Advice on how to live in a monastery

Composition by St. Tikhon of Zadonsky “Advice on how to live in a monastery” (9 chapters) begins with a warning about the inevitability of temptations: Satan acts through evil thoughts and people, sometimes even close relatives, who can become enemies of those who strive to diligently serve Christ. These trials can only be overcome through work, patience, heroism and prayer. The saint emphasizes the importance of not repaying evil for evil: by responding to offense with forgiveness, silence and prayer for the offenders, a Christian resists the devil and follows the will of God. Temporary sorrows will turn into eternal bliss in heaven. The author warns against hasty friendship: before getting close to a person, you need to make sure of his true kindness, for many hide malice under the guise of piety. Particular attention is paid to the attitude towards the abbot: it is necessary to show respect and obedience, to respond to reproaches with silence, bow and admission of guilt. Humble recognition of one's sinfulness pleases God and makes a person lovable to both Him and people. Saint Tikhon calls to forget about earthly nobility and consider oneself a simple person, so that humility reigns in the heart. All people are equal before God, and death makes everyone equal; true value lies in the purity of the soul, and not in earthly status. The author recommends alternating work, reading spiritual books and prayer, avoiding idleness. If boredom and despondency arise, you should reflect on eternity, the kingdom of heaven and eternal torment, pray, sing spiritual songs - then the sadness will recede. I. Know for sure that wherever you live, you will not escape the temptation of Satan, who either through evil thoughts himself, or through evil people, his servants, tempts, worries, embitters and persecutes those who come to Christ and want to diligently serve Him. And it happens that those who were previously our friends become distant to us, our enemies. And our most blooded and half-blooded ones, such as father, mother, brothers, sisters and other relatives, if they live according to the laws of the world, they will persecute us. Read about this in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, v. 34–36; Luke, chapter 12, v. 51–53. We read countless examples of this disaster in church history, and today we see an abundance. Everyone experiences this in themselves and sees it in others like themselves. The evil world hates Christ and persecutes His servants: “and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). All this temptation must be overcome with work, patience, feat and prayer. II. Know for sure that if you repel insult with insult, and slander with slander, that is, repay evil for evil, then you will give way to the devil, for he wants us to repay evil with evil. And then God will not stand for us, for God says: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Rom. 12:19) - because then we ourselves do what befits God alone. And if we give in to people who offend us, forgive, remain silent, and even pray for them and repay their evil with good, then there will be no place for the devil. We will then not yield, but stand against him and resist him. For the devil does not want us to do good to people. This is the Christian victory, which defeats not the flesh and blood of people like themselves, but the spirit of evil. This is what the Apostle James wrote: “Submit yourselves to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). God commands us to do good, endure insults and not repay evil for evil, but the devil advises the opposite. When we do good and endure, then we obey God and resist the devil, who teaches evil and leads us away from patience. And so, defeated by patience, he, like a dog hit with a stick, will run away from us, for then God will stand for us and drive him away from us. Saint Chrysostom speaks about this: “One must defeat the devil with patience.” Do you want to not give in and resist the devil? Give in to people, and do not resist them and do not repay evil for evil. First of all, “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). This is a glorious victory, more glorious than winning over many thousands of people. Christ looks favorably on this feat and victory from heaven. The Angels rejoice over her, people rejoice over her, all the Scriptures praise her and proclaim throughout all generations. O Jesus, Conqueror of death and hell, help us, the poor and weak! “You are our Helper and our Deliverer, do not delay” (Ps. 69:6). Lord, help us. III. This glorious victory will be followed by a most glorious, most magnificent and eternal triumph in heaven (see Rev. 7 to the end of the chapter). Then all present misfortune will turn into bliss, all reproach and reproach will turn into glory, all sadness and grief will turn into joy, all tears and sorrow will turn into consolation, all labors and deeds will turn into eternal peace. Then we will forget all troubles and misfortunes and receive blessings that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard,” and so on (1 Cor. 2:9; see Isa. 64:4). “Then those who are gathered by the Lord will be converted and come to Zion with joy, and everlasting joy will be upon their heads; for praise and joy are upon their heads, and joy will come upon them; sickness, sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isa. 35:10). “Then those who serve the Lord will eat, they will drink, they will rejoice, they will be glad with gladness of heart” (Isa. 65:13–14). “As a mother comforts someone, so I will comfort you, and in Jerusalem you will be comforted. And you will see, and your heart will rejoice,” says the Lord (Isa. 66:13–14). O long-awaited and joy-filled day when we receive this from the hand of our Heavenly Father! “Remember us, O Lord, with favor toward Your people, visit us with Your salvation, so that we may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, may rejoice in the joy of Your people, may boast in Your inheritance” (Ps. 106:4–5). Farewell, glory, honor, wealth, nobility, joy, luxury and all the treasure of this world, remain the one who loves you! Strive, my spirit, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the house of the Heavenly Father, where “there are many mansions” (John 14:2). There is our glory, honor, wealth, nobility, consolation, joy, fun and true and eternal triumph. Let us rise to the mountains, my soul. Come to where help comes from (see Ps. 120:1). O Jesus, Son of the Living God, my Redeemer and Savior, “turn away my eyes from seeing vanity” (Ps. 119:37)! Put this on your mind and reason, and your heart will warm up, and you will forget all your sadness. IV. Do not make friends with anyone until you know well whether the person you want to know is truly good and not a hypocrite, so that later you will not repent and regret, but it’s too late. For many wolves walk in sheep's clothing: “By their fruits,” says the Lord, “you will know them” (Matthew 7:16). Many speak quietly, smoothly and softly, many are silent, many fast a lot and read a lot of prayers and so on (which in itself is not bad and commendable), but inside they are evil, bitter and rotten, like apples that are beautiful on the outside, but rotten on the inside and full of wormholes. Know for sure that if there is no piety inside, then in reality there is no, and external, visible piety without internal is hypocrisy and deception. However, do not despise anyone, do not disdain anyone, but love and honor everyone in a Christian way, and do not condemn anyone, for you do not know what is inside a person. V. Have all respect and obedience towards the abbot. Be careful not to offend him in any way, either by word or deed. When someone reproaches you for something, answer with silence and a bow and an admission of guilt. This will not take away your honor from you, for it is better to always admit yourself guilty than to justify yourself. God will justify only those who admit themselves to be sinners, and God leaves those who justify themselves with their truth. So, if we recognize ourselves as guilty and sinners, then God by His grace will justify us in Christ Jesus. Although it happens that we are innocent before people, we always find ourselves guilty before God. So, it is better to always and everywhere admit yourself guilty. Such humble recognition makes a person dear to God and people. VI. If you want to live like a monastery, forget nobility, but think that you are one of the vile (simple) people. (Although all Christians need this, but especially those living in a monastery, who should be humbled by their attire and place). Thus, pride and pomp will be destroyed, and in its place humility will enter your heart, a virtue favorable to God and people. For the nobility of the present age is just an empty title and name. For all people are equal by nature, poor and damned, and sinners. No one is born in rank, and death makes everyone equal. It is impossible to know where your grandfathers and great-grandfathers are now, and their slaves lie in the ground after death: we will all return to the ground equally. But what if a sinful soul lived in a noble body?.. Then the slave will be better than his master with that Master, who “does not regard a person’s face” (Gal. 2:6) and judges by deeds, and not by faces. VII. Living in a monastery, you need to work, read useful books and pray. You need these three things, but I advise you to do this alternately, that is, either read, then work, or pray, so that not even the slightest time passes in idleness, unless the conversation is about spiritually beneficial things, such as: about the kingdom of God, about the saving incarnation of the Son of God, and so on. Then this conversation itself will encourage prayer and thanksgiving to God. By doing this, you will avoid laziness and idleness. Thus, a person will unnoticedly succeed in a virtuous life with the help of God, which is what I wish both for myself and for you. VIII. Every Christian, but especially in a solitary monastery, experiences boredom, despondency, sadness and melancholy. In this case, we must turn to discussion about eternity, the kingdom of heaven, eternal torment, and so on. Such reasoning drives away all despondency and vanity. You should also pray, sigh and sing spiritual songs, and this way you will overcome sadness and boredom. For it is better here to endure everything that is temporary, and there to have fun forever, than to walk here temporarily in peace, and there to suffer forever. Think about it. IX. If you succumb to despondency and boredom, then even greater despondency will rise upon you and drive you out of the monastery with shame. And if you stand against him and win in the prescribed manner, then victory will always be followed by joy, consolation and great spiritual strength. Those who strive always experience alternately sadness and joy. Just as under the sky there is sometimes darkness, sometimes a storm, sometimes good weather, so in our soul there is sometimes sadness, sometimes temptation, like a storm, sometimes consolation and joy, like clear, pleasant weather. And just as after bad weather there is pleasant sunshine, so after temptation and sorrow sweet comfort comes to us. Here, according to my promise, I wrote to you, according to my strength, how to live in a monastery. However, read my instructions sent earlier. You can tell this to your other brethren for the benefit. Finally, I ask everyone who likes these points to pray for me, the sinner who wrote these points. And whoever doesn’t like him, let him think as he wants. No one can bind the human will and shut the mouth. Your well-wisher, unworthy Bishop Tikhon