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The Lord arranges a silent life You also write that you were a little embarrassed that you had to cohabit with unbridled girls, but you wanted to be silent alone. If this imaginary silence were to your benefit, God would lead you to it in every possible way. And you yourself still need to learn to form morality towards humility, and, being ashamed of your words, make a good beginning and reproach and condemn yourself. When the time for silent living comes, then the Lord will arrange everything in every possible way. And now first obedience, and then silence. Do not imagine that you can heal sisters, but through their faith, through you and us, unworthy, the grace of God invisibly heals, pacifies, and admonishes. Done without blessing brings harm and embarrassment You are describing your spontaneous, without blessing, response to a need that has arisen. For your free confession, may the Most Merciful Lord forgive your sin; From now on, you need to be smart: sometimes, apparently, a good deed appears, but evil done without blessing happens to harm and spiritual confusion. I wish you to be complacent in everything and to come from strength to strength, always to obediently adhere to the commandments of God. Prodigal thoughts allowed for sins of condemnation That you, by God's permission, have been allowed to fight prodigal thoughts, and especially demonic dreams, then don't be too surprised that the all-evil enemy represents such stinginess in your dreams! But just, my beloved daughter, know that this permission was granted to you not simply, but for contempt. Apparently, in her opinions, she secretly condemned and despised others - and therefore secretly the grace of God departs not far from us, and the greedy enemy, seeing us defenseless, takes revenge on us and plunges us into such placeless and stingy thoughts and imaginations. But we, having been punished by this event and exhausted to the point of exhaustion, as if we were wounded and wounded, will resort to the all-true doctor of our souls and bodies, our Lord Jesus Christ, as if we were infants and have known through experience our weakness and insignificance. Let us ask the All-Merciful God that He Himself will take revenge on our rival, the seducer the devil, for us who are weak and fall into his nets filled with sorrows. And since you, by your goodwill and unlimited faith in my repentance, deigned to ask me, a feeble-minded person, how to warn myself in such cases, I, although I am extremely insufficient in such consequences to teach appropriate advice, am quite confident that your faith, contributing to our unworthiness, can appease the Greatly Gifted Lord to send down from above invisibly help and healthy reason, how to stay awake and protect yourself from the above-mentioned seductive thoughts and abusive demonic dreams! I have already told you that I am rude and unskilled, but I remembered the venerable priest, the late Father Theodore: he was content with my wickedness in retelling many stories of the holy fathers who lived in Ukraine during the time of his elder, blessed Onuphrius, and also from reading the inspired books of the holy fathers, from which, as much as I can, with the assistance of the grace of the Lord, your love, I am compelled to write. Firstly, my daughter, with the help of God we must strive in every possible way to cut off guilt, that is, in order to only attend to ourselves and our salvation. When someone comes to you and, through the action and instigation of the universal enemy, begins to utter empty words and events to you, then, judging by the significance of it, if you cannot shorten the conversation, then you should try to block your ears, or to receive the word in one ear and let it out into the other, and mentally ask the Lord to save us from such a choking poison. Then you will begin to do the same in other similar cases, and we are obliged, according to the commandment of the Lord, to love and regret the one who filled your ears with soul-harming stories and nonsense, and to despise and hate the absurdities that are uttered. And by the goodness of the Lord you are given the feeling of being protected from condemnation and remembering St. Prophet David: “Cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from strangers” (Ps. 18:13–14). So, as said above, when we begin to protect ourselves from condemnation, then the grace of God will relentlessly remain with us and insensitively strengthen us and protect us: invisibly reflect demonic actions and dreams, and within us strengthen spiritual strength, and open the action of prayer, and remind mortal memory, and future bribes, and eternal torment! These spiritual feelings defeat and destroy the causes of bad thoughts. I almost no longer know what to say to you, therefore this union can only be united by one God in like-mindedness and like-mindedness, with them the message of their unsearchable destinies, to heal her, and to bestow you with complacency, and to bestow upon her the good of due obedience of feelings! But just let us endure at least a little and, according to the Apostle, let us forget what is behind us and with patience be ready for the struggle that is set before us (cf. Phil. 13:13-14). And indeed, let us consider ourselves worthy of such sorrowful allowances for sin for our sake. Avoid temptations: it is better to find a quiet refuge And that at the wedding, although you didn’t see the most tempting consequences, you nevertheless significantly desecrated your spiritual church (that is, all feelings) with performances, and therefore, from such events, you and I must continue to learn what it’s like around wedding celebrations and what kind of fire of prodigal lusts takes on the power to rage in our opinions and feelings. Think carefully about whether you decide to leave the addictive cauldrons and sweets of St. Petersburg (or, one might say) Egyptian, and decisively retire to a quiet haven, and, having practiced this way, you will understand the true path to the eternal abodes! Prodigal thoughts are healed by repentance and self-reproach You also mention that sometimes you are overcome by lustful thoughts and the love of money - not having such thoughts at all is characteristic only of the angelic order, and not of the human order. For us, if and when something happens and we crawl, we immediately run with repentance and reproach ourselves to the Heavenly Doctor. The humane Lord not only forgives our countless sins, but also accepts those who truly repent, for this reason He, having come to earth, began to call sinners, so that none of us would despair about our salvation. Prodigal warfare is cured by repentance You complain about the abuse and that you are often defeated, and because of this you often become despondent. Mother told you to teach 50 bows for each, then, although it seems to you that the penance is insignificant to satisfy, but remember your title of novice, and should not make up your mind in anything! Be content with the commandment and go through it with fear and tenderness. And that prodigal warfare has been raised or allowed against you, then I will remind your love of this in the 4th part of the Philokalia in the Sermon on Reasoning, writes St. Cassian the Roman, words of St. Apollos to his despairing brother going into the world: “Don’t be surprised, child, despair, for I am old and gray-haired, and I’m getting really cold from these thoughts. Don’t despair about the severity of your marriage, which can be healed not only by human diligence, but only by God’s love for mankind.” You, by the goodness of our Almighty Creator and Redeemer, received your desire and were cleansed from all your previous sins through the secret of fasting and repentance! But now, although you are conquered, immediately express yourself to your mother and disgrace yourself before her shrine - she imposes on you what the Lord announced to her, and you, correcting it and contrite in heart, no longer consider yourself an imaginary girl, but almost a harlot. For the prayers of my mother and some lazy priest, the Lord is strong enough to fix everything and grant me a good end and save me! And it seems that you are quite calm in this regard. In a monastery one should not worry about acquiring wealth. You will come to your senses about the desire to acquire wealth - this is an obvious enemy’s intrigue. You must remember that you made a vow not to have money. Wealth is bad for you You complain about poverty, but wealth is still harmful for you; when a quarter moves in your pocket, then you will show yourself. Having written this, we hope that you will accept reproach from us better than praise. While I heartily lament the illness that befell you, I am also comforted by seeing the favor of our Lord Jesus Christ upon you. All I can do is ask you not to become exhausted in such visits from above, but to continue to be complacent with undoubted faith that your strength and offer are known to the Lord. Do not be burdened with temptations beyond this. It is not unknown to you that where there is temptation, there is a need for patience, and where there is patience, there is the intercession of grace and mercy. The Savior in the form of the sick accepts good deeds We need to endure and prosper in the sorrows that come our way; we know that everything will pass. And first: we must be forced to move away from worldly temptations: what you don’t see and don’t hear, you don’t want. The memory of God is strong enough to preserve you from everything if you try to remember the hour of death when your soul leaves your body. Our all-generous Father and Redeemer Jesus Christ in His holy Gospel, through His most pure mouth, spoke in Matthew in Chapter 25, Conception 106 about His Second Coming: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from each other, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep at His right hand, the goats on His left side. Then the King says to those on His right hand: Come, blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Be hungry and give Me food; thirsty and thirsty for Me; strange beh and vvedoste Mena; naked and clothed Mene; I am sick and visiting; ran away in prison and came to Me.” Then the righteous women answer Him, saying: “Lord! when I see You hungry” and so on (Matthew 25:31–37). And further away, having answered, the King spoke to them: “Amen, I say to you: whatever you have done, one of the least of My brethren, you have done for Me,” and so on (Matthew 25:45). Vizhd: Our Savior Himself, in the form of the sick, accepts good deeds. And therefore we must adhere to the commandments of the Lord of our creation to the best of our ability. During the continuation of that virtue, your love was put to the test by the slander of the universal enemy the devil, who, out of his ancient malice, strives to create an obstacle to every commandment in order to distract you from the soul-saving and life-giving commandment. Saint John Chrysostom, the universal teacher, and Saint Isaac the Syrian write this: “If there is no virtue, evil will not follow it.” Carrying the cross is saving Illnesses are not always for sins, but are also sent as a temptation. I am sure that your cross is difficult for you, but it is saving, although it seems to you that you are sinning by grumbling, but later you repent and bow to thanksgiving, not knowing the destinies of God, which arrange everything for your benefit. You must surrender to His holy will, strengthening yourself with faith and hope: if God did not love you, he would not have sent both of you such a cross - illness and suffering. Was not the righteous Job pleasing to God? But some unbearable diseases were sent to him. Illnesses are not always for sins, but are also sent as a temptation. St. John Chrysostom likens those suffering from illnesses to martyrs. What is more honor than that? I advise you to be more patient and grateful in your weakness. God is able to work this out for your benefit. Disease is overcome not by grumbling, but by thanksgiving to God Your daughter, Anna F., writes to you that she is unwell and thanks the Lord God for this - this is the dignity of a true Christian, this wonderful example teaches us, sinners, how to deal with ourselves in a sick state, for illness is not overcome by grumbling, but by thanksgiving to the Lord God. Truly such will hear the Most Sweet Voice: “Your sins are forgiven; arise and walk (Matthew 9:5).” And that you deign to write about your illness, which you want to use medicines, then let your love know that this undertaking of yours cannot be harmful to your salvation (when you keep yourself from other evils) - for this I, a great sinner, deign and bless. The most merciful Lord allows everything for the benefit and edification of the soul Thanks to the All-Merciful Lord that you and your entire family are healthy and prosperous. Although Alexandra Grigorievna is physically and unwell, her spiritual feelings are being revived into a sound mind; and that is why the Holy Spirit through St. The prophet and king David said in a psalm: “With bridle and bridle you draw down those who do not come near you, O Lord!” (Ps. 31:9). And St. The Apostle James in his conciliar letter writes this: “Have all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations, knowing that the temptation of your faith will make you endure; but patience may be perfect and have its effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If anyone lacks wisdom from you, let him ask in faith, not doubting anything” (James 1:2-6). And St. The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church: “As much as our outer man decays, so much the inner man is renewed” (2 Cor. 4:16). We, having co-considered everything written above, must accept everything that is allowed from our Creator with thanksgiving: no matter what kind of illness, even imaginary consumption. But the Most Merciful Lord allows everything for our benefit and for the edification of our souls. Force yourself to endure the suffering that occurs both sensually and mentally. Although you and I are deprived of the real funeral feast of obedience, the Most Merciful and Greatly Gifted Lord, in His ineffable mercy, draws you with the reins and bridle, not approaching Him, placing on you the cross to bear patiently your illnesses. Based on the advice of our unworthiness, force yourself to constantly continue to sensually and mentally endure the suffering that occurs and thank the All-Merciful Physician of our souls and bodies. Is it possible that only a person can ever achieve eternal bliss through his single act? Through the sole merits and suffering of our dearest Lord and Redeemer, mercy and gifts are bestowed on humanity. Bear with what little you find with thanksgiving and patience, and the All-Merciful Lord will save you, and grant you eternal bliss, and make you one of all the saints. By the mercy of God, bitter things are transformed into sweetness. Please write thanks to the All-Merciful and Greatly Gifted Lord, who gave your love the wearing of the cross, i.e. illness, because the Almighty Creator consoles you and turns you away from unworthy lips and messages. But by His mercy even bitter things are transformed into sweetness! And we, indecent ones, rejoice at your feeling, because we agree with the traditions of the holy fathers. Ask the Lord to open the eyes of your heart instead of those of your body. And that to you, mother and sister, the All-Merciful Lord sent blindness to your bodily eyes, then for this let us be grateful to the One who created us and arranges our salvation solely for the edification of the soul, so that the Almighty Lord, in His ineffable mercy, instead of the physical ones, would open to your love the eyes of the heart, which are so necessary for us, more than any most precious treasures. - And when the Lord grants, at least one, to open one of them, then we will truly see all-outstretched snares to deceive us from the universal enemy the devil, and with the help of God’s grace we will begin to beware of them and, with humility and hope, again pray to the Almighty Lord to preserve us and instruct us in how to resist our rival, in order to take revenge on him for all his impudent insults inflicted on us. “Then we will truly feel within our hearts peace of mind and love for God as a whole person. Then we will feel our moments of grace, and with gratitude and the outpouring of touching tears, a source will flow, touching and delighting your heart, with which your good desire for eternity will be filled with ineffable consolation. We sin before God, and therefore we must always repent. Give thanks for everything, and beware of murmuring You write that your illness has recurred, you ask and wish that the Lord will reveal its cause to you. We sin before God, which is why we must always repent. Everything that happened to us happens according to His Holy will for our punishment or admonition. From now on, let us submit ourselves to His Holy will, for He wants everyone to be saved and to come to the mind of truth and leads to this, for which you bring thanks to Him, and beware of grumbling. For sorrows and illnesses, thank the Lord that you are not forgotten by Him We sympathize with you in your mental and physical infirmities, with all our souls we would like to help you, but we have neither the power nor the strength. Our most merciful Creator knows that it is for our benefit; For this reason, he will punish us and save us from future illnesses. God, in secret and unknown ways, punishes those who sin among the pious in various ways, may he present them blameless to the great court, and, having punished them here, will reward them there. So, for visiting you with illnesses and sorrows, thank God that you are not forgotten by him. You yourself are aware of your fall from grace, irritation, zeal, hurting your neighbors, and so on - for all this you are allowed to suffer. The best cure for diseases If you are sick, we do not advise you to undergo treatment, but rather fulfill the commandment of St. Apostle James: “If anyone among you is sick, let him call for the elders of the church, and they will pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the Lord will raise him up from his sickbed; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5:14–15). This medicine is much better and more reliable. The power of God is made perfect in weakness (Cf. 2 Cor. 13:4). Through illness, your spiritual person is cleansed. Your letters show us that the power of God is made perfect in your weaknesses (cf. 2 Cor. 13:4). Who could have gone so many days without food if not for the power of God to strengthen him? Even in your weaknesses there is God’s strength. Thank God that through the corruption and exhaustion of God’s composition, your spiritual man is being cleansed, although you see yourself in trouble, for which you do not leave regret and as long as you can be kept from falling. Also refrain from grumbling. Accept all cases as sent to you from God. Disease and suffering will bring bliss in the next century The Lord involuntarily saves us through sorrows and illnesses, leading us away from the opposite path and escorting us to Himself. Truly St. Paul's exclamation: “O the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God! Who has tried the mind of the Lord" (Rom. 11:33). Trust in the mercy of God: illnesses and suffering will bring bliss in the next century, - thereby ease your sorrow, bring thanks to the Lord: if he did not love you, he would not visit you with these sufferings. He gives strength to your exhausting forces as long as He pleases to prolong your trial. We wish you patience and relief from your illness, entrusting you to the protection of God. Know God's love in your weaknesses It is impossible to attribute your situation to anything other than God’s fatherly Providence for you, protecting you in your illnesses. Know from this the love of God, bring thanks to Him, see that He wants to save you from future sorrows. Reassure yourself with this hope. May the Lord forgive you for your weaknesses and inclinations, and we, the unworthy, send forgiveness and blessings. The groom's wealth does not consist in many possessions, but in a good conscience By your writing you inform me about the fate that is opening for your daughter Maria to enter the field of married life and ask for my blessing for this. For my part, I do not reject this enterprise. Although he is not rich, if he is a good man, God bless him. Wealth does not consist in the possessions of many, but in a good conscience, which, even without perishable wealth, already has its rewards, and God is able to grant them what they need and are satisfied with. If it is God’s will for this, then He will arrange this work to be completed - pray to the Lord and surrender to His holy will. I do not advise performing indecent rituals and unseemly gatherings: to perform this empty custom against the lawful conscience would mean that you are worshiping an idol. There is no need to fear censure for this. None of the sane people recognize this as a reproach, and perhaps some of the flighty ones would dare, but there is nothing to look at. The holy sacrament of marriage is performed according to the will of the All-Merciful God I had the good fortune to receive and read your pleasant writing, from which I see the unyielding desire of your son Dimitri to have legal marriage. As for the refusal of the gentlemen Groves, do not deign to be upset about this; apparently, it is not fate with this parental blessing to begin this Sacred Sacrament. In every possible way, the All-Merciful Lord arranges fate according to His will: marriage is favorable, but not only for those married in the family, but for everyone, and therefore it is expected that it will be according to the will of the All-Merciful Lord. It seems, according to our weak reasoning, that Maria from Svechnin was destined to join your family. As for the dowry in money, I ask and beg you not to insist; You should not add money to the family, but a well-behaved person who serves you to console you. That nephew Jacob, a young and inexperienced man, is offering his voice and opinion, perhaps you should explain to him so that in such cases he should be more silent than offering and insisting on self-thinking to you. When, according to your explanation, there is a feeling of cordial goodwill towards Svechnin’s house, then this seems to be an omen of the union of your kinship with them. In other respects, I entrust you to the protection of the All-Merciful Lord. If you feel embarrassed after praying, then it is better not to do what you have planned. For a peasant woman, if it is possible for her to be with me, then let her visit, and if time does not allow, then she should pray to God three times. If after prayer she feels sorry for herself, then know that this is God’s will. The same goes for when he wants to marry someone. And if, after praying, she feels fear and embarrassment about who she is going for, then let her be afraid to go for him. And likewise others - if there is a groom, let him pray in the same way. When choosing a spouse, you should honor and obey your parents I consider it necessary to give you advice, namely: your mother is preparing you for the field of a new life, wants to give you away in marriage, but, as I know, your parents can hardly make a mistake in choosing a spouse - I advise you to submit to their will according to this commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that you may have goodness and longevity on earth.” This commandment clearly indicates heavenly glory for receiving earthly bliss to those who honor both parents in the good deed that they are trying to bring to you. And in showing your obedience to your parents, I feed myself with the hope that you will console your parents with a well-behaved lifestyle. And so, I entrust you to the Protection of God and the word of His grace and dare to ask God’s blessing on you. In sensual warfare, like warriors, we are tempered by trials Due to sensual warfare, although warriors are wounded, they bandage their wounds and enter into battle, and for this they receive great rewards from the Tsar. So in our mental battle, the Heavenly King looks at his soldiers and, seeing those who are fighting, although they accept the wounding, but do not retreat from the feat, he sends them his help and rewards them with spiritual gifts. One spiritual man writes about this: “When various temptations, passions, infirmities, and bewilderments overwhelm us, then we are especially affirmed in faith in the Lord and should not despair, so as not to obey your enemy, he should retreat from the feat and deviate into despair. And if this happens to you, and if Satan sees your good intentions, he has armed himself against you, just don’t lose heart, believe me, and the Lord will soon visit you with the secret consolation of His grace.” Among these is the battle that you write about, that you suffer every day, that you can still grieve about, that your former consolation was allowed to go through because of your obvious pride. The cure for this is humility of heart. St. Isaac and many other holy fathers write: “Unless a person is tired of spiritual and physical passions, he cannot gain wisdom in battles, or recognize his weakness and humility.” So, without despairing of God’s mercy, read more active books and imitate their teaching, and humble yourself in your weaknesses! May the most merciful Lord enlighten you on the right path and strengthen you on it. Internal warfare is overcome by patience, self-reproach and humility From the outside there is a war, but inside it is intense and dangerous - for such a pre-disastrous battle, you will have to achieve victory, namely, with patience, self-reproach and humility. That you are describing your former habits in order to benefit everyone, but since you were allowed to become impoverished for the sake of your humility, then you need to maintain yourself in moderation and treat others with mere words. You are in battle because of negligence and for abandoning humility You are in battle because of your negligence and for abandoning an invincible weapon - humility, with which all passions and fears collapse. Swearing is allowed for humility Don’t be embarrassed about the battle rising up against you, try to resist, and don’t desire this disease, because in it not only yourself, but also others suffer. Receive what is sent from God with thanksgiving. Daughter, we see that you do not want to be enslaved by passion, but this is allowed so that they recognize their weakness and humble themselves, and would not dare to judge others who are weak in this. Seeing yourself in such a state of disrepair, force yourself to be worse than all creation and accept the sorrows inflicted by employees as worthy not only of such, but also of greater ones. Don’t blame them for causing problems to your health, but blame yourself. May the Lord grant you to acquire true humility and learn to calm your conscience. You might be interested in: