Глава V. Взаимные отношения старца о. Леонида и о. Макария

Father Macarius arrived from the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage to the Optina monastery on February 5, 1834, the head of which at that time was Hieromonk Anthony (Putilov), the brother of the abbot of the Optina Hermitage, builder (later Archimandrite) Moses. O. Macarius was now already 45 years old. We saw above that as early as 1826, the Oryol diocesan authorities entrusted him with the position of confessor of the Sevsky Convent; and therefore many had long had him as their mentor and took advantage of his spiritual advice. And he, humbled and imputing himself to nothing, ran away from human glory, seeking as a special honor and distinction to be “in the footsteps” of another elder, and having obtained what he wanted, he showed in himself the traits of true obedience. From the very moment he arrived at the monastery, Fr. Macarius lived here very modestly, no different from the other brethren: he went with them to Elder Leonid for evening services, was content with a common fraternal meal and the usual clothing for all hermits. At first, he helped the elder only in his extensive correspondence with people who asked him for spiritual advice and edification; but over time, his activities began to expand more and more. In 1836, by the will of the Kaluga diocesan authorities, due to complicated circumstances 18, Elder Fr. Leonid was transferred from the monastery to the monastery. The monastery brethren saw him off with great sorrow and tears, like a unanimous family whose own father had been taken away. It is only unknown how Fr. looked at this circumstance. Macarius. Perhaps he was less saddened by this than others; since in all circumstances, both his own and those of others, he had long been accustomed to seeing the will of God and unquestioningly obeying the Providence of the Almighty, who cares for all of us. At the same time, the monastery is not far from the monastery - only about a quarter of a mile; and therefore o. Macarius could see Elder Leonid at any time. In the same 1836, in the month of October, Fr. Macarius, by decree of the Holy Synod, was appointed fraternal confessor in Optina Pustyn. His relationship with Elder Leonid did not change at all through this. As before, he was in complete unquestioning obedience to the elder: every day he went to his monastery - either he brought for signature letters he had prepared for the post office, which the elder humbly signed with him, or he asked for advice and resolution of any perplexed questions regarding spiritual duties. This went on for a little over three years. After that the position of Fr. Makaria's appearance has changed somewhat. The head of the Optina monastery, Hieromonk Anthony, by order of the highest authorities, was appointed rector of the Maloyaroslavets Nikolaevsky Monastery in the Kaluga diocese with his elevation to the rank of abbot. And the responsibility to manage the Optina monastery from November 30, 1839 was assigned to Fr. Macaria. But this honor bestowed upon him by his superiors, together with his increased efforts, did not in the least change his relationship with Elder Leonid. The word chief was not heard in the mouth of the humble ascetic. Being filled with faith and love for the elder, Fr. Macarius did nothing without his request and blessing; and, in his humility, he attributed all the success of his undertakings and deeds secretly and openly to the prayers, advice and blessings of his spiritual father and mentor. And therefore the Lord, who looks upon the humble, blessed his labors. Generally speaking, until the very blessed death of Elder Leonid, Fr. Macarius remained one of his most zealous disciples, invariably faithful to what was good for those who chose the yoke of obedience. For his part, the elder Fr. Leonid, after his involuntary transfer to the monastery, until his dying illness, did not interrupt communication with his beloved monastery and with the new monastery leader, Fr. Makariy. Every week on Saturdays and Sundays, he continued, as long as his strength allowed him, to go to the monastery church to listen to the Divine Liturgy; and after mass he usually went into Fr.’s cell. Macaria. Other skete elders also gathered there for a spiritual conversation with their spiritual mentor. And sometimes the secular persons from the nobles and merchants who were at the mass, going for a cup of tea with the head of the monastery and finding him having a spiritual conversation, became listeners and participants in it, to their spiritual benefit. And not only Elder Leonid did not interrupt communication with the monastery and the monastery leader, Fr. Macarius, but in relation to the latter he himself showed humility. Having met in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage with Fr. Macarius, Elder Fr. Leonid, as noted above, was glad to become close to such a gifted and skillful monk, and upon his transfer to the Optina monastery, he looked at him not as a student, but as his collaborator, fast-taker and spiritual friend. And only by yielding to his unhypocritical humility and constancy, I decided to treat him as a close and beloved son and disciple in the Lord. Most of all, Elder Fr. Leonid revealed his humility and his respect and love for Fr. Macarius in that he brought him closer to himself and made him his assistant, sharing with him the work of spiritual care for his brothers and visitors. In the last five years of his life, Elder Fr. Leonid mostly blessed those who wanted to use his guidance to contact Fr. Macarius and reveal to him everything that was revealed to Fr. Leonid. For his part, and Fr. Macarius, when he learned from his spiritual children something important concerning them, always asked whether they had explained this to Elder Leonid, and if they had not explained it, then he sent him to him for an explanation. Thus, the soul of each of those related to them was equally open to both elders, and both of them equally knew all the circumstances of their spiritual children. If anyone, having confessed to Fr. Macarius, came to receive a blessing from the elder Fr. Leonidas, the elder, who had the gift of revealing and recalling forgotten sins, asked if this or that was said about. Macarius. And if they did not speak out of oblivion or for some other reason, then they sent him again to explain what was unspoken. When asked about something about. Macarius, he is without the elder Fr. Leonidas did not give any solution. Also the elder without Fr. Macaria did not decide anything and in such cases he used to say: “Let’s wait; Fr will come Macarius, let’s talk together.” It was touching to see such unanimity and mutual love between the two elders. “It happened,” said the spiritual daughter of Fr. Leonida and Fr. Macaria, who was later the abbess of the Belevsky convent, Abbess Pavlina, used to talk to Fr. Leonid, enters Fr. Macarius. O. Leonid tells him: “Father, talk to her, she needs to explain something to you.” Or, it happened, they sit, like Angels of God, next to each other, and we stand on our knees before them and open our souls to the two, as if to one. And they never separated them or made any distinction between them. Truly, they have one heart and soul [Acts 4:32]. Because,” the narrator added, “when Fr. Leonid, although we grieved for him, our grief was moderate, since we lost one half, and the other remained with us.” Thus, the elders, inspired by unity of wisdom and bound by mutual spiritual love and unanimity, taught their spiritual children these most important Christian virtues not only by word, but most of all by their own example, and did not allow any division to arise between them, to which disciples, due to human weakness, are often prone. Between the spiritual children of Fr. Leonida and Fr. Macarius there were no such divisions or parties. The unanimity and like-mindedness of the elders was reflected in their children. Thus, in one monastery there were two elders, but there was no division and the unity of elder care was not lost. All this shows that Fr. Macarius, being a fraternal confessor and head of the monastery, was now recognized by Fr. Leonidas and the elder leader of others seeking salvation. Despite this, Fr. Leonid, as noted above, yielding to the unhypocritical petition and humility of Fr. Macarius, continued to treat him as a student and, following the instructions of St. John of the Climacus, did not miss opportunities to deliver crowns to a skilled ascetic by testing his patience. For this purpose, Fr. Leonid often subjected him to reprimands and remarks in front of others, so that they too could take advantage of his humility. Here are examples. In the fall of 1837, His Grace Nikolai of Kaluga, while in Optina Hermitage, appointed one of the elder’s disciples, Fr. Leonid, hieromonk Gerontius, who, of course, with the blessing of the elder and the consent of the abbot, took with him six brethren from Optina, among whom was a close disciple of the elder Leonid, novice Alexander, later - hieroschemamonk, confessor at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Tikhonova Hermitage was in an extremely sad situation at that time. The monastery was small, there were shortcomings in everything, all the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and therefore it was already decided to close this monastery. To top off these inconveniences, the new abbot appointed to it had a quick-tempered and abrupt character. All this resonated heavily in the soul of novice Alexander, who, by the way, was cell attendant with Fr. Gerontia, therefore, is the closest person. Having escorted the Optina residents to the wretched Tikhonov hermitage, the loving old man Fr. Leonid could not help but sympathize with their plight and take an active part in them. Every year, once in the summer, until his death, he visited Tikhonov Hermitage and lived there for several periods of time. The first summer he stayed there for six weeks. Having been deprived of close communication with the elder for such a long period of time, Fr., who was not accustomed to this. Macarius became very bored with his bleak situation. And that's when Fr. Leonid, accompanied by the novice Alexander, returned to Optina and entered only his cell, Fr. Macarius, along with the other brothers, hurried to see him after a long separation. Meanwhile, upon entering the elder’s cell, he accidentally met Alexander and said to him with grief: “You and your elder (Fr. Gerontius) are ready to appropriate the priest there.” With a tight heart (as Alexander said later), I answered him: “Father! I would not like to hear such injustice from you. It is according to your appointment with Father (Fr. Leonid) that I am subordinated to Fr. Gerontia...” - And I could no longer speak - tears flowed from my eyes like a stream... So we both entered the priest’s cell. Father Macarius bowed at the priest’s feet. We said hello. But instead of fraternal greetings, Elder Fr. Leonid turned, as if with displeasure, to Fr. Macarius: “And you, brother, are you cutting your hair here?!” Humbling before the elder, Fr. Macarius said: “Forgive me, father! This is true. But what should I do? I was left alone for such a long time.” The elder reproachfully: “Yes, you are as right as a weakling; and these people (pointing at me) with a reserve. In your opinion, they could be left completely. Oh, what pride!” “Sorry, father,” repeated Fr. Macarius, “that’s why I say this, because I am aware of my weakness.” With this dry reception Fr. Leonidas for the first time and the meeting of the elders ended after a six-week separation. Also: despite the fact that Fr. Macarius was a brotherly confessor and shared with Fr. Leonid labors in his eldership, the brethren confessed to Fr. Macarius, and for the revelation of thoughts they went to Fr. Leonid. Together with others, cell attendant Fr. came to him from the monastery. Makaria, ryassophore monk Fr. Herodion Ponomarev (later the head of the monastery - Hieroschemamonk Hilarion). “Walking to Fr. Leonid for revelation, as Fr. himself conveyed. Hilarion, - I also used to complain to him about Father Fr. Macarius, and Fr. Leonid will reprimand him in front of me, so that, of course, the meekness and humility of Father Fr. Macarius served as an example for me when I grew out of my spiritual childhood. And I, due to my little spiritual experience at that time, could not yet understand the meaning of this and was pleased that Fr. Leonid Father Fr. Macarius accused and justified me. So, one day, during my cell service with Fr. Makaria, I arbitrarily gave away all the bagels. Father o. Macarius asks: “Where are the bagels?” “I gave it away,” I say. “How dare you? Who let you give it away?” And he scolded me a lot for that. I complained to Fr. Leonida, and in front of me he began to reproach Father Fr. Macarius." Repeatedly Elder Leonid assumed the appearance of being angry with Fr. Macaria even then showered him with abusive words, like: “Oh, you nobleman, so and so!” Or otherwise somehow dishonored him in the presence of others. Here is one of many examples of this. O. the builder called Fr. Macarius and asked him to accept from tonsure into the mantle some of the brethren who were preparing for this. Imputing the boss's request as an order, Fr. Macarius responded to this with permission and humble worship. Having then come to Elder Leonid, he found this spiritual leader, as usual, surrounded by many people asking about their spiritual needs and perplexities. Father Macarius briefly told him why the abbot had called him. Taking this opportunity to give the ascetic monk the crown of patience, and others to take advantage of his humility, the spiritually experienced elder asked Fr. Macaria: “Well, did you agree?” “Yes, I almost agreed, or, better said, I didn’t dare refuse,” answered Fr. Macarius. “Yes, this is typical of your pride!” - said the elder, raising his voice, and, pretending to be angry, he reproached Fr. for quite a long time. Macaria. And he stood before the elder with his head bowed, humbly bowing to him and repeating from time to time: “I’m sorry! Forgive me, for God’s sake, father!” All those present, accustomed to respect Fr. Macarius, along with Elder Leonid, some looked at this with bewilderment, others with reverent surprise. When the elder fell silent, Fr. Macarius, bowing at his feet, meekly asked: “Forgive me, father! Would you bless me to refuse? “How to refuse? You asked for it yourself, and why not refuse? No, now you can’t refuse, the job is done!” - said Fr. Leonidas, who did not at all mean to deprive those who were entrusted to the spiritual guidance of an experienced mentor of spiritual benefit. The purpose of the reprimand was different: to tempt the humility of the elder disciple who had succeeded in it and, as noted above, to take advantage of others through this. And it was completely achieved. To all such and similar reprimands and remarks of Elder Leonid, Fr. Macarius did not remain indifferent, but tried in every possible way to turn them to the benefit of his soul. He was not cowardly in front of them, was not at all embarrassed, did not take offense at his accuser and did not resort to self-justification; but, on the contrary, adhering to the true path of spiritual life, he humbled himself and despised himself in his inability to please his beloved elder, discrediting his talents and merits and through this, invisibly to himself, succeeded in God-loving and saving humility, without which it is impossible to be saved by any labors and deeds. Meanwhile, the loving elder Leonid not only deeply loved fatherly, but also heartily respected Fr. Macarius, as his friend and companion, and when he found it necessary, expressed his feelings to such an extent that he amazed those present and Fr. Macarius, who out of humility considered himself unworthy, attributed this more to the elder’s humility or to that violence for Christ’s sake, with which he usually covered his spiritual wisdom. And what love and reverence and at the same time deep humility was shown by Fr. Macarius to Elder Leonid, when in the last years of his life the elder was persecuted by his ill-wishers! Very convincingly in one letter he proved that Elder Leonidas was right and showed fear that slander might result in God’s punishment for those who slandered. With the deepest humility, he asked the elder for permission and blessing to write to another person a letter of petition to intercede with higher officials in order to protect him from the danger that threatened him. And upon receiving permission, he immediately took care to fulfill what his loving and humble soul diligently desired 19. And so the student constantly competed in humility with the teacher. Yet they clearly saw that both of them were worthy of each other. Seven years spent by Fr. Macarius and Elder Leonid passed quickly. October 11, 1841 Fr. Leonidas reposed in the Lord with a peaceful and blessed death. Father Macarius mourned his loss no less than his first spiritual mentor, Schemamonk Athanasius, for the first planted and the second strengthened in him the seeds of spiritual knowledge. Even after the death of his teacher, the grateful student did not cease to love him and revere his memory. He himself compiled a short obituary of Elder Leonid, written in his own hand in the 1840 calendar. Let's put it here: “On October 11, 1841, in the afternoon at 7 o’clock and 20 minutes, the elder hieromonk, respected by many spiritual and secular persons, died in Optina Pustyn. Leonid, and in schema Leo, 72 years old. Before his death, he was ill for about five weeks, during which time he was blessed with oil and was vouchsafed to receive the Holy Mysteries many times, and on the very day of his death he was vouchsafed this gift. He suffered for several days before his death, but ended his life calmly, with hope in God’s mercy; Until his death he was in full memory and sound mind. And his entire life after leaving the world was 46 years. Originally from Karachev citizens, he first entered this Optina Pustyn; After staying for two years, he moved to White Beach, where he was tonsured; went out for a while to the Cholsky monastery; then he was a builder in White Beach for 4 years. Having abandoned this position, he retired and moved to Valaam, then to the Svirsky monastery with the famous Fr. Theodore, where he died. In 1828, leaving the Svirsky Monastery, he lived for six months in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, from where in 1829 he moved to the Optina Hermitage - to a monastery; in 1836 he was taken to the monastery. He endured many persecutions and false blasphemous reproaches, with which he was tempted, like gold in a furnace; We hope that he will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. He was a mentor to many brothers and left behind a good memory.” Below in the same calendar it is noted: “This same month, on the 17th of 1825, Schemamonk Afanasy died in the Ploshchanskaya hermitage.” This is the former elder Fr. Macarius, the aforementioned schemamonk Afanasy Zakharov. During the life of Elder Leonid, some curious people wanted to learn from him about the spiritual structure of the rector of the monastery, Fr. Moses, his brother, former monastery leader Fr. Anthony and the hieromonk described here, Fr. Macaria. The elder answered briefly: “Oh. Moses and Fr. Anthony is a great man, and Macarius is a saint.” This is described in detail in the life story of the elder Fr. Leonidas (in the schema of Leo). Publication of Optina Pustyn. These circumstances are described at length in the biography of the elder hieromonk Leonid (in the schema of Leo). Publication of Optina Pustyn.