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I am a very narrow-minded person in the spiritual discernment of things, and I can very easily call black white, and white black. Therefore, do not look at what I write as a good decision. – Are you asking if you are making a mistake by continuing to bear the yoke of authority? No. You are obliged to carry it until your superiors say enough is enough. Since it not only does not say this, but, on the contrary, imposes a new task on you, knowing your bodily weaknesses, then it is not at all on your mind to consider the question: should you give up work? One could find a reason for abandonment - a preference for internal work over this external one - this is a very compelling reason: for there is no price for internal work and nothing should be preferred to it; but even for his sake, it would be possible to leave the labors lying and imposed on you in such a case when these labors would interfere with him and ruin him. But this cannot be said. You have an unceasing prayer to the Lord. Didn't current affairs interfere with her formation? One must assume that they will not interfere if a small fraction is added to them. These things are only seemingly mundane, but in essence they are not of an earthly nature. Therefore, by working on them, it seems that one can avoid being separated from the Lord. Moreover, the soul’s being with the Lord, which is the whole essence of internal activity, does not depend on us. The Lord visits the soul, it is with Him, and plays before Him, and is warmed by Him. As soon as the Lord departs, the soul becomes empty, and it is not at all in its power to bring back the Good Visitor of souls to itself. But the Lord departs, torturing the soul; but it happens that he leaves, punishing not for external deeds, but for something accepted by the soul inside. When the Lord departs, torturing the soul, then when it screams, He soon turns back. And when he departs punishing, it is not soon, until the soul recognizes the sin, and repents, and mourns, and suffers penance. Now, if you leave the matter, and thereby go against the will of the Lord, do you think that He will remain with your soul? If it is a sin against Him and He becomes angry, He will go away and not return. And it will happen that what is done for the benefit of internal work will turn to its detriment, and even to its complete destruction. So, in my opinion, it’s better to pull the yoke until the owner unharnesses it against your will. What you replaced the Optina Rule with, I think, is better than it. In the Savvaitsky monastery, which is near Jerusalem, an hour before Matins they give a sign, and the monks, each in their own cell, perform bows with the Jesus Prayer: 150 earthly and 1500 waist. Those who do not have time, supplement them during the day. But strength does not lie in form, but in the spirit of prayer. What you try to feel in prayer is the most useful thing for prayer. To feel like a condemned person at the hour of prayer, one of the fathers put prayer in the essence. Somewhere, I don’t remember, the question is written: what is the best way to stand in prayer? And the answer: “stand as if in court, fixing your gaze on the mouth of the Lord, from which the final decision is ready to come to you: come, or go away.” And cry: Lord have mercy! That's what's happening to you. It also seems to me that with a single Jesus Prayer you can fulfill all sorts of rules, just so that it is not only in word, but also in deed (in the mind and heart). – I believe that the saints in heaven are all one body. They all pray for us together, although we extend our prayers to one or the other. And the Mother of God with everyone stands before God for us. When you ask the saints to add their intercession before the Lord to the prayer of the Mother of God, you do nothing special. This is always the case in heaven. With what reverence everything heavenly is filled with the hidden God. If only a little bit would take us away from this reverence. Our plumpness pulls us towards the earth and makes us insensitive. And oblivion, and the trivialization of thoughts, and laziness, and the empty, distorted by something and the most evil of all - fatigue and fatness - spiritual satiety, and also familiarity with God, also alien appropriation, and it’s impossible to count how many rubbish things there are. Have one thing: “always be with the Lord.” Then determine everything else expromptum at every minute. And regarding sleep, it is better for you to act this way: when you no longer have the strength, lie down and fall asleep, not to please the flesh, but to satisfy the need, so that later you can act more cheerfully. And regarding remembrance: once a week remember everyone by name, and on other days in parts, and sometimes even with a general prayerful remembrance: “Lord remember all whom I remember,” and do not repeat the names of those remembered, but just mentally review everyone. For God sees the thought, not the word. God bless you with every blessing! - Have pity on those who left and pray to the Lord to direct their path for good. And that's enough. Why be annoyed and grieve? The Lord's land! If only they were saved, and thank God if they are saved. And if they deviate from the path of salvation, what can we do with them? May the Lord have mercy on them and save them! You made me talk. So I said a lot. Forgive me, for God's sake, and pray for me. Your zealous pilgrim, Bp. Feofan. January 22, 1879 Letter 2. About the cell prayer rule Your Reverence, Most Honorable Fr. Archimandrite. Yes, everything is going well for you. And I’m perplexed as to what to fix. I’m even perplexed where you got the idea from. Pull as you are accustomed to. If sometimes you are unable to achieve something (from the rule) due to the infirmity of old age, scold yourself a little, complain to the Lord, and calm down. If it happens again, do the same, and so always. It seems to me that you give yourself little sleep (from 10 to 1 am). You could fulfill the night rule in the evening, and then sleep until morning. But as you write that you are used to (getting up at 1 o'clock and doing the rule), then it is difficult for you to break the rules. As for the rule, I think this way: whatever rule anyone chooses for himself, everything is good, as long as it keeps the soul in reverence before God. Also: read prayers and psalms until your soul stirs, and then pray yourself, outlining your needs, or without anything. "God be merciful." Also: sometimes all the time assigned for the rule can be spent reading one psalm from memory, making up your own prayer from each verse. Also, sometimes you can spend the entire rule in the Jesus Prayer with bows. And then take a little from this, the other and the third. God needs the heart (Proverbs 23:26), and as long as it stands in reverence before Him, then that is enough. This is what unceasing prayer consists of: always standing reverently before God. And in this case, the rule is only heating, or adding firewood to the stove. I am writing all this to you in a bookish way. How many experiences do you have? Choose from them what you find attractive. I ask for your holy prayers for my sinfulness. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. February 21, 1881 Letter 3. Recipe for infirmities when following the rule The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable Fr. Archimandrite. As for your infirmities, as you call them, then, as I already wrote, I do not know how to create a recipe for them. - Be patient, struggle and reproach yourself when you don’t get tired, and that’s all. When sleep approaches, get up and walk around. When it starts to bother you, start talking with the reader (usually the novice) about what you are reading. It is written in the books that when the Jesus Prayer gains strength and penetrates the heart, then it gives vigor and drives away sleep. Try this recipe. God is everywhere. If you are vividly aware of this, then there will be no place for sleep, just as there is no place for it: “The king stands before our eyes.” The essence of the Jesus Prayer is to stand before God with your mind and heart. The book being sent (a collection about prayer and sobriety) says a lot about this. I couldn’t be happier with the shrine you sent. I am very grateful to you for it. I ask your saints. prayers, your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. March 19, 1881 Letter 4. Feelings and behavior of the servant at the holy icon God's mercy be with you! God will bless your obedience. It's not the first time! As you acted before, so act now. More humility, less thinking about yourself; more trust in God, less arrogance; More collection of thoughts and less wandering, and everything will go well! Every time you prepare to go on a hike with a holy icon, cry out to God more strongly: help and enlighten! Those faces where I go are Yours. Don’t let me tempt anyone with anything – big or small. Give them an edification yourself out of everything. And the like. Pay attention to yourself! Bow to those you know. E. Feofan. Letter 5. Contrition for sins God help you! Save yourself! Your grief is not unnecessary. But what decision to make as a consequence of it, leave it to your spiritual father. If he didn’t tell you anything special, then you need to rest on his word. It is not at all unnecessary to grieve and cry for the rest of your life about your sins. Keep this fear of God and protect yourself with it. A stubborn sinner is disgusting to God; and the sinner who repents is pleasing to Him. Always approach Him, with a publican’s voice, plunging the sea of ​​your sins into the abyss of His mercy. When there is hostility and aversion to sin, with a readiness to resist it even to the point of the stomach, then God does not see him as a sinner. So don't be embarrassed! Take more care of your inner mood, and only get ready to run when it is impossible to preserve this inner mood. Take care of it by not having fun and not cooling down. May the Lord protect you! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. November 12, 1868 Letter 6. About traveling to holy places I am sending you 15 rubles. Don't be angry at more. Deprived of money. God bless your path. But if you had asked before, I would have said: stay at home. One cannot expect much use from this journey, but trouble may be at hand. But since things have gone so far, wander around. Look at people, and maybe you’ll learn something. Temptations here attack one by one, on the road they will attack in dozens, and in Jerusalem - in hundreds. Keep your ears sharp. We would have gone straight to Mount Athos and stayed there longer. And to Jerusalem at half-time. Be careful not to stay on Athos. Right away it seemed like it was there. But then a spirit of despondency and longing for the homeland and relatives will attack - unbearable. Like crazy people rush here and there. I have seen others. P. stayed there and bought a cell; and now he’s ready to sell his cell for half the price, just to go home quickly. We have our own Mount Athos: Valaam, Solovki. And so, we need to arrange Athos in our souls. Anyway, see for yourself. At the Mission in Jerusalem, Fr. Archimandrite Antonin is a treasure of wisdom. You can live with it; but everything is official there. There is also a Russian elder there - Benjamin. Talk to them about this and that. In the Savvinsky Monastery, the elder (archim. abbot) Joasaph is a deep and great ascetic. These are your fathers. You'll see everything else for yourself. Pray for me everywhere too. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. May 27, 1869 Note to this letter: for the prayers of Saint Theophan, the traveler, arriving directly at Athos, lived there in different places for about two years. From Athos with Russian monks. Pantel. monastery traveled for a short time to Jerusalem and to all places in Palestine in May 1870. I also saw St. the elders: Joasaph and Benjamin. With o. archim. Unfortunately, I did not talk to Antonin, because Athonite monks are not given shelter on Russian buildings. He returned safely from Mount Athos to Russia in May 1871. Letter 7. Regarding the desire to stay on Athos and about parcels God's mercy be with you. So you are looking closely at staying on Athos. God bless! There is peace for a simple soul, which, tea, is yours. May the Mother of God arrange your stay on Athos. And what kind of life you should choose - then it will be clear. The hostel is more comfortable, and more bearable for us who are infirm. Perhaps, having lived well in the hostel, and having been threshed and trimmed, try a desert stay. All this after. Now let’s look to see God’s instructions. Thank you for the schema (Greek) and the polycross. I saw how they are worn at St. Savva the Sanctified. It's the same throughout the East. He gave the hat (knitted - handicrafts of the Athonite people) to P.I., and sent out his bows with the icons on the calico. I thank Athos for this blessing - to us sinners. I happened to have some money and I can send you some. They might be good for something. While you have not yet joined the brotherhood, you can manage them yourself. And after, I can’t say. It seems there is a custom there - to have nothing. I ask for prayers from you and all the elders. I wish you all the best from the Lord. God bless you! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. Letter 8. Should I stay on Athos? God's mercy be with you! When I read your letter, the thought came that it would be better for you to stay on Athos. I convey this thought to you. Take a good look, weigh everything, and God will bless you. Wherever God puts it in your heart, take refuge there. But the best place is where you are in less danger of being sent to Russia for collection. For this work is beyond your strength. If you decide to stay; then you can postpone your trip to Jerusalem until a more favorable time. There is no sin not to visit there. But if you don’t decide to stay, then of course it’s better to stay, not for the sin of not being there, but for the sake of the fact that later you will remember it sadly. I write all this without deciding anything: for I do not know how to say a decisive word. He who trusts in the Lord is not abandoned by His mercy. Everything is fine with us, and our elders are healthy. Bow down to Fr. Ar-yu, if he's there. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Pray to God for me, a sinner. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. October 28, 1870 Letter 9. Blessing for accepting a ka-va (position) What kind of refusal should I become? It was not sought - it became so pleasing to God. What are weaknesses, those who don’t have them. We will not find anyone in the world who would perform to the best of his position, not even a water carrier. The Lord is your helper! Pray to Him and confide your weakness. It’s no big deal that the job title is unknown. There is not a single position in the world that cannot be mastered in a few steps. Did you see something? Ask Fr. A., and write and ask him more often from the spot. And things will begin to move little by little. Everything is God! Tearfully pray to Him. And His help will not fail. Here is an icon for you, as a blessing for the correct correction of your new position. God bless you! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. March 17, 1873 Letter 10. In view of the proposed appointment to the position of rector Thank you for your well wishes. God bless your stay in a new monastery for a new business. Slowly. Meanwhile, keep an eye on how things are going there. The superiority will come or not; but it is close to correction of the position when Fr. is fired. I. It will be necessary to conduct the abbot’s business – in an abbot’s way. So what - even if you become a rector!? Doesn't matter. Things went according to the authorities, and so be it. In the soul you just need to take care - not to tower and dominate, but to serve everyone, so that everyone is saved and achieves what they entered the monastery to seek. Make calculations every day with your soul in the evening. And keep her well until she becomes the last novices, so that she can fall asleep with this thought, expecting to soon appear before God’s judgment. Seek all kinds of admonitions in the books of the fathers and in prayer. There is a Guardian Angel. The Lord will command him to explain to his soul what is appropriate. Thank you for the suggestion to rewrite. I will use it when the need arises. And now I send everything in draft to those who want to print it. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Pray to God for me. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. April 27, 1874 Letter 11. Encouragement to carry out the assigned duties of the rector Well, what did you harness?! Take it, take it. Let the sweat pour in! We have to take it. God commanded. You must first pray to God for money (to repair churches). He knows who to put on his heart and give. You can avoid worrying, placing all your trust in God, and straining your efforts as much as possible. Take care to fall asleep without worries, having shaken everything off with evening prayer, placing both yourself and the abode in God’s hands. Keep things on track and keep the monks in line. They will see the L-tsy and start helping. God bless you! Pray to God for me. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. July 7, 1874 Letter 12. About the Jesus Prayer Are you asking about the Jesus Prayer? Read in books. Everything is written. My thought about it is this: – Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, is a verbal prayer, like any other. It has nothing special in itself, but takes all its power from the mood with which it is created. All the techniques that are written about (sit down, bend over), or the artistic creation of this prayer are not useful to everyone, and without a mentor available it is dangerous. It’s better not to take on all that. One technique is universally obligatory: “stay with attention in the heart.” The other addition is all extraneous and not relevant to the matter. They say so much about the fruits of this prayer that there is nothing higher than this in the world. Illegal. The talisman has been found! Of the fruits, nothing belongs to the verbal composition of prayer and its speaking. All fruits can be obtained without this prayer, and even without any verbal prayer - through one aspiration of the mind and heart towards God. The essence of the matter is “to be established in the memory of God or to walk in the presence of God.” You can tell everyone: “whatever you want, just achieve it.” Whether to say the Jesus Prayer, to bow down, to go to church, do whatever you want, just get to the point of always being in the memory of God. I remember in Kyiv I met a man who said: I didn’t use any techniques, and I didn’t know the Jesus Prayer, but everything that is written here was and is. But how, I don’t know myself. God gave! This - what God has given, or will give - must be kept in mind so as not to confuse self-made work with the gift of grace. Doing the Jesus Prayer artistically, doing it simply with attention in the heart, or walking in the memory of God, is our work, and in itself has its own natural, not grace-filled, fruit. This fruit is: a collection of thoughts, reverence and fear of God, mortal memory, pacification of thoughts and some warmth of heart. All this is the natural fruit of inner prayer. You need to solidify this well so that you don’t blow your trumpet in front of yourself and don’t exalt yourself in front of others. As long as we have only natural fruits, we are not worth a penny, both in the essence of the matter and in the judgment of God. Price for us when grace comes. For when she comes, it will mean that God has looked upon us with a merciful eye. Until he comes, no matter what we do, no matter what feats we perform, it means that we are worthless individuals that God doesn’t even want to look at. – In what exactly this action of grace is revealed, I cannot tell you; but it is certain that it cannot come before all the above-mentioned fruits of inner prayer appear. The word “inner prayer” came to me by chance... But it expresses the matter very well. And it must be placed where they began to say the Jesus Prayer. They say: “acquire the Jesus Prayer, i.e. inner prayer. The Jesus Prayer is a good means of internal prayer, but in itself it is not internal, but external prayer. Those who get used to it do it very well. But if they stop at one point and don’t go further, then they stop halfway.” I read in the rules of St. Anthony and in many others: memorize the psalms, and whether you go somewhere or sit at work, read them. This means that back then they read psalms, reflected and developed inner prayer. Nowadays they say: “Whatever you do, say the Jesus Prayer, and you will achieve the same.” When praying with the Jesus Prayer, contemplation of God is still necessary: ​​otherwise it is dry food. It’s good for those who have the name of Jesus stuck on their tongue. But at the same time, you can not remember the Lord at all, and even hold thoughts that are contrary to Him. Consequently, everything depends on a conscious and free turn to God and the work of maintaining oneself in this with reasoning. Here are my thoughts!.. You can read them Mr. Sh-you so that they know what the power is. Save yourself, and pray to God for us. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. September 29, 1874 Letter 13. How to get rid of fuss during inevitable troubles And saying and feeling that you are worthless is a good thing. This side has become all right for you. There are troubles, so what would we do without them? One thing needs to be taken care of so that all this becomes less of a hassle. I can’t even put my mind to it. But I believe that it is possible, despite all the troubles, to keep the soul not fussy. For the great saints also stood in line and were busy? Afanasy of Athos died on the building. It became possible to combine construction chores with inner life. How? If you please, manage it yourself. I think we need to adjust ourselves in such a way that we can do what is possible without fuss. And while doing one thing, don’t get ahead of yourself and take dozens of other things into your head. When the matter is determined, then you can take your attention away from it and keep it where it should be while the matter is in progress and comes to an end. When it’s over and you need to start something else, then think about it, and having thought it over and put it into action, again distract attention from it and keep it at home. And so on. Matins began. Well, let your soul be in Matins, don’t let it outside the church. After Matins we need to order lunch! Ordered and that's it. That's all. It is not the deeds that constitute mastery, but the manner in which they are performed. When one thing is being done, and hundreds are crowding in your head. You need to get rid of everything and do one thing, and do it with your hands, but keep your mind in its right place. You need to learn all this and, it seems, you can learn it. Regarding the fact that they seek advice, what is there? Say what you know and what you don’t know, say I don’t know. What they ask is there is no trouble. And dreaming about yourself because of this is bad. This is what needs to be driven out. Yes, we need to understand what the tongue says and what is hidden in the heart behind the tongue. Lord make you wise! Pray to God for me, a sinner. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. December 10, 1874 Letter 14. Don't lose heart. Answers to questions about the vision of wives, about the right of hieromonks to confess and bigamists to accept the priesthood, and about entering the monastery of N. Seeing your weaknesses, regretting them and resorting to God because of them is the beginning of a good path. When this is present, maintain these dispositions - fear for yourself everywhere, fear of falling and caution. The trouble is when the soul becomes bold: “I’m not afraid of anything.” This is the beginning of the fall and all destruction. But with this good disposition, you need to protect yourself from excess, you need to know the limits of this, otherwise you will fall into despondency, and then into despair. Despite all our weaknesses, we believe that the Lord does not want the death of a sinner and that, therefore, when we do not willingly surrender to weaknesses, He will not allow us to fall. A strong wind will bend another tree all the way to the ground, but the tree will still remain on the root, and as soon as the storm subsides, it will straighten up. This happens from passions. Let them rage; but the root only needs to resist, the root is the decision not to succumb to sin by inclining toward it, even death. That there is little patience may be a consequence of poor health and impressionability. And this must be endured, i.e. that there is little patience. But it will get stronger over time, just don’t give in to impatience. Temptations from seeing and hearing wives or whether they have an end, I don’t know. Sympathy for wives is in our nature. Therefore, it seems that when you don’t feel sick at the sight of your wives, but something disgusting happens, then there is nothing sinful here. Sin begins with lust. And this thing can always be avoided. Of course, it would be better not to see or talk, but there is no possibility. Therefore, patience is required, self-care, guarding the heart and struggling with oneself. The Lord is near! Rev. John Kolov says: “When a beast approaches, I climb a tree.” We must resort to the Lord. About confession. Anyone ordained a priest (of course, the monastery's own hieromonks), by the very ordination is given the right and the obligation to forgive the sins of everyone who comes with repentance. Why, if this right and this obligation are not limited by a special instruction of the one who ordained, this very absence of restrictive instructions leaves the right to confess inviolable in the strength in which it should be according to ordination. So you have no need to be embarrassed that it happened to confess to those who came. You will sin if you refuse someone. The cathedral rules do not say this (see Requirement sheet 31 for the revolution, what is it like to be a confessor). 6th about orders regarding those who carried out public repentance. The priest cannot allow the penitent to attend the Liturgy of the Faithful. This is the bishop's business. Rule 43 is not the same at all. So it is the enemy who is confusing you. Please resist him. Every hieromonk confesses everyone. After all, this did not begin now and not only with you, but everywhere. If it were illegal, wouldn't the question of this be raised somewhere? It turns out there is nothing to raise. - “A monk who was a bigamist before becoming a monk, can he accept ordination?” Answer: Let the ordainer decide. I think it can. What was in the world, everything died and was fenced off by the mantle, which is the shroud of the deceased. The deceased is released from all obligations of restrictions, trial and reprisals. So is the monk. But maybe someone else will decide it differently. In Vladimir, recently Rev. James ordained him without knowledge of bigamy; but upon learning he was embarrassed and wants to repent before the Synod and ask for permission. So we will get an official resolution to this issue. I remember about N. (from those who completed the seminary course). He lived in the East for a little while. But you still have to keep your ears open. To a monastery, or to become a priest? Let him decide for himself. But judging abstractly, of course, it’s better to become a monk. If you are in poor health, it is even better. But let him judge everything carefully and seal himself with a decision as strong as death. Look, our decisions are like spring snow. A little sunshine and it melted. I wish him every success in faith and virtue. The path of salvation is not just a monastery; There are so many ways that you can’t count them. Everything is in the soul, and not in an external position. Someone took on someone else's guilt and was exiled. There he humbly worked in the mines until the end of his life. After death, it turned out that God was pleased. And what a life. Thank you for the rosary. Mr. Sh-th blessing of God. I remember them and remember them. God save them! I ask for your prayers. God bless you! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. October 23, 1876 Letter 15. About serving next to the ruler Well, God has brought you to serve beside the bishop. This means that if you conduct the business well and calm the spirit of the bishop so that all his time will be devoted to the management of his churches, then in this last matter you will also have a part, although you will actually only be concerned about cabbage soup for the brethren and porridge for the choir boys. Be patient and work hard. Neither shaky, nor swaying, nor to one side. The simpler the better. to the best of one’s mind and methods, and not to the best of sometimes brilliant plans. And God will always be your help. The Philokalia contains a lot. But I think that a small collection (a selection from it), printed in bulletins, will be more convenient and may be more useful for many. For he talks about the main thing; and as soon as the main thing is, the particular will come by itself. God bless you! Pray to God for me, a sinner, too. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. April 27, 1877 Letter 16. Congratulations on the abbess and wishes I sincerely congratulate you on your abbot, accompanying this with the desire to move forward little by little, if this does not bother you. On this bright holiday, I wish that joy settles in your soul and sits there, setting the tone for all other movements and dispositions. Be healthy and good-natured. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. April 30, 1878 Letter 17. About patiently completing a position I congratulate you both on the past holiday and on the coming new year. – Lord grant you to bear with patience the obedience imposed on you. It’s very nice to see that your soul has finally left and stopped groaning and aahing. This means - she resigned herself and put it down: there is nothing to do, pull, mother, while there is breath in your nostrils. Well, thank God I left. Don’t give her any encouragement, otherwise she’ll wander away again. The Abba of all Abbas is coming to you. May he be comforted by you with every consolation. I never forget you in my sinful prayers. I ask you to sometimes remember my sinfulness. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. January 1, 1879 Letter 18. Congratulations about physical health I would like to thank you for your holiday greetings. May the Lord grant you to taste all the blessings acquired for us by His resurrection. What you redid on behalf of the pr-th, the pr-th then wrote himself. Thank you. I had not learned much about the death of the Moscow ruler before, and then I began to remember him. May the Lord strengthen you in health! Here is spring and summer - milk and greens. They will drill the blood and refresh it. She will improve, and everything will go well! Everything of the Lord is work and health. Perhaps ill health is better for you, so that your flesh does not become violent. “It would be better, of course, to surrender everything to his holy will.” But He also created a doctor with medicines. Save yourself and pray to God for us. My eye is in one pore. Letter 19. Advice to the abbot of the monastery I was late in answering. Sorry, I got lazy. As you write, everything is thank God. Well - thank God! The order in which we have hitherto obtained what was needed for the maintenance of the monastery should not be changed. Ask for alms. What sin is it to ask for alms (an annual gift for the remembrance of benefactors)? They will stop giving and they will shout “you can’t”, then this source will stop by itself. And then God will provide for the monastery. You only hold monasticism well. Let the monks be: repentant, humble, toilers in prayer and fasting and vigils. Then God will favor someone, and he will provide the monastery forever. But this will not happen, be as God pleases. It's good that you want to stock up on books. Buy all the monastic books that have been translated into Russian. From the magazines, Soulful Reading (4 rubles) and Creation of St. come to you. Fathers (5 rubles). And one more thing: “The Wanderer” (5 rubles). Other journals are too scholarly. I have two books for you: Commentaries on Ephesians and Romans. I'm not sending it now. Go to T-bov, stop by and pick it up. My eye is weakening and will disappear. Save yourself and pray to God for me. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. November 24, 1879 Letter 20. When sending books The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable Fr. N. O. Archimandrite is coming to visit you. I am writing to you and sending you God’s blessing. God bless you! I am also sending you 10 books (Letters to a person in St. Petersburg regarding the appearance of a new teacher of faith there). Let's read them around the city, especially in the direction where Molokanism or Doukhoborism is suspected. I wish you complete health and prosperity, and good luck in everything. I ask for prayers for my sinfulness and weakness. - Save yourself! Give me one book. To-sky. Letter 21. When sending Yu.N. Thank you for your congratulations and well wishes. I wish you all the comforting and inspiring things. I am sending you what I promised in honor of Yu.N., whom I ask you to start and support. There are books, but I’ll either send them or forward them later. Pray to God for me, a sinner. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 27, 1883 Letter 22. God's will be done (to the sick) The desire to live is naturally alive. And there is no sin here. – But the real disposition in this regard is: “God’s will be done!” Whether to live or die, let it be as God pleases. This disposition must be strengthened and brought to the point that it does not allow any anxiety regarding this to arise. What should I come with? It is best to appear before God with this lack of anything. If only everything were purified by repentance and feelings and dispositions were in motion in the heart: both religious and moral - especially the filial fear of God, surrendering oneself to the will of God, trust in His mercy, humility and the like. In your (painful) state, the reproduction of such feelings replaces the deeds of virtues. That one lung is weak, there is no need to be afraid of this. They live a long time with one lung, when the other completely rots. Get inspired! I will pray according to my strength. Yes, I always remember you in prayer and at proskomedia. May the Lord have mercy on you. Your good friend E. Feofan. December 28, 1886 Letter 23. Thanksgiving and mutual good wishes God's mercy be with you, my dear Fr. T. I would like to thank you for your congratulations and well wishes. (On the day of the angel). I wish you good health too. Thank you for the rosary. I always remember you. I ask for prayers. God bless you! Your good friend E. Feofan. March 12, 1887 Letter 24. Medical advice for a sick stomach May God help you! I always remember you along with everyone I know. It may be good to place a wet towel on the stomach (in an inflammatory state), changing it often, or, when it warms up, wave it in the air and put it back again. So for half an hour or an hour. And stop. Then, having rested, the same again. Food is a decoction of some cereals, and skim milk can be used. Letter 25. About maintaining hope for recovery and about your health I wish you recovery. There is no need to lose hope. Who knows what the Lord is preparing? I haven't recovered yet. Currently serving; but from my fatigue I see that it is too early to serve. I was left with a strong weakness. God bless you! Save yourself! Letter 26. To someone who is sick about despondency God builds everything independently according to His all-good and wise goodwill towards us. Say that you have found peace here (on V.). May the Lord strengthen and deepen it in you! That there is despondency now is due to bodily weakness. Incessant infirmity sometimes produces a feeling of abandonment by everyone: hence self-pity and this pitiful feeling that seems to be despondency or accompanies it. – God leaves no one. He has all the children. No stepchildren. And difficult accidents and conditions - everything is directed to our good. If we could see this, there would be no difficulty in anything. But you, it seems, “saw this” - you decided to surrender all of yourself and everything to the will of God. Help you, Lord, to remain like this. And when the burden begins to overcome, evoke this feeling and establish it in the middle between you and the burden - and the feeling of this latter will either calm down or completely disappear. He who trusts in God will receive mercy. Hope will not put you to shame. Sing to the Diligent Intercessor. We bless you all. An insurmountable wall for you. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. March 29, 1889 Letter 27. Encouragement for the sick and a visit to Vysha Thank you! (for congratulations on the holiday). I hope that the Lord will justify your expectations to the extent of His providential intentions for you. Rejoice in hope! Which of us is rich in health? Let's shake everything up. And we also cry: “Be it the will of St. God!" You will not be superfluous if you decide to go up to me, just be patient. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. April 9, 1889 Letter 28. A blessing to the sick person to the homeopathic doctor and about surrendering oneself to the will of God God bless your path and your companion! (On a trip to see a homeopathic doctor). What will happen is in the hands of God. Therefore, at every step we should cry out: God’s will be done! Having surrendered to the will of God, one should no longer bark here and there, but should inwardly agree with what the Lord gives. This is peace for everyone in general, especially for those who are sick. Does it matter where you die? May the Lord grant you health. May 31, 1889 Letter 29. To him about patience and not going to church Diseases take the place of penances. Be patient with grace: they will be like the washerwomen’s soap. Don't go to church? (Due to illness). At home, call on God more often! Just because you can't doesn't mean you're a stepchild. Here's the Pilgrim. (For easier reading). Letter 30. To him when the illness worsened I am very sorry for the increase in your infirmities. But what can I say to console you? Be patient, be patient! And one more thing: be grateful! Restore faith that everything is from God and everything is for our good, even though we don’t see it clearly. For the invisible, that is why faith is needed, but for the visible, why faith? May the Lord have mercy on you! May the Lord comfort you with inner—invisible—consolation. May the Lord and His Most Merciful Mother and Guardian Angel heal you. Remember those who suffer and take comfort in their patience. Remember those who are persecuted, tormented and oppressed, and be inspired by their patience. E.F. September 22, 1891 Letter 31. God's providence in the fate of the sick. Example of a pie and a hostess May the risen Lord give you consolation and courage: one to calm the sadness of the situation, the other to have the strength to lift and bear its burden. The Lord is near us, and the Mother of God, and heaven with ambulance helpers embraces us. But we still get sick and don’t see an outcome. Is this really a coincidence?! Can't they see?! And seeing, don’t they really have compassion and try to help?! And they see, and are compassionate, and are ready to help, and yet they leave us to languish. If they are all love, then of course everyone allows this not out of hostility. If so, then what is it?! The same thing that happens between a pie fried in the oven and between the hostess. Give the pie feeling, thought and language. What would he say to the hostess?! Mother! You put me here and I'm roasting. I didn’t have a single grain left that wasn’t fried, everything was burning to the point of unbearability. And the trouble is that I don’t see the outcome, and I don’t see an end. I turn to the right, I turn to the left, forward, or backward or to the top, it’s locked in from everywhere, and from all sides it’s not cool, but the heat is unbearable. What have I done to you? Why such hostility? and so on. and so on. Give the hostess the ability to understand the speech of the pie. So that she would answer him?! What kind of hostility is there?! On the contrary, I only care about you. Be patient a little longer. and you will see how handsome you will turn out! Everyone can't stop looking at you! What scent will you leave throughout the house? This is wonderful! So be patient a little longer and you will see joy. – You wrote down Pirogov’s speech. Now take over the hostess’s speech and move on complacently to the expectation of a beneficial outcome. I think this can put an end to all your troubles. Put yourself in God's hands and wait. You are still in the hands of God, you just move your arms and legs. Stop doing this and lie still. What's the point of driving around? (A blessing was asked: should I go to some doctor). We've already gone. I wish you good-natured patience. E. Feofan. April 11, 1892 Letter 32. About prayer at home and the sorrows of the sick The order in which you pray (privately, without going to church due to illness) is good. Perform as best you can. Order is needed because of our weakness, and not for prayer itself, which can exist without anything. Go through the liturgy mentally, not as if you were performing it, but as present (mentally transporting yourself to the church) as it is being performed by another. N.N. I don’t know what to say? Here's a book and brochures for him. If he starts reading, he will find something intelligible. (Towards streamlining behavior). Do you have unhappy thoughts about yourself? – In Egypt there was an elder abbot, Apollos, it seems. I told all the brothers and outsiders too: we Christians should not grieve. Let the pagans and Jews mourn. And we are saved by the Lord, our paradise and the kingdom of heaven. With us is Christ, the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of God, the heavenly hosts and all the saints. – Keep these thoughts and similar ones, and leave all sorrowful things away. It seems like a great thing that you have to sit in your cell, that you don’t go to church (not because of laziness, but because of illness). When you pray, you always become a church of God (2 Cor. 6:16). For the Lord is everywhere. – Read often: Our Father and Rejoice to the Virgin Mary. God is our Father, and the Mother of God is our mother. The Holy Mysteries are Her breasts: for they are flesh borrowed from Her! So keep your mind busy. Let the unfolded Gospel and the Apostle lie before your eyes. Read the poem and try to turn every word into a subject of discussion. If God gives you a thought, write it down. Let the sheet lie on the table. Write down other good thoughts. God bless you and I wish you every consolation. Your good friend E. Feofan. To V. post. 1893 Letter 33. Continued encouragement to the sick God's mercy be with you! You're all groaning; but you groan for salvation, or for the cause of salvation. God bless your worries in this regard. You are in a painful state in your body. The work of salvation requires labor and hardship. How can this be? Endure your soreness complacently and thank God for it, because if it weren’t for it, you would perhaps be walking upside down, but now you’re sitting and walking as you should. Another benefit is that if you were healthy, you should, if you decided to actively work for your salvation, keep strict fasts, vigils, long prayers, stand for general church services, and other works. Now this is replaced by the patience of pain. Be patient and don’t worry about anything else. Just hold your soul as it should. Your spiritual side is intact. Consequently, with this you must serve God in all its fullness: be sober and watchful, have a contrite and humble spirit, remain in prayer (mindful and heartfelt, contemplating the Lord before you), drive away thoughts, nourish humility, not condemn, rejoice with those who rejoice, grieve with those who mourn, remember God and the hour of death, and so on. Here's your salvation! What you prescribed about your eating and drinking, there is nothing reproachful here if everything is taken in a modest measure. Your desire to receive communion more often can be easily fulfilled. Have spare saints. gifts: particles of the Body soaked in Blood and receive communion when needed, or as you wish. There are many free tabernacles in the monastery. Ask and use. At home keep a tabernacle with St. Mysteries in the most honorable place, among the saints. icons Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. November 17, 1892 Letter 34. To him after receiving the sacrament and an explanation of the sins confessed Thank you for your congratulations. Congratulations. May God grant you relief or patience. Sins that have been resolved and not repeated will not be remembered at the trial. This is the power of the sacrament. But you can repeat them (confess) both in your prayer and before your confessor, imitating St. Apostle Paul. ( 1 Tim. 1:13:15 ; 1 Cor. 15:9 ; Gal. 1:13 ). For (easier) reading, here is Soulful Reading. Here about Fr. Ambrose the Elder of Optina. God bless you. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. December 26, 1892 Letter 35. To him. You can pray for recovery, but with surrendering yourself to the will of God. About his refusal to accept visitors There is no sin in praying for recovery. But we must add: if God wills! Complete submission to the Lord, with obedient acceptance of what is sent as good from the good Lord, gives peace to the soul, and appeases the Lord. And He will either heal you or fill you with consolation, despite the deplorability of the situation. G.g. Sh-you write that someone told them a lie (as if the bishop was receiving him). When they bury you in the grave... then come whoever wants to. And put the fan down. They won't be buried in a church. For the young people of the theological school, here are some small fry (small books - sheets of paper). Let them share it among themselves. God bless you! E. Feofan. April 25:1893 Letter 36. Feedback on a writing exercise There is nothing that is verbose. (Article written and reviewed by Bishop). What is repeated more often will be remembered more firmly and will stick to the soul. and then it’s not surprising that it will bear fruit. What now? on vacation? Well, relax holidays. If you feel like writing later, grab it, here’s the book. God bless you! Thank you for your congratulations. Congratulations to you too. E. Feofan. December 23, 1893 Letter 37. When sending books Behold you for theology. (read books). There is a lot of wise reasoning here. But there is also a puzzling one, as perhaps befits modern theologians. May the Lord favor Fr. R. print what you wrote. God bless you! Save yourself! E. Feofan. December 29, 1893 Letter 38. Instructions for those wishing to enter a monastery. You must be treated and resort to the saints God's mercy be with you! The desire to enter a monastery is a good desire. It will not be disgusting to God to fulfill it; only, when going to the monastery, make a covenant with your heart: to betray your whole soul to the one Lord, throwing away all earthly desires and hopes. You must beg for a parental blessing so that it will accompany you. Whether you will lead your monastic life well depends on you. God's help is ready; but it comes to those who are diligent themselves. You will take care with all your soul to do what is pleasing to God, God’s help will always be with you, and God will give you success in everything. But if you give up and become lazy, God will leave you. Then, of course, your monasticism will be of no use. One must devote oneself to the cause of God to the point of death, that is, at least die, and not retreat from what is good. Treating your sister or resorting to saints, one does not interfere with the other. God created the doctor, and medicines are God’s creations. The doctor does not heal himself, but God heals through him. God inspires the doctor, and he prescribes real medicine. And when God does not help the doctor, I don’t know whether any of them then get the real medicine. Contact your doctor; but at the same time, pray more than the Lord and His saints to enlighten him to guess the medicine. And run to the holy saints, and do everything that pious people do in such cases (just don’t know the healers). For she does not know where God’s help is hidden for her. Maybe God judged her to be like this because it was saving for her. And she will remain like this throughout her life, for the sake of her salvation. Or God sent this illness for a while to test the faith of her and her parents. God alone knows all this. Illness is not submissive and is not a sign of rejection of God. On the contrary, and this is the mercy of God. Everything is mercy from God: even illness, even poverty, even misfortune. Let the sister pray more earnestly to God, but while praying, let her not say: “Give me health,” but, “Thy will be done, Lord!” Glory to Thee, Lord! If it pleases You, Lord, deliver, and if it does not please, Your will be done! I believe that this (illness) is good, just like good health. Thank You, merciful Creator! Teach her to read and write and do handicrafts, and let her be saved like a blueberry. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you. Bishop Feofan. 1877 May 7 days. Letter 39. Is it possible to be treated with peace? Question about the same patient (indicated in No. 38), is it possible to treat her illness (seizure): with peace? Answer: since such an action does not exist in the church now, it cannot be used. That was a church rite and was abolished. The myrrh here is not the holy myrrh that is in anointing; and the myrrh of myrrh-streaming relics. To my sister – patience and prayer, humble submission to God’s determination and a pure life according to the commandments. God sends the painful or healthy state of the body as forms of salvation. If God deigns her to be healed in an extraordinary way, then He will indicate this. And so, just pray. and prayer is healing everywhere. Letter 40. Advice in case of illness I'm very sorry about your illness. But I don’t know how to help you. You have such a complex disease that you can’t even understand it. A good, knowledgeable doctor would have sorted everything out. But where to find it? We have all mediocre doctors here. All you have to do is pray, which is what you do. You ask: is it good to pray like this? Everyone prays like this, and so does the church. Just add: “but not as I want, but as You, Lord!” Grant me complacent patience!” Accept this illness as one sent by God to save you. And it will happen that by complacently enduring your painful state, you go straight to heaven. The path there is both narrow and deplorable. There you have it: you are on it. Be careful not to miss, or more simply, don’t overlook salvation. We are born on earth not for joy, but for sweat, labor and sorrow. Our life is not here, but there. This is where we need to prepare. But nothing pacifies flesh and blood like illness. Be grateful! Go to some St. the place, in hopes of healing, is good. But not according to your fortune-telling, but when there will be some indication. - To the well o. Seraphim (Sarov) is good to get to, but if you have warm faith. May the Lord help you both in patience and in recovery, if it is His favor. Letter 41. Blessing to the monastery When parents bless, God is not unpleasant. God bless you! (to live in a monastery). Take care of yourself. Remember God, for He is everywhere. And do not forget death, and the answer before God. Letter 42. Both illness and health are from God Everything is from God: illness and health, and everything that is from God is given to us for our salvation. So you too, accept your illness and thank God for the fact that he cares about your salvation. What exactly is sent by God that serves for salvation, you don’t have to look for it, because maybe you won’t know. God sends other things as punishment, like penance, and others as discipline, so that a person will come to his senses; otherwise, to save you from the trouble that a person would get into if he were healthy; another thing is for a person to show patience and thereby deserve a greater reward; other, to cleanse from some passion, and for many other reasons. When you remember your sins, say: “Glory to You, Lord, that You imposed penance on me as punishment!” When you remember that before you did not always remember God, say: “Glory to You, Lord, that You have given me the reason and the knowledge to remember You more often!” When the thought comes to you that if you were healthy, you would do something different and not good, say: “Glory to Thee, Lord, that You do not allow me to sin,” and so on. So be complacent! There is no sin in being treated, even though the disease is from God: for God gives healing reason and God created medicines. Therefore, when resorting to a doctor and medicine, you will not resort to what is outside of God’s ways and institutions. These are conspiracies - they are not God’s, there is no point in going there. But what exactly you should do, I cannot tell you; I only indicate what will not be against the will of God. Save yourself! Letter 43. Advice for someone entering a monastery God bless your stay in the monastery. Visit your spiritual father Hilarion more often and open your soul to him. He will guide you! Here are the books. I give them to you with the desire that they will benefit you. Walk in the memory of God and the memory of death. Keep a spirit of contrition, a contrite and humble heart. Be obedient, love silence, have no idle time. Letter 44. To the question about a profitable groom for a sister striving for virginity The question of your sister has been resolved by the Apostles themselves (1 Cor. 7ff.). As with your sister, despite the proposals and a suitable groom, the desire not to get married remains predominant: then she needs to act according to the instructions of the Apostle and do the best thing. Her desire clearly has a sign of God's calling. Therefore, it is better for her to remain a virgin and enter a monastery. Mother of God be her protection. E. Feofan. January 11, 1889 Letter 45. About the work of collectors for the parish church Finish the obedience entrusted to you (collecting books for the construction of a parish church), then you will think about what to do. The work of collectors (for rural cell attendants) is difficult, everyone knows. But for a good deed, you can and should struggle. And it’s hard and there are troubles and there are temptations; but as you endure all this for a good deed, God’s help accompanies you and, unknown to you, protects and covers you. God sees your work and prepares a reward for you, either internally or externally. Be inspired by this not deceptive hope. When you finish this matter, then you are free to do what you want. You can enter a monastery and build a cell where it will be more secluded. Both are possible. Just now be patient and do not run away from the work God has entrusted to you. If you quit, you will be like a soldier running away from the battlefield. Shame and disgrace! And he will get it for this in court. Letter 46. Response to thinking about the way of salvation Salvation is not from a place, but from a spiritual mood. Everywhere you can be saved and everywhere you can die. The first angel among angels died. The Apostle among the Apostles died in the presence of the Lord Himself. And the thief was saved on the cross! Are you looking for salvation? Good! Search! Salvation is convenient for us. For we have the Lord, the Savior, who desires nothing more and cares about nothing more than our salvation. Run to Him and pray earnestly, that your salvation may be secured. He will help you choose the best place to be saved. I don’t know how to tell you where it’s better for you to save yourself. – It’s inconvenient to live with your daughter (the cell attendant). The three of them already had a life together. But if you could arrange a cell for yourself away from the noise, although not far from your daughter, but especially, then maybe it would go well. The daughter would look after bread and clothing and other things. And you would pray to God and cry about your sins, and if you know how to read, you would read. I’m telling you this about an incident. I can’t say directly what is best for you. Save yourself! God bless you! Letter 47. Congratulations to the reader of the books sent I wish you continued spiritual joys from the bright Resurrection of Christ! “The books are being read”, that’s right, the ones I sent for testing. If they are read, I will send them to you little by little. God bless you and Mother N. and all the children and the whole family. Your zealous pilgrim, Bishop Theophan. April 14, 1881 Letter 48. Encouragement for him to have frank correspondence with the saint I congratulate you on the past holiday and on the upcoming new year. God bless you with your whole family and in all your affairs. You wanted to say something about yourself and changed your mind. I hasten to assure you that there is no obstacle on my part to this. - Say everything. I am sending you more books and asking you to accept them as guests from Above. I always remember you in my sinful prayers. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. December 30, 1882 Letter 49. About the division of property and about blasphemous thoughts Guilty. Things got complicated and I couldn’t answer you soon. I apologize. Regarding this section, I can’t tell you anything useful. I believe it can be done this way. Outline the section on paper, perhaps state it in its place, so that it is like a will; and postpone the division itself for an indefinite time, either to the end of your days, or even until after your death. To postpone, I think, because everything is going well for you, you live peacefully and trade is in order. The division will make everyone weak in trade, but now you are strong. But I’m thinking of scheduling it because everything is under God, and who knows how an angel will come with a call to the next world. It’s better for you to talk about the division with old people who are worldly wise. They'll judge it better. Regarding blasphemous thoughts, one must regret and repent before the Lord; but don’t lose heart and don’t think that this will cause harm. Because you don’t want such thoughts and turn away from them, God is not angry with you. The thoughts are not from you, but the enemy does. And the guilt is on him. Read from St. Dimitri Rostovsky has an article about this in the first volume of his works. Pray to God to drive the enemy away. Tell your confessor often. And the enemy will run away. He pesters you with such pestering when he sees that your soul is timid. And when he sees that the soul is courageous and understands his machinations, he immediately lags behind. Help you, Lord, to get rid of this trouble. I wish you all the best from the Lord. God bless you and your whole family and all your affairs. Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. May 9, 1881 Letter 50. No need to change confessor Happy holiday! Thank you for your birthday greetings and your well wishes. To answer your question, I will say: do not change your confessor. If only he was lying on his deathbed and was in his memory. and then you can confess and this confession does not lose one iota of its power. When he himself does not refuse, why leave him. Should I talk? Yes, we all talked about tea ten times. Now it’s enough for both you and him to say one word each. That's how you know each other. When there is a need to talk, then he will not refuse to say what is due, even with a sigh. God bless you and Mother N. and the children and your entire family and all your affairs. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. March 25, 1884 Letter 51. Blessing to the newlyweds and the sending of Volume 2 of the Philokalia Congratulations on your marriage. – God bless the newlyweds, I wish you health, peace and love! I am sending you the second volume of the Philokalia. - Everything that anyone who is jealous and wants to correct his heart needs will find here in the various writings of the fathers. - I wish you to enjoy reading - read and not doze off. I wish that there is not a small cloud of sadness in your soul. Also N.N. and to all yours by name. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. July 11, 1885 Letter 52. Mutual congratulations and good wishes I congratulate you both on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ and on the New Year. I wish you every consolation and joy. And in the new year, all the best to you both in your family and in your activities. May the mercy of God cover you, and you present to the Lord a spirit toward Him burning with love and the desire to please Him in every possible way. I am sending you the book “Gospel History”, accompanied by the desire that it be read with pleasure and sow saving seeds in your hearts. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. December 28, 1885 Letter 53. When sending Invisible warfare and mutual congratulations Happy holidays! Thank you very much for the memory. God bless you! Behold the books. Spiritual warfare. Warfare leading to always being in deep peace - both with God and with people, and at peace within ourselves. Thank you for your well wishes. Everything is going well with us. I wish you all the best – both mentally and physically. Save yourself! Your pilgrim Bp. Feofan. August 16, 1886 Letter 54. Concerning the upcoming consecration of the church God bless you to be present at the consecration of the church. Ride in peace. The kids are healthy. Why think that they will be seized by illness? Entrust them with supervision so that they do not catch a cold, punish them in case, so that they are notified as soon as possible. “You must hand over this matter into the hands of God and the will of God and trust in the mercy of God, preparing to accept with humility whatever He deigns to send you.” I send you God’s blessing for the successful consecration of the church. N.N. bow and full of good wishes. This comes with a small package. These are the books N needs. There is a letter to her. Please pass it on. Congratulations on the Arkhangelsk holiday. Your good friend E. Feofan. November 8, 1887 Letter 55. New Year's greetings And I congratulate you on the new year. May the Lord send you all good things this year! I wish you all-round renewal, both in your soul and in your body, in your family and in your business. Please convey to I.S. my bow and blessing. Thank you for sending. I.S. will he read books? If it is, I'll send it. Letter 56. Easter greetings Thank you for your congratulations and well wishes. – For my part, I greet you on the Bright Resurrection of Christ, May your soul be filled with all the joys of this great holiday. God bless you, and your children, and your whole family, and your deeds! Letter 57. About my trip to Moscow and a friend. Thank you for writing. I'm very glad that everything is going well for you. This is a blessing from God! Congratulations on the final construction of the churches. Eternal prayer for you will be at every service and more than once. I decided to go to Moscow when my second eye stopped working. I don’t think this will happen this year. I have saved a lot of money for the trip and will not have any small needs. We had a friend, but he didn’t come to you because you were having some quarrels. I mean all of N., not you. My health is good. May you all be healthy and good-natured. God bless you with every blessing. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. September 10, 1888 Letter 58. There is always time to take care of the soul. About the icon of St. Mitrofan, painted from a dream Old years have made you think that you should take care of your soul, but there is no time. There will be everyday worries all the time. That it is necessary to take care of the soul, there is nothing to say about this. But you do care, I think. If your soul is not happy with what you are doing, add more. And God will be merciful. But what you said: there is no time, this is not true. Time always remains, it’s just not used that way. It’s more accurate what you wrote later: remembering laziness, and that you can’t control yourself. But be a little brave, and little by little everything will go along the saved path. The Lord bless you in your labors. Tell me please, do you have a photographer in N.? If so, ask him if he can make a large photograph of it from a small icon? I have a small icon of St. Mitrofan, very good. I would like to have it in a larger size, twice or more than what I have. So if he can do it, I will send my small icon and ask you to instruct him to photograph it in a larger size. About this icon, whoever delivered it to me said that it was painted from a dream. One painter from Voronezh prayed to the saint to show him his face. He prayed for a long time, the saint heard the prayer and appeared to him in a dream. The painter woke up and immediately painted his face from fresh memory. Then he painted everything according to this model. And no one could arrange for the icon to be drawn like his. He's already dead. And this one I had was the last one that could be bought. That's why I treasure it. God bless you! Congratulations on the upcoming holidays. Your good friend E. Feofan. December 17, 1888 Letter 59. About the same icon: ordering an enlarged photograph Happy New Year! I wish you all the best this year: health, peace of mind, success in business, and, above all, success in life according to God, whose end is eternal salvation. You made me very happy with the news that your photographer can make big ones out of small images. And I hasten to take advantage of it. I am sending you an icon of St. Mitrofan. Please order a photographer to make an icon of it twice as large. I ask you to take special care of your facial features so that they come out as clearly as possible. I have an idea to draw you, based on this new photograph, this icon in oil paints, if your eyes don’t interfere. Your good friend E. Feofan. January 1, 1889 Letter 60. About the same thing. Unsuccessful end of the planned enterprise I am very grateful to you for your efforts - to deliver to me an enlarged photograph of the icon of St. Mitrofan. I received everything sent safely. But of course you are more willing to hear, am I satisfied? In all honesty I must say: no. The photographer deceived you, he did it like this: – first he drew it, not quite right; and then took a photograph from this image of himself. There are parts that do not agree with the original. But although I am not satisfied, I am nevertheless grateful to you for your desire to please me. Failure is not your fault. It's the photographer's fault. I humble myself and say: it is true that the saint does not want such a photograph to be taken as I wished. And now I’ll leave you to worry about taking the photo. So be it! And you don’t want to send to S.P.B., as they said before. But I will try to fulfill my promise - and from this photograph I will draw you an icon of the saint. God bless you with every blessing. Save yourself! Your good friend, Bishop Feofan. May 4, 1889 Letter 61. Reply to congratulations and about the promised photo from the icon of the Saint I bring you great gratitude for your congratulations on the angel and your well wishes for me. God bless you for your kindness. So, little by little, we overextended half of the post. May God help you to reach the end. And there it is bright to celebrate Bright Sunday - everyone is in good health with thanksgiving to the Lord. What I promised you, I will fulfill with pleasure. Already started. But things went well. I'll try to have it instead of a red testicle. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. March 18, 1899 Thank you for your congratulations on this bright holiday and for your well wishes to me. I wish you everything joyful and bright, both at home, and around the city, and in business, all for the salvation of the soul, without which everything is useless, no matter how great it is. I really regret that I didn’t have time to finish the promised icon. It was inconvenient to work in a passionate and bright place. I'll start and finish on Monday. Your good friend E. Feofan. April 15, 1889 Letter 63. Encouraging my niece to take a planned good step I wrote to your niece what I needed. Your clever girl has wished for a good deed. May the Lord arrange this path for her. She is afraid, will she survive? - God will help. External labor is not imposed beyond one's strength. Inner work can be harder, but with God’s help it is not insurmountable. When he takes it seriously, he will overcome everything. Zeal for a cause knows no insurmountable obstacles. God bless you! Your good friend E. Feofan. July 13, 1889 Letter 64. Regarding the news about the harvest and about your health I am very glad that you are happy with the current harvest. May the Lord bless you to use it for the glory of God, for the benefit of yourself and your poor brothers, as you always do. I thank you for your good memory and ask you to keep it for my consolation. My health is fine. But the usual infirmities continue. The cold weather is coming. Please G.A. knit me some mittens. warm. My ring fingers on both hands cramped. You cannot wear gloves. Mittens are also suitable for this. I wish you all the best. Your good friend E. Feofan. October 18, 1889 Letter 65. Blessing to the monastery and about mittens Your relative’s desire to enter a monastery is good. Let him go. God bless. Not prepared. What kind of preparation is there? It's all about desire. If there is a desire, she is ready. V. Congratulations on your monastic attire. Let him keep it clean. God help her! Thank you for your willingness to knit mittens. Work longer so that it fits under your clothes. Nothing else is needed now. If there is a need, I will bother you. S.K. bow and blessing. God bless you! Your good friend E. Feofan. October 15, 1889 Letter 66. When sending an interpretation of Psalm 33 I am sending you the book Commentary of Psalm 33: I will bless the Lord at all times. And I impose a penance on you - be sure to read it. God bless you for your kindness. I wish you all the best. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you, and on your children, and on your deeds. Your good friend E. Feofan. November 19, 1889 Letter 67. On reflection when marrying your son I think you have already left for the wedding a long time ago. Or maybe the marriage has already been completed. However, I am writing to you to reassure you: what will it be like? What it will be like will be seen later, and there is nothing to worry about in advance. You can limit yourself to one desire and prayer - Lord send: “a humble, obedient, hardworking housewife, a homebody, not a wild one.” - The Lord will send one like this, give thanks. If he doesn’t send it, he’ll have to accept it as it is. And don’t groan, but slowly figure out how to fix what’s wrong. After all, you’ve already seen a lot and you know this article. Where with mercy, where with severity. God willing, everything will be fine. But love is stronger than anything. Love her like a daughter. This love will give rise to love in her too. When this happens, then there is no need for instructions: love itself will arrange everything. Why are you worried? At N.N. Are there no eyes anymore? Is the groom really silent about this?! God bless you! S.K. bow. God bless you and all of you. Your good friend E. Feofan. December 12, 1889 Letter 68. When handing over books for the Bishop, on Above I'm glad to hear that you are with us (at Above). May God grant you the goodness to pray so that I can be heard. Hurry to see the Bishop off. Good feelings, God's blessing attract. At first I didn’t understand what E. (the cell attendant) was saying. Then I figured it out. I think that better books cannot be offered: both heavy and meaningful. I wish the Bishop to be pleased with this. If the ruler finds it difficult to place them, then you undertake to send them later. And now so that only he accepts them. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 13, 1890 Letter 69. To those who have completed a wide pilgrimage, upon sending 5 tons of the Philokalia Congratulations on the successful performance of such a wide pilgrimage. May the Lord look upon this work of yours and overshadow you with His blessing, and may He enrich you with His help. I am sending you the last 5th volume of the Philokalia. This is the tallest; and the 4th volume is the most handy and useful for those living in society. I believe that everything is going well for you. God help you! Thank you for your kindness towards me. God bless you! nbsp; My ailments have subsided a little. My legs are less bothersome, as always happens at this time. And everything else is fine. God bless you, G.A., your children and all your works. Your good friend E. Feofan. May 27, 1890 Letter 70. Assurance of mutual remembrance and of the book being sent I bring you my sincere gratitude for your kind memory of my sinfulness. And I always remember you in my prayers and at all times. The memory of you is always pleasant to me. I wish you from the bottom of my heart lasting prosperity and peace of mind and God's blessings. - The protection of God be upon you! I am sending you a book about repentance and communion. I think you have it; but this is a new edition, in which some errors have been corrected. Maybe you'll want to read it again. I wish you all the best. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 26, 1890 Letter 71. Upon the consecration of the new church on Vyshe and about the impossibility of a personal meeting with the saint Protection of the Mother of God. God's mercy be with you! Thank you for your congratulations on the consecration of the church (the new Nativity Vyshensky Winter Cathedral), in which, although I did not apparently participate, I did not leave it in prayer. From now on, may the Lord send all those who pray in him every consolation and every gift. I apologize that circumstances have developed so that I cannot meet and talk with you. But I always remember you in prayer. May every blessing of the Lord be upon you! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. October 1, 1890 Letter 72. When sending books for daughter E-na E-na decides to stay in the monastery. - It's a good thing. God bless! Here are some books for her. Let him read and reread and do what he reads well. The main thing: let him learn to always remember God. I wish you health and complacency. I – S.K. I wish the same, with an increase in wisdom in the conduct of my affairs: economic and Christian. Save yourself! I wish you all the best. Your good friend E. Feofan. October 15, 1890 Letter 73. Confidence in remembering one’s old age’s infirmities I haven’t written to you for a long time, I’m sorry! I apologize. But if you thought or think that I have forgotten you, then it will be a sin. I remember you every day, asking you for all prosperity. May the merciful Lord cover you from all troubles and misfortunes. There is nothing I can tell you about myself that you don’t already know. I became an old man, and I feel the infirmities of an old man; but not so strong as to ooh and ahh. All glory to God! Let's creak somehow! G.A. wrote about E. who wanted to join the community. -Has this been settled? If it worked out, thank God. And if not, God’s will be with her. Do you have frosts? We have such that you can’t appear on the balcony. Or maybe I'm just too cold. On occasion, if you meet Fr. Here we go - bow to him and wish him all the best! Your good friend E. Feofan. December 1, 1890 Letter 74. Response to an offer of a valuable fur coat Thank you very much for your kind offer. I have never doubted and do not doubt your willingness to do whatever I need. During my stay above, I had many experiences that gave me the opportunity to measure the full breadth of your goodwill towards me. I thank the Lord for the consolations that He was pleased to provide me through you. But I refuse your present offer, because the fur coat is so good, in my situation it is unnecessary. In winter I only go out onto the balcony. A warm, warm sheepskin coat and these boots protect me from external chills. Besides, the door is close at hand. Little by little I feel chilly, and I take refuge in the hut. So please don't be angry with me for refusing. After all, God would have exacted from us that we are wasting such an amount that could be used to warm a dozen cold poor people. Let’s make peace on this, and don’t blame me. God bless you with every blessing. Your good friend E. Feofan. December 18, 1890 Letter 75. About my illnesses and about the books I sent I was forced to write to you. My illness stopped, and then it rose again in a different form. And now it seems to be coming to an end. I recently received new books. I am sending you two copies: one S.K., and the other G.A., so that each of you can freely use this book. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 5, 1891 Letter 76. Easter greetings and about the books being sent God's mercy be with you! Christ is Risen! I congratulate you on this bright holiday and wish you all the best, both earthly and heavenly, from the Risen Lord and from Him who resurrected us. I’m sending you some brand new books, both equally – two books each. The collection is not large, but it contains many soul-saving lessons. And which one is smaller is controversial. However, it is not useless to look through it. Nowadays there are many different opinions emerging. And you have to keep your ears open. Your sincere well-wisher and pilgrim E. Feofan. April 27, 1891 Letter 77. Concerning the fear of the upcoming partition You write that you are in trouble, a big trouble. - I don’t see, what kind of trouble is this? All you can see is that your sister is planning a division. Isn't that really a problem? You guys are divided. And all glory to God!.. And my sister’s division will take place. And everything will be glory to God. If there is nothing to share, then, of course, there is trouble, but if there is something, why grieve?! Your sister only mentions the division in her letter. And what did you think? If they decided to do it, and thought it through well. God bless! May God grant them to share peacefully and fairly and, after sharing, begin to successfully conduct their affairs in a new order. The husband is old. The old one is better. He knows everything from experience and can notice from afar where there might be a hole in business. And it will prevent. Does the old man have no strength? In trade there are no stones to be moved. The elder can sit and watch, and her children, although young, according to his leadership, will do well and she will have to say only glory to God! I can't say anything more than God bless! After all, I don’t understand anything about everyday affairs. OK. bow and blessing. Yes, here is the assistant. God bless you and your sister and her elder. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. September 28, 1891 Letter 78. Congratulating the young lady on sending her a book about spiritual life Thank you for congratulating me on my name day and for your well wishes. I was very pleased with your congratulations, because apparently they came from a good heart. God bless you for such consolation. I am sending you a book, it is between S.K.’s books, but you may not have had a chance to look into it. Stop by now at least to relieve some of the boredom you feel without your parents. These letters are written to a young girl of your age; therefore, you will probably find something familiar to you here. Your good friend E. Feofan. March 14, 1892 Letter 79. When Easter comes I had to say a few words to V. Having completed this task, I also add a few words to you to wish you all kinds of mercies from the Lord. Easter is just around the corner. But before the light of Easter, we must go through the darkness of Holy Week, when we remember the darkening of the sun at the hour of the crucifixion of our Savior. I wish you to enter into the feeling of the Lord’s suffering for our sake and, together with Him, to grieve for ourselves. If the Lord gives you this, then Easter will seem brighter to you. Save yourself! God bless you! P.S. I ask you to give the letter to V-ra, and if she has left, then send it to the monastery. Letter 80. Regarding the spreading cholera And cholera came to you? God bless you! We can hear it nearby, but not very much. And you have it right away and in the same number. Let us pray and ask the Lord for mercy. However, it is also true that God protects those who are protected. There are books that tell you what precautions to take, and they wrote in the newspapers. Read and do. Do not eat raw foods, drink boiled water, cool it a little, and similar instructions. You did well that you did not go to the cholera region, so as not to fall under its evil hands, but now there is nothing to do. We must endure and hope for God’s mercies. May the Merciful God protect you! Your good friend E. Feofan. August 23, 1892 Letter 81. When sending the book “Ancient Monastic Rules” Congratulations on your post. I wish you to spend it piously and sensibly. May God bless you in physical health and peace of mind for many years to come. I am sending you the book “Ancient Monastic Rules”. Although they were not written for everyday people, it doesn’t bother you to look through them. You will see how the monks lived then and how they live now. In general, they are similar, but in parts there are differences. However, which of the monks even now takes up the work with zeal... in the end it turns out no worse than the ancient zealots of pleasing God in the monastic rite. I have included several small books and notebooks. These are reprints from previous books. But it doesn’t hurt to read them again. How do you think about fasting? Fashionable or old? Maybe you'd like to talk. In this case, I send a blessing. In St. Petersburg, many families fast during this, as well as during all other Great Lents. E. Feofan. November 14, 1892 Letter 82. When sending “Reminders to nuns about monasticism” I congratulate you on your great fast and wish you to spend it in good health and soul-saving. I am sending you three books: “A reminder to nuns about monasticism.” Although we are talking here about monastic affairs, they are, after all, Christian in essence, and what is said to nuns, in its form, may be applicable not to monks. I accompany these books with the wish that you manage to draw edification for yourself from them. When talking, for example, about prayer, rarely what is said is not applicable to all Christians. Prayer, like prayer, is the same everywhere... Also about patience, about going to church and standing properly in the church, about self-sacrifice, about humility, and so on. and so on. Be smart for your salvation, gather lessons for yourself from everything and everywhere. God bless you! And pray for me. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 27, 1893 Letter 83. When sending the book. “About our relationship to churches” I am sending you the books: “On our relationship to churches,” in triplicate. Maybe you’ll find a moment to look through and remember how great a blessing the churches of God are for us! Your good friend E. Feofan. September 12, 1893 Letter 84. When sending Interpretations May God's mercy be with you? Here are a few more books that I haven’t sent to you yet. I am enclosing two books of Interpretations for testing. - Try reading. And if they are reading, tell me; I'll send others. I ask about this because some people do not undertake to read such books, although they are not at all difficult. You and your wife with children and all yours. God's blessing. Your good friend E. Feofan. (Without year and date). Letter 85. When sending books for my son Thank you for your well wishes. May the Lord grant you peace of mind and health of body, may the Merciful Lord bless you throughout your affairs! I am sending your son the books that I found suitable. I wish him to receive spiritual benefit from them. Let him start with the book “On Repentance and Communion.” The weeks to which the words those refer are also suitable. Letter 86. About your infirmities and an invitation to donate to the Altai mission I express my sincere gratitude for all your concerns about me, and especially for the balm. I have all the ailments for which this balm was invented, and since yesterday I began to rub my legs, in which there are spasms, and my sacrum, in which there is not much pain. Somehow God will help. My legs bother me a lot, preventing me from sleeping in the middle of the night, the most important time for sleep. But I have another humble request to you. I am attaching information about the fire in the Altai mission. From them you will see what the need is there, and this mission is the most necessary and the most hardworking. So help yourself and persuade others who are more kind-hearted to do the same. Tell them: “Do you have an extra penny? Do you want to put it in the most reliable bank, from which you will receive interest forever and in death? So put it here.” You don’t need a whole carload of gold, but whatever God puts in your heart, ten, five, or a hundred, it will be beyond expectation. God bless you with every blessing! Save yourself! Letter 87. To a virgin who wants to devote herself to God about cell and monastic life The fact that you want to devote your life to God is a good deed, St. Foretold by the apostles. And God bless you to endure such an undertaking and work to the end. Now, how can you arrange your life in accordance with this intention? Others live in cells and you can do this. Others go to a monastery, and you can do this. You ask: what to do? Who will tell you this? See for yourself. Pray to God more earnestly for Him to give some direction. If you have heart disease, resort to the Mother of God. She is the Ever-Virgin, the Mother of all virgins! I can only say something general, namely: “It’s better to go to a monastery than to live in cells. Life in cells is half worldly life. And there is a will here and there is no leadership. And temptations are all around. There is a high life here too. But this is already a special mercy of God. However, see for yourself. Maybe you have so much zeal for self-sacrifice that even if you live in a cell, you will live more strictly than all the monasteries. If a thought falls on the cell; the way the two of you came together, you would build a special cell. Auntie can, if necessary, indicate something to you from time to time. Why should you be separated? And the aunt, who was building a cell for herself alone, was cramped for three people. But it’s better to go to a monastery. How much trouble is there with the cell?! Letter 88. On the cleansing and healing of spiritual infirmities Spiritual weakness is cleansed by confession, which is the beginning of its healing. - The same healing continues, then ends with exploits against it (infirmity). The healing will end when the passion becomes disgusting and the attraction ceases. While this procedure is being performed, the fighter is at the mercy of the Leader, although he receives sensitive wounds, falls and gets up. This mercy retreats only when someone has fallen and does not get up - he lies around. And if he falls and immediately gets up and again takes up arms to fight, the mercy does not leave. By doing this, dissolve the bitterness of your conscience. The Sacrament of Body and Blood is performed by the Lord through the action of the entire church. The employee is only a tool. As long as he has no unresolved sin, he can perform the sacrament and receive communion with bold hope. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 31, 1888 Letter 89. Instruction on prayer and piety to a wife and her converted husband Your prayer rule is very good. And continue to perform it as usual. But remember that it is not a matter of words and bows, but of raising the mind and heart to God. You can say everything that you have written and make all the indicated bows, but not remember God at all, or somehow with absent-minded thoughts and wandering of the mind. And therefore, without praying, he will fulfill the prayer rule. It turns out that prayer is a sin before God. God forbid! We must do God’s work with fear and trembling; keep this in mind. Try in every possible way so that where the word is, there is the mind, or, as St. Climacus, enclose the mind in the words of prayer. When starting to pray, one must establish one’s attention before God and not depart from Him. Reading prayers from a book dispels a lot. It's better to memorize them. Equally, turning the pages to find this or that ikos and kontakion should also distract attention. Try to do this: memorize the morning and evening prayers, understanding them and feeling what they say. Then read them as if they came from the heart. From the Psalter, also choose which psalms are understandable and closer to your heart, and memorize them. And read them, too, in order for memory prayer. Read them this way – going where and doing what. Read the day's Gospel after prayer, with reflection and conclusions for yourself. Compose the memorial according to the printed model (in the Followed Psalter), according to your needs and circumstances, and say it from memory. Akathists turn everything into bows, do not read from a book, but mentally address those to whom you are supposed to and bow. If you don't read the words, add a fan. Everything else is fine. The less you need a prayer book, the better. Learn, above all, to be in the memory of God and the memory of death. Sacrifice to God - the spirit is crushed. Then consider that you have prayed well when you leave prayer with contrition and complete self-abasement. And during the day, instead of fingering the rosary, try to be smart before God, the Jesus Prayer. Just as Angels are always before the face of God, so we must try. They offer the sacrifice of praise, and we offer the sacrifice of contrition. The fact that you had to marry above your fortune is not pride. God gave. But this is something to be proud of. So if you are proud, stop being proud. No one else can see this except you and God. Pray to God to give you a spirit of contrition and humility, and He will. Meanwhile, collect humbling thoughts yourself and keep them in your soul. Pride is the most destructive passion, and all the more destructive because it is pure from the outside. What the elders told you about pride in childhood means that God wants you to humble yourself and is ready to give you humility if you ask for it. But the fact that you are now in a higher position and richer is not a violation of the old man’s words. Pride is in feelings, not in external position. And there are great kings - the most humble ones. St. David, king of the shepherds, said: I am a worm, and not a man, a reproach to men and a humiliation of people. Fasting on Wednesday and Friday is enough. There is no need to add anything else to this. Put more effort into organizing your thoughts and feelings. It is enough to keep the body in abstinence. Fasting children, if health does not allow it, is not necessary. But it’s a pity that, having gotten used to it from childhood, they won’t get used to it later. The salvation of the soul is the main thing. But it is the Savior who saves souls, not us. We only testify to our faith, our devotion to Him, and He, as we cleave to Him, gives us everything we need for salvation. Don’t think about what you earn by working; You deserve it through faith, contrition and devotion to God. Do more good, help those in need. I also owe an answer to your husband. I’ll write to him here right away, believing that you have no division. Christ is in our midst, servant of God! That the Lord turned you to faith is a great mercy. Therefore, He expects that you, having received the gift of faith, will remain faithful to the faith. Fidelity to faith is life in the spirit of faith. Faith in God! But deists also believe in God and in providence, but they go no further, they stand halfway. God created us and honored us in His image, so that we could live in God—we would be in living union with Him. That's how it was in heaven. The fall of the ancestors dissolved this union. But God took pity on us and did not want us to be outside of Him, to remain in falling away, but was pleased to invent a way of reunification, which consists in the fact that the Son of God and God came to earth and became incarnate, and in His person united humanity with the Divine, and through this gave us all the opportunity to unite through Him with God. Those who believe, are baptized and others accept the sacraments are united alive with the Savior, and through Him with God. And this is salvation! Our goal is life in God, but there is no other way to God than the Lord Jesus Christ. There is One God and One Advocate for God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Thus, one must believe in Christ the Savior, accept the sacrament, fulfill the commandments and everything that the saint contains and prescribes. church . He who is with the church is with the Lord. Be so mindful and you will be on the saved path. Because the Lord has called you to faith, nothing special is required except to be sincerely faithful to the faith. And be grateful that the Lord has called you from darkness into light. Help those in need most of all. Whoever comes to you with tears, do not let him go without drying that tear. Merciful blessings, for there will be mercy... Because of the hand of the needy, always behold the hand of the Lord Himself, who converted you, stretched out to you. He Himself said: “Whatever you do to them, the poor, you will do to Me.” Those who have wealth should not think that they are masters and that they are God’s clerks. What is the law for clerks? Measure out what everyone needs... See the inscription above you: “A beggar has been left for you, be your helper.” To understand religious concepts, read St. Tikhon, St. Demetrius of Rostov, St. Chrysostom, Basil the Great, etc. I can’t tell you the rules of prayer, not knowing how you pray now. I will say one thing: stand and pray to the Lord as your soul demands, telling Him what is on your soul. God is everywhere and hears everything. You just need to say it clearly. Speech to God is not pronounced with the tongue, but with the feelings of the heart. If you do this, it will be true prayer. Taking care of the estate? - How can that be? - The children need to be placed. There is no one without worries. But there is a measure for worries and, at the same time, care with complete trust in God. Keep this concern as an obedience imposed on everyone in monasteries. At St. Simeon the New Theologian has a rule: “keep your conscience clear before God, people and before things.” So they have a price of conscience. Moscow! Pray and God will save. Don’t meet the gay ones, but the God-fearing ones, of whom there are plenty in Moscow. There are many spiritual life people there. They will support. And most importantly, may the Lord be your support. May you both be healthy and cheerful. Lastly, Solomon concluded his Ecclesiastes: “Fear God and keep His commandments, as every man does.” Your good friend E. Feofan. September 14, 1814 Letter 90. Consolation to a grieving father for children kidnapped by death Not to grieve is impossible not to grieve. - And mourn. “It’s so natural that the Lord, who is everywhere, looking at your sorrow, will not be offended that with a heart disease you meet what He, of course, out of love for you, deigned to send you.” So grieve, but in moderation, according to Joblev. As many as ten children were taken from him at once. Of course, he also grieved, but he did not allow his grief to spill out to immensity, overcoming it with complacency, born out of devotion to the will of God. “The Lord gave, the Lord took away. As the Lord willed, so it will be.” Strain yourself and rise to the same devotion - and if it is lacking, cry out to the Lord, who is near and quick to obey - and He will give. You yourself indicated the source from which you should draw consolation - from the faith that your children are alive and are in a better position than they were with you, in the arms of their fathers and mothers. They are not deprived of communication with you, but they are with you. “I think they are very surprised to see you crying, and they ask each other: why are dad and mom crying?” We feel so good. We don’t want to go to them, but we want them to come to us as soon as possible. Our grief for those who have departed is increased by the deceptive representation of them after death! We imagine them lying in a coffin, lowered into the damp and gloomy earth. But in fact, it happens that just as the soul left the body, it comes separately from the body. There you have to imagine her in that particular way - in a brighter and cooler place. And we torment ourselves - almost in vain. If you please, calm yourself down little by little, and finally calm down. Do not forget to give thanks to God, for we must thank God for everything. I wish you complete success in this. May the God of all joy comfort you with His fatherly consolation. So what did we learn? We must show both God and people that they did not tell us divine truths out of thin air. God bless you and comfort you. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. May 11, 1882 What is bitter is bitter. There is nothing to say about this. And again I tell you: grieve in moderation. Walk through the promises of our bright faith with your heart, and how many contemplations will you draw from it to console your sorrow?! Or don’t you believe that God knows better than you what is good for you and your wife and for your children? Or do you think that God forgot about you and ignored what happened to you, and it happened without any special direction for your good? Or are you God’s stepson and stepdaughter... and not a son and daughter?! Have you focused your attention entirely on the sad side of the matter, and do not see God’s care for you?! And she really is. Can't you touch it?! That's what she is. It is not tangible in the present, but visible later. Resurrect your faith, and consolation will flow from there like a river. I'll tell you a case. In S.P.B. one big lady lost three children, smart, cute, well-behaved - especially the eldest was in a reverent mood and knew how to pray. Is there not enough grief here?! But this is not enough. A little later, she lost her husband, and that was not enough: she was left with nothing. There was no limit to my grief. She took courage, indulging in prayers according to the will of God. But the grief gnawed. Finally, the Lord had mercy and sent a dream as a consolation. She sees her husband in a semi-dark state. He asks how are you? “Nothing,” he says, the Lord is merciful. But we must be patient until this darkness passes.” - And the children? “The children are there, pointing to the sky,” he said. “And Masha?” (this is the oldest, about 5 years old). “God sends Masha to earth to console those who mourn. Since then the grief has passed. So, have you seen where the children are? And yours are there. – Would they have gotten there if they had remained alive? Who knows. And now it's true. So what better things for you parents to wish for your children?! And settle in this thought that the fate of your children has worked out in the best possible way. And stop mourning. After all, you yourself will die. There will be someone to meet you, and perhaps protect you. Grant you, Lord, every consolation. I'm very sorry for your losses. May the Lord comfort you! You seek consolation from me regarding previous incidents. I am very glad to console you. But the same song the second and third time does not leave the same impression as it did the first time. But in your real sorrows, nothing new can be invented, it’s still the same speech: surrender yourself and everything you own into the hands of God, and agree with His definitions wholeheartedly - with all your heart. Then the shadow of sorrow covering the event will begin to thin out, and it is not surprising that it will completely dissipate. How is this? - through the sorrowful we will see the good - both for this age and for the next. May the Lord grant this to your mind and to feel in your heart. Pray! The Lord will pour into your heart the necessary consolation. What is more comforting for parents than to be confident in the blissful fate of their children. Your children have all gone to heaven. There can be no doubt about this. And if they had remained alive, then there could have been no confidence in this. It is possible at the same time; but there are many authorities that do not allow us to assume that this will be the case. Looking now at this best and being consoled by this, confidently sacrifice to this the pleasure that your children would give you if they remained alive, parallel with this the possibilities that children could be exposed to, with all your efforts about them. Thus, you see that the Lord is saving you with the real bright fate of children from meeting their worse and irreparable fate. May the merciful Lord, Father of all, and especially of those who grieve, send you a stream of consolation - where the news comes from. And the Lady, may joy bring joy to all who mourn! Save yourself. Letter 93. About works for printing. Note about Fr. T. and about Rashina. Most Reverend Father Arseny! I looked through your notebooks. I don’t know how to say anything decisive. There are a lot of uncertainties here. If everything is written in the same way, then the corrector, if there is one, will have to redo everything. However, it is difficult to depict these articles about moral states in general. Other parts could be better. And if everything is so: then it’s not a big find from printing. And it's better not to waste money. About the Gospels. – I kept trying to figure out what was best. – I accidentally came up with the idea of ​​not writing an interpretation, but reflecting on the Gospel story, according to the order of events: which was the beginning – and this is published in Home Conversation under the title: lessons from the deeds and words of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. You can guess that the end of this matter is very, very far away. Afterwards it will be possible to publish it separately; but it's a long wait. The Gospel with explanatory notes is published by the inspector of the Moscow Academy of Archives. Michael. Printing: coming out soon, if not already (out). I asked your novice from St. Petersburg about stones, how to get them from a lithographer. The answer was that you can take it, but you have to pay the money, whereas the stones and paintings were paid for. – He presented some kind of additional bill, both of which were perplexing. I wish you all the best from the Lord. I bow to your superiors and confessors, and ask them to St. prayers. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. March 17. P.S. I wanted to include your letter in the letter to Fr. Tikhon. And now, on the contrary, his letter and with money are 15 rubles. I am enclosing it in your letter with the idea that it is more convenient. Please convey both to our elder. He is still ours for now, although I sincerely wish him to stay there. I don’t know anything about Rashina. It was in vain that he was not sent then when he was eager to go to Athos. Well, to each his own! Letter 94. On the history of the first edition of the Psalter from the works. Ephraim the Syrian. First steps in compiling the Philokalia The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable Fr. Arseny! Having received a statement of your, albeit not entirely zealous, desire to print the psalter, I immediately sat down to write the letter myself, and worked on it day and night. I am saying this so that you can see with what zeal I desire that this psalter be printed, and therefore how sad it will be if, for some reason, you do not print it. I will tell you that Athos cannot give a better gift to all its readers. No one knows how to stir up a sleeping soul like St. Ephraim. But who has his works? - This little collection will serve instead of all of it. The plan by which the collection was compiled is explained in the preface. “Take the trouble to ensure that the numbers are correct in printing, and that each one is in its place.” In the middle there will be numbers of psalms, in the corners to the spine of the number of kathismas, and from the edges - of pages. Each glory for me is designated not by the word: glory, but by a line - and each kathisma is also separated by a complex line. Please order that this be so. Not that they are necessarily separated by features, but by distinct signs, glory for their own, kathisma for their own, so that one can immediately see. Take the font and format from letters about spiritual life, or about Christian life; he is very pleasing to all eyes. If you place a picture of St. in front. Ephraim, then this will not be superfluous at all. So God bless! Just don’t rest your feet and get to work quickly. I myself copied from what Fr. Tikhon rewrites the ascetic collection. Now I make an extract from St. Macarius, then one or two more things, and that’s the end. But it will last; because my laziness does not act very quickly. If for some reason you decide not to print what you are sending, then save the manuscript and return it. It is easier for us to compose a book than to rewrite it. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. October 24, 1873 Letter 95. On the printing of the Psalter. Trouble about composing. St. Anthony and Theodore the Studite. Search for the original Congratulations on finishing the psalter! and I'm very glad that she is great! May God grant that all who read will become magnificent before the Lord. Send me more. There are 300 copies, maybe even 400. They often ask for something. I distribute books; but none will be as suitable as this one. About Anthony St. I'm busy; but will hardly make it to the fourth week. They promised to finish in the last second issue in February. And now they are ending for sure. But will they send it someday? Next week, maybe even the week after. As soon as they send it, I will hasten to send it. But I don't hope so soon. When you go home, bring Theodore the Studite. Its charter may be included in the second part of the collection. And all the regulations will be in one place. I have an edition of his works, but not all of them. - That's what you'll find! - Catechisms. There were two of them: a small one - short teachings to the monks, and a large one - more extensive teachings. – Small ones – there were 130 or 35. I don’t know more – tea 96–7. Find them here; keep it for about a year. And bring it. - At the same time, know that the Greeks read at matins - Theodore the Studite's teachings - in modern Greek and are divided into three parts - according to three times of reading: 1) from November 15 - to Christmas. 2) From the Publican and the Pharisee until Easter, and 3) from September to November 15. I have this book. And she is not so needed. Find the authentic ones, in old Greek. For the Greeks translate the old language into the new language very freely, and smear it against the original. So this is your task. Look in Vatopedi or Lavra, where you have libraries. For monks, these teachings are all treasure. For whatever he talks about, it all comes down to monastic ranks. Constantly reminds him that the monk needs to do more. I received the files you sent. Thank you. These are exactly what we need! God bless your path. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. February 21, 1874 I ask for prayers from all the elders. Letter 96. Your address and continuation of troubles about the work of Theodore the Studite People ask what is the best way to send books? That's how! In the city of Morshansk, Tambov province. - G. Novikov, caretaker of the Naryshkinskaya forest pier for delivery to such and such. It will go over the cast iron and will arrive sooner. I don’t have an answer from Tambov about what printing costs there. – But now the 3rd week has passed. By the fourth - there is nothing to expect - to be in time. What I wrote about Theodore the Studite, don’t forget to bother. - Are you sure you’ll be back soon?! – If it’s not very soon, then notify me by letter about the success of the search. – I need to know this. If there are no genuine ones, I will translate them from Latin and send them to the Tambov Vedomosti. – But this, one can say in advance, will not be quite close to the original; – second-hand translation. And what kind of Latin it is, I don’t know. God bless you! Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. 28 February 74 Letter 97. The search for the authenticity continues. Sochin. Theodora Stud. Request for binding tools Although I have not yet received the book you sent, I see in advance that this is not what is required. This is in modern Greek, but it should be in ancient Greek. Simeon is not printed in Old Greek, and neither are Theodore the Studite or Isaiah. They must be looked for in manuscripts. And that there are manuscripts is certain; for Simeon was translated into modern Greek by some Athonite who lived on an island opposite Athos. - And there are others. St. Anthony's publication - wouldn't it hurt the collection? After all, he will go there. I think it's awkward. It’s more likely that the collection needs to be knocked down and printed somehow, otherwise there are notebooks lying around. They'll disappear some more. If you want, however, print separately. - How can I fix it? - Will you fix it yourself?! Well, correct it. Or give it to me - I'll correct it. - Where can I print it? In Moscow? – Or in your monastery? - Or in Constantinople? I am now extremely busy interpreting the letters of St. Apostle Paul. Order your Moscow elders to find and deliver to me everything that is required for binding. I wrote to them about this. They hesitate. And there is a tea shop. I ask all the elders to pray for me, a great sinner. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 10 December 74 Letter 98. Materials and plan of the Philokalia I received books and things for bookbinding from your elders. Thank you. I hasten to inform you about the future Philokalia. I told you how many sheets have been prepared for the first volume. In addition to the brochure that contains Anthony the Great, there are also manuscripts - 170 sheets - letters from Fr. Tikhon. There were 50 or 60 of them in the book of Anthony the Great. Therefore, count how many printed sheets there will be. The following are the prepared fathers: Anthony the Great, Macarius of Egypt, Marco the ascetic, Isaiah the hermit and Evagrius. Everything that is prepared and should be included in one volume. Anthony the Great with his closest successors. – The second part consists of Pachomius the Great and other hostels. There will be all the statutes - Pachomius, Basil the Great, Cassian, St. Venedikt - and some small statutes preserved in collections. But this will not be the end of the Philokalia, but will go further. In what order things will go there, I don’t yet know - Nilus the teacher, Climacus, Barsanuphius and John, Dorotheus, Ephraim the Syrian, Isaac the Syrian. A selection will be made from all of them - in some system, I think - about the fight against passions - or as necessary. This will take two volumes, if not more. But we also need Philotheus, Theodore of Edessa, John of Corinth, Diadochus, Maximus the Confessor, and the like. Another volume. Theodore the Studite - the catechisms need to be translated - another volume. Simeon the New Theologian and very volume. But I can’t predict when everything will have to be prepared. - I'm extremely busy now. “For this year, at least, I can’t take on anything other than my own business.” When you go to Moscow, let me know. The manuscript will be ready and I will send it right away. I wish your business every success. Going to Crimea or the Caucasus is a good idea, if the Greeks don’t do as you want. – The Caucasus may be far away, but it seems calmer. I wish you all the best from the Lord. I ask for prayers from all the elders. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 24 February 75 Letter 99. About the second volume of the Philokalia and private affairs You made it to Moscow by force! Congratulations. You can hurry with the printing of the Philokalia. The second volume will be ready soon. In the second part I decided to collect the charters. But they cannot be placed in one book. It is necessary to divide this part into two volumes or issues. The first issue will consist of statutes - Pachomius the Great, Basil the Great, St. Venedikt and some other small statutes. All this together will take 30 to a quarter of ten notebooks. - No more. The 30 will take the first two statutes: for St. Pachomius took 14. Basil the Great already has 12, but the end is not very soon. Now, everything said will take more than the first part, which you already have. – The second issue of the second part will take one St. Cassian. It will be a big book. 36 articles such as in the Philokalia - an article on reasoning. Others are much more so. – I’ll finish the first issue of the second volume soon. And you will print according to what you have. Cassian will take a fair amount of time. Difficult to translate. - But I will hurry. The third part will be a collection of all fatherlanders according to a special plan, the same as I have in asceticism, or on the path to salvation. – This will require three large issues. - This will all go on without interruption. – What’s next, things will tell. But this is already enough. Three or four more volumes will have to be added to them. The entire Philokalia will reach 10 books. Askochensky suggested that you print - thoughts for every day. Why not print it? You need a small book. - In the 12th beat. - There is no need to add anything to that. It should be printed as it is. Thank you for the money. I didn't have a penny. “Idle money doesn’t suit me.” And I already exchanged your ticket at the monastery. “I squandered all my money and have nothing until Christmas.” The press - and what he hasn’t received yet. When I receive it, I will let you know whether it suits me or not. Thank you for everything though. The princess needs to send me money for one item. I would send what you sent, but it occurred to me to ask you - please give her the same amount. She desperately needs this. It’s a pity that your Athonite case is dragging on. - God's will be done. God bless you! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. July 3, 75 I received a machine for making screws. Thank you; good. Letter 100. Before the publication of the first volume of the Philokalia I am very glad that your matter has come to an end; and seems satisfactory to you. God bless! Received the press; I'm waiting for instructions on how to act. Regarding the Philokalia, it is impossible to call it complete; for it, as a collection, can never be complete, but one can add: - in a more complete form or composition. What else you have written there is unnecessary. – It seems to me that the title is spelled out: Philokalia or a collection of patristic writings about asceticism and spiritual life in general, in a more complete composition. Nothing more is needed than this. In the next volume, together with St. Cassian should immediately place the statutes of St. Pachomius, St. Basil the Great and St. Venedicta. – As for the collection of Fatherlanders, it can be dated back to the time after Maxim the Confessor, when Limonar was published. This order cannot be changed. Bless the elders to print the Philokalia as I compose it - for better or worse, so that you and I will not have disputes. I ask all the elders for prayers and blessings. I congratulate O. Archimandrite Macarius on his rectorship. Or not him, but the monastery should be congratulated on this. I wish him all the help from above to conduct affairs for the eternal good of the brethren. Stay healthy. Save yourself! - And come to us soon. E. Feofan. 17 Aug 75 Letter 101. Should the legend of the tunic be printed according to Georgian legends, and other instructions on printing? I read the legend about the tunic. Should I print? I don't have anything to say. For us, the only thing that is true is that the tunic was given by the Persian king to our king, and testified about itself with miracles. As for Georgian legends, there is obviously no truth in them. The tunic went to one of the Roman soldiers, but here it goes to the Jews. Afterwards it is said that the tunic was brought by a warrior. Obviously, two legends are combined. “Besides, in the whole story there is too much information about the Lord among the Georgian Jews before it was revealed among the Palestinian Jews. Title: Finding a tunic, but nothing is said about this finding. It is said that someone knows how he ended up in the church and works miracles. Since all this has already been published, as you say, let whoever wants to read it. What is ours, we read in Chet-Minea. Therefore, I don’t see why I should print this and spread legends that, with all condescension, one cannot have faith in. – Believers already believe strongly; and this can deepen unbelievers even more in unbelief. So how? - As you wish. My thought is, it's better not to print. Printing the Philokalia - God bless. “We’ll see how this book is received.” May God's blessing be upon you to carry out fasting, in a fasting manner, if you have the desire. Print whenever you want - that's it! - I sent to the Vladimir Vedomosti: Theoliptus, Philotheus - and Nil about prayer - Theoliptus was printed there - but the others lie. “I intended then to put them out in a small book, but here they are, if you want, print them, all three and Theoliptus.” They will be included in the Philokalia, but the line is far from them. “When you want, I’ll send it.” I ask for your holy prayers - and from all your elders. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 22 February 76 Letter 102. Materials of the 2nd volume of the Philokalia Where is Fr. Arseny - in Russia or what? He wrote; but from the letter I could not guess where he was. I wrote to Nikolai Vasilyevich, but he is not in St. Petersburg yet. These lines go to Fr. Arseny; and if he is not there, then to the one who takes his place - to report about. Arseny. The second volume of the Philokalia is ready. Statutes were supposed to be placed. They are ready, but some things need to be redone. But the soul is not in favor of redoing it. Therefore, I put them aside, and in the second volume I prepare what follows according to the Greek Philokalia, that is, Cassian, Hesychius, St. Nile. Sinaisky. After them in the Greek Philokalia comes Diadochos. The gap is large - two centuries. We need to make up for it - and we will make up for it. Ephraim, Isaac the Syrian, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, St. Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Isidore Pelusiot, Barsanuphius and John, Abba Dorotheus, Climacus. How many?! It's a sin to miss them. They are all already in translation. – Let’s take an extract from them, mainly about how to overcome passions and live among temptations. – The second volume will include: 1) Cassian – extract – from book 8. about passions - and 24 interviews - which especially relates to the fight against passions. – (there will be a new translation). 2) Hesychius – in a new translation. 3) From Rev. Nile articles - a) - On prayer, b) - two article chapters, c) - On thoughts, d) two chapters to Eulogius - instead ascetic. that in the Philokalia. e) Then maybe - some of the letters are all against passions (all this is in a new translation). 4) Extracts from St. Ephraim and 5) Extracts from Isaac the Syrian, both in the complete system of their teaching. I think this is very enough for the second volume. - It will show. I ask you to send at least a hundred of Rise to Sleep, About Repentance and Communion, and the Path to Salvation. I am in dire need: for good people come and ask for books. I distributed everything. Only the Philokalia remains. But there is no need to give it away. Attach one book of the Guide to Holy Mount Athos. Lord save and have mercy on your abode. You can hear that the Greek women are bullying again. Pray for my all-repentance. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. October 23, 1877 Letter 103. On the history of the Philokalia and the book “What is spiritual life and how to tune in to it.” About wood carving designs God's mercy be with you, Father Arseny! If you write, send your manuscript. But it must be prepared first. This will take at least a year. Because the matter is quite difficult. Yes, there is something else on hand. I wrote to you that the second part will not suddenly be concocted. If you want to print, take Letters about what spiritual life is and how to improve it. They were recently finished, and now I’m deciding whether to give them to a magazine or print them separately. If you take it, I'll give it to you. And that’s the end of the thoughts. There are 80 letters in all. The manuscript is in 19-odd six-sheet notebooks. - It will be a decent book. - But the matter is not over yet. There will be a continuation of these letters, perhaps into two similar books, in order to exhaust the entire area of ​​spiritual life. Their second part will be written after the 2nd part of the Philokalia. – Print – without the author’s name. Please decide and send a solution as soon as possible. For there is no point in lying around a manuscript; it must be given a limit. Talk to Nikolai Vasilyevich. I write to him about this. I am very glad that the disaster that was preparing for your monastery has passed. May the cover of the Mother of God be over her. The 8th edition is marked in your advertisement included in the book of the Philokalia. Save yourself and pray to God for us. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 25 November 77 P.S. Here's my other request! Take the trouble to search and find drawings for wood carvings. Look for them in the same shops that sell drawings and all the cutting supplies. Please. - Don't mix it. I have everything I need for sawing - and a lot of drawings. There are tools for cutting, but no drawings. That's what we need. They are not expensive. Choose for yourself - two or three dozen sheets. It will be worth three rubles. Please. Candlesticks, glasses, salt shakers, etc. are decorated with carvings. I know how to sharpen, such drawings will be very useful. Letter 104. When sending the same book for printing. About drawings, brushes, etc. I hasten to send you the manuscript. We have no one to rewrite. I am sending it as it is written. In my opinion, it is written legibly. Take the trouble to find an attentive and intelligent person who would hold the proofs properly, not allowing mistakes to remain. Hurry; to come to the post. There is a preaching part here. – And quickly send me my usual 200 copies. The letters were written to a beauty - not a fictional one, but a real one. Some are just added for completeness, and some are shaded. But the background is valid. Do not include the author's name. The beauty is afraid that they will guess who she is; Therefore, he wants my name not to be marked. From it, others can guess who she is. I enclose three copies of Psalm 118. One is for the typewriter of letters, also a beauty, right. - God save her son. The letters were especially directed at young people. Perhaps they will come in handy for some handsome guy. You sent your books to Tambov. It's 200 miles from us. Did you manage to do it?!! – There is transport to Shatsk. To Morshansk they use cast iron, and from Morshansk to Shatsk they hire agents. There is a receiving agent in Shatsk. So the books of the 118th Psalm came from St. Petersburg. Please look for pictures. Look in those shops and stores that sell cutting designs. Attach to this brushes for painting with oil paints; but not bristly ones, but others - soft ones, but not the kind that are suitable for watercolors. I forgot their name. – Pick up all sizes, from tiny to big, big. Please. A dozen or more. But good ones. Choose for yourself. Well, soon Athos will be in Orthodox hands. Then you will rejoice. Pray for me, a sinner. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 8 December 77 Dearest Fr. Arseny! I received the book and re-read it. Good is printed; but there are also quite significant errors. I am attaching an extract of them. Why carry a book here and there? You refer the notes to the second edition. And I ask you to print it now and attach it to this publication. For without this, much will go wrong, and the book will lose its opinion. Please print it, and either put it in the book, or tell the bookbinder to paste it on. - Look again, you will see that a lot of things will read badly. If they haven’t yet sent me those who have been discarded; then send it already attached to them, or by adding typos. - Please. If the books have already been sent, then please send special typos. I will refrain from giving them away. It's shameful. Why didn’t you send me the brochures for reading before? So what should you pull on the rosary? Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 23 April 78 P.S. Hand over one book to the editor of Soulful Reading. 3 – book. Alyosha. 2 – book. Varvara Timofeevna. Tell Varvara Timofeevna to write it as her address. Letter 106. Soul and spirit, regarding the accusation of unorthodoxy I am very sorry that you are embarrassed, and especially since there is no reason to be embarrassed. – If I said that we have a soul inside us, and that’s all, and then added that it is of the same origin as the soul of animals; then you should be embarrassed. And I say that within us the soul constitutes the lower side of the inner life there, and the highest is the spirit, which is from God, a god-like, equal-angelic force - which constitutes the characteristic feature of man. Therefore, there is nothing to be embarrassed about, for fear of relegating man to the ranks of animals. Usually we say: soul-soul. But in essence, one should say soul-spirit, or spirit-soul. Taking the word soul - like a spirit-soul, I will not say in any way that it is of the same origin as the soul of animals: for the spirit is from God, but taking it separately from the spirit, I say this. When God created man, he first formed a body from dust. What was this body? Clay grouse, or living body? - It was a living body - it was an animal in the form of a man, with an animal soul. Then God breathed His spirit into him, and from an animal he became a man - an angel in the form of a man. As it was then, so people are now. Souls are reflected from their parents, or are implanted through natural birth, and the spirit is inhaled by God, Who is everywhere. “And I don’t understand why there’s anything to be embarrassed about?!” When you say that man is an animal, do you mean meat alone, or all animal life? - Of course, all animal life, and with an animal soul. And adding to this: reasonable - what do you mean? The fact that although a person is also on the one hand an animal with an animal soul; but on the other hand, he is incomparably higher than an animal, for he has reason - nou_s - which completely corresponds to the word - spirit. To say: a rational animal is the same as to say: an inspired animal. The Holy Fathers distinguish between spirit, soul and body: Anthony the Great, Isaac the Syrian, Ephraim the Syrian and others. They do not say what properties our souls are. But comparing what St. writes. Anthony about the genera of living creatures, I suggest that according to his mind, our soul is of the same nature as the soul of animals. Please read it as paragraph 166 out of 170. Here's a summary of everything: There are four types of living beings: 1. Angels. 2. People who have; mind, soul, breath. 3, Animals that have soul and breath. 4. Plants have life. Please bring it together. Breathing, respiration, life - these are all in different classes of creatures: plants, animals and people, but there is one kind and property of nature, let's call it organic life. The soul - the soul - is also of one order, although it stands and is found in different classes of beings - in animals and people - but it also has the same nature. – Then – the mind – the angelic power is also of the same nature. I conclude that, according to Saint Anthony, our soul is of the same rank as the soul of animals. What distinguishes us is the mind, what I call spirit. Review all points of St. Anthony, where he talks about the mind. Everything that he says about the mind, I attribute to the spirit, and I express it in almost the same words, affirming with him that he is a real person who lives according to the spirit - that St. Anthony expresses: - according to the mind. So there is absolutely no reason for you to be embarrassed. And what is said: by one degree: so you are free to understand this, like a line on a thermometer. Angels, how much higher than us? – by a degree, – just like we are higher than animals by a degree. Degree - replace the word degree with the word: one degree. – Who finds fault with words, losing attention to the thought?! What the learned writer told you, that if materialists and Darwinists use this word, they will not succeed; What makes humans different from animals - monkeys? - from the fact that they do not distinguish between the soul and the spirit in a person. “Noticing that our soul is similar to the soul of animals, they rave: “but there is only one soul, so the whole person has degenerated from them.” And when we insist on the difference between the spirit and the soul, and transfer the characteristics of man to the spirit: then Darwin’s entire theory falls by itself. For in the origin of man it is necessary to explain not just how his animal life occurs, but even more so how he occurs as a spiritual person in an animal body with his animal life and soul. Yes, ask this scientist to better explain his perplexities. I will answer him completely. And I am sure that he will agree to my explanations.. He was truly struck by the fact that by the soul they are accustomed to mean the highest aspects of human life, he could not understand how the soul could be assigned such a low rank. But when it turns out that, writing this way, I meant by soul not the higher, but the lower side of our inner life, then I believe that he will reconcile himself with this way of expression. - Meanwhile, tell him what was prescribed for you, or let him read it. From all that has been said, it follows that you should not be afraid to distribute the book, but rather hasten to distribute it as an antidote to ridiculous opinions about a person. I say this out of my sincere conviction. And please don’t stop the progress of the sale. Let him go. Just include any typos. And I also repeat to you: do not listen to anyone, especially this scientist, who is alarmed, I don’t know why, until he, not unfoundedly, but in detail, sets out his bewilderments and receives explanations from me. Here you are! – Athos is a distributor of heresies and dark teachings. Who is operating it? O. Arseny! - Give it here. How dare he? Please answer everyone: just touch. I'll give you so much that you won't even be able to collect a tooth. God bless you! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. May 2, 1878 I also received your book, also probably returned, one of the ones you sent. I look - our book; but no letter, no hint. I ask the novice: where is this from? - Here along with the books. In a bale? No, it’s wrapped in paper. Bring me a piece of paper. Carries. So what? The hand of Nikolai Vasilyevich. Bah! bah! bah! - So he, who returned the books, is a learned man!? – Remember, – the Mother of God passed by the elder’s cell, because he had a book with an article by Nestorius against the Most Holy Theotokos!! So Nikolai Vasilyevich keeps sending out our books as quickly as possible from his cell, fearing that someone will bypass his cell? - well - someone great. If my guess is correct, then everything that you wrote - the troubles, the corruption of the people, and the last hour of tea, all this only seems to be in the head of our kindest zealot. Therefore, you should definitely not pay attention to his speech and opinion. I guess that you sent him a book, asking him to say something and print it. – And what you wrote was his answer. Is it true? - What he wrote is all wasteland. To get anything published about the book, do this. Send to the editor of the Church Bulletin what is wrong with Christ. Read comes out, - to Andrei Ivanovich Predtechensky, - books - and ask him to say something about this publication. Explain that the book was written by me - it is all directed against Redstock, as long as I have known him. Redstock talks about the spirit of life - crookedly. Here it is explained what spiritual life is and how to achieve it, and Redstock is mentioned only in one letter, as if in passing. Remember that I advised you to contact him, and I would write it myself, but I don’t know when you will send the books to him. But it's all one. “Even though the book doesn’t indicate that it’s my business; but I’m not averse to him, when making a review, pointing to me as the author. Send also to the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy, and also ask if he would like to say anything. He has the same thoughts as me about spiritual life. And explain to him, too, what to the editor. And also remember that I advised you to contact him. - They will talk to themselves there. In order to remove the blame for the spread of heresy from the Athonite people, I agree that when printing advertisements you add - composition. bishop Feofan. After this, all the stones will be thrown at me alone. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. The date, month and year are not indicated. Letter 108. About processing the book about Christ the Savior, and about his sore eye Most Honorable Fr. Arseny! I reviewed the sheets that were sent and am returning them. “But it will be inconvenient to conduct business this way.” In addition to unnecessary expenses, the business itself may suffer. Looking through it piece by piece, you will inevitably let other things pass without attention. And in the actual compilation of the book there may be omissions that you will regret later. Isn't it better to do this? - Let someone compose and finish a whole part. Then he and I will know better whether everything is okay or requires correction and replenishment. But as it is now, you won’t see anything. Everything printed on these sheets is good. But it is not clear why this is written in the life of Christ the Savior, and how it relates to it. There should be a preface in which to explain why this or that is included in the book. Don't forget this. In the text itself, what is written against Catholics and about Apollinaris, we think, is better to omit as unnecessary. Quotes from St. Fathers - those that are in Russian in translation, must be cited according to this translation, designated by volume and page. Those that are not translated, if they are Greek, should be quoted in Greek, and if they are Latin, in Latin. All the fathers whose words are given in these places are in Russian translation. The very words of the fathers must be well outlined with signs, both at the beginning and at the end. Failure to comply with this may result in great misunderstandings. The epigraph alone is distant, it goes to a treatise on the Church; but it’s better to put something else here. I wrote it as an example. God bless you - start well, continue even better, and end excellently. Remember what I wrote before, so that everyone who reads will be forced to constantly repeat: “My Lord and my God.” Previously you wrote that you publish small brochures for the people. This is a good deed. Send me one copy of the published brochures. I'll take a closer look and maybe I'll start sprinkling something. But I don’t have time - although it would be more accurate to say: laziness overcomes. I received the robe you sent. Thank you. But you would do better if you asked whether it is needed or not. My right eye hurt. Cataracts are growing on it. Maybe, because of him, I will have to visit Moscow before he matures. Tell me, is it possible to find shelter with you for a day or two just to talk with the doctors? Save yourself! God bless you! Pray to God for me. Your pilgrim Bishop. Feofan. April 15, 1879 Letter 109. Upon returning from a trip for treatment. Book Publishing Tips Most Honorable Fr. Arseny. Behold - we are home! We arrived safely. I also offer you my most sincere gratitude for the peace you gave me, especially for the cover. I will always remember your kindness! With this mail I am sending 10 copies. books on prayer - for all your brethren. I ask you to distribute it to your people - what is in the house - and send it to Athos. Having rested a little, until the churning blood settles, I’ll pick myself up and hasten to finish the interpretation. Then we will continue the Philokalia and finish it so that it does not rest on our shoulders. May the Lord bless your labors in disseminating sound concepts about the truths of our St. faith. Add dogma to moral teachings. It’s better not to take anything from that book about “go to Christ.” And in the same way, take something from St. Tikhon. – Yes, we can use it more often. I’m starting to implement the homeopath’s prescription. But the grains do not disperse in the oil. How to deal with them? – I’ll wait to see if the oil itself will cope with them?! It is better to wait for what the Lord decides to grant through these means. It's been 10 hours since the grains have been in the oil and they haven't separated. Ask and write. Pray for my many sins! Your pilgrim Bishop. Feofan. 24 August 79 P.S. I received a telegram stating that Maklakov was not there in Shatsk upon his return. Letter 110. About my sore eye I received the hymnals. Thank you. Where is your Old Testament? I really missed the letter. Tomorrow I will receive an announcement, and a week later I will receive the parcel itself. This is written so that you do not pose big questions, which is why feedback on what was sent is so slow to return. But the main topic will be based on the disinterested saying: your shirt is closer to your body - specifically about the eye. The recipe is executed precisely and perfectly, but the eye knows its own, weakens more and more. It's already been a month... I'll wait another month. Maybe something will show up! However, ask the doctor if he finds it necessary to change anything? With this, I ask the following. I have a full pharmacy, where scrot and cancer have five bottles each. Angioit two. I use them indifferently. Is this true? – In the first book – Mattea – it was said that there is little difference. If not all are the same, but you must use the first number, then I humbly ask you to send me a bottle of all three of these numbers. These numbers are running out; and there are still a lot of other numbers, excluding angioit. - And if it doesn’t matter; then send only angioit. Equally red electricity is running out. And send him three to five bottles. Some of my friends turned to our doctor and he advised them to take medications not from Vorbricher, but from someone else, and someone else expressed some doubts about the accuracy of the drugs that come from Vorbricher’s pharmacy. – I have two types of grains; Some diverge like this: in the middle an empty circle remains, and on the sides there is a white border; for others, the grain does not diverge, but remains as it is. When you stir with a spoon, then the grains scatter, but in the form of small specks, which then settle. Shouldn't these grains be suspicious? I'm enclosing the recipe. But you send it back, although the doctor finds it necessary to write a new one. That's all. - Bow to all of you. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. September 26, 79 Letter 111. About the introduction to the Gospel story and about the eye The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable Fr. Arseny. I received a package with medicines and an updated prescription. Thank you. A little earlier I also received sheets of introduction to the Gospel story. I read it. Everything goes here and there is nothing to change. I think this is all good. For the book you are preparing, no more is required. If you write about prophecies properly, you need to write several volumes; but that should be a special work exclusively on prophecies, and here no more detailed list is required, as it is. One note: on page 108, the renovators and reformers of pagan religions are called prophets. This doesn't work. When children play with dolls, they have queens and princesses; but still this is a puppet comedy. If I could change it. This will jar the Orthodox eye and cut the ear. I am not sending you the actual sheets. Let me have it for general viewing. My eye is getting weaker. I'm getting ready to lose him. In my lifetime, I will get one that is recognized as undamaged. O. Report to Vladimir that there is red electricity. three bubbles, but two of them were double, and there were 5. But he thought that there were only three. Bow to all your brothers. I ask for prayers. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 19 October 79 From. Arseny died in Moscow on November 17, 1879 Letter 112. Arrangement of home life according to a monastery God's mercy be with you! To a monastery or to live like this? Why, you now have almost a monastery. Do you think that it will be better for you to live in a monastery than now? “They won’t let you live in peace there; They will immediately impose tasks on you both in the monastery and in relations with outsiders, because there are few capable people in women’s monasteries. You won’t have time to do anything spiritual. – If you had hitherto lived in the bustle of the world, it would have been best for you to go to a monastery. Even if they gave you things to do, but since they are at least troublesome, but still not worldly, then among them you would gradually lose the habit of everyday life, and then you would settle down in a more peaceful way. And going from your present life to a monastery is the same as going from peace to vanity. I think that you have no reason to go to the monastery, because there you will not find what you are looking for. So what should we do? Live as you are. Let the head of the institution be abbess for you, and let your position be monastic obedience. And fulfill it as God’s commandment, and all the time you will be in this obedience, as in the service of the Lord; just take care to dedicate this work to the Lord, both at the beginning of each day, and throughout it, and at the end, thanking Him for allowing us to serve Him another day. Then, your free time is all yours, and dedicate it either to rest, or to reading, or to prayer, or perhaps to handicrafts. Once you have stopped external relations, no one and nothing will disturb you. What about the position? Continue it while the hunt is on. She does not seem to interfere with your spiritual pursuits. When you leave her, live in your house like a pious laywoman, or like blueberries live. Then you will have a church and a house, and in the house there will be peaceful spiritual pursuits. Now where do you live? You don’t think you can live outside the establishment, do you? However, you will decide what to do with the house later. Having lived, perhaps you will meet some person who suits your liking, you can accept her, if you want, and share your spiritual pursuits with her. But you can live without such a cohabitant. - What to do if there is no leadership? You won’t find it in the monastery either. How can this be? Take guidance from the word of God and the writings of the fathers. General commandments are unknown to anyone, but for specific cases you will find instructions through written communication with someone. - This is, in my opinion, a suitable road for you! What draws you to a monastery is similar to a calling, but it is not a decisive indication of that and requires special discussion. You are drawn to the concept of the monastery, that there is peace there, but it is not always there God bless you! Save yourself! E. Feofan. You can write and you will receive answers. Letter 113. On means of combating the spirit of cooling and answers to various questions on piety God's mercy be with you! I kept meaning to respond to your letter of August 19 and did not get around to it until the second letter of September 28 arrived. And I was ready to answer this immediately, but day by day this hour stretched out for a whole month. I apologize. I am willingly ready to answer and help you with a word, as much as my mind can handle. I cannot understand why I delayed your entry into the monastery: for I also think, like you, that the monastery is the best place for achieving salvation, whoever enters the monastery with reason and lives in it wisely. – You decided to stay until the New Year as it was and is. God bless. Be patient in this service to God for His glory, as you intended, and then may God help you to fulfill what you intend to leave the world and become a monk. Now I’ll say another word about what you want to know. The main thing is cooling. This is a bitter and dangerous state. With the Lord it is among the guiding, intelligible and corrective means. But sometimes it can also be a kind of punishment. The reason for this is obvious sin, but since you don’t see it, the reasons must be sought in inner feelings and dispositions. Has the conceit crept in that you are not like others? Don't you think that you yourself will walk along the path of salvation and ascend the mountain using your own means? Don’t you become complacent in the order of life that you have established, and settle down to sleep in the thought that there is nothing more to worry about? Such and similar thoughts lead to carelessness, and carelessness is the first step towards cooling down. Therefore, take the trouble to collect more thoughts, because you have not yet begun work, what seemed spiritual before, only mattered as a calling to work, and not as a fruit. Apply the conviction that even though you have reached high levels, you are not safe from falls, the path to which is paved for the enemy by carelessness and negligence - the companions of cooling. When collecting such stimulating thoughts, do not think that you will warm yourself. The Lord will warm you when the time comes. Your job is work and labor. In addition to this mental work, add a prayer to the Lord specifically for deliverance from this ulcer. Leave all other items, keep this one prayer against cooling. Whether you stand at prayer, whether you read, whether you stand in church, or whether you are doing some work, keep one thing in mind: Lord, deliver me from this coldness. And don't give yourself any rest until you get warm. Warmth is the Lord's touch to the heart, and constant warmth is the Lord's dwelling in the heart. May the Lord grant you this blessing! Don't be lazy and don't give up! - Now your questions. Let me tell you that you expect too much from the monastery. The monastery is definitely a place of salvation and an abode for those who are being saved, but both are invisible; Everything that is visible appears to be worldly. There are two orders of life: one internal and the other external. The obediences that are imposed in the monastery all relate to this external life. Those who do not know that these obediences are necessary only because we bring our body with us to the monastery, and that the work of saving the soul must take its course among these obediences, can turn away from the monastery from the first steps, considering them inappropriate to his goals and his mood - or, remaining in the monastery, limit the entire work of monasticism only to these obediences, and work in vain, without taking a single step in the purification and improvement of his soul. Please take this into account and, accordingly, draw in your head a picture of your future monastic life, and know in advance that things will turn out differently for your mother-in-law than you guess. Doom yourself to a life where your hands and feet will do one thing, and your soul must be occupied with something else if it wants to be saved. Much of what you expect to see in the monastery will not be seen, but others will be seen. But from the inside you can almost find everything if you have eyes. – You can take secret tonsure, but you don’t need it. You will receive it clearly in the monastery. – What to do when prayer doesn’t come to mind? If this is prayer at home, then you can put it off a little - for a few minutes. If it doesn’t work after that, force yourself to fulfill the prayer rule forcibly, straining to understand what is being said and feel; similar to how, when a child does not want to bow, they take him by the forelock and kick him. – The monastery and tonsure greatly excite, but not in themselves, but with those thoughts that are inevitable with this. For others, both leave no trace. – In church, sometimes neither what is sung nor read is heard or understood; in this case, stand before the Lord and say the Jesus Prayer. In the church, every action has its own meaning. Whoever follows this meaning with his mind and understanding will constantly receive nourishing influences for the spirit from another world, and at the end of the Divine service he will leave the church as if he were leaving a table richly and variedly served. – Bowing during the Jesus Prayer is left to arbitrariness and zeal. On small knots, make a bow from the waist, and on large knots, bow to the ground. How many? As much as your heart desires, however, having determined it once and for all. It is better to determine the time for this prayer: a quarter of an hour, or more, or less. – Night is the best time for prayer, especially midnight. – You can stop eating meat; but you can limit yourself to eating a smaller amount. – Akathists and canons are good to read as they should be. Look at the following psalter, at the end. The psalmist will help you. But don't type too much. You can replace them with bows and the Jesus Prayer. And look at this too. And it happens better. You can, as a rule, pray with short prayers to St. Chrysostom, which stand in a row of prayers for sleep, saying each 5–10–15 or more times. – You can read the Gospel while sitting, but without diminishing reverence. – How long to read the psalter? As much as you want. One kathisma, two or three, or several psalms. - To sing psalms means to read them in a chant, as for example in church they sing after: Lord I cried at vespers. – It’s very good to fast more often, but see for yourself how to arrange it. Which church services your high school service allows you to go to, go, and which ones you cannot go to, for those at home, correct your bows with the Jesus Prayer, as is also required in the following. psalms. – For reading, subscribe to the magazine Soulful Reading, a very useful magazine and cheap – 4 rubles. with delivery. The leaves are good - Trinity and Athos. Athonite - one ruble per year. From my books you have everything related to spiritual life. Read “The Path to Salvation” more often, especially the 3rd part. – What does it mean to have a clear conscience in relation to things? Do not abuse them, but use them wisely, storing them as long as possible. This is a monastic rule. – It’s good to talk during the Nativity Fast. God bless. – It is possible to attend church at Vespers, All-Night Vigil or Matins and then receive communion at Mass. And other days of fasting you can replace all services with bows with the Jesus Prayer. Look in the following. psalms and write it down for yourself. – Read the Lives of the Saints every day. – Which sins have already been confessed and resolved, about those you say: it happened, but she repented and received permission. – Thought on God can be replaced by the Jesus Prayer, but what is the need for this? They are the same thing. God-thinking is the holding in thought of any truth: the incarnation, death on the cross, resurrection, omnipresence, etc. without any direction of thought. E. Feofan. October 28 and November 1, 93 Letter 114. About mercy and the eradication of bad qualities I’m sorry that I’m not answering your question so soon: I went to Moscow, but it was a small business. There are works of mercy and mercy of the heart. The former receive a price from the latter, but perhaps without it, and then they do not have a real price. The Apostle has this last case in mind. Whether we apply it to you, see for yourself. It's no wonder to see this. Whether your actions come from the heart, or are done according to some third-party movements, your consciousness cannot be mistaken in determining this. Then see whether your mercy is a natural disposition, or comes spontaneously out of love for God and submission to His will. And it is God-pleasing to satisfy a good natural disposition, because it is from God, but if you are guided by it alone, then such an order of affairs will be of lesser quality. In order for this to receive real goodness, you must sanctify your compassion with love of God and submission to the will of God or the commandments, doing every task as if it was directly entrusted to you by God himself. Anger, condemnation, lack of leniency, exactingness towards servants, all of these are, of course, non-virtues and detract from the overall goodness of your character. Therefore, they are subject to exclusion from the list of your qualities. How to do this? “Seek and you will find, ask and it will be given to you.” First: do not give way to these movements, but as soon as they appear, cut them off and suppress them, so that where they originate, they remain there, without coming out. Second: after any discovery of the forces of movement, repent before the Lord and cleanse your heart. Third: discuss every such case and draw a lesson for yourself on how to avoid getting angry the next time like this. And most of all, while working like this, pray; for without the Lord nothing can be done here. I am sending you a book about prayer. God bless you with every blessing. Your pilgrim. E. Feofan. October 18, 1879 Letter 115. Troubles are hammers to cleanse the heart After reading what you said, I couldn’t resist saying: what a wonderful environment you have! I mean in relation to the matter of salvation. And here's my solution. Not only surrender everything into the hands of the Lord, but also be complacent, rejoice, and give thanks. It’s true that there is something to knock out of you, and now the Lord has sent so many hammers at you, which are hitting you from all sides. Do not disturb them with your anger, resistance, discontent. Give them freedom, let them, without hesitation, do the work of God over you and in you, to which the Lord has assigned you for your salvation. The Lord loves you and has taken you into his hands to push out everything worthless from you. As a washerwoman crumples, rubs and beats her linen to make it white, so the Lord rubs, crumples and beats you to make you white and to prepare you for the inheritance of His kingdom, where nothing unclean will enter. So look at your position, and confirm yourself in it, and pray to the Lord that He will confirm such a view in you and deepen it. Then joyfully accept every trouble as a medicine offered by the Lord Himself. Look at those around you as instruments of God for your good, and behind them always see the hand of God benefiting you. And for everything you say: glory to You, Lord! But try to make sure that it is not only in the language and in thought, but also in feeling. Pray that the Lord will allow you to feel this way. Make it a law - 1) to expect trouble every minute, and when it comes, to greet it as an expected guest. 2) When something happens that is contrary to your will, ready to upset and irritate, quickly run your attention to your heart and strain as much as you can to prevent those feelings from being reborn, strain and pray. If you don’t allow those feelings to arise, everything will end: for everything comes from feelings; if it arises, even a small one, decide, if possible, not to say or do anything until those feelings have been driven out; if it is impossible not to speak and not to do, try to speak and do not according to those feelings, but according to the commandment, as God commands, meekly and quietly - as if nothing had happened. 3) Get rid of any expectation of ending this order from your mind, and set yourself up for trouble for the rest of your life. Don't forget! This is very important. If this does not happen, patience cannot be established. 4) Apply to all the hammers: keep a loving gaze, a loving tone of speech, a loving address, and most importantly, avoid in every possible way reminding them of their injustices. Act as if there was nothing from them. Take the trouble to think carefully about all these points - and weigh all the cases when and how they are applicable in your life. Ask the Lord for everything with complete submission to Him. Learn to preserve the memory of God without waste. I am very sorry that you have to endure all this. But there is no other way for you. Be patient. This is how the Lord wants your salvation, loving you. Your good friend E. Feofan. 18 May 80 Letter 116. Gradual strengthening in spiritual life and about the Pashkovites Being busy with Pashkov’s case, I didn’t have time to answer you as quickly as possible. Please excuse me. I am very glad that in my letter you found something suitable for you. Now you should implant those thoughts as deeply as possible in your heart and make them your guides in how to behave and how to feel. When it comes to the point that they fill your heart, then your peace will be with you inseparably. These little things won't bother him. Married life does not close the door to the kingdom of heaven; it may not interfere with improving oneself in spirit. It is not a matter of external orders, but of internal dispositions, feelings and aspirations. Try to plant them in your heart. Read the Gospel and the Apostle, and see how a Christian should be configured, and take care to be so configured. Little by little everything will come and take its place. The main thing is prayer. She is a barometer of spiritual life. You must constantly be with the Lord: for without Him there will be no success in anything. Sent me N.N. your note with the thoughts of one Pashkovka. This is what it would be advisable to collect. This thought means a lot. This is the spirit of their osprey. You have well defined the wrongness of such wisdom. But even if there is nothing to explain this to us, there is no harm from this. We say this from the words of St. Apostles. And they, holding the Gospel in their hands, why do they shun the words of the Apostle? torture them. “She feels grace in herself.” Without the Sacraments you cannot have this, but out of self-delusion you can think so. They were all overcome by a flattering spirit. Collect more such wise sayings. Someone writes that the Pashkovites separated from the other Redstockists precisely because they did not accept the Sacraments. Therefore, they are true Molokans and Doukhobors. Try this side of the matter too. But be careful that you are not overcome by the same spirit of delusion. He's very flattering. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 18 June 80 Letter 117. Spiritual guidance continues for a married Christian woman who is zealous for salvation. Congratulations on the holiday of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, and even more so on your recovery. May God help you to fully recover, and then be healthy. I'm not at all bored with what you write. Therefore, there is no need for you to apologize for writing and as if you are distracting from the matter. Am I still sitting at work?! You never know how much time passes in trifles. You have painted yourself in such a way that it really turns out that you are a barren fig tree. Well? After all, this kind of consciousness is very useful in zeal for salvation, because it naturally ignites this zeal as soon as it begins to fade or cool down. You have already experienced it as you write. To this we can add: if jealousy is revived in this way, then work more often to raise yourself into such a consciousness of sterility, and it will not allow you to remain without fruit when it is in your power. You wrote that your conscience often bothers you after conversations with people who come. This seems to be the source of your irritability. It's not surprising that this is the case. But there is an urgent law - do not allow anything against which your conscience rebels, and if you please, do so. God Himself speaks in conscience. Therefore, you need to listen to it above all else. Does she scold you for idle talk and gossip? And don't let them in anymore. Let others chatter, but you remain silent, and confess your sins to the Lord, but do not hear. No one pulls their tongue. You start talking yourself, but you don’t have to talk yourself. The saying rightly entices you to take part: “What will they say?” What they will say, you don’t know. And what God says is known from the reproach of conscience. So we must follow what is true, and not what is completely unknown: please pay attention to this point. Maybe he really is in charge. It's like you can't go to church? Empty. When you want, manage it. It is impossible to pray as well at home as in church. But if you can’t go to church, pray at home, but don’t be lazy. And make a rule to stand at prayer in the morning and evening for an hour or more, and throughout the day, constantly direct a believing and devoted thought and feeling towards God. So there will be ostracism and settling down. Otherwise, you will blab and go, carelessly, to talk about what is in your heart. Please write down in your memory that from the minute you wake up to the minute you close your eyes to sleep, you must conduct business in such a way all the time that the whole day represents a continuous chain of acts of self-sacrifice, and all for the sake of the Lord, before His face for His glory. Acts of self-sacrifice are not a huge thing, but go among the ordinary affairs of everyday life and consist of internal decisions and turns of will. They can be under every word, look, movement and under every little thing. Their distinctive feature is not to allow self-indulgence in either big or small things, but to go against themselves in everything. I don’t know how to explain this to you from your everyday life with examples. If you please, arrange this yourself. Sit down, for example, on the sofa; there comes a desire to fall apart and get sloppy; refuse and bring your limbs into tension, into line. It’s like this in everything. This is a small thing, but a ruble is made up of half rubles. By the end of the day, you will see how your conscience will tell you that you stood guard well. And consolation. And most importantly, if you get used to it on small things, you will be more willing to do the same on big things. But the anger still goes on, as usual. This means that you consider yourself a commander. And you begin to consider yourself the servant of everyone, and that therefore everyone has the right to demand everything from you and be angry with you, but you do not have this right. Yes, if you want to conduct business cleanly, you will see how everything will go well. The lack of energy in this decision takes away strength, but people-pleasing stands on the side and makes grimaces, and you act on them. Someone used to say: “be like fire with everyone.” This was expressed: do not please people. Business will teach you how not to please people and not irritate others. But this irritation is nothing to look at, as long as the Lord is offended because of it. The household routine that you have in place is modest and quiet, and may not interfere if you take up the work of salvation more diligently. I think that between 5 1 2 and 8 in the morning you can manage to attend mass in a church somewhere. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 28 April 81 Letter 118. Regarding my husband’s illness The husband is sick; Of course, this is for the good of him and you, for everything is from the Lord, and what is from the Lord is good, no matter how bitter it may be. That's how you accept it. And good! God bless! You take it as your share that your husband’s illness is for your sins. And this is good! It is also good that you remember sin and consider yourself worthy of punishment for it. And the Apostle Paul did not forget throughout his life that he was a persecutor of the Church, even though through his labors for the Church he could atone for the sins of ten persecutors. But take it from St. Paul in imitation and on the other side, that even though he recognized himself as a former persecutor of the Church, he did not consider himself alien to salvation and said with confidence: “I have a crown... I wish to be separated from the body and be with Christ.” Sin, confessed, watered, hated, is blotted out from all the books in which it is written, from the book of God’s truth, from the book of our nature, from the book of our contacts with the visible and invisible world. Thus, he will no longer be remembered in court. With this in mind, it is necessary, without diminishing the sense of sinfulness, to always shower your soul with the hope of salvation. The Lord bore all our sins in His body onto the tree and there tore their handwriting. We assimilate this good by faith, contrite confession, labor to blot out sins and hatred of them. You have all this, therefore, the feeling of sinfulness and the feeling of God’s great mercy are useful to you. You have given your destiny into the hands of God. Good, good! The safest thing to do! Let it be like St. God's will! Stand in this. God bless you and comfort you! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 4 December 81 Letter 119. About patience, everyday troubles, hidden pride and about sticking to one path of salvation He hesitated in answering. I apologize. I went on a visit to Tambov and upon returning barely had time to gather my courage. One of my eyes is no longer useful due to cataracts. In Tambov they said that the second one began to feel cloudy. Now we must expect what God will provide from the operation. I received your letter upon my return. This is your first real letter: your soul wrote. Apparently you still need to be trained not for bad, but for good, not for damage, but for profit and growth, then lean on this side of the matter in order to draw consolation from it. “In your patience gain your soul.” It is better to live in close quarters than in wide spaces. The one like yours is the easiest. The fruit from it is no less significant and lasting as from other difficult ones: and this is the great mercy and condescension of God. The fact that you don’t have enough time due to worries, both family and non-family affairs, is also a mercy. He who has no time for everything does not have time to get bored from idleness and idleness; does not have at the same time the danger that idle people are exposed to. There is only one thing that needs to be eliminated, namely, the mental restlessness that is caused by this. And I think that this can be conveniently achieved without chasing too much, but doing with all your attention only what is suggested to be done in the course of things. The basis must be a strong faith that all accidents that happen to us come from the Lord; With each of them, the Lord invites us to do what is required according to His commandments in such circumstances - and looks at how we will act, whether we will guess His will and, having guessed, will we do what is pleasing to Him? Whoever keeps this in mind will always have only one thing on his mind, without tormenting himself with others. Having done one thing, he will take on another, etc., until he closes his eyes to fall asleep. So every day. The soul will not see any multitude of things to do and will not be languished by it. She always has only one thing to do before the Lord. There is not only an everyday Martha, there is also a spiritual Martha. The latter is driven out by devotion to the will of God, with intensified action. I don’t remember why I praised you in my last letter. Maybe this was done so as not to burden you with any edifying burdens when it’s already hard for you. But no matter why this was done, what harm does it cause? Know how to humble yourself when praised without reason, and when scolded for good reason - what is the difficulty in humbling yourself? The panegyric you have woven for yourself: bad, crafty, fickle, ungrateful, proud, angry, unable to pray to God, is very good. We must add worthlessness and costlessness of nothing. Repeat it often - and so that the soul speaks, and not the mind collects from memory. After all, we have or sometimes have a very deep-lying self-value. Then the tongue or memory reads the words indicated, or similar ones, and holds in the soul: “not like the others.” And it’s amazing that this cunning of our soul is almost impossible to notice. So it hides until the Lord somehow calls it out and shows it in all its ugliness. We ourselves need to guess his presence only when the reproachful speeches of others, in front of or behind the eyes, respond with unpleasantness and annoyance to the speakers. Kindly make some inquiries about yourself, what kind of soul it is in such cases. At the same time, self-justification is a big hindrance. It is comforting to read how the Lord called you to the Dormition Fast. It seems that he never stops repeating his calling, so that they don’t forget. Pay attention, but also dare. What kind of teachers you had! It's time for you to become an old woman and teach others. Please remember their lessons in every possible way and do not stop guiding yourself through them without being embarrassed if one of the new teachers says something that does not agree with them. There is only one Moscow, but there are many roads to it and each one leads to it. But if someone is heading along one road, for example. Petersburg, then hearing that there is a Smolensk road there, he will leave his own and go to this one, and from this to Kaluzhskaya, and from Kaluzhskaya to Vladimirskaya, from Vladimirskaya to Yaroslavskaya, all because knowledgeable people talk about those roads, then he will never reach Moscow. So in spiritual life there is a blessed city, where everyone strives, and the roads to it are different, and everyone can reach it. But even if you change roads, even on the instructions of those who know it, it’s not surprising that you won’t get to that city. I wish you all the best, I will always remember you. I ask you to pray for me too. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 13 January 82 Letter 120. Childcare and irritability I apologize for not answering you yet. The water overtook us, and only the other day we gained freedom. And I undertake to write to you. You are consumed by concern for children and their family life, and your conscience is sickening. If your conscience is disgusting, then the matter is too much. And we must belittle him. Make it your first priority not to torture what they need, and when you find out without torture, then take on what is important and difficult, and what is small and easy, they will handle it themselves. So little by little, get out of the habit. How can you live without worries and worries? Not everything in moderation, but most importantly with surrender to the will of God. You all want to arrange for the children yourself, but you don’t provide anything to God. But in reality, you need to give everything to God, without ceasing your care, of course, but without giving it too much importance. If God does not bless the children, then what will you do alone? May God not look at them with indifference because of your worries? And it will turn out that with your troubles you will not do anything lasting, and God will not do anything for them because of you. Instead of good, bad will come out. Be sure of this and thereby assure your thoughtfulness. It's the enemy who's bothering you. With any mental weakness, you should immediately turn to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to heal. Then, using the means that depend on you and your own efforts, wait for help from above and the Lord will send help and heal in due time. Without the Lord, no good takes root in the heart. Irritability, anger, impatience, fussiness - of course, all these are not good children. But the good thing is that you are aware of their bad quality. Find their parents and strangle them. Then the children will disappear on their own. See if you are feeling well, i.e. feelings of your importance, or negatively, the lack of feeling that you are nothing. This is the most intimate feeling, but it turns everything around in life. The first requirement from him is that everything be our way, and if this does not happen, then we murmur against God; but we get angry with people. From him is the confidence that we can do and arrange everything ourselves, using invented means, we expect that everything will be as we came up with. Because you start a task without diligent prayer, and continue the same, and end again with a murmur, if it’s not ours, and a feeling of complacency, if it’s not ours. In all this you think of God as a third party, and not as an active person. So, take a closer look to see if this is there, and if it is there, at least to a small extent, take care to restore the feeling of your insignificance in all respects. And always pray to the Lord for this. And generally deepen the conviction and feeling that the Lord arranges everything in both external and internal life. Nothing essentially good takes root in us without Him. If so, then you should surrender yourself to Him. However, do not stop your work and efforts, just do not rely on them and do not expect anything from them unless God bless them. I’m not bored answering you and I can find time. Therefore, you can freely address your spiritual questions. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. April 82 Letter 121. Thoughts when looking at a photographic group of students from the diocesan school. Foreign interpreters of Scripture The mercy of God be with you, beloved of the Lord. Michael! You made me very happy by sending me cards with beauties! Little by little, I remembered everyone. May God grant them happiness! The boss looks so smart and kind! God sent! Why not leave some of those who graduate at the school, then as assistants to the class ladies for now, and then they would be replaced. And it would start its own ferment. And there maybe which one would grow up to become a boss. I think that Kheraskova the Elder, and Tanya Oranskaya, and Arkhangelskaya could be suitable for this. I am very happy about the prosperity of the school. If only we wouldn’t get lost in Belarusianism. You need housekeeping, handicrafts, and kitchen work. Otherwise they will end up no good. I hear that studios don’t want to take Tambov beauties, because they’ve become Belarusian. God bless your studies at school and seminary. Work hard, the Holy Scriptures have not been touched at all. Foreign interpreters, as they are, are worthless. We need to think about it and redo it ourselves. I would like to study this subject and I am. But alas! how hard. One thing is wrong, another is wrong, and you’ll quit. You'll pick it up again and drop it again. - And it’s bad... But... I don’t have my own card or portrait. And I don’t know if I will have it. When I get there, I’ll send it to the school. To the archpriest father - with his children and grandchildren - my zealous well-wishes. God bless you, your wife and children. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Letter 122. Upon receiving a handmade gift from students God's mercy be with you, Father Michael! The work of the beauties took so long. I received it with the last mail. And I don’t know how to answer those who bring this expensive offering. Please take the trouble to convey to them all my gratitude for their diligence and memory. And I prayed and will continue to pray that the Lord will give them all a good home. God save them and have mercy! I have a pillow and a card in my living room, and I tell everyone (although it’s rare) whose work it is and what beauties they are. The work is impeccably good and is approved by everyone. I wish all the best for you and yours from the Lord. Letter 123. Encouragement, response to the letter from the women's school and bows Thank you for your kind letter, and your kind memory and disposition. I ask you not to stop, but to intensify your prayers for me. We have more infirmities than you, although it may seem otherwise. You are confused by the order of a godly life. And it seems to me that you are walking around in it. If God grants you to preserve forever a reverent thought, which is not alien to your soul; then it will lead straight to what seems so far away now. Not suddenly, but little by little. I am very happy about the prosperity of the girls’ school. Beauties and bosses wrote. Please convey my gratitude to them. My prayer is always for children. I loved them and love them like family. Bow to all yours, oh. archpriest and others. O. Bow to Matvey Zhudro, and to everyone you know. I ask everyone for prayers. Save my soul. Your zealous pilgrim, Bp. Feofan. November 12. Letter 124. Upon receipt of the sent textbook on the Holy Scriptures I thank you for the book. God bless your work. Go further and complete the good beginning. – Don’t apologize for saying too much – no matter how much you say, it won’t be enough. We have nothing according to the Scriptures. From the Tarbeyevs you received my interpretation books on the epistles to Thessalonians. Please accept. And I sent it to your sister Snegireva the same way. Tell her. I will recommend your books when the opportunity arises. O. My zealous bow to the archpriest. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. September 20, 1873 Letter 125. Reply to the Seminary’s congratulations and about your retreat Your Reverence, Most Honorable Father Rector! I sincerely express my gratitude to you and your entire corporation of seminary mentors for congratulating me on Angel’s Day. Greatly comforted. I tried to respond then by telegram, but it turned out to be inconvenient. And I ask you to be content with this late statement of gratitude, as if it had been made in due time. May the Lord prosper your work and all your seminary mentors! May your seminary bloom, just as your diocese blooms, under the wise guidance of your archpastors. The spirit rejoices when you read about what is going on in your diocese. What examples for those preparing for shepherding! I find it necessary to correct something in your letter. The distant rumor, by the time it reached you, was so disfigured that there is not even a shadow of truth in it. I definitely don’t go out and don’t accept anyone to my place. But this is happening for no other reason than to have less interference with book studies. So it turns out that I am a bookish person, and nothing more. If you remember that in the Gospel it usually stands next to this word, which my tongue does not dare to pronounce, because it is very close to the point; then with these two terms you will stand at the truth regarding me. And you’ve already written tea into the calendar. May the Lord bless you and your family with every blessing. I ask you not to forget me in your prayers, just as I do not forget you. Your zealous pilgrim E. Feofan. Letter 126. Encouragement to Work to Explain the Holy Scriptures The mercy of God be with you, Venerable Fr. rector! Thank you for the books. Your labors are blessed; therefore there is no point in groaning or moving backwards. And sometimes things don’t go well—what should you do? That's what the land is for. And now she is especially Volcan. But the good helmsman is not the one who steers the ship well in calm weather, but the one who knows how to get along with the ship in storms and waves. This is everyone's business now. And take revenge as the Apostle commanded: give you bread, drink, warm. – It won’t give in right away; but then he will surrender: for this is a terrible revenge, like hot coals on your head. That the Bishop is attentive to your business is, of course, good. God bless your labors under his protection and guidance. I didn’t send you Simeon the Theologian last time because I have very few of them on hand. And I thought you could have read it from the seminar room. I'm sending now. And another book about prayer. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. August 9, 1879 Letter 127. Reply to congratulations and feedback on the sent book of sermons The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable Fr. rector! I would like to thank you and the entire host of seminary mentors for your congratulations and well wishes. God bless you! I would like to thank you for the book of your words and speeches. Very good. The review of them by the Church Herald is not flattery. May the Lord bless you to continue to work in this way. Preaching from the church pulpit is a special gift. There are many who reason well and write good reasoning. But in preaching, reasoning takes a secondary place; but another person writes and speaks in his own way, and here the less reasoning, the better. The best sermon is the one that sticks itself together and flows out. You have this, and thank God! May God bless your management of the seminary, so that individuals emerge from it who are ready to act with wise zeal in the field of service to St. Churches. This matter is becoming more and more complicated due to the increasing machinations of the enemy. Save yourself! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. March 23, 1886 April 3 comes for water. Letter 128. About the change of service I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your congratulations and well wishes. Please convey my gratitude to your entire council of teachers. Regarding the change of service, I think that you should not do this. There is work in every service! People are used to it here and things get done without much stress; and what is added, probably, as something surplus, does not make it too difficult; and if it makes it difficult, it won’t be for long, until he gets back into the usual groove. There will be some kind of blessing for this when you reach retirement. But even then, if you still have strength, it’s better to pull. – The service is not useless, is it? Well, what more could you want?! Live for your own pleasure? ...Then a self-satisfied life will eat up everything that is deserved from God in a truly difficult life; and you will have to appear in the next world empty-handed. Your good friend E. Feofan. March 20, 1888 Letter 129. Consolation for forced resignation from office I’m very guilty that I didn’t answer your first letter at all, and I didn’t answer the second for a long time. Unrequitedly guilty. I apologize. From the first time I heard about your circumstances, I didn’t consider you guilty and I still don’t. I explain how the formal accusation and conviction took place by the combination of circumstances that seem incriminating, which in themselves would not have had any consequences if not for the authority of those who started the case and carried it out and decided, which after that stand as a barrier to a serious attempt to seek justification. Why did I believe and believe that you chose the best path to submit to violence and endure. Complacency without complaint will make you a participant in martyrdom. This is no small consolation. But wishing for a better place is completely in the order of both Divine and human. May the Lord arrange this for you. You asked me to write to the head of places N.N. Gathered more than once; but I couldn’t make up my mind. There is nothing to expect there other than sweet speeches. Besides, I thought it would be inconvenient for you to serve there. Please accept my sincere best wishes to you! May the merciful Lord look mercifully upon you and calm you down and make you comfortable. Your sister Elisaveta Ivanovna wrote. I ask you to convey to her my gratitude for the memory - and my good wishes for her - a comfortable and peaceful life. Please St. your prayers. God bless you! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. June 12, 1890 Letter 130. On prayerful remembrance and intercession The mercy of God be with you, Most Venerable O. Archpriest! I would like to thank you for congratulating me on my name day and for your kind wishes. God bless you! I always remember you in my sinful prayers with the desire that God would look upon you with His merciful eye and finally bring you into peace. You remember the Moscow Ruler. I happened to write to him now and I mentioned to him about you that you are not the last of those worthy of attention. May the Lord send you the strength of patience until the door for mercies opens to you. His holy will, and He has a time for everything. Please convey my gratitude to your sister Elisaveta Ivanovna for her good memory. God bless her and her husband and children. God bless you with every blessing! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. March 25, 1892 Letter 131. Instruction for one seeking salvation and prayer rules for her Looking for salvation: a good deed. God bless! Seek and you will find. – You read my books. Everything is explained in detail there. Discuss and apply to yourself. Repentance, of course, is in action for you. What else do you need? - Avoid sins and do every good thing you encounter along the course of your life - not only with your body, but with your soul and heart, not only externally, but also internally, i.e. so that both thoughts and feelings are always pleasing to God. What else besides a good life?! The prophet says: I will seek my face for You; I will seek Your face, O Lord. This expressed the unceasing memory of God, with unceasing zeal to please Him with all. This is the prayer structure - inside. Ask for a prayer rule. What was said before this is the first point of the prayer rule. Try to always keep your inner self in such a way that it is always turned to God, and always stands before His face, and acts, as if on His behalf, so that this is done with the body, externally, in the ordinary course of everyday affairs. The second point of prayer is to always pray from the heart - not only to utter prayer words, but to bring out prayerful sighs to God from the heart. They constitute the actual prayer. “From this you see that it is always better to pray in your own words, and not in someone else’s - not verbosely, but heartily.” – You need to acquire the skill for this. It is acquired through the labors of prayer. Prayer is the fulfillment of the rule of prayer. You must have a rule and always strictly follow it. Perform morning prayers in the morning, and prayers for bedtime in the evening, slowly, with appropriate thoughts and feelings. – To this in the evening and in the morning add 24 prayers to St. Chrysostom, who stand between evening prayers; – repeat each verse 5 times. - In conclusion - prayers in your own words - to the Lord Savior, Mother of God, Guardian Angel, your saint, the saint of your church, and other revered saints. Calling them with a short word: Savior 10 times; – Mother of God – 5 times; other saints 3 times. - After remembering your relatives and known living and dead, finish. Throughout the day, between times, sigh to the Lord, Who is everywhere, as often as possible. If you find the opportunity, go to church. On Sundays and holidays - urgently, otherwise during the week as soon as you manage, go: first once a week, then twice, three or more. And every day is possible. You can take secret tonsure, but wait. – Perfection can be achieved in family life. We just need to extinguish and eradicate passions. - Pay all your attention to this. E. Feofan. September 27, 1892 P.S. Write about how your day is going and how you pray. Maybe my rule will be weak. Letter 132. After a note about the nature of his guidance, detailed instructions and explanations are given about living according to God and about printed manuals for spiritual life. Letter to the Rasof. nun of Tambov province. Kadomsky Mercy and Mother of God Monastery of Sofia Nikolaeva Bulatova Regarding what I told you - write, do not expand your riddles too much. This does not mean that I undertake to lead you: for I do not undertake to be anyone’s leader. And talk about spiritual things in the form of meetings, why not talk! – You have a leader – your spiritual father. God gave it to you; turn to him and obey him in everything. I am glad of your obedience to him; God, according to your faith, will instill in him what is most suitable for you. And I do not refuse to tell you another word; but my word is not the same as his. His word is a commandment, and mine is advice. You said that you like to read my books, and your father allows you to use them. And use it. You just fell in love with one book, and so be it. But she's not the main one. – Home – The path to salvation. Here is the history of every Christian who is saved, from the beginning of the Christian era. life to the end. Please read it carefully to see where you stand, what has been done, what remains to be done, and where to go. - It’s not surprising that after reading it, some of the orders of your life need to be strengthened, while others should be weakened or changed. Another book suitable for this is - What is spiritual life. And here the picture of the life of the one being saved is fully depicted. – Letters to different people, only up to 30, are like that, and then they all went to one person, educated, energetic, wise and a believer from the bottom of her heart. Maybe you are similar to her in character - and from that letter they come to her and to you. You have described the order of your life well, and these orders are good. - May God help you to continue not to weaken. I don’t find anything that needs to be corrected, unless later, or ask yourself about something special. “But what I don’t see is that everything you do, did you come up with for yourself, or was it imposed by your spiritual father?” - This point is seemingly insignificant, but in reality it is very significant. If you do it yourself, then you have your own will, and by living according to this order you please yourself. Through this, your deeds probably give off a not entirely pleasant smell, which is felt by your Angel and the saints. I don’t claim it, but it’s very likely, and I’m writing about this only so that you can better understand yourself and, with the help of your spiritual father, define yourself more accurately. Let's reconsider what you say about yourself, good and bad. - I admit that I am touchy. – Resentment from self-worth, by which they recognize and feel that they are worth quite a bit; why, when someone dares not to give us our due, we get angry and plot revenge. “You do a good thing that you don’t let these feelings go to waste, but it’s not a good thing that you sometimes let them linger in you for a long time.” For several days the enemy unleashes a storm of revenge on you. Try to do this so that without missing a minute you can take charge of yourself and ruin your self-worth. Do not look at the offender and the offense; here you will find more support for resentment and revenge; but throw it out of your head and clothe yourself in the sackcloth of insignificance. The apostle says that he flatters himself who thinks that he is anything. This is something that needs to be ruined and thrown out the window. A feeling of insignificance will come, consider yourself worthy of all humiliation and insult, and then resentment and vengeance will evaporate by themselves. You only need to work hard at destroying the self-tsen once, and then it will be easy to deal with it, and it will soon die out completely. “Then some kind of support for the inner world is formed in the soul!” “When there is self-worth, it is not the attitude only towards people that outrages, but it also torments the attitude towards God,” and he is cunning, like demons, and cleverly hides behind humble words, sitting in the heart. Get busy with this. – You are doing well to lament these feelings and open them to your spiritual father. But it seems you do this when you rip someone’s heart out with something; but even some feelings, even if they don’t break through, need to be opened. This is among the means of ruining self-worth. – And self-worth ruins your whole life; therefore it is worth working hard to destroy it. Then I write so much about him. – You complain about conceit and self-aggrandizement. These are the first-born children of Samotsen, his pink rains, or not pink, but seven-colored, rainbow. Wonder why such thoughts come. But how can they not go when there is self-price? “You pray to the Lord to deliver you from them.” Pray to get rid of self-worth and work to destroy it yourself. Then this article will be solved for you. – Do you remember that during prayer, thoughts leave God and there is coldness, and that then you begin to ask the Lord to return the warmth, and it returns. Be good. Always do this. Add to this - every time you are about to pray at home, or stand in prayer in church, prepare a little for this action - 1) with a vivid idea of ​​who it is to whom you have to turn in prayer, and who you are, and what you have to say to Him in prayer. 2) – Begin prayer, expressing in your own words what you need in spiritual and everyday terms. 3) Preface this statement with praise to God. Then perform your prayer as expected, connecting prayerful thoughts and feelings with your word. – To make this last thing more convenient to fulfill, take the trouble to change your mind and re-experience the prayers you read in your free time, and solidify them. Then they will come on their own naturally. Consider the work of becoming accustomed to prayer as the first work, the most important of all others. Therefore, accept this work and work without sparing yourself until prayer becomes persistent. – The struggle with passions is common to everyone, and lasts a lifetime. The hottest struggle occupies the middle of spiritual life. It begins with the soul’s turning to God and flares up. Then it subsides. You will find the order of how temptation approaches each time and how to resist it in my favorite book of letters to different people. If you please, be smart and act according to what is indicated there. – That you have such silence that you can be with the Lord all day long is God’s great mercy. – You are with the Lord all day long. This is the main thing that we must look for, so that we can say: “I live not for anyone, but Christ lives in me.” There are different degrees of this; but even though there is no strength, all glory to God! Love this gift and warm it up. - You are working hard. Work hard, weaken the flesh, and do nothing simply because it brings peace and satisfaction to the flesh. - You did it well, that your daily routine is not self-indulgent. All by yourself - good. – By losing dear faces, the Lord wanted to cut you off from everyone. You understood this not falsely. The Lord has done and continues to do this with many. - And stay calm. Having renounced everything, you feed your soul with sacred books, thoughts of God and prayer. Good! – Set a time for everything. Collect more fatherly books. Ephraim the Syrian, Isaac the Syrian, Abba Dorotheus, - St. Barsanuphius and John, Ladder, Macarius Egypt. – Lavsaik, Limonar, the history of God-lovers, Memorable legends, – Patericon – from the “Soulful Reading”, and Philokalia, Simeon the New Theologian, Cassian Rom., Monastic ancient statutes, Basil the Great ascetic writings, Mark of the ascetic, Isaiah the ascetic, not all at once, but little by little. - The order of the day is going on. – It’s not smart to cry in church! Keep your spirit crushed there, but at home give freedom to your tears. A broken spirit is a proper spirit. The more consistent it is, the better. – Thank God that the treasures of the Psalter have been revealed to you. There is an interpretation of the psalter Prov. Palladia. Have it handy to review if you need to better understand a verse. – The pain in the heart is not what you said. What you said comes and goes, but the pain is continuous. This is a feeling for the Lord that attracts attention to Him. - When it comes, heaven will be dissolved! – When you work, embitter yourself, and acquire deep humility, then it will come and take root in your heart. – Just as you read the psalms when they were revealed to you for the first time, so try to read them and always pray to the Lord about it. – There is no need to replace evening and morning prayers with anything. Delve into them and bring to your senses everything that is said there. It is better to add to them from the psalter or kathisma, or 3-4 psalms. There are fewer akathists. – Collect more short prayers and pray with them. – It seems that we have reviewed everything. Good! - But it’s valuable in itself. Pursue this enemy. E. Feofan. 21 October 92 Letter 133. Answer to the one asking about salvation. Letter to the priest Ankova Vladimir. lips Alexy Orlova Do you want to hear the word about salvation? - As if you didn’t hear?! Who does not know the work of salvation?! The point is not this, but the fact that there is no zeal to work on the work of salvation. Wanting to be saved while lying on your side, wanting salvation to come by itself somehow. - If you are also sick with such an illness, then you will be cured of it by adopting a zeal for the work of salvation - alive, strong, not sparing yourself, and the work of salvation will go successfully. To irritate jealousy, explain to yourself the extreme situation in which you are. – Every second death can seize, then the court and the decision come or go! – If it can happen this second; then there is no point in dozing, you need to get up and get down to business, and do this without missing a single third - what exactly to do? – Keeping faith in the Lord the Savior and His holy Church, avoid evil and do good in word, deed and thought. Do you confess your sin that you are impatient, touchy, not peaceful, yielding to disturbing thoughts? - This is very not good. All out of pride. If there was humility, nothing like this would happen. So, if you please, try to convince yourself that you are worth nothing, no attention and honor - that you are worth more insults, not only in word, but also in deed. – When you convince yourself of this and feel your insignificance, then everything will pass peacefully for you. Regarding all thoughts, keep the following rule: as soon as you notice them, drive them away, without any reasoning, and remain with the thought of one Lord, the Savior, who is omnipresent and sees everything. They won't bother you. Please get down to it now. “The desire to get a haircut is natural among those who entered the monastery with this in mind. But it will come by itself. Until then, behave strictly, as monasticism requires. The main thing is self-denial: “Let everyone who wants to follow Me be self-denying,” said the Lord. Complete rejection of one’s will, one’s thoughts, one’s desires is required—everyone’s self-indulgence, in food and drink, in sleep, in reluctance to work, and another strict selflessness of life—this real monastic life. There should be no indulgence in any way. Your main task is prayer - pray in church, pray at home, and always pray, standing mentally before God. Your name is Sophia, which means wisdom. If you behave as I wrote, you will not only be wise in name, but also wise in deed. And without this, your name will constantly expose you to hypocrisy. God bless you. Bishop Feofan. 21 April 92 Letter 134. When sending books for a girls' school. Letter to P.B. 23 Feb 80. The mercy of God be with you! Most Reverend Father! I apologize for not getting around to sending you books for the girls’ school sooner. I am now sending three, as they are more suitable for children’s minds and are attractive for general reading. God bless you, your family and school. Your pilgrim E. Feofan. Letter 135. About doubts in the matter of faith. Letter to Archpriest S.T.P. Nothing decisive came to my mind that I could tell you. – Almost everyone has doubts; but they come and go. You can always find thoughts that conquer doubts and drive them away. – We must look at the works of God from all sides: they have a bright and bright side, and there is a gloomy, hidden side. On the last side are all the doubts. This is how God arranged it to test the sincere search for Him and the humility with which one approaches this task. You seem to think that as soon as God and His truth are there, everything should be brilliant there, shining brightly into the eyes, and loudly instilling in everyone: this is what is Divine! Don't you notice that by thinking this way, you are prescribing to God how He should conduct His affairs? And this, as you yourself will agree, is not in the order of things. – The works of God in themselves are exactly like this; but outwardly covered with plainness, so to speak. - Why is that?! There is nothing to say to this except: it pleases God. But that it is definitely true, that beauty is hidden under the plainness, and light is hidden under the gloominess - there is no doubt about it: Only evidence of this must be sought not from unbelievers, but from believers, and not from believers only, but also from those living by faith. “Break the nut and you will find the kernel—tasty and nutritious.” God does not scatter beads at random. The Savior spoke secretly to the people about His kingdom, in parables. Those who had the inclination of spiritual intelligence in themselves immediately penetrated inside and understood the truth. So it is in everything. Take this: how a plant emerges from a seed. The seed will become limp, decompose, and seem to rot; and meanwhile, the embryo opens inside, little by little, little by little it grows stronger, sprouts, comes out of the ground, etc. And what should it be, becomes already, when, when? Everything around is so gloomy if you look from the outside. In fact, there is the bright guidance of God, with which He leads each and every one to the final end. - No one is forgotten. The father of all is God. “How unhappy is our race when, in order to save it, it was necessary for God Himself to descend to it, to accept its nature, and in this nature to pave the way for it to ascend to where He Himself is—at the right hand of the Father? The fact that not everyone believes does not diminish the importance of faith. We must look at those who sincerely believe and at what is given to them through faith. The Christian faith is not a system of teaching, but an image of the restoration of the God-man who fell due to death, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Take one of those who followed the Lord, and you will see how little by little he grows in spirit - and becomes great despite all his outward inconspicuousness. Here's about. Seraphim. Simple, unlearned - what have you come to? He blocked the lips of the learned unbelievers with a single word. That's power. What is his life like, and his character? So grace transforms everyone who surrenders to it. Look at this. And what happens here and there that is gloomy and unattractive—is that something to look at? - The Lord is calling you to faith. He wants you to be saved, and you will be saved if you obey His voice. For the sake of God, who loves you so much, suppress your doubts. By doing this you will make a sacrifice to the Lord, for which He will not remain in debt. Doubts on you come from your mind. The enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. If this is so, then what is the point of listening to the enemy, who is arranging our destruction, and moving away from the Lord, who is giving you the hand of salvation? - Humble yourself and pray. The Lord is near and watching. But the sincerity of the appeal is conditional. I don’t know what to give you to read, start reasoning for yourself - from the first point: is there a soul, and what is it? - Where did the idea come from? – What does human freedom mean? Why do all people seek God? Why does the soul languish when it begins to move away from God and waver in faith in Him? Please sort it out and come to a firm solution to these issues. They are the basis. After all, you have to figure everything out yourself. Letter 136. Against despondency and grief over an excommunicated son. Letters to P.A.B. God's mercy be with you! Dearest O. Archpriest! Thank you for your well wishes. I send you a hundredfold in return. May the Lord strengthen you. You wrote so much gloomy stuff about yourself that it’s clearly too salty. And Judas is like a fallen spirit! “Even if we were correct in everything, we would be nothing.” And if there are malfunctions, then it’s an insignificant nothing. But despite all this, we believe to be saved by the infinite mercy of God. We sin, but we do not persist, and in repentance we express complete submission to the Lord. This humility, both of mind and heart, which we always carry within ourselves, devoting ourselves to the Lord, separates us by an entire abyss both from fallen spirits and from Judas. Lord save parts of them. - And don’t talk like that in advance. And why be sad?! We have the Lord as the Savior of sinners. Who will offend us?! Your excommunication expressed to your son was the fruit of zeal for God and love for your son, which sought to bring him to his senses in this way. What kind of sin is that?! The thought about the power of this excommunication is another matter. – But where did you find that individual excommunication, no matter how loudly you shout it, really excommunicates you from the Church? there’s nothing left to see here?! – Say that this excommunication became a wall for your son between him and the Church. – If he tells you something blasphemous not out of stubbornness and irritation, but out of conviction, then this wall already existed. And if this last one did not exist (belief); then your words could not build this wall. His speeches were idle talk, as well as words of unbelief - not unbelief, but simply confusion of the mind, or thoughts inspired from outside. This is a state of fermentation or over-fermentation. You cannot judge a person by it. So is your son. I believe that he believes, and mistakenly considers the fermentation of thoughts to be unbelief. Which is illegal. Pray. The Lord will not allow him to remain in this confusion. Because all newfangled systems are very shaky and not strong. He will see and leave them. What should you do about your excommunication? I think of praying and expressing openly my father’s benevolence, just as excommunication is expressed. And do so. After talking with your son, of course, if it’s convenient, pray, and with faith in the Lord bless him in every possible way, and amen. Your brochures o. Ave. Plato received. Thank you. I am sending you Psalm 118, 3 copies. of which 1 o. Ave. Dimitry Afanasyevich Zhdanov and 1 Semyon Afanasyevich Pervukhin. I ask for your prayers for my sinfulness. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. May 24, 1878. Letter 137. On the fight against the spirit of blasphemy and doubt I wrote about the fact that everything is intact with you in full conviction that everything is so. This proves the whole course of the matter, how you wrote and how you acted. Why there is no reason to doubt this. The spirit of blasphemy and doubt lurks; but don’t think that he will leave you so soon. Accustomed to finding access to you, he will keep approaching you, to see if he can somehow confuse you even more. Everyone experiences this. That is why they write that in the fight against the enemy one should never lay down arms, but always be ready to resist him. “The elders write that when temptation attacks, one must fight it off from the heart with hostility toward it, and then, or at the same time, turn to the Lord in prayer. Hostility is the same as punching an enemy in the chest. – This is a powerful and unpleasant remedy for the enemy. – We must prepare for it in a peaceful state. We must truly arouse in ourselves hatred against the enemy and his creatures. What you do not understand about the method by which the truth should be carried out in the heart, you will understand when you experience it. Here's how to do it! – Take any truth and understand it more fully in your mind, as it is confessed, and then pray to the Lord, may He write it in your heart, as it is confessed. This is a simple matter! – Prayers made from truth are also no wonder. Our prayers all come from dogmas. The Lord came to earth for our salvation. Confessing this truth, pray: Lord! how then, walking on earth, You healed all sorts of ailments, cleansed lepers, gave sight to the blind, come now to me and enlighten the eyes of my mind, and take away the leprosy of sins from me. This is true in relation to all truth. When all the truths enter the heart, then all doubts will end. They themselves will bounce off like arrows from someone who is covered in armor. In other words, this means is: to taste the truth, to rejoice in it, to remember it with consolation and sweetness, and to turn it around in the mind with warmth of heart. Help you, Lord, to achieve this. About freedom. No matter how strong the impulses may be, the entire decision of the matter belongs to the person acting, and everyone is aware of the moment when he says inside: this and that must be done. “This is the essence of freedom.” And no force can wrest this from the soul. Your dreams are very comforting. They mean that the Lord is watching over you, and is leading the way to drive the enemy away from you - that they did not let you go further - this either means the degree that someone is awarded: for not everyone is the same; or it is given to see this - as an incentive that one should not stop halfway, but should search and search - or, like the Apostle, drive everything forward. And that the one who saw this dream was accepted into the house of God is obvious. If he had not been accepted, the servants would have driven him away from the gate. “And so the mercy of God meets you and embraces you.” Please stand complacently in the truth and, following its direction, stretch forward. - God bless you. – What the Mother of God told you is the height of consolation and inspiration. “She is the Mother of all of us Christians.” And just as we are all dear to the Lord, who died for us, so are we to Her. – Replay these comforting messages from above in your mind more often. What other shortcomings do you have, what is marvelous, and who doesn’t have them? – But the spirit of blasphemy and doubt, one must assume, is the main one. Because it interferes with doing things for others. Blame and doubt are the same as when the ground shakes under your feet. The one who feels this immediately falls from dizziness. When is there anything else here? - You will take the trouble to overcome and drive away. Then others will follow. Selfishness is the root of sins. He who falls away from God can stop at what else if not at himself? - And stops. Here is the self. “Perhaps the spirit of blasphemy is given the power to bother you so much for the reason that there is selfhood—in excess.” - So start fighting it right away. Humility is the root of all goodness, for all goodness comes from God; But He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Here is tactile proof that the spirit of blasphemy in you is the enemy. – With what hostility does he treat the Lord the Savior?! – It’s natural for him; for the Lord has destroyed their power, so that His name alone is terrible to them. Why should we listen to these infusions of evil potions from the enemy! Pray that the Lord will remove from your heart the very possibility of such thoughts. Communion to St. Tain - very good. God bless you! - You need to confess fully. My confessor Fr. Joseph. Take it. “He is an old man of strong faith, but without any philosophies.” – Tell him everything and ask for prayers. His prayers are strong because of the simplicity of his heart. And I will, although I am very sinful, pray earnestly that the Lord will drive away from you this spirit that torments you. Writing to you, or to someone else, is a pleasant rest for me, despite my always monotonous activities. Read the article by St. Demetrius of Rostov - about blasphemous thoughts. And here is the life of St. Nifont - how long he was tormented by a spirit similar to yours. And be inspired. God help you! Letter 138. About states of grace-filled illumination The good state that you have experienced is the fruit of the grace of God that has overshadowed you. It is given to everyone who sincerely turns to the Lord. So talk about this St. Macarius of Egypt. And it is given at the beginning, and then it is hidden. The Lord only makes it clear by this that there is something to work from and follow in His footsteps. This state cannot be equal to any natural delight. It is exceptional and can only be experienced by the touch of the Lord on the soul. Did you notice the place where it was felt. You need to notice this well so that you can pay attention to that place later. Try to remember, and pay attention to everything there. It's in the heart. It is not in our power to prolong this state; but it is possible to produce something similar to it through sobriety. How can you not thank the Lord, who has shown you such mercy. - And thank the Mother of God, - and St. Guardian Angel. Nothing belongs to me here except rejoicing with you and thanking the Lord with you, who saves everyone. Any confusing thoughts that come, drive them away without talking to them. Now you can already see tangibly that all this is the enemy of suggestion. How can you waste time with an enemy? – We must drive him without slowing down. Everyday thoughts - try to settle them. Look for such a mood that you can do ordinary things with your body, but always be with the Lord in spirit. The merciful Lord gives carelessness, according to which everything is done in due time, but nothing bothers or torments. Seek, ask, and it will be given. It's good to still be here. But see for yourself which is better. Letter 139. About idiots and unbaptized Idiots - yes, they are only idiots to us - and not to themselves and not to God. Their spirit grows in its own way. “It may happen that we who are wise will turn out to be worse than idiots.” - And children are all angels of God. – Those who are not baptized, like everyone outside the faith, must be left to God’s mercy. “They are not stepsons or stepdaughters of God.” Therefore, He knows what and how to establish in relation to them. - The ways of God are endless! “Such issues should be resolved if we had a duty to look after and accommodate everyone.” Since this is not entrusted to us, let us leave the care of them to the One who cares for everyone. You need to save your soul. “The enemy, the destroyer of souls, through zeal for the salvation of all, leaves in destruction the soul of the one to whom he puts such thoughts. St. Anthony the Great once thought about the fate of people. - An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: Anthony! pay attention to yourself! Otherwise it's none of your business. Letter 140. Empty ghosts and the fight against them. Letter to His Eminence Nikodim (Belokurov) Empty ghosts and the fight against them. So this is where the source of all your gloominess is! - “Thoughts that appear are not your own, but someone else’s, from outside, and darken your spiritual lordship.” This is the main feature of your current state. It is not your mind that gives birth to nonsense thoughts: someone from outside creates them. Your mind is intact, whole and healthy - and everything, presumably, is in its own form. “It’s all this that you need to pay all your attention to now.” Consider yourself such a person as one who experiences suggestions for some sinful deed or evil lust. And learn to act in relation to doubts in the same way as he acts in relation to lusts. – The first method for one experiencing evil inclinations is not to consider the suggestions as one’s own, but as the omnipresent, to put a separation between oneself and this omnipresent, and, recognizing it as alien, to treat it not as one’s own creation, but as an enemy’s creation. Hence, the compulsion to act according to the suggestion of the experienced is not immediately weakened in the soul, but the compulsion completely departs from it. They usually believe: one’s nature demands, so how can one not satisfy? But whoever immediately recognizes the situation that was born as an alien creation, it is not this situation that comes to mind, but something completely different. He turns to desire with questions and subjects it to analysis and criticism. This is the simplest technique to dispel temptation: it will disappear like smoke from the wind. – This is exactly what you should do whenever you have doubts. With each of its creations, do not formulate it in your mind, as if it already exists in reality, as it suggests; but stop him at the very entrance, as if he were an uninvited guest, and subject him to inspection. Just as in wishes not to be united with him in the heart is the first thing, so in doubts not to be united with him in the mind is the first thing. – You will say that it suddenly embraces and covers the whole mind. It's nothing. And the same thing happens in desires, that they suddenly embrace the whole heart. But this does not mean that they have already won, but only means that the attacker is cold-hearted. If someone accidentally rushes at you and wraps his arms around you, you do not surrender to his power, but push him away: so it is here. Let doubt engulf your entire mind, strain to push it away so that it becomes external, and you can deal with it as with another, alien person. If you begin to act this way, many doubts will immediately disappear as soon as you tear away from the mind and demand to be judged. If they persist, start driving. In relation to wishes - according to the awareness of the enemy's approach to us in them, among all saints - the second method is assumed: instead of fighting them personally, turn to the Lord Savior, and they disappear. I think that the same should be done in relation to doubts. Contact the Lord intelligently and pray to Him to drive away temptation and the tempter. - And it will be. – The third technique is to restore the good in yourself to its usual strength. Your mind and heart are intact. Don't slander them. What happens happens from the enemy. Now you have something to take on within yourself. And take it upon yourself. Whatever good thoughts and feelings you experience, you rush to restore. It seems to me that all the trouble you have is because you accept the doubts that arise as friends and let them in, and cherish them, taking their side. This means, without raising your hands, surrendering to the enemy in full power. And you hold the conviction in advance that doubts do not represent anything true, and when they are born, drive them away, straining in every possible way to remain on the side of the good and truth that you have experienced. When you restore your good state, then you can analyze your doubts. Here it will be very weak - and victory will always remain yours. I’m going on about this on purpose, because I think the main thing in this is weakness. You seem to have begun to think that you have no faith left at all: for you write about it as if it were a thing of the past. Empty. This is what the enemy is telling you to do, so that your hands drop and you do not rise up against him. You have everything intact: faith, convictions, and a good conscience. And the Lord is near you, and is preparing salvation for you. You just need to be inspired and stand in the face of the enemy in the position not of a humble servant, but of a brave opponent. - And that's it. – You have heard, of course, that everyone has both a Guardian Angel and a tempting enemy. There truly is. – The enemy constantly slips in thoughts and desires of his own kind. Don’t listen to yourself and watch out, and you’ll be lost. It will make you foggy and dizzy. Everyone has a special enemy: some are lustful, some are selfish, others are proud – with different shades. You have a spirit of blasphemy and doubt. There is an enemy nearby not to submit to him, but to fight him, and through the struggle to develop the opposite good in yourself: instead of lust - chastity, instead of pride - humility, instead of doubts - sincere, firm and reasonable faith. This is the task of your life. Please do it. Doubts. – Who doesn’t experience them? - And I tested them. But if you start to take it apart, it will fall apart. Doubt is the same as objection. Objection - suddenly it can confuse; but after looking closely and thinking about it, they refute it. It's the same with doubts. If you start thinking about it, you will come to a decision: no, this is empty; There is nothing solid, everything is only apparent, illusory, like everything enemy. But there is a way to get to the point where doubts are not born at all. One told me how someone taught him how to achieve this. Imagine, he says, the truth and pray about it, or rotate it in your mind during prayer, and compose prayers from it. The moment will come when this truth will enter the heart and embrace the entire being of the soul, feeding it and making it happy. This is the affinity of the soul with the truth; and after this, doubts can no longer shake her. They may pass through the memory, but they are far from the soul, like talking or whispering behind a wall. - So, he says, someone taught me. I began to do this, and by the grace of God, although I am a sinner, my mind floats calmly in the realm of truth and is consoled by it. What prevents you from doing this, especially in view of the enemy who tempts you so much? I’m writing all about this because I don’t see any certain doubts in you, and I think that when you write, you don’t have them. They come and go. – And get out of your head that you doubt the way inveterate unbelievers doubt. The enemy inspired you that you have it, and you believed it. Stop believing the enemy and peace will begin to settle in. I asked you questions - what is the soul - why everyone knows and seeks God, and is tormented by doubt and unbelief - so that after thinking everything over properly, you would come to this conclusion: the soul - a spiritual being - is not a manifestation of some other force, like a rainbow, but is an independent, special personality, freely rational, the normal state of which is life in communion with God, who honored it in creation with His image. Therefore, it is desirable that in this position the foundations of faith and life. – And first of all, try to root and strengthen this truth in yourself. You have no doubts about the soul. You have it and it reveals higher aspirations, unsatisfied by anything earthly. That's good. – Stop at this and develop your thought further. If the soul is not satisfied with earthly things; then one should satisfy her with the unearthly. “And look around to see if there were people before, or even now, who find their highest aspirations satisfied.” – If you see such people, figure out how their insatiable souls are satisfied with anything. – I tell you in advance that (you will find and be convinced) they have their souls satisfied, because they believe in God, seek Him and have testimony that God graciously accepted their search and communication with Him. In fact, all people seek God. Track. being with God is the norm of life of our soul. This is so tangible that it is impossible to argue against it. The unbelievers tried to deny either the commonality of the feeling of the Divine or to explain it in a crooked way, but unsuccessfully. Believing in God and being in communion with Him is a man. And whoever deviates from this does not think and have a human attitude. Established in this thought, you will find God within yourself. And having gone outside with this truth, you will see Him outside. God's creatures proclaim God. If there is rationality in the arrangement of things, then there is also a rational being who arranged them. This is an irresistible conclusion, the power of which all minds experience, not excluding those who are puffed up not to believe. So you will have God both inside and outside. And you will understand the need to be in communication with God: for your highest aspirations express precisely this need. – It remains for you to figure out how to enter into communication with God and be with Him. - Here is Christ the Lord, Who said: I am in the Father, you are in Me and I am in you. – This is the chain that connects us with God. “That’s the whole system of faith.” And I see no doubt in your mind about this. - I believe that you don’t have them. You are seducing yourself by classifying yourself as an unbeliever. I don’t see how any doubt can be attached to the fact that others are drunk. “And whoever overeats looks like a drunk, and whoever overeats will become very angry.” - This is all an abnormal state. Nothing can be deduced from them against the soul. Likewise, from the fact that animals have other things similar to the actions of our soul, and we have other things similar to the actions of animals, nothing can be deduced here. -Animals have a soul, but an animal one. But a person has a human soul, higher, like the person himself. Animals have their own rank, and humans have their own. The creations of God are so arranged that every higher class combines in itself the powers of the lower classes - and besides them, it has its own powers, assigned to its class and characterizing it. In the world, or its composition, it is necessary to distinguish, in addition to the elements, a system of forces arranged in a ladder - going from lower to higher. - The lower force is the one that acts in dead nature, and whose higher products are phenomena of chemical combinations and crystallization - (for example, snowflakes - streaks on windows in winter, etc.). Above this stands the power of vegetation, which holds in its power both the crystallizing power and the power of chemical combinations. Above the plant force stands the animal, which in its power holds both the plant force and the crystallizing force and the force of chemical combinations. - Higher than animal-spiritual power - the power of human nature, which contains all the forces lower than it in its power, and acts by them. Is it surprising that we have something similar to animals? There are similarities with plants: for feeding and growing the body is a plant matter; but what can be deduced from this? “Nothing is possible, except that to each there is a rank.” In a person it is necessary to distinguish between soul and spirit. The spirit contains a sense of the Divine - conscience and dissatisfaction with anything. It is the power that was breathed into the face of man at creation. The soul is a lower force, or part of the same force, assigned to conduct the affairs of earthly life. She is such a force as the soul of animals, but exalted for the sake of combining the spirit with it. The spirit from God, combined with the soul of animals, raised it to the level of the human soul. - And the man became twofold: one thing pulls him down, and the other drags him down. When a person maintains his rank, he lives by the spirit, that is, he is led by the fear of God, and his conscience listens and seeks things above. And when he succumbs to the desires of the soul below, he leaves his rank - and what the spirit wants, he thinks to get among creatures. He fails to do this, and he languishes and collapses. The spirit here is like a prisoner in chains - in the service of barbarians, lustful passions. He himself is not satisfied, and makes passions unsatisfied, giving them a boundless overflow. Why do animals have animal needs in their own measure, but in a person, when he indulges in sensuality, the sensual needs have no limit and measure? This immensity is communicated to them by the spirit that has been captured by them; and the spirit with this immensity seeks to quench its thirst for the infinite, in the image of which it was created, and in which alone it is good. So you see that we also have functions of animals, and in their very movement something completely unusual for animals is manifested. – No matter what you start discussing, you will always come to the conclusion that a person has a spirit, whose true life is life in God. There only he finds peace, there is his paradise and the promised land. You attack freedom, as if everything is built in such a way that you want it or not, do it. – You just have to take a closer look at your affairs, even in one day, or in half a day, and you will see that we do everything ourselves, and we do it because we want to. Who brought you to Vysha? – Who brought you tied up, or did you decide and come? What you call compulsion is an impulse without which things cannot be done freely. But the impulse is not a necessity - to do, but a proposal to do something. The matter is proposed, the soul discusses whether to do it, and decides whether to do it or not. No one can force this decision from the soul. She decides for herself. Divine power does not enter here and does not bind the soul to freedom by any wave. The ancestors have fallen. Why? “They found that it was better not to fulfill the commandment and broke it.” The serpent suggested. Eve reasoned and found that what he was offering was not bad, and with this intelligence she decided to pick the fruit and taste it. “Nobody forced this decision.” The spirits also fell, of course, as a result of reasoning and a personal decision that it was better not to listen to God, but to live according to one’s own understanding. They thought so and fell away from God. No one forced this decision. This is how every soul acts. There can be many motives, the most powerful and compelling ones, but the decision always depends on the will of the soul. She can decide in defiance of all compulsory impulses. Take the martyrs. “Instruments of torment are presented, a peaceful life is promised, sometimes a mother and father stand on the side and persuade them to throw some incense into the brazier in front of the idol, - sometimes in addition to this - a young and beloved wife and also with a child. How many compulsions! - And the martyr decides completely contrary to them. – Isn’t he free?! - So, whoever falls, falls by free decision. Having thus realized that the free decision is always from us, you must assume that God’s omniscience does not have a determining influence on it. “Yes, this issue was resolved a long time ago, and very satisfactorily.” Precisely, God foresees because He sees your free decisions. These decisions constitute the subject of omniscience, and they constitute it in the form in which they are, namely, as free decisions. – Not everything that God foresees is what God determines. Theologians distinguish in God - determination and permission. What God determines happens as He determines, and what He allows may not happen as it happens, although God foresees what will happen. Such is the fall of the ancestors and spirits. They fell freely, although God foresaw it. On God's part, everything has been done so that we do not fall. It was clearly said to the ancestors: do not eat. And he indicated the consequences. – Similar things must be assumed among fallen spirits. Didn't listen, who's to blame? Why did God allow it? - Because otherwise it would be necessary to take away freedom or destroy free creatures in the world. But without this, the world would be much lower than it is now. “And God allowed it to fall,” creating an image of rebellion from the fall. – We are moving towards an uprising by fighting opposition. This is the law! “And everyone who follows him is crowned with success.” We don’t know what the spirits have. But since their freedom is free, then until the court’s decision their uprising is possible, just as the fall of the forces of light is possible. Whether it will be or not is not for us to decide. But the possibility of this cannot be rejected. Please act as prescribed at the beginning. When doubts return and persist, sit down and describe them in detail. I am sure that they will immediately dissipate. - You're doing great. The enemy creates empty ghosts. Letter 141. Gratitude for the nephew and a request for him. Letters to nephew A.G. Govorov Your Reverence, Most Reverend Father Rector! Her Excellency Princess Lukomskaya informs me that my nephew has been accepted into the Moscow Seminary. I express my gratitude to Your Reverence for this reception. He had a hard time in Vladimir; this beneficent person took part in it; and here is your condescension to our need. Much obliged; although I don’t know how to repay you with anything other than my sinful prayer for your success in everything. And one more humble request. Do the favor of recommending to Her Ladyship one of the students in the upper division, or, in the new version, from the 6th grade, one of the best, who would agree to go to the princess every day to talk with her nephew, or even live with her, if she finds it possible. This interlocutor is still considered very necessary. He will lead the seminary for the first time, and will help prepare for classes, and maybe as a senior. He needs to have a little bit of character. For God's sake, take the trouble to come up with one and recommend it. “The princess will treat you either herself, or, due to her ill health, through the young count or someone else. I ask for your fatherly attention to my nephew, and forbearance towards his shortcomings, not without encouragement, however, so that he takes care to make up for them. With true respect and complete devotion, I have the honor to be your Reverence's most humble servant Bishop Feofan. July 27, 1867 Vyshin. deserts. Letter 142. Kindred Advice and Warning 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! Letter 143. About impeccable service 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 your ears open. Remember well that there is nothing more evil than the human eye, and there is nothing more sticky than anything bad 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 assistants 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. God bless you! Be healthy and cheerful. I wish you all the best from the Lord. Letter 144. Loyalty to service and fear of God. How to use leisure time It’s bad that you haven’t written for so long. I am very glad that you are in Moscow. Try to hold yourself in the attention of your superiors as highly as, according to K., you stand now. Loyalty, honesty, diligence, let them be your virtues. But fear God and keep His commandments. Now and tomorrow is death. And there's a report. Think about this more often and you will keep your heart from bad feelings and dispositions. ...Of course there is free time. Where should I put it? You need to read useful books and expand your range of common sense concepts. This is necessary in life. I would advise you to take up some handicraft. I don’t know how to be without anything to do. Either the head works or the hands. And there should be no wasted time. And there will be no boredom. And no thoughts will enter your head. God bless you. Be healthy and cheerful. Letter 145. Marriage blessing and guidance You lifted a mountain off your shoulders by writing what you wrote. I am very glad for your happiness. God sent. I bless His generous hand. Just take care of yourself so as not to lose this one. Now it’s true your marriage has already been consummated, and you live with your wife. Bless you, Lord, and give you all kinds of joys. I accept your wife as a kin. Now you are master and mistress. Write down that from now on you become the founders of a new generation. We must conduct business in such a way that we not only leave an inheritance for our children, but also give them a healthy body and a gallant soul in advance. Letter 146. Congratulations on marriage and family happiness 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. It's good that you're all at home. It’s bad when someone doesn’t find happiness 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. Wisdom is great. 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 the further he goes, the less legible he begins to write, and advise him to improve. Letter 147. Love is the source of family happiness It’s good that you repent of your laziness to write. There is no great need for me for this. But I would really like to know how you are doing. 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 it. We have no one to bind it. I am a bookbinder myself, and a very bad one, unsuitable for Moscow. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you and your wife. Letter 148. Upon receipt of photographic cards God's mercy be with you and with your Varya! Thanks for the cards. Nothing, both eyes are there, and everything is fine. God bless you. Love and live, praising God and glorifying Him with a good life. It’s very nice that your Varya works the rug for me. Thank you for your diligence. I will also send you my work - a new book - Psalm 118. But now the dirt: communication with Shatsk is difficult. The promised icon - a copy of the miraculous Mother of God - is behind me. So I’ll take it and do it (and it’s done). I haven't picked up a brush for a long time. May the protection of God be over you. God bless you. Behold, Easter is just around the corner. May God grant you to meet her in joy and health! Letter 149. When sending items of your work. Correspondence begins about the printing of the saint's works I barely managed to get something working - and I’m sending it. You have a spare watch and a large book cutter; everything else for your wife: a watch case, a small book-cutting rack, a bookcase on her work table for various things while working, a candlestick with a burning candle - there is a needle case: turn the candle - it comes off. And a candlestick with a black pedestal - for both of you in the prayer corner. Pull the pin and it will come out. Stick small candles onto the hairpin. All things have glued together. The glue will dry out and the thing will go bankrupt. Then loosen the glue and insert it again, and the thing will be fixed. The watch cups rotate on a screw. If they are loose, tear off the velvet and tighten the screw. If the screw opens the hole, you need to buy a slightly thicker screw and screw it in. The wings that are in a large cutting book are flaccid and can break. Be careful. But if it breaks, loosen the glue and glue it on, without trimming the break at all, but as is. I will send the icon in a week or two. Let it dry thoroughly. It's good that you collected information about typing. I will have many books published. If you have a desire, you will not be idle. I really regret the matchmaker who shot himself. You can pray for him: it is a matter of love. Be healthy and cheerful. God bless you! Save yourself! Letter 150. When sending a handwritten copy of the icon of the Mother of God. About printing books The icon has come to you. Don't screw her over. Let it remain so; unless you just put a border around it - just enough to cover only the red stripe. The picture was taken exactly like this, and the size is the same. If an icon appears dusty, it should be washed off with a soft sponge or brushed away. Your soul is on fire: I wish I could print it quickly. Be careful not to get burned. Here's your first disappointment: you suddenly give money for printing. And you will collect them ruble by ruble, and by the time you return what you spent, a year or two will pass. Be patient. My translation of Simeon the New Theologian is published in Soulful Reading. A little more and the first issue will end. There will be 500 prints. I will take a hundred, and you will sell 400. You and I will have a publication on the interpretation of the letters of St. Apostle Paul. Maybe there will be 8–10 volumes. Letter 151. Related anxiety and about typing Why are you silent? Is everything all right with you? Mother of God bless you. I am writing to you regarding the publication. O. Archpriest Nechaev willingly undertakes to guide you. I have already decided that the printer will be the same one who prints Soulful Reading. Publish this book under the guidance of an experienced one, and then you yourself will be a master. So you run to Fr. Explain to Archpriest Nechaev. And tell me what you tell me. Only when the publication begins under his leadership will I be at peace. Is Varenka healthy? I wish her health and every consolation. Be healthy and happy! Letter 152. Before the birth of the child God's mercy will be with you! You consoled me a lot by being with Fr. Archpriest. He promised to be attentive to you. I'm sure he will keep his word. Now I consider the printing matter settled. God bless Varenka for her successful resolution... 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 in the interval of 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. I also bless Varenka. God bless you both, and your future child. Your Bogomolets E. Feofan. November 13, 1878 Letter 153. Blessing of the newborn, registered as a godson Well, good! Since you have already made me godfather for Tisha, I agree with pleasure. I will love him and pray that the Lord will keep him healthy. Bless him, Lord, with his father and mother. When I send money for printing, then I’ll give him something for his taste, as they say. We need to get something for him from St. Tikhon, or an icon, or a glove, or something else. I'll entrust this to someone I know. And when I get it, I’ll send it. And I myself will draw him an icon of St. Tikhon, if the hunt comes. I thank my grandmother and I join you in blessing her with a great blessing. You could schedule it for a longer time if she is available. Don’t bother Father Archpriest (V.P. Nechaev) often, but you can always handle the matter. I am preparing what he needs and will send it soon. This is for his magazine. And also - may the Lord bless you all - Alyosha, and Varenka, and Tisha, and grandmother. Letter 154. When sending money for printing books and teething for the godson I am sending you 1600 rubles. Fifteen thousand for printing; and a hundred Quiet by a tooth. Let it be his property. Interest first on toys, then on pictures and books. What to print, put it in any credit institution you know. Regarding the term - think about it, or there’s nothing to think about - it’s better to put it indefinitely, so that you have the freedom to take it whenever you need it. From this amount it is necessary to print the Epistle to the Romans and pay Fr. prot. Nechaev for 1000 copies. reprints of the message he is now printing - to Colossae When I send the manuscript, show it to Fr. archpriest - and he will roughly figure out how many sheets will come out and how much everything will cost. If possible, one and a half plants - one and a half, and if not, then one and a quarter (1500 copies). Just to have enough money to pay for the prints. Keep a book and write down all the expenses so that it is clear what the publication costs, including all private expenses, not excluding the cabs that are taken for the printing business. The overall result will then show what price should be set for the books. We shouldn’t be too expensive, they’ll soon disperse; but you can’t put yourself at a loss either, and for that you need detailed reporting. The money was lent to me without interest. They will either need to be returned to the donor or sent wherever he appoints. So our first priority will be to get rid of this money as quickly as possible. If only God would bless the sale of the Epistle to the Romans, so that we could get this money back, or part of it, and also lay down a fund for the publication of the next epistles!! You see how troublesome publishing is, and how much patience it requires. Don't expect it to go on sale soon. Well, God willing! Blessing for Varinka - and hush. May God bless them! God bless you all! Letter 155. When sending a manuscript for printing Behold - the manuscript has gone! Upon receipt, forward it to the censor as soon as possible. Write a request and ask Fr. archpriest. And draw it yourself. Ask if you need a certificate from me that I am entrusting you with printing, so that they don’t think that it is stolen or impostor. If necessary, I will send it. It occurred to me that there really would not have been a stop in the censorship process due to a lack of evidence on my part. I wrote it. Has Varinka recovered? And what about the newborn? - God bless them! And may God's blessing rest on you. Letter 156. Waiting for the water purification machine and about my eye ...You did well what you wrote about. Archimandrite Dimitri and even better, he sent it to the princess (Lukomskaya) on a pebble. Don't forget to pray for her. Parcel V. T-ny at the post office. Tomorrow they will bring 20 rubles. Is this water purifier really that expensive?! Or is this something newfangled?! Let's see. I don't need anything now. When I need anything, I’ll tell you. I wrote to V. T-not to find out about the eye. She wouldn't be horrified. There is nothing terrible or sorrowful here. The eye just weakened. Tea has been around for years. And cataracts, if they occur on the eye, are not an unusual thing. You don't have to take it off. I’ll spend a century with only one eye. God bless all of you - you, Varenka and Tisha. Letter 157. About his eye, about his nephew’s official position and about the printing business I already wrote to you that my right eye began to weaken. Fearing that I would miss the time to cure the incipient illness, I went to Tambov. There they determined that cataracts had begun. He needs to mature - a year or two; then surgery will remove the growth. Regarding the eye, I completely calmed down. I'll wait and put less strain on my eyes. But another concern came - about you Something has become rough in your work. The incident with the briefcase was accidental, and it should not be blamed on you. Maybe it will go like this. V.T. She insisted more and more that I agree to a change in your service. I further adhere to the idea that there is no need to change for now. You are already used to it and know everything from your service, but in another service you have to get used to it again. And it’s true that you also have promotions. Here are them, God willing, you will earn them. So my way is this: if the incident that happened to you has been resolved, stay here to serve. Use everything to establish yourself in your service again. Then, if despite all this, the matter does not stick together, you can arrange for another service. I confess that the roughness of your service worries me very much. Why didn't you write this to me? Write as soon as possible what the situation is. She told V.T. that you had already received the manuscript from the censor. Is it true? If you received it, why don’t you notify me, knowing that this is preoccupying me? Write soon. ...Arrange printing there if the manuscript is received. I am re-reading the first issue of Simeon the Theologian. By the end of Holy Week I will write to Fr. Archpriest about him. And soon after that you will have books to sell. Feeling sorry for my eyes, I can’t work for long, and the matter drags on. Today is Maundy Thursday. A day or two later, and it’s Christ’s bright Sunday. Congratulations. I wish you and Varenka and Tisha bright joy. For you - especially that the dark cloud that came into your service - has dissipated. God bless you all! Letter 158. Instructions for printing the first volume of commentaries on the epistles; news of the eye and joy of well-being. Letters from the Saint to his dying sister and her sorrowful husband (Archpriest of the village of Chernavsk) Well, now it’s your turn to take on the rank of publisher. The first volume of the message is missing. I already wrote to you that the font, paper and format should be taken as in Soulful Reading. When the volumes of manuscripts were sent to you, there were special notes needed for a proofreader. Deliver these notes to Fr. Archpriest Nechaev. He chose a proofreader who would be in charge of printing and proofreading. He really needs those sheets. And God bless. Take a closer look at what’s going on so that later you can carry on on your own without bothering others. You went to Tambov not for treatment, but to find out what’s in your eye? They found a cataract. It needs to mature for a year and then be removed by surgery. Then we need to go to Moscow. I am very glad that you got away with your case so easily, and that you are all healthy and in good spirits. God bless you all! Letter 159. Encouragement, instruction and final forgiveness. To nephew A.R. Govorov God's mercy be with you! God bless you! I have always prayed and pray that the Lord would allow my sister to live a little while until the last children get on their feet. But judging by what you said, now we need to pray for a peaceful death. - What should we do? What God has judged must be submitted to. What dies is nothing extraordinary. Following her, we will follow the same road. This is the common path for everyone. But still, death strikes everyone, and we treat all those who die as if they had died accidentally. You will remain to finish raising and settling the children, and she will go away and prepare what is necessary and possible to meet you. Be a man of strength. - Strengthen your heart and take heart. After all, the sister herself will not die; the body dies, but the dying face remains. It only moves into other orders of life. So you, when she moves away, turn your attention there. It is not in the body that lies under the saints and is then taken out. And they don’t hide her in the grave. She's in a different place. Just as alive as now. In the first hours and days she will be near you. “And she just won’t say anything, but you can’t see her, otherwise she’s here.” Keep this in mind. We who remain cry for those who have departed, but they immediately feel better: that state is more joyful. Those who died and were then introduced into the body found it a very uncomfortable place to live. My sister will feel the same. She's better there; and we are killed, as if some misfortune had happened to her. She looks and truly marvels at it. Those who have departed soon begin the feat of going through ordeals. She needs help here! “Then stand in this thought, and you will hear its cry to you: “help!” - This is where you should direct all your attention and all your love for her. I think the most real testimony of love will be if, from the moment your soul departs, you, leaving the worries about the body to others, step away yourself, and, secluded where you can, immerse yourself in prayer for it in its new state and new unexpected needs. Having started this way, be in a constant cry to God for help for six weeks, and beyond. In Theodora's story - the bag from which the Angels took to get rid of the tax collectors - these were the prayers of her elder. Your prayers will be there too. Don't forget to do this. Let me know as soon as possible, and I will start too, and let the children do the same. - This will be the case. But it makes little sense to grieve and kill too much. – I write as if I am sure that my sister will certainly die. I even think that she has already died. When she has already become like this, as you wrote, there is no point in deceiving yourself with hopes for which there is no guarantee. But maybe this letter will come when my sister is still alive. Here is my last word to her: goodbye, sister! The Lord bless your outcome and your path after your outcome. - You won’t die. Your body will die, and you will move to another world, alive, remembering yourself and recognizing the whole world around you. “Father and mother, brothers and sisters will meet you there.” Bow to them, and convey our greetings to them, and ask them to take care of us. Your children will surround you with their joyful greetings. You'll be better off there than here. So do not be horrified when you see death approaching. She is your door to a better life. Your Guardian Angel will receive your soul and lead it along the paths that God commands. Sins will come. Repent of everyone. And have strong faith that the Lord and Savior blots out all the sins of repentant sinners. Your sins were also blotted out when you repented. Restore this faith in yourself as quickly as possible and remain with it inseparably. - May God grant you a peaceful outcome! A day or two: and we are behind you. See you soon. Therefore, do not worry about those who remain! Your question “what should I do” is a very serious one. - You need to take some old lady from your family. The Lord will arrange everything! – Just don’t relax with grief and don’t hang your head too low! May the Lord comfort you! God bless you and have mercy! Your pilgrim E. Feofan. 12 February 74 Letter 160. When sending books to read and advice on publishing Books are sent to you - all that I have in my hands. Magazines are included with them. Sunday stories are the best of edifying publications. Take care for Tisha. Bauman's illustrated newspaper is the best published with pictures. In the additions, the stories are very, very good - ideal. Bee - the pictures are good, but the content is disgusting. If you ever decide to write him out, write Bauman out. Take care of the sermons of Archimandrite Theophan from the books. They are no longer available anywhere else. The interpretations will still be revised and published separately. And these are all prints. So your publication or printing has improved. God bless. I haven’t received Simeon the Theologian yet. Bring a book of his words to Fr. Archpriest Rozhdestvensky. I asked Fr. Mikhail (Archpriest M.S. Boyulubsky) to convey to Fr. Nechaeva. Someday, bring a book to Eminence Alexy, your former rector. Give the Athos people three and tell them to send one to Athos. Give T-woo the book, A. I-chu. If I remember anyone, I’ll write later. What he gave to Ferapontov for the commission was good. But it’s inconvenient to send it around. Print it yourself in Moskovskie Vedomosti. Write to you and define your apartment well. You need to make your apartment public so that everyone knows. If the books are already in your hands, then you will need to take them to the bookbinder again, or how to do this, talk to Fr. Archpriest (Nechaev). The expenses that will be incurred for this are all yours and mine. Well, save yourself! God bless all of you - you, Varinka and Tisha. Let Varenka read Bauman’s stories, but no one reads Bees. Take out the pictures and make a special book without text. The portraits on the first page are good. Letter 161. Instructions on selling books, etc. God's mercy be with you! or - with all of you! A small matter came up, and I hesitated in answering you. Please manage the sale as you know, and as you know. Simeon the New Theologian, 15 copies immediately went to the following address: His Eminence the Most Reverend Anthony, Archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsk in Kazan. He takes them for monasteries. The money will be sent in 1 ruble. 50 k. And the shipping will be to your account. So I wrote to him. When capping, wrap it well in paper. You need to have wrapping paper and plain baled canvas on hand. You'll sew it up. And don’t tie the ropes too tightly so as not to cut the books. Let the ropes move freely. Buy soft ropes - not thick ones. There is nothing more annoying than when you receive a book and it is dented with strings. ...Everything that could be sent to you from my books has been sent. There is nothing more. Psalm 118 is still there, I’m sending it. You wanted to print it on your account. If you want, print it. I give it to you for Tisha. If you can print it, let me know, I’ll review it and send it (there is no Psalm 33). But you still send me a hundred to distribute. I am sending you a collection of prayers. Give o. Nechaev, Fr. Rozhdestvensky and Fr. To Mikhail the censor based on the book. Athos residents are three. Let them send you to Athos. Reverend Alexy one - your former rector, the other five give to whomever you want. Princess Tolstoy would have demolished it. I’m very glad that your Tisha is so smart. You need to think about raising him early. I wish Varinka to be healthy and cheerful. Save yourself! Letter 162. Strict admonition about displeasure with people The manuscript has already been written about. God bless you to print well, and you will learn tricks about printing. The fruit arrived before the letter. And I didn't know who they were from. Thank you. Oranges are very good. But I don't eat much fruit. Is it in the room? They make such a fuss in the stomach that you can’t cope. “Your Majesty” deigns to express his displeasure to Mr. N. Turn your anger into mercy, and have mercy. Is it possible to live like this in the world? We need to look at the consequences. If there was nothing accompanied by a reservation, and yet it was not made maliciously, you should not cling to it in any way, but should skip it as if it did not exist. And here is an order for you from Above: don’t write, and when you see it, don’t give any hint. And make it a law for yourself to never express your displeasure to anyone. See what a great man you are now! You sit in the prosecutor's chair and draw up an indictment. In how many ways has he already intertwined and unraveled with you?! So, note that if you are ever in such a mood again, know that the enemy is preparing trouble for you if you act on what is suggested. Notice this well. I’m very glad that Tisha everything is going well for you. God bless him! And you and Varenka and all yours! Letter 163. Packing for Moscow for eye treatment ...Due to the condition of my eye, it seems that I will have to run to Moscow. But I will be there incognito, so that no one knows. Don’t tell anyone, not even Varenka. I will stay with the Athos people, under the name of the new monk of Athos. When I arrive, I'll let you know. And you will come running. Then we’ll decide whether I should see your Varya, or put it off until the time when, due to the operation, I’ll have to live longer in Moscow. Be careful - don’t let it slip where or about. Nechaev, and no one. O. I wrote to Arseny not to tell anyone. I also mentioned to him that I’ll just call you. Is it coming soon? We should hurry; but how can I manage? Maybe before the Assumption, or maybe after. Save yourself! God's blessing to Varenka and Tisha. Letter 164. About the portrait and the upcoming trip Do according to the publication whatever you like with Fr. archpriest (Nechaev) please. Regarding the portrait, I do not give consent. The card is not good. And I didn’t recognize myself. When they were filming, the right eye was artificially dilated, and since it was taking in more light than the left, I involuntarily squinted, and I seemed to come out crooked. Someday we’ll take a better picture, and then we can. It seems that my money from the publication of “Romans” should remain. You can publish Psalm 118 on them. There is a lot of demand for it. He will go rather interpretation. I will leave on the second or third day after the Assumption. Therefore, on the third or fourth I will be in Moscow. - Look - not a word, pass this on to the Athos people - and confirm the same, so that nothing happens. Tell me that I’m taking a thick pateritsa on purpose. And who will be to blame? The cast iron will arrive in Moscow at noon. On the same day, the doctor must be dealt with. And home in the morning. I don’t want to show myself to anyone, not even the Metropolitan. Thank you for the Tisha card. God bless him! God bless Varenka and all of you. Letter 165. Upon returning from Moscow God's mercy be with you all! Behold - we are home! We arrived safely. God bless! I was a little sad that I soon said goodbye to Varenka and Tisha, but then I was glad about it. O. Arseny returned very late - at two o'clock. Waiting for him would exhaust us all. I persuaded the old sexton Shatsky to paste the sheets into the Epistle to the Ephesians. But it looks like I’ll start gluing it myself. It seemed to me that the elder was not quite fit for this task. In the Vladimirskie and Tambovskie Vedomosti they print that whoever subscribes to Simeon the New Theologian from you will not pay for the postage. Therefore, if anyone treats you in this sense, then don’t ask for shipping. Don't tell booksellers about this. To O. Nechaev, when he asks: why didn’t you tell him about my arrival in Moscow, say: you didn’t tell him. – Who knows! There must have been no time. But there really was no time. Don’t even start talking about it yourself. I’m writing this in case he finds out how. Be healthy and cheerful. Don’t forget to show Tisha to Kryukov. Bless you, Lord, with every blessing. Save yourself! Letter 166. On the publication of letters on the Christian life God's mercy be with you! One St. Petersburg merchant asks if I would agree to give him the publication of Letters on Christian Life, which is 4 issues. Do you think you should give in? I’m thinking of giving in, because we can’t publish it ourselves now, and there’s little hope of expediting it quickly. But it occurred to me that it seems that Ferapontov also wanted to publish them. So run and ask if he wants it. If he wants, let him say that he gives for one or two issues per sheet. Look, don’t ask about how much for all the books, but how much per sheet. Then we add up how many sheets there are, and it turns out how many are indiscriminately. If he doesn’t want to, ask him how to deal with the merchant, and most importantly, how to come to an agreement about receiving the money. And talk to the people of Athos. I’m thinking of asking ten rubles for one issue, and 15 or 20 rubles for two plants. There will be 80–100 sheets. There is a lot of money coming out, although not so much - it’s good for publishing messages. You are given a period of time for all the research and writing - one day, well, two - no more. And now write, across the Naryshkin pier. God's blessing to Varenka and Hush. I wish you all happy days. Letter 167. On book business Regarding the printing of letters - good information. The merchant's name or nickname is Tuzov. He seems to have taken on the trade instead of Korablev and Seryakov. You will send the message to the Romans - both issues together - 50 copies of each through the Naryshkin pier. Regarding the book of Ephesians, what fables were they told you? They cannot reprint anything without my knowledge. I have already re-glued my books and am giving them away. But there’s nothing to worry about about mine. This is a giveaway. And yours are going on sale. Maybe next year I’ll compile 2 books of the Philokalia. It may not be possible for us to take on printing due to lack of money. Giving it to someone else is an insult to the Athos people. The people of Athos will give money, although not as much as the merchants. Maybe we can stop there. Talk to someone and see if it would be more convenient to sell books through Ferapontov alone. You will publish about your apartment, and then you will have to change it. And something awkward will come out. Otherwise everyone would know one thing. Talk, but not to Ferapontov himself. The printing of the letter to Colossae will soon be completed. Maybe this year. You will have to pay for 1000 copies. Bow to Varenka and full of good wishes. Don't you really dress her up in country clothes? Cross Tisha. Save yourself! Letter 168. When sending errors and about your eye Here is the error mark. Demolish o. Archpriest. Thank me for your work. I will write to him later. Now I happen to have no time. I apologize. Everything concerning the publication, it seems, I have already written to you. Write what you need. My eye succeeds in blindness. That's right, I'll have to say goodbye to him. God's blessing to Varenka and Hush. May you all be healthy and happy. Letter 169. On book business What are you doing with the book of Romans? I guess it's over and you got it. Do as I already told you. Pay for the proofreading. Archpriest, or offer payment, and then distribute it to someone. Oh! - but the letter to the Ephesians is now free. I received 50 copies of the epistle to the Romans. Now we need to get down to publishing. Without this, the books cannot move. I am revising Psalm 118 and will send it soon. Need to print it. There are a lot of people willing. - This book will be more fun. O. I bow to Archpriest Nechaev. Another week, and I’ll send him Simeon’s notebooks, and something new – letters. Then I'll write. Ask Ferapontov to send me books: 1) Life of Christ the Savior by Farrar. 2) Chicherin “Religion and Science”. I'll send the money at Christmas. Keep your publishing account carefully so you can see what's going on. Even keep this money special so that it is always at hand and ready. Seems like he said everything. Varinka and Tisha - God's blessing and full of good wishes. May you all be healthy and cheerful. P.S. There is nothing to do, but you have to spend money on publication, rubles. 50–100. I just received your letter and the books arrived. Congratulations on finishing your work. God forbid it sells out! It was expensive! - But what? If only there were no empty costs. Now you can figure out which costs are inevitable and which are unnecessary. For the future, stock up on (experience) - what costs can be avoided. - Here is the application of this wisdom presented to you - the publication of the 118th Psalm. I am sending it to you now. If you can, organize the publication yourself; If you don’t have hope, go back to the science of Fr. Archpriest. I am writing to him about this. The book includes notes for the proofreader. It is better not to change the wallet and the printing house, if they have done business well. They will be more accommodating, noticing that you are such an abundant publisher. However, see for yourself. Proofreading, if Fr. takes it. Archpriest, you couldn’t ask for anything better. But this may be difficult for him. In this case, the detectives are from an outsider, but it is better to follow his instructions. You sent to Vladimir. Did the Eminence himself write to you? Write. I need to know this. And he didn’t write how the proofreading was handled. I'll think about the portrait. If possible, I will rent a new one to the best of the book. And then I'll send it. So that the publication of the 118th Psalm will be ready for Lent, you can make this arrangement. Let it be the same font as in print. Or take the one in the book of Romans. Do not change the printing form; it can be especially tempting that the number of the verse is printed in letters, and, moreover, in a special line - for example: Verse ten. But it does give the publication a nice twist. Well, do it! I received a telegram about the death of Fr. Arsenia. What happened that he died so unexpectedly? May God rest his soul! God's blessing to Varinka and Hush! God save you all from every misfortune! P.S. His Eminence Anthony of Kazan died. I've been sick for a long time. Letter 171. Compulsion for an immediate response and considerations for publishing Why are you silent? – How many answers do you have – and the right ones?! How did you send books to Vladimir? - I asked, but you didn’t answer. Here is the Reverend. Jacob writes - and does not remember anything about books. I need to answer him. And I don’t know how to tell him about books. You see how much trouble there is from your laziness. Sit down now and write me down everything in detail. I suppose you are now in a bit of a quandary about books. - Here's what you should keep in mind. Why should all your concern now be focused on collecting money as quickly as possible from the sale of books? And collect. “As soon as I have enough money for a book—five hundred, six hundred rubles—now print a new book.” Then again, when you have collected the same amount, print another book, etc. - until all the messages are printed. “Then it’s time to rest.” And it may be necessary to publish a different message a second time. Three months later - from Fr. prot. Nechaev - you will still get a message - 1500 copies. for 1000 you have to pay. Do you have money? I don’t know how much it will take, but it won’t be heavy. These are prints. You will find out then and pay from the remaining money and from the current proceeds. You need to take care and information about this in advance. In the same way, another book of interpretation will come out. But this could be in a year and a half. I am writing this to you for publishing considerations. Please don't sleep. And what you see necessary, answer immediately - especially do not leave questions unanswered. I wish Varinka health and joy, and quiet. Sometimes you need to go for a ride outside the city, but when it’s not too cold. P.S. Congratulations on the holidays, because they are just around the corner! Letter 172. Congratulations on the newborn and on the publication of the Commentaries God's mercy be with you! Happy New Year! Grant, Lord, new joys to you and your family! Congratulations on your newborn. God bless her, both mother and brother. May God grant them a good use of books. Don't be alarmed that interpretations are difficult. And it will be difficult for a few more (times). Then they'll do better. We just need to quickly gather our strength and print further interpretations. As soon as the revenue from all books approaches five hundred, say so. I will prepare a letter to the Galatians. And until we publish all the interpretations, don’t stare at the profits. They will go after this publication. Until then, have patience and work. What is your 119th Psalm? It seems he will go faster. But without announcements nothing will happen. Why find out that you have books in your attic?! Soroka will tell you something?! It turned out that fifty copies was not enough for me. There were 25 more copies on the way. interpretation of the epistles to the Romans. And quickly. Rev. Jacob the second sent a letter, and still not a word about books. Did you take the books to the Metropolitan? I still don't know. What should you do for this?! May you all be healthy and cheerful. God bless Varinka with Tisha and Annushka, with you at their head. I'm healthy. But the eye is getting worse. Bishop Feofan. January 2, 1880 Letter 173. Congratulations on housewarming and book related matters. Letter to the Transdanubian warrior God's mercy be with you and your family! Congratulations on your housewarming, which I am very happy about. God bless you, don't move anymore. And I thank the matchmaker for doing this. All our conversations with you regarding books are over. Now I hasten to add the following. Bookseller of spiritual books Gorbunov asks to send him 15 copies. our publications. He promises to publish it in magazines and send it out to booksellers, without counting this to you and me. I find this beneficial. And please send him 15 copies of all our books right now. I am writing to him about this. Now let me know about this too. Don't fumble. You took the books to the Metropolitan, but you don’t know whether they reached him. Run and ask. Have they been delivered to the lord or not? God bless your printing of Psalm 118. Varinka with Tisha and the newborn, and with you at the head - God bless! Bishop Feofan. January 7, 1880 Letter 174. After blessing the worker for the salvation of the soul, for which the books of the Saint serve as a guide, an explanation is given about the sins confessed. Letters to Eliz. Ivan. Snegireva, née Kheraskova God bless your path, work hard and don’t give in; Everything I could tell you, you will find in my books, rummage through them. Should we remember sins that were confessed and, with the help of God’s grace, forsaken? There is no point in remembering them in spirit when they have already been resolved. And in your prayer it is good to remember them, as St. teaches. Apostle Paul. The desire to have a silver hair is empty. Bishop Feofan. January 21, 1888 Letter 175. Response to collective congratulations from students of the Diocesan School God's mercy be with you, children! Thank you for your holiday greetings and your well wishes to me. My wishes for all the best to you and my prayer for you to God are unceasing. - Lord help you to complete the course of education, and then to live with the benefit of others upon leaving it, in the lot that is prepared for each of you by the Providence of God. Your feelings towards the school are good. The memory of life in it will not be erased by itself, because your whole life afterwards will be an application of what you received here. “But birds can’t sit in a nest.” - They will feather and fly away. I really want to have your cards. Send and sign each one. Now you probably won't be guessed. “It is advisable that the school administration does not deviate from its good intentions.” To your boss, good mother, a blessing from the Lord and all my good wishes, as well as to all your mentors and trustees - members of the management. God bless you all. Your warm pilgrim and zealous well-wisher, Bishop Theophan. I’m writing to everyone, and I’m addressing one of you – Kheraskova, no, I’ve changed my mind, it will be a bit difficult for you. Receive this letter from Mother Abbess. Letter 176. On the occasion of the marriage of pupil Kheraskova I am very happy about your marriage. May the blessing of the Lord rest on you and your spouse. May sincere love and peaceful harmony be established between you until the end of your days. – Above all, be afraid of losing trust in each other or having it shaken in some way. This is the basis of a happy married life. Do something to help your spouse with his activities. But also, look for applications for the knowledge and arts you have acquired. You can take girls to study, and then you look - and the school can cook up something. But whatever God wills. I don’t have an icon at hand to send you, and our area is not such that it could be found, I’ll be in debt. I'll send it later. Your pilgrim Bishop Feofan. February 10. Letter 177. On the occasion of the death of her parents. To the tradesman G. Elatma S.E.E. One cannot help but grieve: such is our soul; but in moderation, and a small one at that. What is most important to a person, body or soul? – The soul is the main thing. When the soul is alive, the person is alive. And when they die, what dies, the soul or the body? Body; but the soul remains alive. The dead became alive; - your parents are also alive. They just left you and began to live in another place. You will also go there in due time, and you will see each other. Your separation is only temporary. That is why I say that it is impossible not to grieve; only a little, as they mourn when they leave home for school. It so happened with us that we imagine the dead as they were when they were lying on the table in the coffin, and then as they are in the grave, and we even lament: how dark it is for you there, how cramped you are there, how damp you feel there. Meanwhile, there are no people here at all for whom we mourn. They are in a different place, and even near us, only in a completely different form. They continue to communicate with us, directly with their souls, but we don’t feel it because of our troubles. So, instead of grief, which is useless for your parents and harmful to your health, if you please, imagining them alive, have a sincere conversation with them. And this will not always be a dream, but sometimes it will be accompanied by reality; for they are with you. I wish you to find comfort in these not false thoughts. May the Lord bless you and your husband and daughter with every blessing. Your well-wisher, Bishop Feofan. P.S. A book is being sent to you. Letter 178. Response to the desire to visit Mount Athos It’s not bad to visit Mount Athos if there is no interference from home. And if there is, then you can stay at home. God is available everywhere. And He himself is no closer to Athos than to Elatma. Do everything as you like! Letter 179. To someone who has a private cell - about collecting donations and reading to those who come That you have a cell is good! But we also need to establish cell order. These orders require carelessness. And you have trouble getting ready. Cell seclusion is Maria’s business, and the hassle of getting ready is Marfino’s business. These things cannot live together with each other. The fees need to be stopped. Interpret to everyone that in such offerings it is not important where they are brought, but to whom and in what spirit they are brought. God is the same everywhere, both on Athos and in every place. It’s also not bad that you read books to those who come. But make sure you conduct this business with the blessing and supervision of your spiritual father. Show him books and ask him often if you say what you say well. You can say a lot of unkind things, thinking that you are saying good things. Conduct this business with the fear of God. Save yourself! E. Feofan. 29 July 80. Letter 180. To a childless person - about going on pilgrimage, name, and property God bless you to go on a pilgrimage! Don’t worry about the name your parents named you, but make sure that your name is written in the animal’s book. Keep your faith and do good deeds. Run away from sin. They told you falsely about the Athonite elders. When there is no heir, give to the poor. Their hands are God's hands. Save yourself! E. Feofan. (in 1889). Letter 181. Blessing on pilgrimage “May the Lord bless your path and prosper you. E.F.” Letter 182. To the question about collecting donations: take care of your soul I don’t know how to tell you what is best for you. I think the priest gave you good advice. The people of Athos have no need. God made them good. But take care of yourself, how to save your soul. If you have your own piece of bread; then sit at home, pray to God and do something, praying, even bast shoes, so as not to be idle, and go to Church as soon as there is a service there, and if there is always one there, always go. Save yourself! E. Feofan. (in February 1893). Letter 183. To a question from a married man about entering a monastery. To a resident of Elatma D.I.G. See for yourself what to do. You say: your wife lets you go. So you are married. So how can you go to a monastery with your wife? “Will she also go to a monastery?” I don't see how to advise you. See for yourself. E.F. Aug 9 1893 Letter 184. (To Bessemeyny) on the question of entering the monastery. Letters to attorney-at-law Mitrofan Rafailovich Koryakin in Zadonsk If there is a place in the monastery, then go. The Apostle Paul decided that whoever wants to be saved should not marry or be tied down by family matters. Because it is more convenient for a person without a family to please God. And for those without families, there are many temptations in the world. You will do well if you take refuge in a monastery. There are difficulties in monastic life; but not such that no one can do it. Yes, there are difficulties everywhere. God's blessing be upon you. Letter 185. Detailed instructions on the path of salvation You have already received great mercy when God gave you to come to your senses and take the right path. You are wrong to think that this was a simple matter. It seems that you want to show humility by this, and yet you attribute to yourself a work that cannot be accomplished otherwise than by the grace of God. This is a great pride. Please confess that the Lord called you to life according to God, thereby showing that he was choosing you for the kingdom of heaven. Confessing this, thank God, and work out your salvation with fear and trembling, fearing, lest, having fallen away again, you might rebuke the Spirit of grace and trample on the blood of the Son of God. You have already been called through birth, baptism and upbringing - and you stood on the good path, but you turned aside, trampling on the grace of the Holy Spirit. baptism. Now they are called again. Be afraid to step away from God again. Grace acts in two ways: from the outside, when it calls, and this is universal grace, no one is excluded: for the Lord wants everyone to be saved and to come into the mind of truth; when someone, having heeded the calling, is converted, then grace, through the sacrament of baptism or repentance, settles inside, and there creates salvation, or forms from the elements of good, natural to man, a new man, the heir of the eternal kingdom of heaven, not in an authoritative manner, but in a guiding and helpful way, that is, indicating good and helping to accomplish it. You are in this last rank. It is suggested to you: “Let me walk well, that you may comprehend,” imitating the Apostle Paul, who says about himself: “I will walk well, that I may comprehend.” The goal is the kingdom of heaven, but in order to be worthy of entering the kingdom, one must cleanse oneself of passions and everything bad. Just as the door to the kingdom will not open without this cleansing, it should be your immediate goal. Direct everything towards him now. The program here is simple: understand for yourself everything passionate and sinful that exists in you, and wage war against it; Also understand everything that is good, existing, or should be in you, and cultivate it in yourself through grace-filled means - church prayer and home prayer, reading St. books with thoughts of God and doing good deeds, confession and communion. - All this in two words: turn away from evil and do good. This procedure has already been established with you from the very beginning of the appeal and is now being carried out. If I have to order anything, it is only so that you do not make concessions or omissions on either side. If you let go of nourishing the good side, it will become sick; if you give in to the evil one, she will come to life, like worms, almost withered, when a little rain sprinkles them. You have a prayer book and reading. I don’t see God-thinking, that is, thinking about divine truths with conclusions of lessons for oneself - there is good deeds, but with resting one’s feet; confession and St. there is communion. Everything is there for the good side, the pasture is plentiful, juicy, feed your soul on it like a lamb. If all this happens as it should, then your soul should jump and play in the pasture, like lambs in the pastures in the spring. Make sure that when praying, prayer comes from the heart. Prayer, in fact, is a sigh of the heart to God: if this is not there, there is no prayer. Your prayers are measured; There is no need to type a lot, but it is better to perform a little with all the attention and feeling. Between the rule of morning and evening prayer, during the day, sigh more often to God from the heart; or even stand in the usual place of prayer and pray for the present need. When reading, keep your heart unoccupied, open to the truth, and, embracing what you read with understanding, put it into your heart; at the same time, one or another poem will touch the heart, and another will touch it very much. Notice these poems that touch you, and remember them more often during the day, especially the one that touched you the most. This will renew the revival of the heart - this work is very fruitful. It is better to read a little, but with assimilation and feeling, than a lot without this: without this, reading will be a waste along the way. Godly thinking: take any divine truth, understand its composition and foundations, carry it through to feeling, and draw lessons for yourself. What truths should we take? Everything, starting with the divine properties, passing through creation, redemption and general providence, to the Last Judgment and eternal life. This is according to the Catechism. - Take one. Poems that fall on the heart when reading are the best subject for contemplation of God. Time... how free... Good deeds. The commandments are the norm; practice - presenting cases: it is better not to invent cases, but to do what presents itself. It seems like you can do one thing and not do another. Both rarely do without a struggle with what rebels inside and what is encountered outside. It is a big mistake to consider obstacles or resistance to doing as an impossibility. I cannot and must not come from the mouth of a zealot. Doing business is great wisdom - a gift from God. We need to pray about this. – Confession and St. communion - are inevitably necessary: ​​one cleanses, the other - a bath, a plaster and food. – You must take communion during all four fasts. You can add by taking Holy Communion twice on Holy Communion and on Christmas Eve. You can add more, but not too much, so as not to become indifferent. Everything written down feeds the good side. The bad side will weaken on its own, but the good side will feed on goodness. But our misfortune is that the bad side does not allow the good to do what the good side feeds on; she interferes everywhere and makes her claims; and it happens that what the good side feeds on is either not done or is not done as it should: from which it either starves or eats spoiled food. So that there is nothing of the sort, that is, neither interference with the nourishment of the good side, nor damage to what it feeds on, the zealot for salvation must face a continuous struggle with his bad side. The form of the struggle is very simple: as soon as you notice the approaches, demands and attacks of your bad side, get up, take up a weapon and drive the enemy, and drive him until there is no trace of him left. Everyone knows what the bad side is. This is egoism, selfishness, self-indulgence, self-pity - doing everything for yourself, for your pleasure, for your benefit and in your honor. There are no estimates for the actions in which this is performed. And there is no need for this, for the estimate. He who decides to live as he should immediately recognizes the bad, no matter in what form it appears. Sometimes it manifests itself only by thinking about something bad, when a bad object appears to the mind, sometimes by a bad feeling, sometimes by an urge to do something bad, sometimes together by an attraction to it, more or less strong. Sometimes all this manifests itself nearby: a bad object appears, evokes a feeling, from the feeling an urge is born, and then an attraction. All this is unclean for the soul, but not yet sinful. Sinfulness begins with consent to bad things, which turns into the decision to do bad things - this is an internal matter; after which methods, times, and places are invented. Then follows a sinful deed, from which slavery to sin and spiritual death. But, no matter in what form the bad appears; As soon as it is noticed, you need to get up and fight. Here are the main methods of struggle: recognize the enemy in the faintness that has appeared, get angry with him and strain to drive him away, calling on the Lord Savior for help; and then repeat these acts until the badness disappears and the soul calms down. With these three acts, all sickness can be driven away and overcome. It takes energy, courage and patience. This is enough to provide general guidance for all cases. And all this, of course, was and is being practiced by you. But, reconsider yourself even more mercifully, and fill in what is missing, correct what is wrong, and improve what is imperfect. The Lord, who wants to be saved to everyone, be your helper!! You have described some defects in doing the work of salvation. Take a closer look, you will find even more. If you please, wake up, because this is a matter of life and death. The main producers of life in Christ Jesus are: zeal, ardent, energetic, merciless towards oneself, furiously angry at one’s bad side in all its manifestations, without any condescension; and divine grace, attracted and called upon by jealousy and always helping when jealousy acts as it should. How are you doing? The grace of God is always ready and in all its strength; and jealousy is not always correct, it is not always in the proper tension; weakens, approaches indifference, grows cold. In this state, a person resembles the one about whom the Lord said in the Apocalypse: “Thou art neither warm nor cold,” and added a very terrible sentence. Your jealousy has subsided. You describe this weakening in very strong terms. Although she has not weakened to that extent; but this is a very dangerous matter. The enemy, usually, while jealousy is strong, does not approach the zealot, but when jealousy is a little saturated and its heat subsides, he will begin to approach, and the main thing for him is to completely cool the jealousy. “He’s already had a fair amount of success in this with you.” As jealousy cools, grace retreats. Both life producers are not in normal strength. The danger of falling is imminent. The enemy will begin to cause attraction to previous bad deeds. And as soon as he has time to plunge into some sin, he will sit down and begin to drive, in revenge for this year of resistance to him If you please, perk up. We are commanded to work out salvation with fear and trembling, for we walk in the midst of nets, walking along a perch over an abyss, or along a narrow path, on both sides of which there are abysses. Hurry to set fire to jealousy: then everything will go well again. How? – How do they revive a numb member of the body? - Friction. Start rubbing your soul. How? Everything that pious people usually exercise themselves with: contemplation of God, increased self-mortification, or severity towards themselves, towards their flesh, and especially prayer. Please go through the entire series of divine truths from the eternal existence of God to the end, and stop at this last one, namely your death, and the decision that follows that, unchanged for all eternity. But, stop not with a bare thought, but with a full feeling, and as if all this had actually happened to you. When you lay on your deathbed, Angels come to take your soul. What will they say? The demons will come and scream. How will their mutual bickering end? The path to the throne of the Judge-God will begin. We must go through ordeals; the seducing demons will take out their notes and begin to describe their deeds. What will be revealed here? When they stifled us for our sins, stroked us on the head, nothing else mattered, but then they will begin to reprove and condemn us and tear us out of the hands of the Angels. So until the very entrance to the judgment seat. And there is nothing more terrible than these ordeals. Angels protect, but sometimes there is nothing left to protect. St. Anthony the Great saw a certain terrible giant stretching above the clouds, with his arms outstretched across the entire horizon. The souls of the dead ascended to heaven. Those that rose above his hands, on those he gnashed his teeth in annoyance, and those that stopped below his hands, he struck them with his hand, and they fell into the abyss. Alas! And who will count all the fears that exist then! And then there's the trial. What can we say in justification or at least a slight apology? What will happen when we hear: guilty... bind... and cast down? Please instill this more deeply in your heart and remember it more often. If this happens, if there is a possibility that the verdict will be: “guilty”; then how to be carefree and indulge in indulgences? There is a lot of evil from the thought that death is just around the corner. Please bring her closer, and remember that it doesn’t cost her anything to come from behind the mountains. It's about to jump up and knock you down. Oh! Oh! - Yes, nothing will help. Review all the types of sudden deaths - and decide which of them cannot happen to you - right now, when you are reading these lines? There is no more exciting thought from carelessness than the thought of sudden death. But not a single thought is further from us than this one. Everything here is an enemy - it obscures death. Please tie more knots as a reminder of her. We have two weights - spirit and flesh - one pulls the other. The flesh is for destruction; spirit - for salvation. I think that the flesh is not innocent in your cooling. I don't expect excess, but I'm happy. But even this contentment dulls the spiritual feeling and relaxes the energy. Take the trouble to tighten up this slave so that she doesn’t interfere with the mistress. How? I think you know! This also applies to food, sleep and other benefits. Make the flesh feel like there is a heavy hand on it. As soon as the flesh weakens, the spiritual feeling will come to life. It means a lot in this regard - not to let it fall apart, to keep all the limbs in line through the internal tension of the muscles. This greatly supports the cheerfulness of the spirit, and helps the soul to stand in a sober mood. Prayer is the most effective means in spiritual life, and at the same time its measure. The way you describe your prayer, it is very faulty. Try to do this: before praying, always think about prayer, what it is, and to whom it relates, and what it should be, think and draw the feeling of your heart into the prayer area - reverence, hope and devotion to God. You read morning and evening prayers. Wonderful. – But, do your prayers slowly, always accompanying the words with the thought they express, and the tension of the feelings of the heart. You often make a concession on this. From now on, make sure you don’t give in even a hair, and force yourself in every possible way, so that thought and feeling follow the word. Without this, prayer has no taste and is not attractive. Just like when reading a book, you follow with your thoughts what you read and take in with pleasure what you encounter; how soon the thought will run away, reading is grass. The same thing happens with prayer. – If the thought runs away and the feeling moves back, force yourself. – Your rule is small, therefore it is a shame to rush, and to run away in thought, and to give preference to feelings. See how sweetly the prayer will go if you take it in your hands and do not indulge yourself, or not yourself, but the enemy, who, as soon as you move into the prayer corner, follows on your heels and besieges you with various reminders. But when you listen, he will retreat; because your struggle against his suggestions is preparing crowns for you; but he doesn't want it. When the work of prayer goes smoothly, you want to pray, and you don’t want to give up prayer. Then continue your prayer, praying in your word, or with your thought, about what is most needed in your spiritual life. I believe that in this way your prayer will come to life, and laziness towards it will disappear We must make prayer appeals as often as possible until incessantly. Choose verses from the psalms that touch your heart, memorize them, and repeat them often, now one or the other. Memorize short prayers of St. Chrysostom - 12 during the day and 12 at night; and also repeat often. More usually, the Jesus Prayer is repeated: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! The work of self-compulsion overcomes everything. You too will overcome the cold. Have you heard that there is unceasing prayer? Desire and seek. You will search and you will find. You already have the germs of it: this feeling for God, which happens from time to time. You had it in force; but you allowed him to grow cold. And it comes from time to time. Try to make this feeling permanent, and it will be unceasing prayer. Have you ever loved someone deeply? Remember how your beloved face did not leave your heart and the feeling was still there - and the thought did not leave, and everything you did, you thought that he was seeing that face and tried to do what you did well, so as not to deserve disapproval from that face. Continuous prayer is similar to this, only it takes place in a different area. Help you, Lord, to find such a feeling for Him. Then all the mistakes, lethargy and laziness will end!!! It remains for me to tell you about the spirit of blasphemy that sometimes attacks you. “It is truly the spirit of blasphemy that troubles you.” Not only do blasphemous thoughts occur and amaze, but words are heard in the ears. The devil is their producer. He does this in order to confuse you and deprive you of the courage to pray. And what he means is whether you will agree to some kind of blasphemy, in order to plunge you into the sin of blasphemy, and then into despair. Against this demon, the first thing is not to be embarrassed, and not at all to think that these are your thoughts, but directly attribute them to the demon. Then - against thoughts and words - think and say the opposite. He inspires evil about the saint, and you say: you are lying, you sly; This is what he is like. So against everything - and keep talking until they leave. Conclude this way: curse the blasphemer, and let the words of blasphemy be directed at your head. Turn to the Lord with this prayer: I open my soul before You, Lord! You see that I do not want such thoughts and do not favor them. The enemy is in control. Get him away from me. St. Niphon - for four years he was tormented by this spirit, which buzzed in his ears: there is no God, there is no Christ, and so on. He said: God is also Christ, and I worship Them and serve with all my soul. God finally delivered him. If you find anyone there who has the writings of St. Demetrius of Rostov, in the 1st volume, he has a very intelligible and comforting article about this. Take out and write out useful things from it God bless you, your wife and children. Save yourself! I'm sending you a book. In it you will see yourself, how you were in adolescence, how you deteriorated, and how you corrected yourself, and what lies ahead. It was written more than 40 years ago, but is not outdated. I have these books to give away. Your good friend E. Feofan. Letter 186. The narrow path. Review of the origins and modern preachers of pessimism Wrath and mercy are upon you! Anger is in the illness, obviously sent for breaking a vow, and mercy is in the cessation of this illness, due to repentance and complete restoration of the vow. May God help you to always be correct in this regard. How comforting it is to see what a grace-filled order has established itself in your inner life, when you wholeheartedly surrendered yourself and everything you own to the will of God, to His fatherly providential orders for us. May the Lord grant you to keep this all the days of your life. Usually we don't like the narrow path. Give us breadth and space. Doesn't the Lord hear these cries? He hears, but does not want to change the structure of our life, because it would not be good for us. Our situation is so arranged that only cramped conditions keep us in the present order. As soon as we enter the latitude, we blur and perish. So cramped conditions reign on earth as the best situation for us. The apostolic mind sees in general, in cramped conditions and in special cramped cases, the fatherly love of God for us, and judges those who are in cramped conditions as sons close to God. Today's wise men cannot comprehend this word, and thereby plunge themselves into impenetrable darkness, seemingly stretched over our earthly life. Hence the pain, despondency, hopelessness, languor and suicide. The starting point of their darkness is that our last goal seems to be on earth. But she is not on earth. On earth, the beginning of life is its preparatory period, and real life will begin after death. And a special exceptional method of preparation is complacent patience of cramped conditions, hardships and sorrows. - Whoever looks, or will look at earthly life with such eyes, will not be killed, not seeing breadth and spaciousness in his life, but will be jealous of one thing, how to make tightness bear the best fruit, the tasting of which is delayed until the future life. The inventors of a gloomy view of real life are Buddhists. From Buddha. In our country it is currently being distributed by the white-hot L. Tolstoy, the madman of madmen. And the Germans have some kind of philosopher (I don’t remember his last name). This is the real end that they run into, relying only on their personal comprehension of the truth. God's truth about life abides on earth in all faiths and among all peoples. Non-believers are degenerates, the most unfortunate of the unfortunate! God bless you. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. December 15, 1893 Letter 187. About insensibility, divine contemplation, prayer, reading, food, etc. I undertake to answer you to your very informative letter. – I’m very glad that you are practicing what has already been prescribed to you. May God grant you not to retreat and not to go back. If you have taken the yoke, pull on, inspired by sure hope. There is a kingdom ahead; the door to the Kingdom is purity; All prescribed works and deeds are means to purify the heart. And it turns out that our immediate goal is the purification of the heart, and behind it is the Kingdom of God: for nothing unclean will enter there. This must certainly be kept in mind so as not to ruin your works by mixing something unclean into them. For example - to fast and be angry, to pray and to be highly intelligent; to do good to show humanity and the like. You take up work - “not always by desire, but more by compulsion.” This is the law - to resist yourself in the bad and force yourself to do the good. This is what the Lord’s words mean, that the kingdom of God is in need and the needy women delight it. Because of this, following the Lord is a yoke. If everything were done according to desire, what kind of yoke would there be in this? – In the end, however, it comes that everything is done willingly and easily. “A dull insensibility attacks you,” you feel like an automaton, “no thoughts, no feelings.” Such states sometimes occur as punishment for attempting something unkind with thought and sympathy; and sometimes as training, mainly as teaching humility, so that a person learns not to expect anything from his own strength, but everything from God alone. Several such experiences undermine self-confidence, but getting rid of hardship shows where help comes from and who you need to rely on in everything. This condition is difficult, but we must endure it with the thought that we are not worth better, that it is deserved. There are no remedies against it; its passing is in the will of God. However, we must stand and cry out to the Lord: Thy will be done! Have mercy! Make it easy! But do not succumb to any relaxation: for this is ruinous and harmful. “You are doing a good thing by grieving about this and trying in every possible way to free yourself from it. “But your fortune-telling that this will be eternal torment is incorrect.” - Eternal - both bliss and torment - are unimaginable and cannot be compared with anything that happens in this life. Both are immeasurably higher than everything else here. - At St. Fathers call such conditions coldness, dryness; and everyone considers them inevitable in life according to God: for without them we will soon become arrogant. The example of the divinely thought exercise you presented is the real deal. So go through all the truths of St. our faith - and strengthen them more firmly in thoughts and feelings. But this is only an initial preparatory lesson. The real use of the thought of God in life is the presentation of any truth of faith with corresponding feelings and intentions, without the movement of reasoning, as if it had already been completed once. - At St. The Fathers call it contemplation, which is the mind’s vision of truth with feelings. Take the trouble to reconsider all the truths, just as you reconsidered one. And then contemplate each revision more often, so that you don’t forget it. – When you review all the truths, then all you have to do is contemplate them. – The use of contemplation is this: in the morning, immediately after regaining full consciousness, after sleep, make a general overview of them, beginning with the eternal existence of the Trinitarian God and ending with the Last Judgment and the eternal participation of all, not quickly and not for a long time, but with attention. This can be done according to the creed. The entire totality of these truths is the structure of the mental, spiritual, divine world. By revising their consciousness, their consciousness is inserted into their structure and enters the spiritual world. This is in accordance with how, upon waking up, we enter into the structure of the external world around us, and consciously keep ourselves in it: the sun and sky above us, the elements, and all the creatures on earth around us, as well as family, neighbors, the state, with everything that happens in them. The latter happens involuntarily by itself, but you have to work hard on the former, although it is not too difficult. Being aware of these two worlds - the one contemplated mentally and the externally visible - in the mental one, receive guidance on how to rotate in the visible. – This is a general rule of contemplation! Particular: having finished the mental review, in the morning, you need to dwell on the subject that most influenced the feeling, and with it revive the spirit of prayer. When this is not the case, then let the revival of the spirit of prayer be a general reverent feeling for the entire structure of the spiritual Divine world. – Try not to leave a single morning without refreshing your inner being with such divinely-thought contemplation as you have the custom of refreshing your chambers by letting in the fresh morning air; and then spend the whole day feeling that, in addition to the visible, the invisible also overshadows and surrounds you, not without influence. Your prayer routines are good. May God grant you to keep them patiently and fruitfully. And that the children are right there, I think, is very good. And I don’t think it bothers them; on the contrary, I generally admit that it is pleasant for children to participate in common prayer. It occurs to me to say that it would be good to hold a common prayer at night, setting an hour for this that would be earlier than anyone else in the family goes to bed. However, do what is most convenient for you. We have a lot of prayers ready. They were not composed, but poured out from the hearts of the Saints, under the influence of some contemplation, or event or incident in life. He who reads them with attention enters into the same feelings that breathe in them, and thereby revives and creates a prayerful spirit in himself. To make this more convenient, it is good to think through the prayers chosen in advance with an understanding of the feelings hidden in them. It’s even better to memorize prayers so that you don’t need a prayer book, but always carry it in your soul, ready to open as soon as you need it. But, having learned to pray according to ready-made prayers, you must begin to pray little by little in your own word, according to your needs - spiritual or external. Spiritual needs, as soon as they awaken, immediately direct to God. The urge to turn to God sometimes happens without a specific need, but simply because of a thirst for God. To whatever extent and in whatever form this urge manifests itself, one should never leave it unsatisfied, but immediately turn to prayer, and pray in the position in which the urge is found: if while doing something, then pray at it; if while reading, then pray in the middle of it; if while walking, walk and pray. But of course it is better and more fruitful to stand in a prayer place and take a prayer position, if possible. – The more diligently these appeals to God are fulfilled, the more often they will appear, the longer they will last, and the deeper they will take root. Don't forget this point. This technique is the best for improving prayer. Prayer is the main thing in our work. Spare no effort mainly on this. If during prayer this urge arises, stop reading the prayer and pray according to this urge, with your word or without a word. God will see how earnestly you desire and seek prayer, and will give you prayer that will not be stopped. God bless you for this work! Regarding reading. – Reading for knowledge is one thing, but reading for edification is another. With the first, you read a lot, but with the second, you don’t need to read a lot, but as soon as something from what you read falls on your heart, stop and think, trying to both clarify and further deepen this thought into your heart. This is also turning this into an object of thought about God. This way you will feed the soul and grow it, and not fill it up like a sack. - There are no books. I'll send it to you. I have a few to give away. – Are you reading St. Tikhon? Good? No book can compare with his books. “Jealousy comes and goes.” This happens to everyone. When it becomes impoverished, cherish the intention and decision - to serve the Lord, remaining in pious order without concession, without laziness, without indulgence of the flesh. And it will pass. – Thought on God effectively restores jealousy, especially the memory of death and judgment... behold, behold, death. As soon as this thought falls completely on the heart, the heart cannot help but perk up. About food. Make it a law to leave the table a little hungry. The evil slave - the flesh - will feel that there is a powerful hand over it. And it’s wonderful that wine drinking has been stopped. This is the best way to ensure that your body is always cheerful, sober and fresh. This is a great thing! You think that in order to destroy the evil caused by 47 years of debauchery, you need to work just as hard in the good order of life. No: that's not true at all. Everything that is dirty is cleansed - by turning away from it and resisting it mercilessly towards oneself, with faith, hope and love for the Lord. There are these dispositions in such strength that in an instant everything is cleaned out. So it was with the thief on the cross. Today you will be with Me in Paradise, the Lord promised him. And nothing that is pure will enter heaven. – For others, however, this cleansing takes a long time, most of all from self-indulgence and concessions to one’s desires. It is a great mercy for you that you are happy with your wife and children. May they remain like this forever and always. - Whatever else you desire for your family life, commit it to the will of God, praying fervently, but expressing every readiness to accept everything that God deigns to send, even if it is not smooth. I can't say anything about what you are looking for. See for yourself what you're up to. But there is nothing to look at the feeling. The main thing is duty. – External debt – good service. But any service can be turned into a way of pleasing God, or the external can be performed in connection with the internal, sanctifying the former with the latter. May God grant your Leo the good fortune to pass the exam. God bless you all too. Your good friend E. Feofan. Letter 188. About your leadership, about your attitude towards the Molokans, grace and the Jesus Prayer I sent you books, but didn’t have time to write a letter. “I’m sitting down to write and I’ll tell you what you need in the course of your letter.” Stop calling me your leader and mentor and shepherd. I don’t undertake to be such a person for anyone; and when someone asks, I say what seems appropriate to me. Your plan to do something on the occasion of sending books is not suitable. I do not publish or sell my books; and publishers send me a certain number of published books to distribute. I distribute it to whomever I think is necessary. - If you do what you consider suitable for you, - and then bow to the many-sinful writer; that's all you can do. Have you read the path to salvation? - Good. And read it again sometime. Here everything that I have written is being written and will be written. These are my lessons from the Academy for students of St. Petersburg. The abstract has been revised from Fr. Archimandrite Ignatius - after the former bishop Brianchaninov, and approved by him. This was in 46–7 years. “You can’t do it without a leader,” you wrote. “The leader is a pillar on the road, and everyone has to walk the road themselves, and also look at their feet and to the sides.” Elder Paisiy Velichkovsky searched for a leader all his life and did not find one. But he lived in a group of two or three, and they were guided by mutual advice. I ask you to exclude me from this leadership. And see for yourself what to do with prayer and fatherly lessons. The instances of your self exploding are not important in themselves; but what is important is the spirit with which you do what you do. You yourself have already condemned him. And so it should be. Your action with the Molokan is more reproachful than others. – The communication that you are afraid of is not everyday, of course, and not friendly, but religious: not communicating in faith and sacraments, and prayers. Why did he come to you, you should have helped him. In the other two cases, you could have made a serious suggestion - and not to create dust. What excuses a lot is that, no matter how reasonably you interpret it, the Russian will not listen, but will listen to threats and pins. But this goes more to those in power than to private individuals. “I think that you will do well if, when you meet those people, you speak kindly to them, as if nothing had happened.” You can say: “I got a little angry then, I apologize. But this does not mean that I approve of your action: you did something wrong.” Tell the worker: “As soon as I notice that you killed your daughter, I’ll drive you away. Your sin is equal to murder." Is there any work for the girl in your rooms - sweep the room, wipe something, bring water and similar little things around the house. She would be under your wing. - Penance. When, while correcting the Jesus Prayer, the desire comes to pray in your own word, remember this and these exploits and pray with contrition, making three bows. So for several days, about a dozen. But it would be stronger if you confessed to your spiritual father, and he would prescribe something for you. Show some kindness to the Molokans, and stop shunning the Molokans. There is nothing to look for their friendship, and when you happen to be together, you should not frown at them. Otherwise, to act on them is to throw yourself in the mud. A word to the Guardian Angel: rejoice as you are forbidden to communicate, - of course - in the sacraments and beliefs and in prayers. St. Paul did not forbid the faithful to go to dinner with the pagans, and eat everything offered, even sacrificed to idols, commanding them to abstain from this latter only when they say: this is sacrificed to idols. – And the Molokans are far from the pagans in the matter of faith. “Your aversion to them is not good.” “We need to feel sorry for them and pray for them, and, on occasion, throw in a word or phrase into a normal conversation for the sake of understanding.” “I forgot to enclose the books for you to enlighten the Molokans.” I'll send it later. There is no sin in accepting tenants who are celibately cohabiting. But since this gives rise to some kind of temptation in one’s family, then one must somehow free oneself from them. “Some people are very kind and pious.” It’s a pity for such people: look, we have different teachings that are anti-marital and confusing. They play the harlot and do not lead with their ears. “You need a good mother-in-law... without grace this is impossible... grace is the share of the elect.” There's a misconception here. – No one is blessed with grace; it is given to all who come to the Lord; and the Savior says that He came to save sinners, and not the righteous. Grace is common to everyone, just take it... and access to it is open to everyone - and everyone can be saved if they want. The fault of non-salvation is not due to grace, but to our reluctance. Doing the Jesus Prayer is simple: become attentive in your heart before the face of the Lord and cry out to Him: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me! It’s not a matter of words, but of faith, contrition and surrender to the Lord. With these feelings you can stand before the Lord without words, and this will be prayer. You will find complete instructions about prayer in general, and about the Jesus Prayer, in the book “Invisible Warfare.” Read it there. – The fact that, having received the prayerful spirit under the influence of the Jesus Prayer, you begin to pray in your own word according to the urgent needs of a contrite heart, is very good and very fruitful for the creation of the spiritual. Please bring yourself to this point every time, but don’t strain yourself to compose a prayer, but let it pour out from your heart. This latter is the best way to unceasing prayer. God bless you and your whole family. Save yourself. Your good friend E. Feofan. Letter 189. About fasting, insensibility and various brief instructions Guilty! I haven't responded to your letter for so long. There is no need to write about anything in particular regarding the content of your letter. I will add a word of my own along the flow of your speech. We stayed in Voronezh, talked, and took communion. God bless! Shouldn’t you rather thank the Lord for coming into tenderness and contrition, and in such strength that you wished this for all people? This means the soul is alive, and grace has not departed. The fainting of your spirit that happens to you must have some meaning. You put fasting in all fasts. Wonderful. May God grant you to complete this properly. Be careful not to listen to the enemy, who will begin to dissuade you and present evil reasons. Did you have to fulfill what you wished for the Assumption Fast? I would really like you to do this. The matter itself may or may not be without damage. But it is important to stand your ground against the whisperings of the enemy. It was always the rule of the ancient fathers to have some kind of business that required labor in order to exercise one’s strength and experiment with struggle. The case accepted changed every year. It has already occurred to me to mention this to you and suggest that you try it. Maybe this would reduce your attacks of dryness and insensibility. - “What will they say?” – The enemy’s fear is where there is no fear. The remedy against this is: confidence in the rightness of the matter and its conformity with the will of God, and most of all, surrendering oneself and everything one’s own into the hands of God. Without this tradition, peace within is hardly possible. Returning home, we found between the parcels a book about. John. I'm happy for you, bother him more often. He, better than anyone, can show the way to everyday people how to stay before the face of God and remain in God’s order. “What to do with insensibility?” To endure, relentlessly observing all the established rules of a grace-filled life. I remember: at St. Macarius, Diodochos, and others, it is written that God first gives the soul, turning from sin to the path of pleasing God, to taste all the sweetness of this new life. But then he leaves the person alone, with his own strength. Grace either hides its effect or retreats. This is done in order to give a person a deeper conviction that he is alone without grace, and the ability to deeply humble himself both before himself and before God and before people. This is the meaning of your coldness and insensibility. – Therefore, as soon as it appears, resort to humility, saying: according to deeds; I am not worth grace, but mercy. - Observe; Perhaps you will find that before the onset of such a state, there are proud thoughts and feelings; and repent of them quickly. Do not abandon ordinary affairs - neither prayers, nor readings, nor anything else that you have. Cooling is God's penance. Question: “What to do if such a state comes when you need to take communion?” – still too much for you; because this doesn't happen to you. – And pray that it doesn’t happen. The merciful Lord will not allow it; but if he pleases. But if it happens, we must surrender ourselves with faith into the hands of the merciful Lord. Holy Communion reveals its power not from our dignity, but from the goodness of God. Readiness for worthy communion is confession of sins with a strong determination not to give in to sin and not to omit anything good that should be done. This determination and zeal is the root of life and the foundation. When this is present, the house for the Lord is ready. Thought of God – the general mood corrects and renews. It’s always good to bring it to the end, that is, to put yourself before God’s judgment, as if it were in reality, and then cry out: Lord have mercy! The Fathers write: the best way to stand during prayer is to stand in court. - From the thought of God, some object will lie closer to the heart than others. Then, after finishing this matter, you need to stop there and nourish yourself with it longer. This paves the way to unceasing prayer. Fear for the future is not a bad thing. The past is forgiven in repentance. His remaining traces are erased by fulfilling the commandments and deeds. The rebellion of something not good is not imputed if sympathy and consent are not given. In relation to him - behave strictly and be calm until everything is erased. – But what’s ahead? God alone knows; therefore we must surrender our fate into His hands. Fear for the future is useful because it supports cheerful self-care. The fathers have it: think that you are walking on a perch over an abyss, ready to stagger every minute. About this in the litany of petition: end the rest of the life in peace and repentance. But one should not lose hope, for there is a greater one who is in us (the Lord) than who is in the world (the enemy). Do you want to learn humility? But all life is a science of this. There is a feeling of powerlessness, fenced up behind, a lot ahead, malfunctions every minute. What other professors do you need? Look to the Lord, who humbled himself for us. Watch yourself from internal consent to anything unkind and everything will be good. Anger is a big enemy. In him the self, the root of all sinfulness, is seen and revealed in all its strength. You need to watch yourself and pray. You are embarrassed by your external situation, both the present and especially the future, not so much for yourself as for your family. - Cast your sorrow upon the Lord. And pray that he will arrange it like His saint. at will. Isn't your family God's? And doesn’t He provide for her, as he does for everyone else? - There is no sin in praying about this. Who taught us to cry in prayer: Give us our daily bread... He will not be offended when we cry for other things of life, however, committing everything to His holy will. – Family is a life’s cross for the head! - Be patient, submitting to the Lord, and doing everything on your part, surrendering everything to the will of God. The Molokans of today should be judged more leniently. – The instigators are to blame for everything; and these suck in heresy with their mother’s milk. I am sending the book against the Molokans in two copies: one - you can let it pass into the wrong hands. I had the other two - more spacious; but I don’t know; I gave it to someone, and now I don’t have it in my hands. Those are tough. Written by a student of a Molokan who converted to Orthodoxy, and he himself was Orthodox. Now he is an Athonite monk. This is Hieromonk Arseny. He also visited us in the Tambov diocese. We do not have books to clarify the perplexities that arise when reading the Gospels. There is a brief interpretation of the Gospels, Rev. Mikhail of Kursk - deceased, short. But it does not address puzzling questions. – Point out what is confusing. According to my strength, I will say that I will have to. But I don’t take on the burden of being a know-it-all, and what I don’t know, I’ll say this straight out. There’s no time to sit down and investigate. I have my own business, and it goes on as usual. I receive the news about St. Joseph with joy. Soon I will become his comrade in blindness. I have cataracts - my right eye has already closed. Now he’s getting ready to do the same with the left one, but for now he still has decent vision. The distance is only gradually closing. God bless your son Leo to prosper. May he remain faithful to the Emperor and the holy faith! God bless you and your whole family. Save yourself!!! Your good friend E. Feofan. P.S. You will find my bad card in books. - Here - the right eye is angry that it is being prevented from looking. Letter 190. About spiritual cooling and getting rid of it I've been late a lot. I apologize. Congratulations on your housewarming. Monastery - prayer; St. Tikhon - ready grace of God. Pray in the monastery and draw grace from this source. Thinking about your housewarming, I thought: this is your job - going to a service or services in a monastery. But then he decided, pointing out this, to leave this to your will and your choice. Because this may interfere with your home routine, not your everyday routine. My first letter was sent to the wrong place. I thought you were constantly cold, or dry and insensitive. But you don’t have this, but there is something that happens to everyone from time to time. Almost everyone who has written about spiritual life remembers this. St. Mark, the ascetic, exposes three enemies of this kind: ignorance with oblivion, laziness with negligence, and petrified insensibility. “Some kind of paralysis of all mental strength.” St. did not forget them in his short prayers. Chrysostom: “Deliver me from ignorance, oblivion, despondency (this is laziness with negligence) and petrified insensibility.” – The remedies indicated are not complex: endure and pray. Tolerate. It is possible that God Himself sends this to teach us not to rely on ourselves. – Sometimes we take on a lot and expect a lot from our efforts, techniques and works. So the Lord takes grace and leaves one, as if saying: “here, try to the best of your ability.” The more natural talents there are, the more necessary such training is. – Having realized this, we will endure. This is also sent as punishment - for outbursts of passions allowed, and not condemned, and not covered with repentance. These outbreaks are the same for the soul as for the body - bad food, which aggravates, or weakens, or dulls. It turns out that when you are dry, you need to look around to see if there was anything like that in your soul, and repent before the Lord and put forward to beware. Most of all this happens for anger, untruth, annoyance, condemnation. pride and the like. – Healing is the return of a state of grace again. As grace is in the will of God, it remains for us to pray for deliverance from this very dryness and from petrified insensibility. There are such lessons: do not abandon the usual prayer rule, but carry it out exactly, trying in every possible way so that the thought accompanies the words of the prayer, straining and stirring up the feeling. Let the feeling be a stone, but the thought will be: even if it is half, it will still be a prayer: for there must be a complete prayer with thought and feeling. If you are cold and insensitive, it will be difficult to hold the thought while saying the words of prayer, but it is still possible. You have to do it against yourself. This overexertion of oneself will be the means to bend the Lord to mercy and return grace. But you shouldn’t give up prayer. St. Macarius says: the Lord will see how sincerely we wish for the good of this... and he will send it. Send a prayer against cooling in your word before and after the rule, and in its continuation cry out to the Lord, as if presenting a dead soul before His face: Lord, see what it is like! But the word will heal. With the same word, and throughout the day, turn to the Lord often. Someone says: “put yourself in the state of dying.” Another adds: “even better, place yourself at the moment of judgment over you, when the final decision about you is ready to come from the mouth of God.” One cannot but agree that such techniques are really powerful - to soften a stony heart. I know one who keeps his prayer rule in a special way; namely: he left reading the prayers that were in the prayer books, and chose for himself several short prayers from psalm verses and appeals on litanies, which were more suitable for his condition, arranged them in his own way, and then, standing for prayer, he repeated each verse several times with attention and feeling. When everything is spoken to the Lord, the rule is over. - He assures that once he began to do this, attention does not wander throughout the continuation of the rule, and the feeling lasts. But of course it is not mechanical repetition that produces this, but the power of thoughts in verse. “He says: “I begin the rule by laying before me all my sins, the judgment, shame and condemnation that are ready for them, and I cry out for mercy.” - Apart from these poems, he no longer reads anything prayerful. You have a home prayer rule for the whole family. This holy work does not need to be changed or cancelled. But then you can keep a special one - just a rule for yourself, if you want, according to the specified model. And this is what I wanted to show you how things are going. If you decide, type some rhymes and the rule is ready. Going to church is the best way to open the spirit of prayer, in which the heart does not dare to harden. But you can hardly always use it. There are prayer books who pray the Jesus Prayer alone. But this is for the perfect; but for us beginners this unity of thought soon becomes boring. Therefore, the indicated method is better, diversifying the content of the prayer by indicating different spiritual needs. Meanwhile, the prayers are all addressed to the Lord. Therefore, the Jesus Prayer is in the spirit here too. Here is the word of St. Isaac the Syrian - in case of coldness and insensibility! “Do not be troubled by thoughts and do not give your hand to the soul in a relaxed manner, but be patient, read the books of teachers, force yourself to pray, and wait for help. She will come soon, and you won’t know it.” Page 490. Your good friend E. Feofan. October 22, 1888. Letter 191. House Rule of Short Prayers I am writing to you only to say that I have no time to write properly. Lots of things to do; and my head can be heavy. A good remedy for the illness that you wrote about in your last letter is to push yourself out of bed. You want rules. I wrote to you - take the small prayers of St. Chrysostom 24. – If it’s not enough, add from – God have mercy on me – verses from the beginning to – Give me the joy of salvation... This is another 12-13. From the litany of petition, compose prayers - 6. The day is complete... The angel is peaceful... - You can compose it yourself. - Mytar's voice: God be merciful to me a sinner. - The cry on the ship - Lord save us, we are perishing! Collect ten of them, three, four, five... Repeat them 10 times, and this will be your rule - morning and evening. When saying prayers, delve deeper into the meaning, applying it to yourself. The first fruit... you won’t notice how time passes. And you will see other fruits later. Your prayers that you prescribed are very good, but long. They can be inserted between the small ones, but not necessarily, and when they arrive. But most importantly, turn to the Savior with every spiritual need. Restore faith that He is near and hears. And express your need to Him. Do this more often and it will come. If you find it convenient, visit the church of God more often. Nowhere is the spirit of prayer revealed so much as in churches, with an attentive and reverent stay in them. If you do this, you will soon see the fruit, but not after the first and second visits to the church. We must spend months and show constancy and patience in this work. – But I’ll add here too: don’t tie yourself down. - If you bind with anything, hold on to it: for this determines the fruitfulness of such a seed. When you decide to get into the monastery, go there - to the inn - the old woman is a learned woman, but most importantly, she is familiar with the science of God. You can talk about everything with her better than with anyone else. But what an hour! Save yourself! Congratulations on your place! God bless! Pray and the Lord will not leave you. Your good friend E. Feofan. February 20, 1889. Letter 192. About small prayers, morning devotions and private subjects The protection of the Mother of God be upon you! We started praying short prayers and gave up. If they had not abandoned it, the matter would have gone far; and now start again again. Real prayer is that which comes straight from the heart and ascends to God. And no other prayer is a prayer if it is not like that. This is what our entire concern should be in the matter of prayer. But usually our mind is cluttered with many non-divine thoughts, our will with many worldly worries, our heart with sympathies and earthly pleasures; why is it that immediately ascending to God is the same for us as climbing out of a quagmire. – Small prayers are a very suitable means or aid for this. They train the mind to stick to one thing; Little by little they win sympathy over to their side and distract them from their worries. This effect is stronger and more likely to manifest itself, if not only on the rule, but also at other hours - watch them with attention. – The final fruit is the formation of a feeling for God, which is inseparable from unceasing prayer, or is one and the same with it. – Here there is a living union with God - the goal of spiritual life. – “Right from the moment you wake up there is a rapid influx of thoughts, deeds, and sympathies.” We must destroy this and acquire the skill of dedicating our first thoughts to God... This is accomplished by God-thought. This seems to be what was discussed. It is precisely - according to the Creed that one must go through - all the holy truths... until the universal judgment and the decision of the fate of all. If you please follow these two techniques, you will be fine. - Add only to this - to evade evil and do good... in word, deed and thought. - And the whole program is here. Write on a piece of paper and read it often: when you wake up - Thoughts of God; then short prayers with attention and feeling, and throughout the day: turn away from evil and do good; Do every task, even the smallest, in the best way, as before the eye of God. Hand pain is muscular rheumatism. I had it. Cured with an electromagnetic machine. Probably there is one in the city hospital. Give it a try. “My treatment lasted a month and a half, morning and evening. Electromagnetism was carried out to the place where the pain was. You can buy a car. – May the Lord arrange your family and work affairs in the best possible way. – I’ll send the 33rd Psalm when it comes out. – I did not think about the suffering of the Lord. This is not my work. – Writing notes and placing them on the relics of the Saint, it seems to me, means great pretentiousness. Doesn’t Saint Tikhon have the hearing to hear prayers to him? Your good friend E. Feofan. October 1, 1889. Letter 193. Encouragement to those on the path of salvation May the Lord bless the new summer for you too, so that, with health and good order inside, you will be successful in everything. Everything you wrote about yourself brought me great comfort. Follow this path firmly, and you will reach a good end. And the troubles in thoughts and feelings that you experience will all subside over time, if, despite them, you do not stop being jealous with all your zeal for the one thing that pleases God. To this end, there is one sure way - to have the memory of God and the memory of death. They will instill the fear of God, which will be both a motivator for everything pleasing to God and a turner away from everything that angers God, and a guardian of good things within, and a destroyer of everything bad that lies there. The memory of God sees the Lord before itself and in itself, and immediately notices evil arising from the heart and suppresses them. And that’s the whole point. Don't say I can't. This word is not Christian. Christian word: I can do everything. But not in itself, but about the Lord who strengthens us, as the Apostle assures. Of course, being established in the memory of God requires work. And take it on. For the first time, remember the Lord only 10 times a day; and in the end - that you will forget about Him in only ten moments; and finally the Sun of Truth, Christ the Lord, will shine on the firmament of your soul and will shine there, not dimming for a single moment. - Seek and you will find. God bless you! Your good friend E. Feofan. I am sending books: the 33rd Psalm and the 4th volume of the Philokalia. I wish you edification. Letter 194. When sending a book, various advice and instructions I am sending you the 5th volume of the Philokalia - the final one. This volume and the fourth can replace all books – ascetic ones. Please, be wise with God's help. I haven’t written to you for a long time, and I don’t know what’s going on with you. I believe, however, that everything is going well, both inside and outside. Thank the Lord! Even if something is not okay; but hearing the words of the Apostle, to give thanks in everything to Him who commands, let us give thanks for that too. For everything is from the Lord and is for our good. In your practice you encounter irregularities. Very natural: the truth is angular and knotty: it will catch this one, push this one. And those who do not like the truth consider it impolite and even an insult. - And the speeches began to be perky and absurd. - Lord, help you mother-in-law in the right way, without deviating from it due to any external respect. Of course it's not that nice; but for this reason the conscience is calm, and the mercy of the righteous God is close. God bless your children! I take comfort in what you write about them. The Lord apparently blesses your labors about them. May the protection of God be over you and over your entire family. Your good friend E. Feofan. November 11, 1890. This letter was written and not sent only because I did not have time to sew up the book. And then your letter arrived. According to the instructions of this letter, I find it necessary only to say about the prosecution of V. - that it is better to leave the matter without prosecution. After all, he has been punished. And he feels this punishment. And also about the frustration of your prayer. This is more important than V. I wrote to you about short prayers, and you replied that you typed them, as I indicated. “So, if you please, pray only these prayers in the morning and in the evening.” In the morning, read with full attention: “I rose from sleep...” and so on. thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity. Then, do those prayers, repeating each one at least three times (and if more, it doesn’t interfere) - slowly, all with thought and feeling. Conclude with appeals to all the saints whom you commemorate, and we commemorate our living and dead; and enough; Do the same at night, and sometimes during the day read everything at once, especially when you go somewhere. Nothing contributes more to gathering attention before the face of God than these short prayers. – Insert the Jesus Prayer into their midst, as you find convenient, after three and five prayers. Livny? “I studied at a theological school there, and my homeland is Chernavsk, between Livny and Yelets. God bless you. E.F. Letter 195. To the guardian of truth, complaining about his fall into untruth Guilty! I was overdue for an answer, but it was so badly needed. What you said about yourself is absolutely disgusting. I believe that when you wrote, you were in a gloomy mood, and you brightened it up a little. - But whether something has been added to your exploits, or everything is as you write, it is very comforting that you see this badness, feel disgust for it and long for correction. God bless such an undertaking! The point is very simple: the first thing is to stop all untruths - big and small - right down to the point of your stomach, even if you have to die, but do not deviate from the truth. – The second is to stop unnecessary self-indulgence in food, drink, entertainment, and the like. The third is to confess everything, with a firm determination not to go back, and to cheerfully walk the right path. You know that no apologies are allowed for deviations from the truth - and in general, especially in such persons as you - in the guardians of the truth. Equally, apologies have no power in matters contrary to the commandments, and in life without attention to oneself and to God, who sees everything and has to judge by what he sees. – How can you forget God?! You serve in works of righteousness. Truth is God's work. God has entrusted His work to you, and you are His servant, obligated to strictly conform to His will. You forgot about it. The enemy came up and convinced you that you are an independent manager in your area, as I want, as I do. “And you started to get into trouble in official matters, and then in family and moral matters. - Well, we came to our senses. - Stop! Someone else's prayer is not helpful in itself. It is attached to what is active, and without it it cannot do anything. Without this, God Himself will not do anything. Everything is from you. Get started. God bless. Everything will work out. The soul will calm down. And boldness will return to God. About your move to Voronezh, what kind of assistant and adviser I am. I can only wish you good decisions, and when you decide on something, pray and say: God bless you! May the Lord bless your children - the one who is at war and the one who is preparing for the same - and all the other children and your whole family. Above all, God bless you yourself - to correct everything that has gone wrong, and to begin a godly life again. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. October 28, 1891. Letter 196. Spiritual stimulants I haven't answered you for a long time. - Guilty; I beg your pardon. Then, when you wrote the letter, everything was fine with you, and you were in a joyful mood under the influence of your walking trip to Voronezh on a pilgrimage. – Do you see what strong determination and selflessness do? Labor is not labor. And at the end there is an unusually comforting state of the heart. At the core was self-compassion. Please love her, and do not let her go; ruthlessness builds the inner cross, and it gives co-crucifixion to Christ the Lord, for which the Lord will immediately reward with spiritual benefits, consolation and cheerful strength, ready for any work. This is the means to prevent and drive away lethargy of spirit, dryness and lifelessness. Always go against yourself and give yourself no rest, especially through bodily pleasure. Apart from this ruthlessness towards oneself, the most powerful spiritual stimulants are standing with attention in the presence of God and incessant aspiration - this is death. If God would allow these three points to be planted in your heart, then you would not need any lessons or reminders from the outside. Also find some task from a number of ascetic endeavors, which would, however, be difficult and associated with difficulties in fulfillment, and impose it on yourself as an urgent law, even if you die, you will do it. How beneficial would that be for uplifting the spirit?! You wrote: “You stand for an hour or two in prayer, but everything is lifeless in your soul.” - Why is this so? I think it’s because your attention at this time is focused only on standing still, and re-reading, and talking through what’s supposed to be said. You need to have this attention, but not keep it in front, but in 3rd and 5th place. The feeling of sin must come first. After that - death, trial and condemnation are about to happen. -Where should I hide? There is nowhere, in the bosom of only mercy: God be merciful... Under the shadow of the cross, Lord, tear away the handwriting of my sins on it. Before prayer, every time you conduct these feelings through your heart, it cannot remain sluggish. – One elder used to say that the most suitable place for prayer is to stand with attention at the court of God, waiting for the decision to be heard! We pray without such preparation - and prayer is no good at all. Another reason why it is such is that when we remember how good our prayer was a little earlier, we think that now it will be the same - we just have to become good, and everything will go well, but it won’t. Now we need to direct the matter. It’s nothing when they say we can’t fix it, we don’t try and it doesn’t get better. The Lord is near! And He never leaves those who sincerely seek Him. Your good friend E. Feofan. October 7, 1892 Letter 197. After instructions on insensibility and everyday needs, answers are given to questions: about entering the altar of a lay person, etc. At the beginning of your letter, you mention insensibility with the suppression of ordinary spiritual activities - and you state the reason for this. This reason is real, and since it is in your hands, we can advise you - go ahead and not let it appear on the stage and build your destructive batteries. You will get used to strict sedateness in speech and movements. The fear of God from the remembrance of God will teach. The three points that I pointed out to you lead to this. “But you, having remembered them, and realized their importance, and decided to try to install them in your heart, immediately give up, considering it impossible to succeed in this, due to the burden of everyday worries caused by difficult needs. – Needs and worries are truly ruinous for the spiritual order; but this destructive power of theirs can be cut off by surrendering oneself to the will of God. This does not mean that, with folded hands, sit and wait for what God will give, but come up with ways and put them into action, and leave the success of everything to God’s dispensation, without predetermining or building castles in the air, and standing ready to accept graciously whatever God pleases to send. You must have care, but to be tormented and tormented by the heart to the point of tearing it apart is a sin: for here there is no faith and hope, and obedience to God. “Then you place all the responsibility for planting the three points mentioned above in my heart on me.” – I always remember you in my prayers, but my prayer is only an aid, and not the main productive reason. This is in your hands. I suggested that you have some difficult spiritual task and always do it. – It can drive away all laziness, maintain energy and good spirits. – You are backing down again; but, thank God, the Guardian Angel led you to such a thing even before. It completely corresponds to what I had in mind. If you please, follow your prayer rules in the morning and evening. But do not lose complacency and do not allow yourself to become lazy, but on the contrary, keep faith that such work will result in a beneficial effect on your spiritual structure. The enemy will begin to attack to stop this work. Stop! And don't move. 1) Is it permissible for a layman to enter the altar, serve prosphora at the proskomedia and read his own commemoration. In our ancient churches, the altar on which the proskomedia was performed was located separately from the altar, on its left side, and with a special door from the real one. Laymen came and went through this door with prosphora and commemorations... Then, for convenience, they stopped making this partition; The custom of the laity themselves coming to the proskomedia remained. “That’s why I think it’s possible to do this.” The employees keep order. During the sacred rite, lay people do not need to stand in the altar. 2) Walk in ranks with sacred persons during the transfer of St. relics and going around the church with them should not be done. Yes, this is not done, except out of necessity. But they come from the side. 3) A tray of prosphora and blessed bread in church in front of everyone, embarrassed. For whom this is done, let him humble himself, and it is not convenient to reject it. We should make a general ban, but for now we must endure it. 4) A heretic or a heretic in a monastery - with such acts as you indicated - is impossible. If there is, you have done your job by notifying the Eminence, and remain calm. 1) Second divorce. If the reason is not in the wife, but in the husband, then I think we can work on it, but if it is in her, and she is only trying to persuade her husband to accept the blame, it is better not to touch on this. - Yes, I don’t know how the spiritual authorities should react to such a case? If your soul is disgusted, then you can give up the trouble - even if it’s not your wife’s fault. - But what should she do? Regarding your everyday situation, I have nothing to say except - cast your sorrow on the Lord. But you already stand firm in this hope, and stand. Until help comes, reduce expenses to the minimum and be patient. May the Lord look upon you with His mercy. God bless you and your whole family. Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. November 4, 92, November 8, 92 Letter 198. Answer to various disturbing thoughts to those seeking salvation Your letter brought me great consolation, assuring me that everything is going well for you in the work of God. May the Lord grant you to be more and more affirmed in what is good and to drive away what is bad. Your good state in prayer lets you know that the coldness and insensibility you experience do not constitute your fundamental mood, but are accidents that happen to everyone. They must be endured, pitied and prayed for deliverance, but no decisive conclusions should be drawn based on them. The same goes for good states - to give thanks, to pray for prolongation or not deprivation, and other times, but to make conclusions: it seems that a good mood is being established and do not do such things. For these states are fragile: they come and go. – What must always be present is the determination to please, and a living and active zeal for this. – You complain that you have started fasting, but you are not able to free yourself from vanities. As an example, give the fact that many come on business required by your service. - The affairs of service are not vanity; these are God's works. Just always do them for God, and not for anything else. Equally, in your family life you have a duty. Fulfilling it is not vanity. Just do such things with the consciousness that you are doing the will of God. - Vanity - matters of satisfying passions - are also unnecessary and useless. - Calculate and separate the vanity from the non-vanity in your life, and you will see that among them you can do the will of God every minute. Add: create them for the glory of God. So you will be a saint, or one seeking holiness. – It’s painful to think that not everything has been done regarding the matter of prayer. – This happens from the consciousness that it was not performed properly: thoughts ran away, unnecessary feelings came up, and worries about something. You must immediately repent of this, scold yourself and set the intention to be good. – We must try to acquire the skill of not considering the end of prayer the end of prayer, but even after that consider it a duty to be in prayer. This is fulfilled by remembering God, who never departs, with reverence, and by surrendering oneself to the will of God. Then you will feel in your soul that when you leave prayer, you are not leaving prayer, but only changing one form of it to another. The urge for solitude and silence, and even the impulses you experience, are not of good quality. Therefore, it is better to drive them away, and put them in their place, or create in the soul a desire for work - to overwork oneself. “You have privacy from time to time, and that’s enough.” At all other times, try to retire to your heart and there establish your consciousness before the face of God: what walking before God is. – Your irritability, sometimes capricious, will pass as soon as you get used to walking in the presence of God, under the all-seeing eye of God. She's out of pride. Humility will drive it away, as well as the consciousness that one must spread goodness around oneself. – Regarding – V. can be content with the fact that in your soul you have sincerely made peace with him and wish for peace in your conversion. It is better to stop seeking reconciliation in word and deed: otherwise his rage will deepen and destroy him. Look for an opportunity to do him some kindness without his knowledge. Having learned about it after it was committed, he will soon come to his senses. However, do as you do, that is, when meeting, try to maintain peace in your soul, and pass without touching it, and only praying for it I will remember Elizabeth. May God grant Michael health. May the Lord rest your souls and your relatives. God bless you! Save yourself! E. Feofan. December 13, 1892 Letter 199. Encouragement for someone who feels powerless due to sin. Advice to arrange evening edifying readings I have before me two of your unanswered letters, denunciations of my laziness. I apologize for being so careless in my answers. Your next letter - from Genvar - is evidence of God’s great mercy towards you in the way He directed your thoughts on the occasion of the triumph of your alma mater. Here is a simple list of what has been lived, but as a repentant feeling flows through it all, then in the grace-filled order of life the cleansing of everything ill-acquired is accomplished. Give thanks to the Lord, who made a revolution in your life and keeps you on this true path. – Heartfelt contrition and merciless self-accusation always suit us, but we must not forget about measures. You go beyond what is proper when you use such speech: “hopeless melancholy torments you from sinfulness, you feel the impossibility of being saved,” and the like. – The feeling of powerlessness to save yourself is in the order of things, but the hopelessness of salvation should be thrown out of the Christian vocabulary. For we have the Lord the Savior, who cares about our salvation, and who in every possible way disposes and strengthens us for this. There is no need to say that, the enemy will overhear and begin building his batteries at these points. Go ahead and shoot back then. The lives of the saints are inspiring and encourage imitation, but only to the best of one’s ability. It is good, however, to borrow condemnation and humility from this. The books you send to the Leo warrior go well. They are suitable for everyone. I will send you others to replace those sent. The beautiful servant of God Alexandra expressed her good thoughts and feelings in poetry. May God grant her to prosper and move from thoughts and feelings to deeds. The next letter is from December. Before the holiday, they fasted and took communion: a good deed. – And then holiday consolations. Nothing, I think, only in moderation and with thanksgiving! The description of your evening meetings - modest and quiet - gave me the idea to suggest to you whether there might be an opportunity to introduce into them, during ordinary conversations, reading, both spiritual and secular in content, but always practical, but not boring. I don’t know how to arrange this, but think about it and come up with an idea. A singer is needed here. Be it. But it would be better if there was a beauty - a venerable one... What to want? Do you read the stories anywhere? When you come across something edifying and interesting, remember it well, and on occasion, when those gathered have spoken enough and become quiet, raise your voice. What an interesting fairy tale I read, etc. Once like this, another and a third time, they will always expect some kind of fairy tale from you. Then you can raise your speech, yes - what? that I'm telling you everything. Let's make sure that anyone who reads something interesting should tell everyone or read it here - and things will go well. Remember, I mentioned the book to you - cases from legal practice. I'll send it to you. There are some interesting ones there. And here's what else - the Athonite monks in Moscow publish under the title Soulful Interlocutor, 12 issues a year, each with two pages - the price is a ruble with postage. Write it down, there will be something to keep the community busy. God bless you! E. Feofan. February 26, 1893. Letter 200. Various short reviews and instructions. Strong hope befitting the repentant, the enemy's vengeance on the repentant Guilty! Please excuse me and forgive me. I kept meaning to write, but didn’t get around to it until your second letter. Thank you for writing, despite my fault. I congratulate you on the triumph of victory over those who did not favor the manifestations of the attention of the Mother of God to the Zadontsy through her Vladimir icon. And your lord did well by ordering an investigation, which, thank God! - led to the desired end. Now celebrate again with your assholes. May the Protection of the Mother of God be established over you forever! It's good to hear that N was kicked out. Heretic?!! Why should she be a heretic? She’s just a blabbermouth, and those who she had influence on were bastards. That you had to be vain and pompous about this is, of course, disapproving, but it’s good that you saw it, condemned it, and repent. The Lord sees this and forgives. That we fell into insensibility and coldness is a direct consequence of self-aggrandizement and complacency. This consequence is like a punishment, like a drunkard having a headache in the morning. Now you're getting better. May God help you get better. – And do according to the proverb: The whip is not torment, but forward is science. The story was true (your letter was received on June 30). May this be for your good! While traveling, you should do everything possible from your deeds of piety, without indulgence to yourself, and although you regret, do not be embarrassed when you do not find the opportunity to do everything. You can walk and sit and say prayers that you know by heart, and perform others, or replace them with the Jesus Prayer. I am very sorry about the moral and religious matter in the N. family, and together with you I am ready to shout: o tempora! o more! Orthodox Rus' is dying! The enemy found an entrance to our herd, and everything went upside down. Regarding your son Raphael, there is nothing more to do except what you did, explained to him and kindly, now add a prayer. Apart from father and mother, who can pray more earnestly for the children? And try to get this advantage over others. It’s good that you look after yourself, and when you encounter problems, you grieve about it and have jealousy to eliminate it. What more can be said about this? - Search and search; for if you seek diligently, you will certainly find. Never leave yourself to the mercy of the course of affairs, at random! No! Take good care of yourself, and act on yourself according to what you see in yourself; affirm the good, suppress and eradicate the bad. We have a Savior, Who cares only about our salvation. Call, he will hear! And he will say: I want, be cleansed. - From comparisons, you do not resemble the fig tree, like all of us, which is cursed, but the one that is left for another year. This is encouraging, because it gives enough time to improve the matter. And take advantage of that. Report to your friend N. that as long as there is breath in the nostrils, the hope of salvation exists and can be crowned with success. One has only to come to the Savior. And He will never miss the one coming to Him. No matter how many sins there are and no matter how great they are, the Lord will forgive everything to the one who repents and sincerely decides not to indulge himself anymore, but on the contrary to stand kindly, even if it means death. If you lack such trust in the Savior, you must pray to Him, and He will give it. How others look at Him is nothing to pay attention to, even if it really happened and not just dreamily. Let him know that whoever has sincerely repented and received permission from the Lord through the spiritual father in the sacrament, and then has actually entered on the good path and follows it, the Lord looks favorably on him, not remembering his previous dishonesty. - Why he himself, no matter how sinful he was before, can boldly look into the eyes of God and be comforted by His favor, not because of any insolence, but because of the promise of the Savior. Let St. He imitates Paul, who says: My conscience is judged by another conscience (1 Cor. 10:29)? And in another place: - this praise is ours - a testimony of our conscience, as in simplicity and purity... we live in the world (2 Cor. 1:12). Since there is such a testimony before the face of God, may your friend abide without any confusion. As for what he imagines, how indifferent he is to it, let him remain so. But let him pray and the Lord will deliver him from such a vision. For it happens that the enemy builds such things in order to deprive someone of peace who has turned away from him and no longer serves him. The enemy takes revenge. About your transfer to Voronezh, decide for yourself, as you know. I think, however, that you should decide on this when the door opens for leaving one place and entering another. But you shouldn’t act together and start a pool. Act on your own. And may God bless your friendship, independent of anything external, and the deeds of each of you, as His holy will pleases. God bless you! Save yourself! E. Feofan. I am sending books and samples. July 2, 93, July 5, 93 Letter 201. Contentment with the present, caring for children. Different places and faces. Athos leaflets and the Soulful Interlocutor I am very glad that your illnesses have improved. This is the fruit of your spiritual excitement. May the Lord remove your infirmities, both physical and spiritual. This is how it is better - to live in the order that God sent, without going into riddles. When new paths of life open up by themselves, it’s as if God is calling. And it’s always better to be patiently content with the given than to rush into the unknown. Children care. This is God's burden. He is the guardian of everyone. And the executors of His care are the first parents, then everyone else, somehow directing the course of business. It's a pity! You are right when you say that just like that, they will be swept away if you let them into the environment of walking life. Village and labor - what golden leaders. God bless the justice of your neighbor. May the Lord strengthen him and keep himself this way forever. We were in Yelets. This is my county town. My homeland is Chernavsk - an old city. In Voronezh there is Chernavskaya Street. This is the road to my Chernavsk. Father John Vukolov is a matchmaker. In the same church there is another priest - a nephew, married to the niece of Fr. John. What drew you to Yelets?! The leaf gave you a good lesson about patience. The area of ​​patience is wide. There is no need to look: there is enough of it under everyone’s feet and on their shoulders. May God grant you peace of mind. You mentioned the leaflet. This is Athos. The people of Athos publish: Soulful Interlocutor – two sheets per month. And sometimes such leaflets are sent out to them as a blessing. I would write it out, it costs 1 rub. with delivery. Athos Chapel in Moscow, on Nikolskaya. - Lots of edifying things! God bless you! Watch how dangerously you walk. Look into your heart, and don’t let anything unkind go there. Your good friend E. Feofan. August 15, 1893. Letter 202. About the fate of those killed on Rusalka. Our fraternization with the French. Fear of future poverty You were struck by the fate of the Mermaid and those who were on her. Who didn't she impress?! Everyone is amazed, and most of all the Emperor. But don’t we have the opportunity to find consolation in the promises of Christianity?! It seems we have. It is not the death of the ship that is terrifying, but the fate of those on it. Let us begin to measure this fate in relation to the eternal fate. This is the main thing. What was the situation of all these people? In the position of doing their duty. Is military duty in God's ranks? Determined by God and rewarded by God? Yes! Is naval warfare different from land warfare? Yes! And I think it should be placed a little in front and higher. Now judge - people who were doing their duty were suddenly captured by death and departed to another life. How will they be greeted there? Of course, without reproach, and at the same time as performers of their duty. The Lord says: whatever I find you in, that is what I judge. That is how they will be judged, that is, as performers of their duty. - Those who do their duty will be given a good sentence. Now put this solution with that question. Why do we live? We live so that, having lived here, in the next world we will meet a good sentence and a corresponding fate. Don't you see that those who left us on Rusalka do not lose anything in relation to the main goal of our existence? - And be comforted! Add to this, was their death sweet or painful? I think that only great martyrs experienced such torment. Although it was short-lived, its measures cannot be determined. Why did they suffer this torment? For the fulfillment of duty. This is how all the martyrs endured, and therefore those who died due to the crash of the “Rusalka” should be counted among the host of martyrs. I do not hesitate to decide that just as the thief from the cross went straight to heaven, so did they. “I would like all the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and wives of those who died then to read these lines, believe their truth, and be comforted. I honor their death, in relation to eternal salvation, better than the death of all who died at that time, being surrounded by relatives and friends. – May the Lord rest their souls in the kingdom of heaven!!! – Your second point; as if we had not received salvation from God’s truth for our fraternization with the French in Toulon, Paris and throughout France. If this fraternization concerned the matter of faith and salvation, then one might be afraid of this, but if this aspect is not meant in this regard, then your fear is in vain. We fraternize in order to protect ourselves from ruin by nations hostile to us, and thereby make it possible to achieve our salvation - in the midst of a peaceful existence. – The fear of being infected by the bad sides of the French is also not appropriate. Our sailors are a speck of dust there. Even if it were possible to become infected with all of them, it could not be dangerous for all of our people. And there’s no time to get infected?! Seven to eight days!!! The infection can and does go another way. We must pray earnestly to stop its progress! - And oohing and aahing - what a fruit! From these events, move on to yourself and build a gloomy picture of your future. But why gloomy? There is still bread, and thank God! And what lies ahead, here is our answer: God will give the day, He will also give food. Have hope and do your work in silence. You can’t help but worry when asking: what’s tomorrow? But you can’t reassure yourself with anything other than: God’s will be done. - The Apostle says: let us hunger and be satisfied. Let it be as the Lord commands. Whether God sends you enough or poverty, everything will undoubtedly be in the form of our salvation, and for it to be so, this is from our acceptance of everything we encounter. God bless you all! E. Feofan. November 1, 1893. Letter 203. The most important thing is to guard the heart in attention to God. The torment of a Leo in love and the cold water for him I have sinned greatly against you: I ask you to forgive and forgive me. How wonderfully your life’s work is going! May the Lord bless and strengthen you! Don't worry about more - and that's enough. And the work of salvation requires not the main thing, but the disposition of the heart. When the heart is filled with good dispositions, then godly activities stand without deeds. Watch your heart and do not allow anything unclean, anything wrong, or anything unloving to enter there. In other churches, wherever you look, candles are burning: so when the heart harbors good dispositions, it is full of brightly burning candles, visible from the sky, and attracting Divine favor. The rule of praying in small prayers was then invented in order to accustom one’s attention to stand on one thing, or to be in the memory of God, or to walk in the presence of God. Right from waking up, you should try to stand before God; repeating short prayers will deepen this state and strengthen it. That's the main thing. When attention is in God, then inevitably all things will go according to God. Closely related to attention to God is the fear of God, which is the source of all that is good and the repellent of all that is bad. Having strengthened, he forms a reverent disposition. Take care of this character and everything will go well. “When God gives it, and he will give it when you earnestly seek it, then you will not complain that another verse was left unsaid, or a bow was not given, for then you will have what you are looking for through the labors of prayer. Leo fell in love; love turned out to be hopeless; and he is suffering. - Well, Leo!! and not just a simple lion, but an officer’s lion?! Commands the other - to the right! - and he himself reaches to the left. I would command myself: turn to the right, and march, march. What's the point? If there was hope, one might wisely wait; Otherwise, there’s no point in waiting for something that you won’t, and certainly won’t, wait for! This is not love, but a heart disease - an evil one, which the enemy attaches to and inflates. Passion blinds, and the enemy allows fog. And a person suffers, and the wonder is that he wants to suffer, and does not want to leave the torment behind. - And this is nonsense. - But what can we do? No way. Command yourself: don’t squeak, I’ll crush your head, and then stop thinking about it, - throw away everything that reminds you, - look for spots on this sun, - and look at them more. This is quite cold water to cool the heart, especially if hopelessness depends on it. Will pass; will fly, but not stingingly. I was not yet 20 years old when I experienced this again. “But he gave the command, and it took a turn.” There were fits, but they endured it: because they had another goal in mind. It would be nice to have something on hand. If it doesn't exist, invent it. - Move stones in the mountain. God bless you and everyone - and all your deeds! Save yourself! Your good friend E. Feofan. July 20, 1892. You might be interested in: