Priestly position

Contents About the seven holy Sacraments About the commandments of God Addition “To the priestly office.” About the Sacrament of Holy Repentance How to proceed during confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries of a sick person An Apostle’s exhortation to the pastors A district letter to the Voronezh clergy An instruction or model on how to exhort and persuade defendants to repentance and confession An instruction on how catechetical teaching should be offered to the people Instructions on the celebration of marriages Instructions on what seminarians must observe Instructions for teachers on how to perform their duties to enter one's rank About the seven holy sacraments 1 Brief information that every priest should know and understand as a memory throughout his entire life Question. What is a Sacrament? Answer. A sacrament is a service that, under some visible form, brings the invisible grace of God into the soul of the faithful. Q. Who instituted the Sacraments? O. Christ the Lord established, some Himself, others through the apostles. Q. Why did Christ the Lord institute the Sacraments? A. As a testimony of His love for us and for healing for our salvation. Q. How does the Sacrament work for human salvation? O. Depicts the grace of God and the seal of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the recipient of the Sacrament. Q. Can the Sacraments be repeated? A. Some can, and others cannot, repeat themselves. Q. Which ones cannot and which ones can be repeated? A. The following three cannot be repeated: And the last four, that is: Repentance, Eucharist, Marriages, Blessing of Anointing - can be repeated. Q. What does the Sacrament consist of? A. Of the two things without which there can be no Sacrament. 1. From matter, that is, from things appropriate to the Sacrament. 2. From the form, that is, from the performance, or priestly words with which the Sacrament is performed. Q. What must be observed in every Sacrament? 1. The priest must be correctly consecrated. 2. There must be a suitable and decent thing for the Sacrament that should be performed, for example, in Baptism - water, in the Eucharist - bread and wine, in the Blessing of Anointing - oil, and also in other Sacraments there are decent things for them. 3. The priest must know with what words the Sacrament is performed; moreover, he must have a strong intention to perform the Sacrament in order to act according to the rite of the Church and perform it by the power of the Holy Spirit. And without such an intention, or when the priest does not know with what words the Sacrament is performed, or when he acts in unconsciousness, without any intention, he never performs the Sacrament, but, like an unbreakable slave, is eternally condemned to destruction. 4. Those who receive the Sacrament must have strong zeal and desire for this. A. Baptism is a Sacrament in which, through three times immersion in water, the invisible grace of the Holy Spirit washes away the sins of the person being baptized. Q. What matter or thing is needed for Baptism? A. The water is natural, simple, not mixed with anything, clean. Q. What is the form or administration of Baptism? A. The words are: “The servant of God or the servant of God (name) is baptized in the name of the Father, amen, and the Son, amen, and the Holy Spirit, amen. Q. What is to be observed in this Sacrament? 1. The priest must speak the form, or the fulfillment, that is, the words: “The servant of God is baptized,” and so on, together with the immersion. 2. A recipient who denies the devil and all his works for the baptized person must be Orthodox and not a heretic. 3. If the person being baptized is of full age, and can understand and speak, let him deny (the devil and all his works) and answer priestly questions. Q. What is Confirmation? A. Confirmation is a Sacrament in which strength is given to us through the Holy Spirit so that we can firmly confess the name of Christ and the Orthodox faith. Q. What is the matter or thing of Confirmation? O. Holy myrrh, consecrated by the bishop. Q. What is the form or accomplishment? A. The words are: “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, amen.” Q. What is proper to be observed in this Sacrament? 1. The holy myrrh must be intact in its fragrance, because the myrrh, which has no fragrance or has become stale, is not suitable for performing the Sacrament, since with the change in the fragrance, its essence has also changed. 2. The priest, anointing (with ointment) in certain places, must repeat the above words with each anointing: “The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” A. Repentance is pity and sickness for sins committed after Baptism, which, through unfeigned and true confession and contrition of the heart, are forgiven through priestly permission. Q. What is the matter or thing of repentance? A. Sins, contrition of heart, confession and penance. Q. What is the form, or performance, of repentance? A. The words are: “Our Lord and God Jesus Christ by grace and compassion,” and so on to the end. A. Sin is a transgression of God’s commandment. Q. Why is sin called mortal? A. Because it causes eternal death to the soul. Q. How many deadly sins? 1. Pride, that is, an unruly desire for power and glory. 2. Delicacy (lust), that is, an immense desire for external goods, or, in other words, the desire to have wealth and acquisitions. 3. Fornication and uncleanness, that is, disorderly desire for carnal defilement, or the very act of fulfilling bodily lust. 4. Gluttony or gluttony, that is, excessive consumption of food and drink. 5. Envy, that is, sadness and heart disease about the good of one’s neighbor, joy and joy about evil. 6. Anger, that is, an immense desire for revenge. 7. Laziness, or despondency, that is, coldness and carelessness about spiritual salvation. Q. How many sins are against the Holy Spirit? 1. Despair, in which there is no hope for God’s mercy. 2. Excessive reliance on the mercy of God. 3. Resistance to the known truth of Holy Scripture and the dogmas of faith approved by the Apostles and Holy Fathers. 4. Envy of the spiritual benefits that one’s neighbor receives from God. 5. Staying in sins and growing old in anger. 6. Neglect of spiritual salvation until the end of your life. Q. How many sins are there crying to heaven to God and asking for vengeance? 1. Free homicide. 3. Causing harm to the poor, widows and orphans, insult and oppression. 4. Withholding or failure to pay employees and employees. Q. What must be observed in the Sacrament of Penance? 1. The repentant must be a Christian of the Orthodox faith, because repentance apart from true faith is unpleasant to God. 2. Also, confession must be before the Orthodox spiritual father, since a heretic and apostate will not absolve the repentant from his sins. 3. The repentant must have contrition of heart and sadness for the sins with which he angered God. 4. The penitent must confess all sins in detail, declaring each of them separately. 5. Confession must be humble, reverent, true; when confessing, one must blame oneself and not blame another. 6. The repentant must have the absolute intention not to return to those sins that were confessed and to correct his life. 7. After confession, he must immediately fulfill the penance for sins prescribed by his confessor; penance must be moderate and assigned with consideration regarding the person of the penitent, rank, age, sins and their causes, and other things. 8. The seal of the Sacrament is this: the confessor must keep within himself the sins heard in confession and not reveal them to anyone, in any cases other than those explained in the “Spiritual Regulations” 2. A. The Eucharist is the Sacrament in which the true Body and true Blood of Christ our God is given to us under the appearance of bread and wine, in which Jesus Christ is truly and sovereignly present. Q. What is the matter or thing of the Eucharist? A. Wheat bread, leavened bread, and natural grape wine. A. The words are: “And make this bread the honorable Body of Thy Christ, and put into this cup the honorable Blood of Thy Christ, translating it by Thy Holy Spirit,” and then the bread and wine are transformed into the true Body and into the true Blood of Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. Q. What must be observed in this Sacrament? 1. The priest must be legally consecrated, for no one can perform this Sacrament except a bishop or a priest. 2. There must be things appropriate for this Sacrament, that is, wheat bread, leavened bread, pure, not mixed with other flour; Likewise, the wine must be natural and unfeigned and not mixed with anything, but pure in itself, neither turned into vinegar nor moldy. A little water should be poured into it at the proskomedia, according to the order set out in the Service Books. 3. The throne on which the Bloodless Sacrifice is offered must be consecrated by the bishop himself; or instead of the throne there should at least be an antimension consecrated by the bishop. For no one can consecrate the throne or antimension except the bishop. 