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The Lord commanded us to seek humility and self-reproach Your structure is very strange to the ear, especially the opinion that the weight of your own humiliation leads you to insensibility. This is not consistent with anything, neither with Scripture, nor with the nature of things. The Lord commanded to seek peace in humility: “Learn from Me” and so on (Matthew 11:29). St. David cries: “In our humility I will remember that the Lord creates wisdom”; “The Lord resists the proud, but gives goodness to the humble” (James 4:6). The Holy Fathers, who have carried out this skillfully, confirm us. St. Dorotheos writes: “How can one not have peace if one reproaches and humiliates oneself, and even if something sad happens to him, he is worthy of having it beforehand, and is not embarrassed.” Similarly, Climacus and other fathers teach about the inexplicable benefits of self-reproach, but you, on the contrary, are burdened, therefore it is false and incorrect. The dignity or unworthiness of a priest cannot be an obstacle to the performance of the sacraments Temptations that happened to you while talking with Fr. Stefan, your archpriest, you blame yourself for entering into a conversation that does not belong, just as a sheep would teach a shepherd. Although you have seen what is hidden under the sheep's clothing and should beware of such and similar pronunciations, leave the judgment about this to the Lord Himself, who knows the secrets of our hearts, since he was appointed to be a minister of the Mysteries of Christ and his dignity or unworthiness cannot be an obstacle to the performance of the sacraments. Avoid such conversations and observe what I told you before about conversion. Clergymen, as prayer books for us, deserve preference over others Regarding your dispute about the distribution of bread to clergy, we believe, due to our dementia, that you are not completely right, but most of all, you have sinned by stubbornly defending your unfair opinion. Clergymen, as prayer books for us, in all fairness deserve preference over others. In addition, while fulfilling their requirements from the church, they cannot leave the church as freely for purchases as trading people, and their very dignity forbids them to worry too much about this, and therefore, even with their unfounded requests, they must be respectful and covered with Christian love. Through blessing, moderate actions, severity and humility, obedience of households is achieved. Of course, although you need to be in the house due to your responsibilities in such a way that your home church obeys you, you can only achieve this through blessings, moderate actions, severity and humility, I wish you that. God bless you. Maintain peace in the family through good governance through the fear of God and avoid embarrassment In your family situation, try to maintain peace through good governance through the fear of God and avoid confusion and strife, and the God of peace will be with you. Prosper in your family through patience and meekness rather than severity As always, I advise you regarding the order of things - to succeed in the family with more benevolence, patience, meekness and generosity; Pray with your heart to the Lord Almighty. If it is necessary and strict, then use it as rarely as possible. Repentance heals confusion, cowardice and sorrow I received your Scripture, from which I perceive your confusion, and cowardice, and the sorrows that have arisen. And, perhaps, the Merciful Lord will deliver you from it and bring repentance with condolences, to this we see many examples in the Holy Scriptures that the Lord, merciful to them through repentance, forgave them and delivered them from the present sorrows. Sorrows are melancholy, like a paternal rod, raised from the love of a father against his outrageous children, in order to correct them and preserve them in good morals, which will serve them for the benefit of their entire lives. God's Providence acts for the benefit of our souls, in order to save us in the future life. Although this does not apply to you personally, but you participate in compassion for your brother, I advise you and him to strengthen yourself with faith and hope in God’s mercy, which builds everything for good. So, remain undisturbed, in this may the Most Merciful Lord strengthen you. In sorrows, be complacent and ask the Lord for patience In the sorrows sent down, be complacent; then be ready when they start. And that you are philosophizing from ignorance of your weaknesses - you, mother, remember that when you find sorrows, you must ask the Lord for patience. The most merciful Lord, seeing our weakness with you, gave inspiration, but do not think that change will not follow, but expect storm and excitement in the silence. It is necessary to find peace in sorrows, relying on the Providence of God You write about your sorrow for your brothers, but this is no longer new for you - you need to be at peace in sorrows, relying on the Providence of God, which all acts according to His humane justice: He is able to justify innocence; if he punishes, it is not without reason, and although not for this guilt, then, most likely, for another. He does this in order to save their souls, but you, not understanding this, are in vain troubled and embarrassed - and thereby you sin. In sorrow, resort to the Most Merciful Lord You very desperately accept the visitation of God and, wanting to avoid this sorrow by criminal actions, you do not think that by doing this you are striving with quick steps towards eternal destruction. - Resist from these impulses. In sorrow, resort to the Most Merciful Lord: punishing the body with sorrowful instructions, he heals the soul. If you came to the proper feeling and realized the severity of your sins, then you would silently praise the Lord, who is punishing here in order to save you from eternal torment. When you accept the inclination that I am not such a sinner as to punish me like that, then know that pride alone is the gravest of vices. Humble yourself, imputing punishment worthy of being, do not blame anyone, do not grumble at anyone, and especially at God, you will see the relief of your sorrows. - Here are the means of salvation for you. God allows all sorrows according to our order Bearing sorrows: the proud feel it more, and the humble endure it more easily You describe your sorrows in your letter, but are you the only mortal who has only sorrows? No one will escape them, but not at the same time and not to the same extent. And God sends everything according to our order: the proud feel it more, and the humble endure it more comfortably, because in the feeling of their hearts they consider themselves worthy and do not blame anyone, but only themselves. Your grief increases, since you consider yourself equal to M. Arcadia and feel slavery. This thought is far from humbling: imagine boys of different ages and ranks studying at the seminary, and then one comes out as a bishop, and the other remains a sexton, and it happens that this latter is also higher than him in rank and admission. The same thing happens in service: being equal in the lower rank, one reaches the rank of general, and the other, with a minor rank, is promoted at the same time. Do the latter have the right to grieve for the former? Take measures, sister, to your organization and recognize your unfair reasoning. You yourself are the cause of your embarrassment. We have already written to you many times about sorrows as God’s permission - you need to accustom yourself to patience and to forbid your weaknesses, and the Lord will look and send His help. Cast all your care upon the All-Merciful Lord Why did you allow yourself to be killed by sorrows, and how attached are you to these soul-crushing actions? God created the universe, and cares for every creature of His, and has hitherto fed, clothed and warmed you; is He really not strong enough to continue to care for you? We ask you, for God’s sake, do not kill yourself, but cast all your care on the All-Merciful Lord: He is rich in mercy, goodness and generosity, and will not abandon you, His creation. With your hopelessness you insult yourself more and anger God. But He is strong for you and your mother to prolong your life, and we do not know who will end his short life first. Try as much as you can to calm yourself in your illnesses and sufferings, still remembering the apostle’s word, as if through the passions of the present time we have not yet reached the goal of the desired glory to appear in us. Go gradually, endure sorrows Your soul burns with the desire for sorrows and illnesses, and the putting aside of all cares in order to be inseparable from God - you are very far from this. It’s the same thing, as if you were brought into the bridal chamber in dirty clothes, so you, shaken by the violence of passions, suddenly find yourself in the land of dispassion. Go gradually, endure sorrow, first considering it worthy for your sins, then draw closer to hope, and then the third degree will not separate you from God - love! First show in practice the patience of sorrows with humility, do not give yourself over to deeds, words, or thoughts that offend, but consider yourself alone to be worthy of it. When you follow this path, but without the opinion that you are doing well, then perhaps you will achieve it, but the thought that comes to you without skill is not grounded. It is impossible to be saved without sorrows Remember that it is impossible to be saved without sorrows; with patience and humility, everything is overcome. Sorrows are allowed for your benefit and salvation We sincerely regret that you are in disorder, try by all means to pacify yourself, surrendering to the will of God and His Holy Providence, leading you to salvation in ways unknown to you. The sorrows allowed to you can only come except by God's permission - they serve for your benefit and salvation. No matter how great the sorrows may be, they are all fleeting and soon cease, and those that are long-lasting will all end in death. And thoughts - remember what they are leading you to. Surely to eternal destruction. May the Most Merciful Lord deliver you from this and forgive your sins and for these thoughts. In sorrows, do not grumble, do not be faint-hearted, but thank God for everything We see that your sorrows, for which we have already written to you with advice, and now we will say the same thing, that the main thing in their arrival is not to grumble and not to be faint-hearted, but to thank the Most Merciful God, who allows them and does not leave us to fall to the point of final exhaustion. Blame yourself more than others, be firm in faith and resort to His goodness with the prayer: “Lord, your will be done on us,” - His will is always good and useful to us. The boredom that comes to your wife, Marya Yakovlevna, is, of course, from the enemy; she forces you to follow the advice given to her for salvation, and the enemy hates this and bores you. You must be patient and not submit, and the Lord will help you, the boredom will pass. You write about Elena, that she feels sad and bored. What to do with this, you need to endure, pray to God, ask for help from Him, do handicrafts and not be in idleness, from which not only boredom, but also many vices disappear. The death of children occurs due to intemperance and failure to keep God's commandments. I ask you to console me with my letter in the grief that lies in the deprivation of children - sadness brings you a lot that your children do not live. Apparently, there is no blessing from God for this, it happens more because of your intemperance, and failure to keep God’s commandments, and failure to observe holy fasts, Wednesdays and Fridays, and holidays. Just consider, if they were conceived against conscience, then, of course, you and your children are happy, for they are now standing in the army of the Heavenly King, but you, if they were alive, would cry until your old age. Hence, if you keep your conscience clear, abstain on holidays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and fasts, then the Lord, rich in bounties and merciful, will bless you with such children who will console you with their well-behaved life and will be your guides to the future life that I wish you to receive. It is sad to be immensely saddened by the death of my mother. I received your writing filled with sad expressions and compassion for humanity quite touched my most vile heart. Having regained my sanity, I remembered that it is disastrous to grieve beyond measure and kill oneself untimely - we must thank the Lord in every possible way for everything, no matter what punishments He punishes us in this world. And compassion came to me not about my mother’s death, I am sure that she was taken away from us to rest! But about you, who remained an orphan, who formed your morality even more poorly through the funeral feast of obedience. But the only thing I firmly remember is that the Merciful Lord clearly explained in His Divine Scripture that “he does not want death for the sinner, but wants everyone to be saved and to come into the true mind” (cf. Eze. 33:11). And therefore we must reason: if the Lord had foreseen that, according to our inclinations, we could acquire complete benefit from the memorable mother Varvara, then in every possible way he would have left the living to live with us. But, apparently, we can tell you frankly that we turned out to be unworthy of such a Mother and a condescender of our infirmities, and during our life with her we did not know how to appreciate her care for us: but often, due to the enemy’s darkness, they grumbled and disrespected her, and often in our thoughts we condemned her for her infirmities during her ministry and painful illness. But we, and most of all you, can now fully see in reality what feelings we felt during our lives with mother and what feelings we felt after mother. Preparing for death: repent and humble yourself The feeling of your illness makes you think about your approaching death, which is a good thing. Scripture says: “Remember your last” (cf. Sir.28:6), never sin. Moreover, having remembered your previous sins, repent and humble yourself, and think about what caused your sins - because you did not have humility. And again we say: humble yourself, and the Lord will have mercy on you. It is impossible to carry out fulfillment according to your spiritual, because according to the laws it has no force, but with the good will of the Mother Superior, it can be ordered in this way. After your death, your parents and sister have no right to your cell; it belongs to the monastery. Our advice is to write to you so that she would do the favor of selling you after your death and paying her your debt of 100 rubles. And she gave 100 rubles to our Hermitage, and used everything else for the church being built. The church itself will daily and forever pray to God for you, as it prays for the creators of St. of this church. Also give the image to your monastery, have moderate sorrow for your brothers, believing in the Providence of God that He heals your souls against those who are contrary. Be complacent and calm. Don't be embarrassed by the news of death “Watch, because you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come” (Matthew 25:13) The unexpected death of your monastery struck you with fear and apprehension. We should always have this fear, but the darkness of passions drives it away from us. The Savior himself teaches us this wisdom about the memory of death: “Watch and pray, for you do not know at what hour the thief will come” (cf. Matt. 24:42), and the wise Sirach encourages: “Remember your last, you will never sin” (Sir. 7:39), and in many places of Holy Scripture they gloriously prescribe. Due to our inattention to this subject, from time to time we see sudden deaths, reminding us that we, too, are mortals and do not know the day and hour when the Lord will come (Matthew 25:13). In this case, there is no need to be embarrassed, but to repent of your sins. Give thanks in everything and, recognizing your weaknesses, humble yourself It is not open to me, the indecent one, to foresee your fate of death, and therefore I do not dare not only write about it, but even think about it. I decide to remind your love that the Savior Himself conveyed to us in St. The Gospel that death overtakes like a thief (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10). And Rev. John Climacus writes: “Let mortal memory lie down and rise from the bed.” Where there is humility, salvation is nearby You remain insensitive, cold to prayer, and overcome by laziness. But, thank God, and about this, that at least you are aware of your weaknesses and insignificance. And therefore we must be humble about ourselves and dream more humbly... And where there is humility, there is salvation nearby! Try to humble yourself and be at peace, and the machinations of the enemy will not prevail over you Suffer from your negligence and vanity a loss of spiritual interest. Of course, the enemy himself creates such confusion for you. You write, you said to Natalya in this way, but she took it in a completely different sense - what does this mean if not the darkening of your minds! This caused her to become extremely embarrassed; woe to me, all this is done for the sake of my sins! Try to humble yourself and be at peace, and the machinations of the enemy will not prevail over you. Humility is a weapon against the machinations of the enemy One weapon worth using against the machinations of the enemy is humility! But where can I get it? “In your patience gain your souls” (Luke 21:19); with self-reproach and an appeal to God, as a wretched widow cried out to an unrighteous judge and received vengeance, since our Righteous Judge and Most Merciful Heavenly Father should not have vengeance from a rival who cries out to Him day and night. Humility is the most important weapon For us, seeking salvation by fulfilling God’s commandments, the most necessary thing is humility, which attracts God’s grace to us and sanctifies all our actions, and without it, no deeds and labors can bring us the much-desired peace that the Most Merciful Creator gave us, saying to the apostles: “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27). Bring thanks to God for everything, and even more so, remembering His great blessings and mercy towards you. Love elevates, but humility does not allow one to fall Therefore, it is necessary to go to God in a humble way and beware of arrogance, because of this you lose your peace of mind and fall into the crimes that you described, that unimportant troubles annoyed you for several days. If you delve into the teaching of St. father, then you will clearly see this truth, and the teaching of the Lord - “learn from Me that you are meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29) - shows you the reason for your concern. In order to gain this treasure - humility, you must not rely on your mind and strength, as you were shown quite above. But, although you are overwhelmed, you repel, you are defeated, but you win: by your cruel nature, you lead to exhaustion of your last health, and the disease increases, and so on, which you couldn’t even describe everything. And since you and I, from self-indulgence and from voluptuous actions, rage and hot temper, damaged our health, and especially acquired a certain seizure, then such, damaged, rarely live to an old age with venerable disease, but in the blossoming years of life, death snatches them away. This is amazing to me, that you consider yourself a freak, but are not forced to accept it! Where there is no humility, there is contempt and arrogance It is clear that where humility does not dwell, contempt and arrogance abides. Let us look carefully to see if we are entangling ourselves with self-love and self-reflection, whether we need, according to the apostolic testament, to put aside all pride and with patience let us strive for the feat set before us (cf. Heb. 12:1). The humble one is not embarrassed in all the insults that befall him, but does not cease to seek spiritual salvation. If we had humility, then no force could harm or confuse us Oh! If we had humility, then no force of the enemy could harm or confuse us. Read the message of St. Mark the Ascetic on Easter, where he writes about this and exhorts one to humble himself, and St. Gregory of Sinaite in chapters II and III very precisely teaches about permission, and also in St. Callista in the 43rd chapter is about striving and humility. - Humble yourself, force your whole heart to humility, although this is done for our salvation, as we ourselves have seen many times. If possible, keep your lips silent, and from this you will see self-reproach. Read Mark the Ascetic and Simeon chapter 31 more often. In your weaknesses, put off cowardice, resorting to Christ our Savior. No matter how sick or sorrowful you have been, the power of God still preserves you; and when humility is established in you, then you will find peace. How to achieve this highly creative virtue, learn from Saints Ephraim and Isaac the Syrian, Abba Dorotheos, St. John Climacus. In cases that come your way, be guided by their teaching, recognize your weakness, and keep yourself under all creation. When such a memory is implanted in your heart, you will find it easier to calm down in what is not being done your way and causes you grief. You will also be given reasoning that it is not without the Providence of God that all this happens to you. Do not be embarrassed, but be complacent and thank the Most Merciful Lord The Greatly Gifted and Merciful Lord, from a source contaminated with rottenness and stinking, flowing with undoubted faith, has granted to many not only physical, but also spiritual healing! I ask and pray you not to be embarrassed, but to be in every possible way to be complacent, to thank the Most Merciful Lord, who has deigned you to be in our holy monastery, to personally see the order of church services. Do you not repent of the fact that you talked little with me, a feeble-minded person, about spiritual edification and accepted the sacrament of confession, through which even through the unworthy the grace of God acts and lightens our sinful burdens! As for the universal enemy - the devil, who, according to Scripture, is like “a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (Ps. 21:14) - and through the instrument of intrigues that do not understand him, he acted and instilled tares of confusion into your soul, in order to thereby deafen your feelings and cool the warmth of faith to accept spiritual edifications. May the disease turn on the head of the strangler, the devil. And may you and I trust in the Lord, and may the Most Merciful Lord enlighten you, and may He enlighten you to the knowledge of the truth, and may He pacify your soul, worried in confusion of thoughts and bewilderment, and may He cover you from all the snares and slander of the devil, and may He forgive you all your sins, voluntary and involuntary. About the dangers of dream interpretation You write that in a dream vision, as if the spirit made some mockery of your wife, in which case the Lord allows our sin for our sake, to our humility. What she asked, for better or for worse, is the wisdom of the most stupid, unenlightened, village women, and you are already ashamed to follow them. What an evil spirit can do, he cannot do any harm to us, if the Lord does not allow it, and if the Lord allows him to do dirty tricks on us, then for our pride, for our humility. Thank God I repented of this. May the Lord God forgive her with His omnipotent grace and may he fulfill her life in the success of His life-giving commandments, which I wish for myself, and for you, and for her, and for everyone from the heart. Maintain a good conscience, it will comfort you in difficult circumstances Maintain a good conscience; in these sad circumstances it will comfort you and cheer your spirit; Still, take comfort in the fact that the deeds of virtue in due time are revealed in full radiance, and let the wicked be reviled, but one day even the living in heaven will laugh at them, and the Lord will mock them, and “those who trust in the Lord, like Mount Zion, will not move forever” (Ps. 125:1). For the future, if you want to have a peaceful conscience and actions according to God, then in every difficult matter, in every perplexity, ask for help from the Lord or from people who live according to God, for it is written: “Your salvation is in much counsel.” By doing this and living this way, you will find mercy before God and will be pleasing to Him, and His blessing will be in your home. In everything you should seek skillful advice But what to do, it’s clear how long we have to live in the world, but to learn everything from events and not to rely on our own self-reflections, but to seek skillful advice in everything - in everything! Don't Leave Making Friendly Christian Advice Also ask for my blessing, whether to tell your brother when necessary, or to remain silent - You, of course, are not able to correct him, for he has autocracy and knows what is bad and what is good. But do not stop giving him friendly advice about abandoning acts indecent for a Christian. Pray to the Lord and the Most Pure Mother of God for him, call upon the saints of God for help. “What seems impossible from man, but from God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). You do not grieve over all the troubles, for they are short-term and transitory, but they do not happen without the will of God. That you explain your weakness, that you are often overcome by arrogance in the advice of those who come to you to consult about something - it’s surprising to me, why would you be arrogant about this when you say what to the one who asks you, for even if you tell him something, it is not from yourself, but you are instructed by the grace of Christ the Savior and by the faith of the one who requires. Are you and I going to be surprised at this, that they come to us, then the proverb will come true for you and me: “When there are no more sheep, then fashion began to punish or fell.” The Lord also works out our salvation through things contrary to us. Everyone causes us grief, we deeply sympathize with you about everything. I wish you a speedy deliverance from these troubles, but if God pleases and postpones deliverance for a while, be courageous and strong in spirit in faith and trust in the generosity of the Merciful Lord, that He works out our salvation even in cases that are contrary to us. Recognize your weakness and insufficiency to submit to the will of God and to fulfill His holy commandments. From this knowledge you will acquire humility and see God’s help. “With man these things are impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) We answer your fears regarding the difficulty of salvation in the world during peaceful pursuits and in family life with the words of our Savior: “from man it is impossible, but from God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26); If only the will for correction does not weaken and unfeigned repentance softens the judgment of God. Salvation is acquired by patience We received your Scripture, from it we saw some expressions of your dispensation, by which you, being insulted, are embarrassed and reach the point of cowardice; therefore, as much as possible, we write to you for consolation and for strengthening in the temptations that come upon you. You want spiritual salvation, but it is acquired through patience. The Lord says: “In your patience you will gain your souls” (Luke 21:19); and St. Elijah Ekdik writes: “It is worthy for every Christian, the right of a believer in God, not to be without care, but to always look forward to temptation.” Remember that the Lord pleases the narrow and sorrowful path, and not the long and sorrowless one. The art of art is a matter of salvation The Lord pleases the narrow and sorrowful path, not the long one You mention your dispensation, by which, being offended, you are embarrassed and reach the point of cowardice. You suddenly want perfection without learning, without enduring enemy attacks, without recognizing your weakness and without humbleness. Just to say - you want, while still a baby, to become a perfect husband, or, having entered the service as a lower rank, to now become a general, or, having started to learn the alphabet, to suddenly read all the books. Didn’t the saints reach this point through many labors, deeds and time? The artistry of arts and the cunning of cunning is the work of salvation, and not simply, as he wanted, so he did. The Holy Fathers, who actively walked this path and acquired the wealth of goodness through doing the commandments of Christ, left us an example in their teachings, so that through them we would recognize the passions in ourselves, resist them, and in evading them we would resort to humility, self-reproach and repentance, not at all relying on our own deeds, or on our own strength, or on our own reason - and so little by little we would be cleansed of passions and approach to God. Let us remember that the Lord pleases the narrow and sorrowful way, not the long way (cf. Matthew 7:13–14), sorrowless. I am shortening it because, with severe weakness, I am writing to your love by dictation through another. I ask you not to despair, but to surrender to the Lord in all cases, for despair proves obvious pride, and the Lord is able to save you from it. On the Importance of Success in Christian Duties I wish you, with all your good family, a prosperous stay and favorable success in your Christian duties, able to intercede on the day of God’s Last Judgment, about which we must occupy our thoughts above all vain worries. May the good Lord instill in your heart the everlasting memory of God and concern for spiritual salvation, and may He protect you from all the deceits of the enemy, and may He forgive you all your sins, voluntary and involuntary, and I, the worst one, send you fatherly forgiveness and blessing. Be more concerned about the salvation of your soul Be more concerned about the salvation of your soul, for which you have moved into this monastery: you have a lot of weeds in your field, try to pluck them out and produce good fruit. We can be saved through many tribulations or illnesses We can be saved by many sorrows, or illnesses, or other cases unknown to us. Make the beginning of your salvation in the Lord We, as humans, sincerely regret your mental and physical illnesses; but whoever protects and pities you more, like God - however, He allows it to be so, that your soul, which is dear to Him, for it was redeemed by the Most Pure Blood of His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, may be healed. In this place the hope of your salvation, that the Lord, loving you, visited you with illnesses, and do not place your hope in your works; despair, seeing their impoverishment: the goodness of God is strong to grant you salvation. Enmity is resolved by humbly worshiping each other I read your scripture, where you describe what happened to your brother Nikolai N. Of course, it is very disgraceful, but thank God that they realized their weakness and broke the satanic knot by humbly worshiping each other. The Lord God will forgive you and have mercy on you. It is necessary not to submit to the dominant passion, but to show resistance And you need not to submit to the passion that dominates you, but to show resistance, gradually driving away the custom; it will not prevail over you. “The needy women delight the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 11:12) I greet you in the name of the Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom I earnestly wish you health both mentally and physically. I read your scripture, where you describe your shortcomings in Christian life, I sincerely regret the poor state of your soul. Tell us, please, how we should appear before our Savior when he comes to judge us, with what words we will answer him when we do not want to touch His holy cross with a finger, i.e. We don’t want to abstain at all from our passion. I ask and pray to you, Nikolai Nikolaevich, with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ - pay attention to your life, which, perhaps, the very name of God is blasphemed, touch at least with one thought and try to refrain from this destructive tormentor, for “the needy delight the kingdom of God” (Matthew 11:12). Once again, I ask you to be forced, and the Lord will help you, just with faith call on the name of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is omnipotent, as He is, to strengthen and confirm the faint-hearted, to give a helping hand to those who fall, and to guide those who doubt. Do not become weak in spirit in the struggle, but take refuge in the Lord We see your painful cases, we are heartily rooting for you, but we are unable to give you help. – The Lord Himself sees you in the struggle of passions and does not allow you to completely fall, but supports those who are exhausted and falling, raises and consoles, and allows sorrow, [in order] at least to grant eternal peace in the future life. Do not faint in spirit in your struggle, but resort to the hero of our Lord Jesus Christ, be more indifferent to the fact that sometimes things are not done your way, thereby reassuring yourself and others. Passionate thoughts are cured by repentance and self-reproach Passionate waves and storms overwhelm your soul through thoughts and sleepy dreams: and in them you find yourself guilty of negligence, laziness and other things. It is fair that you have guilt, but in all these attempts of yours, always bring repentance to God with a contrite heart and constant self-reproach, and God will not allow the enemy to dominate your heart, only you yourself, as much as possible, resist passionate thoughts, do not allow them to reach your heart, but resort to God through prayer and awareness of your weakness. Don’t have any conversations about passionate matters, except for your mother’s revelation, which would be very useful for you, but I see that you will stiffen in front of her from shame - this is a form of pride. You write: “How can sins be cleansed by sins?” – in the fight against passions, sometimes we win, and sometimes we are overcome, but through repentance we heal and always suffer from them. Fear has fallen on vanity and pride And since fear began to chill you, then you must be forced into this battle with all humility and trust in the Lord, that although our vanity and pride allowed us not only to fear, but also to dream from the enemy the devil, but we firmly remember the prophetic verses of the 26th Psalm: “If an army takes up arms against me, my heart will not fear. If battle arises against me, I will trust in Him” (Ps. 26:3). Do not be afraid to take upon yourself the great image of the schema Your excellent faith and your favorable prayers forced us, the worst, to forget our insignificance and be responsible for obedience. You deign to write that extreme sadness constantly consumes you, and you provide theological reasons: firstly, that many are convincing you that you strive to perceive the holy great angelic image, that is, the schema, but fear frightens your heart when you listen to the feelings of the majesty of the dignity. If one of the prudent and experienced elders asks you and me and says: we have heard a lot, mother, that you are afraid to take on the great image of the schema, so that in the next century you will not be condemned in your reasoning of your weak strength and weak will. But tell me, please, what kind of answer should you give for the real image you perceived and the vows you made with it? Can you or could you perform them with your natural powers? Moreover, consider how great the difference is in the vows of schematic vows and manatean tonsures - truly, we will find little difference. When you and I begin to answer the questions of the elders with caution and consideration, we will discover a small difference in the given vows when taking vows into the mantle versus the schematic one: just as when taking the mantle you make a vow to preserve yourself in virginity until the end of our life and to have non-covetousness - these two points are above natural, we are not able to keep them without God’s help, and everything else unless we resort to it with humility and patience to the Most Merciful Lord, and to ask and pray for His almighty help, then little can stand against the mental Amalek. So, although we are indecent, we advise: cast your entire fate to the help of the Almighty Lord, agree to the advice of the elders and other well-meaning persons to accept the soul-beneficial sacrament! You will judge that you are already somewhat elderly, and have lived in a monastery for quite some time, and there is a proverb - the voice of the people agrees with the voice of God! To be honest, M. Tabitha, with God’s help, can still try the temptation for another year or two and then decide on this sacrament. In addition to this, please read John Climacus, written by my hand according to my father’s advice in 12 chapters, and there you will see clearly, so as not to deny the Divine calling and not to excuse it with unworthiness, like your love. Please listen to what St. writes about this. Simeon of Thessalonites (from chapter 360) - on his detailed writings the whole Church is now affirmed: “Let the imperfect in this image be perfected, and let the imperfect and without the most perfect depart in secret for the completion of this image. We know about this that there are many who are careless about this, as if they were the first to touch the bahu before baptism and sin against Him. But just as someone who has not been baptized is not a Christian, someone who has not been baptized in this way will not be a monk.” And you will learn about this from the teachers of the church, and even more from Vasily and Gregory, even about the baptism of their words, now let them be about this image and repentance for you. “But a monk will not achieve life at his death, but it happens: for this gift is great, this seal is royal, the second is baptism, it cleanses from sins, gives grace, arms and signifies, takes Him away from the enemies of the church, represents Him, and makes Him a friend.” Let us understand how St. Simeon Archbishop of Thessalonites advises not to become rigid - to embrace the image of monasticism, i.e. schema, and do not put it off. And because you grieve, because you are not in good spirits, this weakness has been allowed to us, so that we may resort to firm guarding and an unstormable refuge - humility. And from such shortcomings, let us recognize our weaknesses and insignificance, and let us reproach ourselves and reproach ourselves, and let us not think about ourselves that we have already reached refuge and can arrive unstormed. One must live to the end and continue to learn how to achieve perfection, but in this world perfection will not be found - only the Most Merciful Lord is the only one who is perfect among those who work honestly with simplicity, kindness and humility, who have surrendered to His perfect will and providence, although even at death He vouchsafes perfection with His bounties! You might be interested in: