Life of the Moldavian Elder Paisius Velichkovsky

Contents Preface to the modern edition Preface I. From the birth to the installation of Elder Paisius on Mount Athos II. Stay of Elder Paisios at St. Mount Athos III. Return of Elder Paisius with his disciples to Wallachia IV. Translation of Elder Paisios to Neamets and his blessed death Appendix Preface to the modern edition In 1847, the first edition of “The Life of the Moldavian Elder Schema-Archimandrite Paisius Velichkovsky” was published in Moscow, supplemented by some of the elder’s creations and his letters. A number of prefaces to the ascetic writings of the holy fathers of his friend, fast-taker and like-minded elder Vasily Polyanomerulsky (or Merlopolyansky) were also published. This book opened more than half a century of publication by Optina Hermitage of the works of ancient and modern teachers of piety and asceticism. The initiative for this undertaking belonged to the spouses I.P. and N.P. Kireyevsky, the spiritual children of the Optina elder Macarius (Ivanov). Having blessed this enterprise, Fr. From the very first steps, Macarius took a very direct part in it: he wrote the first pages of the preface to the “Life of Elder Paisius”, and subsequently selected and edited the translations intended for publication 1 . It was no coincidence that the life of the “Poltava native” Paisiy (Velichkovsky) formed the basis of the Optina book publishing. Elder Paisios was the first to lead the movement along the path of returning to the living, but almost forgotten by the 18th century, heritage of the ancient ascetic fathers. Optina itself was spiritually nurtured by the elder’s disciples; its library contained many handwritten copies and translations of the patristic works, and most importantly, the entire life, prosperity and glory of Optina Hermitage were based on following the path bequeathed by the Monk Paisius. More than two centuries separate us from the time of the life of the Reverend. The saint of God had the difficult lot of following the narrow monastic path precisely when all the historical conditions for this feat were extremely unfavorable. Throughout the entire 18th century, the desire of state power for the complete Europeanization of Russia reached the actual denial of its spiritual roots and took the form of real persecution not just of adherents of piety, but even of the traditional folk way of church life. The policy, disastrous for the spiritual health of the country, led in fact, on the one hand, to the spread of schism and the birth of all kinds of fanatical sects, and on the other hand, it distorted and impoverished the life of the Church, tearing away the “enlightened” layer of society from it, and brought monasticism, which was persecuted especially mercilessly, to the brink of extinction. This tragic context of the era forces us to look especially closely at the apostolic feat of the elder, strikingly in tune with our time. From a young age, feeling a spiritual zeal for asceticism, Peter (the worldly name of the reverend) Velichkovsky left the walls of the Kyiv Theological Academy and rushed in search of the elder, in obedience to whom he hoped to master the science of sciences - spiritual monastic work - fasting, prayer, and climb the ladder of spiritual virtues. But his hopes were not destined to come true: the depletion of the Church with living vessels of grace, the spiritual ignorance that then reigned in many monasteries, led the young ascetic, after long wanderings through the monasteries of Little Russia, Moldova and Athos, to hermitage - in fact, to spiritual loneliness. And here, in Svyatogorsk solitude, the monk found a source of saving instruction and advice - the writings of the godly ascetic fathers, who captured the experience of communion with God in their creations. Having discovered the significance and life-giving power of these writings, Elder Paisios devoted his entire subsequent life to collecting these works in the original language (Greek) and spiritually accurate translation into Slavic, because old translations were largely inaccurate and sometimes distorted the true meaning of the text. And the search for correct lists of these works was associated with enormous difficulties - by this time, interest in spiritual enlightenment had almost completely died out on Mount Athos. It is important to note here that the selfless research of Elder Paisius, who spared neither effort nor meager means to acquire precious manuscripts, paved the way for the creation of an outstanding anthology of patristic asceticism, called “Philokalia” - (Greek - “Philokalia”), which was compiled and published somewhat later by the Monk Macarius of Corinth in 1782 in Venice 2. A large, like-minded and unanimous brotherhood formed around the spirit-bearing elder, which followed him from Athos to Moldovala. There, in Dragomirna, Sekule, and then the Neametsky Lavra, the Rev.’s feat in translating the patristic works and raising faithful disciples in the spirit and power of the ancient fathers reached its fullness and ended with the death of the elder in 1794. Many of the elder’s disciples returned to Russia, and here they became spiritual leaven, literally transforming monastic life. They brought into it a fiery spirit of asceticism, aroused interest in ascetic literature, and revealed the teaching of internal work - purification of the mind and heart through the constant invocation of the saving name of the Lord. In more than a hundred monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church, the elder’s disciples labored, sowing the seeds of his teaching everywhere, acquiring new students and followers. Optina Hermitage, Valaam Monastery, Glinskaya Hermitage, Beloberezh Monastery, Ploshchanskaya Hermitage and many other less famous monasteries and monasteries accumulated the spiritual heritage of the Monk, from where it spread throughout Russia. And we can say with confidence that the spiritual tradition of Elder Paisius, with all its features, which absorbed the ascetic experience of almost the entire Orthodox East (Russia and Mount Athos, Moldova and Greece), has become the defining constant of the spiritual life of Russia over the past two centuries... The publication reproduces the translation into Russian of the Slavic life of Elder Paisius, which belongs to Archimandrite Agapit (Belovidov), known for his wonderful book - the biography of Elder Ambrose of Optina 3. The work of Schemamonk Mitrofan, an eyewitness of the elder, in comparison with the thorough research of Archpriest. Sergius Chetverikov 4 obviously has a number of shortcomings, which include its brevity and the absence of many biographical details unknown to the compiler of the life. Nevertheless, the main advantage of this work - factual authenticity, combined with deep insight into the meaning of the elder's feat, gives this work special value and an indescribable spiritual fragrance. With the publication of the biography of Elder Paisius, we precede the publication of his original works and some translations of the holy fathers, which is being prepared for publication. The impetus for compiling the biography of Elder Paisius was, first of all, his own desire. In his own story the following is written: “If it would be desirable for my spiritual children, who have acquired true love for me through God, who have recently heard about my birth and upbringing and departure from the world, and in the monastic way of being!” 5 The biography writer added to these words of the elder: obviously in order to imitate your zeal and Godly deeds, especially your deep humility. And together this will be for the common benefit of all Christians who are zealous for piety. But it was not immediately after the death of Elder Paisius that they began to compile his biography. More than twenty years after that passed in silence, if not neglect. Finally, the Lord warmed the hearts of the oldest and most devoted disciples of the blessed Elder in order to certainly write his life. And they entrusted this task to one of the oldest disciples of Elder Paisius, schemamonk Mitrofan, who, having collected information about him, wrote the life of the elder in the Slavic language, but due to old age and weakness of strength, especially due to weakness of vision, he could not correct it. - After the death of Fr. Mitrofan, the schema-monk John, seeing the uncorrected biography of the elder compiled by Mitrofan, himself, on the advice of other spiritual fathers, became jealous of compiling his biography again, and compiled it more extensively than before in the Moldavian language. But only these two biographies were dissimilar to each other, and converged only in the most important parts. In addition, readers did not like what Fr. John's biography for its length. And therefore, the brethren of the Neamtsa monastery asked Hierodeacon Gregory, who was living in the Neamtsa monastery at that time (later the Metropolitan of Bukuresht and all Wallachia), to compose a short biography of Elder Paisius, which he did. The work of Hierodeacon Gregory was read to Metropolitan Benjamin of Iasi and the then Prince, and with their permission it was printed in the Neamtse Monastery and sold in many copies. Subsequently, the brethren of the Neamtsa monastery began to grieve over the discrepancy between the two biographies of Elder Paisius; and therefore, having examined them carefully and adhering to the biography compiled by Schemamonk Mitrofan, and collecting them into one more important and necessary one, they decided to publish the biography of Elder Paisius in a second edition in the Slavic and Moldavian languages. Now this biography is published by Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage in Russian with the most minor changes. I. From the birth to the installation of Elder Paisius on Mount Athos. The Great Elder, schemamonk, Archimandrite Paisius in the world Peter Velichkovsky, was born in Little Russia, in the city of Poltava, in 1722, from pious parents, father Archpriest of the Cathedral Church of the Assumption John and mother Irina Velichkovsky. In the fourth year, after the birth of Peter, his parent died; and the youth remained in the care of his mother and his elder brother John, who, after the death of his father, was in his place also the rector of the cathedral church, where both his grandfather and great-grandfather had previously served as priests. The mother took care of teaching the boy to read and write. With God's help, after a little over two years, he learned to read the primer, book of hours and psalter. I learned to write from my elder brother. From that time on, he began to read books freely and partially understand. With great diligence he read the books of the Divine Scriptures of the Old and especially the New Testaments, the lives of the saints, the teachings of the Venerable Fathers Ephraim and Dorotheus, St. John Chrysostom Margaret and others. From reading such books, and mainly the lives of our reverend fathers, who shone in the monastic rank, jealousy began to appear in the soul of the youth Peter to leave the world and perceive the holy monastic, angelic image. Why did he retire into solitude and read insatiably. And he loved silence so much that even his own mother rarely heard him speak; for he was meek, very bashful and reserved not only in relation to strangers, but also towards his own. Such was the zeal for God in this wondrous ten-year-old boy! All the prudent people who saw and heard about him were amazed at his kindness, zeal and zeal, and glorified God, saying: Glory to Thee, Christ God, that Thou hast exalted the chosen one from Thy people! At the age of thirteen, Peter also lost his elder brother John, who reposed in the Lord after serving as a priest for only five years. As a result of this, need forced the boy’s mother, taking him with her, to go to Kyiv to Archpastor Raphael and ask him to enroll his son in his father’s place in the above-mentioned cathedral church. She was also supplied with a letter of petition to the Vladyka about this matter from the boy’s godfather, the Poltava colonel, and respectable citizens. This was in 1734. When Peter, standing before the saint, sensibly and with appropriate reverence pronounced the verses prepared for this occasion by one learned man, Vladyka rejoiced, blessed him, and said: you will be the heir (of your parent’s place). He gave his mother a certificate, and ordered the boy to be sent to the Kiev school, and released them with a blessing. Returning home, the mother immediately sent her son to Kyiv for schooling, where he studied for only four years. At this time he practiced with ardent zeal more in reading spiritual books. This strengthened his indispensable intention to be a monk. Moreover, he had like-minded friends who also had the same desire for monasticism. In the evenings, they gathered in some secret and secluded place, and all night until the morning bell rang, they discussed how it would be more convenient for them to fulfill their intention, and where they could find a place in which, with the help of God, having taken monastic vows, they could truly spend their lives in accordance with monastic vows. After repeated consultations, with careful consideration, they laid down a firm and indispensable intention in their souls: for the sake of renouncing the world and taking monastic vows, not to enter such monasteries where they spend their lives in sweet food, in possible bodily pleasure, peace and glory. In confirmation of this intention, they pointed to the holy writings of all the ancient saints who spent their monastic lives in poverty, and to St. Simeon the New Theologian, who says this: “Having the intention of withdrawing from the world, be careful not to give your soul into carnal consolations,” 6 and so on. For if we, they said, take monastic vows in such monasteries, then it will be inconvenient, according to the monastic vow, to imitate the poverty of Christ and lead a life of abstinence, that is, in the poverty of necessary needs and in all bodily suffering, for the sake of spiritual salvation. But due to our weakness and complaisant will and unsteady unsteady spiritual zeal, and more from vanity and communication with others, we will inevitably have to deviate from the narrow path that leads to eternal life and get lost into the wide one, which, according to the word of the Lord, leads to destruction. In this case, they thought that it was better to remain in the world than, having renounced the world and everything worldly, to spend their lives in all peace and contentment for the sake of pleasing the flesh, to the temptation of the world and the reproach of the monastic image and to the eternal condemnation of their souls on the day of judgment. In addition, the reverent youth Peter, from the Divine Gospel and the patristic writings, thoroughly learned that whoever wants to become a monk without obedience, humility, impartiality (to things) and patience, without fidelity and love and the complete cutting off of his will and his reasoning, and in general, without careful fulfillment of all Christ’s commandments, it is by no means possible to be saved by the Orthodox faith alone. Therefore, he laid down in his soul before God a firm determination, for the sake of fulfilling the commandments of Christ, together with faith, to be compelled in every possible way to do good deeds. For example: do not condemn your neighbor, even if you see with your own eyes that he is sinning; for he who condemns his neighbor appropriates to himself the dignity of God; Is there anything worse than this? Also, do not at all have hatred towards your neighbor; for, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, hatred and malice are graver than all sins (1 John 3:15). With all your heart and with all your soul, forgive your neighbor every insult, in the hope of remission of your sins; for whoever does not forgive his neighbor for his misdeeds or any offense will by no means receive remission of his sins from the Heavenly Father. – He actually fulfilled this vow given to God throughout his entire life, with the help of God’s grace. Thus the youth remained, practicing his reading and the spoken teaching. In particular, he grieved and cried, wondering what to do. And so, with a contrite heart and many bitter tears, beating his chest, he began to fall to Christ God and pray that He would put him on the path of salvation. While crying, I thought: what should I do and where should I go? Feeling in his soul a strong zeal for wandering, he immediately left the school, withdrew from the city of Kyiv and, like a certain beggar and wanderer, wandered in spiritual sadness, seeking the heavenly fatherland. For even in his youth the Lord gave him gray hair of reason, wisdom and humility. He also left his friends, who were preventing his quick departure, and went, according to God’s instructions, to the holy Lyubitsky monastery, which is located near the city of Lyubich above the Dnieper River. When he came to the monastery, one monk told him: here stands our father. Abbot Nikifor, and brought him to him. Peter fell at his feet and asked for a blessing. And the abbot, having blessed the newcomer as usual, began to ask: where are you from, brother? What's your name? and why did you come to our monastery? The young man answered: I am from the Kyiv side, I came to this holy monastery for obedience, and my name is Peter. Hearing this, the abbot received him with love, gave him a cell and assigned him the obedience of a cellarer 7 . Having bowed at the feet of the abbot, the stranger accepted his blessing and began to fulfill his obedience with zeal. While staying in this monastery, Peter felt great consolation in his soul. For he saw that the venerable abbot, like a loving father, ruled the brethren with great love and meekness, humility and patience. And if one of the brethren, as a person, happened to be guilty of anything, then when the guilty one asked for forgiveness, the abbot immediately forgave him, correcting him with the spirit of meekness and teaching him with soul-helping instructions. He also assigned him some kind of penitential rule according to its strength, depending on his guilt. Therefore, all the brothers were in deep peace and love for their father and for each other. But three months later, after Peter entered this monastery, another abbot, a learned man, German Zagorovsky, was appointed to it. Arriving at the Lyubitsky Monastery, he began to rule it not like the aforementioned blessed abbot, with love, but with authority. Realizing his mental state, the brethren came into great confusion; so some out of fear scattered from the monastery to God knows where. Peter continued to obey the cellarer, being in great fear and fear of not being guilty of anything; however, even so I was not protected from temptation. One day the abbot called him and ordered cabbage to be served at his table. Not understanding the order because of its brevity, and not daring to ask the abbot again, he conveyed the order to his cooks; and what they knew better, they prepared for him. The abbot called Peter to his cell, stood up from the table and said: did you order such and such food to be served to me? Having said this, he hit the young man so hard on the cheek that he could hardly stand on his feet; and then he pushed him so hard that he fell over the threshold of his cell. When he stood up, the abbot shouted at him: get out, you slacker! In fear and trembling, the humble Peter went out, thinking this way: if for this he was angry with me, poor man, then if I happen to be guilty of anything more than that, what will I not have to endure? In addition, he heard from his spiritual father that the abbot threatened to subject him to even more severe punishment. Therefore, Peter decided to go beyond the Dnieper. And that same night, secretly, praying to the Lord with tears, he went down to the Dnieper, and with the help of God crossed to the other side of the river on the ice. Having thanked God with joyful tears, he went down the Dnieper to Ukraine to the monasteries. Having reached the monastery of St. Nicholas of Christ, called Medvedovsky, which stands on an island in the Tyasmina River, where the abbot was the all-honorable hieromonk Nikifor (different from the aforementioned Nikifor), Peter approached him, bowed at his feet, received a blessing, and began to ask him to accept him as a saint. monastery in obedience. The abbot received him with love, gave him a cell and the obedience to work at meals and go to the choir. When the fast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos arrived, the rector, on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, tonsured him into a cassock, renaming him from Peter Plato. Then he was 19 years old. While in this monastery, he diligently passed through obedience at meals. He tried in every possible way to fulfill the church rules; during the day as much as obedience allowed, and at night he never had any lapses. By order of the abbot, I also went to the choir. In addition, due to his zeal, he helped the cook a lot. Plato labored quietly and peacefully in the indicated monastery. But by God's permission, the Uniates initiated a persecution of the Orthodox faith in Ukraine, who tried to seduce the Orthodox to their wickedness. As a result, great unrest and bitterness occurred in this monastery. And when the monks who lived there saw that their church had been locked and sealed for more than a month, some of them began to disperse, whoever wanted to go where they wanted. With some of the brothers who went to Kyiv, Plato also went; for, due to persecution from the Poles (Papists), it was then impossible to go to Moldavia. Meanwhile, this happened according to God’s will, so that the faithful servant of the Lord would learn about the circumstances of his mother. Arriving at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Plato was received there and assigned to the printing house, under the supervision of Hieromonk Macarius, to learn how to depict icons on copper. While he was in the Lavra, a relative of his, the wife of his late brother Archpriest John, came from Poltava to Kyiv to venerate the shrine. Having seen him, she began to tell him the following about his mother. “After you left Kyiv, your mother gave herself up to such great sorrow that she cried inconsolably with bitter sobs. Then, due to immense sadness, she decided not to eat or drink anything until she died. And after a few days she began to get confused in her mind. Feeling some fear and horror, she began to read the akathist to the Mother of God. Then, having gone into a frenzy, she fell silent; and so - as if half an hour later, she loudly exclaimed: if this is the will of God, then I will no longer grieve for my son. When she came to her senses, she told this in front of her spiritual father and in front of everyone: when I was completely weakened from long-term abstinence and sadness, and was expecting imminent death, I saw many very gloomy and terrible demons trying to attack me, from which I came into great fear and horror. Then she asked you for a book and began to diligently read the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos continuously all day and night. This reading protected me from demons; for hearing me read the akathist, they were in fear and trembling, and could not at all approach me. Then I went into a frenzy and, looking up, saw the heavens open and the bright angel of God descending from heaven like lightning. He stood near me and began to speak to me like this: O wretched one! what did you do? instead of loving with all your soul and with all your heart the Lord God, your Creator, you loved His creation, your son, more than your Creator; and because of her reckless and ungodly love, she decided to starve herself to death, and for this be subject to eternal condemnation. Know for sure that your son, with the help of God’s grace, will certainly become a monk. You too, imitating your son, must renounce the world and everything in the world, and become a nun. For this is the will of God. If you resist this will of God, then I bear witness to Christ, my Lord God and Creator, that this very hour I will hand you over to the demons who are waiting to seize you for desecration of your soul and body; so that through this other parents would learn not to love their children more than God. - As soon as the angel of God spoke to me of this and similar things, I exclaimed: if this is the will of God, then from now on I will no longer grieve for my son. - And immediately the demons disappeared; The Angel of the Lord, rejoicing, flew into heaven. And your confessor and your mother’s relatives, having heard this from her, with fear, and at the same time with joy, glorifying God, went to their homes.” Plato was horrified when he heard from his relative that by his departure he had caused such great sadness to his mother’s soul. However, he was consoled by the fact that, obeying the will of God, she decided to become a nun, which came true. Having entered the nunnery, she was tonsured and renamed Iuliania from Irina. She lived in the monastery, striving as a monk for the salvation of her soul, for ten years or more, and reposed in the Lord. Staying, as was said above, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Fr. Plato often went to the holy caves, and with ardent love and tears kissed the holy relics, asking for help from the saints of God and guidance on the path of salvation. For he burned with the desire to spend a desert, silent and solitary life with a spiritual father, who would be versed in all the Divine and paternal writings, and would be compelled and successful in spiritual work, and would be experienced in monastic warfare with demons and passions, while at the same time being in the desert in poverty and scarcity, and doing with his own hands everything he needed. A little time passed and, by God’s will, he had to find two venerable monks who were going to go to Wallachia. He began to ask them to take him with them on the journey. Having thus agreed, they prepared for the journey, and after praying to the Lord, they set off. Having safely passed through Ukraine and then Moldavia, after a long time, with the help of God, they reached Wallachia and came to the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, called Treistena, the head of which, Hieromonk Demetrius, received them with love and gave them shelter. The elder of the onago monastery, Hieroschemamonk Mikhail, was absent this time. He went for a while on business to a monastery in Ukraine. When Fr. Plato stayed in this monastery, fulfilling obediences common to the brethren, and came there to visit the brethren from the monastery of Merlopolyana (which means full of apples), the common teacher and mentor of monastic life for all staying there, the reverend elder, schemamonk Vasily, about whose high life and mind the elder Paisius (at that time still Plato) wrote a little - which is given here verbatim: “First he (schemamonk Vasily), out of God’s jealousy, lived for quite some time in Russia and in the Moshen mountains and other deserts with the great zealots of monastic life, and then, together with his disciple, the aforementioned Hieroschemamonk Michael, he arrived in the God-protected Wallachian land. This God-pleasing man, in the knowledge of Divine Scripture and the teachings of the God-bearing fathers, and in spiritual reasoning and all-perfect knowledge of the sacred rules of St. The Eastern Church and their interpretations are very skillful, incomparably superior to all the former fathers of his time. The glory of his teaching and God-pleasing instruction on the path of salvation spread everywhere.” “This, I repeat, elder of holy life, having spent several days in the monastery of Treistena, taught the brethren many soul-helping instructions. Hearing them, Fr. Plato rejoiced with indescribable joy, and with tears glorified God that he had been worthy to see such a man and hear words of edification from him. This elder, through the chief Dometius, invited Fr. Plato to live with him. But he (having been warned by one father) was afraid that he might be forced to accept the rank of priesthood against his will, and so through his superior he answered: I do not intend to accept such a high and terrible rank until my death. This was the reason that Fr. Plato was not honored to live in the monastery of Merlopolyane with such a holy elder, but remained in the monastery of Treistena. For this monastery, like the monastery of Dolgoutsa, was under the spiritual care of Elder Vasily. And that’s why some said that Fr. Plato spent some time in obedience to Elder Vasily. But although he did not live with him, he was honored to be his disciple, as will be discussed below. After Elder Vasily’s departure, the joyful news soon came that Elder Michael was returning from Ukraine and was already approaching the monastery. Hearing about this, the chief and all the brothers were filled with joy, went out to meet him, and received his blessing. And everyone was consoled by this. O. Plato, who, as stated, was undergoing general obedience, was given a cell by the chief not far from the monastery above the stream, from where the church was not visible. It happened one day that, while staying in this cell, he slept at night and did not hear the bell being struck for Matins; and the day was Sunday. When he woke up, he immediately ran to the church; but when he heard that the Gospel had already been read and the canon had begun to be sung, he became very sad, and because of shame and embarrassment, he did not enter the church, but returned to his cell, grieving and crying about the temptation that happened to him. And he became so sad, and felt such indescribable fear and shame that he was completely unable to come to the Divine Liturgy; but having gone not far from the cell, he sat down on the ground under a tree and wept bitterly. When the hour for lunch came after the Liturgy, the Elder, the chief and the brethren were surprised that they did not see him either at Matins or at the Liturgy. And the Elder said to the brothers: I ask you for the Lord’s sake, wait a little for dinner; Let us first find out what happened to our brother Plato. Having said this, he sent one brother, named Athanasius, a copyist of his father's books, to look for him. It was not without difficulty that the messenger found Fr. Plato, who sat on the ground and wept bitterly. He began to inquire into the reasons for his crying; and out of shame he could not answer him, but cried even more, and was barely able, being very convinced of this, to reveal the cause of his grief. Comforting him spiritually, Athanasius begged him in every possible way not to grieve excessively about the temptation that had happened, and to immediately go to the monastery to the holy fathers, who, while waiting for him, had not yet had dinner. He was barely able to say to him: how, Holy Father, can I come to the holy fathers, and with what face will I appear to them, having committed such a sin for my eternal before God and shame before them? And he asked Athanasius with tears to leave him and not force him to go to his fathers. Meanwhile, Athanasius, without ceasing, begged him even more and exhorted him not to grieve and to go, and barely forced him against his will to go with him to the monastery. Then, getting up, he went away weeping and sobbing. When he came to the monastery and saw the Elder with all the brothers sitting before the meal, oh, what fear and immeasurable shame fell upon him then even more! He fell to the ground in front of them, crying bitterly and sobbing inconsolably, and asked for forgiveness. Everyone was horrified. And immediately the Elder, the leader, and the brethren stood up and lifted him up from the ground. When all the brothers learned from the monk who brought him to them the reason for his sorrow and tears, they were surprised and, each sighing for himself, fell silent. The elder, like a loving father, began to console him with his spiritual conversation. He begged, begged and exhorted him not to grieve excessively over such an involuntary incident that happened to him. Having consoled him a little, everyone gave thanks to God that they found him healthy in soul and body. Then they entered the meal and began to eat the food. They ordered him to sit with them and eat. However, due to the sadness and shame that surrounded him then, he could not taste any of the food; and only after that I tasted a little 8. From that time on, throughout his entire stay there, he no longer went to bed at night, but slept little by little, sitting on a bench. – Having left the meal, the Elder and the other elder spiritual fathers with him sat down under the garden trees, and while talking they glorified God the Giver, marveling at such Divine zeal in the young. When did Fr. Plato was still at the meal, the Elder said to all the brothers present and especially the younger ones: “You see, brother, what zeal for God and fiery sadness this brother has. May he be an example and imitation for all of you, so that you can rise up with zeal and follow the church rule. For he, and because of the involuntary omission of prayer that happened to him, became so saddened in soul and suffered so much pain and crying that he deprived himself of bread and did not want to see the light of the sun, due to great heart disease and contrition. You too pray with all your soul to Christ God, being compelled to fulfill all His commandments, may the Lord give you all the same zeal and fiery sadness, kindled by God, for which the Divine Isaac (Sirin) in many places 9 and other holy fathers command to pray and ask God for yourself.” “Having said this, the Elder fell silent. The brethren, having bowed to him, each went to their cells. Staying, as it is said, in this monastery in obedience, Fr. Plato listened with great attention to the spiritual instructions that Elder Michael taught the brethren. For this man also succeeded so much in humility, love and spiritual intelligence, and such a one received from God the gift of the revelation of the mysteries contained in the Holy Spirit. Scriptures, that he became like his elder Vasily. For he was jealous by the very act of imitating all his labors and exploits. That is why he shone with gifts of the Holy Spirit similar to him, perhaps not all of them. Often this elder, teaching the brethren about various spiritual, very necessary circumstances, said: it is fitting for us, brethren, in these disastrous times, with the complete impoverishment of the true mentors of monastic spiritual work and mind, to wholeheartedly, even to death, adhere to the teachings and instructions of our holy and God-bearing fathers, and to faithfully follow them in words and deeds. – And this blessed elder, with sighs and tears, spoke to the brethren about the careful and faithful fulfillment of the soul-saving Gospel commandments of Christ, also about the preservation of the rules, traditions and teachings of the Apostles and all the holy Orthodox ecumenical and local Councils of the Eastern Church and the great God-bearing fathers, and also about the urgent observance of holy fasts and other church orders devoted to all Christians from St. Apostles and great God-bearing fathers. “Let us not get carried away,” he said, by the spirit of these difficult times and the weaknesses of people living in fearlessness, but let us adhere to the traditions of St. Apostles and St. Fathers who were at the councils. For St. Basil the Great says: everything faithful to St. from ancient times. and spiritual fathers worthy of veneration; again, what comes is very inappropriate and powerless.” Seeing and hearing all this, oh. Plato rejoiced with indescribable joy, and with many tears he thanked God for allowing him to hear such instructions from the lips of such men - Vasily and Mikhail, and to use them. In time, the all-honorable elder, Schemamonk Onufriy, arrived at this monastery from the monastery called Kyrkul, and visited Elder Michael and the brethren. And after the spiritual conversation about the Lord, with the blessing of Elder Michael, to all the brethren from Father Onuphry, this elder spoke about the location of his Kyrkul monastery, that it was very beautiful, that there was good water and healthy air and many different fruits and vegetables and other things necessary for monastic life, and that there was great silence and silence there. This speech of the Elder aroused Fr. Plato desires to see this place. Therefore, having thanked the most honest elder Mikhail for his fatherly love and guidance and having received his blessing, he went with Fr. Onuphrius on the road ahead, which ran among the greatest forests and through beautiful valleys and through high mountains. On the third day, with the help of God, they came to the said monastery, the head of which, the all-honorable hieromonk Theodosius, received Fr. Plato with love. The very next day after his arrival, he also gave him a hermit cell. And he became Fr. Plato stayed in his cell, rejoicing and glorifying God with tears, learning true monastic silence, according to St. Isaac, 10 mother of repentance and prayer. To satisfy the necessary needs, he initially received help from his superior, Fr. Feodosia. The rite of the onago Skete was established in the likeness of the hermitages of the Holy Mountain. For only on Sundays and holidays did all the brethren come together for church prayer; and after the Divine Liturgy a common meal was offered to everyone. During the meal, they talked with each other, giving each other spiritual advice, and strengthening each other with sighs and tears, begging them to courageously and with gratitude endure various severe mental and physical temptations and sorrows, and to pray often, falling with tears to Christ God. This is how they spent their time until Vespers; and after Vespers, all the hermits went to their cells. So is Fr. Plato remained silent in his cell, doing some small handicraft - making spoons. Diligently listening to prayer and reading the fatherly writings, reaching out into the love of God, and remembering his sins and everyday shortcomings, suddenly finding death, God's terrible judgment and the cruel and eternal torment prepared for demons and unrepentant sinners, he wept bitterly and sobbed daily, laying the beginning of correction before God; and confessing his sins with tears, he eased his conscience, and found peace and joy in the Lord and some consolation of the soul. Also keeping his thoughts from wandering and his mind from evil thoughts, he remained for the time being with humility and hope in Christ God his Savior. Went about. Plato and to the above-mentioned desert dweller Onuphrius, who lived on a high mountain, about one hour’s walk from the Skete. His cell was at the very top of the mountain, from there beautiful deserted places, mountains, hills and valleys, all covered with a great forest, were visible at a great distance; and below, under the mountain, where the cell is, there is a source of water flowing incessantly. The elder practiced prayer, reading, psalmody and handicrafts. Through his conversations, he gave great consolation, and with zeal, he spoke in detail to those who questioned him about the passions of the soul and body, about the terrible and restless mental battle with demons, about their ambushes, attacks and unimaginable temptations. “And if,” he said, the true Savior had not defended His people, according to His love for mankind, and if Christ had not fought for His faithful ones, then truly not a single person among the saints would have been saved, as His Holiness Patriarch Callistos II of Constantinople clearly testifies. tears soon bring to the soul inexpressible consolation, peace, joy in the Lord and ardent love for God. The signs of all this are unlovable tears shed abundantly out of love, self-reproach, and insatiable gratitude to Christ God. At this hour, the whole person, out of love for God, becomes insensitive to this world. Anyone who has achieved this, even in part, knows that I am telling the truth.” Blessed Onuphry clearly expressed all this from the bottom of his heart to Fr. Plato. From this holy conversation of his, the listener’s heart became so inflamed, and like a fire he burned with Divine love, having great zeal for spiritual exploits 12 that, hiding somewhere, he fell prostrate to the ground, beating his breasts and with bitter tears praying to Christ God, asking for His help. And this was the beginning of the fulfillment of his vows (given to God in childhood). However, he could not betray himself into obedience to these God-inspired fathers, for they lived not in the desert, but in monasteries. And he was afraid to live in a monastery, lest they force him, as said above, and against his will, to accept the terrible yoke of the Priesthood. Blessed Plato stayed only three years and a little more in Wallachia, with the goal of learning the Moldavian-Wallachian language, especially so that, seeing a favorable time, he could collect from these holy fathers the spiritual honey that flowed from their lips. Having enjoyed it to satiety, he kept it in the cage of his heart, and sealed it with silence for the time being, so that he could later delight with it the souls of those who had to join him, and satisfy them and excite them to virtues. For he learned from these fathers that there is true obedience, from which true humility is born and the mortification of one’s will and reasoning and everything that is in this world is accomplished. And this is the beginning and end of the never-ending true monastic work. And that there is vision, and mental true silence, and attention to prayer performed with the mind in the heart, he not only understood, but partly enjoyed the action of its Divine power, ever moving in the heart. For he could not have endured such poverty and sorrow, and rejoiced with thanksgiving in all temptations and hardships, and for all sorrowful things glorified God, that he was honored in some way to be an imitator of his Master Christ, who became poor for our sake, if his heart had not been kindled by Divine prayer into love for God and neighbor. The love of God began in him even in adolescence from reading books, which was the Divine seed that fell, according to the word of the Lord, on the good earth, and subsequently bore a hundredfold the fruits of the Spirit. For there, among these monastic ascetics, through fulfilling the commandments of God and practicing the virtues of morality, this seed, strengthened by unceasing mental prayer, created in his heart the fragrance of Christ; being watered with many tears, with the assistance of God, it grew and flourished. So oh. Plato, strengthened by divine mental diligence, succeeded in the grace of Christ, which filled his soul with perfect love for God and neighbor and inexpressible joy in the Lord, and kindled it with zeal, as it is said, for spiritual exploits, like a deer running to sources of water. II. Stay of Elder Paisios at St. Mount Athos. The time has come, Fr. Plato see and St. Mount Athos. Therefore, having visited all St. fathers in his monastery and in other monasteries, and especially those staying, he with tears asked them for forgiveness, prayers and blessings on the way, thanking them for their great mercy, love and spiritual fatherly guidance towards him. These holy fathers Vasily, Michael and Onufry - what words, what prayers, what advice did they not use, not wanting to lose such a companion? For, talking among themselves, and marveling at the grace of God and good character in him, they called him a young old man. Then the blessed one was only 24 years old. But unable to hold him, they prayed, blessed him, and sent him away in peace, entrusting him to the will of God. Having left them, he began to look for a companion on St. Mount Athos. Meanwhile, he had nothing on the way as soon as 20 par 13. However, he did not care about this, for he placed all his hope in the almighty Providence of God. He also found a companion, Hieromonk Tryphon. Having agreed together, they, giving thanks to God, set off on their journey. But what troubles from pestilence and hunger, and what fears from deaths, most of all from the Turks, did the young old man endure! Only God's help from above gave him the strength to endure all this. However, they still reached St. with joy and complacency. Mount Athos. Here, stepping back a little from the subject, I will say briefly something worthy of crying and sobbing. Having reached the refuge of the monastic dwelling, the young elder rejoiced in spirit, seeing the holy place, where from ancient times there was a nagging about spiritual salvation and incessant warfare with demons, a helicopter city and the lot of the Most Pure Mother of God. And at that time, this holy mountain, which in ancient times, like paradise, blossomed with God-like and spiritual elders and virtuous ascetics, was no longer seen as a helipad, but as a den of disaster and the dwelling of robbers. For the enemy and hater of all good and the destroyer of Christian salvation, the ancient sower of tares in the midst of the wheat, the God-fighter the devil, arranged it in such a way that where there was great holiness and reverence, where the whole world, especially the Christian peoples, looked at those who lived in this mountain as a pillar and confirmation of the Orthodox faith, as an image of piety and salvation, reverence and all spiritual benefit; there the evil one tried to sow his tares, which began especially in 1721. He arranged this through certain people who came, wise and without the fear of God, who, considering themselves wise and first, went astray from the womb and became mad. Being infected with pride, they caused disorder and confusion, and for many they were a great temptation and spiritual ruin. For this reason, as the Apostle says, God gave them over to an unskilled mind to do things unlike them (Rom. 11:28). Seeing all this, the reverent and God-fearing men who lived there wept bitterly with sighs and prayed to the Lord, so that the guilty would recognize their error and their destructive passions - pride and vanity. For they knew that God, angered by this, would bring His righteous wrath on them, and with them on the innocent, for demonic deception, especially for the negligence of deceived people. This soon happened. And in truth, at that time the holy mountain stood as a shame to the whole world. In particular, it aroused crying in all those who loved a quiet and silent life according to God, leading to prosperity, that is, in the true zealots of piety - in the monks. There was a mountain humiliated, desecrated, plundered, and with dispersed monks, and just to say - it was under the rule of the Turks. For all the holy monasteries, monasteries and cells were filled with Turks. And only a few, some of the most courageous in spirit, but already weak in body, remained there as captives, serving the barbarians, daily suffering all sorts of disasters and death itself, blessed, faithful servants of Christ God in their vows, being convinced that they were suffering this from the barbarians for the sake of their salvation. Having said this briefly, I return to my subject. Having reached the holy Mount Athos, and leaving the ship, Fathers Plato and Tryphon entered the holy. Lavra of St. Athanasius, and rested a little from the journey, with tears giving thanks to Christ God and His Most Pure Mother, that the Queen of Heaven had vouchsafed them to come to Her holy lot. Setting off from the Lavra to his brothers, the Slavs, who lived under the authority of the monastery of Pantocrator, the companion of Fr. Plato's hieromonk Tryphon caught a severe cold and fell into an incurable illness. After being ill for four days, he died. And o. Plato placed himself near his brothers, the Slavs, in one calibre, called Caparis. From there he walked around hermits and desert dwellers, looking, according to his intention, for a certain spiritual father, successful in monastic work and knowledgeable in the Divine and paternal scriptures, staying alone in silence, silence and poverty, to whom he could surrender himself in obedience. But according to the judgment of the Lord, he did not find such, and did not achieve the obedience desired by his soul. Therefore, having entrusted himself to the Providence of God, he began to remain alone. Then the blessed one was 25 years old (1747). But who can express all his exploits when he was alone with the One Lord, enveloped in a kindled zeal for God? Who could count his genuflections and exercises in psalmody and insatiable reading of St. Scriptures? What he did not show - self-compulsion, abstinence, fasting, hunger and thirst, sighing, lamentation! What prayers, bitter tears and lamentations he did not let out from the depths of his heart! What battles have you not overcome from anger, lust, God’s heaping on the mind, and cruel despondency for the silent, and from other evil passions! What temptations and sufferings, illnesses and infirmities and sorrows of soul and body did not endure! To all this were attached the attacks of bewilderment, hopelessness and despair, and terrible and fierce mental struggles caused by demonic envy. But clinging by faith and love to Christ God, the young old man overcame all this through the Lord who strengthened him. And for the victory he did not shed with all his heart and with all his soul and bring warm tears and thanksgiving to Christ God! His abstinence was as follows: except for Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, he ate food once every other day, and only crackers with water. His poverty and lack of wealth were immeasurable; for he didn’t even have a shirt, but he only had a cassock and duckweed - all in patches. But he was as comforted by his poverty as another was by his wealth. And when he went somewhere, he did not lock the doors of his cell; since there was nothing in it except books that he took from Bulgarian monasteries, and read diligently with great attention. However, he grieved and wept bitterly because he had lost the grace of God - holy obedience. So the young old man lived alone, struggling and advancing from strength to spiritual strength, setting daily ascensions in his heart and inflamed by Divine zeal for great exploits, and at the same time enjoying the fiery Divine love in the quietest soul-saving and joyful silence for three and a half years. Such were the exploits and sufferings of the young elder! For this is the feat and warfare of true monks against the apostate forces of the devil, so that the sinful soul, wanting to be saved, is forced even to the point of blood and death to resist and, with the help of God, defeat them. At that time, according to God's will, the above-mentioned elder, schemamonk Fr. Vasily, having been summoned by some important person. He found Fr. staying there in silence. Plato, and spent several days with him, teaching him and revealing to him about all three orders of monastic life 14, and about all the Christian sacraments from the Holy Scriptures. And o. Plato with tears asked the blessed elder to clothe him in a mantle, which the elder did, renaming him from Plato Paisius. And Paisiy became a student of Fr. Vasily. He was 28 years old then. Having betrayed him to Christ God and the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, the elder returned to Wallachia, to his monastery of Merlopolyana. Then, as if three months later, a young monk named Vissarion arrived from Wallachia to the Holy Mountain. Having visited some of the local fathers, he looked for a mentor, but did not find one. He also came to Fr. Paisius, and with tears asked him to tell him a word about the salvation of the soul and what kind of mentor should be to whom one could entrust one’s soul. Sighing from the heart, the blessed one began to cry, and after a short silence, praying in his mind, he said: brother! You force me to tell you about a sad matter, so that the disease of my heart may be renewed. For I, too, with great diligence and sorrow, sought a mentor, and did not find one. And I have endured many sorrows, and even now I still endure. Therefore, sympathizing with you (for I see that you are overwhelmed by excessive sadness, and I am afraid that you may fall into despair), I will tell you a little, according to the strength of my weak mind. The salvation of the soul, about which you are asking me, cannot conveniently be accomplished otherwise than through a true spiritual mentor, who himself forces himself to fulfill all the commandments of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord, who says: “Whoever does and teaches, this one will be called great” (Matthew 5:19). For how can anyone instruct another on the path that he himself has not walked? He must first struggle until he bleeds against all passions of the soul and body, and with the help of Christ overcome lust and rage, and through humility and prayer heal the rationality of his soul from madness and pride; also to subdue the soul of voluptuousness, love of glory and fierce love of money - these evil echidnas of this world, and all other evil passions, against which the Lord Jesus Himself was the leader of the battle and the first leader of the victory over them, according to what was said: being led into the desert, Jesus repelled Satan by fasting, humility, poverty, vigil, prayer and resistance from the Divine Scriptures, and far away is this crown of victory on the head of our nature, teaching us to conquer it in the same way, giving us the strength to do so (Luke 4 ch.). And so, whoever follows his Lord with all these virtues and receives service from Him in order to heal other souls and instruct in His commandments: he, for his humility, will receive from the Lord both the power to overcome and all the above-mentioned passions (perfectly); and then, by the grace of Christ, such a gift of the Spirit shines in him, according to the word of the Lord: Thus let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Such a mentor, by his very deeds, can unmistakably teach his disciple all the commandments of Christ and all the virtues, especially these all-encompassing ones: humility, meekness, the poverty of Christ, long-suffering in everything, mercy even beyond strength, and burning love for God and for one’s neighbor from an unfeigned heart, from which true spiritual discernment is born. Such a mentor will teach you to lay down your soul for all the commandments of Christ. Seeing and hearing all this, learning from him, following him with faith and love, can, with the help of God and through his instruction, succeed and receive salvation. This is the kind of mentor we should have, brother. But alas, what a time it is! Foreseeing by the Holy Spirit the misfortune of this time, the God-bearing fathers, out of pity for us as their children, left us everything we need in their holy writings to help us. According to the Divine Simeon the New Theologian, in truth there are few, especially now, who would be able to properly shepherd and heal rational souls. Fasting, vigil and the image of reverence may be shown feignedly by many, or they have actually learned it, and many can also speak from Perseus, and many can teach in words conveniently; and in order to cut off passions through humility and constant crying and tears, and to assimilate inherently comprehensive virtues, there are very few of them. In confirmation of his words, Pr. Simeon cites the testimony of the ancient Holy Fathers: for our most Divine Fathers say: whoever wants to cut off passions by crying cuts them off; and he who wants to acquire virtues by crying acquires them. And it is so obvious from here that a monk who does not cry every day does not cut off passions, does not perform virtues, and is never a communicant of gifts. For there is another virtue, and another talent 15. Therefore, our God-bearing father, the Russian luminary, Nil Sorsky, who is closest to us, having examined all this with great attention in the Divine Scriptures, and foreseeing our disastrous times, and the current human negligence, in his preface to his book advises zealots, saying this: they must look with special care for an unlost mentor. If one is not found, then the holy fathers commanded us to learn from the Divine scriptures and the instructions of the God-bearing fathers, hearing the Lord Himself saying: try the scriptures, and in them you will find eternal life (John 5:39). And if this saint says this only about smart work, then it is all the more necessary to find an experienced doer and an unlost mentor in order to receive deliverance of the soul from all evil passions, and to be guided on the right path of doing God’s commandments. From here, brother, follows the extreme need for us, with great care and with many tears, to study day and night in the Divine and Fatherly writings, and with the advice of like-minded elder fathers, to learn to fulfill the commandments of God and the work of our Holy Fathers. And thus, by the grace of God, with our self-compulsion, we can receive salvation. Hearing all this from Fr. Paisiya, the monk Vissarion thought to himself then: what else should we look for? - And that hour fell with tears at the feet of Fr. Paisius, begging him to accept him into obedience. But oh. Paisiy didn’t even want to hear about to have someone to rule over, since he himself wanted to live in subordination. And he, with great zeal, fell to him with many tears, and for three days persistently asked him to accept him. Seeing this brother's humility and tears, Fr. Paisius was touched and decided to accept him, not as a student, however, but as a friend, in order to live the middle way together. And to whom God will give more understanding in St. Scripture, in order to reveal the will of God to each other, and motivate each other to fulfill God’s commandments and to every good deed; also to cut off one’s will and reasoning from one another, to obey one another in good things, to have one soul and one will, and to have in common everything necessary for life. And thus, having determined the beginning, they began to live unanimously according to the rules of the Holy Fathers. And the young old man was comforted in his soul that by the grace of God he had found peace of mind in cohabitation with a like-minded brother, for the sake of cutting off his own will and reasoning in front of each other - which, according to the definition of the fathers, is obedience. Instead of a father and mentor, they had the teaching of our holy and God-bearing fathers. And they remained in deep peace, struggling, burning in spirit, and daily laying down a good beginning, in order to progress into perfect humility and love for God and neighbor and for each other through the fulfillment of God’s Holy Commandments. But they did not enjoy such a quiet, sweet life about God, a silent life comforting for the soul for long - only four years and a little more (1754). For the other brothers of the Holy Mountain and those coming from the world, hearing and seeing their peaceful and loving life in God, and themselves having great zeal for this, began to persuade the elder with their persistent prayer to accept them as disciples. He refused this for many years, and did not accept another for four years, and another for three. Finally, being convinced either by their incessantly strengthened petition, or by the lamentable prayer of the very brotherly-loving monk Vissarion, who lived with him, he began to accept one at a time, even against his will, trusting in the almighty providence of God for their spiritual and physical care. And soon brothers of eight people of Moldavian origin gathered around him. since they did not fit in two cells 16, it was necessary for them to purchase a cell from the Church of St. Constantine. Then the brethren of the Slavic people began to join the society of Elder Paisius. And all twelve brothers gathered. And they began to read and sing the rule in church in Moldavian and Slavic. “There is now an urgent need for a hieromonk and confessor. And so, having agreed, all the brethren began with intense, humble prayer to beg the elder to accept the priesthood and clergy. But he didn’t want to hear about it, saying that for this reason he left Wallachia. However, no matter how he refused this with tears, they all more and more, falling at his feet with tears, they asked and begged him not to despise their request, offering him many important and blessed reasons, especially the following. When we go to confession with other confessors, they said, then the advice and commandments appropriate for our life, which we receive from you, they refute with their advice; and from this we receive great spiritual harm. For many of the spiritual, either in years or in mind, are young. And the Divine Scripture says: Woe to you, your city, in it your king is young (Eccl. 10:16). Having cited these words, the holy fathers say: woe to the brethren whose leader or confessor is young and with a flourishing body, especially if he is inexperienced in spiritual life, who has not acquired the right mind and spiritual judgment according to God, and does not know the variety of passions and infirmities of the soul and body. For if he had been a diligent fulfiller of the commandments of Christ, then, according to his measure, he would not have been deprived of gifts from the Lord, such as: spiritual intelligence and discernment, mercy, humility and love for God and neighbor - which virtues are all-encompassing, or the main and primary ones. This is confirmed by St. Simeon the New Theologian, saying that it is impossible for someone who searches and interprets with all his heart, according to the word of the Lord, not to receive and be enriched with gifts 17 . This and much more was expressed by the brethren, falling weeping to the blessed one. And besides, the venerable elder fathers of the Holy Mountain in every possible way asked and exhorted him not to renounce the priesthood; for they knew that he was worthy of this, and could, with the help of God, lead many souls to the Lord through his instructions, especially through his love and humility. And therefore they relentlessly advised him, even with a threat for disobedience, to accept holy orders, saying: how will you teach the brethren obedience and cutting off your will and reasoning, being yourself a disobedient and despiser of the tearful prayer of so many petitioners and us? Do you not know what gave rise to disobedience? Then the elder, seeing himself in such inconvenient cramped conditions on all sides, submitted against his will, saying with tears: God’s will be done! And he was ordained a priest and appointed confessor. And there was great joy for his spiritual children. Then, when the Lord multiplied the brethren, so that they could not fit in the church and cells of St. Constantine, then Elder Paisios, in consultation with his brethren, asked for the dilapidated and idle cell of the Holy Prophet Elijah of the same monastery of Pandocrator, and together with a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim, who was at that time in the same monastery. And they began from the ground up to build a monastery in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah. They built a church, a refectory, a bakery, a cookhouse, a hospice and sixteen cells. For the elder had no intention of accepting more than fifteen brothers; That’s why the cell was prepared for that number. Then they all moved to the skete together with joy, thanking and glorifying God for the fact that He had favored them to change the middle path of monastic life to a hostel. Then the elder more strictly established the rule of the church according to the order of the Holy Mountain, dividing the brethren into two parts, Slavs and Moldovans. Then he had the hope that after such labors he could live more peacefully; and meanwhile fell under even greater labor. For many of the brethren of the Holy Mountain and of the newcomers, seeing such deanery in his church, that is, in singing and reading, humility, quietness and reverence, and the presence of all the brethren in the church with reverence and fear of God, but the word in the work of the priests and ecclesiarchs is most necessary, and the services they performed with reverence and meekness, and outside the church in general obediences they were manual labors with humility and silence, and between the brethren there is always peace from the heart, love and cutting off one’s will, reverent obedience to the Elder with faith and love, and on the part of the Elder to his spiritual children, paternal mercy, prudent distribution according to obedience, compassion and unfeigned love for all in all bodily needs - seeing all this, they became jealous with ardent zeal to join such a life. And therefore, with their persistent request, with tears and frequent bows, they convinced him even against his desire to accept them. In the absence of cells, of necessity, two or three cells were built below the cells, to the stone wall. – All of them generally worked in handicrafts. The Elder himself, together with his brothers, made spoons during the day, and at night he copied his father’s books. For his whole life was spent in all-night vigil, and he could not sleep for more than three hours a day. The writing of the father's books consisted essentially of translating them from Greek into Slavic. For the Elder, with the help of God, soon learned not only simple Greek, but also the Hellenic language from one of his brothers, named Macarius, who knew this language well, and at first translated books under his guidance. As a result, good rumors about Elder Paisia ​​spread throughout the Holy Mountain, and everyone treated him with respect and love; for they marveled at the many gifts of God in him, and glorified God. He was the confessor there to many great fathers, as well as to the above-mentioned His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim. And this saint often visited him, sometimes due to weakness on a donkey, and sometimes on foot he came to the monastery, which was about half an hour’s walk from the monastery. Here they talked with pleasure about spiritual and soul-saving subjects and about faith and spiritual reason, about courageous asceticism and about the gifts of our God-bearing fathers, who were mentors in reason and teaching, together comforting their souls and burning in spirit to imitate their faith. More than once a year it happened that His Holiness the Patriarch and the leading fathers of the monastery of Pandocrator, out of their love for the elder, asked him to come to them in the monastery, and on Sunday or some holiday to serve the Divine Liturgy himself with the monastery deacon in the great church. He served there in Greek, slowly and reverently, with the fear of God, constantly wetting his cheeks with tears; for he could never serve the Holy Liturgy without tears throughout his life. Seeing this, His Holiness the Patriarch, also standing with tears, said: glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee! And those standing in the altar, seeing him all so prostrated to God and as if changed and crying, barely able to speak exclamations, were so touched and wept that others could not even stand in the altar because of tears, they came out of there and, marveling at the grace of God, glorified God. At the same time as Elder Paisius lived on the Holy Mountain in the Kapsokalivo monastery, another Moldavian elder named Athanasius lived with his disciples. In years he was older than Fr. Paisia. This Athanasius, according to the slander of the evil one, envious of the glory of Elder Paisius, began to spread blasphemies against him in the ears of many, calling him not only a flatterer and a deceived person, but also a heretic. He also blasphemed the sacred mental prayer that Elder Paisius taught to his brothers. Hearing all this, oh. Paisius endured for a long time as if he had never heard anything. But Athanasius, inflamed with intolerable envy, wrote and sent a letter to him. At the beginning it had the appearance of a friendly instruction, but then it contained many blasphemies, reproaches and many wrong wisdom. Having received this letter, Elder Paisios, having examined everything exactly, went to his confessor, explained and read it. Then, together with their confessor, they went to other elders and confessors of the cathedral regarding this matter. All of them, having examined this scripture, were offended, and ordered Fr. Paisius write a response to him, exposing his delusion and wrong wisdom. At the same time, they agreed that if Elder Athanasius did not repent and ask for forgiveness, they would expose him at the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain. As the spiritual fathers commanded the blessed one, so he did. Having exposed the ignorance of Athanasius with fourteen chapters, in which his error was clarified and blasphemies and slander were refuted, he sent these chapters to him. Having read them, Afanasy realized his mistake, matured himself, repented, and came to Elder Paisius and asked him for forgiveness. Elder Paisios joyfully forgave him, and having a friendly conversation with him, revealed to him with love the will of God about his residence with the brethren, and sent him away in peace. This is how Elder Paisius stayed in his monastery. His brothers were increasing from day to day. More than fifty people have already gathered. And in no way could he avoid accepting with tears and earnest prayer those who asked him to accept them into obedience. What didn't he say? And why didn’t you expose it to them? And the lack of cells, and the difficulty of obedience, and the need for bodily needs, and poverty in everything. But the more he meekly refused them, the more and more they, falling at his feet, weeping and sobbing, begged him to accept them. And being convinced by their tears, as a merciful father and filled with love for his neighbors, the Elder accepted, relying on the almighty Providence of God for their mental and physical care, as was said above. Therefore, many venerable fathers advised Fr. Paisia ​​to take over the monastery called Simonopetra; for he was idle because he was in debt. The Elder submitted a request for this to the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain, and a blessing was immediately given to him for this. And so, taking with him half of the brethren, the Elder moved to the monastery. He heard a little something about monastic debt. But he only had to live in this monastery for three months. For the Turks, the moneylenders, having heard that a society of monks had gathered in the monastery, immediately came to demand the debt; and they took by force from the innocent Elder seven hundred leva 18 . As a result of this, being afraid of other lenders, he returned to the monastery. While staying in the monastery, and seeing such great crowding and sorrow of the brethren, Elder Paisios was distressed and greatly grieved in soul, imagining the inconvenience of the place and the complete impossibility of living on the Holy Mountain to such a unanimous society, and seeing no hope ahead for the improvement of the monastery. And so, with a general council, they began to prepare to move to Wallachia to the country of Muntyan. Having learned about this, His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim and other venerable fathers of the Holy Mountain began to greatly regret that the Elder intended to leave them. Having come to him at the monastery, they exhorted him a lot and asked him not to leave the Holy Mountain. But when they recognized their extreme need and great oppression for the brotherhood and the sadness of the Elder himself, they said: God’s will be done! And the Elder fell at the feet of His Holiness the Patriarch, kissing them with many tears, and asking him for his last blessing. Likewise, His Holiness the Patriarch wept, and with much regret blessed him, hugging and kissing his head, and with sorrow returned to his monastery. The elder said goodbye to all the spiritual fathers, asking everyone for prayers and blessings along the way. III. Return of Elder Paisius with his disciples to Wallachia. When everything was ready to depart, the Elder hired two ships, and he himself entered one with his students the Slavs, and Father Vissarion and the Moldovans entered the other. All his brothers then were sixty-four. With God's help, they sailed safely to Constantinople, and from Constantinople to Galati; and having reached land, they arrived in Wallachia, to a monastery called Varzaregita. But since there was no place for them to live in the country, Elder Paisios arrived in Iasi on this occasion, where he was received with love by Metropolitan Gabriel and the pious ruler Gregory Callimachus, the commander. To satisfy the needs of the Elder and his brethren, the Monastery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, called Dragomirna, with all its estates, was given to him at his disposal. The pious governor approved by letter that this monastery, with all its brotherhood, should be free from all taxes; and His Grace the Metropolitan asked Bishop Radoutsky to hand over the monastery to Elder Paisius with all love and due honor. And the Elder moved in there with the entire congregation of his brotherhood, thanking and glorifying God, with joyful tears, about His incomprehensible destinies and endless mercy, which inclined everyone’s hearts to love and mercy for them strange. After a little time, Hieromonk Father Alexey, also a student of Elder Vasily, came to visit Elder Paisius and his brethren from the monastery of Merlopolyana in the Wallachian country, and lived in the Dragomirna monastery all winter, being detained here by the love of the elder, for they often enjoyed spiritual conversations. And Elder Paisius desired that Father Alexy tonsure him into the schema, since both of them were disciples of the same elder. Desire o. Paisius was executed, but his name was not changed; and as he was called Paisius when he was tonsured into the mantle by Elder Vasily, such a name was left to him in the schema. From this incident the whole brotherhood was in indescribable joy. After the feast of the blessed Resurrection of Christ, when Fr. Alexy returned home, Elder Paisy and all the brothers saw him off with great love and reverence. This is what. Alexy, after the elders Fathers Vasily and Theodosius, was an elder in the monastery of Merlopolyan. After this, the blessed elder Paisius, having rested a little from his labors, began to renew and establish the order of his hostel according to the rules of our God-bearing fathers, Basil the Great and Theodosius the Great and Theodore the Studite, the heads of the hostel, who learned from him. This did not mean that this rank was just beginning; for even on the Holy Mountain he was introduced by Elder Paisius among his brotherhood, and was observed; but after the movement, combined with vanity, it really seemed to begin again, and was established renewed. – Firstly, in the church it was necessary to observe the rite of the Holy Mountain, according to the charter of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church, as before. It was decided to sing on the right choir according to Slavyansky, and on the left - according to Moldavian. Secondly, it was decreed that none of the brothers under any circumstances should dare to call any of the things: this is mine, and this is yours; but to have everything sent from God in common, with the will to strictly observe the rule of community life. And whatever anyone needed was given to everyone from the Elder. The meal was common for everyone, except for the sick, very elderly and crippled. Obediences within the monastery, such as in the cookery, bakery, etc., had to be performed by the brethren themselves. The brethren must do various handicrafts needed in the community with the fear of God, and each according to his own strength, and not by force and embarrassment. In some general obediences, disobedience, disobedience and arbitrariness, which destroy the commandments of God, were to be expelled from the soul of every brother; and so that instead of this, obedience, humility, patience and peace, love and fear of God, and above all this, the all-perfect cutting off of one’s will and one’s own reasoning, should take precedence and reign in the brotherhood. During general obediences it was necessary to maintain the silence of the lips; Let the prayer work secretly and be kept in the mind. And the elder himself often went out with the brethren for common obedience, and together with everyone he worked with all humility, silence and prayer, setting an example of humility and love to everyone, and saying: brethren! none of you should remain idle, except those who are extremely infirm and aged; for from idleness all evil is born. In single cells, the brethren should practice reading the writings of the God-bearing Fathers and prayer, artistically performed with the mind in the heart, according to the success of each, relying on frequent bows with tears. All the brethren, and especially the novices, had to open their thoughts to their spiritual fathers every evening. For this revelation is the basis of true repentance and forgiveness of sins, and the hope of salvation for a soul that truly repents of sins with sadness. And if any displeasure happened between some brethren, then a sincere reconciliation would certainly follow on the same day, according to the Scripture: Let not the sun go down on your anger (Eph. 4:26). If anyone became so hardened that he did not want to be reconciled, the elder would excommunicate him, so that he would not even enter the church threshold or read the Lord’s Prayer until he reconciled. – For obediences outside the monastery, the elder identified and sent such brethren from whom no temptation could arise for the laity, nor harm to their souls. – If any deed was inevitably followed by something leading to a violation of the commandment, then the commanded deed had to be abandoned. It is better, the elder said, to leave the matter unfulfilled than to despise the commandment of God and be subject to eternal condemnation. In general, to say: in the monastery, both inside and outside, in all obediences, Elder Paisios always tried to ensure that among all the brethren there was peace and love according to God, reverence and fear of God, humility and obedience with the all-perfect cutting off of their will and their reasoning before the Elder and before each other. Elder Paisios also introduced all other orders in his monastery, according to the charter of St. Basil the Great and other God-bearing Fathers, commanding them to be kept inviolably, and concluding with the threat of spiritual penances for crimes, at the same time pouring out his fatherly mercy on all his spiritual children, and with unfeigned love, embracing and warming and teaching everyone, prudently determining obedience to each according to his strength, so that everyone would work complacently and with diligence. “The elder ordered the sick, very infirm and elderly to be treated in the hospital and to be reassured in every possible way by his beloved brother Honorius, who was somewhat familiar with the art of medicine. This husband could console both with spiritual conversation and was very merciful in bodily needs; for through his holy and zealous obedience and humility he succeeded in ardent love for God and neighbor and in spiritual intelligence. That is why the blessed elder had this most kindly brother over the sick as his own eye. He alone was given the freedom, for the sake of the sick, to take money from the elder’s cell himself, no matter how much he wanted. After his death after one year (1795), the Elder, by the will of God, took him to himself and into heavenly rest. Then, living all the time with the natural Moldavian brothers, the aforementioned Macarius and Illarion Daskal and with others who knew Hellenic Greek, Elder Paisios worked in translating the Fatherly and Theological books into the Moldavian and Slavic languages. And when, in the winter, all the brethren gathered from non-monastic obediences, and the fast of the Nativity of Christ began: then the elder began, from the books he translated, to speak teachings to the entire brotherhood in general from the first week of fasting, and continued until Lazarus Saturday. Every day, except Sundays and holidays, all the brethren gathered in the evenings for a meal, candles were lit, and the Elder came. He sat in his usual place and read either the ascetic book of St. Basil the Great, or St. John Climacus, or St. Dorotheus, or St. Theodore the Studite, or St. Simeon the New Theologian, or another of one of the God-bearing fathers. One evening he read a lesson in the Slavic language, and the other in Moldavian. And when there was a teaching in one language, then the brethren of another language read Compline for themselves. And the elder, reading the teaching, at the same time interpreted, citing evidence from the Holy Scriptures of both testaments and from the teachings of the God-bearing fathers, and said (approximately) like this: Brothers and fathers! With heart disease, we must take care (about spiritual salvation), as the Divine Fathers teach. For St. John Climacus says: even though we have undergone great deeds in our lives, if we have not acquired a painful heart, then they are all feigned and vain.” 19 And Gregory of Sinaite says: painful hearts and humility and the work of obedience, according to the strength of each, with the rightness of the heart, usually do the work as it is in truth.” - And he also says: “Every work, physical and spiritual, that does not have pain or labor, will never bear fruit to those who undergo it; because with need the Kingdom of Heaven is received, says the Lord, and the needy delights it (Matthew 11:12). – Many have been doing or are doing painlessly for many years, and since painlessly, with ardent zeal of the heart, they have raised and are lifting up the works of repentance, they turned out to be alien to purity and not involved in the Holy Spirit. - And one more thing: those who do it with carelessness, laziness and weakness, perhaps, as they think, work hard; but they never collect the fruit. And besides this, painlessly monastics from despondency fall into useless cares and become darkened.” 20 And St. Simeon the New Theologian says: therefore I say that those who did not imitate the passions of Christ through repentance and tears, humility, obedience and patience, and even more so through poverty and suffering, and enduring ridicule and reproach, and were not partakers of His blasphemous death, are not here partakers of His spiritual resurrection, and do not receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. - For what other deeds shall we be glorified with Him? For the Divine Paul says: if we suffer with Him, we will also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17). If we are ashamed to imitate His passion, which He endured for us, and to live in us the unwillingness to endure this, that is, the earthly wisdom of the flesh: then it is obvious that we will not be partakers of His glory 21. And one more thing: without repentance and tears, as we said, not one of these (gifts), either in ourselves or in some others, has ever been or will be. For even from the Divine scriptures no one can prove that any of the people can, without tears and constant tenderness, be cleansed from passions, or become holy, or receive the Holy Spirit, or see God, or feel His visit within themselves, or when accepting Him as a complete dweller in their hearts - unless, that is, they are preceded by repentance and tenderness. - All this will be accomplished by the Divine fire of tenderness along with tears, or better yet, through tears 22. And he also says: be careful lest you be deceived by the opinion that you have Christ in you, having nothing, and leave this life empty-handed. Then you will weep and wail 23 . Elder Paisios spoke all this from the God-bearing fathers to the brethren with tears, convincing them to be forced with ardent zeal to fulfill the commandments of Christ. For all his teaching, sickness and care (for the brethren) were directed towards the goal that everyone in general, with all their heart and with all their soul, would keep the commandments of God, so that the time given by God for repentance would not be lived in negligence and would not remain fruitless. At the end of the teaching, the elder always included some moral teaching about correcting the mistakes that happened between the brethren. For he, more than other passions, was especially afraid of the seduction (from the path of truth) and the fall of the young and the evil passion of the love of money, or better yet, the love of money and the love of substances - the root of all evil, as it is said in the Divine Scripture (1 Tim. 6:10); why, in almost every teaching, he cited Ananias and Sapphira as an example. For he reliably knew in advance - about which he was very sad - that if this the evil passion of covetousness will stealthily enter his brotherhood, and if her lovers are carried away by it, then the hostel he has established will immediately be ruined to the ground; which subsequently happened. In fact, to speak openly and boldly - this is yours, and this is mine, and to have property, and for everyone to take care of himself and eat, isn’t this the complete ruin of a unanimous community. Therefore, for a long time in the monasteries of Dragomirna and Sekule, protecting the brethren (from the mentioned passion), he secretly denounced them; and showing them the way to do the commandments of Christ, he often exhorted them with tears, saying: Brothers! if you are diligently forced to read the books of the Fathers, and through the teaching contained in them, always correct yourself and warm up (your souls), according to what has been said: my heart warms itself in me, and a fire will burn in my teaching (Ps. 39:4): also if you force yourself to diligently pray every day with tears before God and to do His holy commandments: then it will be given to you from Christ God's warm zeal and zeal. And let no one say that it is impossible to cry every day. For he who says this also says that it is impossible to repent every day. And such pervert the very commandment of the Lord, as the Divine Simeon the New Theologian says 24. First of all this, brethren, you must, undoubtedly, with firm faith and warm love, approach the Lord, and, according to His word, completely renounce this world and all its beauties and sweets, and also your will, and your reasoning, and be poor in spirit and body. And thus holy zeal will be kindled in the souls of the perfect. Over time, as this work grows, the Lord will give you, as you do it, tears, crying and some small hope to console the soul; and then hunger and thirst for righteousness, that is, inflamed zeal in order to be guided towards all His commandments (Ps. 119:128), such as: humility, patience, mercy and love for everyone, especially for those in spiritual distress, also for the sick (physically), the suffering and the elderly, which all, according to the Divine Apostle, are the fruits of the Spirit. And to bear the infirmities of your neighbor, and to lay down your life for your brother, and to endure occasional temptations, that is, insults, reproaches, reproaches, annoyances, and to forgive each other with all your heart all sorts of griefs and insults, and to love your enemies, to bless those who curse you, to do good to those who hate you, and to pray for those who harm you, that all are the supreme commandments of Christ. To all this and to courageously and with gratitude endure the many different temptations found in the body: weaknesses, illnesses, wounds, fierce and inconsolable temporary suffering for the sake of the eternal salvation of their souls. And in this way you will reach a perfect husband, according to the measure of your spiritual age, the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13). And if you continue in such self-compulsion, then this community will stand as long as the Lord pleases. If you neglect to pay attention to yourself and to read the books of the Fathers, then you will fall away from the peace of Christ and love, that is, from doing the commandments of Christ, and rebellion, rumors and disorder, mental confusion, cowardice and hopelessness, murmuring and condemnation will arise among you. And for the increase of these iniquities, the love of many will dry up (Matthew 24:12), or rather, it will be a few and not all. And if this happens, then this hostel will soon go bankrupt, first mentally, and eventually physically. With these and many similar instructions, Elder Paisius has long been, as it is said, with tears protecting everyone, small and great, praying and exhorting firmly and with all his soul to adhere to a quiet, peaceful and loving life, according to the commandments of Christ. And he had such a gift that with his words he could arouse even the saddest to jealousy, and comfort the sad. And when he could not pacify another, who was very confused and grieving in soul, with words, he assured him, exhorted and consoled him with tears, saying that the Lord rejoiced at his repentance, and convinced him to have firm hope in the mercy of Christ; He finally consoled others in their needs with his generosity. And where necessary, he rebuked, forbade, begged, excommunicated and was patient. After repeated repetition of these methods, if another did not correct himself, he removed him (from the monastery). And so, with the rebuke of the wrath of God, he treated only those who were bitter, arbitrary and corrupt, with strict strictness, as briefly described above. Here he appeared like some formidable judge, angry with him until he humbled himself and repented; and then he consoled him, instructing and admonishing him for correction with love and tears. And no one left him unhealed. About his anger, the elder himself answered one spiritual brother’s question like this: and that I reproach you with anger, the Lord would grant that you too have such anger! For I am forced to resist the aspirations of each of you; and before others appear to have anger, which, by the grace of God, I never have, and before others to weep, so that both, or, as the Apostle says, with your gums and neck, may benefit you. Let me not be a slave to angry passion! In the same way, when he said that as a moral lesson to the brethren, arousing in them love and boldness towards him, he often talked like this: I don’t want, brethren, for anyone to fear me, as if I were some terrible ruler; but so that everyone loves me, just as I love you in the Lord, as my spiritual children. Let's also talk about the reasoning of this spiritual shepherd. This was the order established in his brotherhood, so that every spiritual father would explain to him about every brother whom he himself could not pacify, and about the reason for his confusion. The causes of sorrow that befell the brethren as men were as follows: contradictions, reproaches and annoyances to each other, and the like. And when any brother, overcome by grief, entered the elder’s cell, the elder already understood what was in his heart; and soon, having given him the blessing, he himself, anticipating it, began to continuously talk to him, not allowing him to speak; and with his sweetest and most consoling words he took his mind far away from the sorrow that had befallen him. During his conversation, the elder peered into the face of his brother and noticed the structure of his character, intelligence and obedience. And if the brother was a reasonable man, then the elder used to express to him something lofty, and then give the interpretation of it by the God-bearing fathers. To this he added something even higher, and so surprised and consoled his soul that, out of spiritual joy, he changed everything worldly - glory, joy and sorrow - into abomination and a dream. If the brother was a simpleton, then the elder borrowed his speech to him either from ordinary affairs, or from holy obedience, and with his wondrous words he delighted his mind from sorrow, and again consoled him so much that from spiritual joy he reproached both himself and the sorrow that had befallen him. And then the brother, either this one or that one, having entered into himself, and feeling his soul filled with peace and spiritual joy, the former confusion and sorrow had disappeared like smoke from the wind, no longer remembering anything, but having received the blessing from the elder, he walked away in joy, thanking God. Oh, Divine wisdom and love of this blessed father! He called his brother not in order to reproach him, or scold him, or subject him to prohibition, but in order to console him and pacify his soul and heart. How and what can you say about his sweetness of speech? For all his spiritual children were ready to stand before him relentlessly every day in order to enjoy the sight of his bright face and his sweet conversation. That is why all the brothers, small and great, spent their days in deep peace, love and spiritual joy. – Until the ninth hour (evening), the elder’s doors were never closed. For some came to him because of bodily needs, and others with spiritual needs. And with one the old man cried; and having consoled him, he rejoiced with the other, as if he had no sorrow. In terms of his spiritual makeup, the elder was like a gentle child, truly a passionless and holy man. They never saw him grieve over anything material, no matter how important the loss occurred. Then only he grieved when he saw any brother transgressing the commandment of God in any way, especially by will. For even for one slightest commandment of the Lord Christ, the elder was ready to lay down his soul and said: let all our (acquisition) be ruined, let some business perish; If only we kept the commandments of God, and for their sake our souls. Elder Paisios repeatedly said this to his spiritual children: when I see my spiritual children struggling and forced to keep the commandments of God, and cutting off their own will, and disbelieving their own reasoning, and living in the fear of God and humbly undergoing holy obedience: then I feel such an inexpressible joy in my soul that I do not want to have greater joy in the kingdom of heaven. If I see some who are negligent about the commandments of God, and who adhere to their own will, who believe in their own reasoning, and who live without the fear of God, and who despise holy obedience, who, out of self-indulgence and self-indulgence, are overcome by laziness and who grumble, then such sadness envelops my soul that there cannot be greater sadness for me, even in hell, until I see them truly repentant. And the brethren, from the teachings of their father and from reading the Divine Scriptures, began to warm up (with their hearts) and to prosper in the love of God and in the patience commanded by Jesus Christ, although not all to the same extent. Because this is impossible. But some of them, who were in large numbers, achieved great love for God and neighbor, and through obedience and humility they completely mortified their will and reasoning, considering themselves dust and dirt and the footstool of all brothers, and even the most damned of all creation. For constantly, in the secret of their hearts, reproaching themselves before God, they endured reproach, dishonor, reproach, annoyance and every kind of temptation with great joy and great gratitude to God, accepting all this as the grace of God, and always desiring this. Others, in smaller numbers, fell and rose up, that is, they sinned (small sins), and immediately repented, also enduring reproaches, reproaches, and temptations, although with difficulty and bitterness; however, they were wholeheartedly urged to reach the first, and for this they fervently and with tears continually prayed to God. And others, few in number, were weak and weak in soul, like babies, not yet having the opportunity to take solid food, that is, to endure reproaches and reproaches. For their upbringing, they still required the milk of mercy and philanthropy and condescension to their weaknesses, until they reached the spiritual age of patience. They made up for their poverty only by good will and constant self-reproach, repeatedly and beyond their strength being forced to endure reproaches and reproaches and abandon their will, great work and sweat, pouring out blood like blood before God, and in this constantly asking for help from God. Although such were the weakest, they will be counted by God as forcing themselves to obtain the kingdom of heaven. - In general, everyone, although, as has been said, not to the same extent, forced themselves to fulfill the commandments of Christ our God and to live according to the teachings of the God-bearing fathers. For, as St. Isaac, doing the commandments in secret heals spiritual strength. And this did not happen simply and no matter how it is, since it is written that without bloodshed there is no abandonment (Heb. 9:22) 25. The blessed elder rejoiced, seeing his spiritual children labor so diligently; he thanked and glorified God with tears, and at the same time prayed to Him to strengthen them with His grace for a greater feat; and constantly teaching, he excited them to greater zeal, saying: children! do not be discouraged, I will buy it with earnestness (Luke 19:13). For now is the time acceptable, now is the day of salvation, says the Apostle (2 Cor. 6:2). And then one could see monastic residence in the Dragomirna Monastery as a new miracle, or a God-planted earthly paradise. For people, being alive, having cut off their will for the sake of the love of God, by their will and with all their feelings were dead to this world, that is, like blind, dumb and deaf. But how can one express in detail their secret doing? Let's just say a little, like this: about their contrition of heart, deep humility, about the fear of God and reverence, about the attention and silence of thought, about the prayer that moves in the heart, burning with ineffable love for Christ God and neighbor; so that many of them, not only alone in their cells, but also in church and in the assembly during obediences, and during spiritual conversation, constantly shed tears. And this showed the fruits of the Spirit in them, that is, faith, meekness and their heart’s love for the Lord. St. Isaac rightly said: the assembly of the humble is loved by God, like the assembly of the Seraphim 26 . During such a peaceful stay of the brotherhood in the Dragomirna monastery, grief happened to the blessed elder and all the brothers. His first unanimous friend, Fr. Vissarion, by God's grace, went to the Lord for eternal rest. Both the elder and all the brothers wept bitterly for him. And the elder established that a cathedral memorial service should be held annually in his memory, and that the entire brotherhood should offer a festive meal. This continued until the death of Elder Paisius. Such was the reverent and sacred brotherhood in the Dragomirna monastery, in which Elder Paisios, with many labors and tears, renewed the ancient monastic rite of unanimous consent. For by God’s vision, having united many souls in unanimity and like-mindedness and binding them with the love of God and the humility of Christ, he set himself first in everything as an example for everyone, and established a common life, which had all the similarity of the common lives of the Holy Fathers. And all the brethren were forced, as much as possible, to follow and imitate this life and keep its rites and statutes in those (as a contemporary put it) times of distress and tears and lamentation worthy. But while the brotherhood of Elder Paisius, staying in the Dragomirna monastery, enjoyed deep peace, achieving their spiritual salvation, a terrible storm and mortal fear suddenly arose. War broke out between two empires, Russian and Turkish (1768). In addition to this, by God's permission, another destruction and fear of death occurred - pestilence and famine (1771). But these last sorrowful troubles, by the mercy of Christ, soon passed. And after the six-year battle had ended between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, peace was concluded (1774). When the Russian army returned from Moldova to its fatherland, the Roman state began to demand from the Turkish Sultan the part of the Moldavian principality that had been promised to it. And the Catholics took the Dragomirna monastery under their authority. Then the elder shed many tears; for he wept bitterly over the spiritual ruin of his brothers, and also lamented that his monastery had passed into the possession of the papists, with whom the Eastern Church could never have spiritual peace. The brethren also grieved greatly and wept bitterly. When the elder himself calmed down somewhat from sadness and crying, and consoled the brethren with hope in God, he unexpectedly received a letter from the abbot of Sekul, with a loving invitation to his entire brotherhood. The elder rejoiced and glorified God, and placing all his sorrow on the Almighty, he sent petitions to the pious Lord Gregory Ghika and to the Metropolitan. In them, he wrote with sorrow that he could not live under the rule of the papists, and asked them for mercy, so that the monastery of the Beheading of the Venerable Head of St. would be given to him to manage. John the Baptist, called Sekul. He also attached a letter he received from the abbot of Sekul. The Lord and the Metropolitan were very sorry for the elder and his brotherhood, and gave him the management of the monastery that he asked for, having approved it with a letter. – Having received the letter, the elder began to worry about moving to Sekul; and ordered the brethren to prepare and gather near the monastery mills that stood on the way. All the brothers he had at that time, including the untonsured novices, were three hundred and fifty people. The elder left a large part of the brethren and two confessors in Dragomirna until the monastery was handed over, as it should have been; and he himself went to church, and there he prayed to the Lord with bitter tears, since he was separated from this monastery forever. He gave peace and blessing to all the remaining weeping brothers, consoling them by coming to him soon. And leaving the church and monastery, he arrived at the place where the brethren were gathering. Having gathered in this way, they all set off together and arrived at the Sekul monastery, thanking God with tears, and settled there in 1775. This monastery stood in a cramped place, covered on both sides by the forest of a high mountain, on a small valley, near a small source of water, which was located under the mountain. Therefore, the approach to the monastery was very rocky and inconvenient, due to the source, with all its aspiration - flowing in one direction or the other, and especially when it was flooded from the rains. But the place was quiet and silent, and most beloved for monks and zealots for God. Therefore, the elder and the brethren were very happy about this place, and consoled from their sorrow about the Dragomirn monastery, and with tears they sent thanks to God. Nevertheless, they decided to endure other needs and inconveniences for the sake of the silence and silence they loved. And Elder Paisios established in Sekula all the rules of community life according to the rank that was in the Dragomirna monastery. Every winter (in the evenings) he called all the brethren to a meal, and taught them from the Divine and paternal writings about doing the commandments of God - about obedience, humility, the fear of God and about all God-pleasing deeds and deeds. With such cares and labors of the elder for the brethren, they began again little by little, through his instruction, to achieve the same dispensation as in Dragomirna, struggling and succeeding by the grace of Christ, through the prayers of their father. And he rejoiced and thanked God with tears that, according to his desire, the Lord had given him a quiet and silent place, and had no intention of looking for another monastery that was more spacious and with greater amenities. On the contrary, he was glad for the silence and closeness, which from his youth he loved for Christ’s sake, and to which he became accustomed. Therefore, he taught and exhorted his brotherhood, for the love of God, to endure all sorrows courageously and with thanksgiving. However, the needs of the brethren, the great poverty and lack of cells, as well as the prayers and advice of the spiritual fathers prompted the elder to write a petition to Prince Konstantin Muruz, in which the extreme need for cells was exposed. The pious Prince, having received the petition, turned to his Senate with a question: what is the monastery of Sekul, in which Elder Paisius and his brethren reside? Then one of the main Senators, who had once been in the Sekule monastery and knew everything well, answered: the Sekule monastery is cramped, and the church there is small. It was not built for such a large brotherhood. And he stands in an inconvenient place; for the road to it is rocky, very difficult and inconvenient for transporting the necessary needs of life from outside. Hearing this, the Christ-loving Prince said with condolences to the Senators: is there no such monastery in our principality in which this elder Paisius could be reassured? They answered: in our entire principality there is no more spacious monastery than the Neamet monastery. It has a large church, and the road to it is very convenient; It is only two hours away from Sekul. The Prince was delighted at this and ordered the elder, commanding him, without any reasoning, and without looking at anyone, to move to the Nyamets monastery. (It has a large church, and the road to it is very convenient). When the elder received this order, and learned from it an unexpected command, he was greatly indignant in spirit. His peace disappeared, immeasurable sorrow seized his soul. He cried bitter and inconsolable tears to the point of exhaustion, and was at a loss what to do. The brethren were also very confused, especially the spiritual fathers - true zealots for God, who loved the quiet and humble monastic life, and with heartfelt condolences wished for the prosperity of the souls of the brethren, for which they worked hard. They alone, with great sorrow, sympathized with the elder about the spiritual ruin of the brethren that was about to take place. What happened next? The Elder’s sadness and grief intensified so much that he had never experienced it since his birth. He wept bitterly and painfully inconsolably sobbed because he foresaw the ruin and destruction of the spiritual structure of the brethren; also about the fact that his general teachings to the brethren, which he spoke to them at the general meeting at the meal, had to stop - on the one hand, because it would be impossible for all of them to gather together, since they would be divided (one part in Neamtsa, and the other in Sekule), on the other hand, because important lay guests would come, and it would be impossible to forbid them not to come to listen to the teachings. And through this, his moral teaching will be stopped, which he always attached at the end of his teaching regarding the correction of the inclinations that happened between the brethren, in which it is appropriate, according to Scripture, to reprove sinners in front of the whole assembly (1 Tim. 5:20), without pointing out their faces, frightening them with the wrath of God, so that those who sinned would be ashamed, and being afraid, they would be corrected, and those who were innocent would have greater fear and fear. protection from sin. The elder grieved inconsolably about this, and cried incessantly day and night. When he was about to write a petition to the Prince to leave him in Sekule, the authorities from the Neamtsa monastery came here. Falling to him with many tears, they began to beg him with humble petition and persistent prayer so that he would not offend them and not upset their lives in their old age, adding to this - so that they would not cry at him until he died. The elder could hardly endure the pity of listening to these words, which hurt his holy soul, God-loving and truly brotherly, meek and desiring peace, benefit and salvation for everyone. Having shown them the Prince’s order, he said with bitter tears: You see, Holy Fathers! This is the reason for our and your confusion and sorrow. But may Christ the Lord inform you that it never even occurred to me to commit such lawlessness and violence and to sadden your souls, and for transgressing the commandment of God to fall into eternal condemnation. You yourself know that we did not occupy Sekul because of our violence. But the abbot there, Father Niphon of blessed memory, seeing our embarrassment as a result of dependence on the papists, himself, out of his love for us, invited us to his place, since he wanted to live with us, ending his life here piously. Then, by loving agreement, we wrote about this to the authorities, and received what we asked for. And he said to them again: how could I dare to commit such an atrocity? With what eyes would I look at your holy faces, having my conscience as a judge and accuser of the offense I caused you? How could I approach the throne of God in order to partake of the terrible and Divine Mysteries, having those crying and accusing me before the Lord for my violence? Let this not happen, let it not happen! On the contrary, I will write to the Prince, and with tears ask and pray for him to leave us and you to remain peacefully in our abodes. For here, by the grace of God, we have deep peace. – In the manuscript on the margin it is written: oh woe is me! how many mourners and sighers are there for us! Having been calmed by this and similar more extensive conversation by Elder Paisius, the leaders of the Nyametsky monastery returned to their monastery. The blessed elder wrote a very deplorable petition to the Prince. For what touching and convincing words did he not use in it? What blessed reasons did you not present? What petitions and tearful prayers did he not express in this writing from his entire brotherhood, wanting to abandon the Nyametsky monastery, and together giving thanks to God for his silent and quiet stay in the Sekule monastery? He wrote with humility, with many tears, about the spiritual harm that followed for the brethren and about the ruin of their silence and silence, and about many other reasons that were similar to these reasons. - Having written the petition in this way, the Elder sent it with the first confessor of his monastery, Moldavian, reverent Fr. Irinarch, who also knew Greek, adding another confessor to him! And he waited for an answer in the hope that the Prince would fulfill his request. The messengers came with a petition to the Prince. After reading this petition, they began to verbally explain everything to him in detail, and with tears falling at his feet, and presenting many spiritually harmful reasons, they begged him to leave the elder and the brotherhood to stay in Sekula without embarrassment and temptations, but they could not beg the Prince. For he ordered the Elder to prepare an order, in which, to everything written with his own hand, he added the following words: “Do obedience, go to Nyamets, without reasoning at all.” Having approved this paper with his own signature and seal, he gave it to the confessors and sent them away in peace. IV. The transfer of Elder Paisius to Neamets, and his blessed death. The messengers returned with a letter from the Prince. And when the elder read and saw what was written in it with the command: “do obedience, go to Neamets,” he wept bitterly and did not know what to do. And the immeasurable sadness intensified and seized his soul so much that he could neither eat, nor drink, nor sleep, and became very weak in body; for he foresaw the final ruin of the souls of his brothers. For their part, all the brothers were in fear, grief and great confusion, lest the elder die from immeasurable sadness 27 . Therefore, the oldest of the confessors and brethren, having gathered together, came to him sick, and began with tears to ask him to leave such immeasurable sadness and refresh himself with food. They told him: what good will it do us if you die untimely, and we will remain orphans without you? What should we do then? He, like a prudent husband, seeing his spiritual children so deeply sorry for him, crying, embarrassed, and considering his death a great calamitous loss for themselves more than any of their devastation, was silent for a while and, raising the eye of his mind to the Lord, sighed heavily, wept bitterly and said: we are cramped, brothers, from everywhere. Then he got out of bed, made the sign of the cross, bowed to the icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, and said: God’s will be done! Let's go reluctantly. He had some nourishment from food, but could not sleep. Then, calling three confessors and several other brothers, he sent them to the Nyamets monastery, handing them an order from the Prince, so that they would read it there, and prepare a cell for him and for other more necessary priests and singers. The brothers did as they were commanded and returned back. Then the elder distributed all the brothers - which ones should go with him to Neamets, and which ones should stay in Sekule. He also appointed one confessor, named Hilarion, to manage it here. And having entered the church with tears, he prayed to the Lord, venerated the holy icons, and gave a blessing to all those who remained crying, comforting them with these words: let every brother in all mental and physical sorrow come to me without any obstacle. For the distance from Sekul to Neamts was only two hours' journey. Finally, with bitter tears, the Elder left the church and set off on his way. Due to his already extreme old age and infirmity, he took, when necessary, only a horse for help; for until his death he abhorred all love of glory. The brothers, like bees surrounding his one-horse chariot, walked quietly on foot, enjoying his spiritual conversation. Some accompanied him, and others walked with him; and thus arrived at the Neamets monastery, on the very evening of the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1779. There, entering the church while singing: “It is worthy to eat,” the Elder bowed to the holy icons. He also approached the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, cried a lot before Her, and entrusted himself and the brethren to Her intercession, preservation, protection and nourishment, kissed it with tears, placing all his hope in the Lady of God in everything. Then, leaving the church, he came to his cell and rested a little; but I could not sleep from great sadness. Thus, he had already spent five days without sleep. When the time for the vigil came, the elder, although with great difficulty from illness and weakness, came to church and listened to the Divine service while sitting, praying at the same time to the Most Pure Mother of God so that he could fall asleep at least a little. At the end of Vespers and the beginning of Matins I began to feel sleepy. Therefore, he left the church, came to his cell, hurriedly lay down and fell asleep, and slept for three hours. When I woke up, I felt lightness in my head and a slight strengthening in my body, completely freed from sadness. Therefore, with tears, he offered thanks to Christ God and the Most Pure Mother of God. After the liturgy, the elder summoned those in charge of the Neamtse monastery and kindly talked with them privately, promising to reassure them in everything until death, and not to take away their will. At the same time, he accepted from them what they themselves gave him (from the monastery property), without investigating anything at all. Thus they were sincerely reconciled; After several years, they were tonsured into the schema and, having lived piously, reposed in the Lord. Only a few brothers who lived there before left there. The rest joined the brotherhood of Elder Paisius, and thus the two formed one brotherhood, and spiritual peace was established. Then the elder wrote a report to the Prince about the acceptance of the Neamtsa monastery and about the reconciliation and union of the two brotherhoods into one. At the same time, he notified him of the dire need for cells. When this report was read to the Prince, the Prince was very happy and ordered that a letter be written (that Nyamets should be transferred to the care of Elder Paisius) and approved with the handwritten signatures and seals of the Prince, the Metropolitan and the Senate. I also wrote a letter to the Elder on my own behalf, thanking him for his obedience, and promising to help him in his cells and in all other needs. And he gave the letter with the letter to the brothers sent (from the Elder). Having received this charter and letter from the Prince, the elder began to manage both monasteries, according to the prudence given to him by God, with love and meekness. But now his labors have worsened. By the mercy of the Prince, he set up hospitals and other necessary cells in Neamtsa; since their brothers and wandering monks, the elderly, lame, blind and weakened, who had no place to lay their heads, came to him, asking him with tears and sobbing for the sake of Christ to show them mercy. And the elder sent them to the hospital, and commanded Brother Honorius, who was mentioned above, so that he had all the care and care for them, and took care of their reassurance. He commanded the ministers to serve the sick as to the Lord himself, to wash their heads every Saturday and change their shirts, to cleanse their clothes, beds and bedding from everything, especially from insects; and in the summer, so that clothes are often dried out in the sun and weathered. Inside the hospital, it was commanded to maintain all possible cleanliness, to fumigate it daily with incense or other useful smoking, so that there would be no heavy air; prepare the best food, as well as bread and wine. And everyone was grateful - they glorified God with tears, always thanking the elder for his mercy and care for them. – The wandering monks who came, also reassured, stayed in the hospital for as long as they wanted, for a week, two weeks and a month. And no one ever said a single word to them - why are you sitting idle? And others asked the elder to bless them to survive the winter, and he blessed; He gave those who did not have clothes and shirts according to their needs. When summer came and the wanderers left, he gave them what they needed for the journey in large quantities, and thus sent them away in peace. – The elder also received male laymen who suffered from various illnesses and from unclean spirits, and had no place to lay their heads. Food was served to them from the common meal, only in another hospital. And they lived there as long as they wanted, some even until death. Then the composition of the brotherhood also increased. In the Neamtse monastery, with its nearby monasteries, there were up to four hundred brothers, except for those who lived in Sekule, where there were always up to a hundred people. The elder took some of them to his place in Neamets, and from Neamets he also sent some to Sekul. He visited all of them who lived there only once a year, on the feast of the Beheading of the venerable head of St. Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John; and after the holiday, as before, as was his custom, he spoke there a teaching from the Holy Scripture, adding to this some kind of (private) moral teaching. And one evening he spoke Slavic, and the other in Moldavian. He stayed in Sekula for nine days. At this time, all the brethren, from small to great, could freely come to him and explain all their physical and spiritual needs; and he calmed everyone down. 28 And to those who were not at all able to come to him from the hospital, he taught a blessing through the spiritual father Dositheus, and gave them all in abundance everything they needed to satisfy their bodily needs and for peace. This spiritual father Dosifei surpassed everyone in the brotherhood both in his care for the sick, mercy and compassion, and in meekness and humility, quietness and love for everyone. For they often saw how this compassionate father spent the whole night sitting around the seriously ill with compassion and sighs, comforting some with the hope of recovery, and others with the receipt of salvation, thus giving them no small consolation in serious illnesses. Having celebrated the Sekul holiday, the blessed elder Paisius returned to the Neamets monastery, bearing intense labors in his old age, that is, care and heartache for the salvation of the souls of all the brethren of both monasteries, and for everything sending thanks to the most merciful God. In the Neamtse Monastery, the church holiday in the great church is the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. By this time, countless people of both sexes and different ranks have been gathering here for a long time, that is, gentlemen and villagers, rich and poor, not only from Moldavia and Wallachia, but also from other countries who come to venerate the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. And Elder Paisios, due to Abraham’s love of strangeness, tried to calm them all down as much as possible. Then he had no rest for four days in a row. From morning to evening the doors of his cell were open; and there was no obstacle to everyone, rich and poor, who wanted to enter him. He kindly greeted everyone who came, thanking them for their efforts along the way, and promising them from the Lord and the Mother of God, for their faith and love for Her, a spiritual and physical reward. Having given them the blessing, he sent them to the inn and to other cells prepared for that purpose. Moreover, the God-Wise and God-Blessed Elder used such precautions. At the beginning of the holiday, he appointed some reverent brethren, filled with years, reason and the fear of God, to supervise the weak brethren, walking around and inspecting them day and night, lest any temptation occur. And the brothers, knowing the will of their father, themselves protected each other. At the end of the holiday, everyone sent thanks to Christ God and His Most Pure Mother, who enabled them to peacefully and successfully celebrate the Lord’s bright holiday. This is how the elder lived with his brotherhood in the Neamtse monastery. But then a terrible storm arose and mortal fear. The brutal war of the three empires broke out again. The cities and villages of Moldova are deserted; for all the inhabitants fled to the mountains and forests, where only anyone could hide from the fury of the Turks. When, after a short time, the German army appeared and settled at the foot of the Moldavian mountains 29; then all the inhabitants returned to their homes. The Russian army also entered Moldova; and with him Prince Potemkin, with Archbishop Ambrose accompanying him, arrived in the city of Iasi. And the fury of the Turks immediately disappeared. This archbishop, staying in Iasi, and hearing about the blessed elder Paisius and his brotherhood, had an irresistible desire to see him with his own eyes. Having explained this to the highest authorities, and having received permission, he arrived at the Neamets monastery, and was received by the elder with great honor and reverence. Having rested from the journey, the guest of honor spent two days in spiritual conversations with the elder; and on Sunday day the cathedral served the Divine Liturgy, and promoted the elder to archimandrite. This was in 1790. Having stayed in the monastery for two more days, and having taught peace and blessing to everyone, he retired comforted. The entire brotherhood saw him off with great honor and love. Having received, albeit against his will, the degree of archimandrite, the Elder was not even in thought carried away by the glory of this world, and did not exchange anything even the slightest from his dispensation and humility for worldly pride, which was exposed by the Divine confidant of Christ, saying: Do not love the world, neither those in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him: for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of selfishness, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of this world (1 John 2:15-16). Thus imitating his Lord, Elder Paisios, through humility and ardent love for God and neighbor and through the exact fulfillment of all the commandments of the Lord, remained unharmed from this high degree of priesthood and honor; but remained the same as before, in deeds, words and thoughts, even until death. Then all the brethren in the Neamtse monastery, outwardly, lived in peace. But their spiritual residence, in comparison with the first unanimous, peaceful and God-loving stay in Dragomirna and Sekula, finally and irrevocably weakened. The reasons for this were: rumor, carelessness, confusion, and everyone caring about themselves, and as a result of this, abandoning the reading of Divine and paternal writings and attentiveness to oneself. The old man had cried and grieved mortally about this before, as if he had foreseen all this that was about to happen. Fearing this throughout his life, he was sick in heart, and instructed all the brothers, younger and older, to copy and reread the writings of their fathers, so that, jealous of the life of the ancient saints, they would adhere to the narrow path of the Gospel, and would avoid the careless and feigned monastic peace-loving life. Therefore, the elder himself, until his death, with great diligence was engaged in translating patristic and theological books from Hellenic Greek into Slavic, in order to provide benefit and nourishment to souls who, after him, would want to strive, be zealous and heed the teachings of our God-bearing fathers. And one must be amazed at his written works. His body was completely weak. He had wounds all over his right side. On the bed where he slept, he covered himself with books. Here he had multilingual dictionaries, a Greek and Slavic Bible, a Greek and Slavic grammar and a book that he translated; and among the books there are lit candles. He himself, like a little child, sitting bent over, wrote the whole night, forgetting the weakness of the body and serious illnesses and labor. O most passionless holy man! Oh, pure soul, united with God! He was all attached to God with love; he was all ablaze with love for his neighbor. – Who of those with a sound mind can doubt, and who does not recognize and glorify the Creator, the Giver, hearing about this blessed man, the former chosen one from infancy? For although he was not taught external sciences from people, he came to be a perfect man (Eph. 4:13), and being made wise through the fulfillment of the commandments of Christ, he became a chosen vessel, having been taught from above by the grace of God, with the most careful reading of the Divine and paternal scriptures throughout his life. And since, according to the word of St. Isaac, the mysteries are revealed to the humble 30, then the word of Elder Paisius, filled with grace, was strong and effective. It eradicated passions and implanted virtues in the souls of those who listened to it with faith and love. For the Divine Scripture says: I have lifted up the chosen one from among my people (Ps. 89:20). Thus, whomever the Lord chose, he raised him to the heights of the Divine mind and, after many of his labors, enlightened his mind to the knowledge of all the Divine Scriptures. Moreover, God adorned him with all divine gifts. Those who saw all this in him with their own eyes and heard with their own ears (contemporaries) undoubtedly testify to the following about him: 1) In it, as in the purest monastery, lived the Hypostatic Wisdom of God with His Beginningless Father and the Divine Spirit. And from this Wisdom, a honey-flowing source of Divine teachings flowed through his lips, delighting souls and drying up evil passions. 2) He had the Divine mind, through which he rightly understood the dogmas of our Orthodox faith, contained in the Holy Symbol, also the Gospel testaments and commandments, threats and promises, as well as the rules of the Holy Apostles and all the holy Ecumenical Councils and great church teachers and saints, and their interpretations, at the same time the teachings and instructions of our Reverend and God-bearing fathers, and with all my heart strongly protected them, and kept them intact, like the apple of his eye. 3) He had the gift of advice, through which he rightly and truly, according to the teaching and instruction of our holy and God-bearing fathers, taught to all who asked for instruction from him. And whoever accepted them with faith and practiced doing the commandments of God according to his teaching and advice, succeeded in humility, patience and love. 4) He had the gift of strength, remaining firm in faith, love and hope in God’s providence in all sorrows and temptations. 5) Had the fear of God, keeping the commandments of the Lord like the apple of his eye; for even for one smallest commandment he was ready to lay down his life. He taught the same to his entire brotherhood. 6) There was a fiery love in him, with which from his youth he wholeheartedly loved his Lord, and which, prospering, became more and more inflamed, and spread equally to all his neighbors. For he warmed everyone with his love and jealousy, sympathized with everyone, had compassion for everyone, embracing with his soul especially his spiritual children. However, he did not turn away from every person who came to him and asked him for alms, whether mental or physical, and did not let him go without satisfaction, 7) He always had peace with everyone; for he never grieved for anyone, and did not despise anyone, even if he suffered something from anyone. He also instructed all his spiritual children to live in peace. 8) Long-suffering and meekness were inseparably united in him and, as it were, fused together. For they never saw anger or embarrassment in him, except for the transgression of God’s commandment; but he always appeared meek and patient. For he rebuked and rebuked with meekness, instructed and taught with love, had mercy and was patient with the hope of correcting those who had sinned. 9) The kindness and simplicity in him were childlike; the mind and understanding are Divine and lofty, and not infantile. 10) His humility was great, and is known (fully) only to God alone. For this blessed elder imitated our venerable and God-bearing fathers with spiritual exploits and supernatural labors. For the sake of the love of God, from his youth, resisting all passions to the point of bleeding, he despised, according to the word of the Lord, everything in the world, race, glory and wealth; He did not spare his soul, but loved the narrow and sorrowful path of the Gospel. Therefore, the Lord, by His grace, subdued him under his feet, and gave him rage and lust and all evil mental and physical passions to trample underfoot. When he reached the level of a perfect man, the Lord adorned him with all the spoken gifts of the Holy Spirit. This holy man was adorned with all external virtues. His face was white and bright, like the face of an Angel of God. The gaze is quiet, the word is humble and alien to boldness. He attracted everyone to himself with love, like an iron magnet; for he was all filled with grace, pouring out mercy on everyone. His mind was always united in love with God. Tears were a witness to this. For when he spoke to the brethren from the Holy Scriptures, affirming the truth, his heart burned with love for the Lord, his face bloomed with spiritual joy, and shone with love for his neighbor, and his eyes shed tears. But what kind of labors and exploits the blessed elder undertook, with care and great zeal, regarding the knowledge (of his pure understanding) of the right Gospel and the true monastic path, and regarding the knowledge of his pure understanding, safe from subterfuge and pretexts (enemies) from the gum and neck, which (the understanding of the true path) encourages good deeds according to God every soul, and especially those who force themselves to keep the commandments of the Lord, as St. Peter of Damascus. And what bitter tears he shed, with sadness and sighs, and in what bewilderment he was, humbly falling to God to find what he was looking for! For whole days and nights he studied the Divine and paternal writings, clinging to God with faith, hope and love for Him burning in his heart, searching and pressing with humility, fasting and unceasing prayers with tears, at all times. And by the grace of God, he found in his heart, according to the word of the Lord, a source of living water, from which he himself drank until he was full, and gave it to all who sought it unapologetically. What monasticism is and what is the essence of its practice, and what kind of secret of communal monastic obedience is this, and what success it brings to the novice who goes through it with spiritual intelligence, Elder Paisius explained and taught all this from the Divine Scriptures. And one more thing: that there is vision and mental prayer of the heart, that is, performed with the mind in the heart, as he was taught by the above-mentioned Holy Fathers, and learned by his own experience with the help of the grace of God - he revealed everything infallibly to all who seek, not only verbally, but also through the scriptures. However, he only revealed it there where he received a command, or when he was convinced by extreme necessity; for he was very humble in wisdom, and shrank away from praise as from some kind of stench. But as much as he, from his very youth, ran away and moved away from the honor and glory of man, just as much in many countries God glorified him; and his name was and is respectable before everyone, both lower and higher. And a conversation about him leads those talking to the glorification of God. For by glorifying him, people glorify God, who in recent disastrous and cruel times revealed His true saint and the unforgettable mentor of the monastic community. The elder was not without the gift of foresight. And what he foresaw came true. So he predicted a fierce death for the pious commander Gregory Gipa; for many times in a dream he saw a sword hanging over his head by one thread. This is what the governor soon suffered. By order of the Turkish Sultan, his head was cut off; and the old man cried a lot for him. Also: often the elder cried with sighs for one brother of his community, and exhorted him a lot so that he would correct some of his mistakes; but this brother did not obey and postponed his correction. On the third day after the admonition, he drowned. Also, the elder asked a lot and exhorted one brother not to leave the monastery; and finally said to him with tears: brother! listen to me; for you will not see the place where you want to go. But he did not listen, and on the fourth day he died on the way. The blessed elder cried a lot for him. There were many more similar predictions of the elder due to his foresight. There is no need to write about the miracles and healings of Elder Paisius; for holiness is not recognized by miracles alone, by the truth of holy men, that they are holy and blameless before God, but by the true Orthodox faith and by the exact knowledge of the dogmas about God, and by the strict keeping of all the Apostolic and Council rules and traditions of the Orthodox Eastern Church, and by an immaculate life, in agreement with all the Gospel and patristic commandments. For many, both wicked and heretics, with the permission of God and the assistance of the devil, work miracles. The Lord said about them: Many people will say to Me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your Name have we done many mighty works (Matthew 7:22)? And he answered and said to them: We don’t know where you come from. Depart from Me, all workers of unrighteousness (Luke 13:25.27), who have despised and mocked My holy commandments. To the right believers he says: If you love Me, keep My commandments. And again: If you have My commandments and keep them, you will love Me. And: if you do not love Me, you will not keep My words (John 14:15. 21. 24). And St. John Chrysostom also taught about this, saying: to recognize a righteous man, that he is holy, should not be by miracles and prophecies, but by his good life, as the Lord said: by their fruit you will know them (Matthew 7:16). The great Apostle pointed out the fruits of a righteous man, saying: spiritual fruit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, and so on. And those who are Christ's are the flesh crucified with passions and lusts (Gal.5:22-24). With these words the Divine Apostle depicted the life, prosperity and fruits of a Christian living in the world and a monk, so that each of them tried to acquire their own fruits. And the success of a Christian (layman) is that he only abandons all evil and acquires the above-mentioned fruits. The success of a monk is if he crucifies himself to everything, that is, to this world, passions and lusts. Whether such a one works miracles or not, it will become known that he is holy and a friend of God. Therefore, Elder Paisius attributed all the miracles and healings that happened through his prayers, as it should, to the Mother of God. Now, having reviewed the entire life of Elder Paisius, as far as was possible in his time, and having presented his secret deeds to the One All-Knowing Lord, we have already approached his blessed death. Among the usual labors of Elder Paisius, the time had finally come for him to pay off his common inevitable debt - the separation of the soul from the body was approaching. And, according to those who were with him, even before many days he received notification from the Lord of his death. For he had already abandoned the translation of books, but only read and corrected the places that required correction. Then the old man fell into a serious illness, fell ill, and was so seriously ill for four days. On Sunday he felt better; and he expressed a desire to listen to the Divine Liturgy; came to church and sat. Before the communion verse began, he entered the altar and received Holy Communion. And at the end of the Liturgy, the elder could barely come to his cell. He was led and supported by his brother, who served him. Since then he was even more seriously ill for three days. At this time, Fathers Honorius and Martyrius, who followed him, did not allow anyone to see him except the spiritual, most reverent and oldest of the brethren; for the elder wanted to die in silence. On the fourth day, when the hour of death approached, he still received communion of the Divine Mysteries, and then, calling two confessors, Sophrony the Slav and Sylvester the Moldavian, through them he imparted peace and blessing to the entire brotherhood. He said nothing about the election of the rector. And so he died, as if he had fallen asleep, betraying his holy soul into the hands of God on the 15th day of November 1794, having lived 72 years from birth. A messenger was immediately sent from the entire brotherhood with a letter to Iasi to Metropolitan Jacob about the death of the Elder. The Metropolitan asked the God-loving Bishop of Tumsk, Veniamin, who later was the Metropolitan of all Moldavia, to go to the Neamets Monastery for burial. When the rumor about the death of Elder Paisius spread everywhere, countless people, monks and laymen, priests, gentlemen and commoners of both sexes gathered at the monastery. And they all mourned his death with bitter tears. They waited for the Bishop for three days for burial, but on the fourth the whole cathedral honestly buried his body in the great church, on the right side. And the very next day after the burial, the God-loving Bishop arrived at night, and in the morning he celebrated the Divine Liturgy and requiem service at the cathedral. Soon after this, this God-loving saint, with the consent of the Council, and with the blessing of the Metropolitan, appointed the first confessor in the brotherhood, Father Sophrony, as the Elder and Archimandrite of the monastery. Therefore, all the brothers who were in sorrow received some kind of consolation, having peace of mind; for all the brothers of the Moldavian and Slavic clan loved him for his love for everyone and humility, especially for his extreme mercy. After Father Sophrony, Father Dorotheus was an Elder; and behind Father Dorotheus is Father Dositheus. Both of these Elders, before their death, due to weakness, resigned from the Eldership. After Father Dosifei, Father John was the Elder. All these four Elders were of Slavic origin. After the death of Father John, the first Elder of Moldavian origin was Father Sylvester. All these spiritual men and others like them were sacred disciples of Elder Paisius. Having said a little something about the chosen disciples of the blessed Elder, let us again turn to him himself, and we will finish this story about him like this: Oh, humble and meek soul! O man, filled with Divine reasoning! All his life he thought about this only, so that he could have himself lower than all people, as an ignorant and insolent person, as a slave and debtor to all his brothers. For he has learned this well from the Divine Apostle, who says: If anyone thinks he is wise in you in this matter, let him be, for he will be wise (1 Cor. 3:18). And from the Lord Himself, who said: If anyone wants to grow old, let him be a servant of all (Mark 9:35). This is what he did at his death, not daring to appoint anyone as an Elder after himself, as was said above, but leaving it to Christ God and the God-loving Bishop and the holy Council of brethren to elect an Elder and mentor whom they themselves would judge. And he himself, as having fulfilled the duty of his service, went to the Lord. The exploits, instructions and writings of the Moldavian Elder Paisius, our compatriot both by place of birth and by union of love, had a great influence on Russian monasteries; the example of his life and the light of his teaching shed abundantly on Russian monasticism. For many of the Russians, seeking salvation and renouncing the world, wandering in Palestine, Mount Athos and Moldova, and collecting, like bees from flowers, the honey of saving teachings from the ascetics who lived in those places, found especially in the monastery of Elder Paisius the greatest spiritual benefit, learning from the example of his lofty life and his honey-bearing instructions, monastic deeds and the inner work of mental prayer. Upon returning to Russia, they passed on the spiritual treasure they acquired there to others seeking salvation - some as leaders of the monasteries, and others as members of the brotherhood. No less than this, the book works of the blessed elder Paisius contributed to the spread of spiritual enlightenment, which he picked up in the translation of the fatherly writings, some of which had not been previously translated into the Slavic language, while others, although they were translated and were found in manuscripts here and there, their translation was so ancient and in many places distorted by the mistakes of copyists that it became almost incomprehensible. Elder Paisius corrected it according to the Greek originals with all possible care, as he himself explains in his letter to Father Theodosius, Archimandrite of the Sophronium Hermitage. He translated from Greek the book Philokalia, which contains the writings of 24 God-wise fathers and ascetics, guiding to the highest Christian wisdom, by which the Christ-loving soul is purified, enlightened and raised to union with God through internal, active and contemplative prayer, constantly performed by the mind in the heart. His Eminence Gabriel Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, who deeply respected Father Paisius and had spiritual communication with him, earnestly desired to see and publish this book, and repeatedly asked him to do so; but the wise old man did not dare to do this for a long time, partly out of a feeling of humility, partly out of fear, so that arrogant people would not misinterpret the holy teaching contained in it (about unceasing prayer) and, by doing it arbitrarily, without proper guidance and order, would not fall into conceit and delusion, and thus would not give rise to the debasement of the shrine. Finally, the Elder’s disciple Athanasius delivered to the Metropolitan both the Greek original and the Elders’ translation of this book, which, as directed by the Metropolitan, was first examined by teachers of the Alexandronevsky Academy who knew Greek, and then (as is known from the tradition preserved in the Trinity Lavra of Sergius) given for revision and correction to the teacher of the Greek language in the Sergius Lavra, Yakov Dmitrievich Nikolsky (who was later protopresbyter of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral), corrected by him in places difficult to understand, and printed at the Moscow Synodal Printing House, for the first time in 1793; then, through the diligent efforts of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, for the second time in 1822 and for the third time in 1832. In addition to the Philokalia, Elder Paisius also translated a book by the great teacher of inner life, St. Isaac the Syrian, 32 and this translation was published in Moldova. In addition, the ancient Slavic translations of the writings of Macarius the Great, John Climacus, St. Barsanuphius, Thalassia and Simeon the New Theologian; and books translated by him: Maximus the Confessor on the question and answer of Theodore the Studite (from simple Greek), the life of Gregory the Sinaite, the words of Gregory Palamas and others, which are used by Bulgarian, Serbian, and Russian Christians who thirst for spiritual edification and salvation. Among the Russian monks who used the example and teaching of Elder Paisius, the following are known. 1) Archimandrite Theodosius of the Sophronium Hermitage, a disciple of the wise elder Vasily, of whom Father Paisius was also a disciple and tonsure: from 1767 he, after the elder Vasily, ruled the Vlakhian monastery of Merlopolyansky; and then during the Turkish War in 1787 he was summoned with his students to Russia by Prince Potemkin. In Russia, he was given control of the Sophronie Hermitage in the Kursk province, in which he lived for a considerable time, tending the verbal flock and instructing the brethren from the paternal writings and his own experience of spiritual life. From this monastery many were subsequently elected abbots of the monasteries of that diocese. Theodosius, throughout his life, was a friend of Elder Paisius; a letter from the Elder attached to this book was written to him, in response to his request to send spiritual books for the edification of the brethren living in the Sophronius desert. 2) Elder Cleopas, who lived for quite some time on Mount Athos and in Moldavia in the Dragomirna Monastery, and had close spiritual communication with Elder Paisius; upon leaving Russia, even before 1788, he was the rector of the Ostrovskaya Vvedenskaya hermitage; spiritual worker and guardian of intelligent sobriety. He introduced the cenobitic rule of Mount Athos in the Ostrovskaya hermitage, which was transferred by his followers Ignatius and Macarius to the Pesnoshsky cenobitic monastery, which is now part of the Moscow diocese. – Ignatius, from 1778 after Cleopas, was the builder of the Ostrovskaya Vvedenskaya Hermitage; from 1788, archimandrite of the Tikhvin Monastery, where, with the blessing of Metropolitan Gabriel, he introduced a communal charter; Finally, in 1795, he was transferred by archimandrite to the Simonov Monastery to establish a hostel, and died there in 1796. Everywhere he was for the brethren an example of virtuous living, and especially of humility, poverty and non-covetousness; I have not worn silk clothes since entering monasticism; He was merciful to the poor, compassionate to the unfortunate, full of love and beneficent to the brethren. – Macarius was the rector of the Pesnosh monastery from 1788 until his death in 1811. He had a spiritual connection and correspondence with Elder Paisius, the mentor of his benefactor Elder Cleopas, and received a staff as a gift from him. The Pesnosha monastery especially owes its structure and splendor, external and internal, to him. Tireless and knowledgeable in economic works, he was even more tireless in the exploits of his inner life. His appearance seemed stern, but his soul was full of fatherly love; he did not have any property, but shared everything with his brethren; He received everyone with kindness, and his simplicity of heart, coupled with spiritual wisdom, involuntarily attracted universal respect to him. Metropolitan Platon often presented him as an example to other abbots and instructed him to organize various monasteries; and indeed many of them borrowed from Pesnosha both the order of community life and the monks capable of maintaining it. Thus, the abbot of Kirillonovozersk Theophanes, well known for his pious life, was on Pesnosha in 1790, from there he borrowed the cenobitic charter and asked Macarius for several of the brethren for help in establishing a hostel in the Novozersky monastery; so the hermitages: Davidova, Optina, Berlyukovskaya, Ekaterininskaya, Medvedeva, Krivoezerskaya, and the monasteries: Golutvinsky and Moscow Sretensky received the best structure of the hostel according to the model of the Pesnoshsky monastery, with the assistance and leadership of Macarius. His companions in spiritual work were Samuel, later the abbot of the Golutvin Monastery, Avramiy, later the abbot of the Kozelsk Optina Hermitage, and Hierotheus, who was then the builder of the Catherine Hermitage. 3) Hieromonk Cleopas and 4) Schemamonk Theodore, the first from Little Russia, and the second from citizens of the city of Karachev, who lived for many years in the monastery of Elder Paisius and took monastic vows from him, were thoroughly instructed and confirmed by him in spiritual life; went to Russia in 1801. Cleopas lived in the Oryol diocese in the Beloberezh hermitage and in the St. Petersburg diocese in the Valaam monastery; Theodore - in the Cholna Monastery; in the deserts: Beloberezhskaya, Paleostrovskaya, in the monastery of the Valaam monastery and in the Alexandrosvir monastery 33. – From them they received education in spiritual deeds and clever deeds: Hieromonk Leonid 34, Hieromonk Gabriel and many others. Equally, not only the monastics, but also the secular, who received from them edification and consolation in their spiritual sorrows, benefited spiritually from these latter. The blessed death of these spiritual ascetics confirms the fruit of their pious life. Hieromonk Cleopas died in the Valaam Monastery in 1816; Schemamonk Theodore in the Svirsky Monastery in 1822, and Hieromonk Leonid in the Optina Hermitage in 1841. 5) Schemamonk Athanasius, former captain of the hussar regiment, by the name of Zakharov, lived with Elder Paisius for more than 7 years and accepted the monastic image from him; Most of all, with the blessing of Elder Paisius, he was engaged in copying out instructions from the books of his fathers on prayer, humility, patience, obedience, love and other virtues, the acquisition of which he was always concerned about. Due to necessary circumstances and at his request, he was released to Russia, with the monks Ambrose and Feofan, in 1777. Here, due to many temptations he endured, he was assigned to the Vladimir diocese in the Florishcheva hermitage, and after living there quite in pious deeds, he received peace from them in the Bogoroditskaya Ploshchanskaya hermitage, Oryol diocese, being sent to the diocese for the sake of many who benefited from his life and teaching, filled with love and humility. He died a blessed death in 1828. Coming from the Florishcheva Hermitage to Moscow, he had spiritual conversations about smart work and about many subjects of monastic life with hieromonks Alexander (later archimandrite in Arzamas) and Philaret, who were at that time in the Novospassky Monastery, 35 who, although they did not know Paisius personally, used the spiritual teachings contained in the writings translated by him fatherly, and had great love and zeal, and reverence for this spiritual leader: from them, Alexander corresponded with Father Paisius himself. 6) Schemamonk Athanasius, one of the Senate secretaries, leaving the world, wandered in St. Mount Athos and in Moldavia, he lived in the monastery of Elder Paisius, from whom he was entrusted for the edification of Elder Sophronius (successor of Paisius' leadership in the Nyametsk Hermitage). He died in the same Svensky Monastery in 1811, in the arms of the above-mentioned schemamonk Afanasy, Zakharov. He brought the book to St. Petersburg from Moldova: The Philokalia in Greek and when, in 1791 and 92, with the blessing of Metropolitan Gabriel, the translation of this book made by Elder Paisius was compared with the Greek original, and the expressions and phrases that were difficult to understand in it had to be replaced with more clear and generally understandable ones, then those who worked in this matter were obliged were, by appointment of the Metropolitan, to constantly consult about everything that they found necessary to correct, with the spiritual elders, who in fact, according to the leadership of Father Paisius, passed through the lofty teaching set forth in the Philokalia - namely: with the abbot of the Valaam monastery Nazarius, with Hieromonk Theophan, later the archimandrite of the New Lake Monastery, with the above-mentioned Hieromonk Philaret, who was then still hierodeacon of the Alexandronevsky Lavra and with Athanasius, who brought this book to Russia, whose worldly name was Andrei Nikolaevich: “They,” the wise archpastor said to the learned translators, “although they do not know the Greek language like you do, they know better from experience the spiritual truths, incomprehensible only by book teaching, and therefore they can more correctly understand the meaning of the instructions contained in this book.” 7) Monk Pavel, who lived in Moldova under Elder Paisius and went to Russia, ended his days in the Moscow Simonov Monastery. He suffered a lot in 1812, during the invasion of the French, being beaten by them, and spent the rest of his life in a painful situation, giving benefit to many who sought it with his spiritual talent. 8) Monk Gerasim, tonsured by the elders, went to Russia and lived in the Sophronium Hermitage. This hardworking elder, with his spiritual gifts, set an example for the other brethren, with his hardworking obedience, until a very old age, having acquired deep humility through it. 9) Monk Theophanes, who lived in Optina Hermitage 36. It is known that in addition to these pious elders, many who lived under Father Paisius received spiritual enlightenment from him and then went to Russia for various reasons; others, while traveling and settling down for a while in his monastery, were saturated with his spiritual teachings, and all They dispersed and settled in different Russian monasteries, installing in them the spiritual enlightenment they acquired from the life and teachings of Elder Paisius. We cannot count them all; but at least some of them are known, such as: Hieromonk Vasily, of noble origin, born in Fatezh district; his worldly name was Vladimir Timofeevich Kishkin; he traveled and lived for several years with his disciples in Mount Athos and in Moldavia after 1780; after that he was a builder in the Beloberezh Hermitage and ended his days in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage in retirement in 1831. There was a spiritual elder, from whom many benefited spiritually, and was especially distinguished from a young age by his chastity, humility, patience and love for those who insulted him. Of his students, the following are known: Anastasius, Israel, Seraphim, who later became the rector of the Beloberezh Hermitage, and Filaret, abbot of the Glinsk Hermitage. - Monk Arseny, who spent most of his life in deserted forests and died in the Beloberezh desert in 1844. Hieroschemamonk Athanasius, a spiritually enlightened elder, also a silent inhabitant of the desert, rested in the Lord from his labors in the Bryansk Svensky Monastery, in 1843, maintaining spiritual sobriety until death in obedience; He was for many a lamp shining in the darkness. Abbot Samuil, former abbot of the Kolomna Golutvin Monastery, a skilled practitioner of smart sobriety. – Monk Arseny had a spiritual life and died in the Simonov Monastery. – Hieroschemamonk Liveriy, in the Ekaterinoslav diocese, who died in 1824 at a ripe old age. Archimandrite Macarius, who managed the Altai mission, used his instructions. All this, from many to very few, is presented here. But who can count all those who have used and are now enjoying spiritual enlightenment in Russian monasteries from the works and teachings of Elder Paisius, transmitted and passed on to each other? For all this, may the most merciful Lord increase the reward of reward in the endless century to the blessed elder Paisius; and we, Russians, must feel the spiritual benefit poured out on us by God’s providence through him, not for monasticism alone, but also for the strengthening of the entire Orthodox Church. For he, at the height of his spiritual life, was a zealous guardian of the dogmas and rules of the Holy Church, and taught others the strict preservation of them as the most necessary basis for our salvation. Let us give for all this, according to our strength, glory, thanksgiving and worship to the one God, glorified and worshiped in the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. See: Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov. Optina Pustyn. UMSA-Press, Paris, 1988, pp. 55–56. See: Archimandrite Cherubim. Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos. Vol I, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood Press, 1991, pp. 16–20. See: “Biography in Bose of the deceased Optina elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose” in 2 hours, M. 1900. Reprint - M., “Posad”, 1992. Archpriest Sergius Chetverikov. Elder Paisiy (Velichkovsky). Paris, YMCA-Press, 1988. Also in The Truth of Christianity, ed. Krutitsky Patriarchal Metochion, Moscow, 1998 These words and the ones that follow them are placed at the very end of the biography in the Slavic dialect. Dobrotolyub. E. Feofan. Simeon Ave. N. B. active and theological chapters, 6 ch. The cellarer is a monk in charge of the monastery supplies. This is what is written in Elder Paisius’s own story. Word 55 Pr. Isaac the Syrian. Ave. Isaac the Syrian lyrics 41. Callistus 2nd - unanimous - Ignatius from the monastery of Xanthopoulova. From the handwritten story of Elder Paisius. A pair, a wig - a small coin in Moldova-Wallachia is equal to our two kopecks. According to Climacus, the 1st rank is to live in solitude, or hermitage, the 2nd is to remain silent with one or many - with two, the 3rd is to patiently stay in a community (word and, chapter 26). See Twelve ff. Ave. Simeon N.B. in Russian. lane edition of Optina Pustyn word 8, the beginning of the table of contents of which is: About the fact that the shepherd of the verbal flock of Christ must first examine and carefully examine himself, and so on. However, only the thoughts of Pr. are given here. Simeon, and not the literal text of the speech. In Mount Athos it is called a cell if it has a church; without a church it is called kalibi. See Twelve Words Prov. Simeon N.B., edition of Optina Hermitage, word 2, from which, as above, the thought is given, and not the literal text. Lev for our money is 6 or 7 kopecks. Ladder of Optinsky ed. Word 7 chapter. 64. Russian Dobrotolyub. vol. V of St. Gregory of Sinai, article 3 on silence and prayer, ch. II About reading. – Intercalary words are borrowed from the Slavs. original. Twelve Words Pr. Simeon N.B. Optins publication. 1869 word 2, p. 25, and above p. 24. – Intercalated words from the original. Twelve Words Pr. Simeon N.B. Optins publication. 1869 word 6, p. 98. There, the end of the 5th word. The text is translated into Russian translation. Twelve Words Pr. Simeon N.B. word 6th page. St. Isaac the Syrian mobile words. Russian translation 1858, word 55, countries. 374. In St. Isaac the Syrian in the 89th word. 27 In the original, it is inserted here in parentheses: if others wrote here differently, that is, as if the Elder accepted the Neamets monastery without much sadness; they did it because they didn’t know well what was happening. I (Mitrofan), a former eye-witness of all this, know for certain that everything was as I say here. And the Elder speaks to the brethren like this: if one of you has any spiritual or physical need, and grieves and grumbles, but does not come to me and does not open up about this, I will not answer for this grief before God. That is, Austrian; because Austria was in an alliance with Russia at that time. St. Isaac the Sir. mobile words. Word 66 and 56. In the Slavic original, this article is placed at the beginning of the book under the following title: Preface from the Russian publisher. This book in manuscript was sent from the elder to Metropolitan Gabriel, with a handwritten signature in the preface: “Archimandrite Paisius (Velichkovsky), a native of Poltava, who worked in the translation of the Holy Ascension Nyametsky and Predtechev Sekul Moldovan Lakhian monasteries.” The life of schemamonk Theodore was published in Moscow, in a special book, compiled briefly from his more extensive handwritten life. This hieromonk Leonid (in schema Leo) was from the citizens of the city of Karachev, in the world he was called Lev Danilovich Nagolkin. Initially entered the Kozelskaya Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn in ^97; After living for two years, he moved to the White-Berezhskaya hermitage, located in the Oryol province, where he was tonsured a monk in 1801 by the builder Hieromonk Vasily. Elders Alexander and Philaret (in schema Theodore), who lived together for a long time in the Novospassky Monastery, were united by a union of special spiritual friendship. Hieromonk Filaret was from the city of Vyazma, the son of a wealthy merchant named Pulyashkin. At the age of thirteen he entered the monastery, early feeling an inner aversion to secular pursuits and, from childhood, delving into the reading of spiritual books that were in his father’s house. It is unknown where he initially entered; but subsequently he spent several years in the Sarov desert and then in the Nevsky Lavra under Metropolitan Gabriel. From St. Petersburg, Elder Philaret moved to Moscow, spent some time in the Simonov Monastery and then in Novospassky, where he stayed in the same cell for more than 40 years, rarely stepping outside the gates of the monastery fence. Monk Feofan, a native of the Vladimir province, was in the service of the Black Sea Cossack army, Kuren Voskresensky; before he was tonsured, he was called Cossack Fedor Talunin; He entered service on May 5, 1789, and was dismissed due to illness in 1791. After retirement, he spent some time on probation in the Sophronium Hermitage; from there he moved to Moldavia, where he studied monasticism with Elder Paisius in the Nyametsky monastery, undergoing obedience with strict rejection of his will and worked for three years in a cookery. After the death of the elder, he returned to Russia, and was accepted into Optina Pustyn by decree of March 7, 1800, and was tonsured into monasticism on September 26, 1801. In the name list of monastics for 1816 it is stated that he was “45 years old, studied Russian literacy, served as a sexton, zealous for the church, tireless in the labors of obedience and good behavior.” In extreme non-covetousness and meekness of spirit, the active virtues of fasting, prayers and prostrations were carried out with ardent zeal. During the entire first and entire last weeks of Great Lent, I did not eat anything; and on other fasts he ate food on the third day. Jealousy for the exploits of fasting prompted him to enter with faith into a great measure of supernatural fasting. At one time, he revealed to his brother, who was close to him by living together in solitude, his indispensable desire to spend the entire holy day. Lent without food; “I believe,” he said, “that I will not die from fasting.” The brother, having heard this, could neither deviate him from this intention nor confirm it, but left this excessive feat to his will. And so entering St. During Lent, Theophanes did not eat anything during the entire fast, but only once a week he drank warm water for dryness; After all 40 days, he endured the entire service privately, and besides this he bowed a lot; He heated the cell himself and was constantly visible in good spirits. At one time, his brother, noticing him in exhaustion, said to him: Father, you have exhausted yourself very much; Theophanes answered this: “No; Christ the Savior shed all His blood to the last drop, and there is still a lot of blood in me.” Having endured this feat with God's help without weakening, he partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Subsequently, he was jealous of the same feat; but from a cold he fell ill with a severe cough, and gradually depleting his bodily strength, on July 15, 1819, at the end of Matins, when his brother asked him: is his soul at peace, is he afraid of anything in the hour of death? He answered; “I joyfully wish to be freed from this life,” and immediately began to end, raised his hand for the sign of the cross, and with that he departed to the Lord.