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I am guilty before you for not bringing you my gratitude for so long, and not congratulating you on your newly tonsured nuns. May the Lord help them to fulfill the vows they made during tonsure and receive salvation for their souls; and those who grieve for not being tonsured do not know what they are doing, and they should be pitied; They clearly show their unwillingness to accept this image, which is the image of repentance and humility, and they make it into an image of ambition, which is not at all in accordance with the intention of those who want to be saved, and they reject the providence of God at work in this and imagine that they can achieve it through human efforts; pray for them, so that their spiritual eyes will be enlightened by the light of true reason, and do not be faint-hearted, but be more indifferent to their trivial demands and grumblings - they are nothing more than the buzzing of flies, they cannot cause you any harm, bear their weakness; their turn will come, just let them be ready to take upon themselves the good yoke of the Lord and His light burden; but it is good and easy when we approach it with humility; and when we seek with insistence and murmuring, the mantle will be heavy. And in our monastery we also had six brothers tonsured into the mantle, three on the same day as you, the 27th of November, and three on the 28th. Thank God, you blame yourself for laziness; what can I say about myself? I sit in captivity in Babylon, I do not understand the songs of Zion. Accursed daughters of Babylon, my sinful flesh, when will I dash your babies against the stone? This is what I will boast about: my weaknesses. Pray for me, just as I pray for you, according to the commandment. Many-sinful I.M. I send my unworthy blessing to your nieces. December 20, 1843. You might be interested in: