Житие преподобного Иосифа

The Great Optina Elder Hieroschemamonk Joseph, in the world Ivan Efimovich Litovkin, was born in 1837 on November 2, in the village. Settlement, Starobelsky district, Kharkov province. His parents - Efim Emelyanovich and Marya Vasilievna Litovkin - were simple people, but very pious, kind and smart. His father was the head of his village for 17 years and enjoyed great respect and love. Both he and his wife were very merciful to the poor: they distributed their wealth with a generous hand and even often secretly from each other. Efim Emelyanovich gave loans to those who needed money and it happened that he never received it back. He loved to receive collector-monks into his home, and he certainly gave each of them a considerable amount of money for the monastery. According to the ancient custom, they loved to go to the church of God and read spiritual books, especially the lives of saints. They had six children - three sons and three daughters. When their second son was born, his parents named him John, in honor of St. John the Merciful, for whom they had special zeal. Truly loving their children, they did not try so much to give them earthly wealth as heavenly treasure, and therefore raised them in the fear of God, in piety and obedience. The father was of a very gentle character, and the mother was stricter. The children were very afraid of her, but they also loved her, just like she did them. The father loved John most of all, who was similar in face to him. One day he took the boy with him for a ride in a droshky and punished him on the road for some whim. Afterwards, the gentle father regretted this for a long time, saying: “Eh, I hit the lad.” His elder sister Alexandra, who especially loved him, began to teach him to read and write; therefore, when he was sent to school, he already knew how to read and generally studied well. “At school,” the priest himself said, “they didn’t punish me; and once the teacher told me to punish my younger brother Peter - it was very difficult for me and afterwards I didn’t feel good in my soul.” The mother took all her little children with her to church and forced them to pray with her at home. According to the stories of the elder himself, from childhood he loved to go to church, where he even sang in the choir. “I remember how my mother used to wake me up to go to Matins and Mass, but I didn’t want to get out of bed early; but there was nothing to do, I had to get up. That’s why in church and after that I felt so good and happy in my soul all day!” Then he said again: “At home, too, my mother forced me to read an akathist to the Savior or the Mother of God. Sometimes it happened that you were standing, praying, and through the window you would see: they were leading a bear down the street, there was noise, there were a lot of people, and it would become so scary, and you would begin to pray even more earnestly.” At the same time, sometimes visitors asked him: didn’t they, the children, want to go to the window and look at the curiosity? “No, this was impossible, our mother was strict,” he said. Ivan was sickly and scrofulous from childhood; which is why I always heard poorly in one ear and was shortsighted. In addition, various adventures often happened to him. Even when he was little, his sister accidentally put him on a very hot bed. Another time he scalded himself with boiling water. Another boy knocked Ivan down with a running start; as a result of which he bit off the tip of his tongue. By nature he was a very playful and cheerful child. His sister, later a nun, said that little Vanya was a very affectionate child. With his tender and sensitive soul, he somehow knew how to feel someone else’s grief; meanwhile, his innate modesty and shyness did not allow him to speak out. So, it used to be, when he noticed that one of the family was walking around boring, he would silently rub himself next to this person, he would continue to cuddle and caress. His father always said about him: “Something special will come out of this boy.” And it should be noted that about which of his children Efim Emelyanovich said something, it later came true exactly. By the way, he also expressed a desire then for one of his children to become a monk. And so the first to respond to his desire was his daughter Alexandra (later nun Leonida), and after her, in due time, his son John. Vanya’s teacher of the law, a very good archpriest, on the other hand, also said about the boy: “Look, something extraordinary will come out of him.” So, from early childhood, everyone noticed on him the special stamp of God’s favor. At the age of four, Vanya lost his kind father, who died suddenly. But even under the wing of a tenderly loving mother, the little ones lived well. When Vanya was 8 years old, while playing with his friends one day, his face suddenly changed, he raised his head and hands up and immediately fell unconscious. They brought him home and put him to bed; when he came to his senses, they began to ask him what happened to him? The boy said that he saw the Queen in the air. “Why do you think that you saw the Queen?” - they asked him. “Because she was wearing a crown with a cross,” he answered. “Well, why did you fall?” – they asked him again. To this he, with downcast eyes, quietly said: “There was such a sun near her... I don’t know, I don’t know how to say it!” – he added quickly and began to cry. This wondrous vision left deep marks in the soul of the 8-year-old child. Since then he had completely changed, became quiet, thoughtful and began to shy away from children's games, being constantly with his mother; the look of his meek eyes became even deeper, and a living faith and love for the Queen of Heaven kindled in his childish heart. Soon after this, there was a big fire in their village, and they soon moved to a new, newly built house. The child saw the fear of his family and understood the danger himself. Not knowing who to turn to for help, he began to stretch out his hands to the church located near their house, in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and shouting: “Queen of Heaven! Leave us our house, it’s brand new!” This children's prayer was heard - everything around burned down, but the Litovkins' house remained intact. John's elder brother Semyon was already married by this time, and his sister Anna got married; and two years later, the mother took her daughter Alexandra to the Borisov Hermitage and left her there, entrusting her to the Queen of Heaven. Everyone at home was very saddened by the departure of the meek and loving girl, but Vanya grieved and cried most of all over the separation from his beloved sister. But soon a new, even more difficult separation awaited him. A year later, in 1848, when he was 11 years old, cholera appeared in their village, and the first victim of this terrible guest was his mother. Now the boys Ivan and Peter remained orphans. At the funeral, little Ivan exclaimed in great grief: “Queen of Heaven, what are you doing? And my sister went to a monastery, and you took mother from us!” All those present involuntarily cried when they heard the outpouring of this childish grief; and the priest, the same archpriest who saw in the boy the future chosen one of God, wrote down these words and time. Afterwards they learned that his sister Alexandra Efimovna, who lived in the monastery, who still knew nothing about her mother’s death, was very sad that very day and hour, and in a light dream she saw that a coffin with her mother was floating along the river; - at the same time she heard those very words: “Queen of Heaven, what are you doing...”, etc. Since then, the life of orphans has changed dramatically. The elder brother became the master; and although he was a very capable man, he was subject to great weakness - he drank wine. (The elder always spoke well of him, as an honest and noble man, who, due to weakness of character, was driven to disorder by bad society. The elder kept two of his letters, which he even thought of publishing, as an example of humble consciousness and sincere, deep repentance.) As soon as his mother died, Semyon Efimovich very soon ran the house and all his parents’ property down to the wire; and when Alexandra Efimovna came from the monastery a year later, she found nothing in her homeland. Her relatives begged her to stay to raise the orphans; Ivan especially cried inconsolably and begged his sister not to leave him. “It happened,” she said, “they would grab my belt with their little hands and cry bitterly: “Sister, take us with you to the monastery, we have no one to live with here!” So my heart just bleeds looking at them. Vanya kept repeating these words even in his dreams.” It was unbearably difficult for Alexandra Efimovna herself to part with them, especially with her favorite; but she firmly decided to sacrifice everything for God and go her own way, caring, if possible, for her little brothers in the monastery. As a result of this grief and overwhelming care, she lost her health for the rest of her life; and although she was later healed from the painful illness that befell her shortly after returning to the monastery at the Kozelshchanskaya Icon of the Mother of God, she remained forever weak, painful, with broken nerves. She later said that at that time she almost decided to take Ivan with her and place him in the monastery closest to Borisov, but the aforementioned archpriest turned her down from this. Apparently, the Lord was pleased to test His faithful servant. The older brother kept Ivan with him, and the younger Peter was taken in by his married sister. But soon Semyon Efimovich was forced to go to strangers himself, and therefore he also assigned his brother to the place. From that time on, the ordeal of bitter orphanhood began for him. The poor child, accustomed to his parents’ tender caresses, had to see and endure a lot of things. His lot was hard and harsh - he had to experience everything - cold, hunger, beatings, and backbreaking labor. At first, the elder brother placed Ivan with his friend the innkeeper (tavern owner). Here the poor boy was especially sad. The brother often came to the owner to play cards and drink wine, and the child had to do everything alone, since he and the owner lived only together. Unable to bear such a life, Ivan left his master for his brother, and although he took pity on him, he soon placed him again with an Armenian in the city of Nakhichevan. He also did not stay there for long and was placed in a grocery store in Taganrog. Here he had to go to the owner’s apartment at the end of the city for food. One day he was walking to the shop with dishes and, very tired, sat down to rest and immediately fell into a deep sleep. At this time, his boots were taken off and the dishes were taken away, and then the policeman took him to the unit. At home, of course, the owner also got it for the boots and for dinner... Ivan also left this owner and went on foot to Novocherkask, to his cousin, who was a deacon there. He walked hungry, since he had nothing except two or three crackers. He himself spoke about this journey like this: “For two days I didn’t eat anything at all; I somehow didn’t know how to ask, but people themselves didn’t give; so he humbled himself without eating. When I came to Novocherkask, I found the church in which my brother served, and, waiting for the mass to end, I sat down on the porch. Then two Cossack women walked past me with rolls, and one of them said: “Probably this boy is an orphan and hasn’t eaten anything,” and gave me a roll. I was so happy about her; and so it seemed delicious to me, like manna from heaven.” Although it was good for him to live with this brother deacon, he could not stay long; and he sent him to his father-in-law, a priest, where everyone loved him very much, and he lived there decently. From the life of this priest, Father Fr. Joseph recalled one episode. Once during Christmas time the priest’s daughter decided to tell fortunes in the mirror at midnight; She was afraid to sit alone, and she made him sit with her. “I really wanted to sleep,” he said, “and in order not to fall asleep, I began to read a prayer, and so we saw nothing.” Afterwards, sister Alexandra managed to place her brother in an iron shop; but everywhere it was equally difficult for him. One day the owner, who was the patron of the cathedral, sent him to say something to the workers who were at the top of the construction site. He quickly climbed there, but when he began to descend, he became dizzy and fell unconscious. When he happened to be completely without a place, he hired himself out as a day laborer. “Whoever wants to work,” he said later, “will always find something to do.” He had to carry 5-pound bags of flour and other heavy loads. One day, while carrying planks from the rafts, he stumbled, fell into the water and began to drown, as he fell between two rafts and had nowhere to swim out. But suddenly some invisible hand seemed to push him to the surface of the water, and the Lord saved him from death. Another time, he and the owner were carrying leather goods. We stopped for the night at an inn; the owner went to sleep in the hut, and Ivan remained on the cart. There was a fire at night; in the confusion, everyone forgot about him, and he slept so deeply from fatigue that he did not hear anything, and when he woke up in the morning, he could not figure out where he was, since everything around him had burned out. Somehow, John needed to go from Stavropol to Rostov to find a place with some owner. At this time, one Armenian bought potatoes in Stavropol and also went on two carts to Rostov. John hired him to take him to the place, although both of them mostly had to walk, since the carts were loaded with potatoes. They drove up to the Don, where there was government transport and barracks were set up for the Cossacks. But the Don began to overflow because the wind was blowing from the sea and driving up the water. The Cossacks refused to transport. Not wanting to waste time, the Armenian invited John to go with him along the shore. Let's go; but the water kept rising more and more. Then John, despite the entreaties of the Armenian, returned on foot to the barracks. He had to walk waist-deep in water. Having reached the barracks, he spent the night here, and the soldiers gave him dry shoes; when he began to take off his boots, it turned out that they were frozen to his feet. The next day the water receded, and he was transported to the other side of the Don, and he continued his journey to Rostov on foot. So young John was constantly exposed to danger, but the Lord protected the orphan everywhere; and, despite the fact that his youth passed in a rough and often depraved environment, nothing bad harmed his pure soul. He never drank wine and never played cards. Once, while he was in a big city, he was treated to a weak grape wine called chikhir. But, having drunk a glass, he immediately felt that he was drunk and dizzy. He immediately vowed to himself never to put any wine in his mouth again. “If such a weak wine, drunk in such a small quantity, makes a person drunk, then what can happen to him when he drinks a lot,” thought the prudent young man. He was completely indifferent to the female sex. He was once asked: “Did you like anyone in the world?” To this he responded with such naive simplicity, which best proved his sincerity and innocence: “But I was short-sighted and could not see anyone well from afar; but he was ashamed to come close - he was shy. It used to be very difficult for me when the owner sent to call someone in front of guests, but from afar I couldn’t figure out who to approach.” In general, he always experienced a melancholy feeling in the world; and prayer - this is the only inheritance he inherited from his pious parents - was the constant companion of his sorrowful life, and the church was the only place of consolation, where his piously-minded heart always attracted him. Finally, he managed to get to a good place in Taganrog, to the merchant Rafailov, who, being a pious man, went with him to church services. His duty with this owner was to accept rye, which was brought from different places by the Chumaks, and then deliver it in the city to different offices, both Russian and Greek. In the summer there was a lot to do, in the fall there was less, and in the winter there was nothing to do at all. Thus, at the onset of autumn, the owner invited John to go to the mill, which was located in the village and was leased to a Little Russian. John, who did not like human rumors, was glad to live in rural silence. In the coming winter, John had almost nothing to do at the mill, since the mill was being repaired by the tenant. By the way, the old miller turned out to be a pious man; On holidays I always went to church services. Both of them became close to the parish deacon, together they read the holy books that were found in the church, and during the holidays the three of them had heart-to-heart conversations. This is how Ivan Efimovich lived until spring. He had not yet thought about monasticism; but at that time he received a letter from his sister, the nun Leonida, in which she advised him to enter monasticism at the skete of Optina Hermitage, which had long been famous for its spiritually experienced elders. From that time on, Ivan Efimovich had a strong desire to leave the world and enter a monastery. Meanwhile, the owner really fell in love with this well-behaved young man for his modesty, honesty and hard work, and he developed such a disposition towards him that he began to think about marrying his daughter to him. One day, the eldest son of this merchant, coming from mass, said to his parents: “Today in church I didn’t so much pray as I looked and was moved by Ivan Efimovich: how well he stands in the church, how earnestly he prays, never once looks away, completely in God; We couldn’t find a better person for our sister, we shouldn’t miss him.” Thus, the good qualities of his soul were revealed by themselves and attracted love and respect to him. But young John was far from earthly attachments in his thoughts and heart. His pure soul was already drawn to the desert monks for cohabitation. His favorite pastime since childhood was reading the lives of the saints - and these wondrous images, illuminated by the radiance of heavenly glory, stood before him and obscured all the beauties of this world... His soul did not find room for itself in everyday work and hectic life, and he had an irresistible desire to break free from the hustle and bustle of life for a while and go on pilgrimage and worship the saints places. His cherished dream was to get to Kiev, where he could touch with his trembling heart and lips the holy remains of the living bearers of the all-effective grace of God, and he only earnestly prayed: “Lord, tell me the way, and I will go there.” Having learned about Ivan Efimovich’s desire to go on a pilgrimage to Kyiv, Rafailov began to strongly persuade him to stay in Taganrog and immediately revealed to him his desire to give his daughter for him. “This always happens,” the elder himself said, later recalling this circumstance, “as soon as a person decides to follow the path of salvation, immediately an obstacle and temptation appear.” And in fact: a man lived among sorrows, hardships and trials, and people passed by, as if not noticing him; and as soon as the soul began to separate from the earthly, the world immediately came to its service. For a poor orphan, the whole future seemed to be in hopeless need, in constant dependence... and then suddenly marrying the daughter of a rich merchant and, therefore, a complete opportunity to become an independent and rich person... Isn’t this a temptation? Isn't this a network for an inexperienced chick?! But the one who was already captivated by the love of Christ easily and quickly stepped over it and immediately decided on a question that someone else in his place would probably have given a lot of thought to. Without hesitating for a moment, he repeated his request to the owner to let him go to pray, leaving the rest to the will and direction of God. His kind owner Rafailov, seeing the young man’s sincere and ardent desire for God, did not dare to hold him back any longer and let him go in peace and love, asking him to return and stay in Taganrog forever. With a knapsack on his back, the young traveler set off to the goal of his cherished thoughts. Sacred Kyiv was already standing before his mind's eye. On the way, he visited his deserted homeland, bowed to his native graves and, casting a farewell glance at the place where his happy childhood flashed so quickly, moved on. Having entered the Holy Mountains of the Kharkov province, he spent several joyful days there and was touched by his soul, looking at the peaceful life of the monks of the quiet monastery. But he didn’t want to stay here, he was drawn to where the wide Dnieper rolled its quiet waves... From the Holy Mountains he headed to the last stop on his way, the Borisov women's hermitage, where, as is already known, his sister spent the night under the name Leonida. Мать Леонида была нежным и хрупким существом, кроткого и ранимого нрава. Left without any means, she was forced to live in cells herself and, in addition to monastic obedience, perform all the menial tasks for the nuns with whom she lived. But having lost her health, she was completely unable to work, and a nun took her into her care, who later became her spiritual friend. (When nun Leonida, in the early stages of her monastic life, was subjected to great temptations and was thinking of leaving the monastery, her deceased mother appeared to her in a dream and strictly reproached her daughter with monastic vows. When the latter told Father Ambrose about this, he told her: “Your mother is a saint!”) The Borisov hermitage at that time was distinguished by its strict monastic life and the fact that it was under the spiritual guidance of the Optina elders. And in the desert itself there were experienced and wise old women who guided the young sisters. Mother Leonidas and her associate nun Anatolia were under the direct guidance of the wise old woman Schema-nun Alipia, who in turn was a student of the Optina elders Leonidas and Macarius. Leonid's mother, who was once with her elder in Optina Pustyn, with tears conveyed to the elder Fr. Macarius expressed her grief for her orphan brothers and expressed her ardent desire for her favorite Vanya to go to a monastery. “Don’t grieve,” the elder told her affectionately, “he will be a monk.” At the time when Ivan Efimovich came to the Borisov hermitage, Abbess Makaria was in charge there - of high spiritual life; The rules under her were very strict. For example, nuns were not allowed to receive men, even their own father, in their cells. Only workers in the courtyard or entryway were allowed to do what was necessary for the cell. The sisters will cook food for them and take it out to the porch; In winter, the workers took the pots to the strange reception area and had lunch there. Having learned about such strict rules of the monastery, and having no other opportunity to see the only person close and dear to him, the loving brother does not stop at the obstacle that has arisen - he takes a shovel and an ax in his hands and goes to the indicated cell as a worker to chop wood and clear snow... Half-sick from illness, Leonid’s mother shed bitter tears, looking out the window at her beloved “brother”. With what love, with what tenderness would she sip her orphan, but the vow of obedience is holy, and she submitted and prayed... The wise old woman Alipia, knowing the spiritual structure of her student, and how painful and difficult it was for her tender and loving heart, which had already suffered so much, such torment, allowed her to let her modest and God-fearing brother into the cell, taking upon herself all responsibility before the strict Abbess. Oh happy hours! How many tears of joy and sorrow were shed here, how many memories flashed before them, how many sincere, secret, deep things were expressed!... Elder Alypia listened to their conversation more than once and, noticing in the young man a true desire for God and a readiness for heroism, she told him: “Leave your Kyiv and go to Optina to the elders.” John looked questioningly at his sister and read the answer “obey” in her eyes. These words were enough - Kiev was forgotten... The next day, with the same knapsack on his back, having accepted the last blessing of the old woman and his sister, who replaced his mother, John set off on the road again, but no longer to where his heart led him, but to where the hand of obedience pointed him. Having reached Belev, he went to the convent to find out how he could get to Optina Pustyn. The nuns of this monastery, like the Borisovskys, were all elders. Elder Fr. Macarius was no longer alive, and a new lamp was lit in Optina - the direct disciple of the elders Leo and Macarius - the elder Fr. Ambrose. It happened that on this day two Belevsky nuns were traveling to Optina and, having learned that a young traveler was coming from afar and was striving to see the elder, they took him with them on the box. Arriving in Optina, the nuns went to Elder Ambrose and, among other things, told him: “Father, we also brought brother Ivan with us,” jokingly calling him “brother” in view of his monastic inclinations. The elder looked at them seriously and said: “This brother Ivan will be useful to both us and you.” So the great elder Ambrose, not yet knowing who we were talking about and not having seen the man, already foresaw his high purpose and prophetically predicted what benefit he would subsequently bring to Optina itself and to all the women’s monasteries related to the elders. The new stranger appeared before Elder Ambrose with trepidation; He simply, unpretentiously told him his life and asked for blessings to go to Kyiv, where his soul had longed for so long and where, perhaps, he could have stayed at all... The perspicacious old man lightly hit him on the head and said: “Why do you need to go to Kyiv - stay here.” Again, the cherished Kyiv eluded him, but John deeply believed that in the words of the elder there was for him an indication of the will of God, for which he had prayed so much, and therefore with the word “bless” he bowed to the elder and entrusted himself to him. It was March 1, 1861. According to Optina custom, each newcomer is given obedience in the kitchen. And the new “Brother John” was appointed as an assistant cook at the monastery. From the very first days of his new life, the good qualities of his soul were revealed: the makings of unquestioning obedience, silence and modesty began to strengthen and develop under the influence of spiritual education. The quiet monastic life suited his heart; here he rested his soul and was glad that the world was left somewhere behind, and its noise and bustle did not penetrate here. Having seen and suffered everything in the world, he could fully appreciate the silence of the monastery. Thus passed Great Lent and Easter, and Petrovka began. On the day of the ritual, the brethren had dinner and went to the evening prayer rule. The refectory was being cleaned. Brother Ivan cleared away the dishes and, wiping off the sour cream remaining in the cups with his finger, innocently licked it. Suddenly he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder from behind. Looking around, he saw in front of him the head of the hermitage, Fr. Paphnutia. Blushing, Brother Ivan stood as if guilty, but the boss, smiling affectionately, said to him: “Brother Ivan, do you want to go to the elder?” “I was confused,” Father Fr. himself later said. Joseph, - and instead of answering: as you bless, he said: I want.” Meanwhile, apologizing to the boss, brother Ivan said: “Sorry, father, I eat everything.” O. Paphnutius said: “Eat and drink; but just understand the matter.” The next day he moved to the hut of Elder Ambrose, where he lived for exactly 50 years. Closeness to the elder, on the one hand, consoled and pleased him, and on the other, often confused his inexperienced mind. The constant reception of visitors, the constant bustle and rumors soon began to weigh on him. Due to his inexperience in spiritual life, he did not express his feelings and embarrassment to the elder, and thought after thought came upon his confused soul... One day he sat down at the table, leaning his hand, and completely surrendered to the thoughts that engulfed him - and the cherished Kyiv with its shrines grew again in his imagination, and sacred Athos with its hermits, hermits and keliots... “That’s where real life is.” monastic, there is holiness, there are wonderful elders and ascetics... but here... here it’s not the same; It’s all people here, you don’t always have to be even in church, there’s no time to pray or read... And they don’t sing like that here. It’s better to leave here for Athos.” Overwhelmed by a wave of “dubious thoughts,” the young monk did not notice how the elder entered the cell where he was sitting. Suddenly he heard the voice of Father Fr. Ambrose, who, having hit him lightly on the shoulder, said: “Brother Ivan, we are better than on Athos; stay with us! These words struck the young novice so much that he immediately fell at the feet of the elder with repentance and tenderness. From that moment on, he clearly understood that all the thoughts that confused him were simply temptation. What kind of elders and where else should he look when he is here as a direct student of such an elder who reads his innermost thoughts? And from then on, he completely surrendered his will to obedience to his great Abba. Until Father Ambrose moved to the Shamordino monastery, Father Joseph was the cell attendant and assistant to the elder. His love and devotion to the elder were boundless; his obedience was edifying to all; not only the will of the elder, but also his every word was a law for him. After being permanently installed in the elder’s cell, brother Ivan, of course, had to endure a lot, both involuntary clashes and “tests” deliberately inflicted on him by people. The goal of the spiritually experienced elder Ambrose in this matter was to little by little teach the young novice humility. From the very moment he joined the elder’s cell attendant, he had to place himself under the immediate position of the senior cell attendant, Fr. N, a person with an extremely difficult character. Stern and gloomy, he never said anything and did not show the new novice what and how to do; but when, according to the news, he did something wrong, he received a severe reprimand for it from his stern teacher. It was this first school of patience, in all likelihood, that served as the beginning of the development of that blessed self-reproach, which Elder Joseph subsequently spoke about so often and with such delight to his spiritual children, and which made him so calm, meek, and joyful throughout his life. Injustice and falsehood irritate the ordinary person; but when, through attention to his conscience, he has learned to find guilt in himself, then he first of all judges and condemns himself and therefore accepts the judgment of his neighbor as the punishment he deserves from God for his sins and not only does not get irritated, but also thanks his neighbor. With strict attention to one's conscience and with the help of enlightening grace, in place of conceit, a person gradually develops self-reproach and a true view of oneself, or self-knowledge; and then all the previous gross stumblings weigh on his soul, and the subsequent ones are noticed to the smallest subtleties and disturb his sensitive conscience - and the result is a constant, sincere reproach of himself for everything that happens to him that is contrary to the law of God. Soon to the elder's place Fr. Another cell attendant, the already elderly Maxim (in the robe of Father Mikhail), arrived. This one was also naturally tough-tempered, but with a kind heart, and brother Ivan managed to conquer him with his meekness, and they became friends. Despite this, Fr. Mikhail, by his nature, still often shouted at him; but he endured everything patiently and tried to please and reassure Fr. Mikhail. For this patience after the death of Father Ambrose, Fr. Michael, the eldest in years and priestly rank, chose Fr. Joseph as his confessor. As you know, Hieromonk Clement Zederholm (the son of a German pastor, who converted to Orthodoxy and monasticism and was a devoted student and scribe of Elder Ambrose) lived in the Optina monastery. He was a man of rare sincerity and a high, noble soul, an ascetic and strict adherent of monastic rules. But at the same time he had an extremely hot character and excessive purely German neatness. As the elder's scribe, Fr. Clement also had frequent relations with his cell attendants, who, due to their innocence, and often due to their lack of development, often brought him into indescribable excitement. Things did not go well with any of the cell attendants; O. Clement suffered himself, lamented, repented to the elder, humbly bowed and asked forgiveness from the cell attendants for his incontinence, but he could not control himself. But oh. Joseph came out victorious here too. Fr. himself Clement said: “Oh. Joseph is the only person I can’t, I don’t know how to get irritated with.” This was how his invariably complacent and humble disposition influenced everyone. He was peaceful with everyone and knew how to pacify and humble everyone with his own humility, meekness and compliance. Three years later, on April 15, he was given a ryassophore, and he became Fr. John. Blessed is he who enters the monastery with a clear consciousness and complete readiness to walk unswervingly along the path of obedience. Such a person will daily ascend the steps of improvement. With such readiness the young man Ivan also entered the monastic rank. He was deeply aware that the main basis of monastic life is self-denial and therefore, from the very first steps, taking up the cross of obedience, he followed his Abba, who led him to Christ. In 1872, on June 16, he was tonsured a monk with the name Joseph (in honor of St. Joseph the Much-Sick, Kiev-Pechersk). Needless to say, his generally serious mood from that time on became especially concentrated and deep. He maintained complete obedience to his elder, without reasoning; and without his blessing or knowledge he never did anything. One day to Father Fr. The rector (then still abbot) came to Ambrose. Isaac. Sitting in the waiting room waiting for the elder to receive him, Fr. The abbot took a book from the table. At this time the cell attendant, Fr. Michael. A wise and spiritually experienced abbot, wanting to give edification, asked him: “Oh. Mikhail, bless me to read this book?” Father Mikhail, with a low bow, answered good-naturedly: “Do me the favor, Father Abbot, whatever you wish.” O. Isaac began to read silently. After a while, Fr. comes in for some reason. Joseph. The abbot turns to him with the same question: “Oh. Joseph, can I read this book?” The elder’s true novice modestly replied: “Now, I’ll ask the elder.” This answer pleased the abbot very much; he showed how he learned about. Joseph to live according to the will of the elder. In 1877, Monk Joseph was ordained a hierodeacon. This happened completely unexpectedly, and in such a way that the hand of God is clearly visible, guiding the paths of man. December 7, the day of the Elder Angel Fr. Ambrose, Fr. Abbot Isaac served mass in the skete church, after which, having come to congratulate the birthday boy, he stayed with him to drink tea. Cell attendants about. Mikhail and Fr. Joseph was served. Over tea, the abbot and the elder began to talk about a certain monk whom the abbot wanted to introduce to the hierodeaconry. The elder, for reasons unknown to him, found this untimely and, as a spiritual physician, asked the abbot to postpone this intention, and in return offered to ordain another, more worthy monk, and named his name. At this very time, Fr. Joseph stood near Fr. abbot with a tray; he looked at him intently and said to the elder with a smile: “No, father, you don’t want what’s mine, and I don’t want what’s mine. Let's instead dedicate Fr. Joseph." The elder was very consoled by this, and Fr. Joseph, not suspecting anything and not preparing for initiation, having left his cups and treats, soon found himself on the road to Kaluga. His Grace Gregory accepted and treated him graciously, but was dissatisfied with his knowledge from the catechism, however, having ordained him as a hierodeacon on December 9, he released him with archpastoral blessing and instruction. The reason is the lack of knowledge about. Joseph was that his difficult obedience to the cell attendant did not give him the opportunity to diligently study the required subject. According to the custom accepted in Optina Hermitage, every newly ordained hierodeacon or hieromonk is obliged to serve the Divine Liturgy daily for six weeks. But the six-week series of his Fr. Joseph, due to the weakness of his health, did not complete his service: he developed inflammation in his right side, and he almost died; but through the prayers of the elder the Lord had mercy on him. The life of Hierodeacon Joseph did not change at all; There was only more work and worries. As before, he helped Fr. To Mikhail the cell attendant: he still shouted at him, and the humble Fr. Joseph continued to silently endure all undeserved insults and harsh treatment. As before, he did not have a separate cell and slept in the reception room, which was occupied by the elder all day until 11 pm. O. Joseph, being a regular servant in the monastery, had to go to matins at 1 o'clock, while at about 12 o'clock he could only lie down to rest on his wretched bed... One day, exhausted from the whole day's work, he, waiting in a dark passage through the corridor for the elder to finish his reception, fell asleep sitting on the threshold. Elder Ambrose, walking to his bedroom, came across a sleeping man. Awakened by Fr. Joseph only smiled meekly; and his great Abba, without a doubt, offered a prayer for his true disciple, so that the Lord would strengthen him in the feat of patience and humility. According to the teachings of St. fathers, obedience gives birth to humility. And this was fully justified on Fr. Joseph. Through his unquestioning obedience, he achieved such humility, which subsequently elevated him to spiritual heights. The elder, seeing the spiritual progress of his student and foreseeing what talents he would be honored with over time, like a wise leader, protected and educated his pure, receptive soul. Father o. Ambrose, knowing how St. John Climacus reproaches those mentors who do not test brothers who have a strong soul and thereby deprive them of crowns for patience and humility; more than once he offered his courageous heart, constant spiritual child, opportunities to set an example of monastic freedom from anger. So one day, when the elder was studying with a monk, he needed to find some text in a book. The elder called Fr. Joseph was ordered to find the required verse. Father Joseph, who was well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, quickly found the indicated words and silently showed them to the elder. Then the elder, seeing how knowledgeable he was in the Scriptures and wanting to protect him from harmful arrogance, humbled him, saying: “You fool, you don’t understand anything, that’s not at all,” and, lightly hitting him on the cheek, he ordered him to leave. After a while the bell rings again, to which Fr. appears again. Joseph, just as calm and complacent, as if nothing had happened to him. The elder repeats the order to find the same text, and Fr. Joseph, without making the slightest objection, without showing any impatience, just as silently took the book, again found the same place and gave it to the elder. The monk visitor was amazed at the inner development of this true worker of the obedience and humility of Christ, and the elder, looking keenly at him, made the sign of the cross over him. And this was not an exceptional case in the life of Fr. Joseph,” this was his constant and unchanging mood. However, this did not mean at all that he was naturally indifferent and insensitive - no, it was a victory of the spirit over the passions. Father himself told his spiritual children how at first he did not know how to behave like a monk, and how the elder taught him and punished him for this. “Once I came to visit Father Fr. “I was serving tea to Ambrose from the Sergius Lavra, a famous ascetic, Hieroschemamonk Alexander,” said Father Joseph, “and I heard him talking about a monk who used to live with us in Optina, and did not speak particularly well of him; and I said out loud: “Yes, he was the same here too.” Then Fr. Alexander turned to me and said sharply: “What do you know, you yourself are the worst!” I felt so ashamed that I quickly left the cell; and after that, Father Ambrose sternly walked me through. “What,” he says, “the schema-monk taught you a lesson,” and rightly so; how many times have I told you not to push forward.” Well, from then on, I was afraid like fire to enter into a conversation in front of my elders,” Father Fr. humbly added. Joseph. In 1884, on the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, the grand opening of the Shamordino monastery, built by Elder Ambrose, was made, twelve miles from Optina Pustyn. Kaluga Archpastor Vladimir came to the new community for this celebration. During the liturgy there were several initiations, including the ordination of Fr. Joseph is the future trustee and leader of this monastery, after the death of the founder, Elder Ambrose. It was as if for this reason he had to accept the grace of ordination there in order to subsequently pour it out purely on the nuns of the monastery. Since then, the Shamorda sisters have become Fr. Joseph was considered “one of our own,” and a spiritual connection was gradually established between them. From the very first day he began his priestly service firmly, clearly, without mistakes or embarrassment. His service was always leisurely and reverent; and he himself became especially joyful during the days of service. As you know, Elder Fr. Ambrose, due to his ill health, did not go to church and on Sundays and holidays all-night vigils were held in his cell. Now this responsibility was borne by the new hieroschemamonk Joseph, who also, with the blessing of the elder, brought him the holy mysteries every two weeks. Shortly before his ordination as a hieroschemamonk, Fr. Joseph, who had not had his own separate corner for more than 20 years, was placed in Fr. Michael, who, already a hieromonk, settled in the monastery. Now about. Joseph became the senior cell attendant. He considered his main duty to be caring for the elder, his health and well-being. He loved order and neatness in everything. Knowing how many dissatisfied and indifferent visitors there are, who, not getting to the elder for a long time, blamed the elder himself and his cell attendants for this, Fr. Joseph tried to calm everyone down. To do this, he often went out to those who were waiting, listened to who needed what, and, when appropriate, passed it on to his father. Everyone, both monks and visitors, fell in love with this quiet and serious Fr. Joseph and turned to him with confidence. It seems there was no one who was dissatisfied with him. There was not a shadow of partiality in him - he was even and friendly with everyone. Once an old monk was asked: “Why do you all love Fr. Joseph? He answered: “Because he is a true monk; He doesn’t waste words and you want to listen to him.” Both the younger ones and the cell attendants also loved and respected him and willingly listened and valued his fair comments. When Fr. When Joseph came out to visitors, he listened to them carefully; but he never said anything on his own, but bowed and said: “I’ll ask, or tell the elder.” And when he delivered Father’s answer, Fr. Ambrose, then conveyed it exactly, without adding or changing anything. Rumors about him began to spread, so those who came to Fr. Ambrose was called for the first time before by Fr. Joseph, as his close and faithful disciple. One young man came to Elder Ambrose to confess and, waiting in the reception room for his call, was in great excitement and confusion about how he should confess his sins. At this time, Fr. enters the reception room. Joseph, handing him a book of the works of Bishop Peter, says: “This is good to read before confession.” The young man began to read this book and immediately found exactly what solved his bewilderment; and had just finished reading this useful page when he was called to the elder. This incident shocked him. But, as far as possible, satisfying all petitioners, Fr. Joseph knew how to take care of the old man; and when he saw that the elder was already excessively tired, he stopped the report and, with humility, but firmly reminded his beloved father that the time had come for rest. The elder, out of his love for his neighbors, often forgot about himself, and the reception sometimes extended until eleven o’clock in the evening; then o. Joseph will come up as if for some reason, for example, to wind the clock, and look with love at the elder. Having understood his beloved and humble disciple, the elder will say to the visitors: “Well, now farewell; O. Joseph began to wind the clock, which means it’s time to leave.” Father Joseph, despite his troublesome obedience and constant presence among the people, spent a lot of time reading the works of the holy fathers - teachers of monasticism, and from them he drew for himself those inexhaustible reserves of spiritual wisdom, in which he was later so rich and used it by others who came to him for advice and consolation. His favorite and, one might say, inseparable book was “Philokalia.” He preferred to read books in the Slavic dialect; and when they told him that they were difficult to understand, he answered: “What is acquired through labor is useful.” In general, I read only the works of the patrists, and did not like new writers, saying: “Although new writings are spiritual, they only feed the mind. And a cold emptiness remains in my heart.” “When did you have time to read books during your obedience?” - they asked him. “As soon as I have a free minute, I’ll start reading the book now,” he answered. “Well, when did you study with the elder? After all, there were still people there until late at night, and they read the rules there?” “During tea, sometimes I had to, and more often when I came at night, to take a blessing; here he said what was necessary; “But does it take much time to express what weighs on your conscience,” the priest humbly added, showing by this that he learned from the elder through his own life. His inner life is too secret to talk about it - this was known only to God and the elder. In general terms, he was a man of deep, inner activity, who always maintained heartfelt silence and unceasing prayer. That he went through the so-called Jesus Prayer is evidenced by his numerous instructions on this subject, which were literally recorded by his spiritual children. But just as a vessel filled with fragrance cannot be hidden, so the inner virtues of this pure soul could not fail to be revealed. Great humility and the gracious light of inner prayer illuminated and attracted the hearts of people to him. And Elder Ambrose himself, seeing in him his future successor, did not forbid him to enter into communication with visitors, and even directly blessed some to approach Fr. with their spiritual needs. Joseph. It happened more than once that to a question put to Elder Ambrose, he answered: “Ask Fr. Joseph." What was remarkable was that the answers from Fr. Joseph's answers were always identical with the elder's answers to the same subject. Many began to notice this and at first, in order to be more sure of this, they tried to check: they would ask Fr. Joseph - he will say, then they will ask Elder Ambrose about the same thing, and he will answer with the same words, and at the same time he will certainly wink with a smile, as if making it clear what is the matter. The elder apparently did this to strengthen faith in his student; but then, when the spiritual gifts of Fr. Joseph, the elder once sternly said to one: “Don’t test it anymore.” One nun, who was devoted with all her soul to Elder Ambrose and did nothing in her daily life without his blessing, once asked his blessing to go visit one of the people who lived in the Optina hotel, since she was invited. The elder said: “No, don’t, don’t go.” A lot of time has passed; another of those who lived also called this nun to her. She, remembering that the elder did not bless her that time, decided in her heart not to go to this one either, but, out of habit of asking about everything, she called Fr. Joseph and asked him to tell the elder that so-and-so was calling her to visit. O. Joseph, without listening to her to the end, said: “Well, go, go, see her.” The nun was greatly embarrassed by this answer. First of all, she didn't ask about. Joseph, but only asked to convey her questions to the elder, and secondly, his answer was completely at odds with the opinion of the elder Fr. Ambrose. Father Joseph went to the lower hut, and the nun waited in confusion for his return, when suddenly the elder himself came out for a general blessing. Seeing the embarrassed face of the nun, the elder asked her: “Why are you standing there?” Not wanting to explain the reason for her embarrassment in front of everyone, the nun said: “Father, N. is calling me to her place.” “Well, go, go, see her,” the elder answered laughing, literally in the same words. At the same time, the nun noticed that the elder was looking intently and smiling at someone. It turned out that Fr. was standing behind. Joseph smiled too... The nun was amazed by this incident and from then on believed that in Fr. Joseph lived with the same spirit of grace that was in his teacher. So the elder gradually prepared him for the service of the elderly, teaching him both by word and by his own example. He loved him and trusted him in everything, calling him his right hand, and for 30 years, until his departure to Shamordino, he was never separated from him. You should have seen how the face of the exhausted old man shone with joy and love when one of the spiritual children told him about Fr. Joseph, as he said so well, reassured Joseph how humble and kind he was... Sometimes, in order to avoid premature rumors, the elder said: “Wait, keep quiet about this for now,” and sometimes he himself reminded: “Remember, Fr. Joseph told you the truth." So for his loving fatherly heart this was consolation and joy - in this he saw the dawn of a new lamp... Unnoticed by Fr. Joseph, the elder tried to open it a little and show the spiritual treasures of this chosen one of God. One day two nuns brought to show the elder an icon of the Mother of God painted by one of them. Afterwards they confessed that they had agreed together to tempt the elder and, showing him the icon, they asked: “What, father, does she look like the Queen of Heaven?” The elder answered this seriously: “You need to ask Fr. Joseph” - and at the same time he called. Fr. entered. Joseph, and the elder said to him: “Tell them if this face looks like the Queen of Heaven.” Father Joseph smiled his angelic smile and humbly lowered his eyes. The elder let him go. Another time, one nun, talking with an elder, asked what the Mother of God was like in the last years of Her life. The elder told her: “You go to Fr. Joseph and ask him what the Mother of God was like when she was 60 years old.” O. Joseph, of course, out of his humility, said that he knew nothing. By these actions the elder undoubtedly wanted to show that Fr. Joseph was granted a heavenly vision. Once one of those who, with the blessing of the elder, treated Fr. Joseph, seeing his poor health, worriedly told Father Fr. Ambrose: “Now, if Father Joseph is an old man, then perhaps he will be sick and weak like you?” “Well, that’s okay, but he will be humble,” answered the elder and added: “To Fr. All my infirmities were passed on to Joseph.” In these words, on the one hand, the great humility of Elder Ambrose, who considered himself only a weak vessel, was expressed, and on the other hand, this served as confirmation of the fact that Fr. Joseph is the future bearer of the grace of old age. There lived one perspicacious old man near Optina Pustyn - Fr. Pachomius, blessed. He loved Fr. Joseph; and when he was still a simple monk, Fr. Every time Pachomius meets him, he will certainly ask for his blessing. “Father Pachomius, I’m not a hieromonk,” Fr. will smile at him. Joseph. “I’m surprised,” answered Pachomius. “Father Joseph is the same as Father Abrosim” (that is, Elder Ambrose). One servant of God, a holy fool, was with the elder Fr. Ambrose, and seeing Fr. Josepha told him: “There was one old man who had two cell attendants; one of them remained in his place.” Thus, the Providence of God almost from the very beginning predicted his senility, for which he was destined by God Himself. Perhaps, in his secret conversations, Elder Ambrose spoke more clearly and definitely about this, but Fr. Joseph, in his humility, never revealed this. In general, even after the death of Elder Ambrose, he amazed and attracted everyone with his deepest humility - he never attached any importance to himself. So he once wrote to one person: “What do I mean without my father? Zero and nothing more,” and at the same time, for clarity, he depicted a huge zero on the letter. Health, as mentioned above, Fr. Joseph was very weak and, thanks to the fact that he lived constantly with the old man, who, also due to his illness in winter and even in cold weather in general, did not go out anywhere and was afraid of colds, and he was unaccustomed to the air, and was often exposed to colds. You should have seen with what patience he put on warm clothes every time he went out into the hallway or into the backyard (and this happened often during cell obedience), putting on warm clothes, eating very little food. Surprised by this, they once asked him whether it was difficult for him to achieve such abstinence, or was it already given to him by nature? He responded to this with these words: “If a person is not forced, then even if he ate all the food of Egypt and drank all the water of the Nile, his belly will say: I hunger!” With brothers Fr. Joseph behaved evenly: he did not make acquaintances with anyone and never went to anyone, except for church and obedience, which Father Ambrose blessed. When he went to the dacha with the old man, the only entertainment he allowed himself to do was to fish in a planter, but even in this innocent pleasure one could see more of his love for solitude. Mainly, he observed inner silence; - the desert was in his own heart, where the quiet light of prayer shone, where blissful humility lived, and where he retreated, running away from cowardice and storms. So subsequently, in his instructions relating to him and especially impatient ones, he warned against external closure, which without an internal one does not benefit, and often damages. At the same time, he often recalled the monk who, out of impatience, left the hostel and settled in the desert; but even here, as if he had not conquered his passions, despite the fact that none of the people touched him, he could not restrain himself from anger and became irritated even at inanimate objects, and ended up breaking his jug out of frustration, which kept overturning, and the monk returned to the monastery. But still, he supported those who had a disposition towards spiritual life and shied away from the world in this mood of spirit, although even to such people he always spoke more about patience, self-reproach and humility, generosity and meekness - in a word, about those virtues with which he himself was filled. He never stood out in any way: he quietly, modestly did his job; was a true assistant to the elder, but he behaved as if he was not so highly placed. His conversion was relaxed and spiritually simple; Possessing deep inner humility, he had no need for humility, which often reveals only inner emptiness and therefore has an unpleasant effect on others. On the contrary, inner humility cannot be depicted in words, but it also affects and is felt by a sinful person. Love o. Joseph to Elder Ambrose was as quiet and blessed as his whole life; he did not love and did not know how to express his feelings, but his affection was so deep that he was ready to give his life for him. One day the monastery brethren were frightened by the arrival of some unknown man who was waving a pistol and shouting: “I’m going to Fr. Ambrose! No one dared to approach him, fearing that he would shoot, but meanwhile he headed into the shack. Someone warned about. Joseph. He was not at all embarrassed, with a calm look and, probably, with a secret prayer, he went out to this strange man and meekly asked him what he needed? - “I need to see Fr. Ambrose,” he answered, shaking his pistol. Father Joseph, looking calmly into his eyes, overshadowed him with the sign of the cross; the stranger immediately let go of his hand, and one of those present managed to take the pistol away. This man turned out to be crazy; and the incident itself showed what selfless love his student had for Elder Ambrose. Another time, one person wanted to involve Fr. Joseph in a financial matter that was unpleasant for Elder Ambrose and threatened him. To this o. Joseph calmly told her: “Well, I’m ready to go to prison for the elder.” The first Shamorda abbess, Mother Sophia, known for her intelligence and devotion to the elder, who in turn trusted and told her a lot, repeated more than once: “The priest really loves his father. Joseph; Yes, and there’s a reason for it.” Yes, and indeed there was a reason for it - he was a true novice, who never, in any cases, neither important nor trivial, nor in deed, nor in word, nor even in thought, contradicted the actions of the elder. His obedience, or better yet, his entire monastic life personally confirmed the justice of the answer that one Athonite elder gave to the question: why are there no elders now? “Because,” he answered, “there are no true novices now.” All the great elders, both ancient and modern, were in their time true novices. By completely cutting off their will and reason, whole-hearted obedience and sincere constant self-reproach, they achieved blissful humility, which enlightened their hearts with grace and illuminated their minds with the light of the mind of Christ, which is why they became capable of being mentors and leaders of others, understanding all sorts of temptations and spiritual disorder, were experienced in everything and possessed the gift of reasoning. One of the holy fathers (John Climacus) said: “Do not look for a perspicacious elder, but a humble and experienced one.” Perspicacity, although it is inherent in almost all those enlightened by the Spirit of God, but in itself, it alone does not serve as a distinctive sign of holiness and spiritual heights. On the contrary, insight alone without other virtues, and especially without humility and pure love, is not only not praiseworthy, but is downright harmful and destructive; it serves as a sign not of enlightenment of the soul, but of self-delusion, or what is otherwise called prelest. Not everyone who predicts the future is already a saint. In the time of the apostles there was a maiden who prophesied, but the apostles considered it necessary to expel the spirit-diviner from her. And the holy Apostle Paul definitely says in his letter to the Corinthians that you can be externally righteous and predict, and know all mysteries, and work miracles, but if you do not have the necessary spirit of the love of Christ, then everything else loses all power and meaning. And how many examples exist in the history of monasticism that great ascetics and miracle workers were not protected by humility, were deceived by their righteousness and died as a result. Elder Ambrose himself was asked about this subject: “Does it sometimes happen to meet a person who speaks correctly about the past, predicts the future - and it comes true, and yet it is difficult to accept him as a saint, judging by other aspects of his life?” The elder gave the following explanation: “Believe all the holy fools, blessed “fools,” etc. it should not be, even if their words came true, since not every prediction is from God. The enemy, as a spirit, knows the past and therefore can point to different cases and even sometimes, for the sake of seduction, to certain sins. The future is not open to him, but, like a spirit, he, too, according to some of our thoughts, conversations and generally some signs, can learn something from the future and suggest it to the predictor. But at the same time, the priest added, the distinctive property of enemy predictions is that they are always gloomy, bad, always promise only misfortunes and always bring only confusion to the soul. If one of God’s servants predicts at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then although they sometimes warn of sorrows, this is accompanied by a peaceful, repentant and contrite mood of the soul.” Almost the same question was later asked to Elder Joseph: “We meet a man who is apparently perspicacious, and yet something is felt that is not right in him; how can one know whether his insight is from God?” “You need to recognize such people by humility,” answered the elder. “Because the enemy can give a man insight, but he never gives him humility—it burns him.” Favorite student of St. Ambrose In the last years of Elder Ambrose’s life, so many visitors began to flock to him that all the rooms of the hut were, as they say, jam-packed. Many wanted to talk with Fr. Joseph, and the elder himself sent many to him. For these conversations, a small reception cell was designated in the women’s quarters, where the icon of the Mother of God “It Is Worthy to Eat” was located. But since in this cell, for the most part, there were people sitting either high-ranking or respected, whom it was inconvenient to send out, Fr. Joseph, due to his delicacy and modesty, went out to study in Sentsy, where it was quite cold in winter; and although he dressed warmly, despite his poor health, he often caught a cold. So in February 1888, he became very ill, but due to his patience, he overcame and forced himself for a long time. Finally, the illness took its toll, and he fell ill. He was solemnly honored in the cell of the elder, who was very saddened by his illness. The doctor advised transporting the patient to the hospital, but Fr. Joseph did not want to part with his Abba at such a difficult time for him - who would ease his suffering? Who will console and encourage a mortal in case of fear? The elder would not come there to bless his disciple for the night’s rest... The elder himself did not want this; but the monastery commander came and urgently demanded that the sick man be transported to the monastery. This move in cold weather and in an open sleigh further intensified the illness, and he, barely alive, almost unconscious, was brought to the hospital ward. Every day he became worse; there was no hope. Father o. Ambrose was sad and, of course, was inseparable in spirit and prayer from his beloved child. On Sunday, February 14, during late mass, with the blessing of the elder and with the permission of the rector, Fr. Joseph was tonsured into the schema. By Monday evening he felt so bad that he was given a leave notice. Instead of painful groans, the patient loudly let out prayerful sighs, so that those present were in awe, feeling that he was about to die. The elder, not expecting his recovery, allowed his spiritual children to go and say goodbye to him. The abbot also came to visit him. “Well, is it bad?” – the archimandrite asked him this time. “I have been overcome by mortal illnesses,” Fr. answered him. Joseph. “And maybe you’ll get up again,” added the abbot, who sincerely grieved for him. After reading the departure letter, Fr. Joseph asked the brother who was following him to go to the elder and tell him that he was asking to let him go in peace. When the brother conveyed this request to Elder Ambrose, he told him to go back, and when he entered the sick man, say to himself: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The brother carried out the elder’s orders exactly; and as soon as he uttered these words, the patient asked for tea, and from that moment he felt better. Afterwards this novice, sitting behind the screens, heard Fr. Joseph said loudly: “Lord, I did not want this; You see, Lord! The novice shuddered and looked through the crack of the screen, behind which the sick man lay. I saw that Fr. Joseph looks intently at the icon of the Savior and raises his hands to Him. The same brother spoke afterwards to the spiritual children about. Joseph: “Oh, if you only knew what your spiritual father is like!” This novice told Elder Ambrose the following: “I once entered the ward and heard someone behind the screen saying: “Be patient, my beloved, there is not much left.” Thinking that there was someone there, I looked behind the screen and was amazed - there was no one there. And Father Joseph lay like a sheet, with his eyes closed. I was so overcome with fear that my hair stood on end.” And afterward Elder Ambrose told some that Fr. In his illness, Joseph was honored to see the Queen of Heaven. In the evening, for the first time, a quiet whisper swept through the hut: “To Father Fr. Joseph is better... Soon the old man came out joyfully and said: “It was quite right. Joseph was going to die, but he didn’t die - now he felt better.” Upon recovery, Fr. Joseph, Fr. Archimandrite Isaac officially appointed him to be the elder’s assistant, and from then on he began to openly confess, since it was becoming difficult for the elder. Father o. Ambrose was very pleased with this and joyfully told many: “Now we have a new confessor.” One day, a person close to the elder was blessed by him to go and confess to Fr. Joseph. “Lucky,” the elder answered her, “and not just once, but always.” At the same time, the elder ordered to build an extension below, where Fr. Joseph began to receive visitors. In the summer of the same 1888, Father Fr. Ambrose blessed Fr. Joseph to go to Kyiv to venerate its shrines. And now, almost thirty years later, his cherished wish came true. One cannot help but think how much trembling reverence, how many tender sighs, how many prayers poured out there from this pure, humble soul!... The governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra at that time was Archimandrite Juvenaly (Polovtsev), who had previously lived in retirement in Optina Pustina. Upon arrival at the Lavra, Fr. Joseph went to him to convey greetings from Elder Ambrose. The viceroy was not at home, and the cell attendants, accustomed to important and dignified guests of their boss, invited the unfamiliar monk to wait in the hallway. He had to wait a long time; The cell attendants did not pay any attention to him. Finally it was time for lunch and, remembering the guest, they called him into the cell room. There, before dinner, according to established custom, they offered him a drink. But oh. Joseph, who had never tasted any wine, flatly refused. The cell attendants began to pester him and made him laugh, but ended up leaving him alone, while they began to eat the food and talked freely, not at all embarrassed by the presence of the stranger. At this time the governor arrived, and the cell attendants reported that some Optina monk was waiting for him. Seeing Fr. Joseph, the governor exclaimed: “Whom I see is the future elder!” - and hastened to embrace him in his arms, and showed him such signs of respect that the dumbfounded cell attendants did not know what to think. Then the governor took him to his place, and ordered his cell attendants to carry his things from the hotel and prepare them for Fr. Joseph's room in his house. Until the evening he talked with his guest, remembering dear Optina. When did Fr. Joseph came to the room allotted to him, then two cell attendants were waiting for him and threw themselves at his feet, asking for forgiveness for his rudeness, and begged him not to tell Fr. archimandrite about their intemperance. Meek Fr. Joseph hugged them with a loving smile and reassured them. This story was relayed by one of these cell attendants, who later was a hieromonk in one of the monasteries of the Kursk province and added: “How he doused us with varnish then - we thought: we are lost now, he will complain to the governor. But then he amazed us with his humility and meekness, and spoke to us so well that we were sincerely ashamed of our behavior.” In Kursk he was with one archpriest, the same one who knew him in childhood. The archpriest was so glad to see his friend’s son that he did not know how to treat Fr. Joseph, and called him either Ivan Efimovich, or by the name of his parent, Efim Emelyanovich, as if showing by this that in him he honors his father, whom he loved and respected so much. Passing through Fr. Joseph also visited the Borisov women's hermitage, where his sister, mother Leonida, lived, who almost fell ill with joy when she saw her dear brother. It seemed to her that she wouldn’t talk enough, wouldn’t look at him enough. They both remembered how he came here with a knapsack and cleared the snow near her cell; how much anxiety there was in her soul for him then, and now all this has passed, and she sees before her the respected hieromonk - the assistant of the great elder... To complete her joy, she wanted to see him serving, and the abbess and sisters really asked him for the same. But oh. Joseph, who was not yet strong enough after his illness, was very tired from the unusual long journey and, feeling not very well, refused to do it, but M. Leonida was so upset by this and begged him so tearfully that he finally gave in to her requests. The liturgy began. Just before the Gospel, there was unexpected silence in the church. It turned out that with Father Fr. Joseph became ill; and the priest who served him finished the mass for him. Mother Leonida, who was in church, heard the silence and confusion in the altar and guessed that something must have happened to her brother, fainted and was barely left. When he recovered, Fr. came to her. Joseph, then with his usual smile said: “Well, that’s comforted!” Then Leonida’s mother began to ask him to quickly go home to Optina. “Leave quickly,” she said, “otherwise if you die here, I won’t stand it.” Elder Ambrose was very happy about the return of his assistant, since without him it was difficult for him to deal with the visitors. The lives of both ascetics again flowed in their usual order; The elder went every summer to visit Shamordino for three weeks, and his constant companion was his faithful novice and student Fr. Joseph. The summer of 1890 arrived. In June the usual training camps began in Shamordino, but Fr. The elder said to Joseph: “I will not take you this time; you need to stay here - you are needed here.” This happened for the first time in our entire thirty-year life together, that Fr. Ambrose traveled without him. Moreover, Father Ambrose ordered Fr. Joseph should go to his cell. And he ordered the large icon “Support of Sinners” to be moved to the reception room. Fr. became sad. Joseph from all these orders; his heart sank painfully... “The old man will not return here again,” flashed through his head. The old man left. Summer passed, Father Fr. Ambrose planned to return to Optina several times. But an invisible hand held him back every time, and the coming autumn stopped further attempts to leave Shamordin. Premonition o. Joseph's dream came true: the elder never returned to his monastery hut. I really missed Fr. the first time. Joseph was without an elder, as if he had been left an orphan. But due to his constant submission to the will of God, he came to terms with this state of affairs. He went to see the elder once a month, and Father Ambrose always made sure that a cart was sent for him in a fatherly manner. The elder’s room was adjacent to the abbot’s building, and Fr. When Joseph came to the elder, he did not consider himself at home here and never entered the elder until the cell attendant reported about him. He had to wait for a long time, since in his humility he yielded to everyone. Even other monks who came to Shamordino to visit the elder were freer and bolder than Fr. Joseph, and communicated much more with the elder. Father Ambrose saw and appreciated the selfless love of Fr. Joseph, and sometimes he himself invited him to his cell for a spiritual conversation. The last time of his life, Elder Ambrose was often very preoccupied and exhausted by all the affairs and concerns about the unsettled monastery; and often lengthy business conversations brought the old man to complete exhaustion, after which he completely refused food and could not sleep. More than once those around heard the words of the elder: “Only after Fr. Joseph, I can dine and sleep in my own time.” With this the elder wanted to express that only one Fr. Joseph doesn't upset him in any way. Even about his grief over separation from Abba Fr. Joseph never told the elder so as not to alarm him. We found out about this by accident. One spiritual daughter of Father Fr. Joseph, seeing him very sad and sorrowful, said to the elder: “Father, how hard it is to look at Father Joseph, how he grieves without you.” To this the elder answered her, taking a deep breath: “But he doesn’t tell me anything about it.” Meanwhile, in Optina, with the departure of Elder Ambrose, the monks, accustomed to elder care, began to go to Fr. Joseph, and many began to confess to him. The abbot himself, due to his advanced age, found it difficult in the winter to go to the elder in Shamordino every time; and therefore chose Fr. Joseph and treated him with great respect. He himself came to his monastery every Saturday and after confession he stayed with him for a long time to talk. It was touching to see how the venerable, gray-haired abbot went to his tonsure to repent of his voluntary and involuntary sins, humbly kneeling before the holy icons. When the Nativity Fast began, Father Ambrose, weakened in strength, began to send his Shamordino spiritual children to Optina to confess to Fr. Joseph. At first it was difficult for the sisters, who were accustomed to confiding their spiritual secrets only to one elder, and reluctantly they went to their new confessor. Sometimes it happened that the elder confessed his sister himself, and then sent her to Optina to Fr. Joseph just needs to read the confession book. There was a deep meaning hidden in these actions of the elder. Mainly by sending his spiritual children to Fr. To Joseph, the elder thereby showed that he was passing them on to no one else but Fr. Joseph. This was very important in the future, when the elder died and when the question of his successor arose. One nun tells about herself: “A year before his death, Father Ambrose blessed me to confess to Father Joseph, but I didn’t want to go to him, and Father Ambrose said to me: “Well, if I die, who will you go to?” I cried and said: “I don’t know; I can’t talk to anyone except you.” To this the priest says: “Well, I’ll hand you over to Fr. Joseph; treat him and write everything to him, just as you write to me, and now go to confession.” I went reluctantly; Father Joseph was in the lower hut; I received a blessing and say that Father Ambrose sent me to confess to him, but I don’t want to. Father looked at me and said: “Whether you want it or not, but if Father sent you, get ready,” and with these words he left me. A little later the priest came and confession began. How easy, how joyful it became in my soul! Having finished confession, I again went to Father Ambrose. Soon he took me; my joy knew no end, and the priest, also joyful, greeted me with the words: “Well, did you confess?” I said: “Yes,” and he said: “I kept talking about. Joseph, did you repent of everything?” I answered: “That’s it,” and the priest said: “Well, now tell me, repent.” I began to repent again, and the priest, listening carefully, looked somewhere over my head and smiled. I couldn't understand what this meant. Then I looked around and well... I saw Father Joseph standing behind me and smiling. Here Father Ambrose, smiling, says to me: “Well, now go; God help me." I left, and what joy there was in my heart! This cannot be conveyed, only someone who has experienced it can understand it. Father Joseph accepted me, a sinner, and was for me a father and mentor, the joy and joy of my life.” Shortly before the death of the elder, a rumor spread that Father Fr. They want to remove Joseph from the church and place him in a monastic cell, in a monastery. Many were very alarmed by this, and they began to say to him: “Why don’t you go to the priest? Wait until they take you out." But oh. Joseph, with his characteristic calm, objected: “When they tell me to go out, then I’ll go to my father; after all, I still can’t leave here without his blessing; and it will be good for me to live in the monastery because of his prayers.” Thus his humility never feared any oppression; the humble person feels good everywhere, and he is ready for anything with joy. However, Elder Ambrose was alarmed by this rumor, and he sent to find out; after that everything went silent. In September 1891, the elder fell ill. At first the disease was considered trivial, and no one was particularly afraid. But Father Fr. Joseph in Optina, while awake, heard the words repeated three times: “The old man will die.” Out of his usual humility, he did not tell anyone about this and, afraid to trust such revelations, did not attach any importance to it and did not even go to Shamordino. But on October 8, the elder became so ill that they sent for Fr. Joseph. When he arrived, the elder almost did not speak from weakness. He silently pointed to the confessional book that Fr. Joseph read it with deep sorrow. In the evening the elder was solemnly honored; and in the morning for the last time Fr. Joseph gave the elder communion, as he always did at Optina. It was necessary to see with what reverent feeling he performed this last service to his Abba!... At 11:30 on the afternoon of October 10, the great elder Father Ambrose died, leaving behind a great many crying people. But the grief of his closest disciple, who lived by his will and fed on his teaching for 30 years, was undoubtedly the heaviest of all. And it was in these unbearably sorrowful moments that his courageous, strong soul was revealed in all its greatness. At a time when many very spiritual people were shocked by this seemingly premature death, he alone was not lost for a minute and did not lose heart, but still consoled and strengthened others. In it, from the first time, many found refuge and spiritual support and felt that the spirit of the deceased priest Fr. Ambrose lives in the new elder. When the question arose about where to bury the body of the deceased elder Ambrose, there was a lot of unrest about this. The majority was in favor of burying the elder in Shamordino, since this monastery was founded and organized by his labors and concerns, and for its benefit the elder moved to live there. Even the rector of Optina Pustyn agreed with this. His Eminence Vitaly of Kaluga himself held the same opinion. Father o. Joseph, as a devoted son of the Optina monastery, of course, could not help but want his great teacher to be laid in the family of the Optina elders, but out of his devotion and love for the deceased, immediately after his death, he was imbued with special pity for the orphaned Shamordino monastery, and therefore also expressed his consent to give up the body of the elder. But Optina Pustyn, without a doubt, had legal rights, and the bishop did not dare to take responsibility and sent a telegram to the Holy Synod. At this time, Elder Joseph ordered all the sisters to especially pray that the Lord would incline the hearts of the rulers to place the elder’s body in their monastery. But when a response telegram was received from the Synod with the decision to transfer the body for burial in Optina Pustyn, then Father Fr. Joseph did not allow anyone else to rebel against the orders of the highest authority; and he sternly stopped the weak, murmuring and indignant, saying: “After all, we prayed and it didn’t work out like that; It wasn’t without the will of God that this happened, so it must be so.” The funeral service for the deceased was held in the church of the Shamordino monastery by His Grace Vitaly on the 13th, and the next day the elder’s body was solemnly transferred to Optina Pustyn. Despite the rain and wind, the candles did not go out the entire way. It was already getting dark when the procession approached Optina, and the bell rang, calling the brethren to meet their lifeless father and mentor. Far behind the ferry, a lone monk was walking hurriedly. His face was sad, his lips whispered a prayer... It was the beloved disciple of the deceased elder and his successor, elder Fr. Joseph. His Abba, who raised him spiritually, was returning after a long separation, but, alas, he was returning not to a monastery, not to a hut, not for life and new instructions, but returned to lie next to the dear remains of his great teachers - the elders Leo and Macarius. On the day of the burial, October 15, His Eminence Vitaly awarded the new elder a legguard. After lunch, the bishop, passing by a fresh grave and seeing a crowd of nuns near it, addressed them with a question. “Shamorda sisters, who will you now choose as your elder,” probably Fr. Joseph? “Bless me, holy lord,” they answered. “God bless,” said the bishop. Just the day before, the Right Reverend visited the elder’s hut in the monastery and treated Fr. very favorably. Joseph and leaving said: “We will see each other again.” And, indeed, after the funeral he was unexpectedly demanded to see the bishop. Seeing him, Vladyka greeted him warmly and invited him to participate in the council, adding, addressing everyone: “Father Joseph is not an official; but I wish that he too would take part in our council.” By bestowing this high honor on a simple skete hieromonk, the Bishop only wanted to emphasize his importance as an elder. As you know, Bishop Vitaly, due to his painful state, was sometimes irritable and hot-tempered (he introduced himself a year later in Kyiv, at the monastery of Archimandrite Jonah, whom he greatly revered). It happened here too: oh. Archimandrite Isaac, with one word spoken in favor of the Shamordino monastery, incurred the displeasure of the bishop, who became excited and abruptly stopped the abbot. The venerable elder, Archimandrite Isaac, was apparently embarrassed - there was confusion; everyone fell silent, not daring to contradict the irritated archpastor. But then, the humble Fr. stands up. Joseph, with his characteristic unconstrained simplicity, meekly but firmly speaks his fair word, with which he fearlessly supports the archimandrite. Everyone froze, expecting a storm... But the bishop immediately softened and spoke in a completely different tone; he recognized the validity of his argument and agreed with the opinion of the archimandrite and the elder. This is a feature of evangelical self-sacrifice - where necessary, Fr. Joseph was ready to suffer for the truth, but without special extremity and need he never stood out from the brethren. Leaving Optina, the archpastor said the following significant words to the brethren: “Choose for yourself an elder according to the spirit of your monastery...” Indeed, it was possible to find elders both in age and in life, but of a different spirit. “Eldership” is a special gift, which is not given to everyone who wants it, although he has had both a good and spiritual life. The elders are special chosen ones of God, prepared in special providential ways. Their main and essential qualities should be - spiritual experience (it is acquired through an active life in obedience and under the guidance of an elder); reasoning (it is given only to pure hearts, enlightened by the Spirit of God); patience, love and humility. The latter is a particularly expressive sign of a true elder. A humble old man, even if he is neither learned nor well-read, even if he cannot conduct a philosophical conversation and answer all theological questions, then he, with the grace inherent in his humility, can be wiser than the sages of the age and give a word of edification in such a strength of spirit, before which all theoretically acquired knowledge will turn out to be insignificant. Another has a good life, and speaks convincingly, and is knowledgeable in Scripture; but there is not in him that power of grace that often lives in simple elders marked by God. Let us take, for example, any monastic monastery in which there are such elders. How many monks there are of a good and even ascetic life; there are monks who are well-read and, perhaps, even with a scientific education, developed mentally and spiritually, with whom it is pleasant to talk - but at the same time, if the visitor has a sick soul, if his conscience torments him, if his heart languishes and suffers from anything - then he will not find in his interlocutors the answer to his burning questions, and he will not open his soul to them, but will go looking for a gracious monk, who with his all-forgiving with love he will embrace him like a lost sheep, with his humility he will conquer his proud mind and with his simple, unwise, but blessed word he will resolve all his perplexities and reveal to him the word of life. The influence of such a person is limitless; but we must remember that only those who have received anointing from above possess this gift. Therefore, those who turn to everyone indiscriminately for guidance in their life’s journey fall into a big mistake, for “how can a blind man lead a blind man, or will they both fall into a ditch?” - says Scripture. And little by little, the Optina brethren, not forced by anyone, began to relate their spiritual needs to the direct heir to the spiritual gifts of the Optina elders, Fr. Joseph. The Shamorda monastery, headed by its abbess, also entrusted itself to his leadership (Archim. Isaac, when asked by the abbess who they should now relate to, answered: “Just as we have one common elder in Optina, Fr. Joseph, so you should have one...”); and other monasteries and lay people followed them, and again Optina Pustyn shone its torch of senile care throughout all of Russia. And the door of the old man’s cell was still open to everyone who wanted, needed, and sought spiritual guidance, support in temptations, and consolation in sorrows. After Elder Ambrose there were many unfinished and confusing matters left, and Father Fr. At first it was very difficult for Joseph to understand everything. In response to the condolences expressed by one special person on this occasion, Fr. Joseph answered firmly: “Yes, father left me in an awkward position; but even if I had to go to Siberia, I will never judge the old man.” And for such selfless devotion and love, the Lord helped him put all his affairs in complete order, so that everyone calmed down and began to trust him even more. One lay person, who was cared for by Father Ambrose, after his death greatly grieved and wondered who she should turn to now: Fr. Joseph, or someone else? Once sitting with such thoughts in deep thought, she, as if half asleep, clearly hears the voice of Elder Ambrose: “Hold on to Father Joseph, this will be a great lamp.” This put an end to her hesitation. This is how Elder Ambrose visibly and directly admonished and helped his beloved son, disciple and heir of his talents. After the death of the great elder Ambrose, his cell, or as it is commonly called the “hut” - witness to so many prayers and deeds, where so many spiritual revivals took place, where so many tears of sorrow, joy and repentance were shed - was not empty; the influx of living water only seemed to stop for a while and then began to flow again with a strong spring. The spirit of the God-bearing Optina elders: Leo, Macarius, Ambrose - was resurrected in the person of Fr. Joseph. Although the latter, of course, had his own individual properties, in all his views, actions and decisions he was so imbued with the spirit of his great teacher that he really became, as it were, his reflection. And this is precisely what was precious about him, especially at first. For that love, faith, devotion that everyone had for the elder Fr. Ambrose, it was too hard to surrender to another mentor. And only one consciousness and confidence that Fr. Joseph will say exactly what Fr. Ambrose, that he certainly solved the question the way his late elder would have decided, that you would hear from him the instructions that he himself had once received from the elder - this spiritual unity, this, so to speak, visible tactile continuity of the great gift of elderhood - all this attracted him to him and brought him closer to him gradually. Even the appearance of Fr. Joseph began to resemble Fr. Ambrose and this purely external circumstance was reflected in the souls of the spiritual children of the deceased elder; his mysterious spiritual presence was felt by everyone, and often when the elder Fr. Joseph came out for the general blessing, exclamations were heard: “Yes, this is exactly Father Ambrose himself... how much he looks like Father!” Took Fr. Joseph in the same cell where the late elder was; He confessed while sitting in the same place - on the bed where the late priest, due to ill health, always practiced reclining. At the head of the bed now stood a large portrait of Elder Ambrose, very faithfully depicted. This whole situation spoke a lot to the soul. In addition, Elder Joseph, both out of humility and out of his love for Father Ambrose, never said anything on his own, but always referred to an example from the life of his mentor. He himself was very bored without the elder and loved to remember him; and often these dear memories were cut off mid-sentence... “Everything has passed and everything is passing,” concluded Fr. Joseph took a deep breath, and quiet sadness shone in his meek eyes... His response to the words of one spiritual daughter, that they say, so many sorrows befell his lot, is very characteristic. Elder Joseph said: “What sorrows are there under Father? I didn’t feel them then, but now...” and he didn’t finish out of excitement. The first and heaviest burden fell on Elder Joseph, of course, the orphaned Shamordino monastery. Unsettled, unsecured, she went through a difficult time. There was a lot of excitement, embarrassment and other things then, and Fr. experienced and saw a lot. Joseph grieves because of her. But he conquered everything with his patience and humility. The enemy of the human race was doing his job, and many spiritual people discovered their human weakness, but Fr. Joseph alone remained invulnerable and unperturbed. With the help of God, he managed to remain in good, sincere relations with everyone who directly or indirectly showed him their unfriendliness and never uttered a single word about any of them, and, in the end, forced everyone to recognize his spiritual superiority and inspire only respect for themselves. During the life of Elder Ambrose, Fr. Joseph did not take any part in the affairs of Shamordin; but after his death, as was said above, he felt such pity for this monastery that he himself did not expect, as he said later. He took into his own hands, so to speak, this brainchild of Father Fr. Ambrose. The abbess of the monastery, faithful and devoted student Fr. Ambrose, with deep affection, now began to consult with Elder Joseph in all matters of the monastery, and as before, nothing was done in the monastery without the will of the elder and his blessing. Deprived of sight, Abbess Euphrosinia found her only support and consolation in Elder Joseph, and to him alone she entrusted everything that weighed heavily on her soul. This abbess was an amazing example of her attitude towards the elder: she was a spiritual elder herself, experienced and wise, the same age in years and 8 years older than Fr. Joseph by monasticism, she deeply humbled herself before him, as before an elder appointed by God. She often went to see him, wrote even more often (despite her blindness, she always wrote to the elder herself using a ruler), and constantly called on his prayerful help in every matter, along with the precious name of Father Ambrose. Soon Fr. Joseph and was officially approved as the confessor of the Shamorda sisters along with the monastery leader, the elder Fr. Anatoly, and therefore twice a year - during the Petrovsky and Dormition fasts - he came to Shamordino to confess to the spiritual children of Elder Ambrose, who had now come to him (and in the winter, the sisters went to him). For the mourning sisters, these visits were a great joy. He was greeted and escorted like the late Father Ambrose. They surrounded him with the same close crowd, also accompanied him during his tour of the monastery, and also tenderly and diligently cared for the peace of the one who with such love took upon himself all the difficult concerns about them. Father Joseph became a second father for them: their needs, their sorrows were his own, their spiritual salvation was dear. He almost never stayed overnight in Shamordin, no matter how much they begged him. “No,” he said, “even though it’s late, it’s somehow pleasant to drive along the road along which the priest and I traveled with him.” How much love for the elder and deep sadness for him was hidden in these words! But soon these trips stopped completely; his weak body could not withstand prolonged fatigue; and one day, having fallen ill in Shamordino, the elder did not go there anymore and did not even see the new rebuilt cathedral. In Optina, his life was also one of work: in the morning he went out to do his work and remained at it until the evening, like a faithful servant of God. At 8 o'clock he began receiving visitors. After the meal, which, when he was healthy, he always attended without skipping a beat, he rested somewhat. From 2 o'clock I took it again until 8 o'clock, and sometimes later; after which he always listened to the evening rule read by the cell attendants. In the summer, after 2 hours on hot days, he went out into the forest, where those who wished were allowed to accompany him. Everyone usually walked at a distance, and the elder in front was working with someone. When he sat down to rest, he would tell something edifying. These spiritual walks in the desert forest with one's mentor were reminiscent of the ancient desert with its hermits. At first his cell attendants remained the same; but soon one of them was taken into the monastery, and the elder remained with one for a long time, until the abbot sent him another and ordered him to leave him for obedience. In general, in his external life he was very strict with himself; Never, despite his poor health and backbreaking work, did he allow himself any indulgences. Only in recent years did he stop going to meals, since he could not go out into the air at all; and before, even in the evening there was no fire in his cell; subsequently, thin jelly, or rice gruel, was prepared for him for dinner. He never drank wine; even in cases of illness, when he needed it and the doctors urgently demanded it, he did not agree and strictly stopped his loved ones asking him to strengthen his strength, saying that it was unnecessary and that they should not tell him about it again. When on holidays he served as a cathedral in the monastery, as long as he was able, he never allowed himself to travel, but always walked on foot both in winter and autumn in bad weather. He was also strict with himself in his clothes. For a long time he wore a worn-out fur cassock, which no longer warmed him, but only weighed him down, weak and chilly, and he did not agree to change it. Finally, those already zealous, without asking him, bought fur and sewed a new cassock, which the priest accepted with love, not wanting to upset the zeal with his refusal, but even then he ordered the collar to be changed so as not to be any different from a simple monk. He never refused to serve when he was appointed. And if they asked him to refuse in bad weather or due to ill health, he would answer sternly and impressively: “We live by this - how can we refuse this?” The elder slept very little, and did not always lie down during the day, but occupied himself with reading and prayer. Once, when they noticed that he was exhausting himself, depriving himself of little rest, the priest replied: “Does rest consist of sleeping - that’s what the night is for, but during the day it’s enough to be alone.” When they grieved over his exhaustion from labor, he usually cited St. as an example. Theodore the Studite, who himself, languishing in captivity, consoled and encouraged the grieving brethren and, despite his suffering from rotting wounds, wrote instructions to his flock. “This is what love was like,” the elder humbly added. He never lost time in idleness - everything was distributed to him; It is remarkable that, already an old man, when he had almost no time to rest, he, seizing a free moment, either took a book, or was engaged in re-sticking old envelopes on the inside, which were then used to send letters to nearby monasteries. He did everything on time and in moderation; and that, perhaps, is why everything worked out so smoothly for him, and everyone was satisfied. In his manner he was surprisingly even with everyone. Always friendly and sympathetic, he did not curry favor with anyone, did not attract anyone, did not distinguish anyone; Even for high-ranking people, he did not change his procedures. He received relatives who came to see him along with others in the same reception room and talked with them; but no tea parties and no special consolations were offered to the relatives. In general, he did not invite anyone to his place and did not refuse anyone. One person addressed him in a letter with a request to accept her into his leadership, explaining that she was confused and worried about many things. Having not received an answer to this letter, she came to Optina herself and was so disposed to the elder that she opened her soul to him. When she asked why the priest did not answer her letter, he said: “And I was waiting for you to write after that what bothers you.” “I didn’t dare to do this without your permission and thought that you wouldn’t accept me,” the lady objected. “But when do elders refuse, who turns to them,” he said to her. Accepting everyone without distinction, Fr. Joseph always answered the questions put to him, but he himself never started talking. Once one thought: “Why doesn’t Father never say anything himself?” And the elder suddenly, answering her thoughts, says: “The person being asked should not speak himself, but only answer the questioner!” One of the monks close to the elder says that, at the beginning of his relationship with him, he even grumbled at the elder for being so stingy with words, and never saying anything without a question, and when you come to him, he will only say: “Well?” and you have to ask questions yourself. Why, the monk thought, is the elder so well-read in the patristic teachings and filled with spiritual wisdom himself, and could talk more, and yet everything needs to be forced on him with questions? But later the elder explained to him in the words of St. Peter of Damascus, who writes: “Without asking the brethren, one should not say anything for the benefit, so that good will be done according to free will, as the apostle teaches: not as a clergyman to him, but as an image to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). And the ancient fathers did not speak of those who serve for salvation without asking, considering it idle talk.” Then,” says the monk, “I understood the deep wisdom of the elder and stopped judging him for this and received great benefit from his short but strong answers; and I had to be convinced of this from experience that some people talk a lot, but their words do not remain in the heart. The elder himself said to another monk, probably because he, too, was embarrassed by this: “Some are dissatisfied with me because I don’t talk enough. But in order to console a grieving soul, you don’t need to say much, you just need to let him express himself freely without interrupting, and when he expresses all his sorrows, this will ease his grief. To this all that remains is to add a few words warmed by love and to clarify some perplexities, and after this the person is apparently strengthened in faith, renewed in soul and again ready to endure everything.” And everyone who related to the elder felt this. His short answers and concise instructions were powerful and more effective than the most detailed and lengthy conversations. He could say so much in two or three words that everything immediately became clear and understandable. The most convincing arguments of pride and proud self-justification were shattered by one of his words: “Well, well, we have to be patient.” With his humility he humbled the most turbulent hearts; such heavenly silence always wafted from him that in his presence the most unyielding, proud and obstinate were completely changed. It would not be amiss to remember here that Elder Ambrose sometimes said: “Here I sing to you with wine and water, and Fr. Joseph will give you undiluted wine to drink.” First of all, of course, one must see in this the great humility of the wondrous Elder Ambrose among the elect; and then here is a clear indication that Fr. Joseph, being a reflection of Fr. Ambrose, both in life and in teaching, differed from his teacher in the external form of his instructions. Fr. Ambrose was an educated man, possessed the most comprehensive mental development, was sociable in character, and therefore his speech was, in addition to its grace-filled power, captivating for the brightness of his thoughts, figurativeness of expression, lightness, liveliness, intelligent gaiety, in which deep wisdom, both worldly and spiritual, was hidden. Father Joseph was all concentration, and his speech was restrained and breathed only one patristic teaching. In general, he did not like self-indulgence or concessions, and like a true monk he was never outwardly affectionate, although he was condescending and gentle. His only expression of attention and affection for his spiritual children was that on special occasions he would lightly hit one of them on the head. With people closer and more devoted to him, he was rather strict and unyielding; but by this he achieved that they surrendered to him completely, relentlessly, truly. There were cases when some, unable to understand and appreciate him, considered his attitude inattentive and cold and, out of cowardice, being carried away by the external affection of others and considering this a necessary condition for calming the inner, abandoned Elder Joseph. Such falling away never caused any displeasure in the humble old man, did not arouse either envy or grief; and with the same fatherly love, with complete forgiveness and oblivion of what happened, he accepted it again when those who realized their mistake and felt deprivation returned. During confession, the priest was always serious, and his remarks somehow especially penetrated deeper and awakened there the consciousness of his sinfulness and irresponsibility before God. His very appearance, his face, illuminated by some kind of inner light, his angelic smile, which reflected the purity of his soul, his half-lowered eyes, through which they looked at the penitent with meekness and humility - all this together had an irresistible effect on the soul. This was a living witness to the truth of the gospel words: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, and My power is made perfect in weakness (James 4:6). The hopeless sinner, having visited Elder Joseph, was renewed in spirit and changed for the better. Someone suffered from melancholy and was close to despair, not seeing any improvement in his life. On the advice of his friends, he began to travel to Optina, and there, after a conversation with the elder, he received relief every time. The enemy tried in every possible way to distract him from these trips, suggesting that their uselessness was proven by his failure to correct himself; but he continued to go to the elder. It ended with him completely reconciling himself with his difficult situation, and he already bore his inner cross - melancholy - with complacency, seeing in it a kind of penance for his failure to correct himself. One monk, sincerely disposed towards the elder, always went to him for the revelation of his thoughts. But the enemy of our family, who does not want any good and hates even the voice of the one who affirms on the path of salvation, wanted to block this monk’s entrance to the elder, and brought upon him coldness and unbelief. The monk stopped going to the elder. But, by the mercy of God and through the prayers of his mentor, he soon realized that he had succumbed to the enemy’s temptation and, coming to the elder, he said: “Father, forgive me for my frankness, I have lost all faith in you.” To this, the elder answered in a fatherly, soft, soothing tone: “What, my son, is surprising in your temptation? The holy apostles even doubted their faith in God and the Savior; and after their unbelief they became even stronger in faith, so that nothing could separate them from the love of Christ.” The tempted monk immediately felt a change in his soul and completely surrendered to the will of the elder, who fulfilled the apostolic words on himself: you, spiritual ones, correct with the spirit of meekness. Father said that whoever relates to the elder, although he leads his life weakly, is still stronger than the one living without control. One of his first spiritual daughters, even under Elder Ambrose, seeing how her mentor was thriving spiritually and apparently being prepared by God to accept the eldership, out of cowardice, grieved that when that time came, she would no longer be able to deal with him so freely and once expressed her fears to him, adding that it seemed that she would not be able to bear it. To this o. Joseph then answered her: “Well? You have to be prepared for everything; over there, M. Ambrosia Klyuchareva (founder of the Shamordino monastery) used to study with the priest every day, as much as she wanted; and then I was glad to come once a week.” And the time has really come, as Fr. Joseph could no longer talk for a long time with everyone. By the way, she now began to receive mental benefit, peace and consolation from his one appearance at the general blessing, and she began to be satisfied and value his one word more than before with lengthy instructions. One novice, at the beginning of her entry into the monastery, became very confused due to her weaknesses and shortcomings, and through this she did not find inner peace. When she revealed this to Elder Joseph, he quickly encouraged her with his strong instructions, saying that in confusion there could be no repentance; and self-reproach alone can calm you down. Afterwards, the same novice suffered from one serious temptation and persistently asked the elder to deliver her. The elder spoke to her only a few short words, but with such strength and authority that she felt at that very moment that she was healed, and what’s more, this did not happen again to her. Another spiritual daughter of Elder Joseph says that she began to be bothered by the thought that she would certainly drown (since someone had predicted this to her before), and she succumbed to strong fear and embarrassment. Finally, she decided to tell the priest about this. The elder slapped her lightly on the head and cheerfully, calmly said: “Well, then! You will drown and drown, because you will not drown yourself; so why be afraid? With God it’s all the same no matter how you die.” Since then, her fear of sudden death has disappeared. “Even sometimes one look from him spoke to me more than volumes of sermons,” she ends. One novice was very depressed and, when she was in Optina, she said to the elder in despondency: “It’s hard to live, father!” To these words of grumbling, the Elder remarked: “It will be even more difficult in old age, and how can we be saved if not through sorrows.” After some time, I again visited the elder and again complained, saying: “I can’t do it anymore, it’s very difficult, I’ll go to another monastery.” Father said: “No, don’t go, they won’t let you go from there to Optina, and the road will be very expensive.” Like a fur coat, the priest took my grief off me - so it became easy for me and I never asked to go anywhere again.” There was not even a shadow of partiality or people-pleasing in Elder Joseph. They will give him a large sum for remembrance, and the village woman will bring a simple towel - there is only one gratitude, both to the first and to the last: “God bless,” and a prosphora, a leaf, an icon for a blessing and a warm fatherly word as a parting word. He strictly fulfilled the word of the Lord: give to those who ask you, and to all who ask he gave what was possible. In addition to the mysterious influence of his blessed word on a person’s spiritual disposition, Father Joseph also had an undoubted gift of healing - both from passions and from bodily illnesses. One Shamorda nun suffered severely and for a long time from stomach pain. Neither their monastery medical benefits, nor the treatment of Kozel doctors not only helped, but did not even alleviate her suffering. The nun decided to try the last resort - to contact the Optina monk paramedic, a very experienced doctor. Knowing about this intention of the nun, Mother Superior, getting ready for Optina, invited her to go with her. The nun reluctantly accepted this invitation, knowing that the road would make her pain worse, and she would only embarrass and worry her mother. Upon arrival in Optina, they, of course, first of all went to the elder. The patient told him how she suffered from stomach problems. To this, the elder, smiling affectionately, remarked: “Have you come to see our doctors?” – And then, going up to the holy icons, he began to pray; after which he released the nun, telling her to go to the monastery hospital. The nun did this and brought with her a bottle of medicine, but then she noticed that she did not feel any pain. From then on, her illness disappeared without a trace, and the bottle of medicine remained untouched. G.A. reported that she suffered from severe headaches. One day, sitting in a shack, she felt such a strong migraine attack that she was even scared. Soon the elder came out for a blessing, and she could only say: “My head hurts really bad, father.” He smiled and hit her on the head. The pain went away instantly. When the elder left, she immediately told everyone out of joy; but in the evening her headache resumed. Realizing her mistake, the next day she conveyed this to the elder, who, having brought her senses, said: “Well, be patient: if it hurts, it will hurt and it will go away.” And indeed the headaches continued for a few more days, and then stopped completely. Mrs. E. says about herself: “When I was young, I smoked, despite the doctors’ prohibition, and it turned into a habit. No matter how many times I tried to quit smoking, I just couldn’t. Finally, in confession before Elder Joseph, I repented of this and asked for his holy prayers. The elder did not reproach me for this, but kindly said: “Don’t smoke, it’s bad for you,” and added: “Buy yourself some sage and instead of tobacco, put it in a cartridge and smoke.” But things didn’t go well for me; I couldn’t smoke sage, but continued to smoke tobacco. When I was in Optina, I again began to ask the elder to pray. “What, sage doesn’t smoke?” - the priest asked laughing and at the same time blessed me with the words: “Help me, Lord.” On the way out of the monastery, I felt a strong remorse. I was greatly influenced by the fact that the priest treated my weakness so kindly, without the slightest reproach, and I immediately quit smoking.” The same young lady recalled: “In the first week of Lent, I fasted and suffered greatly from pain in the lower back. When I told the elder about this, he told me to rub the sore spot with arnica. I fulfilled this command, and my pain completely disappeared; whereas before I tried all kinds of medications, and nothing helped. I firmly believe that I was saved from all my infirmities by the prayers of Father Joseph, and I am sure that my whole life went well only through his prayers.” One young woman came to Optina Pustyn with her young son, whose leg hurt so much that he could not even walk. They carried him in the arms of the Elder, and he already left Father Joseph’s cell on his own feet. One person, living in Optina, became very ill; she asked to be brought to the hut to the priest. He accepted her and, putting his rosary in her hands, went into the bedroom, saying: “Wait.” And when he left, she completely forgot about her illness. Peasant woman A. was sick. Her paracervical glands are very swollen. She had surgery twice, but the tumor grew even larger, so that she could not even turn her neck. She turned to the priest for advice: should she have surgery or not? He told her: “There is no need to do the operation, but serve a prayer service to the Great Martyr Panteleimon and you will get better.” The peasant woman served a prayer service and her tumor disappeared without a trace. One novice reports the following about herself: “Even during my father’s life, I had great sorrows. It was unspeakably difficult for me, and there was no person around me who sympathized with me. Finally, it got to the point where my chest hurt and my throat began to bleed, and I carried out my obedience with great difficulty, hiding my weakness from everyone. Meanwhile, the time for mowing had come; I had to go with the others, although I felt completely weak. I completely lost heart and since the evening I fervently asked the Queen of Heaven to help me. Having fallen asleep, I see that I am in a hut near the icon of the Mother of God “It is worthy to eat.” I'm waiting, but the priest doesn't accept me. Finally, the late abbess, to whom I was close, comes out and I say to her: “Mother, people ask the priest for their loved ones, why didn’t you ask for me?” “No, I asked the priest for you,” she answered. As soon as she said this, the priest himself came out of the door in a white robe and said three times: “Christ is risen!” I read in a dream: “It is worthy to eat...” - and, having read to the end, I rushed to the priest, telling him my sorrows and how my chest hurt. Then the priest rolled up the hem of his cassock and pressed it on the sore spot on his chest, saying, I remember, “God is merciful.” Then he caressed me, and I woke up completely healthy. And to this day, my chest has never hurt like that again. When I actually got to the priest, I told him how he healed me in a dream and the priest, after listening, said: “Well, thank God! Is it completely gone? Doesn't it hurt now? Well, thank God!” O.D. talked about a case of sudden help that happened to him from just remembering the name of the elder. Having been at the monastery dacha, he obediently came to the monastery to buy fish for some holiday. Having finished all his business, he went to the elder to receive a blessing and went back. His dear horse got scared of something and bolted; Moreover, the roller got under the line and irritated the frightened horse even more. O. D. jumped out of the cart and said to himself: “Father, I went with your blessing.” And as soon as he mentioned the elder’s name, his horse stopped snoring, trembling all over. He approached her, straightened her out, led her onto the road and drove on safely. And in general, through the prayers of Fr. Joseph, the Lord often sent His miraculous help where people could no longer do anything. One of these remarkable cases is related by Mrs. T., the elder’s spiritual daughter: “My husband, a man who has little faith in God, fell ill with a severe nervous disorder. He contacted all the famous doctors, was treated in various ways, but did not receive any help from the treatment. I respected and loved Elder Joseph very much and from the very beginning I turned to him with my spiritual troubles, and now, in such a painful time for me, I, of course, more than once turned to him both for prayerful help and for advice on what to do with my sick husband. Before my husband and I went to Moscow to see the doctors, I received a letter from my father, where he told me to tell my husband that he should definitely go there and partake of the Holy Mysteries. At the same time, I thought that it was useless to convey such advice to my husband, but to my great amazement, my husband, although reluctantly, nevertheless agreed to join, which he did in one of the Moscow churches. After communion, there seemed to be some improvement, but not for long, and the first severe attacks of melancholy, palpitations and weakness resumed with even greater force. I began to lose heart, and my husband grew weaker and could not engage in his usual activities. Despair attacked me and dark thoughts entered my head. But once in January, in cold weather, my husband says to me: “Let’s go to Optina.” Knowing how my husband felt about religion in general, I could not believe the seriousness of his intentions and ignored his words. The next day, returning from service, my husband asks me: “What are you up to, we’re going to Optina tomorrow.” It was so unexpected for me, so new that in the depths of my soul I understood the power of Father Joseph’s prayer. On January 30th we left for Optina and upon arrival there we immediately went to the elder, who received first my husband and then me. I don’t know what they were talking about, but when I went to the elder, the priest told me: “No, he’s okay.” Then the elder ordered us both to speak a fast, and on Candlemas we partook of the Holy Mysteries. For the prayers of the righteous elder, my husband patiently stood through all the long Optina services and fulfilled all the required rules. The elder himself confessed. After drinking tea, we went to the hut, and the priest again received us separately. He gave his husband a small neck icon of the Chernigov Mother of God and St. Theodosius is on the other side and, blessing him, said: “This is a keepsake for you.” Then the priest called me and told me that today after Vespers we should go to Tikhon’s Hermitage to serve a prayer service with an akathist at the relics of St. Tikhon and immediately go to St. a well, where after a short prayer service you will certainly take a swim in the spring, after which, after drinking tea, you will immediately leave for Oryol. Listening to this and remembering that it was cold February, I thought that my husband would never agree to do this and told this to the priest. He answered me: “Well, then ask the monk to pour heated water from the source on him; It would be better to take a swim. Consumptives bathe there and receive healing.” After listening to the priest’s words, I only asked for his holy prayers. In the evening we went to Tikhonova Pustyn. At night a strong cold blizzard arose, and we had difficulty getting from the station to the monastery. There we found the end of early mass and then held a prayer service to St. Tikhon with an akathist. It's time to go to the source. My husband’s mood changed, and he began to hesitate, saying: “Well, how can we go in this weather?” I mentally called upon the elder’s precious prayers and, as best I could, persuaded and hurried my husband to fulfill the priest’s blessing. Suddenly my husband immediately decided to go. The horses were ready, and I took more warm clothes and we went to the well. The blizzard was terrible and cold, not a single soul was met along the road. Having arrived there and served a prayer service, my husband and the monk went to the men's bath, and I to the women's. There was no one there: the floor was covered with ice. Having immersed myself three times, I quickly got dressed and went out into the courtyard, where I saw my husband standing already in a fur coat. It flashed in my head: “I didn’t swim.” But to great joy, he told me that he had a wonderful bath. We soon reached the hotel, where a samovar and lunch were waiting for us. The husband was cheerful, calm, and found everything very tasty, whereas throughout his illness he had no appetite for anything. With the elder’s blessing, we left for Oryol that same day, where my husband has since apparently begun to recover, and now, through the elder’s prayers, he is completely healthy and is still engaged in his service.” In the case described here, the power of the prayers of the holy elder comes out especially clearly. Who could make a revolution in the soul of a person of little faith and, without any external influence, force him to voluntarily submit to all the extremely difficult demands of a simple monk. On the other hand, in this circumstance one can still see the deep humility of the true elder. O. Joseph, like his teacher, Elder Ambrose, never openly revealed his gifts, sending the sick and suffering to holy places. There are so many cases in which his gift of insight, the fruit of his humble soul enlightened by grace, was clearly revealed that it is impossible to convey them all. We will share the most remarkable ones here. One gentleman, an employee of a private railway, wanted to change his place to a more advantageous one. Having previously turned to Elder Ambrose on such important occasions, he was now very sad that he did not have a person from whom he could ask for advice with faith. After some hesitation, he decided to accept the offered advantageous place and said to his wife: “Now, if Father Ambrose were alive, I would ask him what I should do - and I would be at peace.” To this his wife told him: “Let’s go to his student, Father Fr. Joseph, he is now an old man, ask him.” “Why am I going to see Fr. Joseph, - I have no faith in him, and therefore I cannot ask his advice.” “Well, although you will receive a blessing in a new place, it will be better,” says the wife. “Well, maybe just accept the blessing,” he agreed, “but I won’t ask him; “But I’ve already completely decided.” We arrived in Optina, went to the grave of Elder Ambrose, where the visiting gentleman even began to cry with grief. The wife finally tells him: “Let’s go now to Father Joseph.” “Come on,” he said, “I will accept the blessing and leave; and you, if you want, stay.” The elder soon received the newcomers, and the gentleman was the first to talk about being offered a good place. “It’s in vain,” the elder tells him, “I don’t advise you to change; here you can receive awards and earn a pension, and therefore it will be more profitable for you than the position that is offered to you.” “But what kind of pension can there be,” the gentleman objects, “after all, my service is not official.” “No, still wait a little,” the elder finished affirmatively. The gentleman left the elder in great excitement and confusion and said to his wife: “What am I waiting for? I’ll just miss out on an advantageous place.” But his wife persuaded him to listen to the elder and at least wait a little. “If you miss this place, God will send another,” she said. Finally, he agreed to wait. So what? Soon this railway will be transferred to the treasury, and the service will become a state service; and this gentleman receives a reward and the right to a pension, so the elder’s words came true exactly. This place became more profitable than the one that was offered to him. Afterwards, the gentleman deliberately came to the elder and sincerely thanked him. The wealthy Kozlov landowner, having read with enthusiasm the biography of Elder Ambrose, invited her two daughters, who had just graduated from college, to go to Optina Pustyn. The youngest daughter readily agreed, but the eldest did not want to, since they were expecting a large company of guests and young people to come to their estate, and they were supposed to have fun. Her mother tried to persuade her, but she begged her to leave her at home with the governess. The landowner and her youngest daughter arrived in Optina, where they both liked it so much that they wanted to stay longer. The hotel owner advised them to go to Fr. archimandrite and then look at the available premises. Having come to the elder for the blessing, they told him that they liked it here so much that they would like to stay longer. But the priest so decisively and seriously said to this: “No, we must go home quickly.” This answer surprised them very much, and they were perplexed why the priest treated them so unfriendly, and even persecuted them. The next day they went to the shack again. The elder, coming out for the blessing and seeing them, said sternly: “What, are you still here? “Hurry up, go,” and quickly turning around, he went home, saying, already going up the steps: “Otherwise, you probably won’t even find the coffin.” Many who were in the hut heard these words, which made a grave impression on everyone. The landowner finally became very alarmed and, despite the hotel manager’s entreaties, she immediately packed up and left. Approaching their house, they were surprised to see a large crowd of people at the porch, and soon a coffin appeared from the door. It turned out that the eldest daughter, having refused a trip to Optina, while riding a horse, fell from her horse and was killed. One family celebrated Easter in Optina Pustina. After Vespers, they came to the elder to say goodbye, since a hired cab driver was supposed to come for them. But the priest told them: “No, you stay and attend Matins and Mass tomorrow; The service will be solemn, and Archimandrite Agapit will serve. They replied that there was no way for them to stay, since a cab driver had been hired, and he would not agree to wait for them until tomorrow. But the elder said again: “No, he will not come.” Arriving at the room, they began to wait for the cab driver, who actually did not come, and they stayed. It turned out that there was a storm on the river and it was impossible to move. One person, having a desire to see Fr. Ambrosia was about to go to Optina, but her relatives dissuaded her, frightening her with the distance and difficulty of the journey. In October, she read in the newspapers about the death of the elder. Grief and repentance that, out of cowardice, she had deprived herself forever of the blessing of such a great old man, overwhelmed her. Then she sees in a dream that Fr. Ambrose blesses her and her sister with enamel icons. She doesn’t remember what images they were; only on one image there were a lot of faces, and on the other several. After this, she wrote to her friend in Shamordino, asking her to obtain from Mother Abbess some of the icons left by Elder Ambrose for her blessing. But by this time all the small things had already been distributed, and there was nothing to send her. Then her Shamorda friend, who was in Optina, told Father Fr. about this. Joseph. The elder said: “Go to the shop and ask for a box with enamel images of your previous purchase and, crossing yourself, lower your hand into the box; The first icon you come across is the blessing of R. b. Sofia, and the second - her sisters. A friend did just that. Imagine her amazement when she saw that the first image was the saints of Kyiv (many faces), and the second was the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael (several faces). Having previously placed these icons on the grave of the elder Fr. Ambrose, the Shamordin nun sent them to her friend and soon received an answer from her, full of gratitude and surprise, because... the icons turned out to be exactly the same as those she had seen in her dream. In addition, after some time, her husband was transferred for service to Kyiv, where they lived first near the Lavra, and then near the St. Michael’s Monastery. One very devoted person to the elder, being completely free, settled near Optina Pustyn to be closer to Father Fr. Joseph. At one time she strongly succumbed to the disturbing thought that she was only bothering the old man in vain, and that she had no reason to live here at all. With these thoughts she went to the monastery, deciding in her heart that she was going to the shack for the last time. The elder accepted her for blessing; and just as she wanted to tell him why she had come, she was struck by the appearance of the old man: streams of rays poured from his eyes. She was dumbfounded; and the elder smiled tenderly, hit her on the head and blessed her, saying: “You’d better write me confession books.” The expression on the elder’s face was as if he were saying: did you understand?! And at the same time he handed her a book with the words: “Here, read it.” The title of the book was: “Blind Faith and Dead Faith.” The same person tells. Not receiving letters from her son for a long time, she asked the elder if he had died, and how to remember him? The elder replied: “It doesn’t matter how you remember it, just remember it.” From this answer she concluded that her son had died, and soon she actually received news of his death. She became tetanus: she did not want to cry, or pray, or even go to the elder, considering her life to be over. Reaching madness in her grief, she somehow wrote to the elder about her condition, and sent him with the monastery buyer to Optina (she lived in Kozelsk). At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon everything went away with her. And she felt light in her soul. Later it turned out that at that very hour the elder went out into the hut for a blessing and, seeing her cousin, said: “G. writes that her Lelya died.” There is no doubt that the elder, having received her mournful letter, prayed for her, and the power of his prayer saved her from despair. Nun V. was subject to melancholy and despondency. One day she came to the elder and, telling him that she could not find any place from the melancholy that oppressed her, asked to let her go to her brother in America, where he occupied a prominent position and whom she had not seen for a long time. Father told her to this: “No, let’s better communicate with you more often; where should we go to America? Let's go any closer and we won't get there! After all, you and I don’t have much time left to live.” This nun, who was always afraid of death, accepted these words of the elder calmly and began to prepare for the transition to another world. This was in August 1910, and in November of the same year she went to a neighboring monastery for vespers and there she suddenly died in the church.” Two sisters lived in the B-monastery. One of them died. The rest begged to go to Optina to consult with the elder; she wanted to get herself a lodger. The elder did not bless her for this, saying: “Live alone for now, and when you get sick, go quickly and ask Mother Superior to tonsure you into a mantle.” She was extremely surprised by the elder’s words: she felt completely healthy. Time passed and everyone forgot about it. Suddenly she becomes seriously ill. Remembering the words of the elder, she already in the heat went to Mother Abbess and asked for tonsure. The doctor declared her hopeless; She was tonsured, and on the 4th day she died quietly and peacefully during Easter week. Three people came to the priest; To one of them, the healthiest, the priest brought out a bundle and handed it to him and said: “Take it, it might be useful for something.” Arriving at the room, she unwrapped the package; There were various rags in it. They laughed at the gift and soon left. Exactly a year later, the recipient of the strange gift developed wounds, and all the rags were used for lotions. Elder E.’s spiritual daughter reported that when she was in Optina Pustyn, due to the scarcity of funds, she wanted to go back to Belev by freight train. Father told her: “You won’t have to,” and gave her 50 kopecks. Arriving at the station, she missed three trains that didn’t take her, and if it weren’t for her father’s 50 kopecks, she would have had to walk. One Belevo novice was visiting Shamordino and kept asking the elder to leave her there completely, since it was difficult for her to live in her own monastery, but the priest said: “We have to live in Belevo somehow.” Although one nun agreed to take her into her cell, she really had to live “somehow.” The novice grieved and again asked to go to Shamordino, saying that she had nowhere to live in the Belevsky Monastery. But the elder again rejected her, saying: “Wait a little, you’ll be putting money in the bank yourself.” And in fact: through the prayers of the elder, God sent her benefactors, who began to be sent to her, and she little by little saved for a book. Mother M. said that in 1899 a large building was built next to her cell. Somehow there was a mistake in size, and the new frame fit right up to her wall, making the cell completely dark. She came with her grief to Father Joseph, who calmed her down, saying: “Well, don’t mourn; The Lord will make you even better; You will have a large, bright cell.” She thought that it was the priest talking about her death, but soon Mother Superior gave her another cell, larger and brighter than the previous one. But then a new misfortune happened: the cell turned out to be thin. Having somehow corrected it, the carpenters said that it would still hold up for another five years. Arriving at the elder, she told him everything. Father said: “You repaired it in vain, you wasted your money in vain, it won’t last even a year; all the pillars under it have rotted, it rests on one thing.” And then he explained in detail how to fix it. “Father, where will I get money for my recovery?” - she said. “Borrow,” the elder answered, and at the same time took 10 rubles from the table, saying: “Borrow from someone else, and when you have the money, you will give it back.” Not daring to contradict the elder, she borrowed money and repaired the cell, which turned out to be, as the elder said, completely rotten and could crush them. After the amendment, she had no money and nowhere to wait, and she was very sad that she did not pay off her debt. Having been to Optina, she asked the elder for forgiveness for not bringing the debt again. The elder said: “They will be soon, then you will give it back.” Soon she received a summons for 10 rubles. and could not understand where the Lord was sending this to her. It turned out that her uncle, who had never helped her during his life, had died, and now his wife had sent this money for him. A landowner family arrived in Optina. The father did not recognize the elders and went to Father Joseph only for one blessing, never talking about anything. When his daughters, who greatly respected the elder, came to him, the priest began to tell them that the bricks on their estate prepared for the construction of a bell tower were worthless. The young ladies, who had just left home and had not heard anything about this, were very surprised and thought that probably their father had found out about this just before leaving and now, contrary to his custom, he told his priest about this failure. Arriving at the hotel, they turned to their father: “Dad, you didn’t tell us anything, it turns out our bricks are damaged?” “What bricks? I don’t know anything?” “But you told the priest about this - we heard from the priest?!” The landowner got angry and said: “You know that I never talk about anything with your father, I received a blessing and left.” Returning home, he found out that their contractor had gotten drunk, misplaced the bricks, and they were all gone. Another lady came to ask for blessings to remodel a house on the estate. The elder began to ask what and where she was thinking of moving. She began to explain to him, and the priest began to draw a plan on the table with his finger, saying: “Here is your entrance, and there is the dining room, and here is this.” The lady was so carried away by this drawing that only after leaving the elder she realized: how could the priest know the location of her house so accurately. Before the coronation, one person said at the general blessing: “Father, what celebrations are being prepared,” and the elder replied: “Celebrations are being prepared, but there would be no misfortune!” Nun L. reports about herself: “In 1908, on August 2, I and my cell came to Optina Pustyn. Where we especially wanted to go was to Father Ambrose’s grave, and we also wanted to receive benefit and edification from the elders, but we were more drawn to Father Joseph. Upon arrival in the Hermitage, something incomprehensible happened to me - I felt slightly unwell and I could not go to the elder. Finally, giving in to my cell's arguments, I went. On the way, I kept thinking: why am I going, they say there are a lot of visitors, the elder sends everyone to Shamordino, to Tikhon’s Hermitage. I can’t do this: I have no money, and it’s not good for me to swim. You can’t confess to the elder, you’ll tire him out, and I’ll have to receive unction without it. But here we are with the old man; I stand silently, looking at him. Suddenly he spoke quietly, affectionately: “Well, what are you doing, what? Look: a portrait of Elder Ambrose, here is his bed, here is his entire cell, he also received the same treatment as I did, sick, sitting on the bed.” It was as if the icy crust had fallen from my heart; I felt so at ease. I was no longer silent; thoughts one after another rolled off the tongue. I didn’t have time to express the whole thought before the elder gave me an answer. Then he says again: “Why were you afraid to come? True, you don’t have money for a trip to Shamordino and Tikhonova, and you can’t even swim; do you want to see the Mother of God? - the elder answered my thought, - Today she will be with you in your cell. I can’t confess you - I haven’t confessed anyone for a long time, but come to Fr. Sergius. He will confess you and give you unction.” My cell room was also comforted. We cried with joy. We reach the monastery, we see a religious procession with the Kaluga icon of the Mother of God, accidentally brought from Kozelsk. And soon an icon of the Mother of God was brought to our room. The next day, having received communion and received unction, we rush to the priest. He greets us with the words: “Well, it’s really so good, easy, joyful. Talk, the Lord pleased. After all, God’s mercy happened to you!” And the mercy of God really happened to us, which the elder did not know about, only the confessor knew. The elder spoke briefly, but with a heartfelt spiritual tone; I didn’t want to leave him, but I had to give room to others. Then the next day, having bought a rosary and a portrait of the elder and several leaves of spiritual content, we went to the priest. Having come to him, I only had time to think: how nice it would be if the priest gave me a rosary from his hand, - as the old man smiled, quickly took the rosary from his hand and put it on my hand, and at the same time he put my rosary on his hand. Tears flowed like hail, I could only say: “Dear father, did I expect this!” The elder was wearing a cap, suddenly he takes the cap off his head, turns to my cell, straightens the hair on his head and, smiling, puts it on again. My cell burst into tears and threw herself at the elder’s feet, thanking him for something. Father also blessed her with rosary beads. I wondered what this meant. It turned out that my cell thought: our card is not similar; Now, if the priest was without a hat (on our card the priest was without a hat). The very next day we came to say goodbye to the priest. Not wanting to tire the old man, we remained in the corridor waiting for him to come out. Soon the door clicked and the priest came out. Well, what a sight he had! Light literally emanated from his face. It was so white and youthfully bright that we involuntarily shuddered and lowered our eyes. Father looked at us, and he had such a gentle, gracious look that it is impossible to convey and it seems you will never forget it. He turned sharply away from us, so we didn’t have time to say goodbye. I had to come the next day and say goodbye to the elder. Afterwards we were told that on this day the priest received communion. We also visited the elder in 1910. The whole conversation already had the character of the latter. Everything was sorted out down to the smallest detail and provided for by the elder. And again he postponed my trip to Shamordino, saying that we would not have time. And indeed there was no time. Saying goodbye to the priest, we asked: will the priest bless us to visit him again? He smiled meekly and cheerfully and said: “Well, visit; God knows, God knows." These lines are true, to which the Lord is Witness. And now this lamp, this wondrous crystal-clear soul, is no longer among us. And my heart aches painfully..." Nun M. Sh. recalled: “One young lady writes to me and asks me to tell the priest that three grooms are wooing her, which of them should she marry? She doesn't like the 1st and 3rd, but she likes the 2nd. Father replied: “For Nikolai, for the third, otherwise things will be bad.” I was amazed. Neither she wrote to me what the names of her suitors were, nor did I tell the priest anything. I wrote my father’s answer to the young lady. She writes for the second time that she does not like this groom. Father again says: “In my opinion, it’s better for her to follow Nikolai, and not listen as she wants.” She obeyed and married Nikolai and still live very happily. And a misfortune happened to the groom she liked - while crossing a river, he drowned.” One asked the priest at the general blessing: “What should I do, I’m very sad, they say my daughter on the other side died?” Father says: “Who told you? No, that's not true, she's alive. Pray for her health." The Rassophore novice M. says about herself: “I entered the monastery with a sincere desire, but I was very poor. There was absolutely nothing to live with. I thought so and told my nuns: I will go into the world, enter a place, earn money for myself, and then I will come and dress in black. I lived in the monastery for almost a year, taking a closer look at monastic life and saw that it was impossible to live without means, but I left this decision to the priest. We come to the priest, all three of us come to him, and he says: “Two nuns came to me, and one was a laywoman. This worldly woman lives in the monastery for a long time, the sisters tell her: “Get dressed,” but she has nothing to wear, she says: Well, I’ll go into the world, I’ll earn money for myself and then I’ll get dressed.” We were all amazed, as if the elder had overheard our entire conversation. The head nun asks the priest: “What, father, will you bless her to go or not?” The elder hit her with the rosary and said: “No.” Then he stopped talking. And when I was alone with the priest, I explained my condition to him, he said: “Don’t go, God will send you a place, and you will live well in the monastery.” And so it happened. I was taken as a cell attendant, and I also lived in a government cell. Then the priest predicted to me that I would live with M.K. I lived for three years and went home. I arrive, Mother Superior gives her blessing to Mother K. as a cell attendant, who accepted me as if she were her own. So the priest’s words came true, and I still live very well.” I'll tell you more about my sister. “We came with her to the priest. Sister is blessed to buy a house. Father says: “We’ll buy a house, but who will live in it?” And beyond all expectation, a change occurred. Her husband bought 7 acres of land and began to think about building a house, but his sister didn’t want to. She went to the priest to ask about it. Father said: “It’s not necessary,” and he turned to the window. His face became mournful and serious. This was not hidden from me; suddenly the elder said abruptly: “No need, as long as you receive a salary - that’s enough.” Subsequently it turned out that my sister’s husband became a drunkard. He was fired from his job. My sister divorced her husband, went to Tashkent and got hired.” A relative of one novice, fearing for his sick mother and sister, that in the event of his death they might be offended by the son-in-law with whom they lived together, was blessed by the priest to separate. The priest replied: “No, it’s not necessary, sometimes a healthy tree falls, and sometimes a rotten tree creaks.” And so it turned out that the healthy son-in-law died, but the sick ones lived. From O.M.’s notes: “My brother disappeared for 10 years unknown where. I was very sad for him. I was afraid that he might become an unbeliever and wondered whether he was alive or not, and didn’t know: how to pray for him? With this sorrow I turned to my father. Out of his deep humility, he would never say it directly, but pretends that he knows nothing and says this: “Who knows, they will go far, settle down there and forget about everyone, and he decisively added: pray for his health, because it happens that a rumor will come out that he is alive.” And so it happened. After the death of my father, they began to make inquiries about him to approve the inheritance. And well, it turned out to everyone’s surprise that my brother was alive and well.” One nun buried her aunt and was very sad for her. He comes to the priest, tells his grief, and the priest says: “Well, what to do, in the summer you will go to your relatives, you will also stop by Kyiv, and pray there.” She replies that there is no way this can happen. But contrary to all expectations, it happened - there were people who took her for free. One Belev novice, a singer, was removed from the choir for some offense. She was very sad that she was left without obedience. I asked the priest for his blessing to ask for obedience. The priest answered her: “They don’t ask for obedience, wait until they give it; Better go to Matins more often, they’ll look at you and give you something.” And after a while she was given obedience. The same novice was blessed by the priest to decorate her cell at her own expense. The elder did not bless, saying: “No need, you won’t have to live there!” Soon she was transferred to another cell. One young lady (the priest’s spiritual daughter) had a stomach ache. She comes to the priest and says that she is being treated and on fasting days she eats meat. To this, the priest tells her: “It’s possible to be treated, but you need to eat lean food; You’d better take care of your throat and treat it.” The young lady never thought that she had a sore throat; She didn’t notice anything special, only once her voice somehow dropped. She went to the doctor to have her throat examined, who found that if it had not been caught in time, there could have been throat consumption. And only three years later her throat was completely cured. One nun was blessed by the priest to go to Saratov. Father blessed and added: “As soon as misfortune happens to you, you will have to be patient.” She went and stayed very well. On the way back, she thought: what did the priest say that she would have to endure, but what a good stay she had. She didn't get to the monastery until all her luggage disappeared. One poor nun had to buy a cell inexpensively. She finished it off and went with her joy to the priest. The elder said to her: “Why did you finish her off? All the pillars of your cell are rotten; it will collapse soon.” The nun began to assure that it was unnoticed, but the priest said: “Still, look, otherwise it will fall over.” Arriving home, the nun called the carpenter. It turned out that the cell was barely standing - the pillars were all rotten. Nun A.G. says: “My sister, a religious woman who had good health, lived a very happy and rich married life. She loved the priest very much and always wrote to him before the birth of her children, asking for his blessing and St. prayers. And this time she wrote to the elder. Having received an answer from him, she became thoughtful and began to prepare for death, saying that she would certainly die. Everyone laughed at her; The husband was even offended - suddenly a healthy, young, full of strength woman was going to die - but she made her preparations, took communion, and 10 hours after the birth of her daughter, she quietly, peacefully died with full memory. For three days they did not dare to bury her and only after examination by a doctor on the 4th day they buried her. Her daughter is still alive today. Obviously, the elder’s letters contained a warning to her.” A. Ch. reports about himself: “For the first time, my husband and I came to see the priest. He gave me the book “The Royal Way of the Cross of the Lord.” I tell the priest that my cross is already heavy; My husband is sick, I myself am sick, my funds are small. Father remained silent to this. Soon after arriving from Optina, my husband was fired from his job and four years later I took him to Moscow for treatment at a clinic. First we stopped by the priest to ask for a blessing. Father left us to live in Optina until spring. At the end of this period, my husband again decided to go and did not know what way of life he should choose. I went to the priest to ask: how will he bless? The elder thought seriously and said: “God will bless you to stay and end your life here.” With tears of sincere joy, I fell to the priest and thanked him. My husband was also pleased and thanked the priest, and was not going anywhere else. A year later he fell ill with dropsy and had severe swelling of his legs. I got scared, turned to the priest, asked him to allow him to eat fasting food, since it was fasting. Father did not allow it and said: “Don’t be afraid, he will not die from this disease.” And he really didn't die. But three years later he fell ill again with a different disease. I'm going to see my father; he says to me: “Well, now prepare him for death.” And three days later he died. I was very sad and asked the priest for his blessing to go to Voronezh to visit my husband’s relatives and pray to Saint Mitrophania. Father blessed me, and as soon as I come to say goodbye to him, he will say: “No, don’t go this year.” So this was repeated for two years, and in the third year the priest blessed and said: “Go, and by the way, get treatment there.” Upon arrival in Voronezh, I went to the doctor. They convened a consultation and after examination they found that I had a serious illness; You definitely need to have surgery. I wrote to the priest; he gave his blessing to do the operation. It scared me terribly. Especially when I saw all the operational preparations, a nagging fear took possession of me, but as soon as I called on the name of the elder, mentally asking for his holy prayers, the fear passed; I felt so at ease. So it happened twice before the operation itself. Thanks to the priest’s prayers, the operation was performed safely. I was still unwell, but the priest did not bless me to go to the doctors anymore, saying: “This is your cross, bear it complacently and patiently. Doctors won’t help you now, but if you want, then go at your own risk, and I won’t bless you.” One person reports. “In 1905, for the first time, I came to Optina Pustyn, as if to stay and relax at the dacha. I did not recognize the elders and did not want to contact them. Once I went out into the forest for a walk and met nun M., a complete stranger to me, who was going to the monastery. We started talking, and she invited me to go with her to Father Joseph. I sharply refused, but finally, after intense requests, I gave in to her wishes and went. Arriving at the monastery and seeing many nuns, I again regretted why I came here. I didn’t even know what to talk about with the elder. Before I had time to sit down, the priest’s cell attendant came up to me and asked: “What, do you need to see the elder?” I don’t know why I said: yes it is necessary. I was immediately called to the elder, and I didn’t know where to start. The elder asked: “Why did you come?” I said that I was sick and came to the dacha to stay. Father says: “There are no dachas here, and you don’t have any money and there’s nothing for you to do here.” I didn't have any money, though. Not knowing what I was sick with, he asked me directly: “Why are you very irritable?” I had a severe nervous breakdown. I left my father’s office very dissatisfied with the fact that I was not blessed to live here. I decided to bypass the elder and asked the archimandrite. The archimandrite gave permission, and I sat down to write a letter to my sister. Before I had time to write a few lines, someone punched me in the hand. I couldn’t write anymore; the thought immediately came to me that I had disobeyed the elder. I went to the monastery to ask forgiveness for disobedience. Father says: “You don’t listen, but I tell you - leave, otherwise it will be too late.” Two days later I left for Tikhonova, and from there I returned to T. There I found my friend V.D. very ill. She had ulcers in her intestines, and doctors refused to treat her. I gave her an icon of St. Tikhon and water from the well. I don’t know how the patient prayed, but only the next day she felt better. Then her illness completely passed, and she asked me to take her to Tikhonova and Optina. Only then did I understand why the priest said: “it will be too late.” I had already decided not to do anything without the elder’s blessing and wrote to him whether he would bless me to go with my friend or not, that I didn’t even have money for the trip. Father answered that I should go accompany the sick woman, and God would send money for the trip. Soon my family gave me money, and we went. In 1906 I was again in Optina. When I returned, I, I don’t know why, decided to visit P.P., with whom I knew very little. She was sick at the time; I found her in a terribly helpless state. Doctors could not make the correct diagnosis; one said one thing, the other another, they determined a kidney stone, and the poor patient suffered both physically and morally; She was an unbeliever and had not received communion for many years. She was very happy to see me and find out where I spent the summer, and asked me to tell me what kind of Optina it was. The patient listened very willingly, especially about the elder, and asked to write to the elder about her illness, if possible. I wrote. A month has passed, but there is still no answer, the patient decides to have an operation, since her illness is worsening, and says: “What can a simple monk understand about this?” The day before the operation, the patient makes an order in case of death. I advise her to take communion; the patient does not agree, saying: “I don’t want to break the comedy - anyway, I don’t believe in anything.” On the eve of the operation itself, the patient receives a letter from the priest in which he advises first of all to join and then perform the operation, and without this the operation will not help. And as soon as the sick woman read the priest’s letter, a change occurred in her, and she immediately demanded a priest, who just at that time administered unction to one sick woman. After talking a little with the priest, the communion was postponed until tomorrow, since she drank milk that day. On the day of the operation, the patient took communion. The operation was performed safely; There was a huge abscess on the kidney. The patient had already begun to recover, when suddenly a letter from the priest: “If the patient becomes weak, then I advise you to give her communion.” This letter surprised us, because she was already getting ready to be discharged. So what? A few days later, her healthy kidney becomes severely inflamed, the whole body is poisoned, and severe uremic seizures occur. She is unconscious, her pulse stops; doctors have already sentenced her to death. And then there’s a letter from the priest, where he advises giving unction to the sick woman. And on the same day the patient feels better, and a slow recovery begins. Finally, she makes a complete recovery." One woman asked the priest: “What should I do, my son has been missing for 4 years now, no one knows where.” She already considered him dead. The priest replies: “Serve a prayer service to the Kazan Mother of God, pray for health - your son will be found.” And after a while her son sent her 10 rubles and wrote where he lives. The mother cried with joy all day. One person, leaving Optina, saying goodbye to her father, said: “When I come, what will I do without work, where can I get a job?” And the priest said to her: “What kind of work is there for a sick person, after all, it’s really difficult for a sick person to work?” And a week later her hands hurt so much that she could not only work, but even hold a glass in her hands. Optina novice D. says about himself: “I came to Optina for the first time in 1891. The elder at that time was the famous mentor of human souls, Father Ambrose, whom I found in the then newly built Shamordino monastery, his own brainchild, where he was at the Rudnevo dacha. I expressed to the priest my desire that I wanted to be a monk. The priest says: “You will be a monk, but wait until your brother grows up.” I, afraid that my desire would disappear, since my brother was only 7 years old, told the priest about this, and he so affirmatively said that the desire would not disappear, I would become a monk. Then the elder asked what craft I was doing (I was a carpenter) and ordered me to make a box in the Shamorda workshop, showing what size it was. Two days later I brought the box; Father praised me, gave me prosphora and blessed me with the icon of the Savior. I was honored to talk to the priest; I had a lot on my conscience, and the priest told me everything with amazing detail, as if he was with me. I didn’t even think about talking about many things - I had unconfessed sins. Since then they have not happened again. Soon Elder Ambrose died. I have already arrived to his successor, Father Fr. Joseph. I told him everything about myself and what Father Ambrose told me, and he said: “You will live up to 40 years in the world, (and I was only 20 years old), it is the will of God; Until your household affairs are settled, you need to live.” And so it happened; I lived in the world until I was 40 years old. For 20 years I went to Father Joseph twice a year. And what benefits did I receive for my soul! Sometimes you came to him with a fallen spirit, as if there was a stone on your soul, but you left with resurrected hope; so easy, good. Moreover, as soon as you enter the monastery, your soul becomes lighter. You ask the cell attendant: “How is priest’s health?” “Father is weak,” is the usual answer lately, “but I’ll report now.” You go to the old man; He, smiling, asks: “How are you?” You still don’t know where to start, but the priest himself, in the spirit of insight, will tell you why he came this time. And you feel that all the hardship is over. I saw many cases of insight from the priest. I always confessed to him. Once, when I was going to Optina, I imagined that the priest would not confess me and would drive me away. I go in to the priest, and he says: “Come tomorrow. I will confess you, I will not drive you away.” My sister was wooed by a groom, a trading man, one of the merchants. He asked for a dowry and 500 rubles of money. We all liked him, I wrote to the priest, asking for his blessing. The priest replies: “He is asking for money because he needs it to pay his debts, and there is no need to give his sister for him without money. Find out everything about him thoroughly.” It turns out that he really owed a lot, and at the same time he was a big drunk. We also needed to build a house, but a ready-made one was for sale next door. We didn't like him. I asked the priest how he would bless? The priest says: “God bless you, buy it, just first serve the prayer service to St. Nicholas." We served a prayer service and bought it at a very good price. With everything, with the restructuring, it became 690 rubles, bright, spacious, and a new one costs 1000 rubles. you can't line it up. One day I came to see my father and, after spending a little time in Optina, I asked to go to Shamordino. The priest says: “God bless you, but now there’s nowhere to hire horses, go on foot, and from there, you’ll see, someone else will be happy to give you a ride just a little bit away.” I stayed in Shamordin for a day, and in the morning I came out and two carts were coming. A man catches up with me and says: “Where are you going? Sit down, I’ll give you a ride.” I asked how much, and he said: “At least you’ll give me a penny, and then thank you.” I came to the priest, I told him, and he just smiled at this and blessed me to go to dinner. How many times did I come to my father in order to leave the world, he kept putting it off. Finally, this year I came to my father during Christmas time. In great confusion of spirit, he went in to him, thinking that he would not leave again. And the priest congratulated me on the New Year and said: “Now it’s time, stay in the monastery, otherwise you will suffer. Your household chores will go better without you. Ask the archimandrite to take you into the monastery, but there is no place in the monastery.” And now it’s been the 6th month that I’ve been living in the monastery. My household affairs are going great. But there is no dear elder, resolver, comforter in all the sorrowful circumstances of life. Eternal memory to you, our dear, unforgettable father! How sad and difficult it is to see the monastery without you. He left us orphans and moved away from us to where there is a home for everyone who wants it, and with the sight of your modest grave you call us, as you instructed us during your lifetime, to march there, to the eternal, never-ending kingdom.” One person found two benefactors who began to help her. Getting ready to write to them, she asks the priest for his blessing. Father, listening to the first name, said: “God bless you, write.” But he kept silent about the second one. To a secondary question, he said: “Write, but she won’t read your letter.” She wrote, but received a response from others with a message about the death of this lady. One sister says: “In 1902, I came to the priest and ended up with him during Compline. Upon entering, I asked about one of my affairs, whether M. N was writing about it? Father replied: “No, he doesn’t write anything. But O. writes everything there, asking to come. There is no time to write an answer, but tell her in words: “God bless her, let her ask only after fasting, otherwise there are a lot of people now.” The next day I went to my monastery, and on the same day I conveyed Father’s words to M. O. very calmly. But at that very moment she had an expression of extraordinary amazement on her face. When I asked the reason, she told me that she had not written anything to the priest regarding her desire to come. And during Compline she wrote me a note so that I would get my father’s blessing for her to come, but she didn’t have time to send me the note. Then I understood why the priest emphasized the word “there” - he spoke at the very time when M. O. was writing and in the very same expressions he gave the answers with which her note was written.” At Optina Pustyn, monk D. tells the following about himself: “In my early youth I had a desire to enter a monastery. On this occasion I came to Optina Pustyn. The late great elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose was alive then. I explained my desire to him, but he told me to wait until the end of the term. I didn’t understand what period he was talking about, I just realized that it was not time for me to enter the monastery. So I went to my city of V., where I soon took a position in the shop of a merchant. After living with him for three years, while looking through an advertisement in the Niva magazine, I saw a notice that Elder Ambrose had died. This news struck me very much, and I decided to go to Optina immediately in the hope of at least catching the burial of the revered elder, despite the displeasure of my host. But to their great regret, the body of the deceased elder had already been buried. He was replaced by his close disciple, Father Joseph, to whom I turned with my long-standing desire to enter the monastery. To which he answered me like this: “Wait, there will be a place for you.” With these words I left the elder, not knowing what to do? I lost my previous position, and besides, I only had a year left before serving my military service. And I decided to look for a place for myself in the town of K., closest to Optina, where I soon found it with a merchant, with whom I had lived before as a boy and joined him without a salary agreement. After living with him for a year, I announced that I had to go to serve my military service. A kind merchant gave me a year’s salary of one hundred rubles and ten rubles as a bonus. I, a poor man who had nothing, was incredibly happy to receive such a generous reward. Now I had the opportunity to dress properly and leave some in reserve for upcoming needs. Having been accepted into military service, I arrived in the ranks for less than a year, when I was assigned to a paramedic position, which I filled for more than four years, not having any need for the prayers of the elder, while other poor soldiers suffered great need. At the end of my military service, I immediately joined the brotherhood of Optina Pustyn. Now, when I remember the past, I am always amazed at how the merciful Lord, through the prayers and blessings of the elders Ambrose and Joseph, showed me good places and eased the burden of a difficult military life. Marvelous are the works of God!” Mrs. B tells about herself. “I first came to Optina in 1898 and, while visiting Father Joseph, I received from him to read a book of the biography of the late Elder Ambrose, compiled by Archimandrite Agapit. Reading this wonderful biography, I was nevertheless embarrassed by some of the details about the old man’s jokes and jokes, finding that there was nothing to write about them. After reading the book, I returned it to the priest without saying anything about my impression. Before I had time to return to the hotel, a nun comes to me and brings, on behalf of the priest, an appendix to the above-mentioned biography, where the author says that it has come to his ears that many secular people are embarrassed by the details he described about Elder Ambrose and explains the reasons that prompted him to present these details. Before my arrival in Optina, I heard a lot about Fr. Kliment Zederholm and, having arrived in Optina in 1898, I wanted to purchase his biography, but every time I went to the Optina bookstore, something prevented me from fulfilling this desire. The day of my departure came, I deliberately went, but the shop was locked. I went to the monastery to see Father Joseph and before I could enter him, he said: “And I’ll give you a book, you don’t have one.” And with these words he ordered the book “Father Clement Zederholm” to be brought to the cell attendant. In 1910, when I was already living in Optina, General K., a rich, lonely widow, came to visit me from M. She went to the priest and, returning from him, told me with some surprise that the priest first of all began to ask her whether her servants were good and that she should beware of the servants. Before leaving, she was again with her father, and he again told her everything about the servants; and so insistently that the general’s wife became alarmed and hurried to go home. Before she had time to return to M., she learned that the janitor of her house had been arrested and she was being summoned to appear before a judicial investigator. It turned out that a whole gang of robbers who had committed several murders and robberies had been arrested in M., and the leader of the gang had a list of people whom they were still planning to rob, plans of their apartments and information about them. General K. was also on this list, and information about her was provided by the servants.” So from all of the above it is clear how great the power of Elder Joseph’s prayers was, and how people who followed his advice with faith successfully completed their earthly journey. And the elder himself, despite his gentleness and pliability, was always firm in his decisions, acting at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who dwelt in his pure heart. He himself told some that he should always adhere to his first word and decision; that, under the influence of intense requests, he can change his decision, but that this will already be a human, forced decision, and the first is always inspired from above. And many who questioned the elder, but acted according to their own reasoning, against his advice, suffered bitterly and were tormented by late repentance. Let's give a few examples. One said: “My daughter-in-law cunningly invited me to come to my homeland so that I could receive my father’s share of them. The elder did not bless me to go, but I insisted and went and I saw so much grief there; my second brother was offended by me and a lot of trouble came out of everything.” My niece had many suitors; her parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant, but her daughter liked someone else. We went to the priest, who gave his blessing to give his daughter for the teacher, saying: “Give it for the teacher, he will be a deacon.” But the mother did not listen and gave her daughter to the merchant. But soon after the wedding he left her in great trouble. One person asked the priest what her relative should do, since he wanted to sell wine. The elder replied: “No, he can bargain and go to prison.” The relative, however, did not listen to the elder’s advice and made a deposit. Soon he actually bargained and had to sell the house in order to pay off the debt and avoid going to jail. One peasant, while in military service and finishing his term, asked the priest how he could arrange his life and was blessed to get married. The elder told him to wait a year to get settled, but did not bless him to get married at all. A year later he was actually taken to war again. Returning from the war, he visited the elder and again asked for his blessing to marry. The elder did not give him a blessing for this and said: “Go to Tikhon’s Hermitage and pray that the saints will heal you from bodily and mental illnesses.” But the soldier did not listen and got married and received such sorrows that he could not find a place for himself anywhere. His relatives drove him out of the yard, and he went to the mines and still repents, having no peace of mind or body. Nun M. Sh. says: “I had a sister-maiden who came from Warsaw to Moscow and there was no place for her. She wrote me a letter, asking me to ask the priest how he would give his blessing: should I go to Efremov and open my own shop there, or should I stay in Moscow and wait for a position? The priest responded to this: “Let her stay in Moscow and look after the children,” which seemed offensive to her, thinking that the priest was sending her to be a maid. She refused, saying: “How can I go after the children?” But soon she takes the place of warden in the orphanage, the so-called “Nursery”. Then she herself wrote to the priest and asked him for forgiveness that she had misunderstood his words and wanted to disobey. Then the shelter closed, she was again left without a place, she wrote to the priest what to do: open a shop, or wait for a place. The answer he receives is: “Wait for a seat.” But she didn’t listen, she didn’t have enough patience, and she bargained to the nines. Then they send for her from Warsaw again to the place where she lived for 25 years. Father did not give his blessing to go to Warsaw, but said: “Go to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, you will find something to do there.” She didn’t listen, went to Warsaw, got sick on the way and was taken out of her 5 percent tickets and had to go back. One nun asked her father, since he was ill, to provide her with land while he was alive. He replies: “If I get well, everything will be yours.” She turned to the priest, who blessed her to ask her father to provide for her now during his life, but she was embarrassed, and her father recovered and did nothing. After his death, the priest blessed her to demand her share, but her mother was against this, and she was afraid of offending her mother. Meanwhile, the brother sold everything; she had to watch from her brother's hands. She came to the priest, told him her grief, and he said: “I told you, but you didn’t listen.” Novice O.M. said: “My brother, while working at a factory, walked past a car and tripped over scraps of iron. His right hand was injured, the thumb of that hand was torn off, and he fell, bleeding. The authorities voluntarily offered him 500 rubles. remuneration and position of controller. But he didn’t want to - he was advised to sue. I asked the priest, who said: “Yes, they will award more, but still they won’t give me a hand; It’s better to have less and get it voluntarily.” But the brother didn’t listen and it’s been ten years since he’s been suing, but he hasn’t received anything yet.” So, left alone after Elder Ambrose, Elder Joseph did not find it difficult to deal with matters, both material and spiritual; He solved them with strength and authority, which had a very beneficial and calming effect on those who treated him with faith. At the same time, there were amazing cases when Father Fr. Joseph received direct instructions from his mentor, Elder Ambrose. One day Fr. Joseph released one nun, at her request, to her relatives. Suddenly, during the afternoon rest, he clearly heard the voice of the late elder: “She doesn’t need to go, tell her to stay.” Father Joseph sent for the nun and explained to her the will of the elder, which she accepted with tears of tenderness. Elder Ambrose did not bless the sisters in Shamordino to build separate cells and live alone. About two years after his death, one nun, due to poor health and love for a lonely life, asked the abbess and Elder Joseph for permission to build one. The elder, having yielded to the persistent desire of the nun, as he himself later said, became restless in spirit and suddenly saw Elder Ambrose, who sternly told him: “You are violating the blessing.” A machine for kneading bread was donated to the Shamordino monastery, but it turned out to be too heavy, and the sisters could not use it. They told the elder about this, explaining that knowledgeable people advise making a horse-drawn drive for this machine. The elder somehow hesitantly responded to this: “We need to think about it.” After a while, the sister in charge of the monastery’s buildings came to the elder with various other business issues, but the elder, without listening to her, said with animation: “We definitely need to organize a drive in the grain store, Father Ambrose wants this.” The sister looked at the elder in surprise, and he, answering her bewilderment, continued: “I lay there all night and thought about the drive, not knowing what to decide on, and suddenly I heard Father Ambrose say to me: “We definitely need to make a drive.” The drive is done and the car works very well. Many treated Elder Joseph in absentia and received written answers from him, and in no case in their lives did they dare to act without his advice, knowing from experience that with his blessing everything turned out well. He received especially many letters from monasteries, both female and male. These letters, which are kept like a precious treasure and which will probably eventually be published by Optina Pustyn, were as simple, strong and wise as his words. They are imbued with the patristic spirit, breathing angelic meekness and the God-like humility of the Elder. At the end of 1893, the head of the monastery and general fraternal confessor, Hieroschemamonk Anatoly, fell ill with a dying disease. Then, by the common choice of all the brethren, the clergy was transferred to the elder hieroschemamonk Joseph. Yes, it was a completely finished lamp, hidden under a bushel for the time being. He, just as simply and humbly as he accepted everything, took upon himself this great and difficult pastoral service, not looking for his own, but even his neighbor. With complete trust and filial devotion, the Optina brotherhood entrusted him with the care of their souls. Many senior hieromonks, together with the abbot, had long ago confessed to him; now everyone rushed to this wondrous man and “no one left him skinny and unhealed.” Let us cite, as an example of the spiritual relationship of a true disciple to an elder, the following excerpt from the diary of one attentive monk. “Lord, bless me to write down the words of my elder, Father Joseph, for the benefit of my soul, for his holy prayers. Once the priest told me: pay attention to yourself and it will be done for you. He also said to reproach yourself more often, to be patient in everything and to thank God for everything you find. At the same time, the elder told me the following for edification: “Once upon a time, St. the father heard the beggar reproaching himself. It was winter time, and he was lying half naked on a pile of manure, barely covered with matting and shaking from the cold. Meanwhile, he used to say to himself: Don’t you want to endure this, you damned one! The holy martyrs endured something different - they spent the winter naked in prison, their feet were in stocks; and you stretched your legs like this. And even covered it with matting.” This story brought great benefit to my soul. “Father,” I said, “I am very much overcome by laziness, and I know that it is not good, but I am overcome again.” The elder said: the Gospel says that needs delight the Kingdom of God, and therefore you need to force yourself in everything, and passions should be cut off first, while they are young, for then they are like little barking puppies; if you frighten them, they will run away from you. And if you let them strengthen and let them in, then they will rise up against you like lions; and you will not be able to fight them. I asked: what more, father, should one force oneself to do, or should one abstain? Elder: in sleep, in food, in drink, in conversation; and especially in church there is no need to talk. Father, sometimes there is such jealousy for everything good, and sometimes there is such negligence and laziness, there is no desire for anything, you sleep and eat without measure, you don’t want to pray, you leave your cell rule - what to do in such cases? This is where you need to force yourself to do everything good and to pray; it will depend on you when, during times of negligence and laziness, you force yourself to pray; and when there is zeal for everything good, it is from God. Father! Where should I start to focus on myself at least a little - or just not go anywhere except for the most necessary cases? Elder. Start with this; sit in the cell, and the cell will teach you everything - just be patient, your thoughts will confuse you to go out - don’t give in. After all, all the saints walked this path. Read from Theodore the Studite how he orders you not to stop and talk when you leave the church; Yes, and the charter says so. Otherwise we have already distorted the order of monastic life; Everything has gone topsy-turvy for us. Father also said that Elder Leo wrote to one spiritual daughter: here are three weapons for you in spiritual warfare: humility, patience, self-reproach - with these you will win. To answer my question, is it possible to give something to someone? The elder said: it is possible if you have something extra, but not something from the monastery, for which you have not been given a blessing. Is it possible to take something from someone if they give it? Elder: You can accept it - this is also a sign of humility, as Abba Dorotheos says; but if you don’t have a need, then, of course, it’s better not to take it. Father! A thought has been telling me for a long time: don’t have anything like St. fathers teach. The elder said to this: have what you need and need, but don’t collect what is unnecessary, and if you don’t have it, you will grieve, then what’s the point? - Better stay in the middle. You can have, but not be attached to anything, and be like someone who has nothing; This is the dispensation the saints had. The Jesus Prayer, father, is not working well for me. It seems like a simple thing that could be done everywhere and always, but no, it is forgotten. Elder. Yes, it seems like a simple thing, but it is uncontrollable; I said it several times and forgot, I remembered, I said it a dozen more times, and again there was dissipation. You say a hundred or one a day, but imagine that you are going through a prayer. Therefore, at first you must definitely go through the counting numbers until you get the skill. After confession, I said to my dear spiritual father and elder: “Father! How I would like to always be correct in my rank, in fulfilling my monastic vows, and in general before the Lord in all my deeds and actions. Sometimes my heart seems to be burning with love for God and is ready to fulfill His will, but as soon as I decide to take up an attentive life, the enemy immediately robs me: my soul grieves over such negligence - when will I begin to live properly, and time passes.” Elder. Yes, what should I do? We are always faulty before God; you need to pray about it. You know how it is written by St. Macarius the Great: “We must cry out to God without shame, so that He will have mercy and help us, because we cannot do anything good on our own. And if we pray often, pester God, cry out coldly in great humility, then the Lord will help.” I haven't been to my father's for a long time. My dear old man was ill and had not seen anyone for about a month. Our dear father has lost a lot of weight, more wrinkles have appeared, but his image has become even more attractive, a real reverend. Having received the blessing, expressing my grief over his illness, I asked about a question that had been tormenting me for a long time and having received a deep, spiritual answer to everything, I was gradually consoled by the priest, and asked him not to leave me with his spiritual guidance. God bless! Father still received me, and again I, a sinner, received consolation and reinforcement for my sad and ever-weak soul. The gracious elder also confirmed to me regarding prayer. He also never ordered that Pentecost be abandoned. “If you didn’t have to perform it with bows, then you can do it without bows,” said the elder. If you are unwell or tired, you can go through it while sitting; but, of course, if you are healthy, then you must perform it standing and bowing.” Father! Your St. prayers, thank God, I’m getting a little used to prayer, external of course. The elder said: “This is good. Nothing external; If the cell rule is not complied with, there will be a desire to practice the Jesus Prayer in addition to the rules.” Then the priest told me something very important and useful from the life of one saint. father; but the enemy stole from my memory, and I forgot what was said. It’s amazing how the priest can immediately find the right thing to say. From this it is clear that he is a true mentor, and he himself is a doer of monasticism. I am happy, poor one, that I have such an experienced father in spiritual life, an unforgettable, true leader, whom I love with true, filial love. Father also told me that the Jesus Prayer must be said separately, rarely; and whatever thoughts come are usually brought on by the devil in order to distract attention from prayer. But this is where you need to go deeper and more diligently into prayer, and your thoughts, that is, the devil himself, burned by the terrible name of Jesus, flees. Then the elder surprised me extremely: I just wanted to express something to him, and he, responding to my thought, said: “And sometimes the enemy holds you by the heart, irritates you with hatred of someone and condemnation.” And this is exactly what I wanted to say, for I had one person’s tribulation; and the priest anticipated me. Lord, save me, through the prayers of my father, from delusion and deception and unwise jealousy. My memory is bad though! I hear a lot from my dear and beloved elder, but I don’t remember everything unless I write it down, but all his words are the spiritual bread of my soul, gold!... Once the priest told me: “There are many who cry, but not about what is needed; there are many who mourn, but not about sins; There are many who seem to be humble, but are not truly. To succeed in the Jesus Prayer, you must behave humbly in everything: in your gaze, in your gait, in your clothes. The elder said that the Jesus Prayer brings great benefit to those who do it; and you definitely need to get used to creating it. She will comfort you, especially during illness. If someone is accustomed to creating it always, then he will create it even in illness; and he will not be so bored; prayer will serve as a consolation for him. And if a person, being healthy, does not practice prayer, then when he becomes ill, he will not be able to pray, as if he lacks the skill; and it’s hard for him. And therefore, while you are healthy, you need to learn and get used to prayer, and do it often; although not purely, you will still humbly pronounce: “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” But a contrite and humble heart, it is said, God will not despise. And he was consoled by the holy elder. About moving to another monastery, the elder said that one should not move without special need; you will not find peace in your soul. How many temptations, hatred and malice there will be! Someone will seem like a friend to you, but he has a knife in his heart against you. One should not cross over of one's own free will; you will not be at peace, and no comforts of life will console you. It’s another matter if they transfer you somewhere for obedience. So I always left the elder calmed and consoled, for I accepted his words as from the mouth of God. Lord, help me to follow all the advice of my beloved elder and direct my paths..." In January 1894, the head of the Optina monastery, Elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly, died. Archimandrite Isaac and all the brethren had long intended him to be Elder Joseph’s deputy. But not yet nine days had passed since the death of the monastery leader, when the abbot received a decree from the spiritual consistory that Hieromonk N. could be confirmed as the head of the monastery if the abbot consented to this. The venerable archimandrite was not disturbed in spirit and firmly and directly opposed outside interference. He gathered the brethren and invited them to elect a monastery leader. The brethren unanimously pointed to Fr. Joseph. The sacristan hieroschemamonk Leonty, distinguished by his ardor and directness, with his characteristic enthusiasm declared louder than anyone else: “Worthy! Worthy! After such a unanimous election, Archimandrite Isaac presented to the diocesan authorities a report on the appointment of Fr. Anatoly Hieromonk Joseph. This election was approved, and on March 25 a decree was received. Thus, true humility always shies away from honor, much less never seeks it; but the Lord Himself leads the chosen one and exalts him before everyone. With the acceptance of the authorities, Elder Joseph’s work and worries increased. But this did not burden the humble soul of the obedient monk; he also meekly and meekly bore the yoke of authority, setting an instructive example of a true shepherd. Everything went according to order for him. In business matters he was practical and careful; He did not change anything that had been established by the previous elders and bosses; but where some corrections were required, he did it so humbly that it was not noticeable to anyone, and everyone willingly obeyed him. In his humility, he attributed everything to the good mood of the brethren themselves. So he wrote to his sister M. Leonida, soon after his appointment as head: “... I manage the monastery with all my assistants - the brethren; everyone obeys and humbles themselves, you just need to listen to yourself and take care of your soul, and the brethren, thank God, are all peaceful.” There were a lot of flowers planted in the monastery, which, on the one hand, required extra expenses, and on the other, distracted the brethren from their monastic duties. The new boss reduced this floriculture, leaving it only on the main avenue and around the church. Very characteristic, in its strength and simplicity, is the answer the elder-chief gave to one lay visitor to his question, why are there no greenhouse cucumbers in the monastery now? "ABOUT. the archimandrite said that we can wait until they are ripe in the beds,” said Fr. with his gentle smile. Joseph. This humble answer, but at the same time breathing with the power of the monastic spirit, pleased the visitor so much that, despite his love for growing greenhouses, he wholeheartedly approved and appreciated the order of the new boss. In general, he was amazingly able to combine in himself the qualities required by the duties of a manager and the duty of eldership. In relation to the brethren he was firm, strict and exacting; He taught them humility, patience, unhypocritical obedience, and monastic behavior in general, but he taught this not with the authority of a superior, but instilled it with the love of his father, and at the same time, like an elder, he knew how to calm everyone down, pacify them, and lead them to obedience and submission. The brethren said about him: “What our father does not do with an order, he will complete with his humility: he will say so and look at you that you would not want to humble yourself, but you will humble yourself.” He demanded that his blessing be asked for everything, and he was never burdened by any questions, but did it in simplicity of spirit, like a monk accustomed to sanctify every step of his life with a blessing. He knew very well all the church rules and tunes; and when the singers gathered, he approached the choir and indicated what needed to be sung or read. When I was preparing for service, I read Compline in my cell, and came to church for the vigil; and sometimes he himself served alone with the hierodeacon, as a simple alternate hieromonk. He stood at the altar with such reverence, attention and deepening in prayer that it seemed that he saw no one in the church except God and himself: he was never distracted by any conversations, but only said the necessary exclamation and again stood in a prayerful mood, and read the Jesus Prayer to himself on the rosary. Sometimes it happened that one of the monks would come up to ask something out of obedience, or out of his spiritual need, the elder would always satisfy him with a fatherly and merciful answer; but sometimes he will meekly make it clear that his prayerful state of mind is being violated. The monks say that he was so deep in prayer that he often did not notice when they approached him, and only at the second question did he come to his senses. In his service he was always calm and focused; he did not like fussy haste or sluggish slowness; the exclamations were spoken clearly. And in general, his service produced a touching feeling in those praying. In the internal management of the brethren, he was very wise and observed the proper measure of severity and leniency, never acting in anything according to a slander. He did not like to often move monks from one obedience to another, saying that in one obedience they are more likely to learn patience. It happened that the eldest in obedience came to the boss to complain about the brother subordinate to him, asking him to change him. Father asked: “What did he do?” “Yes, he said something rude to me.” “What did he tell you, why?” - the elder inquired, and from the story of the heated monk it turned out that there was no particularly valid reason for moving his brother, and the elder acted out of passion. In such cases, the boss told the complainant: “Go and try to be in his place; then you will know whether it is easy or not.” But, of course, he did not always act in the same way, but when justice demanded it; in general, from those in obedience he demanded unquestioning obedience and humility. In economic matters, he had kind and experienced assistants who greatly eased his worries. These were faithful and devoted monks to him, on whom he could fully rely, especially since they, like real Optina monks, did nothing without asking the blessing of their superior and elder. But despite all this, he never laid aside his worries and delved into everything, remembering that he must give the Lord an answer for the work entrusted to him. So he did not like to build anything, or make amendments unless absolutely necessary, finding it an unnecessary waste. One day he was told that the floors in the refectory were bad and needed to be changed. The priest did not immediately give his blessing for this, but ordered them to be thoroughly examined. It turned out that the floors, although old, could still last for several years. His attitude towards the monastery brethren was the most loving and fatherly; If someone fell ill or was approaching death, then the priest always hurried to the bedside of the dying person. One day Fr. Joseph went to Shamordino, but he fell ill and stayed. Soon, one old hieroschemamonk died in the monastery. The elder visited him, persuaded him to accept the schema, and on the day of his death he insisted that he be initiated. “It’s good that I didn’t go,” the priest said later, “otherwise I would have grieved that he died without me.” At the end of the same 1894, the venerable ascetic, the rector of Optina Pustyn, Archimandrite Isaac, died from his great labors, at the age of 85. This lamp of monasticism was quietly extinguished; He prepared peacefully and cheerfully for the outcome. The ship, loaded with virtues, entered the pier, having completed its many years of voyage. For the ascetic, the longed-for day was coming, for which he had been preparing all his life. But for the Optina brotherhood it was a day of sadness and lamentation, for they were deprived of an experienced helmsman, a wise leader. The leader of the monastery and the elder Hieroschemamonk Joseph experienced this loss the hardest of all. During the last four years of his life, Archimandrite Isaac, like Elder Joseph, became his confessor; they became so close spiritually, so mutually supported each other, so unanimously led the entrusted flock that this separation brought a great change to the internal structure of the monastery. Shortly before his death, the dying abbot blessed his beloved son, together with his spiritual father and the elder, with the Kaluga Icon of the Mother of God, saying: “With this icon the Right Reverend Gregory blessed me for leadership.” Then he gave him his favorite stick as a souvenir, which he had received from his brother, Archimandrite Meletius, whom he greatly respected. The last word of consolation spoken to the dying elder was: “You must always hope in God; He who trusts in God, like Mount Zion, will never move.” So until the last minute Fr. Archimandrite Isaac expressed his special affection for Fr. Joseph, who found it extremely difficult to lose such a boss. But his dying will could not have been more in keeping with the mood of the elder himself. And he, strong in faith and hope, firmly endured this loss. At the funeral of the well-respected abbot, the archpastor, Rev. Ep. Alexander. At the end of all funeral services, the bishop gave the brethren complete freedom to choose a new abbot; and saying goodbye to Elder Joseph, he said to him: “And you help them with your good advice.” The next day the elections took place. The brethren first turned to the elder, asking who he would bless to choose. The elder pointed out to everyone the abbot of the Meshchovsky monastery, Archimandrite Dosifei, tonsured at Optina Pustyn, as a capable person, a strict monastic life and familiar with the Optina order. The brethren unanimously relied on the elder’s instructions and elected Archimandrite Dosifei. The new abbot did not rule the monastery for long; but all his attention was focused on maintaining the eldership, and he himself was the first in all matters to turn to the elder for advice. But then, two years later, a misunderstanding and some disagreement arose between them. This circumstance gave rise to the full manifestation of Elder Joseph’s great love of peace and his amazing ability to remain firm and unyielding in his monastic convictions. And in general, in whatever cases they persuaded the elder to turn to his admirers, of whom there were many influential people, he usually answered: “Why would I write and indignate the worldly against the monastery.” What an edifying lesson for many who are dissatisfied with the orders of their superiors! The elder loved to repeat and always adhered to the wise saying “if this work is not from God, it will ruin itself.” This is actually what always happened. All the Kaluga archpastors who visited Optina Pustyn showed special respect to Elder Joseph; but Bishop Macarius, the great man of prayer himself, especially comprehended him in spirit. This pure-hearted and gracious elder-bishop understood and appreciated the spiritual height of Elder Joseph more deeply than anyone else. He talked with him for a long time and then at dinner with the abbot he said that he really liked the elder and made a pleasant impression with his deep humility: “This will be a great man,” the bishop added. Elder Joseph, with all his ancient ascetic lifestyle, with all his love for obscurity and simplicity, greatly valued science and social activity. He was interested in everything that was happening in church and public life, and having communicated with many spiritual and secular leaders, he always convinced them not to shirk their responsibilities and believed that having good and useful leaders is as necessary and useful as having good monks. Once, at a general blessing, someone expressed regret that one of the novices of the monastery entered the academy. “Apparently, father, the hardest thing is to be a simple monk!” “No,” the elder answered, “it is even more difficult to be a good bishop, and such bishops are now needed, but life in the monastery was not lost for him; it will bring him great benefit.” (And indeed this novice, according to the elder’s prediction, later became a bishop). In 1896, on the recommendation of Archimandrite Dosifei, the elder was awarded a pectoral cross. In the summer of 1899, Kaluga Bishop Macarius again came to Optina Pustyn and again had a long conversation with the elder. By the way, the priest, as the head of the monastery, expressed to the bishop his desire and request to abolish the custom of allowing females into the monastery on September 7th. The Bishop reacted very approvingly to this, and soon a decree was sent. The brethren warmly thanked the elder for this good deed, but some females remained very dissatisfied with this and were ready to blame Father Fr. Joseph, that he is violating what was permitted by Elder Ambrose. Father, out of his characteristic modesty, remained silent for the most part, but finally he said to this: “What if not I, but the Queen of Heaven Herself does not want this. And do you know that this was the constant desire of the late Father Ambrose; only he could not do this in any way, since the head of the hermitage, Fr. Anatoly was very opposed to this. I am now obliged to fulfill the will of the Queen of Heaven and the late elder.” At the same time, he recalled how the above-mentioned wanderer, the holy fool, told him, pointing to the monastery: “You must cleanse this.” Then the elder added that Father Ambrose also attributed the words of this holy fool to this incident. After that, everyone fell silent and realized that the elder undoubtedly had some kind of instruction from above. During his conversation with the elder, the Right Reverend Macarius expressed that he needed a rector for the N-sky monastery, and that he would like to take Fr. treasurer “No,” the elder firmly objected to the bishop, “we need a treasurer ourselves; our archimandrite is sick.” And indeed soon the health of Fr. Archimandrite Dosifei became so bad that he was forced to retire, and Fr. the treasurer, on the advice and instructions of the elder, was elected abbot by the brethren. At the beginning of the dying illness of the father of Archimandrite Dosifei, the Optina brethren expressed a unanimous desire to have a priest, Fr. Joseph as his abbot. The elder only smiled at this invention and jokingly said: “I’ll be a good abbot, I won’t go to church, in winter I won’t leave my cell at all.” But the brethren did not accept this as a reason and stood their ground: “We will do everything for you; you just sit and give orders, and we will all obey you.” Of course, bearing in mind the poor health of the elder, there was no point in thinking about this, but this very fact testifies to the love, trust and respect that Fr. Joseph among the brethren. The new abbot, Archimandrite Xenophon, treated the elder with love and deep respect, like a true monk, showing the brethren an edifying example of unhypocritical obedience. 12 years old o. Joseph was the monastery leader and confessor of all the brethren: he was known to the Holy Synod; Everyone turned to him as an experienced spiritual elder, the successor of the great elder Father Fr. Ambrose. He received many letters from everywhere, all of which he read himself. And he did not leave his great service until his death. Over the last five years, he apparently began to weaken in strength and often said: “I’m getting weaker.” Sometimes feeling especially overworked, he would not see anyone at all for a day or two; but as soon as he felt stronger, he again took up his feat. When asked to take care of himself, the priest usually answered: “It’s always on my conscience that when I feel better, I don’t accept it.” And often, when the cell attendants did not report to him about those who were coming, he himself asked: “Is there anyone there?” This entire brief sketch of the life and mutual relations of the Optina monks clearly indicates that Optina Pustyn, this bearer of the ideal of monasticism and eldership, lived by the traditions of the great pillars of monasticism. There were, of course, isolated inappropriate cases, as they happened everywhere, not excluding the hostel of Pachomius the Great himself. But the general spirit and internal structure of the monastery has always been a beacon, both for the world and for other monasteries. One should not think, however, that in monasteries life always flows peacefully and that nothing happens there that disturbs the general harmony. On the one hand, we must remember that the evil enemy of the human race cannot remain calm when he sees the spiritual prosperity of people, and therefore always tries to sow evil and discord; and on the other hand, we should not forget that such temptations in spiritual life are necessary, as the apostle says, in order for the skill of God’s faithful servants to be revealed. So, to the meek and humble Fr. Joseph, in the course of his half-century monastic life, had to endure many different sorrows and trials, inevitable in monasticism, with which the enemy tried to shake his courageous soul: but still the enemy failed to “steal the treasures of the spirit” (troparion to righteous Job). His humility defeated all the machinations of the enemy, and all these “temptations” only revealed his height in all its greatness. His kindness was so great that not only did no one ever hear a single complaint from his lips, but even when others expressed their just indignation, the elder with purely angelic meekness said: “No, nothing, I feel good,” and when some, driven out of patience, asked the elder to allow them to seek protection, the elder resolutely forbade this, saying: “Why, it’s not necessary; Do you remember how the elder Fr. Leonid was against this, even when Father Macarius begged him.” Elder Joseph's instructions All the elder’s instructions are imbued with the spirit of patristic teaching. Before monks, he placed obedience and self-reproach above all else, since both of these virtues give rise to humility, which instills God in the soul, and gives what is said in the Gospel: the Kingdom of God is within you. The elder never allowed anyone to refuse obedience, saying that whoever carries out this obedience to the end will be honored with a blessed death. Often the elder cites as an example one hieroschemamonk who never refused anything and, being unwell, did not refuse his turn of priestly service, and during the liturgy, having just received communion, he suddenly died right there in the altar in all his vestments. When they brought him complaints about the difficulty of obedience and the sorrows associated with it, the elder’s face lit up with joy, tender fatherly love shone in his eyes, and he somehow said with particular animation: “Well? For this you will be martyrs.” At the same time, he always tried to instill in him that every person should have patience in everything, in every place, to the end. “Whatever you take up,” he said, “hold on to it, and endure everything that comes your way; Just don’t move from where you are, and always reproach yourself, and you will be saved.” Once, one person conveyed to the elder a conversation she had heard, that the previous elders did not particularly force their disciples to perform physical feats, but demanded more of an inner monk. The priest said to this: “Tell them: if you don’t grow a tree, where can you expect fruit? The tree on which the inner monk will grow is fasting, all abstinence, going to church services, physical labor, then the fruit will grow on it, that is, the inner monk.” At the general blessing, someone remembered that paramedic who, after the death that had happened to him, during which he saw many instructive things in the next world, entered the Optina monastery under Father Ambrose, but then, when he left to serve his military service, he again became friends with his unbelieving comrades and they, convincing him that he had a simple hallucination, knocked him down, and he remained in peace at the hospital. The priest said to this: “The words of the Gospel were fulfilled over him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then even if someone rises from the dead, they do not have faith.” Once they asked the priest about a certain clergyman, why is he not an educated person, but his letters breathe such spiritual intelligence that they penetrate the soul? The priest answered: “Just as a ray of sunlight cannot penetrate a fog, so the speeches of a person who is only educated, but who has not conquered passions, cannot act on the soul. And whoever himself has overcome passions and acquired spiritual intelligence, even without external education, has access to everyone’s heart.” One told the priest: “You give me a rule, but I’m afraid it will be difficult for me.” The elder replied: “What is imposed is always difficult,” and at the same time told about Archimandrite Isaac, who, while still living in the world, was preparing for monasticism and asceticism. So he made thousands of bows every day. Upon entering the monastery, he told Art. about this. Instead of a thousand, Leo gave him fifty bows. After a while, he comes to the elder and says: “Forgive me, Father, I’m ashamed to admit, but for some reason I can’t make 50 bows.” The elder told him to put down 25. A little more time passed when he again appeared to the elder and said that he could not understand why in the world he made a thousand bows, but here he cannot even make 25? Then Elder Leo explained to him: “In the world, the enemy helped you - you contributed and were proud of it; but here you don’t do it of your own free will, but out of obedience, you see your weakness and humble yourself, that’s why it’s difficult.” Someone said: “It would be better for me to eat a pound of meat in the world during Lent than to gorge myself on bread here.” The elder replied: “Even if you eat 2 pounds of bread, you still do not sin against the rules of the Holy Church.” One day the brethren asked him: “Father, will we be with you in the next world, will you help us and will you generally be responsible for us?” “Yes,” the elder answered, “but only those will be with me and only I will answer for those who listened to me unquestioningly in everything.” One said: “Father, I grieve that I have no money and have to earn everything, but meanwhile I still want this or that.” The elder said to this: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you. The former monks acted with this arrangement, and the Lord supplied them with everything they needed, and even beyond that. In our skete, when I entered, no one had their own samovars, but the warden had one large samovar for the entire skete, and after the service the brethren took turns drinking tea there, and everyone was satisfied and happy. It was the same with all other needs; They tried to perform more church services and their obediences, and for this the Lord contributed everything to them, they did not need anything. But now they enter the monastery with weak will and only think about clothes and food, which is why the Lord does not send it to us sinners.” The elder gave the following instruction to one nun: “If the actions and sins of your neighbor outrage you and steal your peace of mind, then remember this: a) The mistake of your neighbor, which you would like to correct, if it disturbs your peace of mind and irritates you, then you also sin and, therefore, a mistake cannot be corrected by an error - it is corrected by meekness. b) Jealousy, which wants to destroy all evil, is itself a great evil. c) Remember that there is a beam in your own eye, and you are pointing at your brother’s bitch. d) There are inevitable imperfections, and there are also useful ones. It happens that good is tempted by evil. e) The example of God's long-suffering should curb our impatience, which deprives us of peace. f) The example of the Lord Jesus Christ shows us with what meekness and patience we must endure human errors, and if we do not rule over people, then we must look indifferently at evil. g) To everyone that act of his neighbor seems great, which exposes him to something. h) Nothing calms us down and reconciles us with the actions of our neighbors like silence, prayer and love.” Someone, speaking about one of his relatives who committed suicide, began to prove that God could forgive him. “It is not our business to argue about this: the Lord can and will forgive, but our business is to do what the law commands. As judges, according to the law, they must sentence criminals to death, but the king can pardon them. Once Saint Basil the Great prayed for King Trojan, and a voice came to him: “Do not dare to pray for such people.” One day, going out for a blessing, the elder was talking about confessing sins and among other things said: “If you cannot say your sins, then it is better to write them. And he told how one woman wrote her sins and gave them to the bishop (Basily the Great), asking for permission, but he sent her to St. Ephraim the Syrian. The monk resolved all sins, except one, with which he sent her again to the saint. Arriving in the city, the woman found out that the archbishop had died, and in terrible grief and tears she fell to his coffin and put down the paper on which the sins were written, and she herself fell, shedding tears. Then everyone began to ask her, and she told her grief. At this time, one priest took the paper from the coffin and unfolded it - it turned out to be completely clean - all the sins were blotted out.” The elder said: “A person’s conscience is like an alarm clock. If the alarm clock rings and, knowing that you need to go to obedience, you get up right away, then you will always hear it afterwards; and if you don’t immediately get up for several days in a row, saying: I’ll lie down a little longer, then in the end you won’t wake up from its ringing.” He also said: “Contradiction acts most powerfully in a person. At will, a person sometimes does something more difficult, but if you tell him something easy to do, he will immediately become upset. But you have to obey, although it doesn’t seem that way. Five disciples came to the monastery to ask one old man. He sent them to plant cabbage with its roots facing up and its leaves into the ground. Two began to plant as he ordered, but three said: is this really the way to plant, and they began to plant in their own way. The elder came to see what they were doing, and those who imprisoned him, took him to the monastery, but did not accept others.” One nun from this monastery said: “Father, bless us to stock up on an eternal home in advance.” “Be patient! It is said through your patience save your souls. Without patience, a temporary house cannot be built, much less an eternal one. Patience produces consolation, and such consolation is true. And we are all looking for something easier. What is easy for the body is not good for the soul, and what is good for the soul is hard for the body - so we must work hard to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” One day, while walking with an old man in the forest, they said to him: “If only you could live, father.” The elder said to this: “We’ll wait until the new weapon is prepared; the Lord will not take away the old one.” But then his face suddenly became serious and, after a pause, he added: “We just have to try to live well ourselves, otherwise the Lord takes the elders and leaves no one for our disobedience.” They told the elder: behold, the harvest is failing again. “Yes,” he said, “everything is not enough, only there are many sins. The Lord sends a crop failure because now they have completely stopped observing fasts, even among the common people; So you have to fast involuntarily.” He also said: “At the present time, frequent suicides occur, in addition to unbelief, also from impatience - they don’t want to endure anything - and if the Lord had not put in a person a natural desire to live, then almost everyone would kill themselves. St. Basil the Great writes about one pagan philosopher who said: “Before I wanted everything to be done my way, but seeing that nothing was being done the way I wanted, I began to want everything to be done the way it was done, and through this it began to happen that everything began to be done the way I wanted.” “Now,” the elder added, “the pagan has actually reached this truth, that one must inevitably endure what happens. And the saints all asked God for patience, which means they needed it too.” One day the elder was expressed a desire that he himself reveal hidden sins (and those that one does not want to express). He replied: “No, it shouldn’t; it is necessary for everyone to speak out and repent himself, otherwise it will be of no benefit to him; and for forgotten and unspoken sins one must endure whatever is found. And Father Ambrose never did this, only in very rare and especially important cases, when he saw that a person could die without repentance.” Someone complained that everything was hurting. The elder said: “There is nothing to do; Apparently the Lord wants to save us and cleanses us from the filth of sin. Although it is not easy to endure cauterization, for the sake of mental health one must endure everything. If we live incorrectly, then we will have a contrite and repentant heart about this, and the Lord will look at this and will not forsake His mercy.” “Sorrow is our way; We will go until we reach our assigned fatherland - eternity. There are more sorrows in the world, and although we have them, they are not the same for God’s sake; The only grief is that we care little about eternity and do not tolerate even the slightest reproach in a word. We ourselves increase our sorrows when we begin to grumble. In everything we need patience and generosity, like an anchor for a ship so that it doesn’t break on a rock during a storm.” How is complete dispassion acquired? - they asked the old man. “With complete humility,” he replied. They asked the elder what the words of the apostle mean: he who philosophizes the day - the Lord philosophizes, and the one who does not philosophize - does not philosophize the Lord - it turns out that whether to fulfill it or not to fulfill it is the same. “No,” answered the elder, “St. The apostle said this so that we should not judge anyone, because no one knows what lies inside a person. The Apostle goes on to add: let the poisonous man not reproach the one who does not eat, and the non-poisonous one do not condemn the one who eats. One, apparently, does everything, but perhaps does it coldly, or is arrogant, and the other does nothing, but reproaches himself, repents, humbles himself and thanks God for everything.” They told the priest about one lady who died without a farewell message, because in her parish there was a priest about whom she knew a lot of bad things and did not want to join him. The elder took pity on the deceased and said that she should not be embarrassed by the life of the priest, since his hand only acts, and the sacrament is performed by grace. At the same time, he told how one reverend, having fallen ill to death, wished to receive St. Secrets. The nearest priest, who needed to be called, was of a very vicious life and seemed completely unworthy to bear the priesthood. The monk was somewhat embarrassed, but then, having overcome this thought, he called on him. During communion, the Lord vouchsafed him such a vision: he saw that angels had communed with him. One priest wrote to an elder that a girl who died in his parish appeared to her friend, adding that the latter was still very young, pure and innocent. The elder answered him that blessed. Diodochos advises not to trust even true phenomena of grace. The Lord will not punish you for this, seeing that people do this not out of contempt for God, but in order not to succumb to the enemy’s deception. One Kiev-Pechersk ascetic saw an angel praying in his cell and reasoned: if he were from the evil one, he would not pray. Then this imaginary angel began to give him the following advice: now don’t pray yourself, because from now on I will pray for you. The ascetic obeyed and fell into delusion, from which he was barely delivered by the prayers of the reverend fathers. On this basis, the maiden A-iya can say to the one who appears: even though you are praying, I still cannot believe you, and I ask you not to appear to me, for I am a great sinner and unworthy of grace-filled manifestations. And let her pray more earnestly to God that the Lord will deliver her from these phenomena, for there is great danger in them. I’ll also add: doesn’t A-ya have at least a subtle opinion about herself that she lives regularly? If she has, then this is the reason why the enemy approaches her with temptation. All the great saints considered themselves sinners and damned more than all people, and only through such humility did they become pleasing to God. And the fact that the deceased appears in heavenly clothes and bright is a trifle.” The elder wrote to the same priest: “You write that some of you are engaged in healing from snake bites, using prayers for this. You should look at these prayers. And then there are prayers that are either meaningless or even laced with blasphemy. Such prayers only please the demons, from whom, perhaps, some help comes. One must pray the prayers adopted by St. Church, and, moreover, it is more fitting for the priests of God to read them, and not for the common people.” “Ask for guidance on how to get rid of absent-mindedness during prayer. It is impossible for us, sinful people, not to be completely distracted in prayer. But still, one should try, if possible, to collect one’s mind, enclosing it in the words of prayer, that is, to delve into every word of prayer. One should not be embarrassed by coldness and petrification, but continue to force oneself to prayer, recognizing oneself as unworthy of consolation and tenderness. If a prayer is cold, then one should not conclude from this that it is displeasing to God, and sometimes even such a prayer is imputed to a person as a feat, if only the person humbles himself and reproaches himself in every possible way before God.” The spiritual height of the humble Elder Teaching others patience, humility, kindness and everything necessary for a Christian disposition of the soul, Elder Joseph himself was the first to set an example in the fulfillment of all these virtues. He endured all kinds of sorrows and troubles with such complacency and calmness that strangers had no idea what trials he had. It happened that he was indignantly pointed out to him some actions of others that were clearly harmful or causing embarrassment. Even in such cases, the elder meekly said: “What should we do? We must be patient; There will be no harm to us from this, but great benefit if we endure it with humility.” He often said: “There is also jealousy that is not according to reason; or: “You don’t know what kind of spirit you are.” He was never angry with those who insulted him and did not even seem to notice anything bad at all. When he had to repent in confession of condemning people who treated him unkindly, the elder usually said: “There is no need to condemn; after all, it’s not them, but the enemy who outrages them, and we need to pray for them.” He was so imbued with humility and so strong in spirit. He accepted honor and dishonor equally calmly, and treated praise with the same deep humility. When someone’s praises were conveyed to him or they expressed their pleasure at some of his exaltation, he always answered: Let ye be wise in these things, even in Christ Jesus. Once they told him: “Here you are, father, always evading honor, but it itself follows you.” The elder answered this seriously, taking a deep breath: “What’s this for? What is this for? However,” he added, “just as one should not seek honor, so those living in society should not refuse it for the benefit of others. The honor imposed is also from God.” As was said above, the inner spiritual life of the elder was hidden to everyone. The only thing known for certain is that he was engaged in internal prayer, or so-called “smart work.” His closest cell attendant, whom the elder was not shy about, said that when entering the elder’s cell for some business, he often found him saying the Jesus Prayer. Father, lying on the bed, with great reverence and contrition of heart, half-whispered the words of the prayer, placing special emphasis on the words: Lord, Jesus Christ... - and in order to avoid self-deception, he used olive pits to mark the number of rosaries completed, for which purpose he always had a box with these pits on the table near the bed. This prayer was especially touching and touching after communion of the Holy Mysteries, when the gracious elder was completely immersed in prayerful contemplation, and from the strong movement of prayer he could not even restrain it inside and loudly called on the name of God. One day they asked him how and how long ago he received the gift of prayer? Father, with his characteristic simplicity, answered: “Prayer itself teaches. It is said: give a prayer to the one praying, and whoever is disposed towards it will hear one word about it and already hold on to it; “And I read the Philokalia” - and the elder did not finish further, since the rest was clear. Father, just as he himself was a constant prayer book, also encouraged others to engage in the Jesus Prayer. And in his instructions he especially often spoke about prayer as the most necessary thing for every person. If in anyone he saw a special disposition towards prayer, he tried to develop and maintain the Divine spark in him with his wise advice, according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers. The elder resolutely and strictly protected the impatient and inexperienced, not allowing them to touch the high levels of prayer, teaching them to walk this path gradually, starting with the Jesus Prayer, offered orally and certainly on the rosary in a certain amount. “This protects against arrogance,” said the elder, “sometimes, without keeping count, you might think that you have said a lot of prayers due to the number; and if you count by the rosary, it turns out that you haven’t even passed one hundred.” “Even if you do not fully achieve the fruits and perfection of prayer, then it is good if you die on the way to it. Don’t look for high things (i.e., consolation and spiritual insights): it comes when God pleases.” Having himself been seasoned in patience, the elder led others along the same path. In your patience gain your souls; and: he who endures to the end will be saved - these were his, as well as Elder Ambrose’s, favorite words. “Consolations, even spiritual ones, do more harm than good for the inexperienced,” he said, “from them the soul imperceptibly ascends and, having become accustomed to them, weakens, and therefore, in the sorrows that occur, it becomes faint-hearted and falls. Patience is the mother of consolation - that’s what the saints say. fathers." To the question: what should be the true intention when praying? The elder replied: “Salvation; to ask for mercy, not consolation; and not to pray out of vanity, but to endure with thanksgiving whatever is sorrowful. And if we receive any consolation in prayer, then we should consider ourselves even more guilty and a debtor for what we received for nothing.” “Some say that in church, when praying with counting, you cannot listen carefully to what is being read and sung,” said the elder; – no, that means it’s possible when you have enough time for different thoughts. Of course, even in ancient times, the reverend fathers prayed by counting; That’s why they invented the rosary.” As an example of the usefulness of such an exercise, the elder pointed to the skete novice L.: “He complained to me,” said Father Fr. Joseph, that he is bored standing in church for a long time, and therefore he still wants to quietly sing along with the choir members. Then I told him to say the Jesus Prayer using the rosary instead. He began to perform this and said that it became easy for him to stand in church and not get bored, and the time of worship seemed short. So, even during his illness, he said the Jesus Prayer and still wanted to be alone; And so he died with prayer.” In general, with his strong words and living example, he aroused, raised the spirit and proved with his own eyes that, both in ancient times and now, exercise in prayer is possible and even necessary for everyone; that through prayer everything works out, even prayer itself, and therefore one should never abandon it. His great humility and unceasing heartfelt prayer instilled in him the Lord Himself, and the blessed elder was above all earthly things. That this “schemnik” was really like a fiery seraphim is evidenced by the following story of the venerable priest Father Pavel Levashov, known to the Optina and Shamordino monasteries. “In 1907, I visited Optina Pustyn for the first time somehow by accident, because I had not prepared for this. I had heard something about the elders before, but I had never seen them. When I arrived at the monastery, I first of all went to bed, as I had spent a sleepless night in the carriage. The vespers bell woke me up. The pilgrims went to the church for worship, but I hurried to the monastery to have the opportunity to talk when there were least visitors. After asking the way to the monastery, and Elder Joseph’s cell there, I finally came to the reception room of the hut. The reception room is a small room with very modest furnishings. The walls are decorated with portraits of various devotees of piety and sayings of St. fathers. When I arrived, there was only one visitor, an official from St. Petersburg. Soon the elder’s cell attendant came and invited the official to the priest, telling me: “He has been waiting for a long time.” The official stayed for about three minutes and returned; I saw: shreds of extraordinary light flew off his head, and he, excited, with tears in his eyes, told me that on that day in the morning the miraculous image of the Kaluga Mother of God was taken out of the monastery, the priest came out of the hut and prayed: then he and others saw rays of light that diverged in all directions from him praying. A few minutes later they called me to the elder. I entered his wretched cell, semi-gloomy, with poor, only wooden furnishings. At this time I saw a very old man, exhausted from continuous feat and fasting, barely rising from his bed. He was sick at the time. We said hello; a moment later I saw an extraordinary light around his head, a quarter and a half high, as well as a wide beam of light falling on him from above, as if the ceiling of the cell had moved apart. A ray of light fell from the sky and was exactly the same as the light around the head, the old man’s face became gracious, and he smiled. I did not expect anything like this, and therefore I was so amazed that I completely forgot all the questions that were crowding in my head, and to which I so desired to receive an answer from an elder experienced in spiritual life. He, in his deepest Christian humility and meekness - these are the distinctive qualities of an elder - stands and patiently waits for me to say, and I, amazed, cannot tear myself away from this, completely incomprehensible to me, vision. Finally, I barely realized that I wanted to confess to him and began by saying: “Father! I am a great sinner." Before I had time to say this, at one moment his face became serious, and the light that poured onto him and surrounded his head disappeared. In front of me again stood the ordinary old man whom I saw the first moment when I entered the cell. This did not last long. Again the light shone around the head and again the same beam of light appeared, but now several times brighter and stronger. He refused to confess to me due to his illness. I asked his advice about opening a Guardianship in my parish and asked him to St. prayers. I could not tear myself away from such a wonderful vision and said goodbye to the priest ten times and kept looking at his gracious face, illuminated by an angelic smile and this unearthly light with which I left him. After another three years I went to Optina Pustyn and visited Father Fr. many times. Joseph, but never saw him like this again. The light that I saw above the old man has no resemblance to any of the earthly lights, such as solar, phosphoric, electric, lunar, etc. I have never seen anything like this in visible nature. I explain this vision to myself by saying that the elder was in a strong prayerful mood, and the grace of God apparently descended on his chosen one. But why I was honored to see such a phenomenon, I cannot explain, knowing only my sins and I can only boast about my weaknesses. Perhaps the Lord was calling me, a sinner, to the path of repentance and correction, apparently showing what kind of grace God’s chosen ones can achieve even in this earthly vale of tears and sorrows. My story is true because after this vision I felt incredibly joyful, with strong religious inspiration, although before going to the elder I did not have such a feeling. Four years have already passed since then, but even now, with just the memory of this, I experience tenderness and delight. My story - “there will be temptation for the Jews, madness for the Greeks”, for those of little faith, hesitating and doubting the faith - is a fiction, a fantasy, and at best will be explained as a hallucination. In our time of unbelief, unbelief and religious collapse, such legends only cause a smile, and sometimes even anger. Well? Should we, the servants of truth, remain silent? The ever-memorable Elder Joseph is truly a burning and most holy lamp - but the lamp is not placed under a bushel, but on the candlestick, so that it shines on everyone who is in the true Church of Christ... I convey all of the above as the pure truth, there is not even a shadow of exaggeration or fiction here, which I testify in the name of God and my priestly conscience.” But it is not even in these supernatural manifestations of grace that the spiritual greatness of the saint is most manifested, but in his daily work for the salvation and comfort of the “grieving and burdened,” when, overcoming illness and infirmity, until his last breath he was “everything to everyone.” From the memoirs of his spiritual son, who witnessed the Elder’s multifaceted counseling activities: “During the period of independent eldership, Father Fr. Joseph, while he was able, accepted and confessed everyone resolutely without refusal; I read the confession book myself to the illiterate. I used to be amazed at the sight of the mass of confessors who filled both the men's and women's huts during the first week of Lent. How the weak Father could re-confess to such a multitude of people is simply incomprehensible! You can only explain this to yourself by the grace of old age. In the first week of Lent, everyone, almost without exception, prepares in Optina, the monastery and skete brethren, the cowgirls (nuns at the barnyard), and everyone living in the monastery. All of them then confessed to Father, not counting the Shamorda sisters and visiting pilgrims, the influx of whom is especially large this week. Sometimes, as per Father’s instructions, you would come to confess after Matins, around 6 o’clock in the morning, and Father had already been confessing for a long time, sitting on a cot in the waiting room, with a pillow tucked behind his back. And how simple and at the same time majestic in its mystery was this confession! You read the book, say the sins you have written down for memory - and it’s as if everything is here! But in reality this is not all. While you are listing your faults, Father, in a half-whisper, slowly says the Jesus Prayer, and at this time you clearly feel that for each of them, Father’s prayerful sigh ascended to the Lord. That is why in the soul of the newly cleansed sinner there was felt such peace, such spiritual joy that only those who themselves have been honored to confess at least once to St. Elder. Then a prayer of permission was said. With what humility Father read the words of this prayer! This humility did not escape even Father’s nine-year-old spiritual son, who confessed to Father from the age of 6. Coming home one day after confession, he told me with delight, “Father! When he reads a prayer of permission and says: and I am unworthy... he says these words as if he really is unworthy! Humility was a distinctive quality of Father’s soul, and Father tried to teach this virtue to his spiritual children. Often his entire instruction consisted of two words: “Humble yourself! Be patient!” If you happen to say: “Father, I don’t know how to humble myself!” Father replied: “Reproach yourself!” (i.e. always judge yourself, not others). And this new instruction contained, again, the previous one: “Humble yourself!” If you ask the priest to say a word that is beneficial, you will rarely hear anything else in response; Almost always the same thing: “Humility and patience are deliverance from passion.” Once, while repenting to Father for my fault, I had to touch upon the fault of another person. The priest said with meek reproach to this: “The saints considered themselves to be the worst of all, but we consider ourselves to be the best of all in our madness and wickedness!” Father used only the most necessary things in everything and did not bless others to have a surplus of anything. Somehow before the day of the Angel Father, one of his spiritual daughters was blessed to sew him a new cassock for this day. Father said: “Why? I have it after all. And this is a sin: to have too much.” Another time I was blessed to ask for the floors in my space to be painted and the walls whitewashed. Father asked: “Well? Is it so dirty you can’t live there?” I said that, of course, it was possible to live, but the floors were worn out. Father said: “This is vanity!” And his cell, in which the elder Fr. previously labored for more than 30 years. Ambrose, the priest, during the twenty years of his life, never renovated it, probably for the same reason, although the ceiling in it turned black over time. By the way, let’s talk about the decor of this cell, consecrated by the 50-year-old exploits of two great Elders - it is simple to the extreme, to the point of touching! The priest was very compassionate towards the needs and sorrows of people... Every day at noon, beggars gathered in crowds at the porch of the hut, and the successive cell attendant gave alms to all of them, and those who brought a certificate from the parish priests about the inability to work, or about the special need of the petitioner, were given an additional amount. In the last year, by order of the authorities, the distribution of alms began to take place twice a week, in order to avoid the constant presence of beggars in the monastery and subsequently this and frequent cases of theft. When I had to tell Father about one attempt to steal by a beggar girl, Father thoughtfully and with sorrow in his voice said: “Need”! By Christmas and Easter, Father received whole piles of letters and postcards asking for benefits for the holiday. The elder responded to each of them with a short greeting with a holiday, teaching peace and blessing, and investing a monetary contribution. Once, due to the illness of the clerk, Father instructed me to write addresses on envelopes with his answers to these letters and gave me for this a large stack of postcards he had received indicating the addresses. I drew the priest’s attention to the fact that many of the letters were written by the same hand. Father, laughing cheerfully, said: yes, they were all written with the same hand! And then he added affectionately and condescendingly: “God bless them, they are poor!” On the twelfth holidays, Father served mass in the monastery, taking part in the cathedral service of the late liturgy. With what joy did you wait for the solemn moment when, having undressed at the end of the mass, bright, smiling, beaming with unearthly grace-filled joy from mysterious communion with the beloved Lord - the priest appeared from the side door of the left aisle of the cathedral! Monastics of both sexes, and laymen of every rank and position surrounded the holy Elder in a thick crowd, trying to receive his blessing, congratulate him on the holiday, and offer a prosphora taken out for his health...” Fr. was surrounded by such touching and touching popular love. Joseph, as a sign of appreciation and gratitude for his prayer efforts. Illness and righteous death Since 1905, the Elder began to fall ill especially often and, apparently, was weakening physically, but in spirit he was still cheerful and cheerful. His strength failed so much that he could no longer fulfill the position of monastery commander and, after a serious and dangerous illness that he suffered in May of this year, he asked to be retired. Then he was forced to abandon clergy, which especially exhausted him. “It is most difficult for me to confess,” said the elder, “because this is an urgent matter, even if you die, confess.” Those devoted to the elder, of course, accepted this with great sorrow, but on the other hand, loving and protecting the elder, they resignedly submitted to this necessity. But the spiritual connection between the children and their father did not stop. As before, the brethren came to him with their sorrows and bewilderments; they also brought the nuns of the women’s monasteries to this experienced spiritual doctor their sick souls, revealed to him the secrets of their hearts, all their thoughts, temptations, their sinful wounds. And the loving elder did not refuse anyone - he patiently listened to everything, meekly instructed everyone in patience; often one of his angelic smiles was enough for despondency and bitterness to dissipate without a trace. The last time Father served was on the Dormition in 1905, and on August 16 he began to complain of weakness, which did not leave Father all autumn, sometimes increasing and sometimes decreasing. October 9th, in memory of Father Fr. Ambrose, Father felt ill, so he could not receive visitors and confess to those preparing for the day of Father’s death. Ambrose of many Shamordino sisters, but then two days later he began to take it again, despite his weakness. On the night of October 24, the priest became so weak from overwork that he almost died; he was singled out at night and given the Holy Mysteries. The doctor invited the next day found severe overwork due to terrible anemia, but consoled us with the words that “father has the heart of a young man,” and prescribed complete rest for a long time and improved nutrition. From then on, the priest could not confess to so many people and handed over the Shamorda sisters to their confessor. And the brothers continued to confess themselves for another six months. But in April 1906, Father fell ill for the second time with severe influenza and, with a drop in temperature on the 9th day of his illness, he became so weak that an order was made to let the brothers and everyone who wanted to say goodbye. The Kozelsky doctor who arrived in the evening ordered the farewell to be stopped, saying that Father, although very weak, had a good heart and if he was given complete rest and reinforcement with food began (which Father had not eaten for 8 days), then there was still hope for recovery. The farewells were stopped, the hut was locked, and the priest began, albeit slowly, to recover. Only a month later, on May 28, the priest went out to the people for a blessing in the hut for the first time. Never forget this joyful exit! When the priest, emaciated but cheerful, illuminated by his wonderful smile, appeared at the door, leaning on his cane, we all clearly understood at the same time that he had truly risen from the dead, and with what a grateful feeling towards the Lord the hearts of those present were filled at the sight of this obvious mercy of God. And once again the Lord had mercy on us, once again he preserved the life of the Elder, dear to everyone. It was in February 1909, when Father suffered a third dangerous illness, so serious and painful that the doctor was discharged from Moscow. And this time the Moscow doctor was surprised at the good state of the priest’s heart at such an advanced age. Father himself later told me that this was because from a young age he never drank wine and did not take any medicines other than homeopathy. After each of these serious illnesses, Father said: “I really should have died, but they begged me to!” The year 1911 arrived... Everywhere life went on as usual. The elder was weak, felt unwell, but did not give up his feat. In February, an event occurred in the Shamordin Desert that greatly affected his health. The abbess of this monastery, Abbess Catherine, died unexpectedly. Extremely intelligent and developed, possessing height and nobility of character, she was distinguished by true monasticism. A devoted and close disciple of Elder Ambrose, she treated his successor with the same fullness of faith, and Elder Joseph was completely at peace with the monastery, knowing that it was in faithful and good hands, and therefore her death was a great grief for the elder. In addition, the influx of cases, questions, worries immediately increased, and the exhausted old man fell ill. Halfway through Lent, he became so strong that he could take food again. And throughout Holy Week he was especially cheerful and energetic. Noticing his unusually joyful mood, those around him involuntarily came to the conclusion that he had some kind of blessed vision. The first two days of Easter, the elder received all the brethren and visitors, he was lively, vigorous and felt well. On the second day of the holiday, there is always a ceremonial service in the monastery, which is performed by the abbot of the monastery. After the liturgy, all the servants come to congratulate the elder and sing him many years. The elder usually asks that eternal memory be proclaimed to Elder Ambrose. This time the hierodeacon mistakenly mentioned Elder Joseph instead of “Elder Ambrose.” On the third day, April 11, he developed a fever and nausea, and the treatment was stopped. Such illnesses often happened to the old man, and therefore no one attached much importance to this. But when, in the following days, the illness did not subside, but rather intensified, anxiety gripped everyone. “What if this illness leads to death, and the hierodeacon’s mistake turned out to be prophetic,” many thought. Meanwhile, the temperature rose, weakness increased, and the position of the weak and exhausted old man became dangerous. He lay almost motionless with his eyes closed, only his lips continuously whispered a prayer; and the various questions that the cell attendants addressed to him seemed to bring him back to earth from another world. The monks, devoted and loving to their elder, came every now and then to visit and look at the departing Abba. With sadness and a heavy heart they approached him, accepted the blessing, and betrayed their sorrowful feelings. And the meek old man, with the same love, with the same angelic smile, looked at them and in a quiet, barely audible voice, answered their questions, trying to illuminate their sorrowful souls with the last ray of greeting. And many of them could not stand it and left sobbing. Before their eyes stood the image of this humble, meek, righteous old man, who for so many years bore their infirmities, instructed, encouraged and warmed them with his love. They now felt their spiritual orphanhood; they realized that they were forever deprived of a spiritual, experienced and unforgettable leader: the lamp they looked at as a bright beacon among the raging sea of ​​everyday life was fading before their eyes. The disease did not subside, and on St. Thomas’ week Fr. Archimandrite Xenophon insisted on inviting a doctor. According to the doctor, the old man had acute malaria; with a weak heart, there was no prospect of recovery, in his opinion. It is clear that this definition undermined the last threads of hope, and the sad news spread everywhere that Father Fr. Joseph is dying. Everywhere this news reached, prayers were sung to the Heavenly Physician and the Diligent Intercessor for the healing of the sick. Particularly fervent, tearful prayers rushed from the women's monasteries; there is nothing to say about the Shamordin Desert - they have long felt the impending danger there; and now the sisters walked darker than the night. On April 20, at the request of the monastery leader and the brethren, the monastery’s miraculous icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to the elder’s cell, and a prayer service was served. Then, on the same day, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the cassock of St. Seraphim were brought from the monastery. During the prayer service, the elder prayed quietly, and, despite the duration of two prayer services in a row, he did not feel tired; on the contrary, he seemed to perk up and become cheerful. Thus, prayer from early youth until the end of his difficult life was his best reinforcement and consolation. Everyone in the shack also prayed, but in the depths of their souls they all realized that life, precious to everyone, must fade away. Two days later, the elder wished to say goodbye to the monastery brethren. After them came the monastic brotherhood. The abbot, who deeply revered the elder, visited him daily. “It’s bad,” the dying man said, looking at him. “No, father, live a little longer, we still need you,” answered the excited abbot. “Yes, God’s will will be done,” said the humble elder. “I’m dying,” he said to like-minded monks. So he clearly saw the approaching exit from this life and prepared for this hour calmly, joyfully, completely immersed in prayer and contemplation. When the entire brotherhood said goodbye to the elder, then he blessed the Shamorda sisters to come and say goodbye. At first dawn, in groups of 50 people, they hastily went to Optina to bow to the dear priest, receiving the last blessing and asking for forgiveness. Having waited their turn, they, without entering the hotel, hurried back to make room for others. So, for several days, a continuous line of crying sisters stretched between Shamordin and Optina. They were now orphans - they didn’t even have a mother at home; and their loving, caring father leaves them forever. A completely new life was now beginning for the Shamordino monastery. From its very foundation, like a little child, it rested carefree in the mighty arms of the Optina elders. Not a single abbess, not a single sister could do without the elder. Sorrow and joy, embarrassment and temptation - everything was brought to him. The word of the elder in the monastery was sacred. If someone didn’t want something, it was enough to say that “the elder blessed so” - and everything was accepted with faith; everyone knew from experience that violating the elder’s blessing and decision was very dangerous. Even the most restless element in the monastery silently submitted - no one dared, and could not, go against the power of Elder Joseph’s humility... And now complete orphanhood!... Everything that was dear to the nuns of this monastery, how they lived spiritually, what revived them - everything left them - and now the new grave was preparing to hide their last treasure... Be wise above, not earthly, for your life is on there is in heaven - that’s what could only be said to console the orphan sisters! The love of the dying old man for the Shamorda sisters was also touching. Exhausted by illness and continuous reception, to the proposal of those around him to stop the sisters, who kept arriving, from having access to him, the elder replied: “Let everyone go; I will bless everyone, God will help; otherwise there will be many left crying.” It happened that cell attendants, in order to give the patient a short break, detained the sisters for several minutes in the waiting room; then the elder opened his eyes and asked: “Are they all Shamorda? Is there anyone else? Call them.” And all day long the sisters came up, barely holding back their sobs. The elder looked at his orphans with love, and with an exhausted hand he blessed each one, giving them an icon. Sometimes his lips whispered: “God bless” or “God forgives.” Wanting to somehow console them at parting, he, despite his extreme weakness, allowed the Shamordino photographers to take a portrait of him, and tried to make himself better so that his face could be seen more clearly. When all the Shamorda sisters had arrived, then the elder ordered to write to the Belevsky convent that it was very bad. The abbess released everyone who wanted it, and the same string of sisters stretched along the Belevsky road. The Belevsky Holy Cross Monastery has long been committed to the Optina elders, starting with Elder Leonid. Subsequent elders successively took into their paternal care the Belevsky monastery, which was distinguished by unchanging devotion, love and obedience to the elder. Therefore, many tears were shed by these close disciples of the departing elder, who sent his farewell greetings to them with a gentle glance. By this time, people from other monasteries began to come to Optina, as well as many of the worldly spiritual children of Fr. Joseph. So the elder himself ordered a telegraph to the Shamorda benefactor A. Ya. Popova so that she would come. A few days later the elder began to accompany her back. She wanted to stay with the elder, but he insistently sent her on Saturday, contrary to his rule of not letting anyone go on holidays. Returning to Moscow, Mrs. Popova suddenly felt pain in her eye. She suddenly developed yellow water and needed immediate surgery. If she had stayed another day in Optina, her eye would have been irrevocably lost. The elder’s nephew, who sincerely loved and revered him, after staying for several days, got ready to leave, as his business required. “Can I still come to you, father?” – he asked. “It’s possible, only in May,” the elder answered. Those who could not come themselves bade farewell to him in writing and asked for forgiveness and permission. When all his friends and visitors were satisfied, the elder calmed down and apparently began to renounce everything earthly. He was constantly immersed in prayer; One night the elder, who was lying motionless, suddenly stood up and repeated several times: “Mother Sophia! We need to pray for Mother Sophia.” The next day in Shamordino, a requiem service was served at the grave of the 1st abbess, Schema-nun Sophia, and after that the elder seemed to feel better. But then, a few days later, the dying man had to endure the last, difficult test. It, being the drop that overflowed his cup of earthly sorrows, served to the final purification of the sinfulness inherent in human nature, and his soul was completely ready to appear before the face of the Righteous Judge, terrible for the wicked and desired for the pure and humble servants of God. From the 28th, Elder Joseph completely stopped eating, eating only the heavenly bread of the Body and Blood of Christ. All the time, until his death, he was in full and clear consciousness, and even amazed everyone with his memory and attention to everything that still needed to be done and managed. He gave the clearest answers to business questions, dictated answers to letters received, and even signed them with his own hand two days before his death. Every day everyone who arrived again and some people close and devoted to the elder were allowed in to see him for his blessing. The elder mostly lay with his eyes closed, and many thought that he was unconscious and expressed in a whisper their regret that they had not received his blessing. Then the elder opened his fading eyes and raised his weakening hand for a blessing. This love, this sensitivity of his soul touched and moved him to tears. One of his spiritual daughters, looking at the dying man, mentally confessed her sins and finished to herself: “Dear father! If you hear, then look at me.” At that moment the elder instantly opened his eyes, raised them up and lowered them... A few days before his death, the elder began to groan heavily and when asked what was hurting him, he answered: “It’s strange, nothing hurts me, but I’m getting weaker.” His strength was declining, and when it was necessary to freshen the air in his bedroom, the cell attendants were already carrying him in their arms to the reception room. The doctor came again and, confirming his first definition, expressed surprise that the elder had been fighting the disease for so long. On May 8th, in the morning he seemed to feel better, but in the middle of the day he suddenly became weak. At about four o'clock a Moscow doctor who had arrived by chance came to him and said that his pulse was falling and his life would last for at most two days. Seeing the prepared photographic camera and learning that the priest allowed the Shamordino sisters to film himself once again, the doctor quietly said to the cell attendant: “Don’t bother the old man with this, he doesn’t have long to live.” But after the doctor left, the elder called the cell attendant and said in a barely audible whisper: “Call the photographer quickly, otherwise it will soon get dark.” This circumstance revealed the full depth of his love, which sacrificed itself to people until his very last breath. After this, everyone came in to receive the blessing. The elder looked at everyone kindly and said quietly: “Go to the all-night vigil.” The night of the 9th was alarming. Father did not sleep, and only in the morning he forgot. At 8 o'clock the hieromonk came with St. Gifts. The patient could not cough up the phlegm that was choking him for a long time. He was asked if he could join; he answered: “I can,” and partook of the Blood of Christ alone. After communion, he was offered to drink tea, to which he said: “What kind of tea is this now,” and after this he added: “Pray that the Lord will accept my soul in peace.” To this, the devoted and loving cell attendant said: “Father, what did you say - we cannot pray for your death, we all want you to live; and let us pray that the Lord will ease your suffering.” Father, after being silent for a while, said: “Well, let it be as God pleases.” From three o'clock in the afternoon the temperature began to rise quickly and the pulse increased. This was the last flash of fading life. At 4 o'clock the priest gathered everyone for the last time for a blessing, and at 6 o'clock everyone was allowed in to listen to the original canon. The elder was fully conscious; They placed a shroud with St. on his chest. relics. After reading the funeral service, the monks surrounding the elder came up to say goodbye, after them the nuns and all the close spiritual children came up. The old man lay with his eyes closed; I could hear wheezing in my chest. From that moment on, everyone was removed from the women's quarters, and the hut was locked until the morning. With inexpressible pain in their hearts, the elder’s devoted disciples left the dear shack forever and, unable to see his last moments, they remained at the entrance to the forest to await the end. Meanwhile, the old man’s fever was increasing, reaching 39.5, pulse – 130. At 10 o’clock the temperature began to drop quickly. The elder lay supine, with his hands folded on his chest; the eyes were closed, the face was illuminated with such an unearthly light that everyone present was amazed; – peace and deep calm were imprinted on him. The breathing became less and less frequent, the lips moved slightly, which indicated that the constant performer of the prayer would finish it only when the breath of death closed his lips. At 10:45 the elder breathed his last, and his pure righteous soul quietly separated from his laborious body and soared into the heavenly abodes; the same angelic smile lit up and froze on his magnificent face... This is how the ever-memorable elder of Optina Pustyn, Hieroschemamonk Joseph, died, the successor of the great elders: Leo, Macarius and Ambrose. At 2 o'clock in the morning the bell announced (first in the monastery, and then in the monastery) that the elder was gone. “Father Joseph has passed away,” echoed in everyone’s hearts; he completed his journey; the path of thorns with which his whole life and especially his last years were strewn had been passed; the time of trials and temptations had passed for him, and the captivity in which his great spirit languished was destroyed. The path of the cross is over, and the time of retribution has come, when the whole truth of his life will shine brighter than the sun... His spirit ascended to God, Who gave him (Eccl. 12:7). Two requiem services were immediately served, after which Father was hidden and clothed in the schema, on which Father died. Requiem services were served until the morning. The first funeral service was performed by the monastery leader, Fr. Hegumen Barsanuphius, then all the monastery and monastery hieromonks served in turn. That night, some of the monks, not yet knowing that the elder had already died, saw him in a dream, bright, shining and joyful. In the following days, he also appeared to many and answered the question: “What, father, you died?” - he answered: “No, I did not die, but, on the contrary, I am now completely healthy.” At 6 o'clock in the morning the body of the deceased elder was placed in a simple monastic coffin, lined with black cloth, and taken to the skete church. For the last time he left his shack, in which he had lived for exactly fifty years. Here he spent his whole life: here he was reborn in spirit and received spiritual baptism from the great elder Ambrose; Here he went through the path of struggle with temptations and passions, here he grew spiritually and became a perfect husband. At 11 o'clock, when the late mass in the monastery was over, a procession of the cross and all the brethren with Fr. The abbot is in charge. Through St. He passed through the gate into the skete church, where a cathedral solemn requiem service was celebrated at the coffin of the deceased, before which Fr. The archimandrite made an arrangement for the admission of all female monastics to the monastery. At the end of the funeral service, the coffin was carried out of the church by the hands of devoted disciples, and the procession headed, singing “Holy God” and the ringing of bells, preceded by banners and holy icons and a host of clergy, back to the monastery. The dense Optina forest rustled, as if in its own way giving him its farewell greetings. The coffin was temporarily placed in the Church of St. Mary of Egypt, and after the conciliar litia the continuous service of requiem masses began. One funeral service ended when another servant came out of the altar. The crowd of people was enormous. Archimandrites, abbots, hieromonks from neighboring monasteries, and many white clergy came; everyone was in a hurry to pay tribute and pray for the repose of the bright soul of the revered elder; the senior nuns of Shamorda, Belevskaya and various other, even very distant, monasteries gathered in Optina; The laity also hurried there, leaving their affairs. Everyone was drawn to it for the last time by this coffin, in which, barely noticeable, lay the dry, emaciated, almost childlike body of the one whose strong spirit had revived and saved so many souls. On May 12, the solemn burial of the deceased elder Hieroschemamonk Joseph took place. The funeral liturgy and burial were performed by the rector, Archimandrite Xenophon. During the communion verse, the dean of the monastery, Fr. Theodotus, the elder’s faithful and most devoted disciple, pronounced the funeral oration. This word so truly expressed general feelings, so simply but warmly painted the image of the deceased, that it was impossible to listen to him without tears; The preacher himself cried. Finally, the moment of farewell and then separation came. The hand of the deceased was warm and soft, like that of a living person. At the end of the funeral service, the coffin was carried with a religious procession to the place of eternal rest. The path from the church to the grave was covered with greenery and flowers. The sun with its bright rays flooded the monastery square, completely covered with people, and played on the golden brocade, an offering from the Shamordino monastery, on vestments, icons and crosses. The large Optina bell emitted sad, melodic sounds - rare strikes with the sad patter of small bells seemed to indicate general sorrow. At the grave prepared at the feet of Elder Ambrose, the last litany was performed, and the coffin was lowered into the crypt. All the servants, monks and nuns threw a handful of earth, paying their last tribute to the deceased; and at this time the bell was already humming, recalling eternal joy, eternal bliss! The guests were offered a memorial meal. Meanwhile, a grave mound had already risen above the fresh grave, a cross had been erected, inside of which an unquenchable lamp glowed, reminiscent of the light and warmth that the great Elder spread around himself. Despite the grief of separation from their spiritual father, many of those present said that the white robes of the servants, the wonderful sunny weather, and the Easter hymns gave the burial something “joyful and solemn,” rather reminiscent of glorification among the saints. This general mood was best expressed by the Elder’s spiritual son in his memoirs, which were published in the same 1911 by the Synodal Printing House: “I don’t know which of the services was more solemn and more splendid, but in general they all resembled the “opening” of the relics rather than the “closing” of our dear priest forever from the loving gaze of his spiritual children. Many, moving away from the coffin, expressed this impression out loud. Several times in the crowd I heard the touching words: “holy relics!” For me this was true consolation; it was even somehow joyful to stand at Father’s tomb to the sounds of prayers offered for his soul. The singers alternated all the time, now our monks, now the monks, now the Shamordino sisters, now the Belev sisters. Crosses, icons, belts, and rosaries were constantly applied to Father’s body; On the day of the burial, when Father was already transferred to the cathedral, Father’s coffin was literally filled with these things, which were sorted out by the owners with great faith and reverence. I was deeply touched by a beggar boy who applied a copper cross on a pink paper ribbon to Father’s hand, and then kissed Father’s hand with reverence and the sign of the cross. All these days, at the request of the nuns and Father’s admirers, the hieromonks lifted the eyecup and revealed Father’s face. Father was alive, so good, bright, calm, only very, very thin. On May 11, the third day after death, when the deceased are usually buried, I and some others noticed that the priest’s face had become darker in the morning, but on May 12 it brightened again and became even better than before. For all four days, not the slightest odor was felt from Father’s body, and a small sign of decay appeared only before burial on the handle, in the place that was touched when we applied our sinful lips, and then in the size of a three-kopeck copper coin, above this place, under the schema, the handle was completely white. It is remarkable that the hand was soft and warm, much warmer than when sick, and Hieromonk Fr. D., who put a second pillow under Father’s head so that his face would be higher, said that Father’s whole body was soft, not stiff, like that of ordinary dead people. Elder Fr. Before his death, Leonid told many: “If I receive God’s mercy, my body will warm up and be warm.” And Father Fr. Ambrose said: “When I die, for the sake of glorification on earth, my body will rot.” And indeed, during the burial, the smell of decay emanated from the body of Father Ambrose. The above words about the causes of incorruption were spoken by the great luminaries of the Optina eldership, chosen by God Himself as mediators between Him and sinful people. They spoke the truth, and distrust of their words would be sinful. After these words, how can one not become certain that Father Fr. Joseph, being not involved in earthly glory, after death received extreme glorification: in heaven and on earth?! In heaven, his purest soul was glorified by receiving the “crown of kindness from the hand of the Lord,” and on earth, by the incorruption and outflow of mercies on those who came running to him, his arduous ascetic body, which endured so much on earth, was glorified. Several miraculous incidents occurred at the tomb of the Elder. I mention one of them as reliable: one peasant woman, who had been suffering for some time from some incomprehensible disease, for the treatment of which she spent a lot, without receiving any benefit, as soon as she kissed her father’s hand, she began to scream and fight. After Father’s burial, she and two companions walked past Father’s grave to Fr. Anatoly, and I myself saw how, approaching the grave, she suddenly began to resist and quietly shout out: “I won’t go! I’m afraid of him, I’m afraid!” The companions took her by the arms and tried to move her from her place, but she still resisted; then they dragged her with difficulty to the grave and threw her onto a fresh mound. The woman immediately became quiet and, after lying down for a while, stood up, crossing herself. After praying at the grave, she calmly walked on. In the evening, I again saw how she quite calmly approached the grave alone, prayed and thanked Father out loud, and then, turning to me and the two nuns who were there, she told about her previous strange malaise and melancholy, ending her story with the words: “And Father discovered my illness.” Two more cases occurred from the belts that were brought from Father’s coffin on the day of his burial to two patients, and both received great relief from their suffering as soon as they put them on themselves. The Lord glorified the priest with the gift of healing during his lifetime. How many cases have there been that from the touch of Father’s hand to a sore spot or from Father’s making the sign of the cross over it, and often from one of his words: “Help, Lord!” – headaches, toothaches and other human ailments subsided. And there’s nothing to say about thoughts and other sinful states of the soul! As soon as the one overwhelmed by them appeared before Father, felt his intent, meek gaze on himself, or the gentle blow of his hand on the head, everything raging in her soul disappeared at once, and she was filled with such peace, such joy that you only wonder where the sinful oppression that had previously tormented her could have come from and where to go... Father was an exact executor of the law of Christ. The words of the Savior: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” - this suggests itself as an epigraph to Father’s entire life. Therefore, I think I will not be sinning if I end My wretched lines about him with the words: “Come to him, to his holy grave, all who labor and are burdened, sigh to the Lord for the repose of his righteous soul, tell him, as if alive, your sorrows and truly bring peace to your souls, that peace and peace that during his life was poured out so abundantly on everyone, with came to him by faith."