Elder Silouan had a tender heart, touched by love, filled with sensitivity and responsiveness... The elder was a man of deep, genuine humility, in his work you can read the following lines: "The Lord took pity on me a lot, and made me understand that I should cry all my life. This is the way of the Lord. And now I write, pitying those people who, like me, are proud and therefore suffer. I write so that they learn humility and find peace in God...
He who came to know God by the Holy Spirit learned humility from Him, and became like his Teacher, Christ the Son of God, and became like Him...
Lord, grant us Your humble Holy Spirit, just as You came to save people and take them to heaven so that they may see Your glory...
Oh, Christ's humility! I know you, but I cannot win you. Your fruits are sweet because they are not earthly...
When the soul is depressed, how can you kindle a fire in it so that it burns with love every hour? This fire is with God, and the Lord came to earth to give us this fire of grace of the Holy Spirit, and whoever learns humility has it, for the Lord gives His grace to the humble...
Much work must be put in, and many tears must be shed in order to retain the humble spirit of Christ; and without it, the light of life fades in the soul, and it dies. The body can be dried out by fasting quickly, but it is not easy, and not soon possible, to humble the soul so that it is constantly humble...
Most Holy Mother of the Lord, ask, O Merciful One, for us a humble spirit.
All Saints, you live in heaven and see the glory of the Lord, and your spirit rejoices - pray that we too may be with you. My soul is drawn to see the Lord, and misses Him in humility, as unworthy of this good.
Merciful Lord, teach us Your humility through the Holy Spirit... He who humbles himself has conquered his enemies.”
In his love for all people, Elder Silouan saw him as similar to the Lord Jesus Christ, who “stretched out his hands on the Cross” to gather everyone. And he lived through the suffering of the whole world, forgetting himself, and there was no end to his prayer, calling on all the peoples of the Earth to know the Lord by the Holy Spirit. According to the deep conviction of the elder, if this happened and people, leaving their hobbies, would rush to God with all their souls, then the face of the Earth would change and the destinies of all people and the whole world would be transformed “in one hour.”
His whole life was a heartfelt prayer “to the point of great tears.”
“The world stands by prayer,” said Elder Silouan, “and when prayer weakens, then the world will perish.” In this prayerful aspiration, he achieved such an internal state in which he foresaw what was happening and saw the future of man, revealing the deep secrets of his soul and calling everyone to take the path of saving repentance. Continuous prayer did not leave the ascetic until the last hour of his earthly wanderings.
On September 24, 1938, Elder Schemamonk Silouan died peacefully.
At the end of November 1987, the glorification of Elder Silouan took place. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', the name of St. Silouan of Athos was included in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church. Memorial Day of St. Silouan of Athos - September 11/24.
13 – Rev. Hierotheus New, Kalamsky, Iverian, Hierome. († 1745, commemorated September 13)