Письмо 159

I received your letter safely and I accept your revelation to my detriment, not despising anyone in the least, knowing human weaknesses. In all this, may the most merciful Lord Himself forgive you. Be calm, but for the sake of humility we must remember small sins, we must feel our badness and not dare to condemn anyone, but forgive those who offend, so that we ourselves will receive forgiveness of our sins from God... You say, despite all your spiritual weaknesses, you have become a strict judge of everything bad, and therefore you are afraid of falling into the same thing yourself. This thought of yours is fair, and you don’t need to look at anyone or judge anyone, but have your sins and weaknesses before you; It is enough for us when we take care of our own protection, but you cannot correct others with condemnation, and everyone has his own conscience as an accuser and brings repentance to the Lord. Imaginary sinners, when they humble themselves before God, are better than the proud righteous. I advise you as St. the fathers teach to force yourself to consider yourself the lowest and worst of all, then you will not see other people’s shortcomings, but only their corrections, and the light of true reason will shine in your heart. If you understand that your concepts and judgments about spiritual life do not agree with the teachings of your fathers, then do not follow them, and do not enter into an argument with them; love and humility cover the weaknesses of others and forgive our sins. Reading about the miracles of the Mother of God, you were in vain drawn into criticism; if they weren’t, then it’s not your place to get involved in the analysis, but if they were, then you could fall into considerable sin. And who can count or describe the greatness of the miracles of the Mother of God to the human race? No matter how much someone writes, they cannot count everything. May the Lord deliver everyone from the opposite opinion about our merciful Intercessor for us sinners with the merciful Lord. The most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison Seraphim! Have respect for your parents. The fact that they do not allow you to dress is attributed to God’s will and to your test. Our image is the image of humility, then it is tested, but in you it is very poor; stop seeing the sins of others and humble yourself, then the Lord will inform them about you. I have seen the example of fathers who cruelly resist sending their children to a monastery, but later become their humble patrons, and do not be discouraged or discouraged by this; prepare your heart as it should, and the Lord will enlighten the robe of your soul and clothe you in the robe of salvation. You need to accept people with reason and on the advice of M. and N.; and in case of an unexpected arrival, after a meek greeting, present a plausible guilt, go somewhere, and see them off. In all your affairs, call on God’s help with humility. Do not rely on your fervent prayer, for it leads you to arrogance; We ourselves cannot evaluate our zeal, but God judges it according to the measure of our humility. Diligence does not consist in praying simply without being forced, but in forcing yourself to pray, even though you don’t want to: from this, zeal is recognized and help is sent from God, and again you must humble yourself. Mnogohreshny I. M. August 20, 1853, You might be interested in: