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Holy Righteous Philaret the Merciful “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7), said the Lord. And this came true for the blessed, merciful Philaret, who, for his great mercy to the poor, himself received from God great mercy and rich reward both in the present life and in the future, as his blessed life testifies to this. This blessed Philaret, originally from Galatia, lived in Paphlagonia (province of Asia Minor). In the city of Amnia. His noble parents, George and Anna, raised him from childhood in piety and fear of God, and therefore his life was decorated with chastity and all sorts of other virtues. Having reached adulthood, he entered into marriage with an honest, noble and rich girl named Theozvoya, and God blessed them with the birth of three children, a son, John, and daughters, Hypatia and Evanthia. God blessed blessed Philaret, as in former times of righteous Job, with an increase in his property and abundant wealth. He had numerous herds, and villages, and fruitful fields, and abundance in everything, and many men and women servants who served in his house. And Filaret was known as one of the famous nobles of that country. Possessing great wealth and seeing how at the same time many were suffering from extreme poverty, Blessed Philaret felt compassion for them and in the tenderness of his soul said to himself: “Have I really received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord only for the sake of living in pleasure and pleasing my belly?” Should I not share the great wealth God has given me with the poor, widows, orphans, strangers and the wretched, whom the Lord at the Last Judgment before angels and people will not be ashamed to call His brothers, since He says: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40). And what benefit will all my possessions bring me on the Day of Judgment if, out of my stinginess, I save them for myself alone, since those who have not shown mercy will not receive mercy; Will my possessions be immortal food and drink for me in the future life? Will my soft clothing serve me there as an imperishable robe? No, that won't happen. For this is what the Apostle says: “We brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot take anything out of it” (1 Tim. 6:7). And so, if we cannot take any of our earthly property with us from here, then the best thing is to give it to God, as if on loan from the hands of the poor, and God will never leave me, nor my wife, nor my children. The prophet David assures me of this, saying: “I was young and old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken and his descendants asking for bread” (Ps. 36:25). And thus, reflecting in the depths of his soul, Blessed Philaret became merciful to the poor, like a father to his children, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed strangers into his home and with love and joy brought them every kind of peace. And this righteous man was like the ancient stranger Abraham and the poor-lover Job. Therefore, it was impossible for such a lamp, decorated with works of mercy, to be hidden under a bushel, and it became famous throughout the country, like a city adorned on the top of a mountain. And to his house, truly, as to a city - a reliable refuge, all the poor and wretched hurried to take shelter. And what each of them needed: food, clothing, a horse, an ox, a donkey or some other thing, Philaret provided him with charitable generosity. But then the time came when the Lord, who arranges everything for the benefit of man, allowed the righteous Philaret, like his ancient saint Job, to be tempted, so that his patience could manifest itself like the patience of Job, and so that, purified by temptation, like gold in a furnace, he would appear as a worthy servant of God. It began with the fact that Blessed Philaret fell into poverty; however, this did not change his compassion and mercy towards the poor; he continued to share everything he had with those in need. At this time, by God's permission, the Ishmaelites attacked the country in which Philaret lived, and, like a crushing whirlwind and a burning flame, they devastated it and captured many people of all kinds; All of Philaret's herds of sheep and oxen, horses and donkeys were taken away, and many of his slaves were taken captive. Then he reached such ruin that he finally had only two slaves, a pair of oxen, a horse and a cow, since all his property was either distributed to the poor by his generous hand, or plundered by the Ishmaelites; Its villages and gardens and fields were taken over by the farmers living around them, some by prayer, others by violence. And Filaret had only one field left, and the house in which he lived. And, enduring poverty and hardship, this good man never grieved or grumbled, and, like the second righteous Job, he did not sin in anything before God (not even a word), and “he did not say anything foolish about God” (Job 1:22). – But he rejoiced in his poverty no less than how a rich man rejoices in his wealth, since he wisely understood in his soul that poverty is a surer path to salvation than wealth, just as the Lord said that “it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23). One day, taking his two oxen, Filaret went to plow his remaining field. While working, he praised and joyfully thanked God that he began, according to His holy commandment, to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, and that work saved him from laziness and idleness, these teachers of all evil. He also recalled the words of the Apostle, who forbids a lazy person who loves idleness to eat: “If anyone does not want to work, he should not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). And the blessed one cultivated his land, so that he would not be unworthy to eat his bread. On the same day, one villager also plowed his cornfield. And so, suddenly one of his oxen fell ill and fell. The farmer wept bitterly and grieved inconsolably, especially since those oxen did not belong to him; but he asked a neighbor to borrow them. Then he remembered about blessed Philaret and said: “Oh, if this merciful beggar-lover himself had not become poor, then I would have gone to him and would have received from him, probably, not only one, but even two oxen; but he himself is now poor and wretched, and has nothing to help those in need. However, I will still go to him, at least he will grieve with me and at least with his word he will console me and ease my heavy grief.” - And taking his staff, the villager went to Blessed Philaret and, meeting him at work in the field, bowed to him and with tears told him about his grief - the unexpected death of an ox. Blessed Philaret, seeing how upset this man was, immediately unharnessed his ox from under the yoke and gave it to this man, saying: “Take, brother, this ox of mine and go to work your land, thanking God.” The villager bowed with gratitude to the blessed one, accepting his merciful alms and said: “My lord! Your decision is great and wondrous, and your mercy pleases God, but it is not good to separate two oxen that worked together, and it will be difficult for you to manage with one yourself. The righteous man answered: “Take, brother, the ox that I give you, and go in peace, I have one more ox left.” The farmer bowed to the blessed one to the ground and, taking the ox, walked away, glorifying God and thanking the merciful man. And Filaret, taking the remaining ox and putting the yoke on his shoulders, went home. When he approached the gate of his house, his wife, seeing an ox walking ahead and her husband following him with a yoke on his shoulders, said to him: “My lord! Where is your other ox? He answered: “While I was resting after work, and the oxen were grazing freely, one of them got separated and got lost, or perhaps someone took him and took him to his place.” Hearing this, Philaret's wife was very upset and hastened to send her son to find the missing ox. The boy, having walked around many fields and fields, finally found his father’s ox in the yoke of that farmer and, recognizing his ox, angrily said to the farmer: “How dare you bring someone else’s ox under your yoke? Where and how did you get this ox and hitch it to yours? Isn't this the same ox that was lost with my father? And you, having found it, stole it like a wolf and appropriated it for yourself... Give me the ox, and if you don’t give it back, then you will be judged as a thief...” The farmer meekly said to him: “Do not be angry with me, young man, son of the holy father, and do not sin by raising your hand against me! After all, it was your father himself who turned his mercy to my misfortune and poverty and voluntarily gave me this ox of his, since my ox, working under the yoke, suddenly unexpectedly fell.” Hearing this, the young man was ashamed of his angry words to an innocent person and hurried to return home and tell his mother about all this. She, having listened to him, exclaimed with tears: “Woe is me, the poor wife of an unmerciful husband!” And she tore out her hair and, screaming and screaming, ran to her husband, reproaching him: “You are a cruel and inhumane person! Why did you plan to starve us to death prematurely? Now, for our sins, we lost all our property, but the Lord, who is merciful to sinners, left us two oxen, so that with their help we could feed our children; But you, who previously lived in great wealth and never worked with your own hands, have become lazy and do not want to work and cultivate the land, but want to rest and rest sweetly in your room - and therefore, not for the sake of God, you gave your ox to the villager, but for your own sake: so as not to work to harness it to the yoke, but to live in laziness and idleness. However, what answer will you give to God if I and your children perish because of your laziness?” Looking at his wife, Blessed Philaret responded with meekness: “Listen to what God, who is rich in mercy, commands us: look at the birds of the air, which do not sow, do not reap, and do not gather into barns, but your Heavenly Father feeds them (Matthew 6:26); Will He not also nourish us, who are more dear in His eyes, our Father, Who promises to reward a hundredfold those who, for His sake and the Gospel’s sake, distribute their property to the poor? Think about it, oh my wife, if for one ox we get a hundred, then why should we grieve over that will, which we gave to the needy in the name of the Lord? “The merciful man said this not because he consoled himself with the hope of being rewarded a hundredfold in earthly life, but in order to reassure his cowardly wife. And she fell silent, finding no objection to her husband’s prudent words. Not even five days passed after that, when the ox that Blessed Philaret gave to the villager, having eaten a poisonous plant in the field (called hellebore-elevor), fell and died. This bewildered the villager, and again coming to Philaret, he said to him: “Sir, I sinned before you and before your children, that I separated your pair of oxen; That’s right, that’s why the Righteous God did not allow me to benefit from your ox: behold, he ate some kind of potion and died... The God-loving and merciful beggar-lover, Blessed Philaret, did not answer the villager, but hastened to bring the remaining ox to him and, giving it to him, said: “Take, brother, this ox and take him away; I have to leave for a distant country and I don’t want the working ox to remain idle in my house without me.” And the blessed one said this so that the man would not refuse to accept another ox from him. And the villager accepted the ox and returned to his house, marveling at the great mercy of the blessed man. When Philaret’s family found out about this, his children and their mother began to cry bitterly and said: “In all truth, our father is not merciful and does not love his children, because he is wasting our last property; Only one ox remained in our house so as not to die of hunger, and he gave it to a stranger.” Seeing the grief and tears of his children, the venerable father addressed them with the following words: “Why are you grieving, my children, and tearing yourself and your heart? Why do you call me ruthless and think that I want to starve you to death? And I, meanwhile, preserve in one place, which is unknown to you, such wealth and such treasures as will suffice for you, even if you live a hundred years without labor and without worrying about anything, since I myself do not know the count of that hidden wealth... And in saying this, the righteous man did not deceive his children, but in truth saw with his spiritual vision what was to come true later. At this time, the royal command followed that all soldiers gather in their regiments and march against the wicked barbarians who rebelled against the Greek Empire, and that every soldier had good weapons and two horses. One poor warrior named Musilius, who had only one horse, was assigned to one of those regiments, and the day before his introduction to the regiment he fell ill and died. Not having the means to buy a horse, the poor warrior came to Filaret and said to him: my lord Filaret, have pity on me, help me. I know that you yourself have become poor and you have only one horse, but still I ask you, have mercy on me, give me that horse of yours, so that I don’t fall into the hands of the thousand-man, and so that he doesn’t beat me cruelly... And blessed Philaret said to him: “Take, brother, my horse and go in peace, but just know that it is not for the fear of punishment from the thousand that I give it to you, but for the sake of God’s mercy.” And the warrior accepted the horse from the saint and left him, praising the Lord. And then St. Philaret’s only property was a cow and a calf, a donkey, and a few beehives. Meanwhile, one poor man from a distant place, having heard about the merciful Philaret, came to him and began to ask, saying: “My lord, I wish that you would give me one calf from your herd, so that your gift may serve me as a blessing from you, because I know that your giving brings blessing to the house and enriches it in every possible way.” Blessed Philaret then joyfully brought his only calf and gave it to the one who asked, saying: “May the Lord bestow upon you a great blessing, brother, and may he give you abundance in everything you need!” And that man bowed to Philaret and left him, taking the calf with him. Meanwhile, the cow, not seeing her calf, began to look for it and, not finding it anywhere, mooed loudly, as if arousing regret in the household. And in fact, Filaret’s wife was very upset and reproached him with tears: “Who and how much longer will have to endure from you? And who won't laugh at your recklessness? I see and believe now that you do not care at all about me, your wife, and you have killed your children; You didn’t even spare a dumb animal reproaching its child, but without mercy you tore the calf from its mother’s breasts—and who did you benefit with this? You deprived him of your home and embittered him, and did not enrich the one who begged you for a calf, because his child will die without a mother, and our cow will grieve and bray without her calf, what is the benefit to us and him?” Hearing such words from his wife, the venerable Philaret answered her with meekness: “Now you have spoken the true truth, oh, my wife! It is true that I am neither merciful nor merciful, since I separated the little calf from its mother; but now I’ll do better...” And hastening after the man who had taken the calf away, Filaret began to call him: “Come back man, come back with the calf, because its mother does not give us rest: she moos and roars at the gate of the house.” The poor man, having heard this, thought that the blessed one probably wanted to take away the donated calf from him, and said to himself: behold, my grief, that I am not worthy to receive even this insignificant animal as a blessing from this blessed one; He probably regretted it and besought me to take it away from me... And the man with the calf returned to Philaret’s house, which, seeing his mother, ran to her, and the mother also rushed to him with a joyful lowing, and he, falling to her teats, did not leave her for a long time. Seeing this, Feozva, Philaret’s wife, rejoiced that the calf was returned to the house. Blessed Philaret, seeing the poor man standing sadly and not even daring to utter a word, said to him: “Brother, my wife told me that I sinned by separating the calf from my mother, and she told the truth. Therefore, take its mother along with the calf and go for yourself; and may the Lord bless you and multiply your flock in your house, as in former times.” - And the man took the cow and calf and went home in joy. And God blessed his house for the sake of His saint Philaret, and soon multiplied his herd so much that there were already up to two hundred oxen and milk cows in it. Soon after that, famine occurred in the country where Filaret lived, and this venerable man reached the last extreme of poverty; he no longer had anything left to feed his wife and children, and then, taking his only donkey, he went to another country to one of his friends and, borrowing 6 measures of wheat from him and loading it on the donkey, joyfully returned to his house and fed his wife and children. When he rested at home after the journey, a beggar came to him and asked him to give him one sieve of wheat. "Wife! - this worthy imitator of Abraham then said, turning to her while she was sowing wheat, “I would like to give this beggar one measure of wheat...” She answered him: “Wait until your children and your wife are satisfied, and first of all give me one measure, and your children according to the measure, and also to our worker, and what remains beyond that, give to whomever you want.” He, looking at her, laughed and said: “But don’t you expect anything from my share?” She objected: “But you are an angel, not a man, and you don’t need food; If you needed food, you would not give out borrowed wheat to others...” He, having poured out 2 measures of wheat, gave them to the beggar. Then, losing her temper with grief and annoyance, Philaret’s wife shouted at him: “Well, give the beggar the third measure, since you have so much of it.” “That’s what Blessed Philaret did: he poured out the third measure, and gave it to the beggar, and let him go. And his irritated wife divided the remaining wheat between herself and her children. - When all the wheat came out, then, again suffering from hunger with the children, Feozva went to the neighbors, asked them for half a loaf of bread, boiled quinoa for it and gave it to the hungry children and she fed herself with them, but they didn’t even remember to invite the old father to eat with them. Meanwhile, having heard about the plight of blessed Philaret, one of his old friends, a rich man, sent him 4 carts loaded with wheat, each 10 measures (spoods), and at the same time wrote to him: “Our beloved brother, man of God, I am sending you 40 measures of wheat to feed you and your household, and when you spend it, I will send you the same amount; I ask you to pray to God for us.” Having accepted this gift, the blessed one bowed to the ground and, raising his hands and raising his eyes to heaven in gratitude, said: “I praise and thank You, Lord my God, for not forsaking me, Your servant, and not despising the one who trusted in You!” Seeing such mercy of God, Philaret’s wife calmed down and turned to him with meekness: “My lord, give me enough wheat for me and for our children, and also to return to the neighbors what we borrowed from them; take your share and do with it as you wish.” Filaret did just that, according to his wife: he divided the wheat and, taking 5 measures for himself, distributed his entire share to the poor over the course of two days. This again angered his wife, and she did not even want to eat with him, but dined with the children separately and secretly from him. One day, Blessed Philaret accidentally caught them at dinner and said to them: “Children, accept me to dine with you, not as your father, but as a guest and stranger.” “They laughed and accepted him, and while they were eating together, his wife said to him: “Mr. Philaret, how long will you hide from us your treasure, which, as you say, is kept somewhere with you? Are you laughing at us and teasing us like foolish children with false promises? But if you are telling the truth, then show us your treasure, give it to us, and we will buy food for ourselves and dine together again, as before.” The blessed one answered: “Wait a little, and soon you will be shown and given a great treasure.” Finally, Saint Philaret reached such poverty that he no longer had anything except a few beehives, and only he, his wife, and their children were soaked in honey from them. But even in such a need, he did not refuse the poor man who asked and, not having bread, shared honey with him. His household, seeing that in this way they were deprived of their last food, slowly went to the bees to select all the honey, but they found only one hive, from which they took the entire supply. And the next morning the beggar again came to the saint and asked him for alms. Filaret went to the beehive and when he saw that it was empty and that he had nothing to give to the beggar, he took off his outer clothing and gave it to him. “Where are your clothes? Did you really give that too to a beggar? – his wife asked Filaret when he came home without outerwear. He answered: “I walked through the hives, and left her there.” Then his son went to the beekeeper to look for his father’s clothes, but not finding them there, he told his mother about it. It was unpleasant for her to see her husband in an inappropriate form, and she sewed him a new one from her own dress and dressed him. In those days, the throne of the Greek Empire was occupied by the Christ-loving Queen Irina with her son Constantine. Since he was already approaching adulthood, selected reliable people were sent throughout all the possessions of the Greek Empire to find a beautiful, kind and good-born girl worthy of marrying Prince Constantine. Eager to successfully fulfill the royal commission, they carefully and earnestly walked around all regions and cities and even remote places, and thus reached the city of Amnia in Paphlagonia. Approaching him, they saw from a distance the tall and beautiful house of Filaret. Believing that some rich nobleman lived there, they sent their servants there to prepare room and table for them. But one of the soldiers accompanying the royal ambassadors told them: “Do not go into that house, gentlemen, because, although it is large and beautiful in appearance, it is empty inside, and there is nothing in it to satisfy you, since the poorest of all people lives in it. - However, the king’s messengers did not believe the words of the warrior and repeated the order to their servants to carry out what they had been entrusted with. The true stranger, the God-loving man Philaret, as soon as he saw people approaching his house, then, taking his staff, he went out to meet them, bowed to the ground, received them with joy and said to them: “The Lord has surely brought you, my masters, to me, your servant; I consider it a great honor for myself that I was honored to receive such guests in my wretched house.” And hastening to his wife, the blessed one said to her: “My mistress, Theozva, prepare a good dinner to treat the honored guests who have arrived from afar; I really liked them." She objected: “What should I use to make a good dinner? Is there even one lamb or chicken in our beggarly house? I can only cook quinoa, which we eat ourselves, and then without oil; I can’t even remember about oil and wine: when were they in our house?” But her husband again asked her: “Just light a fire and clean the upper chamber, wash our old ivory dining table, and the Lord, who nourishes all flesh, will give us food with which we will treat our guests.” Feozva began to fulfill her husband’s command. At this time, the elders of that region arrived and brought righteous Philaret sheep and rams, chickens and pigeons, bread and wine, and other things necessary for receiving so many guests. Having accepted these offerings, Theozva began to cook various dishes from them and prepared dinner in the upper house. The royal ambassadors gathered here for dinner and were amazed at the splendor of the room in the house of a completely poor man, and at the luxurious round dining table made of ivory, shining with gold. But most of all they were struck by the sincere love of the blessed one, who, both in his appearance and in his address, reminded them of Abraham the stranger himself. While they were sitting down at the table, the owner’s son, John, who looked like his father, came in, and the grandchildren of the blessed one also gathered, who began to diligently serve the guests at the table. Looking at them, the guests admired their decorous and decent behavior and asked Filaret: “Most honorable host, is your wife alive?” He answered: “I have a wife, and these are all my children and grandchildren.” And the royal ambassadors said to him: “Let your wife come here and greet us!” Feozva has arrived. Seeing her, although still beautiful, but already an elderly woman, they asked: “Do you have daughters?” Blessed Philaret answered them: “My eldest daughter has three young daughters. “Then the guests suggested: “Let those young women come here, and we will get to know them, since we have orders from our kings who sent us to examine all the young girls in all the Greek regions and choose from them the most beautiful one, worthy of royal marriage. The blessed one said: “This word does not apply to us, our masters and rulers, since we are your slaves, the poor and the wretched. However, for now, eat and drink what God has sent, and have fun, and rest from the journey, and sleep, and in the morning we will see what the will of God is, and let it be done.” When morning came and the sun rose, the royal messengers woke up, called Philaret and said to him: “Command, sir, to present your granddaughters to us, so that we can see what they are like.” - “As you command, my masters, so it will be; however, at the same time, I ask you, listen to me graciously, deign to visit us yourself in our premises, where you will see our girls, since they have never left our poor housing.” Responding to this invitation, the guests stood up and cordially followed their host to his family chambers, where the girls met them, bowing modestly and respectfully to them. When the royal ambassadors saw that the granddaughters of their master were the most beautiful of all the girls they had seen in all the Greek regions, they were very pleased and said: “We thank God that we have finally found what we wanted, because one of these girls can be a worthy bride of our king, since we cannot meet better than them in the whole world.” And in accordance with the age of the prince, they chose the eldest granddaughter of Blessed Philaret, named Maria, as his bride. Satisfied with the success of their business, the royal ambassadors invited her, her father and mother, and her grandfather, and all her relatives - among thirty people - to accompany them to Constantinople. With them were also ten more girls chosen from other places, among whom was the beautiful daughter of the famous dignitary Gerontius. During this journey, the reasonable and humble granddaughter of Blessed Philaret turned to her friends, other maidens, with the following words: “Oh, my sisters, maidens! Since we are all gathered here for the same reason - to be presented to the king, we will agree among ourselves what to do when our Heavenly King gives one of us the kingdom of the earth, appointing her as the king’s wife. Since it is impossible for all of us to ascend to this height, but only one of us will be chosen, then let her not forget all the others when she becomes a powerful queen, and may she be merciful to us.” To this the daughter of the nobleman Gerontius answered Mary: “Let it be known to you that not one of you can be chosen as the king’s wife, except me, since I am above all of you in noble origin, and in wealth, and in appearance, and in reason; for you, with your poverty and simplicity and low birth, hoping only for the beauty of your face, what hope can there be of entering the royal palace? “Hearing these crazy and proud words, the youth Maria remained silent, but she devoted herself to God and relied on the prayers of the holy elder, her grandfather. So, the girls finally arrived in the capital, were taken to the royal palace and their arrival was reported. By royal command, first of all, the daughter of Gerontia was presented to the king’s close associate and the head of his palace, Stavrikius. Having seen and experienced her, he noticed that she had a lot of pride and said to her: “You are good and beautiful, girl, but you cannot be the king’s wife.” - And having generously presented her, he sent her home. – In this way, “everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated; but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). After everyone, Stavrikiya and Maria, the granddaughter of the venerable Philaret, were introduced - with her mother and grandfather, and with all her relatives. Seeing them, both the Tsar, his mother, and Stavriky were amazed at their spiritual and physical beauty. They were especially struck by the beauty of Mary, on whose face meekness, humility and fear of God were clearly expressed. Virginly and modestly, she stood before the king, her eyes downcast and her face flushed brightly. And the king liked her very much, and he betrothed her to be his bride. Her second sister was chosen as a bride by one of the nobles close to the king, the noble patrician Constantius, and the third sister was taken as a bride to the ruler of the Longobards, since this union could help pacify him. Thus the marriage of the king with the granddaughter of Blessed Philaret took place. And he was accompanied by great entertainment, in which the royal nobles, the people, and the entire family of blessed Philaret took part, whom the king seated next to him on his right side and warmly hugged him and kissed his venerable head. Having praised him for the piety of him and his wife and for the good upbringing of their beautiful children, the king surrounded them with great honor and presented them with silver and gold, and precious stones, and luxurious clothes, and large and beautiful houses, and other property. And thus, having honored and kissed the blessed one, the king released him and his family, leaving them to settle in the houses given to them. Then Philaret’s wife and his children, and all his household, who had received such rich gifts, remembered the words of Philaret, who had repeatedly told them that he kept in a secret place the treasures that he had prepared for them... And falling at the feet of the saint, they said to him: “Forgive us, our lord and master, for what we have all sinned so madly before you! Forgive us for condemning you and reproaching you for your generous alms to the poor and needy. Now only we have understood that truly “blessed is he who considers the poor and needy”! (Ps. 40:2) Since everything that he gives to the beggar, he gives to God Himself, who will reward him a hundredfold in earthly life and grant him a blessed life in eternity. So, for the sake of your alms to the poor, man of God, the Lord sent His rich mercy to you, and for your sake to all of us.” The blessed elder, raising his hands to heaven, said: “Blessed be God, Who pleased this! Blessed be the name of the Lord from now on and forever!” (Ps. 113:2). - And, turning to his family, he suggested: “Listen to my advice, let’s prepare a good dinner and ask the king and our ruler and all his nobles to come to us for a feast.” They answered: “As you want, so be it!” - And when everything was prepared for the solemn feast, the blessed one left his house and began to walk around the city and the surrounding area, looking for the poor, lepers, blind, lame, old, infirm and, having gathered them up to 200 people, brought them to his house and, leaving first in front of the gate, went alone to his household and said to them: “My children, the king is approaching our house with his nobles, are you ready?” Do you have a treat?" “It’s ready, venerable father,” they answered him, and then he brought his many guests to his house; He invited some of them to sit at the table, invited others to lie down on the floor, and he himself sat down with them. Seeing this, his family realized that the distinguished guest, God Christ, according to Philaret, appears to them in the house in the form of beggars, and the nobles of the Heavenly King are all the poor brethren who can get a lot from God with their prayers. And they were amazed at his great humility, since, having achieved such glory, and being the grandfather of the queen, he did not forget his love for alms, continues to communicate with the poor and needy, and now, as one of them, he reclines among them, and as a slave he serves them. And they said: “Truly this man is a whole man of God and a true disciple of Christ, having learned well the commandment of Christ, who said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The blessed one commanded his son John, who was already a spatharius, and also his grandchildren to be at the dinner table and serve the poor brethren. And also, calling his entire family, he said: “Behold, my children, completely unexpectedly for you, you received wealth from God, which I promised you, trusting in the mercy of God. This promise was fulfilled. Tell me, is there still any debt left for me?” They, remembering his old words, began to cry and all unanimously said to him: “In true truth, you, our lord, foresee the future, as a saint of God, and we were mad that we irritated you, the venerable old man, and therefore we beg you, do not remember the sins of our ignorance!” The blessed one said to them: “The Lord is merciful and generous and rewarded us a hundredfold for the little that we gave to the beggar in His name. If you want to inherit eternal life, then let each of you put aside ten gold coins from your property for the share of these wretched brethren, and God will accept them from you like two mites to a widow” (Mark 12:42). And they fulfilled his advice with all their hearts. Blessed Philaret, having treated the beggars sufficiently, gave each of them a gold coin and released them. After a while, Blessed Philaret again called his wife and children and said to them: “Our Lord said: “Use them (mines of silver) for circulation until I return” (Luke 19:13). And I want to make a turnover, and I want to sell the part of mine that the king gave me, but you buy it from me and give me the gold that I need - if you agree to buy, then I will distribute everything to my brothers the poor, since it is enough for me to be called the grandfather of the queen. “They, having examined his property, appraised it and bought it for 60 liters (pounds) of gold. The blessed one, having received this gold, distributed it to the poor. When the king and his nobles learned about this, they were very pleased with his generosity and mercy towards all those in need, and from then on they began to give the righteous man significant sums to distribute to the poor. And the blessed one arranged three identical boxes and filled one of them with gold coins, the other with silver, and the third with copper. And he entrusted the supervision of them to his faithful servant Callistus, so that when a poor man came to him to ask for alms, he would give it to him. When his servant asked from which box he should help the one asking, the saint answered him: “And from which one God will enlighten you, since God knows the need of everyone, both poor and rich, and satisfies every animal with His good pleasure. “The righteous man said this in order to show the difference between the poor begging for alms: for example, there are those who were previously rich, but due to unfortunate events, they went bankrupt and lost their property and even bread, but, having retained some of their previous clothes, they hide their need under it, being ashamed of it, and only out of extremity ask for help. There are also other petitioners who are not poor at all, but, wanting to increase their funds, they deliberately dress in poor clothes and then, under the guise of poverty, lure out benefits; these can be called covetous and idolaters. Reflecting all this in his mind, the merciful Philaret said: “God knows the need of everyone, and He, as He pleases, directs the hand of the giver of alms. Thus, this blessed beggar himself lowered his hand for money, without discerning which box... and whatever he accidentally took out of the box - copper, silver or gold, he gave to the person asking. And this venerable man told with an oath, calling God as a witness, that many times it happened that when a person in good clothes came to him to ask for help, and he, not considering him poor, wanted to help him from a box with copper money, then his hand involuntarily fell into a box with silver or gold, which he gave to that petitioner... At the same time, it happened that when a petitioner came to him in shabby and torn clothes, and he wanted to help him more significantly, his hand seemed to be stubborn and did not grab much. And all this was carried out by the Providence of God, which alone knows our real needs. Arriving at the royal palace to visit his granddaughter-queen every 4 years, this blessed man never dressed in purple clothes with a golden belt. And when he was forced to dress in appropriate luxurious clothes, he said: “Leave me alone, I thank my God and glorify His great and wondrous name for He raised me from my wretchedness and raised me to such a height that I am now the grandfather of the queen, and this is enough for me, and I do not require anything more. - And the blessed one was in the same humility that he did not even want to use any rank or title, calling himself simply Philaret of Amniat. And so, spending his entire life in humility and charity, he approached the blessed end of his blessed life. While still healthy, he was warned about this by God and, secretly from everyone, taking with him his faithful servant, he went to one of the Constantinople monasteries, called Rodolphia, where venerable nuns were saved in an ascetic pure life. Having presented the abbess with a significant amount of gold for monastic needs, he asked for a new coffin to be delivered to him and said: “I want you to know, but do not tell anyone about it, that in a few days I will leave this life and move to another world and to another Tsar. And I ask you that my body be laid in this new coffin.” And he forbade his servant to talk about this to anyone until he himself revealed it. Soon after, having distributed all his property to the poor and wretched, he fell ill in that nunnery and went to bed; on the 9th day of his illness, he called his wife and children, and his entire family to him, and said to them friendly, in a quiet voice: “Let it be known to you, my children, that the Holy King is now calling me to Himself, and now, having left you, I am going to Him.” They, not understanding these words, but thinking that he was talking about an earthly king, objected to him: “It is impossible for you to go to the king now, since you are lying sick.” He answered them: “But those who want to take me and present me to the king are already ready.” Then they realized that he was telling them about his departure to the Heavenly King, and they raised a loud cry, as in the old days Joseph and his brothers over Jacob. He, making a sign with his hand for them to be silent, began to teach and console them, saying: “You, my children, knew and saw what kind of life I led from my youth, just as God knows that I did not live by the labor of others, but by my own labor I earned my bread; I did not exalt myself with the wealth that I had from God, but, having driven pride far away, I loved humility for the sake of obedience to the Apostle, who forbids “those who are rich in this matter to think highly of themselves” (1 Tim. 6:17). Also, when I fell into poverty, I did not grieve and did not blaspheme God, but together with the righteous Job I thanked Him that out of His love He punished me, and seeing my grateful patience, again brought me out of poverty and brought me into honorable fellowship and kinship with kings and princes. When I was raised to such a height, my heart always remained in deep humility, “my heart was not puffed up and my eyes were not lifted up, and I did not enter into great things and beyond my reach” (Ps. 130:1). And I did not use the riches that the king of the earth gave me for earthly blessings, but handed them over to the King of Heaven through the hands of the poor. So I ask and pray you, my beloved, imitate me and, as you saw that I acted, so do you; if you do even more good, you will be rewarded with even greater bliss. Do not value fleeting wealth, but send it to another world, to the one where I am already leaving. Do not leave your property here, lest strangers or enemies who hate you take advantage of it. Do not forget to love hospitable people, stand up for widows, help orphans, visit the sick and those imprisoned. Do not leave fellowship with the church, do not kidnap someone else’s property, do not offend anyone, do not slander, do not rejoice at someone else’s or the sorrow that befalls your enemy. Bury the dead and commemorate them in holy churches; also remember me, unworthy, in your prayers, until you yourself pass into blessed eternal memory.” Having finished his soul-helping teaching, Blessed Philaret said to his son John: “Bring your children, my grandchildren, to me.” And when they came, he told them about what would happen in their lives. He said to John’s eldest son: “You will choose a girlfriend from a distant place and live with her piously and wisely.” He said to the second: “You will bear the name of Christ for 24 years and, having lived a life pleasing to God, you will go to the Lord.” He also made a prediction to his third grandson, and it all came true. And, like Patriarch Jacob in ancient times, this blessed man spoke with prophetic insight on his deathbed, and subsequently all his prophetic words came true for his descendants. His two granddaughters, maidens, came to him along with others and asked him to bless them too. He said to them: “The Lord will bless you too! You will spend your life in virginity, alienated from this sin-loving world, and you will not be defiled by carnal passions, but having served the Lord in purity for a long time, you will be worthy to receive great benefits from Him!” These dying words of the righteous man also came true. These well-behaved girls entered the nunnery of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was in Constantinople, and after 12 years of asceticism in virginal purity, fasting, prayer vigil and other monastic labors, both simultaneously calmed down and died peacefully. Having prayed for his wife and for his children, and for all his relatives, and for the whole world, blessed Philaret, his face beaming, illuminated as if by heavenly light, began joyfully singing the psalm of King David: “I will sing mercy and judgment to you, O Lord” (Ps. 100:1) And at that time the whole room was filled with a wonderful fragrance... After that psalm, he began to say the prayer: “Father ours, who art in heaven!” And when he said: “Thy will be done!” - then, raising his hands to the sky and stretching out on his bed, he gave up his soul to the Lord, being 90 years old. However, even with such advanced years, his face did not change, but shone with beauty, like a luxurious ripe fruit. Hearing about his departure to God, the king, the queen and his nobles hastened to arrive at the monastery and kissed him with reverence. And everyone cried about his death and gave generous alms to the poor in his memory. When they carried his coffin to the prepared grave, an amazing and touching sight presented itself: for his burial, countless numbers of beggars and wretched people gathered from different cities and towns, and all of them, screaming and sobbing, like ants, crowded around his coffin, some limping, others crawling and crying: “Oh, Lord God! Why did you deprive us of such a father and our breadwinner; Without him, who will feed and clothe us, naked and hungry? Who will shelter strangers in their home? Who will pick up the poor people caught dead on the street and give them an honest burial? It would be better for all of us to die before him than for us to lose our benefactor!” - And, seeing the tears and hearing the cries of these wretched people, the king himself, and the queen, and their nobles, who walked with them behind the coffin, were moved and cried. There was also one poor man among them, named Kavokokos, who was often helped by the merciful Philaret in his difficult situation (since from his very birth he was possessed by an unclean spirit, which many times plunged him into fire, then into water during his demonic possession on the new moon). And so, when he heard about the death of blessed Philaret and came, when they began to lay the body of the saint in the coffin, the evil spirit that was in him could not tolerate such zeal for the saint and began to torment him, and incited him to blaspheme the saint; and the sick man barked like a dog, and grabbed the bed on which the body of the deceased lay so tightly that it was impossible to tear him away from it. When the body was placed in the coffin, the evil spirit, having knocked the suffering person to the ground, came out of him, and he became healthy, praising and glorifying God. All the people marveled at this miracle and glorified God, who had bestowed such grace on His servant Philaret. Then his honorable body was laid in the designated coffin in the nunnery in the very place that he had chosen for himself during his lifetime. This is how God pleases the merciful both in the present life, which people hear about, and in the future, which they will hear about. One of Philaret’s relatives, a reasonable, pious and God-fearing man, swore with an oath, calling God as a witness, the following: “Once, some time after the death of blessed Philaret,” he says, “at night with horror I felt myself transported to some place that cannot even be described, and I saw some man, bright in appearance, who showed me a fiery river flowing so noisily and it was menacing that no one from the human race could bear the spectacle of this. On the other side of the river, a beautiful paradise was visible, magnificent in appearance, full of inexpressible joy and joy, fragrant with an inexpressible aroma; Huge, beautiful trees hung with fruits swayed there under the influence of a quiet wind and made a wonderful rustling sound. And it is impossible to even list all the beauties and blessings of this paradise that God has prepared there for those who love Him. And there I saw many people in bright clothes, joyfully rejoicing and eating the fruits of those trees of paradise; Having looked closely at those people, I saw one of them (it was Filaret, but I did not recognize him, dressed in light clothes, sitting on a golden throne among those gardens); on the one hand, newly enlightened children stood next to him with candles in their hands, on the other hand - many beggars and wretched people in white clothes who crowded around him, since each of them wanted to be closer to him. And so, a young man appeared there, bright, but scary in appearance, holding a golden rod in his hand. Then I and many, with fear and trembling, dared to ask him: “Lord! Who is the one who sits on the bright throne among those radiant men? Isn’t this Abraham?” And the bright young man answered me: “This is Philaret of Amniat, who, for his great love for the poor and alms, and for his pure life, like Abraham, settles here.” Also, this new Abraham, the holy and righteous Philaret, looking at me with his bright gaze, began to call me to him slowly, saying: “Child, come here too to enjoy the same benefits.” I answered: “I cannot, O blessed one, get there: this fiery river frightens and hinders me... the passage through it is narrow and the bridge is impassable, and many people are burned by fire; I am afraid that I too will not fall into the fiery waves, and who will then get me out of them?” The saint said: “Do not be afraid and cross over boldly, since everyone who is here now came here the same way, and there is no other way but this. So you, child, cross over to us without any fear, and I will help you.” – And he stretched out his hands to me, calling me. I, feeling courage, began to safely cross the river, and when I approached the saint’s hand and touched it, this wonderful vision disappeared, and I woke up and, crying bitterly, said to myself: how will I cross that terrible river and how will I reach the heavenly abode ... " One of the relatives of Blessed Philaret confirmed this story with an oath, so that we would know what mercy those who give alms to the poor in His name receive from God. Blessed Theozva, the wife of Saint Philaret, after burying the venerable body of her husband, returned from Constantinople to her fatherland, Paphlagonia, and there she used her wealth, received from the king and queen, to build and restore the churches of God, burned by the Persians during their attacks on the country. She also supplied those churches with sacred vessels, and decorations, and clothing for the clergy; She also established monasteries there, and hospice houses, and shelters for the poor and sick, and then she went again to Constantinople to visit her granddaughter, Queen Mary. Here, having spent the rest of her life pleasing God, she died peacefully and was buried at the grave of her righteous husband. Through their prayers may we, on the day of judgment, receive pardon from our one, generous and merciful Lord Jesus Christ, to whom honor and glory are due forever and ever, together with His beginningless Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Among the Old Testament prophets, revered as God's messengers for the admonition and salvation of people, the Christian Church, which continued to honor them continuously, today remembers St. the prophet Naum from the tribe of Simeon, the town of Elkos in Galilee, who later moved to Judea and prophesied about 700 years before the birth of Christ. - With him in Nineveh, saved 200 years earlier by the admonitions of St. Prophet Jonah, whom its inhabitants then listened to and repented of, wickedness again increased to an extreme degree. Again, therefore, God then raised up a pure-hearted and enlightened-in-spirit accuser and admonisher: “The Lord is a jealous God and an avenger; The Lord is avenger and terrible in anger!” - the warning voice of the divinely inspired prophet Nahum rang out in those days, - the Lord takes revenge on His enemies and will not spare His opponents. The Lord is long-suffering and great in power, and does not leave without punishment; the procession of the Lord is in a whirlwind and in a storm, the cloud is the dust of His feet... He rebukes the sea, and it dries up, and all the rivers dry up; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the color of Lebanon fades. The mountains shake before Him, and the hills melt, and the earth trembles before His face, and the universe, and everyone living in it... Who can resist His indignation? And who can endure the flame of His wrath? His anger spreads out like fire; the rocks crumble before Him..." “The Lord is good, a refuge in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him. But with an all-sinking flood He will destroy Nineveh to the ground, and darkness will overtake His enemies...” “What are you plotting against the Lord? He will bring about the destruction, and the disaster will not be repeated. For entwined among themselves like thorns, and drunk like drunkards, they will be completely devoured, like dry straw...” “Out of you came one who plotted evil against the Lord, who formed a wicked council. Thus says the Lord: although they are safe and numerous, they will be cut off and disappear..." “Woe to the city of blood! It is all full of deception and murder; The robbery does not stop there.” But, behold, “you can hear the flapping of a whip and the sound of spinning wheels, the neighing of a horse and the roar of a galloping chariot. The cavalry rushes, the sword flashes and the spears glisten; there are many killed, and piles of corpses; there is no end to the corpses; they stumble over their corpses.” “And it will happen that everyone, seeing you, will run from you and say: “Nineveh is ruined! Who will regret it? Where will I find a comforter for you?” “Are you better than No-Ammon, located between the rivers, surrounded by water, whose wall was the sea, and the sea served as its wall? Ethiopia and Egypt, with countless others, served as reinforcements for him; The Copts and Libyans came to your aid. But he too was resettled and went into captivity; even his infants were broken at the crossroads of all the streets, and lots were cast for his nobles, and all his nobles were bound in chains. So you too will get drunk and hide; so you too will seek protection from the enemy. But the fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off, and eat you like a caterpillar, even though you multiply like a caterpillar, multiply like locusts..." “You have more merchants than there are stars in the sky; but these locusts will scatter and fly away... Your princes are like locusts, and your commanders are like swarms of midges, which during the cold crowd crowd into the cracks of the walls, and when the sun rises, they fly away, and you do not recognize the place where they were ... " “Thy shepherds sleep, O king of Assyria; your nobles rest; Your people are scattered over the mountains, and there is no one to gather them..." “There is no medicine for your wound; your sore is painful; everyone who heard the news about you will applaud you, for to whom has your malice not continually extended?” And the inspired words of the prophet Nahum came true. War, earthquake and flood destroyed one of the most significant cities of the ancient world: there was no trace left of Nineveh, irretrievably buried under its ruins. The holy prophet Nahum predicted other events that happened later, and died at the age of 45.