Letter to the monk Juvenaly (Polovtsev)

Most beloved Brother in the Lord, Father Juvenal! I saw your hand on some of the envelopes that I received from Optina, and now I saw it in your dear letter to me; I was touched to the depths of my heart and said to myself: “There are people in our time who lay down their souls for their neighbors.” You did this with your sincere and kind letter. I thank the Lord God, who inspired you to do this! I thank our common Elder, who blessed you to write to me! Thank you for doing a good deed for me! You are, in fact, the way John described you to me, who said that he felt a special affection for you, as if from permanent and long-term residence with you. I answer you with the frankness corresponding to your letter. I have heard from some about the circumstances you describe, that is, about the desire to destroy the precious forest, about a special love for incessant construction, combined with ignorance of the matter and therefore not crowned with due success, despite the costs; but he did not completely trust these rumors, but believed that this should relate more to the monastery than to the monastery. Unfortunately, I happened to see similar examples especially in my duties as dean: many rectors are overwhelmed by an insatiable desire to build, have the opportunity to get money, do not tolerate the participation of the Architect, certainly want to fulfill their dreams, erect valuable buildings devoid of convenience, strength, beauty, i.e., all the qualities that come with correctness. On the contrary, well-constructed buildings are excellent in all respects. These are the two-story church in the Valaam Skete and the Hotel at the Valaam Monastery, recently built according to the design of Professor Gornostaev. They are as strong as cast metal; They do not have any decorations, but their strict character and correctness give them an extraordinary, very serious beauty. I believed that the timing provided an opportunity for Fr. Arch became quite close to Fr. Macarius and that he completely provided the Elder with Skete. From your letter, which I can rightly call a blessing for me, I see something different. What to do? humanity . I agree with the opinion of Fr. Macarius, Vash and the Skete brethren, that the high forest serves as the guardian of silence in the skete, gives it a special desert character, full of inspiration, protects it from the winds - in a word, a jewel - a jewel that must be preserved and preserved. John was present during the conversation with Fr. Makaria with Fr. Moses about the location of the cell and told me that Fr. Macarius then offered a place in the apiary, to which Fr. Moses responded with a significant silence, which made an impression on John and which he especially noticed. Upon receipt of the letter from Fr. Macarius, in which the Elder refuses to take part in the construction of the cell, John later realized that in the look of Fr. There is great difference and disagreement between the Archimandrite and the Elder on this subject; Even then I did not realize that the disagreement was so strong, especially since I did not think in any way about assigning a place outside the monastery fence before receiving your letter and before receiving it from Fr. Arch of Planchik, where the place is assigned behind the fence. “I see that for the final decision, I need, on the advice of the Elder, to visit Optina myself. I don’t persist in building: I’m willing to buy something ready-made just as much. And it is better to take a cell in a monastery than outside the skete fence. But I hope for the mercy of God that I will be able to find shelter in the monastery. I understand very well that both in the Skete and in the monastery itself, well-meaning and saving brethren live for the sake of Fr. Macaria; and I strive there with the goal of having him as my confessor: because in my life I have not found anything more beneficial for me than confessing, as often as possible, my inclinations. If only o. Macarius did not live in Optina, my eyes could have turned somewhere further south: Fr. Macarius acquired experience and directness, which attract the frankness of his neighbors, which a composed state cannot attract, or at least cannot constantly attract. Through the same mail I received letters from Fr. Moses and from Fr. Anthony, from which one can see their love, or at least the desire for me to be placed in the monastery. Of course, they do not see my life here and my almost permanent stay in the cell due to illness, which is why they take their precautions and want to hide the inside of the monastery from my eyes. I excuse the measures they take in relation to me: the guilt is such that one must be careful; but I do not at all want these measures to be harmful to the monastery and cause grief and confusion in the monastery brethren. It’s better for me to make room and occupy the most modest corner. I intend to write about this to Fr. Moses, freed from the holidays, and present to him the inconveniences of the enclosed premises arising from my considerations, behind which the reasons that you set out in your letter would be completely hidden. - F. Moses writes about the monastery forest that it is not available, but must be purchased from the outside. Thank you for informing me about your relationship with the monastery of G. Bryuzgin: I do not want to disturb Fr. Archimandrite and will try to calm him down. O. Moses told John that he had never eaten whitefish. We really wanted to send it to him, but we don’t know how. Show us the way. To Moscow by rail. In Moscow, is it possible to address it to someone so that it can be delivered to Optina? Also, is it possible to inform that the route from Moscow to Optina is by stagecoach, where and when does this stagecoach leave for Kaluga from Moscow? I asked Nick about this. Nick. Golokhvastov, but he apparently forgot. Complete the good work you have begun in the Lord: prolong your obligatory affection for me. If the Lord leads me to come to Your Holy Abode, then deal with me quite frankly and do not let me make a mistake. I ask both the Elder and you about this. - Excuse John for not writing to you until now: he has a lot of work to do about our monastery, which is why all his time is absorbed in studies. And now he's in town for praise. Forgive me for disturbing your peace of mind with my proposal; but the indignant water showed me an Angel. Calling on you the abundant blessing of God and asking for your Holy prayers, with a feeling of sincere respect and devotion, I have the honor to be Your Reverence’s most humble novice Archimandrite Ignatius 1855 December 26. 1857 October 15. Father o. Macarius, repeatedly thinking and grieving about the disorder of our monastery and speaking several times about this with Fr. Hegumen Anthony, decided to write his opinion and give him a note, and he conveyed it to Fr. Archimandrite with the following content: The sorrow of my soul and heart, I cannot express how great it is, about our most venerable Fr. Archimandrite and about the brotherhood of our monastery and, I am quite surprised how, with such a pious life and mind, he does not see that in his old age he has deviated into the passion of superfluous and unnecessary buildings, through which he enters into great debts and thereby deprives himself of peace: he cuts down the centuries-old forest, which can serve for a long time as an adornment of the monastery and be a refuge for those wishing to be saved; for we see how in former times people retired into the thicket of forests and there, in the silence of the world and its vanities, in prayers and monastic works they sought their salvation. And we cut down the forest without mercy, and where does it go? The wood, at the discretion of the carpenter, is used indiscriminately; wherever worse wood can be placed, the best goes there; the best boards are also used, but the old ones could be used elsewhere, and a lot goes into stumps and trimmings. ABOUT. The Archimandrite is offended at me when I tell him about preserving the forest, and says that the tree was created for man, and not man for the trees; That is why it is necessary to protect the forest, because it was created and needed for man, and not to waste it in vain, but only in necessary cases, use your forest, and then only a little. A person receives peace and spiritual benefits in the forest, as stated above. The building will stand for 30–40–50 years, deteriorates and is used for firewood and lime, but there are no longer any trees that could serve as decoration and a stronghold for the monastery for centuries. You can buy what is needed for construction, not what is superfluous; There are rafts with timber coming here, but you need to take care of your own. RSL OR. F. 213. K. 102. No. 3. Father Yuvenaly (in the world Ivan Andreevich Polovtsev, 1826–1904) - was in military service, after a serious illness on March 15, 1847 he entered the monastery of Optina Pustyn as a novice, in 1855 he was tonsured a monk. In 1857–1861, together with Hieromonk Leonid (Kavelin), he was a member of the Jerusalem Spiritual Mission. In 1861 he became abbot of the Glinskaya Theotokos Hermitage; in 1862, rector with the rank of archimandrite of the Root Nativity of the Virgin Hermitage; in 1867–1871 - governor of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, then stayed due to illness in Optina Pustyn, and in 1884 appointed governor of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. On October 25, 1892 he was consecrated Bishop of Balakhna; On September 3, 1893, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop and appointed Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilnius. He knew many languages ​​perfectly. In Optina Pustyn he was engaged in the translation and publication of patristic literature. In Vilna he built the majestic Znamensky Cathedral. Compiled a biography of Archimandrite Moses (Putilov). Here and below the letter numbers are given in the original numbering. ed. ABC of Faith portal You might be interested in: