Глава XX. Старец Макарий уклоняется от настоятельской должности и архимандритского сана и слагает с себя некоторые обязанности. Его любовь к вере и Церкви Православной и ревность по вере и благочестию. Благодарное письмо за это к нему от Московского митрополита Филарета. Следит старец за духовною ли

It was mentioned above that the gathering of people in Optina Pustyn under the elder Fr. Macarius was very large. But it increased more and more from time to time. Especially in large numbers, residents of the cities of Bolkhov and Mtsensk, Oryol province, visited Optina Pustyn. The famous former abbot of the Bolkhov Monastery, the same name as Elder Macarius (a zealous Siberian missionary among foreigners), Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharev), even pointed out to many the Optina Elder Macarius as his successor in their Volkhov Monastery. As a result, after the death of this ever-memorable Fr. archimandrite, which followed in 1847, a deputation of Bolkhov citizens arrived in Optina Pustyn in order to ask Elder Macarius to give his consent to occupy the position of abbot in the rank of archimandrite in the Volkhov monastery, also called Optina 128; and o. abbot Moses - to let him go to them. But the humble elder resolutely refused this honor. Having learned that this had already been presented to the highest spiritual authorities, without his consent, he hastened to reject it through some benefactors of the monastery through the mediation of one highest spiritual person. Meanwhile, the bodily strength of the elder father Fr. Macarius became more and more weakened over time, and his work increased more and more. Often tired, exhausted from long work with the people, barely catching his breath, not having the strength not only to speak, but also to pronounce one word clearly, he returned from the monastery hotel to the monastery from his daily feat. The monks close to him looked with sadness at his exhaustion and often tried to beg him to take care of himself for the sake of them and the many others to whom his life was dear. They asked him to at least shorten the correspondence, which apparently exhausted his strength for even more oral conversation. “What should I do? - answered the loving old man, - it is absolutely impossible not to write; but to answer some and offend others with silence, I am not able to do this.” Sometimes the elder seemed to lose heart under the weight of his cross; but it only seemed so. For the grace of God, healing and strengthening the weak, was always inherent in his spirit, giving strength to his weakened bodily powers. In fact, taking into account the generally poor health of the old man, his daily, almost continuous labors, often visited by illness and old age, it was impossible not to admit that only the power of God could strengthen his emaciated flesh to endure such great and varied labors. More than once, however, feeling extreme exhaustion and loss of bodily strength, the elder himself decided to completely stop his spiritual and edifying correspondence, which was multiplying every year; but, following the example of his spiritual leader and teacher, the elder Fr. Leo, and, of course, not without secret notification of the will of God, overcome by the power and ardor of love for those suffering from various mental and physical illnesses, seeing the increase in social ailments, and most of all, out of humility, he did not dare to descend from the cross assigned to him by God, to which the same Christ-like love raised him, until he gave up his spirit on it. In addition, with the number of visitors increasing year by year, the elder’s deprivation of solitude became more and more noticeable. “Rumor, rumor,” he wrote to his Sevsk relatives, “and daily rumor. When will I come to my senses? When will I get rid of the darkness and enter into myself? Don't know. Have pity on me and pray that I will get rid of the deception of both myself and others. All I know is that I talk and talk, and every day I go to the living room so many times; and the outcome is not visible. Some are leaving, while others are moving in; and I, a sinner, kept up everywhere. Woe, and that’s all! The soul is smooth without food; little time to read; and what kind of reading is there in confusion? Well, what should I do? We must be patient; and who knows when they will call you to eternity? Summer, weakness, everything brings us closer to that; and I'm not happy. Lord, have mercy and save, according to Your ineffable mercy!” The elder especially felt the deprivation of solitude when favorable circumstances indicated the time to begin publishing the book works of the elder Paisius Velichkovsky of blessed memory. Repeatedly Father Fr. Macarius expressed this to his close students and acquaintances. Once, back in 1847, while in the house of Messrs. Kireyevskys in their estate - the village of Dolbino, the elder spoke to them about this. This gave Ivan Vasilyevich the idea to build a secluded house for the elder on their property 129. After Father's departure, Fr. Macarius at the monastery, Ivan Vasilyevich immediately communicated this thought to his wife; and she conveyed this to the elder and asked for his consent. The elder was so pleased with this offer that he himself came to thank the hospitable Dolbino owners for it. At the same time, he chose a place for this house, in the depths of a birch grove, located a mile from the master's estate. The house was completed in the spring of 1848, and the elder was invited by the owners to its consecration. Entering it for the first time with his cell attendant Fr. Hilarion, the elder sang: “It is worthy to eat, for truly you are blessed, the Mother of God...” - and again thanked the owners for their diligence. Since then, having asked permission from the spiritual authorities, he from time to time visited the house arranged for him, spending several days in it each time with one of his students for an unentertaining activity - preparation for the publication of patristic books. But this small reassurance was not enough for Elder Macarius, who was weakening in his physical strength. Wanting to eliminate the household chores associated with the title of head of the monastery in order to have more freedom for spiritual pursuits, the elder repeatedly asked the abbot of the monastery, Fr. abbot Moses to lay down his leadership burden; but at the request of him and his brothers he postponed his intention. Finally, in 1852, the elder renewed his previous petition. But since Fr. The abbot knew that he was soon to be honored with the rank of archimandrite, and this time the elder received the following answer from him: “Wait a minute; I hear they want to give us a hat; So just wait." The hat is really coming soon. the abbot was given, and the following year, 1853, Elder Macarius transferred the position of head of the skete to the skete hieromonk Fr. Paphnutia. It was November 30, the very day on which 14 years ago he took charge of the monastery. Having gathered the monastery brethren into the church, the elder announced that, with the permission of the rector, Fr. Archimandrite Moses resigns from the title of monastery commander. After a congregational prayer with a commemoration by name for the health and salvation of all the monastery brethren, the elder, with earthly worship, asked everyone for forgiveness. Also, the brethren mutually said goodbye to the elder, at the same time receiving a blessing from the new leader. The elder wrote in more detail about this circumstance to his Sevsk relatives: “Glory to God! Now 14 years of my management of the monastery have ended, although I am unworthy of this name, but with the help of God, the intercession and protection of the Mother of God and the saint of God, the Baptist of Christ John, through the prayers of our father Archimandrite Moses, and Abbot Anthony, and all our fathers and brothers, time has passed quickly. Although he sinned in many ways and offended his brethren and seduced him in many ways, he was covered by their love; and through their obedience and self-force, all external works were accomplished. God Himself and every conscience know about spiritual successes and weaknesses. Save them, Lord, and have mercy on me through their prayers! So, today, after late mass, Fr. Paphnutius went to Fr. Archimandrite, I received a blessing for dismissal (based on a preliminary meeting), and he received a blessing to join the management. We went to Fr. Anthony; We also received his blessing, then in our church, together with the gathered brethren, we served the Mother of God with an akathist prayer service and St. John the Baptist 130, and after a short conversation appropriate to this, I asked them for forgiveness, thanked them for their love and obedience and entrusted them to the new boss, asking that they have obedience and love for him. And now, thank the Lord, I feel some peace. And you congratulate me on this long-desired disposition of mine to leave this, albeit small, boss.” The skete chronicler made the following remark on this matter: “This change (transfer of leadership over the skete), of course, is only external. But still, the thought that the priest is weakening, little by little laying down his burdens in order to march more easily to his (heavenly) fatherland, is heavy for us, and involuntarily a tear rolls from our eyes; and my heart freezes at the thought of separation from my father and benefactor.” It is true that this change was only external; because the order of spiritual life in the monastery, as in general in the entire monastery, did not change at all due to this change. The new chief cared more about the external order and needs of the monastery, without in the least departing from obedience to the blessed elder, who treated him as one of the monastery brethren, even sometimes showering him with reproaches for something. Such was the power of God’s grace acting in Elder Macarius! She unwittingly won the hearts of her superiors. According to the established order in the monastery, the head of the monastery is also confirmed in the position of fraternal confessor of the entire monastery. So it was with Fr. Paphnutius. He usually confessed to the brethren and some laity. Perhaps from the same time, and perhaps even earlier, Elder Macarius also left his spiritual position: that is, he no longer confessed to anyone, but only served as an elder, that is, he accepted the revelation of thoughts that came to him and taught advice and instructions on how to resist the cruel and restless battle from evil demonic thoughts and how to more conveniently live according to the commandments of God set out in the Holy Gospel, teaching this in word and deed, and most importantly - by the example of one’s own humble life. Nevertheless, the elder’s attention and diligence were mainly directed to the eradication of pride and the resentment that stems from it in those who treated him, and to the instillation of humility in their souls. So, for example, he wrote to his Sevsk niece M. Melania: “Blame yourself for not having love for M.P., for the Lord commanded to love your enemies. Love and humility, above all things, will save us. Spiritual warfare is tricky. The enemy is cunning and strong. And whoever arms himself with humility against him cannot stand against him for even a minute. But acquiring humility requires a lot of work and attention. For the enemy opposes this and brings everything contrary to it. And how destructive resentment is, read from St. John Climacus and Abba Dorotheus and Zosima." And in almost all his letters Elder Macarius conveys these thoughts. Therefore, the collection of all his letters can truly be called a teaching on patience, self-reproach, humility and love. The elder himself showed all these virtues in himself in practice. His love, one might say, embraced the entire Christian race, and especially the dear fatherland close to his heart. As a zealot of the one true Orthodox faith of Christ, he rejoiced at its beneficial influence on the hearts of the Orthodox. "God bless! - he wrote to his family in Sevsk, - our Orthodox faith animates and comforts our hearts. Although we are meager in deeds, we do not lose hope in God’s mercy; and we will cry out to Him to save us, they are the message of destinies!” Or in another letter: “Thank the Lord that you are passing through the time of St. fasting peacefully and calmly. The Lord comforts you as you listen to church services, which the Church has so wisely ordered and organized, guided by the Holy Spirit.” On the contrary, the elder greatly mourned the increasing spread of various religious errors and moral corruption in general among Russian society even in his time. For example, this is what he wrote to the above-mentioned relatives: “Currently we are reading “On the relations of the Roman Church to other churches” by Avdiy Vostokov. And how bitter it is to see all the tricks of the pope and his army - the Jesuits and propaganda! How many tricks he made in achieving the primacy of the popes and their infallibility and in many dogmatic innovations in the Church, after falling away from the Greek Church! And our Church stands in the purity of the teachings of Christ and the apostolic and holy ecumenical councils. And they introduced heresies. And our Church considers them heretics. And they are still intensifying to spread their heretical teachings to our dear and Orthodox Russia. And many of the aristocrats have already become carried away by their teaching, having converted to Catholicism, and are trying to attract their brethren there too. Religious tolerance was allowed; and now even the preaching of their false heretical teaching arises.” About the upcoming marriage of one of the elder’s relatives to a Catholic, he wrote: “K. they write and rejoice about the proposal made by M., a Catholic. But I'm not happy about it. And if (the marriage) takes place without his joining our Church, then I will greatly grieve. I wrote to them that they didn’t have my blessing. They are so indifferent to their religion - they write that there is “little difference”, and do not understand what can happen from differences in faith both in marriage and in raising children. One thing is that they approach the Chalice of Christ with different thoughts, and many other dogmas are already separating their union of friendship and like-mindedness. And that he would later convert is doubtful. On the contrary, they have an idea in the West and in all of them to Catholicize all of Russia. And many are already starting to do this; and from our people who accepted their faith, princes Gagarin and Golitsyn write brochures and send them to Russia... What hope is there for a happy fate? Unless only cold indifference to faith will give false and imaginary peace. I don't want that." And after the marriage was completed, against the will of the elder, he wrote: “How painful it is for me to see in the members of my family mixing with heretics! I’m not angry with them, but I worry about them; but I don’t want to write to them. Empty and vain idle talk! They did not listen and united with heretics; and now they will not listen to them joining our Church.” The elder also wrote about Catholic propaganda and the danger it poses to Orthodoxy in Russia: “What confusion and revolt against our Orthodox Church everywhere! I don’t remember if I wrote to you: a book was recently published - 158 pages of small print, octagon, printed in Paris, written by some of our princes. Golitsyn. He tries to prove from our books about the primacy of the pope and other dogmas that the Western Latin Church is true, and the Orthodox Greek Church has apostatized. Calls on the Russian Church to unite with the Western Church and with the Pope. And all this is far-fetched and false. Indeed, it was bitter and sorrowful to the heart to read such an attack on the Church - and from whom? From your children. Of course, not everyone will believe, and especially not those who are established in the faith; but those indifferent to the faith, and even more so the lame aristocrats, will probably drink this poison and turn away there. Meanwhile, quite a few books have probably already been distributed throughout Russia. Anyone traveling from abroad will bring this book like a jewel. This is how our Church suffers! The sheep have taken, or are taking upon themselves, the arbitrary responsibility of teaching and do not want to listen to the shepherds of the Church; they climb into the fence elsewhere and scatter the sheep. But, Lord, do not betray us to the end, for the sake of Your Name, but establish Your Orthodox Church on the immovable stone of Your commandments and the teaching of the Holy Ecumenical Councils, in agreement with the Greek Church, from which we received the faith.” Also: “One zealous observer writes to me: in America some kind of society has formed under the name of Mormons, a special Christianity. Polygamy is allowed, and they are hard-working. The whole province gathered, up to half a million. It was as if an angel gave their leader a new Bible, or the Golden Book. It contains every mixture of Christian dogmas and deviations from the truth. In Germany, a semi-Christianity, similar to ancient Arianism, is clearly preached. It’s scary to say: the Divinity and miracles of our Savior Lord Jesus Christ are not recognized. And this false teaching is spread by the Lutheran pastors themselves through printed books. It creeps in everywhere. In Europe now the majority of educated youth believe in nothing but their own minds. The Pope is trying to bring everyone to Catholicism; and one of our princes and Jesuit Gagarin published a brochure: Can Russia be Catholicized? This is the calamity our Church and every believer, and especially the younger generation, are in! But the idol of