Глава X. Отношения старца о. Макария, в частности, к некоторым из оптинских братий – скитским и монастырским

In general, it must be said that the humble and loving elder Father Fr. Macarius treated all the brethren, both skete and monastery, both elder and younger, with the same fatherly love and concern. But he showed special favor to those of the brothers who led a more attentive life. The elder distinguished such people from the rest of the brothers. According to the stories of old-time monks, he showed some preference to the hermits over those who lived in the monastery, no doubt because he saw in them more inclinations towards spiritual life. The elder also had great affection for some of his spiritual children who were devoted to him, but who were in some way weak. Thus, a mother’s heart is usually more inclined to love and pity her small, sickly children. Of the skete ascetics contemporary to Elder Macarius, Hieromonk Ambrose is known, his successor in eldership, to whom Father Fr. Macarius, according to Fr. Abbot Mark, treated him as a dear son in Christ and his confidante. It happened more than once that Elder Macarius, due to circumstances, left the skete somewhere for a while. In this case, he entrusted the spiritual care of the brotherhood to no other person than, mainly, Fr. Ambrose. The aforementioned Fr. spoke about himself. Hegumen Mark: “I arrived in Optina Pustyn in 1854, when Fr. Macarius. Having explained to him the reasons for my desire to enter the monastery, I told him all the circumstances of my life and asked for his holy blessing for my monastic feat. Blessing me and pointing to my cell, Fr. Ambrose, the elder said: “Go to him; there’s his cell!” Since then I began to relate to Fr. Ambrose as an old man." The same Fr. also spoke. Abbot Mark, who lived in the monastery: “You used to enter the monastery and meet Elder Macarius with a bunch of letters addressed to him; and he used to take this pile to Fr. Ambrose." Without a doubt, Father Fr. Macarius was fully confident that Fr. Ambrose, due to his spiritual experience, will be able to answer these letters and give useful advice to those in need, despite the fact that he was still in middle age at that time. “I once had to,” said nun M. Tatiana Ivanova of the Belevsky convent, “to complain to the elder priest Fr. Macarius to Father Fr. Ambrose. The elder answered impressively: “Be quiet, be quiet! If you knew who Ambrose would be!..” The now mentioned Fr. Mark once complained about the fear that with the death of Elder Macarius, eldership in Optina Pustyn would become scarce and might even cease altogether. Consoling him, the elder said: “Nothing. There will be others better than me." Of course, he had in mind his successor, Fr. Ambrose, who, with his weak physical strength, served as an elder for more than thirty years in Optina Pustyn and whose fame at one time spread throughout Orthodox Rus'. With all this, following the words of Holy Scripture: Discipline your son, and he will love you (Proverbs 29:17), as well as the instructions of St. ascetic fathers, Elder Macarius, on opportune occasions, treated his beloved spiritual son, Fr. Ambrose is menacing and demanding. One day he simply, without ceremony, kicked him out of his cell for an unmerciful lady, whom, however, he himself had not accepted for a long time. There have been other cases similar to this many times. During the life of Elder Macarius, there were many in the monastery and other ascetics, old monks, to whom he had special favor. Such, for example, was Hieromonk Innocent (in schema Job), the confessor of Elder Macarius himself, a worker and lover of silence, who during his 18-year stay in the monastery never entered into idle conversations with anyone and generally avoided conversations. Next to him in a special cell lived a sick monk, Fr. Makariy Gruzinov. With this only sick monk Fr. Innocent had interviews in the evenings, and only about spiritual subjects. Whatever edifying things he read from spiritual books during the day, he sometimes retold to the sick man. Macarius. As hieromonk and confessor of Elder Macarius, Fr. Innocent occupied a prominent position in the monastery, but, out of his humility and love for his neighbors, he himself expressed a desire to serve the sick Fr. Macarius instead of a cell attendant and carried out this duty with great zeal until his death, which caused inexpressible grief to the sick person left behind. Just before his death, when Fr. Innocent was already in extreme exhaustion, when asked by one of the older brothers: “Would you like anything, father?” - He, having gathered the last remnant of his strength, answered with emphasis: “I wish... to be resolved... and to be with Christ.” After which he died soon after. Also especially remarkable in the monastery was the former Valaam abbot Varlaam, a solitary man, a doer of the noetic Jesus Prayer, who shed copious tears, as evidenced by the eyelids of his eyes, swollen and devoid of eyelashes, and, at the same time, an extreme non-possessor. There was absolutely nothing in his cell, and the cell door was never locked. Regarding the death of this ascetic and several other elderly Optina monks, Elder Macarius wrote with regret to one person: “I feel sorry for the old people, especially Fr. Varlaam. It feels empty without them. Young people are good with old people.” Of the younger skete monks, Father Fr. Macarius was especially attentive to those who had received a good scientific education in secondary or higher educational institutions, who, however, humbled themselves and were in unquestioning obedience to him. Of these, mention can be made of the monk Juvenalia (later Archbishop of Vilna). In the world he was called Ivan Andreevich Polovtsev. He received his education at the Artillery School and served briefly in military service. In March 1849 he entered the Optina monastery as a novice under the care of the elder Fr. Macarius, who at that time was widely known for his high moral qualities and holiness of life. It would not be out of place, I think, to place here an interesting story by Bishop Juvenaly about his very first stay in the monastery. “Some relatives,” he told his nephew A.V. Wow, - they persuaded my second brother Alexander to come to me in order to get me out of Optina Pustyn. He came to me and said: “Brother Mikhail lost at cards. But his estate, Staraya Moina, is a goldmine. I sold the house and could pay off my brother's debts; but for this it is necessary that there be an honest manager in Moina who would conduct business there for three years. Then I would have gotten my money back, and brother Mikhail would have been left with a decent fortune.” Listening to this, I thought: the devil has come up with some kind of trick; Yes, it won't work. I said that without the elder’s blessing I would not dare to do anything. We went to Fr. Macarius, who received us in a small room that served as his reception room. Alexander spoke eloquently about the benefits that I could bring to my family, about the need for a manager in Moina, and so on. “Yes, look for it,” said Fr. Macarius. “We found him,” he answered, pointing at me. - No. You want to take a part from God. This is not possible. You have other brothers. And then the elder asked me: “Why are you silent, Ivan Andreevich? How do you think about this? I don't literally remember what I answered; but the meaning was that I refuse. Alexander was very upset. The abbot (Fr. Moses) fed him a decent dinner and kept him busy. We agreed that I would come to his hotel after rest. But Alexander was so upset that he left without waiting for me and even forgot to give me the bookbinding tool that my mother sent me.” Alexander Andreevich (added by the author-nephew), repeatedly conveying this story to me, reported at the same time an interesting detail concerning Elder Macarius. Before seeing his brother Ivan, who was working somewhere in the garden, Alexander Andreevich sat for some time in Fr. Macarius, to whom he only told that he had come to see his brother, without mentioning the real purpose of his visit. To the surprise of Alexander Andreevich, Elder Macarius began to talk to him about Louis Blanc and about all sorts of events that were taking place in France at that time. In a conversation with his brother Ivan, Alexander Andreevich later asked: - Do you make newspapers? - Why do you think? - Ivan Andreevich objected. - Well, Macarius talked to me about the latest events in France. - Yes, you probably read the newspaper when you came here? - Read. So what? “So Elder Macarius told you exactly what you were thinking about.” He read your thoughts. We're used to it. He very often does not ask those who come to him why they came, but says directly what needs to be done to help the grief. About this gift of Elder Macarius, I recorded the following story from the words of Archbishop Juvenal: a man brought to him his demon-possessed son, who fell to the ground in convulsions. “Why did you curse him?” - said Macarius without any questions about the illness. “Yes, that was a long time ago,” the man objected. “A long time ago,” answered Fr. Macarius. – A.V. Polovtsev 68. Living for a considerable time under Elder Macarius, Fr. Juvenaly was always in strict, unconditional obedience to him. Here is an example of one, although apparently unimportant, but still characteristic case. One day Fr. Juvenaly drank tea at the elder’s teahouse with his cell attendants. But then the door opens, an old man appears and calls: “Juvenaliy!” U o. Juvenal had a little unfinished tea left on the saucer, maybe two or three sips, but he, without thinking at all, immediately left his tea party and was about to go to the elder. Noticing this, the elder smiled and told him to finish his tea first. Eight years later, after entering the monastery, Fr. Juvenaly, elevated to the rank of hieromonk, with another hieromonk, Fr. Leonid Kavelin, by the will of the highest authorities, was appointed to be sent to Palestine to the Jerusalem mission. And so, when the time came for him to leave the monastery, Father Fr. Macarius brought him to church and ordered him to venerate St. icons, and at that time he himself began to sing in his old, but pleasant voice: “Now do You let Your servant go, O Master, according to Your word, in peace...” The skete’s bass, Fr. Isaac. Their singing was so pleasant that it deeply touched the nomads gathered and standing here, whose hearts were already predisposed to sad feelings due to separation from a brother who was separated from his family. After that, saying goodbye to Fr. Juvenal, the elder said: “Here we see each other now for the last time.” Upon arrival in Palestine, Fr. Juvenaly, due to unexpected circumstances, wanted to return back to the Optina skete in a year and began to ask the priest about. Macarius received blessings for this, but the elder convinced him to serve as long as he had the strength. That's why he stayed there for another two years. Finally, at his urgent request, the elder allowed him to return; but when he returned, he no longer found the elder alive. Among the younger hermits, the aforementioned monk Leonid, who traveled with Fr., also enjoyed the special favor of Elder Macarius. Juvenal to the Jerusalem Mission (later archimandrite, vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra). In the world he was called Lev Alexandrovich Kavelin, descended from pious and noble parents; was educated in the cadet corps and served for some time in military service; and then retired and joined the brotherhood at the Optina monastery. Lev Alexandrovich had a natural flaw - strong temper. As a result, he sometimes insulted some of the brothers against their will. That’s why the Optina monks didn’t like him at all. So, once, when the Belev nun Tatiana Ivanova (former serf of the Kavelins) was in Optina Pustyn, some hierodeacon, in a conversation with her, even called him a swear word: “Siberian.” M. Tatiana was under this impression in her hotel room. But a quarter of an hour after her conversation with the hierodeacon, Father Fr. Macarius, turning to her, denouncing her thoughts, says: “Tanya! So Leonid is Siberian? Well, don't be embarrassed. Here's a gingerbread for you." The elder denounced, and at the same time consoled. However, to the credit of Lev Alexandrovich it must be said that he had excellent spiritual qualities. He was a straightforward, kind-hearted and benevolent man. If sometimes he accidentally offended someone, then immediately after that he went to the offended person and asked him for forgiveness with earthly worship. The former estate of Messrs. The Kavelins, the village of Griva, is located about 10 versts from Optina Pustyn, and Elder Macarius went there every year. He used to, according to the aforementioned M. Tatiana, from Mrs. Kavelina, the mother of Fr. Leonida, always stop by her sisters-in-law, about three miles away. Once in the summer he went to them, accompanied by Fr. Leonida on foot. A servant was sent with them from the Kavelins, who carried their clothes. Afterwards, this servant said that they talked all the way. He could not hear what their conversation was about, since he was ordered to walk away from them, but the faces of both of them at that time were so unusual that he followed them in some kind of fear. Subsequently, according to the testimony of the deceased Optina rector, Fr. Archimandrite Dosifei, probably shortly before the death of Elder Macarius, Fr. Leonid, being in the rank of hieromonk, was his confessor for some time. These three mentioned persons - Hieromonk Ambrose and the monks Juvenaly and Leonid - under the direct supervision of the elder Macarius in his cell, were at one time engaged in the preparation for printing of some patristic books translated from Greek into the Slavic language by the famous elder, abbot of the Moldavian Neamets monastery, Paisius Velichkovsky. Another skete ryassophore monk, Pavel Stepanovich Pokrovsky (later Hieroschemamonk Platon), was added to this learned society. We also consider it useful to say a few words about this latter. Pavel Stepanovich is the son of a priest, he graduated from a course of science at the Tambov Theological Seminary, where the elder Fr. Ambrose, who was just following the course after him. At the same time, Pavel Stepanovich was also a teacher at the Lipetsk Theological School. He was an intelligent man and a good Latinist 69 and therefore was a good assistant to others who worked under Elder Macarius in their book studies, but - not to say this as a condemnation - he was cowardly and addicted to worldly pleasures. In particular, while living in the world, he was fond of the violin, which he played very skillfully, and the game of cards, in which he was very happy. Although he sometimes thought about monasticism, he put it off day after day. And only cholera drove him into the monastery almost, one might say, against his will. Therefore, the spiritually experienced and loving elder Macarius, who very well understood the position and spiritual disposition of Pavel Stepanovich, took all possible care of him and showed him great condescension in many ways. Having arrived from the world to Optina Pustyn, Pavel Stepanovich first entered the monastery, where he served his obedience as an assistant to the monastery clerk; but, having lived here for two years, with the blessing of Elder Macarius, he moved to the monastery. For a long time he could not get used to monastic life. More than once he was embarrassed by the thought of even leaving the monastery completely. Therefore, almost every year in the summer he asked Fr. abbot on leave to his homeland to meet with his relatives, with the intention of leaving and never returning to the monastery. But the rector Fr. Archimandrite Moses (Putilov), a wise husband and ascetic, despite the fact that he kept the brotherhood in strictness, not allowing anyone to travel to their homeland unless absolutely necessary, always let Pavel Stepanovich go unhindered; so that some of the brothers envied him for this. The reason for such leniency was that Fr. the abbot saw in Pavel Stepanovich indecision and weak will for monastic life. Thus, a skillful fisherman does not suddenly pull a large fish caught on the line to the shore, but gives it a certain weakening until it becomes weak. Pavel Stepanovich did not ride home on horseback, but always walked. And as soon as he would ask Fr. the abbot to go see his relatives, the abbot even approved of his desire. He would say something like this: “Yes, it’s good to take a walk and get some air.” Having once encouraged his desire to go to his relatives, Fr. the abbot said: “Yes, it seems that we should also give peas for the path.” “What kind of peas does he want to give me?” – thought Pavel Stepanovich. But the matter was soon clarified. Having gone to his cash drawer, Fr. The abbot brought out two rubles in small silver coins, and, pouring them into his hand, said: “Well, brother, you can take some tea with sugar from here; and on the road you’ll ask where to put the samovar, and you’ll pay a penny.” After each of these wanderings, Pavel Stepanovich, despite the thoughts that at times confused him to leave the Optina Hermitage, again returned to Optina, where he was drawn especially by the love of the abbot and elder Macarius. And if the abbot always showed him kindred attention, like a father to his son, then the elder, in fairness, one can say, treated him like a wise, loving mother or a kind, God-fearing nanny. This latter watched every step of his spiritual son and knew when and what to advise him, encourage him, console him, and when to punish him for something. Pavel Stepanovich, as a gifted person, was often embarrassed by his thoughts of entering the academy to continue his education with the goal of eventually occupying the highest hierarchical position. But the wise and caring old man was always against this. Knowing the unstable character of Pavel Stepanovich, and at the same time the will of God for him, he did not want to let the fledgling chick out from under his wing, fearing harm to his morality 70 . In addition, Pavel Stepanovich was bothered for a long time by the memory of his former life. And in particular, at one time his violin embarrassed him for a long time. Whether he was going somewhere, whether he was standing in the church of God, whether he was fulfilling the obedience entrusted to him, this unbearable violin would sound above his ear with its endless magical tints. Mozart's, Beethoven's fantasies, polkas, mazurkas haunted him. Even in his sleep, he often pulled off such desperate plays that, upon waking up, he himself was surprised at his art; because in reality I had never played so skillfully. By the way, due to his inexperience, he considered all this to be a natural matter and was not too bothered by these thoughts and ideas, not even counting them as a sin; and therefore he did not open them to the elder. “At one time,” Fr. later said. Platon (formerly Pavel Stepanovich) - when I went to the elder, the violin music in particular overwhelmed me. All the way, with my imagination, I played various overtures, variations, etc. When I entered my priest’s cell, he, like a perspicacious old man, greeted me with these words: “Why are you still playing? What kind of polkas, waltzes, mazurkas are there? But in our opinion, here’s how...” And since the elder in the world was himself a violinist, he immediately began to imagine playing the violin with his hands, copying Pavel Stepanovich and at the same time saying: “Mistress, mistress...” The elder acted with his hands with the agility and art of an artist and assumed such a pose as a desperate violin player that Pavel Stepanovich, surprised by this phenomenon, laughed and was completely confused. “That’s how it is our way! - added the priest, quickly straightening up and taking his usual, but cheerful position, - and what is there in French ... howls, howls.” “This made me laugh to the extreme,” said Fr. Plato - and having completely consoled me, the priest let me go. But at that very time it did not even occur to me why the elder did this; and later, when I had already left him, I realized that by this the priest had exposed my inner ailment. And what was even more surprising for me was that I have been living in a monastery for more than ten years, and my old violin dreams no longer bother me.” It is worth noting here that the described case, perhaps, will seem to some uncharacteristic of a strict ascetic and tempting; but the holy life of Elder Macarius assured one and all that he had acquired a pure heart, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and therefore he always spoke and acted unerringly, according to the needs of each for his spiritual benefit. Cooled down in this way at Fr. Plato's love for secular instrumental music now began to manifest itself with force in his notated partes sacred singing, often in the Italian taste. He himself sang in the choir, and led others as regent until the very last days of his life. But since his voice was very light, and there were few singers in the monastery, and at first he was placed in the left choir: his singing did not go well for a long time. Someone will start something out of the ordinary, some won’t report it, some will endure it, or they’ll go completely astray; and there was nothing but grief for those who served, and those who prayed, and those who sang. It even happened that some of the serving hieromonks complained about him to Elder Macarius, that during the service they were embarrassed by his singing. But since Fr. Plato always, after unsuccessful singing, hurried to the elder with a guilty head, humbly asking forgiveness for his failure; then the elder, who sought mainly humility from everyone and loved those who humbled themselves, always protected him from the attacks of others and encouraged him himself, saying: “Nothing, nothing, they sang in the skete way.” There have been such cases. Fr. will get it. Plato would see a brand new play from somewhere, then he would see an old man walking along the path somewhere in a monastery, he would come up, start showing it to him and ask for a blessing to sing it in church. The elder will stop with his usual condescension. Both of them will immediately try it on the path, humming like bees in their quiet voices, and both waving their arms - they give the measure. Painting! If Fr. Plato (at that time still Pavel Stepanovich) will sometimes begin to think and be embarrassed: then the elder himself, on occasion, will thrust a brand new score into his hand and say: “Paul, Pavel! Here you go, sign it up and learn it for the holiday.” Pavel takes it, writes it down, learns it. Subsequently, when remembering this, Fr. Plato used to say: “It used to be that I had work for a whole week and entertainment.” So, with the help of God, with the participation of the benevolent elder, little by little the cowardly novice became accustomed to monastic life. There was a particularly remarkable incident that Fr. Plato: “I once came to the priest to ask for his blessing to sing in church, instead of the sacramental verse, the dogmatic 6th tone, again arranged according to the notes: “Who will not please You, O Most Holy Virgin.” At that time, Father was sitting in his cell alone with letters. At my request, he put the pen on the table and began to examine the notes I had brought. Finally, having listened to the dogmatist’s melody from me and, no doubt, wanting to teach the proper concept of church singing, and reasonable one at that, he said to me: “Well, why are you learning all the new partes? Well, what's special about it? How can it be compared with our church singing? This is how we sang this dogmatist.” And the elder sang it according to the church melody. His strictly churchly note singing was imbued with the most sincere feeling of the chant that he fully understood. He sang to the Virgin Queen of Heaven, as if standing before Her and contemplating Her glory. I forgot my notes and looked in amazement at the singing old man and could not marvel: how can such a venerable old man, a strict ascetic, a wise teacher, have such a childishly tender feeling, such a fiery, infantilely believing love for the Mother of God! The more Father sang, the more deeply he became imbued with the feeling of chanting. His voice had already begun to tremble. And as soon as he sang: he became a man for our sake, his singing was interrupted. Tears flowed freely from him. Bowing his head, he cried harder and harder and finally began to sob like a child torn away from his loving mother - his only consolation. I stood there for a long time, amazed at this phenomenon. Half an hour passed, and the priest’s sobs did not stop. At the same time, I saw in him such a deep sense of humility and fiery love for the Lord and the Most Pure Mother of God that I even felt ashamed to look at him. So I did not wait for the end of the elder’s sobbing and, deeply moved, I went with my notes to my cell.” However, Elder Macarius did not always stroke the head of his spiritual son. It also happened the other way around. The Optina monastery, as stated above, is surrounded on the outside by trees of enormous size, and inside is planted with various fruit trees, berry bushes and many different kinds of flowers; so that all its buildings are buried in greenery and flowers in the summer. And it is known that luxurious vegetation is a favorite place for birds. Small birds of various breeds flutter and chirp here. But of all of them, the nightingales stand out, as they have always stood out, for their pleasant singing. Some of the monks loved (and still probably love) listening to these feathered singers in the cool summer evenings. But here's the misfortune - the nightingales gradually began to disappear. The reason for this turned out to be cats, who diligently caught them for their own needs, not distinguishing nightingales from mice. By the way, Elder Macarius loved to keep cats in his cells as useful domestic animals capable of exterminating known harmful rodents; only he didn’t like to caress them at all. Pavel Stepanovich, as a lover of nightingale singing, became jealous of these indiscriminate fighters. Annoyed with them and, probably, hoping for the elder’s usual condescension, he came to him and unceremoniously began to say: “Bless, father, to beat the cats.” Puzzled by such an unexpected request and seeing in the petitioner persistence and an unhumble disposition of spirit (which in monasticism is considered an intolerable evil), the elder, for his part, asks: “Why, why should we beat them?” “But of course,” he replies, “they ate all the nightingales.” “So what? – the old man continued. “This is their natural property.” Yes, he will stomp his feet and make a noise at Pavel Stepanovich: “Oh, you so-and-so! What the hell are you up to!” Pavel Stepanovich turned to the door to leave, when the elder began to hit him on the back of the head. And it knocks, and makes noise, and gives in to the back of the head. Pavel Stepanovich wanted to run out as quickly as possible, but he was so confused that he felt the door with his hands and could not find it; and the elder continues to storm. Finally, he somehow got out onto the path and, out of great grief, immediately vowed to himself that he would definitely leave Optina Pustyn at least somewhere, saying that life here was hard labor. Having formed such a thought, he already shrank away from the elder: for two or three days he walked past the elder, did not bow to him, did not approach him for blessing and did not even look at him. The elder sees that Paul is extremely upset. One day he came to his cell and said a prayer according to monastic custom. A reciprocal amen was heard inside the cell. “Bless me, brother, to enter,” said the elder. The answer was: “God bless.” The elder came in and prayed to St. icons and then addressed Pavel Stepanovich with a short speech: “Paul, Pavel! Are you offended by me? Offended? Well, forgive me." And suddenly she bows at his feet. When remembering this, Fr. Plato said: “This deepest humility of the great elder, whose name at one time was famous not only throughout Russia, but also beyond its borders, struck me to the depths of my soul. Full of tears, I instantly threw myself at the elder’s feet, asking him to forgive me, a cowardly, unreasonable sinner. And the loving old man quietly continued his speech: “Why don’t you want to get anything from me? And if you can’t tolerate anything from me, then who can you tolerate anything from?” Further, the elder said that it is necessary to endure sorrows, that we need mental turmoil for our own salvation. Having taught me this way, he left my cell. Hitherto overwhelmed by various resistant thoughts, I felt undisturbed peace and silence in my soul. And after such an incident, Fr. added. Plato, it happened that you would fall in love with the elder even more, but you would completely forget about leaving the monastery.” However, this was perhaps the only case during the entire stay of Fr. Plato in the monastery under Elder Macarius for ten years. In general, the elder always treated him with love and condescension. Of the monastic brethren, whom Elder Macarius distinguished from others, bypassing the abbot of the monastery, Fr. Abbot Moses, for whom he had great love and respect as a conscientious ruler of the monastic brethren, can be pointed out, first of all, to the abbot’s own brother, Fr. Abbot Anthony, who had lived in Optina Pustyn in retirement since 1853. The elder also treated him with great respect and love, as a man full of spiritual wisdom and a great ascetic 71 . Then, Hieromonk Pimen enjoyed the special love of Elder Macarius. He was of Little Russian origin; He lived in the monastery for 49 years, and all of them were 76 years old. He was so meek and humble that Elder Macarius called him an angel in the flesh. Whoever reprimanded him for anything, he was not in the habit of making excuses; and, folding his hands crosswise on his chest, he asked everyone for forgiveness. Already in the rank of hieromonk, if anywhere, even in front of the people, he met his spiritual father, even his junior in years 72, he always bowed at his feet and, along with the common people, accepted a blessing from him as from a bishop. He was a great ascetic, a faster, and, as the monks of his time noted, he did not go to bed to sleep. This could be concluded from the fact that his bed was always littered with a pile of various things. There were books, linen, and other miscellaneous things lying in disarray, which, apparently, had never been cleaned up. That is why the monks at one time said that Fr. Pimen, no doubt, indulged in a short nap, sitting on a chair. He attended all church services regularly and loved to often serve the Divine Liturgy, saying: “I live by this.” For the last 20 years of his life he was a confessor and performed this duty with great zeal. It often happened that he kept another confessor in confession for an hour or even more, asking in detail about all the circumstances of his life, sympathizing with him in everything and instructing him on the path of goodness and piety. Many praying peasant women loved him so much for his compassionate attitude towards them that when he died, they would come to Optina, fall on his grave and cry. Throughout his spiritual career, as long as his strength allowed him, every day, after listening to Matins, he went out to the royal doors and first read prayers for confession for those pilgrims who were supposed to confess during the day; and then for those who were already preparing to receive the Holy Mysteries at the Liturgy, he himself read the rule for Holy Communion. If for some reason any of the confessors were somewhat late in coming to the rule, Fr. Pimen, having already read several prayers, immediately stopped reading and began to read the rule from the beginning; although some of the impatient were dissatisfied with him for this. Before his death, Fr. Pimen was tonsured into the schema. According to some signs, one could think that he had the gift of clairvoyance from the Lord. Elder Macarius especially honored the schema-monk Fr. Karp, a blind man, considering him a great ascetic. About this blind man, the predecessor of Elder Macarius, Elder Fr. Leonid (in the schema Leo) responded like this: “Oh. Carp, although blind, sees the light.” In turn, Fr. Karp, like other prominent ascetics in the monastery at that time, treated Elder Macarius with great reverence and filial love. The aforementioned Fr., who lived in retirement in the monastery. Hegumen Varlaam once decided to inquire how Fr. Karp felt about his blindness. "ABOUT. Carp! - he said. – It would be good for you to go to Moscow to see the doctors. They say that the doctors there have become so skillful that they can make the blind see.” Hearing this, Fr. Karp seemed to be frightened and spoke with spiritual anxiety: “For what? What do I need my eyesight for? I save myself by blindness!” So it turned out that the humble blind man not only was not burdened by his blindness, but also did not want to have bodily eyes, so as not to see the corrupting vanity and temptations of this world. Of the younger monastic brethren, the young novice Feodor Popov (later abbot of the Przemysl Trinity Lyutikov Monastery of the Kaluga Diocese, Hegumen Theodosius) enjoyed special attention from Elder Macarius. He was originally from the city of Balashov, Saratov province. His admission to Optina Pustyn was remarkable. He came to the monastery on foot at a young age and with a fake annual passport, since out of jealousy for monastic life he left home secretly, against the will of his parents. In the monastery, as well as in the monastery located not far from it, a vigil was held at this time. Theodore needed to see Elder Macarius, which is why he came to the monastery. When they reported to the elder about his arrival, that, they say, some stranger wanted to see him and talk to him; the elder, who had never known or seen the stranger, said: “Yes, it’s Theodore who has come.” And he ordered his cell attendant to take him to the meal, feed him and put him to bed. Theodore, however, according to his desire, despite the fatigue from the journey, stayed until the end of the vigil and asked the elder’s cell attendant, Fr. Herodion to wake him up for mass, which in the monastery before, as now, began at six o’clock. The elder did not order to wake him up. The tired traveler, as one might expect, fell into a dead sleep and slept through the Liturgy. In the morning the same Fr. Herodion came to the meal, woke up Theodore and said that Father Fr. Macarius sent for him to come and drink tea with him. Distressed by his malfunction, Theodore, however, at the call of the elder, immediately came to him. “When I entered the elder’s hallway,” Fr. later recounted this. Theodosius - and saw him sitting here in a simple white thin robe with a rosary in his hands and bowed to him to the ground, he, blessing me, said, smiling: “What, did you oversleep?” “Sorry, father,” I answered, “I overslept.” - “Well, was your dream pleasant?” - “Yes, I didn’t wake up all night; slept soundly." - “Well, did you thank the Lord for a pleasant and healthy dream?” - “No, father.” - “So go with your cell oh. Herodion and drink there with Fr. Ambrose tea and having drunk tea; Then make fifty prostrations in your cell and thank the good Lord for a pleasant and healthy sleep. Do you know to whom the good Lord gives a pleasant dream? - “I don’t know, father.” - “He gives this dream to those who love Him: If you sleep, you will sleep sweetly (Proverbs 3:24).” Having treated the wanderer to tea, the elder ordered Fr. Ambrose, who was a hierodeacon at that time, took him to his cell, and three days later the elder himself took him to the monastery to Fr. Abbot Moses. Here, in the abbot’s cells, Theodore saw the famous Optina abbot for the first time, bowed at his feet and received his blessing. And Elder Macarius, turning to Fr. abbot, said: “Here, Father Fr. Abbot, I have brought you a new ascetic, Theodore; he wants to enter a monastery to test himself in monastic life: bless him to accept him?” “Blessed is the Lord, sending His servants to us!” - came the answer from Fr. abbot. And immediately the new ascetic was dressed by both elders in a humble paid monastic cassock, and a humble, wretched cell was also assigned to him. “With tears, I threw myself at the feet of the elders,” Fr. later said. Theodosius, “kissed them in delight of joy that I was accepted into the monastery, and, having then kissed the hands that were blessing them, went after the abbot’s cell attendant and installed himself in the cell assigned to me.” Theodore lived only a year in Optina Pustyn. He could not stay here any longer, since his fake passport had expired, and he needed to notify his parents of his whereabouts, who demanded that he immediately return to them. After this, due to circumstances, he remained in the world for a long time; and finally entered the monastery another time for good, and after several years of monastic life, under the name of Theodosius, he served as abbot for a considerable time 73 . Another of the younger monastic brethren, the novice Alexei Zertsalov (later the monastery leader, fraternal confessor and elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly) enjoyed the special favor of Elder Macarius. From time to time Father Fr. Macarius called him by the tender name of Alyoshenka. However, this favor did not go beyond the bounds of modesty and even severity in the old man. Being himself, as noted above, the embodiment of humility, the elder and all his disciples most of all protected them from the harmful infatuation with human praise and from exaltation. He sought and demanded the same from his beloved Alyoshenka. In the summer of 1856, the rector of the Sergius Hermitage of the Petrograd province, Archimandrite (later a famous bishop) Ignatius Brianchaninov, visited Optina Pustyn, who believed that it was the beginning of monastic life. He was assigned cells in the same building as the novice Alexei. One day, this honorable guest invited his brother Alexei to tea, at which he praised him very, very much, calling him Joseph the Beautiful and attributing great virtues to him. The young novice, due to his inexperience in spiritual life, was carried away by these praises and, greatly consoled by them, immediately after leaving Fr. The archimandrite went to the monastery to inform Father Fr. Macarius his great joy. “Halfway,” Fr. himself said. Anatoly, the priest greets me, surrounded in front and behind by many different people - nuns, noble women and peasants of both sexes. Seeing me very cheerful, and with a cheerful look he greets me with affectionate words: “Alyoshenka, Alyoshenka! Where are you going? “To you, father,” I answered. – I am now from the St. Petersburg archimandrite. What did he tell me, father! That I am definitely Joseph the Beautiful, that he is glad to see me and is very comforted by me...” Before I had time to finish my story, the priest jumped away from me and, changing his appearance and tone of speech, stamped his foot. "How? – he screamed menacingly. “You’re like that!.. So that’s what you are like!.. That’s how you are...” And he himself comes closer and closer to me in an attacking position. “How dare you think like that? A? How dare you? “Then the priest raised his stick (and this time his stick was not the usual black one, but some kind of long yellow one), right at me and swung it at full swing. Those accompanying the elder jumped into the distance and, standing about 30 steps away from me, looked at me with horror as if I were a great criminal. And the priest continued to swing his stick at me at full swing. That's all I see - he'll break my head. I myself didn’t understand what was happening to me... Then, turning to the spectators standing at a distance, the priest said: “Look, how big!.. (The brother was tall) Wow! How big! What!.. Come on, come on, let’s measure...” And he began to measure me with his stick. At the same time, the spectators calmed down, seeing that I was not a criminal, but this did not make it any easier for me, and it was difficult for them to restrain themselves from laughing. Having measured me in this way from front and back, the priest finally came close to me and began quietly and convincingly, in a truly fatherly manner, to admonish me, and at the same time, according to custom, to humble me: “Well, aren’t you a fool? After all, he (the archimandrite) is a nobleman of St. Petersburg. He is day and night with the nobility, and with some kind of nobility! Praise is needed there. He is used to praising. And you really thought that you were a great man. You are a long man - that's all here. Spit. Forget it all. Go. God bless you! Go and tell about. Ambrose, how I got through you.” And I modestly trudged to the monastery to Fr. Ambrose to relieve his soul by complaining about my defeat for exaltation.” This brother once expressed to Elder Macarius his desire to move from the monastery to the skete in order to live closer to his dear priest. The elder only said: “You will also live in a monastery.” This prediction came true fifteen years later, or perhaps more. In 1873, after the death of the monastery leader Hieroschemamonk Hilarion, when brother Alexei was already the venerable hieromonk Anatoly and dean of the monastery, he was transferred by the monastery authorities to the monastery to occupy the position of head of the monastery Through such formidable struggles, which, however, were always timely and always ended with paternal condescension and the admonition of Elder Macarius, many worthy men were brought up and grew in spiritual life, such as: his successor in eldership, the famous Elder Ambrose, the monks of the monastery, the hieroschemamonks Hilarion and Anatoly, the confessors of lay visitors to Optina Pustyn, and for some time Elder Ambrose - hieroschemamonks Pimen and Platon; then the monk Yuvenaly, who reached the archbishop's rank, Archimandrite Leonid - the abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrites Isaac and Dositheus - the abbots of the Optina Hermitage, Archimandrite Moses - the abbot of the Tikhonova Kaluga Hermitage, Archimandrite Paphnutius - the abbot of the Maloyaroslavets Nikolaevsky Monastery and its predecessor Archimandrite Nikodim, Abbot Mark - abbot of the Meshovsky St. George Monastery, abbot Theodosius - abbot of the Przemysl Trinity Lyutikov Monastery, on whom Elder Macarius also had considerable influence. And how many more ascetic monks he raised, who lived modestly and died in the monastery, whose names remained unknown to the world! How many nuns there are in different women’s monasteries, among which there were worthy abbess of monasteries, and experienced in the life of a spiritual elder - the leader of virgins who disgraced themselves to Christ! Moscow Gazette. 1904. No. 120. Extract from the article “Guardian of Orthodoxy in Lithuania.” With the blessing of the elder Fr. He translated Macarius from Latin into Russian “The Teachings of the Venerable Abba Isaiah,” published by Optina Pustyn. Subsequently, when Elder Macarius had long passed into eternal life, and Pavel Stepanovich was already Fr. Plato and, it seems, the hierodeacon, one beneficent person familiar to him, close to the late Moscow Metropolitan Philaret, knowing the still unquenched desire of Fr. Plato to enter the academy, brought this to the attention of the metropolitan, who gave the following answer: “Let him come to me, I will not ask him anything or examine him at all; I’ll just look at him.” But oh. Plato chickened out and did not go. That was the end of his dreams of the academy. Both brothers, Fr. Moses in the rank of archimandrite and Fr. Abbot Anthony, were buried together in the church in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God near the southern wall behind the choir. Special biographies have been compiled about them, available in Optina Pustyn. The last confessor, Fr. Pimen was the head of the monastery, hieromonk Fr. Anatoly, much younger than him in age and in entering the monastery. Hegumen of Feodosia was born in 1824, died in 1903 on October 20 in the Optina monastery, where he was buried. He died in 1894 on the night of January 25th.