Успенский Вышенский монастырь

Saint Theophan through the eyes of children Results of the All-Russian children's competition “Teacher of Piety” abbess, abbess of Uspensky 2015 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding theologian and teacher of the Russian Orthodox Church, St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, who is the heavenly patron of the Dormition Vyshensky Monastery. On the eve of this significant anniversary not only for the Vyshensky Monastery, but also for the entire Orthodox Russia, various events were held aimed at ensuring that as many people as possible learned about the life and spiritual heritage of St. Theophan. As part of these events, on October 1, 2014, the All-Russian children's creative competition “Teacher of Piety” started. The main goals of the competition were to introduce young Russians to the life and spiritual feat of St. Theophan, so that the younger generation would know the best people of Russia, learn from them piety, a correct understanding of the meaning of our earthly life, love for the Fatherland, so that the example of the life of the Vyshensky ascetic would contribute to the formation of correct concepts about human and Christian values. As noted in the Regulations on the competition, its main objectives were: glorifying the feat of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, familiarizing wide circles with his spiritual heritage; attracting the attention of the younger generation to the spiritual exploits of domestic devotees of piety and studying their role in the formation of personality, society, as well as their influence on the strengthening and development of the foundations of Russian statehood. It is gratifying to note that the organizers of the competition were not only church, but also secular structures - the Ministry of Education of the Ryazan Region, the Ryazan Metropolis, the Assumption Vyshensky Monastery. The chairman of the organizing committee was Metropolitan Veniamin of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky, and the co-chairman was the Minister of Education of the Ryazan Region Elena Ivanovna Bunyashina. The name of the competition “Teacher of Piety” was not chosen by chance. This is a phrase from the troparion of St. Theophan, as the Holy Orthodox Church glorifies him: “Teacher of Orthodoxy, teacher of piety and purity, Vyshensky ascetic to St. Theophan the God-wise, with your writings you have explained the Word of God and you have shown all the faithful the path to salvation, pray to Christ God to save our souls.” The competition was held interactively. All works were registered on the official website of the Assumption Vyshensky Monastery and provided electronically. The competition attracted the attention of children from various parts of our country. If the participation of children from Ryazan and the Ryazan region, Tambov and others was expected, then receiving wonderful works from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Arkhangelsk, Vologda was a little unexpected, but at the same time joyful. The geography of the competition turned out to be unusually wide. Children from twenty cities and regions of the Russian Federation took part in the competition: Belgorod, Belgorod region. Voronezh, Voronezh region. Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk region. Rostov-on-Don, Rostov region. Ryazan, Ryazan region. Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk Territory. Children from 5 to 18 years old took part in the competition. The youngest participant, Valentina Shatrova, from the city of Saso in the Ryazan region, who was only five years old, after visiting the Vyshensky Monastery, composed a short poem, which her mother wrote down and sent to the competition. Saint Theophan lived on earth, Who opens his heart. The competition was held in two stages in two categories: literary creativity and fine arts. At the first stage, out of 844 works, 124 were selected, which were recognized as the best, of which six finalists were then identified. The winners of the competition were: In the category "Literary Creativity" Berezkina Maria Olegovna, born in 2005. Essay “Image of a heavenly friend” Zorina Anastasia Alekseevna, born in 2000 The story "The Life of St. Theophan" Petrov Roman Nikolaevich, born in 2000 Essay “How to Learn to Live a Christian Life” In the category "Fine Arts" Alexandrova Anastasia Vladimirovna, born in 2002 Portrait of “Saint Theophan the Recluse – Icon Painter” Kvasnaya Elena Filippovna, born in 1998 Drawing “The Living Word of St. Theophan” Sary Gulben Nurullahovna, born in 2001 Drawing “Ascetic of the Faith Saint Theophan” On May 20, 2015, a musical and poetic evening “Image of Prayer” was held at the Ryazan State Regional Drama Theater, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, where the prize-winners and winners of the competition from the Ryazan region were awarded. To especially celebrate the work of the children of the finalists, the Assumption Vyshensky Monastery organized a trip for them to Moscow, where on June 1, 2015, on International Children’s Day, a solemn award ceremony took place at the Palace of Children’s Creativity on Sparrow Hills. A large cultural program was developed for the finalists of the competition. The children visited the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Red Square, Alexander Garden, the Moscow Kremlin Armory, the Grand Kremlin Palace and other attractions of the capital. As a result of the competition, the book “Teacher of Piety: Theophan the Recluse through the Eyes of Children” was published in the series “Library of the Vyshensky Hermitage” in the Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, in which essays and drawings of the winners and prize-winners of the All-Russian children's competition “Teacher of Piety” were published. This book became the best gift for all the contestants, and allowed the organizers of the competition to look at the Vyshensky ascetic with a new, childish look. The book contains seven thematic sections, which contain children's essays: How faith in God helps in the development of personality: using the example of the childhood and adolescence of St. Theophan. Iconographic image of the saint: If I were to paint a large hagiographic icon of St. Theophan, then what episodes would I choose for the stamps. The spiritual feat of the saint. How to learn to live like a Christian? Advice from Saint Theophan on Christian life and salvation. Having turned the pages of this book, I would like to talk about how the young contestants saw St. Theophan, on the other hand, what new things we, adults, discovered by reading children’s works and looking at their drawings. The first section of the book is called “How faith in God helps in the development of personality: on the example of the childhood and adolescence of St. Theophan.” Many authors first became acquainted with the childhood of the great ascetic and noted that an important component in the formation of the personality of the future saint was church upbringing in the family of pious parents. Ksenia Siebert (10 years old, Rossosh, Voronezh region) at the beginning of her essay asks the question: “How did it happen that an overly playful, overly playful child became a great Russian saint?” And he answers it: “First of all, thanks to the sincere faith in God of the parents of St. Theophan. I think his father often prayed for the children in the altar of the church, and his mother, both in church and at home, probably shed many bitter tears, asking the Savior and the Mother of God to have mercy on Yegorushka and guide him on the straight path of faith and piety. After all, of all the children he was the biggest naughty boy. And sincere faith in God and His help did not go unanswered. The seed of this faith was sown in Yegorushka’s soul. Secondly, this seed of faith was nourished by the lifestyle of the Govorov family. Father Vasily served in the Vladimir church in his village and was an intelligent and educated man. The saint’s mother, Tatyana Ivanovna, was a very kind, pious woman, and she tried to instill the same qualities in her children. Parents not only told their children that they must fulfill God’s commandments, but they themselves fulfilled them. Fervent joint prayer morning and evening, reverent attendance at all holidays and Sunday church holidays, frequent communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, receiving traveling pilgrims, helping the poor and all those in need. And children learned from the example of their parents, and then imitated them in adulthood. Sincere faith in God, the love of parents among themselves, the love of parents for children, for all people - were the main features of the Govorovs. Thirdly, the personal faith of the person himself performs miracles. The saint constantly developed and increased his natural abilities and qualities of soul. Not long ago, Yegorushka played excessive pranks and made his parents sigh sadly. But several years have passed, and in the bulletins of the Oryol Seminary it is repeatedly noted that Georgy Govorov “is distinguished by a penchant for solitude and hard work,” “is edifying in his dealings with his comrades and sets an example of hard work and good morals,” “meek and silent.” And concluding her essays, Ksenia notes: “So faith in God turned Yegorushka, a naughty and restless person, into a great bright Personality - a prayer book for the Russian land, St. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky!” 204 Many children paid attention to how Yegorushka’s parents raised him and noted that this example would serve as the most edifying example for them in their future life. As Valeria Shishkina (12 years old, Tula) wrote: “As a future mother, I would like to follow the example of the parents of St. Theophan the Recluse and raise good children who love God and the Fatherland, and, of course, myself follow the example of the life of St. Theophan the Recluse.” 205 Acquaintance with the childhood years of St. Theophan confirmed in many children confidence in the beauty and truth of Orthodoxy. According to Victoria Kireeva (12 years old, Tula region): “Orthodoxy for me is not only faith in the One God, but also the main joy of my life. I can’t imagine my life without faith, without hope, without love... When it’s bad, when there’s no one to help you, God will always help. When everyone around turns away from you, He alone will show you the way.” 206 Alina Zvereva (14 years old, Komsomolsk-on-Amur) also writes about this: “So why do we need faith in God, and how does it help people? Using the example of the life of Theophan the Recluse, one can understand that faith in God does not allow a person to become discouraged and weak. It helps you realize your purpose in life, gives you confidence in your own actions and actions. Faith makes a person a courageous, strong and independent person. The main thing is to try and believe that God will always help, because He is always there! Faith in God is awareness of the need of man for the world!” 207 Thanks to the competition, many children learned the name of St. Theophan. As Maria Khrustaleva (15 years old, Liski, Voronezh region) admits: “Basily the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom... How many of them are our spiritual teachers, our invisible helpers, our intercessors before the Lord. We turn to them in prayers and ask them to help, protect, and guide. Thanks to the “Teacher of Piety” competition, I met the great teacher of the Russian Church, St. Theophan the Recluse, one of the true evangelical shepherds, “true teachers of piety and purity,” who wrote that every “soul needs the light of heaven—the truth of God.” Centuries separate us from the time when the saint lived, much has changed during this time, but the human soul is still the same, and the laws of its formation have not changed. <…> With his mother’s milk, Theophan the Recluse absorbed love for God and man. Faith, instilled in him from childhood, gave him the strength to overcome all adversity and hardship. Faith also gives us hope that we, Christians, will try to live according to the commandments of God with a pure heart. I wish it were so. May the Lord help us!” 208 The title of the second section of the book, “Life as a Ball,” is taken from a famous quote by St. Theophan, which shows his complete submission to the will of God: “Frequent and unexpected changes in my service... have taught me to be silently obedient to every purpose, like a ball, rolling without a crack back and forth, in the direction of the blows given to it. And God did not abandon His help. Let even now the uncertainty of a new future position and ministry be more than confusing. But, as in the future, the same Hand, which mercifully preserved in the past, will rule over everything; then, throwing myself with devotion into the hands of the living God, I reliably rest in His holy will...” Getting acquainted with the life of the saint, the young authors sought to understand and explain this comparison. As Galina Goikalova (12 years old, the village of Timiryazevo, Voronezh region) writes: “His life is really like a ball, transparent, glowing with a quiet, gentle light - the light of truth, the light of truth.” 209 Another author, Ekaterina Tonsheva (13 years old, Voronezh), writes about the same heavenly light: “I would compare the life of St. Theophan not just with a “ball rolling without rumble or noise,” but with a “luminous ball,” because by the example of his life, by his words and deeds, he left a bright mark in the souls of people.” 210 Ivan Ziborov (12 years old, village of Yasenki, Kursk region) notes what fruits such an internal dispensation has brought: “St. Theophan, all his life “without noise or noise,” that is, without grumbling, humbly fulfilled his Christian feat. His life is full of events, because God’s providence for him was such, and the saint completely fulfilled the will of the Heavenly Father. He did not contradict his superiors, but did everything with diligence, and his deeds bore good fruit. “Here and here,” this is how the saint calls his pastime in this vain world. I believe that it was precisely for this reason that the servant of God needed time for spiritual work in seclusion.” 211 By accepting all the circumstances encountered on his life’s path, Saint Theophan set an example of fulfilling the will of God. As Mikhail Serov (17 years old, Ryazan) writes: “The ball is St. Theophan himself, who “without a crash or noise,” that is, humbly, without resisting, moved where the river of life directed him, where God directed him. Not at all trying to curb the stormy sea of ​​everyday life, or somehow influence the events taking place in life, he, nevertheless, showed an example of the most reasonable attitude towards the time of life allotted to a person. For some reason, people very often try to change reality, to make everything more convenient for themselves. Saint Theophan accepted reality as it was, but admitted that the secret desire of his heart was if a place fell to his lot where he “could freely indulge in activities of his own heart.” By his life he showed the greatest confidence in the most loving Father, and just as a good Father encourages an obedient son, so the Heavenly Father rewarded his child by satisfying the longing of his heart.” 212 The young authors also showed a good knowledge of the life of the saint in the following section: “Iconographic image of the saint: If I were to paint a large hagiographic icon of St. Theophan, then what episodes would I choose for the marks.” Many children admitted that they would like to become icon painters and paint an image of St. Theophan. The children's thoughts about which episodes they would choose for brands were extremely interesting and important for us, the nuns of the Vyshenskaya monastery, where an image of the saint with brands was painted for the anniversary of Theophan the Recluse. In the section “The Spiritual Image of the Saint,” almost all the young authors wrote about the feat of the retreat, where they tried to understand what its essence and significance for the Russian Church was. As Vladislav Samoilenko (13 years old, Voronezh) notes: “Behind the apparent peace and quiet of the retreat there is incredibly intense work, which the bishop carefully hid. Here he prayed and worked. He translated the books of the Holy Fathers into Russian and wrote essays explaining the essence of Christianity. The saint’s most important occupation was prayer: he devoted himself to it throughout the day and night. In his writings, Saint Theophan truly is the “light of the world,” shining at a time when atheism and materialism came to Russia, which greatly corrupted the minds and hearts of our compatriots.” 213 Viktoria Sapozhnikova (16 years old, Novosibirsk) also writes about the spiritual feat of the saint in retreat: “Behind this “peace”, seclusion, bliss (happiness) hides a tremendous amount of work, a daily feat. Saint Theophan answered many letters every day, spiritually supporting people who turned to him for help. Every answer is permeated with the thought of saving the soul...” 214 Having examined the life of the saint in detail, Victoria draws a conclusion for herself: “In my life, as in the lives of many of my peers, not everything is rosy. I strive for ordinary, “external” happiness: to get a good education, to have a favorite and preferably prestigious and in-demand profession, to create a healthy, prosperous family... But somehow this is “empty”, not very joyful, monotonous. And I want to “abide in the light,” to seek the truth, not comfort. And the truth is in Christ. And I pray to live truly, Christianly.” 215 Yulia Stepanova (16 years old, Izhevsk) asks why the saint’s creations are still in demand in our time: “Because not every person can so skillfully enter the position of the addressee and immediately establish with him the closest spiritual connection, where complete sincerity and frankness prevail. The saint preserved this love for all people until his blessed death. Many people who during the life of Saint Theophan turned to him for advice continued to consider him their teacher after his death and turned to him in prayer.” 216 The fifth section is called “Holy Monastery” and is dedicated to the Dormition Vyshensky Monastery, where Saint Theophan labored for many years, and now resides with his holy relics. With great excitement, we read our childhood impressions of the trip to the Vyshensky Monastery. As Vadim Mitin (11 years old, Vysokoe village, Ryazan region) admits: “And here I am in the monastery. Now I understand why the saint chose Vysha as the place of his retreat. Here is a rare and amazing combination of monastic services, grace with the beauty of nature, with the possibility of quiet solitude. I understood why people from all over the country keep coming here, to Vysha, to the relics of the saint. I took with me from there a piece of the warmth of this great man. It seems to me that he still looks at us from heaven, walks among us, helping many. Through the prayers of the saint, souls are purified. This is a great miracle." 217 The essays showed us how strong love lives in the hearts of young authors for our native land, for their small homeland, for holy places. Here is a short introduction from the work of Fyodor Semenov (14 years old, Novomichurinsk, Ryazan region): “The ancient Ryazan land has been glorified by hundreds of devotees of piety. Fertile places are scattered along it with precious stones: holy lakes and springs, churches and monasteries.” 218 In the next section, “The Road to God,” the young authors talked about how they themselves came to faith, why it is necessary to attend church and worship, and what this does for the human soul. According to Natalia Toporova (18 years old, Stary Oskol, Belgorod region): “We all know that the worst thing for the soil is ravines. When the earth crumbles, they become wider and wider. And if you plant a tree on the edge of a ravine, it will strengthen the earth with its roots and stop the disastrous sliding of the soil. The Church, the Orthodox faith, is such a tree of salvation for us. Only this can keep the world from falling into the abyss of sin and vice. I often remember my childhood, when my grandmother took me to church with her. It was very interesting for me to listen to church singing and look at the faces of saints on the icons. How good and light the soul is! Such grace comes to you! You find peace, quiet joy." 219 Most essay authors chose the topic “How to learn to live like a Christian?” Advice from Saint Theophan on Christian life and salvation." In this section, the guys thought about the place of Orthodoxy in the modern world, full of difficulties. Teenagers wrote about how to find the meaning of life, what Christian qualities one must cultivate in oneself in order to be a worthy citizen of society. The prize-winner of the competition, Roman Petrov (14 years old, Chernogryazka village, Bolkhovsky district, Oryol region), noted that for most of his peers, the goal of life is a “comfortable, convenient and calm” existence, and the Orthodox seem to be eccentrics to many. In his essay, Roman tries to answer questions that are often asked by Orthodox people: “If God exists, then why is there so much suffering on earth?” Despite all these opinions, in Roman’s heart there lives a strong faith in God, which permeates all his work: “It is clear what faith can give people, and even more clear what will not happen if people move away from God - emptiness and disintegration of both the individual and society. But how can this simple truth be conveyed to people? I am sure that it is necessary to turn to the lives of such ascetics as Theophan the Recluse. A person and his essence can be judged by what and how he believes. Modern people believe in cars, in material wealth, in the importance of everything around them that they can grasp with their minds. This is a pathetic faith. A Christian believes in God and in another world, but the other is of little importance to him. This is faith worthy of man.” 220 Eleonora Shishkina (12 years old, Tula) writes that the life of a Christian is continuous spiritual work: “It is not enough for a Christian to pray only in the morning and evening, but it is necessary to glorify the Lord with prayers and good deeds during every day allotted to man by God, throughout his entire life. Then a person begins to evaluate his thoughts and actions in accordance with the Gospel and ask himself the question: “What would Christ have done in this case?” A person who follows this path will constantly grow spiritually. Temporary internal work on oneself is unacceptable for a Christian (for example, only during fasting), since in this case a fall will certainly occur. The spiritual development of a Christian requires constant attentive work throughout his life. Saint Theophan followed this principle, remembering the patristic instruction until the end of his life: “Blessed is not the one who began a good life, but the one who remains in it to the end.” Based on the advice of St. Theophan the Recluse and having before me a pious, loving, flaming before God example of his life - the life of a true Christian, I would like to learn to imitate him, follow his instructions - studying, praying, participating in the Sacraments of the Church, watching my inner life, doing housework, loving my neighbors, helping those in need - thereby glorifying God and passing on the sparks of God's love to the people around me." 221 Eleanor’s peer, Ulyana Koroleva (12 years old, village of Vishnevaya, Kimovsky district, Tula region), also answers in great detail the question about the need for faith in a person’s life. Reading such works, it is gratifying to note that we already have a whole generation of people raised in Orthodoxy, for whom its ideals are as natural as breathing, like the rays of the sun. This is very pleasing and gives hope that the future of our country is in good hands. Ulyana Koroleva writes: “To learn to live like a Christian, you need to believe in God. In all life situations, God helps us and guides us through life, gives us tests not only for sins, but also tests us how faithful and strong we are to Him in our faith. I believe that people should go to church and pray, because it is unity with the Church that leads us to salvation and protects us from everything bad. A truly good Christian life can only be had by a person who truly believes in God and tries to live with this faith and do the will of God with good deeds. Faith in God that is not accompanied by good deeds is not true and correct. After all, words must be confirmed by actions. From God we have received special means to help us distinguish between good and evil deeds. These are the commandments of God and our conscience. According to the commandments, we must love God most of all, because He created us and leads us through life, and love our neighbors, thereby expressing love for the Almighty. I think that everyone should definitely know these commandments and always try to follow them. I am very glad that I became acquainted with the life and work of the great Saint Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky. His wise thoughts will help you walk through life correctly, act according to God’s commandments and achieve your goal.” Anna Silinskaya (13 years old, Ryazhsk, Ryazan region) wrote that St. Theophan is very revered in her family, because on the day of the saint’s memory, her parents started a family. And Theophan the Recluse became the heavenly patron of the family, to whom they often turn in prayer. Parents talked a lot about the life of the saint and often cited quotes from his books, so that through his word the souls of their children would be improved and good Christian qualities would develop in them. It is common for teenagers to look for their place in life, and it is gratifying to note that the works of St. Theophan for many of them become a solid guide in the search for the meaning of life and their place in it. Anastasia Zakovyrkina (13 years old, village of Pecherniki, Mikhailovsky district, Ryazan region) writes: “Having read the famous book of St. Theophan “The Path to Salvation,” I concluded that for me personally he is a great example of morality and purity, spiritual strength, and patience. The saint teaches the simplest things - truth, integrity, work, reverence in faith. And now we, the younger generation, need his advice to prevent ourselves from making mistakes and strengthen the institution of family. “People are losing their humanity,” my grandmother said, explaining that she often sees the younger generation drunk and swearing. Indeed, we live and do not know what it means to live spiritually. We are overstepping the boundaries of what is permitted and we don’t understand it.” 222 This idea is continued by Maxim Tarasyuk (14 years old, Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region): “Is it possible to be a believer in the modern world? How to learn to live like a Christian? Where to start on your path to God and the Church? A person who is seriously thinking about the meaning of life inevitably has many questions, and he looks for answers to them not only in the church, but also in books, newspapers, even on the Internet. One of these sources, designed to become a guiding star in earthly life, are the numerous works on Christian morality by St. Theophan the Recluse.” 223 Many young authors project the thoughts of St. Theophan onto modern reality and, it should be noted, they are aware that to follow the path of salvation requires courage and complete trust in God’s help. Svetlana Kostyakhina (16 years old, Kamensk Shakhtinsky, Rostov region) notes: “In our cruel world, where a person’s soul has ceased to be the main value of the individual, and conscience has become a burden on the path to success, where there is no time to seriously think about one’s actions and feelings, because the cruel laws of commerce dictate their own rules: if you are behind even for a minute, competitors will overtake you, - the teachings of Feofan the Recluse sound like bolt from the blue. They force each of us to make a choice. A person’s main choice is to live for the sake of pleasure and success or for the sake of Christian charity and the salvation of the soul.” 224 Many children sent their drawings to the competition, where they depicted scenes from the life of St. Theophan, his portraits, and the Vyshensky monastery. It is known that in child psychology, drawing is one of the main ways to determine a child’s state of mind. We were struck by one of the drawings, which depicted St. Theophan with a scroll in his hand, on which was written: “Love your children, and they will love you.” This is an adaptation of the well-known saying of the saint, which sounds like this: “Love children, and they will love you,” i.e., the child unconsciously pointed out to adults the lack of parental love and attention to himself. It should be noted that, having received such a sincere response from all participants in the competition, the organizers decided to continue working with children so that they could reveal their souls through drawings and writings, absorbing the enormous spiritual wealth that St. Theophan left us. Such work, as we see it, mutually enriches both young authors and adults who get acquainted with their works and learn first-hand how children talk about faith and salvation, about the problems of modern society, etc. A disc was prepared at the Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, which, based on children's drawings, tells about the life of St. Theophan. We hope that these materials will be useful when conducting classes in Sunday schools and in classes on “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture.” “The Gospel Story of God the Son” by St. Theophan the Recluse in the context of similar synopses of ancient and modern times Irenaeus (Pikovsky), hieromonk, teacher at Sretensky Theological Seminary Many of those embarking on the path of the Christian faith are interested in an authoritative source about the life and preaching of Jesus Christ. However, not one, but four authoritative testimonies have survived to this day, which we call the Gospels. And yet they do not completely coincide with each other. Thus, the content of the Gospel of Mark coincides by 93% with the other Gospels, by Matthew by 58%, by Luke by 41%, and by John by only 8%. This problem of the identity of the texts, in connection with which neophytes were perplexed as to why the Gospels were similar in some cases and different in others, was raised already in ancient times. So, in order to eliminate the visible discrepancies between the four sources, the Christian apologist of the 2nd century. Tatian brought all four Gospels into a single narrative. This work was called “Diatessaron” (literally, “in four”) and was in use in the Syrian Church for a long time. The “Diatessaron” itself has not reached us, but a commentary on it, compiled by the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, has reached us. From this commentary it is clear that the Diatessaron did not contain the entire text, but only a summary of the Gospels. This summary does not contain the genealogy of Christ and those places that show His descent from King David. Apparently, Tatian, who later deviated into heresy, was inclined to see in Christ a certain divine eon, and not a God-human personality. And he had this theological idea in his head when composing his work. Ammonius of Alexandria also tried to compile “Harmony on the Gospels” (according to various dates of the 4th–5th centuries), who took the text of the Gospel of Matthew as the basis for the chronology and added information from other evangelists to it. But since the “Harmony” of Ammonius was preserved only in the form of catenas, it is now difficult to say anything about its content. In the 4th century. Eusebius of Caesarea compiled tables with parallel passages from different evangelists, in which he did not so much compare the literal coincidences of the texts of different apostles, but rather drew meaningful, ideological parallels. The first patristic work in which the synoptic problem was considered systematically was the composition of Bla. Augustine of Hippo "On the Concord of the Evangelists" (c. 400). Blazh. Augustine saw no contradictions between the Gospels. He believed that when there are discrepancies in the texts of the four evangelists, the main thing should be taken into account: they agree with each other in thoughts and circumstances of events. 225 In his work “On the Concord of the Evangelists,” St. Augustine united the narratives of the evangelists into a single four-gospel story based on the chronology of the Gospel of Matthew. He divided all the differences between the Gospels into contradictions in the order of presentation of events and into contradictions in the description of the same events. Differences between the Gospels do not affect the essence of the gospel, since the “spirit” of Scripture is preserved with a slight difference in the “letter”. To remove the contradictions, blessedly. It is useful for Augustine to follow this rule: in the words of each evangelist one must see his intention, since truth is not associated with letter signs. Evangelists, quoting predecessors, can express the same ideas not literally, but in their own words. The truth that is proclaimed in the Gospel is more important than words, so we should pay more attention to the meaning of the words than to the letter. Moreover, one should look for the true spirit of the speaker, “not in words alone, but also in all other spiritual signs.” 226 So, all four Gospels are in the blessed. Augustine's works are considered to have been compiled by four separate people in the volume that reached the time of his life. 227 The evangelists wrote sequentially one after another, shortening or supplementing the texts of their predecessors “by inspiration of the Holy Spirit” or “as they remembered.” Starting from the 5th century, we hardly encounter any attempts to compose a single Four Gospel story. The Gospel texts were mostly written down in different notebooks, which were later included in the single corpus of books of the New Testament. Moreover, Blessed Theodoret of Cyrrhus removed Tatian’s “Diatessaron” from church use, replacing it with the four separate Gospels familiar to us. Subsequently, such outstanding interpreter fathers as St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyril of Alexandria, Blessed. Jerome, blessed Theophylact and others preferred to interpret each of the Gospels separately. The question of harmonizing the evangelists did not arise until the Reformation. With the development of textual criticism, various “symphonies” and gospel “synopses” began to appear. The Greek word “synopsis” was used to describe the presentation of several Gospels in one general overview, which was tables with parallel verses from the four Gospels. Such tables emphasized the visual similarity of the plan, style and content of the first three Gospels. Hence the concept of “synoptic Gospels” as a general name for the first three Gospels from Matthew, Mark and Luke, as opposed to the Gospel of John. Gospel synopses became especially popular in Western Europe in the 18th century. And starting from the 19th century, various gospel stories, synopses and tables began to appear in Russia, indicating parallel passages from the four Gospels. Among the first is the work of Chebotarev Kh. “The Four Gospels, that is, a collection of all four Evangelists.” This set of Gospels, published in 1803, is somewhat reminiscent of Tatian's Diatessaron. All words of the synthetic text are taken exclusively from the Gospels. But at the same time, the consolidated text was not made up of the full texts of the four Gospels, but individual words taken from different places at the author’s choice. This book has no preface, no table of contents, no historical commentary. The book is divided into 114 paragraphs, which have neither subtitles nor, with a few exceptions, footnotes. After Chebotarev, apparently, no attempts were made to compose something similar for almost half a century. But from 1867 until 1917, you can count at least 22 manuals on New Testament history that resemble gospel synopses. Shortly before the publication of St. Theophan’s “Gospel History,” three such authoritative publications had already been published. This is “Ecclesiastical History of the Old and New Testaments” by St. Philaret (Drozdov) (1967), “The Sacred History of the New Testament, from the narratives of the Holy Evangelists” by priest S. Rubtsov (1969) and lecture notes by the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archpriest. Alexander Gorsky “History of the Gospel and the Apostolic Church.” In “Ecclesiastical History of the Old and New Testaments” St. Filaret (Drozdov) first of all wanted to show the integrity of the external history of the Church and the internal history of the faith. The work, probably intended for ministers of the Church, explains the relationship between Old Testament prototypes and New Testament events, shows the continuity of faith “as a weapon against unbelief,” and explains the reasons for the appearance of church rituals and rules. Moreover, in a work of 592 pages, the gospel story is presented on only 45 pages. A brief summary only indicates the headings of the stories, without revealing the content of a particular story or parable. At the same time, the work devotes significant space to the period of the Maccabees and the state of society before the coming of the Savior to the world. From such a disproportion it is easy to see that the author primarily wanted to defend the history and faith of the Orthodox Church, and not to reveal the content of New Testament history. Therefore, the work of the saint, first of all, is better considered as apologetic (against unbelief), and not as historical (this is not a textbook on gospel history). This is confirmed by the semantic selection of content (against pharisaism) and confusion in chronology (especially in the description of the first days of Holy Week). Priest S. Rubtsov, instead of a full synopsis, actually creates a short retelling of the Four Gospels. The text of the retelling is quite accurate, but there are no indications of the reasons for the appropriate choice of the sequence of events, and there is no information from church tradition. “History of the Gospel and the Apostolic Church” prot. Alexander Gorsky (1812–1875), according to the author’s idea, is intended to describe the earthly life of the Lord, to convey the idea of ​​​​Jesus Christ’s calling of all His followers to faith in Him as the Savior of the world. Gorsky's lectures are warmed with inspiration and religious feeling. This is evident both from the personal appeal to the reader (rhetorical questions, exclamations), and from the moral and ethical assessment of the individuals who spoke with the Lord. The latter from Gorsky can receive both negative assessments (“caught in their own networks”, “they object with impudence and indignation”, they speak with “mocking impudence”, “blinded by unbelief and malice”), and positive assessments (the man born blind denounced the questioners with “ingenuous words”, Philip “wanted to open before the Lord his simply stuffy desire”, etc.). The text of the Gospel History periodically contains expressions from the Greek text of the New Testament, but at the same time there are very few references to the holy fathers or footnotes. Historical and geographical commentary is woven into the overall narrative. Lengthy reflections on the date of the Nativity of Christ, on changes in Judea during the thirty years of the Savior’s earthly life, on the state of Galilean life, etc. are devoted to historical digressions. Gorsky presents an extensive story about the “Descent of the Lord into Hell” (based on 1 Pet. 3, 18–20, 4, 6; Col. 2, 15), but at the same time he only reveals about Holy Saturday five lines (Matthew 27:62–66). Therefore, the work of Rev. A. Gorsky can rather be characterized as ideological rather than historiographical. At the same time, we must pay tribute to the doctor of theology: his lectures are written in such a lively and fascinating manner that you want to take the Holy Scriptures in your hands and read for yourself what is written there about the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the work of Saint Theophan under the title “The Gospel story of God the Son, who became incarnate for our salvation, in sequential order, set forth in the words of the holy evangelists” was probably one of the first in Russian biblical studies in which an attempt was made to fit the words of the evangelists into a single historical outline - without adding or subtracting fragments of the Gospels. For the first time, the presentation was based on the New Testament texts themselves according to the Synodal translation, and not on their retellings. The saint's work was first published in 1885, 228 after the publication of interpretations of the letters of the Apostle Paul. At the same time, even ten years before the publication of the “Gospel History,” the Right Reverend himself wrote: “We should not write an interpretation of the Gospel, but reflections, so that every word and every movement of the Lord would be a solemn testimony of His Divinity.” 229 As the compiler of the biography of the Right Reverend, Archimandrite Georgy (Tertyshnikov), notes, the work of Saint Theophan became an addition to the previous work entitled “An instruction according to which anyone for himself can compose one consistent gospel story from the four Gospels” (1871). 230 The purpose of studying the Gospel, as well as all Holy Scripture, according to the saint, is to correct a person’s conscience. “The Word of God,” instructs Bishop Theophan, “is like a mirror. Just as, looking in the mirror, everyone sees where there is a spot or a speck of powder on the face or on the dress, so the soul, reading the word of God and looking at the numbered commandments there, cannot help but see whether it is correct or faulty in those commandments.” 231 To fulfill the Commandments of God, you need to know them. And for this, as the saint commanded, it is useful to read and memorize the words of the Lord and the holy apostles, while trying to “more clearly and fully embrace the thought of the Savior and penetrate deeper into its meaning and connection with the whole sum of our beliefs.” 232 “Do not leave anything that you have learned by heart,” writes Bishop Theophan, “as bare knowledge, but arrange yourself in such a way that it influences your character, your feelings and dispositions, and serves as a guide in your behavior. You can easily achieve this if you apply what you are learning to yourself when thinking.” 233 Therefore, according to the saint, for a person seeking salvation, it is important to know not a retelling, but the original text of Holy Scripture itself, which illuminates all the paths of a godly life and, through illumination from above, forms in the reader the motivation to lead a godly life. To put the Gospel events in the right order, selecting a fragment from each, is, according to St. Theophan, in some way “mechanical labor.” The main thing is to correctly determine the geographical and time coordinates from the Gospels themselves. But if you build a synopsis on the basis of some theological idea, then you won’t get an unambiguous solution: “how many minds - so many ideas and theories.” 234 Consequently, some internal rules are needed to order the sequence of gospel events. Therefore, in a brief historical and theological introduction to the “Gospel History”, Saint Theophan establishes certain principles for himself. First of all, you need to adhere to the order of events that at least two evangelists follow. If the synchronicity of both is interrupted at some point, but one of the evangelists continues the story, then this was the actual course of events. Details can be borrowed from the third evangelist only if they complement the first two. If the third evangelist conveys features that are not identical with the other two apostles, then most likely we are talking about different events. The events and speeches of the Savior could be repeated more than once under different circumstances. Bishop Theophan divides the texts of all four Gospels into small sections. This division is the author’s, it does not correspond to the liturgical principles. And in parallel to these divisions of each of the Gospels, he builds a general Gospel outline of 260 paragraphs. Each of the paragraphs is a small plot made up of texts from different Gospels. At the same time, there is a paragraph heading and links to fragments of the Gospels, but there is no indication of how exactly each of the paragraphs was formed. The content shows that this is a mixed text made up of scraps. There are no graphic division signs or references to patristic literature. Therefore, the reader should completely rely on the intuition of the Vyshensky recluse to correctly connect the puzzles into a single mosaic. Of course, between the lines of the sacred text there are sometimes short comments. For example, in order to avoid inconsistencies between the narratives of Matthew and Luke about the Nativity of Christ (according to Matthew, the Holy Family fled to Egypt after meeting the Magi, and according to Luke, after meeting Simeon in the Jerusalem Temple, the Holy Family went to Nazareth), Saint Theophan proceeds as follows. He inserts one word of his own into a scrap of text from Luke (they say, when Jesus’ parents did everything according to the law of the Lord, they did not immediately go to Nazareth, but only “decided to return to Galilee”). The insertion here is the word “put”, i.e. “gathered, outlined the path.” And then, in parentheses, he inserts a brief explanation into the text: “but the worship of the Magi, and then the flight to Egypt, prevented them from fulfilling this at this time.” 235 But such inserted explanations and comments “in the text” are the exception rather than the rule. Filled-in words that are clearly italicized are rare. Therefore, the motives for shortening the text in certain places or duplicating it do not always remain clear. For example, in describing the temptations of the Lord in the desert, Bishop Theophan gives the following classic sequence: the devil tempts the Lord with bread, then places him on the wing of the church, and then shows all the kingdoms of the world from a high mountain. Indeed, according to Matthew, from the test of a miracle to satisfy the flesh (to make stones into bread), the devil moves on to glory before his compatriots in Jerusalem, to the temptation to gain power over the whole world, including over the pagan kingdoms. In this sequence of temptations, the classical ascetic teacher of the 19th century, of course, saw an indication of three main passions (“the lust of the flesh, the pride of life according to the eyes,” 1 John 2:16), which led Eve to her fall in the Garden of Eden. However, the trajectory of passions can also be seen in the Evangelist Luke, who ascends from gross temptations to more subtle ones. 236 Why Theophan gave preference to Matthew, he does not explain, and in this case he simply omits the similar text of temptations from Luke. Thus, he quotes the Sermon on the Mount twice: first according to Matthew, and then according to Luke. Lord, according to St. Feofanu, “The Discourse on the Mount” could be repeated in abbreviation “under other circumstances.” However, under what conditions exactly – the saint does not specify. The Lord's Prayer and some parables are also repeated twice. The rich young man, falling to his knees before the Savior, seemed to repeat the same question twice, according to Theophan: “Good Teacher! What must I do to inherit eternal life? What good must I do to have eternal life? The healing of the blind men of Jericho also occurs twice: at the entrance and at the exit from the city. But the expulsion of traders from the church takes place almost three times, and maybe even more times, as the bishop hints at this. The Lord definitely expelled the merchants from the Church on the first Easter of His ministry, immediately after the solemn Entry into Jerusalem and on Great Clean Monday. The Lord seemed to call the disciples to the apostolic sermon four times (the last time before the Sermon on the Mount), since, according to Theophan, those called to the apostleship, returning home to Capernaum, all the time took up their usual “fishing.” But the most unusual, perhaps, will be the coordination of Peter’s renunciations in the courtyard of the High Priest and the description of the arrival of the myrrh-bearing wives at the Tomb on the first day after the Resurrection of the Lord. A description of Peter's denials is contained in all four evangelists. The narratives of Matthew and Mark are similar, but Luke and John have their own characteristics. In order to harmonize them, the Vyshensky saint admits the idea that each of the three renunciations was repeated three times! 238 It is supposed that Saint Peter was approached three times with questions: “And are you one of His disciples? - and were you with Him? “Your conversation exposes” and the like, and each time those who asked were not content with one answer, but immediately repeated the questions again and again. Peter denied Christ as if in three stages, three times: the first time at the entrance to the courtyard of the High Priest, then leaving the fire lit in the courtyard to exit the courtyard, and finally, as the saint writes, because “for some reason Saint Peter was unable to go out into the street, and he again returned to the courtyard and sat down by the fire. Here they attacked him again with questions: first a maid, a little later someone else, an hour later - no one else.” 239 Mary Magdalene rose first and rushed to the tomb while it was still dark. Not finding the body of Christ in the tomb, she ran to the apostles. Then Joanna came to the tomb with her friends and, having received assurance of the resurrection from the angels, also went to the apostles. After this, Peter and John ran to the tomb. Magdalene ran after them, and after Peter and John left, she was the first to see the risen Lord, but did not yet dare to touch Him. After she left, Mary of Jacob and Salome finally came to Golgotha, who were also honored to see the Lord, and then went to the apostles. In this fairly detailed sketch of visits to the Tomb on the first day of the week, we see something that is completely absent in the original texts of the Gospels: the division of the myrrh-bearing wives into separate micro-groups. Thus, according to Saint Theophan, it turns out that the Tomb was inspected by women at least five times: on Saturday evening, at night and three times on Sunday morning. At the same time, it turns out that Joanna, who is mentioned only once by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 24:10), went separately from Magdalene and Mary of Jacob, despite the fact that in the lists of myrrh-bearers they all stand in the same row and there is no reason to separate them from each other at all! Apparently, these, as well as other, repetitions were due to the fact that Saint Theophan was afraid of missing out on fragments from the apostolic gospel that were important in his opinion. Blessed Augustine was also prone to such repetitions of gospel verses similar in content in his time. Other domestic pre-revolutionary writers were also prone to the same repetitions. But, really, to a lesser extent. Despite the last words of the “Instruction by which everyone for himself can compile one consistent gospel story from the four Gospels,” that the work of St. Theophan “largely agrees” with Archpriest. M. Bogoslovsky and others. S. Grechulevich, the last two authors have much fewer doublets. Although, in general, the general line of the story, both in St. Theophan’s and in other pre-revolutionary authors, is largely the same. After St. Theophan, most of the pre-revolutionary authors, such as Ivanov, Lopukhin, Konoplev, Rudakov, Bogolepov, Gladkov, retold New Testament history, adding historical and exegetical comments to the text. The greatest demand, apparently, was for brief notes on New Testament history for high schools and extensive commentaries on the Fourth Gospel for seminaries. One of the best pre-revolutionary synopses can perhaps be called the book “The Earthly Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Described in the Exact Words of the Evangelists” (1899). In this edition, the text from all the Gospels is arranged in paragraphs with appropriate headings. Inside the paragraphs, mixed text from different Gospels is presented. Passages taken from particular Gospels are not indicated as quotations, but with the help of footnotes the reader can find out references to the corresponding verses of Holy Scripture. As stated in the preface, “the story offered to the reader is not a retelling of the Evangelists, as almost all stories are,” and not a synthesis of all biblical and extra-biblical sources. This book is the story of “the stay on earth of the Savior of the human race in the words of the Evangelists.” From this it is clear that the publishers cared about chronological sequence, and “if an event is described by one evangelist incompletely or not clearly, then it is supplemented and explained by the text of other narrators.” However, at the same time, the editors of the codex could also allow abbreviations, as can be seen from the corresponding introduction: “something from the Gospels in the proposed book was omitted that it turned out to be unnecessary to cite, because there would be unnecessary repetition.” Consequently, this synopsis does not include all the verses of the four evangelists. A strange feature of the publication is the placement of the Prologue of the Gospel of John after the Ascension, at the very end of the gospel story. It remains unclear why, during the development of such a labor-intensive work at the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, the author of the book remained unknown. Be that as it may, the order of events in the “Gospel Story of God the Son” by St. Theophanes had an influence on subsequent biblical scholars. This is noted by, for example, Archpriest. Pavel Matveevsky, who compiled “The Gospel History of God the Word of the Son of God...” (1912), explaining in his three-volume book the events and sayings of the Lord based on the works of the holy fathers and liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church. This influence regarding the sequence of presentation of the Gospel story is also noticeable in another classic textbook by the archbishop. Averkiya (Tausheva) “The Four Gospels. Apostle. A Guide to the Study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament" (1953), which in its interpretation of the sacred text, among other things, places significant emphasis on asceticism and the practical side of spiritual life. Therefore, some features and doublets in the “Gospel History” of St. Theophan do not in the least detract from the dignity of this Russian synopsis, created from the text of the Synodal translation, and not from its retelling. The work, which was compiled with great reverence and a desire to convey the gospel story about God the Word to the common people, is popular among readers to this day. The style of presentation and methods of repetition in most cases correspond to the tradition of textbooks of the 19th century. But the fundamentality and scientific validity of this Four Gospel synopsis can be questioned. Trying not to omit anything from the holy text, the saint sometimes stretched the gospel story too long, sometimes following completely arbitrary decisions in the order of presentation of events. In modern times, the problem of reconciling the Gospels has not been fully resolved either in Russian or Western biblical studies. Can it even be solved unambiguously? Due to the fact that in the Gospels themselves there are not enough precise connections regarding the chronology of events or similarities in the description of the same events, many scholars do not dare to tackle the problem of agreements at all. 17. Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. 18. Gladkov B.I. The Sacred History of the New Testament. Ed. 6 e. St. Petersburg: Publishing house. author, 1913. 19. Gladkov B.I. Interpretation of the Gospel. STSL, 2008. 20. Gorsky A.V., prot. History of the Evangelical and Apostolic Church: academic lectures: In 2 volumes. T. 1. Kiev: Prologue, 2007. 21. Emelyanov Alexey, prot. Gospel Synopsis: A Study Guide for Students of the New Testament Scriptures. M.: PSTGU, 2011. 22. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Creations. T. 8. Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel. M.: Father's House, 1995. 23. The earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, described in the exact words of the Evangelists. STSL, 1899. 24. Ivanov A.V. Guide to the study of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament: review of the Four Gospels and the book of the Acts of the Apostles. St. Petersburg, 1915. 25. Cassian (Bezobrazov), bishop. Christ and the first Christian generation. M.: Rus. way: PSTBI, 2001. 26. Konoplev N., priest. Sacred history of the New Testament: textbook. manual for religious schools. Ed. 2 f. Sergiev Posad: Type. STSL, 1909. 27. Kokhomsky S.V. Explanation of the most important places in the Four Gospels. Parts 1–2. Vladimir on Klyazma, 1904. 28. Lebedev V., prot. New Testament biblical anthology. Sacred History of the New Testament. Pg., 1916. 29. Levitsky A., priest. The sacred history of the New Testament, presented according to the Gospel text with explanations and illustrations. M., 1914. 30. Lopukhin A.P. Biblical history of the New Testament - Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1998, T. 3. - XXXII, 1057 p. // Rep. with ed. St. Petersburg, 1895. 31. Matveevsky P., prot. The Gospel story about God the Word, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, presented in sequential order and explained by the interpretations of the holy fathers and teachers of the Orthodox Church. M.: Synodal typ., 1912. 32. Rubtsov S., priest. The sacred history of the New Testament, from the narratives of the Holy Evangelists. M., 1869. 33. Rudakov A.P., prot., prof. Sacred History of the New Testament. St. Petersburg, 1912. 34. Rudinsky N., priest. Course plan for the Sacred History of the New Testament according to the Four Gospels. St. Petersburg, 1909. 35. Sokolov Dmitry, prot. Sacred History of the New Testament. 64th ed. Pg., 1915. 36. Alexander Soyuzov, priest. Synopsis. Klin: Christian Life Foundation, 2002. 37. Farrar F.V. The Life of Jesus Christ: In 2 vols. T. 2. St. Petersburg: Tuzov, 1900. 38. Theophanes (Govorov), St. The Gospel story about God the Son, who became incarnate for our salvation, presented in sequential order in the words of St. evangelists, indicating the reasons why one and not another, the order of the Gospel events one after another was chosen. M.: Rule of Faith, 2006. 39. Fiveysky M., priest. Textbook of the Sacred History of the New Testament. M., 1897. 40. Filaret (Drozdov), St. Church history of the Old and New Testaments. [B. m., B. g.]. 41. Chebotarev H. The Four Gospels, i.e., a collection of all four Evangelists. M., 1803. The liturgical heritage of St. Theophan cleric of St. Panteleimon V. Popov, in his report “Analysis of the Catholic teaching on the “immaculate conception” according to the liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church in the unpublished correspondence of the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy Archimandrite Theophan (Govorov) with Prince N. B. Golitsyn” writes that St. Theophan the Recluse considered the service as “a complete sacred poem”: “You, without a doubt, know that in our missals there is a kind of system... The thought of a festival or a saint’s day develops gradually: at first, as a proposal, it is expressed in general terms - in the troparion, kontakion, ikos, luminaries and sedals... Each in its own way, but all as one general thought...” 240 The first explanations are contained in the stichera on the Lord I cried, but its full development belongs to the canon. However, the saint believed that a proven dogma can be substantiated on liturgical books, but an unproven dogma should not be deduced from them alone, since, recognizing the significance of liturgical texts, he considered it necessary to “determine their value and dogmatic weight...”. 241 Another topic concerning the liturgical heritage of the saint was presented in a number of reports and in the author’s thesis. This is a question of a new translation of liturgical books, which Saint Theophan proposed to do for the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Rus'. This is what we find among his letters: “He writes that he was perplexed when they read some kind of troparion or stichera to him and asked him to say a thought. I couldn’t say anything: it was very dark. Two ladies wrote to me from St. Petersburg - also about this, Pashkov understands everything, but we have nothing. Nothing - a lot; and that there is a lot of incomprehensibility is fair. The powers that be should take care of this and clarify the liturgical books, leaving, however, the Slavic language - and readings from the Old Testament at Vespers, translation from 70 interpreters. Start a conversation about it. Liturgical books, according to their purpose, must be changed” 242 and “Church books should be clarified and cleaned. The Greeks are constantly updating their liturgical books. I compare octothem. The Greeks have a lot, a lot of new things. And they are great at this. – Our other services are such that you can’t understand anything... Also: The prologue, in terms of content, is delightful, but in terms of style, it’s not good... but everything is in motion...” 243 Saint Theophan the Recluse considered church services the best place for prayer and called in his heart to listen to the words of the chant: “We must endure all church services. And I’ll tell you that there is no better way to discover heartfelt prayer than to be in church, at church services. In church services the spirit is prayerful. Anyone who sits through the service with attention to everything read and sung cannot help but warm up in a prayerful mood. If this is the case today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, etc., then finally the prayer fire will light up in the heart. But when God gives it, then you will run to church as to a royal feast and nothing will stop you; just try to listen to church singing and readings, and without attention nothing will happen.” 244 In his letters, Saint Theophan quite often gives practical advice regarding divine services, suggesting that during indistinct readings one should read the Jesus Prayer to oneself. In some cases, when preparing for Communion or the impossibility of attending a church service, he gives advice to replace the service with bows, as it is written in the Followed Psalter. And he writes to one of his sick spiritual children: “Another benefit is that if you were healthy, if you decided to actively work for your salvation, you should keep strict fasts, vigils, long prayers, standing for general church services, and other works. Now you have replaced this with the patience of pain.” 245 On the issue of observing the rules of worship, the saint was of the opinion of strict adherence to all instructions, about which he wrote to his interlocutor, a priest: “There is nothing to be embarrassed about certain differences in church orders. They have always been permissible, and in essence the matter is as follows. The only sin is not reverence, and the rites themselves can be changed - everything except the essential in the Holy Spirit. sacraments." 246 One of the key provisions in the matter of worship is its apostolic establishment. This topic is revealed in the context of such a concept as tradition, and the saint believes that “the image of Christian knowledge, and the rules of life, and the mutual relations of Christians, and the sanctifying sacramental rites, and the rules for church meetings, everything was personally established by word and reinforced by personal observation (of the apostles - A.K.).” 247 Considering the Church Sacraments, the saint not only speaks about their establishment by the apostles, but even more - “The Lord instituted the Sacraments... And here we have nothing to philosophize.” 248 The sacraments for Theophan the Recluse are a source of grace. Through repentance and baptism, grace is infused into a person, and through it the gift of unceasing prayer. An important point in the teaching about the Sacraments is the teaching about the synergy of the action of the Sacraments, that is, grace in a person and his labors in the acquisition of unceasing prayer: “The main concern about prayer is that it comes from the heart. True heartfelt prayer is a gift of grace given through the sacraments of Confession or Communion. And after sending such a gift, it is fueled by the same Sacraments. A distinctive feature of this gift is the continuity of prayer, which is expressed by feelings towards God, sometimes with words of prayer, and sometimes without words. What grace gives, labor cannot give. He only prepares for the acceptance of the gift, and upon receiving it, he warms it up, along with the Sacraments.” 249 The recluse of the Vyshenskaya monastery considered meditation on the Sacraments the first means for teaching the soul to frequently turn to God. The actions of the Sacraments often appear in the senses; sometimes they do not have such a reflection and act in secret. For the saint, the Sacrament of Baptism is the putting on of Christ, the communion of the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection, the restoration of the image of God in man, the call to salvation. However, the grace given in Baptism is dynamic, and a person can lose it. The grace given to us in Baptism and Confirmation is the grace of the Holy Spirit. The saint also writes about some practical issues: how to pray for unbaptized babies, what will happen to them, how to pray for parents who died in sectarianism: “It is bitter for your love to hear about your parents, but you can apply to them what is required for babies who died without baptism. The latter surrender to the boundless mercy of God. And you commit to God the fate of your parents, and pray for them in your private prayer - to do with them according to this mercy and according to your faith in this mercy.” 250 In another of his letters, the saint sharply denounces the Molokans (sectarians): “But these are vanities, for whom much of what was written has been lost, even St. Baptism and St. Communion - so they stopped being Christians. For what kind of Christian is unbaptized?!” 251 In the saint’s letters there are also the following lines: “Little baptism,” I’m hearing about it for the first time, “if there is a reduction of the rite of Holy Baptism laid down in the breviary, without omitting essential parts, then, I think, it will do.” 252 The saint considered the sacrament of the Eucharist to be a plaster and food for the soul: “The source of spiritual life, the nourisher and the perfecter is Christ the Lord, Who, by His ineffable mercy, deigns to enter into close communion with those who worthily partake of His most pure body. At this time He can speak to the soul: I am your salvation! Listen! But we must approach Him with the feeling of being lost and having nothing to rely on.” 253 Through the sacrament the Lord gives the gift of unceasing prayer, as discussed above. Eating the Lord and communicating with Him is life. In this Sacrament we not only communicate with Him, but we unite sincerely. Regarding the mystery of the addition of bread and wine to the Body and Blood, Saint Theophan wrote: “In the same thing that is incomprehensible; you must immediately force your mind to bow under the yoke of faith, or to flee under the shelter of faith. – There is no doubt that the thoughts of God are as distant from the thoughts of men as heaven from earth. If we cannot reach to heaven with our hands in order to touch the Divine things there; there is no point in staring there with your mind in order to tactilely know how something is. It is enough to know that God said this: “No one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God living in Him.” 254 The saint draws his attention to the fact that it is not because of the dignity of our preparation that Communion reveals its power, but because of the goodness of God, at the same time considering the degree of a person’s dignity for receiving the Holy Mysteries - a strong determination not to give in to sin. Saint Theophan gives several practical notes on how to celebrate the Liturgy: “How to behave while serving the Liturgy and in general at the Liturgy. To revive faith in the sacrament, to revive the fear of God, to revive the hope of salvation in vain of the Lord, who wants everyone to be saved and calls everyone to that, and is strict and merciful. You need to get used to these feelings and pray for their granting,” 255 invites the ill priest to mentally go through the service. The saint also wrote about the frequency of communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and advised approaching the Holy Gifts once or twice a month. He advised some to take communion on the twelve feasts, and to others four times a year. Thus, we see an individual approach to each person. Regarding the sacrament of consecration of oil, Theophan the Recluse pointed out its main meaning - the healing of bodily diseases: “This sacrament for Christians should be the only medical method for illnesses, as I, it seems, have already mentioned to you.” 257 One mention of marriage as a church sacrament was found in the saint’s letters: “The sacrament of marriage must be urgently accepted by all Christians, as Christians.” 258 Saint Theophan is a subtle and deep expert in liturgical science, having theoretical knowledge and practical experience, which helped him deeply reveal the doctrine of church sacraments, worship, helped him assess the state of modern liturgical literature, give advice on compiling akathists, etc. All his advice had the goal of revealing to those who are thirsty the crown of the life of a Christian - unity with God in the co-operation of grace and the works of man. Personality of man in the anthropology of St. Theophan Doctor of Philology, prof., Bachelor of Theology, Corresponding Member RAE In the light of the distinction proposed by the Holy Father, there is one essence in God, but three Hypostases. Hypostasis is a unique and unrepeatable individuality. The logic of attributing what is said in sacred texts about God either to the Divine essence or to one of the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity allows us to fill the concepts of “essence” and “hypostasis” with new content. In particular, the Holy Scripture speaks not only and not so much about the characteristics of the Hypostases of the Holy Trinity, but about the “personal” existence of the Hypostases: the Father loves the Son (John 3:35), the Son is incarnated and lives a human life (John 1:14), the Holy Spirit guides people “into all truth” and glorifies the Son (John 16:13, 14). We also find this new content of the concept of “hypostasis” in St. Gregory the Theologian. Christians, in contrast to all possible heretics, writes St. Gregory, they worship the One God: “... in three Persons: rational, perfect, independent and separate in number, but not in Divinity.” 263 Thus, each Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity is a rationally, completely and independently existing individuality. The theological language of that time gradually assimilates the terminology of the great Cappadocians, and now the terms “person” - πρόσωπον and “hypostasis” - ύπόστασις begin to indicate personal existence; their use is not confused with another group of terms: “essence”, “creature” - ούσία and “nature”, “nature” - φύσις, denoting a species concept characterized by a set of essential features inherent in individuals of a given species. Although the distinction between personality and nature is indeed the basis of Christian anthropology, 264 in the period of theological development described here these terms were used primarily in expounding the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity, and not about man. It took about a century for the concepts of “hypostasis” and “nature” to be finally transferred to Christology and anthropology and to become precisely those terms that accurately and clearly express the Orthodox teaching about the Incarnation. I The First Ecumenical Council as a whole put an end to triadological disputes, and Christological issues came to the fore. The turning point in Christological debates was the IV Ecumenical Council. In the Chalcedonian definition - oros, the concept of “consubstantial”, previously used in triadology, was used in the formulation of the doctrine of the Incarnation: “So, following the holy fathers, we all teach in agreement to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, truly God and truly man, the same from the rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father in divinity, and the same consubstantial with us in humanity, similar to us in everything except sin... one and the same Christ, the Son, the Lord, the only begotten, in two natures, unfused, unchangeable, inseparably, inseparably cognized - so that by the union the difference of the two natures is in no way violated, but all the more the property of each nature is preserved and united into one Person and one Hypostasis - not into two Persons cut or divided, but one and the same Son and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ..." 265 In the light of this definition, the dogma of the Incarnation looks like this: Firstly, in the incarnate Son of God there are two natures: divine and human. Just as the unity of the Divine nature in relation to the other Two Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, so the unity of human nature in relation to all humanity is expressed by the term “consubstantial.” Secondly, the unity of the Savior’s Person is affirmed; His Person is the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. It is important to emphasize that the concepts of “person”, “hypostasis” and “nature”, formed in triadological disputes, in the terminological logic of the IV Ecumenical Council can already be applied in a precise dogmatic sense to man. 266 Orthodox teaching affirms the unity of the Person of the God-Man. This means that the properties of the two natures are “contemplated” together in the Hypostasis of Christ and, therefore, the Divine and human properties, due to the unity of the Personality, can be placed side by side. In connection with such a hypostatic union of two natures in Christ, sometimes human properties are attributed to Him as God, and sometimes Divine properties are attributed to Jesus Christ as a man. Man, according to church teaching, 267 also consists of two parts: body and soul (soul and spirit), although not as different from each other as Divinity and humanity, but having different properties. Therefore, although the qualities of the body and the qualities of the soul may be closely linked in a particular human personality, it is always necessary to understand which part of human nature they belong to. In Christ there was a human soul, similar in nature to the souls of other people, but there was no human personality. And from here follows the most important anthropological fact - the personality must in no case be identified with the soul, and even more so with the psyche - its reflection in the material world. The personality owns the soul and all its forces and manifestations, but the personality itself is neither a force or a manifestation of the soul, nor any combination of these forces and manifestations. 268 Analyzing the concept of “personality” of a person, V.N. Lossky notes: “So, man created in the image of God is a personal being. He is a personality who should not be determined by his nature, but can himself determine nature, likening it to his Divine Prototype.” 269 Let us note that our fairly free use of the concept of human personality further in the text is, on the one hand, due to the need to highlight the historical component when covering our topic, on the other hand, an attempt to avoid serious difficulties in presenting the material in the absence of common terminology and a unified conceptual apparatus among a number of the holy fathers of the Church. Priest Pavel Florensky writes: “Personality (a person) cannot be logically defined, because its essence stands on the other side of concepts and categories, on the other side of all system-forming rationalistic approaches.” 276 Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh considers the human “I” in two aspects: as an individual (representative of humanity in general) and as a personality. The individual is the limit of fragmentation, beyond which the integrity of the human being is violated. Bishop Anthony points out that when one individual is distinguished from another, there is always an element of differentiation, “so that one individual can be distinguished from another only in the categories of opposition, or contrast.” 277 Speaking about personality, he defines it as a term that does not correspond to our empirical knowledge of man, emphasizes that personality is unique and cannot differ from another personality by self-affirmation or opposition, “personality is a hypostasis, is a relationship.” 278 At the same time, the author notes that “it is so unique, so incomparable that it exists on its own, but can express itself outwardly through well-known actions, manifestations, through what is called “radiance” in the Epistle of the Apostle Paul (Heb. 1:3).” Such a cautious attitude of both saints towards the use of the concept of “personality” can be explained by the imperfection of both the conceptual apparatus of that time (and even the modern one), and the probable reluctance of the holy fathers to give rise to some kind of understatement, to dual judgments that have arisen to this day around the definition of the concept of human personality. In this regard, we can cite the opinion of A.I. Kyrlezhev, expressed by him in 2001 at the international scientific theological conference “Personality in the Church and Society”: “Is a person always, in any state, a person? Or is what we call personality only a goal? Here is a paradox: only a person can become a person, and here is a dialectic pointing to movement, to a process. A person is already a person, but not yet quite a person; he must become a person in some more complete sense, be accomplished as a person. And at the same time, a person is always personal, otherwise one cannot talk about growth, accomplishment and improvement. Thus, in one word we call both that which has not yet been achieved and that from which we proceed.” 286 According to V.N. Lossky, it is impossible even artificially to identify any defining properties of a person that relate only to his hypostasis (personality) or only to his nature (body, soul). From this the author concludes: “We cannot formulate the concept of human personality and must be satisfied with the following: personality is the irreducibility of man to nature.” 287 Critically reflecting on the views of V. N. Lossky on the essential content of the concept of “hypostasis” and the concept of “personality,” S. I. Zaidenberg asks the question: “The difference in the gifts of the Spirit, bestowed by God in the Church, does not allocate to each recipient only a part of the common nature? Does this mean that God submits to the sinful division of human nature between hypostases, which thereby become individuals rather than persons? Or is the gift inherent in the hypostasis itself, and not in nature?” 288 According to the author, V.N. Lossky has no answer to this question, “for it threatens the most terrible, from his (V.N. Lossky’s) point of view, sin - the confusion of hypostasis and nature.” 289 However, a person is not self-sufficient; he cannot be content with himself. It always presupposes the existence of other personalities, the emergence of oneself into another. The relationship of an individual to other individuals is the qualitative content of human life. N.A. Berdyaev emphasized that “the personality is not also a part of the world, the cosmos; on the contrary, the cosmos is a part of the personality; the human personality cannot be thought of as a part in relation to the social and cosmic whole. Man is a microcosm. The personality is a whole; it cannot be a part.” 290 In his opinion, it is impossible to give an unambiguous definition of a person’s personality; it can only be characterized from different sides. As an example, we can cite the following three personality characteristics given by N. A. Berdyaev: – the personality as a whole is not subordinate to any other whole, is outside the relationship of the genus and the individual; – personality should be thought of not in subordination to the race, but in relation to and communication with other individuals, with the world and with God; – personality is not nature at all, and no categories related to nature are applicable to it. 291 In the mouth of St. Feofan the Recluse, the concept of a person’s “face” is synonymous with the concept of a person’s “personality”. Therefore, the words of the saint: “the face of a person (I) is the unity of spirit, soul and body” 292 with complete justice can be attributed to the so-called parts of a person’s personality. Leaving outside the scope of consideration the validity of the two-part approach and the three-part approach we used to describe the parts of the human “I”, given by the Apostle Paul (1 Thess. 5:23), we only note that both of them undoubtedly have the right to exist in Orthodox theology. 293 However, it is necessary to note, as Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) points out, that “through the fabric of their (the writers of antiquity - E.N.) theological concepts and natural philosophical, anthropological conclusions or assumptions, something else very often shines through, which was given to them in their, say, mystical insights, for which even trichotomy is narrow and insufficient.” 294 Speaking about the general structure of the human face, St. Theophan the Recluse, in addition to the parts, also identifies three initial principles, or forces: cognizing, desiring, feeling. Thus, “a person in his composition is a combination of three forces and three parts, which, mutually interpenetrating, converge in one inseparable person.” 295 Spirit, in a particular sense, is the ability of spiritual sensation, often verbal power or spirit is called mind.” 298 Professor of St. Petersburg University A.I. Galich (1783–1848) describes the soul as follows: “It is a natural product where we consider it from the perspective of its existence and activity in the human world; she is an unearthly guest in her basis, in her essence - divine, one, simple, immaterial, immortal. The spirit is its essence, the body is the natural way of its living meaning in the world; she is a real spirit in the flesh.” 299 Considering the soul from the point of view of its orientation, Archbishop Innocent (Borisov), rector of the Kiev Theological Academy (19th century), divides the so-called age of the soul into several periods, in which it needs to go through the following stages: returning to oneself (escape from the temptations of the outside world); staying within oneself and actively purifying oneself; - connection with God. 300 Such diversity in conceptual approaches in patristic literature, in our opinion, can be explained, on the one hand, by the degree of God-inspired revelation among the holy fathers, and on the other, by the inability of the authors to fully understand the complex spiritual-soul-physical composition of man. Personality is unity in plurality, points out N. A. Berdyaev. 301 It has a complex, varied composition. Man himself is fragmented, but “personality is an integral spiritual-soul-physical being, in which the soul and body are subordinated to the spirit, spiritualized and thereby connected with a higher, superpersonal and superhuman being.” 302 In the light of the judgment expressed by N.A. Berdyaev, the logic of the general structure of the human face proposed by St. Theophan can be considered by us as a necessary element of analysis for subsequent synthesis and approaching the understanding of the essence of the human personality. Characterizing the parts of the human being, Saint Theophan points out that: the character of the spirit is detachment from the sensory, the goal and purpose of the spirit is communication with God and the spiritual world; the character of the soul is detachment from the sensory and immersion in it (with “the compatibility of both” 303), the goal and purpose of the soul is to ascend from the sensory through the spirit to God and be “spiritualized”, from God through the spirit to bring down “spiritualization” to the sensory; the character of the body is immersion in the sensory, the purpose and purpose of the body is mediation in communication with the sensory world. “These parts,” writes the saint, “in our composition do not lie one next to the other, but all, as well as abilities, converge in our person (I), are assigned to him and are constant means for him.” 304 At first glance, it may seem surprising that this in the 19th century. Saint Theophan the Recluse, through the prism of natural human nature, the diagram of the general structure of the human face in the interaction of its parts and forces miraculously not only echoes, but also completely coincides with the views of the Apostle Paul on the structure of human nature, distorted by sin (Rom. 1, 21–25, 28; Eph. 4, 17–19). Both before the Apostle Paul and after him, right up to the present time, the scientific world was looking for and continues to look for “its own” logic for constructing the structure of the human “I.” 305 Thanks to the efforts of the holy fathers of the Church, and especially St. Theophan the Recluse, we have the opportunity to fully comprehend the revealed knowledge of the “structure” of a person’s face, his personality, which the Apostle Paul received directly from God (Gal. 1, 15, 16). Unfortunately, the given format for presenting the material does not allow us to describe in more detail the interconnected logic of judgments. Nevertheless, several generalizations can be made from the above. So, we can draw the first conclusions. 1. The reverent, cautious attitude of the holy fathers to the concept of human personality is probably based on their awareness of the concept of “personality of man” as close, but not identical with the hypostatic understanding of the person of man, where man himself is characterized as “the God-created church of the Divine in soul and body.” 306 2. Human personality is not reducible to the psyche and cannot be systematically fully described in rationalistic categories and concepts, since it does not correspond to our empirical knowledge of man. 3. Characterizing a person’s personality from different angles, we can state with a certain degree of certainty: First of all. A person’s personality is not determined by his nature and can itself liken it to its Divine Prototype, the implementation of the process of assimilation to Which, in conditions of damaged human nature, is the most important characteristic of a person’s personality. Secondly. For a person, in contrast to an individual (the latter is considered in the interpretation of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh), the path of self-affirmation or opposition is unnatural due to its uniqueness and originality. Thirdly. Personality is not self-sufficient, it is a relationship, which is the qualitative content of human life and, therefore, can be perceived only through its relationship to other individuals. Fourthly. Through the prism of the trichotomous approach, the composition of human nature can be defined as an interpenetrating and converging in one inseparable person, a combination of three forces: cognizing, desiring, feeling, and three parts: spirit, soul, body. Fifthly. Using the logic of a three-part human nature (spirit - soul - body) for a detailed description of the holistic nature of the human person (personality) is perhaps not enough, because the human personality is most likely more multifaceted than we imagine today. The Holy Fathers divide the state of human nature into: the state after creation - natural, the state after the fall - subnatural, the state after redemption - supernatural. We, of course, are primarily interested in the state after redemption, that is, the state after Baptism. This is the state of St. Basil the Great defines it this way: “Through Baptism, the baptized person changes in mind, in word and deed and, according to the power given to him, becomes the same as the One who gave birth to him.” 307 The natural relationship between the parts of human nature should be: the body is subordinate to the soul, the soul to the spirit, and the spirit is immersed in God. Moreover, the power of the spirit over the soul depends on the Divinity inherent in it. The power of the soul over the body comes from the spirit that possesses it. When man fell away from God, the spirit lost its strength and submitted to the soul; the soul, not exalted in spirit, submitted to the body. Man descended from the realm of the spiritual to the realm of the sensual. Saint Theophan the Recluse compares this state and relationship between the constituent parts of the human being with a telescope, when its parts are pushed into one another. 308 Here we see the saint revealing certain biblical provisions. After all, the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments attribute all evil to the predominance of the flesh, man’s devotion to it (Gen. 6:3; Ps. 48:13; Gal. 6:8; Rom. 7:5; 8:5-8; Eph. 2:3; 2 Pet. 2:10; Jude 19). Likewise, the soulfulness of a person who has not accepted the grace of God or who has lost it is condemned (1 Cor. 2:14; James 3:15). “The words: spiritual, earthly, not God’s, are unambiguous...” notes St. Theophan the Recluse. 309 Thus, for a person, the deadening power of sin consists in: his alienation from the life of God (Eph. 2:12; 4:18); disorder of harmony in the interaction of the forces of his nature, in doing dead works (Heb. 6, 1; 9, 14); poisoning of soul and body and, as a result, receiving eternal death (Gen. 3:19). The path of correction, restoration of harmony in the nature of human parts, according to the thought of St. Theophan, 310 is as follows. Having accepted the word before the separation of soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12), a person must take his soul and offer it as a sacrifice to God (Matt. 10:39), remove himself from lusts (1 Pet. 2:11), submit his soul to the saving word (James 1:21) and thus transform it all, edifying it with the spirit through faith and obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1, 22; Jude 1:20), to teach her to give herself to charity (1 Pet. 4:19). By working for God with all his soul (Eph. 6:6; Matt. 22:37), a person finds peace for his soul (Matthew 11:29), achieving salvation for it by faith (1 Pet. 1:9). Consequently, in such a person the spiritual component completely absorbs the life of the flesh and soul. The true state of the parts of a human being is perfect spirit, soul and body. What is natural with the state of forces operating within a person is “their interpenetration and mutual assistance.” 311 In the first generalizing work on the patristic teaching about the soul, “Systematic Code of the Teachings of St. Fathers of the Church on the Human Soul" by Archpriest Stefan Kashmensky (19th century) indicates that the powers of the soul are divided into: verbally rational powers of the soul (feelings, imagination, memory, reason, mind, conscience); irritable forces of the soul (anger, fear and shame, pleasures and joys, sorrow, envy, compassion and rejoicing); lustful forces of the soul (sensual desires, passions, rational desires, love, freedom). 312 In such a division one can see some tribute to a certain philosophical tradition about the cognizability of the world by feelings and reason, as well as a clear bias towards the use of ethical categories. The use of the latter when describing human nature, in our opinion, can only complicate the process of clarifying the logic of the interaction of forces and parts of human nature. Saint Theophan the Recluse offers a more harmonious system; he divides the forces of human nature into cognitive, active and feeling (heart). 313 Body level. Abilities of lower desires. “Frequent satisfaction of the same desire forms an inclination; desires stand at the transition from needs to inclinations and condition their formation.” 324 3. Sensing forces, or heart. The heart forms the basis for active forces, it is also the organ of higher knowledge and communication with God. 325 St. Theophan the Recluse defines different states of the heart as the relationship of the center of forces and as points of contact with everything that exists outside of us. 326 Spirit level. The heart as a container of spiritual feelings. Religious feelings. These are “...such spiritual feelings are those changes in the heart that occur in it from contemplation or influence on it of objects from the spiritual world.” 327 “The main feeling is the feeling of sonship with God.” 328 Soul level. The heart is a container for emotional feelings. “Spiritual feelings are those movements of the heart that occur in it as a result of changes occurring in the soul, from its characteristic activity. They are divided into theoretical, practical and aesthetic.” 329 “Theoretical feelings are born from the attitude of the heart to knowable truths. Here, by the need to know, the mind is aroused to activity, and then, at the end of its labors, its fruit is deposited in the heart.” 330 “Practical feelings are those movements of the heart that are in essential connection with the activity of the will and either excite it or follow it themselves.” 331 “Aesthetic feelings are those movements of the heart that occur in it from the action of a special kind of objects on it, called graceful or beautiful.” 332 Body level. Lower, sensually animal feelings. “Quick unrest, or damage to the heart, extinguishing the spontaneous activity of reason and will and accompanied by special changes in the body.” 333 So, in sin, the forces that fell away from the face of man lost their mutual point of connection, and at the same time they stopped receiving mutual help from each other. The mind became clouded, dreamy and abstract, the will became capricious and heartless, the heart became uncontrollable and blind. 334 In addition to the fact that in sin the forces of human nature have lost mutual assistance, they actually begin to counteract each other: the predominance of the heart leads to weakness of the mind and inconstancy of the will, to lack of character; the prevailing desire for knowledge leads to a weakening of activity, carelessness of will and coldness of heart, in modern terms, to the syndrome of emotional burnout; the predominance of the will always leads to the fact that the soul does not listen to any convictions and it is inaccessible to the heart. 335 Anthony of Sourozhsky and Luka (Voino-Yasenetsky) point out that such distortions in the states of the forces of human nature are primarily determined by practical experience. 336 In the Word of God there are also indications of the causes of such states. Thus, in the Apostle Paul we find an image of the confusion and internal imbalance of forces that sinners experience, although the apostle speaks not so much about spiritual forces and their states, but about the affairs of a person, as the product of all his forces (Rom. 1, 21, 24, 26, 28; Eph. 4, 17–20). The forces operating within a person, starting from his personality and returning to it, are in a certain interaction with each other, being under the control and management of the human person. 337 In this regard, it is natural that it is hardly possible to fully describe the entire logic of relationships in the system of combining three forces and three parts of human nature, and from a practical point of view, it is advisable. Apparently, it would be optimal to highlight the main relationships of certain basic forces or their elements. Based on the opinion of a number of holy fathers of the Church 338 and using the logic of the conceptual apparatus of St. Theophan the Recluse, mind, heart and will can be identified as the key elements of the forces operating in man. The nature of their mutual influence is presented below in Fig. 1.2. optimize the process of mutual influence and interpenetration of the forces of human nature, including at various levels and parts of its composition; bring the state of your human nature into a supernatural state - a state after redemption. This approach fully fits into the logic of the Venerable’s judgments. Isaac the Syrian: “... the will is the first to be transformed in the acquisition of patience and humility, the second are the feelings in the great virtue of love, and only then the mind comes to perfect measure, entering into communion with God and contemplation of God.” 340 It should be noted that not all the holy fathers of the Church adhered to the opinion of St. Isaac the Syrian. Yes, St. Gregory Palamas defines the passionate mind as the primary influence: “The healing of passions must begin with it.” 341 However, in another place in the same work (the treatise “To Xenia”), the saint speaks of the need to begin healing our soul with its desirable component: “... with all of them (mental, irritable, desirable abilities - the soul is sick - E.N.), and Christ, its physician, naturally, begins His healing with the last, i.e., desirable.” 342 It is easy to notice that both in option “A” and in option “B” the “will” vector has the greatest significance. Hence, confirming our previously expressed judgments and uniting the statements of the holy fathers, the conclusion about the core significance of the element “will” in bringing the “heart-will-mind” system into a harmonious state. All of the above primarily relates to a person’s actions regarding himself. However, since we are talking about a Christian, we must, at least briefly, consider the second type of his actions - in relation to other people. Saint Theophan the Recluse writes: “We are all mutually united in order to mutually teach each other..., having noticed what is especially dangerous for him in another, do your best to calm him down and bring him to his senses as best you can.” 343 He also indicates the subject for such actions - the will of man. “Our poor will! She needs rules, which she often does not know; impulses are needed, which often fall out of thought; he needs guidance, because he often doesn’t know how to start a business.” 344 Thus, a true Christian in relation to a brother or sister, if necessary, must be able to admonish, strengthen and point with meekness (Eph. 4:2; Gal. 6:1), i.e. be able to effectively influence a situation or a specific person. The true state of the parts of human nature is a perfect spirit, a perfect soul and a perfect body. The natural state of the forces operating within the human being is their interpenetration and receipt of mutual assistance. The state of the forces of human nature, distorted by sin, leads to the loss of their mutual point of connection, to the absence of mutual assistance and actual opposition to each other. To eliminate the internal imbalance of the individual and restore harmony in the forces of human nature, first of all, it is necessary to have a person’s inner desire to accept the will of God, his real readiness and practical actions to renounce his own will and live according to the will of God. The state of the forces of human nature, distorted by sin, leads to the loss of their mutual point of connection, to the absence of mutual assistance and actual opposition to each other. To eliminate the internal imbalance of the individual and restore harmony in the forces of human nature, first of all, it is necessary to have a person’s inner desire to accept the will of God, his real readiness and practical actions to renounce his own will and live according to the will of God. A Christian must develop the ability to meekly instruct brothers and sisters in the faith, exert a positive influence on them, and, if necessary, demonstrate such personal qualities as the ability to admonish, strengthen and point. The innovative potential of the anthropological and pedagogical teaching of Feofan the Recluse candidate of pedagogical sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies Kursk State University Reflecting on the essential characteristics of a person, Saint Theophan identifies spirituality as his most important property. It should be noted that this is the most important characteristic not only for religious teachings, but also for philosophical ones. Thus, G. W. F. Hegel wrote, although in a different context, that “only spiritual content strengthens the soul and creates such an immediate support, such a substantial core, which is the mother of self-control, prudence, presence and vigilance of the spirit; it turns the soul grown on it into a core that has independent value, an absolute goal; it alone constitutes the foundation of universal fitness, and it must be laid in all classes.” 345 It is the spiritual sphere that determines the “norm of humanity,” so it seems to us that the very solution of anthropological and pedagogical problems is impossible with research approaches that exclude the spiritual principle in man. A holistic vision of man, substantiated in the works of the saint, makes it possible to have a fundamentally different understanding of the structure, and most importantly, an understanding of the functioning of all “parts and powers” ​​of man. For example, the vision of thinking as the ability to understand the world not as some abstract entity, but as an understanding of its “reasonable structure.” Moreover, this approach also makes it possible to understand individual moments of cognition. For example, the most important problem of science is the problem of such phenomena as “discovery”, “illumination”, “insight”, etc. As we know, while science at the level of its great thinkers A. Poincaré, A. Einstein and others claims that this phenomenon represents a great mystery. The teachings of Theophan the Recluse make it possible to understand intuition as a spiritual phenomenon of human cognitive ability. In his teaching, the saint speaks about what actually is the essence of these phenomena: “It is especially remarkable that those enlightened by grace often contemplate the meaning of things without special help from reason, that is, their reason does not yet know the actual structure of things or knows it partially, but they already contemplate their meaning.” 346 And further, the saint’s very important thought is that reason, participating in the grace of God, makes it possible to better understand the truth than reason. For learning, this meaning is important because it makes it clear that the combination of persistent mental work (rational activity) of the person himself and the help of Divine grace (revelation of the mind) opens up new perspectives on the path of the mind in search of truth. Consequently, the anthropological system developed in the teachings of Theophan the Recluse makes it possible to have a holistic vision of man in his structure, as well as in the functioning of his “parts and forces.” Moreover, this perfection does not concern one part, but embraces the whole person: spirit, soul and body. This thought is fully consonant with the words of another great Russian teacher N.I. Pirogov: “Don’t rush into your applied reality. Let the inner man mature and strengthen: the outer man will still have time to act. Give him the time and means to subjugate the outside, and you will have soldiers and lawyers, and most importantly, you will have people and citizens.” 347 Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote that the order of training must be structured so that the pedagogical impact is exerted on all aspects of a person, which involves the restoration of integrity (chastity) in a person in accordance with the hierarchical principle of his constitution. Thanks to this, the integrity of education is achieved. In such a view of the goals of education, the thoughts of Russian Orthodox and secular teachers are surprisingly consonant. N.I. Pirogov calls on all of us: “Let us remember once again that we are Christians, and, therefore, the main basis of our education is and should be Revelation. Delving into the existing direction of our society, we do not find the slightest trace of this thought in its actions. In all manifestations of practical and even partly mental life, we find a sharply expressed material, almost commercial desire, the basis of which is the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bhappiness and pleasures in life here.” 349 At the same time, it should be said that the saint is not talking about one goal, but about a whole hierarchical tree of goals and objectives of education, generated by the highest goal - the goal of his salvation. The innovative significance of Theophan the Recluse’s pedagogy lies in the fact that it substantiates a number of the most important principles on the basis of which a holistic pedagogical process is built. The most important thing is the unity of education and upbringing. Education is inseparable from upbringing; there is an interdependence between them. “Upbringing is the Divine mechanism by which data is transmitted from generation to generation.” 350 The most important principle of Orthodox pedagogy is the principle of educational teaching, since the main task of Orthodox pedagogy, according to Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), is the education of the moral personality of the inner man, in contrast to heterodox pedagogy, where the main task is the education of the legal personality, the outer man. This principle is expressed in the words of Tikhon of Zadonsk: “Teach faith, and then other sciences.” Theophan the Recluse develops the thought of the shepherd he deeply revered: “Let the study of faith be considered the main thing, let not only success in the sciences, but also faith and good morals deserve approval.” 351 Other principles of Orthodox pedagogy are also of great heuristic importance: the principle of coordinating the internal with the external. The Orthodox understanding of the principle of conformity with nature is very important, since only Orthodox pedagogy, in contrast to secular pedagogy, emphasizes that conformity with nature in relation to man means conformity with the grace-filled, sinless nature of man in accordance with his natural, i.e., primordial state. The concept of Feofan the Recluse provides for the construction of an integral system of educational content. In this regard, the content of education is built on the basis of the values ​​of culture, science, art, as well as religious and moral values, which makes it possible to coordinate religious (“divinely revealed”), universal, national and individual values ​​in the content of education. “Reading, for example, the conversations of Basil the Great on the six-day period, you will find two or three words there that real physicists contradict; but on the other hand, he constantly points out the secrets of the most precious things, which no physics can provide. It goes without saying that the most perfect knowledge is represented by the one who combines the grace-filled enlightenment of the mind with a multi-knowing understanding. But taken separately, the former is much higher and more valuable than the latter.” 352 The teaching of St. Theophan is equally important for the methodological level, since it contains an understanding of technologies and methods of education based on a deep knowledge of man, and especially his spiritual side. Therefore, at this level, the search for new and preservation of traditional effective pedagogical methods is carried out. For example, experience based on ascetic traditions: a person should “prepare not for pleasure, but for feat” (Theophan the Recluse); “Any true education should prepare a person not for happiness, but for work” (K. D. Ushinsky). For modern education, its approaches to organizing certain types of education are very important, building a person’s life in accordance with the logic of his spiritual and moral development. The most important thing is that Saint Theophan gives an understanding of the need for constant hard work. Perhaps it is precisely in our days that it is important to understand life, education and learning as a constant, continuous effort: “How obvious now is the need for a narrow, sorrowful and cross path to salvation! We meet it at all levels of our lives. The body must be constrained by bodily exploits: otherwise all labors are useless. The internal activity of the imagination and passions that follows him - this restless, disorderly activity - must be suppressed by inner intense vigilance. The activity of spiritual forces that stands above this must be corrected by spiritual labors: reading and reasoning, good deeds and worship. Finally, the spirit must be restored or educated through contemplation of God, prayer, and the participation of the sacraments. These are all hard, sweaty activities! So, the most important task of education is to instill the need and develop a person’s ability for constant work, constant exertion of all his forces, not only physical, but also mental and spiritual. This is especially important in our age, when a person faces not only physical, but also intellectual anemia. Therefore, family and school must teach a person not only to think, but also to work! And work physically, mentally and spiritually. And most importantly - with love, but what kind?! The fact is that “instead of God, man loved himself with infinite love, set himself as the exclusive goal, and everything else as a means.” 355 Therefore, along with recommendations for organizing spiritual education, the teachings of the saint provide enormous opportunities for organizing other types of education: spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, physical and even environmental. Thus, the approach developed by the saint suggests that the spiritual and moral principle is an objective “part of a person” and it must be formed in the same way as the body and the psyche. On the contrary, the absence of special spiritual and moral education leads to the spiritual degradation of a person, and not only his spirit, but also all his “parts.” Following the logic of the organic unity of the internal structure of a person and the educational process, Theophan the Recluse especially emphasizes the need for coordinated work of all educational institutions - family, school and Church, united by a common goal. But school is only a necessary preparatory step for life. The education received in youth should be continued and expanded through self-education and self-improvement in adulthood. The character and direction of the latter for each person are determined by the basic views that he was able to develop for himself in his youth. Thus, the teaching of the saint as a whole is of essential significance at all levels of pedagogical knowledge, from methodological to professional pedagogical, and has inexhaustible innovative potential. The ideas expressed today are a kind of innovation that belongs to the category of “retroinnovations” or return innovations, which involve the return of phenomena or processes that have acquired particular relevance, which previously lost their significance, but have regained relevance. For the modern education system, it is possible to turn to precisely this type of innovation, which, according to modern researchers, “involves the preservation and development of its classical academic principles and the revival, restoration and development of the fundamental traditions of spiritual and moral foundations.” 356 1. Hegel G. V. F. Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences: In 3 volumes. Volume 3. M.: Mysl, 1977. 2. Maslov N.V. Orthodox education as the basis of Russian pedagogy. M.: Samshit publishing house, 2006. – 504 p. 3. Menshikov V. M. Education in Western Europe and Russia: meanings and directions of development. Kursk: Kursk. state Univ., 2008. – 354 p. 4. Pirogov N.I. Selected pedagogical works. M.: Pedagogy, 1985. 5. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M.: Rule of Faith, 1998. – 522 p. 6. Shestun Evgeniy, prot. Orthodox pedagogy. M.: Pro Press, 2002. – 576 p. Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov member of the Historical and Genealogical Society (Moscow), full member of the Russian Genealogical Society Earlier in our works we studied the genealogy of the ancestors of St. Theophan, the descendants of his brother Ivan Vasilyevich, the sisters Lyubov Vasilievna Makrinova, Evdokia Vasilievna Pereverzeva, Anna Vasilievna Krutikova. Finally, we approached the descendants of the younger brother of Gavriil Vasilyevich Govorov, in fact, a key figure. The key one is because his only son Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov became the only heir of St. Theophan, and we still have not been able to clarify the fate of his grandchildren, and at the same time the fate of the bishop’s inheritance, with the exception of the saint’s works. We have very little information about Gavriil Vasilyevich - even the name of his wife is unknown. This is due to poor preservation of documents. The main dates and facts of his life have so far been taken from memoir sources, including from the brochure “Memories of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse of a Close Relative” 357 by A. G. Govorov (Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov), which contains inaccuracies. Work carried out in the spring of this year, 2015, in the Kiev Historical Archives, provided documented facts about the biography of Gabriel Govorov. We knew that Gabriel Vasilyevich graduated, like his older brothers, from the Livensky Theological School. In the winter of 1838–1839, when his parents Vasily Timofeevich and Tatyana Ivanovna died, he studied at the seminary. Memoirists believed that Gabriel Govorov was transferred to Kyiv from the Oryol Theological Seminary after the death of his parents at the request of his brother Yegor, then a student at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In the case “Kyiv Theological Seminary. Lists of seminary students for 1841." (F. 712. Op. 2. D. 1233) there is a personal statement about the students of the Kyiv Theological Seminary, compiled at the end of the training course in 1841 (L. 17 vol.). In the second class of the secondary department there are: Yeletskaya district, village of Chernavsk, son of the deceased priest Vasily, 21 years old. Entered the seminary on September 1, 1837. On government pay. Very good abilities, good success. Very good behavior. 1st category. I entered (transferred) to the higher department of the seminary.” That is, Gabriel Vasilyevich was born in 1820. This entry allows for the possibility of two brothers arriving in Kyiv at the same time - Yegor and Gabriel Govorov. Only one entered the academy, and the other entered the seminary. Gabriel Vasilievich graduated from the Kyiv Seminary with a student's degree. Memoirists note “under the guidance of brother hierodeacon Feofan,” who graduated from the academy in 1841. We do not know exactly when Gabriel Govorov left the seminary and what he did immediately after graduation. It is known that in the second half of the 1840s. Gabriel Vasilyevich took the place of the priest of the village of Vyshneye Olshanoye, Livensky district, Oryol province, after the death of the eldest of the Govorov brothers, priest Ivan Vasilyevich. In the Oryol archive in the village. Vyshny Olshany has preserved only three metric books for the period of interest to us: for 1843, 1852 and 1861. In 1843, Ivan Vasilyevich Govorov served, in 1852 - Gavriil Vasilyevich Govorov, in 1861 - Evgraf Nikolaevich Ostrogorsky, married to Daria Ivanovna, daughter of Ivan Vasilyevich Govorov. Gabriel Vasilyevich died at the age of thirty-five in 1855. After his early death, his son Alexei remained (was he an only child?), “I was left an orphan by my father for four years” (“Memoirs”). After his father’s death, he first lived with his mother with his maternal grandfather, then, “due to his mother’s circumstances,” with her relatives. I will dwell on some moments of his memories. Going to the church, Saint Theophan took Alyosha with him; he held the bishop's staff during services. Every summer we went to the bishop's dacha. In 1861, Saint Theophan took part in the solemn opening of the relics of Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, where Alyosha also participated as a staff bearer. In the summer of 1863 he moved to Vladimir. Unfortunately, the memoirs are brief, relating exclusively to the relationship between the bishop and the memoirist, although already in Tambov another nephew of Saint Theophan lived with them - the orphan Ivan Ivanovich Govorov, the son of the saint’s elder brother, the priest of the village of Vyshney Olshanoye Ivan Vasilyevich. Alexey Gavrilovich studied at Vladimir and then at Moscow seminaries, but did not complete the course. In “Memoirs” this period of his life is not mentioned, but it seems that Alexey went to Vysha with his uncle. We admit that Alyosha could have participated in the move of St. Theophan to Vysha, but this was a short-lived episode. In a letter dated August 29, 1866, the saint writes: “...The people of Vladimir were overstaying their welcome. We have to send it soon..." 359 Let us cite the recollections of an eyewitness, Alexei Pokrovsky: “In Vladimir, Bishop Feofan left his nephew Alexei Gavriilovich Govorov, destined for transfer to the philosophical class, as they called it, theological seminary. When His Eminence was in Vladimir, Alexei Gavrilovich was under the guidance of one of the seminary teachers, but upon his departure the Bishop decided to entrust him to the leadership of one of the seminary students, for which purpose he turned to the then Fr. the rector of the Vladimir Seminary, Archimandrite Alexy (later the bishop of first Tomsk, and then Ekaterinoslav, who died with the rank of rector of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow) with an order to find for this purpose one of the students of the theological class seminary.” Choice o. The rector settled on A. Pokrovsky. 360 From a letter from Bishop Feofan A. Pokrovsky dated October 22, 1866 about classes with his nephew A. G. Govorov: “I can’t wish for anything better! Everything you started doing in classes with Alyosha was so good. Continue, for the Lord's sake, your zeal and your work. You will have the consolation of seeing fruit, the price of which is not limited to the boundaries of this life.” After several pieces of advice regarding studies with Alexei Govorov, Saint Theophan concludes his letter with an important recommendation to A. Pokrovsky: “Lord, help you in your labors, so that you will not be hindered in your studies. Theological subjects require a lot. Read, as soon as possible, the holy fathers, especially the great and universal teachers. All our systems are nothing compared to their writings.” 361 Further from the “Memoirs”: “Soon after the Right Reverend retired, he managed to arrange for me in Moscow with one of his admirers, Princess P. S. Lukomskaya, who loved me like her own son.” 362 Indeed, in the summer of 1867, Alexei Govorov was transferred to the Moscow seminary, and at that time he lived with Pelageya Sergeevna Lukomskaya. From a letter dated July 27, 1867 from St. Theophan to the Right Reverend Nikodim (Belokurov) from the Vyshenskaya Hermitage: “Her Excellency Princess Lukomskaya informs me that my nephew has been accepted into the Moscow Seminary.” 363 Alexey spent his annual summer holidays at Vyshe, where he aspired “as if to his parents’ shelter.” 364 When the saint went into seclusion, his nephew was forbidden to come. After this, Alexey Gavrilovich saw his uncle only one more time, when the saint came to Moscow on the occasion of an eye disease. The saint lived on Bolshaya Polyanka in the Athos courtyard, and strictly forbade his nephew to tell anyone about his arrival in Moscow. Alexey was with him continuously. The saint went on foot to the Kremlin, accompanied by the Athonite monk Vladimir and cell attendant Evlampius, to venerate the holy relics and Moscow shrines, and visited only Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov). From a letter from Saint Theophan to his nephew A.G. Govorov dated February 25, 1873: “God's mercy be with you. You comforted me very much with your story about how your affairs are going and how you behave. Work hard and study vigilantly. Here is your daily bread and all provision for the future. If you now prove yourself to be efficient, they will always consider you as such. Without acquaintance, of course, it is impossible to live in society. But keep your eyes open... Run from cards like fire. There is nothing angrier, and nothing more enticing. God bless you!” 365 In 1873 A.G. Govorov received a position as a bailiff in Moscow. From a letter from Saint Theophan to his nephew A.G. Govorov after the news of his receipt of the post of bailiff in Moscow dated November 29, 1873: “Well, dear sir, congratulations! – I’m very glad! Now I believe you have a solid place. Thank God and pray for those who delivered it to you. Keep your eyes open and keep your ears open... Remember well that there is nothing more evil than human eyes, and there is nothing more sticky than bad speeches about a person... Arm yourself to behave in such a way that even a large number of eyes and many candles will not find anything reproachful in you. Service is service, but every boss wants his employees to enjoy an impeccable reputation among everyone. Be careful and pray that the Lord, the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel will be your patrons and companions in everything. Your position requires punctual execution of court orders. But sometimes there is room for arbitrariness. Whenever you can show mercy and provide consolation, do not miss this opportunity. One short prayer for you on this occasion will be stronger than a hundred of your long prayers... Bless you, Lord! Be healthy and cheerful. I wish you all the best from the Lord.” 366 From the end of 1878, Saint Theophan transferred to Alexei Gavrilovich the rights to publish his spiritual and literary creations, making him the undisputed owner and publisher of the works. And on August 25, 1888, Alexei Gavrilovich, with the wishes of the saint, transferred the publication and sale of his works to the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on St. Mount Athos, remaining the owner of the manuscripts. Family of Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov On April 11, 1876, Alexey Gavrilovich Govorov married Varvara Petrovna Orlova (b. 1855), daughter of the Moscow merchant of the 2nd guild Pyotr Andreevich Orlov (b. 1824). Apparently, Pyotr Andreevich came from the city of Yukhnov, because at the wedding, the guarantor for the groom was the Yukhnov merchant Mikhail Andreevich Orlov, his brother. P. A. Orlov traded in “needle goods,” he had a shop in the City part of Cherkassky Lane (Nikolskaya Street area), lived in his own house in Zamoskvorechye in the parish of the Church of the Great Martyr Catherine on Ordynka. TsGA 367. F. 203. Op. 756. D. 3 (1876) L. 25 MK No. 39 Zamoskvoretsky Forty Sophia Church on the Embankment Groom: bailiff of the Moscow District Court Alexey Gavrilov Govorov, Orthodox, 1st marriage, 25 years old. Bride: Moscow 2nd guild merchant daughter Varvara Petrova Orlova, Orthodox, 1st marriage, 21 years old. The sacrament was performed by parish priest John Prozorovsky with deacon Alexei Dobromyslov, sexton Vasily Derzhavin, and sexton Mikhail Tsvetkov. Guarantors. According to the groom: Moscow merchant son Alexander Petrov Orlov and Yukhnovsky merchant Mikhail Andreev Orlov. For the bride: Alatyr merchant Fyodor Alekseev Konstantinov and his brother Apollo Alekseev Konstantinov. In 1874, Pyotr Andreevich Orlov, 50 years old (i.e., born in 1824), Yakimanskaya part, 4th quarter, parish of Catherine the Martyr on Bolshaya Ordynka, own house. Trade in needle goods, in the City part, Cherkassky Lane in Alekseev’s house. 368 The saint did not leave the young family in his care: “...Now you are master and mistress. Write down that from the village you become the founders of a new generation. We must conduct business in such a way that we not only leave an inheritance to our children, but also give them a healthy body and a brave soul in advance...” (letter from Bishop Feofan to his nephew A.G. Govorov, dated April 18, 1876). 369 From his retreat, the uncle-monk sought to give the necessary advice to his pupil, to help properly build the relationship between the spouses. We think that these tips have not lost their relevance in our time: “...I am very glad that your marriage has finally been consummated. God bless you! I always pray that the Lord will prosper you in everything... You are doing well that everyone is at home. It’s bad when someone doesn’t find happiness for themselves in their family. If you find it, thank the Lord. But try to always keep it that way. There is only one art: to start every day as if it were the first after the wedding. However, learn to live. Great wisdom... But the fear of God will teach you everything... If I get around to it, I’ll make you a copy of our miraculous icon and send it to you. P.S. Report to the bailiff (that is, A.G. himself) that the further he goes, the more illegible he begins to write, and advise him to improve” (letter from Bishop Feofan to his nephew A.G. Govorov, dated July 9, 1876). 370 “...It gives me comfort to know that you are happy. Take care of your love with your wife. This is the source of a happy family life. But you need to take care of it so that it doesn’t get clogged. God bless you! I promised to send books to the matchmakers. Here I am sending” (letter from Bishop Feofan to his nephew A.G. Govorov dated September 2, 1876). 371 In November 1878, A.G. Govorov had a son, Tikhon. The date of birth is determined from the saint's letters, since the metric record has not been found. In one of the letters, Saint Theophan refused the parents’ request to be the godfather of their child. “Bless Varenka, Lord, to have a successful resolution, but I do not give myself to you as a godfather... I will love the child who is about to be born and pray for him, but not like a godfather” (letter from Bishop Feofan to his nephew A.G. Govorov, dated November 13, 1878). 372 This is the advice the saint gives about choosing a name for a child. From a letter from Bishop Feofan to his nephew A.G. Govorov dated November 13, 1878: “God bless Varenka to be resolved safely... We began to choose names not according to God. According to God, this is how it should be. Choose a name according to the calendar, or on what day the child will be born, or on what day he will be baptized, or within three days after baptism. Here the matter will be without any human considerations, but as God wills: for birthdays are in the hands of God. And the feasts to celebrate the birth also went awry. If you can do it, turn this around too. Give to the poor and needy what would be spent on a feast. And this is without any considerations. Whatever poor God sends, distribute to them. God sees everything. I say: if you can do it. Because it may be very difficult for you to reverse this.” 373 However, the ardent desire of the parents prompted them to act contrary to the will of the bishop. The baby Tikhon's successor in absentia (this is allowed by the canon) was his great-uncle, Saint Theophan. He was presented with a fait accompli. Varvara Petrovna Govorova owned house No. 17 on B. Petropavlovsky Lane in Moscow. 376 (B. Petro Pavlovsky lane, now Khvostov, goes from B. Polyanka to B. Yakimanka). In 1882, house No. 17 belonged to the Krylovs: Elizaveta Ivanovna, the daughter of a collegiate assessor, and collegiate assessor Konstantin Ivanovich. 377 Houses No. 14 and No. 15 belonged to the Church of Peter and Paul, house No. 19 (or house No. 41 on B. Yakimanka) - the Second Men's Gymnasium. In 1882 B. Yakimanka? house number 33 – address of the church of St. Apostles Peter and Paul, B. Yakimanka house No. 39 – church house. Varvara Petrovna Govorova died in the summer of 1895. No death record has been found. On November 29, 1895, Alexey Gavrilovich handed over the icon of the “Savior under the Cross” (to Father Vladislav from the Athos courtyard) for transfer to Athos. At that time he lived on Bolshaya Yakimanka in the house of Khodoley. Alexey Gavrilovich did not survive the trials that befell him: he died at the end of 1895 - beginning of 1896 (by February 28, 1896 he was no longer alive), before reaching the age of 45. Apparently, the cause of death was consumption, since he was in the hospital for quite a long time due to a pulmonary disease even before his marriage. No record of his death has been found either. Tikhon b. November 1877 Anna b. December 1879 Ekaterina b. October 31, 1881 Alexander b. in June 1895 (08/30/1895 he was 2 months old). At the beginning of 1896, Tikhon Alekseevich Govorov had not yet reached adulthood. The first guardian of the children is the priest of the Catherine Church at the Moscow Orphanage, Mikhail Ivanovich Khitrov. Mikhail Ivanovich, a spiritual writer, the author of the first biography of the saint, lived next door to the Govorovs - in Maly Petropavlovsky Lane in his house. In addition to serving in the orphanage church, he taught at the 6th Moscow Gymnasium. On March 19, 1896, Vasily Aleksandrovich Sakharov, deacon of the Catherine Church in the Moscow Orphanage, became the guardian. The guardians sought to ensure the future of the orphans; there was no one to print the works of the saint, and on September 25, 1896, the rights to publish the works of St. Theophan were transferred to the Athos Panteleimon Monastery. This seemed like an irretrievable loss for Russia. However, thanks to this act, the Athonite monks were able to preserve priceless manuscripts and documents during the hard times of the last century. The minor son of the Court Counselor Tikhon Alekseevich Govorov and the deacon of Catherine in the Moscow Orphanage of the Church Vasily Aleksandrovich Sakharov, acting as guardian of the property and person of the minor children of the Court Counselor Anna, Ekaterina and Alexander Alekseev Govorov, both live in the Myasnitskaya part, 3rd section, in the building of the Orphanage. ...They sold to the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos the full ownership of their right to publish the works, translations and collections of His Eminence Bishop. Feofan. We received 10 tr. silver Notary Nikolay Kurilko. The prophet Moses speaks about this in the Holy Scriptures: “This word (law) is close to you: it is in your mouth and in your heart” (Deut. 30:14). In the Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, the innate moral sense is spoken of as follows: “He... showed them good and evil. He put His eye on their hearts” (Sir. 17:7). The Apostle Paul speaks even more clearly about the existence of a natural moral law in people: “For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law to themselves; they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as evidenced by their conscience and their thoughts, now accusing, now justifying one another” (Rom. 2:14-15). The idea of ​​the reality of the natural moral law is enshrined in the eastern patristic thought of the ante-Nicene period, among the Cappadocian fathers and in a later period. Saint Justin the Philosopher was the first of the fathers to expound the doctrine of natural law in his “conversation with Tryphon the Jew.” For he offers to the entire human race what is always and everywhere good and just, and every people knows that adultery, fornication, murder and all other similar deeds are evil. And although everyone does this, they are not alien to the consciousness that they are sinning. 378 This idea was supported and expressed in one form or another by other Eastern fathers. But Saint John Chrysostom spoke out most fully among the fathers. For him, the law of nature is the true law, and any other law that contradicts it should be considered false. The law of nature is universal and eternal, it is the moral guide of humanity: “God has placed in man an innate law that governs man, like the captain of a ship or like a rider of a horse.” 379 The theme of morality is a frequent subject of discussion in the works of St. Theophan the Recluse. And, discussing morality, he could not help but touch upon the issue of the natural moral law, including when choosing works for translation, for example, the work of Abba Isaiah “Spiritually Moral Words.” In the “Second Word” of this work we speak “about natural law.” Here are listed the natural properties of the human soul that God placed in man: lust for God; zeal of the mind for God; righteous anger at everything done by the enemy; hatred of everything that interferes with salvation. But after the Fall, these properties were distorted and became passions. Therefore, it is necessary to resort to spiritual exercises to restore the natural properties of the soul. When studying the work of the saint regarding issues of morality, it is worth noting that he wrote a textbook on moral theology, “The Outline of Christian Moral Teaching. General considerations and provisions on moral Christian life." “Our outline has two parts: the first contains general reasoning and provisions about moral and morally Christian life; and in the second the very life of a Christian is set out, as it should be, or the rules for the life of a Christian, as a Christian and as a person who is sometimes in different states and positions are proposed,” 380 writes Theophan the Recluse. In the second chapter of this work, the saint, reflecting on the fulfillment of the biblical commandments, says that in man there are natural duties with which we are born. “Our duties, or things that we feel internally compelled to do.” 381 On the other hand, there are positive responsibilities that we receive after birth due to upbringing, education, and our own aspirations. Positive responsibilities can be a development of natural ones, although not necessarily. Positive duties may include the provisions of Holy Scripture and Tradition, the teaching of the Church, civil laws, customs, etc. The truth and obligatory performance of positive duties is determined by their compliance with the internal moral law or “natural” duties. Moreover, the Vyshensky recluse mentions that a person can damage or suppress his internal moral law, but before this a person first begins to despise the external law, or, as he calls it, “positive” duties. In this nature they read the law, and listen to it, and fulfill it. “There he hears the law, there he listens to it, there he believes and creates it.” 384 But this does not mean a person’s self-will, because this law comes to a person from the outside. But “in terms of its quality, it is as immutable as the written one - it is the same for everyone and is equally obligatory for everyone: for the nature is unchangeable, everyone has the same, and he who acts not according to nature destroys the nature.” 385 The content of natural moral feeling, according to Saint Theophan, includes: memory of God, thanksgiving to Him, doing good to one’s neighbor, abstinence, modesty, memory of death, doing good. “These truths are imprinted on the heart, and there is no people who would not confess them.” 386 However, a person retains the right to follow the natural moral law or not. Interpreting the apostle’s words about the trial, the saint talks about how the trial will take place: “There will be no need for witnesses; “Everyone in his thoughts will pronounce justification or condemnation over himself: everyone will see his own law and his deeds, compare both and decide whether he is guilty or not.” 387 Thus, Saint Theophan, in agreement with the patristic tradition, considers the natural moral law as the universal basis of the moral life of man and society. Teacher of piety: Theophan the Recluse through the eyes of children / Comp. V.V. Kashirina. Assumption Vyshensky Monastery, 2015. pp. 15–16. Augustine of Ippona, Blessed. About the agreement of the Evangelists. On the agreement of the Evangelists // Library of the works of St. fathers and teachers of the Western Church. Book 29. Part 10. Kiev: KDA, 1906. P. 88. Difficulty in studying the heritage of the blessed. Augustine is that he used Latin translations of the Gospels. Throughout his work “On the Concord of the Evangelists,” he makes constant references to the text of the Gospels, referring first to Luke and then to John. But what was the volume of the text that lay before his eyes remains unknown. Readings at the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. 1886. Part 2. pp. 330–357. Collection of letters of St. Theophan. M., 1900. Issue. VII. P. 53. Quoted. by: Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 107. What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it? Ed. 6 e. M., 1914. P. 127–128. Quote by: Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 478. Letters to various persons on various subjects of faith and life. Ed. 2 e. M., 1892. P. 96–97. Quote by: Georgy (Tertyshnikov), archimandrite. Saint Theophan the Recluse and his teaching on salvation. M.: Rule of Faith, 1999. P. 477. Theophan (Govorov), St. The Gospel story about God the Son, who became incarnate for our salvation, presented in sequential order in the words of St. evangelists, indicating the reasons why one and not another, the order of the Gospel events one after another was chosen. M.: Rule of Faith, 2006. P. 464. As Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov) believes: “In three desert temptations, the Lord rejected the service of material values ​​- the temptation of bread, the search for worldly power, the temptation of power, and the triumph of the messianic idea on the paths not of love, but of spiritual violence - the temptation of a miracle. These three possibilities arose again and again before the Lord during the days of His earthly ministry. Their rejection in temptation was, for the Evangelists, a kind of comprehension of His entire ministry—comprehension in a negative aspect: what Christ’s ministry was not and could not be.” Cassian (Bezobrazov), bishop. Christ and the first Christian generation. M.: Rus. way: PSTBI, 2001. P. 27. Theophan (Govorov), St. The Gospel story about God the Son, who became incarnate for our salvation, presented in sequential order in the words of St. evangelists, indicating the reasons why one and not another, the order of the Gospel events one after another was chosen. M.: Rule of Faith, 2006. P. 28. Popov V. Analysis of the Catholic teaching about the “immaculate conception” according to the liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church in the unpublished correspondence of the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archimandrite Feofan (Govorov) with Prince N. B. Golitsyn // Feofan Readings. Ryazan, 2014. Issue. VII. P. 149. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Ed. St. Assumption Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and publishing house “Palomnik”, 1994. Vol. VII. P. 155. Letter No. 1152 to N.V. Elagin dated January 13, 1882 Right there. Vol. II. P. 58. Letter No. 241. Right there. Vol. I. P. 35. Letter No. 33 Right there. Vol. II. P. 14. Letter No. 214. Right there. Vol. VI. P. 18. Letter No. 946. Right there. Vol. VI. P. 7. Letter No. 943. Right there. Vol. V. P. 195. Letter No. 915. Right there. Vol. III. P. 129. Letter No. 479. Right there. Vol. V. P. 55. Letter No. 789. Right there. Vol. VIII. pp. 33–34. Letter No. 1263. Right there. Vol. V. P. 123. Letter No. 844. Right there. Vol. VI. P. 61. Letter No. 959. Right there. Vol. II. P. 59. Letter No. 242. Right there. Vol. VI. pp. 53–54. Letter No. 956. Right there. Vol. V. P. 152. Letter No. 881. Right there. Vol. VII. P. 105. Letter No. 1116. Right there. Vol. VII. P. 202. Letter No. 1181. Right there. Vol. II. P. 168. Letter No. 307. Oleg Davydenkov, priest. Traditional Christology "non-Chalcedoni tov". M., 1997. P. 19, 27. Losev A. F. History of ancient aesthetics. Results of a thousand years of development. Book 1. M., 1992. P. 62. Basil the Great, St. Creations: In 3 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1911.T. 3. Letter 38. To Gregory, brother. pp. 51–58. Gregory the Theologian, saint. Creations: In 2 volumes. M.: AST, 2000. T. 1. Word 33. Against the Arians and about himself. pp. 490, 491. Oleg Davydenkov, priest. Dogmatic theology. Course of lectures: In 3 vols. M., 1997. Part 3. P. 87, 88. Acts of the Holy Ecumenical Councils: In 4 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1996. Vol. 3. P. 48. Novikov D.V. The concept of personality in Orthodox theology and psychology // Sat. materials of theological conferences of PSTBI for 1998, 1999. M., 1999. pp. 63–67. John of Damascus, Rev. An Accurate Statement of the Orthodox Faith. Rostov-on-Don, 1992. pp. 150–157. Novikov D.V. The doctrine of personality in Christian theology of the 4th–8th centuries // Man. 2000. No. 2, 3. Lossky V.N. Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church. M., 1991. P. 91. Oleg Davydenkov, priest. Dogmatic theology. Course of lectures: In 3 hours. Moscow, 1997. Parts 1, 2. P. 121. Kyrlezhev A.I. Problems of theological understanding of personality // Sat. materials of the international scientific theological conference. Personality in the Church and society. M. 2001. P. 53. Lossky V.N. In the image and likeness. M., 1995. P. 106. Zenko Yu. M. Three-century dialogue between psychology and religion in Russia // Sat. St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Christian reading. 2000. No. 19. P. 133. Kyrlezhev A.I. Problems of theological understanding of personality // Sat. materials of the international scientific theological conference. Personality in the Church and society. M. 2001. P. 56. Anthony of Sourozh, Metropolitan. Man before God. M., 1995. P. 116. Ignatius Brianchaninov, St. Creations: In 7 volumes. M.: Pilgrim, 2001. T. 2: A Word about 15 different states of human nature in relation to good and evil. P. 122. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. A Word about Man // Theological Works. M., 1989. No. 29. P. 285–320. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 188. Kyrlezhev A.I. Problems of theological understanding of personality // Sat. materials of the international scientific theological conference. Personality in the Church and society. M. 2001. P. 57. Lossky V.N. In the image and likeness. M., 1995. P. 114. Zaidenberg S.I. Sophiological and neopatristic concepts of personality // Sat. materials of the international scientific theological conference. Personality in the Church and society. M., 2001. P. 32. Berdyaev N. A. The problem of man (towards the construction of Christian anthropology) // Path. Paris, 1936. No. 50. P. 3–26. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 189. Macarius (Bulgakov), Metropolitan. Orthodox dogmatic theology. In 2 vols. M., 1999. T. 1: On the origin and nature of man. pp. 428–458. Cyprian (Kern), archimandrite. Anthropology of St. Gregory Palamas. M. 1996. P. 241. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 230 John of Damascus, Rev. An Accurate Statement of the Orthodox Faith. Rostov-on-Don, 1992. P. 154. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. Creations: In 7 volumes. M., 2001. Volume 2: A Word about the various 55 states of human nature in relation to good and evil. pp. 341–388. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. Creations: In 7 volumes. M., 2001. Vol. 2. About the image and likeness 55 of God in man. P. 122. Zenko Yu. M. Three-century dialogue between psychology and religion in Russia // Sat. St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Christian reading. 2000. No. 19. P. 97. Berdyaev N. A. The problem of man (towards the construction of Christian anthropology) // Path. Paris, 1936. No. 50. P. 6. Smith R. Personality psychology as an alternative to natural science psychology // Man. 2000. No. 3. P. 44. Ignatius (Brianchaninov), St. A Word about Man // Theological Works. M., 1989. No. 29. P. 295. Quote from: Encyclopedia. Spiritual aspects of Christianity. M., 2001. P. 235. Zenko Yu. M. Three-century dialogue between psychology and religion in Russia // Sat. St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Christian reading. 2000. No. 19. P. 102. Luke (Voino Yasenetsky), archbishop. Spirit, soul and body. M., 1997. P. 34. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 307. Anthony of Sourozh, Metropolitan. Man before God. M., 1995. P. 217; Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop. Spirit, soul and body. M., 1997. P. 94. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 217. Quoted from: Dvoretskaya M. Ya. Integrative anthropology. St. Petersburg, 2003. P. 346. Cyprian (Kern), archimandrite. Orthodox pastoral ministry. Klin, 2002. P. 236. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M., 1998. P. 449. Hegel G.V.F. Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences: In 3 volumes. T. 3. M.: Mysl, 1977. P. 403. Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M.: Rule of Faith, 1998. P. 242. Pirogov N.I. Selected pedagogical works. M.: Pedagogika, 1985. P. 37. Shestun Evgeniy, prot. Orthodox pedagogy. M.: Pro Press, 2002. P. 297. Pirogov N.I. Selected pedagogical works. M.: Pedagogika, 1985. P. 32. Maslov N.V. Orthodox education as the basis of Russian pedagogy. M.: Samshit publishing house, 2006. P. 13. Theophan the Recluse, St. The path to salvation. A short essay on asceticism. M.: Rule of Faith, 2008. P. 80. Menshikov V. M. Education in Western Europe and Russia: meanings and directions of development. Kursk: Kursk. state Univ., 2008. P. 215. Soulful reading. 1894. Part II. May – June. pp. 61–66. Dept.: Govorov A.G. Memories of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse of a close relative. M., 1894. Christian. 1910. No. 7. P. 416. Christian. 1910. No. 7. P. 417. Pokrovsky A., teacher Simbirsk cad. housings. From the memoirs of His Grace Theophan, former Bishop of Vladimir // Faith and Reason. Kharkov. 1895. T. 1. Part 1 (church department). P. 42. Govorov A.G. Memories of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse of a close relative. M., 1894. P. 6. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and the Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. Vol. I. pp. 166–167. Letters of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse to a close relative A.G. G-vu // Soulful Reading. 1894. Part I. April. P. 573. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection. letters. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and publishing house “Pilgrim”, 1994. Vol. I. P. 170. Letters of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse to a close relative A.G. G-vu // Soulful Reading. 1894. Part I. April. P. 573. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection. letters. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and the Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. Vol. I. pp. 170–171. Letters of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse to a close relative A.G. G-vu // Soulful Reading. 1894. Part I. April. P. 577. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection. letters. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and the Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. Vol. I. P. 174. Letters of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse to a close relative A.G. G-vu // Soulful Reading. 1894. Part I. April. P. 577. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection. letters. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and publishing house “Pilgrim”, 1994. Vol. I. P. 174. Letters of the Right Reverend Theophan the Recluse to a close relative A.G. G-vu // Soulful Reading. 1894. Part I. April. P. 577. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collection. letters. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and the Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. Vol. I. pp. 174–175. Works like the saints of our father Theophan the Recluse: Collected. pi sem. Ed. Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery and the Pilgrim Publishing House, 1994. Vol. I. C/ 195–196. All Moscow. Address and reference book for 1895. M., 1896. Book. 2. Part 2. P. 44. All Moscow. Address and reference book for 1882. M., 1883. Part 2. P. 488. Justin Philosopher and martyr. Creations. M.: Pilgrim, 2005. P. 286. Quote by: Plato (Igumnov), archimandrite. Orthodox moral theology. M., 2002. P. 34. Theophan the Recluse, St. Outline of Christian moral teaching. M.: Rule of Faith, 2010. P. 15. Theophan the Recluse, St. Interpretation of the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans." M., 2006. P. 207.