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Illness is a matter of God's Wisdom God's mercy be with you! If everything is from the Lord, then your illness is also from Him. If everything is from the Lord for the best, then the illness is yours. Your illness prevented you from going to Moscow. Therefore, it is better for you not to go to Moscow at this time. And calm down on this - and don’t think about going despite your illness. Moscow will not leave, and the road to it will then be as open as it is now. The illness will pass, and go to Moscow. Here we received Holy Communion. Christ's Mysteries. God bless. If there were an obstacle here, it would be worthy of great pity. But the other thing is that everything is trivial. The enemy inspires: you won’t be able to stand it. And you answer: I don’t undertake to stand it alone, but I hope that the merciful Lord will not leave me alone, but will help me to stand, as he has helped me before. (No. 1381 letter 848 issue 5 page 4) Disease again! Lord give you patience and complacency, and deliver you from sinful grumbling! Do not look gloomily at infirmities. They indicate rather the mercy of God and God’s attention to you, rather than disfavour. Whatever comes from God is for good. (No. 1384 letter 864 issue 5 page 6) Есть болезни, на излечение коих Господь налагает запрет, когда видит, что болезнь нужнее для спасения, чем здоровье. I can’t say that this didn’t happen in relation to me. (No. 1385 letter 1018 issue 6 p. 18) God sent the disease. Give thanks to the Lord; therefore everything that comes from the Lord is for good. Если чувствуете и видите, что сами виноваты, то начните с раскаяния и жаления пред Богом, что не поберегли дар здоровья, Им вам данный. А потом все же сведите к тому, что болезнь от Господа есть, и случайно ничего не бывает. And after this, thank the Lord again. Illness humbles, softens the soul and eases its usual burden from many worries. May God grant that your high school student also recovers. Let him walk more...tea and bathing are good. Solder with milk. God save painful love! I am treated with milk, and apart from milk there is no food. - This is for blood renewal. (No. 1383 letter 1298 issue 8 p. 57) I am very sorry about Chernichka’s illness. God help her cope. - It’s good that they captured it soon. This must be inflammation of the liver, or some other lesion. The only danger here can be from neglect. But as the doctor is at hand... and treatment begins; then in five days everything will pass. Just give me patience... I looked at Homeopaths. They do not shy away from this pain. Their main ones are Aconite, Belladonna, Kolokinth, Homomila, Mercury. But when the doctor indicated his means, it’s all the same. Be grateful! May the Mother of God come closer to you with help! and may your Guardian Angels cover you with their wings! Я знал в С.-Петербурге одного генерала, который все болезни производил от душевных состояний. – But still, this is God’s mercy, although not sweet, but soul-saving. Был еще один доктор, который не брался лечить прежде, нежели больной не исповедуется и не причастится св. Christ's Mysteries. It happens that illness seizes in order to awaken a sleeping soul. I wish you and the sick all the best. (No. 1382 letter 1368 issue 8 p. 58) Disease! What to do? Be patient and thank God, saying to yourself: “This disease is a sin for the sake of my great and countless. The Lord takes away my strength in order to at least calm me down. He doesn't know how to fix me. Both mercy and sorrowful visits - everything has been re-experienced, and everything is of no use. The hour of death is approaching; and when it comes, what should my curse do? Lord my God! Have mercy on Your weak creation!” In an illness, even if it is mild, all death will come to mind in order to let the soul experience in action how true the word of the All-Wise is: “Remember your last, and you will never sin” (Sir. 7:39). Illness and mortal memory B. is sick... Let him learn at this time of death the memory of death - saving... It is difficult for a healthy person to remember... The Lord sends illness for this reason, to remind him of death... and from this memory to translate to the fact that the sick person will finally attend to preparing for death. (No. 1431 letter 861 issue 5 p. 8) Look into the eyes of illness cheerfully... But dream less... Various trifles will start swarming in your head... You will quarrel with just anyone... All this is in your thoughts... Then everything will pass. Be grateful! Surely something dangerous would have met you on the road. So the Lord planted or placed you at home... Thank the Lord. But still, pray that He will give you health. God bless you! Happy holiday and forgot to congratulate you! (No. 1415 letter 642 and 643 issue 4 p. 86) Your grumbling and loss of spirit are a good sign. This foreshadows the imminent cessation of the disease. That the doctors went apart is because, I believe, the disease has changed: it was in the liver and went away. And when you caught a cold another time, another disease appeared - catarrhal disease. This is sickness everywhere now: for influenza is a catarrhal kind of disease. If you don’t feel pain in your liver, then you need to trust the second doctor. However, see for yourself. Your thoughts about your seemingly desperate situation are worthless. It's the enemy who's making trouble. Who can say what will happen? There is only God, but the enemy, wickedly declaring himself to be God, interferes everywhere with his evil prophecy, and disturbs faith and drives away peace from the heart. Do not listen to him, but stand in the faith that illness is from God and is for your good, and when it has done its work, it will go away... and you will be healthy, and you will serve the Lord in some monastery. (No. 1416 letter 643 issue 4 p. 87) Give thanks to God for everything; and give thanks for ill health. It’s easy for me to say this from the outside; вам же на деле не легко, может быть, так чувствовать. Every time you hear a word about patience, I pray that the Lord will allow you to endure illness graciously and learn something from it. Why did the Lord bind you, who can guess? But there is no doubt that this, too, was allowed to you in order to further the goals of the life that you have chosen, and in which you are trying to at least somehow maintain yourself. From this point of view, you don’t have to torture your illness anymore. In addition to what has been said, seek courage for complacent patience in moments of heaviness of suffering, in remembrance of the patience of all the saints, and especially the martyrs. How long and how did they endure?! And it's hard to imagine. Yes, and for everyone, “through much tribulation it is necessary to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). And what is promised by the Lord is called the crown. For what? Because it is impossible to climb there without suffering. There is only one road there - a cross, voluntary or involuntary. May the Guardian Angel bring you comfort and complacency! Don’t complain that the noise in your head doesn’t allow you to keep your thoughts. God judges the soul by what depends on it, and not by what it has no control over. Keep the intention in your heart not to depart from the Lord, and He will accept this matter. Now you need to leave your fasting rule. Afterwards, fast, if it pleases God to raise you up: and now, in illness, in the form of medicine, you can eat anything, on the advice of a doctor. (No. 1390 letter 746 issue 4 p. 63) May the risen Lord give you consolation and courage: one to calm the sorrow of the situation, the other to have the strength to lift and bear its burden. The Lord is near us, and the Mother of God, and heaven with ambulance helpers embraces us. But we still get sick and don’t see an outcome. Is this really a coincidence?! Can't they see?! And seeing, they are not compassionate, and are ready to help, and yet they leave us to languish. If they are all love, then, of course, everyone allows this not out of hostility. If so, then what is it?! The same thing that happens between a pie fried in the oven and between the hostess. Give the pie a feeling, a thought, a language... What would it say to the hostess?! Mother! You put me here and I’m frying... Not a single grain of me is left unfrying, everything is burning, to the point of intolerance... And the trouble is that I don’t see the outcome, and I don’t have an end to the tea. I turn to the right, I turn to the left, forward, or backward, or to the top, it’s locked in from everywhere, and the heat is unbearable. What have I done to you? Why such hostility... and so on... and so on... Give the hostess the ability to understand the speech of the pie. What would she answer him?! What kind of hostility is there?! On the contrary, I only care about you. Be patient a little... and you will see how handsome you will turn out! Can't get enough of it!.. And what aroma from you will spread throughout the house?!.. Eco-wonderful! So be patient a little longer and you will see joy. – You wrote down Pirogov’s speech. Now take over the hostess’s speech and move on complacently to the expectation of a beneficial outcome. I think this can put an end to all your troubles. Put yourself in God's hands and wait. You are still in the hands of God, you just move your arms and legs... Stop doing this and lie still. What's the point of driving around? (A blessing was asked: should I go to some doctor). We've already gone... I wish you good-natured patience. Save yourself! Ep. Feofan April 11, 1892 (No. 1391 letter 31 issue 1 p. 66) God's mercy be with you! Are you sick? – But thank God that you are getting better, or have already gotten better. Thank God for the fact that the illness was not without benefit. The lessons that you have learned from these circumstances are very significant in life and general, especially spiritual. Expect nothing from people, and place all your care on the Lord, and constantly wait for death... and believing that the Lord has left you to live for the cleansing of sins, turn all your care to that. These points are the levers of spiritual life and guides. Do not judge your spiritual father strictly, without knowing for sure why he behaved so inattentively. God save the Athonite fathers! They did well. - Your brother and son... sophisticated judges... how does everything work out for them? The illness was not due to lifestyle; therefore, it should not be changed due to illness. The type of food in restoring strength is a secondary matter... The main thing is fresh, unspoiled food, clean air... and most of all peace of mind. Restlessness of spirit and passions spoil the blood and significantly harm health. Fasting and a fasting life in general is the best way to maintain health and prosper. – The German Hufeland wrote a science for a long life, where he extols the fasting life. Scientists must listen to him, but we have other teachers more important than this German. Prayer brings the spirit into the realm of God, in which is the root of life, and from the spirit the body partakes of the same life... The spirit is crushed, repentant feelings and tears do not reduce strength, but add it: for they put the soul in a joyful state. You did well not to give in to their suggestions. However, in order to restore health as quickly as possible, in order to work more extensively for the Lord, you can, without sin, condescend a little to the infirmities of the body - in sleep, work, standing, in food. This is after the passionate one. It’s summer... you can sometimes drink milk, and even broth, and eggs too... go out of town, because there is no clean air in the city. There is always an impurity in it. The ancient elders wrote that they treated the body harshly: not to kill it, but to mortify passions through the mortification of the flesh. (No. 13971 letter 694 issue 4 p. 74) The mental state of a person suffering from consumption God's mercy be with you! The desire to live is naturally alive. And there is no sin here. – But the real disposition in this regard is: “God’s will be done!” Whether to live or die, let it be as God pleases. This disposition must be strengthened and brought to the point that it does not allow any concern regarding this to arise. What should I come with? It is best to appear before God with this lack of anything. God bless you! We can hear it nearby, but not very much. And you have it right away and in the same number. Let us pray and ask the Lord for mercy. However, it is also true that God protects those who are protected. There are books that tell you what precautions to take, and they wrote in the newspapers. Read and do. Do not eat raw foods, drink boiled water, cool it a little, and similar instructions. You did well that you did not go to the region of cholera, so as not to fall under its evil hands, but now there is nothing to do. You must endure and hope for God’s mercies... May the Merciful God protect you. (No. 1380 letter 80 issue 1 p. 56) Serving the sick is serving Christ We worked hard for the sick! Blessed work: for here too the consoling word is applicable: “I was sick and visited Me” (Matthew 25:36). For this, the Lord visits souls who are merciful and willing to treat those in need. And if he sees someone who is sick, like Petrov’s mother-in-law once, he takes them by the hands - readiness to submit to Him - and raises them up. (No. 1423 letter 616 issue 4 p. 97) Caring for the sick is pleasing to God Although your strength has not completely returned, it turns out that it is enough to take care of someone who is sick and not worth such care. But the merciful Lord will not look at the unworthiness of the sick person and will take this care to Himself. And then he will send consolation for that, or complete recovery, or postpone the due one for the next century. May this be for your benefit! (No. 1430 letter 649 issue 4 page 9) At the convalescent bedside God's mercy be with you! And I was starting to worry that there was no news of the sick woman. Well, thank God the danger has passed. Now only caution - in everything, especially in food, drink and air movement around the sick person. The sick woman did very well to receive Holy Communion. The Mysteries of Christ, which are true medicine for soul and body. May God grant her complacency and patience. Peace of mind is a great aid to recovery. How well she would do if she could not think... So many trifles pop into her head. - Let him pray a short prayer to the Lord Savior, Mother of God and Guardian Angel. Then let him read from memory any psalm that he knows, and meditate on it slowly. It would be good to read the Gospel to her a little, and she would listen. Don't leave her alone. Sit nearby, and then work on something... and others would be here. She would have more fun... and her thoughts would not be boiling... These are big enemies now. You are very tired. Now you will rest. - And it’s fun to look at the recovering... (No. 1426 letter 1350 issue 8 p. 124) Have you recovered?! God bless! But do not put off that disposition and aspiration that death is about to happen... And as a result, remain in a state of constantly preparing to depart... May the Lord grant you to still work for His glory. (No. 1427 letter 997 issue 6 p. 52) Prayer update for recovery I am very glad that you are finally back on your feet. The recovered person usually feels renewed. I think you had the same feeling. It is necessary to ensure that bodily renewal is accompanied by spiritual renewal. God gave it to you or indicated it - in the short prayer that you performed then. It occurred to me to suggest to you: take up one short prayer, and do it all... both while doing and without doing, and walking and sitting, incessantly. First, you will force yourself to do this prayer, and then it will read itself... Just take up and work without interruption... This is the prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. At the same time, keep your attention not in your head, and not in the sky, but in your heart, there inside, under the left breast. When you get used to it, you will dispel everything that confuses you and call for peace in your soul. (No. 1428 letter 647 issue 4 p. 94) Diseases from God for our salvation Everything is from God: illness and health, and everything from God, is given to us for our salvation. So you too, accept your illness and thank God for the fact that he cares about your salvation. What exactly is sent by God that serves for salvation, you don’t have to look for it, because maybe you won’t know. God sends other things as punishment, like penance, and others as discipline, so that a person will come to his senses; otherwise, to save you from the trouble that a person would get into if he were healthy; another thing is for a person to show patience and thereby deserve a greater reward; other, to cleanse from some passion, and for many other reasons... (No. 1377 letter 42 issue 1 p. 55) About illness as a saving feat God's mercy be with you! You're all groaning; but you groan for salvation, or for the cause of salvation. God bless your worries in this regard. You are in a painful state in your body. The work of salvation requires labor and hardship. How can this be? Endure your soreness complacently and thank God for it... because if it weren’t for it, you might have walked upside down, but now you sit and walk as you should. Another benefit is that if you were healthy, you should, if you decided to actively work for your salvation, keep strict fasts, vigils, long prayers, stand for general church services, and other works. Now this is replaced by the patience of pain. Be patient and don’t worry about anything else. Just hold your soul as it should. Your spiritual side is intact. Therefore, with it you should serve God to the fullest; to be sober and awake, to have a contrite and humble spirit, to remain in prayer (smartly heartfelt, contemplating the Lord before oneself), to drive away thoughts, to nurture humility, not to judge, to rejoice with those who rejoice, to grieve with those who mourn, to remember God and the hour of death, and so on... Here is salvation for you! What you prescribed about your eating and drinking, there is nothing reproachful here if everything is taken in a modest measure. Your desire to receive communion more often can be easily fulfilled. Have spare holy gifts: particles of the Body soaked in Blood... and receive communion when needed, or as you wish. There are many free tabernacles in the monastery. Ask and use. At home, keep the tabernacle with the holy mysteries in a place of honor, among the holy icons. (No. 1420 letter 33 issue 1 p. 90) Things aren’t any easier for your beauty... I’m very sorry; but I don’t allow grumbling thoughts. Everything is from God, and God knows better than us what is best for someone... and don’t be angry with doctors. They don't heal themselves. And they are cured when God blesses. God has completely different thoughts about sickness and health than we do, and they are as distant from ours as heaven is from earth. It happens that God shields others with illness from a misfortune that would not have escaped them if they had been healthy. God hid Vera Alekseevna with illness from her suitors. And it’s not for bad. Believe in God and you will endure everything well. God bless you all - mother, your husband and you, and the sick beauty. Save yourself! Your pilgrim (No. 1389 letter 458 issue 3 p. 126) I wish N.N. recovery, but in the meantime, God grant me patience! N.N. God bless you! I always remember her at the proskomedia. Has been suffering