Philokalia

Saint Theophan the Recluse was born into the family of a rural priest Vasily Timofeevich Govorov in the village of Chernavsk, Yelets district, Oryol province. For some time there was no consensus about the time of his birth. They named the most contradictory dates from 1813 to 1817, until I. Korolkov published the records of the metric book, which says that Fr. Vasily, from January 10 to January 11, 1815, a son, George 1, was born and baptized. This was the name of the future saint before he was tonsured into monasticism. In addition to George, the Govorov family had three more sons - Ivan, Semyon and Gabriel, as well as three daughters - Lyubov, Evdokia and Anna. The father, a very educated and well-read man at that time, was in charge of the children’s primary education. The wife of Fr. Vasily Tatyana Ivanovna, the daughter of a priest, was mainly involved in their upbringing. Everyone who knew her noted rare kindness and deep piety in the woman. Parents tried to instill in their children strict Christian morals and heartfelt responsiveness to people 2 . Church, icons, spiritual singing, religious processions - this is the sacred environment in which George grew up and was brought up. In his childhood, his family recalled, he was distinguished by his extraordinary liveliness and restlessness, for which he received the nickname “frisky.” That was his name not only in his family, but also among all his friends. In the village he had many cheerful comrades from peasant children. A lively and courageous child with big kind eyes and hasty speech, he stood out sharply among his friends and was always the inventor and leader of noisy games. The story “Senya and Yegorushka” 3 was written about the boy’s lively character and his love for fairy tales from the words of his loved ones. The saint himself retained the most pleasant memories of his childhood, calling it his golden time. When George turned 8 years old, he was sent to the Livensky Theological School. Having received thorough home training, he studied very well and behaved, according to the school authorities, with exemplary modesty. In 1829, the young man was transferred to the Oryol Theological Seminary. Here, both Govorov’s mentality and the traits of his moral character began to be defined with great clarity. George also studied at the seminary with complete success. He was keenly interested in all the subjects he studied, but psychology lessons aroused a special interest in him, so that, although he was one of the best students, for the sake of these lessons he wanted to stay for a repeat course in the philosophy class. In seminary reports, Georgy was constantly noted as a hardworking and solitary student 5. During these years, however, he thought little about monasticism. His thoughts were occupied with marriage and finding a rural parish. But then news came that was unexpected for him: in 1837, by personal order of the Oryol bishop, Georgy, among the best students, was sent to the Kyiv Theological Academy to continue his education at public expense. The Kiev Academy flourished in those years and could fully satisfy both the mental needs of the young man and his spiritual aspirations. Its rector, Archimandrite Innokenty (Borisov), later Archbishop of Kherson 6, and Metropolitan of Kiev Philaret (Amphitheaters), nicknamed Philaret the Pious for his holiness of life, paid great attention to the spiritual and religious life of students. This time is called the heyday of the academy, both because of its good moral direction and life, and because of the abundance of talented professors. It was here that the education of Georgy Govorov was completed and the direction of his moral life was clearly determined. He was significantly influenced by the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and the church-historical monuments of the city - eloquent witnesses to the exploits of Russian monasticism. With age, under the influence of new conditions, his character changed noticeably: the former excessive liveliness was replaced by restraint, playfulness - by seriousness. In appearance, the young man, as in childhood, was very similar to his mother. Despite his small stature, his appearance was very pleasant. The clean and friendly face looked quite beautiful and immediately put you at ease. In conversation he was invariably affectionate, original, sometimes humorous, and his speech was distinguished by imagery and expressiveness 7 . The academic and Lavra environment, as well as his own spiritual mood, disposed George to accept monasticism. Having decided to take this serious step, he explained it in his petition: “Having constant zeal for studying theological subjects and for a solitary life, in order to combine both in the service of the Church ahead of me, I made a vow to devote my life to the monastic rank” 8. Student Govorov's request was respected, and on February 15, 1841, he was tonsured a monk with the name Feofan. There was a year left before graduation from the academy. The result of his successful studies was a course work devoted to Old Testament doctrine. The work earned high praise from Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow, a very strict and demanding spiritual critic 9 . Having excellently graduated from the academy with a master's degree, Fr. Feofan takes the place of rector of the Kiev-Sophia Theological School, and soon moves to the Novgorod Theological Seminary to the position of inspector and teacher of psychology and logic. He spent three years in Novgorod and managed to prove himself as a talented educator and an excellent teacher of the science of the human soul. The moral qualities and good knowledge of Hieromonk Theophan were appreciated by his superiors: he was transferred from Novgorod to the St. Petersburg Theological Academy to the department of moral and pastoral theology. The saint subsequently expressed his view on the height of the spiritual and pedagogical activity of Christian mentors as follows: “An educator must go through all the degrees of Christian perfection. This should be a class of persons of the purest, God’s chosen and saints” 10. In 1847, the Russian government finally decided on the establishment of a spiritual mission in Jerusalem. It was headed by Archimandrite Porfiry (Uspensky), a well-known expert on the East at that time, and teachers and students of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy were invited to work with him. Fr. was the first to happily respond to the call. Feofan. On August 21, 1847, he became a member of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem. His stay in the East was a great event in his life. Here he became familiar with the religious life of the region in detail, which was facilitated by the repeated trips of mission members outside Palestine - to Syria and Egypt. In Jerusalem, Hieromonk Theophanes studied Greek and French, studied Hebrew and Arabic, mastered the skill of icon painting and was so good that, according to an eyewitness, he even supplied poor churches with entire iconostases 11 . While visiting ancient monasteries, he also studied the writings of St. fathers from ancient manuscripts, which he translated from Greek into Russian. For six years, the mission brought great benefits to the cause of Orthodoxy, the interests of Russia and science, theological and church-historical. In 1853, the Crimean War began and the Russian spiritual mission returned to its homeland. Hieromonk Theophan was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed teacher of canon law at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Soon he was offered a new position - rector and professor of the Olonets Theological Seminary, until, finally, he was sent as rector of the embassy church in Constantinople. All his concerns were now aimed at reconciling the Greeks with the Bulgarians and improving the situation of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Archimandrite Feofan turned to the Russian government with a request to set up a hospital for Russian sailors and pilgrims 12. Life in the East and service in Constantinople gave him good material for publicly defending the Eastern question on the eve of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. 13 After staying in Constantinople for one year, Archimandrite Theophan returned to Russia, where he was appointed rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. In this position, he faced the challenges of the times like never before. The new rector calls on the capital's clergy and academy teachers to maintain unanimity and loyalty to traditional Orthodoxy; warns against splits and divisions due to blind enthusiasm for progress and freethinking 14 . In the pre-reform period, he wrote the book “A Warning Against Infatuation with the Spirit of the Present Time,” which was largely of a journalistic nature. The author showed that the modern “spirit of this world” is a spirit of hostility against God, a spirit of cooling between people. At the same time, he recognized the need for changes in modern external forms of life (social, economic) and explained that true progress involves, first of all, spiritual and moral improvement based on Orthodox dogma 15. On June 1, 1859, Archimandrite Feofan was ordained Bishop of Tambov and Shatsk. He was remembered by his flock for his extraordinary meekness, rare delicacy and sympathetic attention to the needs of his flock and gained universal sincere love. Under him, parochial schools, Sunday schools, a women's diocesan school were opened, and the Tambov Diocesan Gazette began to be published. The lifestyle of the Tambov bishop was very simple. Saint Theophan's nephew, Alexei Govorov, who usually visited his uncle in the summer, said that the bishop's daily attire was a cassock. He always dined at one o'clock in the afternoon and ate little, never having dinner. I drank tea twice a day: in the morning after early mass and at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. The Right Reverend loved to study astronomy and often observed the celestial bodies on a clear night with the help of a fairly large telescope at the bishop’s country dacha. He knew quite a lot of handicrafts - carpentry, wood carving, wood turning, which he taught his nephew. The saint used to say that in the seminary he had to sew his own clothes. Self-taught, he learned to shoot and take photographs. “He passionately loved nature, admired it, and in everything he saw traces of the wisdom of the Creator, which he tried to instill in me” 16. In 1863, Bishop Theophan was moved to the ancient, more extensive Vladimir See. His main concern was the edification of the souls entrusted to him through preaching. He tirelessly taught the people, trying to visit the most remote corners of the diocese as often as possible. In Words 1863–1866 By the way, he called on the Vladimir flock to support the reforms of Alexander II while preserving the fundamental principles of Russian life 17. Always affectionate, friendly, he treated everyone, regardless of rank, position, age, with exemplary complacency and great meekness. If, according to the law of justice, he, in accordance with the duty of the diocesan bishop, needed to punish someone with a reprimand, then he instructed the key of the cathedral to do this, as if afraid of violating the law of love, which he was steadily guided in life and pastoral work. And yet, despite his high personal qualities in the rank of Eminence, Saint Theophan was burdened by the place of diocesan bishop. Concerns about the many external matters related to management were deeply alien to him. March 12, 1866, on the day of his Angel - in memory of Rev. Theophan of Sigrian, Bishop Theophan submitted to the Holy Synod a petition for retirement as a simple monk in the Vyshinsk hermitage of the Shatsk district of the Tambov diocese. The members of the Synod were perplexed, but the saint explained that “rest” for him meant special work for the good of the Church - unhindered literary and scientific creativity in the quiet of solitude. Taking into account this explanation, the Synod granted the request of the Right Reverend and appointed him rector of the Vyshinsk Hermitage. The farewell of the Vladimir Bishop to his flock was extremely touching. At parting, eyewitnesses recalled, many sincerely cried. Arriving at the Vyshinsky monastery, Saint Theophan, first of all, resigned his position as abbot of the desert, preferring to remain here all the time in the simple rank of monk. He began to fulfill all the monastic rules and obediences, received those who came to him, sometimes left the monastery for a short time, but after Easter 1872 he began to lead a reclusive life. From that time on, he received only the rector of the desert, his confessor and cell attendant Evlampius, and even then very rarely. From now on, the saint almost never left his cell; only in the spring of 1879 he had to leave the monastery and go to Tambov for several days to consult a doctor about his eye disease, which threatened to lose his vision. True, he agreed to this only after long and persistent requests from his admirers 18. Before secluding himself in complete solitude, Saint Theophan with his own hands built a small church in his cells, separating for it part of the largest of the rooms - the living room, where he began to perform all church services completely alone, without concelebrants. For ten years he served the liturgy in his cell church only on Sundays and holidays, and in the last eleven years every day 19. The Right Reverend himself did not like it very much when people started talking about his seclusion. They made a shutter out of my constipation, he joked. “There’s nothing reclusive here. I locked myself away so as not to be disturbed, but not in the form of the strictest asceticism, but in the form of unhindered bookishness" 20 . He always emphasized that he locked himself away precisely for book studies - “so it turns out that I am a bookish person and nothing else” 21 . While in retreat, Saint Theophan did not interrupt his written communication with the world, continuing his pastoral and educational feat as a writer. His personal correspondence was unusually extensive. Receiving dozens of letters every day, he certainly gave answers to each of them. The saint tried to delve as deeply as possible into the state of the writer in order to give the most necessary answer to the questioners. In a number of letters, he raised theological and philosophical questions, primarily about the ultimate destinies of humanity, which were developed in artistic form by F.M. Dostoevsky. K.N. drew attention to this. Leontiev, emphasizing the difference in their decisions 22. The private correspondence of the Right Reverend Theophan was still a kind of “share-in” for him, as he often put it. The main goal of his literary work was to enrich Russian theological and ascetic literature with writings and translations of patristic books, which were then in great short supply. He immediately outlined a whole system of work. First, he set about interpreting the New Testament. Secondly, I decided to translate the fundamental “Philokalia” - a collection of patriotic and educational literature - from ancient Greek into Russian. This work would last for decades. His Grace Theophan managed to interpret only the epistles of the Apostle Paul (without the Epistle to the Hebrews) and compiled the “Gospel History of God the Word.” Researchers recognize the saint's contribution to Russian bibliology as outstanding. In 1876, the first volume of the Russian “Philokalia” was published, and the fifth and last volume was completed in 1890. Then he published a separate volume of the translation of the ancient monastic rules and two editions of the words of St. Simeon the New Theologian. We should also mention his translation from modern Greek of the book “Invisible Warfare” by Nicodemus the Holy Mountain. The theological academies of Russia elected His Eminence as an honorary member. For the entire body of theological and literary works, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in 1890 awarded St. Theophan the degree of Doctor of Theology. Only his cell attendant Evlampius could partly know how the saint’s inner, spiritual life proceeded during the 22 years of seclusion. But the latter's duties were limited to very few. Every day, at a special knock, he came from his room, located on the lower floor of the Bishop’s chambers, to give him a cup of coffee and lunch, which on fast days consisted of one egg and a glass of milk, and at four o’clock in the evening to bring him a cup of tea, which was the Recluse’s daily diet. The duty of the same cell attendant was to prepare in the evening everything necessary for performing early mass. On the day of Epiphany 1894, Bishop Theophan celebrated the Divine Liturgy and died peacefully. The cell of the deceased testified to the painstaking work that boiled under its arches until the saint’s last breath. In the corners, on the floor and desk, on the bookshelves there were a large number of books in Russian, English, French, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew. These were a wide variety of works of spiritual content, encyclopedic dictionaries, natural science reference books, training courses in physics, philosophical works, books on Russian and world history. In addition, two boxes with turning and carpentry tools, a workbench, lathes, a camera, a machine for sawing wood, a paint palette, brushes, as well as icons written by his hand on boards and canvas 23 were found in the cell. “This was a nature,” wrote one of St. Theophan’s biographers, “richly gifted by nature, versatile, with harmoniously developed spiritual powers. Having devoted himself to theology, the saint maintained an interest in many other areas of knowledge until his last days. He knew ancient and modern languages excellently, had extraordinary knowledge of the natural sciences, was engaged in painting and was an expert in this art, had extensive knowledge of church music and was even the author of several plays...” 24 The funeral service for the deceased reclusive bishop was performed on January 11 by Bishop Jerome of Tambov (Ekzemplyarsky) in front of a huge gathering of clergy and people. The burial took place in the Kazan Cathedral of the Vyshenskaya Hermitage in the Vladimir chapel. At the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on June 6–8, 1988, Bishop Theophan the Recluse was canonized. His memory is celebrated on January 10 (23). The report of the permanent member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Juvenaly (Poyarkov) of Krutitsy and Kolomna, read at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', said: “Bishop Theophan the Recluse was canonized as an ascetic of faith and piety, who had a profound influence on the spiritual revival of his contemporary society. Through his prayerful contemplative feat, purity of heart, chastity and piety, preserved from his youth, Saint Theophan acquired the gift of experienced comprehension of patristic asceticism. He, as a theologian and exegete, outlined this experience in his numerous works, which can be considered by the children of the church as practical aids in the matter of Christian salvation” 25. The richest literary heritage of St. Theophan is essentially devoted to one most important topic - spiritual, or, as the author himself explained, the inner life of a person, how it arises and fully develops. It was not by chance that he gave it a priority place, because on the outside a person is exactly what he is on the inside 26 . With all this, the spiritual writer was well aware of the reverse influence of the social environment on the inner world of the individual. As a result of such mutual influence, a person’s heart, his content, inclinations, ideals and tastes are revealed in every phenomenon of personal and public life and guide them in their own way 27 . According to his purpose, a person, Saint Theophan emphasized, “must live in the spirit, subordinate to the spirit and penetrate with the spirit everything external, that is, family and social life” 28 . Only in this case will the individual and society develop harmoniously and fully. At the same time, the saint constantly emphasized that the spiritual health of people is preserved only by the Orthodox Church, which remains faithful to the apostolic tradition in its teachings and sacraments 29. The church and social thought of Saint Theophan is based on a deep analysis of the social consciousness of the era and close observation of the mindset and aspirations of his contemporaries. The state of Russian society in the second half - the end of the 19th century caused him serious concerns. Saint Theophan paid special attention to Russian theology and spiritual literature of his time. Traditionally, rich spiritual experience lay at the basis of Orthodox theology, for it was always preceded by an ascetic feat. Meanwhile, Saint Theophan encountered precisely this kind of theology in his time less and less often: “It is bitter what is happening among us among the thinking. Everyone has lost their minds... And even the theologians have lost the real foundations of Orthodox theology, and everyone is laughing." 30 It is no coincidence that he advised not only monks, but also laymen who were seeking edification in the faith, to read first of all the ancient Orthodox fathers, whose theology always followed asceticism. Among those relatively close to him in time, he most often turns to the works of Saints Tikhon of Zadonsk and Dmitry of Rostov, and also speaks highly of Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov), Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and Father John of Kronstadt. Many of his contemporaries were blindly carried away by the Protestant tradition, seduced only by the external side and not noticing the fact that naked rationality and abstract reflection here replace real knowledge of inner life. His Eminence Theophanes calls her nothing more than “nonchuraya.” Comparing both directions in theology, he writes: “The last words of Simeon 31 (10 left) are the height of perfection of spiritual understanding. The scientist doesn't understand any of this at all. She has become impoverished in her understanding of spiritual things, having rested her entire German nature on the letter. But the uneducated Orthodox Christian reached what understanding with just one bow?!” 32. This is the ideal that the author of these lines himself followed and which the theologians of his time so lacked: “... it’s a pity to see how with our theologians everything is just too much and too little. “For this, the Lord will send a little bit of wisdom against us, so that she can knock all German (non-Orthodox) wisdom out of our heads with guns and bayonets” 33. Speaking about contemporary spiritual literature, Saint Theophan found that even books that were very good in content were increasingly spoiled by excessive “puzzlingness” and “German vagueness” of presentation, 34 that they lacked simplicity and accessibility, which he so valued in everything. Considering the ever-increasing influx of materialism and spiritualism into Russia, Theophan the Recluse, even when he was Bishop of Tambov, advised creating “a whole society of apologists…. And write, and write” 35. He himself was quite familiar with the ideas of Charles Darwin, as well as many newfangled trends in philosophy. “I was interested in Buchner 36 . Now spiritualism is occupied: opposites... But both are the evil enemies of God, the destroyers of blind humanity!” 37 Saint Theophan was no less strict in his judgments about spiritual periodicals. So, in the late 70s - early 90s. Of the 20th century, from the many spiritual publications, he singled out only “Soulful Reading”, for this is “the only magazine where the articles are not clouded with wisdom” 38. Meanwhile, the Russian Church was in great need of a journal to defend Orthodox truths. Such a publication could rightfully be, first of all, the “Church Bulletin”, proclaimed by the organ of the Holy Synod. But the saint lamented: “This magazine has become a distributor of bad thoughts about the Church and church affairs... Someone else, living in the outback, would never have heard other bad things... but now the “Church Messenger” serves him and presents all sorts of rubbish” 39 . Against the background of the anti-church social thought of that time, Theophan the Recluse was restrained about the pathos of those who spoke about the high position of Russian Orthodoxy: “We often praise ourselves: Holy Rus', Orthodox Rus' But look around! What is sad is not only the corruption of morals, but also the apostasy from the image of confession prescribed by Orthodoxy. – Have you ever heard – in Russian – blasphemy against God and His Christ?! And now they not only think, but also speak, and write, and publish a lot of things that fight God” 40. He called to stop the wave of wickedness of the God-fighters, raising the spirit of Orthodoxy within themselves, and to unite against any way of thinking that disagrees with the faith. The saint could not imagine this struggle without dialogue with educated people, whom he invited to open discussion and cooperation, for among them he sensed a secret, hidden hostility against the Church. The saint observed the fading of inner life and frightening silence among the white clergy, whose duty was to spiritually enlighten the flock. Saint Theophan likened the bishops and priests who do not care about teaching the people the path to salvation to the scribes and Pharisees who closed the Kingdom of Heaven to people. As a result, the people were blind to faith and mired in the most absurd delusions; because of this, schismatics, Khlysty, Molokans found a welcome with him... The spiritual atmosphere of St. Petersburg 41 caused him particular concern. Once comparing it with Moscow, the saint gave the northern capital a rather harsh assessment: “St. Petersburg is riotous, an unbeliever and a revolutionary...” 42 . True, the situation was not completely hopeless, since here there were “many excellent priests among the clergy, both in education and in character” 43 . In these latter, the Right Reverend hoped to see zealous champions of Orthodoxy. Given the many complex issues of church life that required competent and urgent solutions, Saint Theophan could not understand the strange, inexplicable inaction of the church authorities for him. Where does this silence come from, why such indifference to the growing unbelief and de-churching of society, he wondered: “Where is the Synod looking? Where is the prosecutor looking?.. All concessions, yes, concessions. Here the theaters are open during fasting 44: what did the synodal say against this?!.. If everyone gives in like this, then, perhaps, they will become reluctant to destroy monasticism. – Autocracy plays out when it does not meet opposition” 45. The Synod, in his opinion, played a deplorable role in the debauchery of seminaries and academies and spiritual literature. “There is no control: secular people lie, spiritual people lie, but he doesn’t have any grief - he doesn’t blink an eye. – There is no power in the Church... as anyone wants, so he acts and teaches. “Priests are sleeping everywhere... There are only one or two who are not sleeping, and that’s it.” 46 This must be why, in such difficult conditions, the saint did not share the hopes of part of the clergy led by Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) of Moscow in recognizing the schismatic hierarchy for subsequent influence on him: “My opinion is counter to the schismatic hierarchy. That’s why I don’t belong to the Makaryev party. What you say about the decline of the Christian spirit both in the priesthood and in the laity - this is happening with your own eyes. “And we are sleeping so that the anti-Christian spirit will quickly reign.” 47 As we see, Saint Theophan followed the internal life of the Russian Church with great attention and was seriously alarmed by many things. The weakening of monastic life, the decline of Russian theology and spiritual literature, cases of humiliation of Orthodoxy in theological schools, the silence of pastors and abuses among the clergy, the inaction of church authorities told him about one thing - an increasing misunderstanding and destruction of Orthodox principles, and with them the entire internal life of society. At the same time, the consciousness of the Russian people could not help but change, their tastes and inclinations, the ideals of their hearts, carried away by the values ​​of a completely different - earthly order, changed. As a result, the external way of their life inevitably had to change: “... in our days, Russians begin to deviate from faith: one part completely and comprehensively falls into unbelief, the other falls into Protestantism, the third secretly weaves its beliefs, in which it thinks to combine both spiritualism and geological nonsense with Divine Revelation. Evil is growing; malice and unbelief are raising their heads; Faith and Orthodoxy are weakening. Shall we not come to our senses?..” 48 The weakening of the original Orthodox tradition in the Russian church environment did not take long to affect the entire Russian society. The lack of a living spiritual word about faith, contentment, often, with ritualism alone meant a noticeable fading of inner life among the Orthodox, often no longer able to clearly understand many of its manifestations. Both in the highest and intellectual circles, and among the masses of the common people, an internal emptiness was widening, which they tried to fill in different ways. And if some were now increasingly turning to sectarianism, then this could push others even more away from religion and incline towards complete unbelief and materialism. “And to our grief,” noted the Right Reverend Theophan, “this evil is growing and spreading more and more - ungodly opinions enter and undermine faith; by undercutting faith, they spoil piety. “With us, this ulcer appeared in two forms: in the form of unbelief - from the wrong direction of mental education, and in the form of schism - from gross ignorance of what the main matter of salvation is” 49. Among the metropolitan aristocracy, internal emptiness and retreat from Orthodoxy clearly manifested themselves in the 70s. XIX century, when the English lord G.-W. arrived in St. Petersburg to preach. Redstock. Having gathered many followers in his homeland, he went to Paris, then was invited by a high-society person to Russia, where by the mid-1870s. received great recognition among the upper class. Redstock preached the visible outpouring of the Holy Spirit “on all flesh” - on every individual Christian, for whom faith alone is sufficient for this. For a similar reason, in the northern capital of those years, the Irvingian sect, whose founder was the Scotsman Irving (1792–1834), enjoyed widespread success. The most prominent followers of Redstock in Russia were: the Pushchin family, Count A.A. Bobrinsky, Baron M.M. Korf, Princess M.M. Dondukova-Korsakov, partly N.S. Leskov, as well as retired Colonel V.A. Pashkov (who later created his own community). In 1876, they founded the “Society for the Encouragement of Spiritual and Moral Reading,” which was distinguished by philanthropic features, such as visiting prisons, reading Holy Scripture to prisoners, etc. Saint Theophan received news of the new religious movement at the very apogee of his popularity - in 1879, two letters came to him from an eyewitness to the events, a certain Naryshkina. Having received these letters, Saint Theophan immediately sent them to N.V. Elagin so that he would report everything to the St. Petersburg Metropolitan. “You see, all the trouble is in the silent priests! – he exclaims. “We need to hire guides and drag them all out for their axios” 50. Given the indifference of the priests to their duty, the alienation of pastors and flocks was not surprising. A hostile attitude towards the ministers of the Church gripped not only the educated class, but also the common people. In the eyes of the latter, priests became on a par with landowners and officials 51. St. Theophan believed that heresies and false teachings should be eradicated, first of all, by “spiritual warfare.” Only by treating the disease from the inside can you put an end to its external manifestation. The Eminence suggested as soon as possible: “... call the priests and say: 1) Teach in church silently about the dispensation of salvation 2) Let the priests start readings - in the evenings and collect them both from themselves and from other listeners... both simple and poor. – For reading, choose everything that relates to the general structure of faith. 3) It would be necessary to compile a book about the path of salvation... simply written, and scatter it around the city for nothing or for a penny..." 52. The latter was partly taken upon himself by the saint himself. Over the course of several months, he composed his famous seven letters to St. Petersburg “regarding the heresy there,” written with great force and completeness. They could compile a separate book of almost 200 printed pages 53 . According to the author, he had a desire to sort out all Protestantism on this issue 54. At the same time, Saint Theophan expected certain measures from the church authorities, but did not receive their cooperation. He was surprised by such inaction. Not without reason, he feared the growth of the influence of Pashkovism, for this could, religiously, cut all of Russia in half 55. Censorship at that time did not prevent this sect from publishing its literature. Pashkov even stated that he had written permission for this from the sovereign and metropolitan: “How absurdly our spiritual power acted against him, out of hand. He has been blowing the trumpet for 5 years, but nothing to him. I began to wonder if the Metropolitan had somehow expressed consent to his preaching, having been deceived by Pashkov’s flattering speeches about the meaning of embodied economy” 56 . As it turned out later, the saint’s assumptions turned out to be largely correct. Eventually, the authorities intervened and in 1884 the leading figures of these new religious communities were forced to leave Russia. However, the general religious situation in the country remained virtually unchanged. It is not power, Saint Theophan was convinced, that will revive Orthodoxy. According to G.V. Florovsky, he dreamed of going apostolically to the people: “You rightly mourn the reduction of parishes and the closure of churches. What to do? Faith is weakening. Dead. There are no living actors. And societies will not bring the expected benefits. Arsonists must burn themselves. Grief, walk everywhere - and in oral conversation set fire to hearts... That's what is needed! Where can we get this? Again, all that remains is to pray to the Giver of all gifts” 57. According to G.V. Florovsky, religious and moralistic excitement of the 1870s. took place in the style of the “biblical societies” of the Alexander era, it is no coincidence that at that time many mystical books of those years were republished 58. For Saint Theophan, the new religious movement was an obvious spiritual seduction, internal blindness and delusion, which in Orthodoxy are called prelest. In this state, it is impossible to distinguish true spiritual phenomena from false ones: “Irvingianism, judging by its formation... is a trick of the spiritualist spirits Redstock with the St. Petersburg apostolic community - of the same cut. Pashkov, who learned heresies from them, also originates from spirits Pashkov - a medium. And his teaching is spiritualistic demonism” 59. Meanwhile, the influence of Stundism and schismatic sects grew among the common people. According to the observation of Saint Theophan, heterodoxy took root in him partly due to the indifferent silence of the clergy, partly due to the obscurity of the liturgical books. Many were repelled from the church by the general decline in morality among the Orthodox 60. He was very worried about the almost complete lack of work to refute the Shtunda and Molokanism. Judging by the correspondence, the Right Reverend more than once intended to undertake their detailed study, but the translation of the Philokalia, the interpretation of the Apostolic Epistles, and daily correspondence apparently prevented him from seriously devoting himself to this task. It is no coincidence that the saint greeted A.D.’s book with great approval (despite all its shortcomings). Ushinsky “The Creed of the Little Russian Studists” (Kyiv, 1886). Saint Theophan saw an even greater threat in the teachings of L.N. Tolstoy. He read Tolstoy's major works of the 1880s. and concluded with alarm: “Here, you see, the treasures of wisdom are spewed out... blasphemy against the Church of God, against St. fathers and even the apostles, who are all distorters of the teachings of Christ... He himself does not believe in the Holy Trinity, nor in the Incarnate Economy, nor in the power of the sacraments... For him, the Son of Man is either the mind of all mankind, or the essence of humanity. Since he does not have a future life, and people continue to live only in posterity, then his only concern is to draw up a program for happiness on earth" 61 . For Bishop Feofan, these provisions contained all the absurdity, inconsistency and unrealizability of Tolstoy’s ideas. With such thoughts, Tolstoy’s entire system of moral improvement collapsed. It was hardly possible to make people on earth happy by preaching non-resistance to evil by force: “... let them beat, cut, rob - be patient, but be silent... do not defend yourself...” 62. Other points that the saint highlights, on the contrary, sounded very tempting: the abolition of courts, police, gendarmes, the oath, military service as violence against freedom; non-obligatory marriage. “He proves by crookedly interpreting the words of the Lord in the Discourse on the Mount - Matthew 5:21-42 - with great exaggeration” 63. Such inconsistencies left him extremely perplexed. As he believed, all attempts to bring Tolstoy’s teachings to life turned out to be a complete failure. It is no coincidence that such utopianism of L. Tolstoy was criticized in their own way by revolutionary democrats - more consistent builders of “earthly happiness.” Reading the writer’s religious works, Saint Theophan never ceased to be amazed at the absurdity of his judgments, calling them the most careless nonsense 64: “... his teaching is the most fantastic... It seems to me that he is close to insanity... Everything about him is so absurd. And I marvel... that many are offended" 65. And in fact, given the authoritative name of the writer, his ideas became widespread in Russian society and especially among young people. Destroying faith in God and the Church, they killed spiritual life in people and, ultimately, taught them to live only for the earth, and therefore in an earthly way. Bishop Feofan constantly received news in his retreat about the passion for Tolstoyism in universities, secular salons, and by the beginning of the 1890s. even in the Russian outback. It is not surprising that Saint Theophan could not be indifferent to such news: “...whether to write against Tolstoy. They’re already writing, so it’s become possible not to write. But they write in a very drawn-out manner, and it resembles Krylov’s fable “The Cat and the Cook.” It occurs to me: to choose Tolstoy’s fabrications - that’s all... and then against them to put the confession of faith of the Holy Church... and put them into action. This will be a brief overview of the enemy camp and the Orthodox army. As a warning... otherwise evil is slowly spreading, but the cry: beware, is not heard” 66. Under these conditions, he was very worried about the low spiritual culture of his contemporaries, who almost did not read spiritual publications. On the other hand, science, and with it the entire system of secular education, was increasingly characterized by a materialistic orientation and naked rationality. Saint Theophan saw the one-sidedness and inferiority of modern science in the fact that it turned away from the study of spiritual phenomena in the world and man. This simply meant distorting reality, tearing out the most important page from the book of life. The human sciences especially suffered from this. In their conclusions there could be no talk of any justice and completeness of knowledge without a clear idea of ​​the inner life of man, of the spiritual side of his nature. According to Saint Theophan, it was necessary to spiritualize science, to draw its attention to the manifestations of spirituality in man, and this means that it should not oppose itself to faith and push it away from itself, this means that they should turn their faces to each other. Without this, science cannot avoid errors and simplifications in explaining many phenomena; without this, they will largely remain at the level of bare and abstract theories. And theories, insists Theophan the Recluse, should be distinguished from genuine facts: “Theories are a personal matter for students; facts are common property. A true, real theory can only be one that agrees with Christian truths” 67, for Christianity revealed to the world genuine knowledge about the phenomena of human spiritual life, its immutable laws. Defending his judgments, Theophan the Recluse writes that “believers have every right to push the spiritual into the realm of the material, when materialists climb with their matter, without a twinge of conscience, into the realm of the spiritual,” especially since “the material cannot be either a force or a goal” 68. His criticism of Darwinism has the same meaning. The scientist, the Eminence emphasizes, does not notice the main thing in a person - the ability for spiritual life, for spiritualization and life in the spirit. As for mental activity and other purely psychological properties, Saint Theophan calls them “spiritual” and places them an order of magnitude lower than spiritual ones. On such grounds he preferred to judge works of literature and art. Not only openly “carnal,” but also “spiritual” works do not meet their purpose, not to mention those that are directly hostile to everything spiritual, which are simply intolerant 69 . The goal of a true artist is to search for the lost paradise, so that later he can glorify the found one 70 . Meanwhile, in scientific circles at the end of the 19th century, contemptuous condescension and disregard for faith, not only misunderstanding, but also an indiscriminate denial of the spiritual principle in man, were felt more and more sharply. Saint Theophan clearly sensed the atmosphere of this hostile mood and sensitively grasped the possibility of unbridled atheistic revelry in the near future: “Write bitter news about the direction of our scientists... What’s marvelous is that our wise men began to talk. Will there be more?! These are still the beginnings, we will distort everything. We will be more evil than the Protestants. When Protestantism was born, the feeling of the church was still strong, and the reformers were settled down by it. Now the Protestants themselves are far from what they were in the beginning, that is, they are a hundred times angrier... It is this most evil anger that we are now taking away from them... And according to our sweeping nature: “on-de - know ours”... we will expose all sorts of rubbish as the light of lights...” 71 . In this regard, he was especially saddened by the fate of the younger generation. Secular education, according to Theophan the Recluse, undermined the spiritual development of children from an early age, not giving them genuine knowledge about faith and Christian life and narrowing their horizons to a narrowly materialistic perception of the world. Higher schools especially suffered from this. The saint increasingly noticed with bitterness people who were only listed as Orthodox, but who in spirit and convictions were Voltairians, atheists, Lutherans and generally all kinds of freethinkers: “They studied all the sciences in our higher institutions. And they are not stupid and not evil, but in relation to faith and the Church they are of no use. Their fathers and mothers were pious; Damage entered the period of education outside the parental home. The memory of childhood and the spirit of their parents still keeps them within certain limits. What will their own children be like? And what will keep them within proper limits? I conclude from this that in a generation, much like two, our Orthodoxy will dry up." 72 The materialistic way of thinking spread through educational institutions, where Laplace's hypothesis about the formation of the world and the postulates of Darwinism had particular weight at that time. They sowed disbelief everywhere, for if there is no God and soul, asked the Right Reverend Theophan, then how can faith be supported - that’s why it falls 73 . “Evil principles have entered science and life; We don’t have books that, by reading, those who are still capable of reason can come to their senses... We need strong protective books against all evil. They should dress up scribblers and force them to write” 74 . Bishop Theophan largely laid the blame for this situation on the government, whose duty is to suppress evil from the outside. Deprived of any idea of ​​inner life, the children were no longer aware of their spiritual needs and did not believe in God. It was possible to help them only through close, frank communication. It is very important to induce children to open up their bewilderments and heartfelt anxieties and unobtrusively, “gradually guide them to ... the rightness - the one who has known from time immemorial” 75 . “But evil is spreading,” the saint was bitterly convinced, “and will flood poor Russia” 76. Departing from faith and the Church, society rejected spiritual values. Theophan the Recluse was amazed at the scale of internal impoverishment. The freezing of his spirit amazed him: he did not understand how he could kill part of his nature. It was as if “a pestilence had come upon spiritual life,” he compared 77. Man lowered himself more and more to the animal level, caring entirely about earthly interests. The main role in this belonged to universities and higher courses for women. In relation to the latter, the saint was a decisive opponent: “Why do you need to move to St. Petersburg? – Shouldn’t we listen to higher courses for beauties!!! This is the stupidity of the stupidities of our time... These courses make beauties, as they say, neither fish nor fowl, neither man nor woman... you don’t know what; the thing is worthless... ugly. If you want to remain in your rank, stay away from these courses...” 78 . “Young people want to live on earth and want to live in an earthly way” - this is the disappointing conclusion of Theophan the Recluse. It is impossible without this, he agreed, because man also has an earthly nature, but we must not forget that people are on earth only for a short time, that is, “although they are earthly, they did not come into existence for the earth” 79 . It should be borne in mind that it was this generation that was to enter the twentieth century and decide the fate of Russia in modern times. Forgetting about his high spiritual needs, confining himself only to earthly interests, man in the eyes of St. Theophan was a sad sight. Having presented the main remarks of Theophan the Recluse about the spiritual state of his contemporaries, we omit here his numerous unflattering judgments about the secular life of Russian society, about progressive movements, whose supporters sought to make all humanity happy, often taking away the happiness of those who lived next to them; we do not mention the spread of cohabitation instead of church marriage, etc. All this only once again confirms the main idea of ​​the saint - the de-churching of society and the renunciation of Orthodoxy, the trampling of the faith and the forgetting of the commandments became widespread in Russia. Comparing the course of events before the Great French Revolution with the mood in the Fatherland, the saint came to the conclusion that Russia was ready to repeat the experience of France: “How did the French Revolution go? First, materialistic views spread. They shook both Christian and general religious beliefs. There is widespread disbelief: there is no God; a man is a lump of dirt; there is nothing to expect beyond the grave. Despite, however, the fact that the lump of dirt could have been trampled by everyone, they came out with: don’t bother! don't touch it! give me freedom! And they gave it! The demands began - some reasonable, some half-smart, some crazy. And everything went upside down. What do we have?! In our country, materialist views are gaining more and more weight and are being generalized. They haven’t taken the strength yet, but they are taking it. Unbelief and immorality are also expanding. Demands for freedom and self-government are expressed freely. It turns out that we are also on the path to revolution” 80. If a barrier is not put in place, disbelief will inevitably grow, and with it the self-will of citizens and the “destruction of the present government” 81 . In the works of Saint Theophan, the idea of ​​a deep connection between monarchical rule and the position of the Orthodox faith in Russia is clearly heard. The fate of royal persons, thrones and the entire state does not depend on them alone, but to a large extent on the spirit, rules and aspirations of the people themselves 82. When God’s institutions are everywhere put into the background, then, according to the saint, emancipation from God’s demands begins to take root in society - in mental, moral, aesthetic terms; There is a dissociation from faith and the Church of education, customs, entertainment, and even more so politics 83. “At the present time,” continues Theophan the Recluse, “they don’t think, don’t speak, don’t write, or even have a thought about the things of God, in any undertaking. Is it surprising that in such a mood, teachings contrary to faith find access to society and that society is inclined towards general unbelief? 84 Orthodox statehood in Russia was on the road to danger, which, according to his warnings, could turn into a tragedy for the entire Russian people. Only “the spirit of humble submission to God, the spirit of perfect devotion to His leadership and strong trust in Him alone” could impart to the Orthodox kingdom reliable strength and prosperity to the society itself, filled with such a spirit 85. Such an outcome, however, was not fatally inevitable. In the historical process, Saint Theophan allocated a significant place to the right to choose one or another path of development, which each individual and entire societies have, thereby determining their destiny: “What does Christianity have in common with the character of the time in which it was conceived? It is seeded with several persons who were not the product of the necessary course of history; it attracted those who wanted it, expanded rapidly and became the common cause of the humanity of that time, and yet it was a cause of freedom. The same goes for the bad: how has the West become corrupted? He corrupted himself: instead of the Gospel, they began to learn from the pagans and adopt their customs - and they became corrupted. The same will happen with us: we began to learn from the Lord of the West, who fell away from Christ, and transferred his spirit into ourselves; we will end up, like him, recoiling from true Christianity. But in all this there is nothing that necessarily determines the cause of freedom: we will want and drive away the Western darkness; if we don’t want to, we will, of course, plunge into it” 86. It is difficult to suspect Saint Theophan of xenophobia and biased hostility towards the West. In Western culture, he did not recognize only that which his deeply Christian, Orthodox consciousness could not tolerate. He pinned his hopes for the best on the spiritual enlightenment of his compatriots, which would make it possible to distinguish between the weak and strong sides in the achievements of their Western neighbors and adopt only the most valuable. Theophan the Recluse left us with a spiritual understanding of many contemporary events in Russian reality. Behind the diversity of external life, he was able to clearly discern the beginning of all its manifestations, which is hidden in the hearts of people. The contents of the heart, its values ​​and ideals, aspirations and hopes, in their own way, guide the activities of each individual and society as a whole. The external activities of people, thus, proceed in accordance with their internal (spiritual) state. And if a person rejects the Gospel, deviates from the Orthodox Apostolic Church, he cannot remain spiritually healthy, and his outer life cannot remain bright, harmonious and fulfilling. Turning his gaze to the events of our time, Saint Theophan worriedly noticed an increasing misunderstanding and violation of Orthodox principles, and with them the entire inner life of people. Monastic service has become weaker, departing from the precepts of the holy Orthodox ascetics. Contemporary theology of the saint suffered from lifeless abstraction, rationality and spiritual ignorance, retreating from Orthodox foundations to Protestant ones. Spiritual literature and church periodicals fell into excessive learning, often losing sight of the living, spiritual needs of man. Orthodox pastors taught Christian, inner life less and less often. Spiritual life was dying out, and Russian society could not help but feel this. Orthodoxy was losing influence on him. The top and bottom retreated from the Church, betraying the faith of their fathers or even renouncing the faith. The internal makeup of the Russian people changed, their aspirations and expectations, the ideals of their hearts changed (i.e. what is now commonly called mentality), which means that the entire social and state structure of Russia had to change. No wonder, in his declining years, Vyshinsky the Recluse wrote: “Orthodox Rus' is perishing!” 88 Holy Rus', dotted with “delightful shrines,” is perishing because it is losing support in the increasingly less Orthodox hearts of its people. It is no coincidence that when praying for her, the saint asks first of all to strengthen her faith: “Lord, preserve her and raise up the spirit of holy faith in her and secure her forever!” 89. Saint Theophan foresaw that the coming changes and revolutionary upheavals in Russia would take very acute forms. Responding to the most important phenomena of church and public life, revealing their spiritual background, he correctly predicted their future consequences, and therefore his legacy is not only of historical interest, but is also an indispensable spiritual support in our time. Korolkov I. Time of birth of His Grace Theophan, former Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal // Church Bulletin. – 1894. – No. 16. – P. 246–247. His Eminence Bishop Theophan: Biographical sketch // Theophan the Recluse, saint. Advice for an Orthodox Christian and comments. – M., 1994. – P. 7; Korolkov I. His Eminence Theophan, former Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal // Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. – 1894. – T. 3. – P. 596–598. T-a. Senya and Egorushka // Soulful reading. – 1894. – No. 11. – P. 499–506. His Eminence Bishop Theophan: Biographical sketch. – P. 7–8. Rybinsky V.P. In memory of His Grace Theophan, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal // Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. – 1894. – T. 1. – P. 422. In 1997, Archbishop Innocent was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Odessa diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. At the same time, the discovery of the saint’s relics took place. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Feofan, former Vladimir and Suzdal: Biographical sketch // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 10. – P. 872–873. Quote From: His Eminence Bishop Theophan: Biographical sketch. – P. 8. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan... // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 5–6. – pp. 357–358. Quote by: Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal as a church writer // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. – 1994. – No. 1. – P. 32. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan... // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 11–12. – pp. 869–870. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Decree. op. – P. 32; His Eminence Bishop Theophan: Biographical sketch. – P. 9–10. See: Three letters to Rev. Feofan on the Eastern Question // Orthodox Review. – 1877. – T. 1. – No. 3. – P. 602–609. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan... // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 7. – P. 476–488. Gumerov Sh. Govorov Georgy Vasilievich // Russian writers 1800–1917: Biographical dictionary. – M., 1989. – T. 1. – P. 590. Quote by: Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan... // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 8. – P. 555–556. Gumerov Sh. Decree. op. – P. 591. Rybinsky V.P. Decree. Op. – P. 428. His Eminence Bishop Theophan: Biographical sketch... – pp. 13–14. Quote by: Florovsky G.V. Paths of Russian theology. – Kiev, 1991. – P. 395. Leontyev K. About Vladimir Solovyov and the aesthetics of life. – M., 1912. – P. 29; Gumerov Sh. Decree. op. – P. 591. Korsunsky I. His Eminence Bishop Theophan... // Reading in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. – 1894. – No. 10. – P. 708–711 Rybinsky V.P. Decree. op. – P. 431. Quote by: Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Decree. op. – P. 36. Feofan, bishop. What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it. – L., 1991. – P. 67. Feofan, bishop. Thoughts for each day of the year based on church readings from the Word of God. – M., 1991. – P. 8, 17; Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy with warnings against sins against it. – M., 1991. – P. 11–13, 18, etc. Theophan the Recluse. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection of letters: [In 4 volumes] In 8 issues. [T. 4] Issue. 7 (Reprint. M., 1992). – P. 206. This means: Saint Simeon the New Theologian (949–1022), Byzantine spiritual writer, one of the most prominent fathers of the Church. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 138. Right there. – pp. 209–210. We constantly encounter similar thoughts, distinguished by historical insight, from him. Wed: “The West has punished us and will punish us, but we have no idea...” // Feofan Recluse, saint. Letters on the Christian Life. Teachings. – M., 1997. – P. 126; “We are fascinated by enlightened Europe... Yes, there for the first time the pagan abominations that were expelled from the world were restored; They have already crossed over from there and are moving over to us. Having inhaled this hellish frenzy, we spin around like crazy, not remembering ourselves. But let us remember the twelfth year: why did the French come to us? God sent them to destroy the evil that we adopted from them. Russia then repented, and God had mercy on her. And now, it seems, she has begun to forget that lesson. If we come to our senses, of course, nothing will happen; and if we don’t come to our senses, who knows, maybe the Lord will again send our same teachers to bring us to our senses and put us on the path of correction. This is the law of God’s truth: the one who is drawn to it is to heal from sin” // Theophan, bishop. Thoughts for every day... – P. 196. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters: [T. 1] Issue. 1. – P. 38; There [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 105. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 19. Büchner Ludwig (1824–1899) was a German doctor, naturalist and philosopher, a representative of vulgar materialism, whose works were popular in Russia in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters: [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 18. Right there. [T. 2] Issue. 4. – P. 65. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 139. Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... - P. 45. “This is a whirlpool,” he said. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters: [T. 4] Issue. 8. – P. 78. Right there. [T. 2] Issue. 4. – P. 56. The letter is dated April 18, 1876. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 88. Feofan, bishop. Thoughts for every day... - P. 82. Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... – P. 73. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 119. Right there. – P. 235; Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... – pp. 5, 7. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 125. Theophan the Recluse, saint. Letters to various persons on various subjects of faith and life. – M., 1995. – Reprint. ed. – pp. 40–79, 129–279. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – P. 133. Right there. [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 110. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – pp. 124, 135. Right there. [Vol.1] Issue. 2. – pp. 19–20. Florovsky G. Ways of Russian theology. – pp. 401–402. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [Vol.4] Issue. 7. – pp. 136–137. Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... – pp. 92–93, 95. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 27 Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – pp. 185–186. Right there. – P. 186; Right there. [Vol.1] Issue. 2. – P. 27. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 8. – P. 112. Right there. [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 134. Right there. [T. 4.] Issue. 7. – P. 194. Right there. [T. 3] Issue. 6. – P. 47. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 1.] Issue. 2. – P. 117. Feofan, bishop. What is spiritual life... – pp. 45–46. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 2] Issue. 3. – P. 95. Right there. [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 8. Theophan the Recluse, saint. Letters on Christian life... – pp. 138–139. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 3] Issue. 5. – P. 46. Theophan the Recluse, saint. Letters on Christian life... - P. 139. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 1] Issue. 2. – P. 7. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 8. – P. 49. Right there. [T. 2] Issue. 3. – P. 71. Right there. [T. 3] Issue. 6. – P. 46. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 8. – P. 101. Right there. [T. 4] Issue. 7. – pp. 142–143. Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... - P. 42. Feofan, bishop. Thoughts for every day... – P. 179. Feofan, bishop. About Orthodoxy... - P. 44. Feofan, bishop. Thoughts for every day... – pp. 187–188. Theophan the Recluse. Collection of letters. [T. 1] Issue. 1. – P. 252. Right there. [T. 2] Issue. 3. – P. 33.