The lost autograph of the second letter to Archimandrite Theodosius of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky)

It is no coincidence that the life and work of Paisius Velichkovsky (1722–1794), abbot of the Moldavian monasteries of Dragomirna, Seku and Neamt, translator of the famous Philokalia, are in the focus of attention of researchers - historians, philologists and theologians. The Moldavian elder reminded the world of the doctrine and practice of ancient mystical teaching, known already in the 4th century, thereby influencing the mentality of the society of his time and wanting to contribute to its “spiritual sobering.” The manuscripts taken by Paisius from Athos stimulated the translation activities of the school he created, which boldly defends its principles - the desire to expand the source base, the preservation of traditional forms of Slavic-Byzantine synthesis. Involving a wide range of sources of early and late Christianity, including works that had not previously been translated in Rus', makes it possible by the end of the century to develop principles and formulate a program. The second Epistle of Elder Paisius to Hieromonk Theodosius 1, whose autograph was identified in the collection of E.V. Barsov (1836–1917), stored in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library, is unique in content. This is a kind of confession, the result and self-assessment of all the many years of work of the elder himself as a researcher and translator. The found text is an important source not only for the reconstruction of the Athonite period of Elder Paisius, but, above all, for clarifying the scope and nature of his translation heritage 2. The messages of Elder Paisius are no less valuable than his other texts - translations and prefaces to them, for the elder’s letters reveal the essence of his teaching, philological and philocalic views. From the biography of Paisius Velichkovsky it is known that he came to Athos in 1746, when he was 24 years old, and left the Holy Mountain almost 18 years later, taking with him the texts of Peter Damascene, Hesychius of Jerusalem, Philotheus of Sinai, Theodore of Edessa, Isaac the Syrian, Gregory of Sinai, Diadochos, Thalassius, Simeon the New Theologian – authors whose works changed the whole life of the future ascetic. The Second Message, in its final part, also contains a description of a lengthy search that was crowned with success. Manuscript number 295 in the Barsov collection (RGB. F. 17) in the stock description is called “Theological Collection”. And although most of it dates from the first quarter of the 19th century (paper dated 1810), the first sheets undoubtedly date back to the 18th century. The text placed on them represents the final part of the Second Epistle of Elder Paisius to Archimandrite Theodosius of Sophronievo. The text reads from the words “in Hellenic Greek language of books, present to the persons onem” on l. 4–7 (numbering in pencil, later), which are woven into the convolute and at the end are sealed with the signature of Paisiy Velichkovsky: “Paisiy Elder.” The appearance of the manuscript is modest: a quarter of a page, cardboard binding, the edges of the first sheets are damaged. The calligraphic handwriting of the initial pages and the signature are recognizable, they represent the autograph of Paisius Velichkovsky (cf. the autographs of the elder in the drafts of his Epistle to Ambrose, Athanasius and Theophanes - in the manuscript BAN. 13.5.6. Sheets 1 and 7 vol., 3 Epistle to Hieromonk Agathon - in the manuscript BAN. 13.1.24. Collection of Yatsimirsky. No. 66. L. 4 4). On the back of l.3 there is an engraving - a bust-length image of Elder Paisius in an oval: a calm look, a spiritualized face, bordered by a thick beard, folded hands, in his hands - a rosary. Below the image is printed text (partially lost and renewed by hand): “The Great Elder Schemamonk and Archimandrite Paisiy Velichkovsky of the Moldovan Lakhian Nyametsky monastery died on the 15th day of November 1794, buried” 5. The convolute is composed primarily of texts rewritten at the beginning of the 19th century. Most of them are represented by the writings of Paisiy Velichkovsky against the schismatics, which, in all likelihood, attracted the attention of E.V. Barsov, who was seriously interested in the history and literature of the Russian Old Believers, to the collection. Here we see such well-known works of Elder Paisius as “On the Sign of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross” (l. 9–42), 7 About Maxim the Greek (l. 42–57 vol.), replies to a letter received by the elder on March 20, 1794 from residents of the villages of Vasilyevskoye and Palekha (i.e., six months before the death of the elder, which followed in November 1794) (l. 58–89); 8 “Testimony of bows due in the Greek-Russian holy church” (fol. 94–103 vol.). The last pages contain extracts from the Charter of the Holy Mountain (l. 104–110), a copy of which was compiled by the Sophronian monk Israel. To him, as follows from the entry on l. 117, the collection itself also belongs, with the Second Epistle woven into it: “This book belongs to the Sophronium Hermitage of Molchenskaya monk Father Israel. Sent from Moscow from the merchant Jonah Ivanovich Golovin through his nephew, the monk Timofey Beloberezhsky.” How the manuscript in question got to Barsov, one can only guess. According to the history of the convolute records, it follows that the text of the Message was in the Sophronium Hermitage from the very time when its addressee, Hieromonk Theodosius, was its rector (since 1779). Since the Second Epistle mentions preparations for the publication of the Venetian Philocalia (1782) 9, we can assume that the text was compiled no earlier than this date, but no later than 1787, when Theodosius was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Previously, researchers took into account only these two dates, pointing to the time of creation of Message 10. Meanwhile, the final part of the text of the Epistle sets out the key point of the theological polemic that influenced the critical attitude of the elder who wrote his Epistle - the “turmoil” in the Moshensky Mountains, which spread in 1793 (“just as it actually happened in our days, like a certain monk, a superstitious philosopher, etc.”; RSL. F. 17. No. 295. L. 4 vol.). Researcher I. Payul speaks of one of Paisius’s closest assistants, the monk Iakinthos 11, who lived in the monastery of Voronya Polyana (Polyana Voronii) and was sent by the elder in June 1793 to clarify the circumstances of the spread of disorder associated with the blasphemy of the teaching of mental prayer and the monk Theopempt. In the text of the Epistle, these events of 1793 are described as follows: “... fearing and trembling, so that not only monks in general, but also all Orthodox Christians, like other books, like the thing being sold, were offered in the past, from them arbitrarily without instruction to those who have learned how to do mental prayer, delusion will follow, and because of delusion, let not blasphemy result from vanities for this holy and immaculate work, testified by the Father to many and great saints. As it actually happened in our days, as if one monk, a vain philosopher, 12 saw that some were zealous for sowing prayers, even if not according to reason, he reproached, for their self-instruction and for the ignorant instruction of unskillful teachers, sowing prayers, a certain charm, without laying the blame on the self-initiation and unskillful instruction, only, I moved him to the devil, Armed with blasphemy against this holy prayer, like those ancient damned heretics Varlaam and Akindinus, who blasphemed this prayer, incomparably exceeded them” 13. Payul in his work mentions that the Epistle was delivered to Archimandrite Theodosius in the Sophronius Hermitage by two Slavic disciples of the Monk Paisius, the monks Ioannikios and Clement, 14 which means that it most likely was in the Sophronius Hermitage from the time it was brought to Theodosius. It is all the more likely that in Barsov’s convolute we see the hand of Elder Paisius. Perhaps the manuscript combined lists of the last works of Elder Paisius, which happened after the death of Archimandrite Theodosius. The paper of most articles of the convolute has a “white” date – 1810. This dating is confirmed by an engraving dating back to the beginning of the 19th century. And although the handwritten convolute was apparently compiled after the death of Theodosius, the text of the Epistle, placed at the very beginning and containing losses, belongs to an earlier time. It is written in a characteristic calligraphic handwriting on paper different from the subsequent sheets, which, together with its other paleographic features, suggests the primary source of the Second Epistle to Theodosius, which lies before us. Textual comparison made it possible to confirm this assumption and connect the discovered autograph with the source of the first publication of the Second Epistle in the 1847 edition 15. Marginalia on l. 6 rev. and the stylistic correction of the text in subsequent lists helped to name the intermediate source of this publication - one of the manuscripts of the current Optina collection of the Russian State Library, which reflected the trace of work in preparing the publication. An interesting dated entry from the hand of the monk of Israel is at the end of the Rule of the Holy Mountain he rewrote on fol. 113 rev. - one of the last articles of the convolute - it points to the end of the 1810s: “This copy was brought to the Sophronian hermitage from Jerusalem by novice Grigory Kalugin, who was there in the above-mentioned year. And with my own hand I rewrote the 24th day of October 1819. M. Israel." All records of the convolute, thus, record the stages of the active movement of the manuscript (“belongs to Sophronie’s Molchensk Hermitage”, “sent from Moscow from the merchant Jonah Ivanovich Golovin through the nephew of his monk Timofey Beloberezhsky” 16). The history of these movements is inseparable from the Beloberezh desert of the Oryol province, one of the centers of Russian eldership 17, where after 1780 the builder (abbot) was Hieromonk Vasily (1745–1831) 18. The history of the handwritten text of the Epistle indicates a connection with the Bryansk Beloberezh St. John the Baptist Hermitage, one of the centers of Russian eldership, 19 and the names of the “merchant Jonah Ivanovich” 20 and his “nephew Timofey” (probably not a nephew, but a brother, Timofey Ivanovich) expand the history of the manuscript, including the Sarov and Optina monasteries in this list. The owner's record of the convolute, supplemented by biographical research, thus helps to trace the path of movement of the manuscript from the hands of some students and followers of Paisius to others, which is why it acquires special significance - a factual source containing data from a relatively little-known student of Paisius Velichkovsky monk of Israel. What was the fate of the autograph of Elder Paisius? In the Sophronium Molchensk Hermitage, the Epistle addressed to Theodosius was combined with other texts of the elder, typical records. It can be assumed that in this form the manuscript was transported to Moscow, and then, through the Belobezh monk, it was returned back. What was the purpose of this move? At what point were the first pages of the Second Epistle lost and what was the original volume of the text? The last question does not yet have an answer, but it is important and interesting, since it is well known that the elder’s works were actively rewritten, and the Moldavian copy - the source of three publications of the Message in recent decades - contains a more modified text, its second edition 21. It, among other things, has a lengthy introduction, which is missing in the 1847 edition and, as one would expect, in the autograph. Let us touch upon the content side of the Second Message and, more specifically, that part of it that came to us in Barsov’s convolute. In the list of the Novo-Nyametsky Monastery, the Epistle has a lengthy title, in which themes are highlighted, probably later added by the compiler to the title and helping to structure the text: “A word about love to the Most Reverend Mr. Father Theodosius, Archimandrite of the Sophronius Hermitage and not to seek honor and wealth, and what kind of paternal love for the brethren a superior should have. About a quiet and silent stay in the monastery. About the hedgehog to be abolished in the cell by reading fatherly books and prayer. About the books of the Fathers, translated from Greek. Also about a certain blasphemer against mental prayer.” This title accurately reflects the general mood of the Message. It is obvious that the author follows the patristic precepts, which are read in the titles of the works of the conductors of hesychasm: “On the sacred and reverent silence of body and soul,” “On verbosity and silence,” “On mortal memory,” “On lack of anger and meekness,” “On non-covetousness,” “On bodily vigil” (John Climacus), “On humility,” “On conscience,” “On divine fear” ( Abba Dorotheus), “On silence and stillness and on quiet living”, “On pure prayer”, “Where mental sobriety is preserved, which is found inside the soul”, “On guarding the heart and the subtlest vision” (Isaac the Syrian), “On spiritual work”, “On the mental revelation of the effective divine light”, “On the mental paradise of the vision of God and the animal tree” (Simeon the New Theologian), “On silence”, “On images of prayer”, “How it is appropriate to sit in silence” (Gregory of Sinaite). Paisius Velichkovsky's acquaintance with the works of these authors, later supplemented by reading the works of St. Peter of Damascus (XII century), Callistus Angelicuda (XIV–XV centuries), Nikita Stifata (c. 1005 – c. 1090), whose articles and treatises connected the image of a “mental paradise” with the action of the “Divine Light”, “mental revelation” - a favorite theme of thought among the second generation hesychasts, can be traced from the surviving texts of Paisius’s translations in the monastic libraries of Athos, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania 22. G. M. Prokhorov once made a calculation of the hesychast manuscripts of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra of the 14th–15th centuries, in which the Athonite trace is “imprinted.” In connection with the search for new forms of Slavic-Byzantine synthesis, interest in the works of John Climacus, Abba Dorotheus, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, Basil the Great, Basil the New, Gregory of Sinaite, Philip the Hermit, Gregory Palamas, Nilus and Nicholas Cabasilas was noted in the translations of the Chudov Monastery school of the second half of the 17th century 24 . Later, in the works of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky and his followers, we see the same themes and the same authors, which directly indicates a tendency towards a revival of hesychast traditions in Russian monasticism. The pages of the biography of the holy ascetic indicate the elder’s strong attraction to the Athos teachings, the essence of which he comprehended long before he arrived on the Holy Mountain. Even in his youth, Paisius (then still the monk Plato) vowed to avoid rich monasteries, deliberately choosing poor monasteries as his place of residence. Arriving on Athos, the young monk deliberately avoids established monasteries, devoting all his strength to reviving spiritual life in poor monasteries. According to the biography of the saint, compiled by Mitrofan (RNB. Collection of the St. Petersburg Academy and Seminary. No. 279. L. 8), already studying in the first grades of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, the zealous student Peter Velichkovsky preferred “books of silent life” to ancient authors. In the Lyubech monastery, he copied the Ladder of John of Sinai, 25 which turned out to be an important milestone in the fate of the future ascetic, for later he would refer to its text more than once, trying to improve the Slavic translation, “correcting the old translation from Greek texts” 26. In the future, followers and students will finalize and publish this text, previously revised many times (M., 1862). The translation of the Ladder of John of Sinai, associated with the name of Paisius Velichkovsky, will become widespread. Several interesting lists of the monument, revealing the stages of preparation of the publication, are kept in the collections of the Russian State Library (F. 214. Collection of Optina Hermitage. No. 509–510, 516; F. 304/II. Troitskoe collection/additional No. 193) 27 . Paisius’s autobiography did not reflect his stay on Mount Athos, since the biography ends at the events preceding his departure to the Holy Mountain. To reconstruct the Athonite period of the saint’s life, additional sources are usually used, one of which is the Second Epistle to Theodosius. From the letter it follows that Rev. Paisius was at work restoring the Elias monastery and the monastery of Simono-Peter, and a significant part of his time on Mount Athos was associated with the search for manuscripts. The elder’s conviction that the translations he had were faulty forced the future ascetic to repeatedly undertake “archaeographic expeditions,” looking for texts in the near and far monasteries of Athos. This is how Elder Paisios describes his search: “And after my many years of stay in the Holy Mountain, I partially learned to converse in simple Greek, I most diligently accepted the intention, with sickness in my heart, to look for Hellenic Greek fatherly books, in the hope of correcting the Slovenian (books), and in many places and having searched more than once, I could not find it” (l. 3) 28. The elder writes that he placed the hope of finding such books on God, “praying His ineffable mercy, so that the message of destinies, like the Omnipotent and Almighty, will grant me the ability to acquire such books” (l. 4). But from everyone he asked about the books, Paisius heard the same answer: “even though we don’t even know such books yet, we have not even heard the names of these saints” (l. 3 vol.). From this news, Rev. Paisius “fell into bewilderment,” but did not give up his search (“I fell into such bewilderment, reasoning that in such a holy place, and to the quiet and silent abode of monks chosen by God, where many great and perfect saints lived, I was not honored not only to find those holy books that I so much desired, but not to hear the names of the saints from anyone”; l. 3 vol.). One day, on the way from the Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos to the great Lavra monastery of St. Anna, the elder, together with two brothers, approached the hill of the holy prophet Elijah. Here, on the sea side, was the monastery of St. Basil the Great, 29 in which Paisius and his companions saw books opened by the monks, which satisfied him with their antiquity and serviceability. In his letter to Archimandrite Theodosius, the elder recalls the moment of finding rare sources: “Looking at the table next to the window, I saw one book with an opening lying on it, with another written: he was a painter of art, and when I looked at that book, I saw, as if by Saint Peter of Damascus, having already seen, so many indescribable I am filled with spiritual joys, I cannot utter” (fol. 4 vol. – 5). Today in the St. Panteleimon Monastery of the Holy Mountain there are manuscripts of the elder. The most valuable of them is the translation of the works of St. Peter of Damascus, rewritten by the Rev. himself. Paisiem 30. The cell of St. Tsar Constantine, which was acquired by Elder Paisius around 1754. Here, in prayerful solitude, he lived with several disciples for about three years, after which he moved to the cell of St. Prophet Elijah, which he transformed into a monastery. The cell of King Constantine is located on the way from the Ilinsky monastery and the Pantokrator monastery. A recent visit to these places by representatives of the International Institute of Athos Heritage and research made it possible to discover unknown records confirming the presence of St. Paisius Velichkovsky in the Simonopetra monastery for about three months. "Code A", kept in the monastery library, reflects the life of the monastery for the period from 1620 to 1800. Under 1762, it reports that Elder Paisios was the abbot of the Simonopetra monastery at that time. In the archives of Simonopetra, this is the only document confirming the fact of the abbess of Elder Paisius in this monastery 31. Let us return, however, to the Second Epistle, which is a response to the persistent request of Archimandrite Theodosius to immediately send translations of the works of the holy fathers to Russia for publication. Theodosius sees signs of “hostility” in the delay on the part of Paisius, therefore, in the response message of St. Paisiy gives assurances of unfailing love and goodwill towards his friend and student, but this initial part of the letter, the contents of which are known from the Moldavian lists, is very critical. Rev. Paisiy brotherly reproaches Theodosius for self-exaltation and violation of vows, recalls the covenants of common mentors - elders Vasily (Polyanomerulsky) and Mikhail. Paisiy evaluates his works very strictly and categorically objects to their publication. In other words, the desire of Theodosius (and his high patrons, among whom are Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) and His Serene Highness Prince G. A. Potemkin) to publish the existing translations of Paisius in Russia unexpectedly encountered his resistance. The reasons that guided the ascetic are listed by him in the final part of the Epistle. According to the elder, he himself did not fully possess the qualities that a translator of the patristic works should possess. And this self-criticism is largely due to the position formed throughout life, the elder’s worldview and, in fact, hesychast practice. The subject itself dictates responsibility and forces one to be particularly demanding of knowledge: the translator must be comprehensively educated, know grammatical teaching, spelling, the properties of the languages ​​from and into which he translates, be experienced in poetics, rhetoric, philosophy, theology. Translation work, according to Paisius, is impossible without dictionaries; working with the patristic heritage requires a good knowledge of the language of the original source, the complexity and richness of which often exceeds the actual knowledge of the translator. Dissatisfaction with my own texts, most likely, became the reason for the delay in responding to the request to send books: “How dare I begin my work in correcting or translating books from such a wise language?” (l. 7 vol.) - asks the elder. Paisiy Velichkovsky experienced considerable doubts in the art of his translation, highly appreciating the sacred character of the Church Slavonic book language, which in the eyes of the elder had the holiness of an object sanctified by grace (“like our most glorious Slovenian language, which, as I imagine, many languages in its beauty and depth and abundance of sayings, incomparably surpasses, barely knowing some of the sayings, but incomparably for the most part not knowing, I was afraid to begin this matter”; l. 7 vol.). Paisiy Velichkovsky’s fears were largely mixed with his concern for the spiritual state of people (“let not blasphemy follow from the vanity-minded”; fol. 4 vol.), the spread of hesychast practice (“smart doing”) in the world is fraught, in his opinion, with impudent condemnation and blasphemy from the “vanity-minded”, i.e. from the side of secular society: “I inform you spiritually of your shrines, As for the printing of the books of the fathers, both in Hellenic Greek and in the Slovenian language, I am overcome with joy and fear. With joy, as they will not be consigned to complete oblivion, and as zealots will be able to acquire them more easily: with fear, fear and trembling, and not just as a monk in general, but also to all Orthodox Christians, like other books, like a thing for sale, were offered, from them arbitrarily, without the instruction of the skilled, to those who have learned how to do mental prayer, delusion will follow, but through delusion, let not the blasphemy of vanities follow against this holy and immaculate work, testified by the father to many and great saints” (fol. 4 vol.). Let us touch upon the history of the publication of the Second Epistle to Theodosius. Despite the fact that it was published several times (three times according to the Moldavian list) 32, the text of the Message varies in different editions, and these differences require explanation. As mentioned above, the letter was first published in Optina Pustyn and printed in Moscow 33. But for unknown reasons, a critical part of the message was omitted here - the beginning of the letter is missing from the publication. The message according to the Moldavian list was published for the second time by the Chisinau researcher Valentina Pelin 34, but this text contained notes in the second, philological part of the original text, although to some extent it filled the gap in the Optina publication, supplementing the omissions. In 2004, the text of the Second Epistle was included in the collection of selected works of the elder of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos (reprint of the 1847 edition) 35, and in 2014 it was republished a second time with a parallel Russian translation, commentary and reference apparatus. Thus, the gaps that existed in the Chisinau and Athos publications were not eliminated in the last edition, and could not be eliminated. Unspecified gaps in publications are in fact editorial differences. In all three publications, the notes relate to the content of the second part of the Message, the text of which in the autograph of Elder Paisius, discovered in the Barsov collection in the Russian State Library, allows not only to restore the losses, but also to comment on them 36. By examining the history of the text of the Second Epistle to Theodosius, we can quite confidently separate the surviving lists by edition: in Barsov’s manuscript under No. 295 we have the first edition of the Epistle, which preserved the author’s text with the loss of its beginning. In part, it is possible to fill out the bill using another list from the same edition - the Optina Hermitage manuscript No. 142 (the first third of the 19th century; hereinafter - Opt. 142), which is an edited copy from Barsov’s list. Read here on l. 1–25, the text was apparently published in the 1847 edition under the title “From the letter of Elder Paisius hedgehog to Elder Theodosius,” 37 indicating that the publishers knew about the full version of the text and, quite possibly, saw it (from the words “I was still in the holy mountain of Athos with a small number of brethren ...”). Another list is known in the same collection - No. 145 (early 19th century), made approximately at the same time as Opt. 142. Both manuscripts belonged to the monastery library of the Optina Hermitage and are directly related to the original of the Second Epistle to Theodosius, but the editor’s intrusion into the text can be traced in the Optina copies by the marginalia present in the original source on fol. 6 rev. (“and in many other places”), as well as minor stylistic corrections, which, most likely, were carried out, together with I.V. Kireevsky and Hieroschemamonk Macarius (Ivanov), by the young L.A. Kavelin (future Archimandrite Leonid), who prepared the 1847 edition of the works of Elder Paisius. The marginalia, made by the editor's hand, appears in the original text on fol. 6 rev. and is subsequently present in the texts of the Optina lists, as well as in the publication of 1847. According to our observations, not only the original text of the Second Epistle, now known from Barsov’s manuscript, but also the list from which the typing was made was subject to minor stylistic changes. The source of all publications of our time (1994, 2004 and 2014) is the manuscript of the monastery collection of New Neamt (National Archive of Moldova. F. 2119. Op. 2. No. 22. L. 48–68) - is the second edition of the text, very correct and interesting in its own way, but significantly modified as a result of deliberate abbreviations. Thus, by examining the lists and comparing them with the autograph, we can very likely point to the source of the 1847 publication. The clue here is the one reproduced by the publishers on p. 20 the signature “Paisiy Elder”, which at first suggests that the publishers used the original - a similar entry in Barsov’s convolute. However, this assumption is incorrect. The signature was reproduced by hand and then photographed, as evidenced by the note made on top of the “autograph”: “On the original, the signature is: Paiciy Elder.” There is one more additional entry in the publication, which is present in the Wholesale list. 142 per l. 25 and later repeated in the list of the same collection No. 145 on fol. 120: “Written from the original itself, which is kept in the Sophronium Desert.” In other words, at least one of the Optina lists (in our opinion, this is Opt. 142) was compiled from the original. The question about the whereabouts of the initial part of Paisiev’s autograph of the Second Epistle to Theodosius (now lost) can be answered only after it is possible to explore the history of the appearance of the manuscript under No. 295 in that part of the collection of E.V. Barsov, which joined the library of the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museums along with the collection of the Society of Ancient Russian Art at the MPiRM 38. It is necessary to carefully study the second, main part of the Barsov collection, which in 1914 was transferred in the amount of 2,728 issues to the Historical Museum in Moscow 39 . The study of the cell heritage of the Arzamas women’s hermitage, the Novospassky monastery and the Beloberezhskaya hermitage, where the disciples and admirers of Paisius Velichkovsky, holding the original in their hands, asceticised, will probably also help to clarify the issue that interests us. Summarizing the results of observations, we can state that the history of the transformation of the Elder’s Second Epistle to Theodosius clearly shows that over time, copying the texts of St. Paisius began to take the form of pseudepigrapha. The good preservation of the works of Elder Paisius in the collections of Russia, Athos, Ukraine, Moldova, and the former personal libraries of Archimandrites Anthony (Medvedev) and Leonid (Kavelin) testifies to the painstaking work of the students, followers and admirers of Paisius Velichkovsky to multiply his legacy - work that continued both during the life and after the death of the elder. Having “censored” the critical part of the original, the compilers of the second edition of the Second Epistle proposed the “royal way”, deliberately releasing the teacher’s overly self-critical statements. Self-criticism nullified (or called into question) all the enduring value of the works of a spiritual mentor and educator. Since the 40s of the 19th century, in connection with the publishing activities of Optina Pustyn, one can observe a new stage in the dissemination of the works of St. Paisiy Velichkovsky. There is reason to believe that it was this activity that stopped the uncontrolled growth of psvedoepigraphs, while simultaneously offering admirers of Paisius’s work the publication of the Second Epistle to Theodosius in a truncated form, depriving the text of its lengthy initial historical part, but preserving the critical part of the Epistle, which was extremely important for understanding the processes that took place in the social and religious consciousness at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. Below is the text of the Epistle to Theodosius based on the manuscript of the Russian State Library (F. 17. Collection of Barsov. No. 295. L. IV-VII; ca. 1787). The final part of the Message, found in the autograph, is given. The semantic preceding segment of the text (“And even if this happens to the printing of the fathers”) was restored from the manuscript Opt. 142, which was used by the publishers of 1847. Discrepancies in the second edition of the Message are noted in the manuscript of the New Neyametsky Monastery (National Archives of Moldova. F. 2119. Op. 2. No. 22. L. 48–68), which is the source of three well-known recent publications. Abbreviations of the second edition are indicated in italics. We do not take into account missing letters, spelling words together or separately, and other minor discrepancies. The additions made to the Moldovan list by its compilers are given in angle brackets. The text of Elder Paisius’s letter represents a South Russian translation of the Church Slavonic language, the archaic nature and originality of which he recognized and protected. We partially preserve the graphics of the original, while following its first publication in 1847 (Church Slavonic ѣ, ъ at the end of words and i, bringing the text closer to the original source), we do not reproduce other features of the 18th century letter. (l. 4) in the Hellenic Greek language of the books, present them to the persons on whom you proclaim them to me: these, as God-inspired men, and the indescribable zeal of God for such books in their possession, after the printing of them, is most convenient, as powerful, you can receive it, and according to the most true translation into the Slovenian language, publish it with a seal, and then your shrine, having been delivered from the predicted dependency, will be able, with God’s help, to acquire it more conveniently, and so it will be fulfilled by itself Your greatest desire is to acquire such books. I pray to your shrine, my writing in response to His Eminence, if he gives you a hand, take it yourself, in it about the guilt of not sending your books to the shrine, and about the prophesied message of the messages of their books for printing, and a prayer to His Eminence, yes deign to admonish your shrine to listen to my written advice to you, it is written, but otherwise it is nothing; For this reason, do not hesitate to take it yourself and present it to His Eminence, at whose holy feet I fall in thought, most humbly bowing with all my congregation, kissing his holy and blessing kiss. (l. 4 vol.). I spiritually inform your sanctuaries that I am overcome with joy and fear about the printing of the books of the fathers, both in Hellenic Greek and in the Slovenian language. With joy, as they will not be consigned to complete oblivion, and as zealots will be able to acquire them more conveniently: with fear, fear and trembling, and not just in general by monks, but by all Orthodox Christians, like other books, like those sold a thing that has been offered, from them arbitrarily without the instruction of those skilled in making mental prayers to those who have learned, delusion will follow, but let delusion not result from blasphemy from vanity-minded people against this holy and immaculate thing, from the many and great holy fathers evidenced case. Just as it actually happened in our days, like one monk, a superstitious philosopher 40, seeing that some were zealous for sowing prayers, even if not according to reason, after the last, 41 for their self-infliction and for the ignorant instruction of unskilled prayers of sowing teachers, a certain charm, without laying the blame on arbitrariness and unskillful instruction, only, I inspired him to the devil, armed with blasphemy against this holy prayer, like those ancient damned (l. 5) heretics Barlaam and Akindinus, who blasphemed this prayer, incomparably exceeded: Because terrible and shameful blasphemies, neither fearing God nor disgracing man, against this holy prayer and against the zealots and workers of it, are unbearable to the chaste ear of man: and even against the zealots of prayer, sowing only great persecution, as There are none, who have left everything, come running to this country, and live in it in the desert, pleasing to God, but none, being weak-witted, have come from his corrupt words to the point of madness, just as some of their fatherly books have come together in one mouth, just like I heard, tying a flood plate to them. And his blasphemy was so powerful that the Nets, under unblessing, forbade us not to read the books of our fathers. When, not content with verbal blasphemy, you betray your intentions to writing, then God’s punishment will come to both of you blindly, and such a God-fighting intention will be stopped. For this, as I foretold, I fear and tremble, so that the self-inflicted charms do not follow; let us deceive blasphemy, and blasphemy doubt about the teaching of our God-bearing fathers, and about this prayer (fol. 5 vol.) ourselves, having learned by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit by deed and skill, and ascetics, with all humility in doing this The Divine Wisdom teaches those who are zealous to be forced. The books of the fathers, especially those about true obedience, and about sobriety of mind and silence, about attention and prayer more intelligently, that is, done in the heart with the mind, are the only thing proper to the monastic rank in essence, and not in general all Orthodox Christians. For this reason, the God-bearing fathers, about this prayer often, say that its beginning and foundation is unshakable obedience, true obedience, from which true humility is born, and humility protects the one who strives in it from all the delights that follow 42. It is by no means possible for the worldly people to acquire obedience to the true monastic and perfect in all will and reason of cutting off the worldly people. 43 And how will it be possible for worldly people without obedience 44, on their own initiative, delusion will follow him, such a terrible and terrible thing, that is, such a prayer, without any instruction, be forced, and run away from the many different and varied 45 (l. 6) the charms of the enemy to this prayer and the ascetics of it are more cunningly guided. Not at all possible. not possible at all. 46 Only 47 this thing is terrible, that is, prayer, not just smart, that is, not artistically performed by the mind, but artistically acted by the mind in the heart 48, like true novices, their will and reasoning before their fathers, the doing of this prayer true and skillful mentors, 49 not exactly cut off, but also completely dead, always in passion and trembling, fearing and trembling, so that they do not suffer in this prayer a certain charm, even if God always protects the essence from it, for their true humility, hedgehog by the grace of God by true obedience to one’s acquisitive self. If, even more so, worldly people who remain without obedience, even if only just from reading such books, were forced to this prayer, it is scary to eat, so that they do not fall into some kind of delusion that is arbitrary for beginners. 50 This prayer is the art of art from the saints; and who can learn it without an artist, that is, without a skilled mentor. This prayer is a spiritual sword to slay the enemy of our souls, given by God: (l. 6 vol.) but there is fear for those who act unskillfully, so that they themselves will not be slaughtered. This prayer is in other places, 51 especially in the countries of Egypt, like your sun shining, also in the countries of Jerusalem, and in Mount Sinai and Nitria, and in Palestine in many places, and in many other places places>, 52 but not everywhere, as it appears from the life of St. Gregory of Sinai, who went around the entire holy mountain and diligently searched for the practitioners of this prayer, but found no one in it, but little knowledge of this prayer. From here it is clear that if in such a holy place you find one such saint, then in many places in other places the doing of this prayer is unknown. 53 And where and in action, and like the sun shining in another place, 54 here and there the work of sowing prayer, like a great and ineffable mystery, known to the only God and the doer of it, kept: to the worldly people the work of sowing prayer by no means unknown. Now, by printing the fatherly books, not only the monks 55, but the entire Christian people will come to notice. And for this reason I fear and tremble, 56 but for the predicted guilt, that is, for the unauthorized undertaking without a mentor (l. 7) of prayer, some self-initiated delusion will not follow, from which Christ the Savior will deliver all who want to be saved with his grace. For the sake of protecting this shrine of yours, having spiritually declared, I abide in all the commandments of God to you with perfect success 57 . desirer and unworthy pilgrim 58. Theodosius (Maslov; 1720–1803), abbot, later (from 1779) – archimandrite of the Molchenskaya (Molchanskaya) Sofronieva Hermitage of the Sevsky Vicar Diocese of the Moscow Metropolis. The first obediences of the Moldavian elders, which are mentioned in the initial part of the Second Epistle, brought Paisius closer to Theodosius, strengthening their relationship. Theodosius was a friend and student of Paisius. See about him: Nicodemus (Kononov), bishop. Biographies of Russian ascetics of piety of the 18th and 19th centuries with portraits. M., 1906. T. 1. P. 47; Justin (Yurevich), priest. Archimandrite Theodosius (Maslov) - founder of the Gregory-Bizyukov Monastery // Christian Reading. 2015. No. 5. pp. 281–300. In addition to this source, there are some other texts of similar content (the 1787 preface to the book of the Words of St. Isaac the Syrian, the Philokalia of the Moscow edition of 1793–1797, fragments of manuscripts stored in the collections of Romania, Moldova and St. Petersburg). Photo reproduction in the publication: 1) Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky: autobiography, biography and selected works based on handwritten sources of the 18th–19th centuries. M., 2004. P. 338; 2) Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky. Life and Selected Works / Trans. with Church Slav. and other Greek, comm. A. P. Vlasyuk. Serpukhov, 2014. P. 306. Photo reproduction in the publication: 1) Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky: autobiography, biography and selected creations... P. 337; 2) Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky. Life and selected works. P. 376. The signature was restored from a manuscript from the additional collection of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra: RSL. F. 304/II. Trinity collection No. 203 (Creations of Gregory Palamas; 1808), - which has a similar image and is preserved on fol. 1 in the lower field entry: “From the books of the Viceroy of T.S. Lavra Archimandrite. Anthony." On l. 102 rev. it is reported: “This was translated from Greek into the Slavic language of blessed memory by the late great elder Paisius Velichkovsky in the Holy Ascension Nyametsky Monastery, where his coffin can be seen to this day.” The engraving is placed on l. II vol. Tsvetaev D. V. A note on the scientific works of E.V. Barsov. M., 1887. S. I–II, 8–10. The translation of the message from Church Slavonic was made according to the manuscript BAN 13.1.24 and is presented in the electronic edition: Paisiy (Velichkovsky), Rev. Polemical works, teachings, letters / Comp. P. B. Zhgun, M. A. Zhgun; total ed. O. A. Rodionova. See: https:// azbyka.ru/otechnik/Paisij_Velichkovskij/premaloe-sochinenie-o-krestnom-znamenii/; date of access: 09/30/2019 The translation of the message from Church Slavonic was made according to the manuscript BAN 13.1.24 and is presented in the electronic edition: Ibid. “He (Macarius), having come to the holy Mount Athos, and with inscrutable zeal and great diligence, in all the vivliofiks of the great holy monasteries, many found such paternal books, which he did not have before and did not have before” (The Life and Writings of the Moldavian Elder Paisius Velichkovsky: With the addition of a preface to the book of St. Gregory of Sinaite, Philotheus of Sinai, Hesychius the Presbyter and Nil of Sorsky, composed by his friend and fasting elder Vasily of Polyanomerulsky, about mental sobriety and prayer, M., 1847. pp. 224–225). Lisova N. N. The eighteenth century in the history of Russian monasticism // Monasticism and monasteries in Russia of the XI–XX centuries. M., 2002. pp. 186–222. Iakinf already in 1791 was the confessor of the cathedral of the Nyamets Lavra and repeatedly went to Russia on behalf of Elder Paisius. See: Payul I. Slavic disciples of St. Paisius Velichkovsky of the 17th – early 19th centuries. dis. ...cand. theology. Sergiev Posad, 2001. P. 72. In the second edition: “there is one monk, a superstitious philosopher, residing in the Moshen Mountains” (National Archive of Moldova. F. 2119. Op. 2. No. 22. L. 67). Quote From: RSL. F. 17. Collection. Barsova. No. 295. L. IV vol. – V. Translation of the Message, see: Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky: autobiography, biography and selected works... P. 306. Payul I. Slavic disciples of St. Paisius Velichkovsky of the 17th – early 19th centuries. pp. 77–78. Life and writings of the Moldavian elder Paisius Velichkovsky. pp. 241–268. Probably Timofey and Jonah Putilov. The instruction for these young ascetics who went to the Sarov monastery to carry out monastic feats has been preserved (we rely on the letter of the correspondent of Elder Paisius, Father Alexander (Podgorchenkov), cited in the work: Sergius (Chetverikov), priest. Moldavian Elder Paisius Velichkovsky: His life, teaching and influence on Orthodox monasticism. Paris, 1988). Men's dormitory Bryansk Beloberezhskaya hermitage. Historical and modern review. Odessa, 1909; Koltsov A. Beloberezh Bryansk men’s hermitage // Orthodox Encyclopedia. M., 2002. T. 4. pp. 532–534. In the world - Vladimir Timofeevich Kishkin, a student of the Athonite and Moldavian elders, a follower of Paisius Velichkovsky. Information about Vasily (Kishkin) is present in the preface to the 1847 edition (Life and writings of the Moldavian elder Paisius Velichkovsky. P. XVII). The Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library houses “The Life of Hieromonk Vasily (Vladimir Timofeevich Kishkin),” which was once kept in the MDA library (a gift from Prof. D. A. Golubinsky). On November 30, 2017, at the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hieroschemamonk Vasily (Kishkin) was canonized as a pan-church saint. On May 25, 2018, it was included in the Cathedral of Bryansk Saints. The relics of St. Basil reside in the Mother of God Ploshchanskaya Hermitage in the Intercession Church. Among the disciples of the elder, the monks Arseny and Israel are known, who “walked” with him to Holy Athos and lived in the Elias monastery. At the same time, more information has been preserved about Arseny than about Israel, which is mentioned in the letters of Metropolitan Gabriel (see: Correspondence of Metropolitan Gabriel with clergy // Despite the Age of Enlightenment: His Eminence Gabriel (Petrov), Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg. Life. Creativity. Death / Prepared text, comp. and afterword by P. V. Kalitina. M., 2000. pp. 431–432). The founding of the monastery is considered to be 1661, and the first organizer was Hieromonk Simeon, who brought to Russia the first copy of the ancient Byzantine icon of the Mother of God “Three-handed”: Koltsov A. Beloberezh Bryansk men’s hermitage. pp. 532–534. In the pedigree of the famous Golovin family, the name of Jonah Ivanovich could not be identified. It is possible that the name of the merchant Jonah Ivanovich Golovin means Jonah Ivanovich Putilov (1786–1858), the future abbot and abbot of the Sarov monastery, schemamonk Isaiah II, brother of the Venerable. Anthony and Moses (Putilov), who had not a nephew, but a brother Timofey Ivanovich Putilov (1782–1862; in the monastic monasticity of Schema-Archimandrite Moses, the famous Optina elder abbot). See: Orthodox Encyclopedia. M., 2011. T. 27. pp. 146–149. The list of the New Neamets Monastery (National Archive of Moldova. F. 2119. Op. 2. No. 22. L. 48–68) is the source of three well-known publications of the Epistle in 1994, 2004 and 2014: Pelin V. The correspondence of abbot Paisie from Neamts (III): Letter to Teodosie, archimandrite at the Sofroniev Hermitage // Revue des Études Sud-Est Européennes. 1994. [T.] XXXII. No. 3–4. P. 349–366; St. Paisiy Velichkovsky: autobiography, biography and selected creations... P. 267–290; Rev. Paisiy Velichkovsky. Life and selected works. pp. 336–375. Rodionov O. A. Manuscript tradition of Callistus Angelicuda's treatise "On the Divine" unity" // Byzantine hesychast texts / Comp., total. and scientific ed. A. G. Dunaeva. M., 2012. S. 423–428; Isachenko T. A. Holy Mount Athos in legends, memoirs and sketches of the Department of Manuscripts of the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museums (MPiRM) and monastic collections of the RSL. M., 2019 The calculation was carried out according to the book: Arseny, Ilariy. Description of Slavic manuscripts of the Library of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra: In 3 hours M., 1878–1879. See: Prokhorov G. M. Cell hesychast literature (John Climacus, Abba Dorotheus, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory of Sinaite) in the library of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from the 14th to the 17th centuries. // TODRL. L., 1974. T. 28. P. 317–324. Isachenko T. A. Faith and resistance in answers and denunciations of the 80–90s. XVII century: new biblical translations in philological schools of the XVII century. M., 2015. The manuscript mentioned is the so-called Siberian Ladder of 70 chapters (Popova T. G. Ladder of John of Sinai translated by Paisiy Velichkovsky // Athos Heritage: Scientific Almanac. Kiev; Chernigov, 2016. Issue 3–4. P. 186). Yatsimirsky A.I. Slavic manuscripts of the Neamets monastery in Romania. M., 1898. S. 2–3. Popova T. G. 1) Ladder of John of Sinai translated by Paisius Velichkovsky. P. 191; 2) Russian manuscripts of the “Ladder” of John of Sinai // Bulletin of the Orthodox St. Tikhon’s University for the Humanities. Series III: Philology. 2016. Issue. 1 (46). pp. 93–101. Due to the fact that the initial part of the text of the Second Epistle is missing in the autograph of Elder Paisius, hereinafter the text is quoted from the manuscript: RSL. F. 214. No. 142 (first quarter of the 19th century) – with the sheet number indicated in brackets. Athos monastery, subordinate to the Great Lavra. We will also indicate the lifetime list of this work in the additional part of the Trinity Collection: RSL. F. 304/2. No. 42. Translation of the first book of St. Peter of Damascus was performed by St. Paisiy in 1775. On the initial page of the Lavra list there is an entry indicating the name of its owner - monk Onufry, a student of Paisius (Velichkovsky). The original letter of the elder himself and the correspondence of the Patriarch of Constantinople Cyril V with the Kyiv Metropolitan Arseny were published: Shumilo S.V.: 1) An unknown letter to St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) for 1763 and other documents relating to his abbess in the Simonopetra monastery // Athos Heritage: Scientific Almanac. Kyiv, Chernigov, 2017. Issue. 5–6. P. 231–255;2) St. Paisiy Velichkovsky and the attempt to create Rusik in the Simonopetra monastery: unknown letters from Athos // Rus' - Holy Mountain, Athos: a thousand years of spiritual and cultural unity Materials of the International. scientific conf. as part of the anniversary celebrations dedicated to the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the presence of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos, September 21–23, 2016. M., 2017. pp. 318–338. See above, note. 21. This message is also known from the words of Mitrofan. See: Tachia-os A.-E. The Revival of Byzantine Mysticism Among the Slavs and Romanians in the XVIIIth Century. Texts Relating to the Life and Activity of Paisy Velichkovsky (1722–1794). Thessaloniki, 1986, pp. 97–105. Pelin V. The correspondence of abbot Paisie from Neamts (III). P. 349–366. St. Paisiy Velichkovsky: autobiography, biography and selected works… For existing discrepancies in the lists, see: Pelin V. The correspondence of abbot Paisie from Neamts (III). P. 349–366; Mainardi A. “Slavia Orthodoxa” in the Age of Enlightenment: the literary activity of Elder Paisius Velichkovsky. St. Petersburg, 2007; Zhgun P. B. Discrepancies in the copies of the Second Epistle of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) to Archimandrite. Feodosius (Maslov), shedding light on the features of the translation of the “Paisievsky” school // Kapterevsky readings. M.; Serpukhov, 2017. Issue. 15. pp. 215–234. In the last publication, the author tries to explain the presence of discrepancies between the publications of 1847 and all subsequent ones. However, in the absence of the autograph of the Second Epistle, which is unknown to the researcher, any reasoning on this topic seems incomplete. The published text contains stylistic corrections of the text reflected in the manuscript Opt. 142 (insert “and in many other places”, which is present in Barsov’s original on the margin of fol. 4 vol.). See: Book of receipts of the department of manuscripts for 1929–1938. L. 2 vol. No. 27, 36; Manuscript collections of the State Library of the USSR named after V.I. Lenin: Index. M., 186. T. 1. Issue. 2 (1917–1947). P. 331 Malitsky G.L., Shchepkin V.N. Manuscripts of Elpidifor Vasilievich Barsov. M., 1915. P. 3. In ed. 2 – there is one monk, a superstitious philosopher, who resides in the Moshen Mountains. In Wholesale 142 – after-effects. In ed. 2 - by the author of the following. In ed. 2: Obedience is impossible - it is absent. In ed. 2 – without obedience (in the fields) In ed. 2 – diverse and In ed. 2: Not at all possible - absent In ed. 2 – like true novices. The rest of the text is missing. In ed. 2 – doing prayer is not completely cut off. Other missing In ed. 2 is missing. Instead, the text is read: (a note in the margin: Saint Gregory of Sinai. On silence. Chapter 2). The highlighted phrase is in the original in the margins, but was added later. In Wholesale 142 words are included in the text. In ed. 2 – and yours will shine. In ed. 2 – known exactly to a monk. In ed. 2 – And for this reason, like rivers, I fear and tremble In ed. 2 – pre-success. In ed. 2: unworthy pilgrim - absent. Instead: .