Letters to Ekaterina Vladimirovna Novosiltseva

This publication presents a collection of letters from St. Philaret of Moscow (Drozdov), written to the widow Ekaterina Vladimirovna Novosiltseva (daughter of Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov). The letters contain spiritual support for a grieving mother who has lost her murdered son. The collection includes 7 letters from 1822–1823, which touch on such topics as preparation for the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, organization of prayer life and spiritual reading, struggle with spiritual passions, advice on maintaining inner peace amid everyday anxieties, pastoral consolation in sorrows and direction towards surrendering oneself to the will of God. The subject of this publication is the letters of the late Saint Philaret of Moscow, written by him to the widow Ekaterina Vladimirovna Novosiltseva, daughter of Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov, from 1899 to November 1849, representing an example of truly pastoral guidance of a soul striving for Christian perfection, as well as the spiritual strengthening of a sorrowful mother who had lost a murdered woman son. Due to his deep concern for her, the saint guided her very sorrow to the greatest self-devotion to the will of God. These precious letters were kept in this family archive for a long time and are being published for the first time. “Blessed is he who keeps pure and clear the word that the spirit of faith writes on the tablets of the heart...” Letter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 129 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 I must be grateful for the hospitality, with which I am greatly comforted, because I see in it one of the expressions of love for service, devotion. He who promised reward to everyone who receives those who come in His name, may He fulfill His faithful promise over you, in the way He Himself knows! I thank you for exposing my carelessness: I did not see the mountain, but relied on my people, just like in Serpukhov: God preserved! But on the last day of the journey, walking on damp ground, I got my feet wet; I repeated the same thing here in the Kremlin: this has already stopped me, while time is very precious. I don’t consider it convenient to fast openly, especially when there is no one to join you on this path; therefore, one must act modestly. And in this case, it will be excusable if, in preparation, not all rites are observed: three days, in these circumstances, is enough. In addition to the liturgy, the prayer book can be read in private, as long as circumstances allow. I only need a book of hours and a psalter, which, since I have a lot, I send in case of need; Sorry, it's a monastic gift. Whether the confessor comes to you or you come to Moscow, it doesn’t matter: choose what is more convenient. A solitary journey, while thinking about oneself and about God, can form part of a fast. May the blessing and grace of the Lord be with you! With this desire I am: Your Excellency’s humble servant and pilgrim Filaret A. Moskovsky. I delayed for a long time, but I don’t want to completely leave your letter of June 21 unanswered. If you are comforted by the fact that you were given a prosphora, over which they prayed for you, then I am also comforted by seeing that you accept with due attention the order of the church, which everything, down to the very details, is aimed at the union of believers and obedient souls with God and to communion with each other in it. If we participated in divine services with such directions and with full attention, how we ourselves would open up to the heavenly and spread our wings to each other! As far as I remember, I fulfilled your instructions on the 28th day as best I could, but hardly at the appointed hour; but before God all hours are one. For embarrassment during confession, it would not be useless to look for the reasons. It happens - from the remnants of pride, common in our carnal man: that those who repent are restlessly indignant, seeing themselves guilty and unclean, instead of meekly and tenderly complaining before the beloved Lord, whom we have offended. In such confusion, we must expose ourselves in advance, and, moreover, think that God already sees us in all our guilt and impurity before our confession and awaits only our sincere confession in order to cleanse and forgive us. “Reh: Let me confess my iniquity, and you have forsaken the wickedness of my heart.” It happens that worrying about not leaving out a sin during confession produces anxiety in the spirit and confusion in thoughts and memory. As a warning to this, we must think that “the heart is deep” and therefore ask God, who searches hearts, to bring us into the knowledge of our sins, and “from our secret sins,” that is, those sins that we did not notice and did not confess, to “cleanse us,” as David prayed. A sin brought to memory after confession, if it is not convenient to reveal it to the spiritual father, and if it does not disturb the conscience too much, can be confessed before God alone, with the firm intention of avoiding it and confessing it at the first opportunity. Writing a confession can sometimes be useful; and sometimes the heart of the penitent pours out with greater simplicity and purity in words not prepared in advance. The confessor, according to the state of the repentant, is better able to resolve such cases; If only the repentant would ask with a sincere desire and with faith to receive the word of salvation. Sorry if I said a lot and was not necessary. Thank you for the bread. And I sent the required grain, that is, the sermon, from the Lavra. Whether I got it, I don’t know. May the Lord bless you in every good exercise, and especially in caring for the soul and in Christian care for those close to you according to the law of nature and the heart. With this sincere desire and true respect, I am V.P., my most humble servant and pilgrim, Filaret A. Moskovsky. I am writing this now after receiving your letter of August 25: for I do not want to carry the thought for a long time that I have done Your Excellency an injustice by silence. I did not intend to respond to the letter received at the Lavra until St. Petersburg. Here, for some reason, I was sure that Countess Anna Alekseevna 1 would go to Moscow at the end of August, and therefore I asked her to mediate in delivering letters to her and my acquaintances, and, before Ustinev’s Day, I sent two letters to her for delivery to you and Varvara Mikhailovna. On the next day of this holiday I was with her, and, I remember, she told me that while she remained in St. Petersburg, she would send letters. From this you see that you are in vain to suspect me of anger - I don’t know why. God save us from the misfortune of being angry with anyone, especially with people who seek God and want to serve Him! My letter corresponded to the contents of your letter, but now I almost don’t remember what exactly was written. It is interesting to know whether it will reach your hands; I don’t hope to have an opportunity to ask Countess Anna Alekseevna about him soon. I wish the Lord to bless your joy about your son and make it constant, so that closeness to the mother’s heart will serve to strengthen the mother in good thoughts and feelings. Blessing and salvation from the Lord, your letter dated October 26 - no need, it’s not short. There is something in its content that does not burden, but facilitates. For the soul, if it is not completely immersed in spiritual insensibility, the desire for God is so natural that, seeing another soul on the seventh path, it awakens and opens up, and in this case, what has been said can be unnoticeably fulfilled: “If anyone catches you in strength, the race is one, go with him two.” According to this commandment, it is not a burden for me to walk with you along the path along which you have already forced me to walk mentally in your letter: and if He who is “the way, the truth and the life” would grant me the grace to see and sometimes tell you where the path is more certain, or the procession is more reliable! But forgive me if I limit myself to the above commandment and do not dare to step forward to become a leader. My general and necessary duty so much exceeds my every measure that it would not be possible to jointly assume, arbitrarily, private duties, the fulfillment of which requires constant attention. Let He, without whom no one comes to the Father, be your leader! They are, right - although invisible. However, I am ready, in any case, to tell you the will of God when you demand it and when, according to your faith, it is given to me. Here is the answer to the contents of your letter in general. Now, as time permits, I will say something about some subjects in particular. Tribulation has made you feel the need for the consolation of faith. It's good that you noticed her. If you were happier in the world, perhaps you would not have known this need and would not have found this consolation. What of this? Recognize that sorrows are a blessing from God, and thank God for them. “It is good for me, for Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy justification.” About the theater, which I have never been to and about which I therefore have only a conjectural idea, it is difficult for me to judge to what extent participation in this fun can be innocent. Being in the theater out of necessity for another person is, of course, better than for one’s own inclination towards music. Music, even if it was without words, is, if not tasteless, then not dumb; and theatrical music, no doubt, for the most part speaks in the language of some kind of passion, and therefore, whether a lot or not, it breaks the inner silence and dissipates. And I know a person who is sometimes forced to be in the theater: then he tries not to listen to the performance, but to think about the bustle of entertainment, and sometimes, in order to overcome distraction, he closes his eyes and gets ready to pray. Why shouldn’t the image of the Crucified Savior be under the bed? But at the same time, it is necessary that the proximity of this image reminds you of the presence of the Depicted One, and that you thereby encourage yourself to prayer and reverent meditation, and drive away idle and vain thoughts. “Night I sought God.” “Memory of You on my bed.” I have not read the daily reflections of Francis of Sales 2: however, I know that this writer is of a good spirit. And what kind of daily reflections issued from the Synod do not come to mind; someday tell me the exact title of this book. It would be useful to read the New Testament in order, one chapter a day, or two when time allows. It would be good to read the Psalter in order, according to kathisma, for example, in certain times. It contains prayers, instructions, and consolations for various occasions and states of mind. However, it is better not to multiply the number of prayers and readings, but to try to read the little things you read slowly, deepen your attention and, so to speak, give yourself time in peace to taste the spirit and power of what you read. To reduce the excessive variety of reading, it is most likely to leave reading someone's new sermons; It's enough if you read it once. The mental and heartfelt use of the sayings of Holy Scripture, in various cases, in order to place oneself in the presence of God and preserve or restore peace of mind is a good deed and can bear fruit, as you seem to partly note. Continue this exercise in the name of the Lord. Self-love is the common enemy. But He who sacrificed endless love for us, laying down His soul for us and crucifying all our passions on His cross, has the power to give us victory over our pride. For this, let us diligently look at His crucifixion and pray for our co-crucifixion, not complaining that victory is not suddenly granted, but also not becoming lazy in the feat. I was interrupted; and today they come for this letter another time. I'll add one thing. What you say about me, I accept as an indication of what I should be. But it’s better not to tempt me with words that are beyond my measure. Remember what the apostle said: “I do not think I have achieved it.” Even when Jesus Christ himself was told: “The good teacher,” He rejected this praise, saying: “No one is good except one God.” Judge by this how, between us, praise is either inappropriate or dangerous. Praise be to the one God, who gives every good and perfects strength in weakness, which gifts I earnestly wish for you. Your Excellency's most humble servant and pilgrim Filaret, A. Moskovsky. I wish God's blessing to everyone I named above in the letter. Don’t judge too much, especially people in whose good intentions both you and I are sure. Whoever has someone to take advice from, does well if he constantly takes it, and does not unnecessarily turn from one to another, and from another to a third. Let the universal Christian joy about the birth of the Savior be your own joy, true, pure and complete. Found by the wise men and the shepherds, the wise and the simple, in a manger, through the wise simplicity of faith, through the simple wisdom of love, may He be found by you in the heart in which He does not hesitate to lie down, as in a manger, until He makes it a throne for Himself. “Or do you not know,” asks the apostle, ashamed, “or do you not know that Jesus Christ is with you, unless you are unskillful?” What a treasure we carry within ourselves through the grace of baptism and communion, and it often happens that we are careless and do not know it! But I wrote this denunciation for myself, and for you I only wanted to write a congratulation. May the blessing of the silent Word, the Child, be upon you, by whom alone the weak words of human blessings are valid! You are preparing for communion. Let the Visitor of souls Himself prepare an abode for Himself in you, as it pleases Him. If you are outraged by the thought that your abode is not sufficiently decorated for Him, remember the manger and calm down. It is only necessary to cleanse them and remove the dumb ones when the Word comes. Having said that it is more worthy, I can hereby thank Your Excellency for the kind memory of my day. My day is unworthy of this, but the deed of your love is all the more worthy of my gratitude before God. I already know that the intention of you and some others to bring together a prayer about my unworthiness has been fulfilled by the very deed. And I received the prosphora. You have given me not only consolation, but also edification. Here is the ancient communication of the disciples of Christ and the children of the Church! For I know that I do not have the slightest right to your participation in me, except that, despite all my unworthiness, I am considered a servant of Christ, Whom you love and seek, and of the Church, to which you are obedient and devoted. May our Head and Chief Shepherd reward you all according to your heart with such blessings as are most desirable for the consolation, confirmation and perfection of your souls; tell this to those who prayed with you, before I have time to say anything to anyone. Oh, if instead of the mistrust and divisions that are so common today, the children of the Church would be more united in love, which believes everything and hopes everything! And the weak would find strength in unity, and the small ears of corn in the sheaves would be more whole and safer. Say that I don’t remember about myself; I would like it to happen according to your word, but I cannot boast about it; I will only say to myself and to you that it is good to look back at yourself as little as possible and to look as steadily as possible to God. “Our eyes are toward the Lord our God, until he will show mercy to us!” Just as you care about some of your work, then I will tell you about my work, which is started and ends, however, without further concern. My sermons from the past year and the life of St. Sergei are printed and intertwined. I will send you and some others who favorably accept my half-educated teaching. Your letter promises that you remember me today with prayer: therefore I remember you today with gratitude and prayer. May the Lord bless the coming summer for you and make it for you, by grace, “the summer of the Lord” and by the consolation of grace, “a pleasant summer.” If bitter grass is mixed with bread (for it seems to me that we are just leaving Egypt!) - know that this is also according to the will of God, and may it be for the health of the soul. For the adventure of confession, condemning yourself for sin, thank God for your help. Do you see how good He is! You sinned with a proud thought: but when your heart rejected it, He used the feeling of sin as a means to give you tears, in which you finally found consolation. When, upon communion, we felt happy, this means that the tears were also cleansing. But, having shown you mercy, now the Lord demands justice from you, once again arousing an accusatory feeling in your conscience. Justice requires that you, having condemned your confessor, albeit only mentally, condemn yourself for it before him, and receive forgiveness from him. In this case, self-praise can be avoided if you only say that you sinned against him with a proud and condemning thought, because his instructions on prayer seemed unnecessary or insufficient to you. We can stop here. But if he asks about your prayer exercises, then say briefly out of obedience, sincerely, as before God, Who is the witness of confession and who knows before confession. You should not talk about your spiritual exercises without need; but is there anything to be proud of, even if we talk about our exercises? The Savior, in the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed until he sweated blood: what an intense prayer! Praying on Tabor, He became enlightened even down to his clothes; This is prayer that is gracefully effective! The Apostle teaches to be in prayer unceasingly. If we compare our prayer exercises with these examples, then I think we should not be proud, but rather lament that we are so immeasurably far from them. If you think more often about the virtues of the saints, and, moreover, turning to yourself, try to notice how even the small good that we do is given to us by grace (of which, perhaps, there is an example both in your present sweet tears and in the joy before the morning), then you will find a weapon against the temptations of spiritual pride. If on the feast days of some saints you do not happen to be at the divine service due to difficulties in your home life, do not outrage yourself. He who diligently fulfills the office of “obeying every human ordinance for the Lord’s sake” prays. Moreover, it is possible and must: even in everyday affairs, steal some minutes for God. Why do we have the gospel? You say to call to church; but this is before the start of the divine service; Why, in the middle of the sacred service, does the gospel sound, simply called: to the worthy, that is, to the time when they sing: “it is worthy and righteous,” etc.? One of the reasons for this establishment is so that those who cannot be in the church can also use it. This is the good news just before the consecration of the gifts. So, having heard it, remember that at this time the Holy Spirit descends on the altar, and the body and blood of Christ appears on it. Remembering this, think how close the Divine is, and in the depths of your soul worship the Lord and ask that He, by what means He knows, would give you participation in the grace of those who now serve the altar and partake of the sacraments. This can be done without words and without much prolongation of time, with one reversal of thought and feeling of the heart, if circumstances prevent one from doing more. The Lord accepts such efforts to break out of the vanity of the world and cleave to Him. Don't imitate your early mentors. It is good for him to sow who has already reaped the harvest; but don't judge them either. Let us not prevent the day that will open the work of the penitent. Let's take care of our business! Where uncalled people instruct, and, moreover, with anger, one must withdraw from there quietly, so as not to add more wood to the fire. If you encounter an obstacle to fasting and joining the fast, this can be rewarded without any restrictions at another time. You just need to choose and arrange the time in a manner suitable for preparing for this. I do not approve of the word you said about my sermons, that you cannot “obey.” In spiritual matters, one must beware of human pleasures, and obeying is more useful than the opposite. My sermons are not for daily reading. I did not completely forbid you to read them; but, if read, then it must be postponed until time and leisure. I will insist on this. The book of short teachings published by the Synod, I doubt whether it is intelligible enough for you. Try to put it aside and read, instead, the conversations of Macarius of Egypt: I hope that you will find food in them, simply prepared, but clean and healthy. Let me also reprimand you for disobedience to the doctor. I was afraid when I read that you got up before his permission. The subsequent news reassured me. I sincerely thank you for warning against those who complain about me, as a matter of philanthropy. May the Lord protect you as you protect others! I did what I could, but I could not do everything that was demanded: so that a person, admittedly guilty, but already convicted and punished, should be convicted and punished differently for the same thing. Moreover, the law does not dictate this, and the rural proverb knows that two skins cannot be removed from one ox. I wrote twice, explaining this matter: if, despite this, they want to remain dissatisfied, it’s their will! I know the law of pleasing: “I will save everyone, everyone, and everyone.” But I also know another law by which pleasing is limited: “If we had been a man, we would not have been a servant of Christ.” I am ready to be, not just by saying, but by deed, your most humble servant; but, do me a favor, let me be, at least for some time, a servant of Christ. I received the box and glass intact. I look at your work with pleasure, both because of the work itself and because of the thought that you are not wasting your time. May the Lord bless your time, so that it may be used as much as possible to fulfill His will, to care for your soul, and to serve your loved ones with love and joy. Wishing this and every blessing to you, with true respect I am Your Excellency, zealous pilgrim Filaret A. Moskovsky. As you mention Varvara Mikhailovich and Ekaterina Sergeevna, I ask them from me, if they desire God’s blessing, to express my gratitude for the views of the Kremlin and the laurels that will nourish my desire to return. I read with comfort the description of the day that you spent almost all of in church. Of course, you understand the feeling of the one who said: “I deign to rush to the house of my God rather than live in the villages of sinners.” Because it saddens me that you rejected spiritual medicine, simply because it came from the hands of a person who seems to you not to be what you think he should have been. What evil has this man done to you? What does an instructive book hold against you? This is not yet reassurance to send a book away from a person’s sight: this is contempt shown to him, although he does not know it, and the deed was not done out of love. In order to truly calm down, one must be reconciled through the same means by which an unpeaceful disposition was revealed, that is, one must read a book, one must even have one; For this reason, I am sending it to you, having written on it the words of Holy Scripture, which, in my opinion, can be a cure for the disturbance of the spirit that you have experienced. Forgive me for rebuking you like this; I have nothing to gain here for myself; and if you conquer yourself, then you will receive the fruit of victory. May the Lord help you overcome every feeling and movement that does not come from the spirit of peace and love. For the spirit of Christ is the spirit of peace and love, and not of rebellion. A concern comes to my mind: did you find anything bitter in the letter in which I sent you “Mental Medicine.” Having decided to seek the truth, do yourself a favor and accept it peacefully, whether it is tasty or not. Do not think that I wrote with condemnation - there is enough to judge and condemn in myself. You are struggling with an unpeaceful feeling; but I would like it to be completely defeated, that’s why and why I wrote! Moreover, I could not keep silent that you were not peaceful for me: I do not want to be in such a position; and I’m not worth anyone declaring war on my behalf. I ask you to be at peace with my letter and with the one who filed the case. Now I will answer your letter as long as time allows me after some evening reading in the monastery, which lasted about four hours, having returned to Vasilyevsky Island not early and not without fatigue. About reading, I remember, I said that it’s not so much a lot, but one should read carefully. With the other readings you mention, two kathismas may be inconvenient to read every day all the time. If you read one slowly, quietly listening to the spirit of the psalmist, and something that touches your heart more closely, try to remember in your spare time after reading: your work will not be in vain before the Lord. In response to your complaint about gossip in conversations, I will remind you of the complaint of the prophet Isaiah that he “has unclean lips and lives among people who have unclean lips.” Notice that he complains not only about his own lips, but also about the lips of others? Multitude and confusion quietly spread uncleanness; half a glass of clean and half a glass of unclean water - if you mix it, you will get a whole glass of unclean water. The uncleanness of the lips is even more contagious, for it defiles the ears of others, and opens the lips of others to similar uncleanness. What to do? Whoever can, seeks a few clean lips or solitude. A. whoever cannot do this, when going out into society, let him say from his heart: “Lord, guard my mouth,” and, with the hope of this help, let him guard his lips as much and as he can according to the circumstances. If it is impossible to have an edifying conversation, you should try to have an innocent one. If you condemn your neighbor, see if you can say something in his apology or defense. If your thought tends to agree with the condemner, remember your shortcomings, which, perhaps, others would condemn no less if they saw. And returning to yourself, you need to cleanse your lips with repentance before God and, noticing your falls, think about the best precautions, which, if you pay attention, the very falls teach you. If a conversation about prayer was started, and someone said that prayer is nothing other than deeds, then it was possible, in a calm manner, either immediately, or after collecting one’s thoughts, to make a remark about this. For example: that this seems to be true, for it is said; “Not everyone shall say to Me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven,” - but why is this Savior Himself, teaching how to do the will of His Father, taught prayer, and even gave a model of prayer: “Our Father” and so on. To which He Himself, having done all possible good deeds, practiced prayer, as, for example, once “there was no obscurity in the prayer of God.” After this, you can give free rein to the one who proposed the first thought to reason as he wants. If he makes new objections and they remain without further response, there is no need. If the word was spoken to him out of conviction in the truth and out of zeal, perhaps it will be remembered by him later and will protect itself. When they want to confuse you with the name “chosen”, you can answer firmly the one who said: I want to be among the elect both for you and for myself, however, the One who chooses knows this. Do not complain to the Lord about the supernatural experience of prayer: but pray that He, who knows the destinies, will give the doubter a certificate. In a damaged mind, recognize the cunning of the enemy, who usually interferes a lot with all our shortcomings, and especially with this pitiful state. Do you remember how the spirit-possessed servant bothered Paul and Barnabas, shouting after them and calling them “servants of the Most High,” you see that he tried to catch the apostles in the net with the bait of praise. But Paul soon resolved the matter by casting out the spirit. Whoever cannot do this, tell the spirit: I understand that you want to deceive me, just as you deceived my ancestors with the word: “You will be like gods.” But may the God of truth destroy your deceit and turn your lies into truth, and may he count me among the last of His! Don’t be embarrassed by the confession, but thank God for helping you in this way to remove from your heart an even though not very noticeable, but harmful existence. Whatever is pulled out of the ground by the roots will dry up. What is discovered by unfeigned recognition will, with God’s help, cease to grow. May the Lord cleanse your heart from arrogance and self-indulgence and grant you to see His help with a pure and humble eye! Whether to repeat the confession to your confessor will depend on how you feel after the current confession. However, it doesn’t matter to expose yourself to God more than once. I still wrote yesterday, but I won’t continue now, because there is another time for this. If I have time to attach a letter or two to this, I humbly ask you to deliver it. I earnestly wish peace to your soul and good help from the All-Good and All-Powerful. Ekaterina Sergeevna delivered your letter to me, and others, dated January 21 and February 8, were received. Forgive me for being stingy with answers, or, better said, I don’t know how to make up for time so that you can have it as you wish. Father Photius 3 did a lot of care and work for you, all, it seems to me, in vain. If you heard that he rebelled against someone, why should you worry about it? Your anxiety will not stop either the hearing or the matter itself. If love for mankind makes us feel sorry for our neighbor who is subject to slander, it is not up to us to correct the matter: our duty is to ask God for patience and protection for the tempted one, and for admonition for the attacker. Especially, why did you need to talk about this to such a person, to whom your words, in all likelihood, should have brought grief, without any benefit? What is the need if someone else doesn’t want to know about the person you have a good opinion about? I especially regret that you revealed to your sister your non-peaceful thoughts against the person she reveres. By doing so, you could only damage the peace between her and you, and also between you and that person, but there was no need for that, and no good could be expected from him. Why has the Lord clothed our soul with such a body through which our thoughts cannot be seen by other people? Thinking, among other things, that our thoughts are often unclean, and therefore it is not useful, but it would be harmful for other souls to see them all. So, secrecy is not order, for man is sociable; pretense is even worse, for it belongs to the image of their father; but modesty agrees with God's intention. If your thought is for the glory of God, say it, and let others glorify God. If it is for the benefit or consolation of your neighbor, say it: let it be benefit and consolation. If your heart opens innocently to communicating a word to your neighbors, even if it is not entirely necessary, let this be for the sake of community life. But, if you have received an unpeaceful thought against your neighbor, bring repentance to God for it; with His help, drive her out of your heart. Convict yourself of it before someone in order to humble yourself or receive instruction. Confess to the one against whom you thought, if you are sure that he will accept it in a Christian way, and by respecting the confession, he will establish peace and love. But if there is a danger that he will pay attention to the unpeaceful thought itself and enter into an unpeaceful disposition; then by opening up, you only spread an unpeaceful disposition. Didn't this happen to you? Finally, after excessive frankness, forced silence is again the wrong path to peace. Having left the hearts of others to the heart reader, test your own: what effect did the conversation on Wednesday have on him? Or did you notice more what was edifying in it? Or have more impressions made you strange? If you find the latter, then take suspicion: are you quite peaceful on your part? Bring your heart to simplicity as much as possible: listen to what is good willingly, and what is not so, do not be irritated, but try to forget; do not argue for people who do not want to be a reason for disagreement; try to have either an innocent conversation or a calm silence. Here is the judgment of a man who, perhaps, sins more than those judged, but, however, desires correction for himself and improvement for others. Use it as the Lord instructed you. May He grant you true peace both with your heart and with your loved ones! If the Lord shows you His help in secret prayer, recognize His mercy in this and be attentive to it. He who strives to be faithful in what is given may be given more. If in any way you can prepare for Holy Communion in the first week of Great Lent, may God bless you and grant you to approach with fear, faith and love. Turning to the beginning of your first letter, I can say about my return that I do not foresee it before the summer journey, and after the opening of the summer route, I hope it will not slow down. I heard about the fire with regret. In great trouble, it is at least a considerable consolation that the owner and mistress maintained their presence of mind and saved others from fear and confusion. Countess. I ask Anna Alekseevna to express my gratitude for remembering me and for visiting me by letter. May God's blessing be with her! Please accept my efforts to express the same gratitude to Elizaveta Rostislavovna. God's blessing be with her and her family! And the fact that I don’t write to her in particular is my usual fault, with the usual hope of forgiveness. Be sure that I sincerely wish you God's blessing, whether I write or not write about it. I cannot miss a good opportunity without saying a few words to Your Excellency. Having made, before this, some comments on cases, I am afraid that my words will not lead you into new difficulties. I wouldn’t bother you with the thought that you’re doing it wrong, or that it doesn’t seem right to me. – The first – I don’t think so; and about the second, I do not forbid you to use your reasoning, which God has given you. But it happens that I see good, I thank God, I ask to preserve it, and I don’t tell the person about it, because praise does not always excite, but sometimes lulls you to sleep. And when I notice that it could have been better, I sincerely remind people of this who want correction and improvement, not out of severity against their shortcomings, for I know that I myself need indulgence more than others, but out of a desire to see good things better and growing mature. Receive reminders with a similar disposition, that is, to try to achieve the best, and not be embarrassed by shortcomings or words of reproof. “Better than frank reproof is secret love; The essence of a friend’s ulcer is more reliable than the free kiss of an enemy,” Solomon wrote. I wish you to peacefully enter the field of fasting and pass through it without stumbling. Give thanks to the One Good Shepherd, Who leaves ninety-nine sheep to go and look for one lost one, and knows the place and time - where and when, and the means through which to catch her for salvation. He left you in the struggle so that you knew your own weakness, and gave you help when the weariness of the helpless struggle made you capable of accepting help. Now with hope you can and with gratitude you must: relentlessly continue the struggle with the old man in us and gradually clear more space for new life, which the light sometimes appears to you in its beginnings. You are telling the truth that a vigil is needed. The enemy does not sleep, who comes to sow unclean things among the pure. As for example, it is best to look at the example of the Chief Shepherd in the Gospel. He is the way, the truth and the life. When you look at His example in order to conform to it, and use it as a path, at the same time He reveals the truth to you and, in an inconspicuous way, as He says, introduces you into the very life of the Kingdom of God. May He do this to you according to His mercy and His truth. In your adventure on the day of your communion, notice how the Lord shows us, the unworthy, His truth and mercy. In moments that should be especially important to you, your thoughts were drawn away from the Savior of your soul to your temporary worldly sorrows. Although this happened as if involuntarily, you, however, cannot say that it was innocent. You did not have the strength to drive away disturbing thoughts, because before you indulged in them voluntarily, and, perhaps, because by this time you had not sufficiently strengthened your spirit with prayer and remembrance of God; For this reason, you were not given compassion for communion, and after that you were left with sorrow about it. But, as at the same time you try to overcome unfavorable dispositions in yourself against an unexpected meeting and wanted to follow meekness and peace, then you are shown in fact that this sacrifice of yours was accepted as mercy: - the person had to return from the road in order to express to you his peaceful disposition, and, moreover, when he had other obstacles to this. You see that not only the act of goodness, but also one effort towards goodness is invisibly accepted and blessed. I advise; during future confession, reveal to your spiritual father that the previous time before communion you were entertained by thoughts of temporary sorrows. However, thank the Lord for this too, that He has vouchsafed you to receive communion when you have a noticeable lack of readiness: in the sacraments He secretly does His work even when we do not know and do not feel; If only we were not scattered through negligence. You can read the teachings published by the Holy Synod without a doubt. The mercy and help of the Lord be with you and with your family, for which I pray to Him, unworthily, but sincerely. Your Excellency, zealous pilgrim Filaret A. Moskovsky. Your man, due to lack of space, does not come: I will send this differently. It is natural to sympathize at the sight of a disheartened mother: but at the same time, seeing in her an example of Christian firmness should be both edifying and comforting in sorrow. But if the distressed woman is firm, and the stranger is horrified, then she must admit her weakness and ask God for strength. Try to love your Heavenly Father more and more, so that love for children is not a source of horror. See in what terrible case Abraham was not horrified; but, since he sacrificed everything to Divine love, he lost nothing, but received everything beyond his expectations. If such a sacrifice is not within our power, at least at the sacrifice of others we will revere and not shudder. About the attachment of different people to different people at the request of advice or instruction - remember how during the time of the Apostle Paul they said: “I am Pavlov, I am Apolossov” What about Pavel? Was he indignant at those who said: “I am Apolossov”? No: he stood up against attachment to Paul: “Is Christ really divided? Were you really baptized in the name of Pavlovo?” Beware, too, of being indignant at someone in whose name you were not baptized, and do not separate Christ, who was crucified for you. Even if others divide Him, union will not come through indignation, but rather through patience and love. That you stopped making excuses to preserve peace, do not repent of that. in this silence, He who alone can truly justify us will see greater justification. About sin, or blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, the Evangelist himself partly gives an explanation when, having mentioned it, he adds: this is why the Lord said this because they said “there is an unclean spirit in him.” So, the scribes’ blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consisted in the fact that, seeing the power of God in the miracles of Jesus Christ, against their conscience and with stubborn impenitence, they called His works demonic. There is no need to intensify further - to penetrate these depths of Satan. The fear of sinning against the Holy Spirit out of ignorance is a mental temptation. To resolve this, it is enough to note that every sin committed out of ignorance is not a sin against the Holy Spirit, but against the Son, Who is Wisdom and the source of knowledge; sins against the Son are forgiven, as stated by the Evangelist Matthew in chapter twelve. Whether you defended Bond's omnipotence correctly or incorrectly, the trouble is not very big; if a warrior defended the king, but was poor in using weapons, he is not yet a traitor, although, of course, the one who uses weapons skillfully does better. Against the idea that God cannot make something like Himself, it should be said that this is not a lack of omnipotence, but on the contrary: that is why God is omnipotent, because there cannot be another equal power. The first of these thoughts is only a deception in words, and if it is not proposed as a deception or a daring joke, then it is extravagance. Imagine that someone would come to the Sovereign and seriously say to him: “if you are sovereign in your state, then make another sovereign Sovereign in it.” For the sovereignty of the Sovereign consists in complete power over the subject, and to make another sovereign Sovereign would mean to destroy one’s own sovereignty. The one who says to God is just as crazy: if You are omnipotent, then make another omnipotent God. For the omnipotence of God consists in the fact that in His endless Kingdom He can do whatever He wants, in accordance with His wisdom, and not in making gods, which in itself is absurd. As for the Son of God: first, He is not made or created, but begotten; secondly, he is not only similar to God, but God Himself; thirdly, not another God, but One with the Father. Finally, that the incarnation of the Son of God is the greatest proof of the omnipotence of God - this can be said fairly; for through this humanity is elevated even to deification. But here the Apostle’s instruction is very appropriate: “I will not stifle words, nor will I ask for anything, but to ruin those who hear.” Forgive me for writing untidy: I ​​don’t have time to straighten the letters. May He who gives His laws in thoughts and writes them on hearts place this His miraculous writing purely in your heart! I wish you the blessed blessing of the Lord, which I ask you to express to others who remember me. Please accept my gratitude for your participation in my kindred grief. Why should I burden others with it who have enough of their own worries? I thank God that she gave me both consolation and instruction. I wrote about my late sister to Varvara Mikhailovna, having this occasion. At the end of forty days, I put aside the seal that brings me questions. Moreover, even in the Old Testament, those serving the altar were less allowed mourning than others. You ask about the saying of the Savior: “Whoever loses his soul for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will save it.” Your opinion is correct that the one who would rather lose his life than betray Christ and His Gospel will be saved. The one who objected to you that this does not mean destroying the soul, I don’t know, what he thought, and whether he was just attached to the word, not paying attention to its use in speech; for even now they call the robber a murderer, although he destroys, of course, not the soul, but the body, or takes away natural life. Isn't another question more important; if in order to be saved one must surrender one’s soul or natural life to destruction, otherwise: suffer and die for Christ, then how will this come true for those who do not have the opportunity to suffer martyrdom? To resolve this, we can recall the special use of the name: “soul” in the Holy Scriptures, as, for example, in the following saying: “a soulful person does not accept even the Spirit of God.” Here, the soulful is contrasted with the spiritual man who lives by the Spirit of God: consequently, “spiritual” means the same thing as a carnal, sensual person controlled by spiritual passions. Consequently: - to destroy the soul can mean the same thing as “crucifying the flesh with passions and lusts.” Let us imagine that the soul is aroused to anger; - whoever, at this time, remembering the Christian commandment: “put aside anger, rage,” etc., restrains not only the external, but also the internal spiritual movements of this passion, and arouses in himself the opposite feelings of love: he crucifies his passion. Whoever, with the help of the grace of God, will thus crucify all sinful passions and lusts, with the surrender of his entire will to the will of God, will thus undergo spiritual martyrdom - he will destroy his soul for the sake of Christ and the Gospel, he will endure to the end - he will be saved. You also ask what it means: they have not tasted death until they see the Kingdom of God coming in power? Read the words immediately following this in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, and you will find the interpretation. It is here that the Transfiguration of the Savior is described, in which three of the apostles saw Him in such glory as He will appear blessed in the kingdom of God and in which they themselves will participate, for the spiritual bodies of the blessed will be similar to that in which the Savior appeared during His transfiguration. Thus, three of the apostles, before their death, saw the kingdom of God come in power. Perhaps there is another mystery in these words of the Savior: but we should not be bold in testing His mysteries. It is enough if doubts are resolved and what we need as a guide to salvation is revealed. Curiosity is close to pride; Mysteries are revealed to the meek. I don’t hear about Varvara Mikhailovna’s brothers after I saw first one of them, and then both. The desire to judge and teach everyone, and set yourself up as an example, is not an enviable position. But when we run away from a person for this reason, have we not condemned him? Another, perhaps, would not notice the desire to teach in another, but would try to turn the opportunity to be taught to his advantage. Perfection is in heaven! Here on earth, we will be content, seeing good intentions in people, and we will cover up our shortcomings with love, knowing that they do the same to us. Why do you threaten yourself with shame after confessing to a person who, perhaps, is guilty of a greater confession than any he hears, and indeed this is true, because he owes more to one? Confessions are not shameful, but honorable, because they indicate a desire for correction. And that there is something in us that requires correction, is this really unknown even before recognition? There will be a time when the book of our life will open before heaven and earth: how can we withstand or prevent this shame? Not otherwise than if we reconcile ourselves in the current private confessions. And in order to put shame in the place that belongs to it: let us be ashamed before God, who sees our secrets, to do and think what we are ashamed to admit to people. May God bless you and fulfill the intention you have made for the next week, and may He grant you holy participation in both the suffering and the resurrection of our Savior, with whom I greet you in advance. Truly Christ is risen! This answer to words of joy will not soon reach Your Excellency, but it is never too late to rejoice in the Lord and His saving deeds. “Rejoice always in the Lord,” teaches the apostle, “and again I say: rejoice.” I wish that you can rejoice like this, and that nothing can steal your inner spiritual joy completely, if in this fickle world it is impossible for it to be diminished. If, as you say, sometimes the light fades in the struggle of the soul: do not lose courage, but even through the darkness and storm, cry out to the Lord with hope: He is such a “light that shines in the darkness, and His darkness is not overcome.” He extends a saving hand to both the overwhelmed and the drowning, when a person admits that he cannot save himself and asks for salvation from Him. “Bodily training is useful in small ways, but piety is useful for everything.” Therefore, it was necessary to leave painting for worship, and it was even more necessary if painting for you is not just an exercise, but a passion. From this experience, take the instruction that he who begins to walk with attention before God must be faithful before Him in every matter pleasing to Him. I remember I responded to your thoughts regarding Ekaterina Sergeevna. We must, as the apostle says, “bear with one another through love.” I thank you for your prayers and ask you not to forget me in them. I need help. And repent of the fact that you spoke a harsh word against those who removed me from the flock. They know what they're doing. And about those who “knew not what they were doing,” we have an example of what needs to be said: “Father! let them go!” However, may God's mercy and blessing be with you! Either business or several academic meetings that happened one after another did not allow me to respond to your letter within a week, but I don’t want to let him go empty-handed when he came for an answer. I rejoice that the Lord has given you communion with Himself, dissolved in consolation. By this strengthen your faith and trust in Him; May gratitude to His mercy confirm you in the desire to cleave to Him with all your heart. It’s strange - how could anyone come up with the idea that on Holy Saturday they are looking for the body of the Lord; – what the Church represents in models, it depicts the same in the words of sacred songs. In them you will hear, for example: “Everyone brings a song to Your burial” and understand that the rituals with the shroud mean the removal of the Lord’s body from the cross, carrying It to the tomb and burial... It would take a long time to write about the detailed arrangement of these rituals; I will only say that all the details have a sign - where they are faithfully and carefully fulfilled. During sacred remembrances, the Church wants to occupy all the senses with the Divine object: what occupies the ear through reading and singing, also occupies the sight through rituals, so that nothing dissipates the senses and their dispersion does not interfere with the contemplation of the spirit. For St. Sergius, you can travel to the Lavra whenever you want; but for me it should not take a single extra step. I don’t know whether my coming should continue; One day they agree to let me go, but the next they find it difficult. Any day now I expect to learn something more decisive and precise. Peace to you and to everyone who wishes peace, whether they know or not the one who wishes peace for them. You rightly talk about earthly happiness. God gives it either to those who use it innocently, or to those to whom, according to His Truth, it should belong for some earthly virtues, or to those who are not capable of better things, or to those through whom it can conveniently be used in accordance with the many different intentions of His providence. It’s easy for anyone who has it to forget or neglect something better. Therefore, we must diligently thank God for the fact that He deprives us of worldly consolations, to which we could become addicted with extreme danger to the soul, and through sorrows teaches us to recognize our inner shortcomings and encourages us to seek His kingdom. “The Lord loves him and punishes him.” Bring your care for your sick spouse before God, as you do, without being discouraged by the fact that you do not see the success of your prayers. And we, humans, do not fulfill all the wishes of even those we love. The knower of the heart has much more reasons to act not according to our desires, but according to His destinies, always wise and good. In addition, there are real fruits of prayer, but which cannot be revealed to the person praying until the time comes. Under the name of Elijah, who was to come before our Savior, of course John. This is how the apostles understood the words of Christ. But who will be the forerunner before the future coming of Christ - there is a lot about this and an inconceivable word. I still don’t know anything about my return. I wish that rural solitude will increase your spiritual peace. I am sending several copies of the speech spoken to the Emperor. One, I ask you to introduce His Excellency to your parent, to whom I was going yesterday, but did not have time. Sovereign today at 8 o’clock in the Archangel Cathedral for a memorial service and liturgy. Being too weak for strict laws, I am not inclined to prescribe such to others, but only say what I find correct and advise them to do what they can to the best of their ability. Another is frequent visits at will, without need, without a useful object: in such visits one must be wary of either self-indulgence or man-pleasing. And another - visiting for needs and business, or to promote some good deed of others, here some duty is fulfilled. I advise you to moderate visits of the first kind, so that through them, out of the silence of the spirit, it does not happen that you enter into vanity or useless worries and lead others into similar dispositions. For visits of a different kind, I do not prescribe not only a strict law, but also no law other than the law of prudence, which is necessary in every matter, and for everyone who is attentive, bestowed by God to the extent necessary. God preserve me, so that I will be disposed to reject those who seek benefit, especially spiritual benefit. Together with such people we must seek, ask and push at the door of God’s mercy. I entrust you to the Lawgiver and the law of Grace. Save yourself in the Lord, without losing hope even in the midst of obstacles. Remember the one who said: “My soul is a stranger; be at peace with those who hate the world.” Between two things that are both bad, it's hard to choose which is better. Therefore, it is not surprising that you are in difficulty. It is not good to end the spiritual with the worldly; but it is good to completely leave the spiritual for the worldly. It is better to sacrifice the worldly for the spiritual. But as long as the nets of the world are so entangled that when you untangle one leg, the other becomes entangled, it is necessary: ​​what is free, as much as you can stretch to God. "Lifting up my hand for the evening sacrifice." “I have lifted up my eyes to You, Who dwells in heaven.” “My heart says to you: I will seek the Lord!” - When it happens that after a spiritual matter you fall into the worldly, then, returning to yourself, read Psalm 136: “On the rivers of Babylon, there I am sad”, etc., and think about it, as God will enlighten you. It is not bad to weep for Jerusalem in captivity until we come to freedom. Fasting is inconvenient when the time is short and there is a confluence of worries: choose a time in which you could have more freedom and silence. Sanctify your day (which may come to you with blessing) in a solitary hour by reflecting on the blessings of God in the past year, and on preparing for the unknown future, which, however, is in the hands of the same all-good God. I said and repeat about family care, which confuses thoughts: run to God with patience and meekness, and notice whether a trace of the path of Providence appears somewhere. Now about my warmth. Thank you for your philanthropic disposition and care: you just dress me luxuriously. May He Whom we serve, although extremely unworthily, accept your service. “Open your way to the Lord, and trust in Him, and He will do it.” An experienced researcher of human ways teaches us to do this. And how else can we act when our path to continue is closed and dark? Why is there confusion and why do thoughts enter the heart when there is no trouble except the dull sound of the wind, that is, dubious rumors? We must give up thoughts, apply ourselves to prayer, and, calming and strengthening ourselves by it, expect what the Lord will do, and hope that He will do it only according to His great mercy and the multitude of His bounties. Say that you are struggling in vain with your thoughts. This is why temptation came, to recognize one’s weakness. Recognizing it, fall down to the one who bore our weaknesses, and believe that He, having exposed our weakness, will overcome with His power. Meanwhile, let's take a moment to reflect on our thoughts. What is the threat? Marriage with an industry whose strength is questionable. If it is bound by passion, out of ambition, for self-interest, one must fear that these impurities will harm the blessing. If it is connected, in an innocent and pure way, with the fear of God and with prayer: then God’s blessing will either completely heal previous shortcomings, or at least make a saving cleansing of what in other circumstances would be a curse and punishment. And what is the best lot on earth, as a saving purification for heaven? It will seem to you that I am already advising; no, I neither advise nor advise against it; but I’m just showing that what’s threatening can be scary, but maybe not. Perhaps, therefore, you yourself will notice that the excitement of thoughts is not from the greatness of the danger presented, but more from love for the son: and here is another reason why such temptations befall; - precisely in order to purify natural love: let us not love our son or daughter more than the Lord, but let our hearts learn to comprehend Abraham’s work: the sacrifice of the only Isaac. Do not be afraid: the sacrificed Isaac brought forth fruit like the stars of heaven and like the sand in the sea. That you do not tell anyone about your concerns, this, in my opinion, is correct, for this would increase worries and lead to human inventions, before the path from the Lord opens. Speak to God, and expect to hear from people. If there is a modest means of finding out whether something has happened to the son, and what he thinks: this could indicate what can be done next. But this must be done in such a way as not to leave him with the seed of concern if he does not have it and if his hearing is completely empty. What you wrote about the psalm: “Lord, do not reprove me with Your wrath,” is an unmistakable error. We must pray with this psalm for sinners, of whom I am the first. Prayers for communion should be used during preparation for communion. However, I don’t remember the Dmitrievs now: I need to look at them. One should pray in peace; but when a person involuntarily finds himself in the whirl of the world, why not then pray mentally so that the thought will at least somewhat adhere to God, when the world wants to scatter the whole person? Forgive me for not answering the previous letter on time: either it was brought without me, or when I was busy with people, which I don’t remember now. If I didn’t answer something and forget, ask without blaming my forgetting. Blessing, peace and salvation from the Lord! For a candidate for monasticism, it seems, this experience will still be difficult. However, we'll see. A person who has fun, not knowing his misfortune, is especially worthy of pity, against the unlucky simply; and he is threefold who, knowing his misfortune, is forced by fair or unfair reasons to pretend and present himself as cheerful. And in order for you not to condemn this pretense, for this you would have to look at yourself: weren’t you also pretending that you didn’t know the misfortune of your hospitability? If I am unhappy and pretend, my deception is only for me, for others it is no worse or better. If others pretend to be unhappy in front of me, their deception has an unkind effect on me, leaving me in error, or confirming me in pretense. “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Forgive me if I judge you by thinking of giving you a weapon against judgment. I give thanks for the former and present bread, but I forgot to give thanks before. So we remember to use it, but forget to thank it. May the Nourisher of souls feed you with the bread of life, and may the memory of His unceasing benefits be an unceasing food for you of love for Him and gratitude. Glory to Him for everything, small and great, from Him or in His name! By the grace of God, I wish His servant pure repentance, perfect forgiveness, complete consolation in communion with the Lord! And the teachers are told: “Don’t be too many teachers.” What need is there for a student or student, without being called, to advise the teacher so that he takes another teacher? Forgive me that after repentance I still reprove: it is necessary that the sorrow of reproof become a teacher in caution. The words: “the last sin” should be carefully pronounced in repentance. One must want it to be so, without which repentance would not be true; However, one should not rely on one’s caution. “If the Lord does not preserve the city, spiritual Jerusalem, a faithful soul, will be careful in vain.” But just as we trust in the Lord faithfully, so faithfully will He preserve us. May He grant you forgiveness for the past, caution for the future, hope in Him, and peace with all your neighbors. May there be peace in your conscience. And when they send the letter, you will see if anything is needed to establish peace with some to whom your word seemed unpeaceful. I don’t see what to change or add in the letters, especially since the matter being discussed is not well known. Having sent them, have peace with your conscience, and approach the Lord’s table with hope. It’s good that you remembered what you said against those who love to teach. And I wanted to remind you of this. Where we condemn others, the Lord often withdraws His guarding hand from us, and the enemy drags us into those guilts with which we arrogantly blamed others. One Doctor of souls and bodies and Healer of the sick and mourning! From Him comes medicine and healing; To Him for this and thanksgiving, to Him a prayer for this, may He heal all that is broken, may He preserve all that is healed! Men, as Job says, are “comforters, not healers of evil.” Hello in the Lord, and attribute your health to the Heavenly Healer, and not to some sick person on earth. That they asked for forgiveness is truly good: now the world is not only restored, but also, if God pleases, established more than before. There is nothing to doubt about a prepared letter, and it seems that the concern that you first censor it is unnecessary. You will correctly tell Countess Anna Alekseevna that you fulfilled her instructions. Please add that with all my heart I wish and ask for the blessing of God for her, may he cover and protect her on every path. And for me, her good memory is enough, instead of a letter; Thank you for it, just like for the letter. I sincerely wish God's blessings and peace of mind. Gratitude belongs to God, who benefits us in many ways, and the subject of grief should be our sins. So there will be gratitude and sorrow in the place. And we must seek consolation in God. Any other consolation is distorted. God will save K.A.N.G. 4 from such a change as you fear. Let us fear our own shortcomings and hope for the best from others. Now I can’t send sermons; I don’t know if it will be possible after. Now there is no time: because my path is urgent, although both the weather and my health argue against my intention. The head hurts and the cough is not quite calm. If God wills, I’ll get better within 24 hours and go. If you have a thought about this; let there be a thought of prayer, and not a thought of worry. I wish you to complete the Christian exercises you are planning to do this Lent with God’s blessing and spiritual consolation. But going to the Lavra after confession for communion is hardly convenient. And I don’t know when it will be convenient for me to perform sacred services there: for not everyone who is needed is there, and it is inconvenient for Muscovites to live there for a long time. I am glad that all of you are in good health. I entrust you all to the merciful care of the Lord. Thank you for the bread. They haven't reached me yet. I wish that your arrival and stay will be safe, and that your God-pleasing intention will be fulfilled, pleasing to God and comforting for you. All-night vigils are celebrated in my rooms at the usual time: but the illness, although not important, does not tolerate changes in the air, keeps me in my room away from people. What prevents me from writing is inflammation above the eye, which lasts about a week and finally turns into an abscess. I wish you health and peace of soul in the Lord! Blessing, peace and salvation from the Lord! In replying to V.M. today, I have already written to you. It is excusable to be late for the service for a letter to a parent: for even that is a duty. But it would be better not to do human-pleasing, especially since it was convenient to get rid of it. But although a small sin is darkness, however, the light of Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit, acting in the sacraments, scatter and destroy great darkness. May they cleanse your heart and enlighten you, and may they give you protective strength against darkness. My garden has been decorated too much, but I can’t use it. However, I'm getting better and I'm not so locked up anymore. Welcome to the all-night vigil, Healing and salvation from the One Healer and Savior of all! I will wait for the icons of your labors for the church: and as you work, turn your thoughts to the One whose image you are writing, so that the work will be before His eyes and will be pleasing to Him now and hereafter. If the Lord sometimes allows you to taste in your heart how good He is, offer Him this feeling as a pure sacrifice of gratitude, thinking that this is His gift, sent by grace, and not the acquisition of our labors. What are our small efforts worth before God, which, moreover, we do in no other way than with His help? And if we do anything for Him, isn’t there always more left over that we should do, but have not yet done? So, if He gives us a feeling of consolation, then this truly is a gift of His pure mercy, so that we may come to know the Merciful One more, believe in Him more, love Him more and be confirmed in love for Him, and in the event that He deems it necessary to visit us with new sorrows for our purification. Therefore, it is commanded to rejoice before God with trembling, with fear, lest we, instead of being comforted by the Good Lord, begin to be comforted by ourselves. God! What is man, because you remember him, or the Son of man, because you visit him? Let us recognize our unworthiness and humble ourselves and humiliate ourselves before the one who visits us with mercy and generosity. Let us recognize His mercy and bounty, and let us do His will the more willingly, the more joyfully. If He opens a little the door of the Kingdom, which, according to His word, is within us, we will stand firmly on guard at this door, against every thought hostile to the Kingdom of God. May He help you in every good deed, through faith and love for Him, for the glory of His name! Thank you for the bread: but why Lent? He makes Lent more luxurious than other times. I wish you and those with you God’s blessings and every good thing. Thanks to the Healer of the weak, and on the first of August I was in the cathedral and yesterday in Novospassky. The letters really should not have been given to a crowd of people who would first ask what? and then he will invent an answer to this question. Moreover, at home I could have answered, albeit briefly or even verbally: but here I only said that it was not the time to give an answer; and from that time until the morning I was going to answer. However, this morning you would have received an answer both without the letter sent and without the new letter: but now it’s all the easier. Today I’m at home all day, and in the first or second hour I hope to be freer than in the early hours. If you need to set another day: then Thursday, and the hours are the same. Save your deep bows for the One to Whom the deepest worship with all our being is due. I always gladly see myself freed from many rituals 5 . Acceptance with good intention of words spoken with good intention is respect, and trust, and reward. Looking at your previous letters, I find a question: did you act as you should in the adventure of a person forced by creditors to sell her estate. It seems to me that you acted hastily, without any evidence of the authenticity of the story; It is especially wrong that, without knowing her, you hid this circumstance from those to whom you wrote about her. This shows that although a humane impulse acted in this case, in seeking help there was a lot of hope for human help, and for human, even one’s own, art. All hope should be placed on God, then there would be no need to act insincerely; because God's help comes not through the art of our words, but through His mercy, and through our faith and hope, and He is more successful with a simple word and not darkened by any admixture of human cunning than with any other. If you happen to talk about the consequences of this incident when you are with me, perhaps we will have a chance to talk about it more. What does it mean to walk around the font during baptism, I said briefly in the catechism that I am sending. I would be curious to look at the book “Voltaire the Christian” if it is published here. In St. Petersburg I heard that some books of a very unkind nature were published in Moscow. The distance between a Christian and an atheist is so great that here one can encounter an innumerable number of misconceptions. Without need, it is better not to read what is subject to doubt. Enough to eat clean and healthy food. If by the name of blessing you mean prayer: I pray to the Lord that he will make a path for you, as far as possible, not far from the peace at the beginning and which would lead you to peace and consolation. And if it’s about conscience, then it would be necessary to know how often there were such times of silence. However, as you still need two days to get consent to the path: then there will be a time after which, according to the circumstances, it will be fair to take care of the end of the unknown, if it does not end in these days. But most of all, open your path to the Lord, and trust in Him, and He will do what He knows is best and saving. Try, as much as possible, by thinking about God and calling on Him, to bring order and a quiet state to your feelings. Don't you live too much as a son? Most of all, we need to live by God. God gave Isaac with great blessing when his father gave him completely to God. If you need a priest in St. Petersburg, I recommend to the Vladimir Church, priest Simeon Yakovlevich Platonov, who does his work in the fear of God and has judgment. However, may the Lord guide you and protect you, and may He arrange good things for you and for your son. If my words were correctly retold yesterday: I said that I could accept it for a short time. It was your will not to enter. I’m still a little better today; but there should be in a house of hard work. That's why the morning is not mine. You can find me in the evening, early or not early, as you wish: only today I can take little time for others from work and from illness. Be healthy and strengthened in spirit. Learn what the cross is and how to use it. May she give victory over difficulties and weaknesses to the one who overcomes the cross. This man sees the matter, and his advice is consistent with the circumstances. However, it is difficult to untie what is entangled. We must resort to the One who can resolve all ties. In Him may your spirit find strength, peace, and freedom. And yesterday I understood the meaning of the story. I return the papers, not having anything to say against the covenant. It’s an unusual thing for me to invite the commandant to come to me. And I don’t see tomorrow for this time. If anything comes to mind, I’ll hasten to say it. One word is always suitable: God is our refuge and strength, a helper in the sorrows of those who have found us great. May He truly be your refuge and strength. I can’t calm down so as not to repeat some thoughts, although I think they are already known from me. You can defend yourself from a robber. But only the government has the right to declare and accept war in a well-ordered society, and that is because there is no other court over them. But for private people there is arbitrary mediation and a court from the government. If I keep the law of God and conscience and spare the life of another; and people say that out of cowardice I am protecting my own life: it is their will. Being pure before God is more important than avoiding the unfounded suspicion of people. It seems to me that this should be said to whoever needs it. However, may the Lord show everyone the light and the path to good, peace and salvation. Strength and hope and peace from the Lord! The letter was submitted at the wrong time and in the wrong place: that is why, having read it casually, I did not notice the words that required a quick response. Moreover, it is difficult to talk about subjects without thinking about which it is difficult to talk about even after thinking. The one who threatens to take revenge to death is truly terrible: but the one who decides to respond in this way will not decide on something pleasant. One cannot willingly agree to place oneself in close proximity to the former: and not everyone will agree with the latter. The first, not so long delay can rather resolve everything. The second delay, for six years, may be taken not as a genuine delay, but as a feigned distant promise in order to evade the upcoming danger: and in this case, all the difficulties that now exist will return with even greater force. It seems to me that, as a Christian, your first concern should be so that you do not decide to do the same things that are terrible for others. Isn't it better to endure the thought of a cruel threat than to tolerate a cruel action? To such an extent the heart of the one who threatens is terrible is not yet entirely clear until the threat is left without action. Why is it that you, having already suffered enough from being an instrument of someone else’s decision, now seem to be the only ones who want to make the decision? Why shouldn’t the father who started the matter take upon himself to unravel it, which will not interfere with the marriage according to the father’s decision, through which you would not take on your responsibility anything other than taking care of preserving your son from the influences of a dubious society, which with the help of God is not impossible, no matter how close people of dubious qualities are. However, I don’t know how to talk about things that are so terrible for me. May the Lord guide you and everyone to whom this concerns. May the Angel of the Lord encamp around those who fear Him. My liturgy is according to the usual blagovest. If God’s mercy already exists, we must take care of it and be worthy of it. A Christian mother is obliged to resolutely forbid her son from insulting someone who asks for forgiveness, no matter what anyone else thinks, no matter how he accepts this prohibition. It is too low to do something for the insane world, when one could do the opposite for the Almighty God. Forgiveness, and peace, and salvation from the Lord! Annoyance, no matter how fair it may seem, is not a pure disposition, and therefore requires repentance, with the desire to endure sorrows and insults with patience, and such repentance will gain both forgiveness of the past and strengthening for the future. Suspicion is truly grave. But is there really any basis for suspicion? The actions of an unreasonable friend may have a different, less serious explanation. The mother’s actions are quite explained by the desire to keep her daughter’s fiancé and present the matter as resolved, through recognizing him as domestic: another suspicion against her is too heavy, and it is difficult to determine the character of her face for this. This time there is no visible path to resolving the suspicious thought that could lead to clear identification. It is dangerous to open it to your son, so as not to cause a revolution in his feelings. There is no choice but to carry this burden quietly for the time being, without detection, to call on God for help and wait to see if He will show the way to get out of this difficulty, just like from several before. When approaching the sacrament, do not disturb your conscience because the thought of suspicion has not been overcome; for she in herself is not anger or enmity against neighbors, but concern for the well-being of her son. Try to think about the one on whom suspicion places the blame, as much as possible, with patience, or by calling upon him through prayer for forgiveness and correction, which he needs due to the state of his soul, which is unknown to you, avoid remembering him, and when remembering, do not dwell on him. However, may the Lord, who cares for our souls and knows our sorrows and infirmities, more than the mother of the needs and infirmities of adolescence, take care of you and have mercy, and comfort, and calm, and strengthen you with His grace. And Nikolai Petrovich carries out his work carefully and edifyingly. Lack of preparation due to circumstances is not a great obstacle. And if the Lord would turn things around on a different path, so that no one would have a fateful hour at the wrong time, but only the instruction that anyone needs would remain. May our God and Lord Jesus Christ, the One Supreme Solver of sins, accept the repentance of His servant Catherine, and forgive her for everything she has sinned, voluntarily or involuntarily, knowingly or unknowingly. In the thought of the passage of unclean souls into intercourse with the body, there is more ignorance than evil, if the concept of justice and punishment was connected with it. May the Lord resolve your ignorance and give you a more spiritual and pure eye to see His destinies over people. As for devoting the night hours to the Lord, confess your weakness and lack of zeal to Him for the lack of this and ask for His help in the future: for without Me, He says, you cannot do anything. First try to steal from yourself and from sleep, at least minute by minute, and sacrifice them to the Lord. Try to see the person to whom you are legally bound with as pure and peaceful an eye as possible. Accustom yourself to separate from a person the unhappy way of thinking that serves as clothing for his spirit and passion, from which he suffers no less than he makes him suffer. Let your eye be simple. I don't have time to write anymore. May the Lord enlighten you and give you His grace, which accomplishes all good things: and may He accept you to His table for healing, strength and joy. You can join our church. I apologize to myself. What should we, the poor and weak, do? We rise with difficulty, but easily fall; we have not yet made corrections and again damage what was corrected, not thinking that what was once damaged is easier to correct than what is damaged again after correction. When we see our sins, the enemy says: they are not so great. When we think about correction, he suggests that it is difficult and boring. When we do a little good, he assures us that we are already excellent people. But we do not think that even evil people have some good deeds; for evil, completely alien to good, tends not to exist on earth, but in hell. We cannot imagine how others struggle to the point of death for eternal life and mourn their little sins in secret. May the Lord awaken with His grace those who indulge in spiritual slumber; may he grant prayer to those who pray, light against the hidden, and strength against the visible tricks of the enemy of souls. Whatever sin you have committed against Him, and which you acknowledge in repentance, may He forgive you from any stumbling block, and may your heart be raised up in His good and holy will. Feed the beggars where it happened, and no obstacles were encountered: it’s good to continue there, so that when you change places, the left one doesn’t find out what the right one is doing. I don’t refuse sermons. But forget about them now. This week without that there is something for both you and me. The reading of the Gospel will be tomorrow as it is today. Matins in the evening every day at six o'clock or with a little. Let the Lord's Table be with you in opposition to those who are cold, and let His cup be filled with joy and life hidden in Him. Pray also for those whom you command to pray for you. If no response is sent; write that I wish the servant of God Mary the blessing of God, patience and purification of the soul. It would also be necessary to tell her that those she remembers have been preserved by God to this day: but it does not seem convenient to tell her much about many, so as not to entertain her. Blessings and peace from the Lord! I don’t consider the pattern for the airs decent with the image of an anchor. If they want to embroider a cross surrounded by flowers, destroying the anchor and the book: then you can use it. But if your health is weak, then sewing patterns will be burdensome. It is better to take a simpler and more active job, for example, knitting. If the work is not for the church, it may be for the poor, which can be just as comforting for those who mourn, when they serve to console those who mourn because of poverty. I wish the mourner consolation from the Father of generosity and God of all consolation. From the Lord peace and strength! Order the person sent to tell you about the state of your health. From what I have heard and noticed, your illness seems to be not so much from the air as from your spirit. But I don't understand well what kind of fear it is. Be that as it may, haven’t you already experienced God’s merciful care? Have you not experienced this in circumstances where there were more reasons for fear than now? Isn't it time to learn to hope in God? Isn’t it time to be firmer, so as not to be wavered by every wind of rumor? Will God not have the means to justify the hope in Him? But it would not seem to you that I am reproaching: no, I know the weakness of our nature; I know that there is no hope in God without His help. Look to Him as often as possible, as close as possible, as quietly and simply as possible; and be established and rest in Him. Where a sorrowful feeling shakes the spiritual strength to the point of shock and bodily strength, place a thought looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, calling on Him and finding peace in Him. May God help you with this! May God bless your removal from the noise of the city and be closer to the simplicity of nature, and grant you the most convenient approach to its Creator! It is regrettable to think about the destroyed hope of the farmer even from afar, especially when you think that he asked for his daily bread, and not for whims, but he who opens his hand to fulfill every animal favor, apparently does not open it. God! Who knows the power of Your wrath? Are the sins of these ordinary people visited, or does this visit extend more to the sins of others, and they, like victims, suffer in anticipation of future retribution? One way or another: are we, the excesses, worthy of excess? There was rain yesterday and today: this should be useful for spring sowing. The sermon is where the previous one was sent. I hope you get it. My treatment continues without any significant consequences. News from St. Petersburg, which has arrived in more than one way, shows that among some people there the current state is like the time after a fire: the fire is dying out, the stench continues; some are broken; some are out of place, others are denigrated. May the Lord give light and peace to each and everyone. So as not to be burdened by the fear of surprises, let us seek not men, just as we are subject to surprises, but God, Who has neither surprises nor changes, but always security and eternal salvation, which He will vouchsafe us with His gracious help. I also remember joyful memories. I wish that your solitude there will be peaceful and bring you the fruit of peace. If you do not listen to me in order not to take a single extra step for me, then you will commit disobedience, and disobedience is not good. A rule with the intention of disobedience, in the hope that it will be forgiven, is a dangerous rule. I have nothing to fear: but we need to think for ourselves what the consequences will be if we act according to such rules. You say that the case is not important: I answer: the easier it is to carry out what is advised. And if someone does not obey in small things, what hope of obedience in large things? Moreover, it was not I who burdened you with the word, but you asked me: it was your will not to ask, and to do as you please. But I, having said a word upon challenge and not without reason, cannot retreat from it; and I earnestly ask you to fulfill what you previously agreed to, for otherwise there would be no point in asking if there was no intention to do as they say!.. I turn to another, more attention-worthy subject of your letter. Poverty in the Gospel is not prescribed for everyone, indiscriminately and to the same extent. Look when the rich young man asks the Savior how to be saved: the Lord’s first answer is: keep the commandments. And in the commandments it is only prescribed not to steal from another, but does not require it to be necessary to give the last thing to another. When the young man says that he has kept this, then the Savior represents to him what he can do in order to enter the number not only of those saved from hell, but also of the perfect or saints, capable of preeminent glory in heaven, namely: if you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and follow Me, and have treasure in heaven. From this you see that the Gospel does not prescribe poverty for everyone, but for those who are zealous for perfection, and that those who do not have the gift of poverty can be saved from hell if they believe and do good to their extent, but these will not be as rich in heaven as those who left everything to follow Christ. In addition, there is a way for a rich man to be a beggar, even with wealth, namely, when he does not have the slightest addiction to wealth and does not use anything according to his whim; but as a steward of the treasure that belongs to God, he uses it according to his best understanding for the good of his neighbors. So Abraham was at one time both rich outwardly and perfect in poverty inwardly. The rich man in the Gospel, who, having heard about the perfection of poverty, was saddened because of his addiction to wealth, perhaps died from this addiction, if it enslaved him, and, perhaps, he was also saved later, having overcome this passion, and another, namely pride, by which he considered himself to have fulfilled the whole law. It is true that the Savior strongly depicted the inconvenience of being saved for a rich man and thereby horrified the disciples, who asked: who can be saved? But to this He immediately responded that this is impossible only according to the strength and understanding of men, but that this can be accomplished by the all-wise Providence of God and the power of God, which is communicated to man through faith. It is impossible to eat this from man, but from God all things are possible. These are the concepts that, as far as I understand, I take from the lips of my Lord: I cannot remember everything, what, to whom, when I said, but I do not think that I spoke differently. And the one who says: I am sure that it is sinful; but sinful; I would ask: how will it end! A prudent person, of course, will not want to go to certain death between jokes: and therefore, wouldn’t it be better to think, while there is a favorable time, while the day of salvation continues, how to be saved from the judgment by which sin will certainly be condemned. Let us pray for ourselves and for others who sin, to the One who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth! I will leave next month, but I don’t know on what dates. I must come to Moscow before the arrival of the Emperor. I foresee that time will be tight, and this is the reason why every new step would be completely lost for me. When you are in Moscow for another reason, then I will have the opportunity to see you and call on you the blessing of God, which I still call upon as a zealous pilgrim. Peace and patience by the grace of the Lord! I received the letter before the all-night vigil, but there was no time left to read; I return at 11 o’clock and read, and the person who delivered the letter wants to return tomorrow morning. Here is the response time. It’s hard to have the need to say: my neighbors are farther away than me. But David also had to say this. Was there not a time when the One who has mercy on all was not merciful to his neighbors, and said: My poisonous bread was raised upon My heel. However, the fathers order us to reject our most probable suspicions to the last possible opportunity. Speech that is frivolous can easily seem ill-intentioned. Be patient without judging, because you can. What can I say about my intention to go without seeing why I intend to go? And it seems to me that upon arrival in St. Petersburg, it will be difficult to figure out exactly what to do - as I think, it’s better not to go. Act less with your face; hide and look out for what will happen next; Most of all, try to be closer to God and entrust the work to Him: this is what seems to me to be the best, judging by what has been seen so far. However, may God instruct, enlighten and comfort you. He sent an angel-companion to Isaac and Tobiah and bless and guide your path and guide you on the path of his will, in which yours is good. Here's the letter. I ask you to give it directly or through mediation, as you decide. Your Eminence, I hope you will be absolutely delighted. I am enclosing a small book that can help you have a conversation at the station, and not a useless one. Blessing and peace from God, patience, hope and consolation! Perhaps, even before this, it would be appropriate to send after you this word of remembrance and, if possible, consolation. But either the time was missing, or the ability to find it, or the word itself was missing. And now, not knowing the circumstances that may require words, I don’t know what to say, unless I repeat my words, which are not alien to anyone, and are never superfluous. God is our refuge and strength, our helper in the sorrows that have come upon us greatly. It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man. Maintain kindness and see righteousness, for there is a remnant for a person in peace. There are those who are absent, remembering you and praying for you; I wish you to meet good ones who advise and support. I wish you an effective and saving blessing from God, healing from sins, strengthening in weaknesses, comforting in sorrows, confirming in hope, perfecting in love! Our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His cross and death acquired the right not only to forgive sins, but also to destroy all their harmful consequences, may forgive your soul everything that needs forgiveness, and whiten its garments in His blood, and may it immediately make it more able to walk in His light. In order not to let the envoy go completely without an answer, I must write to you in a way that is not in accordance with the size of your letter and the items contained in it. There are enough cases for you to be patient. Strive in it. It will not put you to shame. God of patience and hope is with you! If you want to commune at the Lavra, you can find a confessor. However, I don’t think Varvara Mikhailovna will have time for this journey. Antonov fire starts on Mikhail Petrovich’s leg, not so much from an external cause, but from an internal disorder of the body. My weakness was occasional and went away. But yesterday I was at a memorial service in Simonovo, and again I feel tired. Books are being sent. The sermon has already been given to V.M. May God's blessing and protection be upon you and your son! Thank you for bringing comfort to those who care about you. However, I heard about the contents of the letter, from which a copy was sent, partly before from the very one to whom it was written: and it so happened that, based on a brief information from him, I said almost what I now find in the letter. It can be noted that your journey is not useless: may God grant that your worries will cease decisively. If a person who should have been closest to others sometimes shuns you; do not be surprised and do not attribute this to the impoverishment of love; keep love on your part and try not to let it be bound by anything, as you find it bound in another. Lent has arrived. If you find it convenient to prepare for the sacrament: may God bless this, may He prepare you, may He accept and grant you the renewal and increase of the law of grace. Fighting with entertainment was to be expected. May He who has conquered all enemies in every kind of battle strengthen you. Resort to Him with a complaint about your hesitation in the struggle. It is necessary that stumblings not weaken the desire to strive to strengthen the weak. My friend whom you visited wishes you blessings. He does not know how to deliver the promised books to you, forgetting the directions to your home. Salvation is the Lord's, and upon Your people, O Lord, is Your blessing. Blessed is God, who gives prayer and accepts, who teaches patience and rewards it, who fulfills hope more than hope, who gives temptation and makes temptation abundant! I rejoice with all my heart that the difficult and complex knot has been so completely resolved. The matter ended definitely better than the best hope that could have been had for it. One must thank God and thank with deeds, that is, it is necessary that a young man, who has experienced difficult consequences for him and for others of a rash act, should set himself a firm rule not to act rashly, especially in matters over which there is both sacred and gracious parental authority and the consequences of which can extend to life and posterity. I rejoice, seeing your hope, in his present disposition, that he applied this rule. May God bless the future more than the past! For a person must grow in the ability to receive the blessings of God. Varvara Mikhailovna was informed of your joy. Her grief has the consolation that her parent departed to the Lord, having been guided by Christian preparations, repeatedly, in good time and peacefully. Her health suffered, but now, apparently, in the same condition; It probably takes more time to overcome grief. The elder brother, who should be the support of the family, arrived. Forgive me that two letters before your last have not yet been written. Don't be angry. I will make a remark on your remark about those who are busy entangling others in the net. Who knows? Are they really getting entangled, or are they entangled, or are they simply walking between nets placed from invisible catchers? Don't judge. May God save them and us from all snares! Thank God that both your confessor and my other friend were in your favor. It remains to wish you a safe return under God’s protection. May the God of patience and consolation not leave you! I still don’t know exactly what your real need for consolation is. May God grant that in no case will grief close the source of consolation. So vain is human salvation! So we don’t know what will give birth, find a day! So it is not reliable to say on earth: peace and affirmation. Now is the time to cry out to God: give us help from sorrow. And those who are unanimous in your opinion cry out this for you and with you. Now is the time to take courage, endure, obey. Take courage, and let your heart be strong, be patient with the Lord. Will not my soul obey God? From Him is my salvation. Obey God, my soul: for from Him is my patience. If it is not the time to wish you peace, I wish you gentle tears that water your heart until the sun of consolation rises, so that from what is sown in tears something will grow for a joyful harvest. 1825 September 21. In the Lavra. May the God of patience and consolation grant His servant not to faint in the feat of patience, and may He send His consolation in sorrow, in which human consolations fail! The Mother of the Crucified One for us, who experienced the greatest of the Mother’s sorrows, may she accept the prayer of the grieving mother in order to bring it to the throne of Her Son and God 6 . After the first, partly sad, partly even more threatening news (on which I immediately wrote to you), yesterday I received news that completely consoled me, namely, that he gradually, on his own impulse, sought Christian consolation, and received it: and that in the fatal action he did not at all have a hostile intention, but acted only as was necessary either by the law of self-preservation or by a prejudice, which unfortunately prevails no less than the law. At the same time, I thought: either he will live, or he will leave here as a Christian. What can we say about the current news? Whatever the Lord of life desired was fulfilled. No sorrow will change this. Be that as it may: it is truly a great consolation that we have the right and hope to pray for those who have departed to the God of the living, the God of the repentant. God of those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. If anything else, in my opinion, can contribute to your consolation, then this: - forgive everyone, especially - but I will postpone until time the thought that is coming to meet me halfway, but which you may not yet meet halfway. And forgive everyone, I’m sure of that. Here all who hear take part in you, and those closest to you would like to be closer to you in order to share the time of sorrow. May God give you strength to return to us. I hand you over and over again to him. God's blessing and consolation through the prayers of St. Sergius. If it is possible for these lines to meet you on the way: for the sake of those who care about your health, do not stop for what accompanies you, but hasten to those who are waiting for you. Moscow, 1825 September 29. Blessing and comfort from the Lord! Based on information that your departure from St. Petersburg may not be as soon as previously expected, I am writing this in case you do not receive these lines on the spot. In this case, for the sake of everyone taking part in your grief, I most earnestly ask you to arrange your path in the way that is most reliable for your health. That which the path and time can no longer harm, the path will be accompanied by someone else, and not by you. The burden that the humbling hand of God has laid on you, the hand of God will support. But don’t increase it for yourself. Carry it in as simple an obedience as possible. May God grant you true Christian courage: but what is this kind of courage, this matter of hope in one’s strength, this solemnity of sorrow? Comfort us who grieve you: prescribe for yourself a way of behavior, and especially a way of traveling, as much as possible, consistent with frugality in relation to health and peace of mind. The guides that the one who has left you desires are prayer and devotion to the will of God: for this you need less varied enterprises, but more tranquility. Listen to us: and may God listen to you in every good and saving desire. To the question about the tears of tomorrow, it seems to me that it would not be superfluous to say a few more words. Quiet tears in grief are natural, and the Lord shed tears for Lazarus. But just as the joy and sorrow of a Christian should be with prayer, then with the merciful help of God, one must keep tears within limits so as not to interrupt one’s prayer and not disturb the prayers of others. Let it be told to you that the prophet Jeremiah said that Rachel was weeping for her children. This is what the Lord says: Let your voice rest from weeping, and your eyes from tears; For there is a reward for your works, says the Lord. Especially when the impulse to cry loudly comes, you must stop yourself with the words of the prophet: let your voice rest from crying. Mikhail Mikhailovich is not at home. Let this not be an obstacle. Don’t forget to hand over the things that need to be put in the box now so that they can be prepared; and those that come to me, those tied and sealed, should be sent with the bearer of this letter. Or, if you like, send everything to me, I will fulfill the assignment, preparing everything under my own eyes. Do yourself a favor, be peaceful in obedience, which is required for no other purpose than for your peace. May the grace of the Lord, strengthening and comforting, be with you. One more word. At the end of prayers in church tomorrow, consult with the strength of the body and the strength of the spirit: and, if you feel weakness; hurry to calm down, and leave us to do the rest. Here's another project with your lettering project. The deceased does not want 7 the inscription to mention anyone’s malice: because through the evil of people God created good for him. May the Lord of goodness bless your new summer! People want to live for a long time out of attachment to this world - it’s wrong; they don’t want to live long out of displeasure with this world – it’s also wrong. I wish you as many new years as you need, so that you may completely put on the new man, created according to God, renewed according to Christ, so that without hindrance and without damage you can receive that new life in which there are no new years, because there are no old ones. The image conveyed at the same time was brought by me from the tomb of St. Sergius. The burial of the Savior is a spectacle that is as sad as it is comforting for the sad, looking at it with the eye of faith. Don't force yourself to write back to this. May God, by His grace, grant that at least some of your good spiritual desires may be fulfilled with me, despite my unworthiness. I know that your prayers are useful to me because they are sincere. But do yourself a favor, humble yourself before God, and not before an insignificant and sinful person. I wish you, after your sorrowful journey, to rest at the feet of our beloved Savior, and to receive from Him the return of your son, whom I know that you are trying to betray to Him. Forgive me and V.M. for not answering yesterday. In these days it was difficult that you know; and what you don’t know may be much more difficult. Thank God that what was due was done as it should be. Yesterday God gave me a guest, His Grace Eugene, Archbishop of Tobolsk. The guest is pleasant, but enjoying something pleasant takes time, which is not expensive. Allow me, through you, to return V.M. a letter apologizing to their family for not responding specifically. Now I have received the decree of the Holy Synod, which shows that what we have done is in accordance with it and which will carry out what was not completed. I will be glad to visit Your Excellency today. But I can’t predict whether other visitors will make it difficult. And I need my evening not to end too late for tomorrow. However, I hope you can listen to the all-night vigil in any case calmly. It consoles me that you try to notice spots on the clothes of the soul that require cleansing. May the blood shed for us on Golgotha ​​touch them and cleanse the soul, may it free it from the binding garment of darkness and may it finally appear in the garment of light. I don’t have time to make comments on special cases of your letter. In general, I present to you for reflection, how long are you still living as a dead person? But it is true that we must strive and live more and more in God. When you see that despondency is found in absentmindedness of thoughts, then you have already mentioned the cure for this. As for the late Emperor, it is clear to me that we are guilty of many things that he is accused of, and therefore our local court will not condemn him in heaven. We need to cleanse our sins with prayer and tears, and not judge others. May God forgive you and allow you in everything. Forgive me. The Most Reverend Gregory agrees with me to share your meal tomorrow, if you are not early, at two o’clock in the afternoon, by which time we will try to be with you, while maintaining your silence on our part. God of the penitent and Savior of those who sin are with you! I hasten to answer as time permits. Don't suspect how you can. This is what the Spirit of Christ commands. And considering the circumstances, as an outsider, it seems to me that suspicions should be rejected. It's hard to be the object of enmity among your neighbors. At the very least, it is difficult to incite suspicion of this enmity on one’s neighbor. There is no need to despise the light, just as there is no need to respect it. Good is worthy of respect, evil is contemptible, and in the world there is both. That it is hard to be in contempt, this thought should be the subject of repentance. Blessed is he to whom glory and dishonor in the world are all the same. The sorrow that the ill-fated are discontentedly respected suggests the idea that ill-fate is a virtue. And it is neither dignity nor unworthiness, but a visitation from God, partly strict, partly merciful. People should respect the unfortunate, but the unfortunate do not have the right to demand this. The thought of the unfortunate that he is considered an outcast is a temptation that must be rejected with all his might. Do not believe the thought that wants to instill hatred of humanity in you: whereas God has given you the sincere participation of many. How do you say that God did not hear your prayer for your son? He heard and performed it better than you can understand. The thought that it is painful to see oneself comforted contains two others: the thought of making oneself glory out of sorrow; and the thought, to idolize your sadness. Forgive me for bringing it out that you, of course, don’t notice. This is not to humiliate you (having more than any other shortcomings for my own humiliation), but to give you a means of dissolving the network of thoughts into which is woven what you, of course, do not want. Mental confusion in the work of mercy is the usual abuse in such cases. It is necessary for the soul to strive through the crowds of thoughts, to break through into the realm of pure love. This is done by asceticism, and not by a wave, by grace, and not by a plan of reason. Strive, pray, wait, hope. May the Lord do His work in you, and may He give you consolation, victory, strength and protection in communication with Him. Forgive me for my unworthiness, and do me a favor, do not give me any of the above names that I am not able to bear. Blessings from the Lord and peace! Please send a sermon for the Annunciation. Now I need her. Afterwards you can get it again if you want. It is not your prayers that are unworthy, but the lack, apparently, is the one for which you are praying. But be in peace and hand me over to the Lord, who is not so much the punisher as the merciful. The disease does not bother me so often: there are quiet times. Only its progress is not constant. It is already inevitable that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow we will have to stay at home. I don't know what will happen next. Our almshouses will pray for you. But how much money there is; Moreover, it was also given to them for the holiday: then don’t you decide that part of it should be used for them now, and part of it should be entered into the almsgiving book? May the Lord bless and fulfill your intention to partake of the Holy Mysteries on the very day of Easter. This is how people celebrated in ancient times, and the holiday was spiritual and unanimous. This can help you to make this day brighter for you, which is something you should try to do. May the Lord accept you and your repentance, and as His grace opens then, as His great key opens everything from the depths of hell to the heights of heaven, even more so may He give you boldness to approach His mysteries, may your heart open to the acceptance of His grace, and may the flow of His grace not be allowed to be blocked by any obstacle. If you have preserved anything, thank God with fear more than before, and do not praise yourself. Its storage. His strength. We can lose and get lost, become exhausted and fall. He lifts up what is fallen. He returns what was lost. The dream of prescribing a plan to the Sovereign is nothing more than a dream. And the thought of the cathedral shows that what you love in abundance, you value in abundance. Not to upset you, but in case you observe your thoughts, I will say that no matter how carefully the Emperor acted, this distinction could not be used. Do not complain to the Emperor that he did not do more: because your desire demanded too much. Those who ask for too much will be reluctantly given their due. This is what God’s judgment sometimes does. Should we not also pay attention to the often used expression: dearest of sons. I agree that he is a dear son: but what is the connection with his kind memory with the idea that others are not so kind? Pure light shines without eclipsing anyone. Do me a favor and be patient with me, who argues about everything. I wish that the Lord would be at peace with you and not reproach you in any way. I feel much better today. I am going to Chudov now, as many who have come will soon allow me to stop, with various activities and idleness. The steward told me about the liturgy to be at the meal immediately after. If you think otherwise, send him to tell him. Here are two sermons, which you will save, if God pleases, until the end of my journey to Mozhaisk. I ask you to forward the letter. May the peace of the Lord and His consolation be with you. I regret your weakness, and more than once the thought has come to me to tell you whether you are carelessly treating it. If someone forgets his weakness and life, going to the feat for the salvation of his neighbors: this is a matter of self-sacrifice! And if someone neglects life because he has lost his beloved consolation in it: this is a kind of continuing reproach to Providence. Do not stop using means to preserve or restore health: this is in accordance with the intention of the one who gives and leaves us life. If, after taking the means for health, there remains weakness, then it is necessary to accept it with calmer patience rather than resistance, although, however, the means that counteract the disease should be used calmly and patiently. Job says that life is war. So, this is not yet an extreme disaster when a person is in a struggle. I remember that I used to tell you that he who receives certain consolations from God should not consider himself to have achieved everything, but retain a grateful memory of them during the time of deprivation. And now I will say that even those left in deprivation, in sorrow, in dryness should not doubt that beyond this desert there is a promised land: only one must not grumble and not lose heart in this waterless dryness, and not give up the intention and deed to reach the promised land. It may happen that in a dry desert water will flow from a stone, and manna from heaven will fall into a barren desert. He who stands in the struggle must remember Jacob, for whom it was not easy when he was dislocated: despite this, he did not leave his place in the struggle and said to the One who put him in the struggle: I will not let You in unless you bless me! What proof do you want about the bliss of the departed? Who can give them to you for the land? Who is obliged to give them to you from heaven? Especially when you, perhaps, missed the one you heard? Evidence is light; pure light is the destiny of heaven; the earth is a region of light and shadow: is it necessary to change the order of the world in order to give you the desired evidence? I pray to God and the Father for consolation, that He will give you in your heart to sing with David: You have spread me out in sorrow, have mercy on me and hear my prayer. Don't give up your good intentions. God does not require more than weakness allows. May a meal be prepared for you against your chilling thoughts! Yesterday, after the service and sermon, I feasted in the palace, and today I was at the service and in the religious procession in Simonovo, from where your letter found me returning. If I get around to it, I won’t fail to personally inquire about your health. The mercy of the Lord, who accepts the weak, is with you. My time is scarce now; but do not repent of what you wrote: it is not painful to answer letters that deal with the world of the soul. Your mental adventure is, of course, painful; but doesn't surprise me much. The machinations of the enemy of souls are known. When it does not find its side in the flesh, the more it attacks the spirit. Now you know why sins of thought are so often mentioned in prayers. Thank God that you have overcome false fear by confession. Trust in God that he will forgive the past and will not leave you with the help of grace in the future. Put off the thought of making a will for a time when there is something better to do. There will be time, God willing. Make peace with everyone, especially with those with whom it is too late to disagree. May God strengthen you in everything and may He strengthen you and hear you! Truly there is no time to say more. God's peace and blessings be with you! I am consoled to learn that the first difficult minutes passed without much difficulty for you and for the parent. May God continue to strengthen you. You see that your sorrowful life is still suitable for consoling others, and for the most sacred duty. Keep and use the gift of God. Those who sow with tears, let them reap with joy, whether in the near field or in the far field. Having celebrated today, today, if God wills, I will go to the Lavra, where tomorrow is the exam, and soon there is a holiday. Blessed is God, who has mercy on sinners, strengthens the weak, and guides those overwhelmed to silence. Your letter (which I hastily read and to which I can only hastily respond) shows that you have close experience of how another can be a weapon against one thought - what to do if first against a sinful one, it is not completely pure? As the feat continues in this mental battle, a thought that is not entirely pure can be corrected or replaced by another, better one. Take advantage of this, albeit perhaps small, experience: and continue to stand under the banner of the victorious name of Jesus Christ. However, every sin of yours in thought, or word, or deed, may the loving God forgive you, may He restore you from every fall, and instead of the sweet sensations of the heart, killed by His fate, in which natural life flourished (which is the life of an earthly, temporary, old man), may He grant you living sensations of the spirit, in which a life of grace would be revealed, the life of a heavenly, immortal, new man. Blessings, peace and salvation! It is strange that in the second letter from the same hand I could not make out much. It seems there is no need to intensify. I'm returning it. In the response letter, it seems to me, it will be difficult for a tempted soul to read the name of suicide. Just as a person who looks too sick is reluctant to show a mirror: it seems to me that such caution is also needed in mental illness. To put it in more general terms about the danger of the most serious crime, this arouses caution, but less outrages the one tempted by the sight of a temptation that is too terrible. It also seems to me better not to talk about the portrait. I will be glad to see Nikolai Prokofievich and would ask you at the time appointed for you tomorrow, so as not to be late, that is, be before noon or at noon, so that I will have convenience for another activity that I foresee. The flattery of the father of lies in a letter to an overwhelmed soul is so rude that you, I hope, have no need for warning against temptation. And this one must say that the same spirit of seduction presents one as a phantom of light in order to seduce with self-confidence, and extends darkness to another in order to despondency; that dreaming, as much as in the first case, should not be believed in the second; that one should not be busy and occupy others with the dreams of the imagination, but turn to God with a calm heart and fulfill His commandments with deeds. Regarding the forgetting of the name of the Mother of God in prayer, one can say that the disordered recollection associated with this seems not only strange, but also terrible; that she needs to cleanse her sins with diligent prayer to the Mother of God and not write letters to you that are scary to read. It can be said about the confessor that the content of the letter shows the need for spiritual advice, and that in this case one must look not at coldness or sensitivity, but at the benefit of the soul. If one does not dispose her to trust: you can look for another. Thank you for reminding me with this letter of a letter I had forgotten. I don’t argue against this. May God grant that your words will benefit the tempted soul. Spiritual warfare rightly advises not to desire a good opinion of oneself, for this would not mean seeking purely good things for oneself in good things. If you have not yet found yourself on this good path: it is good that you at least see it, you should hope that you will make the effort to step on it and stay on it. May He who is the way, and the truth, and the life, never cease to be your guide on the true path of the life. Don't be stopped by the way a falling person looks at your stumbling. Probably the one who is falling, trying to get up, either does not notice the other person’s stumbling block, or he is not in the mood to make unfavorable conclusions about his companion. Letters from a trembling hand; Don’t be angry, I didn’t bother to read it, and I don’t think it was necessary. Your concern for my clothes also makes me feel good. We need to end it somehow, just to make it easier. Either do as you write, or put a light flannel down for warmth. There is no need to continue worrying about such things. There is no reason to object to you using the day of sad remembrance for solitude or charity. It would be desirable if the method of solitude were simpler: however, you can use the one that seems possible this time. I wish you solitude from the multitude in closeness to the One, from Whom every good and gift descends and to Whom must return, Who visits sorrow and dissolves it with consolation, under Whose cover is painful birth, and in Whom is the blessed resurrection. I sincerely thank you for your prayers for me, not as a worthy person, for that is not what a worthy person should be, but as an unworthy person. I wish that your son, and you, and all of us, will finally find a place and service according to our ability, in pure abodes with the true Shepherd and Visitor of souls. Forgive me that I will remain closed even now. Not really. I am sick, or rather infirm, and I find relief in the freedom of solitude. Time for the liturgy. I still don’t see what was sent from you. Thank you for everything. Blessings and peace from the Lord! Seriy Vasilyevich reminded me yesterday that the letter to His Eminence Tula, promised from me, must go through hands. Therefore, I, having already delayed, promised to deliver it to you today, and now I am delivering it. The word according to the Apostle is true that Christ came into the world to save sinners. And if this is true, that He came to them, then they can come to Him with hope. Remembering this and recognizing your sinfulness, come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed, as another man of God says. You should excite yourself from laziness in pursuit of a feat, but do not become discouraged because success in a feat is not at will. We are told to search and push. If you are looking for a long time, so be it, just to find the lost jewel. If, having knocked once and not seeing the door opening, you walk away; then you will not be in the house: and if you stay at the door and continue to knock, soon or not soon they will open and accept you. Forgiveness, and peace, and grace to you from the Lord! The Boris and Gleb monastery is truly in great need: the interest money for the current year was taken in order to pay off the debt for the past year. And this shows the extreme need that they borrowed from poor people. May God accept your sacrifice and truly hear the prayers of the monastery, although it will pray without knowing its name. Having the opportunity, I sent the sermon to V.M. May God's blessing and peace be multiplied by the grace of the blessed God forever! May our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the pure, essential, holy, divine truth, receive both from your lips and from your heart a pure confession of faith in Him; and let every word or thought of blasphemy bring down upon the head the father of lies, the slanderer, as the saint says. John, our brethren day and night. Truly, this is one of the slander of the father of lies, that he sometimes says a bad word in the ear of the soul and tries to attribute this crime to it itself. This is one of the mistakes of mental warfare. There is no need to become timid: for this would be harmful in repelling the attack. We must take up the weapons of prayer and the word of God more quickly and firmly. For example: get away from me, Satan. Or: let their sword enter into their heart. We must cry out to God: Save me, O God, as you brought water down to my soul. Or something similar. Those who enter inside are met with this warfare: but those who strive unremittingly go so deep inside and approach the light of God that the arrows of darkness do not reach them. Access to the enemy is given either by considering themselves to be something, or by judging others, and so on. His own unclean thought becomes the road along which he comes and sows his hellish weeds. Humility, self-condemnation and sincere repentance crush the enemy's bridge, and he falls into the abyss. The accompanying book will tell you more. May God forgive you for everything that has happened and protect you in the future! Blessings and peace from the Lord! May tears of gratitude to the Lord be an auspicious sacrifice from you and to Him alone. He supports the weak, comforts the suffering, admonishes the ignorant, and to man who is a lie he gives the word of truth for the salvation of those who believe and seek salvation. Yesterday, even if they had arrived at five o’clock, they would have found me with different kinds of visitors, so much so that I was forced to divide them into two rooms. But this does not happen often, and one can hope that there will be no such difficulty on Tuesday. May the humane-loving God free you from every fall into sin, in word or deed, or thought, and with His omnipotent grace may He support, strengthen, and protect you from new falls. Do not faint even in the thirsty desert, remembering God, who pours out water from stones when needed, who sometimes watered your dryness, and whose waters are inexhaustible, which are above the heavens. I recently read that despair is a product of pride. So, let humility be your protector from thoughts of despair. We are worth despairing, but God's grace is not worth losing hope in. It gives us the right, and even more than hope, to believe in hope. If God grants me tomorrow to appear before His throne and to be a partaker of His table for which you are preparing, I will fulfill my duty to bring before Him your name and the one who has departed. Remember the commandment to pray for each other. The letter will be forwarded. By the way, mine hasn’t been sent yet. It does not require an apology that the circumstance about the prince remained in the letter. This is not against the commandment. You have the power to follow your reasoning, and I am not sure that my idea is better, but maybe you look at this circumstance more correctly. May God arrange everything for good, firstly in us, and then through us, since we can be instruments of His goodness. May the true and only Physician and Healer of souls cover with mercy every ulcer of your soul, and may He heal every illness of it, with the complete power of His Spirit and His flesh and blood. The adventures of saints are often incredible: but how many natural things are incredible to those who don’t know? One should not envy the saints, but rather humble and excite oneself by their example. The Savior must be the focus of all prayers: the prayers of the saints are the ways of our prayer and the support of faith. Do not those who hate you, O Lord, hate you? I hated you with complete hatred. So the saints hated the enemies of God: but their complete hatred is not what worldly people know by this name. The sacrifice of Christ is so great that at the sight of it all small human sacrifices should disappear. Let us purify our senses and see her, not being entertained by any lower objects and placing our small sacrifices at the foot of her altar, solely for their consecration. The fact that the condemned will see the consolation of those they blame should be scary for the critic, and in those condemned it should arouse compassion for the blamers, and not joy about their punishment. Forgive me for hurrying both because of weakness and because I have enough time. Being on the road, I did not read the letter immediately, not thinking that the answer could be so easy. Your promised visitors can find me this afternoon at any hour that is more convenient for them. Tomorrow morning I must not be at home; so, find me either tomorrow evening, or after tomorrow morning. The consolation that we seek from God cannot be taken away by people. When it is necessary for them to accompany us in this quest, God brings them closer to us through various orders of His providence, sometimes completely unexpected. And sometimes, if we have somewhat learned the path, he removes the companion so that we do not rely on a person who is never a solid support, but in order to confirm our heart in the Lord - which is what I sincerely wish for you. Don’t be angry with me because I say, of course, not out of partiality for a person I don’t know, and, you see, I don’t remember. He requires a signature regarding the property in order to destroy the power of his signature on the same subject, of which he fears the consequences. He could simply believe you and your parent: but if he takes precautions, one cannot blame him for that, and especially since, based on the various vicissitudes of human affairs, one cannot predict into what hands his subscription may one day fall. Consequently, the subscription must be given calmly. And just as he did not insult anyone in his subscription, I think, so in the subscription that is given to him, he should not be insulted. You will say that you are writing the truth, but you should not tell a bitter truth to a person without a reason. The subscription is a civil act, according to which it would be possible to answer about the estate to the civil chamber: in such acts they do not write about domestic disagreement, and there is no need to announce forgiveness from the Lord to the civil chamber. You must accept a receipt in accordance with the accepted order form, and nothing more. If one party to an economic act writes extraneous accusations against the other: the other, rightly or wrongly, can do the same. And then what will be the end of the disputes? Whether I’m mistaken or not, I think that we should forgive before God, and not reproach before people. Forgiveness in front of people, when they don’t ask about it, is either a reproach to another, or praise to one’s generosity. Neither one nor the other is needed. Tomorrow at the liturgy and after the liturgy you are welcome. We started talking about dinner late, but we can arrange it tomorrow. God's blessing is upon you always and in every place. The Lord's land. The place should not mean much to us, unless we add other causes of grief that are closer to the soul. May God free you from such and preserve you. Feeding the poor is a good thing: it is only necessary that this be done as little as possible publicly. Teaching children to read seems to me to be a task subject to inconvenience, given the means you suggest. Giving the priest the Chetya Menaion for reading and an invitation to listen - this can be both successful and beneficial. It is only necessary that the invitation consist not of a strong impulse, but of a free desire. Taking up translation can also be helpful. The experience has not really been read by me. I will take the sheets with me and try to read and deliver them in a short time, if health and other circumstances permit. But it is not in our power to avoid external impressions, whether music or anything else, when we would like to avoid them. It is in our power, with the help of the highest power, to strengthen the soul so that external impressions do not lead it into agitation. Is it possible to embark on this feat more decisively? More prayer, more attention inward, and external impressions pass less deeply. However, when the need for distance from external impressions is felt, and this is possible and removal is good, it is only necessary that this removal does not extend to some kind of strangeness, without special need. May God teach you through immediate experience the means to soften harsh memories and make peace with the past and present in the hope of the future. The concerts were given to the regent, who will go with me. Thank you for the bread. I will try to answer letters. Sorry. I’m always in a hurry, and I still don’t have the freedom to hurry. From God, the Father of all consolation, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the only true mentor in the path of salvation, with an unworthy but fervent prayer I ask you, not overcome by sorrows, but conquering sorrows, consolation, not overcome by temptations, but conquering temptations, a feat for the acquisition of peace and the salvation of the soul. When mutual conversation about useful things is impossible, mutual prayers can accomplish this, perhaps with even better benefit, if we are attentive. I am returning the manuscript, which I began to read on the road, but due to weakness, I no longer read it on the road, but finished reading it in St. Petersburg. Translation can be helpful; but there are passages that must be verified with the original, and what is added by the translator should not be included in the text, but written separately in the notes, so that the writer can be seen in the translation as he is in the original. What I could say about myself can be learned from His Eminence Kirill and Varvara Mikhailovna. On the way I didn’t write due to weakness, but here I’m already losing my leisure time again. Therefore, do not be angry with me for this piece of paper. I wrote the page without seeing what was already written on the other half of the sheet, and separated the flap so as not to rewrite it. God's blessing to you and your family and your neighbors. I thank you very much for your great concern for my weakness, with which you accompanied me on my journey. Forgive the same weakness that I took bad advantage of on my journey. I regret that the presence of fun even now increases your despondency. What is to blame for your despondency is the innocent gaiety, or the image of gaiety in an inanimate creature that God has adorned? Should we be more upset because the works of God that we see are beautiful? If only the garden you were in looked less like heaven; then you wouldn’t be so depressed about it: what a strange thought! For God's sake, try to put up with everyone and everything. The society in which you were should have dissolved, and not oppressed, your heart: for I am sure that it sincerely wished to console you. I hope that the proposed communion of the sacrament, by the grace of God, has been accomplished: I wish that what was proposed will be accomplished a second time with consolation and spiritual fruit. The inscription above the entrance to the church 8, in my opinion, does not achieve its goal: most of the readers will not be aroused by it to prayer, but to remarks about why the name of one is above the entrance to many who are resting, and why it is here when it is in its place, while others will judge this enhanced rendering. So, if you want to know my opinion: I think it’s better not to do something so mutual. This will not reduce the number of prayer books for the servant of God Vladimir. Built in place of the old one, there is service to the church, and, consequently, to God, who recognizes even without an inscription who serves His church and for what purpose. What is less for people is closer to God. So it seems to me; however, you reason for yourself and don’t be angry with me. May God not leave your many and strong sorrows to be contrasted with even more abundant and strong consolation. To your venerable parent, testify my respect and desire for God’s blessing, and then to your other relatives and neighbors. Blessing and peace come from the heavenly Father, who has no orphans: for He lives forever, and all who desire to be His children live before Him forever. God's blessing to your reader K. Mavrocordato. Do me a favor, do not talk to me about my humility, which I have not achieved, and do not attach to me names that I am not worthy to bear. That Paul or the Apostle are just ministers, should we believe in them? What are we after them, I can’t even say. What's wrong with Fr. you met Archpriest Arkhangelsk, then it’s good. He is a good servant of God. I rejoice in how you celebrated Peter’s Day, on which God vouchsafed me to remember you before the meal, everywhere, for everyone. It is not a sin to say: blessed are the dead, but with the addition: those who die in the Lord. Do we know how to die in the Lord? If the answer to this makes it difficult for us, then it is better not to rush to desire death, but to let the Lord first teach us to die in the Lord. But may God forgive you every word of error, and may He strengthen you in the mind of purity, in the word of truth, and in the deeds of righteousness. You should not seek consolation in this world passionately; but the consolation that God's grace bestows, even in this world, must be received with thanksgiving. It is good to renounce the consolations of this world and at the same time not consider yourself inconsolable. The Lord is good: and just as He placed taste in the harshest food, so He placed some consolation in the most difficult lot of this world. To want to be certain of the details of the future in this world is to want, in solitary confinement, to see and know what is happening in society. This is why we are imprisoned in this world, so that by removing ourselves from the society of the blessed, we can be taught to appreciate the bliss of this society and deserve it. In whom solitary confinement achieves its goal, and he is close to being admitted into society: sometimes even in confinement he is allowed to know something about what is happening in society.... Sometimes!.. Something!.. Have you sometimes encountered something? I sought Him and did not find Him! No need. Let us not cease to seek the Beloved, Who loved us and gave Himself for us. Our job is to search. His Cause and Gift: To give to the one who has found it. He knows when I will be found and will not seek, if they sought Him faithfully, and if they are firm, so as not to leave Him after finding Him. If we understood, maybe sometimes we would say: do not rush to be revealed, teach me first to be returned to you, and not to leave you when you find and appear, sought and unfound, called and not appearing, and with all this - near the One who exists! Don't make a clock that strikes once a day. Clocks were invented to show all the days and hours and remind people of order, and not to torment a person by repeating one minute that has passed. Sensual deprivations can be a benefit for spiritual acquisitions; but when they seek purely and solely to serve the Father of Spirits. If they are looking for some other spirit, then it is impossible to guess whether and what you will find. The paths of the spiritual world are little known to us; also the physical world of spirits, if I make myself clear. Deprivations should be in moderation, not willful, not stubborn. Not everyone can follow the cruel path of their fathers, and even less so without such a leader as they are. Let us fulfill in obedience what is due and known: the extraordinary and the unknown are dangerous when they are sought after. If God sends this, then the matter is different: He will also send security. Trying to replace the sisters of compassion, I don’t think it would be so much useful as it would be inconvenient. If an opportunity arises, simply and quietly take care of the patient - good! May God's forgiveness, blessings and peace be with you! Peace and blessing from the Lord! I consider it best to send a letter about a priest with the priest himself. His Eminence Gregory, thank God, is healthy; and he and I spent the rest of the day in the Lavra. I don't have time to write anymore. Blessing from the Lord! If it is true that the priest told the peasant woman that walking on the sun was an ancient custom, then he has sinned. But even in this case, she sinned because she changed the church for profit. If she moved not to the schismatics, but to the so-called Edinoverie or Blessed Church, then she needs to explain that this church is not divided from the Orthodox, but was made for the transition from schism to Orthodoxy, why she should not be alienated from the Orthodox Church, since here in Moscow, Edinoverie go to our churches, which I have often seen with my own eyes. In order to be reconciled with God for neglecting faith for gain, one must neglect the gain for faith. It is possible to admit a boy to the Petrovsky School: only there are a lot of students there; It's hard for teachers to monitor progress. To kings it is truly now especially possible to say: even now kings understand. May the Lord give them and their advisers the mind of the saints: for the mind of sinners, with a hypocritical adherence to religion and to the throne, did not know how to support France. Chateaubriand, Guide de Neuville and another deputy who dared to say in the House that force does not destroy right, and that force now rules in France, not right: these are the people: but they are seen, praised and not used. The first two voluntarily go into exile. God's mercy is with us as we look at the stormy sea from the shore. But it's windy and on the shore. Let us call on the Lord who rebukes the winds and the sea. St. Petersburg 1827 September 27. Blessing, comfort and peace from the Lord! Please forgive me and continue to forgive my slowness and prolonged silence. There is no shortage of work: and the amount of working time per day decreases over time due to lack of strength. The disease took almost all of August and much of September. Now I go out and feel lighter than before the illness; but I soon get tired, and my head gets tired especially soon. Convey to your venerable parent my zealous gratitude for the remembrance of me, which was expressed to me through your letter, and recently renewed through another one sent. And I, for my part, wish to quickly return to Moscow to the main position and to the people who accept me with a good heart. But I don’t know when the high will will allow this. I take comfort in the consolation with which the merciful God dissolves the cup of your sorrow from time to time. You just need to pay attention and carefully and moderately accept the taste of consolation, that is, accept it with a grateful recognition of God’s mercy and with a fair recognition of your unworthiness and insignificance. Whoever considers himself to be something prevents God from creating everything for him. I don’t know if you remembered that the word: risen is a repetition of what you read before in the life of Theodore of Edessa, and a kind of answer to the sad thought that you had during that reading. The dream of your niece (God bless her) is good and worthy of note. We must think that the end is near and thereby excite ourselves to watch and keep our lamps, so that the Bridegroom will find us awake and without unction: although, however, events will show that we did not understand that the end and that it was near. You notice that you are less unhappy in Moscow. Should places be distinguished in relation to an object that is not present in them? The Lord's land! Lord's heavens! What is Moscow or the village? Resist deciding the fate of people before God's judgment. To call one a righteous man and another a monster means to place him at right hand and at left hand. The one whom you elevated to righteousness, if he is careful, will not want to be righteous before Him who came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance: and on the contrary, I do not know a monster who, who came to save sinners, could not become righteous through repentance. What will a premature trial do to us, will it condemn us, the judges? Reading this, you can say: a letter is no better than silence! So, forgive me for the letter, as well as the silence. Fulfill the measure of patience and receive the reward of patience: he who endures to the end will be saved. If there is something bitter in my words: I wish that it will be for your health. If I argue with you, it is because I wish you to be at peace with every person, in order to have freedom of heart in prayer, and finally, the perfect peace of God, which I again and again call upon you through unworthy prayer. What can I say to console you and yours? Let St. tell you. Jacob: Have all joy whenever you fall into various temptations, knowing that the temptation of your faith will work through patience, and have patience completely, so that you will be complete and complete, lacking in nothing. Let St. tell you. Paul: God is faithful, who will not leave you to be tempted more than you are able, but will create escape or deliverance with temptation. What should I do? I sometimes put off answering your letters so that I can respond with attention at a more free time. But vanity steals days, time does not bring freedom, attention is always distracted. May the Lord Himself allow you to hear and understand what He says: as He speaks peace to His people and to those who turn their hearts to Him. One should not always ask what it is: for this curiosity produces care or entertainment. When a drop of rain falls on the withering grass; she comes to life without wondering where the drops will come from. When a drop of peace falls into the soul: let it cry out in love and gratitude to God, the source of peace, without experiencing how He acts and what some accidents mean. John Grigorievich himself can explain to your parent; You can give the parent the idea that, according to your note, the confessor fulfilled his duty, but did not say everything, so that the secret of the confessor does not pass from one person to another. Which of the two should your parent choose as your confessor, do not insist, but leave it to him, according to the information he already has: meanwhile, secretly ask God to grant the choice to the one who can be more useful. Whether you should stay with your confessor, ask your parent again. If he insists; then for the sake of peace, tell your confessor to bless you to choose another, which he, of course, will not have any difficulty in doing. Thank you for remembering my day and for the united prayers, the help of which my weakness and unworthiness are in great need of. May the Lord grant you more than I can or can ask for. May the mercy of the Lord precede you all the days of the coming summer, and then all the days of the belly, even until the days of heaven. I rejoice, as always, when I hear that you are beginning the Lord’s Table: may He continue to purify you, nourish you, and strengthen you with His divine power. I am sending you my handicrafts, it is true that they were made for children, but what I have, at least for your viewing, and not for your use, are two Catechisms, a short and a lengthy one. Spacious, as you can see, the same. And the short one is new: because the previous one was written out from the lengthy one not according to my intention; and now I wanted to simplify it and introduce the sacred story. These books will be sent especially in your name. Please forward the envelopes attached to them according to the inscriptions. Don’t be angry that I don’t answer you in detail. When I get around to it, I’ll send you an extract from Tikhon’s papers, which you heard about from me, and I think you remember. It seems to me that you will find it worth attention, or at least curiosity. If this turns out to be the case; Then, perhaps, you will read it to some acquaintances who are curious with good intentions: but please do not distribute the lists. In order not to mistake delusions for truth, one is not ordered to become attached to any vision that appears in a sensual image. This also includes advice not to be curious, because through this a person personally becomes attached. What goes by: let it go and pass. And it will pass by itself if a person does not attract the desire to someone walking by. As for the words: take care of your health, let it be the same as if it just occurred to you. If you notice neglect of health in yourself, then use your attention against this neglect, and the thought will be used. If you don’t see that you need to take anything special to preserve your health: continue to act as you did, and let the thought that comes to you calmly pass by. Do you think, do you hear, test what you think and hear by the word of God and reasoning: act both according to the word of God and according to the reasoning given from God. In this way, the advice of a good adviser will not be despised, and the deception of the evil one will not succeed. There is no time to write anymore, because the letter must be sent now, so as not to make you wait too long for permission to find a confessor. Peace and prosperity to you in all good things. But my laziness remains. I suddenly take three of your letters so that I can respond one day. Finally, you notice something for which you have been given a continuation of life, albeit a sorrowful one. Consequently, you see that God’s Providence is wise and good. May this encourage you to continue your days with greater devotion to God, carefully note what they are given to you for, and use them according to the will of the Supreme Manager of our fate in time and eternity. It seems that you already know about the desire of a charitable institution. Offer a good desire to the Lord as a sacrifice of obedience and patiently see if the time and way to fulfill it will open. It is easy to dispose oneself to free desire: it is not so easy to take upon oneself the burden of forced fulfillment. One will not want to force another to work for himself, but will say: I will do what I can; after another, let him do what he finds best. You don’t write clearly about whom Princess Mavrocordato is interceding, and therefore I’m not quite sure whether it happened your way. If it happened, I’m glad; if not, please don’t be angry. God's blessing be with her. It is not easy to experience the signs of the times, and not even safe, unless a person protects himself with reasoning, caution and, most of all, humility. Read the beginning of the second chapter of the second letter to Thessalonians. Notice the expression: you will not quickly strive out of your mind, nor be terrified in spirit. And what seems to be a spiritual insight is not suddenly allowed to be shown. Further: the man of lawlessness will be revealed, and the mystery of lawlessness is already being done. So, this case is closed for now. It is not easy to find out the secret, to penetrate what is closed when, perhaps, the time of discovery has not yet come. One can rather be sure that prophecies will not be fulfilled in the way people think than that some people think about it correctly. What is your spiritual need for forgiveness: for all this I ask forgiveness from God for you, and I mercifully believe in Him, through the intercession of His Only Begotten Son, who suffered and died for us and rose again for us. I think that there will not be time to talk about the rest of the subject of your letter; and would rather remain silent. But, apparently, we need to come to an agreement. I am not angry: do not be angry with me either. Do yourself a favor and listen patiently to what I think about gifts. I’m not talking about the virtue of those without silver: I’ll limit myself to ordinary people. Gifts come from custom, another from zeal, and another from generosity. Custom can be obeyed calmly, zeal must be responded to with zeal, and sometimes one can yield to generosity. You can take an offering of generosity with the desire to bless the giver and use its excess for the best, so that by refusal you do not upset unnecessarily and do not alienate you from free communication, which may be turned to benefit. But to make gifts more frequent and multiply to a person with whom you trust in spirit, and even after he admits that he is embarrassed, to force him by the fact that the thing is already being prepared - judge for yourself, what is this? I will not analyze this: but I will only say that this is not beneficial either to the giver, or to the one to whom they want to give, or to those who look at it. I repeat that I am not angry; Do not be angry that I must adhere to these words. this, however, will not prevent me from accepting and using them as a blessing from your labors in the future, as before, if you send me woolen stockings of your work. Christ is Risen! I’m telling you this another time, first through mediation, and now directly. What did you accuse yourself of before this: in this and in everything, may the all-good Judge and Mercior grant you purity from guilt, freedom from need, firmness and caution against new falls. Do not complain that you did not see a sign that confirms hope: but rather blame yourself for wanting a sign. In the Gospel you see that the Lord did not praise those who sought signs. If you needed anything to support you, God has not deprived you of it and will not deprive you in the future, according to your need and faith. Would you consider it decent if your neighbor unnecessarily demanded that you write a letter on the day appointed by him? What decency is it to ask for an apology from God unnecessarily at the time appointed by us? Ask for what is beneficial to your soul and pleasing to God, and not what would please you. As for the communion of the Holy Mysteries both on Holy Thursday and on Easter Day, in the past it was considered not only common to everyone who is faithful, but also obligatory. Jesus Christ is the same today. The only question that remains is whether we are ready to draw closer to Him. The answer can be given by conscience and the Spiritual Father. The position of Princess Prozorovskaya is important according to the person: but the path of God is good and true. If we could see the end of this path better, we would less dare to complain about its beginning and continuation. May the Lord be a helper to both those who mourn and those who rejoice: may He also give joy. Sorrow is often saving, so that it knows the beginnings of joy in it; that sorrow comes for him, and let every sorrow look forward to joy, so that in joy she will not forget the Giver of joy, and even if she forgot, let sorrow remind her. Tell Varvara Mikhailovna: peace, peace to the sons and daughters of the world, but faith in him who is our peace. Sorry for not answering yesterday. It was a very busy day. The renegades prepared for Holy Communion on Monday, a good deed. May God help you to do this in purity and peace, for the comfort and strengthening of your soul. As for further delay: I would not advise insisting on your will. Duty calls you: fulfilling a duty is serving God. Have you ever been on the road without mass on the feasts of the Lord? I think that happened. Do not be more demanding of yourself for celebrating your own memories than for celebrating church memories. Do not respect your own calendar more than the church calendar. Give to everyone his due and to everything, in order and gradually. Prayer can comfortably travel with you if you are not comfortable staying with it in one known place. So I think, and if you are met with a more correct reflection: follow that, and not just a desire or a feeling of sadness. Desire is ignorance, and sadness is not wisdom. Let sadness learn to listen to calm reasoning, and sometimes let it sacrifice itself to another duty. If the desire to serve God in purity is supported by a pure desire for bliss for the benefit of a fallen neighbor: this is not perfect purity, but let this also be the path to perfect purity. And this is the work of the all-wise Providence of God, that we use our pure desires as instruments for the true and complete purification of our souls. When I say purification: I do not reproach anyone for sins and do not consider them worthy of punishment, but I only think that, by birth from fallen Adam, we were born into sins, and therefore we all demand purification. Therefore, people who interpret, as you say, that the misfortunes that befall a person are nothing more than punishment, either do not speak accurately or do not understand them accurately; not all means of purification are punishments; but even the punishments themselves do not make a person an outcast. While the Lord punished me, He did not give me over to death. This man was not ashamed to admit that his misfortunes were punishments. What we don’t understand about the behavior of our neighbors; then, even if it seems strange, you should try to see from the best side. It’s not a problem not to suspect the guilty, but to suspect the innocent is injustice and insult. Judge not, lest ye be judged. However, may the power of the Lord strengthen you against every embarrassment, and may the grace of the Holy Spirit cleanse you from every sin, and may the fellowship of the Lord’s Table be yours in true life. You can find me at eight o'clock. And you can choose the time of the liturgy yourself. May God's blessings and peace be upon you. I understand the difficulty of the abuse you endured. But blessed be God! But seek perishable reward for fulfilling your duties; do not complain about the perceived inconvenience of fulfilling your intentions. If the intentions are pleasing to God, He will provide the means to fulfill them. If a person is passionately attached to his intentions: good is the Lord, who, through obstacles to intentions, wants to free a person from passions. May God help you to overcome by the blood of the Lambs, that is, by the patience of Christ, to be strengthened by the memory of His sufferings for us; and may he cleanse your soul from all sin; may he confirm caution against falls already experienced, and may he protect you with invisible help from unexpected falls. Taste and see that the Lord is good. May the Lord, who tests hearts and wombs, accept your repentance both for what you found while testing yourself, and for what, due to oblivion or shallow attention, you were not able to find in yourself; and from everything that tangibly or imperceptibly binds your soul, may it release you and give you renewal of grace and an increase in peace. That spiritual warfare causes division in you, this should prompt you to pay careful attention, so that God, according to the Apostle, may grant you to be strengthened in spirit in the inner man. About sensory-figurative visions, I see that by the way I read to you, and therefore I have no need to write more here. If fasting does not yet bring exhaustion, then it is fine, and it is not yet a great fast; but by the way, not always and not everyone needs to strive for great things. Feelings and speeches that arose from the fact that you were not named among those leading an active and full life are the offspring of the root of pride. This experience shows you that sometimes this evil tree of ours is crushed by the fate of God, and, apparently, but grows; There may still be a root that has not yet dried up, ready to send out shoots in different directions. Therefore, there is no need to provide for yourself when a person does not know his previous sins; but you must increase your attention and vigilance over yourself and not forget the prayer: cleanse me from my secrets, Lord. Forgive me. It’s more likely that now I’ll just talk idle. (Although at other times this can happen most easily from me.) For the reason for which I had to write is that I cannot do the work, although it exists. The continued damp weather weighs on the mind for several days. Stockings received. It’s good that the letters of your name were found on the oilcloth wrapping; without that there would have been a problem. Now my frail legs will be preserved by your labors; and since saving your head depends a lot on saving your legs, it may happen that sometimes, with the help of your labors, it will be easier for me to think than at the present time. You see how the consequences of helping your neighbor can extend much further than it seems at first glance. Your letter dated October 13th has been received. I don’t know how, or whether it’s true, G. Vysotsky found out about the severity of my former illness. The only thing I think (I don’t remember if I haven’t already told you this) is that it could have had very difficult consequences if God had not directed my doctor to the most faithful help. Again I see in your letter the name of the righteous man is out of place: and again I cannot leave it without comment. The Word of God says: My people, who bless you, flatter you, and trouble the paths of your feet. Truly, when a sinner is called righteous; then the paths of his feet outrage him. And the one who, seeing many people around him, many of whom are undoubtedly good, chooses to whom to bestow the honorary title of righteous, has he not already set himself up as a judge? Where is the commandment: do not judge, lest you be judged? Leave the name of the righteous to the One to whom it essentially belongs: the imams of Jesus Christ the Righteous. About your neighbor, when you wish good, simply say: Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Your servant. This is decent for everyone and does not offend anyone. In saying this, it seems to me that I am no longer idle; and I almost dare to say: if you have ears to hear, let him hear. Looking at the image of the Mother of God shedding tears in those places where Her Son suffered, reverence and do not forget that this image is infinitely lofty. “Don’t you know where the Lord is leading you?” How not to know? Will He want to lead you anywhere other than to His kingdom, which, according to His word, is within you and which is in heaven? Just take careful note of His path; walk along it willingly, although sometimes it is difficult; and in case of any stumbling, according to the expression of the Psalter, lift up your soul to Him. It saddens me to hear that the elder’s grief, or better to say, the unfortunate cause of this grief, continues. May the Lord preserve all good from all evil; and let the thoughts of those who see evil remain pure, like a ray of sunlight, which is not defiled when it falls on dirt. There is one God, the Benefactor of all and through all; He is the only Healer of all the weak. Let us preserve His integrity, Let us not forget His good deeds; but let us thank Him as best we can; Let us serve Him as given to anyone; and, according to the apostolic instructions, let us pray to Him for each other, by the way, you too for me, so that by preaching to no one else, I myself will be inaccessible. Blessing and peace and comfort from the Source of the Comforter, the Spirit of the Lord! The dream you narrate is truly comforting: and since it has already produced this effect, I do not need to talk more about it in this regard. And perhaps it is not superfluous to recall the parable: eat honey in moderation. Accept, that is, consolation with spiritual abstinence; do not indulge in unlimited enjoyment of the sweetness of consolation, but look with reverent gratitude to the Merciful Comforter; do not be provided with consolation, but be strengthened by it for achievement. Work for the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling. If anyone is already clothed in a white robe, like a smoky one, let him also whiten his robe in the Blood of the Lamb, so that it will be absolutely white and bright. For many, retelling what was said in secret, in my opinion, is not entirely safe. They will see that we do not protect secrets and, perhaps, are vainglorious about our powers of attorney: and, perhaps, they will stop telling us in secret. Forgive me, obsessed with vanities, that your birthday has not come to my mind, but the day of your Angel is coming. May the Lord bless the new summer with a decrease in lamentation and confirmation in good, unashamed hope. The first two weeks here seemed especially sad to me. Since the day of the burial of the late Empress in Bose, I have felt somewhat better. But even to this day my weakness is little inferior to me. The Lord had not yet vouchsafed me here to begin His Table: on the first resurrection there was no one to serve with; on the second, it was another day for me to attend a parade in the palace; thirdly, the Sovereign Emperor demanded me to come to him, to mass, or after mass, which is why I listened to it from him. I don’t know what God will give tomorrow. I don’t know if you received my letter no later than 24 days; and I received yours later. But a little worry about this. Yesterday and today stand together before God. Let our hearts be drawn out to Him. It’s a new idea for me that you, in your misfortune, considered Archimandrite Yuryevsky to be among the culprits. It’s your choice, it’s a sin before God and a shame before people. How can you demand that the whole world rise up to act on the private cause of one person? Yuryevsky Archimandrite might not have known at all what was happening; and, if he had known, his whole duty was to say: deliver, Lord, from trouble everyone close to trouble! How do you know that he did not say this in his heart? And what more do you demand from a monk for secular affairs that are completely alien to him? You should not have refrained from speaking only about this, but mentally sorted it out with reasoning and discarded it as unfounded. Do not think that I am taking the side of the Yuryev Archimandrite, having been in his monastery. I take the side of your soul, its purity, its peace. To paint a portrait of the deceased in the image of a dream is a sinful thought, I will not put myself as a judge, otherwise I must say that the thought is wrong and not useful. Spiritual things are shown not in order to decorate the sensory realm with them, as with dreams, but in order to place the spirit in gratitude to God, in reverence for His destinies, in love for Him, in humility before Him. If it is not this effect that the vision produces, but turns into images pleasing to the sensory imagination: then by the actions on my vision it becomes uncertain whether it is true, or at least it is abused. My words will seem harsh to you. Forgive me for preaching to others, although I myself am not correct. But I think that my words belong to the truth, as much as I hear and understand this: and in what other way than the truth can I thank you for the consolation that you allowed me to be a witness of your desire for good? But whether I really tell you the truth, test it yourself, by reasoning, and by the word of God, and by the writings of those who know the way of the Spirit. As I write this and look out the window, I see a funeral taking place. Pyotr Stepanovich Molchanov lost his sight; was on trial for a long time; These days he was acquitted, but he was dismissed, and today he buried his son, eighteen or nineteen years old, in whom he had placed his hopes. You need quite a lot of patience. God bless him! Remember what the Lord said about a person who grieves but trusts in Him: I am with him in sorrow. So, Lord, you are with him not only in consolation, but also in sorrow itself. So truly. Let us learn to bear our sorrow with the thought that the Lord is with us in it. The Lord is with you in sorrow! The Lord is with you in comfort! Thank you sincerely for remembering my Angel’s day and for the promise of prayer. May she find help for my weakness, and may she find reward for her philanthropy. Perhaps you can explain the origin of the dryness about which you complain, if you think about it, taking into account what I wrote in the letter before this. But the idea of ​​overcoming dryness is hardly correct: when there is a drought, you cannot overcome it by force, but you must ask and expect beneficial rain from God and endure if He does not hurry. I celebrated in the local church for the first time, I remember, on the day of the Entry. But you have forestalled us in a good way. My fellow aliens are settling down to fast only next week. Pray for them. But the main subject of the letter about the philistine singers does not really dispose me to participate. If there is no female in the choir, then for this reason it is not prohibited, but it does not need this privilege; but giving it seems out of order, and could be harmful. Judge. The burghers must live by trade or handicrafts; and they want to sell the church choir. That's not the order. But how will they sing? Of course, not as the church demands, but as best you can get money. Consequently, if the secular way of singing is more profitable, they will bring it into the church. If at a wedding the owner gives more money for a disorderly song than for a concert, Count Orlov’s falsely named singers will willingly sing the disorderly song. That's the harm. And there is no one to supervise them. If I had the opportunity to talk about this with His Lordship, I would recall the proverb; For every wise man there is enough simplicity, or if it is cruel, a little simplicity. I think that if you had thought a little, when the townsfolk asked for the name Count Orlov, one would have noticed that they asked for this name in order to deceive them, and want to insert an ostrich feather into the crow’s head: then the husband, who himself loves strict fidelity and honesty of word, would have said that the townspeople should be called bourgeois, and nothing more. They will say: the singers of the ecclesiastical department sing in churches for money: that’s true, but here’s the difference: they were made to sing in churches, they were trained, controlled, so that they could sing in a church way; they need to live by singing, not by trading; and since their salary is not enough, then, of necessity, they must sing for money. Forgive me for talking a lot about a small subject. And to your venerable parent, show my complete respect. May the Lord bless you with a new summer, and may it be a summer of grace and salvation for you. Thank you for praying for me. Feeling the great need of my weakness, I am consoled every time I see it given to me. Note from A.A. S. I return. I’ll inquire about the matter when the official days come. But from what I heard, I believe that it was decided before my arrival, and that those who wish good to the repentant should more wish him the strength of repentance, and not the weakening of penance. I received rosaries from good labors; and I will use them with good memories. It is necessary to answer twenty-six pages: and the first thought that comes to me is that this great work is greater than its subject. You say that you cannot suspect me of being partial to Archimandrite Yuryev, but what gave rise to this? I think that no one instilled this suspicion in you; consequently, the thought of it was born in you, therefore, it is possible for you, although you are sure that you are not inclined to agree with the thought of suspicion. This will give me a reason to tell you about my visit to Yuryev, which I did not want to say before, so that it would not be a complaint, and which can now be useful in explaining questions not only about suspicion, but also about the sign of your previous adventures. When we were traveling to Yuryev, on the island. Photias wore a black cassock and a black fur coat. At the entrance to the church, I was received by hieromonks and hierodeacons in vestments with a cross and candles, others in robes and singing. O. Photius followed me. When I reached the altar and venerated the holy icons, I turned, and suddenly I saw Fr. Photius is among this ceremonial meeting in a warm blue semi-caftan, contrary to all decency, by the way, and the mourning of this time. In these clothes he followed me to the altar. I left the church complaining about the cold. It was four o'clock in the afternoon. Oh, Photius knew that I had not had lunch. When they came to his cell, I was so sure that a treat would be offered that when he demanded the treasurer, I asked why, wanting to say that I needed it more at this time, but he said that he was calling the treasurer to take a blessing, and I was treated only to the treasurer’s bow, and with that I returned to the city. It should be noted that immediately before this, in the bishop’s house and in the St. Sophia Cathedral, they received me more ceremoniously than before, and when I shied away from this, Fr. Photius said that this was being done according to the will of the Lord. From this story we can conclude whether the suspicion of my predilection for Yuryev is strong after the visit. But what does this adventure mean? According to the law of suspicion, one can immediately interpret it as saying that the abbot wanted to show the brethren the disdain with which he received me. Isn't it true that this interpretation is similar to the circumstances? However, I think that it would be a sin to interpret it this way: because Fr. Photius showed me a lot of attention on other occasions at the same time. What should we think? The only thing that seems true to me is that Novgorod wisdom is incomprehensible to me. With this example I turned to your adventures on twenty-six pages. You interpret everything according to the law of suspicion and infer horrors. Or maybe the whole point is that you don’t understand the people you blame. For example, they said about you that you do not know about. Photius, and you are horrified, thinking that they are lying so shamelessly. Or maybe they wanted to say not that you don’t recognize him by sight, but that you don’t recognize his spirit, don’t understand him, look at him superficially: in that case there is no lie. I don’t undertake to interpret everything and there is no way. But suppose that the spiritual father said to the spiritual daughter: do not interfere in this matter, which you do not understand, neither in the sense that it is right or wrong, nor in how to correct it; God will do what he pleases. Of course, she obeyed without thinking too much. In this case, one can argue whether the instructor or the obedient made a mistake; but there are no enemies here at all. You will say; from what source did this instruction come? Let the one who thinks to be a knower of hearts, our God, answer this; but I understand the advice of the apostle: not to be judges on the present earth. Take this into consideration: by not considering an enemy an enemy, you lose nothing, either now or later, except that you lose enmity and gain love; and if you do not consider an enemy to be an enemy, you will have to answer for this at the court of God! May the grace of God help you to succeed in God’s love and Christian patience! The letter received today will be answered later. Look closely into your heart so that there is nothing hostile against anyone left in it, so as not to hinder the place of Christ, who wants to indwell faith and love in our hearts. This idea was given to me by the sad lines of your letter, in which you called some thing an abomination of desolation, really, too strongly; and I, perhaps, sinned that with my narration I gave you the opportunity to speak with displeasure. Forgive me; Take care of the peace of your soul and do not unnecessarily interpret other people’s affairs when they are incomprehensible. About the one who told the vision and dream, based on the note of the words spoken in the dream, I remind you that they said before that you don’t need to look at such things, but go your own way, like a wanderer hurrying home, who, hearing news from strangers about his relatives, says; thank you, and, without stopping, continues on his way, without entering into questions that slow down more than satisfy, and sometimes even upset. It is especially inconvenient to chase news from the Mountainous Fatherland; because there they don’t know idle reports, and they don’t write idle letters, like with us, but they reveal the secrets of the kingdom carefully and carefully, so that sometimes, even having already received a secret in your hands, you will not soon find the key to it. I am not a tester of spirits, but, according to the signs, it seems that they say something different from what is written in the note; why is the note written like that; whether in a dream or in reality she became like this, it is not our business to sort it out, but our business is not to judge and be careful. Recently, I remember, there was a harvest of bread with smut; people ate bread, thought to be full and strong; and became sick. God's blessings to you and others; and whoever is angry at my silence, I ask forgiveness from them. I wrote to the Naryshkins after learning about God’s new visit to them; and I thought that Evdokia Mikhailovna would have to follow Varvara Mikhailovna for a long time, but now I hear that she is weaker. May the Lord strengthen them all! Tell Margarita Mikhailovna that at the same time I wrote to her in Mozhaisk. Mercy and peace from the Lord. May God strengthen the soul of Elisaveta Petrovna Glebova in her struggle. Now it is not she who acts, but her illness. But this case gives us an instruction, while we have enough strength and freedom, to bend our will and submit to good advice, so that in a moment of temptation the habitual stubbornness of our will does not become a weapon of our enemy against us. I don’t know what kind of princess Golitsyna, née Markova, is: and therefore I don’t know what to say regarding her difficult situation. Your advice that she contact her guardians seems to be correct, especially if they are well-meaning people. If you have the convenience of conveying sound thoughts to her husband through someone, use this convenience. And if not, then call on God to help her, and write to her so that she will accept the generosity of enduring her condition, putting her hope in God and seeking her consolation in Him. Naryshkin, of course, would not be a sin to give the sisters the consolation that you offer. Don't they? Rest assured, you have done your job. I wish relief to the sick Tatyana Alexandrovna. Tell K. Elisaveta Rostislavovna that I admit the guilt of silence in front of her, as well as in front of some others. God's blessing be with her and her children. His Eminence Gregory is going to his diocese for five months, and I am looking at the road. There are still fewer monks. Kolomna builder Samuil died. On the day of St. Alexis, at the gospel of Matins he called the brethren, said goodbye with tears and exhortations, demanded the spare Holy Gifts, but the brethren wanted him to wait for the liturgy; he waited, communed, and died an hour later. Let us pray for him, so that he will pray for us. May the Lord help you, and forgive you, and resolve your bewilderment and confusion, and may he comfort you with the communion of His saints. The thought of interceding for the estranged is definitely a temptation, and not a spiritual urge; for in it lies the thought of insolence. Moreover, you certainly judge the one whose decision you want to change with your petition. Judge not, lest ye be judged. I'll give you another example. What is more holy, what is more desirable for a Christian, how to confess Christ before the pagan government, for the glory of Christ, for the confirmation of believers, for the instruction of the ignorant? But the faithful servants of God were in no hurry to volunteer for this, but waited for the calling of God. And the Savior said: You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, and it will come to you as a testimony. When you are led, then you have the opportunity to testify to the truth, and testify to it: and if you are not called, do not rush; have zeal, but beware of insolence. Whoever can, let him give the homeless a place, an allowance, advice: this is a matter of philanthropy; you need to do it, and not force others. May the Lord send His blessing, protection and confirmation to Sister Barsanuphia on the path of salvation. At the request of G. Miklashevsky, an order was given to the seminary board. You can also receive communion at the presanctified liturgy: but it is also good to subordinate your special rite to the general rite of the shrine. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, the same and forever. Yesterday my soul thirsted for You, O God; Today you have prepared a meal before me to resist those who are cold against me. May your thirst for light and satiation be blissful. To those who ask about me, answer that I wish them God's blessing. That the communion of the Holy Mysteries was postponed for the sake of the cause of philanthropy and obedience, there is no harm in that. And, perhaps, by this coincidence of circumstances, Providence leads you to consider whether you have not dwelled too much on this thought until now in order to remember in the memory of your son what the Son of God said: do this in remembrance of Me, this remembrance is the main, essential, saving one both for you and for another memory that actually belongs to you. You are led from one memory to another, so that the memory of your son can be sacrificed to the memory of Christ. You complain that the day of sorrow has passed without consolation. Think about this complaint. Have you made an agreement with God so that He will send you consolation at a certain time, and, moreover, on such days as you have appointed for yourself, and not on those on which His goodness and wisdom considers it appropriate to give you consolation? He sometimes unexpectedly sends consolation, when it is needed to strengthen the exhausted, which you may have experienced: but when there is no special need, but only our will, discontentedly subdued, thirsts for consolation self-excited by thirst, and self-confidently promises it to itself, then, judge for yourself, is it necessary to send us consolation, or is it better to continue our wait and exercise us in patience, knowledge of our unworthiness and humility! And we need to think about the fight against the desire to see something from the supersensible world. Let's assume that you would have seen it. What you see is either the truth, or a ghost of the imagination, or the charm of the father of lies, who is not yet forbidden, even now, as before, to be transformed into an angel of light. Which of the three exactly? Do you vouch for yourself that you will recognize and discern? Anyone who has seen a dove and a crow can easily distinguish them. And whoever has not seen it and has studied little natural history will easily mistake a crow for a dove, especially if he sees it for a short time, and it does not have time to reveal itself with a crow’s cry. Such an error is even more convenient in the supersensible: and its consequences are much more important. I think I have already told you about this, but because my words are powerless. then here are the words of Isaac the Syrian: he is terrible to the demon, and desired by God and His Angel, with warm zeal uprooting from the enemy the thorns growing in him. Further: just let him not seek the manifestation of God in himself, lest he accept that which truly is darkness, but the light of being is hypocritical. You say that you are not thinking about the appearance of God; but in the manifestation of the created spirit it is even more convenient to be deceived. The name of Jesus Christ is with you: and with Him all heaven: what else? In Him all the treasures are hidden: one must wait for when it is favorable to reveal something, and not pick up the keys to what has been locked up for a time. May the Lord grant health and peace to the soul of your birthday girl: - but I cannot pronounce your romantic name; you should have called it by its baptismal name. I will show NN’s note in order to show you and the princess obedience: but I don’t see what could come of it. The note is not detailed. Moreover, now I was really looking for an answer: not in my field. This is already timely: Christ is risen! While you endure sorrow, rejoice in the Lord. Tell this to Varvara Mikhailovna; I won’t have time to write to her today. You always pretend that you don’t want to praise me: and you always do. This is not useful for either me or you: and therefore it is necessary to finish this, and not continue. I urgently ask for this, as well as for you not to decorate my insignificance with lofty names, newly invented. I know that I am also not worthy of ordinary names, as they say according to custom: but what is established by custom, there is less to answer for. I received a vacation following the example of last year. If the heart does not rejoice, it is impossible to force it to rejoice; but sadness must be tempered; as much as possible, calmly look at the joy of others and at your own little joyful state: sacrifice your condition to God, as it is; and with the help of God the soul comes into order. Having a fiery prayer hardly depends on us. Pure fire brings Christ into the purified soul. His goodness inflames the heart, as the apostles say: was not my heart filled with grief when He was near them without being recognized. We need to pray as the Church commands: let us pray to the Lord in peace. We must try to ensure that prayer is performed in peace and with complete, undistracted attention. If we experience some beneficial effect of inner prayer, then we should take instruction from experience to try to be more successful in inner prayer, so that its effect is more beneficial. Let the Spirit of the Lord intercede for you with inner groanings that cannot be uttered. Enduring sorrows, ever rejoicing. This is what the apostle commands. You don’t want to rejoice yet: but at least endure your sorrows peacefully. It seems to me that you need to calmly think about the late Aglaida 9 and console others. Like a lonely bird she flew into better air. God be with her. I saw Sofia Petrovna lamenting, and I obeyed her orders to write to the sad parent of the deceased. Peace to your soul. Speak peace from me to those who visit you these days. May the Lord grant you forgiveness for every sin, victory over all temptations, and inner peace in which you can find refuge when the winds or waves rise in the vicinity of your soul. You did the right thing in revealing your confusion to your spiritual father, although it concerned him: but it is noticeable that the emotional movements went further, you recognized him as wrong and intolerable, and it is not your business to judge his rightness; if he had not been convicted, he would have been bearable. His answer that he could not have done better in his previous confession shows that he humbly accepted your judgment over his behavior: and this is a good trait in him. Even if he could have done better, his ignorance is not unpardonable: for his position was very difficult. Now I have in mind an example that extreme difficulty and a judgment case arose from the efforts of one confessor to bring a penitent to a confession of sin, of which he was considered guilty based on preliminary signs. So, it seems to me that you judged hastily, and judged more than you should, although I did not advise you to consider yourself right. So that cheerful sights do not aggravate your sadness, you must turn more diligently to the Source of consolation, and, moreover, try to look more indifferently both at cheerful sights and at your sadness; impatient effort against it intensifies the struggle. The purpose of any prosphora is to use it as a blessing from the Lord's Table, and not to protect it under glass. Without special need, there is no need to take things out of their natural order. Peace to you and your venerable parent, and blessed joy to those who follow in the ordinary course of life. The prophet said: a son will not take away the iniquity of his father. Consequently, the sin or deficiency of a father or mother cannot deprive a son of bliss, especially in that area of ​​existence, which is given the opportunity to bring to the measure of truth rewards, the calculation of which is not completed in this life. One can live in hope and anticipation of bliss, despite a certain kind of fear brought on by the memory of loved ones struggling with sin and disaster. So: your doubt is not founded. If Aglaida enjoys bliss, then of course not just because she compared herself on one occasion with her aunt and consoled her. But even in this very case there is a difference, when the aunt was bored with life, and the niece, who should have learned from the aunt, tried to console and support her. So, Auntie will do well if she humbles herself and cedes her virtue to Aglaida. That it is painful to be in the need to act against the enemy, This thought is correct. But let’s look at another thought: it’s scary to be an instrument of God’s punishment. Whoever is punished has, of course, already been convicted. Consequently, by speaking about the enemy in this way, we have already condemned him. So sometimes a person runs away from a feeling of enmity, but it still creeps up on him secretly. We must remain vigilant and continue our feat. How to put up with people who do not want peace? - you ask. The answer is in Scripture: with those who hate peace, make peace. Consequently, there is a way to do this, and you yourself talk about this method. He is: to pray and do charity. Try to use the method you have found against condemnation. This time, that’s all I can tell you in response. I returned safely from the Lavra on the 27th day of this month, having seen there His Eminence Gregory, who had traveled to St. Petersburg. I can hardly leave Moscow before half of September. I sincerely wish you peace and God's help in all good things. May the Lord forgive and allow you in everything that requires permission and forgiveness! I don’t have time to talk much now. The enemy of souls, just as he himself has retreated from sound mind, sows strange and absurd thoughts. One must admit one’s weakness in the fact that one can proceed and sow them; reject them at all costs; and you should not be embarrassed by them, from which the evil one can take for himself a new weapon. There was no need to put a portrait of the deceased in the porch, and even less so of a living person. This matter requires repentance. I don’t understand what the Novospassky governor should say, and this is the first time I’ve heard that I don’t like many people to serve. The point, apparently, is that the governor himself wants to serve. It doesn't matter to me. As for before dinner, you know that I am a poor guest, especially after the service, and on the eve of the holiday. Forgive me for my weakness and have me renounced. May the Lord forgive and absolve you from every sin, voluntary or involuntary, and in the mysterious communion with Him, which you are approaching, grant you consolation, if not vividly felt, at least relieving, pacifying and strengthening the soul. God may make you happy if you want to dispose yourself to accept this, and if you find yourself incapable of joy, he, however, is not to blame who wishes you joy. But the desire for tangible consolation, and even a sign from God, and, moreover, passionately, of course, is insolence. When you feel that you could die from the joy of receiving the desired sign, you thereby pronounce a sentence that you should not be given a sign that you would not accept in order. What benefit does prayer bring to you, you should feel this; and I hope you won’t say that you haven’t experienced this benefit. What does it matter whether outsiders recognize this benefit? It is true that those who pray themselves, but who themselves do not know the power of prayer, admit that they are not judges of the prayer of others. Whatever is needed for the glory of God, God does. And what it doesn’t do: apparently, under the pretext of the glory of God, we seek for ourselves. How high does a person rise when he wants to prescribe to God the best ways to save a person! It’s good to move away from this thought through prayer if you don’t have the strength to overcome it with contrary, healthy thoughts. One must calmly pray for someone who speaks incorrectly and unreliably about the future. Annoyance hinders prayer and involves condemnation of the one who is annoyed with for his opinions. It would not be bad to answer this question: Christ appeared after the resurrection. Perhaps one could say that Aglaida also came to see a sick friend. Perhaps the story would have remained the story of the curious: and perhaps it would have made a better impression. However, it is difficult to rely on the combativeness of another’s thoughts, and meek prayer is never a reproach. A new and difficult type of censorship for me. You will see from the signs what I would change and how. The tone of your letter, in my opinion, does not lead to harmony. The threat of God's judgment can humble a peaceful person and lead to better things; and not peaceful - more likely to upset than to turn for the better. What else I would like to note is that it takes a long time to write and it is difficult to write. Perhaps it would be better to say it. When it was supposed to be sealed, I was distracted, and everything remained until the morning. But now I have finished reading the letter on blue paper. I have no need to object to this. I don’t understand how my apology brought you grief. Having failed to fulfill my duty as a hostel, I was obliged to apologize: you could respect the reasons for the apology, and the matter was over. I thank your venerable parent for remembering me: I ask you to show him your zealous respect. If I had seen him, I would have told him that to visit Aglaida, sometimes you don’t have to go to the grave in bad weather, but it is much more likely to come in prayer to God, Who, as it is written in the Gospel, is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, for to Him all are alive. Before this living God, and not before the dead grave, the living come closer to the dead. About the Khatun volost, it was reported to me from Serpukhov that an official of the ministerial court was demanding an indication of the number of souls about it. I don't know anything else. You say that it would be better for the relative to inform the relative about her order, but she, perhaps, thought that it would be more upsetting to say. It is difficult to sort out human affairs for someone who does not see the heart, therefore it is better to leave them to the Expert of the Heart. I am not as surprised at the Reverend Tobolsky’s dream as at how far information about it has reached. Whether the vision is significant, time will tell. Sergei Vasilievich was with me; But at that time I had a meeting of the Synodal Committee. That's why I didn't see him and didn't receive the letter. God's blessing to you and to those who ask for blessings With the supreme action of God's grace, the prayers and example of the Great Martyr Catherine, who endured everything to the end, may they help you day by day to pass the sorrowful path of life more complacently, and with the support of faith, in the light of hope, to approach the blissful peace of love in Him who is life and peace in time and in eternity. This word will not reach you today or tomorrow: at least when it does, you will know that it is unforgettably offered before God by His goodness. Christ is born! His peace be with you. I want to write to you in detail and truth. I need to write something. The first day of December was not worth the solemnity you gave it. May the Lord favor people with His grace, which is shown to the small and weak because this small and weak is called to serve the Lord! I am glad that the new Otradin priest justifies his election. I doubt it will be convenient for you to travel to St. Petersburg. It would be good if you were already fairly reconciled with the memories of this place. But this, it seems, is not there yet. Well, if next to the person being baptized, you pray for him with less freedom of spirit than you would pray seven hundred miles away. K. M.’s question is difficult! May the Lord enlighten her and bless the decision she gives herself with good consequences. It seems to me that we need to wait until the issue of Greek rule is resolved. It is good to offer a sacrifice of love not to fellow tribesmen: but one must think about whether the call from God is truly pure and complete, and whether in such circumstances the sacrifice will be accepted so that it will serve for the consolation, mercy and salvation of fellow tribesmen. God's blessing to you and others named in your letters. May the peace of your soul increase; and let her bliss not be in the fortune-telling of dreams, but in the firm hope of the invisible. If the dream gave you a new motivation to pray: good. This consequence corresponds to a dream; and the dream is justified by this consequence. But you should neither desire dreams nor seek an explanation for them, as I think I already told you. The desire to dream is curiosity; curiosity is not a pure state of mind, a not quite pure state of mind does not promise pure dreams; Consequently, the one who desires dreams leads himself to the danger of becoming entangled in dreams. If a dream is a dream; there is no point in asking about its meaning, just as there is no point in asking a parrot about the meaning of its words. If a dream is a vision; it is sent as needed for us. If it is meant to enlighten us by its clarity, it is sent in clarity and does not require much interpretation. If it is supposed to awe us with its mystery, it is sent in the garb of mystery, and then an untimely effort to make the mysterious clear is a kind of struggle with the intentions of Providence. Not every Jacob. And he was limping from such a struggle. To be attentive, to pray, to trust in God and expect enlightenment from Him is the duty in this case. And in the sensory world, an optical illusion can easily be mistaken for truth: it is even easier in the spiritual world, whose light and laws are less familiar to us. And in the sensory world it is not easy to understand the visible signs of the interiority and power of things: is it easier to understand the meaning of spiritual images? It is enough that your dream does not give reasons to be afraid and embarrassed: but partly consoles, partly encourages you to take some action in accordance with legal obligations. Pray diligently for your parents, not speculating about what they need, but simply asking them for grace, peace and salvation. I would rather have you read the Akathist to the Lord Jesus on Friday. Isn’t it better to follow the order of Christ’s days than to make our days holidays, and those for which the best thing is for God’s mercy to cover them with grace-filled oblivion? I grieve for the Greeks, even if I am not a Greek, that they are given a ruler of a foreign tribe and a different faith. And what will Count K. do? 10 However, of course, it is not Russia that needs to be complained about. He who lives in heaven sees who loves mankind and who loves greed under the guise of love of words. Everyone will be rewarded according to their deeds, and earthly politics will not deceive heavenly justice. May the Lord have mercy and save the Greeks and us. About the grief of a sad mother. I understand that it is especially difficult for a distressed mother to feel, so to speak, the taste of this consolation. For this, I would advise her, among other things, to diligently resort to the Great Mother, who alone experienced maternal grief, incomparably greater than all the mothers together, when she saw Her Only Begotten and Divine Son on the Cross rather than in the tomb. According to Simeon's predictive saying, a weapon passed through Her soul: however. Divine grace found a medicine to heal Her; and since the grace-filled is Divine, the Divine is infinite, then the healing given to Her is not exhausted in Her for Her alone, but since there is a spiritual law that the tempted one himself can help the tempted, then the once sorrowful Mother of the Lord at the Cross now possesses an inexhaustible treasure of consolation for every sorrowful mother who resorts with faith to Her, and through Her to Her Son and God, who sends the Comforter Spirit from Father. May the mercy of the Lord be with you and may it cleanse your soul from every act, desire and thought that darkens or aggravates it. Before, the feeling of love for the Lord was more vivid in you, because a feeling of natural love was instilled in him; or maybe the first one was given to you so that you could pass it on to your son. Now it's a different state. It is necessary to offer the Lord a sorrowful sacrifice, pain over the lack or imperfection of love for Him; and not to depart from Him, whether He gives the consolation of His love, or whether He still tests patience. I don’t think O. L. would advise running away from any other instruction. Keep everything tempting, good, teaches the apostle. Why not want to get to know more closely the way of thinking of a person, in which there are signs of the spiritual. These phenomena are not so numerous as to pass them by without attention. A hieromonk serving in his own capacity should not, of course, be changed arbitrarily. We need to put our internal service in order: when there is success in this, no successive hieromonk will interfere. If you want to join our Church: your will. But won’t the orders made for Novospassky cause confusion and lead you into embarrassment? Isn’t it better to remain with the orders made and decide at the first opportunity to bow lower to the hieromonk who was appealed against? Look around, calling on God for help! Thank you for revealing the truth about Archimandrite Sergius. I don’t even have the thought of placing blame on Evdokia Alexandrovna: she is doing the work of humanity: what is there to blame? It is impossible to know whether serving will be better or more difficult for me. But today I'm not feeling bad. Therefore, if you want, I do not refuse tomorrow’s service. You just need to know before the all-night vigil how you will arrange yourself. I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will not remember their sins, the merciful Lord promises. May He grant you such forgetfulness of sins. An excessive desire is not in order, although it also has a good object. It is necessary to serve one's neighbor by communicating the ultimate truth, when there is a case for it: but without impatience, with reasoning and observation of the ways of Providence. Letters that renew, rather than heal, sadness are useful to re-read, you can see for yourself. It is good for someone who can offer not only a sacrifice to God, from which there are leftovers for the sacrificer, but also a complete and complete burnt offering. The Lord gives Himself completely: word, power, spirit, flesh and blood. Let us accept and let us betray ourselves in the same way. Church today was good: I hurried only out of fatigue and precaution. Blessings, peace and protection thank the Lord! I hope you can usefully have Podolsk Archpriest as your confessor. Isn't the priest closer to the village of Lopasni? He is also a reverent and intelligent priest. And I hope you can take it to good use. You can take David’s builder, in case of need, deciding in advance to tell him about your inner state, as simply as possible, and accept his simplicity in vain on God, whose work he is doing. However, what you write, there is no time to say. I entrust you and those with you to the care of the All-Good God and His good angels. My house is still safe, thanks to the long-suffering God. There were some sick people in Chudov, but they recovered. Peace and salvation from the Lord! Reports of illness can be fed at the church meal. So that they obey the precautions against illness, and that the priests instill this, there was an order from me: it’s time for him to reach your places long ago. Now I have made another, which is being printed and will be distributed soon, with the assistance of the civilian authorities. The dean prohibited the reading of statements in church, I think, not out of malice, but because it was unusual. I remember that I agreed to a meeting at the Church Meal to listen to reports on the distribution of books of the Holy Scriptures: others rejected this, and, of course, not out of malice, but because of how they understood the thing. How were the two words heard, from above, or from the right, or from the left, or directly? I would like to hear the answer to this question someday. But listening is unnecessary. He who searches curiously is more likely to find a dream than the truth. If a blind man received his sight at night and saw the moon, he would easily mistake it for the sun. And sighted people have long known how little it means before the sun. This can happen with many unusual sensations. If they thank God for a natural good feeling, then through this they come closer to the grace-filled One. Admitting oneself as unworthy of natural consolations is also a means to accepting these consolations in purity. The meteor, which was seen among you, was seen, as they say, here too. And it’s strange that it seems to come on the same evening. I think you have some sermons from this time. But just in case, I’m sending all five. Give the extra copies to some priest or someone. The number of sick people, thank God, is becoming smaller, although the decrease is happening quietly. It seems better for you to receive communion on your ordinary day, unless a circumstance occurs that would become the reason and serve as an instruction to postpone until the resurrection. However, may the Lord receive you and join you in His life to the renewal of your life. May our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, absolve you from all sin of thought, word and deed, and by His prevenient grace protect you from new stumblings. Not suddenly should a person believe that earthly desires do not touch his heart. Others, perhaps, attribute to us more earthly things than we have, but don’t they truly see in us what we do not notice in ourselves? There is no harm in continuing to test your heart. Because the heart is deep. It is necessary to expose wickedness in order to convert people to sincerity: only this must be done with love; then only success. By being embarrassed by others, we confuse others, rather than correct them. Confusion that hinders prayer proves that we do not deal with external events or affairs as dispassionately as we should. If the desire for the work of philanthropy to be done is pure and dispassionate, then it will help to pray for this, and will not hinder it. One must desire a good deed; but when it does not depend on us and is not being done, do not be indignant against those who do not do it, but ask for help from God and surrender to His will that which does not depend on us. Experienced people say that one should be more wary of what one hears from the left side than from the right. There are signs in these accidents. I rejoice in God’s mercy over Princess Mavrocordato. May the Lord continue to preserve it with His grace and His angels who encamp around those who fear Him. The Fathers say that angels take on earthly forms in order to approach people and give them God’s help. I rejoice in the consolation that the Lord has given you in the communion of His Holy Mysteries with the feeling of His goodness. I said and still say, do not pay much attention, and even less curiosity, to what is seen in a dream or without sleep, not with the external gaze, but, perhaps, with dissatisfaction with the internal one. To pass by a picture, even if it is a good one, a little significant goodness, if it does not represent something, especially edifying: and to stop and look at it means to waste time, and, perhaps, to deviate from the true direction of the path. I also ask you not to waste time by talking a lot about my small affairs. In a long absence of sleep after midnight, you could sometimes, without getting up, say quietly, or completely mentally, the psalm: Alive in the help of the Most High, all in order, and others. I note with consolation that the thought of the difficult situation of those who love children at the present time justifies before you the path of God towards you. The moral epidemic in Europe is truly terrible. We must resort to God’s mercy and not try in vain to run away from God’s Justice. Europe itself fills the vials of rage, which, once full, spill over in torrents. We are happy that we have fallen into the hands of God and not into the hands of men. His mercy is abundant. So there is a lot of relief. May the mercy of the Lord continue! May the mercy of the Lord be with you! Through the prayers of Saint Catherine, may the Lord give you the blessings of patience, the blessing of consolation in patience, the blessing of reproof of sorrows, days of peace and through them the accomplishment of salvation and the crown of those who endured to the end. I wish that the Lord would grant you this grace to celebrate this day before Him at His table. You need to take care of your eyes; and the best way to treat them, as I have experienced, is to take care of them. When your eyes allow it, then write to the princess that I call upon her the blessing and grace of God. I also have a cold, from which I performed my duty with some difficulty for 20 and 21 days; and tomorrow I want to stay in the cell; however, not so much because of illness, but rather so as not to tease the illness. I am writing to tell you that I invoke God’s blessing on you, that I thank you for your good wishes, and that I have no time at all to write. If God so desires, celebrate the Nativity of Christ in full. I wish it was somewhat similar to Bethlehem. And if so, then there is no need to regret a Jerusalem that is more crowded and more confused. In weight I would write more now, but in the city let me finish the letter quickly. The Lord is with you! God will bless you with a new summer, renewal of life, and especially spiritual, according to the gracious action of the Sun of Truth, our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems that it does not mean to wish for much if you wish that the coming year would be better than the previous one: but will God give it? We don't deserve much. During the punishment, repentance, patience, and charity appeared in Moscow: the punishment was also merciful; and the Lord saved us from the troubles that happened in some smaller cities with less difficulties. But the trouble is that at this very time the seeds for new punishments are being sown. For example, I know for sure that from one factory located outside of Moscow, workers, well-fed and working profitably, having heard that bread was being distributed to the poor in Moscow, sneaked through the cordon into Moscow, got tickets, left their wives or someone else to get the bread, and themselves returned to the factory. In France, Christianity is again in the same position as it was under the pagan governments, except for the bloody persecutions for it, which did not always happen from the pagans. The gates of hell are opening wider and wider: they will not prevail against the Church, so that the word of Christ may come true; but it is clear that they are being allowed to overcome. Anton Ivanovich Gerard died due to severe and long suffering, in which he invoked the name of Christ with a sign. E.I. has not fulfilled your instructions yet, but I will fulfill them. Welcome to Moscow. It is not good to live in a cold house in winter, especially this winter. Peace to the departed soul! Gather the strength of your soul to surrender him in peace into the hands of the Lord. I think his last days were difficult: but one must hope that in this state there was hidden something useful for the soul, which had been given a timely admonition by the Holy Sacrament. I believe you are tired: give yourself peace in quiet prayer and in trusting in Him who died for us and rose for us. Do not write me an answer: but order me to tell the person sent about your health. I am very sorry that my illness did not and does not allow me to visit your parent; I hear with sincere sympathy that his painful condition continues. I offered him the medicine with which our pious ancestors began treatment and acquired a blessing for the medical powers through the power of grace. If Vasily Ivanovich tells him about this instead of me, he will satisfy my desire and participation in the health and peace of your parent. May the Lord be his helper and yours. May God bless you for the good work of prayer and preparation for the Sacrament. It’s time for church services here, I think, you know. 1831 March 7. Before six o'clock in the morning. Take away the sins of the world, may He also take away your sins of knowledge and ignorance, and in the world of forgiveness may He accept you to His Divine life-giving and sanctifying Table. Matins begins right away. After it and the rules, I think there will only be a short period of time, until the liturgy. I agree with you that many things happen between people, and Christians at that, that the observer would sometimes want to escape to other times, if it were possible. God shakes nature in order to clearly tell people: they don’t listen. The whole earth is devastated by ruin, for there is not one who thinks with his heart. This was written before the captivity of Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalem. They talk about the Rothschild project to buy Palestine, it seems, not without a thorough knowledge that the news about this is not solid. However, the news resumes. We must think more about the Great Jerusalem, which cannot be bought by greed, nor conquered by ambition, into which nothing evil will enter. Let us pray that he will be the mother of us all. May the Lord bless and fulfill your intentions; and may He give you strength and consolation in the Divine Sacrament. There may be a bishop's service in my church on Sunday, and not too early: I think that this will not be an obstacle for you. Tomorrow you can take the housekeeper and singers without hindrance. I am returning the note about the deceased. On the path of the biography of the Russian virtuous nobleman, Rousseau and Voltaire are not the brightest lanterns, although the writer says that one is brighter than the other. And what is written about home life and government is truly good. Take caution. The fox, which you not quite favorably called red, defends its dignity for many reasons and does not want to give way to any other or any animal. I ask you not to accept useless labor; accepting my gratitude for the intention and the end of the matter. The giver is free to give: but is another slave also free to take a thing that is unnecessary to him, and become its guardian, no one knows why? In order not to write you more similar objections to your letter, I postpone until the conversation. My fur coat is good for that very reason, for which you scold it. I gave an expensive one to buy a cheap one. Thanks be to God, who punishes righteously and mercifully visits. May the Lord bless you to begin His Holy meal as you wish. I am leaving the church for six months, during which time I will decide what to do next. I feel the need to ask for your forgiveness in yesterday’s conversation, which, reflecting on afterwards, I am afraid that I offended and outraged you. It seemed to you, it seems as if I was demanding something when there was no right or reason to demand. My only thought is that between acquaintances, it is better to simply speak in advance about the intention of one, somehow related to the other, in order to do what is useful with greater benefit by prior agreement in methods; and so as not to burden another with excess, and even oneself, with care where it is possible either to do something smaller and simpler, or to do without any undertaking. Christ is Risen! Let us forgive each other and everyone through the resurrection. God will bless you to receive the Holy Mysteries in our church on both days. As for the housekeeper, I think even without me he would not have found this strange. The Liturgy tomorrow begins at ten o'clock: and you can spare a few minutes if you, the communicants, wish. From the experience that at first it was upsetting not to receive the same thing, then to receive it turned out to be not entirely desirable, learn how pure dispassion for earthly things is not suddenly acquired; and as the instruction of the Word of God is necessary, guard the heart with all care. As for accepting or not accepting this thing: it is good to adhere to such a course of affairs so that this is not decided by your will. You can remain with your proposal of lot: but if the other two parties insistently sentence you without lot, you can obey this insistence. You should take care of churches in villages before you take care of monasteries. Help for monasteries should be done carefully. It happens that they are beyond need. They care about huge stone churches and more than about living churches. Against secret vanity we must put the knowledge of our shortcomings and our insignificance outside the protection and help of God. May the Lord help you to successfully pray this prayer: deliver me from my secrets. However, may the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary or involuntary, in deed, in feeling, in thought and in desire, and may He accept you in peace into His gracious and holy communion. I dared to correct the first expression of the letter. If you want: here is my letter. If you find it not unnecessary, send it with yours. May peace of forgiveness be given to you and may the visitation of grace comfort your soul. It is natural that, turning to the Lord, one becomes enlightened: for He is the light. But those who walk in darkness, or only in the bosom of nature, do not know this from experience. Anyone who has noticed this through experience is encouraged to practice more accurately what a good outcome has been shown to him, at least in part. But therefore we must try not to cut short the external exercises of piety that are accepted as rules for the sake of worldly affairs. Entertaining yourself with concern for the family world is not entirely unseemly: it is not necessary, but it should be excused. Entertainment is a distraction from God: whether with a silk thread or a rough rope. He who allows himself plausible entertainment will be drawn where he does not think. May the Lord enlighten you and help you to use earthly things to gain, and not to lose heavenly things. When the thought of the sacrament came to you, and you were afraid of it: the last circumstance means that you did not want this sin, and the first is that your soul was not sufficiently protected from the arrow of the flattering enemy. So, we must admit involuntary sin, and the sin of negligence: May the Blood of Christ, shed on Calvary, and shed to this day, and taught in the Sacrament, cleanse you from it, as it cleanses you from all sin. If, out of embarrassment from this, you had postponed the intention of communion with the Holy Mysteries, you would have given the enemy the gain in the battle that he removed you from holy help. Therefore, do not stop in confusion; trust in the grace and mercy of the Lord; do not delay your intention. In such cases, say about your enemies: let their sword fall into their heart, and let their hands be broken! May God forgive you every sin, known and unknown. May our Lord Jesus Christ, conqueror of the power of sin and death, absolve you from every known and secret sin, and may you continue to be preserved from previous stumblings, so that at His table in the wedding robe you will have clear consciences. Cunning, and, moreover, against one’s own people, is a truly unpleasant thing. But do not forget that the one who does wrong does not look at it in the face, as if it were a sin, but from the side or behind, where it is covered with the appearance of truth or excusability. To be troubled by anger at cunning means to sin because another has sinned. Who are you punishing? Guilty or yourself? May the God of peace be with you, and may He teach you to say, not only with your lips, but also with your heart: Be peaceable with those who hate peace. May the grace of those who suffered and consoled be with you on the day of St. Catherine and in the days to come. May the Lord ease your sorrows with his consolation; may he assist you in achieving internal and external good, while keeping you from entertainment, which is so often associated with worries about external goods. May the Lord accept your repentance, and forgive confessed sins, and may he cleanse you from secret sins covered by oblivion or ignorance and misunderstanding, and may he strengthen you with divine food to overcome temptations. In order for the thought to be less distracted in prayer, it is necessary not to quickly prostrate in prayer, but to stop attention on a little and let the soul taste what is gained before moving on to the next. One who combines every meal with prayer and thanksgiving to God finds moderation in bodily food. Avoiding this, they fall into only bodily taste and forget the measure. The thought and desire that what is unpleasant to us be miraculously averted is an insult to the miraculous power, which is appointed for the glory of God, and not for our pleasures, which are unnecessary and useless. To think that the intention of G.A.A. Regarding deceased relatives, this is not good; it seems to me that there is direct bias towards one’s own opinion and injustice. My opinion in this case has no reason to be biased, and especially against you. So, in this case, one must avoid not just condemnation, but injustice. And may God help you overcome righteous sorrow through prayer—may God help you in everything that is for peace, for good, for salvation. The peace of Christ is with you! The temptation is man's life on earth, and not one day or hour of life. We are looking for peace, but the enemy is looking to disturb us. We often doze over our work, and he, sleepless, tries to lie in wait for us both during our vigil and during our slumber. What to do? - to be vigilant to the fullest, not to rely on yourself for a minute, not to put aside hope from God for a minute. If my will were completely devoted to the will of God, then when the matter succeeds, I would thank God, and when the matter becomes difficult, I would think: it is clear to God by His destinies that he wills something else, or at another time; and I would have stopped there, waiting and noticing whether the door would open to the matter at some other time, or at a different time than I thought. But if my will is not quite submissive, then in difficulties, when it cannot do its own thing, I fall into despondency, or get a tendency to annoyance, which, having occupied and filled my heart, breaks out wherever it happens. It seems not difficult to see that in order to heal our attacks we need to turn to humility and renunciation of our will. Condemning deeds should not be praised, and people should not be condemned. Between flattery and condemnation of one's neighbor there is a path along which humble wisdom knows how to walk. However, may the Lord speak in your heart not only judgment, but also mercy, and may He forgive you every sin, voluntary or involuntary, in deed or word or thought. I doubt that the combination of family names would be understood and approved 11. Shouldn't I say; Orlovo-Novosiltsovsky hospice house. And to add in apology: this name, a complex one of two surnames, seems appropriate to use because the institution is being created in memory of Novosiltsev, and the estate came from the inheritance of the Orlov family. If you remain unconvinced, I advise you to at least skip the expression: Ill-fated wife. One must do good purely, without mixing it with complaining or condemning anyone. Yesterday I could not be in the Synod, and therefore I could not speak to the Bishop about the Church. Today I’m going to go to him with strength, and I’m wondering whether my mediation will be in your favor, according to the Lavra policy, not of the Bishop himself, but of some there. Isn’t it better for you to go to the Vladyka yourself this evening, or after mass today or tomorrow? If you demand that I go: answer; I'll go. While I’m about to answer your first letter, the second one awakens me today. The assumptions for the newly baptized seem to be valid. Read them in your petition to the Right Reverend of Kazan and send them, and I will write to him about this these days. The place of the priest transferred to Otrada was filled until your first letter. That's why I have nothing to do here anymore. The Talizh priest does not seem trustworthy to me based on signs and guesses, but I have no business reason to take him away from the place. I approved the position of the consistory regarding the house church for your relatives: but it must be presented to the Holy Synod. Meanwhile, no one is preventing the ministry from continuing, since no one would have interfered even without the approval of this situation, which would not have gone away. However, I have yielded to your impatience: I can only wish that you may enjoy the blessing of having the Church under your roof. May the Lord receive you to His Supper on the days of His Supper and on the day of His Resurrection, and let you taste that He is good, that there is Life and bliss even in a mortal and sorrowful life. Christ is Risen! I have already written to the Eminence of Kazan. But here’s what I remembered: the matter concerns the Simbirsk diocese, quickly send a petition before these matters get out of his hands. Is building a chapel really necessary? And if it’s wooden, then all of it should cost less than a thousand rubles, which they ask you for as an example. Thank you for listening patiently. To my regret, I must refuse an evening visit to you and Count Nikita Petrovich; I have a meeting scheduled at this time, which I cannot cancel. I have no objection to the letter. I don’t really understand why the progress of the case is so difficult. But it’s not for us to judge him. You are doing well to submit yourself to the will of God’s Providence. And do, if possible, what does not require permission from any higher or lesser human authority - read the word of God, more or less, but do not deprive yourself of this truly essential bread every day. You see that I am responding to one of your previous letters. May the peace of God and spiritual consolation be given to you abundantly. Blessed is God, who through the inner promptings and outer paths of His Providence assists us in testing our hearts in order to cast out from it the hidden impurity of thoughts. People often either excuse thoughts similar to those to which you point, or, feeling their unworthiness, somehow want to suppress them to themselves, ashamed to open, that is, to cast them out; or, having been stung by them for a short time, they forget them, that is, everyone leaves the unclean seed cast into the heart. But the pure eye of God sees the depth of our heart and cannot, without disgust, see uncleanness where the Sanctuary of God should be. Therefore, it is worth the effort to move or stop the mountain from the outside in order to spew out a speck of dust from the inside. So, endure external obstacles, may the inner be purified, as you do with the help of God, may God forgive you for everything you have done wrong, wished incorrectly, thought incorrectly, and may He lead you to purity of heart, and, consequently, to the bliss of the pure in heart. It truly was not in my mind that my story about the burnt would turn into a request. But when you are moved to help them, God bless it for you and for them. I will try to understand their situation in order to share what was entrusted to me in a manner worthy of intention. Take the servants and the singers. May the Lord give you consolation in His communication. Since you are leaving, I hasten to return your wisdom to you, because, according to my simple reasoning, you should not use a pound and an arshin, where a pound and an inch can better suit the purpose. Peace from the Lord! Having received a message from you, I do not want to miss the opportunity to say what has been on my mind since your departure: has the experience of my uniqueness left you with any grief? Forgive me, I’m still saying. In a strange way, the idea was given to me to again draw your attention to whether you have completely forgiven everyone against whom you had cause for indignation in your grief? I’ll explain the case when you remind me; and now I’m just reminding you to still test yourself superficially. Say: - he is guilty against me, but I am not angry with him; – there is not always complete and pure forgiveness. By saying: “I’m not angry,” we try to eliminate the feeling of enmity. By saying: guilty, we also reveal the thought in which the root of enmity lurks. Love tries to uproot this root. She says: “Whether this person is truly guilty, the Knower of the Heart knows; I may be mistaken in my knowledge even of affairs, and even more so, of intentions; if he is guilty, then God is to blame, just as I am in many ways; I need to be at peace with him just as I want others to be with me; for this is love for one’s neighbor; and I don’t want anyone to have a firm thought about my guilt. In this or another way, seek peace according to the prophet, and marry him, and pursue him with all your might. May the Lord give you complete peace, may He teach you to give it to others, and may He complete you in love that covers all. And if there was no need to say this, so much the better. Forgive me again, when you know how to forgive. There is no doubt in prayer; may the Lord accept your prayers and fulfill your good desires. That in zeal for the salvation of others one needs to be careful against acting hastily, this feeling is fair. Based on the letter being returned, I can’t do anything. The priest wants me to appoint his future son-in-law to his place, and give him another. I already wrote a resolution the other day that you can’t trade places like that. I’m not talking about the fact that the student is from someone else’s diocese. I’m surprised how indiscriminately they start petitioning. Can a secular official say to his boss: give me another place, and I will give my current one as a dowry to my daughter. We mourn for rural and urban workers that the weather is not favorable for their work. However, last night and this morning are starting to feel like summer again. If requests are such a fashion now, shouldn’t I dare too? Today I received a letter from Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn to invite him to help the Greek Archpriest Panagioti to ransom up to 30 people from captivity for his family and relatives, to whom the Emperor granted 3,000, would you send something? Cleansing, forgiveness and peace from the Lord! It would take a long time to answer the penultimate letter. I don’t have the time I need. I'm answering the last one. I shouldn't be angry. And you should not tempt me with words of praise, which were said before. Not only should one not speak about the special ways of God with man in front of enemies of the spirit, which would be contrary to the commandment: do not cast beads, etc., but one should not speak unnecessarily before believers. The works of God are not for curiosity, not for human self-praise: but for the salvation of souls. To say about someone unnecessarily, without a legitimate reason for this announcement, that he lies shamelessly, and also to retell this also unnecessarily - what is this, if not condemnation of one’s neighbor? The dispassionate, hearing about a lie, understands that this is not the truth; and that something comes from lack of conscience, he does not accept assurance, does not pay attention to it, does not have the taste to retell about it. Not to be valued is a great thing; and it is not easy to say: I was not valued. It happened that those who felt free from passions did not boldly say that they were not valued; but only that they do not have a fight from them, more believing that the enemies have hidden, and that, consequently, those who are free from an obvious attack must beware of a hidden trap. Let us humble ourselves, and the Lord will save us. You have been busy with an incident for a long time that it is time to forget. Let us be careful in repenting of sins: failure to provide for an unexpected event is not three, and, moreover, there is no need for repentance. Varvara Mikhailovna’s illness seems to me to require attention, although it is getting better. Yesterday I was in our Church at the all-night vigil, but had to leave before the end of the service. Unfortunately, G.Ya. fell ill, to speak. Vysotsky. The image of the Mother of God held by an Angel is a fantasy. It is better to stick to the icons of pure history. However, such an image may be allowed if there is nothing too strange in the image. If the iconography is decent, there is no need to redo it. By sending a pregnant woman away from temptation, you acted for a blessed reason; and precaution in the crew frees you from responsibility for what happened. But more simply, by punishing the guilty person with the unhappy marriage that she desired, you would perhaps give her the opportunity to clear her guilt by suffering from her husband, and not by death; or if death also followed from childbirth, the sorrow of those around you would not be addressed to you; and stopping temptation by the work of Providence would be more edifying than by human command. But who could have foreseen the future? It is necessary that you also pray for her forgiveness. The eyes of the Lord, with darkness that is brighter than the sun, and with darkness that is purer than any eye of the purest heavenly creatures, see all the secrets of the human heart. Why is it both unreasonable and sinful to be ashamed of any eye of a sinful person? This shame is inspired by the passion of self-love and the desire to appear as a person in a good and respectable form, that is, the desire for human glory. This is a fairly common three, into which they fall at the very time when they want to be cleansed of sins: but it is necessary to note to those seeking cleansing that this is also a sin. Look at what the desire to be right sometimes leads to: suspicion of people whose character does not deserve it at all and whose circumstances clear it of it. If a person did not notice this and fell into this kind of suspicion, this is a sign that the desire to be right in the wrong way is strong, passionate, and selfish. You need to humble your thoughts about yourself in order to get rid of the temptation to suspect the innocent. Prayer is undoubtedly stronger than some involuntary movement of an immoderate soul. In theory this is true. But in experience, the matter depends on what kind of prayer, what kind of effort to resist the involuntary movement. As the prayer becomes stronger and purer, the involuntary movement should disappear. So, if it continues, you should not blindly justify yourself and reassure yourself, but rather humble yourself, seek correction and ask for help from Above. It is good to do the work of peace in order to purify the unpeaceful disposition of the soul and find peace in conscience. However, may the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may he give you pure will against the voluntary and spiritual strength against the involuntary. Let us pray to the Lord today and tomorrow for those who live and those who have departed, since He will accept us in our unworthiness. God's blessing to you on this day of your angel, a blessing for the days to come. I wanted to tell you this with you: but it was late, returning from office, I didn’t know whether it would have been timely. May the transmitted image of the Savior be a sign of God’s blessing to you in this new home. Varvara Mikhailovna instructed me to congratulate you today from her. I don’t foresee this evening being free for myself. I am returning the letter. There is nothing to worry about here; the content is not retold accurately. Archimandrite Gideon, with His Eminence Kirill, did not want to let go of what came into their hands, looking around in all directions to whom to complain. It is a pity that the secular authorities are not firm in their orders. But it’s not for us to judge and correct her. The Archbishop and Archimandrite could thank them for giving property to the Church, but they had no right to demand Churches that they did not build. God knows what is useful and may he arrange what is best by instructing those who do it. My eyes make it difficult for me to read and write. God will bless you with fasting and preparation for mystical communion with Christ the Lord. The confusion about the confessor is easy to resolve. It is necessary to take the first one, because the other one was taken only due to the lack of the first one. Ambrose will find this correct and will not complain in any case. I am returning Sister Barsanuphia’s letter. For G. Makarovsky's note, the incident passed. In anticipation of other occasions when I will give, let him try to add to his dignity. This will be better than a petition note. May God forgive you as He forgives, that is, may He correct and purify that which requires correction and purification by His grace, and at the same time may He forgive and accept you in peace. The Fathers say that involuntary sins come from voluntary ones. Therefore, are extraneous thoughts in prayer not the consequences of the fact that at other times we are biasedly occupied with thoughts about earthly things? Let us cleanse ourselves of addictions, and prayer will be cleansed of entertainment. Curiosity directed towards the spiritual world is also not a good state, just like curiosity directed towards the objects of this world. The curious is tormented and not satisfied; and they hide more from him than from someone who is less curious. The Church teaches us to daily ask ourselves from God for an angel of peace, a faithful mentor; but does not give us the right, with our guesses and passion of love, to appoint someone as a Guardian Angel. Do you think that your son belongs more to you than to God? I hope you will say: how dare you think like that? And if we do not dare to think so, then why dare to appropriate it to ourselves with arbitrary, dreamy guesses and allow the power of guesses to dominate the will? Your sacrifice has already been made: be careful not to appropriate it after this. May God rest the soul of your servant Vladimir! And you favor her repose with your prayer, but do not disturb her with your imagination. One should be afraid of evil doubt: and it would be even better if there was no need to be afraid of it; so that the affection towards him ceases. The Lord said: love your enemies. He who loves them is not afraid to talk about them with us. So, shouldn’t we also repent of the fact that we are afraid of resentment? May God forgive you everything: and you will forgive the person who points out his neighbor’s branch, bypassing his own log. May the grace of Christ visit you. Come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed. A plan with many columns inside, if made to enlarge the room, then it corresponds to this goal, but even then not completely. Columns block the view. And how many people could fit in those places that are occupied by columns? Brick columns are not very favorable for the strength of the building, and stone ones are very expensive. I like the third plan of the church 12 better. Is it possible to increase its size and thus add more space? In addition, the opening of the western triangles to the east, through spans, can serve. The bell tower looks good. But the top floor is useless, and won't it get wet soon? However, I say what it seems to me; but I can’t decide. I fell ill almost in the same way and from the same reasons as in February; for yesterday even part of the all-night vigil was taken away from me. True, I had not been feeling well for several days, I was choosing the time to take the medicine, which I had now taken involuntarily. May God bless your journey and stay. Blessing to those wishing blessings in Moscow. Yesterday the son of Princess Obolenskaya took a letter to Varvara Mikhailovna from me. Please don't bother coming to me. I could receive you: but I have experienced more than once that when you want to open the door only for a minute, you do not find a way to close it as quickly as weakness requires. This third plan, in my opinion, is better than the second. I don’t know whether it’s better than the first one. It seems no worse, although there is less internal convenience for employees. The bell tower is also decent. It seems there will be no mistake if this one is elected. Blessings on the path again I call upon you from the one who blesses everything. Christ is Risen! He is the One True Giver of life and joy, may He lift up your spirit from the flesh, vanity, and sorrows that burden it, and may He grant you the participation of life-giving joy and His joyful life in the sorrows themselves, until the deathly belly and the sorrowful are completely consumed by joy, filled and inalienable. I rejoice that the church brings consolation to your niece and that I could contribute to this consolation. Given the tumor, I doubt that Varvara Mikhailovna’s health would be much better. This sign shows that you need to take care of restoring your internal organic strength. But Grigory Yakovlevich knows this. May God help him to act and her to obey. The adventure of Mr. Grave regarding Peter the Great is remarkable. There is no information about this in the Synod, and there is no case for that. The news of his healing. And about another thing, I’m sending you a proof sheet, not having a blank one yet. The adventure of the Dresden patient is also a remarkable indication of the Orthodox confession for those who do not belong to this confession. May God grant that it will become clearly known. Until now it has not yet reached the Holy Synod. Good dreams to your niece too. Let her, closing the eyes of natural wisdom, kiss the suffering heart of the Blessed Virgin with faith and love, so that from Her she may learn to partake of the Passion of Christ, in the hope of participating in His resurrection. I am sending you news of the healing of a mute by St. Sergius. It is my duty to remember you at the Throne of the Lord, by the goodness of God, I remember. There will be a matter of reciprocity and love for mankind if you do not forget to remember me before God. May the Lord guide you both on your journey on earth and on your journey to heaven. I received a letter dated June 3. I am glad that the Lavra had its thoughts. These days I received information about the dedication of a St. Petersburg vicar: now I will write to him about your church. While I want to ward off the disease with treatment, the unstrengthened body accepts a new one. It's been a week since my teeth hurt from a cold, sometimes more, sometimes less. Thank God that, except for the first days, it’s bearable: I can go out and do it. The wait for the Grand Duchess, still in vain, binds me to Moscow: however, I think, no matter what, I will leave for the Lavra before Peter’s Day, not only for the celebration, but also for other matters there. I earnestly invoke God's blessing upon you. There is no need to argue against your letter, except perhaps that you are not talking about me to my smallest extent. God's blessing to Sister Barsanuphia. The words of her letter speak of death; but the handwriting still doesn’t speak. Peace from the Lord to you and consolation in faith and hope. The person who brought the letter says that there is little time to send an answer. So, I’ll write what I can. Choosing a confessor, with God’s help, I hope, will be beneficial. And the choice of the day of communion has a fair reason. If we are angry with our neighbor, and our anger is visible to him, therefore, he is offended: then we need to ask for forgiveness. And if our anger is within us, then this is our evil, which did not reach our neighbor: therefore, it must be cleansed by repentance before God; Explaining to someone you are angry with is sometimes both inconvenient and unhelpful. Thoughts of worldly care, coming inappropriately during holy exercises, show that the soul has not freed itself from addiction to earthly things. Beware of the little foxes that destroy the grapes! I am not at peace with your caftans, which you make in contrast to schoolchildren. At universities they study for rank; They will study from you (for the sake of) for the caftan. This is not enlightenment, but hypocrisy. It is necessary to instill in the child that the best reward for learning is the opportunity to read the Word of God and learn from it goodness and salvation. I was in Novospassky, and I did not forget the servant of God Vladimir. May the Lord receive you into His fellowship in peace. I could not read the letter received today before they came for an answer late in the evening. Therefore, I answer briefly on the subject of the letter, which is being returned. Let the priest find a groom for his granddaughter; and you, by right of a parishioner, sign his approval, and the matter can be done. I cannot give a preliminary resolution, because the bride is a stranger to the place. Excessive concern for enterprises, even leaving out prayer, is a sign that we do not sufficiently surrender our affairs to the will of God, but have a strong natural will, striving to ensure that things are done our way. Looking at this impartially, without regard to yourself, you will immediately see that this is not okay. How can we demand that our every intention be fulfilled? Isn't this too much for a person? Can we be quite sure that it is better for our undertakings to be fulfilled than not to be fulfilled? You will say: how could it not be better for a charitable institution to be established rather than not to be established? Here's how: an institution can fall into the wrong hands and be used biasedly and selfishly, therefore, for sin and not for good. And on the contrary, the estate may remain in the hands of the good owner and good heirs; and there will be much good of justice, if not very much good of mercy. So, there is no need to passionately desire fulfillment and good undertakings; and to pray to God that He would bless us to fulfill them, if it is for good, or give them a direction other than what we want, in His holy will. It is good to consecrate certain hours of the day with the remembrance of the sufferings of the Lord, whenever possible. And when obstacles change this order, you should not be embarrassed, but carefully use the time that is in your will. I don’t have time to say what else I could say to you in response to your letter. May the Lord guide you on His path, so that you may walk in His truth. May the Lord Jesus be the ruler of your feast this day, and may he give you peace and consolation in the time to come. May the guardian angel, whom we accept from infancy (according to what is said: their (baby) angels always see the face of your Heavenly Father) or better yet from holy baptism, not depart from you, guarding your soul and body, entrances and exits. This was written as I received your note, which promises that your holiday will be with Christ without human rumor. Yes it will be. The forced situation of the previous days forced me to again help my weakness with peace and solitude, perhaps for more than one day. I'm sorry. Isn’t this what the headman was talking about? And would you like to tell me something from your side, based on the attached report? Not having time to speak in detail about the subjects of your letter, I generally appeal to you for forgiveness and permission from the world that takes away the sins. The Lord Jesus is the Giver of forgiveness, and the hope of a better life, and the door of salvation. May you follow Him, and in Him may you find life. An unfinished spiritual exercise of a certain time, especially one related to the main goal, must be completed at least later and be insistent in this against obstacles, often unnecessary. For the sake of the one who was born, may the peace of Christ be with you. May our Lord Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world, blot out the handwriting of your sins with the cleansing effect of repentance and His atoning Blood. And you take care not to damage the scroll of life with new incorrect features. You yourself have sufficiently exposed the error of thinking that there is no salvation for you. What a blessing many dead would consider it if they were returned to their bodies and given one day of real life! They could do here in one day what would be forever impossible there. We are generously given the treasure of days, and we do not find happiness in it. Doesn’t this mean that we don’t know or don’t understand the value and use of time when we neglect it so much? God does not reject reverent offerings, but wants them to be offered in purity. Impatience is not a pure quality. So, perhaps God wants to wait it out and accept the gift of reverence, offered with patience and obedience to His destinies, and not with impatience of self-will. And how many reasons could there be why God does not speed up the fulfillment of our desires? do the good that you can, and obey the will of God in that which you do not do at will. The deceased, perhaps, truly wants the house to be successfully sold and for the money to be used for good. But it is in vain that you take from this case the idea of ​​​​demanding a visit to the deceased. And on earth, some visit you unexpectedly, while others do not visit you as expected? How do you want to prescribe visitation laws to the unearthly? For the sake of the heavenly, stop dragging the heavenly to the earth, while we need to leave the earthly and strive for the heavenly. Your son thanks you before the Heavenly Father for the memory of him, but with the laws of heaven, which does not obey earthly arbitrariness; and you should not value your deeds so highly that they deserve gratitude; do them in the spirit of repentance of love; and neither repentance nor love thinks about gratitude for what they do. It would not be better not to hear about someone else’s family feud: and if you have already heard, you could not judge and not interfere, which is not our business; I don’t think that we can protect the clergy from reproach: do not look for a spiritual father who cannot justify his decision to you because he cannot reveal the secrets of confession. Have you heard that a certain Sarah, having no children, persuaded her husband to have a son with a slave, and then forced him to throw both this slave and this son out of the house with such a meager travel supply that the child soon almost died of thirst? Would you say; what a cruel wife, what a weak husband? What spiritual father allowed this evil? But the spiritual Father, who did not condemn, but resolved this matter of Abraham and Sarah, is the Heavenly Father Himself. It seems to me that this example shows quite clearly how difficult it is to talk about other people’s disputes, and about those who resolve them through more internal inquiry than according to the orders of rumor. Remember the commandment: do not judge, lest you be judged. The Psalmist says: I rose up at midnight to confess to Your name. And if even now it is difficult for the weak among us, then he shows the easiest thing: remembering Thee on my bed. Are we really not going to do this too? Maybe sometimes the Guardian Angel approaches to awaken the sleeping person and call him to the memory of God: will we neglect the help of the faithful Mentor, Whom we ask every day in the Church? Do we so bind the soul with cares and vanity that when night frees it from the inevitable, perhaps rumors, the bonds bound by day remain unbroken? This reminder, needed by my laziness, may not be superfluous for you. May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, take yours too, and blot out the handwriting of them with His Most Pure Blood, shed for us all. Just let us strive against our sins, as He struggled against ours, not only to the point of sweat, but, if necessary, even to the point of blood. During prayer, let the heart be confirmed in the Lord, with the meek attention of love and contrition, so that thoughts do not wander. Blessed is the one whose thoughts have no place to wander, that is, who is not attached to anything earthly. It is the duty of philanthropy to pray for the sick, and not to judge the one whom God visits. The best spiritual father is the one who is accepted with faith, as an instrument of God. To humiliate a spiritual father in the eyes of a spiritual son means offending one and harming the other. You see why these reflections are needed. Let us judge ourselves for the past, let us be more careful than before for the future: moreover, let us trust in God’s mercy towards us in the future, not abandoning us in the past. It is up to man to place himself in the presence of God by reflecting that the Lord is near, that He sees us and our innermost interior: but to revive in us the feeling of the presence of God is the work of God and the gift of God. We must accept this deprivation with humility and condemnation of our unworthiness and assure ourselves that God is nevertheless present, although we do not feel His presence. Dryness and hardness of the heart can occur from the immersion of the mind and heart in worldly concerns. We need to remind ourselves of what was said to Martha: worry and talk about many things, but there is one thing that is needed. When requests for help lead to impatience, then it may be useful, in spite of this feeling, to condemn oneself to do the work of humanity. God sometimes sends a feeling to get things done; and sometimes, seeing a person’s effort to do His will with a lack of feeling, He bestows feeling as a reward and evidence of His mercy. May God forgive you, have mercy, and confirm you on His path. He who was silent for six years, perhaps, truly erred in counting, not having endured until the perfect septenary number of years in order to completely kill his tongue: but we, who judge him after this, would do well to remember that we, perhaps, would not have endured even seven days of silence. If you notice the example of mothers to whom the doctors of their dead children seem to be guilty for a long time, then draw a useful conclusion from this, how inclined a person is to blame others, how easily he sins in this accusation, and how it would be better to put aside false and useless human accusations in order to resolutely humble himself under the strong hand of God. A person is mistaken in believing that doctors are enemies, but he would judge more fairly if he thought that doctors are also enemies. Admitting a mistake and humiliating yourself before inferiors is more useful than paying double money for a mistake. May God help you to be more careful in your deeds, words and thoughts, so as not to allow the tares to be sown among the wheat. May he forgive you for the past and may he preserve you in the future. Please accept gratitude for the meal that I unexpectedly had with you today, although twenty miles away. If you are willing to help me on my journey tomorrow, then I humbly ask you to order that ten horses be given to me from the desert to Molodi. So I think we should divide half of the journey so that the rest to the other desert could be completed non-stop, not late in the evening. Once again I ask you to look in peace at what is not happening as expected. As for what belongs to me, I am partly possessed by position, partly by weakness, and not by arbitrariness. May the Lord fulfill your spiritual desires. You need to slowly bind yourself to many arbitrary rules: but if a rule is taken, you need to be careful in its implementation, so as not to step back when you wanted to go forward. A visit to a person can be prevented, and this does not matter: but neither a place nor anything else can hinder prayer. God accepts intention as deed. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to be indignant at the case about which you have been concerned for so long; and there would not have been this embarrassment if one had sufficiently sacrificed one’s own will to the ways of Providence. There is peace in this. May the Lord show it to you and preserve it for you. May mystical communication with Him help you in this and in everything beneficial to your soul. My journey ended happily. Thank you for promoting the speed of my journey; This gave me the opportunity to attend almost the entire all-night vigil in D.P. Blessings and peace from the Lord. May God assist you in building a house for Him, and may He preserve your homes and villages. Our Sergievskaya church in Rogozhskaya burned down, unable to protect itself from the surrounding fire. The clergy's houses also burned down. But most of the church furniture was saved. Alekseevskaya Church, in the same place, was saved with the effort and presence of mind of the parish priest. The Androniev Monastery caught fire several times, but was extinguished. Only on one tower the rafters under the hot roof had decayed. What a heat! Since the 13th day, on which this fire occurred, God has had mercy on spiritual places: and many houses caught fire. A lot of notes are thrown threatening fire. In such a note, planted in the courtyard of the conception deacon, by the way, it is said: we are not to blame, we were ordered to light it, now it was appointed on your part. Eternal memory to Prince Alexy. For several years it seemed to me that traces of an illness that had penetrated deeply into his physical makeup were visible on his face. You did well to write the name of your niece. I doubted whether I would be mistaken in this; and that is why I delayed writing to the Eminence. The state of Varvara Mikhailovna’s health is no less caring. Serve her with prayer, if not with visitation. It rained three days before and last night. But the effects of the drought are still ongoing. And this requires prayer, stronger than what has been offered so far. We must test our thoughts and be careful not to confuse human with Divine and worldly with spiritual. In the place where the eyes of those praying are directed, is it proper to place human memory instead of God’s memory? 13 Above the Royal Doors it is proper to depict an eye in Radiance and put the inscription: My eyes will be here. Or one inscription: those eyes and my heart will be in these days. Pray for Varvara Mikhailovna. Medicines do not overcome her illness. Peace and health to you and good success. The Lord commands us to pray and not be cold, that is, not to be bored by the lack of signs of hearing prayer. God fulfills prayers more than those we ask or understand, therefore sometimes failure to fulfill a prayer is a true gift. The ability to understand the suggestions of God is formed by the detachment of the heart from earthly things, attention to the spiritual and faithfulness in fulfilling the suggestions, known internally or through external means. Raising one's eyes to heaven in prayer represents boldness toward God, while bowing one's eyes to the earth represents humility. Therefore, perhaps, we are still little worthy of raising our eyes to heaven. The thought of this is not a temptation. However, may the Lord forgive you every mistake and guide you into all truth and receive you with grace. Things are not going as promised. The Emperor is heard to be returning to Moscow today. Therefore, it will not be possible for me to leave Moscow before his departure, that is, until October 12. But since I stayed in Moscow until next August, I can go to your church after half of October, if you demand it, and my health allows it. If you demand me, then ask me about it again around October 10, who knows what will happen, find the day. I returned from the Lavra yesterday, not completely recovered; however, today I accompanied Varvara Mikhailovna on the journey of no return. The death was peaceful. Hello and prosper. The Lord, who gives you renewal of the circle of temporary life, also grants you central renewal of the spirit, as a guarantee of eternal life, through cleansing repentance and life-giving communion with Christ in His sacrament. If thoughts do not always follow prayer, is it not because they follow some attachment of this world, which entertains them, like a burden, and prevents grief from crying out? In this case, let us remember how the Church teaches in hymns: let us put aside all worldly cares, so that we may raise up the King of all. Renounce, soul, from all earthly cares, and your thoughts will have nothing to return to when called to heavenly things. A thought inclined towards condemnation was opposed to prayer for the one who was attempted; condemnation is a good rule, and one should not be careless about this, to the extreme detriment of prayer and brotherly love. If the enemy cannot prevent a good deed from being done, then he tries to steal what has been done with thoughts of vanity. You have to do it and not allow yourself to be justified. They don't let me continue. May God forgive you everything that requires forgiveness, and may He guide you on His path, to walk in His truth. I greet you on the New Year in the name of the Lord. One of the tricks of the enemy of souls is that when the soul does not want to do the deeds suggested by him and enjoy the thoughts inspired by him, inflict sinful thoughts on it in order to confuse and despondency. The soul does not want these thoughts, but would like them not to exist: therefore, one can notice that they are not hers; that a strange dog is barking in her yard; however, she would have done better if her yard had been fenced higher and locked more tightly. When the soul is humble; then its fence is high. When she is not partial to vanity, but is turned inward and towards God, then her door is well closed. There is no need to hesitate to confess these thoughts, since in this way they are weakened and driven out: but one must use attention to block the weak points through which strangers enter. May the Lord preserve your soul with the weapon of His light and the ministry of the Guardian Angel. May the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary and involuntary; May He establish you on the path of pleasing Him. May the Holy Great Martyr Catherine teach you a way, for God, to inwardly die to the world, and passions, and self-love, so that you may live for Christ, and from Him you will receive the reward of undying life. May the Lord bless and strengthen the soul of the virgin Faith, in the feat of faith, in the hope of hope and crown with the power of Him who died for us and for our sake He rose again. This morning I wanted to send to ask you about her, but on Pererva, which is sparsely populated, I was imprisoned in the morning, as if in quarantine. The memory of a soul striving for the Lord speaks for itself: however, for the same reason it will be pleasant for me to use its cross, and since God grants to do what it entrusts. The Lord is with her; The Lord is with you too. Tell the servant of God, the virgin Vera 14, the Word of Christ: what I do, do not weigh it now, but you understand it from now on. For the present time, it is enough to know that we must thank the Lord for the consolation given in suffering; and, out of gratitude to Him, maintain oneself in devotion to the will of God; finally, according to the mercy of the Lord shown, trust in the mercy of the Lord in the future. Peace from the Lord to her and to you who draw near to her in the love of the spirit and in the fellowship of prayer. I think it’s not too late to write this. I would like to have the news of this day, and I ask you to tell the one you are sending. May God accept your test of conscience, and may He send His light and His power to make its purification more and more perfect. They did the right thing in not revealing doubts, so as not to disturb the simple faith of their neighbor. But doubt definitely belongs to the subjects of repentance. How can we assign to God which signs are more decent to give? He gives them according to the concept of a person, sometimes very simple, as long as it is innocent. To rejoice over the simplicity of one’s faith is a Christian disposition; but being annoyed with oneself for not having such faith is a sign of dissatisfied success in humility. The humble person, without vexation, humiliates himself in thoughts before the virtue of another. In the adventure of poor Naryshkina, as I heard it, one cannot at all suspect imitation. Pray for her and before the eyes of God ask her forgiveness for not looking at her condition with a simple eye. May Christ the Lord visit you with His fellowship, and may the joy that was announced by the messengers of His birth on earth be heard in your spirit, and may it remain in your heart. The Lord, who blotted out the handwriting of the sins of all mankind with His Most Pure Blood, blot out yours too, and help you succeed not only in cleansing your body and spirit, but also in sanctification. It would be better not to retell the story about the confessor: but this is not too big a problem. By acting with patience, he will act more purely. If you cannot help the poor, at least you must not upset him. That it is impossible to love all people equally - this is what I think seems to us, who have not achieved perfect love. Complete love wants to save its crucifier as well: consequently, there is no damage here, no diminution of love; and where there is no diminution, there is no inequality. Forgive me too, and pray, so that by preaching to others, I myself will be turned off. That's not what you said, Mr. Vera Nikitichna, what I told you. If I am involved in some matter, I must untie it, as God grants: but why should I offer myself to be involved? I said: the sick woman should make her own decisions as little as possible, so that the consequences of a not entirely correct decision do not violate the peace of her conscience. The will of the parents must be fulfilled until it turns out to be contrary to the will of God. A spiritual daughter should not arbitrarily change her confessor: for this is contrary to spiritual rules. But if this is demanded of her, she must present this case to him for permission. No matter what happens, no one can take Christ the Lord from a soul as long as it maintains faith, hope and love. If external means are taken away: He will approach the soul directly. Let there only be faith. Now, it seems, I have already said more than yesterday. That's enough for now. God's blessing to you and her. Do yourself a favor, ask her to peacefully look at what is happening and not talk about what she is not doing, and for which, therefore, she is not responsible. People can make mistakes, but they cannot snatch other people and affairs from the hands of Providence: and it arranges or allows for what is useful, or at least harmless for the soul, if it does not upset itself. I think that even in a difficult and painful state, you can remember with your heart the Lord Jesus the Savior of sinners and mentally look at His Cross. this is already prayer. The patient can also take medications on the day of communion of the Holy Mysteries. Whether nausea will prevent communion should be considered and decided by the doctor and the priest. I don’t see clearly in your letter whether you are asking me whether I should give her communion tomorrow? In case, I will say my thought that one can be satisfied with the request from the Lord Jesus for an invisible grace-filled visit and reinforcement; but if a feeling of sickness or a state of mind urgently demands it, let them call a priest for communion. I advise you not to leave the sick person and hope that in this case God will forgive you for leaving some church services and replace them with a service of spiritual sisterhood. However, your confessor is both powerful and knows how to judge this. If the patient is able, and you will not be idle with her; Would you like to read to her the enclosed word from yesterday to occupy the time when there is nothing to listen to? Finally, tell her: blessed is he who, for the sake of Christ and following His example, neither prophesies nor cries out when consolation is taken away. For every minute and drop of earthly consolation sacrificed to obedience, Christ has rivers and rivers of heavenly consolations. May God forgive you, and for the sake of asking from Him, may He help you forgive others more and more, and condemn others less and less. When we see condemnation in our neighbor, we can and should always think that perhaps we see worse than what is, and perhaps God sees good in the present or future of this person, which covers or will cover the shortcomings that we untimely judged. How we would condemn the thief who took it according to his deeds when he was led to the cross! But one word on the cross: remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom, put him ahead of us on the path of salvation and made him a model for us. May divine food strengthen you to do good. Take the servants and the singers. May God bless the sick woman and your care for her with peace. A third-class student, Popov, was refused because he was recognized as unworthy of any priestly place and must be tested in lower positions: for in his conduct he was given such a certificate from the seminary, which signifies a person of dubious morality. I humbly ask you to explain to the intercessors that this was done both in truth and to protect them from the priest, with whom it would be boring. I'll answer about the rest later. You are in vain mistaking my words of bewilderment for words of displeasure. How can one be displeased for wanting to draw closer to the Lord? But one can be perplexed about the different types of good intentions, which are more truly and purely good. Coming to the Lord's Table more often is a matter of faith and love: but here there is boldness; but not everyone can have the right kind of boldness. Therefore, sometimes a person can refuse his boldness, thinking that he is no better than those who do not so often approach the Lord’s Table, considering himself unworthy to accept this boldness and fearing that the boldness will not be contrary to humility. Therefore, I recognized the intention to partake of the Holy Mysteries on Maundy Thursday and on Easter day as not strongly approved, but subject to the consideration of the spiritual father. I repeat the same opinion now, when you choose one of these days. Your present intention is good with a humble thought; good and last year with the boldness of faith. May the Lord grant you a bold intention and humble boldness. Your examination of conscience shows attention. May God help you to continue this; may He forgive what has been missed until now and may He strengthen Him with His grace in achieving a better state of mind for the soul. Who or what can block the Lord's ear from prayer? When it does not seem to be heard, then either we do not understand the intention of God who heard, or we did not pray as we should. In the latter you must look after yourself, and leave the former to God. Where would faith be if we saw every time what God does through our prayer? Blessed are those who have not seen and believed. Regarding the trip, I still don’t see what to tell you. Let's look and think. Let God tell you the way of peace. Don't apply great words to my smallness. May God bless you as you enter into fellowship and into the joy of the risen Christ. Blessings and peace to you from the Lord. The request for the consecration of the church in Ivanovsky was resolved and sent as soon as received. But it will hardly come on time. But the Eminence, I hope, will resolve this even before receiving my permission: because I resolved a similar case for him before my departure. Do not complain about the prayer of the flock, but give thanks for it with me. The traffic trouble you heard about was resolved beyond expectations. Having driven about three miles past the first station from Moscow, I suddenly heard a creak and the carriage tilted to the left. While the attendant looked under the carriage in surprise, I ordered it to be opened in order to get out before anything else could happen. It turned out that the wheel had fallen off the axle because the screw nut holding it had fallen off, and this was because the iron pin had broken. When they raised the carriage and put the wheel on the axle, it turned out that the rest of the iron pin was stuck in the eye of the axle; it was impossible to attach another pin. The two sent back to look for the nuts returned without finding them. Meanwhile, they took an ax from the passers-by, thinking of removing the iron from the axle, and hammered it even harder. One traveler reasoned that this repair could not be fixed at the station, and even in Moscow they would work for a day, because it was necessary to disassemble the carriage and cut the nut screw along the axle screw. Listening to this, I walked across the road, protecting my sore ear from the wind, and thought how God could deliver us from this temptation. They sent the horseman back. I didn't return for a long time. Finally, he goes. Someone says: he has a nut in his hand. And truly so. He picked it up three miles back; Consequently, the wheel rolled for three miles without being held on the axle by anything. The nut could be placed on the axle, but since it was impossible to use the pins, it had to be lost again. According to the instructions of the traveler, they used a pocket handkerchief for this purpose, putting it into the screw, and thereby strengthening the axle nut. So we drove off to the next station, where we managed to free the axle eye from the iron, and thus everything came back to order. After that we no longer had any difficulty. Despite the frequent rain and wind, I did not catch a cold again. On the first day, beyond our expectations, we reached Tver, where I could serve the liturgy on the day of Easter. On this day, again, beyond my expectations, I came to the Vyshevolotsk Cathedral at the beginning of the all-night vigil, and listened to it here, as well as the liturgy on the next feast of the Ascension of the Lord. In Novgorod I also came to the open cathedral, and could be in it without wasting time. Arriving in St. Petersburg on Saturday, I was able to see Vladyka that same day. The following Saturday, on the eve of Trinity Day, I illuminated the church in the Izmailovsky regiment (to which the Emperor ordered me to be invited along with Vladyka, but I had to be alone due to his illness); On Trinity Day in the same church I saw the Emperor, on Spiritual Day I consecrated the church in the Synod: and not before having fulfilled this duty, I fell somewhat ill due to the road and this new fatigue. Now I’m on my fourth day of treatment, and for the past three mornings I’ve been able to walk in my neighbor’s garden. Don’t you see that everything is still working out for me with the grace of God? I don’t foresee any convenience in moving into your secluded home; but I hope to be there soon. I pray to God to bless the holy work of consecrating your church, to your complete consolation. The exhibition, I hope, will not prevent the Eminence from coming to see you: on the contrary, your business will save him from the exhibition; for I told him that in this matter, which is quite secular, it is enough if someone from the subordinate clergy performs the consecration of the water. Tell Vera Nikitichna that I wish her blessings, patience and peace; But I regret that she does not calmly accept what comes not according to her wishes. When the Lord visits, what difference does it make which His servant accompanies Him? How much partial attention you devote to His servant, so much do you take away from the Lord! When they act against our will, they give us an opportunity to renounce our will. We must use this opportunity for good, which, of course, we would not have done without the opportunity, when and on occasion, it turns out, we are not ready for it. And is it necessary to be upset about a good event? This reflection may not have passed you by either. May the Lord instruct you in all that is good and saving. Blessings and peace to you from the Lord. I was silent for a long time. At first I thought you were traveling and that it was difficult for the letter to find you. That’s why I put it off on purpose. And after receiving the letter of June 27, I intend to write everything. Once I wanted to write from your home, where I spent the whole day from morning to evening: but there was a lot of official business, and the turn did not come to the letter. I was there, however, in a sad church and here I had a few conversations with you, or about you and about the child Vladimir, before the Lord of the living and the dead. Elisaveta Mikhailovna suggested that I come there on Sunday, that is, yesterday (counting) in the afternoon for general prayer. But I, to the extent of my weakness, fulfilled this duty yesterday, celebrating the liturgy at home: but today I cannot be there due to another occupation, to which I am not bound by my will. Do not complain that it is difficult to know the will of God. A good and pure intention recognizes it, although the mind becomes entangled in conflicting considerations. I am glad that you stayed with the sick woman and, I think, that you fulfilled the will of God. What a pity that your misunderstandings continue! Of the words you have retold, I wish some were softer: a sharp reproof repels a prejudiced person, not attracts them: is that what you need? Only through patience can enmity be extinguished, and through love can love for one’s neighbors be restored. Not suddenly we need to trust the thought that we are right and others are wrong. It is more likely that they are right in some ways, and we are to blame in some ways. Not only must we forgive, but we must forgive in the same way as those who need forgiveness themselves. I don't have time to talk with you anymore. At least I haven't put it off yet. Peace to you and the sick. Peace before the God of peace. Peace in a loving and patient heart. Peace be with everyone. May blessings from the Lord, peace and all help be given to you and the sick. The last case, how it was achieved so that she could partake of the Holy Mysteries, shows that you are not without benefit with her. It’s good that you reminded your mother, and it’s good that you didn’t insist too much. It is natural for a mother to want what pleases her daughter to come from her, and not from others. Let it be so. You remind her what is needed and hide, and let her act. But remind with love, not with coldness; and if the reminder does not seem successful, do not complain, but pray that the Lord will speak into the hearts and arrange something beneficial for souls. Tell God's servant Vera to try even harder and more obediently to carry her cross. In the calculation, according to which she did not dare to ask, for fear of sinning in case of refusal, there is prudence. But couldn't a better calculation be made? I want to ask for what pleases God, what is useful to my soul and now needs: why not simply say what is in my soul? In silence, in this case, there is distrust, there is a preliminary unfavorable judgment about the one to whom we do not want to open up. Love is frank. But will they refuse? Well? The matter will remain in the same position as it was before the request. Why grumble after a request and refusal, if you can not grumble before the request? Who grumbles about refusal if not pride? Let's drive it out in advance; and let us make sure that the request is a matter of sincerity and love, and accepting a refusal will be a good opportunity for humility and patience. Let him think about whether it is possible to make such arrangements for such a case? I don’t strongly argue against the note about the confessor: however, I ask you to think about whether it is necessary and possible to say to the sick woman what I am now saying. Let us assume that the note is given, while the soul comes from the earth and, perhaps, is not yet completely detached from the here, and sees it, and both now and then (for the soul is the same) cares about what will happen to the note. Is it necessary to prepare this concern for oneself, or should one try to avert and destroy it? What if the note is not fulfilled and the soul is upset? Will it be good? Is that what your soul needs at this time? In advance, as decisively as possible, relinquish your will. What is ordered more than necessary, the execution of that should be handed over to the will and protection of God. But if there is something in the note that is not necessary, then it is better to destroy the note and surrender the confessor and his actions to the will of God. As a servant of God, knowing his duty, he will pray, both without a note and without an invitation; and if they invite him without a note according to his will, there will be more love and goodness in this. Instead of portraits, putting images of Prince Vladimir and the Great Martyr Catherine in the porch is best. Where to put the portrait under the vault in Otrada? If under the church in the tomb; that's good. Otherwise, it is necessary to ensure that there is no inconsistency with the last Highest command, so that there are no images in churches other than sacred ones. I am returning the inscriptions and attaching others to choose from. Do yourself a favor, do not often talk about inconsolability: a Christian should not remain inconsolable forever and be careful not to reproach Providence with inconsolability. Has the God of all consolation become so poor in consolation that he has none for you? Has and bestows: open your heart and receive; do not put up sad memories as a strong wall against the consolation of God; let them find and pass like clouds, and the light of Christ freely enters the sad soul and shines in it with its bright consolation so that the darkness of sadness does not overwhelm it. I kept wanting to be in your shelter several times, but I still couldn’t find the time. And now it has become so cold that I regretted yesterday that I had not put on a fur coat. However, I still think I will be there. May God send a blessing to Sister Barsanuphia. Once again I entrust you and your sick person to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. A blessing from the Lord for peace and comfort. After your letter on August 31st, I had another letter from your sick woman this morning, but it was in a dream. When they were allowed to partake of the Holy Mysteries, it was necessary to use this gift, and thank God, and not notice whether they were willingly allowed, and not bring to mind what they had previously delayed, and especially not to reproach. What is to be considered and judged when a person is called to leave everything? Read the word of faith to Faith: For your sake we are being killed all day long, counted as sheep of the slaughter. But in all these things we overcome for the sake of him who loved me 15. Tell her that it is not a problem to find yourself in a worse state of spirit than before: we will condemn ourselves more than before, and the Lord will accept this humility and will have more mercy. If despondency comes, let him remember the consolation of God: the Lord loves him, punishes him, and let him bear the despondency that was sent, and not increase it with another arbitrary despondency about why the despondency came. Weakness will not prevent us from improving if we are faithful to obedience to the will of God: for the power of the Lord is made perfect in weakness. I told her before that in her desire to die there was a mixture of boldness, perhaps still early, and hope in herself: the present thought of unworthiness to enter a better world is not so meek, but by the goodness of God may it serve to perfect the previous feeling. Her dream is good: her sisters teach her good things so that she loves them equally. I am addressing you. That on the day of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos you approached the Lord’s Table, I rejoice in this: I wish that on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross the Lord would grant you this consolation in power and action. Your relatives have some idea that the enemy has planted to harm the world and create temptations. Leave time to discover and fix it. Love your relatives, despite the fact that they are wrong about some things. With your love, sow love in them, and do not increase them with suspicions and coldness. We agreed on the 14th day before your letter: and, if God pleases, allow me not to obey your letter. On the 8th day, truly the Lord vouchsafed me to be at His Throne, and to remember you and the sick woman only not according to your letter, which was received in the evening of that day. If the unction took place on this day, then glory to God. From now on, we'll see what God shows. The NN clerk is not asking for the diaconate according to the law; but the petition for him will be respected to the fullest extent possible. Peace and blessing in the name of the Lord. Your letter dated the 8th day of this October encourages me not to delay in answering, after delaying the previous two. I’ll start from what I received yesterday, the content of which lies closer to memory. May the good hand of the Lord be with His servant, the Maiden Vera, and may he not cease to support her in her feat until the accomplishment of her soul for the eternal good. I would ask her, I would convincingly ask her not to believe that the source of her mother’s actions in relation to her spiritual father is a feeling of enmity; there will be much less danger of error and sin if one believes that she is guided by caution, taken sharply and extended far; that the enemy of souls and the sower of darkness obscures the truth in her eyes with guesses, suspicions, incorrect intelligence and rumors. I would also ask the sufferer, as much as possible, not to allow herself to be brought out of the inner refuge of peace and silence by the vividness of feeling against what seems to her to be unfair or offensive to the people in which she takes part. Look meekly and quietly at the disorders that not your liveliness, but God's goodness and wisdom will correct; look with love and expectation of hope at the souls that He is constantly seeking to have mercy on, and of course you will be able to do this better than you. The fruit of righteousness is sown in the world by those who create peace. Speak a word of salvation from a peaceful soul to the soul of your neighbor; and what you cannot say in this way, then tell the Lord about it in prayer: and your debt is fulfilled. That's what I would tell her. However, the blessing of the Lord is with her. Leventhal's spirit does not seem to be in harmony with her spirit. If these experiences continue, I wish that you were present with them with a praying heart, that is, that it would work out this way, because the events did not await my desire. Peace to your spouse's soul. It comforts me to see that you said goodbye to him with prayer and humility. As for his disposition, due to which he alienated you to the end, I will tell you the same thing that I told your niece above: do not easily believe the existence of enmity. Whatever the beginning of the judgment, over time it became a habitual state, and one that there were obstacles to correct; recently, your presence could have been especially difficult for him due to the memory of a common loss, and perhaps he thought that nothing was needed after you left each other. The ban on the son could have happened simply out of fear of disrespect. I am speaking at random about a man I did not know; but this is enough for the conclusion I need, namely: if the best is probable, do not believe the worst. Take care of the simplicity and purity of your gaze; do not cancel your own good feelings by suspecting your neighbor of evil; Pray in peace for the departed soul. In response to your other tales, I have nothing more to say than that you are doing well and will do it, using all possible precautions and sincere attention, to preserve the peace of your sister. I thank God that your friends and I were able to pray together for Vladimir’s soul, after on the previous day I could not leave my room to another. The weather was damp; and I left only out of stubbornness in my intention. However, thank God, this was not only harmless to my health, but also beneficial. Forgive me for this until another time. I pray to God that Saint Catherine’s Day will come to you with peace and health, and bring to your mind not only sorrowful memories, but also sweet hopes; not only the struggles of this life, but also the crowns of the future: and so that this will be a blessing and a good parting word for you to continue the days of your life. I can only write now. I am postponing the answer to your letter until an hour is free. May the Lord Himself speak peace to you, if people are not peace-speaking: for He alone, through people, and without people, powerfully and truly speaks peace to His people and to those who turn their hearts to Him. May He now bless you all with great joy; May He bless you with comfort throughout the coming summer. I still have to tell you about your October letter, although I remember that I wrote to you a little in November. Your ailing woman now sees that her fortune-telling about November 30 was in vain. We must beware of arbitrary predictions that interfere with curiosity and our own will. Isn’t it better for the Church to teach: let us surrender our whole life to Christ God, without calculating or choosing the day that He alone chooses faithfully, sometimes it is well foreseen for us, and sometimes it is good because it is unforeseen for us? Peace is a good thing: but it is not always better for peace to buy than to sell. The buyer buys the responsibility to pay and manage what was purchased. But does it also belong to the means of peace not to multiply worries unnecessarily? The celestial appearance of the army would undoubtedly be more worthy of attention than the daily observations of the thermometer and barometer: but the reports, daily replete with the latter, did not mention the former. The age does not want to believe the signs and is afraid to talk about them. What a contradiction! If you don’t believe what an entire village is saying, you need to investigate and not remain silent. If he is afraid to speak, therefore, he believes that there is something here; Consequently, it is not in conscience that he exhibits disbelief. This contradiction is a bad sign, no matter what the heavenly sign may be. Regarding rural schools, I think I told you that the thing to be most afraid of in teachers is corrupters. In England they tried to increase the number of public schools to teach reading: now they are repenting, because the literate have rushed to bad reading, and morals have become worse. It’s not bad for us to think about this experience either. If the student's behavior is approved, you can accept him as a teacher at your school. Blessings and peace from the Lord. As soon as my letter was sent, in which I spoke about your silence, I received your letter dated December 24th. I rejoice that you were preparing to celebrate the day of the Lord as close to the Lord as possible and to partake of His table. Blessed is the Lord, who grants to His servant such easily accessible, but so high and perfect communication, to which the one who strives will not hesitate to pass by attractive visions and fortune-telling about heavenly things! From your other letter I see that the suffering of your patient is not decreasing, and is almost increasing. May God strengthen her with His grace. It is clear that this is the only benefit left for her - thanks be to God - the benefit is always strong and inexhaustible for faith when it lives up to its name. When the fear of becoming weak in spirit comes to her: let her remember Christ the Savior praying in Gethsemane, and mentally fall to Him, thinking that at this time He took upon Himself our exhaustion of spirit and endured it, in order to thereby deserve and, indeed, give us help. And you pray for her with peace and hope. Strong, invincible, victorious over everything is the Lord who suffered for us. What did the 16th day of January bring? Is this not an instruction to think more humbly about our fortune-telling? Thank you for the shoes I just received. My legs continue to need such help, and, not being satisfied, even bother my head. However, thank God, now I am not locked in a cell and am quite freed from a persistent cold. Hello a lot and do not be weary of doing good. Peace and blessing from the Lord. I begin my answer to your two letters with the last one. Against the temptation of fear, let the Christian soul say to the Lord: even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. After the Lord was horrified and anguished in Gethsemane, and overcame the pain and horror, if a Christian is brought to Gethsemane, it will no longer be so scary after Him and with Him. He won in order to give us His victory. What wonder is it that the blindness of Israel continues for another thousand years? How short is the time when they look at it from eternity!! Meanwhile, at this time, the door of salvation is not closed to any of the Israelis; The Christian Church is open; The Gospel is before our eyes; those who are impartial believe and are saved, those who are stubborn cannot blame anyone but themselves for not wanting to believe and be saved. The saying: all Israel will be saved does not mean that every one of them, but that there will be a great public conversion, instead of the fact that before there were only private conversions, and the mass of Israel remained in opposition. But we’ll find out how to do this during performance. Daniel the prayer book and contemplator understood the prophecy about the seventy-year captivity in Babylon at the end of this period, therefore, others did not understand it at that time, although the prophecy seems simple. So, we would like to be greater than Daniel if we wanted to determine in advance the fulfillment of the predictions of the apostles Paul and John, whose subjects about time are without comparison more extensive than the prophecies about the captivity of Babylon. The local fire on February 2 was an amazing incident. It recalls what the Lord said about those who were crushed by the fall of the pillar of Siloam. But no less scary is the way it was received by the people. Those who heard about those burned and saw their remains did not refuse to dance in the noble assembly that same evening. After one or two days, the buffoon, who had burned more than a hundred people, again had many spectators in another place. What should we do when such horrors do not touch us? As time goes on, you say, the number of sinners increases. I answer: but the number of those being saved also increases. And one precious stone is more valuable than heaps of brushwood that must be burned. The Lord is wise and good, Who endures sinners for a long time and meanwhile completes the predetermined and providential number of those being saved. He who has tasted in inner prayer that the Lord is good has received a good calling to exercise in this prayer, and let him follow this calling. It’s a good dream in which the older sister appeared rejoicing and inviting the younger sister on her way. We who travel need to think about the path from the visible to the invisible, and may God grant that our good predecessors, who rejoice in the Lord, invite us with them. Peace, consolation and health, especially spiritual, and with this physical health to you and the sick person. Christ is Risen! Have peace and joy and hope of eternal life in Him! How late I am telling you this! It's hard for you to believe that it couldn't be otherwise. But I could not do otherwise, although every day I had your letters at hand, thinking that it would come to answering them. Your parent is remembered well. His soul will be comforted by this and the progress of his just and custodial administration. I especially like helping poor peasants with those items that are lacking on our farm and the receipt of which should restore and support their peasant life. I heard about your illness yesterday from Countess Anna Alekseevna that she is better. God grant! But I think they see better than how she feels. It’s already too late to respond to almost everything that is written in your letters. Thank you, by the way, for the news about some edifying incidents. The vision of the inhabitants of the moon through a chimney is a fairy tale. His Grace Kazansky wanted to leave around 12, and it’s heard that he already left on the 10th day of this month. I would have gone to my place even without his arrival: his arrival should have helped me leave St. Petersburg, or better yet, return to my place for a longer time. I don't really hope to win this. The robe is very good and maybe too good. May the Lord clothe you with the robe of salvation, accepting your service (to Him), to Himself and to His shrine, and not to a person who deserves nothing. A blessing from the Lord to you and the virgin Vera, and to every soul that seeks Him and desires to please Him. I have been unwell for over a week and sat at home, and now I still hesitantly consider myself healthy. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our sins, will allow you to die to sin and live for God, having forgiven what you did before against His commandments, whether in ignorance or knowledge, through weakness or negligence. It’s good to pray for your enemies more often, and try to see them not as enemies, but simply as neighbors. Writing down misdeeds can be helpful; But whether it is really useful must be determined from experience. It is necessary that the note convicting us helps us condemn ourselves and beware of what we condemn ourselves for, and not be a simple counting of misdeeds: for we are not yet made more right and better because our misdeeds are numbered. As for success in correction and goodness, the apostle says: forgetting what is behind to what is before, I stretch myself. And the Lord himself: if you do all that is commanded, say that you are unbreakable servants. May God help you to succeed in good things, and not to take credit for success, but to thank God, who helps with grace, and to pray for continued help. This answer is late, because I just returned from what was truly a prison meeting, at almost eleven o’clock in the evening. May the Lord look upon the humble recognition of weaknesses and sins, and may He justify you with His grace, and may He accept you into His fellowship with a peaceful conscience. And last time you did not bother me with what you called insolence in explaining your condition. Knowing my weaknesses, which are greater than others, I, thanks to God, look at the weaknesses of my neighbor with peace and, without judging, I say what seems fair and beneficial. Listen in peace and do better than my weakness says. May the Lord guide you and strengthen you. May the Lord rebuke the devil, who puts his wicked words into an unwary ear, and may the Lord cleanse the soul that has allowed the barking of a hellish dog to reach its ears. One must humble oneself and put one’s will aside worldwide in order to protect the soul with the silence of purity. You console those who comfort you, if possible, with care, gentle management and charity. We must do the best we can. There is no use in grumbling about the impossible. What is there to judge who is suffering for whom or for what? Love for everyone and for enemies regrets the suffering, asking God to ease his suffering and turn what was sent for the good of his soul. If we want to help those who have died with deeds of love, let us also use love for our enemies for this purpose; Let us also perform this virtue for them, as a sacrifice for them. The fathers say: if you cannot do a good deed to the poor, at least do not upset him, but tell him a good word, from which you will not have a loss. Strive to overcome all sin and succeed in good. May He who takes away the sins of the whole world forgive yours with His grace and love for mankind; and with the bread of life may he strengthen you for further exploits. On her day, may Saint Catherine descend upon your prayers and those offered for you, may she lift them up with her help to the Source of grace, and may she bring down grace and peace for your coming days. I received your letter dated 4 days; and I have called and call upon you the mercy and help of Him who takes away the sins of the world; the mercy of the One who takes away past sins, helping to protect oneself from new sins. Let us be grateful to the Merciful and Forgiving; and let gratitude make us quite attentive, so as not to offend the Merciful. From what you say about your patient, it is noticeable that her life is running out. May the Lord be merciful to her, as He Himself knows. My cold is bothering me a lot, and I’m just waiting for relief. Last Monday I couldn’t be in office either; and yesterday it was again. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners, may he be your witness to your confession, and may he blot out the handwriting of your sins with the fiery, all-purifying power of His Divine Blood, shed for us, that is, acting in power and sacrament. It is righteous to yearn for the true homeland: you just shouldn’t be exhausted from this, but act to reach your homeland. If you are afraid of unexpected death, let us try to make it not unexpected, that is, we will diligently think about death and keep ourselves, if possible, prepared for it. God sends the fear of death for instruction, not for confusion. In the dryness of prayer, these two things must be separated: dryness and prayer; and hold on to prayers, and do not disturb yourself with thoughts of dryness. People also live by dry eating, sometimes they feed on the bread of tears and drink tears in moderation, and sometimes on Thy true feast, O Lord, they will be drunk with the fatness of Thy house, and give them to drink with streams of Thy sweetness. But even in appearance, not every day is a holiday. Taking care of prayer at night is better than pleasant dreams: and only in prayer do those who rest and in their dreams see the destinies of God, and those who chase a dream will, whether or not they catch, a dream, and not the truth. It is not bad to think about a will, but not passionately, but selectively, as one disposes of someone else’s property in preparation for an account. That people whom we know as dreamers dream good things about us, then there is both a vice in them, for it comes from passion, and a virtue, because, thinking too well of us, they put themselves low in front of us, or otherwise, they humble themselves. So, if their dreams seduce us, let us think that in this case we become more unfounded than the dreamers themselves, that it is worse to flatter ourselves than to flatter others; that our selfish seduction is more sinful than their humble dreams. With these thoughts we will drive away flattering thoughts and crush our hearts: but God will not despise a broken heart. It is easy to engage in charity as a game, at a convenient time: more work, more true charity. May God also accept that goodness that is done for the sake of saving a beloved neighbor: and may He teach us to do good with greater purity, for the sake of the One who has loved all. We sin when we follow good intentions and motives incorrectly and inaccurately: but the Lord is also good in sending good intentions and motives. Let us repent of sin, acknowledge grace, be strengthened in hope, be encouraged in deeds, and not become lazy while there is time, and God grants help. May blessing, peace and joy be given to you from the Lord, who was humbly born for the salvation of our glory; and may the grace of His Most Pure Mother and Her prayers help you to endure the struggles and sorrows of the old life and to nurture and restore a reborn life. The same adventure is repeated with me: I still have to blame myself for the long silence: endure and forgive what I cannot do otherwise. Thank you for the kind memory of my Angel’s day. Someone reminded me that my new name is already 28 years old. How much is true life? I pray to the Lord and ask for prayers from those who love mankind, so that by preaching to others, I myself will not be turned off. I am also guilty before your sick one for not answering for a long time about her thoughts about where to place her body after her death. My answer is simple: don’t do this at all. There is no need to introduce much into the details of future events, which are difficult to foresee and determine in all respects, so as not to bind the soul with unnecessary worries and not to bind others with demands that may turn out to be impossible to fulfill. It is enough that you know its thought: you can use it, depending on the circumstances. The prayer of loving souls cannot be interfered with: if they are not allowed into the church where the body is, God will hear them outside the door in the same way as with the body. The death of Princess Shakhovskaya is remarkable. May the Lord rest her soul; and let the stories about her excite those who hear to think more carefully about the future. In our monastery, one young novice recently forestalled the elders well. Served the sick. I fell ill with a fever. He said that he would die tomorrow, hearing this from the magnificent old man; and the next day after the early liturgy he received the Holy Mysteries and died before the later one. The Parisian adventure of the subterranean noise, so well attested as an event, would be worth thoroughly investigating to discover its meaning and cause; but in Paris, probably, there is no ability for this. The Most Reverend Gregory suffered a lot from inflammation of the lung eye, and was close to praying not only for this, but, as the last doctor says, for other things as well. Refusing the first ophthalmologist in St. Petersburg and taking the merchant Oreshnikov. The Reverend received significant relief within a week, and now there is hope. Knowing that I am often late, I now wish to call upon you God’s blessing for the upcoming New Year. For several days now I have been urgently wanting to write to you, and two of your letters have been lying before my eyes for three days for this purpose: but bondage pushes me away to other subjects. Your third letter, just received, helps me break away from other activities and respond. I already had a caring thought about your relatives and especially about the virgin Vera, having noticed from the reports the departure of her brother. I accept with sympathy the information you provide, which, however, brings with care and comfort. May the Lord help the life of her parent, and especially the better life, which not only lives for a while, but which even death cannot harm. Tell her to thank God for her sorrows and sufferings, in which God did not leave her without consolation and reinforcement, and presented her parents with useful reminders for them at the time of their need, and raised their love for her, apparently wavering, to a higher and purer level. Let us know that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth; Let us bless the ways of the Lord; We tell ourselves to follow obediently. humbly and faithfully to the Lord who leads us invisibly; Let us not be alarmed by what we do not see; whether He will lead us further, easy or difficult, quietly or sedately. Tell me too, souls who seek the Lord, that I too should act as I advise you; ask for the help of the Faithful One, the Lord who is faithful to Him, for me, as I ask it for you. What can I say to Evdokia Silvestrovna, not knowing why she is especially sad for her brother. If only about the fact that he died; this does not require my straw words; There are the golden words of the Apostle Paul: do not grieve for those who have died, as do others who have no hope. Will he say that suddenly you can’t do everything? To this I can say: put at least a drop of quiet and humble prayer into the cup of sorrow; the whole bowl will gradually acquire a non-bitter taste. I don’t see anything in our reports about the special phenomena in nature that you talk about from foreign reports. The Lord sends signs: and people close their eyes so as not to see, and their ears so as not to hear, and their lips so as not to proclaim to their neighbors, as if afraid, lest they turn and repent, lest the Lord stop the troubles he sends and turn away those he threatens. We must pray that the Lord will have mercy on us, and if not from troubles, then from bitterness and an unrepentant spirit: for it is better and easier for the repentant to suffer than for the unrepentant. (Princess Elizabeth, they say, is suffering greatly.) Again, the Lord’s blessing to you and the Virgin Vera, and to every soul who seeks His Lord in selflessness, faith, love and humility. Your last letter was received yesterday 16 days. Before this, I was putting off writing, believing that you might already be on your way: now I am writing, in the likelihood that you are still there. I was in your church for 11 days. The road was very good, and I drove there after the presanctified liturgy without fatigue. I thought about choosing the 14th day for this purpose in order to participate there in prayers: but the activities at the Synod and at home were such that it was inconvenient to tear myself away from them all day, and therefore I commemorated the 14th day by performing the liturgy of the 13th day on Sunday. Your buildings are generally good, and although I think that the outside plastering is rather proper, I did not notice any significant dampness in them. The church and bell tower are visible from afar. The interior appearance and location of the church is, in my opinion, very good. The image of the Last Supper, blocked by the pilasters of the iconostasis, was a success, and, it seems, is the best in the church. Other icons are partly good enough, and partly could have a more ecclesiastical and less pictorial character. But if this is a drawback, then it is common in current church painting in St. Petersburg. There is no throne or lamps yet. However, I did not notice anything that would require advice on correction. There are unoccupied places where it is appropriate for an icon to be. But this does not require care and can be done in time. They ask me about the inscription on the iconostasis. It would be appropriate, with your advice, to elect her. For example: God is in His holy place; or: Pour out your hearts before Him; or obey God's soul. All this is from the psalms. But enough about the church. The last of the written sayings is also suitable in response to your sadness that in a dream you had a pleasant meeting with your parents, but not with your son. Perhaps the vision of our souls has not yet been sufficiently purified so that visions in sleep are not just dreams. Or, if there is some grain in these tares, it is not easy to find where it is and what it is. To see, you need light: everything that appears is light. Peaceful and quiet love has light. Love that is immoderate, but disturbs itself with sorrowful memories, darkens its own light and does not see what it seeks to see. So, obey your soul to God. In your testing of yourself, as it was expressed in your last letter, there is attention. Continue this testing and observation of yourself, and the Lord will be faithful to help you correct what you condemn in yourself. The blessing of the Lord to His servant the virgin Vera. I wish that separation from you would not be difficult for her. Let the name of the Lord Jesus abide in her heart, and she will not be alone in spirit. I wrote to Countess Anna Alekseevna after the death of O. Photius. Her answer and other information show that she obediently accepted the will of God, which determined her deprivation. Based on the obedience that she had towards her late spiritual father, the deprivation sent to her, of course, is not a punishment; but without a doubt the Lord has merciful intentions for her soul in this. May the peace of the Lord be with you. I fall before the Lord Crucified for us, asking His saving grace for your pain. Christ is Risen! Accept the joy of His resurrection. May the joy of him who died for our sins and rose again for our justification comfort us in our sorrow over sins. May the joy of the resurrected ruler of our life console us in sorrow for the dead. May the joy of faith increase the power of our Faith for salvation. What kind of trouble would it be if the Lord sent me to pray and serve the saints in Kyiv? But this lot fell on my name. I rejoice to hear that Fr. Archimandrite Apollos pays attention to Elder Philaret. this may be useful. And what is this description of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior that I supposedly drew? I did not draw any, but someone who drew the plan and description left them in my cell in my absence, and although I ordered them to be returned also in my absence; but their creator stopped me coming out, and I had to personally admit to him that I could not advise him to publish either a plan or a description; that he unsuccessfully tries to insert the apocalypse into stones and glass; that in an Orthodox church there is no place for sovereigns of foreign confessions. Is this not the same creation you are engaged in? If so, then the writer skillfully punishes me for disapproving of his creation, attributing to me what I was armed against. I ask you not to participate in this punishment for me: because I am not guilty against you in this case. Let's turn our words to what is more useful. The judgment of the spiritual father must be submitted with faith. With the obedience of faith, deprivation is useful as a gift. The less we fall into condemning our neighbor, the better we know ourselves. From this thought let us take an incentive to exercise self-knowledge and a weapon against condemning our neighbor. Inner prayer is a treasure hidden in the countryside, for the acquisition of which one can and must sell everything that is not internal, that is, leave behind everything that entertains and prevents one from going deeper into the foundation of the soul and entering into grace-filled communion with God. Let's look around, didn't we regret selling anything? The imagination of the sleeper, and good people have a path along which random passers-by more often walk than special messengers, and often, both fugitives and deceivers. Gullibility opens the door for thieves. Prudence is in no hurry to open the door to the messenger. A true messenger does not enter with affection, but with the power of the Sender. Beware of engaging in dreaming with arbitrary curiosity. The late Metropolitan of Kiev Eugene, who died on February 23, wrote the following to the Archbishop of Kazan on the 10th day: “not very long ago, a fever with such strange quirks became attached to me, which did not interfere with me at all from doing things, but in which I, as in a mirror, see my death. I’ll hardly survive this month.” It was clear that he was a messenger, and not a passer-by. The Angel of Peace, who proclaims life, consolation and salvation, to you and the Virgin Vera, I call from the Lord Angels and men. In order not to complicate the conscience of your spiritual father, I consider it best to let him decide the question of whether you should start the Lord’s Table tomorrow. And I advise you to put your will into obedience. If you receive permission, accept mercy and comfort. If you receive advice to hold back, accept the encouragement to humility, to greater reverence for the sacrament, to the recognition of your unworthiness and to attention during the preparation time. In this way, even deprivation can serve you for spiritual gain. However, may the Lord, like the news, arrange something beneficial for your soul. For the all-night vigil we ask; and let us be gathered in the name of the Lord, who promised to be among those gathered in His name. If we cannot bring to the Lord deeds and virtues, let us at least bring to Him sorrow for our sins and unworthiness, complaints about ourselves and humble prayers for forgiveness and help. Just as He is righteous to give good reward to those who strive, so He is abundantly merciful to forgive the repentant and show mercy to the weak. May He forgive you every sin, voluntary or involuntary, and may He grant you, in His divine communion, consolation and a new incentive to be faithful before Him. The Fathers say that the door to tenderness and tears is blocked either by vanity or addiction to earthly things. Let's test ourselves; and if these barriers stand, let us strive to destroy them. If the soul of the awakening one reluctantly rises to the Lord, is it not because they tried little to inspire it with heavenly thoughts, and allowed it to be burdened with earthly worries? If so; Let us move forward to take away these obstacles too. What I said above in the first article, I see confirmation of this in the continuation of your letter. Analyze impartially what vanity says: and you can tell him: you are unfoundedly flattering and lying, and, comforting with lies, you are depriving the true consolation that would be found in tenderness and humility. Isn't it a remnant of enmity to carefully notice the punishment of enemies? The Lord does not tell us who he punishes for what. Let us not judge, that we may not be judged: let us pray for mercy towards our enemies, that we too may receive mercy. However, may the Lord forgive you and resolve everything that binds your soul. What you said about serving tomorrow, there is no insolence in that: but forgive me for not deciding on something difficult after two rather difficult days. You can take Deacon Demetrius and the singers; but the housekeeper, I don’t know, won’t serve at home. Yesterday's word, which is close, I am sending. You are rightly concerned with the duty of thanking God especially for the fact that he has given you the means and time to erect churches that will extend the prayer for you and for your relatives beyond your opportunity on earth, and during your opportunity will reinforce your prayer. We must beware of inattention to this gift of God; but we must also give thanks with humility and recognition of our unworthiness, so that the Lord will elevate the humble soul to the exalted degrees of grace, so that we do not turn back through negligence, but extend ourselves to what lies before us with increasing zeal. When the nun spoke in church, and your thoughts also spoke inappropriately, reasoning about her: by acting impartially, you would condemn her and yourself together, and by condemning yourself you would correct the sin of condemning your neighbor. The more carefully we look after ourselves, the easier it will be to guard against the condemnation of our neighbor. However, may the Lord forgive you and bless you with His Holy communication. May your renewed summer bless you with peace and success in good things. My ill health is more a precaution against something greater than an illness. I wish you not to lose the Lord’s Table tomorrow and to offer your memory to the Lord before it. The Apostle James says that if anyone does not sin in word, he is able to bridle the whole body. So, it is not unimportant to abstain in the word, especially in the word of condemnation, and also in the word of condemnation against those whom God created our judgment to establish and form. To sin is a human matter, but to notice one’s mistakes in order to put oneself on vigilant caution in the future is a spiritual, Christian matter. If the tempter leads us into errors, let us use them to motivate ourselves to correct and improve and, thus, defeat him with his weapon. May God forgive you for the past and may He preserve and guide you in the future. May Saint Catherine pray with you for God’s blessing for the summer renewed in her name, and may she be your guide to the Life-giving meal. May the Infant Lord Jesus bless you with His humility, and His meekness, and His gentleness, and may He renew your days with health and peace. After a journey that was not easy, because the cold was beyond my strength, however, lasting no more than five days, as usual, I soon thought of writing to you and thanking you for the protection you gave to my feet on the road, which at first seemed unnecessary, but later turned out to be very useful. Keeping my feet warm I think especially helped me avoid getting sick on the road. It is God’s mercy that, having caught a cold while still near Moscow, I did not suffer from this on the road, but paid for it a few days already in St. Petersburg. From my arrival until now I have only gone to the Synod once; and spent the holiday in his cell. That is why I am writing this late, but not entirely late; but this morning I decided to act somewhat like a healthy person, although even now I feel a noise in my head. I don’t complain about your silence; but, as it happened in these days, if you say a word, I want to know that you are in good health, and that your silence is just silence. Peace from the Lord to your soul and to every soul that seeks Him in faith and the desire to please Him. Blessing from the Lord. Your letter of December 22 took a long time to arrive. I received this after already sending you a letter in which I mentioned your silence. If you and Ekaterina Sergeevna wanted to remember me on December 26, please accept my gratitude and tell her my wish for God’s blessing. The sight of a blind woman over poisoned food is a miraculous event, to be fair. Peace and relief to your aching person. The sad thought about the fire of the palace was somewhat relieved when on New Year’s Day I saw the Sovereign Emperor and the Empress with their usual bright appearance, as well as the shrine and utensils of the Greater Court Cathedral intact in the Hermitage of the regimental church, but it will be possible to think about this completely carefree when God grants that we will see the palace as it was. The Emperor wants to restore everything as before, which is facilitated by the fact that everything important has been preserved, but what has been lost is what can be returned with money. I am very grateful for the gloves, and I would ask for one or two more, but not so thin, so that there would be no needless multiplication of work. My hands need protection, not decoration. Elisaveta Mikhailovna, the sister of Prince Alexander Nikolaevich, asks me about your arrival in St. Petersburg, therefore, she thinks about you and wants to see you. If you notice that in St. Petersburg your soul was more inclined to inner prayer, then it is worth the trouble to think about why this is so? Is it because then the soul was very busy with matters of serving God and the very obstacles encountered in this matter were prompted to more zealously resort to Him, and that in such a state of mind you were less occupied with the affairs and worries of this world? Doesn’t this experience teach that in all other circumstances one must try to position oneself in such a way that the desire to please God is the main occupation and activity, and worldly affairs are the last, secondary, lower occupation, to which the soul descends only out of need, trying to constantly return to a higher and better matter? If you have succeeded enough in placing the work of God above human and worldly affairs, then you have succeeded in them better and have avoided many sins. However, may the Lord forgive you every sin of deed, word and thought, voluntary and involuntary; and may He strengthen your spiritual life with the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Life. May the Lord accept your repentance for the purification of your soul and for worthy communion with the Lord in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. May new consolation, new strength and new light be given to you, so that you can better see what is pleasing to the Lord and more faithfully fulfill it. I don’t have time to say more. Thank you for your letter. I was already thinking that I haven’t known anything about you for a long time. The successful completion of the Highest Journey is, of course, the mercy of God and the joy of all Russia. The news about the Sovereign Heir is reassuring: but we will rejoice in him when we see him at home. We have no one to copy sermons. My office is overwhelmed with business and has lagged behind me so much that I had to make special efforts so that it does not get confused at all. I hope to send one sermon in print. Peace and patience to Countess Vera Nikitichna: patience for those times when she intercedes a lot. God's blessing to you through the prayers of St. Catherine for the renewal and multiplication of your days, for success in good, with the hope of bliss. With this wish I anticipate the day of your Angel; and, if the Lord grants, tomorrow I will bring it before the altar of the Lord. You will receive two printed sermons. The fact that your sister wants to plant gardens may have been noticed by someone who loves gardens. And I know that she is building a bell tower and taking permission to build a church on the site of the rooms where Fr. lived and died. Archimandrite Photius. The ruler had not previously agreed to this last point, but now he agrees. She spoke to me about your matter. I am still of the opinion that it is necessary to compile a thorough note about it, so that good people who can be useful in this matter can put it in the true point of view. Without that, the plausible answer is ready: they looked at it twice. You should not have been embarrassed by an incomprehensible incident. Didn’t you know before that the Lord’s destinies are many, and that, consequently, they cannot be exhausted with a handful of human understanding? Death, combined with terrifying circumstances, is either the endowment of what was hidden in a person and what must be revealed for eternity, or the last punishment, purification, admonition, the last crucible in which the remnants of hope for oneself and for one’s virtues must burn, when a person, feeling himself in hell, will feel again not alienated from mercy and torn out by fire. Looking at the phenomena and not seeing the soul, we do not know what judgment is pronounced. Cases of this kind only repeat the teaching already known to us from Scripture - that we must work out our salvation with fear and carefully test ourselves, even if we are in faith. It should not be ignored when the Church prays for the Christian death of our life, not shameful, peaceful. May the Lord grant attention and vigilance over oneself; and may He cover us from His judgment with His mercy and His sacrifice on the cross. Accept gratitude that is late in verbal expression, but not late in heartfelt feeling, for your prayerful participation in the day of my Angel. I don’t know how it happened that you received my letter on December 2nd. It should have come much earlier, as long as I remember the time when I wrote. I turn to your letter about the late Nativity priest. I allowed someone to look for him in his place who would take his daughter. For a long time I don’t hear about the consequences of this, but meanwhile there are harassment regarding the place, which makes it difficult to hesitate. Ekaterina Fedorovna Muravyova also wrote to me about this matter. Please tell her that I received her letter on the day of her Angel and congratulated her to myself, I wanted to write to her, but it is always difficult for me to move from business to letters. I ask her not to be angry with me. And based on the participation that she shows in the orphaned family, and the close relationship it seems with him, will she take the trouble to tell the widow that it’s time to decide on something, and tell me so that I know what to do. The Life of the Prophet Elijah, which has come down to you, is probably the product of private, one-sided thinking about the subjects of religion, although not superficial. A soul purified and estranged from the world and participating in the grace of God, without a doubt, remains in communion with God: but this communion is above all images and manifests itself more or less when and as it is convenient for grace, and is not tied to the image that man would like to assign to it. The Apostle says that the anointing from the Holy One teaches, but does not say that it necessarily speaks within with a voice, as they say on the street. God speaks peace to His people and to those who turn their hearts to Him: so, yes, let us turn our hearts to Him, so that we strive to be the people of God, loving God and doing His will; and let us believe that He speaks peace upon us, but let us recognize ourselves as unworthy to hear His word. If we hear only the breath of this world, only its will, only pure silence, after the cessation of the noise and movement of earthly thoughts and desires: and for these words to Christ God, Who is our peace. May God bless you to fully taste the peace of God brought to earth by the Nativity of Christ the Savior. Meet Fedor Nikol. Glinka, I think it’s interesting. I had the opportunity to know about his curiosity, combined with piety. I heard about his poetic translation of the book of Job. I also heard that some are grumbling about not allowing it to be published. But I finally heard what some people suspect is secular. I have not seen this translation. I don’t consider it impossible to achieve satisfactory work of this kind: but it is very difficult for it to really succeed. A book about the Blessed Virgin, if written with an intention worthy of the subject, is itself dedicated to the Blessed Virgin: and I agree with you that it is better not to dedicate it to anyone else, and even better not to accept such a dedication. And what kind of right-thinking, modest person would arrogate to himself the right to abuse the name of his neighbor with such a dedication against his will? You ask whether you are not worthy to perform a hereditary work of charity. Which of us dares to call himself worthy in any case before God? So this is a general concern. But the thought of our unworthiness should not depress us or discourage us, but should lead us to humility and humble prayer. It would not be better or more reliable if we recognized ourselves as worthy. However, the fate of the Lord is many, and He deeply tests hearts and intentions, and with an all-seeing eye sees deeds and their consequences: and therefore we cannot always understand why the bad is sometimes allowed, and the way for the good is not opened. And that the Lord did not reject your sacrifice, you can see this with consolation and gratitude from the fact that your Church is perfect, dedicated, and in it prayer for you and for the souls precious to your heart is immortalized. I am talking especially about the Church, which would not exist without you. So, peacefully surrender to the will of God, and without embarrassing yourself with your own thoughts. Having not heard from you or about you for a long time, I thought that you were already traveling. Having received your letter today, I am writing immediately. Whether my illness was dangerous, I don’t know, it just required a lot of medical help, which, thank God, was timely and effective. Besides, laugh if you like, I extracted two recipes from two dreams; and I think they were important. By the way, I was also prompted to write to Grigory Yakovlevich by a dream. In a dream he announced to me the death of his wife. In reality I did not accept it as true as in the dream, but I was prompted to write. I have compassion for your sick Countess Vera Nikitichna and Evdokia Silvestrov. May patience in bodily suffering enhance purity and peace in their souls. Here I meant the one who was remarkably ill and has now passed away. Elisaveta Mikhailovna Khitrova, having received the Holy Mysteries in the first week of Lent, without knowing why, wished to resume this during Holy Week. This idea was supported and fulfilled. After Easter she fell ill. The doctor did not respect the disease: but the patient predicted her death and complained why she was not receiving the Holy Mysteries. This was fulfilled when I was called, although the doctor still did not express any concerns. But then several difficult days followed, and her prediction came true. Her worthy daughter not only did not leave the sick woman, but also did not leave the body of the deceased until she was lowered into the grave. I already know about the fire in the Strastnoy Monastery from a report. Thank God that your home so close has been preserved. They are unlikely to give help to the monastery, just as they did not give it to the Serpukhov monastery, although the abbess there was left without a home. I won’t be in Moscow on May 15, because I hope to be in Novgorod no earlier than May 14, so as not to be deprived of the Church on holidays. May the Lord stretch out His hand from His holy dwelling and bless both your stay and your journey. May the Lord, who knows the heart, accept your humble confession of guilt before God and inability to do good without the grace of Christ, and may He grant you forgiveness of sins and the grace of good deeds, and especially in the fellowship of His Divine table. But without providing ourselves with a general call to duty, let us practice self-knowledge, and let us catch ourselves in sinful and passionate thoughts in order to kill them, each with a corresponding blow of self-condemnation and repentance, constantly directing ourselves to pure thoughts and to achieving dispassion. I don’t see very clearly what the confusion in prayer consists of: but for you to act against the Holy Spirit, by the grace of God, I consider you to be strangers; do not outrage yourself with suspiciousness; but simply with humility repent of the imperfection of prayer or the violation of its order, and try to make up for what happened by paying attention to prayer and its order in the future. Time for church. God's peace to your soul. Note the ways of the Lord in temptation. If our desires were fulfilled more successfully than those of others, perhaps we would thank God, but with gratitude combined with self-satisfaction, and dissatisfiedly pure: and we would not even know that within us lies an inclination to envy the successes of our neighbor, instead of only being comforted by his consolation: and not knowing this shortcoming in ourselves, we did nothing to correct ourselves from it. Failure to fulfill our desires causes a feeling that we did not suspect in ourselves: it comes out; let us enter into self-knowledge; let us condemn ourselves, call on repentance, prayer and love for our neighbor to help us correct ourselves; and let us give Glory to God, who will not interfere with the improvement of some of our external affairs, but thereby opens for us the path to the improvement of our spiritual home. This is what it seemed to me not superfluous to especially offer to your consideration. However, may the Lord forgive you every sin, and in peace of conscience may He accept you to His Holy and life-giving Table. The Lord will bless you with a new summer, with new good deeds and new successes in a new life according to His commandments and according to His Spirit. The providence of God introduces you into a period of years, which, according to the Psalmist, lies beyond the ordinary limit of life and in which a smaller number of people enter, even if they are able. Thank God, who gave you the strength to continue your work, despite severe tribulations. Receive with special attention the gift of days, which is not given to everyone, and multiply the fruits of the offering. Multiplying the talent of time. It’s hard to guess what a printed piece of paper means. Only two spoiled names resemble a historical incident. Other circumstances represent romantic fiction. Doesn’t this mean that a hired correspondent had to earn a salary for money and could not do otherwise? Be that as it may, people are crazy: but Providence allows them to do crazy things with a wise purpose. If slander or a bitter reminder comes, then through this we are given a touchstone to test our virtue. If we accept it with patience and humility, thank God, there is hope that our work of love for our enemies will not burn out. If we are indignant, then through this experience we are given a reminder and encouragement to strive even more, so that our gold will be purer, our work more perfect. In this way one can benefit from the slander of a bitter reminder; and no enemy can harm us if we do not harm ourselves with impatience and mutual hostile feelings. May the Lord, who commanded love for enemies, prayed for them on the cross, and for the salvation of us, his enemies who are in sin, having tasted death, complete you in love and patience, forgiving you of every sin and strengthening you in every good deed. I rejoice in the relief of your pain. May the Lord strengthen her even more, mentally and physically. I thank you for your intention to bring a prayer for my humility on the day of my Angel, but the poetry with which you were pleased to speak about this is too high for me. A simple word is better than an artificial one, and an edifying word is better than a praiseworthy one. K. D. Urusov went to Moscow to ask for his mother’s blessing to leave the service and the world. She agreed, but only so as not to suddenly join the monastery, but to test herself at the monastery. Being engaged in such a business, it is not surprising that he was rarely seen in Moscow. I am glad that Fr. Macarius of Altai is pleased with Moscow, and I wish that he would bring from it a peaceful memory of it. Take the trouble to tell him that I have received his letter and give him the kiss of peace in the Lord. I return Otradin’s petition with permission. Send to church to perform. For a long time my letter did not reach you. According to my calculations, he had to arrive in 24 days. What you wrote about recruiting money, I don’t complain about it at all; Don’t complain at me for the answer, which should have been so based on my observation of the progress of things. I regret that Ms. Vera Nikitichna was exhausted again. Upset? Isn't it time for us to establish our hearts in the Lord, Who is our peace, so that the external battles of sorrows do not shake us and disturb our inner peace? Then your health would suffer less from grief. Tell her soul: peace be with you. I rejoice that the most pious Emperor has shown you his favor. Deeds of charity must be done for God and for neighbors who are in need; One should not desire visible honors for them: but it is good when the Righteous Power looks at them with love. I received the letter dated 22 today after the liturgy: but I could not talk to the person who delivered it. It's good that Fr. Macarius is pleased with Moscow; and it’s not bad that it comes together into its own. As for the enterprise of the noble and pious maiden N. to cooperate with the mission; I don’t know whether the present age will understand this well, and whether it will leave a good, but not ordinary, deed without temptation. I wrote about this to Fr. Macarius. It is interesting to know how he accepted my thoughts and what will be done. The thought of the Constantinople Jews that if this year does not fulfill their expectations of the Messiah, then they will admit themselves guilty, when I relayed it to the Eminence of Kyiv, he said that the Jews around Kyiv have a similar thought. However, it is not easy to imagine turning this idea into action. Is the light of Christian affairs sufficiently enlightened before the Jews to enlighten the Jews? Or will heaven bring a sudden light upon the Jews to convert them to Christ? And what will this mean for long-time Christians? May destinies be accomplished by the Lord; Let us pay attention to ourselves and our correction. The idea of ​​being in your church for the 14th day came to me on the previous day, at the very awakening, and then Fr. The chief priest was minding his own business, but gave me a chance to make sure that I could be there without causing difficulty to anyone. So I decided; and, in the communion of some souls who love you, without the shyness of crowds, we prayed for your parent and your child, and for your consolation in peace. There I met Count Alexander Nikitich, and was surprised because I thought he had left long ago. I could not resist telling him that I would like to know about the progress of your business. He said that he was moving as much as he could, and that his brother had replaced him. I didn’t see him at home either before or after this; Therefore, I don’t know in detail about his actions. You demand that I say my thoughts about your thoughts. I'll obey. Please listen to me with patience. I think it is useless to schedule your trip to St. Petersburg in the fall. In all likelihood, the matter will either be done or ruined before that time. It will probably be of little use for you to come here in the sixth week of this Lent, because two non-business weeks follow. Shouldn't you go out during the week of Easter? To this question it is more convenient to assume the appropriate answer is affirmative. But for this you need to know what happened after my previous letters to you: but I don’t know that. If you go, then I think it was best when you first thought about it. You would probably have found the job unfinished and unspoiled and would have come to his aid in time. You have a strange objection to traveling: will you have to introduce yourself? But wouldn't it be better to turn this objection into another reason for traveling? Why not take the opportunity to see and thank the kind and meek empress? She knows your way of life, and, no doubt, would receive you quietly and unceremoniously. Solitude and intimacy of life is a good thing. But, as you put it, it is horror to be in society - let me say that this is not a virtue; and what is not virtue must be corrected, and not enslaved to it. Consider the case and your situation. You can do what is good and desirable, establish a blessing for many, for posterity, do good to the souls of yours and yours who have departed: but for this you must endure horror - to appear among people. What to do? Ask Christian philanthropy for advice: what to do here? I think it will say that for such a great good to so many, how can they not endure this insignificant horror? Put me on the street all day long to be watched by people, just to do this good. But whose voice is it that says: that at least it is desirable to achieve the fulfillment of a good intention, but it is impossible; does not allow horror to appear to people? Of course, this is not the voice of humanity. You will say: this is the voice of sadness. I must add in fairness: self-pleasing sadness, unwilling to bend one’s will for the sake of love for one’s neighbors. For God's sake, don't be angry with me; but judge what I say calmly, and accept what you recognize as true, and forgive me for the fact that I want to remove the mote from my neighbor’s eye, without seeing the log in my eye. The last part of this letter is not intended to encourage you to travel, but so that you can correct and improve your thoughts and increase the peace of your soul. Let us fall to Christ the Lord, and from Him we will ask for the inspiration of faith and love, the healing of our spiritual infirmities, the forgiveness of our sins, and the awakening and strengthening of us to do good. Is this coldness towards the spiritual due to the fact that we are dissatisfied with the coldness towards the affairs of the world and the flesh, that our attention is greatly occupied with earthly things, and, being attracted to this, it is not easy to ascend to the heavenly? Let us strive to be more indifferent to that which is alien to the soul, which soon passes away and will not follow it on its eternal path. Thanking God for everything is a healthy and good way for the soul. May we guide ourselves along this path. While in the monastery at the village school, when I forced a student to read one of the commandments of the Decalogue, he was baptized and then read the words of the Divine Law. Not everyone and not everywhere can so freely express a feeling of reverence with a visible sign of the cross; but whoever wants to sanctify every undertaking with the blessing of God, without external obstacles, can internally turn to God and mentally protect himself with the sign and power of the Cross of the Lord. This is worthy of attention and care. However, may the Lord, who looks upon humility and accepts those who repent, look with mercy on the soul that confesses its weaknesses, shortcomings and stumblings, and in Him alone places the hope of goodness and salvation, and may He accept you into the cleansing, healing and life-giving communion of His Most Holy Body and Most Pure Blood. May the Lord accept your repentance, may He forgive you your previous sins, and may He protect you from them in the future, by the power of the shrine that you are partaking of. But let us be careful not to stumble where we fell before, and to walk rightly in the paths of the Lord. To read the Holy Scriptures, if you miss time in the morning, you can find time throughout the day. And when possible, correction is better than just admitting or apologizing for a problem. The book you are writing about is in part worthy of attention and reflection; but I admired you in vain. We should not indulge in the dreams of the imagination and create plans for the next century, when even in the present not everything happens according to our assumptions. For those who have gone there, we must simply pray with faith and hope, so that the All-Good God will do good for them, with the destinies that He broadcasts and which we do not understand. If anyone is afraid, has he sinned against the Holy Spirit with that sin about which the Lord spoke so threateningly; This very fear serves as a sign that his sins are of a different kind. He who is afraid lest he become a blasphemer does not blaspheme. The one who blasphemes is not afraid. How do you know if a person is reborn? - you ask. Is it necessary to notify him about this? Wouldn't the thought of finding oneself reborn harm the very cause of rebirth? It is enough that the Gospel showed the means of revival: faith, prayer, sacraments, commandments. Use the means carefully: and I believe the Lord will do His work. Born again of God. Employees at Novospassky will be released. The arrivals herald your arrival; your sister is expecting you: but your letter says nothing about this. Therefore, I don’t know whether this letter will not come across to you. I am writing, however, with a thought; so that it reaches your hands on the day of St. Catherine and brings you my remembrance for this day, with a humble prayer for the blessing of peace on your days and deeds. The Prince of Oldenburg has already invited me to his church today. I don’t know who slandered my house before you. He didn't give me the cold shoulder. The Eminence of Kyiv asked permission to stay in Kyiv for the winter; and this is permitted to him; however, he changed his mind and is expected to go to St. Petersburg these days. I am glad of this, both for cooperation in business and for solemn services, because my words are scanty and my health is unstable. You did a good deed by visiting the sick Petrova. But what does your remark mean that it cannot be removed from Blumenthal? I heard that this is a knowledgeable and well-intentioned doctor, and that out of sheer love for humanity he gives her both medical benefits and Christian advice. Health and peace to your sick person, as well as to her doctor. Those who test us, for the most part, do not see what they are doing. And those to whom God allows a test, and through it gives instruction, and who, by His goodness, perceive this, must learn from repeatedly repeated experiences to face a new test without embarrassment, and withstand it with the acquisition of spiritual success, and with confirmation, and not with shock, of their inner world. I haven’t heard anything about the new sect in England. What you say arouses curiosity for thorough inquiry. If I don’t forget, I’ll ask about this the deacon of the Anglican Church, who is here, seeking communion with our Church, without, however, abandoning his own, although, however, he does not persistently defend his own, and confesses her sins. This is also a rather unusual phenomenon. I haven't seen this man yet. He locked himself away for a month with one of our priests to learn the Russian language and get to know our Church better. God's blessing to you and everyone who remembers my humility and who does not remember. We poor people! We stumble, we see a mistake, we grieve, we repent, we receive forgiveness, and, having calmed down, instead of strengthening ourselves and being more vigilant, we forget and stumble again in the same place where before. The Lord, who commanded us to forgive seventy times seven, of course forgives innumerably more: but we should not be careless because He is long-suffering and abundantly merciful. Let us strive to be faithful to Him in a few days, so that He may bless us in many ways and forever. May the Lord accept your repentance and grant peace to your conscience. You try to preserve this world. Don’t be embarrassed by the incident that happened when you received the Holy Mysteries; but just pray to the Lord that He will help you establish yourself in reverent attention and protect you from unexpected embarrassment with His angel. And cast your sorrow upon the Lord for your pain. He knows better than us how to preserve life and arrange a peaceful death. Be careful not to give yourself more credit when you think it will be more difficult for her without you. Blessings of the Lord and peace to your souls. May the God of patience and consolation strengthen you in the patience of sorrow obedient to His fate and grant you His gracious consolation. Order me to tell you about your health: because I don’t hope to come and ask you about this now, due to my ongoing weakness. And in the last two days in Moscow I thought about checking in on your return: but my memory fails me in many ways. Your hesitation made me wonder if there had been some accident in your business. Now I rejoice to know that it has been brought to the desired conclusion. May the Lord accept your goodness, and may it strengthen, and may it promote the eternal peace of your soul and the soul of the departed. I wish you to joyfully approach the Lord's Table tomorrow. If you wish and have time to be in the Lavra, you are welcome. I need to stay here until 11 am, if not further. May our Lord, who takes away the sins of the world, take away our sins through repentance and blot them out with His forgiving grace: in His mysterious communication, may He grant you new strength to overcome wrong thoughts and grow in pleasing Him. My illness does not require compassion, for the Lord long-sufferingly punishes me, shutting me up in a cell from distraction, but without depriving me of the opportunity to do what is necessary and useful, if I do not give free rein to laziness. I tell myself and you: you need to awaken yourself from laziness, adhere to the spiritual breathing of the inner man, pay attention to yourself, so that cases of good do not pass by, and so that vanity does not enter the heart. Being occupied with earthly things makes the heart cold toward heavenly things. Let us tear our heart away from the world and, if it has not yet been purified in order to rush straight to heaven, let us carry it to Golgotha ​​and lay it at the feet of the Lord who suffers for us; even if it were made of stone, the stone also disintegrates, out of the creature’s compassion for the Creator, who suffers for our sins. May the Blood of Christ cleanse you from all sin, and may it quicken you with eternal life, anticipated in the joy of pardon and forgiveness. Thanks be to the merciful God, who turns away the threatened embarrassment and stops the beginning ones. Let us learn from this to surrender ourselves to Him with hope in what He sends; and gratitude may we be encouraged to be faithful to Him in what He expects of us. May the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary or involuntary; may he gather you from all dispersion and distraction; may he strengthen the inner man; and so may He receive you into the communion of His Holiness for peace, life and salvation. Through the prayers of Saint Catherine, I call upon you God’s blessing to renew your days and continue them in health and prosperity. I said that tomorrow the gospel and the reading of the hours should begin at three quarters of eight, the liturgy itself at nine, or a little after, hours. Your letter from yesterday reached me this morning. Actually, you don’t need forgiveness from me; To the Lord I keep peace again. Forgiveness from the Lord in everything that is needed for you, both with a reminder and without a reminder, I earnestly call upon you. Trusting in His mercy, believe in His forgiveness, rejoice in Him with unabashed joy, and with a thirst for love, begin to commune at His Table. His peace be with you. Of course, the best motive for charity is love for God; but the desire to do good to the beloved souls who have departed is a good impulse: let this also help diligently: let the first rule. Anything that in any way resembles envy should be rejected at first glance. Thank God for parents who are destined to enjoy good children for a long time; bless Him also when you think about those who have been granted this for a short time. If we did not do the best possible good, either because the opportunity came at the wrong time, or because we did not wait in time for how best to use the time, we will condemn ourselves as either inattentive, as not yet worthy of the gift of doing good successfully; and by sweating attention and prayer, position ourselves so that the time is given to us and we do not miss it. May the Lord forgive you and accept you, and in His fellowship may He give you light to see and strength to do better. Lord, send Your light and Your truth, that they may guide us and lead us into Your holy mountain and into Your villages. You did not say what kind of doubt was battling with your soul. Maybe it's not necessary. There are thoughts which, like a dark wind, are blown upon the soul by its enemy, the repetition of which brings burden to it and evil pleasure to him, and which are therefore better to be buried in non-remembering, as in the ground. Thank the Lord for directing your soul to prayer and for giving help to prayer. We must beware of arbitrary inattention to what requires reverence: for this arbitrary inattention opens the way for the dark wind to invade the soul against its will and expectation. It is necessary to constantly strive against distraction in prayer. By not trying to win, we are quietly defeated and make it difficult for ourselves to win. Contemplation of the works and benefits of God is a desirable activity. It must be done more with the heart than with the thoughts; then extraneous thoughts can harm him less. To avoid the sin of condemnation, one must think that condemnation returns to the condemner, not only by the judgment of God, but, according to the secret destinies of God, often by deed itself. Where a man condemns his neighbor for stumbling, he himself stumbles, beyond fear. The blessing is prayer for enemies and, when necessary, helping them. Whoever does this, God will grant him perfect love for his enemies. Let the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, take away yours too, but you, accepting Him who was sacrificed for us, sacrifice your heart, thoughts, and deeds to Him. A thought that could hardly be written is an alien wind blown upon the soul. To fight against such a thought is the work of the strong: but the weak need to be silent, not listen to alien noise, and rush to the Lord in prayer, as if from a beast to safety. But you must keep your soul in reverence and humility in order to protect yourself from such accidents. The wind is more threatening to the high than to the low. Confusion about external affairs is worldly. There is less attachment to earthly things, less such confusion, and they are weaker. May the Lord forgive you every sin, and in His Divine communion may He give you the strength to overcome confusion. I don't have time to write more. Blessing, peace and salvation from the Lord. Permission for you to begin the Lord's Table tomorrow belongs to your spiritual father. In my opinion, it is a good thing that out of overwhelm you resort to the leader of silence. May He hear your prayer and recognition of your weaknesses; let him forbid the wind of thoughts and the agitation of feelings; and in peace of heart and conscience may he grant you to feel who this is, who commands the wind and waves to subside, and they will listen to Him. It is good that the stubborn comes to repentance, and untruth is reproached: but even if it were not so, the temptation would not reach you, it is just human and not very difficult to bear. Let us be strong in the Lord, so as not to be shaken by every wave. Your neighbors, who promised to help your cause and did not fulfill it, should be embarrassed as if they were guilty, and not you, since you are not guilty. It is easy to judge judges, it is difficult for judges to judge, but it is easiest for a judge to sin when he judges the judges who judge his case. We must be careful in this, even according to the simple rule of prudence, but even more so according to the commandment of God. Let us seek love, which covers all, and humility, which condemns only ourselves, and may we find this and then be justified, and have no need to blame anyone. Thank you for the remembrance and prayer, the help of which I need from people of good will. I'm sorry you're sick. May the Lord restore you to perfect health. Do not attribute more than what is proper to my insignificance, and do not complain to anyone for me, just as I, by the goodness of God, do not complain. Thank God for everything. I am somewhat ashamed that at this time I have withdrawn from the communication of well-wishers; but there is a benefit to it. These two days were in the Ugreshsky and Perervinsky monasteries, and I did more work than I would have at the same time in Moscow, and had more rest, having the need for it. Your concern for my comfort is abundant. I thank you and ask you to set an example for them. I don't send sermons. More on this later. May the Lord's blessing and peace be with you. May the humane God forgive you all your sins, known and unknown, voluntary and involuntary. I have the consolation of thinking that you are subjected to them through ignorance, inattention and weakness, and not through knowledge and will. As for the judgment that you pronounce on the mayor, beware that it is not a sin of will. I don’t think that a gentleman could know the matter more accurately from rumors from his subordinates than a boss from correct research. Maybe the consequence is inaccurate? May be. But this still cannot establish a decisive judgment. Was the deceased sick? Let's assume that this is true. But isn’t it possible to beat a sick person and thereby bring him closer to death, just like a healthy person? I don't need to defend the boss and the researcher; I would like to protect your soul from the sin of judging your neighbor without a solid foundation and, perhaps, completely without the truth. Let yourself know the matter better: let justice do its work; Meanwhile, have patience and peace in the Lord, forgive, that you may be forgiven, approach the altar of the Lord with peace and joy, without sorrow for anyone. The Lord will fix everything if you are faithful and devoted to Him. If we do not have to bring to the Lord a worthy deed, let us at least offer sincere, attentive repentance, without self-justification. He does not reject this offering either, and grants forgiveness of past sins and help against new ones. But let us excite ourselves to be grateful to the Forgiver. The grateful one will not be lazy or fickle in his promises to the Forgiver. May the Lord help you to enter the inner cell of prayer so that the external remains outside the door, without intruding and without entraining you. Take away the sins of the world, may he take yours too, and may he give you peace and consolation. Bless the Lord, who has mercy and protects His servants and grants cleansing from all sin known and unknown, from sin of action and sin of non-fulfillment, from sin in word and thought. May He forgive you and accept you to His Holy Table in peace and consolation. It is my duty in many respects to bring the memory of you and those who departed before the Lord. Bring Him a prayer for me as a gift of love for your neighbor. Blessings and peace from the Lord to you. I am returning the letter. Blessing of peace to Elisaveta Mikhailovna. Tell her this. Say that if there must be patience, then there must also be sorrow; if self-sacrifice is necessary, then it is necessary that we should not be given everything that seems due. It seems to me that a test has been sent to both of them: if both of them suffer misunderstandings in the world, both will succeed more than before, and will thank each other where it is undoubtedly known how zealous each one was. I hear that you wanted to have a notebook for Princess Anastasia Mikhailovna: I’d rather send three. I return the curious books with gratitude. Life of St. Afanasia is remarkable, as far as I can judge, not so much by reading as by looking through it, because I don’t have time to read everything. The publication of the Gospel is unenviable; because the manuscript is not very ancient and not of excellent quality. We have something older and better in the Synodal Library. A book that alone purports to teach all languages ​​will teach none. 1843 July 23. Bethany. In the name of the Lord, blessings, peace and health to you. Now I have received your letter, and I do not delay answering so as not to miss the mail time. If you are taking the path: may the Lord give you a guardian angel and a mentor who will protect you, as well as your companion, before yours and her path. I don’t know yet whether I should be in Serpukhov. But it is strange that for two years I refused to go there for the consecration of the church, and finally made a decisive order for the consecration, but they still call me there, because the archimandrite, who received the order for the consecration, fell ill and died, and it still remains unfulfilled. Under no circumstances can my trip there be undertaken before August 15th. I have no right to prescribe to the Berlin priest: but here I will enclose or subsequently deliver you a note, which he, if he wants, can take to resolve the puzzling case. It is a pity that your distant traveler, having been so close to St. Sergius, cannot visit him. So that she has his blessing, I will send her an icon from his relics, which you will receive through the steward of the Trinity Metochion in Moscow. One of the sensible people, it seems, not even a Christian, said that friends do not do him as much good as ill-wishers, because from them you learn the truth more. How much more should we, Christians, not be angry at those who are ill-wishing and at unfavorable judgments related to us, but use them in order to listen to ourselves with greater caution and test our deeds. Unselfish people, looking at the wealth of others as their own future, are afraid that it will leave them; those who fear easily believe what they fear. Here is a ready-made nest for slander. People-pleasing people put petty trends, guesses and suspicions in this nest: and unnoticed, real troubles hatch from them. It is difficult to determine who is to blame and who is to blame. But how did the information not reach you that there is deception and oppression around you? You should pay attention to this. You cannot assure yourself in advance that everything has been examined and everything is fine: even the discerning are sometimes deceived. And sometimes, in some way, but, in any case, not against the will of God’s Providence, a reminder of caution is given: one must use it. If it turns out that everything is in order: thank God; unfavorable judgments will not make a good thing bad. And if you find something wrong, you need to correct it and thank those who brought this case, although they did not do it out of zeal. Accounts are correct even for those who deceive: both registration and caution must go beyond paper and written numbers. You demand a lot from the peasants: you need to see if any burdens unknown to you are being imposed on them. We need to think about this, deal with it, with peace, with benefit, and not because people do not judge as we would like. Remembrance of God, heartfelt prayer to Him, seeking His will in everything, is the main thing in everything and the healer of everything. May the Lord forgive you every sin in knowledge and ignorance, and may He strengthen you with His grace on the path of righteousness and peace. We are poor people. Repeatedly and often we remember our failures and again we stumble in the same places. Let us arouse our attention and become kind in guarding the peace of our soul. I thank the Lord and may He forgive you every sin and in all His fellowship may He give you the power of good deeds and the joy of salvation. May the Lord bless your new summer with peace, health, and prosperity. If we keep a humble thought, then patience can overcome thoughts about the unrighteous judgment pronounced on us. It is even more necessary to calm down the excitement of thoughts about the judgment that has been pronounced on us, and the injustice of which we cannot judge, because we do not know the case, how it turned out in court, but we know only from home information, in which we are more likely to be deceived than the judges. Forgive me if another wave rises in your thoughts from my words. Do not judge others who stand or fall for their Lord, but recognize and condemn your weakness and lack of patience: and may the Lord send peace and silence into your soul. Crimean views, of course, will not reward you for your time and colors. One could dismiss oneself from this work and choose another, more useful one. However, may the Lord forgive you in everything, may he guide you to the best and may he receive you in peace. Pray that he will forgive me too, who point out the knot in my neighbor’s eye, not seeing the log in my own. May the prayers of St. Catherine cover you from summer to summer. Do not judge decisively about the departed soul, what she thought in the fight against the disease, without clearly understanding herself and others. Maybe her idea was better than what you guess. It is enough that you fulfilled your duty to her: continue to fulfill it with prayer, with peace and love, so that you have hope, better than until now, to understand mutual misunderstandings, and to embrace each other in the love of the Lord. The omission of the time appointed for the word of God and prayer is an important loss. Let us be attentive and use the sorrowful memory of this as a weapon against laziness. May the merciful Lord forgive you every sin, and with the strength of Divine food and animal drink may he strengthen your thoughts, desires and deeds against all overwhelm that tends towards the earthly, vain and dark. May the Lord help you to pay more and more attention to yourself, and remember Him, and turn your heart to Him; and, having given you peace of conscience, may He accept you into His gracious and divine communion, may you find in Him new consolation, and new strength for good deeds, and protection from all temptation. I am returning the manuscript. The translation is partly similar to the original, partly free, partly containing thoughts that the original does not have and does not want to have. For example, the original, following the example of the prudent thief, gives hope of salvation to the most hopeless sinner, that is, one from whom the feeling of crimes takes away hope, but who repents and wants to be saved. And translation: to a bitter sinner. But the bitter one has neither repentance nor desire to be saved: how can he be given hope? May God bless and fulfill your intention, on the day of Holy Pascha, to taste the life-giving Pascha, the Body and Blood of the Lord. There is no harm in what they said about the unsatisfactory translation. What I noticed is just an example. It is not surprising that the translator was not precise in the subject, the subtleties of which he had no particular opportunity to delve into. One of the priests could contribute to the accuracy of the translation. The Lord, who has risen and assumed all power in heaven and on earth, as the God-man, which He has from all eternity as God, forbid the evil spirit that slanderes our brethren from bringing its blasphemous thoughts to the soul that believes in the incarnate Son of God. Bold thoughts about the destinies of God are allowed to fall on a person for the unhumble use of the Word of God, and in general for failure to strive for humility. Tell your thought: does he really know better than the Lord what is appropriate for the Lord God to do for the salvation of man? And to the question: how did the devil appear before God and not disappear? Answer with another question: how are all sinners constantly present before the eyes of God’s omniscience and do not disappear? Instead of marveling at God’s long-suffering, to which we are immensely indebted, we want to compete with God as to why He is long-suffering. Let us humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness from the Long-Suffering and Ready to Forgive. What you say about embarrassment from your neighbors is incomprehensible to me, and therefore I have nothing to say. The rumor about negotiations with the pope is not credible, and therefore it is in vain to be embarrassed by a dream, or an ugly retelling of a poorly invented secret. May the Lord forgive you and grant peace to your heart and mind. May pure prayerful desire lead you into intimate communication with the Lord when you have been deprived of the visible. Out of G.I.’s kindness, I condemned the fact that she, meekly enduring grief, would not leave to help soften the grief of her husband’s strong and greatly suffering soul. May the Lord comfort them as the message Himself My illness is stubborn. The days give hope for better things, but the legs take it away. Grigory Yakovlevich's illness also makes it difficult for me. The idea comes to call Blumenthal. But it seems inconvenient to be in different hands. However, this can hardly be avoided. The Lord, who speaks peace to His people and turns their hearts to Him, bless you with peace and consolation of a pardoned soul, forgiving you everything that requires forgiveness and may the Divine blessing strengthen your soul to do good. The news of the death of the Grand Duchess reached me in Bethany, at Vespers, before the day of the Transfiguration. Having performed the service of the holiday, I went to Moscow and on the 7th day I offered a prayer of sorrow in a satisfied assembly of loyal subjects participating in it, except for the governor-general, who did not arrive from the village. Departed, no doubt in peace and quiet. It's sad to think about the sadness of the August parents. May the Lord strengthen them and grant them peace in obedience to the inscrutable destinies of God. The narrative about me is exaggerated. I did not ride on sixteen horses (which, I think, does not happen), but on six in a road carriage. But truly God had mercy on me in the calm crossing of the bridge, which the troika of three wagons pulled up after me failed. And returning to the Lavra, I later learned that I had arrived on a wheel that was so damaged that it had to be sent to Moscow to be remade. There is nothing to blame for the person who invited me to the consecration of the church. He invited, and I gave my word, not foreseeing what time it would be. And therefore I needed to keep my word and not leave the orders made in vain. He came to me at the Lavra to find out if I would be there: and he himself fell into the water, returning from me, but also, thank God, harmlessly. I wish that the country air and tranquility will be useful to you, as they were to me in Bethany. The eye of contemplation opens grace when it sees that the soul is sufficiently prepared for this through labors and purification, and foresees that the gift will be guarded and well used in humility. We must prepare ourselves carefully and not be demanding in order to receive the gift, because impatient demandingness is the ghost of dissatisfied readiness. Let us be demanding of ourselves, so that we do not ignore the negligence, omissions, and wrongs that we notice in ourselves, but correct them and make amends for them through opposite deeds. Reading empty books entertains the mind and clogs the imagination and memory. After this, of course, it is more difficult than without it to gather oneself into prayerful attention. It is necessary to protect the path of peace, sought and established during prayer, outside of this time and not tear it up with obstinate thoughts. Despite our shortcomings, may our soul bless the long-suffering and merciful Lord, who arranges everything for our salvation. Take away the sins of the world, so that he may take away yours too, and in peace of conscience, may you have the food and drink of life. Forgive me if any of my words were the cause of restless reflection for you. Not only did I not have this in mind, but I also did not have a thought that could give you a fair reason for this. The reason for my regret that I previously allowed sermons to be copied is that in this way the words, hastily written and uncorrected, ended up in the wrong hands. In revising them for publication, I corrected some and destroyed others. But when an uncorrected manuscript remains in the wrong hands, they will read it in error and may use it erroneously. It would be very desirable for me to exchange the manuscript from you for a printed copy, in which a little has been omitted and a considerable amount has been cleaned up. You will reassure me if you agree to this. I think that although the manuscript is yours, I have not lost ownership of what is in the manuscript, and I have a responsibility to prevent misuse. I am sending you two sermons to read, but please do not copy them. May the Lord, by His grace, forgive you every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and in His Divine communion may He give you the light to anticipate temptations and the power to turn them away. The sin of the Jews against the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, condemned by the Lord as unforgivable, what it consisted of, is explained by the evangelist when he says: I said before: to have an unclean spirit. This is stubborn and final resistance to Divine truth, which has appeared and proven itself. We should be afraid of sin, because we cannot rely on ourselves; but we should not be embarrassed, because we have hope in God. Whoever is afraid not to fall into sin against the Holy Spirit, misunderstood, should carefully guard against other known sins, according to which, as in degrees, they descend into this abyss, from which there is no ascent. May the Lord keep you in peace for salvation. When you write to Elisaveta Mikhailovna, thank her on my behalf for remembering me and making me a participant in the information about her and her beloved prince. It is a pity that not everything is carried out according to desire, and, after the joy of the prince’s epiphany, one must again think with care about his illness. May the Lord be merciful to them and to us. I wish Elisaveta Mikhailovna more peace and more attention, so that no one can take it away. I wish her to trust good intentions, misunderstandings and mistakes more than bad intentions. If she cannot say that they are doing well, let’s say, as we have an example: they don’t know what they are doing. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ cover us, His humble and unworthy servants, and may we be protected from all evil, visibly and invisibly passing and attacking us. The thought of Enoch and Elijah, especially the first, does not belong to their person and is indecent, is not yours; This is the grit and the wind, erected and inflicted by the enemy of the world of souls. May the Lord forgive you this, no doubt, involuntary confusion of thoughts and may your mind and your conscience free you from it. You need to protect yourself with inner prayer, humility, doing good and non-judgment of your neighbor: with these the soul is protected, and the dark wind is reflected from the fence without penetrating inside. May the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary and involuntary; and may He grant you the life-giving food of light, which reflects all darkness, as long as the deposit is faithfully kept. I am returning the letters. I am very grateful to the kind soul of Countess Anna Alekseevna who remembered my humility. God bless her. God's blessing to Sister Barsanuphia. Peace be with you in the Lord. Through the prayers of St. Sergius, peace and grace to you from the Lord. I take advantage of the opportunity that brought me some information about you, although not from you, to say a few words to you. The rather long unknown about you inspired me with caring questions, but now I’m resolving them simply by saying that being in the countryside far from the city did not encourage me to write letters and send them to a distant post office. I wish that the rural air will be favorable to your health, and that the sight of rural simplicity, probably more so in places near Moscow, evident where you are now, will give you the idea of ​​how this simplicity is easier and more comfortable than urban sophistication. My stay in the monastery, by the grace of God, is favorable to my health, especially living in the forest; in pine walls, not covered with any hypocritical cover, in small cells of which one has a window into the church, both bodily and mental health are favorable, if my laziness and negligence do not harm. If, as they say, you will soon be in Otrada, then I hope it will be more convenient to have information about you, especially since I will probably return from the Lavra to Moscow on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. I thank you for the books I reviewed and are returning. I present the leaflets that I don’t think have reached you. Peace be with you in your trust in the Lord and in your devotion to His will. Thanks be to God, who has visited you with difficulties, but who supports you internally in difficult struggles. If it is difficult for us to fight pride, then, of course, it would not be better if it remained in its strength without being brought into this struggle. Let us justify the ways of the Lord, which lead us into asceticism, in order to purify, correct and perfect us through asceticism. Let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in time. May the Lord forgive you everything that requires forgiveness, and in His holy communion may He give you spiritual strength, consolation, and peace. For the two to be one according to a different liturgy, you truly have sufficient reasons for this. It will be difficult for me without Dimitri. I will let him go if I find it possible. May the Lord mercifully look upon your recognition of weaknesses and shortcomings, and grant you forgiveness, peace and saving communion with Him in the sacrament. How unwillingly our poor will is torn away from its attachments! Sacrifice to the Lord all your past and unpleasant memories; and look calmly at what renews them. The idea that some are insincere may not be without reason. The consequence of this should be caution, and not condemnation of your neighbor, who, perhaps, is much better in himself. than in our eyes. If you are weak, do not force yourself to pray on your knees, so as not to increase the pain in your legs. The Lord wants us to use the powers He has given us for Him, but not to upset them. Replace the humble position of the body with humility of spirit before God. The Lord will bless you to celebrate the holidays in peace. I fulfilled my promise to your sister today. A bow to her from me, and a blessing from the Lord. It is not surprising that concern for complex matters comes to struggle with your thoughts, striving for heavenly things: but, calling on the help of God and the prayers of the saints, do not become exhausted, and do not allow earthly things to occupy you more than heavenly things. What good is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? If the whole world cannot replace the damage in the soul, then is any acquisition or order worth attention, in comparison with the world, when it is necessary to care about the good dispensation of the soul? Submit your concerns and desired orders before God: what is committed to Him, then, of course, He will bless more than what we want to do according to our own wisdom; if there is no His consent, then our efforts are in vain. Improve the eternal home of the soul: it is reliable for everything, without this nothing is reliable. Checking the day spent before God and conscience with repentance is a useful thing: and you need to care about this, and not about having dead paper as a witness to this. May the Lord forgive you every sin, and help you overcome every temptation, and in His Divine communion grant you consolation and strength. Today and tomorrow let your soul sing: let us now put aside every care of this life. Admit your weakness before the Lord in the fact that heavy sadness about earthly things comes to interfere with sweet and saving sadness, even according to God: but do not lose heart. If your heart is deeply wounded, the more persistently resort to the one who heals every ailment and every illness. The inner path of God is hidden in external sorrows: if only we do not grumble and lose hope in God, and do not bind ourselves with earthly bonds. The humility that a person establishes for himself through his own reflection is not as deep and firm as that that is established in a person by the destinies of God. Approach the source of grace with thirst, albeit with languishing weakness. Tangibly, or intimately, let the water of life flow into the soul. May the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary or involuntary. It is a good idea to meditate on the Passion of the Lord in these days, and to attribute the joy of communion with the Lord in the Sacrament to the all-joyful day of the Resurrection of Christ. May the Lord, by His grace, help you in the first, and may He grant you the fruit of your efforts in the last. It is also good that you called upon Saint Demetrius to help you in your meditation and prayer. It is necessary to use means against idle talk, and even more against judgment. The former is more difficult to abstain from in society; and it is more in our power to withhold from the latter, and at the same time more responsibility for this. He who carefully and impartially recognizes his own shortcomings does not find it difficult not to condemn his neighbor. A dream that confuses you does not provide a just cause for embarrassment. Not everyone can be Joseph to interpret dreams; and not every dream is worthy of Joseph’s interpretation. Listen not to sleep, but to the word of God and prayer. May the Lord forgive you everything that requires forgiveness and grant you His peace and joy. Christ is Risen! Let every darkness of the soul yield to His light. What happens between the deacon and the church warden can serve as an example of how Providence allows injustice to befall a person so that the hidden things in a person can be exposed. The spirit of slander arose in the deacon, and the spirit of hostility was exposed in the elder. If you wish the elder well, then use the means to explain to him that he who does not forgive his neighbor who asks for forgiveness does not act in a Christian manner and is not worthy to be admitted to the Holy Mysteries until he forgives. The honor of the elder is already protected by the fact that the deacon who denounced him is forced to ask him for forgiveness. If this is not enough; the elder could say that he forgives the deacon and is reconciled with him in a Christian way, but wants to justify himself in his fidelity to his position through research. The letter appears to be written in the priest's hand. If so, then it is very bad that he intervened in the matter of enmity instead of admonishing the enemy. If you don’t like the Christian world, let them try whether ordering office work will be more pleasant. I am returning the letter. In the name of the Lord, blessings, peace and salvation to you. I hope that the Lord fulfilled yesterday, as expected, your desire to unite with Him in the sacrament. May He preserve you with His grace in continuous communication with Him, through faith, prayer, love and protecting yourself from what brings darkness and anxiety into the soul. I rejoice that you have peace with your relatives who surround you. Trying for your peace, they sow seeds of peace for themselves. God bless them. Regarding the non-corrections of the church, I agreed with Vladimir Petrovich’s assumptions, as soon as they reached me. I felt good in the monastery and in the monastery, although there was not much rest: and in Moscow I had already caught a cold, it was the 26th day of this month, returning from Simonov after a hot afternoon in the rain. In Roman ceremonies, it is as if they were deliberately looking for oddities. If it is true that they write that the hearse of the papal coffin is 260 feet high, then this is of course a strong expression of the height of the servant of the servants of God. But here is an oddity that was probably not sought: the statue of religion, prepared among the decorations for the burial of the pope, fell and broke, so that it could no longer be used, and thus, they say, one of the best decorations was missing. May God help the new pope to improve religious Rome, more than artistic Rome. Forgive me if I ramble on the occasion of your story about the ordeal of the deceased pope. May the mercy of the Lord not leave you in guarding your inner peace. It is true that wickedness is hateful, and therefore it is difficult to be calm in relations with someone who has it. However, with the help of God, this is achieved, if we do not forget that we do not see the human heart, and therefore, perhaps, we see the matter worse than how it came from the heart; if we remember our sins and therefore recognize ourselves as worthy of sorrows, and sorrows are necessary for us, like a bitter medicine given by the hand of Providence. Humility easily endures all sorts of attacks. What does a person mean than us when we stand before God? May our heart look towards God, without looking back at man, no matter what he does next to us. And may the inner doing of prayer be stronger than anything that affects us from the outside. If this does not happen to us, let us humble ourselves and judge ourselves before God, and cast ourselves before Him with all our abilities, thoughts and feelings, bringing everything into silence before Him. He speaks peace to His people and to those who turn their hearts to Him. May the Lord forgive you every sin and grant you to taste and see that the Lord is good. Judge not, lest ye be judged. We know that this word is true: why does it not always control us? The princess, having passed away, now does not complain about anyone, but thanks God for using sorrow to perfect her. Those who love her should not contradict her about what she is right about. Those who force people to suffer without guilt are more pitiful than those who suffer from them: and how guilty they are, the One Knower of the Heart knows. Pray for peace and salvation for them and others. If God grants the soul this grace that it awakens with God, why should it not preserve this blessing and allow itself to be deeply immersed in earthly objects? Having awakened from bodily sleep, let him beware of spiritual sleep. However, may the Lord forgive you every sin and in the Divine Sacrament give you the strength to overcome every enemy that disturbs your soul. I am returning the letters. It’s good that the conversation about the difficulty of things was postponed until tomorrow. And tomorrow after Holy Communion, give yourself a time of silence in the presence of God, before turning to earthly business out of necessity. G.V.N.'s letter requires attention. A good captain of a ship not only manages well in calm winds, but also in a storm does not lose his firmness and presence of mind. A similar thing, with God’s help, must be achieved in steering the ship of the soul, so that the storms of temptation and the waves of life do not harm it. A reproachful word against the offender does not correct his deeds, but only causes moral harm to the reproacher. Let us not harm ourselves because others have harmed us. If we keep the reproachful word, the feeling of grief will better subside. May the Lord forgive you every sin and with His divine medicine heal and pacify your soul. May Saint Catherine ask God's blessing for your days and the summer they begin. Is the book being sent the one you are missing? Fear from the image of the greatness of God is not a sin, but it is necessary for it to bear fruit, according to the word of the Church hymn: for the sake of Thy fear, the spirit of salvation was born in the womb and gave birth to the earth. That the animals around the Throne of the Almighty, praising, have no rest day and night, this, to express continuity, is said in an earthly way; and does not bring dark night into the sky. May the Lord accept your repentant desire to cleanse your soul from every deed, word, and thought committed against His will, and may His grace grant you forgiveness and peace of conscience; may He, in the Communion of His Most Holy Body and His Most Pure Blood, visit you with a life-giving and saving visit. Thanks be to God, who calls us to repentance. To Him is glory when He protects from stumbling. By His grace, those who have not preserved themselves from stumbling are not allowed to become stagnant in the fall. Let us warm our coldness with the love of the Lord who suffered for us. Let us increase our attention and caution in those cases in which we condemn our own stumbling blocks. Only the Knower of the Heart truly knows how many are unjust and who, out of cowardice, do less than they should. It is more convenient and necessary for us to know our own errors; and when we are well engaged in this knowledge and correction of those who have seen, we will be lazy in judging the mistakes of others, and we will not find that others are worse than us. It is said: he humbled himself and saved me. Here is a shortened and true path to salvation. May our Lord Jesus Christ forgive you every sin, by the power of His Cross and His atoning death, may He heal all the weakness of your soul, and in His Holy and Divine communion may He grant you grace and peace, and the guarantee of eternal life. The mercy of the Lord is with you. Where a person has stumbled, let him humble himself and repent, and where he is protected from stumbling, let him not boast, but, thanking the preserving and merciful God, let him continue to work out his salvation with fear. Of course, it would be better to seek a solution to the difficulty in the mercy of God through the path of truth, rather than through the stalks of human cunning. May the Lord forgive you every sin, and may he calm and strengthen your soul with His Divine communication. Christ is Risen! Rejoice in the Lord. Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world, may He also take yours, according to your repentance, and may He blot them out with His forgiveness, and may He give you strength and insight to guard against stumbling. Let us walk before God, and do not forget to lift up our thoughts and feelings to Him, with repentance for our sins, with thanksgiving for His generosity and long-suffering. Thoughts about the pursuing ones must be reluctantly trusted. It is safer to think that people are pursuing their own benefit and carelessly touch other people on the road. It is fair and useful to think that we ourselves act imprudently and thereby give others an opportunity to do wrong against us and in some way attract punishment for ourselves. let us recognize our shortcomings, and then it will be easy not to judge others, and to be at peace with everyone, like the One who said: be at peace with those who hate the world. The mercy and help of the Lord is with you. We must encourage ourselves to the work of prayer and not become lazy in this, may the Lord grant us the consolation of prayer. One should not judge anyone unnecessarily, especially the dead. We judge the charm of a person, past or not: but he, perhaps, has long been pleasing to God. Pray for someone about whom an unfavorable word has been said. A well-noticed inattention in prayer can be corrected by repeating the prayer: and it is even better to maintain attention. If not all the sacred reading undertaken will happen to be corrected on that day: at least the reading from the Gospel should not be dismissed. The rest can be added on another day in order to be firm in the rule, and give way to the victories of distractions and laziness. There are tears of natural kindness, there are tears of repentance, and there are tears of gifted tenderness. He who does not have tears can make up for this with heartfelt contrition, moreover, humbling his thoughts and saying to the holy prayer book: no tears, no tenderness, Imam; This is my self, Savior, as God grants. May the Lord forgive you every sin: and may He nourish your soul with the food and drink of the Divine. I'm returning the project. It seems to me that I cannot now take up this matter, when another, much less dubious one, has been stopped. One should not entertain oneself by worrying about assumptions that seem useful, but the consequences of which cannot be clearly defined. We must do the good that we can: and what seems useful and desirable, but is not given into our power, we must humble our providence before Providence. A soul distracted by thoughts and worries loses inside and does not gain outside. If you remind me, it will be more possible to talk about this than to write at leisure. If we think that we are never without shortcomings, then we must conclude that the state when we do not see them is less reliable than when we see a lot of them. The Lord will see the desire for correction in what you condemn yourself for, and will provide help for correction and forgiveness in what you have sinned to this day. May this be done according to the abundance of His goodness and Mercy. So that the imagination and nerves do not imagine dreams before sleep, this requires sufficient peace in the soul, confirmed by prayer and devotion to the Lord. May the Lord grant you a holiday, not in the visible and sensory, but in the light of the spirit and in the joy of the heart. The Lord bless your testing of yourself, and the knowledge of your weaknesses and stumbling blocks; and, having forgiven you your sins, may He grant you insight and strength for moral and spiritual self-preservation. Anyone who wants to establish himself in the remembrance of God must reduce in himself the remembrance of creatures, attachment and care. Looking carefully at ourselves, we will find that a monotonous life is not free from incidents and sins. For we sin in thought, Dryness and coldness of the soul happens as a test visit, and almost more often the reason for this is in us and in our dispositions. Thinking about our unworthiness, about death and judgment, can resolve dryness in tears. The gaze of faith and love on the Savior who suffers for us should not leave us cold. The saying: a good tree cannot produce evil fruit means that as a person is in his internal disposition, such are his deeds. In the name of Christ, repel the enemy who, unable to distract you from the word of God, slanderes the meaning of this word. Both carelessness and laziness are not virtues. Since we notice them in ourselves, we will motivate ourselves to do better. If God grants, we will bring the memory of your parent before the Lord tomorrow. The Lord's Table will welcome you and those who want to come with you. There is no anxiety in seeing a person examining his conscience, humbling himself by admitting his shortcomings and sins, and seeking forgiveness and permission, but there is consolation and edification in this. If in heaven there is joy about a repentant sinner, then on earth there should be joy for a sinner who sees another sinner repenting, and joy should be about the hope of his salvation, and an opportunity to repentantly remember his sins, and an incentive to intensify the feat of repentance. May the Lord forgive you every sin of knowledge and ignorance, weakness and negligence; and may the grace of the Communion of the Holy Mysteries increase your strength and vigilance to guard against new stumblings. With the prayer of faith, invoke the forgiveness of the All-Merciful and for me, who have great need for mercy and forgiveness. I congratulate you on the newborn Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich. Glory to God, who brings joy to parents and comforts ancestors. May the Lord, who has mercy on the repentant, forgive you every sin of yours, and may he accept you into His Divine Communion in peace and joy and in the hope of salvation. Stand in a good opinion about people about whom you know good things; but it does not follow from this that anyone who is not on good terms with these people must be decisively condemned. For you do not know his heart and his thoughts, by which he was brought into this relationship. The Apostle did not order judgment until the Lord comes and reveals the secret darkness and reveals the counsels of the heart. Do we really know what the Apostle, by the spirit of God, declares to be hidden until the coming of Christ? I can’t say anything about the letters and the expected response; because there is a lot in them that is incomprehensible to me; and now is not the time for such reasoning. Forgive me. Have peace in your heart before the Lord, although not everything outside appears peaceful between people. Rejoice in the Lord, and let no one and nothing hinder this. I rejoice that the people are running to God. In this there is hope of mercy from God, who sends disasters, so that we may resort to Him and find mercy. You can have David’s Builder as your spiritual father. I can't write much. Upon returning from the Lavra, I fell ill; however, I am recovering. Dying co-workers provide a lot of work. God's blessing and peace and salvation to you. I rejoice that the Lord will keep you in health: and I pray that he will protect you and other good souls around you. I am returning the St. Petersburg letter. I think about the priest Alexander: but there are circumstances that do not allow him to be taken easily and quickly. You can say this to Sister Barsanuphia, and also my desire for God’s blessing. The trouble you threaten me with was very grave, if not completely unbearable, but I have reason to hope that this cup is passing me by, and that my response that I cannot drink it will not even be required. Thank you for the books. But if you need it soon, then demand it; because I hardly have time to look through it soon. In the interpretation of St. Andrew’s response to the apocalypse is remarkable: but revelation: John, in a different interpretation, still awaits revelation. Prophecies are for the time for which they are appointed: they do not reveal their secrets to early curiosity. I send books, not remembering whether they were sent before. It is important and worthy not to be forgotten that your remark is that the signs of the times and the summer of our life remind us of the approach of eternity, and we, feeling unprepared for it, are in no hurry to prepare. Let us excite our thought, and our feeling, and our activity. The case that, according to rumors, you convicted a person of a crime, when you should have praised him for correcting a previous mistake, may he give you an instruction on how dangerous it is to be quick to condemn, and may he instill caution in you, may he lead to the perfect fulfillment of the rule: do not judge, lest you be judged. May the Lord forgive you your sins, and may He correct them from known ones, and may He cleanse them from secret ones, so that our inattention does not hide them and leave them uncleaned. May He grant you peace, consolation and strengthening in His Divine communion. May God rise again and may His enemies be scattered and may those who hate Him flee from His face. As the smoke disappears, let them disappear. May the Lord forbid the devil, who in the light of truth is attempting to interfere with his darkness and slander the soul that wants to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten, eternal Son of God, who in time was incarnate, suffered and died for the salvation of people, who all sinned and were deprived of the glory of God, and therefore everyone, not excluding a single one, demanded a Redeemer, sinless, omnipotent, in a word, God and God-man, may the Lord forgive you the involuntary confusion of thoughts; and may it grant pure light to your mind and heart. You will receive a prosphora for your health brought with an invocation of God’s blessing for the renewed summer for you at seven. May the Lord bring you closer to Him both with the words of church prayer and with an inner heartfelt feeling of prayer. May He forgive you every deviation from this and every sin, and may He give you new strength for good through His saving communication. I greet you on the day of your Angel, on which I do not postpone my intention to appear at the Altar of the Lord. However, the Lord will arrange what is pleasing to Him. When we prepare to approach the Lord, worldly affairs and worries must be left behind. If there is something unpleasant in earthly things, let us use this in order to more easily free ourselves from addiction to them. We will think about how to ensure peace of mind for those entrusted to us later, calling on God for help, who provides for you and for them. But, of course, it is good to put things in a calm state while they are in our hands. It seems to us that we do not succeed in spiritual matters and fall into negligence, despite a zealous desire: but one can ask, will God refuse to help a zealous desire? And if help is not fully given, shouldn’t you suspect yourself that the desire is not complete? The Fathers say that one must repent of sins, without mixing in self-justification. The more the Lord sees humility, the more you will help. May the Lord forgive you for what you have sinned, and may He enlighten you and strengthen you in fulfilling His will with the invisible help and grace of His Divine Sacrament. The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world, may He also take away yours, and in the peace of conscience may He grant you to taste His Divine Sacrament for the consolation, strengthening and salvation of the soul. The one who deeply felt his sinfulness and said: my wounds stank and rotted, but was in a bad state. It is necessary that we humble ourselves with the sorrow of repentance, so as not to lose heart and put aside hope in God’s mercy. You can not condemn anyone when a person has become sufficiently aware of his sins and weaknesses. May the Lord help you through the sorrow of repentance to find the consolation of forgiveness, and in the seventh consolation to find strength to preserve yourself from falling into sin. A student deacon can hope to move on to a full diaconal vacancy when there is one, and the path will not be blocked by a senior or most worthy. Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ that He gives you the memory of His holy and sweet name and guides you to inner prayer. It’s good that you noticed the consequence of idle talk or condemnation of one’s neighbor, that after this a person does not so freely enter into inner prayer. Let us use this experience to motivate us to be careful from judging our neighbor and the like. However, may the Lord forgive you for your sins and grant you His Communion in peace of conscience and consolation of the spirit. May the blessings of the Lord rest upon you. With the power of His Cross, may the Lord protect you, may you remain in peace and serenity of spirit. The grace of God, and not the insignificant help of man, preserved you in difficult times of life and showed you that he was seeking your salvation. This should always prompt you to gratitude and affirm your hope in the mercy of God the Savior. A strange thought, accidentally intruding into the mind and leaving confusion in the soul, shows how weak we are, and how beneficial it is that we are taught to put aside our wisdom and rest in simple belief in what God has revealed to us in His Word and in the Church. Don't continue your confusion; forget the noise of the wind that affects your thinking power: the Lord sees your desire to remain faithful to Him and will forgive you the involuntary movement of your thoughts. May the Lord forgive you every sin, voluntary and involuntary, in deed and thought and by allowing the right thing to happen; and with His Divine Brashn strengthen you in the life of truth and goodness. May the blessing from the house of the Most Holy Trinity and from St. Sergius come and rest upon you. Let the icon conveyed at the same time be a sign of this. We celebrated, by the grace of God, safely. Now I’m looking to Moscow, although I would like to extend my stay at the Lavra. Daughter of Count Alexei Grigorievich Orlov-Chesmensky. Francis of Sales, a 17th-century bishop of Geneva, known for his piety and love. He was the author of the above-mentioned reflections and a book on the love of God. From his writings it was especially known to us: A Guide to a Pious Life. (Introduction à la vie dévete). Former archimandrite of the Novgorod Yuryevsky Monastery under Emperor Alexander I, who was at enmity with the former Minister of Spiritual Affairs and Public Education, Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn. Prince Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn, who enjoyed the special favor of Emperor Alexander the First. The son of Ekaterina Vladimirovna Novosiltseva died from his wound. received in a duel with Chernov, who also died from a wound during this unfortunate competition between them. At the very site of this duel, she built a church at the dacha of the Forestry Institute, near St. Petersburg. This referred to the memory of her murdered son. The tomb over the body of E.K. Vladimir’s son. Countess Aglaida Nikitichna Panina is the niece of E. V. Novosiltseva. Count Canodastria, who played an important role in We are talking about a disabled hospice home established in St. Petersburg at the Forestry Institute on the site of the murder of E.K.’s son. Novosiltseva. We are talking about the church at the Forestry Institute. Concerns the construction of a church at the Forestry Institute. Countess Vera Nikitichna Panina, niece of E.V. Novosiltseva.