our time - unheard of luxury - makes everyone desire and seek wealth. Railways, telegraphs, worldwide merchants! Nobility is ridiculed. What does all this lead to? God knows. Nowadays they have become fashionable words: antediluvian, universal... What are these words leading to? Let him understand!.. Shouldn’t we draw closer to each other through love and humility? May the hour of death not befall us unprepared, and the worst of it is the darkened blindness spreading throughout the universe! How can we not thank the Lord for deigning us to separate from the world and remain in the Orthodox faith! When you frequently encounter people who are opposed to wisdom, how long will it take your mind to waver and get carried away by their opinions? Which often happens to many. So, let us thank the Lord with our hearts and lips, and with good deeds – with peace, love and humility.” In the same spirit and sense, the elder wrote to an unknown person: “What is happening in the world reaches us even less. But cases like these that you describe deeply shake the soul. I say this not about myself, but in general about our brothers who struggle and who may still be subject to the deception of the enemy, who seeks to devour everyone who does not heed and indulges in the vanity of the world and sensuality. And the enemy is so bold that he takes up arms against our mother, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church; He tries to shake it by various means, now with papism, now with Lutheranism, now with freethinking. But our Church is still preserved by the grace of God, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Suffering disasters; but, according to the word of the holy Apostle, it is fitting for heresies to exist in you, so that trials may appear in you (1 Cor. 11:19). Let us watch and stand on the solid rock of faith of our Orthodox Church. Let us commit ourselves, and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God!” In another letter to the same person, the elder wrote: “Explain your comments about our time, which is in motion and excitement: they are looking for something good and new. But how do they look for it? And where do they want to find it? Civilization and progress! But they don’t pay attention to the Orthodox religion (faith). And all our bliss, both temporary and eternal, is based on this. Smart, learned, educated people want to believe in their own way, and not as the Orthodox Church teaches us. The teaching of the Church is infallible, although among its practitioners there will be those who err. But the part is not the whole; and those who scoff at those who sin turn their tongues against the whole Church; and in the Church all our good and salvation. The sacraments of the church are guides to the Kingdom of Heaven; their servants and performers are the clergy, who are so brazenly and poisonously attacked by educated wise men and infect the weak, and even more so feed the youth with this poison...” and further. In another letter: “What should I do? Today, the dark force is firmly armed against the light of truth, and reason is trying to take over faith and is resisting the Church; but, according to the word of the Lord, the gates of hell will not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). Although many are drawn into the net of the evil ones, and even more so the pitiful young generation is drunk with the bitter poison of opposing opinions; who also spread their destructive poison among the common people through harmful brochures released to the people for reading instead of moralizing and moral instructions. It’s a pity for our poor, dear Mother Russia if, according to your word, this harvest will soon ripen under the sickle! If this inevitably must happen, then believers must pray to the merciful Lord, that He may turn His righteous anger away from us... and, Lord, do not forbid that we wait and see accidents if we have them. Beneficial Europe taught us external arts and sciences, but internal kindness takes away and shakes the Orthodox faith; they take money to themselves. I can't really judge anything. I only see that we are mentally ill and don’t see it.” The elder wrote about the success of Catholic propaganda among the Orthodox: “About the advantage of propaganda of the Roman Church over the Orthodox Church and its charitable institutions, it should be noted that since the reason for its falling away from Orthodoxy was love of power and other human goals and calculations: then all its actions are frustrated by the same illness and the same types; and there are no enterprises in them that are pure according to God and according to conscience, as in the Orthodox Church. That is why the latter’s actions are modest and quiet. Look into the history of the times of Photius, the Greek Patriarch, who converted Bulgaria to Christianity, and you will see what the papists did then and why. And the same thing continues to this day. The papists do not care to convert the Turks to Christianity, but try to seduce the Orthodox Greeks and Bulgarians from the true path. Their actions have always been and are based for the most part on lies and intrigues.” And in other letters the elder wrote about the same subject with great sorrow. All this was written in the 50s of the 19th century. As a result of such zeal for faith and piety, Elder Macarius was honored to receive the following scripture from Moscow Metropolitan Philaret: “Reverend Father Macarius! I greet you and the rector of your monastery; And to all your brotherhood, peace and blessings of God, and stumbling-free, under the shadow of God’s grace, flow along the path of salvation and perfection! Blessed is your compassionate sorrow for the uprising of people against the Orthodox Church, who came from us, but who were not infuriated from us [1 John 2:19]. Pray that the Lord, with His invincible help, will protect and comfort her, and that He will comfort us, the humble, about her and with her. The Orthodox Church, always militant on earth, protected for many centuries in our fatherland, now, due to our sins, is approaching to appear persecuted again. Establishment of those who hope in Thee, establish, O Lord, the Church which Thou hast acquired with Thy venerable blood. I ask for your prayers for my unworthiness and weakness, remaining with sincere love for you, even in the Lord. Filaret, metro station Moskovsky. May 11, 1859. I am sending you a denunciation of one of the uprisings against the Orthodox Church.” With all his almost continuous, laborious studies and weakening physical strength, Elder Macarius found the time and opportunity to follow spiritual literature. He received all the spiritual magazines and periodicals published in his time, such as: Works of St. fathers, Christian and Sunday readings, Orthodox interlocutor, Orthodox review, Wanderer, Spiritual and Home conversations. Of the last four, I preferred Spiritual Conversation and Home Conversation. In addition, he was interested in newly published books of spiritual content and, on occasion, wrote his own review about them. Thus, having read the “Letters on Christian Life” by the famous Bishop Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, soon after they came out of print, the elder wrote about them to one person: “I know the book “Letters on the Christian Life” and am expecting it to be sent soon. I have read it, but not all of it yet. The book is very good; but in some places it is very boldly said about prayer, such as: to have intelligence in the heart, and that anyone can do this, look for warmth in themselves and so on. Inexperienced people will try this and find nothing and will be confused; and very few people will feel it, get carried away and fall into delusion. The Holy Fathers say that this requires a lot of time, feat, labor and a charmless mentor; and that in pure prayer one out of a thousand only achieves; and according to this, he is one from darkness. These are the words of St. Isaac the Syrian. He writes in the 2nd word, pp. 13 and 14: “Whoever, before learning in the first part - deeds, begins the second - vision, which consists of spiritual teaching and prayer, the wrath of God finds him; there you will see why,” and further: “the things of God, he says, come from themselves, to you who do not perceive. Yes, but if the place is clean and not nasty. If the apple of your soul’s eye is not pure, don’t dare to look at the surroundings of the sun, lest you lose even that small dawn, which is simple faith and humility, and heartfelt confession, and small deeds, even according to your strength, and you will be rejected,” and so on. (Word 2, p. 14). Mental prayer is the highest of all acts, according to the word of St. Gregory Sinaite. And whoever, without coldness and boldness, wants to come to God, and confess Him purely, and need to acquire Him within himself, we will conveniently kill him from the very demons, if he is allowed; and further (in the chapters of Gregory of Sinaite on silence, chapter 7, “On delusion”). And they write to St. Fathers: “Those who undergo prayer and abstinence are attacked strongly and violently by demons; and if we do not have a weapon against them—humility—then they conveniently overthrow us.” Now many books have been published about this act. You know the Philokalia and other patristic books; but you need to go through it with a mentor, and not on your own. Elder Paisios, in a letter to the Sofrontievsky Elder Theodosius, writes that he is obsessed with both joy and fear about the publication of his father’s books, but why? Read for yourself in the life of Elder Paisius the letter to Archimandrite Theodosius on page 265 of the first edition. We have written an article warning against unauthorized doing of this; but there is no time to correct it, but I would like to publish it. Don’t think that I condemn this book. I find in other matters very useful and full of truth. And as you asked for my opinion, I said frankly that I found it. It needs to be simpler: everyone needs to pray the Jesus Prayer and drive away thoughts; but seek nothing but mercy. And the Lord, who gives prayer to the one who prays, will also give mental prayer, according to the words of Peter of Damascus. Otherwise, the enemy has many decoys, and deceives ascetics under the guise of truth with false actions. However, I sincerely wish that this book will be useful in everything. Save, Lord, the one who wrote it.” Every major domestic event evoked deep sympathy in the sympathetic soul of Elder Macarius. The famous unsuccessful Sevastopol campaign in the fifties of the last century attracted his attention. Despite his constant leisure time and physical infirmities, during the siege of Sevastopol, he asked to read the news about its progress from the Moskovskie Vedomosti, and with every joyful news or hope for success, he rejoiced like a child and glorified God; and at the news of failure he grieved and grieved prayerfully. On October 16, 1854, the elder wrote this to a close person: “Satan’s war against the Cross continues, and the only Lord knows how it will end. Of course, this is a punishment for us for our sins, but with the mercy and protection of God. If it weren’t for His protection and protection, what could they have done with such a strong armada and horde of Catholicism, Protestantism, Islamism, with such an unexpected and unexpected attack?! The word of the Lord is right and true. If we did His will, then (it would be fulfilled): one will marry thousands and two engines of darkness (Deut. 32:30)... We need to pray to the Lord and appease Him with repentance and good living. May the Lord preserve our Orthodox Church and her children, our brothers, who have fallen under the Muslim yoke and pseudo-Christian tyranny. They, the poor, are now without protection. All of Europe fell upon us and them. One God is our helper and patron; and may He be our salvation. Let us cry to Him in these sorrows, and He will hear us. He is strong even now to plunge horse and rider not into the Red Sea, but into the Black Sea, and to deliver His people from the bitter work of the clever Pharaoh, and to destroy his combined tristats. But what is our mentality? We must cast ourselves before the majesty of His glory into the abyss of humility and wait for His will to be done on us.” To the same person, the elder also wrote: “I cannot talk about the affairs of Europe and the war of the present time, and for my part I do not dare to draw any big conclusions, except that this war is the finger of God and a scourge punishing us who have deviated from the right path and are walking obstinately, broadly and extensively, leading us to destruction. Many who lay down their lives in battle will surely receive remission of sins, and many will be crowned with incorruptible crowns of heavenly glory; and their remaining neighbors, and everyone in general, suffering about this in their hearts and suffering many needs, will involuntarily leave luxury and become established in the faith. The destinies of God are incomprehensible to us, and He alone knows the entire future, as well as the past and present. May His holy will be upon us; but we must pray that the world will be merciful to us sinners and have mercy.” Humbly surrendering to the will of God in the face of unfavorable news about the war for Russia, the elder, according to his custom, was transported in thought to spiritual warfare. So, he wrote to his Sevsky relatives: “I know that you are in a struggle, and a strong war is no less than the Sevastopol one. But there are weapons: copper, iron, steel, lead, cast iron, gunpowder, fire, cunning and human strength; but we have a different kind of weapon: faith, trust in God, self-reproach, humility, patience, prayer and all-encompassing love. Leaving these weapons, we fall into the hands of the resistant, and they crush our spiritual bones, cast us down and languish in the bonds of embarrassment and resentment. And here are the tormentors: envy, zeal, reproach of what is good and the whole evil council of passions torment without mercy. We must not abandon saving weapons and use them to overthrow those who resist, learning to fight in practice.” But soon, one after another, sad domestic events followed. In the midst of the war, on February 18, 1855, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich died. The unexpected news of his death brought profuse tears from the elder. Moreover, as one old monk contemporary to him once reported, he expressed the idea that Emperor Nicholas held Russia in iron hands and thereby restrained the destructive self-will of his subjects, and that the freedom expected after him, which always led and leads people to unbridled self-will, should bring great harm to Orthodox Russia. Now we actually see this. However, the elder dissolved his grief over the loss of this Sovereign with a comforting reflection on his Christian death. So, he wrote in 1855 to his relatives in Sevsk: “February 24th. Recently I read the manifesto of the new Sovereign Alexander II. It was impossible to read about the death of Sovereign Nicholas I without tears. And in such a great era for Russia! Save, Lord, our Orthodox faith and Holy Rus' from the invasion of foreigners and from their evil intent... to humble (that is, humiliate) Russia. Let us pray to the Lord to help our new Emperor and the Christ-loving army. The hour of death is near, but we are not ready. How will we appear before the judgment of God? Here people are dying; and many noble persons died in a short time. And above all, the father of the great family - of the whole of Russia, our Emperor, Nikolai Pavlovich, reverently went to the Lord, having fulfilled the duty of a Christian - confession and communion of the Most Pure Mysteries of Christ; remained in full memory until his death. He gave instructions to the Heir and the family, then asked the Heir for a Cross with a crucifix; reverently kissed him several times and, saying: “Thy will be done, Lord!”, died. With the great sorrow of the deprivation of the father of the fatherland, it is comforting to hear about his Christian death, which gives hope that he will be rewarded with bliss in eternity. What the Holy Church and all of us pray to the Lord for, may he rest his soul in the Kingdom of Heaven!” Soon, another sad news reached the elder - about the capture of Sevastopol by the enemies. Hearing about this, the elder began to sob, like a loving father who had lost his only begotten son. Falling to his knees before the image of the Mother of God, he prayed for a long time before Her without words. In early May 1857, Elder Macarius, accompanied by Fr. Leonid Kavelin visited the Maloyaroslavets Monastery at the request of its rector, Fr. Archimandrite Nikodim, and on the way back through Kaluga he visited the Right Reverend Gregory, who at that time placed on the elder the bronze cross on the Vladimir ribbon established for clergy during the last war. Thus, by the end of his temporary life, the elder was decorated with two crosses - a gold pectoral and a bronze. Accompanying the elder, Fr. Leonid (who is also the skete chronicler) made the following remark in the chronicle: “By his good pleasure, the priest visited my sick brother in the Khlyustinskaya almshouse. Moreover, one patient, a Likhvin tradesman, who, as temporarily (according to the warden) became enraged and furious, and therefore, when we arrived, was lying tied to the wall, seeing the priest, he cried out: “Reverend Father Macarius! Pray to God for us." Whether it was the inquisitive spirit acting in the young woman who followed the apostles (Acts 16:17,18), or whether this sick man was a fool for Christ’s sake, I don’t know. I am reporting a fact only for memory purposes. No one gave advance notice of our arrival, and the priest’s name was not spoken during his stay there. We returned home (to the monastery) safely at 3 o’clock. A lot of people were waiting for the priest at the hotel; and the cross placed on him was, as it were, a prototype of the spiritual crosses that awaited him upon his return and were known only to God and those close to him.” But what kind of spiritual crosses, or, simply put, sorrows, awaited the elder, readers will see about this further; Now let’s see how the elder felt about the transformations awaiting Russia - the emancipation of serfs and literacy among the common people. Thus, he wrote: “In the liberation of our fellow peasants, or simply Christians, from serfdom, we must see the paternal Providence of God, having mercy on them. And many of the owners willingly agreed with this idea and expect a revolution, are not embarrassed by the deprivation of many incomes, and some, also a considerable number, mourn, thinking that they will not have the means for their usual luxurious life, which they enjoyed from the labors of thousands of people, who themselves were often deprived of the necessary food. Luxury, of course, will diminish, which can be called the devil’s weapon for the destruction of human souls. But what will happen to the free and how they will use this freedom is still unknown to us. You are correct in your reasoning that it could be this or that... But what is unknown is what fruit this literacy, introduced to the common people, will bring. We now already see in the state-owned villagers who have learned to read and write: if one of them becomes a scribe and turns out to be incapable or for some reason loses his position, then he is no longer a plowman, and the father has no hope of supporting his old age. They object to this: if everyone is literate, then this cannot happen. OK then. They will learn to read and write; what will they read? They will publish more books: “Laughter”, “Idle Ring” and similar ones. What impact might they have on morality? We'll see what happens then. May the will of the Lord be done on all of us!” Or again: “Your heart bleeds when you talk about our dear fatherland Russia, our mother. Where is she going? What are you looking for? What are you waiting for? Enlightenment rises, but is imaginary. It deceives itself in its hope. The young generation does not feed on the milk of the teachings of our Holy Orthodox Church, but is infected with some foreign, muddy, poisonous spirit. And how long will this continue? Of course, in the destinies of God’s Providence what should be is written, but it is hidden from us, according to His ineffable wisdom. And it seems that the time is coming, according to the father’s prophecy: “Let him save his soul!” Elder Macarius’s view of contemporary monasticism is interesting and very edifying – which is very applicable to our time. Thus, he wrote on July 5, 1860, shortly before his death, to one hierarch: “When looking at the current way of life of monasticism, how far we have deviated from the path that was shown to us in the teachings of our fathers, our hearts hurt! And instead of looking for the good beads hidden in the village of our hearts, we are content with appearance alone. And in order to strive for passion, little and little are found; and through our weaknesses we become a temptation to the world, instead of being the light of the world. You will notice that the desire to read the books of the fathers has begun to be exterminated among the monks. This is what causes relaxation; since there is no motivation for an active monastic life. Perhaps there are some of the new arrivals who have zeal and a desire to be saved; but, seeing examples of weakness, they first condemn them, then they themselves are enslaved by it, not having faithful nourishment and rejection of their will and mind - which could lead them to humility, as a strong weapon against all enemy networks. It is no wonder that even in religious journals of the present time something unfavorable about the life of monasticism appears. And there’s nothing to say about other literary publications! And all this spreads throughout the Christian world, which does not look at its own weaknesses, but vigilantly looks at monastic and minor shortcomings. However, we should not blame those who judge us, but find guilt in ourselves, humble ourselves, and repent; and the Lord is able to save and bring out of that pit, seen by the Monk Pachomius, sorrows, misfortunes and illnesses. Although it is sad to look at our weaknesses; but many who come to the monastery find protection from the arrows of the enemy, to which they might have been exposed in worldly life. Only, as far as I could notice, it was unhelpful and dangerous to accept those who were too young (into the monastery); for they are more exposed to the influence of the weak side and, having acquired the bad habit, cannot soon come to the true path, so that they are not capable of either the monastery or the world. The other day I happened to hear a comparative example of monastic and worldly life. One legless wanderer crawled around many monasteries and, when asked by one monk how he found monastic life in comparison with worldly life, he answered: “Not all monasteries are equal; but I think this: when a meadow is fenced, the grass grows well on it; but outside the fence it gets trampled and eaten.” A simple but striking example! We are also encouraged by the consoling word written by John of Carpathia to the Indian monks 131. We must pray to the Lord to preserve the monastic order in our beloved fatherland and give strength and strength to defeat the visible and invisible enemies of Christianity and monasticism 132. But what kind of sorrows or spiritual crosses did the humble elder Macarius, always peaceful in the spirit of the prayer book, have? He once wrote to his Sevsky relatives: “I have no sorrows; my sorrows are sins.” However, towards the end of his life, the elder was visited by grief. They consisted in the fact that between him and the abbot of the monastery, Fr. Archimandrite Moses, who always lived in peace and mutual sincere love, a certain discord occurred, which, however, as we will now see, did not come from a heartfelt dislike towards each other, but from different views on matters. So, for example, Fr. The abbot loved to make buildings in the monastery, apparently even unnecessary ones, and for this purpose, out of necessity, he reduced the monastery forest and put the monastery into debt, of which there were already a lot. Elder Macarius, on the contrary, as was said above, out of love for nature, wanted to preserve the forest, and not start unnecessary buildings, and not increase the monastic debt without special need. This was reported to Fr. himself. to the abbot; and he would just say: “Yes, man was not created for the tree, but the tree for man,” and then continued his work. Time, however, justified Fr.'s enterprises. Archimandrite Moses. All, apparently unnecessary, his buildings subsequently turned out to be suitable and necessary, and the monastery debts were paid soon after his death by one benefactor who had a great disposition towards Fr. Archimandride Moses, and to his brother Fr. Abbot Anthony, and in general to the entire Optina Monastery. Let us also note that, apparently producing unnecessary buildings, Fr. The archimandrite could also be of the following conviction: if he, the honored and respected abbot of all, clears down a certain part of the forest for the sake of monastery buildings; then all this will be forgiven him both by the higher authorities and by his brotherhood, or at least there will be no stops in his work for him; his successor, the new abbot, would have to suffer considerable grief over this - he could be completely prohibited from clearing the forest, despite the extreme need for it, or, at least, this matter could be greatly slowed down. Also: o. Archimandrite Moses, partly due to the shortcomings of Optina Pustyn, which was poor at that time, and partly, probably, due to his inclination towards an ascetic life, wanted to eradicate tea drinking among the brethren. Sometimes a brother would come to him to ask for tea; the abbot will greet him with these words: “Would you like some tea?” “Yes,” he will say, “you’re welcome, father.” He will answer: “I want the resurrection of the dead,” and will not give it. And he will begin to admonish his brother, saying that this herb, called tea, is brought from a foreign country, from a pagan people, and therefore it is not sinless for Christians, especially monks, to use it. Elder Macarius, seeing a weakening of morals among people, did not sympathize with Fr. to the abbot and, on the contrary, said that due to the more and more ingrained habit of drinking tea in people, it is no longer possible to eradicate tea drinking among monks, and salvation does not consist at all in not drinking tea. But oh. the abbot continued to act in his own way. Then Elder Macarius tried to draw attention to Fr. The rector pointed out a more important omission in the monastery, namely: that during church services, the singing monks hastily began to sing and began to behave freely in the choirs, which is why, as the elder noted, reverence for church services was lost. But it should be noted that, firstly, the singing was not very hasty; and secondly, Fr. Archimandrite Moses was already advanced in years - both old and weak. Standing through the long Optina services every day and without prolonged singing was, as one might think, burdensome for his weary legs. And besides, how difficult it was for him to manage the choristers, one can conclude from the fact that, in his own words, when dealing with the choristers, and with other brethren, during his long abbotship, he suffered a lot of sorrows. Therefore, probably, now he no longer so much addressed the guilty with a word of edification, but secretly prayed for their admonition to something useful, as was always his custom, while at the same time protecting himself from mental disorder. Thus, always and in all matters, unconditionally submissive to Elder Macarius and, in his humility, accepting his advice as if from the lips of God Himself, Fr. Archimandrite Moses now began to act completely contrary to the advice of his elders; so Father Fr. Macarius, who always inclined everyone to peace and God-loving obedience and never expected this from the kindest Fr. his abbot, he was so upset by his actions that in the presence of his close disciple and successor in eldership, Hieromonk Ambrose, he said with a tight heart: “Eh! The Lord must be punishing me for my sins.” Yet this, as stated above, shows that the discord between the elder Fr. Macarius and rector Fr. Archimandrite Moses was not of significant importance, since it was not based on their ill will towards each other. This is also confirmed by the fact that, as we will see later, after the death of Elder Macarius, Fr. the abbot gave the deceased the great honor he deserved with sincere heartfelt grief over the loss of this great spiritual leader and lamp. According to ancient folk legend, both the Optina Kozelskaya Pustyn and the Volkhov Optin Monastery were founded by one former robber, Opta, who, according to the stories of the Optina old-timer Hieroschemamonk Job, who died in the second half of the last, 19th century, was tonsured into the schema with the name Macarius and died and was buried in the Kozelskaya Optina Hermitage. Built by After the death of Elder Macarius, the Kireevsky house, with the consent of the owners, was transported to the dacha of the Belevsky convent and placed there in memory of the elder. In the name of this saint, the Optina monastery was founded. Blessed John of Carpathia A word of asceticism and very comforting to the monks who were in India. In the Slavic Philokalia. Published by Optina Pustyn in Russian in a special sheet. Letters from Elder Macarius to the monks. Letter 2.