4. During the consecration of the Gifts, the priest must have the thought and intention that the essence of bread and wine will change into the essence of the Body and Blood of Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit. A. Marriage is a Sacrament through which male and female persons are combined by mutual consent of both and with the blessing of the priest. Q. What is the matter or thing of marriage? A. Male and female persons. A. The consent of both to enter into a marital union with each other and to maintain love between each other, so as not to leave each other for the rest of their lives. 1. Those wishing to enter into marriage must prepare themselves with pious deeds, confess their sins and partake of the Divine Mysteries three or four days before the wedding. 2 They must have the right intention to marry, not out of passion, and not for the sake of carnal pleasure, but so that the human race may multiply to the glory of God, for the blessed birth and pleasing upbringing of their children. 3. There should be no obstacle, such as, for example, kinship between them, carnal or spiritual; also prohibited times such as fasting; or forcing unwanted children into marriage by parents, and so on. O. The priest is the builder of the Sacraments of God. A. The priesthood is a Sacrament in which, through the ordination of a bishop, special power is given to the priest to serve and perform the Divine Sacraments according to the order. Q. How is the Priesthood accomplished? A. When laying the bishop’s hand with the edge of the omophorion on the head of the person being sanctified with prayer or words like this: “Divine grace, always healing the weak,” and so on until the end. Q. What must be observed in the Sacrament of the Priesthood? 1. The person receiving the Sacrament must be of the correct age, that is, thirty years old, since the Savior at the age of thirty began to preach and teach the nations. But even someone younger can be accepted if he excels in intelligence and virtue. 2. Cannot be a bigamist or married to a widow. 3. Cannot be born from obvious fornication. 4. Cannot be defiled by a particularly vile sin, especially one that is obvious or known to many: murder, etc. 5. Must have a fair amount of intelligence, good disposition and prudence for the structure of the Divine Mysteries. 6. Must have intact those members of the body that are needed for this title, that is, he cannot be blind, deaf, or the like, according to the rule of the 78 holy apostles. Q. What is the Blessing of Anointing? A. Blessing of oil is a Sacrament in which, through anointing with oil, sanctified by the priest’s prayer, the remission of sins, salvation of the soul and health of the body are given to the sick. Q. What is the matter or thing of the Blessing of Unction? O. Oil is pure, unmixed, consecrated. Q. What is the form or performance of the Blessing of Anointing? O. The prayer is this, pronounced by the priest: “Holy Father, Physician of souls and bodies! Heal Thy servant with this anointing,” and so on until the end. Q. What must be observed in this Sacrament? 1. When performing this Sacrament, there must be seven clergy according to church rite. For the sake of need there may be less. 2. The weak must first confess his sins, then accept this Sacrament, and then partake of the Divine Mysteries. 3. The oil must be pure, without any admixture. 4. Each of the priests performing the Sacrament of Anointing must read the prescribed prayer during the anointing: “Holy Father, Physician of souls and bodies,” since at this time the Sacrament is being performed. Q. Can anyone receive this Sacrament? A. Not everyone, but only those who are weak with a serious illness and near death, according to the words of the holy Apostle James: “If any of you is sick, let him call the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal ("save" in church glory) the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14–15). Q. How many commandments of God were given to Moses at Sinai? A. Ten, they are as follows (Exodus 20:1–17): 1. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Let you have no other gods before Me." 2. “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; do not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” 3. “Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.” 4. “Remember the Sabbath day (i.e. Sunday), to keep it holy; six days you shall work and do all your work in them, and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is within your gates; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” 5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you and that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” 7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” 9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” Addition “To the priestly office.” About the Sacrament of Holy Penance Advice to the priest on what to do during confession. The presbyter should have great consideration and every fear when confessing a repentant sinner; Therefore, in addition to what is indicated in the Treasuries about the manner of confession, I advise you to take into account the following and do so. 1. When you, presbyter, confess your spiritual son, you must first exhort him with all meekness and quietness, like a doctor of the soul, so that he declares all the sins that he previously committed after confession, and ask: has he fulfilled the penance given by the spiritual father or by you yourself, the presbyter? And then, when he announces that he has fulfilled it, you can say to him like this: “To God, child, do you confess, Whom you have angered with your sins; and I am His unworthy servant and a witness of your repentance. Don’t hide anything, don’t be ashamed and don’t be afraid of anything, since there are only three of us here: God, before whom you have sinned, who knows all your sins as they were done; because God is everywhere, in every place, and wherever you did, or said, and thought bad or good, He was here, and knows all this completely, and is now with us, but only your voluntary repentance and confession awaits. You yourself also know your sins. Don’t be ashamed to say them all, since you weren’t ashamed to do them. I am the third, servile to you, the same person as you, therefore there is nothing to be ashamed of me.” Moreover, declare to the person confessing that he will forgive everyone against whom he has enmity, since God does not forgive him who does not forgive his neighbor’s sins - this is how Christ Himself teaches: “But if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:15), - and with others, so that he will be reconciled with whomever he has offended, and if he has stolen anything, he will return it. And when you forgive someone who has offended you, and if you have offended someone and stolen something, you promise to return it, deal with him in confession as is printed in the Trebnik about confession. 2. When during confession you notice that the person confessing is contrite in heart and sad about his sins, then this is good, thanks be to God! And if you don’t notice that regret and heartfelt contrition in him, then try in every possible way to bring him to that point, so that he regrets that he has angered such a good, such a merciful, such a great benefactor with his sins. What can you do by example, showing your heart disease that we all anger God, and use touching speech. So you can say: “Do you know, child, what kind of person we are before God when we sin? We are extremely ungrateful; then we lag behind God, and stick to His adversary and our enemy the devil; we reject His fatherly love, we despise the Blood of the Son of God, shed for us; we despise His holy Gospel and the fact that He nourishes us, warms us, preserves us from all evil, the sun shines on us, gives us rain and all kinds of fruits for food - we forget all these benefits when we sin. Because when we sin, we do not listen to Him, we turn away from Him. And God looks down on all this ingratitude of ours from heaven. Consider what it is like for God to see such our ingratitude, our benefactor and Father, who loved us so much, so pitying and merciful to us! Oh, what are we doing, that we are so insensitive!.. Don’t we feel sorry for our parents, father and mother, when we don’t listen to their instructions and resist them? Isn’t it a pity for our benefactor when instead of love we reward him with hatred, instead of goodness we reward him with evil? Isn’t there more sorrow for God from us, for God who feeds us, clothes us, preserves us from all evil and fulfills other good deeds, when instead of love we give Him hatred and show such ingratitude? Oh, it would be better if the sun didn’t shine for us then, it would be better not to see this light, it would be better to lose our parents and friends, it would be better to die a hundred times over, it would be better not to live in the world!..” 3. After confession, when you are already letting go of your spiritual son, you, presbyter, must exhort the person who confessed so that in future he should be careful from sins in every possible way and always think about this, so that he has nothing more lovable in the world than his Creator, the Lord God, and on occasion not to spare his health and life for His honor; and so that he thinks to do everything that pleases His holy will; and for the past sins he tried to satisfy them in any way possible. Here you suggest to him that God greatly hates sins and inflicts all kinds of punishment for sins. You can tell him about it in the following way: “God hates sins so much that He sent His Son into the world to destroy them. This is how the Apostle of Christ John the Theologian teaches: “For this purpose the Son of God appeared, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8), and the works of the devil are sins. God brings all kinds of executions for sins; God did not spare the angels for sin and cast them down from heaven; for the sins of Adam and his entire generation he was kicked out of paradise and condemned to death; for sins he drowned the whole world with waters; for the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, he burned with fire from heaven; for sins he has prepared Gehenna, hell and unbearable torment. For sins even now there are all sorts of troubles; for sins there are illnesses, sorrows, wars, terrible bloodshed; For sins, pestilences, fires, attacks by foreigners, famine, and other things like that happen. And you, child, remembering this, beware of sinning in the future, lest any evil befall you; and try to satisfy for those sins that you have committed up to now.” These three points must be observed together during confession, when confessing a healthy person. As for the last, third, you can say this to the confessor and to everyone who confessed after confession. What to do during confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries of a sick person Firstly, during confession, you, priest, must exhort the patient to forgive everyone, no matter how offended you may have been; also, whoever he offended with something, he would reward as much as possible; and after confession, you must console him, offering him God’s mercy, which cannot be overcome by any sins, as long as the confessor regrets that throughout his life he angered God his Benefactor. So you can say to the patient: “Child, although you have sinned in this way and that, do not despair of God’s mercy; admit yourself guilty before God, regret that you have sinned; and God will accept this small repentance and contrition of your heart, for repentance does not depend on a long time, but on the zeal of the repentant. Here are examples of God's mercy for repentant sinners, which Holy Scripture, written by the Holy Spirit, offers; bring them to your mind and always remember: The publican, a great sinner, who cried out to Him in one hour, was forgiven by God (Luke 18:9-14). He kindly accepted the prodigal son, who squandered his property with harlots (Luke 15:10–32). To the great sinner who was crying, he forgave her many sins and said: “Her many sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:47). The thief, on the cross at the last hour, crying out like this: “Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom!” (Luke 23:42), - he forgave and said: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Peter, who was rejected three times and wept over his sin, was kindly accepted and confirmed again in the apostolic rank. He forgave Manasseh, king of Judah, and the Ninevites, who had committed lawlessness and repented (2 Chronicles 33:1–20; Jonah 3). And He Himself speaks with honest lips: “I do not want the death of the sinner,” and so on (Ezek 33:11). Behold, child, how merciful God is to sinners who repent! The same merciful God now shows the same mercy to repentant sinners. Because He is our Creator, and we are His creatures; He is our God, and we are His people; He is our Lord, and we are His servants; He is our Father, and we are His unworthy sons, therefore He will have mercy on us in every possible way when we turn to Him with tears and regret. He accepts your contrite confession with His mercy and with His grace forgives your sins for the sake of the death of His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Be confident in your salvation, take courage, be confident, don’t entertain any thoughts contrary to this!” With consolation, the priest imparts the sick Body and Blood of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, saying the following words: “Behold, the merciful and man-loving Christ our God gives His Body and Blood as a sign of His mercy and love for you, as parting words of eternal life: accept, dearest one, this pledge of eternal life with spiritual joy and love, and thank the great Merciful, and, with these Saints Strengthened by secrets, be trustworthy. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, admonishing, strengthening, protecting, guiding you into a quiet refuge of eternal life, and the Angel of God, your faithful guardian, amen.” The Apostle's exhortation to the shepherds “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of the Lord and God, which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). The Holy Apostle Paul says to the elders of the Church of Ephesus: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock.” Pay attention also to how dear His flock has become to Christ God, that is, His verbal sheep, to which you have been appointed shepherds by the Holy Spirit. How expensive? Christ shed His Blood for this flock, and one drop of Which is priceless, for it is Divine. Woe to us if through our negligence, and even greater grief if some sheep from this flock perishes through temptation! He will seek all His sheep when He sits on the throne of His glory, no longer as a Shepherd, but as Lord and Judge. “Take heed,” I add the apostolic word, “to walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph 5:15). This is God’s rebuke against the shepherds: “Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and will require My sheep at their hand” (Eze 34:10). District message to the Voronezh clergy 3 By the grace of God, humble Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh and Yelets, the archimandrites, abbots, hieromonks, archpriests, priests and other clergy of the Voronezh diocese, the brethren beloved in Christ in the Lord God, rejoice. I. Knowing how drunkenness has intensified among people especially at the present time, and therefore warning those who have not yet been tempted in it, and turning away those who have been tempted and who are in it from that passion, I offer the following to your love. You yourself know that the passion of drunkenness destroys not only the body, but also the soul. It destroys the body, because nothing takes away health like drunkenness. It destroys the soul, for when else are there more quarrels, enmity, fights, screaming, foul language, bad thoughts, riots, and other similar temptations than in drunkenness? That is why Saint Chrysostom says that “no one is so dear to the devil as one who is drunk.” Why? Because no one fulfills his will like a drunkard. Drunkenness is a temptation. “But woe,” according to Christ’s word, “to that person through whom temptation comes” (Matthew 18:7)! But you, the lamps placed on a candlestick, at which everyone looks and takes their example from you, you are the “light of the world,” you are the “salt of the earth,” according to the word of Christ, how will you serve, perform sacred acts in the morning, when yesterday those entrusted to you saw you drunk, quarreling, disorderly? Will anyone who has seen a priest drunk and disorderly think to himself, saying this: what a priest he did yesterday, and today he serves: what a pilgrim he is, an intercessor, and so on?! He condemns you, and you are guilty of his condemnation, and so it is a sin for both. It is his sin that condemns you; It’s a sin for you that you gave him a reason to condemn him. Why, as your shepherd, I advise, I fraternally exhort you: take care in every possible way from drunkenness, so that you can more easily avoid sin and not give temptation to your neighbor. II. Not only a bad word, but also a “rotten” one, in the words of the apostle, “let it not proceed out of your mouth” (Eph 4:29). Every word that is idle, unhelpful, and not spoken for creation is a rotten word, for which, according to the word of Christ, it will be necessary to give an answer on the day of judgment. “All bitterness,” as the same apostle teaches, “and wrath, and anger, and crying, and slander, be put away from you, along with all malice” (Eph 4:31). III. Have peace, love, and brotherly love among one another, “with all humility and meekness and long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, trying to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph 4:2–3, 32). If the holy apostle commands all Christians to forgive each other’s sins, especially the priests, from whom everyone should take an example of all virtues. God forgave us sinners in Christ Jesus, as the apostle said above: shouldn’t we, sinners, forgive sinners like ourselves? Your neighbor offended you with something today, and maybe you offended him with something yesterday, and so we sin against each other. And since we sin against each other, we must forgive each other. Pointing to this, the apostle says: “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). If someone is hostile and angry at his neighbor, he should not even begin to serve in the priesthood, otherwise he will greatly sin. For how will he receive remission of sins from the merciful Heavenly Father, before Whom we all sin greatly not only every day, but every hour and every minute? With what hope will he pray to the Heavenly Father: “Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors,” while he himself becomes angry with his neighbor, wanting to destroy his memory? When we pray like this in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors,” don’t we make an agreement with God like this: in the same way, they say, You, Heavenly Father, forgive us our sins, just as we forgive our neighbors? Consequently, although we pray to God for forgiveness of our sins, and do not forgive our brother’s offense, we will not receive forgiveness from God. Therefore, one must first forgive one’s neighbor’s sins, and forgive from the heart, that is, not only in words, but in reality, consign the offense to oblivion. And so, having forgiven a brother’s sins, one must approach the generous God with boldness and hope and ask for forgiveness of sins. Think about this, brothers, take care about this. IV. In addition, remember that Christ the Lord God made you guards in His house, that is, in the Holy Church. You, as faithful servants of Christ, must guard this holy house in deed, word and thought. By deed - showing an example of honest and Christ-like living to the people entrusted to you by Christ our Savior, “so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In a word, it is proper to guard, instructing and teaching to keep the law of God. By thought - always think about the spiritual benefit of verbal sheep. If anyone neglects this and through his negligence destroys the entrusted souls for whom Christ shed His most pure Blood, then let him know for sure that the Lord will exact from him for their destruction on the day of the Last Judgment. V. There is a bad and harmful custom - to celebrate holy holidays in drunkenness and indecent games, which the Holy Church established for the glory and honor of God, and others in memory of God's saints. The pagan custom is to celebrate their bad holidays through drunkenness, awkward singing, and disorderly games; This is a pagan custom, I say, they do not know the true God, but they honor the creature instead of the Creator and deify disorderly passions; but for Christians this is not decent, but moreover, it is disgusting. You celebrate the holidays established by the Holy Church not in drunkenness and disorder, but with reverence and reflection on the great blessings of God that were accomplished for us in those days. Thus, as you celebrate, instruct the people of God entrusted to you. When I suggest that you do not celebrate holy days while drunk, I do not mean to abstain from drinking in every possible way. You can drink wine or something else for the glory of God, so that on such days, with spiritual joy, there will be physical consolation, so that a person will rejoice in spirit and body, and, rejoicing in his heart, and with his lips, thank God the benefactor. Therefore, I here reject not the use of wine, but excessive use, that is, drunkenness, from which all sorts of outrages occur; I forbid not drinking, but getting drunk, although always, but even more so on holidays. I’m telling you this especially about Cheese Week, so that you don’t spend it the way it’s being carried out. Cheese Week is the eve of Great Lent, as the Holy Church calls it. And therefore we must live more abstinently this week than we lived before, and prepare for the exploits of Great Lent. This is why the Holy Church forbade the laity to eat meat, so that they would gradually get used to fasting. And that’s why the week before Cheese Week is called meat week, just like the next week is cheese week. But the problem is ours! When is there more drunkenness and other bad things than in those days? I ask and pray to your love to put aside that soul-destroying custom and not look at what happened; but to reason about what we should do and what the Holy Church, our mother, orders us to do, and to pray and exhort the people of God entrusted to you in every possible way about the same. You have to give an answer to God about everything at some point. VI. When preparing for priestly service, try in every possible way to have reverence and tenderness, which especially comes from saving reflection on the Providence of Christ our Savior for the human race. Consider how the Son of God, the Lord of all, took on the image of a slave, how the Beginningless One was conceived in the womb of the Most Pure Virgin; how the pre-eternal God was a Child. As “he who has heaven as a throne” (Ps. 10:4) and sits on Cherubim in the manger of the poor, he was placed. How the Lord of all creation became poor, how “he who gives food to all flesh” (Ps. 135:25) was hungry and thirsty; as he who comforts those who weep and “takes away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17, 21:4) wept. How the invisible one appeared on earth and deigned to live with people; how, even as an infant, he was persecuted and condemned to death by Herod; how he ran from city to city, from city to city, how he underwent circumcision according to the law, how he who had no filth or vice was baptized as a slave. As he who helps those who are tempted, he was tempted by the devil; how he went out to preach the kingdom of God, how he passed through cities and towns, preaching the Gospel, bringing the good news, the remission of sins. How he suffered blasphemy and dishonor from a rebellious and envious spirit, how he was called a Samaritan, a flatterer, a blasphemer, a frantic and demoniac, and how, finally, he endured terrible and unbearable passions. How, praying to the Heavenly Father, he was in labor, “and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44); how for such a small price, for thirty pieces of silver, He was sold and betrayed by His disciple to the wicked; how before the bishops Annas and Caiaphas he was scolded, spat upon, struck, and, Judge of all, was judged; as if he were tied up, like a prisoner, he was led through the streets, and in disgrace he was dressed in various clothes; crowned with thorns, and like a king, we greeted him in mockery: “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:29). How, in comparison with Barabbas the robber, he was considered worse and meaner by the crowd; how, exhausted in so much torment and embitterment, he carried His Cross; how he was nailed to the Cross like a villain; how he was hanged among the robbers, the passing mocked him: “He who destroys the church and builds it in three days! save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matthew 27:40). How, when thirsty, instead of water, he was given vinegar and bile to drink; how, finally, in suffering, He betrayed His most holy soul, whose death all creation sympathized with, the sun grew dark and did not give its light, the earth shook, the stones crumbled, the church curtain was torn, the coffins were opened. The merciful and humane Lord deigned to endure all this for our sake and our salvation, out of His immeasurable love. Thinking in this way, prepare for the Divine Liturgy, for the Holy Liturgy also forms His saving vision, which is what I propose to reflect on. VII. When you enter the church for the Divine Liturgy, bring to your mind how Christ came into the world for our sake, and God became a man. When you come out of the altar with the Holy Gospel at the Liturgy at ordinary times, and the candle is taken out in front, think how Christ, after Baptism, came out with a saving sermon, and His saving teaching, like light, enlightens all of us, sitting in the darkness of ignorance. When you leave the altar for the second time during the Cherubic song with a proposal, bring to mind how He gave Himself up to His free and saving passion. And when, at the end of the ordinary commemoration, you turn to the altar through the royal doors, and place the sacred vessels with the offering at the holy meal, and cover the Holy One with air, think how he was taken down from the Cross, and laid in the tomb, and covered with a clean shroud, - for which reason the verses are read at that time: “the noble Joseph,” and so on, “in the carnal grave,” and other; “Like the life-bearer, like the reddest of Paradise,” and so on. While reading: “I believe in one God,” and so on, when you raise the holy air, remember how he rose from the dead, and those who guarded them shook with fear. When you proclaim: “Take, eat, this is My body,” and so on, and further: “Drink of it, all of you, this is My blood,” and so on, remember the Last Supper, at which He gave His Most Holy Body and Blood to His divine disciples and apostles, and after them to us, sinners and unworthy, for food, and commanded “to do this.” into an eternal “remembrance” of His good deeds (Luke 22:19). When you bless the holy bread and the holy cup, try in every possible way to raise your heart’s eyes to the merciful Heavenly Father, and pray with all reverence and tenderness; and so bless with undoubted hope, believing that the bread is transformed into the honorable Body of Christ, and the “hedgehog in the cup” into the honorable Blood of Christ is transformed by the Holy Spirit. When the doors of the holy altar open and, raising the holy chalice, you show it to people, saying: “Come with the fear of God and faith,” think about how, after the Resurrection, Christ appeared to the divine apostles and other brethren. Moreover, know that with these words: “approach with the fear of God and faith,” you call the faithful to partake of these Holy Mysteries. And when you see that there is no one coming, lament in your heart that Christ calls everyone to Himself and gives His most pure flesh and most holy Blood as food, but no one comes to such a Merciful One for supper. When you lift up the holy chalice for the second time and, showing it to people, say: “always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages,” think how the other time Christ appeared to the disciples and other brethren, and with glory ascended into heaven before their eyes, and sat down at the right side of God the Father, and will again come to judge the living and the dead. And so the whole mystery of the vision of our Savior is formed by the Divine Liturgy. VIII. Read the prayers read at the Divine Liturgy with all attention and diligence, and while performing the service, especially the Holy Liturgy, gather your whole mind, and having gathered, raise it to God, as representatives to God for His people; but leave everything earthly and worldly, and do not think about anything earthly, standing before God. For you stand before God, serving Him both about your sins and about people’s, propitiating Him. IX. Read the New Testament, that is, the Gospel and the Epistles of the Holy Apostles with all diligence and attention, and while reading, pray to the Mediator of the New Testament, Jesus Christ our Lord, that He may enlighten the eyes of your soul with His Holy Spirit, so that you may understand its power. By reading this divinely inspired book, you can strengthen yourself and the people entrusted to you to piety. And if you leave this reading, then know that you will be blind leaders of the blind, “and if the blind lead the blind,” according to the word of Christ, “they will both fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14), that is, into eternal destruction, from which may the merciful Lord save you. God Himself commands that you diligently read the Holy Scriptures: “Let not the book of this law depart from your mouth, and let you study in it day and night, and understand to do everything that is written: then you will prosper and straighten your ways” (that is, your life), “and then you will understand” (Joshua 1:8). “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). I could give more evidence here about the reading of Holy Scripture, but these two passages cited are sufficient to demonstrate the truth. For this reason, God, in His goodness, gave us the Scripture, so that we could read it and, by reading, fulfill what is written in it. For Holy Scripture is a kind of message from God to man, in which He reveals His holy will to us and instructs us how to live. Consider with what eagerness and attention God’s message to us should be read. If the King of the earth, our monarch, wrote a letter to you, would you not read this letter with great joy? Yes, with great fun and attention! The Heavenly King sent a letter to you, an earthly and perishable person (Holy Scripture): why are you leaving such a gift, this priceless treasure? When you read the Gospel, Christ God speaks to you. When you pray to Him while reading, you are talking to Him. Ah, sweet conversation! Ah, kind and pleasant conversation! God is with man, the King of Heaven is with corruptible dust, the Lord is talking to the servant! What could be nicer than this, and what could be more useful? You see the benefit of reading the Holy Scriptures. If you leave him, you will see for yourself what will happen to you. “Behold, I told you: God is a mediator between you and me.” X. When you confess a penitent, confess with all reason and fear. When a repentant sinner finishes confessing his sins, he should be asked whether he has named all the sins that he remembers, so that he can examine his conscience, bring his life to mind and consider whether there is anything else of which he is guilty before God. Then he should be exhorted to leave those sins and beware of others, imagining that God greatly hates sins. And if anyone had offended him in any way, he would forgive him from the heart, because God also forgives his sins who forgives his neighbors. Thus Christ teaches: “If you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). And besides, he must be reminded to deeply regret and lament in his heart that he has angered his Creator God; since oral confession without heartfelt contrition brings no benefit; the repentant, with regret and contrition of heart, must imagine God’s mercy, with which God embraces all sinners who repent and forgives their sins, as Christ depicted in detail in His Gospel. Read for yourself, and you will find everything there, and this way you can save yourself and others. And when someone gets sick, and you find out about it, do not expect to be called - go yourself, without being asked, and comfort the sick person. And when you confess someone approaching death, exhort him in every possible way that God will not abandon him and will forgive his sins by His goodness alone, if only he would regret the sins he has committed. Here you imagine to him that Christ forgave the thief who repented near death and accepted him into paradise, and that God absolutely does not want human destruction. And at the same time, remind him that the Mother of God, a strong Christian Intercessor, and other saints pray for us all to the merciful God and protect us with their prayers. “And the Holy Church will pray for you, and I, an unworthy priest with my brother priests, will make a prayer for you,” so comforting the sick person, reassure him with God’s mercy. Also imagine to him that this is why Christ came into the world and shed His Blood to save sinners. Having briefly written all this to you, I conclude with an apostolic word: “Before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the chosen angels, I charge you to keep these things without prejudice, doing nothing out of partiality” (1 Timothy 5:21). And also: “Be an example for the faithful in word, in life, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Delve into yourself and into the teaching; do this constantly: for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who listen to you” (1 Timothy 4:12, 16). May the Lord God have mercy on you and protect you with His Divine fear, and enlighten your hearts to do His holy will and live worthy of the calling. Pray also for me, unworthy, that the merciful Lord may have mercy on me and instruct me how I “ought” to live “in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all! Amen". Instruction or example on how to exhort and persuade defendants to repentance and confession 4 I, unworthy, have been ordered by my shepherd to exhort you to come to your senses, repent, and tell the whole truth before the court. Listen to me, and whatever I tell you, listen to it, and write it in your hearts, and repent. All of us Christians await the second coming of Christ. There was the first thing, as the Gospel and our faith teach us. There will also be a second coming of Christ, as God’s word declares to us. In the first coming Christ came to save us; and those who believe in Him and repent of their sins and do good deeds and please Him are saved. In the second (coming) he will come to judge for the sins of those who did not repent here. I trust that you know who Christ is. I will just remind you: Christ is our true God, as we always hear in the Church, and as our faith teaches us. He, like God, knows completely who is doing, saying, thinking what now, and writes it down in the book of His judgment. He will judge everyone, and we will all gather for His judgment, righteous and sinners. Good deeds will come to the righteous; the evil deeds that they did openly and secretly will appear with the sinners. Then every sinner will see laid before him everything that he now did, thought and said that was bad, and thereby destroyed the law of God. Then he will hear with shame before the whole world: “Here is the man and his deeds!” God, in His love for mankind and mercy, now commands all sinners to repent, so that they will atone for their evil deeds with repentance, and so these evil deeds would not appear at the judgment of Christ, and those who committed them would not be condemned for them, as transgressors of God’s law and despisers of God. Sinners who, having gratefully accepted this love of God for mankind, come to their senses and repent, and stop sinning, and try to please God with good deeds, receive mercy from God and accept forgiveness of all their evil deeds. Therefore, their evil deeds will no longer appear at the judgment of Christ, as if they had been blotted out by repentance; and they will be accepted with the righteous into eternal life, where there will be unceasing joy and gladness. And those sinners who despise God’s love for mankind and do not repent, and do not stop sinning and doing evil deeds, and they try to hide and hide them, their evil deeds will certainly appear at the Last Judgment, and they will be convicted of them before the whole world by the Judge of the righteous Christ, and from Him they will hear such a reprimand: “This is what you did while living in the world! I came to save you, and for you I suffered and died; but you did not want to use that mercy of Mine to save yourself, and to follow Me, and to be with Me in My kingdom, but you followed Satan, and fulfilled his will, and did his evil deeds, and so were My opponents. “Depart from Me into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25). I wanted to save you, but you yourself chose destruction rather than My salvation. Taste the sorrow of eternal destruction, which you have chosen for yourself.” Think about this, and repent, and tell the whole truth, so that you too may avoid eternal torment and receive eternal life. People are questioning and judging you, but they are sent from God. Recognize the truth and do not lie before these messengers of God, for this will later be obvious before the whole world at the judgment of Christ. And what you now declare with all truth, and repent of, will already be blotted out by the mercy of God and will not appear at the Last Judgment. It is better to suffer shame here in front of a few than there in front of the whole world. It is better to be punished here, temporarily, and thank God for it, than to endure punishment there forever. It’s better to be here temporarily in exile than to sit there forever in hell. It is better to endure bonds here temporarily than there forever. It is better to endure any kind of suffering here, temporarily, than there forever. For everything temporary will pass, but the eternal will never pass away. Be patient with the temporary in order to avoid eternal punishment. People put you in this prison and are keeping you, but this is done by the Providence of God. God wants to save you and through this suffering, as it were, forces you to repentance. Submit to God's Providence and His saving will and repent in order to be saved. Do not say before the court what did not happen; say what happened, that is, declare the truth, and not a lie. So Her Imperial Majesty has mercy on you and regrets you: she does not order you to be tortured with torture and wounds and thus seek the truth from you, as happened before with those like you, but wants, out of her love for mankind, that you voluntarily admit what you have sinned before God, before the Monarch and before the fatherland. Fulfill the merciful wish of our Monarch and voluntarily admit what you are guilty of. If you don’t do this, then the judges will then be convinced to torture you with wounds and thus search for the truth. Spare yourself and your soul and admit what you have sinned. I advise you this too. Take my advice as useful, so that you can avoid wounds and punishment both here and in the next century, and you will be prosperous. Amen. Instruction on how catechetical teaching should be offered to the people 1) There should be catechetical teaching only on Sunday mornings. 2) An hour before mass, ring the large bell ten times so that when the people hear it, they gather. 3) Continue the teaching only half an hour until the good news, and end at the very beginning (of the good news). 4) One deacon to teach about the most essential needs for salvation briefly, clearly, simply, understandably to the common people. 5) At each teaching, there should be a brief moral lesson about what the teaching will be taught. 6) To confirm the teaching taught by the Holy Scriptures and the interpretation of holy and God-bearing fathers and church teachers. 7) Explain with similarities and stories, examples and reasonable arguments where necessary. 8) Do not touch on high theological things, unless the need arises, and then with all caution. 9) Take precautions everywhere and be extremely careful from stumbling and temptation. 10) To speak to the people, using the example of the Holy Scriptures, about repentance, about correction, about duties of every rank, about the extermination of superstition, about instilling the fear of God in people’s hearts, etc.; speak about sins in society with appropriate humility, without humiliating or denouncing anyone, and in everything act as is printed in the spiritual Regulations on preachers of the word of God. 11) On each Saturday, or earlier, the deacon should briefly tell you what the teaching will be about the following Sunday. 12) For his labors, the deacon should be given a pension when he begins to work in this rank, and the proper reward should be expected from the shepherds of the Chief Jesus Christ, Who shed His most pure Blood for the salvation of human souls. 13) It is sacred for the local city churches and clergy to come to the shown cathedral church for the indicated teaching. However, those of them who will serve early masses in those days, as well as the clergy and clergy of distant churches, namely the Vvedenskaya, Peter and Paul, and Onufrievskaya convents, are not forced to do this. 14) The local spiritual government should diligently monitor the observance of this and present to us those sacred and clergymen who are ordered to come to the mentioned teaching, but they, on the contrary, despising this definition of ours, will not come. 15) Announce this definition of ours to the city clergy and clergy with a signature, so that they themselves know about it and will certainly fulfill it, and tell their parish people that those who want Christian instruction come to the cathedral church at the prescribed time to listen and force their children to do so. Instructions for Marriages 5 “By decree of Her Imperial Majesty, Autocrat of All Russia, from the Most Reverend Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh and Yelets, all the Voronezh diocese of parish churches to the priests.” Since in our consistory it turned out that many people, including those coming from distant places, both male and female, enter into marriage in opposition to the rules of St. fathers, and therefore lawless, such as in fourth marriages, and some husbands from living wives, and wives from living husbands, and some small children with adults and their much older maidens enter into marriage, and some priests, seduced by delicacies, others in drunkenness, others darkened by blindness of mind, as is clear from the affairs of the consistory, without considering the importance of the matter, lawless marriages they marry, and thereby lead both themselves and others into grave sins, and cause great difficulties and burdens to their superiors, and for both those married illegally and the priests who married correctly are subject to fines. Therefore, in order to suppress lawlessness, they ordered all priests of our Voronezh diocese to do the following: 1) Priests of marriages not of their own parishes are by no means allowed to officiate marriages, except for a blessed reason, that is, either when the priest of the parish in which those entering into marriage are located is ill, or is banned, or is sent to a monastery, or for some other similar reason does not allow him to officiate the wedding himself. And besides these reasons, there is absolutely no reason to proceed with the wedding. And if, for these reasons, a priest will officiate a marriage in someone else’s parish, he must first carefully consider whether there is any obstacle. 2) When a priest wants to officiate a marriage in his parish, he must look to see whether the couple is entering into marriage with their first or second marriage. 3) Is there any relationship between the marriages, the indicated years, and other things that are depicted in the Helmsman’s Book about the Sacrament of Marriage in Chapter 51, a copy of which is attached to this. 4) When they marry for the second or third time, whether both are widowed, or not both, and whether they have been widowed for a long time, both or one. For example, if the husband is a widow, then when did his wife die, and where and by whom was she buried, and whether it was recorded in the books. If the wife is a widow, then when did her husband die, and where and by whom was he buried, and is it written down in the books, or are there any eyewitnesses about those who died that they definitely died and were buried, or the priest himself buried them, etc., thoroughly and diligently research, and if no doubt or falsehood appears, then have the wedding performed. 5) If in any parish a man or a woman lives from outside or who has come from afar, then they should not be married at all, even if witnesses, or written forms, or stories have presented that the man is truly a widow, or the woman is truly a widow, but order them, both male and female, to take from the public place where they previously lived, with the proper seal and with the application of a clerical seal, a certificate that the husband is a lot whether he was married once, and whether the wife had many husbands, and whether the husband really had a wife, and the wife’s husband died or was killed, where, when and by whom they were buried, and when such evidence is presented by the priest, it should be sent to our consistory for consideration during denunciations. 6) If any husband or wife announces that the husband has a wife, and the wife’s husband has been missing for several years, and therefore begins to demand a wedding with others, such, no matter how many years any person has been missing, should not be married at all, but ordered to appear and ask for permission to marry in our consistory. Do the same with wives who announce that their husbands were killed in the war or went missing. 7) So in other matters, make a diligent test to see if there is any obstacle to the marriage, and if even the slightest doubt appears, do not perform the wedding, but demand advice from our consistory, presenting a written explanation about this. 8) If any priest acts contrary to the above-mentioned 51st chapter on the Sacrament of Marriage and this instruction of ours, and is convicted of this by someone through denunciation, he will be deprived of the priesthood without any omission. And although there will be no denunciation of the solemnization of an illegal marriage, the priest who solemnizes the illegal marriage, as a transgressor of the holy rules, and leads people into grave sins, and therefore participates in their sins, will not escape the Last Judgment of God. From lawless marriages the following sins will follow: when the husband is married to a living wife, and the wife is married to a living husband, then adultery occurs; when relatives get married, incest will follow; When a young boy marries an adult girl, this can lead to enmity, poisoning, adultery, incest, murder, and, worse, many die from such sins. And the priest who crowned all this evil is guilty, and therefore he is clearly plunging himself and others into the ditch of eternal destruction. Reason, priests, who, as a joke, marry lawless marriages, and come to your senses, spare yourself and the poor people. November 16, 1767." Instructions that seminarians must follow 6 1. Remember for everyone that God has called him to this calling for the sake of the common good. 2. The teaching in which one finds oneself, carefully go through and call on God for help. 3. The intention of the teaching is to extend it to the glory of God and the common benefit - and this will be the best success. For the doctrine is taught in the hope of enlightening the mind and producing the order of the priesthood. For a learned priest will be more capable and must eradicate evil morals and sinful vices by which the name of God is blasphemed. 4. Teaching without good living is not strong and not useful. What good is it for a man to teach but not to create? And according to the word of Christ: “Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). Therefore, from a young age one must resist natural evil, and try to eradicate it with the help of God, and accustom oneself to virtue - which is done by daily teaching in the law of God, and by seeking success in that by testing. 5. For diligence in teaching and good living, expect rewards from God in the next century; and in this age all respect and honorable ranks are acquired by honest teaching. Therefore, you should do this: 6. On Sundays, students should go to the service of God in church. 7. In church, everyone, without exception, stands in the choir and gets accustomed to the church circle, that is, read from books and sing, and so on. 8. While standing in church, be extremely careful from talking, laughing and other indecent actions, but only diligently listen to reading, singing and prayer. 9. Be extremely careful not to remember the name of God in vain where it is not proper (which the teacher can talk about), and not to swear, as is the custom of many: “By God, for that God, for that Christ,” or: “Here is God for you, here is Christ for you!”.. But, according to Christ’s word, only “let your word be: yes, yes; no, no” (Matthew 5:37). 10. To your fathers and mothers, to your superiors, honest persons, to older people, show all respect in deed and word that the teacher can explain. 11. Have brotherly love for your comrades, and not annoy or reproach. 12. Don’t talk about big people or anyone in general, but only about your school work, because from there follows the vice of condemnation. 13. Do not discuss or laugh at other people’s deeds and actions, but everyone should know himself and his own work to which he is called. 14. And protect yourself from quarrels, slander and fights among yourself. 15. Beware of foul language, obscene jokes, blasphemy and disorderly laughter. 16. Do not use any nicknames, especially obscene ones, to each other. 17. Do not entertain yourself with inappropriate and obscene games. 18. Where there are quarrels, fights, fist fights and foul language, bad songs and gatherings of wives, move away from there. 19. Don’t wander around the bazaar and streets. 20. In the market and streets, as rude and rustic men usually do, do not eat any food. 21. Not only do not sing obscene secular poems or songs, but also do not dare rewrite them for yourself or anyone else. 22. Beware of all theft and all deception, and punish the criminal in front of the entire seminary, and write down his name in the journal, and the guilt for which he will be punished. 23. Observe cleanliness in every possible way, under the fear of exclusion from the church rank. 24. In apartments, stand still, quietly and not annoy the owners. And if there is an insult from the owner, report this to the prefect in detail. 25. Where anyone stands, he should always spend the night there, and not come to each other to spend the night. Observe and other things that are due to the law of God. 26. It is forbidden to drink strong wine and other intoxicating drinks that cause drunkenness. And if anyone drinks, although he is not drunk, but is noticed to have been drinking, he will be fined. 27. If anyone violates the above, he will be fined, depending on his guilt. 28. If anyone (which may the most merciful God in His goodness not allow) has a corrupt disposition and does not correct himself, report such a person in writing, and such person will be expelled from the church rank. Read these points every day when leaving school, and in the evening one of the students should read it out loud to everyone, so that everyone knows and remembers how they should live. Instructions for teachers on how to act in the position of their rank 7 1. Teachers of students should not use this for any purpose of their own. 2. Teach not only literacy, but also honest life, the fear of God, since literacy without the fear of God is nothing more than a foolish sword. 3. Punish the faulty, lazy and self-willed with rods, and sometimes with words. And don’t dare with your hand to the head, or in any other way. 4. Establish a sotsky over everyone, and choose from among them an honest, constant, reasonable grown-up person. 5. His job is to report to the teacher every day about the condition of the students, who is there, is everyone at school, is everyone at home, has anyone run away, and so on. 6. Give Sotsky ten’s assistants, also from honest students, and give ten tens to those ten’s. 7. The duty of the tens is to report to the captain twice a day about the condition of their tens, and to look after the deanery of each. 8. Disciples should go to the holy church on holidays and Sundays for vespers, matins and liturgy, and those who can read and sing stand in the choir. 9. On semi-unctuous days, go only to the Liturgy, and for those who want, to Matins. 10. Go to church, in which someone has an apartment, and strictly order the guards to watch. 11. Those students should have an apartment with priests, deacons and other clergy, and where it is sacred, there are few clergy, with ordinary people. 12. For a meeting of students, hang a bell on a high place near the school, or, if there is a church nearby, on the bell tower, which you can ring, so that they listen to that bell, and so, when the bell rings, they would go to school. 13. Teachers are ordered to call in the summer, when the days are great, after the sun rises about two hours later, and to dismiss after lunch, before the evening, two hours before sunset. 14. In winter and autumn, call the school as soon as possible to read, and leave when the sun sets. 15. The call should be twice a day, in the morning and after lunch. 16. After lunch, counting two hours after leaving school, call the school. 17. For the Lord's holidays: on the Nativity of Christ and on Holy Easter for two weeks, and in addition from mid-July to mid-August, for a whole month, you can go home to your parents with subscriptions, and you can let your neighbors go on other holidays. 18. On Saturdays after lunch there will be no ordinary teaching, however, students should get ready for school, and teachers should read to them the Catechism of the Orthodox Confession, and those who cannot, simply read as it is written. 19. On Saturday, before mass or after mass, the teacher can read an akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos to the students. 20. Teachers should order their students to memorize this greeting from the Archangel to the Most Holy Theotokos: “Virgin Mother of God, Hail, full of grace Mary, the Lord is with Thee: blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, for Thou hast given birth to the Savior of our souls.” And everyone would read this to themselves every day in the morning twelve times, and in the evening twelve times, and so on every day twenty-four times. 21. Students should learn in this way: those who study the Book of Hours or the Psalter should learn to read before lunch, and write after lunch, for in this way it will be more fun and willing for them to learn alternately. 22. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, do not study again, but read what you have learned so that what you have learned is not forgotten. 23. After the students gather at school, as the teacher comes to school, read with tenderness and reverence the troparion of the week of the raw desert: “Teacher of wisdom, giver of meaning, punisher of the unwise and protector of the poor, strengthen, enlighten my heart, Master: Give me the word, the Father’s word: for behold, do not forbid my lips from calling You: Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen." And read not just to one, but to all students clearly and intelligibly. Read before lunch and after lunch, when the teacher comes to school. 24. When leaving school, read: “It is worthy to eat, as you truly bless Theotokos,” and so on to the end. 25. The teacher, since he cannot listen to all the students to the end, how who has learned the assigned lesson, will appoint guards from the best students who have already learned the Psalter and read it well, and will assign them the appointed number of students, so that everyone knows their own and listens before the teacher comes to school, and reports to the teacher, upon arrival at school, how they have learned their task. 26. The teacher, upon the denunciation of the guards, should punish careless and lazy students at his own discretion, and should reward those diligent and trying for their own benefit as much as he can. 27. About those students who will be understanding and learn to read books and write, immediately report to us who exactly and whose children are. 28. Having said this, the designated teacher must act honorably and carry out everything described above without fail, under pain of a proper and non-forgivable fine according to the decrees for any crime, or for failure to fulfill the above. The essay “On the Seven Mysteries of the Saints” was written by Saint Tikhon shortly after His accession to the Voronezh see, namely in 1763, as a benefit to those clergy who, due to a lack of schools, were unable to receive the education necessary for their ministry in a timely manner. This “little book,” as well as the addition to it (about the mystery of holy repentance), written a year later, was sent by the saint in lists to all diocesan monasteries and spiritual boards for free distribution to clergy. Both articles were published for the first time in the “Remaining Works” of St. Tikhon (edited in 1799 by Archpriest Bolkhovitinov), with which, due to the loss of the original, they were collated for this edition. In the appendix on the rules of the clergy, in article eleven. “District Epistle to the Voronezh Clergy” was written in 1765, and was sent out in lists throughout the diocese. What prompted the saint to write this message can be partially seen from the message itself. For more information about the needs of the then clergy of the Voronezh diocese, read the article: “The works of St. Tikhon the 1st, Bishop of Voronezh, on the management of the Voronezh flock” (Creations of the Holy Fathers. 1862, book 2). It was published for the first time in “Other Works”, under the title: “Admonition to the clergy of their flock about avoiding drunkenness and other things.” This edition is printed from a manuscript preserved, like most of the original manuscripts of St. Tikhon, in the Usman Sophia Monastery, where the originals were left by the saint’s cell attendant Ivan Efimov. “An instruction or example for admonishers” was written by the saint regarding the highest decree (dated January 29, 1763), which required “that all those who in their deeds come to the point of torture, without inflicting it on them before, should admonish learned priests about showing the truth; and since Her Imperial Majesty is not unaware that in other cities there are no such learned priests, then for this admonition to compose a special little book, with arguments from the Holy Scriptures.” One of the first to respond to this “merciful desire” of the Monarch was Saint Tikhon. This philanthropist liked such a desire. Burning with love for man, spending whole nights in conversations with unfortunate brothers-prisoners, the saint, apparently, met this wise, meek measure with deep joy for the prisoners and gratitude to the monarch, who “from now on no longer orders to torture prisoners with torture and wounds and thereby seek the truth from them, as happened before.” He compiled this beautiful “sample”, breathing meekness and compassion, as a guide for exhorters and sent it throughout the diocese in 1765. “Instructions on Marriages” were sent out by the saint circularly to the entire clergy of the Voronezh diocese. In the resolution that took place on this occasion, the saint writes: “By decree of Her Imperial Majesty, they ordered: our consistory, with the instructions we wrote about the precautionary instructions of our Voronezh diocese for the priests of marriages, and the list copied from the Kormcha book on the secret of marriage, having copied exact copies, with the appropriate certificate to be sent to the ecclesiastical boards at the decrees immediately. And to those boards from them copies as quickly as possible, having copied the copies, and for the certificate, distribute to each of the departments of all the churches the priests with receipts, with an explanation in those lists of the exact year, month and date the priest will receive those copies, and send those receipts to the consistory at the time of denunciation strictly, where these subscriptions are to be kept intact, and to the newly produced priests from that instruction and list, copies are given to the consistory, whose acceptance will be signed by the priests. on those made about their initiation into priestly affairs is irrevocable.” Bishop of Voronezh Tikhon. “Instructions on what seminarians should observe” was written for students of the Voronezh Theological Seminary, at the founding, or more precisely, at the restoration of it by Saint Tikhon, in 1765. Printed for the first time in the book “Other Works”, with a remark from the publisher that “the original Instructions are signed as follows: by the grace of God, Bishop Tikhon of Voronezh and Yelets.” “Instructions for teachers, “how they should act in the position of their rank” were first published in the “Tambov Provincial Gazette” in 1856. According to the editors, “the original instructions are in the archives of the Lebedyan spiritual board and are signed as follows: Humble Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh and Yeletsky. September 1st day 1763" What caused this instruction and for whom it was intended can be seen from the explanation that precedes it. “On this day of August 1763,” the explanation says, “we had a discussion about the various dioceses of our cities and districts of the sacred and clergy children coming to our humility, with petitions for their appointment to the holy churches as priests, deacons, sextons and sextons, who know little how to read from books, and others do not know at all, and for such in In book reading, ignorance is unworthy of production. And because of these sacred and clergy children’s ignorance of book reading is due solely to the negligence of their fathers themselves, for this reason, by decree of Her Imperial Majesty, they ordered: for the training of the priest and clergy children in our diocese in book reading, singing and writing, to establish Slovenian schools in the cities, and in them, for the sake of observation and constant observation in learning diligence, to determine teachers who to choose from those cities for priests, with common consent, good, honest and sufficiently knowledgeable of the Divine Scripture to read, also write and sing, from priests or deacons. And if there are many disciples somewhere, you can appoint someone of deaconship with honest behavior as an assistant. And how should they, teachers, act in the position of their rank, this means lower than this”... You might be interested in: