Глава IV

On November 6, 1827, Dimitri Alexandrovich received his coveted resignation. He was dismissed with the rank of lieutenant. He immediately left Dinaburg and went through St. Petersburg to the Alexander Svirsky Monastery 48 to Fr. Leonid, in order to begin the path of monasticism under his leadership. Arriving in St. Petersburg in the clothes of a commoner, in a sheepskin coat, he stayed in his brother’s apartment, where Chikhachev also lived. Here it was agreed that both would enter a monastery, and, if possible, immediately. Chikhachev immediately wrote a petition, citing domestic circumstances as the reason, but did not receive satisfaction and had to wait a little longer in the service. Dimitri Alexandrovich's departure from the service took place without the knowledge of his parents, and therefore, naturally, incurred their wrath. They refused their son material assistance and even stopped written communications with him. Thus, complete material poverty accompanied Dimitri Alexandrovich’s entry into the monastery. He literally fulfilled the commandment of non-covetousness at the very beginning of monasticism and could quite rightly say with the apostle as a true disciple of Christ: Behold, we have left everything and followed You (Matthew 19:27). In his “Lamentation,” he expressed his feelings with which he entered this new path of life: “I entered the monastery, as an astonished person rushes, closing his eyes and putting aside reflection, into the fire or the abyss; how a warrior, carried away by his heart, rushes into a bloody battle, to obvious death. My guiding star, a good thought, came to shine for me in solitude, in silence, or, more correctly, in darkness, in the storms of the monastery.” 49 In the Caucasus, in Pyatigorsk, describing his illness, he says: “I caught a very cold, when I was about 12 years old, while swimming in the key river Talitsa, which flows near the village of Pokrovskoye, my place of birth, Vologda province, in Gryazovets district. I was afraid to tell anyone about my cold for fear of retribution. But the cold was very severe, and from that time on I felt that my health and very strength had changed. The second time I caught a cold, when I was 16 years old, during the transition from second to higher grade at an engineering school. This happened in the fall during a slushy period, when a lot of wet snow piled up on the streets. In St. Petersburg at that time, cadets educated in schools were not allowed to wear galoshes or ride in cabs. In this illness, it was not so much the cold itself that harmed me, but, as it seems to me, the incorrect long-term treatment. After this illness, my strength changed greatly; I began to eat half as much food as I did before my illness; From that time on, my appetite never recovered. This was at the end of 1823. From that time on, I was almost constantly more or less ill, but my desire to enter monasticism, that is, to acquire an active knowledge of Christianity, was so strong that I not only did not care about restoring my health, but wanted to sacrifice it, if only with this sacrifice I could redeem for me the village in which, according to the Gospel, a spiritual treasure is hidden. At the end of 1827, I managed to retire, and on the very day of the Nativity of Christ, in the evening, in the clothes of a commoner, I arrived at the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery to the elder Hieroschemamonk Leonid, with whom and whose disciples I met in St. Petersburg. This means that I entered the monastery in the 21st year of my life (I was born on February 6th (sic.) 1807) 50". Unquestioning obedience and deep humility distinguished the behavior of novice Brianchaninov in the monastery. His first obedience was to serve under the cook. On the very day of joining the cookhouse, it happened that it was necessary to go to the barn for flour. The cook told him: “Okay, brother, let’s go get some flour!” and threw a flour bag at him so that he was covered with white dust. The new novice took the bag and went. In the barn, stretching the bag with both hands and grabbing it with his teeth to make it easier to pour in the flour, he felt in his heart a new, strange feeling that he had never experienced before: his own humble behavior, complete oblivion of his “I” delighted him so much that he remembered this incident all his life. While undergoing obedience to the refectory, he once placed a dish of food on the last table at which the novices were sitting, and mentally uttered the following words: “Accept from me, servants of God, this wretched service.” Suddenly he felt an extraordinary prayer effect, so that he staggered: a sweet consolation sank into his chest and did not leave for more than 20 days. The memory of this incident was indelibly imprinted on his soul, and he outlined it in his “Ascetic Experiences,” attributing this incident to another person. Among other novices, he was appointed to pull a fishing net in the lake of the Svirsky Monastery. Once the net somehow got tangled in the depths. A common monk in charge of fishing, knowing that Brianchaninov knew how to swim well and could stay under water for a long time, sent him to untangle the net. Despite the strong autumn cold, Dimitri Alexandrovich unquestioningly carried out the order. Only this was very sensitive for his poor health - he caught a bad cold. Another time he happened to read a lesson from the works of St. Demetrius of Rostov during a meal. Brianchaninov's reading was so delightful and spiritually powerful that all those who dined forgot their food and began to listen to the reading with emotion; others cried. This incident made such a strong impression that the entire monastic brethren began to treat Brianchaninov with obvious respect, giving him preference over others, which he was very burdened by, because, living among the monastic fraternity, he even tried to hide his origin and education, rejoicing when those who did not know considered him to be a half-educated seminarian. Let us turn to the description of the relationship of the student to the elder. They require deeply thoughtful and spiritual consideration. Having entered the monastery, Dimitri Alexandrovich devoted himself wholeheartedly to the elder Fr. Leonid for spiritual guidance. These relationships were distinguished by all sincerity, directness, and represented a perfect resemblance to ancient novitiate, which did not dare to take a step without the knowledge or permission of the mentor. Every movement of inner life here occurs under the direct supervision of the elder. Daily confession of thoughts makes it possible to carefully observe oneself; it protects the novice monk from the harmful effects of these thoughts, which, having been confessed, like mown grass, cannot arise with new force. The experienced gaze of the elder confessor reveals the innermost recesses of the soul, indicates the passions nesting there and thus surprisingly promotes self-observation. Sincere confession, constant devotion to the elder and the complete cutting off of the will in front of him are rewarded with spiritual consolation, lightness and a peaceful state of mind, which are characteristic of dispassion. They not only far exceed the ordinary calmness and joyful disposition that comes from everyday well-being, but they are also completely different from them, not similar to them. Even in ancient times, when deserts and monasteries abounded with spiritual elders, this kind of initial asceticism was the lot of a few novices; the less often it occurs today, with the modern impoverishment of spiritual old age. Nowadays, it is rare to find a mentor who can guide spiritually, such as accepting confession of thoughts, giving useful advice, resolving questions and perplexities regarding inner life. Dimitri Alexandrovich, as said, obeyed the will of his spiritual father in everything; all questions and confusion were resolved directly by him. The elder was not lazy to make comments to his young pupil, he led him through external and internal humility, and taught him an active life. “One day,” says I. A. Barkov, a very pious man and worthy of all faith, “Fr. Leonid in winter. There was severe frost and blizzard; the elder arrived in a wagon. When he came to me, I began to worry about the samovar and thought: “It’s not just the old man who has come; there is probably some kind of driver,” and I began to ask the elder to allow him to enter. The elder agreed. I called the stranger and was quite surprised when a young, handsome man with all the signs of noble birth appeared before me. He humbly stopped at the threshold. “What, he’s cold, nobleman,” the elder turned to him and then said to me: “Do you know who this is? This is Brianchaninov.” Then I bowed deeply to the driver.” This extremely humbling way of leading in life was undertaken by Fr. Leonid in relation to his student, the young learned officer Brianchaninov, no doubt, in order to defeat in him all arrogance and conceit, which are usually inherent in every noble and educated person who enters the environment of the simple. The elder acted as an unhypocritical mentor, in the spirit of true monasticism, following the examples of St. fathers, he constantly subjected his student to tests, and such experiences of humility could not but please the noble novice, who with sincere love for God devoted himself to monastic deeds. Dimitri Alexandrovich also humbly performed low ministries. But trials, even if they were carried out in the spiritual mind, have a measure beyond which they lose their attractive spiritual side and remain with only appearance. The zeal and zeal of the person being tested begins to weaken when they are not reinforced by the power of the spiritual mind with which such tests should be permeated. An elder with such a course of action must possess this power to a sufficient extent so that his actions are not tempting and acceptable, pleasant for the spiritual feeling of the student. The ancient holy fathers acted with miraculous power in such cases, and it kept the novices with them. Reason is born from experience, experience is acquired from many examples; and this example of treating a well-bred and mentally unusually developed novice in the spiritual practice of Fr. Leonida was hardly the first. Careful education, with all attention to the spiritual and moral side, requires compliance with the physical condition of the person being educated, and his mental development requires appropriate exercise. It is difficult to imagine that all this would be observed during the tests mentioned, and the example described directly says the opposite. A year later, the first fervor with which Dimitri Alexandrovich devoted himself to the leadership of the elder began to cool down. Added to this was dissatisfaction with his elder. Some of the elder’s actions seemed to him to disagree with the teachings of St. fathers, as well as Fr. Leonid could not satisfactorily answer all his questions or resolve all his perplexities. Probably, these questions concerned the more elevated aspects of spiritual life, which in its highest manifestations presents its own characteristics in each ascetic, and therefore it is not surprising that Fr. Leonid, with all his spiritual wisdom, could not satisfactorily resolve such issues. Examples of such unsatisfactoriness existed even when the eldership flourished in all its strength and the new monks presented amazing, inimitable examples of perfect obedience. In the patristic writings there are indications of such unsatisfactory situations. In the “Guide to Spiritual Life” St. Barsanuphius and John, in answer 501: “If any brother, living with an elder, is oppressed by thoughts due to the unsatisfactory answers of the elder, then he should turn to another elder for permission, if not without the knowledge, then with the consent of his elder, and should not be tempted by his own that he does not have such a spiritual gift; if the brother does not have the opportunity to question another elder, then let him be patient, praying to God to help him.” 51 During his retirement in the Nikolo-Babaevsky monastery, in a frank spiritual conversation with his brother P. A. Brianchaninov, the Right Reverend Ignatius told him, among other things, that in his entire life the Lord had not brought him to meet with a spiritually experienced elder to whom he could reveal his entire spiritually active life - this life was so special and inaccessible to general understanding. However, with gratitude and respect he always remembered the spiritual mentor of his new leadership, the elder Fr. Leonida, and subsequently tried to be useful to him in whatever way he could. 52 In his “Lamentations,” he explains partly the reasons for the unsatisfactoriness of his contemporary spiritual mentors for him: “The fathers of the first centuries of the Church especially advise to seek a divinely inspired leader, to surrender to him in perfect, unconditional obedience; they call this path, as it is, the shortest, the strongest, the most God-loving. The fathers, separated from the time of Christ by a millennium, repeating the advice of their predecessors, are already complaining about the rarity of divinely inspired mentors, about the many false teachers that have appeared, and offer the Holy Scriptures and patristic writings for guidance. Fathers close to our time call divinely inspired leaders the heritage of antiquity and already decisively bequeath the Holy and Holy Scriptures to the leadership, verified according to these Scriptures, accepted with the greatest prudence and caution by the advice of modern and cohabiting brethren. I wanted to be under the guidance of a mentor, but I was unable to find a mentor who would completely satisfy me, who would be animated by the teaching of the fathers. However, I heard a lot of useful things, a lot of essentially necessary things, which turned into the main principles of my spiritual edification. May the Lord rest in a green place, in a place of coolness, in a place of light and bliss, the deceased benefactors of my soul! May he grant greater spiritual success and a prosperous death to those still in the field of earthly wandering and toil!” 53 Alexander-Svirsky Monastery - founded on the Svir River (Olonets district) by St. Alexander Svirsky in 1506. Nowadays it is being revived. Here, in the winter of 1828, the novice Dimitri wrote one of his first known works - “A tree in winter before the windows of the cell.” T. 1. Ascetic. experiments. P. 561. The exact text of the answer to 501 questions of the “Guide to Spiritual Life” by St. Barsanuphius the Great and John is as follows: “If a brother knows that his Abba really cares about the benefit of his soul, then he must boldly say to him: “I am troubled by my thoughts, how do you judge what I should do?” And just as a man whose son is sick carefully brings him to the doctor, and not only brings him, but also pays for him, so that old man himself will gladly lead his disciple to a person who has the gift of spiritual reasoning, or will send him to him. If a brother knows that his elder cannot bear this, then he should not say anything to him; but when he finds a convenient time and God gives him the opportunity, let him ask another spiritual elder about his thoughts, asking that his Abba not find out about this, otherwise he will arouse in him a passion of envy and the fact that his brother asked another without his knowledge will cause him great sorrow. However, a brother should not be tempted about his Abba that he does not have such a gift, for it is not given to everyone; and, having considered carefully, he will certainly find that his Abba has a different gift, because the gifts of the Spirit are different (1 Cor. 12:4) and are divided differently among people: one is given this, and another is given another. Until that brother finds time to ask, let him be patient, praying to God to help him.” Reverend Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John a guide to spiritual life. M., 1995. pp. 325–326. When in the 1839–1840s. the persecution of Elder Leonid intensified for his patristic revelation of thoughts and there were rumors about his transfer to the Solovetsky or Borovsky monastery under supervision; his disciples (Fr. Macarius) turned to Archimandrite for help. Ignatius. Thanks to the latter’s intercession, the elder was left alone. See: Leonid (Kavelin). Biography of the Optina elder Hieromonk Leonid (in the schema of Leo). Sergiev Posad, 1991. pp. 99–101.