ЧАСТЬ ТРЕТЬЯ. УЕДИНЕННАЯ ЖИЗНЬ СТАРЦА ПАИСИЯ НА АФОНЕ И НАЧАЛО ОБЩЕЖИТЕЛЬНОГО БРАТСТВА (1746–1763)

Chapter 1. PLATO'S RESETTLEMENT TO ATHOS. THE NATURE OF ATHON, ITS SKETES AND MONASTERIES. PAST OF ATHON. MERIT OF ATHON IN THE CASE OF SPIRITUAL EDUCATION. THE DISTRESSED SITUATION OF ATHON IN THE HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY. With the resettlement to Athos, the period of novitiate ends for Plato and the period of lonely independent feat begins. Plato's companion on his journey across Mount Athos was Hieromonk Tryphon. They set off on their journey with a few copper coins in their pockets, but their poverty did not bother them. In Galati they boarded a ship that took them to Constantinople, and from there they arrived on Athos, and on July 4, on the eve of the memory of St. Athanasius of Athos, they entered his holy monastery. Holy Athos! How many historical memories, thoughts and feelings these two words evoke in the soul of an Orthodox person! “The most royal and divine mountain, the most excellent of all the mountains in the universe,” according to the expression of the Greek emperor Alexei Komnenos, has attracted Christian ascetics since ancient times and became the center of spiritual enlightenment in the Orthodox East. Mount Athos makes up one of the three branches of the so-called Thessaloniki or Chalkidiki peninsula. The length of Mount Athos is determined to be 80 kilometers, the width in different places is from 12 to 20 kilometers. At the southern tip of the mountain rises, soaring beyond the clouds, a huge peak of white marble. This is actually Mount Athos, so famous in pagan antiquity. The entire peninsula subsequently received its name from it. The height of the peak above sea level along a vertical line is two kilometers. Almost the entire mountain, with the exception of the southern peak, is covered with luxurious vegetation. Lemons, oranges, pears, nuts and chestnuts grow here, and vineyards are planted. The eastern slope of Mount Athos is especially well cultivated. Mountain streams supply Athos with beautiful water. The sea wind moderates the summer heat. Snow falls rarely and does not last long. There are few birds on Mount Athos. There are almost no animals. For all the beauty of Athos, it bears the stamp of some kind of sadness, and even severity. Huge mountains and deep abysses amaze with their grandeur and make the journey along the mountain difficult. The area near the main peak of Athos is especially majestic and inaccessible, so pilgrims rarely go there. As you climb up the mountain, the climate changes, and halfway up the mountain the traveler no longer encounters lemon and orange trees, but along the ridge of the mountain pine and spruce grow. The top of Mount Athos is completely devoid of vegetation. It is impossible to find even a small bush there, and only the beauty of Athos, the so-called “unfading flower” of the Mother of God, grows along these sky-high heights, spilling fragrance. A marvelous view opens from the top of Mount Athos. In the west, the majestic Olympus, on which the Monk Ioannikis the Great shone with his holy life, flaunts over the Gulf of Thessaloniki; The mountains of Macedonia are blue in the distance. And the long chain of the Athos ridge stretches to the isthmus in the picturesque waves of dense greenery. And the whole mountain in its entirety really appears to have the shape of a cross, as Saint Athanasius of Athos noted. The top of Mount Athos is a small area, almost entirely occupied by the church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The length of the church including the vestibule is no more than six meters. It’s eerie to stand at this dizzying height, at the edge of a sheer cliff, below which, far under your feet, the boundless blue sea splashes. The entire mountain is dotted, like stars, with numerous monasteries, monasteries, desert cells and colonies, whitening among the greenery. Athonite monasteries are the same monasteries, but they are located on the lands of other monasteries and depend on them. Cells are small hermitages or simply separate houses with a church, belonging to monasteries, where monks live in small groups. Kolivas are cells without a church. Monastic life began on Mount Athos from ancient times. The Queen of Heaven herself consecrated Athos with Her visit. In the 7th century, Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, in view of the decree of the Sixth Ecumenical Council on the eviction of monks from cities to the desert, gave the entire Athos into the possession of the monks, as a place very convenient for monastic life. The number of monks here grew rapidly, in the 10th century there were already 180 monasteries, and in the 16th century there were more than 18 thousand monks in all the monasteries, not counting the monasteries, about which the narrator says: “We cannot count those many, God knows their number.” From the first times of its emergence, monastic Athos became isolated into a unique world, which retained all the shades of the times of the Komnenos and Palaiologos and was, as it were, forgotten on its deserted peninsula. Looking into this unique world, you see a lot of strange and curious things in it: on the one hand, the strictness of tradition in canons and customs, on the other, complete independence, which can hardly be found anywhere else. True to its purpose, Athos has almost always been the highest school of monasticism, the guardian of the purity of faith and piety for the entire Orthodox East. People from all Orthodox countries came here to learn monastic life and Christian wisdom. However, it was not only monastic feats, prayer, fasting and self-improvement that constituted the occupation of the Athonites. A place of honor in their lives was also given to book works, which, given the conditions of life here, could develop with particular success. Athos became the center of all the learning of Christian Byzantium. The appearance of Slavic monasteries on Mount Athos gave impetus to translation activities. The monks found Greek manuscripts, compared them one with another, translated them into Slavic, copied them in many copies and supplied them not only to the Athos monasteries, but also to Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldavia, Wallachia and Russia. The famous traveler to the Christian East, Vasily Grigorovich-Barsky, saw the Athonite libraries in the middle of the 18th century and was amazed at their wealth and the rarity of the books they contained. Thus, in one monastery he saw “a Psalter of much value and much praise worthy of much praise, which the monks there say, as if it is the Psalter of Chrysostom, we do not know it, for the sake of guilt, or as if I had acquired it in my belly and used it in reading, or as if I had written it with my own hand, it is unknown about this, for there is no sign or sign about this on the sheets.” no." Currently, the libraries of Athos contain over 10 thousand manuscripts of various contents, dating back to not only Christian but also pre-Christian eras... And these manuscripts have not yet been sufficiently researched and studied. However, not at all times spiritual enlightenment and ascetic life stood at the same height on Athos... Those years when Elder Paisios arrived on Athos were precisely the time of decline in spiritual life on Athos. Grigorovich-Barsky says the same thing, who also points out the reason for the decline - oppression by the Turks. Ruined by the Turkish authorities, the monasteries became poorer and fell into unpayable debts. The monks dispersed from their monasteries, and the flourishing monasteries were left to their fate. A special reason for the difficult situation of the monks of the Slavic tribe was the unfriendly attitude of the Greeks towards them. Barsky writes that the Greeks brought our compatriots to the point that they were forced to “wander here and there in the mountains, and from the labor of their hands they needlessly and sadly eat, despised by everyone. The foxes have sores and the birds have their nests, but the Russians have no place to lay their heads in such a beautiful, secluded and monastic life, a very decent place.” Chapter 2. PLATO'S ARRIVAL AT PANTOCRATOR. SERIOUS ILLNESS AND RECOVERY. LIFE IN SOLITUDE. A NEW MEETING WITH ELDER VASILI AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR PAISIUS. TONURMENT INTO THE MANTLE. THE ARRIVAL OF VISSARION AND THEIR LIFE TOGETHER, THE ELDER'S NEW DISCIPLES. RELOCATION TO THE CELL OF ST. CONSTANTINE. ORDINATION OF PAISIUS TO THE SAN OF PRIEST. MULTIPLICATION OF BROTHERHOOD. ACQUISITION OF THE CELL OF ST. THE PROPHET ELIJAH AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SKETTE IN IT. Slander against Paisius and its refutation. After resting for several days in the monastery of St. Athanasius, Plato and his companion set off on a further journey north to the Pantokrator monastery, near which, as they knew, monks of the Slavic tribe lived. The path to Pantocrator is difficult - mountainous and rocky. Soon after leaving the lavra, they began to sweat from the intense heat, and sweating, they settled down to rest in the forest on cold stones. Then they drank cold water and one day they caught a severe Athonite fever. They came sick to Pantokrator, where they found their brothers. They rejoiced at their fellow countrymen and, thinking that they had fallen ill from sailing on the sea, did not at first attach any significance to their illness, but when they learned that the wanderers had fallen ill on Athos, they were frightened, confident of their inevitable death. They began to rub the patients with hot alcohol and, after much effort, barely wiped off Plato. Hieromonk Tryphon could not be saved. He died on the third day after his arrival at the monastery. Plato was forced against his will to eat food and drink wine. He vomited from being unaccustomed to wine. He was forced to drink wine again, and again he vomited. This vomiting was life-saving for him. A few days later he completely recovered from his illness and settled in one of the cells not far from the brethren. Little by little Plato began to get acquainted with neighboring monasteries. He walked around the surrounding monks and hermits, wanting to find himself a spiritual mentor, knowledgeable in the scriptures of the fathers and living in silence and poverty. But he could not find such a mentor, and Plato had to live alone. Then the most difficult time in Plato’s life began. It was a time of extreme poverty and helplessness, severe internal struggle and many tears. Plato lived in this situation for four years, and these years turned the timid and shy young man into an experienced and strong husband. Plato spent his time constantly reading and singing psalms, studying the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers, and in heartfelt prayer. He tried to instill in himself deep humility, constant self-reproach, contrition of heart, abundant tears, love for God and neighbor, and remembrance of death. Subsequently, he wrote about this time: “When I came to the Holy Mountain from my Orthodox fatherland, I was in such poverty that I could not pay the three pennies debt to the brothers who came with me. With my bodily weakness, I supported my miserable existence with alms alone. And if only the holy fathers of the Slavic tribe, who were on the Holy Mountain, had not helped me, I could not have existed here. Many times in the winter I walked barefoot and without a shirt, and my existence lasted until I was four years old. When I had to either crawl from the monastery or from Hilandar to my poor cell with alms, or bring firewood from the forest, or do some other difficult task, then I lay like a paralytic for two or three days.” When leaving his cell, Plato never locked the doors, and there was no need, because in his cell there was nothing except patristic books, which he obtained from Bulgarian and Serbian monasteries. At the beginning of one thousand seven hundred and fiftieth, the Moldavian elder Schemamonk Vasily, already known to us, arrived on Athos. The arrival of Elder Vasily on Athos was of great importance for Plato. The elder explained to him the danger of his solitary silence and showed him the need for a communal path for a novice ascetic. “The entire monastic life,” he said, “is divided into three types: the first is society, the second is called the royal or middle way, when two or three of them, having settled together, have common property, common food and clothing, common labor and handicrafts, common concern for their livelihood and, rejecting their will in everything, obey each other in the fear of God and love. The third type is solitary hermitage, suitable only for perfect and holy men. At the present time, some, contrary to the writings of the fathers, have invented for themselves a fourth type or order of monasticism: each builds his own cell, wherever he pleases, lives in solitude, each preferring his own will and independently taking care of his means of subsistence. Apparently they are likened to hermits, but in reality they are self-inflicted, interfering with their own salvation, because they have chosen a path of life that is not according to their measure and growth. Whoever carefully looks through the book of St. Gregory the Sinaite will find that what is called self-government there is precisely this solitary and uncommunicative unauthorized living. It is better, living with a brother, to recognize one’s weakness and one’s measure, to repent and pray before the Lord and be cleansed by the daily grace of Christ, than, carrying vanity and conceit with wickedness, covering them up and feeding them with solitary living, of which, according to the Climacus, they cannot see even a trace due to their passion. And the great Barsanuphius says that “premature silence is the cause of arrogance.” At Plato’s request, the elder tonsured him into a mantle and gave him the name Paisius. Three months after Paisius was tonsured into the mantle, the young monk Vissarion came to him from Moldavlachia and began to tearfully ask him to give him instructions for the salvation of his soul and to show him a leader experienced in spiritual life. Taking a deep breath, Paisius began to cry and, after a short silence, praying internally, said: “Brother, you are forcing me to talk about sad things, you are causing pain to my sorrowful heart. I myself, like you, searched with great diligence for a mentor and did not find one. From this I felt, and still feel, great sorrow. Therefore, sympathizing with you, seeing you overcome with extreme sadness, I will tell you a little according to the strength of my weak mind. The salvation of the soul, which you are asking me about, cannot be achieved without the help of a true spiritual mentor, who himself forces himself to live according to the commandments of God, according to the word of the Lord: “Whoever does and teaches, he will be called great.” And, really, how can you lead someone along a path that you yourself have not walked? You yourself must fight to the point of bleeding against all passions of the soul and body, defeat lust and anger with the help of Christ, heal the rational part of the soul from madness and pride with humility and prayer, conquer voluptuousness, love of glory and love of money and all other evil passions, having in this struggle our leader and leader of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to what was said: when Jesus was led out into the desert, by fasting, humility, poverty, through vigil and prayer and the words of the Holy Scriptures he repelled Satan and thereby gave a victorious crown to the head of our nature, teaching and giving us the strength to defeat the devil. And the one who in all this with humility and love follows his Lord and accepts from Him the ministry of healing other souls and instructing them in the commandments of God, he will at the same time receive from the Lord for his humility the power to overcome all the above-mentioned passions. And when he achieves this, when by the grace of Christ such a gift of the Spirit of God shines in him, then he will be able to show his disciple in practice, without deception, all the commandments of Christ and all the virtues, especially the most important of them: humility, meekness, the poverty of Christ, long-suffering in everything, mercy beyond strength, burning love for God and unfeigned love for one’s neighbor, from which is born true spiritual reasoning. Such a true mentor will teach his disciple to lay down his soul for all the commandments of Christ. And the student, seeing and hearing all of the above from his mentor and following him with faith and love, can, with the help of God, following the advice of his mentor, succeed in the commandments of Christ and receive salvation. This, my brother, is the kind of mentor we should find. But, alas, we live in calamitous times, and our God-bearing fathers foresaw this calamity by the Holy Spirit and, out of pity for us, warned us about it in their writings for our confirmation. Thus, the divine Simeon the new Theologian says: “There are few, especially in our time, who could shepherd well, and especially heal rational souls. Others can still observe fasting and vigils, maintain the appearance of piety, many can successfully teach with words, but there are very few of them who can achieve the goal of cutting off their passions through humility and constant crying and acquiring the most important virtues.” At the same time, the Monk Simeon also refers to the holy fathers, who said: “Whoever wants to cut off passions will cut them off by crying, and whoever wants to acquire virtues will acquire them by crying.” From here it is clear that the monk who does not cry every day does not cut off his passions, does not acquire virtues, and cannot be a participant in any talents. For one thing is virtue, and another is talent. The same thing is said by the father closest to us, the Russian luminary, the Venerable Nil Sorsky, who, having carefully studied the Divine Scriptures and noticing the modern disastrous state of affairs and human negligence, gives the following advice to zealots in the preface of his book: “It is necessary with the greatest difficulty to look for a knowledgeable mentor, but if there is not one, then the holy fathers command us to learn from the Divine Scriptures and from the teaching God-bearing father, according to the words of the Savior Himself, who said: “Try the scriptures, and in them you will find eternal life.” And although the Monk Nilus of Sorsky says this in relation only to mental prayer, the need to have a skillful mentor is no less felt in the fight against evil passions and in fulfilling the commandments of God. So, my brother, from everything that has been said, it is clear that we have an extreme need, with much sorrow and with many tears, to study day and night in the Divine and paternal writings, and, consulting with like-minded zealots and elder fathers, learn to fulfill the commandments of God and imitate the example of our holy fathers, and only in this way, by the grace of God and our own labors, can we achieve salvation.” Vissarion fell at the feet of Paisius and began to beg with tears to be accepted as his student. Paisius was deeply embarrassed by this request. He would like to become a student himself, if only he could find an experienced leader for himself. For three days Vissarion Paisius persistently asked him to let him live with him. Finally touched by the tears and humility of Vissarion, Paisiy gave in and agreed to take him to himself, but not as a student, but as a friend, so that together they could walk the middle path, revealing to each other the will of God, to whom God will give more understanding in the Holy Scriptures, encouraging each other to fulfill the commandments of God and for all good things, cutting off their own will and reasoning from each other, obeying each other in everything beneficial to the soul, having one soul and one desire, having in common everything necessary for existence. Paisius’s ever-present desire to cohabit with a like-minded brother in mutual love and obedience was fulfilled. They had the Holy Scripture and the teachings of the holy and God-bearing fathers as their mentor and leader. So they began to live in deep peace, burning in spirit every day, making a new beginning for their spiritual growth. After four years, new ascetics began to join them, wanting to live under the leadership of Paisius. Paisius refused for a long time, pointing out that leading others is the job of the perfect and dispassionate, but he is both weak and passionate. However, prompted by their persistent requests, as well as by the requests of brother Vissarion, who turned out to be very brotherly, Paisius gave in and against his will began to accept roommates, relying on the almighty Providence of God. When Parthenius or Caesarius joined him, the previous cell became too small for four and the need arose to purchase a second cell, which was purchased not far from the first. When the number of brothers reached eight, then it was decided to purchase the cell of St. Constantine with the church, which was located at a distance of two thrown stones from the first cell. The first disciples of Paisius were from Moldavlakhia, and their prayer rule was performed in Voloshka. When they went to the cell of St. Constantine, the brothers of the Slavic tribe began to come, and finally only twelve people gathered: seven Volokhs and five Slavs. Then they began to read and sing the rule in church in two languages: in Volosh and in Slavic. Their life was very difficult. Elder Paisius himself talks about this as follows: “With the onset of winter, having no place to lay our heads, since there were no cells, we ourselves began to build five cells under Saint Constantine; and who can describe our need, which we endured for four months without shoes and without shirts, almost the entire winter building cells and carrying earth and stone. Moreover, when Sunday or a holiday came, instead of resting, we had to run around the monasteries for alms, almost naked, in thin clothes, shivering from the cold. Then, for the sake of great need and immeasurable labor, many times the brethren, coming in the evening, fell as if dead and fell asleep without eating. In such a need, many times our rule was abandoned, and instead of Compline I ordered to read only “Have mercy on me, O God” and “I believe” and sleep like that. But even then we did not abandon Matins, but read according to our strength: sometimes three kathismas, sometimes more. Instead of the Hours, the Paraklis to the Most Holy Theotokos, and sometimes the Hours, were read. And what else can I say? For the sake of our extreme need, we all wanted to crumble, if the Merciful Christ the Lord had not strengthened us with His grace in humility, in patience, in love for God and for each other, to endure according to the commandment of Christ and thereby overcome all our difficulties.” Over time, there was an urgent need for a priest and confessor. Having agreed among themselves, the brothers began to beg their elder to be both a priest and a confessor for them. Paisiy did not want to hear about it, saying that because of this he left Moldovala. But the more he refused, the more the brethren begged him with tears, fell at his feet and gave many and solid reasons for their desire. They especially pointed out to him that when they confess to other confessors, they receive from them advice that disagrees with what the elder gives them, and this makes their souls very upset. Some of the elder fathers of the Holy Mountain also joined the requests of the brethren. They persuaded Paisius not to refuse, for this could be charged to him as disobedience. Paisios submitted to the general desire and said with tears: “God’s will be done.” Paisius's ordination took place in 1758, in the 36th year of his life. Finally, in the cell of St. Constantine began to live closely with the multiplied brethren. Then, with general advice and consent, Father Paisius begged from the Pantocrator Monastery for the dilapidated and empty cell of the holy prophet of God Elijah and began to build a monastery. With the help of some donors and with their own hard work, the brethren built a church, a fence, a refectory, a bakery, a cookhouse, a hospice and sixteen cells - all made of stone. They also brought water to the monastery. Father Paisius intended not to have more than 15 brethren in the skete, which is why he limited the number of cells to 16. The Elias monastery was located at a distance of half an hour’s walk from the cells of St. Constantine, and at an hour’s distance from the Pantocrator Monastery. Ilyinsky monastery is located away from major roads. There is constant silence and silence in it. The air here is always fresh and healthy. The soil of the earth and the warm climate provide full opportunity for the cultivation of all breeds of fruit trees. The grapes produce a bountiful harvest, and very good church wines come out of them. Both the elder and the brethren hoped to completely calm down in their new place of residence, but this did not turn out to be the case. The rumor about the good life of the ascetics spread throughout the Holy Mountain, and many, coming to the monastery and seeing the special order here in everything, the modest, reverent and fearful presence of the brethren in the church, the quietness of reading and singing, restraint in words, the splendor of church services, and outside the church - handicrafts with humility and silence, the ever-present sincere peace between the brethren, mutual love and the cutting off of one’s will, obedience to the elder, combined with faith and love, and on the part of the elder - fatherly mercy towards his spiritual children, in services - prudent determination, in spiritual weaknesses and in all bodily needs - unfeigned compassion and love for everyone, they themselves began to feel the desire to join the brotherhood. They prayed to the elder with hot tears not to push them away from him, to which he, although against his will, agreed and, relying on Divine Providence, even rejoiced at such ardent zeal for salvation. And since there were soon not enough cells for all the newly arriving brethren, others, having gathered in twos and threes together, attached cells for themselves, like swallows, below the stone wall, happy that the elder did not exclude them from his society. All the brethren were diligently engaged in handicrafts, and the elder himself worked on making spoons, and spent his nights reading and copying patristic books, devoting no more than three hours of sleep a day. Thus the monastic brotherhood grew and strengthened around Elder Paisius, and his good influence and good fame spread throughout the Holy Mount Athos. But at the same time, enemies of the elder appeared, envious of his fame or suspecting him of violating church rules. Among these was a certain elder Athanasius from the Moldovans, who lived in the monastery of Kapsokalive with his disciples, a pious man and a zealot of the faith, but not sufficiently informed about the teachings and way of life of Paisius. The accusations Elder Athanasius brought against Paisius were as follows: Paisius violates and shortens the prayer rule established by the Church for monks; incorrectly interprets the writings of St. Gregory of Sinaite, treats his spiritual father incorrectly, is likened to the Pope of Rome, who in words recognizes the commandments of the Church, but violates them in deeds; establishes his own prayer rule instead of the church rule, lacks humility; trusts handwritten Greek books, prefers philosophy to repentance and crying, forbids cursing heretics, replaces church rules with the Jesus Prayer. Elder Athanasius outlined all these accusations in an extensive letter he sent to Paisius. He convinces Paisius to repent and not separate from the general custom of the Holy Mountain. Having received Athanasius' letter, Paisius read it before the brethren and then showed it to his spiritual father. Together with his spiritual father, he went to the oldest conciliar confessors, who, having examined Athanasius’ letter, ordered Paisius to write a response to it and expose Athanasius’s unfair accusations; and if the latter does not recognize his guilt and does not repent of it, they decided to openly expose him at the council of the entire Holy Mountain. Fulfilling the commands of his confessors, Elder Paisios wrote a response to Athanasius in 14 chapters, in which he refuted all his accusations. In his letter, Paisius, among other things, wrote the following about reading the patristic books: “I ask you, father, leave your vain and vain thoughts of not reading the patristic books. I praise your life and please your exploits and benefit from your stay. But for all your exploits, reason is also necessary, reasoning is necessary, so that all your work is not in vain. Therefore, if you want to save yourself and show your disciples the royal path, doing the commandments of Christ leading to the Kingdom of Heaven, then stick with your whole soul to reading books. With the help of experienced spiritual fathers, it will be a true teacher for you and your disciples, guiding you on the path of salvation. Otherwise it is impossible to escape. Saint John Chrysostom says: it is impossible for anyone to be saved if he does not often enjoy spiritual reading. And Saint Basil the Great says: let the elder teach the brethren according to the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures, and if not so, then he will be a false witness of God and a blasphemer. And the great Anastasius of Sinaite says: in everything that we say and do, we must have evidence from the Holy Scriptures, otherwise, deceived by human inventions, we will fall away from the true path and fall into the abyss of destruction. And one more thing: we need to study the Divine Scripture with fear and love and stimulate ourselves and each other with a reminder of the word of God. This is what all the saints teach us, encouraging us to diligently and diligently read books. And don’t say, father, that one or two books are enough for spiritual instruction. After all, a bee collects honey not from one or two, but from many flowers. So, one who reads the books of the holy fathers is taught by one about faith or right wisdom, by another - on silence and prayer, by another - in obedience and humility and patience, by another - on self-reproach and love for God and neighbor, and, to put it briefly, from many patristic books a person learns the life of the Gospel. Explaining the shortening of his prayer rule, Elder Paisios talks about the extreme difficulty of his initial residence, when he lay like a paralytic for two or three days, not being able to fulfill the established rule. “I confessed all this to my spiritual father and other old confessors and told my confessor. Since, due to my extreme weakness, I cannot keep my rule, my thought tells me: I will return to Russia. The confessor, strengthening me, said: no, child, do not leave the Holy Mountain, where God called you, there, endure the will of God a little. Your rule is to keep it as long as you can. Just always thank God, and the Lord will not leave you. And even in your weakness and need, thanksgiving will be imputed to you from God instead of any rule. And on his advice, I kept my little rule and lived, rejoicing and thanking God in my weakness, praying to His mercy, so that He would strengthen me to remain on this Holy Mount Athos until the end of my life.” And to all the other accusations of Athanasius, Elder Paisios gave detailed answers. Paisius' answer made a strong impression on Athanasius; he realized that he was wrong, repented and, coming to the elder, asked him for forgiveness. And peace was established between them. Chapter 3. SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE PAISIAN BROTHERHOOD. TYPES OF MONICAL FEAT: HERMIT, MIDDLE PATH AND HOSTEL. FOUNDATIONS OF TRUE MONASIC LIFE: OBEDIENCE, MONAVICANCE, BROTHERLY LOVE. IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES OF MONACHISM IN THE BROTHERHOOD OF ELDER PAISIOUS. Let's get acquainted in more detail with the patristic foundations of the Paisian Brotherhood on Mount Athos. We have the opportunity to learn them from Elder Paisius himself from his letter to his friend and student, Priest Demetrius, written in May 1766. He writes: “Know, my beloved friend, that the Holy Spirit, through the Holy Fathers, divided monastic life into three orders: solitary solitary sojourn, cohabitation with one or two like-minded brethren, and community life. The hermit's rite requires removal from people into the desert with the entrustment of all care for their souls and food, clothing, and other bodily needs to God alone. Only the hermit must have him as his helper and comforter in his struggle and in his mental and physical infirmities, shunning all consolation of the world for the sake of God’s love. Cohabitation with one or two like-minded brothers should be done under the guidance of an elder experienced in the Holy Scriptures and in spiritual life, to whom the disciples owe complete obedience and obedience in soul and body. Communion, which, according to the word of St. Basil the Great, begins from the common cohabitation of no less than, following the example of the Savior and His Apostles, twelve brothers and can grow to a large congregation consisting of people of even different tribes, is that all the brethren gathered in the name of Christ have one soul, one heart, one thought and one desire - to work together with Christ through the fulfillment of His Divine commandments and to bear each other’s burdens, obeying each other friend in the fear of God, having at the head of his hostel a father and mentor, the abbot of the monastery, experienced in explaining the Holy Scriptures, capable of instructing both in word and deed. The brethren are obliged to obey this mentor as the Lord Himself by resolutely and completely cutting off and killing their will and their reasoning, that is, not opposing his commandments and teachings in any way, if they agree with the commandments of God and the teachings of the holy fathers. In all these three types of monastic life, as established by the Holy Spirit, many holy fathers perfectly pleased God, shone like the sun with spiritual gifts and left us a high example to follow. And about all these three types of monastic life we ​​have clear evidence from the Holy Scriptures. Which of these three types of monasticism should be preferred to the others? The great mentor of monastic life, Rev. John Climacus, gives advice to those coming out of the world into monasticism not to deviate either to the right or to the left, but to follow the royal path. He says that solitary desert living requires angelic strength, and the beginner, especially overcome by the spiritual passions of anger and vanity, envy and conceit, should not dare to see even a trace of desert sojourn, so as not to fall into a frenzy of mind. At the same time, Rev. John Climacus does not advise joining a community life, not because it is not useful, but because it requires especially great patience. In all, it is better to follow the royal path, i.e. have a stay with one or two brothers under the leadership of an elder. Such living has the convenience that it does not require great patience, like living in a community, and is more enjoyable than living in the desert. With this middle path, one has to obey only the elder and one or two cohabiting brothers. In the hostel, one must obey not only one’s father, but also all the brethren to the last man and endure from them annoyance, reproach, reproach and all sorts of temptations, be dust and ashes under the feet of everyone and, like a bought slave, serve everyone with humility and fear of God, without grumbling endure the extreme need inherent in the hostel and the scarcity of food and clothing. Mixing different paths of monastic life and prematurely turning to desert life inevitably leads to the most sad consequences. He who rejects the order established by God and, instead of instilling in himself, while living in community, holy and blessed obedience, through which true humility is acquired, leading to liberation from passions, rushes into the desert and chooses a silent and solitary residence, is subject to the wrath of God for his insolence and, like an unskilled warrior, without learning in the community and not knowing how to hold spiritual weapons in his hands and Having dared to step away from the experienced warriors of Christ and alone enter into a struggle with his enemies-demons, instead of winning, by God's permission he suffers defeat, falls before his enemies and is soon completely killed by them. All this befalls him because he violates the God-given order that Jesus Christ Himself established with His pure life in the flesh, and instead of suffering with Christ in community, he encroaches in his pride to immediately ascend to the very cross of Christ, choosing the desert for himself before community. Therefore, he no longer becomes a hermit, but an arbitrary one, and as a result of such self-imposed desert living, not goodness appears, but only devilish charm. The history of monasticism shows that from such an arbitrary and disorderly lifestyle, a great many monks, both in ancient and modern times, perished, being seduced by the devil and clouded in mind; they killed themselves with various and terrible types of death, which is why may Christ the Savior save us all with His grace. The life of those who obediently and firmly follow the order of monastic life established by God seems completely different. At the basis of this order is the true tree of life established by God, holy obedience. Eating the fruits of this tree, the weak and beginners, by selfless and complete cutting off their will and reasoning, escape death and all the charms of the devil, inevitable for self-initiated people. Common life and the sacred obedience in it, which are the root of true monastic life, were established on earth for people by Christ the Savior Himself, showing them a living example of such a community in the person of Him and His 12 apostles, who obeyed His Divine commandments in everything. Divine obedience is the main virtue of the heavenly angelic powers. It was the basis of the blessed life of the first people in Paradise, and when it was subsequently lost by people, the Son of God, out of His extreme love for mankind and mercy in Himself, renewed and restored this virtue, being obedient to His Heavenly Father “even to death, death on the cross.” By His obedience He healed our disobedience and opened the doors of the Heavenly Kingdom to all who truly believe in Him and obey His commandments. Imitating the example of the Lord in the primal Church, eight thousand Christians lived communally, not considering anything theirs, but having everything in common, and for the sake of such a life they were honored to acquire both heart and soul. Our ancient venerable fathers lived in the same community everywhere, both in laurels and in monasteries, guided by the charter drawn up by the mouth of Christ, Saint Basil the Great, and they shone more than the sun. No other way of life, besides living together with blessed obedience, brings such prosperity to a person, does not deliver him so quickly from all mental and physical passions, thanks to the humility that is born from blessed obedience and brings a person to his primitive pure state, renewing in him the image and likeness of God, restoring in him the gift of God received through holy baptism, and also imparting to him other gifts, which for his humility becomes a part of the true novice by the grace of God, which he himself can feel repeatedly with his spiritual feeling. The communal stay of the brethren gathered in the name of Christ, no matter what nation or tribe they belong to, unites them with such great mutual love that they all become one body and members of each other, having one common head of Christ, burning with love for God, for their spiritual father and for each other, having all with one accord and one mind the same goal - to diligently fulfill and preserve the commandments of God, encouraging each other in this. obeying, bearing each other's burdens, being masters and at the same time servants to each other. In the name of this holy, true and like-minded love, they become imitators of the life of the Lord Himself, His holy apostles, obeying their spiritual father in everything, confessing to him all the secrets of their heart, accepting his words and commandments, as if from the mouth of God Himself, their will and their reasoning, contrary to the mind of their father, despising them like unclean clothes, cursing them and throwing them far away from themselves, avoiding them as the charms of the devil, fearing them like fiery hell, and constantly praying to God that He, by His grace, would deliver them from this burden and help them with all their hearts to turn to their father, like a child to their mother, and to follow him in everything, like sheep to a shepherd, and to obey him, like the work of their artist, without acting in anything according to their own reasoning. This divine obedience, being the root and foundation of all monastic life, is closely connected with community life, just as the soul is connected with the body, and one cannot exist without the other. Obedience is the shortest staircase to Heaven, having only one step - cutting off one’s will, and whoever steps on this staircase quickly ascends to Heaven. And whoever falls away from obedience falls away from God and from heaven, as our God-bearing fathers clearly attest.” These are the patristic foundations of monasticism on which Elder Paisius founded his cenobitic brotherhood. They boil down to complete non-covetousness and obedience. To what extent these foundations were established in his brotherhood, we find the following answer in the same letter from Elder Paisius: “In our brotherhood,” he writes, “no one has anything of their own to such an extent that it does not even occur to any of the brethren to acquire anything for themselves personally, for they are convinced that this is the way of Judas the traitor. Anyone accepted into the brotherhood is obliged to place his property, if he has any, and all his belongings, not excluding the smallest ones, at the feet of the elder and the brethren, hand them over to the Lord, and with them, surrender himself, soul and body, into holy obedience even to the point of death; Without this condition, no one can enter the fraternity. The second condition necessary for entering the brotherhood is the cutting off of one’s own will and reasoning and strict observance of prudent obedience in everything. While firmly maintaining these two main provisions of our hostel, we try to strictly observe all other regulations of the hostel. Having loved the Lord and, for the sake of love for Him, counting all the blessings of the world into nothing, the brethren left everything and, taking up their cross, followed the Lord. They try to bear each other’s burdens, to have the same soul and heart, to encourage each other to good deeds, to surpass each other in faith and love for their elder. Seeing this, my soul rejoices and with tears I thank God that He has vouchsafed me to see such His servants and to live with them and to be comforted by the sight of them. True, not everyone in our community has reached the same level of spiritual age, but it cannot be otherwise; Some, and the majority of them, have put to death their will and reasoning, obeying me and the brethren in everything, patiently enduring insults, reproaches, and various kinds of temptations, and moreover, with such joy, as if they had been rewarded with the great mercy of God. They are filled with constant internal self-reproach in the depths of their hearts and consider themselves worse than everyone else and unworthy of everyone. Others, and there are also many of them, fall and rise, sin and repent, and although they endure reproaches and temptations with difficulty, they strengthen, keeping up with the first, and earnestly, with tears, pray to God for help. Finally, there are those, and there are not many of them, who still cannot eat solid food at all, i.e. patiently endure reproaches and temptations. They need to be nourished with the milk of the mercy of humanity and forbearance until they come to the proper spiritual age of patience. They try to make up for their weaknesses and shortcomings with their sincere desire for salvation and constant self-reproach. Despite the difference in their spiritual age, all brothers are equally imbued with the desire to firmly adhere to the commandments of God, being mutually bound by the inextricable union of God’s love. For the sake of this love, for the sake of their eternal salvation, they generously, with gratitude to God, endure constant poverty in everything, placing all their hope in the One Savior God.” Such a high mood of the Paisian brotherhood would have been impossible if he himself had not set an example for them and animated them with his boundless love. “I have incessant sorrow and mental illness,” he writes in the same letter, “with which face I will appear before the Terrible Judge at His Last Judgment Seat and will give my word about so many souls of the brethren who have given themselves up to obedience to me, who cannot even give an answer about one of his damned souls, who sees in everything his spiritual weakness and infirmity, who cannot serve as an example for the brethren in any good deed, as required by my position. Only after God and the Mother of God do I, although unworthy, have undoubted hope for salvation through the prayers of the brethren living with me, and I do not despair that God’s mercy will be poured out on my soul. And if not, by the righteous Judgment of God for my evil deeds I will be condemned to eternal torment, blessed be God, for I am worthy of this for my negligence about His Divine commandments. There is only one thing I always pray to His mercy, that He, by His mercy, for the little work of mine that I have ever had and have for the brethren gathered in His name, would at least deign me to be worthy of His mercy, so that I would be worthy, like the rich Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, to see my spiritual children, the true slaves and sufferers of Christ in His Heavenly Kingdom. And this would be enough for me instead of any reward.” Chapter 4. BOOK WORKS OF ELDER PAISIOUS ON ATHON. THE REASON THAT INCIDENTED HIM TO STUDY THE PATRISTIC BOOKS WITH PARTICULAR DEVELOPMENT. COLLECTION AND STUDY OF THE FATHER'S BOOKS IN THE SLAVIC LANGUAGE. DISADVANTAGES OF SLAVIC TRANSLATIONS OF THE PATRIST BOOKS. SEARCHING AND DISCOVERING GREEK ORIGINALS AND THE BEGINNING OF THEIR STUDY. TEMPORARY RELOCATION TO SIMOPETRU MONASTERY. THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF CONTINUING TO STAY ON Athos AND THE DECISION TO MOVE WITH THE WHOLE BROTHERHOOD TO MOLDOVLACHIA. In his teaching on monastic life and the structure of the monastic brotherhood, Elder Paisios was guided by the writings of the holy fathers of the Church. But first, for a long time and unsuccessfully, he searched for a living elder leader for himself. “When I left the world,” he says, “with ardent zeal to work diligently for God in monasticism, at the beginning of my monasticism I was not vouchsafed even a trace from anyone to see sound and correct reasoning, instruction and advice, in agreement with the teaching of the holy fathers about where and how I, an inexperienced and novice, should begin my poor monasticism. Having settled in a deserted monastery, where, by the grace of God, I was honored to receive the beginning of the monastic rank, I did not hear from anyone there a proper explanation of what obedience is, in what sense and for what purpose it was established, and what benefits it contains for the novice. Neither the head of the monastery, nor my successor and the elder gave me any instructions on this matter. Having tonsured me without any preliminary testing, they left me to live without any spiritual guidance. My adopted father, having lived in the monastery for only one week after my tonsure, left unknown where, telling me goodbye: “Brother, you are a scientist, live as God teaches you.” Left like a sheep without a shepherd, I began to wander here and there, trying to find benefit for my soul, peace and admonition, and I did not find it with the exception of the blessed elders Vasily and Michael, from whom I received both monastic instruction and great spiritual benefit, but with whom I could not stay, fearing ordination to the priesthood. So I finally reached the quiet and calm haven of the Holy Mountain, hoping at least here to find some consolation for my soul. But even here I found a few brethren of our Russian tribe who know the Holy Scriptures, i.e. literate. Not having found the guidance my soul desired, I settled for some time in a secluded cell and, trusting in the will of God, began to read little by little the books of my fathers, receiving them from my benefactors - the Serbian and Bulgarian monasteries, and read these books with great attention. Reading these books, I saw, as if in a mirror, where exactly I should have started my poor monasticism, I realized what great grace of God I was deprived of, not being in obedience to an experienced spiritual mentor and not hearing instructions from anyone about this subject, I realized that my poor, so-called silence is not of my measure, that this is the work of the perfect and dispassionate. Not knowing what to do and to whom to submit myself in obedience, I grieved and cried, like a child crying for a dead mother.” From that time on, Elder Paisios began to study patristic writing with special zeal. True, he had loved to read his father’s books before (even in early childhood), but then he read them without delving into the details and subtleties of their meaning and was content with the understanding of them that was directly revealed to his knowledge and feeling. Now, with a more careful and constant study of the fatherly books, looking in them not only for edification for himself, but also for instructions on how to build a monastic life, he noticed many errors in the Slavic translations that required verification and correction. And then a new and important task opened up before him: to revise the Slavic text of the patristic books and, if possible, correct it, clearing it of dark and unclear places. This is how he himself talks about the beginning of his book corrections: “When I was still living on the Holy Mount Athos,” the elder writes to the rector of the Sophronium hermitage, Archimandrite Theodosius, “knowing well from the teachings and commandments of our God-bearing fathers that the leader of the brethren should not instruct and teach according to his own individual mind and reasoning, but must adhere to the true and correct meaning of the Divine Scripture, as the divine ones teach fathers, universal teachers, as well as teachers and mentors of monastic life, enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, knowing at the same time my own feeble-mindedness and fearing that, as a result of my lack of skill, I myself would fall like a blind man into a pit, and I would not plunge others into it, I decided to accept as the unshakable foundation of any true and correct instruction the Divine Scripture of the Old and New Testaments and its true interpretation by grace The Holy Spirit, i.e. the teaching of our God-bearing fathers, ecumenical teachers and mentors of monastic life, and all the apostolic councils and holy fathers' rules, which are contained by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Eastern Church, as well as all its commandments and statutes. I accepted all this as a guide for myself and for the brethren, so that I myself and the brethren living with me, using all this with the assistance and admonition of Divine grace, would not deviate in any way from the sound and pure conciliar mind of the Holy Orthodox Church. And first of all, I began diligently, with God’s help, to acquire, with great difficulty and expense, patristic books teaching about obedience and sobriety, about attention and prayer. Some of them I copied with my own hands, others I bought with money that I earned with my own labor for our necessary needs, constantly limiting myself both in food and clothing. We bought the above-mentioned patristic books, written in Slavic, and looked at them as a heavenly treasure sent to us from God from above. When I read them diligently over many years, I noticed that in very many places there was an incomprehensible obscurity in them, in other places even the grammatical meaning was not noticed, although I read and re-read them many times, with great diligence and consideration; whereas only God knows what sadness filled my soul, and, wondering what to do, I thought that the Slavic fatherly books could be at least partially corrected using other Slavic books. I began to copy with my own hand the book of Saint Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem and St. Philotheus the Sinaite and St. Theodore of Edessa from four lists, hoping, by coordinating these lists, to find some grammatical meaning in them. But all my work was in vain, because I could not find any meaning in the combination of four lists I received. For six weeks I corrected the book of Saint Isaac the Syrian day and night according to another copy, which, as I was told, was in every way similar to the Greek original, but this work of mine was in vain. Over time, I realized that I ruined my best book by correcting it with the worst one. After these bitter experiences, I saw that I had taken on wasted labor, correcting Slavic books according to Slavic ones. Then I began to diligently investigate why there was such ambiguity and such a lack of grammatical meaning in Slavic books, and came to the conclusion that there were two reasons for this. The first reason is the lack of skill of the ancient translators of books from Hellenic-Greek into Slavic, and the second is the lack of skill and negligence of bad copyists. Having become convinced of this, I lost all hope of finding in the Slavic translations the correct and true meaning, which is contained in the Hellenic-Greek originals. Having spent many years on Athos and become familiar with the simple Greek language, I set out to find the Hellenic-Greek paternal books and use them to correct the Slavic translations. I searched in many places and repeatedly and could not find it. I went to the great Lavra skete of St. Anne and to Kapsokaliva, and to the Vatopedi monastery of St. Demetrius and other laurels and monasteries, everywhere asking knowledgeable people, experienced and elderly confessors and pious monks; and nowhere I was able to find a single similar book, and from everyone I received the same answer that they not only did not know these books, but had not even heard the names of their compilers. Listening to these answers, I fell into complete bewilderment and was amazed how it is that in such a holy place, where many great saints lived, I not only cannot find the fatherly books I want, but I don’t even hear the names of their writers from anyone. And from this I fell into deep sadness. However, I still did not lose hope in God and prayed to Him that He, as the Almighty through His own destinies, would help me find the treasure I was looking for. And the Merciful God did not reject my fiery prayer and helped me. I finally managed to find the books I wanted, and even purchased some of them as my own. It happened as follows. One day I walked with two brethren from the holy and great Lavra of St. Athanasius to the great Lavra monastery of St. Anna and reached the high hill of the holy prophet Elijah, equal in height to the third part of the main peak of St. Athos. Below this hill on a hill is the monastery of St. Basil the Great, recently founded by monks who came from Caesarea in Cappodocia. The monastery is located in a very barren area, where there is not a single source of water, and therefore no grapes, olives, or figs grow in the monastery, and the brethren satisfy their needs only with rainwater. We had a desire to go to this monastery, partly to worship, and partly to explore the place, since we had never been to this monastery before. When we entered the monastery and sat down near the church, one monk saw us and cordially invited us into his cell, and went to prepare us something to eat to strengthen our strength after the difficult journey. Looking at the table standing by the window, I noticed an open book lying on it, which the monk was apparently copying. I looked into the book and saw that it was the book of St. Peter of Damascus. An inexpressible joy filled my soul. I felt that I had found heavenly treasure on earth. When the monk entered the room, I asked him how such a precious book ended up in his cell? He answered me that he also had another book by the same saint. In response to my further questions, the monk said that in their monastery (besides the books mentioned above) you can also find books by St. Anthony the Great, St. Gregory of Sinaite, St. Philotheus, St. Hesychius, St. Diodochos, St. Thalassius, St. Simeon the New Theologian, a word on prayer, St. Nicephorus the monk, a word on prayer, Saint Isaiah and other similar books. When I asked him why I, who had been looking for these books for such a long time, had not found them anywhere, he told me that the reason was that these books were written in the purest Hellenic-Greek language, which now, except for learned people, hardly any of the Greeks understand, and therefore these books have fallen into almost complete oblivion. The monks living in this monastery, while still in their homeland in Caesarea in Cappadocia, heard about these books and, having come to the Holy Mountain, learned here not only simple, but also ancient Greek, and, having found these books in some monasteries, they copy them, read them and try to follow their teaching to the best of their ability. Hearing this and being extremely happy, I began earnestly asking my brother to rewrite these books for me, promising to pay him whatever price he wanted for his work. But the monk, being burdened with correspondence, refused and took me to another monk, who was also engaged in correspondence. I began earnestly asking this brother to copy the books for me, promising to give him triple the price. He, seeing my ardent desire to have books, refused the triple payment and promised me to rewrite some part of the book for the usual price, as much as he was able and as much as God would “give him a hand.” Thus, Elder Paisius finally received the treasure he had been looking for for so long and could begin to correct the Slavic translations according to their ancient Greek originals. This happened shortly, just two years before the elder left the Holy Mountain for Moldovala. The monk, who undertook to copy the patristic books for the elder, managed to prepare for him by this time only part of the promised books, and the elder, accepting these books as a great shrine and gift of God, took them with him to Moldovalachia in order to use them there, both for checking Slavic translations and for independently translating them from Greek. We will talk about these works of the elder later, when we move on to the description of the Moldavian period of his life. Meanwhile, the number of brothers in the Elias monastery continued to increase and already exceeded 50 people. Elder Paisios did not know what to do, there was not enough room for his brothers, and yet more and more students asked him to come to him. In vain he pointed out to them the lack of space and material poverty; nothing helped. The more he sent them away with meekness, the more they begged him with bitter tears not to push them away. Yielding to their tears, he accepted them, placing all his hope in God. Noticing the elder’s difficult situation, some respected Athonite monks, including Patriarch Seraphim, advised him to move to the more spacious monastery of Simopetra, which at that time was not occupied by anyone, since the brethren left it due to debt. Paisius submitted a petition to the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain, which allowed him to move to Simopetra. The elder crossed over, taking half of the brothers with him. But he lived in the new place for only three months. Turkish creditors, having learned that monks had appeared in the monastery, immediately came to demand their debt and forcibly took 700 leva from the elder. Frightened by other creditors, the elder hastened to leave Simopetra and returned to the Elias monastery. The position of the brothers became even more difficult, since no way out of their financial difficulties was foreseen. The cramped space, the scarcity of funds, the constant fear of unaffordable taxes, and on the other hand, the inability to refuse admission to new brethren who wanted to lead a monastic life under the guidance of an experienced elder, prompted the elder to look for a new location. But where could he move with his crowded brotherhood? There was no suitable place on Mount Athos. It was necessary to think about some other country, and only Moldovala could be such a country. This country had long been familiar to Elder Paisius. He had strong spiritual ties with her; half of his brothers were from Moldovala; both the Orthodox faith and monastic life flourished there; there were pious rulers, both spiritual and secular, who undoubtedly knew about Elder Paisius, treated him with favor and respect and could provide him and his brotherhood with a completely suitable shelter. There his communal brotherhood could exist and develop quite calmly. After much deliberation, and perhaps even preliminary communications with influential persons of Moldova, the elder and the brethren decided to leave the Holy Mountain and move to the blessed land of Moldova. The elder himself, in his letter to Priest Demetrius, speaks about the reason for his relocation to Moldovlachia: “That very place, very cruel and difficult, was not conducive to living in the holy Mount Athos, since even two or three living together there can hardly satisfy their bodily needs with bloody sweat and great labor, much less so many. In addition, we were also afraid of the Turkish authorities, lest they impose tributes on our poor society, similar to those paid by other Svyatogorsk monasteries, which, as I heard from many, should have been fulfilled. For all these reasons and for many others, about which I have already written to you, we were afraid that extreme ruin would befall us, worthy of much crying and sobbing, and that our life, created with considerable labor and sweat, would come to an end. Therefore, relying on Almighty God, glorified in every place of His dominion, we all moved together from the Holy Mountain to the Orthodox Moldovan land.” The seventeen-year exploits of Elder Paisius on Mount Athos were not fruitless for the Athonites. The Elijah monastery created by the elder became the foundation of the present well-appointed St. Elias monastery, and the behests of Elder Paisius found their fulfillment in the life and work of the later Svyatogorsk elders. The relocation of Elder Paisius to Moldovlachia ends the third period in the elder’s life. At this time he was forty-one years old. He completed the first half of his life’s feat, collected great spiritual inner wealth, strengthened and multiplied it with independent feat, prayer and reading patristic books, reached high spiritual maturity, so that he could become a leader of others in spiritual life, which he showed by organizing his fraternal community on Athos. Now he had to complete the second half of his life’s work - to share with others the spiritual wealth he had collected, to spread and establish the monastic community he had founded, and by his example and influence to renew and deepen the spiritual life of Orthodox monasticism. The elder completed this second half of his life’s work in the last period of his life, which can be called the period of “teaching” or “elderhood” and which lasted until his death. We now move on to consider this last period of the life of Elder Paisius. You might be interested in: