Житие и подвиги Отца нашего старца Паисия, архимандрита молдавских святых монастырей Нямецкого и Секула

1. Birth and parents of our father Paisius. 2. His adolescence In the summer of 1722, our father, Hieroschemamonk Paisiy of blessed memory, named Peter in holy baptism, was born in the Little Russian city of Poltava, from pious parents: his father was John Velichkovsky, Archpriest of Poltava, and his mother Irina. After his birth in the fourth year, his father settled down from temporary life to eternal life: he remained with his mother and with his eldest brother John, who was the same on his father’s side and the rector of the Poltava Cathedral Church of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady Theotokos and the Ever-Virgin Mary, in which his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as priests. Also, he gave his mother book learning, and the Lord helped him, after two years and a little more, study the primer, the book of hours and the psalter, and learned to write from his eldest brother: and with the help of God, he began to use the books of honor, and in part understand: and having diligently read the books of the Divine Scripture, the Old, especially The New Testament, the lives of the saints, the teachings of St. Ephraim and St. Dorotheus, St. John Chrysostom and Margaret and others. And from reading such, especially the lives of our venerable fathers who shone forth in monastic form, a zeal for leaving the world and receiving the holy monastic angelic image began to be born in his soul: in the same way, I shut myself up and worshiped insatiably. Silence is only loved, as his mother herself rarely heard his conversation: he was meek and extremely bashful and daring, not only towards strangers, but also towards his own. Such was this wonderful man’s zealous desire for God even at the age of ten, as if everyone who sees and hears about him is prudent to be amazed at his kindness and zeal and zeal, and glorify God, saying: Glory to you, Christ God, for you have exalted the chosen one from your people. 3. Young Paisius goes to the city of Kyiv When he came to the thirteenth year from his birth, his eldest brother John also reposed in the Lord, having served as a priest for exactly five years. And his mother’s subsequent need, taking him with her (1754), went to the Archbishop of Kyiv Kir-Raphael with a letter of petition from the Colonel of Poltava, his godfather, and the most honest citizens about the confirmation of his paternal place for him, as predicted by the conciliar church by letter. Before his holy face, when a certain verse, composed by a learned man, reverently with the proper pronunciation of the verb, the Right Reverend rejoiced, and blessed him, and said: You should be the heir: and he gave his mother a letter, and commanded him to be sent to the Kiev schools, and let him go with a blessing. Having returned, she sent him to Kyiv for the sake of teaching, and there she studied grammar for just four years. Practicing with burning zeal, especially in reading holy books: from them, more and more confirmed in his immutable intention about monasticism. 4. His desire for a monastic, unhypocritical life Moreover, like-minded friends had one and the same intention about monasticism, and gathered in the evening to some secret and quiet place, all night long until the bell rang, they consulted how they could put their intention into action, and where they could find such a place, in which, helping God, having taken monastic vows, they could truly fulfill the monastic vow live; and after repeated consultation and diligent consideration, such a covenant is indispensable and immutable in one’s souls: let them not renounce the world, but tonsure and life in such monasteries, where there is great abundance in food and drink, and all bodily food, glory and peace: bringing from the holy scriptures to confirm his advice all the ancient saints in the poor those who stayed in monasticism, and St. Simeon the New Theologian, saying this 7: run away from the world, see that you do not give your soul as a consolation, and so on. Having already taken monastic vows in such monasteries, it is impossible, glogolah, for us to follow Christ’s monastic vow of poverty and live an abstinent life: that is, in the poverty of necessities, and in all bodily suffering, salvation for the sake of the soul. But because of our weakness, and especially because of rebellion and communication between hedgehogs and frost, which is easily changed for the sake of our will, and unequal spiritual zeal and unsteadiness, we will need to retreat from the narrow path that leads to eternal life, to get lost into the wide one, which, according to the word of the Lord, leads to destruction. And it is better to be judged to remain in the world than to renounce the world and everyone in the world, to pursue your life in all peace and abundance to please the flesh, to the temptation of the world and the desecration of the monastic image, and to the eternal condemnation of your souls on the day of judgment. Also from the Divine Gospel and patristic writings, Paisius fully understood, For without obedience and humility, without poverty and patience, without faith and love and cutting off the perfection of one’s will and one’s own reasoning, one who desires monasticism, and simply say: without diligently keeping all the commandments of Christ, it is by no means impossible to be saved by the Orthodox faith alone: and the reverent youth laid a very firm testament in his soul before God, already on his body. actions in fulfillment of the commandments of Christ, compel with all your soul. How can you not condemn your neighbor even if you saw him sinning with your own eyes? Condemn your neighbor, you admire the dignity of God in yourself; what is more terrible? 8 Also, do not have any hatred for your neighbor: according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, the greatest sin is hatred and malice above all sins. I also bequeath to myself and my neighbor to forgive all bitterness with all my heart and with all my soul, in the hope of remission of my sins 9: do not forgive your neighbor’s sins or any offense, and you yourself will by no means have the remission of your sins from your heavenly father: this is your testament, given before God, throughout your entire life, strengthening him with the grace of God, actively storing. 5. His journey. 6. Paisiy enters the Lyubitsky monastery So, as he abides, and in reading and in teaching about these, practicing, and even more so, crying and lamenting, and wondering what to do, begin with a contrite heart with many and bitter tears, beating his chest, and falling to Christ God, to pray, so as to guide him on the path of salvation; Weeping and thinking within myself, saying: What will I do, and where will I go? Having kindled his soul to wander and left school, he left the city of Kyiv: and like a certain beggar and strange, wandering with a sad soul, seeking that heavenly fatherland: for the Lord gave him, even in his youth, gray hair of reason, wisdom and humility, also leave his friends, who put an obstacle to his quick departure and go to God I instruct him to the Holy Monastery of Lyubich, which is located near the city of Lyubich, above the Dnieper River. With the help of God, when he reached the monastery, a certain father showed him: behold, Father Nicephorus is our abbot, and bring him to him. And Paisiy fell on his nose, asking for a blessing; He, according to custom, blessed him, asking where you are from, brother; and what is your name, and why did you come to our monastery? The young man then answered him: for I am from the country of Kiev, and I came to this holy monastery to obey: my name is Peter. The abbot heard this, received him with love and assigned him a cell and cellar obedience. He fell at his feet, and we took a blessing from him, passing through obedience with zeal. 7. Godly reign of Hegumen Nikifor While Paisius was there, he had great joy in his soul: not having seen how this venerable Abbot, like a child-loving father, governed the brethren with great love and meekness, humility and long-suffering: and even if it happened to one of the brethren, like a man, to sin in anything, then I ask him to be worthy of forgiveness, correcting such a spirit of meekness, punishing words that are helpful to the soul, and defining a certain spiritual canon according to its strength, looking at sin. For this reason, all the brethren remain in deep peace and love for the father and for each other. 8. Change of leadership 9. Paisiy unintentionally angers the new abbot. 10. Leaves secretly from the monastery After three months of Paisy’s stay there, another abbot, a learned man, German Zagorovsky, was assigned to the monastery. Having come to the Lyubitsky monastery, they began to rule it not in the likeness of the foretold blessed Abbot lovingly, but with authority, and the brethren, having recognized his dispensation, were greatly horrified: as if there was no one from them for the sake of fear, they fled from the monastery to an unknown place. Paisius remained in obedience, greatly fearing and trembling, so that he would not sin in anything, otherwise he would not escape from evil. The abbot alone called him and ordered him to give him some food (cabbage) for his meal. Because of the brevity of his words, he did not heed Yakov, and without daring to question him, declared him a cook: they, knowing Ya better than being, cooked it for him. The abbot then called Paisius to his cell, and, rising from the meal, said to him: Do you have such food for my meal? And these words only hit him hard on the cheek, as if it were barely possible to stay on his feet, and also kicked him with great fierceness, as if he fell through his cell’s legs: even when he stood up, I would shout at him, saying: “Get out, you good-for-nothing!” The humble Paisiy went out, trembling with fear, and thinking to himself: if I was angry with poor me for this, then if I happened to sin in more than against him, that I would not suffer from him? Moreover, having heard from his spiritual father that he was still bragging, he would punish him with cruel punishment: you have any intention of going beyond the Dnieper. And at night, having secretly prayed to the Lord with tears, I descended to the Dnieper, and to God’s help, I passed to another country on the ice: and thanking God with joyful tears, I went down the Dnieper River to the Ukraine to the monasteries. 11. Enters the monastery of St. Nikolai Medvedovskaya Having reached the monastery of St. Nicholas of Christ, which is located on the island of the Tyasmina River, and is called Medvedovsky, where the all-honorable hieromonk Fr. Nicephorus (different from the prophesied Nicephorus), approach him, and fall at his feet, taking a blessing from him, and begin to pray, that he may receive him into the holy monastery in obedience. The abbot received him with love, and gave him the cell and obedience to serve at meals and go to the choir. And when the fast of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos arrived, at the Transfiguration of the Lord the abbot tonsured him into a cassock, renaming him from Peter Plato: but he was then 19 years old. While staying in that monastery, she went through obedience at the meal with diligence: the rule of the church in the days of slaughter, great obedience given by time, was diligent to observe in every way, but never abandoned at night: the same, at the command of the Abbot, and went to the choir. Also, out of your zeal, you also provide great help to the cook. 12. Persecution from the Uniates 13. Paisiy goes to Kyiv Thus, he strives in this monastery, and stays quietly and peacefully, with God's permission to rise, the persecution in Ukraine of the Orthodox faith from the slanderous Uniates, who convince the Orthodox to their wickedness. For this reason, there was great confusion and anger in their monastery: and when they saw the fathers living there, as if the church had been standing and sealed for more than a month, no one began to disperse from them, wherever anyone pleases. Some people who were going from the brethren to Kyiv, Paisiy went with them: for fear of the Poles, then it would be impossible to go to Moldavia. It was revealed by God's will, as if his faithful servant had informed him about his mother. When he came there, he was welcomed to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and was appointed to stay at the printing house of the all-honorable hieromonk Macarius, and learn how to depict icons on copper. While the Blessed One was staying in the Lavra, his relative, the wife of his deceased brother Archpriest John, came from the city of Poltava to Kiev to worship, and seeing him, they began to tell him about his mother, saying: 14. In Kyiv he is informed of his mother’s sadness Your mother, after your departure from Kyiv, fell into an indescribable amount of sadness, as if she were crying inconsolably and sobbing bitterly, even from the immeasurable sadness of the intention of not eating or drinking, Dondezhe will die, and after a few days her mind began to get confused. Seeing some fear, he was horrified, and began an akathist of honor: having lost his mind, he kept silent, and after half an hour he cried out loudly: if this is the will of God, then I am no longer grieving for my son. Having come to my senses, I made a confession before my spiritual father and in front of everyone, saying: I, speaking, when I was already weakened from much ineating and sadness, and was expecting to die soon: I came to horror and great fear, and I saw many demons, extremely gloomy and terrible, trying to attack me: then I began to ask you for books, and diligently honored Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, continuously all day and night, and by reading this I protect myself from the attack of demons: hearing me read the Akathist, I tremble with fear, and I am not at all able to come close to me. And for this reason they were in delight, and having looked up at the mountain, they saw the heavens opened, and an angel of God, like lightning, descended from heaven: those who stood near me began to say to me: O accursed one! What have you done? Instead, with all your soul and with all your heart, you should love the Lord God your Creator: you loved your creation, your son, more than your Creator: and for the sake of your unreasonable and ungodly love, you intended to starve yourself to death, and for this fall into eternal condemnation. It is well known that your son, aided by the grace of God, will certainly be a monk. It is also fitting for you, imitating your son in this, to renounce the world, and everyone else in the world, and to be a nun: this is the will of God: if you are contrary to this will of God, then so are Christ the Lord God and my Creator, as if I would hand you over to the demons who are waiting to take you, so that your soul and body may be mocked: so that other parents will learn not love your children more than God. This and one like this Angel of God came to me and cried out: if this is the will of God, then from now on I no longer grieve for my son: and the abi demon disappeared. The Angel of the Lord ascended to heaven, rejoicing. The confessor and relatives, having heard this from her, glorified God in horror, and went away to their homes together and rejoicing. 15. His mother accepts monasticism Having heard this from his relative, Paisiy was greatly horrified in his soul, as if he had brought such great sadness to his mother’s soul by his departure: he was also comforted by this, as if he had obeyed the will of God, having accepted the intention of being a nun, and he also committed himself: having entered the maiden monastery, he took monastic vows, and was renamed from Irina to Juliana. Having stayed in the monastery, striving as a monk for the salvation of his soul, for ten years or more, he reposed in the Lord. Here's a story about a mother. 16. Paisios departs from Kyiv and comes to Vlachia to the monastery of Treistena Paisia ​​remains in the holy Kiev Pechersk Lavra, as he said, often entering the holy caves and kissing the holy relics with burning love and tears, asking for help from the saints to be guided on the path of salvation. With a burning desire, I desire a silent and quiet life in the desert with a spiritual father, skilled in all the divine and paternal writings, and laboring and successful in labor, and in monastic battles against demons and passions, not unskillful: those who dwell in poverty and poverty in the desert, doing the necessities with their own hands. And after a little time, by God's providence, I found two honest monks seeking to go to Vlachia, pray for them to accept him on the journey, and agreed and prepared for the journey, and prayed to the Lord and left. 17. Elder Vasily. 18. Paisius does not want to accept the priesthood Having passed safely through Ukraine, including Moldavia, and having traveled for many days, with God's help they reached Vlachia, and arrived at the monastery of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of Christ, called Treisteny, where the chief, Hieromonk Demetrius, received them with love and rest. Elder Hieroschemamonk Mikhail left the skete for a time in Ukraine, to the Matrenin monastery for the sake of needs. Our father, who was staying in the skete in general obedience, came there to visit the brethren from the monastery of Merlopolyany, there are apple fields, the common teacher and mentor of monastic life for all who were there, the reverend elder Schemamonk Vasily, about his high life and mind our father wrote little, even here I believe: “Like before in Russia and in the Moshensky mountains and in others In the deserts for quite some time, through the zeal of God, having lived with the great zealots of monastic life: together with the predicted hieromonk Michael, his disciple, he came to the God-protected land of Vlachia to live. This godly man, in the understanding of the Divine Scripture, and the God-bearing Father of teaching, and in spiritual reasoning, and in the all-perfect knowledge of the Holy Saints of the Eastern Church, ruled and interpreted them very skillfully, and was incomparably superior to all the former fathers in his time. Glory is spread everywhere about his teaching and God-pleasing instructions on the path of salvation.” This, again, I say, an elder of holy life, having stayed there in the monastery of Treistana for several days, spoke many soul-helping words to the brethren: even our father heard, he rejoiced with indescribable joy, and glorified God with tears, as if he had made him worthy to see such a man and to hear words from him. Now you have brought the elder into cohabitation through the chief Dometius and our father. He was afraid (of being informed by a certain father) that he would not be forced by him and did not want to accept the priesthood, thus answering through his superior: I have no intention of entering such a great and terrible rank before my death. This is because our father was not honored to live in the monastery of Merlopolyan with such a holy elder, but stayed in the monastery of Treistena: even this monastery, like the monastery of Dolgoutsy, was under the spiritual advice of Elder Vasily, and for this reason we rekosh, as our father was in obedience to Elder Vasily for some time. Even if he did not live with him, his disciple was still worthy of being, as is spoken of below. After the departure of Elder Vasily, a short time had passed, the all-joyful news arrived that Elder Michael was returning from the Ukraine and was already approaching the monastery. When the chief and all the brethren heard it, they rejoiced, and when they went to the meeting, they received blessings, and there was joy for all. Our Father, who was undergoing general obedience, as he said, gave the head of the cell not far from the monastery above the stream, from which the church was visible: and while he was in that cell, it happened that he was the only one sleeping in the night, and did not hear the riveting of the bell for Matins: it was a week’s day. When he woke up and came to the church and heard that the Gospel had already been read and the Canon had begun, they were greatly saddened, and for the sake of shame and embarrassment they did not go into the church: but returned to their cell, grieving and crying about such a temptation that happened to him. And he was so overcome by sadness, and inscrutable fear and shame, that he was by no means able to come to the Divine Liturgy, but went not far from his cell, sitting under a tree on the ground and weeping bitterly. According to the Liturgy, when the time for the meal approached, the elder and the leader and the brethren, having not seen him either at Matins or at the Liturgy, were surprised at this. And the elder spoke to the brethren: I pray for the Lord’s sake, have little patience with the meal, Dondezh we are afraid of our brother Plato, what will happen to him? And this was the message of the ambassador of the only brother monk Athanasius, the scribe of the books of the fathers, to look for him: it is not without difficulty that you find him on the earth, sitting down and weeping bitterly, and they begin to question the guilt of his weeping: he cannot answer the shame for nothing, but rather weeping, and barely possible, we strongly urge him to confess the guilt of his sorrow. Consoling him spiritually, he diligently prayed beyond measure not to grieve about the temptation that had happened, but to go to the monastery to the Holy Father, who is waiting for you, he said, and not eating. He can hardly speak to him: and how can I, Holy Father, come to the Holy Father, and by whose face will I appear before them, having committed such a sin, for my eternal shame before God and before them? And he prayed to Athanasius with tears to leave him, and not force him to go to his father: he, without weakening, diligently begged him and exhorted him not to grieve and to go. And you barely forced him and did not want to go with him to the monastery. Then he got up and walked, weeping and sobbing, and when he came to the monastery, and saw the old man with all his brethren sitting before the table, oh! Then fear and immeasurable shame attacked him, and he fell to the ground before them, weeping bitterly and sobbing inconsolably, and asking for forgiveness. Everyone was horrified, and the elder, the chief and the brethren stood up, raising him from the ground: when the guilt of his crying and sorrow was cleared away from the monk who brought him to them, all the brethren were surprised and, sighing for themselves, fell silent. The elder, like a child-loving father, began to console him with spiritual words: praying, asking and exhorting, no more than the measure of grief for him about such an involuntary incident: and having consoled him a little, giving thanks to God, as if he had found him healthy in soul and body, he also went into the meal, and began to eat, commanding him to sit with them at the meal and eat. Moreover, because of the sadness and shame that overwhelmed him then, he could not taste food at all, but after that he could not taste anything 10. And from then on, staying there to the utmost, not daring on the bed, lying asleep at night, but sitting on the lava, sleeping little. The elder and his friends, the elder spiritual fathers, came out of the meal, sat down under the garden trees, and conversed glorifying God the Giver, marveling at the capital in the youth of divine zeal. And the elder said to all the brothers who were present, and especially to the youngest ones, I am present to our father at the table: you see, brothers, this brother has so much zeal for God and has a fiery sorrow: let it be for all of you as an example and in imitation of those who are diligent in rising up and walking according to the rule of the Church: for he, even for the involuntary omission of prayer that happened to him, was so sad in his soul, and The mountaineer is so sick and weeping, because he deprived himself of bread and did not want to see the light of the sun, because of his great heart disease and contrition. Therefore, you too pray to Christ God with all your soul, compelling you to obey all his commandments, that the Lord may give you all such zeal and fiery sadness kindled by God, for which the divine Isaac in many places 11, and other Holy Fathers command you to pray and ask God for yourself. And the elder said this, keeping silent: the brethren bowed and went each to their cell. While our father remained in obedience, as he spoke in this monastery, he diligently listened to the spiritual words that came from the lips of Elder Michael. Because this man also advanced in humility and love and spiritual intelligence, and received the gift of revelation of the mysteries of the Scriptures from God, as if he were to be like his elder Vasily. I was jealous of all his work and feats of activity. Darker and similar, it is not enough for everyone to shine the Spirit of giving him: part of this brethren teaching about the many different spiritual needs of the wines, saying: as it behooves us, brethren, in these poor times, a true mentor of monastic spiritual work and reason, who is by no means impoverished, with all our souls, even to death, to adhere to the teachings and instructions of our Holy and God-bearing fathers, and follow them faithfully, in word and deed. And again, about the diligent and rightful keeping of the soul-saving Gospel commandments of Christ: and again, about the keeping of all the holy Orthodox ecumenical and local Eastern Church councils and the great God-bearing Fathers and Apostolic rules, traditions and their teachings: and again, about the diligent keeping of holy fasts and other orders of the church, handed down by the holy Apostles and great God-bearing fathers to all Christians, and about other things necessary, this blessed elder said with sighs and tears to the brethren: let us not heed the situation of these fierce times and the weakness of people living in fearlessness, but let us adhere to the faithful apostles of the saints and the fathers of the council of saints, as the Great Basil says: everything from ancient times from the father of the saints and the spiritual is devoted, the essence is worthy of veneration: the newly added essence is extremely placeless and weak. Seeing and hearing all this, our father Paisius rejoiced with indescribable joy, and thanked God with many tears, as if he had been granted such spiritual words from the mouths of such holy men Basil and Michael to hear and use. 21. Schemamonk Onuphry. 22. Paisiy goes to Kyrkul monastery with schemamonk Onuphry. About time there, the all-honorable schemamonk Father Onuphry came from the monastery called Kyrkul to visit the elder and the brethren. And with the blessing of Elder Michael, there was a spiritual conversation about the Lord with all the brethren from Father Onuphry, who spoke about the situation of his Kyrkul monastery, telling about the beauty of it, and the health of the water and air, and many different fruits and vegetables, and other things appropriate to monastic life, and how great is that silence and silence: with these, we moved our father to jealousy to see this place; Thanking the most honorable elder Michael for his fatherly love and instruction, and taking the blessing, go with Father Onuphry on the journey ahead through great forests, and beautiful meadows, and high mountains, and with the help of God on the third day he arrived at the river monastery, in which the chief, the all-honorable hieromonk Theodosius, received him with love: in the morning, determine for him and desert-dwelling cell, and sitting in his cell, rejoicing and praising God with tears, he studied true monastic silence, the mother of repentance and prayer, according to the words of Saint Isaac 12; in those in need, in the beginning, they received help from their superior, Father Theodosius. 23. His stay and exploits in the monastery of Kyrkul. The order of the monastery was in the likeness of the Svyatogorsk monasteries: during the week and holidays all the brethren gathered together for the church rule, and according to the Divine Liturgy a common meal was served to all. At the meal, in conversations and spiritual councils, I exercise, and strengthen each other with sighs and tears, to endure various fierce spiritual and physical temptations and sorrows courageously and gratefully, and to pray often to Christ God with tears. In these slaughter I pass the time until Vespers; After vespers, everyone sitting on retreat goes to their cells. Sitsa and our father sat silently in the cell, doing some small handicraft (trays): diligently listening to prayer and reading the fatherly scriptures, and the love of God, and understanding our sins and everyday shortcomings, and unexpectedly finding death, and God’s terrible judgment, and the fierce and great torment prepared by the demon and the sinner who did not repent, The mountaineer wept, and sobbing every day, laid down the beginning of correction before God, and with tears of confession became relieved: and found peace and joy in the Lord and a little consolation of the soul. Recovering your thoughts from the wandering of your mind from evil thoughts, sitting down for the time being with humility and hope in Christ God your Savior. 24. Visits Elder Onufry Father Paisius also went to the foretold Onuphrius, a desert dweller, who was on a high living mountain, from the monastery, the distance was like one hour: his cell was on the very top of that mountain, from it I could see from afar beautiful deserts, mountains and hills, and fields, all filled with great forests: below, in the foothills of the cell, a source of water ever-flowing. The old man practiced prayer, reading, psalmody, and handicrafts; in his words he was very comforting, and with zeal for those asking, he spoke in more detail about mental and physical passions, about the terrible and breathless mental battle with demons, about baiting and finding them unthinkable. “And even if he spoke, if the True Savior had not shown love for his people and stood up for the faithful, Christ would not have been saved in truth, as His Holiness Patriarch Callistos II of Constantinople 13 clearly states about this. The same again says: but with faith and love, and with humility and tears falling to Christ God, soon there will be souls of unspeakable consolation, peace, joy in the Lord and ardent love for God: as a witness of these there will be infinite tears of love, abundant, self-reproach, humility and insatiable gratitude to Christ God, to the whole person, often from the love of God. He creates this world insensitively. And if anyone in this case is not partly aware of this, the news is that I am speaking the truth. All this blessed Onuphriy our father, with all my soul I thirst, clearly expressed, from his holy conversation only our father was inflamed in heart, and as if blazing with fire with divine love, and more jealous of spiritual feats 14, as if he had nowhere to hide, falling prostrate to the ground, beating his chest, and with bitter tears praying to Christ God, asking for help, and so making your vows at the beginning of your work. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to betray himself into obedience to those God-inspired fathers, since he had been in monasteries, and not in the desert: he was afraid of staying there, so that he would not be forced, as he said, the terrible yoke of the priesthood and not want to accept. The blessed one stayed there in Vlachia for exactly three years, and a little more, so that he would learn the Moldo-Vlachian language, and moreover, seeing the time favorably, may the Father collect from the Holy Ones the spiritual honey that flows from their lips, enjoying it to the point of satiety, keeping the rest in the cage of his heart and sealing it with silence for the time being, so that he might be able to delight the souls that cling to him and saturate and raise to virtue. From them, the father understands that there is true obedience, from it true humility is born, and the mortification of one’s will and reasoning is accomplished, and of everyone in this world, which is the beginning and the never-ending end of true monastic activity: and that there is vision, and mental true silence, and attention to prayer with the mind in the heart, not just in the mind, but partly and divinely. forces, ever moving in the heart, enjoying the action. If only he could endure so much poverty and sorrow with comfort and complacency, and in all temptations and hardships gratefully rejoice, and glorify God in all sorrows, as if he were worthy to be an imitator of his master Christ, who became poor for our sake, if not his heart was liquefied by divine prayer for the love of God and neighbor. The love of God began in his adolescence from the reading of the book’s conception, the hedgehog of the Divine seed, who, according to the word of the Lord, fell on the good earth, followed the vegetation of the fruits of the Spirit a hundredfold: there, between the ascetics of these monasteries, doing the commandments of God, and diligence to moral virtue and strengthened by unceasing mental prayer, create a fragrance in his heart Christ's, watered with many tears, God's assistance in age and prosperity. Sitsa our father, strengthened by divine mental zeal, excelled in the grace of Christ, even filling his soul with perfect love for God and neighbor, and unspeakable joy in the Lord, and inflamed with jealousy, as he said, for spiritual exploits, like the tree thirsting for springs of water. 25. His journey to Holy Mount Athos. 26. Arrival at the Holy Mountain in 1746 When the time came, our father desired to see the Holy Mount of Athorns: in the same way, he visited everyone in his monastery and in other monasteries, and visited the individual sitting holy fathers, asking for their forgiveness and blessings and prayers with tears on the way, thanking them for such mercy and love for him and spiritual fatherly guidance. Saints and Fathers Vasily, Michael and Onuphrius, I don’t use any words, any prayers, any advice, I don’t want to lose such a companion, talking to each other and marveling at God’s grace and good character in him, a young old man named Naritsa (before the blessed one was 24 years old from birth)! She was also unable to restrain him, having made a prayer, blessed him, and surrendered him to the will of God, she sent him away in peace. And he left from there to find a companion to the Holy Mount Athos: having on the way, like twenty couples; but do not worry about it, instead place all your hope in the almighty providence of God. Find a companion for yourself, a hieromonk in the name of Tryphon, agree with him, and follow the path, thanking God. No matter how many disasters from the sea and famine, how many fears from deaths, especially from the Turks, the young old man suffered, all this, as if God’s help from above, will help him endure. Both, helping God, I reached the Holy Mount Athos with joy and complacency. Here, let the word endure a little, the Dondezh River is a certain river, worthy of crying and sobbing. 27. The current plight of the Holy Mountain Our father reached the refuge of monastic dwellings; rejoicing in spirit, seeing the holy place, where, from ancient times, there was tediousness about the salvation of the soul and incessant warfare with demons, the helicopter city and the lot of the Pure Mother of God. Now this Holy Mountain, which at that time was like a paradise blooming with godlike and spiritual elders and virtuous ascetics, is no longer a heliport, but a den of disaster, and a robber’s dwelling. Thus did the enemy, the hater of all good and the destroyer of Christian salvation, the ancient sower of tares in the midst of the wheat, the God-fighter the devil: where there was the greatest shrine and reverence, where the whole world, especially the Christian birth, I have living in the mountain this pillar and confirmation of the Orthodox faith, the image of piety and salvation, reverence and all kinds of spiritual benefit, there the evil one (which began especially in 1721) tried to weed his tares against all those who had found the evil and the fear of God, poor people, who thought of being wise and first, having gone astray from the womb and become a fool, having created many temptations and rumors, pride and rebellion, and caused many to be tempted and spiritual ruin: for these sakes, says the Apostle 15, God gave them over to an unskilled mind to do inconceivable things. Even if all this happens, reverent and God-fearing men who live see it, sighing bitterly, weeping, and praying to the Lord that they may come to the knowledge of their delusion, and fierce passions, pride and vanity: knowing that God is angry with these, he will bring his righteous wrath on her, and together with them on innocent, deception for the sake of the evil one, and even more so negligence for the sake of deceived people; it will be soon. Truly, now the holy mountain stands in disgrace to the whole world, and even more so as a cry for all those who love a quiet, silent and prosperous life according to God, a true zealot of piety, a monk - humiliated, desecrated, plundered and dispersed: and simply say, dominated by the Turks. All the holy monasteries, monasteries and cells, are filled with Turks. Exactly the few who are the most courageous in soul, but already infirm in body, have left that one, like a captive serving the barbarians, enduring all the troubles and even death all the days, blessed, return the servants to Christ God in their promise, leading, as such they suffer from the barbarians for the sake of salvation. This river in short, I return to what was prophesied. 28. Paisius moves into the cell. 29. Does not find an elder Having reached, I say, Paisius and Tryphon to the holy Mount Athos and leaving the ship, they entered the holy monastery of the Monk Athanasius and left a little from the path, thanking with tears Christ God and His Most Pure Mother, as if you had made them worthy to reach her holy lot. Having departed from the Lavra to his brothers of the Slavonic language, who were staying under the monastery of Pantocrator, our father’s companion Hieromonk Tryphon became infected with a severe cold, and fell into an unhealed illness, was ill for four days, and died. Paisiy, near the brothers, moved into a single community called Katsaris. Having settled there, the hermits and desert-dwelling fathers walked around, seeking, according to their intention, some kind of spiritual father, successful in becoming a monk and skilled in the Divine and paternal writings, sitting in silence alone in silence and poverty, he could have given himself over to obedience. But you will not find such, according to the judgment of the Lord, and you will not receive the obedience desired by your soul: having assigned it to the providence of God, you sit alone. The blessed one was then 23 years old (1747). 30. New exploits of a young old man Who can confess all his exploits, when he was always one with the One God, I exist to him in kindled Devotion. What compulsion and abstinence, fasting, hunger and thirst, sighing and lamentation, and kneeling have you not endured! Don’t let go of those prayers, bitter tears and lamentations from the depths of your heart! You cannot overcome these battles against rage, lust and exaltation, which are brought against the mind of God, and the fierce, silent despondency and against other evil passions, which help God! What temptations and sufferings, illnesses and infirmities and sorrows of soul and body did not endure! Attached to this is bewilderment, hopelessness and despair of the enemy, as well as a terrible and fierce mental struggle, from demonic envy. All that young old man, clinging to Christ God with faith and love, is victorious in the Lord who strengthens him: and for the victory of Christ God, how many warm tears and thanksgivings did not pour out or bring from the bottom of my heart and from the bottom of my soul! His kneeling, psalmody and reading of the holy scriptures are insatiable - who can destroy them! His abstinence is not like this: on the second day, eat only crackers with water, except for Saturdays, weeks and holidays. His poverty and lack of wealth were immeasurable: having no lower than a bitch, it was as if only one cassock and duckweed had been torn to pieces. Both of them rejoiced over their poverty as much as they rejoiced at their wealth: and when we left, we did not close the doors of the cell, but there was nothing in it, just like books taken from the Bulgarian monasteries, and we read diligently with intense attention. The mountaineer grieved and cried, as if he had lost the great grace of God, holy obedience. Thus, our father alone, sitting as he said, labored and advanced from strength to spiritual strength, setting ascension in his hearts every day and being liquefied by Divine zeal for great feats!.. He thoroughly enjoyed the fire-bearing Divine treatment in the quietest soul-saving and joyful silence, for three years and half. Such is the suffering and feat of our father. This is the feat and battle of a true monk against the God-apostate forces of the devil, as a sinful soul that wants to be saved must overcome even blood and death and with Christ’s help. 31. Arrival of Elder Vasily and tonsure of Paisius At that time, by the sight of God, the above-mentioned elder schemamonk Father Vasily from Vlachia (he was called from a certain great person) came to the Holy Mountain, and found our father sitting in silence for those days, teaching him and revealing to him about all three orders of monastic life, about all the Christian sacraments from the Holy Scriptures. Our Father prayed with tears to the blessed old man, that he might clothe him with a mantle, and clothe him: and rename him from Plato Paisios, and become his disciple (he was then 28 years old). Having entrusted it to Christ God and the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God, the elder departed again to Vlachia, to his monastery of Merlopolyana. 32. The coming of the young monk Vissarion Therefore, three months ago, a young monk named Vissarion came to the Holy Mountain from Vlachia. Some local fathers went around this place, looking for a mentor, and did not find it. Come to our father and pray to him with tears, telling him a word about the salvation of the soul, and what kind of a mentor it is appropriate to find, and entrust your soul to him. The blessed one sighed from the heart, burst into tears and was silent for a while, praying in his mind saying: brother! Tell me about a sadder thing, so that I may renew the illness in my heart: I, with much diligence and sorrow, also sought a mentor, and did not find it, and endured much sorrow, and now I still endure it; At the same time, I sympathize with you, as I see you in immeasurable sadness, but I am afraid that you will not fall into despair: the river is not enough for the strength of my weak mind. 33. What should a true mentor be like? The salvation of the soul, about which you are asking me, otherwise it cannot conveniently be a true spiritual mentor, who himself compels himself to do all the commandments of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord, who says: whoever does and teaches, this one will be called great 16. How can you guide someone else on the path that you yourself have not walked? It is fitting for him, first of all, against all passions of the soul and body to the point of bloodshed, and with the help of Christ to overcome lust and rage, and to heal the verbal soul from madness and pride with humility and prayer: the same love of voluptuousness, and the love of glory, and the fierce love of money, the evil vipers of this world, and other all the evil passions of the soul conquer, the Lord Jesus himself was the commander of the war and the first leader of this victory, according to the saying: when Jesus was led out into the wilderness, by fasting, humility, poverty, vigil and prayer, and resistance from the divine scriptures! Repel Satan, and give the crown of victory to the head of our nature, teaching and giving us strength to defeat him. Likewise, who with all these, following their Lord with humility and love, and who receives from him the service of healing other souls and instructing in His commandments, receives from the Lord, for the sake of humility, and the strength to overcome all the spoken passions: and according to these, the grace of Christ has shone through such a gift of spirit, according to the word of the Lord: thus, he said, yes Your light will shine before men, for they may see your good deeds and glorify your father who is in heaven 17 Such a mentor and to those who learn from him the very commandments of Christ and all the virtues cannot be shown more flatteringly: more than this, these are the most restraining: humility, meekness, the poverty of Christ, long-suffering in everything, mercy more than strength, and love for God burning, and towards one's neighbor from an unfeigned heart, from which true spiritual reasoning is born: such a one will also teach to lay down his soul for all the commandments of Christ. Even all those who learn from him, seeing and hearing, following him with faith and love, can prosper with God’s help and his instruction and receive salvation. This, brother, would be fitting for us to find a mentor: but alas for our time, our God-bearing fathers foresaw its misfortune with the Holy Spirit, out of pity, as if they were their children, and revealed it all to us in their holy writings for our confirmation. For the divine Symeon the New Theologian 18 says: Redius is truly the essence, and especially now, who is good to shepherd and heal souls with words: for fasting and vigil, and the image of reverence, many people have pretended to be lazy, or they have become acquisitive in deeds, and they can speak from Persians, and they can teach many words with ease; And if you cut off passions with humility and constant weeping and tears, and possessive virtues are inevitable to acquire, much less is acquired. To confirm his word, the father cites the most ancient saints, and says: for our Divine Fathers say: although I cut off passions, I cut them off by crying, and even though I acquire virtues, I gain by crying. It is true that a monk does not cry every day, he cuts off below passion, corrects below virtue, and when a communicant is below talent; Sometimes there is, he says, virtue, and sometimes there is talent. In the same way, our God-bearing Father, the Russian luminary, Nil Sorsky, who is closest to us, having examined all this with much danger in the divine scriptures, and having seen the misfortune of these times and the current human negligence, in his preface to the book, advises the zealots, saying: it is appropriate to seek with difficulty a charmless mentor: I will not find him, he commanded us, he says, Holy Fathers, from the Divine Scriptures and God-bearing Fathers learned to hear, hearing the Lord himself, saying: try the Scriptures, and in them you will find eternal life 19. And even if this saint speaks precisely about smart work: then, more than anything else, it is about spiritual deliverance from all evil passions, and instruction on the right path of doing God’s commandments, the need to find a skillful doer and an unpretentious mentor 20 . Hence, brother, we now have an extreme need to study the Divine and Fatherly Scripture with much sorrow, and with many tears, day and night, and with the same-minded zealots, the elder fathers, consulting, to be instructed in the commandments of God, and in the works of the saints of our fathers. And so, by the grace of Christ and our compulsion, we can receive salvation. 34. Vissarion asks Paisius to be his elder. 35. Our Father shows him the royal path; their community Then the monk Vissarion, hearing all this from our father, thinks to himself: what else am I looking for? And Abi fell on Paisia's nose with tears, and prayed to the Father, so that he would accept him in obedience: The Elder wanted to hear below, so that he could be the boss of someone, since he himself wanted to be under the leadership. The same one fell down more diligently with many tears, and for three days never left begging for his acceptance. The father, seeing his brother’s humility and tears, was moved and bowed down to accept him, not as a disciple, but as a friend, to live in the middle way in two, and God grants him to understand more in the Holy Scriptures, to reveal the will of God to each other, and to strive to do the commandments of God, and to do every good thing: cut off your will and reasoning from each other, and listen to each other for the good, the soul have one and the same offer, and have everything in common to the state of one’s belly. And so, according to the order of the Holy Fathers, having established the beginning, they began to live with one accord. And the Elder will be comforted with his soul, as if by the grace of Christ he has found peace of soul, living together with a like-minded brother, cutting off for the sake of each other his will and reasoning, which the fathers judged the obedience of being. Instead of a father and mentor, I have the teaching of our Holy and God-bearing fathers. And I remain in the world deeply, striving, burning in spirit, and laying down the beginning of good every day, to advance into perfect humility and love of God and neighbor, and for each other, by fulfilling His holy commandments. 36. Students. 37. The beginning of a common life. 38. The brothers convince the elder to accept the priesthood But not for long did I enjoy such a quiet, sweet life according to God, a comforting and silent life for the soul, just four years and a little more (1754): and the other brethren of the Holy Mountain, and those who come from the world, hearing and seeing their peaceful and loving life according to God, with great jealousy, with great prayer, began to convince the Elder, to accept them into apprenticeship. He had been denying this for many years, and had not accepted the first for four years, and the first for three: the latter, through their incessant green prayer, but through their brother Vissarion, who lives with him, a truly brotherly loving being, we convince with tearful prayer, he began and reluctantly accepted one by one, trusting in the almighty providence of God for their mental and physical nurturing And in a short time the brethren of the eight Moldavian language gathered, and because they could not fit into two colonies 21, they needed to acquire St. Constantine’s cell with the church. Then the brethren began to come to the company of our father and the Slovenian language, and all twelve brethren gathered together. And honor and singing began in the Moldavian and Slovenian languages ​​in the church. Following them was the extreme need for a priest and confessor: and all the brethren, having agreed, began with their earnest and humble prayer to pray to the Elder, that he might receive the priesthood and clergy. Moreover, the one below wanted to hear this, saying: for this reason I escaped from Vlachia. But as soon as he denied it with tears, they more and more, with tears falling on his nose, praying and begging not to despise their prayers, offering him many and great blessed wines, especially this: as those who confess to us, I say, from other confessors, even from You the advice and commandments appropriate for our life are acceptable, with their advice. They corrupt, and as a result we are greatly damaged in our souls. For they are many and spiritual, or years, or young in mind: the Divine Scripture says: woe to you, the city, in which your king is young (Eccl. 10:16). Having taken this word, the Holy Fathers say: woe to the brethren, whose leader or spiritual father is young, and strong in body, and moreover, even if he is unskilled in spiritual works, who is not a partaker of the right mind and spiritual reasoning according to God, below is the diversity of passions and infirmities of the soul and body. If he had been diligent in the Commandments of Christ, he would not have been deprived according to the measure of his talents from the Lord, such as spiritual intelligence and reasoning, mercy, humility and love for God and neighbor, which are the essential, or the main and primary virtues: as St. Simeon the New Theologian also affirms about this, saying: there is no power one who seeks and interprets with all his soul, according to the word of the Lord, cannot acquire or enrich gifts. This and many other things, weeping and falling, were offered to the Blessed One, and also the honorable elder fathers of the Holy Mountain with a strong prayer admonished him not to be denied: for his knowledge is worthy and powerful with the help of God, to bring many souls to the Lord with instruction, moreover with love and humility: and for this reason I will not weaken with my advice and threat disobedience was foretold by the spiritual fathers, and I said to him: how did you teach the brethren obedience and cutting off your own will and reasoning, while you yourself disobeyed and despised the tearful prayer of so many praying people and us? Don't you consider what disobedience gave birth to? Then the elder, seeing himself in such inevitable oppression from everywhere, reluctantly obeyed, and said with tears: God’s will be done. And he was ordained a priest, and made a confessor: and there was great joy to all his spiritual children. 39. Foundation of a monastery in the name of the Prophet Elijah. 40. Multiplication of the Brethren Therefore, when the Lord has multiplied the brethren, and there is no room in the church and in the cells of St. Constantine, then our Father will hold a council with the brothers, and ask for the dilapidated and idle cell of the Holy Prophet Elijah, also the monastery of Pantocrator, and also a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim, who was staying in the same monastery at that time. And she began from the foundation to build a monastery in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah, and created a church, a meal, a bakery, a cookhouse, a hostess, and sixty cells: the Elder had the intention not to receive more than fifty brethren, for this reason he created cells for that number. And they all settled into the monastery with joy, thanking and glorifying God, as if from the middle path they were favored to live a common life. Then our father arranged the church rule more ceremoniously according to the order of the Holy Mountain, and divided the brethren into two languages, Slovenian and Moldavian. I also hope that through such work I will calm down, but I am still in great decline. Many brethren and the Holy Mountains, and new arrivals, having seen such deanery inside the church, there is, in singing and reading, humility, quietness and reverence, and all the brethren stand in the church with the fear of God and reverence, priests and ecclesiarchs, self-needed word and service, performed with reverence and quietness, but outside the church in general obedience handicraft with humility and silence, and between the brethren there is always peace from the heart, love and cutting off one’s own will, reverent obedience to the elder with faith and love, even the elder to his spiritual children, fatherly mercy, in services prudent determination, in spiritual weaknesses, and in all bodily needs, compassion and love for everyone, unfeigned, jealous with burning zeal to partake of such a life, with his fervent prayer, and with frequent fallings of tears, I convinced him and did not want to accept them. Having no cells, out of necessity, downstairs under the cells to the stone wall there were two and three cells per cell: all of them worked together in handicrafts, and the elder himself worked with them in the days of the spoon, and in the night he wrote the books of the fathers (his whole life was in the all-night vigil, and he could not sleep for more than three hours) translating from Greek to Slovenian language. With the help of God, I soon learned not just simple Greek, but also Hellenic, from my common brother, named Macarius, who knew that language well, and at the beginning, under his guidance, became a leader. There was a rumor of good things about him throughout the Holy Mountain, and Paisius had everyone in honor and love: I was amazed at the many gifts of God in him, and glorified God. And he was a great father confessor to many there, just like the above-mentioned His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim himself: he often visited him, sometimes for weakness on a donkey, sometimes on foot coming to the monastery, which was at a distance from the monastery like a half-hour procession, and in sweetness about spiritual and soul-saving wines, and about faith, and about spiritual reason, oh courageous feat, and the gifts of the mentor, according to the mind and teaching of the God-bearing fathers, we talked and consoled our souls, burning in spirit to imitate their faith. It was not only this summer that His Holiness the Patriarch and the superior fathers of the monastery of Pantocrator, out of their love for the elder, prayed for him a week, or on some small holiday, to come to the monastery and serve the Divine Liturgy himself with the Deacon of the Monastery in the great church. And there, serving in Greek, slowly and reverently with the fear of God, constantly wet your cheeks with tears: you will never be able to serve the Holy Liturgy without tears in your entire life. His Holiness the Patriarch, standing with tears, shouted: “Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to thee.” And those standing in Altar, seeing him, so prostrate to God, and like a changed and weeping, barely able to utter exclamations, only moved and wept, as if no one else could stand in Altar with tears for the sake of, I flowed out, and marveled at the grace of God, glorifying God. In the Holy Mountain there was a certain old man, older than our father, living in the monastery of Kapsokalive with his disciples, named Afanasy Moldovan. This is moved by the advice of the evil one to envy: seeing the glory of Paisius, begin to sow slander in the ears of many, not just calling him a flatterer and a charmer, but also a heretic: also the Holy Mental Prayer, which our Father taught to the brethren, blaspheming. Paisiy, hearing all this, and even not hearing, was patient. Athanasius was kindled with unbearable envy by writing to him and sending a scripture, which at first had the form of friendly instruction, also containing many blasphemies, reproaches, and much unjust wisdom: our Father considered the reception of all the good, and went to his confessor, announced it and read it. The same with the confessor, he went to the other oldest confessor of the cathedral, who, having examined all the scriptures, was offended, and commanded to write a response to Paisia, exposing his delusion and wrong wisdom: and if he did not repent and ask for forgiveness, they conferred at the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain to expose him. Do to the blessed one as the Spiritual Fathers commanded him, and having exposed his simplicity with fourteen chapters, in them also reveal his error and refute the blasphemy and slander sent to him by those chapters. He read it, recognizing my sin, having matured, repenting, and coming asking for forgiveness. Paisiy, with joy, forgive him, and having talked with him in a friendly manner, with love, revealed to him the will of God about his life with his brethren, and let him go in peace. 43. Temporary relocation to the Simopetra monastery and return to the monastery While Paisia ​​is staying in his monastery, the brethren are multiplying day by day: more than fifty have already gathered, and in no way can there be more than accepting, with tearful and green prayer, those who are cold to him to accept them into obedience. What else are you not offering? What didn’t you say, and the cramped conditions in the cells, and the labor in obedience, and the need for bodily needs, and putting poverty in their eyes in everything? But as he meekly sent them away, more and more, he fell at his feet, weeping and weeping, beseeching him more and more to receive them. I am convinced by their tears that a merciful father, filled with love for his neighbor, was entrusted to the almighty providence of God for their spiritual and physical care, as he had said before. The many honorable fathers advised him to take the monastery of the word Simopeter, but he was idle (he was in debt): our father offered his petition to the Cathedral of the Holy Mountain, and abiy was given him a blessing. So half the brethren moved into the monastery, hearing little about His duty: but they stayed there for exactly three months; Having heard that the Turkish moneylenders had gathered a council of monks in the monastery, they came to demand the debt, and took seven hundred leva from the innocent by force: the elder, being afraid of the other creditors, returned back to the monastery. 44. Tightness; intention to move to Vlachia While staying in the monastery, and seeing the great oppression and sorrow of the brethren, he was contrite and grieving with a great soul, considering the difficulty of the place and the ultimate inconvenience of such a unanimous council of hostelry to the Holy Mountain, and in vain as if it were not to strengthen hope. Having already created the council, they began to prepare to go to Vlachia, to the Muntyan land. Having heard about the seven, His Holiness Patriarch Seraphim, and other spiritual fathers of the Holy Mountain, greatly regretted his departure, and came to him in the monastery, admonished him a lot, and prayed a lot for him not to leave the Holy Mountain. But when they recognized their extreme need, and the cathedral experienced such oppression, and the sadness of our father, they said: God’s will be done. And the elder fell on the nose of the most holy Patriarch, kissing him with many tears, and asking for the last blessing: likewise the most holy Patriarch wept, and blessed him with many regrets, embracing and kissing his head, and lamenting his departure to the monastery. The elder said goodbye to all the spiritual fathers, and asked everyone for prayer for the path and blessing. 45. Departure of Paisius with the brethren to Vlachia. 46. ​​Granted to him the monastery of Drogomirna in Moldavia And when you were ready, two ships were hired, and into one came the whole Slovenian language, and into the other, Father Vissarion and the Moldavian language. Then all the brothers were sixty and four, and sailing with the help of God to Constantinople, and from Constantinople even to Galati safely: and walking onto land, they came to Vlachia to a monastery called Varzareshta. Having not found a place in that land, Paisius came to Iasi, and was quickly received from Metropolitan Cyrus Gabriel, and the pious Lord Gregory Callimachus, the governor, with love: and gave him the Monastery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, called Dragomirna, with all its origins. The pious governor and with a letter confirm from all tributes that the Monastery of his brotherhood should be free: and His Eminence Metropolitan begged the Bishop of Radoutz to entrust the monastery to Paisius with all love and due honor. And our father settled there with the whole congregation of brethren, thanking and glorifying God, with joyful tears, about his incomprehensible destinies and endless mercy, as if he had bowed the hearts of all to love and mercy for them strange. 47. Father Alexy. 48. Paisius' tonsure into the schema A short time later, when he came there to visit Paisius and the brethren, from the land of Vlachia from the monastery of Merlopolyana, his dearest friend was also a former hieromonk in the schools, Father Alexy, also a student of Elder Vasily. And I stayed in the Dragomirna monastery all winter, being held by the love of our father: I often enjoyed spiritual conversations. And our father wished that Father Alexy and the schema would clothe him, like the only elder who became a best disciple. Either way, don’t change his name, but since he was named from the elder Vasily in the mantle of Paisius, leave him in the schema. I will bring unspeakable joy to the entire cathedral. On the bright feast of the Resurrection of Christ, I departed for him, our father and the whole cathedral accompanied him with great love and reverence. This Alexy, after the elder father Vasily and Theodosius, was an elder in the monastery of Merlopolyan. 49. Renewal of the common life according to the charter of the Holy Mount Athos Therefore, our blessed father, having rested a little from labor, began to renew and establish the order of his common life, according to the charter of our God-bearing father Basil the Great, and Theodosius the Great and Theodore the Studite, the leaders of common lives, who learned from him. It is not as if this rite did not begin, but it began in the Holy Mountain and was preserved: after the resettlement, it began anew, and was confirmed by renewal. And first in the church, establish the rite of the Holy Mountain, according to the charter of the Orthodox Catholic Eastern Church, as it was before. The singing on the right side is Slovenian, and on the left in the Moldavian language determine to be. Secondly, no one from the brethren in any way dares to call something from things mine or yours, but everything is sent from God in common, firmly bequeathing to keep the rules of the community. The needy is given to everyone from the elder. The meal is common to everyone, except for the sick and the very elderly and injured. Inside the monastery, obediences, in the cookery, bakery, etc., are performed by the brothers themselves. Let the brethren do various kinds of handicrafts that are necessary for the common life, with the fear of God, according to their strength, and not through violence and embarrassment. In certain public services, disobedience, contradiction and self-rule, which destroy the commandments of God, may be expelled from the soul of every brother: but obedience, humility, patience and peace, love and fear of God: and above all these, the all-perfect cutting off of one’s own will and one’s reasoning, let this take precedence and reign in our cathedral. In general obedience, silence in the mouth, but secret prayer in the mind, let it be active and preserved. And the elder himself often went out with his brethren to common obedience, and worked together with everyone with all humility, silence and prayer, I showed everyone the image of humility and love and said: brethren, let no one be idle, except for extreme weakness and old age, for from idleness all evil is born. In the cells alone, the reading of the God-bearing Fathers, and prayer with the mind in the heart is more artistic according to the pre-succession of each one, and bowing with strength may be frequent with tears. Confession of thoughts from everyone, especially from beginners, should be done every evening to the spiritual fathers. For confession is the basis of true repentance and forgiveness of sins, and the hope of salvation for a soul that truly repents with sorrow for sins. If some confusion were to happen between the brethren, then on that same day let there be true reconciliation, according to the scripture: let not the sun go down on your anger. If someone becomes hardened and does not want to reconcile, he is excommunicated, and he does not enter into church prayers, and the prayer, Our Father, does not honor, Dondezhe will humble himself. We determined and sent such brethren to external obedience, so that some kind of worldly temptation could not arise from them, lower than harm to their souls. If something inevitably followed, forcing one to transgress the commandment for the sake of the deed, you commanded that it should be abandoned: without, saying, let that deed perish, rather than despise the commandment of God and fall into eternal condemnation. All together say: in the cathedral, inside and outside, in all obediences, our Father is always diligent, may there be peace and God-centered love, reverence and fear of God, humility and obedience in all the brethren, with the all-perfect cutting off one’s own will and one’s own reasoning before the elder and before each other. Thus, the Father distributed all the other rites according to the charter of St. Basil the Great and other God-bearing ones in his cathedral, and established inviolably preserved existence: for those who have committed crimes with spiritual canons, threatening, sealing, pouring out his fatherly mercy on all his spiritual children, embracing everyone with unfeigned love and warming and teaching, and obedience is prudent and determining each according to their strength, and being complacent, they pass with diligence. He commanded his beloved brother Honorius, who partly teaches the art of healing, to heal the sick and the infirm and the elderly in the hospital and to reassure them with all possible calm, but this man was very merciful and comforting with spiritual words and in bodily needs, from his holy and diligent obedience into burning Love for God and for one’s neighbor and into the spiritual mind. In the same way, the blessed Elder of this most beloved brother over the sick, like his own eye, had: he alone and freedom for the sick for the sake of the naughty one in Startsova’s cell took care of himself, as much as he wanted. After his repose, I passed one year (1793), and was accepted into heavenly rest by the will of God. 51. Works of the Elder in the translation of fatherly books, and teachings from these brethren Also, day and night, living with the brethren of the Moldavian language, the above-mentioned Macarius and Hilarion Daskal, and other leaders of the Greek language, our Father labored in translating patristic and theological books into the Moldavian and Slovenian languages: and when all the brethren gathered from external obediences in the winter, and the post of the Nativity of Christ came; Then, starting from these translated books, the conciliar teaching was to be done from the first week of Lent, and continued until the Lazarus Saturday: on every day, except for the week and holidays, all the brethren gathered in the evening for a meal, and with the former candles lit, our father came and sat down in his usual place, reading either the book of St. Basil the Great, or St. John Climacus, or St. Dorotheus, or Saint Theodore the Studite, or Saint Simeon the Theologian, or the God-Bearing Father. One evening the teaching was in the Slovenian language, the next in Moldavian: and whenever the teaching was in one language or another, then the brethren honored Compline in another language. The elder created the teaching, abiy interpretation, citing evidence from the holy scriptures of both testaments and from the God-bearing father of the teaching, and said this: Brothers and fathers, it is fitting for us to take care of the broken-hearted, as the Divine Fathers say: for John of the Climacus says: Step. 7. If we go through a great life, but we do not acquire a painful heart, then it is feigned and vain. And Gregory of Sinaite says: heart disease, and humility, and the work of obedience, according to the strength of each one, with the rightness of the heart, do the work of truth. And again the same: every activity, physical and spiritual, without the labor of the heart, never bears fruit for those who pass by: because the Kingdom of God is necessary, and the needy delight it, says the Lord. For many years they have not been doing painless work, or they are doing it, and they are not trying to do the works of repentance with the burning zeal of the heart, for the sake of purity and not being involved in the Holy Spirit. And again: in negligence, sickness and laziness and weakness, those who work work so little, as if they think, a lot: but they do not embrace any fruits: even though they are not painfully moving, from despondency they argue in useless care, and are darkened. And Symeon the New Theologian, part 2 of the Greek book, word 8, says: for this reason I say, for Christ’s passion was repentance, and tears, humility, and obedience and patience, and even more so through poverty and suffering, without imitating reproach and reproach, and not having been a partaker of His reproachful death, below His spiritual resurrection are the participants here. there are times when they accept the grace of the Holy Spirit; For what other deeds shall we glorify ourselves with Him? The Divine Paul says: if we suffer with Him, then we will be glorified with Him, but if His suffering, which He endured for us, we are ashamed to imitate, and lives in us, not wanting to suffer, which is the earthly wisdom of the flesh: it is obvious that we will be lower than His glory as partakers. Without repentance and tears, like a river, below one of these, in us ourselves, nor in some others, when, or will be. In the same place, word 32: Below, from the Divine Scriptures, someone will prove this, that without tears and constant tenderness it is possible to be cleansed from passions, and that someone from a person either became holy, or received the Holy Spirit, or saw God, or entered into the knowledge of him, or did not accept Him at all when he settled in his heart, I will not precede repentance and with tenderness. This is because according to the measure of tears, sadness and repentance, the Divine fire will create tenderness. And again he says: see, lest you lose this, that you have Christ within you, and lest you depart from this life with vain hands, and then you weep and lament. 52. Foreshadowing of the ruin of the hostel from covetousness This is all our Father said to our brethren from the God-bearing Father with tears, urging them to be compelled by burning zeal to do the commandments of Christ: for all his teaching, illness and care were established on this basis; for everyone to keep the commandments of God with all their hearts and souls, lest this time given by God for repentance, waiting in negligence, be fruitless. At the end of the teaching, he always added some moral teaching about correcting the inclinations that happen among the brethren: they were terribly afraid, more than other passions, of the corruption and fall of the young, and the evil passions of the love of money. Above all, say, the love of gold and the love of material things, the root of all evil, according to the Divine Scripture: 1 Tim. Foreseeing the news about him, it was very painful for him, as if this evil passion of love of the Tatar would enter his cathedral, and if he fell in love with her zealots, he would ruin life from the very foundation, even after it came to pass. (Hedgehog: yours and mine, openly and boldly name, and have, and care for each other and feed on each other, isn’t this all-perfect destruction of the unanimous community?) For this reason, from afar, even in the monasteries of Drohomirna and Sekule, protecting the brethren, exposing the veil; and showing the way of doing the commandments of Christ, often exhorting them with tears, saying: Brothers, if you have a strong compulsion to read the books of the Fathers, and always correct and warm yourself with the teachings in them, according to the saying: my heart is warmed within me, and in my teaching the fire will flare up, and to diligently pray every day with tears before God and to compel yourself to do His holy commandments, then warm zeal and zeal will be given to you from Christ God. And let no one say that it is impossible to weep every day: let him say that it is possible to repent every day. And such people subvert that very commandment of the Lord, as the Divine Simeon the New Theologian says. Before all this, it is appropriate for you to approach the Lord with undoubted firm faith and warm love, and, according to the word of the Lord, to renounce this world completely, and all the red and sweet things in it, and your will and your reasoning, and to be poor in spirit and body: and thus, by the grace of Christ, holy zeal will be kindled in perfect souls: time and I will precede this work; as I do it, I will be given tears, weeping and some small hope for the consolation of the soul: the same hunger and thirst for righteousness, that is, kindled zeal to follow all His commandments: humility, patience, mercy and love for everyone, especially for those in spiritual distress, for the sick and for the afflicted and the elderly: which are the fruits of the Spirit, according to the Divine Apostle: and bear the infirmity of your neighbor, and lay down your soul for your brother, and endure the temptations that happen, these are insults, reproaches, reproaches, annoyances, and forgive each other with all your soul all griefs and insults, and love your enemies, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who create misfortunes for you, which are the supreme commandments of Christ: for all this, you have the courage to endure both bodily and manifold temptations: infirmities, illnesses, wounds, and fierce and bitter temporary suffering, eternal for the salvation of your soul with thanksgiving. And thus you will achieve perfection in your husband, to the extent of your spiritual age, the fulfillment of Christ. And if you remain in such distress, then this cathedral will stand, until the Lord delights in it. When you move away from attention and reading the books of your fathers, you will fall from the peace of Christ and love, that is, from doing the commandments of Christ, and rebellion, rumors and disorder, mental confusion, hesitation and hopelessness will enter into you, and murmuring and condemnation against each other: and for the increase of these, the love of many will dry up, but of few and not all: and even if these things are so Soon this cathedral will also go bankrupt, first spiritually, but in time also physically. 53. The leadership gifts of the Elder, and fatherly care for the brethren With these and many similar words, our father from afar, as he spoke, protecting everyone with tears, small and great, begging you to exhort you to live a quiet, peaceful, and loving life according to the commandments of Christ, firmly with all your soul. I have the same gift for being able to stir up even the most sad words to jealousy, and to console the sad. And if you are not able to reconcile a greatly troubled and sorrowing soul with a word, you assure him, exhort him with tears, and console him, saying that the Lord rejoices at his repentance, and assure him to have firm hope in the mercy of Christ: and you console him in need with an abundant gift. And wherever necessary, you reproach, forbid, pray, excommunicate, endure long-suffering, and according to many of these creations, send away those who are not healed. The only thing that is hardened, self-willed and depraved is forbidden with the rebuke of the wrath of God, as we have briefly spoken about this before: and when Dondezh appears, like some judge is cruel and angry at him, he will humble himself and repent, and then console him, punishing him and teaching him to correct himself with love and tears: and without leaving him, no one is healed. About my anger, I asked my only spiritual brother in private and said to him: and if I reproach you with anger, then the Lord will give you the same anger: for I need to be against your desire to be with you every time, in front of others I will appear to have anger, but I will never show it by the grace of Christ: before others, cry, so that I will benefit both of you, according to the apostle, with your right hands. and shuimi: do not stir up the passions of anger. Similarity in his moral teaching, giving us loving boldness towards him, often saying this: I, brethren, do not want this, but who fears me, like some terrible ruler, but may you love me like a father, just as I love you in the Lord, like my spiritual children. The reasoning of this spiritual shepherd, and the rank in his cathedral is great, as if every spiritual father informs him about every brother whom he cannot pacify himself; and about the guilt of his embarrassment: the guilt of sorrows happens, like a man, this: contradictions to each other, reproaches and annoyances, and the like. And whenever a mournful brother enters the elder’s cell, he already understands what to do, and soon giving him a blessing and prefacing it, he himself begins a continuous conversation with him, not allowing the brother to say: and with your sweetest and most comforting words, you have taken his mind away from sorrow. In our conversation, while discussing, we examined his brother’s personality and disposition, his intelligence and obedience. To the most reasonable, it is customary to cite a certain lofty verb, including the interpretation of it from the God-bearing Fathers: in addition, he added something more lofty, and greatly surprised and consoled him spiritually, as if to impute to him all this world, glory, joy and sorrow, into abomination and a dream from that spiritual joy. To the simplest, either from the arts, or from holy obedience, you brought a certain wondrous word, and delighted his mind from sorrow in it, and consoled him again and this only, as if to reproach himself and his sorrow, for its sake he came, from the joy of spiritual words of his: the same brother came inside himself, if this, if he saw his soul of peace and spiritual joy filled, the former confusion and sorrow disappeared like smoke from the wind, for whom we remember nothing, but receive the blessing, rejoicing as we depart, thanking God. O Divine wisdom and love of this blessed father! He calls on his brother, not to reproach him or reproach him, not to forbid him, but to comfort him and pacify him with his heart and soul. How can I utter his sweet speech? Every day we were all ready to stand before him relentlessly, so that we could enjoy his bright sight and his sweet words. In the same way, all the brethren, small and great, entered into a world of deep love and joy more spiritually: and I always did not close the door until the ninth hour, because I came for bodily needs, but friends for spiritual ones, and wept with others, having consoled him, rejoicing with others, as if never having had any sorrow. As a child, he was a kindly old man, without the dispensation of his soul, and a truly passionless and holy man. I haven’t seen him when I’m grieving over something material, even if something great happened to perish. Just then, he grieves, whenever he sees a certain brother transgressing the commandment of God in anything, and even more so by will: and for one smallest commandment of the Lord he laid down his soul, in the verb: let our everything be ruined, let our cause perish, and let us keep the commandments of God, and them for the sake of our soul. Many times our father told us this, as when I see my spiritual children striving and being forced to keep the commandments of God, and cutting off their will, and not believing their own reasoning, and walking with the fear of God, and with humility undergoing holy obedience, I have such an inexpressible spiritual joy in my soul, as below in the kingdom of heaven there is great joy. I wish to have. If I see some who are negligent about God’s commandments and keep their own will, and believe in their own reasoning, and walk without the fear of God, and despise holy obedience, out of self-indulgence and self-indulgence, embraced by laziness and grumbling, then such sadness overwhelms my soul, as if there could be no more in hell, until I see them truly repentant. And the brethren began from the teachings of their father, and from reading the writings of the God-bearing Father, to warm up and grow in the love of God, and in the patience of Jesus Christ, even if not in the same measure, all this is possible below. But from them, who were the greatest in number, they succeeded in the great love of God and neighbor, and put to death their will and reasoning to the end by obedience and humility, as if to impute to them the dust and dust, and the footstool of all the brethren of being, more than the most wretched of all creation: continually for themselves before God in the secret of their hearts reproachfully, I endured reproach, dishonor, reproach, and annoyance and every kind of temptation, with great joy and thanksgiving to God: and since this grace of God is imputed, I always desire these. Ovii, however, are not small in number, falling in rebellion, sinning, and repenting, enduring this reproach, reproach, temptation, even with difficulty and sorrow, both with all my soul, forcing myself to be the first to comprehend, and for this I earnestly and with tears constantly pray to God. Ovii, not many in number, are weak and weak in soul, like babies, who are not yet able to take solid food, that is, endure reproaches and reproaches, who still require smallness and love for humanity and indulgence in their weaknesses to raise milk, until they reach the age of spiritual patience: only the good ones by willfulness and constant self-reproach, filling their poverty many times and beyond their strength, being forced to endure reproaches and reproaches, and abandon their will, great work and then pour out sweat for this, like blood, before God, and constantly pray to God for their help. Such people, even the weakest ones, and even those in need of the Kingdom of Heaven, will be counted before God. Until here from the message. I force myself to keep the commandments of Christ our God, and the God-bearing Father’s teachings, even if not to the same extent as was said. For now, doing the secret commandments heals, says Saint Isaac, the strength of the soul, and this doing is not simple, and does not seem to have happened; It is written that without the shedding of blood there is no abandonment. The blessed elder rejoiced, seeing his spiritual children struggling so diligently, thanking and glorifying God with tears, praying to strengthen them for greater feats with his grace, and constantly teaching us to raise us to greater zeal, saying: children, do not lose heart, I will earnestly buy. Now is the time favorable, now is the day of salvation, says the apostle. And then you would not see monastic life in the Drohomirna monastery, like a new miracle, or a God-planted earthly paradise. Human beings live in existence, and for the sake of the love of God, having cut off their will, by their own will and all their senses they were dead to this measure, that is, like blind, dumb and deaf. How can I subtly express their secret work, except in part: crushing, I say, hearts, deep humility, fear of God and reverence, attention and silence of thought, and ever-moving prayer in the hearts, with ineffable love burning for Christ God and our neighbor, as many from them, not just alone in the cell, but also in the church and in the congregation at obedience, and in spiritual conversation, constantly shed tears: even they express the fruit of the Spirit, this is faith, meekness and the love of their hearts for the Lord. In defiance, Saint Isaac says: “The assembly of the humble is beloved from the Lord, like the assembly of the Seraphim.” In the midst of this peaceful stay for us in the Dragomirna monastery, there was sadness for the blessed elder and the entire cathedral: his unanimous first friend Vissarion, with God's favor, departed to the Lord: for this our father and the whole cathedral wept bitterly. And the elder instituted every summer to celebrate his memory, that is, a cathedral requiem, and for the whole cathedral to celebrate a bright meal, even until the death of the elder. Such was the reverent and holy meeting in the Dragomirna monastery: in it, through many labors and tears, our father renewed the ancient monastic rite with unanimous consent. Having gathered many souls into unanimity and like-mindedness through God's vision, and having bound them with the love of God and the humility of Christ, you set yourself first in everything in the image of all, and established the common life of being that has all the likeness of the common lives of the holy fathers. And we are forced, as far as possible beyond our weakness, to follow and imitate them, and keep their rites and statutes in these poor times, worthy of tears and sobs. 55. Turkish war. 56. The entry of part of Moldavia with the Dragomirna monastery under Roman possession Thus, for us who are in the Dragomirna monastery and in the world deeply enjoying spiritual salvation, this terrible storm and mortal fear have arisen. The two empires of Russia and Turkey rose up against each other in a fury (1768). This happens, with God's permission, and I find another destruction and fear of death: pestilence, but also the surface (1771). Even with these bitter troubles, mercy for the sake of Christ soon passed, and the six-year battle passed, there was peace between Russia and the Ottoman Porte (1774). And when the Russian army left Moldova for its fatherland, the Roman Empress began to demand from the Tsar of Turkey the parts of the land of Moldova promised to her, and the Germans took the Dragomirna monastery under their power. Then our Father shed many tears: weeping bitterly over the ruin of the spiritual brethren, and again lamenting that the monastery remained under the possession of the papists, but with them the spiritual world of the Eastern Church could never be. Likewise, the brethren also grieved greatly and wept bitterly. 57. General lamentation and calling of Paisius to Sekul. 58. Moving to the Sekul Monastery And as little as our father ceased from weeping and sorrow, he consoled his brethren with hope in God: behold, a scripture came to him from the Abbot of Sekul, and a loving title from the entire cathedral: the elder rejoiced and glorified God, and placing all his sorrow on the Most High, he wrote to the pious Lord Gregory Ghika and to the Metropolitan of the scripture, complaining, as if under the papists cannot remain, and asking for mercy, if only the monastery of the Beheading of the Venerable Head of St. John the Baptist, called Sekul, were given to him; Attach also the scripture from Abbot Sekulsky. They greatly regretted the elder and the council of the brethren, giving him the monastery he asked for, and confirming it with a letter. Our father received the letter, began to worry about the transition, and commanded the brethren to prepare and go to the 23 monastic monasteries standing on the way: then all the brethren in the cathedral were three hundred and fifty, with novices not yet tonsured. Leave there not a small part of the brethren, and two confessors, Dondezh will hand over the monastery from their hands, as befits: and he himself went to church, and there, crying and sobbing, he prayed to the Lord with bitter tears, as if he were already being separated forever from the monastery: may he give peace and blessing to all the remaining brethren who weep, consoling them with his speedy coming to him, and departed from church and monastery, walking the path, and arriving there, where the brethren were gathering. The assembled brethren rose from there and came to the Sekul monastery, thanking God with tears, and settled there in 1773. The monastery of Sekul is located in a narrow place, on both sides of the country the mountains are high, filled with forest, on a small expanse, near a stream of water that is very small, like that mountain at the bottom: the same and the arrival to the monastery is very rocky and difficult, for the sake of the stream, part of one and another country flows with all its desire, especially when it is always flooded from the rains. But the place was quiet and silent, the monk most zealous for God: the elder and the brethren rejoiced greatly over him, and from sorrow, even for Dragomirna, they were comforted, and with tears they thanked God, willingly enduring all other needs and inconveniences for the sake of silence and silence. And our father established in Sekul all the rites of common life according to the order, as in the Dragomirne monastery. And every winter, calling everyone to a meal, learning from the Divine and Fatherly scriptures about doing the commandments of God, about obedience and humility and the passion of God and about all God-pleasing deeds and labors. Thus the elder labors for us, and the brethren, little by little, began to come to the dispensation of Dragomirna with his instruction, striving and prospering through the Grace of Christ and the prayers of the Father: rejoicing and thanking God with tears, as if by his desire he had been granted a quiet and silent place, and below a single thought they should seek other monasteries, the most joyful and spacious, but rejoicing more over the silence and crampedness, for the sake of Christ from your youth you loved it and got used to it. In the same way, teach us about these things and exhort us to endure all sorrowful love for the sake of God courageously and gratefully. 59. Crowded living conditions in Sekule, petition to the governor for the grant of a spacious monastery. 60. The command to go to Neamets. 61. The Elder’s inconsolable sadness about this Moreover, we convince the brethren with their needs, the poverty of food and the cramped conditions of their cells, and the spiritual fathers with prayerful advice, writing a petition to Prince Konstantin Muruz, as they are in extreme need for their cells. Pious prince, having accepted the petition, ask your Senate, what is the Monastery of Sekul, where Elder Paisios and his brethren reside? Then one of the leading Senators, who had previously been in the Monastery of Sekule, and knew all the good, answered: The Monastery of Sekule is cramped, and the church is small: it was not created for the sake of a council of the brethren, and stands in a difficult place: for the path to it is rocky and very cruel, and inconvenient for prequesing the needs of life from outside. The Christ-loving Prince addressed the Senators with condolences: is there such a Monastery in our country in which this Elder Paisius could be laid to rest? They answered: in our entire country there is no church greater in space and grandeur, and more convenient for arrival, than the Neamtsa Monastery, which is two hours away from Sekul. Then the prince rejoiced and wrote to the Elder, commanding him to go to the Neamets Monastery, without any reasoning, without looking at anyone. When the scripture came to Paisius, and he saw an unexpected command in it, his soul was greatly troubled, the world disappeared, immeasurable sorrow surrounded his soul, shedding bitter tears inconsolably to the point of exhaustion, and wondering what to do. The brethren were greatly troubled, and especially the spiritual Fathers, who were true zealots for God, loving the quiet and humble monastic life, and painfully desiring prosperity for the souls of the brethren, who labored a lot about it: these alone shared sorrow with their father for the ruin of their souls. What then? The great sorrow and sorrow that our father had not had since his birth multiplied, weeping bitterly and sobbing painfully inconsolably, as if foreseeing the ruin and destruction of the spiritual dispensation of the brethren: for this reason, as if the common teaching of the brethren had been abolished, which he did to everyone who gathered for a meal, but since it would be impossible for everyone to gather, for They will be separated, just as they will be guests of the world, great persons, and it will be impossible to prevent them from coming to listen for the sake of hearing and his moral teaching will be preserved, which is always attached at the end of the teaching about the correction of the inclinations that occur in the brethren, about which it is appropriate in the midst of the council of those who sin, according to the scripture, to reprove, without showing their faces, frightening them with the wrath of God, yes those who have sinned will be put to shame, and those who are afraid will correct themselves, but those who disobey will receive greater protection and danger: and the mountaineer grieves for these, and weeps incessantly day and night. 62. The lamentation of the Neamets brethren, and their complaint to Paisius And when she was preparing to write a prayerful renunciation to the prince, the head of it came from the Neamtsa Monastery to the Elder, and began with many tears with a diligent prayer and a humble request to pray to him, not to offend them, and not to ruin their lives in old age, let us not, in saying, cry at you to death: and our father is barely able endure with pity, listening to these words, which hurt his holy soul, God-loving and brotherly-loving indeed, meek and peace for all, and I wish for benefit and salvation. He also answered to them, weeping bitterly before them, and saying with tears: you see, holy fathers, showing them the scripture from the Prince: behold, this is the guilt of confusion and sorrow of ours and yours: but may Christ the Lord inform you, that this was never in my mind to create such lawlessness and violence, and to sadden your souls, and to fall into eternal condemnation for breaking the commandment God's You yourself know that we are not holding Sekul because of our violence, but the abbot of blessed memory, Father Niphon, who was in it, seeing our confusion under the papists, he himself called us out of his love for us, as he himself wished to be with us, and ended his life here piously. Then we write to the authorities with loving consent and receive what we ask for. And the verb to them: how could I dare to commit such an atrocity? With what face would I look upon your holy faces, my conscience, my judge and accuser of offenses to my neighbor? How could I come to the Throne of God to partake of the terrible and Divine mysteries, even though they were crying and crying out to the Lord for my violence? Don’t wake up, don’t wake up, but also write to the imam to the Prince, and ask and pray with tears to leave us and you to remain peacefully in your abodes: for we are imams with deep peace here by the grace of God. (In the manuscript for the Brez: O cruelty to me! The slaughters are crying out and sighing against us!) 65. Negative petition to the governor. 64. Confirmation of the command to go to Neamets With these and other numerous words of the boss Nyametstia, having reconciled, he departed. Our blessed father wrote a very lamentable prayer to the prince: do not use such tender and placating words! You can’t imagine such blessed wines! What petitions and lamentable prayers from the entire council of brethren for the renunciation of the Neamtsa Monastery and for thanksgiving to God for the silent and quiet stay in the Sekule Monastery, did you not bring in this scripture? Also about the spiritual harm that the brethren had to follow, and about the destruction of their silence and silence, and about other, many such guilts that had to be, express all with humility and tears. Thus, having written to the ambassador with a request from the first Confessor of the Moldavian language, the reverent Irinarch, he taught both the Greek language and the other with him: and awaited an answer in the hope of receiving what he asked. When the message with the scripture arrived to the Prince, and I read this scripture, I began to proclaim everything in detail in detail, and with tears, falling at his feet, representing many spiritually harmful guilts, I begged him to leave the elder and the brethren in Sekula without embarrassment and without harm. But there is no way to beg the man: he commanded to write a scripture to the Elder, in which he added this with his own hand to other words: create obedience, go to Nyamets, reasoning about nothing. And having approved it with a signature and a seal, he gave it as a confessor, and sent them away in peace. Having returned with the message from the Prince, and when our father read it, he saw it written with the command: do obedience, go to Nyamets; Then he wept bitterly, and did not know what to do, and his immense sadness multiplied and enveloped his soul, as if he could neither eat nor drink, he could not sleep, foreseeing the completely final ruin of the souls of the brethren, and he was completely exhausted in body. We are all running in fear and sorrow and confusion to the great one, so that the great one does not die from immeasurable sadness, (if here others and otherwise wrote, that is, as if the elder would have accepted the Nyamets monastery without a bit of sadness: but not realizing the goodness of the one who was then, she wrote like this. To me (Mitrofan), the witness of all these who was, truly it is known that everything was as it was, as I say here). The elder confessors and brethren also gathered and went to him, being sick, and began to pray to him with tears to leave such immeasurable sadness and be strengthened with food. And she said to him: what good is it for us, if you die untimely, we will remain orphans without you: then what should imams do? He, like a prudent husband, seeing his spiritual children so painfully sick, crying and embarrassed, and seeing the great misery of his death more than any of their ruin, kept silent for a little, and raised the eye of his mind to the Lord, sighed heavily, wept bitterly, and said: we are cramped, brothers, from everywhere. Having also risen from his bed and stood up, having made the sign of the cross, he bowed to the icon of the Most Pure Mother of God and said: God’s will be done! We go and don’t want to. Strengthen yourself with little food, but you can’t sleep: and having called three confessors and several brethren, he sent an ambassador to the Nyamets monastery, and gave them a scripture from the prince, so that it would be read there, and they would prepare a cell for him and the rest of the most needy priests and singers: having done so, the brethren, as they were commanded, returned. Then the elder distributed the brethren, who should go with him to Nyamets, and who would remain in Sekule: appoint a single confessor there for the administration, the name of Hilarion: and entering the church, prayed to the Lord with tears, kissing the holy icons, and gave a blessing to all those who remained crying, comforting them, saying: Yes, everyone is not forbidden in all sorrow and spiritual and physical need comes to me (it’s almost two hours on the way from Bakhu to Neamets). And weeping bitterly, he left the church, setting out on his way, and because of his extreme old age and infirmity, he used only one horse for necessary service: he abhorred all love of glory even to the point of death. We are like bees, surrounding his single-horse chariot, walking on foot little by little enjoying his spiritual conversations: Ovi seeing off, Ovi walking with him, and arriving at the Neamets Monastery, on the very eve of the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1779. Having entered the church there, I said: it is worthy to eat, our father bowed to the icons of the saints, and came to the icon of the Miracle-Working Most Holy Theotokos, and wept a lot, entrusting himself and the brethren to its intercession and preservation, its protection and nourishment: and placing all hope in everything according to God on it, with tears on his forehead. Having also left the church, I came to my cell, and there was little sleep: I was unable to sleep because of much sadness, having already passed five days and nights without sleep. Having arrived at the vigil, even with great difficulty, for the sake of illness and weakness, I came to church and sat listening to the divine singing, praying to the Most Pure Mother of God, if only I could fall asleep. As Vespers ended and Matins began, a dream began to come to him: he left the church, went into his cell, and soon lay down, fell asleep and slept for three hours: and when I woke up from sleep, I felt a relief in my head, and a small certain health in my body, and all my sadness had gone away. Bring thanksgiving with tears to Christ God and His Most Pure Mother of God. 66. Acceptance of Neamtsa Monastery According to the liturgy, our father convened the former leaders of the Nyametskys, and talked with them privately, promising to put them to death in everything, and not to force their will. Receive from their hands the same thing that they themselves gave to him, without testing them at all about anything. And so, having been deeply reconciled, and after a few flights, he accepted the schema, and having lived a pious life, he reposed in the Lord. Not many, just from the brothers who were there before, who departed from there, the rest joined the cathedral, and from the two the cathedral became one, and peace of mind was established. Then the elder wrote to the Prince about the acceptance of the Neamtsa Monastery, and about the reconciliation of its cathedral into one, and to inform him of the extreme need of their cells. And when the scripture was read to the Prince, the Prince rejoiced greatly, and ordered to write a letter and approve it with the handwritten signatures of the Prince, the Metropolitan and the Senate. I wrote from myself to the Elder, thanking him for his obedience, and promising to help in the cells and in all other needs, and gave the writing with a letter to the sent brethren. 67. Latest works of Paisius Having received the letter and scripture from the Prince, our father began to manage both monasteries according to God-given prudence, love and meekness, and devoted his labors to him. Set up in Neamtsa, by the grace of the Prince, hospitals and other needy cells: for the sake of his cathedral and wandering monastics, old age, lameness, blindness and weakness, where the poor bow their heads, the parishioners come to him, weeping and sobbing, begging him for Christ to do mercy on them. The elder sent them to the hospital, and ordered brother Honorius, about whom we spoke above, to take all care, peace and care for them: he commanded the servants, like serving the Lord himself, to wash the sap and heads of the head, clothes, beds and beds from everything on all Saturdays, and especially to cleanse them of fleas. In the summer, often stretch out your clothes in the sun and wind; maintain every cleanliness inside the hospital, and smoke incense or other healthy incense every day, so that the air does not become heavy; prepare the most pleasant food, as well as bread and wine. And be grateful to everyone, and glorify God with tears, and always thank the Elder for his mercy and care for them. The monks who came to wander also stayed in the hospital, as long as they wanted, a week, two and a month: and no one ever spoke to them and said one word: why are you sitting idle. And I prayed to the Father to bless them and winter them, and bless them: and to those who do not have clothes and honey, give them all their needs. I will mark the end of their departure, giving them sufficient supplies for their journey, and so I will send them away in peace. Likewise, the worldly men of the sex, various ailments and those suffering from unclean spirits, the poor, where to bow their heads, Primash, and in another hospital from a common meal, feed: and that gray hair, if you want, not even to death. Then the council of brethren multiplied: in the monastery of Neamtse there were up to four hundred of them, and with the monasteries nearby, except for those in Sekule, where there were always up to a hundred brethren: from below others the elder took them from there to himself, and sent others from Neamtse there. I visited all of them there exactly in the summer, on the feast of the Beheading of the Honest Head of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, and on the holiday, as before there was no custom for him, there was a teaching from the holy scripture, and a certain moral teaching: on one evening in Slavonic, on the other in Moldavian language. As he stayed in Sekula for nine days, all the brothers, small and great, had freedom to come to him and announce all their physical and spiritual needs, and give everyone peace. And he said to the brethren: if anyone has a need from you, either spiritual or physical, and grieves and grumbles, he does not come to me and does not inform me: I am not the imam to give an answer to him about this grief before God. From the hospital, for those who were unable to come to him, through the spiritual father Dosifei, blessings were given, and help was given abundantly for all bodily needs and for the repose of everyone. This spiritual father Dositheus, just as he cared for the sick, showed mercy and condolences, and showed meekness and humility towards everyone, quietness and love, surpassed everyone in the cathedral. Often we see this compassionate father sitting over the seriously ill all night, condoling and sighing, and the sick person with hope or still healthy, or comforting salvation, and giving him considerable joy in the most painful sorrow. After the celebration of the Sekul holiday, our blessed father returned to the Neamets Monastery, bearing heavy labors in his old age, with concern and heart troubles for the salvation of the souls of all the brothers of both monasteries, and thanking the most merciful God for everything. In the Neamtse Monastery, a great church church was quickly created in honor of the Ascension of the Lord. Since ancient times, on this holiday there has been a gathering of countless people of both sexes and of every rank, that is, gentlemen and villagers, rich and poor, not exactly from Moldavia and Vlachia, but from other countries who come to worship for the sake of the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. All of them, however possible, the second Abraham, our father, with his love of hospitableness, endeavored to give them peace. Then he knew no rest for four days, having the doors open from morning to evening: and everyone, rich and poor, who wanted to come in to him, was not forbidden. Your kindness greeted all those who came, thanking them for their labors along the way, and promising them from the Lord and the Mother of God for their faith and love for her, mental and physical rewards: and blessing them, they were released to the hotel, and to other cells prepared for that purpose. Our God-wise and God-blessed father also did this at the beginning of the holiday, determining that several brethren, both years old and filled with the mind of reverent and fear of God, should supervise the weak brethren, going around day and night, so that some temptation would not occur: the brethren, knowing the will of their father, would guard each other. Having completed the holiday, I sent thanks to Christ God and His Most Pure Mother, who made them worthy to peacefully and successfully celebrate the Lord’s blessed holiday. 68. His consecration as an archimandrite Thus, for us who are in the Neamtse monastery, behold, a terrible storm and mortal fear have risen: again, the fierce battle of the three empires has risen: the cities and towns of Moldavia remain empty: the people have all fled to the mountains and forests, where anyone can hide from the fury of the Turks. When, after a short time, the German army arrived in the foothills of Moldavia and settled there: then all the people returned home. Let the Russian army enter Moldova, and Prince Potemkin and Archbishop Ambrose, who was with him, enter the city of Iasi: and the fierce fury of the Turks will disappear. This Archbishop, being in Iasi, and having heard about our blessed Father and about his council, desired to see him and his eyes. Propose this to the higher authorities, and having received permission, come to the Nyamets monastery: and the Elder received him with great honor and reverence. Having departed from the journey, and having spent two days with our Father in spiritual conversations, the Council served the Divine Liturgy a week, and promoted the Elder to Archimandrite: in the summer of 1790. I remained in the Monastery for two more days, and having given peace and blessing to everyone, rejoicing at my departure, I saw him off with great honor and love to the whole cathedral. The elder accepted, even if unwillingly, the degree of Archimandrite, not accepting at all with him the lower thought of the glory of this world, nor changing the slightest from his dispensation and humility to the pride of life, even the Divine confidant of Christ denounced: saying: love not the world, nor those in the world; If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him; For all the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the self, and the pride of life that are in the world, are not from the Father, but are of this world (1 John: 2-13). Our Father, having followed his Lord with humility and burning love for him and for his neighbor, and the observance of all His dangerous commandments, was unharmed from this degree and honor, but remained the same as he had hitherto, in deed and word and in wisdom, even to death. 69. The gradual ruin of the former life was foreseen by the Blessed One According to all those who stayed in the Neamtse monastery, our physical life was in peace, but our spiritual life descended from the first Dragomirn and Sekul, unanimous, peaceful, and God-loving life, all-perfectly downward and irrevocable. The guilt of this is: rumor, excess, rebellion, and everyone cares about himself, and for the sake of this, reading the Divine and Fatherly scriptures and abandoning attention to himself: for this, even before, our Blessed Father wept bitterly and was sick to death, as if he had foreseen this thing that wanted to be: having feared them all your life, you are sick in heart, and all of us, small and great, are to be ordered and read the Fatherly Scriptures more often, and be jealous of the ancient Saints, let us adhere to the narrow path of the Gospel, and let us escape from the real careless and feigned monastic peace-loving life. 70. Extreme diligence in translating a book Likewise, even until his death, he himself was diligently diligent in translating the Fatherly and Theological books from Hellenic Greek into the Slovenian language: may our Fathers leave the benefit and nourishment of souls to those who want to strive now, be zealous and heed the teaching of the God-bearing Fathers. How can you write, it’s fitting to be surprised: he was weak in body, and there were wounds all over his right side: on his bed, where he rested, he surrounded himself with books: there were dictionaries of multilingual languages, the Greek and Slovenian Bible, a Greek and Slovenian grammar, the book was translated from it, in the middle of the candle: Even as a small child, sitting bent over and writing all night, forgetting the weakness of the body and serious illnesses and labor. O most impassive and holy man! O pure souls united with God! He was all attached to God with love, and he was all overflowing with love towards his neighbor. Who of those who have reason will doubt their character, and will not recognize and glorify the Creator and Giver, hearing about this blessed man, who was chosen from infancy? Even if he had not been taught external wisdom from a man, but had come into perfection as a man, and had become wise by doing the commandments of Christ, he became a chosen vessel, learned from above by the grace of God and from the most diligent reading of the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures throughout his life. And before, according to the word of St. Isaac, the sacraments are revealed to the humble: Words, 56, 66, for this reason, and his word was strong and effective, the fulfillment of grace, eradicating passions, and instilling virtue in the souls of those who listen with faith and love: for the Divine Scripture says: I have exalted the chosen one from my people. Therefore, he was chosen, and raised to the heights of divine reason, and through much work, enlightened his mind to the knowledge of all the Divine Scriptures. Decorate it with all the Divine gifts: and we, even in it, have seen our eyes and heard our ears, and we truly testify to this. 1. In him wisdom is Hypostasis with its beginningless Father and the Most Holy Spirit, as if in the purest monastery, living: from his mouth flowed a honey-flowing source of Divine teachings, delighting souls, but drying up evil passions. 2. In it is the Divine mind, including the dogmas of our Orthodox Faith, the essence of the Holy Symbol, the same Gospel traditions, commandments? Bans and promises. Bans and promises; also the apostle saints, and all the holy ecumenical councils and great church teachers and saints, rules and interpretations of them: also the venerable and God-bearing father of our teachings and instructions, rightly understanding, and with all his soul firmly defending, unharmed, like the apple of his eye. 3. In him is advice, which is right and true, according to the teaching and instruction of our saints and God-bearing fathers, giving to all those who require instruction from him, who accept them with faith, and in doing the commandments of God, and who walk in his teaching and advice, in humility and patience and love. 4. There is strength in it, and in faith and love and hope in God’s providence it remains firm in all sorrows and temptations. 5. In him is the fear of God, who keeps the commandments of God like the apple of his eye: and for the slightest commandment he is ready to lay down his soul, and so we are taught. 6. In him is a fiery love, with which you have loved the Lord with all your soul from youth, and having already succeeded in becoming more and more ignited, and spreading equally to all your neighbors: warming everyone with your love, and suffering for everyone, compassionately with everyone, especially your spiritual children with your soul: but also every person who comes to him and demands mercy, Whether spiritual or physical, you do not turn away, and you do not let go of your worries. 7. Always having peace with everyone, never grieving for anyone, nor despising anyone, even if he suffered from someone: he taught us about peace. 8. Long-suffering in him with meekness are united in one and like fused together; never was anger or confusion seen in him, perhaps for the transgression of God’s commandment, but meekness and patience: reproaching with meekness, punishing and teaching with love, being merciful and long-suffering with the hope of correcting those who sin. 9. There was no malice and childish simplicity in him: the mind and reason are divine and high, and not childish. 10. Humility is great, and only God knows it. Having imitated our Blessed Father, our reverend and God-bearing father, spiritual exploits and above-natural labors: having stood from your youth against the passions for the love of God to the blood of your blood, you despised all that is of this world, race, glory and wealth, according to the word of the Lord, and did not spare your soul: but loved the narrow and sorrowful path of the Gospel. By the same token, the Lord, by His grace, subdued him and allowed rage, and lust, and all evil mental and physical passions to be trampled under his nose. I have made him a perfect husband; adorn him with all the spoken gifts of the Spirit. 72. His other gifts, properties and deeds In the same way, he was adorned with all natural things: his face was white and bright, like an angel of God. The gaze is quiet, the word is humble and alien to insolence. You attract everyone to yourself with love, like an iron magnet. Everything is filled with goodness, everything is poured out in mercy. His mind is always united by love with God: his tears are a witness to this. Whenever he spoke to us about something from the Holy Scriptures, his heart was burning with love for the Lord, his face was blooming with spiritual joy, and he was beaming with love for his neighbor, even as he shed tears, affirming the truth. With great care and zeal, the Blessed Elder taught many toils and illnesses about the knowledge of the right Gospel and the true monastic path and his pure mind, unpretentious from temptations and pretexts of the gums and necks, and to everyone according to God, encouraging every soul with a good deed, especially those who need to follow the holy commandments of the Lord (like Saint Peter about these Damascene speaks more clearly! How much sadness and sighing, bewilderment and bitter tears with humility and prostration before God to seek this outpouring! Every day and night you have tested the Divine and Fatherly Scriptures; with faith, hope and love burning in your heart, cleave to God, seeking and pressing with humility, fasting and unceasing prayers with tears at all times. And by the grace of God you will find a source of living water in your heart, according to the word of the Lord: from the very beginning you will drink until you are full, and will give to all who seek without envy. What is monasticism, and what are its actions, and what is the sacrament of communal monastic obedience, and what prosperity does it bring to the novice but to the spiritual mind, teach everything from the Divine Scriptures. What is vision and intelligent heartfelt prayer, that is, done from the mind to the heart, as the father was taught about the seven from the Saints previously spoken, and by God’s grace from the habitual temptation, everything is indelibly revealed to everyone who has, not just in word, but also in writing: both exactly there, even if commanded, or by extreme need we convince: it is great for the humble to be wise Byshe, praise, like some kind of stench, moved away. As soon as he ran away from human honor and glory from his very youth, God glorified him in many countries, and his name before all small and great was honorable: the conversation about him is guilty of the glory of God: glorifying him, they glorify God, who in these poor and cruel times revealed his true saint and teacher of the unpretentious monastic common life. 73. Name and gift of foreknowledge He was not deprived of the gift of foreknowledge, and even the prophet, having come true: just as the pious Gregory Gika Voivode foresaw a fierce death, seeing in a dream many times a sword hanging over his head on one hair: he soon suffered that governor, having been beheaded at the head of the Tsar of Turkey, for whom our Father wept a lot. Also, about the only brother of your community, you often sighed, cried, and warned a lot about certain corrections: but this brother did not listen to the delay, and alas, on the third day he drowned. The old man prayed a lot and admonished you not to leave the monastery, but follow his speech with tears: brother, listen to me, you will not see this place, even if you wanted to leave, and did not listen: and on the fourth day I died on the way: for whom the blessed Father wept a lot. And many other things are like this, as you foresaw. 74. The holiness of Christ’s servants is known not from miracles, but from the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments There is no need to write about miracles and healings; For now, the holiness of truly holy men is recognized not from single miracles, as they are holy and blameless before God: but from the true Orthodox faith, and the dangerous knowledge of God's dogmas, and the keeping of all the Orthodox Eastern Church apostolic and conciliar rules and traditions, and a life immaculate according to all the Gospel and patristic commandments. There were many who were filthy and heretics, with the permission of God and with the work of the devil, performing miracles: about whom the Lord spoke: many said to me on this day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have we done many mighty powers 24? And he answered and said to them: We do not know where you come from: depart from me, all workers of unrighteousness, who have despised and cursed my holy commandments 25 . To the faithful he says: if you love me, keep my commandments 26. And again: having my commandments, and keeping them, that is to love me. And don’t love me, he doesn’t keep my words!” And Saint John Chrysostom teaches about this with the same verb: it is not fitting for an Orthodox woman to know a man from signs and prophecies, as if he is holy, but from his good life, as the Lord said: by their fruit you will know them 27 . The great Apostle showed the fruits of an Orthodox man, saying: spiritual fruit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering 28, and so on. And those who are like Christ, the flesh is crucified with passions and lusts. With these words the Divine Apostle expressed his life, and the fruits of a Christian living in the world and a monk have already prospered, so that everyone strives to acquire his own fruits: for the Christian has a pre-prosperity, even if all the evil ones will surely retreat, and he will acquire the said fruits. The monk, even to all this, and to this world, will crucify himself with his passion and lust; such a one, whether he performs a sign or not, is revealed as holy and a friend of God. Moreover, our father, all the miracles and healings that happened through his prayers were attributed to the Mother of God, as they deserve. Now I have passed through the entire course of our father’s life, since it is possible for us not to see, but the secret of his deeds, as if to the One leading the Lord, is already coming to his blessed death. 75. An old man’s dying illness. 76. His death I remain with him in ordinary labors, the common, inevitable duty is approaching, the release of the soul from the body. And as I remember, even before many days I received notification from the Lord about my death. For you have already left the translation of books, but just read them and correct them, when something happens that requires correction. He also fell into a severe illness, fell ill, and remained ill for four days: in a week it was easier for him, and, desiring to listen to the Divine Liturgy, he entered the church and sat down. Before the beginning, she went into the altar and received communion of the Holy Mysteries. After his release, it is hardly possible to come to the cell that serves him, leading him and supporting him: and from then on it is most difficult for three more days: and the servants Honorius and Martyrius left no one to attend to him, except for the spiritually most reverent and elders: it would have been desirable for the father to die in silence. On the fourth day of his approaching death, he partook of the Divine Mysteries, and having called two confessors, Sophronius of Slovenia, and Sylvester of Moldova, through them he gave peace and blessing to the entire cathedral, but there was nothing to say about the election of a rector: and so, having died as if he had fallen asleep, he gave up his holy soul in the hand of God, in the summer of 1794, on the day of November 13, having lived 72 years from birth. And Abiye sent a messenger from the cathedral with a letter to Iasi to Metropolitan Jacob about the repose of the Elder. And begged the Metropolitan of the God-loving Bishop of Tuma, Kir Veniamin, who is now the Metropolitan of All Moldavia, to go to the Neamets Monastery for burial. When the rumor spread everywhere about the repose of our Father, a countless multitude of people, monks and laymen, priests, gentlemen and common people of both sexes, came together, and there was great mourning, common to all. We waited for the Bishop for three days, and on the fourth of the entire Council, our Father was buried honestly in the great church on the right side of the land. After the burial, on the second day, the God-loving Bishop slept in the night, and in the morning he served the Divine Liturgy and requiem service at the cathedral. In a few days, with the consent of the entire cathedral, and with the blessing of the Metropolitan, the God-loving Bishop installed the first confessor in the cathedral, Father Sophrony, as an Elder and Archimandrite. And the whole cathedral was in sorrow, there was little joy and peace of mind: all the brothers of the Moldavian and Slovenian language loved him, for the sake of his love for everyone and humility, and more than extreme mercy. According to Sophronia, there was an Elder Father Dorotheos. According to Dorotheus, Father Dosifei. Both of these were before their death, from old age, weakness, and retirement. According to Dosithea, there was an Elder, Father John. All these four elders spoke the Slovenian language. After the death of John, this is now the first Elder of the Moldavian language, Father Sylvester. These and other such men of spirituality, priestly disciples of Paisius byahu. 77. Praise to Father Paisius, who died in Bose Having offered little about his graceful disciples, I turn again to the blessed one himself and conclude my word about him: O humble and meek souls! O husband, the reasoning of the Divine is full! This is because in his entire life of philosophy, he had for himself under everyone people who were ignorant and daring, but a slave and a debtor to the brethren. Learn this good thing from the Divine Apostle: if anyone thinks he is wise in you, in this world, let him be wise: 1 Corinth. 3: 18. And from the Lord himself said: If anyone wants to be old in you, let him be a slave to all. Do the same at your death, not daring to determine anyone on your own, as was said, but leave it to Christ God and the God-loving Bishop and the holy brethren council to elect an elder and mentor, and they will judge him. He himself, having fulfilled the duty of his service, departed to the Lord. I have now departed from you from us, O blessed Father and our teacher, we are your spiritual children who remain now orphans: we have lost your bright sight, we have lost your sweet words, and your soul-saving teachings and instructions. This and the same consolation of the imams now dissolved in sorrow: for our beloved brethren, the schema-monas, Father Mitrophan and Father Isaac, laboriously wrote your life, in eternal remembrance of your fatherly love, and for the great benefit of all the zealots, and after our brethren who came to this cathedral, who did not see your face and did not hear the right ones according to God’s teachings from your mouth, those who diligently desire to lead and honor your life, and thereby encourage themselves to do the commandments of Christ, as you yourself predicted in the preface of your story, saying 29: “If it is desirable for my spiritual child to have acquired true love for me through God, but not often to hear about my birth and upbringing and from the world departure, and in the monastic form of staying” in reality, as if to imitate your zeal, and by God-pleasing feat, especially your deep humility. This will be for the common benefit and a zealous Christian for piety. In the same way, we pray to you, unceasingly pray to the Lord for your spiritual children, and for all faithful Christians: may the most good Master grant us all with your holy prayers, to receive mercy from Him at judgment, and may he merit us, together with you and with all the saints, to eternally glorify Christ God our Savior, and in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. To him is due all glory, honor, worship and thanksgiving, together with his beginningless Father, and the most holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. John 3:5, Athan. Vel. Dorothea. Matt. 5:16, Luke. 6:30. This is in his most self-written story. Callistus 2nd, unanimous to Ignatius from the Monastery of Xanthonulov. to Greek book part 2, lyrics 23 About virtues and talents, and what a Mentor should be, although he knows, let him honor this Saint Simeon in the Greek book, part 2, words. 24 (and in our decommissioned ones 8). His inscriptions are the beginning of the text: as it is fitting for the leader to look at the verbal flock of Christ and show it first about himself, and so on. In Mount Athos, a cell is called if it has a church, but without a church it is called a koliva. In the Greek book, part 2, words. 18.