Выпуск 6

Letter 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 Letter 942. There is one Intercessor and intercession of the Mother of God and all the saints. The special participation of the Mother of God in the salvation of the world “The Most Holy Theotokos is an intercessor. And there is only one intercessor.” Remember that the Lord commanded: do not call anyone father. One father. And don’t call anyone teachers, just a teacher. Meanwhile, in the scriptures, certain relationships between us and our physical and spiritual fathers and teachers are presented as obligatory. How to make peace! So: there are aspects of this matter such that no one can be called father and teacher. And there are those by which one can have and honor many fathers and teachers. The original patronymic and teaching are one, in God, but there can be many secondary ones. These are conductors and disseminators of God's patronymic and teaching. The same applies to petitions. There is one petition, and without it no other petition is strong. Intercession of the Lord Savior. And there can be many side intercessors, conductors of that intercession, multipliers. Here is the Mother of God, the Intercessor, acting by virtue of the intercession of Her Son. In addition, the Lord Savior is an intercessor to God the Father. And if the Savior Himself was angered, who will intercede with Him? But we anger him, because through our sins we trample His blood. This is where the Mother of God is, and we say to Her: use your prayers more motherly than Your boldness. But the main thing is this. In the matter of our salvation, please distinguish two sides: the arrangement of salvation by the Lord the Savior, or the economy of salvation, and then the application of this to the salvation of everyone, or the accomplishment of salvation by everyone. In the first, everything is from the Lord the Savior, but in the second, our participation is there, and it is so important that it is a condition for salvation. Here, in addition to our personal action, the assistance of others is also appropriate, and not only appropriate, but also inevitable, for we, as Christians, are one body, we are in a necessary connection and interaction. Here we have teachers, helpers, and intercessors who are not powerless, so that their teaching, help and intercession are effective for us. And yet this should in no way be considered as anything that diminishes the power of the first Divine teaching, assistance and intercession. But on the contrary, to have this as a channel and conductor of this first thing to us. Hence: all hope is in Thee, expressed in this secondary dependent relationship, all hope is after God. Also with “the prayers of the Mother of God and the Saints.” If God has deigned that we call upon the Saints in prayer to pray for us; then he thereby expressed that he would listen to their prayers for us. Therefore, there is nothing contrary to Him in the words: through the prayers of the Saints, this means: You deigned that we ask the Saints to pray for us. Here we pray, save us through their prayers. You agreed that praying to the Saints is understandable. But prayer without hope, what kind of prayer is that? Please extend your consent to this as well. And to decide that relying on them, to some extent, is understandable. Regarding the Mother of God, please confirm this thought. The arrangement of salvation through the incarnation is the work of the One God. The creatures had no place here. But the Mother of God was given a part in this too: for from Her human nature was taken by the God-Man. This participation is essential, internal. Therefore, She is the Supreme of all, and Her power before the Lord is exceptional, special. Her sonship of the God-Man and her motherhood to Him endure to this day. And the power of this relationship remains. What would such a Son not do for such a Mother? And what would such a Mother not ask from such a Son? Therefore, it is reasonable for us to say: all hope is in You, be an intercessor! I started talking a little. Please write down everything that may be embarrassing. Letter 943. How is the Mother of God an intercessor when there is only one intercessor, Christ the Lord. Resolving confusion about salvation by faith alone You write: “the letters say: “If we anger the Savior Himself, who will intercede with Him? Here is the Mother of God, and so on.” You took a scrap, and it looks pretty. You previously had a question: how is the Mother of God an intercessor when Christ the Lord is the only intercessor? I think I wrote that Christ the Lord is an imprecise intercessor, as a reconciler of humanity with the Divine. By His death He reconciled us with God and through this opened access to us to all the mercies of God. He is the finisher of the incarnate economy of salvation. The Mother of God is an intercessor of salvation, like a prayer book. Both Angels and saints are intercessors in this regard, for they pray for us. But neither the Mother of God, nor the Angels, nor the saints are producers, but givers of salvation. They only intercede that the image of salvation, given by the Lord the Savior for everyone, would be applied to us, and thus we would be saved by virtue of it. Lord Savior, all other accomplices in granting us salvation. The image of the Lord's perfect salvation can be likened to a hospital established for everyone. The Lord is the physician, and His medicine: but the performers and those who add to the work of the image of healing are Angels and saints and servants of God’s Mysteries. Everything that the Lord established by grace exists. And everything is given to everyone freely. But it is different in relation to those who fall away from the Lord. Here, the Lord’s own work of propitiation is inevitable, and the greater the more frequent and severe the falling away. Sincerity and strength of contrition greatly reduces this work of propitiation, but does not exclude it. And the conscience of the fallen does not dare to suddenly appropriate everything for himself. He is burdened and alienated. Here, in this work of propitiation, the prayers of the saints, and especially the Mother of God, are of great help; and prayers for living well-wishers can help a lot. When someone comes to the Lord for the first time, those who come are accepted immediately, but those who fall, not immediately. And he has to languish for a long time until he appeases the Lord. This is evidenced by repeated experiments. The acceptance of the fallen again into mercy after labor is echoed in the conscience. In the ancient church, the fallen publicly repented. This does not violate the right to approach the Lord, but only establishes the procedure for pardon. By this right, the fallen approaches the Lord and seeks propitiation. And this one who comes is not expelled, but is still kept in the hallway, or in the entryway, due to previous infidelity. That is why he has hope of pardon, because the Lord came to seek what was lost. But still, work hard, look for help in the door of mercy. The prodigal son went to his father, and the fallen one, seeking propitiation, goes and hopes to receive, and when the term of seeking has passed, the Father will accept him into his arms. A father's hug is a feeling of mercy after a long search. The Lord established the sacraments. And here we have nothing to philosophize. You speak about the conditions of salvation: ap. Paul said, believe in the Lord and you will be saved. What does it mean to believe in the Lord? Give up idolatry, accept the Christian faith, therefore everything that Christianity contains: faith, commandments, sacraments, and all orders. St. Paul said so; and the Lord said to this question: keep the commandments if you want to be taken into your life. St. Mark writes: whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved. And there are still other places. When we put everything together, it will be that faith, and living according to the commandments, and sanctification by the sacraments, and the leadership of God-ordained shepherds, and union with the true church are absolutely necessary for obtaining salvation. Take the trouble to notice when you have to read about the conditions of salvation and write down such passages, you will see what a complete system will emerge; but certainly not just faith. Perhaps the faith is Christian, i.e. the entire Christian dispensation. My five teachings on salvation are a summary of everything. You can also pick up something else. It seems that I didn’t miss a single word of yours without saying something. But I don't know if this will satisfy you. If you are not satisfied, write again. I'll talk some more. We’ll get to the point where you will fully see the truth, which exists only in Orthodoxy. As soon as some confusion occurs, now sit down and write it down, and write it down as completely as possible. A sheet will come together, another - send it. And there will be an answer. If you don’t do this, I will be very sorry and sad. Do you want to make me sad? Although I am unknown to you; but still I am a man. Why are you going to make me sad? When it costs you nothing to please. Save yourself! I wish you all the best and salvation. Letter 944. Regarding reflection: whether to devote your life to God. About social entertainment, condemnation, the fight against bad habits and other subjects God's mercy be with you! I'm very glad you started writing. God bless the good beginning. You promise to write everything frankly, without hesitation. Good! This is the real writing - writing everything from the shoulder. Write everything, about points of faith, about spiritual life in general, and about everything. I will answer with complete pleasure. Book: What is spiritual life? and so on. you like it. Glad. It contains everything briefly. A book similar to it: The Path to Salvation, or Essay on an Ascetic. This one says it too, but more broadly. You feel the urge to devote your whole life to the Lord; but you are afraid to decide on it. To dedicate your life to the Lord is not left to a choice, but is an urgent Christian duty. And when it is said to dedicate your life to the Lord; then, of course, not just any part, but everything, all manifestations of mental and physical life, and the lightest thought, and the simplest movement of the body. When we are baptized, we deny Satan and all his works, i.e. everything that is not pleasing to God; and we are united to Christ - by faith and vow to please Him by strict fulfillment of all His commandments. This is dedicating your life to the Lord. Consequently, you have nothing to choose now, or think about making a decision on this. The decision has already been made on your behalf. And you will be offered not a choice, but execution. Take the trouble to look through the trail. Scriptures: 1 Cor.6:19:20. You are not your own, writes the Apostle, for you were bought with a price. And here is the conclusion from these words: therefore glorify God in your bodies and in your souls, which are God’s, i.e. the strength of soul and body must be consecrated to God. No concession is allowed either to oneself or to the world. Elsewhere it is expressed this way: whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Testifying to how this was accomplished by the Apostle himself, he says: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). So you see how? And you think and rest your feet. You are a slave bought with priceless blood. For what? So that by living you may not live for yourself, but for the Lord who died and rose for you (2 Cor. 5:15). You don't have a single little vein left of your own. And you want to dispose of all your personal property. You are a rebel! You are a thief of other people's property! You can only say: I wasn’t the one who made the baptismal vow?!! It's all the same; although not you, he is yours - and the Lord has him that way. And based on the fact that he is yours, from the moment of baptism you have acquired all the benefits of the incarnate economy; the ancestral punishment has been removed from you; you have received a new birth, according to which you are a daughter of God, not in name, but in reality (John 1:12:13). You have received the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit, which worked in you and is now working; you fed on the body and blood of the Lord; you are enriched with the light of knowledge, good rules and dispositions; Unspeakable promises belong to you later on earth, and even more so in another life. You cannot deny that you see all these blessings in yourself, recognize them and touch them - and you cannot help but feel that they are truly a great good. How did you get it? No other way than because the Lord took the vow made for you in baptism as your own vow. For if this were not the case, you would not receive anything. From this, please see how good it is that they made such a vow for you at the very beginning of your life, and when you see it, cry out: thank God that they made a vow for me then! “And thank God that the merciful Lord accepted it with such strength as if I had given it myself.” For under this condition the seed of life was consecrated at that time, and from it life was revealed so far as it is now, and there is an opportunity to reveal more and more, everything in the same spirit until it becomes a broad-branched and prolific tree. I believe that you happily accepted everything written down and agreed with everything. Now I ask you: why is this such mercy to you? So, for nothing, for nothing, for nothing? No, not for nothing. Only the image of salvation, or the incarnate dispensation, has been provided to us freely. The salvation of everyone, not even one, is accomplished for nothing. The decisions of his own will are urgently involved in the salvation of everyone. And on the basis of these decisions, grace comes on them and after them and builds its own. This same decision also underlies what is given to everyone as a result of baptism, although it occurs in infancy. Only the decision at that time is made not by the present, but by the future, the decision that everyone who is baptized in infancy, having come to an age when he is able to recognize himself and his position, and gives on his own behalf, or consciously and self-willingly repeats the vow: I renounce Satan and unite myself with Christ the Lord. For the sake of such a decision for the future, the Lord gives all spiritual benefits during the very act of baptism and in the following time. The Lord expects that the person baptized in infancy will subsequently repeat the decision expressed for him by his recipients, and as a result, he considers it, as if it were expressed by the baptized person himself, in infancy. This should have been done during the first confession. It happens in form; but the matter itself does not always coincide with that moment; and sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn’t. Comes after and is pronounced. But everything comes and happens inside, in the spirit, in the heart. I am addressing you. You feel called to dedicate yourself to the Lord. This means that your entire inner mood yearns to say: I deny Satan and unite with Christ. Your soul longs to fulfill what the Lord has been expecting from you for so long, for which He has so richly poured out His grace on you until now, towards which everything has been directed; everything that has been in you until now is the fruit of everything that has gone before. Of course, you have long recognized yourself as a Christian and fell in love with Christianity, and lived in this love; but it was semi-independent, inspired by the flow of life, without struggle. And now you have to do this completely independently, with struggle, with rejection of what the world and its prince are offering you on the other side. Do you realize that the prince of the world is offering you: I will give all this to you if you fall and worship me. If you realize, then realize together that the most decisive moment in your life has come to you, this is whether or not you should be a real Christian. Please don’t take this moment lightly. Enter into the consideration of the case in order to act like a reasonable Christian, and not like a butterfly fluttering through flowers - balls, theaters. I'm very glad you brought this up; If you please, think it over, and write everything that comes to you on this occasion without concealment. I mean all the objections that cannot be avoided. Do not think that you should decide to live the darkest life. Not at all. You can enjoy all that the Lord gives, all the benefits, by anointing your head with oil and washing your face. But to everyone - not haphazardly, not carelessly, but in a Christian way. Here it is: in a Christian way, he will now ask you to determine when you will need to divide the part of Christ from the part of the prince of the world in the use of the same goods. We'll change our minds about all this. This is the main thing I wanted to prescribe to you, a matter of first importance. Now a little about other things. “Last winter, you say, I had a lot of fun and, when I came home, I thanked God for the fun.” Why not have some fun? and we must thank the Lord for everything. But I think that after entertainment it is better to do as Job did. His children had fun every evening. And in the morning he offered a sacrifice for them to God for cleansing, saying: Have they sinned in anything? This is what you should do after the fun too. During times of merriment, thoughts do not know where they go, and words flow like a rain stream, anywhere; because there is no channel. But the Lord is near, and sees everything, and takes everything into account. Therefore, after having fun, it is better to pray: Lord forgive me if I have sinned in thoughts and words. You are about to embark on a social life, and as it seems, with all your might. You have a mother who knows these matters perfectly, and can serve you as a most reliable leader. Obey her, and do not deviate even a hair from her orders and instructions. This should be your wisdom in the face of the light. You want to spin, but not get dizzy. If you listen to your mother, you may be able to do this. But it's doubtful. The spirit of social life acts like a frenzy. Everything goes in and out, you can’t feel it. And then suddenly his eyes turn green and he hits the ground. And before you know it, you’ll be spinning. No, you better plan to be in the world and be respectable, the main thing is not to dance. Don't hold back from judging. Try to get used to it, and you will get used to it so that you will see the funny and not laugh. There are people who don’t do this, secular people. But here it is necessary to distinguish between idle talk or idle talk and the sin of condemnation, in which lies gloating and malice. This last is actually condemnation. "It's hard to break bad habits." Difficulty is not impossibility. Start to fight and fight, it will break through, judge yourself and decide not to give in. Little by little you will get used to it. Just take it seriously. You said a wise word: “I would like not to feel sorry for myself.” This pity is the source of all malfunctions, all self-indulgences and omissions of what is due. That is why the Lord stands on the first step towards Him: let him deny himself. But take it, work, fight, pray, and you will succeed. Without labor, doing and redoing, no one succeeded in good. – How do you feel about the Guardian Angel? – good. But the Angel is one person, and the saint of the same name is another. That they are one is a spiritualist invention. – How do you think about your dead sister, it’s possible and very possible. And it is possible that she comes to you when you call. She departed clean and a sincere believer. Directly to the Mother of God. But if you dance around at balls, your sister will not come to you. And he will be angry with you. “Her parents did not deserve such punishment that they lost all their children.” This is not always a punishment. This happens for the benefit of the children and the parents themselves. We are blind and do not see this, and having not seen it, we grumble and think blasphemously about God, as if He is wrong. And He arranges everything in the best way. - It’s good that you know the prayers by heart and that you read them with attention. Ask the Lord to always allow you to pray with attention and feeling. And with your own effort, try to pray like this, and you will get the hang of it. - Memorize the Six Psalms. Good. Read the psalms in the Psalter, and whichever psalm is clear and falls on your heart, memorize it. When you take a walk, or go somewhere, your thoughts wander off to who knows where. Better take some psalm and read it with reflection and questions about what it means, what it means. I reviewed everything. Try to understand what is written at the beginning. Write everything. I see that you are a decent lazy person, and only blame everything on lack of time. However, don’t embarrass yourself. Write when you're hunting. Your mother has the best wishes and deepest respect. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. December 14, 1884 Letter 945. Social frenzy. About the different names of saints I apologize for not answering soon. Didn't have a chance to do this before. In your last letter, you more precisely defined what your urge to have fun is. And I have nothing to say against it if you can stay within the limits in which you want to keep yourself. But will you keep yourself in them? Remember the popular saying: “Beware of the first glass.” Where did it come from? From experience, after drinking one glass, it’s difficult to resist another, and then it’s spilled. Such is the power of sensual pleasures over our weak hearts! The whirlpool and seething of secular entertainment is of the same nature. You say: I don’t want to go to all the trouble. Now it's easy for you to say; but what will it show later? Imagine that you see a room where there is hidden intoxication and are eager to stay in it and reconsider what is there. They tell you: don’t go, it’s crazy there. And you answer: I don’t want to get burned. Will the burn spare you because you say you don't want to burn? Secular entertainment is a waste. And before you know it, you’ll burn out. Your mother is afraid that you will die. And I think so too. I’m telling you this so that you keep your ears sharp, even from now on. And from now on, commit yourself to strictly adhere to your mother’s guidance in this regard. Are you asking what the different names of saints mean? These are names that are assigned to them according to their condition, rank and feat on earth, and not according to the degree of bliss assigned to them in heaven. Everything there is determined by the inner perfection of the heart. Some of these names you yourself identified as good. A saint is a bishop who has pleased God and been glorified. Sometimes living bishops who have earned respect are also called this way. A martyr is any Christian who suffered for the faith and was tortured to death. Martyred bishops and priests are called holy martyrs; monks and nuns - venerable martyrs and venerable martyrs. Someone who suffered for the faith, but was not tortured to death, is called a confessor. Martyrs who suffered excessively, with the manifestation of the special protection of God over them, are the essence of great martyrs and great martyrs. Venerable - saints of monks and nuns. The unmercenaries are Christian doctors who heal without compensation while preaching the faith. For Christ's sake, holy fools - who took on the appearance of being foolish, and patiently endured everything they received for their foolishness. Archangel - Michael the Archangel, the first Angel after the fall of Satan. Ethereal powers are all Angels, but saints are not called that: for they have the ability to perceive flesh, but Angels do not. God bless you! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. 22 Apr '85 Letter 946. About the Apostolic Tradition God bless the good beginning! In the text from the Apocalypse, do not add or subtract the words: in this book, you seem to mean in the New Testament, but this is not so. In this book, i.e. in the Apocalypse. In general, it is appropriate to add or subtract prohibitions only to Divine Revelation, to the Word of God. What God has revealed and what He has commanded, nothing should be added to it or taken away from it. (This applies to Catholics and Protestants. They add everything, but these subtract.) But the Word of God is not all contained in written books. The New Testament books themselves confirm this. Consequently, this passage cannot be applied to all books of the New Testament and in general, i.e. to summarize the word: down. By the word: tradition does not mean an indefinite rumor, not knowing how it began and spread; and of course the Apostolic teaching, taught orally; or rules and regulations introduced into the church by deeds. The Apostles completely organized the Church of Christ, in all aspects of spiritual and ecclesiastical life of salvation. But how they organized this is not entirely stated in their writings, but was actually done and introduced into Christian life personally by the Apostles, introduced and rooted through repeated visits to the Christian societies they founded, and repeated corrections of what was faulty - all with their personal actions and words. And the image of Christian knowledge, and the rules of life, and the mutual relations of Christians, and the sanctifying mystical sacred rites, and the rules for church meetings, everything was personally established by word and secured by personal observation. And Christians went to think like that, to live like that, to act like that in mutual relationships, to be governed like that, to be sanctified like that, to serve God like that, as the Apostles instituted. Those who converted again took over from them, and were built in their image. The newly emerging generation was all formed according to the structure of Christian society that the Apostles left behind. And then it happened from generation to generation, and it came to us. This entire improvement of Christian society in all parts is the Apostolic tradition, following which is the urgent duty of every Christian who wants to be in the truth. To the word tradition always add Apostolic. The written word of the Apostles came after. Churches were already organized everywhere, but there was not yet a single line of Apostolic writings. The first writing of St. Paul was in 54-5, 20 years after the Ascension. And the Gospel appeared many years after the Ascension. Nevertheless, the Apostolic writings and the Gospel were collected into one book already at the end of the first century, probably under the leadership of St. John the Evangelist. And the Apostolic writings appeared not to present Christian teaching, but to eliminate misunderstandings and disorders that arose in private Christian communities. And therefore they contain only private objects, and not everything Christian in general. They were already writing to real Christians, fully Christian educated ones. And although they touched on Christian principles, it was only as much as was required by the subject they were talking about. In the writings of the Apostles everything Christian is visible; but nothing has been revealed completely and systematically. There are indications and hints for everything, but there is no complete presentation, except for those items regarding which confusion arose. That’s why it’s all heresy. Something is written incompletely. The wise will begin to replenish in their own way and make a mistake. The Orthodox gather and denounce them. How? common beliefs. Having gathered, they inquire: how are you? and how are you? They answer: this is how it is with us, and this is how it is with us, and everything is so. This is how we accepted it, and this is how it has been with us since ancient times. This is the main beginning of Orthodoxy: it has always been like this, like this since ancient times, from the Apostles. So this is what legend is! Letter 947. About self-sacrifice, the rule of prayer and unceasing prayer. About cooling and combating it. About listening to church singing. What does "World Grace" mean? So I have offended you by not answering quickly. What you wrote about yourself regarding the charming image of selflessness is good. The most reasonable way of behavior in relation to others is not to creak, so that everything goes smoothly. It’s impossible without a struggle, because our self gets involved here, and puts out its thorns like a hedgehog. These thorns have to be trimmed or pulled out. How you decided to act regarding prayer, good. Take care to get comfortable and get used to it. The rule of prayer is a safe fence of prayer. Prayer is an internal matter, but the rule of prayer is external. But just as without a body a person is not a complete person, so without a rule of prayer, prayer is not complete. You must have both and perform them according to your strength. The urgent law is to pray internally, and to pray always and everywhere. Prayer cannot exist without a specific time, place and measure. The definition of these three constitutes the prayer rule. And here the leader is prudence; When, where, how long to stand in prayer, and what prayers to use, everyone can determine according to their own circumstances - increase, decrease, move the time and place, everything is directed so that internal prayer is performed properly. Regarding internal prayer, there is one rule: pray unceasingly. What does it mean to pray without ceasing? Be constantly in a prayerful mood. A prayerful mood is a thought about God and a feeling for God together. The thought of God is the thought of His omnipresence, that He is everywhere, sees everything and contains everything. The feeling for God is the fear of God, love for God, a zealous desire to please Him alone by everyone, with the same desire to avoid everything that is displeasing to Him, and most importantly, surrendering oneself to His holy will unquestioningly, and accepting everything that happens as if from His hands directly. A feeling for God can occur in all our deeds, activities and circumstances, if it is not only sought, but is already planted in the heart. The thought may be distracted by various objects; but even here it is possible to learn not to deviate from God, but to do everything in the light of remembrance of God. It’s about these two—thoughts and feelings towards God—that you need to take all care of. When they are there, there is prayer, although there are no prayer words. Morning prayer is intended for this purpose, to plant these two things in the mind and heart. And then go out with them about your work and doing. If you bring this up in your soul in the morning, then you have prayed properly, although you will not read all the prayers. Let’s assume that you set yourself up this morning and went to work. From the first step, impressions of deeds and things and persons will begin, distracting the soul from God. What should I do? We must renew our thoughts and feelings by turning our minds and hearts internally to God. And to make this more convenient, you need to get used to some short prayer and repeat it as often as possible. Every short prayer goes towards this. But the most beautiful prayer of all is to the Lord the Savior: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! Work hard to get used to it, and don’t lag behind until you get the hang of it. It, having taken root, will be a constant engine of standing before God with thoughts and feelings towards Him. Here is the whole prayer program for you! In the book: What is spiritual life, all this is described. You are doing well to read it. Everything written there is written to the beauty, and depicts the matter of spiritual life in its present form. Take a closer look at what is spiritual, mental and physical or animal. What did you put to drive away morning drowsiness, good. By invigorating yourself at this time, it will be easier for you to remain cheerful throughout the day. In case it is not possible to read all the prayers in the morning or evening, choose from the prayers which are more meaningful and read them, and most importantly, take more care to plant in your mind and heart the thought of God with the corresponding feeling. The cooling off that you are talking about occurs either from spiritual fatigue, or from the fact that the soul has been fed too much of what is spiritual (see the book: What is the Spirit. Life about this), or from the fact that too much peace and all contentment has been given to the body, or from conceit and other passions that agitate and occupy the soul. All this is contrary to spiritual life, in which prayer is the queen, littering and blocking the prayer key. But it happens both by God’s permission and by the withdrawal of grace. When your soul burns with zeal, this is the action of grace, God’s touch on the soul. It happens that when it lasts for a long time, the soul will begin to think what a master of prayer it is, forgetting that the liveliness of the prayer movement is not its work, but the work of God’s grace inherent in us. For such thinking, grace withdraws and leaves the soul alone, and it itself is motionless towards the spiritual, and so there is cooling and laziness. How can this be? The main thing is to try to eliminate the causes of this condition. And then act as you act - fulfill the rule, despite the disintegration, trying to collect thoughts and reproduce feelings for God. For patience and humility, grace will return and will immediately disperse laziness, just as the wind disperses darkness. Memorizing the Psalter is a good deed. Fill yourself with prayerful thoughts and feelings. The Holy Fathers instilled this in everyone. And they advised reading the psalms not only during prayer, but also in addition. And you can read it while you’re doing it, and especially when you’re on the move from one place to another. But in order to maintain thoughts about God and feelings for Him between activities, it is best to learn a short prayer. You can serve the Lord with everything, with everything you happen to do, think and experience from waking up from sleep until your eyes close to sleep again. This happens by doing everything in accordance with the commandments and for the glory of God, in obedience to God, and by holding back your thoughts and feelings so that nothing displeasing to God breaks through in them. There is nothing reproachful about the fact that you love to listen to singing in church, unless you limit yourself to pleasure alone, forgetting about God and everything divine. It is not the pleasure that is reproachful, but the fact that God and the things of God are forgotten. If you mentally go through everything that is sung and read in church, you will not get tired, but on the contrary, you will feel when the mass ends, how quickly the service has departed. Reading the Gospel, etc. kind and kind. At the same time, whatever poem or thought sinks into your soul, dwell on it, and remember more often during the day, and expand your thoughts. What is “the mercy of the world”? Hear what the deacon proclaims!! Let's become kinder. Bring holy offerings to the world. This is an invitation to make a bloodless sacrifice. The priest performs the sacrifice. Those present should have corresponding feelings, fear of God, undistracted thoughts, peace with God and with everyone, praise and thanksgiving to God. These are spiritual sacrifices, this is what the words mean: the mercy of the world. The deacon invites the offering of the sacrifice. Those present answer: yes, we are ready, and we offer the mercy of peace, the sacrifice of praise. When they sing: worthily and righteously; - the priest remembers all God’s blessings, in creation, providence, especially in atonement, and in the very permission to make a sacrifice. This is something that everyone who is present should remember. Phrase: mercy of peace in Greek: oil of peace. Peace is definitely the oil for souls, and the best mercy is mutually shown by us to each other and given to us by God. Save yourself! God bless you! Your pilgrim E Feofan, November 4. '85 Letter 948. Why we pray for the dead Thank you for writing. I didn’t receive your August letter, and about your non-writing, a big question arose in me: were you really moving forward according to the new method you invented? Well, thank God that didn’t happen. And I am very pleased with your statement that social life does not tempt you so much. Help you, Lord, to remain firm in this sanity. Everything you do in your spiritual life, and what you propose to do, is very approving. God help you! You ask why we remember the dead? - Because we are commanded to do so. And what is commanded is clear from the fact that there was no time in the Church of God when this commemoration was not performed. This means this comes from the Apostles and the Lord Himself. “But our little mind pokes its nose everywhere, shouting: why and why? The best thing to do is give him a sincere click on the nose with faith, and he will sit down. After this, you can tell this brawler. Listen, fool: those who departed are alive, and our communication with them is not interrupted. We pray as for the living, without distinguishing whether someone follows the righteous path or another; So we pray for those who have departed, without searching to see whether they are numbered among the righteous or among the sinners. This is a duty of brotherly love. Until the last judgment separates believers, all of them, both living and dead, constitute one Church. And we should all relate to each other as members of one body, in the spirit of goodwill and loving communication, both the living and the dead, without being divided in half by dying. “Their fate is decided.” – The fate of those who departed is not considered decided until the general judgment. Until then, we cannot consider anyone completely condemned, and on this basis we pray, strengthened by the hope of God’s immeasurable mercy. The deceased do not suddenly get used to their new life. Even the Saints retain their earthiness for some time. Until it weathers, it takes more or less time, judging by the degree of earthiness and attachment to the earthly. Tretins, nines and sorochins indicate the degree of purification from earthiness. There is a guess that these 3-9-40 correspond to some turns in the education of babies in the womb. “There were visions, and they were more reliable in determination than our guesses.” Guessing is a shaky business. I think that the visions only confirmed, but the matter was already in progress in the Church of God - and it was from the Apostles. You kindly say that you love to pray for the dead. And keep loving. We cannot help but remember our parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends. And no matter how much your little mind screams: why, the heart will do its own thing - remember. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. December 22, 1886. Letter 949. A comprehensive recipe. How does love cover sins? I was a little slow in answering you. I apologize. You have presented your spiritual state in such a way that one cannot help but regret it if it is constantly like this and not accidental. Look, what is this?! “I keep wanting to move forward, and I remain with one desire: I pray absentmindedly, I read without desire, I forget to recite my poems, but my soul is dark and cloudy; sometimes I just get desperate; I throw myself on my knees in front of the icon and cry out to God: do not leave me, Lord, help me, I am tormented in every possible way, I scold and reproach myself, but everyone else too; I’m restless in my soul, sometimes a whole storm arises, a storm of some vague thoughts, unclear desires, aspirations for no one knows what, these are the most difficult moments, a feeling of emptiness, a thirst for something, I pray, I struggle, and there is no relief, I finally calm down, and then I find cooling, there is no desire for anything, my soul is empty and cold.” - That's how it is for you! You say: “The enemy attacks and oppresses.” Yes, he is visible here. But maybe there is a natural thing here, and the enemy is only playing tricks with his suggestions. You have a book: The Path to Salvation. Find where it is said about preserving the grace of St. baptism and the direction of education towards this, and special remarks are made about adolescence. It starts somewhere between about 40 or 50 pages. Read more carefully, and maybe you will see yourself there. If you see it, then take the trouble to fulfill the warnings written there. Now I won’t tell you anything except: beware - and don’t give in. The enemy apparently wants to spin your head, so that later he can stumble upon something that is not proper or harmful. This is what happens when you fall in love for the first time. Please keep your heart on a leash. You do well to throw yourself on your knees and pray. And do so. Again attacks, and again throw yourself on your knees. You wrote: “I’ll finally calm down.” This is how it always happens. Not suddenly, as soon as you call for help. Time passes and help comes. - So work hard. You are in a struggle, a struggle for life or death. According to how you come out of this struggle, your life will flow later. God grant that you do not turn your back on the cause of pleasing God and salvation. You don't pray enough. Take as your guide the Apostolic Rule: in prayer, remain vigilant in it. – The root of prayer is the memory of God with warm faith and feeling for God. It is in your power to initiate this, and it is your duty. From the moment you awaken, try to restore this strength within yourself. How? Reflection on the mysteries of faith and salvation. When you sleep, it is as if you are not there. And when you awaken, you begin to be again, you enter the realm of conscious existence and into communication with everything that exists and happens. Everything that exists and happens is the kingdom of God. Your first bow is to the King of kings, with the consciousness that everything is from Him, is held and directed by Him, both general and even the smallest particular. Here you are also in attention, and the present moment of your existence is determined from above. Place yourself at this point, and determine what is therefore required of you, with a firm determination not to deviate from it. I think that if you do this, then it is impossible for your soul to remain empty and wallow in vague thoughts and feelings. For here everything will be determined and will appear before you in orderly order. “It is a big mistake for us to consider prayer an ordinary matter, something that there is nothing to think about, something that can be done in vain, in passing. The obligation to pray is felt, but how to perform it is not thought about, and it is forgotten that prayer happens as a sin. Try to arouse in yourself a high reverence for prayer and always turn to prayer as the first and most important thing in life. Then prayer will be religion in action and movement, and from it then, like from a spring, everything good and holy will flow. After all, you have a book: “Invisible Warfare”! Find the chapters on prayer there, this is from the 46th, and read it, not once or twice. Everything you need is listed there. If you follow what has been said, your prayer will be corrected, and everything else will follow. I am giving you a comprehensive recipe. Its reduction is in the memory of God, the memory of death, and in the fear of God. When these take root in the heart, prayer and everything else will go well. – Don’t be neglectful of God’s work! Now a word or two about the price of mental life. I do not unconditionally condemn this life, but only when it becomes predominant and displaces spiritual life. As you have written, this is how I judge it. In the book: “What is spiritual life” this is explained. View again. Spiritual activities must be at the head, under them and subordinate to them are spiritual activities, and under both of them is bodily life. This is the norm! When this order is violated, human life deteriorates. That book also indicates what life is spiritual and physical. Please look through and what needs replenishment, say, and you will receive it. Questions: love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). These words stand among the Apostle as an incentive to love; therefore, the covering of sins, it must be understood, is not of the one who is loved, but of the one who loves. For love for others, God forgives the sins of the lover. Equally - in James 5:20, the one who converts a sinner will save the soul and cover a multitude of sins; these benefits relate to the converter, and not to the convert. - So are our interpreters. Protestants, on the contrary, in the first place refer the good of love to the beloved, and in the second the good of turning to the converted. – Cold, abstract, impractical. They do this on purpose: for their works of good deeds do not participate in the work of salvation. Letter 950. Books for guidance in spiritual life. About the machinations of the enemy, thinking about God and communion The answer to your first letter was already ready when I received the second. It's my fault for procrastinating. “Now I’ll add something else to that letter.” I am very comforted by the change you experience after Holy Communion; the previous letter weighed heavily on me. These vague impulses you had were very scary. Well, now, thank God, everything is over. May God grant you to remain in such a good mood forever. You undertake to re-read the book: “What is spiritual life.” - Good. There is an answer to your first question. More similar books to this one: – The Path to Salvation, – Letters about the Spirit. life about Speransky’s letters - Psalm 118. You have them all. Please keep them special, in plain sight, and read them. Letters to various persons also belong to them. Have you now understood what the enemy’s machinations are?! There is nothing to be afraid of. They have no power. They stir, excite, but do not define. Our job, as soon as we notice it, is to immediately fight them off; they will come again, fight them off again and under no circumstances agree to them. Watch yourself and learn how to deal with them. You do good by throwing yourself on your knees during an attack and praying. Get used to the Jesus Prayer: it alone can disperse all the enemy hordes! You promise to take up short prayers. Grab this one. Have you received the book: “Invisible Warfare?” – If not, tell me, I’ll send it. There, starting from chapter 47 of the first part, the teaching on prayer is set out in great detail. These chapters, and the book on sobriety and prayer, completely exhaust this subject. What you wrote about the feeling of God’s good deeds is part of the saving thought of God, with which the prayer of the heart is warmed up. Do this more often, every morning and evening before prayer. This is what I wrote about in the letter I have already written. Regarding what fruit St. gave you. Communion - it occurred to me to tell you: would you find it possible to take communion some other time besides the veil? Pentecostals? - It would be good; but see for yourself. Address letters to me as follows: in the city of Shatsk. Tambov. gub., in Vyshin. deserts. God bless your mother, you, and brothers! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. May 11:87 Letter 951. About miraculous icons. The story of the healing of the daughter of Count Kapnist from the Kozelshchanskaya icon (appendix) Oh St. you reason well in icons. And about miraculous icons you got the real idea. These icons do not contain miraculous power, but the Lord is pleased to show a miracle from them, or in their presence, or to arouse faith, or by virtue of faith demonstrated by someone, or for both. Then, the high honoring of these icons will follow naturally, both because the Lord was pleased to show His mercy through this icon, and because they hope that they themselves will be honored with the same mercy before this icon. Why the Lord wants to do this is His holy will. Couldn't He heal a man born blind with a word? But he creates clay, anoints his eyes and sends him to the source of Siloam. So it is here. You reason like this: convince yourself that there are miraculous icons. How? experience. Recently, somewhere in Kharkov province. the count's daughter - I forgot her surname and locality - received healing from complete relaxation, in front of an icon, or from her ancestral icon of the Mother of God. The doctors later decided that their art had no place in this healing. Then - faith was awakened; many people began to come running and many received healings. This one is 3–5 years old. Note from the editor. We consider it useful to add some details of the “miraculous healing” mentioned in the letter of St. Theophan. Of course, the healing of the eldest daughter of Count Vladimir Ivanovich Kapnist, Maria, from a serious illness, took place on February 21, 1881. Count Vladimir Ivanovich Kapnist, the son of the former Moscow governor Ivan Vasilyevich Kapnist, one of the large landowners of the Poltava province, by the way, the owner of an estate - the village of Kozelshchyna. His daughters were raised at the Poltava Institute for Noble Maidens. The life of this family, who lived mostly in the village, was quiet and calm, until an event that deeply affected the family and upset its peace for a long time. In 1880, the count received a letter from the head of the Poltava Institute in which she notified him that his daughter Maria was sick and wanted to see her father or mother. The count immediately went to Poltava and, upon arrival, found that his daughter had suffered a dislocation in her foot and, as the doctor Meyer determined, from an incorrect tilt of the foot to the side, assuring the count that this disease was not dangerous, and only needed to put a plaster cast on the sore spot, which would go away. But the count, despite the doctor’s assurance, took his daughter from the institute and took her to Kharkov to the famous surgeon Grubbe. Grubbe carefully examined the patient, questioned her in detail, recognized the disease as a dislocation and, like Meyer, pointed to the same plaster cast. Meanwhile, on Grubbe’s advice, a special shoe was prepared, which, connected to strong steel springs, clasped the patient’s leg above the knee, giving the leg the opportunity to have a strong support without disturbing the sore spot. In this shoe, the patient returned with her father to her estate. Lent has passed, the feast of St. Easter, but the patient did not feel relief; on the contrary, on the first day of Easter, her other leg became bent, just like the first. It is impossible to describe the grief of the father and mother. The next day, father and daughter were already in the waiting room of Dr. Grubbe, who put steel springs on this leg too and sent the patient to the Caucasus to be treated with mineral waters and strengthened by the Caucasian mountain air. During the trip to the Caucasus, the patient became worse and worse. In addition to loss of strength, she lost sensation in her arms and legs. She did not feel any injections, either in her hands or in both legs from the foot to the knee. Doctor Ivanov, who treated at the Caucasian mineral waters, admitted that the countess suffered from spinal cord pain along its entire length and natural dislocations of the bones. Considering the illness very serious, he advised the count to take the sick woman for the winter either to Moscow to Kozhevnikov, or to St. Petersburg to Merzhievsky. The best thing is to go to Erb in Heidelberg, or to Charcot in Paris. Considering the disease to be very dangerous, almost incurable, Doctor Ivanov admitted that its causes were unknown to him. Prescribed by Ivanov: electricity, baths, ferruginous waters inside did not relieve the patient at all, and in August she returned with her father to her village even more relaxed. In October the whole family arrived in Moscow. Here the patient was treated by doctors: Kozhevnikov, Mitropolsky, Sklifosovsky, Korsakov, Pavlinov and Kaspari. They all recognized the Countess’s illness as serious, agreed with Doctor Ivanov in defining this illness, did not hide from their parents that they considered it incurable, and advised them to turn abroad to Boter and Professor Charcot. It was hard for the count's sick daughter to live in Moscow. Strangers, frequent examinations by doctors, bitter medicines and the lack of village freedom reminded the patient of her native village, home, familiar faces, the warm concern of friends and acquaintances at home - all this forced the sufferer to ask her father and mother to take her to Little Russia. Father and mother turned to doctors for advice. The doctors allowed her to go, and the countess and her daughter left for the village, while the count remained in Moscow on his business. It is impossible to imagine the grief and suffering of the parents, before whose eyes the health of their beloved daughter was deteriorating from day to day. This is what the count wrote to his family about his grief at the sight of his daughter’s suffering. “Imagine my position in which I was listening to doctors’ bleak speeches about the present and future of our dear patient; Imagine what I felt at that time and how much I spent!! For thirteen months grief gnawed at me, for thirteen months I had to accustom myself to the idea that death is the best and inevitable outcome for the unfortunate sufferer whom I love so much.” A circumstance happened that aroused the count's hope of having a meeting with the famous Charcot in Moscow. I.A. Lyamin decided to call the famous Parisian doctor to Moscow for his patient. The count decided to take advantage of this opportunity and notified his wife so that she and her daughter would come to Moscow again. In 1881, on February 21, there were guests at the count's estate. There was a quiet conversation. At this time, when the patient, as if forgetting about her illness, succumbed to the general mood of a peaceful conversation, a telegram was received calling them to Moscow for a meeting with Charcot. This news did not please the unfortunate sufferer. But on the contrary, she was reminded of the difficult situation, the long, tiring journey in the carriage, the faces of the doctors and the hotel servants, the parking lot, the signature and Charcot - who, God knows what he would say. Tears appeared in the patient's eyes. The mother went to take care of preparations for the journey. With the help of the servants, she soon packed everything she needed; finishing the preparations and being left alone with the patient, pointing to the family icon of the Mother of God, she said: “Masha, we are going to Moscow tomorrow, take, my dear, the image of the Mother of God, clean her robe (it was the custom of the family to clean the robe of the icon when they were going to pray for something special before her) and pray more fervently before our Intercessor. Ask him to help us make the journey safely and to instruct the doctors to alleviate your illness.” The obedient daughter silently and reverently took the saint. icon and in fervent prayer to the Queen of Heaven, the quick Helper and Comforter of all the unfortunate and mourning, she sought protection, consolation and help that people could not give her. While praying, the patient suddenly felt something unusual. In her legs and arms, devoid of any sensation, she suddenly felt strength. This feeling was so strong that the patient, completely forgetting about her terrible situation, loudly exclaimed: “Mom, mom! I can feel my legs. Mother! I feel my hands,” and quickly began tearing the eight-pound steel supports and bandages off her legs. The poor mother was so amazed by all this that she did not know what to do. “The suddenly stronger voice of my daughter, in which the tone of some extraordinary joy sounds so sharply, the quick movements, the joyful face, all this,” said the delighted mother, “struck me so much that in the first minutes I thought that my daughter had lost her mind. Rushing to my daughter and hugging her, I could only say: God be with you, Masha! What's wrong with you! At the joyful cry of the sick woman and her mother, everyone in the house came running, and they saw an extraordinary picture: who had been completely relaxed until then, now appeared before them completely healthy, strong, walking around the room to show that she was as healthy as everyone else looking at her in bewilderment. The healed woman, the mother and all the former prayed earnestly before the image of the Mother of God during the prayer service. On February 22, the day after the miracle took place, the Countess and her now healthy daughter, taking with them the image of the Mother of God, went to Moscow. Count Kapnist met his family at the Kursk railway station. The father's joy knew no bounds. He looked at his beloved daughter from all sides, ordered her to walk around, and, confident in the miracle that had happened, presented her in Moscow to all the doctors who treated her, strong and fresh, without any signs of the disease, which the doctors considered incurable. Famous doctors from the capital came to the count, invited by him to examine their former patient, Messrs. Pavlinov, Kaspari, Sklifosovsky, Korsakov and others. They all recognized the young countess as healthy, expressing their bewilderment at the accomplished fact of recovery. Professor Sklifosovsky said that he was confused and could not scientifically explain the case of the patient’s recovery. Mr. himself Charcot, this celebrity in the treatment of nervous diseases, calling the Countess's illness hysteria, refused at the same time to explain her dislocations in her arms and legs, as well as her instant recovery. Here he said that he had never seen such an illness and recovery in his practice. “If,” he added, “the father, mother, daughter and doctors who treated the patient had not been eyewitnesses of her illness and had not themselves told me about it, I would have considered everything I heard from them to be a hoax.” And he added: “I came to Moscow in order to see from experience how powerless science is and how omnipotent the Lord is”... *) Meanwhile, news of this miracle spread throughout Moscow. Many people began to come to the count and come to worship St. image The nobility began to gather at the Patchwork Hotel, where the count and his family lived. Everyone asked questions, wanted to see the image of the healed woman, everyone wanted to hear everything about the healing of the sick woman from her father and mother. This is how the count himself, in a letter to his sister, describes the movement in Moscow during his stay there with St. way and with my daughter. Religious Moscow, having heard about the miracle from St. icons, moved to us in Loskutnaya to venerate the image. Darkness and darkness of the public bombarded us with piles of cards, expressing an ardent desire to venerate the shrine and, at least for a moment, bring the icon to their sick family. Word spread about healings in Moscow: I myself know of two or three amazing cases. Many offered to help decorate an icon, or build a church, and there was no end to the offers. I will not describe to what extent all this amazed and shocked me. Feelings of the most varied nature took possession of me. But when, with the permission of the Right Reverend Alexei, I gave our dear icon to the church for public veneration, when I saw thousands of people praying, when I heard from both the priest and the elder that they would not remember such a crowd of prayer books, I was struck by the greatness of the reverence of the Orthodox people for the religious shrine, and at the same time by the greatness of the event that took place. Crowds crushed each other for a piece of cotton wool from an icon, or for a drop of St. water. All this happened just at the fateful time, in the first days of March, and I can boldly say that, despite all the horror that gripped everyone, in many people the irresistible impression that oppressed the soul and tormented the heart was beneficially paralyzed, awakening in the sorrowful soul repentance for sins and prayerful trust in the gracious protection and intercession of the Mother of God. Yes, dear friends, no matter how much I write, I am not able to convey even a hundredth part to you, as I would like. I will only say one thing: now I have become much more religious than I was. I pray and find pleasure in prayer. For you, my friends, I also brought my sinful prayers, may the Queen of Heaven protect and not forsake you with her prayers. And then in Moscow a long time ago, but everything is in our memory, but not in yours, in Moscow - first the light from the icon, then miracles. There was a big movement in Moscow. So make sure that there are miraculous icons. And then further questions are no longer important. And you can, in case of perplexity, answer yourself and others: I don’t know, but I see that it is so. *) Wed. Soulful Reading 1881, No. 5, p. 80. Letter 952. On the fight against spiritual laziness Your laziness is contagious. So I was too lazy for a whole month to write you an answer. And we should have praised you long ago if anything turns out to be worthy of praise. The first lines, however, do not have to be decorated with praise for you. You write: I pray poorly, I study psalms lazily, I’ve almost given up completely. Well! – progress!! Nothing to say! However, this can have unkind consequences: - carelessness about the affairs of God can turn into a habit, and then forgive piety. We need to prevent this. Please do this: learn the psalms when you feel like it, and choose which ones are more understandable and more effective on the heart; - and it’s even better if you don’t always try to memorize the psalms all in a row - in their entirety - but memorize impressionable verses one by one. Eg. God, come to my help; Lord, seek my help, do not turn Your face away from me, but I will go from Your Spirit, and under. Then repeat them from memory, when turning your mind to God during business. With these short verses you can write down your every step, and you will be clothed like a red robe in the word of God. You wake up in the morning, so you either don’t pray at all, or you pray on a feather-grass crutch. This is very bad. Pray not a lot, but as you should, according to the entire order of prayer. If you are three minutes late, arrive where you are in a hurry; it's not much! - So set aside three minutes to pray in the morning. And in this case, there is no need for you to undertake to read prayers from a prayer book or pray from memory with your thoughts and your words. – Place yourself in the presence of God. God is near - and in you; but you may be far from Him in thought and feeling: draw closer to Him with both. - Thank Him for preserving you during sleep, and granting you to see the light of God again and live longer, for many go to bed but do not get up. – Ask Him for blessing and help for the affairs of the day, showing you the good and turning you away from the evil. – Call on the Mother of God, Guardian Angel, your Saint and all Saints. – Pray for your mother, brother, relatives and everyone you know, remember the departed, and then, having surrendered yourself to the will of God, go about your business, trying in every possible way not to forget that you are walking in the presence of God. Do all this with thoughtful thought and unwavering feeling. And this will be real prayer, and your conscience will never reproach you for not praying, or for praying poorly. - And that's enough. Especially if you keep a prayerful mood - never leaving your heart. Accordingly, you can pray in the evening. But if you can have more time here, then pray with memorized prayers; they will help you turn to God in a word of prayer stronger and more intelligently. “How to control yourself?” – Just as you control yourself in one thing, try to control yourself in everything. Surely you are not so dissolute that you cannot control yourself in anything?! - So, as you control yourself in some way, act in everything. You have to force yourself. This is what the Lord said, assuring that only those who force themselves will delight in the kingdom of God. If you want the kingdom, force yourself, that is, overcome yourself and forcefully pull yourself into the kingdom of God. You have portrayed yourself as such a lazy person that it is out of your hands. Of course, you are lazy only for spiritual things, to pray, to listen to yourself, to remember God, death, and so on. – You once wrote that you were reading a book: what the spirit is. life. It shows that we have three tiers of life: spiritual life, mental life and carnal life. The last two are selfish. The first requires self-sacrifice, both at the beginning and in the continuation, and in every undertaking. “Why does mental and physical life go on without special sacrifices? – Because their needs, their desires and objects of satisfaction are visual, tactile. Having become accustomed to this tactility, we become motionless towards detached objects. The soul is cold towards them, and even more so the flesh (the soul is fuxh from fuxo_s cold); and they are passionate about their objects, burning with lust. However, the procedure of desire is the same, and in spirit like theirs. The soul knows that this or that object will bring it, and reaches out to it, wanting to taste the sweetness from it. Take it to the spiritual. One must see, and at least presumably be convinced, that such and such good, consolation, and pleasure will come from this or that spiritual object or deed. If this blessing has already been experienced at least once, then the confidence here will not be speculative, but real, true, based on experience. I believe you have this last one. If you please, now stand firm on this every time laziness overcomes you, and this is the same thing that you want spiritual and carnal things, but don’t have spiritual things, and try a little to restore the feeling of the already experienced benefit from the spiritual matter, from which laziness is now distracting you. As soon as you manage to do this, the soul will give in; for she is powerless to stand against the spirit. If you remember spiritual sensations, you cannot help but realize that these sensations, like heaven from earth, stand above mental-physical ones. According to this already experienced superiority, a weak trace of spiritual sensation repels everything spiritual and is strong to attract our consciousness and will. You portray it in such a way that your lower side takes precedence over your higher side, as if out of some necessity. If it takes, you are to blame for not doing what you should, or doing nothing so that it does not take over, but leaving your mother-in-law to your dispositions, as they flow without control (remember Krylov’s fable: Vaska listens and eats), and even more so, remaining on their side with your wills. So make it a law, as soon as laziness attacks the spiritual, to restore the feeling of good from it and go over to its side by will, decisive, merciless towards yourself, in the conviction that otherwise you will not get into the kingdom. “It takes a little struggle, but everyone is capable of it, and you are more than many.” So don’t be so kind as to wag: the spirit is vigorous, the flesh is weak. Give up the flesh and go to the cheerful spirit. And everything will go well. Please take into account what I am writing. – If you continue to act as you write, you will fall into indifference to the matter of salvation. The Lord said about such souls: the imam will vomit. Save you, Lord! Letter 953: Resolving Confusions When Reading Scripture Your confusion – 1) about animal bread. The whole conversation goes in such a way that one cannot help but see that here we are talking about the sacrament of body and blood. And there is no need to retreat from this. – And the word of God is spiritual food, and prayer, and every good deed is food. But there is no need to tie them here, even though they may come to mind. - I won’t be with you - eating Passover... and drinking wine Luke 22:16-18. It will not be here on earth, according to the earthly order, but it will already be there, in heaven, according to the heavenly order. Our life is in communication with the Lord, in eating Him. Here it is mysterious; there it will be in a different way, more genuine and alive. By eating the Lord, we are one with Him, and through Him with God the Father. And when this is there, we are on target, in our place, in our rank. - Bag - bag - sword. The place is dark, and its explanations are difficult. Be satisfied with the general idea that the Savior points to a change in the circumstances in which the Apostles were before and in which they will be after this when preaching the Gospel. When He sent them to preach with Him, they met with a good reception everywhere - and were safe and contained. Later, when they go to preach, this will no longer be the case; everywhere they will meet resistance, hostility and oppression. Why does he advise them to have prudence (bag, scrip, money, provisions) and means of defense - (sword). He allows them his own human measures, although He Himself will be with them. Bag, bag, sword are metaphors. It is not these particular things that are meant, but all sorts of measures in general. For example, they wanted to beat Apostle Paul. He said: I am a citizen of Rome, you cannot punish me like that. This word was his sword. His bag and scrip were his art of making tents. Selling clothes and buying a sword can also have this figurative meaning: to be ready to leave everything, and really leave everything, for the truth, preaching it and defending it. And having done so, have a determination as lively as one who, holding a sword, comes out to defend a just cause. He who leaves everything easily forms such a determination; he, as it were, buys it like a sword by leaving everything. St. Chrysostom takes an example: how another father teaches a child to swim. First she holds him in her arms; then he gradually accepts his hands and lets him swim a little. So it is here: before the Lord arranged everything for them, both safety and food, but now, as they have grown up, he forces them to act, although he does not deviate from them. When reading the passage, keep in mind that this is an allegory, and the words must be given a spiritual meaning. About the Angel and Lord who led Israel. God is everywhere, contains everything and provides for everything. In the business of providing for creatures, all creatures serve as His instruments, mutually - one in relation to another. This is when a special craft is required. Otherwise, all creatures are designed in such a way that some help others. With special Providence, sometimes He Himself acts by His immediate power, and sometimes through creatures, especially through Angels, and in relation to people. – In Israel, God appointed an angel to control the cloud, and He Himself was right there in the middle. The angel corrected his work by His power. - God's threat - I will not go with you - means that He deprived them of His immediate protection, and intended to act through Angels. When they repented, He again returned their former mercy. But still the work of leading Israel would be God's. God uses means because we are not always suitable for God’s direct action on us. All together means the abundant wealth of God’s provision for us. – And with us, God is close, and the Guardian Angel is with us. An angel acts by the power of God; otherwise God Himself acts directly. Both are invisible; but it can be felt. Both, however, come to the rescue and do not replace all human activity. They didn’t read the Gospel story. Read it. And then read everything. In the History itself are all the Gospel speeches. My word to the readers. This is a long-term process – not work, but thinking. For me, everything is now completely established. And others - as they want. Anyone who has not had a question about the ordering of the Gospel stories will not attach any importance to the book, but whoever has puzzled over this will, I think, say thank you. Be blessed! Letter 954. Higher courses for women Why do you need to move to St. Petersburg? – Shouldn’t we listen to higher courses for beauties!!! This is one of the stupidities of our time. If yes; then have you decided why you need these courses? – These courses make beauties, as they say, neither fish nor fowl, neither man nor woman, you don’t know what; This thing is no good, you freak. If you want to remain in your rank, stay away from these courses. – You already know a lot. And that's enough. If there is a need to know more about any subjects, you can fill in what is missing yourself through reading. If at the same time there are aspects that are not clear, then you can invite a scientist and take several lessons from him, precisely in order to clarify what remains unclear. – The benefits are: you will study what you want, and therefore work freely, without exhausting yourself, which is impossible to avoid in courses; you will not fill your head with all sorts of nonsense, and keep your convictions pure and firm. This last one is the most expensive; Equal to this is that you will remain a beauty, with appropriate femininity, which the courses will push out of you without any pity, and you can also continue to study at home, in your warm nest. “Talk about this with your mother and decide.” I would very much like you to agree to my plan. “Even if you, having set out to succeed without any courses through personal labor, do not succeed in this, the trouble is not great.” Letter 955. Instruction to a student. On maintaining zeal for prayer. Memorizing psalms. About repentance, observing the fruits of communion, cooling and remembrance of God. Explanation of the seven spirits and seven angels of the churches. The Savior as the beginning of creation. What happens to the dead I am very glad that you will not be a student. Now take care to use your free time not without benefit - not for ruin, but for creation. You avoid trouble; and your brother inevitably falls into it: at universities it’s even worse than for female students. But the fact that he will be among you will greatly paralyze the harmful influence of university teachings and the camaraderie there. May the Lord preserve him. Let us prepare ahead of time to distinguish theories from genuine facts. Theories are a personal matter for students; facts are common property. A true theory can only be one that agrees with Christian truths. Shuma S.P. You're afraid of God. But this noise is noisy only for those who enter into it. Others live there more peacefully than anywhere else. You'll see for yourself. Everything that you wrote about the progress of your prayer work, fasting and so on, thank God, is good. I will note one thing: see that the work of prayer does not come to naught. The way you pray now is a direct matter of will. His soul is a zealous desire. This zeal should always warm one up before prayer; otherwise there will be no prayer. And you admit: sometimes I pray lazily, without desire. This does not suit the nature of your prayer. Try not to allow this to happen. The matter is in your hands. Otherwise, this is what can happen: now there is reluctance, tomorrow there is reluctance, and then the prayer is completely over. Take advantage of this and force yourself to willingly pray. You have memorized the Six Psalms, and are adding to them; you especially like the last two. This gives me the idea to suggest to you: as soon as you come across a psalm you like, memorize it. Then use them, either while standing in prayer to God in the morning and in the evening and in the form of warming up the prayerful spirit - or between tasks, when you walk, or fall asleep, or wake up, fill any idle time with this reading. Look - the second psalm of the third hour - and the third of the sixth. They are similar to: I lifted up my eyes to the mountains. For confession, writing down sins is a good rule. Get used to this: every time an unkind thought, feeling, desire, word, deed breaks through, immediately repent to the Lord, who is omnipresent and all-seeing, with contrition and a decision to be more careful in the future. To do this, you need to pay attention to yourself, that is, watch what is happening in your soul. And everything will go well. After this in the evening it will not be difficult to sum up how many mistakes were made during the day. – You regret that the good mood acquired by fasting, confession and communion soon weakens. This is regrettable, and all the more worthy because it is in our power to avoid it. There is no need to surrender yourself to external impressions: they take attention away from the heart and make it wander to the side, far from oneself. You should not allow yourself to eat mental and physical sweets. We have two tastes: one is spiritual, the other is mental and physical. They chase each other away. When there is a taste of the spiritual, everything else is grass; and when you have to taste the soul-body, then the taste for the spiritual diminishes. From this you see for yourself what should be done in order to preserve the enjoyment of spiritual blessings. – What should you do to avoid getting cold? - What was said before. As soon as you notice cooling, tug at your soul until you warm it up. The Lord is near, call and he will help. Add to this the thought of God, that is, the contemplation of the sacraments of St. our faith. Each of them will pour out a lot of light and heat, and you will warm up. Just don’t leave the coldness in your soul, but keep fiddling with it until you warm it up. You can punish yourself with something, force yourself to fast a little, sit in solitude for a little, not get enough sleep, bow more. Most of all, there is a consciousness of one’s poverty, and a tearful resort to God’s help. – God Himself instills the memory of God into the soul. But for this, the soul must sweat and work for itself. Work hard, forcing yourself to constantly remember God. And God, seeing how earnestly you desire this, will give you a memory of Himself. Short prayers are very useful in our own work on remembering God. Prayers, whatever you want. Lord have mercy! - Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me! - Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me! etc. Anything goes. Whichever one you like best, use it. Your questions: – What are the seven spirits? – Seven supreme Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, etc. St. Gabriel to St. Zechariah said: I am one of those who stand before God (Luke 1:19). What are the angels of the 7 churches? Bishops, representatives of those churches. This is evident from the speeches St. addresses to them. John. – The lamps in this vision mean churches. Why is the Savior called the beginning of creation? Named like this - and as the Creator: for everything was by Him; and especially as the re-creator of the fallen human race. In terms of humanity, he is our new ancestor. He revealed in Himself a restored man. All people are then restored to His example and by His power. He is the head and the beginning. – What happens to the dead? – The body returns to the ground; and the soul receives from the Lord a special place according to its structure, where it remains until the end of the century, in joyful hope or in terrible despair. That is a country closed to us. What is there is not precisely defined in detail. One thing is certain, that the state there is quite consistent with how a person will adjust himself here on earth. How to set it up is widely explained in the Gospels and Epistles. This is now the main thing for us. As a goal not on earth, but in another way of being; then it is reasonable to pay all your attention to being well prepared to go there. “We’re not prepared, everything is lost.” Don’t torture yourself by wondering what is there and where we will be. And when such questions arise in your mind, say to yourself: it will be good for the good, and bad for the bad; Accordingly, the place there will be light for some, but not light for others. You and I will take care of becoming good, and that’s all. We'll see what happens there when we move there. I wish you all the best. Be healthy and cheerful. God's blessing to your mother and brothers. Save yourself! Your good friend Bp. Feofan. June 5, 1886 Letter 956. Instruction about the blind man. Explanations: about short prayer, the feeling of powerlessness, the beauty of invisible divine things and about liturgies I delayed answering you for so long! Guilty. - I apologize. It was very nice to read about your charitable activities in the village. Never stop them. Be patient with a blind person who is not quick to understand. With patience, everything can be overcome. Let him memorize and read what he doesn’t quite understand. As he grows up, he will begin to understand. Teach him to simply pray in his own word for every need. About blindness - so that God may give patience to endure it graciously. “I’m sorry that you can’t do a short prayer.” You choose one that is more commonly used: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Keep repeating it and getting used to it. Introduce it into your prayer rule - morning and evening. Repeat it several times before and after prayer. Repeat it 5–10 or more times. And then 33 times according to the number of years of the Lord Savior’s stay on earth. – But don’t forget that power is not in words, but in thoughts and feelings. A short prayer is a help, but the work is constant remembrance of the Lord, or walking in the feelings of His presence, with reverence. If this were always in us, then there would be no need for words. But since we are overwhelmed by overthinking and a lot of impressions, it is advisable to practice a short prayer to dispel them. When the language gets used to it, it will all be read by itself, and turn back wandering thoughts. “I would like to have more strength, but God does not give it.” And don't wait for him to give it. Strength has already been given - in the body, in the soul, and in the spirit. “But they are not entirely strong, and require assistance. This benefit and help is given by God, but not as a reserve, but for every current matter. The person is strengthened to do what; not being overcome, he calls for help, and help comes; Having helped, he leaves again, and the person remains the same powerless. Again help was needed, again the man called out, and received it, and after the deed, again remained the same powerless. It follows that whoever does not do it, and does not use all his strength, and does not work until he feels powerless, and in this feeling does not cry out for help, will not receive it, and let him not wait; equally, whoever, having done it, takes credit for the deed, deceives himself; and another time, rushing to the same thing with the thought; Well, it doesn’t cost us anything - sometimes we’re not strong enough to do it, and although he finally calls out for help, he doesn’t always receive it, either as punishment or as teaching. Please act like this: in a feeling of powerlessness, cry out for help, and having done so, remain in the same feeling of powerlessness. Your note about the arts is erroneous, due to an erroneous interpretation of what the beauty of invisible divine things means. It seemed to you that this meant only divine and holy persons. But this is one thing, but everything is divine: thoughts, feelings, and deeds, everything that is part of the Christian faith, life and promises - and not only them, but also everything consistent with them and reminiscent of them. You expressed a desire to be saturated with the idea that you are a citizen of the heavenly kingdom. The best way to help you and everyone who wants it is through the arts, presenting and reminding the eyes, ears and imagination of the heavenly. All works of art that do not fulfill this, and especially those that arouse thoughts and feelings contrary to this, should not be considered practical. Here are examples: a picture of a boy on his knees in a prayer position, the expression of his face, eyes, and lips express prayer. An old woman is sitting, the Bible is in front of her, her granddaughter is standing nearby - both the old woman and the child are apparently imbued with what they have read. These and similar ones are the real essence of the picture. But here are three friends, comrades in childhood and youth, and now with gray hair, a priest, a military man and a civilian - sitting at the table, the civilian is reading something, he himself is laughing, and the others are rolling, this is an empty picture. And here: the beauty sits at the piano, her hand on the keys, and kisses the teacher, this passionate one is a sinner, she should not be in front of Christians. Also in music, everything passionate and stimulating passions is not beautiful, although euphonious. About the liturgy of St. Jacob: he introduced it into use, and the priests memorized it. And all the sacraments were passed down from memory to memory. This was done deliberately in order to save the holy sacraments from pagan mockery. The liturgies were also composed and transmitted by other Apostles. But they are all similar in general; especially the part that contains the image of sacrifice and consecration, even literally they are the same for everyone. Everyone sings: it is worthy and righteous to worship the Father, and so on. - Holy, holy, holy, etc. We will sing to you, bless you, and so on. And here the sacrament takes place. Then the liturgy of St. James was recorded. St. Basil the Great shortened it. And St. Chrysostom shortened it further. There is no significant difference. Book: 0 invisible warfare is coming. I am enclosing the books: What is spiritual life, The path to salvation, - O spirit. life. The ones you have have errors, and the errors are not indicated. These are indicated. Correct it and read it correctly. There are very significant errors. In the book about the invisible warfare about prayer, everything is set out in detail, if you please add a note here, and look through what is written more often. Beware of the St. Petersburg air. There, the religious, everyday, and civic spirit is very damaged. Letter 957. About dancing. About a short prayer and unceasing prayer. To the reader of "The Invisible Warfare". The importance of self-activity in the matter of salvation I also received your October letter and was planning to write. It's good that you wrote again. I am writing to you with pleasure, but now I have several things to do. Your description of the order of your life is a pleasure to read. The best cure for our infirmities is to have no idle time. We danced. The sky didn't fall on you?! Therefore, this is tolerable in some sense. But what you added to this regarding the rights of youth, I don’t know if it can stand firmly. Can youth say to death: don’t come near! “And she can come during the dances and decide everything, because she decides everything.” The soul will come from dancing to the next world. – Who’s there, they’ll ask? - Dancer! Well, throw it over there. You measure youth by youth. This is not possible. We must measure everything by the ultimate goal. Why do we live? To prepare for eternal life. How can you fit dancing in here?! and much more. It's good to be in society. This is the science of self-knowledge. But still, a choice must be made. The society you visit is as good as you write. And thank God. If you don’t know how to cope with a short prayer, that’s okay. It will come with time. Your frequent appeals to God during the day, during every task and after work are a very good thing. - This is part of the general rule - to walk with God. Short prayers also have a purpose. They express with the sacred word what you express with yours. – Another higher purpose of a short prayer is to deepen thoughts and feelings towards God. What you have - these appeals - falls apart at the first impression; besides, despite the appeals, thoughts buzz around in my head like mosquitoes. To stop this crush, one must bind the mind with one thought, or the thought of the One. A short prayer for this purpose. With its help the mind is simplified, unified and instills or develops a feeling for God. When this feeling comes, the soul will be confirmed in consciousness in God, and will begin to do everything according to God. With a short prayer, one must keep the thought of God and attention to Him. And limit yourself to just words, ringing brass. - A diary is a good thing. But you have one good side. You should be more aware of your weaknesses. Otherwise you will come out in a fanfare. - “I don’t know how to pray for a long time.” - But what about the Apostle’s commandment: pray unceasingly?! The memory of God with the fear of God, the love of God with hope and devotion to the will of God constitute the inner religious life. Whoever has it in motion is always with God. And he is not bored by praying for a long, long time. – You have the germ of this in the way you turn to God for help in every case, and then thank him. Develop this, wider and wider. Your confusion about the thoughts of “The Invisible Warfare” depends on the fact that you are looking at the lessons there from the wrong point of view. In “Invisible Warfare” we mean a person struggling with passions and straining to expel all that is bad from himself and strengthen all that is good. When he is established in goodness and becomes strong, then many of the rules will either take on a different form or be put aside. During the period of struggle, the law is: everything that can set in motion the evil hidden in us, whether small or great, must be removed from attention, and even more so from feeling; the same must be done with that which weakens actions that contribute to the strengthening of good. Look through your notes with this thought, and you will see for yourself in what ways they are untenable. What is written in this book is not for monks alone, but applies to everyone who wants to cleanse their hearts. What is meant is not the external position, but the soul. You noticed something about amateur performances. All good is created in us by the interaction of freedom and grace. In general it is expressed this way: start working on something and work. God will see that you sincerely desire what you are looking for and will give it. If you want to acquire prayer, work in prayer, and the Lord will give you prayer. If you want to get rid of anger, work on it. and God, seeing your zeal, will give you freedom from anger. Man by himself will not create anything good in himself if grace does not come; and grace gives nothing to a person if the person himself does not work. Memorize this point. I won’t write anymore now. I am sending you books about renouncing the world. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. January 27, 1888 Letter 958. Heart's Intentions and Inner Discord You repent that you haven’t written for a long time. But I rather need to repent of this, because the answer was behind me. And I kept going to write; but some things forced me to put it off from post to post. Describing your pain since Christmas itself, you immediately describe in detail how you met and endured it, and what decisions and intentions you made in your heart. All of them are such that, to my great pleasure, I am applying - may you have such a mood forever, keep it as an unchanging rule of life, directed towards pleasing God. God bless you! I assume you don't have a draft letter. It would be very edifying for you to look through it; for here is a whole program of life, and, moreover, in its best direction and in its most perfect form. If you can remember, remember; and if you don’t expect to remember well, tell me, I’ll send you this letter. “The Lord saw what you wrote, and what you wrote was accepted as your conscientious vow.” Therefore, you need to remember and carry out your program. “And the Lord Himself will prosper you: for no one is more pleasing to Him than a person who betrays himself to Him.” You ask: “what should you do when there is a split inside?” – First of all, know that this is not a bad thing, but a normal turn of spiritual life. When our spirit awakens through the action of grace, then it rushes to God, and directs everything there. Even after this, the egoistic disposition still remains and asserts its rights, attracting both feeling and will according to the old custom. That is why everyone experiences the same thing as the Apostle: although I want to do good, I see that evil is present to me. - Here is the split. - What can we do here? Always take the side of the spirit, and drive away and suppress the demands of the egoistic carnal man. This is spiritual warfare. It's short. As soon as you notice a movement inside that is contrary to the spirit, reject it with your heart, strike this movement with some kind of hostility - and immediately turn to the Lord in prayer, and He will help. Sincere rejection of evil and sincere prayer to the Lord always win; and internal division is stopped. That's all you need! – It seems there is something about this in the book: “What is spiritual life?” - and in the book: “Invisible Warfare”. Do this and you will be a heroine. After each victory in this spirit, a crown from the Lord is prepared for you in heaven, so fight harder. Your good friend. E. Feofan. 23 May 83 Letter 959. How to recognize and do the will of God. Provided and not provided. The Necessity of Submissive Faith in the Incomprehensible It’s good that you remember your promises to the Lord and do not give up on them. God bless you and your deeds to be like this. - Now we must do as they said. The will of God is the norm of life, the guiding principle, and the first motivator for action. – How to find out the will of God? Much in life is determined by direct commandments. In this case, there is nothing to think about, but just do it directly. When it happens that although God’s commandment is clear, but its application is unclear, then the question cannot be avoided: what to do? Sometimes this is decided by one’s own past experiences, sometimes by the experiences of others, sometimes by asking those who live well, sometimes by guidance and conclusions from what is known from the word of God, sometimes by prayer, by the action of which God decides on the heart what to do. The latter would be the most reliable. But our inner being is not always such that the inspiration of God is clearly heard in our hearts. – The fathers have a rule: pray up to three times, and wherever your heart inclines, do so. Having learned the will of God, we must pray for help in carrying it out. Lord save you from arrogance. You yourself must exert yourself with all your might, but always expect success from the Lord, remembering His word; without Me you cannot do anything. Here we must be wary lest a thought creep in, and even more so the feeling: I am not like the others... And we must also be wary of dreamy hopes: oh, now everything will work out for me, this way and that, it’s a miracle, how good. Such dreams always end in shame. Beware of all this, so you will comprehend it. You ask how it is that those who were ordained believed? therefore, those who did not believe were not provided for. Why are they to blame? Your bewilderment stems from the idea that some believe because they were provided for, while others do not believe because they were not provided for. The idea is incorrect: for the opposite happens: provision comes from believing, and failure to provide from disbelief. God sees in advance the life of a person as a whole, and decides for this one to be among the believers and saved, and for this one not to be. God's definition is a conclusion from the whole life of a person; life itself flows both according to the inclinations of will, and according to the influence of Divine Providence on it, both inside and outside. God does everything to make people understand. If, after all the care for him, he sees him not wanting to improve, then he leaves him, as if saying: well, there’s nothing to do, stay. God does not want the sinner to die; but he does not force the will, and only does everything to incline the will towards good. He foresees all such things about everyone, and as He foresees, so He determines. In the same way, it is decided how God closes his ears so that they do not hear, and also how he hardens. God uses everything to bring a person to reason: some things do not humble him, others he does for him, others unsuccessfully, others he uses, and so on until the end. He who submits is saved; and whoever does not obey, from the first admonition to the last, becomes more and more hardened, and finally becomes worthless and incorrigible. – This is the result that is meant by the words: God closed his ears, or hardened them. This is an image of God’s definition: there is nothing more I can do for you so that you can hear, you will not hear anything else, you will remain as deaf. The same goes for hardening. Make it a rule for yourself - in such perplexities, remind your mind that the predestination of God, whether in relation to each person individually, or in relation to entire nations, are the hidden advice of God, completely incomprehensible to us. In the same thing that is incomprehensible; you must immediately force your mind to bow under the yoke of faith, or to flee under the shelter of faith. – There is no doubt that the thoughts of God are as distant from the thoughts of men as heaven from earth. If we cannot reach heaven with our hands to touch the Divine things there; there is no point in staring there with your mind in order to tactilely know how something is. It is enough to know that God said this: “No one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God living in Him.” There is no point in attempting to comprehend what is proclaimed incomprehensible. Nowadays there is no restraint from interrogation. Everything needs to be brought to a clear understanding. And they don’t want to listen to anything, take it out and put it down. How is God one and threefold? – How did God the Son become incarnate, being infinite? – How is the Mother of God ever-virgin? – Like bread and wine – the Body and Blood of the Lord? and the whole structure of our faith and the Church is mysterious, and show and explain all this. Our little mind is like a mosquito, but everything squeaks! – The Savior said: no one knows that there is a Son, only the Father; and no one knows what the Father is, except the Son. The same should be understood about the Holy Spirit. Why strive, since God is one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? The Apostle says: the great mystery of piety is God appearing in the flesh. - Why come here with your wisdom? – In the same way, in everything we must humbly submit to the definitions of faith that came from the mouth of God, although this is incomprehensible to the mind. – What is the worship of the mind to God? In the humble acceptance of His words, as the truest. If someone told you: put your shoulder against the house and push it downhill. Would you do this? Of course not, knowing that this is impossible. And if you did, wouldn’t those who see this have the right to think that your head is not right. This is the verdict deserved by everyone who is trying to unravel the mysteries of God, which God Himself said were incomprehensible. “Today we walk by faith and not by sight.” – There is no sin in trying to bring the mysteries of God closer to our understanding, with submission to faith; - But blessed are those who believe without seeing. “I think that’s the mood you’re in.” Letter 960. Clarification of confusion about self-defense Ap. Pavel. About the returned letter They captured St. The Apostle Paul because he taught everyone everywhere about people and the law and about this place (21:27), and he also introduced the Greeks (28). It’s as if he introduced the Hellenes – it’s an appendage. They were hostile to him mainly because he taught about the end of the old law and the beginning of a new one. When the captured Apostle was in mortal danger, the captain tore him out of their hands, and then, at the request of the Apostle, allowed him to speak to the people from the steps. In this speech (chapter 22) St. Paul proclaimed to them that he could not act otherwise, because from a zealous Pharisee he was converted to the faith he was persecuting by the appearance of the Lord Himself, and then, when he returned to Jerusalem, he was sent by the Lord, who appeared to Him in the church, to preach in the tongues. By the end of the speech, the Jews lost their temper, and Paul was taken to the Roman regiment. The next day (chapter 23) St. Paul had to speak to the Jews again. Ananias the high priest was also there. But only St. Paul said a few words when Ananias ordered him to be beaten in the mouth. From the first words of the Apostle it is clear that he has the intention, as yesterday, to depict how he was converted by God Himself and sent to preach, and that therefore he could not preach otherwise, as the Lord commanded him. And this should completely justify him. But since he was not allowed to speak, and since he saw that no matter what he said, they would not listen to the truth, he turned to methods of self-defense, conforming to those among whom he was, and answering the madmen according to their madness. For this purpose, he diverted their enthusiasm from himself, to themselves, pointing out to them the subject of the constant disputes of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Having said that he accepts judgment about hope and the resurrection of the dead, he did not say a lie: for this was one of the primary subjects of preaching, as can be seen from the epistle of St. Pavel. It is very likely that he often happened to defend this dogma, and that in doing so he managed to gain the upper hand and be successful. He used the sim. This should be looked at as a self-defense technique. How and why he was captured, at this time everything is already forgotten. They decided to kill him. He needed to save himself from this. Having aroused a dispute among the judges among themselves, he gave the captain a reason to take him and take him to a safe place. A similar technique for the Apostle was to remind him that he was a Roman. In the same circumstance, he used it when they wanted to beat him. And in Philippi, too, he exhibited him to finally calm down the unrest there against him. I am enclosing the previous letter. Why should you rewrite it? Keep it with you. I don't need details. And most importantly, I know. And I will often tease you: well, we’ve taken up the tug, don’t say it’s not strong. Bless you, Lord, with every blessing. Love the Lord! Love the Lord! Love the Lord! Let the fear of God and the memory of the hour of death never leave you. Letter 961. Seeing the Lord before you. Humiliating allowances. About the attitude towards your self. Resolution of confusion. Spiritual meal Everything you wrote about your mood is good. Stick with it. May the Lord deepen everything. The feeling of gratitude for inner good with God’s help is also a manifestation of humility, like self-abasement for one’s badness. From thanksgiving for God’s assistance in goodness should come the feeling of God’s all-action in us in Christ Jesus, with which the soul of the saint was full. Paul: not I, but grace, Christ lives in me, I can do all things through Him who strengthens. You are humbled by the all-perfection of God, which is set as a model for us: like your Father. And among all our leaders we see the rule: to see the Lord before us. This is how a painter looks at the face he is sketching, and like a servant looks at his master, so as not to do anything displeasing to him. From the first, jealousy of imitation flares up; and from the second the fear of God comes into force. The fear of God is the real source of all that is good, and fire is the one that consumes all that is bad. Thanks be to the Lord for all this. After goodness, you experience that the enemy is attacking. The Lord allows this to cover up the good things that have been experienced, so that, looking at it, the soul will not become puffed up. The enemy has one motive - revenge and envy. He's waiting, and maybe he'll confuse you. The Lord turns this into a means of humility for the one experiencing this. But he does not allow it for long: for as soon as someone calls, help immediately comes from the Lord, and the enemy leaves. You have been attacked, the enemy has been teasing you all morning. Whatever his teasing may be, the law is the same: having recognized the enemy in what the enemy is stirring up, treat it with hostility - and then cry out to the Lord, and continue to cry out until the Lord comes and disperses. In the book: What is spiritual life, I remember, these techniques are well depicted. They are not new. In the most distant times, they were indicated by the Monk Hesychius, a Jerusalem presbyter who served at the Holy Sepulcher. Our whole task is this: “to be in the memory of God; when the inner is disturbed either by thoughts, or by feelings and movements, drive it away until the inner atmosphere is cleared and the sun shines, that is, the memory of God again becomes strong.” Your question is: what to do with me? very natural in a soul that has embarked on the path to self-knowledge. What should I do? Rub it and grind it into powder. Take the stone, the one that, having been torn away from the mountain, ground the idols into powder. Your whole life is dedicated to this. The method for this is simple: don’t listen to him and go against him. His deeds: to trust his mind, to follow his will, to sympathize with his feelings. The most tangible manifestation of his life is self-pity. Renouncing all manifestations of the self and doing things contrary to it is its erasure. We heard the commandment about this from the lips of the Lord Himself: let him deny himself. Start observing yourself, and notice the manifestation of your self, and then go against it, in everything, big and small. My explanation of the action of St. Pavel does not satisfy you. Come up with the best. St. Chrysostom says that St. Paul acted like a human being in this regard, otherwise, he used his natural methods. He spoke before about the blessed path leading him. They didn't listen. Why? Because among them, not a small part, or perhaps a large part, consisted of Sadducees who did not believe in the spirituality of the soul and in the resurrection. This part was shouted down. Meanwhile, the other part, the Pharisees, believed in both, and it was possible to talk with them about the spiritual order of things. Maybe St. Paul had the idea of ​​separating them, so that later he could speak to them alone. He succeeded in one thing: they separated. But I didn’t have time to speak to them, because they started arguing and it was very noisy. The chief of the guard, fearing that they would tear St. Pavel, ordered him to be taken away. And he could have been told, because the Pharisees had already recognized him as unworthy of condemnation, to the point that they even realized: maybe the angel was telling him. On this basis, St. Paul could have created a powerful sermon, moved on to the general resurrection, and from that to the resurrection of Christ. And it is the foundation of faith. Maybe St. foresaw this. Paul said as he said. But he was not allowed to complete this matter. Do you believe that the Apostle bore the Spirit of God? If yes, believe that the Apostle, being moved by Him, said so, and calm down. Although it is not obvious to us why? Your bewilderment: the Tsar did not listen, for it was so destined by the Lord. It was destined. The Lord allowed His plan to divide the kingdom to be fulfilled. So that the word would be fulfilled - not about Rehoboam’s perseverance, but what He had previously said about Jeroboam above chapter 11:12. The thoughts of God are as distant from ours as heaven is from earth. It is not surprising that we encounter much that is perplexing in His word, but it is certain that no matter how great our bewilderment is, it cannot shake the faith that everything spoken by God is wise, good, and righteous. Standing on this faith, we are allowed to leave other perplexing things perplexed, and unclear things unclear, saying: I don’t see, but I believe that this is in accordance with the divine properties. I would like to offer you one lesson. Of course, you read the daily readings in the Church from the Apostles and St. Gospels, as expected. And if not, start it. This will be God's lesson for the day. Here's what you do. After reading the Apostle, extract a general idea and stick with it. After reading the Gospel, do the same. To this add the following: if any text from the Apostle or the Gospel attracts especially attention, take it as a subject of discussion, and discuss it, extracting edifying thoughts from it, and feeding the soul with them, by bringing these thoughts to feeling. You will have God's table or a royal dinner. If one text does not turn out to be like this, do this with the entire content of the Apostle or Gospel. Congratulations on your holiday! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. 12 Dec. 1888 Letter 962. Ascending from step to step. About short prayers. Resolving Confusions When Reading Scripture Congratulations on coming to our countries with the good intention of praying. God bless your stay here! I have postponed answering your letter until your arrival here. And now I undertake to answer. Everything that you wrote about the course of everything that happens in your soul is in the order of things of this kind. And you shouldn’t be embarrassed by that; but one thing to keep is to seek and seek, trusting in the promise of the Lord that everyone who seeks finds. So you do; Only sometimes you give up, but you get excited again, and the good mood returns again. You are wrong in wanting to have everything at once. This is the same as wanting to step straight from the first step onto the top step on a staircase. It is inevitable to move from stage to stage, and go step by step. That is why the main character of life is patience - patience with the work of doing and overcoming difficulties. Your second wrong is complaining about the variability of the internal state, sometimes good, sometimes not good. It cannot be otherwise; All this has been and is being experienced in different forms. You must experience this humbly and complacently, without giving up, however, and without slackening your efforts in performing ordinary activities associated with spiritual life, which is what you are doing. Good things come to you and go away; finds something bad and passes. – This cannot be changed. But you just need to always be on the side of good with desire and search. If everything was always fine with us, we would fall asleep. Your prayer seems to be in order. Instead of the prescribed morning and evening prayers, you begin to read psalms, and this is good, since in this way the soul more willingly ascends to God. For power does not lie in words, but in this ascent. You can accept different rules outwardly, sometimes reading psalms, sometimes prescribed prayers, sometimes short prayers, and now some and then a little different. Short prayers turn into mechanical work not because of their properties, but because of a weakening of attention to them and their content. If you pay attention and pronounce these prayers with thought and feeling, they will not turn into a mechanical task, but will be like adding coals to a samovar. – Get used to saying prayers to St. Chrysostom. Then they will become like strings on a harp. Then go to one: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. You read from the divine scripture according to routine. Good! It's not a matter of how to read, but to read. The Spirit of God moves there and moves the soul of the reader. Now about your confusion. Heb.7:26–28, John 10:9–16. “How does the thought that the Son was appointed a perfect high priest, and how does I am the door, and I am the good Shepherd, relate to the Holy One?” These passages are read on the days of remembrance of saints, prelates and archpastors. Priesthood and shepherding in the Church expire from the Shepherd of Christ the Savior and are His continuation in the Church. Why have such readings been chosen for these days, which speak of the shepherding of Christ as the source and example of the shepherding of the church. It also talks about what these shepherds should be like. - In addition to these readings, there are others scheduled for these days. Thought why? the same one. Luke 14:25–33. “How does a king, who is calculating whether he has enough troops to fight the attacker - and like an owner considering whether he will have enough money to build a tower - explain the idea that we must renounce everything?” Thus: for the actor it is necessary to match the means to the end. Examples: war, building a tower. – It is concluded: if there are no funds, it is better not to start a business. It will be a shame. – It remains to explain how renunciation from everything serves as a means and condition for following Christ, which is spoken of in that chapter? - But this is self-evident. Without this you will not take a step in the footsteps of Christ. The Lord says: let those who follow Him deny themselves. Luke 16:1–9. “I can’t understand verse 9 at all. “This verse says: Make yourself a friend from the mammon of unrighteousness.” Mammon is the god of wealth. He is called unrighteous because he is based on deception and lies. It promises prosperity and those who are addicted rely on it. But the wind blew and everything flew apart. It is advised to create a friend from this mammon - to outwit him. His promises are not strong, not reliable if wealth is used for pomp and pleasure. Anything goes. Start using wealth for the glory of God, then here you will be exhausted, and in another life you will receive eternal prosperity, you will receive what wealth here promises and does not give, i.e. acting contrary to what mammon leads. How are others doing? Through the distribution of wealth to the poor. As the parable progresses, the thought is given: the poor will be taken into eternal shelter. – You need to understand: the Lord will take you into eternal shelter, for He said: since you have created only these, you have created them for Me. You can also see here a lesson on what to do when you begin to repent - about the unrighteousness of acquisitions. – In approval of Zacchaeus, the Lord indicated: return. But when can you not return it? “Then give it to the poor.” “Article 37 is unclear. Chapter 17 where is the corpse and so on.” “And I don’t understand all the interpreters, both ours and others, don’t explain it, and it’s as if they don’t consider it necessary to talk about this. I think like this: – Word: where is the Lord? need to be translated: how is this, Lord, or why is this, Lord? – Answer: just as where there is a corpse, eagles gather there. Or: for the same reason why eagles gather where the corpse is. As this happens, so it will happen that one is left and the other is eaten, i.e. by the nature of those who are abandoned and accepted, everyone himself will be the reason, through his own mood, that he will be abandoned or understood. Here is the third volume of the Philokalia, read it. – Do you have the first and second?! Tell. Your good friend E. Feofan. May 30, 1889 Letter 963. Three main points. About guarding the heart. The need for rules The great things you wrote gave me great pleasure. It is very similar to the one that I returned to you last year, so that you could look through it sometimes to remind yourself of what was stated there. - This is the same thing that should be remembered. However, I do not want to return it to you, in the confidence that you will not forget what you said to the Lord. Keep it this way: always belong to the Lord. This requires a lot: always carrying the Lord in your thoughts; in the heart - always have a feeling for the Lord; in the will - do everything you do for the Lord. Three points, but those that combine everything in themselves - they embrace your whole life. Blessed be the name of the Lord who brought you to this decision. I will pray that He will allow you to stand firm in this decision. This book of the Philokalia can be a good guide for you in your chosen endeavor, in all its forms, with obstacles and with ways to overcome them. Watch your heart. The Lord is jealous, and more than any groom, does not tolerate the soul that gave Him the word to belong to Him, clinging to anything. A pure heart is required, free from everything that binds it in ordinary life. Pure thoughts and hearts will follow - or they will stand completely motionless on the one Lord. And then all intentions and intentions will be pure. And there will be a heart of heaven. For only pure hearts will enter heaven. The short prayers are exactly the ones you indicated. They hug everyone, you just need to think about them, and then everything stops at one thing. “You still have to have the order of prayer, because you can’t rely on us.” Good, good, and then everything will fall apart, and the soul will remain empty. The Lord does this so that the soul does not become arrogant and remembers that it is nothing. Now you are in a blissful mood. This may take a long time. For the mere memory of this will again cheer the soul. Be careful how dangerous you are walking. Save yourself! Your sincere well-wishing E. Feofan. June 2, 1889 Letter 964. Resolving Confusions When Reading Scripture Are you leaving?! God bless your path. I would also like to talk to you. But it's inconvenient. Personal speech will add nothing to written speech. The latter is more useful - sometimes, or most of the time. You decide to practice a short prayer. God help! She does not interfere with her prayer, but helps. Then she advises that with her it is more convenient to keep the memory of God. Blessed is the womb, and so on, not the idea that the Mother of God is not so much blessed as those who do the will of God. No, here the model is indicated in the Mother of God. The Lord says, as it were: truly a blessed womb, do you want the same bliss? Imitate the one who gave birth to Me. How did she become worthy of Her bliss? Because I gave myself entirely to the will of God when I said: Be unto Me according to Thy word. This is the moment of the conception of Christ the Savior. Do the will of God, and you will be blessed. Words: the same for the bliss of those who hear, a conclusion from the previous one. Where it is said that mother and brothers for the Lord are those who fulfill the will of the Heavenly Father, another thought is about spiritual kinship, in the spiritual order of life - their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters - special from natural ones, often completely different and opposite to them. Kindred feelings are a consequence of ordinary birth. And in spiritual birth, one’s spiritual feelings occur not in words, but in the nature of the Spirit. The Lord taught, and thereby gave rise to spiritual life. And they distracted Him from this spiritual birth, and the creation of spiritual kinship. So He said: My business is to take care of this, to produce my relatives spiritually. Rev. 19 and 22:9. The thought is not about prayer to the saints, but about worshiping them. The angel spoke. The one who heard him bowed to him, expressing gratitude and respect. The Angel’s words mean: don’t do this, not me, but thank God. To Him belongs both worship and thanksgiving. In these words, angelic humility is an example for us, and not what Protestants see here. God bless you with every blessing! Bow and blessings to all of you. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. June 14, 1889 I am adding to yesterday's letter. To give thanks to the One God is indicated not with the abolition of thanksgiving to others who do good, but in this way: we must thank them too, as instruments of God’s mercy. 19 and 20:9. I only wrote about the fact that it does not contain the thought that Protestants put into them, without touching on the explanation of related thoughts that could appear in the form of bewilderment, as happened to you. John 13:8:10. The washing of feet is a parable not in words, but in action, like cursing a fig tree and mounting a donkey. Therefore, the actions and words of the Lord must be understood according to their relative meaning. It - washing - represents, firstly, the essential features of the embodied economy: we have fallen low, - the Lord descends and raises us up again; fell from pride, dreaming of being gods - the descending Lord accepts for our sake the form of a slave; fallen into uncleanness, the Lord incarnate washes away all our impurities. This is what God’s actions mean: he stood up, bowed down, and washed his feet. St. Peter, refusing ablution, refused the fruits of the incarnation - and was rightly subject to the sentence: have no part with Me. Secondly, it represents the mode of activity that the Apostles should have followed in the preaching of the Gospel. Namely: to keep oneself pure in matters down to the smallest of them; not to rely on oneself, but to surrender oneself to the Lord, so that He acts in them, as He acts in the washing of feet; help each other, and you do the same. Therefore, whoever refused washing, refused the Apostleship, or the worthy service of the Apostle; For this reason, such an apostle has no part with the Lord. The betrayed one does not demand, and so on. The idea here is not that ablution is sufficient: but it is indicated for whom it is sufficient, and in this place for St. Petra. Legs are a way of acting. At St. Peter's love for the Lord was fiery, but his actions on it were not measured. Either he doesn’t wash his feet, or he exposes his head. There was a lack of regularity in actions, and it was necessary to cleanse it with St. The Lord considers Peter, as if saying: everything is fine with you, but these irregularities are faulty. You need to fix them. The thought that when someone vividly introduces himself and stands before the eye of the mind, it means that he is asking to pray, is a true thought. And it’s good to do that. There is communication of souls; and the soul gives the message to the soul. Everything else is fine with you. The only thing that is wrong is that the last letters were written illegibly. Please correct yourself. And this will be the washing of your feet. Your good friend E. Feofan. June 21, 1889 Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! You responded with force. It's nice to read about your exploits of philanthropy. May the Lord bless these works. But be careful not to dream more about yourself than is appropriate, so as not to force the Lord, who loves you, to take humiliating measures against you. God bless you! I forgot that I wrote to you about ablution. But if you want to know more about this, read the word on Maundy Thursday in the book: Selected Words for the Lord’s, Mother of God and Highly Solemn Days, p.120. It is here that it is explained what the prophetic meaning of this event is - the washing of the feet. Among the same sermons, the second word of the week, Vai, p. 117, explains the prophetic meaning of the Lord’s mounting on a donkey. It remains to tell you something about the prophetic meaning of the curse of the fig tree. This fig tree represents the Jewish church authorities of that time. Their duty was to feed the people and lead, but they used power, but did not do what the power was given to them for. The Lord, presenting the face of the people, came up to satisfy their hunger, and found nothing, and cursed the fig tree. This abolished the sacred Jewish rite. After cursing the fig tree, the Lord entered Jerusalem and the church, and taught all day. Several parables are told here, including the parable of the winegrowers. The wrongfulness of these workers was so obvious that when the Lord asked: what will the owner do with such workers? Everyone answered: He will destroy the wicked and give the grapes to other workers. And so it soon came true. The apostles rebuilt everything again and established a new priesthood, which feeds the believers with the word of life. This parable clarifies the matter with the fig tree. How did it happen that there was no time for fruit yet, and the Lord cursed the fig tree for lack of fruit. The leaves on a fig tree, as on any tree, correspond to the state of the fruit, and from the leaves you can guess when the fruit has just set and when it is ripe. The fig tree we are talking about had leaves from which fruit should have been expected, but there was none. This is her punishment. In the Old Testament, the Coming One referred to the Messiah-Deliverer who had come. Blessed is He who is coming, that is, the Son of God, who became incarnate for the sake of our salvation, and in the name of the Lord, from the person of the Trinitarian God and for His glory. For us Christians, this word points to the second coming, and to every gracious approach of the Lord to us, and in the sacrament of St. Communions. To a woman caught in sin, the Lord says: I condemn you, not relaxing sinfulness, but giving weight to repentance. She apparently repented, and the Lord said: go and from here sin no one (John 8:11). This is the whole point of repentance. The sinner says: I have sinned, I will not. The Lord says: good; and I don’t condemn you, just make sure you don’t sin anymore. Your inner self is self-valued, well-being and trumpeting itself. Be careful. We must drive, otherwise grace will depart, and all our sinfulness will raise its head, and disaster will follow. Pray to the Lord to humble you internally. Read in the book: invisible warfare, chapter 34, par. 7, p. 127. That you are angry and condemn yourself for having uplifting thoughts is good. This is the beginning of the struggle. For this, pray to the Lord, that these evil potions may be burned away. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 3, 1890 Letter 967. About guardianship in the almshouse. About organizing your thoughts, getting up in the morning, feeling unfit, and using short prayers. Resolution of confusion May the risen Lord send you all consolation, necessary strength and active wisdom! You haven't written for a long time. A heavy penance would have to be imposed. But for the sake of repentance, I forgive and allow this sin, with the condition, however, that they do not sin in the future. - However, I think I already reminded you: write when there is a need, urge and desire. And if this is not the case, you are allowed to remain silent for the time being. – Congratulations on your assistance to the trustee of a certain almshouse. God help you! It’s also a good idea that you have the idea that you can be useful. But it will be better if at the same time you are inspired by the hope that extra lips will lift up a prayer for you to God, so that you feel not a benefactor, but a benefactor; - and humble yourself. “I was thinking of sending you a card myself, and some new books.” - “Disturbance within.” You correctly determined that it has its own value. From self-worth, self-conceit; For the sake of conceit, grace departs: for everyone who is high-hearted is an abomination to the Lord. And without grace, what are we?!! - That's the trouble. “She is a scourge of admonition, and without saying anything she says: stop; Where are you going, you insignificant creature?! And you still ask: is it really possible to learn humility only through falling?! – Thank God that there are such intelligible retreats of grace! If even with them we are complacent and superior, what would happen without them? “After communion it was good, but then the fiery feelings began to dry up.” Please remember that spiritual consolations in life according to God are an appendage, and not the main essence. Its essence is the strength and strength to maintain good order both internally and externally. Consolation and delight only mean: work, there is something to do. Therefore, when they depart, one must not move towards despair, but rather take on the ordinary labors of a godly life, both internal and external, more diligently. – Disorder inside is always from disordered thoughts. Keep them on a leash, and in order to succeed in this, take care of the memory of God, and the memory of death, God is everywhere, and sees everything, and sees everything within you. Go with this thought in your heart, and observe the movements that occur there - and accept some, reject others. Death, too, should always be seen standing behind one's shoulders: for who has power in life? Another minute and you'll be gone. Keep this in mind. From these two memories, the fear of God comes to life. And where he is, the guards inside are the strongest, and everything stands in order, like soldiers on review. Do this. Only negligence about salvation can discourage one from this. – Do you want to get up early? Good! - Buy an alarm clock and set it for the desired hour, as soon as it reaches it, it will immediately ring and wake you up. You just need to get up as quickly as possible, even throw yourself out of bed, for a week you will be tired, and then you will easily obey the alarm clock. – Try to generate and confirm in yourself the thought of your worthlessness and sinfulness, which raises the wrath of God against you. And when you begin to pray, you appear before the face of God in no other way than as such a sinner, worthless and angry. As soon as you perceive this state of yours, you cannot refrain from crying out: O Lord, save me, O Lord, make good luck! – Why is prayer going poorly? Because the need for God is not felt. And we will manage all our affairs and needs ourselves?!! Pray that God will give you these feelings. You will be lost without them. - “Can I still hope for the words: poisonous of My flesh, and so on.” - What kind of question? – Didn’t the Lord Himself promise this?! People care about fulfilling this word. Will the Lord deny this to anyone?! You yourself, as you say, after taking communion, felt very good. This is evidence that the word given by the Lord is being fulfilled in you. And it will always be fulfilled if there is no unconfessed and unresolved sin on the soul, and there is a sincere intention to please God in every possible way. The St. have left you. feelings are true because they gave themselves an indulgence in something, either internally or externally. - Take care of yourself; watch and pray. And there will always be light in your soul. “I suggest you do not just do one short prayer, but collect several of them, and then use them morning and evening, and sometimes during the day.” – Put first: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. – Then: 24 prayers to St. Chrysostom (in prayers for sleep); further: God have mercy on me - before - reward me with the joy of salvation, - and so on. - Finally, turn the proclamations of the petitionary litany into prayers: this day (or evening, or night) is holy, peaceful, and sinless, Lord grant, the Angel is peaceful, Lord grant forgiveness and remission of sins, and so on. 6 prayers. If you feel like it, choose prayerful and repentant appeals from the psalms. Learn all this, with an understanding of the meaning and feeling. And then use them, limiting your prayer rule to them alone. In the morning, read the initial prayers to: Rising from sleep, I thank Thee, Holy Trinity, and so on. to the end, and begin to say short prayers. In the evening, read Eternal God, and again the prayers. Conclude your prayer with appeals to the Lord about your real needs, internal and external. When you say prayers, always keep both thought and feeling with the words. You can soon say your prayers, but be sure to repeat each one at least three times, or even 5–10, judging by your diligence. This is your rule for life; If you do good, you will soon see fruit. God bless! – Never rush! – What does 1 Cor. 15:29 mean? You have an interpretation of this message. Read there. - The place is dark. It stands in line with the speech about the resurrection. Faith in the resurrection is inextricably linked with baptism. Whoever is baptized is the resurrection of Christ and in him the general resurrection confesses and preaches. – If neither one nor the other is confessed, then what is the point of baptism? - Be baptized, and still remain among the dead. This is the same as being baptized for the dead, for the sake of the dead, or with being among the dead. – What is the meaning of the parable of the tares? – Matthew 13:24–30 ? Read further in the same chapter vv.36-43. – Should I continue to say the prayer when attention has moved away? “You have to turn your attention back,” and continue with attention. There is no need to stop it. But this new rule will save you from distraction: for everything will provide a new prayer thought and maintain attention. If this does not help, it will mean that you do not want to save your soul at all, and you do not want to force your soul to do anything. The Kingdom of God is received only by those who force themselves. Bless you, Lord, with every blessing. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. 25 Apr 90 Letter 968. When transferring books and a portrait Congratulations on your arrival and I wish you to spend your due time here in health, complacency and joy. I am sending you books - Philokalia volumes 4 and 5. They also include a card. Your good friend E. Feofan. 26 May 90 Letter 969. Similar card. About the departure from grace Behold the book of words, and the letters of St. Chrysostom was not at home. Someone took it and hasn't returned it yet. Believe in the card. She's exactly the same. These are the superficial gazers and the superficial gazers are buzzing, which is unlike. The questions are yours. Self-worth and the retreat of grace are always inseparable. The Lord turns away His eyes from the arrogant. And a retreat from grace is not always followed by a fall. What follows is only cooling, bad movements and a penalty against passions, not in the sense of falling into passionate affairs, but in the sense of heart confusion: for example. Someone will say an unpleasant word, and the heart will burn with anger and... It’s good that you love the memory of God; add reverent fear to it. The memory of death does not suppress or induce gloom, but only arouses guarded vigilance over oneself. She does not allow youthful gaiety to overflow uncontrollably, and puts limits and restrictions on the entire expanse of sensuality. You want space. Remember that the word about the spacious path was not said in jest. You don’t know how to hold back your feelings of worthlessness. Try to root it. It is very saving: it humbles and excites energy. I don’t want to appear before God feeling angry. This feeling does not lead to despair, but is overcome by the hope of mercy from a merciful God, as from the Father. And move from one to another. You want to drown in spiritual sweets. It is relaxing and pampering. It is necessary to always keep the sobering one at the same time as the cheering one. – Love and fear both must be in force. Angels stand before God with fear and trembling, and the Apostle commanded us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Lord, deliver you from spiritual lust. Love the sobering. The heart is contrite and humble. The Lord, having stood inside, cannot remain there after communion when the heart is sympathetic to something sinful. But if such feelings are driven away by ill-will toward them and purified by repentance, then the Lord returns. - Warm up repentant feelings - the spirit is crushed - and the Lord will never leave you. - And beware of sins. I never get bored answering you. Your good friend E. Feofan. 2 Jun 90 Letter 970. Analysis of sinful states. Resolution of confusion. What is the dignity of a person God bless your path! “Please convey my regards to all of you.” What is a fall, you ask? – A fall is the act of committing something bad, something repugnant to God, with the consciousness of its evil and opposition to God and with a repressed conscience. The fall is caused by a sinful act. An act is sinful when there is arbitrary permission to do something bad. Thoughts are sinful when you arbitrarily give them a place in the soul. But when thoughts creep in on their own, but the soul does not want them and resists them, there is no sin, but the struggle is good. A feeling is sinful when one deigns to it, holds back and inflames it; and when it involuntarily bursts into the soul, the soul does not want it and strains to push it out, there is no sin here, but a good struggle. It happens that along with feeling, sympathy suddenly arises; the soul, as soon as it notices it, arms itself against it, there is no sin here. Sympathy is sinful when it is allowed to reign in the soul, knowing that it is bad. A sinful deed goes like this: thought, feeling and sympathy, consent, decision or election - and the deed, Whoever drives away the thought, remains clean. Sinfulness begins with feeling and sympathy as permissible. Where there is no permission, there is no sin. In my words: cooling – is it clear what it is? – It happens involuntarily, but it also happens from voluntary activities, from external entertainment, disordered conversations, satiety, excessive sleep, and much more. There is culpability here. Bad movements in the body, as long as there is no accompaniment and permission, are sinless. Compassion and connivance make them sinners. – There is a penalty against passions, of course, when you don’t fight them off, but allow them to enter the heart and create a riot there. By these signs, condemn or blame your own - anger, malice, conceit, harsh angry speeches, condemnation of others, exaltation, carelessness about God and indifference to the spiritual - selfishness - all these are great sinful acts, but one becomes sinful from the permission of them. – Stand at the door of your heart, and as soon as you notice something bad breaking through or approaching, drive mercilessly, and you will be freed from sin. – The way to do this is to pay attention to yourself, while paying attention to God. If you behave this way, you will get rid of the sins of thought and feeling. – What is the meaning of hope in 1 Corinthians 13:13? Unshakable confidence - to receive heavenly blessings. It continues until the grave, and after that it ceases, because the hope will be received. – My words: “beware of sins.” What kind of sins are these?” – This last phrase refers to your words, where you said that you sinned a lot and greatly. Also, may the Lord bless your path! Do not think that you can take liberties with your thoughts, feelings, words and movements. You have to keep everything on a leash and control yourself. Self-government is a human dignity. Your sincere well-wishing E. Feofan. 10 Jun 90 Letter 971. About the fight against the movements characteristic of youth You repented by force. However, it seems that I wrote to you so that you would not burden yourself with writing to me without a strong spiritual need or any need. However, I accept your apologies as very reasonable and forgive and absolve you from this sin without penance. You should add to this; I won’t sin like that in the future. What did you write about the characteristic excitement of youth, the inner movements of vague, troubled yet tormenting; no matter how natural they may be, for you, who have changed your mind so much, who have known so much correctly about the spiritual inner order, and who have experienced so much in action, it is not excusable if they manifest themselves in you with such force that you cannot cope with them. Without a condescending view of them, without arbitrarily allowing them and indulgence in them, they could not take such power over you. Sit down and think it over - and take the reins of self-government, and hold your scepter menacingly, not allowing anything to push into your area and disturb your rule. Treat them like impudent people invading your home against your will. With this you show the door, and treat those also. As soon as you notice, drive out, without self-pity. They'll come again, drive them away again. They'll come again, and keep going. They will leave you behind, just don’t hold on to self-pity. Without resistance to self-pity there can be no good self-government. The harm that comes from indulging them is especially that the enemy squeezes into the crowd of these thoughts and images, and in the confusion he seeds bad sympathies, desires and even intentions. Several repetitions of this form an unkind, self-indulgent system within, which then initiates corresponding activity outside, which will little by little displace the disposition towards the former pure, brotherly and God-loving deeds. This is the source of insensibility, negligence, and oblivion - these giants of the enemy camp - the Goliaths. How to drive it away? - The general procedure for this is: (look at the book: What is spiritual life) 1) create hostility towards them, 2) push them away with hatred and anger as enemies, and 3) strike with prayer to the Lord, Guardian Angel and Lady Theotokos and to St. Sophia, whose name you bear. – You have read all this more than once, both written and printed. For God's sake: remember well and act like this. You called this state transitional. All the more attention is required to it, because from it comes the subsequent course of life - either good, or bad, or mixed. You yourself used the second remedy against these seethings - fasting, confession and St. communion. Do you see how powerful they are?! “Hurry to them whenever their help is needed.” “There was a storm again, and it passed. Only there are few spiritual feelings left.” - Alas! stop here, and think, and think about where this paralysis of feelings comes from?! - It comes from there - that during the storm and seething, sympathies and even desires that were not due were allowed in, and remained there inside, without being suppressed and torn out. Sitting there, they do not allow spiritual feelings that are opposed to them to come into motion. If you leave this unattended, the bad in you will completely drown out the good. Insensibility will give rise to negligence, and oblivion will take its strength from both. These three constitute complete mental paralysis. Alas! this is where the road you have entered goes. You, as you say, had pious feelings in strength, but now they are gone. Please cry about this, and scold yourself, saying: remember where you fell from?! – You want to have fun, you want to be in society, - otherwise, - you want to be where there is no place for anything spiritual. You describe the beneficial effects of a dance evening. This is a soap bubble action. The first glass of wine also seems beneficial, but what does it lead to? You are in the same dangerous position. I repeat again - pay attention to this. The enemy has already managed to frame this deceptive action with reasons that seem to be solid. - Watch out! “With such aspirations and reasons for them, you will become the most riotous person, for whom there will be no restraint. This is what you do when internal bad movements that confuse you come: immediately pay attention to your heart, and stand there, pushing away the attacking bad movements both by exerting your will and, especially, by praying to the Lord. That there are attacks is not our fault; but when you don’t push them away and take care of them, and allow sympathy, then it’s your fault. This makes the heart unclean and loses boldness before the Lord. Watch your heart. Your spiritual father told you that everything will pass. This is true. Therefore, do not despair when you encounter such strong attacks. However, don’t cut yourself any slack. Treat yourself like an evil stepmother treats her stepdaughter. - Subdue your slave - the flesh that climbs into the mistress - in food, in sleep, in physical labor and corporal punishment. What did you say, that in your piety there is a lot of artificiality, taken from the outside, from family examples and customs. This word applies only to external piety. Your inner self has always been sincere. – Thank God that you grew up in such a family. And keep everything you have learned, taking care that the external corresponds to the internal. Take courage, fight, endure, pray! The protection of God be upon you! Your good friend E. Feofan. 26 Feb. '91 Letter 972. A Guide to Thought on God In order for the mind to remain in the thought of God, collect several short prayer appeals, solidify them with understanding and feeling. – Here’s an example: 1) 24 prayers to St. Chrysostom, who are in prayer for the coming sleep; 2) turn the petitionary litany into prayers, like this: Lord grant me a whole holy, peaceful and sinless day; following the same pattern are the other words of the litany; 3) from Psalm 50, - until you reward me with the joy of salvation. And repeat them mentally as soon as necessary - all day and night. Here is from the litany of petition. 1) This day is completely perfect, holy, peaceful and sinless, grant me the Lord (in the evening: this evening; at night: this night). 2) Angela is a peaceful, faithful mentor, guardian of my soul and body, grant me, Lord! 3) Grant me forgiveness and forgiveness of my sins and transgressions, Lord! 4) Grant me what is good and beneficial to my soul and body, O Lord! 5) Grant me the rest of my life in peace and repentance, Lord! 6) Grant me the Christian death of life and a good answer at Thy judgment, O Lord! You can collect similar prayer appeals from the psalms, which are more consistent with your mood and your spiritual needs. If you repeat them with appropriate thoughts and feelings; then, by doing this, you will move from contemplation to contemplation, as if walking through a flower garden from one flower bed to another. And the prayer rule - evening and morning, you can celebrate with these short prayers: to prolong the standing in prayer, repeat each 3 and 5 times. May God help you to establish inner peace. Don't be indifferent to your condition. Letter 973. The degree of significance of feelings for God. Resolution of confusion about Luke 9:60. About the books sent I am very grateful to you that you also remembered your previous spiritual state and described it more simply. In your previous letter, you depicted it in such a way that it involuntarily aroused fear for you, despite my confidence in the strength of your moral system. And as you write now, this is a real order of life. Just correct your definition of the meaning of religious feelings in life a little. Giving exclusive weight to a feeling is not a right, but it’s not a right either, where you settled - on the firmness of the intention to stick to the one thing needed. Both are necessary, with the addition of a third—clear vision of the work of salvation. These three, when in proportionate strength, generate and maintain a rapid flow through salvation. And it is impossible to say which of these actions is more significant. Feelings for God attract, jealousy flows, and clear knowledge of the matter shows the way. Prayers are a cry to God from the heart; How can we do without feeling? And God says to the Wise One: Son, give me a heart. The good mood of the heart responds with a quiet, joyful feeling, similar to the feeling of health. When I applied the words to you: remember from where you fell, I meant not the fall into sin - Lord forbid - but the former peaceful mood in comparison with what you described - stormy and indomitable. Your question about Luke 9:60, solve it this way: the Lord gave a commandment regarding honoring parents, but the Lord said something here that seems to you inconsistent with that commandment. From this you should have concluded that in the words of the Lord quoted by you there is no contradiction of the commandment, for both come from the same mouth. Moreover, in the words of the Lord in Ev. OK. - and there is no hint about honoring or disrespecting parents. We are talking about the burial of a deceased father - and it does not say leave your father unburied, but only: leave others to take care of your father’s funeral; there is someone to bury him without you; you follow Me - i.e. Instead of a good deed, a better deed is indicated. We can say to this that he did not completely refuse to follow the Lord, but only asked for a delay for the burial of his father. The pretext seems to be legitimate. But did he know that he would return to the Lord again? Couldn't know; I thought that this would be easy for him to do, but in reality it could have turned out to be completely different: his worldly spirit would have seized him and extinguished the spark of his good desire to follow the Lord. The Lord saw this and said what he said. “Here is the same circumstance as happens with penitents.” There will be someone who will completely abandon everything bad and turn to the path of good; but as soon as he wants to take the first step on the good path, the enemy burns him with the suggestion: tomorrow you will do it, but this tomorrow, it happens, they wait and won’t wait. Here at St. OK. three cases are indicated. They all received such an answer from the Lord, according to which it is required that in order to follow the Lord well, complete renunciation from everything is necessary, so that neither legs nor arms are entangled in anything. The thoughts I have expressed here belong to St. Chrysostom in his conversation on a similar place in Ev. Matthew 8:22. I am sending you three books, printed after the “Inscription”: a collection of books, a miterikon, a soul and an Angel - not a body. This is not new, but old. The path to salvation is attached to the “mark,” because this is the end of the “mark.” Here are stated provisions that are more significant in understanding the matter of active salvation than in outline; it is precisely the history of the spiritual life of every Christian that is outlined. You have a path to salvation. And if you read it, tell me, I’ll send it. - No, it’s better I’ll apply it to you too. It is very important to read and study this book. Your good friend E. Feofan. 24 June 91 Letter 974. Continuity of the Apostolic Tradition and fidelity to it of the Orthodox Church. The Decomposition of Protestantism I especially enjoy your frank presentation of your perplexities. It is with pleasure that I undertake to say a word or two to you. You write: “in the letter it is not clear to me who these Orthodox Christians were who gathered among themselves and established the order of belief? What authority did they have? Who were they? I wrote only about the Apostles, as the establishers of the orders of faith, life, government, sacraments, and everything that is in the Church. The Apostles completely organized the Church in all parts of the church's saving life. And all this was introduced by them into the life of Christians, and how life and work were passed on from generation to generation. Pastors and teachers after the Apostles are only guardians of the Apostolic traditions and institutions. Each Apostle had several closest disciples, who were inseparable from them and who assimilated the Apostolic wisdom in all parts. These closest disciples of theirs were their successors in the administration of the churches and in the supervision of everything devoted to the Apostles. In the churches of Palestine, in Antioch, in Tarsus, in Ephesus, Smyrna, in Colossae, in Philippi, in Thessaloniki, in Corinth, in Athens, in Alexandria, in Rome, and in all other places where the Apostles were, their closest disciples remained as pastors after them. It would not occur to anyone to think that any of these disciples would allow themselves to deviate from the Apostolic decrees. They actually turned out to be faithful to them. The Apostolic men, following the example and commandment of the Apostles, while ruling the church, at the same time raised with them men who could take their place after them and continue to observe the Apostolic teachings and orders. These secondary successors in turn raised the tertiary ones, and so on. Everything Apostolic, thus, passed from generation to generation in life and deed. The apostles introduced everything that they betrayed into life - mental, moral, family, and into all types of life. Life from life caught fire, and the life established by the Apostles was vomiting. Here's a sample for you. St. Polycarp of Smyrna was a disciple of St. John the Theologian, St. Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp. St. Polycarp died as a martyr around the 60s of the second century. St. Irenaeus lived until the beginning of the third century. This is not the only example, of course. And we can assume that the secondary successors carried the Apostolic Tradition intact until the 3rd century. And tertiary ones up to half and the end of it. In this way, the Apostolic Tradition would have been preserved if none of these successors had written. But the writers soon began and when they wrote, they mostly wrote as they had been devoted to. That is why, reading the writings of St. Fathers of the second century, we see Apostolic words and figures of speech, Apostolic for all views, but there are almost no quotations. From what? Because they were all guardians of tradition. And they speculated and wrote how the Apostles betrayed each church. The apostolic writings were collected into a book at the end of the first century, under St. John the Theologian. And lists of them spread by the end of the second century. In both these centuries, Christians fed mainly on traditions. You understand tradition as being passed down from mouth to mouth. And it was passed on from life to life, from business to business. I’ll give you a simple example: how the same image of weaving bast shoes and baking bread has been preserved for so many centuries. Children learn from their fathers and mothers and pass them on to their children. Christianity is not a doctrine, but a life. And his teaching itself enters life as a certain image, a view of everything that exists and happens. There are schools in which an influential teacher imparts his teachings to an impressionable person. And then this teaching sits in school and lasts for centuries. This is even more appropriate in Christianity. Then all Christian orders, both religious, and life, and sanctification, entered into the scriptures of the fathers and became entrenched. We honor the patristic writings because the Apostolic tradition is observed in them, which is recognized in the general agreement of all of them. Thus the third century, through tertiary successors, could transmit the Apostolic Tradition to the fourth century. In the fourth century we see completely everything that we now have in the writings of the Fathers, although all of it is in parts in the 3rd and 2nd centuries. Allow me to now have a general guidance: the Greek Church faithfully observed the Apostolic Tradition and passed it on to us. This Apostolic heritage is with us. Catholics have muddied the Apostolic Tradition. The Protestants set out to correct the matter - and made it even worse. Catholics have one pope, but Protestants have one pope, no matter the Protestant. I mentioned this in passing. The Lord is with them. What do we care about them? And last time and now, I keep talking about the Apostolic Tradition, which St. The Orthodox Church has a source of teaching along with Holy Scripture. Now I think this will be clearer for you. What interpretations do you mean when you say: “Why do these interpretations of the Orthodox have more authority than the interpretations of Protestants?” – My interpretations? – My interpretations are a summary of the interpretations of St. Fathers. Their interpretations are authoritative because they are most truly the guardians of the apostolic tradition. Our most ancient interpreters of St. Chrysostom, Blazh. Theodorite are the pets of the fourth century. The fourth century is the successor of the tertiary successors of the Apostolic Tradition. That's their importance! Protestants have Orthodox Christians, but they are still Protestants. What are these!? These are those who adhere to the wisdom of the first Protestants. Today's Protestants have moved far away from the first - and pure Protestants, i.e. There are almost no people who completely agree with the ancients. – They have so many sects that you can’t count them. And everyone is called Protestants. They were already starting to talk about how to unite everyone. It didn't work out. Only a new sect of unionists was formed. – So these are the Protestants who try to stick to the ancient Protestants, they are Orthodox, but they are still Protestants. After what I have told you about tradition, it will not be difficult for you to understand how the Apostolic tradition could not change. What was handed down by the Apostles constitutes Christian life, and as such passed from generation to generation invariably, entering at the same time the writings of the Fathers from the very first century. The Apostolic Scriptures themselves are the custodians of the Apostolic Tradition, although not in its entirety. Afterwards, the apostolic writers included in their writings everything else that the Apostles did not include in their writings. Both are now observed in the Orthodox Church. Letter 975. Communication with the deceased I hasten to tell you at least a word or two in order to catch you here. There is a lot of poetry in your thoughts about communicating with those who have departed. But since it so enlivens, softens and edifies your heart, I think that it is sinless to do so. And is anyone free from such dreams?! - That those who have departed are alive, only with a different life, live consciously, are in communication with each other according to the local conditions and orders, and they look at us and come to us, hear our prayers about them, and pray for us, and make suggestions to us - all according to the local laws and orders, and not as they please - this should be considered positively true, although we cannot say anything definite on all these points. There also happens here on earth a manifestation of the sympathy of souls, for which the soul, as the saying goes, gives a message to the soul. Similar interactions can be allowed between the living and the dead, or with the departed. In letters about “What is spiritual life” the universal element is indicated - ether. Through it, the actions of souls on one another can pass like an electric current through a telegraph wire. The telegraphic drug here has a heart. God bless you! Save yourself! Bows, well wishes and blessings to all of us. Your good friend. E. Feofan. 24 Ill. '91 Letter 976. Should I pray for deliverance from the disease? How does heaven work on earth? How to handle praise You responded with force! I am very sorry that your weakness continues and you continue to expand your dominion; May God grant you to get rid of this pain. Although the Lord, who sends illnesses, always has our good in mind; - however, we, not without God’s permission, pray for deliverance from them, as if turning away from the good that is promised to us in this way. “For perhaps this is what the Lord wants from us, so that we pray to Him more earnestly.” Then our prayer coincides with God’s intentions. Your winter labors in feeding the poor had a beneficial effect on your soul, and you felt like you existed in paradise, God’s paradise, blessed, carried in your heart. This is, after all, the future paradise, not inspiring bliss from the outside, but arranging it inside, like an inexhaustibly flowing spring of joys and consolations. “You gave him the first fruits of preparation here on earth.” What's left of this now?! Is there only one memory? I think that there is something more and more significant. Next winter – Crimea. Will he give what the Russian village gave? – You already feel that no. Lack of activity threatens, and you are hoping to fill your quiet time with prayer. This would be so good! “But before you see anything, you’re already backing away—it’s difficult, boring, and you’re too lazy.” Do you want to create a prayer paradise in Crimea, just like its charitable deeds created last winter?! – Do as prescribed. “I can often call on God throughout the day and express what’s on my soul in a short prayer.” - But, it seems, I wrote to you about short prayers. “They make up a real prayer and go straight from the heart to God, and God listens to them and blesses them. God is then present in the soul. - Make sure that the intervals between these sighs become smaller and smaller, then the sighs will merge into one continuous prayer, and God will be inherent in you in a special way - and where God is, there is heaven. – Add to this a reflection on the divine mysteries of faith. How much warmth and light will spill inside then?! But prayer still needs to be done at the right time. All the great prayer books did this. This is necessary because tetanus attacks the soul, and it is good for nothing. Then even praying someone else’s prayer verbally is still better than going to bed without praying at all, or spending the morning. – Can’t pray for a long time in a row? – Don’t pray for long. Praise develops pride. Isn't it said a lot? - Pride is a terrible thing. Rather, self-esteem, well-being, and self-consciousness attack. - What should I do?! A good deed has been done. - They fed me. – And one cannot say or think that it is not good; and when praised, one cannot think that it is unworthy of praise. – How to avoid self-praise? – We need to transfer the praise to another person. – In the years 12–14, how many glorious deeds our army did!!! But starting with the Emperor, everyone - both military leaders and soldiers - had the feeling and conviction that it was not they who had done everything, but God through them, they were only God’s instruments. “Give glory not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name,” everyone said, and did not allow pride to grow. – Try to set yourself up in this way and pray that God will give you such a feeling. If you have a book with you: Invisible Swearing; then there, in part 1, in chapter 34, you will find an explanation that no matter what we have done, there is nothing to boast about. We can only boast about what is ours. But it is explained that in our affairs there is nothing left of ours, neither strength, nor means, nor objects - everything is not ours. The desire should most likely be ours, but the desire is not ours either. – If you internalize this view; then every time mistress pride comes, you, having brought these explanations to memory, will grab her head with a butt, and God forbid, her legs. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. 20 Jul. '92 Letter 977. Spiritual dispensation during the Jesus Prayer How pleasant it was to read that the emptiness of your soul pulled you to prayer, and you turned to the best one, the Jesus Prayer, and began to do it with such success. May God bless you to succeed in it, and in such a way that nothing can distract you from it. You ask what you need. The way you create it is so good. Remember and do so. Let me remind you one thing: you need to pay attention to your heart and stand there before the face of the Lord, who is omnipresent - both in you, and all-seeing - and in you. This is how you thought - woe - to the throne of God, and down - to yourself, a sinner. Standing before the face of the Lord, do not allow other thoughts, but only contemplate the Lord with the feelings due to Him, what He sees, hears, is ready to heed and fulfill. – Do not leave the word without thinking about the Lord and what He is for us, but have simple thoughts: that He is near, keeps, holds, teaches, guides. When you start, then certain needs regarding this prayer will open up, and ask. Look at the end of the matter. Thought and feeling will become so close to the Lord that they will become inseparable; there will be an inseparable feeling for the Lord - warm and sweet. Still, everything else will become outside, as if it were someone else’s. When you are humble, the grace of God will soon bring this prayer into force. In the book - What is spiritual life, it seems, there is something about this prayer. Make sure everything comes from the heart. Don't think about external situations. What did you think at first: it seems to you that it was established, and then everything fell apart, this will happen often. So, as soon as such a thought is born, know in advance that it is lying - and do not dwell on it. – Strength begins when a fire is formed in the heart. God bless you and all your relatives who are with you! Didn’t you stop by Kozelshchino on the way?! It's a sin if not. There now lives an old woman of high life, almost motionless from illness, but abiding in the Lord! Your good friend E. Feofan. 13 Dec '92 Letter 978. Man in the Spirit You have portrayed your inner state and especially prayer as being completely dependent on external contacts. But the good thing is that it only weakened, but did not stop, and was not replaced by something that is completely opposite to it, from which may the Lord protect you! “I pulled myself up,” you say. “Great,” and never give up at all. After all, the Lord placed all the virtues in us. They immediately ask to come out as soon as we are in such a mood, about which there is a saying: now he is in the spirit, this also means that he is ready for all good things. And then something inside rises, something comes from outside. And a person can be unrecognizable. But this too can be shaken off like a cape. When zeal for your salvation is alive and strong, guard this jewel, for it is more valuable than the whole world. You don’t have a heart for St. Petersburg. - So you're all right. The village corrects the soul, not just the body. – He won’t live another year, or even dozens. Your good friend E. Feofan. Aug 9 '93 Letter 979. Quiet refuge. A babbling brook and a reliable watchman Yesterday, writing to A.N., I asked her to convey my regards and good wishes to you, not hoping that I would have time to write to you, but our mail did not arrive, and I have time to write, and I am writing. Now you are your aunt’s assistant and share her efforts in caring for the sick. Here you are, two nurses, not like strangers and cold, and you are ameliorating this pain. - Believe that this also applies to you: you are sick and visit Me. “Your village activities are all so lively, and I think you have a sweet life there.” When things come from the heart, then life is alive, and when it is dedicated to the Lord, then it is divine: for then God is working in you. – Thinking about yourself and your fate, you decide: God’s will be done. There is no wiser decision than this. He who is like this in his heart is as if he is in a quiet refuge, although before his eyes is the agitated sea of ​​the world. Keep the boat of your life at this anchor, and the waves will not drown you - the splashes will only splash a little. You remembered the short prayer. The priest of God told you well that there is no need to forget this. Try not to interrupt it, and it will become so established that it will repeat itself, and you will have a stream babbling, as Elder Parthenius of Kiev-Pechersk put it. And one of the ancients said: just as when thieves, approaching a house to sneak into it to steal, hear that someone is talking inside, they do not dare to crawl into it, so when our enemies creep up on the soul in order to rob it and hear that a small prayer is murmuring there, they walk around, but are afraid to go into the middle. – To a small single prayer you can add 24 prayers that stand in a row of prayers for sleep, and having solidified them, say them often: they embrace the inner spiritual life in all its volume. We have a lot of short prayers scattered throughout our church services. Notice and confirm. And you will always carry a prayer book with you, which you can read in every place of the Lord’s dominion. May the Lord bless you with great blessing. I wish you all the best and joy. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. Oct 4 '93 Letter 980. On the issue of adoption of the schema I wish you to be renewed and find yourself in a fertile atmosphere. I am very grateful to you that you were not too lazy to describe everything you saw and heard in Voronezh in some detail. “I’m very glad that you returned satisfied.” And I really wish that this trip leaves you with saving memories and lessons. May everything help you! Have you noticed that both Lords through clenched teeth expressed their consent to your abduction? “It really caught my eye.” By accepting the schema, you will present them with an experience in which they will have to not justify their indecision. You noticed this indecision in me too. - And you are wrong. I have already written that, speaking generally, I do not find a schema necessary, but this reasoning was not based on anything on your part, but in general on the external action of schemas. When Fr. Cassian confirmed that the time was right, I willingly agreed with him, and wrote to you about this - and now I say the same thing: God bless your schema, and give you the strength to reveal in yourself the real schema-woman - the crucified one: for in the East the schema of staurophoria is the bearing of the cross. My general idea about schema remains the same; in relation to you or in application to you, my consent is based on trust in Fr. Cassian, who has brought you so much spiritual benefit, and continues to do so. But at the same time, I trust you that you can maintain the tone of life required by the schema, as much as it depends on you, for the main thing is everything from the Lord. Where did you get the idea that I was mocking your schema?! A crow in peacock feathers, and a corporal in a general’s uniform, is not a mockery, but a lesson to you, or a saving reminder not to show off the schema, but rather to judge and condemn yourself with it, that, here are the peacock feathers, and the crow itself, or the general’s uniform, and the corporal himself. You will do well if you do as I wrote, write it on paper in capital letters, and read it. Schema is not a confirmation of baptismal vows, but the imposition of new ones on them. A schema-monk is a dead person, not striving for death, but dead. May God grant you to get back on track. It was the Lord who tested you or is still testing you. When grace overshadows the soul, then labor is not labor. Please prove that you undertook to work not for the sake of spiritual sweets, but for the sake of submission to the will of God, as evidence of which you now patiently continue these labors, despite the dryness and cooling of the spirit. And thank God for these deprivations, both as a test and as a punishment, for we are all worthy of punishment at every hour. And when they are sent, it is the mercy of God: for through this it is possible to get rid of eternal punishment. Be complacent and wait. The Lord will return. Is it on your conscience? Conscience is pacified by confession and contrition - in connection with penance. I finally received the Gospel story. I'll send it soon. What else can I tell you? When Vladyka Joseph said: I would have beaten you, but you didn’t ask: why, Vladyka, am I ready to suffer any kind of beating - it’s saving. When did I ever bother you? He patted everyone on the head. That's why you came out of nowhere as a worthless person. And who asked Bishop Seraphim: what impression did I leave? The lordly lady. What kind of beating would Vladika Joseph give for this? For my part, I would encourage him to do this. You will probably say to yourself: it’s not like that! The hands are undersized. Save yourself! I wish you all the best. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 4 gen. '86 Letter 981. About the providential taking away of spiritual consolations After I received your last letter, written immediately upon my return from Voronezh, in both its editions, I answered you, I don’t remember what date. Since that time I have not heard from you or seen anything from you. I pray to the Lord that this is not due to any disorder in the spirit. You have returned from a trip to the northern countries, not the ones you went to - and very much so. No matter how closely I look, I don’t see what it’s from. I wrote to you to take a closer look, and you don’t seem to see anything. Well, all that remains is to endure what the Lord sends. The Lord sometimes tests the sincerity of serving Him, taking away the spiritual consolations that accompany spiritual exercises. And when he sees that the soul, deprived of these consolations, without sparing itself, serves Him diligently, it returns those consolations to it. The elders say that one should not become addicted to these consolations, or consider them an inalienable property of one’s labors, but surrender them to the will of God - accept them when the Lord gives them, and endure their deprivation when he takes them away. This alone may be the reason. Wasn't there another? - namely, was there not co-indulgence in anything, and desirability for some sweetness displeasing to God? Were there any relaxations and benefits in spiritual work, attention to oneself, etc.? Review everything, and if anything turns out, clear it with confession and feasible penance. After what the Lord has given you to taste, all such missteps are very destructive, and the enemy started from small things and brought them to big things. But rebellion is always possible and possible. One should only turn to God with repentance and a vow to behave well. I sincerely regret what happened to you, and I pray to the Lord to improve your inner life. I am sending you books. Give - oh. Archimandrite, Fr. Cassian, Fr. Mitrofan. Others, wherever you want. I’m sending it to Voronezh now. Send one to Yelets, if you want, but maybe I’ll send it later. My health is good. It seems that he mentioned to you that he had undertaken to translate a new book, of the same type as “The Invisible Warfare.” I continue. This one is subtler, more comprehensive, and generally relates to life according to God, like complete asceticism. And this will be published in Soulful Reading, if the editor agrees. Save yourself! With all my wishes I wish you consolation from the Lord! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 12th Gen. '86 Letter 982. Upon receipt of the shawl. About the schema. Reply to an invitation to Voronezh. About writing and health I received your shawl. Thank you. But how to use it? I'm still sitting at home. I go out onto the balcony when there is no wind and it’s not too cold. In the room, when should you cover yourself with it? When the leg twitching begins, I get up, or walk, or stand and read until the paroxysm ends. Okay, though. I will wait for something to show the use of the shawl. Schima-schima! Yes, it's time for us to stop talking. With all my desire and desire, I bless you. And may God help you to be a real schema-montress. There are no special demands from the schema-monk: they are the same as from any monk, but only such that they are already rooted, while a simple monk is still looking for them. The goal of a monk’s work is the acquisition of ascetic virtues, both external and internal, physical and spiritual; the goal of the schema’s aspiration is to achieve or build that which, on the basis of ascetic virtues, can be achieved spiritually, or built. The consciousness of the schema-monk must enter another spiritual realm, while the monk still struggles and struggles in the ordinary environment. This is all this - and this makes a difference, but not in the essence of the spirit, but in degree. Here comes the post. You are ordered to become a schema nun. I think it’s better not to change the name. Bless, Lord! And a finger on your lips about this! What's a trip to Voronezh like? Why did you come up with this idea, it’s really necessary to fly headlong. That's when I'll fly. Some American has been sitting for several years, inventing wings for flying. As soon as he comes up with an idea, I’ll buy it and jump in like crazy. What St. Seraphim told you about using the French language for the benefit of your title must be fulfilled. But first you need to completely calm down. You can put aside the letters about death, and for translation from French, take the guide to the Christian life of Francis de Sales. I have it. Enclosed with her were many letters, mainly as consolation and warning to the laity. These letters can form a special volume, and the manual will be a special one. When you decide, but not at all, I’ll send you the book. I think a lexicon will be required. Stock up. The translation of “The Invisible Warfare” is finished. I am translating from French a manual similar to Francis’s, which is a little more subtle and more contemplative. When the printing in “Dushep” ends. Reading" "The Invisible Warfare", then I will ask you to print what I am now translating. My legs have no pain, no swelling, nothing. Only after midnight, and sometimes a little earlier, does the twitching begin, it goes on for two hours, and then everything is calm. I wish you both health and inner well-being. Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 3 Feb '86 You were very sick. Now we are free from diseases. I thank the gracious Lord with you. You are right when you see the causes of illness in the moral state itself. - But what you prescribed could not be the reason. We need to look deeper. I’m sorry I didn’t write then: thank you. Now accept gratitude. Just don't think that she wasn't there. This goes without saying. You ask about the schema, what does it mean: without accepting gifts. – I think: without bribery, not for money, but out of confidence in dignity. This is not what is meant now. Your schema will definitely be in full force, but only morally. Others cannot recognize her. The fact that you are wearing a cassock cannot be based on the fact that you are wearing a cassock, but on the fact that it was put on properly and not arbitrarily. You shouldn’t even mention the shaming anywhere or to anyone. - Everything is in good spirit. This was written in a letter from Genvar. Letter 984. About money lent and so on. I share your joy about the return of God’s grace. May she always remain with you from here on. March 12 was chosen for the burial. Good! God bless! I will also pray that there will be apprehension within. About the money that was given as loans... and about claiming benefits - in 10 years the next thing and about other things you talk about. The main thing in money matters is not to rely on them with hope, and then not to attach your heart to them, and finally to use them not only for yourself, but to share them with those in need - for the glory of God. So you do, and don't back down. We can only have no covetousness in our hearts. - About money loaned. Although your benefactors will not agree to offend you; but circumstances may intertwine that they will not be able to fulfill their obligations. Therefore, prepare in advance not only for interest, but also for all capital - to lose it, without groaning, without wincing, and without gnashing your teeth at the borrowers and their intermediary. Your riddles about settling here or there are premature. The skhemnitsa shouldn’t even think about it. - If the Lord wants to move from its present place; then it will work out without your worrying about it. Francis de Sales - you can put it aside. He won't leave. Maybe I can get to it myself. Now I’m translating a similar book. But it will take maybe the whole year if the eye lasts. I heard a rumor that Pr. Seraphim asks to retire to your monastery. This will be very beneficial for you. He has a lot of fortitude, and can influence without speaking, but not directly. But generally speaking, I regret it, if true. However, tell me, have you heard anything about this there? Due to reluctance, I doubt that this is the case. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. In Feb. letter - dated 12th. Letter 985. Preparing for the schema. Latin views on prayer I wrote to you with answers to your questions. Now we got it right. And they must repent of premature sorrow. Congratulations on your safe trip and settling your affairs. You have surely rested, and with a calm spirit you are preparing for the task that is so decisive for you. I’m very glad that you are in your old rut. This means that you can be considered ready. It's Thursday. You have been living with Fr. for two days now. Cassian in the monastery. If you are healthy, then this is very good. What do you need, oh. Cassian says it best. And you yourself understand a little. I can only pray that the Lord will arrange everything for you in the most salutary way. Answer Mother Nadezhda Kronberg that there is no cure for my eyes. And surgery is not allowed. And even if it were allowed, I would not agree to it; for it is very painful, and life is short. I thank her for her diligence. But I won’t write to her. Say - out of laziness. M. Cleopatra, writing a letter to Barsanuphia on the occasion, mentioned your presence with her, and that together we read the Philokalia, which she enjoys, and even little Cleopatra enjoys. I really got lazy. I wrote to you that I had undertaken to translate something. It came to articles about prayer. Some kind of dark confusion! And he stopped. The Latins do not understand mental prayer the way we do. For them it is God-thought, concluded with prayer. And although this is a very fruitful exercise, it is not prayer. Prayer is a special exercise from God-thinking. Chapter 22 is also all about this. I don’t know if there will be a desire to redo it. In the Invisible Warfare (which is also a translation of a Catholic book), I changed it. God bless you with every blessing. O. Bow to Cassian and Fr. Mitrofan. I ask for prayers. Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 6 March 86 Letter 986. To those who have accepted the schema - instructions on attention and prayer. About the translation of Francis de Sales and the Invisible War. About your health and money We worship the Cross of the Lord! This is more appropriate for you, for the sake of your staurophoria. Congratulations. I wish you to truly be a stavrophorite. There is an external cross - it lies on the shoulders. These are sorrows, troubles, deprivations, illnesses, attacks, lies. There is an internal cross - self-sacrifice with self-mortification. There is a cross - spiritual, God's or divine - crucifixion according to the will of God. These crosses are born one from the other. The latter is designated by devotion to the will of God, quiet, silent, restful; the second - a struggle with oneself, merciless to oneself; the third is patience with troubles. There are so many crosses, so many cross-bearings. They are all inseparable until the grave; only sometimes one is more sensitive, another time - another or a third. However, they come into play or are imposed gradually, and once imposed, they remain. Tripartite cross. The matter has already been accomplished. Now all you have to do is pull it. I don’t remember who said somewhere - that you can turn even the slightest movement into an object of self-sacrifice, self-coercion, self-mortification, into a blow from the shock of the cross, sitting in a locked cell, only in the face of God and the Lord, with strict attention to yourself. This, I think, is very useful for you to do now. And manage it. Yes, it seems you are already a master at this. Well, then continue doing this. Someone else said: my elder taught me to first learn in my thoughts not to go outside my cell; and what’s in the cell?! – prayer, reading, contemplation of God, handicrafts. Then, he says, do not let them outside the body, occupying yourself with what is happening inside. Finally, hide yourself, he says, in your heart, and sit there alone with the Lord, driving away all thoughts like flies and mosquitoes. You will be given the last seat. And if it doesn’t exist, it will mean that you are outside your rank. And who said: when the pot is boiling, neither insects nor reptiles can approach it. And when the boiling stops and the water cools, then they freely climb towards it, crawl along it and get into the water. It also happens that a large mouse grabs the edges with its feet and knocks over the cauldron, and if it is fragile, it breaks it. Does this legend come to you?! If yes, then do not let the pot stop boiling, but for this purpose, add more coal, coals and firewood more often. God-thinking is best; and the reading goes on; and prayer is even more important than thought of God. You will say: this is an old practice. Yes, but now in a new way. Francis try to translate. - Let's see. - Why did I back away from him? Because a lot will certainly have to be redone. In “The Invisible Warfare” many chapters have been redone. That book was written by a Catholic, but Catholics judge us differently about mental prayer and other ascetic things. Elder Nicodemus corrected, but not everything. I have completed the amendment. Remember I wrote: I am translating a book similar to “The Invisible Warfare”. He came to prayer and began. I, he says, will only talk about mental prayer, and went to sharpen, said two words about prayer, and then everything - meditation and meditation. 20+ chapters. And everything is somehow tricky. And it is difficult to correct. I quit until I get the courage. In this fit of annoyance at the book he was translating, he growled at Francis, even though he was much simpler. Nothing - translate. We'll iron it, clean it, and no one will recognize Francis. Having given up the translation, I have not yet returned to it - there is nothing else to do and I have no desire to start hunting, and I almost feel bored. The matter is still there, passing. My health is good. Eye - everything seems to be in the same position. ABOUT! if only he had stayed that way. This would be enough for me for the rest of my days. Are there many of them left?! And maybe not a little. You are well positioned regarding money. And give them into the hands of God, having formed yourself internally, complacently, like a good thing, endure whatever unusual thing you encounter. And then endure your current situation, according to internal obligations - new ones. Graze - to discover in front of someone even a braid of one of your schema outfit. And to avoid this, don’t show anything to yourself. Keep everything inside. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 16 March 86 Letter 987. Instructions to the schema-nice Let the salvation announced by the Annunciation act in you with all its power, serving as a foreshadowing of future glory in the kingdom of God. You were in a heavenly state. I wish that it does not stop, but remains and grows stronger and stronger. It does not come from clothing, but from the inner mood, the essence of which is surrendering oneself to the Lord, by faith in love with hope. All these spiritual elements, sources and agents, under the shadow of grace, are in the area of ​​our will. But if we pay attention to ourselves, with God’s help, we can always control our will. Look! Silence is a very suitable thing for this. God help you! If you need a ban, I forbid you to say everything unnecessary, and from the necessary just to creation. But there is an inner word. He is forbidden to pay sober attention to himself, and this is supported by unceasing prayer, or a prayerful mood, which consists in the memory of God with reverent fear and determination to think, feel and desire only what is pleasing to the Lord. May the Lord be before your face, death behind you, the Guardian Angel and St. Varvara. Must read. Read more than St. Isaac, or a collection of prayer. Read not a lot, but a lot. Apply what you read to the question and solve it yourself in advance. Then read. Reading will thus dissolve with the thought of God. Think that you are in a coffin, buried, and imagine the afterlife, as if the before-the-grave no longer exists. As soon as your thoughts wander towards this, impose on yourself a penance commensurate with the deviation. Keep the fire on the hearth by adding firewood, and find out for yourself what kind of firewood it is: for not everything warms everyone up. Where there is feeling, there is attention. If there is a burning in the heart, then there will be attention and so on. You have now surely returned to your cell. You need to hold on to your privacy more. Kelly is a grave. From this grave, mentally build a staircase to heaven, and walk along it, believing the ascent in your heart; and around it, circle a thick, thick fence, and so high that it extends beyond the area of ​​the air and does not allow the spirits of malice to fly through it to you. It was published in the newspapers that the Right Reverend Seraphim was asking for dismissal, and the rumor about which I wrote placed him in Zadonsk. In his place was the Yaroslavl Bishop Jonathan, also an Orlovite. These are rumors—printed, but still rumors. My health is perfect. And the eyes don’t seem to move forward, worsening. I don't want to do anything. Okay, something. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. March 25, 86. April 3 comes for water. Letter 988. Evading visitors on Above. Book of Abba Dorotheus. Instructions on the course of spiritual life. About St. Seraphim Three of your letters are among my unanswered letters. I undertake to answer at least something. The last letter informs about the journey of Fr. Alexander, so solemn that all gates should open before him, and even more so the doors, not even excluding Vyshinskaya. I wish him a safe journey to his homeland and back. “And I would like to warn him not to count on the mobility of the Vyshinsky doors.” If this letter of mine reaches you before Fr. Alexandra, take the trouble to tell him to stay away from Vysha: for she does not sympathize with any solemn processions. As for the book of Abba Dorotheus, I have it. Therefore, let them not bother to deliver it to me. If Fr. Alexander is taking her, then take her for yourself. The book is edifying. Translating it into spoken Russian would be useful. The Reverend Ignatius also thought and undertook to translate, but gave up. - And I took it and threw it away. I gave it to one abbot: and he took it and threw it away. – No luck for the book!!! – These failures, however, are easily explained by laziness, as I judge from myself. It remains to wish that someone who is not lazy will finally take it up. If you belong to this category, undertake to shift, and, moreover, in such a way as not to abandon it. God bless! - Have me renounced. You are now in Zadonsk, in the old nest, and, judging by your words, in the old order, and not only in order, but also in spirit. Good! God bless you and may you remain in such a dispensation forever! You seem to expect more and more new things. There will be nothing new; everything is the same, only better and stronger. The main thing is to establish yourself in your heart before the face of God, and stand there unyieldingly. – When this is there, then everything else will come by itself. – In a series of spiritual changes in the heart, the best thing is the inward pull to be with the Lord. Then everything external departs: God remains in the soul and the soul in God. And this is a real monk and schema monk. You write: there is both, and there is another, and there is a third. – But don’t forget that sometimes they say this from memory: it was. But what happened is sometimes legitimately added to: it floated away. It was, but it disappeared. Lord deliver you from this. - I remind you of this so that you pay attention to it. I did not believe about the resignation of the department by the Right Reverend Seraphim, not only when I heard about it, but also when I read in the press. I was sick! I believe that this disease does not lead to death. This is my earnest desire. But God's will be done. My health is good. The eye is still looking. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 28 April 86 Letter 989. Explanation of spiritual progress. About food. About the Athonite elders. Instructions on translating the book of Fr. de Sales and the Invisible War Your lord has departed! God will send another - similar. In Voronezh, all the good rulers were. Who? There's no point in guessing who. Whoever comes is yours. You ask what it means - in the same way. I don’t remember why I said it, and I can’t remember what the thought was. If this is about progress in spiritual life, it means that life will still be the same, only in the best possible way, if you behave as you should: just as our body and that of a baby are the same in structure, like that of a perfect husband. What you attributed after this is good: mortal memory and the fear of God, two lights of spiritual life. About food. Accept everything offered to you without hesitation. If sometimes you refrain from something, it will not be bad. Eat what they give you and thank God. And eat the jam without disdain. And wafers, but I don't need them. The letter from Athos is very kind. Spiritual wisdom is not stopped there. O. arch. Macarius is the son of a rich man - a Moscow or St. Petersburg merchant. I went to pray to God, I was in Jerusalem when I lived there, I was in Sinai, I went to Mount Athos, and I became very seriously ill. He wanted to die tonsured. They cut his hair and he became healthy. He is very wise. There was also a confessor, Fr. Jerome. Recently died. The old man is deep. He is even wiser, Andrei, who signed his name in your letter, and is truly the new confessor. There the abbot and confessor conduct all monastic and monastic affairs. Help them, Lord, mother-in-law in the spirit of the ancient fathers. Finally, Francis de Sales. How to start? Extract from his life story as briefly as possible - in 10 lines. Well, one page - printed, saying the most necessary things. Then - the denouement, and so on. There is no need to strictly adhere to the letter. So translate as if the speech was coming from you, from your heart, smoothly, clearly, smoothly, warmly. In some way, you can add something, shorten it in some way, change it in some way. Keep in mind edification and applicability to life. “Invisible abuse” - almost all of it is translated word for word. There are chapters - redone. All about prayer again. So you are allowed, and we will write: free arrangement - such and such. Then God bless you! Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. “The Invisible Warfare” will end in publication this month, in the June book. And the book that I promised stopped at a treatise on prayer. We need to redo it, but laziness. Letter 990. Advice for awaiting death. Healing mud. New bishop I kept believing that your illness was not so great, but now I see that you are in serious pain. Lord grant you patience and help you rise from this bed! You are going to the next world. Good! Bless, Lord! Would you like to hear some parting words? And I would be glad to tell you so much that you would tire yourself out reading it. But what can you say when the road is hidden? Of course, you know the general information about it. This path, tested only once by everyone, therefore, until the time of this test, unknown to anyone in detail, is nevertheless illuminated for us by our holy faith. Recreate everything you hope for in your consciousness - and stand in it, looking at the Lord, who passed ahead of us on this path, and after that, he greets everyone who enters it. Wash yourself with tears of repentance, put on good thoughts and dispositions pleasing to the Lord, and stand like this, before the doors of this entrance, until you hear: Barbara - come! Read the Gospel, and from the books of your fathers, what do you remember the best, St. Ephraim. He often prayerfully addressed the hour of death. I don’t understand why you are embarrassed by speaking. If you say good things, then it is, as someone said, I don’t remember, the same as silence. One should speak incessantly about God and the works of God, but ignore everything else without attention. Silence only about the latter is obligatory. I’ll send you the Gospel story, along with “The Invisible Warfare,” which has been finished printing—finally revised, with typos indicated, and is awaiting. When I re-read it—expletive—I felt the urge to take up again the discontinued translation of a similar book as I had written. I would very much like to see it through to completion; but laziness, laziness... flax... Neighbor! Remember the healing mud when you hear about such speeches, and about the spiritual joy from the pouring of the wine of the grace of the Holy Spirit into the soul! - And thank her! To the Voronezh department - a certain Veniamin. I don't know him; but they say that he is a very good Lord. May his spirit be peaceful towards you! God bless you! May the Lord give you strength and bless you with peace! Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 5 June 86 Letter 991. Well wishes and consolation for the sick woman Although I don’t have anything to write, but believing that you are still very sick and need some kind of consolation, I take up a pen and write. The main thing I wish is that your health is fully restored and then continues to be healthy. Then I wish that your inner life continues to be in the same good order in which you presented it in your letters. And I will also add - so that the new ruler, who will not hesitate to visit your monastery, will be much merciful to you. I think it will not be comforting for you to receive all this. And if you are still sick; be patient. At the sickbed there is threshing. The more blows, the more grains will be knocked out, and the richer the grind. Then you need grain for the millstones, then flour for mixing the dough and leavening it, then in the form of bread for the oven, and finally for the table of God. Yes, having tasted it, the Lord says: how delicious!!! - Wake up! wake up! If death, I believe that for you there will be no horror and the shadow of death will be filled with darkness. It is illuminated by your faith and great trust in the merciful Lord. Be it with you! But I believe that you are able to overcome your weakness. – Saint Tikhon help you! My health and everything else is fine. God bless you with every blessing. Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 12 June 86 Yesterday I received your letter. Now I am writing, hoping to take a roundabout route to the letter. I kept thinking that you were recovering; And what have you come to, that you can barely hold the pen. May God grant you patience. I see that you are in good spirits, and I am glad of that. I see that you are filled with hope in the mercy of God, and I am comforted by this. Do you ever have to leave here? An hour earlier or later the difference is not great. If now the Lord judges to call you; humbly accept the title, and come in peace. One could wish for an extension of days in the form of prosperity. But the foundations of mercy are strong: there you will ripen, if you are not ripened enough. For death does not stop the course of spiritual life. Move from here with your thoughts and hearts - and be there without leaving, forgetting everything that is happening. Let the Mother of God cover you with Her protection, and the Guardian Angel with His wings cover you. Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 14 June 86 Letter 993. Posthumous meetings. Encouragement and financial assistance What do you have? and how do you feel! Have you come closer or have you moved away from the gates of mortals?! Whatever it is, blessed be the name of the Lord our God, who arranges everything concerning us through the depth of wisdom. Standing before the gates of death, of course you also think about the fact that your soul will immediately die behind them. I remember that someone said that there the soul is met by everyone for whom she prayed throughout her life. How comforting! How merciful the Lord is to our souls, that he commands the souls and spirits he knows to meet them, immediately upon entering a country still unknown to them!! But other meetings also came to our attention. Enemies incite themselves here - and as if they do not lag behind the soul, confusing it in every possible way, from near or from afar, until it enters the gates of God. May the soul be strengthened by faith to courageously and not be afraid to look at them - the weak. Their soul scatters like dust, armed with faith and hope. Appeals to the Lord strike like lightning arrows. And they disappear. They cannot approach a strong soul, and from afar they build monsters, and raise noisy voices in order to shake faith and overshadow hope with despair. But they have no power. Here the Angels of God watch over the soul. Everything is decided by God's merciful judgment. Warm up your faith in the Lord our Savior and trust in Him. Having donned these weapons, you will not be accessible to your enemies. Spiritual dispositions rooted in your heart are the same as gases in balloons. Your soul will immediately be carried away by grief, and your enemies will not be able to keep up with it. God bless your path! I am writing this about an incident. In fact, I have confidence that you will still live. And God bless you to live! I am completely healthy. Now you have a lot of needs. I'm sending you some money. - They come in a different package. Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 17 June 86 Letter 994. To someone who continues to be sick - about artos and so on. You are in a good mood. Everything is as it should be given your current situation. I take comfort in this and pray to the Lord to preserve this in you to the end. Let everything be God's will. Will the Lord allow me to recover, His will be done? Whether he will leave you in illness, with the preservation of life, be His will. Will He take it to Himself now, His will be done? Everything will be for the good, for the sake of surrendering oneself into the hands of God. You did a good thing by telling us that St. Joseph thought of you. This is very comforting. Now he will pray more diligently, having learned about your illness. I’ve heard about the healing properties of artos with Epiphany water. However, be it the will of God. Don’t you take medications?! Both can be used – both Divine and human. And in human remedies the healing effect is from God. According to this faith, the human also passes into the Divine, or the Divine comes through the human. For your sister, Lord, arrange what is most beneficial for her. God save her in the image of her destinies! And I will say: something wonderful happened to the nephew and cell attendant of St. Seraphim. He's the one who takes them to him! “What should I send?” Some kind of icon, which one is better drawn. Not now, but Fr. Archimandrite - instruct him to forward it. Yes, and there you are distributing in vain. Write it on a piece of paper and give it to Fr. Archimandrite. He will distribute it later. I'm waiting for the "invisible abuse". Now, I think it will come soon. The book that he had undertaken to translate, he abandoned. A lot needs to change. I undertook to translate articles for the 3rd volume of the Philokalia. The first one is blessed. Diadoche, of high dignity, but dark in Slavic. My health is good. I can’t say anything definite about the eye. It works for now. Bow to all my friends, starting with Fr. Archimandrite. Yes, about a girl. He walks and let him walk. What's next - we'll see. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 24 June 86 Letter 995. Also. The prescient hope of recovery and the saint’s concern for his dying niece I don’t have anything to tell you, but I’m writing just to say that your fate occupies me not a little. The thought comes to you that it would be better for you to live a little longer. But be the will of God in everything, especially in this matter. Who knows what the coming day will produce? If departure is set before you, go in peace. If you stay, may the Lord grant you to stay here for the greater whitening of the robe of your soul for your safe entry into the chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom. You do well that you put all earthly concerns aside. And in general it’s better this way, especially in your current situation. But I still believe that you will still have to suffer on earth. And God bless you for this! To your condolences Fr. May the Lord grant Mitrofan compassionate patience and all consolation in the spirit. I'm healthy. And everything is fine with me. In Yelets, a niece, a deaconess, dies, leaving two girls. One has graduated and is giving lessons, the other is still studying. However, I'm a little worried. I sent you some money, did you receive it? Letter 996. New consolation for the sick, fallen in vain. About the icon of St. Theophan of Sigrian You get a lot. I’m both sorry and happy. I regret that they are aggravating your already difficult condition; I am glad that you are enduring everything with good grace. Compassion turns every vain lie into a deposit of satisfaction in the future. – And stay in this tone until the end. Here the loss is only apparent, but in reality it is all a gain, both the surest and the richest, richer than one might expect. In your patience gain your long-suffering soul. I haven't received what you sent yet. The letter usually precedes the sending. An announcement will come tomorrow, and a week later you will receive it. Thank you. And it occurred to me that it would be good if you sent an icon of mine, Theophan of Sigrian. I had a triple icon - Theophan, George and the Guardian Angel, in the clouds the little Savior blessing. I gave it to someone when I changed places. Since then I was planning to draw everything, but I didn’t get around to it. It is very comforting that your sister recovered, and in this way. It’s Felitsata’s own fault for not writing. She stopped contacting me as soon as she got into the ranks. Georgia did the same. But it's better for me. They are both happy - and do not require outside help. Through your weakness, the Lord protected you from something that would have been much more difficult. That's what I thought. Rejoice as long as it pleases the Lord to keep you in this cave. Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 9 July 86 Letter 997. Instruction for a recovered person. About the deceased niece and so on. Have you recovered?! Glory to God! But do not put off that disposition and aspiration that death is just around the corner, and as a result, remain in a state of being constantly preparing to depart. May God grant you to continue to work for His glory. The sister moved away, but they wrote that she had recovered. Well, God bless her departure path. I remember and will remember. The sick niece in Yelets died. Two girls remained. The eldest has graduated and is giving lessons - but it seems she is not yet 20 years old. The youngest is studying great. Will they find any old lady to live with them?! Your parcel has not arrived yet. There is only an announcement. I will do as you write. That your soul has already parted with all things, good. And do not bring them into your soul, even if they are outside, as if they were strangers. We saw the bishop in the ass. Now, perhaps, they have already seen it in the face. If he is truly strict according to God, then he cannot but be good. If o. Your soul needs Cassian so much, you should ask him to come and see you, even for a minute, when he is in the monastery. Otherwise, punish him so that he comes, There, tea, not far away. God bless your Dunyushka! Dunya, learn smarts, especially handicrafts, so that you can do everything. Bless you. God. Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. 15 July 86 Letter 998. To her about current affairs, her niece, etc. subjects Your two letters coincided on one payday (July 2 and July 16). In the latter, say that the first was grumbling. There is a little. But when it hurts, you can scream and feel relief. And it was the same with you, because towards the end you wrote: having expressed everything, I feel as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. But for you it was (as I myself noted) partly due to ill health, partly due to the enemy: he will stir things up everywhere, and will not miss an opportunity to play dirty tricks. Take comfort! Help you, Lord! The Lord was there, and you were left alone. I'm very glad. I’m no less glad that my neighbor left. The Lord has sent you favor. I received the first parcel. Thank you. And Evlampius will say thank you. Face of St. great Barbarians - how adorable!! And everything else is fine. God bless you! There is no announcement yet about the second parcel. They'll deliver it tomorrow; and in a week I get paid. Now you have exposed your walls, and then you will be bored. Then you will have to make do with just the imagination of what hung where, as if it were still hanging. Take care of your books. And it doesn’t hurt to save everything. This is possible without bias. It is possible for having to be like not having. The schema-monnitsa is buried, but makes plans about traveling. How can she get out of the grave?! In my opinion, it’s okay - you can change the air after an illness; but how about. Cassian did not impose a mountain of penance for this, and will not fall off his shoulders?! Pray for your niece; and her girls will settle down somehow. They have uncles and aunts nearby. They'll find someone older and things will work out. I am grateful to Mother Abbess for inquiring. Sending you money to them is unnecessary. Sent to them when needed. It's not the money, but the lack of supervision. And they are very young. Mother Abbess is not retiring. And it shouldn't. Let it squeak as long as it creaks. God bless her! Your inner self is in good order. And good! You read only the Gospel. Yes, what book is better than the Gospel. Reading it with the air of God surrounds the soul. You said: “you can’t stand the tension for long.” It's mental; but what is in the heart happens without tension, and can last forever without getting tired. When you use the word “idealist,” you rightly noted that this is not a reproach, but praise in the Christian order of life. The Christian life is ideal in its beginning, continuation and end. Sharovny means an image painted with paints. When you teach your ugly little one how to do handicrafts, do good. God help her! I'll send her a book. But isn't it a little tricky for her? I have begun the third volume of the Philokalia. Diadoche has now finished. What a clairvoyant!! and yet in the Slavic translation it is very dark. Now I begin John of Carpathia. It seems they are contemporaries - 2nd floor. 4th century. “The Invisible Warfare” has not yet been sent. O. bow to the archimandrite. Olga St. Burachek has been very sick for more than a month. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. July 23, '86 Letter 999. About your affairs and about various subjects. Recipe for impatience First a word of justification. I missed one post while waiting for the parcel, and another after receiving the parcel, because we accidentally went to the city. Of course, laziness had its part here too. But it was not without influence that your letters went unanswered. You see what a series of arguments there are. Therefore, please do not reproach me for not writing. Why are you silent?! Have you fallen ill again, and worse than before? God forbid you! I received the icon. Thank you. Both of your icons are touching. Very comforting! I take your silence as a basis for confidence that everything is good with you, both outside and inside, and I say to you: thank God! And everything is going well for me. And my health is good, and my laziness is satisfied, and he remains silent. Because I don’t do the work I have on hand very quickly. Diadoche, however, finished. I am finishing the chapters of John of Carpathia. It will go further. There is nothing more to write! And who is to blame?! - Not Vysha, not Vysha! What mother said about the Yelets orphans seemed to me too. But this seems to have already passed. Now, it seems, they felt the loss in their hearts. May God bless them! They will not lack. I just don’t know how the security was arranged there? Be healthy, be at peace, and behold! “Sin is the wrath of God. A person avoids this anger by constantly listening to his heart in prayer, and diligently struggling to be inside, in his inner, impregnable church. For draw, says someone, wisdom into your inner (compare Prov.8:12; Sir.45:31:51:18); because all the glory is within the king’s daughter (Ps. 45:14), says another, adding: “This work is before me, until I go into the sanctuary of God” (Ps. 72:17), - into the mountain of wealth, into the ready dwelling that the Lord has made, - into the sanctuary that His hands have prepared.” – This is from John of Carpathia – chapter 91, just now translated. Please suck this candy for your health. Then, save yourself! What happened to the people of Athos that they don’t send “Invisible Warfare”. There really is nothing to do but write to yourself: “Patience - so much, humility - so much, respect for the affairs of others - so much. Grind everything together in the mortar of prudence, pour the tears into a glass, and take a teaspoon as soon as the murmur of impatience appears. Here's the recipe. Letter 1000. Instructions about the adopted girl Dunya. About the books sent, their works and health. Immature nuns You haven't written for a very long time. And I was already beginning to wonder if they had gotten so sick again that they couldn’t handle a pen. It turns out that you are alive, and have come to terms with the need to still live on earth, according to earthly things - for heavenly things. God bless! In addition to the usual spiritual affairs and activities, you now have Dunya. God sent this to you as a consolation. Take it completely. God bless! This is good and kind. You are leading her well. She makes up her mind. But there is an enemy who manages to sow his own everywhere. May the Lord deliver her. I am sending “Invisible Warfare”. Please distribute to whom I usually sent it, oh. Archimandrite, Fr. Cassian, Mitrofan and someone else. If you sometimes write to His Eminence Joseph, send him a book and write what you are sending from yourself, and if you want, that beauty can read it to the Bishop. I’ll send it to Felitsata myself, and to Yelets Mat. Book I'll send it myself. Did you ask for another book, which one? I forgot, I rummaged through the letters and couldn’t find it. Attached - Psalm 118. If it’s not the right one, tell me and I’ll send it. My health is good. The eye still serves. For how long, God alone knows. I am now translating what follows for volume 3 of the Philokalia. Interviews with Abba Zosima, the one who buried and gave farewell to Mary of Egypt. Why are those nuns not spiritual, but serviceable? We established ourselves in the routines of life, and got stuck in them. It was not instilled in them from the beginning that all this is good - but essentially there are only walls and a roof, and there is no tenant inside. That's how they stay. It happens that some of the smart ones see the light at the end and rebuild. It happens easily for them. This happens to others at the hour of death. Your pilgrim E Feofan. 25 Aug 86 Letter 1001. About recording the Angel’s suggestions, his works, etc. It is very comforting to see that everything is good with you - both outside and inside. May the Lord strengthen you on your path. You mentioned it, the Angel suggests what and how. Get a notebook and write it down. These are heavenly treasures. And then you yourself will read it comfortingly and edifyingly, and others would read it afterwards not without benefit. When a hundred have gathered, you can send them to the editor and get reprints. And God will walk through God’s world. It's so quiet! isn't it before the storm? God forbid! It is advisable to know whether the neighbor has changed for the better. Perhaps, appearing again, she will decide to appear new herself. It’s normal to pray at home all week long. This is what all hermits did in the old days. And now on Athos this is what the Kelliots do, living alone in cells. The difference is that you have it due to illness, and for them it is due to the regulations. May God grant you to live at least long enough to get Dunya back on her feet. Otherwise, without you it will be very difficult for her to settle down. God bless her to follow your good lessons. You adapt well to her age and understanding. What a housewarming party this is for Fr. Timofey? New cell, or new monastery, or abbot? Thank you for sending the book to St. Joseph. Would you like to know what he will say about her? I think he will say: too much is far-fetched, and not much has been taken from experience. I almost wrote everything in my own words, and often I put in my own thoughts and let out those there. Greek speech is not always clear and accurate, and the previous Russian translation is the same. My whole concern was that everything was clear and understandable. Now I am collecting the third volume of the “Philokalia”, all according to the Greek “Philokalia.” There are already Diadochos, John of Carpathos, Abba Zosima, 4 hundred sayings of Abba Thalassius. Should St. John of Damascus, Theodore of Edessa, Philotheus of Sinai, etc. Behold, books are coming to you! My health is good. And the eye works without failure. How long will it last?! Varvara Alexandrovna wrote that she was going to Sergius Ave. to take a closer look. And then she wishes to move completely, May God help her find the deceased nest. I haven’t had time to send any books to Mother Cleopatra yet. Next time there will be a line behind her. May the Lord bless you with every blessing, and your Dunya! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. September 17, 1886 Letter 1002. About the pupil Dunya. Works on the production of 3 volumes of the Philokalia All your concern is about Duna. Nothing. If you make a vessel out of it in honor, the Lord will accept this work, more than others, for the benefit of those converted. God help you. Teach her more handicrafts that can provide bread. Lace seems to be a very lucrative job. Pick something else. That's your business. Dunya already writes well. Let him not rush, but get used to writing well, drawing out all the letters. And it will be good. No, Dunya! I don’t want to impose penance on you, but I ask you: be good. You see that your second mother is sick. And it is a great sin for you that you cause her grief, and thereby increase her illness. And you can die from illness. You'll have nothing to do with it afterwards. Where to go. So you console her with obedience. She will be healthier and live longer. And you will be better off for it. Learn more handicrafts, and quickly. God bless you! If St. Joseph reads a book and also interprets it, it means that at least he does not consider it bad. And that's enough. I think I wrote that I was preparing the third volume of the Philokalia. Now I translate - the speculative word of Theodore, which follows the active chapters of Theodore of Edessa. A most magnificent word. There is theology and philosophy here. But in the previous Slavic translation, you can hardly understand anything. And in the original, the speech is very condensed, and it is difficult to get to the point, sometimes without the certainty that you will get the author’s thought. Who is this Theodore?! This is not Edessa. In the Greek original it is not entitled: Theodore of Edessa, but simply: Theodore the Venerable. My health is good. I am jealous to do away with the Philokalia. You will need two or three more books. Will my eyes reach this? Your good friend E. Feofan. October 8, 1886 Letter 1003. Burnt conscience. Sinful silence. About Duna I am very glad that, finally, Fr. Cassian took the time to comfort you with his spiritual comfort. God save him! What were you worried about after that before St. communion, this is not burning of conscience, but oblivion. The enemy blocked me, and the thought did not occur. A burned conscience senses nothing, sins with consciousness, and there is little grief. That's a terrible thing! But you did well to grieve and curse yourself. God will accept this as confession. And when you tell your confessor, it’s all over and peace. What you were reluctant to say about. Filaret Akhtyrsky - what he wanted to know was not a matter of humility, but something ugly. Look in the message of St. Paul to Timothy these words: to him who knows good and does not speak, it is sin. I don't want to rummage. Whatever you know, always say; because you don’t have your own, but God’s, and you must share. Just don't force yourself. If he has time to sew up the book, Evlampius will now and tomorrow go to Philaret, 2 volumes of the Philokalia. I’ll send you a letter later. How can Duna receive communion? Four times a year. During all great Lents. On the great day before Easter you can do it twice. Later, when she grows up, let her choose. Now it is still impossible to say anything about it, as it is written on the water. Dunya is doing well. May the Lord arrange for her. Make sure you don't go broke with it yourself. Have the Lord before you and do everything as if with His blessing and permission. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. October 26, 1886 Letter 1004. About the translation of St. Maxim for 3 volumes of the Philokalia. Water doctor Vrevsky You should now have a holiday that is closer to you than to those outside your diocese. May the prayers of the saint of God protect you and help you in your work. Your work is Dunya. But for this, no small thing is promised to the one who separates the honest from the unworthy. Be inspired! Felicata complains. Not fair. I wrote to her about everything I needed, but she didn’t wait. Everything is fine with you, thank God! Always be tense with the Lord, and keep your heart warm towards the Lord. May the Lord be with you and protect you! Hello. But kicking your legs deprives you of sleep, and this causes a certain weakness. But she's leaving soon. I am sitting above Maxim the Confessor. He is a great contemplator! And you don’t always reach its height, but you penetrate its depths. And his speech is always full and vast. And sometimes it’s compressed. It is not uncommon to use paraphrases instead of literal translations. What does the Latin translator, my best assistant, do? There are still five hundred chapters or sayings left. Sometimes you can’t translate more than one saying a day. It can be so difficult to get to the point! Communion with Christ the Lord is widely expounded by him. What is the greatest need? What about the eye? It's still working. But there is a sign that you will have to lose it too. I'm getting ready for this. Or maybe some doctor will appear. They informed me that a certain miracle worker doctor had opened in St. Petersburg - he treated all kinds of pain with water. He gives bottled water, and that’s it, and he has already cured many. Among those cured, there is also one who suffered from a cataract. And my cataract is a thorn, only an internal one. I ask a St. Petersburg friend about this doctor. This is a certain Baron Vrevsky - Nikolai Ippolitovich. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. November 23, 1886 Letter 1005. Again about Duna. Intention to be treated with Vrevsky water. About the "Path to Salvation" Behold, your two letters, one after the other. - That's all. Dunya and Dunya! God sent me a pain. And I can’t tell you anything decisive about her. And I don’t know how it worked out that I agreed for you to take her. Magdalene's mother Cleopatra forced a girl on her. I use both arms and legs. She was dismissed from this obedience. “But I didn’t have any thoughts about your Dunyasha.” They took it, so be it. And so far there is no thought. It turns out that this is possible, and this is possible. But this is not a good solution. That’s why I say: decide with Fr. Cassian. Or wait, don't decide. But it seems that you take her with you to the monastery and to Yelets. So wait to see what happens. Or maybe in Yelets something will be thought up regarding her with Mother Cleopatra, and maybe something will work out. If you are going to the monastery, good! – If you are going to Yelets, God bless you. Get fresh air, freshen up and relax. However, keep your ears sharp. Have you heard the news? - In St. Petersburg. An all-healing doctor appeared - a certain Baron Vrevsky. He heals the poor for nothing; and from the rich he takes 2 rubles. for a bottle of water, which serves as the only medicine. Between the cures there is also an eye cataract. My illness! – I wrote to St. Petersburg. to an acquaintance - what is it?! Confirms. But he says: he came in twice and didn’t succeed. People are dying, up to 150 per day. He also has about. Ivan of Kronstadt, and serves. There is a church in Vrevsky's apartment. My friend promised to get there and get an answer. The main thing is to undertake to treat the unseen. Cataracts are so well known to everyone, and there is no point in looking at them. I am now writing to O. St. Vurachek, to convince Fr. Ivana, and Fr. Ivan Vrevsky will undertake to treat the unseen. For if you need to see; I have to go - which is impossible. My other health is fine. There's not enough sleep. But it doesn't matter! Now I’m re-reading: The Path to Salvation - new Athos edition. There are a lot of mistakes. There was more than one edition, and they didn’t send me to re-read it. The errors kept increasing. But the book, as I find it, is not bad. I find it because it will be 15 years since it was given away, but I haven’t read it and have even forgotten the contents. Now I see. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 10 Dec. '86 Letter 1006. Trouble with Dunya. More about Doctor Vrevsky It seems that I congratulated you on the holiday, before the holiday. And I also congratulate you, adding good wishes, for the new year, renewal, and for Baptism, vestment in Christ. You and Dunya are marvelous. Now we must assume everything will go peacefully. There may have been an enemy part of what happened to her. But whatever happened, thank God it passed. May the Lord bless your work on her and her family. What text is this: take away what is honorable from what is unworthy, as My mouth will be? I don't remember if it reads like that. My memory is very weak. Because of the troubles for Dunya, you do not fully comply with the rule. There is no need to worry about this. These troubles will replace the rule: for both are the same kind of work, work for one owner, pleasing to him. When the prayer inside is intact and stays with the very deeds; then prayers and work are two currents in the same river, in the same bed and in the same direction. We can also say that here action and reason go together. Reason is contemplation. Therefore, you have nothing to grieve because there is no contemplation. Inner prayer does not happen without contemplation, which is actually the contemplation of God before oneself. It is also combined with God-thinking. He is - revealed to us by St. God. One’s secrets of the world’s existence, the preservation of the world, industry, embodied economy, the salvation of everyone, and the demise of everything - viewing, sometimes with reasoning and reflection, and sometimes simply. I'm healthy as usual. But the eye is weakening. I left him to the will of God a long time ago. Maybe the Lord wants to finally deliver or distract me from the bookishness that rides on me. Vrevsky is not an ophthalmologist. His treatment has the appearance of miracles: one water for all diseases. But as they say, there are cures for all kinds of diseases. Among them are cataracts. Vrevsky is familiar with Fr. Ivan Kronstadt: and with this – Olga St. Burachek. I wrote to the latter to persuade Fr. Ivan - to persuade Vrevsky so that he agrees to treat my eye without seeing me. For I hear that without seeing, he does not undertake to heal. If he does not agree, I will leave the trouble of getting treatment from him. Something makes me sick of being treated by him. But God's will be done! You were going to both the monastery and Yelets in your previous letter; but in the current one (December 11), there is no mention of that. It was true that there was a touch of thought without a trace. However, everyone would like to know if you did anything with these intentions. I am very glad that St. Joseph congratulates you, and that your friends have not forgotten you. I wrote you my last letter around your name day, or before or after, I don’t remember. I don’t remember whether I congratulated you. As my good wishes are always inherent in you; then there is no damage if I didn’t mention it then. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 1887 Письмо 1007. Возвратившейся из путешествия. Забота Святителя о своих родных. О «Пути ко спасению» и трудах по обличению молоканства Полагаю, что вы теперь дома, воротились в свою келейку, и даже осмотрелись. Now sit down and calculate the profits and losses, then weigh both, and determine which is greater. Я думаю, что, вступая в хату свою, вы жаждали отдыха и покоя. На чужой стороне как ни берегись, все нельзя не нахвататься чуждого. But it is like an intolerable burden, and this burden irritates the energy to throw it off as quickly as possible and remain with one of our own. Се и есть тайна внутреннего покоя. You had a good time in Yelets. Это мне радостно слышать про Елец. And I am grateful to Mother Abbess that she treated you graciously and showed some indulgence to your wants and dislikes. А – Анна Чудовая – жива ли? Давно о ней ничего не слышу. You didn’t tell me anything about my relatives. That’s right, and we didn’t learn anything. I am especially interested in two beauties: one is a teacher in the second preparatory class, and the other is still studying, I think in the fifth grade. Both are young and green. May the Lord make them wise and preserve them. Your Dunyasha was clever. By God, and more than that. Here's a post soon. May humility in the flesh lead us to humility in spirit, and may this become a deep pool to accept flows of grace from all sides. My health is normal. The eye is still working. I am sending you the books: “The Invisible Warfare” - 2, “The Wanderer” - 3, of which one is 1st edition and “The Path to Salvation” - 1. I don't remember if I sent you this book. And it is there - a complete program of everything. These are my academic lessons! I taught only one course, 45-47 years old. If it had not been for one, the matter would have become clearer, and perhaps would have been presented in greater detail. Now I’m translating a little, as you know, St. Maximus the Confessor. A bit difficult! I spend the other part of my time collecting information about Molokanism and Molokans. These are our ultra-Protestants. The guard of the Shatsk Cathedral sent me a pile of his conversations with the Molokans who live in Shatsk, asking me to read and correct. The writing is not bad, but it needs to be better. So I’m collecting it to give it to him to read and expand my knowledge about this sectarianism. God bless you with every blessing. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. Feb 2 1887 Letter 1008. About his works on the Philokalia. Instruction for Dunya on other subjects Thank you for your congratulations and good wishes to the birthday boy! I am very glad that you are at peace in the monastery. Thank you Fr. Cassiana. Here's where you can hide in case of trouble. Please convey my gratitude to Fr. Cassian, and remember, how could he not wake up the lady in this way?! I also rejoice at your Dunya’s success. He who started it will see it through to the end, if you are in the right mood on both sides. Why did the words of Fr. confuse you? K., you should have told him. And they would remain calm. If conscience, which sees everything clearly, does not convict, then why take on the burden of sin. In vows, of course, there is deeds, or the active side. But the main thing is mental structure. If this is intact, then any change in the external course of affairs does not cause any harm or damage. What fatherly attention and mercy St. Tikhon showed to your neighbor!! It is very comforting to know this. The sky is not closed above us, and the celestials’ path to us is not blocked. Glory to God’s boundless mercy upon us! My health is good. The third volume of the Philokalia is coming to an end. What is ready, I send to Athos, where, as the elders believe, they can better arrange correspondence. I have stopped translating Maximus the Confessor in a row, and am making a selection of simpler and more active sayings. He left the same chapters from those already translated; I omitted the rest: so out of 700 there will hardly be 300. The elders got enough of the teachings of St. Theodora Studite. We only know 90-95 of them, but there are about 400 of them all. Where, how good would it be if they were all translated?! – In general, we have almost no teachings, directly monastic ones. St. Ephraim, St. Isaac the Syrian, Abba Dorotheus are too high - and they are increasingly concerned with the internal structure. And these are all directed towards the order of monastic life, as it is with us. – Maybe I’ll take on this translation. - Or maybe not. Dunya! I’m very glad that you’ve come to your senses and are trying to be good. Watch your heart! You notice bad suggestions there. - Know that it is from the enemy, and as soon as you notice, immediately turn in prayer to the Lord and to the Mother of God, and to the Guardian Angel, - and to St. Tikhon. From the bar. Vrevsky brought me water. I drink. What will God give?! Do you have a guide to Mount Athos? and also – special types of monasteries? If not, I'll send it. I still have some left. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 19 March 87 Letter 1009. When sending books. Various reviews and news Congratulations on the good passage of Pentecost, and on the return to the old ashes. If you had a good life there; then you can live there more often, for several periods of time. Put posts there to live if Cassian favors. Here is Petrov, here is Uspensky, here is Rozhdestvensky, and there, maybe. May it be as the Lord wills it for you. The bright holiday is still going on. Congratulations. Be in joy and spiritual joy! Congratulations and Fr. Archimandrite and happy holiday and order. I am sending you the books you would like to have - and a few others. – Give instructions on prayer to those who see a need for it, and to those who do not have the book “The Invisible Warfare.” The package is unsealed with the inscription: convey to Fr. Mitrofan. He himself will come to take it, - if you please, take care of the Gospel story. I wrote to you; and you have no hint of receipt. I rarely remember what I write about, but I remember what was written in it. Exactly - I asked if you had views of the Athos monasteries and a book - a guide to Athos. Since you do not respond, I conclude (both of your letters have been received) that you did not receive the letter. However, I am attaching both, believing that you will like it. You are under Dunya's science. I wish you success. However, when learning something new, don’t forget the old. Attention to the Lord - and the warmth of the heart - is a tactile measure. They wanted to go to a convent. Of course you can; but with caution. Who told you that the Sukhotinsky Monastery is my favorite? I don't have any preference for him. I'm healthy. The eye seems to succeed in its own way. But it still serves. The third volume of the Philokalia was finished. But I decided to add ascetic. lessons from St. Theodora Studite. They must be selected from his teachings. Which will take quite a bit of time. And given my laziness, it’s very great. However, it must be done. We got our charter from him, or from his monastery. What remains from him are up to 400 teachings. All are fatherly, warm, without partiality, and without concessions. God bless you with every blessing! Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 30 April 87 Letter 1010. Various reviews and news about treatment and labors I have three of your letters, unanswered. Or maybe I was answering which one. My memory is no good. By the way, I was waiting for what the 19th would tell you. As I see, everything went well. - And thank God! When the Lord endures and does not call, it means that He finds that you still need to suffer. - And toil, patiently enduring and placing your trust in the Lord. I think your idea about why you have Dunya is very correct. May the Lord bless your efforts! Regarding her, your prayer is still not fulfilled according to the rule; but what happens inside on this occasion is incomparably better than all the rules. - And pray that it will be so - and everything will intensify in the same spirit. Whoever said: Give Me your heart, He only recognizes himself as dedicated to what is done in the heart for Him, and from the heart ascends to Him. You set to read - the rule of tonsure. Good! Read whenever you want. As long as this works to restore good spiritual feelings and dispositions; then it is your duty to act as you act. God help you! You want to put the bones in the Skete. And that's good. - And this is how you decorate your cabin. And that's not bad. It occurred to me that you can live in the Skete not only because of your fasts; but also to move there completely. This thought came because I see you in very poor health. Peace is extremely necessary to maintain health, and in a monastery you don’t always have peace. If you find peace in the Skete, then it is not only possible, but, it seems, you should move there. St. Tikhon will not be offended; for His Hermitage is also there. Unless the eyes and tongues of men find in this anything that does not suit their standards! Have you ever wanted to visit the Sukhotinsky Monastery? Go. I didn’t receive your letter, where you mentioned that you have a guide to Mount Athos, but no pictures. God did not want him to receive it. My health is good. I drink water - from Vrevsky Baron - to heal my eyes. He changed the no. I hear that this is electromagnetic treatment, and I myself guess that it is so. - What will God give?! Third volume of the Philokalia. Sent for the census to Athos. Now I am making a selection of instructions to the monks of St. Theodore the Studite from his catechisms. If I have time, and it will go - in the 3rd volume; but no - in the 4th - which also needs to be prepared. Your prayerful Bishop. Feofan. 1 June 87 Letter 1011. The saint's care for orphans and instructions about Duna. About the writings of Theodore the Studite Whatever I don’t write, this time it’s their own fault. Everything has long been written off. For that, I’ll answer right now, even though the letter will arrive a little later. You judged well about the complete relocation to the monastery. And do as you decide. To go to Sukhotinka, if you don’t have money, put it off. I would love to send it to you, but I can’t manage my needs this year myself. The house of the Yelets orphans needs to be lined with bricks because of its coldness, and for one orphan, the groom beckoned. Kind. He spread the dowry in installments and is not exacting about other things. God bless them! I am very glad that your Dunya is improving. Blessed work on it! Eliminate the honorable from the unworthy, as God's instrument! Teaching her to sew is a good deed. With this you will always have a piece. As you reasoned, it is better to leave him in the monastery until he is completely grown up, or grows up. Then let her decide. May the Lord provide for her! That they shame you is a good sign. So you have annoyed a certain artist. Be grateful. This is healing mud! But are you sure that without this you would not have flown away on the wings of self-conceit?!! This is how the Lord, who loves you, arranges it. This faith does not, however, prevent us from praying that the Lord will remove from you everything that upsets you. My works are not at all comprehensive. But their private objects, and the persons for whom they are intended, also form a certain part. I am making a selection of instructions to monks from the teachings of St. Theodora Studite. Wise father! Tender hearted and humble! In his instructions, he takes the side not of the highest, but of the lowest, visible monastic activity and spiritualizes it. In the good performance of all obediences, he sees the path to salvation, teaching how to transform these simple ones into God’s and pleasing to God. These are the only monastic teachings. There are many explanations for the inner life; and for the external – almost none. I’m making a selection because we haven’t found a working collection yet. The one I have is in 4 volumes. The first three, which make up the great Catechism - with omissions of words, lines from teachings - are very unclear in places, while the speech is simple. So I make selections. When will the Athonites get a correct list? Then we'll transfer them in a row. And this selection will be included in volume 4 of the Philokalia. The fourth volume of the collection is the Small Catechism, all in good order. Maybe I’ll translate it in a row. Maybe I already wrote to you about this. But my memory became like a sieve. Bow to Fr. Cassian and Mitrofan. Your good friend E. Feofan. June 24, 1887 Letter 1012. Don’t neglect treatment You are all sick. I'm very sorry. May the Lord help you either to get healthy or to be in good spirits when you are sick. Let it be done, not as we want, but as He wants. Your resistance to the doctor's instructions is hardly worthy of praise. God created both the doctor and the medicine, not so that they only existed, but so that the sick could use them. Everything is from Him; He allows us to get sick, and He has surrounded us with healing methods. If there is a duty to guard God’s gift of life, then to be treated when there is an illness. You don’t have to get treatment in the expectation that God will heal; but it's very brave. You don’t have to undergo treatment to exercise patience and devotion to the will of God; but this is very high, and at the same time everyone - oh! - will be blamed, but only grateful joy is appropriate. May the Lord guide you in the best possible mood! Besides, you have something to endure?! You are envious - you want to take everything away. That you moved in with your neighbor is very approving. Eggs for improving blood. There are also iron powders or pills. If your doctor's instructions include this, use them. You can also drink broth as a medicine: this is not a pleasure for the flesh, but a need, and a piece of duty, which consists in the duty to be treated. Internally, if you are always with the Lord, with reverence and warmth, then there is no need to think about ordinary prayer procedures. Everything is here. The Lord says: give me your heart. When it is given, what else is there to give?! When you cannot receive communion in action, receive communion in spirit, which can happen every moment. I’m very glad that Dunya shows herself to be smart. May God grant it to be established in this order. Surprise! Will wait. Why do you find out that he is yours?! Then I’ll ask: is this this one? There you have Anna Fed. U. Poor thing! Her enemy is attacking her, and I don’t have the intelligence to pacify her. Talk to her more cordially, I’ll talk more openly if she’s embarrassed. She keeps thinking that much is needed for salvation, but only one thing is needed. Letter 1013. About to die. Taking care of Duna. About the treatment of Vrevsky with water and about his works So this is how it is for you?! You are finally going home to your Father. Blessed is the path. God bless! And I kept thinking that you would get better! And how suddenly - such a disorder? But be it God's will! You do good in that you do not turn your face away from death and do not separate from the Lord. The thought of the Lord with faith and hope makes the soul unapproachable to enemies both here and after the departure. This is the fire that burns them. May the merciful Lord overshadow you from now on before the exodus and after the exodus. The protection of the Mother of God be upon you! You write as if you did not receive my letter. I wrote to you, and I think my letter should have arrived by the time you wrote. I will write more often. You are now in the monastery. A peaceful place. It doesn’t matter if you can’t follow any rules. This is not absolutely necessary. It is necessary to be with the Lord in prayerful reverence constantly. And you have this, thank God. “Very complacent, the Jesus Prayer does not go away and the peace of God is preserved.” What more? This is paradise dissolved. You are preparing a wake. Good! Give more to the poor. There is no need to go to our monastery. There will be a memorial here. They would have placed Dunya with you, at least enough so that after you she would have somewhere to put her foot. Couldn't a neighbor take her in for some service for a while? She would have grown up there so as not to be too young for the monastery. And this matter would generally be thought out and done slowly. Otherwise she will get into her house and become dizzy. Or entrust it to Fr. Cassian. Send my letters to me. If there’s anything wrong, I’ll correct it and send it to print; if not, I’ll throw it in the oven. My health is good. And the eyes are going well - for the worse. Baron Vrevsky sends the third change of water, and assures that he will certainly drive out the cataracts. Although this “certainly” cannot be considered unconditional; however, there is still hope. Selection and translation of St. Theodora Studita is coming. This will be the only instruction for monks, mainly about monastic life. The heights of monastic life are concerned only in general terms. Bishop Benjamin of Irkutsk is expected to visit us. His homeland is nearby. Now I’ve changed my mind: send your letters to me too. Maybe they will come in handy. A week later. Due to circumstances, they were not sent to the city for a whole week. Irkutsk was kind and gentle. Then the rector of the seminary - the future bishop. Everyone is good. May the Lord send you great consolation. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. August 18, 1887 Letter 1014. Dying instructions. Useless treatment The surprise has not yet arrived. But there’s a package in the mail, maybe it’s him, and he’ll surprise me tomorrow. My letter came to you by last post. Although I have nothing new to say to you, since you are so determined to go home, I undertake to talk, just to talk. Your mood, as you depicted it in your last letters, is very good. May God grant you to keep it, and to keep it to the end, so that your transition from here to there will not be particularly sensitive and sharply different from what you have now. The Lord, who is everywhere and fulfills everything, just as he is now with you and in you, so in the act of transition he will be with you and in you, and so after the transition. Where the Lord is, there is heaven, and everything that is in heaven - seeing and hearing heavenly things, and corresponding feelings, the morning refreshing coolness and rainbow images and faces. Accompanied by them, may the Lord grant you to reach His throne, where He will be seen intelligently by you and, as He is in His glorified body, radiant and illuminating everything. I am writing as if you have already set foot in that unknown, but desired and desired country by everyone. But I think that you are still here - and will continue to be. What you foreshadow, I borrow from your words. As you are sure that the door is about to open - and the ambassador of God will appear to invite you to marriages, as if everything is already ready: then you should behave as if this was already happening. - Some legends about those departing say that they will first be visited by fears from fear-inducing persons. But there are other legends that assure that some of those departing are not only not afraid, but with a bold word they disperse these ugly hordes, which, however, cannot even come close to such, driven by the spirit living in the dying, the Spirit of God created in the continuation of the entire path traversed by turning to God. Take courage, and let your heart be strong. These will scatter from the enemy camp and their own will approach, bright, beautiful, cheering and pleasing. – Grace and peace to you! I'm healthy everyone. I drink water, but I don’t see any change for the better. I gave this into the hand of God, saying: it is desirable, but not as I want, but as You want, so let it be. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 22, 1887 Letter 1015. Surprise. The meaning of the cross placed in the hands of the deceased. An epiphany about recovery. About your eye and so on. This surprise is in my hands. – And truly it was a surprise. Thank you! The face is generally similar to the photographic one that was sent before. The small difference is not due to the brush of the painter, or the first one who shot from a face, or the second one, who shot from a portrait. I now have five pictures, all slightly different, but similar in general. One has eyes so full of love that I would like to give him preference. But, unfortunately, during transportation, the face was slightly damaged. Last time, being forced to write to you and not having any private subjects to write about, I thought to give you an idea of ​​what you will encounter as soon as you separate from the body. But, thank God! There is more in us than there is in the world. Why, since this Boliy is in us, there is nothing to be afraid of. The deceased is given a cross in his hands. This makes a lot of sense! - Victorious power! But this hand will no longer rise to defeat, and the cross is strong there. Whoever, in the course of his life, has imagined the cross within himself through exploits and deeds of self-sacrifice, he himself is a victorious cross. Whether there is a reason to honor you in this way - crucified with passions and lusts, or not - please decide for yourself. Lay out the archival records (memory), review everything, and decide with your conscience. If you think that you will get a favorable decision, good. What if not?! There is no place for this, I think. God is not oblivious to forget what you have gone through and endured. And what was not allowed by God is washed away with tears of repentance, and is no longer seen or read - in the books of animals. May the face of your soul be bright with hope, and may it be trustworthy to look in your mind at the Lord, looking favorably upon you, and ready to stretch out His all-powerful right hand to receive you, and transfer you in the twinkling of an eye, before Himself, and then to your place. Blessed is the path you are walking today. For a resting place has been prepared for you. - Wake up! wake up! A zealous intercessor! intercede for all of us! Although I tell you everything about the afterlife, I think that you will still creak for a year or two; and maybe you’ll recover completely. But all God's will be done! I drink Vrevsky water. This is already number 3, and the deterioration of vision does not stop. Here’s another thing: God’s will be done! Other health is good. And my laziness is in good order: it swells and expands, as it pleases. I found favorable soil. Having received your surprise, I had the desire to draw the saint in full length in a robe. But this wish is unlikely to come true. Or maybe. God bless you! Be grateful and save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. September 1, 1887 Letter 1016. Mental hardening. The instruction about patience is in vain. Blessings, etc. Blessed is the expulsion of truth for the sake of them, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are you when they revile you, and ridicule you, and say all sorts of evil things about you lying to Me for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven. If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. If we were faster from the world, the world would love its own. Because you are not from the world, but I chose you from the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember the word that I told you: you are not a slave of your master. If I are cast out, you will also be cast out (John 15ff.). You will be in a world of sorrow, but take heart, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Do not be surprised at the birth within you of temptations that happen to you, as if they happen to you that are alien to you. But as soon as you partake of Christ’s passion, rejoice, for even when His glory appears, you will rejoice with joy (1 Pet. 4ff.). The Lord punishes him who loves him: he beats every son who accepts him. If you endure punishment, God will be found to you as sons (Heb. 12:6). Add more similar passages and re-read them. They will cleanse the eye of your heart and teach you how to look at sorrows, oppressions, and reproaches. – Confirm yourself in the conviction that everything is from God, down to the smallest cases, and accept everything imposed on you as personally from Him. And be complacent and give thanks. For all things are for your good, whether visible or invisible. Do you know how iron products are hardened? Having finished everything perfectly, heat it until white and pour cold water. This is exactly what is happening to you now. None of this is news to you; and is already being practiced by you. But it’s good to read the texts. From them light comes and dispels darkness. Tightness comes from God, we endure and give thanks. But if there are ways at hand to eliminate them; and this is from God, and there is no sin in using them and freeing yourself from tightness. – Do you have them? - Eat. We must return to Fr. Cassian. Talk to Fr. archimandrite and with Fr. Cassian, and resolve this lovingly. Go there completely and live there. I really regret and grieve about your cramped conditions. And I really wish that your transition to Fr. Cassian. Government orders regarding nuns do not concern you. They seem to come from the Synod. Changes in obedience to novices are also practiced here: so that they don’t get bored with one thing, and they move up this way. The hotel served for a long time. This is an expensive face, and it is inconvenient to change it often. They changed it correctly to give it a rest. Peep: let them. When you notice, call and say, look, look, darling. But look straight, not into the hole. Keep everything in such a way that even though the whole world is watching, there is nothing to be afraid of. Calling a police officer is illegal, and so is police intervention. If anything is needed, everything should be decided by the abbot. Although these are small things, they deprive you of peace, but the painful state makes even a small burden very heavy. It's a shame. Your dream about the deacon is very good. And comforting. That deacon faithfully endured quite a few falsehoods. Do you see what a surplice?! This is a reminder to you that the most brilliant attire awaits you if you are complacent. “Doesn’t oppression drive J. into a monastery?” - Don't think. This is nothing more than enemy tricks - to confuse. And you turn everything into a demonstration of patience and complacency. And most of all, avoid feelings of dislike towards the culprit. Pray for her. May the Lord soften her heart and diminish her hostility towards you. If circumstances force it. So what? Here, Troekurov, etc. God will point out a corner somewhere. I will have the funds in a month. It is not written whether the 3rd volume of the Philokalia suffered. But I don't think so. The fire for the cells was not unexpected. And the brethren could save what they considered necessary to save. My health is fine. Your image is holy. I really like Tikhon. I drink anti-cataract water. I'm looking forward to the benefits. But it is very difficult to touch. The people of Athos published several sermons against peace. I will send you, - or send, 10. - Distribute to whomever you wish. Urnizhevskaya is still there. She asks for blessings again to Jerusalem. I wrote to her twice already: God bless her. But it’s true that she didn’t receive those letters, and writes again. Please tell her that the blessing was spoken long ago. I will write to her - but I wondered if my letters to her were missing or if someone was delaying me, and I wrote this to you. Give her one brochure of sermons too. Your good friend E. Feofan. September 29, 1887 I mentioned the Zadonsk monastery to you only because you described your life there as if you were living in paradise. And if it has its own inconveniences, then there is nothing to think about it. All one has to endure; but it is better to endure what naturally occurs on the road of life: for here the hand of God is visible, pointing. You list other places. Name: You said the truth that as long as you are a guest, it’s good; and then things went wrong. There is a saying: it’s good everywhere where we are not. So it’s better not to move, and not to think about it. But it doesn’t hurt to go for a ride - to stretch the bones a little. I began to translate the second volume of the manuscript of the teachings of St. Theodora Studite. This will not be done soon. How does translation sometimes bog your head?! She would like to float. I still have nothing to say to you except, God bless you with every blessing! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. October 27, 1887 Letter 1018. Danger of dispersion. About his treatment and work They've returned! Thank God it was pleasant. And another mercy - the return of health! But it’s bad that they scattered. Although you only said that you are not so focused; but it means a lot. This means that you are out of your rut. For the Lord's sake, beware and try to return and take up your rank. It’s easy to get out, but difficult to toss and turn; and if you stay outside for a long time, then you probably won’t fit into the middle, you’re fat. Deliver you, Lord! otherwise they won’t let you in. In Yelets they offered it again. And the cell is corrupt. The opportunity is favorable, but you have nothing to wish for when they are not driving you away from here. Saint Tikhon called you, covered you, and gave you a good mood, and now you have a patron. You are here to stay until they kick you out. But how about. the archimandrite promised not to touch it, then don’t worry about it yourself, and live with God. Treat your neighbor as a teacher of patience. Everything is from the Lord. I continue to drink eye healing water. I just received a new one and I’m using it for the first day. – There’s a lotion here – a big one. This, I believe, is the best remedy. But will it help? It is desirable, but what God pleases will happen. There are diseases, the cure of which is prohibited by the Lord when he sees that illness is more necessary for salvation than health. I can’t say that this didn’t happen in relation to me. I translate, as you already know, St. Theodora Studite. The second volume goes faster. In a month, maybe I'll finish. The third volume is not large and has large omissions - in manuscript. And the fourth is the most serviceable of all – and more. Everything can probably be finished by half of next year. It seems you wanted Emen - about death, to shift - simpler and closer to hearts. And it came to me too. Your good friend E. Feofan. November 27, 1887 Letter 1019. About the loss of good mood. Emenya's book on death I’ll only write you a few lines because I don’t have time; I hasten to finish St. Theodora Studite. In the last letter you are in the monastery. I hope that having retired there for good, you again entered into your usual mood. At least that's my sincere wish for you. God grant you this! This did not happen for the sake of some sin that drives away grace, but perhaps it happened that the heart clung to something, and in general a privilege was given to oneself, it is said: free, like soldiers, both attention and alertness. and tension of body members. All this put the soul in such a state as: fatter, thicker, wider, and forgetting God. For this - yay! - how severely the Lord punishes! precisely by leaving the soul to itself - in the disorder into which it gave itself up by allowing itself benefits. I am writing this way, but it would be preferable that this not happen. May the Lord make you wise! Thank you for the card! So this is what Dunya is like. God bless the teacher and student! But here's the thing. I sent you Emen in the hope that you will remake him. The disease has interfered and is preventing you from doing this. The other day I had to think more than once how nice it would be to have a book about death and judgment. This also applies to the teachings of St. Theodora, and regarding some letters. Alas! How the enemy manages to discourage almost everyone from thinking about this. And what could be more savior than them!! So, if Emen is still in your hands, send him. Perhaps, having finished St. Theodora, which will take no more than a month, I will take it into my head to convey everything that is written by Emen in letters to someone. When you need it, I will return it to you again. Your good friend E. Feofan. December 29, 1887 Letter 1020. Replacing services with the Jesus Prayer I don't have time for everything. However, I will write a few lines. Your soul froze. How dangerous this is, you know from what was written on the occasion of previous extinctions. Therefore, try to perk up. By some features one can believe that life is alive; but does not feel satisfied. From what? - Because you abandoned your previous positions of prayer. And don’t turn to them. I think that you need to replace this digression with something, and this is what I propose. Shift all of our 7 daily services to the Jesus Prayer with bows. Take an example for this - in the following psalter - at the end of the outline of the rules for every day - cell rules. There, for each service, the number of Jesus prayers and the number of bows are determined; there are two rows of them, one for the lazy, the other for the diligent. You should have taken the last one. But since you are weak, you can choose the average, or a little more than the average, and if you please write down how many prayers - 1) for the Midnight Office: 2) for Matins; 3) for the first hour, and other hours – 3:6, 9; 4) for lunch; 5) for Vespers; 6) for Compline; 7) for the rule on him. The main thing is the number of prayers; bows can be left to your discretion - waist and ground. Do prayer on your knees, and sitting if you are tired. Having determined this, set a time when to do what is required. And then do it urgently. Stand in your heart before the Lord and do it. Some troparia can be read from memory. At all services there are people like, for example, Se the Groom, and the like. It is necessary that the performance of any service be reflected in labor. As the day continues, you will often work for the Lord, and I think satisfaction will come. God bless this work for you! Save yourself! I am in a hurry with the translation, and I work until I get tired. The need must end. It will still take two or three weeks! Your good friend E. Feofan. January 18, 1888 Letter 1021. The disease has struck again. Taking care of Duna. About your work and health This is how you were captured?! Please accept my condolences. But as you wrote that you felt better, maybe the mercy of God will prolong the relief and make it completely easier. Accept what the Lord sends with humility and complacency. The thought of death is never a bad thing to hold; especially during painful attacks. And get ready! Fear is natural. But the superfluous, the one who shakes faith and hope, comes from the enemy. Eat for the cross of the Lord, and do not break away. When there is nothing unconfessed or unresolved on the conscience, then everything is already forgiven. Glory to the long-suffering and mercy of the Lord!! The enemy inspires hopelessness because he himself is hopeless. And we have a strong foundation of hope. Now think more about this, according to the principles of our saint. faith. May the Lord open His arms to you and receive your soul. Take care of Duna. Good! Who will bother about placing her in the monastery? Ask about. Cassian, or Fr. Archimandrite, or have you already decided this?!! Leave a letter to Posyet about the money for her, and order it to be sent when Dunya has already found the monastery. I am sending you books, two – “Swearing” and one – “Letters”. I just received 3 volumes of the “Philokalia” completely rewritten for reading. And the press is still after censorship. Something big came out: whereas I thought that this volume would be smaller than the previous ones. St. Stood towards the end. 24 lessons left. But we also need to reconsider. The thought of death was forced upon me by the effect of these teachings, because St. Theodore does not miss a single teaching without reminding him of this, and even entire teachings are directed towards this, especially on the occasion of the death of his brothers. So I decided, with the help of Emen, to compose several letters about this. After all, nothing is so calming and exciting as the memory of death - and what follows after it. The eye is also good at writing and reading; but the distance becomes more and more obscured. It seems that one will have to taste blindness, or half-blindness, for the distinction between light and shadow will remain. I don’t know what the Lord will give me to do. Now I don't have a single minute to do. And then?! God would give such an occupation as the elders had, who said: go ahead, I don’t have time, I’m busy! They were busy with heartfelt prayer and thoughts of God. Bless you, Lord - either die or live. I think you'll still be able to do it! I wrote you a program of services. If you want, you can perform it while lying down. Form is an external thing; but it is soothing. And the gaps are left to free will, but not for dreaming about many things, but for intelligently looking at the One, Omnipresent and All-Fulfilling. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 27, 1888 Letter 1022. Recovered. Troubled neighbor. About your work and health I'm very glad that you feel better. Otherwise, you portrayed your illness in such a way that I was expecting news from hour to hour that you were no longer on earth. Well, thank God! still fidgeting. May God give you strength. And what you wrote about Dunya’s arrangement reassured me. May the Lord arrange for her! Your neighbor wrote, everything is as you say. She is sure that these are her heroic deeds, for which a monument should be erected to her. The letter is written in crappy handwriting, I couldn't read most of it. But there is a lot of abuse, all directed at the late Demetrius and Fr. Zosima. You were also hooked, but not much. O. Cassian too, a little bit. In conclusion, she added - come to her aid. After reading everything, I thought of writing to her: “I am ready to come to your aid, but not against others, but against yourself: for you are your own evil enemy. So if you agree to this, write. But on the condition that the letters should not contain a single word about others, but everything about yourself.” But then I changed my mind. It’s better not to contact her, but to pray that the Lord will enlighten her. I was thinking of forwarding the letter to Fr. archimandrite, but also changed his mind. Because he already knows everything. And, of course, he does the best he can. There is no point in telling him. It is better to surrender everything to the will of God. I kept sitting behind Theodore the Studite, and very intensely. Finished. It remains to be reconsidered. This will be 4 volumes of the Philokalia. Third - I re-read what was completely rewritten. My health is fine. For the eyes there is Vrevsky lotion. The lotion works very well on the eyes, but there is no sign of it destroying the cataracts. I'm waiting for a new shipment of this lotion. Perhaps it will be stronger. My head began to quickly, quickly get tired, and sometimes my head becomes so heavy, with a feeling of weakness throughout my whole body, that I have no desire to read, write, or understand. I lie down and lie down. But there is no pain in the head. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 14, 1888 Letter 1023. About 3 volumes of the Philokalia. Advice for those in poor health. To the question about. Mitrofan on prayer I’m sorry for not hastening to answer your letter and thank you for everything you sent. Everything is received with due honor, and everything is given honor according to its kind. I kept fiddling with 3 volumes of the Philokalia. The people of Athos rewrote it so badly. Finally, this too came to an end; Now I am sending it to Moscow for printing. You will have to read no earlier than six months later, or more. But I think anything will happen this year, unless we encounter any unforeseen obstacles. Now you are there in the monastery, as in paradise. And if you please, make fuller use of this favorable circumstance for your creation in the spirit. You, as I see, are very weak. Of course, you wouldn’t have the strength to thresh; But to have God in front of you and to talk to Him in your mind, I think, will give you enough strength, and more than enough. This is now the main rule to set for yourself, and to this one limit your entire concern for your spiritual deeds. If you have to read something or Dunya reads something, take it as a subject of discussion and compose acts of saving thoughts of God, which open up the heart when it is in order and make it a receptacle for sorrowful feelings. Regarding the body, due to its unsatisfactory condition, without sin you can make some kind of indulgence that you would have denied it if it were in good condition. After all, even among the Lenten dishes there are very nutritious ones. That you have already completely prepared for the outcome, and are looking at the door, hoping that a messenger is about to appear. Blessed are you that you do not hesitate to hope to meet him, and to give yourself to him for guidance on the unknown path in the afterlife. If my books were distributed, then I have more. Tell me which ones you want and I’ll send them. O. Mitrofan, congratulating, asks about one thing: is it possible? And together he prescribed that the answer can be conveyed through you or in your letter. So I’m telling him, tell him it’s not only possible, but also must. Add to this, so that you don’t restrict your breathing and don’t put pressure on your heart, but make prayer a free thought. Let him know that truly spiritual prayer is instilled by grace. Let him read the legend about Maximus Kapsokalivit in the Philokalia and imitate him. For two years I prayed from the heart, without using anything special, and received what I was looking for in an instant. Bless you, Lord, with every blessing! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. March 16, 1888 Letter 1024. Explanation of the long silence. Austen from the Savior's crown. Transfer of publications to the people of Athos I'm sorry I haven't written for a long time. Every day I put it off until tomorrow. And that’s how long it took to have breakfast. And you embarked on deep thoughts about the reason for my silence; whereas they are on the surface and very open. Are you angry? You yourself say: because of what? If for no reason, why stop there? And in advance, if you please, resolve this wise question simply by the fact that I am having breakfast. I'm very sorry that you are so relaxed. Be patient. This is the first virtue that you should now perform. Second, thank God, who arranges everything for your good. Third - be complacent, seeing this mercy of the Heavenly Father towards you. I don’t understand why the history of the St. Petersburg Monastery confuses and burdens you. This is good for sufferers. If they endure it complacently, without grumbling, condemnation, or anger; then they will participate in the rite of martyrdom, It was the Lord who sent them a small stone from His crown of thorns. Let them stand in awe of this and rejoice. At the trial, the Lord will see this on them and command: “Let these pass without asking or delay.” I still don’t understand how disgusted you are with everything. Everything is God, you are in the house of the Heavenly Father, in His mercy. Kiss His right hand, eat His feet. Enjoy seeing Him. With the eyes of the mind, and especially with the eyes of the heart, one can behold Him in His hiddenness. I'm healthy; but laziness completely overcame me. Do you know how long I have been rereading St. Theodora? I started, it seems, even before Maslenitsa, and haven’t finished yet. That leaves about a third. The people of Athos bought all the printed books from their nephew with a big concession. They also handed over the subsequent edition with a small fee on their part. The reason for this is that books are not sold out. And things are going well for them. I wish you good health; I wish you peace of mind; I wish you a restful stay; I wish you not to think that I am angry when I don’t write, but rather pray then that the Lord will drive away laziness. Your good friend E. Feofan. May 29, 1888 Letter 1025. Comfort and Instruction for the Weak in Spirit Now you have surely already received my letter and read it, and you see the reason for my silence. Are you satisfied? But satisfied or not satisfied, there is nothing else to say, and there shouldn’t be, because what has been said is the real truth. I never forget you. It was good that you moved to the monastery. And you will do even better if you stay there forever, i.e. move there completely. You will be calm both externally and internally; because if something embarrassing happens, you have a doctor always ready in the o. Cassians. You are very relaxed in spirit. I think this is due to bodily infirmities. Increase your approach to the Lord, and He will show His strength in your weaknesses. As all things come from the Lord, so are your infirmities finite and not without His will. since our Lord is goodness itself and directs everything to the salvation of everyone; then, of course, your infirmities visit you for your good, and precisely for the salvation of your soul. What exactly the Lord has in mind for this is something you have to decide for yourself. And I believe that if you think a little and look around you, you will find it. When you find it, take it into your guidance. Is prayer in its proper place? Prayer always serves as an expression of our relationship to God. When prayer is good - warm, diligent, attentive; then our relationship to God is good. Then everything is fine. Take the trouble to tighten up your prayer if it has become weak. When speaking in prayer, take special care of the prayerful feelings - faith, hope, thanksgiving, contrition, surrendering yourself to the will of God and all others. When a prayerful feeling comes to you, dwell on it and warm it up while it lingers in your soul. Call another when one leaves. So all day long. This will be unceasing prayer. The feeling sometimes goes away on its own; and sometimes you need to call on him. How? The thought of God, or reflection on all the sacraments of faith, especially on the economy of salvation, and the end of everything. Pass your thoughts on all these subjects more often, and one will certainly fall on your soul. That's the feeling. I'm healthy. I can’t guess what will happen to the eye; but there is little hope. Be healthy and happy! Your zealous well-wisher Bp. Feofan. June 6, 1888 Letter 1026. Means for reviving feelings for God. On the history of the book "Miterikon" I am very glad that we found rest in the monastery. Take a closer look - maybe an opportunity will open up to settle down there completely. I think that Fr. the archimandrite will be pleased with this, because there will be one less cry. However, everything is as God wills it. If you can be constantly with the Lord; then there is nothing else to look for. This is the whole point, so that our entire life will be hidden with Christ in God. Having now external peace, you get rid of a whole half of the obstacles to that. The other half is inside. And this immediately disappears by itself, as soon as any feeling for the Lord falls on the heart; and if such a feeling does not go away, then everything inside that interferes with being with the Lord recedes by itself. If someone asked: how to always be with the Lord, you can safely answer: have a feeling for the Lord, and you will be with the Lord. I think I wrote to you about this. What is it like to have a feeling? It seems that just the memory of the Lord already sets in motion the feeling towards Him. If we add to this the thought of what He is, and what He has done and is doing for us, then I don’t know whose heart will remain untouched. Therefore, very righteously St. the fathers honor the thought of God, or the contemplation of the properties and actions of the Lord, as the key to prayer, and unceasing prayer. Because from this the feeling for God comes to life and connects with the Lord. I gave the books to the Athos people, but I still have them; not much was said afterward. I have prepared for you Simeon the Theologian, and letters from 1886–87; but I won’t send it now, but later, now I won’t have time. The people of Athos sent me a book - Greek - of Abba Isaiah, not that ancient one, but some recent one: a collection of sayings of ancient ascetics, their letters to him and instructions to a certain Theodora, and some legends. All this is directed to the nuns. The speech is simple and could be translated; but the scribe’s handwriting is no good: it’s small, illegible, some letters are written in a new fashion; there are two or three dashes for a whole syllable, and also an abbreviated scripture, like we have in Slavic. I'm flipping through the pages for now; and if I get so good at understanding everything, I’ll translate it; and if not, I won’t, or I’ll decide to translate, which I’ll disassemble and leave the rest. The manuscript is decent. I haven’t re-read Theodore the Studite yet. What stops me is that we have to come up with headlines for every teaching. Your good friend E. Feofan. June 22, 1888 Letter 1027. A short word from someone seeking peace and quiet. A modest review of the saint about himself Are you in Yelets now, or have you already returned? May this journey be for your benefit! Are you deciding to go to the monastery? God bless! And here is the region of St. Tikhon: may his prayers cover you from all storms! I don't think so. the archimandrite began to cross him. He doesn't care. That you are at peace in the monastery is the mercy of God. If you remember that just as the silence of the sea is unreliable, so is the silence in human abodes: then you will always pray that He will not interrupt this silence, but give thanks for what was and is. Let His will be done in everything. Blessed are you, that you are always with the Lord. Thank the Lord, move away from everything that moves you away from the Lord, and pray that this grace will not be taken away from you! “I’m in labor”? There is no lazier person in the world than me. How many things can I do? and I'm hitting all the bullshit. It's a shame, and that's all. You are waiting for books. But I sent you a long time ago. (I looked at the postal receipt, it turned out to be recent). If Mother Emilia listens kindly to your word, do not be lazy with your words. May the Lord arrange for her. My stay, as usual, is neither shaky, nor rolly, nor on the side. God bless you with every blessing! Bows and good wishes to all my friends. Your good friend E. Feofan. July 18, 1888 Letter 1028. Is it possible to run away from the cross and temptations. A word for the guest and Dunya. About your affairs and health You feel good. This makes me very happy. I wish you never to lose such a joyful mood. Abide internally with the Lord and the joy of Him will always be with you. You are in a monastery. Good! And it occurred to me that it was better for you not to move; for the reason that it means fleeing from the cross. But then it came to mind that the main thing for you is not to run away from St. Tikhon; there is his monastery. Therefore, when you go there, you do not leave it. I suggested that it was better to move away from evil. In addition, the Lord has allowed: run to another city. And now I’m more inclined to move on. You can’t run away from temptations: they are on your heels. However, I leave it to your discretion. Maybe when talking with Fr. The archimandrite will reveal why it is better to stay in the old place. Congratulations on your guest. I feel guilty before her for not answering several letters, even though I was going to do it all the time. I apologize to her. I wish her to spend time there in your skete or monastery in spiritual consolation. May the Lord give change to your Duna. May the Lord soften her heart, or rather, may she learn how to rule her heart. I'm healthy. The eye became noticeably weaker; but it still serves well. I think someday I’ll go to Moscow, and if the operation is permissible, accept it. I was told that some drops had been invented that, when put into the eye, deprived it of feeling; so the operation gets away with without any suffering, drops: cocaine. This is what inspires me. But the doctor’s previous decision that my cataracts do not allow surgery is chilling. This is said about the left eye, but it may be different in the right. Theodore the Studite was sent to the Athonite people for the census. Now comes volume 5. It starts with Simeon N.B. But as he is translated, the little necessary will be taken from there. The chapters of his disciple Nikita Stifat, the wise ones, are translated. Bless you, Lord, and your guest. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. August 7, 1888 Letter 1029. Various reviews and news about your affairs Why are you out of tune; Is everything said and done? At the same time, we have not forgotten: if not the Lord? If you are like this by nature, then it is still a gift from God; and if there is an application to nature, then it is a gift of grace. Everyone has a small dose of weakness - mumble. There are fire ones, but there are only one or two of them, and there are too many. Your action on Dunya is good. Help you, Lord, to bring your work to the end with success. (Your German writing is no good. We learned to write in Latin script. Write like that when you want me to understand it). You both want to move and are afraid. But it’s good that you drowned your fear in the sea of ​​hope. The Lord is there, and the Lord is here. And holy. Tikhon is here and here. You don't leave him. What's next? - And there is the Lord. Varvara Alexandrovna wrote from some village where she spent the day, and saw an ophthalmologist, and invites me to go there. If I go, I’ll go to Moscow. My left eye is still working. Other health – as always. I translate Nikita Stifat - wise instructions. To him, or ahead of him, there will be extracts from Simeon new. theologian And so on. This is 5 tons of Philokalia. But my head began to weaken. I can only work in the morning, and then for three hours. Then the head becomes heavy, and the matter is over. And in the evening I haven’t worked anything for a long time. I am very glad that you have now completely calmed down and recovered your health, and that at the same time you are moving along your own path. May the Lord protect you from becoming fat, fat, i.e. from complacency, the most destructive thing, cutting off jealousy and stopping vitality, in which everything burns in the hands. We are waiting for our master to come to us for the beheading in the evening. We'll probably rest for a day. Our new church is being finished, it’s warm, it’s magnificent: it’s painted very vividly, and it’s big, big. The books are now finally assigned to Athos. They can publish it until the end of time, only with payment each time to the nephew, and then to his descendants. Some books are no longer there: the second edition of Simeon the Theologian, Epistle to the Romans - there is very little about sobriety and prayer. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 23, 1888 Letter 1030. Instruction about the pupil Duna and information about various subjects Congratulations on your housewarming. God bless your new stay. I think you called it a turn. Let it turn on the outside, but don’t turn on the inside - in the accepted direction, but everything in the same way - extending to the front, forgetting the back, as if nothing had been done and endured. They became calm from the outside. Inner peace in the Lord should also be strengthened. Don’t be a fanatic; deepening humility is a measure of improvement. I'm healthy. The eye is getting thinner, but everything is still working. I'll go to Moscow when he stops working. Which I don't think will happen this year. You're all messing around with Dunya. Lord help you to patiently go through the course of your trial with her. You should not send Dunya away from you until she becomes completely healthy. To send her to her own people means to destroy her outright. But to give to others - into service - also leads to destruction, although not directly. Just be patient with her. Otherwise you will have no one to tolerate. There the neighbor gave you reasons, and here Dunya let you not forget that there is a virtue of patience. I don’t feel like writing to Dunya. When he arrives, I’ll write. I am very glad that with Fr. The archimandrite parted on friendly terms. O. Cassian will surely replace him in the best sense. You are also expecting a neighbor here, or her deputies. This is no good. May the Lord give you patience. I wish you to calm down more deeply within yourself - not alone, but with the Lord. Regarding the loan. Don’t give in, and if they don’t have anything to pay, be patient. Varv. Alex. I did well to travel. Now she won't have to worry about going back and forth anymore. In the Sergius Hermitage you can find peace if you want and manage. I wish her inner peace, rather than outer peace. Rev. Leonty is very grateful for the memory. I've been meaning to write to him for a long time. And I’ll write soon and congratulate him: he met the sovereign, and good. Maybe you’ll write, and remember this to him. The nephew lives well, there are three children: a boy and two beauties. They are all healthy. Did I write to you? Or not? I’m sitting, preparing the 5th volume of the Philokalia. I am translating Nikita Stifat, a student of Simeon the new theologian. I skip very practical lessons that are more cunning. It's difficult to express a thought. One of those seeking salvation wrote to me once or twice. Recently I announced that I had moved to Zadonsk. He is a learned chorister. I will direct him to Fr. Cassian. Your good friend E. Feofan. September 26, 1888 Letter 1031. About the improvement of the internal church. Message about Varvara Alec. and other persons Praise the new housing: clean, tidy. Now set everything up in the same way in the middle. The external reminds and points to the internal. In each letter, for some time now you have been repeating to return to the old ways, to get into your rut. What do you mean by this? Has the inner church really collapsed? It is not built on sand. In addition, you say that the Jesus Prayer is valid for you. What other path do you want to enter?! Take up reading Peter of Damascus and St. Isaac the Syrian. Good! I would advise you this: repeat Simeon the New Theologian, the first part. Then read in the book about sobriety and prayer - Chrysostom, Hesychius, Philotheus Sin. Isaac is here. This will greatly renew your energy. Better than St. No one will ignite Simeon's energy. “You have nothing to justify yourself in court, there are no cases.” There is no point in justifying yourself by deeds. Justification comes entirely from everyone by virtue of the Lord's death on the cross. But there are side effects that also stand as conditions, and although we cannot imagine them perfectly, we can sincerely desire them and look for them, and some success will present itself, feasible, but to the best of our ability. I asked Varvara Alexandrovna the task of deciding what a good answer to the Judgment of Christ consists of, for which we pray in the litany of petition, and to write the answer. So you had to write the same thing. I'll wait for an answer. But I attributed it to Varvara Alexandrovna: even if a whole century doesn’t decide, if only she thought about this every day and even hour. What should you write? You decide immediately and write. You have no reason to doubt Varv's success. Alex. Let her have the character you say. But why do you forget about grace? Help will come and rebuild everything. I told her where to find society. Let her imagine that the top of her home has disappeared and the sky is open. She sees the sky and the heavenly ones. Let him speak to them, and they to her. That's society. Why can't this be arranged for her? The saints hear our prayers to them, and they do what they need to do about them. This is their answer. To Rev. I still haven’t gotten around to writing to Leontia. Guilty! but I'll get it together. Because I wish to have a conversation with him. It's all the beauties' fault. Here you are now, Varv. Alex. Tell him so, and let him impose penance on you, that because of you there is no time left to write to him. Volume 5 is being translated. 3rd is printed. We spent a long time rewriting it, the 4th one is being rewritten. Varv. Alex. briefly described all her circling around the monasteries. It left a good impression; and can, through memory, support her good decisions. She also described farewell to St. Petersburg. and St. Petersburg. I parted with everyone on good terms; but he doesn't regret it. About Fr. Alexandra's mournful information is burning out, and it seems that it will burn out soon. The chest is upset. The first letter is that you are not grumbling about Dunya. And then you all write this: Dunya has corrected herself, another time: Dunya is worthless, she has tormented her, at least drive her away in time. Here is Varv. Alex. – I was so captivated by her. It occurred to me: yes, that’s where Dunya is, to V.A. The person I was talking about only in this letter receives the knowledge that if he wants, he can turn to Fr. Cassian - so and so. Bow to him and Mitrofan. Letter 1032. Advice regarding a new complication in the life of a schema-montress who longed for peace I’m very sorry that things are so unsettling for you there. - But who is to blame here? You and I were looking for the best, and it seemed we found it. – You felt good here before, and you felt good after the transition. How suddenly this gentleman! Who could have foreseen? If you had to decide now, no one would advise you. The matter was decided when you had paradise here, but your neighbor there did not stop building hers. That's what I advised. You seem to be putting all the blame on me. I guess I'll take it all. But justice demands: sin in half. Definitely. You groaned from your neighbor. There was rarely a letter without this. I feel sorry for this, very sorry. Therefore, when you lived well in the monastery, I advised you to choose this good thing. “It turns out that I confused you with my advice, and you confused me with your scream from your neighbor.” Both are to blame; Both should be blamed. And you only blame me, and protect yourself. Let's figure out how to do it together. – For the first time, nothing seems to be possible except to endure. You wrote under your first impression, and you are only describing your grief and displeasure. Let's wait to see what happens next. Maybe this gentleman is the kindest person, and he showed up this way by accident; it was an unkind hour, and the enemy egged him on. The only thing you hear is that he is going against you in the furnace. But the firebox is the abbot’s business. Perhaps he will settle this matter in such a way that the will of that gentleman will mean nothing. - Teasing about. abbot. It is his duty to reassure you. Fusel and tobacco are third-party accessories. Work it out somehow so that you don't meet. And be smart about it. We were seduced by the goodness of this place. And it was good. “But apparently the Lord does not want you to rest,” and He sent an alarm clock to you, or did not prevent you from settling here. If you believe that everything is from the Lord, you must accept him with the same thought, and arrange your relationship with him in this way. See what happens next. Maybe you can either keep yourself away completely, or tame him and make him tame. The latter would be much better. No, the one I wrote about cannot be like that. That family man - wife, children. He will find an apartment near the monastery. But he informs that he has received a position in the Kharkov Judicial Corporation. I can’t say anything more yet. You, a schema monk, must have been nailed to the cross. – You were on it. They got off. But the Lord caught you and nailed you again. - Please say to those who offend: Lord! do not put this sin on them. And manage to turn every occasion into spiritual benefit for yourself. Has your lady returned yet? Here's a push for her - don't interfere. This is not a place for sybarite ladies, but for humble sufferers. Yes, has the Lord left you?! No. He's with you. And he looks to see how you will somehow show yourself in these tough circumstances. See that you do not disgrace His waiting. Otherwise He will shake his head and say: I’ve been fussing, fussing with you, and it’s all to no avail. - Be well, and please the Lord. You are reading your favorite books. I mentioned others to you. Well, whatever tears fall on you, read them. Everyone is good. If only the interviews of Abba Zosima - in 3 volumes of the Philokalia - would be useful to you, I am re-reading the printed sheets, and now - you have read about him. All interviews are aimed at cases similar to yours. Regarding Varvara Alexandrovna, your decision cannot be considered final. She seeks and will find. You have already noticed that they have improved. Why do you think this won't last? - God is merciful. She did a lot of good. Let us pray that the Lord will smooth the path, if He pleases, or give wisdom and strength to act in a manner pleasing to Him. – May His holy will be done! Your good friend E. Feofan. November 8, 1888 Letter 1033. Instructions for the pupil Dunya. Works on the compilation of the Philokalia I wish you all the best from the Lord. More than peace of mind. With your explanations, you completely reassured me about the unpleasant neighbor. You did a great job; but I thought that this was very depressing for you. Well, that's enough about this. And Dunya is great! After such speeches, what do her outbursts mean? Black sickness. “She would pray morning and evening, saying: Lord, deliver me from my black sickness!” - and bowing three times. – If, as you believe, she is brought into such a state by an excess of bodily strength; Then can you come up with some kind of activity for her that would tire her body? The lesson is an hour, or half an hour, or even less, as long as the body gets tired. – According to the feelings expressed by Dunya, she is a treasure for you. I rejoice that your inner self is in proper order. In this case, there is nothing to grieve about the previous order. They shouldn't toss and turn. All these are stands - scaffolding for building a house. May God grant you to stay like this. Zosima - in 3 volumes. 15 sheets of this text have already been printed, Zosima is almost at the beginning. – His speech is similar to the speeches of Abba Dorotheus. Everything is based on the fathers - and the experiences of previous ascetics. We have a lot of illuminating books for reading. But the inner man is built on his own. – Sometimes it’s good to take some verse of scripture and torture it until it gives you either illumination, or nutrition, or excitement. I am now translating St. Gregory Palamu. It is simpler than its predecessors. – After him, only the chapters will remain – Ignatius and Callista. – There is also some Katistiliot Kallist there. But he is very abstract, and is unlikely to be translated. I'll take a look, though. My health is satisfactory. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. December 4, 1888 Letter 1034. Again about Duna. Solving the problem of a good answer at the Judgment of Christ and other subjects Happy holidays to you. - Lord grant you to taste the power of the sacraments for the sake of which the holidays were established, and to enjoy them and always enjoy them. You reassure me very much that you are completely separated from this monster. May the Lord grant you never to endure the deprivation of this peace. What a clever old lady she was to tell you about Dunya. Poor Dunya! What kind of black illness she has! – Let him pray, as I wrote before, and God will deliver. But you also have to fight. Let him try to fight at least once - he won’t listen to him and will do it in defiance, i.e., instead of quarreling, he will show himself affectionate. After all, she certainly notices his approach, as soon as she notices, let her resist and pray. In a year, let her figure out how to act then, and when weakness comes, let her do it. But you still continue to consider this as penance, because it is a good humbling thought. There are good thoughts in the answer to the question. So is Var. Alec. reasoned. But you have a court program, not an answer. – The answer you will need is: did you do it? - Why did you do it? How will you justify yourself? St. Theodora decided better during the ordeal. Demons will attack, you did this, and you did that. She answered: yes, she did; but I repented, received permission, and did penance. That was the end of the torture. A good answer will be given to those who, although they are aware of many sins, have proof that they have been forgiven for the sake of repentance. This certificate is the limit of penitential labors on earth. I forgot which saint came to the elder and told everything. He imprisoned her in a cell, dressed her like a monk, and gave her a penitential rule. She repented for three years, and it was said to her: “Your sins are forgiven.” And the elder also received a certificate. This is what we sinners need to achieve! In the penitential psalm of St. David - the words: give joy to my hearing - mean: let the ear of my soul hear your word: your sins are forgiven you. This word will flash through your soul. The same thought is in the words: reward me with the joy of Your salvation. The ophthalmologist in Tambov is also good. And Moscow is not far away. – When I become so blind that I won’t be able to work, then I’ll go to Moscow. Another question that needs to be resolved is whether my cataracts allow surgery. Not all ophthalmologists understand this. – Thank you Felicate P. And I thank Mother Cleopatra for her good wishes. I always remember her in my prayers. May the Lord bless her and her entire monastery. – What is this prophecy of Hosea about the salvation of the Emperor? – I’m hearing it for the first time. When does the soul unite with the body? - At the moment of conception. – When did the Savior become incarnate? - Immediately, as the Ever-Virgin said: behold the servant of the Lord. The Holy Spirit found, and the Son of God took on flesh, or human nature, in embryo. Do you want to send a card to St. Joseph. I have it, don't bother. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. December 27, 1888 Letter 1035. About bad debt, health, books, etc. subjects How long have you not written?!! One of your unanswered letters is dated December 19, and the other is dated January 5. The guilt is great, but not unpardonable. The morning is all about translation work. And in the evening I was so overcome by laziness that I did not have the strength to overcome it. She relied, it seems, on hemorrhoidal attacks, from which her head was heavy and heavy! It's been two days already. “And I couldn’t do anything serious.” I read 12:13 and 14 years - wars with France. I’ve already read them several times, and I don’t refuse to read them again. What kind of bright personality is our Sovereign?!! In your first letter you describe your course of action against Dunya. Help you, Lord! Somewhere in Scripture the Lord Himself greatly praises those who bring good out of unworthy things. This praise will not be taken away from you either. Of course I’ll send you the Philokalia. Why did you doubt this? It’s not me who publishes, but I arrange for myself quite a few copies to distribute to others. The third volume has 25 sheets printed. But it seems more than 30 – and this volume will not happen. Those two are too heavy. I will suggest that the publishers make three volumes out of two if a new edition is needed. You subscribe to "Pilgrim". “Soulful Reading” is better and cheaper. "Sunday". Meshchersky is struggling. God save him. He was the first of the secular ones to raise his voice about church affairs. In the second letter you see something rough there. But it is comforting to see that you rise above all this with calm devotion to the will of God. Your description is that, perhaps, cases will open up that will undermine trust, and this undermining will upset, if not everything, then a lot - both inside and outside. May the Lord protect you from this. These fears arose in me when you mentioned the debt. You mentioned that he doesn’t even think about your debt. Doesn't he think that you donated that amount to the monastery?! You need to talk to him and persuade him, tell you frankly how he thinks to clear his debt, so that you know that, and act accordingly, reminding you that it’s hard for you without them. Well, what to do? It's clear that you got caught. May the Lord make you wise and give you the strength to withstand yourself and rise above this sorrowful occasion. Your fight is before St. Communion probably took place on this occasion. I really regret that this is the case. May God help you to always be a winner after this. How kind is this countess?! May God give her thoughts to continue to help you, However, the world is not without good people. However, we must all prepare for anything. A good answer in court is no different, because there will be no questions about what has been done, but what has not been done or has been done contrary to what should have been done, that is the whole answer. And this cannot be covered with anything other than repentance here. And all preparation for this and prayer for this should consist in, as you say, being filled with a feeling of forgiveness, so that even here the soul hears: your sins are forgiven! I'm healthy. The eye still works, but its horizons are also shrinking. I translate - Callista and Ignatius. It's complete science. I will offer to print it and release it in special prints. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. January 27, 1889 Letter 1036. Calming a troubled spirit. A new zealot for prayer. According to the edition of Philokalia I have just expressed my joy to you that you are so calm in spirit, as if nothing had happened, when I receive your letter with such grief about the past, such displeasure from the present and such worries about the future. Lord have mercy! “On the surface, you say, I’m calm, but inside there’s a burden.” Here came plans after plans. Please be patient and don’t do anything for now—and don’t even think about it. Let everything finally settle down - on the outside - and let everything settle down within you; then you can think more freely, and you can more accurately get to a beneficial plane. There is nothing stopping you from living here. And live with God’s blessing, focusing all your attention on your inner work, with corresponding external activities. You can find heaven in this, although hell is boiling outside. The one I advised to knock on your door has completely changed and is very jealous. I suggested that he pray in small prayers. And he wrote me up to 20 of his prayer appeals - strong both in thought and feeling. This is not what I meant. I meant the prayers that St. Chrysostom stands in prayers for sleep. And with him this is what I mean by my prayer, when a prayerful feeling stirs in my heart. Such prayer appeals go in between short ones. Both of these forms are the most moving in the matter of prayer, but long prayers are necessary for beginners. I don’t want to re-read your letters because my eyes are tired. Perhaps, based on what is written there, there is still something that needs to be said. Be patient. Now I had in mind to tell only you - don’t move. Surrender to the will of God - and wait. Then it will be clear what to do. The third volume, I'm finally waiting for it to arrive. Joke? It took more than a year to rewrite it. And they started printing tea in the middle of last year, if not earlier. And the fourth volume was rewritten for about a year. Now I'm re-reading the rewritten one. Just a little more and I'll finish. The fifth ends with a translation. Then maybe I’ll finish, if I’m not lazy. Volume 4 will be the best in terms of content. There is one St. Theodore the Studite. I wish you complacency and peace. God bless you! Save yourself! Your good friend Bp. Feofan. March 13, 1889 Letter 1037. About patience. About dreams and so on. I greet you on a Happy Holiday. I wish you bright days. And I'm sure they will come. Just be patient! Let it not be said in your heart: to endure again, to endure and endure. - If God so desires; then those who seek to please God should not find this unpleasant. What does God want for? - Because this is the real path leading to the stomach, and that whom He loves and chooses for Himself, He certainly leads them onto this path, keeps them on it and supports them. - Look at your situation with these eyes and you will stop groaning, on the contrary, you will joyfully desire this and willingly remain so. Everything that you suffered in these circumstances and are still suffering is a piece of martyrdom, for the sake of suffering in vain. Do not deprive yourself of this honor - and do not be burdened. - Can you bear with it?! God will give you patience. Apply your will to God’s gift, and endure willingly and joyfully; Yes, it’s your job to have patience. I looked at the eulogy my sister wrote for you and I repeat to you: rejoice and thank God. The enemy is cruel, but God allows it, because such muds are healing, and are the essence of the degrees of ascent on the rock. You have to carve a step in the rock and stand on it in order to carve more - and then climb again. – You said: there is nothing to rely on. Here I am prescribing support for you. It is strong, because the power of God is here. You can't read much. What a lot. Read the chapter, and give freedom of thought - to expand in contemplation of what you read. Conceived from the Apostle, conceived from the Gospel, a chapter or two from the fathers. And contemplation of God, then prayer of the mind and heart, then something else, and the day passed. The neighbor is doing wonders. Let it be. Let them come up with whatever they want. Everything will pass. They will see the lie, and the disease will turn on the head of the inventors of lies. The Lord sees why he doesn’t stop? what should I do? - When is the end? Because it’s good for you, he doesn’t stop. What can you do but endure with joy and give thanks. When is the end? When the cake is baked; then get out of the oven. - This is the alphabet! Have you forgotten?! Dreams. The cross crumbled. This is an indication that you have no patience. Practice patience, and the cross will be built up in you again. I can’t understand your dream. But no indication of the formidable is visible. It is clear that the saint is not against you when he allowed himself to be kissed. Has your faith and his greatness diminished?! I still pray that God will give you complacency and reconcile your heart with the current. – That the heart turns to stone, irritability, anger and distrust grows, we must pray against this and drive it away with reasoning. This is bad. Here the enemy is having fun at your expense. O. Joseph - who is he? - May the Lord protect him. You can be a monk even behind a plow. Volume 3 of the Philokalia in Shatsk; but there is no way from us there. When I receive it, I'll send it. Volume 4 rewritten - sent to censorship. Volume 5 is available for correspondence. - And amen, and glory to God! Your good friend Bp. Feofan. April 20, 1889 Letter 1038. Fatherly warning. Reviews and messages about various items I’m very glad that M. Rafailovich was with you and liked it. You will have the opportunity to put the capital you collect into circulation. Just make sure you don't fall in love. – The enemy will not miss an opportunity to spoil you. Torture yourself, and manage to turn his machinations into shame. You are not prophesying good things. – Who knows? God will help, and they will get along. Better to pray for him. What was given to you in confession, thank God! Recreate those feelings more often. You have no money; me too. And the demands are all around. - I’m sending you 25 rubles. And I send you a commandment - stop wasting. You spend money like a millionaire. Learn to keep spending within modest limits. I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time; but now the very state of affairs tells this to you. Write to Fr. To Ioann Sergiev - why not write?! – But if others write; if there is confidence that he is able to fulfill what is asked; and if he knows you. “Even so, I think it’s better not to write.” You are having seizures, despite it being May: but May is no good this year. If it gets warmer it will be better. There is a drought in my soul. I don’t want to do anything since the end of the Philokalia. - It's a boring time! My health is fine. The eye succeeds at the worst. I'm preparing for blindness. But for now we can work. I can’t say anything about what happens to your eyes. Nothing like this happens to me. My eye is slowly dimming. Ask the doctor - cocaine. Tell Evdokia: someone who has both the right and left sides of his face dirty, when he washes one side and leaves the other dirty, he is still called grimy. I am sending you three copies of volume 3 of the Philokalia - to you, Fr. Kassian and M. Rafailovich. - If you please manage. Here are all the selected articles: Diadochus the wise, Zosima the experienced, Philotheus the occult, and that’s all. – The fourth volume is being printed; the fifth one is being rewritten. Your good friend Bp. Feofan. June 1, 1889 Letter 1039. Imaginary reproach. How to get into a good mood in the morning. Treatment with skim milk I'm sorry I wrote something embarrassing. I repent and ask for forgiveness. My only thought was to remind you. It never occurred to me that you would allow yourself to be excessive in your maintenance. I meant spending on others, where a measure is appropriate that is not contrary to the spirit of love and pleasing God (2 Cor. 8:12:13). The enemy stirred up trouble as usual; but you overcame the troubles and emerged victorious over the enemy. I am very consoled by this. I pray to the Lord that He will always allow you to see the enemy’s approaches and smash them to dust. May God grant you to rest in Yelets and return home renewed and strengthened. - I think you have already returned; or you will be at home when you receive this letter. I haven’t sent books to M. Cleopatra yet, but I will. What, in the matter of reading, you reread the previous one, it’s all the same. And the new will not contain anything else, but the same as in the previous Scriptures. Meanwhile, the repetition of the same thing falls deeper on the soul, or more easily raises holy thoughts. – I’ll send letters to different people. Always be with the Lord, and with the consciousness of His eye directed towards you - and be inspired by what should be, and drive away what is not. At the first moment after waking up from sleep, hurry to realize that God from above looks down on the sons of men to see, if you understand and seek Him. Then turn to yourself, are you such that the Lord will gladly fix His gaze on you for a long time? - To this further attach another thought, have you fallen into the rut of Divine Providence, and is the chariot of your life rolling along it: for everything is in the will of God and everything is governed by it, and that is only lasting that it is governed by it. We have many of our own ways, which seem, but are not the ways of God’s will. I wrote to my nephew, a law teacher at a gymnasium in Tambov, about what was in my heart - and my nephew has a brother-in-law who is a doctor. Having heard this, he gave advice - to drink milk for six weeks: only milk, and skimmed milk at that - no water, no tea, no bread, just as much fresh air as you wanted; start with two glasses a day, and work your way up to 16. I've done this before and it was good. Now I do the same. But I have nothing serious, it will be a simple replenishment of blood. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 5, 1889 Letter 1040. The meaning of sorrows. About your eye disease Congratulations on being neighborless! May the Lord preserve your present freedom. You see a hand weighing down on you, but you don’t see the sins for which. – There are no shortage of sins in general; They don't even count. But there are sinful states into which one enters unnoticed. That's why they don't admit it clearly. Since they are still not pleasing to God, He, desiring perfection for you, takes this away from us, and the matter is somewhat corrected by itself. And then there’s one more thing. I think I wrote to you that you are taking an exam. The Lord asks questions based on circumstances. Your answer is how you meet and handle the circumstances. God's favor or displeasure - marks. So guess what to do so that all the grades are good. Stop worrying about how to stay ahead. God will work everything out for the best. Cry out the will of God in your heart, and all fortune-telling will end. You consider yourself unfit to join a monastery. - Good! The Lord's earth and its fulfillment! The doctor found it was cataracts. Cataract is not a disease, but a misfortune. It’s all the same, as if someone had sneaked up and covered the windows with lime or chalk. Or how frost fills the windows in winter. You can't read or work. May God grant you the desire to work with rosaries, or to stand before the Lord without rosaries. You are offering to make me healthier. Why?! The eye can only be corrected by a miracle. Because there is no cure for cataracts. – And I’m afraid of the operation: I’m afraid of reprisals. So, God willing, I’m going to sit sometimes. One consolation is that the blindness will not be complete. I can distinguish between light and shadows. After finishing the Philokalia, I still haven’t come up with anything. One day I began to little by little translate a sensible ladder. - For the ladder is in many ways, due to the conciseness of speech, dark. God bless Dunya to prosper! I am sending you a copy of the letters. These letters are read with gusto by some. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 23, 1889 Letter 1041. Advice for the advisor It's true that you passed the exam passably. And so the Lord chooses you to be in the classroom, or as a tutor. He is one teacher, always and for everyone, but those instructed by Him need to interpret the instructions He instills. This is now your business! - Bless, Lord! Most of all, Lord, deliver you from phonforonism. When you have to say or write something, pray for enlightenment, humbly and sincerely recognizing your short-sightedness in understanding the ways of God. Never compose, and what comes from the heart, say and write without thinking. “I’m lazy to pray, but I don’t give up prayer, only I don’t have the same energy, everything is sluggish and with great coercion and difficulty.” - These are your words! What would you say if someone else told you that about himself and was waiting for a word from you?! “I’ll tell you that this state is not normal, and take the trouble to warm yourself up and wake yourself up.” You wrote that when you answer Sofya Feodorovna, then you will send her letter to you. But here is her letter. Hence the answer is made. And at the end you write: “I’m sending a letter, write something in response.” If God sent her to you; then you need to answer. However, I will say: this servant of God has good urges. These are God's suggestions. But she doesn’t have the energy to deny herself, and to force herself. Let him kindle these urges until they become warm, and then to fire. And there will be energy. How to light it? – By keeping the mind in a spiritual atmosphere, thinking and reflecting on the properties and deeds of God, about the work of redemption, about our assimilation of it, about great promises and threats, about death, judgment, heaven and hell. The people of Athos have a book: “Rise to Sleep.” If you please, look at it yourself and let him buy it. And let your heart hold under these thoughts. The heart will gradually warm up, and then it will become completely warm - When thinking and thinking, have an appeal to God with short prayers. - That's enough. It is only necessary to eliminate everything that interferes with the mind and give the heart space to accommodate divine truths. Apply faith that your work is urgently needed, but the work is given by grace, which is subject to the following condition: God will see the work, the diligent and merciless search for himself and will give it. Seek and you will find without interruption, without sparing yourself, and without saying: enough is enough. The external order must be adapted to this. But no one can indicate this from the outside. Let her decide what and how is more suitable. All vanity must be eliminated. But where an exercise for love is presented, you should not skip it. “Let him look after his inner self, but in this case, let him behave externally as usual.” Questions. She has one question about St. communion. – Is it possible to postpone? Can. - It’s better not to tie yourself down, then and then. And having laid it down in general - to take communion during all major fasts, and on Great Lent and Christmas - two at a time, at other times to take communion when there is a strong desire. In fasting, even if there is no great desire, you need to warm up the desire and force yourself to do it. Let him walk in the memory of God and the memory of death, and warm up within himself a contrite and humble heart. The heart is the main thing. Son, give me your heart! God's call. Works are not the final thing: for with them, the heart can be far from the Lord - and this: alas! Let him seek, and ask the Lord everything. Let him buy from the Athonite people: “What is spiritual life” and “Letters about spiritual life regarding Speransky’s letter.” Also “The Path to Salvation” in 3 sections. Everything is depicted there systematically and not fragmented. Nothing else comes to mind to write. But you write it yourself, taking mine only as indicated. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 31, 1889 Letter 1042. Warm nest. About your health and so on. Prepare yourself a warm nest for the winter. God bless your efforts. In this case, think about the eternal nest and about the ways of preparing it, and about the warm nest in the heart, which is a transformation of that eternal. I can’t understand what you did regarding money. Let this be of reassurance to you, as often as you, and as, of course, reasonably foresee, even though you cannot rely on anything in the temporary. If this is the case in the monastery, as you say; then there is nothing to regret about the change of abbess. We will regret mother Cleopatra as much as we can, wish her a tolerable life and pray for it. May the Lord arrange it as He knows without prejudice to future life. I don’t remember at all who the beautiful Emilia is. But I will rejoice with you that she has been preparing so diligently for the last hour lately. The merciful Lord, of course, will not despise her labor of love and patience of hope. God save her and have mercy! I'm healthy; but something in my chest is not calm. There is nothing specific in sight to see what it is. There is no pain, only the heart is felt. Why is there no concern? – The eye is getting worse and worse little by little. After the Philokalia I did not attack anything I liked, and I have not done anything to this day. Psalm 33 is printed. Printing 4 volumes of “Philokalia” on the tip. 5 tons - completely ready for printing. And then? “Then, whatever God gives, that’s what will happen.” Your good friend E. Feofan. October 2, 1889 Letter 1043. About patience and various subjects They were alarmed and calmed down. Such is the fate of earthly life. You looked for consolation and support in the right place - in the Lord. For if not He, then who? - And get lost. Patience in life is like the background in a painting: it is required everywhere. But real patience is a gift of God, and is given to those who seek it, and, even if through strength, strain to retain it in the face of confusion, troubles and attacks. The spirit of true patience is surrendering oneself completely to the will of God, with a readiness to accept everything, as if from the hand of the Lord, with full confidence that everything is soul-saving for us, although how is invisible to us. These elements of patience must be renewed more often in the mind and heart, or in any prayer; patience will always be ready, no matter how necessary. “And as soon as something seems unfavorable, he immediately hurries to stand on the stone of surrendering himself to God. “You did this after the fear had taken a toll on you.” “And if only we had time to do this in advance,” Dunya immediately shouted congratulations; then nothing would have happened. Previously, God gave you more strength, but now He has diminished your portion in order to make you feel that your strength alone is worthless. This is a living lesson for you. You did a good job, organizing everything properly regarding money, so that you don’t have to worry about it. But don’t forget that it will happen as God pleases. Grant you, Lord, peace in this regard! Anna Feodorovna - that’s how she rises! - Well? After all, she really worked hard here too. But she had no peace. Grant her, Lord, to find an inner foundation! Feodorovsky Monastery is a women's monastery. Our fans are located there. And there is not an abbot, but an abbess. I'm waiting for the last pages of the fourth volume of the Philokalia. But it seems that the Athonites lay down to doze off for a bit. And they don’t send the 33rd Psalm. And he should have been released a long time ago. Bless you, Lord, with every blessing! P.S. I received Psalm 33 before sending this letter. I am sending you 6 copies. Except Fr. Cassiana, Fr. arch. Procopius, Fr. Timothy, and Mitrofan, and one in reserve. The shawl comes too. Letter 1044. About the infirmities of old age. The meaning of God-thought for prayer. About Duna and so on. You have all the infirmities. As it turns out, one thing or another makes itself felt. It seems, after all, that you have already entered the old age. Congratulations. This is an honorary title. But also carry the belongings of old age. My eyes refuse to work, my legs are twitching (always from midnight - about two hours), but recently I started to have an intermittent pulse. This, I think, is not scary. The whole point here is that the heart misses one beat. That you remain with the Jesus Prayer alone must be considered a good situation. But that the action from it is not what it was before, it seems, depends on the fact that you remain with this one doing. Apply contemplation of God - both at the beginning, and in the middle, and at the end - or, as you do it constantly, often, as you please. Thought on God is in-depth reflection on the economy of salvation, or in general, or on any one subject that is part of it. As soon as you wake up, you will immediately review everything - from creation to the second coming, judgment and decision of the fate of all. - It's coming soon. And keep praying while you clean up. “Then take one subject and delve into it until it touches your heart.” And in this embrace, then say a prayer. And so all day long, mix thoughts of God with prayer. The Lord is close to all who call on Him. Dunya, maybe, when she’s left alone after you, she’ll manage herself the way you’re leading her now. Who wants harm for themselves?! So she will understand that it is bad and will avoid it. Then life will teach you. You have something like a general disease there. Save you, Lord! “It’s always been frosty here, and it’s been for a long time.” Anything rotten comes to us and is afraid to show his nose. Be grateful! Bless you, Lord, and Dunya, and your entire monastery. Your good friend E. Feofan. November 27, 1889 Letter 1045. To a sick woman - about behavior at home during church services. About the exiled old man and so on. You are very ill. Grant you, Lord, patience, complacency and thanksgiving to God for everything. He who endures to the end what is sent by God is awarded the great gift of salvation. Be it for you! Help you, Lord, to arrange everything as your soul desires and your conscience demands. This is the condition of peace in the last minutes. It is good to apply your home prayer to church services: and at the same time, read a little, pray a little with your own prayer, but everything can be replaced with your own mental prayer, or the Jesus prayer, perhaps saying some short prayers from memory, such as: “Behold the bridegroom is coming,” “It is a terrible day,” and the like. “And even this is better when, without words, there is a feeling for the Lord that brings peace in God.” You can lie here all day and not lose your inner confidence that God’s service does not stop. However, during those hours when there is a service in church, it is better not to lie down, but to sit on the bed, leaning, if infirmity overcomes, against the wall, and so pray intelligently and heartily, with full desire and vigor of spirit. If you can’t do it yourself, make Dunya read something from the Philokalia to herself. There will always be something that will fall on the heart and occupy attention, being something new, although it has already been read. This is what the Angel of the Lord gives to occupy one’s thoughts for the day. What is there to regret about the elder who was expelled from the monastery and has now died? If he still remained in the same internal order, then thank God he had to endure it in the end. This is a rinse, and at that it is God’s. I received the fourth volume of the Philokalia. I'll send it with the next post, and maybe, if I'm not lazy, with a letter, or without a letter, if she comes. I apologize in advance. I wish you all the best from the Lord, and especially spiritual rest in God. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. December 13, 1889 Letter 1046. When sending books and cards. About patience with deprivation of money and slander and other subjects. You are in Yelets again! “Be patient for the Lord’s sake, and you will participate in martyrdom.” Don’t grieve over the loss of money, but surrender it to the will of God, and God will count it as alms. “By doing this, you will be a good merchant, a good leader who will buy something good, and one who will acquire great things with a little.” May the Lord give you understanding about everything! I saw the new mother of the Yelets monastery, Valeria. It is very comforting that she is both educated and spiritual. May the Lord bless her and lead her steadily along this path. It is with pleasure that I send you volumes of the Philokalia - 1:3, 4 - for Mother Valeria, and one more 4th - for you. I thought about sending myself to Yelets; but changed my mind. It's better for you to do it. I will send a special one to Mother Cleopatra. – The fourth volume – which is for you – has a red pencil cross on the top wrapper. Under the first page of page 5 of this volume you will find my office card; - and under the first octagon there are 10 sheets - a business card. This is for Dunya. I know a little how hard it is to endure slander. She is dirt; but the mud is healing. Be patient; the time will come. The Doctor of Souls will remove this mustard. And they reviled the Lord, a poisoner and a drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners, having a demon. To be a participant in the reproaches of the Lord is great glory! - Humble yourself with this, but do not lose your moral strength of spirit and keep in mind that without being condemned by your conscience, you can always boldly look up to the Lord or boldly stand before His face. What is more valuable? Do your own thing; and how others look at you, do not consider it important. For only God's judgment is true. People don’t know themselves well, much less others. Your dream - that you saw the chambers of St. Seraphim and something else, is comforting. It means that St. Seraphim has your attention, and cares about you and feeds you spiritually, only invisibly. My health is good. There was an intermittent pulse; but homeopathy corrected it. Everything else is fine. The eye still serves, by the grace of God. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 20, 1890 Letter 1047. Condolences for the losses. News of the elevation of the saint to the degree of doctor. About family and health Together with you, I mourn the loss of yours, both of your patron and trustee, and especially of the impoverishment of your means through this. I mourn the latter all the more because at the present time I cannot even help you even a little. Be patient, I’ll do it later. This year I myself am in debt, having stupidly taken the wrong step in terms of money. Everything will be fixed within a year. And then I will have the opportunity to fulfill your need. The Servant of God Plato began to remember after receiving the letter, and I will celebrate - magpies for him. God save him and have mercy on him for his kindness! Yesterday I received a telegram. The priest, the husband of my niece, died. I don’t know if he left anything; but it is more likely that we will have to send help there little by little. God help them! For several days now I have been feeling general weakness, noise in my head, and a runny nose. I'm guessing it's a little flu. Maybe it will pass. If you don’t tell anyone, then I’ll tell you the news - that the Holy Synod elevated me to the degree of Doctor of Theology. There is no decree or diploma yet; but the matter is decided. Wrote by Rev. Leonty. I’m very happy about this, even if it makes me crazy. - However, until the time comes, you won’t even know about this. I wish you all the best. God bless you! Your good friend E. Feofan. February 7, 1890 Letter 1048. Advice on everyday matters and consolation. About doctorate and your cards Congratulations on fasting and, of course, fasting and St. communion. I deeply mourn your cramped conditions, but I can’t help you in any way. After maybe; and now I myself am in a vice. Do you want to bother? I think this is in order. God bless you! Far from the Empress. You need to ask her servants in advance. The manager probably didn't make any inquiries. Therefore, it occurred to me whether it would be better to write to him directly and tell him to look at the matter, and that this is determined for you for the rest of your life. And at the end, note that you are left without funds. Maybe this will improve matters. Or wait what that gentleman from the employees of this manager to whom you wrote will tell you. In the answer, he may, and the management will indicate to you, if necessary. I wish with all my desire that the Lord will arrange this matter, which is so necessary for you. It is better not to guess about the reasons for God’s determination about you, for God’s thoughts are always as distant from our thoughts as heaven is from earth, and we cannot guess them. The only thing that is certain is that God judged this way, and for the good of you yourself, and everyone who comes into contact with this, not excluding the Empress. As for your disobedience, it couldn’t even have an impact on your hair. It's sad that you can't help. But God has many hands through which he can act. You need to find consolation in the Apostolic word, which determined - to give from what is, and not from what is not, to give when there is and not to give when not. My doctorate took a long time. But I didn’t know anything about that. Therefore, he showed neither permission nor inconsistency. In mid-January I received a letter from one St. Petersburg. Archpriest that this matter has come to an end. Then St. Leonty wrote that he signed the synod protocol. And with the past mail I received the attitude of the academic council, and a diploma after. I am very glad to receive a doctorate, but before all the religious academies elected me to their honorary members, and it was like a side issue for me. The cards were made in Moscow from a hand-drawn portrait. It won’t be good to photograph me: there is no right pupil – a white spot – and the left one is grayish, like a light cloud. But the portrait is similar. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 18, 1890 Letter 1049. Consolation of the exhausted and awaiting death. About your health and the book “Psalm one hundred and eighteenth” I received the “Inscription” and am sending you four copies - to you, Fr. Cassian and your benefactor Vera, and someone else in reserve. Gather your strength, read it without skimming, and tell us about your overall impression. For me, everything here is not washed white. You feel exhausted and think that this is the door to the end. Weakness reminds one of death; but he does not prophesy about her hour. However, while accepting reminders, it is not obscene to prepare for it. Since you are constantly infirm, it is easy for you to become close to the thought of the outcome, following the example of St. Nikanor, and it will not catch you by accident. Blessed is the memory of the exodus; it, with the memory of the Lord, is a strong foundation for Christian well-being of the spirit. The dreams you described are all good. But why are they given? For consolation and strengthening of the spirit, so as not to be faint-hearted, and to confirm the thought of another world, as if it exists not far from us, and as proof of communication with it. This is the mercy of God! Your complaint about yourself, that you pray poorly and do not keep up your feats, was resolved by St. Tikhon, saying: “What prayer for a sick person? Thanksgiving and sighing." This is how every feat is replaced. Be grateful! My weakness, the one I wrote about, has passed. But another one came - dizziness. And this one is coming to an end. Thank the Lord! During all the time I was ill, I could not do anything. Now I’m re-reading Psalm 119. The people of Athos are wishing for a new edition. As this was written a long time ago, it seems to me that this is all completely new. And I think that if I started writing now, I wouldn’t write it like that. That it was written like this is the grace of God. Whoever reads it with attention will gather many thoughts that embrace the real Christian life from different sides and support it. Thanks be to the Lord for allowing me to write like this. Bow to Fr. To Cassian, may he pray for my sinfulness. You might be interested in: