54. С бесчинными поступайте благоразумно. Кому следует разрешать идти в сестры милосердия

Your Reverence, most honorable Mother Abbess Lyudmila in the Lord! I received three of your letters dated February 3, 9 and 15, but forgive me for not answering each one due to lack of time. In the first, you express grief that the old landowner you received and the novice are drinking wine, and you don’t know what to do with them, dismiss one or the other from the monastery. But since the old woman is already 80 years old and now has a short time to live, it is better to be patient with both of them, but still possible measures must be taken against them and their liberties must be limited. In the second letter, you asked me, a sinner, to pray for the successful completion of your case in the St. Petersburg Court Chamber. – I don’t know how it ended. But I always prayed that the Lord always work with you and your monastery according to His mercy. In the third letter you touch on the sisters of mercy. – If the authorities formally demand this, then assign to this work, firstly, those who themselves express a desire to become sisters of mercy, and, secondly, these hunters must be elderly - at least 40 years old. In your first letter you also wrote that the absence of M. Vyacheslava greatly complicated your office affairs, and in many other matters you were reassured by her. - That's right, mother! It is not for nothing that an old proverb arose: “If there was an old man, I would kill him, but if there was no old man, I would buy him.” However, thank the Lord that M. Vyacheslav takes good care of the household at the dacha. God help her. Asking for you and your cell attendants: M. Paphnutia, Hilarion, Zosima, Onesiphora and Maria, and for your entire monastery the peace and blessing of God, I remain with sincere goodwill. You might be interested in: