Глава IX
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Along with the necessary buildings and the establishment of orders within the monastery, Abbot Ignatius had to turn his activities to other areas of its improvement, namely, land ownership and agriculture. Upon taking over the management of the monastery, he did not find a single boundary mark on the monastery land. According to the records management of the monastery, it turned out that all the land that was purchased by the founder of the desert was used illegally by the economic peasants of the village of Podmonastyrskaya Sloboda, while the monastery had only 25? tithes occupied by gardening and mowing, and that all the efforts of the monastery to restore its rights to this land, despite the indisputability of its documents, remained unsuccessful.
In 1835, the archimandrite entered with a petition for the restoration of boundary markers on the monastery land and for the speedy analysis of the rights to ownership of land incorrectly appropriated by the peasants, as well as for the allotment of a forest plot to the monastery, in accordance with the highest decree announced on June 4, 1835, by virtue of which monasteries, in order to maintain their methods of existence, should be allocated to establish an agricultural economy of approximately 100 up to 150 acres of land.
The land dispute with the peasants was resolved in 1836 by the fact that although the land was recognized as belonging to the monastery, in view of the difficulty of moving out of it for the peasants who had settled on it since 1765, it was necessary, by agreement with the abbot, to divide the land into two parts: the eastern side, on which the monastery stands, should be given to it along a line from north to south, and the western side, on which the peasants settled, should be given to them. Consent to this concession is perfectly expressed by the rector in his letter to the former Secretary of State for accepting petitions, Prince Golitsin:
“Your Excellency,” wrote the archimandrite, “your usual condescension inspires me with the courage to bother you with a most humble request, however, very easy for you. It is as follows: our monastery has long been conducting a process regarding the land according to the deeds of sale, the plan and the boundary book of the general survey, which belongs to it, but is disputed by the state-owned peasants who forcibly settled on it.
The Minister of Finance, having examined the case, although he found that the land in all fairness belonged to the Sergius Hermitage, however, finding it difficult to resettle the peasants, he decided to divide the land as follows: the side on which the monastery stands should be given to the monastery, and on which the peasants settled - to the peasants. This opinion was submitted to the Committee of Ministers.
I think that the Monk Sergius would better agree to cede part of his property than to cause grief to the peasants by relocating them, to which these simple people obey in no other way than by indulging in inconsolable sadness and bitter tears. Therefore, I, the confidant of St. Sergius, both in this matter and in others related to his monastery, must consider the benevolence of my Superior and the decision of the Minister of Finance to be satisfied. Support this decision in the Committee of Ministers. This is the entire request to Your Excellency from the trustee of the monastery, St. Sergius.”
While conducting the case of land ownership, the abbot laid economic foundations by stopping the rental of the plot of land that remained in the possession of the monastery, starting vegetable gardening on it, and improving gardening. The land cut off for the monastic property, which had been left without any cultivation from the very beginning of the litigation, was overgrown with bushes and turned into a swamp. Cleaning and draining the swamp took one year.
Having decided to ensure the maintenance of the monastery by introducing rational agriculture, Archimandrite Ignatius asked Metropolitan Seraphim for permission to borrow 45,000 rubles from the capital of the Commission of Theological Schools, with payment of capital and interest in installments for eight years. This amount was needed for the establishment of cattle breeding, agricultural implements, work horses, hiring people and other economic needs and buildings. According to the highest resolution, the Commission released only 30,000 rubles. and thus constrained all the plans of the archimandrite, who, as a result, was forced to begin processing only 60 acres and foresaw great difficulties in the timely payment of interest and capital, but the contribution of Fr. Mikhail Chikhachev, who donated 40,000 rubles. banknotes at the personal, unaccountable disposal of the archimandrite, provided a means to complete this matter and achieve the possible expansion and improvement of horticulture and all agriculture.
The monastery began to use garden vegetables all year round from its gardens; there was often enough rye bread for the whole year, despite the significantly increasing number of brethren, for the huge expenditure of it for distribution to pilgrims on holidays and for food for all monastic workers; there was so much oats and hay that between 1 and 1? thousand rubles. Cattle breeding supplied dairy products in abundance for the fraternal meal, the orchard supplied apples from autumn to new summer, and they were often supplied for meals both fresh and pickled. In addition to farm buildings, which cost up to 20,000 rubles. banknotes, with a barn, a threshing machine, sheds for clover, and other necessary wooden buildings were made at the monastery.
Improvements and expansion of the economy and income from pilgrims, who flocked in large numbers to the monastery, made it possible to support a larger number of brethren, the need for which was increased both by the pilgrims themselves and by the frequent appointments of the authorities to the naval service of hieromonks. The archimandrite began to ask the diocesan authorities in 1836 to increase the staff of monastics by six hieromonks. The Holy Synod, to whose discretion this case was submitted, issued the following ruling on May 23, 1836:
“Taking into account,” wrote the Synod, “that the Sergius Hermitage, being near the capital, is visited by many pilgrims, that under the leadership of the current rector, the moral state of the brethren, piety and order between them and in the church service itself are noticeably improving, and that its monastics are often sent to the fleet for naval campaigns, the Holy Synod found it fair and useful, instead of only an increase in this assumed by the diocesan authorities desert of the staff of hieromonks with six people, elevate it from the second to the first class, assigning to it a staff of people and contents common to first-class monasteries, and thereby providing the desert with a way to prepare a larger number of good monastics, to support its dignity in the opinion of the people who flock there to pray.”
This decree, which expresses the recognition by the highest spiritual government of the modern prosperity of the Sergius monastery, was, according to the most submissive report, the highest approved on June 3, 1836. The consequence of this was a rapid increase in the number of brethren, which in 1837 reached 42 people. There was not enough room for many.
The providence of God showed immediate help: around this time, Makarov, who came from St. Petersburg merchants, entered the desert and died in this desert as a schema-monk. 95 He donated all his acquired capital, amounting to 50,000 rubles, to the benefit of the monastery. banknotes. With this amount, a large wooden building of fraternal cells was built inside the monastery fence in 1840, on a stone foundation, very beautiful in appearance, convenient in the internal arrangement of the premises, which were arranged in it for 20 monks.
The range of activities of Archimandrite Ignatius was expanded by orders from his spiritual superiors on judicial and investigative matters. On January 31, 1838, he was sent by the Synod, at the suggestion of Chief Prosecutor Count Protasov 96, to conduct an investigation at the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, following a denunciation by the supernumerary abbot Varlaam and monk Josiah against the abbot of that monastery, Veniamin, and the abbot, hieromonk Irinarch, about the disturbances they had committed 97.
The investigator discovered the lack of proper spiritual administration and leadership of the monastics, as a result of which unrest and vices arose, both private for some individuals and general, affecting the entire monastery. In his special report on this matter to Metropolitan Seraphim, the archimandrite outlined his comments and thoughts about the Valaam Monastery, which are subject exclusively to the gaze of the archpastor.
In this report, he compared against all the circumstances and actions of persons brought about by the case the teaching of the holy fathers, teachers of monasticism, who explained the spiritual reasons for their guilt and those spiritual measures and means that should be taken to heal the discovered ailments and to restore general well-being. He noticed and pointed out in this report one of the Valaam brethren as capable of restoring the well-being of the monastery (the now deceased former abbot of Damascus 98, who fully justified this instruction). We present this report in its entirety as being of particular interest from a strictly monastic view of the matter. 99
“Your Eminence was pleased to entrust me with a study of the turmoil currently disturbing the Valaam monastery, and a review of it in all respects. Having accepted this obedience with reverent zeal and fulfilled it in accordance with my meager strength, I submitted to the Consistory during the report the authentic interrogations of the investigators and the testimony of the defendants; and here I have the honor to present before Your Eminence in six articles those of my comments and thoughts about the Valaam Monastery, which are subject solely to the gaze of the archpastor.
Antiquity of the Valaam Monastery. Location. Soil. A product of the plant kingdom. Fish. Climate. Monastery buildings. Means for improving them. Means of maintenance.
The foundation of the Valaam Monastery dates back to the century of Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. In her time, says legend, two Greek monks, the Venerable Sergius and Herman, sanctified the desert of Valaam with pious deeds. History is silent about the details of their lives, but their incorruptible relics loudly proclaim that this life consisted of deeds pleasing to God. After them, Valaam was the permanent home of the monks.
Repeatedly the peaceful huts of the monks were destroyed by the Swedes, and the monks themselves were given over to the edge of the sword. However, the convenience of the place again attracted lovers of solitude. Here the Monk Alexander of Svirsky studied monastic life, from here the Monk Savvaty went to the shores of the White Sea and laid the foundation for desert life on Solovetsky Island.
Rocks consisting of wild stone, called luda in this place, rising from the deep Lake Ladoga, form an island, up to thirty miles in circumference and twenty-five miles away from the nearest shore. The location of the island is picturesque, but wild: exposed rocks stick out everywhere. The ground on the entire island is solid stone, half an arshin or less covered with earth.
The forest, consisting mostly of pine and spruce, does not achieve proper growth; in vain the roots of the tree, looking for more food, try to penetrate into the depths of the earth: there is none, and they are forced to stretch and intertwine along the surface. But this thin layer of earth is very fertile: the stones, which emit moisture during the most intense and prolonged heat, completely protect the soil from drought. Up to ten thousand poods of hay can be collected. Not much grain is sown, but judging by the many convenient places for arable land and the fertility of the land, when the economy is organized, the Valaam Monastery can be content with its own grain. Equally, haymaking can be intensified.
On the slope of the mountain near the monastery, by midday, an orchard had been very successfully planted: the trees can easily withstand winter frosts and produce a bountiful harvest: last year up to fourteen thousand apples were harvested. Also, the garden generously rewards labor, providing a year's supply of all kinds of vegetables. Fish is not caught on the shores of the island at every time of the year, but when it is caught, it is in such quantities that a significant supply of it is salted and left for future use. Whitefish are caught in abundance in the fall, but less than the common Ladoga whitefish, and in addition to home consumption, they are sent to St. Petersburg, where they are sold under the name Valaamka.
So, the monastery has the following household items: firewood, fish, hay, some bread, vegetables. For the building it has the following materials: wild stone and logs, brick with its own firewood costs no more than 12 rubles per thousand, lime is conveniently obtained by water and is obtained without payment from government-owned marble blocks. Rubble is not needed for buildings; it is natural here, and the buildings erected on it stand without any damage.
The monastery was built on the lip of Lake Ladoga, on a high exposed stone rock. Its plan consists of two quadrangles, one of which is placed inside the other. Along the line of the internal quadrangle are the following buildings: the cold Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, five-domed, with a bell tower with a large bell of 550 pounds. Below it is the church of St. Sergius and Herman, where their relics rest hidden in a silver shrine.
This church is very low, but the cathedral is very proportional and magnificent: inside it has four pillars supporting the middle dome, an ancient iconostasis, the lower tier of which is decorated with rich vestments. There is one drawback, in my opinion, in the architecture of this church: it is extremely covered with multi-colored paintings, in particular, the ceiling is decorated in the deepest taste. On the left corner of the inner quadrangle there is a warm Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, in which services are held in winter, a real monastery in its simplicity and convenience, and on the right there is a small church in the name of St. Nicholas.
The warm church is connected to the cold cathedral through a wide and long gallery, illuminated on both sides by windows with strong iron bars. This is the sacristy. In the middle there are two rows of cabinets with openings to the windows, filled with rich vestments, and a significant amount of vessels and other utensils in abundance. The amount is also stored here, in accordance with the laws. Next to the warm church are the sextons' cells, next is the fraternal meal, quite spacious and mercilessly decorated; the kitchen, which is very cramped, is connected to the meal.
Opposite the cathedral are the abbot's cells, which are very cramped, low, and uncomfortable. They consist of two rooms, of which one serves as a bedroom, and the other as a reception room, in this latter the abbot cannot receive more than ten or twelve brothers - it is so small, although twice the size of the bedroom. The quadrangle ends in a line parallel to the refectory, perpendicular to the cathedral and the abbot's chambers, containing fraternal cells, cramped, low, damp on the lower floor, fatal to health. The dampness on Valaam is sharp, evaporates from the stones and, penetrating strongly into the body, produces severe rheumatism, from which many of the brothers suffer.
In the outer quadrangle the cells are somewhat better. In it are placed: near the holy gates, on one side there is a hotel, on the other a ruined one, and opposite the cathedral there is a library containing many rare paternal books, some of them from ancient seals, some of them written, which are now sealed by Abbot Veniamin. Among other books, I saw the writing of St. Theodore the Studite - this is such a rarity that I meet in the first monastery. Above the gates there is a church in the name of Peter and Paul, in symmetry there is a hospital two-story church with chapels of the Life-Giving Source in the lower and the Most Holy Trinity in the upper floors. In total there are five churches in the monastery, seven chapels. The inner quadrangle was built by Father Abbot Nazarius, and the outer one by Abbots Innocent and John. A wide and long stone staircase, built by Abbot Veniamin, leads from the pier to the monastery. The churches and some of the cells are covered with iron, while the other part of these cells have wooden roofs.
The climate on Valaam is very harsh, its severity is multiplied, firstly, by the winds from the lake, which freely act on the monastery due to its high and open position, and secondly, by evaporation from the stones, which is why there is almost continuous fog in the fall, and in the summer, during the most intense heat, one cannot trust the deceptive charity of the air; colds have a very strong effect on Valaam.
A significant compensation for the severity of the climate and location, I believe, is the prudent arrangement of the cells. Even now, some of them are widespread and improved by combining two cells into one. This remedy is all the more convenient because there are many empty cells. To reduce dampness in the lower floor, I believe it is necessary and convenient to raise the floors and install dormer windows so that the air, passing freely in the summer under the floor, will carry out rotten dampness. The roofs, I believe, should be gradually covered with iron, as is already being done. The abbot's chambers must be increased by at least one room of sufficient size to receive the brethren. All this improvement can be done easily: every year, up to ten thousand rubles in savings remain from the expenditure.
It would be useful to set up a hotel outside the monastery or, at least, to block the entrances to it from the inside of the monastery. Nowadays it is located in a fenced area; visitors of both sexes stay there, which is indecent for a well-maintained monastery and is the cause of empty rumors and temptations.
The vastness of the island, covered with forest, in which there are no large carnivorous animals, the long distance from the villages, household auxiliary means of maintenance, monetary income, extending to forty thousand a year and increasing from unforeseen cases by ten and twenty thousand, give the Valaam monastery the opportunity to flourish both in the moral monastic attitude and in external structure.
Poverty of coastal Finns. Their connection with their subordinates 100. Harm from these latter. Means to avert this harm.
The shores of Finland, approaching the Valaam island, present pictures of wild nature more striking than Valaam itself. Twenty miles from Kexgolm, bare stone mountains begin, interrupted by lakes, and accompany the traveler almost to Serdobol. You drive for several miles and don’t even see bushes—only stones, witnesses to the barrenness of the country and the poverty of the people. This part of the shore of Lake Ladoga, rich in stones, is very rich and poor.
In summer, the lake is covered with canoes carrying beggars through the stormy abyss. In winter, as soon as the ice freezes, whole flocks rush to the monastery, regardless of the distance or the severity of the frost - for a crust of bread; in another month there are up to 10 thousand of them in the monastery. Women with babies, children, and disabled old people are coming. Crossing the lake is very dangerous for half-naked poor people, and often the unfortunate ones freeze to death in the middle of the lake. Having reached Valaam, they scatter around the island, walk through fraternal cells, through deserts, isolated in the forest, to a monastery - and thus, by the untimeliness of frequent visits, they not only disturb the peace of the monks, but also introduce a double kind of temptation: the temptation of active sin and the temptation of suspicion of sin.
The evil is not limited to this: some of them have established relationships with their subordinates and deliver wine to them. This trade has become so intensified that drunkenness on Valaam is not uncommon; the drink is brought into the forest at an appointed place, they rush from different directions, dragging their weak-minded brothers with them, and indulge in the attraction of shameful passion. The wine trade has become so famous among the coastal Finns that in winter it is delivered on horseback, and in summer by boat.
The monastery authorities first tried to take measures to stop this destructive trade, placing a guard of brothers and hired workers along the shore, who took away the wine from the Finns who brought it. The Finns have taken their own measures: they come armed, and if anyone tries to take the wine from a Finn, he grabs his gun and shoots. So they shot twice at the orderly monk Pachomius, who wanted to drive away the Finns who had landed on the shore of Valaam with wine. The abbot does not have the means to restrain the Finns who are eager to sell, and the subordinates who are eager to buy: in the Valaam monastery there are neither full-time servants nor a military team for the means against violence, which are necessary here.
In order to strengthen the well-being and peace of the Valaam Monastery in this regard, the following measures seem to me necessary and useful:
1. A cenobitic monk has not only no material property, but also no will; therefore, at his own discretion, he cannot and should not give alms, but it is given on behalf of his community by the head of his community - through those brethren to whom this obedience has been entrusted. And therefore, it seems to me, it is much more convenient for the beggar, and much calmer for the monastery, and more spiritually beneficial for the brethren, to distribute alms in Serdobol, on the monastery courtyard there, allocating an amount for this annually according to the opportunity and announcing such an order to the coastal residents through the zemstvo police. In the monastery, there is no way to give anything, so the beggars will soon wean themselves from traveling on canoes and on ice, which is dangerous for themselves and harmful for the Valaam brethren.
Saint Isaac the Syrian, this great mentor of monastics, discusses this subject in the following way (Homily 13): “If alms, or love, or mercy, or anything considered done for the sake of God, hinders silence, turns your eye to the world, plunges you into worries, turns you away from the remembrance of God, interrupts your prayers, leads you into confusion and inconstancy of thoughts, prevent you from engaging in Divine reading, which is a weapon that delivers you from the soaring of the mind, weaken your guarding, make it so that you, previously being bound, begin to walk freely and, previously secluded, return to the society of people, awaken buried passions in you, allow the abstinence of your feelings, resurrect you, who died for the world, lower you from angelic work and place you on the side of worldly people, so that such truth perish.”
If a brother who has property is placed in a hostel and wants to distribute part of it to the poor, then he is obliged to hand over this part to the abbot, and not to distribute it himself, as the saints command and rule about this: “Do not give,” says Simeon the New Theologian, “without your father according to God, alms from the estates that you brought.”
2. The welfare of the monastery even more requires the removal of the subordinates, who themselves fall into a state of despair and set a sharp example of immorality for the brethren, seducing them with evil conversations and weakening them in pious deeds. Just as care aimed at mercy, so commendable for a worldly person, can be harmful for a solitary monk, so an example of vice and evil conversation have an incomparably harsher effect on a monk than on a secular person.
“Like strong frost,” says St. Isaac in the 69th word - having covered the greenery that had barely grown from the ground, he burns it, so a conversation with people burns the root of the mind, which has begun to produce the grain of virtues. And if conversation with people who are abstinent in some ways and have only minor shortcomings in others is usually harmful to the soul, then conversations and meetings with ignorant and rude people, not to mention worldly people, are all the more harmful.” The subordinate, living against his will on Valaam, never ceases to be bored, to be indignant at the length of service, the severity of the regulations, the severity of the place, to wear out with his tongue the debauchery and blasphemy living in his heart, to pour his despondency and frustration into the soul of his neighbor.
Two subordinate hierodeacons, Joseph and Matthew, are a terrible and regrettable example of despair: they never confess, do not partake of the Holy Mysteries, never, on the bright holiday of Easter, can they be forced to come to church, they live as strangers to God and faith, indulging in the most vile vices. Their faces were the likes of which I only happened to see among the convicts in the Dinaburg fortress. Other subordinates, perhaps, in other monasteries would have shown more fruits of correction than in Valaam. In remote monasteries, sparse in monastics, they could carry out some duties and bring at least a small benefit to themselves and society.
1. Hieromonk Herman the First,
2. Hieromonk Herman the second Cheremenetsky,
9. Deacon John Nikolaev Sergiev,
10. Deacon Timofey Veshchezerov.
These ten brothers serve in spirit as a burden for the Valaam monastery, but in the Olonets and Vologda provinces, in which monasteries are known to me, they may even be necessary and useful. Their departure is not at all sensitive for the Valaam Monastery: there are 115 people in the decree brotherhood, in addition to those living on passports. Moreover, the rumor about the removal of the subordinates from Valaam will soon spread throughout the Russian monasteries, and many zealots of the ascetic life, with this good news, will flow into the bowels of the monastery, famous for its convenience for the fulfillment of monastic vows. As for the hierodeacons Joseph and Matthew, I believe it is necessary to escort them to places where there could be a vigilant military guard over them.
In general, Valaam, deprived of full-time servants of the military command, a separate decent place for keeping people who have given themselves over to violent passions, cannot be a correctional and exile place, and, in my opinion, it is essential to seek a permanent position for both this monastery and other comfortable monasteries, which would prohibit the placement of people of vicious morality and subordinates. For these latter, special monasteries can be identified with special rights, following the example that was in Mount Sinai.
There, as Saint John Climacus describes in his article on repentance, there is a monastery separate from the others, called a “dungeon,” which, however, is subordinate to the monastery, which is called “the lamp of lamps.” He speaks about this same prison in his article on obedience: “There was a place, one distance away from that great monastery, a guard, or a prison, said to be inconsolable, where no smoke from the oven, no wine, no oil was ever seen at the meal, and nothing except bread and a little food was consumed. In this place, the abbot imprisons without any way out those who, upon entering monasticism, have confused themselves with some sins. He also appointed over them a governor, a famous man named Isaac, who demanded almost unceasing prayer from those entrusted to him and cultivated a lot of trees, from whose branches they wove koshkas to drive away laziness.”
Like this establishment of Mount Sinai, where the place of the prison is still shown, it seems that in Russia some monasteries could be designated for subordinates. In my opinion, in the St. Petersburg and Novgorod diocese, the most capable of this are the ancient monasteries: Kirillov the Great and Iversky. They have a lot of premises, high walls, 25 staff members each, Kirillov is located in a district town, and Iversky is very close to the city, which is why, in case of need, both of these monasteries can constantly have a military guard of soldiers of the internal guard located in these cities. In Kirillov, the city prison is located in the monastery wall and near the gates, at which, for this reason, a guardhouse is constantly maintained.
The simplicity of the brethren of the Valaam Monastery. Educated people, but doubtful in Orthodoxy, cannot be comprehended or corrected by the Valaam elders. About the heresy on Valaam.
Looking at the formal lists of the designated brethren of the Valaam Monastery, I found among 115 brothers: from the clergy 8, all of whom did not complete the course and were not at all in the seminary, except for Hieromonk Apollos; of the nobles - 4, who only know how to read and write; of the merchants - 4, who somehow knew how to read and write. So, only 16 people are from such classes in which they achieve significant external education, of these 16, only one is an educated person - Hieromonk Apollos, the education of the others extends no further than the knowledge of reading and writing. The other 99 brothers are either from the bourgeoisie, or peasants, or freed lackeys, there are 7 retired soldiers.
From this we can conclude about simplicity and ignorance, so natural to the Valaam elders. They are zealous for Orthodoxy, demand prison and chains for heretics (as Abbot Barlaam and monk Josiah expressed it), they themselves are indignant and outrage the educated people sent to them, who, seeing their zeal turning into cruelty and frenzy, are seduced by their Orthodoxy. Hieromonk Apollos is in this false position and, as can be seen, Archimandrite Plato was.
The mentioned hieromonk is seduced by the unbrotherly love of the Valaam elders, their intrigues - and rightfully so. The Valaam elders are also rightly seduced by his learning, by certain expressions, so that from his nine-year stay on Valaam it is impossible to deduce a decisive result whether he is Orthodox or not.
And in order to resolve this issue, it is necessary, in my opinion, to entrust Father Apollos to an educated clergyman, who has enough time to learn his thoughts and enough prudence and meekness to destroy false concepts in him, if any. The notebook of the monk Porfiry on eight pages, to which the informers refer as the handwritten incriminating written evidence of the heresy of the author, is in the original case. In this notebook, informers find that Porfiry calls the sacraments a proforma, that, in his opinion, Moses is honored in the Church, but the veil lies on his face, that the Church has only appearance, that the Church is like a Jewish synagogue, devoid of spirit.
Regarding the thing itself, this notebook contains the following thoughts:
1. that Abbot Varlaam and his party, consisting of seven people, although they perform sacred acts and partake of the Holy Mysteries, but, being in enmity with many persons of the monastery, engaging in false denunciations, perform sacred functions and partake of condemnation - only for one form;
2. that although informers are engaged in reading Holy Scripture, they remain alien to the spirit of love commanded by Scripture, and therefore in the Church Moses, who is revered for them, retains a veil on his face;
3. that they, the nomads, are concerned only with appearances and are far from comprehending the essence, or spirit, of religion;
4. that they, the hermits (and not the Church), are like the Jewish synagogue, which sought to establish its own truth, sinned in the truth of God, condemned the Author of life to death and was stained with the blood of many saints. When, having gathered these elders, I showed them Porfiry’s notebook, “here it is!” - some of them exclaimed, “here it is, in it the sacraments are called a form, and the Church is called a synagogue.” I would not like to believe, as others claim, that all these slander are the consequences of malice, however, rejecting this latter, one cannot help but admit extreme recklessness.
As proof of the heresy of Archimandrite Plato, Valaam zealots cite the arrival of the serf Mr. Rudovitsky to the Valaam Monastery and the secret conversation of the Archimandrite with this messenger in the forest - a circumstance in which Fr. Plato confessed. It should be noted that Fr. Plato, during his placement in the Valaam Monastery, was completely devoted to the teachings and person of Mr. Rudovitsky, which is proven by his own written review.
Already by the end of his stay on the Valaam Island, a reliable rumor reached this desert about the barbaric treatment of Mr. Rudovitsky with his daughters, about his frantic and refined lust, which completely alienated the archimandrite from him; finally, the daring and insane demand of Mr. Rudovitsky destroyed the last shadow of power of attorney and favor in the archimandrite - the demand that Fr. Plato recognized him, Rudovitsky, as God.
These circumstances were unknown to the Valaam elders. They only knew that a suspicious person came to Valaam, that the archimandrite had intercourse with him. I consider their confusion on this subject to be quite natural.
Doubt about heresy has become so widespread among the zealots that they consider any brother who makes any kind of extracts in his cell to be a heretic. The plaintiff, monk Josiah, asked the commission to search the cell of novice Alexei Popov, who, in his opinion, is the most evil heretic. The cell was searched by a member of the commission under the deputy on the part of the abbot: the notes found in it, attached to the case, only serve as proof of the ignorance and reckless zeal of the monk Josiah.
“Be careful,” says the Great Barsanuphius to a certain monk, “let not your thoughts show you a mosquito like a camel or a pebble like a rock.” This could be advised to those seven or eight Valaam elders who suspect the abbot and up to sixty brethren of heresy. When I asked them on what they based their suspicion, the monk Josiah answered: “The fact that the abbot and the cathedral hieromonks were kind to Archimandrite Plato and Hieromonk Apollos means that they themselves are heretics.” This is the whole heresy of the Valaam Monastery. Quite a lot of time should have been spent explaining to the zealots that it was not in the spirit of our Church to burn heretics at the stake, to languish in chains and to use other measures characteristic of the age, person and religion of Sixtus V.
Condescending to such simplicity of the Valaam elders, in order to stop and prevent confusion about heresy, I believe it is necessary to establish the following rules:
1. Do not accept to Valaam people of scientists who are doubtful about Orthodoxy, but bring out Hieromonk Apollos.
2. To demand from the library all the books translated from foreign languages, even if they were passed by censorship; the books of the holy fathers, written and printed, now taken and sealed from the brethren by Abbot Veniamin, to be printed and given to the brethren for reading, even though they were not censored. The monastery patericons, flower beds and other paternal books are sealed, the usefulness of which and Orthodoxy no one doubts.
3. The brethren are strictly forbidden to compile notes of their own composition, and whoever has the disposition to engage in writing can, with the blessing of the abbot, copy the paternal books that are not in print, for example, the Great Barsanuphius, St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Isaac the Syrian and others. This activity is very beneficial for the soul as it combines work for the mind and hands; the Monk Athanasius of Athos, Simeon the New Theologian and many other holy fathers were engaged in it. In our times, in southern Russian monasteries this handicraft is in general use, and it especially flourished in the Moldavian Nyametsky Monastery.
4. The Holy Bible should not be given to novices at all, allowing them to read the books of the New Testament, and from the books of the Old Testament only the Psalter, nor should novices be given the book of the Philokalia, as by its very purpose it has an exclusive one-sided goal: sacred sobriety and mental prayer - works appropriate for those who have succeeded in monastic feats, inaccessible for novices, serving as the most important reason for these latter. charms.
Saint Isaac the Syrian, this great mentor of monks, speaks about this in the 55th word that makes up his letter to the Monk Simeon the Wonderworker: “Let us understand the desecration of demons who thirst for the destruction of the saints, and let us not wish at the wrong time, the thought of a high life, let us not be mocked by our evil adversary.” The writings of this holy man are filled with similar protective advice.
Dormitory of the Valaam Monastery. Obediences. Elders and disciples. Arbitrariness. Lovely. Church charter. Means for correcting deficiencies.
The Holy Church recognizes the first society of the faithful in Jerusalem as a model of community life, about which the Evangelist Luke speaks in Acts (4; 32): The multitude of those who believed had one heart and one soul; and no one called anything of his property his own, but they had everything in common. “With regret, I saw a spirit completely contrary to this in the Valaam monastery, where harmony was lost, where the monks fear, suspect, and revile each other. Denunciations flared up from quarrels and personalities, as the informers themselves admitted.
What could be more uncharacteristic for a monk than litigation, says Saint Simeon the New Theologian, while the Lord commanded that even the slaughter itself be given in order to avoid the judgment seat! The Apostle Paul cries out to the litigating Corinthians: And this is already very humiliating for you, that you have litigation among yourself. Why would you rather not remain offended? why would it be better for you not to endure hardships (1 Cor. 6; 7) In vain do abbot Barlaam and monk Josiah trumpet that they are ready for the cross: these are the words of inexperience. “Do not believe,” says the unappearing Vasily, “to shine in great deeds for those who are faint-hearted in small sorrows.” It is much closer to humbly call the irritated state of mind in which informers find themselves a temptation; the consciousness of this emerged several times from Father Abbot Varlaam in his conversation with me.
In the community of the primal Jerusalem Church, the evangelist narrates (Acts 4:35), everyone was given what they needed. This is not how the zealots of Valaam think about this. They, eliminating reasoning, this queen of virtues, according to the unanimous recognition of all the holy fathers, demand a literal indiscriminate community, forgetting that in the community the apostle was given to everyone what they needed. As much as people differentiate among themselves by the strength of their physical constitution, habits instilled by education, and mental abilities, so much should they differentiate by their needs. Basil the Great discusses this in detail in his writings and forbids defending nature.
Some fathers call community life an earthly paradise, and virtue—holy obedience—the tree of life, planted in the midst of this paradise, from which the monk who feeds will not die a sinful death. Art in the monastic life of the abbot, his ability to bear the infirmities of his neighbor with patience and meekness constitute a necessary condition for the trust of the brethren in him, trust is a condition of obedience, which without power of attorney turns into hypocrisy, before the eyes people-pleasing and flattering, behind the eyes disobedient and self-inflicted. I noticed little sincere obedience in the Valaam monastery.
The second of the important reasons for this deficiency is the incorrect concept of the elders and disciples. No one contradicts the example given by Abbot Varlaam of managing a community: he points to Moses, who ruled the people of Israel with the help of seventy elders. But the elders should be assistants to the abbot, and not each form a separate party, the members of which no longer want to know the abbot and are more his judges than his subordinates. So on Valaam, the disciples of the hermit monk Amphilochius (including the monk Josiah) are all in great irritation against the abbot.
The third reason, equal in importance, is self-rule, that is, many of the brethren live completely arbitrarily, take on high deeds and fall either into delusion, or into drunkenness, or other weaknesses. These are the consequences of immoderate, self-imposed feat, always associated with a high opinion of oneself and contempt for any advice. “Both extremes,” says the Monk Moses to Saints Cassian and Herman, “are equally harmful: excessive fasting and excessive satiation of the belly. For we know some who were not overcome by gluttony, but were overthrown by excessive fasting, and then fell into the same passion of gluttony because of the weakness that comes from excessive fasting.”
Regarding delusion, there were striking cases on Valaam: under Abbot Innocent, a certain self-made ascetic, revered by many as a great saint, saw various apparitions of supposedly angels and saints of God. Once, after such a phenomenon, he ascended the bell tower and, when the brethren were leaving the meal, suddenly the ascetic threw himself from the bell tower and, hitting the platform, was broken to death. Now I have not noticed those who were seduced to a strong degree; one monk Pachomius, a work assistant, seemed doubtful to me. Firstly, self-love and pride are noticeable in him to a strong degree, secondly, he says that he feels sweetness in his heart, thirdly, the next vision that he told me about is quite a vision of the deceived.
Father Pachomius says that allegedly, while standing in the church during a prayer service, he saw the abbot without a face, and some invisible spirit approached him, Pachomius, and ordered: when you approach the cross, then take it from the hands of the abbot with your own hands and venerate it, but do not venerate it from the hands of the abbot. When Pachomius performed this, such a strong sweet feeling appeared in him that if the spirit had ordered him to immediately kill the abbot, he would have rolled him away immediately. These are Pachomius's own words.
Regarding the charter, no important changes have been made; if they have been made, then such changes have been left to the will of the rector by the church charter. For example, they complain about Sunday matins, which in winter were held instead of all-night vigils. The Charter leaves this to the will of the abbot, saying: “if the abbot wills it.” Zealots are so carried away by attachment to their charter that they speak with contempt about the singing of the Kyiv Lavra, therefore one might think that Valaam singing does not deviate at all from printed usages and irmologists - and in vain! They are grumbling that Abbot Veniamin has changed the singing, that is, he has ordered that the Znamenny chant be strictly adhered to according to printed church books.
Their own Valaam singing is something of its own, it is a distortion of Znamenny, it is known in southern Russian hostels under the name of homemade. Whoever wants to be worthy of hearing this homemade work can come to the monastery, where the zealots of the Valaam charter preserve this shrine in all its inviolability: they tear disgustingly in the nose without any consent and rank, so typical in the church - this earthly heaven. The Kiev Lavra is such a monastery in which the church charter is carried out unfailingly from jot to jot. The statute adopted by the Church is the statute of the Lavra of Sava the Sanctified, and the Valaam statute is a copy from the Sarov composition of some hieromonk Isaac: hallelujah doubles with the schismatics, before the all-night vigil he reads the midnight office (canon), on Bright Week he reads the canons and akathists.
The great Russian lamps Anthony, Theodosius of Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh did not invent their charters!
Obeying the filial Mother of the Church, they reverently kissed her holy charter. This holy charter is so detailed, how satisfying! It would seem that there is nothing to add, but we, the abbots of modern times, poor in virtue and rich in pomp, wanting to show off our self, want to be glorious not before God by obedience, but before people by our arrogant reason.
In the southern monasteries - Ploshchanskaya, Optina, White Beach, Sofronieva, Glinskaya - the church charter is observed with precision, like the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. These monasteries, with the exception of Sophronius, lagged behind Valaam in terms of maintenance, but were far ahead of Valaam in the order of church services, the order of meals, and the order of obedience. Having exalted their charter above all else and exalted themselves above all others, the Valaamites retreated from church unity. This world, a sure sign of blessing from above, has withdrawn from their monastery: since 1817, the synod has been going there to investigate denunciations of either state crimes or the most foul vices.
Careful observation clearly shows that the cause of all the denunciations, all the evil on Valaam is their charter. If this charter was blessed to be observed by the Metropolitans Gabriel, Ambrose and Michael, then it was blessed because it selected various articles from the writings of Basil the Great and other holy fathers, consideration of which is useful, and not in order to destroy the charter of the holy Ecumenical Orthodox Church and allow a schism on Valaam.
To correct these inconsistencies, I believe the following means are necessary:
1. Father Abbot Veniamin, having spent thirty years in incessant economic labor, was engaged in the renewal and decoration of the Novozersky monastery on behalf of the most venerable elder Archimandrite Theophan, who, in the likeness of the righteous Job, left the occupation of external objects to Fr. Benjamin, he himself was constantly engaged in prayers and the word of God.
I was in the Novoyozersk monastery and saw the work produced by Fr. Benjamin, of whom he was especially surprised at the fence. It is based on piles driven into the lake at a depth of water reaching in some places up to three fathoms; there are up to 20 tons of these piles, hewn wild stone runs along them in two rows, and on this base stands a beautiful stone fence. All the buildings of the Novozersky Monastery cost at least a million rubles at St. Petersburg prices.
In the Valaam Monastery, he built a magnificent stone staircase from entire slabs of wild stone from the pier to the monastery, some of the cells were covered with iron, and again up to three hundred pounds were prepared for the gradual continuation of this work. The church was rebuilt with the amount donated by the merchant Nablikov, the economy is conducted in better order and with greater prudence than before. In the fifth anniversary of his administration, the monastery capital increased by forty thousand rubles in tickets and cash.
Considering, on the one hand, his economic labors and abilities, on the other hand, considering it almost impossible for the Valaam brethren to be reconciled to him, I consider it very useful and appropriate to give him such an abbot’s position that could serve as a reward for his many labors and where he could be more useful with his abilities than in the Valaam monastery, which was established and only requires some amendments.
2. Although the viceroy, Hieromonk Irinarch, was acquitted as a consequence, due to the accusation of such a vile vice, he can no longer remain in his position and in the monastery. The treasurer, Hieromonk Irinarch, accused of similar vices by a denunciation under Abbot Varlaam, and in this last denunciation by the monk Josiah, who turned out to be the first and only accomplice of this latter, should also be deprived of his post and removed from the monastery. Upon the dismissal of both the governor and the treasurer from the fraternity of the Valaam monastery, I believe that a decree is absolutely necessary so that in the future they will never be accepted into this monastery. Moreover, it is necessary to repeat the strict prohibition of hiring Finnish boys as workers at the Valaam Monastery.
3. I consider it imperative to remove the superfluous abbot Varlaam from the monastery, both because in his papers he was impudent in his expressions about his superiors, and because he can no longer be calm in the Valaam monastery and not interfere, as he himself admits, in the administration, for which he is completely incapable, which is proven by experience. In similar circumstances was Abbot Nazarius, the renovator of the Valaam monastery: already living in retirement, he could not help but get involved in the management of the monastery, and the diocesan authorities were forced to remove him from Valaam. Respecting old age Fr. Varlaam and the fact that in the whole matter he is only a tool for others, I believe that he should be moved to the Optin monastery of the Kaluga diocese so that the Kaluga diocesan authorities would instruct Hieroschemamonk Leonid, who lives there, to pay special attention to his spiritual structure. Hegumen Varlaam confessed to me that he felt a lot of benefit from the advice of the mentioned hieroschemamonk. Optin Skete is a most beautiful place, like an earthly paradise.
Having shown so much courage on the wild rocks of Valaam, the elder will calm down both in soul and body in a more gentle climate. Although he was bravely preparing to go to the cross, it was desirable that he endure this light corrective, completely lenient measure, without giving in to cowardice. This measure was necessary: his jealousy reached the point of violence.
4. Hieromonk Ambrose, monks Josiah, Pachomius and Amphilochius should be removed from the Valaam monastery, and since they are sober people, they can be usefully used for Belarusian monasteries in various positions that can provide food for activity and some absent-mindedness, which especially the last two need to exterminate signs of emptiness.
5. Hieromonk Arseny, on whom suspicion falls of seeking the abbess of Valaam, I propose to dismiss him from the monastery in accordance with his request.
6. To stop arbitrariness and disobedience, to protect, if possible, from delusion, I find the best way to establish, as the famous Paisius established in the Nyametsky monastery, from 4 to 6 confessors and entrust all the new ones to them. These confessors must be in spiritual union with the abbot and in complete obedience to him, then they will certainly be some kind of resemblance to the seventy elders, Moses’ assistants in leading Israel to the Promised Land.
I believe that those capable of this position are: Damascene, the monastery leader, who alone seemed to me to be a rather skilled monk in all of Valaam, and until people capable of this are formed, due to real need - hieromonks Dionysius and Barsanuphius and monk Athanasius the hermit. With this institution, parties will be destroyed, unity will be established, and all the brethren will have spiritual instruction according to the commandment of the holy fathers.
Other brothers must strictly forbid unauthorized instruction of their neighbor, including the elder monk Anthony, in whom I do not see any charm, and I recognize his teaching as too lofty and therefore harmful for beginners who must enter into vision by deed. I believe it is useful not to allow anything sharply distinctive, for example, complete silence, as is common on Valaam.
“Being among the brethren,” says St. John Climacus, - pay attention to yourself and do not at all try to appear more righteous than others in anything. For otherwise you will do two evils: you will seduce the brethren with your hypocritical piety, and you will give yourself a reason for arrogance. Be good and careful in soul, without showing this in your body, neither in image, nor in word, nor in fortune-telling.” The Holy Fathers advise timely silence, and they themselves tried to maintain it; complete and constant silence was maintained only by those saints of God who, from the abundance of grace, were in constant horror. “The perfection of silence,” says St. Isaac, “there is silence about everything.” Thus the Great Barsanuphius, who had the gift of prophecy and the gift of miracles, fell silent; the silence of a passionate man is very suspicious of charlatanism.
7. I find it necessary that all the brethren engage in work within their power and avoid in every possible way idleness, the mother of vices. Those gifted with health can work in the kitchen, cellar, carpentry, bakery, prosphora maker, laundry, and other similar duties.
People of poor health can do cell handicrafts, such as: sewing linen, hoods, kamilavkas, knitting nets for fishing, preparing sulfur matches, cutting spoons, writing according to the rules, painting icons, and so on. In this regard, I noticed an omission - many healthy people do not want to touch anything with their fingers, they even demand that the worker bring wood to the stove, they apologize with their commitment to silence and smart work, and in the evening it is strange to see this smart worker in a drunken state.
8. I believe it will be significantly useful to establish the obedience of the goalkeeper, who was in the hostels of St. John Climacus on Mount Sinai, St. Serida near Gaza, in the Kyiv Lavra under the Venerable Theodosius of Pechersk, and now exists in the Beloberezhnaya Hermitage. It is his duty not to let the brethren outside the gates untimely for a walk or to visit the hotel. A monk who wants to visit someone in a hotel or go out for a walk must obtain the permission of the abbot or dean, and without this permission the goalkeeper will not let him out of the monastery, which prevents a lot of evil.
9 . To calm the monastery, it is necessary to take the above-mentioned charter, this code of the aristocracy and the source of quarrels in the Valaam Monastery, into the archives of the Consistory, leaving them to be guided by the charter of the great Saint Sava, accepted by the entire Church, and in moral terms to be guided by the books of the fathers.
10. Finally, I propose that monk Porfiry, for his tenacity and untimely teaching, with which he seduced many, should be moved to the Old Ladoga Monastery due to the real need of this monastery for the brethren, his behavior is sober and modest.
Three versts from the monastery there is a monastery with a church 101 surrounded by cells, separated from one another and from the church by a stone's throw. The cells in the monastery are unusually thin and unhealthy; I have never seen anything like this in any Russian monastery: the floor is on the ground, the walls up to the windows are made of wild stone, which is why there is an unusual, deadly dampness. I think it is absolutely necessary and very cheap to rebuild them according to the model of the cells of the Optina monastery, that is, build wooden ones on the existing stone foundation and arrange them so that each wing has two or three cells for two or three brothers, and one should not be allowed to live, unless he has come to a significant age and has achieved special spiritual success.
The great fathers of Egyptian Skete, who especially loved silence, such as Arseny and Daniel, had disciples with them. St. John Climacus, living in the desert, had a disciple Moses and in the second degree of the book “Ladders” he wrote: “Monastic life is divided into three types, hermitage, silence with one or, at most, two ascetics, and community life, which requires patient stay with each other. Do not turn aside, says Ecclesiastes, neither to the right nor to the left, (Prov. 4:27) but walk in the royal way. The average of these lifestyles was decent for many. Woe to one,” exclaims the same Ecclesiastes, “for when he falls into despondency, or sleep, or laziness, or despair, then there is no person who can raise him up.” “And where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them,” said the Lord.” (Matthew 18:20). In the skete there is an incessant reading of the Psalter with the remembrance of the departed brothers and benefactors of the monastery.
On Valaam Island there are hermits, each living separately in a hut built in the forest. The structure of the desert huts, in my opinion, should also be improved, and the very life of the hermits should be brought under the rules of the Holy Church. Just as in the community of Valaam the spirit of self-rule dominates, so in the monastery and in the deserts they do not want to follow the rules of the holy fathers and set their own everywhere.
This seems to be the reason that in the entire monastery there is barely one monk who has several skills. And among the hermits there is not a single one who is skilled, that is, one who has the proper understanding of passions, of warfare with thoughts, of mental and physical temptations, of mental and heartfelt work.
Innocent, a disciple of the Venerable Nilus of Sora, who traveled with his elder to Palestine and the Holy Mount Athos, found in this mountain the disciples of the great mentor of monks, Saint Gregory of Sinaite, and studied there systematically monastic life, which is proven by the writings of both him and Saint Nilus, returning to Russia, complains about the hermits of that time, completely similar to the hermits of Valaam.
“The Holy Fathers,” he says, “divide all monastic life into three ranks:
2. in the royal way, or the middle way, they say that those who live in two or three have a common acquisition of the needy, a common food and clothing, a common labor and handicraft and every kind of industry for life, but over all this, cutting off their own will, obey each other in the passion of God and love,
3. solitary retreat, which is the work of perfect and holy men.
Nowadays, Nets, not heeding the power of Holy Scripture, have invented for themselves not of their own free will, not according to the tradition of the Holy Spirit. father fourth rank or life: building cells, everyone wherever he wants, far away or nearby, lives in solitude, everyone preferring his own will and pursuing acquisitions with care. And by such rank and residence they are likened to a hermit, but by renunciation of St. Father, and according to the terrible prohibition of all those who are afflicted by spiritual passions and who dare to fight alone as a hermit with demons, they are like self-initiators and self-students: having invented life for themselves, they themselves stumble in it, unable to live peacefully and constantly in it.
Whoever looks closely at the laborious book of Saint Gregory of Sinaite will find nothing more than that which can be called self-indulgence and single combat, just such a solitary and unattached life. Most of all, the writer of the life of this saint shows that not a single one of his disciples was allowed to live near or far away in his own cell, but in three laurels and two pyra (towers) he gathered together many monks, old and young, and gave them the rite of cutting off their will and obedience.
And this blessed old man himself, with many and terrible words about those who want to live in solitude, and having given up those who are passionate, and highly praising the royal path, says: the order and charter of this being in the Holy Mount Athos, where to this day the very ancient and new construction of cells like a living image shows everyone the royal path. Even if there are cells with a church, or cells besides the church, they all have two or three, and not just one space.”
Some Valaam hermits, to whom one can regretfully add the words of St. Gregory of Sinaite: “flights and empty deserts are useless and sweet silence seems to be something,” they cite the following in their justification: further from people, further from sin.
In this way, even in the time of Innocent, the self-initiators were justified: “What is the word of such,” writes this elder, “let me not be angry, I say, nor be angry with my brother, but I will shy away from condemnation and idle talk, the only ones who live. Don’t you think, friend, that this, what you said, and the like, humbles and puts a person to shame, and does not exalt, as the fathers decided: it is good for youth to fall. Vanity and opinion, and deceit, and the like, are even more crushing and pompous. For this reason, it is better for those living with a brother to recognize their weakness and measure, and for this to pray for themselves, repenting before the Lord, and to be cleansed by the daily grace of Christ, rather than to carry vanity and opinion with wickedness inside, to cover them up and nourish them with a solitary life, for their sake not a trace of solitary silence, commands the Climacus with all great fathers, see.
And this very solitary life does no small harm to the habit of doing something passionate. “Silence,” said the Great Barsanuphius, “brings guilt to arrogance, and even if the very passions of the soul force him to do this, then what hope is there for such a single combat to dare and not obey the teachings of the holy fathers, even if two or three times remain silent on the royal path.”
It should be noted that Elder Innocent lived in a century in which the spirit of arbitrariness and rudeness was maturing in Russia and was preparing to express itself in the absurdities of the schism. The harm from such unauthorized living, contrary to the teachings of the holy fathers, was revealed in the Valaam Monastery by many unfortunate experiences, of which it is enough to mention two that happened after 1825.
There was a hermit named Porfiry, who, like other Valaam hermits, lived on his own, practiced mental prayer and came to have a high opinion of himself, supposedly he was a saint. One autumn, having visited the skete elders, he wanted to return to his desert and said to the elders: I will go across the lake. They did not advise him to walk on the lake, which had just risen, but he answered: “But how did the ancient holy fathers walk on the waters, because I, too, have already become light.” No matter how much the elders tried to persuade him, he did not want to obey. He went down to the lake, took a few steps, the ice broke under him, and he drowned before anyone could give him a helping hand.
Another elder Seraphim wanted to build his cell in a rock, in a place where the lake was up to twenty fathoms deep, but he fell into the abyss, and his body could hardly be found for burial.
Saint Cassian the Roman, in his sermon on the eight passionate thoughts, says the following: “It is fitting for the Divine Law to follow with all our strength to strive against the spirit of anger and against the illness that is hidden within us, and not on the contrary, the wrath of those who struggle, to retreat into the desert and solitude, as there, that is, there is no existence for him who moves us to anger and as virtue is convenient in solitude longsuffering will correct. Because of pride and because we don’t want to reproach ourselves and attribute the guilt of embarrassment to our negligence, we want to leave the brethren. Even if we attribute guilt to our weakness, it is impossible for us to achieve the perfection of long-suffering.
The beginning of our correction and peace does not come from the long-suffering of our neighbors towards us, but from our kindness towards our neighbors. When the feat of long-suffering retires into the desert, we retreat into solitude, if we are not healed from our passions, we take it there, covered, and not destroyed, for the desert and the retreat of passions are not delivered by not only keeping this message, but also knowing how to cover it up and not feeling it in ourselves, by which passion they are overcome, it allows.
On the contrary, the dream of virtue will replace such people, and as long-suffering and humility have been corrected, he assures them that they will never irritate and tempt them. When some kind of guilt happens, moving them and arousing the passions that were hidden and previously hidden, like unbridled horses that have run away from their camps, and fed in long silence and idleness, they drag their rider greener and more ferociously to destruction. More and more passions are raging in us, having no training from man.”
This can be seen in the self-made hermits of Valaam, most of whom have unbridled temper. The already mentioned hieromonk Ambrose the cave-dweller once went into such a frenzy during the abbotship of Fr. Varlaam, who, in front of all the brethren at the meal, trembling with rage, shouted to the abbot: we thought about you, that you are a blessed man, and now we see that the nations are reeling in you; You should be herding pigs, not people, and other similar absurdities.
It is with regret that I discover this event, so that the circumstances of Balaam are clear, and I must note that it is one of the easiest. A strange sight worthy of tears: a faster, a hermit, a cave dweller, a recluse, an old man indulges in anger to the point of frenzy. But having delved into the teaching of St. fathers, you will find this natural. “Let’s take a closer look,” says St. John Climacus (degree 8), - and in many furious vigils we will see diligent vigils, fasting, and silence: the intention is to sow substance to the demon of plant passions, as if to supply guilt to repentance and crying.” This Saint John advised some silent people, as he himself writes, to come out of solitude and into community, so that they would not turn from people into demons.
The reason for all such inconsistencies on Valaam is a deviation from the path of the holy fathers and self-government. “Az,” says St. Abba Dorotheus, - we do not know the monk’s fall, but from the hedgehog he believes in his heart. Nezius says, “This is how a person falls, or this, I, as I died, and we don’t know what happens to someone else, except for this reason.” Have you seen anyone fallen? Remind yourself as you follow: there is nothing worse than following yourself, nothing more destructive than this.”
For these reasons, I propose to allow, as before, desert living on Valaam, but so that the elders remain silent in twos or threes, and not at all alone. Hermitage is allowed only to those who have perfected monastic life, remembering that even in ancient times church history very rarely represents those capable of hermitage, and those who perished on this most exalted path very often, like St. John Climacus notes (Homily 27): “Rarer are people who have completely learned the philosophy that exists in the world, and I say that even fewer are those who truly practice philosophy in silence. Those who truly do not know God are not capable of silence, and many, being in it, expose themselves to disasters. Silence destroys the unskilled."
St. Isaac speaks about the hermitage of the Great Basil and Gregory the Theologian: “Blessed Basil and Blessed Gregory did not go into silence from doing the commandments, but first lived peacefully and kept the commandments, even as it is fitting for those living with many to keep, and thus came to the purity of the soul and were granted spiritual vision. I truly believe that when a person lives in a city, he accepts strange people, visits the sick, clothes the naked, washes the feet of those who work, and if anyone would serve them in this field alone, there are two.
And having always kept the commandments, those who exist must remain among many, and their minds began to feel the first stillness and the Divine and mysterious vision, from there they were relieved and went out into the silence of the desert and from there they endured with their inner man, as if to be that visual one, and remained in a spiritual vision, until they were called by grace to be shepherds of the Church Christ's." It should be noted that St. Isaac was himself a hermit.
“Let him go into the desert,” says St. Cassian, absolutely perfect and purified from all passion, who lived in common with others to the end in the assembly, having exhausted and rejected all his untruths, and this one can go to her. And let him not run away from cowardice, but may he acquire Divine vision, desiring a perfect and bright vision of the Lord God. This can only be accomplished in solitude. Any passions, even if a monk takes him with him into the desert, will remain covered in him, and not destroyed. The desert is precisely the message of a corrected custom for those who have to open an entrance to cheerful basking and the vision of bright spiritual angels, but all of them who are not corrected in customs are to keep malice, not only to transform it into the most cruel.”
The famous hermit Onuphrius the Great first lived in one of the communal Egyptian monasteries and, being already 60 years old, having been granted a vision of the Divine Light, retired into the desert. Saint Peter of Athos already had the gift of miracles, called upon by Providence, and retired to Mount Athos in a hermit’s cave. St. Arseny the Great, although he was ordained into monastic life by the Divine voice, nevertheless entered into obedience to the Monk John Kolov to be instructed in his teaching, and when this, written in the skete patericon, introduced him in detail to monastic art, then he blessed him to live in a special hut. Although there have been very rare examples of some moving directly from the world to desert hermitage, such as Mary of Egypt, these exceptions do not destroy the general rule. “The order of the actions of Providence,” says St. Isaac, - distinguishes from the ordinary rank of man. You keep the general rank.
If grace precedes you, then this is it; if not, then the path of all man, who walks in the same way, according to the succession, ascend to the ascent of the spiritual feast.”
It remains for me to conclude this remark by repeating what was said before, namely: that the root of all the unrest on Valaam is their charter, by which the spirit of self-will, arbitrariness, coarse pride, and schism is brought up in the Valaam brotherhood. Their superior and their subordinate are together, each bows to him and each points to him, being allowed to do so by the charter. Although this charter was signed by three metropolitans, its fruits force one to speak against it with truthful zeal: it is the work of people whose holiness has not been proven in any way.
The rules of the hostel are the work of Hieromonk Isaac, the rules of the monastery and hermitages are the work of the abbot of the Valaam Monastery, Innocent. If it is preserved in the Valaam monastery, then one can never expect either peace, moral order, or success in monastic life. Submitting these comments for the consideration of Your Eminence, I have the honor to present the charter of the Valaam Monastery in the original.”
Let's return to the story:
In the same year, 1838, on April 18, Archimandrite Ignatius was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree, and on June 22 he was appointed dean of all the monasteries of the St. Petersburg diocese, which position he held until the very day of his departure from the Sergius Hermitage.
The following year, 1839, May 24th, again at the proposal of the Chief Prosecutor, by resolution of the Synod, Archimandrite Ignatius was appointed a deputy from the spiritual side to the investigation carried out at the proposal of the Minister of Internal Affairs by a member of the Council of the Ministry, Actual State Councilor Koptev, about the murder of Archimandrite Parthenius, abbot of the Modena Monastery of the Novgorod Diocese.
According to this order, made two years after the crime was committed, after two investigations had been carried out, which not only did not reveal the culprits, but through incorrect actions made it difficult to open them, through the direct actions and orders of Archimandrite Ignatius, both those guilty of the murder and those guilty of concealing traces of the crime were discovered at the first actions of the investigators. This case was decided by court proceedings on May 28, 1845. In April of this year, Archimandrite Ignatius was awarded the imperial crown for the Order of St. Anna 2nd degree.
The revival of the desert could not but please the pious fans, the number of which especially began to increase since 1840. Many of the residents of St. Petersburg began to bury their deceased relatives in the depths of the monastery and, as a result of these pledges close to their hearts, brought her, in addition to money, various donations of valuable church and sacristy items. From time to time, benefactors from noble and wealthy people appeared who, at their own expense, erected new churches in the monastery, excellent in splendor and grace.
In 1843, Prince M.V. Kochubey began to build a church in honor of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its foundation was laid near a tower dismantled for this purpose, which occupied the south-eastern corner of the monastery fence. Under the entire church there is a vast, well-lit crypt, in the front part of which the body of the wife of Prince Kochubey, born Princess Baryatinskaya, is interred. The passage to the crypt is located in the interior of the church, descending under the sola, which for this reason, together with the entire altar part, rises very high above the rest of the church floor.
This church is of quite considerable size, of Norman style, richly decorated inside and out, and was finally rebuilt and consecrated in 1863. The amount spent on it, as they say, reaches a very significant figure of 250,000 rubles, it was built without any participation in the orders from the monastery.
The monastery had long needed a spacious winter church, since the previous one was too small to accommodate the entire number of pilgrims who flocked to the monastery for services, especially during Lent, but the monastery did not have enough of its own funds to build such a church. Princess Z.I. Yusupova was the first to lend a helping hand to this important cause for the desert, donating 40,000 rubles for the construction. With this amount the work began. In 1844, the Church of St. Sergius, built with funds from the Sergius Lavra and which existed for about 100 years, was dismantled to its foundations.
In its place a new two-story church was built, almost three times larger in size than the previous one; on the lower floor it was planned to build two small chapels of the church and tombs for the burial of the dead, on the upper floor - a warm church in the name of St. Sergius. But since the amount donated by Princess Yusupova was insufficient to build the entire church, Archimandrite Ignatius turned to the benefactors of the monastery he knew and received from them significant donations of money and building materials. In order to reduce the amount of money required to implement the entire project of the church under construction, all sorts of economic methods were adopted: bricks were made at the monastery’s own factory, since very good clay was found on the monastery land.
In addition, Hieromonk Ignatius, the current archimandrite, rector of this desert, under whose supervision the construction was carried out, in the immediate vicinity of the monastery found granite of excellent quality, which served in significant quantities, in terms of the number and size of products, for the decoration of the church being built. Given the knowledge of the construction business both by the rector himself, an engineer by training, and by the practical experience of those who observed the work, with the economic measures they wisely took, without in any way changing the completeness of the project, the expenditure of the amounts calculated according to the estimate was reduced by half. The construction was completed, an elegant marble iconostasis was prepared, but the entire church was finally finished and consecrated under the current rector.
In 1855, the foundation of another church was laid - in the name of St. Gregory the Theologian, at the north-eastern corner of the monastery fence. This small, single-domed Byzantine style church is very elegant in its exterior and interior decoration. Among other valuable materials used for interior decoration, a lot of marble was used, from which the church platform was made. The cost of this church, which was built under the direct orders of architects or contracted craftsmen and workers with materials they had prepared, extends to 75,000 rubles. It was consecrated in 1857 and erected over the ashes of Lieutenant General Count Kushelev at the expense of his wife. The restored buildings also include two chapels located at the entrance to the monastery near the St. Petersburg highway.
During the restoration and construction of churches, Archimandrite Ignatius also took care of acquiring church utensils, clergy vestments and other church accessories befitting their splendor. During his time, the sacristy was enriched with many precious things, acquired partly from the monastery's sum, partly from benefactors: images, crosses, vessels, gospels, miters, clothes and various other objects in gold, silver and precious stones, worth many thousands of rubles. During the entire period of management of the monastery by Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov (23 years 10 months), the entire amount of up to 420,000 rubles was spent on the construction and renovation of various church, residential and commercial buildings, as well as on land cultivation and agricultural establishment.
Let me return to the story: During Lent of 1839, Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov, 102, who was then serving in the Synod at the Chief Prosecutor's table, came to the archimandrite in the hermitage and informed him that the French envoy to the Russian court, Barant, wished to be in the monastery on the coming Sunday and be present at the divine service. Muravyov asked the archimandrite to receive him with as much friendliness as possible and even show him, acquaint him with the external structure of Orthodox monastic life. In these types, a dinner was deliberately prepared for a fraternal common meal, although without fish, but such that the foreign guest would not find it difficult to take part in it.
On Sunday, the expected guest arrived with his son and two other companions from the embassy. They were accompanied by Muravyov. All foreigners stood reverently during the service; after the liturgy, they went to the abbot’s cell, where the envoy asked the archimandrite about the history of the monastery, about its charter, about some rituals during the liturgy, and freely expressed his opinion that our Church is closer to the ancient one than the Roman Catholic one.
Invited to dinner, Barant followed the abbot to the meal, where, according to the usual prayer, he sat down at the common fraternal table in the place offered to him at the right hand of the archimandrite, ate willingly and, when they rose from the table, after the meal prayer, he very reverently bowed to the brethren, thanked the abbot in the warmest terms for the warm welcome and left the monastery, very pleased with everything he saw and heard. In the highest society of the capital, Barant's comments about the harmonious singing of the Sergius monks and about the improvement of the monastery in general were repeated.
Almost a year later, on the Christmas holidays, the archimandrite and Chikhachev were in the house of T. B. Potemkina 103, where they met the wife of the envoy Barant, who invited them to dinner on January 6th. On the day of Epiphany itself, those invited to this dinner gathered: Archimandrite Ignatius with Chikhachev, A.P. and T.B. Potemkins, Turgenev, A.N. Muravyov and a Frenchman who was preparing to become an abbot, who was a home teacher in Zakrevsky’s house. First, the conversation touched on the French book, which the envoy’s wife very much approved of and asked Archimandrite Ignatius’s opinion about it, obviously with a desire to hear approval and praise for the book, but the archimandrite, having expressed his opinion, managed to remain with his expressed opinion. The one preparing to become an abbot began to speak passionately about religion, comparing the differences in the confessions of the Greek and Roman Churches.
The archimandrite, having told the abbot that he was not invited here for a theological dispute, added: “However, in order to conduct such a dispute, it is necessary that both sides know the weapons of their opponents - the grounds on which the dispute being undertaken should be legally conducted, and therefore let me ask you, Mr. Abbot, have you read such and such books of St. Fathers of the Universal Church? And in response to the abbot’s answer that he had not read them, Archimandrite Ignatius noted that, therefore, there could be no talk about this subject, because they would not trust each other, and their reasons were completely different. And the conversation about religion was interrupted by itself, and Archimandrite Ignatius read to Barant (translating from a book) an excerpt from the biography of George, the recluse of Zadonsk 104, in which Turgenev helped him.
Barant responded that what is visible here is truly holy simplicity, without any admixture. This ended the conversation and meal, and those invited went home. Some time later, during Great Lent, Archimandrite Ignatius was summoned to the Metropolitan, where, at a meeting of all members of the Synod and the Chief Prosecutor, he was given the highest order, by which he was prohibited from leaving the monastery until the permission of the sovereign.
The sovereign was informed that at a dinner with Barant, the archimandrite entered into an argument with the abbot about religion and broke off, and therefore had to end the conversation with shame for the Church and its Russian representatives. The solemnity of the situation was so carefully considered that the doctor was not even forgotten, who was invited in case of need to provide medical assistance if the punishment had the calculated effect. But the doctor was not needed at that moment; the archimandrite brought to the desert a heart damaged by a nervous attack, the beginning of a cardiac aneurysm, which later ended his life. He fell ill and could not leave his cell for several weeks.
They say that the reason for this highest command was that the imperial Russian court was at odds with the French court, but in essence there were completely different reasons. One cannot help but assume that the emperor was personally angry with the archimandrite and that, noticing this, the chief prosecutor took advantage of this mood of the emperor to crush the archimandrite.
Around this time, that is, at the end of 1839, the famous beauty of that time, the maid of honor of the large court of V. Nelidov, attracted the attention of the sovereign. At the beginning of January 1840, having arrived in the Sergius Hermitage, she opened up about this to the archimandrite and asked him for some kind of reassurance of her conscience in relation to the fall that awaited her, justifying this by the greatness of the person who participated in her sin, attracting her to him, and reported that the confessor of the sovereign V.B. Bazhanov assured her that there was nothing particularly sinful in this, and left the archimandrite very dissatisfied with the fact that the archimandrite, on the contrary, proved to her through the Word of God that the height of the external position of a person who has fallen into this sin increases the severity of the sin, and in no way justifies either one or the other of the sinning parties.
On the other hand, in this outcome of the Barantov dinner, the change in the relationship of Chief Prosecutor Count Protasov to the archimandrite was of no small importance. At the beginning of his chief prosecutor Protasov was very disposed towards Archimandrite Ignatius. He knew him as a young man, had a very good opinion of his education and spiritual learning, combined with life experience, and even had the idea of making him rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, but Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow opposed this.
Once, in a frank conversation, Archimandrite Ignatius expressed to the count his grief that bribery and simony were developed in the Synod, so that any business, in order to be successful, must certainly be paid for. The Count flushed and demanded proof. The archimandrite did not stop to bring them. Then one of the students of Archimandrite Ignatius, driven by envy, informed Protasov that the archimandrite intended to publicly expose him, Protasov, in exceeding and abusing his power; he believed it, and a long-term hostile relationship ensued between both.
When there was talk of appointing a bishop to the Warsaw diocese who would meet the requirements of this country, the sovereign told the count that he had a man for this place, and pointed to Archimandrite Ignatius. Protasov replied that he was still young, however, he began to act decisively and managed to reject this appointment. He reported the circumstances of the conversations at Barant’s dinner not according to the resolution of the Synod, to which he conveyed only the highest command for execution.
One cannot help but believe the rumor that the subsequent resolution of the Synod on not elevating to the rank of bishop persons who had not completed a course of science in one of the Theological Academies had the sole purpose of blocking this path for Archimandrite Ignatius.
That same summer, necessity forced the Metropolitan to ask the sovereign whether Archimandrite Ignatius could leave his monastery to tour the monasteries of the diocese in his position as dean. The Tsar replied that he did not forbid him to go everywhere when the need or responsibilities imposed on him in his official activities required it. Since then, the archimandrite began to enjoy the previous right to leave the monastery. But since this permission was given and announced in words, and the prohibition existed on paper and in the form of the highest command, the ill-wishers kept this document and did not fail to use it at the opportunity, which soon presented itself.
After the death of Metropolitan Seraphim, Metropolitan Anthony took his place 105. He was shown this paper and assured that it had the same original force. This malice was discovered in the following way. S. – St. Petersburg military governor-general Kavelin invited the metropolitan to consecrate his home church and Archimandrite Ignatius among those concelebrating with the metropolitan. Then the Right Reverend Anthony announced to Kavelin that the Archimandrite of Sergius could not be in his house for the above reason.
Kavelin explained the whole matter: he outlined all the circumstances to the sovereign, and His Majesty then personally announced to the metropolitan in the presence of all those gathered at Kavelin’s that he, “wishing only to protect the archimandrite and save him, did this, and if this order of his was accepted by anyone else, it means that he was not understood,” and immediately told everyone how he had long known and loved Archimandrite Ignatius, because he had always been and is worth it.
While living on Babayki, the Right Reverend Ignatius conveyed to his brother Pyotr Alexandrovich that soon circumstances required him to introduce himself personally to the sovereign in the Winter Palace. “I entered the hall,” said the Eminence, “and saw two halls later, at the door of the third, the sovereign himself, who stood and, threatening me with the index finger of his raised hand, looked at me so angrily that, bowing to him, I began to mentally pray to the Lord to have mercy on me in the future life, when here on earth I am accused of something for which I am not guilty, and am punished without mercy. Having passed the next half of the hall, I, as usual, bowed again - the sovereign’s face began to change, and when, after two still usual bows, I approached him, he hugged me, treated me with great mercy and released me so unexpectedly favorably that I even became afraid that, out of cowardice, I dared to pray to the Lord for earthly mercy, which was so obviously and quickly granted to me. Here I made a covenant with myself not to dare to pray to the Lord for any earthly joy in the future.”
This refers to Schemamonk Macarius, in the world Macarius Makarov, the brother of Archimandrite. Ignatius Malysheva – ed.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Protasov (1799–1855) - count, cavalry general, member of the State. Council, since 1836 Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod.
In accordance with the definition of the Holy Synod, the abbots of the Valaam Monastery were appointed from the monastics there, and when Fr. Veniamin from the Konevsky Monastery, the Valaam monks did not accept him and his actions, considering them inconsistent with the rules of the monastery, and unrest began on Valaam (Valaam Ascetics/Transfiguration of the Savior. Valaam Monastery. 2nd ed. correction and addition. St. Petersburg, 1997. P. 36).
Hegumen Damascene (Damian Kononov, 1795–1881) - tonsured a monk in 1825. From 1826 to 1838. O. Damascene lived a monastic and desert life on Valaam. In 1838, the dean of the monasteries and the abbot of the Sergius Monastery, Archimandrite. Ignatius recommended him to be the abbot of the Valaam Monastery. Friendly correspondence with St. Ignatius continued until the end of his life. Some of the letters have been published.
This report from Archimandrite Ignatius to Metropolitan Seraphim formed the basis for the determination of the Holy Synod of October 17, 1838 on the elimination of many years of unrest in Valaam. “So, with the participation of Archimandrite. Ignatius, the Valaam unrest ended, and the life of this monastery took on that direction of rare hard work and strict asceticism, with which the Valaam monastery has an educational influence on the restless outside world to this day” (Sokolov. Part 1. P. 156). Published in: Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Complete collection of creations. M., 2001. T. 3. pp. 394–419. Next: PST.
Subordinates - exiled to monasteries by the spiritual authorities for the purpose of correction - ed.
Archimandrite Ignatius took part in the consecration of the churches of the Great Skete - the lower one in the name of All Saints (August 18, 1849) and the upper one in the name of the Ethereal Heavenly Powers, or the Nine Orders of Angels (July 18, 1850).
Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov (1806–1874) - brother of N. N. Muravyov-Karsky, spiritual educator and publicist, contributed to the appointment of St. Ignatius to the episcopal see.
Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina (1797–1869) – spiritual daughter of St. Ignatius, was known for her piety and extensive activities in the field of charity; many churches and monasteries were restored with her funds, including the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and the ancient Svyatogorsk monastery on the Don on her estate in the Kharkov province. According to St. Ignatius, she: "...having abandoned all secular amusements, she is engaged in abundant almsgiving, practicing reading the holy fathers and prayer. Her eyes are like two inexhaustible sources of tears." (Collected letters. 1995. P. 97).
Monk Stratonik (Georgy Alekseevich Mashurin, 1789–1836) - signed his worldly name, by which he became known. St. Ignatius repeatedly advised various people to read his letters, in particular, he noted: ". Here is a spiritual writer who has gone far from all the spiritual writers of our time. A nobleman, a warrior, he laid down his material weapons in order to enter the field of spiritual warfare, spent seventeen years in seclusion and died in the 36th year, being 47 years old, having replaced many years with spiritual success. From the pen streams of grace flow through it, the lack of external education is replaced by abundant spiritual dignity. This book has become one of my desk books” (Collected letters. 1995. p. 480).
Anthony (G. A. Rafalsky, 1789–1848) – Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg from 1843 to 1848.