for a long time. God grant me patience. The Lord rinses it so that it is whiter. And the Lord still browned the martyrs. This is how He loves to pamper and decorate His own! Bow to everyone we know and to all of Tambov. (No. 1422 letter 435 issue 3 p. 138) May the Lord strengthen you in health! Here is spring and summer - milk and greens... will dry the blood and refresh you. She will improve, and everything will go well! Everything of the Lord is work and health. Perhaps ill health is better for you, so that your flesh does not become violent. It would be better, of course, to surrender everything to his holy will. But He also created a doctor with medicines. Save yourself and pray to God for us. (No. 1376 letter 18 issue 1 p. 54) God's mercy be with you! I grieve with you for N. and pray that the Lord will show mercy to her and calm you all down. But at the same time, we all need to keep in mind the law according to which the Lord measures our fate on earth. Everything here is from the Lord - from small to large, and this is a means of preparing for the future life. The meaning of illness and health is the same; This is the meaning of your illness N. On the road to the future blissful life, she certainly, according to God’s wise and good judgment, must endure what she endures. Assimilate this view and instill it in her too, and what is painful in this illness will cease to burden the soul and will calm it down. Faith is a healer of the soul, inspired by hope and warmed by love. Having established yourself in this conviction, have all your care and heartfelt concern for treatment, but with peace of mind and surrendering everything to the will of God. Let N. settle down this way: earthly happiness, of course, is also good in its own measure. But if the Lord finds that it is better for me not to have that part of this happiness that depends on health, God’s will be done! The love of my husband and mother is enough for me; father and relatives. I give thanks to the Lord for this and for that... both for what is given and for what is not given. May the Lord only give me complacency and patience and such a mood of spirit with which I would not be ashamed to appear before the Lord. Holidays are around the corner. Congratulations on them! May festive joy swallow up your sorrow. Please convey my regards, congratulations and good wishes to those you know. God bless you all! (No. 1412 letter 466 issue 3 p. 132) It is a sin to grumble in illness God's mercy be with you! Happy St. Pentecost! I wish you all the graces of the Holy Spirit, which are now prayerfully remembered in the Holy Church, and above all health and salvation! Your health has deteriorated. Shaky health can also shake salvation when grumbling speeches and cries of despair are heard from the lips of the sick person. May God help you get rid of this and that trouble!.. Do you see where I’m going with this?! Such speeches burst through you, and speeches, of course, come from feelings and thoughts, but these latter ones are of such a kind that with them the matter of salvation is not valid. Please heed this and get better... Health and illness in the hands of God's providence for us are means to salvation when they use both in the spirit of faith... But they also lead to destruction when they are treated capriciously. What you especially need is patience that is complacent and submissive to God. As soon as such a disposition appears in your soul, you will immediately enter the path of salvation - to heaven. And look, then be inspired! You had surgery. Grant, Lord, that she will do the work for which she was adopted. May the Lord have mercy and save you!.. (No. 1418 letter 470 issue 3 p. 135) He who suffers illnesses and sorrows is likened to martyrs in his feat You have another pain from your daughter’s illnesses... I’ll tell you what... Since you have already tried all possible means, there is only one thing left for you - to make peace with this grief and bear it with obedience to God, believing that this illness is necessary for the salvation of you and your daughter... as well as her husband... Having made peace in this way, keep yourself calm and give your daughter the same calm. Remember the position that “those who humbly endure sorrows and illnesses are in the rank of martyrs.” Remember the position of the martyrs, who sometimes, being tortured, were left in prison for several years - 5, 10, 20. But they humbly endured and were complacent, having heaven before their eyes... for their patience. (No. 1419 letter 410 issue 3 p. 137) Thank you for your congratulations, and I congratulate you in return. I really regret that you haven’t recovered yet. May God grant you complete health... Illness, however, teaches humility and submission to the will of God. Be grateful and thank God for everything, in the confidence that everything is for the best, even though it is not visible now. You'll see later. (No. 1417 letter 644 issue 4 p. 88) Illness is a school of humility In illness, learn humility, patience, complacency and gratitude to God. That impatience comes is a human matter. When he comes, he needs to drive him away. That's why there is a feeling of hardship, so that there is something to endure. If you don’t feel the burden, then you don’t have patience. But when a feeling of burden comes and is accompanied by a desire to throw it off, then there is nothing sinful here. This is a natural feeling. Sin begins when, as a result of this feeling, the soul succumbs to impatience and begins to incline towards grumbling. (No. 1416 letter 1343 issue 8 p. 89) Spiritual activity in days of illness May God grant you health; and if it is not needed for this time, let complacent patience give it. That in illness an internal appeal to God is not the same - this is a consequence of weakness. He who feels his indecentness before God will not allow wrong feelings even during pain. Be smart. A soul that has not been tested by sorrows is good for nothing. When there is pain, you can relax a little, especially if you drink cocoa. That you don’t all bow down, nothing. You don’t have to write down passes in the penalty book, but cross out what you wrote down. Correct the rule with the silent Jesus Prayer. At the same time, if you can bow, bow as much as you can, otherwise you just stand there. If you can't stand, sit; If you can't sit, lie down. Don’t stop being with the Lord only in your mind. You are so sick that you are going to die. It is always necessary to prepare for this, and even more so for the patient. But whether you have to die, or whether you still have the chance to live, this must be surrendered to the will of God. Live and work harder. Just started. (No. 1388 letter 745 issue 4 p. 61) Sorrow is a sign of God's love “It is blessed to drive away the truth for the sake of them, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Blessed are you when they revile you, and condemn you, and say all sorts of evil things against you who lie to Me for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven” (Matthew 5:10–12). “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you; if you had been quicker from the world, the world would have loved its own; because you are not from the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: You are not a slave of your master; if you cast Me out, you will also be cast out” (John 15:18–20). “You will be in a world of sorrow: but be of good cheer, [for] I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “Marvel not that you are born into temptation, as if it were strange to you; but as long as you share in the passion of Christ, rejoice, for even at the revelation of His glory you will rejoice and be glad” (1 Peter 4:12, 13). “The Lord loves him and punishes him: he beats every son who accepts him. If you endure chastisement, 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. Establish 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, turn it on until white... and into cold water. This is exactly what is happening to you now... All this is not news to you; and is already being practiced by you... But it’s good to read the texts... From them light comes and disperses 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? - Yes... (No. 1378 letter 1016 issue 6 p. 45) 4. Prayer during illness 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 indecent 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 that 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! (No. 1440 letter 1043 issue 6 p. 51) The order in which you pray (privately, without going to church due to illness) is good. Do it as best you can. Order is needed because of our weakness, and not for prayer itself, which can exist even without everything... Go through the Liturgy mentally, not as one performing it, but as present (mentally transporting yourself to the church) while being performed by others. N.N... I don’t know what to say? Here are books and brochures for him. If he starts reading, he will find something intelligible... (Toward order in behavior). Do you have unhappy thoughts about yourself? In Egypt there was an elder abbot, it seems Apollos... He told all the brothers and outsiders too: we Christians should not grieve... Let the pagans and Jews grieve. And we, saved by the Lord... are our paradise and the kingdom of heaven. With us is Christ, the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of God, the heavenly hosts and all the saints... - Keep these thoughts and similar ones, and put all the sorrowful things away... It seems like a great thing that you have to sit in your cell, that you don’t go to church (not because of laziness, but because of illness). When you pray, you always become a church of God (2 Cor. 6:16). For the Lord is everywhere. – Read more often: Our Father... and Rejoice to the Virgin Mary... God is our Father, and the Mother of God is our Mother... The Holy Mysteries are Her breasts: for they are flesh borrowed from Her! So occupy your mind... Let the unfolded Gospel and the Apostle lie before your eyes. Read the poem and try to turn every word into a subject of discussion. If God gives you a thought, write it down. Let the sheet lie on the table... And write down other good thoughts. God bless you and I wish you every consolation. Your good friend (No. 1401 letter 32 issue 1 p. 70) Prayer for deliverance from illness You responded with force! I really regret that your weakness continues and continues to expand its 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 in this regard, so that we pray to Him more earnestly. Then our prayer coincides with God’s intentions. (No. 1398 letter 976 issue 6 p. 48) There is no sin in praying for recovery. But we must add: “If God wills!” Complete submission to the Lord, with obedient acceptance of what is sent as good, from the good Lord, and gives peace to the soul... and appeases the Lord... And He: either heals, or fills with consolation, despite the deplorability of the situation. (No. 1406 letter 35 issue 1 p. 77) The first thing on your mind is your daughter’s illness. Worry about her and painfully cry out to the Lord, and instill in your daughter, too, and tell all your friends, too. Then all the prayers of others about her will merge with yours and form a trumpet sound, powerful to attract the attention of the Lord... May the Lord deliver her from her weakness... (No. 1404 letter 461 issue 3 p. 131) During illness, home prayer is enough Diseases come instead of penances. Be patient with grace: they will be like laundry soap. Don't go to church... (Due to illness). At home, call on God more often! Just because you can't doesn't mean you're a stepchild. Here's the Pilgrim (Easier reading). Ep. Феофан 22 ноября 1890 г. (No. 1402 letter 29 issue 1 p. 73) On simultaneously turning to the saints and God during illness Treating your sister or resorting to saints, one does not interfere with the other. God created the doctor, and medicines are God’s creations. The doctor does not heal himself, but God heals through him. God inspires the doctor, and he prescribes real medicine. And when God does not help the doctor, I don’t know whether any of them will get the real medicine. Contact your doctor; but at the same time, pray more than the Lord and His saints to enlighten him to guess the medicine. And run to the holy saints, and do everything that pious people do in such cases (just don’t know the healers). For she does not know where God’s help is hidden for her. Maybe God judged her to be like this because it was saving for her. And she will remain like this throughout her life, for the sake of her salvation. Or God sent this illness for a time to test the faith of her and her parents. God alone knows all this. Illness is not submissive and is not a sign of rejection of God. On the contrary, and this is the mercy of God. Everything is mercy from God: even illness, even poverty, even misfortune. Let the sister pray more earnestly to God, but while praying, let her not say: give me health, but, Thy will be done, Lord! Glory to Thee, Lord! If you wish, Thy will be done! I believe that this (illness) is good, just like good health. Thank You, merciful Creator! Teach her to read and write and do handicrafts, and let her be saved like Blueberry. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you. (No. 1407 letter 38 issue 1 p. 78) Church prayer for the sick has power, especially when accompanied by the prayer of those who ordered the service. You kindly organized a prayer for your daughter. Two prayer services a week, and a commemoration at the proskomedia. It would seem quite enough. But who is praying painfully here? God listens to prayer when a soul that aches about something prays. If no one sighs from the soul, then the prayer service will crackle, but there will be no prayer for the sick person. Also a proskomedia, and also a mass. There is only your faith and hope here, the sign of which is your orders. But do you yourself attend prayer services? If not, then your faith is silent... You ordered; but, having given money so that others would pray, they themselves threw off all worries from their shoulders... There is no one caring for the sick person. It doesn’t even occur to those serving the prayer service to feel pain in their souls before the Lord for those whom they remember at the prayer service... And where can they feel pain for everyone? Bless, Lord, all of you - your mother, you and your husband, your sick daughter and other children, and everyone who is around you... and your trading affairs. Your pilgrim (No. 1403 letter 460 issue 3 p. 128) God's mercy be with you! You're all hurting. God bless you. That you decided to receive unction is very good. This sacrament for Christians should be the only medical method for illnesses, as I, it seems, have already mentioned to you. May the Lord help you. I think you are still needed here. It might already be enough for you, but you need to arrange for more children, and when you arrange this, then with God! (No. 1456 letter 881 issue 5 p. 10) I'm very glad that you feel better. Be careful not to irritate the pain again. Regarding fasting, do not listen to the doctor, but just ask: what kind of lean food is good for you. Don't ask if you can fast; say directly: I want to fast, what kind of food. And no matter what he says, do not submit! Is it enough to eat light lean foods? Soup with almond milk... Liquid porridge from any large grains, oatmeal, etc. Tea with the same milk - in the evening. Is a week too long? Some of our monks don’t eat at all all week... God bless you! Save yourself! (No. 1424 letter 654 issue 4 p. 93) Why are you so sick? If you don’t recover, take communion like a sick person. Pray at home, instead of any service, bow down, with your prayer... and then confess and receive communion. (No. 1423 letter 856 issue 5 p. 8) About breaking fasting in case of illness The post is appropriate. Having crossed yourself and commended yourself to God, keep the fasting table and be abstinent. Observe this especially during the week of fasting. Ask the Athonite elders. I think they will also say... It is not food alone that gives belly... or health, but God’s blessing, which always overshadows one who surrenders himself to the will of God when he endures hardships on the path of fulfilling God’s commandments. (No. 1393 letter 477 issue 3 p. 127) Illness – resulting from a delay in the movement of the vital force It’s true that now you’ve already gone to Moscow and returned. What did God give? Has Zakharyin understood what strength is? If yes, thank God! If not, what should I do? – But still don’t despair! Maybe there will be one in Kyiv... This disease is very secretive. And it doesn’t let me get to the root... I don’t think there’s anything spiritual or hostile here. No, this is one of the diseases in which the vital force encounters some kind of delay in its movement from time to time. Hence the fainting. But no one has grasped what vitality is yet... And this is the reason for the failure of any treatment. But assume that there is absolutely no doctor who can cure you, and then don’t be timid. Because the life force can again take the power... and fix the matter itself... As it happens, the seizures stop on their own. Seizures, of course, are an unpleasant thing; but, after all, you can still live. You can live a hundred years... This is a bad consolation both for the patient and for you. But what should we do?!.. God is our Lord. He decided that it should be so. We must submit. And be good-natured and grateful... How can we say that this disease was not sent by the Lord to ward off any misfortune from the sick person or from you... The course of life is hidden from us, and its accidents are so incomprehensible that we have no choice but to cry: Thy will be done, Lord! For we know that only good always comes from the Lord. Ep. Feofan December 15, 1884 (No. 1502 letter 456 issue 3 p. 112) That there is no sin in being treated, there should be no question about this. But the fact that many have not used this remedy, out of faith and patience, is not without value. You just have to endure it complacently, so as not to fall into murmuring. Murmuring is a sin. Who does not feel the courage that we are all sinners; то лучше прибегать к лекарям, все же помощи ожидая от Бога: ибо Он вразумляет лекарей. (No. 1396 letter 1080 issue 7 p. 171) About treatment during illness God's mercy be with you! You're 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 will. Your resistance to medical 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 may not undergo treatment in the expectation that God will heal, but this is very courageous. 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 every “oh!” will be blamed, but only grateful joy is appropriate... May the Lord guide you in the best way to be in the 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 the doctor's instructions include this... use them. You can also drink broth as a medicine: this is not carnivory, but need, and a piece of duty, which consists in the duty to be treated. (No. 1395 letter 1612 issue 6 p. 16) God's mercy be with you! 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 the disease will leave, with the preservation of life, be His will. 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 the will of God. Don’t you take medications?! Both must be used, both Divine and human... And in human means the healing effect is from God. According to this faith, the human also passes into the Divine... or the Divine comes through the human. (No. 1399 letter 99 issue 6 p. 49) You might be interested in: