228. Понуждение себя на всякую добродетель – отличительная черта инока. Как Старцы благословляли пить чай

M. St. O. n. G.I.H.B.n. p.n. Sister in the Lord M. Magdalene! I wish you God's mercy and spiritual salvation. I received your letter. May the Lord reward you for your faith and zeal. But you always need to force yourself, and not just after writing, for forcing yourself to do every virtue is a distinctive feature of a monk. A monk is a force of nature to the very grave, they teach St. Fathers. And when laziness comes and you listen to it, then you need to bring repentance and humbly supplement what you missed. Once you start fasting, don’t interrupt it, otherwise it’s not good and will make the enemy laugh. Try to prepare better, and if you see that you have not worked for anything and have spent your days in negligence, then look down on yourself more, reproach yourself, humble yourself more, bring repentance, but do not put off communion, otherwise this is not good. Try not to judge your confessor. And if you happen to condemn him, then what exactly you condemned him for, you don’t have to admit to him if you think that this is unpleasant for him. We can say that she condemned either him or the spiritual fathers in general. The advice of your Master is not only excellent, but also essential, and you should take advantage of this mercy. It would be possible for the abbess and the older sisters to petition him about this. In our surrounding monasteries, hieromonks come to fast almost everywhere. You need to run away from vanity, and not indulge in it. If they praise you, then mentally remember your sins and negligence. Avoid showing off in front of people. The sisters need to be admonished and stopped, but there is no need to push, this is not monastic. And you don’t have to ask for forgiveness personally, but internally reproach yourself and repent. If you find tenderness in church, then there is no sin here. Try to say prayer and not show your inner self. You are supposed to drink tea twice, well, out of necessity or due to illness, and you can drink tea a third time – with repentance. Better get used to three cups, as our Elders blessed. Once you get used to it, you will be very pleased. I send a blessing to Varvara Vladimirovna and Pasha. Peace to you and God's blessing. You might be interested in: