184. Сухость и холодность происходят в душе от самонадеянных помыслов; должно укорять себя и смиряться. Господь отнимает у нас духовные утешения, чтобы мы видели свою нищету

Most venerable Mother of the Treasurer Magdalene in the Lord! I received your letter dated August 3, but due to weakness and lack of time I could not answer you until now. You write that you were in the Zosima Hermitage, sincerely confessed and received Holy Communion, felt good and thought that now you won’t be lazy. But soon after that I felt dryness, coldness, etc. You ask, did this really happen because I thought this and that? - Yes, the dryness and coldness came from the fact that I allowed myself to have arrogant thoughts: “Now I won’t be so distracted” and so on. By the way, I’ll tell you (or maybe I already wrote to you, I don’t remember) that in this temporary life there is nothing permanent. But how, according to Rev. Macarius the Great, there are constantly changes in visible nature: now day, now night, now clear, now cloudy, now warm, now cold - the same thing happens with our souls. And therefore, when coldness and absent-mindedness comes, one should not be embarrassed by this, but at this time one should reproach oneself more before the Lord and humble oneself, considering oneself more sinful than all people. The Lord arranges everything for our spiritual benefit. For how could we humble ourselves if we constantly felt spiritual consolations? So the Lord takes them away from us so that we can see our poverty and spiritual nakedness. Give my note to Sister Lydia. Asking for peace and God's blessing on you, I remain with sincere goodwill. You might be interested in: