Correspondence with Abbot Anthony (Bochkov)

Letter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Most Reverend Father Anthony! Today I received from your dear son, Pyotr Alekseevich, a notebook of the Venerable Nile of Sorsky. Here is the life and epistles of Nile and the epilogue of Innocent. I offer you my sincerest gratitude for them! And the content of the notebooks is excellent, and the hand with which the notebooks are written is beautiful. How capable she would be of copying translations into Russian of the active Holy Fathers! Pyotr Alekseevich handed me one hundred and twenty-five silver rubles from Prokofy Ivanovich for the sacristy. Having thanked Prokofy Ivanovich for the donation, I thank you for your petition. Committing myself to your prayers and brotherly love, I have the honor to be forever Your most devoted navs unworthy Archimandrite. 1843 August 15. I humbly ask you to say my most ardent bow to the most kind and respectable Father Theophan. Vasily Fedorovich was with us the other day. Father Anthony, most beloved in the Lord! I bring you my heartfelt gratitude for remembering me, unworthy, and for congratulating me on the New Year, on which I congratulate you evenly, wishing you all the true blessings in time and in eternity. I am very glad that the Staro-Ladoga region, which you liked before, has again attracted your attention. I sincerely wish that you find peace in your soul and body. You have traveled so much! We have seen and experienced so much! Now is the time to consider what you have seen and experienced, to extract the correct results that are useful for you, useful for those who will ask you for words of benefit. I entrust myself to your love in the Lord and ask for your holy prayers for the unworthy Archimandrite Ignatius. January 16, 1848. I had the pleasure of receiving your letter dated August 24th. I fully sympathize with the law of the Holy Church, according to which a priest cannot receive confession without the permission of the Diocesan Bishop, according to which, therefore, Hieromonk Gabriel, without the permission of the Most Reverend Metropolitan, could not receive for spirit anyone from the brethren of the Nicholas Monastery, despite your permission and the desire of some of the brethren; also, if I had decided to authorize Gabriel to become a clergyman on my own behalf, then this would have been impermissible and illegal self-will on my part. For these good reasons, I went to Vladyka with the idea that some of the St. Nicholas brethren wish to have Hieromonk Gabriel as their confessor; At my presentation, a resolution followed and, on the basis of it, a consistory decree, allowing those who wished to do what they wanted. As for the weakness of Fr. Gabriel, then you know that the weakness of a priest as a person does not at all prevent the performance of the sacraments, which are performed because of the grace of the priesthood with which a person is endowed, and not because of his own merits, although it is pleasant to see in one person the combination of one’s own merits with the gifts of grace. Regarding Vladimir and the other brethren who are under my influence, I, somewhat taught by my 23-year-old abbot, am in no hurry to get carried away by the direction of the brethren, especially the young ones, both for good and for evil. Both directions are easily changed; In order for one or the other to become established, it takes time and time, and therefore one must peer and peer into a person, and then form a decisive opinion about him. Especially in our age, with increasing temptations, we need to really support people: already in our monasteries there are very few capable people; not to mention completely trustworthy ones - this is the greatest rarity in the most comfortable monasteries. Finally, regarding you yourself, I will say: the Bishop will be much more pleased if you remain in his Diocese; if you want to cross, he will let you go with love. You know from the Scriptures of the Holy Fathers that even trees with many saplings, often replanted, lose their strength when transplanted, but those that sit in the ground constantly and patiently endure the winds send their roots deep into the ground. Asking for your holy prayers Most Reverend O Anthony! Upon receipt of your letter Fr. Justin, I soon received a petition from the Archimandrite of the Black Sea Desert to dismiss him. Having left the matter to the will of God, I decided to combine my petition before the Holy Synod for the dismissal of the current Abbot of the Desert with a petition for the appointment of you to this opened vacancy. Everything is in the hands of God: in these hands we are too. It is much better to rely on God than on human intentions. “Waiting for the winds, there is no sowing,” said the Rev. Isaac, etc. (Word 58). There is currently a vacancy; when it is not there, then with all the desire to do something, there will be no opportunity to do anything. And again I entrust myself, you, the Caucasian Diocese and the Black Sea Monastery to the mercy and will of God. Asking for your holy prayers, I have the honor to be Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. To the most honorable Hieromonk Fr. Anthony. Letter from Hieromonk Anthony (Bochkov) to the Metropolitan Novgorod and St. Petersburg Isidore 1 Your Eminence Vladyka, Most Gracious Father and Archpastor! Your Eminence knows that I have been nominated as rector of the Black Sea Swan Hermitage. This was not my desire, but only submission to the will of the Most Reverend Ignatius, my former spiritual father and first mentor in monastic life. But my opinion - what the Right Reverend asked me about - was that I was both too old and sick for a new place and position. I dared to remind His Eminence about another, more capable monk than me, the former treasurer of the Svyatogorsk Kharkov monastery, Father Veniamin, now living in our Tikhvin monastery. He is 20 years younger than me. But His Eminence, despite my semi-refusal, introduced me: all I had to do was submit to his will. 7 months have passed since the first day of the proposal, and during this time my health became even weaker. And I learned that His Eminence is unlikely to remain in the Caucasus. Therefore, I can sinlessly refuse the abbotship of the Swan Hermitage. I ask your Eminence’s forgiveness that with my unworthiness I am bothering your attention and taking away even a minute of time devoted to the good of the Holy Church. Forgive me, Holy Master! and do not deprive me of your Archpastoral prayers and blessings. Your Eminence, My most merciful Archpastor and Father, an unworthy novice, a great sinner Hieromonk Anthony. March 13th 1861. Written in the Tikhvin Mother of God Monastery. Father Abbot Anthony, most beloved in the Lord! I congratulate you on the upcoming Holy Easter, on your elevation to the rank of Hegumen, and thank you for notifying me about yourself. By asking the Holy Synod to appoint you as abbot of the Black Sea Hermitage, I had in mind to provide this monastery with the abbot it needed, and to the nearby convent a dean and an elder. But more than that, I had in mind to introduce you to the new St. Petersburg authorities, with the goal that, having gotten to know you as they should, they would use you for the common benefit. The last of my assumptions came true; and I rejoice, thank God, and wish you to bring spiritual benefit to Christ’s sheep. I believe that at the present time, when managing the brotherhood, in spiritual and moral terms, it is most useful to be guided by the second half of the book of the Great Barsanuphius, starting with the answers to Abba Dorotheus. At least that's what I understand from my limited experiences. I sincerely rejoice that the toilers Augusta and Elizabeth found in you a like-minded and sympathetic companion. May God bless your spiritual union for the glory of the Holy His name and for the benefit of souls who are thirsty to hear the word of God, and with His guidance to save their souls from moral death, which will overtake all those deprived of true food - the Word of God. Asking for your holy prayers. Ignatius, Bishop of the Black Sea. April 18, 1861. Your Reverence, Most Honorable Father Abbot Anthony! God bless you for your loving letter of April 30th. I repeat to you: I sincerely rejoice that God has led me to be an instrument in granting you the rank of abbot and service in a solitary place that suits your mood. The Lord will take care of the Black Sea Desert. If you also want to be useful to this Monastery, then take the trouble to inform me who has been appointed abbot there; if no one has been appointed, then contact Fr. Archimandrite Innocent, who lives in retirement in Zelenetsky, tell him that I would like to see him as the Rector of the Black Sea Desert, the management of which, with my assistance, will be very convenient for him. Review about. Innocent, take the trouble to tell me. If he agrees, I ask him to write me a letter, on the basis of which I could petition the Higher Authorities for his appointment. With o. I got along very well with Innocent; my relationship with him remained the same; I hope that this is also his attitude towards me. The Black Sea Desert should be a cenobitic monastery, but it still remains in a regular position. The abbot receives mugs from 2500 rubles to 4000 per year. I found the brethren dashing; but, with the help of various quiet, simple, but strong measures, they calmed down so much that they became humbler than sheep and calves. About the collision about. I heard something about Theodore and Askochensky, but I’m not curious about the details. All these clashes have a common character. When I was in St. Petersburg, there was a clash between M. Filaret and Pavsky, then between him, Filaret, and Sidonsky, and so on. There were no results for the Church from these clashes. What you understood, God revealed to you in the field of God-established monastic feat, which is being taken away from the face of the earth according to the inscrutable Destinies of God, before which we must revere and remain silent. For all your time. Salvation and its various methods were a gift from God to humanity, and by no means mankind’s own invention. Present your son to God, praying for him, and in your prayer giving him to God and entrusting him to the mercy of God. With God everything is possible. In my youth and yours there were many temptations for youth, but now the temptations have multiplied indefinitely, passion for them has become almost universal, and resistance to them is almost invisible. For this reason, modern youth is less subject to condemnation and deserves more pity and leniency. The whole world seemed to unanimously rush to meet some special person, a genius - a magnificent and solemn meeting. This is obvious. The face will be so disguised that the masses will recognize him as the Messiah: what wonder is it if his prophets appeared in the images of the prophets of the Messiah. A path is being prepared, a mental path for the entry of the action of lies (2 Thess. 2:11) into minds and hearts. I ask for your holy prayers. Do not leave the Ladoga Elders, who find joy in your love in their orphanhood and give you the full price. I had the honor to receive Your Eminence’s letter dated May 18th. Today I am writing to Father Archimandrite Innocent about your proposal and copying out for him the words concerning him from your letter. I don’t know where it is now, although I address it to the Zelenetsky Monastery; Rumors spread that Father Archimandrite was planning to go to the East. The order of Your Eminence is very honorable for me; Moreover, it gave me the honor of receiving your answer to my letter, which did not deserve it. I humbly thank you and kiss your hand in absentia, which has worked hard and is still working today for the good and comfort of the least of us, who need a word of strengthening. My observations of the monasticism of our times are consistent with your view, but you, placed higher on the visor of Christian cities, see further. Your words: salvation and its various methods were a gift from God to humanity, and by no means an invention of humanity’s own, struck me with the depth of thought that embraced in one expression the fate of the past and the future. But what will happen to us, what will happen to Russia, which to this day sees the promised land in France and Jerusalem in Paris? I mean the upper layer of the social current; the lower one is still close to its native land, and the middle one still flows indefinitely. What will happen to Palestinian Jerusalem, where many are now being drawn and where easy paths are opening? Where will be the denouement of incomprehensible human affairs and the incomprehensible actions of the Great Creator? Who will be called Babylon? Is it seaside London, or our St. Petersburg, or another future coastal city? I think that all the brilliant industry and trade hitherto will fade before the bloody scenes characteristic of our half-brutal nature of quieter and more deliberate calculations. America has already shown what a person can do when his interests are affected! European Christianity has lost its apostolic brew, and our Orthodox Christianity, in my weak and dark opinion, has become dilapidated to the letter. But is our renewal predicted? Can what has been established for centuries be reformed by Councils and centuries? If not, then the time is near. It is impossible for both the Romans and the Greeks to remain in the present situation. Humanity is part of its Savior, we Orthodox Christians are part of the Terrible Judge. In the present situation I would like to remain in the form of an observer rather than a doer. But, unfortunately, at the age of 24, I couldn’t find a solid point for observation anywhere. I hope that the schema, which is not in vain called the highest angelic image, will provide me, who longs for deliverance, with Christian freedom. And the abbot proved to me through experience that on the current soil there will not and cannot be a fruit of ancient taste and appearance. Our monasticism strives, as far as possible and where possible, to imitate the world in manners, words, customs, forgetting that this appearance often covers up emptiness and characterlessness. I saw this direction everywhere, and where it has not yet reached, instead of ancient piety there is only ancient rudeness and dead literalness. Hardly, and here and there, there is a person seeking salvation. The retrograde direction of the monastery of Gethsemane, Guslitsa and similar public institutions and attractions will sooner or later turn to the general channel, where everything now flows uncontrollably. L The elders write about the abolished Volga monastery, which the Volozhans would like to restore. And M. Elizabeth points to the will of M. confessor. Of course, their circumstances are cramped, very cramped, and they force them to seek shelter, just like I, a sinner, do. I don’t know what I can do in this matter, but as long as there is still some trust in me, I will try to be their assistant in my old name, which I want to return. Thank you for your letter dated July 11th. I add the following to the news you reported: Seeing, on the one hand, that by my direction I had become disconnected from the general direction, and on the other, finding it absolutely necessary to use the rest of my earthly life in careful preparation for eternity, I submitted a petition on July 24 for my dismissal from the administration of the Diocese and for the provision of the management of the Nikolaev Babayevsky Monastery in the Kostroma province, on the Volga. I supported my request with letters. As circumstances go, one can hope that they will not refuse. I believe that the position I have chosen is the most convenient due to the nature of our time, in which it is necessary to prefer some care to complete carelessness, which is so conducive to paying attention to oneself in order to maintain independence from people of a different direction. When I sent the request, I felt a special peace and joy in my soul. Take the trouble to convey my undertaking to the Elders. I ask your holy prayers and their prayers, so that the work begun will be arranged for the benefit of my soul, for the glory of God and according to the will of God. Thank you for your kind and intelligent letter of August 13th. You look at modernity exactly the same way I look at it. It is very difficult for a person who has formed his way of thinking according to the teachings of St. to attach himself to the virtues and prosperity of our time. Fathers of the Orthodox Church. On August 21, I received a notification dated August 6 from the Synodal Chief Prosecutor that my wish had been granted. The matter was decided at the Synod on August 5. According to private letters, the Decree can be sent in two weeks, therefore, around August 20th. I can receive it around September 1st: why I hope to be at my resting place around October 1st. By the grace of God I am given a place that is most convenient both in terms of solitude and in many other respects. I must thank God for His ineffable blessings poured out on me since my childhood! I will be waiting for your response in my new place. Address: in the city of Nerekhta, Kostroma province. May the merciful Lord comfort you with the appeal to Him of the kindest young man Peter. Let your son according to the flesh become your son according to the spirit: with God all things are possible. Committing myself to your holy prayers, with feelings of perfect reverence and devotion, I have the honor to be I received your letter dated October 8th upon arrival at the monastery, where I dragged myself on the 14th, having caught a severe cold on the way. You very rightly say that my current position is the most beneficial for me. I recognize it as the gift of a merciful God, who hid me in the secret of His face from the rebellion of man, who covered me in shelter from the quarrel of tongues (Ps. 30:21) 2. The special mercies of God are poured out in the city of enclosure. This is not clear to the world. Many serious people talk about Napoleon III the way you talk. But Napoleon III will not change the predestinations of God’s Providence for Russia, just as Napoleon I did not change them. The Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church (for example, St. Andrew of Crete in his interpretation of the Apocalypse, Chapter 20) predict extraordinary civil development and power for Russia. Foreigners feel this too. Recently, one English statesman, in a meeting in which they were discussing what to do against the Russians, exclaimed: “leave alone this people, over whom the special hand of Fate is, which after every shock that can apparently destroy it becomes stronger and stronger.” After the Sevastopol disaster, which cost Russia 250 thousand people killed, its population increased to more than 6 million. These millions are housed in all their homes, while France and England must constantly evict their surplus. Our disasters must be more moral and spiritual. The overwhelming salt foreshadows them and clearly reveals that the people can and must become an instrument of the genius of geniuses, who will finally realize the idea of ​​​​a world monarchy, the implementation of which many have already tried. The Holy Gospel depicts the Lord's view of the contemporary Jewish people with the following features: Having seen the nations, He had mercy on them, as if they were in turmoil and rejected, like sheep, not having a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). If the spiritual Jews of that time, pompous with their learning and the most distinct knowledge of the Law, the most careful teaching of it to the people, had heard this: what would they have said? Slander, slander! they would exclaim in one voice. This is how their blindness would force them to express themselves. – If Napoleon III cleans out the cesspool into which all the best from the country is pulled together and thrown out abroad, all the bad things from abroad are scattered into the country - no big problem! I ask your holy prayers to focus my vision on my dead man. May God's blessing rest upon you. October 26, 1861. P.S. My address: Yaroslavl. Your Eminence Vladyka, Most Gracious Father and Archpastor! I did not dare to write to Your Eminence soon after your last letter. You concluded it with a significant word: it is time to focus your vision on your dead man. It was an instruction, a remark, and an example. But at this time some matters followed, which, of course, were notified to Your Eminence by the Ladoga Elders. During my short stay in St. Petersburg on monastic affairs, I was honored with a gracious reception from our Archpastor and a long conversation about the Assumption disagreements. In good order, he instructed me to go to them and reconcile them. Having received such a difficult order, I first went to Fr. The dean should trust my opinions with his comments. He is more experienced and practical than me, but he judges more strictly: due to my mental weakness, I cannot judge a single person harshly. Please see that from my dead man I had to take care of the quarrels that do not die in Staraya Ladoga. I wrote to V.P. 3 Isidore that the only means of peace is to separate those who disagree, and pointed to the Ivanovo Monastery, which the Metropolitan had already been asked to do in advance. I recommended M Augusta and sister Elizabeth in the most honorable terms for them, without, however, saying a single word about you. Tatyana Borisovna 4 takes part in this matter, because her pets are the main reason for the disagreement. Therefore, there is hope that the Ivanovo Monastery will serve as a refuge for the expelled old women. Your Eminence, of course, will not refuse to intercede for your students. But here is my main concern, which I can only tell you about. In Sister Elizabeth I noticed some kind of exaltation, some kind of cruelty in judgments about the Mother Superior. For example, she told me that she saw, I don’t know with what eyes, that an evil spirit was possessing or entering the Mother Superior, that she was drinking, and so on. 5 All this is possible, but when starting a monastery one should have more humility. It is a grave or a ditch for the foundation of a building. It will not be possible to reach the heights any time soon. Therefore, I dare to ask Your Eminence to remind your advice to your smart student: not to believe in dreams and visions. In addition, there is also Marya Ivanovna 6 with different prophecies. She is now in humility: she has nowhere to live, and therefore is looking for a place, even if it would require moving two abbess. She is training to be a picker and sooner or later will turn out to be a heavy burden for Augusta. I did not tell these forebodings to the Elders. They are so smart that my advice is unnecessary for them: your word is another matter. I will speak briefly about political affairs. There are two news: an addition to the special litanies in the entire Moscow diocese, made by Metropolitan Philaret without communication with the Holy Synod: about being merciful and merciful - until righteous rebuke and mercy are granted. The second is rumors that Moscow patriots and economists are proposing to declare bankruptcy of Russia. There are meetings about finances in St. Petersburg and there is still no outcome: all they have in mind are papers and nothing more. Forgive me, Holy Master! I ask for your forgiveness, blessings and holy prayers. I bow to the ground in absentia. Your Eminence unworthy novice, sinful I congratulate you on the upcoming holidays and the upcoming New Year, and sincerely thank you for the participation you took in Staritsy. By this same mail I am writing to the Count, without mentioning your name, and asking to give Augusta the abbot’s position with a withdrawal from the Ladoga Monastery. I wrote to Potemkina a long time ago (at the beginning of December) so that she would take part in the situation of the Ladoga Monastery. But, unfortunately, my petition does not take place before the Metropolitan. “I kept silent about all this in my letters to the Elders, fearing the ladies’ tongue, which can easily cause harm to both themselves and their neighbors. I don’t blame either the elders or the abbess. Both sides act in their own direction. I saw a clash of heterogeneous monastic trends in the Valaam Monastery, where Veniamin, a man who did not drink wine, went to services and to meals without skipping a beat, was made hegumen from the Novoezersky Monastery. These virtues had no value in front of the Valaamites, who demanded from Benjamin the monastic knowledge and erudition he lacked, who saw him as a layman, not a monk. In 1829, during the life of Elder Feofan, I came to Novoyezersk, having lived in Optina and Ploshchanskaya: the Novoyezersk monks seemed to me to be laymen, despite the excellent improvement of the monastery and the order of worship, which, however, was lower than Ploshchansky and Beloberezhsky. I asked the monks: do they go to the Elder for advice and revelation of thoughts. They answered: “no one goes, with the exception of Komarovsky, and mainly the Goritsky nuns and a large number of lay people turn to the Elder for advice.” I talked several times with the Elder: he directly rejected mental activity, as very convenient for the transition to delusion, and showed very little erudition. He lived a fasted life; went to services without missing a beat; I got up an hour before Matins and read the rule in my cell; He was of athletic build and short in stature. In accordance with his own direction, he led others: both the Novoyezersky brotherhood and the Goritsky brothers were alien to spiritual work; all their attention is focused on the plausibility of external behavior and physical feat. It is known that such living introduces conceit into the soul and develops spiritual passions, which the physical worker cannot even notice in himself, and does not even suspect their presence. He cannot avoid conceit: he cannot help but see his plausible behavior and his exploits and outward deeds. But the publican, a sinner and not knowing anything about himself but his sins, who deserved the condemnation of men, is justified before God for the fact that from consciousness he said to himself: “God,” and so on, and the Pharisee was not awarded such mercy of God. May God grant this mercy to all His servants who work for Him both physically and mentally. It is only without spiritual achievement that it is impossible to approach the mind of God, said St. Isaac. All people are weak: why is it impossible for weaknesses not to manifest themselves in those who are engaged in spiritual struggle. One should not be executed for these weaknesses, as the righteous constantly strive for, as we already see from the Gospel. Asking Your St. prayers Bishop Ignatius. December 28, 1861. My address: Yaroslavl. Your Reverence, Most Reverend Father Abbot Anthony! I sincerely thank you for your letter! In general, your letters belong to those extremely rare ones in which a practical and insightful look is visible. For some time now, I began to often turn in memory to the prayer of the holy three youths in the cave of Babylon: For those who have sinned, for those who have sinned, and so on. What an excellent confession of one’s sinfulness, both private and public, in this prayer! what a justification for God’s permission and reverence for Him! what a true view of his contemporaries! Exactly: the consolation of a Christian lies in true spiritual reason, which is in close union with faith and humility, to which the carnal and spiritual reason is contrary. The destinies of God led me to witness one of the woeful sowings of tares hostile to the Church. This sowing was called with the loud name of Orthodoxy, just as many other similar actions had already been clothed and covered with the magnificent names of Christian virtues. Then the sowing terrified me; I had a presentiment that the consequences would be terrible. I sincerely wish that your new place will serve as a calm haven for you, convenient for the cultivation of salvation. The Chermenets Monastery is poorer than the Vvedensky Monastery, but the climate in the former is much healthier than the latter. “I am very pleased with my shelter, but my health is extremely upset. Time to leave the earthly field; but unmourned sins lead to the desire to remain in the vale of soul-destroying suffering and crying, in order to avoid crying and useless and eternal suffering. The elders thank you very much for your participation in their situation, and really appreciate this participation. May God grant them a peaceful shelter. I entrust myself to your Holy prayers and love for the Lord. Invoking God's blessing upon you, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be Bishop Ignatius. June 27, 1862. Your Christian love for everyone and your monastic humility have always overcome your bodily weaknesses: you were always ready to give an answer to your lesser brethren about Christ; So now, in your correspondence with me, Your Eminence forgets the great distance between you and me; You accept my awkward letters with approval and answer them with fatherly condescension. Therefore, I dare to talk about what occupies me due to the liveliness of my character - about the current situation of our Fatherland; for you, who are busy in conversation with the Holy Fathers, such objects can only be a distraction from the one thing you need. Having reached some kind of academic millennium, Russia sees... what does it see? The common people are almost in paganism, half in schism; high society in unbelief; shepherds of the church, deprived of the trust of the flock; ruin and poverty are everywhere; on the shores of the Baltic and Black Seas there are gardens and palaces that no one needs, and between these seas there are former and ancient Russian cities, gradually emptying; villages with thatched roofs were given over to the bloodsuckers: Russian and foreign Jews, tax farmers, swindlers, factory owners, police; a people given up as a sacrifice to the servants of Satan, who, without knowing it themselves, are advancing the kingdom of their father with amazing zeal, haste, and ingenuity. In front of each other they are trying to arrange everything for the joyful appearance of the Antichrist. Poor Russia! In one hundred and fifty years, Russia has been doing something, has gone somewhere, and doesn’t know what or where? But I’m tired, exhausted, exhausted in everything: I definitely need to stand up now, because I can’t take a step forward; you need to rest, gather your strength, rely on something; – but where is the support? Where is the goal of our kingdom? Whoever is at the head of the movement, he should stand and, kneeling, pray that ancient, holy prayer of our Fathers, which Your Eminence indicated. Is the kingdom of Belshazzar almost coming for us after the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar? Since the time of Peter, this Russian reformer, who almost cursed Orthodoxy (as new acts discovered in the archives now reveal), and with all his half-German descendants, the Church was supported only out of politics, although the Lord supported it in a different way: with troubles, cholera, plagues, the Twelfth Year and his own, not revealed to us. At the present time they began to bark at her clearly; and the shepherds, without threatening the dogs that frighten the flock, themselves sing songs, just not Jerusalem ones. Under Alexander I there was something similar, but then these attacks of unbelief were not common, but now self-will and unbelief have become almost an epidemic in our half-educated society, and you need to walk around St. Petersburg for at least a week to find out what kind of city it is? To our learning, all trained society, from England and America, to our neighbor Prussia, sees (if only it sees!) that all the connections and supports of human society are torn and falling, not imagining anything in the future with which to replace what is being destroyed; we must wait from hour to hour for the denouement, the solution to these human dramas, these long stories that were composed without the help of the Lord, the Creator of all things. All political and financial glues are falling apart; the human mind, never before so tense, is tired to the point of impossibility, contemplating the past and staring through all telescopes at the darkness of the future: darkness is everywhere for the truthful philosopher. Meanwhile, intoxicated by the 19th century and its discoveries, deceived by false progress, frivolous young men and old men, even more despicable, cry out about the universal hopes and future achievements of science! Some kind of demonic rapture, some kind of satanic holiday everywhere. The enemy of the human race has something to rejoice in! On holidays, the Neva bridges clatter from chariots galloping to drunken gatherings around the islands; railways are insufficient for Tsarkoselsky and Pavlovsk revelers; the remaining half-beggars walk around the city in teams, staggering and swearing, and in the empty churches at this time King David is rushing on a single postal vehicle. When I happened to be in St. Petersburg on holidays in the afternoon, I looked with some dark feeling at everything around me, which was not at all a Christian spectacle, and I condemned myself and my clothes with bitter sadness, as if they were not at all suitable for this fashionable dirt and metropolitan dust. Monk on the sidewalks of St. Petersburg! This is the most pathetic creature in appearance. What would it be like for the Visitor of our souls Himself if He deigned to seek a decent refuge for Himself? It is unlikely that Lot, not only Abraham, will be found in this Sodom. And Moscow, forgetting its holy historical Russian appearance, tries in every possible way to keep up with St. Petersburg in fashion, even reluctantly listens to praise for its centuries-old Kremlin, but points to its new houses and shops and other bustling establishments. All provincial cities imitate her. God forbid! You can live to see a time when monasteries and churches will prick the eyes, reminding the Kingdom of God to anarchists and atheists, and the bells have even now begun to disturb the ears, accustomed to gypsy booms, barrel organs and country music. And here is solemn progress visible to everyone and its fruits, visible on a holiday or evening of a holiday, but another civilization is not yet visible. At such evening bacchanalia, everyone gathers and becomes friends - from a university professor to an illiterate barge hauler, from a schismatic merchant to a modern gentleman. Therefore, where passions are given free rein, everyone rushes there, just as they once rushed to the holidays of Antichrist. And where profit is in mind, then they run towards this goal from the old lady to her lackey. This disgusting sight was seen by St. Petersburg during the distribution of shares in water pipelines, which increased by one percent against the ordinary percentage of capital. Our world of the 19th century represents a terrible and disgusting disgrace when its interests are affected! America, praised, now shows what it really is. California teaches that you can live without God and government. And this is the goal of our Russia! Lord deliver and save us! It is better to live under the yoke of the Tatars with a Russian and Orthodox, free soul, it is better to be fatherless Greeks, rather than to become childish with our imaginary glory until our pitiful time. I leave until the next letters what, it seemed to me, could stop the course of imaginary progress, although in advance I present my opinion as unrealistic. I ask, Your Eminence, to forgive me for this long letter, in which there is nothing new, except perhaps the expression of special thoughts, but this peculiarity belongs to everyone. Each of us expresses our feelings in our own way. About my monastery I will say that I began to repair the roofs and covered almost everything with tarred roofing paper; I’m thinking of making the cathedral warm: I spent my last pennies on all this, but I don’t see any support in the future, either external or internal. If we were looking for the Kingdom of God, everything would be added to us, but, apparently, we are looking for the wrong thing when help is still not in sight. My life's voyage is close to the end, and I am tired, leaning on the oars: all the mud and mud, or a restless lake: I have not yet left for quiet freedom, along the river and along the current. Be the will of God! Asking for holy prayers and the Archpastoral blessing with my complete devotion and filial respect, I have the honor to remain forever Dear Lord and Father, I don’t know where the Uspensky elders went. I wrote to them at the address, but I have no answer. Their fate is bitter. But, apparently, salvation comes with her. They will not give up their sadness for other people's joys. Thank you for your letter dated July 15th. To the first lines of it, I will tell you in response that, gradually approaching the departure from the hotel of the earth, I am gradually losing sympathy for the temporary arrangement of people in it, and I strive to unite in spirit with all my brethren in Christ. I think that now I am closer to you than ever before. The mercy of God granted me a quiet, very comfortable shelter, corresponding both to the needs of my spiritual mood and the needs of extremely disturbed health. The Babaevsky Monastery is much more secluded than both Konevets and Valaam. Silence begins to have a beneficial effect on me, distracting the eyes of the mind from seeing what is happening in the world and directing them to the contemplation of my sinfulness and the upcoming Judgment of God. Everything that happens is accomplished under the watchful gaze of the All-Good and Almighty God, one by the will of God, the other by God’s permission. Woe to the world from temptations the Savior said; but temptations must come, the Savior predicted. Allowing temptations, as a logical consequence of people’s use of their freedom or will, and as punishment, which itself follows from the abuse of the will (since God has given free will, and at the same time given the law on how to use it), must be contemplated with reverence, humility, confession of one’s sinfulness and the justice of God. The prayer of the holy three youths in the cave of Babylon is very instructive. May God's will be done! May the merciful Lord grant salvation to the weak, from whom I am the first, who have any will, even the weakest, to be saved. If you find out anything about the Church, do not refuse to inform me: I have no correspondence with anyone about this subject, and not everything and not everyone can be trusted. Maybe you yourself someday (for example, when traveling to Moscow) will want to visit the ancient Your friend. I would be especially pleased to see you at the Monastery of St. Nicholas of Babaevskaya. Asking for your holy prayers P.S. From the letter I received today from the Staritsa, it is clear that they decided to take refuge in the Tver Holy Cross Monastery. Your Reverence, Most Reverend Father Abbot! I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me, a sinner. I had the honor to receive your letter dated December 20th on January 2nd. May the new year be granted to us prosperously, by the ineffable mercy of God. I completely share your opinion about monasteries. Their position is similar to spring snow in the last days of March and the first of April: on the outside the snow is like snow, and underneath there is caustic spring water everywhere; it will eat the snow at the first auxiliary atmospheric change. An important sign of the death of monasticism: the widespread abandonment of internal work and self-satisfaction with appearances for show. Quite often, terrible immorality is masked by an actor's appearance. True monks do not live in monasteries from actor monks. For such a life, alien to internal activity, this only means of communication with God, people become obscene for God, as God declared to the antediluvian progressives. However, He gave them 120 years to repent. I have instructed the bookseller Mr. Glazunov to present Your Reverence with a copy of my works when they come out of print. Please accept favorably and be lenient towards my feeble-mindedness. Committing myself to your holy prayers, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me. You are 61 years old and I am 57. Summers [as if] weren’t long! But I am already ending my life, because my days have been evil, according to the expression of Patriarch Jacob. My health is naturally weak: it has been crushed by the difficulties of life. The greatest difficulty was moral: in my novice I could not find a monk who would be a living image of the ascetic teaching of the Fathers of the Orthodox Church. The desire to follow this direction, because of the consciousness of its correctness, put me in a position of opposition in relation to everyone and brought me into a struggle, from which by the finger of God, the only finger of God, I was brought into Babaev’s solitude, if only brought out. And, as you see, they raise their voices at the one who has departed; and they raise it for the same reason: because of deviation from the teaching of the Holy Church and the adoption of concepts that are contrary, even hostile to this teaching. Regarding the monasteries, I believe that their time is over, that they have decayed morally and have already destroyed themselves. You know the fatherly path, which consists of a spiritual feat based on a bodily feat in the mind. Again, you know Russian monasticism: point to people who undergo this feat correctly. There are none. In some monasteries there is a physical feat, and even more so for show to people. O Macarius of Optina resolutely rejected mental work, called it the cause of delusion, and taught only the bodily fulfillment of the commandments. But St. Isaac S says that physical activity without mental activity means dry breasts and barren wombs: this can be seen in the pupils of the Optina Hermitage. But oh. Macarius in our time was the best mentor of monasticism, he acted according to his own concepts, with the goal of pleasing God and benefiting his neighbors, with significant selflessness. If, as you say, we decided to restore monasticism, then there are no tools for restoration. No monks! and the actor will do nothing. The spirit of the times is such that one should expect final blows rather than restoration. Let him who saves save his soul, said the Holy Fathers. Do not regret my avoidance from public service and do not think that I could bring any benefit in it. In my spirit I am decidedly alien to the spirit of the times, and would be a burden to others. And now they tolerate me graciously only because I am in the distance and wilderness. In “Home Conversation” a response to Matveevsky’s criticism is placed with the sole purpose of announcing the teaching of the Fathers of the Orthodox Church for its remaining children. God bless you for the love and attention you show to nun Maria Shakhova. And on it you can see how the direction according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers is intolerant in our time. They do not tolerate it because they are alien to it, do not know it, have not studied it, have not taken any interest in it. They say that now in the bookstores of both capitals the expenditure on spiritual books has completely stopped, or it is so small that it can be considered to have stopped. Everything that is said in Scripture must be. Your Reverence's most humble servant The First Martyr Stephen very accurately portrayed the illness of his contemporaries (Acts 7:51). Hatred of the Holy Spirit comes from the acceptance of an opposing spirit, which can creep in unnoticed through the action of a word peculiar to oneself. Your Reverence, Most Reverend Father Anthony! You guessed it: your letter came to me during Holy Week. Thank you for the memory, and I wish you a Happy Holiday. When will I see you face to face? I wrote to you about monasticism that it is living out its given term in Russia, and everywhere else. It is becoming obsolete along with Christianity. I don't expect a recovery. There is no one to restore it. For this we need spirit-bearing men, and now, even those guided in part by the writings of the Fathers, when explaining them with spiritual intelligence, as Fr. Macarius of Optina, and [x] no. True: even now some heated superstitions, even from those in Optina, take up the task of maintaining monasticism, not realizing that it is God’s great mystery. The attempts of such people are only ridiculous and pitiful: they expose their deep ignorance of both the destinies of God and the work of God. Such clever people and zealots, no matter what they do, it’s all to their detriment. It is noticeable that the ancient serpent uses them as instruments for multiplying in monasteries worldly multi-care and clerical character, thereby decisively destroying the spirit of monasticism, filled with holy simplicity. – We must submit to the very permission of God, as it is beautifully stated in the prayer of the holy three youths thrown into the cave of Babylon. In modern monastic society, the correct concept of smart doing has been lost. Even the outward decorous behavior, which was introduced in Opt. Desert o. Leonid and Macarius, abandoned almost everywhere. You say the truth that even in my youth I did not find an old man who would satisfy me; but this can also be attributed to the fact that I did not search as I should, did not know how to search, and did not have sufficient funds to do so. The most satisfactory person I had to meet was the monk Nikandr, prosphora student of the Babayevsky monastery, a gracious husband. I talked with him in 1847. He achieved the highest success in mental prayer; he accomplished this feat very simply; naturally, he was not in glory among people. Previously, smart doing was very common among people who had not yet been influenced by the West. Now everything has been eradicated, the mask of piety remains; the strength is gone. Perhaps there is hidden somewhere, as the greatest rarity, some remnant of the former. Without true mental activity, monasticism is a body without a soul. Spring has come: summer and harvest will not be slow to come. About monasticism Fr. Nikander understood the same way I understand. He called the monasteries marinas, according to the purpose given to them by God; He said that these marinas have turned into abysses, in which many people who lived a very good life in the middle of the world are harmed and perish in souls. He advised some who questioned him to beware of entering the monastery. It is essential to know the current situation of monasteries, which may still seem to the superficial as places of salvation. At the very least, one must be extremely careful and circumspect in choosing a monastery. If you decide to visit me, then bring your poems with you. I read one of them. In anticipation of this most pleasant time, I ask that you remember me in your holy prayers. With feelings of complete respect and sincere devotion, I have the honor to be Bishop Ignatius. April 21, 1864. I sincerely thank you for visiting me, a sinner: this visit brought me heartfelt consolation. I am especially grateful to you for wanting to introduce me to your poems, to your wonderful talent, to which I give all its fair price. Mother Maria, after your departure, also read me some of your works. All gifts of God to man are worthy of respect. The gift of speech undoubtedly belongs to the greatest gifts. They make man like God, who has His Word. The human Word, like the Word of God, constantly abides with its father and in its father - the mind, being one with it and at the same time separating from it inseparably. The human word is known only to the mind, from which it is constantly born and thereby expresses the existence of the mind. We cannot imagine the existence of mind without words and words without mind. When the mind wants to communicate with the mind of its neighbors, it uses its word for this. The word, in order to acquire the ability to communicate, is clothed in sounds or letters. Then the immaterial word becomes, as it were, material, remaining unchanged in its essence. And the Word of God, in order to enter into communication with people and save them, became human. With a thorough look at the human word, the reason for the strict sentence of the Lord becomes clear, by which it is determined and announced that people will give an account of every idle word. The divine purpose of the word in writers, in all teachers, and especially in shepherds is the instruction and salvation of people: what a terrible answer will be given by those who turned the means of edification and salvation into a means of corruption and destruction! – Saint Gregory the Theologian wrote in poetry with a sublime, deeply pious purpose: to provide Christian youth with reading and examples in poetry, to make it unnecessary for them to study pagan poets who breathe voluptuousness and other passions, who breathe blasphemy. I sincerely wish for you the goal of the Theologian, finding you capable to a certain extent of satisfying this goal - and your reward will be many on earth and in heaven. Take upon yourself the yoke of this goal, as obligated in due time to present an account of the talent given to you to its Giver. Commit yourself to achieving this goal. Engage yourself constantly and humbly, removing all heat from yourself, with the prayer of repentance that you are engaged in; from it draw inspiration for your writings. Then subject your writings to your own strict criticism, and, in the light of your conscience, enlightened by the prayer of repentance, mercilessly cast out from your writings everything that belongs to the spirit of the world, that is alien to the spirit of Christ. Woe to those who laugh now! These are the words of Christ! This is a definition that came from God! It is impossible to eliminate them with any word of apology. Judging yourself and examining yourself, you will see that every word spoken and written in the spirit of this world puts its stamp on the soul, which seals the assimilation of the soul to the ruler of the world. Repentance is necessary in such words, torn out by passion and ignorance. It is necessary to establish in the heart a guarantee of fidelity to Christ, and the falling away of the heart from fidelity, due to our weakness, must be immediately healed by repentance and the removal from oneself of actions inspired by unfaithfulness, done under the influence of the spirit and spirits that flatter us and together thirst for our destruction. In my imagination I am already picturing a book of your poems, your chants, worthy of being called both sacred and graceful. ABOUT! May I see the event of my expectation, may I rejoice over it with spiritual joy! – I’m not telling you anything about myself: you saw more than I can say. And again, thanking you for the work you took to visit me, calling upon you God’s blessing and asking for your holy prayers, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be Your Reverence, my most humble servant. E Ignatius. August 11, 1864. Please accept my heartfelt congratulations on the upcoming holidays and the New Year. At the same time, I ask your forgiveness for the long silence, the reason for which is that I am not myself due to pain. There is no doubt that in your poems there is a feeling that is not found in any secular writer who has written about spiritual subjects, despite the distinctness of their verse. They constantly fall into their sensual, and transform the holy spiritual into their sensual. The soul does not find satisfaction or food in them. How beautiful is the verse in Zhukovsky’s Abbadon! and how tense the feeling is! It is obvious: in the writer’s soul there was neither a correct understanding of the subject being described, nor true sympathy for it. Due to the lack of truth, he composed it both for the mind and for the heart - he wrote a false dream that could not find sympathy in the soul of a reasonable and truly educated, much less a pious reader. I really liked Pushkin’s method in relation to his works. He subjected them to the strictest criticism of his own, willingly taking advantage of the comments of other writers. Then he mercilessly erased unnecessary words and expressions from his writings, as well as words and expressions that were somewhat strained, heavy, or unnatural. From such purification and elaboration, his works received extraordinary purity of style and clarity of meaning. How easy they are to read! there is no superfluous word in them! Why? from merciless cleaning. Having read your poems and allowed the impression of them to form within me, I find that you also need this work. Your essays are so easy to read! an acquaintance told Pushkin. Because, Pushkin answered, they are written and developed with great difficulty. I dare say that I try to adhere to this rule. My collector, an intelligent monk, about 50 years old, returned from the Caucasus and the Volga provinces. He was received very cordially in the Caucasus, but gained little due to the impoverishment of the country due to crop failures, and even more so due to the general and rapid cooling of the people towards the Church. My friends told him: Vladyka has only been away from us for three years, but he wouldn’t recognize the people now, so he has changed. In Saratov, the Eminence signed a book for collection for the month; after this the collector was accepted into only two houses; in each they gave him 15 kopecks. Meanwhile, a huge theater is being built in the city, like a kind of Cathedral. Pilgrims who come here from other provinces say that the monasteries, supported by alms, are falling into extreme decline due to the change that has followed in the direction of the entire people. We live in an age of rapid progress. Asking for your holy prayers and calling upon you the blessing of Heaven, with feelings of perfect respect and sincere devotion, I have the honor to be Bishop Ignatius. December 16, 1864. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for your letter dated February 1st. I was surprised by your congratulations on the improvement of my health, especially since I received such congratulations from many. Oh, if only this were true, at least to some extent, and I was given at least some cell-based activities - cell-based activities, nothing more. The fact is that since mid-September I have been taking a medicine that greatly reduces scrofulous and rheumatic sputum, but at the same time produces extreme exhaustion and takes away all abilities and all the opportunity to study. Judging by the abundance of sputum discharged, one can conclude that it is natural to experience relief from the disease, albeit some, after completing the course of treatment. I was also surprised that you remember my birthday! God bless you! Let the will of God be done over us. There is no lasting peace on earth: there is such peace in heaven. The European peoples have always envied Russia and tried to do harm to it. Naturally, they will follow the same system in the future. But the Russian God is great. We must pray to the Great God to preserve the spiritual and moral strength of our people - the Orthodox faith. At least for me, given my terrible weakness, I would like to close my eyes in repentance, until the praise of God fell silent in the churches of God. I also ask for your holy prayers for me, a sinner, and for all our Orthodox people. May God's blessing rest upon you and upon the brotherhood entrusted to you. With feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be E Ignatius. February 13, 1865. P.S. In St. Petersburg, my book in 2 volumes entitled “Ascetic Experiences” is being printed. From it was read to you a conversation between an elder and a disciple about the Jesus Prayer. Printing should end in the last days of February or the first of March. Take the trouble to entrust someone with accepting the copy assigned for you from Pyotr Alexandrovich, who lives near Znameniya on Ligovka in the Friederiks house, in Shcherbakov’s furnished rooms. Your Eminence Vladyka, Most Gracious Father and Archpastor! I sincerely thank Your Eminence for the answer with which you honored me and for trusting me with my view of your writings, a view darkened by passions and exposure to the world, which destroys our spiritual vigilance with its diversity. Only clear and quiet water reflects the sky. To view the building, which is quite tall, you need a ladder; the foundation of the building is deep, solid and with many hiding places cannot be believed without a lamp and a guiding thread. It is scary to look down from an immeasurable height, and it is not easy to feel in the depths. I do not recognize in myself sufficient strength to review and evaluate your creations, precisely because none of my contemporaries - spiritual writers by profession and ascetics by life - have reached so much the height of the fatherly writings and its depth as Your Eminence. I once spoke about this to the former chief prosecutor Count Tolstoy. He was somewhat surprised by my words: then your works were less known, and then only to a few and not all together. Now His Lordship can actually believe my words, if only he reads spiritual books. Always aware of the greatness of your spiritual knowledge and your works, I have always been aware of my inability to follow your example, both because of my life, which passed before meeting you in the bustle of the world, and because of my somewhat upset imagination, which always colored spiritual essays with its colors, requiring not brightness, but correctness and accuracy. A certain circle of Orthodoxy has always introduced its own arbitrary additions into the world, and it took a lot of work to conquer the mind into the simplicity of belief. Knowing spiritual life only from experiments with myself, I must admit to extreme immaturity, powerlessness to control myself, ignorance of managing others, lack of that insight into distinguishing between good and evil, which in our years was once given as a gift for the benefit of the souls entrusted to us. And in spiritual blindness. Therefore, if I dare to make my comments, then I first ask you to accept them to the extent of my ignorance. Let me begin. On page 649 of the 1st volume you talk about your sorrows and about the person you call your enemy. Our experience is hardly allowed to expose our mental suffering: the world rejoices at our sorrows and recognizes us as already defeated if we have uttered even a single painful cry. He forgets Job, who was justified in his boldness, and his friends, who were accused by Heaven, although they were prudent. Recently I came across poems by Nekrasov, in which there are poems close to my thoughts. This is said about a sick, forgotten soldier dying on leave from his mother: “Sir, he didn’t like to talk about his military life; It’s a sin for the laity to show a soul doomed to God; to speak is to anger the Almighty; to please the damned demons; so as not to say unnecessary words; Don’t get annoyed with your enemies.” Silence before death befits a Christian. Your Eminences, on vacation and in the home of the Mother Church, battered by trials: cover with silence everything you have endured. In the 2nd edition, it can be published with the caveat that this is not done out of false caution, but [after] some reflection. I offer my wretched gratitude for your rich talent: for two volumes of your works. Some are known to me, the rest I read with attention, learning from them much that had been forgotten: it is so common for us to forget what is useful to the soul and remember the past, of little edification, but which left its tsss-graphic imprints in our blood! Forgive me for writing a Greek word, linking it with Greco-Russian: I can’t express my thought otherwise. Our blood soul, that is, the whole life that moves our body and has received from childhood external, local impressions, images of this transitory world, often completely forgets about its subtle, pure spirit, its highest, forgets or does not know about the secret of its heart, forgets the grace-filled gifts of God breathed into it at baptism, often forgets to the point that it makes a person all spiritual, and not spiritual, and with his blood, as thick an impenetrable fog, surrounds the mind and brings before it its images and often fantasies. Alas! how difficult it is to relieve yourself from this bloody thick hymen, how difficult it is to become a spiritual crystal, transmitting rays of light! There are so many treasures in the writings of Your Eminence, hidden from the world, so much inaccessible to soulful people like me, that few will give them a true tribute of surprise. Meanwhile, all this is your acquisition through experience and love for the paternal writings. You often looked into these mirrors, reflecting the Divine light: that is why it is reflected on your creations. Forgive my unnecessary praise: in order to say it, my weak mind had to be forced to do good: it keeps rushing around external objects. Therefore, for the sake of relaxation, I will tell myself about the external. The sad death of the Heir 7, this stem of the royal tree, withered in a foreign greenhouse, not warmed up from a foreign sun, bitterly struck me in that he drooped his head on a foreign land, on a land that has always been unkind to us, chosen by God for our execution! The alliances of the kings of Judah with the kings of Israel and Samaritan were never blessed by God. Our alliances with France were never blessed. One should be treated either at one’s own holy relics or in the Caucasus, and die on one’s own land. His death in Nice, sooner or later, in the future, perhaps his reign, may give rise to impostors. In the days of the news of His death, there was a strong snow storm, which covered the ground with snow for xjA arshin: something terrible is foreshadowed with his deprivation. To this day, my meager, dilapidated abode barely takes on some, and even half-decent, appearance. It is hardly useful for us to restore what is perhaps doomed to imminent ruin. But God's will be done. I ask my monastery and myself, unworthy, for your holy Archpastoral prayers and blessings, with my deepest gratitude for your mercies and complete respect I have the honor to be Your Reverence, Most Beloved Father in the Lord, Abbot Anthony! I bring you my sincere gratitude for your letter dated May 25th and for your review of “Ascetic Experiences”. To my gratitude I add a request. Gradually reading the “Experiments”, do not refuse to write down your comments. Point out what you find unclear, incomplete, incorrect, and, in due time, let me know. I try to take advantage of the comments to make additions and corrections to the book, recognizing this book in no way as my property, but as the property of the Christian, Orthodox society. It’s a pity for St. Petersburg, which is not the first time suffering from its shallow sea. What you wrote about the schismatics was published not only in the Spirit of a Christian, but also in the Christian Reading of 1864, in the December book. This circumstance is of the greatest importance. My health is in its usual state, but exhaustion seems to be multiplying and multiplying. 0 The abbot and Peter Alexandrovich bring you their sincere gratitude for remembering them, they take care of putting the monastery in order and for my repose. And the weather here is very cold. Only once could I go out into the grove. Committing myself to your holy prayers and calling upon you the blessing of God, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be E Ignatius. May 30, 1865. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for the remark you made regarding some expressions on page 649 of the first volume of the “Experiments”. With the same sincere gratitude I will accept your further comments: I consider the book not my property, but the property of the entire Christian community, and, for this reason, I recognize as a special favor the work of well-meaning and knowledgeable persons, which consists in a thorough revision of the “Essays” and in communicating to me comments, which I will try to use according to my opportunity. The place you mentioned does not speak about any particular person: the theory of holy ascetics is expounded, verified by practice. This theory is of extraordinary importance precisely when it is verified by experience. This is the field of active faith. Man is formed by this position: for this reason, throughout the entire space of the “Experiences” the effect of the position is expressed. The article was written in 1847. The personalities of that time are all extinct; what happened is attributed everywhere 8 in the “Experiments” to the dispensation of God’s Providence, and therefore does not relate to any person. The providence of God is everywhere justified, but the one subjected to tribulations is everywhere accused. I dare to think that this was said by many Fathers, even by the Apostle Paul in his epistles, and in exactly the same spirit and sense. Facts remain facts. Actions justified in relation to God's Providence do not cease to have their meaning in relation to acting people, and evil cannot be called good. I lived through that era in the Sergius Hermitage, during which unbelief and blatant violence, calling themselves Orthodoxy, crushed our dilapidated church hierarchy, mocked and mocked everything sacred. The results of these actions are still being felt very strongly today. By the grace of God, I wish to forgive everyone everything - no longer consider anyone guilty before me; but I wish to understand and recognize the actions of the enemies of the Church and Christ for what they are. After all, the Antichrist will call himself Christ. After all, his appearance must be recognized as a fair allowance of God; but the person himself and his actions have their own price. The situation in which the Church has been brought is clearly stated in the December book of Christian Reading, in the article: “New publications on the schism,” page 440. O Justin and Pyotr Alexandrovich thank you for remembering them. You speak rightly about Fr. Justina. I have both a feeling of respect and gratitude for him. E Ignatius. June 18, 1865. I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me; We also thank you Fr. Justin and Pyotr Alexandrovich. You have not forgotten the lesser brethren! the Lord will save you. With your comments on “Ascetic Experiences” you will do me a true favor: because I recognize this book not as my property, but as the property of all modern ascetics of the Orthodox Church. For this reason, I wish to supplement and correct it to the best of my ability, thus preparing it in a more satisfactory form for the second edition. In all likelihood, the second edition will not take place soon, and perhaps the spirit of the times will make this publication completely unnecessary: ​​at least I must fulfill my duty to my neighbors. I was told about The Day's article that it was a Protestant pamphlet, in which the exclamations of Luther and the brethren were repeated. We are so weak that we cannot withstand any attack: our only hope is in the Lord God, who promised to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people, if they were found in these cities. My health is almost in the same position as you saw it in; success in illness lies in extreme exhaustion and in abandoning all office activities because of this exhaustion. Asking for your prayers and calling upon you God's blessing, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be P.S. In January, Pyotr Alexandrovich plans to be in St. Petersburg. Your Reverence, Most Reverend Fr. Hegumen Anthony! I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me. Your letter especially consoled me because very exaggerated rumors about a fire in your monastery had reached here, and I feared for your health. If only one hotel known to me burned down, then the loss is negligible. It is noticeable that a storm is moving from everywhere towards the monasteries, which, due to their essential significance, have come to a state no better than your burnt hotel. Religion in general is declining among the people. Nihilism penetrates into bourgeois society, from where it is not far from the peasants. A decisive indifference to the Church appeared among many peasants, and a terrible moral disorder appeared. Contractors, neighbors of the local monastery, unanimously complain about the loss of conscience in the craftsmen. Success in all this occurs with extraordinary speed. Archimandrite Epiphany is known to me from the Caucasus: why can I say with all decisiveness that he is not the author of the article in “The Day”, signed with the letters ZZZ. Either they blame it on him, or he takes it upon himself, finding it beneficial for himself. We live very quietly, placing our trust in the Lord, who even in the very times of the Antichrist will guide His servants and prepare for them places and means of salvation, as is testified in the Apocalypse. O Justin and the other brethren, whom you remember, thank you for your memory and ask for your prayers. P A h is located in St. Petersburg: we are expecting to come here soon. I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me and for your good wishes. Thank you for the memory of Fr. Justin and novice Vasily. Pyotr Alexandrovich is in St. Petersburg to supervise the printing of the 3rd and 4th volumes of my works. Last autumn and this winter have been very difficult for me so far; Especially the pain in the lower chest and exhaustion did not allow me to do either writing or reading. I take comfort in the news that the secluded, modest and picturesque monastery of Chermenets is being restored under your caring and enlightened management. The spirit of the time, like a whirlwind, howls strongly and tears and breaks many things. This is predicted by the Holy Scriptures, which, in the behavior and way of thinking of the three youths described by Daniel the prophet, gave us instructions and an example for our way of thinking and behavior. Asking your St. prayers and calling upon you God's blessing, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be Bishop Ignatius. December 24, 1866. Your letter arrived on my very birthday, which marks the end of the sixth decade of my life and the beginning of the seventh. Thank you for constantly remembering me! thank you for your congratulations! God's permission and the retreat of pagan peoples from Christianity, for the sake of their paganism, are foretold by Scripture. God wants us to live in these times: why is it appropriate to humble ourselves under the strong hand of God and practice humility, imitating the humility of the three youths, whose religious position is very similar to the modern state of religion. Father Justin and Vasya thank you for remembering them. Peter Alexandrovich is in St. Petersburg, where they are finishing the printing of the 4th volume of my works, intended specifically for monastics. Committing myself to your prayers and calling upon you God's blessing, with feelings of sincere devotion and respect, I have the honor to be Bishop Ignatius. February 6, 1867. Sergey Isakov 9. Alexey Polikarpovich Bochkov Biographical sketch If the significance of Optina Pustyn for the Russian spiritual life of the 19th century is more or less clarified and if connections with it of the largest Russian writers of the last century (N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy) 10 are revealed, then the same cannot be said at all about the Russian writers of the “second echelon”. Their personal and creative contacts with the Optina Hermitage have not yet been studied at all; the influence of the Optina elders and their teachings on the work of these writers has not yet become the subject of research. Because of this, the deep impact of Optina Pustyn on the Russian historical and literary process is still far from being determined, and the study of the impact of Optina, for example, on the work of F. M. Dostoevsky or K. N. Leontiev, is largely devoid of the historical, cultural and historical and literary background that is so necessary in this case. This essay is dedicated to Alexey Polikarpovich Bochkov, a forgotten but very interesting writer of the 1820s–1860s, an interesting personality, a man with an unusual destiny. His biography is still replete with “blank spots” and full of mysteries 11 . To some extent, I examined Bochkov’s 12 early works, from the mid-1820s, but his later work, 1850–1860, which was mostly unpublished, remained untouched. Moreover, it has not reached us completely; it is known, for example, that Bochkov’s “Notes” and diaries were either lost after his death, or they were destroyed 13. Many of his poems are known to us only from mentions in his correspondence 14. And yet, quite a lot of his works from the 1850s and 60s have been preserved in archives 15, and from them one can judge Bochkov’s later work. Of particular interest are Bochkov’s connections with Optina Pustyn, which are reflected in his work. A.P. Bochkov was born on March 14, 1803 in St. Petersburg 16 in the family of a wealthy merchant, owner of the famous Bochkovo baths, which brought the family a lot of income. Alexei Polikarpovich's father died early, and his grandfather was involved in his upbringing, who tried to give his grandson a good education. He studied at one of the best foreign boarding houses in the capital, where he thoroughly learned French and learned a little German and English. Bochkov was already well-read in his youth, “he drew excellently... and had the gift of composing poetry very easily.” 17 He retained his talent as an artist and his love of drawing until the end of his life: in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and in the Central State Historical Archive in St. Petersburg, folders with his drawings are stored 18; drawings with a pen or pencil are often found in Bochkov’s letters also contributed to the awakening of the young man’s literary interests by the fact that the poetess Anna Petrovna Bunina, with whom Bochkov was familiar, lived in their house 19 . In 1822 or 1823, Bochkov married the daughter of the famous St. Petersburg sugar factory P. I. Ponomarev, Anna Prokopyevna (1805–1827). Family ties contributed to the fact that the young man, who was keenly interested in literature, entered the circle of metropolitan writers close to A.E. Izmailov, the publisher of the magazine “Blagomarnenny” (A.E. Izmailov was part of the circle of S.D. Ponomareva 20). However, Bochkov’s literary likes and dislikes of the mid-1820s do not entirely coincide with the views of Izmailov’s circle. During these years, Bochkov was ideologically close to the Decembrists, he was delighted with the works of Ryleev and early Pushkin, kept their banned poems 21. After the riot on December 14, 1825, he became familiar with them through his friend A. A. Ivanovsky, an official of the “Investigative Commission” on the Decembrist case, who managed to remove from the commission’s papers the works of art and letters of the arrested participants in the uprising 22. Five letters are known from Bochkov to A. A. Ivanovsky 23, who later, in 1828, introduced him to Pushkin 24. These letters amaze with their author’s excellent knowledge of Russian literature of that time, subtle and intelligent observations of its phenomena, and no less the spirit of liberalism. “I read Bestuzhev’s letters, my dear friend,” Bochkov wrote, “almost with tears. The thought that he was lost forever for us and that this loss would not soon be rewarded killed me. His merits are important for our literature... Bestuzhev was the first to bring them (young writers - S.I.) to the same altar, showed them the noblest goal: the glory of Russia, and the means - ardent love for the homeland and knowledge of antiquity. But the North Star soon set. Bestuzhevs, Ryleev, Kornilovich, Kuchelbecker - how many hopes were lost!.. Our poor writers! How mercilessly the censorship pecks at you” 25. Bochkov's letters show how much the literary views of the Decembrists, expressed in the articles of A. A. Bestuzhev, V. K. Kuchelbecker and K. F. Ryleev, entered the consciousness of the people of that era. Bochkov, following the Decembrists, reproaches Karamzin, Zhukovsky and even Pushkin for imitating, for following foreign models; He considers the greatest merit of the Decembrist writers to be their affirmation of distinctive, original Russian literature. Bochkov expresses concern that after the death of the Decembrists, literature might return to the path of imitation. In accordance with the views of the Decembrists on Griboyedov’s comedy, he does not agree with Pushkin’s famous remark about “Woe from Wit,” although at the same time he fully agrees with Pushkin and again with the Decembrists in their high assessment of Krylov, whom Vyazemsky is trying to belittle, putting I. I. Dmitriev above all 26. By the way, Bochkov retained his high assessment of “Woe from Wit” and his enthusiastic attitude towards Griboedov’s personality until the end of his life 27 . And Bochkov’s prose of the 1820s, in which he addresses the Livonian theme popular in Russian literature of those years, is essentially an imitation of the works of the Decembrist A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky. These are romantic stories 28. Bochkov clearly follows the story of A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky “Evening at the Bivouac” (1823) and in his sentimental-romantic story “Narva Station” (1827), which remained in manuscript 29. It belongs to another type of Russian narrative prose of that time - to the genre of a secular gallant story. We can talk about the emerging romantic psychologism in the stories of Bestuzhev and Bochkov, and their works have a touch of lyricism and a special “mood” that is so characteristic of romanticism. Their stories affirm the freedom of feeling, the greatness of love and are filled with Bestuzhev’s somewhat stronger, Bochkov’s, less noticeable criticism of high society, arrogance, heartlessness, and sometimes the immorality of its representatives. This story by Bochkov does not possess any special artistic merits; at the same time, it does not fall below the average level of examples of Russian narrative prose of those years. Although Bochkov published little, and what he published appeared anonymously or under the cryptonyms A. B., L. S. and L. L., nevertheless, he was imprinted in the memory of his contemporaries as an amazingly talented and interesting person. A. A. Ivanovsky, characterizing a remarkable young man, wrote: “The best education and all possible talents: music, painting, a deep and multifaceted view, a fascinating gift of words, a rare ability to easily wield a sublime pen both in prose and in poetry; a kind, strictly honest and high soul, best friend and relative, beautiful appearance, intelligent, meek and attractive expression of the eyes and face; elegant tone and manners and at the same time always smart clothes, warm hospitality, independent state - everything that was so generously combined in him by nature and fortune” 30. Ivanovsky is echoed by E.V. Aladin, characterizing Bochkov as a person who “enjoyed the love and respect of his fellow citizens, worthy of the love and respect of conscientious Russian writers” 31 . In the same essay - “A Familiar Stranger” (1824), telling the story of the author’s acquaintance with A. A. Ivanovsky, Bochkov jokingly declared about himself: “I, who myself wrote in poetry and prose and whose works, especially letters, were read with delight; I, whom some well-meaning writers compared with Delvig, not the last poet of his time.” 32. I assessed more critically and harshly Bochkova A. A. Chumikov 33. And then came the reign of Nicholas, and for people like Bochkov the paths to social and, to some extent, literary activity were closed; all of them suffered difficult experiences. In addition, Bochkov had to suffer a blow in his personal life - in 1827 his wife died. He was sad for a long time, was mentally ill and suffered a serious physical illness... “It seemed to me,” he later told one of his acquaintances, “that my legs were stretched out like elastic and could wrap around, like a rope, around the table leg.” Then he made a vow to himself that if he recovered completely, he would go into monasticism 34 . But Bochkov, apparently, did not immediately begin to fulfill this vow. The service did not suit him, and he, as A.A. Chumikov writes, “in order not to be drawn to service in the capital, he joined the Revel merchants, the Russian part of which at that time did not participate in city government” 35. At first, Bochkov immersed himself in the study of philosophy, but “having read everything that could be read in French, he lost interest in many human systems and mentalities” 36. There came a period of disappointment in everything. A.A. Chumikov, who was not too favorably disposed towards Bochkov, notes that in Reval in the early 1830s he seemed “bored, not knowing what to do with his person” 37 . Then, like many people of that time who could not find a solution to the questions of life and existence that tormented them, Bochkov makes a sharp turn towards Christianity. Later, he characterized the complex process of his spiritual development as follows: “The fight against the enemy of thought almost from the very early development of Thought; then the willfulness of this thought and its deviation from Christianity; terrible sorrows, return with all my soul to the bosom of the Church" 38. Bochkov, leaving his young son to his father-in-law 39, decides to retire to a monastery. However, his ideas about true monasticism were in clear contradiction with the real practice of monastic life in Russia at that time. “He, due to his too ideal concepts about monastic life, could not in any way manage to open a monastery for permanent residence that would fully satisfy his desires, for this reason he stayed in several (or rather, many. - SI.) monasteries,” wrote A. A. Chumikov 40. Other contemporaries also point to this. “For a long time he looked closely at monastic life and the monastic system, living now in one monastery, now in another, but not yet entering anywhere, but staying everywhere as a guest and a pilgrim. He sincerely loved monasticism and formed a concept about it from the legends of the ancient ascetics, and therefore did not find anywhere the implementation of the prototype created by his thought” 41. These circumstances found expression in Bochkov’s diary: “The restoration of monasticism, the splendor of the church and internal lamps - this is what I would like to see before my death: Angels covered with robes and the sacraments of heaven in the churches of the valley! I will have a quiet morning, prayerful and bright afternoon, Holy Liturgy and church evening, repentant, tender, not a sinner. And again the coming to the voice of the Bridegroom, and again the preparation for the tomb. How material pursuits and concerns about the body separate a person from the churches of God! Is it not possible to sanctify even the smallest deed through prayer, silence, and mental deeds? Our Reverend Fathers cared about this. For their prayers, Lord, have mercy, enlighten, correct and save me, a sinner!” 42 It is not surprising that Bochkov’s wanderings through monasteries continued even after he had already taken the path of monasticism. When did Bochkov take this path? His first biographer claimed that such “walks” around monasteries began in 1828 43 . This date raises some doubts. After all, Bochkov himself usually referred to the mid-1830s, when he broke with worldly life, stopped writing poetry and even reading magazines 44 . But perhaps even before that he visited some monasteries in search of peace of mind. Bochkov finally entered the monastic path in 1837, when he became a novice of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, where Archimandrite Ignatius (Brianchaninov) 45 was the vicar. It was Archimandrite Ignatius that Bochkov considered his “spiritual father and first mentor in monastic life” 46. Having spoken in one letter about the wanderings of his spirit, Bochkov noted: “And then, like confirmation after blood-heart baptism, like the anointing of the Holy Spirit, acquaintance with the Most Reverend Ignatius and the Holy Fathers, who were completely unknown to me before that” 47 . The history of Bochkov’s relationship with the Most Reverend Ignatius, with whom he was in correspondence for a long time, is a fascinating story of many years of communication between two original personalities. Bochkov extremely highly valued the theological works of Ignatius, considering him the best spiritual writer of our time, but at the same time he reproached him, as it seemed to him, for his inability to restore order in the managed monastery 48. Another thing is also important: Bishop Ignatius began his monastic path as a student of the first famous Optina elder Leonid, and walked this path under his mentorship in the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, in the Ploshchanskaya and Optina Hermitages 49. The Right Reverend Ignatius, in his theological works, in particular in the famous “Ascetic Experiences,” spoke very highly of the Optina elders Leonid and Macarius, setting them up as an example of true monastic life 50 . It must be said that the theological works of St. Ignatius are close in spirit to what the Optina elders taught. The system of views of the Bishop and the Optina ascetics on the Church and monasticism coincide in basic terms: they are united by the conviction that one can be saved without solitude, that internal improvement is necessary with the help of the Jesus Prayer, and that one must constantly rely on the works of the holy saints of God - Nil of Sorsky and Paisius Velichkovsky, as well as on the works of the Eastern Fathers of the Church. It is possible that it was Archimandrite Ignatius who initially attracted Bochkov’s attention to Optina Pustyn and its elders. In the monastery “Chronicle” under 1838 it is said: “In the month of June, on the 14th, the ryassophore monk Alexey Polikarpovich Bochkov arrived in Skete from the St. Petersburg first-class Sergius Hermitage on his way from Kyiv. He was disposed in spirit towards skete life and, having gone to St. Petersburg, lived in Skete at the skete’s cell chief hieromonk Anthony. In the spring of 1839, he moved to the monastery at his own request and worked in obedience in common with his brothers; and in June of the same year he went to the Kaluga Tikhon Hermitage with the elder Hieroschemamonk Leo 51, and stayed there to live; but soon he left from there to another monastery in Northern Russia” 52. In Optina, Bochkov became a student of Fr. Leonida. It is unknown which North Russian monastery Bochkov went to from Tikhonova Hermitage, which he always spoke highly of, ranking it no lower than Optina 53. At least from September 5, 1840 to February 27, 1841, Bochkov again lived in the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage 54. There is indirect evidence that in the winter of 1841 he again visited Optina. However, this visit is not noted in the Skete Chronicle. In general, during these years Bochkov visited many monasteries, but his stay with Father Leonid in Optina Pustyn was especially beneficial for him. Hieromonk Leonid 55, like his mentor and colleague Fr. Theodore and his other fellow monk Fr. Cleopas, remained models and examples for Bochkov throughout his life; he called them the great elders of his time 56. It is possible that Bochkov was one of Fr.’s close students. Leonida. He participated in the morning (actually night) readings of the Gospel in the Skete with Fr. Leonida 57. The elder answered 14 questions from Bochkov; later both questions and answers to them about. Leonidas were published 58. The Optina ascetic jokingly called Bochkov “the last Roman,” because he sometimes spoke in the spirit that monasticism was going through its last times and that it was falling due to the same reasons that brought the Roman Empire to its fall - because of luxury, effeminacy and man-pleasing 59 . (Bochkov will return to these statements several times later.) After the death of Fr. Leonida Bochkov undertook to compile his biography. Without relying on memory, he carefully collected materials about Fr. Leonidas and, in particular, wrote down in St. Petersburg very interesting memories of Archimandrite Joseph about the stay of the monks Leonidas and Theodore on Valaam and in the Alexander-Svirsky monastery 60. This information was then repeated in all biographical sketches about Elder Leonid. However, Bochkov did not complete his work, although he started it twice. His notes were later used by the biographer of Elder Leonid, Clement Zederholm, and the author of the “Description of St. John the Baptist Skete of Optina Pustyn,” the learned monk Leonid Kavelin. Their books contain extensive excerpts from these notes - a description of the skete cells and a story about the elder’s entourage in the Skete 61. Bochkov's notes are a unique sketch of the personality and deeds of the Optina ascetic. Judging by the surviving passages, Fr. Leonid, his way of life, his speeches made a strong impression on Bochkov and probably played a major role in his future fate. “I will tell you about one more special property of Fr. Leonida,” Bochkov wrote, “in his presence many felt inner peace, peace of mind and joy. Those thoughts that seemed terrible, irresistible and constantly disturbing disappeared with him, as if they had never existed. This is best known to monastics who suffered from their own spiritual illnesses, little known to the world. Father Leonid was a living book for many: he taught by doing - what most affects our feelings and convinces us; He also taught in words how to understand the Gospel teaching, how to carry it out and how to heal our infirmities with it” 62 . In all this one feels something personal, experienced and tested by Bochkov himself. Elder Leonid Bochkov subsequently recalled both in his letters 63 and in writings on spiritual topics 64 . “Like Fr. It would be a great mercy of the Lord our God to have Leonid,” he confessed to E.N. Shakhova in a letter dated April 8, 1864 65 . Bochkov dedicated the poem “In Memory of Father Leonid” to the Optina ascetic (another title is “Lamentation on the Tomb of the Father”), in which he creates a vivid image of the elder, paints a completely reliable picture of his life’s fate, his misadventures and persecutions. Having laid down the yoke of heavy rule, You have imposed the yoke of obedience; Leaving open worship, - You clearly served humanity. I remember your gentle advice And your power over the heart and mind; And how easy it was to make vows, When you were a guarantee before the Creator. And how easy salvation was then, When you showed the children the way: The path of obedience, love, patience - You yourself walked along these brimstone paths. You did not wear the guise of a Pharisee, Open and simple both in heart and face; You taught your family with jokes, And the children were happy with their father 66. Even after the death of Elder Leonid, Bochkov visited Optina more than once. For four whole months, from June 11 to October 11, he lived here in 1845, and, as indicated in the “Chronicle of the Optina Monastery Monastery,” he “deliberately postponed leaving,” despite the demand of Archbishop Gideon of Poltava 67 . Bochkov again arrived at the monastery of Optina Pustyn on August 30, 1847, returning from Jerusalem. At the beginning of September, he, together with Elder Macarius and monk Peter Grigorov, visited I.V. Kireyevsky on his estate near Belev. And only on September 19, again together with Fr. Makariy, Bochkov goes through the Tikhonova Hermitage to the Maloyaroslavets Monastery 68, where at that time Fr. Anthony, closely associated with Optina, and with whom Bochkov, also called Anthony in monasticism, was sometimes confused 69. In the Optina Monastery, Bochkov met with the Valaam abbot Varlaam, who had been exiled here for sharply denouncing the authorities. Bochkov also considered his student Fr. to be one of the great elders of his time. Leonidas, the future great Optina ascetic Macarius, whom he met and became close friends with during his visits to Optina Pustyn. It was to him that Bochkov sent in 1852 the just quoted poem dedicated to Fr. Leonid is 71. Subsequently, he corresponded with the elder. The only published letter from Elder Macarius to Anthony Bochkov, dated November 7, 1859, indicates that the latter always maintained contacts with Optina Pustyn and had a wide circle of acquaintances among the Optina monks, this circle included Archimandrite Macarius and Father Abbot Anthony 72 . Bochkov highly valued not only the personality and lifestyle of Elder Macarius, but also his letters, as an example of beautiful spiritual literature 73 . In a letter to Sergius Svyatogorets (in the world Semyon Avdievich Vesnin, 1814–1853), with whom Bochkov was in active correspondence, he argued that “after Father Macarius there will be no elders left” 74. Note that Bochkov wrote the preface to the publication of the letters of Sergius Svyatogorets 75. In general, Optina, in Bochkov’s view, personified the true monastery 76. And yet, the spirit of criticism, or rather super-criticism, so characteristic of him, and eternal dissatisfaction with the existing, the real, led him (as, indeed, others) in the 1850-1860s to the conviction that Optina Pustyn was also far from ideal, that there was a lot of “external” in it, that Pustyn was beginning to “give up, show off.” “I would like to see a real monastery structure somewhere, although this Christian practical philosophy: knowledge of one’s sinfulness and healing of one’s soul is not instilled in us Russians,” Bochkov wrote in a work dating back to the 1860s. - Moreover, monasteries with renowned holiness: with icons, with relics, attract the worldly; the monastery of silence becomes first a place of prayer, then a fair. The purpose of the monastery is completely different, but even in Optina Hermitage - the ladies, flowers, musical singing - gave it some kind of special appearance. It has become a kind of exhibition of deer behind a fence. If vanity has crept in there, then where to look for the ideal monastery? 77 These critical statements, of course, are explained by the peculiarities of Antony Bochkov’s nature, which we will discuss later. But let’s return to Bochkov’s monastic path. If you believe his first biographer, then until 1844 he mainly lived in the Sergius Hermitage 78, although often in other monasteries, as well as in St. Petersburg with his son and father-in-law. In May 1844, Bochkov, at his own request, was transferred to the Trinity Gustynsky Monastery of the Poltava diocese, near the city of Priluki, but even there he was only listed, in reality he was with the Bishop of Poltava Gideon (George Vishnevsky), who was very favorable to him. At the end of 1844, Bochkov was tonsured as a monk by the Most Reverend Gideon and named Anthony. Soon after this he became a hierodeacon and immediately after that a hieromonk. On November 5 of the same year, Bochkov began keeping a diary. And, as the biographer writes, a lot about. Anthony did not like “the environment that surrounded him, where so many disparate personalities come into communication, or rather, into conflict with each other. Father Anthony, and after his tonsure, as before, still could not find what he wanted for himself and moved from monastery to monastery” 79 . Apparently, in 1845 or 1846, Bochkov moved to the small, provincial Staraya Ladoga Nikolaevsky Monastery 80, located in Staraya Ladoga on the left bank of the Volkhov and, according to legend, founded in the 13th century in honor of the victory of Alexander Nevsky over the Swedes 81. In 1851, in Staraya Ladoga, after a 15-year break, Bochkov again began writing poetry 82. In December 1852, he became confessor of the Staraya Ladoga Monastery 83. Soon after this Fr. Anthony moved to the Tikhvin Mother of God-Uspensky Great Monastery 84, but in 1857 he returned to the Staraya Ladoga monastery 85. During these same years, Bochkov made pilgrimages to Palestine, the Holy Land, and visited Mount Athos. The dating of these travels is not entirely clear. Osip Bodyansky dated them to 1847–1848, 1852 and 1857 86. The “Chronicle of Optina Pustyn” clarifies: Bochkov was in Palestine and Jerusalem in 1846–1847 87. Probably, the first journey of Fr. should be dated precisely from these years. Anthony to the Holy Land. The second, as well as the third, date is not indisputable. From the letter of Sergius the Svyatogorets to Bochkov dated December 20, 1851, it seems to be clear that he visited Mount Athos in 1851 on his way home from Palestine 88. On the other hand, evidence has been preserved that in the summer of 1852 Fr. Anthony went to Mount Athos 89. In June 1857, he applied for permission to travel for a year to the Holy Land and Mount Athos and asked that he and his companions be given “passports to Jerusalem via Odessa and back via Italy and Austria for the most convenient return along European routes” 90. From his poems and poems it follows that Bochkov really visited Italy. But if this is so, then his journey must be dated to 1857–1858. Impressions from his trip to Palestine gave Bochkov material for his only published book, “Russian Fans in Jerusalem,” written back in the 1850s, but published posthumously - first in “Readings in the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities at Moscow University” (1874, book 4), and then, in 1875, and separately in the publication of the same Society. “The simplicity and charm of the story, the warmth of feelings and the sincere pious mood of spirit enchant the reader of his stories both about what happened at sea and about what he saw on the mainland of the Holy Land,” Osip Bodyansky wrote about Bochkov’s book. – Listening to his story, it seems as if you are present at it yourself, you see with your own eyes, you hear with your own ears, you go with him and his companions. Such is the power of all naturalness, directness and truth, the enchanting power of simplicity of heart, spirit and word! » 91. The book is also interesting for its numerous ethnographic pictures and everyday details of the life of ordinary Russian pilgrims, and Bochkov does not hide its dark sides. Bochkov’s book “Russian fans in Jerusalem,” along with the books of A. N. Muravyov and A. S. Norov, is worthy of taking a prominent place in reviews of Russian travel to the Holy Land. During these years, in addition to Athos, which made a strong impression on Bochkov and where he established friendly relations with the monk Sergius, nicknamed Svyatogorets, he visited other monasteries. In 1850 Fr. Anthony visited Valaam, where he met the famous holy fool Anton Ivanovich Zinoviev, 92 to whom he later dedicated an entire poem. All these travels are explained primarily by Bochkov’s dissatisfaction with the existing way of monastic life and the search for an “ideal” monastery. As a rule, these searches ended in new disappointments and prejudice that “there is no place for a monk anywhere in Russia” 93. In one later letter to E.N. Shakhkova, Bochkov wrote: “If I had known what awaited me, then 40 years ago I would have taken a different path. But now it is no longer possible to turn completely to the path of Christ” 94. He comes to the conclusion that monasteries and monasticism in their modern form have exhausted themselves and are moving towards inevitable death. And he was not alone in this conviction - Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov came to approximately the same conclusion at one time. These pessimistic conclusions were determined primarily by the reality of Russian monastic life at that time. The peculiarities of Fr.’s nature also played a certain role here. Anthony, a painfully impressionable man, soft, dreamy, who took everything to heart. Archimandrite Pimen, also associated with Optina Pustyn, characterized Bochkov this way: “Father Abbot is a man of a very quiet and meek character, and it would be very easy to live with him if he himself had more willpower and was not so easily embarrassed, sometimes by very insignificant circumstances.” A man by nature very intelligent, well-read, Fr. Anthony had an extensive memory, was a pleasant conversationalist, a temperate man who loved monasticism (but dreamed of the impossible, that is, the complete independence of monasticism, as in the first centuries of his existence), and therefore spent the entire time of his monastic life in search of the non-existent, in the pursuit of the unattainable. One of the late rulers of Novgorod put it this way: “Hegumen Anthony is a precious vessel, but, unfortunately, completely broken. He wanted the impossible and sometimes did not know how to use what actually existed, and therefore could not find a permanent place for his residence anywhere, nor get used to the same people” 96. This is an apt description of the romantic monk that Fr. Anthony; it shows how the highest church hierarchy treated Bochkov. In 1859 Fr. Anthony was appointed rector of the Vvedensky Ostrovsky Monastery, founded in the 16th century and located in the Novoladozhsky district of the St. Petersburg province on the Oyat River. Upon taking office, Father Anthony discovered a lot of losses in the monastery’s property, which he reported to his superiors 97 . In 1861, Bochkov was elevated to the rank of abbot, and in 1862 he was transferred as rector to the out-of-state Cheremenetsky St. John the Theological Monastery, where he held this position until January 1868 98 . Until April 1871, Father Superior remained at the Cheremenets monastery in retirement, but due to conflicts with his successor, he left it 99. Most of Bochkov’s works that have come down to us relate specifically to the Cheremenets period of his life. Apparently, it was here that the conditions were favorable to his creative activity, which is why this period turned out to be so productive. The Cheremenets Monastery was located in the Luga district of the St. Petersburg province, 20 versts from the city of Luga, on the island of Lake Cheremenets. The exact date of foundation of the monastery is unknown, but in the 15th century it already existed. Its foundation is connected with the miraculous appearance of the icon of John the Theologian, which was located in the cathedral church of the monastery. The monastery was located among beautiful nature. Bochkov, in his essay dedicated to the Cheremenets Monastery (published in the magazine “Home Conversation”) described it this way: “As if on purpose for the church of the Holy Evangelist John the Theologian, they will throw a small island into the very middle of the lake, shaded by magnificent oaks, lindens, elms, maples and our inevitable birches. Out of the density of trees, only the thin, osmigrated bell tower is white and the heads of the cathedral are barely visible; walls, cells - everything was drowned in greenery... Grayish cobblestone walls; roofs of low-lying wooden buildings; the cells hidden at the foot of the hill - everything merges with luxurious, dense greenery. The church of the Holy Apostle alone dominates everything, whitening on a high hill, its natural pedestal, and attracting the attention of a pious admirer... The Cheremenets monastery is still rich in species alone... Kept in order, with about forty living people (although among them there were only 8 monks 100 - SI.), it is the poorest and last in the entire St. Petersburg diocese" 101. The monastery in 1862, according to Pimen, “was in extreme decline” 102. Father Anthony renovated and improved the monastery: the cathedral was renovated, a stone fraternal building and a hotel were built, as well as a number of outbuildings, and part of the stone fence was added 103. “But the main, internal order,” writes Pimen, “he could not completely achieve due to his excessive kindness and gullibility; he did not have people who would be devoted to him, and those on whom he relied used his favor for evil. Feeling his inadequacy in the matter of government, he was burdened by his position and after a short time asked to retire” 104 . In addition, Bochkov began to fail physically. On March 1, 1865, he wrote to E.N. Shakhova: “My health is bad, it’s better to say my composition is gradually deteriorating: my legs cannot stand for long, my teeth began to sway... At the first trouble, all my strength disappears” 105. In the Cheremenetsky Monastery, Bochkov carried on a lively correspondence with Mother Maria (E.N. Shakhova), with Archimandrite Ignatius Bryanchaninov, with N.P. Kireevskaya, communicated with the writer A.P. Bashutsky, read magazines and newspapers, followed modern literature, published something in “Home Conversation” by V.I. Askochensky, with whom he maintained personal connections, although he and didn't like 106. Evidence from contemporaries who visited the Cheremenets Monastery has been preserved: Fr. Even in these years, Anthony amazed people with his intelligence, education, erudition, handsome appearance, “kind demeanor” and his “ideal concepts of true monasticism” 107. In April 1871, Bochkov moved to the Nikolaev Ugreshsky Monastery under the leadership of Archimandrite Pimen (Myasnikov). This ancient monastery, founded in the second half of the 14th century by Demetrius Donskoy on the site where the icon of St. Nicholas appeared to him before the campaign on Mamaia, is located not far from Moscow 108 and is closely connected with Optina Pustyn. Father Anthony settled in the monastery. An expressive description of Bochkov’s appearance during the period of his residence in the Ugreshsky Monastery, made by his biographer, a fellow monastery 109, has been preserved: “Isn’t it true that this head is of purely ancient beauty, as the artists say, and could serve as a type for the image of the Apostle? Take a closer look at this tall brow: how much greatness, tranquility and God-mindedness you will read on it! What depth and meekness in the look! What a beautiful profile! How in general all the features correspond to one another! It’s very rare, it’s rare to come across such ideally beautiful and artistically correct old looks!” 110 We have come to the tragic end of Fr. Anthony and, at the same time, to her most heroic page, imprinted in the memory of many contemporaries. In 1871, the Moscow diocesan authorities invited monasteries to send monks to Moscow hospitals to perform their needs. Some of the monasteries avoided this matter 111, especially since just at that time a typhus epidemic broke out in Moscow. Father Anthony was one of the first to warmly respond to the call and in January 1872 voluntarily went to the department for unskilled workers of the Old Catherine Hospital, although the rector tried his best to dissuade him from this step, assuring him that “to go to the conscription in Moscow means to go almost to death.” But Abbot Anthony “with courage and firmness insisted on his decision... As soon as he arrived at the Catherine Hospital, he immediately began correcting the spiritual needs for all the sick and dying from typhus, correcting them daily, nightly, almost hourly, without having almost a minute of rest, which, of course, made him tired, weakened, became prone to infection, became infected and went to bed.”112 Father Anthony, not limiting himself to just fulfilling the needs, read books to sick unskilled workers, instructing them on the path of truth 113. He said about himself that in all his life he had never enjoyed such health and was not so calm in spirit as at this time." 114 However, the disease took its toll. Archimandrite Pimen wanted to take the patient back to the monastery, but he refused and only asked to bury him in the skete of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery. Antony Bochkov died in the hospital on April 5, 1872, having sacrificed “himself and his life for the good of his smaller brothers who were suffering and dying” 115. They buried him in the skete of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, as he wanted. Let us briefly characterize the attitude, literary views and creativity of the late Bochkov. In the 1860s, this personality was still extremely complex, even contradictory, and at the same time very curious. At this time, Bochkov’s worldview is characterized by deep dissatisfaction with modern civilization as a whole - in it he sees complete chaos, a new Babylon. He is equally dissatisfied with modern Western civilization and the situation in Russia. Bochkov’s assessments of the then state of the world and the pictures of modern civilization are painted in apocalyptic tones. Here are the lines about Russia: “Since the time of the Romanovs, it, like a body, has grown, expanded, fought against internal and external diseases, but in our time all the juices have already been depleted, everything has come into fermentation, close to putrefaction and decomposition,” writes Bochkov. He finds that in Russia “evil is not stopped: parties have appeared, the number of nihilists is multiplying, the nobility and merchants are decaying, the peasants are drinking. Everything is so tense that the cauldron is already boiling, and yet flammable materials are constantly being thrown at it.” This, according to Bochkov, already happened in Europe before 1848. Connected with all this is the removal of society from the faith of the fathers. Bochkov does not accept the experience of Western Europe and America. “Therefore, I believe that the end is near,” he wrote in the mid-1860s 116. “For Russia, I do not foresee anything good from the general weakening of morals. From the impoverishment of the peasants, from the deforestation, from the disorder of finances, from the huge salaries of the highest dignitaries... The people still do not know much of what is happening in the higher spheres: when they find out, it will be bad,” Bochkov reasoned in letters to E. N. Shakhova 117. Monasteries and monasticism seemed to organically enter into the system of general decay. Hegumen Anthony Bochkov, as well as Archimandrite Ignatius Brianchaninov, whose views he fully shared, sometimes extremely sharply and severely criticized the monastic orders and monastic morals of his time 118. “Looking around the East and Russia with your mind and eyes, you come to the conviction that correct monasticism has disappeared from the face of the earth,” wrote Bochkov 119. “Over the last 150 years, monasticism, due to various circumstances, has become bureaucracy, nothing more; the goal is purely worldly: elevation, enrichment, position sociale,” he noted elsewhere 120. This excessive criticism was transferred by him to all contemporary Orthodoxy: “Our Orthodoxy, in my weak and dark opinion, in letter, has become dilapidated. But is our renewal predicted? Can cathedrals and centuries-old buildings be reshaped? If not, then the time is near... Humanity longs for its Savior; we, Orthodox, are the Terrible Judge" 121. For all the harshness of Bochkov’s criticism of modern monasteries and contemporary monasticism, it is important to note that he did not speak out against monasteries and monasticism in general. Bochkov only believed that it was necessary to cleanse the monasteries of everything alien to them, to free them from obsessive guardianship from above, from unnecessary regulation of all aspects of their lives; we must return to the ancient paternal traditions of monastic life. True, often Fr. Anthony doubted whether this was possible, but still sometimes another thought flashes: “Russia, deep in the recesses of its land, keeps sources of piety and love for monasticism; at its first shock, they break through and surge like water from an artesian well or Caucasian streams... Sooner or later, when the kingdom is shaken, we will remember our innate Orthodoxy and, of course, the Russian people will not gather around Sunday schools and academies” 122. Bochkov’s criticism of modern orders, including monasticism and Orthodoxy, is, of course, carried out from a conservative position. He does not accept technical progress, is dissatisfied with the abolition of preliminary censorship 123, is not delighted with the abolition of serfdom, and loyally praises Nicholas I. And in religious matters, Fr. Anthony focuses on the past, on the ancient as primordial and true - he demands to follow the ancient monastic orders, ancient icon painting, ancient church singing, to which he attached great importance: Bochkov believed that the aesthetic moment, the moment of beauty in the church contributes to the spiritual education of a person 124. However, with all this, Bochkov’s position is not without a kind of democracy. It is characterized by the defense of the lower classes, the humiliated and insulted, as well as an acute sense of social contradictions. Criticism of social vices in modern society in Bochkov’s works is invariably directed primarily against the “powers of this world,” the nobility, those in power, and secondarily against the “depravity” of the lower classes. “What kind of world is this in which we live? This is half hell,” Bochkov wrote to E.N. Shakhova on January 25, 1872, shortly before his death. – Rich people live in madness if you compare their whims with the needs of the lesser brethren; and the poor are mired in the darkness of ignorance, bad habits and household filth. It is impossible to get out of this state” 125. Having read in the reactionary newspaper “Vest” that drunkenness is to blame for all the people’s ills, Bochkov writes: “The blame falls not so much on the people as on the people’s rulers. “Vest” points out somewhere, as the strongest argument, that the people could have paid the tax and saved the rest if they had not drunk, I don’t know how many millions according to statistical indications. And in order to show her how much the nobility drank on champagne and other wines, including simple vodka, how many millions were exported abroad?.. And now, despite the cries of “Vesti”, it is not democracy that rules and decides our affairs, but kinship, connections, patronage, indulgences to one’s family and tribe, starting from the Senate to the last zemstvo case. Let us also include the Synod, which favors its all-consuming caste in everything” 126. Here Bochkov is thinking about the split, and suddenly his train of thoughts changes: “But our nobility knows nothing and doesn’t want to know. They are drawn to Paris like a magnet, and all the sweat and labor rubles of the common people are carried there.” 127 The same kind of democracy is noticeable in Bochkov’s statements on literary issues and in his artistic works. As a sincerely and deeply religious person, Bochkov sees the only way of salvation in religion, in fidelity to Christianity, but the whole trouble is that “the seeds for the revival of Christian society are no longer in our blood, in our minds and in our customs” 128. And Bochkov’s final conclusions most often coincide with the already noted apocalyptic motives: the end of the world is near! Equally complex and contradictory were Bochkov’s views on literature in the 1850s and 1860s. In literature, he felt like an archaist, an “old-fashioned” author, a representative of the generation to which Fyodor Glinka and Pyotr Vyazemsky belonged 129 . His literary sympathies and tastes were largely determined in his youth, in the 1820s, but it must be taken into account that that era, with the simultaneous development of romanticism and realism, was not distinguished by internal integrity. The same can be said about Bochkov’s literary views. On the one hand, many of his poetic declarations of the 1860s are openly romantic in nature 130, on the other hand, he extremely highly appreciates Griboedov and his comedy “Woe from Wit”, giving him preference even over Pushkin 131. Bochkov is internally close to the satirical line: Fonvizin - Griboedov - Gogol. “These are the prophets of our times; and in vain Gogol was ashamed of his poisonous truth! 132, he wrote, clearly alluding to “Selected passages from correspondence with friends.” The position for an ascetic monk is unique and paradoxical in its own way! And yet Bochkov did not freeze in the positions of his youth. Since the 1850s, he closely followed the latest Russian literature, and his judgments about works are distinguished by their originality, freshness and... combination of the difficult to combine. Bochkov highly values ​​the spiritual poems of the old man Fyodor Glinka 133 , he is impressed by the adaptations of Christian legends by Apollo Maykov 134 , the circle of his literary acquaintances of the 1860s is limited mainly to religious writers - Ignatius Bryanchaninov, A.P. Baschutsky and the monastic poetess Maria (E.N. Shakhova). At the same time, he is an ardent and constant admirer of the poetry of Nikolai Nekrasov. “I’m glad you read Nekrasov,” he wrote to E. N. Shakhova. – This is a modern poet: there is a lot of truth, a lot of warm, genuine feeling in his beautiful living poems. He is more deeply imbued with the Russian people's grief than the former great poets who did not know the people's life and did not hear this great groan, with which Russia is still full to this day. A peasant freed from slavery and sale will never be freed from lawless court; grief and groaning will not cease until the Terrible Coming of Christ" 135. Bochkov disputed one of the Christian dogmatic provisions of St. Ignatius Bochkov’s “Ascetic Experiences” with a reference... to “Arina, Mother of a Soldier” by N. A. Nekrasov! 136 Bochkov highly regards Ivan Nikitin and at the same time does not accept Vladimir Benediktov: “He rarely shed tears, captivated by himself, by his brilliant, scattered music: this is not the Glinka of poetry. But the richness and brilliance of its constellations amazed many at one time. Nikitin with his epitaph (“A deep hole was dug with a spade...” - SI.) surpassed everything literary - fashionable and salon; his cry over his grave with the pure, true sounds of a big heart is not literature or composition, but the true poetry of nature. Of course, Nikitin also does not have a Christian supernatural feeling: a believer would not have said his incomparable verses; but like a son of the steppes, he sang above him with the plaintive voice of a grieving bird. But Christianity has not yet had a poet" 137. For Bochkov, the ideal is sublime religious poetry that affirms great Christian truths, but in modern literature he is closest to Nekrasov and Nikitin. Bochkov highly regarded the novels of F. M. Dostoevsky about the St. Petersburg slums - this is “a true picture of fashionable St. Petersburg, which, like our womb, is filled with sewage, although they cover them with crinolines” 138. In all these statements, Bochkov’s deep spontaneous democracy is manifested, which does not contradict his deep religiosity; and at the same time, his sympathies leaned towards realism, the principles of which Bochkov often followed in his own works. These literary likes and dislikes of Bochkov undoubtedly influenced his own work. It is very extensive and diverse. In the 1850s–1860s, Bochkov wrote works on the history of the Russian Church, mainly on the problems of monasticism and monastic life. He creates all kinds of notes about his life, as well as literary portraits of Church figures 139. From the pen of Bochkov came journalistic articles criticizing the internal order of the Russian Empire 140. He also creates stories about monastic life. The best of them is “The Dream of the Sick Nun Melanin”; The story is based on a description of two visions of the heroine, built on contrast: the first dream is about an ideal, beautiful monastery, the second is about some terrible captivity 141. The most valuable part of Bochkov's creative heritage is his poetic achievements. Bochkov's poetry has not reached us in full and at one time did not get into print - it remained in manuscripts 142. Fr. himself Anthony claimed that he “never nominated his poems for publication” 143, which can be doubted: in one of the letters to E.N. Shakhova there is an indication that Bochkov nevertheless sent his poems to “Strannik” and other magazines, but they were rejected there 144. Indeed, Bochkov’s poems, as he himself admitted, “are not in the spirit of our time” and belong to the “exceptional family” in the poetry of those days, 145 that is, they do not fit into the general mainstream of poetry of the 1860s, even into the picture of spiritual poetry of that time to the extent that we can judge it from publications in “Home Conversation” and other similar publications. But such literature is all the more interesting for us. Bochkov wrote poetry in his youth, but then it was either album trifles or translations from French. If you believe his own confessions, from the mid-1830s Bochkov fell silent and only in 1851 returned to poetry, writing several adaptations from Chetiy-Minei 146; His poem dedicated to Elder Leonid 147 dates back to 1852. The main body of Bochkov’s poems that have come down to us dates back to the 1860s. Two large collections of his poems have survived, largely repeating each other. The selection stored in the Central State Historical Archive contains 59 works, and the selection from the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) contains 47, including individual excerpts from larger works. Bochkov perceived his poetry as Christian and monastic poetry, which is still absent in Russia. •*Starting with the poems of Demetrius of Rostov and his contemporaries and to this day, and to me, a sinner, monastic poetry has not produced anything complete, consistent with its spirit... All the rhymed transcriptions of psalms of different priests, different archimandrites, notated and not notated - all this... is weak and unpoetic in the extreme” 148. At the same time, Bochkov admitted that it is very difficult for people to retire to a monastic cell for the rest of their lives, especially difficult in our time. For all that, Bochkov has almost no philosophical and religious poems. “Christian philosophy and theology can frankly rarely be poured into poetry,” Bochkov admitted, and immediately added: “I feel in myself a capacity for foolishness rather than for wisdom” 149. In another letter from the 1860s, Bochkov noted: “...In the last years of my life I gave up trying to write anything spiritual, church, and I am moving into childhood, although not into the Gospel: I love jokes, laughter and trifles. My letters also belong to the latter class” 150. Therefore, Bochkov’s monastic poetry has a rather specific character that does not fit into the traditional framework at all. Of course, something here can be explained by the peculiarities of Bochkov’s talent. He clearly gravitated towards descriptive poetry, towards the genre of epic poetry. Bochkov has almost no pure lyricism (as well as philosophical lyricism); in his few short poems there is always an epic element. He himself was aware of this feature of his talent: “For me, paintings are easier than lyricism. A true poet combines both" 151. Much of Bochkov’s works are inspired by his impressions of the monastic life of that time, reflecting the spirit of criticism that marked his letters. That is why the satirical current in Bochkov’s poetry is so strong. Moreover, the poet was even burdened by his satirical gift: “I feel afraid for myself and for my responsibility before the Judge, but I can’t resist: the satire just drips from the pen, and I have driven away and destroyed a great many of my poems in this bilious kind. Of course, I can only justify myself by the fact that life presents incomparably more pictures of humiliation than exaltation. The slums of St. Petersburg and Dostoevsky’s novels are extremely useful not only to idle minds, but also to the government itself” 152. This is followed by the review already given above about Dostoevsky’s novels. Responding to the call of Mother Mary (E.N. Shakhova) to write in the style of the laments of biblical prophets, Bochkov noted that, alas, life provides material not for laments, but for satire: “Now transport yourself to the comedy of our times: smoking smoke, fumes, telegraphs, knocking, crackling; vanity, chatter, haste, press; magazines, the world's named guardians and mourners of humanity - everything strives with noise. Where and how will the prophet speak? What should he talk about, what should he cry about? Isn’t it about St. Petersburg, where, I will say decisively, there is no place to bow one’s head to Christ. That’s why our Fonvizins, Griboyedovs, Gogols appear. These are the prophets of our times" 153. “Due to the weakness of my exhausted mind, I cannot write anything sublime” 154. The last statement, of course, is not entirely fair: Bochkov also knew how to write “sublimely” when he turned to lofty themes, to the description of nature, but, perhaps, the greatest successes really awaited him on a different path. Bochkov’s entire poetic heritage can be divided into epic works that depict positive principles in life, close to the author’s ideal. The author looks for these beginnings almost exclusively in the past. This includes poems based on biblical and evangelical parables (“Gethsemane”, “New Sacrifice”, etc.), on historical subjects (a large poem about the uprising of Athonite monks against the Turkish yoke in 1821, preserved only in fragments; “Tiberias”; “The Avenger”, etc.) and especially numerous adaptations of legends about saints, partly borrowed from Prologue, Chetiy-Minea and other ancient Christian sources, partly from oral legends heard by the author himself during his many years of wandering around monasteries (“Living Lament”, “Tikhfinsky Cavekeeper”, “Bonifatius and Aglaida”, “Ancient Psaltery”, “The Hermit and the Angel”, “Prologue”, “The Miracle of St. Nicholas on the Carpet”, “Reconciliation after Death”, etc.). In the last cycle of works, the influence of the Optina eldership, the real way of life of the Optina ascetics, is very noticeable. The ideal of Christian living, which is affirmed in these works, is quite close to their way of life. It is no coincidence that Elder Leonid became the hero of one of Bochkov’s poems. The hero of one of his best poems, “Living Lament” (1864), Bochkov brought out the Valaam holy fool Anton Ivanovich Zinoviev, who was well known to Fr. Theodore and Fr. Leonid is 155. It is in these people that the poet finds the embodiment of true holiness, so rare in those days. To a certain extent, this also includes descriptive poems and poems that paint pictures of nature, church-historical and architectural landmarks (poems “Zelenetsky Forest”, “Sevastia”, “Assumption Monastery”, poems “Cheremenets”, etc.), although they sometimes contain satirical notes. The whole spirit of Bochkov's poetry, in essence, is devoid of philosophical asceticism; his poems are distinguished by spiritual gaiety, a peculiar acceptance of nature, and the desire to see in it the beauty of the Divine world. This may also reflect the influence of the Optina eldership. These are the majority of the poems of the Athos cycle, inspired by repeated visits to the Holy Mountain (among the poems of this cycle is one of Bochkov’s lyric-epic masterpieces - “The Source of the Virgin Mary” 156). This part of Bochkov's work also includes transcriptions of psalms and poems written in the style of these transcriptions 157. Another part of Bochkov’s poetic heritage consists of satirical and humorous works that depict the negative aspects of modern life, including monastic life. This series of works is, as it were, the opposite pole of Bochkov’s poetry. If in the works of the first group there is a romantic beginning and elements of the archaic, then in the poems and verses of the second group the realistic principle is more strongly felt. The style and poetic imagery of the works of the first group are in most cases traditional and largely focused on the poetry of the 1820s, on the work of Pushkin and Ryleev (there are direct echoes of their poetry) 158 . There are individual and purely romantic works (“Lifeless, braless eunuch...”). Poems of an allegorical nature and parables (“Eagles and Roosters,” “Two Birds,” “Sparks of Light”), as well as the few adjacent philosophical and moralistic opuses such as the poem “Tears and Bile,” are particularly archaic and old-fashioned. The obsolescence of Bochkov's tastes especially makes itself felt in them. Although in the style and imagery of Bochkov’s satirical works we also sometimes find elements of the archaic, something characteristic of the poet’s youth, there are still more points of contact with modern realistic poetry. Among the best satirical works of Bochkov are the poems “The Wanderer Angel” 159 and “The Collector Angel” 160 - the latter the author called “my beloved child” 161 - as well as the poems “Answer of Mr. A.P. B-m, who supposedly saw me in St. Petersburg” 162 and “The Cavalier Archimandrite” 163. The first two poems are very close in plot and composition. In them, the Angel receives an order from God to visit St. Petersburg and sees in the capital numerous pictures of the unrighteous, drunken, well-fed and depraved life of the capital's high society and wealthy merchants; their life is very far from the norms and laws of true Christianity - Orthodoxy. In the poem “The Collector Angel,” Angel Raphael takes on the guise of a collector monk. Neither in the capital's church, nor in the society of the capital's rich, does he meet with sympathy and help, and only among the poor, the inhabitants of the St. Petersburg slums, who, by the way, are described very realistically and colorfully, does the Angel find understanding and receive offerings to the monastery. The poem includes a very characteristic “prophetic” reflection on the future of Russia 164 for Bochkov. In the poem “The Cavalier Archimandrite,” a “type is purely Russian and impossible anywhere except Russia” 165 - an image of an archimandrite “from the crests,” proud, arrogant, self-seeking, clearly copied from life. We will encounter denunciations of monasticism, modern monastic life, and the morals of the white clergy in other works of Bochkov 166. Bochkov also loved the genre of “feuilleton” review in verse, consisting of separate, plot-unrelated parts, among which there are descriptive pictures of modern life, and satire, and digressions on historical topics, and general reasoning. Such, for example, is a work called “L. I. M.” 167 (we don’t know how it stands for). In these “reviews” the main drawback of all Bochkov’s poetry is especially noticeable - verbosity, abundance of prosaism. However, he himself admitted to this shortcoming: “The poems, although smooth, are not alive, sometimes they wander into prose” 168. Unfortunately, many of Bochkov’s works have not reached us, and we know about them only from mentions in letters. Thus, one can get an idea of ​​the content of the humorous poem about Father Gerasim, the Valaam hieromonk (from a retelling of the content in a letter to E.N. Shakhova dated April 8, 1864) 169 . The poetic drama, which took place during the Crimean campaign, was also not published. The plot of the play is known from the retelling in the letter 170. The technical level of Bochkov's poetry is quite high, not lower than most spiritual poets of that time. His verse is distinguished by its “smoothness”; there are almost no violations of rhythm or rhyme. True, Bochkov’s verse is characterized by a certain old-fashionedness, which was felt by the author himself, although he tried to take into account the achievements of modern Russian poetry. In a letter to E.N. Shakhova dated April 8, 1864, mentioning the years when he did not write poetry at all, Bochkov noted: “In these 12 years, versification has already advanced so much that it is hardly easy for me to follow. Then, when I began to read the latest magazines, I was horrified by the weakness of my works; I'm not talking about thoughts, but about design. After Fet, Benediktov, Mey, Maikov, Nekrasov, all truncations have already become ridiculous: admiration, inflamation are almost banished from poetry. Verbs gave way to new words" 171. Indeed, the verbal-figurative structure of Bochkov’s poems bears the imprint of archaism, as does Russian spiritual poetry in general. But one cannot help but note Bochkov’s exceptionally diverse rhythmic repertoire: he has a wide variety of two- and three-syllable meters, free iambs, examples of folk verse and - which is completely unique in the poetry of the mid-19th century - imitations of Russian syllabics of the 17th - early 18th centuries. This, of course, is not syllabic verse in its pure form. This is a subtle and, as a rule, successful, unexpectedly fresh-sounding stylization of this verse, which is sometimes needed by the author to create the flavor of antiquity, and sometimes, on the contrary, to create a comic effect arising from the contradiction between the content - modern and satirical - and the form of its expression (this is exactly the effect of using syllabics in a humorous and ironic poem about the misadventures of the lame monk Pancratius in the capital). It seems that Bochkov’s syllabus should attract the attention of poetry scholars. Bochkov himself characterized his poetry as “an anachronism for the current brilliant century.” And yet his poetry, in our opinion, is interesting and deserves special analysis. Of course, the figure of this writer is second-rate, if not third-rate in the history of Russian poetry, but the fact that he is completely forgotten is unfair. RGIA. F. 1660. Op. 1. Case No. 16. L. 5 – bob. Wed: Having hidden them in the secret of Your Face from human rebellion, covering them in shelter from the quarrel of the tongue (Ps. 30.21). – Ed To the Most Reverend – Ed All this is confirmed by great oaths. It must be said that the Mother Superior, through her actions and dislike of both the church and monastic life, gives rise to the conclusion that she is possessed Former cowshed Nikolskaya We are talking about the eldest son of Emperor Alexander II Nikolai Alexandrovich (1843–1865), heir to the throne, who died during his father’s lifetime. – Ed Volume 1, pp. 275, 272, 252, etc. [Link to lifetime edition.] Sergei Gennadievich Isakov (1931–2000), Doctor of Philology, Professor at the University of Tartu From recent works, see the series of articles: Kotelnikov V. A. Optina Pustyn and Russian literature // Russian literature. 1989, No. 1. P. 61–86; No. 3. P. 3–31; No. 4. pp. 3–27 The first biographical sketch of A.P. Bochkov appeared in 1874 as a preface to the publication of his book “Russian fans in Jerusalem” (Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book 4. pp. I-VIII) and belonged to a good friend Fr. Anthony (Bochkov's name in monasticism), a monk of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, hiding under the astrononym * * * (not disclosed by I. F. Masanov). Although the author of the essay had the opportunity to use Bochkov’s later lost diary and his monastic record, nevertheless, there are many errors and inaccuracies in his work, which we can only identify by comparing the data he provides with reliable archival or book sources. Additional biographical information about Bochkov can be found in the notes dedicated to him by A. A. Ivanovsky, A. A. Chumikov, Prince N. S. Golitsyn, Archimandrite Pimen (their exact bibliographic data is given in subsequent notes). Unfortunately, they do not cover all stages of Bochkov’s life, and much of this information contradicts each other. The last short biographical sketch of A.I. Reitblat (in the book: Russian writers, 1800–1917: Biographical Dictionary. M., 1989. T. 1. P. 322–323) is also not without inaccuracies, not to mention the quite understandable and excusable in this case incompleteness of the material ' See: Isakov S.G. On the Livonian theme in Russian literature of the 1820s–1830s// Scientists zap. Tartu University. 1960. Issue. 98. pp. 158–170. See also: Russian story of the 19th century. L., 1973. S. 112, 117, 118, 131 About the “Notes” of Fr. Anthony, see: Chumikov A. A. Alexey Polikarpovich Bochkov, in monasticism Fr. Anthony // Russian antiquity. 1889. No. 2. P. 380 First of all, on letters to mother Maria (E.N. Shakhova), see: RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25 See: Poems by Fr. Antonia Bochkova. – RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 1–102 vol.; Poems by Abbot Anthony. - RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 1–113. RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 1. L. 2 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. P. II RO IRLIE. 3582. XIX b. 20 (8 drawings, mainly with pitchforks of the Cheremenets Monastery); RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 14 (16 drawings, also mainly with views of the Cheremenets Monastery) RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 93 about About this circle, see: Vatsiro V. E. From the history of literary life of Pushkin’s era. M., 1989 See: Bochkov A.P. A familiar stranger, or Words spoken opportunely and inopportunely: A true anecdote. – RO IRLEY. F. 357. Op. 2. N° 37. L. 3–4 volumes, 10 volumes See about this in the comments of I. S. Zilbershtein//Literary Heritage. M., 1952. T. 58. P. 57 Four letters were published in “Russian Antiquity” (1889, No. 887. pp. 113–125), one in “Literary Heritage” (Vol. 58. pp. 53–57) See about this: Ivanovsky A. A. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. April 21 and 23, 1828 // Russian antiquity. 1874, N° 2. P. 399 Russian antiquity. 1889, no. 7. p. 113 Literary heritage. T. 58. pp. 53–57 See letter to E.N. Shakhova dated April 8, 1864 (RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 1 vol.). See also another letter dating back to the 1860s. (RO IRLI. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 79 vol.) See: Isakov S.G. Decree op. pp. 163–170 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 10. L. 1–22 about Russian antiquity. 1874, no. 2. p. 395 Orthodox Volkovskoe cemetery. St. Petersburg, 1847. P. 29 RO IRLEY. F. 357. Op. 2. No. 37. L. 2 Chumikov A. A. A. P. Bochkov // Russian antiquity. 1874, No. 3. P. 566 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. C III Iasi antiquity. 1889, No. 2. P. 378 Ivanovsky A. A. Decree. op. P. 395 Russian antiquity. 1889, No. 2. P. 378 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 8 The fate of his only son, Peter, is another tragic page in Bochkov’s life, for which he was condemned by some of his contemporaries, in particular A. A. Chumikov. Pyotr Bochkov, left in the care of his father-in-law, financially well-off, began to lead a dissolute life, squander money in Paris, later became seriously ill and died after 8 years of severe suffering (see Bochkov’s letter to E.N. Shakhova dated 25.II. 1869. - RO IRLI. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 14). Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. S. III RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 1 vol. Wed: RO IRLI. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 79 rev. See about him: Home conversation. 1867, no. 24. pp. 654–665, no. 25. pp. 678–693; Zdravomyslov K. Ignatius // Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia. St. Petersburg, 1904. T. V. P. 797–799 See Bochkov’s letter to Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod and St. Petersburg dated 13.III. 1861 // Letters from Ignatius Brianchaninov <...> to Anthony Bochkov. S. 4 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 15. L. 78–79. See also: RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 8–11 about See: Letters of Ignatius Brianchaninov ... to Antony Bochkov. S. P-Sh; Home conversation. 1867, M" 24. pp. 661–663. About Brianchaninov’s stay in Optina Pustyn, see: RO RGB, F. 214. No. 360. L. 20–20ob Ignatius Brianchaninov, bishop. Op. T. 1: Ascetic experiences. St. Petersburg, 1865. pp. 535–536, 542–543, 545. True, in private correspondence of the 1860s. Ignatius’s attitude towards Optina Pustyn and the order prevailing there is more critical (see: Letters of Ignatius Brianchaninov to Anthony Bochkov. P. 24) A note was made to this place in the Chronicle: “Elder Leo (Leonid), after his disciple, Hieromonk Gerontius, entered the Tikhon Hermitage as a builder, annually visited him with his disciples for confirmation in spiritual exploits and, having stayed for about a month, returned to Optina.” RO RSL. F. 214. No. 360. L. 32 See RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 12 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 1. L. 1 [Leonid Kavelin]. Historical description of the monastery in the name of St. John the Baptist of the Lord, located at the Kozelskaya Vvedenskaya Optina Hermitage. Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional St. Petersburg, 1862. P. 118 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 98 [Clement (Zederholm)]. Biography of the Optina elder Hieromonk Leonid (in the schema of Leo). M., 1876. P. 99 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 6. L. 1–14 b See Clement [K. K. Zederholm]. Decree. op. S. I-II, 37–38, etc.; Leonid [Kavelin]. Decree. op. pp. 110–121 Leonid [Kavelin]. Decree. op. P. 117 See letters to E. N. Shakhova. – RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 1 volume, 110–110 volume See the work on the history of monasticism (without title). - RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 12, 15 about RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 1 about RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L.PO RO RSL. F. 214. No. 360. L. 56 vol., 61. See also: RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 2. L. 4 RO RSL. F. 214. No. 360. L. 94–94 about In particular, N.K. Piksanov attributed to A.P. Bochkov the book “Letters to various persons of Abbot Anthony, former abbot of the Malo-Yaroslavets Nikolaevsky Monastery” (M.: Publishing House of Vvedenskaya Optina Pustyn, 1869). See: Y. K. Piksanov. A. S. Griboyedov and A. A. Bestuzhev. St. Petersburg, 1907. P. 9 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 28 RO RSL. F. 214. No. 361. L. 13 vol. –14 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 1. pp. 252–253 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 2 about Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 1. P. 247 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 1. pp. 234–235 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 12, 27 about Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. P. IV Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. P. VI Staraya Ladoga Nikolaevsky Monastery. St. Petersburg, 1862. P. 35 See about him: Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg diocese. St. Petersburg, 1871. Issue. 2. pp. 81–102. Among the donors to the monastery we see Bochkov’s son and father-in-law (see ibid. p. 102). Bochkov's wealthy relatives usually donated considerable sums to the monasteries where Fr. Anthony, and he himself gave the “pension” due to him by inheritance to the monastery that sheltered him. RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 2. L. 2–2 about See about it: Historical and statistical description of the first-class Tikhvin Mother of God Great Monastery, located in the Novgorod diocese, in the city of Tikhvin. St. Petersburg, 1859 RO RSL. F. 214. No. 360. L. 94 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 1. P. 236 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 2. L. 3 Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. P. IX RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 79 See Letters of Ignatius Brianchaninov to Antony Bochkov. pp. 8–9, 15–16, 19, 24, 25–26 Memoirs of Archimandrite Pimen, abbot of the Nicholas Monastery on Ugresh. M., 1877. pp. 209–210. Wed: Golitsyn N.S. Decree. op. P. 373 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 3. L. 3–3 about Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg diocese. Vol. 2. pp. 253–254. The dates given in the biographical sketches in “Readings in the OIDR” (1874. Book 4. P. VI) and in the dictionary “Russian Writers, 1800–1917” (vol. 1. P. 323) are erroneous Memoirs of Archimandrite Pimen. P. 209 See: Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg diocese. Vol. 2. P. 252 I. A. Cheremenetsky Theological Monastery // Home conversation. 1866, No. 7. P. 187. I. A. is a cryptonym of A. Bochkov, unmarked by I. F. Masanov and deciphered as “Monk Anthony” or “Hegumen Anthony.” The essay belongs to the author Fr. Anthony cannot be doubted, since a handwritten version of it has been preserved in Bochkov’s archive (see: RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Item 13. L. 83–84 vol.) Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg diocese. Vol. 2. pp. 249–250 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 16 rev. See reviews of V. I. Askochensky in letters to E. N. Shakhova Golitsyn N.S. Decree. op. P. 373. Compare: review by Chumikov//Russian antiquity. 1889, No. 2. P. 380 See about him: Memoirs of Archimandrite Pimen. pp. 270–281; Historical sketch of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery. M., 1872 Apparently, it was Bochkov who mentioned him in a letter to E.N. Shakhova dated April 25, 1871, where he characterizes his friend at the monastery: “... a Moscow nobleman who knows many languages... a man of a dove-like character and also a poet” (RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 34) Readings in OIDR. 1874. Book. 4. P. I-II Memoirs of Archimandrite Pimen. pp. 206–207 Golitsyn N. S. Decree op. P. 373 See in the letter to E.N. Shakhova dated January 25. 1872 (RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 16–17) Leonid [Kavelin]. Decree. op. P. 218 Golitsyn N.S. Decree. op. P. 374 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 106–108 vol. See also a general reflection in a letter to Ignatius Brianchaninov dated July 15, 1862: “All connections and supports of human society are torn and falling, imagining nothing in the future with which to replace what is being destroyed. <...> The human mind, never before so tense, is tired beyond belief, pondering the past and staring through all telescopes at the darkness of the future: darkness is everywhere for the truthful philosopher. Meanwhile, intoxicated by the 19th century and its discoveries, deceived by false progress, frivolous young men and old men, even more contemptible, cry out about the universal hopes and future achievements of science! Some kind of demonic rapture, some kind of satanic holiday everywhere. The enemy of the human race has something to rejoice in!” RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 145 rev. See their correspondence about this RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 27 about Note on monastic life (without title). - RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 11. L. 1 Letter to Ignatius Brianchaninov from the summer of 1861 - Wed. in the article “The Soul of the Russian in the second half of 1855.” - RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 5. L. 3 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 13 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 43 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 17 See, for example, the poetic declaration in the poetic “review” “L. I. M. > (RGIA. F. 1680. Inventory 1. Item 13. L. 67) Noting that in Pushkin’s work he finds only individual remarkable things, which, however, still do not reach the level of Shakespeare and Milton, Bochkov further writes: “Griboedov alone, with his little comedy, will remain the greatest Russian genius, not soaring, but menacingly holding his diamond mirror both in front of Moscow and in front of our society: this is an all-deadening, but great truth, clothed in the living word poetry, which, like an electric spark, penetrated everything and revived everything in our literature. Until now - as I wrote to you - Griboyedov has not yet been appreciated.” (RO IRLI. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 79 vol.) RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 29 RGIA. F. 1680. Op 1. Unit. hr. 8. L. 6 RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. L. 24 rev. Letters from Ignatius Brianchaninov to Antony Bochkov. P. 33 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 70 In addition to the sketches of the life and deeds of Fr. already mentioned above. Leonidas, see, for example, the memoir portrait of Archimandrite Theophan (RGIA. F. 1680. Inv. 1. Item. I. L. 10–11) See, for example, his article “The Soul of the Russian in the second half of 1855” (RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Item 5. L. 1–4), inspired by the sad events of the Crimean War, where Bochkov claims that in Russia “there is shine above, rotten below” (Ibid. L. 2) RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 11. L. 5–9 We know of only one poem by Bochkov that was published: St. John the Theologian // Home Conversation. 1866, No. 3. P. 73 (printed anonymously; in the table of contents the author is designated by the cryptonym I.A.). See the manuscript of the poem: RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 82 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 26 about RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 8. However, it is not entirely clear whether there was complete silence in the interval - in one of the letters to Shakhova, Bochkov mentions that in 1840 he wrote the prose poem “Pavilika entwining an oak tree” (RO IRLI. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 59) In the list “Chronicles of the Optina Monastery Monastery for 1852–1860.” it is given under the title “Lamentation on the Father’s Tomb”, provided with an extensive preface in verse and dated March 21, 1852 (RO RGB. F. 214. No. 361. L. 19 vol.) RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 91. Cf.: Ibid. L. 70 Right there. L. 39–39 vol. Bochkov justified these passions with examples from world literature: “Reality presents us every day with scenes of fun after tragic ones: Shakespeare took advantage of this and Omir himself did not forget. That’s why I put true jokes into my fantasies” (Ibid. L. 127 vol.) RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 1–1 rev RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 97–98 RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 36–36 about See, for example: Free transcription of Psalm 143. - RO IRLI. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 24 Perhaps it is to Ryleev’s “Thoughts” that Bochkov’s much-loved genre goes back – a poem on a historical theme with extensive commentary. Bochkov and in the 1860s. continued to be interested in Ryleev’s poetry, although without the previous feeling of admiration for it (see his mention of reading Ryleev’s “Duma” “Prince Mikhail of Tverskoy.” - RO IRLI. 3589. XIX b. 25. L. 23). Bochkov had a negative attitude towards Decembrism as a socio-political movement during these years RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 66–70 vol. Wed: RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 43–44 about RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 21–28 about RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 61 rev. RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 34–35. Wed: RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 96–96ob RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 35–35 about RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 23–23 vol. Wed. in another poem: How will we end? The kingdom of the guillotine Or, in Russian, an ax? (RO IRLI. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 29 vol.) RO IRLEY. 3577. XIX 6. 15. L. 35 RGIA. F. 1680. Op. 1. Unit hr. 13. L. 38–39 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L 1 RO IRLEY. 3589. XIX 6. 25. L. 1 rev.