Письма 101–200

You are still in physical illness and grieve, seeing yourself in inaction. What kind of action are you looking for? Enough patience with thanksgiving. God does not require the sick to perform feats and physical labors: but the good state of the soul must always be observed and care should be taken to correct it. Say that the spirit is irritable and in displeasure against everyone. You need to pay more attention to this, force yourself to love and humility, as St. Macarius of Egypt in the 1st word, in the 13th and 14th chapters. By forcing yourself and self-reproach, you will receive God’s help and peace. As you went through the struggle of your life, you had more in mind and in action external work: fasting, rules of prayer, etc., but perhaps you paid little attention to internal work. And therefore, I believe, you have no peace within yourself. Irritability shows you your inner structure, which must be overcome by self-reproach, patience, love, and not by attention to the weaknesses of your neighbors and not by condemnation; but sometimes they insult you, and of course not without God’s providence, in order to show you your weakness and give you a means of healing through struggle, resistance and humility. Read the books of the fathers, you will see how it is necessary to arm yourself against what passion and overcome with the help of God. And seeing your weakness, you need to humble yourself and consider yourself the last one of all. From your external exploits you had hope and were deceived by trust, but you were deprived of peace of mind, lacking humility. I believe you that it is not easy to live in the middle of the world, but until the Lord calls you and gives you the means to retire into the community of those who work for God, you must force yourself to do the commandments of God, without judging others for their negligence. The Lord is able to arrange their salvation and give them the feeling to seek it. The abyss of Your judgments, O Lord (Ps. 35:7). The sorrow weighing on you is certainly great, but you remove your thoughts from condemnation and pray for...... God is long-suffering and abundantly merciful, but we are strict tormentors: today we see our neighbor falling, but tomorrow can we rely on ourselves? Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8); Let him who is without sin in you cast the first stone (John 8:7). Remember the word of Christ about the wife brought to him and taken in adultery. Be healthy mentally and physically, and asking for you the peace and blessing of God, I remain the great sinner I.M. October 14, 1850. Fulfilling your desire, I do not call you a princess, but I wish to reign (rule) over my passions. From your letter dated October 14th, I see that you have recognized yourself as unworthy of spiritual pleasures and peace, and that you are in danger of being seduced by them. Reading spiritual books, you will see how many suffered while being carried away by spiritual pleasures and relying on this for their salvation. But until we destroy our passions by doing God’s commandments and acquire perfect humility, to desire or seek such consolations means to consider ourselves worthy of this reward, and this is already pride. Many of the saints, even receiving spiritual gifts, were afraid that they would not be harmful and therefore asked God to take them from them. St. John Climacus writes in the 26th degree: “some, according to God’s vision, are sacred, for their labors, they receive rewards even before the accomplishment of their feats, others during their very completion, others at the end, and others at their very death - it is necessary to investigate which of them is more humble than the other.” It is obvious that the humble receive quick consolation and rewards: for they will no longer be harmed by them. The closer the saints approached God, the more they saw their own thinness and considered themselves inferior to all creation. You need to strive not only to correct prayer rules and fasting, but also to correct your inner structure, which is acquired through love and humility. You say that you cannot bear reproach and reproof, and inner vengeance remains in you. This means that the furious part of you is strongly active, stemming from pride. And how to fight and win against it, you have teachers for this: St. John Climacus, degrees 8. 9. 10. 24 and 25, St. Abba Dorotheus: “about the hedgehog of reproaching oneself, and not one’s neighbor,” and Nil Sorsky, “about the passion of anger,” and also from Abba Dorotheus: “about the hedgehog of how to walk in the path of God,” on page 66, on the back. Without self-reproach, patience and love, this passion cannot be overcome and this requires a lot of time, deeds and work. Seeing yourself in such poverty, you involuntarily need to humble yourself: and where there is humility, there is the mercy of God. And you cannot find peace without it. For the Lord himself taught us this, saying: learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). The degree of obedience delighted you, and you want to achieve the grave of will and the resurrection of humility in you, and you immediately ask: how to achieve this? Teach you? When every kind of art and skill is acquired by many through time and labor; How much more is this art of art achieved through much labor and time and self-sacrifice. Pray to God to give you help to read the fatherly teachings with faith, and to come to work as much as possible and strong, with compulsion, and in everything to recognize your weakness and humble yourself, and you will find God’s help. It is very good to follow the movements of your heart with thoughts, words, deeds, and write them down to expose yourself. Exactly, maybe the feeling will come sooner to the self-awareness of its poverty and the thought will be humbled. Entrusting you to the protection of God, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, much sinner I.M. October 28, 1850. I don’t know what to say to you in response to your letter……… You see how bewildered and double-minded she is: she can’t decide on anything and is even afraid of decisive words when I tell her to stay there; due to such doubtfulness of it, I am not a seer, I cannot know anything about the future. If, having moved here, she does not find peace for herself, or encounters some kind of sorrow, then what will happen? And she is afraid to move from transferring the monastery to another place; he is afraid to stay there because they will order him; and still doubts whether this is according to God’s dispensation, and whether her transition will be in accordance with the will of God. In such double-mindedness it is very difficult to give direction to a person; and I am truly at a loss what to tell you about her. But I myself cannot write without her demand and question, and only when it is with faith and not double-minded. With faith, God himself admonishes those who ask to say what is beneficial, but I don’t know what to tell you about double-mindedness; It seems the same as not asking. What will happen after, when some temptation is encountered (and it is impossible to do without it on the path of salvation)? Then he can say: “that, apparently, there was no will to cross it,” but we are not ready to endure temptations with faith and firmness. I am sending you an extract from the Ladder of the 26th degree. You can offer it to her and leave it to her will, or even better, give it to God’s providence, may He arrange for her what is for her benefit. The situation you described in your last letter is very difficult, but what can you do? Where to run from him? Apparently the Lord allowed your temptation to be like this; one must endure, not blame anyone, but reproach oneself for impatience and lack of love, which, according to the commandment, should extend to one’s enemies. Everything will pass! There are many people who bear incomparably greater sorrows. May the Lord strengthen you! In adding rules for fasting, I do not agree with you, given your poor health, and because you are only concerned about fulfilling quantity, but have no concern for quality; in the impoverishment of both, let humility replace them. And with them, when there is no fragrance of humility, then (a person) will not take advantage of them at all, but will also receive harm through vanity and opinion. What may the Lord deliver you from! In the first letter you describe your pleasure in reading the book of St. John Climacus: yes, this book is precious, especially when we attentively try to fulfill this teaching to the best of our ability. You ask: how to start? Whatever good we do according to the commandments, we must have humility in everything and consider ourselves to have done nothing good. And if, when we perform, we think highly of ourselves, then we will fall far short of what we should. Humility can save us even without works, but works without humility will not save us, as we see in the case of the publican and the Pharisee. Consider yourself the last one of all. You did everything you should and thought you were doing everything you should; That is why you were not attacked by the enemy, and you were not defeated in any way. And when it was, you would humble yourself and find something to repent of. In the 26th degree St. writes. Climacus: “sometimes, like all vices, they leave behind, but one remains - pride.” It would be good for you to read from Peter of Damascus, in the 3rd part of the Philokalia, about the seven bodily works; but you are not yet on the perfect path; however, there is a good ending: that according to these deeds one must have patience in everything, and then we will see our sins like the sand of the sea. But you do not find sins in yourself that you should confess and repent of. But while you are in worldly life, try as best you can not to lose sight of anything that is necessary to fulfill the will of God, considering yourself an inexorable slave, and if you try, bring repentance, and humble yourself even more. Playing the piano does not seem to be part of the deeds of those who are godly, about which I cannot tell you anything. Be peaceful and (calm) healthy, what I wish for you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. November 21, 1850. Congratulations on meeting St. the feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and happy new year, may the Lord grant you to be renewed in spirit and to follow the path of His commandments. You write that you do not have humility, but you know how necessary it is for peace and tranquility of mind; It is for him that we are at war with proud demons who try to instill in us everything that is contrary to humility. On the contrary, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to learn humility and meekness from him, in order to find peace for our souls. Everything that we do or contrive, wanting to find salvation, but without humility does not benefit us. And what’s wonderful, according to St. Isaac, humility saves us without deeds, but deeds without it are of no use. You did a lot of rules and other imaginary virtues, hoping to base your salvation on them, but you found nothing - apparently because your work was not dissolved in humility. Do not think that this wealth can be acquired quickly and easily; but with a lot of time, labor, self-reproach and awareness of one’s weakness and poverty. By reading spiritual books, learn the means of how to acquire it, and God, seeing the desire of your heart and efforts for it, will send you His help. You endured great trials from jealousy...... and also from the obstinate character of your daughter-in-law. In the light of faith, you should see in this not blind chance, but the providence of God, teaching you patience and humility through these forbearances. What can we say about the love commandment? She commands us to love our enemies too: if you love those who love, what grace will you have; for the pagans also do the same things (Matthew 5:46). But I say to you: love your enemies, and so on. (Luke 6:27). When we compare our dispensation with this Divine commandment; then we will see how far we are from true Christians, and whether this should not plunge us into the depths of humility. Ask me about continuing treatment; when you have confidence in the doctor and benefit from his treatment, then why not take a few more experiments in the hope of God’s help. And he is strong and suspicion…. reject. Both in this and in the first letter, you write about your intention to fast and begin to receive the most pure mysteries of Christ. You ask me how to prepare and how to guide yourself for the communication of these sacraments. You find two strong shortcomings in yourself: in confession there is no sincere consciousness, and in communion the sacrament of atonement is not strongly impressed. You are looking for high talents in yourself, and not finding them is not without embarrassment. Faith and humility are pleased to provide you with consolation. I have no doubt in faith that you have it, although it is not the same as a pea seed, but according to your faith it is good. I can’t speak about humility, and therefore you don’t have those feelings that you consider to be your shortcoming. If you could see in yourself sincere consciousness and the impression of the sacrament of redemption; then your mind would dream something great about itself (not having humility), and when you approach the sacrament of confession with faith and humility, like a publican, then you do not need to see anything other than this, but He who knows the secret message of our heart will appreciate it; the same goes for impressions. Couldn't the Lord have given it to you when it would have been useful to you? And here may faith and humility be with you; I consider myself unworthy of such a feeling. Consider whether it is not a matter of pride to seek that which is beyond our measure? God sometimes gives us consolation and, according to the measure of our dispensation, takes them away, so that we do not become arrogant, and therefore we should not be embarrassed in taking them away, in dryness and coldness, but rather humble ourselves and see in ourselves the reason for this is our pride, from which we are allowed to fall into negligence, laziness and distraction. Read the books of the fathers with humility, and the Lord will enlighten your mind and heart with the light of knowledge of His truth. You ask about Lent and the past. There is a big difference, both in service and in food and other things. Oh…….. I can’t tell you anything. May the Lord Himself look upon her and confirm her in his will. There is great double-mindedness in her, and the double-minded husband is not guided in his ways; May the Lord guide her on the path of salvation. I wish you peace, health and salvation, and I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. January 22, 1851. You sympathize with my ill health; save you, Lord! But now, thanks to God, I am healthy, according to my years and the arrangement of the mortal body. From your letter I see that you understand the book of St. John Climacus, you will recognize your sinfulness, and you will become much calmer in spirit. What can I say about this except this: what I will repay to the Lord, for all that I have repaid (Ps. 116:3); and that: this is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 86:11). Give Him unceasing thanksgiving, and guard these gifts given to you with humility of heart. And I also received your letter dated January 15 (and the first was dated December 24); Regarding your prayer rules, I wrote to you not so as to abandon them, but to be wary of relying on them and to trust in that all my correction and salvation. Without internal moral correction, prayer alone will not bring any benefit; yes St. Macarius of Egypt, in the 3rd word in the 5th chapter, calls such prayer not prayer, but a mask of prayer; in the 1st word, Tue. In chapters 13 and 14, he calculates in detail what one should force oneself to do other virtues. For through compulsion to them, we will receive God’s help and will easily fulfill them. You strive for solitude, but it does not benefit everyone, as you can see from the superscript to the book of St. Nilus of Sora. The love of God appears in us in love for our neighbors, in which the whole power of Christ’s commandments lies and extends even to the love of enemies. And when you love only those who love you, then what grace is there for you: for the pagans do likewise (Matthew 5:46), these are the words of the Lord. Then we cannot know ourselves otherwise than in dealing with our neighbors, accepting reproaches and annoyances from them, as a cure for our spiritual ulcers, and reproaching ourselves for impatience, and not them; but on the contrary, thank them that through them they came to know their spiritual weakness, by the sight of God. Having peace of mind, by the grace of God, beware of being carried away by this opinion about yourself, lest you suffer in the same way: the enemies do not sleep, they are afraid only of humility. After reading the book of St. John Climacus, you can read the book of Abba Dorotheos and the works of St. you received in Christian reading. John Chrysostom and others, but in time I advise you to repeat the Ladder; It is not only necessary to read, but to read and be excited to do it with the help of God. I wish you to be healthy mentally and physically, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. January 22, 1851. Having received your letter dated February 5, I have not answered you until now: either due to ill health, or on the occasion of the upcoming holy day. post. The first week there was no time at all to deal with letters, of which I accumulate quite a lot, and besides, my eyes and vision are sometimes dim due to clogging. And I ask you, write to me in larger and more legible form, so that I can read it myself. Thank God that you have calmed down in your stay and have acquired the good reasoning that you can be saved while living in the world, but in the monastery you can have more incentives to do so. This is true, but it is only necessary to have care in both lives about fulfilling the commandments of God, and about humility in doing so. For without humility, all things, including good deeds, are not pleasing to the Lord, as we see clearly illustrated by the Pharisee. When it pleases the Lord to call someone to monastic life and remain there, then much more battles will be revealed there than for those who are in the world. For the enemies, seeing us arming ourselves against them and about to seize the kingdom of heaven, arm themselves more fiercely against us and fight us, arousing passions for action; and the main ones are: love of fame, love of voluptuousness and love of money, and through them other passions manifest their actions in us. We cannot get rid of the actions of passions by simply fulfilling the rules, but by doing the commandments in community with people. The commandments even extend to loving enemies. Our weakness is healed not by solitary retreat, but by doing and enduring the vexation of the cross (see the book of St. Isaac the Syrian, word 2, p. 13). When we, having been passionate, that is, sick with pride, vanity, deceit and opinion, want to approach God in solitude, we can be deceived. St. John Climacus and other saints. the fathers forbid such people to retire into strict solitude, but rather to strive with people, from their fall to recognize their weakness and come to humility; then all our doings will be pleasing to the Lord God. You can see an example in...... how she went through a silent life, moving away from people and did not find peace, but on the contrary, she has double-mindedness in everything and cannot decide on anything. May the Lord allow her to find the true path. I believe that you have already fulfilled your Christian duty, you have been a partaker of the most pure body and blood of Christ, as you wrote that you will fast for the first week in the Republic, for which I heartily congratulate you. You ask about a girl who entered a monastery and wants to have you as a leader, what should you do? I cannot give you this advice about taking on such a difficult task when you yourself are still in a passionate state. You can give advice when someone makes demands, and then not from your own mind, but from the Holy One. father of teachings and offer the book itself, where she herself can see the truth, but for us this is very harmful: for it leads to vanity and arrogance, from which may the Lord deliver you. Asking for God's blessing on you, and wishing to spend this fast in peace and health in a soul-saving manner, I remain your pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. March 3, 1851. You write that you found great benefit in reading St. Cassian “about the struggle between the flesh and the spirit,” and other readings of spiritual books bring you spiritual comfort. Thank God that this hunger and thirst does not leave you, and with it you need to be forced to do it. In our work we must always have humility in everything, and then it will be firm. Don’t grieve about this because you can’t be in church due to illness. You are the living church of God (2 Cor. 6:16), writes St. Apostle. Although you have some special feelings, having been there, do not delude yourself with them, but consider yourself unworthy. What is more humble is firmer and more durable. Thank the Lord for sending your daughter-in-law such a Christian death, which gives hope for her blessed peace in eternity. You cannot undo the past; that you did not part with her on good terms - this cannot be praised; but for everything there is repentance; repent before God and pray for her, but there is no need to be embarrassed, but trust in the goodness of God; and henceforth beware of judging anyone: God is the Judge of all and the Savior of all. Whatever her shortcomings were, they were cleansed by suffering, repentance and trust in the goodness of God, may the Lord rest her soul in the kingdom of heaven. From my mother... I recently received a letter that she is completely calm in her new stay, in the B-th monastery; I am pleased with the rules and rituals of the monastery, the mother abbess and all the sisters. A oh……. I have no information; May the Lord rule her life according to His holy will. Before I had time to finish this letter, I received another letter of yours sent on March 19th. You write that you understand spiritual life completely differently than you previously thought. This is very good and thanks be to the Lord for this. I see your desire to receive spiritual wealth, and that, being in the world, you endure the deprivation of it with great sorrow. I think you believe spiritual acquisition in abundant spiritual consolations; but one must be wary of this, so as not to be deceived by them. St. John Climacus writes in the 26th degree that God rewards those who work for Him according to their humility, and withholds them from others until death. The cross is not only a carrying of visible and external sorrows, but also an internal spiritual one: darkness, languor and the like must be endured. For God sends this to destroy our pride and gain humility. Read the word of St. in the 4th part of the Philokalia. Cassian (also John), letter to Leontin the abbot “on reasoning.” Wonderful word! I hope it will be of benefit to you. I don’t think that you rely on following the rules for your salvation, but I warn you against this. And not only did they not rely on rules and deeds, but even on spiritual gifts; many were deceived by this; but you must rely on God’s mercy for your salvation. This must be done, but with great humility. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain wishing you health and salvation, much sinner I.M. April 3, 1851. P.S. O. Porfiry Grigorov, publisher of letters from the recluse George, departed to the Lord on March 15. My voice changes, my vision dims. You write about the trials you faced when you intended to fast during the last week of the Holy Week. fasting, and again for Great Heel. I believe that you did not eat anything there, but given your health, you did it in vain. The Church allows the weak and old to be refreshed, but you are weak. And what good is it to tire the body and not have peace of mind through indignation? This cannot be approved. You would gain more benefit from eating than from not eating, and you would reassure others and you yourself would be calmer and more humble. What is more valuable than peace? Be patient and bear the infirmities of him who tests you with your demands, although difficult; but who knows how long they will last? For your treatment in R-i, may the Lord bless and ensure your health, both mental and physical. The message you read from the teacher. John Cassian to Abbot Leontin, you really liked the Russian translation. But I advise you to read it in the Slavic language, in the Philokalia, 4th part, under the name simply Cassian; there you will find spiritual intelligence much better. And in general, I advise you not to stop studying the Slavic language. When you understand, you will see its beauty yourself. Other words of John Cassian, since they are not in the Slavic language, we read in Russian. And this word is in Slavic, but I haven’t read it in Russian. And I even forgot what year it was published in Christian Reading. You write to me, I’ll match it. Understanding the teachings of your fathers, do not get carried away by opinions about yourself, even if you could do something according to them: opinion ruins everything, and it doesn’t take long to fall into delusion. Everything that moves away from humility and does not have love and peace is displeasing to God, but we, being alien to this, must humble ourselves, but not despair. It is good that you learned from the teachings of St. Abba Dorotheus, why do you not have success in spiritual advancement, that is, you do not have self-reproach, but nevertheless the desire to see your prosperity is manifested in you, and combined with holy humility is alien to this. He sees himself as the last of all and does not despair, but rather calms down; and although he corrects a lot, he considers it a duty: for he did not correct it by his own strength, but received help from God. And when he thinks something about himself, then we allow it to fall, so that humility will be gained. I am writing this to you as a precaution, otherwise you will not see how you will be carried away into arrogance. You write that you thank God for finding benefit in my advice, yes, you definitely thank Him, but because He, by His mercy and your faith, instructs me in what and when to write; but on my own I can do nothing, and besides, I am weak and unreasonable in everything; therefore, attribute it not to me, but to God, who gives you the benefit. What I have written to you, as pertaining only to you, I ask you not to say to others. May God grant your brother a good destiny in marriage: religion is the basis of happiness. My vision is still not completely corrected, but my eye is still clogged. Asking for you the peace and blessing of God, and desiring health and salvation, I remain your pilgrim, sinner I.M. May 8, 1851. In your last letter, you describe your illness, which begins with throat consumption, from which you can still get help for healing, how you are encouraged, and what I earnestly wish for you. Don't lose heart, but have hope in God's help. He is able to give you healing, not only physical, but also spiritual. When our outer man decays, then our inner man is renewed. You write that you are submissive to God’s will regarding your illness, but you lament the fact that you may be a burden to others. It’s in vain that you accept it this way. I am sure that all your relatives and those around you take part in you not only out of kinship and closeness, but also out of Christian feeling, and nature itself encourages us to have compassion for those close to us, and religion inspires us to have compassion for the sick, for which they will receive reward in the future life. For the Lord accepts this service as if He were served. Do not hesitate to leave your spiritual pursuits when your bodily strength is exhausted. Be content with your heartfelt cry to God and thanksgiving for His mercy towards you shown in this visit. According to your disposition, before starting treatment, fulfill your Christian duty - take Holy Communion. Mysteries, may the Lord bless you, although at home, since it is impossible to be in church. Regarding the consumption of food during fasting, which is not permitted by the Church, I cannot give you this permission. And when you use it, take it in the form of a medicine prescribed by a doctor, and then repent of this before your spiritual father and receive permission from him. We cannot allow what is not permitted by the Church, but to allow those who repent according to their deed is given power from God; just don’t have any confusion, but calm down in spirit. In your first letter you write about your grief, from which you become irritable, and this is very harmful in your current painful situation. Submit such a test to the will of God, then you can calm down more comfortably. From the last letter I see that you have more confidence. I don’t know why you didn’t mention my letter; If you didn’t receive it, then it’s a great pity, maybe on the occasion of your trip to Moscow, or they didn’t deliver it to you, thinking not to upset the illness further with a letter. I ask you to inform me, at least in small lines, about the state of your health. Having wished you relief from your illness and a complete recovery and peace of mind, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the sinful I.M. On the 5th of July I received your writing, written with a weak hand; Seeing that your health has weakened, I feel sorry for you. But don't despair; If it pleases God, then you will receive recovery; what is not possible from man, then from God all things are possible (Luke 18:27). You write that your feeling inspires you that you must prepare for the exodus from this life into eternal life, and you ask to instruct you how to prepare for this time. As for this, we must always prepare for this; for no one knows the hour of death, especially those who are in illness. - However, to be nourished by the hope of continuation of life and to fulfill Christian duty by accepting St. the mystery doesn't interfere. Let us place our hope not in our own deeds, virtues and deeds, but in the ineffable mercy of God and the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ, without which none of our deeds could save us. And if the enemy brings troublesome thoughts about sins and brings hopelessness, then also resort to the merits of the Son of God: for He came to save sinners; for them he shed His most pure blood and took upon himself the sins of the whole world, suffering death on the cross. May this be our hope and consolation to receive eternal blessings. All who leave here in faith and hope of a future life and with the acceptance of the sacraments of the church, we believe that the mercy of God will be done to them. Even if they have sinned in this life, the Church, our mother, offers prayers for them, with bloodless sacrifice, church services and psalmody, and also the alms done by the poor for their souls brings them great benefit. Don’t worry about following the rules; if you are sick, God will not exact them from you, but when you can read something even while sitting, don’t doubt it. And most importantly, bring patience to God. illness and thanksgiving for this merciful visit. For illnesses and sins cleanse and give time to think about the past time spent. Glory to all of God’s inscrutable love for us. I wish that, with your grateful patience and gratitude, you receive peace of mind and physical health. I remain an unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. On July 7th I sent to you, and on the 12th I received your letter dated July 2nd, by which you inform about your illness, which has brought you to great weakness and your intention to go to the Crimea for two years; but you don’t write when you undertake this journey, and therefore I am writing this letter at random, I don’t know whether it will find you at home or not. And my desire is to guide you with God’s blessing, so that you may receive healing there, both physical and mental. Don't be embarrassed that you can't have spiritual activities and be in church. All this is encompassed in the grateful patience of the illness sent to you from God. You are the living Church of God (2 Cor. 6:16), writes St. Apostle. And so, we must take care of this church, that is, the preservation of our heartfelt dispensation, in accordance with the will of God, in humility of spirit; May the most merciful Lord Himself give you consolation, accepting your desire to fulfill His holy will and please Him. When God’s will is done, you will visit us too, be peaceful and calm, and thank the Lord for everything. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, unworthy pilgrim, great sinner I.M. July 17, 1851. In your last letter you write about your intention to go to the Caucasus to restore your health; May the Lord bless your journey and help you obtain perfect health, for the glory of God and for the comfort of your neighbors who love you and care about your healing. You mention the books that you took with you, read them, but do not burden yourself, and do not worry about the rule if there is any omission. For those who are sick, you need peace of mind, then you can have your mind and heart closer to God, and you can easily acquire patience with thanksgiving. In my last letter I wrote to you quite a lot regarding your arrangement; I won't repeat it now. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain a desirer of your health and salvation, an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. July 24, 1854. In past letters, I wrote to you enough about what was needed, now it remains to wish you a safe journey, and may the Lord strengthen you in this. And further, may he send a complete recovery, to the glory of God and to the consolation of your loved ones (who care so much about you and accompany you on your long journey). Thank the Lord that you gratefully accept the visit of illness; Great benefits are gained by those who endure illnesses with thanksgiving, for these, instead of our great deeds, are accepted by the Lord and rewarded with imperishable rewards. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. July 24, 1854. You are now on the road, may the Lord bless you and preserve your health on this journey, and grant you peace and tranquility of mind, which is necessary to restore your physical health. Thanks be to the Lord, who strengthens you and gives you feelings of complacency, so as not to lose heart and not become discouraged in illness. May faith in the Lord and in His providence, which cares for our salvation, be a healing balm and consolation for you. Holy Scripture assures us that if our outer man decays, then the inner man is renewed (2 Cor. 4:16), and in another place: if the earthly church of our body is destroyed, the creation of the imam is from God, a church not made by hands, eternal in heaven (2 Cor. 5:1). Let faith and hope comfort you, and cling to God with love, for He visits you out of His love, bringing salvation to you. And the Lord is able to grant you healing, if He sees that it will be for your benefit, to the glory of His holy name. I am very glad that you have calmed down about......, may God grant her to find the true path and peace in her journey, I earnestly wish her salvation. I hope that you will write about your arrival and the success of your healing treatment, which I earnestly wish for you. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain your pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. August 27, 1851. Glory to God, who helped you make such a long journey and arrive at your place of use. The hope of obtaining health can greatly encourage the spirit and strengthen; and you be trustworthy and trust in God’s help. He can give you healing when He sees it for the benefit of your soul. Don’t worry about the fact that you can’t be in church: God sees your disposition and desire, and will accept it instead of doing it, and even if you offer a small prayer, but with humility, then the sacrifice will be acceptable before God. Order books from Kyiv, God bless you. Thank you for informing me about yourself and the region there; I wish that the beneficial climate there will be beneficial for your health. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. October 2, 1851. You describe the operation performed on you, very dangerous and terrible, but with the help of God, according to your faith, you endured it insensitively. God grant that this risk and courage of yours will be crowned with the good success of obtaining much-desired health, and both you and your relatives, having been consoled by it, will return to their homeland safely. When using your physical means, confirm your faith in the Lord, who provides for everyone, and surrender to His holy will; by calming yourself, you will also benefit from physical means. And especially, as I see, the frequent communion of the most pure and life-giving Mysteries of Christ calms you down, which I advise you not to abandon in the future. Yes, I wanted to invite you to perform the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing on yourself, but I don’t know that your relatives will accept this, according to the generally accepted opinion in the world, as if it means death, and this can greatly upset them. But they do not know at what end this sacrament is directed. It is based on the words of St. Apostle James, ch. 5 tbsp. 14: If any of you is sick, let him call the elders of the church, and let him pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up: and even if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. You see that this sacrament does not bring one closer to death, but gives health, contrary to human opinion; I am not forcing you to do this, but if your family would accept it generously, it would be very good and beneficial for your health, mental and physical. In our monastery, thank God, everything is fine, and I don’t boast about my complete health, but on my feet. Asking for God's blessing on you, with the desire for your health and salvation, and with my respect, I remain forever a pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. November 5, 1851. You write that you are not getting relief from your illness, and perhaps because you are impatient and unhumble. What to do? Your illness itself is an involuntary cross and involuntarily forces you to be patient; although sometimes you become faint-hearted, you then faithfully repent of this before God. I know that you believe in His all-wise providence and that He, out of His love for you, gave you this illness in order to reward you with eternal bliss in the future life, which should strengthen you in patience: the passions of the present time are unworthy of the glory that desires to appear in us (Rom. 8:18), writes St. Apostle. And no matter how severe and long-lasting the illnesses here are, they all have an end, and the future life has no end. Strengthen yourself with hope in patience. I have already written to you about the use of food in your illness, in what mind; be happy with that reasoning. May the Lord bless you and give you spiritual consolation, and with it, when His will is, then physical health, which I fervently wish for you, with my respect I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. November 19, 1851. Thank God that from your letter I see about your relief from your illness. The Lord is merciful and He is able to grant you complete healing to the glory of His most holy name. It is a pity that they have such a prejudice against that which heals and revitalizes the soul. It seems to me, is it possible for you, not being in a desperate painful situation, having peacefully talked with them, make a promise to allow you to start this sacred meal every month, not because you despair of life and without daring, but feeling from this the peace of conscience and spirit, and physical means can have a more effective effect on your mortal composition, you can say that you have advice and a confessor for this. During fasting, healthy people should begin these sacraments; and for the patient, the more often, the more life-saving and useful. When they agree in this way, they will no longer look at it as a mortal preparation, but as a saving spiritual medicine. If you are forced to eat food on unauthorized days, you take it as medicine, and not arbitrarily for voluptuousness, but compulsorily for healing, and during confession you must certainly confess to your confessor and accept permission from him and be calm. No matter how long you stay there, I only wish you to receive complete healing. Asking for you the peace and blessing of God, I remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. February 22, 1851 Most Honorable of the Lord N N You write that you have great sorrows, and ask for prayers from me, a sinner, to help you endure sorrows, and you are afraid of temptations that you will not be able to endure them. Although I feel like a sinner before God, according to your faith, I do not deny “for those who commanded” to pray for them, so that the Lord will give you what you ask from Him, which is for your benefit. Feeling sorry for you, I find it necessary to offer you advice for your strengthening. You must believe that no sorrow can happen to us unless the Lord allows it. And He sends sorrows out of love for us, or as punishment for sins, in order to cleanse us from them, or to test our faith, and as a warning against sins. And that God’s very punishment comes from God’s love for us, Holy Scripture teaches us: for the Lord loves him, punishes him, and beats every son who accepts him. If you endure punishment, as if God is found to you as sons, if you are without punishment, then by nature you are adulterers, and not sons (Heb. 12:6. 7. 8). You see, when we are punished, we are found as children of the Lord, and if we do not have punishment, then we are likened to adulterers, and not to our own children. So when you have sorrows, then know that you are not forgotten by the Lord, and He provides for you; and be sure of this, that He will not send temptation beyond the measure, but with temptation He will also send excess. For the sorrows inflicted on you, do not blame anyone who insults you, for the Lord will punish you, and people are only God’s instruments with which He acts. When you blame people and are cowardly in sorrows, you will burden yourself with them more, 22 but with generosity you will calm down. I wish that the Lord consoles you with His mercy, and with respect I remain the desirer of your health and prosperity, much-sinned I.M. January 10, 1851. Most Honorable of the Lord N N Exactly, I did not receive your letter sent to me on September 10th, as you heard from... and from your brother. I don’t know the reason for this, but it was clear that it was not God’s will for me to receive it; Now, having received your writing, sent on the 10th of January, I am prompted to respond, although not with my own hand, but by dictation, on the occasion of an eye disease. You seek guidance from me in your life; it is commendable that you do not trust yourself and your mind; but, due to my lack of dignity and stupidity, it is very difficult to give you the correct answer; for, looking at my life, and seeing myself having done nothing good, and offering others the path of life, I am afraid that I will be condemned no more. And since you had as your mentor the great holy father and shepherd of the Church of Christ, who planted good seeds in the field of your heart, what can I, the worst, teach you, not having wealth from my deeds in the treasury of my heart? But not even though I completely sadden you with my refusal, as much as I can, admonishing the Lord for my darkened mind, remember the writings of St. fathers, I suggest to you, and first of all, I will say that you remember the unforgettable instructions given to you by His Eminence A...., and try to fulfill them; and since he did not bless you to enter the monastery, but to live in your hermitage, then do this. He (the Eminence) of course foresaw that you, due to your illness, could not bear the monastic sorrows, and you would have frequent visits, interrupting your silent dispensation, and through them the greater sorrows could multiply, and since you, living in your hermitage, did not avoid many visits, which the Eminence feared - that he would meet you in the monastery, it seems that limiting yourself to belittling them - did not hurt would; for it would be in accordance with his care for your silent dispensation. Are you afraid of sin, by refusing to offend those who visit you? How was Arseny the Great not afraid to offend those who came to him by refusing and not paying attention to their questions? And we see many of those who lived a silent life not caring about the fact that they were insulted for refusing. However, I am not binding you, I am not prohibiting you from accepting people, but I am offering my reasoning, leaving it to your free will to choose what is useful. I do not know exactly and in detail the image of your silent life, and without going through it myself, I cannot say anything on my own for your instruction, but I advise you to read the books of St. fathers on silence: John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, especially the 55th word, and the letter of St. Simeon, Metropolitan of Euchaitis, to John the monk and recluse (which is in the book: The Rapturous Classes, from page 208 onwards), and especially from the section: “having known God’s love for us...” and further, in which you will find instruction and guidance for your residence. You mention the rise of an ancient enemy against you with despondency and melancholy. This, according to the understanding of the holy fathers, is a spiritual cross, which many of them experienced, and it happens, by God’s permission, according to our constitution, in different ways: sometimes to test our love for God, and sometimes to punish us for our arrogance and pride. Read in the Philokalia, y Callistus and Ignatius, ch. 85th; there you will see the difference in such temptations; a y Isaac the Syrian, in the 78th word (it is said): the rest befits us, in times of these temptations, to have two certain ones, opposed to each other and in no way similar to the essence, these being the essence: joy and fear. For joy, as if on the way, by walking from the saints, and moreover from the Life-Giving One, we find all that is walking, but we must have fear, lest we be tempted by these things for the guilt of pride,” and in the 79th word: “all circumstances and sorrows have nothing to do with the essence of patience, their torment is purely. For a man's patience will avert his misadventures. A mother’s cowardice is torment. Patience is the mother of consolation, and a certain strength, even from the space of the heart, is usually lost. Whenever God desires to insult a person in the most possible way, he allows him to fall into the hands of cowardice. This gives rise to the strength of strong despondency in him, and in him he tastes spiritual pain, which is the taste of hell. And from this we induce a spirit of frenzy, from which the darkness of temptations emanate: confusion, rage, blasphemy, reproach of good things, thoughts of corruption, moving from country to country, and the like. Even if you say, is there any guilt? I tell you what your negligence is; Heaven cares for you to seek this healing. Because there is one healing for all, through it, through his hand, anyone finds consolation in his soul. And what is this? Humility of heart. Apart from this, no one can destroy the stronghold of these evils. And moreover, you gain the overwhelming nan. Do not be angry with me, for I tell you the truth: you did not seek this with all your soul. If you want, come to his country and see what the destruction of your evil brings to you. In proportion to your humility, you will be given patience in your misadventures. And by your patience your love for God is magnified. And because of your love, your joy in the Holy Spirit is great. Our generous Father, who truly exists as sons, when He deigns to create a way out of their temptations, does not take temptations away from them, but gives them patience in their temptations. And they accept all this goodness with the hand of their patience, to the perfection of their souls.” Consistent with these teachings of St. fathers, consider your dispensation, and apply healing to your ulcers, which consists in humility of heart, as St. writes above. Isaac. He writes about this great treasure in the 46th word: “Humility and besides deeds forgives many sins, but on the contrary, without it, the essence is useless, but they also do a lot of evil to us. Otherwise, with humility, as if you had died, forgive your iniquities. Just as salt is in every food, so humility is in every virtue, and the strength of many sins can be crushed. It is necessary to grieve about all this incessantly, thinking with humility and sadness; and if we acquire this, we will be made sons of God, and besides good deeds, we will be represented by God; Because without him, all our deeds are vanity, and all our virtues, and all our deeds.” You mentioned your love for God, that your heart burns fieryly with love for God. I have no doubt about it, but God’s love does not consist only in the fact that for some time we feel a feeling of tenderness and tears; this can be attributed more to the gifts of God, or a reward from Him, and about love it is said: he who loves Me keeps My commandments (John 14:21); then, considering these feelings to be love for God, you can be deceived by an opinion about yourself, for which sometimes temptations similar to those you experience are allowed: sadness, melancholy, darkness, etc. When you read the 55th word of Isaac the Syrian, you can understand much better what God’s love consists of. I heard from your brother, and you yourself write, that you are constantly ill. Of course, this is not without the providence of God, who sent it to you for spiritual benefit, and perhaps for preservation from the strongest temptations; thank Him for His fatherly love for you and bear your cross with patience. If you find in the teachings offered to you St. fathers for your own spiritual benefit - give thanks to the Lord God, who admonished me to write these to you, and pray for me, a sinner, who wishes you mental and physical health, and salvation. I. M. February 10, 1851 You write that, in preparing for the sacrament of St. the mysteries of Christ, you could pray with feeling and sometimes with tears, from the beginning of the week; but then the arrival of your relatives and other absent-mindedness deprived you of these feelings; and upon arrival home, on Friday, you could no longer muster these touching feelings; and although there were tears during confession, they then approached the sacrament of communion with some kind of cooling, despite efforts to return feelings of tenderness and to ask for tears of repentance and love; and although you have received calm and patience when irritated, you still do not have that humble, perfect devotion to the Savior, that ardent love that sometimes produced tears and joy of the heart. These are your exact words; from these I notice how high you soar, and you dream of soon reaching such a height, or the pinnacle of virtues in the love of God. It’s like starting a little boy to learn to read and write, and he, having mastered the alphabet, would dream of himself that he had already achieved all wisdom; or who, having signed up for service, suddenly would like to be a general; or who, having stepped on the first step of the ladder, thought that he had already reached the top; and therefore I find it necessary to talk a little about this with you, admonishing the Lord and giving a word to my meager mind, for your benefit, not from myself, but bringing to memory the fatherly writings. If you consider such feelings as you write about to be the ardent love of God, then you can be deceived by this and suffer great harm, as we see from stories, and in our times there have been cases, so it is difficult to recover from such delusion; Perhaps you yourself have read how the Monk Isaac of Pechersk and many other, ancient and modern ascetics who walked the path of spiritual life were deceived. It is also similar to how someone, seeing a flower beginning to bloom on a tree, and thinking that it was fruit, would pick it with it: he would never receive the fruit. The love of God consists in fulfilling the commandments of God, according to His word: he who loves Me keeps My commandments (John 14:21) how far we are from this observance of the commandments of God, and consequently from His love, everyone, having tested himself, can see, for they extend even to the love of enemies, and teach deep humility: if you do everything commanded, say, as a servant We are without keys, who must be created, created (Luke 17:10), and again: blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3), then how can one fleeting feeling of tenderness or tears be considered the love of God? The mind is secretly carried away by this and acquires arrogance and pride, and is deprived of all of it, but there is no humility here. God showed you that His grace is with us, but He also took it away, so that we do not become arrogant; however, he did not completely deprive him, but hid it from us so that we would humbly fall to Him. He sometimes wants to allow extended darkness and spiritual darkness, coldness and petrification, so that we consider ourselves the last and worst of all, and would not seek spiritual consolations, considering ourselves unworthy of them; This is what perfect, humble devotion to the Savior consists of. He walked a sorrowful path and even in His prayer to His heavenly Father said: My soul is sorrowful unto death (Matthew 26:38), but He surrendered to His will, and He commanded us to follow the path of the cross, not joy. You, thinking to find the love of God in consoling feelings, are looking not for God, but for yourself, that is, for your consolation, and you deviate from the sad path, considering yourself as if lost, without spiritual consolations; on the contrary, deprivation of them humbles us, but does not elevate us. With spiritual consolation and the imaginary love of God, while we have not yet achieved humility, we secretly pray like a Pharisa, without noticing it, but the tax collector’s feeling is far removed from us. He was imbued with his poverty, in a spirit of humility he cried out to the Lord: God, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13), not at all seeking consolation, but asking only for mercy, and he was not mistaken - he received justification. So it would be fitting for us to see our own sins, to recognize our poverty, and even more so to see how far we are from acquiring the love of God; and in a humble feeling of repentance, acquire at least a small amount of 23 publican’s gold for yourself, and not dream highly of God’s love; when the robe of our soul is still defiled, how can we dare to enter the chamber of the heavenly Bridegroom and recline at His supper? We must be afraid that they will be thrown out of there. Saint John Climacus writes that the Lord, for the sacred deeds of His servants, rewards some at the beginning of them, others during their passage, others at the end, and some at death itself, according to the humility of each; then you see that even to the point of death there is no need to despair, not having any spiritual gifts, but to humbly consider yourself unworthy; but do not give up doing God’s commandments and spiritual labors. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes in the 2nd word: “whoever, with the second part - vision (speculation), and not the first - deed (doing), enduring the annoyance of the cross, wants to ascend to the cross, the wrath of God finds upon him (as said above - delusion), and even God comes about himself, you are not aware, but if the place is clean and not dirty; If the apple of your soul is not pure, then do not dare to look at the surroundings of the sun, and do not destroy even that smallest dawn, which is simple faith, and the small deeds that you do.”... and so on. According to all these truths presented to you about the danger of being carried away into heights and seeking consoling feelings, try to reassure yourself that the Lord is merciful to you, and by accepting St. His Mystery has given you peace; and in humility bring your prayers to Him, and try to fulfill His commandments, and leave comforting feelings to His will, when to grant them to you or not, so that they do not harm you; and do not think in front of them that you already have the love of God; This is a dangerous seduction, a lofty dream! I even believe that the Lord carefully allowed you to deviate into absent-mindedness at this time, so that you would not be carried away into comforting feelings and suffer greater harm. Be humble - and the Lord will save you, which is what I fervently wish for you, your unworthy pilgrim, much sinner I.M. March 12, 1851 You are asking me about a matter that is beyond my dignity, measure and reason, and with such an ardent feeling that if you do not agree with your wishes, it seems that you will not bear it. I can say: I am cramped from everywhere: to give you advice that is in accordance with your wishes and against the will of your mother, I am afraid that I might make a mistake in this; to say in disagreement with your wishes is to offend you too much, and whether there will be any benefit from one or the other, who can know that there is only one God, then it is best to pray to Him and with faith surrender to His holy will; as He pleases, and whatever is for your benefit, let Him do so, according to His ineffable mercy. He will do so. If you are a party to this person, then he will remove every obstacle and create the possible out of the impossible; and on the contrary, when there is no His will for this, then all your efforts and searches and enterprises will remain in vain. You must be firmly convinced of this, that before God the whole future is open, just like the present event. You should be wary of (this): desiring without fail how and in what you intend to create your happiness. God sometimes allows our desire to be fulfilled, but only, instead of happiness, we encounter a contrary fate, especially when someone desires something out of passion; in you, it seems, it is deeply rooted in your heart. I have seen many examples of this; and only late and misplaced repentance remained. Moreover, it is also dangerous that your mother does not agree with your intention; How can one begin such an important task without the mother’s consent? Here is my advice and desire for you, may the Lord arrange it as He pleases and it will be useful to you; for which, I repeat to you, pray to God and the Mother of God, commending yourself to His Holy will and the intercession of the Mother of God. I.M. June 12, 1851 I received the letter you sent from July 10, from which I see that the most merciful Lord is keeping you on the stormy sea of ​​life and has not yet been submerged in the waves of it, although there were, apparently, strong attacks of the waves, through your weaknesses; but God’s mercy and His long-suffering, apparently, arranges for the best for you. He did not even allow the impending fate for you to come to fruition, but destroyed the plans of the world, which wants to tie you to itself with strong ties. Bring silent thanks for this to the most merciful Lord, who cares so much about your salvation, and have the firm intention of fulfilling your vow; and while you are still sailing on the stormy ocean of the world, have the fear of God as your helmsman, and repentance as your rowers, who will guide you to a sweet haven. Repentance, I say, not only when you come to your confessor for confession, but always have a guarantee of it in your heart, remembering your sins, which you briefly remembered, feeling who you offended with them, you will more easily recover from repeating them. You ask in bewilderment why the Lord will not send you quick deliverance from the world; and you yourself, on my behalf, answer: “for pride,” and immediately justify yourself: “My God, should I be proud before You?” and so on. I cannot tell you why the Lord does not allow your desire to be fulfilled. The destinies of the Lord are many, and they are incomprehensible to us; but that you have pride, like all of us, are not alien to it, only to different degrees, is proven by your falls. Saint John Climacus writes: “Where the fall followed, pride preceded it.” Although we think that there is no pride in us, the fruits prove that there is. We also cannot say about ourselves that we have humility, because we do things contrary to it, and where there is no humility, it is obvious that pride takes its place. Because where there is no light, there is darkness. So, instead of justification, one must have consciousness. Your audacity in writing in blood about serving God and the brethren is completely unnecessary; It is enough to have good will and the shedding of spiritual blood, during temptations and struggles with passions through experience: for military courage and bravery, as well as zeal for the king, are shown during a clear battle with enemies. Therefore, think about spiritual struggle, only here you need to have the weapon of humility, which crushes all the forces and networks of the enemy, and not insolence! I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. July 28, 1851. You write that your aunt……. since he has been using my advice, he has enjoyed peace of mind; why you, having a sad mood and confusion, due to many bewilderments and fears, decided to write to me and ask for my advice and consolation. To this let me tell you: although I am a sinner and have done nothing good myself, I cannot refuse only the fact that I stretched out my sinful hand and dipped my pen in ink to inscribe words on a soulless charter, not from my feeble-mindedness, but whatever pleases God to put into my darkened mind, for those who ask by faith, for their benefit; for He is strong and can open dumb lips for the benefit of His people: and therefore I assure you that if your aunt received peace, it was not from my unworthiness or reason that she received it, but, according to her faith, the Lord gave it to her, and she should bring thanks to the Lord, for this is a betrayal of the right hand of the Most High. From your letter I see that you, with complete confidence in me, a sinner, have expressed the events of your life, and your present situation: I do not dare refuse you the same as I said above, but I ask you to pray to the Lord to grant me a word for your benefit, and confirm your faith in the Mighty One and the God of Minds, for without Him we cannot do anything good; and do not think that I myself could teach you anything, but, according to your faith, that the Lord will enlighten you, I will write it; listen to this word: according to your faith, therefore, I am only an instrument, but God Himself acts, although all mankind may be saved and come into the understanding of truth. I hope that you will not offend me if you find some kind of accusation in some of your actions, which should be part of your benefit. In the events of your life, some features of your weakness are visible, and your first, however long-past, intense grief was for your deceased daughter; you, in that case, did not have obedience to the will of God when it pleased Him to take your daughter for eternal pleasure in the kingdom of heaven; and for this you have grieved and sinned a lot; could you have known what adventures in life she would encounter? We often see parents deeply worried about their children, seeing their unhappy life, and saying: “It would be better if you died as a baby.” But God knows everything, the future as the present and the past, and His all-wise destinies are incomprehensible to us, only faith and obedience to Him can calm us down. Second. The feeling of your coldness towards your spouse is, as it were, retribution for his previous coldness towards you. You yourself see that this is not good and it torments you, but you are unable to change your feelings. Remember that the sacrament of marriage is very important, for it is approved by God himself, and the first duty of the spouses is to love each other and remain faithful until the end of their lives; and you see in yourself a feeling of coldness, which seems to come from some feeling of resentment for his previous coldness; therefore, there is sin, and your conscience denounces you, but you cannot change your feelings yourself; then it is necessary, having realized your guilt before God, to ask for His help, to forgive your neighbors, and you yourself will receive forgiveness of your sins from God. Third. The feeling of distrust in your mother’s love that weighs on you. Of course, you know the duty of children to their parents, and seeing a disgusting feeling in yourself, you cannot be at peace, because this is a sin for which you must repent before God and ask for His help in correction, as I said above, and forgive your neighbors for their sins; and you can see reflection and consideration of her previous actions with you, upsetting your peace of mind. This must now be left and left to the providence of God, who has arranged your fate this way, according to His destinies incomprehensible to you. Who can resist His will? Yes, you cannot call your fate unhappy, just put aside your opinions about the past, and do not consider anyone to blame for your past sorrows. However, for this very thing, that you poured out your feelings, although in front of a sinner, but with the consciousness of your weaknesses, the Lord will give you help, with your efforts, to free yourself from these nasty feelings. From your other actions I see that you have a desire to bring yourself closer to God and receive salvation. This is the whole duty of every Christian; but this is accomplished through the fulfillment of God’s commandments, which all consist of love for God and neighbor, and extend to loving enemies. Read the Gospel, there you will find the way, the truth and life; preserve the Orthodox faith and the statutes of St. Churches, learn from the writings of church pastors and teachers and formulate your life according to their teachings; but prayer rules alone cannot bring us any benefit. I do not condemn your rules that you write about, and I leave it to your will to continue them, but I advise you to try as much as possible to pay your attention to matters of love for your neighbors: in relation to your mother, spouse and children; take care to educate them in the Orthodox faith and good morality - to the people subordinate to you and to all your neighbors. St. Apostle Paul, counting the different types of virtues and deeds of self-sacrifice, says: “Even if I do this and that, I have no love, it will profit me nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3). I noticed that in your prayer rules you are looking for spiritual pleasures; Although they are pleasant, they are very dangerous and seductive. A person, being in this position, thinks that he is intoxicated with the love of God; and only gets carried away by opinion; and when it multiplies over time, then instead of consolation it is deprived of peace, for it is only in this that it believes that salvation can be found when it has consolation, but when deprived of it it becomes confused and has no peace; but one must pray humbly, not seeking consolation, feeling one’s sinfulness and fearing deception. Even if dryness happens, do not give up on prayer, considering yourself unworthy of consolation, according to the word of St. fathers: “Whoever does not think that he is a sinner, his prayer is not acceptable before God,” and He, seeing even in dryness the zeal and humility in prayer, will accept it. When to send consolation to someone, that is, to whom it will be harmless, this consists in His holy will and omniscience, for this is the gift of God, and not our diligence. Many, having received this gift, instead of humility became arrogant, thinking that they had already become rich, and then reached a disastrous mental state, deprived of peace of mind; That is why the Lord does not give this feeling until a person completely humbles himself. The humble one no longer falls into arrogance and preserves the gift with humility. So I advise you not to be exalted in visiting with consolation, but to turn your thoughts to your sins; Do not be embarrassed in any way, but believe that the Lord will accept your zeal. However, not only prayer is needed for our salvation, but also deeds of love, as I wrote above, which is what we need to ask the Lord to give us his help, and if correction is not corrected, to bring repentance; and even if they have done everything commanded, they must consider themselves inextricable servants, according to the commandment of the Lord (Luke 17:10). We are obliged to fulfill the decree of the Church regarding fasts and laws, according to the commandment of the Lord: if anyone disobeys the Church, let him be like a pagan and a publican (Matthew 18:17). And according to the teachings of St. Apostle: The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). And again, according to the commandment of the Lord to the Apostles, and in them and their successors, the shepherds of the church: listen to you, He listens to Me, and reject you, You are rejected from Me, reject Me, the one who sent Me is rejected (Luke 10:18). Many, although they know this truth, are afraid of the world, which will condemn them and laugh at them for doing this; but also against this there is a commandment of the Lord: whoever will be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, and the Son of man will be ashamed of him before His angels (Luke 9:26). In the event of any necessary need for violation of church decrees in some way, from weakness or from something else, then with contrition of heart and pain about this, one must repent before the Lord and humble oneself, and not think that this means nothing; for this is a grave sin. And about the fact that you imposed a fast on yourself: bread and water, and did not fulfill it, I advise you not to be embarrassed, for your promise had no reasoning, and was undertaken beyond your strength, and God does not demand greater measures from us. If you receive spiritual benefit from this advice offered to you, then give thanks to the most merciful Lord, who cares about your salvation, and who admonished me and helped me write these lines. I remain the wisher of peace, health, prosperity and salvation to you, much-sinned I.M. June 28, 1851. Beloved in the Lord N N Thank you for notifying me of your arrival in T-b; although it was boring when you arrived, you couldn’t find your battery there; but through this you must learn patience, for it is necessary in our life. Many cases may arise through which our faith in God and patience are tested; we must firmly believe in the providence of God, that He leads us along unknown paths, but without constraining our autocracy. God gave us reason, and free will, and a commandment - what to do and what not to do; according to our choice by our mind and will of one or the other, we are subject to reward or punishment here, or in the next century; and since we are often subject to transgressions of God’s commandments, He, in His mercy, sends us sorrows, punishing us with them, turning us away from sins and leading us to repentance. He forgives and accepts repentant sinners like the publican, the prodigal son and the thief; and those who do not repent and do not correct themselves will face eternal punishment. Of course, you know these truths, for this is a Christian teaching, but I wrote to you as a reminder, and since you asked me for guidance, and you will face many trials in the field of your life. When you have the fear of God, remember His commandments, try to fulfill them, and ask God for help in all your affairs, not at all thinking highly and proudly about yourself, but seeking humility, which brings us a lot of good; then you will receive God's mercy. Always, that is, every day, pray to God morning and evening; and on holidays go to church, avoid bad associations and temptations, card games, etc. In all this, ask God for help. Asking for God's blessing on you, I remain a wisher for your health, mental and physical, a pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. August 25, 1851. You write that you were honored to receive in your home the tree of the life-giving cross of the Lord, or simply a part of that cross itself. Thanks be to the Lord that He has made you worthy to touch and kiss such a shrine. Imagining the passions of our Savior, which He endured for the sake of our salvation, we should not be faint-hearted in the sorrowful cases that happen to us, or, like you, in the melancholy and boredom you feel. Remember how He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, what sorrow he felt from the sins of the whole world weighing on Him alone, that He cried out to the Father: My soul is sorrowful unto death (Matthew 26:38), and at the same time showed submission to the Father: “Yet I do not do what I will, but You will” (Mark 14:36). Who are we and Who is He? What a comparison! And He suffered for our sins, and we suffered for ours, then how much more must we, with submission to the will of God, bear our burden placed on us through our fault. I explained to you that the cause of your spiritual sorrow is arrogance; which you yourself admit, that when you do good, you become exalted; and when you do something evil, you become despondent and faint-hearted; But in these cases it is necessary to have a middle ground: not to be proud of good things, but to attribute your corrections to God; and in the case of the wicked, do not lose heart or be faint-hearted, but humble yourself and repent. You don’t see that in this very cowardice there is pride: you are embarrassed that you are not what you should be: there is no longer either humility or repentance; but one must simply, without embarrassment, repent to God, who came to call sinners to repentance, and not the righteous; and thus calm down. That is why you are not allowed to acquire good deeds because you are highly intelligent; and that you are looking for gifts, I conclude from this that you are grieving, that there is no tenderness in prayer and no tears. These are high gifts with which God consoles the humble, but we must consider ourselves unworthy of this. You had these before, but without humility; and you found in them that you were pleasing God with them, and that is why you now have no peace. This is similar to how a farmer sowed seeds in a field, and when it sprang up and began to bloom, he thought that it was a fruit, and plucked it (the growth), as a result of which he lost the fruit. The same can be understood here. For every thing there is time. Through all this you must humble yourself and not despair of God’s mercy. The very cross that weighs you down with anguish is a visitation of God’s mercy; for consolation could not bring you such benefit as patience and bearing the cross; but you are not abandoned by the consolations that you receive from time to time. Give thanks to God in everything. I wish for your health and prosperity, with my respect I remain the great sinner I.M. September 3, 1851. I have no indignation at you because in the first letter I did not explain everything that was on your conscience: everyone has the task of convicting themselves to others of their weaknesses, which of course comes from the impoverishment of humility; and you say: “I hate pride.” Where there is no light of humility, the darkness of pride must occupy; but you understand worldly pride, and thinking not to have it, you are also carried away by this opinion into another kind of pride, which you do not understand, and maybe it is the reason for your passion for that...... that bothers you. Isn't your opinion about pride - that you hate it - similar to the fact that I am “not like other people”? Accept these accusations from your true desire to know yourself, and know that pride is the cause of all our falls and disasters; What does the prophet king David say about: first, let us not even humble ourselves, but those who have sinned; and then: it is good for me, for he humbled me (Ps. 118). I remember very much what you described about your life, and how your fate worked out against your wishes. But when we believe that the destinies of the Lord are throughout the entire earth, and that we, along with all creation, are subject to God’s providence, then you are not excluded from this all-encompassing, paternal providence. Do you know what could have befallen you in life if you had married out of passion? Very often we see that there are very bad consequences, which would cost a lot of work and time to describe, and they are most often before our eyes. But the Lord has hitherto preserved you from such cases, and will preserve you; although it seems to you that your life is sorrowful, which you yourself are still burdening, not seeing God’s providence in this, and not repenting to it with childish devotion. Do not grieve that you are not standing on the long and wide path of pleasures that lead to destruction; but thank God and rejoice that you have deviated from this path; and although you are not entirely on a sorrowful path, you are on the middle path (you say that for nine years you led the saddest life, but did you foresee what would have happened otherwise?), which is getting closer and closer to the kingdom of heaven. Do not think that you seem criminal and despicable in my eyes; on the contrary, I sympathize with you even more, seeing you in struggle and captivity. You yourself recognize your sinfulness and ask for forgiveness, but meanwhile you are carried away by sinful pleasure. Your conscience and feelings do not deceive you that this is a sin, but people deceive you, clothing it in innocence. Thank God for awakening your conscience and forcing you to seek reassurance through repentance for indulging in feelings, enjoying the forbidden fruit, albeit mentally; but you cannot rely on this, the enemy has many intrigues....., and mental victory is already a crime of the commandment, and requires repentance, although not to the same extent...., but the heart is wounded, and imaginary pleasure is fragile. Ask God to take this idol from your heart, and have the will to do so; do not be afraid to condemn yourself to a sad life again, God is able to give you consolation, look for it in God. You say that the love of God in you has not diminished; but it seems, and indeed, this is deception: he who loves Me, keeps My commandments (John. 14:15), and as we are far from this, it is better to present to Him the humble consciousness of our sinfulness, and we will ask for forgiveness of sins, and be afraid of that lofty thought about ourselves. Do not despair of God’s mercy and help for you. He is able to give you true reason, and in it there is consolation in the field of your life. Of course, you are still young and would like sensual consolations, but God knows more than you what is good for you. Your responsibility: raising children, and doing housework can also entertain and console you; for you were put on this by the providence of God. Read spiritual books, although not so much, but you will find strengthening and consolation. Pray to God with humility, for God accepts the prayer of the humble. Tell the secret of your heart to the one for whom, according to the Lord, you have faith and affection, and all this will be joyful to you in your life. Observance of fasts and fasting days is necessary. This is not a human invention, but, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, it was decreed and legitimized by the Church and Councils, and the foundation and Head of the Church is Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He, the Church, invested His Church with such power that if anyone disobeys the Church, you will be like a pagan and a tax collector (Matthew 18:17), and also said to the Apostles, and among them to the shepherds: listen to you, He listens to Me, and: discard you, Me is discarded; discard Me, the One who sent Me is discarded (Luke 10:16 ). Then only repentance can reconcile us with this crime; and when it is done with contempt, then I can no longer say anything. May the Lord have mercy and bless you. I remain a true wisher of your health, peace and salvation, and an unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. September 3, 1851 Venerable in the Lord N N With your sisters, I wish you peace, health and prosperity! I received your writing dated September 8th: I sincerely regret for you that your health and sorrows weaken your strength. What help or word of consolation can I give you? I am truly perplexed. Faith in the Lord alone can strengthen and comfort you. It is not without God’s providence that sorrows and temptations are sent to you. He knows your strength and tempts your faith, just as gold is tempted in a crucible - and it becomes pure: so you too, through the temptations of sorrows and illnesses, are cleansed from the filth of sin. And when there were no sorrows, the passions would have a stronger effect on you, not only to the point of exhaustion; For the sorrows here, the Lord will reward you with blessed pleasure in the next century. You, although unwillingly, are walking a narrow and regrettable path that leads to the eternal belly; and the long path that leads to destruction is removed from you; do not complain, but give thanks in everything. What can I tell you about myself? I am in a lot of rumors and bustle every day, not having the freedom to do what I need, but everything is with people. Not being able to avoid this, I grieve. The hour of death is unknown; Everyone must appear before the court of God. Asking for the Lord's blessing on you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. September 18, 1851. Most Venerable of the Lord N N 24 I received your letters from K–a... and I offer you my advice: have respect and love for your mother; Besides the fact that she loves you and has maternal care for you, the duty of nature and spiritual law command us to love our parents and value their blessing, for it brings every good to children, both temporary and eternal. If your mother judges something incorrectly, you need to endure it with self-reproach; and when you do not reproach yourself, you accept grief with reproach, although not in words, but in thought, then disorder will arise in your heart, that is, the enemy, the ancient serpent, will pour out his poison, and unpeace will appear on your mother’s face, and this pledge of yours will be proclaimed to her; she, having no information about spiritual work, will be even more offended by you. You, you write, although you parted peacefully, everything is not the same as before, and therefore I advise you, with self-awareness and inner vision, write to her, asking for forgiveness for the insults you caused her, because they gradually crept in and formed a hostile pledge; and all ego is the fruit of pride; when you write with humility, you will be at peace. And besides, since you, having been in K-e, had spiritual consolation, you also had to endure grief; spiritual life requires this: it either precedes or follows temptation. Frequently walking around other people's cells, even with work, is not useful; must listen to the best. Wishing you peace, health and salvation, I remain the great sinner I.M. October 6, 1851. Most Revered in the Lord N N 25 Having a desire to enter the monastic rank, or, as you put it: “they took an oath to be monks,” and ask me for permission, blessings and instructions on where to enter and how to spend your life. I see from your letter that you are of noble rank, and judging by the place of your education, I believe that you are still young in age. But I don’t know your family relationships, and who do you depend on? Do you have parents or any relatives? Although your desire is good, from youth to devote yourself to serving the Lord, but in this you must have freedom, untethered from the world and from everything that can attract and tie us to it. And firstly, you need to ask permission from your parents, or from whom you depend, and when you receive it, then you can visit some monasteries and look at monastic life, can you bear it? And then, with the advice of skillful and experienced fathers, begin to carry out this important undertaking of yours. And most of all, you should pray to the Lord, calling on His blessing for your good intention and help in fulfilling it. You should know that this feat is not without difficulty, for the Lord said: whoever wants to come to Me, let him deny himself, and when he comes after Me, let him take up his cross (Mark 10:21). Self-denial consists, most importantly, in denying one’s will and mind, and submitting them to your shepherd and leader for salvation; through which a person can achieve humility and free himself from passions and sinful actions, and thus, with the help of God, receive salvation. Pray to God, surrender to His holy will; call upon the Mother of God, our intercessor and intercessor for our salvation, for help. Read the book of St. John Climacus and other fathers, instructing in spiritual life and keeping the commandments of God with humility. I can’t tell you anything more this time, and entrusting you to the protection and providence of God, and the intercession of God, I remain the desire for your health and salvation, much sinner I. M. November 13, 1851 Having received your letter and seeing that you are perplexed and embarrassed about some of your circumstances, I take part in your situation and sincerely regret you; I would like to console you and reassure you, but, looking at my many weaknesses, mental and physical, I am afraid that I will be condemned more than ever, offering instructions to others, while I myself have done nothing good. However, not wanting to sadden you with a refusal, I call on God’s help to enlighten me, and, according to your faith, I will offer you my advice. The bewilderment and confusion that trouble you concern you and your children not only in temporary life, but extend to eternity. You, although you want to get rid of inconveniences in life, resort to material means and ask God to send them to you; If you don’t receive it soon, you reach despondency and despair. I offer you what you yourself know: God’s destinies are not confessable! Your destinies are many in the deep (Ps. 36:7), and Your destinies, O Lord, are over all the earth (Ps. 105:7). And the Apostle Paul exclaims: O the depth of the wealth and wisdom and understanding of God! who tested the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor (Rom. 11:33)? From this we can conclude that God’s providence is over all of us, and even a bird will not fall without His will and the hair of our head will not perish (Luke 21:18). And isn’t your present position in the will of God? Believe firmly that God is looking out for you; do not give room for doubt, so that the word of Scripture may not come true on you: your destinies will be taken away from before him (Ps. 9:26). But you ask and don’t receive, which confuses you even more. And as you know from the history of human life, and from the examples that happen before our eyes, what accidents people are struck by: a family is sometimes deprived of a father, a husband of his wife, a wife of her beloved husband, parents of their only begotten son, all their hope and joy; children remain orphans, without care; another is deprived of all wealth, becomes a beggar, another suffers various misfortunes, sorrows, illnesses, is deprived of honor, and so on. Who manages all this if not the providence of the Almighty, allowing everyone sorrow, according to his measure, strength and structure; in order to punish him, or to test and strengthen his faith, or to protect him from falling into sin? Those who suffered misfortune rightly asked for deliverance and relief from sorrows, but did not receive it soon; why? The One Almighty Creator and Provider of all knows this. We know that He demands the same message before we ask (Matthew 6:8) and that He gives us benefits that we do not expect from Him; that He is always a timely helper in sorrows. One church teacher says: “The Lord, although invisibly, is really close to us, so that He can hear all our groans and give us His help. He knows and sees all our needs and misfortunes, and His loving heart is filled with goodness and readiness to help, which He showed when He lived on earth, full of grace and truth. But the Lord does not deliver me from misfortune for a long time! Yes, beloved, but He has placed the time and method of deliverance in His own power. Surrender yourself to His holy will and pour out your sorrow before Him, with the psalmist: I will pour out my prayer before Him: I will declare my sorrow before Him. Never did my spirit disappear from Me, and You knew my paths (Ps. 142:4). My heart was always depressed, I cried from the ends of the earth (Ps. 60:3). God is our refuge and strength, our helper in the sorrows that have come upon us greatly (Ps. 45:2). And expect His all-generous and merciful right hand to help you in your sorrows; but if you do not receive what you want and ask for for a long time, then strengthen yourself with the above reasoning; - and believe that it should be this way and not otherwise. Perhaps this will test your faith and love for God; or the place you are asking for might not be useful to you morally or physically. The Lord is able to comfort you and others, in the only way He knows. Your sorrow, of course, is not forgotten before God, who tests hearts and wombs. If this is a punishment, then St. Scripture tells us: the Lord punishes those who love him, and beats every son whom he accepts (Wis. 3:12). And in the very sorrows, the mercy of God appears and spiritual consolation is given. Cast your sorrow upon the Lord, and He will nourish you (Ps. 54:23). You think that it is better for your son to always be with you, but who knows? And in your presence, if God allows, it can deteriorate, and in the hands of others it can survive without harm. But wherever your children are, whether with you or in any institution, instill in them Christian rules and entrust them to God and the intercession of the Mother of God. I don’t know why your daughter lives with the pastor; Of course, she should be instructed in the Orthodox teaching of the Church, but the Lord is merciful, He sees your opportunity and your means and will not abandon the children entrusted to His care. I cannot go into detail regarding your content; but I advise you to try to spend what God sends. Some don’t cost much, while others don’t even need ten thousand. In any case, we must thank God for His gifts sent down to us, and believe the word of the Lord: “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Asking God's blessing for you and your children, with my respect I remain the desirer of your health and salvation and the unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. In your letter dated December 4th, you describe your position and disposition to go to the monastery, but your father does not deign you to do so; and according to your trust in this ardent desire of yours, Fr. archimandrite….., received an order from him to run to the monastery without looking back; Then also Hieroschemamonk O–ii allowed you to go to the monastery without your father’s blessing, and then again he did not allow you, and you are still looking for my advice. It is not safe to have many advisers in such an important matter; for, receiving various advice from them, one cannot help but be indecisive and double-minded. You should have listened to the first advice when you asked Fr. archimandrite….., but leaving him, you did not cease to be drawn into worldly pleasures and distractions, which could very well cause a complete cooling of the fire cast into you, that is, the calling of God; and therefore your father, seeing your inclination more towards the world, is afraid to allow you to enter this field; and if you would move away from secular pleasures and engage in spiritual exercises: prayer, reading, abstinence; then God would have told him not to distract you from this intention; although he has a prejudice, as you write, towards monasteries, and says that one must be an Angel to live in a monastery, and sees the opposite in them; but unknown to him: the spiritual warfare of monks and the difference in the places we choose to undergo the feat, for training in the spiritual life, and the reasons why we do not succeed in intentional deeds. We cannot be Angels, but, with the awareness of our weaknesses, we can have a humble wisdom, considering ourselves worse than all creation, and this is our duty and feat. With this weapon we can crush all the networks and intrigues of the enemy; and this is acquired by the rejection of one’s will and mind, and by perfect obedience, but not in the same spirit as you express. Quite the contrary, our ministry is not slavish, but liberating from the slavery of passions and leading the children of God into freedom of glory. I advise you to read the book of St. John Climacus; you will see there in the 1st word, in the 5th section, the goals for which one should leave the world and begin this field; and in the 20th section you will find how great the danger is, according to the calling of God, for us to refuse it. In the 3rd word, in the 4th section, you will read about the danger of extinguishing the flame that kindled in us, that is, the calling to this life; and in general this whole book will bring you a lot of benefit when you read it carefully; only the distraction of secular amusements and vain activities will not be compatible with such a dispensation; but all the good seed that is sown in your heart from reading this will be crushed by thorns and thistles, and it will remain without fruit. I have no right to enter into judgment about your sins and torture your majesty; let your conscience be your judge, and every sin before God is great, and even more grave, as you put it, and only repentance and God’s mercy is the hope of our salvation; but the repentance is true and real, which you mention and condemn yourself to. First of all, one must abandon sin and avoid incidents leading to it, but one should not despair at all; for despair deprives one of hope of salvation, plunges one into greater sins, and is itself considered a grave sin before God. You mistakenly think that a good monastery will not accept you because you are not a sufficient person. The abbot and the blessed brotherhood do not torture corruptible wealth from those who want to be saved, but wants them, upon entering the monastery, with the impoverishment of good deeds, to be enriched by humble wisdom. You cannot work with the humble class of common people; but you will not renounce this: to please their labors, to condemn yourself and consider yourself the last of all. You will see in the Ladder, in the 4th word of the 23rd section: how Prince Isidore, who came to the monastery, in a humble manner of humiliation received peace and salvation for himself. I offered you as much as I could, in my feeble mind, for the benefit of your soul; It remains for you to enter into yourself and take care of your situation. So, since you are still in the service, I can’t tell you anything more; I leave the rest to the providence of God, so that He will arrange good things for you and fulfill your desires for good; what I earnestly wish for you, and with my respect I remain the great sinner I.M. December 1851. Most Honorable and Dearest in the Lord N N God bless you for your participation in our situation and compassion for this; This proves your brotherly love for us. We dare not complain about N N; this, apparently, is how it should be; maybe they are an instrument of God’s providence, who wants to admonish us and punish us. (Lord, save them and may they be rewarded with good. You know the actions of our monastery: we do not dare to think or speak about high deeds and talents; we are more infirm, although we have the will to be saved. But the praise of the Optina Hermitage is higher than our deeds, and this does not make us happy: for woe to him whose name is higher than his deeds. …….writes that he saw our V. more than once and spoke well about us, and made a description of our desert; but all this does not make us happy, seeing inconsistency in ourselves. The coming tribulation is according to the will of God; for even the hair of our head will not perish without His will (Luke 21:18); Perhaps (this sorrow) will bring more benefit than praise. I do not dare say this, but I ask the Lord: if this cup cannot pass us by, then may He strengthen us and send His help; and without it we are worse than a reed shaken by every wind. Is it true glory when everyone praises us? Our Lord Jesus Christ left us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps: Christ suffered, and you too will arm yourself with the same thought (1 Peter 4:1). But He suffered innocently, and we are guilty of much before God, and how can we cleanse it, if not by beating - with the rod of His love and His merits? He is the King of glory; but it was not then that he became famous when the entire populous city cried out: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” but when suffering and the cross were prepared for Him: “now is the Son of Man glorified” and so on. (John 13:31). What can we say about our vain glory, which does not bring any benefit, but is harmful to our spiritual structure? We know by reason and from the teaching of the holy fathers that the sorrows and suffering sent are the mercy and love of God for us; what we teach people ourselves; and now, if God’s will be done, we must actually test it, with all our weakness, asking for God’s help; and maybe He will deliver from this. He sees and knows our strength, the need for the fire of temptation and the extent of it. As St. writes Macarius of Egypt and Other Saints fathers who urge us to sorrows and strengthen us in them? St. Isaac's. Sirin writes: “the path of God is an everyday cross,” then wherever we go, everywhere he pursues us. And the most essential virtue for us is humility, according to the word of St. Peter of Damascus, is born from reason, and reason is the product of temptations. And again the river: be the will of the Lord for us; and I ask you to pray to Him, yes, if you want to send any temptations, may He also give you strength, for we dare not rely on ourselves........ Committing myself to your prayers, I remain a desirer of your health and salvation, an unworthy prayer book, a great sinner I.M. January 8, 1852. You congratulate me on the holiday and the new year, and I congratulate you on celebrating the Nativity of Christ and welcoming the new year. May the Lord send His blessing upon you and grant you peace and hope of salvation. In your letter you describe your efforts and observations of yourself, and, overcome by many passions and weaknesses, you are embarrassed. From this it is clear that you are looking for sinlessness in yourself and want to be comforted by it and believe in it the hope of salvation. It may very well happen that all your vices will leave you, and only one will remain that can replace all the others, this is pride. We will not even see how it creeps in, and is content alone with the destruction of the soul, except for other vices and passions, through which demons constantly fight us with excuses and substances. In this battle we are sometimes victorious, sometimes defeated. In proportion to pride or humility, there is help or abandonment from God. – But how will we achieve humility when we do not reproach ourselves and repent for our efforts, and consider ourselves the last of all in thought and feeling? And therefore, when this work is taken away from us, that is, the fight against passions and being overcome by them, and being in imaginary sinlessness, then what will happen? – Seduction by one’s holiness, which is worse than the fall of sin with repentance. When you are in the monastery, be sure that the struggle will intensify even more, to the knowledge of our weakness and to humility. Do not be embarrassed when you see that you are often crawling and cannot stand unshakably against your own passions and the temptations of the enemy. The Lord is merciful and will not reject those who come to him in humility. Following the example of the widow in the Gospel who was offended by her rival, let us constantly cry out to the Lord for help in the fight against our weaknesses, and every day make a beginning, according to the word of the psalmist: “today I have begun”; and if we correct anything, we will say: “This is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High; not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name we will give glory” (Ps. 113, v. 9.). We must always strive against our passions, and especially against pride; but in a short time it is impossible to completely defeat them. That's what St. says. fathers, who by deed did everything commanded to us, and, by the grace of God, finally put off the old man and came to the pristine purity of the soul. But such purification is a long way away, and our task should be constant repentance, constant self-reproach and humble appeal to the Lord. Inscribe deeply in your memory this word of the Lord: when you have done all that is commanded you, say, “For we are unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10), and also what St. writes. John Climacus, citing the words of the Apostle James: whoever keeps the whole spiritual law, sins with one passion - arrogance, he will be guilty of everything (James 2:10). You ask for my blessing to enter the monastery as soon as possible, and you say that daddy, having learned about your intention through ..., agrees to let you go. Thank God it is so; I bless you for leaving the world, but remember that this must be done carefully, and first untie all the ties that currently still tie you to your family and to worldly life. The main thing is to pray to God and surrender to His holy will. If the Lord’s will is for this, He will win over your daddy’s heart and remove all obstacles; so daddy will let you go and provide for your maintenance in the monastery 26; You can talk to him lightly about this, and little by little, presenting to him the reasons for your desire, ask for his consent and blessing for your removal to the monastery. Asking for you the peace and blessing of the Lord, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, many sinner I.M. January 8, 1852. After your visit to our monastery, a year later you visited me with your writings. Whereupon, remembering your disposition towards spiritual life, I see even now that the seed that fell in the field of your heart is preparing to bear fruit in the heavenly granary; but the enemy of our salvation sows tares: doubt, fear and peace; all this muffles and suppresses the good seed, and does not allow it to bear the fruit of peace and tranquility of spirit. Do not let the flame that has been cast into your heart, the desire to seek salvation, go out. But may he burn up all the brushwood and thorns that cause you confusion and fear and love of the world. Listen to the teachings of St. John Climacus; he writes in the 3rd word: “when you feel the flame, run quickly, for you don’t know when it will go out and leave you in darkness.” And again, in the first word: “if the earthly king called us and wanted to place us in service before his face, we would not hesitate, we would not apologize, but leaving everything, we would diligently rush to him; Let us pay attention to ourselves, so that when the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the God of gods calls us to this heavenly rank, we do not refuse out of laziness and cowardice, and at His great judgment appear unanswered.” You yourself see struggle and resistance in yourself, and you understand that the enemy is looking for your destruction, instilling fear and doubt. Despise all his machinations, and arm yourself with faith, hope and prayer to the Lord, and leaving everything, come here; The Lord calls you to serve Him and appoints a place of achievement through secret suggestions to your heart. Do not despise him, leaving everything and surrendering to His holy will and providence. If you wish for peace, health and salvation, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. January 15, 1852. We are confident in your love for your son and, of course, you wish him more spiritual benefit than physical benefit, and therefore do not prevent him, according to the calling of God, from living in our monastery. You know, when God demanded that Patriarch Abraham sacrifice his only begotten son, and he had no hesitation in doing this; for this he received a great reward, both here and in the future life, and was called the father of believers. You, although not your only begotten, but your beloved son, brought him into His service, then you will not lose reward from God. And you must continually offer thanks to Him for being worthy to receive from your fruit, like two olive branches: a son and a daughter, into your spiritual garden, as a fragrant aroma to Him. Condescending with your weakness and love for him, Father Superior dismisses him to you, and allows him to stay there as long as possible and necessary for your consolation, although frequent and long absences from the monastery are not entirely useful for those who have dedicated themselves to serving God, but this is condescended to due to your weakness, and we hope that the Lord will console you and save him from the temptations of the world. And you, on the first winter journey, release him back to the monastery. God is able to send you spiritual consolation incomparably more than earthly sensual ones. Asking for you and all your children the peace and blessing of God, I remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. September 19, 1851. Most Honorable One of the Lord NN 27 From your letter delivered to me...... I see that the Lord visits you with bodily infirmities; in which we can see His ineffable mercy towards us; for in painful cases we are more likely to remember the duty necessary for all of us - the hour of death; we reflect on the past time of our life, and, if anything has been done against the will of God, in relation to Him and our neighbors, we try to reconcile our conscience by repentance and correction, in what way possible. Everything from here will remain here, and in that terrible hour they will not help us; It will only help to intercede before the Lord what He Himself commands in Chapter 25. Evangelist Matthew: “If you have made one of the least of these, you have made them with Me” (v. 40). So thank the Lord for sending harbingers to prepare yourself for eternity, which has no end, and take advantage of this time, but the hour is unknown. I wish you, while gaining spiritual benefit, also receive physical health, to the glory of God and the consolation of your neighbors and those you know. Asking for you and your entire family the peace and blessing of God, with my respect I remain the unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. March 12, 1852. I congratulate you and your entire family on the upcoming highly solemn holiday of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, may He grant you to meet and celebrate these sacred days spiritually, rejoicing in our glorious salvation, in good health and prosperity. Congratulating you on the holiday, I bring you a word that if you accept, you will find great benefit to your soul; I say this with confidence; If you do not want to accept, let it be done according to your will. The most merciful Lord, who became incarnate for the sake of our salvation, “and our God became a child before this age,” gave you the commandments of love; “Greater than this love no one has, but whoever lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13), and He Himself fulfilled this love - and higher, for not only for friends, but also for enemies He laid down His life, redeeming us sinners with His honest blood, willingly suffering crucifixion and death. What does He require of us? Not feats, not labors, nor any other mortifications, but love and mercy! And who does he liken them to? Be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful (Lk. 6:36); and what we do for our neighbors, he takes upon himself, as if we had done it to Him. ABOUT! the goodness and mercy of God! How he cares about our eternal good! Whatever you do for one, the least of these brothers of mine, you do for me (Matthew 25:40). And the Wise One says: give food to the beggar and give back to God (Wis. 19:17). I know that you partly fulfill the duty of this love, giving to the poor on appointed days and doing good to the poor; but Christ is strange, now he has no place to lay his head, it is in your neighbors. Your grandson...... with a family of six people, Christ stands with them before you, asking you to give Him shelter: to buy them a house, even a small one, for 3 t. or 5 t. sep., it costs nothing for you, but the capital given to you by God, and Christ, having received this benefit from you, what will he do to you? Did you know this? He will build you a house in His kingdom! What a house. . . St. Gregory the Dvoeslov writes in the 4th book, in chapter 36, that: a certain warrior, who died and came back to life, was shown, among other things, various dwellings filled with light: a house of amazing beauty was erected there, which was apparently built from golden bricks; but whose house it was he could not find out; but it is made clear what the one for whom this dwelling is being built is doing here. Whoever earns the reward of eternal light here with generous alms will, without a doubt, build himself a dwelling there from gold. The warrior who saw the construction said that the golden bricks for building the house were carried by elders and youths, maidens and youths. From this it is clear that those who were shown love here were the builders of a house for the merciful. About another certain person there was a vision that a house was being built for him, but only the builders of the house appeared working on one Sabbath day; and this is because he gave alms only on one Sabbath day.” Do you also know what kind of house St. built? Apostle Thomas for the King in eternity? What? alms, although involuntary, however, even that had an effect; How much more, what you do arbitrarily for your neighbors will bring great benefit. God visited them with this sorrow, deprived them of shelter, and you at least lend God this amount; Truly I assure you, you will receive a hundredfold and inherit an eternal life. Just think, how long will you and I live? Everything will remain, it will be enough for both your son and grandchildren; but remember that he is your grandson, and your son will surely not regret giving this small part to his daughter. For you it will be insensitive, but Christ will accept and wipe away the tears of those in need - grandchildren and their entire family. Think about this great holiday of the Nativity of Christ, comfort them, and show them your fatherly love and mercy, and give shelter to Christ. Don't make your own judgments: are they worth it or not worth it? Christ asks you! Make a purchase while the bargaining is still ongoing; stock up on oil so that your lamp does not go out; the bridegroom is coming at midnight. – I wrote to you, wishing both them and you spiritual well-being and heartfelt joy. He writes to me......that he, with your advice and with your help, bought himself a house, and after six months of wandering, he now has his own shelter. God bless! He visited their family in such sorrow due to destinies unknown to us; for without His will nothing happens to us from the involuntary; He brings poverty and enriches, humbles and exalts, and can give him consolation in a small house rather than a large one, and again restore his condition; and when people help each other in their misfortune, then this pleases the Lord, and He commands and commands us in many words of Holy Scripture: “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6), says through the prophet; a He himself commands in the 25th chapter of the Evangelist Matthias: “everything that we do for our neighbor, He takes upon Himself: whatever you do for one of the least of my brothers, do for Me”; and again: “What we do to our neighbors, we will receive a hundredfold, and we will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). And in the book of Wisdom it says: whoever gives to the poor gives back to God (Wis. 19:17). What happiness is it to have such a debtor? You did kindness to them, helped them; truly and undoubtedly, God will help you, and even more than this: He will build your church, not made by hands, eternal in heaven. How is this? For a small wooden house, will you get a church not made by hands? Exactly like this: a whole family that has no shelter to calm down - more than we give little by little to the poor; although the Lord accepts even that; but this is more important. The road to almsgiving in times of poverty. So, I, taking part both in your spiritual salvation and in their meager present situation, earnestly thank you and pray to the Lord to grant you inalienable peace and trustworthiness and salvation. April 7, 1859. …..Now it’s your turn to visit us, and you and I have grown old, I’m already 72 years old, I don’t know how long I’ll live? We need to remember that after this life eternity will come, and what will meet us there is unknown. We must work until the day is (in this life), the night comes, no one else can do it (John 9:4). Everything here will remain; then, even a small particle, must be sent there to help others; what we have, we will share. We do not make it clear that helping someone is not beneficial: God looks at our will and whether our heart burns with sorrow for our neighbor and love for him; all our doings without love are nothing, but “like ringing brass and like a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). I hope that you will not reprimand me for speaking the truth. August 11, 1860. The river of time flows quickly, and now six months have passed since your most venerable mother Ms....... moved. from us to eternity. The destinies of God are inscrutable to us; For each of us He has set a limit to life - and we will not pass, but eternity has no end!... For us, Christian believers, death is not an everlasting separation, but a temporary departure: whether we live or die, we are the Lord's (Rom. 14:8) teaches St. Apostle, and before God we are all alive, for the soul is immortal and eternal. May this reasoning be your quenching of grief over the deprivation of your mother. Even now you are in prayerful communion with her, when you fulfill your duty - bring prayers for the repose of her soul, and during church services, perform remembrance and do charity to those in need; For her this is of great benefit to her soul, and for you it is a consolation...... Asking for God's blessing on you and your wife and children, I remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. March 15, 1852. Thanks be to God, who gave you consolation through my feeble-minded lines. I know my thinness and unworthiness; but, according to your faith, the Lord is able to enlighten the darkened and give you benefit and consolation. I received your letter dated March 6th on April 4th. You apologize for the long silence and describe the reasons for it. I don’t demand this, but I rejoice that the Lord has comforted you. I do not forbid you to write to me, but write with a peaceful disposition and freedom, without fearing anything. I accept the outpouring of your sorrowful feelings with Christian participation, I will grieve it and do not deny, as the Lord instructs me, to write to you for consolation or admonition. From your letter I see that you realized your mistake in the opinion that you do not have pride, and found it nestling in yourself, relying on your own merits, and humiliating others. Thank God that your eyes have been opened in this: you will be more humble, and God looks upon the humble. You say: “How should I appear to the Almighty?” What did you think? Is it really righteous? We must recognize ourselves as sinners in our hearts and humble ourselves. Of course, God will not despise a broken and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). Can we earn anything through our imaginary righteousness, unless God’s mercy has mercy on us, and His merits in death on the cross and atonement justify us? The saints, no matter how holy they were, considered themselves inferior to all creation and worse than everyone else, and all the more pleasing to God. The sorrows that have happened to you all this time must be accepted as sent from God, to test your faith, or to punishment, and you write that during them you grumbled and grieved, and you find that they spoil your character: you should not blame the sorrows, but blame and reproach yourself for cowardice, through which humility will be born. In asking God so as not to have more children, you are sinning. God gives us what we ask for that is akin to His goodness, and not what we want for our peace and sensuality. The Holy Apostle teaches: ask and do not receive, ask evilly (James 4:3). We read in prayer daily: Our Father, and ask: Thy will be done; It is necessary that not only words be spoken, but that our will and mind agree with them. Childbearing is a blessing of God given to people: how will you reject or destroy it? There is no doubt that it is tiring for you to take care of children, but in this you also have God’s help; and labor and fatigue will serve you for salvation; for the Scripture says: “A woman who bears children will be saved” (1 Tim. 2:15). It is better to surrender to the will of God, and consider childbearing a blessing of God, thanking Him for this, and not complaining; then the Lord will make your work easier, and if it is His will, then it will end without any means. You began to write about one of your sins, which stems from suspicion, and did not finish. Perhaps you are mistaken in your opinion, your suspicions are in vain; for there are many examples of this, especially in jealousy; the enemy is trying to show something that is not there at all; darken the eyes so that movements and words all seem suspicious. He does this to outrage and cause discord; from which may the Lord deliver you... May the Lord guide you to true reason and strengthen you in all your deeds. I ask God’s blessing for you and your children and I remain an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. After writing this letter, I also received your letter dated March 16th, in which the sorrow of your heart for your dead little one was poured out... You lament about her, grieve, and attribute her past suffering to your sins, and repent of the fact that you asked God not to give you more children. You saw in my letter that I shouldn’t have asked for this; but the Lord took your child to himself; not because of this, but because it pleased His will to transfer her to eternal bliss at this innocent age. We don’t know, but God knows what we haven’t done, and He knows what age she would have been - or unhappy, or something else; then He took her to Himself. That is why your prayer was not accepted and fulfilled, because in the wise providence of God it was predestined for her to leave here at this time. The words of Scripture cited by you: how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:11) do not apply to you at all. “He will give blessings” and did you ask for blessings? You asked for your daughter's life; but could you know later whether it would have served you as a consolation or a chagrin? But God knows all this, and He, of course, gave you “good things” by accepting your daughter into eternal bliss. Believe this without doubt, and thank the Lord, who builds everything for our benefit. We do not dare to presume about our future state in eternity, but we must hope in God’s love for mankind, fulfilling, according to our strength, the duty of Christianity, and realizing our unworthiness. Humility to strongly intercede for us at the throne of the Master, for the eternal bliss given to us through the redemption of our Savior. So, sympathizing with you in your sorrow, I wish that the Lord heal the wound of your heart; While it is still fresh, the disease is felt more strongly. And may he give you true spiritual consolation about your little one, who is already enjoying in bliss and will forever be able to enjoy. May the Lord bless you and your children with every spiritual blessing. I.M. April 8, 1852. Most Honorable in the Lord N N One cannot help but regret that your family is approaching the division of property and sociability in life, and the word of St. Scriptures: whatever is good, or whatever is good, but brethren must live together (Ps. 133:1), and: brother from brother we help, like a city is strong and fenced (Proverbs 18:19) and in advice and in agreement, and in bargaining, there will be disunity in everything, and it cannot bring benefit either mental or physical. But I explained my thoughts to you, and I cannot prevent your intention: you can better see your affairs and the spiritual structure of each of you, and other members of the family 28. In your confusion about who should take what, ask for my decision: everyone wants to have a plant, of course, for the benefits that come from it; But the house cannot be of such benefit, and it seems to each of you that it is large, but convenient only for the family. What to do? Each of us is looking for our own, and not like our neighbor; everyone wants their own benefits, not others; but what can we acquire without the help and blessing of God? and to attract them, one must turn to the fulfillment of His holy will. Where God’s blessing and help are, there the little things will increase, but otherwise the big things will decrease. He humbles and exalts, he humbles and enriches; and His fate is incomprehensible to us. When it is already necessary for you to separate, then you must do this with general amicable consent, so that even after that, not a trace of hostility can remain: of course, it must be due to the value and benefits of real estate; it is necessary to bring it into balance, and having prayed to God and the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God, having served a memorial service for the parents, and calling on their blessing, having reliable intermediaries for this, cast lots as to who will get what, and thus remain satisfied, accept it as if from the hand of God. What will you all benefit from God's blessing and help in your business? And if you, by the right of the law and seniority, take what you want according to your desire, then this will not happen without enmity, and perhaps judgment will ensue, from which may the Lord deliver you! Expressing ..... and to you my zealous respect, I remain the wisher of your health, peace and prosperity, unworthy pilgrim I.M. April 22, 1852. From your letter I see that you are divided with your brother, but there is no agreement and love between you. I sincerely regret this and advise you to pray to God that He will pacify you among each other; However, as much as it depends on you, try to reconcile with your brother and be satisfied with the part that your parents assigned to you. The scripture says: the Father’s blessing strengthens the souls of the children; a mother's oath eradicates to the ground (Sir. 3:9). From this you see how God pleases the reverence of children for their parents. Where there is peace and harmony, there is God’s blessing; and where they harbor enmity among themselves, they must be careful lest the opposite happen. Don’t worry too much about the future: the Lord is merciful; Try only at the present time to fulfill the commandments of God, and not to have enmity towards anyone, as St. commanded us. Apostle Paul: “Have peace with all men” (Rom. 12:18). I spoke with your father and advised him to observe equality between you; He replied that you are both relatives to him, he loves you equally, and does not want to give more to anyone than the other. So, do not give room for confusion, but surrender to the will of God and be calm in spirit. Asking for the Lord's blessing on you, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, much-sinned I.M. of 1852. In prayer, do not strive for lofty things, but, recognizing your weakness in everything, always keep yourself prostrate before God and call on Him with humility and simplicity, like a father’s child. Remembering that a sinner with repentance is better before the Lord than a righteous man with pride. Do not get carried away by the Jesus Prayer too speculatively, so that instead of benefiting you do not receive harm when you imperceptibly fall into conceit. Use prayer as a spiritual sword, not always, but especially to defeat the passions: when you feel the movement of anger or another passion, then call on the name of Jesus more and feel His help. This is what the active prayer (of Jesus) consists of, befitting us. The Holy Fathers write that whoever achieves true prayer, although the whole world will advocate, He will not be offended; and if we are overcome by anger, then we are still far from prayer, and we must be wary of looking for the high, so as not to fall into delusion. Prayer is a sharp sword for both: pronounced with humility, it strikes our enemies, and performed with subtle spiritual pride and self-esteem, it harms us ourselves, and does not so much bring us closer to God as move us away from Him; for He gives His grace only to the humble. Mnogohreshny I.M. October 21, 1852. Our life is a spiritual war with invisible spirits of evil. They outrage us with our arrogant passions and encourage us to transgress God’s commandments. When we delve into it and look carefully, we will find that for every passion there is a cure - a commandment opposite to it; and that is why our enemies are trying to prevent us from receiving this saving medicine. And we, with the help of God, having a good will, will try to accept the feat and compulsion of ourselves against the passions; God, seeing this, will make the feat easy for us and give us consolation. In your letter you mention the moments of difficult battle with the hater of our salvation. Exactly, it’s difficult - without God’s help, and when we rely on our own intelligence and strength, or indulge in negligence; but even the very falls of all kinds are condoned for exaltation. St. John Climacus writes: “where there was a fall, pride preceded it.” So, we must try in every possible way to acquire humility, because we are at war with proud demons; and humility is an easy victory for them, for God looks upon the humble and fights for them. How can we acquire this treasure - humility? We need to learn from the writings of St. fathers about this virtue and have self-reproach in everything, and see your neighbors as your best; and do not reproach or condemn them for anything, but accept reproaches from them as sent from God to heal our mental illnesses. Reading the book of Barsanuphius the Great, you will find there a lot of healing of the soul that brings healing. And I advise you to read other books and apply them to your plagues, and not to judge others who do not do this. May the Lord give you true spiritual intelligence, guiding (you) on the path of salvation. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. November 18, 1852. Although we have not heard anything about you for a long time, you have not been erased from our memory. We very much remember your visit and goodwill in the Lord and remember (according to your note) your relatives both for health and for repose. You do not write anything about yourself, that is, whether you are in the service or retired, and what you practice. You would like advice from me, but what can I tell you without knowing your lifestyle and what circle you are in? You only write that you read St. books; but reading alone, without activity in fulfilling the commandments of God, cannot bring us any benefit. From your letter I notice that you do not have peace of mind, and I ask: can a soul ever feel complete peace here on earth? and why is it difficult to save yourself from daily embarrassment? According to my meager understanding, as much as I can understand, I will tell you this: when the Lord said to His disciples: My peace I give to you, My peace I leave with you (John 19:27), then how, having received from God such a great gift - peace, the soul cannot have peace? But when someone does not have peace of mind, then the reason for this is our passions, hidden within us, and unconquered and undestroyed by doing the commandments of God: and if we move away from the cases that our passions show us, then we will never be able to destroy them; and sometimes there are cases of insult from others, but we, instead of taking care of the healing of our passion, reproach others who have caused us trouble, not realizing that it was not they who put the passion in us, but the guarantee of it lies within us, and they only showed us, by the sight of God, the rottenness of our structure, whom we should consider our benefactors, for without them we would not have known our weakness. This is the reason why the soul does not have peace - our passions. And that it is possible for a person to have peace of mind, then believe about this not my words, but the words of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ Himself; He said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). So, when there is no peace, it is clear that there is no humility. If we fulfill, apparently, a Christian duty: we go to church, read books and perform other duties, and with all this we are carried away by arrogance and opinion about ourselves, then we can no longer expect peace and tranquility; But with all this good fulfillment, we must be humble and poor in spirit, then peace will settle in us. Due to ignorance of your lifestyle, I cannot give you advice on what books are appropriate for you to read. All spiritual books teach us to fulfill the commandments of God (even extending to love for enemies) and humility. By reading books of this kind and recognizing our weakness, we come to humility and gain spiritual benefit. We have good fatherly books, but maybe you have them too, and therefore I am sending you only one book: St. Simeon the New Theologian, which has a register of books published by our monastery, and if you do not have some of them, then write, I will send them to you. I wish you to be healthy, peaceful and calm, and I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. With my respect, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. April 7, 1853. You think self-love is natural to you, but you are extremely mistaken. Self-love is an invention of the devil. He, having clothed himself with self-love, resisted God and was cast out of heaven, became darkened; and humility, on the contrary, is the robe of the Divine, according to the word of St. Isaac (fn. 53). God Himself humbled Himself, took on our flesh, and thereby overthrew the self-loving and proud devil and gave us this weapon (humility) for victory over him. You consider self-love a noble feeling and think that out of self-love you make virtues - and this is pride, and the self grows from this to a high degree. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Proverbs 1:7), and: through the fear of the Lord everyone turns away from evil (Proverbs 15:27), says St. Scripture, not self-love. Leave your opinion of self-love, that it is natural to you, and do good, avoiding evil - from the beginning out of the fear of God, and then you will reach the love of God; – and not out of pride, which is contrary to God. Congratulating you on this (Bright Resurrection of Christ) great holiday, I wish you to celebrate it in good health, with heartfelt joy, and with my respect I remain your unworthy pilgrim, much-sinful I.M. April 16, 1853. Thank you for wishing me a happy holiday and a happy new year. Please accept my mutual congratulations on this; In the coming new year, may the Lord give you new strength to get through life, according to St. His commandments will strengthen you in the battle against the world, the flesh and the devil, recognizing their wiles and seeing your weakness, acquiring humility that can replace them and bring peace. You didn’t move to M-u, of course, not without a reason and without hoping to find benefit and tranquility there; but your mother, not knowing your mental state, is angry with you for this. Pray for her and humble yourself, and God, seeing your disposition, will tell her to appease you and give you permission to enter the V-monastery. And at the present time, as I see from your letters, that you yourself are not yet ready for this life. You say that “sometimes I am ready to neglect everything and would be glad to take upon myself all the difficulties of life,” but often, very often, their troubles frighten you, and it’s wild for you to look at this life, which you should appropriate and expect for yourself. I will tell you this: fear fear where there is no fear. Our life is spiritual military service - warfare: with whom? with invisible spirits of evil. Who is causing these troubles? the enemies of our belly are demons, trying to snatch from us crowns of exploits for patience, which we could receive by accepting annoyance, insults, humiliation, reproaches, contempt, etc.; and through this our cruel heart would be softened, and passions would be destroyed: self-love, love of glory, love of voluptuousness and love of money, from which all passions receive strength and act. And we, not understanding that we are guilty and the inner guarantee of our passions, instead of blaming ourselves and pleasing those who show us our dispensation, according to God’s providence, for our correction, we accuse others, and remain unsuccessful, and from this there is unrest between the sisters; upon reconciliation, their enemy is put to shame and they remain peaceful. If no one insulted us and showed us our weaknesses, then we would never have known ourselves and would not have received healing from spiritual passions; although many are subject to the actions of passions and confusion, through temptation and sorrow they become more experienced and achieve humility. Whoever wants to walk the path of salvation in true and dissolved humility must delve into the patristic writings and learn how to walk this path: St. John Climacus, Abba Dorotheus, Ephraim the Syrian, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, etc., and strive according to your strength, force yourself to do every good deed, and especially to patience, self-reproach, and humility, which is born from obedience. So, looking at their suffering life, do not be tempted by the fact that there are turmoil among them and do not condemn them: God is able to bring them to the best. If you are not subject to temptation and, not recognizing your weaknesses, you will only see your corrections and rely on them the hope of salvation; then you can go to the other extreme - arrogance and incurable charms; for the enemy, when he cannot defeat someone through passions and weaknesses, then puts into the mind arrogance and an opinion about himself, from which one falls into delusion and darkness of the mind; from which may the Lord deliver you. I am not forcing you to enter the monastery, live in the same place for now, and humbly practice your usual activities: prayer, reading, handicrafts, etc. Maybe the Lord will look at your good will and give you true reason and feeling to seek salvation and surrender to His holy will. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation and a pilgrim, much-sinful I.M. January 1, 1852. Thanking you for congratulating me on the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, I congratulate you in return, celebrating it safely. May the most merciful Lord grant you to continue to see many like you in good health and prosperity, rejoicing and rejoicing in the Lord, with all your most honorable family. From your letter I see that you are afraid and troubled in spirit about the approach of the disease - cholera - to your places, and ask for my advice and strengthening for this. I will tell you this, that the life and death of each of us is in the hand of God, and without the will of God no one departs from this light into eternity; And besides, we also need to know that each of us is already destined for an end, but we don’t know when and how anyone will leave here. With such strong Christian hope and faith, there is no need to have fear. Fear causes more harm: the body relaxes from loss of spirit and deprivation of calm, and without illness, illness occurs. Meanwhile, thank God, there is no disease, and in Moscow it has greatly decreased. This kind of illness is allowed to turn us to God; so that, seeing people suddenly snatched away by death, each of us, entering our conscience and experiencing sins in something, turns to God with repentance. We see in St. Scripture examples (of this): The prophet Jonah preached to the Ninevites: “in three days and Nineveh will be transformed” (Jonah 3:4), that is, it will perish; but when they resorted to repentance, put on sackcloth and fasted, the Lord turned His anger away from them and had mercy on them. Manasseh, the king of Judah, who angered God with many sins, when he was captured, chained and thrown into a copper ox, brought repentance, and upon bringing it, received miraculous deliverance and forgiveness. Through the prayer of Manasseh, our Church still appeases God with repentance and handed it over to us, her children. There are many other examples that through repentance people received mercy from the Lord: death was also assigned to Hezekiah the king, but he averted it through repentance and lived for another fifteen years. So, I advise you and ask, for God’s sake, do not be so afraid of death, but calm yourself, surrendering to the will of God and remember the Apostolic word: whether we live or die, we are Master (Rom. 14:8), and when it is destined for someone to die at this time, we will surely live. And what is death? It is merely a transition from death to belly, from sorrow to joy; Now we believe, and then we will see face to face what we believe. Be calm, cry to the Lord: I will not die, but I will live and tell the works of the Lord (Ps. 118:17). The Lord punished me with punishment, but He did not put me to death (v. 18). Surrendering yourself to the will of God, pray to Him and the Most Pure Virgin Mary, our intercessor, and may the Lord preserve you. Asking for God's blessing on you and your family, and wishing you health and prosperity, with my respect I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. April 28, 1852. Seeking spiritual healing for your soul, you describe the entire history of your life, from youth to the present, and ask me to give you advice on healing your inner spiritual structure. But I must admit that I have neither the dignity nor the gift for this great work; when your faith cooperates, then the Lord is able to give a voice to my feeble-mindedness, just as he gave Balaam’s donkey a voice for the benefit of the people of Israel; therefore, stretching out my hand to the charter that is laid before me, I pray to the Lord to grant my mind a word for your benefit. Not having peace in your soul, you want to find it and receive the dew of God’s grace, watering your soul, parched from the heat of passions. “The Lord has mercy and great deliverance with Him, and He will deliver Israel from all their iniquities” (Ps. 129:6). As far as I can see and understand, your upbringing and education was accomplished in the spirit of the world, as you yourself write that you did not receive an internal religious education, and therefore you, perhaps, had the hope of receiving worldly fame and honor, pleasure and wealth, believing to find in this bliss and peace of mind and body. But, as you can see, external, worldly enlightenment alone, not imbued with the spirit of evangelical faith and humility, cannot bring peace, which is why you do not find it. You admit that pride, taking its place in you (and from it envy of the rich and noble), has deprived you of peace; and if you, instead of pride, adopted humility, then envy would not find a place in your heart. Further, the passion for sensuality further darkened the light of true reason; and when, in the light of faith, conscience awakened, that good feeling suppressed despair. But it is clear that the Lord loves you and wants your salvation; for the third time he calls you to conversion. With emptiness and despondency of spirit, you are advised to seek consolation in distraction; but you don’t find him there, and it’s impossible to find him; The spirit needs spiritual food. We must seek consolation in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commandments, one of which teaches us where we can find peace: “Learn from Me, said the Lord, that I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:23). When the thought of pride confuses you about your humble origins and hurts your heart with envy against the noble and rich: at that hour turn your thoughts to the Lord, who humbled Himself and commanded us to seek peace in humility. The Holy Apostles were of humble birth, but they conquered the universe into the faith of Christ and were awarded great gifts. God does not look upon the nobility of the family, but upon the humble; and you try, with languor of spirit, calling on the Lord, to humbly submit to His will, which allowed you such a test; Considering yourself worthy and remembering your sins, bring repentance. After all, pride is a sin, and the most vile one at that, but we pay little attention to it and consider it as nothing. If you seek in this way, you will find the peace given to us by our Savior. If you seek and do not receive quickly, do not worry about it, but leave it to the will of God. The Lord knows to whom, when and how much to bestow it. It happens that a person, having become rich, becomes proud and leaves the Giver, and then suffers greatly. Remember how the offended widow, having suffered a lot of cold, received vengeance from her rival through an unjust judge; How much more will your heavenly Father give to those who ask Him, and do not lose heart in your petition. Try as much as possible to fulfill God’s commandments; and seeing in this either an inconvenience or your weakness, humble yourself and ask for God’s help. Humility itself intercedes for us before God. Do not blame any of the others, whom you see in them doing something unpleasant for you, but blame yourself for not fulfilling the commandment of God, which commands us to love even our enemies; and be firmly convinced that everything that happens against our will is allowed by God’s gaze, to our trial or punishment; and people are only instruments of God’s providence, acting in the work of our salvation. Read the word of God and spiritual fatherly books that can enlighten you on the true path. And I ask you to forgive me for the poor style of the letter, and if you find anything contrary to your opinion. I myself am ignorant, but I am writing to you, calling on the Lord for help; and when you accept (my words) with faith, you will find help. The origin of your parents does not cause any harm or vice for them or for you. Everyone will give an answer about what they have done, but they will not ask us about noble or ignorant origin, but will look to see if there is humility. “This precious stone and inconspicuous wealth will bring us much benefit.” Wishing you to find true peace, and asking for God's blessing on you, with my respect I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the many-sinful I.M. I will also tell you not to seek high gifts, admiration and spiritual consolations; they are bestowed according to our humility. And is it possible to enter the royal palace and enjoy His supper, having been in the unclean rags of passions? Let us cleanse them with repentance and humility, and submit them to the will of God, when He pleases to lead us into His palace, but we ourselves will consider ourselves unworthy of it. July 31, 1853. From your letter sent to me on October 31, I see that you have received some peace of mind in your mental state. I rejoice in this from my heart and glorify God, who gave this to you. Everything that we have that is good: peace, tranquility and health - all this is a gift from God, given to us; and we, honored by Him with autocracy and reason, must try to fulfill His holy will, shown to us in the Holy Gospel, in His commandments. When starting to do something, you must ask for God’s help, for He said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), while fulfilling the commandments, do not think that you have done anything great; but having a duty (to fulfill), we fulfill them; and the Lord, encouraging us to humility, commanded: “If you do all that is commanded to you, say, for we are unworthy servants, even though we must do them, we have done them” (Luke 17:10) and again commanded: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” ( Matthew 11:29). Everywhere and always we need humility, which strengthens our deeds and gives us peace. You write about the community that has formed between you in spiritual conversation and reading the works of the holy fathers of our Orthodox, Eastern Church. I approve of this, but I only advise you not to get carried away to the heights of speculation and speculation. This is available to those who cleanse their hearts from passions by doing the commandments of God and enduring sorrows, and as purification and humility are granted, higher knowledge is also granted. You will find all this in the teachings of the holy fathers. Read the Philokalia, St. John Climacus, St. Ephraim (Syrin), Abba Dorotheus, Rev. Macarius, St. Isaac the Syrian and other holy fathers. If you do not achieve high spiritual measures, but finding yourself in humble wisdom, do not lose the hope of receiving eternal good; and with an intensified desire and zeal to achieve high standards of speculation, the enemy’s delusion may occur, and, instead of good fruits, bitter tares will be reaped. Your disposition to find a partner in marriage can be approved. This is necessary for a person living in the world. The purpose of his existence on earth (except for the highest spiritual purpose) must mean something that will occupy him and facilitate the work of his activity. And at the beginning, when God created man, he said: “It is not good for man to be alone, but let us make him a helper,” and further: and God bless them” (Gen. 2:18). I advise you to pray to God, that He will give you a good helper, a true Christian, well-behaved, and not just educated for the world. With the blessing of God, on the advice of right-thinking people, seek and you will find. What I earnestly wish for you and remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. November 14, 1853. You blame yourself for not being prudent in your prayers to God, but asking (in the words of St. Isaac the Syrian) for pus, (that is, worldly things). In the same way, when we ask for earthly (blessings), we cannot approve of this; but according to the word of St. Apostle: You ask and do not receive; you ask evilly, but depend on your passions (James 4:3). However, St. Isaac in the 6th word says that “for our weakness we are allowed to pray and not to enter into them about bodily temptations.” The ego can also agree with what you ask, that is, so that through deprivation of earthly goods you do not fall into temptation, not have the means to live decently, and although this is worldly decency, you live in the world, and it is difficult to bear the deprivation of what you have been accustomed to for a long time. Here you must have faith in God’s providence, which cares for every creature and gives every good gift to everyone, but sometimes takes away what harms you spiritually. And therefore, asking him for something temporary, one must submit the fulfillment of this (request) completely to the will of God. Understand and try to fulfill the word of God: “seek first God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Mnogohreshny I.M. October 17, 1853. You are writing to pray for your grandson, who is serving in the regiment, since now is a troubled time of war. According to your faith and commandments, we must fulfill this duty with a heartfelt desire: may the Lord keep him healthy and unharmed mentally and physically. And I advise you and his parents not to indulge in hopeless sadness, but, praying to the Lord God, to surrender to His holy will, as He pleases, so He will do it, and thus calm yourself, in a peaceful and calm spirit, and your prayer will be favorable before God. Call upon the Most Pure Mother of God the Virgin Mary for help and intercession; Her intercession accomplishes much with the Lord; call upon your namesake grandson, his patron, Saint Nicholas of Christ; He helps and helps people a lot and relieves them from misfortunes. Write and ...... so that he himself prays to the Lord, the Mother of God and St. Nicholas of Christ and other saints; I tried to maintain the Orthodox faith, fulfill the commandments of God and have humility. If he does this, he will receive God’s help and will be saved. May the Lord comfort you with trust in God’s help. If I wish you health and salvation, with my respect I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. October 20, 1853. You rely on my advice and blessing about your marriage. But who am I and what do I mean? I don’t know the future - whether you will be happy in marriage or not, and therefore I do not take it upon myself to tell you decisively, but leave it to the will of God. The will of God does not bind our autocracy, but is accomplished, looking at it - what it tends to. There is the will of God by good pleasure, and there is the will of God by permission; and this last thing happens when we want it to be the way we think it will be good for us. And when we surrender to the will of God, and we are not looking for what we want, but what will be pleasing to him and useful to us, then in this the will of God happens - according to good will, useful and saving for us, and with the will of God, which happens by permission, sorrows and sorrows are inevitable. In addition, I offer you my reasoning: now you are free, but when you get married you must give yourself into bondage; What would it be more convenient to accustom yourself to in your younger years? . . . I do not forbid you to fulfill your desire; pray to God, when His will is done according to His good pleasure, and not according to your desire, then let Him do it as He pleases. I remain a wisher for your health and prosperity and a pilgrim, many-sinful I.M. October 31, 1853. You ask my advice on where to settle after selling your estate: in M–e, or in K–e, and say that you need peace. In response to this, I must tell you that the inner peace that you are looking for is acquired not by place of residence, but by fulfilling the commandments of God with humility: learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29), said our Savior. When dealing with our neighbors, we become more aware of our weakness than in solitude; and through the knowledge of our weakness we come to humility; but always and in everything we must ask for help from Almighty God, He is our peace, according to the word of the Apostle (Eph. 2:14), and only His grace is strong to give us peace of mind. Regarding your external affairs, the sale of your estate and resettlement, I don’t know what to tell you decisively. Owning an estate and managing it, you were busy and accustomed to activity, but freed from all this, you can become bored; That’s why I advise you to think about this circumstance so that you don’t regret what you did later. Regarding moving to live in the city, I agree with you. that in K-e it is not as noisy as in M-e, but for that everything in K-e is very expensive. I leave all your affairs to the will of God and advise you to submit to it. I ask for God’s peace and blessing on you and remain the wisher for your health and salvation, many-sinful I.M. You write to me about your intention to begin a third marriage, but your brothers do not advise you to do so; and that’s why you ask my advice, what should you do in this important matter? On the one hand, seeing my thinness and unworthiness, I am afraid to boldly dare; and on the other hand, seeing that you are asking about this with faith, I resort to the “Mighty One and the God of Reasons,” who can enlighten my foolishness and, according to your faith, I offer you this reasoning. You have experienced married life twice and, according to a predestination unknown to us in the destinies of God, it pleased the Lord at the present time to transfer your second wife from this temporary life to the eternal one. Having lost it, you are in great sorrow, and this is natural, while the wound of sorrow is new and hot, you cannot help but feel pain; One must submit to the will of God and bear this cross complacently. Apparently it is the will of God that you spend the rest of your life in abstinence and purity, raising the children given to you by God, in the fear of God and piety and in peace and friendliness with your brothers, practicing in your trade and economic affairs. And it is not safe to start a third marriage if you have five children. Who knows whether your future wife will be a mother for them, or a party for you, who can give you the consolation of a harmonious and peaceful life in your life? Now your love for your children is concentrated and deeply rooted in your heart, but then it will be divided, and perhaps the advantage will be on the other side, and disagreement may occur in the family; from which God forbid! But if all these inconveniences are eliminated, then, although the Church condescends, out of need and out of human weakness, to a third marriage; but having delved into the church rules of St. fathers, we find a strict saying against a third marriage, and the imposition of a strict, great penance for this. St. Basil the Great canonical rules: 4, 50 and 80 read in the Works of St. Fathers of 1848, part 7, pp. 6, 52 and 109. Saint Gregory the Theologian affirmatively says: “the first marriage is law, the second is indulgence: and the third is lawlessness” (See Works of the Holy Fathers of 1844, part 3, word 37, p. 320.), and St. The Apostle Paul exhorts the faithful: if you have separated from your wife, do not seek a wife (1 Cor. 7:27), but the Apostles and St. the teachings of the fathers are from the Holy Spirit; for the Lord, sending them to preach, said: listen to you, He listens to Me, and brush aside you, You are swept away from Me; Dismiss Me; the Father who sent Me is rejected (Luke 10:16). It will be much better, calmer and more useful for you not to enter into a third marriage, and God is able to send you help to preserve yourself in purity and chastity. Although you cannot rely on yourself, by recognizing your weakness and calling on God for help, get rid of the arrows of the evil one, with which he will wound you with carnal sensuality. Many living in the world, with the help of God, have crushed and are crushing these arrows of the evil one. The Lord is able to save you too. However, we should not take as an example and judge those who have already entered into a third marriage: this does not concern us, but I am writing something that actually relates to your person, on your question. May the Lord give you true reason, good will and strength to fulfill the will of God. Asking for God's blessing on you and your family, I remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. April 27, 1854. Before receiving your letter, I was notified...... about the death of your wife...... I heartily regretted her and her crying, saddened sister...... At the same time, we wrote down her name for commemoration in our skete church, at liturgies and during the reading of the psalter. On the 27th, I also received your letter dated the 20th, in which you express the sorrow of your heart over the deprivation of your wife and admit that you are guilty before her; imagine her merits, and (say) that during her life they could not give them prices. All this sensitively affects your heart and leads to repentance for the past before God and before her. Regretting the deceased, who passed away in her prime, and you, who grieve for her, for your crimes, and for the little ones who have lost their tender mother, I will tell you about her. It was clear that it was God’s will that her temporary life should now cease and she should pass on to endless life. I believe that the Lord will grant her eternal bliss: she was a good Christian, and in faith and hope of eternal life, with the guidance of St. tain, moved away from here. Church prayers and memories of her during a bloodless sacrifice help her to receive God’s mercy. I advise you not to indulge in the bleak sadness of being deprived of it; but dissolve your sadness with the hope that she will be worthy of a blessed life; and to repent of our sins before God, with a feeling of contrite and humble heart and with a firm intention, with the help of God, not to return to the same sins in the future, and to live piously, as the Lord commands and the Church will betray His teaching to us. Believe that the Lord will accept your repentance and true proposal, and will give peace to your conscience; and when you are established in good conduct and virtue, then you will atone for your guilt before your deceased wife, for in this way her spirit will calm down and rejoice. According to the word of God, we know that for one sinner who repents there is joy in heaven, that is: Angels and souls of the righteous rejoice over the conversion of a sinner. Through this you will be delivered from the punishment of God that frightens you, as you write. Try, with the assistance of God, to preserve and raise your remaining children in Christian piety, according to the teachings of our Orthodox Church, as a guarantee of the love of your wife. You will also repay the debt to your wife. Pray for the repose of her soul and give alms to those in need of help. All this will be a joy to your wife’s soul. Due to the strength of my feeble-mindedness, I offered you advice, to your consolation in grief and peace of conscience. I pray to the Lord that He will give you the feeling to accept this spiritual healing and may He send healing to your soul and consolation in your sorrow. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation and an unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. August 31, 1854. I answer your letter about the fate before you, briefly, and as much as I can, due to the weakness of my health. Pray to God and His Most Pure Mother, may the Lord arrange your destiny according to His holy will. If it is His holy will that you now give your hand to the one who offers you marriage, then every obstacle will be removed. You will completely submit your will to the will of God; Meanwhile, we need to find out about him: is he a true Christian of the Orthodox Church, is he of good morality, and about (his) family. Do your parents agree to your marriage, and do you have your own full consent? Under such conditions and actions, may the Lord bless you to enter into a new, family life, but no one knows what will happen in the future, just as you write. To your question, what does a happy life consist of: in splendor, fame and wealth, or in a quiet, peaceful, family life, I will say that I agree with the latter, and I will also add: a life lived with an impeccable conscience and humility brings peace, tranquility and true happiness. But wealth, honor, glory and high dignity are often the cause of many sins, and this happiness is unreliable. Moreover, we see in the Gospel teaching of the Lord that the rich man, who enjoyed all the blessings in this life, upon his departure to the next century, wanted to cool off in his suffering even with a drop of water, but he heard the answer: child, remember how you received something good in your belly, and so on. (Luke 16:25). And one more thing: the Lord calls this brilliant, luxurious and imaginary happy life here a vast path leading to destruction, and many walk along it; a narrow and sorrowful way - leading into the eternal belly, and few walk on it (Matthew 7:14). But we often see that the Lord, loving us and wanting to save many, and against their will, leads them from the long path, puts them on a narrow and regrettable one, and thereby leads them into the eternal belly. May God's will be upon you in everything. I ask His blessing for you and remain the wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. September 3, 1854. You describe your grief and grief about the deprivation of your children and, through the outpouring of my badness, you are looking for consolation and strengthening, as well as admonition, in anticipation of seeing your infant children someday in eternity. Of course, you are firmly convinced that our entry and departure, life and death, are in the will of God. God created us, preserves us in life and, at the time predetermined for each, moves us into eternity. So we, whether we live or die, are the Lord's (Rom. 14:8). Our life here, no matter how long it is, but everything ends in death, but our existence does not end with it, but with death we only pass into eternity, which has no end. With God, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. It pleased His will to remove your children from this vale of deplorable and sorrowful life at a very young age, while they had not yet experienced either the sweets or sorrows of life and had not stained their souls with sinful filth. Is it not God's love for them that they will enjoy eternal bliss? The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment will touch them (Wis. 3:1). The destinies of God are inscrutable to us. St. Apostle Paul exclaimed: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and understanding of God! Who has tested the mind of the Lord, or who has been His adviser? (Rom. 11:33). Should we test: how, why and for what purpose did God remove them from here in infancy? Although we hoped to see them as good-natured, useful to society, and to have comfort from them, who could convince us of this? We often see that our hopes are not justified, and many, instead of consolation, receive great grief and sorrow through their children, and of course this serves as a punishment for parents. But you have not experienced anything like this, except grief over their deprivation, due to your weakness and cowardice. When you resort to faith and hope, you will find joyful consolation in the thought that they will receive eternal bliss and will no longer be subject to changes in life and stumbling. The Scripture says: “For good evil darkens the care of evil, and the soaring of lust changes a gentle mind” (Proverbs 4:13) and therefore the Lord accepted your children to Himself, “lest malice change their minds, or flattery deceive their souls” (Wisdom 4:11). God knows everything, even what we have not done, and therefore turn to thanksgiving to the Lord that He accepted “as an honorable gift” your fruit to Himself for eternal enjoyment. Read in the life of St. Martyr Huar (October 19), how one mother, who had lost her only son, received consolation from a vision of St. martyr; But take comfort from all that has been written above, by faith, not by sight, and when you give thanks, you will receive from the Lord relief from your sorrow and spiritual consolation. Do you want to know how to earn a date with them in eternity? We should not only worry about this, but in order to be worthy of the sight of God there, then we will all be united there in love in the love of God. And how to achieve this for every Orthodox Christian, the word of God and the Orthodox Church teach us: by fulfilling the commandments of God and by relying not on our own merits, but on the merits of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us eternal life through the cross and His suffering. He Himself spoke with His most pure lips: “If you have My commandments and keep them, he is the one who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and will manifest myself to Him” (John 14:21). You can pray to God to keep your daughter alive......, but you must surrender more to the will of God: may His holy will be in everything on you and your daughter, and His will is always good and saving for us. Take comfort in this. Having compassion for you in your sorrow as much as I could, I wrote for your strengthening and consolation, but only God is able to strengthen and comfort you; So cry to Him: I will pour out my prayer before Him, I will declare my sorrow before Him (Ps. 141:3). I cried out to the Lord when my heart was out of nowhere (Ps. 60:3) and with other verbs spoken in the Psalter. I must tell you about my weaknesses that as they multiply, I am thinking of leaving correspondence and therefore I do not hope to answer your letters in advance; and I could write this with great difficulty. Asking for God's blessing on you and your little one, I remain with my respect, the unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. October 5, 1854. The proof of your zeal and in the Lord your disposition towards my badness is already the third of your writings, from which I see that you, expecting my letters and receiving them, accepted them with a Christian feeling, as instructions serving the salvation of the soul. And again, in a humble expression, ask me not to leave you with comforting instructions. I do not refuse to present to you my readiness to write to you what you need, or bewilderment, not relying on my reason or dignity, but hoping that, according to your faith, the Lord is able to enlighten me in your favor. I find it unnecessary to offer you a word about alms to your neighbors, knowing that you are trying to fulfill the commandment of God - about this virtue, and remember that the Lord promised mercy to the merciful, and even blessed them: “blesseds of mercy,” and again: “When the Son of man comes in His glory, whom will He put at His right hand?” - Having done works of mercy in six types, as St. writes. Evangelist Matthew in chapter 25; But I only consider it necessary to remind you that everything good that you do is imbued with humility: whether prayer, fasting, almsgiving, forgiveness to others, etc., do all this for the glory of God and with humility. I offer this to you because I know that the hater of goodness, the devil, when he does not have time to turn us away from some good deed, he tries to darken it with arrogance and vanity. I pray to the merciful Lord that He will give you true reason to know His will, and strength to fulfill, and strength to crush all the snares and arrows of the evil one, and grant you and your entire family a calm and peaceful life, accompanied in harmony and love. Asking for you and your children and your entire family the blessing of God, I remain with respect your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. March 8, 1855. By explaining your bewilderment in some of your spiritual circumstances, you ask for my advice and admonition. Although I am weak and unreasonable, I cannot leave your questions unanswered and, not relying on my reason, I call on God, who can enlighten me, according to your faith, for your spiritual benefit. You write that when you start confession, you become afraid, even to the point of a feverish state, and you almost don’t remember yourself, and you can’t put your thoughts in order and how you should speak. From this I notice that you are confused at this time; and in confusion it is impossible to have feelings of repentance and pain about one’s sins, and this comes from the envy of the enemy and from vanity. Anyone coming to confession must, having realized his sinfulness, regret the anger of our Creator, and, approaching the sacrament of confession, must present himself with fear, humility and hope. With fear - like God, angry with a sinner. In humility, through the consciousness of one’s sinfulness. With hope - for we approach the child-loving Father, who sent His Son for our redemption, Who took our sins, nailed them to the cross, and washed them with His most pure blood. And again - as to one who found a lost sheep, took it into His frame and brought it to His Father. Such preparation will ward off the harmful fear that you write about. It also comes from false shame, and at the same time from pride and vanity, when exposing the secrets of one’s heart before the minister of the sacrament. Nothing like this will confuse one who comes with humility. When we walk with a contrite and humble heart, thinking in our minds about the repentant publican and the prodigal son and, imitating their feelings as much as possible, we remember the first: “God, be merciful to me a sinner” and the last: “I go to my Father and say to Him: Father, those who have sinned in heaven and before You are no longer worthy to be called my son” (Luke 15:18.19). Here we see not only a just God, but also a merciful God; and himself a sinner, repenting and expecting and hoping for forgiveness from the mercy of God. By uttering our sins before the minister of the sacrament and receiving from him the permission given to him by the authority of Christ our Savior, we are rewarded with the forgiveness of our sins and receive peace of mind. But if you are embarrassed and forget your sins, you can, going to the sacrament, write them down for memory, and if you forget, with the permission of your confessor, look at the note and explain it to him. Similar examples are found in the lives and teachings of St. fathers. Asking for you the peace and blessing of God and with my respect, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. March 12, 1855 You write that when dealing with people of the other sex, you sometimes experience two kinds of feelings: one is attractive, and the other is repulsive, and having learned that this is natural to our nature, you despair because you cannot always overcome this feeling. I see from this that you do not know at all what kind of a person should withstand the fight against an enemy who fights against him with his own flesh. But we cannot defeat nature without the special help of God. No matter how hard we try to resist her natural inclinations, we cannot all be winners, as we would like, and see in ourselves the (desired) purity of thoughts and actions. We must present to God our will and resistance to contrary thoughts and desires, but we must not hope to defeat this other creature of ours—the flesh—with our own strength. And in struggle, when we see ourselves defeated, we should not despair at all, but recognize our weakness and humble our wisdom, considering ourselves the last of all, and repent before God. But if you think so, simply, to have neither thoughts nor emotions of the flesh, and consider this to be purity, then you are very mistaken; if you could get this without fighting, it would lead you to pride, the most cruel of all sins. According to St. John Climacus, sometimes all passions leave us, leaving only one pride, which is enough to fill all the others. To strengthen you in this struggle and to learn why it multiplies, and why we do not have the strength to resist it, and how to resist all the snares and arrows of the enemy, I advise you to read the books of St. Father about this battle, namely: St. John Climacus, degree or word 15th, y St. Isaac the Syrian word 77th, in the Philokalia in the 4th part of St. Cassian the Roman's word about eight passionate thoughts (where there is also about this passion); also the Venerable Nile of Sora. I hope that you will find spiritual benefit in them. Regarding the fact that you find it difficult to tell your confessor about certain subjects, I will tell you: do not explain the mental battles of passionate carnal thoughts in detail, but simply say: I am overcome by carnal thoughts”; That's enough. God sees your heart, which grieves over this. If shame does not allow you to even say this, then resort to humility, and remember that this small shame before one person frees you from future eternal shame. ………..pray to God and surrender to His holy will. Try to watch, lest your heart be lifted up. If something good happened to be done, then attribute it all to God’s help. And during a storm and uprising of passions, do not give in to despondency and despair; but flow to self-reproach, humility and repentance. Before God, a humble sinner - a repentant one - is more acceptable than a righteous person - proud and unrepentant, but thinking of being justified by his righteousness. Mnogohreshny I.M. March 12, 1855. Having received your letter on the 26th of July, I did not answer it; and again on the 8th of August I received another letter on the 4th; and the next day and the manuscript of your translation: “St. Maximus interpretation on the Lord's Prayer." We thank you most earnestly for this work, dedicated by you for the benefit of your neighbor; Due to the shortness of time and, at the present time, the many visitors who are with us, they could not yet read it, comparing it with the translation of Elder Paisius. But we are confident that, due to the good disposition of your heart and the zeal with which you took on this work, the Lord will give you reason and help. You hoped, upon arrival in M....., to receive the manuscript of the Monk Fallasius and begin printing it - it would be good if this happened; but there are a lot of things to do in censorship, then perhaps its consideration will slow down; and also because we not so long ago sent the last three hundred centurions there, and only the first hundred centurion had previously arrived to them - transferred..... I sincerely rejoice that the Lord has given you the desire and feeling to now begin to partake of the most pure mysteries of Christ - this is the duty of a Christian. You write that you just can’t achieve a crumb, or a grain of publican’s gold - tenderness; However, do not complain about this, but the 89th word of St. Isaac also showed you the reason for this poverty. I also offer my meager advice. Make up for this deficiency with humble wisdom, consider yourself unworthy of this great gift. If the pledge of consciousness of our thinness and insignificance is implanted in you, then it is possible for the Lord to enrich you with the gift of publican’s gold; and without this collateral, even if you have great wealth, it cannot be durable, but soon departs and disappears. The mind, having dreamed something great about itself, is immediately deprived of God’s intercession, and the enemy tries to instill in us proud thoughts, just as he himself fell away from God through pride; and therefore God carefully allows us attempts of various kinds, so that those who listen to themselves through them descend into the depths of humility. With such a dispensation, although it may be necessary to enter into an analysis of human actions with the intention of distinguishing good from evil, in order to follow the former and avoid the latter, then humility will give you sound reasoning; according to the word of St. John Climacus, reasoning is born from humility. Do you want to avoid both useless rebellion and callous indifference? Ask God to grant you true reason, not to deviate either on the right hand or on the back, and it is given to the humble: and as we have a constant battle with the proud spirits of malice, they try to lift us up with high thoughts about ourselves, or bring us down with vices (the action of passions) and despair. What this battle is like, everyone can observe and discern in themselves, resist with strength, calling on God’s help, for without Him we cannot overcome the enemy and avoid his wiles. Take the teaching of St. for your learning and strengthening. fathers. They teach us not to deviate either on the face or on the face during battles and attacks. St. Peter of Damascus writes: it is fitting to have patience in all those who happen, even if God allows them to come to knowledge, experience and the removal of our weakness, and to dare less, and despair less, if something happens - good or evil: and in the second book he writes more at length about this, in the 5th word, which you yourself should read. St. Isaac the Syrian writes at the end of the 7th word not to deviate into despair during creeping, and in the 46th word he speaks a lot about this, that is, ascension and creeping - for which they are allowed, and whoever wants to evade creeping is part of the wolves. Read it all, and all of it will help you gain humility—a stronghold against your enemies. From all this, as much as possible, applying it to your situation, benefit for yourself. There is a lot in the teaching of St. useful fathers, but take the trouble to experience it yourself: just be wary of touching high objects and activities without having yet achieved such a dispensation, but when you try to gain humility, it will teach you everything, and if you find anything in what I have written and proposed that does not agree with your position, then I ask you to forgive me. August 16, 1855. P.S. I mentioned true reason: according to the word of St. Peter of Damascus, and reason is a product of temptation, and humility is a product of reason; There are various temptations - both external and internal. Everything that I wrote about warfare refers to internal temptation. Your wife visited our monastery together with her daughter. Having this opportunity, I congratulate you on the bright holiday of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and on the current Pentecost. May God grant you to celebrate many such holidays in spiritual joy and good health. She told me about you that you were unwell and were missing something; I regret this and wish you to rejoice in the Lord, placing all the hope of your salvation in the mercy of God, and not in your truth and not in your deeds; With peace of mind and health, you can get better. Consume food for the glory of God, which can strengthen your bodily composition, as prescribed by the statutes of the Church for the times of meat-eating and fasting; do not listen to those who advise you the opposite - to avoid food and drink. We must be, according to the teachings of St. fathers, not body killers - but passion killers, that is, to destroy passions in oneself: pride and vanity, carnal lusts, love of money, anger, envy and resentment of the insults of neighbors, etc.; and instill in yourself: love, meekness, humility, mercy, patience and other Christian virtues, strengthened by prayer. St. writes Apostle: Do not forget charity and fellowship, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Your wife also told me that you have the care, just in case, to make a spiritual will to dispose of your property: this is a very good thing, it will give you great peace of mind: you will know what is assigned to whom, according to your will, and there can be no disputes, quarrels and embarrassment; but don’t be at all embarrassed by this, as if you are facing death; many, after making spiritual wills, lived for 20 years or more. When you are appointed, provide for your daughter... . living in the monastery; For her, real estate is indecent; a designate an amount by putting five thousand silver in the pawnshop and, on top of that, build a cell for her: and if and……. If she wishes to enter the monastery, then provide her with a ticket as well; Appoint your spouse as guardian; a trustee - appoint anyone you like. The will must be signed by both the spiritual father and three more witnesses from your rank, or from the nobles. But all this is done on occasion, and do not think about hastening death. Stay safe and healthy for many years to come. April 10, 1858. It was sensitive for me to read your letter, dear..., in which you realize that your wife's illness... is God's punishment sent to you solely for your stupid ignorance in the knowledge of the dogmas and rules of the Holy Church. Your consciousness and repentance, with the forward intention of abandoning all false teachings and obedience to St. Church, - to greatly appease the Lord, to grant you forgiveness and healing to the suffering, but so that she too comes to the Holy. our Mother, the Orthodox Church. Pray to the Queen of Heaven, our Intercessor, the Mother of God, - have you been worthy of visiting Her Most Pure Iveron Icon? Pray also to the newly-minted saint of God, Saint Mitrophanius, His prayers can do a lot with the Lord.... You must believe St. Scripture that: the Lord loves him, punishes him, and beats every son who accepts him; If you continue without punishment, you are not sons in nature, but adulterers (Heb. 12:6). You see that through God’s punishment you have come to the consciousness of your stupid ignorance, or your wonted wisdom. The Lord says: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and reject the understanding of the prudent,” because they are worshipers of their own reason and carnal wisdom; a according to St. Apostle: carnal wisdom is enmity against God, for it does not submit to God’s law, for it can do less (Rom. 8:7). Wisdom and reason, not imbued with faith and humility, cannot bring peace and tranquility to their owners; and so, we must look for them in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself even to the form of a servant and commanded us to learn from Him meekness and humility: for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). And He commanded to listen to the teachers and shepherds of the Church through the Apostles, ordained and ordained, whose ladder descends even to our time and will descend until the end of the age. And whoever does not listen to her, “be like a pagan and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17), and to the Apostles he said: “Listen to you, He listens to Me, but reject you, He is rejected from Me,” this is how important obedience to St. The Church, its dogmas and teachings, which were approved by ecumenical councils and the authority of St. great fathers. I hope that from now on you will be firm in obedience to St. Orthodox Church, aware of their guilt and regretting the past error. And the most merciful Lord, “not willing the sinner to die, but to be converted and live to him” (Ezek. 33:11), will forgive your sins, and if He sees benefit for you and your wife, He will give her healing, mental and physical. You write that you are completely devoted to the providence of God, and you wait for what His determination will be; may His holy will be done on us. Your brother consoled me with his visit; he and I spent quite a pleasant time for about 4 days in useful and life-saving conversations. Most Reverend of the Lord. You, completely unaware of me, treat me so openly about your unhappy fate, about your sorrows and about what you thought you found consolation for; but this too has collapsed, due to which you are in even greater sorrow, and you want either the return of this consolation, or to erase from your memory what you ask me to pray for you; I must tell you the truth, that in their misfortune, in which they sought consolation, they did not find it where they should, but found it in something that adds even more sorrow. We should seek God’s help and submit to His will, but on the contrary, you looked in the wrong place and did not find it, but only sinned; and again, thinking to find protection and consolation in another means, but this temporary one has deceived you, so you have no hope for it. From all of this it is clear that you were led by temporary, sensual pleasure, but do not pay attention to eternity, and do not care about your spiritual salvation. Your desire for death in the present time will not bring any benefit; Think about what to appear before the court of God with? An eternity of either bliss or torment! So it is better to endure sorrow here, realizing one’s sinfulness and bringing repentance to God, and there to receive eternal bliss, than here to enjoy temporary consolation and unrepentantly depart into eternity. So, I advise you to turn to the Lord, ask for His help to deliver you from this false pleasure of this consolation, and having realized your guilt before God, bring repentance to Him, and He is always ready to accept our repentance, which consists in regret that we have angered the Lord, and the intention to preserve ourselves in the future from what God does not want; Whatever sorrows he wishes to send, he must accept them with submission to the will of God, like a medicine that heals our sinful ulcers; for God, loving us, sends sorrows, “whom the Lord loves, he punishes, and beats every son whom he accepts” (Heb. 12:16). Pray to the Most Pure Virgin Mary, may she intercede for you to the Lord. She is the intercessor of all those who come under Her roof. I.M. Relatives venerable in the Lord I received several of your letters at different times, but, due to my weakness and the unimportance of the matter, they remained unanswered; That's why you complained about me. Especially.... that I didn’t congratulate her on Angel’s Day. What to do? I am guilty of everything; and maybe, due to time, it will be necessary and will not serve at all as a hand in explaining my thoughts. However, I wrote to you from ....., and you received it at the beginning of January, which you notified me about. Now I congratulate you on this great fast, and I wish you to meet it reverently and see it off with soul-saving care, caring about the fulfillment of God’s commandments. You will fulfill your Christian duty by preparing yourself with fasting and prayer; partake of the holy mysteries of Christ. It is always fitting for us to keep the commandments of God..... You write to me about the sorrows that visit you; I notice that in carrying them you are faint-hearted; but what kind of grief I don’t know and I don’t dare inquire. I am very sorry for you that you find in your dispensation that your mental suffering has cooled your heart to the great work of salvation, and you feel that in your life there is no that great goal to which... every Christian is called. It is in vain that you think so, and because of this you lose heart. Although I don’t know what your sorrows are, I can boldly tell you that you are on the path of salvation when sorrows visit you. Every Christian has a cross and every one has his own kind; when our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory, took on our flesh and for our redemption suffered even to death, the death of the cross, and left us an image that we might follow His footsteps; and, calling us, he said: whoever wants to come to Me, let him take up his cross (Matthew 16:24). What else is the cross if not the sorrows that God’s providence sends us, according to the measure of each dispensation and strength to bear? But when we accept with cowardice, we fail in them and lose the fruit of patience; We blame others, and do not turn our thoughts to God. If people cause us sorrow, then they themselves cannot do anything to us without the permission of God, by which He acts in the matter of our salvation. If you accept your sorrows as punishment, it is also clear from this that you are not deprived of God’s love, as the holy Apostle Paul writes: “Son, do not be overwhelmed by the punishment of the Lord, but weaken, we are reproached by it. If you endure punishment like a son, God will be found for you” (Heb. 12). Accept all this as a consolation for your sorrow and, putting aside cowardice, thank the Lord, who wants to save you and loves you. Thank you for your diligence in our monastery and your efforts in sewing air. October 22, 1857. Most Honorable of the Lord The sorrow that has visited you at the death of your dear daughter... accept it as sent from the hand of God and with childish humility. Humbly submit to the will of God, which arranges everything for the good. Seek consolation in our holy faith; each and every one of us is destined by God to remain in this world in order to acquire the future endless age. No matter how long our life here is, there is nothing against the future, the end of the poor. Therefore, she did not die, but passed on to another, perfect life. I advise you not to indulge in useless grief over her, like those who have no hope of a future life. For them, that is, for unbelievers, the one who dies dies forever, and their sorrows are joyless; for them no ray of hope shines from distant eternity; but for us who believe, there is hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. The fact that she died at a young age means that she not only lost nothing, but also escaped many of the vicissitudes and sorrows of this age. Scripture speaks of those who pass away in youth: he was loved, he was put aside, he was caught up, so that it is not malice that changes his mind, or flattery deceives his soul: the zeal for malice darkens the good, and the soaring of lust changes the mind of the kind; Having died in Mala, he fulfilled his duty, for his soul was pleasing to the Lord (Wis. 4:10–14); and all these are works of God’s providence: He knows everything that could happen to them, but we know nothing and do not understand, and therefore we grieve, not knowing God’s providence for us. Pray to God for the repose of her soul. This will be comforting to you and joyful to her: may the Lord rest her soul in the kingdom of heaven, and may he give you peace, health and salvation. November 19, 1857. Most Venerable of the Lord N N 29 Having written to..., I am exhausted with strength, and I cannot write to you myself, but I dictate. You are saddened by the death..., but the Lord will comfort you when you look with the eyes of faith into the future century. God loved her, taking her to himself in her youth. This path is necessary for all of us; only not at one time, but for each as God intended, and this is only known to Him alone. May the Lord bless you by moving to an apartment and starting a new life, hitherto unknown to you; but when you live peacefully and in harmony, and care about doing the will of God, you will find peace in your labors and in life. Pray to God humbly and He accepts the prayer of the humble and does not despise their prayers. As you wish, but I will not praise you for your passion for cigars; imagine that you, from being free, have become a slave to this empty passion, how much time and money you are wasting on an addiction that does not benefit you, but is harmful; I don’t need to force you, but I’m giving advice: when you fulfill it, it’s good, but if not, then let it be according to your will, and I advise you for your good. In your letter dated November 22, you describe your position and your way of thinking in relation to your life and your desire, leaving the world, to seek salvation; in it I see hesitation on both sides, and you are not confirmed on either side. A St. Scripture proclaims that the man is double-minded and unsettled in all his ways. You ask for my advice, but it is very difficult for me to enter into such matters, because you already have the advice given to you by the priest, and are in office with the Highest permission, then what advice can I give you? You are in vain confused, the future is unknown to anyone, and everything consists in the all-embracing and all-wise providence of God, foreseeing our deeds and even their thoughts and movements, and rewarding us according to His righteous destinies. Every person is given reason, free will and the law to test them. Fulfilling the commandments of God in every rank brings salvation to a person. But if we find in one title an obstacle to maintaining purity, or morality, and in general to fulfilling the commandments of God, then it is not at all forbidden to seek evasion from what harms us. From your letter I see that by reading spiritual books, you received some encouragement for spiritual life, but it is clear that it was not yet fully implanted in you, and it remained in vain, and on the other hand, it was flattered by worldly pride and types of honor, etc., and you did not confirm your thoughts in either path and it remained in hesitation and confusion. I don’t know if you have read the book by Rev. Abba Dorotheus: in the first word he writes with what mind we leave the world and come to the monastery; I advise you to read it. In your present indecisive position, I advise you to pray to the Lord, may He enlighten you and show you the true path to salvation: what I wish you to achieve, and with my respect I remain the unworthy pilgrim, the many sinner I.M. December 14, 1857. Thank God that you have known or are learning the truth; where is it located? The Lord said: I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6); since He authorized the Church, and He Himself is the foundation and head, and therefore St. The Apostle writes: The Church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). This is where we need to look for truth: in the teaching of St. the conciliar and apostolic Orthodox Church of Christ, sacredly honor and obey its statutes and orders; for the Lord affirmatively commanded: if anyone disobeys the Church, let him be as a pagan and a publican (Matthew 18:17), but the teaching of the Church is all based on the word of God, found in the Holy Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit Himself acted in the holy fathers who established the rules, laws and regulations of the Church. Let us give thanks to God for His mercy towards us and let us pray for His goodness, that He may enlighten our minds with the light of truth and piety. We do not dare to say about ourselves that we are perfect in them; all our perfection is not perfect. I see from your letter that you do not abandon your determination to leave the service, although I wrote to you that you must be wary of not giving an answer for the talent you received without making an acquisition for it; but, however, we will leave this to your free will. From the letter... I see that you wanted to receive from me a decisive statement on this or that. Therefore, I will tell you frankly: it is not to my heart that you withdraw into an inactive and silent life; Are you really called upon only to conclude the circle of your actions in some hundred souls under your control? You can, with God’s help, bring much greater benefit in extensive actions for the entire fatherland, and even more so given your current position and favor towards you...... esp. You are afraid of being carried away by ambition - be afraid! And whoever is afraid of something will get rid of it; but even if you get carried away for a while, like a weak person, your well-intentioned actions, for the benefit of your neighbors, will cleanse this stench with the favor of God and the consciousness of your weakness and insignificance; or the fire of temptation will burn up these thorns, and good soil will remain, bearing fruit. If you are afraid, seeing many ill-intentioned ones, then when the units leave the field of achievement, they will multiply even more, and from the units a large number can be formed; looking at you fulfilling your duty, others will be jealous of you; Are there not many people with a good disposition and a kind heart who are carried away by the examples of the crowd, not seeing anything better? You are still young and do not expect what may meet you on the silent path: unaccountable boredom, sadness, remorse about leaving the field of service; all this is to come, and sometimes even more will be achieved; but in the service you will avoid this. So, if you want to take my advice, then continue to serve not for honor and glory, but for the benefit of your neighbors; but do not lose humility from the voice of your heart, and God will be your helper in your affairs; without Me you cannot do anything (John 15:5), the Lord said. Remember this! An unexpected meeting with an unfamiliar girl made an impression on you, could she be a match? Perhaps it will come true if it is the will of God; You are not looking for wealth and beauty, but for piety and intelligence, in order to separate the pleasant and sorrowful in the field of life, and so that you have a correct understanding of things and can reason well. According to the assurance of this respectable lady, with whom you saw her, she is quite educated, intelligent and modest; and this is not unimportant, that by living a moderate and even poor life, she could avoid the noisy and unhelpful decencies of the world or society, which have a lot of influence on morality. You are in hesitation and don’t know whether this thought is serious: I don’t dare take it upon myself to tell you decisively in such an important matter, but I advise you to pray to God and leave this matter to His will. If it is pleasing to Him, then your desire will intensify towards fulfillment, and then, also, calling on God’s help, having served a prayer service to the Lord and the Mother of God, get down to business; and if through prayer it is erased from memory, then leave it that way. January 14, 1858. After my letter to you, you again visited me with your letter dated January 2 of this year, from which I see that your spirit does not calm down regarding the religious rules of the Lutheran religion you profess, and you do not receive resolution to your perplexities from the one from whom you hoped to have it; and when you are completely convinced of the rightness of the Orthodox faith against the Lutheran, then join the Orthodox Church. In this I see that there is a calling from God to the knowledge of the truth. You read the Gospel and see what the Lord Jesus Christ said about Himself: I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). He founded on earth the holy catholic and apostolic Church, of which He Himself is the foundation and head, and said: whoever disobeys the Church, let you be like a pagan and a tax collector (Matthew 18:17), and the Holy Apostle Paul writes to Timothy and says: The Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), and the Lord also commanded His disciples: listen to you, He listens to Me, and If you are rejected, you are rejected of Me; if you are rejected of Me, you are rejected of the Father who sent Me (Lk. 10:16); this also applies, through the Apostles, to their successors, the shepherds of the Church. The Orthodox Church was constantly organized by order and teaching, based on the word of divine scripture, at ecumenical councils, at which ecumenical patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops and bishops gathered from time to time, rejected emerging heresies, schisms, contrary to the teaching of the word of God and established the rules of Christian life. There were 7 such councils, ecumenical, and other local ones, on which the conciliar Apostolic Orthodox Church was established, and after the fall of the Western Church, due to the disagreement of dogmatic teachings, it is called the Eastern Church, which to this day remains in the purity and lightness of the Gospel teaching. This is where you need to look for a solution to your perplexities: in the teachings of the Orthodox Church. I will not talk to you about the Lutheran Church and religion, but I suggest reading the reasoning of the Bachelor of St. Petersburg. Spirit. Academy of Evgraf Benescriptov: On the sources of the Christian religion, in comparison with the teaching of Lutherans on this subject; published in 1845, and also: Discussion on the difference between Protestant teachings and the truths of Orthodoxy, published in the Works of the Holy Fathers of 1852, in the addition to it; These can serve to convince you of the truth. That's right, your brother. . . . knows these works and can deliver them to you. There are many books about the truth of the teachings of the Orthodox Church, from which you can read: Orthodox Confession of Faith, Catechism, Truth of the Universal Church, etc. May the Lord enlighten your heart to the knowledge of the truth. You write about choosing for yourself a party of our Orthodox confession; I wished that your children, being in the Orthodox Church, would benefit from the teachings of its shepherds. May the Lord bless this good desire of yours, and seeing the benefits they receive, you yourself will desire to be members of people so close to you. Husband and wife constitute one in two persons; It is necessary that you be spiritually united, as St. The Apostle Paul, writing in his letter to Ephesus: the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace swells with brilliance; one body, one spirit, just as your calling is quick in the single hope of your calling. There is one Lord, one faith: one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all (Eph. 4:3-6), it is necessary to reason: can this unity of the spirit be combined into a union of peace, with different religions? One half goes to the Orthodox Church, receives St. sacraments, keeps holy the dogmas and teachings of St. Churches; and the other shuns them, goes to her church, where there are other dogmas and teachings. The Orthodox Church offers prayers during a bloodless sacrifice for her children. living and dead, but in Lutheran this is not the case, and in many ways there is a difference: where is the unity of the spirit in the union of peace and one faith! Again, I repeat my desire: may the Lord enlighten your heart to the knowledge of the truth. With my respect, I remain the great sinner I.M. January 14, 1858. You ask my badness about such an important subject that lies ahead of you, and to follow my advice with great faith, but I am aware of my unworthiness and do not dare to boldly decide for you on this or that. Seeing your predicament in bewilderment and the faith with which you ask me, calling on God’s help to admonish me, I give you this advice: first, you must resort to the Lord God with prayer, and to the Most Pure Mother of God, Her intercession is strong with God: may He arrange your fate according to His holy will; and if it will be useful for you to enter into the marriage proposed to you, then may He send His help and blessing to assist you; and if not for good, then let His destinies upset this matter. Such surrender of yourself to the will of God, and not seeking your own will, will protect you from many temptations, which sometimes happen if someone certainly wants his will to be fulfilled; then accept the advice of your relatives and neighbors, of course the Lord will notify them to tell you something useful; we still need to learn about his religious direction, and the pious preservation of the statutes of our mother, the Orthodox Church, and about his morality, although in part: these are dangerous times, there is a lot of freethinking and disobedience to the Holy Church; even if you liked him, but if you do not have strong faith and piety, then I do not advise you to encroach on such a person, but if he is a true Christian and a son of the Orthodox Church, pious, then I advise you, with the assistance of God’s help. If it is His will to go for such a person and if the matter is arranged to be completed, then before marriage I advise you, in preparation, to communicate the holy, most pure mysteries of Christ, both to you and to him. When approaching such an important sacrament as marriage, one must prepare oneself by purifying oneself through confession and communion of the holy mysteries and prayer, but not with balls and music and dancing, for this step extends not only to the whole of this life, but even to eternity. What could be your fate in marriage? Leave this to the will of God, His destinies are incomprehensible to us, according to the measure of each moral dispensation - either punishes or rewards. Regarding your condition, you don’t need to worry much: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33). Asking the Lord to arrange for you according to His holy will and bestow His blessing, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. April 15, 1858 Most reverent of the Lord N N You write about your confusion, about the fact that with your thoughts you blaspheme the name of the Lord. To this I will tell you that you are by no means innocent of this - you are not blaspheming God; but the God-hater, the demon, blasphemes Him, putting blasphemous thoughts into your mind, and they are not yours, but his are his enemies, and you have no part in them and are not to blame. But by the very fact that you are embarrassed, he rejoices and brings them to you more; I advise you not to consider these thoughts a sin, to be calm and not to be embarrassed, then they will disappear; and they happen when someone thinks about himself that he lives well, or thinks that he prays fervently, but condemns others. This is why this demon is allowed. Don’t think too much about yourself and don’t judge anyone, then the Lord will have mercy on you and you will get rid of blasphemous thoughts, which I earnestly wish for you, much-sinful I.M. May 6, 1858. Thank you for remembering my thinness. I received your letter dated April 14 on the 27th. You write about many subjects, and I cannot answer some of them because I am not aware of them. You can talk about this to your confessor there and ask for his guidance and permission; I can’t tell you anything about eating fast food on fasting days, for the Holy Church has established fasts, and it is authorized by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His teaching is also known: “Whoever disobeys the Church,” to whom does he compare them? If someone, out of necessity and in great weakness, allows for fast food on fast days, then he must, realizing his weakness, repent with regret, and will receive absolution from his spiritual father, but if someone considers this to be nothing and destroys the church commandment, then I will remain silent about it, for I have already said above. Reading spiritual books enlightens our mind and shows the path to salvation, nourishes the soul, just as physical food nourishes the body. We learn what we must do to fulfill the will of God; and recognizing our weakness, we ask for God’s help, we repent, we humble ourselves, and God looks upon the humble (Ps. 112:6) and gives them His grace (Proverbs 3:34), not recognizing our weakness and sins, we do not humble ourselves and do not repent, and this is in a living mind a kind of insensibility and deadness. The melancholy that happens to you, I believe, is a spiritual cross that must be accepted with humility, gratitude and patience; with it our shortcomings, sins and infirmities are cleansed, and we even come to the knowledge of those whom we considered for nothing, and they are the cause of such burden. By enduring with thanksgiving, you will receive relief from this anguish; and when you are cold and faint-hearted, you burden yourself with this cross more. When blessing your children, you should invoke the name of the Most Holy Trinity: in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Entrusting them to the protection of God and the intercession of the Mother of God and Guardian Angel, take care, if possible, about their upbringing in the Orthodox faith, piety and fears; God, and call on God’s help and His blessing. – About correspondence with a famous person, why are you asking me? If you do not have any doubts or suspicions, and your conscience is calm, then you can occasionally write respectfully, and not familiarly; otherwise silence is better. May 6, 1858. You describe your anxiety and ask them to feel sorry for you; in truth they should be sorry. You are depriving yourself of peace of mind. I see that your love is very great for your daughter..... and because of this love you wish her happiness and everything that can calm her down. She married according to the inclination of her heart, preferring dignity and wealth to the virtue of the person with whom she was united and should spend her life. What does happiness and prosperity consist of? not in dignity and wealth, but in peace, harmony and love between spouses and in other virtues, the fruit of which is tranquility and peace of mind. Dignity and wealth are very fragile, they are sometimes even an obstacle to the fulfillment of virtues: pride and luxury, the destroyers of humility, abstinence and moderation, are sometimes necessarily combined with them; The Lord resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34). You should not grumble, but thank God, who arranged her fate this way and pray to His goodness to keep both of them in peace and love. But if she had married someone rich and high-ranking, who had no virtues, could she have been happy? It would hurt you more. No matter who she marries, she would still be separated from you, due to work or other circumstances of her husband - and this is necessary. If they wish and ask not to leave them, but to live with them, then your mother’s heart will not allow you to leave them. But now your grief comes from the fact that the wound from your separation from her is still fresh. The Lord is able to comfort you, only you do not voluntarily give in to despair, but trust in the Lord. If you have true zeal and desire to be in Jerusalem and worship the tomb of our Savior and the means allow, why not fulfill this, with the help of God? With my respect I remain, your most humble servant and pilgrim, much-sinful I.M. May 30, 1858. Thank you for receiving me and treating me in your home, and for sharing your time with acquaintances with those you and we know. As much time as we had, we talked with you about family circumstances, and you responded that it was still possible to live and get along. According to your letter dated August 3rd, you inform that you are experiencing great family grief from your son and daughter-in-law, so that you are unable to bear the grief from them; and that they want to leave you without a piece of bread, and therefore you are afraid that you will have a huge business. You are asking my advice, what should you do? I believe, in any case, it is best to resolve your matter peacefully. If it were necessary on both sides, it would be a concession, and not start a case; what it will be like: a father and son are suing! Although with his face not directly away from him. With your parental admonition, you can use the mediation of your spiritual father and good people so that peace can be established between you; and God forbid from this - to start paperwork; There are a lot of sins on both sides here: deprivation of peace and tranquility, anger, waste of money. All this is not pleasing to God and is extremely sinful. The Lord commanded: whoever wants to sue you and take your robe, let him go and the swearer (Matthew 5:41), above said about those suing: and without leaving there, until you repay the last coin (Matthew 5:26), (in another place the coppersmith). As much as possible, avoid court cases and try to reconcile; It is impossible that they could leave you without a piece of bread, God will not allow this. When a process arises on their part, then it is necessary to make answers, but try to do everything closer to reconciliation, and not to the beginning of the case. God, who wants peace for His servants, will Himself give you His power and the guilty, of course, will not, unfortunately, escape punishment. Forgiveness and peace are the best. I wish you peace and consolation in your sorrow. August 12, 1858. It is in vain that you think that I am burdened by your letters, but I am saddened to read them, and even more so to respond, seeing your such bitterness towards your own mother and your indecent expressions against her. I wrote to you many times that you should humble yourself before her, try to calm her down, but you didn’t heed this, what could I do? Now you describe your sorrowful situation, according to your internal structure: melancholy, irritation, and even burdened by life, what is this other than God’s punishment? If you see any weaknesses in your mother, then you should not judge her, but pray to God for her: do you know when Ham laughed at his father, seeing him lying indecently, what kind of judgment befell his offspring? Do you want to be calm? then repent of this before God and ask your mother for forgiveness, and reassure her, so that you may receive a blessing from the Lord. Holy Scripture says: the Father’s blessing builds the homes of children; and a mother’s oath completely destroys (Sir. 3:9), that's how important it is; ask your husband to try to calm your mother; make an act; Why waste money, they will stay here, and who knows where they will go; and peace, love and virtue will bring eternal bliss. For the upbringing of your daughter, may the Lord bless you to accept a good mentor, Orthodox, pious, in order to raise her in faith, piety and good morals. Regarding your suspicion that you are writing, I advise you to pay less attention and pray to God. He is strong to destroy it, but most of all try to fulfill the commandments of God, among which remember the 5th commandment. I wish you... and your little one peace, health and prosperity. I remain an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. September 13, 1858. You thank us for accepting your wife... and children into our monastery: it is our duty, according to our strength, to provide those who visit the monastery with peace of mind and participation in whatever is possible; but God Himself, according to their faith, gives them peace of mind. - Along with this, you ask for my advice on your intention to move from K-i to T-y, to a place similar to this one, and you are afraid that you might make a mistake in this change. “I’m afraid to take on such courage, to give decisive advice in matters that are completely unknown to me; and what the consequences of your transition may be, only the Lord knows. It seems to me that if it is good here, and there is not a completely known, but only by ear, better place, then it is dangerous to make a decision without an accurate inquiry about it. And as the Lord said that: without Me you cannot do anything (John 15:5) and again: ask and it will be given to you (Luke 11:9), then you must run to Him with faith and warm prayer, and ask that His will be done on you and on your entire family; and if it would be useful for you to go to T-u, then I would have arranged it according to His goodness; but if not, then I would not have allowed it to happen. He is good, generous and abundant in mercy and gives good to all who ask Him. But we do not always desire and ask for what is beneficial to us; a He gives us that which benefits us, not only physically, but also spiritually, and says: For your Father knows what you require before you ask (Matthew 6:8), but He encourages us to ask Him: ask and it will be given to you (Luke 11:9); adds: Or is there any man of you, whose son, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone for food? or if he asks for fish, will he give him food for a snake? If you, who are evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:10). Having offered you the teaching of our Savior, forgive me that due to my indecision I could not fully satisfy your question, in my opinion this seems to be a more reliable means. Asking for God's blessing on you, your wife and children, I remain with my respect, your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. September 20, 1858. Due to your sinful disposition, I consider it my duty to offer you in these lines what I consider necessary for your good, mental and physical. I know that by common agreement between you and your brothers, you are beginning to divide the property given to you by God. And it is not possible for a large family to remain forever in the community without any troubles, although the law of love commands us, according to the commandment of God, to maintain peace with everyone. But if each of you, entering and examining your conscience, truly finds himself not fulfilling this love commandment, then it does not prevent, by dividing, each from having his own property, through which peace and brotherly love will more conveniently be established between you. “Your brothers…….., having arrived at our monastery, told me about the situation of division between all of you, and are dissatisfied with what you assign to them, and are very offended by this. Who am I? and what can I say to this? When someone from the people approached our Savior Lord Jesus Christ to ask his brother to share his property with him, He said to him: O man, who will make Me a judge or a divider over you (Luke 12:14)? But he added to this, saying to them: Beware of covetousness, and so on. When the Lord said so, what will I say? - unless I remind you of His last word: beware of covetousness (Luke 12:15). This word refers to anyone who is faced with such a task. Wishing you true good, which does not consist in acquiring property, but in peace of conscience, in peace, love and piety, I ask the Lord to help you to peacefully and agreeably part with your brothers, so that no judgment arises, from which may the Lord deliver you. He commanded not to enter into the courts, but to give up what was also his, for it is said: before you leave thence, you will repay the last coin (Matthew 5:26). Anyone can understand why the word is said... I don’t take it upon myself to give you an instruction, but I will offer my opinion. Isn't it better, in order to avoid disagreement, to invite one of the citizens and your spiritual father and, by general agreement, make an amicable division? And peace will remain between you, and this will please God. He will bless and increase your wealth, but otherwise, as may be, I will remain silent. In my time there was an example: one pious family, familiar to me, two brothers: one had five adult sons, three married, and the other, from his father’s other wife, was a boy of about 20 years old. Their father, dying, ordered the capital to be divided between the sexes with his young brother, and to give his stepmother, his third wife, 50 tons of assig., and the total capital was 200 tons of assig., the big son and children were very offended by this: “how? I and my children worked and made capital, but my younger brother almost did not participate in the work!” and wanted to start a court case, but a good man advised him not to enter the court, saying: “You will have to judge a lot on both sides.” He listened to the Council and divided it in half with his young brother, and gave it to his stepmother, leaving the remaining 200 tons with 75 tons. The Lord blessed him so much that in one year he returned all his capital, how much he had, and thanked the one who gave it to him. So the Lord will invisibly bless you. I.M. December 12, 1858. You accepted with Faith St. the icon of the Great Martyr Barbara because of my thinness, and from this we received spiritual consolation from the Lord through the prayers of St. servants of God. God bless you for your zeal and remembrance of me in your prayers, and may the Lord remember you and your mother….., and send His mercy to you. – You ask me for advice: how to overcome passions and acquire humility; your desire is good, but you must put in the work to acquire humility, you must reject and destroy pride in yourself, and in every deed and word you must humble yourself and consider yourself the worst of all. Even though we could do some good, we do all this not with our strength, but with the help of God. The Lord taught us: even if you do everything that is commanded, say that we are servants without keys, even though we must create, we have created (Luke 17:10), and He also commanded: learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). This is from Whom learn humility; it gives us peace, and with this you can easily overcome passions, for self-love and pride are the basis of all passions and the wine from which they arise; with its destruction, all passions turn into nothing, for for every passion you will find the commandment of God and, trying to fulfill it, you will conveniently defeat the passion with the help of God. You need to pray to Him about this, may He help you. I.M. December 14, 1858. Not having the honor of knowing you, I only hear from......, and now I have received your writing dated December 15, from which I see that you are suffering from a physical illness; not finding help from doctors, you do not have it in your religious feeling either: distrust and doubt confuse you: and this is very difficult for the spirit, and causes serious illness to the soul and body. You are looking for help in my advice, but I cannot rely on myself and do not dare to think that I have such a gift of speech with which I could console; and in this faith operates; According to your faith, God is able to give a word to my meager mind. For my part, feeling sorry for you, I offer my readiness to write what God gives to my feeble-mindedness for your benefit and consolation. According to the teaching of our Church: faith is the basis of all good things, both in this life and for the acquisition of good in the future endless eternity. The Lord taught us: whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe is already condemned (Matthew 16:16). By reading the creed, we confess that we believe in both the resurrection of the dead and eternal, future life. Thus, believing, we must try to fulfill the commandments of God and hope in the merits of our Savior for this life. He who does not believe in eternal life cannot be faithful in everything and never has peace of mind; faith, even in great troubles, sorrows and illnesses, gives consolation to the sick; faith confirms us in God's providence that without His will the power of our head will not perish, and that all sorts of sorrows and illnesses are allowed to us according to the destinies of God unknown to us, for our benefit, which we cannot comprehend with our reason, but only through faith we are confirmed. St. Apostle Paul teaches: the passions (sufferings) of this present age are unworthy (worth nothing) for the glory that desires to appear in us (Rom. 8:18), and in his letter to the Hebrews the entire eleventh chapter tells about what faith could do, and many endured suffering, strengthened by faith; read this entire chapter and the beginning of the 12th, where he writes that the Lord’s punishment is a sign of God’s love for us: for the Lord loves him and punishes him, beats every son he accepts, and so on. (Heb. 12:6). And in your painful situation, you need to strengthen yourself with faith and hope for a future life: especially when you already know this feeling. You have experienced being strengthened by your confessor; remember this and resort to the treasures of faith and with all your heart reject reason that casts doubt regarding the future life: the teaching of the Savior and St. The Apostles confirms us in the undoubted resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. It is a great pity for you that you do not have a person who strengthens you in undoubted faith, but even more so, perhaps you are with those who contradict the faith; how will you establish yourself in it? and how will you surrender to the will of God when you have no better hope than this life? The body suffers, the soul also suffers; and if the soul were strengthened by faith, then the body could receive strengthening with peace of mind; a troubled spirit has an influence on the physical composition, and the disease multiplies. People for the most part desire and seek prosperity in this life, but try to avoid sorrows, and this seems very good and pleasant, but the constant prosperity and happiness of a person is harmful. He falls into various passions and sins, and angers the Lord; and those who go through a sorrowful life come closer to the Lord and more easily receive salvation; Therefore, the Lord called the joyful life a wide path: the wide gate and the wide path lead into destruction and many are those who walk through it (Matthew 7:13), and the sorrowful life he called: the strait path and the narrow gate lead into the eternal belly, and there are few of them who find it (Matthew 7:14). So, out of His love for us, the Lord, foreseeing the potential benefit for those who are worthy of it, leads many from the long path, but puts them on a narrow and regrettable path, so that through the patience of illnesses and sorrows they can arrange their salvation and grant them eternal life. We see in the teachings of St. fathers and in the examples that some are in illness and endure with thanksgiving, receiving the great mercy of God. Accept this advice with submission to the will of God, bear the painful cross sent to you. Keep yourself firmly in the Orthodox faith, start spiritual healing more often - confession and communion of the most pure mysteries of Christ, without waiting for fasting, but, depending on the intensifying illness, you can communicate in 2 or 3 weeks, this will give you great joy, and even if it is the will of God, you can receive healing, it is impossible from man, but from God all things are possible (Mark 10:27). Only in this century people are completely against this: as if they are introducing anyone, they are already preparing them for death; “how is this possible, you will scare him with this”; That is why many are left without this parting word and special gift of oil, and finally it is impossible 30; whereas it was established not for those preparing for death, but for healing, according to the word of St. Apostle: If anyone is sick in you, let him call for the elders, and let them make a prayer over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick one, and the Lord will raise him up, and even if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him (James 5:14-16). You see that this sacrament was established for healing, and not for death; It often happens to us that people are desperately ill, and after receiving special oil they recover and live for a long time. Have faith in the saints of God: St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, and above all, call upon our intercessor, the most merciful Mother of God, and, having surrendered to the will of God, calm down. I wish the Lord to grant you relief and complete healing from your illness. I remain an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. January 1, 1859 Although I do not have the honor of knowing you, I perceive from your attitude towards me your humility, that you do not trust yourself and do not rely on your mind and strength; but as commendable as this trait is in you, I find myself insufficient to be able to penetrate into the future, what may happen to you and what will be more useful for you. The only thing I can tell you is that in order to fulfill the will of God in your good will, run to Him with prayer in all your good intentions, so that His will and help may be according to His will. Also call for help our most merciful intercessor, the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, the intercessor of our salvation. I do not know whether you have any of your close relatives who are favorable to you. If there is, then you can consult with them about arranging your fate. For such a great task in choosing a party for oneself, one must ask for God’s admonition and help, and surrender to His holy will, and not follow the desires of one’s heart. If you do not hope to preserve yourself in widowhood, and find it necessary to devote yourself to family life, then, with the admonition and help of God, as much as possible, look for a person who is Orthodox in faith and pious in life, so that, living here according to the commandments of God, you will have the trust of humility to receive future eternal benefits. About your trip to S. estate, if you find a need for your presence, then you can go with the hope of God’s help. I wish you good success in all your undertakings with God’s help, and while asking for God’s blessing on you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. February 10, 1859. I had the honor of receiving your most respected letter dated February 4th, by which you inform that your society has honored you by electing you to the head of the city and convinced you to accept this ministry for the next three years. This is a matter of their love and respect for you, which you have earned from society by caring for them and patronizing them; Of course, it is comforting for you to have such a favorable disposition towards you among your fellow citizens: but the hope for the future reward of eternal blessings from God should inspire you much more, and alleviate all the difficulties encountered in the field of your service. For everything that we do here for our neighbors, the Lord takes upon Himself, just as it would have been done to Him: since you have created only these least of these brothers of mine, you have created for Me (Matthew 25:40). You also write that you gave away your daughter.... May the Lord bless their marriage with love, peace and harmony: and they, for their part, will try to live in the Orthodox Christian faith (in which they were born and raised), piously according to the commandments of God, and they will be prosperous, receiving God’s help in everything. According to the note, we will remember your names and those of your family in the monastery, during the sacred service, and pray to the Lord for the health and salvation of you and all of you. February 13, 1859 Having received your letter dated February 14, I answered you on February 24 and received a letter from an unknown person at this post office, from which it is clear that you showed my letter to him; and he reprimands me, even threatens me, because I do not advise you to accept these wanderers, due to my ignorance about them. I don’t know, and I don’t have the need to know - who wrote this - from this alone, that the stranger tells you: “grace began to multiply in your house”; and you write that you don’t see or understand anything special, and threatens, saying that: “if you don’t accept him, then (see) don’t bother that he won’t walk,” and he also says that: “the whole city is supported by his prayers,” you can’t believe his holiness, we don’t see anywhere in the lives of saints or righteous people preaching about themselves like that, but on the contrary, they consider themselves dust and ashes and unworthy, but the grace of God acted through them. I don’t know this stranger at all, although he tells you that he was with us, and I cannot know his dignity or holiness. I think your spiritual father there knows him, then you can ask him about him. I also don’t know about….., about which he offers you, but however, I not only do not turn you away from doing good, but also encourage you to it: for the Lord will bless the merciful, and promises to place them at His right hand on the day of judgment and bring them into the kingdom of heaven. You yourself can find out, through someone, about those in need in your city and do good to them, and it is true that you do not close the doors for the poor even without this wanderer; there seems to be no need to accept it, much less often, and not to be afraid of its threats. Yes I think and……. should know about it, what properties it has. If you know for sure that...... that he needs help, then you can send him without them, as much as the Lord will tell you. March 17, 1859. You write that he made you an offer to form a party N N, and you, finding yourself unworthy of his education, and not knowing whether you can create happiness for him with your marriage, ask for my advice on how to proceed in this matter? You didn’t write how you felt about agreeing to his proposal. I do not dare take upon myself such courage to give a decisive answer to your question, for I do not know the future destinies of God and what may follow. But I will say that you pray to God and the Most Pure Mother of God, and entrust yourself to the protection and mercy of God, asking that His holy will be done on you, and when you feel peace and tranquility within yourself to agree to the proposal, then write so, according to your feeling, and wait for the will of God. If He pleases to unite you with him, He will remove all obstacles to this, as you yourself write; But in addition to this, it is also necessary that your parents agree to this and give their blessing to this important step of the marriage. May the Lord enlighten you in this matter and arrange it according to His holy will for the benefit of your soul and prosperity. April 15, 1859 You describe a dream your daughter saw......, and ask me to interpret it for you, and you are afraid that she will have to bear some kind of cross. I don’t dare even think about this so that I can interpret dreams and penetrate into the mystery of the incomprehensible destinies of God, but I will only say that this dream is very wonderful, but what it signifies is hidden from us, however, we should not assume that it foreshadows some kind of cross for her: rather, we must expect well-being, as is known from many similar cases; but it is much better to be calm without expecting anything. There is no need to be elevated by this dream and not to be embarrassed. We see many living in an unhappy situation and going through a sorrowful life, but none of them have seen any such or similar dreams, and this does not happen from a blind chance, but according to the providence of God: for whom He will see what will benefit, according to the measure of our life, meek and humble, or proud and arrogant, pious and kind, or sin-loving and obstinate. If God sends sorrow to someone, it is in order to cleanse him of sins and prepare him for the eternal kingdom of heaven. Everything here is temporary, but everything there is eternal. So, I advise you ……… not to be embarrassed, but to rely in everything on the will of God and try to fulfill His holy commandments. April 21, 1859 In your lines, most respected N.N., you expressed your long-standing desire to leave the passionate and vain world, and, moreover, the sorrowful one, and you recognize yourself as unworthy of the black cassock. But I am truly convinced that worldly life only contributes more and more to the development of sinful qualities; but you know that your mother is only one of your hints, according to your remark, she is against even the thought of a monastic life. Are you asking for my answer to this? The desire to leave the world and devote one’s life to serving the Lord in a monastic monastery cannot exist without the calling of God, and one must offer thanks to God for this; but you need to test yourself: is your spiritual willpower sufficient to endure monastic feats, to deny yourself, that is, your will and mind, according to the word of the Lord: he already wants to come to Me, so that he will deny himself and take up his cross and come for Me (Mark 8:34). If you find a strong will in this too, in the hope of God’s help, then you need to take into account the circumstances surrounding you. Your mother does not agree to this, but of course I don’t think that out of dislike for this title, but out of love for you, not wanting to part with you, for your youth, which you won’t bear, and out of fear of attack from relatives and from the aristocratic circle, of course then reproaches will fall on her from all sides and grief will be added to the attacks already known, from dislike of her. But she herself would certainly not have resisted this calling of God to you, knowing her disposition towards monasticism and our badness. So I advise you: keep this gift of God’s calling to preserve your virginity and disobey yourself to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and be patient until the time comes; live with your mother, do not indulge in great distractions, which are often associated with loss of interests and morals. Pray to God to grant you strength and help to fulfill this saving desire of yours, reading spiritual books: St. John Climacus and Abba Dorotheus, and especially the first word: about the renunciation of the world, and the time will come and the Lord will fulfill this good desire of yours. If your mother, regardless of any worldly gossip, dismisses you with love, then now, with God’s help, you can begin; But I don’t recommend resisting and acting stubbornly. May the most merciful Lord, having placed this saving desire in your heart, arrange it according to His holy will, as He pleases. May 11, 1859 According to the rumors that reached you (I don’t know how) about my thinness, you briefly described your life and, thirsting for the peace of your soul, ask my advice on how to live your life and have hope of salvation? As I see that you yourself read St. scripture, St. fathers' teachings, and of course you know that there is no sin that overcomes God's love for mankind, and that the Lord came into the world to save sinners, and offered Himself as an atoning sacrifice to His Father for our sins, then may we also have firm hope in the ineffable goodness and mercy of God and the merits of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we believe that He will forgive our sins that we have committed in this life. While you remain in the Orthodox confession of our Eastern Church, you too may be trustworthy that the merciful Lord will forgive your sins, for which you have offered and continue to repent. There is no need to repeat sins during confession, as your confessor advises you, but you can have a memory of them, to arouse yourself to repentance and contrition of heart, but not to be embarrassed or despair. These last actions are the suggestions of the enemy and do not heed them, but place the hope of your salvation in the goodness of God and thereby reassure yourself. You say there are a hundred tears, and your heart is kind of stone, and you don’t know how to beg the Lord? Do not look for tears, this is a special gift of God, but in the memory of your sins, have humility, which will attract God’s mercy to you; But without humility, tears will not help, but will only lead to conceit, which is why the Lord does not give them, so that you do not become proud, and if you have the guarantees of humility, then even with your gifts, do not become proud. The sad state of your life also gives you hope for salvation; accept your sorrows with gratitude, do not grumble, but in the feeling of your heart consider yourself worthy of them. The Lord said that: the wide path (of life) and the wide gate lead into destruction, and many are those who walk along it. But the narrow gate and the sorrowful path (of life) lead into the eternal belly, and those who walk on it are of little essence (Matthew 7:13.14). Many people want to live a spacious, luxurious life, but where does this life lead? and few voluntarily choose the narrow and regrettable path of shortcomings and sorrows, which bring so much spiritual benefit. The Lord punishes whomever he loves and involuntarily leads him off the long path and puts him on the narrow and sorrowful one, in order to thereby save their souls. You also experience this for yourself, having had a fortune and enjoying health and the pleasures of life, that you have received benefits and what remains in your memory, only a wounded conscience, and having unwittingly taken a regrettable path, endure it, go and through repentance draw closer to God and to the hope of salvation. Thank God for all this, and even for the very poverty, as you say, that weighs you down; Poverty is not a vice, but it does not even allow for many vices. Be poor in spirit, and even in poverty you will receive consolation. Given the weakness of my strength, I could hardly write this letter to you, and I wish that the Lord, according to your faith, would grant you consolation, not through my insignificant lines, but by His mercy, from now on I cannot hope, even if they decided to write to me again to answer you, I have neither the strength nor the time. Having wished you health, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. May 12, 1859 Upon your return from abroad, you write to me on August 31st, informing me that you must go there again, on the advice of doctors, to maintain the health of your spouse. Let it be at your will, but you must seek healing more from the doctor of souls and bodies, our Lord Jesus Christ; first of all, one must heal mental illnesses by confession and communion of the holy mysteries of Christ, and this should be done not just once, but as often as possible; Who among us can boast of not having sin? After fulfilling this duty, both spiritual and physical healing will help more conveniently; what you need to ask for God’s help. We see in the Gospel that the Lord first healed the soul: your sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:2), then He gave health to the body. I offer you advice, but in no way forbid your good intention to go abroad. Again I will say: let it be at your will. My advice may seem strange to you, but I am writing to believers, so there is no need to be strange, it seems, and what treasures faith has - it is impossible to explain everything in words; How many healings they receive through the intercession of the Mother of God, with Her miraculous icons, and with the holy relics of the saints of God, I myself am a witness and reliably informed by many; but this requires strong faith. Books you can read: sermons of St. Demetrius of Rostov and Tikhon of Voronezh; there are many more, but for now these are enough for you. September 8, 1859 I received your most venerable letter dated December 9 before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. I was heartily glad that your husband and you fasted and prepared to communicate on December 12, which of course you did. Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord, who has given you this feeling and awareness of the need for Christians to frequently partake of the holy mysteries of Christ, after purification, confession before the spiritual father and receiving permission from him, according to the authority given to him by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The soul, freed from sin and united with Christ, our Savior, begins a new life. You write: you did not prepare for this sacrament as you should have, and during prayer your thoughts were distracted, and this caused you confusion and anxiety. Always, when a person begins a good deed, the enemy tries to confuse him, inducing various thoughts and disturbing him with these; against this we must arm ourselves with humility and courage. Humility upon him without labor, victory and courage disgrace him and drive him away; why is it that at other times a person is not as embarrassed as he is at this time, when he is preparing for this great sacrament? This is his cunning, to turn him away from a good deed. If we, preparing ourselves for this sacrament, think about our sins and humble ourselves before the majesty of the glory of God, hoping for His ineffable mercy, and not for our own, no matter how great the preparation: then the networks of the enemy will be crushed and cannot act on us; and if we think that our prayer and preparation are pleasing to God, then there is no humility here; you would like to have contrition of heart, but you do not see it in yourself; and if you received this gift of God, you would surely be carried away by the thought that you have already prepared enough, which is why the Lord does not allow this, but accepts your desire and good will; but for the lack of contrition you must humble yourself, realizing your poverty, then calm down; and in confusion you discover secret spiritual pride, which cannot calm you down. You recognize yourself as addicted to clothes and prone to anger and irritability. In the first case, one must have moderate decency, and not excess: is it possible to please the world by imitating fashion, which changes every month? Upon prudent consideration, one can see that it will not lead to anything good to decorate the body with clothes, but not have such care about decorating the soul? It is better to use that amount to help the poor who need meager clothing and food, then this will complement the lack of our deeds before God, according to His commandment in the Gospel of Matthew, written in chapter 25. Irritation and anger, in which you recognize yourself and regret it, come from a habit that accepts strength in both good and bad. We have reason and will, we must reason about what is good and what is bad, and with the will to do the best. Once you have acquired the habit of doing something bad, you must turn it into something better, and keep yourself from anger and irritability; for they cause harm both to you and to those on whom they are emitted when insulted by someone. We must remember that we anger God every day and He lets us go; How angry and irritated we are with our neighbors, and we have a commandment from the Lord to forgive our neighbors’ sins! And if we don’t let go, then they won’t let us go either; but to make it more convenient to fulfill this, we must call upon God for help, for we cannot do anything without Him. December 31, 1859 It was with spiritual sorrow that I read your letter about the deprivation of your young son... by sudden death, by murder from a pediment that fell on him. This sorrow is great for your parental hearts, but you increase it even more with your bewilderment: did this happen by the will of God, or because of your carelessness? and this kills you and breaks your hearts. Ask for our reasoning on this: how should you look at this event and so as not to increase the burden of sin. We, discussing this sad and painful adventure, cannot say that it could have happened without permission by the will of God; if, according to the word of the Lord: and the power of your head will not perish without the will of God (Luke 21:18), then can such an event happen without His will? The reason for this is not your carelessness, for you could not always monitor his children's games and actions, and this is an unforeseen case; you could not prevent it in any way, especially since the other children who were with him remained unharmed, and only he alone fell to the mortal fate. We must believe that: the destinies of the Lord throughout the whole earth, and: your destinies, O Lord, are many in the deep (Ps. 35:7), God's providence extends to everyone, but who can comprehend His destinies? . . . Who understands the mind of the Lord, or who is His counselor (Rom. 11:34)? writes St. Apostle Paul. Your son is accepted into eternity, and in such a suffering way will undoubtedly inherit bliss in the kingdom of heaven; and this is by God’s mercy towards him and by His foreknowledge. We do not know what befell him during the course of his life, and perhaps it would have been even more painful for you to see him at an old age in some sad and unhappy situation, which I have heard from many: “It would have been better if he had died at a young age, it would not have been so bitter to see”; but God knows everything, and He sees what we have not done as real. You, recently, were in the Lavra of St. Sergius, the saint of God, whose namesake your son was, and faithfully entrusted the protection and intercession of your son to him, having concern not only for his prosperity, but also for eternal salvation; and now his salvation is certain. Read in the life of St. Fathers, October 19th, St. Martyr Huar, how one famous wife Cleopatra built a church and placed the relics of St. Martyr Huar, and entrusting him with his only son, so that he would keep him in prosperity; but her son fell ill on the very day of the consecration of the church and died. Out of great sadness, she grumbled at the martyr for not keeping her son, and in this sadness she fell asleep and saw the martyr Uar holding her son in great glory, asking her: is she satisfied with what he arranged for her son? She woke up and believed this, received consolation and stopped grieving. So I advise you, leaving this case to the will of God, to satisfy your sorrow with the hope of His blessedness in the future life. September 22, 1859 You notify me of the end of your journey and arrival in your city. Wanting to fulfill your intention - to withdraw from the world and work for the Lord in the monastery of monastics, you began to put your affairs in order in order to be free from worldly cares, and to struggle in the spiritual field against the enemies who fight us with our passions, and, destroying them, plant the seeds of virtues with humility: may they bear the fruit of love and be worthy of being gathered into the heavenly granary. Caring for the welfare of your relatives is good, but it is more necessary to leave them to the providence of God, do for them according to your strength, and God will take care of them, just as He provides for all of His creation. Inspire them, according to the word of the Lord, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but this whole time will be added to them. I wish you that the Lord will fulfill your good desires and arrange according to His will in a way that will benefit you. According to your desire, the Lord blesses you to enter the holy monastery to serve Him. Your mother and brother agree to your dismissal, give thanks to the Lord, and upon entering, try to please Him; rejection of one's will and reason, and obedience to experienced mentors is the true path leading to God, for on this path there is a lot of spiritual warfare from the enemy of our souls, the devil, and it is impossible for us to fight alone, due to inexperience and without humility, humility is born from obedience, and it is a strong weapon against enemies. But when you enter the spiritual field of this battle, then we can understand, and until then; surrender to the will of God, strive to fulfill your intentions. December 5, 1859 In your letter, sent from......, you describe the suffering state of your soul and the struggle of flesh and spirit. Confused about which side to turn to? When reading spiritual books, your soul strove for God and the desire to please Him manifested itself in you: but when the world with its charms came to you, you gave in to absent-mindedness, and the holy attraction with the warmth of the spirit cooled in you, but you do not find peace in yourself. The world does not promise you anything lasting; that person in whom you hoped to find happiness does not pay attention to you. Why did you see the future so boldly that you could be happy? This is closed from us; one can rather expect the opposite, and even more so when you made a promise to devote your life to serving the Lord, and so you, not finding any peace from daily unbearable torment, decide to seek peace in the quiet refuge of a peaceful monastic monastery, devoting your mind and heart to God, for which you demand my decision, and if I find that there is still salvation for you, then to appoint a monastery for you and settle you in it. For my part, I find that secular life will not bring you any benefit, and it (the world) seems to be driving you away from itself, and you seem to be involuntarily separated from it, although there is some calling to spiritual life. But I don’t know your relationship to the world, to your family, the state of your health and means of living in a monastery, and I don’t dare take it upon myself to assign you a monastery and arrange your life. You need to ask the Lord for this, so that He Himself will arrange your life, according to His all-wise providence, and increase your desire for monastic life. You have heard enough from mother... about their way of life, then you can form an idea about it. But, living in P—e, you cannot arrange yourself, but you need to find an opportunity to visit women’s monasteries and find out on what basis you can be accepted; and if you enter the monastery, then try to find a mentor, before whom you must renounce your will and reason and obey her in everything. To live in the monastery, you must have at least small means, or help from relatives and benefactors, and when, according to the word of the Lord, you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all this (temporary) will be added to you. December 12, 1859. You write to me that in your family the division of the estate is expected, between your husband and his brothers, and you are at a loss as to where you should live, whether to stay in P. or move to K.? Ask for my decision on this. I know that, out of your faith, you question my badness about this; but, finding within myself that this is beyond my measure, I do not dare take upon myself to decide such lofty and unknown subjects: what can be useful for you? Only God knows this. And so, I advise you to undertake every business, calling on the Lord and the Most Pure Virgin Mary for help, asking them to arrange your affairs according to the holy will of God and in a way that will benefit you. The Lord said: without Me you cannot do anything (John 15:5), then you need to call on Him for help, He will arrange it in a way that is useful for you, where it is more convenient to live in R. or in K. and since you have a parent experienced in business, and he knows what kind of trade you are engaged in, as well as the way of life you are going through, then ask for his advice, and God will tell him to tell you what is useful, and where It’s more convenient for you to do business in K. or P., which requires the mutual consent of your spouse. December 15, 1859. I cannot approve of your feelings, described in your letter, which you have for a person who, in your opinion, can make a happy match for you; You yourself realize that you are six years older than him, and this inequality can subsequently cause much grief for both of you. In the male sex, seniority does not harm at all, but in the female sex it causes great harm. And while I see that you are carried away by passionate love for him, you say that he also has a mutual passion for you. From many experiences it is clear that whoever enters into marriage out of passion does not experience happiness: passions will cool down and love will disappear. You must choose a party according to reason, with pious intention and prayer to the Lord, in order to spend your life in peace, harmony and love, for family happiness and public benefit, in the circle where you will be. And so, I cannot give you advice for this game. December 16, 1859. Seeing from your letter your sorrowful situation, I imagine that you did not greet this holiday joyfully: but, however, I hope that the Most Merciful Lord, due to the many illnesses of your heart, will send you spiritual consolation, in the words of St. The Prophet David (Ps. 93:19), only do not stop running to Him with prayer and submission to His holy will. Of course, it is painful to see the disagreement between people so close to your heart, and it is difficult to find a reason for all this: one must assume that everyone followed their own will and their own reason, not aligning them with the will of God and not having proper obedience to their parents; for you it is painful and regrettable, but it is not easy for them to experience God’s punishment. Pray to God to pacify them, and exhort them not to seek each their own, but to put things in order with common strength, peace and harmony: God will help, and your trade will be organized again, if only there is agreement among the children and respect for you. The Lord has clearly allowed this temptation to come to your home in order to learn humility, which attracts God’s mercy to people. Be sure that your good deeds and alms will not remain before God, as you have done to those close to you, but through temptation he will send you an excess; and temptations bring great benefit to people... Although it is difficult to endure at the present time, God knows what benefits someone, and what someone can bear. I sincerely wish you to gain peace of mind by surrendering yourself to God’s will. December 29, 1859. Expressed in the Church Slavonic dialect in the sense of: increasing heaviness. To a novice living in a monastery. To the high school students who asked the elder about their desire to join the monastery. Regarding this and similar expressions, we note that here we are talking about nunneries, in which the majority of those living live on their own, with the exception of a very small number of cenobitic monasteries, such as for example. Zosimovskaya Hermitage Moscow. Dioceses. This and the three subsequent letters were written to the same person. To a person from the same family. That is, time has passed. You might be interested in: