Глава 13. Гонение на старца о. Леонида и на его учениц, живших в Белевском женском Крестовоздвиженском монастыре (1839–1841 гг.)

Despite the apparently good and beneficial actions of the elder Fr. Leonid, he was constantly suspected by people who were unfavorable to him, he was watched and, at one time, tried in a formal manner. – This is how the above-mentioned noblewoman Paraskeva Trunova told about herself. “When I was in Optina in 1839, I lived with a companion at the monastery hotel. One day she and I decided to walk along the path to the barnyard. Here we accidentally met two persons - a hieromonk and a subordinate priest, opponents of the elder Fr. Leonida. When the latter asked who we were and why we came to Optina, we answered that we came to see the elder Fr. Leonid should get treatment, because, indeed, one of us had pain in his arm, and the other in his leg. Those interrogating us noticed that the Elder is not a doctor and only treats mental illnesses. We, in turn, objected: “In that case, we will ask him for advice on what to do.” “And you,” continued the hieromonk and the priest, “take the oil from St. icons of the Mother of God and anoint the sore spots with it.” We thanked them for their advice, saying that we have brothers 115 in Optina who will deliver oils to us. Having learned that we had relatives here, the uninvited mentors stopped talking. And then the Elder, having learned about our unexpected meeting, advised us to be careful and avoid such people. During this visit, my companion and I also had to visit the Elder. Suddenly he says to us: “Tomorrow, girls, sit in your hotel room and don’t go out; there will be a trial tomorrow.” - “Who, Father, will they judge?” – we asked. “Yes, me,” answered the Elder. Indeed, the next day the investigative commission was located in the lower floor of the hotel, on the second floor of which we sat in fear. The judges called first the hieromonks, then the hierodeacons, then the monks and novices, and interrogated everyone if anyone knew about Fr. Leonida something reproachful. However, none of them said a single bad word about him. The trial ended soon, and we sat in the room hungry all day, because the hotel, in its bustle, forgot to feed us at the right time. - Having learned about the happy outcome of his trial, the Elder said: “It was the girls who prayed for me.” But all these and similar unfavorable actions on the part of the authorities and generally unfriendly people were not for the elder Fr. Leonidas with the news and could not bother him much, since they concerned only him. By God's permission, just before the death of the Elder, the enemy brought upon him one more last dying test, which was especially sensitive for him, because it concerned not only him, but many of his spiritual children. Among those who came to the elder, Fr. Leonid also received spiritual advice from girls of different classes, who, having no inclination towards married life, but wishing from a young age to bring themselves to the One Heavenly Bridegroom and Bride-Guardian of pure souls, King Christ, asked for this advice from the experienced Elder. He received them with fatherly love and, revealing to them the correct view of monastic life, he taught them to follow the narrow path of cutting off their will and reason and not only moving away from passions, but uprooting their very roots, cleansing the heart from passionate thoughts and mental battles, through frequent revelation and confession of them to those experienced and skilled in spiritual work. The Elder advised some of the girls who expressed a sincere readiness to follow this path to enter the Belevsky monastery and give themselves over to the leadership of the old woman, the cassophore nun Mother Anthia, who was there, who grew up and succeeded in an active spiritual life under the experienced guidance of Fr. Leonida and approached him for spiritual advice and instructions even before the Elder’s installation in Optina Pustyn. The abbess of the Belevsky Monastery, Abbess Epaphrodita, seeing how Mother Anthia and the sisters close to her were apparently succeeding in spiritual life, showed noticeable preference for them. The primordial enemy of the human race took advantage of this to hurt other negligent people, and they took into their hearts an arrow of envy against Anthia and the sisters devoted to her. As a result, a great temptation befell the Belevsky monastery. It was like this. In the Belevsky Monastery lived the manate nun N., the daughter of the aforementioned skete schema-monk Fr. Vassiana is the same uneducated simpleton as her parent. She visited him often, and no matter what Fr. Vassian, accepted everything as truth and transferred it to her monastery. At the same time, two noble sisters lived in this monastery, Maria and Marfa Nikolaevna Somov, who entered the monastery with the blessing of the Optina elders Fr. Leonida and Fr. Macaria. Among those who came to the mentioned M. Anthia for spiritual advice were these two sisters, who at first lived together in the same cell. But since they were in different moods, one of them, Maria Nikolaevna, decided to separate from her sister and buy another room for herself, which she did. With the blessing of the elder Fr. Leonida, she continued to treat M. Anfiya, and Marfa Nikolaevna, as an educated college student, began to look at the elder’s blessing and spiritual guidance as an unnecessary matter and began to live freely in the monastery. Out of boredom, she often invited M. N. to her place. who every time, upon returning from Optina from her parent, talked about the elder Fr. Leonida's various fables. Marfa Nikolaevna always invited her spiritual father, the monastery priest Fr. Gregory. Their general opinion about the elder Fr. Leonidas and about his student M. Anfia it was as follows: as if M. Anfia attracts sisters to herself, spreads some new teaching among them, confesses them and resolves them in the name of Fr. Leonida. These and similar fictions, based on the perversion of the simplest and most innocent words and actions of the virtuous old woman, were, of course, by demonic inspiration, accepted as true. Priest and at one time confessor of the Belevsky convent, Fr. Gregory, a young man of strict fasting life, at first, when the elder Fr. Leonid lived in the skete apiary, deeply revered him, was his spiritual son, and was even amazed at his senile exploits. And o. Macarius, spiritual friend and companion of the elder Fr. Leonida, traveling according to circumstances from Optina to Orel via Belev and back to Optina, always had Fr. Gregory's overnight stay. Because Fr. Gregory had the closest relationship with both elders. But when he had to hear various false and unfavorable rumors about Elder Leonidas, his faith in the Elder was shaken. Naturally, it was because he began to look suspiciously at Mother Anthia, whom he disliked because she and, following her example, some other sisters turned to the elder Fr. for spiritual advice. Leonid. In this he considered himself only the only legitimate leader of them and therefore saw in this a derogation of his honor, confusing in his concepts the sacrament of confession, which, as is known, constitutes the inalienable right of all who have the spiritual power to bind and decide, that is, those endowed with the grace of the priesthood, with “eldership” or with the revelation of thoughts, which, according to the rules of monastic residence, belongs only to the elders who are experienced and perfected in active monastic life and oxbows 116. In addition, Fr. Gregory, with his strict personal view of monasticism, was tempted by the fact that the elder Fr. Leonid was of a corpulent build and received many visitors of various kinds and ages, entered into their explanations and listened to all their obscene words and deeds - which, in his opinion, should not enter the schema-monk’s ear and defile the angelic purity of his soul. As a result of this, Fr. Gregory began to think whether there was some kind of heresy hidden here - Freemasonry or something else. He first of all wrote about this to his close relative, the hieroschemamonk of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, known for his ascetic life, and the confessor of the Kyiv Metropolitan Philaret (Amphiteatrov) Fr. Parthenia, who found it necessary to call Fr. Gregory to Kyiv for a personal meeting on what measures to take to uncover the error. It is known that the elder Fr. Parthenius, although he was an ascetic and a saint of God, was not far in his knowledge of the dogmas of the Holy Orthodox Church and was not familiar with heretical teachings, and therefore, after a conversation with Fr. Gregory, who through a misunderstanding gave him a lie for the truth, they both concluded that the error of the Optina elder Fr. Leonidas and his students and disciples are nothing more than Freemasonry. If Fr. Parthenius at that time introduced Fr. Gregory to Metropolitan Philaret, then the matter about Fr. It would have been very easy for Leonida to explain himself, and nothing special would have happened. But the enemy, a hater of all good, misled him - he did not allow Elder Parthenius to come to this good thought, and what Fr. Gregory, the matter took a very sad turn. Having received a blessing from Elder Parthenius, Fr. Gregory went to his Belevsky monastery with the firm intention of bringing out the hidden heresy and immediately upon arrival he zealously set to work on this matter. He began by making a statement about his discovery to the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Epaphrodite, and thereby greatly embarrassed the good old lady. It was in vain that she pretended to see Fr. Gregory that the old woman Anthia, whom he spoke of, and the sisters of like minds with her, are the best sheep of the verbal flock handed to her by God. Father Gregory did not want to listen to anything, assuring with an oath that he had discovered a hitherto hidden heresy and, by the duty of his rank, considered himself obliged to arm himself with all measures against this evil. Then he began to diligently spread various blasphemies and reprimands against the elder Fr. both in his monastery and outside it. Leonida. When the news of this reached the humble Elder, he, like a warrior already experienced in spiritual warfare, complacently greeted slander that was not new to his ears. But his companion and spiritual friend, Fr. Macarius, meaning not so much denunciation as admonition of the one who is zealous beyond reason. Gregory, wrote him a very convincing letter, and at the same time imbued with the spirit of meekness and condescension towards his erring brother, a letter with the following content: “Your blessing, most venerable Father Gregory among the priests! To my heartfelt regret I hear about you that you accepted a false opinion and were convinced of it against Father Fr. Leonida not only spoke in a bad way about his life, but even about his faith, lamenting towards some sect or heresy, which I did not expect from you. Having a heartfelt disposition towards you, I wish to lead you out of this delusion; for you fall under the sin of blasphemy against an innocent person and become the culprit of the same in others. Whoever inspired you with such an opinion about him, you need to test whether he is worthy of belief and on what he based his arguments. Believe not every spirit, but tempt the spirits if they are from God, writes St. apostle (1 John 4:1). Father Leonid is well known to the members of the Holy Governing Synod, his Eminence metropolitans, very well. The Metropolitan of Kiev knew him even before, having been the rector of the Svensky Monastery in the Oryol diocese; and o. Leonid then lived in the Beloberezh desert, which was no more than 20 miles away, and had frequent intercourse. In 1837, during the passage of His Eminence to Kyiv, being in our Hermitage, he showed him a very merciful archpastoral favor. Father Superior (Moses) and Fr. Anthony has a very good disposition and respect for him and consults him in many ways. Also, our other fathers and brothers have confidence and love in him and use his instructions. And secular people of various ranks come to him and leave, not without consolation in their spiritual sorrow and bewilderment. Father Leonid stayed for about 20 years with the elder schemamonk Theodore, who was experienced in spiritual life. Schema-monks Theodore and his companion Cleopas are known for the rightness of faith and holiness of life, who were disciples of the Moldavian elder Paisius, and he (Fr. Leonid) was instructed in spiritual life from them. The rightness of his faith is known to the Most Reverend Metropolitans of Moscow and Kyiv and to our Eminence, as the Primate of the Church. Yes, and we all know and firmly assure that he believes in the Holy Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Greek-Russian Church commands, and he rightly professes and maintains all the dogmas and decrees of it and has never belonged to any heresy or sect and does not belong. He spends his life, as much as he can within his strength and health, abstinent and not seductive. Otherwise, how could both their brethren and secular people benefit from it? There are, however, people who come with testing and cunning, wanting to find a miracle worker, seer or soothsayer and, not finding any of these qualities in him, utter their blasphemies against him, which, apparently, have reached your ears and have disturbed your spirit. Then one would have to regret him if everyone spoke kindly about him; for, according to the word of our Savior, woe to that man; men speak well of him (cf. Luke 6:26). Who escaped blasphemy and reproach from those living piously, when they cried out and were tempted against the Savior Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not commit a single sin, but was a blessing to the souls and bodies of men? What we are convinced of by His divine words: if the lord of Beelzebub’s house has been disturbed, how much more will his household be (Matthew 10:25). If you cast me out, you will be cast out (John 15:20). It is very little wonder that the enemy is arming himself against him because with his instructions he raises many to firmness in the faith, to a pious life, to the destruction of enmity that occurs between people. The enemy hates all this and instigates blasphemies against him, trying to shake him. However, he, preserved by the grace of God, is not damaged in the least and is not faint-hearted from them; but, regretting them, he willingly forgives them and prays to God for them, so that he will not put them into this sin. And he is extremely sorry for you, who stumbled in vain about him in your opinion and harmed yourself. And I feel sorry for Father Fr. Leonid for false slander about him, and you for the credibility of it. How can your conscience be calm and peaceful when so many souls have been falsely stumbled? St. Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians in the 5th chapter of Art. 10: He who troubles you will suffer sin. This is how important and disastrous it is to disturb the conscience of others by divulging false rumors! Even if they blame only for some, in their opinion, sinful life, then this is akin to every person, and no one is without sin, even if he has only one day of life (cf. Job 14: 4, 5). And when it comes to faith, I have a duty to protect and justify it. St. Agathon, having been reproached by some with various sinful reproaches, answered every one: I am a sinner. And when they told him: Agathon is a heretic, he made an objection. And when they asked him why he endured all the reproaches with patience, but did not endure this last one, he answered: these sins are akin to man, and in them we hope to receive forgiveness by the mercy of God, but the heretic is excommunicated from God. “You see how important it is that the saint also stood against this; then shouldn’t I, having love for Father and knowing his righteousness, in his defense, present to you that he believes as he explained to you above. But his life is also the most virtuous, and serves as an example for us and for many. Still, heresies and wisdom contrary to religion are committed in secret and secretly, but we see nothing of the kind in him. If anyone finds something contrary, let him judge as he wishes; but the judgment of God and the judgment of man have a great difference. Judge nothing before its time (1 Cor. 4:5). At the Last Judgment, when people appear before the impartial Judge, then everyone will be convicted not only of their deeds, but also of their heartfelt advice. Maybe they will say: behold, this is the man who was once treated with ridicule and reproach, as he is counted among the sons of God, and his lot is among the saints (Wisdom 5:3,5). I am writing this to you solely out of pity for you and wanting to lead you out of a false opinion, in order to calm your spirit. After all, I am sure that you do not have peace of mind if you take such an opinion on him. I ask you, for the Lord’s sake, for your spiritual benefit, leave it and do not believe those who inspire this in you. I wish that the grace of God touches your heart in the knowledge of the truth that I offer you. Committing myself to your holy prayers, with the deepest respect I remain with your blessing, the zealous prayer-giver, the sinful hieromonk Macarius. “January 24 days 1839.” This convincing and at the same time loving letter from the humble elder Macarius, perhaps, would have had an impact on Fr. Gregory had a favorable action, but supported by the authority of the Kiev-Pechersk elder Parthenius, he, as can be seen from the consequences, did not attach much importance to it. “Meanwhile, the rumor he started that he had discovered heresy in the Belevsky convent reached the diocesan bishop that same year. Father Gregory and Mother Superior Epaphroditus were immediately summoned to Tula. To the question of the Most Reverend Damascene - what’s the matter, Fr. Gregory confirmed his opinions about the imaginary heresy, calling the Optina elder Fr. Leonida, and its distributors in the Belevsky monastery were Elder Anthia and novice Maria Nikolaevna Somova, supporting all this with a reference, as if to the confession of their two spiritual daughters who were in the same heresy and repented. The Right Reverend, embarrassed by unfavorable rumors about the monastery and, moreover, fearing that this rumor would go further and harm him in the opinion of the higher authorities, hastened to give faith to the words of Fr. Gregory and decided to use strict measures to stop evil at the very beginning and thereby quench the rumor, which was not beneficial for the monastery in particular and for the diocese in general. The matter began with the fact that, following Fr. Gregory summoned to Tula the mother Anthia, whom he had stipulated in heresy, and her sisters who were of like minds with her. Upon arrival in Tula, M. Anthia, by order of the Right Reverend, was given over to the admonition of the then abbess of the Tula Assumption Monastery, Claudia. Having heard about some heresy and fearing that she herself might fall under the wrath of the Bishop, the abbess set to work with full zeal. She called M. Anthia into her image and, placing her in front of the icons, began to persistently exhort the imaginary heretic to confess her error sincerely, promising that in this case she would be an intercessor for their forgiveness from the Right Reverend, who, like a loving father, only wants to reveal the truth. Mother Anthia, not knowing any guilt behind herself, simply and meekly answered the abbess that, although she recognized herself as a sinner in general, she did not know any heresy behind her and asked, in turn, to explain to her what exactly they demanded of her to admit. Then the abbess began speaking from the other side and began to shower the elder, unknown to her, with blasphemy, saying that he was a Freemason and had drawn them, the innocent, into his heresy. - Mother Anfia remarked to this that she does not know what “Mason” means, but she knows for sure that the elder Fr. Leonidas is known as an experienced man in spiritual life and taught them nothing other than the direct monastic path, in accordance with the writings of the Holy Inspired Fathers, who shone forth in monastic life. - The abbess interrupted her with a question: “What did he give you to read his books?” “Yes,” answered M. Anthia, “even now, according to his instructions, I read the book of Abba Dorotheus, which, according to the elders, is the alphabet of monastic life.” According to the notes of the Kiev-Pechersk hieroschemamonk Fr. Anthony, abbess, having seen the defendants - M. Anthia and other sisters, have the books "Philokalia" Slavic and St. Ephraim the Syrian, asked: “What books are these?” – Mother Anfia answered. But since the abbess herself, apparently, had never read these patristic books, then, wanting to bring her unsuccessful exhortation to some end, she exclaimed: “Well, so it is, Freemasons, warlocks! I tell you: you, dear ones, have fallen into heresy and, if you do not repent, you will perish, you will certainly perish; and here again you will be punished with exemplary severity.” - Angry at her failure, the abbess presented to her Eminence M. Anthia as a stubborn heretic, not confessing to anything. Moreover, the books selected from her - “Philokalia” and St. Ephraim the Syrian - were forwarded to the abbess when reporting to the spiritual consistory as heretical. The then rector of the Novosilsk Holy Spirit Monastery, Archimandrite Nikanor, was entrusted with carrying out an investigation of the remaining sisters accused of alleged heresy (13 in all). Although the investigator interrogated the sisters one by one, he could not find out anything more than what was previously known to the entire Belevsky monastery, i.e., that these sisters went to Elder Anfia for spiritual advice, which neither she nor the sisters even thought of denying. Not wanting to accuse Fr. of being too hasty in concluding. Gregory, the investigator did not dare to justify the sisters who had fallen under the wrath of the Bishop and therefore presented them in his report as stubborn, not confessing to anything. After this inquiry, which did not lead to any positive result, the Right Reverend Damascene verbally ordered Abbess Epaphrodite to report to him in writing about what had happened in her monastery. The kind-hearted but timid old abbess, seeing that in order to fulfill this order she would have to accuse in every possible way those whom she, in her inner conviction, considered innocent, decided, at least, to accuse them not of heresy, but of arbitrariness; and therefore, in a report to her Eminence dated November 24, 1840, she wrote about the accused sisters that she “did not find any other heresy in them, other than the willfulness of the nuns of Anthia.” More than two months have passed since then. Finally, in response to the report of Abbess Epaphrodite in February 1841, the bishop’s resolution was followed by the following content: “Nun Anthia, after the ryasophore is removed from her, is to be expelled from the monastery immediately, having forwarded her letter of dismissal to the board (Belevskoe) for issue to her according to her affiliation. Novices who are not determined by the authorities, but, contrary to their orders, living in the monastery, are also expelled from the monastery. The abbess, for poor supervision of those living in the monastery and for failure to comply with the orders of the authorities, should be prohibited from using the robe for two weeks, instructing her to pay more attention to the order in the monastery and not allow unfavorable rumors about it.” “However, this resolution of the Eminence, which condemned Mother Anthia and all the sisters who came to her for advice, was not carried out with all its force. Mother Abbess managed to persuade Vladyka to limit himself to only two, who were recognized as more guilty and stubborn than others. Anfiya and the noblewoman Maria Nikolaevna Somova, who were therefore expelled from the monastery. Others remained in strong suspicion and under surveillance. Meanwhile, rumors about the Belev incidents spread everywhere and caused new restrictive measures in relation to the Optina elder Fr. Leonid, as involved in the trial of his Belev students. On this particular occasion, his ill-wishers presented him as some kind of unauthorized violator of monastic rules and a persistent disobedient disobedient to his superiors. From the cell built to appease the Elder, Mr. Zhelyabuzhsky, Fr. Abbot Moses, at the end of 1840, to transfer him to another, to the building of Archimandrite Melchizedek, who was living at that time in retirement in Optina Pustyn, away from the gates and from the people walking by. The main thing that was meant by this was that the archimandrite, as an honored person and who had an unsociable appearance, would not tolerate Elder Leonid, always surrounded by a multitude of people, in the neighborhood, and would complain to the authorities for this, and thereby create an opportunity to confuse the Elder and move him from Optina Pustyn to some other monastery. But this expectation did not come true. Father Archimandrite understood the Elder and looked at him as a man living in God, and even though from time to time he grumbled at visitors, “Why bother the Elder and thereby bring such trouble upon him, but he was polite and affectionate towards the Elder himself and often expressed respect for him like this: “Father Leonidas! I am amazed at your life and your endless work, and even in your old age. I would agree to dig the ground rather than talk to them, and so kindly that everyone is happy. Oh, God help you! This surprises me." - Good oh. the archimandrite soon died. Along with the transfer of the Elder to another cell, he was again strictly forbidden by the diocesan authorities to receive lay visitors, which, however, again did not last long. Just at this time, Met. Anfia, condemned to exile, arrived in Optina. The elder was very constrained in receiving outside visitors; but when he learned about her arrival, then, like a compassionate father, ready to lay down his soul for his sincere disciples and disciples, he resolutely said: “Even if a sword hung over my head, I must accept Anthia.” Full of faith in Divine Providence, the Elder did his best to encourage the discouraged Mother Anthia and the other sisters slandered with her. And in general, the elder Fr. Leonid and Fr. Macarius, themselves experienced in sorrow, knew how to help those who were tempted. Being deeply convinced of the triumph of the slandered truth, they strengthened the mourners to endure in the hope of God, who saves from cowardice and storms, remembering that the Lord does not send temptations to anyone beyond their strength, but will not hesitate to create an excess with temptation. The shy position of Fr. Leonid’s grief was further aggravated by the fact that he, a sick Elder, was forced to go to church services every day. Obeying the will of his superiors, as if it were the will of the Lord Himself, the Elder gathered his weakening strength and left the cell with the sound of the bell. But it was a wonderful sight at that time. His procession to the church of God resembled a triumphal procession. The people were looking forward to his appearance. When he left his cell, many threw themselves to the ground before him, everyone tried to accept his blessing and kiss his hand, some kissed the hems of his clothes, and others loudly expressed their compassion for him. The Elder walked between the two walls of people for at least half an hour in the small space from the cell to the church, jokingly driving away with a stick those who were too crowded towards him. Huge crowds of people gathered at the right choir, where the Elder stood. Meanwhile, the Elder’s life was burning out. By the fall of 1841, due to circumstances, the aforementioned girl from the nobility, at that time already a novice of the Borisov women's hermitage, Paraskeva Trunova, had to be in Optina Hermitage. She came to the Elder. Due to weakness of strength, he was lying on his bed at that time, and Father Fr. was sitting next to him. Macarius. “It’s good that you came,” said the Elder. - Go, I'll hand you over to Fr. Macarius." And then, taking her hand in his hand, he handed it to Fr. Macaria. Trunova should have confessed soon after. Elder Fr. Leonid revealed to her in detail her whole life, where, when and what she did. And then he told her to go and confess to Father Fr. Macaria. When she objected: “What are you talking about, Father?” “The elder said: “After all, I handed you over to Fr. Macarius, and I must die soon.” At this time, a strong rumbling was heard in the Elder’s stomach. - “Do you hear that? “he said, “these are signs of my imminent death.” Confused by such a surprise, Trunova began to speak: “How can this be, Father? How can we live without you?” The elder answered reassuringly: “Don’t be embarrassed, oh. Macarius will act exactly the same as me.” When Trunova, who was preparing for confession, expressed to the Elder her fear that she might forget something of what the Elder reminded her of, he said: “If you forget anything, Fr. Macarius will remind you, and if he doesn’t remind you of anything, then when he comes to me, I will remind him.” From that time on, she became the spiritual daughter of Fr. Macaria. All this happened, as Trunova noted, two months before the death of the elder Fr. Leonida. This time releasing Trunova from Optina back to his monastery, the Elder also confirmed to her that he would soon die, and ordered to secretly tell the two Borisov nuns to come say goodbye to him, which, of course, was done by them in due time. And in addition, the Elder handed Trunova a letter to one of his disgraced disciples at the Belevsky convent, M. Pavlina, and strongly commanded her to do everything in her power to give M. Pavlina the letter into her own hands and to say on his behalf encouragingly: “Don’t be discouraged!” – Arriving in Belev, Trunova, so as not to incur suspicion, stopped not at the monastery hotel, but at a private apartment; for the Belev elders’ disciples were in great suspicion, and they were being watched. When Trunova approached the cell of M. Pavlina, the first to meet her, probably as an exile who had arrived here for a while, was M. Anfiya with the question: “What do you want?” “I need,” answered Trunova, “to see M. Pavlina.” – Anfia’s mother said that she was not well. “But I have a letter to her from Father Fr. Leonida,” Trunova continued, “and Father told me to deliver his letter into her own hands.” “Then only M. Anfiya, having conveyed Trunova’s words to M. Pavlina, called her for a meeting. M. Pavlina came out, pale and thin. It was clear that strong grief was sharpening her heart to the point of hopelessness. Trunova handed her the letter and said: “Father does not tell you to lose heart.” “At these words, tears of joy flowed from M. Pavlina’s eyes and watered both the elder’s letter and the one who brought it. There was no end to the questions: “How did you see him? And where did you see it? By the way, let’s continue talking about the Belevsky sufferers. Much sorrow fell on the lot of the innocently named M. Anfiya and her devoted sisters. After being expelled from the monastery, she and Maria Nikolaevna Somova did not know where to lay their heads, because wherever they went, they were received with distrust and suspicion. Having arrived in Voronezh, Mother Anfia wanted to take refuge, at least for a while, in the local convent. Having met one nun, she asked: “Wasn’t M. N. Somova here?” The nun answered with fear: “She came and stayed with us for several days; but we are afraid to talk about it, so as not to get into trouble ourselves. They say she is some kind of dangerous heretic. And I heard that there was some Anfia there in Belevo, so they say she was exiled to Siberia.” - Hearing such a review about herself, M. Anfiya, of course, had to soon leave Voronezh and, in anticipation of any change, lead a wandering life. The sisters who remained in the monastery, like-minded with Mother Afiya, were also subjected to great sorrows and humiliation. But in all their sorrows they were supported by mutual love and unanimity; for common sorrows and persecutions, as we know, bring people together. At the same time, it should be noted that these amiable qualities were in them, so to speak, a reflection of the love and unanimity that prevailed between their elder leaders, Leonidas and Macarius. According to one of the sisters who were persecuted, M. Pavlina, mentioned above, they had common joys and sorrows: if one of their small society was consoled by something, then this constituted a common joy for everyone - they did not know envy; and, on the contrary, the grief of each was shared and eased by the common participation and common love of all the sisters. – Also, the fatherly love of the elder Fr. served as a great strengthening and consolation in the midst of sorrows for the persecuted. Leonidas, who during this difficult time for them did not leave them with his verbal and written edifications. Comforting them, he repeated to them: “Be patient, for the Lord’s sake. Your sadness will be transformed into joy. “I believe in the Lord,” he added, “as much as the Belevsky monastery has become disgraced, so will it later become glorified.” I believe that the Belevsky Monastery will be mine, that my abbess will be there.” Hearing these words about. Leonida, M. Pavlina (later abbess of the Belevsky Monastery), known for her spiritual life, thought in bewilderment: “How can this be? Probably, some nun from Sevsk will be sent to us to restore our monastery.” And that the Elder’s words applied to herself, she, being at that time in a mournful and humiliated position, could not even imagine. Meanwhile, time passed, and the end of the ordeal of those under persecution was not yet in sight. Both M. Anfiya and M. N. Somova were so depressed by their vague hopeless situation that, as can be seen from the elder’s letter to them given here, they began to lose faith in the elders and in the eldership. On this occasion, they received a letter from the Optina elders with the following content: “Most venerable Mother Anfia and Maria Nikolaevna in the Lord! We read your letter with considerable surprise. You of little faith, why did you doubt ecu (Matthew 14:31)? - this is what our Divine Savior said to His beloved disciple Peter at the time when he was drowning. Now drowning has also happened to you. And we, with the same voice of the Savior, cry to you: You of little faith!.. Are the repeated experiences of our instructions from the Divine Scriptures and St. God-bearing Fathers could not assure you of the truth of the saving path followed by the venerable fathers, whom we strive to imitate to the best of our ability? Although you are unworthy and poor in virtues, we wish you, who want to be saved, to follow the path they showed us, and therefore your cowardice grieves us a lot. If you want to listen to us, then why do evil thoughts enter your hearts? Examining almost in detail the actions of the enemy of the human race, we see how he strives, under the pretext of truth, to seduce you from your chosen path, from the path of virtue. We ask you: can someone who does not know it teach a foreign language? There is a great difference between people who know by experience and those who know by hearsay. Whoever is called to what rank, let him remain in it. Experience is the best teacher. It is written: let your friends be many, but your advisers may be one among thousands (Sir. 6:6). And when you doubt our advice and instructions, why do you resort to us? We don’t attract anyone to us, you know that. According to the rules of monastic tradition, when taking tonsure, the Gospel is passed on to the elders, and not to the spiritual fathers, to whom (i.e., the elders) the novices should open their conscience to receive advice and instructions on how to resist the temptations of the enemy. But this is not a confession, but a revelation. And in this case, the apostolic tradition is fulfilled: confess your sins to each other (James 5:16). The sacrament of confession is completely different and has nothing to do with revelation. The responsibilities of a confessor are completely different from the relationship with the elders. Let us recall one synclitic, which the bishop handed over to one old woman and asked her what the correction was. I received an answer that I was too kind to her. Then he handed her over to another old woman, a strict one, and after some time he learned from her that this had softened her morals. Isn’t this an image of the current legend? Your mother abbess acts prudently and in accordance with the rules of monastic tradition, wanting to accustom the sisters in advance to cleansing their consciences, before tonsure into monasticism, and thereby makes a real attempt, according to the tradition of the holy Fathers, who shone in monasticism. As for the fact that it is impossible to pray in a cell without a priest, this is more worthy of surprise than probability. How many holy women we see, who lived in the desert and shone during fasting! What were they doing if not praying in solitude? Saint Mary of Egypt offered her prayers in the desert without a presbyter, and only in the last year of her life was she honored to see Saint Zosima and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ from him. As for the fact that doing nothing without the blessing of the elder woman is not only useful, but also saving. From the many examples available in the Patericon and the writings of St. Father, we remind you of that disciple who, having been sent to the city by an elder for obedience, almost fell into fornication, but, remembering the elder, was caught up by an invisible force and found himself in his cell. As for the elders, in nunneries we should mean the elders. Not all elders were priests. This can be clearly seen from the life of St. Paphnutius the Wonderworker of Borovsk (May 1). For in his monastery, out of 700 brethren, there was not a single priest, but all were under the leadership of the elders. So, it is better to conform to the rules of monastic life and be calm. In the Philokalia (Slavonic) in the epistle of St. Cassian to Leontinus Abbot (Part IV) is printed: “Abba Moses said: Let us not just what we do, but what we think be revealed by our father, and let us believe in nothing of our own thoughts, but let us follow in all the words of the elder, and let us believe in goodness, even if they tempt us. and by the right path the monk is enabled to remain unharmed, but he also preserves him from all the snares of the devil without harm.” “Having remembered the little of your love and entrusting you to the protection of God and the word of His grace, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many-sinful hieromonk Leonid and the many-sinful hieromonk Macarius - September 19, 1840.” So Elder Fr. Leonid together with Fr. Macarius tried to console and encourage his disciples who were persecuted for the sake of truth, despite the fact that at the same time, as it is said, he himself suffered persecution. And then, due to the machinations of the enemy, in addition to embarrassment from the authorities, rumors began to spread among the people that Fr. Leonid will be sent to the Solovetsky Monastery. Others said that he would be transferred to the Borovsky Monastery hospital under supervision and that no one would be allowed to see him. Optina, Tikhonov and Maloyaroslavets students of Fr. Leonidas spoke with horror about the fate of the seventy-two-year-old Elder, imprisoned in a regular monastery. Fearing for the Elder, they also feared for themselves: who could lead them along the path of salvation without him. While Fr. was alive. Leonid, no one for them could be called an elder, no one had such complete faith, no one’s word had such great power. He was like a strong oak tree, around which they twined like weak plants. When it was taken away, everything fell. True, after his death, Fr. Leonid seemed to come to life in the face of Fr. Macarius, but at that time life without Fr. Leonida. The disciples suggested that the Elder defend himself and make excuses, and write to a close friend, Fr. Archimandrite of the Sergius Hermitage Ignatius (Brianchaninov), so that he could intercede for him with the members of the Holy Synod and especially with the Moscow Metropolitan Philaret, who was then on duty in Petrograd. Father Leonid refused. With unshakable faith in the Providence protecting us, which does not allow temptations greater than our strength, and perhaps having received a message from above that Optina Pustyn would be his grave, the Elder responded to all fears and pitiful speeches about him with silence, wove his belts and received those who still came. Then already Fr. Macarius, at the head of everyone, decided to convince the elder Fr. Leonida, to save himself, at least for the students. - “What will happen to us, Father, if you are transferred to Borovsk?” “They won’t transfer,” answered Fr. in the affirmative. Leonid, “I’ll die here.” - “Father! - Fr. objected. Macarius, yes, we are cowardly, we do not have your faith. Have mercy on us and allow me to write to Fr. Ignatius. Just sign, we all beg you to do this.” The students’ intense requests continued for some time. Finally Fr. Leonid bowed to the prayers of his children and, seeing that they were not leaving behind him, and the fears for him were intensifying every day, he said to Fr. Macarius to his last request: “Write what you want - I will sign without reading.” – Father Macarius hastened to take advantage of this permission from the Elder and wrote a letter on his behalf, in which, among other things, the following was written: “You want to calm me down in my old age, you are looking for measures and means to do this... I fully feel this and, accepting it, I offer you my sincere gratitude. As for my situation, in which I now find myself, I will tell you: with God’s help, I graciously accept the circumstances known to you, perhaps, relating to my person. Although I do not dare to say: “I can do everything through Jesus who strengthens me,” I know that the merciful Lord, knowing my weakness, sends such temptations so that I can bear them; and I believe that without His will nothing can happen, and what happens is all for the good and for the salvation of my sinful soul... In relation to my neighbors, I am obliged to take part in the sorrows and sympathize with them with condolences, seeing them infirm and still requiring protection from cases that harm their feelings and fearing that they will not be a stumbling block and a temptation to them to the detriment of their spiritual structure... I do not resist your zeal for me, and whatever the Lord tells you to do to calm my old age, or to say to protect me against false slander, I will be earnestly grateful to you, and especially since this applies not only to me, but also to those who are well-disposed towards me according to God. And, of course, the Lord will not deprive you of His reward for this, as for compassion for your neighbors.” A letter written by Fr. Macarius and without reading it, signed by Elder Leonid, was sent to St. Petersburg. At this time, one of the Elder’s disciples lived in the Sergius Hermitage (St. Petersburg province), as if he had been deliberately brought there for a short time to participate in this matter. It was to him that the letter was sent to Fr. Macarius or Fr. Leonidas skete monk Ioannikiy, tonsure and spiritual son of Fr. Leonida, for transmission to Fr. Archimandrite Ignatius and for general assistance. The letter was received in the evening, and the next morning Fr. the archimandrite went to Metropolitan Philaret to explain the matter. Soon afterwards, Saint Philaret wrote to Bishop Nicholas in Kaluga that “it is heresy to assume in Fr. There is no reason for Leonida,” and immediately rumors about the removal of the Elder from Optina fell silent. One must be surprised that no matter what changes occur in the position of the elder Fr. Leonidas, he accepted everything indifferently, not worrying much about them. “The universal and all-evil enemy is the devil,” he wrote to one of his spiritual sons, “although he creates many deceptions for us, but nothing will succeed if we trust in God, remembering this teaching: blessed are you, when they reproach you and destroy you and say all kinds of evil words against you, lying, for my sake: rejoice and be glad, for there is a reward.” your many in heaven 117. “And although there is something confused in us, the Lord Almighty preserves my insignificance, and henceforth I trust and entrust myself to His Providence.” “You are concerned about my thinness, that I seem to be offended,” the Elder wrote to another person. “This care proves your feelings of love for me, and I sincerely thank you for it.” But as for me, thanks to the Almighty and all-good Providence for me! I don’t see any sorrows that would be unbearable. Whenever things happen, I receive God’s help to bear them. It is impossible to completely get rid of them when our Lord Jesus Christ left them to us as an inheritance. He himself suffered for us. And St. The apostles, among many teachings about patience and the need for sorrows, also wrote this, that through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven 118. Therefore, without voluntarily seeking sorrows, one must obey the will of God. Whatever sorrow he wishes to send us, we should all accept with thanksgiving.” “The Elder met with such feelings and endured all the sorrows caused to him, and did not at all care about his own fate here on earth. At the last meeting of His Grace Nicholas of Kaluga with the elder Fr. Leonid, when they no longer constrained him in receiving visitors, Vladyka still did not fail to reproach him for this: “Well, old man, are you still itching? No matter how much I forbid you, you still mess around with this stupid crowd. It's time you left it. It's time to die." “The truthful and straightforward Elder generously answered: “Holy Master! There is no longer any reason for me to leave what I am called to. I sing to my God until I am 119. I drive them away from me with a stick, as you told me, but they don’t listen.” - Then he added: “Would you like to ask them why they are turning to me - I don’t call them to me.” - But at this proposal of the Elder, the Lord only laughed and said: “What a thing he came up with!” - By the way, he left the Elder to live and act as he pleased, or rather, as the Lord Himself showed him. The above-mentioned novices Pavel and Simeon Trunov were the brothers of Paraskeva Trunova. See this difference in detail below in the letter of the elder Fr. Makaria to Mother Anfia and Maria Nikolaevna Somova.