Глава 4. Водворение старца о. Леонида на скитской пасеке. – Его отличительные свойства, духовные дарования и наружный вид

Now we will continue the story about the life of Elder Hieroschemamonk Leo. In the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage, two angels in the flesh lived and labored for a long time - the rector of the monastery, Fr. Hegumen Moses (Putilov) and his brother, the head of the Skete, Hieromonk Anthony. Both of them, having laid the foundation of their monasticism in the deserted Bryansk forests, under the guidance of strict hermits, in the spirit of the former great desert dwellers, ardently wanted to introduce eldership in their native Optina monastery, but they themselves could not complete this task, since they were preoccupied with complex and arduous monastic affairs, and also because, as noted above, the combination in the person of the head of two duties, abbotship and eldership, in our the time is very inconvenient and even impossible. In the biography of the late Optina abbot Archimandrite Moses, who was abbot at the time we are describing, the highly venerable author made the following note: “We dare to think that he (abbot Moses) prayed a lot and earnestly to God about this,” that is, about sending a spiritually experienced elder to the monastery he was renewing. This assumption can safely be given the force of reality. For if we take into account that spiritual men in all cases of life turn to the Lord with fervent prayer, then in such an important matter as the introduction of eldership in the monastery, there is no doubt that Fr. Abbot Moses, - let us only add to this, together with his brother, the monastery leader Hieromonk Anthony, fervently prayed to God for the fulfillment of their ardent desire. And even more so we should think so because they, as fulfillers of the Gospel Commandments, had for this purpose the direct commandment of the Savior: Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may bring forth the laborers into His harvest (Matthew 9:38). In addition, Fr. Abbot Moses with the Optina elders, as mentioned above, and invited Fr. Leonida to the newly established Skete for residence. And finally, guided by the Providence of God, the Elder arrived and was received by the Optina residents with great joy, as a special gift from heaven. Six of his disciples also arrived with him: the monk Macarius (Gruzinov) from the St. Petersburg merchants, the novices the aforementioned Diomede (Kondratiev), who was tonsured in his cell in the schema by the Ploshchan builder Markellin in his illness and therefore wore a cassock until 1840, Alexander Mikhailov Sapozhnikov from the Soligal posads, Georgy Vasiliev from the Moscow merchants children, Ivan Nikolaev from the Moscow bourgeoisie and Pavel Petrov Tambovtsev, a Belgorod merchant son. Soon after them he entered the Skete under the leadership of the elder Fr. Leonida engineering officer, Dimitri Aleksandrovich Brianchaninov (later Bishop Ignatius) 37. However, he did not live here long. By the time the Elder arrived in Optina Pustyn, the monastery located there, according to the remark of the Optina old-timer, Hieroschemamonk Ignatius 38, had not yet been completely rebuilt. Everything about him was poor. A simple small wooden church in the middle of the Skete in the name of St. Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord John, with a very modest iconostasis; The church also has a wooden bell tower with four small bells. Around the church there are several small wooden unplastered houses, covered with planks. There was no fence around the Skete yet, but it was surrounded by fences, and even then not all of them. But a dense forest with spruce and pine trees of enormous size, and with dense thickets, surrounded it on all sides, as if by a continuous, inaccessible fence. On the northern side of the Skete, a place was separated for an apiary, where a small house was also erected, which was actually intended for the elder Fr. Leonida. He stayed in this house. And the disciples who arrived with him - some remained right there with him to serve, and some were housed in the Skete itself. The purpose of the Elder’s separate quarters from the other monastery brethren, by agreement of himself and the abbot of the monastery with the monastery leader, was so that everyone who wanted to use the elder’s spiritual advice and instructions, monastics and lay people of both sexes, could come to him at any time without restriction. For, according to the establishment of the Right Reverend Philaret of Kaluga (later Metropolitan of Kyiv), who laid the foundation of the monastery, entry into the monastery was prohibited for women, and other male visitors were restricted, and, by the way, so that the silence of the hermitages was not disturbed. Immediately, after the installation of the elder Fr. Leonida, rector Fr. Hegumen Moses entrusted him with the leadership of all the brethren living in the monastery with all those newly admitted to monasticism. And he himself submitted to the influence of the Elder. For, according to the Optina old-timer, Fr. Abbot Mark 39, “elder Fr. Leonid, as having the gift of insight, delved into everything. At that time, the appointment of obediences, cells, etc., everything was done, for the most part, according to the instructions of the Elder. The elder decided the question of where the novice should live - in a monastery or in the Skete. Spiritual communication between the abbot and the Elder did not suffer from this. The elder ruled not only the internal, spiritual, but also the external side of the brotherhood of the monastery.” The above-mentioned miraculous cases, the culprit of which was the described elder Fr. Leonid, we can safely vouch for the fact that he has now reached a high level of spiritual age and, fully armed with spiritual strength, has entered a new great service to humanity, to which he was called by the Providence of God at the new and last place of his earthly sojourn - in the Optina Hermitage. Bringing to the attention of readers a story about the most important events in the life of this great servant of God, I would like to depict, along with his external activities, at least in some main features, his internal life. But the inner life of spiritual men always remains a secret, known to the One Knower of the Heart, God, and not one of them could, or, more accurately, wanted to speak out completely and reveal the treasure of their soul. And the inner life of Fr. Leonida was especially elusive and, although he spent his days openly in the crowd of people, it remained a secret even for the closest observers and his close disciples. Therefore, we now have to say only very little about the distinctive internal properties of the described Elder and his spiritual gifts - to the extent that they were reflected in his external activities. According to the teachings of St. John Climacus, “prayer is the abiding and union of a person with God... the source of virtues, the originator of talents” 40. With this queen of virtues we will begin, with God’s help, to expound, if possible, the properties of the elder Fr. Leonida. He was a great man of prayer. While he treated people outwardly, he inwardly constantly remained with God. The spectacle of great human passions and disasters, to which he was a constant listener and in which he took a sincere Christian part, drew deep sighs and tears from him, shaking his entire insides. And then a sigh turned to the Lord or a glance towards the icon of the Mother of God, before which he had an unquenchable lamp glowing - these simple signs of heartfelt feeling were an expression of his spiritual love for his neighbors, and at the same time the prayerful mood of his soul. When there were very few visitors, the Elder often became so deep in internal prayer that he did not notice what was happening around him. One of the close disciples of Fr. Leonida said that when he had to be with him without people, the Elder, immersed in prayer, completely forgot about him, did not hear his explanations and forced him to repeat the same thing several times 41. – He forbade his disciples not only to undertake high mental prayer, but even to talk about it for fear that one of them would be damaged in mind 42 . Let us then turn our attention to three theological virtues. Elder Fr. Leonid had a living faith in the Providence of God, combined with strong hope and devotion to the will of God. In all the difficult situations of his life, he looked with hope to the Author of his faith and the Finisher of Jesus. This is what he wrote later (1831) to one person: “Our Archpastor, due to slander, is dissatisfied with us. But the Bishop of future blessings, the Lord our God, knows more than this and, therefore, can control us more. And so again I say this: the will of the Lord be done!” ... “Remember, most dear,” he wrote another time to his close disciple, “remember our universal father, Fr. Theodore, as he always surrendered to the will of the almighty Trustee and Provider. And he did not sin in his following, but reached a reliable refuge. And he entrusted you and me to the all-powerful Providence. He always advised and exhorted us to rely on the providence of our Redeemer and unflattering Trustee. The merciful Lord fulfills and turns everything into His will and for our benefit, although apparently through means and consequences that are contrary to us. We, with the help of the most merciful Lord God, will endure and see...” Even the sadness for the lost was tempered in the Elder by faith in God’s Providence. When, as we will see below, he was constrained in receiving visitors, he was pleased to somewhat calm down from his labors. However, he never cared about his peace or his glory, but only regretted and sincerely sympathized with those who came to him, because their spiritual needs remained unsatisfied. However, even in this case, I placed my trust in the will of God. “I ask you,” he wrote to his spiritual son, “not to give others advice to come to me. Let them do what they want, but without encouragement. God is able to help even without my unworthiness.” The entire life of the elder Fr. was an expression of the love of the Gospel. Leonida, which took place in the service of God and neighbors. For the sake of these latter, he was constantly in labor and subjected to great sorrows, even exceeding ordinary human strength. He treated his close novices and monks with tender fatherly love, calling them “children” and always trying to help them in all their needs. He called those closest to him friendly: Yasha, Sasha, etc. The Elder did not neglect those people whom everyone despised. “One wanderer woman,” said Hieromonk Anthony Bochkov, “was persistently with Elder Leonid during his stay, as will be discussed below, in the Tikhonova Hermitage and we were all very tired of her. Her caresses, bows to the ground and various grimaces seemed, especially to me, a comedy and deception. I dared to tell the priest that it was not I alone, but all our brothers who were annoyed with this unrelenting woman, and that, according to her own words, she was kicked out from everywhere, from every monastery, that no elder could stand her. “Are you telling the truth?” – asked the Elder. - “I heard it from her.” “And if I drive her away,” Father Leonid continued, “where will she go? And there is a soul in her, and the human soul in its depths conceals a lot of good. You just need to find it.” Despite his sincere affection for all his neighbors, the Elder, however, did not cleave to anyone with special exclusive love. Acquaintances and strangers, relatives and non-relatives - he had the same respect for everyone. One day his own sister came to him. He accepted her along with other pilgrims and provided her with the same benefits that he provided to others in need, that is, he gave her five altyn. On this occasion, the Elder told some that if a monk gives an extra penny to a relative against strangers, this will show that he has not yet freed himself from the bonds of carnal kinship and does not love all people equally, but with differences. The Elder was always fatherly and lenient towards the infirmities of his spiritual children. However, this condescension of his was dissolved by holy zeal for piety and prudent severity. He often said: “If you ask me, listen, and if you don’t listen, don’t come to me.” – Here’s how the Elder wrote to a certain monk, whom he accepted at the time of tonsure from the Gospel, when he deviated into some self-rule. "Look! Although I cannot tell you directly that you will be excommunicated from our host, for the connection of the Holy Gospel is an inviolable union, but from the example of the saints. Fathers, and especially St. Isaiah of Skete, although it is scary, but to relieve my conscience it is fitting to say to you: look! If you do not listen in legal (obedience) and for the edification of your soul to your many-sinful imaginary elder Leo, then your retreat will punish you.” The old man described still possessed deep humility, which is why he did not attribute any merit to himself. So, for example, he wrote to his spiritual son: “I am amazed at your unlimited faith in my insignificance. Undeniably, my unworthiness aside, this is highly commendable. Only, by the way, you deign to write that I would accept under my imaginary protection my brother P, who wants to be saved in the true way. But, oh dear one! I ask you to take a closer look: this, it seems, is not appropriate for me. You yourself know that I am one of the low people and undeserving of attention in the Lord, although on my part, for the sake of the commandment of God, as far as possible, I am obliged to advise those who require them by faith in the difficulties that happen to them, according to the testimony of the Father of Saints.” At the end of the letters he sent, the Elder sometimes signed: “the most obscene hieromonk Leonidas.” During the life of his elder, Fr. Theodora in letters to various persons about. Leonid always signed together with Fr. Theodore; after his death, he appended to his name the name of his spiritual son Antiochus, although the latter did not participate in his letters at all. And when Fr. was not with him. Antiochus, then usually signed himself like this: “hieromonk Leonidas with devoted brethren.” Through this, the Elder seemed to want to show everyone that he could teach spiritual advice only with the help and prayers of the fathers and brothers living with him. With humility in the elder, Fr. Leonidas was inextricably linked with another God-loving quality - meekness. No one saw him indignant with passionate anger and irritation. In the most difficult days of his life, no one heard a voice of impatience or murmur from him, no one saw him in despondency. It was impossible not to be amazed at his constant gaiety. Calmness, evangelical infancy and Christian joy never left the child-loving father. But, considering himself in the feeling of his heart the most indecent of people, the conqueror of the passions of anger and impatience, the elder Fr. Leonid, despite his strength of character, had the courage of his soul. Brave and generous, he always acted openly and with his life, as it were, brought upon himself persecution, which, as the inevitable fate of almost all servants of God, followed him everywhere until his very death. - "Well? Take it and judge me, if you have been given the power to do so. I live and walk before my God, I live for my neighbors, casting aside all hypocrisy and fear of worldly judgment; I fear no one but God. When my conscience is peaceful, my heart plays merrily like a baby’s; when my whole life was one day of serving God, my elder and my children in Christ, then why should I be afraid? “That’s how the great man felt, that’s how he thought!” And therefore Elder Theodore, when he lived with Fr. Leonidas, used to jokingly call him “the humble lion.” Always keeping in mind only the glory of God and the benefit of others and entrusting the salvation of all to the Heavenly Father, Elder Fr. Leonid was alien to any human fears. He abandoned all minor precautions, relying on his Lord Jesus Christ and St. Guardian angel of man. To their invisible guidance he entrusted himself, and the entry and exit of his visitors, and, like a rock in the midst of the waves that overwhelmed it, he remained unshakable from the attacks of enemies, visible and invisible. When he lived in Optina Pustyn, it happened that some of the visitors to the monastery on some occasion became acquainted with those of the brethren who were not disposed towards the Elder. Seeing this, his disciples, due to human weakness, grieved and were afraid that these brothers would distract the visitors and not allow them to see the Elder. But Fr. Leonid judged this differently. - “Eh, don’t worry! - he used to say in such cases to his students, “he will always find his own.” The elder wanted to express by this that if anyone sincerely and with all his soul seeks salvation, God will lead him to a true mentor. And whoever, wanting to be saved, at the same time allows human calculations, or is carried away by double-mindedness, unbelief, or conceit and self-justification, will end up with such an adviser and mentor. Thus, having rejected all man-pleasing, the humble Elder did not at all insist that the monastery visitors would certainly come to him, and of those who came he did not assure anyone of his disposition towards them. With all these God-loving virtues, the elder Fr. Leonid was granted high spiritual gifts from the Lord. Having studied, under the guidance of Elder Theodore, the writings of the ascetic fathers on monastic life and having been for many years in sincere obedience and obedience to him and under his spiritual guidance, and at the same time having previously been a true novice, by his obedience he acquired the gift of spiritual reasoning or spiritual reason, by which he could clearly recognize the true spirit and the spirit of flattery - the action of God's grace and delusion hostility, even subtle and hidden. In any case and in every thing, he accurately comprehended and indicated to others what was pleasing or displeasing to God, and could correctly judge the spiritual structure of others, even those whom many revered as spiritual people, and thus could well have been an elder-mentor 43 . And this is given from God to few. The following story is given as an example of spiritual reasoning. In the late twenties or early thirties, elder Fr. Leonid visited the Sofronieva hermitage in the Kursk province of Putivl district. At that time, Hieroschemamonk Theodosius lived there in the garden in seclusion, whom many revered as a spiritual husband and seer, since he at one time predicted the Patriotic War of 1812 and some other events. O. Leonid found his arrangement doubtful. After talking with the recluse, the Elder asked him how he knows and predicts the future? The recluse answered that the Holy Spirit was telling him the future. And to the Elder’s question about how he proclaims, he explained that the Holy Spirit appears to him in the form of some kind of dove and speaks to him in a human voice. Seeing that this obvious charm of the enemy, Fr. Leonid began to warn the recluse that such things should not be trusted. But he was offended and indignantly objected to the Elder: “I thought that you, like others, wanted to take advantage of me, but you came to teach me!” After that, the elder Fr. Leonid withdrew and, leaving the monastery, said to the abbot: “Take care of your holy recluse, no matter what happens to him.” Barely o. Leonid reached Orel, when he learned there that the unfortunate Theodosius had hanged himself. - From this we can conclude that although this recluse was deceived by the enemy, God’s mercy did not completely retreat from him. When he rejected the benevolent warning of the wise and experienced Elder, the Lord abandoned him for this, and he died such a terrible death. Together with the gift of spiritual reason, the elder Fr. Leonidas, as we have already partially seen above, also had the gift of clairvoyance from the Lord. From the stories of his disciples it is known that he seemed to read the secrets of the heart in the soul of each of them, that their innermost thoughts could not be hidden from his penetrating gaze, which he often openly exposed in the presence of others who came to him for the sake of their spiritual benefit. The Elder especially had the gift from God to reveal and remind those who sincerely treated him of the sins they had forgotten. Skete hieromonk Fr. Ilarius (in the world Ivan Ivanovich Guryanov), one of the Kozelsk merchants, told many people the following about himself: “Even before I joined the ranks of the brethren, I once came from Kozelsk to Optina Pustyn, wanting to partake of the Holy Mysteries. But, having confessed to the monastery confessor, I felt some kind of unaccountable embarrassment and anxiety in my soul, and before the Liturgy itself I went to explain this to the elder Fr. Leonid. The elder told me: “Your confusion probably comes from the fact that you did not reveal everything to your confessor in confession as you should have.” And then, in a few minutes, he skillfully reminded me of my unconfessed sins, saying: “Perhaps I didn’t do such and such?” “When I admitted that I was really guilty of what the Elder had hinted at, the confusion in me disappeared, I completely calmed down and, on the advice of the Elder, having revealed my unconfessed sins to the confessor to whom I had previously confessed, and having received permission from him, I already partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ in a peaceful state of mind” 44. Another disciple of Elder Leonidas, Fr. P., said that when he confessed his thoughts to him, he sometimes hid some things involuntarily, and others voluntarily, out of fear or shame. Father Leonid, having listened to the confession, himself expressed everything that was hidden, adding: “Why aren’t you saying this?” Thus, the Elder encouraged the student to sincerely confess all embarrassing thoughts. With such spiritual gifts, the elder Fr. Leonid was a teaching husband. But this will be discussed in detail further in the next chapter. Here we will also say that this Elder also had the gift of healing from the Lord. He did not refuse to give help to the brethren and lay visitors who came to him for spiritual advice in case of bodily illnesses, pointing some to proven folk remedies. He mainly used so-called bitter water for treatment, which sometimes amounted to one and a half buckets a day. They did not stop preparing bitter water in the monastery and distributing it to those suffering from internal diseases even after the death of the Elder, but after him this water had already lost its multi-healing power to help against all sorts of diseases, although it helps against some 45 . The Elder sent some of those who came to the city of Voronezh to the relics of the newly-minted saint of God, Saint Mitrofan 46. And there were examples that the sick, who had walked or traveled hundreds of miles, were healed on the way and, like the Gospel Samaritan, returned to thank the Elder who had given them advice. To many who suffered from physical ailments, often combined with mental ones and therefore not always understandable to ordinary people, Elder Fr. Leonid taught blessed help, anointing them with oil from the unquenchable lamp that glowed in his cell in front of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which he received as a blessing from his elder, schema-monk Theodore. With this icon, the great elder Paisius (Velichkovsky) admonished schemamonk Theodore when he left Moldova for Russia, and Fr. Theodore, going to the Lord, blessed Fr. Leonidas as a sharer of his sorrows and heir of spiritual gifts. That is why it was revered by Elder Leonid as a special shrine. The depicted Queen of Heaven, by Her appearance, breathes peace into the souls of those praying before Her 47 . In Her holy face one does not see exquisite tenderness and feminine beauty. The features are strict, and the outline of the face is more Russian than Greek. Anointing the sick with oil from the lamp from this icon, the Elder apparently placed all his hope in the mercy and help of God, in the intercession of the Queen of Heaven and in the prayers of his spiritual father. According to the faith of the elder Fr. Leonidas and those who came to him, this anointing exerted great beneficial power. Through him, many received consolation in sorrows, relief in spiritual battles and healing of bodily illnesses. So oh. Abbot P-th said that when the cell attendants of the elder Fr. Leonidas complained of some illness, he anointed them with oil from the lamp, and the illness went away. They brought him to the elder Fr. Leonid and many demoniacs. There were also many who previously did not know that they were possessed by a demon, and only in the presence of the Elder, after he exposed the delusion hidden in them, began to be possessed. This often happened with those of the worldly unreasonable ascetics who, having come to the Elder, themselves revealed to him that they were wearing chains, and at the same time complained that they did not find spiritual peace. It turned out that, spontaneously undergoing severe physical labors, they did not endure with humility either the sorrows sent down from God or the reproachful words from people and, oppressing their body with chains, in their souls they harbored enmity and rancor against the offenders, carried away by self-conceit, and in general did not care at all about cleansing the heart from passions, sometimes thus reaching the point of delusion. With such reckless ascetics, Fr. Leonid ordered to remove the chains 48, teaching them that excessive bodily exploits without humility and spiritual reasoning not only do not bring benefit, but also harm those who are zealous for their salvation, and that Christians must first of all pay attention to the most necessary and obligatory gospel commandments of the Lord, without which it is impossible to be saved. When, by the will of the Elder, the chains were removed, some of those chained with them were attacked by demons. The Elder placed an epitrachelion on all such sufferers and read over them a short incantatory prayer from the missal, and in addition anointed them with oil from the lamp or gave them to drink. As a result, there were many amazing cases of healing. Some said then, and perhaps will say now: “It’s not difficult; and anyone can anoint with oil and read the spell.” In response to such an objection, one can recall the example of the sons of the Jew Sceva, who began, following the example of St. Apostle Paul, cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ: “I know Jesus,” the demon answered, “and I know Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15). – Fr. was victorious over the demons. Leonid, of course, after conquering his passions. Said Fr. Leonid: “In our times, God does not send ascetics such trials as the ancients, because they could not bear it, and does not give ancient talents, so that they do not ascend immeasurably.” This is how he spoke generally about the monks of his time; but by his Christian simplicity and humility, by the sorrows he endured and by his spiritual gifts, he was as if one from the ancients. One of the Elder’s close disciples, seeing him one day in a particularly cheerful and frank mood, asked: “Father! How did you capture such spiritual gifts as we see in you?” The elder answered: “Live simply, God will not leave you either.” Then he added: “Leonid was always the last in the monasteries; He never refused any order from the abbot. On the eve of great holidays, others used to rush to church, and Leonid was sent to the farm to get hay for the horses of the visiting guests, and then, tired and without dinner, they were sent to the choir to sing, and he obeyed meekly. Try to live like this, and the Lord will show you His mercy.” – These were, in terms of external actions, the internal properties and qualities of the described elder, Fr. Leonida! Let's add to this a few more words about his appearance. According to the description of Fr. Abbot Anthony Bochkov, the Elder was naturally obese. His face was round, darkish, pale and handsome from his exploits, 49 with an expression of severity and courage, framed by a small beard. The hair on the head is thick and long. In old age, they became a real lion's mane, yellow-gray, wavy, and went down much below the shoulders 50. The eyes were small, grayish, and looked straight, not observing the newcomer and not guessing what was hidden in his soul. At one glance, the Elder knew what attracted another wanderer to him, who had traveled thousands of miles. The hands were very slender and beautiful, with full and long, picturesque fingers. Only one index finger on his left hand was missing, since by accident it was chopped off by the Elder while chopping wood in the Valaam monastery. His height was above average. The gait is beautiful; his courageous and at the same time light, measured gait showed that he easily carried his rather heavy body. No stooping or senile bending was visible in this warrior of Christ, established in spiritual battles. He died in retirement in the Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery, Kostroma province, April 30, 1867. Hieroschemamonk Ignatius entered the Skete in 1830 and, transferred to the monastery, died in 1897 at the age of 95. Died March 18, 1909 Ladder. Word 28 on prayer, sec. I. P. 287. A similar example can be seen from the story about the Monk John Kolov: “One day the owner of the camels came to Abba John to take his baskets and take them to their destination. Abba entered the cell to bring out baskets for him and, taking one basket, he forgot, because his mind was caught up in God. The camel owner disturbed him again by knocking on the door. Abba went out to him, but, returning to his cell, he forgot again. The camel owner knocked a third time. Abba went out to him and, returning to his cell, repeated: “baskets are a camel, baskets are a camel.” He repeated this so as not to forget again.” (Fatherland. Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov. About St. John Kolov, section 43.) Elder Hieroschemamonk Ambrose spoke in exactly the same way about the Jesus Prayer. – Look at his biography compiled by Archimandrite Agapit. Part 2. “Why are there so few good elders nowadays?” - they once asked the Athonite confessor. “Because,” he answered, “there are now few good novices. The former are formed from the latter.” Hieromonk Hilary died in 1872 and during his lifetime this is how he conveyed the described story personally to the compiler of this biography. Some rich lady, having once been cured of a headache with bitter water (drinking a glass of it every night after dinner), bought the secret of this water for ten thousand rubles in banknotes. - Here is its composition: three spools of ammonia and three spools of sabur are dissolved in a bottle of boiling water, and when it cools down, three spools of strong vodka are poured into it. “Moreover, the Elder ordered that a little oil from his cell Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God be poured into it. Discovery of the relics of St. Mitrofan was in 1832, on August 6. This icon is now in the Kaluga Tikhonova Hermitage, where it was transferred from Optina after the death of Elder Leonid by his disciple and spiritual son, the monk Ioannikiy, in the schema of Leonid. The novice, who was entrusted with the custody of these chains, after the death of the elder Fr. Leonid found up to 25 of them, each weighing from 25 pounds to a pound. Some writers wrote and published that Elder Leonid was surprisingly similar to a lion (beast). But the portraits of the Elder say the opposite. Fr., who lived under Elder Leonid and is mentioned in this biography. Abbot Anthony Bochkov finds the only thing resembling a lion in the Elder’s long and wavy hair. But he used this expression more for the sake of beauty of speech, since his schema name is Leo. True words from Fr. Abbot Anthony (Bochkova). And then, until the end of the chapter, his own words.