Письмо 132

Thanks be to the Lord for granting you permission to return to your monastery; We rejoice in this with all our hearts. Although it was regrettable for you to part with your parents and sister, leaving them in sadness, you were called by God: what would it be like to neglect this calling? No one, lay your hand on the forehead and in vain turn back, is ruled in the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Make your conscience the judge; If you, listening to the reproaches of your parents and seeing their sorrow, remained in the world, would you then have peace? On the contrary, now your conscience can calm you down: you are doing for God; your parents are not completely alone; N–ya consoles them, and the son is not far away. Example: your sister A.A. traveled 1000 miles for her husband. If you, like her, got married, you would have to leave your parents: and here there are more parents - Christ Himself, the immortal Bridegroom; He says: whoever loves father or mother more than Me is worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). And to this young man, who wanted to follow Christ, but first asking permission to bury his father, he said: leave the dead to bury your dead (Matthew 8:22). With such teachings, the Lord cuts off from us partial love for parents; however, he does not command us to hate them; Be calm in your duty to your parents. In the field of your present life, you can consider yourself more in the struggle with passions and recognize your weakness, and from it come to humility. You will see that we are still far from the love of God, which is shown and recognized in us by the fulfillment of God’s commandments; and they resist passions: we must both see and know that we cannot suddenly commit; but this work is accomplished with a lot of time, labor and feat. And sometimes the Lord does not allow us to gain the upper hand over them, so that we do not become arrogant. Try to endure your illness with submission to the will of God and with gratitude; she will serve you for salvation; the illness of the flesh pacifies the warfare of the flesh, and this involuntary cross brings invisible success. Try to maintain peace with L.’s mother; when humility precedes on both sides, then the arrows of the enemy will not be effective against this weapon; Treat yourself to swearing in everything. Abbess and adhere to her instructions. I heartily rejoice that you are peaceful regarding your maintenance, and there should be no doubt; when God feeds all creation, will he really not provide for us? I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the sinful hieromonk Macarius. January 29, 1840. You might be interested in: