The Kireevskys accompanied their spiritual, loving father to the outpost. And on June 20, at the end of the evening rule, he returned from his trip to the monastery. The skits met their dear priest and received a blessing from him in the church. And then, until late in the evening, the elder’s cells were filled with monastic brethren who came to him to receive a blessing and express their joy at his safe return. How pleasant it was for the Metropolitan to have a personal meeting with the elder can be seen from the following letter from the Bishop to him: “Reverend Father Macarius! First of all, thank you for your kind visit. I hope that your work is fruitless. I regret that I didn’t talk enough with you. But thank God for everything! Thank you for the books 90. You are very generous, and I was ashamed to take advantage of your generosity: but they convinced me not to contradict. The benefit that those who read will gain, may the secretly working God turn into spiritual gain for you. Kissing my humility to all your brotherhood. Grace and peace of the Lord be with you! I ask you not to deprive me of the good help of your prayers. Filaret m. Moskovsky. August 13, 1852." Indeed, the work of Elder Macarius’s trip to Moscow, according to the Metropolitan, was fruitless. There he had the consolation to pray to St. saints of Moscow and kiss their incorruptible relics, and then St. Sergius in his Lavra; to see face to face the great saint of Moscow, receive a blessing from him and enjoy his humbly loving conversation; in the Lavra, to be received with brotherly love - and even, it seems, more than that - Fr. the governor of the Lavra, and then also the rector of the Theological Academy, Archimandrite Alexy, inspector Archimandrite Sergius and professor F.A. Golubinsky. In addition, the elder also took advantage of the benefits of the chief doctor of the Moscow land hospital in the city of K.K. Pfel. Having suffered for a long time, and in recent years constantly, from the occupation of the spirit, the sufferer supported himself with drops, which the said doctor prescribed to him. Metropolitan Philaret treated Elder Macarius favorably even before his personal meeting with him; and after that he began to treat him with even greater attention, goodwill and goodwill. So, for example, on February 25, 1854, the elder received a letter from the Metropolitan with the following content: “Reverend Father Macarius rejoice in the Lord. As I am writing to you upon entering into fasting, it is time to ask for your forgiveness, perhaps in greater wines than the one I am now thinking about - in long silence. I hear with sympathy that your health is poor. Give yourself a break. Do not deplete your strength, which, if used in moderation, can serve you longer. I also hear that you are concerned about incorrect judgments about some people who received instructions from you. As far as I know the circumstances, they need to be advised to be patient, because the opinion of their superiors cannot suddenly be changed. However, there is no reason to fear that difficulties similar to those that happened with the late Father Leonid 91 could occur. Peace and silence to your soul. Pray for me, overwhelmed by the rumors of everyday life. Filaret m. Moskovsky. Feb. 21. 1854. Kisses to your father archimandrite and father Anthony. I also ask the first one for forgiveness in silence.” Or in a letter of the same year to Elder Macarius, Natalya Petrovna Kireevskaya wrote: “On Friday I had the good fortune to be with the Metropolitan... Despite his studies, he did a favor - he received us attentively and deigned to ask about your health; and, having learned about the weakening and occupation of the spirit that was happening to you, he was extremely sorry and said: it would be necessary to Fr. the archimandrite to calm the elder; convey to the elder my wish for his health and God’s blessing. I fulfill this pleasant task with all my heart.” In the mutual relationship between the Metropolitan and Elder Macarius, even a truly childlike love for each other is visible. The spiritual daughter of Elder N.P. The Metropolitan received Kireevskaya without delay at any time - both when he was busy with business, and even when he was unwell and therefore did not receive anyone except her. On October 25 of the same 1854, Kireevskaya wrote the following to the elder: “My dear father, benefactor of the soul! On Friday, as expected, she was with the bishop. He was unwell and had not seen anyone yet. I decided to say that they would report me, and, of course, for your holy blessing, I was graciously received by the Bishop. I conveyed your earthly worship, my father, and, receiving you a holy blessing from the Bishop, I untied the bundle with gifts from you and gave first a chiseled bowl, then spoons, a ladle. The Bishop reviewed everything with attention and, holding a ladle in his hand, said: “Tell me, why are there roses inside? To drink them? After all, they will come down, so in my monastery they also paint it like that; Does this seem unnecessary? I answered the bishop: “These flowers will not come off, they are carefully covered with linseed oil and held in place, which I have seen in experience, using spoons painted in the same way; it's very beautiful." Vladyka: “Okay, I’ll eat and drink from this ladle at dinner...” Then she brought me candlesticks (turned), which the Vladyka really liked. He said that “it’s cleaner with a hairpin.” And when I reported that the priest was ashamed to send them - they were simply decorated in tin, the bishop said: “In vain; I prefer tin; it is much better than copper.” After everything, I gave the bishop the books of St. Isaac and explained why the sheets were somewhat crumpled - because of my guilt, and that for yourself you deigned to put the letters yourself for the convenience of finding lines of the same matter, and showed how (to find), and that you are zealous for the Bishop, actually thinking that this convenience would not be pleasing to the Bishop. The Bishop said: “Very grateful. But why didn’t the elder leave it for himself and deprive himself?” I answered: “Father will still take the trouble to do it for himself; and to you, lord, he is glad to serve you with everything he has, out of his deep devotion to you.” The Lord said: “Oh, save them, God! I thank them. Apparently I have a long time to live. They sent me so many things! They want me to live a long time." And everyone smiled pleasantly. I answered that it was due to decency. The Bishop asked with sympathy about your health. I explained what I saw, and my soul was comforted by the Lord’s love for you, my father! Then she conveyed bows and respect from Fr. Archimandrite (Moses) and Fr. Abbot Anthony..." Being in such close relations with the Optina elders in general, and especially with Elder Macarius, Vladyka Metropolitan wished to meet with him and Fr. Abbot Anthony, for which a favorable opportunity presented itself. In the skete chronicle, on September 26, 1855, we read the following note: “On this day, at 4 o’clock in the morning, the elders - Fr. Abbot Anthony and Father Fr. Macarius went to Zosima’s maiden hermitage at the invitation of its head for the consecration of the church, which will be performed by the Bishop of Moscow, His Eminence Philaret, who also expressed a desire for the elders to take advantage of this opportunity for a personal meeting and conversation with him.” But the details of this meeting, unfortunately, are unknown. Moreover, what great attentiveness the Metropolitan showed to the publication of the patristic writings by the Optina residents, led by Elder Macarius - attentiveness combined with the deep humility of the saint of Christ, especially in relation to the elder! Not only did the Metropolitan carefully read and carefully correct the explanations compiled by the Optina residents on some obscure passages of the patristic writings; he himself even translated some difficult passages of St. fathers, comparing them with the Greek or Latin original, and encouraged the censor to quickly complete the work entrusted to him. The saint especially desired and took every possible care for the publication of 1) the book “The Rev. Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John’s Guide to Spiritual Life,” finding it more useful than others for monastics. In his letter to Elder Macarius N.P. Kireyevskaya in July 1849, among other things, wrote that the Bishop, having learned about the desire of the Optina residents to publish “Teachings of St. Theodore the Studite" and the Monks Barsanuphius and John, remarked: "My opinion: first of all, start printing Barsanuphius the Great - that would be better." And on September 19 of the same year, the same Kireevskaya reported to Elder Macarius the following words of the Metropolitan: “About the book of St. Barsanuphius, being in the monastery, I got busy. The Greek original was also found; and we found ancient Slavic, and, strangely, Slavic is much closer and more accurate than Greek. We will put it this way: print the translation of Elder Paisius as it is. But since in some places there are missing speeches and places in it: then everything and the like from the Old Slavonic, and partly checking with the Greek (book), we will put down below in the notes, as was done in the book of St. Nila." “Having listened to these joyful words,” Kireyevskaya then wrote, “I bowed at the Bishop’s feet with deepest gratitude and gratitude... I also added a few words about how I was afraid to distract Theodore Alexandrovich (Golubinsky), now otherwise occupied, from the book of St. Barsanufia. The Bishop said: “Well, I ordered him to deal exclusively with it.” When the book was printed and presented to the Metropolitan of Kireyevsk on behalf of Elder Macarius, he was very pleased. Kireyevskaya wrote the following to Optina about this: “Vladyka received us with fatherly favor. I handed him a copy on behalf of you, father, and thanked you with a bow to the ground. The Bishop accepted the book with great pleasure and said: “The way the elders keep up with everything is amazing! I am very grateful to them." I asked the Bishop to pay attention to the seal, to the alphabet, and the Bishop very, very approved of everything. He spoke kindly." Together with the book of the venerable fathers Barsanuphius and John, the Metropolitan approved the publication of 2) Rev. Abba Thalassia. Continuing the previous letter, Kireyevskaya wrote to the elder: “I gave the bishop the 3rd centenary of Thalassius’s translation. The Bishop asked: “What is this?” - “The rest of the centurion Thalassia. The very last chapters of the 4th centenary, Father Fr. Macarius did not translate because he was afraid of making mistakes in the presentation of these lofty subjects of theology, and left it to the will of Your Eminence, and as the Lord will tell you.” - “In vain; It would be better if they translated it - they would help me. Wait, now...” and went into another room. The Bishop returned, holding in his hands the 1st Centurion of St. Thalassia: “Here is the 1st centenary, I read it, changed some. In one place I thought I had guessed it, corrected it, but when I found the Greek original here in the monastery, I saw that I was mistaken and changed the correction. In another place it was not so, probably because one word was missing in the original. Here, give it to the elders from me and ask if my amendments will be acceptable to them. I was worried and didn’t know how I could send them this hundred. I’m very glad that I can give it to you.” I thanked you very much and said that you would accept the Bishop’s mercy with the deepest sense of gratitude and that your amendments were a blessing. The Bishop said: “Well, it’s like the elders will find it.” Then I asked: “When the elders have copied it, will you allow me to deliver it back to you?” - “You can hand it over to the censor, as you wish.” Upon the return of the first centurion, Abba Thalassia, the Metropolitan wrote to Elder Macarius: “Peace from above to the Reverend Father Macarius! I return the translation of Abba Thalassius, which I have scribbled, perhaps as unsightly in relation to the mind as in relation to the letters. I leave it to your consideration. I don’t think it’s superfluous to say what I did and why. I compared the first hundred only with the translation of Elder Paisius. Having doubts about a few chapters, I resorted to the original. Something prompted me to constantly compare the other three centurions with the Greek original, and sometimes with the Latin translation, which was printed with the Greek original, but is not always similar to it. It turned out that for some chapters the help of the original Greek, and sometimes the Latin translation, was necessary, although in some other chapters our translation is apparently correct, and the printed Greek is obviously corrupt. In the 59th chapter of the 3rd centenary, our translation is left inviolable; and the translation from the Greek is included in the footnote because it is somewhat doubtful which reading is correct, although, in my opinion, it is more likely that the true reading is Greek; for only by guesswork and compulsion can one give meaning to the words: in a hardworking friend you will find protection for your eyes. But the words: in a hardworking friend you will find a cover for your mistakes - give a clear meaning. And you can see their source in the words of the apostle: converting a sinner from error will cover a multitude of sins.” A special note is attached that the 89th and 92nd chapters of the 4th centenary are out of place. I am also enclosing the last 21 chapters, specially rewritten so that you can read better; rather than what I write coherently out of lack of time, out of weakness, and most of all out of laziness, from which help me get rid of with your prayers. Packs of kisses of peace to you and Fr. Archimandrite, and Fr. Anthony. Filaret m. Moskovsky. In the laurel. June 22, 1855." In response to the Metropolitan, Elder Macarius wrote the following: “Your Eminence, most gracious archpastor and father! Having repeatedly received from Your Eminence through N.P. Kireevskaya archpastoral blessing, accepted it reverently, with a feeling of gratitude and, not daring to bother Your Eminence with my writings to express it, kept it in silence until now. But now your newly poured-out archpastoral and paternal mercy has given me the courage to write these feeble-minded lines of mine. With all your arduous and useful studies, you deigned to take the time to consider the manuscript of Abba Thalassius of the first centenary with a Slavic text translation into Russian, presented from us to Your Eminence through Natalya Petrovna. Having received it back, with joy we saw in many places the correction of the translation made by the holy hand of Your Eminence, which clearly showed us the correctness of the Slavic text and our feeble-mindedness; and they showed so much mercy - they deigned to accept the remaining three hundred cents for your consideration. Forgive, most gracious Bishop, our insolence that we dared to bother the person of Your Eminence. We also consider it a great mercy to us and happiness for ourselves that we were deigned to accept, with our deepest zeal, copies of the book of St. Barsanuphius and John in Russian translation. This is not our work, but the fruit of your archpastoral favor and blessing, without which this undertaking could not have been accomplished. Continuing your archpastoral and paternal mercies, Your Eminence deigned to send through Fr. Governor of the Lavra Fr. Archimandrite Anthony to our monastery 100 silver rubles. Composing all of this in our hearts, we dare in these weak, feeble-minded lines to bring your Eminence our deepest gratitude, and mentally fall at the feet of Your Eminence, kissing your holy right hand. Moreover, daring to ask for your archpastoral blessing and St. prayers of all our monastery brethren, who worked in the book business, and to me last, with boundless high veneration and filial devotion, I have the happiness to be Your Eminence, the most merciful archpastor and father, the most humble son and novice, the much-sinful hieromonk Macarius. June 25, 1855." But in particular, Vladyka Metropolitan took care of the publication by Optina Hermitage 3) of the book of St. Isaac the Syrian in the Slavic translation of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. This book, however, was published a little earlier than Rev. Abba Thalassia. In the memorial note of Elder Macarius we read the following about this: “On the printing of the book of St. We did not dare to hope to undertake any means of Isaac the Syrian (probably because the Russian academic translation of this holy father had already been published); but God arranged His destinies unexpectedly and granted us the great spiritual consolation of seeing it printed in 2400 copies. This is how it happened: in 1852, when I was in Moscow, speaking with Messrs. Kireyevsky about the Russian (academic) translation of this book, how good and useful it would be to print this book in the Slavic language, Elder Paisius suggested that, on occasion, they propose this to the Most Reverend Metropolitan Philaret. Having been in the Trinity Lavra at the same time, he suggested this to Fr. to the governor, Archimandrite Anthony. After my departure, he took advantage of the time and at different times during the conversation reported this to His Eminence.” On this occasion, in September of the same 1852, Elder Macarius received the following letter from the Lavra governor: “Most God-loving and kind elder Father Macarius, bless! By. I wrote to your word about the publication of Isaac the Syrian to our elder, the holy ruler. Please listen to the answer he wrote to me: “I will be glad if the Optina fathers publish the book of Isaac the Syrian in Slavic, and I don’t foresee any difficulties for censorship. It would be desirable for some passages to be explained from the original, as was done in the edition of Barsanuphius the Great. But if this turns out to be difficult, it’s good to print without it. And with explanations, the Slavic text, for me, is better than the Russian one, because by the nature of the language the translation is closer to the original. I trust new translations less.” Here, dear father, is the Bishop’s answer from word to word. Now all that remains is for you, calling on the Lord for help, to get down to business. Asking St. Your prayers, with heartfelt love I am forever unworthy [unworthy] Anthony. Father Abbot Moses, Fr. Give your fraternal bow to Anthony and all your monastery brethren. September 18, 1852" At the next post office, a letter was received from N.P. Kireevskaya, in which she notified the elder Fr. Macarius about his conversation with the Metropolitan. Vladyka: “Isn’t Fr. writing to you? Macarius, what about the printing of the book of St. Isaac the Syrian? He wrote about this to Fr. Anthony, why is this? I answered: “I don’t know anything about this, sir. But if the priest wrote to Fr. Anthony; then, probably, based on the words you previously said to my husband, that you will be glad to see this book printed, like the book of St. Barsanufias, in Slavic with explanations. But only, Vladyka, I dare to note that if you entrust these explanations to Golubinsky; it will be very slow. Yes, it seems, Vladyka, then again it will be necessary to send it to the Synod and from there wait for permission to publish?” Vladyka: “No, I will not send it to the Synod - after all, this is the book of the Holy Father - but I will give it to the Committee for