Works of Moscow Metropolitan Daniel

Article by His Eminence Macarius, Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilna. At the conclusion of one of his messages to the famous Nikolai Nemchin about the errors of the Latins, Maxim the Greek, by the way, wrote: “When you are enlightened by reason, then ask the lord and teacher Daniel, Metropolitan of all Russia, about this, and he will teach you the whole truth; I wrote unlearned and unreasonably, in a barbaric and stupid word, but he will enlighten you with his teaching and tell you; then you will clearly see that as far as the sun is from the star in lightness, so far is he from us in grace and the light of reason, and you will reject the moon and cleave to the sun... When you see the graceful mind of the holy metropolitan, the doctor of the law of Christ, adorned with much knowledge, and you listen to him with love, - have mercy, honest friend, on my lack of words and the cane with which I have written a little for you...” 1 If Maxim had placed such a review of Metropolitan Daniel in a letter to himself or to any of the Orthodox, then one might still think that these were words of flattery or one of decency and respect for dignity; but placed in a letter to a non-Christian, a Latin scholar, who acted to the detriment of Orthodoxy, was one of the favorites of the Grand Duke, moved for many years in our highest circle and, without a doubt, could receive the most accurate information about the Metropolitan - they involuntarily make us assume that Maxim really highly valued Danil’s intelligence and knowledge and considered him an enlightened archpastor. This is how Daniel appears before us in his verbal works. He was a worthy student of the Rev. Joseph of Volotsky, and if he was inferior to him in talent, he was by no means inferior in his erudition and the vastness of his theological information. And among the metropolitans of the Moscow metropolis proper, from Jonah to Job or before the establishment of the patriarchate, Daniel can be called the most enlightened, with the exception of one Macarius, no doubt no less well-read, but more gifted and did more for our spiritual literature, as well as for our church in general, although he left fewer of his works. Without boasting of his own wisdom and calling himself “an ignoramus and a peasant,” Daniel, however, himself recognized his bookish and literary pursuits as the best work of his life and said: “I ruined my life in laziness, and did not do a single good thing, except that I read the divine scriptures; and from these I gave myself and others memories, and verbs, and writings” 2. Daniel's writings are divided into two classes: words or teachings and epistles. There are now 35 of those and others together known, although there is reason to think that there were much more of them, that Daniel often loved to preach the word of God to his spiritual children and often wrote pastoral letters to various persons 3 . Of the surviving works of Daniel, two were written by him while still in the rank of abbot, namely: a teaching to the brethren of the Volokolamsk monastery and a letter to Prince Yuri Ivanovich. Other works do not provide instructions when they were written, and could have been written by the author both in the rank of hegumen and in the rank of metropolitan. But most of the works were undoubtedly written by Metropolitan Daniel. The first collection of his works was compiled by Daniel himself under the name “Sobornika”, in which he placed 16 of his words 4 . Soon after, twelve epistles of Daniel were collected by an unknown person, along with his teaching to the brethren of the Volokolamsk monastery, and this collection was preserved in a copy of the 16th century 5 . The remaining two words and four epistles of Daniel, which were not included in the said collections, are found separately in different manuscripts. The “Collection” of Metropolitan Daniel represents something whole and was compiled, undoubtedly, on the model of the “Illuminator” by St. Joseph of Volokolamsk 6. Just as Joseph in his “Enlightener” wanted to give the Orthodox guidance directed against the then dominant heresy of the Judaizers and their errors, and in the preface to his book he wrote: “if anyone needs anything against heretical speech, he will find the grace of God ready in every word”: so Daniel wanted to give in his “Collection” similar guidance to his spiritual children, directed generally against errors and shortcomings of his contemporary society, and in the preface to his book he wrote: “if anything is called to someone, either against heretical speeches, or between the Orthodox, some kind of competition and speech, and the grace of God will be ready to be found without difficulty in every word, against which there are wines, for the pleasure of God and the benefit of souls.” Just as Joseph in his “Illuminator”, in addition to the words newly composed, also included some words that he had written before, and connected both of them only with a general preface and a detailed table of contents: so Daniel in his “Sobornik” placed, along with the words deliberately compiled for the “Collection,” and some words that he had spoken before, and connected both of them only with a general preface and a detailed table of contents. Joseph placed 16 words in the Illuminator, and Daniel 16 in the Sobornik, and in addition, when composing his seventh word, Daniel undoubtedly used Joseph’s fourth word and cited a literal extract from it. Not to mention the fact that both Joseph and Daniel, as they themselves repeatedly repeat, composed their words not from themselves, not from their own wisdom, but collected mainly from the divine scriptures: this is a common feature among the writers of that time, although it was not manifested to the same extent. The reason for the compilation of the “Sobornik” by Metropolitan Daniel was the requests of some “God-wise” Christians who turned to him with many questions: at least, as a result of these very requests, the first and some other words of the “Sobornik” were written 7 . The preface to the Sobornik is divided into two parts. In the first, placed at the very beginning of the book, Daniel says: “a little something happened to us, the grace of Christ, spiritual children, to offer a spiritual meal for nourishment and pleasure.” And then he explains that he did this “not with his impudent mind” - for he knows his poverty - but out of fear of falling under the condemnation of an evil and lazy servant, who should have given his money to the merchants; out of pure love, which tends to take care not only of oneself, but also of one’s neighbors, and not only about physical, but also about their spiritual needs; finally, out of consciousness of his pastoral duty, which obliges pastors to diligently feed their flock with Christian teaching, and that as a result of all this, he took the trouble to collect from the divine scriptures - from St. Gospel, from the Apostle and Prophet and from St. fathers, and combine together true teachings, understandings and traditions for the spiritual benefit of all; and to make it more convenient to find each of the words in the book, he offers a detailed table of contents. In the second part of the preface, following this table of contents and beginning with the general title of the book; “The sinful and evil monk Daniel, Metropolitan of All Russia, Collection, collected from the divine scriptures, the legend is known from the chapters of each word.” Daniel continues that the purpose of his “Collection” is so that, during disputes with heretics and competitions between the Orthodox themselves, everyone can easily find in every word what they need, for the pleasure of God and the benefit of souls, and asks that his book be copied by anyone who wishes, with all correctness and accuracy, not to mock the contents of the book - for he did not write it on his own, but collected it from divine scriptures - and forgive him if the book contains, for the sake of his “foolishness and ignorance,” something displeasing to God and unprofitable to the soul. There is no obvious external connection between the words placed in the Sobornik. But they are all connected internally by one main thought, one predominant direction against the modern shortcomings of Russian society, although there is some difference between them in this regard. In just a few words, Daniel arms himself primarily against free-thinking in matters of faith and the church, which then dominated us as a result of the movement aroused by the heresy of the Judaizers, and convinces the Orthodox to beware of false teachers, to stand firmly for the truth, to observe all church traditions, written and unwritten, and examines some private truths of faith and tradition, which were probably most subject to controversy at that time. In other words, he advocates mainly against the modern corruption of morals, against the vices that have become stronger in different classes, and solves some practical issues that occupied our society at that time. We say: predominantly - because there is no strict unity in Daniel’s words, and, setting out one or two main subjects in each word, he often touches on other subjects, or goes into general considerations and denunciations regarding faith and morals. The plan in all the words of the Sobornik is the same. Each word consists of three parts: the first contains not only the introduction to the word, but also its very content, or the entire word is briefly stated; the second contains passages related to the word from St. scriptures along with interpretations on them, passages from the works of St. fathers, from the rules of cathedrals, liturgical books, works and lives of retinues, patericons and various other collections used among us; in the third, which is inscribed in each word: punishment, moral lessons, instructions, reproofs, convictions are taught. In the first and third parts of each word, Daniel speaks himself, expresses his own thoughts, although he occasionally uses the texts of the Bible and the sayings of the fathers; in the second, he only presents other people’s evidence, arranges them at his own discretion, without any connection between them, and does not add or say anything of his own. These testimonies are for the most part brief, but often extensive, even very extensive, and sometimes between them there are entire messages of a council or a teacher of the church and entire historical narratives. It can be rightly said that the second part in the words of Danilov’s “Sobornik”, the most extensive, is nothing more than a series of documents that the author collected and cited to confirm or explain his thoughts, without any change, and which can conveniently be isolated entirely from each word and placed separately, at the end of the word, as appendices to it. And the first and third parts of these words represent a series of Metropolitan Daniel’s own writings, more or less brief, which can be considered independently of the second part of each word and almost all have an independent meaning. It is remarkable that the author himself, in many of his words, concludes the first part (not to mention the last) with moral convictions and the word amen, as something whole, as a complete teaching, and then, without any transition or connection, begins to provide a series of evidence more or less related to this teaching or to some individual thoughts set forth in it. The thought involuntarily arises that Daniel could have pronounced his teachings, placed in the first and last parts of the words, and some, as we will see, undoubtedly pronounced in church to the people; The evidence, numerous and varied, sometimes extremely extensive, placed without any connection in the second part of the words, he collected already at the time he was compiling his “Collection” and designated it for edifying reading to Orthodox Christians. I. In the first four words, Daniel tries to reveal, as it were, the very principles that the Orthodox must adhere to in order to protect themselves from false teachings and false teachers. “We must teach and believe and act according to the testimony of the divine scriptures, and not according to carnal, human wisdom” - this is the main idea of ​​the first word 8. Therefore, Daniel continues, I pray to all, teaching and being taught, to avoid carnal wisdom and foolish competitions. If we happen to have a search for something blessed, let us conduct competitions with love and caution, without blaspheming or reproaching each other; or if a dispute occurs about church subjects and about any dogmas, then it is necessary to quietly and meekly bring true reasoning to resolve it, according to the testimony of the divine scriptures and paternal traditions. And whoever corrupts the laws laid down by the Holy Spirit, rejects the ancient good customs of our fathers and introduces new laws, like the ancient heretics, for the destruction of the human race, it is better not to have peace with such people, separating us from God. Such people must be guarded against as false prophets and false teachers; Although they talk sweetly, it is all lies, flattery, hypocrisy, and deceit; They only think about deceiving us, enticing us, destroying us... We should walk in wisdom, as the Apostle commands, and tempt what is the will of God, good and perfect, and not philosophize more than it is proper to philosophize, but philosophize in chastity, as St. church from God and from St. the apostles and from the reverend fathers. We must carefully read the divine scriptures, choose from them true understandings and reasoning and be ready to answer everyone who asks us about our hope... “Let us not be lazy, my brethren,” this is how Daniel concludes the first part of this word, “to do and keep the commandments of Christ, and let us accumulate wealth for ourselves from reading the divine scriptures: for great wealth comes from reading divine words, if we do it with humility and meekness, fleeing carnal wisdom and contempt.” Having then cited in the second part up to seven texts of St. scriptures with interpretations on them, quite extensive, from Chrysostom, Theophylact of Bulgaria and the explanatory Gospels and the Apostle, also short sayings of St. fathers and teachers - Ephraim the Syrian, Theodore the Studite, Basil the Great, Nikon the Montenegrin, Athanasius the Great and Dedim, Daniel in the last part of the word convinces the Orthodox in everything that we say and do, to have evidence from the divine scriptures and not to be deceived by human inventions. “For,” he says, “the divine scriptures everywhere proclaim the will of God to everyone, but human carnal wisdom leads to the abyss of hell; good conversations from St. scriptures, as St. Isaac, awaken the soul to the stomach, eradicate passions, drive away bad thoughts, and evil conversations darken the mind and corrupt good customs... Let us try to study the divine scriptures with fear and love, and not just read the divine scriptures, but practice them with great wisdom. For the Lord himself, the divine apostles and holy fathers force us to test the divine scriptures with wisdom, and St. Chrysostom even utters the terrible verb that no one can be saved if he does not often enjoy spiritual reading... Let us not do or say anything according to human carnal wills, but whatever we do or say, let everything happen according to the will of God, according to the scriptures of the saints, according to the law of the blessed fathers, and as the statute and good custom of the Holy Fathers have. cathedral, apostolic church..." “One must strive for the truth, stand for truth and the divine commandments firmly and unshakably, even to the point of death,” is the main idea of ​​the second word 9. He who cares about the truth, the author argues, will fulfill God’s law in every possible way. If you, seeing those at war with each other contrary to the will of God, reconcile them and bring them into union, or, seeing others loving each other in violation of God's law, create hatred between them, break their sinful union - in both these cases you are doing the will of God. Even if some grumble and are tempted, do not be embarrassed, do not lose heart, and even stand until death for the divine commandments. If you condescend to please people, these same people will reproach you and laugh at your foolishness... And if you stand firmly and unshakably for the truth, then although at first they will not submit, but later they will “wonder and praise the immutable strength of your zeal for the Lord...”. It must be admitted, however, that in general this word was poorly composed. In the first part of it, which is quite short, the main idea is revealed little and is mixed with other thoughts, side and extraneous. In the second part, the evidence given (and there are more than ten of them, in addition to three places from the Bible with interpretations of Chrysostom and Theophylact, more than ten, namely: the fifth-sixth council and the teachers of the church John Climacus, Ephraim the Syrian, Nile, Basil the Great, Hesychius, Cyril, Isidore and Athanasius, some two and three each) relate not so much to the main idea of the word, but to the thoughts external, extraneous. Finally, the last part of the word seems to have no connection with the two preceding ones and begins like this: “Behold, for the sake of your love, having labored with the divine scriptures; Let us bring in a little something about shepherds,” although, of course, instructing all believers to be zealous for truth and righteousness, the author could naturally remember about shepherds, who are primarily obliged to be zealots of faith and piety. Therefore, this last part, apparently only attached to the word as a conclusion, itself forms a special, complete and thorough word addressed to the shepherds, and well, its very vastness is not at all similar to ordinary conclusions. Here, often using the texts of the Bible and the sayings of St. fathers, the Metropolitan speaks about the duties of pastoral service, and about its terrible responsibility, and about its difficulties, and about the high rewards awaiting good shepherds - he determines the nature of their activity, the subject of their preaching, instructs them, denounces them, and convinces them. The shepherd is appointed in order, the archpastor teaches, to correct the ignorance and insensitivity of others, and to intercede and protect them, to proclaim to them the approach of the demonic army. He cannot justify himself by ignorance or hypocritically hide behind something else, he cannot say: I did not understand, I did not even hear the trumpet, I did not understand and did not see the warfare and wiles of the evil one. Then he ascended to the pastoral rank and sat on the holy throne, so that he would not care about anything else but to teach people the knowledge of God and piety, gentleness and non-covetousness, and so that they would not rape, rob, do not deceive, do not slander, and do not envy. He must forgive those who sin but repent, and he must forbid and rebuke those who sin and are disobedient. The job of true shepherds is to proclaim the punishments that can befall us both before death and after death... Daniel’s denunciations of modern shepherds are curious: “many deceitful ones entered into the world, but true shepherds laid down their lives for the sheep, not giving them over to the wolves for destruction. And the wicked and lazy shepherds, such as, alas for me, saved themselves and enlarged their bellies with food and drunkenness. The lost were not sent to the path, the dead were not sought out, the deceived were not converted, the brokenhearted were not healed, the sick were not healed, the obstinate were not rebuked, the disorderly were not rebuked, and no concern was given to the healing of the sheep; but they fended for themselves, but did not tend the sheep, and they despised all pastoral affairs. They aimed only at glory and honor, and peace, and to eat and drink sweet, expensive and best things, and to vanity and contempt, and to receive bribes, but they did not create any beneficial teaching and healing for the sheep...” And in another place: “Why, brethren, are we proud, and exalted, and deceive ourselves, seeking the power of abbess or bishopric, being passionate and unable to ascend to such a height? Why are we looking for this? Is it in order to eat and drink many different things, both expensive and the sweetest; or to collect gold and silver, wealth and estates: or to have fun and chill out, and to be exalted, to prepare feasts and invite the famous and rich to dinner, and in vain to waste church revenues on parasites, which are needed by the church and church people, and the strange and the poor? But we despise this, and eat up church income with the famous, the rich, and the parasites, puffed up with pride and vanity and caring with all our souls only about the present. And we think that we are shepherds and teachers, that we truly rule the word of God and instruct the human race to salvation. No, brethren, no." Even more curious is the image of how some of the Christians of that time treated our shepherds: “everywhere, the shepherds accept troubles and sorrows from everyone. When he sees some people speaking inappropriately or doing illegal things, and if he instructs them and forbids the disobedient, then they will raise up a lot of hatred against him, they rise up, seize, annoy, sew false rumors (?), slander, slander, reproaches, and if it were possible for them, they would kill him: this is how Satan deceives them with his with cunning! When the shepherd again begins to teach them, saying: O children, do so and so, as Christ’s commandments and other divine scriptures command us, they answer, saying: Teach yourself first, for it is written: Jesus began to do, and teach also. Sometimes they say: how far will you teach us; Do you yourself keep your life according to the scriptures? But he, and this one, do they live according to the scripture? He just armed himself against us, but don’t you see them, but have you forgotten yourself? Oh, father, father, aren’t you ashamed? The teacher will again begin to teach from divine scripture, and they say: oh, our teacher, like a Pharisee, is vain; you see how he thinks about himself; you see how he despises; you see how proud he is. They say this and the like and countless other things without being ashamed: so Satan has disgraced them! When the shepherd, having seen the time, strictly forbids some to save them, they will begin to say: this is not fatherly, not pastoral, not teacher-like; This is a custom of the disorderly, and depraved, and misanthropic, and tormenting, and not paternal and teacher. If someone, sitting on the pastoral and teaching seat, is simple, quiet, meek, humble, then they will say: this is a simple person, a cell person, and not a ruler: it is not his business to teach and forbid. If any wise person wanted to count and write down the pastoral sufferings, rumors, and confusion, it would take a whole year to do this.” Daniel outlined the subject of the pastoral sermon in general terms, repeating his favorite thought: “let us try to speak not from ourselves, but from the divine scriptures, the Gospel and Apostolic commandments, and from the sacred rules of ecumenical councils, and local and especially blessed men, and from the traditions, and lives, and customs of the God-bearing fathers. Let us not say anything extraneous or alien, but let us be philosophical and speak, and let us place all our understanding in what we have received from God and from the Holy One. the Apostles, and from the Reverend Fathers, St. the conciliar, apostolic church and, having accepted it, handed it over to us.” It could very well be that Daniel composed this teaching to the shepherds separately and, on occasion, delivered it to them, but then, with some changes, introduced it into his “Collection” in the form of a conclusion to the second word. In the third word, Daniel more separately expresses his thoughts, which form the basis of the two preceding words, as if explaining what is meant by those divine scriptures, which we must constantly adhere to, and by that truth and divine commandments, for which we must stand firmly and unshakably. He teaches: “Christ, ascending into heaven, left two testaments to the apostles - the old and the new, and the apostles and the saints after them. the fathers legitimized and transmitted to the church two kinds of traditions - written and unwritten; Therefore, we must unconditionally observe all church traditions, written and unwritten, legitimized to us by St. the apostles and our God-bearing fathers" 10. In the word itself, and precisely in the first part of it, the author first lists many traditions, mostly unwritten, or, as he puts it, “various dispensations, ranks and statutes, rules and laws,” devoted to the church by the apostles and saints. fathers and concerning either church administration or church services, in particular the liturgy, sacraments and various services, also holidays, fasting, monasticism, veneration of St. icons and St. relics. Then he briefly notes that for these, as for all other sacred traditions related to our divine faith, the saints themselves worked hard and courageously stood before the kings and tormentors. apostles, St. fathers and martyrs, not sparing their lives, and many other pious Christians who, despising the world with its glory, part and other blessings, devoted all their desires and minds to faith in Jesus Christ, which they received from St. apostles and saints fathers. Finally, turning to a modern Christian, he says: “And you, seeing and hearing those who speak inappropriately and despise church laws and statutes, do not forbid, do not forbid and do not block their foul lips. And not only do you not forbid them, but you delight in it and force others to do so. When you hear the word of God read, or someone speaking from the divine scriptures, you stop your ears like an adder, being darkened by the charms of Satan. When you hear that they are going to the divine church for prayers and supplications, you run away like an animal, and dive like a snake, and bark at the brethren like a dog, I wallow in uncleanness, like a pig in the mud. And your blessed adviser, I mean conscience, who advises and speaks good things to you, you trampled, and rejected, and burnt to ashes. You overeat and get drunk like cattle, and bear a grudge against your brethren like Satan. And when, shamefully, you enter the divine church, you don’t know why you came, you yawn, stretch, cross your legs, stick out and shake your hips and grimace like a lewd person. And what can we say about your mind? Nothing can be found in you, no memory of sins, no memory of death and what is after death, no memory of the Last Judgment, no memory of unbearable endless torment; but you just don’t remember about the kingdom of heaven and paradise, you retreat from those who talk about them, and you stand as if insensitive, not listening to either those who read or those who whine. You count interest and wealth, you rule over houses, you talk about your wife, your children, your slaves, and you exalt yourself like another Satan. You call all people crazy and sinful, you only show yourself as reasonable and wise to everyone, and you think to live forever in this charming age, like an immortal. You think maliciously, you hate, you envy, you deceive people created in the image of God, and you condemn, and slander, and commit many other evil things. You call yourself a Christian, but if you don’t correct yourself, then I don’t know how you can call yourself a true Christian...” However, wanting to soften his harsh denunciations, as it were, the preacher adds: “I say this, not condemning or reproaching anyone, but exposing my laziness and rousing myself and others to fulfill the commandments of the Lord, so that, having fought a good fight and finished the blessed course, we will all receive together those blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him, to Him be glory forever and ever, amen.” In the second part of the word, in addition to two biblical texts with interpretations on them, the rules of the seventh ecumenical council and extracts from the fathers and teachers of the church are given - Basil the Great, John of Damascus, Basil of Amasia, John Metropolitan of Nicea, Nikon the Montenegrin, from the explanatory Gospel, from the life of St. Hilarion of Meglitsky, from the polysyllabic Scroll, and some of these testimonies express the idea that we have been given two testaments, the old and the new; others, that we have been given two kinds of traditions, written and unwritten, which must be preserved, and others list the traditions themselves in more or less detail, or dwell on some of them. In the last part, very brief, the author only says that he collected these testimonies for the benefit of himself and his neighbors, for the true message of the right faith, so that we will try to observe all the traditions, written and unwritten, with the right faith and pure life, in order to receive eternal benefits. The fourth word serves as a continuation of the third or an addition to it 11. Here, in the first part, Daniel repeats the previous general thought about traditions: “we must steadfastly preserve all traditions, written and unwritten.” To this end, he first teaches that not only shepherds and monks, but also lay people should read divine books as often as possible; since through reading them one acquires knowledge about God and everything that the prophets, apostles and saints taught. fathers, about all the traditions, written and unwritten, which St. church; In addition, this reading drives away sadness, instills joy, kills anger, destroys passion, arouses one to virtue, lifts one from the earthly to the heavenly, and generally makes one wise for salvation. Following this, the author urges everyone, clergy and laity of every rank, age, gender and condition, to zealously observe the laws and statutes and all traditions, written and unwritten, that the church has accepted - not to accept and shun new and corrupted laws, blasphemous and soul-destructive traditions, and to constantly exercise in fulfilling the commandments of God and in mutual Christian love in order to be rewarded with eternal blessings. In the second part of the word we are talking, in particular, about only two legends: about the sign of the cross and about worship to the east. To reveal the doctrine of the sign of the cross, its meaning, use and saving, sometimes miraculous, actions, passages are given from the works of Basil the Great, Athanasius, Peter Damascene, Origen, Theodoret, Theodore, Eusebius, Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, from interpretations of the prophecy of Ezekiel and the Gospel of Mark, from the life of Theodore Edessa, from the legends of Simeon Metaphrast about John the Theologian, from the canon on the erection of the honorable cross and from some unknown “word about those being baptized.” Among these places, unfortunately, is the so-called Theodorite testimony about the double-fingered formation for the sign of the cross, which was later included in Stoglav and still serves as one of the main reasons for the persistence of our schismatics: a sign that this false testimony already existed and was found under the name of Theodorit in the manuscripts we used, and that Daniel himself accepted the testimony as genuine and adhered to the teaching set forth in it. To confirm and explain another legend - about worship to the east - passages from Basil the Great, John of Damascus, Athanasius the Great and “from other books” are given, it is not said which ones. Finally, in the third part of the word, having said that the church has many traditions and unwritten ones, among which are the sign of the cross and worship to the east, the preacher adds that the ancient fathers and ascetics, especially in the deserts and other places where there were no icons or churches, always prayed to the east, constantly awaiting from the east the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and preparing day and night to meet Him; reproaches modern Christians for thinking only about earthly things and not caring at all about heavenly things, and convinces them to work in this life for eternal life, to flow into the Holy Spirit. church, to lament over one’s sins, to practice reading the divine scriptures and to worship to the east, for from the east Christ will come, and He himself is called the east, and in the east there was paradise, our ancient fatherland... “But you,” the saint notes at the same time, are raging and galloping, as if you want to tear me to pieces, and you say: I know, I know this, I know even more, both the new and the old. It is good for you, wise ascetic, that you know a lot, both old and new. But for me, a poor person, it’s not enough to find something to resolve my confusion. Having found this, I satisfy myself and give to others, and regarding those who sweep away and trample on this, I have a divine word: do not give the holy one to a dog, neither cast your pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6).” Then he again reproaches Christians that they philosophize and care only about earthly things, not remembering either death, or judgment, or eternal retribution, practice foul language and satanic disgraces, quarrel, envy, lie, break oaths, love to listen to devilish songs and blasphemies, and convinces them to fulfill divine commandments in order to receive eternal benefits. II. Having revealed in the first four words those general principles that the Orthodox must adhere to in matters of their faith and to protect themselves from heresies and false teachings, Daniel devotes the next three words, in particular, to the two most important dogmas of Christianity - the dogma of the incarnation and the dogma of atonement or the death of the Savior on the cross, since these dogmas were then most subject to wrangling among us from the Judaizers heretics and their followers. In the first part of the fifth word, the Metropolitan expounds the Orthodox teaching on the sacrament of the incarnation, and, one must admit to the credit of the author, he expounds it clearly and separately, in precise and correct language 12 . At the end of the exposition, he directly points out the purpose of his present words: “let no one be a heretic, and let no one accept the evil and destructive heresy, incorruptible and imaginary, but let everyone believe and confess perfectly that (i.e. Christ) God and perfect man.” This ancient incorruptible imaginary heresy, which taught that the Son of God took upon Himself some kind of flesh, which was incorruptible from His very incarnation and only seemed similar to corruptible human flesh, as we know, was preached among us at that time by the Elder Prince Vassian Kosoy, the patron saint of the Judaizers. He persisted in it even at the council that judged him, so that, to admonish the freethinker, by order of Daniel, a whole series of ancient patristic testimonies were brought forward 13. It is not surprising if, against this false teaching, which perhaps had quite a few other followers among us, besides Vassian the Oblique, Daniel considered it necessary to write a special word, and, moreover, the most extensive of all his words. In the second part of this word, to prove and explain the teaching that Jesus Christ, the perfect God, is at the same time a perfect man and took on our human nature with all its properties except sin, the author cited a) up to 18 texts of St. scriptures, mainly the New Testament, with interpretations on them; b) many passages from the works of St. fathers and teachers - Gennady of Constantinople, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Athanasius the Great, Theodoret, Timothy the Presbyter, Epiphanius of Cyprus, Cosmas the Presbyter, Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory of Neocaesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascus, Gregory Amirite, Ephraim the Syrian, - for the most part, two, three and several passages from each; c) the whole extensive letter of Leo, Pope of Rome, to Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, and almost the entire accusatory word against the Armenians of John, Metropolitan of Nicaea; d) many songs from church canons and excerpts from the missal, synaxarions, prologues and lives of saints; e) excerpts from unknown or little-known authors, such as: from the Polysyllabic Scroll, from the word about the miracles of the Most Holy Theotokos, from the correct testaments about the fourth council, from the word about the fourth council, from the word on the Nativity of Christ, from Khrus's story about the discovery of the honorable cross, from the book of Jacob the Jew. It is worthy of note that some of the testimonies given here are the same ones that were read, by order of Metropolitan Daniel, at the council to admonish the elder prince Vassian Kosoy 14, and among the newly cited testimonies there are also two Russian testimonies: an excerpt from the laudatory speech of Metropolitan Hilarion of St. V. to Vladimir and one hymn from the canon to St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow. In the last part of the word, Daniel first explains again why and for what purpose it was written. “All this,” he says, I have collected from the divine scriptures of your love, God-wise! Let us not cease to instruct ourselves and each other, both separately and in conversations, as the prophets preached, the apostles taught and the God-bearing fathers taught, regarding the incarnation of Jesus Christ, so that, tearing off and cutting off the heretical disease from ourselves, we will keep the teaching and tradition intact. Even if we are not able to instruct everyone, then, as far as possible, we will console them with a word and try to raise up the souls that lie down. The shepherd should consider this work the most important of all his affairs, i.e. that is, to teach and instruct, and advise, and turn to good, and forbid, and forbid from evil.” Then, turning to the flock, he continues: “And the business of the flock is to obey the shepherd in everything in the Lord. You despise the shepherd and trust in nothing: but don’t you know the great power of the shepherds, which they received from the ruler - Christ, to bind and decide on earth and in heaven? Why do we neglect the chastity and purity and other prudence of our children, male and female slaves, and do not care or grieve in the least for the salvation of our brethren?.. Let us grieve voluntarily in this temporary life, and rejoice forever. Are you young: pay attention all the more diligently, so that, having learned from childhood a virtuous life, you will boldly enter into the joy of your Lord. Are you old? Pay even more attention, for your departure is near and your end is unknown. Are you a farmer: pay close attention to this, for what is earthly is mortal and perishable, but the future is immortal and infinite... But you consider everything said to be fables, because you are insensitive and obscene...; But think about how much has passed into the future life in your memory, how much has passed before your memory, and how quickly now they flow one after another into the eternal settlement: do you consider yourself immortal”?.. The Judaizing heretics objected to the sacrament of atonement: it is unworthy of God to humiliate ourselves in such a way - to take on human flesh and die on the cross; Couldn't God have saved man otherwise? To this objection, defenders of Orthodoxy, such as St. Joseph of Volokolamsk, answered that for God, without a doubt, everything is possible and that He could have saved a person otherwise, but He was pleased to choose this and not another means for our salvation, in order to show His infinite goodness and wisdom (Enlightener, word IV). Daniel repeats the same thoughts about the goodness and wisdom of God; in the sixth word he specifically speaks of the ineffable goodness or mercy that Christ showed in the work of our redemption 15. And since this truth is self-evident for a believer and does not require much proof, it is natural that the word came out very little. In the first part, the preacher briefly explains how the infinite love of our Savior for us was expressed when He, being the Son of God, deigned to put on our human nature and, being completely sinless and innocent even in humanity, willingly took on all our sins and guilt, suffered suffering and the most painful and shameful death for us. In the second part, he gives only four texts, one from the Apostle and three from the psalms - about the suffering of our Savior for us, and several brief interpretations or comments on these texts - from Theodore the Studite, Isaac, Didymus, Hesychius, Theodoret, Eusebius, Athanasius, Appolinarius and Gregory the Theologian. Finally, in the third part, pointing to this great and ineffable mercy of the ruler - Christ, who bore our sins, suffered all reproach, suffering and death for us, washed us with his most pure blood, brought us from death in the stomach, from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, gave us the power to be children of God, promised us eternal life, the preacher asks: “What shall we render to the Lord Christ for everything that He has done for us and given us eternal life? Let us give thanks to the Lord Christ, beloved, let us thank and glorify His ineffable mercy; let us love Him who loved us, let us die for Him who died for us; let us love one another; Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Let us offer good deeds to Christ our God with fear and reverence: faith, love, brotherly love, hope, patience, humility, meekness, contrition of heart, tenderness, tears, and a cleansed conscience. Let us serve the Lord while we have time... Adam died righteously because he sinned; and Christ died unrighteously, for he did not sin, but for the sake of us and our salvation he deigned to endure all suffering: for His sake we too will endure all sorrow with reason, so that we may be heirs of eternal blessings, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen". This word, judging by its brevity, could have been spoken in full in church. Daniel expresses another thought - about the infinite wisdom of God revealed in the work of our redemption - in his seventh word 16. This wisdom, as he explains in the first part, was revealed in the fact that Christ, God, “outwitted the evil cunning devil” by putting on human flesh: as a result of which the devil, recognizing Him as a man, dared to tempt Him, but was disgraced and reproached; aroused enemies against Him, who put Him to death, but Christ, having descended after death with His soul into hell, like God, bound the devil, destroyed hell and brought all believers out of it. After this thought, which was revealed in much greater detail by the teacher. Joseph Volotsky in his fourth word against the Judaizers, Daniel appeals to the Orthodox with his favorite convictions to read the divine scriptures as often and diligently as possible, “so that we will not be led away from those who teach the truth by heretical lies.” For the second part of the word, he cites, in addition to two or three biblical texts, many church songs and stichera, extracts from the Explanatory Gospel, from the Synaxarion, from the Temporary, from the writings of St. fathers and teachers of the church - Chrysostom, Maximus, Cyril, Athanasius, Gregory of the Amirite, Ephraim, Gregory the Theologian, Julian Bishop of Tavi, Sylvester, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory the Pope and, among others, a rather large extract from the fourth word in the Enlightenment by St. Joseph of Volotsky: in all the evidence cited, the same idea is repeated and expressed, one way or another, sometimes briefly, sometimes in more or less detail, that Christ “outwitted,” shamed and defeated the devil. The last part of the word has no internal connection with the two preceding ones and contains general moral instructions. “Let us fear, brothers,” this is how it begins, “of that terrible day when the Lord comes to judge the earth and reward everyone according to his deeds. Let us strive while we have time for the cleansing of sins and for eternal life; Let us believe in the sight of the Lord’s incarnation, which He performed for our salvation, then He rose again, ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father, we will believe in His second coming...” And further: “let us fear God and do everything for Him that we do; let us not philosophize about ourselves... let us hate glory and wealth, which do not endure after death... Flee fornication and immoral things, flee disgrace and the games of demons; do not adorn your face to deceive people, for whom the Son of God suffered free passion...” III. The eighth word in Daniel’s “Collection” serves as a transition from words of a dogmatic nature, which we have previously considered and directed against heretics, false teachers and generally free-thinking in matters of faith, to words of moral content, directed against the modern corruption of morals. Here Daniel is already talking about a moral subject; but he does not leave the subject that he had always had in mind until now, that is, the false teachings of the enemies of God - heretics 17. In the first part of the word, which is a rather detailed and completely completed teaching, the train of thought is as follows: God Himself, who cares about human salvation, established power between people, and established it for vengeance against evildoers, and for the praise of benefactors. Hence the twofold consequence: one must obey the authorities and give them all their due; but the authorities, as servants of God, must take care of people’s observance of divine laws and protect the human race from soul-destroying wolves, otherwise heretics and false teachers. Therefore, although we have many temptations in life, especially from our passions, we will try to do the will of God, we will be merciful to ourselves and to each other, we will help those in trouble, we will instruct the disorderly, we will comfort the sorrowing, we will seek those who are lost from the truth, we will convert the deceived. “Tell me,” the saint asks among other things, why are you resisting God’s command, that is, the authority established by God? You say: I don't resist. But why do you break the laws of the Holy Spirit, why do you blaspheme the name of God? By doing this, you must accept vengeance from the servants of God. For those who have received such service from God, as servants of God, should have great concern for the divine laws and keep the human race unharmed from soul-destroying wolves and not give free rein to evil-doing people who dishonor the name of God. Thieves and robbers and other people who commit evil are condemned; those who trampled and spat on the image of the earthly king accept execution; but if these and others accept execution, even more so those who blaspheme and dishonor the Son of God and God and the Most Pure Mother of God: they are worthy of complete hatred.” The second part of the word summarizes several texts from the epistles to the Romans, Colossians, Titus, Timothy and others - about the appointment of authorities by God, about obedience to them and about their duty to be in vengeance on evildoers and in praise of benefactors. Following this are passages from the works of Basil the Great, Chrysostom, Athanasius the Great, Euthymius the Patriarch of Tern, Theodoret, Eusebius of Emesis, John of Damascus, John Metropolitan of Nicaea, Nile, Theophylact, as well as extracts from the Exposition of the former church union, from many lives of saints, from the Vremennik, and from Russian works two excerpts from laudatory words of Metropolitan Hilarion St. Vladimir and an excerpt from the Nestor Chronicle about the same prince. Some of these testimonies speak of the importance of the powers that be and obedience to them; in others about how these authorities should and indeed often treated heretics and false teachers; thirdly, how Orthodox Christians in general should treat heretics. The last part of this word, in addition to the fact that, like the first part, is a fairly complete and complete teaching, it also contains clear hints that it was delivered to the believers in a number of other teachings. “You have heard before, this is how the Metropolitan begins this teaching, when we were honored to talk for your love, then we talked yesterday and now about love for God and for the sincere and about other fulfillment of God’s commandments. And again I converse for your love, as much as I can because of my badness: for I know that, due to your great spiritual love for my badness, you accept my bad and unreasonable silences and do not despise them; even if it is meager, and undeliberate and unsophisticated, it is spiritual and useful for those who want to be saved. But what else should we talk about, fathers and brethren, if not about divine commands and other spiritual, useful and saving things? The all-good God created us from non-existence into existence and gave us all blessings, and promised future unspeakable blessings, but only if we keep His commandments and do those things pleasing to Him.” Following this, the preacher calls on the listeners to love God and their neighbors, shows the connection between one and the other love, explains in what actions they can be expressed, gives some private instructions - to love soul-saving conversations, observe moderation in everything, in food, drink, clothing, sleep, cleave to God-fearing men, avoid prodigal conversations (“flee the destructive pit - fornication conversations, flee from a woman’s brokenness, not worth seeing her scarlet cheeks, the whiteness and softness of her body, and her subtle voice, and the sweetness of her words, as if they were catching people with a clue”), never indulge in idleness, which teaches all evil, and all this, one might say, constitutes the first half of the teaching. The author directs the entire second half exclusively against heretics: “Let us do good deeds in the Lord: what kind? Let us show righteous rage and divine jealousy, let us teach those who blaspheme not to blaspheme the name of the Lord. And heal, heal, correct those who are disobedient to love of mankind, and if they are not yet corrected, instruct them again with love and wisdom, quietly and meekly; Guide those who have strayed from the right path philanthropically and mercifully, and you yourself will receive mercy from the Lord - Christ in this century and the future. And against those who do not accept healing, after much instruction, and who do not want to finally come to something better, be jealous with divine zeal, so that others will have fear, retreat from Satan and turn to the Lord God... Be zealous for the Lord God, do not allow heretics to blaspheme the name of Christ God; remember the love of your Lord Christ, how much He created for you - the sky, the sun, the moon and stars, the earth, the sea...; and became a man for your sake, and endured free and dishonest passion for your sake... But you don’t want to prohibit, rebuke, threaten the evil heretics who blaspheme Him and His Most Pure Mother, but you copulate with them, and eat, and drink, and cover for them and intercede? And how can you call yourself a Christian? Do not be deceived; You will not be called a Christian, but rather an evil demon and Satan himself. You say: I convert and bring to repentance. Well, if so: convert and bring to repentance...; but beware from wolves, beware from dogs, beware from pigs, beware from evil doers, beware from thieves... If they do not accept instructions, after much healing, if they do not convert and do not come to the knowledge of the truth of Christ: why do you copulate with them, why are you their friend, why don’t you distance yourself from them and take care?.. Let us fearfully observe the sign of the Orthodox faith, let us preserve it. Firm and unshakable from all soul-destroying heretical teachings, we will not give wolves and robbers and thieves neither entry nor doors into the flock of Christ, we will strengthen ourselves and others to be valiant and unshakable in the Orthodox faith and in everything about the Lord.” In conclusion, the instructions are briefly repeated - to love each other, help others, shun envy, hatred, anger, revenge, and show jealousy and righteous rage only at the enemies of God who trample His laws. IV. The next five words (9 13) are moral content. In the first three of them, as their titles themselves show, the author primarily refers to some specific subjects of Christian morality, but also concerns its general foundations, general commandments and rules; and in the other two words, as can also be seen from their titles, although he talks about Christian morality in general, about its main commandments and rules, but in places he especially dwells on some particular subjects, on the private moral shortcomings of his contemporaries. “Let us again take up the teaching of the Gospel, again let us learn from the words of Christ, again let us philosophize in the commandments of the Lord,” this is how the ninth word begins, entitled: “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Despite this title, however, the author, in the first part of the word, first calls on everyone to practice reading the divine scriptures, explaining how soul-saving it is, to love one another, showing the meaning and superiority of this virtue, to avoid untruth, rage, anger, vanity, love of money, pride, to always and in everything be guided by the fear of God, to be merciful, meek, gentle and etc... And then he begins to teach that one should not judge one’s neighbors; that, judging others and not showing them mercy and condescension, we ourselves will not receive mercy from God, that if we have any virtues, we have accomplished them not on our own, but only with the help of God (“ours is to desire and strive for the best; God’s is to bring our desire and zeal to good deeds”); that we ourselves are great sinners and should experience and mourn our sins, and not seek out, divulge and condemn the sins and shortcomings of others. In the second part of the word, all the evidence given is from Scripture, and from the church fathers and ascetics (namely: from Cyril of Alexandria, Anastasius of Sinai, Abba Isaiah, Ephraim the Syrian, Peter of Damascus, Nikita Stiphatus, John Climacus, Nikon of Chernogorod, Chrysostom, Abba Dorotheus, Maximus), and from the lives of the saints, and especially many extensive extracts from “Seniority” - are really aimed at confirming one truth, which is that one should not condemn one’s neighbors. Finally, the third part contains general instructions about love for God and neighbors and fulfilling the commandments of God; lists various virtues that Christians should perform, and various vices, including condemnation of one’s neighbor, which they should avoid; reminds us of death, judgment, eternal rewards and punishments, the transience of life, and urges us to be sober, watchful, and work for the Lord with fear and trembling. Both teachings contained in the first and last parts of this word could be edifyingly pronounced in church. In the tenth word, which bears the title: “If we do some evil to our brethren, or reproach, or slander, we will fall into hiding,” the author talks about almost the same truth, only expressed in a more general form, which he talked about in the previous word; and therefore it is not surprising if it seems to be repeated here and only complements and explains what is said there. And here, in the first part, he first urges us to take care of spiritual food - about reading the divine scriptures, then he teaches some general moral instructions and finally speaks about the chosen subject, that is, so that we do not do any harm to our brothers, do not condemn them, do not reproach them and do not slander them. The initial thought, in the way it is presented, deserves attention. “Yesterday and now,” the preacher expresses, “cooks flock to the kitchen, and decorate it, and change their retinues, and stretch out their hands, and strengthen the sheets, and sharpen the knives, and lay on the wood, and kindle the fire, and set up the cauldrons, and supply the frying pans and forges; they prepare food to satisfy the belly, and the body enjoys it and is strengthened, and then comes to decay. How much care and effort food and drink require, how much gold and silver, but it disappears!.. If we have such care and care for food and drinks, much more should we have all the care and great care for spiritual things. Just as our corruptible bodies are strengthened, sweetened and fattened by earthly fruits and various nourishments, so our souls are nourished, fattened and filled with joy and grace by spiritual words. But earthly and corruptible food ends, goes into the earth and decay and becomes nothing... And spiritual food, that is, the teachings of the holy scriptures and instructions, endlessly produce joy and joy and give us eternal life.” And here, as in the previous word, all the evidence given in the second part (however, there are not many of them) from Scripture, from the church fathers (Nile, Chrysostom, Cyril, Theodore, John Climacus, Ephraim, Athanasius the Great) and from the “Elderhood”, relate only to the chosen subject of the word and serve as a supplement to those given in the previous word. And here the last part contains only general moral instructions: “let us, brethren, pay attention to ourselves, clear our conscience and test ourselves every hour, repenting of our sins, not only of sins in deed and word, but also of thoughts, if we have thought anything evil, let us repent, let us cry and weep while we have time. Let us learn meekness and humility and simplicity, let us be lovers of God and lovers of mankind.” And then the doctrine of love for God and neighbors is presented in detail using almost only texts from the Gospel and the Apostolic Epistles. The eleventh word, under the title: “about God’s destinies, and about dying babies, and how poor it is not to confess your thoughts to your spiritual father,” in its content really corresponds to this title, at least in its first two parts. В первой части Даниил преподаёт, один за другим, три урока. Lesson one: we should not test both the incomprehensible being of God and the destinies of God, and if we see something accomplished by Providence that is unthinkable for us, then we should marvel at it, glorify and thank God; а не судить о том, не укорять и не бесчестить благодати Его; those who love to debate about the ineffable destinies of God and say: why did so-and-so receive help, so-and-so was forgiven and freed from troubles, but so-and-so did not receive help, neither forgiveness nor deliverance from troubles? Lesson two: one should not mourn and cry about dying babies, on the contrary, one should rejoice, for they die without learning the malice and deceit of this world; if they have not yet been baptized, then although they are not rewarded with the kingdom of heaven upon death, they do