Глава XIII. Отношение некоторых иерархов и соприкосновенных книжным оптинским трудам лиц к старцу Макарию и старца к ним, а также и к своим скитским братиям

The book publishing activity of the Optina brethren, led by Elder Macarius, spread the news of this soul-helping work far and wide and, as noted above, aroused in many, on the one hand, sincere sympathy for this good cause, and on the other, one way or another, assistance. In the monastery chronicle on April 4, 1854 we read the following: “According to private information (from a letter from N.P. Kireevskaya), the Synod recently started talking about the publications of our monastery. Various, more unfavorable opinions also emerged. But Vladyka Nikanor, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, who was once our diocesan bishop (that is, Kaluga) and was generally disposed towards the monastery (Optina), stopped these rumors with one word: “We should not,” said the Vladyka, “impede them in this; for it is not they who must learn from us, but we who must learn from them.” Of course, these words referred to spiritual men: Elder Macarius, rector Fr. Moses, oh. Abbot Anthony and others like them. In the same chronicle, on August 15, 1857, it is written: “At the beginning of this month, His Eminence Filaret (Amphiteatrov), Metropolitan of Kiev (the founder of the Optina monastery when he was the Kaluga bishop), with the opportunity sent to our monastery and to the monastery a full circle of liturgical books - each with his own inscription - in gratitude for the books of our publications sent personally for him to the Lavra, Kyiv Academy and Seminary.” In general, this saint was always very disposed towards Optina Pustyn. Just before his death, when the ecclesiarch of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, hieromonk (later archimandrite) Meletius began to ask him for the blessing of Optina Pustyn, he said: “Write my complete blessing; but I myself cannot write.” Since the good order of monastic life was established in Optina Pustyn as a result of the eldership introduced among the brethren, it was visited at different times by several hierarchs. Thus, the aforementioned Metropolitan of Kiev Philaret visited the monastery and monastery twice while traveling to Kyiv from St. Petersburg, where he spent some time as a member of the Holy Synod: the first time in 1837, and the second time in 1842. Further, in 1844, Vologda Archbishop Evlampy visited the Optin monastery and monastery while traveling from Orel to Vologda. He affectionately greeted all the brethren, and especially the skete hieromonk John, the compiler of several anti-schism books, for his works. Having learned that there was a church in the monastery in the name of St. John the Baptist of the Lord, he expressed a desire to have a prayer service served for him - which was done with the proclamation of many years to the venerable visitor. Having then blessed all the hermits and asked for their prayers, the saint set off for the monastery, and then soon on the path that lay before him. On September 18, 1846, Kursk Archbishop Iliodor visited the Optin Monastery and monastery, while traveling from Kursk to St. Petersburg. Was met by Fr. Abbot Moses with all the brethren of the monastery and skete at the holy gates and accompanied to the Vvedensky Cathedral, in which, having prayed to the Lord, he talked to the brethren about monastic exploits, with fatherly instructions for the spiritual edification of the brethren. I was also in the skete church; and treated everyone very favorably. And the next day, at five o’clock in the morning, the distinguished guest set off from Optina on his further journey, leaving an archpastoral blessing to the entire Optina brotherhood; and thanked Fr. abbot and monastery leader Fr. Macarius for his diligent reception. On September 17, 1851, Kaluga Bishop Nikolai (Sokolov) died. Bishop Dimitri (later Archbishop of Odessa) came from Tula for his burial. On this occasion, the Optina rector, Fr. Abbot Moses with Elder Macarius. The burial was performed by Bishop Demetrius on September 21, after which this bishop deigned to visit Optina Pustyn. But the details of this visit are unknown. In the skete chronicle, the following is noted under August 31, 1852: “On Sunday, the Right Reverend Damascene (formerly of Tula) listened to early mass in the skete; after which he drank at Father Fr. Macaria tea; later I was in a monastery. Had lunch with Fr. abbot; and at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon he departed back. Among other things, he said about our monastery: “If anyone wants to hover between heaven and earth, he should live in Optina.” But especially remarkable was the visit to Optina Pustyn by His Grace Archbishop Smaragd of Oryol. He arrived at the monastery on June 13, 1853, also traveling from Orel to St. Petersburg to attend the Holy Synod. He had the usual ceremonial meeting. This Vladyka had long been disposed towards Optina; and he expressed this in his words of greeting to the brethren when he blessed them in the Vvedensky Cathedral. “I have long wanted to see you,” he said, “and now it has come true. I'm going to St. Petersburg. Pray that the Lord will give me success in matters... spiritual and personal.” After tea at Fr. He visited the abbot of the monastery, where he was met at the holy gates by all the monastery brethren, went to the church, where he prayed while singing “It is worthy to eat...”, praised the singing; and then visited the cell of the monastery’s leader, the elder Fr. Macaria. Had lunch with Fr. abbot. In conversation like Fr. hegumen, and called the elder: “father.” When parting, the saint asked Fr. Abbot in the same 1853, in the summer, to release Father Fr. Macarius to travel to the monasteries of the diocese under his jurisdiction for the edification of the monastics. But when the elder, with his characteristic humility, began to reject this, the bishop said: “No. Please! Everyone loves you very much; visit the Sevsky Monastery; it is necessary to maintain the spirit of monasticism. I will write to your Eminence. There is no time set for your trip; and when it is more convenient for you.” I wished to see the ryassophore monk Fr. Ioann Polovtsev and novice Lev Alexandrovich Kavelin; and he persuaded the first to enter the academy, and thanked the second for the description he had compiled of Optina Pustyn; He taught both of them to hold on to the elder, just as the Israelites held on to Moses in the wilderness; and in conclusion he told them: “Please be acquaintances; Maybe when I come in handy, you never know what happens in the world; and if the need arises, I am glad to serve.” On the same day, the Right Reverend Smaragd, during Vespers, left Optina on monastic horses, which took him to the first station. He left a pleasant impression on all the Optina brethren with his simple fatherly address. As a result of the invitation of Archbishop Smaragd, Elder Macarius decided to go to the Oryol province. That same year, 1853, on August 23, Sunday, after the skete mass, a farewell prayer service was served; and after the meal the hermits saw off their dear old man on his way. Departing and bidding farewell to them, the elder, according to his custom, bequeathed most of all to them to preserve Peace and harmony among themselves - to bear each other’s infirmities, thereby demonstrating in themselves an example of followers of the patristic teaching. On the road, the elder took one novice with him to serve. And besides, to the city of Belev (40 versts from Optina) and even beyond Belev, to the first station, the elder was accompanied by his cell attendant, monk Hilarion. On this trip, as on previous ones, the loving elder Macarius did not interrupt communication with his skete chicks through correspondence. And here are excerpts from some, especially edifying, letters he wrote to the hermits: 1) From August 31 from Orel: “Not having time to write to you, beloved brethren in the Lord, to each one separately in response to your letters that I received in Bolkhov, I write to everyone in general and to everyone. Firstly, I ask you to pray for me, that the Lord will protect me on my journey mentally and physically and return me safely to your love in his abode. Beloved brothers! I know that you, like spiritual warriors, stand in battle; and the enemy of our salvation, like a roaring lion, walks around, looking for someone to devour, then I advise and warn you, as I personally spoke, and I beg in writing: always be prepared for this battle with self-reproach, humility and love, bearing each other’s burdens with patience. Let everyone consider himself the last of all: then you will comfortably bear your brother’s weakness, and repel the arrows of the enemy that are fired at you, and crush the nets with which he tries to entangle you; May your teaching in the books of your fathers not be in vain, and may we not only boast of acquiring them, but let us also be inspired to do the work, each according to our own strength, in the battle that has happened. Or if someone happens to fall into contradiction with each other, into envy or enmity, etc. , I beg you, do not abide in it; but, having recognized your inclination from previous pride, descend into the depths of humility and declare to each other, asking for forgiveness, put down passionate actions and be at peace. Oh, peace, peace, the rich gift of our Lord! Seek it, take care and be satisfied with it. Although I myself am poor and wretched; but I wish you this wealth - peace, love and humility. Remember the covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ: “If you have love for one another, then you will be my disciples” [John 13:35]. Let us strive for this and pray to the Lord to honor us with this name in practice. I received your letters, thank you for them; but don’t ask for special answers, but accept the answer that is common to everyone. Asking for God's blessing on all of you, I remain your prayer book and desirer of salvation, the sinful hieromonk Macarius. To our most venerable father, Archimandrite Moses, Fr. I express my deepest respect to Abbot Anthony and ask them to St. prayers." 2) From September 14 from Sevsk: “My beloved brethren in Christ! Thank God you are healthy and as peaceful as possible. May the Lord establish this great gift of His among you. I sincerely rejoice over this, but on the contrary, I mourn over the opposite. We are all imperfect and are in a struggle in our spiritual battle. And how to overcome it, the holy fathers teach us - through self-reproach and humility, until we reach the gates of love. You yourself know all this quite well. But I, although I myself have created insignificant good, remind you, although through your benefit and prayers you will raise me, a sinner, from my painful sinful bed. Thank you for accepting my advice with love, and each one trying to apply his strength to his own well-being, not to say illness. Thank you also for the notification about the events taking place in our monastery. I accept everything with love, I share both the pleasant and the sorrowful with you, our dear abode. Those who write and those who don’t write, I accept everyone equally with diligence and love.” “September 15th. Morning. Thank God that you are trying as much as possible to maintain peace and love for the Lord. But you know quite well how these are achieved and strengthened - humility and self-reproach. Try this for the Lord’s sake, I beg you. The assembly of the humble is like the assembly of the Seraphim, writes St. Isaac". From September 18: “Beloved brethren in Christ!.. Your frank consciousnesses show me that, being in the field of spiritual warfare, you fall and rise; and the result is peaceful. I pray to the Lord that this feat will lead you to the knowledge of all weaknesses and the acquisition of humility, achieving love that endures and covers everything. You too pray to the Lord for me.” Of many things, very little is given here. But from this one can also see with what kind of sympathy and fatherly love, with deep humility, the elder always treated his monastery brethren. During this journey, he repeatedly fell ill with a strong fever and still did not abandon his work. As soon as he feels relief from his illness, he immediately moves from one monastery to another, visits various private individuals, talks for a long time about things for the benefit of his soul and, having absolutely no free time, as he himself put it, fitfully answers the letters he receives from his monastery, of which there were many sent to him at that time. Thus, having once received 42 letters in two mailboxes, he managed to prepare 12 replies for one mailbox. From these frequent, during the bad autumn road, travel, illness and constant activities with people, the elder had already begun to exhaust himself, and therefore on September 20 he wrote to the monastery: “I ask you, my beloved brethren, to pray for me, a sinner. I miss a lot on my journey, and it won’t be long until I reach my dear monastery and cozy hermitage.” After this, the elder was in his former Ploshchanskaya desert, about which he wrote: “In the desert, I was very kindly and lovingly received as Fr. the builder and the brethren. God save them! All this time Fr. was in their cells. builder... I ask you to pray for me, may the Lord help me to come to you soon. I remain the wisher of your health, peace and salvation and the unworthy man of prayer, Hieromonk Macarius.” Finally, on October 10, the elder had the consolation of returning from his tiring journey, which lasted seven weeks, during an evening meal at the monastery. Soon after the return of Elder Macarius to his cozy skete, precisely on October 22, another hierarch, Bishop Leonid of Ekaterinoslav, visited the Optina monastery and skete, passing to his diocese from Kostroma. At the skete he was met by all the brethren at the holy gates and went into the church, where, having mercifully blessed all the skete, he said: “Save yourself in the Lord and pray for us, moving from place to place. Sometimes we don’t even pray because we don’t have time; and you have chosen this as the only goal of your life.” He walked through the monastery and entered the cells of the monastery leader and Elder Macarius, where he graciously accepted the spoons brought to him by the elder of the brotherly product. Had lunch with Fr. abbot and the same day at 4 o'clock in the afternoon he set off on his intended journey. In the same year, 1853, Elder Macarius was introduced to Fr. rector, and then diocesan bishop Gregory to the pectoral cross. His Grace Smaragd of Oryol, who was present at that time in the Holy Synod, sincerely disposed towards the Optina monastery and the elder, diligently worked for this reward. Having learned about this, the elder sent him a humbly respectful letter with the following content: “Your Eminence, most gracious archpastor and father! The archpastoral mercies and favor of Your Eminence, shown to my thinness, deeply felt by me, still extend over me. You deigned to petition the Holy Synod and act in your own capacity to award me the pectoral cross. I cannot adequately express the feeling of my heartfelt gratitude to Your Eminence on this charter; but, conscious of my unworthiness, I dare to fall at your holy feet, pouring it out in silent silence, and asking for your archpastoral prayers, that the Lord will vouchsafe me, upon receiving the clear sign of the Cross of the Lord on my Persian, to always remember His life-giving suffering, endured for us, and may the flame of His love kindle in my cold and wretched heart. I accept the courage to present to Your Eminence the book of St. Isaac the Syrian from my wretched zeal. Although you would like to have it from our Fr. archimandrite, but I also dare to ask for archpastoral and paternal mercy: please deign to accept this offering of mine. By the goodwill and blessing of Your Eminence, last year in the month of October I was in the monasteries of Your Eminence’s flock and in the homes of pious Christians and benefactors of our monastery. Everywhere and by everyone he was received with Christian love and cordiality. I attribute all this to the blessing and prayers of Your Eminence. And again I pour out my most humble gratitude to my merciful archpastor and father. Falling in earthly worship at your archpastoral feet and kissing your holy right hand, asking St. Your prayers and archpastoral blessing, with my deepest veneration and devotion, I have the honor to be Your Eminence, most merciful archpastor and father, most humble son and novice, much-sinful hieromonk Macarius.” That here the elder expressed sincere feelings of deep respect, gratitude and humility before Bishop Smaragd, there is no doubt about this. As if to confirm this, the following fact is recorded in the skete chronicle: “The letter of Elder Macarius, given here, was written in the month of May. And on June 27, the new Kaluga civil governor Bulgakov visited the monastery. He was very attentive to the elder and among other things said that he had heard a lot of good things about him, and now he sees that he especially likes his openness - the frankness written on his face and expressed in his every word,” etc. The petition of the Right Reverend Smaragd in the Synod to award Elder Macarius with the pectoral cross was, of course, respected, and on June 27, 1854, an order was received from the Kaluga Spiritual Consistory for the elder to arrive in Kaluga by the 1st of the next month to lay the cross on him. On this day, he participated in a concelebration with the Right Reverend Gregory, who, during the Divine Liturgy, placed the pectoral cross sent from the Holy Synod on the elder; and after the Liturgy he invited him to the table. They dined just the two of them, and their conversation was about the monastery and the rules of monastery life. On July 3, before Matins, the elder returned from Kaluga, which means almost at midnight, since Matins in Optina Pustyn begins before two o’clock. Probably, he came at such a remote time so that he would not receive a solemn welcome from the brethren on the occasion of such an unexpected reward, which was quite rare in the old days. How the elder viewed the awarding of the pectoral cross to him can be seen from his previous letter of gratitude to His Eminence Smaragd. In the same humble spirit, he wrote to another close person: “When you congratulated me on the award of the cross, you truly said that we should be frightened by all human glory and praise. For, according to the teaching of St. fathers, “not only do you receive glory from people, but even if you hear the noise of these words with delight, you will forever be deprived of glory.” Do not, Lord, allow us to be carried away by the pleasures of this vain glory! And St. John Climacus considers demonic glory, that is, self-praise, even more dangerous than human glory. That is why many St. the fathers most of all encourage us to humility, and to combine all our actions with it; and such an advantage is given to him that “humility alone can save us, except works” (St. Isaac’s word 46). But can we say that we have acquired this treasure? If we think that we have it, then this very thing reveals the poverty in it. But it seems that our ever-present infirmities, mental and physical, and various impulses when converting and colliding with brethren and society should humble us and kill all arrogance. St. Gregory of Sinaite in chapter 117, at the end of it, writes: “Unless a person is abandoned and defeated, enslaved to every passion and thought,” and so on, “he cannot be contrite and have for himself the least of all and the last and the slave of all,” and so on. I just introduced you to the teaching of St. fathers; but I myself am a stranger to this and I ask you to pray for me, a sinner, so that the great sign of the Cross of Christ will serve me not for vain glory, but for acquiring love for Him through the constant remembrance of His suffering, according to His ineffable mercy and love for us; and may the image of His deepest humility prompt me, a sinner, to humility. The King of Glory humbled Himself! How can we exalt ourselves and not humble ourselves?!” This is how the great elder thought and felt when he was awarded the pectoral cross. And how his spiritual children looked at this can be seen from the letter to him from Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky. On July 9, 1854 he wrote: “Sincerely beloved and respected father! I have now read your letter from Kaluga to N.P. and now I want to congratulate you on receiving the pectoral cross. Although I know that neither this nor any visible difference is anything significant for you, and that you could not get such differences if you wanted them at all; however, for some reason it’s very pleasant to hear this. Maybe because it will be pleasant for everyone who loves you. We have always seen how you carry the Cross of the Lord inside your heart and sympathize with Him in love for sinners. Now that shrine that is inside your loving heart will be obvious to everyone on your chest - God grant for many, many prosperous years! May God grant many years to your pious bishop for this!” At the end of the same 1854, Bishop Smaragd of Oryol returned from St. Petersburg and still wanted to personally see Elder Macarius in his diocese; but the elder, for good reasons, rejected this desire. This is how he wrote about this to the Sevsky monastery to his Sevsky nieces: “Now I have received a letter from M. N. He writes about his arrangement in the cell, how he treated the abbess and sisters. And the lord (Smaragd) visited her. He ordered me to write to me so that I would visit his diocese, would be in Orel in their monastery and in S. “Yes, write,” he said, “that I myself want to see him; and if he doesn’t want to ask himself, then I will write and ask their ruler to fire him.” Well, how to do this? Do you know how much work I will have to do on this journey? You can’t leave without visiting the benefactors. How is my health? Although I don’t lie down, I sometimes walk; and meanwhile I weaken, sometimes very much, although it passes soon. This is one impossibility. Another - you need to ask the bishop; why? He knows that I’m not well and that I’m going to hang out. Therefore, he will say: “He can take up positions again,” which is what he already told me about when I was with him. No matter how pleasant it was for you and me to have me with you, but consider everything that has been written and judge whether it would be prudent to risk your health and cause trouble for our ruler. It’s true, you don’t want that.”96 Thus, the highly spiritual life of the Optina elders, with Elder Macarius among them, who strengthened the elder path of monastic life in their monastery, attracted the attention of many people who occupied high hierarchical positions to it, that at certain times, on convenient occasions, they honored Optina Pustyn with their visit. Their own Kaluga archpastors, Nikolai and behind him Gregory, were already ordinary guests at the monastery and came to it on duty. In addition, Elder Macarius, while he was in Moscow and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1852, had, as stated above, personally met the rector of the Moscow Academy, Archimandrite Alexy, and the censors of spiritual literature: the inspector of the same academy, Archimandrite Sergius and Professor Feodor Alexandrovich Golubinsky, and entered into close relations with them. Feodor Alexandrovich (as Father Leonid Kavelin noted), out of his love for spiritual enlightenment and the inexhaustible kindness of his heart, rendered unforgettable and always sincerely appreciated services by Elder Macarius to the holy cause of publishing patristic books in Optina Hermitage. When necessary, he supported this cause, explaining to Metropolitan Philaret the reasons why the Optina residents were not limited to the small number of more useful spiritual books they published. May 2, 1853 N.P. Kireevskaya notified the elder: “Theodore Alexandrovich Golubinsky, when he was with us (in the house), said that he presented to the bishop the lives of Simeon the New Theologian and Gregory the Sinaite. He left them to look through and said that they should be sent to the Synod, for St. Simeon the New Theologian is not recognized by our Church as a saint; and he said: “Do the Optina elders really want to publish too much?” Feodor Alexandrovich responded to this: “They, Your Eminence, are in a hurry because they want, for the common good, to take advantage of the participation that you deign to take in this matter, and without which, probably, nothing would have been published.” “Yes,” said the bishop, “so I sent St. Isaac the Syrian - and nothing came of it.” How closely Theodore Alexandrovich took to heart the concern for the publication by Optina Hermitage of the translations of Elder Paisius, Kireyevskaya to Father Fr. Makariy wrote: “Count Protasov (Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod) said, at Trinity, about Feodor Aleksandrovich Golubinsky that “the matter of censorship burdens him and is too insignificant for him.” From this, Feodor Alexandrovich concludes that he should leave the committee, and says: “If I leave it in a year and a half or a year; then, in any case, I will put the seals (that is, the censorship committee) on all Paisius’s manuscripts with me. And besides, even though I will leave the censorship, I will not abandon this work and will look through them all myself; If I die, then there will be no stop to their release, because a seal will be attached to everything.” The love and reverence with which Golubinsky treated Elder Macarius himself is evident from his next letter to him dated May 19, 1854, which also expresses his concern for Optina publications. This is what Feodor Alexandrovich wrote: “Your Reverence, Most Honorable Fr. Macarius, faithful guide to the Lord of His servants who labor in silence! I bring you my heartfelt gratitude for your dear visit to me last year, for your humble conversation, for the precious gift of the Word of Rev. Simeon the New Theologian and for your writing dated March 24 of this year, filled with Christian love. Forgive me for remaining unanswered to you for so long: this happened because I wanted to hear the opinion of our enlightened archpastor about some of the translations of the blessed elder Paisius mentioned in your letter. Last month, at the beginning of St. Thomas Week, I presented to him in Moscow: 1) Biography of St. Simeon the New Theologian, 2) Life of St. Gregory of Sinai and 3) Scripture of St. Gregory Palamas to the nun Xenia, the Decalogue of the New Testament and some other messages. By comparing these writings of St. Gregory with the original, I took care of it before others, because it was necessary to quickly return the Greek manuscript to the Patriarchal Library, from which I took it. His Eminence left these translations with him for reading and this month (May) he sent them here so that the life of St. Simeon and the writings of St. Gregory of Thessalonica were examined by the censorship committee, and the first was submitted for final approval to the Holy Synod, with the exception of a few expressions in which the mentor of the Monk Simeon is recognized as a saint, while he is not included by the Church among the saints; and the writings of St. Gregory of Thessalonica were reviewed and accepted for publication by the local censorship. Together with these manuscripts, Your Eminence Metropolitan sent here your translation of St. Barsanuphius into Russian and wrote that he was waiting for an answer from you to the comments he made on this translation. When he receives this answer; then upon arrival at the Lavra, which we are expecting these days (after May 21), he will order the censorship committee to consider this translation. Meanwhile, the translation of St. Isaac the Syrian is considered by Fr. Academy inspector Archimandrite Sergius and would have graduated in May if Fr. to the inspector his illness, which, however, is now passing; so he hopes to return this manuscript with due approval next month. In the same month (June) the writings of St. Gregory Palamas and St. Maxim on the question and answer. As for the verse book 97 and the life of St. Gregory of Sinaite, then His Eminence the Metropolitan finds it inconvenient to print them at this time. With this duty, I present to you my sincere respect for Fr. Rector Alexy and Fr. Inspector Sergius. We often remember you and your edifying conversations with gratitude. I ask you to humbly testify to my long-standing sincere respect for his reverence Fr. Abbot Moses and brotherly zeal and respect for the meek and inquisitive Ivan Andreevich (Polovtsev), your companion. May the Lord grant him to be your faithful companion and to the heavenly fatherland! Breathe for me, a sinner, in your prayers to the Lord. With this desire and the most zealous respect and gratitude, I have the honor to be Your Reverence’s most humble servant, Archpriest Theodore Golubinsky.” The following letter from Theodore Alexandrovich to Elder Macarius, written in July of the same year, 1854, on the occasion that the elder, having sent him some two books, in gratitude to him and his assistants for their work and efforts in publishing the Optina books, included several banknotes in the sent ones, shows, in addition to sincere gratitude and humility, which always distinguished the good-natured Fr. Archpriest, also his closest involvement with the elder himself, regarding funds for the further publication of books. Here is the letter itself: “Your Reverence, my dearly respected Father Macarius! I would like to bring you my belated, but most zealous, gratitude for the two soulful books you sent and for the rewards included in them. I only found out about these applications in June of this year (30 rubles and 60 rubles in silver); but I didn’t know for a whole year, because they lay unopened in uncut books; and that’s why I didn’t inform you for so long. My employees, oh. Archimandrite Leonid, now rector of the Moscow Seminary, and Fr. Academy Inspector Archimandrite Sergius and I express our deepest gratitude to you for this unexpected award that surprised us. You truly do good to others in such a way that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing, and you let money fly out of your hands like the wind, not caring whether it has arrived as intended, but rely on the arrangement of the Almighty Providence. Let them flow and pass, as long as the heart is not attached to them. I sincerely appreciate your good intention to publish some of the conversations of St. translated into Russian. Gregory of Thessaloniki, chosen and indicated by you. Let me ask you, will you have the funds necessary to publish them? You put on sale the previous books you published at such a reasonable price, and gave them away so much that you hardly have any proceeds from their sale... I am ready, as much as I can, to assist you in correcting this translation; I just don’t know if I’ll have time to complete this thing within a year. I humbly ask for your kind prayers to the Lord, so that He may still bear with my sins and greatly strengthen my weakened strength from my immoderation. Forgive me, most honorable father! I wish you the mercy of the Lord. Your most zealous servant, unworthy Archpriest Theodore Golubinsky.” Meanwhile, the days of the most worthy Fr. archpriests were already numbered. In July he asked Father Fr. Macarius prayed to the Lord to prolong his life, and in the following month of August his loving soul moved into eternity. The elder, the aforementioned inspector of the Moscow Academy, Archimandrite Sergius, was soon notified of this by Theodore Alexandrovich’s deputy for censorship of Optina publications. So, he wrote: “Beloved in the Lord, Father Macarius! I express my deepest gratitude for your good writing. Through your prayers I traveled safely. But now sometimes I am weak in spirit for the fear of sudden death, 98 the danger of which will again hold us sinners. Pray, father, for the novice devoted to you, but the weakest of sinners: I truly believe and indulge in your prayers... Just these days, news came from Kostroma that on August 22, Feodor Alexandrovich Golubinsky died there. On this date at night he felt a chill; by morning he was so weak that he could not get out of bed; demanded a confessor, confessed, received communion; He was blessed with oil, and at two o'clock in the afternoon he went to the Lord. May our kind and hardworking mentor be eternally remembered! He went to Kostroma to meet with his relatives. He is the son of a cathedral deacon, lived in the monastery for 40 years and laid his wise head next to the ashes of his parents. In September, the Russian translation of the book of St. Barsanuphiy will leave my hands if, however, I find in the apartment of the late Theodore Alexandrovich the notebooks left by his will - questions from 52 to 100. My deepest respect to Fr. Archimandrite Moses. Your devoted Archimandrite Sergius. August 27, 1854." I wrote in more detail about the last days and the death of Fr. Archpriest Feodor Alexandrovich his son, Dimitry Feodorovich Golubinsky (who was a professor at the Moscow Academy after the death of his parent) to Ivan Vasilyevich Kireevsky. It seems that these details will be of interest to readers, which are written out here: “Dearest father Feodor Alexandrovich recently had a strong desire to be in his homeland: he went with me on August 8, stayed in the cities of Rostov and Yaroslavl, and on August 12 he arrived safely in Kostroma. There he visited relatives and friends. On August 14 I was across the Kostroma River in Ipatievskaya Sloboda; I wanted to see my parents’ house and even went into the little room; remembered how his parents blessed him to go to the academy. On August 15, he served the Liturgy with His Eminence Philotheus. He spent the following days visiting with relatives and friends, visiting places familiar to him from childhood, generously doing charity to poor relatives; and what is especially remarkable is that he often served funeral services and with great feeling. During all this time he was quite healthy and cheerful, and even seemed to be more cheerful than usual. It seemed that the meeting with his family revived and consoled him. On August 20 and 21 he said goodbye to his family and friends, intending to go home on the 22 (to Sergiev Posad). And 21 there was no noticeable illness in him: he was at the all-night vigil, but only felt some nausea; however, he fell asleep, it seems, quite peacefully. But on the 22nd, early in the morning, he felt severe cholera attacks; and at the same time, it seems, he suffered a blow: his voice changed greatly. Medical benefits were no longer valid. Dad confessed and received the Holy Mysteries. Some time after this, his tongue became very confused, so that he had great difficulty pronouncing words, and then almost completely lost the use of language; was unctioned, and at the beginning of the third hour daddy died. He was buried near his parents on August 25. The funeral service was conducted by His Eminence Philotheus. It seems that daddy had some kind of secret and vague premonition of his imminent death. It was expressed in the following verses, written by him to a close relative, an old woman, on July 11, the day of her Angel: And go to school when the bell rings. How to say goodbye to a sinful world. I devoted half a century to sciences, I spent quite a lot of time at life's feast. It's time to get up and get ready to go. It's time to go home! It’s not a century to wander. Let the same path as me To the flower garden of science, follow me My dear son is approaching... And I’ve already hung up my plow. But let my strength weaken, I feel like I'm going to the grave On the occasion of the death of Theodore Alexandrovich from the elder Fr. Macarius followed Fr. Archimandrite Sergius received a response, usually a humble letter, in which he also wrote about his book affairs, which were close to his heart: “Your Reverence, Most Honorable Fr. archimandrite! It was with a feeling of heartfelt regret that we received the news that the most venerable Father Theodore Alexandrovich Golubinsky had left us. He left a good memory of himself, having been a mentor to many who were also preparing to be mentors and shepherds of Christ’s flock. And your academy probably has monuments to many of his scientific works and studies and, of course, will honor his memory with worthy praises for unforgetfulness in future generations. But the most important thing is that he was awarded a Christian, peaceful death, with the guidance of all the sacraments, in the faith and hope of resurrection and eternal life. This is comforting for those who remain, loving and respecting him, and gives hope that they will be worthy to receive God’s mercy in eternal life. His memory is sacred to us too. He worked a lot in examining the manuscripts of the paternal writings of the translation of Elder Paisius that we are presenting and gave permission to publish them, although this does not actually serve us alone, but - even more importantly - for all those who honor and listen to these spiritual teachings. These actions of his occupy several pages in the history of our monastery, which we have in manuscript. We are obliged to pray to the Lord for the repose of his soul in the Kingdom of Heaven during church services and when reading Psalms 99 to remember his name. Having received news of this, we fulfill the remembrance of his soul. May the Lord rest his soul in the Kingdom of Heaven! Thank the Lord that you completed your journey safely and returned to the Lavra. May the Lord preserve your health and deliver you from the fear of illness that has befallen the surrounding areas. Through the prayers of his saint, Rev. our father Sergius, the Lord is able to save your monastery and everyone living in it from this disease. What gratitude we will bring to you for your gracious disposition towards us and the acceptable work in reading the Russian translation of the book of St. Barsanufia! You want to console us with the end of it in September. The Lord Himself will reward you with His mercy. Many, not only secular, but also clergy, want to use it in Russian translation. But so that there are no stops in case of failure to find notebooks of 52–100 questions in the apartment of the late Feodor Alexandrovich: we copied them from our draft manuscript and will try to deliver them to you by future mail. Let me ask you about the manuscript - “The Life of St. Simeon the New Theologian”, which they wanted to present from the censorship in St. Synod, was it presented and was permission received to publish it or not? And where is it located? Father Our Archimandrite expresses his respect to you and expresses gratitude for your greeting to him. Committing myself to your saints. prayers, with my true highest reverence, I have the honor to remain Your Most Reverend novice and pilgrim, the sinful hieromonk Macarius. September 4, 1854." Life of Rev. Simeon the New Theologian was published from Optina Pustyn in 1856; therefore, although not soon, the Holy Synod nevertheless allowed it to be published. Two more letters from Fr. archimandrite to the elder Fr. Macarius regarding the publication of the book by St. Abba Thalassia. The first, dated September 9, 1855, begins: “Beloved and deeply respected Fr. Macarius! I hasten to thank you for sending the manuscript and am forwarding it back to you...” Then, having outlined his thoughts regarding the translation and publication of the book, Fr. the archimandrite adds: “In conclusion, I consider it my duty to say that every letter of yours, most honorable father, no matter what pen or paper it was written on, I receive it with great consolation and gratitude to you. I ask you most earnestly, do not forget in your prayers your most devoted servant, Archimandrite Sergius. P.S. My deepest respect to Father Archimandrite Moses and Fr. Juvenal's desire for salvation." Another letter, dated January 24, 1856, begins as follows: “Beloved and venerable father in the Lord! I leave it to your will: whether you yourself submit the questionable passage in the book to the bishop (metropolitan) in writing for permission, or entrust it to me to do it. I don't have a list from this place, and I can't write it from memory. Therefore, it is necessary that you either send me the manuscript again, or at least a list of the section or conversation about lies where the incident was told.” Etc. The letter ends like this: “I am writing all this not to teach you, father, but to sincerely open my thoughts to you. P.S. I express my deepest gratitude to you for the good deed that you did to the soul of my late parent by recording his name among those remembered in your monastery. This is such a consoling reward for me from you, which will always act encouragingly on my spirit. She alone is sufficient for me to forever remain a debtor and novice to you and your holy monastery. May the Lord reward you a hundredfold for everything that you have rewarded me!” All the writings of the academy inspector Fr. Archimandrite (future Moscow Metropolitan) Sergius, as well as the most learned professor of the Academy, Fr. Archpriest Golubinsky, show their great faith, love and respect for Elder Macarius. But who was Elder Macarius? A simple hieromonk, a humble hermit, who considered himself worse and lower than all people and every creature. And yet, what honor he received from these and other noble persons who knew him, led by his contemporary Moscow Metropolitan Philaret! Truly prudent people say that the glory of man is like the shadow of a man. If a person runs after her, the shadow hurries away from him; if, on the contrary, a person runs from his shadow, the shadow chases him. This is the same property of human glory 100. And how amazingly true are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: He who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11)! He will ascend not only in the next century from the One who glorifies the humble, but also in this temporary, multi-rebellious life, filled with all untruth and lawlessness. Letters from Elder Macarius to the nuns. Part. 3. Letter 104. A book written in poetry by Rev. Simeon the New Theologian, that’s why it’s called verse; is in the skete library in manuscript. In the Optina Skete, the daily reading of the Psalter by the brethren has long been established with the remembrance of the health and repose of the names of their relatives and benefactors. Thought of St. Isaac the Syrian in the 57th word.