consideration; and if he does not dare to let it pass, then I will demand it and sign it myself. Let them reprimand me alone.” In his above-mentioned memorial note, Elder Macarius noted that with regard to the explanations of the dark places of St. Isaac the Syrian Metropolitan “doesn’t know who to entrust to do this.” As a result of this, the elder continues, “we wrote to N.P. Kireevskaya to propose to the Bishop whether His Eminence would be willing to allow us to do this matter. For this they received his blessing and permission to take the Greek book of St. from the Moscow Theological Academy. Isaac the Syrian." The manuscript, then prepared for printing, was presented to Metropolitan Philaret for consideration. “Vladyka,” the elder continues in his note, “received it favorably and, going to the Trinity Lavra, being there in the monastery, during the first week of Great Lent he began to look through our explanations and comments; he corrected some and personally honored me with a letter dated March 9, 1853, and that he handed over this manuscript to the censorship for consideration and permission to print, which was entrusted to the censor, Fr. Academy inspector Archimandrite Sergius, who lovingly began to examine it and at the end of that year in July, signed permission to print and delivered it to Moscow to the city. Kireevsky. And they, with the blessing of the archpastor, began printing and kept up the proofreading. Meanwhile, the Lord helped us make an alphabetical index for this book, which was also approved by the censor for publication.” It is not out of place here to bring to the readers’ attention the very writing of St. Philaret dated March 9, 1853, with which he honored the humble elder Macarius: “Most Reverend Father Macarius rejoice in the Lord! Pray for us, struggling with the waves of people and affairs, that we may not get bogged down, but may we touch, albeit somewhat, the shores of silence and freedom. Several months passed until I finally found the time to break away from the affairs of captivity in order to do what I wanted - reading the manuscript of St. Isaac the Syrian, prepared by you for publication: but even now, without finishing this, I am forced to return to the inevitable affairs of the post surrounding me. I read about half of the book continuously, listening to the teacher and your interpretations. Then I looked through some places: but, unable to continue and fearing that the matter would be stopped for a long time, I decided to send the manuscript to the censor tomorrow. Forgive me that I boldly touched some of your notes, without being able to first explain to you why I touched them. Some passages of the book are obscure in the Greek as well as in the Slavic text. Probably the reason for this, by the way, is the Greek translator from the Syrian. Some notes on such places seemed only conjectural and not quite consistent with the Greek text. In such cases, it seemed to me better to leave the dark dark, rather than run the risk of giving the reader our thought instead of the thought of Isaac the Syrian. In some cases it seemed to me that the interpretation was not in accordance with the spirit of the teaching. This is the next place in word 44. Text: “Simple silence in the midst of truth is reproachful.” Note on the word “simple”: Without the feeling of grace-filled actions “(explanation of Elder Macarius).” Is it really always,” the Metropolitan wrote, “when grace-filled actions are not felt, that silence is already reproachful or worthy of condemnation? And do good ascetics immediately receive a sense of grace-filled actions? And do not those who have achieved sometimes hide these sensations, either through imperfection or carefully? Why did I change this interpretation so: without other feats and virtues. In this sense, a remark was made in the Greek book. I did not dare to change one interpretation on my own and am presenting you with a note about this. If you agree to the proposed change, then return the interpretation I propose in order to submit it to the censors for inclusion in the manuscript. The changes of lesser importance that I allowed myself to make are not worth talking about and, for quite a few of them, are inconvenient. Diligently calling on God's blessing and peace to you and your brotherhood, I entrust myself to your prayers. Especially to Father Superior, express my respect and recognition of my guilt that I did not write to him in particular and that I was silent for a long time, for which I ask forgiveness from both of you. Filaret m. Moskovsky.” Interpretation of the elder Fr. Macarius, which the Metropolitan did not dare to change on his own, the following: In the 21st word of St. Isaac the Syrian text: “Purity is oblivion of the mind of those who exist through nature, acquired in the world from nature.” Interpretation: “Under the guise of knowledge here we mean the unnatural use of things found in nature,” etc. A special note from the Metropolitan regarding this interpretation: “The types of knowledge are different, and the use of things is different. And not all types of knowledge mean the unnatural use of things. There is a form of knowledge of beings through nature: and before this there is a form of knowledge of beings by nature. This type of knowledge belongs to purity, and that to the passionate state. The idea of ​​the remark is correct, but the expression is not accurate. Would you like to state the remark this way: St. Isaac distinguishes here between the type of knowledge of those who exist by nature and the type of knowledge of those who exist through nature. The first is not contrary to purity, but the second must be forgotten in order to achieve purity. The type of knowledge of beings through nature is the knowledge of things not simply by nature, but with the use of thoughts resulting from the use of things not by nature, but by passion. Thus, the idea of ​​gold in thoughts as a creation of God is knowledge of what exists by nature, and the idea of ​​gold with selfish lust is knowledge of what exists through nature.” The elder's answer, Fr. Macarius to this writing of the Metropolitan: “Your Eminence, gracious father and archpastor! The high humility of Your Eminence, revealed in your handwritten writing of the 9th of this March, with which you were honored with my thinness, touched me to the depths of my soul, and even more made me aware and see my poverty, and made me afraid that such condescension would not condemn me. I wrap my mind in silence and, throwing myself mentally at your holy feet, I offer silent thanks. Given the difficult and complex feats and concerns of Your Eminence for the great flock of our vast fatherland, you deigned to take the time to read the manuscript of St. Isaac the Syrian, by the goodwill and blessing of Your Eminence, which we prepared for publication, with interpretations or explanations of some incomprehensible places in the Slavic text, and we honored our weak work with your archpastoral attention, having examined it. This is only akin to your high person and your love for disseminating the spiritual teachings of the Holy Fathers to nourish the children of our Orthodox Church with them. Presenting this manuscript to Your Eminence, we did not dare to consider our explanations accurate and correct; but we were consoled by the hope that Your Eminence would pay merciful attention to them, and, having been made happy by this, we honor the changes made by you, just and holy. Knowing the enlightened mind and experience of Your Eminence, with love and a feeling of inexpressible gratitude we mentally kiss your holy right hand, which worked in this correction of our sins. In some dark places, although we dared to make explanations, we did not want to leave them like that; but if Your Eminence deigns to find that it is better to leave the dark dark, rather than rely on conjectural thoughts: then we believe that the Lord announced this to you; and this, without a doubt, will be more reliable and useful. Regarding the two places on which you deigned to make a comment and change, we dare to report to Your Eminence, as we understood, without, however, considering our thought to be correct. In the 44th word, in response to the words: “Simple silence in the midst of truth is reproachful,” we made an explanation: “Without the feeling of grace-filled actions.” Your Eminence rightly deigned to note that an ascetic may not have these sensations, having not yet reached this point or for other reasons. But we had in mind above these lines the numbered actions of the success of silence and considered the words: “Simple silence in the midst of truth is reproachful,” - only in relation to these people who are in a high dispensation, and not in such a mind that simple silence would be reproachful at all, or worthy of condemnation. It, of course, has its own degrees and decreases and increases according to the spiritual age of everyone. We understood this, but could not fully express our thought. Your correction: “without other feats and virtues” is closer to the concept of many and more accurate; for from performing deeds comes success in blessed sensations. In the 21st word, our remark on the text: “Purity is the oblivion of the mind of those who exist through nature, acquired in the world by nature,” does not express real reason and accuracy; and Your Eminence’s remark is very clear and correct, and we humbly ask you to replace our erroneous one with it, if it is your permission. In all our shortcomings and sins, which were made in this matter out of self-reflection or out of our misunderstanding, falling at the feet of Your Eminence, we ask, both I and my colleagues, your archpastoral and paternal forgiveness and merciful condescension. Our father abbot accepted the blessing of Your Eminence with an inexpressible feeling of gratitude and self-awareness of your high humility and considers himself happy that he was honored to receive your blessing. Through the prayers and blessings of Your Eminence, the Lord granted us help to complete the translation into Russian of the book of St. Barsanuphius and John, which we hope to soon present to Your Eminence, and we humbly ask for your permission and blessing to submit it to the censor for consideration and approval for publication. We accept the archpastoral blessing given to us by Your Eminence in your writing with faith and love and a grateful heart, and for the future we dare to ask for it and your holy prayers to strengthen our mental and physical infirmities. And again, falling at your feet and kissing your blessing right hand, with my deepest high veneration and inexpressible filial devotion, I have the happiness to remain Your Eminence, gracious archpastor and father, the lowest novice and. Macarius. March 17, 1853." With what reverence Elder Macarius treated the great Saint Philaret, this can be seen from his letter to his Sevsk nieces: “Today,” he wrote, “the Lord has vouchsafed me, not according to my dignity, to receive a merciful scripture from the ruler of Moscow, Metropolitan Philaret, dated March 9, handwritten... Oh, the great humility of this lofty man! How mercifully and humbly he expresses himself before our badness! He even leads to shame and fear with his condescending humility. And with his diocesan studies so extensive, he chose time to read this book (St. Isaac). How great is his love for the teachings of his fathers and his desire to pass them on to the faithful sons of Russia to nourish their souls with the manna of the spiritual teachings of this saint. Isaac the Syrian! It is very pleasant for us that he corrected our mistakes with his holy hand. Glory to God for this gift of His!” 93 But all this attention to the publication of the book of St. Isaac was not enough for the merciful Philaret. He, through N.P. Kireevskaya donated 100 rubles for this publication. At the same time, he expressed concern that the publication of books, with the generosity of the Optina elders, would be repaid by selling them, so that other books could be printed with this money. “So,” Elder Macarius concludes in his note, “this divinely inspired book (of St. Isaac), with the help of God, was printed with the blessing of the Bishop, and the first three printed copies of it (bound) were sent to us at the monastery on Bright Week, the 13th (April 1854), on the third day of the holiday, as the most suitable gift for the Bright Holiday.” In a letter to his Sevsk nieces, the elder also adds: “Ivan Vasilyevich and Natalya Petrovna (Kireevsky) made every effort to finish by Easter. It was almost impossible to do this.” Not only the God-loving elder, however, but all lovers of the patristic writings were incredibly pleased with the publication of this book. Glorifying God for this, they together blessed the high patron of this cause, Metropolitan Philaret. And how could one not rejoice at this? For there was a time when zealots of monastic life and Christian philosophy paid 100 or more rubles in banknotes for handwritten copies of this book; but even that was difficult to get. And although the translation of Elder Paisius was published in Moldova in the Nyametsky monastery back in 1812; but, due to the hitherto existing prohibition on the import of Slavic books from abroad without any exceptions regarding their content, this book came to Russia only by accident and therefore was not sold cheaply - 15 rubles or more in silver. Subsequent Optina editions, although also published with the permission and blessing of the Metropolitan; but he was no longer so sympathetic to them according to the following statement expressed by him to I.V. Kireevsky, for an important reason: “I don’t know,” he said, “why print a lot. Isn't it better to limit yourself to a few that are clearly useful? Secular literature presents us with the disadvantages of printing a lot. There, the enemy of the human race tried to arrange it in such a way that good books were crushed under a pile of useless ones, so that you could not get to them. Shouldn’t we be careful lest spiritual literature suffer the same fate?” However, the saint of Christ, even after such a completely true and far-sighted remark, applicable to our time, was expressed by him, not only did not forbid the Optina residents to publish soul-helping books, but also contributed. What kind of love Metropolitan Philaret generally had for Elder Macarius and even, if one does not boldly put it that way, respect for him can be seen from the following lines written to Elder N.P. Kireevskaya in March 1859. These are the lines: “About the recently published harmful book, the Metropolitan of Moscow said that he knows it, and that they are already writing a response to it, and that the bishop himself will write to you about this book, my father! This is what I hasten to warn you about and ask you, for the Lord’s sake: to answer the Bishop frankly and strongly, as if you were his spiritual elder. The Lord of this attitude towards you desires and deeply values ​​a direct, firm, unyielding word. The Lord has a feeling of special love for you, my father. Your relationship with his feelings will, of course, be made easier by your love for him. Forgive me, for the Lord’s sake, that I dare to suggest this to you; but I do this out of unlimited devotion to you in the Lord.” That same year, 1859, on December 22, Elder Macarius, as if in confirmation of what Natalya Petrovna had previously written, received a humble letter from Metropolitan Philaret through the aforementioned Fr. Leonid Kavelin, who was at that time a skete hieromonk, who visited the Moscow Bishop during his trip to St. Petersburg. Since the memory of the righteous Philaret the Merciful is celebrated on December 1 - the day of the Angel of the two Philaret, Metropolitans of Kyiv and Moscow, for a long time there was a service in the monastery, as it still happens now, on this day, at which these two hierarchs were remembered in their time for the health and salvation; now they remember the repose. The letter of the Moscow Bishop on this occasion is as follows: “Reverend Father Macarius rejoice in the Lord! I am comforted by your remembrance of me on the day of my Angel: understanding that this remembrance is prayer, in which my weakness and unworthiness have great need. May the Lord richly comfort you with His consolation, and may He renew your strength from your many infirmities, 94 may He complete His power.” I have read the “Warning” and I think that it is beneficial for some who boldly enter the secret path of inner spiritual activity without an experienced guide. However, I still keep the manuscript and hope to tell you a word about it 95. I earnestly invoke God’s blessing on you, and on the head of your monastery, and on your companions. Bless me with peace. Filaret m. Moskovsky. December 11, 1859." Moscow Metropolitan Philaret calls upon the elder God's blessing and at the same time asks this elder, a simple hieromonk, to bless him with peace. The metropolitan’s marvelous humility, and at the same time his marvelous understanding of spiritual life! At the end of this chapter, it is worth noting the following. For the purpose of this, the letters offered here are presented in full so that readers can see more clearly the sincere and humbly loving relationship that Metropolitan Philaret and his confessor, the abbot of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Archimandrite Anthony had with Elder Macarius, as he did with them. Subsequently, the Optina rector was Archimandrite Isaac. Died August 22, 1894 Collection of letters of the Optina Elder Macarius. His letters to the nuns. Part 3. Letter 17. This cross, 5 inches long, always stands on St. altar in the monastery wooden Baptist Church or in a new stone one under a glass case. Letters from Elder Macarius to the nuns. Part 3. Letter 51. This coachman lived in a barn for a long time, 30 years, if not more. His name was Nikita; and the loving old man always called him nothing less than “Nikitushka” and, if possible, took care of the comforts of his position. Once, during a trip - it was unknown where - the elder stopped at midday at a certain inn to feed the horses; and then he began to get ready for the road again. Going out to his cart, he, among other things, turning to the coachman, said affectionately: “Well, Nikitushka, are you full?” And he, half-starved, answered with disappointment: “What, father? The cabbage soup was naked.” This meant that the cabbage soup was not seasoned with oil. But there was nothing to be done. So we went on our way. Without a doubt, afterwards the elder did something to please his Nikitushka. Collection of letters of the Optina Elder Macarius. Letters to nuns. Part 3. Letters 60, 61 and 62. The Metropolitan was sent 2 copies of the book “The Reverend Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John’s Guide to Spiritual Life,” which had just been printed with his assistance. Father Leonid, the first Optina elder, predecessor of Elder Macarius, throughout his entire 44-year monastic life (excluding the first few years after entering the monastery) endured persecution and great sorrows, which, however, with faith in the Lord he always endured complacently. To wrap around (c.-sl.) – to block. (Editor's note) Letters from Elder Macarius to the nuns. Part 3. Letter 67. Physical infirmities - occupation of the spirit, frequent insomnia and generally weakening of bodily strength. “Warning” to those who read the spiritual books of the Fathers and who want to undergo the mental Jesus Prayer. But whether the Metropolitan had the last word about this manuscript to the elder is unknown.