Глава XXI. Последние годы и обстоятельства жизни старца о. Макария, его предсмертные страдальческие дни и блаженная кончина

The life of the elder father Fr. Macaria was nearing the end, and his health was weakening more and more. To a congratulatory letter from his Sevsk relatives in November 1859, he replied: “Thank you for congratulating me on my and Angel’s birthdays. Yes, it’s already ’71. How long the coming will take is unknown. But I don’t know how to appear before God. May the will of the Lord be upon us! You mourn my ill health, but it is changeable. I can't say I'm lying down; but sometimes I’m awake and walking, and sometimes I’m no good at all. Thank God for everything! Yes, the soul is larger than the body. The body will ache, and that will be the end of it; but mental illness extends into eternity. Deliver us, Lord, from this disease and grant us healing!” Two years before his death, precisely in 1858, Elder Macarius was tonsured into the great angelic image - the schema. The thought of this was expressed for the first time by the elder upon receiving news of the death of Kyiv Metropolitan Philaret (Amphiteatrov), the founder of the Optina monastery, tonsured before his death into the schema with the name Theodosius, who died on December 21, 1857. The elder had great love and reverence for him, as he wrote shortly after the death of this saint to his Sevsky relatives: “I think you have already heard about the death of the venerable Metropolitan of Kyiv Philaret on the 21st of December. It is a pity that the Church has lost such a hierarch; but, apparently, the time has come for him to rest from his labors and receive a reward for them. Through his prayers may the Lord have mercy on us!” However, although the elder wrote about his health: “Sometimes I’m no good for anything,” he was still on his feet until his dying illness, and even in the summer of 1860, shortly before his death, he had the opportunity to go to Kaluga, and specifically to the Kaluga Laurentian Monastery, the summer residence of the Kaluga rulers, in order to say goodbye to those who were leaving for St. Petersburg to attend St. Synod, respected archpastor Gregory. There, while waiting for the bishop to finish receiving petitioners, the elder went for a walk in the monastery garden. Stopping in front of the village of Zhelezniki that he had seen, the former estate of his parent, Nikolai Mikhailovich Ivanov, he pointed out to those accompanying him the place where their house stood and the services surrounding it, and told the impressions of his childhood that were preserved in his memory. Then, in the monastery cemetery, with the help of one full-time minister, he found the grassy grave of Hieromonk Paul, the former abbot of the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, who had once tonsured him as a monk, and with a feeling of tenderness bowed to his grave, saying: “He was a good old man!” Then, after a pause, he said: “There is a path before us all, one earlier, another later; and it’s time for me...” That was his hint of his imminent death. Meanwhile, having finished receiving visitors, the Right Reverend invited the elder and a few others to the table; and during the meal he was very merciful and attentive to the priest, caressed him and himself put food on his plate. Finally, having said goodbye to the merciful bishop, the elder first went to Tikhon’s Hermitage that same day and, after staying there for two days, returned to his monastery. There was another remarkable incident that indicated the nearness of the death of Elder Macarius. A year before this, a landowner very close to him, the pious old woman Maria Mikhailovna Kavelina, suffered from a severe illness, so that she was on the edge of her grave. By the way, out of her faith in the elder, she asked him to pray to the Lord so that He would extend the days of her life for the sake of a meeting with her beloved son, the Optina hieromonk, who was then away from the monastery. The elder told her affirmatively: “You will recover, but we will die together.” The elder’s words came true. She was in danger of dying and recovered, but after that she told her loved ones: “Fear my death, the life of the old man is connected with it, that’s what he told me.” This prediction of the elder, together with the other above-mentioned hints about his imminent death, shows that he had a secret notification from the Lord about the time of his departure from this world. In addition, he often told his students: “It’s time, it’s time to go home!” But they did not pay special attention to these words of his, perhaps partly because the thought of death, as one of the spiritual deeds, never left him. Some of the brethren drew attention to the following unexpected circumstance: inside the monastery on the south-eastern side there were three century-old pines - two from the same root, and the third a little further away; the elder urgently saved them from the beating, which, when growing in this place of the garden, other trees growing with them were subjected to. The wanderers always talked to each other like this: “These three pines are a symbol of the union of our elders; two from the same root - they resemble siblings: Fr. Archimandrite Moses and Fr. Abbot Anthony, and standing at a distance - our priest Fr. Macarius." When in the summer, for no apparent reason, this last pine tree suddenly withered, the sight of it brought an involuntary sadness to the hermits, the reason for which everyone guessed, but did not want to express, for fear of being a harbinger of general sorrow. When the elder fell ill, the brethren began to openly tell each other what thoughts the sight of this withered tree involuntarily suggested to them, which, being at first indebted to the elder for its preservation from being cut by human hands, then dried up by the will of its Creator, and became a harbinger of the death of its benefactor, Elder Macarius. Now we will monitor the old man’s health day by day: on August 23, 1860, the aforementioned old woman Kavelina died. Nothing special was noticed in the old man’s health that day, other than the usual weakness of his bodily strength at times. He was even so cheerful that he could go to the monastery hotel, where the dying old woman was, and be present at her blessed death. She died, sitting in an armchair, a quarter of an hour after receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, saying to her confessor who was with her: “The joy and sweetness that I now feel cannot be expressed in any words.” Having shed tears at this, the elder called this quiet death, like a dying candle, “the venerable”, saying: “I consider myself happy that God has vouchsafed me to see a righteous death.” August 25, Father Fr. Macarius had the opportunity to go out in vestments along with others to the burial of the said old woman. In the evening of the same day, on the eve of the celebration of the meeting of the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the elder, who especially revered this icon, like his predecessor, the elder and at the same time spiritual friend and fasting hieroschemamonk Leonid, according to his custom, as in previous years, sent an all-night vigil in honor of her in his cell with several of his close disciples and went to sleep in a sound state of mind and bodies, having first given them the usual blessing. The disciples dispersed in peace to their cells, apparently having no reason to expect the sorrow that the coming day gave rise to. On the 26th, on the very holiday, on Friday, while getting ready for mass, the elder suddenly felt attacks of urinary retention disease (called Ischuria in medical language) and its consequences, which, however, he had complained about from time to time before. At the monastery at that time, the city doctor of Belev, Mr. Bazelev, happened to be there, who, having been invited to the patient, immediately provided him with initial benefits, but, unfortunately, could not stay for some time with the elder to observe the effect of this medicine. By the evening of the same day, when the patient began to feel worse, he blessed Hieromonk Leonid (Kavelin), who was with him, in accordance with this last proposal, to go to the estate of Prince D.A., located near Optina Pustyn. Obolensky and invite his family doctor; but, to extreme regret, the hieromonk did not find him with the prince: the doctor left a few days ago for his homeland. On the way back through the city of Kozelsk, we stopped at the Kozelsk city doctor of the city of B-vu, Fr. Leonid took away the necessary advice from him, which upon his return to the monastery was immediately carried out. 27th, Saturday. There was no particular relief from the medications. Having confessed in the evening, the elder the next day after early mass received Holy Communion of Christ and surrendered himself to the will of God. 30th, Tuesday. At six o'clock in the morning the elder again took communion in the cell of the Holy Mysteries of Christ during early mass. Following this, at his own request, the sacrament of consecration of oil was performed on him, which was performed by Fr. Abbot Anthony with six hieromonks. Despite the fact that due to weakness of strength, the elder could not only stand at this time, but also sit, and therefore reclined on his bed, he still said: for the singers to sing all the prescribed chants in the Lenten melody, and even he himself reminded them of this melody twice in his voice. Following the sacrament, the patient’s farewell to the brethren, touching in its significance, began. The elder taught forgiveness to all of them, humbly at the same time asking for it from them and himself. Although he had been cheerful in spirit during the entire preceding period of illness; but after the sacrament of St. The blessing of oil apparently strengthened everyone even more in spirit and body. With amazing calm, clarity of mind and strength of will, he made the necessary orders in the event of his death, down to the smallest detail. He blessed everyone who came and, comforting his sorrowful disciples in word and deed, endowed them with icons, rosaries, books and similar visible signs of his fatherly favor towards them. The next day - August 31st - was one of the days of hope for the Optina residents. The elder was completely calm in spirit and talked with those who came to him. The only remarkable thing was that he taught them spiritual instructions briefly and expressively, so that each questioner, despite the calmness of the elder and the hope aroused by this in those around him, involuntarily felt that this was the last instruction, that the day and hour were not far off when these benevolent lips would be closed forever, and therefore, leaving the ever instructive cell of the elder under the influence of such a thought, he wept bitterly. His close disciples, without deceiving themselves regarding the patient’s situation, hastened to take advantage of the apparent vigor of his strength to ask for solutions to issues that for each of those who listened could be called issues of life; for example, which one he will bless to treat spiritually after his death, how to act in this or that upcoming case of the monastic path. And the elder, without restraint, clearly and calmly, satisfied these questions, of course, internally realizing that his days were already numbered before the Lord. To the question of the students: “What can we do without you, father?” - the elder showed them in the Alphabetical Patericon the answer of Abba Isaac to exactly the same question from his disciples. It says: “They talked about Abba Isaac - when he was close to death, the elders gathered to him and asked: what will we do without you, father? He said: you saw how I behaved before you; if you want to imitate this, keep the commandments of God, and God will send His grace and preserve this place; if you do not keep the commandments, you will not remain in this place. And we also grieved when our fathers departed from us to the Lord; but, keeping the commandments of the Lord and the testaments of the elders, we lived as if they were with us. Do this and you will be saved 133. This prediction of Elder Macarius - “you will not remain in this place” - seems to have primarily concerned the new monastery leader, who, due to his still little experience in spiritual life, had the imprudence, after the death of Elder Macarius, to somewhat deviate from his elder covenants, and therefore, in a short time, under the pretext of promotion, at the will of the higher authorities, he was removed from the monastery to another monastery with his elevation to the rank of hegumen. Besides him, some other monks also left the monastery at the same time. September 1st. The sick man had the consolation of seeing God-loving elders in his cell - the abbot of the monastery, Fr. Archimandrite Moses and his brother in flesh and spirit Fr. Abbot Anthony; had quite a conversation, especially with the first one; Moreover, they gave each other mutual forgiveness and blessing. Imbued with a feeling of grief about the impending loss, Fr. The archimandrite expressed this feeling to many of the visitors to the monastery with humble words: “Apparently, God is punishing me for my sins, taking away an experienced elder from the monastery, and from me a spiritual friend and wise adviser.” And o. Abbot Anthony, who visited the elder several times afterwards, only cried and prayed, like many others. In the monastery churches, many people of both sexes and all classes hastily arrived from different directions, benefiting from the spiritual instructions of the elder, continuously serving prayer services and, shedding hot tears, fervently prayed to the Lord for his recovery. And during the intervals of church services, they stood at the skete gates, eager to hear from those emerging from them the good news about the state of the elder’s health, ready to believe every word of hope. Throughout this day, the brethren, both skete and monastery, entered the elder without restraint to receive his blessing and final instructions. On the 2nd of September, his nieces, nuns from the Sevsky Convent, who had been expected by the elder, arrived. And in the afternoon, one of the elder’s devoted spiritual daughters, at the first news of his illness, arrived from Moscow and brought him a precious gift from Metropolitan Philaret - an enamel Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir and an equally precious promise to pray for him to the Lord of Hosts. Another God-loving person sent the elder her family shrine - a cross with a particle of the life-giving wood of the Lord's Cross embedded in it. It was necessary to see with what tenderness and spiritual delight the elder accepted both of these shrines and with what joyful expression he then showed to those who visited him the gift of the archpastor, who was deeply respected and heartily revered by him - the icon hanging on his chest along with the mentioned cross. On September 3, after the monastery mass, the elder took communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, which were brought to him from the church. The next day, September 4th, feeling weakened in strength, the elder received very few. Secretary of State Prince D.A. Obolensky, who purposely came with his family and Countess Protasova to inquire about his health, sent from his figurative cell through Hieromonk Leonid an icon for blessing, which the pious prince accepted with reverence as the last blessing of the ascetic departing from this world. After Vespers, at about eight o'clock, the patient wished to receive more communion and received the Holy Mysteries while sitting in an armchair. Despite his suffering situation, the elder, as a spiritual warrior of Christ, did not abandon his monastic weapon - prayer - until the end of his life. Quiet exclamations: “Mother of God! My Savior! - accompanied almost every painful breath he took. Throughout the illness of the dying man, the brethren who followed him read out for him the timely skete prayer rules, which he listened to with deep attention and tenderness. He also asked his close disciples to read some edifying articles from the works of St. fathers, whose spiritually anointed word constituted his daily spiritual food. The last articles read for him were: The Word of St. Cassian to Leontin the abbot and the head of St. John of Carpathus 134. By the way, the elder announced to those around him that he was tired of the medicines and would no longer take them. The elder was used for many years mainly by the Kozelsk doctor Ivan Lvovich Pletner, not Orthodox, but, it seems, either a Catholic, or perhaps a Lutheran. It was necessary to give help to the patient with urinary retention, to which the elder himself did not agree at first and, only yielding to the intense requests of his close disciples around him, could not disagree with them. However, the doctor's action was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the elder was experiencing severe pain. However, it is impossible to say positively what date it was. September 5, Monday. On the advice of the doctor, the patient was transferred from his cramped bedchamber to the reception room next to it and was laid, at his own request, on the floor. With this, in addition to more space for those serving and being in cleaner air, the elder also provided consolation to the brethren and outside visitors: they could at least through the windows get a last look at their loving father departing from this life. On the night from Monday to Tuesday, the schema-monk Hilarion, an old man about 90 years old, died in the monastery. After Matins, according to custom, a rare ringing of the large bell in the monastery three times informed the brethren about the departure into eternity of one of their midst. This dull and drawn-out ringing, suddenly heard in the silence of the night, resonated heavily in the hearts of the multitude of disciples and disciples of the elder who filled all the monastery hotels. They thought that they were hearing news of the death of their father and benefactor, and, alarmed by this thought, they fled in disorder to the monastery gates, which turned out to be locked. This confusion, however, lasted only a few minutes and was calmed by the news from the monastery that another elder had died. 6th, Tuesday. As morning came, the old man began to have an occupation with his spirit—his former, ever-present illness, which in itself was a bad sign. After late mass, he received Holy Communion of Christ. On the morning of the same day, in addition to their own, Kozelsky, two more doctors came to the patient, brought by the abbot of the Maloyaroslavets Chernoostrog Nikolaevsky Monastery, Archimandrite Nikodim, out of his own zeal for the elder; but it was already too late. It fell to their lot, having asked about the course of the illness, to only marvel at the valiant patience of the spiritual warrior of Christ, who strengthened himself with the memory of the suffering of the holy martyrs, protecting himself with the sign of the cross; took the most bitter medicines; suffered and remained silent, or groaned quietly and prayed together. By the evening of the same day, the patient became much worse, and therefore he wished to partake of the Holy Mysteries a second time and received communion at eight o’clock, sitting in an armchair; after which his suffering decreased somewhat. Around midnight he asked for his confessor and after a half-hour conversation with him, having received his parting permission, he asked to read the funeral service, which he listened to while sitting. Then, at the wish and request of the patient, the canon and akathist to the Mother of God were read in the evening, and during Matins the canon and akathist to the Sweetest Jesus; Moreover, it was noticed that during reading the suffering not only decreased, but also completely calmed down. The patient often turned his tearful, touching gaze to the icon of the Savior in the crown of thorns standing opposite his bed on the table, exclaiming: “Glory to Thee, my King and my God!” - then to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which he especially revered, saying: “Mother of God! Help me! - or, silently stretching out his hands to the Queen of heaven and earth, he prayed for a speedy resolution from bodily bonds. The suffering from the occupation of the spirit continued throughout the night. The patient, with the help of the brethren who followed him, first rose, then lay down again, then asked to be seated in a chair, but in spirit he was completely calm and quiet, like a child at his mother’s breast, expressing gratitude for the care of him that surrounded him with either a gentle fatherly look, or a blessing, or a silent shake of the hand and tears. Thus came the morning of the day on which the Lord deigned to win the soul of His faithful servant to Himself. September 7th, Wednesday. The day of the forefeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, for whom the elder, like all Orthodox ascetics, nurtured deep heartfelt faith, expressing it constantly by invoking Her all-holy name, honoring the Mother of God holidays, cell all-night vigils in honor of some icons of the Most Holy Theotokos and, finally, through the entire 50-year monastic life, reading in honor of Her daily canons and on appointed days - Akathist. At six o'clock in the morning, for the last time, the elder was honored to partake of the Holy Mysteries - the Body and Blood of Christ, which this time he received from bodily exhaustion, lying down, but in full memory and with a deep feeling of tenderness. After communion, he said three times with the raising of his hands to the mountain: “Glory to Thee, our God! Glory to Thee, our God! Glory to Thee, our God!” And these were his last words. Almost an hour after this, at the end of the reading of the canon on the separation of the soul from the body, on the 9th song thereof, the elder gave up his righteous soul in the hand of God, surrounded by a host of his close disciples and other persons devoted to him, who spent sleepless nights with him with inexhaustible sources of tears. The death of the old man was peaceful and quiet, simple and at the same time majestic, like his whole life, which faded away like the evening dawn of a bright day, leaving a deep night of sadness in the hearts of those devoted to him. Immediately after the death of the elder, according to custom, the canon established by the Holy Church on the departure of the soul was sung, and his body was honestly hidden by the hands of his close disciples; moreover, according to the will of the deceased, the schema consecrated on the Holy Sepulcher was entrusted to him, brought to him as a gift in 1859 from the holy city of Jerusalem by Hieromonk Leonid Kavelin, who served for some time in the Jerusalem mission. With the news of the death of the elder ascetic, his cells were filled with all sorts of people, at whose request a continuous service of requiem services began immediately, one after another, which continued both before the body of the deceased was taken out to the church, and after it was taken out. The skete church, which was the subject of his special care during the entire time of the elder’s residence in the skete, where therefore the zeal of all those who were spiritually related to the elder was primarily directed, was cleaned with special care and diligence, as on the Bright Feast. Numerous candles burned brightly, lit by visitors who came to pray for the repose of the elder’s soul. Through the smoke of incense one could see the coffin, lined with velvet through the diligence of one Christ-lover, and covered with expensive brocade through the diligence of the elder’s other spiritual children. Immediately after the body was transferred to the church, first of all, a cathedral memorial service for the deceased was performed for Fr. Abbot Anthony with six hieromonks. Then funeral services followed one another until late at night. Everyone crowded towards the dear fob to bow to the dead man who lay magnificently in it. Funeral weeping merged with funeral singing. Tears of sincere love watered the dear remains of the dear old man. It was a holiday of faith, the fulfillment in this life of the Lord’s promise to reward each according to his deeds. 8th, Thursday. Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a late mass in the monastery, and an early one in the monastery, after which the funeral services continued continuously both in the skete and in the monastery until the end of the day. 9th, Friday. Celebration of the memory of Saints Godfather Joachim and Anna. There was a vigil in the monastery (on the occasion of the church holiday in the name of St. Righteous Anna); and in the skete church there is only the early liturgy of the cathedral with a requiem service. On the same day, to the great consolation of all those who mourned the death of the elder, a letter from Moscow Metropolitan Philaret was received from the post office. It was written by the saint when the rumor about the death of the elder had not yet reached him, and served as a response to the notification of his illness received by the bishop from a God-loving person. For all admirers of the late elder, this letter was and will be an unforgettable monument to the great favor of the metropolitan towards him, who wrote: “Peace be with you from the Lord! What will someone weak in spirit say, looking at an ascetic who suffers in body but is not weak in spirit? Be patient with the Lord, father, take courage, and let your heart be strong. But, Lord, even if those who have not struggled and are worthy of rebuke are merciful, make it easier for those who have struggled for Your sake. If it is righteous for him to desire to be allowed to be with You, but also to remain in the flesh, is it not right for him to eat for the sake of many? Look upon these, and grant it to them also. Otherwise, You alone know the best, and bestow the most useful. Thy will be done, and to Thee be glory forever. Amen. September 7, 1860" By the same mail, a letter was received from the physician who treated the elder (probably Pletner) to one of the skete fathers. It is all the more remarkable in its content because the writer did not belong to the Orthodox Church. Struck by the strong-willed patience of the elder’s excruciating suffering, the doctor wrote: “Only now can I say that I saw a man, spoke to a man. I don't know why I haven't seen him before; and 18 years of dating, it seems, could open my eyes. That's how hard it is to see perfection; and to achieve perfection, I thought, is not in human nature... Imagine now my position: to see a person as he should be. I feel unwell. To suddenly see a living specimen of a human being shocked me. Oh! Why didn't you open my eyes before? Now I'm suffering. Save our lives, O Lord. Macaria. But the heart says, and the mind too, that such a person is a resident of another world - we are not worthy to have him. September 6th, 1860, Tuesday." This letter, as the number shown shows, was written on the eve of the death of Elder Macarius. Let us not ignore this circumstance: the former manager of the office of the Holy Synod, Pyotr Ivanovich Solomon (later a member of the State Council, an actual Privy Councilor), came under the spiritual leadership of the elder Hieroschemamonk Macarius two years before his death. In the spring of 1860, Pyotr Ivanovich, on special instructions from the government, was sent abroad to Palestine, where he spent the entire summer. Returning to Russia at the beginning of September, he could not have known about the elder’s illness, since this illness was unexpected and, one might say, sudden; and, leaving Optina, when saying goodbye to the elder, Pyotr Ivanovich left him with normal health; That’s why I couldn’t imagine anything regarding his death. “September 7 in the morning (the day and hour of the death of Elder Macarius),” said Pyotr Ivanovich, “when we were approaching Odessa on a steamship along the Black Sea, I fell into a light sleep. And suddenly I imagined something like a solemn procession: many saints passed by me, and they were all in full monastic robes. But although they were dressed in robes, the feeling of my heart told me that this endless row of monks passing by me decorously, quietly, silently and at the same time majestically, was not a row of ordinary monks, but that they were all holy hierarchs. Between them I saw Father Fr. Macarius, also in a robe, and thought with surprise: how is it in the host of St. of the saints, Fr. Macarius? This vision was so engraved in my memory that I could not forget it, although I did not understand how and why the desert hieromonk appeared in the face of the deceased saints. hierarchs." This dream became clear to Pyotr Ivanovich when he was already approaching Optina Pustyn and was 30 miles away from it. Then, with deep heartfelt sorrow, he heard about the death of his much-loved father, Fr. Macarius and that it followed at that very hour when, in a thin dream on the ship, not yet having seen the shores of his fatherland, he saw an old man passing somewhere past him in the host of deceased saints. saints. Memorable tales about the asceticism of the holy fathers, p. 115. These articles are in the Slavic Philokalia, in the 4th part.