Письма к мирянам (продолжение)

Letter 268. A Christian is the church of God. – The Gospel is the rule of life. – Love for God is the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments. – Prayer rule; The Path to Perfection (To a certain girl who wanted to engage in a detailed and active study of Christianity) The New Testament everywhere calls the Christian a church, a house, a vessel. The purpose of this church, with which the Creator created it, the purpose of this vessel, with which the Great Artist created it, is for it to be the dwelling of God, the repository of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God, out of His ineffable Love and Humility, did not want to be the violent owner of the church that He built for Himself. He gave the verbal church freedom, the power to belong or not to belong to its Creator, so that God’s presence in man would be solely due to man’s love for God. But this church, a vessel, having removed God from itself, cannot but be what it was created with, that is, a church, a vessel. Then, according to Scripture, he takes sin into himself - the poison thrown into our nature by the devil - and becomes a container of passions. If a Christian again wants to be the abode of God; then by repentance he drives out sin from himself, and by keeping the commandments he again attracts God to himself. However, the possibility of these changes continues only during earthly life, after which the one who was the last owner of the church remains its owner for all eternity, and God constitutes the eternal bliss of His dwelling, and sin is the eternal torment of his lair. Our destiny in eternity depends on the way of life that we will lead during our short stay on it. Do you want to be the church of God? – Do you want your heart to be a vessel of the gifts of Grace? – I entrust you with the Gospel, let it be the rule of your life. Believe in him with your deeds, your life - not only with your thoughts, heart and lips. – When you read this Divine book, the book of life, imagine that Christ Himself stands invisibly before you and speaks to you the verbs that “Spirit is the essence and the Life is the essence!” (John 6:63) - One should not picture the appearance of Christ in the imagination, - no, one should only vividly and reverently feel His all-holy presence. That he who wishes to love the Savior is obliged to fulfill all His commandments set forth in the Holy Gospel, this was clearly testified by the Savior Himself: “Whoever loves Me,” He said, “keeps My Word. He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:23–24). Love for God stems from keeping the Gospel commandments and is observed in the heart by this keeping: “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love” (John 15:10). What is the fruit of love for the Savior? “Whoever loves Me,” He answers, “will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and appear to him Myself” (John 14:21). The disciple, whose thought was still nailed to the ground, hearing about the appearance of the Savior to the lover and beloved, thinking that the one who promises to appear will be visible with bodily eyes, asks: “Lord, why is it that You want to appear to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered him: “Whoever loves Me will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:22–23). This phenomenon is in the heart. This is the phenomenon about which the Apostle Paul said: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me!” (Gal. 2:20). This is the appearance, the presence of the Lord, which all Christians should feel if they are truly Christians! “Or do you not know yourselves,” says the Apostle to the Corinthians, “that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are what you ought to be?” (2 Cor. 13:5). The indwelling of the Lord in the heart is the fruit of love; love is the fruit of keeping the commandments; keeping the commandments is the fruit of knowing them; their knowledge is acquired by reading the Gospel and prayer. “I will learn in Your commandments” (Ps. 119:15), says the Prophet by the Holy Spirit; and in another place he prays: “Do not hide Your Commandments from Me!” (Ps. 119:19). Enlightenment shines from prayer when reading. The Heavenly Father Himself gives everything necessary for temporary life to those who seek the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why our Reverend Fathers, abandoning all petitions for earthly things, prayed for only one thing - for cleansing from sins. And as the Lord, teaching His disciples the highest commandments after the Last Supper, commanded to call on His all-holy Name in prayers, the Holy Fathers added a petition for remission of sins to the name of the Lord, and their prayers were brief, but the Heaven-opening words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” This prayer became their constant, almost their only mental activity. “Let the name of Jesus,” said one of them, “be united with your breath.” The Apostle Paul himself says about himself: “I determined to know nothing in you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). But for Christ to dwell in us, this is not a matter of one day or two, said St. John Chrysostom, but of many years and years. Moreover, whoever wants to acquire Christ must renounce everything: it is impossible to work for the world and together with God. Those who wish to become accustomed to the prayer in the name of the Lord, usually called the Jesus prayer, are initially accustomed to it according to the tradition of the Fathers, combining it with bows. This rule increases or decreases according to the strength of each person. For many, the following is sufficient: Rising from sleep, try to have your first thought be about God and His blessings, which God poured out on you without your knowledge or desire, by His sole mercy. Consider it a special blessing that you are enlightened by the Christian Faith, in the bosom of the true Church; then start the rule like this: 20 prostrations; with each bow prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” 20 bows from the waist with the same prayer. 10 prostrations: with each prostration, prayer: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, save me, a sinner.” 10 belts with the same prayer. 5 belts with a prayer: “My holy Guardian Angel of God, pray to God for me, a sinner.” 5 belts with a prayer: “All saints, pray to God for me, a sinner.” A total of 70 bows, of which 30 are to the ground and 40 are from the waist. If you find that these bows are not enough for you, then you can add several bows with the Jesus Prayer according to your strength. But the rule must be balanced so that it is the same every day. The saints said: “It is better to do a little work, but constantly, than a big work, but soon stop.” After which morning prayers are read, and, if you wish, a memorial service that you like for special reasons; after the memorial, read the Gospel, chapters of two or three. When you read about the blind, the lame, the lepers, the demoniac, the dead, then think that you are like them and pray to the Savior to save you. Then your usual activities should follow with the fear of God, prayer, useful thoughts and memories. For reading, I approve of the book: Les saints peres des deserts de ÍOrient. But this book should also be read with moderation. I advise you to get used to reading in Russian and Slavic languages, to read the books of the Holy Fathers. If for the needs of the transitory world, you have become accustomed to various foreign languages; - then why not work hard and get used to your native language for Christ and for the good of your soul? – Start reading in Russian and Slavic – even the Gospel. If you have a free hour during the day, you can repeat the rule with bows, or just make 20 bows to the ground and 20 bows from the waist with the Jesus Prayer. If there is no free time, then leave the rule and remain peaceful. In the evening one should begin again with bows in the above-determined order and number, after which one should read the evening prayers and the Gospel. Lying down on the bed, one should remember death, the image of which is a temporary dream, and, having renounced all thoughts and dreams, fall asleep with the Jesus Prayer. If you want to follow the true path of God and see spiritual fruit in your soul; then be content with a humble and simple image of spiritual achievement. Do not seek pleasure in the delights of dreaminess that foreign writers excite. Renounce them. Soon you will be convinced of the strength of your path by the peace and tranquility that will flow into your heart. In the Desert Fathers of the East you will see that the Gospel and the Psalter were for the most part their only books. “Christ,” said one of them, “is hidden in the Gospel; whoever wants to find Christ can find Him in the Gospel. Christ is God’s Power and God’s Wisdom.” – Does he who finds God’s Wisdom need human wisdom? Do not disparage the Wisdom of God because her appearance is so simple and humble. Leave, I repeat to you, all the foreign prayers and readings that you liked so much, which seemed so beautiful. Follow what I advise you before God and for God's sake. When your heart is cleansed by tasting what is truly Holy and Spiritual, then it will receive an aversion to the counterfeit spiritual, then you will rejoice and thank God for having diverted you from the jaws of lies and delusions, which those deceived and darkened by them cannot understand. Remember the words of Christ: “Narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life, and few find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:14–15). If, while living according to the commandments of Christ, the grace of the Holy Spirit spills into your heart and marks its presence in it with various spiritual fruits, such as extraordinary peace, meekness, kindness to everyone, patience: then you will be a vessel acceptable to God, a vessel of salvation. If you want to be more perfect, then after complete self-loathing, plunge into the depths of humility. Then grace can be given to you more abundantly, then you can feel the indwelling of Christ, become the church of God: - by experience you will learn what Christian perfection on earth is, called by the Apostle: “perfection in part.” The Lord, who calls everyone to eternal bliss, the Lord, who knows His chosen ones, the Lord, who searches hearts and wombs, may He look from above on your desire to work and please Him alone, may He accept this desire, and may He send down His help to you! “Without Me,” He said, “you can do nothing” (John 15:5) that is useful to your souls and pleasing to God. Amen. March 10, 1843 Sergiev Pustyn Letter 269. Tribulation of Christians in the last time; the smoothness of hearing the Word of God “You will be in a world of sorrow,” the Savior foretold to His disciples; but “take heart, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And so! - this prediction of the Savior is made over His followers for one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two and a half years. But the sorrows that befell the little flock of Christ in this space of time are very different. First there was an obvious persecution of Christians: all twelve of the main Apostles of Christ, with the exception of John the Theologian, ended their earthly wanderings with violent death. Over time, this obvious persecution transformed into a more subtle one, inconspicuous to everyone, but quite clear to purified minds; the persecutors began to demand from Christians not renunciation of Christ, but the acceptance of heresy, as soul-destructive as renunciation, that is, to demand not just wickedness, but wickedness. - Further, the persecution has become even more subtle: faith in Christ is left to its own devices, and living according to the commandments of Christ is rejected: - living the opposite of them is accepted, which is why faith cannot in any way move from introductory to active, much less to living, i.e. e. spiritual. Faith without works of faith, that is, without fulfilling the commandments of Christ, is dead. Its most introductory knowledge remains extremely dark and confusing for a person, as if it were not explained to him by action, much less by the Holy Spirit. In this state of confusion and darkness, we currently see many who consider themselves Christians, and even teachers of the Church of Christ - some of them do not believe the miracles of Christ, counted in the Gospel, - another believes one part of the teaching of Christ, and rejects the other, another does not believe the existence of demons; again, others think, not being able to distinguish between works of faith and works of nature, that everyone will be saved for their good deeds, and so on, and so on. For this reason, it is very rare to hear the true Word of God from human lips, although it is often possible to hear a counterfeit one. The hunger of hearing the Word of God is a disaster, incomparably grave, a disaster of all the disasters that have ever been unleashed on Christians. But this too is God’s permission, which must be endured with devotion to the will of God. I will bear the wrath of God, says the Prophet. Due to the severity of the sorrows allowed to the present generation. The Lord with special goodness forgives his sins. May God's blessing rest upon you. Letter 270. Surrendering oneself to the will of God. 2. Solitude is a necessary condition for salvation. 3. About raising a daughter. 4–5. About confession (From a letter to N.N.) 1. Whoever wants to serve God correctly: he should not ask God for anything, such as tears or something else, in accordance with his will: he must ask God, so that God will give him what is useful for his soul; a person does not know what exactly is good for his soul. Whoever, in his petition, renounces his will for the Will of God: he can receive true humility. We must refrain from getting excited, and try to have the fear of God when praying: this is more correct. 2. Solitude was always useful when, according to the spirit of the times, there were many pious people in society; and now, with the general spread of debauchery, solitude and removal from acquaintances and acquaintances is a necessary condition for salvation. 3. Don’t let yourself clap your daughter, lower your finger. This is extremely harmful to the morality of both the daughter and the mother. There is something old that is good, and there is something old that is bad: you don’t need to imitate the bad. Buy yourself a book: the teachings of the Venerable Abba Dorotheos, who trained young monks with excellent success. This book will be excellent instruction for yourself and for raising your daughter. Read the book and study it. Know that more than all your instructions in words, your life will be the strongest instruction for your daughter. 4. Recognizing oneself as a sinner is necessary for salvation, but condemning oneself and rushing in all directions because of sinfulness is very harmful. Everything immoderate is from demons, said the Monk Pimen the Great. Why did you boast about the multitude of your sins? Our Savior and Redeemer is incalculably rich and powerful: the sins of all people mean nothing to Him, as long as they do not themselves reject their Redeemer. The Lord said to the sinful wife whom He had forgiven: “I do not condemn you; Go and do not sin against anyone” (John 8:11). Anyone whose sins are forgiven during the sacrament of confession is obliged not to repeat these sins, and nothing more. Remembering previous bodily sins is very harmful and is forbidden by the Holy Fathers. What is at work here is unbelief, lack of respect for the Sacrament of Confession, a false concept of virtue, deceptive passion and daydreaming. Have you ever imagined that humility is at work here? 5. Almost the same must be said about your intention to reveal your sinfulness to some person. Again here is a lack of trust in the Holy Sacrament of Confession, in which the all-powerful Holy Spirit acts, decisively and completely erasing the sins of people. Why do you consider what has been destroyed to exist? Don't you dare touch the Great Sacrament! An insignificant speck of dust! Do not dare to replenish the Great Sacrament, which has its fullness from God and does not need human replenishment. Do not repeat your sins: this is all that God requires of you, and what is only necessary for your salvation. Don’t you dare talk about your sins to anyone except your confessor. Fear unbelief, for it diminishes the power and goodness of God in a person’s thoughts. We must be very careful of false thoughts and excitement: because with them a person, thinking of doing good, can do a lot of evil to himself and his neighbors. The guidance of Dorotheus is absolutely necessary for those who want to be saved: it will be for you. Christ is with you. I repeat my sincere wish for all the best for you and your family. Unworthy Bishop Ignatius. Letter 271. To A.V.Zh. About body illness May the Lord God remember you with His mercy. Soreness is made up for deeds. Illness is a ready salvation when the patient moves away from bad words, thoughts and dreams; when he surrenders to the will of God; when he thanks for the illness that removes him from the world; which he would not do solely of his own free will. Sorry: I write little, although I have written a lot. I am weak in strength, and due to scrofula in my eyes, I must take care of my eyes. - Calling upon you the blessing of God. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. Letter 272. Tribulation - the seal of election Thank you for your letter of December 15 and congratulations on the upcoming holidays. You reason very justly and pleasingly to God, saying that pain and the tightness associated with it were sent to you by God to protect you from sins and sinful temptations with which the world is now filled. But even now the elect are saved. The seal of election is tribulation. The Lord sends sorrows to whomever He accepts into His immediate assimilation, and whom He (accepts) He wants to crown, subjects him to many and various sorrows, so that the soul, shaken by sorrows, can receive its sight and see God in His Providence. In sorrows, it is very useful to surrender to the will of God and thank God for the sorrow sent. It is useful for those who mourn to read the life of the Great Martyr Eustathius Placis (Cheti Menaion, September 20). May God's blessing rest upon you. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. Letter 273. Prudent Self-View and the Strait Path It is very good when a person constantly sees and confesses himself as a sinner. From such self-view, the human spirit constantly remains in humility and God-loving sadness. But it is necessary that such self-conception be dissolved by prudence and not go beyond due measure. In the latter case, it can be harmful and can put a person in complete bewilderment regarding his residence. Our nature is damaged by sin. For this reason, the heart of every person naturally produces a large amount of tares. And therefore, whoever sees the tares arising in himself should not be surprised at this, as if it were something extraordinary, and should not become bewildered and cowardly. This is how it should be! The tares of the heart do their work: they grow and grow: having been weeded out, they appear again. And we must do our part: weed and weed out the tares. This position instills humility in a person. God's mercy descends upon humility. The all-powerful and all-good God is steadily looking at us. That is why He allows us a situation that leads us to humility in order to bestow His mercy on us. There is a time for everything: there is a time for cultivating the land for sowing bread, there is another time for sowing, again another for harvesting, for milking, for turning into flour, for baking, and finally, for eating bread. The soul of every person who has given himself up to serving God without any evil, earthly purpose for the purpose of pleasing God and his salvation is in the hand of God. No one and nothing can snatch such a soul from the hand of God. God grants such a soul a narrow path during its earthly journey, consisting of various sorrows and hardships, because it is impossible to come to God along the wide path. With faith, surrender yourself to the Will of God, rejecting from yourself not labor care for yourself, but dreamy care. When such concerns come, it is much better to turn to God in prayer for yourself, rather than delve into writings and paintings of various plans, which are always unrealistic. May God's blessing rest upon you. Letter 274. On the brevity of earthly life and preparation for eternity God bless you for your congratulations on the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, on which I congratulate you, sincerely wishing to meet you at the eternal Feast prepared for all Christians by the Resurrection of Christ. How long has it been since I saw you in Moscow? It seems very recently, but more than six months have passed since then. This is how all earthly life will fly by. It is given to us to prepare us for eternity. May God's blessing rest upon you. Letter 275. About thoughts, about devotion to the will of God and faith in God, conquering the hopelessness of salvation When a person is especially bothered by thoughts against his will, this is a sign that God has mercy on that person. Unclean spirits are jealous of such a person and try to confuse him. One should not analyze such thoughts and pay special attention to them, because this increases embarrassment. You cannot find order in those in which everything is disorder. All embarrassment must be answered with short words: “I surrendered myself to the will of God.” Also, in prayer, daily ask God to do His holy will over us and then be affirmed by faith in God, without Whose will nothing can happen to us. The memory of death, of God’s judgment, of eternal torment is good; but when at the same time hopelessness, despondency, despair comes, then you need to know that there is also an admixture of demons, which is driven away by faith. The Holy Scripture calls God faithful and man a lie. God is faithful and will in no way deprive the salvation of the person who wants to be saved; also will not send a premature and untimely death to such a person, but will give him all the time to prepare. Strengthen your faith and surrender to the will of God. May the mercy of God and the blessing of God rest upon you. Letter 276. On attention to prayer The general rule for everyone involved in prayer is: “to enclose the mind in the words of prayer,” i.e. pray with attention. What the soul is to the body, attention is to prayer: without attention it is dead and has no meaning. One must take care to enclose the mind in the words of prayer both when praying the Jesus Prayer and when reading akathists and other prayers. The Holy Fathers advise those who want to succeed in prayer to engage in praying the Jesus Prayer and reading the rules alternately. Such diversity facilitates the feat of prayer and promotes success. Beginners should engage in prayer little by little, but often, in order to maintain a taste for prayer and not produce fatigue in the mind, which leads to abandonment of prayer. When you are alone, pray a little out loud so that you can hear yourself: this promotes attention. One should not pay any attention to incoming thoughts, no matter how obvious they may be. “The light of my paths is Your law” (Ps. 119:105), said the Prophet, and nothing else. If you do not have proper attention during prayer, then do not be embarrassed. God will give attention in due time to those who, through constant practice of prayer and forcing themselves to pay attention, prove that they really want to pray with attention. One Saint said: “I cast all my infirmities on God and surrendered myself completely to His will.” And you talk about yourself like that and you will calm down. May God's blessing and God's mercy rest upon you. Letter 277. To K.V.G. About attentive prayer, prayer rule The Holy Fathers, praising the rule of prayer and confessing the necessity of it, instruct to have it in moderation, commensurate with one’s strength, with the state of spiritual prosperity and with the circumstances in which a person is placed by the Providence of God. The essence of fulfilling the prayer rule is that it is fulfilled with attention. From attention, our spirit comes into humility: from humility, repentance is born. In order to make a rule slowly, the rule must be moderate. The Holy Fathers, highly praising the moderate rule, advise us to fulfill it without neglect. The following rule may be useful for us and at first satisfactory: Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee; Heavenly King, Trisagion, Our Father, Lord have mercy 12. Come, let us worship. Psalm 50, Symbol of Faith, Virgin Mary, rejoice three times. After this, 20 prayers: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”; bow to the ground at every prayer. Then another 20 of the same prayers, and with each one a bow from the waist. It is worthy to eat, as truly; Through the prayers of the saints, our Father, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. This prayer rule should be performed in the morning and evening. Bows should be made very slowly, with a feeling of repentance, as if standing before the Lord Himself, falling at His feet and begging for mercy, but not at all imagining the Lord, but only believing His presence and the fact that He looks at us and sees us. You have written instructions on prayer: try to borrow from it the direction for your spirit during prayer. Of all the other prayers, the akathist to the Lord Jesus is most useful for the novice. Read it once a week, standing or sitting, whichever is more convenient for you, but certainly with attention and not in a hurry. Also, do not allow yourself to read the Gospel and other holy books superficially and fluently: read them slowly and with attention. When reading, observe moderation. Moderation maintains a constant desire to read, and satiety with reading produces aversion from it. The book of letters from the Transdonsk recluse George can be very useful for you. It is of the same spirit and direction as the writings of St. Tikhon of Voronezh. I allow myself to say that it is of the same spirit with my sinful writings, which you can read all of: because they explain what is for the beginner and what is for the successful. Do not forget to constantly surrender yourself to the will of God and thank God for all His blessings done to you. We all must be sure that we do not deserve the blessings of God that we have, that we deserve incomparably greater troubles than those that we encounter. With such a view of himself, a Christian remains peaceful because of his submission to God and thanks God for everything that happens to him. Letter 278. To A. A. S. About the acceptance of the Holy Mysteries Christ came to earth to save sinners, not the righteous. In exactly the same way He descends with His holy Body and His all-holy Blood into a sinful person and saves him. It is not sympathy for our righteousness and our virtues that attracts the Lord to us, but His mercy for our sinfulness and weakness, which we recognize and mourn. Whoever, if possible, makes every effort to abstain from sins and, with the consciousness of his sinfulness and weakness, approaches the Lord, the Lord accepts him. He turns away from those sinners who approach Him without reverence and without the intention of leaving a sinful life. Such people accept the Holy Mysteries as condemnation for themselves. Letter 279. On enduring bodily illness One who is in a sick state is like one who is shackled in heavy fetters from the outside and inside. But it is sent or allowed by God, who “punishes everyone but accepts him” (Heb. 12:6). For this reason, illness is included in the labors by which our salvation is achieved. Every feat requires that it be correct. Then a person strives correctly in the work of his illness, when he thanks God for it. The Holy Fathers classify illness, accompanied by thanksgiving to God and glorification of God for His fatherly punishment, leading to eternal bliss, as two of the greatest monastic feats: silence and obedience. Letter 280. About thanking God for sorrows I am writing to you because you are in a painful state. I know from experience the difficulty of this situation. The body's strength and abilities are taken away; together the strength and abilities of the soul are taken away; the disorder of the nerves is communicated to the spirit, because the soul is connected with the body by an incomprehensible and close union, due to which the soul and body cannot but influence each other. I am sending you a spiritual recipe, which I advise you to use the proposed medicine several times a day, especially in moments of intense suffering, both mental and physical. When used, there will be no delay in revealing the power and healing hidden in medicine that is outwardly the most humble. When you are alone, say slowly, out loud to yourself, enclosing your mind in words (as St. John of the Climacus advises) the following: “Glory to Thee, our God, for the sorrow sent; I accept what is worthy according to my deeds: remember me in Your Kingdom.” Since the essence of this exercise lies in concentrated attention, the body must be given a calm position so that body movements and the resulting heating of the blood do not interfere with the mind’s concentration. The best position is lying on a bed. And the Gospel says that the sick man in this position was presented to the Lord and received mercy from the Lord. For the same purpose, the most convenient attention is commanded to enclose the mind in the words of prayer, and one must pronounce the prayer extremely slowly. After saying the prayer once, rest for a while. Then say it again and rest again. Continue praying like this for 5 or 10 minutes until you feel your soul calmed and comforted. You will see: after three prayers said in this way, you will begin to feel that peace is entering your soul and destroying the confusion and bewilderment that tormented it. The reason for this is clear: the grace and power of God lies in praising God, and not in eloquence and verbosity. Doxology and thanksgiving are acts taught to us by God Himself - they are by no means a human invention. The Apostle commands this work on behalf of God (1 Thess. 5:16). Let us surrender voluntarily to the will of God: because, whether we want it or not, we are and will remain in the hands of God, although for some time we are presented with freedom in action, so that our will and the pledge of our hearts can be expressed. Together with me, N.N. testifies to you his complete respect and devotion. The reason for these feelings is the teaching of Christ. ABOUT! May this precious bead, so unnoticeable on earth, hidden in the humiliations and sufferings in which the earthly life of the Savior was clothed, be for us a guarantee of eternal, revealed and shining with the Divine light of Heavenly bliss. Letter 281. To S.I. Sn-oh. About God's providence Earthly life is a school. Having been at this school for 25 years, N.N. saw a star guarding him. A star is the Providence of God. The stars are seen at night in a clear sky; When day comes, they, remaining in their places, become inconspicuous due to the predominantly light that appears, spilled by the sun. The sun is Christ. Now your son’s knowledge of religion is like a bright night, and therefore he noticed the incomprehensible, beyond description, but truly existing Providence of God. When his mind, by the special grace of God, is illuminated by Christianity, then his religious knowledge from superficial, meager, unclear will be transformed into bright, extensive, deep and lofty, extremely satisfying; they will become like a beautiful summer day, during which an intelligent and good-minded person will be able to accomplish his salvation, i.e. to assimilate life and fate in eternity for your own good. “Why, mom, are you so worried about me?” Because, darling, my mother has weak faith in God, who forbade vain cares that do not and cannot bring any benefit; producing only anxiety and confusion, upsetting the soul and body. A weak person wants to act even where action is impossible for him. Everywhere he would stretch out his “strong” hand: everywhere he would indicate the course of action according to his “wisest” consideration. He does not want to recognize God as a sufficiently powerful and intelligent figure; on this basis, he does not want to constantly resort to God in prayer. Meanwhile, as soon as a person resorts to God with humble prayer - not carnal, nervous, heated by the movement of the blood - surrendering himself and his neighbors to the mercy and will of God, he will calm down. Pray for your son: by carefully reading my poor writings, enter into the closest relationship with my soul, in order to unite in that world and city where “there is no male and female” (Gal. 3:28), but all the true servants of God are one in God, like different members of the body, united into one being by the soul that animates them. P.S. The future is known only to God: in our time of transition, a change in the position of the monasteries can easily happen and very soon. My health is very bad: I have no time for earthly affairs! We should think more about moving to another world! However, according to my obligatory attitude towards the monastery, I must take care of its internal and external, spiritual and material well-being, which I try to do to the best of my ability, being careful that actions in favor of the monastery are not associated with burdens and troubles for my neighbor. Letter 282. Sorrow, obedience, fear, standing in the church of God, not condemning yourself and other issues of spiritual life “Through many tribulations”—not small, mind you, but many and varied—“it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). This is what the Word of God determined. This same all-holy Word commanded us not to be afraid of sorrows, because they are allowed to us by the Providence of God, and the Providence of God, allowing them to us, according to their essential necessity and benefit for us, vigilantly watches over us and protects us. Thus, in order to heal a patient, a doctor gives him bitter, disgusting and painful medicines and at the same time carefully looks after him. Believe this and bear the illness that befalls you complacently, thanking God for it. Obedience is the most saving feat. The strength and life of all a person’s passions are concentrated in his corrupted will: obedience, binding and killing the will, binds and kills all passions together. Others are looking for this feat with all their might and diligence, but for you it took place by itself. Try to succeed in obedience wisely and piously and thank God for giving you this feat. Obedience is more useful than all voluntary exploits, although at a superficial glance it seems that a position in obedience hinders spiritual success, preventing the performance of voluntary exploits. This view is wrong. In the Egyptian Skete - the seat of the greatest Saints - the young monk Zacharias lived with his own father Kariosh, who was also his elder. The grace of God overshadowed Zechariah, and this brought him into a special state. He told the elder about his supernatural condition. The elder was engaged in one physical feat and did not understand either the spiritual feat or its context. He began to beat Zechariah, saying that what had happened to him was a consequence of self-delusion and a demonic action. Zechariah was forced to go secretly to one of the Holy Fathers for a conference. The father gave the following advice: “Your condition is due to the action of Divine grace, but go and remain in obedience to your elder.” It is obvious that the Holy Father left a position for Zacharias, a position of obedience, on which, as a foundation, his spiritual prosperity was erected. With the removal of the foundation, what was built on the foundation could collapse. The fear that comes to you in the evenings should be reflected by faith. Reminding yourself that you are in the right hand of God and under His gaze, drive away fear that makes no sense. In church, do not read any special prayers, but listen to the Divine service. It is good to get used to the publican’s prayer, which is approved by the Lord and which the publican, as can be seen from the Gospel, said while in church. This prayer reads like this: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” or “God, cleanse me, a sinner.” This prayer is equivalent to the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or “Lord, have mercy.” Read from these prayers the one that you find most convenient for yourself. But be sure to read slowly and with attention. I advise you to stick to the second one (i.e. G.I.X.S.B.p.m.g.). The first two prayers are identical; the third is a reduction of the second. In church, sometimes listen to the divine service, and sometimes say a prayer with your mind, without ceasing to listen to the divine service. You can pray together with your mind and listen to church prayer. The first promotes the second, and the second the first. A church service when you stay at home can be replaced by reading one of the akathists: an akathist to the Lord Jesus or an akathist to the Mother of God. In church, do not kneel and, in general, do not distinguish yourself from others in appearance by any features; but maintain both internal and external reverence. Bow as little as possible. There are only two bows to the ground during the Liturgy, at the end of it: when the Chalice with the Holy Mysteries is brought out twice. Resist yourself from getting excited and from all the impulses that are so contrary to humility. Demand silence and attention from yourself both when praying, and when reading, and in all your actions. This behavior brings humility to the spirit. Humility is overshadowed by the mercy of God. Do not bind yourself to any trifles and do not condemn yourself because of petty errors and misdeeds. Both serve as sources of confusion and despondency. Petty mistakes, into which every person falls hourly, are healed by hourly repentance before God, repentance consisting of a few words with a heart that sympathizes with them. It is often possible to pronounce words of repentance only with the mind: and this is enough, as long as they are pronounced with attention. In church, when you find it necessary to sit down, sit down, because God listens not to the one who sits or stands, but to the one whose mind is directed towards Him with due reverence. The desire for God, reverence for God and fear of God are acquired by attention to oneself. Read what you read. Reading the Apocalypse leads to the fear of God; refrain from explaining this mysterious book, content with the effect it produces on your soul. When you find it necessary to add or subtract something from your prayers and readings on the occasion of weakness or other activities encountered independently of you, do it without doubt or embarrassment. Be free! Do not bind yourself to any scrupulousness. The rules are for the man, not the man for the rules. The opposite of this understanding produces only bewilderment and frustration. I am pleased that you understood the reason why you were invited to read the works of St. Tikhon. Now there is no reason for you to hesitate when you are offered this or that spiritual and moral holy book to read. Walk your own path, respecting and blessing the paths of all others who are faithfully saved. Letters of the recluse George of the same spirit with the writings of St. Tikhon. May God's blessing rest upon you. Anyone who wants to engage in godly prayer should only take care that during prayer his mind remains attentive, and his heart assists his mind with a feeling of repentance. Sometimes prayer is accompanied by abundant tenderness, which comes to a person independently of him, and sometimes during prayer a special dryness is felt, also for no apparent reason. One should look at these changes with indifference, as an experienced farmer looks at changes in the weather, knowing that after bad weather comes a bucket, and after a bucket comes bad weather. The farmer cares about successfully sowing and reaping the harvest, even if it involves great difficulty and great obstacles from bad weather, and the one who engages in prayer takes care that his prayer is correct and that when cultivating himself with it, he receives the gift of salvation from God, even though the feat of prayer is accompanied by labor and sorrow, and is denounced by various temptations. He looks at sorrows and temptations as if they were storms that come and go. The Holy Fathers said that the devil is especially envious of a person engaged in attentive prayer and brings various temptations upon him. This is not done without the Providence of God, for our essential benefit, and therefore we must endure the temptations of the enemy generously, surrendering ourselves to the will of God. The Fathers also said: “Having prayed as you should, expect the opposite.” This means: after attentive prayer, when we are given abundant tenderness, some kind of embarrassment or temptation always occurs. One must guard against embarrassment, i.e. reject it when it comes, but one should not be surprised that it comes. The attack on us by sinful thoughts is allowed to us for our benefit, because it leads us to humility, to the experimental knowledge of our fall, our sinfulness. The Fathers recognize the invasion of sinful thoughts on those engaged in prayer as a good sign: from the struggle with sinful thoughts, an active mind and firmness of spirit are obtained. Sinful thoughts must be resisted, and passions for them must be immediately healed by repentance. Do not enter into a subtle examination of your passions: this is beyond your power and will certainly harm you. Know that our fall planted in each of us the seed of all sins, and therefore the fall, of necessity, must manifest its presence in us through various sinful thoughts and sensations. This should not be surprising as something strange! This should be! But one should not consider sinful thoughts and sensations, lest they creep into the soul and infect it; one should immediately reject them, and oneself should plunge into the abyss of God’s mercy. Thanks to the goodness of God for the peace of mind that you received by visiting the holy Abode! All benefits that people enjoy belong to God. His are gifts. To him be glory forever. Amen. Letter 284. About the action of mental prayer; about the residence of one who wants to be saved It is characteristic of mental prayer to reveal the passions hiding and secretly living in the human heart! She opens them and tames them. It is characteristic of mental prayer to reveal the captivity in which we find ourselves among fallen spirits. She opens this captivity and frees us from it. Consequently, one should not be embarrassed and perplexed when passions arise from fallen nature, or when they are aroused by spirits. And just as passions are tamed by prayer, then when they arise, one should slowly and very quietly say the Jesus Prayer with the mind, which will little by little subside the rising passions. Sometimes the rebellion of passions and the invasion of enemy thoughts is so strong that it leads to a great spiritual feat. - This is the time of invisible martyrdom. We must confess the Lord in the face of passions and demons with prolonged prayer, which will certainly bring victory. The book by the Reverend Neil Sorsky is very good: it wouldn’t hurt you to get it. Do not engage in subtle examination of your thoughts and states. This is beyond your strength. Your consideration must certainly be erroneous and have a harmful effect on your life. One Saint said: “I laid all my infirmities and faults on the Lord and on His Most Pure Mother.” So do you. Walk before God along the mental path with simplicity. Know that you are infected with sinfulness, that this sinfulness should naturally be reflected in all your actions, and therefore cry prayerfully before God, and nothing more. God is by no means an executioner, as you imagined, but an educator. Sometimes He sends grace-filled sensations as a consolation, and sometimes He allows, for the sake of humility, to be agitated by passions and to be attacked by spirits: both are done out of great mercy towards us, with the goal of our essential benefit. Thank you for notifying us of sad events. This is the fruit of the sow, as the Apostle said: “God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Gal.6:7). They cared about their glory by all impermissible means, but neglected the true glory of God: that is why God allowed them to become disgraced. In general, the situation of monasteries in Russia in moral and spiritual terms is the most disastrous. A hundred years before us, Saint Tikhon said that true piety has almost disappeared, and it has been replaced by hypocrisy to deceive people for the purpose of material gain. We must understand the spirit of the times and not recognize former refuges as refuges, because they have most turned into disastrous whirlpools and abysses. Letter 285. About inner life. Vision. The need to open up - about considering the person to be elected Compared to what the Holy Fathers did, the inner life of an ascetic of Christ is like the weather: sometimes it is clear and warm, and sometimes cloudy, stormy and cold. In their comparison, this life is like grain harvests, which are sometimes very abundant and sometimes very meager. Experienced people do not rely on the constancy of good weather and are not embarrassed by bad weather, knowing that one is constantly replaced by another. Also, when the harvest is good, they do not rely on it and do not stop working, and when the harvest is bad, they do not become despondent and, likewise, do not stop cultivating the land. This is the law of nature. The law of asceticism is similar to it. Sometimes there is a visit of grace, and the soul is comforted, and sometimes waves of temptation arise, and it is put in a difficult situation. This was the way of all the Holy Fathers. They command everyone who wants to strive correctly to submit with obedience to this law of asceticism, established by God Himself for the earthly wanderer. Due to constantly clear weather, the earth dries out and worms and other harmful insects infest in abundance. In a similar way, prolonged calm, even produced by grace, affects the soul: arrogance, conceit, arrogance, contempt for neighbors, humiliation and condemnation of them, and similar ailments of the human spirit, the most dangerous and most terrible, arise in the soul. It is a great thing: to recognize oneself as worthy of temptation, and to submit to the will of God when temptation comes. This also helps a lot with insurance. Recognizing oneself as worthy of any punishment, even obvious demonic punishment, leads to self-sacrifice and devotion to the will of God. Through self-sacrifice and devotion to the will of God, the fear induced by demonic temptation is destroyed. The devil cannot do anything without God's permission; it is constantly in the almighty hand of God and has no other meaning in this hand than the meaning of a scourge, which in itself is devoid of any ability to act. A spiritual vision of the lowest level was sent to you, a vision of your sinfulness and the communion in which a person is kept through sin with rejected spirits. The enemy envied this and wanted to snatch the fruit from your soul, that is, the feeling of crying. He did this cunningly, instilling a wrong thought, which is always the beginning of evil. He was allowed to do this for your test, so that you would experience the devil’s wiles and be constantly on guard. Spiritual treasures must be preserved and preserved. However, the visitation of grace is usually preceded or followed by temptation. Everything that happens to an ascetic testifies to itself. But this can only be understood by those who undergo the feat correctly. The deluded are also satisfied in their blindness with their conditions and what happens to them: their contentment is self-satisfaction, based on their satisfying and flattering opinion of themselves, and not on the sight of their sinfulness and damnation. It is very good to trust yourself by discovering what happens outside the ordinary order. It should be revealed before those who know the matter, and not before wise men, glorified and presented by the world as saints and spiritual ones. “The world loves its own” (John 15:19), said the Savior. The world is in delusion and sympathizes only with those who are in delusion. He rejects and hates the servants of truth. Difficult times are coming spiritually: they have come a long time ago, as Saint Tikhon of Voronezh writes, but the difficulties are constantly increasing, apostasy is assuming enormous proportions. This is God’s permission, predicted in the word of God. One must be in awe of the incomprehensible destinies of God. What are we before God? - Insignificant worms, called by His ineffable mercy into being and what is higher than being, into the knowledge of God, into communication with God. Let us glorify His goodwill towards us. His mercy is upon us! Let us pray to Him that He may fulfill His mercy upon us to the end! Unworthy Bishop Ignatius... Letter 286. To I. I. Glazunov on the publication of “Ascetic Experiences” he has undertaken God was pleased to instill in you the disposition to join my wretched work by publishing the Ascetic Experiences I compiled. This book in the proper sense does not belong to me: it is entirely borrowed from the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church. My work consists in the fact that throughout my entire life I have been studying the Fatherly Scriptures and have made such an extract from them that can only be done through a long-term study of these quests. The teaching belonging to the Holy Fathers should be of significant benefit to modern Christians who want to lead a pious and godly life, but do not have the opportunity to thoroughly and thoroughly study the Scriptures of the Fathers. What I say is proven by experience: many who read the manuscript instructions on repentance, prayer, and the shortness of earthly life, found in my book, felt the strong effect of reading, which contributed to their spiritual success. That's how it should be! Ascetic Experiences is a practical book. It is the only one because since the introduction of education in Russia, no one has yet written of this kind. The Holy Fathers said that alms given to the soul is as much higher than alms given to the body as the soul is higher than the body. I recognized the book – Ascetic Experiences – as such almsgiving. By the providence of God it was given to me, for the salvation of my soul, to prepare this alms: by the same divine providence it is given to you, for the salvation of your soul, to convey this spiritual alms to Christians who need it. The work of God, I.I.-ch, must be done with care, so that the work given for salvation is not damaged by negligence and does not serve as condemnation. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to give the book as much clarity and correctness as possible, preparing it since 1840, revising, correcting, supplementing it, so that the teaching of the Fathers set forth in it would have satisfactory clarity and completeness, so you also take care that the book is published correctly and in due time. Many pious souls thirst for this spiritual food and wish to have a book to guide their lives precisely for the reason that it is a collection of the teachings of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church on the main Christian virtues and spiritual achievement. Invoking God's abundant blessing on you and your family, with feelings of perfect respect and sincere devotion, etc. Letter 287. About the proofreading of the “Experiments” and various subjects You were not mistaken in entrusting your son to the protection of the Mother of God. As a result of this patronage, he was lucky in the service. I hear that you are unwell. I am in the same position. We must rely on God and try to please Him. Being constantly in His full will and power, we must certainly appear at His judgment, at which our eternal fate will be decided, depending on whether we have approached God or moved away from Him during our earthly journey. Regarding the proofreading of the “Experiments,” I earnestly ask you to act with all sincerity and directness. If this work is convenient for you, take it upon yourself; if it is inconvenient in any way, then discard it. By acting sincerely, you will act in the most pleasant way for me. What does it mean? The world feels like a kind of desert, either because I myself live in the desert, or because a crowded society, when it is alienated from the Word of God, takes on the character of a desert. May God's blessing and mercy rest upon you and your son. Letter 288. In response to those tempted by the “Word of Death” M. G. G. Iv-ch, I sincerely thank you for your letter! I would not have bothered you with my answer if you had not mentioned the temptation of some regarding the “Word on Death,” and if we did not have the teaching of the Holy Fathers regarding this kind of temptation. I recognize this teaching as my duty to inform you. It is set out in the 54th word of St. Isaac of Syria, recognized by the Church as one of the foremost teachers of Christian asceticism. “Blessed Paul,” says this Father, “wrote: “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:18). So what of this? Should Paul have been silent and stopped preaching for the reason that the word of the cross was imputed to foolishness by those who did not feel the power of this word? The teaching of the cross continues to this day as a stumbling block for Jews and Greeks. So, should we remain silent about the truth, so that such people are not offended? Paul not only did not remain silent, but also cried out, saying: “Let me not boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). The praise of the cross was told to the Saints not in order to seduce others, but so that the great power of the Cross could be preached. Accordingly, you too, O holy one! complete your life with the purpose that you have set for yourself before God, so that your conscience does not condemn you, and consider your life according to the Divine Scripture and according to the Tradition that you received from the Holy Fathers. If you are not condemned by them (Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition), then do not be afraid of the temptation to which some will be exposed. No one can satisfy everyone equally or please everyone and at the same time please God and his conscience.” “The Lay of Death” was written by me in the Sergius Desert at the request of some acquaintances. I had neither the intention nor the hope of publishing it. I can say this about my other works. Special circumstances allowed for their publication, and, as I understand it, not without the Providence of God. Several persons wrote to me about this, who devoted themselves in the monastery and outside the monastery entirely to the theoretical and practical study of Christianity: they expressed to me sincere gratitude for the presentation of the teachings of the holy Orthodox Church, which they essentially needed, and on such a subject, which is essential for every person. Even the priest Matveevsky, who wrote a review in “The Wanderer,” admits (Stran. 28) that “not a single eschatology, or part of theology that considers the consequences of an event concerning the world and man, has ever been included in such a detailed solution to these issues as was done in the “Tale of Death.” The review itself has nothing reprehensible; on the contrary, it was very useful, suggesting questions that were difficult for the reviewer and, of course, not only him. Their resolution was supposed to bring general benefit. It would be desirable if the proposal of questions in a spiritual journal did not smack of Herzen’s antics. Our Theology is gradually taking on a more and more definite, Orthodox-Eastern character. This immediately becomes clear when comparing the Theology compiled by Ternovsky with the Theology of His Eminences Anthony and Macarius. Naturally, as the Fathers of the Eastern Church are translated into Russian, the Tradition of this Church is indicated more clearly. In general, we are not yet quite familiar with the Tradition of our Church and have inconspicuously internalized some Western opinions that are alien to it. For this reason, the “Sermon on Death” was at first received unfavorably by many, but the most thorough persons from the clergy are on his side, and in the Academies, where the libraries are very satisfactory, they will probably begin to carefully process this part of theology and present it in the usual system. St. Petersburg is very convenient for a solitary life: I experienced this myself in secular life; on the contrary, it is very inconvenient for monastics. However, no matter where anyone lives, if he lives according to the commandments of God and is guided by the Word of God, then he lives on the threshold of eternal bliss. May the merciful Lord grant this bliss to me and to you and to your entire blessed family. Letter 289. About the works of Bishop Ignatius, published and published Truly Christ is Risen! What was foretold by the Word of God must come to pass. Our sacred duty is to revere the incomprehensible destinies of the Lord God and, understanding the deep significance of what is happening, to pay all our attention, the most intense attention, to assimilating ourselves to Christ, as the Holy Fathers said: “He who saves, may he save his soul.” The Savior commanded: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune” (Matthew 26:41). Before the onset of great sorrows, one must pray with special care and beg God for mercy. Thank you for notifying me of the opinions of various personalities about the “Word on Death” and other writings in connection with this “Word”. There is a similar phenomenon in St. Petersburg. Namely: the majority of the clergy were at first against the “Word,” but some of the clergy—very few—were for it. When they thought about it, especially after the appearance of the article “View” on the opinion of Westerners, then everyone fell silent, but not because of agreement. It was impossible for the servants of the Orthodox Church to reject the teaching proclaimed by the Church publicly throughout the entire space of its Divine services. They wanted to take revenge in a different way: but the hand of God averted the blow, directed through the mediation of B.B., who stood at the head of the gang of publishers of the reformation and at the same time revolutionary magazine “The Wanderer”. My writings do not belong to me; their source is the Fathers, they belong to the Fathers of the Orthodox Church. The election of me by God's Providence as an instrument for teaching this vital spiritual food to the modern remnant of believers is a blessing from God to both them and me. “The world loves its own” (John 15:19), said the Savior. When the world hears the Word of God proclaimed in the elements and in the spirit of the world, i.e. when he hears his teaching, covered with the guise of the teaching of God, then he extols it with praise. When he senses in the word the presence of another Spirit, acting destructively on the dominion of the world, then he becomes infected with hatred of the word and initiates persecution against the one who uttered the word. It is very dangerous to acquire knowledge not in Christ, but by developing your own fallen nature, being in spirit in communion with the world. Acting in the area of ​​the latter method, people will certainly become infected with enmity towards the Holy Spirit, just as the Jewish clergy was infected with this deadly enmity, for which they were convicted by the first martyr Stephen (Acts 7:51). These literal scholars did not find words to contrast with the words of the Spirit that Stephen spoke, and therefore they were kindled with envy and hatred towards the vessel of the Spirit. They responded to words with stones; They responded to the teaching of truth with murder. The Word of God has always been persecuted by the world; persecution from the world has always been evidence of the teaching coming from God. P.A. is taking care of the publication of “Ascetic Experiences”, in which the concept of correct prayer is taught with particular detail and variety, as well as other essentially necessary and important spiritual feats, without which some bodily ones are useless and can even be very harmful and soul-destroying. “Experiments” should provide a thorough understanding of such subjects, about which today in Christian society there is the most superficial knowledge, for the most part the most distorted, soul-harmful and soul-destroying. “Experiments” must satisfy the urgent need of those struggling and being saved in our time, in which grace-filled mentors have dried up and false teachers have multiplied. The publication of the “Experiments” was arranged by the special providence of God. The retreat began to take place for some time very quickly, freely and openly. The consequences must be the most sorrowful. God's will be done! May God's mercy cover us! Calling upon you the blessing and grace of God. May 2, 1864 Bishop Ignatius. Letter 290. About true and false phenomena. – About confessors The Holy Fathers command the ascetic of prayer, when phenomena occur outside and within himself, to remain indifferent to them and not listen to them, not recognizing himself as worthy of seeing the saint. They bequeath, on the one hand, not to condemn the phenomenon, so as not to censure the sacred, and on the other hand, not to entrust oneself to the phenomenon, hastily recognizing it as true, so as not to fall into the snare of the evil spirit, trying to seduce and deceive the ascetic, with the goal of harming or destroying him. After the phenomenon has passed, sometimes after a considerable time, an explanation appears in the heart’s feeling, which should give the phenomenon. In general, it was noted by the Holy Fathers that those whom God visited with a true appearance, Satan begins to tempt with false appearances. You need to pay special attention to this as a precaution. It is necessary to see the real position of spiritual leaders in order to protect themselves from deception; together we must be very careful not to judge them, constantly turning to attention to ourselves. Frankness is very dangerous in our time, because some, due to a misunderstanding of their position, consider it their duty to find out and then pass on what they have found out. This is probably done with the aim of currying favor. Take the trouble to convey to K.I. my sincere gratitude for remembering me. I can’t say anything positive about my health. [...] May the blessing of God rest upon you. E.I. Letter 291. To two sisters. About Christian life I sincerely wish that you become like the pious sisters, Martha and Mary, mentioned in the Gospel, who were honored to receive the Lord into their home and please Him by paying attention to His word and diligently serving Him. The Lord said: “Where two or three are gathered in My name,” that is, they live together with a true Christian goal, “there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). May this be done for you! He who calls upon you the blessing of God is your most humble servant. E.I. Letter 292. On the Sinfulness of Human Nature The earth itself produces various weeds (tares). No one plants them: they grow on their own. The reason for this is the perverted property of the earth. It is foolish to desire from the earth what is unusual for it, i.e. so that the earth does not produce tares. Knowing this property of the earth, farmers carefully and patiently pull out the tares from the ground as they appear; otherwise the tares will choke and destroy the beneficial growths. The same should be done with the manifestation of passions when they arise from the heart. It is common for our fallen heart to give birth to various sinful desires. One should not become despondent from this: one should heal passionate manifestations and hobbies through repentance and self-correction. Letter 293. On the duties of an Orthodox spouse towards a non-Orthodox spouse and other matters It is impossible not to respond to your letter. God has opened your heart to the scriptures about repentance. All the Saints of the Orthodox Church throughout their lives relentlessly held to repentance, holding on to it even when the grace of God clearly acted on them. Nowadays, when engaging in religion, they are more likely to seek either cold knowledge by letter or seductive pleasure. Both belong to this world, and not to Christ. For obedience, I pray for you and your children. May the merciful Lord restore the health of your wife. Out of true Christian love, which seeks not to please, but to provide significant benefit to one’s neighbor, try to instill in your wife, for her salvation, that Western beliefs have only the letter and self-delusion left, but in the Orthodox Church, despite our extreme exhaustion, the Truth and the Holy Spirit still act in vessels adapted to this by correct, as humanly possible, Christian living; it is necessary to enter into communication with the Spirit of God through the Truth; it is necessary to do this during earthly life, without this there is no salvation. For the sincerity of your words, accept, as sacred retribution, the sincerity of my heart - and may God bless you. The Apostle instructs the faithful husband to take care of delivering the priceless treasure of true faith to his wife (1 Cor. 7:12-16) when she does not have it. Oh, what happiness it is to bring bliss to your neighbor in eternity. Letter 294. On the benefits of certain provisions from the society of persons seeking salvation You rightly say that God’s mercy is for those who are removed by God’s Providence from the general desire of the masses to separate positions, as if to islands, from which only the storm of the sea can be seen and heard, and then when the inhabitant of the island leaves its depth - attention to himself, and approaches the shore - he begins to listen to what is happening on the worldly sea. This mercy of God is also proclaimed by the Holy Scriptures (Ps. 30:20-22). The Holy Fathers foretold that in the last times those who are being saved will hide from the eyes of men and will follow a humble path of action, being careful to condemn apostates, submitting everything to the will of God and the judgment of God, reverent before the very permission of God. There is no one to expect the restoration of Christianity from! The vessels of the Holy Spirit have completely dried up everywhere, even in monasteries, these treasures of piety and grace, and the work of the Spirit of God can be supported and restored only by His instruments. The merciful patience of God prolongs time and delays the decisive denouement for the small remnant of those who are being saved, while the rotting and almost rotten reaches the fullness of corruption. Those who are being saved must understand this and use the time given for salvation, “for the time is shortened” (1 Cor. 7:29), and for each of us the transition to eternity is not far. Letter 295. About the structure of the Church of God May God's will be done on us! Recently I was working on a book that contains the works of various Saints, including Anthony the Great. Among other sayings of the Father, it is placed that he saw the descent of the Holy Spirit on Abba Athanasius and on Abba Pachomius, while the first was given the gift of the Patriarchate, and the second - the abbot of cenobitic monasteries. The Gospel also says that the Lord commanded the Apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from Above, i.e. until the Holy Spirit comes upon them. Already endowed with power from Above, not before, they went out to preach and sowed the true knowledge of God in the universe. The Holy Spirit was the founder and educator of Christianity! The Holy Spirit founded the Church! The Holy Spirit supported the Church through chosen men who served the Spirit only as instruments! People rejected this supernatural Power, which they considered foolishness, unworthy of them, and want to act with the forces and means of their fallen nature. But fallen nature is infected with enmity towards God: how can it act in favor of the cause of God? - This is unnatural for him! This is impossible for him! The decisive impossibility is proven by experience on the most extensive scale. It turned out that people who decided to act on their own in favor of the cause of God became the main enemies of this cause, its destroyers. Life is simpler - or rather. Trying to fulfill the Will of God and relying on God in everything is the best thing. Letter 296. Concerning schismatic attacks on the Church The Wanderer's article is very weak. “A Look at the Teachings of the West” was greatly enriched by me. It will be published in the second volume of Ascetic Experiences and can serve as a very satisfactory answer to the article of the Wanderer. In the “Christian Reading” (book for December) of the past 1864 there is a very important article entitled: “New publications on the schism of I. Nilskago.” It sets out the accusations of the Old Believers, who have Austrian bishops, against the Great Russian Church. These accusations, although not fully approved with some evasiveness in general terms, are not essentially rejected. On page 486 it says: “Under Alexander I, the bishops became Freemasons and published and read thousands of Masonic and godless books; published spiritual magazines, such as “Zionsky Messenger”. “The Threats of the Light Orientals,” the most heretical book; even “Christian Reading” does not contain any heresies”... “Who in the Russian Church should talk about dogma, about faith? According to the apostolic example, one should reason in a conciliar manner, and by external actions, but one should not reason about dogmas, therefore every scientist writes according to his own example. Either they lived without tradition according to Luther’s meaning, then they turned to the traditions of the Holy Fathers and added this teaching to the Catechism, denouncing that they had previously deviated from the Orthodox faith, but changed it in their own way, showing that they do not think the same way with the Eastern Patriarchs.” Having counted other inconsistencies, it is said (p. 487): “And all because they teach not according to the Holy Fathers, but according to Latin and Lutheran books.” One hears from everywhere that the schism, on the one hand, and godlessness, on the other, are unusually intensifying. This cannot be the case. How can the above-mentioned voice of the priests have no significance and power? In the November book of “The Wanderer” the book was published: “26 Moscow False Prophets” and so on. - Well? In the first two articles, especially the first about Ivan Yakovlevich, their face, an object of general respect, was exposed by the participant, and turned into an object of ridicule. Again: how can this brochure not have its effect on the frivolous! New philosophical books confuse scientists. It would be necessary to take timely measures, but they are not taken and then it turns into a flood. Letter 297. God educates through sorrows My brother brought me the news that you were suffering from a serious illness, which is why I am writing you these comforting lines. The Holy Fathers advise us to thank God for the sorrows that are sent to us, and to confess in our prayer that we are worthy of punishment for our sins. Thus, the sorrow we accept will certainly serve us as a cleansing of our sins and a guarantee for receiving eternal bliss. We, by the nature of our fallen nature, are most concerned about the arrangement of our earthly position, and God arranges our eternal position, which we would forget about if our earthly position were not shaken by sorrows, if the sorrows sent from time to time by the Providence of God did not remind us that everything temporary and earthly passes away and that our main concerns should be about the eternal. Scripture says: “The Lord, who loves him, chastens” (Heb. 12:6). Sorrows that admonish are sent from God to those whom He wants to have mercy on, and to the rejected, crushing and decisive sorrows are sent, especially at the very end of life, such as sudden death or loss of reason and the like. Great is our God! The great thing is the redemption of men by God! A terrible thing is the fall of man! It is necessary to thoroughly understand this so as not to perish forever. Letter 298. Sorrows foster humility Ascetics engaged in mental feats are allowed primarily before physical feats of illness and other sorrows: from their actions, the ascetic must necessarily place hope in God. Increased hope in God makes self-confidence weaker; As self-confidence decreases, self-esteem decreases. With the weakening of these ailments, true humility begins to arise in the soul, on which the correctness and strength of any achievement are based. This is said to console you in the illness that has befallen you. Let us surrender to the will of God and do what depends on us. June 22, 1866 Bishop Ignatius. Letter 299. On enduring sorrows and trusting in God The person whom God chooses to serve Himself is sent various sorrows. During sorrows we must thank and glorify God, praying to Him to grant us obedience and patience. Saint Isaac of Syria said very well, exhorting us to submit to God: “You are not smarter than God.” Simple and true. After the last time I took the syrup, I felt unusually weak. The legs don't work. The pain in the heart, which was already very strong in the Sergius Desert, was revealed with particular clarity after the syrup. Having spent my life under the yoke of various infirmities, in constant stumbling, in constant omission of my duties, I have that happy result from such a life that I must place all the hope of my salvation in God alone. Letter 300. Concerning Trust in God The life of a Christian on earth is a chain of suffering. You must fight with your body, with passions, with spirits of evil. In this fight is our hope. Our salvation is our God. Having placed one's trust in God, one must endure the burden of struggle with patience. Temptations seem to trample a person, turning grain into flour. They are allowed to us according to the Providence of God, for our great spiritual benefit: from them we receive “a contrite and humble heart” - which “God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). I ask for holy prayers for me, who is exhausted in both body and soul. Calling upon you the blessing of God. November 29, 1866 Bishop Ignatius. Letter 301. Saying of St. Tikhon on Christianity P.A. has had enough trouble publishing my works! But these efforts are all the more useful to him because they gave him the opportunity to take a closer look at the state of the Church, which is sad. Saint Tikhon, looking insightfully at the direction taken by his contemporaries, said: “We must fear that Christianity, being life, sacrament and Spirit, does not quietly withdraw from that human society that does not know how to preserve this priceless gift of God.” I ask for your prayers for me. Calling upon you the abundant blessing of God. December 27, 1866 Bishop Ignatius. Letter 302. About the sorrows and life of a Christian in the world and about Christianity I offer my sincere gratitude for the memory of me, weak and sinful. May the ineffable mercy of God grant both me and you to bear the sorrows that are allowed to us with devotion to the will of God, with thanksgiving to God, with confession of our sinfulness, from which patience appears in the soul. A person’s life in the world, in secular life, even if he is young, does not relieve him of the obligation to behave piously. Piety is necessary not only in relation to eternity, but also to his temporary well-being: piety alone can keep him from destructive hobbies with which he harms himself and shocks those who truly love him. The further the times go, the harder it gets. Christianity, as a Spirit, in an inconspicuous way for the bustling crowd serving the world, and in a very noticeable way for those who listen to themselves, is removed from the midst of humanity, leaving it to its fall. “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). Letter 303. About N. Gogol’s book: “Selected passages from correspondence with friends” With gratitude I return to you the book that you delivered to me. Hear my opinion about her. A man is seen turning to God with fervor of heart. But in the matter of religion this is not enough. In order for it to be a true light for a person and to emit genuine light from him for his neighbors, it must be definitive. Determination lies in the exact knowledge of the Truth, in separating It from everything false, from everything that seems true. The Savior Himself said this: “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Elsewhere in Scripture it is said: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Why does one who wants to gain certainty delve deeply into the Gospel, in accordance with the teachings of the Lord, and straightens his thoughts and feelings. When a person completes this work, then he is able to separate within himself the correct, kind thoughts and feelings from the counterfeit, supposedly correct and kind ones. Then he enters into purity, as the Lord after the Last Supper said to His disciples, already educated by the teaching of the Truth: “You are pure by nature because of the word that was spoken to you” (John 15:3). But purity alone is not enough for a person: he needs revival, inspiration. So, for the lantern to shine, if the glass is not clean enough, it is necessary to have a candle lit inside it. This is what the Lord did with His disciples. Having cleansed them with the Truth, He revived them with the Holy Spirit, and they became light for men. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were not able to teach humanity, although they were already pure. Such a move must be made with every Christian, a Christian in reality, and not just in name; first purification by the Truth, and then enlightenment by the Spirit. True, man also has an innate inspiration, more or less developed; originating from the movement of heartfelt feelings. Truth rejects this inspiration as mixed and mortifies it, so that the Spirit, when it comes, resurrects it in a renewed state. If a person, before purification by the Truth, is guided by his inspiration, then he will emit for himself and for others not pure light, but mixed, deceptive, because in his heart lives not simple good, but good mixed with evil more or less. Everyone, look into yourself and believe my words through the experiences of your heart! – They are accurate and fair, copied from nature itself. Applying these principles to Gogol's book, we can say that it exudes both light and darkness. His religious concepts are vague, moving in the direction of his heart’s inspiration, which is unclear, indistinct, spiritual, and not spiritual. He is a writer, and in a writer, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34), or: the composition is an indispensable confession of the writer, for the most part not understood by him, but understood only by such a Christian who is elevated by the Gospel to the abstract land of thoughts and feelings, in which he distinguishes light from darkness; Gogol's book cannot be taken entirely as pure verbs of Truth. There is confusion here; here between many correct thoughts there are many incorrect ones. It is desirable that this person, in whom self-sacrifice is noticeable, should moor to the haven of Truth, where the beginning of all spiritual blessings is. For this reason, I advise all my friends to engage in the only reading in relation to religion: the Holy Fathers, who acquired purification and enlightenment in the likeness of the Apostles, and then wrote their books, from which pure Truth shines and which convey to readers the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Outside this path, at first narrow and deplorable for the mind and heart, there is darkness everywhere, rapids and abysses everywhere! Amen. Letter 304. About church painting I find that the description of the two cardboards made by you adorns these cardboards with many beautiful thoughts. With this description, the imagination is prepared, the eyes are prepared to see the beautiful icons, almost alive, speaking a most instructive sermon. At least that's the mood I got. But when my eyes moved from reading to the drawing, my expectation was not realized: - I saw not the icons of our Orthodox Church, but caricatures of icons. It’s as if a singer from the Italian stage began to sing in his own way, with an outpouring of romantic feeling, our majestic Cherubic Song. A beautiful, sublime thought - to depict the indescribable Deity with the word He, from Whom are the rays! Why did the Angels turn their gaze away from the Deity depicted so beautifully? They should have taught those present to reverence the Divine; they should show the desire for the Divine with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their thoughts, with all their strength, as this is required, this is taught by the Savior Himself. In this state, by the very thing, are the Angels who stand before the glory of God, as Scripture reveals to us. On the contrary, here the Angels show little attention and respect to the Divine, not one deigns to look at Him, everyone yawns (excuse the expression) around. And the majestic Sy stands alone, separated, cut off from the whole picture! Did the artist really have an intention in his soul to write criticism of our time, to hint to us that God has been forgotten by us, that apparently we are stretching out our hands to Him, but because of the thing itself we have turned away from Him. The four upper Angels are female figures. This violates the tradition of the Orthodox Church, which always portrays Angels as beautiful young men. There is no example in all of Holy Scripture for an Angel to appear in the form of a woman. There are ladies and important ladies here. Judging by their physiognomies, in which there is nothing Divine, which are too ordinary, one must assume that the models were nothing more than girls' maids, and the model for the upper figure on the left side was some German wardrobemaid, already, apparently, elderly, with a carefree expression on her face - probably the feeling that was in her soul at the time when she stood in front of the artist. Take the wings away from the figure, put a chandelier in place of Sy and ask what the picture represents? - Dance. Boys served as models for the lower three Angels. And there are boys in the picture. There is not even an effort to make them into Angels. The middle one looks out of the window with all the due attention of a child at the people walking on the street and the carriages driving by; and two assistants frolicked, played and glanced at something in passing - but not at God. They don't care about Him at all! In well-bred boys, the predominant feeling is innocence and tenderness. And here are healthy-built children, capable of playing pranks, for whom the rod is not superfluous. How careful and strict the choice of sitters must be! Their feelings, their characters, their morality, their abilities are transferred to the paintings. Due to the lack of much-needed sacred criticism in our newest icons, in which the art of painting has reached an undeniably high degree of development, sharp inconsistencies are also visible. I do not intend to count them, because they are countless, but I will express the inconsistency that often tormented my eyes when they saw in those eyes from which Divine Wisdom should shine an expression of a lack of mental abilities. A certain coachman, prominent, but of a very limited mind, having entered into my service, himself told me: “I was a model at the Academy for seven years, in such and such a church such and such an icon was painted from me.” He counted the icons for which he served as the original, which I don’t want to name, my heart can’t stand it! But here is the reason for the stupid eyes on the icon: it is a faithful portrait of a stately coachman with stupid eyes. The icon painter must firmly know the dogmas of the Orthodox Church and lead a deeply pious life, because the purpose of the icon is to instruct the people with images. Therefore, icons must convey true concepts, reverent feelings, and indeed piety. Otherwise, the icon will act as if a preacher, infected with false teaching or with only literary knowledge without theological knowledge, would act from the pulpit. The ancient warriors would never have remained in their helmets in front of the sacred image of the Life-Giving Trinity, depicted by the deeds of the great saint of God, famous for his glorious miracles! The ancient pious warriors would have bowed their knees! Fast forward to the event itself: St. Sergius blesses Demetrius Donskago for the campaign against Mamai. Under this circumstance, what awe there was! What serious thoughts and sensations must have filled everyone. They went to the bloody Battle of Kulikovo, against countless hordes of Tatars, who had on their side not only superiority in numbers, but enormous moral strength - the memory of two centuries of victories and dominion. The Russians - they clearly saw that victory for them was extremely doubtful, that the consequences of victory should be the most disastrous. Death was in front of everyone's eyes! It was adorned only by the fact that the thought of it was combined with the thought of a martyr's crown, because in the campaign against Mamai everyone recognized not only a domestic necessity, but also a religious necessity. And exactly! This campaign was more the fruit of faith than political calculations; the campaign was blessed by St. Sergius! When performing this blessing, could there have been a lightness and frivolity that is noticeable in others, and even in some icons? Here the warriors could not have the feeling that our modern heroes have when they are in the playpen waiting for a divorce. There is a picture of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov being installed as Tsar. There the feeling of reverence and piety is quite satisfactorily expressed on all the faces and in the poses of the figures. This feeling gives the painting unity of action, moral and religious dignity, the dignity of an icon. It’s not my place to judge the art itself, and therefore I don’t pay attention to the fact that the figure of Dimitri Donskago seems to me to be in an unnatural position. But I must say that even today pious military people, intending to venerate the Holy Place, take off their weapons and put them aside. Why does Demetrius bring his sword so close to the icon? Isn't it for blessing? To do this, it is enough for the sword to lie on the ground. It is not like the feelings and concepts of a prince imbued with deep piety that he would dare to bring a weapon that sheds human blood so close to the Holy Place. In general, R-a’s cardboard, not animated by reverence and other sacred sensations, on the contrary, depicting a lot of secularism, is far from the dignity of an icon, having, perhaps, all the dignity of a painting. In your description, you praised the works of artists as artists - and praised them beautifully as a writer. Accept my words - this is a sincere, direct expression of my feelings; I did not stop at some rather harsh expressions so that the Truth would not suffer at all. Let the ear and delicate taste suffer a little! Agree! How much must the heart, the very eyes of a true son of the Eastern Orthodox Church suffer, when he sees in places that belong to holy icons - only paintings, often of a beautiful brush, but almost always alien to theological knowledge and feeling. Letter 305. To S.I. S-howl: Life is a constant spiritual warfare You will not be at all mistaken, dear S.I., if you liken your entire life to a long war. Each of us is destined to take our Jerusalem and our Constantinople from the foreigners. Glory in Heaven awaits the winner and conqueror; eternal dishonor awaits the decisively defeated one, who has allowed himself to fall, from which there is no recovery. Do not desire, first of all, a decisive victory, neither peace nor rest. Fight! If you feel exhausted, if you are defeated in thought: then encourage yourself again, try not to actually be defeated and learn over time to win when only thoughts collide. Having brought Kolya earthly happiness, try to bring him Heavenly happiness as well. Here's work after work. Your virtue will attract God's blessing to your son; and for your sin the wrath of God may break out over him. Remember this and strengthen yourself. God, who has not abandoned you until now, will not leave you in the future. May His blessing rest upon you. Your most devoted May 24, 1848 Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 306. Good wishes on Angel's Day Please accept my most ardent congratulations on your Angel’s Day. May he keep your days in complete prosperity, which can be on earth, and may he guide your soul on the right and holy paths, leading to eternal bliss. Please take the trouble to convey my congratulations to Sofia V. On this day there was a birthday girl for my mother: her name was Sophia, four sisters (all deceased) were birthday girls. Calling upon you the blessing of God, unworthy Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 307. About the love of God There is no reproach in my heart for you. There is a desire in him for spiritual benefit, there is sincerity. Accept my words with simplicity and love, because they are spoken with simplicity and love. Love is not suspicious, it is full of faith, I am talking about spiritual love: carnal love is always dissolved by jealousy and suspicion. I call idols, or better yet learned to call them, learned from the Holy Fathers, in their writings, earthly objects and their images, which captivate the thought and heart. These idols fall when the almighty and saving name of Jesus is pronounced in the spiritual church. I wish this to happen in me, and therefore in you. What do you find in this desire for the cruel? It is true that it leads to a narrow and sorrowful path made by thoughts and feelings about the Lord, but this path leads to bliss. I don’t complain about you for your indifference to everyone; I do not seek from you fiery love for the Savior. I am looking for a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise. What do you mean it won't humiliate? This means that into a humble heart, lamenting with blissful sadness over many sins and shortcomings, God pours out love for Himself. Witness to this St. Ap. Paul, who says that the love of God was poured into him through the Holy Spirit who was given to him (Rom. 5:5). The love of God mortifies carnal and spiritual love. She is Spirit. She remains in a subtle coldness, always even, as in the Gospel, but she teaches those wounded by her to lay down their souls for their neighbor. For the feeling of this love is sweeter than the feeling of life. It puts a person in the right attitude towards everyone and everything. She is in the holy world, and the world is in her. She is in holy purity, and there is purity in her. We enter purity through repentance; repentance should humble us, bring us into the state of children. Kiss Kolya for me and admire him: we need to be like him in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which is Divine Love. Your most devoted Archimandrite Ignatius. Thank you for the wonderful poems: not to mention the external decoration, which is exquisite to the smallest detail, there is a lot of strength and a lot of logic in them - more of both than in Maykov’s poems. I liked two poems by Vasily Peto, a member of the noble regiment: “Prayer” and “Song”, published in “Invalid”. You can see a child, you can see an imitator of Lermontov, but at the same time you can see true talent, you can see an extraordinary depth of feelings... which... which... is not found in any of the modern poets. If you are so kind as to take upon yourself to take the first aid kit ordered for me, then do it. Take a manual for it, if there is anything special. Letter 309. About the book “My Gift to My Friends” “A debt is worth paying,” says the Russian proverb, a kind and fair proverb. This is what I need to do regarding you: to answer you somewhat decently to your kind letter, to your dear letter. [...] Instead of an extensive letter, I am sending you the article “The Chalice of Christ.” - I have written 15 such articles, they are appointed to compile a book - “My gift to my friends”, my payment for the love that many have for me to such a degree. The image of the presentation, the external form, the syllable itself - this may be news in Russian spiritual literature. This is what was suggested to me, and I act simply according to the suggestion. I want my book to be a friend, always comforting, never burdensome. The reader will find a beginning everywhere and an end everywhere. If you want to read the whole article, you will find a common connection. I want the book to be accessible to everyone, like a friend; - and so that the proud mind is humbled by the height of truths and the depth of feelings: a friend must be with character. The memory of the Borodino Monastery that I had in my soul came out on paper. This is my entire justification against the fair accusation of brevity. I don’t send my children to an orthopedic institution to stretch out limbs that were born short! – I have some things that are more extensive than “Memoirs,” but I don’t know if they go into a secular magazine. I’ll send something when I’m stronger and leave it to I.I.’s discretion whether to publish it or not. Keep the “cup” a secret with your sister. Drink from it together, spiritual consolation in your sorrows. [...] December 1 Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 310. About Nakhimov’s letter You should come to me to read Nakhimov’s answer, edifying in its humility and piety. This is a response to your humility and piety; Guided by them, you conveyed to me your desire to send him an icon of St. Mitrophan, instilled in me this desire. Your devoted Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 311. About preparation for eternity Yesterday I had the real pleasure of receiving your letter through Colonel X. I sincerely thank you for your memory of me; I was sure that you had forgotten me - and your letter should have come to confirm my conviction, on those very days when in a minute the thought of the opposite appeared to me. The merciful Lord bless you and your son. Be a comfort to one another. Let the Word of God be your guide. It constantly tells the earthly wanderer about his eternal fatherland. This is the song of Heaven, which constantly reminds the exile from Heaven of Heaven. If we do not heed the Word of God, then we can easily be deceived, consider the earth to be an eternal dwelling and use all the forces of soul and body solely for the earth, then suddenly and unexpectedly appear into eternity at the call of the Almighty God, while being occupied exclusively with the temporary, we have done nothing for eternity, i.e. for a blessed eternity. By the grace of God, I live very calmly, but treatment with water is very difficult due to the old age of my illness. For everything, thank God. I end this letter with a beautiful prayer: “Let us give ourselves, each other and our whole life to Christ our God.” Your most humble servant Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. Letter 312. The Inevitability of Retribution What should I tell you in response to your letter of June 10? “Pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune” (Mark 14:38), the Lord said to His disciples before the onset of misfortune. There comes a time of sowing; It is also harvest time. The moral law is immutable, according to which people must inevitably reap what they sowed arbitrarily. But the omnipotence of God and the unlimited mercy of God can change or soften the legal, logical sequence of a firm moral law. May God's blessing rest upon you and your child, and may God's mercy preserve you from all evil. Letter 313. About the variability of earthly life, the direction of modern journals to the Lord God bless you for your letter of November 26th. May God's mercy cover you and your son, both in the field of the coming New Year, and in the field of all earthly life. This field is the most unfaithful and changeable. When demanded of him, he immediately betrays and betrays him, no matter how much he apparently caresses and convinces him of loyalty. The appointment of V.K. to the Caucasus greatly consoles me, of course, for the good of the region. Will your son be drawn there? To this question I will say again, may God’s mercy be with you. I would sincerely wish that your time and the strength of your soul be used for something that is not so much hostile to God and hostile to God, as the newest magazines are hostile to God, trying to destroy faith and morality among the people with their preaching. This will require a formidable response. – May God’s mercy arrange another occupation for you. You know how much I love you! The scripture says: “With faith, with the same words” (Ps. 116:1). And I can say: “I loved, with the same words.” Write about yourself and your dear son. Also write down the state of printing of my works. – Last December I was very exhausted, especially exhausted, worse than the exhaustion in which I am constantly. May God's blessing rest upon you and your child. I have the honor to be with feelings of sincere devotion and respect. Your devoted servant, Bishop Ignatius. Letter 314. About my writings I sincerely thank you for your memory of me in your letter to P.A. and for your work on my writings. I admit that I am indebted to you and to many. I haven’t told you as much about faith as I should have. I think I will pay off this debt by publishing my writings, and I will try to carefully revise, correct and expand what I have written since 1840. From that time on, I began to write about spiritual subjects, but more so from 1844, for which there was a reason. You know that I have always especially loved you. I have love and trust for both your mind and heart. I have always wanted this mind and this heart to be directed towards God and to be assimilated to Him. Now a thought comes to me; Isn’t this being fulfilled now, by an unexpected coincidence of circumstances, as secular people say, by a special arrangement of God’s Providence, as I will allow myself to express it according to my consciousness. You, re-reading my works, borrow from them all thoughts and feelings into your property - as I understand it - you unite with me in one direction, in one spirit. I borrowed the direction entirely from the teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Eastern Church. I am heartily glad that Ivan Ilyich had the good idea to publish my works on his own credit. I dare to think that he will do a benefit to the entire domestic Christian society by providing spiritual reading not from the education that is given by school, which imparts only knowledge by letter, but which is acquired through monastic life. The school imparts knowledge that is taken into account by the mind, and only: monastic life imparts active Christian knowledge, which certainly produces a saving influence on the direction, mood, and activity of the reader. St. Isaac of Syria likened the first type of activity to a source of water and fruits depicted in painting on a wall; they can be looked at with pleasure if they are well painted, and that’s all. This Saint likened knowledge of the second kind to the very sources of water, the very fruits that can serve to nourish a person. “As much as the soul is higher than the body,” says St. John Climacus, “so much is spiritual alms higher than physical alms.” If my writings could be recognized as spiritual alms, then I dare to think that Iv. Il-ch., having printed them, will do not so much a commercial matter as a matter of Christian piety. Time to think about Christian piety! I do not pursue monetary benefits, but if there are any, I wish, according to my custom, to use them for the benefit of humanity and Christianity. My only goal; do not hide something that can be useful to many. If I’m not mistaken, we have almost no spiritual works of this kind. Ivan Ilyich will also do spiritual good to me and my brother, because he will save us from material troubles about printing, and will give us the opportunity to devote ourselves entirely to our spiritual pursuits, with which entertainment is incompatible. I hope in the mercy of God that you will understand everything I have said here: it is quite deep, and despite the simplicity and clarity of the matter, not everyone will understand it. [...] I call upon the grace of God upon you and your family. I trust in God, and God will protect those who resort to God in the midst of danger. With feelings of sincere devotion] and respect] and sincere] [gratitude]. April 18, 1863 Your devoted servant, Bishop Ignatius. Letter 315. About turning to God in life’s difficulties Accompany your son with your prayer! There are sorrows, both private and public. Both of them comprehend people not without God’s permission. The proud human mind recognizes itself as the ruler of the world, because it does not see God ruling the world: and therefore, with sorrows that exceed human comprehension, it falls into despondency and hopelessness. But whoever recognizes God as the ruler of the world turns to Him in difficult circumstances and receives help beyond his expectations. [...] Letter 316. About “Ascetic Experiences” First of all, I will tell you that your dream has no meaning. Your attention to him was wrong. You know this from the fact that attention to him caused confusion in you, i.e. brought your soul into the wrong state, but inattention will calm you down, i.e. will bring the soul to the right state. These are the effects of lies and truth on the soul. Next I will say: if you feel able, take upon yourself the proofreading of “Ascetic Experiences.” There are significant reasons for this: 1) I believe that a thorough revision of the “Experiments” will have a beneficial effect on your soul, which is already accustomed to entering into communion with the spirit of the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church and finding food and consolation, moreover, revival in this communication; 2) due to your devotion to me, due to the sympathy that you have for my wretched writings, due to your knowledge and skill in this matter, I cannot point to anyone else who would perform service for the general benefit of Christianity with such zeal and such service as you; 3) You are well acquainted with Glazunov and can, more than anyone else, manage his printing house. Then may the Lord bless you for this work. Letter 317. About godly activities and the meaning of “Ascetic Experiences” [...] You saw me changed a lot, approaching the end of my earthly wandering. And you have moved along this path. The afterlife is no longer a journey, but in the full sense of life, life unchanging either in eternal bliss or eternal disaster. May the Mother of God, to whom you betrayed your son, overshadow him with Her mercy and instruct him to conduct his earthly journey correctly. And I sincerely wish you to act in favor of your son, without sinning before the Lord God by doing things displeasing to Him. Those who enter into communication with rejected spirits during earthly life through their thoughts and heartfelt feelings will be relegated upon death to the terrible company of these spirits. When engaged in godly activities, your prayer for your son will receive power before God and will attract God’s blessing to you and your son. May God's mercy grant you to find something pleasing to God. I sincerely thank you for sending the brochures about Daryushka: such simple Christian souls as Daryushka are very close to God, between them and God there are no those screens, that stone wall that is provided by education and the customs of this world. I am very pleased with your work on proofreading the “Ascetic Experiences,” which are of great importance from a Christian perspective. This is not my work: for this reason I express myself so freely about it. I was only an instrument of God’s mercy to modern Orthodox Christians, who are in dire need of a clear presentation of the spiritual Christian feat that decides the eternal fate of every Christian. It is very easy to indulge in the wrong endeavor, and through it become completely alienated from God. By proofreading the “Experiments,” you are working both for the common good and for your own. I dare to think that God’s Providence brought this work to you: so that your spirit would break away from the spirit of this world and become assimilated to the spirit of God, which is the essence of salvation. In "Pet. B-ke" a very wonderful brochure came out: "On the horrors and temptations that the soul can experience during its transition to the afterlife." The priest, apparently an academician, described the experience that happened to him in 1862. The experience confirms the “Word on Death” and the “Word on the Vision of Spirits.” I advise you to read it for your spiritual benefit. May God's blessing rest upon you. Your most devoted servant and friend E.I. This brochure was compiled by Archimandrite Macarius, former Rector of the Tver Seminary (now censor) from his own experience. He also owns the brochure “Repent,” published at the beginning of 1865 in favor of the Athonite Monastery of St. Panteleimon. Letter 318. Consolation of a mother who had not received news about her son for a long time I am writing to you to thank you and to console you. The continued failure to receive a letter from the borders of Persia and Turkey (from my son) is very natural. There is no comfort in cities: you don’t suddenly find time to write a letter, you don’t suddenly find time to send it; on its way it can easily get lost and even get lost. You hastened to convey immense sadness. Your dreams brought it to you. You have entrusted your son to the Mother of God: give him over to the will of this Great Patroness and calm down. I sincerely thank you for your efforts in proofreading the “Experiments.” – I am glad that you are reading and re-reading my book: by doing this you are removing the burden from my conscience, which reproached me for not communicating enough spiritual knowledge to you. Letter 319. Greetings of love to all humanity In response to your kind letter dated November 16, I will tell you that, ending my earthly journey, I send greetings of love to all humanity, wishing all true blessings to everyone. With special gratitude I turn to those few who showed me special love. Among these few, very few, are you. Thank you for your sympathy towards me. What a great thing you have done! You entrusted, completely handed over, as you write, your son to the Mother of God. Be sure that the Mother of God accepted him, and let him strive to be worthy of Her High and Great Patroness! I am no longer writing to you because I am very weak. It’s strange that letters are already exhausting. Here! how far he has lived or what he has outlived. God bless! May God's blessing rest upon you and your son. Letter 320. About my works The late Hieroschemamonk Serg. empty Before his death, Stefan constantly read the “Word on Death” and more than once repeated the following words to me: “It was not you who wrote this: God gave it to you to write.” Very true! I must say the same thing about all my wretched writings. I hear this review from the most profound people about the “Ascetic Experiences”. God wants it that way. Now I see that the last two volumes serve as a supplement to the first two. I am sure that when you read them, you will see this too. I acknowledge the mercy of God for your participation in this matter. Your occupation with them replenishes my debt to you. I remember I already wrote to you about this. I’ll tell you about myself, I’m unusually weak. But since this happened by God’s permission, I must recognize my situation as a blessing that came from the hand of God. I invoke God’s blessing on you and on N.A. Judging by the way things are going, business people will have a lot to do. I sincerely wish N.A. to be useful to the fatherland and to himself in time, not forgetting about eternity. I am becoming obsolete and can affirmatively say that everything temporary and earthly is urgent, that the period for which it is given is very short. You need to be very careful and not allow yourself to be deceived by the temporary and urgent. And it does this. And how? – Seemingly eternal and inalienable. Your most humble servant and friend, Bishop Ignatius. Letter 321. “Experiences” - a gift of God, difficulties of that time Both you and I, despite our illness, are granted the continuation of our earthly wanderings for thorough preparation for eternity. The mercy of the Lord, which gives us the gift, may also give us reason to take advantage of the gift. You rightly say that the “Experiments” are not my work. They are God's gift to modern Orthodox Christians. I was only a tool. I must also say about the two volumes that have now arrived at the printing house. It's a terrible time! The living organs of Divine grace have become decidedly impoverished: wolves have appeared in their vestments: they deceive and destroy the sheep. It is necessary to understand this, but few understand it. I very much sympathize with your grief caused by the death of Mother V. The destinies of God are many. In rare cases, we can be the correct judges of a person’s death, and this is given when spiritual benefit requires it according to the special vision of God. In the case you describe, it is best to rely on God and try to carefully remember the deceased to compensate for the omission made at her death. I ask for your prayers for me in fulfillment of God’s commandment, which commands us to pray for each other. According to this commandment, I also pray for you, although I know that my prayer is completely unworthy of God. Bishop Ignatius. Letter 322. About the only treasure - the knowledge of the Savior; his service to others with the Word of God and preparation for eternity The fact that we are all, dear prince, short-term wanderers on earth is a tangible truth. The fact that we pay so little attention to eternity, that we forget it, is a sure sign of our fall, a fall not only in the body, but even more in the mind, in the heart. Looking at ourselves, we will see in ourselves that we need salvation, we need a Savior. Knowing the Savior, and through this obtaining a blessed eternity, is the first happiness on earth, is the only treasure of man. God brought Ekat. W-well get this treasure; then, cleansed by suffering, he called into eternity and blessed eternity. Her death leaves, in those truly disposed towards her, a memory that unites a feeling that is not new to me: it was left to me by some who departed from here after a life (on earth) pious in the Lord. It consoles me that the merciful Lord brought me to serve H.P. a soul-saving word, although very insufficient. Seeing that God inspires many to resort to my meager word, I cannot help but admit that God assigns to me the service of my neighbor with the word of God. Why do I wish for you to carry out this service to your neighbors and proclaim to you the Word of God, how much, in my negligence and weakness, I could learn it from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers. May the merciful Lord comfort you and strengthen you! Time will quickly, quickly fly by and the hour of relocation to eternity will come for you. Use your earthly days to prepare for it. You saw in your wife how good it is to prepare for eternity. This preparation dissolves even the sorrows here with consolation and thereby proves that this preparation is a preparation for bliss... Letter 323. On giving thanks to God in illness “The Lord, who loves him, punishes” (Heb. 12:6), and for whom He prepares a blessed eternity, He sends sorrows and illnesses. Therefore, the one to whom illness is sent must spend time in thanksgiving to God, in glorifying God. By thanksgiving the soul is kept in patience and peace and thus aggravates its reward in heaven. You need to thank God like this: “I thank You, Lord my God, for everything that You deigned to send me to cleanse my sins. Thy will be done." I advise you to repeat thanksgiving and doxology more often throughout the day. With them, little by little, peace and consolation will enter your soul, which will now be the guarantee of eternal consolation for you. Put aside vain activities. Accept my earnest advice for the consolation and salvation of your soul. May your spiritual exercise be pleasing to God, like fragrant incense, like a fat burnt offering. Your most zealous Bogomolets, unworthy Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 324. How to behave after receiving the Holy Mysteries. – About Divine Providence Here, at your request, I answer you. May the merciful Lord open my mouth and your ears for His Word. A Christian should never be embarrassed by anything, for God’s Providence carries him in His arms. Our care should be that we remain faithful to the Lord. If the tempter dared to approach the Lord Himself made man, then we should not be surprised that he approaches us, even if it was after we had accepted the Lord into our vessel. The larger the treasure, the more the thieves try to steal it. The greater the treasure, the more vigilant one must be about keeping it. After communion of the Holy Mysteries, after fervent prayer, after any deed that is especially beneficial for the soul, we need, according to the experienced instruction of the Fathers, special observation of ourselves, for then the enemy is especially inflamed against us with envy and malice; seeing earth and ashes ascend into heaven, from whence he was cast down. The spiritual paradise, which, according to the teachings of the Savior, is within us, must be cultivated and preserved, as it was commanded by God at creation itself, in the person of Adam, to all people. As usual, I assumed that after the embarrassment, you must have felt the consolation that the Lord sends to His lawfully struggling servants as reinforcement, to increase faith, hope and love. Do you understand that you owe the Lord more than you did before, as those who received the pledge and the announcement of the promise! “To him more has been given, more will be required” (Luke 12:48), says Scripture. Having known this, be careful how you walk dangerously, i.e. live with caution and attention. Now I want to scold you. You write to me decisively: "I'm leaving on Wednesday." At least you added: if God commands. Read in the conciliar letter of James the words of the Spirit about such human words, which dishonor the Providence of God, in which there is no faith and humility. If you ask for forgiveness, then may the merciful Lord, through me, His indecent and sinful priest, forgive you and instruct you to please Him with deeds, words and thoughts, as He commanded in His Holy Gospel, which commands not to destroy even the small commandments (Matthew 5:19). The saints said: “Whoever keeps the commandments in small things keeps them in big things.” Peace be with you! Letter 325. About patience and surrender to the will of God When you are far away and cannot bring your aching heart to me, then I come to you and bring a word of consolation. Our days are days of sorrow, and our consolation is the Cross of the Savior. When the sons of Zebedee asked the Lord for the thrones of glory, then He promised them the cup of sorrows, without which it is impossible to receive the thrones of eternal glory, which is the Holy Spirit. And so pray to the Lord to grant you patience even in sorrows, so that you constantly see God’s Providence above you, so that your faith and fidelity to God increases from this; and then let sorrows pierce you, cleanse you from earthly things and prepare you for heavenly things. Do not be surprised at human weaknesses and sins. The Righteous Lord looks at them and has mercy on sinners, expecting their repentance: and who are we to get angry at the brethren who are sick with sin, while we ourselves are unclean before the All-Seeing and Most Pure One? Let us leave everything that does not depend on us to the will of God, and what depends on us, we will conform to the will of God either by fulfillment or by repentance for non-fulfillment. “Through your patience gain your souls” (Luke 21:19), the Lord bequeathed to us in the Gospel. May the peace of God rest upon you. Letter 326. Instructions to a layman about spiritual work I come to you not in body, but in spirit; bringing to you a sincere word from my heart in response to your letter dated January 19, which I received on February 14. Place your external circumstances on the Providence of God, and as they work out, so let them work out; and you be peaceful and calm, worrying only about your soul, which you promised to present to Christ purified by repentance. The knowledge of one's weaknesses is an essential knowledge for a Christian. It leads to humility, and this leads to spiritual intelligence. To whom the Lord deigns to bestow His understanding, He especially reveals his infirmities. They are revealed to you according to the state of your soul; and their full discovery, if there is one, you cannot yet bear. There is great attachment in you according to the laws of the flesh; this is because you have known little of Christ. Carnal fire is extinguished by spiritual fire; when the second one is kindled, the first one certainly goes out, according to the teaching of the Spirit-Bearing Fathers and partly according to experience itself. You write that many find that your trip to your sister is a pleasant sacrifice to God, but you do not dare to attach your heart to this thought, which, however, you call comforting - the Lord commanded His disciples, when they fulfilled everything commanded, to call themselves inexcusable slaves and consider themselves debtors of the commandments. I don’t see any sacrifice in your action - only the desire of the soul to fulfill the commandment of love, a desire in which it is desirable for the Lord to find something pure and beneficial for Himself. The great saint of God Agathon, completely immersed in the love of God from love for the image of God - his neighbor, when before his death he looked at himself and sat in silence for a long time, his disciples asked: “Or are you, father, afraid?” He answered: “I tried to fulfill the commandments to the best of my ability, but how can I know, being a man, whether my doing is pleasing to God: for the judgment of God is different and the judgment of man is different.” Moreover, we, who are insufficient in everything, should fear and tremble at the laudable conclusion about our actions, fearing that the imaginary comforting feeling is not only a subtle satisfaction of vanity. The Prophet said: “All our righteousnesses are uncleanness” (Is. 64:6). And another Prophet: “A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise” (Ps. 50:19). You wrote about insurance and consolation during prayer, but what they were and what exactly they consisted of, you did not write; and this is also necessary if you want to hear my judgment about them according to God. – During your journey, you were in danger twice, and the hand of God saved you. Such experiences cultivate faith in a person and have happened to many to whom the Lord wanted to bestow the great wealth of faith. In the name of the Lord, I bless you to walk five rosaries a day, no more. You should pray for them while sitting, listening to the language with your mind, pronouncing the prayer with your tongue so that only you hear. Due to your residence in the middle of the world and due to the recentness and news on this path, you do not need to go much into prayer, which requires either greater spiritual experience or the proximity of a leader; and in the latter case, people new to pious deeds are more forced to humility, which is the foundation in the building of virtues. In your free time, do whatever handicraft you find more convenient. May the Lord forgive you for the past and strengthen you in good things for the future. Peace be with you! What should I say to you in response to your letter? The fact that our life is a chain of sorrows ending in death, this greatest sorrow for people, especially for those who forget their true purpose in eternity. This chain must be passed through with patience, link by link, in order to end with good hope. Patience is begged from the Lord through prayer. The soul enters the house of patience when it says to God: Thy will be done. Letter 328. On the enlightenment of the soul I am answering your letter by letter. Some consolation that you feel is not a charm, but an ordinary consequence of your path, or more correctly, the path of God. The beginning of enlightenment of the soul is the sight of one’s sins and one’s insignificance. since this is the fruit of the grace given to us at baptism, it is accompanied by sweetness, consolation, tears in which sadness is mixed with joy, tears completely different from the tears of the people of this age. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 33:9). This eating opens the eyes and gives birth to a living, clairvoyant faith, completely opposite to that which the blind call true, which is truly blind and dead, existing only at the edge of the tongue. Immerse yourself in humility and love for your neighbor, denying yourself. In this way you will find the Lord. Amen. Letter 329. On introspection and solitude, instructions to the sick Anyone who wants to learn true wisdom, i.e. to acquire Christ, God's power and God's wisdom, “let it happen” (1 Cor. 3:18), according to the Apostle. Try to maintain the exuberance that you have and acquire more, without delving into a multifarious mind, which is evidence of spiritual emptiness. When your sister enters into a conversation with you, offering questions, as she also asked little I. here about the perplexed, then it is not useful to answer these questions by solving the question, but should lead her to simplicity and repentance, resolutely saying that those who are engaged in thinking about lofty subjects cannot avoid delusion and, pursuing, in their opinion, a spiritual life, will be far from the path of salvation. It is less useful to know heaven and earth in detail than to know your shortcomings and sins. This last knowledge is so useful, and at the same time so high, that it is a gift of grace sent by God and requested through prayer. A person cannot enter into this knowledge through his own efforts. One’s own effort is needed as evidence of the sincerity of the desire to receive knowledge from God. Witness this to your sister, proving the truth of your words especially with the first four chapters of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians. The downside to privacy is don't get bored. Circumstances, or more correctly, God's Providence, leads you to practice serving and comforting your neighbors. And work in this field in which you are assigned, without indulging in, on the one hand, entertainment, and on the other, reckless zeal, in which the thought certainly creeps in that you provide consolation, that it is not God who provides you with consolation to others, but for you to be a consolation for others. The sweetness of solitude stems from the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, perfected in community. Finally – you are sick. It is fitting for someone who wants to get closer to God to go through many sorrows and illnesses in body and soul. Say to your illnesses: “Come, sent by God, torment the sinful body, burn it, torment it for the iniquities of which it was the dwelling!” As a rule, do not be excessively tired during illness: in return, offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. Letter 330. Advice to the Sick There is illness and there is the opinion of illness. Finally, it happens that a person is definitely sick, and the enemy convinces him that he is not sick, but only thinks that he is sick. The last one with you. Leave bows for a while: they were replaced by illness; but do not leave prayers with contrition of heart. When a vicious thought or a vicious feeling comes to you, reject them and reproach yourself. You should not think about yourself that any vice in you has diminished; on the contrary, think that you are the repository of all vices. You should not be embarrassed when mental and physical weaknesses are revealed in you; on the contrary, bear your infirmities with patience and generosity. There is a hidden pride in you; You do not firmly remember that you are a sinner; If you remembered this as you should, then seeing weaknesses in yourself, you would not be embarrassed, but would say to yourself: “A sinner like me must have such shortcomings!” May the Lord teach you humility, from which all calm flows and peace and silence pour into your heart. God bless you. Our whole life should consist of repentance; for until then we are outside the truth, until we are completely in Christ, which we can expect only after death. The more we plunge into repentance, the more we find that we need it. The more we purify ourselves, the more we find that we are far from the Most Holy and Most Pure. He who is completely blackened does not see a single spot on himself. Regarding the feelings that you had before and after communion, I will tell you: we must always consider ourselves unworthy of Christ and approach Him as the Physician of our souls and bodies, including the lepers, the blind, the demoniac, because that is what we are at heart. But we must watch that heartfelt contrition does not turn into hopelessness, which comes from relying on oneself, and not on the generosity of Christ. Take a closer look! Before confession, between good thoughts, you had a thought of petty calculation, you wanted to say everything in confession, you wanted to pay off Christ, you wanted to no longer owe Him! - And they left, carrying within themselves not a satisfactory feeling, but a crafty thought that led to petty calculation when it began to confuse, saying: “You didn’t say everything in confession.” - Believe me. We say in confession that we see in ourselves, but we do not see an incomparably greater number of sins, which is why we plunge many of our known and unknown sins into the sea of ​​Christ’s bounties and after the Sacrament of Confession we feel a satisfying sense of peace not because of our deeds, but because of Christ’s bounties, and we remain indebted to Him as an unpaid debt. Regarding your rule, what do you say? It was given to you when your mind was dead and when physical labor with short and uniform prayer contributed to the revival of the mind by killing daydreaming. Now, if this work is too burdensome for the body, it can be shortened by allowing the mind, freed from daydreaming, to float in the words of the Spirit, in psalms, chants and spiritual songs, singing not only with lips and thoughts, but also in the heart of the Lord. Letter 332: Guide to Godly Living On the path of pious life, the leader is God. “No one can come to Me,” says the Savior, “unless My Father in heaven draws him away” (John 6:44). On this path lies the experimental recognition that man is a fallen being, damaged in mind, heart, and body. We could not have obtained this experimental knowledge if we had not seen that sinful thoughts arise in our minds against our will, feelings in our hearts, and movements in our bodies. Such a state, according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers, must be endured with patience, humbled before the Lord and complacently awaiting healing from the only Physician of our souls and bodies. I wish you to delve into the 3rd chapter of the 1st Epistle of St. Apostle. Paul to the Corinthians. Completely neglect me as a vile sinner, and belong only to God, then your path will be right. So, I use the words Ap. Paul: “Let no one boast about men, lest you be left without Christ” (1 Cor. 3:21). When Ap. Peter thought about the human, not the Divine, although this human apparently was good, then the Lord called him Satan. Truth outside the Cross is not acceptable. You must acquire deadness in order to receive life, destroy your soul in order to gain it. Look where you got carried away and try to improve. A godly life requires sobriety and it is impossible to do without invisible falls. Having treasured from them humility and experience, let us not lose heart, but rising from our fall, we will move on. Letter 333. About the last hour and total devotion to Christ No matter how our end of short-term earthly life comes, it must come in every possible way. The servant of Christ surrenders both his soul and body to the will of Christ. Where to put the sins? Where should we put our countless infirmities? “And we will hand them over to the almighty Christ, who bore the infirmities and sins of the whole world.” If we are given a cup of suffering, let us accept it as a cup of salvation, as a guarantee of eternal joy. Let us say with the thief: “We will accept our worthy deed, remember us, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom” (Luke 23:41–42). The heart will respond to us with calmness, the anticipation of eternal peace. Peace be with you. Letter 334. About hope in God's mercy We plunge the countless infirmities of our souls and bodies into the abyss of God’s mercy. All our hope is in God’s mercy, and not in our righteousness. Physical illnesses can be very complex, and mental illnesses are even more complex. Speaking about them, St. The Prophet likened them not to some private wound, but to a whole scab that covered the entire soul. And we plunge such and such a soul into the abyss of God’s mercy! After immersion in it, the soul comes out completely clean and healed. Such immersion always occurs when the soul, through repentance and confession of its sins, and especially during the sacrament of confession, turns to God. Therefore, your condition should not embarrass you. There is undoubtedly a physical illness, and with illness there is also pretense, as often happens with the sick. From this one should not be embarrassed and despondent; on the contrary, one should expose one’s scabs, pretense and one’s parents, one’s vanity and voluptuousness before the All-Powerful and All-Good. However, asking Him for healing and bearing the cross of our passions with patience, until the Lord Himself takes it from us. Bear Nebuchadnezzar's yoke! - the Prophet mysteriously exhorted the Israelis. This is the way of salvation; go to them. Peace to you from the Lord! Letter 335. About your spiritual children May the blessing of God rest upon you and may the grace of God guide you in the short field of earthly life to salvation in eternity. I am heartily consoled that the spiritual family, gathered by the finger of God in the Monastery and around the Monastery of St. Sergius, is preserved by the same finger of God. In her circle you can find satisfaction of your spiritual needs. For this you must constantly thank God, for very few have this blessing. I entrust myself to your prayerful remembrance. Your humble servant Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. May the Lord comfort you and your family in the sorrow that has befallen you. Consider the goodness of God towards you, His wonderful Providence for you, and with this quench the sorrow of your heart, bring it to feelings of gratitude. Your elder, in the last days of his life (I also call years by days), dedicated himself to God, and managed to prepare himself more for eternity than is usually the case today in the world. The invisible hand of God led him to this, and this shows God’s special mercy towards him. Let us tear away from the earth our thought, which has clung to the earth, let us think, let us believe that there is an eternity, before which our earthly wandering is shorter than a minute compared to a century! Let us consider that this life here is given to us solely as preparation for eternity! We recognize that the human race is in a state of decline from the very thing that we do not want to even think about eternity. We live on earth, as if we are eternal on it. Let us turn our eyes to Christ, our Savior! What will appear then in our mind's eye? – The extraordinary goodness of God to your home, which is led by the strange paths of Providence to the knowledge of God and the worship of God, paths little known to us in the world. With what meek humility your elder followed the common aspiration of the family. His humility is all the more surprising because he was not the first in this endeavor, but only a follower, which is especially difficult for elders. When he departs into the future, one should rejoice rather than indulge in sorrow: for it is obvious that God chose him and now accepts him into eternal bliss. I wrote this for your consolation: may the grace of God speak words of consolation in your hearts, with which you mutually console each other, looking at the path that lies before us all, and turn carnal tears into spiritual ones, in which there is sadness and joy together. Your most devoted Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 337. About the life and death of the soul “No one lives for us,” said the Apostle, “and no one dies for himself” (Rom. 14:7). Having remained to live on earth, live not for yourself, but for the Lord: he who lives to fulfill His will lives for the Lord; He lives for himself who lives to fulfill his wishes. The latter, although it seems to the sensual eyes to be moving and living, is dead in soul to the Lord, is imputed to God as if it does not exist, and is not inscribed in the book of Life; his name is included in other books. The first one does not die, and cannot die: he passes on for himself! Mortify your life in the Lord for yourself, and thereby preserve yourself in eternal life. Letter 338. Invitation to come to the monastery Dearest Alexander Alexandrovich! Having heard about the seizures that were happening to you, I was very worried about this. I ask you, out of your friendship, to welcome me to the monastery around 9 o’clock. We will ask our doctor, and if you need to bleed, he will bleed you. I have not met either a doctor or a paramedic who would bleed with such clarity as B. Listen to me, a sinner: I hope that you will not repent of your obedience. Letter 339. Instruction for the sick - spiritual fruits in patiently enduring suffering; tears of consolation What can I tell you about the suffering to which medical necessity exposes you? Don't give up on this suffering! They may be rewarded with the pleasantness of recovery. In addition to this benefit, there is another benefit in them, incomparably the most important: this is the renewal of your soul. You can become able to thank God and draw closer to Him. For this there is no other means than the cross, that is, generous patience with all the suffering sent down by Providence. Those who throw off the cross become obscene for God. The power of God can fully support you, despite your youth. Those inspired by this power can overcome all fear and all torment. When your thought becomes quiet, and some kind of calm sadness, like a rain cloud, comes over your soul - then it becomes clear and joyful in you, then know that this is the effect of spiritual crying, which appeared in you because of your suffering and because you are trying to resort to God in it. Be attentive and reverent, because spiritual sensations are subtle and disappear from the inattentive and irreverent. If you are attentive, the clouds will become thicker from time to time, and will finally burst into tears and produce tears such as you have never cried. Enjoying these tears will be the greatest consolation and reinforcement in your illness. Wonderful silence and tranquility will instill in you! But remain faithful to God. Amen. Letter 340. On the impoverishment of spiritual knowledge Dear Sovereign, Alexander Alexandrovich with his wife and with your entire God-saved family! May God's blessing rest upon you. I remember you very often with the love of my heart in the Lord. I have nothing special to tell you: by the grace of God, the path of salvation is known to you in sufficient detail. And if you live in the commandments of the Lord, you will learn even more. I traveled quite a distance, saw pious people in the middle of the world and in monasteries. These people are now extremely rare and sometimes with very little knowledge, and others with mixed concepts, but because tar is added to the honey, i.e. they read the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church, and do not abandon the counterfeit saints of the dark West. And the Russian proverb comes true: a barrel of honey, but a fly in the ointment. Throw it all away! True spiritual knowledge and spiritual guides have become scarce. Others understand something no worse than our brother, but their teaching is somehow unenlightening, everyone walks around but doesn’t get through the door, it’s like they’re playing blind man’s buff. [...] Un[worthy] Archimandrite asking for your prayers September 24, 1847 Nikolo-Babaevsky Monastery Letter 341. Sorrow heals the soul, brings it closer to God Whomever the Lord loves and whom he desires to choose for a blessed eternity, he sends unceasing sorrows, especially when the soul being chosen is infected with a love of peace. The effect produced by sorrows is similar to the effect produced by poison. Just as a body that has taken poison dies from its natural life, so a soul that tastes sorrow dies to the world, to carnal life, which was born from the fall and constitutes true death. Therefore, whoever refuses sorrows refuses salvation: for the Lord Himself said that those who do not follow Him with their cross are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:38), that “whoever wants to save his soul in this age will destroy it for eternity” (Matthew 10:39). The words of Christ are immutable and will come true in every possible way, which is why we must be crucified according to His word, or more clearly, on the cross of His words, although the flesh cries out against the crucifixion. For a complacent and courageous enduring of the scraper one must have faith, i.e. to believe that all sorrow comes to us not without God’s permission. If the hair of our head does not fall without the will of the Heavenly Father, much less without His will can anything more important happen to us than a hair falling from our head. Further, complacency is born in sorrows, when we surrender to the will of God and ask that it always be done to us. Thanksgiving also consoles us in sorrows, when we give thanks for everything that happens to us. On the contrary, grumbling, complaints, carnal disposition, i.e. according to the elements of the world, they only multiply sorrow and make it unbearable. Saint Isaac said that “that patient who resists the operator during an operation only multiplies his torment,” why, let us submit to God not in word alone, but also in thought, heart, and deed. Let us despise the world and its opinions, because the Savior tells us: “Whoever is ashamed of My words in this sinful and adulterous generation, of him I will also be ashamed before My Father and His Angels” (Mark 8:38). From pleasing the world, boldness towards God is lost, and from contempt for the world a Christian becomes his own God and with much boldness turns to His house, believing His word as the Word God, and not with double-mindedness, from which the effect of the Word of God is weakened due to unbelief associated with double-mindedness. Those who have fallen asleep in the sleep of despondency - arise! You who have weakened yourselves with double-mindedness, strengthen yourselves with faith! Soften your hardened hearts with fervent prayer and tears. Approach the Lord with humility, and His Word and His grace will be contained within you, and will resurrect your dead souls! If a word is judged and condemned, then it remains useless; if it is accepted with humility, then although its appearance is harsh, the fruit is spiritual consolation, born from the knowledge and acceptance of the Truth, in which lies salvation. Letter 342. About the salvation of the lost The Holy Fathers said: “When you see a drowning person, stretch out the end of your staff to him and do everything you can to save him; but don’t give him your hand, so that he doesn’t drag you into the abyss with him.” May God grant you wisdom to act on this advice. He who approaches God must approach with faith in His omnipotence, and not with double-mindedness, and then he will receive help from above. Evil, wanting to keep a person in chains, always frightens him: one should not be afraid of these threats: a strong God will deliver those who approach Him from all attacks of sin. Letter 343. On Devotion to God [...] Have peace in your thoughts and hearts; drive away embarrassment with complacency. Tell yourself when various thoughts begin to confuse you: “I surrender to God with all my weaknesses and my circumstances. Let Him do His holy will over me.” God's providence arranged it in such a way that His people, upon their exodus from Egypt, received their reward for the work done in Egypt. You went to Revel to use L-i and Al-ny and be peaceful; fulfill with care what you set out for and guard your soul, which you must preserve at the judgment seat of Christ. When you cannot save yourself from noisy society, then try to protect yourself from verbosity and unnecessary jokes, and when you cannot save yourself from this, then wash yourself in repentance. Keep peace within yourself. Know that if you are embarrassed, then this is a sign that some false thought has crept into you. You, like me, have no faith, no humility! By surrendering to the will of God, you will enter into both and find peace in your heart. Peace be with you! Peace to S.P. and L. and A. Peace to everyone and to me, a sinner. Amen. Letter 344. About the Gospel Printed on the Soul Finally, I received from you, my true friend in the Lord, a letter according to my thoughts, according to my heart! When I read it, I heard the words of St. Apostle Paul: “There is no Scythian and barbarian, Jew and Greek, male and female, but a new creation in Christ Jesus” (Col. 3:11). Save you, Lord, for you consoled me, for letting me see the Gospel printed on my soul, and not on paper. Understand all this simplicity, and all this depth, and all this breadth, and all this height. May God give you understanding about everything. “Whoever wants to save his soul, let him destroy it” (Matthew 16:25), and when he destroys it, then he will see it gained. Destroy to the end: for faith is higher than reason. The mind tortures; faith is in God. Christ is with you and yours. Letter 345. Please write down the vision of G. I-oh for the edification of others Accept sinful obedience from me. Take the trouble to arrange for a description of G. Ilyinskaya’s vision to be compiled in all detail, writing on half a sheet of paper so that I can correct it. The sign given by God should not be ignored; for it was given so that we, cold and lacking in faith, would turn our attention from the delights of the world to the salvation of our souls, which are being lost due to our negligence. We dare to argue the following; since this soul accepted torture from unclean spirits while still in the body, its salvation is beyond doubt. Letter 346. About devotion to the will of God Don’t worry, but in peace of mind surrender to the will of God. God knows what He creates and whatever He does, He does according to His great goodness, according to His wisest and unsearchable destinies. Say to yourself more often: “God’s will be done.” Let your mind and heart be immersed in this soothing and sacred thought. May they be satisfied with it. May God bless you and give you the mind of truth and submission to His holy will, which is why spiritual peace vegetates. Your most devoted in the Lord, Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 347. Sorrow is a sign of God’s chosenness I offer my sincere gratitude for your memory of me and invoke God’s blessing on you and your family. Your sorrows are a sign of God’s election. Blessed be the mercy of God, imprinting you with the seal of election. Every sigh of those who suffer for the Lord is heard in heaven and written into the book of God for reward a hundredfold. May the grace of God cover the holy Abode where you have taken refuge, may it cover your family, may it cover everyone and everything. Your most humble servant Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. Letter 348. God is the guide to a blissful eternity [...] May the blessing of God rest upon you and upon your house. May He guide you to blissful eternity. We are all filled with infirmities; but those of us who want to please the Lord, the Lord heals from infirmities with His law and His destinies. Everything I hear about the Sergius Desert consoles me very much. In the appointment of Fr. Ignatius as the rector of this monastery, I see God’s mercy towards the monastery and towards me. I hope that in the future the Lord will not abandon us all with His Mercy. And again I invoke God’s blessing on you, with feelings of sincere respect and devotion to m.ch.b. Your humble servant Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea. I bring you my sincere gratitude for your memory of me! I congratulate you and your entire pious family on the upcoming New Year, and I sincerely wish you to pursue its career under the canopy of God’s mercy. Blessed are those who, far from worldly noise and worldly worries, can devote all their time to serving God, to preparing themselves for eternity. The Lord called this position of man a good part. May this good part not be taken away from you all the days of your earthly life! May she remain your constant asset and a sure guarantee of eternal joy. Invoking God's blessing on you and your family, etc. Letter 350. About hope in God. – About your health and the Iversky Church Ascetics who engage in mental feats are allowed primarily before physical feats of illness and other sorrows; from their action, the ascetic must necessarily place his hope in God. As hope in God increases, self-confidence weakens; As self-confidence decreases, self-esteem decreases. With the weakening of these ailments, true humility begins to arise in the soul, on which the correctness and strength of any achievement are based. [...] On May 15th I stopped using the (horseradish) syrup, and to this day it has a strong effect on thinness, producing in me the same incredible weakness that it produced last summer, and which then significantly passed with the cessation of the effect of the syrup. Our church turns out to be unusually good, far better than what it looks like in the drawing, so that the hand of God is clearly shown in this matter. He who calls upon you the abundant blessing of God is your most devoted servant and relative. Dear Empress, N.V. May God’s blessing rest upon you and your children. In any business, the initial condition for success is the correct view of the matter; so in the matter of salvation, in order to obtain the desired salvation, a correct view of oneself and of salvation is necessary. Due to the damage to our nature by sin, good and evil are mixed in us and our heartland does not cease to produce evil, and does not allow good to grow alone, whole, but always with an admixture of evil. This process is natural to us, not because we were created this way, but because we arbitrarily introduced into our nature the poison of sin, which we can no longer separate from our nature through our own efforts. The Redeemer makes this separation for us, seeking from us and our own efforts to destroy the evil in ourselves, as active evidence of the true acceptance of salvation given by God to Tuna. So, let us not be discouraged; seeing various evils arising in oneself, one must constantly resist it and purge it from oneself. Lifelong work and feat! In due time, when little by little evil begins to wear out, spiritual peace will begin to appear, a sign of the health of the soul. But there is no complete peace in the country of war and struggle. He either appears, then disappears again: a place of permanent peace in heaven and in eternity. We need to know all this so as not to demand from ourselves what is not natural to us, and again in order not to lose heart in our lifelong struggle, fighting courageously against the evil that rises up against us both inside and outside of us. When by such a feat we prove our faithfulness to God, then the gift of God's grace - salvation, mysteriously invested in us by baptism and consisting in the union of human nature with God's nature and in the healing of the first from touching the second, will begin to more clearly reveal its presence in us, giving us a more decisive victory over evil, producing deep peace in us and consoling us with the hope of a blessed eternity. I wish you to strive correctly under the guidance of the Word of God and be crowned with the crown of salvation by the ineffable mercy of God. With feelings of perfect respect and sincere devotion, I have the honor to be yours truly, Bishop Ignatius. Letter 352. About surrender to the will of God. About self-absorption Devotion to the will of God in the very permissions of God is necessary. It is obvious that Christianity - this mysterious spiritual gift of God to people - is removed in an inconspicuous way (for those who do not pay attention to their salvation) from human society that has neglected this gift. One must see this so as not to be deceived by actors and the performance of piety; Having seen this, we must turn our gaze away from the sad sight, so as not to be subjected to the vice of condemning our neighbors, we must turn our gaze to ourselves, take care of our own salvation, since the mercy of God still grants the opportunity to be saved to those who deign to be saved. Letter 353. About the proper attitude towards lies Wolves clothed in sheep's skin appear and are known by their deeds and fruits. It is difficult to see who is entrusted or who has fallen into the hands of the sheep of Christ, to whom their guidance and salvation are presented. But this is God’s permission. “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16). February 5th is my birthday. On this day, I was given a gift that was inexplicably pleasant. On this day, an article was published in the Moskovsky Vestnik, in which the main idea was that a lie can only have momentary triumphs, that nothing can be taken firmly by a lie, that it does not strengthen, but weakens and damages the cause it serves. This is a great truth of the greatest importance! It must be inscribed in letters of gold! It must be known and understood by anyone who wants to govern themselves correctly, especially who wants to correctly manage people and public affairs. What does it turn out to be? In “Ascetic Experiences” this idea is developed in the article “Conversation about the Jesus Prayer” (p. 121), at the beginning of the article about the monastery (p. 437) and in many other places. Why does it sometimes happen that people get into a false position and act to the detriment of themselves and everyone? From accepting and assimilating false thoughts and concepts, from acting in the realm of homicidal lies. The entire history of mankind proves this with the most amazing facts. Oh, when would we in Russia develop a majestic and beneficial for the temporary and eternal life of people, a correct concept of the holy Truth! If only all activity, both private and public, would flow from this Divine source! A lie does not strengthen, but undermines the cause it serves! How true! This is especially true in matters of religion. By the way, proof of this is the book of 26 Moscow false prophets recently published in Moscow. The book was published in the magazine “Wanderer” and in the book a shadow is cast on the holiness of an unnamed face, but which I can guess. The course of affairs is such that exposure on a large scale is inevitable. Letter 355. About Divine Providence In religious terms, our time is very difficult: various apostasies from the Orthodox faith have assumed extensive proportions and began to act with extraordinary energy and freedom. This was predicted by the Word of God and, even among us, has been happening for a long time. The Providence of the Almighty God is vigilantly vigilant over the destinies of the world and every person, and everything that happens happens either by the will or by the permission of God. We must turn our minds to ourselves and beg the Lord to keep us faithful to the Orthodox Church, to reveal to us His all-holy will and the stumbling-free path to Himself, the source of true life and salvation. The salvation of men is God’s gift to men, and is by no means their own invention and acquisition: and therefore it cannot be worked out otherwise than under the guidance of God - by His mercy and grace. This mercy of God delivered you from visions, leaving you with the most soul-helping, safe vision; when you see your sins. The mercy of God is evidenced by the calmness of the heart. Letter 356. About good deeds All good deeds are cursed with sorrows, yet Holy Scripture says that he who begins a good deed, let him complete it. In our time, the spread of the teachings of St. The fathers are especially opposed by rejected spirits, introducing various thoughts of carnal wisdom and raising up people guided by carnal wisdom. Why would I believe that you need to firmly adhere to the good intention you have accepted, and take the incoming thoughts and suggestions of people as a sign that your work is pleasing to God and useful to Christianity, precisely because obstacles and sorrows are always erected against such actions, according to St. Fathers. Obstacles are evidenced by such things. On the contrary, deeds done in the spirit of this world flow like clockwork to the detriment and condemnation of one’s own soul and the souls of others. It is closest to you to see this: You see how quickly books are distributed, destroying both faith and morality, what expenses are made to print them, with what zeal some try to distribute them, while others buy them. What do you think it is like in the sight of God? And what should one expect for this at God’s judgment?.. Unbelievers shout that there is no God, and there is no judgment of God. Because of such a cry, with which depravity intensifies to drown out the ideas of conscience, God did not cease to exist. He exists and certainly rewards every person according to his deeds. The apostasy itself is predicted with all clarity by Holy Scripture and serves as evidence of how true and true everything said in Scripture is. With these lines I fulfilled my duty to you and to me; however, God left each person free to do good or not to do it during his earthly life. You yourself see: what a need there is for the teaching of St. Fathers for a Christian society overwhelmed by various ungodly teachings. Having done your job, i.e. Having given you my twenty years of work free of charge for publication, I otherwise rely on the will of God and wish to remain in peace of mind, on the basis of submission to the will of God. Letter 357. Earthly life is a school of eternity Most Gracious Sovereign, Dmitry Alekseevich! I cannot pay for your visit to Stavropol by visiting you personally. I come with my book. Accept it with love, and in moments of freedom look into it. This book is a book of self-reflection. The book proclaims Christianity not from the outside - from man’s exploration of himself. All earthly situations are urgent. Our earthly life is a school in which we must prepare for eternity. Lack of practice in any science is the reason for ignorance of it, and eternity close to us becomes an endless distance, clothed in deep darkness for those who do not consider it. In the study of any science, it is required that the study be correct: without this, we come to empty or false results: in the same way, in the study of Christianity, correctness is necessary; Without it, a person will certainly deviate into a variety of errors; where truth reigns, there is no place for those sealed with lies. Wishing you temporal blessings, even more eternal blessings. With feelings of complete respect and sincere devotion, I have the honor to be Your Excellency's humble servant and Bogomolet Bishop Ignatius. Letter 358. Brief description of the direction of the Fathers of the Eastern Church and Western writers; earthly life is the threshold of eternity Most Gracious Sovereign, Prince Alexander Mikhailovich! When you were an envoy in Wirtemberg, and I was the rector in the Sergius Hermitage, then after the death of your wife, you visited the monastery I mentioned and honored my cells with your visit. I had the honor to receive Your Excellency on the balcony. We were talking about the work of Thomas a à Kempis: I told you my opinion about his book “Imitation.” But the spiritual cage is of immeasurable depth! The meeting was too brief; my opinion, based on a long-term study of the Fathers of the Orthodox Church, could not be expressed satisfactorily. I make up for the lack of what I have said by presenting to you the book “Ascetic Experiences”. In them you will read the teaching of our Fathers about internal spiritual achievement. This teaching differs from the Western teaching in that the Fathers lead their readers to repentance and weeping for themselves, while the Western writer leads them to enjoyment and self-satisfaction. Every earthly position passes away; a person imperceptibly approaches and approaches the gates of eternity. If true love desires true blessings for one’s neighbor, then this desire must be classified as eternal blessings. Accept this wish from me! Looking at the book, you will find on every page of it this desire expressed without flattery to fallen man. With feelings of complete respect and devotion, I have the honor to be Your Excellency... Bishop's remarks Ignatius on the story of Archimandrite Macarius, the former rector of the Tver Seminary, now a censor, that evil spirits told him that a countless number of evil spirits were released to fight against the Orthodox Church, in unity with papism and Mohammedantism. There is no doubt that the effect of perfume is enhanced. But it is impossible to believe their stories: even if they sometimes tell the truth, it is in order to cause harm all the more likely. At present, their main work is to drop all true ideas about God and everything Divine and to exalt the ideas about man in his fallen nature - thereby preparing the exaltation of that man who is exalted more than God, according to the prophecy of St. Ap. Pavel. The same idea that destroyed people in paradise! only it is now developing more extensively. What papism! What Mohammedanism! This is just a disguise; these are private actions. Pope, Mohammed serve as a pre-image of the Antichrist; his closest image is Grishka Otrepyev. Letter 359. Happiness and its condition Dear Stefan Ivanovich! Your letter made me incredibly happy. Thank God that you moved from Georgia to Kyiv - this gives me hope that in time you will make another resettlement, i.e. from Kyiv to St. Petersburg, from which you can conveniently visit an old, not yet forgotten friend. But how will you find it! Not the same as before; not full of liveliness, but exhausted by illnesses and labors, which in themselves, although small, were great relative to my strength. With all this, I thank the Lord - I am quite happy, very happy, happy not because of my sins. The first condition for this is that I am a Christian and a monk, albeit an insufficient one. Secondly, there are people around me whom I can look at with the most sincere love. Our desert is near the sea - both sensual and everyday. I look at both and am glad that I live on the shore in the middle of the monastery walls. [...] ...Wishing you good health and prosperity, I have the honor to be your zealous servant and pilgrim Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 360. About preparation for death, about grief for God and carnal sadness I had the honor to receive your letter! I sincerely regret the grief that has befallen you, and therefore I allow myself to advise you so that you do not indulge in unnecessary sadness, which will not help the trouble, but will upset you. Remember, every person is born to die; - and none of us can escape this common cup. Why should we always remember and think about death often? Such reflection will motivate us to good deeds, necessary for eternal bliss, and will avert us from those evil deeds that we would decide to do in forgetfulness of death. About your deceased wife, the less we should grieve because she spent her life in Christian rules and virtues and at her death was honored with the proper parting words. When sadness comes to you, then resort to prayer, like St. The Apostle James in the Council Epistle advises: “Does anyone suffer in you? let him pray” (James 5:13). – When you pray, ask the Lord for the forgiveness of your sins and for the repose of the soul of your deceased wife. Then your sadness for God will be dissolved by hope and the consolation that flows from hope; Such sadness, as guilty of salvation, is boasted by the Spiritual Law. Carnal sadness, consisting only of lamentation, without prayer and trust in God, causes disorder in the soul and body and is condemned by the Lord. May the Lord himself pour comforting feelings into your heart! I wish you good health and all the best, with true respect and devotion I have the honor of your humble servant and Bogomolet. Letter 361. Request to show leniency to the guilty hieromonk Your Excellency Count Nikolai Alexandrovich! I present herewith, at your discretion, a note delivered to me by Hieromonk George, who has been removed from the post of Economist of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. His case has been received, or quite soon will be received, by the Holy Synod with a resolution of the Metropolitan, in which it is determined: that Hieromonk, already deprived of his economic position and presence in the Office of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, should be removed from the Lavra upon his election to another monastery, and his offense should be included in the formal list. O. George, bowing his neck to both first members of the maxim, i.e. resignation and removal from the Lavra, asks not to include his act in the formal list. Not daring to address you directly due to the usual timidity of our Clergy, he asked me to inform you of his most humble request, which is so easy that I do not think of burdening you with communicating it. The Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine was so softened by the grace-filled oil of mercy, with which, more than all virtues, true Christians become like God, that he used to say: if I saw a presbyter or monk [sinning], I would take off the imperial purple and cover the sinner with it. Honor or dishonor shown to a servant goes back to the Served. Wishing you all the true blessings from the generous hand of the Lord, with true respect I have the honor to be... Letter 362. Advice to a girl who wanted to join a monastery Gracious Sovereign maiden Anna Dementievna! [...] Your intention is good and laudable: for all the imaginary consolations of the flesh will soon pass by; and therefore it is very crazy to spend our life in vanity, given by God to prepare ourselves for the future life. If you wish, I would like to give you my advice: first, pray to the Lord to bless your intention and Himself to give you the opportunity to fulfill it: for our Dearest Savior said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). And the Holy Fathers, like the stars in the church sky, shone with various virtues and through experience itself, that is, the very fulfillment of His commandments, recognizing the power of His Holy and Divine words, say: “Every work, although good, but begun without prayer and asking for God’s help, is not perfect.” And you, therefore, begin by praying and asking for God’s help. Secondly, every girl who wants to enter a monastery, according to the custom of our monasteries, must know some kind of needlework in order to support herself with it; and upon entering the monastery itself, she must build or buy a cell for herself - this costs three hundred rubles. Try to prepare everything, and once you have prepared it, please contact me in writing, or better yet, in person. Having seen you in person, and using the power of my meager reason, having examined your properties, with God’s help, perhaps I will give you advice on which monastery to enter. I would earnestly wish to help you with money, but I cannot help many: for many who have nothing come to my monastery, and supporting them in their needs, I myself remain in need. May God's blessing be upon you. Your zealous pilgrim, Archimandrite Ignatius. Letter 363. On patience in tribulations Most gracious Empress, Paraskeva Mikhailovna! [...] Our whole life is in various sorrows, as everything ends in death. How many saving lessons these sorrows teach us: they do not allow us to become attached to the earth; They raise us to heaven and remember God to us. And you, who are so familiar with Christ’s teaching about patience, who actually had to endure so much, remain patient to the end. I am writing this to you in order to bring beneficial consolation to your soul. I don’t write much because I hope to see you soon and because you yourself are very familiar with the Word of God. May the Lord, who delights the sorrows of those who mourn, sweeten your illness and strengthen you for further exploits. Peace be with you! Your most humble servant and worshiper Arch. Ignatius. Letter 364. About true happiness Most Gracious Empress! Vera Ivanovna! [...] ...Outward happiness cannot completely nourish a person; the source of true happiness must be in his heart, and these holy, pure waters are given to a Christian - Faith... You bring this bliss to your children. [...] Letter 365. Gratitude to the benefactor of the monastery Most merciful Sovereign! Count Pyotr Andreevich! Allow me to express my sincere gratitude to Your Excellency for the gracious attention that you, in the midst of your many activities, paid to the dilapidated chapels of the Sergius Hermitage. Their renewal will be entirely due to your diligence. Thus, you have included yourself among those about whom this deep and powerful prayer is and will be pronounced every day in the churches of the Sergius Hermitage: “Bless those who bless you, O Lord, and sanctify those who trust in you, save your people and bless your property, sanctify those who love the splendor of your house: glorify them with Divine power!” Graph! May this blessing, this salvation, this sanctification sanctify you and your entire family to prosperity on earth and to bliss in heaven! With complete respect and devotion, I have the honor to be [...] July 19, 1845 Sergiev Hermitage Letter 366. To a certain high-ranking official: Description of an accident that occurred on the way to St. Petersburg and the desire to end the days of his life in solitude A misfortune has happened to me! On August 23, half-sick, I went to see His Grace the Metropolitan on matters of the monastery and deanery; at the 10th verst from Strelna, a road worker scared the horse of my carriage, which, jumping out of the lines, touched him and dropped him, from which he died. Having let everyone know about this, I returned to the monastery, struck down by illness, both heart and body. Now having recovered a little in body and mind, I dare to lay down at your feet... a request drawn from a heart torn apart by grief! Allow me, ... in deep solitude, outside of any position, as if dead alive, to end my days! For this purpose, order me to be dismissed from the Administration of the Sergius Hermitage with permission to choose a secluded place suitable for my poor health. “I will carry to my grave the painful thought and painful feeling that for all the mercies... flowing to me directly from the depths of your great soul, I brought you only grief!” Casting my heart, wounded by the sharp sting of sorrow, at your feet, with the deepest reverence and complete, unlimited devotion, I have the happiness, although unworthy of it, to be... Sergius Hermitage Archimandrite Ignatius. August 31, 1845 Sergiev Pustyn. Letter 367. N.N. HEMSHIEV: About the only treasure - the knowledge of the Savior, about your service to your neighbor with the Word of God and about preparation for eternity The fact that we are all, dear Prince, short-term wanderers on earth, is a tangible truth. The fact that we pay so little attention to eternity, that we forget it, is a sure sign of our fall not only in the body, but even more so in the mind, in the heart. Looking into ourselves, we will see within ourselves that we need salvation, we need a Savior. Knowing the Savior, and through this obtaining a blessed eternity, is the first happiness on earth, is the only treasure of man. God brought Ekaterina Pavlovna to receive this treasure; then, cleansed by suffering, he called into eternity - and into blissful eternity. Her death leaves in those truly disposed towards her a memory in which a calm feeling, a true feeling is combined with an ordinary feeling of sadness about the one who has passed away. At least that's how I feel! And this feeling is not new for me: it was left to me by some who departed from here after living on a pious land, O Lord. What consoles me is that the merciful Lord brought me to serve Ekaterina Pavlovna with a soul-saving word, although it was very insufficient. Seeing that God inspires many to resort to my meager word, I cannot help but admit that God assigns to me the service of my neighbor with the Word of God. Why do I wish to carry out this blessed service in relation to you and proclaim to you the Word of God, how much in my negligence and weakness I could learn it from the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers. May the merciful Lord comfort you and strengthen you! - Time will quickly, quickly fly by and the hour of your transition into eternity will come. Use your earthly days to prepare for it. You saw in your wife how well you can prepare for eternity. This preparation dissolves even the sorrows here with consolation, and this proves that this preparation is a preparation for bliss. O Lord, most devoted Archimandrite to you. Ignatius. Letter 368. Description of one of his poetic inspirations and a consoling word to a family that has lost the father of the family Christ is risen, and risen indeed! Most amiable, most priceless Fyodor Petrovich! Having received your letter, I talked with him for a long time: it still constantly lies on the table near my bed. I spend most of my time on it; I have only one occupation - lying down: this is the lot of the sick. I often re-read the deep letter - this confession of your soul, and my thoughts were transported to you. And so - the other day - as usual, I’m alone in my cell, as usual I’m lying down: suddenly and vividly I imagined that I was at the grave of Konstantin Fedorovich - together with you, with your whole family... It was as if the voice of Konstantin Fedorovich was heard! A wonderful, unexpected inspiration took possession of my soul: I jumped out of bed, rushing to write down on paper the thoughts that presented themselves to me in a numerous, charming assortment. When I translated them onto paper, my hand barely had time to depict, first in letters, then with some signs and hints, thoughts boiling in the spring, mixed with even more wonderful, quietly and delightfully exciting sensations. Then I re-read the scribbled piece of paper, and I see: this is not my property. The joyful, comforting inspiration that came to me was not for me alone: ​​it belongs to you more than to me. I am sending it to you instead of a red egg. You will receive and read it on the days of Holy Easter. Let others celebrate the holiday in noisy entertainment: the “Word from Eternity” will serve as a delight for you. This is a conversation of a voice that I heard mysteriously. “My father! my mother! my wife! my sisters! my family and friends! you all flocked to my lonely grave - in silence, with drooping heads, you surrounded it. Silently, with only thoughts and feelings, you talk with the silent inhabitant of the tomb. Your hearts are vials of incurable sorrow. Streams of tears flow from your eyes; from the streams of tears that have been shed, new tear streams are born: sadness - there is no bottom, there is no end to tears. Babies are my children! and you are here at the gravestone, at the tombstone. And tears welled up in your eyes, but your heart almost doesn’t know what your eyes are crying about, imitating the eyes of your mother, the eyes of my father, the eyes of my mother. You admire the tombstone, the luminous stone, the snow-white marble; you admire the inscription made of golden letters; and they - this marble and this inscription - are the harbingers of your early orphanhood. My father! my mother! my wife! my family and friends! Why do you stand for so long over my grave, over the cold stone, coldly standing guard over the grave? My lifeless body has long since grown cold; it returns, by the authority of the Creator, to its land, crumbles into dust... What heavy thoughts surround you, keep you on my grave?... The altar servants brought to her a prayer for my repose, proclaimed to me eternal memory in the God who saves and rests me. They walked away from the grave silent; go, you too: you need peace after the exploits of body and soul, tormented by grief. Are you not coming?... you are here... you are as if chained to the place of my burial!... In unbreakable silence, - with a thought for which there is no explanation, - and a heart in which the certainty of feeling is absorbed by the abundance of accumulated feelings, you do not retreat from the wet grave, from the stone - the emotionless monument... What do you need? you, from under a stone, from the depths of a gloomy grave, seem to be waiting for my voice. This voice is not there: I speak through silence alone. Indestructible silence is the lot of the cemetery. The ashes of the dead speak without words: through corruption accomplished, they proclaim a loud sermon, a convincing exhortation to the living, restless, rustling seekers of corruption on the earth’s surface. And I still have a voice! and I'm talking to you! and I answer your inexplicable thoughts, your unspoken and unspoken questions. Listen to me! distinguish my voice in the general, single voice with which eternity speaks to time. The verb of eternity is one, unchangeable, immutable. There is no changeability in it: in it there is one day, one heart, one thought. The one who unites everything into one is Christ. There is only one voice from there. In this single voice in which eternity speaks, distinguish my voice! Don't you, my dear ones, recognize my voice? My voice in the general voice of eternity has its own separate sound, like the voice of a string in the general chord of a multi-stringed, rattling piano. The voice of eternity spoke to you, it spoke from the time of baptism, as to other Christians, when you were still unable to listen to it. Voice of Eternity! alas, they pay little attention to you in a noisy earthly hotel! Our infancy prevents us from listening to you; then the worries and distractions of life prevent you from listening. And you are incessant: you speak, you speak, and, finally, through your messenger, death, you demand both an attentive and an inattentive listener to account for their attention to the holy words of eternity, the holy words of God. So that the voice of eternity has a special echo for you, capable of piercing your heart and attracting all your attention to the words of salvation, God counted me among those speaking from eternity. My voice merged with the common voice of the celestials; for the other inhabitants of the earth I am dead, voiceless, like other dead people. But for you I am alive, and, dead, I speak the word of salvation better than I would have said it, living among you and chasing with you the ghosts of blessings with which corruption deceives and destroys the wanderers of the earth. God is infinitely merciful. Oh! if it were necessary and useful, suddenly from under a heavy stone, from the darkness of the grave, I would respond to you!.. But Heaven recognized a private voice from eternity as unnecessary. And what voice from eternity is no longer superfluous, when God deigned that not only Moses and the Prophets, but His only begotten Son Himself would proclaim His will to the earth, proclaim to it the statutes of a holy, blessed eternity? “Moses and the prophets have it: let them listen to them,” was Heaven’s answer to him who asked for the voice of the dead for saving preaching to those living on earth in a carnal life, perishing in spiritual, eternal death. “Unless Moses and the prophets listen, and unless someone rises from the dead, they do not have faith” (Luke 16:29–31). And you, my comrade, are a dead man, but still with a living word in your mouth?.. here is my father, my mother, my wife, my relatives... I cannot speak to them except in the common word of eternity. In this word they hear the sound of my voice... yes! they hear it!.. But I don’t have a separate, private word... My comrade! from our common treasures of eternity, tell them for me a simple, most necessary word for them: “Earthly life is an instantaneous, deceptive dream. Eternity is inevitable... There is also a disastrous eternity!.. Acquire a blessed eternity by attention, obedience to the all-holy words and commandments of the all-holy God... and come to me for the bright eternal Feast, each in his own, incomprehensibly appointed time by God himself and the only one.” You might be interested in: