Послание 28. К Василию, монаху 51

We received a letter from your brotherly love and were surprised at its sudden change. The first letter - I will not talk about other things not related to the subject - contained a condemnation of the steward Joseph as having wrongfully invaded the Church; and the second, on the contrary, declares him completely innocent. You sometimes praise or blame the same person in the same matter, and your piety should know what one of the saints says about this. However, let’s put this into perspective, although there is a contradiction here. But why did you decide so rashly, before research and thorough testing, to proclaim excommunication from our Church and, consequently, anathema to our humility? “Take heed to yourself,” says Scripture (1 Tim. 4:16); and again: “before you experience it, do not blame; find out first, and then forbid” (Sir.11:7). And you, without doing any of this and without thinking that we, of course, can speak and do wisely, reproached us as inexperienced, unreasonable beginners in monastic life and beginning to learn. And not only that, but he was also censured. And if only that! But he also anathematized him. Alas, the works of men! Why don't you keep the limits of friendship intact anymore? For if she had remained safe for your honesty, then you would not have so unexpectedly reproached our humility. However, we are worthy of this, and it is not surprising that we are blamed by your friendship. What we are is known to God, but your prudence, when it stumbles and is offended, must be explained. We, venerable one, are not renegades from the Church of God; May this never happen to us! Although we are guilty of many other sins, we nevertheless form one body with her and are nourished by Divine dogmas and we try to observe her rules and regulations. To create confusion and separate from that which truly has no “filth or vice” (Eph. 5:27), both in the objects of faith and in relation to the established rules from the beginning of the century until now, is characteristic of those whose faith is perverted and whose life is wrong and lawless. One of them is this Joseph, who married the adulterer, as well as those who allow themselves to serve with him as with an innocent person, as well as those who approve of him as an impeccable priest. How is it that your piety, although you write to us on the basis of the rules, does not know the divine rules and the fact that this person was deposed on the basis of them?.. So, brother, it is an insult to the shrine to priest him, and a complete perversion of the rules - not to shy away from it. What does Chrysostom say? “It is not safe not to do research on the priest.” He says this not about faith, as you think, but about the correctness of life. We should not examine and test everyone in what condition they are, for grace descends even on the unworthy for the sake of those who approach. But not to act directly against those who are clearly condemned, one of whom is this Joseph, who committed openly before the eyes of everyone a very great iniquity forbidden by the Lord, and thus turned out to be more criminal than the adulterer whom he married - this, according to St. Gregory the Theologian, a clear betrayal of the truth and violation of the rules 52. Or does your friendship not know that God Himself was an Avenger when He did not rebel and denounce the ruler of the Church at that time, as happened once with Samuel under the mad Saul (1 Samuel 15) - and stopped the reign of the new Herod because of adultery? Herod suffered the same thing, expelled by his own people and killed, since he, leaving his lawful wife, the daughter of King Aretas, entered into an unlawful relationship with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. If such a thing should not be condemned, then St. John the Baptist, who denounced Herod and died for his denunciation, as well as Chrysostom, who waged a stubborn struggle for the widow’s field 53. “For a benefactor,” says Scripture, “perhaps someone will decide to die” (Rom. 5:7). I’m not talking about the same persistent actions of other saints in defense of similar ones. Or again does your honesty not know that Christianity consists of faith and deeds, and if one thing is lacking, then neither of them benefits the one who has it? So, we ask you, be zealous for the Divine; and, firstly, as the son of our common father, strive with us for what is due; secondly, as a disciple of Blessed Sava, strive for accuracy not only regarding faith, but also regarding rules; thirdly, how to gather brotherly thoughts with us and, we remind you, maintain your own place so that as a result we do not stumble in the most important things. Forgive those who remind you in a brotherly way, just as we forgive you; we should not resent being reminded. Let your honesty not be angry, but even more inflamed with love and write to us like this as much as you want, for we will not suffer harm from this, unless we live more carefully. As for the pope, what do we care whether he acts this way or that way? Sorry, he rises on his own wings, as the proverb goes. For when he said that he did not care at all about the obvious sins of the priest, it was not just any priest, but the Head of the Church that he ridiculed and despised, so that we are ashamed to hear it. If this is true, then alas - hierarchy! However, we ask that we speak carefully about the chapters and not speak so harshly. And regarding the fact that people, as you wrote, can open their mouths and say that we, having left the local patriarchate, transferred the matter to another, let your honesty not worry about this. God knows the first undertaking, and the second, and even the third, He Himself will judge, He Himself will convict, He Himself will present before the terrible Throne, and He Himself will reward according to how we acted and acted. For the words: “If I pleased people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10) were not spoken by us, sinners. We commemorate during the sacred service, as appropriate, both His Holiness the Patriarch and our pious Emperors, and we do not refuse to have communion with anyone who has not been condemned. We wrote to the bishop himself - as our pious Emperors also know - that we have no disagreements on anything, except the matter of Joseph, and when this one is excommunicated from priestly service, we will immediately enter into communication with him. Moreover, he is our beloved husband, not only because he is the head of our Church, but also because he has long been respected by us, and we never cease to extol what is beautiful in his life. If it happens that he himself accepts jealousy - I will not talk about holy bishops, abbots, monks and many lay people - then what will your love say? Therefore, know that we do not have separation from the Church, but the defense of the truth, the justification of divine laws; and to do otherwise, as your honesty said, would be a violation of the truth and a perversion of the rules, and rightly we can tell you the following: “The priests rejected My law and profaned My holy things, they did not separate the holy from the unholy,” but everything was the same for them (Ezek. 22:26). For the expression: “to have no filth or vice,” I will say again, must be understood this way: the Church does not accept ungodly dogmas and acts contrary to the rules, as well as prohibited agreements with those who do them, as the divine Basil says in one place 54; the great Paul does not allow them to “even eat” (1 Cor. 5:11). For from the time of the apostles and subsequently, many heresies often invaded the Church and unclean deeds arose, illegal and prohibited by the rules, as now, however, in the above-mentioned manner, it remained indivisible and immaculate and will remain forever, while those who think and do evil are separated and thrown away from it, like furious waves from an unshakable seaside rock. So, brother, let us remain to ourselves and look to the light of truth, firmly adhering to both sacred rules and dogmas, especially we monks, especially we who are considered to mean something. “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness,” laymen (Matthew 6:23)? And: “if the salt loses its strength, then with what will you make it salty” (Matthew 5:13)? We wish and pray that you will be for those there a savior, and an enlightener, and a lamp of severity and piety, not becoming everything to everyone, but the height of virtue, consistent with rules, life and pious behavior; Bear with your brother’s reminder as coming from love, respect for the truth and divine judgment. I would like to say more than this, but the vastness of the letter forces me to stop here. We accepted with pleasure your rich blessing and the way you care for your humble monastery; this proves that you are saving and working for him. Your work is great. But the Lord will reward you with what you desire - success in virtues and enjoyment of His eternal blessings. Written in 808, when this Vasily, Abba of the monastery of St. Savva, friend of St. Theodora, was in Rome. Creations in Russian translation. T.I. P.192. See letters to St. John Chrysostom in Russian translation. Creations. T.XII. Part III. P.1001. St. Petersburg, 1906. To Amphilochius. Rule I. Works in Russian translation. T.VII. P.5–8. M., 1892. You might be interested in: