16. Почтительность к родным

“To my dearest relatives, both small and large...” In his Catechism, Saint Philaret, explaining the fifth commandment of the Law of God, indicates what “special duties” it prescribes to respectfully treat parents, obey them, nourish and rest them during illness and old age, and pray for them. The Saint's letters testify that these instructions came not only from the conjectures of the mind, but from the depths of a loving filial heart. They show in him “filial piety, respect, love, dissolved by deep gratitude for upbringing, blessings, prayers, to which he attaches special importance throughout his life; towards all their relatives they show the same love, constant care, combined with impartiality” (12:IV). The saint treats his parents with exemplary filial love. His usual addresses were: dearest Parent, dearest Parent, your blessing, dearest Parent, gracious Empress Mother... He tells them “not with the tongue alone, nor with the mind more, but with the heart,” for he wants “not to decorate and enlarge with a brilliant appearance, but to open only the feelings, so that the heart can feel what is written with the heart” (12:67). - “I can’t tell you anything more than my complete filial devotion to you and my dear Mother” (12:26). “I show my respect to my mother and especially wish her health, since she is the one who requires it most” (12:10). “How should I respond to your love? Of course, by fulfilling your instructions, your advice, your desires” (12:19). “Filial respect and gratitude oblige me to write to you, even if you did not write to me” (12:127). - “The most devoted son” begins his letters to his parents “with filial devotion” and completes them with the same feeling (see: 12, 189, 181...). With a filial heart, the Saint congratulates his parents on Angel's Day, on the great Christian holidays of the Nativity of Christ and the Resurrection of Christ, as well as on the New Year, on their birth and wishes to see them in full health, illuminated by the “sun of joy” many many times (12:18, 8): The saint wishes: “May the Archangel cover the Heavenly Powers with his shield” (12:93); asks the Lord “that He may renew strength, preserve health, multiply the days, bless both work and rest” (12:180), extend the days “in health and peace” (12:280), so that through the prayers of the Heavenly patrons come “blessing for many days and years” (12:338). “On this day of your Angel,” writes the Saint, “I call upon you the new mercy of God and the care of the Guardian Angel for your mental and physical well-being” (12:289). “My filial congratulations on Angel Day are offered,” he testifies, “from the heart of someone who deeply feels your motherly love, which has always been edifying, beneficent and comforting to me. May the Lord multiply your days and preserve your health, for the comfort and benefit of your children" (12:345-346). He himself rejoices at his mother’s greeting: “You consoled me a lot with swear words on the occasion of my Angel’s day. May the Lord reward you with his consolation and strengthening, and may your days continue in peace for the good of your children” (12:371). Happy Christmas Day and Happy New Year. – “With my filial heart I greet you with the joy of the Nativity of Christ. May the Lord grant you to celebrate the holiday and the New Year in peace and health" (12:353), meet in peace and consolation (12:214, 216), celebrate "in health and unbreakable joy" (12:337), enter “the New Year with good hope” 912:317). “May the peace of Christ be with you. May God’s favor cover your days” (12:296). “May the Lord grant you renewal and continuation of His grace and mercy” (12:299); “renewal in health and days bright with peace and joy” (12:145). “I wish you a very happy New Year, or better yet, many prosperous New Years” (12:143). Happy Holy Resurrection of Christ. – “Christ is Risen! Extending this sincere greeting to you, I pray to the Risen One that He will send you the peace that He gave to His true disciples and spread its beneficial influence to everything around you; so that He will renew your life for the well-being of your children, and so that I may someday have the consolation of seeing you and your dear Mother healthy and prosperous” (12:146). “May the resurrected Firstfruits of the dead raise us all, both the dead and the living, into His eternal life!” (12:223). “He will resurrect us all and seat us in Heaven” (12:224). “I pray to the Risen One, that from the inexhaustible source of His life He may grant you long life and peace, to the comfort of your children” (12:281). “May He grant you His holy joy, and may your days continue in peace” (12:346). “Tomorrow is the beginning of spring - and the beginning of your life. May God grant that your life blooms with the joys of spring and finally changes into eternal spring!” (12:16). “May the Lord bless your crown of summer with a Heavenly blessing and an earthly blessing. May it strengthen your strength. May your affairs prosper. May he comfort you in your children. May peace and brotherly love spread around you. And if when the outer world is disturbed, it will preserve for you its peace, which surpasses all understanding” (12:199). “Accept these desires not as yesterday and today,” the great Hierarch concludes his filial greetings, “but as always and never leaving my heart, which belongs to you more than by nature” (12:199). The saint appears in the letters as a deeply respectful, most devoted son, ready to fulfill the will of his parents, ready for humble obedience. “Your obedient son”, “obedient son”, “Most obedient son” (12:6, 80...) are the usual signatures of St. Philaret at the end of letters. But this does not mean at all that he unquestioningly carried out any parental command. Listening to his parents, he strictly monitored the observance of church truth. This is how he responded to “the gracious Empress Mother” to her petition for one priest: “Your concern for the Theological priest is guided by philanthropy; and if you take care of a person who does not deserve much, you are doing good. This is not my situation. If I fulfill his wish, I will be sinning against justice. In Moscow they value the dignity and actions of priests more strictly than in other places; and there is reason to fear that Philip's removal here would not bring benefit to him, but would cause embarrassment to me... If a Theological priest visits you, can you advise him to pay attention to his actions, by which he harms himself and prevents him from doing anything in his favor?” (12:364, 365). “The will of the parents,” the Saint writes to Countess E.V. Novosiltseva, “must be fulfilled until it turns out to be contrary to the will of God” (29:337). The Great Hierarch rejoices with his relatives and worries about them, consoles them in their sorrows, and provides them with both spiritual and everyday help. “The joy that I felt upon learning about your health would have been immeasurable,” the saint writes to his dearest parent, “if I had not been indignant at the news of some of your concerns. May God grant that these will soon cease, and that such a change will be no less to my satisfaction than to yours!” (12:7). And in a letter to the gracious empress mother, Saint Philaret thanks God that He preserves her and prays to extend her days (12:365). At the news of a parent’s deteriorating health, deeply Christian words burst from his chest: “The weakness of your health occupies me both in reality and in my dreams. I remain in this state to this day. I try to follow the example of devotion to the will of God, which I have always seen in you: and the best consolation in the present situation is the thought that you place the firmest foundation of peace and hope in the Doctor of souls and bodies. I also resort to Him in my unworthy prayers, and... I pray to Him, by His omnipotent Providence, to arrange everything so that your external sorrow is dissolved by the inner consolation of faith and hope, and that, whether ordinary human means, or His single invisible power, return its strength to your bodily composition, and together with you, our entire race will be given with new consolation to see the good things of the Lord on the land of the living. Meanwhile, you will forgive my impatience if, without waiting for you to inform me of your relief, I ask you for this news, albeit through others, so as not to burden your hand. I especially ask you to order me to write to see if there is a case in which I could serve you in any way in the present circumstances” (12:201–202). “You wish me peace of mind, but can your concern not be my concern?” (9:12). “You wish me peace of mind. ABOUT! If only this wish could be fulfilled! It depends on you, or on your circumstances. Their consequences, pleasant or unpleasant, belong to me” (12:21)... And to mother: “I hear that your health is not entirely satisfactory, and that you have used some medical aid. I pray to God that He will strengthen you and grant you complete health. And I thank you for not neglecting healing. Take advantage of the doctor’s advice, if he finds it necessary to advise, and, preserving your health, comfort your children with this” (12:403)... To my dear brother about my mother: “God created a doctor and medicine. That she first of all resorted to the means of faith is correct, useful for her, and edifying for us. Then there is no need to neglect natural means given by God, if I dare to remind her of this” (12:410)... The caring son declares: “I will calm down and say: oh! If only you were calm and happy! “Here are thoughts, here are desires, here are new and old, everything” (12:36). “What brings sorrow to Mother brings sorrow no less to me” (12:279). In his parents’ grief, the most devoted son consoles his mother and raises his eyes to Heaven: “The will of God has been done with the Sister. Let us be humble, in which you set an example for us... I believe that the Lord has prepared her, and that she will pray for us” (12:254). “I don’t dare, most gracious Empress Mother, to advise you, but I won’t condemn your tears as prejudice; they are natural. Only, it seems to me, it is not our reason that can truly help in this, but Christian “hope,” as the Apostle says. “There is no God of the dead, but a God of the living” (Mark 12:27), “for to Him live all things” (Luke 20:38). By resorting to Him, we become closer to each other, and we comfort ourselves more comfortably about each other. May He grant you His consolation” (12:255). “I share in the sadness of your brother and sister-in-law for the baby... It is especially indecent to grieve too much about babies who go to God in the grace of Baptism before they know the evil of the days of this age. From the dangerous path of earthly life, without experiencing danger, they move to a land of safety. Parents should not cry about them, but watch over themselves, so that they can go the right way to where the mourned children will be found in joy. I pray to God to strengthen and comfort those who mourn” (12:291). Consoling his parent, who noticed some sadness in his letter, Saint Philaret hastens to dispel it: ““Sadness,” you say? Have you noticed anything sad in me? I assure you, as I assured you before, that my situation is nothing sad. I am happy and cheerful” (12:99). “I don’t know what God wants to do to me with my excessive happiness. I only feel that along with him the burden of responsibilities weighs more and more heavily on me. But let it not be according to my will!” (12:167). The “most humble servant” also provides everyday help: “And you (gracious Empress Mother), when you have a need, and I am delayed, again I ask you to write to me without waiting and without roundaboutness” (12:234). But he does not hesitate: “Having received the money, I hasten to divide it with you, and at the same time I am sending five hundred rubles in banknotes for your and your brother’s needs” (12:235). And another time: “This time I’m sending 400 rubles for treatment costs” (12:410). He orders his brother through his mother: tell him, “that if he carefully takes care of you and Grandfather, then for your prayers God will help us all, and he will give me ways to alleviate your common needs” (12:243). The Saint’s constant desire was to be closer to his parents, to see them (12:45, 24). “I am in solitude,” wrote the obedient son while still a layman, Vasily Mikhailovich, “with pleasure I repeat the moments of pleasure spent with you, and I thank you for these pleasures” (12:24). “I thank you with such short words, with such abundant feelings, for those pleasant days that I spent in your house. They have abundantly fulfilled my desires and needs” (12:55). “You ask when we can see each other. Now I have no vacancies. I made a promise to be where they say. It won't be long before you forget him and ask to be fired somewhere. My turn has passed. Let me remind you that you were in the Lavra a very long time ago, and then, so to speak, in passing. This may be too much for you to take a trip for me: is it possible to come, although for other reasons, and not to my apartment. I don’t hope: but how much more pleasant the unexpected would be! If this does not happen, then at least they would deceive me; I would rejoice, although with hope” (12:107). “Here (in the monastery of the Holy Trinity. - K. S.) every day you see many travelers of different states going to venerate the remains of Sergius. Often, with some dreamy hope, you look among a large crowd for a familiar face so that you can have the pleasure of asking about you, but a dream remains a dream. Why won't anyone come to make my dreams come true? I heard that Mother has a desire to be here. If it should ever be fulfilled, then I consider the current month to be the most suitable time” (12:52)... The Moscow Hierarch wrote willingly and a lot to his relatives, as evidenced by their voluminous volume, published back in the 19th century (418 pages). – “It is my pleasure to write to you” (12:25). – Separation from my kind parents caused mutual sadness: “I cannot thank you enough for the consolation that you give me. I will tell you without magnification that your sensitive images of separation and the unknown that separates us, your truly fatherly desires, have more than once drawn from me, I don’t know, more sweet or bitter tears” (12:118). Although Saint Philaret remembers that “a parent’s heart will interpret without words the feelings of a son’s heart” (12:66), he turns to his parents for advice, offers his thoughts, “expecting them a fair judgment” from their experience (12:82). These thoughts were sometimes not simple for parents, as one of his appeals to his kindest parent shows: “The circumstance in which your advice is needed is that I am advised to choose a kind of life in which the only subject of science would be... I remain awaiting your advice” (12:73). Apparently, the father found it difficult to give a direct answer, which prompted his son’s subsequent letter: “How you deceived my expectations! Who should I ask for advice when the father refuses it?.. I will never praise a son who, without a father, began to choose a fortune... I agree that one should not take away a person’s will, nor resist an inclination if it is innocent. But advice does not take away the will of the one to whom it is given. And if anyone, having received instruction, reproaches the mentor who wished him good, and makes him regret his advice, call him ungrateful and insane... Let me hope, however, that you, without further persuasion, will agree to reveal your thoughts to me. Then you too will recognize mine, and you will judge them” (12:73, 74). The saint brings filial gratitude to his parents for their instructions 6, admonitions 7, wishes 8, blessings 9, for affection 10 and asks for further blessings and prayers: “I now ask for your blessings and prayers, and I hope that you will not refuse both” (12:106). “I ask for your continued blessings in the future. May God restore and strengthen your strength!” (12:170–171). “The lot fell on me (to be a bishop - K.S.) from the Lord to ascend to the highest degree of service in His Church, which I was afraid to even think about, knowing the importance and difficulty of the rank... I ask my relatives and those who know me, who will hear about this, to offer a prayer for me to the Chief Shepherd Jesus Christ, that He may grant me Grace for the sake of His faithful" (12:218)... And not only asks. pray for him, but also for others: “I ask you to bring your prayer to the Lord, firstly, for the welfare of the unparalleledly merciful Monarch and those who represent him, and then for me, so that external honors do not prevent me from recognizing my unworthiness before God and people, but would only serve as a means to serve the common good more freely and unhindered” (12:177). Taking the advice of his relatives, he gives them his own: “I advise you to read and learn more and more about the Holy Scriptures, and from them the Holy Fathers, and from ours I can especially approve for you Tikhon of Voronezh: in this, although not deep, river there is golden sand” (12:225). “Put your trust in God rather than in men” (12:228). In the face of danger, Mother warns: “There are people who even seem to be seeking good, but time reveals that they must be avoided like a pestilence” (12:256). He agrees with the actions of the merciful mother and welcomes them: “Thank God that he gave you the idea, in a painful case, to immediately resort to spiritual healing. This healing is always beneficial, and it happened to you, thanks be to God” (12:395-396). Deep filial love and caution not to upset parents are also visible where Saint Philaret reports about himself, about his life: “As for me, I live the same way as before; and I practice in what, you know. Although many objects are burdensome, I get joy from looking at those who live in apartments. The poor need to come in the morning and leave in the evening in the dark, at night! I consider myself happy before them” (12:7). “You most of all want to know about my circumstances, but the least can be said about them. I work, I rest, I thank God” (12:92). “Due to circumstances... it’s true that sometimes the money goes down to small balances, but, thank God, in such cases it sometimes arrives quite unexpectedly. This is exactly what I noticed recently” (12:197). “You want to know the circumstances of my new condition. But I hardly see anything new around me. Same lifestyle, same exercises; the same position; the same calmness, except that before, for some time, I sometimes thought: will something happen? Will something happen? And now I don’t think about that either” (12:106:107). - “Here is my entire letter. You will not be offended that fertile feelings are limited to only a few words. But in order not to send you white paper, I’ll add some news” (12:10). “The local Rhetoric teacher was tonsured a monk. The teacher of Poetry was transferred to the Academy for Rhetoric, and his place was taken by someone who had been dismissed before...” (12:10-11). “The Academy has already received three honorary and three ordinary Doctors of Theology, 26 masters, several honorary members... There is a lot of work, both domestic and foreign” (12:189)... “Now the great concern is the explanatory translation of the New Testament into the Russian name, undertaken by the Highest will, partly for the common people, partly for the enlightened of the present century, who, not understanding the Slavic dialect, read Gospel in French. Somehow this intention will seem to your supporters: some write to me and from the merchants about this with desire and joy. Pray that the Lord will strengthen our weak and unworthy hands in order to worthily sow the holy seed of His Word!” (12:211). “The Sovereign Emperor adopted the intention of creating a church of Christ the Savior in Moscow in memory of the salvation of the Fatherland from enemy invasion. Now plans are being drawn up for this building - and among other things, one was sent here, made by a certain nobleman from the image of the church, which he saw in a dream, even before the sovereign's decree on the Moscow church... I... opened... my thoughts about the imperfection of the iconostases according to the newest image of the structure, which, being small and meager, contradict the idea of ​​greatness that the altar should convey. But since I don’t see a single iconostasis here in which correctness and beauty would be combined with enormity, ... I would like to have a drawing of the iconostasis of the Kolomna Cathedral, if such a drawing was found ready for you” (12:172). “Now here thoughts are most occupied with awaiting the longed-for arrival of the Sovereign... He, the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia entered into an alliance by which they recognize Christ as the King of kings; the most saving law is the Christian law; themselves as agents of the King Christ among their peoples; their peoples - three branches of one Christianity and brothers; and other Sovereigns are also invited to this” (12:200). “We were consoled by the meeting in the Assumption Cathedral of the Sovereign Emperor and Sovereign Heir Tsarevich; the next day, together with them, and the Empress, who arrived after them, with the Grand Duchesses and their daughters, they listened to a solemn thanksgiving service in the cathedral church of the Chudov Monastery. These days were comforting and prosperous" (12:369). Saint Philaret shares with his kindest Parent and Mother his impressions of visiting the “local sacristy” (in the monastery of St. Sergius): “What a collection of ancient and new, wealth and taste this is! What a lot of silver, gold, pearls, stones!.. This is what I remember especially: Ancient embroidered images of saints and a shroud... A lot of robes, weighed down with pearls and gold; Godunov's semi-pearl veil, whose pearls are predominantly large; another veil, on which absolutely nothing is visible except pearls - all this surprises, but does not attract... Everything is already forgotten at one glance at the clothes of the throne and the altar, velvet, decorated with embroidery and pearls. On one of them you can see Jesus Christ carrying a large pearl cross... Between such rare works of art and nature you see vestments made from simple dark Chinese fabric. The ramen worn by them constitutes their price. There is also a wooden vessel with a paten, which the Reverend used. The hats are large and rich, and some are so heavy that I don’t know what kind of giant could wear it calmly. Here is the largest of the stones... priced at 20,000 rubles. Natural rarities are: a simple blackish stone, ... in which there is a white cross, ... a panagia made of a yellowish transparent stone... I am not telling you anything about the vessels, many of which are monuments of the zeal of the Russian Sovereigns, and about many other things... Is it possible, after one glance, to adequately describe such a place where almost every thing requires special attention? (12:109–111). Saint Philaret speaks especially warmly of his teacher and patron, Metropolitan of Moscow Platon (Levshin) - he calls him his second father, tries to justify his trust and mourns his death in a filial way: “His Eminence honors me with such favor that I did not even dare to wish for. This month and last month I visited him several times, here during his visit, then in Bethany, where I spent the night several times. In all these cases, I rarely saw a superior, more often a Father, a mentor” (12:107). “I congratulate His Eminence Plato on this day. Do not be upset that I am now writing to this second Father of mine at a more opportune time than to you. Right is not laziness, but some worries are the reason for this” (12:126). - “I would be an indecent slave if I did not try to justify the most merciful Archpastor” (12:95-96). - “You are mourning the Archpastor: and we are with you... I was not alone in crying... I barely had the strength to read it (that is: the spiritual work of His Eminence Plato. - K.S.): it is so filled with tenderness" (12:167). The Saint willingly answers the parent’s questions: “You want to know about the Makhrish Monastery. – I gladly satisfy your curiosity. It does not lie on a high place... There are two churches inside it... The settlement of peasants who were formerly servants of this monastery is not large. Two rivers, one of which flows under the very walls of the monastery, provide him with an abundance of fish. I saw the fishing with pleasure and surprise. The number of brethren, it seems, does not exceed twenty... The best thing about the monastery is the new church. It represents a round-oblong figure with a corresponding dome, on which there is a light lantern. The cornice and pediments are decorated with white stone... Entering the church, you see in front of you almost the entire width of its staircase, at the top of which in front you can see the altar with the mirrored Royal Doors...” (12:103-104). Sometimes he enters into a dialogue with parents, which is very instructive for both children and all parents: “You speak in vain about my merits: I feel in the depths of my heart that I am not happy according to my merits. I also attribute to your virtues and prayers the fact that God made me partly an instrument of your due reward. Don’t stop asking God so that I won’t be ungrateful to His Providence, the traces of which I see and feel in my life!” (12:156). The departure to another world of the “highly blessed,” “dearest” parents and grandparents brought tears, but tears filled with Christian faith. “The Lord of life,” he writes, “knows when to take it and to whom to bestow it. It remains for us to deliver those who depart from this life into His hands, and to receive those who come into this life from His hands. Let us be submissive to Him and grateful for everything!” (12:204). On the occasion of the dying illness of his parent and his death († January 18, 1816), the saint wrote to his mother: “An unknown something introduced me to the misfortune with which God was pleased to visit us, even before it came true. It would take a long time to retell to you the feelings that I had from time to time: thanks to Providence that I was prepared by preliminary grief in order to better endure the blow that had taken place. May His will be done in everything! We must all prepare to follow in the footsteps of the one for whom we are now shedding tears. May our Lord, who is Resurrection and Life, grant him and us the grace to see each other in the resurrection of the belly!” (12:203). – The whole depth of the Saint’s love for his most kind parent was expressed in his letter to Archimandrite Anthony in connection with her repose: “I thank you, Father Viceroy, and the brethren of the monasteries, for the prayers brought and offered for the newly deceased servant of God Evdokia († March 20, 1853 - K.S). Her life and death give assurance that she died in blessed hope. The number of her years and the last painful year prepared me for deprivation. I look at her departure with reverence, but often I want to cry. Thank God that I was honored to pay my last debt to her. Tired of my occupation, ... in her last days I had to often come to her, sometimes at night, and sometimes spend several hours with her: and I already felt a breakdown in my health before her death: however, God arranged it so that before her death I prayed in front of her, and witnessed her last quiet breaths, and, immediately after their cessation, offered a prayer for the deceased... My co-servants consoled me, of their own free will, in sufficient numbers, those who gathered for her removal and burial, and a multitude of people not only from home to church, and in church, but also in the country cemetery. Enough love and prayer” (9:202, 203). The Saint himself performed “the funeral service over her body, which was buried under the Trinity Church of the Pyatnitsky cemetery” (13:18). – With truly Christian feeling, the Saint accepted the death of his beloved grandfather and grandmother. “God accomplished His will over our Ancestor: let us submit to His fate. I received the news of my grandfather’s death not without tears, but not without consolation. I know that he was waiting for the hour of death, and he approached the Sacrament often. And therefore the unexpectedness of his death does not bring concern... May the Lord accept his soul in peace... His prayers will be with us. Don’t grieve too much and console Grandmother” (12:261). A little earlier, congratulating my grandfather on his name day, the “obedient grandson and servant” of his “Blessing” wrote: “Your blessings in my youth and ever-present fatherly love I always vividly feel, and that as much as out of duty, so much out of gratitude, I am and will always remain towards you with sincere respect and devotion” (12:251)... “May God accept the soul of Grandmother.” in the world, which is what we should hope for. You (Gracious Empress Mother) and brother should have consolation in the fact that you have fulfilled the duty of serving the peace of her last days, and that she will remember you with blessing before the Source of blessings” (12:328). “For me,” writes the Saint, “one of the best consolations” is prayer for the deceased (13:18). The saint also teaches exemplary respect for all relatives: “I ask you to show my respects to all my relatives” (12:238). “Respect to all relatives” (12:29). “I earnestly bow to all my relatives” (12:240, 227); “I bow to everyone I know and know and wish every good thing” (12:252), “the blessing of God” (12:253). And he asks them for blessings (12:253). - He rejoices at the letter from “Brother” 11, takes care of him 12, consoles him 13, warns him against meeting people of dubious behavior 14, conducts an instructive conversation with him: “It is not useful for us to correspond about other people’s quarrels, so as not to fall into similar ones ourselves” (12:226). “Whoever wants to denigrate must first dirty his hands with which he will denigrate another; It’s impossible without it. And so whoever takes up this task, I do not envy him” (12:273-274). “If you want to tell the truth, then it cannot be stupid, and, by the grace of God, I hope that I will not mistake the truth for insolence. And no matter how it may seem, what you want to say in truth and in conscience, you must say in truth and in conscience; and if there are thoughts on your mind that truth and conscience do not prompt you to express, then there is no point in threatening that you would like to say a lot... I want to show you how I see the matter, and, if I’m not mistaken, give you a way to see it more accurately than you see” (12:302). Saint Philaret asks all his relatives who will visit their parent on the day of his Heavenly Patron to read to them a “general visit”: And I also send someone “aha!” Viva for whom! Let them share among themselves. The Russian monk of the 16th century Joseph left a beautiful prayer for his deceased parents, which expresses both his tenderness and - prophetically - the essence of the warmth and filial fidelity of St. Philaret to his father and mother. This prayer was placed by the famous Moscow shepherd Sergius Pravdolyubov in his brochure “About Father John the Peasant” (M., “Saint Cyprian”, 2008, pp. 76–77) in memory of Father John’s parents - Michael and Elizabeth. I would like to bring it in memory of the God-loving Parents of St. Philaret - Archpriest Mikhail Feodorovich and Mother Evdokia Nikitichna: “God, having accepted the sacrifice of Abraham and having looked upon the burnt offering, revealed Anna the prophetess to give birth to Samuel, - receive the good parent, father and mother, remember, O Lord, the ancient thing of my mother: remember, O Lord, the feeding, remember, O Lord, the tears, remember, O Lord, the sighing, remember, O Lord, that he would not be separated from me without desire.” , and behold, she was separated from me in this world. But for the sighing, and for the separation from me, I have been granted eternal joy. Do not bring them, Lord, from sorrow to sorrow, from sorrow to sorrow, from lamentation to lamentation. But for the sacrifice of birth and bringing to You, Lord, I have been granted the Kingdom of Heaven by Your unworthy servant, the monk Joseph. For Your most honorable and magnificent Name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is blessed and glorified, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen". “Thank you for your comforting instructions. It is in vain that you consider them superfluous: what is useful cannot be superfluous. I read your moralizing thoughts with special respect” (12:86). “I thank you for your fatherly admonition, but I ask you not to reject me as unworthy of your love, of which, after such a long time, I have had so many experiences” (12:128). “I received your letter dated September 26th, I don’t know whether it’s more sad or pleasant. It’s sad because it depicts your displeasure with me; pleasant, since you punish me with a reprimand, and not silence, and give me a chance to correct the mistake” (912:126-127). “I accept your fatherly wishes with reverent gratitude” (12:170). “For your fatherly blessing... I offer you my filial gratitude and gratitude. May God, to whose leadership you entrust me, rule your life in peace and prosperity” (12:162). “I am testified by God that I feel the importance of the blessing of my parents” (12:133). “I most sensitively thank you for your treats, affection, favors, for everything - for everything that now I can’t even count” (12:114). “I received a letter from Brother... I’ll write to him myself” (12:206). “I’m taking care of Brother, I heard that he has a cold. I ask God that he may be healthy for the consolation of yours (Gracious Empress Mother - K.S.) and mine” (12:336). – Brother: “Write to me about your needs; and beyond your needs, if you wish” (12:207). “You can’t be without sorrow, but you shouldn’t indulge in it either. God is the Father of everyone, whether anyone has or does not have a father on earth. Everyone is alive with him. What lacks for consolation to him who has God as his father? It is only necessary that we try to be His true children, through faith in Him, through trust in Him, through prayer to Him and through fulfilling His commandments. This is an inexhaustible source of consolation” (12:207). “You write the truth that you need peace of mind, for the Kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. But this peace does not mean that others do not bother us; for this is impossible in this world, but in this, so that you yourself do not leave peace for earthly trifles. To do this, you need to arm yourself with patience and prayer with trust in God. “Cast your sorrow upon the Lord (Ps. 54:23)” (12:246). “The Lord sends us, dear Brother, sorrow in Mother’s illness. Humbling ourselves before His inscrutable destinies, let us invoke His mercy” (12:310). “He (Brother - K.S.) begins to feel comforted” (12:206). “Beware, as much as possible, of meeting and communicating with people whose morals are questionable. When you see a bad example, do not be tempted by the thought that people do evil with impunity; evil, not punished soon, prepares great trouble for the one who did it. Try to do your job carefully and faithfully as much as you can, and then entrust the measure of success and your well-being to God, often resorting to Him with secret heartfelt prayer; and He will keep you. In difficult cases, ask for guidance from Father Philaret, explaining to him your needs and concerns sincerely” (12:222). You might be interested in: