Глава XII
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When Metropolitan Anthony’s proposal to transfer, or rather exile, Archimandrite Ignatius to the Solovetsky Monastery did not take place, then the desire to survive him from the diocese led the diocesan authorities to a different course of action: to incessant attachment, to accusations that were rumored to be false and essentially petty, but which resonated painfully in the soul of the martyr-rector, because the general direction of this course of action was leaning to the disruption of the monastery itself, to obstruction of the development of its spiritual and moral system. Metropolitan Anthony fell ill and handed over the administration of the diocese to his vicar bishop Nathanael, who personally hated the archimandrite, who, accepting the cup of suffering as the cup of Christ, in patience and silence, could not endure with his body those painful sorrows, before which his spirit not only did not fall, but did not bow.
From November 1846, illness confined the archimandrite to his bed, to his cell, in which he spent the entire winter hopelessly. At the end of the winter of 1847, he submitted a request for dismissal due to illness to retire to the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery of the Kostroma diocese. This action was exactly what both the metropolitan and his vicar wanted. The disfavour of the diocesan authorities towards the rector of Sergius Hermitage could not be a secret due to the persistence of the persecution itself. The archimandrite’s submission of a petition for retirement was also made public and came to the attention of some of the persons of the imperial house, who brought all the circumstances to the sovereign and took an openly patronizing part in the process of the archimandrite in the course of this matter, as a result of which His Grace Nathanael, through the Consistory, offered the archimandrite, instead of retirement, an 11-month leave to the monastery indicated by the petitioner to cure the illness.
The relationship of the diocesan authorities at this time to Archimandrite Ignatius is most accurately determined in the letter of the archimandrite to Archbishop Iliodor of Kursk, 118 who was present in 1847 at the Holy Synod. At the same time, it testifies to how sincerely the archimandrite wished and asked for a complete retreat into silence. Here is its full content:
“Your Eminence, most gracious archpastor and father!
I bring you my most sincere heartfelt gratitude for your gracious Christian participation in my circumstances. Seeing such your participation, I allow myself to bother you with these lines. According to your very participation, accept them favorably, consider what is stated in them in the light of spiritual reasoning with which the Lord has gifted you.
In the decree of the Consistory, the following resolution was prescribed for me by the Right Reverend Vicar S. - Petersburg, demanding a recall from me: “The Consistory has to ask the rector of the Sergius Hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius: if he would like to take advantage of temporary leave for treatment, and in this case, Archimandrite Ignatius in his recall has to recommend the person who can be reliably entrusted with the correction of those lying on him, Archimandrite, duties until his return upon recovery.”
Each business, in my opinion, has its own course, from which it is difficult to evade, which is facilitated by the very obstacles. You will not condemn me if I say that I see in human affairs the invisible but powerful action of God’s Providence, which, according to the teachings of St. Isaac of Syria, especially watches over those who have left the vain world to seek God their Savior: “Your destinies will help me,” sang the divinely inspired David.
In the resolution of the Right Reverend Vicar, I found and continue to find instructions that I give exactly the feedback that I gave, a review that agrees with the request for my dismissal, submitted not in a moment of emotional excitement, but contrived over the years and therefore having the character of firmness and thoroughness. By the fact that it seems to me to indicate a person trustworthy to manage the monastery during my absence, concerns about the welfare of the monastery and responsibility for everything that may arise are left to me. When appointing such a person, it is impossible for me to offend my governor by removing him from the assignment. It is impossible to eliminate him because he alone could, under favorable circumstances, support the Sergius Hermitage in the form in which it is now. It is impossible to point to him based on the known relationship of the Right Reverend Vicar to him, who with his orders can bind and distort all his orders, upset the monastery, and lay the blame for the disorder he himself caused on the vicar.
According to similar orders from His Eminence, even if my illness did not force me to retire, I cannot remain the abbot of the Sergius Hermitage any longer.
Having said this, I’ll stop spreading the word! I am very glad that my illness gives me a good reason to retire and saves me from the disgusting verbosity that should consist of justifications and accusations, which is so contrary to the teaching of Christ that it torments my soul, although it has somewhat tasted the sweetness of peace flowing from keeping the commandments of our meek Lord Jesus Christ.
The resolution of the Right Reverend Vicar preserves, in the most natural course of affairs, which, however, reveals a heartfelt guarantee, the general character of his behavior towards me. This is a figure, these are words, from which some kind of mask is formed, which at the first superficial glance seems to be something. Take a closer look at it - you will see lifelessness, cardboard, whitewash, rouge, ill-will, ill-intention. Again I leave it to spread. May my mouth not speak of human affairs, may my thought not grovel in the dust of the earth, may it not wander in human considerations, dark and producing only confusion, may it remember the miracles of God and the destinies of His lips. For He is our God, and His destiny throughout the whole earth.
I will tell Your Eminence simply and directly: my illness requires my complete removal from the Sergius Hermitage forever. Circumstances favor removal. I see the destinies of God in this, I see the hand of God benevolent to me, leading me into solitude, so that I may see my sin and take care of it. In my eyes, people are on the sidelines. The Providence of God is at work, in whose right hand people are instruments, blind instruments, when they take pleasure in their blindness. From the sight of God's Providence, my heart maintains deep peace towards circumstances and people. And the peace of the heart is a witness to the holy truth!
When, on the day of St. Sergius, you, holy ruler, were in the Sergius Desert for a sacred rite, then in a spiritual, sincere conversation I told Your Eminence that I had an absolute intention to shirk my positions in serene solitude. It was with this purpose that I left the world, and with this constant purpose I am completing my twentieth year in the monastery. I always desired deep solitude, I was afraid of it, recognizing myself as immature for it, I was afraid to enter into it on my own. But when it is indicated by the Providence of God, then bless me, who comes in the name of the Lord.
As someone who has already left the abbotship of the Sergius Hermitage, I can speak with frankness about the relationship of my heart to this monastery. I’ve been spending fourteen years in it, and my heart hasn’t attached itself to anything in it, I don’t like anything about it. Only for some brothers do I have true love. It seems that as soon as I finally leave the Sergius Hermitage, I will forget it. I took care of its organization as a duty, forced myself to love the Sergius Hermitage, just as in engineering school I forced myself to love mathematics, to find a taste for studying its dry truths, which often turned into intricate nonsense.
Standing on the south, surrounded by all the objects of varied, fierce temptation, this monastery does not at all correspond to the needs of monastic life. If only there were some kind of godly institution here and white clergy with it! I don’t think of a monastery - the Sergius Hermitage! And I was not in her mind: striking me with incessant colds and hemorrhoidal diseases produced by the local gusty winds and chalky water, it was as if she was constantly telling me: you are not capable of being my resident, get out!
I will accept every decision of the Holy Synod with reverence and gratitude: whether they dismiss me completely, or whether they say that they will dismiss me until I recover, I am grateful for everything. I ask one thing, that they untie me from the Sergius Desert. One day I could put it in some order, but another time I’m not capable of such work! It was necessary to form hearts, raise new monks from young men, and replace old-timers who had become ossified in their skills with them. This takes time, it takes years, it takes moral and physical strength: they are exhausted, repeating the same work is impossible for them!
The body, exhausted by illnesses, requires rest, tranquility, the soul, having seen enough of the vanity of everything temporary, wants to be with itself, eternity opens up before it, it prepares for the path of its fathers, it finds a need, an extreme need for this preparation. The time of the rest of my life shortened and disappeared before her. To eternity! To eternity! There are eyes, thoughts, and heart!
Some people frighten me with the inconveniences that the retired life of not only abbots, but also bishops, is associated with. I answer: there is no kind of life without its sorrows, but I have looked at monastic life in detail, not only from above, but also from below, having spent many years as a novice. Exactly, I also had to see some abbots who seemed to live in peace, but by the very thing they lived in anxiety in the full sense. Again I saw other abbots for whom leaving office and living in retirement was a means to achieving extreme peace of mind and body. As an example of the latter, I can imagine Father Theophan, Archimandrite of Novoezersk, who died in Bose and was known for his piety: I had the good fortune to see him, I had the good fortune to talk with him.
In my opinion, borrowed from the teachings of the venerable mentors of monasticism, confirmed by my own observations, an abbot living in retirement, if he loves to study the law of God, if he chooses Mary’s part as his lot, and is careful not to take any part in Marfina’s part, then he will spend his days quietly, serenely, especially in a deserted and communal monastery.
I have an adviser, whose advice guides me in my behavior under present circumstances. I’m captivated by his advice, I’m carried away by it! “Blessed ones,” he says, “those who girded their loins to the sea of sorrows, in simplicity and in an untested manner, in love for the sake of God and did not give in. These are quickly saved to the haven of the Kingdom, and rest in the villages of those who have labored well, and are comforted from their suffering, and rejoice in the joy of their hope... Those who meditate have many thoughts, and those who really want to be wise, and betray themselves by turning their thoughts and fears, and those who are prepared and want to foresee harmful guilt, many of these are found sitting at the doors of their houses like the rexies: the sons of the giants are seen there and bekh before them like these creatures at the time of their end. those who find themselves on the way, always wanting to be wise, but not wanting to make a beginning, but the ignorant floats with the first warmth and floats, not taking care of the body at all.
Take heed to yourself, so that the abundance of your wisdom does not lead to the creeping of your soul and a snare before your face, but trusting in God, with courage, lay the beginning of a path filled with blood, so that you will not ever find the meager and naked mind of God. Be afraid and wait for the winds not to sow... For this sake, do not be overly wise at all, but give place to faith in your thoughts and remember the many days and future and inscrutable centuries that exist after death and judgment, and weakness will not once enter into you. Begin every good work with courage and do not approach it with double-mindedness and do not doubt in your heart, for the Lord is merciful and gives grace to those who seek Him as a rewarder, not according to our work, but according to the zeal of our souls and faith. The verb is: as you believed, so be it for you!” (St. Isaac of Syria. Sermon 58).
My present situation is very similar to what I was in when I left worldly life. Many have judged and talked about him, but few have looked at the subject correctly. Can renunciation of the world be understood and interpreted by those who are completely captivated by the world, immersed in mind, heart, and body in the pleasures of the world? Reading the Fathers of the Church took me out of the world, it helped me endure the sorrows of the world, it calls me into solitude, so that I can peer into eternity before entering its immeasurable regions. As I read, I see in myself that, having been in solitude, I will become completely incapable of any kind of external duties!.. Solitude acts like a poison: it kills.
You show such abundant affection for me that I consider it unnecessary to ask you for anything. Having revealed to Your Eminence my state of soul and body, I leave everything else to your consideration. You, as someone who has practical spiritual information, so alien to people of only secular education and direction, can provide me with significant help by giving my circumstances a direction that corresponds to my goals, making it easier for me to strive for them, and therefore the very achievement of them. By this you will do me a benefit that is not earthly, a benefit so worthy of the saint of Christ, a benefit whose reward is in heaven!
Asking for your holy prayers and archpastoral blessing, with feelings of deepest respect and complete devotion, I have the honor to be Your Eminence, etc.” 119
Instead of retirement, Archimandrite Ignatius was allowed only an 11-month leave to improve his health to the Babaevsky monastery indicated by him. After the archimandrite left for this vacation, the sovereign emperor, having met Chikhachev one day, asked about the health of his comrade and ordered him to write that he was impatiently awaiting his return. Such merciful attention from the sovereign had a beneficial effect on the community of monks of the Sergius Hermitage, who were worried about the outcome of Archimandrite Ignatius’s departure on vacation.
In the summer of 1847, the archimandrite transferred control of the monastery to his abbot, hieromonk Ignatius (great) and went to the Babaevsky monastery through Moscow, from where he visited the Borodino nunnery at the invitation of the then abbess Maria 120, the widow of General Tuchkov, who was killed in 1812 on this very field in the famous Battle of Borodino. Here, at the request of the abbess, the archimandrite in the evening had a conversation with the nuns of the entire monastery about monasticism in general, as a path to Christian perfection and eternal salvation, and then, at the request of the abbess, he paid special attention to the white woman who lived in the monastery with her sick mother and sister, the maiden Elizaveta Shakhova 121, who had some fame in the literary world.
Shakhova, as a result of mental turmoil, was on the verge of despair; she wanted to drown herself, but her attempt was averted by the hand of God's Providence. The archimandrite reassured her with a word of spiritual edification and then throughout his life he provided her with patronage, supporting her both with spiritual advice and financially. She took the first into account, always finding in the advice itself justification for her evasion from it, and she used the second, vainly boasting of the mercy of the most merciful of people.
Here he also met the current abbess of the Moscow Alekseevsky nunnery, Antonia 122, who was then a cell novice of the abbess Maria Tuchkova.
Arriving at the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery, Archimandrite Ignatius went to Kostroma to introduce himself to the diocesan Bishop Justin, saw Prince Suvorov, who temporarily ruled the Kostroma province with special rights, on the occasion of previous fires from arsonists, and then, settling hopelessly in the monastery, began serious treatment. He was assigned cells, which consisted of four small rooms, on a separate mezzanine above the abbot’s cells. This room, separated from other living quarters, was a great convenience for silence. On one side, the windows of the cell offered a majestic view of a vast area irrigated by the Volga River; on the other, the windows looked into the interior of the monastery. Here Archimandrite Ignatius wrote many spiritual and edifying letters to various people. An article “Borodinsky Monastery” was written here regarding the above visit to it.
Vacation time quickly passed for the silent man. In the spring of 1848, Archimandrite Ignatius, having left the Babaevsky monastery, headed to Vologda, so that in the village. Pokrovsky to bow to their deceased ancestors and their mother and meet with their parents and other close relatives. Here he treated all the peasants to lunch and with this visit said goodbye forever to the place of his homeland. Here, on the graves of his ancestors, he wrote the article “Cemetery”, placed in the 1st volume of “Ascetic Experiences”. 123
At a certain time, the archimandrite arrived in Sergius Hermitage. Long-term desert living in the silence of Babaevsky strengthened his disposition towards complete hermitage. Conveying to his brother about the above-mentioned intention of the Synod to transfer him to the Solovetsky Monastery, he said: “They thought of punishing me, but I thought that they would do a great benefit to me, for whom the St. Petersburg winter nights were short for prayer vigils.”
In the summer of 1848, on June 15, Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna honored Archimandrite Ignatius with an invitation to serve a prayer service in the Novo-Sergievsky Country Palace 124 on the occasion of Her Highness receiving part of the relics of St. Sergius. On this occasion, the archimandrite wrote an article entitled
“The Russian land has produced many saints. They shine with various grace-filled gifts from the heavens of the Russian Church. From this blessed host, Saint Sergius shines with the gift of helping his native country in its dangers and storms, to patronize and promote its royal house. He fought for the hero Donskoy against the countless hordes of Mamai, he fought for the descendants of Donskoy against the predatory, rebellious Kazan people.
During the most severe domestic disaster, during the turmoil caused by impostors and Sarmatians, the Monk Sergius performed a wondrous sign, a historical sign, such a sign was not recorded on the pages of the history of other peoples. Just as waves are crushed, crumble, hitting a granite rock, so all the efforts of the enemies were crushed under the walls of the monastery of St. Sergius, before his prayers, before the power of God, called upon and attracted by his prayer. In the vast expanse of devastated, restless Russia, the Lavra of Sergius stood as a cornerstone. This stone repelled the all-consuming waves! This stone became the main stone of renewal and greatness of Russia.
And the kings of the nations, seeing the help of Heaven sent through the intercession of St. Sergius, loved him and his monastery. There they flow to the incorruptible relics of the saint of God - to living witnesses on earth, how ardent love for God, combined with love for the king and fatherland, is pleasing to Heaven. Saint Sergius is a Russian folk saint. In the vicinity of the ancient capital, Sergius rests in the sleep of resurrection, revealing and beginning his resurrection with incorruption and the presence of the grace of God with his body.
A wonderful body!.. The souls of many are not capable of the presence of God’s grace in them, but this body is capable of such a presence! Usually, human bodies, having been separated from their souls, instantly become infected with decay and begin to emit a stench, but this body resists decay for many centuries and releases fragrance from itself! This is the body of someone who has long since died, and life breathes from it and the eternal spiritual life of this body appears in various healings, in various signs that are performed on those who call for the help of St. Sergius, on those who kiss with faith and love his body, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, on those who kneel before the Holy Spirit, who mysteriously and essentially lives in this sacred body.
Now the happiest event has happened; today should be called a “prosperous day.” Called by the pious branch of the royal house of Russia, the Monk Sergius came with a particle of his body, with all the fulfillment of the abundant Divine grace co-present in his body, the Monk Sergius came to the monastery of the pious and God-loving Mary. A disposition towards the saint of God, the protector of kings and the Fatherland, had long been sown in her soul.
Establishing her summer monastery on the banks of the Belt, on a picturesque hill among a thicket of spreading ancient trees, Mary named the monastery after St. Sergius. Her hand, guided by inspiration from above, led by love for the saint of God, drew an image of the church. According to her own drawing, the built church stands at the end of two alleys, both of them leading from the royal palace to the palace of God. The Monk Sergius erected the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in his monastery. Following St. Sergius in this, Mary dedicated the church to the Most Holy Trinity. Is it surprising if St. Sergius himself came to Mary’s monastery?
Until June 15, the weather in St. Petersburg was inclement and stormy. On the 15th, Mary scheduled a prayer service in her Church of the Most Holy Trinity before the relics of St. Sergius. In the morning, a light wind dispersed the clouds, the fragrance of summer filled the air, and the sun shone in all its splendor in the clear blue sky. The sky seemed somehow joyful: it seemed pleasant to look at the work of the pious daughter of the Russian Tsar, and contributed to her good cause.
All the inhabitants of Mary’s royal palace flocked to prayer, sharing with their mistress their zeal for the saint, and being consoled by her holy zeal. Immersed in deep, reverent attention, she, with her eldest daughter, stood before the healing and incorruptible relics of the righteous. On the shore of the Belt, with the sound of its waves, with the sound of the sea wind, the prayer chants of the clergy were heard, chants of praise to St. Sergius. Hymns of praise to his soul, rejoicing with the angels at the eternal feast of Heaven, hymns of praise to his relics brought to the monastery of the blessed, pious Mary.
After performing the prayer, after saying the petition for prosperous years and many years to the great Tsar of Russia, God-chosen and divinely crowned to his entire family, sanctified and exalted by the anointing of the anointed one, Mary kissed the holy relics of the holy resident who had again come to live in her monastery. When she left, her household approached the shrine with that simple and virgin faith that is still preserved in the hearts of Russians and constitutes their spiritual essential strength. June 15th is a day rightly called “prosperous”! On this day, how many impressions, sensations, thoughts were born in the royal monastery of Novo-Sergievskaya - saints, pleasing to Heaven.
May the blessing of Heaven descend on you, the cause of this prosperous day. May this blessing descend on your husband, on your children, on your whole house, on your deeds, on all the hours and days of your life, both earthly and heavenly. And let the new resident of your monastery be your guardian, your guardian, just as the fiery cherub was the guardian of paradise. May he mysteriously speak to your mind and heart, may he tell them the will of God, the holy statutes of eternity, the rapid changeability of everything temporary, may he teach you the high virtues of the Gospel, which purify and enlighten the soul, which alone will enter with honor into a blessed and glorious eternity. You here cordially and with love accepted Sergius into your monastery; may he assist you in creating an imperishable monastery in the holy and eternal villages of heavenly Jerusalem. May the Venerable Sergius beg God to write your name in Heaven in the book of life, and on earth to inscribe it on the tablets of history in the bright rays of glory. These rays are emitted from pure holy virtue.
Compiled June 15, 1848" 125.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Anthony died, his place was taken by Nikanor 126, who also showed distrust and dislike of the archimandrite, but not as much as his predecessor. In 1851, April 21st, Archimandrite Ignatius was added to the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree. This year, an investigation was carried out in the Novgorod diocese into the denunciation of priest Alexander Ivanovsky about the illegal actions of the landowner Strakhov and the latter’s counter denunciation against the priest for allegedly inciting Strakhov’s peasants to disobedience.
To investigate this case, a commission was appointed by the highest order, consisting of high-ranking officials, namely: the chairman was a member of the council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Privy Councilor Pereverzev, from the Ministry of Justice - State Councilor Afanasenko and the Corps of Gendarmes - Major General Akhverdov, and from the side of the diocesan authorities, Archpriest Kostrov was originally a deputy to this commission of the Borovichi Trinity Cathedral.
The conduct of the case indicated the need for a deputy from the spiritual department with a strong character and positive knowledge of the matter. The Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, Count Protasov, having personally secured the preliminary consent of Archimandrite Ignatius to accept this assignment, proposed to the Synod, which, taking into account the importance of the said case, on July 7, 1851, decided to send the rector of the first-class Sergius Monastery, Archimandrite Ignatius, to conduct this investigation as a senior deputy, subordinating Archpriest Kostrov to his leadership. This order was received by the archimandrite on July 10.
Arriving at the place of investigation in the city of Ustyuzhna (Novgorod province) on July 16, he received on the 17th a message from the chairman of the commission that on the 12th, by a resolution of the commission, the investigation entrusted to it was considered completely completed by the examination and on the 15th it was sent to St. Petersburg, and only the proceedings of this commission remained, which, for review, if he wished, would be presented to him at any time. On July 28, the final journal of the commission was read, under which the archimandrite made the following entry: “I have listened to this journal, on the basis of Article 1031. XV volume of the Code of Laws I have to present an opinion to the commission, and on the basis of Art. 1033. of the same volume, I humbly ask the commission to allow me to make a copy of this magazine.”
In his opinion, he recognized that the very plan of action of the commission, which gave priest Ivanovsky’s denunciation second place, and put Strakhov’s counter-denunciation in the forefront, was incorrect, the commission’s accusation of priest Master Nikitin in connection with the case was considered alien to any basis, priest Ivanovsky’s accusation of indignation of the peasants Strakhov was unfounded and upon his arrival in St. Petersburg he undertook to present to his superiors a detailed note as proof of the provisions he had said, which he did.
The main reason for the note was that the commission distorted the meaning of the highest command and, by clerical turns of the matter, evaded the execution of the highest command, and replaced it with its own intention to protect Strakhov and accuse the priest. These clerical quirks were displayed in bold relief. Compared with the laws, they accused the commission at every step of deliberately distorting the truth.
This note was reported to the sovereign by the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, and a new commission of inquiry in 1852, by order of the highest, with the participation of Archimandrite Ignatius as the senior deputy from the spiritual side, revealed the truth of the accomplished facts and confirmed the validity of the conclusions and accusations made by Archimandrite Ignatius regarding the actions of the first commission, both in his opinion submitted to the final journal of it, and in a note presented by him to his superiors.
During the stay of Archimandrite Ignatius in the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery, novice Ivan Grigorievich Tatarinov, a young man of 16 years old, a tenor with a remarkable broad and unusually harmonious voice, entered the Sergius Hermitage from the Golutinsky (sic.) Monastery of the Moscow Diocese. The archimandrite took him in as his senior cell attendant, and in his concern for the development of this gifted young man, he found the opportunity to meet Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, 127 our eminent maestro of Russian national music.
Glinka took a special interest in the education and improvement of the young man. In lengthy interviews about the spirit and character of Orthodox Church Russian singing, Archimandrite Ignatius conveyed to M. I. Glinka his spiritually experienced views on this subject. Glinka, realizing the truth of the archimandrite’s observations and comments, asked him to put these thoughts on paper, which the archimandrite did, writing an article entitled “The Christian Shepherd and the Christian Artist,” in which he outlined everything that he had previously conveyed orally to Glinka. We present it here in full.
"Artist. I come to you for sincere advice. Since childhood, my soul has been enveloped in love for the graceful. I felt like it was singing some wondrous song to someone great, something lofty, singing something that was indefinite for me. I devoted myself to the study of the arts, devoted my whole life to them. As you can see, I have already reached adulthood, but have not achieved my goal. This lofty one, before which my heart revered, whom it sang, still far from me. My heart continues to see it, as if behind a transparent cloud or a transparent curtain, continues to sing it mysteriously, mysteriously for me: I begin to understand that only then will my heart be satisfied when God becomes its object.
Shepherd. Where you ended your speech, I’ll begin mine. Exactly, God alone is an object that can satisfy the spiritual aspirations of man. This is how we are created and created for this. It is given to man to look at his Creator and see Him through all of nature, as if through glass; it is given to man to look at Him and see Him in himself, as if in a mirror. When a person looks at God through nature, he comes to know His immeasurable power and wisdom. The more a person accustoms himself to such vision, the more God appears majestic to Him, and nature loses its splendor before him, as a conductor of - and only - wonderful vision. From the sight of God in ourselves, we achieve even greater results.
When a person sees God in himself, then the viewer and the visible merge into one. With such vision, a person, who previously seemed to himself an independent being, learns that he is a creature, that he is a completely passive being, that he is a vessel, a church for another True Being. This is our destiny: it is revealed to us by the Christian faith, and then by experience itself with the unanimous testimony of the mind, heart, soul, and body. But before this experience, another experience testifies to the same thing: neither contemplation of nature, nor contemplation of ourselves can satisfy the requirement of our spirit, with which the greatest, constant bliss must be associated.
Where there is no perfect bliss, there is still desire in the heart; when desire acts, then there is no satisfaction. For complete satisfaction, therefore, bliss, it is necessary for the mind to be without thought, that is, above all thought, and the heart without desire, that is, above all desire. Neither contemplation of nature in itself, nor of man in itself, can bring a person into this state and assimilate this state to him. Moreover, this is impossible because in both objects good and evil are very mixed, and bliss does not tolerate the slightest admixture of evil: it is the enjoyment of whole goodness.
Artist. Why don’t we see this theory applied to practice?
Shepherd. Such application is always difficult to find between people, especially at the present time. But it existed at all times of Christianity and exists today - not noticed by the crowd, which, striving almost exclusively for material development, cannot sympathize with the truly elegant, see, understand and appreciate it. People gifted by nature with talent do not understand why they were given the gift, and there is no one to explain it to them. Evil in nature, especially in man, is so disguised that the painful pleasure in it captivates the young artist, and he indulges in lies, covered with the guise of truth, with all the fervor of his heart.
When the strength of both soul and body is already exhausted, then disappointment comes, mostly felt unconsciously and indefinitely. Most of the talents sought to depict human passions in luxury. Evil is depicted by singers, depicted by painters, depicted by music in all possible variety. Human talent, in all its strength and unfortunate beauty, has developed in the depiction of evil; in the depiction of good it is generally weak, pale, and strained.
Artist. I couldn't agree more! The arts have risen to the highest degree in depicting passions and evil, but, I repeat your words, they are generally pale and strained when they try to depict something good, especially the Divine. Raphael's Madonna, this supreme work of painting, is adorned with a charming character of modesty. When does modesty appear in a girl? Then, when she begins to feel the purpose of a woman. Shyness is a veil of sin, not the radiance of holiness. Such is the character of Bortniansky’s “Cherubim,” such is the character of Racine’s “Esther” and “Athaliah,” the character of Thomas a à Kempis’s “Imitation,” 128 from which a refined voluptuousness breathes. And the crowd in front of them is crying and praying!.. But I want to know what means can give an artist to depict virtue and holiness in their own genuine character?
Shepherd. The Gospel perfectly likens the human heart to a treasury, from which one can only take out what is in it. True talent, having learned that the Essentially Graceful is one God, must cast out all passions from the heart, eliminate all false teaching from the mind, acquire for the mind the Gospel way of thinking, and for the heart the Gospel sensations. The first is given by studying the Gospel commandments, and the second by actually fulfilling them. The fruits of deeds, that is, the sensations that follow deeds, accumulate in a person’s heart treasury and constitute his eternal heritage! When the talent has assimilated the Gospel character - and this is at first associated with labor and internal struggle - then the artist is illuminated by inspiration from above, then only he can speak holy, sing holy, paint holy.
We can only have a correct understanding of our body itself when it is cleansed of sin and imbued with grace. Changes in the body are not limited and do not end with earthly life alone. Here we see that from its conception to its separation by death it constantly changes; many of its changes remain unknown to many; it must still be finally changed by the resurrection and through it enter into the unchanging world of either eternal spiritual bliss, if the body has become capable of it, or eternal death, if it submitted to sin during earthly life.
In order to think, feel and express spiritually, one must bring spirituality to the mind, the heart, and the body itself. It is not enough to imagine goodness or to have the correct concept of goodness: one must infuse it into oneself, be imbued with it. This is all the more necessary because a clear concept of good is completely practical; theory only shows the means of how to acquire concepts of good. A clear concept of good is already good itself, because good, in essence, is thought, is spirit, is God. Taste and see (Ps. 33:9), says Scripture. So, the spiritual concept comes from spiritual sensation.
Artist. What thoughts and corresponding feelings can be considered worthy of God, so that the artist knows what he can depict with art? For greater clarity, let us take a private subject, for example, in a church chant.
Shepherd. The first knowledge of man in the spiritual realm is the knowledge of his limitations as a creature, his sinfulness and his fall as a fallen creature. This knowledge is harmonized with the feeling of repentance and crying. Most people are in a state of sinfulness. The most righteous people are very often subject to subtle sins and, as they very carefully observe themselves, they recognize themselves as sinners much more than all people in general, moreover, due to the purity of their minds, they see their insignificance in the enormity and history of the world much more clearly than other people. On these grounds, they acquire a feeling of repentance and crying much more than their brothers, who pay little attention to themselves. And therefore the feeling of repentance and crying is common to the entire human race. Many hymns are filled with this feeling, starting with the meaningful prayer so often repeated during worship: “Lord, have mercy.” In this prayer, all humanity cries and from the face of the earth, where it suffers in various ways both in prisons and on thrones, cries out to God for mercy.
However, not all church hymns are imbued with lamentation. The feeling of some of them, as well as the thought, are borrowed, one might say, from Heaven. There is a state of spirit, unusually elevated, completely spiritual, in which the mind, and with it the heart, stops in bewilderment before its immaterial vision. A man in delight is silent with his whole being, and his silence is higher and more reasonable than any word. The soul comes to such a state, having been pre-purified and prepared by a deeply pious life. Suddenly, before the true servant, the Divinity will be revealed in an image incomprehensible to the carnal mind, an image that cannot be explained in a material word and in the land of matter.
The highest of the angels are in this state - the fiery cherubim and the six-winged seraphim, standing before the Throne of God. With some wings they soar, with the other they cover their faces and legs and cry incessantly: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The incessant repetition of the same word through the centuries expresses a state of spirit that exceeds any word: it is a verbal and blatant silence. And pure and holy minds soar high, and stand before the Throne of the Divine, and see glory, and cover their faces, and cover their whole being: the greatness of the vision brings together actions that are opposite to each other.
The great saints of God sometimes came to such a state during their earthly wanderings. It served for them as a foretaste of future bliss, in which they would participate together with the angels. They conveyed as much of it as possible to all of Christianity, calling this state a state of surprise, horror, and frenzy. This state of supreme reverence, combined with fear, is produced by the living manifestation of the greatness of God and stops all movements of the mind. The holy prophet David said about him: Thy understanding was astonished at me; if I strengthened myself, I would not be able to reach him (Ps. 138:6).
The Cherubic Song is filled with a feeling borrowed from this state, and it speaks about it. He also sang the songs preceding the consecration of the Gifts: “The mercy of the world is a sacrifice of praise” and so on. The song sung at the very consecration of the Gifts breathes with it especially. The action performed then is so high that, according to the meaning of this song, there are no words for this time... no thoughts! One singing of the amazing silence of the incomprehensible God, one theology alien to all verbosity and grandeur with a pure mind, one thanksgiving from our entire being, perplexed and in awe of the performed Sacrament.
After the consecration of the Gifts, the song of the Mother of God is sung - and with her the heart comes out of its tense state, as if Moses from the mountain from the clouds and thunder, where he received the law from the hands of God, goes out, as if onto a wide plain, into a feeling of holy and pure joy, with which the song “It is Worthy” is filled. She, like all the songs sung to the Mother of God at this time, in which the Mediator of the incarnation of God the Word is glorified, is filled with spiritual joy and jubilation. God, clothed with humanity, is already more accessible to man, and when His incarnation is announced, joy is involuntarily aroused in the heart. Let's dwell on these explanations.
Artist. My heart warmed, a fire blazed in it - and from now on I dedicate my chants to God. Shepherd! Bless me on my new path.
Shepherd. The Lord incarnate has already blessed everyone to come to Him and offer themselves to Him as a verbal sacrifice. His blessing is quite enough for you, and I am only a witness to this. Stop wandering, as in a wild desert, among animals, in a carnal state, among various passions! Enter the Court of Christ through the gates - through repentance and weeping. This cry will in due time give birth to joy, although on earth, but not earthly. Spiritual joy is a sign of the triumph of the soul over sin. Sing your cry, and may the Lord grant you to sing and your joy, and for me to hear your songs, rejoice about them and about you, give thanks about them and about you, glorify God. Amen".
Imbued with the desire to realize these thoughts, Glinka, going abroad, hoped to find in Vienna from the director of the local conservatory, Dehn, a lot of information about the ancient Orthodox melodies of the Eastern Church, but death tore him away from this undertaking.
In the papers of Bishop Ignatius there remained a letter to him from M. I. Glinka dated August 27, 1855, testifying to their mutual relationship: “I was very unwell,” writes Glinka, “and in moments of grave suffering I longed most of all to be honored with receiving the Holy Mysteries from the hands of Your Reverence, the desire to see you, to receive your blessing and joy in your conversation was so strong that I could not resist this deep desires of the heart.
Moreover, I wanted to tell you some of my thoughts about Russian church music, but now I leave this until the arrival of Ivan Grigorievich Tatarinov, whom I ask to visit me upon his return, and then, having understood even more everything related to this subject, I will have the honor to present to Your Reverence the fruit of my labors.”
The thought of retiring to live in silence did not leave Archimandrite Ignatius. In the correspondence left after his death, we find a letter from him to the abbot of the Valaam Monastery of Damascus, written in 1853 on the 25th day of September. He writes:
“Your Reverence, most honorable father abbot of Damascus!
In these lines I continue my conversation with you, which began in your holy monastery. Upon my arrival in St. Petersburg, I visited His Eminence Metropolitan Nikanor. Although he did not say anything definite regarding my placement in the Valaam Monastery, it seems that he will not oppose this, because he asked if there was a convenient cell there for my placement.
On my part, my intention to leave the leadership, which I was forced to accept by necessity, is a decisive intention. I would like to spend the rest of my days in the Valaam monastery, only if it is impossible to settle in it - I mean the Optina Hermitage. The latter represents more benefits in material terms: there the climate is much more favorable, vegetables and fruits are very strong and in greater quantity, but Valaam has the invaluable benefit of deep solitude. Moreover, dry and warm cells (since I leave my cells only on good summer days, and in spring, autumn and winter I almost never go out) can make my stay on Valaam Island a lot easier in material terms.
Therefore, having left it to the Lord Himself and the One to fulfill the good desires of His servant and to arrange my destiny according to His holy will, on my part I consider it essential for the good beginning and end of this matter to enter into a preliminary explanation, and after the explanation, an agreement with you, Father Abbot.
As I personally told you, I repeat now that everything good, everything beneficial to the soul, which by the grace of God can come from this undertaking, completely depends on our unanimity in the Lord, that is, the unanimity of yours and mine. The Lord, who said to His disciples in the final moments of His earthly existence: My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you, is strong to give us His peace if we are His disciples, striving to fulfill His will, and not our own. Based on this rock of the world, which itself is established on the rock of the commandments of Christ, I have the honor to present my following considerations for your consideration.
Firstly, I will tell you that of all the abbots I know, in terms of your way of thinking and your view of monasticism, as well as in your natural abilities, I like you more than all the others. To this we must add that from official relations, both I and you have been known to me for a long time. Moreover, I am convinced that you are not looking for any elevation, connected, of course, with moving to another monastery, but remain faithful to the Valaam monastery until the Lord Himself desires to prolong your days. Further: as I said above, due to my long-term illness and the skill developed in accordance with it, I leave the cell only on the best summer days, and in damp and cold weather I remain in it forever, therefore living in the monastery would be more familiar and convenient for me.
The very silence of the monastery, into which the female sex is forever prohibited, completely corresponds to the requirements of my health and spiritual mood. The monastery is protected from everywhere by trees from the winds. This would give me the opportunity to work even on summer days, which is essential due to my hemorrhoidal condition, but in the wind I am not able to work, because at the slightest movement from extreme weakness I become covered in perspiration and susceptible to a cold.
Given your experience, it is clear to you that after my placement in the monastery, many will want to be placed in it. Therefore, if the Lord inspires you with the inclination to place me in a monastery, then it is necessary for you to concede my weakness and, perhaps, other weaknesses similar to mine. Having tested myself, I became convinced that I was not able to maintain my strength with plant food alone; I became only able to lie in relaxation.
You, of course, notice that the brethren who are currently living in the monastery are burdened with such poor nutritional food and come to the monastery most of the time for lunch. What was convenient for the former strong generation became inconvenient for the present weak generation. Since you are not unaware that Saturday, fasting and other external deeds and observations are established for man to help his spiritual work, and not man for them, then would you please introduce into the Valaam monastery the regulations of the Optina monastery, the validity of which and prudent compliance with the weakness of the present generation is proven by the fact that the Optina monastery abounds in the most chosen brotherhood, which greatly contributes to the flourishing well-being of the monastery and the monastery itself.
This select fraternity consists of several retired superiors and several persons of educated secular circle. Being weaker in physique than commoners, they are not capable of strong physical labor and feats, but they are more capable of mental feats and activities that require mental development. You know that the holy fathers judge the feat of a monk by what he had in the world and what he moved to when he entered monasticism; according to this calculation, the above-mentioned persons living in the Optina monastery went to greater deprivation than those who in the monastery have, perhaps, better food and clothing than what they had in the world.
You also know that the fathers of the ancient Egyptian Skete no longer considered that feat to be a feat that people learned about, but abandoned this feat, imputing it as a sin (Paterikon of the Skete, letter “C”, in the article about Sisoe the Great). This is what the holy fathers thought and acted, wanting to sacrifice themselves entirely to God, and not to man-pleasing and vanity. With regret, I saw that some magazines proclaimed in print the strictness of fasting in the Valaam monastery, in stark contrast to the Gospel, which commands that fasting and other deeds of piety should be performed in secret (Matthew ch. 6), not only performed in secret, but also hidden with all possible care, otherwise the words cannot be interpreted: when you have fasted, anoint your head and your face mind (Matthew 6:17).
Great St. The fathers were very careful that not only their exploits, but also the miracles themselves were covered in obscurity during their earthly life, and allowed their disciples to talk about them only after their death. St. Isaac of Syria says in his first word that a person who can endure honor cannot be found unless someone has morals equal to those of the angels. The Apostle Paul himself was given a foul of the flesh to protect him from exaltation.
The act of publishing the exploits of monks alive is similar to the act of that father who, to prove and glorify the chastity of his daughter, would raise the hem of her dress in front of everyone. In fact, what is fasting other than a denunciation of the extent of the struggle against fornication? We see that it was precisely those of the holy men (such as St. Moses Murin, John the Long-Suffering and others) who resorted to the intense feat of fasting, who were especially struggling with fornication. St. Peter of Damascus calls fasting, vigil and other deeds the tools by which virtues are cultivated, why does one who wants to be saved need to look at them as tools and not sacrifice the virtues themselves in order to gain the tools.
The Monk Cassian at the end of the word “On Reasoning” says: “The fathers say: extremes harm both countries equally - excess of fasting and satiation of the belly, and immensity of vigil and satiety of sleep, and other excesses. For we brought away some who were not overcome by gluttony, but were cast down by immeasurable fasting and crawled towards the same passion of gluttony, for the weakness that transpires from immeasurable fasting.” This same venerable Cassian, in his book, which I have in Latin, says that one day the devil apparently appeared to the great prophet John among the saints and thanked him for fasting, which was pleasing to the devil. At first the reverend father did not understand what this meant, but in the evening, having stood up for prayer and feeling weak from weakness to fulfill the usual rule of prayer, he realized that he had been deceived while eating food by a thought that came to him and was accepted by him, inspiring him to abstain especially and beyond the custom.
St. Basil the Great and, according to him, other saints. The fathers claim that if we needed to have relaxed bodies, then God would have created them as such, why do they command a measure of fasting precisely such as is necessary to curb carnal passions, which at the same time would not upset the bodies, but would keep them capable of fulfilling the commandments of Christ, or, more simply, for obedience and feats of vigil, prayer and genuflection, which weakened bodies are completely incapable of.
I offer all this, beloved father, for your consideration, so that you may be moved to the descent of my weakness and weaknesses similar to mine. If the current brethren of the Valaam monastery, consisting solely of common people, are not able to maintain their strength exclusively with plant food, and to strengthen their strength they strive for a monastic meal, then for my exhausted physique and for the physique of people of gentle upbringing, feeding on plant food alone is completely impossible.
At first, even in the Optina Skete, the zeal of its founders was directed towards a particularly strict fast, but seeing that with such strictness the monastery should be left without brethren, she softened and gave rules for food that were more accessible, but still much stricter than the rules on food laid down by the Church for a schema-monk living in a monastery. However, despite this mitigation, there were few, very few hunters from the numerous brotherhood of the Optina Hermitage to live in the monastery. When the elder Hieroschemamonk Leonid arrived there with several of his disciples, and the abbot handed over the monastery to him for spiritual management, then the monastery began to be inhabited and inhabited mainly by people of weak constitution, who were looking for peace in solitude. The number of brethren living there extended to 30 people. All this, that is, the state of the monastery before the arrival of Fr. Leonidas and his condition upon the arrival of the elder, I was an eyewitness.
The elder spread a beneficial influence throughout the monastery itself, supporting the brethren in their affection for the abbot and strengthening them in spiritual battles. Such an abundance of nourishment doubled the number of brotherhood in the monastery itself, and therefore increased order in it and attracted significant donations, with the help of which the monastery was rebuilt and, moreover, ensured its maintenance. That’s why I’m telling you in such detail about the Optina monastery that its flourishing condition and the improvement of the monastery itself that resulted from it are facts, and facts constitute the most reliable evidence.
As for the hostel itself, that is, the Valaam monastery itself, I find its present structure to be the first in Russia, far superior to the famous hostels of Beloberezh, Ploshchansky, Sofronievsky, even Optina and Sarov, because in these monasteries, much closer to the world, the monks have incomparably more means of communicating with the world, making connections with it, having their own and thereby separating from the general body of the hostel.
The community of Valaam must remain for a long time in its present form: it is necessary for stout natures, who must, through much physical labor and bodily humility, inertly, as St. John the Prophet, a disciple of the Great Barsanuphius, puts it, enter into spiritual, or at least spiritual, work. In material terms, the brethren of the Valaam hostel are provided with clothing and food incomparably more abundantly than the above-mentioned hostels. On Easter, the brethren there do not eat the kind of fish soup that the Valaam monks eat on an ordinary weekday, and the brethren of the Valaam hostel are also provided with clothing much more satisfactorily than the brethren of the said hostels.
Having outlined before you the state of the Valaam monastery and monastery, as they appear to my eyes, the eyes, however, of an eyewitness to them, I now turn to the outline of my sinful and unworthy face before these saints. monasteries. You know my weakness - my origin and the tenderness of my upbringing. For them, the acceptance of the charter that I propose to you, based on the model of the Optina monastery, is already a great feat and crucifixion. Undertaking anything more is beyond my consideration.
“Let not you disturb and cut off your life,” says St. Isaac of Syria in the 80th verse, “and for the desire of a little labor, may you not remain and cease from all your progress. Eat in moderation, as you do not always eat, and do not stretch your legs beyond your strength, so that you are not at all idle.” For this, would you like to draw your attention to chapter 36 of the monks Callistus and Ignatius (Kindness. Part 2) “On Discourse,” which they laid down in succession after the presentation of bodily labors and the prescribed food appropriate for the silent.
It should be noted that the vegetables and fruits of central Russia are incomparably stronger than those of the north, and the products of southern Russia are just as stronger than those of the middle zone, as are the fruits and vegetables of Constantinople and Athos, where the saints lived. Callistus and Ignatius are equal in nutritional power to the fish of the northern regions and even surpass it. “The body is weak,” said St. Isaac of Syria in the 85th word, “whenever you force him to do things, you bring darkness upon darkness into your soul and confusion.”
Presenting all this to your discretion, I ask you to condescend to my weakness and the brothers who are unanimous with me, who cannot endure the feats of community life and who can endure the feat of the monastery after dissolving it with prudent moderation. Moreover, it seems that this case should not be missed, that in every possible way after a short time the aforementioned leniency and change in the monastery’s food regulations will have to be made, otherwise no one will live in the monastery. They have become weak, father!
Moreover, as I said above, the regulations of the Optina monastery regarding food are stricter than those laid down by the Church for a schema-monk. So, when the consumption of fish is prescribed by the charter, it is supplied at meals; it seems that for forty days a year, cheese and eggs, butter and milk are allowed.
Just as milk is not used in the Valaam community, so it should not be introduced into the monastery, but everything else would be useful to introduce both for the benefit of the body and for the benefit of the soul, for St. John Climacus ate from everything that was permitted to the monastic order with the goal of avoiding spiritual passions: vanity, self-importance, man-pleasing, secret eating, hypocrisy, deceit, lies, which often appear among ascetics in the flesh and make spiritual success absolutely impossible for them. God appears in simplicity and humility, and serving Him cannot be combined with serving human glory.
Upon arrival at my monastery, I feel as weak as I felt when I was in your holy monastery. But when I retire from office and move to the solitude of your monastery, perhaps, by the special mercy of God, I will be given time to repent, and I will last for several years. In this case, the Valaam monastery can be populated by monks who are close to me, just as Optin was populated when Fr. Leonida.
To this letter of mine I humbly ask for your response. According to him, I will take care of the further arrangement of this matter. Starting Monday I’m thinking of going to the Ladoga Monastery for three weeks.
Your Reverence, most humble novice.
The original was signed by Archimandrite Ignatius
1. P.S. I keep my undertaking a secret from my brethren, because if they find out about it prematurely, they will be extremely embarrassed. If you need someone to correspond with me, then how can you trust this secret to your Fr. to the treasurer so that he does not transfer it to anyone.
2. P.S. I pass on the drawing of the monastery cell for the wooden superstructure to Alexey Maksimovich. Logs are needed in four and three sizes according to the length and width of the stone outbuilding. It would be a good idea to prepare them now: they would freeze and dry out. During the coming winter, one could live in the chambers made from them.
3. P.S. When moving o. Leonidas in the Optin monastery was ruled by Hieromonk Anthony, the abbot’s brother, as a kind of governor, and after Anthony, Hieromonk Macarius, a student of Fr. Leonida. Father Leonid was only practicing spiritual advice. And we could have a hieromonk for the monastery who would lead it as your vicar. There are such people in mind” 130.
On November 30 of the same 1853, Abbot Damascene gave the final answer to this proposal, convincing Archimandrite Ignatius to wait a little longer in the Sergius Hermitage until circumstances allowed him to personally visit the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage and find the desired silent shelter in the monastery there.
Having suffered a great loss in the death of his high patron Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and not abandoning his intention to move to retirement, Archimandrite Ignatius in 1856 undertook a trip to the monastery of the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage with the sole purpose of arranging there the desired stay in silence. He had completely agreed with the abbot about preparing a cell for him in the skete and about remodeling it, gave 200 rubles as a deposit and, returning to his Sergius Hermitage, in a letter he asked Kaluga Bishop Gregory to assist him and the Optina monks in moving him to their monastery.
To this letter he received a response from the Eminence, who informed him that the rector of Optina Pustyn, immediately after the departure of the archimandrite, turned to him on behalf of the entire brotherhood with a request to show them archpastoral mercy, to protect their monastery from the relocation of Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov to it. 131 In view of this circumstance, he was forced to indefinitely postpone the execution of his thought about relocating to rest and surrender his further fate to the will of God.
In 1855, the Viceroy of the Caucasus N.N. Muravyov 1st, 132 who personally knew the archimandrite, invited him to take the Stavropol see, which was soon to be cleared due to the unrest and abuses of the Stavropol diocesan administration discovered by an examination made by Archbishop Evgeniy of Astrakhan, but the archimandrite, refusing, asked him not to intercede about this, he frankly wrote to him that in the Synod they would blame him for this and that there would be no success, as indeed happened that time. On this occasion, Metropolitan Nikanor, when asked by the sovereign why they found it difficult to agree to the requested appointment of Archimandrite Ignatius, answered: “He did not study at the Theological Academy.”
Soon afterwards Metropolitan Nikanor died. Metropolitan Gregory of Kazan, 133 who knew, understood and was in spiritual communion with Archimandrite Ignatius, was called to the see of the St. Petersburg Metropolis and therefore, in view of the benefit of the Church of God, immediately offered him the episcopal see. Having decided not to deviate from what was offered to him according to the destinies of God, he expressed his consent.
The Metropolitan intended to consecrate him as a bishop in Novgorod, and he was already preparing for this, but it turned out differently. The Novgorod see was occupied by another person (Plato, later Kostroma), and a year after that he was elevated to Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. A proposal for this was made at the Synod by the first present himself, and the archimandrite accepted this appointment as an expression of the providential will of God, especially since it was already secondary on behalf of His Eminence Gregory.
On October 25, 1857, with a significant gathering of society, the naming took place in the Holy Synod, and on the 27th, in the Kazan Cathedral, Archimandrite Ignatius was consecrated as Bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea with a very large gathering of people. On the 28th he celebrated the liturgy in the Nevsky Lavra in the Metropolitan Church of the Cross, then spent the first three days of the following November in the Sergius Desert. On November 2, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna visited the desert “to say goodbye to Bishop Ignatius,” as she deigned to put it.
November 3 was a Sunday, Bishop Ignatius served the Divine Liturgy in the desert, took part in a common fraternal meal and, having said goodbye to everyone, finally left the Sergius Hermitage and moved to the Nevsky Lavra.
On November 4, by appointment of the Dowager Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Bishop Ignatius traveled to Tsarskoye Selo to introduce himself to Her Majesty. The Empress deigned to receive him in her office, and presented him with a panagia decorated with diamonds and rubies, saying: “With the permission of the sovereign, I give you this panagia in memory of me and the late sovereign.”
On November 9, the bishop took leave of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna in the Marble Palace, and had a long conversation about spiritual subjects with Her Highness, and on the 10th in Tsarskoye Selo he had the good fortune to take leave first of the sovereign, then of the empress especially, in their halves, while the empress was pleased to talk to him very seriously about monasteries in general and about the Sergius Hermitage in particular, and she expressed regret that the monks of the Sergius Hermitage behave inconsistently with their vows of chastity and non-covetousness. The bishop answered: “What do you order to do, Your Majesty, when there are ladies, the highest-ranking ones, of Your Majesty’s court who do not spare any money to have a lover, a monk of the Sergius Hermitage.” The Empress, covering her face with both hands, stood up and quickly walked into her inner chambers.
On the 17th, the Right Reverend took part in the consecration of Solovetsky Archimandrite Alexander as Bishop of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory. In the same service, the abbot of the Sergius Hermitage, Hieromonk Ignatius, was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and, on the recommendation of Bishop Ignatius and the unanimous desire of the brotherhood, appointed rector of the hermitage. In the notes of Bishop Ignatius we find a handwritten note about his successor: “Ignatius is a reasonable, kind and pious man.”
Of the monastic students of Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov, the Sergius Hermitage gave sixteen abbots: 10 archimandrites, five abbots and one builder.
Having lived in the Sergius Desert for twenty-four years, Bishop Ignatius left it in a very prosperous state. During his administration, the monastery was decorated, as we have seen, with three new magnificent churches.
It is appropriate to note here that, despite the incessant persecution, more or less strong, of the powers that be who persecuted the archimandrite personally, the relations of the capital’s society both towards the monastery and towards its abbot expressed a consistently increasing disposition and trust, demonstrated by trust in the spiritual advice of Archimandrite Ignatius, for which pious persons from all walks of life turned to him, which is proven by his many letters of this nature. And from the material side, these relationships were expressed by contributions, offerings, and especially the desire to bury close relatives within the walls of this well-appointed and, according to the liturgical rite of the church, reverent monastery of monks.
According to the calculation of the governor of the Sergius Monastery, Hieromonk Agafangel, placed in his notes on the desert, published in the magazine “Home Conversation” for 1865, in July, 134 the value of all the buildings and structures erected during the management of the monastery of Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov extended to an amount of up to 420,000 silver rubles.
Moving on to the time of Bishop Ignatius’s departure to the Caucasus, and at the same time to the distance from direct, face-to-face relations with the hierarchs who stood and stand at the head of the spiritual administration, we find it appropriate to mention those of them whose special favor the bishop enjoyed, serving in the rank of archimandrite as rector of the Sergius Hermitage.
The first place in terms of spiritually close relations belongs to the spiritual rapprochement with His Eminence Philaret, Metropolitan of Kiev and Galicia 135, which is evidenced by the letters of the saint of Kiev, of which we cite one, the first of the eleven that have survived, all of them of the same spirit and mood.
“Beloved brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, Father Archimandrite!
I offer Your Reverence my most sincere gratitude for the memory of my unworthiness on the day of my angel. Accept from my heart, which loves you, my most sincere greetings on the Day of Your Angel, and even more so on the upcoming great holiday of the Nativity of Christ our Savior and on the new summer of His grace. I wish and pray to the Lord God, the Sweetest Jesus, that the fiery love of Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer for Him may enter your kind and pious heart, beloved brother! With this love, your shrine will not be cold in the north. And as soon as you feel cold, immediately warm your heart with the life-giving words of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And always carry His sweetest and all-saving name in your heart, may it be inscribed in your heart with the indelible reed of the Holy Spirit.
I, unworthy, received many mercies from the Lord God, but most of all I thank His goodness for two mercies: that he delivered me from my youth from the bonds of this world through monasticism and that, through the unknown destinies of His Providence, I was honored to have residence in the holy monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Merciful Mother of monks, in the caves of our venerable Pechersk fragrant with the Holy Spirit.
One desire of my heart remains, so as not to lose a part with them in the eternal abodes of the Heavenly Father. I wish you to be resolved soon and be with Christ. For the fourty-seventh time I celebrated spiritually in my solitary desert the day of my monastic angel - it’s time to go to the Heavenly Father. I am afraid of such an old age, in which one can lose even a small reserve for eternity, and it is too late to increase it. The will of the Lord be done in everyone, but the Lord hardly grants us anything without prayer.
I didn’t have time to write to you from Fr. Apollos, for he was going at that time to survey the diocese. This brother behaved very well among us, perhaps he received something for his soul. May the Lord God bless him in his new place. Invoking the blessing of God on you and on the monastery entrusted to your care, with sincere respect and pastoral love, I am and will be Your Reverence’s most zealous worshiper.
The original was signed by Filaret, Metropolitan of Kiev.
December 16th, 1844. Kyiv".
Bishop Ignatius, living in retirement in the Babayevsky Monastery, told his brother the following incident: one day the archimandrite came to visit the metropolitan. The latter, having met him and invited him to sit down, hesitantly tells him: “I don’t know whether to confess?” - “What?” – asked the archimandrite, smiling. “Well, fearing exaltation because of honors from people, for the sake of humility, I sewed myself a fly cassock 136 and updated it today.” The archimandrite took the half of this cassock, spat on it, rubbed it and said to the Eminence: “Walk in gold, but think about the Church! This is your obedience and your humility.” And on his advice, the Metropolitan took off his fly clothes.
Then we should put the kind, merciful and sincere relationship of Metropolitan Gregory of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, which was expressed by the very actions of the Eminence, who insisted on the elevation of Archimandrite Ignatius to the rank of bishop in the Caucasian See.
Letters from Archbishop Smaragd of Oryol 137 confirm the sincerely favorable disposition of this archpastor towards the archimandrite. Here is his letter.
“Most Reverend, most beloved brother in Christ!
I most earnestly greet you on your elevation to the rank of bishop of the Russian Church and your accession to a divinely entrusted diocese. With all my soul I wish success in all good things both to the newly installed worthy archpastor and to the entire Caucasian flock. Your spiritual meadow has been watered for a long time with the living water of the Gospel teaching and the examples of holy ascetics, and I am absolutely confident that, with the grace of God, it will now grow the most fragrant flowers for the Church of Christ.
I thank you very much for your letter of January 20th, and I ask for your condescending apology for the fact that, not knowing the time of your passage through Orel, I was away from home for only three days to go to the diocese. And it was necessary for me to lose my most precious meeting with you in these very three days! God's will be done! Your diocese is somewhat known to me, especially because it was once located in Astrakhan, where I was a pastor and had the opportunity to receive some information about the Caucasus and the Black Sea region, moreover, your seminarians studied under me in Astrakhan. The Black Sea region, they say, is the best corner in your diocese. But, in general, with a small number of churches: the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
May the Lord make your Eminence wise and instruct you how to build for you the House of God, which is the living Church of God, the pillar and affirmation of the Truth. I, for my part, know how difficult it is for a shepherd in newly discovered dioceses, for I myself opened the Polotsk diocese in Belarus and lived in a Jewish house, enduring all other misfortunes that resulted from lack of funds and people. I hope that the merciful Lord will appreciate our once corny labors in planting the Orthodox Church in that region!
I will tell you about myself that my health is already failing due to old age, for I am sixty-two years old from birth - the limit of my earthly wandering is near.
Pray, holy master, for our unworthiness. And I, standing at the throne of God, will not fail to forget your holy name and face.
Asking for the continuation of your favor towards me, I will forever remain Your Eminence’s lowest favorable servant.
The original was signed by Archbishop Smaragd.
Orel, February 11, 1858.”
Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow patronized the initial steps of Archimandrite Ignatius’s career and even often honored him with a conversation about monastic deeds. Once, speaking about obedience, in response to the archimandrite’s remark that monastic obedience to the elder does not allow for any reasoning, the Bishop of Moscow noted that now there are no such novices. The archimandrite replied that, since this mainly depends on upbringing, there are now novices, although rarely, who accept this teaching following the example of the ancient novices, and referred to his cell novice who accompanied him, the archimandrite, on this visit to the bishop.
The Eminence wished to see him and see the experience of such obedience. The cell man of the archimandrite, named Stepan, was called and introduced to the bishop. The archimandrite tells him: “Stepan, show your tongue to the bishop!” He stuck out his tongue, without reasoning or embarrassment, and was released. 138 Subsequently, Metropolitan Philaret began, no less than others, to oppose the successful career of Archimandrite Ignatius and strongly influenced the fact that the archimandrite’s works were so changed by amendments from the censors as to discourage him from any desire to publish them in print. The censor Archimandrite Avvakum pointed to him as the main culprit of this order. 139 While Bishop Ignatius was in the Caucasus, the metropolitan took under his protection a party of people who had united to oppose the bishop, under the main leadership of Archpriest Krastilevsky and the rector of the seminary, Archimandrite Epiphanius Izbitsky.
In external relations, he maintained an appearance of goodwill, constantly expressed by reply letters of the most polite and restrained content.
Archbishops Gideon of Pskov and Iliodor of Kursk expressed their affection for Archimandrite Ignatius, defending him and defending him in the Synod.
Archbishop Agathangel of Volyn 140 was his spiritual son during his entire stay in St. Petersburg and retained until the end this spiritual relationship with Bishop Ignatius, whom he visited, who was already living in retirement in the Nikolo-Babaevsky monastery, while going on vacation from Vyatka, where he held the episcopal see before being transferred to Volyn.
Iliodor (I.B. Chistyakov, 17?? – 1861) – Archbishop of Kursk.
Collection of letters. 1995. pp. 50–56.
Abbess Maria (M. M. Tuchkova, 1781–1852) - founder of the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery on the Borodino Field of Glory in 1812. A description of the meeting and spiritual conversations of Abbess Maria with Archimandrite Ignatius on July 30 - August 2, 1847 in the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery, recorded by a novice of this monastery, has been preserved, see: Maria (Shakhova). Memorable notes about the life of Abbess Maria, founder of the Spaso-Borodinsky monastery, in the world of Margarita Mikhailovna Tuchkova (nee Naryshkina). St. Petersburg, 1865, pp. 91–94. The name of Archimandrite Ignatius is not mentioned in the book.
Schema-nun Elizaveta (E. N. Shakhova, 1822–1899) is the spiritual daughter of St. Ignatius. In 1837 and 1839 Two collections of her poems were published. With the blessing of Archim. Ignatia became a novice of the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery during the abbess of Maria Tuchkova, and continued to write poetry, poems and prose biographies of ascetics of piety. In 1863 she was tonsured into a mantle with the name Maria. In subsequent years, she labored in the Assumption of the Old Ladoga Monastery, was the abbess of the Vilna Mariinsky Monastery, and the St. Petersburg Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy. In the early 1890s. She retired to the Old Ladoga Monastery, where she received the schema with the name Elizabeth and died there. Her poem is known: To Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov (rector of the Sergius Hermitage) (“In ancient times there was Saint Ignatius ...”) // Journal. – Moscow. Patriarchy. 1995. No. 12. pp. 73–74.
Abbess Anthony (A. N. Troilina, 1822–1897) - in 1841 she entered the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery, in 1858 she was tonsured there as a monk, from 1861 - abbess of Passionate, from 1871 - Alekseevsky monasteries in Moscow. She revered Saint Ignatius as an ascetic of piety and a teacher of monasticism, and in her abbot service she followed his example of reviving the eldership with the revelation of thoughts and intelligent deeds.
T. 1. Ascetic. experiments. P. 184.
Maria Nikolaevna - Grand Duchess, daughter of Emperor Nicholas I (1819–1896). The Novo-Sergius Palace was her summer dacha, located not far from the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage along the Peterhof Road, which the saint himself poetically called “a long-lasting English garden.” Currently, the Natural Science Institute of St. Petersburg State University is located here.
This is the first publication of the essay “Prosperous Day”.
Nikanor (N. S. Klementyevsky, 1787–1856) – Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg from 1848 to 1856.
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804–1857) is a great Russian composer who revived national traditions in music.
The book “Imitation” is nothing more than a novel that plays along with the tone of the Gospel and is placed along with the Gospel by dark minds that have not distinguished refined voluptuousness from Divine grace.
The text in italics here and below is omitted from the Collected Letters. – ed.
In an abbreviated form, the letter was published in the book: Collected Letters. 1995. pp. 70–77, text marked in italics is published for the first time.
Despite this circumstance, the spiritually friendly relations between Bishop Ignatius and Hieroschemamonk Macarius did not cease until the death of the elder.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov-Karsky (1794–1866) was one of the most educated people of his time. A professional military man, he participated in the War of 1812, in the Russian-Iranian (1826–1828) and Russian-Turkish (1828–1829) wars. From 1854 to 1856 was commander-in-chief and governor in the Caucasus, initiated the appointment of Archimandrite Ignatius to the Caucasian See. Over the years, the relationship between St. Ignatius and his brother P. A. Brianchaninov became deep friends with N. N. Muravyov. For their correspondence, see note. to chapter 1.
Gregory (G.P. Postnikov, 1784–1860) – Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg from 1856 to 1860.
The notes were also published in a separate publication: Agafangel (Voskresensky). Leisure activities of a monk: the governor of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, Abbot Agafangel. St. Petersburg, 1901. 119 p.
13 letters from Metropolitan were published. Philaret to St. Ignatius: Philaret (Amphitheaters). Letters from the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Kyiv Philaret (Amphiteatrov) to the rector of the Trinity St. Sergius Monastery, Archimandrite (later bishop) Ignatius Brianchaninov, 1837–1843 // Theologian. messenger 1913. March. pp. 405–417.
Mukhoyar is a cheap paper fabric mixed with wool or silk.
Smaragd (A.P. Kryzhanovsky, 1796–1863) - Archbishop of Oryol.
Stefan died at a very young age in the Sergius Desert as a hieroschemamonk. In the schema he was named Simon. He was honored with a most blissful, peaceful death.
In a letter to his brother Peter Aleksandrovich Brianchaninov dated September 30, 1862, Saint Ignatius wrote: “When I lived in the Sergius Hermitage, then they did not favor my works being published in print, having their own reasons. Maybe these reasons still exist... At first they didn’t tell me directly: we used our own technique for refusal. Namely: they smeared the manuscript in such a way and changed the essay in such a way that the manuscript became worthless, and the essay became alien to me and acquired a distorted appearance that could seduce the reader and make the author the laughing stock of the public. Subsequently, one censor was so kind as to say that there was a secret order regarding my works, after which I did not bother the censorship by submitting my works there” (Collected letters. 1995. pp. 724–725).
Agafangel (A. M. Solovyov, 1812–1876) – Archbishop of Volyn and Zhitomir.