not go into torment, as if they had not sinned; and if they are baptized, they ascend directly to the kingdom of heaven. Lesson three: we must confess to our spiritual fathers not only our deeds, but also our words and thoughts; It is a great evil to hide your thoughts from your spiritual fathers and not confess your sins to them. The second part contains evidence from the word of God, from the fathers (Athanasius, Anastasius of Sinai, Chrysostom, Gregory Climacus, John the Faster, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa), from the lives of the saints and from the “Elderhood” - all refer to the first, then the second, then the third lesson; extremely extensive extracts are presented here from “Starchestvo”. Only in the last part of the word does the author move from these private lessons to general instructions and teaches to keep the faith pure and immaculate, to fulfill the vows given at baptism, to observe all the traditions accepted by the church from God and from the apostles and from the saints. fathers, love God and keep His commandments, repent of sins, visit the churches of God and be present in them with attention and reverence; reminds of the transience of life, the proximity of death, judgment, reward beyond the grave, the vanity of all earthly blessings, etc. In the twelfth word, the author proposed to set forth the teaching that “all men, great and small, and everyone who has received divine baptism and the Gospel commandments of the Lord, must with all our hearts, and with all our souls, and with all our thoughts, keep both of these, just as our promise in holy baptism is also the Gospel commandments of Christ." But in the first part, the word has a character that is not so much instructive as accusatory. First, the author sets out general thoughts about our obligation to fulfill the vows of baptism and the Gospel commandments, expressing these thoughts almost exclusively in the words of the Savior himself and the Apostle Paul, and makes a general remark: “all these Pauline, and even more Christ’s, sayings constantly instruct us for good, and we, being Christians, born of divine baptism, adhere to the customs of the filthy pagans, biting each other, devouring each other, like fish, reproaching and blaspheming each other.” Then he brings, one after another, some private sayings of the Savior and the apostles, or private commandments, and makes reproofs and reproaches for the violation of each of them: “The Lord said: it is blessed when you are reviled...; but you value such bliss as nothing, and you despise such grace, and you want to throw anyone who has reproached you or annoyed you in any way into a great misfortune or even put to death... The Lord said: in your patience gain your souls, and the Apostle: not with vengeance on yourself, beloved; and you not only do not obey this, but you also don’t want to hear about it, but, avenging yourself, you get into a fight, fight, and kill. And how can you be called a Christian when you do something contrary to your promise in the presence of St. baptism? Do you know whom you renounced and to whom you promised? Why are you gnashing your teeth and glowering at me, as if you want to kill me? Speak: whom did you deny and to whom did you promise? I have renounced Satan, you say, and all his works, and promised myself to Christ, and I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Creator, and so on... But if you answer this way and believe and confess this way as a Christian, then why, having left Christ, do you flow to Satan, that is, having despised the commandments of God, do you flow towards the teachings and deeds of demons?.. The Lord said: blessed is he who mourns... and you, being a Christian, dance, jump, speak prodigal words and commit many other mockery and foul language, play you offer harps, bows, sniffles, pipes, and many services to Satan. The Lord commanded: watch and pray, I am an apostle: pray unceasingly; and you constantly seduce all people, like Satan himself, you speak fabulous things, bring up ridiculous parables, snort, laugh... The Lord commanded: take care that your hearts are not burdened with gluttony and drunkenness; and you overeat like cattle, and get drunk day and night, so that you have a headache and are confused in your mind... The Lord commanded: learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and you don’t even want to learn this commandment, but you are even more proud, and you become arrogant, and you roar like a lion, and you deceive like a demon, and you rush to the devil’s disgrace like a swineherd.” The preacher denounces modern debauchery and preoccupation with panache especially sharply and in detail, so that, omitting the most dramatic images, we will present only a few. “You accomplish a great feat by pleasing harlots; you change your clothes, put on boots, very scarlet and extremely tight, so that your feet have to endure great need from their tightness and oppression... You not only cut off your hair with a razor and the flesh, but also pull it out from the root with tongs and are not ashamed to pluck it out; Having envied your wives, you transform your masculine face into a feminine one. Or do you want to be a wife entirely?.. If you don’t want to, then why do you pluck the hair of your beard or the cheeks of your cheeks and are not ashamed to pull them out from the root, and wash and rub your face a lot and make your cheeks scarlet, red, light?.. Wanting to be satisfied with prodigal pleasures and constantly having all your mind about this, you give your servants this prodigal demonic acts drain a lot of silver and gold. And why charge a lot?.. You, always striving for harlots, have made yourself a harlot for many...” Finally, the preacher urges Christians to repent, to fulfill the commandments of Christ, to philosophize on things above, and not on earth, and, refuting the objection that only monks who have renounced the world can live like this, and not laymen who have a wife, children, slaves and many everyday worries, he proves that all Christians, no matter where they live, and can and must fulfill the vows of baptism and the Gospel commandments and will give a strict account of this to God. It is impossible to pass by in silence that this first part of the word is very extensive and in itself is a whole word, quite suitable for utterance in church. In the second part, the cited texts of scripture and the testimony of the fathers (Basily the Great, most Chrysostom, Nikon, Climacus, Didymus, Athanasius) some explain, others reinforce the general and particular thoughts set out in the first. In the third part, which is also quite extensive and represents a whole teaching, the preacher teaches Christians to pay attention to themselves, showing how useful it is and how harmful inattention to oneself is; describes in detail the character of a Christian (“a Christian is one who has a mind in heavenly things, a Christian is one who is worthy of the heavenly title of wisdom... a Christian is one who has truth and righteousness in everything, a Christian is one who has humility and meekness and simplicity in mind... a Christian is one who loves Christ God more than his father and mother and wife and children, a Christian is one who loves Christ God more than his soul and his sincere self as himself...); urges to always be sober, to stay awake, to avoid theft, drunkenness and other vices, to love one another; reproaches the listener for being lazy to come to church and despises the divine words read in it, but goes to demonic games and disgraces, looks at harlots, listens to those who speak bad words, then indulges in drunkenness, theft, etc. - gives instructions on how a Christian can find quiet pleasures and coolness for himself, looking at the surrounding nature and the heavenly bodies, doing his own family and household, visiting their meadows and fields, green with grass and flowers, dotted with wheat, barley and other plants; Finally, he again convinces us to repent and run from sin, as from the serpent, in order to be filled with joy in the present life and receive eternal benefits in the future. The thirteenth word: “O hedgehog, the world and those who are in the world” - Daniel begins with the proclamation: “We will hate the world and its prince and the things that support the world”! And then he explains that the world is rumor, deceit, envy, enmity, sorrow hidden in sweetness, addiction to the fleeting, hypocrisy, untruth, sin; and the world-containing things of the devil are hatred, untruth, desire for glory, honor, pride, theft, robbery, addiction to things, fornication and other passions with which the devil seduces and destroys people: that is why we must hate the world and its vanity. But this hatred does not mean that we should not work, yell, buy, sell, manage slaves, build houses: no, we can do all this, but we should not be addicted to anything, worrying about anything beyond measure, placing hope in God, who alone can bless our labors with success and help us against all enemies. When cultivating the land, we must think and care about spiritual fruits; when engaged in buying and selling, we must be guided by righteousness and truth; slaves must be governed with humility and meekness and have mercy on them as their natural children, while the disobedient should be subjected to great fear, but with secret mercy of the heart; houses and property must be arranged in order to benefit the poor. The beginning of a Christian’s activity is truth and truth in everything. Having cited in the second part of the word several texts of the Bible and several passages from the writings of the fathers (Simeon the new theologian, Isaac the Syrian, St. Dorotheus) and from “Elderhood” to confirm his thoughts, the author continues to further develop them in the third part. “We have collected this,” he says, and offered it to your love, so that we may know what is in the world and what is in the world, and let us not be carried away by vain desires, and let us not give all our work to the belly and let us not have all our wisdom in carnal passions, but let us set measure in everything – in food, drink, in clothes and boots, in conversations and other things,” and he explains in order how to put measure in food and drink, in clothes and boots, in conversations and in giving alms: “do alms to the poor and needy with blessing, quietly and meekly, with a cheerful heart and in the sweetness of words... let us do mercy as much as possible...; give a piece of bread, give a good word, give tenderness to your heart, look at the beggar with sweetly tender eyes, grieve for him in your mind...”; finally it is expressed in general: “everything in real life must be arranged prudently and beneficially according to the will of God, so that we do not waste anything for our passions, except only what is needed for the needs of our belly.” Immediately after this come denunciations and reproaches: “What is the need to have much, sweet and irritating food and drink, beyond measure? Isn’t it the delays and losses that bring this to many? What is the need to buy many things and let them either rot, or die from fire, or be stolen from thieves? What need do you have to adorn yourself with bright clothes on all days, when others, even on the Lord’s days, do not have ordinary clothes?.. What need do you have to wash and rub yourself beyond measure, and why do you not only cut off your hair, but also your flesh and hair from your beard and cheeks, and often your head, and hang shiny and very red buttons under your beard, and adorn yourself in the same way as your wives? indecent? Why do you need to wear boots made of silk? Or what need do you have, not only to wash your hands excessively, but also to put gold and silver rings on your fingers? What profit do you get from wasting your days watching the birds? Why do you need to have many dogs? What praise does it give you to go to shame?.. The Lord did not command the disciples to have the worst boots, nor two vestments, and we not only have simple boots beyond the need, but we have boots with silver and gold and beads, also other valuable garments, and red boots, skillfully embroidered with silk; and not only this, but also under their shirt, where no one can see, some try to have an expensive girdle trimmed with gold and silver. For the sake of all this, we are looking for many incomes, and if you lack anything - since you, due to your madness, have many expenses - you steal, rape, rob, snitch, borrow and, but having something to give, you run away, lock yourself away, break your oath and commit other countless atrocities...” From denunciations, the preacher moves on to exhortations and convictions, with which he addresses first to everyone, then to a few: “Let us stay awake, be sober, and listen with fear to what the priests teach us. gospel, and st. apostles and reverend fathers. We don’t all have to philosophize about the perishable and fleeting and work on the womb, but we need to be most concerned about the spiritual and strive for the future... O men! Teach your wives to fear God and live according to the law of the Lord and give to the poor! Oh gentlemen! Have mercy on your servants and have them as your own children, for we are all created by the hand of God and all flesh is one..., we were all baptized with one divine baptism, we are still redeemed by the blood of Christ, we still partake of divine communion... and if here for a short time the Lord allowed one to rule and another to work, then in the future there is neither slave nor free... O fathers! Take care of your children, always raise them in the instruction and teaching of the Lord - to fear God and study His law day and night, not to love idleness, not to commit blasphemy, foul language and fornication, not to steal, not to lie and to avoid all evil. O young men! My word to you: love Christ God, that you may inherit eternal life; love purity and do not be like the prodigal youths, who always philosophize about bodily beauty, always adorning themselves more than their wives with various and cunning abrasions, and whose mind is always floating in dreams of clothes, necklaces, buttons, girdles under a shirt, boots, cutting the head, hanging hair, anointing the eye, nodding head, about pointing fingers, about putting out legs... O youths and maidens! Love a quiet and humble life in chastity and purity... philosophize, working in cunning as much as you can, or in writing, or in book learning, or in some kind of handicraft, if any, or in any other art about the Lord; just don’t be idle..." and so on. In general, this final part of the word being analyzed is very extensive and edifying and, in fairness, can be called one of the best teachings of the author. V. The three remaining words in Danilov’s “Collection” (14–6), judging by the title and the second part of each of them, have church-practical issues as their subject, and precisely the first two are the question of the indissolubility of marriage, and the third is the question of the second and third marriage. But judging by the first and final parts of each of these words, they all have predominantly moral content and are no different from the previous words that we have just examined. It should also be noted that all these three words, in terms of volume, are the shortest of all the words in the Sobornik. The author apparently wanted to put the fourteenth word 18 in connection with the previous one and begins with the following phrases, expressing, as it were, a conclusion from what he was talking about there: “beloved brethren in Christ! It is not proper for us Christians to have all the care and care for the present life, but it is appropriate to acquire all the care and care for the future life, and whether we think in our minds, or say or do, let everything happen for the sake of God, according to His will, and not according to our carnal wills.” After this, having spoken very briefly about the duty of a Christian to adhere to the commandments of Christ, the traditions of the apostles and the teachings of the fathers, to love God more than all, even his own soul, to be wise, quiet, meek, humble, the saint continues: “It is fitting for a Christian, according to the word of the Lord, not to be separated from his wife, except by the words of an adulterer,” and points to the primordial couple, which God united, but did not separate even after the wife seduced her husband and caused him great misfortune; to Job’s wife, who did not leave him despite his illness; to the famous sayings of the Savior and the Apostle Paul about the indissolubility of marriage; finally concludes the first part of the word with general remarks that good and great good are chastity and purity, love and mercy; it is good to be content with only what is necessary in life, and have all your concern for heavenly things; good not to transgress legal statutes and observe divine commandments. The second part contains several texts from the New Testament, several short sayings of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom and several rules of Timothy of Alexandria, Basil the Great and the Councils of Carthage and Trulle - on the indissolubility of marriage. In the last part, the author teaches to be quiet, meek, humble, not to test the destinies of God, not to judge and not to grumble about providence, when we see how some rise, others fall, sinners prosper, the righteous suffer, some die in infancy, others live long; teaches to abide in the commandments of Christ, in the traditions and teachings of the apostles and fathers, to honor St. the church and its abbots, to honor the king, nobles and governors, to love their wives and not to offend them (“you gnaw at her incessantly, as if she were losing her mind from your fierceness; stop doing such things, O man!”), do not allow them unnecessary decorations to prevent temptation and large expenses, observe moderation in everything, in food, drink, in boots, clothes and washing. In the fifteenth word 19, the entire first part, however very small, is filled with aphorisms like this: “every thing, and undertaking, and deed, and word, let it happen for God and about God ...; everything passes, everything flows by, but the soul is not fleeting; blessed is not the present glory, but the future one; good - fatherland-paradise; goodness is the crown of patience; good - to die in piety, rather than betray piety...; if you cannot live without a wife, get married: a wife does not interfere with a good life...; custom has established another, and even church custom not described in scripture is observed as a law...; a faithful friend - strong help...; He who has sadness about the future always rejoices in his heart...; you are a merchant, strive until the bargaining ends...” In the second part, only two rules of Basil the Great and one of the Trullian Council are given with interpretations by Aristinus and Balsamon, relating to those cases when a husband or wife leaves each other not for the sake of the word of an adulterer, and in the view established, due to custom, on such cases. In the last part, first the Metropolitan rebels against those who, although they pretend to be faithful, revile those who have faith and piety, and some condemn silence about Christ and distance from people who are carnal; others - quietness, meekness, humility, simplicity of mind; still others, possessed by the disease of envy, subject their neighbors to many misfortunes and troubles; describes in some detail the disastrous actions of envy and convinces: “let us cut off, beloved, the many-headed beast - all-destructive envy, and show us an elegant life; I mean not cruelty, not excessive sweat, not derogation, not fasting and thirst, but do not envy, do not deceive, do not slander, do not lie, do not be covetous, do not use foul language, do not offend, be meek, humble, loving, merciful, restrain your rage, reject ferocity, drive away vanity... Fasting is good, but when there are no others virtues, he has no power... One should not recklessly settle oneself in the poverty of food and drink, and relax, become insensitive and weak for exploits: but one should, according to bodily strength, moderate abstinence, abstain not from poverty, but from overeating, and not from wine, but from drunkenness.” This is followed by new, sharper denunciations: “Where do the destructive expenses and debts come from? Is it not out of pride and madness that attacks both his wife and children? Where does bondage, and guarantees, and orphanhood, and sobbing, and moaning, and tears come from? Always pleasures and nourishment, always feasts and disgrace, always baths and lying down, always unclean thoughts and thoughts, always idleness and crazy dragging, as if some kind of swindlers and deceivers, according to demonic teaching. Everyone is lazy to study art, everyone neglects handicrafts, everyone neglects trading, everyone reviles farmers. Everyone shies away from spiritually beneficial parables and stories, everyone runs away from spiritual conversations, everyone loves carnal things, everyone joyfully sins and lawlessness, everyone wants to live on earth, everyone does not remember life after death. Everyone paints and decorates themselves, and they have exhausted their whole mind, I don’t even know how they look at the sky; all are blasphemers, all laughers, all evil-tonguers and slanderers.” However,” the author concludes his speech, “I say this not condemning and blaspheming others, but arousing my own laziness; and I beg you, for you are my joy, you are my sweetness, you are my glory, you are my honor, you are my wealth; - let us bridle our beloved tongue, restrain senseless broadcasts, let us avoid fat meals and drunkenness, avoid harlots and shining faces and the lightness of the body; Let us live with purity, meekness, humility and love, let us enlighten ourselves and others through alms, so that we may be worthy of present life for the glory of God and future blessings...” In the first part of the sixteenth word 20, the Metropolitan gives the following, very brief teaching: “the most good God divided human life in two, into virginity and marriage. If anyone deigns to live a virginal life, he will have a great gift, for it bears multiplying fruit a hundredfold... And whoever cannot come to the trifecta of patience and suffering of the virgin, angelic monastic life, let him commune, according to the law of marriage, with his wife, which God commanded from the beginning and the apostle praised, saying: marriage is honorable and the bed is undefiled... If anyone indulges in the uncleanness of fornicators and adulterers, he will suffer eternal torment. No one should waste their days in vain and in vain and predict for themselves the fleeting things: for there is nothing lasting and permanent on earth, everything turns and passes like a shadow. Therefore, O beloved, let us all weep and listen to ourselves, both married and unmarried, so that we may gain everything for the glory of God, and be filled with the spirit of joy, and receive both present and future good things, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The second part contains three brief sayings of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom regarding the second marriage and the rules of St. councils, one of Laodicea and two of Neo-Caesarea, and St. fathers, three of Basil the Great and one of Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople, regarding the second, third and fourth marriages. In the last part of 21, the Metropolitan again says that everything in the world is fleeting, that its sweetness, and greatness, and glory are all fables, all cobwebs, all smoke and grass, and grass color, and shadow, and sleep. Armed against addiction to food, against drunkenness, luxury, disgrace: “what divine scripture praises food and drunkenness, what commandments of Christ and apostolic tradition betrayed fat and fat meals? How long will there be food, how long will there be play and luxury, how long will there be arrogance and parasitism, and from this loans and guarantees and bondage, and for the wife and children - screams and tears, and for you yourself the disappearance and frenzy of the mind? What do you send to heaven? Is it the greatness of pride, or gluttony and drunkenness?..” Convinces everyone to abide and fulfill the gospel commandments in the rank to which one is called: “Are you a ruler, a judge, a warrior, a novice, a merchant; whether a handicraft worker, a farmer, a catcher, a beekeeper, a stonecutter, a blacksmith, a Swiss, a woodworker; whether a scribe, an architect, a philosopher, and all those who have received art from the Lord, work, do it, working with attention, not for the sake of handicrafts and mammon, but as for God, and thus from your labor, according to your strength, give to the church of God, and to the poor, and to the strange, and use it for your needs and protors...” He gives private instructions to the authorities and judges to always do mercy and truth, to soldiers - not to offend anyone and to be satisfied with their dues, to novices - to be firm in their obedience: he convinces everyone to strive for the Lord and avoid parasitism and idleness, reminding that even Adam was commanded to work and do, both before the fall and after the fall, that Christ himself worked on earth for the sake of our salvation and left us an example for imitation, the Mother of God herself constantly remained in fasting and vigil and in handicrafts, and the apostles did with their own hands, and ends the word with the wish for Christians to receive eternal blessings, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Collection of Metropolitan Daniel, which we have examined, contains his words addressed to all Orthodox Christians; here he wanted, as he himself puts it, to offer a spiritual meal to all his spiritual children. Another Collection contains only those of his works that are addressed to individuals or individual monastic communities, namely his twelve epistles and one teaching, although, in their content, these works are not a little instructive and edifying for every pious reader - which could serve as the main motivation for collecting them and publishing them in a special book. It is unknown who compiled this second Collected Works of Daniel; but it may have been composed by Daniel himself; but at least, it is apparently compiled according to the model of the first Collection of Daniel: here, as there, all the works included are named words (word 1, word 2, etc.), and under each word there is a table of contents or a summary of it 22. In terms of internal character, the articles of the second Collection are completely homogeneous with the words of the first Collection: and in these articles, Daniel tries to teach and instruct not so much from himself as from the divine scriptures, he cites paternal testimonies, although not in all articles and in smaller quantities, and sets out the evidence given for the most part not incoherently and not in a special part, as was done in the words of the first Collection, but in connection with his own thoughts. Of the thirteen writings of Daniel found in the second Collection, only two are known to whom they were addressed; this is a teaching to the brethren of the Joseph of Volokolamsk monastery and a message to the Vladimir St. Nicholas Volosov monastery. The other two works or epistles were written to some bishop, unknown by name. The remaining nine are addressed to completely unknown persons. Daniel wrote a sermon to the brethren of the Joseph monastery of the Volokolamsk monastery while he was the abbot of this monastery 23 . Therefore, it is natural if he began his teaching with the following words: “My spiritual brothers and fathers! I am very surprised that you ask me, the thin and unworthy monk Daniel, what the rules of common life are, and command me to testify about this in writing to those who are careless and inattentive. What is this? I don’t understand: are you tempting me, or are you doing this out of fullness of faith and love for my badness? You have many traditions of our venerable father, Abbot Joseph, about monastic and community life. And I, a sinner and a bad person, what will I say or what will I begin to expound, if not the same divine scriptures that you yourself always know better than me, the indecent one? Then he directly says that, according to the rules of the monastic community, monks should have everything in common and no one should have anything of their own; that they must constantly be vigilant against the spiritual enemy - the devil - as confirmed by the instructions of the Apostle Peter, Ephraim the Syrian, Hesychius of Jerusalem and Ecclesiastes - and that monks must be distinguished by renunciation of the world and complete non-covetousness. From these general thoughts, turning to his brothers, Daniel begs them in the name of the Lord to take care of their souls and reject from themselves all negligence and disorder; reminds them of their first days, when they came to the quiet monastery refuge, leaving the world, family, friends, and pronounced vows of complete non-covetousness and poverty, deepest humility and obedience, chastity and purity; indicates that in their monastery they can live in all peace and tranquility, they have everything ready for themselves, food, clothing, shoes, and all the necessary things, in the monastery treasury, and explains that after this they must put aside “all kinds of special acquisitions and special handicrafts” and care only about fulfilling the commandments of the Lord and the rules of monastic life; and if they, having enough in the common treasury of the monastery for all their needs, still hold on to special acquisitions and things, for the sake of the love of money, sell and buy, take increases for increases and accumulate silver and gold for their handicrafts, then they must be subject to a strict answer before God and will not escape the terrible torments of Gehenna. Having cited the saying of St. fathers and teachers of the church - Basil the Great, Ammon the Presbyter, John Climacus, Gregory the Theologian, Ephraim the Syrian and Nile, one rule of the First Second Council of Constantinople, two legitimations of King Justinian and two excerpts from the “Elderhood”, the preacher concludes his teaching as follows: “Have you, my beloved fathers and brothers, heard the divine words and St.'s instruction our fathers? Don’t they all say the same thing: that monks should not have special acquisitions, having peace and everything they need in the treasury of their common monastery? And what’s even worse, they say that if a monk breaks the law of the Holy Spirit and corrupts the statutes of the Holy Spirit. fathers, then such a one must be expelled from the monastery, and when he goes to another monastery, he must leave his special acquisitions in the first monastery where he was tonsured, as the city laws say. Hearing such instructions from your fathers, beloved brothers, let us leave all our special acquisitions for the Lord’s sake... and let us joyfully follow His commandments, remaining in silence and non-covetousness, obedience and humility... bearing each other's burdens, not repaying anyone evil for evil, and not being exalted in our nobility. Let no one say: I am of the royal family, and let no one even think: I am from the family of great boyars. Let no one raise his eyebrows, saying: we were born and raised from bright and noble parents, but this one is from a family of wretched and beggars, raised from bad parents and was the slave of such and such. No, brethren, let no one think or say so: this is destructive pride... But it is better for us to lift each other up in humility, submit to each other, and most of all work for the Lord... so that we may receive eternal blessings in Christ Jesus...” Metropolitan Daniel wrote a letter to the Vladimir St. Nicholas Volosov Monastery in response to a letter to him from the abbot and the elders of this monastery, who complained that, contrary to the cenobitic rules, the elders and deacons take what was brought from Christ-lovers hand-to-hand, and not into the monastery treasury, and in general asked for archpastoral instruction 24. Accordingly, the Metropolitan first of all commands that such presbyters and deacons should not be given free reign, but that the collection of alms and income for the monastery treasury should be entrusted to good spiritual elders; so that no one dares, without the blessing of the abbot, escort the people who come to the monastery outside the monastery and beg for alms from them in money or clothing, and so that the abbot, if any of the presbyters or ordinary monks is convicted of covetousness, gradually subjects such person to various penalties, and in case of non-correction, he completely removes him from the monastery. Then the metropolitan gives general instructions to the abbot and all the brethren, in accordance with the rules of community life, regarding meals, cells, the church, the management of the monastery, the monastic court, and convinces the abbot to be a true shepherd of his spiritual sheep and to take fatherly care of all their needs, physical and spiritual, and instills in the monks, before other virtues, to acquire humility and not to be wise, not to be arrogant neither by many years of monasticism, nor by artistic deeds, nor by sweetly spoken words, nor by graceful nobility or majesty of rank, nor by the wealth of offerings: humility is the door to the kingdom of heaven. Two letters to a certain bishop were written one after another regarding bad news about him, about his love of money and negligence in his duty 25 . “Since many and different words have reached me, the unworthy monk Daniel,” says the Metropolitan, “about you, my beloved and spiritual brother, the bishop, I wrote this letter to you. For although I myself am damned, I must speak and write useful things to you and others, and I myself, even though I have recovered a little from laziness and despondency, will try to do good. And which evil is the most evil of all? All untruth, and theft, and extortion are evil; but the worst of all evils and worthy of hatred is, O lover of money, the love of money: for the lover of money is guilty of many and great evils. Therefore, O beloved, let us be sober while there is time... Let us guard ourselves, so that we are not deceived by this vain life that will soon perish with beauty, glory, wealth, food and drunkenness... Let us think about ourselves why we were appointed: is it not to teach the divine commandments, to instruct and convert the lost, to console the sad, to heal the sick and, if we have what we need, to distribute to the poor and wretched, and to be merciful and meek towards all people?.. We must constantly think about this, how to take care of the flock entrusted to us, for which we will have to give our word at the terrible the judgment of Christ... Let us not cease to teach and instruct the people entrusted to us, even if they hate and embitter us, but we will not stop doing this divine work, we will not bury talent in food and hide the pearls of the Lord in drunkenness... Let us become chaste, let us be sober... let us reject inhumanity and covetousness and love people, not silver and gold...” This message is very short. “Before, I wrote a short urgent message to you, my beloved: and now, by the grace of Christ, I write again for the benefit of you and others, most of all, to arouse my curse from evil,” - this is how Daniel begins his second, more extensive, letter to the same bishop 26. In the epistle itself, he develops two thoughts: firstly, the one that the true shepherd of the church cares most of all to teach the salvation of the people entrusted to him and to even first avoid all evil as an example to his flock; and secondly, that he must teach not from himself, not from his own reason, but from Divine Scripture, and not otherwise than in accordance with the traditions of St. apostles and saints fathers, - in confirmation of which he cites the saying of Theodore the Studite, Basil the Great, Cyril of Alexandria and the 19th rule of the sixth ecumenical council, threatening with anathema the violation and distortion of these sacred traditions. At the end, the letter, turning to the bishop, says: “let us therefore reduce food and drunkenness, quench unrighteous rage, put aside the evil disease of love of money... and let us not be lazy in teaching everyone and instructing everyone in truth and piety with the light of the Lord’s commandments. If we take care to create and teach as is pleasing to Christ God, then we will be worthy to receive the blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Daniel's letters to persons unknown can be distinguished by their content. Among these messages, two are primarily of a teaching nature, three set out more general moral reflections and instructions on piety, on the correction of life, on incentives for this, and four deal most with some particular virtues, such as chastity, purity, etc. One of the teaching messages was written, as can be seen from its content, to some layman, a noble person and vested with power 27. At the beginning of the letter, the Metropolitan seems to apologize to this person and expresses himself with his usual humility: “I was very surprised at your faith and love, O pious one, that you did not disdain rude, senseless, and worldly teaching (punishment) for the benefit of the soul. You should ask this from people who are in virtue and who have delved into the depths of the mind of the divine scriptures, and not from me, the sinful and senseless monk Daniel. “But since your faith and love do not leave me, - for you have been bothering me about this for a long time, - then, having shaken off the absurd despondency, and the heavy sleep, and the damned laziness, I tried to answer as much as I could according to my badness, your good will, so that your nobility would not be offended even more. For I know, I know, about my kindness, that even before you were quite upset for your disobedience and my unworthiness to teach you soul-helping teaching. But know, O nobility, that I myself greatly demand good teaching, and if I could isolate myself and hide from such a service that is beyond my measure, I would very much love to be taught, and not to teach others...” The message itself contains three main parts. In the first, the Metropolitan discusses punishment, that is, teaching, that it is useful, luminous, and fruitful, enriches everyone, makes everyone wise, satisfies everyone, heals and lives everyone; that it is appropriate for everyone, both young and old, simple and noble, poor and rich, those in power and subordinates; that the basis of teaching should be faith in the Trinitarian God and the incarnate Son of God and, in general, the entire confession of faith, which was received from Christ and the apostles and invariably contains St. a conciliar church, rejecting heretical teaching and tradition, and that we must unwaveringly observe both this faith and, along with it, the vows we made at baptism and all Christ’s commandments. In the second part, he reveals the teaching that every Christian must choose for himself one of two lives, virginal and chaste, or married: since both were equally established by the apostles themselves at the command of God, as proof of which he points to the example of the apostles Peter and Paul and cites the latter’s teaching on virginity and married life and testimonies about the same by Dionysius the Areopagite, Eusebius, Athanasius and Basil the Great, and then explains that anyone who wants to choose a virgin or monastic life must first test and tempt himself, as the fathers commanded, in order to be a worthy monk, and whoever decides to marry and live in peace must certainly fulfill the Christian commandments, despite all the obstacles and temptations. In the third part, he sets out the thoughts that not only monks should be chaste, but everyone who enters into marriage should maintain purity and chastity, i.e. be content with one’s wife and refrain from all fornication and adultery: for those who are defiled by fornication and adultery are struck by the wrath of God and are consumed from the land of the living, and purity in Christ delivers a person from death - in confirmation of which examples are given from the sacred Old Testament history and stories from the lives of saints - about Nicholas the warrior, about some ruler Michael and others, as well as the testimonies of some fathers. At the conclusion of the letter, the Metropolitan writes: “I, by the strength of my weakness, moved to collect all this from the divine scriptures and sent it to your piety, although I am unworthy and damned, for the sake of your salvation, and faith, and love for me, unworthy, from the beginning to now. Just have love not for me alone, but for everyone; Do not look at your nobility and do not be proud when you have power, but remain in humility: for God exalts the humble, but He resists the proud...” Another instructive message was written to a certain monk who kept tempting himself, thought about retiring to the desert from a communal monastery and was still perplexed as to where it would be more convenient to be saved, in the desert or in a hostel 28 . The Metropolitan sternly begins his speech to this monk: “I recognize in you a rebellious and worldly person rather than a desert lover and lover of silence. The devil catches you, after many of his evil deceits, with a message of goodness, or you yourself plunge yourself into a ditch through foolishness. You said: I want to be tempted, and be tempted again, - and I don’t even know the number of your temptations, for the skill of the skilled, that is, the one who listens, teaches. If this is how you decide to spend your life, then you, the sinful and wicked monk Daniel, do not have advice about this...” Soon, however, the Metropolitan’s speech softens, and he continues: “To my detriment, you wrote about various monastic lives - general, special and desert, and you ask which of them is more convenient for salvation. But you, my beloved, you yourself know that it is more convenient to salvation to live according to the will of God and to do His commandments, and everywhere, everywhere and in every place there is no other way but this. For Christ said: not everyone, say to me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven...” Turning to the monastic life itself, the Metropolitan first sets out the general teaching about three types of this life: a special life, a hermit life - in complete solitude or desert, a life with two or three brothers - in a monastery and a communal life with many brothers in common monasteries, and briefly shows the conveniences and inconveniences of both and the third life. Then, in particular, he speaks - a) about the special, desert life, about its high demands and difficulties, and condemns some of the “foolish hermits” of his time, who served as a temptation for everyone, bore only the name of hermits, and could not spend even one day in solitude and silence, constantly argued with the monks of cenobitic monasteries, imposing their laws on them, and, luring them to themselves, considered themselves alone great, holy, pleasing to God, and all others worse, taught everyone, instructed everyone, b) about living with two or three brothers, which he calls the middle or royal way, and about living a communal life, explains the requirement of both and also condemns some communal monks for their self-will and disorderly life. Finally, he draws the general conclusion that one can be saved in all types of monastic life, if only one fulfills their requirements: “we can be saved both in the common life and in the desert, but only if we live according to the will of God and according to the testimony of St. scriptures, and not according to our passionate desires; everywhere you will find those who pleased God if you look: many were saved in cities, many were saved in common monasteries, many were saved in deserts; just as we find the dead there.” In revealing these thoughts, the Metropolitan used the testimony of John Climacus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Simeon the new theologian, Nikita Stiphatus, Sirach of Jerusalem, Ephraim the Syrian and Cyril of Alexandria. The letter ends with advice to the monk - to live spiritually, to fulfill the commandments of the Lord and the tradition of St. fathers, together with the brothers living with him, to love in everything the monastic life, non-covetousness, squalor, removal from the worldly, reading divine scriptures, handicrafts, etc., and then with the following words: “whether one lives in the city, or in the desert, or in the common life, let us learn first of all to live according to the will of God, and we will be worthy of eternal blessings, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...” Both teaching messages we have examined are quite extensive. These are not the three messages, which contain general moral instructions and lessons. One of them is even very brief 29. Here the metropolitan writes to a layman: “although my soul is filled with many evils, and I have a darkened thought of the inner man, and am bound, damned, by the bonds of countless sins, but to you, my beloved and spiritual, I have said many times before and now I say again: cast away from yourself wickedness and inhumanity and accept, without trickery, blessed simplicity and meek wisdom and humility towards everyone and the fear of God... and above all, love for God and neighbors...". Noting further that meekness and humility are taught to us by none other than Christ himself through his word and example, the writer dwells on the fear of God, citing texts about it from St. scriptures, the saying of Chrysostom, church songs of John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite, and convinces us to be guided by this fear always and everywhere, saying that it is the beginning of our salvation, the source of life, teaches us to move away from sins, encourages us to exploits of virtue. Another similar message is somewhat more extensive than the first and, at the beginning, has obvious similarities with it 30. “I, the accursed one,” writes the Metropolitan, “am an abyss of immeasurable sins, and a lot of madness, and indecent for anything. Therefore, I tremble and am horrified, lest, through my neglect, church things should fall into extreme disarray, leading to the temptation of all people... My wretchedness needs a lot of sobriety... But although I am indecent and wretched, to you, my beloved and spiritual child, I said and say again: love the Lord God Jesus Christ with all your soul and your neighbor as you love yourself. Here is a great gift from me, the sinful and evil monk Daniel!.. Then he advises this spiritual child of his, whom he more than once calls nobility, to constantly have the fear of God in himself and to study the commandments of the Lord day and night, to be meek and humble, reminding us that none other than Christ himself teaches us meekness and humility - to maintain chastity and purity, to remember the kingdom of heaven and fiery hell, to move away from bad societies and conversations, to examine our conscience and thoughts, caring about eternal life, and not about temporary life. “For what is your life, O kindness,” continues the saint, “is it not the same as a dream vision, the color of grass, a vapor rising and disappearing, the rapids of a passing river, or the morning dew? Let us approach, O beloved, to the tombs and see: where are the many possessions and countless wealth of this or that, where is their bodily strength, where is their courage and bravery... where are the ivory beds and gold-spun beds... where are the boyars and honor, where is beauty and glory, where are many slaves and youths, where are the many different meals and sweet foods and the art of cooks, where is the riding of horses?.. All is ashes, all is dust, all is dust, all is a shadow, Why are we fussing in vain?.. Do, O beloved, what is pleasing to God, so that you may inherit an eternal life. What good is it for you to consume yourself with vain and fleeting sorrows?.. Why do you put off your correction day after day? You are a mortal man... Take up the good life”... The third message of the same kind is somewhat more extensive than the second 31. Here the Metropolitan instructs someone who has reached the extreme of wickedness, and, in order to have a stronger effect on the sinner, he depicts in detail before him a picture of the Last Judgment. “To my beloved,” the saint begins, “and to my spiritual brother, peace in Christ. You, beloved, advised me, the accursed monk Daniel, with spiritual advice, in order to stop you from your evil and careless life and turn to the Lord God in repentance and correct yourself and live in a godly manner... But now I hear from you, dearly, that you have descended to the last iniquities and are fearlessly committing destructive deeds. I have written to you many times asking you to stop such evil; but you again remain fearless before God and fatten like cattle and roll in feces like a pig...” Having then said that if he does not repent and correct himself, then only eternal torment awaits him, and even before that the terrible day of the Lord’s judgment, and that the prophet David himself feared this fierce day (Ps. 48:6), the Metropolitan convinces: “Let us also fear, O my beloved, and return from our iniquity, forsake our wickedness... How long shall we sleep in a heavy sleep? Much lawlessness is already enough for us, our wickedness is enough for us, bad words are enough for us, vile deeds are enough for us... We have already been fed up with evil and nasty deeds and fed up with godless words... Let us fear while there is time, and repent before death comes.” Having further presented how the last judgment and its consequences were depicted by the prophets - Isaiah, Micah, Moses, Zephaniah, Christ himself in the Gospel and the apostles Peter and Paul in their epistles, he again convinces: “let us turn and arise, let us be sober and weep before the Lord who created us, let us turn from our iniquity, let us leave our malice.” Not content with this, he also brings up thoughts about the Last Judgment of St. fathers - Athanasius the Great and John Chrysostom and exclaims: “Alas for me, a sinner! What will we do then, O dear one, guilty of many sins? How can we escape fierce torment?.. There is no repentance or confession; there is no representative, no helper... O beloved brother! Hearing all this, let us turn to the Lord God with repentance and confession... let us labor and weep in this short life, so that then we will not cry forever...” In general, this message is one of the most edifying. Of the four epistles of Daniel, which deal with the most particular subjects of Christian morality, three are very brief. In one 32 he sets out several pieces of advice regarding monastic life: he commands some of his beloved spiritual brothers to love reverence, abstinence and fasting, not to be carried away by vanity and the sorrows of life, to love the paleness of the face and the dryness of the body, to have eyes and neck bowed down, a quiet gaze, a meek step, a soul-helping conversation, to love unceasing prayer, non-slothful reading divine scriptures, handicrafts, vigils, bedlessness, to have mortal memory and thinness of vestment, and especially to cut off the beginnings of nasty and evil thoughts, because by cutting them off it is easier to refrain from the very vision of the faces of women and young people and mixing with them. In the second letter 33 instructs how to maintain chastity and purity. The letter begins with the words: “You asked me, the sinful and wicked monk Daniel, to write to you about chastity and purity, and so I put it off for so long, considering this matter beyond my measure. For what can I say without having done anything good myself? But as you repeatedly forced me to do this, I, unworthy, asking for help from the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, dared to serve your will, not only from myself, but from St. writings and traditions of the God-bearing fathers." This is followed by the instructions themselves: if you want to live chastely and purely, then first of all try to please God, and not people, and fulfill the commandments of the Lord; cut off unclean thoughts and their beginnings, the so-called excuses; never leave your mind idle, but occupy it with listening or reading the word of God, singing, hymns, prayers, good meditations; run away from bad societies, stay away from bad conversations and lewd speeches; guard yourself from the sight of the faces of women, good-looking youths and other effeminate faces, and do not think about them, even if they seem pious to you; Most of all, keep your mind away from vain teaching, and remain in the teaching of the commandments of the Lord and the tradition of the Holy Spirit. fathers. In the third letter 34, the Metropolitan convinces some person, sick and grieving, to give up his unclean and shameful passion. “Many times, my beloved, and from many I heard about your misfortune and cried very bitterly about your misfortune, wanting your salvation, and really wanted to give you a helping hand; but I didn’t find a decent time to approach you. Although I spoke to your love many times and made hints in parables, I did not succeed, because you yourself did not care about it. When God, through unknown destinies, frightened your cruel heart and bowed your iron neck, you told in detail all your misfortunes to my damnation. Remember your cry, remember your tears; remember how, crying, you spoke to me, the sinful monk Daniel: you must teach and strengthen me, and you revealed all your illness to my unworthiness. Now you are writing to my detriment: I am in great sorrow from the illness that besets me and from the bitterness of strong passions that are mercilessly fighting against me, but from what harm you are hiding from my unworthiness. Remember, my beloved... as I told you not only not to copulate and not to talk with wives and young boys, but not even to look blankly at their faces, for this can cause great harm to the soul... And about that person to whom your soul-harmful love rises, I have repeatedly told you to cut yourself off from him and not to copulate, not even to talk to him, especially in private... Cut off from yourself this person for whom you have feelings great love and your soul is damaged. If you marry him from you, you will calm down from the sorrow that besets you and the pledge of evil and unclean passions. And if you are stubborn and cut it off from yourself, then your passion will gradually increase and you will be forced to resist it. Understand, O my beloved and spiritual brother, what misfortune comes from this to a person, in what despondency, lamentation and sorrow a person falls into this misfortune, and then into what hopelessness and despair he descends. And how he will lift up his eyes or lift up his hands, living in uncleanness! What shame and disgrace, and reproach, and reproaches he must endure from people!.. Wouldn’t it be better for us to want to die than to live and be in shame and reproach from all people?..” The fourth message, similar to the three just discussed, is extremely extensive, so that it alone is almost equal in volume to all twelve other messages in this Collection 35. In terms of its content, it is similar to the second of the messages just discussed. And here, as there, the metropolitan at the beginning explains to the unknown man that for a long time he did not dare, despite his repeated requests, to write him something useful for his soul, considering himself unreasonable and sinful, and that now he decides to write, with God’s help, only forced by his love and persistence. And here, as there, the subject of the message is the solution to the question proposed by the unknown about chastity and purity and the preservation of virginity. Only here the author expresses his thoughts with all the details, cites many sayings of St. Fathers, especially ascetics, have many edifying stories, and often go into repetition and digression. Unfortunately, the fatherly sayings are presented here in such a connection, both with each other and with the author’s own thoughts, that it is often difficult to discern where the words of one father end and the words of another begin, and where the author himself speaks. So far as one can discern order in this vast epistle, five main divisions or parts can be distinguished. In the first part, the Metropolitan teaches that in order to preserve chastity and purity, we must carefully guard our hearts from evil thoughts and generally fulfill the vows we made at baptism - to renounce the devil and all his works and to unite with Christ and holyly keep all His commandments, and that these vows and these commandments are obligatory not only for monks, but also for all laity: then he offers as an example the strict fulfillment of Christ's commandments by the ancient martyrs, the ancients shepherds and teachers and ancient hermits and ascetics, briefly depicting the very exploits of those, others and others; finally, contrary to false opinions, he explains that in modern times, like the ancients, Christians are obliged to observe everything that Christ commanded, that if not all the commandments of the Gospel were needed for salvation, then He would not have commanded them all, and that for salvation it is not enough to just call on the name of the Lord, but one must also believe in Him, one must also do the will of the Heavenly Father. In the second part, more specific means for preserving chastity and purity are indicated, with an explanation of each, which are: fasting and vigil, prayer and psalmody, forgiveness of offenses and humility, removal from females and handsome youths and generally effeminate persons. In explaining this last remedy, the author, using the guidance of the ancient ascetics, goes into great detail about the passion of prodigy, its various manifestations and degrees of sinfulness, sets out the ascetic teaching about spiritual warfare, the fight against thoughts and evil demons, and makes the remark that this warfare and struggle are necessary not only for monks, but also for all lay people. The third part, the most extensive in the epistle, is the historical part: here, especially from the “Elderhood” and the Patericon, there appears to be a whole, very long series of short stories about various monks and ascetics, how they struggled with the passion of fornication, how they turned to experienced elders for advice and what instructions these elders gave them. In the fourth part, the Metropolitan again draws attention to more general means for preserving chastity and purity and preaches that Christians in general are obliged to crucify their flesh with passions and lusts, to mortify their lives even on earth, to strictly observe abstinence in everything and to lead a life full of selflessness and all kinds of hardships, suffering and sorrows, and as an example for imitation he points to some of the Old Testament righteous, to Christ himself Savior, on St. apostles and martyrs. And in the fifth and last part he again proposes for the same purpose some more specific means, namely: solitude and removal from vain people who philosophize about carnal and sinful things, reflection on the Last Judgment, on eternal rewards and punishments, and conversation about various subjects of faith and piety. It should be noted that not only in some, but in all parts of the epistle, when revealing his thoughts, the Metropolitan uses, in addition to the word of God, the writings of St. fathers, that most often he cites the sayings and testimonies, sometimes very extensive, of Basil the Great, Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian and Climacus, then Athanasius the Great, Nile the Ascetic, Peter of Damascus, Maximus, Isaac, Macarius the Great, Theodore the Studite and others, and that in each part he sets out, in places, moral reflections, denunciations, convictions for repentance and improvement of life. Concluding this message of his, which required no little work, the saint turns to the one for whom he worked with the following words: “all this, O beloved, with the help of the Lord God, who raised up my damnation, I wrote, for the sake of the law of love and for the sake of the soul itself: love your sincere one as yourself, and set it out both for you and for yourself and for others who want to be saved, so that they may move on the true path and They will avoid the impending wrath and troubles, and the all-good and most merciful God will have mercy on me, the unworthy one. But you, having shown such love according to God, do not be lazy in remembering your repentance for the benefit of your soul and for the sake of pleasing God, so that we may find mercy from Him in this age and in the future through the prayers of the Mother of God and all the saints.” The third collection, although small, could be compiled from those works of Daniel that were not included in his first two Collections and are found separately in different manuscripts. There are six such works, so far known: two words and four messages. At the end of one of these words there is a note that it was “written in Moscow in the summer of 7047 (1539) January,” that is, it was written no more than a month before Metropolitan Daniel’s abdication from the see 36. And when reading the word itself, one cannot help but feel how it corresponded to the circumstances of the time. It was a period of extreme self-will, discord and unrest among the boyars during the early childhood of John IV, which reverberated disastrously throughout Russia and did not meet with any curbs on the part of the civil authorities; and on the other hand, it was a time of daring free-thinking about objects of faith, as we could already see from the writings we were examining. In view of these discords and disorders that reigned in the fatherland and confused the church, the Russian Metropolitan addresses all Orthodox Christians: “Men, brothers and dear friends, faithful clergy, shepherds and co-workers, and all spiritual children dear to Christ! Accept the word about humility and unity, and agreement and love, and firmly observe the Orthodox faith and the dogmas of piety. So, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray to you and speak to your love, I, your servant and your rude bishop, foolish Daniel, the most sinful of sinners... I am kindled with much love for Christ for you and divine zeal, seeking and desiring your salvation, caring and working so that you always live righteously and truly according to God, and philosophize in agreement about the Lord, and firmly preserve the perfect mind of Christianity in union in Christ." The word, according to the theme clearly expressed by the author, is divided into two main parts. In the first, the most extensive, he first of all calls on Christians to remain in humility about Christ, to be cleansed from the evil illness of division and discord, and sets out in detail the doctrine of love for neighbors, using almost exclusively the texts of Holy Scripture: he calls it a distinctive sign of true followers of Christ, shows its inextricable connection with the love of God, depicts its properties, actions, fruits, and concludes that “love is both the beginning and the end of all virtues, and discord and disorder are the beginning and end of all evil.” Then he convinces his spiritual children to flee from those who create strife and division, to be guided by the spirit of meekness, humility, long-suffering and love, not to allow themselves any rotten words, not to lie to each other, to drive away whisperers and slanderers, since they are liars, whisperers and slanderers - the cause of all evil, arouse hatred, envy, strife and divisions between people, they are fratricides. Finally, he commands Christians, as evidence of their mutual love and agreement, to pray for each other and adds: “Pray for us, so that the word of God flows and is glorified in you, and let us get rid of placeless and wicked people, and let the one who offends take it as an insult...” At the same time, he tries to protect himself so that no one takes his words personally and directly points out the discord and disorder of his time: “let no one reproach us for such words: we did not mean anyone, we did not call anyone by name, but said, teaching only ourselves and instructing those who listened to us, and also - wanting to show “the guilt of these years... disagreement and bickering, division and strife, as if each one of us will see in himself and reproach himself.” In the second and last part, the saint teaches his spiritual children to remain unshakable in the Orthodox faith: “you, beloved saints of God and lovers of Christ, who have grown up in your most pious Russian Fatherland and in honest Orthodoxy and in great piety, hold fast and observe the great, honest and holy Orthodoxy and the tradition and laws of God, which St. great, God's, catholic and apostolic church from the Lord God and from St. His disciples, and from the ecumenical saints. councils and local councils, as well as traditions and laws established from other divine scriptures, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God and all the saints.” And after this he gives instructions on how the Orthodox should relate to those who have deviated from Orthodoxy and false teachers, and precisely commands, firstly, to evade fellowship and communication with them, from their conversations and teachings, from their wisdom and traditions; secondly, to convince for the sake of spiritual love and beg them to return to the unity of orthodoxy and correct themselves, and if they convert, consider them friends and brothers, and if they remain stubborn, separate from them; Finally, it is diligent to pray for them, collectively and especially, to the lover of mankind, God, who wants all mankind to be saved and come to true reason, to apply them from evil customs, to deliver them from the snare of the devil, and to bring them into the light of true Orthodoxy. We cannot ignore the fact that the real word, judging by the note made at the end of it: “written in Moscow,” was probably sent throughout Russia in the form of a district message, and that this was perhaps the very last word of Metropolitan Daniel, addressed to his entire spiritual flock: since he soon himself became a victim of the very discord, disorder and unrest against which he had so much armed himself here, and was forced to abandon forever his holy cathedral. Another word of Metropolitan Daniel, although it is unknown when it was written, was undoubtedly spoken by him in the church, and precisely in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, and was also directed by him against modern shortcomings 37. In this word, the Metropolitan teaches his children to listen to themselves, to be sober, to stay awake and to have every care for their souls, pointing out that our days are quickly passing, that we are on earth only for a while, strangers and strangers, and our fatherland is in heaven, that she received us like guests and will soon let us go into another life as guests and will not give us anything on the way if we ourselves do not prepare good deeds for ourselves, that suddenly after death all people, shepherds and flocks, kings and princes, slaves and freemen and all others will have to give an account to God and will not find help from anywhere in the judgment, except from good deeds. That is why everyone, especially those sanctified by God, must unforgettably and without laziness perform their real feat and take every possible care not only about the internal piety of the soul and heart, which God sees, but also about strict observance of piety and decorum in external affairs, which people see, so as not to serve as a temptation and stumbling block for anyone. Meanwhile,” the Metropolitan continues, “there are now some of the sacred persons, presbyters and deacons, and subdeacons, and readers and singers, who, mockingly, play the gusli, the dombras, the bows, also grains and chess and tavlei, and spend their time in demonic songs and much drunkenness, loving all carnal wisdom and pleasures that are more spiritual and thus serving to great harm to ourselves and others. And from now on we teach and remind with the holy scriptures, so as not to be such an unruly custom, filled with all sorts of pain and shame and contempt. And especially in this sacred house of the Most Pure Mother of God, great and holiest metropolis of all Russia, do not mock or play at the presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, readers, singers, priests, sextons, watchmen, or all other people serving in this holy place of the Most Pure Mother of God and the great wonderworkers Peter and Alexey. For it is fitting for those who live in this sacred house to be a good image for all people. The holy apostles and God-bearing fathers commanded everyone to have a shameless and virtuous life, both bishops and presbyters, and other sacred ranks, as well as lay people.” Following this, the saint cites the rules - apostolic (two), councils - Trullian (six), Laodicean (two) and Carthaginian (one), prohibiting Christians and especially church pastors from various indecent games, songs, dances, visiting taverns, disgraces, lists, fortune telling, sorcery, and the like. After the rules, he gives the same content excerpts from the works of St. Ephraim and St. Chrysostom, and in conclusion he says: “therefore I pray you, do not like foul language, and games, and mockery, move away from soul-stirring conversations and by all means keep your hearts from unclean and nasty thoughts, and keep your eyes from unhelpful sight and from hearing harmful to the soul, and flee, as from a serpent, from luxury and pride, envy and drunkenness... Listen and be sober and never deviate from the teachings of divine scripture, but always learn from it, read, sing, listen diligently to prayer... do not leave the church meeting, give to the poor, talk about paradise and the kingdom of heaven, remember death; Keep all the beautiful and wise simplicity, and meekness, and humility above all else, may the Lord deliver us from the snares of the enemy, and from all carnal wisdom, and from all evil people, and may He have mercy and save us...” We repeat, this word was undoubtedly spoken in church. Of the four epistles of Daniel, one was written while still in the rank of abbot. This is a message to Prince Yuri Ioannovich Dmitrovsky, brother of Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich. It is very brief and contains an answer to the question conveyed to Abbot Daniel verbally by the cellarer of the same monastery, Savva, on behalf of Prince Yuri: should we not fast on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which then happened on Monday? Daniel - notifies the prince that fasting on Monday is written in the rules of John the Faster and in the Jerusalem charter; but this fast is imposed only in the form of penance by the spiritual fathers for certain deeds, and, moreover, it is imposed if there are no holidays on Monday. Therefore, now, when the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos happened on Monday, there should be no fasting, not only for everyone who is not, but also for those who are under penance, and meat, wine, cheese, and eggs are allowed, for the glory of God and the Most Pure Mother of God 38 . On another letter of Daniel there is a note that it was written in October 1528, and therefore in the first half of his archpastoral ministry. The message is addressed to Elder Dionysius of Zvenigorod 39. This Dionysius was from the family of the princes of Zvenigorod, he took monastic vows from the Venerable himself. Joseph of Volotsk, as did Metropolitan Daniel, whom he probably met back in Joseph’s monastery. Loving solitude, Dionysius, together with another elder of the princely family, Nil Polev, retired from Joseph’s monastery to Beloozero, where both set up hermitages for themselves near the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. But, regarding the report they made to the Monk Joseph about the traces of the Jewish heresy they noticed among some hermits, both were subjected to the wrath of the Grand Duke, who ordered their hermits to be burned, and they themselves to be taken to the Cyril Monastery. Whether in this monastery, where both of them “in great need endured much sorrow,” or already in the Joseph’s monastery, where they soon, by order of the Grand Duke, moved, Dionysius was subjected to various misfortunes, oppression and persecution, and in his grief he addressed a letter to Metropolitan Daniel, asking for his guidance 40 . In Daniel's reply to Dionysius, two main parts can be distinguished. In the first, having reminded the elder that he was a monk, renounced the world and made a vow to Christ to endure all sorrow and distress for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, the saint explains that disasters and sorrows can be beneficial for us in a moral sense, that in the midst of them a person is cleansed from sins, just as silver and gold are cleansed in fire, and in confirmation of this thought he points to the prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints who labored in hostels, hermits and hermits, who all endured various troubles and sorrows, anger and persecution, and by them were cleansed from all sin. But disasters and sorrows can be beneficial for us only when we endure them without grumbling, with humility and patience, with gratitude to God and spiritual joy: “The Lord loves him, punishes and allows all sorts of sorrows to happen to him, so that he corrects himself and humbles himself, and lives in peace and quiet, with humility and compunction, silently, without grumbling and jealousy, without judging anyone and not reproaching, but judging and reproaching only yourself and mourning your sins.” In the second part, he cites a number of instructions from ancient ascetics about the need to obey the abbot: in a communal monastery, a monk must cut off his will and unquestioningly obey the abbot; must obey the abbot, and not condemn, not reproach him, even if everyone hated and reproached him; must obey the abbot without complaint, even if he himself has seen his careless and shameful life. From this we can conclude that Dionysius probably suffered misfortunes and sorrows from his abbot and complained about him to Daniel. In conclusion, the Metropolitan advises the elder to reconcile with his enemies, and if they are not tamed, then pray to God for them and take care of the salvation of his own soul, wisely endure the sorrows that come his way and call on the Lord God and the Most Pure Mother of God for help. When and to whom the third letter of Daniel was written is unknown 41 . The Metropolitan here addresses some monk or layman: “You wrote to me what to do with my head, for I am greatly overcome by lustful thoughts. But this is not your concern and struggle alone, but for all who strive for God’s sake. This is a great struggle and there is a double army before us - in the soul and in the body.” Then he offers the unknown an instruction - to soberly and cheerfully guard one’s heart from lustful thoughts, to always have the fear of God before one’s eyes and to remember the vows given at baptism: “I renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his service, and all his cold,” i.e. vows to put off all the old man, which is corrupting in the lusts of deceit, and to put on the new man and keep all the commandments Christ's. Further, he teaches, during a struggle with thoughts, to diligently pray to God and call for help on the saints of God, who strive for chastity and purity; and when the battle begins to overwhelm you, then quickly get up, stretch out your eyes and hands to heaven and pray like this: “Thou art strong, O Lord, and Thine is the feat; You fight and win in this, Lord, for us.” And also cry out with humility: “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled...; take away my soul, save me for the sake of Thy mercy.” If you do this in the fight against thoughts, then you will experience that they are greatly overcome by the grace of God. Finally, he advises us to reject even our friends if they seduce us, to protect ourselves from seeing young and beautiful faces and from hearing conversations that arouse passion, never to idle or say ridiculous words that raise unclean thoughts, but to love spiritual conversation with virtuous people, adorned with gray hair in old age: “and God will protect you,” the saint concludes his message. It is obvious that the instructions summarized by Daniel in this letter are the same as those we have already seen in his other letters about chastity and purity. The fourth epistle of Daniel - one of all his epistles - has the character not of a pastoral epistle, but of a private letter, and contains an answer to some acquaintance of the metropolitan who asked him about the state of his health 42 . This message is so brief and at the same time so curious in its content and originality of some expressions that we decide to present it in its entirety and in the original text. “The disposition of your God-loving soul,” writes Daniel, “is philosophic and is all about God, about Christ-loving and human-loving, as if your love for Christ has been revealed to everyone. Fulfilling all the Lord's Gospel commandments, you ask about the health of my humility, how I remain and how I am free from infirmities, or whether I am still supported by them, as from many years and times my weakness has been known to you and my badness is known to you, God-lover! Nowadays, most of all, I remain weak in three ways: in my head, in my stomach, in my legs. And from these there is much especially - sadness, and oppression, and impoverishment of meaning, and tooth disease, and exhaustion, and diminishment of the light of the eyes, and weakness of strength and strength, and doctors like God, those who are wise, and empty spiritual philosophers about Christ, and those who console the lack of receiving, and depletion of faithful friends, and the removal of spiritual sons and good friends. The strength of faith is exhausted. The in-laws have become alienated, various slander and enmity have multiplied at home, and the hostile makers joyfully jump about this and that, creating enmity, raising armies. The enemies do not humble themselves, the demons rejoice, people are embarrassed, the barbarians lose their bows, the Jews and Hellenics sharpen their swords, the heretics climb barriers and walls, prepare a copy. To God and the Father, to the great bishop, to the shepherd and mentor, and teacher, and chief of our salvation, to your Lord Jesus Christ, let us all pray together and diligently pray that we all be preserved and saved. Amen". One cannot help but feel how difficult and sad the position of Metropolitan Daniel was then, and partly of the church itself. The epistle was written by the saint, probably towards the end of his pastoral ministry. No matter how anyone judges Metropolitan Daniel on the basis of the evidence that his contemporaries left about him - evidence that is far from impartial 43 - Daniel's own writings give a very favorable concept of him. He was, first of all, a lover of education. Hardly any thought did he repeat so often and with such insistence as the thought of the need to read the “divine scriptures”, by which name then, in a broad sense, they meant not only the books of the Old and New Testaments, but also paternal and church books, books in general pious and edifying, or in general - all spiritual writing, with the exception of only the apocrypha, books of renunciation, lies. He urged that not only pastors and monks, but also the laity, read the divine scriptures as often as possible, and not just read them, but experience them, practice them with great wisdom. He explained that reading the divine scriptures not only gives us knowledge about everything related to our faith and piety, but also generally enlightens the mind, directs the will, calms and cheers the heart, tames passions, stimulates us to virtue, and that all the evil among us, all errors, all superstitions and vices depend mainly on our ignorance of the divine scriptures. And not only did Daniel encourage others to read and study books, he himself loved to read them, recognized this activity as the best activity of his life and was one of the most well-read and enlightened people of his time. Already in his teaching to the brethren, he, as abbot, showed considerable familiarity with the works of the fathers, especially ascetics, and with the rules of the church; and in subsequent writings he revealed this familiarity and erudition incomparably more. If in the main literary work of Rev. Joseph of Volokolamsk, the “Illuminator,” counts up to forty writers whose testimonies he cites; then in one “Sobornik” of Metropolitan Daniel one can count almost fifty such writers. Not to mention the many testimonies or passages he cites from liturgical books, helmsmen, lives of saints, prologues, synaxarions, patericons and various collections. It was not in vain that Daniel, the first of the Russians, was honored to receive the name “Doctor of Christ’s Law” or Christian theology from the lips of Maxim the Greek, who, as a former student of Western schools, undoubtedly knew what was meant by this name then. Daniel truly possessed the theological learning that was possible among us then, and in his writings he most amazes with the mass of the most diverse knowledge in the field of spiritual literature. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that Daniel’s mental abilities corresponded to his knowledge. One can see in him a sound mind, but one that is naturally unsatisfactory and underdeveloped; a mind little accustomed to independent activity and not accustomed to strict, distinct, logical thinking. This is not a master, but, as it were, a slave of his knowledge; he does not rule over them, but is almost suppressed by them, and does not know how to dispose of them as he should. His concept and judgment are almost always correct, but often they lack clarity and separation, and even more often, coherence and thoroughness. Daniel expounded in his words the doctrine of sacred traditions, written and unwritten, as well as the doctrine of the sacrament of the incarnation, with such vastness and detail, with which neither one nor the other teaching has been expounded by anyone before. But he does not at all distinguish between dogmatic and ritual traditions and attributes to the latter exactly the same importance as to the former; and when revealing the dogma of the incarnation, having briefly expressed his own confession of faith, he is content exclusively with other people’s opinions and testimonies, which he cites in enormous quantities. He sensibly discusses the various duties of a Christian, the duties of church pastors and, in particular, bishops, the duties of masters to slaves: he correctly determines the meaning of worldly and married life, in relation to eternal salvation, and monastic life, the meaning and relative dignity of different types of monastic life, the meaning of fasting and external exploits; teaches useful instructions regarding inner life, spiritual warfare, and the fight against sinful thoughts; correctly teaches about the actions of God's providence in the world, about the disasters that befall us, about the death of infants and much more. But almost always and in everything he limits himself only to general concepts and superficial remarks, and does not delve into the truths, does not reveal them in detail and with their reasons; rarely concentrates on one particular subject, but mostly runs from subject to subject, repeats the same thing, deviates to the side, and generally expresses his thoughts without proper clarity and consistency. In this respect, Daniel is much inferior to his famous mentor, the Monk Joseph of Volokolamsk, who, with a wealth of information, also possessed a strong and bright mind and deeply developed mentality. His writings point us to another high trait in Daniel’s character—his fiery zeal for faith and piety, zeal for his pastoral duty, for his spiritual flock. He boldly fought against the spirit of freethinking and opposition to the statutes of the church, which then prevailed in some strata of our society, and taught, instructed, and convinced the Orthodox to remain firm and unshakable in Orthodoxy, to preserve invariably all the traditions of the church, written and unwritten, to protect themselves in every possible way from false teachers and heretics and to stand for the truth of Christ even to death. He also vigilantly monitored moral shortcomings and weaknesses of the layers of his flock and in his denunciations he spared no one, neither the rich and noble, nor the shepherds and archpastors themselves, nor ordinary monks, nor their authorities, trying at the same time to act on those denounced with words of meekness and love and touching admonitions, exhortations, even prayer. Almost all of Daniel's writings are directed, more or less, against the errors and vices of his time, and the best places in his writings are those where he begins to depict these errors and vices. Here he leaves his calm, cold tone, and noticeably becomes animated; his word becomes more lively, more figurative, more eloquent; you feel that he is imbued with what he is talking about, and takes his colors and images directly from life. In this regard, the works of Daniel can be compared with the works of Maxim the Greek: both of them clearly reflect the modern shortcomings of the Russian people. Maxim. Sochin. I, 530–531. Kazan. 1859. Description handwritten Moscow Synod, bib. II 3, 151. 156. In one of his words, he says: “I heard before, when we were worthy to talk to your love, the same yesterday and now we speak about love, even to God and to the sincere; and about other works of the commandments of the Lord, and again I speak to your love, as much as I can through my wickedness.” Another word begins: “since we have the teaching of the Gospel, let us learn from the words of Christ, and again we will be wise in the commandments of the Lord...” (Description of the manuscript. Moscow Synod, Bible II, 3, 158. 159). In a letter to an unknown person who has fallen into grave lawlessness, he writes: “I have written to you about this in many ways, so that you may cease from such evil; But you remain in the fearlessness of God and fatten like cattle.” In a message to another unknown person it is expressed: “To you, my beloved and spiritual, I said many verbs before, and again now I say again: put away from you wickedness and inhumanity,” and so on. In the message to the third unknown: “Even though I have spoken of your love many times, and even if I have expressed something in a small way in a parable, but no matter what success, you yourself have not been satisfied with it.” (Manuscript. Collection of our library No. 65. l, 44 vol. 49. 51). List of this Collection. XVI century is in the library. Moscow D. Acad., No. 197; lists of the 18th century. - in the Bible Moscow Synod., No. 237 (Description II, 3, 147 et seq.) and in the former bib. Tsarsky, No. 676 (Description 772–725). The list of our Bible was removed from the first list. No. 94, which we used. List of the 16th century. - to Novgorod. Soph. bib. (now the St. Petersburg D. Acad.; No. 1281; list of the 16th - 17th centuries, - in the same library, No. 1456. The list of Rumyants. Music. No. 89 (Description. 158-159) and the list of our library, No. 95 were copied from the first list. You can get acquainted with the content and direction of Daniel's Collection from the article by G. Belyaev: “Daniil, Metropolitan of Moscow” (Izvestia of the IInd Department of the Academy of Sciences, V, 192 207). A detailed description of this Collection is placed in the Description. handwritten Moscow Synod, bib. II, 3, 147 164. At the beginning of the first word, Daniel says: “God abounds in grace..., with great effort, fulfill your requests, God-wisdom; So formulate your questions in many ways, but I have no answer”... And at the end of the words: “about all of these and about others, from the beginning even to here, as your love admonished me..., from the divine scriptures, having collected, the writings of your love; about others, even in others, it will be revealed in advance, helping God and that birth.” Its title: “Word 1, from the testimony of the divine scriptures, as it is proper to take heed from false prophets and from false teachers, and as from this a false teacher and a false prophet is recognized, from which one does not teach from the divine scriptures, but from the malice of one’s heart, through the wickedness of the devil, to the destruction of many, and as if someone continues in the teaching of the Gospel, and philosophizes according to it acting, he deviates himself from it, and those who are opposed by reasoning and acting, and as if following the divine and legal scriptures are not worthy of testing those who speak or write, if someone who is blessed with the inspiration of God speaks the scriptures, and forbids nothing, the word of God will not be lowered to you.” Its title: “As it is absurd to be at enmity with each other, but also to humble those who are at enmity, and as there is not good in the world everywhere, bliss, it is said, banish truth for the sake of it, and just as those who suffer for the truth are blessed, but those who suffer for the very evil are lawless; It is impossible for someone who is close to do good deeds to hear good things from everyone: likewise, someone who is standing cannot have many lies about the truth. But even if some are saddened by these things, they will not be afraid, as is fitting, but will remain steadfast and unshakable. Word 2". The title of this word: “For when the Lord ascended into heaven, the apostle gave two covenants, the old and the new; This one was received by the holy apostles, and also through them the church shepherds and teachers, who were all instructed by the divine spirit, she then abandoned, but she legislated and handed over to the holy church; This whole church tradition, written and unwritten, legitimized to us by the holy apostles and our God-bearing fathers, is immutably observable. Word 3." Title: “As we accept tradition, written and unwritten, let us mark our face with a cross, and turn to the east in prayer, and look at the body, and bow down. Word 4." The title of this word: “About the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we truly preach that He is perfect of God and perfect of man, and not as the evil heretics wickedly say, after the incarnation our Lord Jesus Christ has one nature, even deity. Word 5." Our East. Russian Church VI, 201. “Daniel’s debate with Elder Vasyan,” in Reading. Moscow East. General 1847, IX, dept. IV, pp. 11 28. The title of the word: “About the ineffable mercy of the Lord Christ: for for our sake he made him who knew no sin sin. Word 6." Title: “On the wisdom of the Lord’s vision of His incarnation, for with wisdom you overcame the evil and cunning devil, so that everyone who believes in Him will save and save.” Word 7." The title of the word: “For it is fitting to have obedience to those in power and to render honor to them, and even to the enemies of God. Word 8." Its title: “It is not proper for a husband to separate from his wife, nor for a wife to separate from her husband, except through fornication. Word 14." Its title: “According to the words of the Gospel, it is not proper for a husband to separate from his wife, but for a wife to separate from her husband, except for the guilt of fornication, but the custom of these is different. Word 15." Its title: “On the second marriage of copulation.” Word 16." In the oldest list of Danilov’s “Sobornik”, which belongs to Moscow. D. Academy, this entire last part of the 16th word is missing, and it was copied for us from the list of this Collection of Moscow, synod, library. In the above-mentioned (note 5) handwritten Collection of Novgorod. Soph. bib., No. 1281, after these thirteen works of Daniel, each of which is named in the title with its own word (word 1, word 2... and, finally, word 13) and each is directly attributed to Daniel, there is a message to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich IV, which therefore some also assimilate to Daniel (East. Descriptive Roman. Muz. 158; Rev. Filar. Review Russian. Liter., in the article about Daniel), But it is unfair: for 1) the message is not named in the title by the word 14 and is not attributed to Daniel, as one would expect if a collector or copyist recognized it as the work of Daniel along with the other thirteen placed before; 2) at the time when Daniel was already leaving his metropolitan see, King John was barely nine years old; and in the letter someone addresses the Tsar as an adult, depicts before him various iniquities of the Russian land, arms himself against barber shaving and especially in detail against the sin of Sodom (which, of course, a nine-year-old could not understand), and, convincing the Tsar to eradicate this sin, repeats in two places: “if you eradicate the evil of this lawlessness..., you will be saved without difficulty and your former sin will be eradicated.” This epistle could have been written to John either by Metropolitan Macarius, who, as is known, in his epistles actually rebelled against both barber-shaving and the sin of Sodom, or by priest Sylvester, whose two epistles to Prince Shuisky, the Kazan governor, are placed immediately after this very epistle to Tsar John in the same handwritten Collection. The title of the teaching: “The same (i.e., Metropolitan Daniel) about the monastic law and the rule of common life in the holy monastery of the Most Glorious Mother of God, in the common Joseph Monastery, when the superiors of the abbess restrained and forced his elders to write this for the salvation of souls from the testimony of the divine scriptures. Word 7." The title of this message: “Message from the sinful and wicked monk Danil, by the grace of God, Metropolitan of All Russia, to Volodimer, to the monastery of the Holy Wonderworker Nicholas on Volosovo, to the common monastery of the Metropolis of All Rus', to Abbot Paphnotius and his brothers, about the deanery and strength of the monastery charter. Word 1." The first of these messages is entitled: “The same message to a certain bishop: some people have brought him speeches against the bishop, as if his life is careless and covetous, and for this reason, he quickly, briefly stated, sends. Word 2". Title: “The same message to the same bishop: as it befits those who receive holy orders to have much concern for themselves and for the monastery and not to teach from themselves or to formulate anything from their own mind, but from the testimony of the divine scriptures. Word 3." Title: “On punishment, as received from God and from the saints by the apostle and our God-bearing fathers, the church traditions in the law, which are proper to be kept and believed and venerated, and how the holy apostles taught human life for two lives from God; for the virgin, that is, for the monastic, and for the married, and as if one who wants to find comfort in the monastic life, it is appropriate to be tempted first, and as it is fitting for one who has come to a marriage to preserve chastity and purity, that is, in addition to his lawful wife, not to mix with fornication, since chastity and purity have been lost many times death delivers a person. Word 6." The title of the message: “On the difference between monastic life, and how common life is convenient for salvation, if they have their own mind according to God, so is desert life, and how he who does the will of God will find salvation in every place. Word 5." Titled: “The same about punishment. Word 9." Titled: “The same message is punitive and spiritual, both as if this life is lovely, and as if a dream is coming. Word 4." Titled: “The same message to anyone who has fallen into the deepest pit of iniquity, collected from the divine scriptures about the Last Judgment. Word 8." Its title: “The same message about a chaste and reverent life. Word 12." Its title: “The same message about chastity and purity. Word 11." Its title: “The same message, as it is spiritually harmful to have sex in conversations with wives and with effeminate men, and if from whom a person comes to spiritual harm, they should be turned away and turned away. Word 10." It is entitled: “The same about chastity and purity and the preservation of virginity, and how it is fitting for us to constantly remember our promise at baptism, and to keep the commandments of Christ, and how through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the kingdom of heaven; as if the shepherd rose up, he was worried about nothing else, but to teach people to salvation and to unwaveringly observe the church statutes; and as it is not fitting for us to despair of the passions that find us, but to endure and pray more firmly and flee from places, and persons, and conversations that harm us, carnal wisdom, and the desire to have a paradise and the kingdom of heaven, and to remember the death and terrible judgment of our Savior, endless torment, and weep for our sins. Bless, father. Word 13." This word is in the collection Mosk. Spirit. Academy written in 1563, No. 514 Volokol./ 151 Academician, l. 413–425, under the title: “The humble Daniel, Metropolitan of All Russia, about humility, and about unity, and about harmony, and about love, and about observance of the Orthodox faith and law, teaching and punishment for all. Word 39." And printed in Memory. Old man. Russian Liter. IV, 194–199. Printed in Memory. old Russian Liter. IV, 200–204. Placed in Collection. Imper, publ. bibliography, from the Collection of Count F.A. Tolstoy, Dept. II, No. 68, l. 282 ver., under the title: “Message of Abbot Danil.” Our Histor. Russian church VI, 153. Located in Sborn. Moscow Spirit. Academic; XVI century, in the 8th lobe of the sheet, No. 535 Volokolam./ 166 Academic, fol. 45–54, under the title: “Epistle of Metropolitan Danil.” Found in the above mentioned (note 36) Collection. Moscow Spirit. Academician, l. 425, under the title: “The same humble Danil, Metropolitan of All Russia, answer to a certain lover of Christ, I will ask him for health.” Our Histor. Russian churches VI, 107 et seq. You might be interested in: