Глава XII. Просветительно-издательская деятельность русской Афоно-Пантелеимоновской обители

A Russian pious person and, moreover, a pilgrim cares little about his daily bread; he suffers almost more from a lack of spiritual food. A true Russian pilgrim travels many thousands of miles on foot, meagerly eating black, not the first freshness, bread and water. He considers cabbage soup, potato soup and a cup of tea to be a luxury and an exceptional benefit in his wandering life. His body, exhausted from the day's work and the sun's heat, does not seek the comfort of an overnight stay. The pilgrim, having crossed himself with a wide Russian cross, goes to bed where night found him. The damp mother earth very often serves as a bed for him, his wretched shoulder bag with rye crackers serves as a headboard, and the sky, dotted with myriads of stars, serves as a cover. Only bad weather and severe illness force the wanderer-pilgrim to seek shelter in passing villages, to burden other people with his person, as poor as himself, but even in these cases he is modest, unpretentious and extremely moderate in his desires, understanding well that the people around him do good to him “for the sake of Christ,” as a wanderer, and that if he himself suffers deprivation and restrictions, then all of them are acquisitions for him “for the sake of saving his soul,” as the first in the main goal of a voluntarily accepted feat. But the pilgrim, especially if he is a literate person or even more or less familiar with the ABC book, gets bored, languishes, is not happy on the road and positively craves to read or even listen to something “divine” or “from the Scriptures.” In the comforting words of the Gospel, the pilgrim seeks approval and justification for his feat, since for his sake he often has to leave home everything dear and dear to his heart and voluntarily doom himself to sorrows and hardships, under the weight of which he often faints. In the writings of the holy fathers and especially in the lives of the saints, he tries to find suitable examples of such feats and in eloquent, unartificial descriptions of them to draw for himself the necessary practical lessons for edification. It is not surprising, therefore, that during such reading our pilgrims often forget both bodily hunger and the physical hardships that befall them during a short-term wandering around the shrines. At a rest stop on the road, on the dirty deck of a Russian steamship, with equal care transporting sheep, bulls and our poor pilgrims, huddled in a secluded corner, our pilgrim spends minutes of rest and many hours of monotonous boredom from idleness and a long sea voyage reading the Russian Gospel or even a prayer book. Around the lucky person who has obtained some kind of “life” or “soul-saving story”, whole heaps of hunters gather to listen to edifying and comforting reading; everyone listens with keen interest and emotion to what they are reading and then has a long conversation among themselves about what they read. Understanding well this urgent need of the Russian people and wanting to give them edifying and useful reading, the late Fr. Macarius made an order, sacredly observed to this day, that every pilgrim traveling to the East or returning to his homeland and staying at the farmsteads of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery in Constantinople or Odessa, the heads of these farmsteads would supply “for the blessing of Mount Athos” free of charge with 50 brochures 275 of various contents and varying volumes and no less 276 morally edifying "leaflets". Some of these pilgrims, infected with schismatic opinions or living among schismatics and sectarians, the first for edification, and the second for prevention from temptations and for strengthening in the Orthodox faith, are given, at the direction of the elders, brochures written by the Athonite missionary Hieromonk Arseny, well-known in Russia, and directed against schismatic and sectarian errors 277 . All fans, in addition, are deprived of icons of St. “in memory of Athos.” Great Martyr Panteleimon, rosary from the “tears of the Mother of God” and crosses and spoons, like the products of the hands of Athonite anchorites. All the gifts of the God-loving brethren of the Athonite Russian monastery constitute a valuable and expensive asset for the poor pilgrim's bag during his pilgrimage, serving him as pleasant food and rest in his holy, but filled with sorrows and deprivations, feat. Returning to his homeland, the pilgrim brings these gifts, like an expensive shrine, to his family and, through distribution to his blood and loved ones, makes them partakers, so to speak, of that great feat that was accomplished by the “worker of God,” their dear prayer book, forces them, at least for a few hours, to abandon the gray everyday reality and, while contemplating the sacred objects of the distant East, to be transported mentally to the ideal world. Brochures and little books from Athonite Russian farmsteads pass from hand to hand, visiting all the houses of fellow villagers, delivering spiritual pleasure and healthy mental food for a long time. For the pilgrims themselves, these brochures serve, in addition, as material evidence of their feat and a visible material sign of spiritual communication with the distant shrines of the East. To pilgrims from the intelligentsia and noble visitors, the monastery “as a keepsake” distributes valuable publications, such as “The Second Journey to Athos” by Grigorovich-Barsky, the publication of the Palestine Society, “Abkhazia” by Archimandrite Leonid, “Athos Patericon”, the works of Bishop Theophan on the Holy Scriptures and the works (of an ascetic nature) of the holy fathers, etc. and, moreover, in luxurious bindings. The educational publishing activity of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos begins at the very beginning of the second half of the last century, soon after Russian monks joined the brotherhood of this monastery. The first book published in 1850 at the expense of the monastery was a well-known book in Rus', popular and which at one time aroused a lot of talk, entitled “Letters of the Holy Mountainer about the Holy Mount Athos”, written by the priest of the Vyatka diocese Simeon Vesnin, better known in our country under the name of the Holy Mountainer Seraphim (the book, due to the increased demand for it from Russian readers, was repeated in the same publication year). In 1858, another book was published by the same author: “Writings and letters of the Holy Mountainer, collected after his death,” in 1861, a third: “Poems of the Holy Mountainer, collected after his death and dedicated to lovers and benefactors.” All these works by Fr. Seraphim were widely circulated among the masses at one time, and they still have quite a few readers from the same environment. In 1860, the so-called “Athos Patericon” was published, collected through the efforts of another Vyatka seminarian, Fr. Azaria, who worked very hard and usefully for the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. This book has gone through six editions to date. In 1861, at the expense of the monastery, a quite popular book called “The Upper Veil” was published in Constantinople, printed in the Slavic-Bulgarian printing house that existed at that time under the Patriarchate, in which tales of all the miraculous icons of Holy Mount Athos were collected. In the same printing house in 1862, the “Service and word of praise to our reverend and God-bearing fathers who shone forth on Holy Mount Athos” was published, and in 1867 - “Service in honor of the icon of the Mother of God, called “It is Worthy to Eat.” In Russia in 1863, the Panteleimon Monastery published “The Life and Suffering of St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon,” and the following year, 1864, “Prayer of St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon" and several other small brochures and leaflets of spiritual and moral content. All these publications of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, as their names show, were aimed at satisfying the natural needs of Russian pilgrims of the Holy Mountain in relation to its inhabitants, in order to familiarize and inform the literate Russian people in accessible and fascinating stories about this Mountain, its special position among other pilgrimage points of the Orthodox East, about its numerous shrines and objects of Christian antiquity, about the peculiarities of the life of its inhabitants, about the highly ascetic exploits of its anchorites of the past and present, and similar subjects. The sympathetic and, one might say, rare success of the publications of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery at the very first times and the awareness of the enormous moral benefit that through such publications the monastery could bring to its compatriots and closest neighbors - the Orthodox Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula, inspired the idea of ​​the people at the head of the brotherhood of this monastery to develop and expand their publishing activities. This intention was realized only when these publications, at a price, were made available to the poorest readers, which could only be achieved as soon as they established their own printing house within the walls of the monastery. Relying on free labor and one's own hands seemed to be a sure guarantee for the implementation of a good intention. The plan was done, and in 1865 a Russian-Slavic printing house was opened within the walls of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery 278. Athonite Russian monks were recruited by the hands of inexperienced, but zealous for their work, and quite well for the first time, we must give them full justice, the book of Fr. Jerome: “Russian-Greek Dictionary, Conversations, Grammar, Printed in Russian Type,” printed in 1865. Here, as far as we know, only three more brochures were printed: “Words of Hesychius, Presbyter of Jerusalem,” “Life of St. Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica" and "Promises of the Mother of God given to the Holy Mount Athos" and several separate sheets of spiritual and moral content, and then, willy-nilly, we had to suspend further work in this improvised printing house. The conditions for its continued existence on Athos were quite unfavorable for the cause that this printing house was intended to serve, according to the thoughts of the main initiator of this business, Fr. Jerome. And what were these plans and intentions of the organizer of the Russian Panteleimon monastery - they were expressed openly in the following petition submitted on behalf of the monastery in 1868 to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. “From the statements of numerous pious admirers who come to the Holy Mountain every year from our fellow Slavs, we learn,” says the petition of the Panteleimon brethren dated August 7, 1868 to the Ecumenical Patriarch, “that they have a great need for church, liturgical and moral books. From them we learn that their spiritual needs are satisfied almost exclusively by books exported from Russia, the acquisition of which is associated with great difficulties and costs. Recently, some Slavic books have appeared, printed outside Russia 279, but they turned out to have shortcomings in terms of accuracy and therefore did not have proper approval and distribution among the Orthodox. Sincerely sympathizing in this case with the needs of the peoples of the same faith, our honest monastery is ready to come to their aid in everything that concerns their spiritual benefit. So, guided by such a desire and fully prepared to bring real benefit to our Holy Church 280, we, the below-mentioned, are ready to establish a Slavic printing house in our monastery for the printing of Slavic church and other spiritual books and for distributing them at a reasonable price among Orthodox peoples, but with the condition, however, that this institution should be under the direct patronage of Your Holiness; We humbly and reverently promise to follow and accept whatever it would please Your Holiness to advise or order us in this serious matter of mental enlightenment of our fellow believers. Until now, condescending to the intense and incessant pleas of our Slavic brothers for the acquisition of Russian (Synodal) editions of church books at a reasonable price, due to their personal difficulties in this matter, we supplied them, to the extent possible, with the indicated books. But it is clear to everyone that this delivery on our part requires great costs and considerable delay in time, and that therefore these requests of our fellow believers could not always be fulfilled. Therefore, bearing in mind, on the one hand, the distribution at a reasonable price of church books among our fellow believers in our Slavic tribes to satisfy their spiritual needs, and on the other, the maintenance and strengthening of the foundations of the Orthodox faith and Christian morality among the people, we consider as the most useful and at the same time necessary, an institution on the Holy Mount Athos, revered by all and visited for pilgrimage purposes, a Slavic printing house, to which our monastery unanimously agrees and decides. Having stated all of the above to Your Holiness, we await your orders with reverent obedience and deepest respect, so that, with divine assistance, we can immediately begin this generally beneficial and soul-saving matter on those grounds that it would please Your Holiness to indicate. Kissing your blessed right hand, we abide Your Divine and Worshipful Holiness, humble novices and obedient servants: the abbot of the Russian monastery of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon on Holy Mount Athos, Archimandrite Gerasim, confessor Jerome and confessor Macarius" 281. The Patriarch responded to this petition to the monastery on September 18 of the same year with a special letter No. 3890 (2716) as follows: “Most Reverend Fr. hegumen and other fathers on the Holy Mount Athos of our sacred and honorable patriarchal and stauropegial monastery Russika, beloved child in the Lord! Grace and peace to you from God. From your filial letter dated the 7th of last August, we learned that you are conveying, submitting to the discussion of the Church your desire regarding the establishment in your sacred monastery of a Slavic printing house, under direct supervision regarding the printing of church and other spiritually beneficial Slavic books, for the most convenient satisfaction of the needs and spiritual benefit of the Orthodox Slavs. In response to this, we inform your reverence that we have submitted this request of yours for full consideration to our holy and sacred synod, after discussing each point of this petition and upon submitting its considerations to us, we will immediately notify you of our church decision. May God's grace and unspeakable mercy be with you. The Patriarch of Constantinople is a prayer book in Christ.” But the Panteleimon monastery has not received a decision on this subject to this day. The fact is that the disagreements between the Greek and Bulgarian churches that began in 1859 at that time became quite aggravated and were later resolved in 1872 by the announcement by the Great Church of the so-called “Bulgarian schism.” All this very naturally made the request of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery to open a printing house for the purpose of printing church and liturgical books for the Bulgarians untimely. Along with the above petition regarding the opening of a printing house within the walls of the monastery, a similar petition was sent to the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Turkish government, which immediately expressed itself in the sense that, without encountering any obstacles to the opening of the mentioned printing house on Mount Athos, it considers it necessary, in accordance with the existing laws regarding printing in Turkey, to appoint a special censor to Mount Athos and subject all publications there to his control. Such a response from the Turkish authorities amounted to a positive refusal, since accepting a separate censor to Mount Athos would mean for the Russian Panteleimon Monastery to voluntarily submit itself under the control, not always impartial, of a Turkish official and then deal with all the consequences that could happen from here for the monastery in the future. With the receipt of such a response, it became unsafe for the monastery to exist within the walls of its printing house and in those small sizes, with those modest tasks and goals that it began to fulfill without official recognition of its right to its existence. In order to avoid possible troubles and clashes with the Turkish authorities, the elders of the monastery decided to voluntarily close their printing house. In addition, I must admit, there were motives of a purely, so to speak, domestic nature. The printing house constantly felt a shortage of experienced people who knew the printing business well, finding whom among their monks was difficult or even impossible, and the lay masters agreed to live on Athos only for an expensive reward. Thus, it was not possible to reduce the cost of publications, for which purpose the printing house was established on Athos, and the very existence of the printing house within the walls of the monastery became unnecessary and in many respects unsafe, for the above reasons a burden for it. So, the first and, perhaps, the last printing press on the heights of Mount Athos fell silent forever and was doomed to oblivion and destruction in the vast monastic warehouses. Only the lithographic press, launched almost simultaneously with the printing press, continued to work tirelessly and supply our fatherland through pilgrims with paintings of its production almost until the end of the seventies, when it was finally decided to transfer these works into the more skillful hands of private individuals in Moscow and Odessa. The difficulties that the Russian Panteleimon Monastery encountered in the East, in the matter of holy and completely selfless service to the moral and religious education of its compatriots and fellow Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula, directed the educational and publishing activities of the monastery, unexpectedly for it, into its homeland and showed it the most fertile soil on which it could only develop as widely and fruitfully as it stands at the present time. The historical and living conditions of our fatherland at this time have developed favorably for this. In 1862, on August 28, as we said above, a very talented and handsome hieromonk, Fr. Arseny (Minin), on whom the Russian Panteleimon Monastery entrusted the difficult task of traveling around our vast fatherland with the Athos shrine and collecting donations, which were extremely necessary for the monastery to pay off the large debts that weighed on it at that time and bring it from desolation and disrepair to a splendid and decent appearance, among the Russian people. Arrival in Russia Fr. Arseny with the Athos shrine happily coincided with a moment of remarkable religious enthusiasm and the awakening of a sense of national self-awareness among the Russian people, which followed immediately after the magnanimous act of mercy to his subjects on the part of the late Tsar-Liberator, i.e. after the liberation of the peasants from severe serfdom. Having shaken off this yoke, the Russian people hastened to pour out before God their tearfully joyful prayer of gratitude for the act of humane and unparalleled royal mercy, gathered their strength to take into their mighty, albeit still inexperienced hands the reins of self-government granted to them by the Tsar-Liberator and felt, if ever, then especially at this time, the urgent need for literacy and enlightenment. It is not surprising, therefore, that the arrival of Fr. Arseny's trip to Russia with the Athos shrine was welcomed by the Russian people very sympathetically and even enthusiastically. His journey across Russia, which lasted almost until 1867, can be called a triumphal procession, a great national holiday, the enthusiastic descriptions of which filled the columns of our large newspapers in both capitals, such as “Northern Post” (organ of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), “Moskovskie Vedomosti”, “Son of the Fatherland”, etc. “Everywhere to worship the shrine,” describes an eyewitness of this trip through the Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces, “many people gathered: in places where they spent the night, from 1,000 to 2,000 people; in the same place where days were appointed, up to 5,000 flocked, and in some places, such as in Gomel, up to 20,000... Even residents of neighboring provinces came to venerate the holy relics: Smolensk, Chernigov, Minsk, Vitebsk, and in the Mogilev province there is hardly one, even the smallest, village from which there would not be someone on pilgrimage. Neither bad weather nor working hours, with dry and clear weather established since August 10, nothing stopped the Orthodox from going to worship the Athos shrine. Also, almost all the few Catholic villagers in the Mogilev province worshiped it diligently... Processions of the cross with people sometimes awaited the shrine a mile away from a village, town or town... Peasant children opened the procession to the church behind them in front of the banners, according to the Belarusian custom, four girls carried an icon of the Mother of God on a stretcher in the icon case, with an image of a saint on its other side: the clergy walked behind the banners, followed by the clergy elders and elders with badges of their service significance... During the religious procession, children, adults... strewed flowers along the road in front of the shrine... Everywhere, when they met the shrine, they brought it straight into the church, walked around the throne in the altar with it, and immediately brought it through the royal doors to the people in the church square. In order to avoid crowding, with the gathering of many pilgrims, the prayer service with the blessing of water was performed for the most part in front of the church, in the open air, and, in addition to the clergy, there were also choirs of singers, formed in the last two or three years from peasant girls and boys studying in rural schools... Many of those who arrived at the shrine especially wanted the Athonite hieromonk himself to serve them a prayer service, read the gospel over them, bless them, so that he himself would give blessed water, wax, oil for healing, and Fr. the hieromonk fulfilled everyone's desire... Such solemn meetings took place both in the radiance of a warm day and in the deep darkness of the night, presenting a picture not only full of Christian piety, but also delightful for an outside viewer. Even more touching, although much more humble, night prayer was performed in sparsely populated villages, in an open field, at a crossroads or on the road between tall birches in the dim light of a dozen small wax candles, sometimes burning towards the side of the fire, where a group of people of 300 people, crowded around the shrine, reverently listened to the quiet exclamations of the Athonite hieromonk, the humble singing of his brethren, in a whisper repeating prayers and chants with them... While worship was being performed, sacred objects located at the shrine, such as icons, images of saints on paper and canvas, crosses, icons, rosaries and books, were willingly purchased by zealous pilgrims as souvenirs of the shrine that visited them. The books were all of spiritual content: lives of saints, short teachings, akathists to the healer Panteleimon and the Mother of God, etc.” Fr. distributed all this in large quantities to poor pilgrims and children “as a blessing to the Holy Mount Athos” and “as a keepsake” of visiting the shrine. Arseny for nothing. “During the forty-day stay and following the Athos shrine through the Mogilev province, more than one hundred thousand copies of icons, crosses, books and other things were dismantled and donated... The acquired icons, images and printed sheets were immediately examined with curiosity on the streets or even read by someone literate in a crowd of people”... Thus, “not to mention the beneficial influence from the religious and moral side of visiting the region to the shrine, it brought great benefits to the country and the successful distribution of Orthodox icons and books of the Russian press with spiritual and moral content among the Mogilev Belarusians. During their two-year existence, the councils of public schools accomplished in this regard hardly a fifth of what the shrine did in 40 days! Now even in a villager’s dark hut there is a splendid icon or a painted image of a saint in the front corner, instead of the old popular print icons, faded and smoky with time.”282 Having thus learned from personal experience how greedily the Russian people rush to satisfy their spiritual hunger, how highly they value every book of “scriptures” or “lives,” especially if it bears traces of Athonite origin, and realizing the enormous benefit of these publications for the honor and even direct benefit of their monastery, Fr. Arseny decided to begin a whole series of publications of spiritual and moral books and brochures, inclining the elders of his monastery to assist him in this good work in every possible way. “We composed a conversation about prayer,” writes Fr. Arseny to Mount Athos from St. Petersburg in 1867, we will print it and send it to you. Would you like to prepare something beneficial for your soul? It will be gradually printed and thousands of Orthodox Christians will read and be edified. Although there are many spiritual books, when something bears the stamp of Holy Athos, it is predominantly accepted with greater faith and therefore is more useful for those who read it. The Lord has placed us in such a field that if we are willing to work, we can do a lot of good, for what we say is believed... Our shrine, glorified as a source of miracles and signs, has given us great faith; We owe everything to her, and without her I would have been on Mount Athos long ago” 283. “Through books like these,” writes Fr. Arseny in another letter, - the life-giving word of God is spreading, faith is being confirmed and the salvation of many souls is being achieved, especially when reading descriptions of former glorious miracles performed by the grace of God, who wants to save everyone. How great and valuable this pleasing deed is in the eyes of God, we can understand this from the words of the Holy Scripture: whoever does and teaches this will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. We sinners cannot teach anything else than by distributing soul-helping books and descriptions about the works of God” 284. The wise elders of the monastery fully shared the intentions of their trusted Fr. Arseny, with measures depending on them, encouraged his work in such an important matter and contributed in every possible way to his success, well aware of the importance and benefit of this both for the fatherland and for the glory of their monastery. “We will donate up to one thousand rubles for this cause,” wrote Fr. Jerome to Fr. Arseny, - and in this way more than once, forwarding with the letter a brochure he compiled for printing: “A reminder to Orthodox Christians of obedience to authorities, copied from Holy Scripture,” for it, with the assistance of God, will serve the benefit of many souls and the fatherland.” 285. The beginning of his educational and publishing activities. Arseny launched the publication of a number of brochures, which at one time were read with great interest by Russian people and distributed throughout Rus' in a huge number of copies, under the title: “Description of the signs and healings by the grace of God that came from the holy relics and part of the Life-giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord, brought from the Holy Mount Athos from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery,” indicating those provinces through which the Athos shrine. From these brochures, the Russian people became well acquainted with the shrine that had come to them from afar and with its healing power for all who flow to it with faith and prayer. A lot of trouble and continuous correspondence with Fr. Arseny and the elders regarding the compilation of the biography of the Mother of God, the publication of an akathist and services in honor of the Great Martyr Panteleimon and others fall during this first period of his publishing activity. More intensified and more fruitful educational activities of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery begin to develop, after the end of Fr. Arseny in Russia, or rather, after the construction in 1873 of a special chapel in the name of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon at the Epiphany Monastery on Nikolskaya Street in the center of Moscow, where the Athos shrine was placed for a more or less permanent residence. From that time on, Arseny became, one might say, an almost permanent resident of our capital, and with the passion and fervor of his lively and energetic nature, he devoted himself to the high cause of service, the religious and moral education of his compatriots. Literary and publishing works of Fr. Arseny, in the midst of his complex and hectic duties as a trustee of the large Russian monastery on Athos, devoted all his little leisure, all the free hours of the short night and hectic day, often exhausted under the weight of the work he had taken on 286. Finally, since 1878, when it was decided to publish a monthly with the title “Spiritual Conversation”, this educational and publishing activity took on a strictly systematic character and became regularly periodic. The monthly of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, having changed its name several times, continues to exist to this day with the title “Soulful Interlocutor”, which was adopted by the publishers of their magazine in 1888. Book and publishing activities of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery The publishing activity of the Panteleimon Monastery has become continuous and periodic since the founding of the monthly publication “Soulful Reflections” in 1878, which continues to this day, with its renaming in 1888 to “Soulful Interlocutor”. The program of the Athonite monthly is quite extensive and interesting. It consists of the following VII sections: I) Lessons of the word of grace: brief excerpts from St. Scriptures, patristic books and liturgical books; II) Church historical information about the shrines and antiquities of the East and especially the Holy Mount Athos, about the holy places of the Russian land, excerpts from travel to them, etc. Stories from the lives of saints, biographies of devotees of piety, memories of them, instructive incidents from their lives; III) Edifying reading: soul-helping incidents and discussions about various subjects of faith and Christian life, brief explanations of some passages of St. Scriptures and some liturgical rites and church chants, short words and teachings, spiritual poems; IV) From the diary of an Orthodox Christian: manifestations of God’s gracious power in miraculous signs from holy relics and icons and instructive manifestations of God’s providence in various significant circumstances of a Christian’s life; V) Golden Spangles: short instructive thoughts and sayings about various subjects of faith and piety; VI) Bibliography: information about books and paintings of spiritual content and announcements about them and VII) Athos Chronicle: brief news about outstanding events on the Holy Mount Athos and especially in the Russian monastery of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon. The publication contains drawings corresponding to the content of the articles, images of holy icons, views of monasteries, portraits of remarkable and outstanding figures of the Orthodox Church, etc. In addition, during this publication, articles on all departments of the specified program are published as an appendix, in the form of separate brochures and leaflets. These leaflets and brochures, printed in quantities of 35,000 to 40,000 copies, are assigned by the monastery for free distribution to fans and for free distribution to subscribers of the “Soulful Interlocutor”. The monthly of the Russian Athos-Panteleimon Monastery is printed in 22,000 copies, and sent out to subscribers and benefactors of the monastery in 13,000 copies, 6 times a year, two issues at a time. The reason for this latter phenomenon lies in the excessively cheap annual subscription price of the monthly. From a ruble in silver of an annual fee with postage for a monthly publication in two printed sheets, the Russian Panteleimon monastery, with the current method of distributing its publication - six times a year, spends only on postage one quarter of the subscription price (24 kopecks, counting two two-kopeck stamps for each parcel). Taking into account these expenses, also for postage, printing, paper, clichés for drawings, not counting the expenses for fees, due to the fact that the articles printed in the publication are mostly free, not paid, “Soulful Interlocutor” for the Russian Panteleimon Monastery in material terms brings a net loss. His reward is the unartificial, heartfelt gratitude of his free readers, our Russian pilgrims, and the consciousness that the monastery serves the great cause of religious and moral education of its compatriots, who often send their last penny to the monastery for its needs. These labor contributions, as well as direct material support for this publication from some wealthy “philanthropists,” make it possible for the monastery to develop its educational and publishing activities more and more every year. The number of subscribers to the “Soulful Interlocutor”, as well as such facts as its republication for the second time in the years 1878–1881 and the threefold repetition of the edition for 1882 - all this, in our opinion, serves as very clear evidence that there is an undoubted demand for such a publication and interest in it among the Russian people. Bearing in mind the diversity of the publication’s program, as well as the conscientious implementation, as far as possible, on the part of the publishers, one can think that the readers and subscribers of this publication find complete satisfaction in it. But we, for our part, cannot help but wish this founder, so to speak, and the prototype of similar publications in Rus' in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Moscow, in the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, etc., perhaps wider fame among our intelligentsia and greater distribution among Russian literate people in general. To achieve both, in our opinion, there is no need for the publication of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, which has in mind not selfish calculations, but service to the great cause of moral and religious education of the Russian people, to resort to broadcast advertising, as a very deceptive and unreliable means, but it is enough only to slightly revive and diversify the content of the monthly itself. Our desiderata in relation to this publication do not go beyond the above program in the scope of the listed seven departments, but we would like to see in the publications of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos more facts and news from the current Athos life, which finds, frankly speaking, a rather weak reflection in the “Soulful Interlocutor”. The most curious section of the program - the Athos chronicle often does not appear on the pages of this publication for two or three months, and not at all because nothing remarkable happened on the heights of Athos during this time, worthy of the attention of the readers of the “Soulful Interlocutor”, so that in this chosen place of silence and the highest feats of hermitage there would actually be “peace and quiet and God’s grace,” but because the publishers have adopted the rule of sharing with their readers only receive news “about outstanding events on Holy Mount Athos,” and, moreover, “especially in the Russian monastery of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon." And since, from a humble monastic point of view, only “manifestations of God’s gracious power in miraculous signs from holy relics and icons and instructive manifestations of God’s providence in various significant circumstances of Christian life deserve special attention,” then from here all the attention of the publishers is turned to this fourth section of their publication program, and everything everyday, everyday and fleeting, undertaken and accomplished according to the needs of their weak flesh, is given over to oblivion, is considered unworthy of the attention of pious readers seeking “spiritually beneficial” edification. Here, for example, on the pages of the Athonite publication there was no place for such an outstanding event, which has a long past and serious consequences in the present, as the order of the Athonite protate on the eviction of secular merchants, artists, etc. people who greatly damaged the good reputation of some of the weakest inhabitants of the Holy Mountain. Having notified its readers at one time about the fire in the Simon-Petersky Monastery, which destroyed this monastery to the ground, the “Soulful Interlocutor” did not say a word about its revival and about the first liturgy celebrated on the day of the Nativity of Christ in the past year (1892) in the restored church. This news is far from superfluous for the Russian people due to the fact that its abbot, Fr. The neophyte, who lived in Russia for two years to collect alms for the renewal of his monastery, managed to acquire sympathy for himself among the Russian people and sympathy for the plight of the homeless brethren. The recent order of the Holy Synod to allow the Kutlumush Monastery to collect alms in Russia, in our opinion, places a moral duty on publishers to acquaint Russian people with the historical fate of this monastery and its real needs. It is all the more necessary to do this since permission to collect alms followed, as we know, not without the participation of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. Outstanding events in the life of other Greek and especially Slavic monasteries of Athos, the fate of the Russian Kelliots and events in their lives - all this is interesting material for the Athos chronicle, which can give popularity to this publication and win a wide circle of readers. We have an undoubted interest in this kind of information, which explains the success of the famous magazine “Pilgrim” and many descriptions of travel in the East, published not only on the pages of spiritual, but even our thick secular magazines. Expressing our desiderata regarding the revitalization and completeness of the seventh section, we would recommend that publishers give a different presentation to the sixth section - bibliography. It is useful to introduce readers to outstanding editions of religious books and spiritual paintings, but it is much more important, in our opinion, for readers of the Athos publication to know what and how we write about Athos. In view of the frequent appearance of essays, descriptions and travels around the Holy Mountain on the pages of magazines and individual publications, from whom, and above all, can Russian people expect a correct assessment, correct coverage of phenomena from the modern life of the Svyatogorsk inhabitants, if not from the Athos residents themselves on the pages of their publication. Their authoritative word, spoken with love for the truth, will stop the lips of many of our tourist pilgrims who undertake to write about Athos after having been there for two or three weeks or even just a few days. Again, we want the Russian people to see Athos in its true light and precisely in the Athos edition, and not through the prism of modern prejudices against monasticism from the point of view of frivolous superficiality. Next. Reporting “stories from the lives of saints, biographies of ascetics of piety, memories of them” in the second section, we think it would be useful to introduce into this section information about the life and exploits of modern Athonite anchorites and monks, if not living, then at least those who have already passed into eternity. In other words, we would like the “Soulful Interlocutor” to give a prominent place to necrology, and this section would include not only “outstanding” persons in terms of their position in the monastery, such as abbots, spiritual fathers, housekeepers, etc., but outstanding, in the proper sense of the word, monks for their spiritual exploits, high ascetic life, which may be portari (gatekeepers), vordupari (mule drivers), who are on duty at the mill, in the dohiar (clothing) warehouse, etc. Monastic life on Mount Athos is very complex in its manifestations, and therefore the ordinary brothers of a large monastic family, the lower executive authorities of the abbot, can and indeed often are the embodiment of one or the other side of this high ideal. It is very natural, therefore, that with their lives, which in the past often represents a whole complex dramatic epic, they can give the readers of “The Soulful Interlocutor” a very edifying lesson. In this we can point to one of those thirty handwritten collections left after Fr. Minas, which contains biographies of all the monks of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. Some of these biographies, due to their interest, made a deep impression on us, and we could freely give them a place on the pages of the Athonite monthly. We admit that we note, not without regret, the fact that the “Soulful Interlocutor” did not remember with a kind word such outstanding monks as the former anti-prosop Fr. Nathanael and Fr. Regent Gregory, who worked a lot and with great benefit for the benefit of his “throwing”. Finally, we would like that in Section IV space would be devoted to a description of the features of church and liturgical practice of modern Athos. Getting to know this side of Athos life will be equally interesting for the laity and for our clergy, especially monastics. In view of the lively attitude to such issues on Athos itself among the local “typikari” 287, between whom in difficult cases there is even a written exchange of thoughts, it would be very interesting to see on the pages of the Athos publication decisions on puzzling cases that have arisen in the field of church and liturgical practice from these competent judges on these issues. Much could be adopted even into our practice. But all these “pia desideria” can be realized only under the condition that the publication is headed by an amateur and artist of his craft, capable of breathing “a living soul” into the publication. It must be borne in mind that the success of the so-called “Trinity leaflets” in Russia depends entirely on the talent and remarkable energy and dedication of their current editor, Fr. Archimandrite Nikon. From the Athos monthly we move on to a review of individual publications of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos for the entire period of time from 1850 to the present. We hasten, however, to make a reservation that we do not mean to offer our readers here a tedious detailed list of these publications, some of which are no longer in print and are not even available for sale. Let’s just say that from these publications a now venerable library has been formed, the composition of which can be found by those interested in the “Catalogs of 288 books published by the Athonite Russian Panteleimon Monastery,” which are printed in separate editions and sent out to those interested everywhere from their book warehouses at the farmsteads in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Odessa. We will only try to classify these publications by subject, give a brief description of each and indicate the degree of prevalence of a particular publication among the Russian reading public, as expressed in digital data - the number of publications and the number of copies printed during publication. We are confident that in this way we will clearly and convincingly present to our readers the real picture of the living and extremely fruitful educational and publishing activities of our Panteleimon monastery on Athos. Among the numerous publications of this monastery, the first place undoubtedly belongs to the exegetical interpretative works on the Holy Scriptures of the late Bishop Theophan, as well as to his numerous translations of the Eastern fathers of the ascetic direction. The exegetical works of Bishop Theophan gained him honorable fame in our theological world, and his translated works are widely known among even laymen and lovers of spiritual and moral reading. Of these latter, the “Words of Simeon the New Theologian” in the 2nd century deserve mention. (two editions, 2nd edition in 2500 copies), “The Invisible Warfare of Nicodemus the Holy Mountain” (5000 copies), “Callistus the Patriarch and his associate Ignatius, Xanthopouls” (1000 copies) and “Philokalia” in 5 volumes (3000 copies each volume). The latter can be considered the most capital work of the Most Reverend Theophan. His “Philokalia” included extracts about monasticism from the works of such fathers who until then had not found a place in the publication of the same title. But this is not enough. The fourth volume of his “Philokalia” is completely new for Russian readers, since it is compiled almost exclusively from the catechetical teachings of Theodore the Studite in his “Big Catechism”. Original in a parchment manuscript from the 11th century. (271 teachings) was taken from the Patmos manuscript, with the help of the former Pelusian Metropolitan Amphilochius, who resided there in retirement in the St. John the Theological Monastery. One can only regret that these teachings were translated not in their entirety, but only in extracts, according to the personal taste of the enlightened hermit translator. Bishop Theophan’s own ascetic writings, which are more widespread and famous among Russian readers, cannot be passed over in silence, such as, for example, “The Path to Salvation” (six editions of 5000 copies), “Letters to various persons on various subjects of faith and life,” “Letters on Christian life” in 4 parts, “On repentance, communion of Christ’s Mysteries and the correction of life” (3rd edition), “Thoughts.” for every day of the year according to church readings from the Word of God" (2nd ed. 5,000 copies each), “What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it” (2nd ed.), “What does one who has repented and entered on the good path of salvation need” (2nd ed., 4,000 copies), etc. In the same department of ascetic publications, one should note “The Spiritual Flower Garden” (3rd ed.), “Characters of Active Piety” (4th ed., 5,000 copies) copy), “Prologue in the teachings. St. V. Guryev" (in 6000 copies), "Psalter or divine reflections of St. Ephraim the Syrian" (5th edition in 5000 copies), "The Works of Anthony the Great" (1000 copies), Abba Isaiah (1000 copies), Hesychius the Presbyter of Jerusalem (6th edition in 10,000 copies), etc. Second place belongs to the works about the Holy Mount Athos, through which the Russian people became acquainted with the Holy Mountain and the life of its inhabitants. These should be considered: “Letters of the Holy Mountainer about the Holy Mount Athos” in 4 parts (6 editions in 10,000 copies), “Paterikon of Athos” (6 edition in 3000 copies), “Guide to the Holy Mount Athos” (detailed) (6 editions in 10,000 copies), abridged (3 edition in 8000 copies), “Holy Mount Athos, the earthly lot of the Mother of God, the area and its inhabitants” (10 edition in 10,000 copies), “Second visit to the Holy Mount Athos by V. Grigorovich-Barsky (1000 copies), “Russian Panteleimon Monastery” (7 edition in 5000 copies), “Acts of the Russian Monastery on Holy Athos St. great martyr and healer Panteleimon”, “Essay on the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos (6th edition, 10,000 copies), “Description of signs and healings from the Athos shrine” (5th edition, 10,000 copies), etc. This section should also include publications that treat the life and glorification of the Mother of God as the patroness of Athos, and lives of saints and ascetics who became famous on Athos. These are the publications: “The Tale of the Earthly Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary” (6th ed. in 5000 copies), “Selected words of the holy fathers in honor and glory of the Most Holy Theotokos” (3 ed.), “Glory to the Mother of God” according to the writings of Metropolitan Philaret” (3000 copies), “The highest veil over Athos or legends about the miraculous, famous on Athos, icons of the Mother of God and the holy saints of God” (7 ed. in 5000 copies), “The Legend of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, called Jerusalem, located in the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos” (3rd edition in 5000 copies), “Promises of the Mother of God to the reverent inhabitants of the Holy Mountain” (7th edition in 10,000 copies), etc., “The Life, Sufferings and Miracles of St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon" (9th edition in 10,000 copies), "St. the great martyr and healer Panteleimon" (13th edition in 10,000 copies), the life of Dmitry of Thessalonica (5th edition in 10,000 copies), the life of Athanasius (5th edition in 10,000 copies) and Peter of Athos (5th edition in 5000 copies), the life of Savva of Serbia (3rd edition), life of the venerable martyrs Euthymius, Ignatius and Akakios, who labored on Mount Athos (2nd edition in 15,000 copies). In connection with these books and brochures there are publications of akathists, for example, the Mother of God “Three-Handed” in Hilandar (3rd edition in 5000 copies), “It is Worthy to Eat” in the Kareya Cathedral Church (2nd edition. in 10,000 copies), “Quick to Hear” in Dohiara (3rd edition in 10,000 copies), with a service in honor of the same icon (in 3,000 copies), St. Great Martyr Panteleimon (12th ed.), Savva of Serbia, etc. To get acquainted with the modern ascetics of Athos, the following brochures are important: “Modern Ascetics of Athos” (8th ed. in 10,000 copies), biographical sketches of the elders Jerome (10,000 copies) and Arseny (3rd ed. in 3,000 copies), etc. As for small brochures with religious and moral content, there is no way to list them. Our readers were familiarized with their diversity in content at the beginning of this chapter in two notes, in which we indicated the contents of the bundles distributed to pilgrims on Mount Athos “to bless the Holy Mountain as a keepsake.” All these brochures are printed for the most part in the amount of 10,000 copies and only a few go down to 3,000 copies, but between them there are brochures that are printed in 40,000 copies, such as, for example, “Conversation of the Right Reverend Nikanor, former Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa on the week of the Prodigal Son, at the commemoration of the servant of God Alexander (poet Pushkin) after the 50th anniversary of his death”, his “Teaching on theatrical performances in Lent”, his “Conversation on the fact that Christian preachers should not refute all false teachings” in 30,000 and 25,000, such as “The Kozelshchanskaya Mother of God”, “Conversation on drunkenness” 289 (3rd ed.), “Which Does tobacco harm a person? (3rd ed.) and “Stop Smoking!”, “On the dangers of smoking tobacco for health” (3rd ed.), in the amount of 15,000, such as Archbishop Nicanor’s “Teaching on Vegetarianism.” Knowing well that among the pious Russian people the seeds of wrong teaching have long been scattered among the pious Russian people by false teachers of schism and various sects and that the shepherds of the Russian Church are making a lot of efforts to fight them, the Russian Panteleimon Monastery decided to come to their aid in this fight with its own publications. For this purpose, the monastery published in the 60s the works of the Guslitsky abbot Parthenius, which were very useful for the fight against schism: “Church Grapes”, “Spiritual Vertograd”, “Spiritual Sword”, “Reproof of Answers”, etc., printed anti-schism brochures, such as for example: “The paths of providence in the life of one pious woman, seduced into schism and again returned to the Orthodox Church” (1st edition 1886, 25,000 copies), etc. To fight the Molokans, Stundists and, in general, the followers of rationalist sects, the monastery expelled from its midst the missionary Fr. Hieromonk Arseny, a former Molokan, who with his tireless activity gained honorable fame, and to help the Russian clergy for the same struggle, published two volumes of his “Conversations of an Orthodox Christian with the Molokans” about the church and about icons (both volumes have already gone through 3 editions of 3000 copies each) and his other brochures: “False Christs of the Montano-Molokan Ivan Grigoriev and Grigory Vereshchagin" (3rd edition in 3000 copies), "Letters to converts from different sects of the schism" (7th edition in 10,000 copies), and other authors: "Admonition to the Lost" (7th edition in 10,000 copies), "Admonishment to the Lost and Confession of Those Converted from Error" (4 ed. in 3000 copies) and other 14 anti-sectarian brochures about. Arseny has already gone through three editions and at least 3,000 copies were printed each time. and not more than 7000 copies. For the same purpose, the monastery publishes in 13 brochures the teaching on various dogmas of the Christian faith based on the book of Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky “The Stone of Faith.” And these brochures, like the first ones, have already gone through three editions, but are mostly printed in 5,000 and 10,000 copies. The appearance of the “Pashkovites” sect in Russia prompted the monastery to re-publish “Open Letters from the Elder of St. Isaac’s Cathedral to the City of Pashkov” in the amount of 25,000 copies, and the recently intensified passion among the Russian intelligentsia for the philosophical and moral pamphlets of Count Tolstoy, which were distributed through manuscripts and lithographs, necessitated the publication of a series of conversations by the deceased in tens of thousands Archbishop Nicanor, aimed at refuting the views of the venerable writer, who in his declining years donned the unusual toga of a moral philosopher. In general, not a single major phenomenon in our internal political or religious life has gone unnoticed by our Athonite monks, who listen sensitively, even to the point of pain, to everything that is happening inside their although abandoned, but still dear fatherland that is still close to their hearts. They willingly and selflessly are always ready to respond in every way they can to his needs at a given time. Through Athonite publications, over the entire relatively short period of their educational and publishing activities, quite a few good seeds have been sown in the still uncultivated vast field of our people's religious and moral education. Eloquent expressors of people's gratitude and connoisseurs of the enormous benefit for them from the publications of the Russian Athos-Panteleimon Monastery are our archpastors, who contribute to this great cause of public education with their own literary works appearing on the pages of Athos publications. “Personally,” one of the living Siberian hierarchs wrote to the Panteleimon Monastery on the occasion of the death of abbot Archimandrite Macarius, “I do not have the good fortune to know any of you (i.e., the brethren of the monastery), but your holy ascetic life, your day and night prayers, your educational activities, which bring so much benefit to Russia, involuntarily draw my soul and heart to to you; my spirit often, often instills itself among you. I consider myself happy and remain forever grateful that my poor contributions were not thrown out of the precious wreath of your soul-helping publications, the wreath that embraces our entire fatherland, publications read with extraordinary love and edification by Russia. Oh, continue, continue this great work, which, in my opinion, exceeds any personal mission. The harvest is now plentiful, and the laborers, as always, are few. But let us pray that the Lord of the harvest will bring forth, if not for the harvest, then for the sowing, workers who will fulfill the words of the Wise One: “This one is early, this one is late, for we do not know what kind of fruit will come up and bear.” 290 Who are these workers of the harvest, with whose hands “weaved a precious wreath of soul-helping publications that embraces our entire fatherland?” Most of them, as is quite natural to expect, are not Athonites, people who have acquired honorable fame in their fatherland for their literary works. Here are the names of some of these figures: Metropolitan Michael of Serbia, Archbishops of Odessa and Kherson Nikanor and Dmitry, Bishops Theophan, Justin, Misail and Peter, Archimandrites Antonin (head of the Jerusalem Mission), Leonid (former head of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Posad) and Nikon (current publisher of the Trinity Leaves), Archpriest N. I. Florinsky (Kiev), M. Putintsev, Kasyanov, I. Polisadov, priests V. P. Guryev, N. Rumyantsev, Dudarev, N. Voinov, hieromonks Seraphim (Moscow Andronievsky Monastery), Stefan (Kurteev from Vyatka), the late Askochensky, prof. F. A. Ternovsky, famous bibliographer and poet S. I. Ponomarev, A. F. Kovalevsky, P. Kremenetsky, G. Rusakov and others. But some of the Athonite monks, among the nightly prayers, cell rules and the labors of their obedience imposed on them by the conditions of communal order, strictly observed in the monastery, devoted short hours of leisure and still devote to literary works that appear in the light of God in Athonite publications. Some of them even achieved literary fame, such as the Holy Mountain hieromonk Seraphim 291, Elder Azaria 292, confessor Jerome, hieromonk Arseny (former head of the Athos Panteleimon metochion in Moscow), missionary hieromonk Arseny and abbot Parfeny (formerly Pereyaslavsky). Then the late Fr. Archimandrite Macarius 293, living monk Arkady, Fr. grammarian and librarian Matvey, monk Mikhail (formerly archimandrite of the Kazan Raifa Hermitage), archimandrite Paisius 294 (chief of the failed Abyssinian mission), Fr. hieromonk Vladimir, monk Seleuki and monk Panteleimon (later archimandrite of the Kirensky Tobolsk monastery). Of the named fathers - Athonite monks, whose works were published by the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, only Fr. Hieromonk Vladimir and monk Fr. Arkady. The first, a native of the Novgorod province, a young man, very well read in patristic literature, sympathetic in character, fulfilled his obedience with love and zeal, which consists of managing and disposing of the monastery’s publications from the monastery. O. Vladimir is a permanent and, one might say, the only correspondent from Athos in the “Soulful Interlocutor”. The section in this monthly called “Athos Chronicle” belongs exclusively to the pen of Fr. Vladimir. O. Arkady is a venerable elder from the Vyatka seminarians. Closed and very modest by nature, Arkady remained in the modest rank of a simple monk throughout his many years of life in the monastery, refusing ordination as a hieromonk, which was repeatedly offered to him by the elders of the monastery. A deep connoisseur of the ancient Greek language and an excellent calligrapher, he devotes all his leisure time from prayers and monastic feats to cell book studies. Through his diligence, many translations from ancient Greek were made for Athonite publications and Slavic services into Greek for the typica of the Panteleimon Cathedral and for use in its liturgical practice. O. Arkady is a very skillful compiler of services and akathists for various occasions in Church Slavonic. As for the rest of the Athonite monk-writers, our readers are familiar with the biographical information of most of them in the sixth chapter of this essay. Here we intend to focus their attention on only two monastic writers - Fr. Seleucia and Panteleimon, who stand out from the rest of the Athonite monks both by the uniqueness of their nature and the fate of their literary offspring. About Fr. We spoke above of Seleucia as an alms collector in Russia, before the famous Fr. Arsenia. Among the monk-writers Fr. Seleukiy is included because there are notes left from him, written by him himself, under the title: “The story of the holy mountain monk Seleukius about his life and wanderings in holy places” (St. Petersburg, 1860). In Yaroslavl, during my stay with the shrine, “I,” Seleuky writes about these notes, “lying on my side, wrote at night, on my little bed, more as a memory, about what happened to me since childhood, or from the cradle to this couch (p. 236). A certain “servant of God” corrected these notes and rewrote them completely. These notes contain a lot of information about Mount Athos and the characteristics of modern fathers. Seleucia of her monks. The very story about the events he describes is distinguished by extraordinary innocence and frankness, bordering on childish naivety. The brief characteristics of the Athonite monks he knew, in addition to the peculiar selection of certain character traits and lifestyle of the person he describes, are naive to the point of ridiculousness and downright tempting for the pious reader 295 . It is not surprising, therefore, that this book, although written by the author at the request of “benefactors” “in favor of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, which was especially in need of benefits,” as being printed without the blessing of the elders, was not approved at the monastery and was even condemned to be burned. Currently "The Story" about. Seleucia represents a “bibliographic rarity” even on the Holy Mountain in the monastery. "ABOUT. Panteleimon,” writes Fr. Seleucus, a young monk. He's one of the clerks. Its simplicity is amazing. He loves to read, sing and write, he is kind to everyone, meek and silent” 296. In general, this characteristic is for Fr.’s young years. Panteleimon is quite faithful, but his character changed dramatically during his maturity, when, thanks to his talents, he, as the chief secretary of the monastic chancellery, acquired some weight and influence on the course of monastic affairs. It turned out that under the guise of meekness, silence and even simplicity, there were hidden far from sympathetic sides of his character - pride and exorbitant ambition 297, which forced him to leave peaceful Athos and seek satisfaction in the monasteries of our Orthodox Rus'. His heart's desire was fulfilled, and Fr. Panteleimon died in the rank of archimandrite of the Kirensky Tobolsk monastery. As for the noted Fr. Seleukiem in about. Panteleimon’s “love of writing,” then it could be said to be his illness, which Fr. Jerome and Fr. Macarius in letters to prof. F. A. Ternovsky was directly called “literary itch.” ABOUT. Panteleimon overwhelmed the late F.A. Ternovsky with his manuscripts and asked him to correct and print, according to his personal choice and anywhere. He never asked for a fee, but ordered individual prints to be distributed to his benefactors, from whom he collected quite substantial sums for the publication of his works. Some stories about. Panteleimon about modern Athonite ascetics, after correction by F.A. Ternovsky, were published partly in the “Sunday Reading”, partly in the “Kyiv Diocesan Gazette”, and sometimes in separate brochures. In his stories, Fr. Panteleimon was not a stranger to naivety and gullibility, and therefore made a not entirely favorable impression on the readers of the Holy Mountain. In the letters of the elders from Athos to the late F.A. Ternovsky, there are often requests to curb the jealousy of Fr. Panteleimon to literary fame. But all attempts to restrain the inexhaustible lover of the “writer” were defeated by his stubbornness and did not achieve their goal until Fr. Panteleimon did not receive full scope for his literary activity, becoming the head of the mentioned monastery. But did he write anything about. Panteleimon upon leaving the brethren of the Panteleimon Monastery, we, unfortunately, cannot say. In order to expand publishing activity, on the one hand, and on the other, out of a desire to serve again the cause of public education of their fatherland, the elders of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery took a lot of care about putting the monastery library in proper order and improving it and did not spare any sacrifices for this. Therefore, the monastery library, which existed at the beginning of the Russian settlement in the monastery in 1844, was only, as the late prof. V.I. Grigorovich 298, from 500 printed books and 60 manuscripts, has now reached a very respectable size: it contains about 20,000 printed books and over a thousand manuscripts. Replenishment of the library continues, thanks to the diligence and love for the book business of the current librarian, Fr. Matveya. Both its departments, book and manuscript, are growing: the monastery orders many books from abroad and from Russia and does not miss the opportunity to acquire manuscripts, no matter how high the price asked for them. Thanks to all this, the library of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, brought into exemplary order, can now be placed along with the best Svyatogorsk libraries of Vatopedi and the Lavra of St. Afanasy, and thanks to the rare and truly Russian hospitality of its current owners, who open its doors at the first request of their guests, it can be said to be the only one on the Holy Mountain. Russian scientists fully appreciated these advantages of the library of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos and often happily spend their summer holidays near it, under the hospitable roof of the monastery. The desire of these scientists is that the description of the manuscripts of this monastery, compiled by Fr. librarian, would see the light of God as soon as possible. Finally, the Russian Panteleimon Monastery served no little to the same holy cause of public education in our fatherland through monetary donations to the needs of our religious and educational institutions in the provinces of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kherson, the Caucasus and other provinces of our fatherland. All our educational missionary societies, charities, etc. received assistance from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, and its abbot is considered a permanent member. We are not authorized to announce the figures that the monastery donates annually to this holy cause of serving the good of the Fatherland, although some of these large figures are known to us. However, these tens of thousands that we could name here would hardly seem sufficient to those “of the contemporaries of this century” to whom the monastery coffers seem bottomless, and the peasant pennies donated to the monasteries seem like untold treasures... As for the truly enlightened Russian people and the real guardians of our national education, for them the merits of this monastery were undoubted. The late Archbishop Nikanor of Kherson, petitioning for the award of Fr. Macarius Order of St. Anna of the second degree, which he received just a few months before his death, motivated his petition to the Holy Synod by his merits in the matter of religious, spiritual and moral education of the Russian people. In conclusion of this chapter, I consider it very useful to touch upon the behind-the-scenes side of the educational and publishing activities of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery. Here we are personally interested, however, not in the material costs of the monastery for the above publications, although these costs are considerable and not without instructiveness, not in those endless efforts and labors of publishers in collecting and translating materials that were printed and are printed in the brochures and leaflets they published, but in those collisions and troubles that unexpectedly and often contrary to the truth befell and still befall the publishers. An acquaintance, at least in general terms, since the detailed details known to us are not yet subject to publication, on the one hand, will highlight more clearly this high educational activity of our Russian monastery on Athos, and on the other hand, it will explain the reason why Athonite publications appear in the light of God in their present form, and not in the one in which some of the Russian people would like to see them. At the very beginning of their publishing activity, the monks of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery suffered a lot of troubles regarding the publication of their book entitled: “Description of the signs and healings that happened by the grace of God from St. relics and parts of the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord brought from the Holy Mount Athos from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery.” The opponent of this book was the famous late Moscow Metropolitan Filaret, who in his time strictly followed printed spiritual and moral literature 299 . The reprimand of the ruler had the consequence that the Athonite people in subsequent times were very careful with this kind of publications and began to work on them after serious and comprehensive discussions 300 . At the very beginning, the work of publishing the magazine also encountered obstacles that were unexpected for the monastery and its initiators. The reason was the name of the magazine “Spiritual Conversation”. “Bless me,” wrote Fr. Arseny to the elders of the monastery regarding the publication of the first book of the magazine. – The beginning of my long-standing assumption about publishing a magazine has been made. The title somehow unexpectedly suited him - “Spiritual Conversation”. I am attaching two sheets of paper. I think I’ll publish 10 books a year, if God helps” 301. O. Arseny did not even suspect that, by giving this name to the nascent magazine, he was an involuntary encroachment on someone else’s property. The fact is that under the same name a magazine was published in St. Petersburg by the famous preacher the late Archpriest Yakhontov, who now presented his rights and claims in relation to Fr. Arseny. Due to this circumstance, only the first two issues of the Athonite magazine were published with the title “Spiritual Conversation”, and the next third and fourth issues received a new name: “Soulful Conversation”. But this incident with the title was not exhausted. For some reason, the St. Petersburg censorship found this second name inconvenient, and therefore the fifth issue of the magazine was called “Easter of the Lord” and did not have a mark on it that it was a continuation of the previous four issues. From the sixth book, the magazine of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos began to be published regularly with the title “Soulful Reflections,” which was only changed in 1888 to the present: “Soulful Interlocutor.” Almost each of the large books published with funds from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery has its own, and often long and instructive, history. For years preparations were made and correspondence was conducted with all kinds of persons regarding such books as “Acts of the Russian Athos Panteleimon Monastery”, “Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, “Miracles of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon” and others. Often, assignments, such as compiling the life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel, were passed from one person to another, expenses were incurred for preliminary preparation for publications, and in the end the matter ended without success in complete cessation. But often, even after the release of this or that book, publishers faced quite a lot of trouble and even grief. We are not talking about such publications as, for example, the book “On the signs and wonders that came from St. Great Martyr Panteleimon,” against which, as we said, the late Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret armed himself for non-compliance with formalities, or the book: “Christian hymns to the Most Holy Queen of Heaven, Ever-Virgin, Virgin Mary the Mother of God, composed in the likeness of psalms,” the new printing of which is henceforth prohibited by a special decree of the Holy Synod No. 5288 for the reason that “this book contains a whole series of chants and prayers, compiled according to the text of biblical psalms with their content arbitrarily attributed to the person of the Mother of God,” that “it was published without asking for synodal permission.” The punishments incurred by publishers in these and other cases fell to them not without their fault and therefore are easy to put up with. But in the history of the educational publishing activities of this monastery, there were cases when it had to bear completely undeserved punishment for its good deed and even be subjected to unfair criticism. Among such cases we include the recently completed case of the publication by the Panteleimon Monastery of some of the works of the late Kherson Archbishop Dmitry (Muretov). Here the whole truth is on the side of the monastery, but in the end it was not she who won. This is how it happened documented. The now living Bishop of Tobolsk Justin, when he was still vicar of the Kherson diocese under the late Archbishop Dmitry, stood on close terms with the latter and, in the old age of the Eminence, played the role of his executor. “The relatives (unfortunately, they are not named) in God of the late Dmitry, Archbishop of Kherson,” wrote the Right Reverend Justin on Athos at the Panteleimon Monastery on September 10, 1888, “entrusted me with collecting all his works for a complete publication, and for the work of the collection they gave the right to print some of them, according to my election. Not having the time, desire and means to publish them myself, I dare to suggest to your Reverence whether you would be pleased to publish them in your truly “Soulful Interlocutor.” The same proposal, but in a more definite form, was repeated by the Right Reverend Justin in a letter to Athos of the same year on December 28. “Seventy articles from the works of the same Archbishop Dmitry, selected by me,” Bishop Justin wrote in this letter, “and arranged in seven issues, entitled “Flowers from the garden of Dmitry, Archbishop of Kherson” (I am sending you). In this form, I wanted to publish them myself, but I found it inconvenient. Therefore, I transfer them and the right to publish them to you, publish them as you wish: either as they are collected - in books, or in separate articles. Both will be very useful, in my opinion.” This proposal was accepted and seven editions of “Flowers from the Garden of Dmitry, Archbishop of Kherson” were printed and entered book warehouses for sale. But then, unexpectedly for the monastery, a certain court councilor S.P. Nikitsky, who had acquired the right to publish all the works of the late Dmitry, Archbishop of Kherson, from the deceased’s closest relatives (nephew and brother) protested, and the case threatened to go into a formal trial. But both sides, fortunately, came to an agreement in time, and the Panteleimon Monastery for 1000 rubles from S. N. Nikitsky acquired the right to publish the works of the late Bishop of Kherson. The right side undoubtedly remained a material loser, consoled by the thought that it would spread the aroma of these beautiful flowers from the garden of the famous priest and theologian throughout the face of wide Russia, which the “owners” of these flowers would never have done even halfway. We are not talking about other clashes of this kind because they are completely natural and known to everyone, and although they are somewhat involved in the difficult business of publishing, in which the foreground is not mercantile calculation, dirty profit and profit, but service to the great cause of religious and moral enlightenment of their people, seeking the light of truth, and the high consciousness: “if anyone creates and teaches, this one will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” I take the first bundle of brochures that I come across, carefully wrapped in paper and prepared for distribution to pilgrims, and in it I list, to familiarize readers with the nature and content of these brochures, their names. All brochures of 16 and 24 sheets are printed on good paper, in a clear font and are often decorated with drawings that match the text. Here are the brochures that make up the bunch I took by chance: 1) Akathist to St. Great Martyr Panteleimon (72 pp. in 32 parts of the sheet). 2) Guide to the Holy Mount Athos (72 p.), 3) it contains an atlas of types (24) of monasteries and hermitages of the Holy Mountain. 4) About the end of the world (32 p.). 5) Indicating the path to the kingdom of heaven (18 p.). 6) Brief thoughts for every day (94 pp.). 7) God in nature (36 p.). 8) What harm does tobacco bring to a person (16 p.). 9) Conversation about prayer (32 pp.). 10) Silent confession (20 pp.). 11) Given for needs (30 pp.). 12) Dogma of holy icons according to Stefan Yavorsky (63 p.). 13) About the need to remember the dead (34 p.). 14) Conversation of Archbishop Nikanor on the Sunday of the Prodigal, at the memorial service of the poet Pushkin (42 p.). 15) Life of St. Apostle Thomas (16 p.). 16) The legend about the life and exploits of Elder Daniel of Achinsk (51 p.). 17) Life of St. Peter, tax collector (8 p.). 18) Life of St. Nifonta (16 p.). 19) Life of St. Philaret the Merciful (32 p.). 20) Life of St. Peter of Athos (33 p.). 21) Modern ascetics of Mount Athos (40 pp.). 22) The path to salvation is by fulfilling the commandments of Christ (46 p.). 23) Life of St. Athanasius of Athos (51 p.) 24) Holy Mount Athos, the earthly portion of the Mother of God (26 p.). 25) Soulful reading (31 pp.). 26) The rumor of this world and silence (72 p.). 27) Life of St. Dmitry the myrrh-streaming (40 pp.). 28) Word of St. Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem on sobriety and prayer (61 p.). 29) Promises of the Mother of God to the reverent inhabitants of Holy Mount Athos (31 p.). 30) Word of St. Archbishop of Alexandria “about the exodus of the soul and the Last Judgment” (24 p.). 31) Life-giving Cross of Christ (24 p.). 32) The end of the world, the Last Judgment and the eternity of torment (64 p.). 33) About the necessity and benefits of frequent communion of the most pure Mysteries of Christ and about repentance preparatory to it (40 p.). 34) Life of St. Gregory, Archbishop of Omirite (40 p.). 35) Life of St. Nina, educator of Georgia (34 p.). 36) About God's peace (48 p.). 37) Conversations about repentance (48 pp.). 38) About God’s word (63 p.). 39) Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon (32 p.). 40) Dogma of holy church fasts according to Stefan Yavorsky (78 p.). 41) Hell and heaven (24 p.). 42) Conversation by Archbishop Nikanor “About the three elders or what should be studied and known in the Christian faith” (16 p.). 43) Him. What is Saint Athos for Orthodox Russia? (16 p.). 44) About drunkenness and other ungodly habits: smoking tobacco, foul language, singing worldly songs, games, skating, superstition and godhood (112 p.). 45) Description of signs and healings by the Grace of God from the holy relics and the Life-giving Cross (140 p. 46) Spiritual triumph and heartfelt joy between St. Petersburg admirers of the Athos shrine (56 p.). In the printed package, four brochures are missing from the full authorized quantity. In a bundle that I accidentally took, there are 52 sheets of different names: 1) Letters from Hieromonk Arseny to various persons (32 pp.). 2) The path to salvation (4 p.). 3) Remarkable conversion of the Old Believers (8 p.). 4) The cemetery is a very edifying teacher (4 p.). 5) Wonderful dream (4 pp.). 6) The triumph of God's justice (8 p.). 7) Rules for a pious life (8 p.). 8) The wondrous Christian death of the youth (4 p.). 9) A Christian is the church of God (8 p.). 10) Appeal to Orthodoxy of the Circassians and Tatars (4 p.). 11) What is the fast for? (4 pp.). 12) About reading spiritual books (8 p.). 13) The legend about the icon of the Mother of God, called the “Deliverer” (8 p.). 14) The Legend of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God (4 p.). 15) Miraculous healing from paralysis (4 pp.). 16) Who will inherit the eternal life (4 p.). 17) Seven sacraments of the church (4 p.). 18) For the New Year (8 p.). 19) Prophetic dream of a baby (4 p.). 20) How to save a soul (8 p.). 21) Friends to the grave and beyond the grave (8 p.). 22) Do not despair of salvation (8 p.). 23) The fourth commandment of God (8 p.). 24) Sorrows lead us to heaven (4 p.) 25) Almsgiving is God’s greatest and most valuable virtue (4 p.). 26) Christian title (8 p.). 27) Civil and public responsibilities (4 p.). 28) Conversation about prayer (8 p.). 29) Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon (4 p.). 30) The Lord will judge not only deeds, but also thoughts (4 p.). 31) Indicating the path to the kingdom of heaven (8 p.). 32) No business, time or place can prevent you from praying (4 p.). 33) How to establish in yourself the remembrance of death, living in peace amid the bustle of life (4 p.). 34) How to establish faith in God (4 p.). 35) His Grace Anthony, Archbishop of Voronezh (8 p.). 36) Conversations and instructions of the Right Reverend Anthony (8 p.). 37) Brief explanation of the thirty-three-year-old Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (4 p.). 38) Two most important commandments of God (8 p.). 39) Marvelous signs of God’s grace (8 p.); 40) The effect of God’s grace on a converted sinner (8 p.). 41) What is life and how should one live? (8 pp.). 42) Something about giving alms to the poor (4 p.). 43) Prayer to the sweetest Lord Jesus at the departure of the soul from the body (4 p.). 44) The Lord rewards the virtuous in this life (8 p.). 45) Prayer to the Mother of God before the icon “It is worthy to eat” (2 p.). 46) The Cross of Christ and the sign of the cross (4 p.). 47) Crying over sins (4 p.). 48) The ways of God's providence (4 p.). 49) Repentance and confession (8 p.). 50) Reflections on death (4 pp.). 51) About repentance (4 p.). 52) Mental prayer is the duty of the laity (4 p.). 53) St. Niphon, bishop of the city of Constantia (8 p.). 54) Holy Mount Athos, earthly lot of the Mother of God (4 p.). 55) Prayer to St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon (2 p.). and 56) Stay in Moscow of the Athos shrine and healing from it (4 p.). In this bundle the number of sheets exceeds the normal figure by six sheets. All these brochures are direct extracts from Part II of “Conversations with the Molokans” by Hieromonk Arseny, published by the Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. We see from the letter of Fr. the grand scale of this enterprise. Arseny on Athos on August 28, 1864. “A printing machine,” he writes about. Jerome, - they do not advise us to buy it, because there is a lot of trouble behind it, and an experienced driver is needed around it, and in total there are five people around the machine who know their job. There are times when a third-party mechanic is invited in case of a major breakdown in the car. Instead of a car, they advise us to buy two mills, both costing about 500 rubles. They can print 1,200 sheets per day each. Their device is the simplest. I hope to buy a church font soon and send it to you. And they say that there is no need to think about the foundry. This is a very complex and troublesome article, and a valuable one.” The foundry was indeed abandoned; but the matter of the printing machine was discussed for a long time afterwards. In a letter dated September 16 of the same year, Fr. Arseny writes on Athos: “I’ll try to buy more Slavic fonts, if possible, but about the printing press, probably Fr. Meletius will bother. I'm waiting for him here, according to his letter. Don’t we need to find a person here, at least from a salary, who could set up printing for us? Does the person we have know this matter well? I will try to quickly send to Odessa what is needed to be sent to the monastery.” A letter from the next period says the following on the same subject: “Church script by Fr. Meletius ordered twenty pounds or more here. What to do - we will print what we need for ourselves. And if you needed a printing machine, that is, a machine, then it would be best to buy it through agents in Constantinople, from where these things are made more widely, and it would cost half as much as here. They don’t cast large fonts, but ordered whatever they could find in the foundry.” In the end, the purchase of a printing press did not take place, and brochures and leaflets were printed on ordinary printing presses, which Fr. spoke about. Arseny in his first letter. In 1857, in Constantinople, Exarch Alexander Stoilovich was allowed to print the Apostle and Gospel in Bulgarian, but with the indispensable condition “to eliminate the memory of the imperial Russian family and offensive expressions against the Ottoman state” (Arch. Savva. Collection of opinions and reviews of Metropolitan Philaret on the affairs of the Orthodox East. P. 181). Metropolitan Philaret on this occasion expressed his fears about what could happen from here “more harm than at first glance appears.” “It is worth the effort,” the great hierarch of the Russian Church wrote on this occasion, “to make an attempt to deliver to the Bulgarians from Russia the most necessary liturgical books, printed so that the enemies of Orthodoxy cannot point out them as contrary to the political situation of Turkey” (Ibid. p. 182). But this idea remained without implementation in Russia. A second attempt to publish church and liturgical books for the southern Slavs dates back to 1866 and belongs to Osman Pasha, who decided to fulfill his intention in Sarajevo in Bosnia in the Turkish Serbian printing house there. Responsive to everything concerning the affairs of the Orthodox Church, the Moscow ruler did not hesitate to warn the Orthodox this time and called Osman Pasha’s idea “offensive and harmful to Orthodoxy” (p. 360), although at the same time he advised against fighting this idea and left this matter in charge of the Ecumenical Patriarch (p. 361). The idea of ​​the Russian monks on Athos to start a printing house for printing church and liturgical books for the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula, therefore, went towards the desires and plans of the Moscow ruler and almost without the goal of pleasing him. Some of the Athonite monks had a desire to supply the Russian people with these books from their printing house. When printing Slavic books, Fr. writes on Athos. Arseny dated October 11, 1864, it is impossible not to ask once and for all for permission to print like this: “printed with the permission of His Holiness the Patriarch of Constantinople,” - such books, I believe, would not be persecuted in Russia as uncensored. Greek copies of this petition, as well as the Patriarch’s response to it, were kindly communicated to you by the venerable grammarian and librarian of the monastery, Fr. Matvey. From the correspondence of the ministerial newspaper “Northern Post” for 1866, reprinted in the book: “Description of signs and healings from holy relics and part of the Life-giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord, brought from Holy Mount Athos.” M., 1880. pp. 52–57. From a letter from Fr. Arsenia to Fr. Jerome in 1867. From a letter from Fr. Arseny on Athos without date. Letters from Fr. Jerome to Fr. Arseny from April 15 1790. “Now I have such a burden: printing books and images,” Fr. frankly wrote to the elders at the monastery. Arseny. – There are always troubles with artists; Everyone wants to do something and get money as quickly as possible, but if you start saying what’s wrong, they won’t let you talk. All of the same cut. I've tried them. From unpleasant troubles and worries, so as not to get sick. All this is getting to my head. In addition, there are a lot of different things to do, written. Now a very serious matter - a collection of miracles from the holy relics of the former. After the book was printed, there were a lot of them, more than 100. There is hope that they will print it. I don’t want to omit this matter; it will lead to the glory of God and our monastery and to the benefit of many Orthodox Christians. I ask for your blessing on this subject, which will require a lot of time, and I already don’t have it. What to do? I have two tables littered with papers, serving prayer services takes a lot of time. A lot of things are not being performed as I would like, but there is no time to study the subject.” Letter dated November 17, I think 1868. In another letter to the elders about his Moscow life, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Fr. Arseny writes the following: “Health is noticeably weakening. Somehow the Lord will help end everything? I can’t have the slightest rest, even if I want some kind of peace. In the morning at 5 o'clock we get up and, at the persistent request, go to houses to serve prayer services. Then we return to the monastery, serve prayers to those who come, and in the evening we also serve prayers in houses, or go about other necessary matters of the monastery. I return to the monastery in the evening, usually at 10 o’clock, and do as much as I can with the most necessary letters and other matters, so that I have absolutely no time to pray to God in solitude or go to church.” You can find time if you refuse those who demand to serve prayers, but your conscience forbids it. And how can we pray to God, refusing those who are thirsty to pray and be healed from the shrine? Only on holidays do I refuse in the morning and go to the liturgy” (Letter from 1865). The same complaints about constant lack of time and a lot of troubles fill the letters of Fr. Arseny and other persons. For more details on the importance of typikari in church and liturgical practice on Mount Athos, see our study: Dmitrievsky A. A. Modern worship in the Orthodox East: historical and archaeological research. Kiev, 1891. The “Catalog” of 1890, which accidentally came into our hands, and, moreover, is very incomplete, contains the names of more than two hundred publications, some of these titles in several volumes (for example, Philokalia in 5 volumes; Conversations with the Molokans in 2 parts; Soulful Reflections in 10 volumes, etc.). “A Conversation about Drunkenness” sold about 40,000 copies in three editions; the brochure “What harm does tobacco bring to a person,” printed for the first time in Odessa in 1888 (we do not know the number of copies of this publication), was reprinted twice in Moscow - in 1889 in 40,000 copies. and in 1891 in 30,000 copies; brochure “On the dangers of smoking tobacco” in the first edition. in Odessa it was published in 26,000 copies, and in the second and third editions in Moscow in 1890 and 1891, 10,000 copies each. This letter has the following sender date: “1889 August 10.” About the literary activity of Fr. Seraphim, see the Most Reverend Porfiry: History of Athos. Part III. Dept. II. St. Petersburg, 1892. pp. 531–532. Several deeply edifying teachings delivered by Fr. Macarius to the brethren on various occasions. The late Fr. Macarius was an unflattering preacher of the Word of God and was not without the gift of eloquence, and therefore very often taught the brethren entrusted to his care. There are a lot of teachings left from him in manuscripts, which the brethren who reverently preserve his memory, we hope, will publish “in memory of the deceased abbot.” Father Paisiy does not know how to write, but from his words a brochure was compiled: “Admonition to the lost and confession of those who have turned from error,” published by the Russian Panteleimon Monastery four times already. “I,” writes Fr. Selevsky about the Holy Mountainer Seraphim, answered (to those who asked) that the Holy Mountainer died and the Lord preserved his brain in his head for his wondrous and holy thoughts, that his bones were yellow and fragrant, and myrrh flowed from his head” (Story. P. 234); “Schemonk Father Timofey remained silent for 12 years. His cell was upstairs above the latrines and full of bedbugs. He had neither a crib nor a bed, but instead of a bed a chair served him and a psalter lay above his head. When he used to sit on a bench, he would have a chock on his knees, in which two dimples were hollowed out, and in them were oil grains. He takes one grain at a time, transfers it from one hole to another, and he himself says the Jesus Prayer. The old man was wonderful! I often talked with him. Once I was in his cell, I said to him: “Fr. Timothy, bless me to sweep the walls of your cell from bedbugs.” And he answered me: “No, father, bedbugs are good for me: my legs swell, and they draw out the bad blood from them.” “And we can’t stand even an insignificant pain, or even a flea bite.” – Father Timofey was a self-willed martyr: for that, what a death he had! For almost a whole month he received the Holy Mysteries every day and died peacefully and quietly. Its bones, yellow as wax, were dug up. And I had his bone in the chest, and as I used to open the chest, an indescribable fragrance would come out...” (Ibid. Appendix p. 21); “Schimonk Zakhary is a shoemaker and tailor. He didn't live long. His bones are clean” (p. 28); “Schimonk Afanasy attended obedience at the metoch. Once he stood at night in prayer, suddenly he sees Satan next to him in the form of an angel. He hit him with a rosary, and Satan strangled him, and Father Afanasy remained deaf until his death. He labored very zealously. His bones were dug up clean and yellow” (p. 29); “Schimonk Sinesius is a sweet soul. He worked at the cell of the Annunciation; About six elders always live there and he served everyone. They often laughed at him and reviled him. And whoever asks: “O. Sinesius, where are you from and who am I?”, he answered: “I was tending pigs at home, and even that was no good, and they kicked me out. And I came to Athos somehow to feed myself.” And he was always in tears, in prayers and labors. Until his death he was a novice. And what love he had for everyone! I have no strength to describe it. His love captivated me very much. He often told me: “We must love everyone, and we must pray for everyone.” And he often said: “Unless someone has self-reproach, he cannot achieve perfection.” He was a great zealot for service and rule. Its bones were dug up, yellow and fragrant” (p. 31). In this way it is written about. Seleucius and many other characteristics. The story of the holy mountain monk Seleukios about his life and wanderings through holy places: Russian, Palestinian and Athos. Application. P. 39. “We are quite surprised,” wrote Fr. Macarius to Fr. To Panteleimon at the Optina Monastery on April 17, 1879 - that Athos scares you. You started here from young nails, enjoyed the universal love of the brethren, and passed obedience according to your strength. Is it really just your belly that puts you in this position? It is true that the highest awards will widen your eyes, but all this is not for long. Some ten years, and then old age. But, of course, it is better to reason than to suffer the oppression of enemy attacks.” Grigorovich V.I. Essay on a trip to European Turkey. M., 1877. P. 76. As a result of the conversation between the vicar bishop and the metropolitan, “I,” writes Fr. Arseny to the elders of the monastery - and not even though he had to present the metropolitan with printed descriptions of grace-filled healings during the report. The Metropolitan was dissatisfied that this had not yet been brought to his attention, and said that the censor (our kind Father Macarius) did not have the right to authorize the publication of a description of the miracles without the Holy Synod. This matter has now begun officially. The Metropolitan handed it over to the rector of the Theological Academy, chairman of the censorship committee, Archimandrite John, who is considered the smartest and most learned in Russia and at the same time he is an unapproachable person. Upon inquiry, it turned out that no order was observed when printing miracles in the printing house; I was not given a ticket, which is probably what I will be accused of. In a word, everything is so confused that God forbid, have mercy! In addition, there is a danger that there should be no criticism of miracles in the newspapers. Nowadays there is freedom of printing, but here there are many opponents of God. Here's the situation. I personally care little about myself, but more about the honor of the shrine and the monastery. I have already written to you that at first I did not think at all about printing miracles, but that the kindest Fr. Macarius, censor. Save him, Lord, from the trouble and factor of the printing house of the servant of God Alexander, zealous for the monastery. I ask you to pray for them” (Letter to Athos. 1865). “Description of miracles,” writes Fr. Arseny in one of his letters to Athos is a very important subject, requiring great caution so as not to give an answer before God and not to be disgraced before people. What would you like to say about those miracles of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, which speaks of donations to the monastery? I think at this time it will be tempting for many. Tell me your opinion about this” (Letter from Father Arseny, 1866). Letter about. Arseny on Mount Athos, December 29, 1877. You might be interested in: