Letters on humility, self-reproach and patience of sorrows

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V-na! Your intention in wanting salvation and seeking guidance for this is commendable, as our holy fathers, who have actually experienced spiritual life, teach us. You entrust this responsibility to me. But no matter how laudable your desire is, it is so difficult on my part to fulfill it. Having no ability for such work and not seeing spiritual fruits in myself, what can I teach others? This very often exposes me, and, being contained within the boundaries of my unreason, makes me see my insignificance. The words of our Savior: “to the doctor, heal yourself” (Luke 4:23) and “if a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14) frighten me quite a bit. My habit of engaging in unnecessary conversations and judgments, perhaps often incorrect, but not understood by many, gives reason to think about me what I do not have - and to seek spiritual benefit through me. Even though I should deny this, but, being so weak in my character, I cannot refuse, and with the feeling of my unreason, I enter into their position, I offer from the word of God and from the teaching of the holy fathers; and when someone receives spiritual benefit, this happens through the action of God’s grace, not according to my dignity, but according to their faith, bestowed upon them. I wrote this to you, although to show my insignificance, however in a completely small form, and the reason why some people think something about me, and so that you know that I cannot do anything on my own. Your verbal and written request convinces me to look not for my own people, but for my neighbor; and, forgetting my own badness, due to the weakness of my character, I do not dare refuse your request; I do not rely on my own reason, but on God, who admonishes the dumb, for the benefit of his rational creation, and the redeemed by the blood of the Son of His Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to your faith, through the prayers of my spiritual father, is able to enlighten the blind, show the path or warn against the rapids found along this path; I just ask you to add your prayers to help in this high and important undertaking. Due to the poverty of my mind, do not seek eloquence; and if I write or say anything, not from my deeds and not from my mind, but from Scripture and the teachings of the holy fathers, what the Lord will give to my darkened mind for your benefit, suggesting, in the words of Saint John Climacus, “that some, having walked the path and fallen into the mud, warn others so that they are afraid and do not become dirty with the same mud and dirt; and through this deliverance they too will receive forgiveness of their sins” 2. I cannot systematically expound to you the teachings of the Holy Fathers; but as it happens, seeing your spiritual structure, I admonish God, according to your faith: for “without Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5), and, calling on Him for help, I answer you: having read your scripture, I see that after the delusion of your ardent youth and ignorance of yours, preserving you to God, tired of the slavery of passions, they came to their senses and began to seek peace in God, ran to Him, asked and sought with faith, and He, according to His false promise: “Ask and it will be given to you: seek and you will find: press and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7), did not despise your prayer, turned all these ghosts and shadows into nothing and showed you the vanity and insignificance of our desires, in which we believe to find the height of bliss, we are intoxicated being a passion. How pitiful are people, most of whom are carried away by the stormy waves of the passionate sea, and rush around controlled by their minds, without finding the truth. The strong excitement and distress of drowning forces them to cry out: Lord, save us, we are perishing! This is how they receive salvation. Sorrows, sorrows and illnesses separate peace-loving people from the pleasures and love of the world and make them servants of God and true Christians. You have experienced this yourself, after suffering temptation: now you see yourself free and completely independent of anyone except God; Shouldn’t you, for such His providence, silently thank God that He, although through sorrowful adventures, delivered you from the vanity of vanities? And again, don’t cling to the vanity. If you had happened to be married, would not the sorrows awaiting you and more than those that have passed? These have passed, and you are now free; otherwise they would just begin, but there would be no end to them. You can see this in many parties, in many respects: in painful disagreement, in the bad morality of the other half, the troubles of raising children, their bad morality or unhappy fate, disputes, litigation over estates, imitation of the world in fashion and lifestyle; and it is impossible to count everything that could happen to you that would lead you away from fulfilling the commandments of God; but the most merciful Lord freed you from all this, having foreseen something better about you. “What shall we repay to the Lord for this, even as we have repaid? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord” (Ps. 116:3–4)! There are many people in the world who are attached to him and bear his responsibilities; let them go their own way, and they are under the providence of God; We are silent about them; but I am speaking about you, seeing the providence of God, destining a different path for you. Having turned to God, you wanted to join the monastery, but you were advised against it, and therefore it is clear that it was not yet at that time, and your entry at that time could not have been lasting and useful for you. You, having retired from worldly pleasures and the vanities of the world, did not abandon the intention of joining a monastery, and the true desire to please God in you does not change, for which your prayer is always offered to God. You were calmed down, but on the unsteady foundation of your spiritual structure, your calmness was shaken by arrogance. The saving thought - to leave the world and enter a monastery for the sake of pleasing God and salvation - flashed in you, illuminated your heart and disappeared, extinguished by arrogance; Have you imagined: what will you bring to God? You do all this not out of love for Him, but without finding happiness in the world. To this I will tell you: pride and arrogance did not allow the publican to cry out to the Lord with humility, or, in the likeness of a harlot, to fall at the feet of the Savior; but, with their truth, they advised you to come to Him following the example of the Pharisee. But what is humbler is firmer and more durable; and love itself is firmly connected with humility, which God looks upon. Love is proven by fulfilling the commandments of God with humility, which lies in the number of them. Who had more love for God than the saints? - But they all considered themselves to be nothing and the worst of all, always seeing their own shortcomings; and the closer they approached God, the less they thought about themselves. Many of them began from fear, came to hope and reached love. The Lord calls people to Himself by various means: misfortunes, troubles, sorrows, illnesses and others, without which they could not turn and be worthy - accepted to be among the children of the heavenly Father. The Prodigal Son, having experienced deprivation of wealth, feeling grief, came to the Father and asked to be accepted as one hired servant: he did not do this out of love, but was accepted by the Father with love (Luke 15). The fig tree, which does not bear fruit, has formed an unrepentant sinner, and the command has already been given to visit it, exercise the whole earth; but the gardener begged the master to wait another summer, until it was sprinkled with pus (manure), maybe it would bear fruit (Luke 13:6-9). This means visiting with sorrows, or illnesses, through which the sinner turns to God. Saint Ephraim the Syrian introduced in the parable “slaves sent from the master to work in the field; but, out of laziness, they did not want to cross the river, but lay down and slept carelessly; the master, having come to them and seeing them without action, ordered his servants to transport them sleepy to the other side of the river and put each one in his own area; some, waking up and seeing themselves transported, recognized the master’s condescension and began to work; and others, careless, even with such condescension did not want to fulfill the will of the master.” Saint John Climacus writes that some came to the doctor’s hospital not for healing, but, being restrained by the doctor’s kindness, they realized that they had a disease in their own eyes and received healing from him 3 . Also: a seed that accidentally fell to the ground bore abundant fruit. These examples can assure you that God accepts everyone who comes to Him in any way, only with good intentions and who rest their hope of salvation not on their own truth, but on God’s mercy. Although from the history of the lives of the holy fathers we see that some, inflamed by the love of God, left the world and, having retired, accomplished great feats: but we also see that robbers, fornicators and other sinners were not rejected by God and received salvation. Monastic life frightens you: you will accept greater punishment for failure to observe your labors. Feats must be proportionate to the strength of each: God does not demand beyond measure, but seeks the fulfillment of His commandments, which heal our passions; and most of all he demands from us humility, which, apart from deeds, forgives many sins; but on the contrary, deeds without humility bring no benefit, writes Saint Isaac the Syrian 4. Saint Mark the Ascetic writes in the 109th chapter: “In deeds, words, and thoughts, the righteous is One; from faith, and grace, and repentance, many righteous women.” So, one should not be afraid of this (powerlessness), but trust in God and His help. The monastic life seemed to you to be just as vain as the worldly life, and therefore you found solitude alone to be the sure way to overcome passions and please God. Now, although you live calmly in your estate, you are in double-mindedness, not understanding whether you are on the true path, and fear takes possession of you, lest your soul perish, and this causes your spirit to be troubled. To this I answer you: your solitary life cannot bring you any benefit, but it is even dangerous from the inaction of the commandments of God and the hidden passions that lie within, which we learn from communicating with like-minded people; and having come to know them, we try, with the help of God, to eradicate through struggle, which was enough verbally spoken to you, and you yourself, reading the books of the holy fathers, see the futility of solitude and the benefit of community; I won’t expand on this anymore. I by no means force you to go to the monastery, but I leave it to your feelings, and especially to the calling of God. As for your fear of suffering heroic deeds; then this is the enemy’s custom of intimidating the soldiers of Christ even before entering battle. And there is also his intrigue: he tries to seduce with temporary blessings, he is ready to present the whole world to him, just to divert him from the work of the Lord. He dared even to the Savior Himself to present the entire kingdom of this world, in an hour of time, demanding worship for himself; but he was put to shame, the accursed one (Matthew 4:8–10)! And you despise his machinations, but surrender to the will of God and do not resist God’s calling. You only have external shackles; you can always throw them off. The vanity of a monastery is very different from that of the world: there it is out of necessity, but in the world it is for whim and luxury. You mentioned in your writing that God does not require more from a person than to fulfill the duties of the title in which he was born, which, according to your understanding, you try to fulfill without reproach of conscience. Since this point is not unimportant, it is necessary to think about it better. This duty consists of fulfilling the commandments of God, according to the vow we made in baptism, no matter what rank one may hold; but in fulfilling them we are faced with resistance from the enemy of the human race - the devil, as the holy Apostles write about; Saint Peter: “Your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walks around looking for someone to devour. Resist him in the firmament by faith" (1 Pet. 5:8-9), St. Paul: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers, [and] against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). You see what kind of invisible war we have: he always tries to fight the Christian race by actions contrary to the commandments of God, through our passions; To this end, his main weapons are passions: love of fame, voluptuousness and love of money. Having been defeated by these, or by one of them, we give other passions free entry to act in our hearts. From your understanding it is clear that you do not have a perfect understanding and not so much caution about this battle or resistance; but only your effort, without reproach of conscience, to fulfill your duty; but they did not penetrate into this, as they should, into what it consists of. If you fulfilled all your duty without reproach of conscience, or better yet, without humility, then there would be no benefit. Our opponent has two means by which he brings people to the wrath of God: first, to plunge them into vices; and the second, when he does not have time to do this, then into pride, that is, into the opinion about ourselves that we are doing the will of God, and with this it approaches very subtly - it does not suddenly blind with pride, “but convinces them to impute that they are doing virtue, and plunges into their hearts the seed of a joyful opinion; from him, having matured, an inner Pharisee is brought up, which, day by day, multiplying and growing, betrays such people to complete pride and delusion, for which God allows them to be betrayed into the power of Satan.” This is the reasoning of one inspired man and great elder of Moldova 5. Saint John Climacus also writes: “That sometimes all vices leave a person, leaving one - pride, which is able to replace and complement the others” 6. In such and such a battle or spiritual war, you certainly need a weapon against which the enemy’s strength cannot withstand. What kind of weapon is this? - Holy humility. How to achieve it? There are different ways to acquire it. First: fulfilling the commandments of God, among which is this: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of them is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, for we are unworthy servants; “And learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart: and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Second: knowledge of your weaknesses. Saint Isaac the Syrian writes in 61 words: “Blessed is the man who knows his weakness; for this knowledge is the foundation, the root, and the beginning of all goodness. However, no one can feel his weakness if he is not allowed to be tempted to be, tiring the body or soul. And the righteous, not recognizing his weakness, has things on the razor’s edge (is in danger), and in no way retreated from the fall, lower from the corrupting lion, I say the demon of pride.” And again: “Those who do not recognize their weakness become impoverished from humility; become impoverished because of this, and because of this you are poor because of perfection; and the one who becomes impoverished because of this is always afraid to eat (is in fear).” In the 58th word: “Although there is a certain case of sin creeping in, obviously there are natural infirmities, for the benefit of the soul God allowed the soul to be susceptible to the existence of passions, since I saw that it would not be established before the second rebirth (resurrection). Even being attentive to the existence of passions (that is, being overcome by passions) is useful for the slaughter (to root) of conscience; and to remain in these (passions) is shameless and shameless.” Third: the memory of our past sins crushes the heart and humbles the soul. Fourth: “From obedience comes humility,” writes Saint John Climacus in the 4th degree, “from humility comes reasoning, from reasoning comes consideration, from this comes insight.” And Saint Cassian in his word to Leontin the Abbot: “True reasoning does not come unless it is from true humility, which is acquired, not only what we do, but also what we think, what we reveal to the Father, and what we believe in nothing of our own thoughts, but let us follow in all the words of the elder, and let us also believe in goodness, even if they tempt us.” 7 Fifth: careful permission from God's Providence to fall into passions, in order to more deeply feel one's vileness, to humble oneself, and to have in mind that one is the worst of all creatures; what is St. Gregory of Sinaiti writes in chapter 117: “Unless a person is abandoned and defeated, and possessed, having become enslaved to every passion and thought, and conquering in spirit, and not finding help from works, neither from God nor from anyone else, as if it is not enough and not in despair for him to come to the temptation of everyone: he cannot be crushed and have himself the least of all, and the last and the slave of all and the most demons most inconceivable, as if it were tormented and defeated. And this is a watchful providential punitive humility, through which the second and highest from God is given.” Constant self-reproach also serves to acquire humility. You see from this reasoning that it is very dangerous to follow the path of virtues without humility, arrogantly. There are many examples, both ancient and modern, who fell into delusion from this. From which may the Lord deliver us and you with His mercy. And with my meager understanding, the more we consider your mental structure, the more the pride that is there is revealed, which is confirmed by your own consciousness. How destructive and dazzling it is, you have many proofs from the writings of St. fathers and from their experience. But how do you admit that you are possessed by this illness; and although the blindness is so great that instead of a useful medicine you apply plasters that are harmful and more upsetting to the ulcers: however, your good will gives hope that, with the help of God, you will receive healing for this ailment: in which you should not despair. I consider these actions harmful to you: testing the reason of the Scriptures, hidden and unknown to us; for before the time, knowing them harms us, and before doing the first, it is not useful to know the second, but through labor and fulfillment of the commandments that we understand, God will reveal other things that we do not understand. And if you learn the whole mind of the Scriptures ahead of time, then, having become proud, the mind will neglect the deed and will lose everything. What is quickly and easily acquired is quickly lost and lost. Not wanting to be convinced that it is necessary for us to struggle with passions, and also to consider this as oppression of humanity is obvious pride and fight against God: we dare to bring judgment on God Himself. When passions do not fight us, then we comfortably become proud, not seeing any vices behind us, and the desire to quickly overcome passions is madness that comes from pride. The demand for reward, out of duty, for one’s merits and for the struggle with passions, and not the expectation of God’s mercy, is more vile than Pharisaic pride. Deeds against passions are only painful when we go through them proudly and arrogantly, and when we humbly call on God’s help and attribute corrections to it, then they become bearable. “For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30), said the Savior. As we go through spiritual life and are overcome by passions, we should not become faint-hearted, but become more strengthened in faith. A warrior in war is then skilled, i.e. comes to the knowledge of military science when he makes mistakes many times and is wounded; but the first admonishes him, and for the second he receives rewards. However, he can learn military science more than once. Moreover, spiritual life requires learning and a lot of time. Likewise, whoever wants to learn art does not suddenly become an artist, but repeatedly spoils the thing he is doing and corrects it again, and requires an instructor. Do we want to learn spiritual art in an instant, and even self-righteously and arbitrarily? This is impossible! When our very attempts confuse us and lead us to cowardice, then this is a sign of pride: and they are the essence of the punishment for pride. Solitude is the most destructive remedy for your well-being; it brings guilt to pride and destroys the unskillful. St. John Climacus writes: “Those who are ill with opinion and wickedness below, let them see the trace of silence.” But since you yourself have now recognized the harm of the above actions, I am sure that you will turn away from them in every possible way and will not allow them to enter your heart, and their place will be taken by everything that destroys pride and brings humility. In addition, the humble awareness of one’s weaknesses before God involuntarily arouses a request for His help and a lack of reliance on oneself, and one becomes convinced of what one could not be convinced of. What we talked about verbally, the most merciful Lord is able to give you peace of conscience and guide you on the true path leading to the Kingdom of Heaven. Take a closer look at this writing of mine, consider your structure and feelings. I wanted, with God’s help, to offer you something decent and necessary for your current situation. Delve into the Divine Scriptures and the teachings of St. fathers, asking God's help for all your affairs and undertakings, may He give you true reason, faith and humility, and strengthen you in the path of virtue and in spiritual warfare, and enable you to find the real path leading to salvation, and to rest on it. I wish you health and salvation, desirer and unworthy pilgrim I.M. April 28, 1838. Glory to the most merciful Lord, who gave you reason and strengthened you against the machinations of the enemy that came against you. With God’s help, all your doubts and fears were destroyed, you are now at peace in the monastery! Give thanks to the Lord, who has honored you with this title. We received two letters from you on September 24th and 28th. In the first you describe your journey. Do you understand that the obstacles and mental battles that stood in your way are nothing more than the machinations of the enemy, in order to hinder you from your good undertaking? But nothing managed to resist; your good will and obedience overcame and attracted God’s help to you, and everything turned into nothing. We sincerely rejoice that you found Mother Superior and Mother Gya, as well as other sisters, who received you with true cordiality and love, without any flattery or deception that could be used to draw you into any kind of network. We forgive you for your dubious thoughts and attacks against us and advise you to be calm in this regard; we know that this is the machination of the enemy, who wanted to tear you away and prevent you from carrying out a good undertaking; and even then you should know that where there is benefit for you, there is also resistance, so that, having shaken your faith in us (albeit unworthy of this), we can lead you with our mind and will; - but nothing is worse than this; At the same time, every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation: in the first case, the latter happened to you. You can have a difference in things and judge wisely; compare your present residence with your past; what have you lost? Remember the word of our Savior: “Everyone who leaves... father and mother,... house, etc., will receive it for Me and the Gospel a hundredfold” (Matthew 19:29). You left everything for what? Of course, for God’s sake, seeking the salvation of your soul, you will find it. You have experienced single life at home: what benefits did you gain from it? You admit that it’s nothing. Living in a community of sisters who have dedicated themselves to serving the Lord, you will not be idle from doing the commandments of God, with which you can bring yourself closer to God. By communicating with them, you will become aware of your structure and weakness, through which you will approach humility. If you did something good, do not trust yourself and do not attribute it to your strengths, but to God’s help, and open up to Mother A-i about everything. Not trusting yourself and not following your mind and will is the path to humility; Without it, even the good that we have done is unpleasant to God. Humility calms us down. You, reading your father’s books, understood theoretically, but now you have entered the path of practice. We have given it to you so that you can read by deeds; but at home there was no one to do this with, and now you are in the community of workers of Christ’s grapes. It seems that you must understand that your life in the world was disastrous; solitude was not beneficial for you, and therefore harmful; and you could not bear association with the worldly, according to the customs of the world. Let the world live as it wants, and we, who have come to know the truth, must follow it. “Not all can bear this word,” says our Lord, “but to them it has been given from above” (Matthew 19:11). You have been honored with a title from above: thank the Lord for this and do not regret the world. When you feel sorry for your relatives, you can console yourself with the fact that you are not forbidden to meet with them, and the distance is not so far; We just don’t recommend rushing into a date soon. Regarding the sorrows encountered along this path, I will say that they come more from our passions; our passions cause them to us, but they are sent by God’s providence to heal our passions and not above our strength, but according to the measure of our dispensation (1 Cor. 10:13). Without temptations we will not know ourselves and will not come to humility. Temptations are sent either to punish us for sins, or to test our faith and love for God, or to prevent us from sins. Read from St. Macarius of Egypt in the 7th word of chapters from the 13th to the 16th; you have already partly experienced the adventures that happened to you dearly; did they hurt you? So in the future there is no need to be afraid of sorrows, but to trust in the strength and help of God, and everything will work out for the better. With the blessing of Mother Superior, and mother B., and with the consent of Z. And we advise you to stay with her; there will be mutual benefit for you - to bear each other’s burdens and to know your dispensation; She's already experienced a bit. May God's peace and blessing be upon you. We advise you not to be embarrassed about the dreams you have and not to believe them. Read about dreams in the ladder; you will see that this is the flattery of the enemy; When you have bad dreams, tell your mother; Closeness can cause harm; everything must be revealed to her. We advise you to start writing half-written, just as you would copy the book of Isaac the Syrian; This work will comfort you a lot and bring spiritual benefit to you and others. October 4th, 1838. From your second letter from your monastery, written on October 15, it is clear that you are convinced that, having left your home and relatives, you have not lost anything, but have entered on the path of activity leading you to Christ and to peace, and that these dwellings are not an invention of the human mind, but the Holy Spirit, through the inspired fathers, has established this dwelling for those who will be called from God or out of love for Him, or for the sake of the multitude their sins. Thank God that all the fears and doubts that came to you disappeared, and you learned by experience what you did not believe before. You are surrounded by the face of the virgins - the brides of Christ, who voluntarily entered the fence of Christ, you see them not regretting that they left the world, but rejoicing that they were awarded such a title from above, although they are not all of the same dispensation; and in different ways, but everyone goes towards the same goal. Now compare your solitary stay with your current residence? You were frightened by the fact that you had to die to your will and feelings; however, you see that this deadness gives life, and enslavement brings freedom. Don't regret the wasted time either; – it is not lost, but, apparently, it is not yet ripe. You have entered a monastery ruled as if by a mother, and not by the lady abbess; you have been shown the way to go, and you have a guide: all this is a great gift of God for you. Bring heartfelt thanksgiving to the Lord and try to fulfill His Holy will. You are convinced that you must have strong obedience for salvation, but you are afraid of your foolishness, because you are not always in the same dispensation, and this cannot be so as not to be torn by passions and not disturbed by many different thoughts. But for all this you have the instruction of St. fathers, and the first rule is the awareness and revelation of your infirmities to your mother, even if the enemy has armed you against her, envying your benefit: then everything must be revealed, which will abolish his intrigue. You mention that now the time has come for you to read the teachings of St. fathers: exactly like that. Living in the world, you had no means to do this with anyone. Worldly wisdom is contrary to the law of God; this cannot be refuted; why “those who want to live godly... will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). But here there is a different intention and disposition: although sometimes someone will sin in some way, this will serve to greater temptation and their correction, and to humility. The active mind is preferred to the simple concept and understanding of the scriptures; which is why it is said: “the mind boasts, but love creates” (1 Cor. 8:1). There is no need to delve too far into understanding, which sometimes you don’t understand, leave it like that, the mind is not yet pure, it cannot embrace everything; be content with what you understand and try to fulfill it; then even that will open. St. Isaac writes: “Great grief for the beginner”; and in another place: “The understanding of the scriptures does not benefit those who are in passions.” In your cell, try as much as possible to “have peace”; “And not to please yourself, but everyone... neighbor"; and always “doing the greatest honor to yourself” (Rom. 15:1–2, 12:10, 18; Phil. 2:3); “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal.6:2). All cases, no matter what may occur, will be useful to you for self-reproach, for patience, for the knowledge of your weakness and for the achievement of humility; and for all this, Mother G.’s decision should serve as reassurance to you. We sincerely rejoice that the Lord has given you such a companion and like-minded interlocutor; May there be peace, love and harmony between you. You did a very good job of writing to your family about your decision; at first they may be sad, but they will calm down. N. reassure yours with the trust of freedom; but since she, due to her zeal, does not want to leave you, then to make it easier for her, you can take another: but is there anyone who would willingly go there? When there is no such thing, then you can take some poor girl who wants to live in a monastery and can work. About this, consult with Mother Superior, and with G., and with Z.I. on October 29, 1838. You already know that we received a letter from a small note in your mother’s letter enclosed to you. And now, to the extent of our weak mind, we answer you. First, we congratulate you for having clothed yourself in the garb of virgins who have dedicated themselves to the Lord. Although it is gloomy and unpleasant for the eyes of this world, it is kind to us. With its appearance it expresses our inner inattention to the world and its charms; through which we have freedom, stripped of passions, to draw closer to Christ. Glory to His great mercy that He calms you and carries you, like a child-loving mother of a child, in the palm of His hand, still unsurpassed, for the softness of His feet, to walk. But there must also be a test for your greater benefit and the knowledge of your weakness, and from this to the acquisition of humility. Some of the nasty excuses have already appeared to you - that you could please God at home. But thanks be to the Lord, through your revelation you have calmed down. Always hold on to this saving remedy. We do not find the need to present you with inconveniences that would and could be an obstacle to your salvation if you lived in your home. You should be pretty convinced of this. This alone, that such thoughts come to you with confusion, proves to you that there is an action of the enemy, and you do not need to follow them, but destroy them by revelation. Although you say that you are unworthy to follow the path shown to you, you are called to it, no one drives you away from it, and it is very faithful and unpretentious. You were worried about your relatives, that they would warmly accept your absence from them; but on the contrary, they are so prudent that they not only do not turn you away from this saving enterprise, but also pray to God to strengthen you on this path; and V. herself wants, in time, to have shelter with you. Isn’t this the work of God and “the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High” (Ps. 76:11)? Regarding your property, although your brother does not advise you to rush, in our opinion, there seems to be no reason to delay; in order to more conveniently distract your mind from the world and from the fears that you see in the participation of others. And because of this, scolding from this side will not bother you. Your property is in the name of your brother, whose honesty cannot be doubted: but chance, circumstances and unforeseen turns of fate make a change in everything. However, in all this we must rely on the power of God and not worry too much about it. Just as He feeds, clothes, and provides for everyone, the whole world, so He will also take care of us. Just “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Although it is still too early for you to leave the monastery, but on this subject - in order to calm yourself, we believe that after living there the future meat-eater and the holy Great Lent, after the Easter holiday, come here and arrange your affairs, as the Lord will help you. Meanwhile, six months of your residence there will pass, and you can compare life at home with life there. About your community with Z. And you adhere to the rules of G.’s mother: with caution, so that from counter-intelligence no enmity and hatred arise between you; remember the apostolic teaching: “bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal.6:2). We wanted to direct Mother K. to the right path. But it turned out differently. Even after that, we directly suggested to her that Mother Superior was busy, so that she would submit to someone else to whom she would give it; but, due to her ardor, she finds the mother abbess as her nurturing mother. We could no longer fight; the pride of the other side has already suffered quite a bit... We sincerely regret her, knowing her ardor and the harm that could result from it; but we hand her over to the providence of God, who brought her to the holy monastery, which will not allow her to perish, but will enable her to come to the mind of truth. Unfortunately for K.'s mother, she does not see her harm; Although we wrote to her a lot and opened our eyes, it is clear that a veil lies over her heart for the time being. However, the Lord is strong to enlighten her. Pay attention to yourself and your shortcomings; other people's passions do not harm us, but they also show us to see ours and humble us. Your inclination towards solitude should be consistent with how much benefit is gained from it, and you should not believe this yourself, but leave it to the judgment of Mother G. If it does not bring fruits of humility, but gives guilt to arrogance, then you cannot approve of it. We do not praise absent-mindedness, but we advise you to stick to the middle path. Although there is a lot you don’t like there, you should not subjugate this court to your mind; accept the general structures and regulations of the monastery as sacred. As for private infirmities and defeats from passions, then consider the fact that we are in a struggle with passions, and not everyone has the same mind and strength for confrontation, as well as the direction, and different dispensations, different classes and different characters. But out of all this, the goodness of God arranges something useful, which we, without special enlightenment, cannot comprehend; and we won’t write much about this; but let’s just say that through the weak who insult us, we gain patience or come to know our weaknesses. Your faith and affection for Mother G. are very necessary and useful for you, and we have no intention of separating you from her, even if the rumors that floated around you about her were to come true. But we don’t want this, let her be there. However, God knows what is useful to whom. Although your remark is correct regarding the management of the monastery, where will you find such a genius that he can embrace everything alone? Even in this case, you must not give free rein to your reasoning, and leave it as it goes; thank God it doesn't concern us. You do not yet know this cross. “It happens that they climb it unwittingly.” We understand both sides, but this is not yet clear to you 8. Read about the mystery of the monastic image from St. Abba Dorotheus in the first word about the rejection of the world; Other fathers also have a lot, St. Simeon of Thessalonica, and Joseph of Volokolamsk, and others. Read also in the life of Simeon Christ for the Fool's sake, July 21, about the revelation of this sacrament. You still cannot understand the power of this sacrament. There is no vice in wanting it as a means of salvation; but it is shameful to seek and solicit and it proves that we are not yet ready for it. Pass the test first, and then you will see. November 26, 1838. I congratulate you on celebrating this holiday of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the approaching New Year. We wish that the merciful Savior will comfort you in your peaceful abode, chosen by you for His love, with the true consolation of heartfelt joy in the Lord, and not with the worldly, vain, corruptible and fleeting. Your embarrassment that you will not bear the responsibilities you assumed upon putting on the monastic robe, which plunges you into despondency, is absolutely the essence of the machinations of the enemy in order to shake your peace and tranquility that you feel from time to time. It is impossible that there should not be battles, for in them the art of a warrior is demonstrated and faith is confirmed. The husband is unskilled and unskilled. And “having been tempted, he can help those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). You write: the more humble the attire, the more it makes one feel the passions hiding under its cover. This is what you need to see and feel in yourself. When you feel them, you will certainly not be exalted by your corrections, but will have humble wisdom and self-reproach for their vileness, and efforts to correct them; what the Lord will look upon and give His help (Ps. 33:19). Having corrected something, you will no longer take credit for it, knowing your weakness. Read the comforting word of John of Carpathia to the monks. It will be useful to you. We advised you not to rush to leave the monastery soon, although you have a need, for which we set a deadline of six months: but not because you suspected a desire to return and be near your own. You have not forcibly, but voluntarily devoted yourself to this life; and you already have the reward temporarily, not wanting to exchange it for any secular pleasures. When you live longer, you will be more convinced of the truth of this. However, do not desire constant consolations, for without the cross they are not only fragile, but even dangerous. The opinion about the division in relationships and feelings towards the sisters of your circle versus other sisters seemed strange to you. What do you find unreasonable? For since everyone has one goal, it follows that everyone must be loved: and divisions can divide into parties and hinder the achievement of the true goal. This division should not be taken in the strict sense and considered as parties; but to have reasoning, which, like light, enlightens the mental eyes. The crude concept of separation cannot be approved, but distance from those who oppose wisdom, although striving for the same goal, is necessary. As they say in old age: “Love everyone and run after everyone.” And in the psalm: “God brings like-minded people into the house” (Ps. 67:7). And you yourself have denounced this opinion, but out of necessity and according to reason, you follow this deed. – Which we will show you later. The laws of the Fathers made it indispensable and necessary for salvation: to have revelation and obedience to the elders, there is nothing to write much about this, you are convinced by Scripture and experience itself that it is useful. But in modern times there are many who oppose this teaching and condemn those who practice it. Having had unity with such people, are you not in danger of losing your common sense and clinging to their false wisdom? There are also those who respect and accept this teaching, but they do not like the instruction or lifestyle of the elder or elder, to whom you have a disposition; they judge them, turn their affairs for the worse; and this falls on your heart, shakes your faith and removes you from the bosom of your mother. What the devil strives for with all his measures, as if only to weaken faith and lead through conceit and self-indulgence, he throws around with his thoughts and tries to do this through people. – Shouldn’t such people be removed? This happened to you, remember K. But others honor this teaching, and do not blame the people you belong to; but their morality and other judgments do not please you. Shouldn’t such people also be removed, so as not to fall into the same situation ourselves, either through imitation, or for condemning them? And in this case, you act this way in relation to M.: in the tongue it’s one thing, but in the heart it’s another; but you can’t fool an old sparrow with chaff... what does this mean? Political conversion is the same as removal. The described actions are necessary with reasoning, but they cannot be called division into parties. There is no need to have hostile wills towards them, but to be forced to love and avoid judging them; and although they are going the wrong way – i.e. the easiest and shortest to the acquisition of humility and the victory of passions, and of course the harder is the yoke of achievement; but, by intention towards one goal, the Lord is able to save them, either through illness or sorrow. If they cause you sorrow, then you must consider them instruments of God, used for your salvation, and your benefactors, pray to God for them and destroy any form of unworldliness towards them. This is what the instructions of a father or mother teach, not anger or hatred. In some cases, you are more courageous towards sisters who are of the same mind than towards those who are contrary, for the reasons described above, which should not seem like division, as they have shown you enough about this. You find a lot of childhood in your attachment to your mother. But where there is faith, there is childish love; without which how can you trust her with the secrets of your heart? Reasoning about these subjects could harm you; It's good that you opened them; otherwise they might bear tasteless fruits. When you look at K.'s mother, you vividly imagine the passions of others. But who can experience the inner movements of their hearts? Much that seems to us to be a sinful action, with a good intention, is accepted from God as a good deed; and others, even presented in the image of virtue, by evil will, are rejected by God. Let us leave their deeds to the judgment of God, and we will take care of ourselves, and so that, through strict judgment of others, we will not be like one who saw a speck in his brother’s eye, but saw no plank in himself. It is impossible that there should not be illness in their hearts because you see evil in their deeds; and therefore, according to the elder’s verb: “You see others’ failures, but you do not see their repentance,” we can say the same to you. Of course, pride and condemnation of others who had the same attitude towards the boss put her in this gloomy path; but these attempts do not pass through her without illness. However, the passions of others do not at all prevent you from going towards salvation - this should serve as a science for you; and those that are unpleasant for you or concerning you are related to the knowledge of yourself, your passions, infirmities and to the acquisition of humility. And this is where it is necessary to read the books of our fathers through deeds. In the world, when you lived alone, you could neither know yourself, nor your passions and infirmities; and therefore there was nothing to be humble about; and there was even more guilt in seeing one’s corrections. What could be more dangerous than this? But now, by the grace of God, you are in the feat of Christ’s army. Run to form your mind and your wisdom - follow them and your will. By the grace of God you have a spiritual mother; open everything to her: you will be calm. Although sometimes a storm will arise, expect weather and clear times; this is absolutely necessary in spiritual training. Mother G. The Lord strengthens the weak for you, is strong to continue to alleviate her illnesses, if only all of you related to her bear the fruits of humility. Pray to God about this. About monasticism, we will tell you this: you cannot comprehend this sacrament with your mind, and even more so when you still think to abound in it. “Faith is the subtlest of reason”; It is only by faith that we comprehend the sacraments. The conviction of the lives of Simeon and John is enough for you; and there is no need for others. Read the lives of the great spirit-bearing men: Anthony the Great, Paul of Thebes, Paisius, Theodosius, Pimen, Pachomius, Macarius, Pamva and others; also mothers: Olympias, Eupraxia, Fevronia, Marina and others who pleased God countless; and leave your mind to experience the unexperienced. Kings, princes, the rich and the poor, the wise, honor their memory and worship the saint. their relics. Was it not in monasticism that they shone? Can our minds compare with theirs? But they did not test, but accepted the image with faith. Leave a test that will do you a lot of harm. And there is nothing to fear from what you saw during the tonsure of K. and Z.: the humble feeling of all this will be free; it is required to every degree; and you can achieve it by many means, as has been written enough for you. You can call saints with a short prayer, but not especially composed, as many do on their own. There will not be enough time to fulfill them and to correct what is prescribed by the paternal rules. December 30, 1838. Having sent a letter to you by mail, we received yours on your very birthday, December 31, and now I’m taking up my pen and congratulating you on this day. We cannot wish you anything better than to gain, through the mercy of God, peace of mind and the inalienable hope of salvation, not through our works, but through the merits of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank the Lord that He calms you in spirit and body. It will continue to be so when we adhere to the rule spoken by the Lord Himself: “Learn from Me that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Humility in the midst of battle brings peace. For without fighting it is impossible to humble yourself, but it is dangerous to become arrogant. Why thank God for everything. Time spent in hustle and bustle can no longer be turned back; but thanks be to the Lord for calling you and establishing you in a sweet haven. Remember how difficult the decision was for you, and what our title seemed to you? But this was an obvious machination of the enemy. God helped you escape from it and trample on vanity. December 31, 1838. It is very noticeable that you wrote the letter of January 3 in a strong confusion of spirit, which is completely opposite to your second letter, and of course you wrote without reading our letter. We heartily sympathized with you, but had no intention of forcing you, for good will is strong and not forced. You write that you do it out of obedience; and we do not demand forcefully, but voluntarily. Surely something touched you in terms of self-esteem; and most of all, it is dangerous to delve into the shortcomings of others: in this case, the enemy catches and presents things that mean nothing in a larger form; – but we consign it to oblivion. However, it is not bad that you explained your feelings, although in moments of delusion you encountered them. Your second letter, sent on January 11, is completely contrary to the excited feelings that you had when you wrote the first letter; there is nothing to marvel at; There is no victory without struggle, and without recognizing one’s weakness, one does not achieve humility. You say that you do not have the fruits of humility, but instead of it, pride and conceit overwhelm you. How do you want to acquire humility in such a short time? This is the highest gift: and how it is acquired, about this you have instructions in the first letter; and read in the books of St. fathers about this great virtue. When you perform obedience to your mother exactly, without relying on your reason, then the flower of this virtue will flourish in you. But know that the devil, who hates good, will raise many battles against you in order to tear you away from this saving feat. Do not allow your mind to expand into lofty and incomprehensible concepts; this is not useful to you before doing the first; and before its time, the knowledge of the high does not benefit, and even more damages and puffs up the mind. Don’t be sad about your mother because she is little appreciated; It is enough that you use it, and others who want to: but woe to that man, “when all men speak well” (Luke 6:26). She must also have a kind of sorrow, sent to her by the sight of God into temptation. January 21, 1839 You are in vain to worry that we will be offended at you for your determination to leave the S. monastery. Did we force you to do this? Until now, we have only seen from your letters that you are calm there, except for one letter; but you later refuted that; and therefore they believed that in that place there was a call to your salvation. But now, seeing your feeling contrary to this, we do not grieve for you at all and do not force you to stay there, but we leave it to the will of God and yours - where He leads you and where He will arrange your salvation. However, we must point out to you and we ask you not to take this as an insult on our part; but if they were silent, it would remain on our conscience that they acted out of human-pleasing: the change occurred in you from contempt and contempt for your neighbors in their weaknesses and lack of correction, which we noticed from your letters, to which, as much as we could, we tried to give you admonition. You will not find perfection on earth; but the shortcomings of others do not in the least hinder you from following the path of salvation; and although they insult you, they are God’s instruments, showing you your structure, so that, having learned through this your shortcomings, weakness and foolishness, you can take care of healing yourself. Your strict judgment about them does not allow you to fulfill this, and you remain without fruit. When reading spiritual books, apply what is written in them more to yourself, and not to others; otherwise, instead of applying a plaster to your ulcers, you apply harmful poison, and they will dissolve. You see the passions of others, but you do not see what kind of labors and sorrows they raise for them, repentance, self-reproach, putting aside hope for their corrections, and so on, as St. John of Carpathia, which are accepted from God instead of works, unknown to us. But if this had not happened, then through destinies unknown to us, is God not able, by sending sorrows or illnesses, to arrange their correction and salvation? We showed you at St. Callista in chapter 43 that “humility alone and besides works will forgive many sins; but on the contrary, deeds without humility are useless.” We see that you do not have peace of mind, which is gained only by humility; and how humility is gained, we have written to you a lot before, and you yourself can see from your father’s books. You have experienced a solitary life - what benefit has it brought you? did it bring you peace of mind? Not at all. We are writing this to you not at all with the intention of keeping you in S-e; but in order to make you understand that temptation may also meet you in another place, although not exactly the same, but of a different kind, but all temptation: for our whole life is a temptation (Job 7:1). March 7, 1839. Thank you to the Lord that He has pacified your spirit in the sacred monastery, counting you among the honest virgins who work for Him. Try to fulfill your duty by doing the commandments of Christ with extreme diligence and contrition of heart, considering yourself last and least of all. With such a dispensation you will always have peace; and based on this, many will calm confusion; You have already partly experienced this. Write a book to St. May the Lord bless you and help you Isaac the Syrian; There will be great benefit. September 30, 1839. Thank God that I found peace while staying in St. monastery and in the cell with a sister of the same wisdom, under the guidance of one mother. Grant, O God, that you may succeed in good deeds according to God; but do not rely on them, but rather humble yourself and have a contrite heart and humility, for without this it is impossible to achieve true peace. When there is no fighting, what will you learn? And how do you know yourself? When you see only your corrections, and there are no infirmities, you will not humble yourself. St. Isaac writes: “When you find the world unchanging, then fear, for you are far from the right path walked by the suffering feet of the saints” 9 . We do not frighten you, but we inspire fearlessness in the coming battles and in the necessity of them. Read your father's books, learn theoretically; and when the opportunity comes, show it in practice. Force yourself to do the commandments of the Gospel and you will see how far you are from them, then involuntarily you must humble yourself; and even if you have fulfilled something, do not forget that commandment: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants’” (Luke 17:10). Take care to acquire humility, which is necessary in every virtue, like salt in every food. October 31, 1839. With heartfelt pleasure we congratulate you on your Angel's Day on January 26th. This is another time we bring you this congratulation on St. monastery. May the Lord strengthen you and remain in it until the end of your life, fight a good fight, end your course, keep the faith and, moving into the eternal abodes, receive the crown of righteousness with all those who have loved the Lord! We cannot find anything better to wish you on this day. We are very glad that you are at peace, although this peace cannot be called lasting, for it is achieved by true humility: but we will surrender this to the will of God. He knows when to give reassurance as a consolation, and when to bring temptations to the knowledge of one’s weakness, and to training in spiritual warfare, and to humility. Just let your faith not fail in His fatherly providence for you. We heard that St. began writing a book. Isaac the Syrian. May the Lord help you complete this work and, through his God-inspired teaching, come to spiritual understanding. In the 78th word, he does not approve of everlasting peace, but says: “Fear, when you find unchanging peace on your path.” Why? You will see further as you read. And many St. Fathers who have walked an active path teach us about this. Be complacent in everything that belongs to the bliss of meekness, according to St. Climacus, St. Peter of Damascus and others. January 22, 1840. That the holy teaching of the great man St. Isaac the Syrian seems incomprehensible to you, and we are not surprised at all. If you write, read and carry out what you understand by doing as much as you can, then the spiritual mind found in it will clearly open to you, and you will see the importance, greatness and beauty of its word, filled with ineffable spiritual benefit. In the 78th word, we wrote to you to read the article: “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear,” which is very understandable and makes you understand that when a person thinks to have eternal peace, then he should be afraid of this. For in the struggle with passions, until they are completely defeated and we come to humility, we cannot have constant peace, but there is battle and intercession, fear and hope, darkness and light. But as we see from your letter that you still have a chill of passions, against which, with the help of God, through the revelation of your spiritual mother, her instruction, you fight and are at peace, and do not imagine yourself to be the conqueror of the passions, but humble yourself, seeing your poverty and weakness in fulfilling the commandments of God: then this is not yet a danger. May the Lord protect you from arrogance and self-delusion. Do not be afraid of your imaginary indifference: it is necessary and useful for those who want to be saved and consists in the commandment of God about the beatitudes: “Blessed are meekness.” What do you read about in Peter of Damascus on sheets 14 and 69 and you will discern about your indifference. February 10, 1840. It pleased our almighty Creator to call to eternal rest your spiritual mother, and our spiritually beloved daughter, Mother G. May His Holy will be done! It is always good, holy and perfect, and we, although with regret, must submit to it without complaint and with filial obedience. We know that it is inexpressible for you to lose the one who cooled the heat of your passions, fed your souls with the manna of God’s word, and gave you peace in your confusion and bewilderment. But what was it like to see her suffering for so long from a joyless illness, which, perhaps, was sent, by God’s vision, as the final test for acquiring eternal peace. Inscrutable and incomprehensible in Your destinies, Lord! Thou who has undoubtedly received Thy servant G. into Thy villages, send spiritual consolation to Thy servants who are lamenting the deprivation of their spiritual mother! Send Your light and enlighten their hearts to the knowledge of the truth, and guide them to please You! We heartily sympathize with you and everyone who mourns about her and could not accept this news with indifference, although every post did not make us happy, seeing her cruel suffering and your languor. But now it is impossible to return this, and when you love her and want to honor her, imitate her faith and life, so that you yourself may be worthy of leaving here with a blessed death. If she has found grace before God (of which we have no doubt), she will also intercede with God for you and will bring you no less benefit, just as she lived with you. October 1, 1840. We already wrote to you together with N.N., upon receiving your letters about the death of mother G., on October 1, and on the same date we received a bunch more of your letters, in which everything is explained in the same way - your grief and bewilderment, how to spend your life and to whom to lay your head. At this point, we are at a loss as to what to do. You have all learned the path of this life, that it is necessary to have a person for guidance and revelation, and that it is much more difficult to govern yourself, no matter how wise someone is; why it will not be easy to follow an unauthorized path and without revelation; for according to the word of St. Moses in the Epistle of St. Cassian: “The very thing that the father opened his thoughts withers and creates weakly.” But to whom this has to do, each of you must show your faith and heartfelt disposition. According to these qualities, God grants the word, and consolation, and a solution to bewilderment; and the enemy, hating the voice of affirmation, does not allow this to happen, because it is convenient for him to act and outrage those who are not confirmed in them with his cunning. And according to the word of St. John Climacus: “Anyone who does not find someone to communicate his thoughts to, suffers from the devil’s disease - pride.” We must pray to the Lord and ask Him to send such a mother or sister in spirit to whom we can communicate. This is our instruction to all of you, and although we are sinners and unworthy in everything, we dare to pray to the Lord for this! By the way, it doesn’t hurt to now mention what we kept silent about before. In one of your letters, written during your mother’s illness, you, being in a spiritual disorder, say that you can be nourished by the book of St. Isaac the Syrian. But was your dispensation at that time similar, at least in any way, to the instruction of St. Isaac? He glows with humility and love; everywhere he talks about patience, preference for neighbors and self-reproach. All inspired books are useful, but our self-loving will and arrogant mind create an obstacle to this; and we, having taken up a weapon, instead of hitting the enemy with it, use it to our own detriment, and when we learn humility through obedience and distrust of ourselves, then we acquire true reason and receive God’s help to fulfill our duty. Otherwise, although we understand that, we are careless about doing and are still darkened. It seems that in another letter you write that you repented of your embarrassment to Fr. I., but about the opinion - whether she remained with it or not, we do not know. October 12, 1840. Due to our spiritual connection with you, we have the obligation to take care of your spiritual well-being, especially when you also seek this with faith; and we, leaving our own ulcers, begin to heal others. During the life of Mother G., we were reassured, knowing her spiritual mind and your faith in her; and now we don’t know what to do. But our advice is this, which can apply to both of you: we sincerely rejoice that you live unanimously, which we wish to continue in the future. Now you both have one thought - to relate one to the other, although from the outside it seems that each of you does not yet know about this disposition of the other; but we see this from your letters, which we cannot hide, for this must now be the basis. You ask that you can be frank with her; she also writes that she wants to treat you. You are both equal in spiritual age and still young; neither will take on the responsibility of being the other's guide. What to do in this case? We present to you the teachings of the great Moldavian elder Vasily, who was the teacher and elder Paisius the elder. He writes about the lifestyle of two people who came together to live together. Read at the end of the superscript to the book of the blessed father (our) Nil of Sorsky: “St. the fathers command two or three to live communally” and further. This way of life is very becoming for you; follow it, treating each other in your perplexities with knowledge and humility. In the necessary cases, which you do not hope to solve for each other or are not informed why, treat the mother abbess, and as this may not always happen, but occasionally, then neither she will get bored, nor you will be harmed by the vanity. What doesn’t hurt is to first explain to her and ask her about this. In this case, by the grace of God, preserved by the prayers of your late mother G., get rid of the charm of the enemy, which is more dangerous for both of you than any stupid falls. For the other sisters, have a pledge of affection, as if you are one body, and do not be divided: “I am Pavlov, I am Apollosov, I am Cephas” (1 Cor. 1:12); but all are disciples of the One Christ; Even if you see someone who is weak and is overcome by passions, do not attribute it to her, but to the enemy who is plotting this. Be the last of all and you will find peace. November 2, 1840. May the Lord correct the path of your life according to His holy will, with which we must conform in every possible way. You write that you are completely at peace in everything, but then you contradict yourself, you write: you are tormented by a feeling that you cannot explain; and then you explain your fruits: impatience, obstinacy, laziness. This latter is still characteristic of our nature and leads those who care about themselves to humility; and the first two vices are very dangerous enemies, for they are obvious fruits of pride, and if you do not arm yourself against them at the beginning of your exploits, then they will dominate you so much and blind the eyes of your soul that it is difficult to correct yourself. You can even say that whatever pride you had before will increase even more. We are not writing this from us, but Saint Simeon the New Theologian writes in his written book, in the 6th word, read it, and in the 31st chapter of the Philokalia what is written is very necessary for you. We clearly see vices in others, even small flaws. Let me remind you how N.N. looked at you, God forbid this should happen to you; and for condemning one’s neighbors this also happens; however, repentance and self-conceit will not allow this to happen. Impatience and obstinacy increase even more when we want to form our own will and imagine ourselves to be reasonable, but do not recognize our weakness and unreason. Read about this from St. Peter of Damascus on page 11 from half: “It may be that...” and further, - you will know what desires and understandings you should abandon. From your contradiction described above, we notice that you do not have peace, which is found by self-reproach, meekness and humility, according to the teaching of the Lord (Matthew 11:29); which is why one must acquire these virtues by overcoming contrary passions. You read and write the book of St. Isaac the Syrian, how much praise there is for humility and the means to achieve it; those who strive do not only know, but also move towards action; but God’s help is near. This was written out of a true desire for your salvation; We hope you don't consider it an insult. Should we really caress and not tell the truth? January 18, 1841. We have received your letters. In the first they saw your grief for the sick N., but now, thank God, this has passed. And then despondency: but even this is passing. How can you have constant consolation? We always want to enjoy, but the cross, i.e. temptation, we don’t want to bear it. And “through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Acts 14:22). And the saints were overcome by despondency, but for the love of God they endured; for it is a spiritual cross. In victory, do not rely on your prudence. September 18th, 1841. I sincerely rejoice that books have brought you comfort and that your work continues by copying the book of St. Isaac the Syrian: this is food for the soul. God forbid that she should starve to death; but just eat this food with reason. Be based not on one simple concept or bare reason, but try to be active, and so that this sowing produces spiritual fruit over time and with God’s help. Read in the 2nd book of St. Peter of Damascus in the 9th word, at the end of it, about the virgin fasting and honoring St. Scripture, what St. demanded from her. old man? Accordingly, reason about yourself. October 21st, 1841. You complain about yourself that there is no correction, although you have all the means to please God. Passions have their feedback every minute. But how do you want to have the reward of dispassion without fighting? Passions lie within us, unconquered, and even unknown to us; and when guilt appears, then passion is exposed, and resistance is required on our part. Through the struggle with them, with the help of God, we become better, or, having recognized our weakness, we come to humility. At St. Isaac the Syrian has about this in 373 countries. (ed. 1854) in 61 words, from the Old Testament matter: “The Lord forsake the tongues, that he may punish the children of Israel with them”; and likens them to passions. Back in the 58th word, God allowed the beneficial existence of passions to be beneficial to the soul. And in many other patristic writings you will find that passions humble us and destroy a high opinion of ourselves that is not pleasing to God. At St. Callista in chapter 43 read about humility, and at the end. November 29, 1841 I thank God for the peace of mind given to you in your cell; do not give up caring about your inner spiritual order; Now you have the most convenient and favorable time to stock up for future battles not only by reading and writing the words of the fathers, but also by compulsion to carry them out; after all, “the needy delight... the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 11:12): now is a time of freedom and tranquility for you; but it will also come that you will not have time to practice in it: “when you are young,... you walk as you want; When you are old, you lift up your hands, and he will gird you and lead you, even if you did not want to” (John 21:18). The words spoken by the Lord to St. Apostle Peter, may also apply to us 10 when visiting involuntary sorrows that St. the fathers consider them very necessary for our salvation. Try to have humility in everything and not to look down on others. June 5, 1842. Whoever seeks something finds it. Mother Z. is looking for salvation, and we are trustworthy that she, having been awarded the angelic image, will find, by the grace of God, the salvation of her soul. If it pleases the Lord to accept her to Himself, let her come in the name of the Lord; Let our hearts not be troubled or afraid; Apparently, she has finished her course, completed her faith, and we must hope for God’s mercy, which will not deprive her of the crown of righteousness prepared for those who love Him. There is no need to complain much and be faint-hearted: God knows what temptations she would encounter later. I expect to hear from you soon about the state of her health. September 19th, 1842. I sincerely regret the sufferer, Z.’s mother; but who can experience the abyss of God’s destinies and His fatherly providence, caring for our salvation? A narrow and regrettable path leads into the eternal belly; and Z.’s mother stands on this, although involuntarily, but reliably: the mercy of God is near her; Let him not be discouraged and not faint-hearted. Faith, hope and love for God are recognized in this test and are tempted like gold by fire. Read the suffering of Jacob the Persian, how, when every member of him was taken away, he had reason and thanksgiving; So let her, in her strength, imitate his example. Let her remain calm about other things; I am sure that you are diligent about it with zeal and love; for “those who suffer and serve receive an equal reward from God,” and through it those who serve her are honored with God’s mercy. I’ll say again, let her not lose heart: I happened to see many dying illnesses, and those who lived well, but, apparently, they also needed suffering to crown them in the future life; as we read about an old man who lived a life pleasing to God, but was eaten by a beast; for what reason is quite known. The Lord told the mother abbess to present you both to the ryassophore; I rejoice in this; we must await the final will of God through archpastoral permission. You mention that when this was announced to you, you got lost, and you were overcome by an unexcusable feeling that you were losing your freedom and becoming a slave of the monastery; but didn’t write, were you freed from this feeling? If it still dominates you, then you are already a slave; and whose? - the most vile passion - pride! On the contrary, the slavery you imagine can bring freedom from passions, and you will be a daughter of the monastery. It seems that you know quite well that in spiritual life the most necessary fruit is humility - which we learn only through language, but through experience we do not even want to touch. Read the 46th word of St. Isaac the Syrian, how it is needed and how it is acquired; also at St. Climacus and others. “Think that there is to be, there is nothing; and pretend to have reason and not know, as if there is nothing.” I would be glad if your thought and feeling imagined you to be the last and the slave of everyone, then everything would calm you down. I could write a lot about this, but I’ll leave it to you to consider for yourself; if you have not yet freed yourself from that feeling, then ask God for this and consider yourself the worst of all; by this thought alone, evil fruit will grow from your work; but let it be destroyed to the ground. I regret not so much the exhaustion of your flesh as I regret your mental illness; but may the Lord deliver you from both. February 20, 1843. I am very glad that you arrived safely at your monastery and are now at the place of your feat. Fight a good fight, keep the faith, and may you be worthy to end the course and receive the crown of righteousness from the hero of Christ. It’s not a little surprising to me that you were embarrassed by the news of tonsure; but why did you go to the monastery? In both cases, it is necessary to cut off extremes, both in excessive desire with sorrow, and in stubborn denial. Enough has been written about all this in the essay that you read from me and copied for yourself: read it, trust the will of God and calm down; know your weakness; and if they had bypassed you, I think it would have shocked you quite a bit, and it seems even more so. July 6, 1843. Is it possible to approve of your cowardice about the loss of Z.’s late mother? Yes, it is a sin for us to call the migration of people from temporary to eternal life a loss. To persistently desire that according to our will there be a continuation of the lives of those we love and respect, means to desire to destroy the plans of God’s destinies. Her cohabitation was pleasant for you; Let's assume that it is useful; but this is selfishness: what God creates is useful for us, and we pray to Him every day, Thy will be done, and we do not want it to be done to us. Mother Z. has completed her course and will surely receive God’s mercy in her future life; and we must try to imitate her faith and life. Your fear of tonsure is false and unfounded; Of course, one must approach this image not with impudence and arrogance, but with fear and joy - this is the middle. You should not be arrogant, but you should rejoice that you are ranked among the virgins who work for the Lord. I have already quite felt the benefits of moving away from the world, which I could not comprehend with my mind before; but God revealed to you this understanding, which St. Climacus “an understanding unknown to the people”; So even now you don’t understand what benefits accepting the image of a monk can bring. When you don’t accept it, do you think you can excuse yourself any longer for your negligence? or do you hope to receive reward for your current residence? - and you don’t resort to self-reproach and humility, considering it respectful that I’m not a nun; and those nuns who are in the struggle and struggle with passions, will you reproach and despise? – No, this is not in accordance with the spirit of Christianity. Read more carefully about this reasoning, which you copied from me, you will find that - both in denying it and in seeking it - they sin a lot, and rest assured. I guess the reasons for your embarrassment come from secret pride. You don’t want to accept the image of humility because you don’t want to humble yourself. He encourages us to humble ourselves even in the poverty of our deeds and thereby complete our lives. The reward from God is given not according to the number of deeds, but according to the degree of humility. I do not forbid taking the name Macaria; but I regret that I am not being sought in the proper manner. It would be better to surrender to the will of Mother Abbess, and if God informed her, so it would be good. Salvation does not consist in being called blessed, but in submission, humility, and other virtues that create bliss. However, I do not consider this desire of yours to be insolence. July 27, 1843. Congratulations on taking on a new image and a new name; May the Lord grant you to live worthy of this title and name. The foundation, root and fruit of our life is humility! Take care of this in all your work and undertaking. When you succeed in this, you will gain peace of mind and tranquility. Read your father’s books, especially active ones, and do not trust your own mind, but take advice from those who have experienced the matter. Just sitting in a cell cannot make you skilled, but you also need to communicate with your neighbors to recognize your weakness. Please don’t hold me accountable for not congratulating you soon; now bodily infirmities, now visitation; and also laziness, my partner, prevented this. I.M. August 28, 1843. The cross sent to you through the indignation of N., the Lord is able to facilitate and grant true reason in reasoning about it. Do you remember that you always spoke positively about her: she did so, but it was out of pride out of ignorance; and when the year of struggle has come, she has neither the strength nor the mind to resist her passions, but blames others for her confusion. Similar cases happen to many people when they do not resort to the prudent means of humility. Try to impress upon her this more often, and that this is God’s work, not man’s. O. to dress in a monastic dress... although she is careless, she is more simple; and when she humbles herself and realizes that it is not people who torment her, but passions that she acts voluntarily, then, blaming herself, she will receive relief and peace of mind. The work will not be wasted when he humbles himself; for God values ​​labor, but the humble; but he rejects the proud. Your internal painful dispensation is also a test, and then a consolation. This is the real path of spiritual life; and this is why God’s love is tempted when we endure the crosses sent from Him and do not even seek joy and consolation in sorrow, and completely surrender to His Holy will. It is necessary to speak to P., but also observe your own dispensation; hold anger; and humble myself by the fact that I am instructing her, but I myself have an abyss of sins and passions that I don’t even see. September 16, 1843. We ourselves do not know where the cross will come from. Where you hoped to have peace of mind was through P., but now she brings sorrow. Now it is clear that she did well, but she also thought about it, and considered herself to be something; from which such fruit came. Most of all, instill in her about the great harm that comes from pride, like a God-hating passion. And once she has it, she punishes herself on every occasion. When God already opposes the proud, then they are unpleasant to people. Show her the beauty of humility and what peace it brings to its owners; and so that she would look for this, and in any case blame herself, and not others. If you persist, you can put her on bows and deprive her of meals; but I don’t advise you to let your hands slip: this is no small temptation for you, beware in future; and tell her decisively that when she does not make a start towards correction, she will go to the village. Mnogohreshny I.M. October 9, 1843 According to the teachings of St. fathers, our life is a spiritual battle: army and intercession, invasion and consolation, fear and hope, action and reward. Not before the first are the last. You had a storm, then there was silence. Thanks be to God who delivered you from the storm. But there is no need to be without care; St. Isaac the Syrian teaches: “In times of joy, bear sorrow; and during the storm expect silence.” But he does not approve of everlasting peace, but says: “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear” 11. Mother Abbess has instructed your cell attendants to explain themselves to you; Of course, it’s clear that due to her many troubles and poor health, she is not able to deal with them in detail; and you accept this, not as you are worthy of it, but as an obedient, and bear the burdens imposed beyond measure, with the help of God, for the sake of your common benefit, yours and theirs. And subvert the creeping opinion about yourself and confess it to your mother; Also, do not dare to decide their weakness or bewilderment yourself, but surrender to her reasoning: in this way you will not be harmed; and they can calm down. I.M. October 30, 1843. You describe your grief that happened through N.N.’s visit to you; How do you want to go through this thorny path of our passions without any sorrow? And what kind of grief, from whom and when it will come: it is not our business to sort it out; There is only one God who knows this. And when it pleases Him to send some kind of sorrow to someone, then the assistance of all creation in this regard is at His disposal. Looking at it from the outside, you can see that what offends you most of all is your pride. True or not: what they think about you is about old age, but you don’t want not only to accept reproaches, but even to have them think badly of you. Where can you hide from this? Perhaps close the doors, but will you escape any other kind of sorrow? Let your conscience be a mirror and a judge for you, and you will be blessed when “they say all evil things against you for God’s sake” (Matthew 5:11). Leave doubt and distrust, and accept it in the simplicity of your heart; and reproach yourself. I.M. January 1, 1844. We must always remember that “weeping may endure for an evening, and joy will come in the morning” (Ps. 29:6); and having been in abundance, do not think that I will not move forever: this was experienced by the great Prophet St. David; and we should not give in to despondency in visiting a spiritual cross sent for our own benefit. And you, having been in temptation, received abundance and joy from it - thank God. - I cannot approve of your N.’s rejection; sometimes you yourself need spiritual strengthening. Do not undertake to provide care, but do not refuse to console in sorrow; You will find about this in Simeon the New Theologian and others. In my opinion, complete solitude is harmful for you; you need to run around a lot of rumors, but not completely leave everyone: at St. John Climacus you will find the reason for this. It is better to fight with weaknesses and reproach yourself for them than with pride and opinion about yourself. I wish you to be smarter, peaceful and healthy mentally and physically. I.M. January 22, 1844. You complain about your insensitivity; But shouldn’t it show you its poverty, and not be arrogant and not be cowardly; and submit all your affairs to the judgment of God. He alone knows what price to give to our corrections and the lack thereof to humility. Seeing our own poverty, let us not look at the shortcomings of others, but pay more attention to their corrections; in which the purity of the heart is corrected, as St. writes. Isaac, to the question about purity of heart: “When we see everyone as saints.” I don’t forbid anyone from writing to me, but I can’t have time to answer everything; to those requiring a quick response, with the help of God, I force myself; and others will lie there and wait for another or a third; and some remain completely. I am very glad that you are confident in the need to communicate with your neighbors in order to understand your weakness; but there is no need to involve yourself in useless rumors. The explanations you described from P.L. definitely do not bring any benefit to either of you; and therefore you need to tell her frankly in order to leave them. And when she has to explain some of her spiritual needs, you can listen, not in the form of a revelation, but a simple conversation, and if necessary, you can say your opinion - this or that, in brief words, without being carried away by the spirit of mentoring. If something happens that is not according to her, then you don’t care, and then she will leave you on her own. I hear from those who have heard that many there consider me the cause of M.’s disorder, but I calmly listen to this: because I don’t see it in myself. But the sisters who blame me are brushes that cleanse away my sinful defilements of a different kind. May the Lord not place this sin on them; they do this out of ignorance. N.’s mother is also blamed, but she doesn’t have the slightest guilt in this either. God knows the consciences of men better than men. April 3, 1844. During the former anxiety, you also expressed your opinion, from which, having fallen into the distraction of feelings, you intend to avoid such cases in the future, taking refuge within your walls. This opinion of yours is very erroneous: well, if everyone left the mother abbess during such a need, she would be completely lost: but she cares about you all; and this matter concerns the general benefit of the monastery, and not yours or anyone else’s personality. You are all one body and members of each other, so you should contribute in whatever way you can; and even more so when you see harm and by offering your advice you hope to avert it. There is no need to urgently rush in in any case, but when need demands, then you need to say, preserving your structure; in attempts to recognize one’s weakness and repent of this, and not to be faint-hearted. My family forcibly agreed to send S. to a monastery, only in E-oh, and not in S-oh. They think it doesn’t matter, just obey the abbess and live well. They can be forgiven for their ignorance of our lives, and love for our daughter motivates us to desire to have her closer, to see her more often; but I don't agree with this. Of course, salvation is inalienable in every place, but where will God call whom? I hardly know anyone there, I can’t judge their life; and in S-e more than half are known to me: I will not say that they live holy, but they want to be saved and are in a feat against passions; they are defeated and conquer, they fall and rise, recognizing their weakness and not relying on their own works, but on God’s mercy. It is because of this fame that I wish she lived in S. I don’t know how God will arrange it, but I will try to attach her to you. I also have a desire to place her in your cell, which I will ask you to do if the matter takes place. Although this will be regrettable for T.’s mother, I do not find any benefit for her there; It’s not that I consider you a saint, but at least I anointed my lips. June 10, 1844. The sorrow that met you, from the excitement of minds, for accepting S-i to you, touched you, and showed the weakness of feelings that you cannot be indifferent to the insignificant and empty words of people who are not involved in their affairs. I know that in this regard your conscience is peaceful, then even nothing will be done by the enemy against you and will not transfer your peaceful will to them for non-peacefulness. May courage, patience and self-reproach remain with you, with which you will defeat the machinations of the enemy. They will talk and stop. U.’s mother suffered similar reproaches for her tenants, but she was not guilty of it, but now everything was silent. It's good for you; Having been tempted, you can help those who are tempted; and having not experienced it herself, of course, she would not have given faith to others. For my part, I sincerely thank you for your intention to bring peace to S.’s cell and for not refusing her sisterly advice. She needs advice due to her inexperience, and it is impossible to make the mother abbess feel bad for every little thing; and she, in turn, is obliged to do everything that can serve to calm you down. Experience will be a good teacher for both of you. If we leave both of you without training, so that no one touches or reproaches you, then from what will you learn patience and humility? And even if you live together in a cell, you can more easily recognize your weaknesses than alone, and force yourself to bear each other. The enemy will try to sow confusion, both by himself and through others, with insignificant things: but with humility all his intrigues will be abolished. Your general provisions are very reasonable. Regarding the management of the cell, which you entrust to S., you can impute this to her as obedience, to which, of course, the mother abbess will give her consent; only it is more useful for her, in any case, to have agreement with you, otherwise it will not take long to get used to self-rule and self-righteousness, and even worse, to lust. Do not look at the accusation that you are being prevented from going often to your cells; I already wrote to her that this would be of no use to her, and that the cell peace might be disrupted. It is dangerous to be alone, but “where there are two or three gathered in My name, I am in the midst of them,” says the Lord (Matthew 18:20). A temporary solution can be beneficial, but a frequent one can be harmful. For your nieces, may the Lord provide something beneficial for them. In our opinion, it seems that the clouds of sorrows have risen too early on the horizon of their lives: but in the providence of God, unknown to us, perhaps the day has been appointed - i.e. their manhood is age. Or maybe the sorrows here have determined for them to enter eternal rest. About V-e you write whether this child is preparing for a different journey: I agree with this. N.N., when she sent him to Moscow, was with us and served a prayer service to the Mother of God in the monastery; therefore, she entrusted him to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother; This incident, of course, did not happen to him without the providence of God. The desire of parents is to raise children for the light; and they don’t think the least about what sorrows are prepared for them (even though they themselves experience them). It is evident that the Lord Himself, preserving him from the upcoming future sorrows, is hereby preparing him for another life, to the sorrow of his parents at the present time, but to joy later. I.M. January 16, 1845. I thank you for congratulating me on the day of the Angel and I congratulate you on the same, for you also bear the name of his name; Let us try to imitate him in what the evil demon could not imitate him in - in humility, which is what we most need for salvation, and in any case it calms us down. What, on the contrary, worries and confuses? - pride. The incident you described saddened me very much: not that you were offended, but that you took it seriously, to the delight of the demons; and even more about the fact that you lost faith in your mother abbess for her lack of attention to you. Faith should not have any reasons: God Himself acts here. Consequently, He wanted her not to pay attention or punish Z-u’s mother for you. And the insult inflicted on you by her should not be considered otherwise than as sent by God. You write that she may do the same thing again if she is not punished; maybe, but only when God allows it for your benefit; otherwise, not only Z.’s mother, but also the legions of demons do not dare to do anything unless God allows it. On the day of your Angel, instead of a gift, I write to you a reproof and see what number you are from: from the wise or from the evil, as Wisdom says: do not rebuke the wicked, lest they hate you: “reprove the wise, and he will love you” (Prov. 9:8). You still show off your years - “beyond my years”: this should still humble you, but you use it as an excuse; at such a mature age and having already spent so much time reading and writing fatherly books, she could not gain the slightest fruit. What is required of us: is it only reading and writing? - This is sowing without fruit. Turn to the teachings of your fathers, which you so zealously acquired and yourself wrote: can anyone, without allowing the providence of God, offend you: Elijah Ekdika 12, St. Isaac the Syrian 13, St. Simeon the New Theologian 14, Mark the Ascetic 15, Abba Dorotheus: “Be careful not to reproach yourself, and not your neighbor,” St. Zosima 16, St. Peter of Damascus 17; and at St. You will find Barsanuphius in many places: “Keep yourself under all creation.” Read these chapters with attention and look at your structure, who should be blamed more? You didn’t suffer any offense, but look after yourself, and not the one who insulted the one who was the cause of your benefit, and then little by little the smoking rage will be tamed. After all, she did not put this passion into you, but only showed it through the sight of God. And where is the commandment: “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44)? - and how can we read the prayer: “Forgive us our debts,” when we ourselves do not forgive our debtors? Mother Abbess acted very wisely: having grieved for you, she left you without vengeance; - it’s clear that she is not just the mother of noblewomen, but all of them; and I know that it was very hard on her heart to see you in such a bitter dispensation. Even in absentia, upon receiving your letter, my heart was struck with grief and pity for you; and it even seems that the fruit of your silence has borne such fruits; St. writes about him. Climacus: “The silence of the unskilled is oppressive.” I wish that this letter finds you calmed down from embarrassment and aware of your weakness. This temptation should serve you as a lesson in future. By the way, congratulations on your passing Angel. Through her prayers may the Lord vouchsafe you to gain the Kingdom of Heaven. I.M. January 19, 1845. As I expected, I received your letter about your arrival in S-e. Thank God that your journey ended safely; and before it was impossible to come in such weather and road. Now rest. And your joy and consolation comes from the fact that you are in your place, where the Lord was pleased to give you a place to acquire the future life: about which you should always have concern, without daring or despairing at all, even if something good or evil happens. In both, you need to be prudent and pass the time humbly. Your absence was of great benefit to S.; she learned by experience that solitude was not yet her measure; and, perhaps, she saw her weakness in many ways, which is why she was glad to see you. May God grant that there will always be peace between you. She needs training in cutting off her will and reason, and this will not harm you when you give useful advice and stop her in something, due to her inexperience. Meanwhile, descend with your mind into the depths of humility; and when they reproach you with eldership, then the reproach itself will serve as healing for you. Peace and God's blessing to you and your entire cell. Mnogohreshny I.M. March 24, 1845. Exactly three thoughts of the enemy, to which you made a decent rebuff: but I will also add something: 1st, feeding vanity when you speak, have self-reproach for that very thought; and the fact that we - each of us - must seek the benefit not only of our own, but also of our neighbor; and “greater love has no one to sow, but whoever lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). 2nd, feeling the indignation, she did not suffer a fall, but even more so she became aware of her weakness, which involuntarily tells her to humble herself and take precautions. About the 3rd, may God Himself, the Knower of the Heart, inform you that he is evil and seductive, embarrassing. And may the Lord blot out from you all such uncreative excuses of the enemy. Judge, if you give her the freedom to climb into heaven to no avail, and you remain silent, looking at this and observing your imaginary benefit: what will come of this? On the contrary, in the benefit of our neighbor, our benefit is also observed. You give advice, but do not senilely command, and do not take it upon yourself, but I do not force you to do it, and I turn her away. Given the current storm that happened to her, what would she do without support and when would you remain silent? And that S. is embarrassed by words, then her weakness is recognized in this; otherwise he cannot learn in spiritual warfare, when he stands steadfastly. May the Lord instruct and confirm you to be useful to each other. I.M. June 12, 1845. I still don’t have the time or the spirit to write a response to your letters written on July 17th. But somehow I accept it, for God’s help. Thank the Lord that He gave you time to study the teachings of St. fathers, for the creation of their souls. For every thing there is a time: a time to sow and a time to reap the fruit (Eccl. 3). However, one should not stop at understanding the scriptures alone, but must also extend to doing; in the absence of it, for our powerlessness or negligence, until we descend into deep humility, according to the teaching of St. Barsanuphius: “Keep yourself under all creation.” Not because of my dignity, but because of your faith and out of necessity, the Lord granted you to find in your father’s teaching a solution appropriate for her, to her bewilderment. Yes, there is something similar there: when some, confused by Origen’s teaching, asked about dogmas. That we, passionate ones, should enter into the unknown mysteries and decrees of the Church, but simply obey it and consider its teaching infallible. “The proud try mysteries; but the sacraments are revealed to the humble.” There is no need to explain this to her curiosity, otherwise you can find a lot of evidence that we celebrate the Father every day, worship in spirit and in truth; and where there is celebration of the Son, there the Father is also celebrated in totality. “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” the words of our Savior (John 14:9). In the celebration of Epiphany, the entire Trinity is worshiped, as is the troparion. And during the Transfiguration, it pleased the Father to reveal his beloved Son with his voice; and the Church presented all this to us in hymns. On the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the glory book clearly expressed the majesty of the Holy Trinity: “Come, people, let us worship the Trinitarian Divinity: the Son in the Father with the Holy Spirit,” and so on... Read for yourself in the Colored Triodion; You will see the high reason of this stichera and the theology of the Holy Trinity. It would be possible to find a lot more, but I’ll leave it, considering it too passionate for us to plunge into the sea of ​​theology. It’s better to try little by little to cleanse the mind and heart of passions, then grace itself will write its laws on the clean tablets of the heart. Likewise, seeking consolation is dangerous for a proud mind; but to bear a cross, which is certainly made from a tree growing in the soil of our heart. P. can be counted among the sisters, but it must first be instilled in her that this counting is not done for honor, but with it it is necessary to have greater humility and greater feat against passions; how humility is acquired. Your Eminence spoke the truth about you, noblewomen, who come with your own whims, and that the word should bring the good fruits of humility. When he pleased you and praised you, he would give a means to exalt your horns; and now, having seen the real truth, it is necessary and involuntarily to reconcile. “It is good for me, for you have humbled me!” (Ps. 119:71). May the Lord give you peace, and in cases of mental illness, bear each other’s burdens, meaning constant self-reproach. Thank God, the life of Elder Paisius was published with his portrait, and two letters to Priest Demetrius in a Moscow magazine; They promised to print several copies and a special article. June 29, 1845. The expected visit has come true, and a cloud of troubles has flown away from you; The mother has fulfilled her duty and knows where her daughter is; The daughter also received consolation from a meeting with her family after the first nine-month separation in her life. You took part in it all and contributed with your concern; I thank you earnestly for all this; and your sister thanks you, both for your concern and warm hospitality, and even more so for S-y, and is pleased with her living with you. Now judge about me, a sinner: I find myself in such troubles almost every day, i.e. I visit hotels, and often receive hostels in cells; I look at the pile of letters (of which there are now up to 50 unanswered), I am horrified, I need to process everything; strength, both mental and physical, is exhausted. I have no time to read books that I just glance at, and it’s as if I don’t satisfy my hunger much, just like smelling food; but it still torments me. Woe to me, a sinner! I don’t see the means to the outcome, but I also don’t know the hidden will of God; I’m also afraid of the admixture of passions; one thing remains: I surrender myself, a sinner, to the guidance of God’s providence, which does not want the death of the sinner, but wants everyone to be saved and come to the understanding of truth. I wrote this so that you have experienced some of the vanity and can judge me by it. I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will arrange everything for good and strengthen my mental and physical strength. For some reason, I have not yet responded to your letter of July 28, but some have been lying around like this since mid-July. Leave the circumstance you described, which happened on July 22, without a subtle test of its essence; and from this, see your weaknesses and resort to the stronghold - humility. Perhaps the enemy will not stop fanning the sparks until he produces a strong flame. August 25, 1845. You ask me what to do in your weakness? – Bodily peace helps you, but your conscience denounces you. In this case, “cast up your sorrow upon the Lord” (Ps. 54:23), and do not strive beyond your strength for exploits; for we must be “not body-killers, but passion-killers.” St. has Isaac in the 85th word: “The body is weak, if you force it beyond its strength, you will fall into darkness” 18. If bodily calm strengthens you, not from laziness, but from weakness, then you can allow yourself to do so. And God is able to impute regret for non-correction to you as an action 19. Of course, having been in church, when you are unable to stand, you can sit, except for some of the most important actions of the service; and be calm about this. For your care for S-s, may the Lord Himself reward you with His mercy. She will use it and you will not be harmed; for our salvation lies in our neighbor; and it is commanded to “seek not your own,... but your neighbor to build up” (1 Cor. 10:24, 33; Phil. 2:4). What would have happened if we had left her to go her own way and, seeing her drowning, did not take her away from the abyss? The thoughts she comes to you clearly come from an enemy who wants to turn you away from a useful path. It’s good that she doesn’t hide them from you, so they are abolished. The opinions she receives on N. are also from the enemy, who has an attack on her for her arrogance and arrogance. Just as during general obediences her thoughts lie to her and confuse her, and all this stems from the same source, but for this you do not need to abandon obedience, but reproach yourself for the wrongness of your opinion. But even if they truly insulted her, even this is useful to her: let her holiness be humiliated before her, and the chimera be driven away. Idleness leads to many vices and plunges into despondency; then you need to instill in her about this. Reading in moderation; for it is replaced by scripture and also brings benefit. You say about your weaknesses that you need to increase them tenfold in front of others; but the power of God is made perfect even in weakness. And what conclusion they have about you is less than ten - and not a story, and be peaceful. February 12, 1846. I sincerely thank you for carrying out my instructions regarding finances 20 to the letter; but I won’t praise you for cowardice. What benefit do you bring to yourself, think about it, when you have at least some intelligence? You yourself say: “I know that Mother O. rejoices with the righteous,” what more is needed? Your wound does not heal; Why? Why is she not with you? Don’t you have a friend who would calm you down like she does? - This is pride! Can it ever calm down? Yes, and it can be called opposition to the will of God. I advise you to leave this chimera and seek your salvation as you should. Both from your previous letter and from the postscripts in S’s letter, I now notice that you seem to be burdened by her. In the first you mention that you involuntarily have to be a nanny; and here, that she prescribes the rules for you. The expression “being a nanny” means, as it were, bondage. It offends me that I am causing you hardship; and S. adds with his obstinacy, daring to prescribe rules for you. I asked you and now I ask for her, but not in such a way as to be a nanny; and I don’t want it to be a burden to you. If you wrote this in a troubled spirit, then with God’s help it will pass; and when the pledge of this increases, I don’t know what to say to this. Write to me how things will go for you. If it doesn’t change, then something needs to be done, even if you don’t want to. I cannot comprehend what kind of rules she prescribes for you? If she reveals to you the shameful hostile thoughts and judgments she has planted against you, and expresses them out of lack of skill as if with reprimands or reprimands, then I wrote to her about this, so that she, blaming herself, declares the impurity of her thoughts. It is obvious that the enemy, jealous of her benefit, is making nasty suggestions against her; and she, embarrassed by them and not soon opening, invites him even more to arm herself with them. There is blasphemy against God, and those who suffer from it attribute it to themselves, that they are blaspheming God when they do not have the slightest intention to do so. Their embarrassment amuses the enemy more and incites more abuse against them. I suppose it's similar here: take a closer look! I wish that as you spend the week commemorating the Passion of Christ with a feeling of gratitude to our Redeemer, in a peaceful dispensation of spirit, you will greet the all-joyful Resurrection of Christ with heartfelt joy, and celebrate it spiritually. I.M. March 30, 1846. My doubt seemed grave to you: would you be offended by my letter? Don't you see that I was not mistaken? Not one way, but the other, I was offended; and it comes from the same source. In the first case, in your words: “If you were offended, you would only have to ask yourself: what am I?” Why not do the same in this? Having written my doubt, I did not consider you perfect. And you, under the guise of humility, believing that you had such a dispensation that you would not be offended, fell to the other extreme - you were offended, which exposed your weakness and imperfection. Is that what I'm saying? “Is it not from your mouth that you are judged?” What if you're right? – it’s my fault: sorry! “How many different occasions do I have to see the weaknesses of others and write to them for strengthening, but I myself am the weakest of the weakest. I teach people and I learn myself. I just don’t know if it will be useful? It is true that you and those like you will say: that you should do this out of love for your neighbors. This example can also serve you in relation to S. You teach her, you do a good deed for your neighbor, and you learn yourself. It seems that I would have given up everything, but sat alone in my cell. - This is how it seems and is desired: but it’s not my will; Yes, maybe I won’t bear it that I’m thinking of taking upon myself. I am very grateful to you for S-y, that you admonish her and bear her infirmities. And in the future I ask you not to remain silent, but to denounce what you should: “If you bring out honest things from the unworthy, as my mouth will become” (Jer. 15:19), says the Holy Scripture. And again: “Greater love has no one to sow, but whoever lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). This is not a right growing tree; if you leave it to grow like this, then it, with all its arrogant deeds, will bear bad fruit, and when you plant it, then perhaps it will “bear good fruits.” Moreover, when she has the will, then there will be God’s help. And for you this field is work - to see yourself and recognize your weaknesses. You cannot learn from reading alone, but you have to do it: learn patience, self-reproach and humility. I wish for you to have a perfect calling to serve the Lord. You write to her about this sweet work; but do not hide your work, the struggle with passions, so that later they will not grumble at you. Then, when there is true will, all obstacles will not be forbidden. – I sincerely rejoice that peace is being established between you; and this one will continue to exist. April 16, 1846. For what you ask for forgiveness, for that I do not grieve you at all, but wrote it for admonition; In this case, be calm and do not be afraid of me. I don’t even know why you were so afraid?! You write that I described your thoughts about the desire for privacy. I’m not a heart expert, but apparently God gave a word for your benefit. Consider whether you are capable of solitude? Read from St. Climacus in the 4th degree and in the degree about silence, as he warns to set sail into the sea of ​​silence while still overwhelmed by spiritual passions. Their boat will not yet endure the fierce waves of the enemy, those who have to rise up against them, and will suffer drowning. As far as I can see, the enemy is fighting you to separate you from the place where you can have success; but you want to see it in yourself. Will this be useful for you? Shouldn’t you even more so see your weaknesses and passions and humble yourself through them? And the holy fathers, the closer they were to God, the more they humbled themselves, looking at the height of perfection, and had themselves under all creation. And you, as is noticeable, strive for perfection - and with observance (but “the Kingdom of God with observance” (Luke 17:20) does not come); and therefore you indulge in confusion. Do not ascend high and do not bow down, but follow the middle path: take care to acquire purity of heart, the sign of which is to see everyone as saints 21; and “the eye of goodness shall not see evil.” In this, strive even more, for which you now have all the means, you have the freedom to live, without burdening your conscience with any sedition (which can happen due to obedience), you are provided with everything, you also have spiritual books to feed your soul. In another place, perhaps, they won’t allow you to live like this, but get used to the customs there; It won’t take long for you to get used to others, and you won’t be able to bear them either. In this case, I advise you to read the letter of Elder Sophrony to Schemamonk Athanasius, who was about to leave the Svirsky monastery because of some customs that seemed to him to be against the rules: how he humbled him and what instructions he gave 22. You wrote many texts from St. Isaac, but they do not persuade you to take your side, but convince you otherwise. You say that you did not make a start for salvation, you were completely devoted to bodily peace and an unaccountable lull of feelings; and above you mention from the 20th word of St. Isaac that “we must still accept bitterness with joy, but it will shake us a little.” And she attributed this to the fact that she was still unworthy of the consolation of solitude; then it is worthy of sorrows, which, apparently, happen to you: now it is no longer in accordance with peace. From the 7th word: “Let him not rejoice over me, my enemy,” “Let him not cease to seek and worry,” and so on, led to me being closer in my edification. - But this is not relevant to this; and St. Isaac directly says that in the fall, no matter what happens (having described them above), do not despair: “Let him not cease from seeking and borrowing and borrowing, and from other ships for ever” (an example of merchant trade when a ship dies) “and about the hope of sailing,” and so on. and “this is a wise man who is ill, and has not cut off his hope.” Above: and let him not give up his soul to victory even in that very victory; those. let him not despair. You see that the words you cited encourage you not to despair of the falls that can happen from the frequency of battles, and do not encourage you to leave a place, “by gaining and borrowing” - finding means to leave sin and to repentance; but more so it leads to humility. - Because where there is a fall, pride precedes it, according to the word of St. Climacus. St. Isaac writes in the 46th verse that humility can save us even without works, but works without it, on the contrary, are useless. For all these reasons, we can conclude: that every case is our teacher, exposing our inner structure “by the sight of God”; and one must surrender to His all-wise providence and guidance; as St. writes Peter of Damascus, about the hedgehog how to acquire faith: “If you want to put me to rest with your mind, I will not contradict the verb; If you want to have humility again for the sake of temptation, I am also with you, and so on.” The thought and desire born in you to move closer, in the hope of nourishment, I cannot say that it was well-founded; but even if it seemed solid, then the places do not lend a hand to the fulfillment of this, and the hope for a person is not constant. Doesn’t God act and give, according to your faith, a word that can use you? – The distance does not interfere. If you are in spirit about the Lord, then you are always close; and you have a means - a letter, to communicate your infirmities; and I, until the Lord gives me strength and reason, do not refuse to give answers, although I myself am wallowing in ulcers and in cronyism 23. I don’t mean a place close to your premises. So, leave this thought, and sit there, and, as according to the 33rd word of St. Isaac, believe that it is not useful; so according to Lestvichnikov’s instruction in the 26th degree, in its continuation: “people desire to know the will of God.” Read what should be done and calm down. From time to time, in good weather, you can visit us. Your abode, although remote, is free to communicate with ours. And whoever has the favor will be close. April 30, 1846. I received your letters. I see your residence and am not at all surprised about S’s confusion: she is in a struggle of passions and does not yet have the concept or strength of how to resist them. However, thank God that they exist, over time she will be skillful - falling and rising, and learning what a burden and harm it is to be friends with the passions. It would be a great thing if it could be cut off immediately and without difficulty; but this is not our measure, for we still bear the seals of pride and vanity, and we must erase them by allowing ourselves to fall and recognizing our weaknesses. Thank God that you have now reconciled and are on vacation. Let F-and remain on trial for a while, and when her intention is firm, then, apparently, there is also a calling of God, there is no need to revoke it. As for the premises, it seems to me that you can accommodate them, albeit crampedly, but where there is love and humility, there God himself will give peaceful tranquility. Although it will not be without difficulty for you; but are we created to live and called to this calling for ourselves alone? It will turn out that this talent is dug into the ground and then returned to the master without increment. And who is subject to such punishment? You shouldn’t search and get stuffed yourself, but when God’s providence arranges it, then it’s not easy to leave. I’m not averse to placing her with N-e, but there is no such benefit foreseen there as in your household. You know the character of N's mother is melancholic; then can the novice bear and will she not take the same into her morality? Meanwhile, you know that she, in turn, is proud and obstinate, then warn her about this, that having gone to a monastery, you need to be completely reborn: leave pride and whims, and you need to endure annoyance and reproach from everyone whom God sends, not only from the best, but also from the worst and from the last; and completely reject her will and reason (she, perhaps, will not understand this word; explain), for only through these means do we come to correct our morality and receive peace of mind. Yes, and having been in front of your eyes, you can quickly notice her inclinations and expose her. M. and A. just yesterday came to our monastery and delivered your letter. It’s a pity for the poor girl that she has fallen into such a state of darkness; she considers it unnecessary to pray, because she prays only with her lips, but her heart is cold; and you can’t convince her in any way, but everyone has her own opinion; I think it's lovely. She certainly had warmth in prayer and was carried away by it, which is noticeable from her mother’s words, for she told her that she would not want anything more than to be free and pray to God. There must be a punitive allowance; but the Lord is strong both to have mercy on her and to give her a sense of humility; but I can’t do anything and I don’t know. Our book is being printed and 8 sheets (128 pages) have already been printed, and one copy has been sent to me. The Lord is strong to help in the continuation and completion of it; It's up to us to do what is written. I wish you peace, health and salvation. Mnogohreshny I. M. August 27, 1846 I sincerely rejoice that you have peace. Yes, it could not be violated if self-reproach did not recede; but since we have not yet acquired this, then from time to time there is an attempt to be indignant - let us reconcile ourselves. And not only in community with people, but even if they were in complete solitude, and then there would be internal indignation and deprivation of the world, which is even more dangerous than the present one. Mother K. suffers from this kind of embarrassment: she has no communication or conversation with anyone (except perhaps when it comes to monastic slander), and from her inaction she falls into boredom and despondency, and instead of the desired peace, she finds confusion and deprivation of peace in her cell alone, so that she has no strength to take on anything. I advised her not to be alone, but she doesn’t find anyone to talk to, and in obedience she’s being bullied, which she’s not ready to tolerate. When you write to her, don’t lose sight of this: it’s not just that she gets upset that she gets into squabbles, but more than that, that her solitude feeds the passions of vanity, anger, and others; and she has no idea about their extermination. She only thinks about seclusion and moving away from people, and this is harmful to her; but neither does man have any strength to strengthen. September 3, 1846 I sincerely rejoice in your peace. May God grant that he may remain in your abode and throughout your entire abode. But it is impossible that this world will not be indignant at any time; We are still passionate and will not boast; Sometimes there is peace in society, but we don’t find it in ourselves. St. Isaac writes in the 78th word: “When you find the world unchanged, then fear.” Therefore, consider cases, learn from them, and do not despair. Yes, may the Lord strengthen her in her initial training: yes, even in the world she did not lead a pampered, but a sorrowful life; and sorrow corrects morality. You cannot ensure yourself and think that you have achieved anything; humility is best and most necessary; and acquire it by obedience and rejection of your will. I am writing to you all together. I wish for external peace in the cells among themselves and within themselves. And you can conveniently acquire this when you have self-reproach, from which humility is acquired, and the Lord looks upon humility and calms (Ps. 112:6). Young people, submit to your elders, and “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal.6:2). Remember that obedience gives birth to humility, and from it every good; and vice versa: from disobedience, pride and all evil arise and multiply. Choose the best. Kursk Archbishop Iliodor visited us on his way to St. Petersburg. He liked our monastery; but we need to look and hear what the Lord Himself says; you need to humble yourself and consider yourself unworthy of local praise. I read your letter to mother K.; it is written thoroughly and is useful for her. Foolish self-conceit! When he gets his hair cut, he will live an ascetic life and simply fly to heaven; but there is no word about acquiring humility. Great impulses for exploits that do not bring the fruit of goodness, but only allow one to pick off the fruits of delusion. What will happen next? “I will not escape blasphemy if anything happens to her.” Lives alone, not sociable with anyone; Arriving at his cell, he does not find the slightest peace. These are the fruits of her exploits, and she extends to even greater ones, as if she would seclude herself and shut herself up, but would not hear a word from anyone! May the will of the Lord be done upon her; He knows more than we do how to arrange it. I.M. October 6, 1846. For your calling to the holy monastery and for your peaceful tranquility, bring thanks to the most merciful Lord, and regarding your spiritual infertility, look at yourself and humble yourself, then you will gain nothing and will be worthy to receive the mercy of God. Riches of spiritual gifts are sent by a humble spirit; they can only preserve it without harm, and we, having a proud wisdom and not being free to see others in their weaknesses, and not having suffered any annoyance, reproach and ridicule, considering ourselves worthy of it - how can we look for spiritual gifts in ourselves? At St. Read Isaac in the 2nd word about the special act of the cross, where he writes: “If the eye of your soul is not pure, do not dare to look at the surroundings of the sun, lest you lose even that small dawn, which is simple faith, and humility and heartfelt confession, and small deeds, even according to your strength, and you will be rejected,” and so on. St. Theognostus orders to “ask for notification,” but not before death, “even if it is most humbly possible.” Well, when would you have hope in your salvation, seeing spiritual fruits in your feelings? Don’t think that the enemy will leave you alone and won’t fight you with arrogance, the most cruel vice. Now it confuses you because you have nothing. And St. Peter of Damascus does not at all command “to be less daring, less to despair, if anything good or evil happens,” which is what other fathers teach in agreement. Let us, with all our weaknesses, become more aware of our poverty and humble ourselves, rather than despair, and cast the hope of our salvation on God’s ineffable mercy. You are right to talk about V-chka, as it is written; Is there only one mistake: “In return for past sorrows, etc. “I’ll spoil her a little.” But this time will show what should be done, so as not to give a reason for relaxation. However, leniency does not interfere; and what difference it has with the first, I leave to your reasoning: for you know better all the actions. S-but the dispensation is definitely proud; but, by the grace of God, her passions will humble her, and when she will have complete revelation and humility. And in this regard, she is happier than K.’s mother, who has support, and she, poor one, goes her own way, flies straight to heaven with a prayer from her heart; although she dreams that she is being cared for by me, I am afraid for her, lest she fall into delusion; then I will get it for her too. However, with S-yu, I find differences in many ways. S-e I am writing to her letter, as much as I can understand about her structure; and you know better than her actions: where necessary, reprove, and where necessary, condescend. Pour wine and oil on the wounds. As for the rest, whatever you find better, so be it. That peace is maintained between your cells and things are going in order - thank God; and may the Lord Himself arrange for their further spiritual education. They are useful and necessary for you, but you are for them in a different way. We are all connected by nature by bonds of love. I wish you and your young ascetics a peaceful dispensation and I remain a great sinner I. M. October 22, 1846. It is your good disposition to cede your debt to R-e to his daughters - may the Lord bless you to do this out of love and compassion for your neighbors. Spiritual warfare is necessary for us; and if we only win, then how can we humble ourselves? But in our weaknesses, let us rather humble ourselves, falling and getting up. Maybe S. is in such a position that she needs to curb her anxiety with falls. “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear,” writes St. Isaac in the 78th word. Have pity on our father Ambrose, he is very exhausted; and the Eminence gave it to me to help with the clergy. I wish you and your sisters in the Lord to be healthy mentally and physically; I remain the sinful I.M. November 9, 1846. You're still, B-chka, child! But be a child of malice, not of reason. Of course, you do not yet understand about the spiritual mind; You can’t learn so quickly - in four months! You don't even know the alphabet yet. I advise you: read the life of the Monk Dositheos, he was also a baby, but the simplicity of his obedience in a short time brought him salvation. Imitate him and you won’t go wrong; read the entire book of Abba St. Dorothea with attention; and read it more than once; and what to read next, ask for guidance from Mother E. Now start drinking some coffee, and wait until the Nativity of Christ, we’ll be alive without drinking it at all. May the peace and blessing of God rest upon you, I earnestly wish you; many-sinful I.M. The actions of Mother K. that you described while she was in your monastery are not surprising to me. In everything one sees her arrogant enterprise, ending in the useless picking of rotten fruits. If she manages to come to you, she will only be calm until a few dry receptions, otherwise she will see everything differently; which happens to many people. But she only thinks: as soon as she gets her hair cut or comes to you, her prayer will be fiery, ascending straight to heaven; and she has no idea about the battle with passions, no matter how much he wrote to her and how much he did not speak to her. It is dangerous that he will fall into delusion, and then I will not escape accusations; but I’m of little use, and I’m sorry for her soul. However, the Lord is strong to grant her true reason. Be strengthened in spirit in the Lord and do not faint, and God is able to illuminate the very darkness of the spirit with the rays of His grace, if we go through our life with humility and see everyone as good and holy, even if someone is overcome by passions, forgive; for he is in a struggle, he is overcome according to his weak constitution or lack of education, and sometimes due to the need of some situation. I noticed in you jealousy beyond reason, grieving for K., for the cloth. If you were in her place, maybe you would be even more carried away; otherwise God protected you with everything and gave you reason and books for salvation. What are you doing? Read from St. Isaac about the dangers of jealousy and see if you have it too. The vignette and the tidying up of words occupied me a lot and made me want to write; let your V. write with them and spiritually draw understanding from the teachings of St. fathers, extending to activities. I.M. November 23, 1846. Your weakness revealed to you in the sight of your neighbors should humble you more and provide an opportunity for spiritual work and preservation. Do not think of achieving dispassion without humility; and we approach humility through our own weaknesses and failures. “Belittlement in some who keep for themselves, keepers of the essence of truth,” writes St. Isaac. How then do you want to continue in your teaching without stumbling? It is dangerous to refuse those who require spiritual consolation in the sorrows that beset them, presenting the guilt of vanity or damage to one’s dispensation. Love shown to our neighbor in his need will compensate for our lack: but to remain in the opinion of spiritual work and deviate from the love of our neighbor is dangerous, lest we suffer the condemnation of the one who hid the talent. Our salvation lies in our neighbor. While you are carried away by vanity, turn your thoughts to your fault. But what is there to be vain about when you are offering someone else’s teaching, not your own? and what God sends into the mind for the benefit of those asking, according to their faith. O. Our Am-ii is still in a painful position, between fear and hope. Be the will of God! With pleasure I accept rosary beads from your diligence, V-chka. Having written a book, sow the seed of the word of God in your heart, clearing the field of passions; and there is a convenient way to this: cutting off your will and reason. I.M. December 24, 1846 Happy New Year to you; follow the path of good deeds to our heavenly fatherland. Time is so short that you don’t see how year after year passes; and the future is unknown and not in our will! S-but the dispensation is agitated by passionate impulses, and it was as if a strong hurricane flew by at that time, when she wrote, and regretted it, and could not find the strength in herself to resist. I wrote to her how much the Lord taught me to strengthen her in battle; and you, for your part, do not abandon her with instructions, and, in case of need, with indulgences, according to the reasoning of the saint. Varsanuphia: pour 24 milk and oil will come out. And again about the arc (if you bend too much, it will break. From the Patericon). And similarly, as Elder Paisius writes about his brethren, who are in three dispensations, some of which still require the milk of mercy and condescension to be brought up. You describe the excitement of the K-dispensation. What should we do? We are all still outside the humble path, wandering through rapids and wilds and hills. Apparently, it is too early to have peace without taking the trouble to exterminate passions. But God is merciful and able to send His help to heal her. Let your shortcomings in bodily activities be compensated by humility of spirit and condolences about this. Peace and blessings of God be upon you. Read the book of Elder Paisius and strive against passions. The battle is breathless, terrible and ferocious with them and with invisible enemies. Humility defeats them. I.M. February 4, 1847. God bless! who gave you peace and tranquility of mind, but for this, physical exhaustion appeared. It is impossible to have both, and at the same time unchanged: “Weeping may endure for an evening, and joy will come in the morning” (Ps. 29:6); and: “according to the multitude of my illnesses... Your consolations have made my soul glad” (Ps. 93:19). “And (when) I did not move in my abundance... (then) I turned away Your face and was confused” (Ps. 29:7-8). Very clearly St. The Prophet explained in these words the image of our spiritual life further, so that we would not despair of hiding grace. And God is able to save S., who is wavering on the fragile boat of self-reflection, from drowning, just don’t deprive her of what she needs to be taught. Passions darken the meaning and involuntarily lead to opposite actions. Try to the best of your ability to console your sick and grieving sisters and strengthen them in feat: in spiritual warfare there are many temptations and sorrows, but everyone is allowed to follow our temptation and benefit. Those who mourn see the guilt of others, but do not see themselves and do not resort to self-reproach and humility. I can’t tell you anything more; but I wish to see off St. This fast is reverent and soul-saving. Pray for me, the great sinner I.M. I send my blessing. February 18, 1847. I didn’t think of writing to you, venerable sisters of Christ, until I received a letter from you, but the ardent and quick nun K., having written a letter, left me a place. I haven’t said almost anything to her yet; It’s a postal day, and I have quite a lot of letters, I only received 20 last mail, and there are more of the previous ones lying around; when to answer? Sometimes it’s not possible to write a letter in a day. On the 18th, I wrote to you about our intention to publish the works of Elder Paisius, translations of various fatherly books, which, however, depended on the preliminary consent of His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret, and we were between fear and hope. On the 22nd I received a letter from N.P., which I am sending to you to read and ask you to return. Isn’t it God’s providence here to provide spiritual food to His Orthodox people, thirsty and hungry for spiritual benefit? Worldly people strive for piety and, with the help of God, act in such a way that it is completely impossible for us to even think about doing. Just as the first edition was completed through their own labors and diligence, so now, when the Lord blesses, it will be completed. I have a letter from N.P. I was very pleased, I hope that you will also be participants in this common spiritual joy of ours. Let me know if you have started writing a poem to St. Simeon? And you, S., write from my written Paterichka - from the second book, there are some useful articles at the end on how we can receive forgiveness of sins, and Isaiah the Hermit, it seems, there is a chapter; and came to me without delay. I.M. February 25, 1847. Thank God that S. came to her senses from her harmful darkness. The Lord is able to enlighten and strengthen her; and her very fall, and what she suffered, should show her how destructive arrogance is and how destructive the friendship of the passions that stem from it, and not only friendship, but also captivity from them. I thank you for your indulgence towards her, patience with her infirmities and admonition. B is a different kind of temptation and sorrow - from the intimidation of N. This is a test for her, and so that she also recognizes her weakness and places her hope in God; He will not allow temptation to go beyond measure and will not allow the world to mock her when she is truly disposed to work for the Lord. Let him not be discouraged, but trust in God, and call upon our Intercessor, the Mother of God, for help. And F-e, it’s good when you can withstand the heat of worldly temptations; Upon entering the monastery, he will value this tranquility and ceremoniously strive for passion, cutting off his will and reason. N.N. is akin to being cowardly, to the extent of self-confidence, about the deprivation of a sister; always, while the wound is hot, the pain is greater, but little by little it heals. How will she help the children by going there? will she remain a governess? The Lord is able to preserve them, for He cares more for the orphans. We have not yet renounced the world! May the Lord strengthen her in submission to the will of God and in trust in Him. I regret about N., and also that she doesn’t have a person; everyone cares about their own. But the merciful Lord is able to strengthen her or to prepare for her eternal good with this illness. I don’t know how God will arrange it and tell the mother abbess about N.N. She, i.e. the abbess writes to me so that I entrust her to someone; but how can I do this, and who can I entrust? If these were mechanical dolls, then you could entrust them to whoever you wanted, even though few could drive them, otherwise people are autocratic and everyone has their own passions; and what is the fight against them? So I washed your hair and fed you some crackers; but whatever the need, you will be smarter in the future; Who am I not offending? and K-yu’s mother was rather insulted. I read lines about her from your letter. This outraged her so much: why did you believe it and write to me about it? She doesn't do that about you; He doesn’t believe what he hears; and she didn't do any of this; and all this is in vain for her. She was dug up so much that S-e no longer seemed so good to her, and B-e was good. I showed her whether she was worth the monasticism she so strongly strives for? Relying on one thing that fulfills the monastic rule and fasting, and thinks everything with an opinion; but the real monastic rule, patience, humility and love, never happened. Upon arrival, I wanted to write to you with an apology. May the Lord vouchsafe all of you by seeing off St. fast reverently, celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Christ with heartfelt joy. My time is so torn that I can’t even figure it out: there are still 32 letters on the table, and on March 1st I received 22. I don’t have time to answer at all; and after writing this letter they tore it off more than 10 times; and there is also a great responsibility to verify the rewritten articles of the translations of Elder Paisius. March 4, 1847. N. asks to have a revelation to you, then this does not consist in the obligation to be a spiritual mother, but simply not to refuse advice, which she will ask for with known faith or to pour out some kind of consuming spiritual sorrow; and you have nothing to fear from this, you will not speak on your own, but God, for her sake, will enlighten you. It would also not be possible to answer for this that, while saving ourselves, we leave our neighbors who are looking for our help. Now a new concern opens up: D.D. Is it really possible to abandon her like that, to the mercy of her will and reason? She is young and passionate, which is why she certainly requires control. For two years he has constantly had a desire for the monastery, despite all the inconveniences. Although the parent did not reject her wishes, she would go after his death; and meanwhile, she must involuntarily have a suit and social activities. And the P-kiye, her relatives, do not want to hear about her intentions; in letters they try to distract from this and present worldly life in the best possible way. Why is she afraid that when her father dies, the P-kiys will come and take them with them and involuntarily; and from there it is difficult to return; and this winter, having been here, her brother and son-in-law did not take a little with them to P-e during their stay here; I put myself in her position and told my father and mother to fire her; After many renunciations and the proposal of various obstacles, they finally agreed to let us go, but not closer than summer, and, it seems, by the very time you will need to go home from us. May peace and tranquility settle in your home; Even if battles occur in spiritual warfare, may the Lord help us to overcome them through confrontation and humility, and so, little by little clearing the path of Israel from many tongues, we will reach the land of promise. Mnogohreshny I.M. Although your cell is small, let your heart be spacious; it can combine many things and bear the infirmities of others, covering them with love and humility. How spacious it is! that “the kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21), says the Lord. Yes, the narrow and sorrowful path leads more conveniently to the Kingdom of Heaven. There are also those who live extensively, but do not find peace and tranquility. It’s not our business to sort it out; let everyone look at himself; and we also take care of this and look within ourselves: is there not an old man? is there love and humility? Do we love our enemies as we love our friends? reproach, like praise? is scarcity like abundance? When this is not the case, then even more so one must humble oneself and consider oneself worse than everyone else. I am philandering for you, but I myself am alien to this activity. Woe to me, a sinner! Read what, when and how much, assign X yourself; otherwise it is written: “You have found honey in moderation, but you are not so full that you vomit” (Proverbs 25:16), and again: “Teach great woe to a beginner; there is no price for doing it in moderation! The parting you made V-e does not interfere: “Reproach is strong, but praise turns a weakened soul to good deeds,” writes St. Ilia Ekdik 25. May God grant us all to see our thinness. IN.! Accept reproof with thanksgiving; it will benefit you more than praise and will teach you patience and humility. May God guide and strengthen you! June 21, 1847. Yesterday I sent you a prosphora and fragrant flowers, so that they would serve for you as an emblem of the beauty of virtues and the fragrance of humility! During the hours of spiritual sorrow that visit you, you become faint-hearted. – I sincerely regret this! Is it not the Lord’s will to tempt our love and faith for Him by taking away consolations and sending us hardship and darkness, so that in this state we may remain firm in faith and hope towards Him; As our patience and humility increases, our love for Him also increases. Say to yourself: “If we receive good things from the hand of the Lord, will we not endure the evil ones?” ( Job 2:10 ). Remember the words of the Prophet David: “I have groaned in my abundance, I am not moved” (Ps. 29:7); maybe you thought you would forever be in abundance, although not in high talents, but at least in peace, perhaps imaginary; however, he further says: “Thou didst turn away Thy face, and was confused” (Ps. 29:8). It seems the same thing happened to you. But he did not lose heart, but prayed to God and was heard (Ps. 29:11-13). So you, too, do not be faint-hearted and you will see this darkness and darkness driven away by the light of God’s mercy. How can we be without excuses and changes in our structure? and how will you learn spiritual warfare without experiencing it in practice, but only understanding it from reading? Read the 43rd chapter of Callistus and Ignatius, and of St. Isaac 78th and 79th towards the end and in my patericon, written in the second book, at the end of Thomas a à Kempis, those verses on which crosses are placed; - and the Lord is able to give you comfort. It is now impossible to conclude anything about X. from the changes that happened to her: perhaps it would have been more dangerous if she had not withstood the abuse at the beginning, which cannot be avoided, or in the middle, or at the end. S-and before did not have this abuse, but now she can withstand it. God grant that upon her return to you, they all have peace and harmony among themselves. I ask you and the sisters to pray for me to the Lord and Mother of God: may he deliver me from this yoke of authority imposed on me; but so that I can humble myself more, just as I am teaching you about this. Woe is me! they exalt both here and there, but in reality I am nothing. Save yourself in the Lord! I earnestly wish this for you, great sinner I.M. June 27, 1847 On the 2nd I received your letter and was heartily glad and thanked God that peace was established in your cell. May the Lord help us to always preserve it, even when S. returns. Of course, it is impossible for an enemy who hates good not to try to violate it by disturbing passions: but where there is love and humility, nothing will succeed. It is impossible to learn spiritual art without experience, but we learn it through struggle; and it is our own passions that humble us when we slavishly serve them. Self-reproach, rejection of one's will and reason and having oneself under everyone - brings lasting peace. I congratulate you all, and especially you, X., on being clothed in the robe of salvation and being added to the ranks of the sisters. May the Lord help you to dress yourself internally in bright wedding clothes in order to lead the Bridegroom Christ into the heavenly chamber! I read your N.N.’s letter, how she reprimands her mother: “Why did she let you go to the monastery so soon, you are young, you have not yet seen the world, and it would be necessary to test you in it, and tempt you, and then let you go!” This is what a blessing was prepared for you from her! Strong enemy artillery with many arrows of the delights of the world stood before you: persuasion, caresses, threats, instructions from the priest, denigration of our title, the pleasures of the world - all this was preparing to attack your, not quite solid and strong, battery; your cowardice could be shaken, and the heroes of the present time would triumph. But how long would this last? Reproaches and torment of conscience would poison your imaginary pleasures, and bad consequences, which they did not foresee in the least, could make your whole life bitter and unhappy; but by God’s mercy you, like a bird, got rid of the nets by your quick decision - and this was so unexpected that it was impossible to think that your parents would agree to your vacation so soon; but the Lord told them too, although with heart disease, to let you go, giving them the means to do so. Thank the Lord without a word for such His mercy towards you, and when boredom or similar to previous warfare comes, remember all this and thank God, who has made you worthy to escape from the world to the monastery. Mama is somewhat embarrassed that the reproach falls on her, that if she had been her own mother, she would not have let her go. I console her to have a calm, righteous conscience in this matter. July 4th, 1847. While going through the feat of spiritual life, one cannot help but have such cases through which one unwittingly gets involved in such matters that can bring sorrow to our test of patience. You gave advice with good will and for the benefit of your neighbor, out of love; but every good deed is tempted by evil deeds; then if sorrow happens to you through this, be patient and reproach yourself, and not others; everyone does according to his own understanding and thinks that he is doing well; and for mistakes, in turn, they are cleansed by sorrows. - Read St. Mark of the Ascetic about sorrows in a special word, in a conversation with Dikanik, where he says this at the end of the word: “Do not look for how, when and through whom sorrows are found: There is One God to lead about this; and our job is to bear them gratefully and without malice.” It also says that sorrows come from both love and malice. You made a good start - not to enter into anything and not to say anything, but occasions forced you to transgress your intention. You didn’t find them yourself, but they sought your advice. It would be up to your conscience to leave it like that. May peace and tranquility be with you - I earnestly wish the great sinner I.M. July 12, 1847. X.! You will see from my letter to Mother E. that I did not miss a single mail without writing to you, and thereby definitely spoiled you. It won’t always be like this; you need to write less often; but sometimes there’s nothing to write. I am not rich in eloquence; and when more matter accumulates, then you can write. You write that you too have become ill; It’s obvious that this has to happen, be patient and you will be healed mentally. This is the path to accept sorrows and illnesses complacently, for the purification of the soul; and they exist in the world, but they are not accepted there in the same way. May the Lord enlighten you and strengthen you on this path of salvation, - I earnestly wish the great sinner I.M. Whoa! I wish you health both mentally and physically; Be patient and thank God for visiting Him! July 12, 1847. Your grief resonates with the sick and in me; what to do? It’s obvious that it’s necessary to bear some kind of cross: whether it’s sorrow, illness or hardship, just don’t complain, but thank God. Now the cross is clearly depicted in front of you and tangibly touches you, or even lies heavily on your shoulders. The cross sent to you from God is a truly great gift from His right hand, a gift that you can boast about, glorifying the Lord. By boasting about it, you will not praise yourself, but the Lord, who so mercifully and wisely provides for your salvation. Think what an honor and glory it is to participate in the cross of Jesus the Savior of the world! - and you definitely participate in bearing the cross of the Son of God if you endure your sorrows with patience, humility, devotion to the Lord and trust in Him. “Oh, what a great gift of God to belong to the number of companions of Christ - to walk the narrow path that our Savior and God walked; to bear part of the cross, which for my salvation was entirely lifted up and sacrificed to the justice of God by the Lord Jesus! What happiness for the sake of Christ Jesus, with devotion to Him: either to suffer the loss of external benefits of property, honor, or to endure illness in the body or sorrow in the soul! Devotees of sensuality, living only an external life, do not know this happiness; If you tell them about this gift of God’s goodness, they will not understand you” 26. I just read this article and thought it necessary to write out a few lines for you: won’t this balm bring some comfort to your grieving hearts? - what I earnestly wish for; and you can still penetrate into the patristic books of St. Mark the Ascetic and St. Isaac the Syrian, where you will find much comfort in your sorrow; but the Lord Himself is close to the offended heart and is able to provide spiritual consolation and liberation from sorrow. Cinchona powders, or quinine, can be given to K-e, but not on the day of paroxysm, and first clear the stomach so that blockages do not occur. In case of illness, Artos can always be consumed with faith with simple holy water, but not always with Epiphany water. V-chka and H-a! Be healthy - I earnestly wish this, I remain a great sinner I. M. July 18, 1847. Having received your common letter, written with X., dated the 17th, I see the same sorrows of yours, caused by their illness, and I myself cannot be indifferent to this, although I submit to the will of God that He builds everything for good, and without His holy will the power of our head will not perish. However, one cannot help but feel sorrow, but one must not be faint-hearted and strengthen oneself in patience, according to the word of the Apostle: “In everything it is sorrowful, but not cold” (2 Cor. 4:8). July 22, 1847. Truly, our Angel V-chka has flown into eternity! There is no doubt that she would not be worthy to receive God’s mercy. We know this from her life, from the blessed death granted by the Lord, but our feelings are so weak that we are unable to accept this separation with indifference. Having read your lines, although insensitive, I shed tears - regret about her suffering and departure - and joy about her bliss in the future; and no matter how much I remember her, I cannot remain without feelings of tenderness. God! May her soul rest in the Kingdom of Heaven! But there is little use for me; and I grieve for you that her death greatly upset you, as well as your sisters S-y and X-y. They should console you in this sorrow, but they themselves are weak. The most merciful Lord is able to give you reinforcement and consolation; run to Him and to the Mother of God and remember that we are not separated from her forever, but only for a certain distance of time. Let us imagine that she left us for her eternal fatherland, where we must strive, only at an indefinite time and unknown to us, but known only to our One Creator. Let us try to use the time given to us here for the benefit of our souls and for our neighbors; and when you indulge in useless sadness, you will completely upset yourself and lose your health; than you will sin a little before God. Strengthen yourself with the reasoning that the limit of life is set for everyone by God himself, then it cannot be otherwise than at this time to be freed from the bonds of the flesh, and what is most precious: in chastity and purity of morality, the Lord accepted her with a blessed death: how many temptations and snares of the enemy, the world and the flesh, did she deliver? How many sorrows did she avoid that lay along the path of life, which she should have endured with difficulty, and perhaps she would have sinned a lot. But now all this is removed from her, and she will enjoy eternal bliss. Even if V. lived a long time, she would not have escaped all death. The Holy Scripture comforts us so that we do not grieve for the dead, like those who have no hope, i.e. non-believers. There is truly no consolation for those; for them there is no ray of hope from distant eternity; for them whoever dies dies forever; and we, believers and convinced of the action of God’s providence, must be firmly convinced that it is God’s will to move it into eternity at the present time, and for its greatest benefit. Although she has passed away in her youth, old age is not counted among years; “Grey hair is the wisdom of man, and the life of old age is undefiled” (Wis. 4:9). “In a little while he will fulfill his duty: for his soul is pleasing to the Lord: for this reason he has labored from the midst of wickedness” (Wis. 4:13–14). “He was put to death, lest malice change his mind, or flattery deceive his soul; the zeal for evil is darkened by good, and the soaring of lust takes over the mind of a kindly mind” (Wisdom 4:11–12) and “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them” (Wisdom 3:1). Again, I repeat to you: do not indulge in hopeless sadness, but console yourself with all these reasonings; and this should comfort you no little, that the face of your monastery of virgins who presented themselves to Christ is also filled by your V-a! Thank His goodness for being worthy to accept her to Himself in her youth! Let it be a consolation for us that the Church, together with us, prays for her soul and makes bloodless sacrifices to the Lord for her salvation: then if she, like a person, sinned, the Lord is able to grant forgiveness and cleanse her, who departed in faith and the hope of a future resurrection. I received your letter on the evening of the 27th and immediately wrote down her name on the table for commemoration; and on Monday, the 28th, we served a liturgy and a memorial service for it in our monastery; They also recorded a memorial in the monastery, and commemorate him every day at liturgies. May the Lord strengthen and comfort you; I pray for His goodness! and I remain the great sinner I.M. July 29, 1847. The ninth day since our V-chka moved into eternity! She will undoubtedly receive bliss from the Lord. We who remain here, the wanderers here, have consolation, remembering her local immaculate life and blessed death, and we pray to the most merciful Lord: if she has sinned before Him, may he forgive her; we have no doubt about that... I am writing this after our mass at the monastery, where they remembered her and then served a requiem mass for her soul. At that very time, I imagined that you and your sisters were at her grave and begging the Lord for the repose of her soul with the saints: here your heart involuntarily touched and tears flowed; I’m not at all surprised at myself: why am I so moved by her death, not remembering crying for anyone like that? However, these tears are joyful and sad, and I do not resist them. Having received your letters about her death in detail, I could not read them without tears of emotion. I hope that she hears our feelings and prayers for her, and she herself will pray to the Lord for you. The most merciful Mother of God honored her with a visit to Her most pure image just before her death, and of course, during her departure, she preserved her from evil spirits, and peacefully helped her soul to be separated from her body. Eternal memory to you, our blessed sister V-a! May God bless and give rest to your soul, and count with the righteous, and have mercy on us, for He is Good and Lover of Mankind! You mention that you didn’t bother to read the waste card to her - this is not of great importance: the waste card is the canon of the Mother of God, with which on behalf of the dying person they pray for peaceful separation from the body of the soul and for deliverance from the malice of air spirits, and she herself prayed for this to the Queen of Heaven when the image was brought to her, and her prayer was truly heard - she peacefully separated from the body. Today you either received or will receive my letter in response to yours about the death of V-chka, in which I wanted to give you a word of consolation. The Lord is able to comfort you even without me, which he is already doing, giving you strengthening and reassurance with trust in the bliss of V-chka. Don’t doubt that we will remember her; even if you didn’t promise anything, we have a duty to remember her; She herself preceded it by presenting her decorations for the splendor of the church. Yes, and it’s good for you to do what is necessary for your peace of mind, and give orders. There is nothing to be afraid of accepting the image of M., but one must desire it. May the Lord give you all peace, health and peace of mind - I earnestly wish you the great sinner I.M. August 1, 1847. I wrote to you a little in my last letter about my excessive attachment to V-chka (although she was worthy of love), and now you recognize yourself as guilty of this, and that you hoped to have consolation in old age through her and consider taking her away as an ordeal; Meanwhile, you also see the benefit - why would it remain without you? Wouldn't her sorrow be incomparably greater than yours? Prefer her calmness to yours, know that there is selfishness in us. I am not writing this to reproach you, but to reinforce your opinion, to overcome your grief; cast yourself into the will of God and ask for help; instead of grumbling, thank you for accepting the young lamb unto Himself in purity, when malice and passions did not captivate her heart; take comfort in the fact that she is eternal and blessed; and our life will pass like a dream - we will not see it; every year, month, day, even minute brings us closer to death; and they flow so quickly that it is impossible to imagine. I forgive you for being exhausted from grief: the wound is still fresh and painful; One week passed when you wrote the letter: the further you go, the more the ray of consolation about her bliss will shine, and finally the darkness enveloping your heart will completely dissipate, and the light of true reason will shine. Do not grieve over the fact that you did not have time to tonsure her: her mere entry into the monastery, leaving the light, will be accepted by the Lord and made one of His righteous virgins; a mother’s unreasonable oath cannot have any influence on this innocent Lamb, and in this be calm; Yes, she treated her peacefully for the last time and parted. Now she doesn’t need their property. It’s in vain that you wonder why you didn’t take her to M-u for treatment. If it were God’s will for her to live, then the local doctor would have helped her; and if something had happened on the road, there would have been remorse again and, perhaps, she would not have had time to prepare her like that. I have already written to you: do not be afraid to take on the image. Do not excuse yourself for weakness, do not be afraid of torment; By cooperating with God, you can bear everything, and most importantly, humility. For even if you had climbed the entire ladder of virtues, without humility you would not have made the most of it. Come! with God’s help you will be encouraged and you will recognize your fear as unfounded. Do you think that when you take X, word of mouth will be here for you from the arrival of her relatives. But you can’t avoid this even without her, but you will leave her: she will miss you, and her relatives will grieve her. As for the fact that she caused you grief, then leave to her what she may have done unintentionally; I ask you in the words of the Holy Apostle Paul to Philemon for Onesimus: “If you have been wronged or owed something to eat, impute this to me” (Phil. 1:18). I have no doubt about your goodwill towards her. May God's peace and blessing be upon you and your sisters, and may the Lord comfort you with His imperishable consolation - I earnestly wish, much sinner I.M. August 12, 1847. I sincerely regret that this new grief is shaking you and has a greater impact on your health. But we must study in the school of faith and submission to the will of God, and that everything that happens to us is sent to us by His providence for testing; You know all this theoretically, you need to test it in practice, apparently: “The Lord loves him and punishes him; he beats every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6), says the Holy Scripture; therefore, if we consider this a punishment, then you are not forgotten by God. Turn to thanksgiving even in the most difficult moments of trial; it will serve you as a balm and a relief from burdens. About V-chka you yourself argue that blessed is the one whom the Lord chose and received to Himself (Ps. 64:5); at present, having lived longer in the world, she could have been subjected to many severe sorrows and suffering; but God foresaw the best about her, accepting her to Himself at the predetermined time of her departure. And about X, surrender to the will of God: if it pleases Him to raise her up from her painful bed, then be glory and thanksgiving to Him; If he calls her into eternity, then with humility may you accept His fatherly providence, which extends to everyone; By indulging in useless sadness, not only will you not help, but you will also sin and ruin your health. X's illness stopped your trip: what to do? – we must participate in the sick with compassion and service. The Lord will take upon Himself: “I was sick, and you visited Me” (Matthew 25:36), He says; and the Holy Fathers teach us that “if you are sick and serve, they will receive an equal reward.” S-ah, H-ah! Do not lose heart in sorrow, but learn patience; for “tribulation accomplishes endurance” (Rom. 5:3); comfort Mother E-yu with peace, harmony and love among yourself and learn obedience and humility. I congratulate you on your joyful visit to our Intercessor, the Most Holy Theotokos, may She give you consolation in your sorrow - I earnestly wish you, much-sinned I.M. August 26, 1847. I heartily mourn your sorrowful journey, which, perhaps, I was the cause of (which, of course, was what you imagined and caused you to scold). If I had no participation in you, then there would be no sorrow; and yet your scolding does not give you peace. However, it is good for you: you, who did not have it, could not believe others who were overcome by such warfare. You wanted to describe it in detail: don’t be afraid, write; consciousness can free you. When you had not yet assumed the rank of mother, there were no battles, but having accepted military rank and weapons, the enemy armed itself against you. Consider the result of victory and victories: through what you think you will find peace, there would be no more confusion, and without your explanation I understand your abuse. Humble yourself, reproach yourself, and you will see yourself weakened. He will come again, and again for the same thing; May God make you wise in this spiritual battle; there is nothing more to write. Peace to you and your sisters in the Lord. I.M. November 11, 1847. Regarding your dispensation, I will again repeat that your abuse increases after taking on the image; the enemy, wanting to tear away even an insignificant sinner who wished you salvation, rises up against you more strongly; What benefit would it be to you if there were no abuse? During a battle, notice which side your heart leans more towards and finds peace - follow that; but resist the other side. And remember that the scolding is stronger when you are proud of yourself, thinking that you will not move forever and will never fall away - I tell you the truth: I don’t want to force you too much and attract you to yourself. If you had any benefit through my badness, then know that God acted here, according to your faith, just as He brought benefit to His people without words. When you see yourself not using yourself, then add your unbelief to my badness, and both of them will be the reason for this; but I, for my part, still find myself in the same disposition towards you about the Lord and give the same advice: do not retreat from self-reproach in all cases and do not rely on your reason; but the fact that during the battle you crawled with thoughts against me and repent of it, I sincerely forgive you: be at peace in it. On your sorrowful path, of course, I am at fault, but not intentionally: but since there is still no way yet, but to prick, I don’t think that it would be better to go along the prick now; I don’t know if it would be decent to live here for a long time? To this you can say: you could have gone home, but I find here more the will of God, so that you would sooner be at the place of your feat and follow the path of salvation where the Lord showed you. Although you suffered, thank God, He also sent you joy on your journey. May the Lord create true peace between you, saving your souls. I pray for His goodness! Mnogohreshny I.M. November 15, 1847. I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a holiday of peace sent down to earth! Eternal Love was embodied, and the Angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth”! With regret I see, both from your first and from your last letter, that your “spirit is not peaceful.” Who put this unworldliness into you? “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), said the Lord. Therefore, apparently, the enemy is allowed to pour out his poison; - Ch. 31 Simeon the New Theologian. When we sin before God, we lose peace; and by repentance he returns - by the mercy of God. Likewise, we are deprived of peace, accepting sorrow and being hostile to people; and when we extinguish this flame through self-reproach, then peace will be established. How wonderfully the Lord connected us with Himself: “Whatever you do for one of these least of my brothers, you do for me” (Matthew 25:40), He takes upon Himself what is done to our neighbor, both good and evil. Where better to look for peace if not within yourself? Let us impartially test all the bends of our heart and destroy, drive out the nesting ancient serpent from there, again, I repeat, with self-reproach and humility, and moreover with love, which never falls away - and the desired peace will be established! If you always need to worry about this and desire it, then how much more so in the present time of visiting a painful one; We don’t know the hour when we will be called to appear before the Judge; and we see our brethren departing unexpectedly! I don’t know how this greeting of mine will seem to you? But I would like to know its actions and for the best... I wish that you all meet the holiday in good health and celebrate it spiritually with heartfelt joy. December 20, 1847. What to do? - the disease has reached your region and entered your monastery; God's incomprehensible destinies arrange everything for the best. We must revere and, in our insignificance, prostrate ourselves before Him, seeking pacification of conscience through repentance, and not be horrified by panicky fear of death. Death is necessary for everyone: but sooner or later, whoever dies or, rather, moves into the future, is in the predestination of God; he will only leave here, who is now destined to end the limit of his local wanderings. Try to calm yourself down. I wish all your sick sisters a speedy recovery, and to all others a complacent trust in the goodness of God and surrender to His holy will. I.M. December 23, 1847. Again about peace, I will offer you a word from the word 55 of St. Isaac the Syrian: “Abiye bo, when a monk acquires love, the heart acquires peace: this is the village of God and the door of grace is closed to him, through which our Lord will enter and depart.” If you were offended by my letter, then apply your grief to my wound; and if you will not accept grief from me, then from whom can you bear it? Leaving all this behind, I wish you peace, health and spiritual joy on the day of your Angel’s triumph. I wrote a letter to you on three pages, on three of yours, but I leave it, so be it... I.M. January 13, 1848. You can't handle grief! - I am the cause of these, which is why I am in deep sorrow! Where should we look for consolation? “God is our refuge and strength, a helper in the sorrows that have come upon us greatly” (Ps. 45:2). “When I was always in sorrow, I cried out to the Lord, and the God of my salvation heard me” 27. “Call upon Me in the day of your sorrow, and destroy you, and glorify Me” (Ps. 49:15). And there are many more similar texts in the Holy Scriptures about the calling of the Lord in sorrows and about His help. Let us also cry to the Lord and receive relief from our sorrows; He is strong to give consolation! Don’t be cowardly, but in whatever way I offended you, I ask you to forgive me, and I sincerely forgive you, and I wish you good health mentally and physically. I remain the sinful I.M. January 17, 1848. I received your laconic letter congratulating me on Angel’s Day, thank you! “I wish you to calm down, forgive my insults and pray for me.” I returned your last letter, mournful and laconic, with an inscription. I wish you to receive consolation. I wrote to you, explaining my grief in the change in your tone, and I wrote a lot, but I left, seeing you with not yet firm faith. I do not dare to equate myself, but I will remind you of the apostolic words to the Corinthians: “If I cause you tribulation, then whoever makes me glad, let him receive tribulation from Me” (2 Cor. 2:2). I don’t know if this is a decent word; but I wrote. Today we had liturgy. I remembered you and all of you at the proskomedia about health, remembering the day of your Angel, and X-but birth, and I congratulate you in absentia. And the late V-chka was remembered at the proskomedia, at the litany and at the memorial service; May the Lord rest her soul in the Kingdom of Heaven! You write that on the eve of the six-month anniversary you were embarrassed about her; You say: “The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away,” but did not finish: “Blessed be the name of the Lord [forever and ever]” (Job 1:21). What is the shortness of time here versus eternity? and sorrowful and pleasant everything passes instantly; If you look at the past, it seems like a dream. Let us take care of the future, imagining its bliss, not its deprivation. Is your sorrow or simply unworldliness towards S-e deplorable for me, which I do not want to completely justify, but it is necessary to have a reasoning: has she really gone so far that she cannot be healed of her entanglements, about which you write, that she thinks one thing, does another, speaks and writes? It’s not bad for us to look at ourselves; Do you also have the gift of reasoning? Can’t you be mistaken in your opinion when looking at the actions of others, having your spiritual eye not yet cleared of passions? I saw this in you when you accepted thoughts against me, which I absolutely did not have and do not have, - the Heart Knower sees! Why did this happen? Is it not from an isolated dispensation? when you, who had faith in me, although unworthy of it, could accept such false thoughts: how much more about the one with whom you live and have daily contact. You know how the enemy hates our salvation, envies those who want to follow the path of salvation with nourishment from others; He even hates the voices of affirmation and tries in every possible way to destroy this union. This was shown to us: St. Abba Dorotheus and Theodore of Edessa, and many other fathers teach about this. Is he not using his intrigues to instill unworldliness in you, instilling in both you and her thoughts that are contrary to each other and overthrowing both? I will say for example: you will accept some thought about her actions, denounce her, but her conscience does not see guilt in this: she is offended, but then opens up in insult, brings repentance to you; and you say that you won’t tell her in the future - this makes her even more bitter. Such cases, I believe, have often happened recently and could very well happen; when you accepted wrong thoughts towards me, how much more could you accept them, and especially with the assistance of passions and enemy decoys. Don’t think that I’m justifying it; I see shortcomings and errors in her, and in many ways I am guilty before you, of which I mercilessly exposed her and am denouncing her. But I kept silent to you, blindly believing that you could feed her and bear her infirmities, making sure of your letters and the fact that I was enriched with my father’s books and read and wrote a lot of them. But when I was only slightly talking to you about leniency, I saw that it shocked you, and I believe because you, carrying in your mind only her shortcomings and inclinations and the embarrassments that were occurring, were burdened by her being with you. All this accumulated over the course of three years and grew to such an extent that, as I see, you cannot even bear it. But with all her weaknesses and spiritual disorder, it cannot be said that she did not have the will to seek salvation and conquest. But the machinations of the enemy create confusion, and she, not seeing a solution to it, falls into cowardice; and you imagined that she no longer has any will. These opinions of yours are false. I don’t know why you didn’t like my letters written to you upon her arrival here; and you demanded some kind of revelation from me, and you saw my anger at you when I wrote to you in response to your letters, that you had sorrow for her, that you had no peace, about the means to pacify her and L.L. (to whom you also had no peace then); and you drew the opposite conclusion from it. Here, with all your soft words about your readiness to sacrifice your life to calm me down, but in the same letter I saw a contrary action. This upset and saddened me: how blind you had become, and I couldn’t write anything to you then. Accept and call this reproof of mine as you wish: I must bear responsibility both for my deeds and for everything. It is not easy for my heart that I am writing denunciations to you, but I cannot remain silent either. After testing all the bends of your heart, you discover nothing more than the fact that you could not calm down your comrade in the cell, and you consider yourself guilty that you did not consider your neighbor a greater honor, and also, due to the lack of high virtue - love, not equal to everyone - but you have a mutual disposition towards everyone and bring repentance. These two actions are written in brief words, but what space do they have? As if the only thing is to reassure your neighbor that it is more honorable to do yourself, and especially to S-e, and not to fulfill her whims, as you previously expressed. But daily actions in the cell may require lenient admonition, and not preference (an excellent lesson in considering conscience). Packs mutual arrangement (of course not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) - what did it lead to; not to the world, but to the disorder of the world. You bring repentance for this, similar to how someone says: “Everyone is a sinner,” without explaining the details. You described her actions to me with great exaggeration, even about the illness, as if it didn’t exist at all, but was feigned - and all this, consisting of your prejudice and reflection, made you disgusted with her, especially lately. When testing our spiritual passions, how indulgent we are! – We consider them weaker than the smallest animal: and when analyzing the actions of our neighbors, they appear to us as fierce lions, tigers, leopards and others. ABOUT! if we turned even half or a quarter of such a strict test and judgment on ourselves, then it would be completely different. You say you are peaceful; but you delude yourself with this thought: you have no peace for her - she repeated this in more than one letter to me, already after her departure; Yes, and you parted with her in such a tone - as you yourself write; what tone is this? not love and peace, but... “You have mutual affection for everyone.” “Leaving the others, let’s talk about her: she will annoy or insult you, she will do it very badly - I don’t argue: but should she really pay back in the same way? Whose students are we? She's upset, and so are you. But the government is on your side, and she has deep sorrow: both for the fact that she offended and does not receive maternal forgiveness; but sees coldness in the treatment; one thing passes, another similar one is ready; and the enemy triumphs, constantly sowing the seed of discord. Take a better look at yourself without pride: won’t you find yourself guilty in such cases? What is required here is not to fulfill a whim, but to show maternal love or condescension - and that’s enough. I offered you a lot about self-reproach, but something doesn’t have much effect; wrote about the means to peace, but you accept it wrong; You say it’s peaceful, but there is no peace. You bring repentance for mutual disposition, but is this how it should be? True repentance, from humility and awareness of one’s sinfulness towards God and one’s neighbor, would destroy all the machinations of the enemy, burn and crumble into dust, and peace would be restored; - otherwise he’s not there! You write that you are ready to sacrifice your life for my peace of mind, and then you say: through my strength, I impose obedience on you, if S-a remains with you. What is my peace of mind? Is it really about calming her down in your cell, and causing you a burden and insult? No, but so that there is mutual peace, and from it there is benefit and salvation: this is my consolation and peace! Peace is not achieved without fighting passions and conquering them, and when they are our masters, then where is the peace? - Isn’t captivity constant? You are so spoiled by me: I wrote and spoke about you, but your passions were hidden from both you and me - and this is what it has come to! You have offered and continue to offer your infirmities: are mental infirmities really healed by hermitage and solitude? do they not multiply? And in community there is an opportunity to see ourselves better, to reproach ourselves for not correcting ourselves, to forgive our neighbors, and we ourselves will receive forgiveness. After the incident when I wrote an insulting letter to you, and after your repentance, I believed that peace would be established between us, and I sent your comments to you so that you would expose and admonish S. with them, and you would act differently. I myself could have denounced her with them, but I thought it was shorter. Where is obedience? Why do we read and write our fathers' books? Is it not in order to gain spiritual benefit from them in deeds, and not just in words? When our boat sails on a calm sea, then everything is safe and calm; but when a storm arises and we are in the misfortune of drowning from the waves of the sea, then we need to take up the gear - work, labor, turn the scriptures of the fathers to ourselves and cry out to Christ: “Save us, we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25). Everything that I wrote to you is truly from a painful heart and from regret about your poor and pitiful dispensation, but not in defense of S-i, but so that you impartially examine yourself and bring true repentance and correction. You are faced with: either the triumph of faith, or falling away... Faith is tested by opposite cases: remember that you spent not much more than a week after accepting the image in peace and grace-filled consolation. But just as silence always precedes a storm, so to you calm was a harbinger of battle; Yes, it cannot be otherwise, otherwise you would ascend above the heavens. And how, on the 19th of October, the winds of doubt and so on began to blow. and strong waves arose, then your ship began to bark and waver, with fear of being carried to a distant country. Faith wavered! – but was there peace? the struggle continues to this day... watch out! know that all this was allowed to happen because of your self-confidence. You considered your faith unshakable, and thought “in your abundance, you will not be moved by it forever... But, having turned away the face of the Lord, you are in confusion” (Ps. 29:7)! But somehow a ray of hope shines before me that this battle will happen for the best. I’m not looking for my benefit or S’s, but truly, because of heart disease in your dispensation, I am writing all this to you. What would have happened if I had kept quiet? Taking on an image is no joke! Whether to leave it with you or not, I leave it to your will, so that good things will happen—at ease. She wants this and with pure repentance, reproaching herself for everything, wants to make a good start to life: then, with the good proposal of both of you, the power of the Lord will be perfect in your weaknesses; when one asks with faith, and the other answers with love, then a city of peace will be built. Everything must be discussed about the past as it should be, and everything must be consigned to oblivion, and the God of peace and love will be with you. I do not ask you to accept it, because I saw that through your strength you consider this, then I will be guilty of your burden, I already grieve a lot for this; However, I think that it is painful given your current mood, and when the sky clears of clouds, then there will be happiness in the air. If you don’t want to have her in your cell with a peaceful pledge, then let her go; and I ask you to forgive her and me for causing you sorrow, and God is able to guide her to salvation. As for me, given my years and poor health, I think my departure will not be stagnant, if God’s will be done; and you read the letter from Elder Paisius to Marya Petrovna Protasyeva. I don’t know why, since December 18, in your letters, my title has changed to highly reverend, when there was no reverend before? I wrote to you in the same tone to show you my regret that in the letters there is devotion, courtesy, but dissolved in something else. With the beginning of the new year, let us make a beginning in everything: in deeds, in repentance, humility, love and obedience to the word of God and the teachings of the fathers. Peace be with you! Mnogohreshny I.M. Peace and blessings of God be upon you! By your letter dated March 14, you acknowledge your guilt before me, asking forgiveness for all the doubts against me that, due to the action of the enemy, arose in your feelings. You write that you see as an enemy, jealous of the benefits that you gained through my admonitions, who rebelled to break away from me. - The consciousness of your guilt and weakness - to stand against the machinations of the enemy, and therefore the subsequent humility for me is more pleasant than your corrections, which do not have humility. Through this, the Lord is able to abolish all the power of the enemy that oppresses you and give you peace. In truth, I will say: I forgave you for all of this a long time ago, and now I forgive you, but my heart ached that you, through the actions of the enemy, were carried away by wrong opinions and thoughts, blaming others for what you were largely innocent of. I leave everything, I won’t split it up, and you leave it without repetition or testing. I have already written to you that we must forgive each other, according to the commandment of God, whom we consider guilty before us; and whoever is innocent of anything, God Himself will justify him. And now I repeat the same. Although I am sinful, unreasonable and weak mentally and physically, I do not refuse - whoever seeks with faith consolation or spiritual benefit - to say what God will give to my darkened mind for their benefit, by faith, and to be in this an instrument of His merciful fatherly providence, even though I am unworthy. Of which you can be sure; but the benefit does not come from me, but with what faith and will you will seek and accept my words. - With faith? - then you will receive benefit through a sinner; and without faith or with doubt and testing, analysis of words and actions? - then, even if he was righteous, there could be no benefit. You know this from your father’s teachings and have experienced it in practice. I am not writing this to you, but affirming what happened before. And I diligently represent my readiness, and I ask you not to doubt your request - paternal mercy. And what I have now written, do not take it as mercilessness or an insult, which seems not to be the case here: but I warn you so that the enemy does not sneak up again with his machinations. Again, I repeat that I sincerely wish that your consciousness and humility will bear the fruit of humility, which can abolish the machinations of the enemy, and grant you lasting and saving peace! I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; may He grant you to meet you and celebrate it peacefully with heartfelt joy - which I am a zealous desire, much sinful I. M. April 3, 1848. You, mother E., complain that you are fussy, and where has your comforting time gone? “You worry about comforting things and regret them, but you turn away from things that are godlike and sorrowful.” If it were for your benefit, then it would continue further, otherwise, apparently, you need to live not only for yourself, but also to sympathize with your neighbors in their weaknesses and bear sorrows, but it is impossible for the Lord to completely abandon you. He teaches in sorrowful and comforting moments and in the midst of vanity, find time to read and think about the soul, and I also grieve that I do not have time to stop being busy with myself, but I am always in rumors - and continuous rumors. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). In S-no there is no need to embarrass yourself: the time will come, it will be worked out; the enemy does not tolerate without causing confusion and without creating a fight; but he will be put to shame, having been defeated by the help of God. Self-reproach and humility are very necessary for her. July 27, 1848. You left here with a peaceful spirit; and then, to my great surprise, I see a big change in you: I don’t know whether you enjoy the desired peace, living in solitude in your cell and working in the heliport of your heart, paying attention to yourself and your salvation? In two of your letters I see such brevity and coldness, even coercion, and therefore I doubt that you are peaceful. If this is so, then I sincerely regret you. Where should we look for peace? You have read enough books, all that remains is to be moved to action, and this consists of self-reproach and humility: “God will not despise a broken and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19), and He Himself commands us to learn from Him meekness and humility (Matthew 11:29). - Let's look at where we are? on the way to Jerusalem or in Babylon? And we do not sing the songs of Zion, and we do not kill the babies of Babylon! If they mature and become stronger, it will be difficult to fight them. The joyful day of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is coming: when is it better than now to wish for peace and tranquility, and to celebrate this holiday with heartfelt joy, with which I earnestly congratulate you and greet you: Christ is Risen! Asking for you the peace and blessing of God, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, many sinner I.M. April 2, 1849. I received two letters from you, dated March 31 and April 10; I thank you for congratulating me on the holiday and for the kindness towards me that you express in your letters. I wrote to you, asking you about your peace and tranquility, because your two letters seemed strange to me - cold and dry. I know that you are sure that I don’t need any of your eloquent greetings and assurances of your affection; but your world is needed for yourself. In the last lines of your letter you say, “that I believe that no feeling can penetrate the coolness of your soul, but the feeling of gratitude is not alien to it.” On the contrary, I in no way believe that no feeling could penetrate your soul, and the question asked is not positive. This truth is irrefutable - that one word “sorry”, without further reasoning, will be more beneficial than a whole sheet of excuses. You write that your spirit is peaceful, calm and completely satisfied with your present life. That's enough for me! You say that the exhaustion of your strength without reproach of conscience gives you every right to remove yourself from everything unpleasant and devote yourself to complete solitude, through which your health is significantly strengthened. I consider it my duty to remind you, in accordance with the teachings of the holy fathers, to enter this great and spacious sea: St. Climacus, St. Callista and Ignatius, Peter of Damascus about the seven works and in book 2 in chapter 9 towards the end; in Elder Basil's superword to the book of Nil of Sorsky and St. Simeon of Euchaitis. Consider yourself, and, as far as possible, conform to their teaching and create your mental pillar; Yes, if I don’t start and don’t get enough (patience and humility), you won’t be able to accomplish it (Luke 14:28), and you will plunge yourself into greater embarrassment. What may the Lord deliver you from! Asking for God's peace and blessing on you, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, many-sinful I.M. My blessing to your cellmates. April 23, 1849. After a long wait from you for news about your improvement at your new residence, I received your letter on the evening of March 31, sent on the 14th; It came to me quite slowly, at 18 days. Seeing from it that you are in the improvement of the holy monastery, under the wise, Christian love dissolved management of the mother abbess, I sincerely rejoice and even more so that your spirit remains there in peaceful tranquility. It remains to wish: may the Lord help us to build the pillar of our salvation on this foundation (Luke 14:28). Everything is getting better, and the bishop expressed his consent to accept, and here the cell is being prepared, and the sisters are all in spirit. May the Lord extend the life of your mother for many years to the benefit of those who are saved under her maternal wise protection. About myself I will say that with frequent illnesses that visit me, I also experience dullness; I read and write with difficulty, the words are double, there is a speck in my eyes - in the left eye, and a tumor has formed near it, and that is why there is darkening; but with my right eye I see only one line, but I can’t make it out; what to do? Thanks to the Lord for everything. He knows what he is doing, and it is truly for the benefit of my sinful soul. Glory to God, we celebrated the Holy Pentecost and continue the week of the Holy Passion of Christ; May He grant all of us, passing it on with a feeling of gratitude to our merciful Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, to meet with heartfelt joy the day of His glorious Resurrection and spiritually triumph. This is what I earnestly wish for you and congratulate you on this holiday, greeting: Christ is Risen! I will forgive you to pray for me, a sinner, and I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, many sinners I.M. April 3, 1851. Thank you for congratulating me on the holiday and for the Christ-consecrated egg, which I received correctly and I answer: He is risen in truth! Thank the Lord that you have calmed down in your new abode and, having been tempted by your infirmities, you choose the most useful means of calm: not to get involved in other people’s affairs, under the peaceful roof of your most venerable mother abbess; and having started reading the books of the fathers, you find joy in them, not because you think that you haven’t read for a long time, but the stoma 28 of the soul could not cook this spiritual food, due to its ill health, as St. John Chrysostom writes: “Just as greed is a sign of bodily health, so zeal for listening to the word of God can be considered the best sign of mental health.” No matter how much we read in the paternal writings, we always find something new and food for the soul; and as you settle in, we feel the taste of it, less or more; and it is of great benefit to us that seeing the height of life that the holy fathers traversed - and we should follow them, but, due to our weakness, we are far behind - should humble us: and when we acquire humility, then this alone will strongly intercede for us before God; What may be ahead is hidden from us in the veil of God’s destinies, to which we must humbly submit, and He will not send temptation beyond measure. The humble person in every place and at every time receives peace from the grace of God: “Learn from Me” and so on (Matthew 11:29). The location of your cells is very good, may the Lord grant you to live peacefully and calmly in them. April 24, 1851. Thank you to the Lord, who has granted you peaceful peace of conscience regarding my badness. God grant that this peaceful feeling is not disturbed by the contrary winds of the enemy’s suggestions, in which you, having become quite experienced, can know where and what kind of wind it is blowing from the feeling that appears in your heart: if peace and tranquility appear, then attribute this to God’s grace and bring thanksgiving; and when embarrassment strikes, then look for guilt in yourself, for the substance of passion is not expelled, and therefore, when attacked by something, it strives for action. I say this not in one action related to me, but about all cases that may present themselves to our temptation, the sight of God, and to the exposure of our dispensation. May the Lord make you wise in spiritual battles and strengthen you against the invisible forces rising against us; We have a strong weapon against them - humility, which I will only easily remember in order to give a reason to learn and try to gain it. I ask you not to leave me in your prayers, wishing you peace, health and salvation for the great sinner I.M. I’ve been in a bustle all this time, as you know, and after being in the living room, I’m so weak that I can barely make it home. You can’t avoid bustle anywhere and you can’t do without it, as you write. Yes, we are not yet of such a measure that we can endure the heat of silence; we are all entangled and filled with passions inside. You write that your painful work in your cell has begun - non-peace with N.! Here's a career and a feat for you! Maybe there is God's vision - your cohabitation with her. Her disorder shows you your weakness and the passions hidden within. Without justifying it in the slightest, I advise you to go inside yourself and find out what passions are at work? Do you resist them and are you concerned about eradicating them? - Watch, so that the eyes of your soul do not darken - do not see your own passions, but vigilantly see others, resort to self-reproach - which you read about in the 81st chapter of Callistus and Ignatius and in Abba Dorotheus - “About reproaching yourself, and not your neighbor,” and “On resentment.” Remove from your heart all those harmful things that destroy love; This commandment also extends to loving one’s enemies: how can we be justified in not keeping it? I don’t know the details of her actions towards you and yours towards her, but it is clear that there is the leaven of enmity between you. - And what is heavier than this? We must seek resolution and destruction of this malignant yeast - in love and humility. Without speaking about her, because I am not writing to her, but to you, I advise you, start with yourself: even if you are right, then be peaceful; and if this is not the case, then look for guilt in yourself, reproach yourself, despise her, forgive her for her actions and pray to God for her, be sure - and her heart will turn to you. Considering yourself impartially, perhaps you will find something for which you can and should reproach yourself; and since the heart is alien to the world, it is necessary to heal it with treatments that God sends. We have many fatherly teachings and examples, we just need to get to work. Remember at St. Barsanuphius: how Andrew and Theodore were chilled by the insult of the brothers living with them, and how the holy elder admonished them, and wrote that both he and his brother were troubled by the same devil for enmity. - Talk to her peacefully, without demanding obedience; and most importantly, you “obey God, and everyone will obey you,” according to the words of Isaac the Syrian. I wrote all this to you not as a reproach, but wishing you to receive peace and tranquility in your battles, having been confident, according to your words, that you will not be offended by me, you will return to the first feeling of zeal and disposition towards my badness. You want your spirit to be pacified towards her and the root of the unpleasant feeling that you feel towards ingratitude and lack of appreciation will be eradicated. “This deposit is your fault, and she did not put it in you; she only showed it to you, by the sight of God; then you must work and pray for God’s help to eradicate this pledge. According to this dispensation of yours, silence is not useful for you, as St. Climacus to the 27th degree. But it is necessary to have a relationship with people, to recognize one’s weakness and strive for piety. The thought of freedom, you say, gives strength to bear everything that comes your way; and without this thought, you can fall into despondency, in which you realize your cowardice, and you mention N. N. a little higher and notice: “This is how the sorrows teach B-monks a lesson!” But think about who it depends on? If the fate of the Lord is throughout the entire earth, and His providence bypasses us at all times, then isn’t it also subject to the providence of God, who arranged it this way? and of course to her benefit; But without the will of God, could anyone do anything to her? When the king and prophet David cried out to God: “it is good for me, for you have humbled me” (Ps. 119:71) and: “before we even humble ourselves who have sinned” (Ps. 119:67); what can we think of ourselves without humility? Above all, we must thank the Lord, who humbles us, albeit involuntarily. – And you dream of imaginary freedom! - but isn’t it worse than slavery, if passions dominate us? – May the Lord give you true intelligence and humility. September 29, 1851. As for the monastic path, no one should doubt that it is true, according to the establishment and tradition of our holy fathers and teachers, who with their skill walked the path of this life and left us an invaluable treasure of their teachings and examples. And we must give unceasing gratitude to the merciful Lord for this mercy and for calling us to this field. But there are in this dispensation many and different degrees, as in ancient times; We see that there were great ascetics who achieved perfection; We see, to a lesser extent, those approaching him; and some, for tormenting enterprises with passions, and did not achieve dispassion, but were not deprived of the hope of salvation; there were also the weak and infirm; but repentance is not forbidden to everyone, and we do not know what kind of judgment the Lord has determined on whom. But all of them, even those who achieved perfection, had great and deep humility, without which all our deeds and exploits are not favorable to God. Looking at the present times and the impoverishment of the workers and mentors of this life, one cannot help but grieve that those who embark on this path, although with jealousy, but walking arbitrarily, fall into two extremes: or, having risen high, they are deceived by opinion; or fall down with the weakness of life. But one cannot despair or condemn this path, seeing the weakening and infirmities multiplying, and the retreat from high ascetic deeds, and those deprived of spiritual gifts. By delving into the teachings of our fathers thoughtfully and humbly, one can recognize that even now there can be, and indeed there are, those who, following the instructions of our holy fathers and teachers, follow the right, humble path. As the Lord revealed to Pachomius the Great that in the last times there will be those who are saved in monasticism; and Saint Niphon of Constantinople to the question of his brother: “Is food, as now the holy ones have multiplied throughout the world, the same at the end of this age?” He answered: “Child, even until the end of the age the prophet of the Lord God will not fail; Also below Satan is a servant. Moreover, in the last days, the people will truly work for God, they will hide themselves safely from people, and they will not perform signs and wonders in them, as in these days, but they will walk the practical and dissolved path with humility, and more of the standard-bearers will find themselves in the Kingdom of God.” Blessed Basil the Elder, in his superscript to the book of St. Nil of Sorsky, writes on page XLVII: “The verb of St. Justin, heavenly grace reaches everyone, but not in equal measure; The Lord wants to save everyone, but not to consecrate them. Moreover, from here, don’t imagine that you are unhappy, because you cannot live in your flesh, like a saint, sharply and dynamically: you can also complete it with warm lust and diligence in internal work, with humility; and thereby please God.” And then read there about the humility of the prophet. And St. Isaac the Syrian writes in the 46th word: “Humility, and besides deeds, forgives many sins; this, on the contrary, without it, is useless; but they also do us many evils; and this (humility), if we acquire it, makes us sons of God, and besides good deeds, represents us as God’s; but without him, all deeds are vanity, and all virtues and all works”; and in word 55: “He who does not imagine himself to be a sinner, His prayer is not favorable.” Another teaching of St. I will say from John Climacus, in word 25, section 63: “Let us strive and strive with all our might to ascend to the heights of this virtue. If we cannot walk, we strive so that it will lift us on its shoulders. If we are weak in some way, then let us not fall away, at least from his embrace. For it would be a miracle if he who fell away from him received some eternal gift.” There are many more testimonies from our fathers that in all our endeavors we must certainly have humility; even love itself cannot be valid without it. The person about whom you write that after living in the monastery for 4 years, she languishes in spirit without joy, and after reading all the books, she has reached such a state that she doesn’t even want to read; - because they don’t do it as it’s written and as they should. - Not surprising, because she seemed to read only the letter, without penetrating the spirit of scripture and the intentions of her father; She did not comprehend in him the humble path and feeling that would give her spiritual joy even when the stormy thoughts arose in the excitement; but she directly fixed the gaze of her mind on the contempt and contempt of her neighbors. I don’t dare judge her, but I discuss her misfortune with regret; Having sought salvation, according to the teachings of the fathers, each of us must cleanse our hearts from passions and their actions, and not look at others who are doing the wrong thing. According to Scripture: “The good eye will not see evil” (Hab. 1:13); and St. Isaac the Syrian in 21 words answered the question: “How can you lead someone to achieve purity of heart?” He answers: “When all men see that they are good,” and so on... And even if they inflicted insults, annoyances and reproaches on us, everything should be accepted as sent to us from God for our trial and correction; and consider them an instrument of God; and in failing to bear responsibility, do not blame them, but reproach yourself. All this is taught in the paternal writings, which we cannot learn from just reading, unless we force ourselves to practice patience and humility and achieve love. We cannot – in general – fix all this, but each of us is obliged to begin to correct ourselves; and let these be units from the whole, and without them the whole cannot be formed; when there are more of them, then the whole will be arranged; but still, we, who are seeking salvation, must begin from ourselves first, and not from our neighbors, torturing deeds; It is proper to create first, and then teach. From all this above, you can see that peace of mind is gained not so much from deeds as from humility (I am not dismissing deeds - they are needed); just as the Lord teaches us: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). And St. Isaac, at the beginning of the 34th word, writes: “If you do virtue for good, and do not feel the temptation of its intercession, do not be surprised: until then, man will not humble himself, he will not accept the reward of his doing. Reward is not given to doing but to humility. Offend the second, the first will destroy.” I wrote this for myself as a remembrance, and when you want to accept it, for your benefit, although you yourself know all this; but we both make mistakes. And I wish salvation to everyone, and especially to those who seek it; but due to the weakness of my strength and weakness of vision, I can hardly answer my current considerable correspondence; and you still invite others to treat me: I ask you to free me from this; there are educated people, enlightened by grace and worthy, who can ask them only with faith, and will receive benefit; But I don’t have much time, and I’m afraid of condemnation for my unworthiness, and because I speak in words, but in practice I sin. In case of need, both that person and A. G. cannot, on their question, and you offer what you find useful, read or heard from Father Leonid; Yes, in which I myself suffered from the temptation. - Due to the impoverishment of teachers and mentors in modern times, our mentors and teachers are sorrows, according to the word of St. Peter of Damascus: “Humility is a product of reason, and reason is a product of sorrows and temptations.” This is what happened to your F-oh: a sorrowful incident turned her to you and, thank God, you are now at peace. God grant that she recognizes her false opinion that the true path cannot be found in any monastery, and accepts the word of the holy fathers: “If a monk humbles himself, he will find peace in every place.” Wouldn't some of the above be useful to her? When you find it necessary, read it to her. November 3, 1851. I see that you are still hesitating and confused: seeing another direction, you are afraid to accept such an opinion yourself; but you are confident in the true path shown to us in the teachings of your fathers, which you have thoroughly studied; All that remains is to be motivated to do it, not so much with bodily strength, but with mental strength. We are in battle with strong and ever-watchful adversaries, and wherever we go, there will be battle. Read about this from St. Peter of Damascus in the 2nd book in the 5th word in the middle: “In mental warfare, etc.”; These battles require a weapon - humility; and how to acquire it, try to test it in those places where it is written about, and go through the experience. Peter Damascene's book doesn't hurt to read. You believe that only with us you can find peace: but even here weapons are needed: patience and humility; remember how the arrow of envy stung you here? After all, this was launched from the enemy and disturbed your dispensation; and these, i.e. There may be many similar cases. Can we put people in such a dispensation as we want, laying down what and how it should be? - Not at all! everyone has their own struggle, victory and victory, and our job is to look after ourselves, our weaknesses and passions and descend into the depths of humility: then we will “find peace,” according to the word of the Lord (Matthew 11:29), which is what I fervently wish for you. December 22, 1851. Your letter dated December 24 expresses the sorrow of your soul, desiring and seeking salvation. Call on the Lord, seek, ask, people, - you will find, you will receive, and the door of God’s mercy will be opened to you. He encourages us through His Prophet: “Even if the woman forgot her childhood,... I will not forget you” (Is. 49:15). When the widow received vengeance from an unjust judge, will we not receive from our merciful Father, who redeemed us with the blood of His Only Begotten Son - when our soul, widowed through sin, calls on Him with heartfelt repentance and humility - remission of sins and putting on the wedding garment of joy and joy? Only when He rewards us with it, will we leave it to His will; He rewards those who work for Him, according to the word of St. John of the Climacus, “some at the beginning of labors, others in progress, others at the end, and some at death itself,” - according to the humility of each. I got carried away by the reasoning on your first lines and did not congratulate you on the New Year, which I now diligently bring and thank you for congratulating me on the holiday of the Nativity of our Savior. You grieve for not feeling that spiritual joy that you would like to enjoy with such a sweet memory of the great event in the incarnation of the Son of God, ours for the sake of salvation. But if you delve deeply, examine and compare your structure with the paternal writings, you will find that it is far from humility; and it also has degrees and its own characteristics, according to the measure of virtues; But even more so, we, poor in virtues, must humble ourselves and not seek consolation; for even those who have acquired a wealth of virtues and spiritual gifts consider themselves unworthy of them, and also the pretext of torment: which is why they remain in peace; their mind, enclosed in the ark of humility, is impregnable to invisible thieves. Read in our ladder in the 25th word of Art. 5, and also at St. Isaac the Syrian in the 46th word that humility saves us even in addition to deeds; in the deprivation of consolations, you should not be embarrassed, but rather humble yourself, consider yourself unworthy of it, and you will calm down. It’s not a little surprising to me that you are carried away by your K-vsky stay, which is depicted in your imagination as serene and peaceful. Don't you understand what it could bring you to? To the very heights of pride and the depths of charm. St. John Climacus, Cassian and others strictly prohibit silence for the unskilled, and your residence there was of this kind. How would you know your passions and weaknesses? and how could I reconcile myself? Just dreaming of your corrections would bring you to complete darkness. Be grateful to the Lord that He carefully called you to serve Himself and to fight against invisible enemies. There you would not have had any abuse, and all your vices would have been left behind, except for one, who could complement all the others, according to the word of St. John Climacus 29. – Read John of Carpathia’s word of consolation to the Indian monks: how he encourages us and prefers the monastic life to the worldly. And do not be discouraged in your battles, but even more so recognize that you are on the path leading you to your desired goal - salvation; and consider yourself the last of all. If someone sins in anything, the Lord is able to turn him to the true path and grant him salvation. Oh, I wish, with her good will, to be saved, to resist pride, self-justification and the compilation of my will and mind. Then her mind will be enlightened and know the true path leading to salvation. It’s a pity, as you write, about the indirect path of some; but the Lord is strong to enlighten them, as soon as they learn and care about true humility, without which all our deeds are vain and insignificant: I wrote to you 30 that the whole is made up of one... - understand, let him understand. January 12, 1852. From the entire course of your affairs, you can truly see the providence of God, calling you to work in His heirloom. The God-gathered flock of sisters who have dedicated themselves to the Lord’s service requires improvement, and in this they appoint you as an assistant and assistant to the abbess. And how can you not obey the merciful fatherly admonition of your holy archpastor! How much he suffers and cares about the welfare and organization of the monastery, about the salvation of the sisters living there! What a fatherly merciful condescension he showed to you! and promises again later. His blessing and prayers will send you reason and strength to carry out the obedience entrusted to you. And in times of difficulty, consider the wise instruction that you are in the place of those who accomplished the feat of martyrdom; then, in difficult cases, liken yourself to martyrdom. And our very struggle with passions and resistance to them is spiritual martyrdom. In my first letters, I quite wrote to you that silence is not useful for you (which you yourself well know), but that in dealing with your neighbors and conflicts you need to recognize your passions and weaknesses and reconcile yourself. Meanwhile, as much as possible, try to be driven by love for your neighbors, for it covers many sins, and without it, and without humility, all our exploits and deeds will not bring any benefit. May the Lord enlighten you and strengthen you. I.M. December 16, 1852. On the 16th of this month I wrote to you in B., congratulating you on the holiday of the Nativity of Christ; and now I congratulate you on completing this new year, abundant in incidents for you, and on entering the new year, during which new activities are presented to you - difficult, but with the help of God not unbearable; it will serve to the benefit of others, to the knowledge of one’s weaknesses and to humility; and through labor and struggle you will receive the trophies of victory and peace. Is it really without the providence of God that the merciful ruler, who cares like a loving father for his children, has placed this duty on you? and with so much child-loving encouragement and strengthening in this difficult feat, he showed so much mercy - he did not bind you with an eternal yoke, but if it was difficult for you, he promised to grant you freedom. How can you not be grateful to the great favor of your father and ruler? I know that you are now faced with mental and physical labor. The enemy, with all his hordes, will take up arms against the establishment of well-ordered order and peace in your monastery - which will most of all serve to the salvation of many who have gathered to seek salvation under the roof of the loving late mother M. Perhaps the severity and harsh insistence of your new mother, the abbess, and on the other hand, the weakness, disagreement and resistance of the sisters, and all this has disturbed the structure of the monastery and will deprive you of peace, but you, appointed by the bishop as a mediator for pacification, between one side and the other, act according to his instructions, always calling for help the prayers of the bishop and having his blessing; - this will serve as a shield for you against all the arrows and intrigues of the enemy, and you will be able to comfortably undergo the feat of martyrdom, with your good will, receiving God’s help; and without heroism and sorrow no good deed can be accomplished; for, according to the elders, every good deed is preceded or followed by temptation; and without this it cannot be strong. So, if you endure and do not give the enemy a blow at the beginning, then God is strong to give you help; and when, not having time to approach the battlefield and seeing the terrible militia of enemies, you run, then you will have time for nothing, but your cowardice will appear, which can always and everywhere pursue you; – both in a storm and in silence it is doubtful to find peace; and what will happen next and further is unknown, but after endurance and already in difficult and unbearable cases, you have a trustworthy promise from the ruler to grant you freedom. Surrender yourself in everything to the will of God; “Prepare your soul for temptation... and be patient.” This is how the wise Sirach advises those who are about to work for the Lord (Sir.2:1-2). I received your letters from December 16 and December 19; from the latter it is clear what the feat should be for both sides. Passions have a strong hold on people; and with a great mind you need to have humility, but without it they become the enemy’s henchmen, and imagining to be wise, they act like fools; and all evil is poured out on them. Again, I repeat to you, you act according to the instructions of the archpastor, and if you have permission, you can explain yourself to him, since he already knows the course of your affairs. Until now, a foreshadowing of the attack has only been made, and what actions will take place, time will tell. I am writing for you, but writing a lesson for her, according to rumors, is not my job. And who am I? - in this I cannot fulfill your proposal; but I advise you to read, and offer her to read, the word to the shepherd in the book of St. John Climacus: it depicts the shepherd’s love for his children and concern for their salvation - and how much it is possible to follow this example. Entrusting you to the protection of God and wishing that He will strengthen you in the saving feat and give you true reason, peace, and arrange your salvation, I ask you to pray for the great sinner I.M. December 30, 1852. Thank the Lord that you have found a cell that suits your heart, a calming church in which your soul is contained, and together they strive to acquire eternal salvation. Glory to God that you have an abundant wealth of fatherly writings, which can satisfy your soul in times of famine and cool it in the heat of its burning passions, only have a good will, and may your faith not become impoverished; and cover your corrections and shortcomings with humility, do not get carried away with seeing the shortcomings of others: we do not know God’s providence and His judgment about them; of repentance the door is open to all and the source of the priceless Blood of Christ is not blocked by the malice of His creation, but flows out for the washing of our sins, poured out alone from His love and always interceding for the forgiveness of our sins. You will find a lot at St. Isaac the Syrian about the majesty of God's mercy towards sinners; I’ll leave it to you to find it in the catalog yourself. You like this catalogue, and the only thing missing is something like this for Climacus, you say. Thanks be to the Lord, with His help, this too was made for our Ladder; Of course, we cannot expect it to be published in print, but we will have it in the lists. Stopping for what we're doing. Let us say: “and we have now begun, this betrayal of the right hand of the Most High” (Ps. 76:11), and not of our strength, but only of our will, we will present to the Lord. This is my grief: this morning I got up very weak, refreshed myself for an hour and thought - I’ll write something, but as soon as I had time to write the above lines to you, Father Archimandrite L. arrived, and I had to be there; While I visited him until 4 o’clock, he came to his cell tired and no longer had time to write, and meanwhile twenty people were waiting in the living room. This is how I spend all my time: when should I write? In the evening I am exhausted, and then the brothers come - if you please, torture letters from me! I can only write one or two letters a week, out of necessity, but there are more than two hundred letters lying on my desk, received and unread; there is no time to devote your soul to reading a book; Now I could only write these lines, I’m rushing to the hotel, there are many people waiting there, and I can’t gather any thoughts. I see that you have now calmed down in your cell: thank God; but it remains to decide to establish yourself at the monastery, which is what you are asking me about; I see your thoughts wavering on both sides. When you want to arrange yourself, you must leave double-mindedness, for “a man is double-minded in all his ways” (James 1:8); and when trusting in God’s help, decide on something for which the spirit is more peaceful; and in the future, no matter what happens that is contrary to your temptation, you must accept that it will serve to your salvation; through temptation we come to true reason, and from reason to humility, which is what we most need for salvation; and when we analyze human problems, we will find no benefit or peace anywhere. - Here is my decision for you; and I can’t say more. I wrote to you in your letter about the thoughts tormenting you, and now I will say that they do not come from outside, but from inside. Faith intercedes for us all that is good, but unbelief is contrary; and reason is contrary to faith when we follow it and abandon faith; – faith calms, but reason leads to doubt. It is very high, but it must be said: in the history of the Gospel we see what was said about our Lord Jesus Christ, when he came from Capernaum to His fatherland: and he was not able to do a single “power, because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58), - not that he could not; but unbelief was the reason for this. And the holy Apostle Peter, having entered the sea with faith, “walked on the waters, but doubted and began to drown” (Matthew 14:29-30). I’ll leave everything to be sorted out, but only express my sincere desire for you to be saved and advise you to pay attention to your structure, which requires a lot of work in order to destroy passions: self-love, conceit, pride, from which the furious part of you strongly affects: read in the fatherly writings how it is destroyed, you will find that not when no one touches us, but, on the contrary, when others show it to us, by looking God's. - Peace be with you! July 9, 1854. Glory to God that you have become convinced that this is the place of your calling and the field of achievement against passions and evil spirits that fight against us invisibly by our own passions. Our peace is victory over passions and reverence from them. Wherever an indignation of the heart appears, then this is our passion stirred up, and our neighbor is not at all guilty of this, who showed it to us, by God’s will, so that we would try to heal it; and if we look at what our more dominant passions are, we will find that they are self-love, love of glory and ambition, copulating from the same root of pride, from which all others come: envy, rage, anger, malice, hatred and everything evil. Humility alone is strongly opposed to, to destroy all passions; We know enough about this; you just need to force yourself to do it; and the Lord will send his help. About writing again, I’ll say that don’t torture them from me often, I receive a lot of them, but I only answer the most necessary ones, and not by myself. Peace to you and those living with you! Mnogohreshny I.M. July 30, 1854. Thank God you are feeling at peace at this time. When we see the will and providence of God above us in everything, then we calm down, knowing that God’s providence leads us to salvation along the paths known to Him. And you, surrendering to His holy will, expect from Him mercy that preserves and saves you, despite the fact that something happens that is contrary to our will and reason. “Who understands the mind of the Lord, or who is His counselor?” (Rom.11:34). The depth of the wealth of the wisdom and mind of God is incomprehensible to us! Our weaknesses, bewilderment and sorrow, reproof are the essence of our dispensation, so that we would humble ourselves, having recognized our poor dispensation, and through cases would try to correct it, reproaching ourselves and despising, and not blaming others; they are only an instrument of God's providence. By blaming others, we only aggravate our sorrows and multiply them 31 . I wish you to get what you want and visit our places according to your intention. September 24th, 1854 The silence of the sea sometimes foreshadows its strong excitement; also, after calm and pleasant weather, one must expect storms, rain, thunder and lightning; and vice versa: this also happens in our mental structure, and we often experience it ourselves. What happened to you: you were peaceful, calm, engaged in spiritual reading, etc., but the grace of God prepared for you a test and exposure of your dispensation. By reading your father's books, you nourished your soul and mind theoretically; and was calm. But this calm was not reliable - not from the outside, but from the passions lying within you: pride and others. Reproof appeared, you were embarrassed; why? “Obviously, because no one has touched you before.” Move from theory to practice and learn how to act when passions are disturbed and how to acquire patience. And what do you have to endure? either when we are reviled and reproached through our fault, or when we are innocently reviled and humiliated? It seems that this is what patience consists of: when we suffer innocently; Yes, and God knows it, but he sends it. - I have no doubt that you believe this. Again, when the passion of rage and anger stirred up in you, it was not implanted by them, but they only showed it to you, by the sight of God, so that you could try to heal it through self-reproach, and humility, and love. But how can you love those who insult you: they are our villains? The Lord knew this, and ordered: “Love your enemies,...do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who do evil to you, and those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) and: “If you love those who love you, what grace is there for you,...do not the pagans also do likewise?” (Matthew 5:46–47). This is how saving this commandment is for us: it takes away from us all justification and provides a means to cure our mental illnesses. So, this incident, having shaken you a little, showed you your structure; and peace has returned to you. Although traces of illness remain in your physical makeup, do not blame others for this either, but see the providence of God, who sent you this because of your cowardice. Thank God for everything, and He is strong to give health to your body and peace of mind. I wrote to you what you yourself know, but only reminded you; - sometimes when passions are indignant, the spiritual eye is also indignant and the spiritual mind is darkened. October 5th, 1854. You write about your and your family’s grief over the death of your niece V-y; I believe that feelings and heart are weak, but reason and faith must strengthen them: “Who understands the mind of the Lord, or who is His adviser?” (Rom.11:34), and for us His destinies are incomprehensible. So, one must seek consolation in submission to the will of God and in hope for a future life. After all, we are not permanent residents here either: a few years will pass and many will move there; We need to worry about this and ask the Lord, that He will give us a Christian death, not shameful, peaceful, and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ. This is what we need and we need to prepare ourselves for this; and V-a is happy that she got rid of the vain and painful life here; happiness here is not lasting; who knows what would have greeted her later? And now she is in eternity, where we will all move; and to grieve and kill themselves so joylessly is characteristic only of unbelievers, for for them there is no hope for eternity, and their deprivation is joyless. May the Lord comfort you all with spiritual consolation. What I earnestly wish and remain, the great sinner I.M. January 22, 1857. In your grief over the death of you, God gave you the reasoning that since her pain intensified from time to time, the continuation of her family life could not be beautiful and comforting for her, which happens to be seen in many people; and this should dissolve your sorrow into spiritual consolation, that she, like a bird having escaped from snares, has soared into freedom of spirit and will, by the grace of God, enjoy bliss. When the spark of this spiritual mind shines in our understanding, then what can we say about the eternal wisdom and loving fatherly providence of God? He, of course, clearly saw this and with the depth of wisdom arranged for her salvation; and that you who remain grieve over the deprivation of it, this is not due to spiritual reason, but flesh and blood acts; does it matter - she would have died even after living for many years; but how many storms, sorrows and vicissitudes of life would you experience? The mourners did not feel sorry for her in this regard, and in their imagination they pictured the prospect of a happy life; and this very rarely happens. Submit to the will of God: He can calm you down. It’s good to have a haircut for the sick U-ya when the boss wishes. I wish you and those living with you peace, health and salvation, and I remain a great sinner I. M. February 12, 1857. Thank you for congratulating me on the holiday and I congratulate you in short lines. Nobody knows my misfortune: I’m dying of hunger; I don’t have time to read a book. I write everything, but they fail again; Letters lie unread for three days. Everyone writes one thing, but fifty letters a week reach me. What to do? And there’s not enough time to write: sometimes infirmity, sometimes people, a hotel. You complain about your weakness: yes, you are alone, free; God sees your weakness and will not overextend your physical work, but take care of your inner, spiritual. Humility and heart disease replace all our bodily activities; and for those who are not given it, read the 89th word of St. Isaac the Syrian. I wish Mother T-e help in her labors, with which she will find salvation when she humbles herself, “seeing my humility and my labor, and forgiving all my sins” (Ps. 24:18). I remain the wisher of your health and salvation, the great sinner I.M. April 16, 1857. You realize that you have been carried away into grief and murmur in N.; but by reading the teachings of her fathers she came to the consciousness of her weakness. This is the benefit our fathers’ books bring us: they show us the providence of God, which takes care of our salvation, using people as instruments who act against us. If we judge sensibly, will wearing the robe outwardly bring us any benefit? She is the image of humility; and if people seek or desire it, then of course it is no longer for humility; I'll keep silent about the rest... About N.N.’s mother I can’t tell you anything; self-justification affects everyone, and for this reason I myself cannot justify it. I.M. July 9, 1857. A new circumstance - they entrust you with O-yu I-nu, and you are at a loss: how to take on this yoke? You ask me, I told you here too that this matter will not bypass you; in my opinion, there is no need to refuse, not because you are worthy, but because, first of all, you yourself must have activity, because you have experienced that the silence that has always been tiresome for you, and in dealing with it and encountering some troubles, you will both get to know yourself and work on yourself; and secondly, how to abandon her, given her good will for salvation? She can improve, and will begin to work on exterminating passions, abandoning her will and reason. So accept it in hope of God’s help and you will receive mutual benefit and reward from God. Asking God's blessing for you and yours, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, the great sinner I. M. September 8, 1858 You are entering into a new way of life - to be in communion with the newcomer. Apparently, God brought her to you and copulates with you for your common benefit; your inactivity was often the cause of spiritual darkness and despondency, but now in communication with O-her I-you will be useful to her, and it will be more convenient to recognize your weakness. “You are ashamed of yourself, seeing their devotion and knowing that I am a dirty trick.” If you have this humble pledge in your heart, then your path will be completed peacefully and calmly. Have yourself, not as a teacher, but as yourself, who walked this path, was scalded in the mud and you warn those passing by so that they do not fall into the same mud and become scalded; then for the sake of their salvation, the Lord will arrange your salvation 32; and simply say: “Not every bastard is put on a line.” She is no longer young and has her own habits; if they are harmful, then it is advisable to cut them off quickly; and if it’s average, then you can let it go. You need to know that the enemy will not leave you alone, but will lay his machinations to destroy your peace and prosperity; but you know how weak his strength is against humility, which destroys all his intrigues and snares; the example of your humility will have a more impact on her than a strict prohibition. Show her the harm that can come from some wrong initiative. The Venerable Mark the Ascetic, in his homily about those who think they will be justified by their works, writes, chapter 176: “Having received the lot to teach about the Lord, and let us disobey, grieve mentally and do not be openly embarrassed, for by grieving you will not be condemned with the one who disobeys, but by being embarrassed in the same thing you will be condemned.” I wrote all this to you about the spiritual or mental order; but it is necessary to arrange the appearance in such a way that it would be more convenient to undergo spiritual work. I.M. September 23, 1858. You are grieving about my ill health, God forbid! I won’t say that I’m lying sick, but I’m healthy, I’m walking, at times I’m weakening, what’s so strange about that? – 70 years old, what more can you expect? just grant, Lord, a Christian death; a painless, shameless, peaceful and kind response at the terrible judgment of Christ; what we always ask our Lord for, together with the Church. I ask you to pray to the Lord about this. And if anyone has any benefit through my badness, then it is not mine, but through their faith; The Lord is able to enlighten and instruct a dumb animal with Scripture. I congratulate you on your transition to housewarming: may the Lord bless you for a peaceful life, and may the Mother of God, through Her intercession, protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy. You write that O.I. has a good will and a gentle character, but his skills are almost childish, which can be corrected over time, with the help of God and her will. However, one cannot do without spiritual struggle and warfare. I.M. October 11, 1858. I will not praise you for asking God to shorten your days. You ask to be granted the rest of your life to pass in peace and repentance, a Christian death and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ; and He Himself announced the time of death, having provided it; but he hid it from us, so that we would always be ready for death. Father I-na suggests many ascetic questions, for example: get up at 12 o’clock to pray to God, eat once and drink tea twice, and so on; but not a word is heard about the moral structure. I already wrote to her so that she should not get carried away into great feats, but would try to have a rejection of her will and reason and acquire humility; this will lead more quickly to the gates of the kingdom. She was clearly attracted by her prayer rules and fasts; but I didn’t understand about humility. Well, okay, she will rise for night prayer, and judge others for lying down: what is the benefit of this prayer? I wrote to her to tell her to listen to you and not do anything on her own. How can I know her mood, strength and will? you can see everything: where she needs to be stopped, what she needs to be forced to do. Glory to God, who has a good will; He will help you to recognize your weakness and humble yourself. Mnogohreshny I.M. November 4, 1858. Your life is still not settled as it should be with the young ascetic; one can see in her the old habits of self-importance and self-importance: imaginary corrections of fasting, prayer, and not the least effort to find out what passions she has and how to resist them; although she has a desire to be saved, she has not yet learned the true path of rejecting her will and mind. All she writes about herself is that it is difficult to reveal her thoughts, and she does not know which to open and which to leave as passing. At first I told her that you should leave those passing by with the intention that you might get bored with her, but now I see that you need to open everything up, otherwise the enemy will seduce her. That you told her to pray, and not sleep in church, and to leave the night akathists, and also to fast in moderation, was well done; The only thing I don’t like is that you make comments to her with irony, and not simply; the latter means is seen as love, and the first is ridicule—the alienation of love. Make her read the way children are taught in lessons, assigning her to read for a while, and let her say what she understood from what she read. If she does not understand our written book (which I do not believe); then let him read the old Slavic seal, and assign her a reading time and a time for doing handicrafts. Regarding the contents and cells, you can agree on this; and of course, if you don’t have three, then you need to invite one at the right time. Her brother finds our monastic life useless; and what is he: an Evangelist, an Apostle, or a Prophet, or one of the standard-bearing and spiritual fathers, who lays down such laws? But he is the world, and the Lord said: “If you had been quicker from the world, the world would have loved its own things:... but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:19). We, in our sense and reason, must, of course, consider ourselves “as the rabble of the world” (1 Cor. 4:13), that is, consider ourselves worse than everyone else, and let them be left alone to philosophize as they wish. December 8th, 1858. I congratulate you on the upcoming new year, having joyfully celebrated the holiday of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you to begin the new year and continue in pleasing the Lord according to His holy commandments, and in humility in vain the height of them and our weakness; for the Lord looks with humility! I received your letter on the 24th; Thank you for congratulating me on the holiday and for your good wishes. You mention your desire to die: this must be left to the will of God, He knows more than us; You say you can’t heal passions, the most accursed laziness! - Don’t you really want to reconcile? And humility destroys all passions; How can we show up there with passions? They won’t give you peace there either. And we will ask the Lord: the rest of our lives in the world of repentance and Christian death will be painless, shameless, peaceful, and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ, as our Church daily prays to the Lord; and when you die, it will be according to the will of God. Oh-and-y weavings come from the warfare of the enemy, he does not sleep, but “like a roaring lion he walks, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8), - whoever does not stand in battle, does not touch him and does not suffer the cold; but she is inexperienced, and the more she tries to drive away her thoughts, but they do not go away, she becomes embarrassed, and this gives the enemy more reasons to rebel against her. You yourself have experienced and are experiencing various kinds of warfare from the enemy, but without the weapon of humility, you are overcome. “In our humility the Lord will remember us... and deliver... from our enemies” (Ps. 135:23-24). I am very glad that you realized your mistake through my reproof. “Reprove the wise and he will love you; Give wine to the wise, and he will be the wisest” (Prov. 9:8–9); and what is said about the evil ones, read it yourself. The sisters strive rather to go to their monastery, and I approve of this desire of theirs: “No matter how good it is to be a guest, everything is better at home”: how long they spent in rumors and absence from the place of their feat and were as if stunned: “The bird flies to its nest, let it bring out children, and the monk hurries to his cell, let him create spiritual fruit; and like a fish out of water, so is a monk out of his cell.” These are the teachings of the fathers; but I don’t approve of your judgment. I.M. January 15, 1859. Whatever reproaches there were against you, God’s providence allowed it to happen this way for your trial; Do you remember the vows given during tonsure, when they told you: you will be humiliated, insulted, deprived, and other sorrowful cases were offered by which eternal life is acquired; and to the question: do you endure all this? answered: “To her, who cooperates with the Lord, I endure everything”; - Now we need to show this in practice and not only not contradict, but also accept it kindly: - Is that what you did? I doubt! - as I see from your letter. Self-justification and non-self-reproach acted under a plausible pretext, do not think that I was justifying the other side; not at all; and I write to you and invite you to enter into consideration of your dispensation: is there anything there that prohibits the spiritual world and that science that our Lord Jesus Christ Himself commanded us to learn from Him (Matthew 11:29). May the Lord enlighten you and help you achieve common peace; and may he strengthen the young ascetic in the field of monastic life. June 19, 1859. Immediately I write O-e-I-no, but I don’t have much time to write. – Are you worried about the thought that you “are in inaction, and will your whole life really pass like this?” But what do you think your life should be about, and how can you work for the Lord? In your opinion, of course, activity consists of rule and fasting, and not in fulfilling the commandments of God, which purify the heart. May the Lord arrange your life peacefully, calmly, and complacently, and even more humbly; humility is acquired from obedience, rejection of one's will and reason. I.M. August 25, 1859. From two letters from you and O-and I-na, I see that after the storm and confusion she has calmed down again and recognized, although partially, her rotten structure. I write to her, which I think is necessary for her understanding, but there is a big difference between writing and performing. She is leavened by her mind and her will, and it is difficult to leave them; and meanwhile the enemy, knowing the benefits of obedience, tries to outrage and not allow it, as St. writes. Theodore of Edessa. What to do? one must admonish and be patient; with only one thing - one cannot expect any benefit from one’s rules and readings; one must have some kind of cell work and obedience, and in the event of collisions one will recognize one’s weakness when one does not bear it. Reading the books of our fathers, without practice, cannot help us: they admonish us, but our job is to fulfill, when cases open up, to see the movement of our passions, to resist them; and when we fall, recognize our weakness, humble ourselves and repent before God and our neighbor, so that we cannot rely on our own self. You write, let her go, let her correct her rules and fast, then without incurring them she will resign herself, good and so; but she can all be blinded by arrogance, for in the epilogue to the book of St. Nilus of Sora, he writes: “Often the demon encourages fasting and great feats in order to lead excitement and from it into delusion.” Read it for yourself in the superscript on page XLVI. When he is moved to fulfill God’s commandments, then, seeing his weakness, he involuntarily humbles himself - and this is what is most necessary for us in the matter of salvation. If she lives with T-sister, then there can be no benefit: both will be drawn out by rules and posts; - and then what will happen? But what do we care about external acquisitions! We must strive to humbly prepare something for eternity and build a spiritual home, according to the instructions of Abba Dorotheus, or as St. Elijah Ekdik, chapter 62: “The home of the soul is patience: you will endure in it. Having humility is nourished by this.” And you pray for me, a sinner who writes and speaks to others, but does nothing for good. I.M. October 1859. May God grant that your life with O-her will be useful and saving for both of you. Her complete repentance gives hope for this; but it is impossible for the enemy to leave alone forever: the battle will rise up, which with prudent and humble reflection, with the help of God, you will conveniently defeat and triumph with the blood of your wounds, - according to the word of St. Isaac the Syrian. We really need meekness and humility: “The Lord will guide the meek in the way and teach the humble in His way” (Ps. 24:9). Just as light illuminates everything visible, so humility shows us all our shortcomings and enlightens our mind to reason. I.M. April 13, 1860 Although I am very exhausted after my trip to B., they don’t allow me to write here either: but I am forced to give an answer to your letter from August. You have an order not to leave advice to the new O-u, but you deny this and noticed that there was no sincerity in the demand: are you asking me to admonish you, what should you do in this case? For my part, it seems that one cannot refuse to give useful advice to those who wish and seek it with faith; it’s another matter - the obligation to take upon yourself to be responsible for her soul, and this is just advice: “Do this, but don’t do that.” That is why they go astray because they go without advice; and for refusal of advice one can also give an answer for her soul. I wish peace and health to you and your sisters in Christ. Mnogohreshny I. M. August 20, 1860 Most Venerable Mother K. 33 in the Lord! Contrary to your prohibition, your sister told me about your grief caused by passion; but she did this out of love for you, out of her faith, to my detriment, asking me to write you a few lines as a consolation. Although I myself am darkened, but, for the sake of God’s commandments, I cannot refuse to fulfill this obedience, and if you accept my feeble lines with faith, then the Lord is strong to strengthen you and support you in your weaknesses. You should try to correct your described negligence about life and ask for God’s help for this, and not rely on your own strength and your mind. As far as I can understand, you came to such a coolness through a high opinion of yourself, which is evident from the fact that your passions seem to have left you. The Lord, having mercy on you, so that you do not fall into complete pride, allowed you to be tempted by passions, and you became faint-hearted, considering yourself lost. – And this is a sign that you have no idea about spiritual life, and have not read the books of your fathers. When we read, we would see that until death we struggle, and it is cured not so much by our diligence as by the mercy of God and His help; and even more so when we endure these adversities and, humbling ourselves, consider ourselves worse than everyone else, and fall to the Lord with humility: then the grace of God sends down His help to us. Do not be horrified and do not despair at the ferocity of the battle; hope that it will pass, and you, for resisting it, will still be crowned by God. Your sorrow, great confusion, reproach, despair, and so on clearly prove your unwillingness to be enslaved to passion, and God will accept this instead of doing it. If, through weakness and the action of the enemy, you are creeped by thoughts, then repent for this, humble yourself and hope to receive forgiveness. This scourge was brought upon you to humiliate your arrogance, i.e. opinions and judgments of others about oneself. Humble yourself and get freedom. To strengthen yourself, read the books of the Fathers: St. John Climacus, in the Philokalia in the 4th part of the chapter of St. John of Carpathia, - and Blessed Diodochos, Cassian the Roman, and his letter to Leontin the Abbot, where you will find quite useful instructions and strengthenings that can calm you down. Another way to ease this struggle: you need to have a revelation, which you can notice from this: - when you revealed it to your sister, then your burden was surely alleviated somewhat. May the Lord help you to courageously resist all the battles of the enemy and love the Lord; and love is inseparable from humility. Handing you over to the protection of God, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the sinful Hieromonk Leonid 34 and Hieromonk Macarius. June 21, 1837. We believe that you have already been worthy to take on the angelic image; On which we earnestly congratulate you, and wish, with hope in the ineffable goodness of God, to be saved in this angelic order, and ask you to pray for us sinners. You describe the sorrows that happened, which you expected, and therefore, having prepared for them, you endured them more complacently. There is no need to write to you about the need for sorrows for us; for you yourselves know this truth, how our Lord Jesus Christ Himself suffered, leaving us an image, so that we too would follow His footsteps, and He left sorrows to His disciples, as a kind of inheritance: “You will be in a world of sorrows” (John 16:33), and the holy Apostles, with many teachings about sorrows, also affirmed this, that “through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of God” ( Acts 14:22); then how much we want to be saved without sorrows, for “we are not worthy of the passions of this present time for the glory that desires to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). But our self-loving part does not want to voluntarily suffer sorrow, then the most merciful Lord visits us involuntarily in order to save our souls. Having sent sorrow, he also gives help, whatever you can bear. St. Isaac the Syrian in many places of his book, strengthening the patience of sorrows, writes: “But from this we know that man is, as we have provided for him to eat from God, whenever sorrow comes upon him.” Also: “Man, be found in virtue without sorrow; open to him the door of pride.” But faith with love is also tempted by the contrary; and every good deed is preceded or followed by temptation, and without that it cannot be firm. In finding sorrows, one must observe so that every sorrowful case can be attributed to those sent from the providence of God; consider those who insult us to be instruments of God, with which God acts in the matter of our salvation, to honor them as our benefactors, not to blame them at all, but to blame ourselves and consider ourselves worthy not only of these, but also of greater sorrows. Although at the present time they did not bring guilt for this, the past time of our life in sins brought guilt to the righteous court of God to raise His fatherly rod to cleanse our sins; with such preparation and acceptance of sorrows, they will be bearable and fleeting for you. When you turn the blame onto those who offend you and grumble at them, justifying yourself in your mind and considering yourself innocent, then sorrows will multiply and become aggravated to the point of cowardice, which is the mother of torment, but on the contrary, patience is the mother of consolation. With such a good disposition, accept the sorrows sent to you, then they will turn to your advantage, and remember that everything here is short-lived and “weeping may endure for the evening, and joy in the morning” (Ps. 29:6). You have no reason to doubt your acceptance of monasticism and think that as you lived before without benefit, then the whole age will pass like this. What is the success of our salvation? what do you think? Is it to go through great feats and think that we have already succeeded and are on the path of salvation, and to be consoled by this? No, the success of our salvation lies in humility. When we do good, we do not place the hope of salvation in it, but consider ourselves earth and ashes. When we, doing something good, imagine something about ourselves; then the power to create good is taken away from us and we are allowed to be overcome by passions, in order to humble our wisdom, considering ourselves worse than any creature. Or don’t you know that the Lord God is more pleased with a sinner with repentance than a righteous man with pride? Now do you understand that monastic vows and clothing itself help us to acquire humility? If you had not been a nun, you would have conveniently excused yourself for many weaknesses; but now, on the contrary, you cannot excuse them, but you are moving away from them in every possible way. When overcome by any passion, whether from weakness or indulged in pride, we must look at ourselves, repent, but not despair and not consider ourselves lost, but humble ourselves; - The Lord will look upon humility. Read the books of St. fathers: St. John Climacus, St. Abba Dorotheus, St. Ephraim the Syrian, as well as others, in whom you will find the true and unforgettable path of salvation found in humility; and turn away from opinions about yourself, even if you sense any talents, be afraid to accept them as truth, so as not to fall into the deception of the enemy. Even if your passions don’t bother you, don’t believe it. St. Isaac teaches: “First of all, don’t even teach you humility in the city, don’t believe it, even if you have fallen asleep from passions, but wait for some kind of undermining that is preparing for you,” and again: “If anyone does not think that he is a sinner, his prayer is not favorable before God.” Thank the Lord that He has made you worthy to put on the robe of salvation, and walk the path of humility. And may the most merciful Lord strengthen you on this, to whose protection, entrusting you and wishing you spiritual peace and health, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, many people. Hierosch. L. and many. I.M. November 1, 1838 P.S. On Sundays the strict rule remains. You describe your former cowardice in the sorrows before tonsure, but you did not imagine that this practice brought great benefit to you; all this was arranged by God’s vision, and not blind chance was at work here. Have you prepared to accept the monastic image, but what is its essence, and what vows did you make when taking monastic vows? not to endure everything. Paraman and the cross mean what else if not remembering the vow given to us to patience? So thank God that He taught you patience, and now every case should be a lesson in learning patience, and not only from external inflictions, but also from the internal malice of spirits, or to the action of passions, or to the despair of those who compel. You are obliged to obey the abbess in everything and not to go against her at all, otherwise you will raise a storm on yourself and cannot bear it. We do not forbid you to write to us with art; you need to ask questions about them spiritually. The Lord is able through your faith to give the word for the benefit of your soul; what is St. Barsanuphius writes: “If your elder is not satisfied with resolving your perplexities, you can ask something else.” And study yourself in the teachings of St. fathers, but more in the active, and not the speculative, and try, as much as you have the strength, to fulfill them with humility. Remember this word: learn from the active, and not from the speculative, from which you have already suffered; before time they sought what was given in due time through work and labor and perfect humility. You write that you don’t understand when you read, especially Kallista Katafigiota. How can you understand such a height? Everything is speculative; you are just wasting your time by reading it. Read St. John Climacus, St. Ephraim the Syrian, St. Abba Dorotheus, - in the Philokalia: St. Mark of the Ascetic, St. Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory of Sinaite, but even those of them are active chapters, and not about prayer; St. Callista and Ignatius are also an active part; Peter of Damascus, John of Carpathia, Diadochos, Nicetas Stiphatus, Theodore of Edessa and Nile the Faster. Delving into their teachings, recognize your weakness, and do not turn to people; then there will be nothing to exalt with and you will not be able to think anything lofty about your life; and you cannot despair, but you will go through your life in average order, remembering that a sinner with repentance is more acceptable before God than a righteous man with pride. This time they wrote quite enough for you. May the Lord himself fill what is missing. Your unworthy pilgrims are many. Hierosch. L. and many. I. M. February 21, 1839 You write on March 12, explaining your weaknesses, laziness, negligence, etc., and that it is only under compulsion that you take up the rule of reading spiritual books. Being in the field of spiritual warfare, how can one not have resistance and struggle from the enemy? But this is where our faith and love for God is demonstrated and tested, when, although under compulsion, we get down to business; and God, seeing your compulsion, will send His help, and so you will fulfill all this with peace, but then you will already know that you are doing not with your own strength, but with the help of God. When any virtue passed easily, it would be attributed to its own strengths and the mind would be captivated into arrogance, and this would bring more harm to imaginary (virtues) than the current lack of correction; Here, out of necessity, we have a humble thought, not seeing anything good in ourselves, but not despairing; and because of this you are a part of God and you receive charity from above for you who do not feel this. In sensual warfare, although warriors are wounded, however, having bandaged these wounds, they again enter into battle, and for this they receive great rewards from the king; So in our mental battle, the Heavenly King looks at His soldiers and, seeing them fighting, although accepting the wound, but not retreating from the feat, sends them His help and rewards the worthy with spiritual gifts. A spiritual husband writes about this: “When temptations of various kinds, passions, weaknesses, and bewilderments overwhelm you, then it is most important to be confirmed in faith in the Lord, and it is appropriate not to despair; Even if you had received a thousand plagues every day, brother, you would not obey your enemy, who would retreat from the feat and deviate into despair. And if this happens to you, and if Satan sees this good offer of yours, he has armed himself against you, but you just do not lose heart and believe, and the Lord will soon visit you with the secret consolation of His grace.” Among these is the warfare you write about; You can also say about her that the abuse was allowed because of your obvious pride about your former consolation. The cure for this is humility of heart. St. Isaac and many other saints. the fathers write: “Unless a person is allowed to be tired of spiritual or physical passions, he cannot gain wisdom in battles, recognize his weakness and humble himself.” So do not despair of God’s mercy; read spiritual books - more active ones, as we wrote before; imitate their teaching, and humble yourself in your weaknesses. May the most merciful Lord enlighten you, enlighten you, guide you on the right path, and strengthen you to follow it without going astray. Try to have love and respect for your mother abbess; pray for her. If any thought of unbelief or blasphemy comes to your heart, jump away from it, as if from fornication, according to the word of John Climacus, then the Lord will tell her to have maternal love for you, and in case of need, according to your faith, he will give her a word for your spiritual nourishment. Multigr. Hierosch. Leonid and many. I.M. April 4, 1839 Your intention is good; May the Lord bless and hasten to fulfill it. You act out of love for your neighbor, denying yourself many things, and about this our Savior said: “Greater love has no one to sow, but whoever lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). You do not want others to know about this, for many reasons, so that they do not grieve at you, do not interfere, and so that others do not praise you: all these precautions are good. But beware of spiritual flattery, so that it does not come to you with mental grand praise and congratulations for this good disposition. Imagine that without God’s help we cannot do anything, then there is nothing to be proud of. When we imagine something about ourselves and attribute good deeds to ourselves, then God’s help will be taken away, and we will recognize our poverty in goodness and weakness in fulfilling it. Multigr. Hierosch. L. and many. I.M. April 15, 1839 You write about your new obediences. This is a good deed for the common good, and especially for the glory of God; may the Lord help you get through these. Try in every possible way to avoid unworldliness, from contradictions and disputes that occur, and rather to reproach yourself; God will look upon this and grant peace. Your small deeds, even with all your weaknesses, when you repent of them and look upon yourself, will be accepted by God better than great works and exploits performed with arrogance and self-esteem. The boredom and despondency that happen to you are nothing more than monastic abuse sent to you as a test. Saints and great men were tempted by these battles, but not yet to that extent, but immeasurably stronger, and this showed their love for God; then do not neglect them in visiting you, but stand courageously, enduring, and the cloud of despondency will dissipate, and light, silence and tranquility will shine. But in order to always be in constant peace, this is impossible, and the completely opposite path, which St. calls. Macarius - “part of the wolves.” Read chapters 43 and 85 in the 2nd part of the Philokalia by Callistus and Ignatius, and in the 4th part by St. Cassian about sadness and despondency, and receive healing and encouragement from these teachings, so that you do not become faint-hearted in battle, but take courage and endure. I. L. and I. M. May 27, 1839 Don’t leave your enterprise to help N. - either as much as you assumed, or you’ll get less. Reject proud thoughts, remember the word of God: “Even if you do all that is commanded you, say, as we are unworthy servants: as we ought to do, even as we have done” (Luke 17:10); but we also transgress a lot of commands. Of course, the enemy does not cease to bring thoughts of arrogance in order to defile our deeds, but we must turn away from them and remember that we do not with our own will, but with God’s help; when we boast, we will lose God’s help and recognize our weakness. When doing needlework, you should not completely abandon the rules or reading; they will be more helpful to you; if you leave something, then replace it with repentance. Multigr. Hierosch. L. and I.M. June 3, 1839 We wrote to M.N. about keeping your zeal in helping your sister in her cell a secret. We see your continued zeal for your sister, and God’s help is also sent to it. You write that they want to give you a new sister as a comrade, but you are afraid to take her without our blessing, then we advise you this way: when you have apprehension and fear in your heart, that you do not hope to have peace with her, then you can ask the Abbess to free you from her, and even more so when you still hope that she will respect you in this. Why voluntarily expose yourself to temptation when you can guard against it? When something is sent that is necessarily sorrowful, there is nothing left to do, but must be carried. If you take it up with the intention of correcting it, and you yourself are still in the disease of passions, then it is better to seek peace before fighting. Thank God that your struggle has eased, but there is no need to be daring and think great of yourself, lest you suffer more. St. John Climacus writes: “The fox pretends to be asleep, and the devil pretends to be chaste; “This one does it in order to catch a chicken, and this one does it in order to destroy the soul.” Read the books of your fathers and look in them for how to acquire humility in everything. During Christmas time the rule remains clear. January 9, 1840. God bless you for your intention to calm your sister - to do your help. God will not leave you without reward. We are surprised at your cowardice and feel sorry for you. Having read the chapters shown to you in the Philokalia, you became more saddened that your life does not agree with Holy Scripture. You really need to sympathize about this, but with repentance and humility, and not be cowardly and repent about why you went to the monastery. You must thank God for bringing you out of darkness into light; what to do if it’s faulty, but don’t despair, and don’t stop reading the books of the Holy Fathers, at least a little. Seeing your fault, you will still despise yourself, but if you don’t read, you will not despise yourself and humble yourself. It would be even worse if you saw your virtues and imagined that you were pleasing to God: this would be obvious destruction. You may have been on this path before; but when you see your sins and repent of them, the Lord is merciful, when he sees you humbled from the burden of them, he will look at you and remove all the enemy’s intrigues from you, and free you from passions; and until you humble yourself, do not think of being free from battles: in battle, victory and conquest happen; and God looks at our will and intention; and through this we receive either help or abandonment. St. Peter of Damascus, counting the seven bodily works after these, says: “The mind begins to see its sins like the sand of the sea, and this is the beginning of the enlightenment of the soul, and a sign of its health.” – Look: when doing virtue, see your sins, not your virtues; but even seeing sins, do not despair, but rather humble yourself, and God’s mercy overshadows a person. St. Gregory of Sinaite at the end of the 117th chapter writes that “unless a person is defeated and enslaved to every passion, he cannot have the worst of all.” The first humility is born from virtue, and this last from the fall; however, it is not deprived of God’s mercy. The same St. Peter of Damascus, rising from despair, writes: “Besides, it is not fitting for us to despair, since it is not fitting for us to exist, for this is evil, since you have sinned as a man; Why do you anger God, and because of your lack of understanding do you impute Him to Him? Can’t food save your soul, O great One who created it, do you see it for the world’s sake? If you say that this is more than a condemnation for me, like His condescension, repent and accept your repentance, like the prodigal and the harlot. Even if you can do neither of these things, but out of habit you sin, you would not even want to commit them, have humility, like a publican, and it is enough for you to be saved, for you sin unrepentantly and do not despair, but are forced to take on yourself worse than all creation; and does not dare to condemn or reproach any person. Even if he obeyed the devil in sin, but out of fear for the sake of God he disobeys the enemy, forcing him to despair, and from this there is a part of God.” And again on page 43 in the new format, and in the old one on page 53, read the same thing yourself and receive the consolation of your soul from this; Do not despair at all, but cast your sins on God’s mercy. Repent of your efforts and leave them; Remember how many troubles, evils and sinful temptations you have avoided, and even more so in the present time. Although you feel carnal warfare, do not despair for this; all this should humble you and teach you spiritual warfare. You think that holiness lies in not having battles: but this is impossible, you would be inexperienced in it, without recognizing your weakness, and you would not be able to show leniency to others. When your battles exceed your strength, then know that you have pride; humble yourself, and the Lord will relieve you. Read St. John Climacus and you will see the actions resisting it. Having no one to nourish you, or, in your opinion, someone to share your soul with, you must, moreover, read books and be nourished by them, calling on God’s help. Be careful not to agree in your heart with the praises attributed to you, but, thinking about your sins, turn away from these praises: they are harmful to your soul, even if you were definitely worthy. September 26, 1839. We sincerely rejoice that Mother Abbess has completely reconciled herself to you, we only sympathize with you that the saving institution - the revelation of thoughts - is not only forgotten and neglected, but even ridiculed. Read the chapters of St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. John Climacus, St. Abba Dorotheus, St. Callista and Ignatius chapters 14 and 15, and St. Cassian in a word to Abbot Leontin; You will find in them that it is impossible to be saved without revelation of thoughts and subjugation of your will and mind. No matter how bad it is to resist so much of the teaching of saints and all-wise men, the Holy Spirit himself acted in them. When you are in such a famine for nourishment, then, calling on God for help, test the scriptures of your fathers yourself and, in times of need, open them to your sister of one accord. God will not deprive you of benefits - just seek with humility, for without it all our work is insignificant and is not pleasing to God. What benefit will it bring you that your name is carried by everyone? Moreover, plunge your thought into humility, looking at your fault, and remember that those who delight in glory; and besides bad deeds, they will lose the bribe of future reward. Even if you were worthy of glory, a sinner with repentance and humility is more acceptable before God than a righteous man with pride. We cannot reassure you about the resolution of Monday, because St. The fathers gave an indispensable rule to monastics: - Monday is not allowed for fasting; then how can we allow its use? In this case, make up your own mind. This is not a virtue, but a duty. There is a reward for virtue, and punishment for failure to fulfill a duty. We do not dare to judge others, but we answer your question without sullying our conscience: in case of great need, allow something that is against the rules of our fathers, and replace it with condolences about this, repentance and pure confession to our spiritual father. Hierosch. Leonid and I.M. August 16, 1839 You describe your sorrows for the change of your unanimous sister, mother N., to you, and ask for our advice on what to do. You point out a change in their disposition towards you, but don’t mention a word about yours; but as you can see, there must be a change in him: then perhaps there is no guilt on her part; You say that before you didn’t want to hide your correspondence, but later she encouraged you to do so, and besides, no visible quarrel occurred between you. Therefore, it seems that there is no need for you to disagree with her; Yes, now even in her absence for a long time in this subject, you should not be embarrassed. When she returns, we find the best way to pacify you: talk more openly with her about this, and if there is any fault on any side, try to correct it, and then continue living according to God. It is unfortunate that you are not informed to have revelations to anyone, although in some necessary cases this would be very useful; but this is your fault, that you do not seek this in the simplicity of your heart. For whoever, with simplicity of heart and humility, seeks benefit, then “the Lord will tell a little child to speak a word for his benefit”; otherwise, apparently, subtle pride acts, according to St. John Climacus. February 13, 1840. What do you think is your frustration with U.? Is it because they used to divide sweet and bitter in half? We do not know her spiritual mind; to what extent does it consist? but we only believe that you were previously of one mind and of one mind; when you made a change in your wisdom from the previous one, but she remained the same, then you cannot have unanimity. “God brings those of like mind into a home” (Ps. 67:7). You shouldn’t be deeply offended for this: maybe it will serve the good, and if you don’t have any personal, obvious troubles, then why do you disagree? Show yourself the same favor, and the Lord will tell her about you. However, according to your spiritual mind, do not think of yourself that you are better than her, but that you are unworthy of her attention, and therefore the Lord does not tell her about you. I wish that your desire to visit us in the monastery is fulfilled, and that you find spiritual benefit according to your faith. Your sister M. U-na is burning with desire for our life. God bless! But she does not see temptations: God hides this, calling those who love Him to Himself. Thanks be to His goodness! Although he sends temptations, he does so to each according to his strength, and according to the degree of his development for his benefit: and without temptations it is impossible to be saved. We ask you to convey to her our gratitude for her diligence and writing, and our desire, that the Lord will arrange her, according to the desire of her heart, into the ranks of virgins serving and working for God. March 19, 1840 Describe grief against N.N.; We see the reason for it, and you yourself believe, it’s you: you first decided in your heart to step out of the bounds of obedience, and from one thought great confusion was born, and finally it resulted in open hostility. If there was innocence on your part, then your conscience would be calm, there would be no need to be embarrassed; otherwise your non-peaceful dispensation clearly shows your guilt. And since this happened from pride, it is necessary to seek a cure in the opposite virtue of this vice - self-reproach and humility. When someone truly sees himself, he will receive peace; - and this word of yours: “Are you really going to tell me now that there is hope for salvation?” is very disgusting, and it is indecent not only to write, speak, but also to accept into thought. It is undeniable that you sinned by resisting what happened out of pride and gave room for the enemy to dominate your heart and cause confusion; but is there really no repentance? For whom did Christ come? Summon sinners; and not the righteous, therefore, there is the hope of salvation - Christ, we always resort to Him, asking forgiveness of our sins and help in our weaknesses. Know that “where the fall followed, pride surely preceded it,” just as you were allowed before to suffer from the torment of passion. – She relied on her deeds and her strength; For this reason, you were allowed to fall into broken bones of your soul, so that you would recognize your weakness and humble yourself, and the Lord looks upon the humble. From your letters we see that in one week there was a big change in your dispensation, but even more so now, and we hope that, with God’s help, you are in a much better position and truly at peace. One should not despair, no matter what happens: but one must always resort to God and one’s neighbor with repentance; There is a lot of this in St. Scripture and in the teachings of the fathers, about which we have already written to you before; and especially at St. Peter of Damascus, at St. Isaac the Syrian, by John of Carpathia. Pray to God for the abbess, always reproach yourself with thoughts and make yourself guilty before her, then you will receive healing. We rejoice that you have peace for your mother. When you walk the humble path, peace will always be with you. Learn from the teachings of St. fathers, take care of the rule; but this is sowing, and fruits must be expected from a good dispensation of morals, “and there is spiritual fruit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering” and so on (Gal. 5:22). – When we do not work in sowing, then we cannot expect fruit. You are greatly offended by the fact that M.M. I went to my cells with you, which we are not a little surprised at; Why should you get involved with her when she is not zealous in spirit, which you have known for a long time? Whatever the reasons for this, it is clear that it has to be this way, and according to spiritual reason, you should blame yourself, but not be embarrassed, but calm down: and embarrassment shows some kind of passion. We wish the Lord to comfort you in this sorrow. For cell work, you can take in some simple girl, but with the blessing of Mother Superior. July 20, 1840 You are afraid that M. will not open your spiritual correspondence, what will happen? “If it does, it won’t reveal the vice, but the fact that you are looking for salvation, not trusting your mind.” When this is imputed to you as a crime and a strict prohibition, then, apparently, this is what God pleases for our and your sterility in virtue. But this is still unknown; Meanwhile, you were afraid of this too, when the cause of your disorder would be revealed; equally - and then the same thing can happen, covering God. Although you do not wish her harm, there is an unpleasant feeling in your heart for her, and it is difficult to see her, shows your memory of malice. Read the teaching of Abba Dorotheus about memory malice, and “About reproaching yourself,” then you will see your dispensation. Do you want to submit yourself to consider what is so difficult in your character that can embitter people? That’s what it is: you’re busy with yourself, you think that you’re going on like this, but you don’t recognize your weakness. “We don’t justify her for embarrassment either, but this concerns her more than anything else; and you, looking at your dispensation, blame yourself and pray to God for her. November 7, 1840. You describe your embarrassment about the transition of N.’s mother, but they are all transitory, and you need to endure, and not be embarrassed, as you wrote about in the first letter. From the last we see that these bewilderments and confusions of yours have been destroyed, and you must calm down, that N.’s mother did not pass through you, but of her own free will, seeking a better refuge for salvation; but no matter how mistaken she was, she would not have found a stormy ocean instead of a quiet refuge. And you must curb your desire, and, as much as possible, pacify yourself in place, and try to live according to the commandments of God and the teachings of your fathers. Temptations pursue us everywhere, only in different forms: here one thing, and there another, and everywhere patience is required. The sisters who are leaving now, what excuse do they have for transitioning? Are they really harmed here? and how do they hope to improve their lives there? You are getting into these squabbles in vain: we could have managed without you; otherwise, when it opens, you may not be able to carry it; there is no need to confess unnecessarily, but the thing itself will then show what needs to be done. If it is God’s will for your transition, then He will show you the way; however, keep your desire, as they said; where will you go? After all, you are a nun; they won’t accept you everywhere. Again, although it seems good in appearance, afterward there will be many inconveniences and temptations that I did not expect. However, rely on the will of God and cry out to Him: “tell me, O Lord, the way, where I will go, for I have taken my soul to You” (Ps. 142:8). There seems to be no need to go to the cell of a rich robess nun: it would be servility, and you would be subjected to the darkness of passions. You have no need for food, and the Lord sends you extra, then you need to thank Him, not only in words, but in deeds, and when you see excess at that time, use it both for spiritual matters and moderate it in work. If you could be instructed in spiritual life by her nun, or at least serve as edification to each other, then you could move on, otherwise, apparently, she wants to have you as a companion and will consider herself a benefactor to you, and you will receive harm through an absent-minded life, then it is better to leave; It is true that the abbess will not force you to do this, and when he does force you, the Lord will give you a word for justification. It is not proper to curse; for the Lord said: bless, and do not curse, and those who curse bind themselves and others; but according to the spiritual connection, if it is blessed, then one prohibition is important. However, M. accepts the oath indifferently; one must try and hope that their peace will end over time; Isn’t it hard for those who have malice in their hearts, even through blessed guilt? The commandment of God: “If you do not forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15). Your unworthy pilgrims, sinful I.L. and I.M. December 10, 1840. We regret that you got entangled in such a network, where later you had to trample your conscience with a false god. Your zeal was to help others, but apparently not according to Bose; Forward, beware of such cases. T. U-na is afraid for you, that you wouldn’t even think of going where you would, having noticed something from your note; but we assured her otherwise and tried to calm her down in this regard. They apparently experienced it themselves: having crossed over, they still don’t have their own corner. But we see that she is a test, which everyone needs in different forms: in one place this, in another, it confuses, and all for the sake of teaching us patience, she now treats the mother abbess with her infirmities. You don’t know how to kill time: the service is short, and the time drags on for a very long time; you find your pleasure only in work; this is better than going from cell to cell. It is undeniable that it is better to do work than to wander around cells, but even between work you can spend time on spiritual exercises: reading and practicing rules, which will complement the brevity of the service with spiritual benefit. Labor or work is very useful, but when done impartially; and when we leave spiritual pursuits behind without need, then passion clearly shows. You ask for permission to resolve your bewilderment: you are writing about rumors of your election as treasurer, and if this is true, then what should you do? Although it seems to you to be beyond your strength, if you accept it not through your machinations or ambition, but solely out of obedience for the common good, then you will find God’s help. Just as seeking authority is harmful, and not all denial is useful. As for other obedience, i.e. Whichever one to keep with oneself even in this position - the choir or prosphora, then by all appearances the one that gives praise to God seems more appropriate. Although it is difficult for you, then you will have a duty, according to your duty, to force others to be more active and go to morning singing; this will serve to their salvation. If you instill in them about this yourself, and through the abbess, then they will be afraid of these voices, they will be excited and then get used to this, and they themselves will be grateful. We have written to you our opinion, and may its fulfillment be in the will of God; We do not write so that the authorities wish for you, but when God’s election comes, submit to it with humility. February 4th, 1841. I congratulate you on the upcoming holiday of the Resurrection of Christ; May the Lord comfort you in this triumph with heartfelt joy; I also congratulate you on taking up your new position of treasurer. We know that you were not looking for this, but took it for obedience, then the Lord will send you His help and teach you everything that seems wild, strange and unfamiliar to you. Remember that you are not called for honor and glory, but for the common benefit of the monastery and the sisters who are saved in it; do not exalt yourself above others with your primacy, but because you are great, humble yourself, according to the word of Scripture: you were not appointed to serve you, but you will serve them, and you will accept the reward of faithful and wise builders; just do not rise above others, and, as much as possible, bear the infirmities of the weak; Do not please yourself, but please your neighbor for the good. As you walk the path of this life, recognize your own weaknesses and beware of harshly judging the weaknesses of others. God is able to save them, however, as much as possible, try to establish order in the monastery, albeit externally, that depends on you, and then God will send help for internal well-being. March 22, 1841. In all your letters you describe your bewilderments, sorrows and embarrassments in your position, which you, of course, did not expect when you entered the monastery (since now your sister V. is thinking about just entering the monastery), but it is impossible for this to be possible to spend your entire life without temptations and sorrows, but to be in joy and without care. This is where you learn that God provides for you when he sends sorrows and sorrows, and wants to teach you with them and make you wise in your spiritual mind. Without grief we can neither reconcile ourselves nor come to spiritual understanding; and be firmly convinced that, except for the permission of God, no sorrow can happen to us, although apparently it seems that people are the cause of it for us, but they are only the instruments with which God acts in the matter of our salvation. Remember that “Christ is the same yesterday and today, the same forever” (Heb. 13:8); and when a storm of bewilderment, confusion and sorrow arises, run to Him crying: Lord! save me; I am perishing, and He will send you His help. For this purpose, writes St. Isaac, and the Lord multiplied these pestuns (sorrows), so that our hearts would be sanctified by constant invocation of Him and His memory. Also try to always blame yourself more than others, even if it seems to you that you are right; self-love reduces our guilt, and increases others. According to the teachings of the same St. Isaac in the 51st word, when we accuse others, then sorrows multiply and become intolerable; and when we blame ourselves and consider ourselves worthy of not only these, but also greater sorrows, then they are easy and soon pass. Have yourself earth and ashes and prepare for the onset of sorrows: with such preparation you will more easily bear the sorrows that come. You say that by taking on this position you are completely upsetting yourself. It is not the position that is to blame, but our structure, and, apparently, for this reason the Lord allowed you to be in it, so that you would recognize your weakness and humble yourself, and not look at others in their weaknesses. However, it would be necessary for someone to be in this position, and if they did not find someone more capable than you, and without your machinations they appointed you, then, apparently, there is the will of God for this, to strengthen you in patience, since you are becoming impoverished in it. Read in the Philokalia of St. Mark the Ascetic in short chapters of two works; there you will see the necessity and benefit of sorrows, and the Lord will strengthen you and enlighten you in perplexity on what to do. You write about a feuding sister, then if this continues, then the best remedy is to pray to God for her. He will soften her heart to peace; also pray for those who are moved to envy against you. Your sister V.S. is still a baby in spiritual life; does not see, and cannot see into the distance; she is seduced by your monastery, looking only at the appearance, but the inner structure is hidden from her, since all the monastic battles and sorrows are not visible to her, and this is the sight of God, according to the word of John Climacus. May God direct her path according to His will, wherever He pleases. T. writes that he has a desire for S-y, but mamma is against it because there are no cells there, which she makes a lot of mistakes about; maybe she will have time to force her to move somewhere from these monasteries, and will arrange a cell and external peace for her; but can it give her peace of mind? doubtful; and what is more positive is what will make you repent later and be tormented by your conscience. We do not force her to S-y, but we see more convenience for her mental structure, and this consists in her will, I. L and I. M. August 19, 1841 O mother K.! you stand in the spiritual army of Christ; strive with patience against the sorrows and your passions that rise up against you. How would you learn patience if there were no sorrows, and what kind of crown could you receive? Spiritual life does not consist only in being calmed by grace and receiving peace, as you once enjoyed; but it is not durable, not having passed the fire of temptation; That is why grace, having revealed itself, retreats and allows us to fight so that our autocracy is tempted, but everything helps with invisible power. In spiritual life, the cross is higher than consolations: from these they sometimes become arrogant, but from this, having recognized their weakness, they humble themselves and receive help. You grieve that through your occupation you have lost your privacy, and you notice that in many ways you are worse off than the previous dispensation; but remember that during this time you spent, another occupied this post and was, as it were, a fence for you and for others in a calm stay. After she completed this mission, the lot fell on you, in order to, in turn, sacrifice peace for others, and this does not happen without the providence and supervision of God. Your troubles are for the common good the same as living alone; but it is of considerable benefit that you see yourself as meager in virtues—you humble yourself. On the contrary, then, from her imaginary corrections, deluded by her mind, she had a subtle and most imperceptible exaltation: for this, a certain amount of abuse was allowed. You are at a loss when perplexed by your position: in these cases you need to turn to God in prayer; He is strong to grant him permission; in some cases, through prayer, you can take advice from some mother or sister. It is impossible for there not to be sorrows on the path of life; for “through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). If you need to get into some kind of order, you can remind your boss with humility, and not urgently. The same can be done in defense of others, as you explained. From your letter we saw your fear regarding correspondence - and this cannot be praised; one must be affirmed by faith that God is able to preserve, if there is any benefit. While I wish you peace and health of soul and body, I remain your unworthy pilgrim. I. M. May 16, 1841 You write that you suffer from despondency, but external sorrows have subsided; and in the second, that these days again many sorrows surrounded you, but everything passed. From this we can see that you are in the field of monastic or Christian life and have taken upon yourself the good burden of Christ and His light yoke. The Lord visits you, if not with an external cross, then with an internal despondency, and you must accept this good yoke with patience and gratitude; Between them, you undoubtedly sometimes feel peace of mind and consolation. Spiritual life consists not only in tasting its inner sweets and consolations, but also in complacently enduring their deprivation and other sorrows. From all of these our love for God is known when we carry them complacently; recognizing our weakness and poverty, we humble ourselves from it. Remember your first dispensation, when you enjoyed spiritual consolations; What did you gain from this? After being deprived of them, there was only emptiness, and you almost fell into despair when after them waves of passions rose up against you. You see how fragile this consolation is, which does not bring humility, but only deceives, and without the taste of the sorrowful, puts those who have it in danger. On the contrary, the cross makes us partakers of Christ’s passion and glory, but only when it pleases Him to bestow it and it will be beneficial to us. And so, beloved sister in Christ! Do not faint in the sorrows that befall you, but remember the vow we have given to endure them, and the shepherd’s admonitions to you that “when they overwhelm you, then rejoice, for your reward is abundant in heaven, and with them eternal life is outlined.” Having been tempted by sorrows, you can help those who are tempted; You can also be useful to your sister V.; she now strives, thinking, having entered the monastery, to fly to heaven; but you, having been tempted yourself, can hold it back, and as the fathers write: “If you see someone young flowing to heaven, stop his foot.” Both of you can be useful to each other: you to her, and she to you. Surely there will be no one closer to you than her, and this is no small matter in the sorrows and perplexities that happen - to pour out your soul; and the Lord Himself will be your mentor and guardian, according to His true verb: “For where there are two or three gathered in My Name, I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). And about helping the poor, you need to have no small consideration, depending on their circumstances and needs, while maintaining your spiritual structure; so as not to fall into an opinion about yourself and into the condemnation of the unmerciful. I do not reject your trust, but I ask you to pray that the Lord will grant me true reason - to give answers to your questions; but I can’t do anything about myself. December 9th, 1841. I am surprised at the long journey of my letter to you dated December 9th; I received it on January 6th, almost a month later: you can get it from America sooner. I, on the contrary, received your letter quite soon, dated January 19, 25, but still have not responded. From it I see that your sister M.U. I was disposed to ask you to stay with me; From this I conclude that she must be visiting you. I also don’t know anything about her resolve with her mother. So, I am now writing to both of you together: if she now lives temporarily, let her test herself and prepare herself for patience, without which it is impossible to be saved - and sharing your sorrows with you, she herself will learn from them when they are sent, only you, mother, do not be faint-hearted, but make yourself weak for her. After all, everything is the same: one must bear whatever God sends, the only difference is that cowardice increases sorrow, while courage and generosity alleviates it. Read the book of St. Peter of Damascus; There you will find a lot about this, and especially where he writes about bliss and meekness. You mention in your letter that I only fall without rising. There are different kinds of falls: you need to look at them, and more importantly where they come from. St. Climacus writes: “Where there is a fall, pride preceded it.” Humble yourself and make a start towards correction; and with the increase of pride, it is impossible to avoid the falls that overthrow it and create the soul to consider itself the last and worst of all, even if it has had correction. There is a spiritual doctor for everything - St. fathers' teaching, for they themselves experienced spiritual life. How could one write openly about temptation? The letter could be lost by you, or it might not reach you. You write that she is a bad helper, having never experienced such a temptation; Until then, there is nothing to do, but at least her revelation and shame on herself will expose the machinations of the enemy, and when she humbles herself, she will receive healing. I don’t know what to tell you about a sister who wants to help her family: for those living in the world this is commendable and useful, but for those who have entered the monastery, St. fathers deny; for our title is also the negation of the world; they give examples that “what a monk gives to his relatives brings fire into their house.” But I’m afraid to legislate. March 3rd, 1842 You describe your grief for your spiritual sterility and distracted life; but if you immediately say that this is not happening according to your will, then how can you help it? We must take into account the circumstances, for example: if we took upon ourselves the image of a strict life, as we would like and as we should, then something sad would not happen, and can you bear it? Of course, you have to endure everything for the sake of piety, but are you ready for this? It must be ready. If your former absent-mindedness is not associated with spiritual harm, i.e. by drinking excessive drinks, and the danger of exposing chastity to temptation, then respect can be made for a while; and when such dangers arise, it is better to avoid and prepare to suffer sorrow and reproach. As for your spiritual weakness, regarding hostile feelings towards the new teacher, you must resist them in every possible way and instill love, acquired by patience. “Through your patience gain your souls,” says the Lord (Luke 21:19). Having been without Mother Superior for two weeks, what did she suffer due to her inexperience? One must appreciate the work of the bosses and concerns for the salvation of the souls entrusted to them. May God grant that your mother arises from her sickbed; but if it is the will of God to place her in eternal rest, then He will show whom to entrust the shepherd of His verbal flock. And you must accept with faith and submission the will of God, without hesitation. Sister V.S. I wrote that she would respect her mother’s wishes, stay with her, but only change her clothes; Wouldn't this measure serve for the better? I don't have any answer from her yet. April 25th, 1842. In terms of your relationship with the abbess towards each other and in terms of your position, it is as if your position is unenviable; What's the point if there is no peace? but how can this be helped? If it were possible to be relieved of her position, then perhaps she would calm down for a while and calm her down; but since it is impossible to do this, then, apparently, we must bear this involuntary cross: by our will we seek only peace, but we reject the cross. Apparently, it is the will of God to bring it to you; but one must also be sure that God will not send a cross greater than strength. As much as possible, try to calm the mother abbess; but if necessary, one can talk about any affairs of the monastery in which one sees an omission or general spiritual harm. They won’t listen to you: you bear it indifferently, don’t stubbornly insist, but get used to bearing sorrows, through which you acquire an eternal life. It is not without the providence of God that this position has been entrusted to you, but to teach you how to bear the cross. When you were tonsured, you were foreshadowed by the tonsure: “If you are tempted by many sorrows, in the image of the eternal life is outlined, and then rejoice, for your reward is many in heaven.” And when you are surrounded by many different sorrows and perplexities, then strengthen yourself in faith and run to the most merciful Lord with the outpouring of your heart, and seek help and intercession from Him; He will surely not leave you unprotected. You are afraid of debt, which the abbess has shown: there is no debt, but there is one; What is your fault if they began to demand it later? they would point to her, not to you; then either they will refuse them if they do not prove it, or they will be ordered to pay; and you should still be on the sidelines. Regarding order in the choir and sacristy, look at your conscience: it should be your righteous judge. What you cannot correct, leave to the will of God. Here, as much as I could, I bring this poor writing of mine as consolation. Remember, when you went to the monastery, did you think that you might encounter similar sorrows, and it’s true that you thought about the same rules, and thus wanted to fly to heaven; but God has provided another way for you. Reproach yourself for your uncorrection and shortcomings, despise yourself, experience poverty and humble yourself, then the Lord will look at you. Now your sister V.S. decided to live a monastic life, and does not expect what will happen to her along this path. So God carefully hid the monastic sorrows from worldly people; No matter how much you tell them about this, that they must endure, they agree to everything, but over time they become exhausted. I wish that the Lord would strengthen you in bearing sorrows, enlighten you in perplexity, and comfort you with His spiritual consolation. July 14, 1842. In the first letter, dated August 2, written, although she expressed her grief, she did it all with patience, and in the last, dated August 24, I see that she has completely lost it and is deciding on such means, of which the first: I don’t know how it could save you from sorrow, except for a while; and the latter will only aggravate your grief and upset your mother and all your relatives, and will serve as a temptation for many. It can be said about you, too, that Job said to his wife: “You are the only one who said these things from foolish women” (Job 2:10). It’s not surprising to go to the P-th monastery: are you sure that you won’t face similar inconveniences? And besides, you move away from your relatives 400 miles away, and it will no longer be difficult to deliver provisions to you; but all this would be worth nothing if peace could be achieved there; If you don’t like the monasteries there, then it’s doubtful. It is incongruous to go out into the world; what excuse can you give for this undertaking? There will be many objections and admonitions. If you manage to carry out this harmful intention, then where will you hide from remorse and how will you cover the cold of your face from the reproach of those you know and your neighbors? How will the grief and sadness of your relatives be consoled? And what answer will you give to God about human temptation? All these sorrows, chained together, will weigh down your neck and will be unbearable to bear, and it is unlikely that you will be accepted anywhere as a novice into a monastery; and when they are accepted, you cannot avoid reproach. But God forbid even to think about this, not only to actually see it fulfilled. When you cannot bear the sorrows there, ask for dismissal from the treasury or ask to travel to Rostov and Kyiv for three months; between this time, perhaps, the abbess will be freed from illness; and you will take a break from grief and on the way somewhere you will take a closer look at the monastery to see if you like it. However, I must think differently about sorrows: 1) that we have made a vow to endure them, 2) no one can escape them, no matter how hard we try. If we run from external sorrows, we are met by internal, most painful ones. St. Isaac writes that “the path of God, the cross, is everyday, and no one ascends weakly to heaven, for we know where that path ends.” - Again: “If someone follows the path of righteousness, and makes his procession to God, and something sorrowful happens on this path, then it is not proper for him to deviate from it, but it is appropriate to take it up with joy without torture, and to thank God, for He sent him this grace, and made him worthy to fall into temptation for Him, and is a fellow being of the sufferings of the prophets and apostles, and other saints who endured sorrow on this path; either they will come from a person, or from demons, or from the body (except for the sign of God to come here, and it is impossible to be allowed); There is no other way to create God’s favor for those who desire to be with Him, except to bring temptations for the truth. Otherwise, when you are not always in space, it is fitting for you to rejoice, but to become decrepit in the face of sorrows, and as if you are alien to the way of God and do not feel this way; For from eternity and from generations his path has been followed by the cross and death. Do you want to follow in the footsteps of the saints, or do you want to create a special path for yourself? and not walk painfully in it?” Read also in the chapters of Mark the Ascetic: there you will find much that is suitable for strengthening you in enduring sorrows. – He writes in one of his works that “due to the equality of our sins, or for the sake of temptation, sorrows are sent from God, but not with the same things, and not at the same time; then don’t be curious about how, or when, or through whom they find: the propriety of each and their urgent diligence, and the cooperation of all creation in this regard, knows one God, but we must truly believe in the truth of God, and know that everything that has come upon us against our will, has come according to His will, and for this sake it is fitting to endure, and not to deny it, but not let us add sin to our sins. Convinced of this, the brethren answered him: indeed, without the truth of God, nothing happens from the involuntary of man, even if a mysterious confluence of events, and decent diligence, we cannot comprehend the existence of men.” Much more could be written about this, but this is enough, if you accept with faith and bow your neck to the yoke of Christ, reproaching yourself and not others, you will find not only strengthening, but also consolation in your sorrows. Regarding moving to another monastery, remember that brother who, avoiding sorrows, went from monastery to monastery, and found them everywhere; and when I wrote to myself for memory: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I endure,” then I was at peace in my sorrows; - think about this too. I wish that the Lord will help you to bear sorrows graciously and bring you relief from them and consolation, but this is not always useful to us; you experienced this yourself when you were spiritually consoled; what did you buy? Only his memory remained, and after passions and sorrows arose, she became faint-hearted; all this is not without God’s consideration for our humility. And it seemed good to Saint Peter on Tabor, “it is good for us to be here,” and the Lord is about Golgotha, i.e. about suffering, predicting; for suffering comes before glory. September 1st, 1842. You complain about your sorrows, from which you become bitter; I sincerely regret this and would like by all means for you to live a sorrowless life, but this is not in our will. The Lord who created us and brought us to this title Himself arranges to whom, when, what and for how long to send sorrows, not only to test us in His faith and love, but also to prevent us from sins, occupying us with the endurance of sorrows and for ushering us into the Kingdom of Heaven: for through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); but He also matches each of us with strength to bear. Read in the seventh word of St. Macarius of Egypt chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, there you will find enough about this for your strengthening. Sorrows are sent to each of us: some at the beginning of entering the field, others halfway through, and some at the end; Just know that every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation, and without that it cannot be firm. Even if you were in another place, you still would not have avoided sorrows, only of a different kind. St. writes about Saint Joseph. David: When his nose was in chains, his soul passed through iron. Until the word of the Lord came (Ps. 105:18, 19). Who was after Joseph? From generation to generation his glory is proclaimed. Remember your introduction and beginning; it was sorrowless, but what fruit did it bear? Your sister V.S., not yet entering the monastery, has sorrow; and having entered the monastery, perhaps he will be more skillful, for, having been tempted, the tempted one can also help. Another sister A.S. suffered grief for quite some time, having no refuge in the monastery, but now the Lord consoled them by sending them a special and profitable cell. The most merciful Lord is able to give you consolation in your sorrows, just consider yourself guilty of them, and do not think that others are guilty, and repent for your impatience. Pray for those who cause you sorrow, as your benefactors, the ones responsible for your spiritual healing. I can’t tell you anything more than that, having entrusted you to the protection of God and His all-powerful providence, I remain unworthy of your many-sinful pilgrim I.M. November 14, 1842 I have the most pleasant and kind opportunity to congratulate you on the upcoming holiday of the Nativity of Christ; Although I am writing via mail, I consider it an accident because your mother and sister V.S. are with us this holiday, and they will add a few lines here. I wish that the Lord will vouchsafe you to celebrate these days with heartfelt joy, in health and peace of mind, glorifying and thanking God’s ineffable mercy in His condescension towards us. I received your scripture, dated November 30th, on December 7th; from which I see that the mother abbess became more lenient towards you after the explanations with her, and you calmed down, and it is absolutely impossible for there to be any sorrow. God's providence arranges this for our salvation; submit to His will and in sorrows blame yourself more for impatience than anyone else, through which you will receive relief. The portrait you asked for is the only one I have on me (that is, myself), and I can’t share it with anyone; Many who want to have it are satisfied that a year before my death you will have it 35. Without finishing the letter, he gave it to your sister to write, but she spoiled it; they spent the Nativity of Christ with us and went home that same day; I wish that they find peace and tranquility in their souls. Asking for you the peace and blessing of God, I remain unworthy of your many-sinful pilgrim I.M. December 25, 1842. Reverend mothers of K. and M.U. in the Lord! Believing that M.W. has arrived at her monastery, I am writing to both of you together. Whenever it pleases the Lord to bring M.U. to live in your monastery, then, of course, you must live together, maintain peace, love and harmony among yourself. And although she is older, she must submit everything to Mother K.: the first - by monasticism, and the second - by some experience. However, you, mother K., should no longer consider yourself skilled and worthy of caring for others: her faith will complement your shortcomings. And although you do not have sufficient knowledge and experience for instruction; but, delving into the teaching of St. fathers, offer them to them; Seeing our duty and not finding such activity in ourselves, we must involuntarily recognize our poverty and humble ourselves, and the Lord will look at our humility and give us reason and help in knowledge and action. Do not prostrate yourself to high places, but be more humble; for delusion is more dangerous than weakness itself, and inconvenience can be healed. Read the teachings of your fathers, especially active ones, not speculative ones, and stretch yourself most of all to endure temptations, annoyances and reproaches, from whom God will send for testing; and without this it is impossible to know one’s structure and learn patience; Beware of contemplating others in their weaknesses, otherwise you yourself may become enslaved to the same weaknesses. But it is impossible to describe everything, and constant experiences can teach you and make you wise in going through spiritual life. You, mother K., ask me through sister M.: if the lot of election falls on you, should you resist or accept the responsibility? This matter is not our will; one must unhypocritically consider oneself unworthy of this, and if it is God’s will for this, it cannot be avoided; we must remember the word of God: who in you is first, let him be last of all, and servant of all (Matthew 20:26, 27), not to be carried away by ambition, but to choose to serve others for salvation, with the help of God, and be careful not to wander into the fence of verbal sheep; but when they lead you into it by the door, and not otherwise, you cannot resist. St. Gregory the Theologian writes: just as it is sinful to seek and covet power and honor, so it is no less sinful to deny authority, according to the title of God; if everyone did this, then the splendid structure of the Church and societies would all be destroyed. If you have in mind such a mother who can guide you to salvation through prudence and honesty of life, then you can humbly and modestly ask the archpastor for this permission; and when it is not meant, will not the latter be worse than the former; after all, you are in a yoke and you don’t yet know how the attractions tell you, whether with relief or even burden. In this case, it is better to surrender yourself to the will of God: whatever He arranges, obey. M.U. complains about you that by accepting sorrows not generously, you are ruining your health - this is not commendable. What would happen without sorrows? Various passions would excite your soul, and pride and conceit would not leave you. In sorrows, resort to God; In the psalms you will quite find that everything in them St. cried out to God. David. If M. is now with you, then bring her my deepest respects; I thank her for her disposition towards my badness, and if she received any peace of mind, let her attribute this to the mercy of God, and not to my unworthiness. I am nothing more than an insignificant sinner, who spoke to you, but myself does nothing. M. also ask me whether you should accept those who come with a revelation of their weaknesses? Accept, even though you are not skilled in them: their revelation - shame on yourself, will bring them benefit, and God will instruct you what to say to them for instruction. It is necessary to instill the fear of God and the inevitability of punishment when they do not bring proper repentance; Moreover, have the proper abstinence and humility. As for the nuns, if you do not have the opportunity to intercede, leave it to the will of God; For example; the elders are presented and walked around for tonsure; God Himself acts in this matter; but when we search through intrigues, there will be no use, and the mantle will be heavy; even those who mourn for not receiving the mantle show that they are driven by ambition, and not by the desire to be saved. Our image is an image of humility, and there is a test before it; and this shows that there is no humility; but if it were accepted with humility, it would serve for salvation. February 16th, 1843. I sincerely rejoice that the cloud of your temptations and sorrows has passed, and you, having accepted their temptation, can in the future be more prudent, more humble and help others who are tempted. You see the hand of God, punishing and merciful. Glory to His wise providence for us. I don’t approve of your offer to your mother to eat quick food. Let her do it herself and bring more repentance, otherwise, as if, having been forced to do this, she might have some kind of apology. However, I don’t quite agree that food alone can fix the stomach, but I think, on the contrary, it will cause even more illness. The common people, who eat little meat and eat more bread, require less doctors than the upper class, pampered by luxury. I don’t argue that food is harmful for a sick stomach: mushrooms, cabbage, salted fish and other rough, inconveniently cooked foods, but bread, water and light garden vegetables will not cause harm, and this is enough to maintain life. Recognizing your weaknesses, look at yourself, repent and try to improve. Anger comes from pride and is overcome by humility. April 27, 1843 On May 31, your letter reached my hands, from which, seeing that you are at peace with your mother abbess, I sincerely rejoice and wish that this peace may remain undisturbed and lasting. It seems to you that this world happens because you don’t bring any trouble to her, and yet you are at a loss in some cases: if you don’t bring it to her, then harm and temptation may follow, but if they say, they may deny it and they won’t believe you. Not every rumor can be believed, but if some kind of indecent treatment is definitely discovered and can even be caught, then you can bring it to the abbess, and when in doubt, and she can justify herself, then it is better to surrender to the will of God; He created us autocratic, and according to his action he either rewards or punishes. You would then be guilty if temptation were allowed through you, but when you are alien to this and still grieve over this, then God will cover you. When, by common agreement, they want to separate, and this will lead to peace, then it does not hurt to give advice; and if through this even greater enmity occurs, then it is better to advise to endure tribulations for temptation and for the cleansing of sins, as well as for the healing of spiritual infirmities. I advise my sisters about patience; when they don’t have it, they should reproach themselves and despise themselves, and not tempt them with their unpeacefulness. June 29, 1843. Glory to God and thanks to God that you arrived safely and you feel peace and tranquility within yourself: the prayers of St. saint of God Mitrofan. He, seeing your work and faith, petitioned God for this gift; and you incorrectly attribute my participation in this; Give glory to God and His saint! What will happen next, only God knows; but it is not useful to have constant peace either; We have not yet earned this, and even more so we cannot preserve this gift without humility. The journal of your infirmities can be observed this way. It would be good to reveal your weakness to someone there, but not to them, but to someone more experienced; It would be better for the confessor, at least not every day, but occasionally, but better and better to remove the mud from the soul. Noticing these weaknesses in yourself, you need to humble yourself and repent before God. Whenever there is a struggle and victory, try to read articles in books that teach how to resist them and what means to take to tame them; – beware of looking down on and judging others, abstain and, most of all, plunge yourself into the depths of humility; and the Lord is able to give His help; to our good will. What can I say about T.W.? And her relatives are holding her back, but will her illness make her comfortable in monastic life? I don’t know: she writes that they want to let you stay with you and then she will look at her ability and location; her relatives, no matter how they hold her, will not be stronger than God, and, apparently, there is still no God’s will for her entry. You ask about K.’s mother, who remains to live together with an agreement to live peacefully: yes, this is necessary even without an agreement; and even if the opposite happens, we must tolerate each other and thereby heal our spiritual wounds. How can you not know what harm students can do? She herself still requires training in morality, but here you have to be angry with them because they do not understand the letter or meaning correctly, and there is no time to take care of yourself, nor to read a book and learn from it. The Holy Fathers even wrote in Fatherland, where young boys are in monasteries, there is no need for a demon. It is impossible to allow the consumption of fast food on Monday, because in the rules of St. Fathers ordered monks to eat Lenten food; The power is given to absolve the sins of those who repent, and not the rule of St. allow fathers: I don’t take it upon myself; whoever wants, so understands. V. Whether Mr. accept it or not is in your will; in fact, it would be necessary to do this with the blessing of the abbess; but when this order has already been lost, then their faith can contribute to their salvation, and if someone truly seeks spiritual benefit with faith and accepts it with love, then God Himself sends down His help and arranges salvation. November 20th, 1843. I received your notes, or journal, with both letters safely. Meanwhile, you must look within yourself to see if you are benefiting from this revelation and are you coming to humility and contrition of heart? I offer you the medicine of St. John Climacus, it gives us great help: “Wearing sackcloth, sprinkling ashes on one’s head, standing all night, abstaining from food, melting from thirst, or cooling it in moderation, living in cemeteries, and most of all a humble heart, and if possible, some pious father or virtuous brother who would be old not so much in years as in mind, so that he could, in our case temptations, give us advice. For then I consider it a miracle that someone alone, by himself, could save the ship of his soul from sinking in this worldly sea.” What is said here about father and brother, in your field can be attributed to mother and sister, but at the end of that degree it is said: “If you recognize my (i.e. flesh) and your extreme weakness, you will thereby tie my hands. If you stop the gluttony, you will tie my legs so that they can’t walk any further. If you cleave to obedience, you will thereby be freed from me. If you lack humility, you will cut off my head” (Step. 15). This is what to do if you want to get rid of this enemy! Having received one peace of mind - a stay in a cell, do not think that you are already free from other struggles. You are afraid to speak for those who are offended: but you can speak with them, which will reveal their claim; and when you speak alone, then all the blame will fall on you: when they do not want to speak up for themselves, then you also need to be silent. I do not recommend working on holidays and Sundays, except in the evening, spending the day in spiritual exercises. I remain unworthy of your many pilgrims. I.M. January 18, 1844 Your revelation, written to me, is as it should be; but I’m asking you: are you getting any benefit? Do you have contrition of heart, pain about it? and do you come to humility? and also do you feel the silence from these storms? This is the essential benefit of revelation. As it is written in the word St. Cassian to Leontin the Abbot: “The very thing that the father shows and reveals evil thoughts, they wither and create the weakest.” What we have learned from many experiments: it is possible and useless to discover if equal; painlessly - and instead of a simple story, which does not bring shame or benefit, but can still harm another passionate woman; That’s why I asked you about the benefits, do you feel them? If the sister about whom you are writing agrees to accept your thoughts, then I advise you to explain it to her, but not with a simple story, but in the form of repentance, and the Lord is able to provide benefit to you. I. M. February 26, 1844 You complain about your sorrows, and you are not free from passions; if there were no sorrows, then the passions would act more strongly, which is why we should thank God for His providence in arranging our salvation. Having arranged, with the help of God, to reveal her thoughts to her mother G., she must observe this with faith, humility, and the fear of God, speaking not in simple conversation, but with shame and blasphemy of herself; and God, according to your faith, will give a word that will serve to strengthen you, and free you from passions, and calm your conscience. And I advise M.E. to read fatherly books, both for the edification of oneself and for one’s neighbor, in case of need, to give a helping hand. And when you have benefit and peace from your revelation to her, then you don’t need to write to me in detail; But perhaps, when you find a need, in severe cold, or simply express your weakness, you can remember this. May the Lord give you peace. Now I turn to you and T.U. I congratulate both of you on entering the monastery, which you both have long desired. Wonderful works of God! and by opposing actions they arrange what is useful for us; If there had been no illness, it wouldn’t have been long before your mother agreed to fire you. You bear the illness complacently and strengthen yourself by reading the life of Pimen, who was much ill. Until this is enough, then the Lord will guide you in His true path. May God's peace and blessing be upon you, and I remain your unworthy pilgrim of many. I.M. March 28, 1844 Most venerable Mother K. in the Lord! I am not the least surprised that you have sorrows: this is the real path of our life, and through sorrows we learn patience and humility, and all of them are sent by the providence of God. He strengthens us and teaches us how to act in their invasion: we must always resort to Him, asking for help and admonition, so that we may not sin against His will, swearing away sorrow. In the second letter you describe your sister coming to you to discover that she is consumed by jealousy and suspicion. In such a dispensation there is not only no benefit from revelation, but even great harm; instead of receiving healing from passions, she becomes more carried away by them; Through the revelation of thoughts she should receive peace, but she is deprived of it. What kind of revelation is this? Let him experience the scriptures of his fathers as they should be revealed - with faith and sincerity, and with great humility, and accept instructions as inspired by God. And to demand mutual confidence or to doubt the immodesty of her thoughts, this is nowhere to be found, and this is the network of the enemy, which confuses her even more. When he wants to walk and reveal his weaknesses with faith, without any doubt, he will receive benefit; and if with such hesitation as you write, then this is no longer God’s work, but the enemy’s, and we must try to stop it, seeking our own spiritual benefit. What right does she have to your revelation? You, assuring her of your revelation to her, upset her more, and it must be said that she should not dare to demand this. May the Lord protect you from such and similar snares and snares of the enemy, and grant you the privilege of finding the true fatherly path by which they walked and reached the Kingdom of Heaven - and may you receive it by the grace of God. May 31, 1844 I am very glad that I received a solution to my bewilderment regarding the sister you wrote about. I sincerely regret the suffering of M.W., strengthen her, Lord, I humbly pray for this and I advise her to call on the Lord for help and remember that the passions of the present time are unworthy of the desire for glory to appear in us (Rom. 8:18). God would be able to save her from this suffering, but, apparently, this measure is necessary to test her faith and love for God. For every one there is temptation, and for every one of his kind; everyone must bear their own cross, and what kind of cross it is is not in our will; We can inflict voluntary suffering on ourselves, but in involuntary suffering God knows who to send what to. I.M. July 15, 1844 I received your letters dated July 24 and August 13. Unfortunately, I don’t see any gratifying relief from M.U.’s illness; The measures taken were not used, but their health was more disturbed. Who knows the future? But the Lord allows it to be so; maybe this will serve as a salvation. Surely she would not have been able to carry out such free labors, and sometimes she would have deviated to one side; after all, passions are many different; Now we endure involuntary labor and reluctantly, although with great discomfort, we bear it. Glory to God's wise providence for us! When they give advice to get further treatment, you should not neglect it, just ask God to send such a skilled doctor, to enlighten him, and to give strength to the medicines he is taking; You also need to listen to him when your mother calls, and the abbess agrees to let you go to her. When you get better, you can come again. But you, K., don’t grieve about the suspicions falsely raised against you, but think about the fact that your cheerful and free manner in conversations gave rise to this? Not everyone judges by their heartfelt feelings, but rather by their appearance. Venerable Mother K. in the Lord! I’m not the least surprised that you only have one name in your position; this is almost and generally true; and for you there is no spiritual harm from this, and perhaps also benefit: you will not become addicted to ambition and you will learn patience through sorrow; You just need to watch so that there is no responsibility for any deeds done under your name. And when you foresee this, you can try to prevent it in some way, but rather entrust yourself to the providence and protection of God, for without it no one can do anything for you. The consolations you feel must be distinguished: are they true or false? And they cannot harm when you are not deceived by them, but consider yourself unworthy of consolation. Humility will save you from delusion; and even if they were blessed, if you are carried away into arrogance, consider yourself to have acquired this wealth and are already hoping for salvation, then you will again lose them, just as it has already happened to you. God visits His servants sometimes with consolation for enduring sorrows, and then more when they do not grumble, but consider themselves worthy of sorrows, based on their humble pledge. In general, in spiritual life, in our work: fear and hope; invasions and consolation, and so on. May the Lord enlighten you and protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy. October 14, 1844 Blessed are you who have found a short and easy path to salvation through faith in the prayer you enclosed when writing; I am surprised at your cowardice and belief in such nonsense. It seems that this is close to believing the dream of the Most Holy Theotokos and the 12 Fridays, as well as the letter of Jesus, found by a seven-year-old boy. Two or three years ago, like this, it was scattered that in Rome the pope heard the same voice during the liturgy: I will strike the world with disasters in 1841 and 1842! For these two years there was an appointment and a similar prayer was composed, with the same condition as you write, and to convey it to 9 people, and punishment was promised for non-fulfillment. Many like you began to preach this sermon, but later it turned out to be an obvious lie, and it seems that this was the intention of the papists; and now they have changed the same thing to the voice heard in Jerusalem - the same one. Judge, can this prayer alone save you from troubles without good deeds? And how dare you attribute this prayer to His Eminence Anthony of Voronezh? Leaving aside the fact that he cannot give her away without the permission of St. Synod - it has a subtle Armenian heresy: they read the trisagion like this: St. God, St. strong, St. immortal, crucified for us, have mercy on us. And in this prayer after the Trisagion it is read: “Have mercy on us and Your whole world from all destruction, through Your blood, so that our sins may be washed away.” As if the entire Holy Trinity crucified and shed blood for us? We recently had a novice who returned from Jerusalem this summer, and he said a word about this below; and also recently we had a monk from Voronezh, and he knows nothing about this; Why would we learn more about this important thing from them? And so I advise you to abandon this hope of yours in this prayer and not to preach it, but to whomever I was told, to warn against this superstition. We have enough prayers prescribed in the church circle: you can use them with faith; and even the thrice-holy doxology itself has great power; with reverence and faith, the Lord gives help and mercy to those who read it; and most of all we need to care about the fulfillment of St. His commandments, and to obey the teachings and decree of St. Church, and do not listen to such fabrications and falsehoods. It is not a little surprising that those who boast of external enlightenment for nothing set themselves to listen to the Church, for example: to eat modest things, but to accept such absurdities: if you read this prayer every day and pass it on to nine people, you will be delivered from troubles, and otherwise you will be punished. This is the same as believing the dream of the Virgin Mary and the 12 Fridays. Can the Reverend Anthony publish such a teaching? Do you see how they deceive in the name of St. husband, slandering him. Now I will say something that concerns each of you: you suffer from illness and grumble that you cannot go to church, this is a sin. The child-loving Father sent you this cross and does not require you to strain your body in external prayer: it is burdened by illness, but seeks patience and complacency from you. The Holy Fathers equate those who are sick and give thanks with those going through the ascetic monastic life. I advise you to be complacent, but even if you go to church, you may sin more. Surrender to the will of God. You, Mother K., worry about order and crucify yourself for them. But God knows, will it be of any benefit to you? Usually horses are kept for general use; if the abbess rides on them, then she is the common mother of all and cares about the common good; Whatever she sins in, she herself will answer to God. What about your jealousy? The sisters are also arming themselves against you. Look, have a reasoning for how best to act, taking into account the above. Having wished you both peace, mental and physical health, I remain unworthy of your many pilgrims. I.M. November 15, 1844 After writing a response to your letters, on the same day I receive your letter, dated November 5th, about the incidents that happened to you. Having pained my soul for you, I hasten to answer this question of yours: although I do not find myself worthy of such decisions, but, according to your faith, I dare to trust in the admonition of the Lord for your benefit. I’ll tell you what worries you more - the oath: but an unreasonable oath has no power; even from a priest, unreasonable knitting has no power, but from a bishop it is permitted, according to the rules. There is one story: “In Moldova, a metropolitan, driving along the road, saw a shepherd and asked him for a lamb, but he refused him; He was offended and said: “Damn you!” At the same time, it was revealed to some of the perspicacious that an oath came from the Metropolitan’s lips, and, approaching the shepherd, she could not enter into him, but she turned back to the Metropolitan and entered into him.” This is a terrible story: and that is why it is dangerous to impose an oath. Examine your conscience and repent of what you are guilty of; when they are not allowed to explain, repent in absentia and pray to God for him, and be calm. But don’t volunteer for the position yourself? And when you are forced for obedience, you can accept it; however, imagine what confuses you about it. You are afraid of sorrows and persecution; in this trust in God; They can only do to you what God pleases to allow. Humble yourself with your wisdom, and God will not send you temptations beyond measure, and it is in temptations that our love and trust for God is known. – When you humble yourself, then the Lord is able to pacify her towards you. Here are the lessons of monastic life. You only saw and looked at it in theory, but now learn in practice; The lack of our deeds is complemented by sorrows. Before receiving my letter, you, M.K., wrote to me again on November 20 about your sorrows and bewilderments; but on December 4th you write together that your perplexities have been resolved and your sorrows have subsided. Who created this if not God? His word: I will strike and again heal, is coming true for you. Do not lose heart in sorrows, but run to God, bear it with humility and ask Him for understanding in your perplexity. Experience has taught you that you have no strength of character; I was jealous and almost fell into consumption; and it is written: let a fearful person not go into battle, “avoid temptations, he will be deprived of spiritual gifts.” What to do? It's tight on both sides. To remain silent is to be a participant; to say, one must bear the cross. Having surrendered to the will of God, reproach yourself silently; The responsibility for abuse will not fall on you. You do not participate in action, but involuntarily remain silent out of fear: God judges our will. You say that your sisters and the worldly see that you are innocent, but God sees your innocence much more; but allows sorrows to exist that fill the place of our poverty in good deeds; and this means he saves us through involuntary sorrows. And so give thanks to God, and do not be faint-hearted: everything will happen for good, according to the goodness of God. Thank God that the Lord also admonishes you and strengthens you in your illness; And you help and comfort each other, according to the word of Scripture: brother from brother we help, like a strong city (Prov. 18:19). December 12, 1844 You should not be timid that you gave such advice to N.’s mother, which served to confirm her in her bewilderment; and it will be more useful for them: each one will know her own corner and her own piece: the good and the good life of the brethren together, according to like-mindedness. For the Lord brings like-minded people into the house (Psalm 67:7), but where there is disagreement and constant disagreement, and everyone has his own mind, then what good will it do? Although you endured sorrows, perhaps later you will taste the sweetness of the world. However, you always need to reproach yourself, so as not to be deceived by the idea that you are smart and worthy of something; but instead consider yourself the last of all. Advise M. not to blame S. strictly, but to blame himself more and to recognize his own weakness; then the Lord will give her peace. May the Lord help you sew clothes for the throne, for the glory of His most holy name. Church services can sometimes, but not always, be left, according to reasoning. Although not all, but some services need to be for the sanctification of oneself, and holidays and polyeleos need to be honored more. You shouldn’t sew on Sundays: it won’t increase your productivity, and you won’t avoid sin. When you submit for remembrance, believe that God will remember them; although you don’t hear the names, they are certainly remembered at the proskomedia; there is no need to leave memorials. I wish you and all your sisters in Christ to remain peacefully and calmly, and may God’s blessing be upon you! Many I.M. October 9, 1845 You ask about Z., should you accept it from the Gospel when taking tonsure? I don’t advise you to try to do this yourself or seek subordination; but if there is her strong request, by faith, and not by any kind, and when the mother abbess agrees to this, then why not accept: our rite requires it, and what may happen later is closed from us. You, with the help of God, must offer teaching befitting our calling, and receive benefit from it - God Himself will act according to the measure of its faith; but you shouldn’t force anyone to do this, but rather imagine how important your duty is – a common one, and what fruits come through revelation and obedience, and, on the contrary, what those who go the opposite way suffer. It is difficult for her to open up, because the enemy is jealous of the possible benefit, hinders it, instills shame and disbelief; and when he descends into the depths of humility, then it will be easy and peace will be found. Your sorrow for your mother abbess comes more from your dispensation, as you yourself describe, by multiplying sorrow towards her in your thoughts, you harm yourself and do not correct your dispensation. If it were in your will that things should go as you would like, or as they should be, then you could stand against it; but when it is not in your will, and due to many of your efforts you do not succeed in anything, then, apparently, you need to surrender to patience and the will of God - apparently, it is His will that you bear this cross. Wanting to leave the monastery, you shy away from this cross, but there you don’t know what awaits you. – Humble yourself under the strong hand of God and cast all your care upon Him, reproaching yourself for impatience and for lack of love, which the Lord commanded to have also for your enemies. Pray for those who insult you. Do not tell everyone about your insults, but only to the one to whom you have revelation and receive advice from God. I wish you and all your sisters in Christ peace, health and salvation. Many I.M. July 10, 1845 You again complain about the sorrows that have visited you, which consist in the fact that they gave you a subordinate cell. You need to accept it so that, apparently, it should be so, and calm down. For the visiting sisters who want to use it, a little space is needed: some need faith, and love from you, and then it will be okay. There is no reason to be surprised that Z. is attacked for piety, and should not be abandoned completely, but have reasoning: when to respect them, and when to cut off the sensual custom; but, as much as possible, to beware - not to judge them, but to be patient does not interfere: this is not a temptation when we want to follow, although it is not enough, the path shown to us by the holy fathers to salvation. But it’s dangerous to give monastic money to your relatives: you won’t help their poverty, and even worse, you’ll multiply it. The Holy Fathers strictly write for this and do not allow people to do this. One should not doubt about medicines, and not test what it is; for it is used not for voluptuousness, but to strengthen weaknesses. If someone who knows for sure assured that this is modest, he should not take it for conscience, as St. writes. apostle. Having wished you and all your sisters to spend this fast reverently and to celebrate the feast of the Resurrection of Christ with heartfelt joy, I remain very grateful. I.M. March 24, 1845. You mention about Z.’s mother that she is forced to confess, even to the point of illness; but it is not clear whether this is of any benefit to her. When he receives it, then let him be forced to continue. The enemy, “hate the voice of affirmation,” brings burden and illness to her; but one should not look at it: it will pass. – Also, the enemy is arming himself against other sisters for the same thing and is arming people against them who oppose this decree of the St. fathers. But there is also nothing to look at: if only it would benefit them spiritually and get rid of the enemy’s snares. Just think about yourself that it is not your measure to accept the thoughts of others, and when they receive benefit, not from your holiness, piety and intelligence, but by the mercy of God, by their faith, giving you a word for their benefit. For the Lord is strong to give speech to the dumb and to enlighten the little boy to speak for the benefit of those who seek it with simplicity of heart. When you leave this order of revelation, it will be completely eradicated and will fade from memory; and if we continue, although unworthy, the worthy will benefit from it, and this custom will come into use, not for ruin, but for the creation of those seeking salvation. Look after yourself: let your weaknesses and passions not escape you; being offended by those at war for it, recognize that this is your weakness, humble yourself and ask for help from God. Regarding borrowed money, what can you do and what can you prevent? Get into business, start lawsuits, may the Lord deliver you from this! The monastery will not be ruined materially, but it is a pity for the souls that are ruined by this action, and leave this to the providence of God, who tolerates our iniquities, and avoid condemnation. The Lord is strong with His destinies to arrange for them the path to repentance. You can teach and sometimes punish the rebellious and stubborn for obedience, but you must restrain your passion of anger and irritation. We are all faced with temptations and sorrows, which, having been taken away, make salvation doubtful. May 29, 1845 Thank you to Mother Z. for the memory. When you don’t notice anything about yourself, isn’t it driven by a spirit of pride? But the humble see their sins like the sand of the sea. Venerable Mother K. in the Lord! In response to your first letter about R.’s frankness, I will say: by faith one can accept it, but when its revelation is sincere and one strives to fulfill what the mother said, then her revelation can bear fruit and free one from passion; and if she only speaks and does not stop the source from which the flow of passion flows, then when will the stench of it disappear? One must have the fear of God, beware of those cases that give food to passion, reject pride, judgment about others, punish one’s flesh with abstinence and humble oneself, then the Lord will help it to free itself from it and confess to the confessor as it should, and not in secret, and will receive peace of mind. I congratulate you on your newly tonsured and newly adopted spiritual daughter, mother L. May the Lord help you to guide her on the true path to salvation; and may he strengthen her in faith and obedience to you and give her strength and help in fulfilling her vows to the Lord. I do not advise V.’s mother to refuse tonsure; let no later refusal be to blame for her sorrow; there is no need to search, and there is no need to reject what is offered. Asking for all of you the peace and blessing of God, I remain the desirer of your salvation, the many sinner I.M. April 24, 1846. And I congratulate you, M.U., on your holiday; May the Lord comfort you and strengthen you in your illness, I earnestly wish. Difficulty in revealing thoughts, obviously from the enemy; for the enemy hates even the voices of affirmation. Read St. Abba Dorotheus “Don’t form your own mind about the hedgehog”; St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. John Climacus; it clearly shows how to view yourself and what to open up to. Even in his letter to Leontin, Abbot St. Cassian; The message is full of great benefit. I have just received your letter sent on the 14th. I am sincerely glad that the Lord consoled you for the holiday, and throughout life it is impossible to avoid sorrowful incidents that the Lord sends as we progress and need salvation. When we see His hand visiting us, we will see it strengthening us and guiding us on the right path. May the Lord help you, Mother K., to decorate the St. throne with clothing, without vanity and with humility; As much as possible, take care to decorate the garment of your soul by doing the commandments of God. N.'s mother embarrasses herself with her passions. Its revelation and obedience must be with faith that God is proclaiming this or that about it to you; and not necessarily demanding what she wants or how she wants to be treated. Accepting the enemy’s thoughts that others are better served, she torments herself with it; Faith receives as much benefit as it believes, and to the extent of unbelief, it is deprived of it. In the temptation that happened with the cell, you acted as God instructed you; you must always resort to Him in perplexed circumstances and ask for admonition and help. If she corrects herself, then we can be forgiving and forgive the past; and when he continues in the same actions, it will be known for sure; then you need to send him home. You say that you must grieve not only for your own weaknesses, but also for others: therefore you conclude that, apparently, the Lord is punishing you for your fault. Maybe so; but even if you were in good health, all sorrows are necessary, both for our sins, which we still feel little of, and for communion with our neighbors; for we do not live for ourselves alone, but also for our neighbors, and in our neighbors, and our salvation is accomplished when we suffer from them and participate in their weaknesses and sorrows. When it is impossible to do without a cell, then they also need to be patient. May the Lord enlighten you and strengthen you in all your deeds. July 16, 1846. Although without intention you forced X.’s mother to sing, but when it was beyond her strength, and you knew this, then, of course, you are not without guilt for the unreasonable compulsion to vain singing; however, there is also her guilt for not declaring her weakness and beyond the power of compelling herself. But be that as it may, everything is allowed by God, and one must believe that this will serve her for salvation. The destinies of the Lord are incomprehensible to us, in which ways He arranges our correction. What he lacks in work he makes up for with sorrows or illnesses. Consider yourself partly guilty; but do not be embarrassed for your unintentionality, and the fault lies more in vanity. It would be possible to glorify God without such harmful compulsion, but in a simpler and more humble way, but we contrive for vanity in a wiser and more wonderful way. Experience will teach you everything how to move forward, but I don’t advise forcing her; God does not require your choir singing, but your hearts are contrite and humble, and he looks upon the prayer of the humble and will not despise their prayers. About X. I wrote to you before: what is the use and what is the benefit of that revelation, where one finds embarrassment that they are not doing it. Read it to her or tell her to read it herself in the books of St. fathers about revelation and obedience, failure to compose one’s mind, cutting off one’s will: in St. Climacus, at St. Simeon, at St. Callista and Ignatius chapters 14, 15, in Theodore of Edessa, in St. Cassian and St. Dorothea; will she find in them the example she is looking for? She must see from this that her action is wrong, that she does not come into humility at all, and if she were guided by the order laid down by her fathers, she would be alien to the enemy’s embarrassment, or, at least, she would recognize them and blame herself and resist; and she does everything opposite. What is this path? Completely disgusting, not true. And E.’s mother suffers from a different kind of illness; but everything stems from one source - from the slander of the enemy, how and what will I say? And this makes him embarrassed. Wouldn't it be better to do this with freedom and in simplicity of heart, with humility? Magnetization treatment should be alien to the Christian faith; We don’t see this either in the Holy Scripture or in the teachings of our fathers. Even if they received an imaginary cure, it is false and feigned, and everything remains painful. Incurable diseases must be treated with faith, resorting to God and His saints; and when someone does not receive healing, then, apparently, it is necessary to bear this cross, sent to save his soul. To everyone who knows me, peace and God's blessing be with them and you. I remain the great sinner I. M. August 24, 1846 You write that the section did not end, because your brother did not want to add anything to you. What about this matter? Let them give you what they deserve. Does he really not want to do even that, but only wants your inheritance? Woe to us sinners! For dust and ashes we pray; and what’s even worse is that through wealth we fall into various passions and sins; We don’t even think about this. We also cannot justify ourselves in love; because they have not completely renounced themselves. However, due to your position and weak dispensation, it is really difficult or even impossible for you to suffer deprivation; There is no reason for your brother to seek an inheritance after you, except for one thing of love. May God grant that you get rid of court cases. I wish Sister T.U. peace of mind after the troubles and sorrows she has had: a peaceful cell and a harmonious society, and besides, God Himself is able to give her peace, just let her follow the path of humility, in any case, humbling herself and reproaching herself, and not thinking that she has done good. T.’s mother herself is unsettled for her own reasons; I wrote to her enough about this, and you show her those teachings of St. fathers who instruct about this. It is necessary that she completely eradicate her thought that you treat others better; for by this the whole foundation on which salvation is built is destroyed. To all your sisters in Christ, who know my badness, God’s peace and blessing, and I wish you salvation. Many I.M. October 15, 1846. I don’t find any benefit in your intention to go to S-e for a long time to teach them monastic order. You can be tempted by them, and they will be tempted by you, and in the established order there are many inconveniences and temptations that cannot be foreseen; And to carry them, you have to live there completely, and the hotel will only have one theory, incompatible with your local customs and mores. It is very difficult and almost impossible to introduce a new order into an entire society; and it happens that the order of some monastery is established, but by such people who themselves lived through this life for a long time and learned it through experience; and in a new place or in a new meeting of society; with the same assistants and perhaps a small part of the former will be added to them. And so my advice is to ignore this intention, and live according to the statutes and rules, St. laid down by the fathers. You didn’t notice that the passion of lust for power subtly intervened here; pluck it up while it is still young and has not taken deep roots. Peace to you and your sisters! I remain a long-time wisher for your salvation. I.M. January 4, 1847. Woe to me that I destroyed your plans, which were outlined in your dreams and promised peace ahead; what will I do for this? Don't know. But my thought justifies me by the fact that your enterprise is not based on the cross of patience, but on imaginary peace, which, I assure you, you would not have received: for your passions were all with you, then could they give you peace? God showed you the field and assigned you obedience; If you go through it according to your conscience, you will not sin, but in case of any inclinations due to weakness, bring repentance to the Lord and humble yourself. But you want to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven not by a narrow path and the cross of endurance of sorrows and temptations, but by an extensive and sorrowless one. Where does this path lead? – no need to confirm. The Lord promised His disciples sorrows and temptations, and for them consolation and St. The apostles taught that through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); then how do we want to receive it without sorrow? Or are we looking for relaxation? And St. the fathers teach that “he who flees sorrows finds even greater ones,” and “he who flees sorrows avoids salvation.” Sorrow gives birth to reason, and from reason humility, which is most necessary for our salvation. Our sorrows are not without guilt, but are the product of our passionate dispensation, for the correction of which and for the purification of passions and sorrow the Lord sends according to our measure. – And so, be content with the place where the Lord has placed you and is giving you the opportunity to fight passions; with your will and resistance to it, God’s help is always ready. You are burdened with work, so that you leave the rules and reading behind it: it’s your own fault; Although you make the house of God beautiful, you must do everything with reason and moderation; you have not taken the work for a long time. If it is the will of God for Mother F. to recover, then the Lord will raise her up from her sickbed; and when not; then let him come in repentance and in the hope of receiving God's mercy in the future life. The temptations that happened to her and to all of us should be a lesson that the battle of the enemy is inevitable, and so that, without relying on our own strength, we should resort to God, laying down our weakness before Him and asking for His help. Let the grief brought upon you by servants be abolished; it is necessary to act prudently with her: after all, she lives with you in captivity and has no understanding of what should resist passions; one bridle restrains their shame. But since you cannot do without them, you need to be exhorted with fear, love, and condescension. But even from the free you cannot escape sorrows. Pray to God to send you someone according to your heart who can serve you and calm you down. I ask you to pray for me, wishing you peace, health and salvation, many sinners I.M. February 1, 1847 Reverend Mother K. and T.U. in the Lord! Your common grief over the death of F.’s mother, and therefore I am writing to you in common; and more helping my laziness. The immeasurable grief of F.’s late mother will not bring any benefit, and will cause great harm to yourself. She went at the time predetermined for her into the future life, which no one could change; for in the plan of God's destinies this was intended. Thank God that she died a Christian death and with a feeling of repentance in the hope of God’s mercy. It is our duty to pray to the Lord for the repose of her soul in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Holy Apostle says: “In everything there is sorrow, but there is no cold” (2 Cor. 4:8). Sorrow benefits us, but coldness or cowardice harms us; then, in your sorrow, do not be faint-hearted, and it will be alleviated for you. According to the commandment of your brother P., I must pray to the Lord for him, that he may help him in difficult matters entrusted to him by the providence of God. Let him call upon the Lord in all cases, for without Him we cannot do anything. And when there are sorrows due to deeds caused by unrighteous people, I must remember that “all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). However, they cannot do anything to him unless something from God is allowed; Let him only observe himself, and not become arrogant and think too much of himself: for there is a commandment of God: “If you do all that is commanded, say, For we are servants who are without duty; M.U. had a desire to relate to her weaknesses and perplexities and expressed this to you; Having approved it, I proposed this to you, and if it is not a burden, then I advise you not to reject it from yourself, not seeking honor from them, but desiring their benefit, which is not from your dignity, but, according to their faith, is bestowed from God Himself. March 4, 1847 I received your letters from March 3rd and March 17th. Ch. received penance for the rule; What is wise and important here? One can reason this way: it is clear that she fulfilled the rule with vanity, with an opinion of herself, considering herself better than others, and condemned them for not correcting herself, for this reason the Lord allowed the rebuke; but does it really matter, and we can consider the rule that the abbess imposed: all prayers to the One God - let her be calm. If she corrected an inaccurate rule, then there was no need to light the fire. Of course, failure to do something can be repented to the priest in spirit. Although you yourself have not walked the path of obedience with revelation, you should not reject those who come to you with it; according to their faith, God will give you true reason, what to say to them according to each need, for the benefit of their arc; just try to be, not as possessing honor, but as an example to the flock (1 Peter 5:3), compassionate in their mental and physical weaknesses. For wishing me grace - not to feel labor in answering your letters - I thank you. What could I do if the grace of God did not hasten me, according to your faith, in giving me answers? I feel weak, feeble-minded and sinful, then what can happen to me? And when you receive any consolation, thank God for it. If the Lord desires to use my thinness as a tool or instrument in this matter, then who is glorified: the tool or the doer? Most reverent T.U. in the Lord! You ask me: should you start taking the medicine prescribed by T.’s mother? “You’re naturally afraid that you won’t be able to relax yourself anymore.” And I cannot take upon myself to predict whether it will be beneficial or not? But I think it doesn’t hurt to try it, with the hope of God’s help, and when God’s will is done, you will receive relief; however, the mystery of God’s destinies is impenetrable to us: in what way does He please to arrange your salvation; It can be painful, but it is most comfortable. Now your concern is illness; and then the many different passions of the soul and body would give way to one another. April 5, 1847 You all entrust to me the decision of such things, in which I myself am perplexed; I don’t want to leave you like this, and trusting in God’s admonition according to your faith, I dare to write. About Ch.’s mother I will say: although L.’s mother wrongly forbids her to fulfill the rule, it is not her will, and let her fulfill the rule only when time gives her a hand, and in not correcting her, she tries to humble herself and reproach herself, and it must be assumed that this prohibition is not without her fault: apparently, she was carried away by her opinion of herself more strongly. Forming our own mind and will comes from pride and cannot bear the fruits of humility, without which all our deeds are insignificant and do not bring us any benefit. Present this to her, and if she does not listen, then be at her will. M.V. was afraid of fear, which was the machination of the enemy, who wanted to keep her in her wisdom: it was impossible to open it in person, but it was difficult in writing; I did not force her to confess; and when I wrote it, it will remain between us only known, preserving for the Lord the secrets of human hearts, and if He wants to allow something to be revealed, then even if it rests in darkness, it will be heard in the light (Luke 12:3). I wrote to her as much as I could, but I don’t know if the answer will be satisfactory to her. May 13, 1847 From May 26 and June 2, with your writings you inform me about your events, about the troubles of L.’s mother through N. N. Of course, when this matter takes off, then all of you will have great troubles and troubles; however, the Lord will not allow temptation to exceed the measure, and having visited with sorrow, He grants liberation from it; and that we find sorrows, there is nothing to be surprised about: the lack of our deeds is filled by sorrows sent by God’s providence. As for M.V.’s attitude towards you, I don’t know how to arrange this; Since you yourself relate to her, then how can she subordinate her will to you? And you, in case of need, need to have advice with someone, then shouldn’t you do as it is written in the book of Elder Paisius, on page 172: “Whenever two people dream” and so on, i.e. have advice among themselves about what is needed with knowledge and faith; and if she is warned not to follow her will and reason at all, then that’s even better. I have expressed my opinion to you, and then experience will show how best to arrange this matter. A passion for tobacco is not commendable, and even more so for our title, because if there is a passion, then it is better to dominate the passion than to be slaves to it. Our feat, time and God's help free us from passions. Asking for you and your sisters the peace and blessing of God, I remain the desirer of your salvation, much sinner I.M. June 10, 1847 To your letter dated June 23, although briefly, I answer: M.V. should not be rejected when he is looking for a saving path, but one should consider oneself unworthy of this and descend into the depths of humility; the benefit they receive can come from the Lord Himself, according to their faith, and you are nothing more than a small instrument with which God Himself acts; to the extent of their faith, they receive benefit, but due to unbelief, they are deprived of it. - In sorrows and perplexities, you can open your soul to her, when you find reinforcement and consolation from this, but I don’t know about passions, can she bear it without stumbling over this temptation? Pray to the Lord to instruct you whom to entrust your infirmities to; and to whomever your heart goes, proclaim it to him. July 1, 1847 I respond to M.N.’s letter by saying how much the Lord has given me of reason and understanding for its benefit - to reveal the truth and show a means to correct it. Do not force her to obey what you say to her. When he wants and listens, he will receive freedom from his disastrous dispensation; but she will not, let it be done according to her will. You did not seek her submission, but submitted to her request, then if she leaves you, do not grieve for it; it is clear that the demon does not tolerate this, so that his evil machinations are revealed, does not allow it to be carried out, but induces self-reflection and bitterness, placing the blame on others, and justifying himself and thereby strengthening the enmity lurking between them. I wrote to her, not at all binding her or forcing her, but only representing true reason and the benefits that revelation and obedience bring. We must pray to God for her, that he may give her the strength to resist the enemy’s tricks. And V.’s mother needs to force herself to self-reproach; then for the sake of humility, the Lord will pacify her. – In all this, I entrust you to the providence of God and His protection, and may He instruct you on how to act in such perplexity: it is impossible to write everything down just in case. August 23, 1847 I received your letters dated October 12 and November 3. From the first I see that you were unwell; and M.U. with a denunciation of you that you yourself are not taking care of your health, and to strictly confirm to you that you should take care of it. Although I don’t do it exactly, I do it; I advise you not to risk it, but to take care of it: what will be the use when you lose it, and it will be necessary to follow you? It is better that you serve others if possible. It’s a pity for M.D. that she is seditious that the noise of the students’ children prevents her from taking care of herself, which happens on the advice of the enemy from her self-reflection and zeal. She is not yet of such measure as to indulge in such silent solitude; it also works with passions: opinion, rage, anger and other spiritual passions; and having not defeated them in dealing with people and sitting in solitude, he will hear not a childish noise, but a demonic noise, which will be heavier than it. Our striving should be towards one goal of love, but this goal is not visible here. Without love, neither fasting, nor almsgiving, nor martyrdom, obviously, and not silence, will bring any benefit. Remember that brother who did not leave his comrade who accepted the abuse of P-i, but went with him to the city and was with him there until he, having come to his senses, turned to his cell - did not prefer silence to love; We also see many who abandon silence and give in to their own rumors for the sake of love for their neighbor. On your part, imagine to her the harm of her self-reflection; if she listens, it’s good, but if she doesn’t, it will be her will. He who asks with faith and does not follow the advice sins. July 18, 1847 You write that you received permission from the abbess to come to us; but this intention of yours is tested by ridicule and insults. If you hope and believe that you will find some spiritual benefit here, then the enemy who hates good is trying in every possible way to do this. But be firm in the faith and unapproachable, and if it is God’s will for you to be with us, then nothing will prevent it. I do not rely on myself to be able to bring you any benefit - unless, according to your faith, the Lord will give you reason and the word to decide what will benefit you, what you ask and pray to Him for. After your departure from us, I already received three letters from you; although it was regrettable, thank God, we reached the monastery; you were afraid of how you would meet the abbess, but her meeting did you no harm: and from your last letter I see that I am at peace with you; but another, unforeseen, sorrowful incident occurred through the death of the subordinate. Where you think there will be sorrow, it does not happen there, but no matter how much you expect it, they come, they will shake you and then they will pass away: and from this we acquire skill in deeds and in patience. – May the Lord protect you from this and from other temptations, and send His help in the circumstances. You feel embarrassed for not drawing blood after the blow; but you did it unintentionally and not with intention, then you need to reject embarrassment and be calm. If God has consoled you by being in our monastery, then you must accept temptation with thanksgiving, since every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation. Don’t grieve about being offended by alms, but give thanks that we have the opportunity to leave debts to our neighbors. March 9, 1848 I received your letters dated March 29 and April 5. – In your first letter I wrote about your confusion on K., and in the second I see that you have calmed down; It seems that we could recognize that our unworldliness comes from our disorder, and not from other people’s passions: with their vices they do not put unworldliness into our hearts, but only expose and show us what is in us, and what guarantee we have in ourselves. You calmed down because you began to truly resist passions, you grieved not for what you insulted, but for what you could not bear as you should. The Lord, seeing this feat of yours, gave you peace. This must always be done in all cases, according to chapter 209 of the teacher. Mark Movable, 31 Simeon the New Theologian and Abba Dorotheus: “Be careful not to reproach yourself, and not your neighbor.” We are required to have skill and courage in battle: and not to be daring or despair, even if something good or contrary happens. About your sisters S. I still don’t see the real foundation, but everything is still hesitation; the enemy hates peace, but causes this or that confusion. When there was self-reproach or self-sacrifice, there would be peace. You are all confused by the unrest in Western Europe - what should you do? We must pray to God. He is strong to pardon our Orthodox Russia from these troubles. I read your notes during the day; Occurring cases are tolerated for exaltation and condemnation of neighbors. For all this you need to reproach yourself and recognize your weakness, repent and humble yourself; and the Lord is able to grant forgiveness and help in future doing good. I remain the wisher for yours and all your sisters’ peace, health and salvation, many. I.M. April 24, 1848 Having received the letter dated April 26, I was in no hurry to respond to your cowardice about not receiving letters from me, being sure that you would soon receive it; which came true. My rigidity in my answers comes from the fact that there are a lot of letters, and I am often at a loss and at a loss as to who to answer first; and weakness does not allow us to satisfy everyone together; Then, when in the future it happens that you become rigid, I ask you not to be cold and not to be faint-hearted. In the first letter you describe your impatience against those who insult and are cowardly because you do not love them as friends. Are you asking if patience is for sale here? Would you buy it at a high price and are you looking to learn from me how to love enemies and how to love friends? There is no need to go far to purchase patience: it is offered everywhere to anyone who wants to acquire it, and not at a very high price: you will find it everywhere, in the cell, in the church, and in the monastery, just don’t be lazy about purchasing it! Tribulation makes patience (Rom. 5:3), teaches St. Apostle; You see where patience comes from - from sorrow. There will be no sorrow - how will you acquire patience? It is not the one who causes you sorrow who is guilty, but you who do not accept the medicine sent to you from God to heal your mental illness. The Lord commanded to love our enemies, and God’s commandment is not impossible. When we don’t love our enemies, we are obviously sick in soul; It is for its healing that cases are sent from God, which show us illness; its healing consists of love and humility; not having these, we must rather humble ourselves and reproach ourselves, and not those who offend us, because we have not fulfilled the commandments of God. Thus, for those who pass our way, in time, anger will be destroyed, and love will be established; but this is not a matter of once and a day or a summer, but is acquired through much time and effort, with the help of God; and God's help is given to the humble. Your embarrassment for not understanding correctly does not bring any benefit, but also does a lot of harm: it shows pride, and not the desire to have a feat - work and self-reproach, but the desire to now achieve dispassion, without labor and feat, and humility, and just as someone would like to climb to the height of the entire ladder - with one step and be proud at the top of it. It’s better to go with the knowledge of your weakness and self-reproach, then you will achieve what you want. Learn from the books of the Fathers how to go through this work, to seek healing not from without, but from within us. I’ll show you some: read the chapters of Mark the Ascetic, and especially note 209, St. Simeon the New Theologian chapter 31; St. John Climacus teaches this in many degrees; St. Abba Dorotheus “On the hedgehog of reproaching oneself and not one’s neighbor”, “On resentment”, “On the hedgehog of how to walk in the path of God”; Elijah Ekdik chapter 29 and so on, St. Cassian "On Anger" and so on. They can enlighten and excite to action, and not to embarrassment, but to humility. And so enough about this: the store is full of goods, just buy, don’t be lazy, and the goods are good and not expensive. In another letter of yours you write that you already have rest from sorrows; - for all this, give thanks to the Lord, who arranges everything in wisdom. In the evening there will be mourning, and in the morning there will be joy (Psalm 29:6), “army and intercession, fear and hope, exploits and reward, darkness and light, sorrow and consolation, all for our learning”; This is how our fathers walked and teach us. May 29, 1848 X. when he cannot learn to read and write, then let him listen to others’ reading and obedience; It’s not only the literate who are saved. Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); and you write that you are in sorrows; therefore, you must believe that you are on the path to the Kingdom of God; and packs of St. The Apostle exhorts: “In everything there is sorrow, but not in cold” (2 Cor. 4:8); does not forbid mourning, but does not command one to be faint-hearted. Through our patience the Lord commands us to gain our souls (Luke 21:19). I don’t recommend allowing you to dress, following the example of your novices, in colored scarves; and when it is possible, we advise even those to abandon clothing indecent to our rank: both good and bad examples are accepted from each other; she will not wear such a robe, another, a third, and looking at them, the others will abandon this stupidity; and when they let her in, they will say: K-I wears his cell, why shouldn’t we wear it like that? June 22, 1848 There is no need to curry favor with your sisters who grieve for you and do not come to you, but you can spoil them with this. But depending on the fault and disposition of each to act, where it is more gentle and where it is stricter, as God instructs you for their own benefit, only you have the right intention. I sincerely regret that you got into such a mess and believed in ordering for such an amount, without having any security in mind, but what to do? Apparently, this happened by God’s permission; perhaps for your secret praise for your efforts in the church and for the testing of your faith; and perhaps also for the futility of spiritual work. Because of such grief, the lack of your deeds will be fulfilled, and in the future you will be more careful in such cases; just do not be cowardly and accept with gratitude, patience and humility, praying for those who insult you. God is able to comfort you invisibly and unexpectedly. In all cases, place your trust in God, although you will have to give up your sum, do not trust in it, but in God, who can feed you. Try to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to you. May the Lord help you and comfort you with His grace. One cannot be surprised that such shocks happened to D.’s mother, but one must thank God that she came to her senses and recognized her weakness, admitted her cowardice and did not fall away from the path. The enemy hates the voice of nourishment and therefore tries in every possible way to shake and break this spiritual connection; but God is able to comfort and strengthen her; and for your part, do not leave her in a painful situation: also, V.’s mother does not deprive her of her sisterly love, but sometimes visits her; and may God arrange for her to live in her place in a peaceful and calm spirit. August 24, 1848 This summer, many cities and villages have suffered from fires, diseases, drought, storms and other things. Of course, this is God’s punishment, but whoever he loves, he punishes. How many people turned to God through these punishments! And without waiting for fasts, they flocked to the sacraments of repentance and communion; and those struck by grief and patience gained no small benefit for their souls. - And your St. the monastery was visited by fire - not without the will of God; but He also had mercy on you and did not allow complete destruction to take place. – Of course, our duty is to recognize ourselves as sinners before God and to appease Him with repentance and humility. The three youths, cast into the fiery furnace, in their praise of God, sang like this: “Blessed art thou God, for by truth and judgment thou hast brought all this sin upon us for our sake,” and so on (Dan. 3:26, 28) and instead of fire they found the spiritual dew of grace. So we too will recognize our weaknesses and sins; then God is able, with the dew of His grace, to quench the flaming arrows of the enemy and turn away the fiery attack from you. I will also say about your first letter of September 5, where you write about a means to pay your debt for utensils. I agree with him. This temptation that befell you, I believe, was allowed by God because of your exaltation, by which you may have been tempted by the fact that you are trying to decorate the church, and you have condemned others for their negligence in this regard. But not without God’s permission, these weapons are directed at you. Surrender yourself with submission to the will of God and do not fall in sorrow, but be strengthened; for tribulation worketh endurance (Rom. 5:3). September 25th, 1848. Last post on September 25, I wrote to you about your letter about your fear of fires; and now I have received your letter dated September 19, - and still the Lord’s punishment does not stop, - the fear of fires and cholera continues. I have neither the strength nor the mind to give you consolation, but I advise only one thing: to stay awake, stand and not lose heart. External harm is much less mental. – While preserving yourself, advise your sisters to have firm faith and hope in God. He is strong to support you and free you from this scourge. What does it mean that a seven year old girl predicts events? I cannot know and do not dare to believe this or that, but it only seems that through foreknowledge of it they will either be more careful or come to repentance. May the Lord comfort you! I wish it earnestly. Many I.M. October 2, 1848 You describe your structure in relation to O.’s mother, that you cannot bear her revelations against you, which you recognize by your weakness. Exactly, this is your weakness; but she, seeing your indignation, becomes even more embarrassed at you; and the enemy rejoices at this and creates more confusion on both sides. - Against this, there needs to be humility on both sides; even if nothing else the enemy would have had time to attack you; but you have a defect in this, and therefore it takes over. You want her not to reveal to you the thoughts that come to her about you, which is why you think to be peaceful towards her: however, I don’t think that you could have peace; although she won’t tell you, you will still be convinced that she possesses them, and in her other revelations the sting of embarrassment for her will remain with you. “It seems to me that it is better for you to pay attention to yourself, to recognize the machinations of the enemy, which outrage both her and you, and not forbid her to speak the thoughts that come to her and are instilled in her from the enemy.” Through reproof they can be abolished, but you attribute this reason not to her, but to the enemy; and advise her not to be hurt or embarrassed by the thoughts that come to you, not to even blame them for the fact that they are the same as blasphemous thoughts - they only bother you without any of her consent: but she already thinks that she has sinned gravely, wanting to find joy in revelation; but when you are embarrassed, the abuse is renewed even more, and the enemy inflicts, which is exactly how true your dislike is towards her. - Let her neglect these thoughts and not be embarrassed about them, then she may not speak about them and thereby shame the enemy; and when he speaks out of weakness, do not be embarrassed and do not amuse the enemy. May the Lord give you peace! I read your daily notes, and I am not at all surprised by everything written there. – We are in spiritual warfare: it is human nature to fall; but you must rise up and, having recognized your weakness, bring repentance with humility, humble yourself with the memory of your sins, and with humility forgive your sins according to the word of Isaac the Syrian. I ask you and all sisters in Christ not to leave me in your prayers; and wishing you and all of them health and success in salvation, I remain very much. I.M. December 6, 1848 As much as I can remember from your journal, I will write about what you described to me. At the end of the day, I must examine myself to see if what I did was out of passion, vanity and people-pleasing; or later she was overcome by her opinion of herself; and having reproached yourself in all this, conclude the day with humility and repentance and thank God for everything. I noticed that the words you said to the teacher: “As you like,” were not entirely pure, but with an admixture of something; That’s why she accepted them into sorrow. - The same words can be said in a different tone, not fragmentarily, but even with the explanation that I do not demand from you that you sing only with love, and there would be no difficulty in explanation and embarrassment. It is not a little surprising that you consider monasticism necessary only for this life, and there is no need to bury it in the ground, but I, on the contrary, know such mothers who try not to miss out on the wedding attire without this parting word, through which, we believe, they will be freed from sinful filth. After performing this ritual, what stichera is sung? “Let us know, brothers, the power of the sacraments,” and so on; it means a lot and gives consolation to those who receive this sacrament. But what to do? What is not in our will, we will submit to the will of God. Treat O.’s mother more simply, then perhaps her gloomy spirit will be encouraged. March 14, 1849 From February 28 to March 14, I received descriptions of your actions. Due to the dullness of my mind and decrepit memory, I cannot answer in detail just in case; but I will only say or make a remark that in your deeds, words and thoughts you try to incline yourself to humility, and so that by preaching to no one else, we ourselves will not be key (1 Cor. 9:27); While we teach others to evade passions, let us not enslave ourselves to them, and sometimes even pretend that we are something. You grieve for the dislike of your mother abbess; and look at yours to her; won't there be balance? You are with her of a different spirit, different structure and direction; then what about consent? At least, as much as possible, incline yourself to the world and avoid judgment about her and resentment; on both sides, she and you see only each other’s shortcomings, but you don’t reproach yourself, but the enemy takes the strength to make indignation. I see that your life is silent, but apparently it is necessary for your benefit: a silent life does not benefit everyone, but they often fall into delusion. “I’ll say again: replace your shortcomings with a contrite and humble heart, and the patience of those who find it, accept it as a debtor, and not as if you endure an insult, and pray for those who offend. Speak to sisters who are seeking benefit, without thinking that you are speaking from your own intelligence or dignity; but according to their faith, the Lord admonishes you; but there is nothing of yours here: neither from deeds, nor from a great mind, nor from anything else; Only one willingness to be at least a small instrument with which God Himself acts according to the faith of the sisters. It’s a pity for the late R. that they didn’t commune her with St. The Mysteries were not consecrated with oil. How can this be? When healthy people begin this sacrament during Lent, how much more should we take care of the sick; but what to do? God will not leave her. March 29, 1849 I received three of your messages. On the first, I can’t say anything in detail, remembering only that you had various sorrowful scrapes and your largely negligence and failure to respect your language from idle talk and condemnation; Regarding all this, I advise you to reproach yourself on every occasion and repent at the end of the day. I do not reject your revelation, only that it is not just a historical narrative, but conscious of one’s weaknesses and passions, with good intention, with the help of God, to begin to correct oneself. In response to the last thing I recently read, perhaps I can remember more and write: what a pity that such days, i.e. after communion and on the first day of Easter, you had such sedition. - Of course, by God’s permission, to your punishment and to temptation, and to the teaching of patience, which you must accept, reproaching yourself. - But if you see that she is carried away by the wrong anger, although not then, but at another time, explain to her that such discipline takes away her hands from passing obedience and kills her health, in which she must be courageous, but not impudent. That you are more overcome by passions when you are preparing for Holy Communion, this cannot be surprising. “Whenever we take up any kind of weapon against the enemy, he also arms himself more against us; and we, seeing our weakness, will more and more acquire humility. To the question about confession: why not read the prayer of confession, even before confession, even after confession, when the prayer of daily confession is prescribed in many canons? – You can read it whenever you want. When V. does not find benefit in revelation, there is no need to force her to do so; Without faith and will, what benefit will there be? When he comes with faith, explains his weaknesses and humbles himself, God also grants a word for his benefit; But if someone walks with doubt and discomfort, when something is not according to him, then what good can there be? O.'s mother is confused; her fault, and, most importantly, that she does not have humility and does not try to gain it, she is embarrassed both in grief and in peace. – The Lord commanded us to seek peace in meekness and humility, learning from Him. You need to reproach yourself for everything, then you won’t be embarrassed. You ask that, due to the meagerness of 4 percent, there is nothing for her to support herself with, then shouldn’t she take them from the Council and give them to her relatives or to the merchants? Yes, this is not bad, they will give 6 percent, but how long will this payment last, who can guarantee? You see what critical times and circumstances are now, and in my opinion, it is better to take 100 rubles from capital every year; for her lifetime it will be; and to do this, put one thousand or two on small tickets - and take one ticket every year, while the other tickets will lie and the amount accumulates on them. If she lives for 20 years, she will not spend all her capital, but what is the benefit for her if all her capital remains intact, and she is in need? Mother D., having asked permission to receive communion alone, although she accepted ridicule, paved the way for others in similar cases to begin with petitions, which, perhaps, would destroy this disgraceful custom of remaining without fulfilling this duty. This isn’t found anywhere, or I haven’t heard of it, but I still have my own quirks here and there. I must tell you something about the revelation of the sisters to you: do not reject their faith, but do not attract them yourself; but beware of deviating into the thought that you have already achieved this in order to accept the thoughts of others: and also condemn yourself that, being unworthy of being, you dare to do such a great thing, and consider yourself worse than them, and what to say to them, call on God’s help, and do not think that you are speaking on your own, but their faith and God’s help assists, and you are like some kind of instrument with which you do not act yourself. Your only will must be the will and desire to serve your neighbor. Whoever wills to be in you, let him be your servant and the last of all (Matthew 20:27), and again: Let them not come and serve Me, but serve (Matthew 20:28), said the Lord; then who are we? Asking for all of you mothers and sisters in Christ the peace and blessing of God, I remain the wisher for your health and salvation. Many years I.M. April 28, 1849. From your detailed diary I notice your notorious life and I sympathize with you about this; - I come across the words every day: “I celebrate and condemn.” We know how hard it is, especially condemnation, but you still don’t give up your skill. And if we give an answer to God about every idle word, then what are we talking about condemnation? And even though we have fulfilled all the rules set for us, we have done great things, and if we do not acquire a painful heart, our labors are insignificant. All the sorrows that happen to you, perhaps, are carefully allowed by God, so that you do not go through life without sorrow and lose the future blessed life, but sorrows involuntarily humble you and attract you to God. N. N.’s confusion comes from the enemy, but she is not able to resist it: she needs humility, then she will calm down. What is the end of revelation and obedience? The fact that humility is born from obedience, and it calms us down; but when we are deprived of this fruit, we go through it in the wrong way. Do not be embarrassed that V. did not reveal to you about the tonsure; maybe she had her own reasons for this, and you didn’t lose anything from this, but having learned, you gained what you should know about your weakness when you were embarrassed about it. If she receives benefit, then do not forbid, for it is not you, but God Himself who acts to save everyone. I don’t forbid you to keep a journal when I felt the benefit of it, just separate out the necessary matters that need to be answered. However, we must rely more on the will of God. June 16, 1849. To your question about an unknown amount, what can I say? It is dangerous for us to judge our neighbors, but even knowing exactly what item the amount is spent on (if not mistakenly), then, of course, it is a pity, and not so much the amount as their souls. But since we cannot correct this in people, let us leave it to God’s providence, which tolerates their and our weaknesses and, through our destinies, can arrange everything for good; and meanwhile, with good intention and preservation of your conscience, you can do as you propose, under an unknown name; Of course, God will not leave your good intention without success, but we will hand over judgment to Him. To Mother V. you rightly spoke about the students, so as not to force yourself hard, but moderately; and that she accepted this with sorrow, it came from her dispensation; when the ardor passed, she herself recognized her guilt, and perhaps this will serve her in the future for correction, having learned how difficult slavery to passions is; the same things are seen in a different form with peace of mind, and therefore one must resist them and repent for their actions. O.’s mother herself is tormented by her passions: pride and envy. What merciless gentlemen these are! May the Lord help her to overthrow the slavery of these cruel masters by humility, self-reproach and love, preferring the benefit of others to her own, but she will not lose it either; let him take as much as he needs and do not forbid others. July 28, 1849. From your detailed description I will only note about O.’s mother, what to do with her. She needs to persuade and show that this is her passion. You do not forbid anyone, like her, from revealing your infirmities; and whoever comes with humility and faith receives benefit; and without them there is confusion; after all, it is clear that she has pride. He will humble himself and receive peace. Moreover, you worry about K. and grieve that they left her to you. With God's help, make as much effort as you can, but preservation does not depend on you; and be calm about this. Multigr. I.M. September 10, 1849. You write that, at the suggestion of the mother abbess, you agree to go to the gathering, dreaming of taking a break from the sisters who come to you, expecting my consent to this. For my part, I don’t find obedience more difficult than going to the gathering; you dream of getting rest, but you can meet incomparably more temptations, wandering around the world and worldly houses. And those who travel with self-denial, for obedience alone, achieve a great feat; and when one still dares to do this willingly and avoiding monastic sorrows, then what should one expect? Here's my opinion! I read your magazine from August 22 to September 19: I didn’t notice anything special in it: the usual rumors and vanity, as if I were a sinner, I carry it in waves. Only about the pitiful mother, O. noticed how embarrassed she was and had no peace at all. This is the obvious charm of the enemy; he does not allow her to calm down; and its cause is spiritual pride and lack of humility; but there is no effort to acquire it. What is our work without this light? All darkness and gloom. Revealing our weakness, we think through this self-blasphemy to find peace for ourselves: and not to sort out whether they are taking care of me more or less. Everyone takes as much benefit for himself as he has faith and humility; and even preferring the benefit of others to one’s own - and without this, what is the use of having revelation? It actually shows. Let him repeat those passages from St. fathers who teach this work. And if he does not find himself strong enough to follow them, then let him live like this: guided by faith, the fear of God and humility, and constant self-reproach, he can be saved in this way. Pray for the unworthy me, the great sinner I.M. October 1, 1849. You write about N.’s envy and jealousy towards you, for the zeal of your sisters towards you. This cannot but be true: they are also people who have not conquered passions, like us sinners; but perhaps they are overcome by one or more passions? And we are overcome by the darkness of passions; Therefore, this is also necessary for our testing and to show whether we love those who tempt us? Not to mention enemies. And why do you think about hiding in a hole and getting covered up there? It comes from impatience and unreason. Read the 11th word in the book of St. Nilus of Sora, which I sent you, and the same motherly word on page 146: “If anyone wants to be sad before his time, the common enemy prepares for him confusion and much peace, and brings him saying: it would have been better for us not to have been born.” This is because they have not conquered passions, living together with their brothers, and in silence they cause even greater confusion. What to do with O.'s mother? She becomes impoverished in humility; that is why he does not find peace in revelation itself; she allowed the enemy to mock her, and attributes her tears to a weak nerve. I wrote to her as much as I could. Lord help her to resist the machinations of the enemy! V.’s mother adheres to superstition and is afraid to move to her cell based on empty remarks. With prayer and with God's help, let her not be afraid of the machinations of the enemy, but let her seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then the Lord will help her in everything. I wish you peace and all your sisters in Christ in the world to work out their salvation, and entrusting myself to your prayers, I remain a great sinner I.M. October 12, 1849. It’s very good that you stayed at home, getting rid of the preparations; whatever you’ve seen there, whatever you’ve heard! And all these waves would boil in your heart. What is the need for collection and why burden the people? and you repent so much that you are tempted in many ways. Will God not provide for you who work for Him, especially when you seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? November 8, 1849. May the Lord comfort you on the day of your Angel, according to the sorrows that occur during the obedience entrusted to you. But who is without sorrows? But when we think to achieve salvation through a sorrowless life, we are mistaken; removing from ourselves all external sorrows, we will find the inner, most severe of them; because, without purifying themselves by enduring sorrows, by “doing the vexation of the cross,” they would dream of having “the glory of the cross,” as St. writes. Isaac the Syrian in the 2nd word. You grieve for the bitterness of U-and for the revelation of her pranks to the abbess. - Feel your heart, why did you do this? Is it with the intention of disgracing her or freeing her from the dark power of the enemy and from the networks in which she is entangled? Your advice had no effect on her; the promises she made to you did not come true. What was to be done? To preserve the entire monastery, it was necessary to take some measures; in case of anything unpleasant, you must be responsible, like the second in command; and everything will fall on you. “Don’t look at her bitterness, it’s your cowardice; and when you want to appease her; then talk to her and present to her the impending doom when she does not leave passion. Remember the word of the Lord: if your brother sins against you, etc. (Matthew 18:15), and therefore she must be peaceful about this and not be embarrassed. November 21st, 1849 Thank you for congratulating me on my birthday and for all your well wishes. Exactly, on November 20 I turned 61 years old. Time approaches eternity; and when it comes, God alone knows, He commanded us to watch and pray, for we do not know at what hour the Lord will come; and I feel bad about it; I teach people, but I remain silent. What to do! Are you asking if you told Mother Abbess well about U-ye, so as not to fine her publicly? When she has come to repentance and is struggling with passion, then, it seems, it is better to apply medicine that is not so burning, so that she no longer becomes embittered. St. Apostle Paul commands the Corinthians to the punished sinner: establish love, lest such one be sacrificed through much sorrow (2 Cor. 2:7, 8). You are afraid that a weak punishment will not be a reason for others: whoever is captivated by passion will not have the slightest effect on him by the punishment of others. When someone rejects the fear of God, human fear cannot have much effect. In another letter you write that she comes to you to ask for advice, wanting to get away from passion; and you are afraid to accept it, lest, due to its inconstancy, it be later passed on to the mother abbess, and she will consider that you are distracting her from her. Not a completely grounded fear: she seeks your help, drowning in waves of passion, and of course with faith; how to despise her? Perhaps she will receive healing through her faith; but to leave it will make you more upset: be careful in your words, and above all, do not touch the reproach of the abbess and be calm. Even if the enemy happened to raise up the abbess against you for this, then do not be afraid of this, the Lord will protect you. Again you write about O.’s pitiful mother, overcome by envy. She needs to worry about her destruction, and not about what you are doing wrong: she will not give an answer for your deeds. I wrote to her with your letter on November 21st. I see that you became faint-hearted due to rumors from your sister, and during this cowardice you wanted to be free from everything and be silent; and because you, after sitting silently for three hours, fell into thoughts of arrogance, what should you expect from long silence? Read in the 2nd word of St. Isaac the Syrian about the special work of the cross and on whom the wrath of God comes: it is very clear there. Silence and avoidance of sorrows are not yet your measure. May the Lord instruct you in the matter of salvation on what to do and strengthen you with His grace. December 6th, 1849. You are embarrassed about the expelled sisters due to their fault - be calm in this regard. St. Climacus writes that it is better to expel a novice from the monastery than to allow him to do his own will, but here there is even more than that. I’ll tell you again: don’t doubt the expelled sisters; this will serve as a correction for them, and as an example for others. I don’t know about your trip; as God arranges it, obey him. Carry your cross with the help of God, and it will be useful to you. O.'s mother does not realize that she is guilty of jealousy and envy. I advise her to recognize her weakness and heart disease, which comes from passions, and call on God’s help. I congratulate you and all your sisters in Christ on the upcoming holiday of the Nativity of Christ; Celebrate peacefully and calmly, which is what I earnestly wish for you. Mnogohreshny I.M. December 24, 1849. You describe the sorrows that happened to you, from different cases and sides, what to do? Apparently it has to be this way; May you learn patience and be cleansed of the attempts that were made on you in thoughts, words and deeds. However, they are all fleeting and, helping the Lord, are portable; thank God in everything. You grieve for the sisters who come to you, you wonder what to say to whom, and you believe that they have no faith in you. You are not a heart reader: you cannot know who comes, how and with what faith; and she herself must act out of a good disposition towards goodness, out of love for her neighbor; then God Himself, according to their dispensation, will act for their benefit; and you be peaceful in this regard. I thank Mother O. for writing her and congratulating me on the holiday. When she has the good will to correct herself, God will help her: let her ask and not despair. Peace be with you! Thank God that you arrived at your monastery safely and were received favorably by your mother abbess and sisters. Bring thanks to the Lord in everything, that He has granted you here to find strength and consolation in your weaknesses and perplexities; but God knows what will happen in the future. After all, we stand in spiritual battle, even if we fall, we will not be broken, for the Lord strengthens us. Let us humbly seek His help. May the Lord protect you from the arrows of the evil one. Be healthy and calm everyone. Mnogohreshny I.M. February 25, 1850. In your letter you describe how wonderfully the Lord saved your monastery from an accident - a fire. Glory and thanks to His merciful providence and protection for you! Until April 3rd, you were increasingly confused with O.’s mother; I am already perplexed as to what advice to give to heal her weakness. There is only one remedy: she needs to reproach herself and have humility. What is the use of that revelation if it does not bring peace? After all, revelation is not the only thing needed, but also obedience. Accept advice by revelation and no longer think about yourself or trust your own reason: from this humility is born. In your last letter you write that you would like me to add ten hands so as not to leave you; It seems that even that will not be enough: in these two days I received 21 envelopes of letters, and in them there were two and three letters in one; then I need to judge: I haven’t read them yet; when will I give an answer? I have very little time, and everyone demands an answer. Each one writes alone and wonders how long it will take to write, but I have only hands; and there are more than 30 letters from the previous ones; That’s why I ask you to make a short statement after the journal about what needs to be answered. I wrote about D.’s mother, seeing from your general letters that there was something awkward between you, as if you were strangers; but I wouldn’t want that. Should there really be a division between us? Az Pavlov, Az Apollosov, Az Cephas (1 Cor. 1:12). We have one Mentor and Teacher, our Lord Jesus Christ - love and humility, unanimity, peace, and so on. When you notice unworldliness in yourself against others or any thought that has arisen, put it down with self-reproach: if it strengthens and becomes established, then by explaining to each other it will be destroyed. This is known from experience: “What appears is light, and what does not appear is darkness.” May the Lord enlighten and strengthen you on this path. April 29th, 1850. Having reached her monastery, she again met with sorrow; but all this is not without the providence of God. Just as after sorrow one must expect consolation, so after the consolation that was experienced here, one must expect sorrow; but the Lord is merciful, and it will pass. Gold must be tempted in the crucible, and our constitution must be tempted in tribulation. I received your letter dated January 18th. Your bewilderment lies in the acceptance of the nuns P. and S., who ask you for this, and you rely on me, as I decide, and I am not a little cramped from everywhere. What should I tell you, with such loud noise, about your distraction of the sisters from the abbess to yourself? When will you accept these people, can you bear the rumors and reproaches of the citizens? And it will reach the authorities; and how to accept it against the stubborn resistance of your boss? In addition, V.’s mother had already asked for acceptance, although she was tempted, but the spoken word cannot be taken back. So I cannot muster the courage to say: accept, and consign you to greater sorrow. It seems to me that you should eliminate yourself and not get involved in this matter; and when the abbess herself says: accept, then there is no need to refuse or you can not accept; Maybe it will seem sad for them, but what to do? Is it possible to go against the bullshit? When their revelation to you was secret, then no sedition occurred; and now it will be open and obvious, and not safe for you. I feel sorry for the sisters too; but they must see the impossibility of this matter, and still they will not escape sorrow, and even severe ones. So, surrender to the will of God and obey whom the mother abbess betrays; and there is already advice to have for subordination. May the Lord deliver you from all the snares of the enemy. I.M. January 27, 1851. It is also sad for me to see you exhausted in your sorrows. Think that your sorrows were arranged by God’s providence, although it seems wrong and through people, but people are only an instrument of God’s providence. Should we then only endure it when we are guilty of something? No. We must endure whatever comes our way, without which we cannot learn patience; and why God allows you to suffer, He alone knows. Perhaps the Lord fills the poverty of our deeds by bringing sorrows, and in your innocence in this, your conscience should console you. To strengthen you in sorrows, read in the books of your fathers: St. Mark the Ascetic, by Abba Dorotheos, by Peter of Damascus, by St. You will find a lot of consolation for yourself in Isaac the Syrian chapters 20, 21, 34, 35, 36, 37, 51. Other fathers also strengthen us. The dishonor that seems to you, according to the word of St. Mark of the Ascetic will serve you as a guide to the future glory of God; and St. Scripture says: because the Lord loves him, he punishes him: and he beats every son whom he accepts (Heb. 12:6). You see that you are not deprived of God’s mercy. Having had sorrows, humble yourself and cry out to Him in your weakness: He will soon send you His help and comfort. I don’t know how your tonsure ended? didn’t you also have anything else for them? I wrote to you regarding tonsure, so as not to enter into it, but to leave it to the will of God, as He arranges, so be it. Not paying attention to you by the abbess serves to your humility, and God will not send temptations beyond measure. Your sorrows keep repeating, sometimes from M., sometimes from N.: there are no cases, so sorrows are replaced. God's commandment, not mine: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). If we cannot love, then we will not hate, but we will reproach ourselves for the impoverishment of love. May the word not come true on us: “Because iniquity will increase, the love of many will fail” (Matthew 24:12). Pray for her and consider yourself worse than her; then God will turn your heart away from resentment. “The prayer of the evil-bearer is sown on the stone,” writes St. Isaac. Are you asking what to do with V.’s mother? Much has been written about this and much has been said about what to do. Let her read the chapters of Simeon the New Theologian, St. John Climacus, St. Abba Dorotheus, St. Cassian; He will find there with everyone that the disciple is from the elder, as if from the mouth of God, and not as she wants to be on some conditions, and is looking not for the benefit of the soul, but for rapprochement. - What is it like? She should not be given advice on how to deal with her, but should receive it from you with faith and love, even if something seems disgusting to her. Such a conquest will be according to Bose; but what she wants will be of no benefit to either her or you. When she cuts off her mind and will, then she will calm down; for this is why humility is acquired, and humility calms. February 9th, 1851. I heartily regret the grief of the newly tonsured sisters, that they do not have consolation in spiritual nourishment and reinforcement; however, their cowardice further increases their grief. I feel sorry for you, both because of the sorrows inflicted on you, and more so because of your disorder against your mother abbess: we are still far from humility and love, all-conquering and enduring. If we forgive our neighbor’s sins, God will forgive ours: try to reproach yourself for such a poor spiritual dispensation. You have to think: if you were in her place, you would have done the same in a similar case. Of course, her superiors seem to feel humiliation and contempt before the people; and you have preference and exaltation. Although this is far from spiritual reason, but since both sides have deviated from it, the storm of passions agitates the spiritual sea until at least one side is calmed down by self-reproach and humility. If it is God’s will for you to guide them, without your seeking for it, but according to their faith and the consent of the abbess, entrust them to you to care for; then no rituals or transmissions are needed here; but simply say: “I entrust these sisters to you for spiritual care.” This one word is enough, spoken with peace and love. In reality, the head of the monastery is the father of all and the trustee for the salvation of souls entrusted to his flock; and he already entrusts, at his discretion, for the care of the brethren to the spiritual elder, one or many, according to the number of the company; but he himself is still the direct father and mentor of everyone, and here there is no longer any division: either I am Apollosov, I am Pavlov, I am Cephas, but we are all disciples of Christ; This is how it should be in your society. “But woe to us sinners that in our cruel times this order has changed, and it is rare to find unanimity, peace and love. – The enemy has risen strongly against those who work for the Lord and fights us with our passions, and often overthrows us; but we sinners do not have humility, a strong weapon that crushes all the networks of the enemy, and we only learn and speak about it with our tongues; but in fact there is not a trace of it in us. I congratulate the newly tonsured Mother A. and Mother G. on accepting this image; May the Lord help them to keep their vows given before God and remember that a monk is a pillar of patience and an abyss of humility. February 27, 1851. I sincerely pity you that until then you could not reconcile with your mother abbess. I can no longer tell you anything about this: enough has been written. Here’s another cross for you from Mother V., a lot was written about this both to you and to her. Obedience gives birth to humility, and humility calms, but she wants, she doesn’t know what, but she doesn’t want to humble herself. Suspicions, remarks, self-reflections torment her heart. When should she think about her soul and about eradicating passions? She doesn’t even see, and doesn’t even want to see, but only looks at your movements and from them falsely stitches together a self-conception with which she torments herself. She needs to come to her senses and humble herself; then he will calm down. Where confusion appears, then the enemy will certainly sow tares; you need to pluck them out immediately and not allow them to sprout, otherwise it will be difficult. I cannot force you to accept V.; you have experienced it yourself; and was there any benefit to her through revelation? The same should happen now. I ask you and all your sisters to pray for me, a sinner and weak, and I remain a desirer of your salvation, much-sinned I.M. March 27, 1851. Everything is the same - sorrows do not leave you, but surround you: apparently, this is the will of God, to lead you through a sorrowful path into eternal life. After all, you yourself cannot turn away your cross; then bear this light burden and the good yoke, although it seems heavy to you; but could you bear it if the Lord did not strengthen you? He allows for your benefit, and He strengthens. Read from Macarius of Egypt in the 7th word, in the 13th chapter and further. Believe without doubt that the Lord can free you from sorrows; Yes, and I would have freed you if I had foreseen your benefit from this. You write about your sorrow from the sisters related to you; This is not the least surprising; but the enemy raises them up against you, and their very fall should lead them to humility; and if they often crawl like this, they will not find any benefit; since they apparently have no offer for obedience, it is better to leave them. You are not bound by them; - Yes, it’s still new for me that you yourself go to them, as if you are calling yourself and looking for revelation from them: they themselves must seek from you their acceptance to it; and not for you to go to them; Is it by chance that you come in? – You can expose someone who has insulted another without waiting for her to become conscious. – It often happens that sometimes they do not admit they are guilty, but everyone blames the other. You write: is it possible for you to interfere in worldly affairs when you have something to ask for A.P.’s advice, and go to them? As for love for one’s neighbor, it seems to me that not leaving comfortably, but giving advice to those who ask with faith, is a matter of love and spiritual alms, only one must beware of exaltation and opinions about oneself. Are we speaking with our minds? Isn’t it true that God Himself acts according to their faith? And we are only the smallest tool; then if anyone finds benefit, it is not from us, but from God, according to their faith. And you can go to them if there is no great absent-mindedness there; however, you should always keep your poverty in mind. Do not force your sisters to get up at night, but leave it to the discretion of each of them. In all your affairs, may the Lord give you His help; always call on Him in your perplexities. To all your sisters in Christ and to you, I wish you peace and health. Multigr. I.M. June 28. I am very glad that you have a book on staurophilia. – May the Lord strengthen you in bearing the cross, which He is pleased to send to each of you: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him take up his cross” (Matthew 16:24); therefore you cannot be without it. You complain about your poor dispensation, that you do not have peace with N., and over time the memory of resentment and resentment regurgitates. This cannot be approved, but we must try to purge these tares from our hearts, to remember Christ’s suffering, suffered innocently for our sins: but we are guilty of many sins and lack of correction in our lives; then, although we will not reject sorrow and humble ourselves in everything: for humility, even apart from deeds, forgives our sins. What fruit will we show from our deeds? None; but there is spiritual fruit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc. (Galatians 5:22), then how can we not humble ourselves? By the way, there was an insult from S.’s sisters, I can’t praise them. “Of course, it’s clear that the enemy is instilling in them thoughts that are against us; but you let them go, they don’t know what they’re doing: you let them go and it will be released to you. Don’t seek gratitude, you will receive reward from God. About the second cell, when the brother does not give freedom, you can pay for it; otherwise it’s a pity that he will end up again with the masters, having the desire to work for God; you just need to look at what her morality is, and instead of thanking V., she wouldn’t abandon her if she received her freedom - you know better. With D.’s mother, when you are at peace, the incident you describe was fleeting and will serve to expose your weak dispensation and to humility. I cannot give permission to novices to enter the altar when the rules do not allow it; and the nuns are allowed to enter and sweep the altar. Don’t grieve too much about missing the service, because you go at the first bell and don’t catch the midnight office, for it doesn’t depend on your will, but such outrage saddens you. Replace with faith and will; It’s not possible to read everything at home; read a kathisma or two, if possible, and morning prayers. About O.’s mother’s dispensation, instill in her that pride will not bring her peace, but constant embarrassment. – The saints had themselves under all creation, then what will we sinners say or think about ourselves? I forgot to say about going to the sisters in the cell for them to be frank: I don’t make it a law not to go to them, but by chance it’s possible; otherwise they may make it your duty to go for their revelation: then it is no longer they who are in you, but you who need them. August 14, 1851 You complain about your laziness; It’s not her fault, it’s yours; then blame yourself, humble yourself, and through this you will gain victory over her. Duckweed will not bring salvation, then vanity always wars against humility; and whoever seeks salvation certainly needs humility. And so, it seems, it is unnecessary to dress up, but you can have neatness even from cheap material. German Lutherans and Catholics who died in the faith cannot be remembered at the proskomedia: they did not have living communication with our Church, then how can we dare to join them to the Church after death? The rules prohibit commemorating heretics; According to your note, Orthodox names will be remembered among us. I wish you and all your sisters peace, health and salvation. Many I.M. August 22, 1851. In your letters you ask about M., should you agree to live with her? - and about her poor situation, due to lack of work; and therefore shouldn’t we leave this monastery? - When there is no friend yet, with whom life was harmful for her, then there is no need to leave her for the sake of poverty. Expect God's help here and spend what you have, even up to half; we do not know the providence of God; or maybe she was allowed to go because she relied on her work and thought she wouldn’t move in the future; and for the fact that she had pride, considering herself something. What can I say about your sorrows from I. and N.? After all, you write: you are faulty in both ways, you condemn, you chatter, you get angry; then you need to endure something for them, sent by God’s providence for purification. The grief that happened to you again from Mother A., ​​of course, came from an enemy slander, but the reason is more that she hid the irritation that came to her for a long time until it accumulated to an excess. The manifested ulcers will soon be healed, but the invisible ones will stink. When we seek benefit through frank thoughts, we must ask with faith and fulfill it, and not demand that the answer agree with their desire and reason - and even more so with an urgent demand. You rely on me to tell you whether to leave or not. And I’ll tell you: consider the circumstances and your strengths, and the visible benefit or harm; do so; only their insistent demands are not useful to them; there is not a trace of humility or faith in them. October 1, 1851. Yesterday I just sent a letter to you, and now I have received your mournful and regrettable letter, from which I see that you consider me the cause of this sorrow, believing that D.’s transition is being arranged according to my desire. It’s unfortunate for me that such a lie was sewn up, and even before, when I tried to appease you, I did not avoid grief. I invite each of you to self-reproach and humility; and it seemed to both of you that it was as if each of them had told me something. This has long passed, but I only reminded you that then, as now, I did not escape your opinions that I was the cause of your sorrows. Mother D. talked about her desire to move to another place with letters and pestered me with words that she didn’t want to stay there. In this I advised her to surrender to the will of God, and to obey as He arranges. There was a lot of discussion about which place to choose. I am offering, but all this is solely due to her persistent request and desire, and on my part there was not the slightest desire; and as I already said: surrendering to the will of God; but there was no determination to go to any place except B-a. I find her such evasions very unpleasant that she shifts them from her own head to another. And I still grieve her for V’s crazy revelation. I suppose that’s why this happened - how she was not peaceful towards you then, and V. too, then they copulated; and D., seeing an angel in her, poured out the entire inside of her heart. At the same time, I did not approve of such a close relationship between them and even wrote to her that I did not see the benefit of living with V., for, with both of them not being peaceable towards you, they could not reconcile with each other. Looking at all this confluence of cases through which sorrows befall you, one cannot help but attribute them to the providence of God, to your temptation, and no matter how great their burden, God is able to grant you strength. Remember the past storm of sorrows, was it easier than this? But there it was even more sorrowful that you, seeing yourself in the right, fell into resentment. You write and read staurophilia; and of course, at that time you are ready to bear the cross, but true will is tested in practice, like military art. Warriors do not become brave when they only learn articulation and maneuvers; but when they have been in battle many times and have suffered many times. May the Lord give you true reason and strengthen you in the sorrows you find, which do not find you without His will. I remain a long-time desirer for your salvation. I.M. November 11, 1851. After a short rest from your sorrows, they befell you in different and varied ways; Apparently, our path is like this, there is nowhere to go. If there were no sorrows, then our gold would rust and be of no use, but through sorrows, like fire, gold is purified. - Do not be discouraged and do not complain, but cast your sorrow on the Lord, and He will send you consolation. You mourn the disorderly church service. Of course, it is sad to see this; for for us the first consolation is the orderly praise of God. The angels praise the Lord with fear, and all creation reveres Him and praises Him, according to the psalmist and doxology of the three youths; His verbal creature, man, also praises Him. “Although we are not able to worthily bring Him praise, we must, as much as possible, and depending on our will and strength, offer Him a sacrifice of praise, and a sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart. And since your disorder is not in your will, then you leave it to the will of God. He Himself will take care to console His God-gathered flock, so that the spark of vanity does not sink into your zeal for decorum and reverence; otherwise it will burn everything else. As he goes, let him go, but don’t go in; for you are not charged with keeping order. It is better to read the kathisma reverently at home, and do not leave the church; for one thing: Lord have mercy! – it’s conciliar, it’s more pleasing to God, but try to calm yourself down about other things. If you could have done something and missed it, then of course you would be subject to an answer! And oh pennies, even if they leave the choir, it’s not your responsibility; whatever the boss wants, let him give orders. You gave good advice about G.’s mother, but will you be able to carry it out? - Don't know; you need to pray to the Lord; May it help you to keep your candle unquenchable. Woe to us! Apparently, this is the last year, how are the sheep grazing? But the Lord is able to give His help to those who want and seek salvation. M. apparently limps on both knees. When he truly realizes his weakness, then this is good; and if she remains tempting, then what is the use of her coming to you? After all, she herself is not what she should be, and it is obvious that there is a struggle, and in it there is sometimes victory, and sometimes defeat; and if this does not happen, but remains in everything not to fall, then the door to pride and delusion will be opened. Writes St. Climacus: “Sometimes all our sins and passions leave us, but only the vice of pride remains, which alone should destroy the soul.” And I will tell E-e’s mother about F-e that neither you nor I tied her up, but we leave it to her will to send her away and hire another. It's good to read in the book of St. Barsanuphius answers to Andrei, where he complains about his brother insulting him while serving him; - this will be in the first quarter of the entire book, where he writes that the enemy is advocating for his brother, annoying him, and so on. In the last lines she writes that F., asking for forgiveness, sheds bitter tears; From this it is clear that he regrets his bad dispensation. What to do? After driving her away, perhaps he will improve better. May the Lord enlighten you and guide you into all truth. April 22, 1852 I see that your sorrows are multiplying, but I also know that they are allowed by God’s providence to test you; and, of course, the Lord will not send them to you beyond measure. Let them call it a sect that has never existed and will not exist among us; let them consider themselves offended, they themselves have made it up in their minds; and if everyone wants to be right, let them be right. And for you, if it is not possible, you can give place to anger, give up the treasury to others and be among the rank and file, heeding your salvation; but you cannot avoid all sorrows—it is in these that salvation is achieved. April 29, 1852. You write about your diverse sorrows, but where can you escape from them? Read St. Isaac the Syrian in the 21st word about the benefits of them and in 34, 35, 36 and 37, when you can free yourself from them, then do it; but, apparently, there is the will of God, saving you by this way of the cross from many other suffocating misfortunes; there are no exploits, then sorrows will be imputed instead. – Through obedience you stand on the cross, it’s dangerous to go down on your own; but if they push you, that’s good. But, however, it’s best to rely on God and surrender to His holy will: He knows better than us what is necessary and useful to send to whom - is He really not able to free you from sorrows? But we do not comprehend His fatherly providence for us, for what end he does this; Only faith can calm us down, and through this we acquire the fruit of patience. As for singing, when you find it necessary to support it, and not leave it to the sextons, then support it, as it was; and sorrow in every good deed is inevitable. June 3, 1852. I am answering three of your letters. There is nothing special, and everything is the same - sorrows encountered daily, sometimes from strangers, sometimes from neighbors, sometimes from one’s own dispensation, but everything is allowed for the good and for the removal of one’s weakness and for acquiring the fruit of patience - there is also compassion for one’s neighbors. We do not understand the hidden providence of God, in what ways He leads us and arranges our salvation, but we all need to see our shortcomings and acquire self-reproach and humility, avoiding the sight of other people’s sins. V.’s mother’s weakness shows you your weakness, and I have already written and spoken to her a lot to her advantage, and it is sufficient when she listens to it and rejects her suspicions: humility is born from obedience. - And then her obedience will be true, when she sees an increase in humility, and with it she will not be embarrassed; however, there is no benefit from imaginary obedience and revelation. I’m very sorry about M.’s situation, but how can I help? Apparently, this test is necessary for her humility; but God will not allow temptation to go beyond measure; She apparently relied on her art, and that’s why she suffered; and when she puts her trust in God, He will provide for her. July 1, 1852 I see that you are visited daily by various sorrows, now from this or that person or incident. Therefore, you must know that you are on the true path leading to eternal life; There are many comforting words about this in the Holy Scriptures, so that when we grieve we do not feel the cold, i.e. they were not faint-hearted and did not become weak, but accepted them as sent from the hand of God, for their learning, for their prosperity - so that we may acquire the fruit of patience. At present, your main cross is V.’s mother; what to do? As much as they told and wrote to her, she herself read the fatherly writings about what conquest and revelation consist of, and what benefits come from it. From obedience, humility is born, and from her imaginary obedience to you, embarrassment, suspicion, envy, and criticism of your actions regarding her are born. Of course, poor thing, she doesn’t understand what the enemy is bringing her; but she accepts and composes herself in thought, asserts herself and considers herself offended, cries, upsets herself and you. You need to be confirmed in the faith that you are acting with her according to the inspiration of God, and not as the enemy presents to her - to speak about your weaknesses with humility and self-reproach and accept words as from the mouth of God; and reject all envy and suspicion; for the enemy shows her things in a completely different way; and she, believing him, is embarrassed. When she does not accept enemy advice, she will soon calm down, but otherwise, living with you will not only be of no benefit, but also great harm; and therefore it is better for her to leave you. What is the use of living and not having peace, but spending time in confusion and tears? She must understand that by accepting enemy advice, all this suffers from them. May the Lord confirm her both in His fear and in His will, for which we must pray and force ourselves to reject evil thoughts and accept good advice; After all, we are spiritual warriors and have an invisible battle with proud demons. Their weapon is humility, and without it they overthrow us. She, being in this fierce battle, must acquire humility, and you, for your part, as much as possible, recognize your weakness and be forgiving. May the Lord have mercy on you! I am writing very quickly - everything is torn off, and the mail is large. The doctor told me that correspondence is poison to my health, but I don’t look at it. I ask God’s blessing for all of you and wish you salvation. Multigr. I.M. July 19, 1852. You are not alone in wondering how to appease M.E.; and I, very much regretting this, cannot find any means to bring her peace of mind. “I wrote and told her so much that through obedience one gains humility and overcomes passions; but in this dispensation the opposite is seen: it does not submit without reasoning and does not reject its mind and will; but she accepts the enemy’s advice, telling her that you don’t love her and aren’t interested in her. Instead of acquiring humility, which can calm her down, she, driven by pride, acquires envy and torments both herself and you with it. And when she turned her attention to humility, the enemy could not show her something that did not exist at all; and what need does she have to feel, who do you treat how and who do you love more? She should look at her actions, does she have love for you? And where there is love, there is no envy of zeal: love has faith in everything, trusts everything, endures everything, and never falls away (1 Cor. 7:8). But love is not spiritual, but carnal, does not like competition, and therefore, instead of peace, it finds confusion. - He says: I will not bear to leave you; But what is the use of being in such constant excitement and confusion? I can’t approve of you for being irritated, but her arrangement shows a distressed situation; It’s no longer you who must care for her, but you who must submit to her. – I don’t know what to do here? Should you try not to listen to her embarrassment and not believe that you are treating her as you should, and you should have justice in your conscience before her - and that’s enough; - and don’t justify yourself with your tongue, let yourself recognize your mistake and weakness, and humble yourself. Try to reproach yourself for your rage, and consider this sorrow to be sent to your test, just as other sorrows are to teach you patience and the fruits of it. Humility is a product of reason, and reason is a product of temptation. But where can one avoid the cross? He pursues us everywhere, for we have a deposit not outside, but within us—our passions. Whenever they fulfill the commandment of love, i.e. if your enemies loved you, then everything would calm us down; and while we are far from it, we must involuntarily be overwhelmed by sorrows. May the Lord give you patience and true reason! I will send you the book of St. Barsanuphius the Great printed: I just received it yesterday; and were heartily glad that they were honored to see such a useful book in print. August 9, 1852. I received the book and am in a hurry to send it to you. – May the Holy Fathers Barsanuphius the Great and John give you guidance and consolation in all sorrow. What do my words mean against their teaching? Glory to God and thanks to the Lord that he announced to the abbess to accept Z. Z. into the monastery; and regarding her desire to treat you, you need to be more skillful until she completely accepts and dresses her: she doesn’t understand this, but you explain it to her. After all, we must have both serpentine wisdom and dove purity: in our wisdom, “do not give guilt to those who seek guilt.” I’ll write to her briefly, and you explain why. She asks for a rule; this can still be done; let him take care of the rule of life, patience and humility, and not to look down on anyone or condemn him, but to consider himself the last of all, and he will calm down. Living with N., it is necessary to reproach yourself for the battles that happen, and not make excuses; then there will be peace: for the enemy is overcome by humility. - Although I wrote to you so as not to go alone to the abbess for congratulations; but if she has a strong insistence on it, then you can condescend to her weakness; and one can say that her caresses are dissolved by excessive severity; and where protection is needed, there she does the opposite, with all your work and self-sacrifice, not to justify herself, but so that she will come to her senses; Consider yourself worthy of all contempt. – Sometimes you can pour out your sorrow with someone you like, but try to reproach yourself more than others, because we are far from fulfilling the Gospel commandment about love: love your enemies, and therefore are guilty. I.M. September 20, 1852 In your daily descriptions, ordinary events serve both to teach you and to edify them; and even more so, to resort to God in sorrows and seek help from Him. M.V.’s actions cannot be approved: however, she is regrettable that she submits to the advice of the enemy, not for creation and peace, but for the frustration and embarrassment brought to her; but she doesn’t understand this, no matter how much we try to explain to her what revelation means. Yes, it is suspicious that she only talks about revelation, but not a word about obedience, and I often offer her the teaching of the holy fathers, that revelation is for this purpose, so as not to follow your own reason, but to offer your thoughts, words and deeds for consideration by others and to accept advice, as if from the mouth of God; This is what faith consists of, and not just thinking that they are not taking care of me, and thus torturing myself and others, what is the use of this? And when you find irritability in yourself, you should reproach yourself. I wrote to her how much the Lord had taught: and as she accepts, let it be according to her will. The murmurers must be humbled; for condescension to them will result in harm and destruction; and in your weaknesses, do not leave yourself without contempt, which can serve to humility. I.M. November 1, 1852. You write that M.V. has calmed down somewhat; I wish that the Lord will give her complete peace. If she is convinced that this abuse is from the enemy, then she will resist, running to the Lord in prayer and humbling herself. When my letter came to her heart and she took advantage of it, let her give thanks to the Lord, and let her honor it when need demands; After all, I did not write on my own behalf, but the Lord gives the word to my feeble-mindedness for its benefit. And so that you know what the battle of demons is like, I allowed you to be fought. Where are we good for without God's help? One attack of thought plunges us into the power of the enemy; and so one must be humble, not judge strictly others who are either in heroic deeds or in negligence; God is able to raise them up. “Love sinners,” writes St. Isaac, and hate their sins.” I take part in Z. Z.’s grief and wish that the Lord will strengthen her. He knows that whoever needs and benefits, then perhaps this cross was sent to her for salvation; and without that she could have fallen either into pride or into some sins. May the will of the Lord be done on all of us. You wrote about the reproach of conscience for what was given to you - repay with something; Punishing yourself is completely unnecessary, but it is better to accept reproaches, annoyances, and humiliation from others who are holy. Isaac likens it to a crown of thorns when we do not preface with insults. November 25, 1852 Heartily glad; that M.V. calmed down; May God grant that her peace may increase even more. After all, peace is given to humility, then let her not give faith to her thoughts, but accept with faith and humility what you tell her. There is also no stench of humility in this, that it seems to her that she is opening up in a wrong way or is not saying anything, and for this she is embarrassed; what she says, let her trust her conscience, that she is not hiding anything, and not the enemy’s advice that confuses her: there will be no end to it; She said, blamed herself and be calm. And if there is nothing to reveal, we must thank God, who has covered her with His mercy at the present time, but not to be exalted in our thoughts, but to remember previous sins, to humble our wisdom, then the enemy does not touch her with his machinations; Otherwise, she believes that she can have salvation only in revelation alone, but through the slander of the enemy, and does not receive any benefit from it: she is only embarrassed and consoles the enemy, and raises up a great battle against herself with the same thing. It is time for her to understand the cunning of the enemy and resist it with humility and contempt for his advice and suggestions. M. is also sick with the disease of pride, which does not give her peace of mind, and with it she also loses her physical strength. All our work must be directed toward the destruction of pride and the acquisition of humility, without which we cannot acquire love, and other deeds and exploits will not bring any benefit (St. Isaac’s word 46). O M., her situation is difficult; but what to do? The Lord allowed temptation to test her and teach her patience; and each of us has his own struggle, so that we may not be condemned for idleness, and may not the thorns of vices grow in the soil of our hearts. Let her inwardly humble herself before the nun and in fact have a humble attitude. And in case of any guilt, why not ask for forgiveness? But there is no guilt in this one who goes to listen to the scriptures. If she lived under her guidance and spiritual nourishment, then she should not have walked without her will. You grieve for what you say to your sisters, having not walked this path yourself, and you should reproach yourself, otherwise the thought of arrogance and opinion about yourself would come; but one should not reject those who ask about anything and seek benefit. You are not speaking to them from your own mind; but, according to their faith, the Lord gives you the understanding of what to say to whom or which holy father’s teaching to offer; and this is not yours, but you are only a small instrument with which God acts in the matter of saving those who seek it. An example can be given about alms: spiritual advice is alms and is greater than that which someone gives from material estates. December 10, 1852. I can’t describe in detail all your passing cases, but I’ll say about some in general: although you reproach yourself for your distracted life, most of all you need to restrain yourself from judging others. When we have our weaknesses, we must humble ourselves more and appease the Lord with repentance, and remember that he who does not condemn will not be condemned. Your grief over the donor’s unkindness towards you should be pacified by the mirror of your conscience. What sin you have committed against him, repent of it when you can, and explain yourself; and if your conscience does not denounce you, then be at peace. Be indifferent to M.E.’s whims: she can come to her senses on her own and realize that she is getting entangled in the enemy’s net. O Z. Z. is not a small task to appease them. - The first is quite old, and although she knows that self-reproach and humility should be associated with the world, she has not actually learned this; and the other is worldly and has no idea about this, but thinks to be saved only by praying outwardly, etc., and does not pay the slightest attention to moral things, and, simply to say, don’t touch me; We must endure, as the Lord will arrange it further. You can inspire her: when she lives like this and does not try to see her faults, then God will not announce to the abbess to accept her into the monastery. Whether you told the abbess this way or not is difficult to find out, but it will be seen in practice; how will your teaching be justified? When the fruit of peace grows, it is good. Your mother E. E. writes to me about her grief, that you, M. M., when you were with her, were bored and grieved about the delay in returning to the monastery; asks not to forbid you to visit her, to console her in old age and infirmity. I answered her that for my part I do not forbid it, if only the Mother Superior gives her blessing. And so you don’t need to leave her; perhaps there is not much time left to serve her. December 30, 1852. Thank God that she arrived safely and was received peacefully by the abbess. That you have encountered some external sorrows, this must be so; but they will achieve nothing except what the Lord wills to allow. In response to your question about Z.Z., I will say: since she herself hesitates on the path she has taken, both due to illness, and because there is no one to follow her, and, moreover, due to her lack of peace with M., her monastic life will be painful for her. “She strove to go to the monastery, thinking of finding peace, but she didn’t know that it depended on victory over passions and on humility, patience and love. Leave her to her will and do not persuade her to stay; but show her that our path is narrow and regrettable, which leads into eternal life; and when he agrees to go there and endure everything with self-reproach and humility, then let him stay: and if he does not see in himself the strength and opportunity for this, then it is better, having recognized his weakness, to live with his sister in peace; and she will not make a mistake in this when she decides so; then you don't need to get dressed. Enough has already been written and said about V.’s mother; let her delve into the scriptures of the fathers, which I showed her: revelation is then useful when combined with obedience, then it bears the fruit of humility; and revelation demanding that it be the way and what she wants will not bring any benefit. Let him read chapters 14 and 15 of Callistus and Ignatius. February 21, 1852 Regarding the entrance and departure bows to the church, the wisdom of your elders is very strange to me, when Russia and the entire Christian East observe a pious custom: upon entering the church on a holiday, they make small bows, and on weekdays - three big bows with the prayer: God be merciful to me, a sinner! Lord, have mercy on me who created me! and others. There is something written at the end of the Psalter about the beginning of the rule. Yes, there is a decree for this in the legends of the elderly, but now I don’t have time to find it. They also bow when leaving the church. I.M. It’s not surprising that you were embarrassed when you learned about your mother’s embarrassment for your disagreement with Mother D.; but when considering your conscience, which does not despise you for this, it remained calm. After all, everyone has their own view of things, and with self-justification, but there is no self-reproach, then one loses peace of mind. It’s a pity for your mother that she was embarrassed out of ignorance, but God will console her. Do not be discouraged by the sorrows that befall you, but thank God that He sends them to you for training and protection from passions that, without sorrow, could result in sinful actions. If you lack spiritual deeds and deeds, replace them with patience of sorrows, self-reproach and humility. When Z.Z. is dressed, that is how God pleases; It’s just a pity that they are not reconciled with M., and she does not recognize her weakness, but sees guilt in it; That is why he does not receive correction and reassurance. It is necessary for both of them to seek peace in self-reproach and humility; for this is a weapon that crushes all the enemy’s networks. O.’s desire to dress in a monastic dress and treat you in her weaknesses should not be rejected, but accepted with love and with humility, instill in her how God will instruct and enlighten you, according to her faith, for her benefit. If she does not do this with the right intention, then she cannot hide; but he will be convicted, and you will not be harmed by it. Also, K-nu’s daughter, according to her wishes, should be dressed in a black dress, when the mother is abbot. if you please. Now she lives with you as a worldly girl, and her mind can freely swing towards worldly life, without being restrained; and when he gets dressed, he will already put aside care of the world. Although there will be warfare, she is already in the militia of Christ’s army and is not alone fighting the enemy, but others are also contributing to her. Apparently, she has God's calling. If necessary, you can tell the abbess about the acquisition, and about the collection you can point out that due to the position assigned to you it is not convenient to be away for a long time; there are other nuns who can fulfill this obedience; or ask to dismiss the treasurer from office; Then it’s more convenient to go for collection. This is how I reason, but as God guides and arranges you, it will be better. You care about the choir singing and mourn that it will soon be destroyed. If you sing to the glory of God, it will not be destroyed; and when it’s out of vanity, then it’s no wonder this happens; It’s as if the only people you have are one stubborn, tired woman; You can also adapt another one. Let it be corrected - to sing the choir, only at the gathering with poetry, but in the choirs you can sing according to everyday life, just as they sing here. It was in vain that you gave advice to others about fasting, through which you gave temptation about your imaginary shrine. It’s not an important matter what to eat or not to eat boiled food, but the charter states that in the first week there is a meal on Wednesday and Friday, which is what we do, and on other days, out of weakness, we eat boiled food; Better is peace than confusion. Also, let there be tea for the will of everyone, and in vain, in your exhaustion, you did not strengthen your mortal flesh. “God will not despise a broken and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19). God will not force fasting from the weak, but patience and thanksgiving. “Let us fast, brethren, with a spiritual fast, pleasing to the Lord.” And then, what kind of fasting, we sing in triodion during fasting. Peace be with you! While waiting for the Bishop, you expected new sorrow; This is our poor dispensation! When we are praised, we rejoice, but when we are reproached, we lose heart: but we should be more indifferent. Praise does not harm us, but when we enjoy it, we are deprived of reward. According to the words of Isaac the Syrian: “The worker is free of remuneration, delighting in praise.” The teacher asked you for forgiveness, but you treated her somewhat cruelly; After all, just bending yourself over takes a lot of work; Is it easy for the enemy? And instead of a healing plaster, you applied lime to the wound; that’s why she became more bitter against you. Your conversation with V. was thorough. I am quite surprised at her; she seeks salvation, reads books, has advice, but does not comprehend the path and is always confused; no one is the cause of her embarrassment, but she herself. If she wishes to follow the path of obedience; What should she test, how will they treat her? It is enough for her to deny her will and reason; there is no need to believe the reason that the enemy inspires in her, but to listen to what those whom she asks with faith will say: but she always listens to the enemy, believes him and is embarrassed. “Confusion is the enemy’s chariot,” according to the words of Isaac the Syrian. Let St. read it. John Climacus degree 4 and 26th continuation; “The will of the Lord” and so on, and in Callistus Ignatius 14 and 15, in Symeon the New Theologian word 7 and in the Philokalia in the chapters of Theodore of Edessa from chapter 40 to 46. Let him remember that “from obedience comes humility,” and believe in his actions. Despair is nothing more than the fruit of pride. I’m a sinner, so humble yourself, repent, and God will accept repentance. May the Lord give her true reason and strengthen her against invisible enemies with the power of humility, which will destroy the entire body of 37 enemy arrows. You grieve over the disorder of your choir: if it is upset, it will probably be because of your vanity. They sang well and were vain: and this is no longer for the sake of the glory of God, but for the sake of their own glory: you cannot sing choral singing, sing simple things with humility, and it will work out better for you than choir notes. The angels continually sing and praise God; but do they sing according to the notes? And are they vainglorious about it? On the contrary, they are in awe and cannot get enough of praise: so you too, when you leave vanity and sing for the glory of God, then God will send you a man and pacify these. Due to your foolishness, your spirit rushes somewhere into a larger monastery, where nothing touches you. You will not find peace anywhere until you humble yourself; after all, the demon will go there and bring another kind of sorrow; Apparently, we must endure in one place, awaiting the will of God. When you are worthy, He will give you peace; - peace is given to the humble, but we, apparently, are not yet worthy of it and are full of passions, which the thorns must daily pluck from the soil of our hearts through the patience of sorrows. The young ascetic should not be rejected; Apparently, there is a calling of God, and to dress in the clothing of salvation and instill obedience and humility in everything. You mention about M.M. that she is always sick and faint-hearted. I sincerely regret her and, for her strengthening and consolation, I advise her to read from St. Barsanuphius answers to questions about diseases written 45, 166, 167, 168, 169, 130, 213, 607, 516, 621, 512, 526, 347, 519, 509, 511, 517, 530, and serving the sick 214 and 774, and also 513 and 514. May the Lord give her joy and spiritual consolation. I.M. April 8, 1853. In all three of your letters, disorder and the resulting sorrows are visible; what to do? We do not have even a shadow of monastic activity - love and humility are not visible; then we must arrange our salvation. The Lord allows sorrow, so that having suffered, we will involuntarily humble ourselves and come to true reason. Of course, it is painful to see such disorder and omission in morality, for the sake of imaginary love of humanity, where it is necessary to strictly maintain order both for themselves and for others as an example. When those to whom it is due do not do this, they also forbid you; then how will you insistently and persistently correct in defiance of the abbess? Perhaps they will also blame you. Although the entire burden of monastic affairs lies with you, everything must be done with the advice and agreement of the superior. But you don’t have this, but only one bodily fertilizer: and therefore you need to watch, in order to have the wisdom of the serpent and the purity of the dove, according to the word of the Lord, and pray to Him about this, so that He may instruct and preserve. Of course, it was necessary to make the punishment daring; and it would be beneficial; but what was and is the indignation against you, not from the simple, but from the higher; and therefore, in such cases, one must imagine the possible harm from relaxation and the benefit from punishment, and leave it to her will. And as for the fact that yours are left unattended, it is known why this happens - from displeasure; but is this really prohibiting salvation? Not at all! Isn’t it better to abandon human wisdom and leave it to the will of God; and believe that these things are left without definition by His sight? Well, is it really possible that the path to salvation is open to only certain people, and that’s the end? Not at all. But certain people are faced with even more work and sorrow: look at yourself and at others, and who is more comfortable to reconcile, one or the other? It seems that what should humble us - the image of monasticism - leads to pride and vanity, but those who work for God in simplicity of heart become more humble. What more is required of us if not humility? It enlightens the mind, subdues passions, and God looks upon it; and having left it, we drive away pride and vanity and grieve for those who, although by God’s will, do not allow us to do this. Let us leave this to the will of God; He knows more than us who benefits from what. You write about the gathering, and according to previous assumptions it should fall on you; there is nothing to do, but just ask to be dismissed from the treasury position; for, having been away for a long time, someone will still be in charge of it. And in this she must be firmer and more courageous, but first pray to the Lord and the Mother of God, asking for God’s help and will in this matter. You can imagine to the abbess what use you are, that she has no advice with you on anything, no consent to establish something better in the monastery, order, etc.; and when there is someone else after her heart, then she too will be more pleasant and at peace; but may God’s will be upon you in all this! April 26, 1853. I read your journal and saw that you had enough sorrows. God bless! When you consider yourself worthy of them, you will receive relief and liberation. That time was the very remembrance of the passions of Christ, which He endured for our salvation, then should we avoid the sorrows sent for our sins? The Lord has risen, entered into His glory and may He resurrect us from our passions through the patience of sorrows. Pray for those who insult you. May 5, 1853. In all your letters, sorrows are visible, now from one thing, now from another. Of course, this is the way; according to the word of St. Isaac the Syrian: “The path of God is the cross every day, and from eternity and from generation to generation his path has been trodden by the cross” (Isaac ff. 35 p. 172). How to save yourself? We have no great feats, don’t ask about fasting, and there’s nothing to say about humility. Saint Climacus and Saint Peter of Damascus write that “the birth of sorrow is humility, and the birth of humility is true reason.” Although they attack and insult you unjustly, try to blame yourself and not them, for they are an instrument of God’s providence, sent to test you. This will make it easier for you to bear sorrow and receive consolation; Blame yourself for not having love for those who mourn, but the commandment commands you to love your enemies. June 6, 1853. You can receive sisters; after all, they are looking for salvation; and whoever grieves for this grieves not according to reason, and by hindering, he helps the enemy, who “hates even the voice of affirmation.” You write with sorrow about N., who is suffering beatings. If you are unable to avert this, then you must encourage patience and accept it with self-reproach. For her previous actions and absent-mindedness, when she was closer to the world, the enemy did not touch her; but she turns to work for the Lord, then she brings temptation; but not otherwise than by God's permission. Holy Scripture strengthens us like this: “Son, if you have begun to work for the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation with God; guide your heart and be patient” (Sir. 2:1, 2), and in other places there is a lot of strengthening for this tribulation. Read from St. Macarius of Egypt in the 7th word of chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17: everywhere you will find that we need sorrow for salvation. The Lord's will be done! But they are not allowed to everyone equally, but to some at the beginning, to others in the continuation of deeds, and to others at the end of them, according to the ineffable wisdom of God, which arranges everything for our benefit. There is no need to resist wearing what you are told, just don’t enjoy it. The money you earn, when you have extra money, you can use for the poor sisters, according to your desire; It would only be good if it was done in secret, without revealing itself. Mno - gogr. I.M. After writing these lines, I received 2 more letters from you. There’s no need to be too embarrassed about V.’s mother when it comes out. - He will carry his morality with him and, most likely, instead of the desired bliss and cup of sweetness, he will taste sorrow and the cup of sorrow. And your humble choir will be more pleasing to God than the vain one: there will be no one to sing what is partesque, but everyone can sing simple singing and bring praise to God, and not to please people. V.’s mother is pathetic because she is carried away by her opinion, and therefore by zeal and envy: and they are her tormentors. “And if she had true obedience, she would free herself from these cruel tormentors and acquire the humility that gives peace.” Let him read the 15th degree of St. John Climacus and the 14th and 15th chapters of Callistus and Ignatius, and try to do it as much as possible, and then he will be healed. And in turn, you can’t be praised for being irritated, but what can you do? The most merciful Lord bears all our infirmities. And then, just as we, having our own sinful wounds, do not stop judging and condemning others: for this reason, although the Lord tolerates us, He allows temptations in order to shake us through them and bring us to a sense and awareness of our badness and humble ourselves. Entrusting you and all your sisters to the protection of God, I remain the desire for your health and salvation. Multigr. I.M. June 3, 1853. Sensitively 38 I’m sorry that you are unworldly. It is not my mind to judge your matter, who is right and who is wrong; but it seems that this has been allowed to suit your temptation, and will be reconciled in time. If there had been internal, true reproach on both sides, then they would have suffered the external ones as well. Read (in Matthew) the Gospel ch. 5, 6, 7, - and, as much as possible, destroy yourself and humble yourself, as if you did not keep the commandments of God; ask for His help, so that He may abolish the machinations of the enemy, and leaving yourself from the communion of the life-giving Mysteries for a long time is very unhelpful. Although you need to prepare yourself with humility for three days, maybe God will give you peace; Where there is humility, there is the mercy of God. Before the sacrament, you can tell her from your heart: forgive me! – what do you feel, i.e. in retribution with words to each other and in mental hostility. We mortals do not know when we will be called to answer: “Be prepared, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:44). Why did these tyrants go to K., leave them to God’s providence, may the Lord protect them from the snares of the enemy; and if they take away the fruits of self-indulgence, then they will move forward more skillfully. I congratulate Sister P. on receiving the Holy Mysteries; and one should go to confession not for the sake of ritual, but with humility and a contrite heart, confessing to God Himself. Be healthy and peaceful; May the Lord forgive you. I.M. Most venerable sisters of Christ, Mothers O. and P.! From the sisters’ letter I see that one of you has begun to recover from illness, and the other is extremely weak and very weak in spirit from grief for her sister. I regret for you that you submit to the spirit of sadness, it does not bring any benefit, but is more frustrating; Can we resist the will of God when it is His will to take someone from this world into the next life? We must accept their deprivation in such a way that, by the grace of God, they move from sorrow to peace, and we should not at all kill ourselves by this, but take care of our health, for the glory of God - then God is able to comfort and send either a person or the writing of fatherly books; and for those who have departed, although their deprivation is sorrowful, we must be consoled by the hope of future blessings. For God’s sake, do not be discouraged and do not complain, but try to bring thanks to the Lord God. I stop these lines; I wish you to be complacent and patiently submit to the will of God, and to have peace and love with your sisters. I.M. September 28, 1831. Most venerable Mother O. of Christ! Glory to the most merciful Lord, who visited you with a severe illness and again healed you, and not only in your body, but partly in your soul, as I see from your writing, received on December 22. Bring thanks to the Lord for this, that He heals our weaknesses with nasty treatments and cleanses our sins with diseases; and through grateful and humble patience he also bestows crowns. The storm and excitement that has arisen against you, i.e. from some slander of unreal acts (about which I, however, know nothing), since it is false, it will be destroyed, and that storm will subside, the waves will be tamed - only we will not stop crying out to Christ: “Lord save us, we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25). When you appeared to the abbess, your great fear turned in the other direction, and although, perhaps, she was warned by these slander, God gave her a feeling in her heart that was contrary to the slander. Do you not see how great is the depth of the wealth and wisdom and mind of God? Is it not by God’s will that I am removed from you? Your imaginary benefit to others served as a temptation: giving it could have upset them even more and even set them up so that maybe they could have suffered inconvenience - neither I nor you; and now, with the help of God, you accepted what you could hear from the inspired lips of Father L. and Mother G. into memory; and at the appropriate time they received healing from them; and what’s more, you have your father’s books: St. Dorotheus, John Climacus, Philokalia, etc.; from them you will always, with God’s help, find benefit; and in perplexed cases, calling on the Lord and the prayers of the priest for help, act according to the disposition of your heart, in accordance with and closer to the will of God; You can also write to the priest for permission, as well as about the abbess’s offer to you about monasticism. There is only one remedy for embarrassment and impatience against one’s neighbors: self-reproach, humility and patience; If anything happens, do not give room to the enemy, but stop by reconciliation and always reproach yourself, and impute reproach and reproach to the worthy; and although you accept them with illness, then even here recognize your weakness and look down on yourself, which is why we will always have an opportunity to reproach ourselves; and not neighbors. I gave advice about the union of the spirit with F-yu for the common good, and if I found benefit in it, it was God’s work; but whatever it pleased the priest to subordinate her to you, it is none of my business; Apparently, the Lord told him to impose this obedience on you. He has a greater message - we must obey, although we ourselves are nothing, but through the prayers and faith of those who come, the Lord is able to strengthen and give the word. I.M. December 27, 1831. About Christ Jesus, mothers and sisters O. and P.! I wish you peace of mind and mental health, and always rejoice in the Lord and give thanks in everything. On the 27th of May I received your writings; Thank God that although your sorrows have subsided a little, the Lord has provided you with help about the construction through your brother. Why do you need to hide your sensory situation from him (even the emotional one, of course, is at your will, and he doesn’t need it)? He is your brother, and, as I see, he seems to be very well disposed, so it is very pleasant for him to enter your position. What he proposed to you about your transfer to the New monasteries, he told me about this, but I presented him with an impossibility. And why you, O.’s mother, don’t write to him, I don’t approve of; write simply, without mentioning the supposedly sorrowful cases and without explaining anything, but when he himself calls you to this, then you can explain yourself and present your innocence. They are secular people, they do not understand the inner voice calling a person to follow this path; but we don’t know, maybe the Lord will call them too; and silence is a kind of displeasure; we need to untie this knot. Order from Father G. In-not - to have an entrance to you - you need to be forced and fulfilled. Although we do not see the good in ourselves, and both you and I, with our minds are more able to darken than to enlighten: but God Himself comforts those who come running with faith and gives a word of consolation. It would be a very bad thing if you and I thought that we could be leaders of the lost; It is because of the lack of those who are worthwhile and worthy that God acts even on those who are unworthy. So, it is not appropriate to be cowardly: and ask God, that He Himself will give you words for the benefit of the decision that is involuntarily forced to do so. The interesting part is to beware in some cases; sometimes it is impossible to reject so as not to cause offense, but not on a significant scale; - let this be for the priest’s consideration. About mother A. - that you have a cross from her, this is visible and known to me from her dispensation; but look, during silence, does she have regret and repentance for her riots and sorrows or not? Does she realize that she is to blame, and does she ask for forgiveness or make an excuse? Does he feel the benefit, or does he just involuntarily, forcedly open up with a murmur? If she repents of her misdeeds, and regrets, and wants to correct herself, then there is hope that the mercy of God will visit her, and she must endure her weaknesses, just as the Lord tolerates our sins. During silence, you can reprimand more and incline to cut off the will than during a storm, and tell it that this is harmful and an unbearable burden for you. And if she herself wants to leave you, then there is nothing to be afraid of, write both to the priest and ask for his permission. I wrote about this: I relied on his will and remembered that I advised him to treat him about this. Mother V., like a person, can also be overcome by a wrong opinion, and even more so, seeing a reason for this, her entrance to you; forgive her internally and accept reproaches, as if she deserves it. Make peace with your most venerable father confessor; This is the first time he, not knowing your structure, did this; but come with faith and you will benefit. May the most merciful Lord cover you from all the snares of the enemy and admonish you to follow the path of His commandments, and may He forgive all your sins described before my unworthiness. I.M. June 2, 1832. Revered sister Mother O. in Christ! With all my sisters who are unanimous in Christ, I wish you peace, health and salvation. Realizing yourself guilty of insulting your sisters, you write that you yourself are drinking the cup of sorrow, equate this sorrow with what they feel, and be careful. F's weakness is only for obedience and for God's sake, so that her soul does not perish; however, you instill in her what is due and tends toward humility. It doesn’t always happen in this spirit; maybe when he is at peace; then speak to her with love in private, and God is strong, through the prayers of the priest, to touch the heart. Exactly, it’s hard to be embarrassed all the time or most of the time; Ask and pray for this of all the sisters and each one in particular, so that the peace of Christ given to us may be established in ourselves by eradicating passions. I didn’t like your words: “What should I do with her, she often gives me gifts too”? – Do you really consider yourself better than others? I laughed at this internally and write this as a joke, not as a reprimand. January 20, 1833. Thank you for sending my father’s letter and I congratulate you on the consolation received from him, which I read, but he also writes to me regarding your building, and, apparently, God is telling him not to separate N from you. It seems, both in your letter and in my letter, that there is a firm statement about this; – he also adds in my letter, which lines I place here: “When, according to God’s vision and from the love of the old woman, they began to unite close to each other, then the Lord is strong to continue to help them, to remain in constant harmony; and if it is His all-holy will that they be separated, then God will not allow further sedition.” And that these, mother F. and N., were allowed to mother O. - to show the alphabet, to learn the non-fallen path of humility and the knowledge of one’s weaknesses and so as not to lose what he teaches to others; and when she, O., with the assistance of God’s help, for the prayers of our fathers, will continue the three victorious weapons: 1st, patience, 2nd, self-reproach, 3rd, humility - then she will overcome everything and conquer all evil with this good (Rom. 12:21). These lines concern you; and above he wrote the same thing as in your letter: then, it seems, we should accept his advice, as if from the mouth of God, and strive, to the best of our ability, to carry it out, with the help of God; and what will follow from now on is covered in the darkness of the unknown for us, and although we make different plans for our life in our minds, thinking that this and that will happen, God’s providence rules differently. However, I’m not binding you, and the priest will probably agree: when you see that it’s more useful to arrange it differently, God bless you, that is. whether to ask for another place or to separate her somewhere else, if possible; but be careful that where we think we can find peace, no confusion results. Do not be offended by the imprisonment of others; I am sure, and so are all right-thinking people, that you, I, and all the persons known to us believe in the one Catholic and Apostolic Church, accept its dogmas and honor all the sacraments; Even though we are sinners, we rely on God’s mercy. We must regret that we are wrongly wise; and we pray to the Lord that He will not cause them to commit this sin. Be peaceful and calm with all sisters in Christ; May the peace and blessing of God be multiplied upon them. April 13, 1833. Most venerable sisters in Christ, mothers O. and P.! Glory to God, that you, mother O., were honored with the communion of the Holy Mysteries; May this be for you for the healing of your soul and body; although under compulsion, we had to humble ourselves, and it would always be fitting to have ourselves: earth and ashes and the worst of all, then the peace of God would be established with us; - and remember the debtor to whom the Lord released tens of talents, but he did not forgive his debtor even a hundred fines, that he suffered for this (Matthew 18:35)? Also in other cases, try to bear each other’s burdens; and in case of attempts, do not become rigid and not faint-hearted; but run with repentance to God and your neighbor, first blaming yourself internally. I am writing this to both of you to act in this way and to instill in the sisters who come to you, so that they do not have a hostile pledge towards those who are hostile to you and to them and would not utter them in word or deed, giving any kind of nasty appearance, and even more so by raising them up against you and themselves; but as benefactors, we impute them and those sent from God to show our dispensation, so that, if we want, we would be corrected. May the Lord God enlighten your mind and heart and strengthen you to do His holy will; and may He give you His peace, through the prayers of Father L., and may He forgive all your sins. August 17, 1833. I am very sad about this that you often have mental disorders, all this is due to lack of self-reproach on both sides. Although you are sometimes upset by others, and your embarrassment rests on your sister; when you need to say something to her, whether for her sisters or something else, it is better to remain silent during embarrassment, and to say it during peace - it will be more beneficial for both yourself and her; and in confusion, what is said gives rise to more quarrels and unrest. Also try to be at peace with I.A.; After all, she is your sister, and even weak in spirit and body. For God's sake, bear each other's weaknesses and overthrow the enemy's deceits; don't console him with your frustration; With God's help, study in the books of the holy fathers and begin to create. I am very sorry for your upset. May the Lord forgive you and give you peace and love among each other. Regarding the other sisters, I have no idea about this; when the priest arrives, ask him with humility; If it frees you, I don’t force you, and I don’t impose this obligation on them either. They themselves should know if they feel the benefit - but seek and stick to the best. And you, with God’s help, through the prayers of the priest, that God will put in your heart, do not refuse to say the word, even if it is a burden for yourself: “Greater love has no one to sow, but whoever lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) and love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Again, I repeat to you: have peace among yourself, overthrowing all the enemy’s treachery with humility and self-reproach, and in peace tell your sister if anything happens. September 15, 1833. You grieve for me, sister of P. V. about Christ Jesus, because you did not write a special letter to you, but why did you write together with your sister; - and by this you bring sorrow to me, the weak one. If an emergency happens to you, you need to write, although it’s a line or two, but it will still add up to a lot. Will you believe it? “Last time, in the second hour, I finished my letters at night, but there was no time to sleep.” Now, too, not even half of it has been written, and it’s already 10 o’clock, close to midnight. It’s easy to write to you one by one; but for me alone, it’s not without difficulty for everyone; - and about this I grieve to death. Although you wrote some matters, they have already been written and spoken about many times; why did I believe that you, having delved into it, reconciled yourself; I don’t know what to do, and it’s unlikely that my strength will bear it! No matter what I write, it’s the same thing and the same thing, which I must force myself to resist any confusion, to heal with humility and revelation. Read all 100 chapters of St. John of Carpathia; You will find a lot of them to your consolation, although it happens when you become embarrassed at someone, but for this you should not be faint-hearted, but, having humbled yourself, hope for a good dispensation, I.M. Mother O., venerable in Christ! I received your Scripture and, according to the strength of my weak mind, I delved into it as much as I could; I see from this that the victory that happened to you from a strong battle must recognize your weakness and humble yourself to the core before God and people, and consider yourself the worst of all; in such a dispensation God looks upon us and sends His help; and until we humble ourselves, we will not run away in any case of confusion; So in the sorrows that happen, always put the blame on yourself, and you will rest. Do not think that you are free from passions; why try to avoid their faults, such as: behavior with the other sex, conversations and thoughts; but in everything, rely not on your own strength, but on the help of God, Who is able to deliver us from the passions of dishonor. For your consciousness and repentance, may the Lord God forgive you. And what is the inherent benefit through the revelation of thoughts, I have experienced in myself; This is what the holy fathers teach us, so as not to hide our thoughts, but to reveal them: what is revealed is light, but what is not revealed is darkness (John 3:19, 20, 21). “The very thing that revealed and revealed evil thoughts to the father, they wither and create the weakest.” I.M. September 17, 1829. The most reverent sister in the Lord, and in spirit the daughter of P.! Thank God that He granted you His mercy to come to your senses, to recognize your guilt against your sister; Having asked for forgiveness from her, be calm, just take it as a lesson, so that in future you will be protected from such cases. Your past unpeace towards her came from nothing else than the action of your passions, which blind the eyes of your soul and do not allow you to see the truth. Although we advised you a lot both in writing and in words, introducing St. Scripture and fatherly teachings, but everything did not work. Likewise, God is able to pacify the present unworldliness of G. V-na and M. when humility appears in your feelings. Look at yourself and accuse yourself that you are guilty, that you deserve it, that you have lied a lot about your neighbors; but even if she didn’t say anything, she is guilty of not fulfilling God’s commandment: love your enemies. We sympathize and regret your illness, and we advise you not to grumble, but to force yourself to give thanks. If you realize that you have no works, then God’s mercy sent illness to your salvation, to the cleansing of sins and to the abstinence from them: “If our outer man decays, then the inner man is renewed” (2 Cor. 4:16). May the Lord correct all your mental and physical needs and forgive you all your sins. Hierosch. L. and I.M. Most reverent sister of Christ, mother O.! What should we do when God has arranged it this way for the sisters to have access to you? Apparently, silence is not good for you. Try to calm your sister and bear her infirmities; although she will be embarrassed about something, be patient with condescension; and ask the sisters to refrain from doing what offends her, tolerating her weakness; so God will bear their infirmities. The entry of sisters is a matter of spiritual mercy, and without mercy, where are we good for? You know that the palace was also closed to the virgins who had no oil, i.e. works of mercy. I have grieved your sister; She grieves me because I don’t write to her; but it is already truly beyond my strength; At every opportunity I force myself and exhaust myself with letters, but even then I cannot satisfy everyone. For the Lord’s sake, I ask you, do not grieve for me if I do not write: accept this too with faith; and now I can’t write to many people, I’m leaving it until a future opportunity; Really, I’m exhausted, I just can’t. I.M. Revered Sister P. in Christ! I deeply regret about you, seeing from your letter your pitiful disposition and lack of peace with your sister. You write: “The insolence and furious part acts in a strong degree; in just a little time the whole inside will catch fire.” What to do here? One must constantly reproach oneself and descend into the depths of humility; you see that these are the essence of the fruits of pride. St. Simeon the Theologian in the 31st word: “Dishonored or annoyed and greatly pained by this, we know from this that he carries around the ancient serpent in the depths,” i.e. pride. At St. Dorotheus you will find many useful things for correcting your dispensation, just be forced, with the help of God, to follow them, such as: about humility, self-reproach, patience, etc.; they all show us our structure and means of healing. Once you received a reproachful thought in your heart against your sister, then every movement of hers seems sharp to you, and this is due to lack of self-reproach and unbelief. You forget the providence of God, that without His will nothing unpleasant can happen to us; and all this is allowed to correct our dispensation, so that we, seeing our weakness, would confess before God and people, and ask for God’s help with humility, and could achieve such a dispensation that we would love our enemies, according to the commandment of the Lord. Here I am writing something that concerns you: but don’t think about praising your sister either; There must be mutual self-reproach and bearing each other’s infirmities. Leave your grief about the plan of your cell; do you need much? The grave is three arshins - and it’s enough. And you, thank God, still sit freely, walk and breathe, like a queen; Others who are most worthy have no shelter and are imprisoned in chains, but you have angered the Creator so much and are sitting in such consolation. Why do the sisters come to N.’s mother - this is not done by her will; and put aside this thought that others are given peace, but you are not. - What kind of peace? Even if you take it to heaven without humility, you will not find peace, and passions there will not give you peace. Believe this and try to purge them here - you have a chance; According to your structure, silence is not useful. Bear the infirmities of others: “Greater than love has any one to lay down his life for his neighbor” (John 15:13), and: “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). Father’s arrival weighs on you, it’s because of the opposite; he feels that his intrigues will be revealed, and you will correct yourself: he doesn’t want this, but you should be even more happy. For God’s sake, reconcile yourself with your sister, may the Lord forgive you! Be more loving and lenient towards the visiting sisters; This will make your battle much easier. I.M. From the words of John of Carpathia: “Spread the word of affirmation for the sake of those who are in need because of cowardice. Having already been found, you write, among you who are in India, there is nothing from the brethren, more than aspirations, greatly aggravated by temptation and denying both the life and stay of the monks, saying that it was oppressed and painful, and as if you had gratified the worldly, having decreed the day, in the same image you received. For this reason, I was forced to create a real word and smooth verbs, as if they were powerful and the ignorant, and not the book’s verb, could understand.” Above: “Condemn yourself below, for you will perish: I do not say, for I live immaculately, enduring in a foreign society, but even if you are a great sinner, the sorrow of your soul and suffering are more honest with God than worldly virtue, your sorrow and pity are many, and so on. If you are pious and humble in wisdom, you are not exalted by vain arrogance, you are less daring, but you are contrite in heart and counting yourself incapable of being a slave of being and contrite in spirit; Are you so humble in wisdom? It’s better to eat yours - oh otherwise! sin is the truth of the world, and your most necessary defilement is more than the great purification of life.” Chapter 31 of Simeon the New Theologian: “The one who is dishonored or annoyed and seriously ill at heart is known to be from this, as if he were encircling an ancient serpent in the depths. Even if he endures in silence, or answers with much humility, he has become weak and weakened. If he contradicts with grief, or speaks with insolence, he will give strength to the serpent to pour poison into his heart and savagely devour his inner being; from here, we strengthen him every day, with the means to create correction in the good and the strength of his damned soul, and for him to live from sin; the dead must of course be true.” Most venerable sister of Christ, Mother O.! I wish you, together with all our sisters of one accord in Christ, peace and health of soul and body. I received your Scripture, sent through brother N., and heeded its contents; I also learned quite a bit about this matter from him. I deeply feel sorry for you and for our souls who are being tempted by the common enemy and who have a spiritual connection with you by revelation. But no matter how many tricks there were, the most merciful Lord did not allow you to fall under the cross of this temptation, but strengthened and supported you with His incomprehensible strength and might. Although from the confluence of emotional troubles I suffered from physical illness; but from it also the Lord raised you up. And I clearly experienced the fruits of your sorrows myself: I saw my shortcomings, the passions lying within and their actions; and although she did not suddenly correct herself, however, pride and opinion that darkens the eyes of the soul will not have a place and offer to correct their imaginary virtues, and their neighbors with contempt; but even more so, one must descend into the abyss of humility and self-abasement, and the Lord looks upon it and grants peace of mind. And between them, after such incidents and their exposure, there will henceforth be more caution and consideration. Listen to the benefits of the temptations of St. Isaac the Syrian in the 35th word: “Those who remain in temptation are never allowed to fall into the hands of demons; It is even more so if they kiss the feet of the brothers and cover their guilt, and hide it as if it were their own.” In the 36th word: “The Lord knows that it is not powerful for those who exist in the rest of the body to remain in His love, and for this reason He forbade them from its rest and sweetness.” In the 37th word: “Every untrained son does not accept the wealth of his father’s house, even if he needs help from him. For this reason, God first tempts and torments, and also shows the gift. There is no one who does not grieve during training, and there is no one who does not have a bitter time, but in his youth he drinks the poison of temptation.” Having considered this, understand that temptations are tolerated from the love of God, and are accepted with thanksgiving. From now on, be more careful in your words and don’t suddenly openly trust everything to everyone; and ask God about this, that he may give you understanding about everything. Deny and beware of accepting things without great need, and even more so when significant confusion has already occurred from this, because you cannot be at peace. Our salvation comes from compassion for our neighbors, to the best of our ability; and above the forces below God demands. You can’t get rid of yourself completely, but be more indifferent in their explanations and don’t curry favor with them, i.e. do not go to them unless absolutely necessary, but so that everyone who has a need should seek you himself and with humility; but remembering your own weaknesses, bear others as well, and forgive your neighbors’ sins. As for those who question you about your heterodoxy, be calm about this, having a clear conscience in confessing the Orthodox faith and the content of all church decrees; then even if they begin to test you, God will teach you how to answer, according to the word of the Lord Himself: “When you are brought before kings and rulers, do not worry about how or what you answer, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you should say” (Matthew 10:18). May the most merciful Lord strengthen you and enlighten you, and give you peace of mind. I.M. February 7, 1834. It is touching for us to hear about various upheavals that occurred among you, who imagined to be in unanimity, due to the machinations of the enemy; but when you stand firmly on the rock of faith and look to the Author of faith and Finisher Jesus, who suffered for us, then no hesitation will bring you down, and even more so when we do everything with humility, removing our thoughts from the sight of others who are tempted by our common enemy. She tempted herself: when sister V. attacked you, she received inner freedom with strong reprimands: and when she saw another, what did she suffer? We do not at all bind you or them, but, according to their desire and need, we deign to have their revelation to you, and we do not advise you forcefully; when they have spiritual, or even physical, needs and come with humility, explaining their infirmities, to ease their conscience, do not deny them; but whatever word the Lord gives to console and heal them, according to the measure of their faith, tell them. Do not think about yourself that you are worthy of this or have a gift; but think that, according to their faith, God will grant them freedom. Notice this: by faith, but without faith can there be any benefit? You can tell them this when the occasion demands it, i.e. when someone in a confused and violent situation will urgently demand something. Have complete freedom and indifference to their whims and, as much as possible, restraining yourself from indignation, you can indifferently tell them not to bother coming to you with such embarrassed demands - they will get nothing; for it is not for this end that a spiritual agreement has been arranged between you, so as to constantly beg sedition, but to have relief of conscience and, through explanation, to avoid the deceits of the enemy and to prosper with age in the spiritual life; but you see the opposite. Although such advice of yours will cause them trouble, try to appease yourself and regret it. Do not say reproachful words to others about them; twice as much will be added to what you said, and unworldliness and blasphemy will be born; otherwise, little by little, from self-reproach, embarrassment will disappear. We have written to you as much as the Lord has advised, as a consolation; and He Himself is able to console you and pacify you and destroy all the networks of the enemy. Hierosch. L. and I.M. March 14, 1834. Firstly, I ask all of you, do not call me such titles, which I do not have, and am not worthy of naming them, for they will appear in court before me and condemn me - that I know my badness and do not reject them, if you also do not respect this request of mine (not to mention the order, because I am not worth it), then in the future you will not receive, although I am insignificant, my answer to yours. scriptures. Listening to your writing, I turn to the last point regarding your victory against your sister’s infirmities; It seems that God carefully allowed himself to be tempted by this punishment, for contemplating the infirmities and passions of his neighbors. I'm afraid to say in the affirmative - for me it's taco. V. Mr. definitely has weaknesses of self-love and so on, but you, not turning in simplicity of heart, but looking only at the illnesses of others, have become darkened by the darkness of passion. But thanks be to the Lord that the punishment was short, and do not reverse it, but correct it; Strive to see with your mind only your own sins, and see the virtues of others, and the Lord will look at you. You should have the excuse that you do not have orders from the priest, but meanwhile you would write to him and ask for release. But, apparently, so be it, maybe this incident will serve to resolve the matter. Don’t be cowardly about what happened to you, but humble yourself and remember that you are guilty. “The most insignificant P!” If this thought were always in your heart, in accordance with the signature in your letter, then it would be great with God, for He looks upon the humble and says how we can find peace for our souls: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). But you and I, Sister P., are still beyond this measure, but let us strive, in any case, to mentally reproach ourselves and, with the help of God, drive away all insolence and zeal from ourselves; and in case of victory, do not lose heart, but flow to God and your neighbor with repentance. Seated in prison, may the intelligent light of our Savior enlighten you! Do not grieve because you are sitting; God knows best what is good for you; when sitting in your cell, you are sick with passions, then what would happen to your health? Then they would have become more furious, but now thank the Lord for having arranged this for you, and offer Him the patience of your illness with humility. I teach you humility, but I myself am filled with pride, I dared to call you insignificant: I did this in the hope that you would forgive me. I.M. May 27th. Do not be embarrassed, but trust in the will of God; and if you are slandered with false slander, then rejoice all the more and accept it as a cure for your spiritual passions, and as you yourself realize that this is retribution for the words or deeds with which you insulted your neighbors, and for other crimes of the commandments of God. We are firmly convinced that you had no idea of ​​carrying or preparing a knife on N. N.; but these are the wiles of demons and the advice of the enemy - lies clothe with truth. There are many examples, both ancient and modern, that those who have fallen into delusion are confused by the enemy, who not only suggests in thoughts, but also clearly shows things that did not exist at all, in order to assure and completely deceive those who obey him. We must feel sorry for her and, to the best of our ability, pray to God: may he heal her and not allow her to fall into the hands of the enemy. We know that this is difficult for you, due to communication, but compel in your heart to forgive her, and you yourself will receive forgiveness; and not hate it, but regret it. The memory you have of anger towards V. Mr., for her offenses, try to reject and destroy, without letting go of your memory: “If you do not forgive your neighbors their sins, your heavenly Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:14); and rejoice that the Lord vouchsafes you to do so much good to those who have offended you, and do not defile the fulfillment of this commandment with resentment. When you see this serpent’s persistence from you, lay down your weakness before God and ask for His help. Likewise, look at K, since your coldness comes from - is it not from our shortcomings? And what is bad in her, expose it with love, and if she listens, you will gain a sister; If she disobeys, be at her will; but beware of hatred. Your F. loved the world and clung to it with insoluble bonds; what to do? Exactly, you should be disgusted that you couldn’t be an example of a pious life for her and in some cases acted harshly with her, fulfilling your passion. We do not know what would have happened to her subsequently: could she have resisted the scorching arrows of the enemy and extinguished the furnace of carnal ferment? It is necessary, having surrendered this to the will of God, to reassure oneself that He, with His love for mankind, can save her there or, through unknown destinies, arrange the path to monastic life. How much the Lord has given, he wrote for your consolation, but you yourself try to learn from the teachings of St. fathers. Read the chapters of Mark the Ascetic, there you will find much to strengthen you, and St. Isaac the Syrian 20th word; you have it written off. St. Barsanuphius writes out these lines: “The Lord endured the cross, shouldn’t you rejoice in the sorrows, the generous enduring of which leads you into the Kingdom of Heaven? It is a good sign that you are grieving: don’t you know that sorrows or temptations are sent by God to test us? And the Lord said: You will be in a world of sorrow.” June 27, 1834. We rejoice at your safe return to your monastery and at your favorable reception by Mother Abbess; thank the most merciful Lord for this, not with words and feelings alone, but even more so with your efforts to fulfill His holy will. Further stretching out for the feat, do not despair of God’s help, which will not allow you to fall under the cross of sorrows, but will send you both abundance and reason on how to act in these cases. Enough has been said to you about dealing with those who are well-minded. When they seek benefit with a peaceful and humble spirit, they will undoubtedly find it with God’s help; and if, with a stormy spirit, they forcibly try to extract it, then, instead of good fruits, they eat bitter and harmful ones and harm themselves. And you, pitying them, make peace within yourself and endure the push of intrigue, reproaching yourself for the stirred up passion, if it follows, where necessary, then like St. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “It is fitting that I punish those who oppose them with meekness: as God will give them repentance in the mind of truth; and they will arise from the snare of the devil; live according to his snare according to his will” (2 Tim. 2:25, 26). Look at the compassion of the holy man for sinners, and those who are contrary to the truth; he does not blame them, but considers them captured from the devil into his will. Try, to the best of your ability, to imitate this teaching and you will find yourself wanting to be the fulfiller of God’s commandment about loving enemies, who are not enemies, but also benefactors, encouraging us to fulfill God’s commandments. But now we see the event that one, having been quickly caught from the devil’s snare, has now arisen from it; F.'s mother: she writes about her bad state of mind, her actions, and about coming to her senses and repentance. We just received her letter today and were sincerely rejoiced at her conversion; but we don’t have time to write to her at this post office; God forbid that in future the enemy will not shake her disposition. Of course, he will not stop fighting, but God’s help is strong and strong. Thus, others may arise. I.M. Christ is Risen! Revered in the Lord, Sister O.! With all my sisters who are unanimous in Christ, I wish you good health mentally and physically. Thank the Lord that you received from the priest, as a consolation, scripture; Equally, in this regard, glory be to the Lord, who has given you the feeling to place hope and care in the Lord God, in regard to your construction and in your superiors; that is why you are in good spirits. This is the clear intercession of God, through the prayers of the priest, revealed to you; and henceforth I advise you, sister, in all cases of sorrow and bewilderment, calling on the prayers of the priest, to submit to the will of God with submission, then the sorrows themselves will be more bearable. I heard that there was no mention of tonsuring you, then if you are confused about this, console yourself with the fact that it is God’s will for the better. Having tonsured your hair, although you will rise in rank in society, you will be required to pay more, i.e. they will be assigned to some superior or other position, then the burden will greatly increase; and now be satisfied with your current title - it’s time for you, and carry it. If God’s will is done and tonsure comes out, don’t deny it. The cases you described about the two sisters given to you, to the knowledge of your weakness and for their benefit, although sorrowful, had a favorable ending, i.e. ended with their repentance and condolences. What should I do, sister? I wish something like this would never happen, but when is it allowed to happen? If it were possible to be free, it would be good; but, apparently, it is impossible, and God announced so to the priest; read his letter, which I wrote to you about in my letter, that he wrote to me about you, and believe that this is for your benefit. God will protect you and your sister from higher temptations; continue to fulfill the obedience assigned by the priest, without rejecting those who come with faith; although you are weak and foolish, the Lord will enlighten you and give you a word for the benefit of everyone. In any confusion between sisters, advising them to endure and lay reproach upon themselves, let us read St. Dorothea: “About reproaching yourself and not your neighbor”; also “On Humility” and in general, in any case, let St. John Climacus book. It is also good to read the teachings in the prologues, they are very useful; assigning each one to read as much as God will announce, and when the need requires, remind them of this teaching, just as the fathers teach to fight passions in order to have peace afterwards. Although it is difficult to fight, it is necessary, for our life is bloodless martyrdom. May the Lord enlighten you and give you His peace and may all your sins be forgiven; I remain an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. Venerable daughters of the Lord in spirit, mother O. and P.! O.'s mother was sick, but now, thank God! I feel relieved, thank the Lord God for all this, He knows what is for our benefit; and avoid murmuring, bear each other’s burdens, cleanse your hearts more often and fertilize them with humble wisdom. Even if any deeds have virtues, attribute them not to yourself, but to God; and if, moreover, seeing yourself in their poverty, replace them with humility and repentance; and good deeds without humility will not save; but on the contrary, humility without works is a strong intercession with God for us. Hierosch. L. and I.M. You, Sister P., write about the embarrassment and repentance you experienced. This is regrettable: how much we tried to strengthen you to rely not on your own works, but on the mercy of God and to humble yourself, but you are still embarrassed and blame your attire; Reproach yourself and you will calm down. This, it seems, has suffered from your long obstinacy in non-revelation and lack of purification of conscience; force yourself to do it, and you will get relief. Tell me, if you were not obliged to wear clothes, would you be peaceful in your current affairs? Perhaps she would have fallen into grief, excusing herself with worldly attire; and she would look down on others, seeing their weaknesses, and would fall into complete contempt and pride. Now you don’t even dare to bring your thoughts closer to the judgment of those who are faulty, you yourself are wallowing in the mire and are gored by your conscience, you remain within the boundaries of humility: and then, perhaps, you would still dream something about yourself. Do not be embarrassed, but humble yourself and calm down; and embarrassment, know; which is from the opposite. May God protect you from all his snares. November 20, 1835. We truly desire, but do not have the power to give your sisters peace: the power of passions and demonic cunning destroy them on both sides. For God’s sake, I ask you, mother O., instill in them everything to humility and to ask for forgiveness; This weapon alone abolishes all enemy forces. It is impossible to justify them either, for they are also human, like us, and also ignorant. This is why they have been entrusted to you, in order to enlighten them and provide them with well-ordered morality; in which may the most merciful Lord help you and them through the prayers of our father L. I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. January 9, 1836. From your letters, Mother O., we see the visit you received, by the grace of God, and therefore the battle and your victory in it. Don't be surprised by this; after consolation there is always giving, to the test of our humility. What to do? I was overcome by passion, but God also helped me to come to my senses and come to my senses. It is not from our neighbors’ long-suffering that we receive correction, but from our kindness toward their untruths and insults; and all this happens not without the providence of God, but is carefully allowed; and we, leaving God, seek our neighbors and withdraw from the right mind. We wish Sister P. to be complacent and not lose heart in battles, but, as much as she has the strength, to resist them and place her hope in the mercy of God, asking Him for help. The Lord is able to strengthen her, and even more so when she humbles herself. Hierosch. L. and I.M. March 18, 1836. N.O – do not try to speak what is proper, I will admonish you to the Lord; and for self-rule and disobedience he will reap the bitter fruits of self-will; We write to her, but we don’t know how she will receive it. He who has been tempted by all the news, but who has not been tempted and is still led by the spirit of the world, does not understand the possible harm. You, with your caution, preserving you to the Lord, will not be above measure in this temptation. Offer her to read those passages of St. fathers, where the cutting off of one’s will is commanded: St. Climacus, St. Dorotheus, Simeon the New Theologian, Callistus, Ignatius 14 and 15 chapters, and Theodore of Edessa: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 45 chapters. If her will is good, the Lord is able to bestow the good fruit of the seed of the word of God, and for this you will receive a reward from the Lord. We do not wish for the new sister V., may the Lord strengthen her unshakably on the rock of faith and free her from all confusion and the snares of the enemy; and both to her and to the other sisters, we send our blessing to the unworthy. November 7, 1836. We received your and P.’s letter dated March 11; We see from this that, although you are in poor health, you are still going about your life through Jesus strengthening you. And henceforth, may the Lord help you to lead your life according to the commandments of the Lord in peace and harmony among yourself and with everyone, overthrowing all evil enemy intentions that rise to the disorder of peace and love. Try to bear each other’s burdens, forgiving each other’s sins, so that the Lord will forgive you your sins. Thank the Lord that He has given you, Sister P., some relief, with all your laziness and negligence that you describe; and when you are still in good spirits and accept the visitation of the Lord, which was sent to you from His ineffable love to save you, who cannot deserve this gift with your deeds, then you will receive even more consolation, joy in spirit and relief. What you write, mother O. about N. O-ne, you should not condescend to her demands, but she herself believes and realizes that this should not be, and promises to leave it. But however, due to her ignorance of this and spiritual warfare, these meetings, about which you wrote, must be forgiven, they will serve her in the future as caution and knowledge; for the enemy will not stop tempting her with anything else, since we are all not free from his arrows and nets, and if the Lord had not helped, we could have stood against them for a minute. Do not be burdened by this, that you bear the infirmities of the weak; and the Lord will bear your infirmities; and you tell them what they deserve, out of pure zeal and for their obedience to us unworthy, who want to save you; then although the seed is sown from unclean hands, it may fall on good soil, which over time will bear fruit. Try to have equal love for everyone, and for God too; let them read in books what serves to self-reproach, humility, patience, obedience and love. A. V-na Zh-va also writes to you, asking also to entrust her to you for spiritual conversation and nourishment; She knows this, that having care means a lot, but when we left, we didn’t tell her where to go, because she was only coming to you to stay and see the monastery. We, knowing her subtle and lofty concepts and sharp mind, left it to her to choose a mentor for herself. Since she now wants to stay with you, she asks for this in order to entrust it to you; and we ask you, according to God, to take on this work, not because you are worthy of it in mind and in deeds, but according to your faith, so that it does not grow cold. She, or rather God, will act in these cases, and so that nothing unpleasant happens on the part of your bosses, we write to the abbess about this, and you can explain to the abbess and show her these lines of ours; We seem to see her favor towards us and have no doubt that she would suspect us or you of this. This is done both for the common and for her benefit, easing her yoke of rule; You are not admonishing her against it, but more towards obedience and so as not to go astray in the opposite direction of superiority or impoverishment, but to follow the middle path. There is no time to particularly respond to V-ny lines, and there is little need to insist; let her maintain obedience with humility and soften the stubbornness of her character, let her adhere to revelation; when she humbles herself in thought, it will not be difficult for her to make a revelation. From July 8, N.N. and I received the scripture and, listening to it, we see painful and sorrowful shocks happening to both of you, which we are not surprised at, for all those who follow the path of salvation are faced with various sorrows and temptations. – And this is a sign that the Lord loves you and prepares you, through local sorrows and illnesses, for eternal bliss; but we regret that you are faint-hearted. Having no good deeds, how can one receive God’s mercy if not by accepting those who find them sorrowful and painful with complacency and gratitude, and by reproaching oneself? Because of this, sorrows are more bearable. Your cowardly bearing of insults and contempt comes from your structure, which is what you are aware of; It also hurts us that this is happening from those who are unanimous, and we cannot alleviate this, so as not to cause you even more grief, which, as we see from the letter, is happening to you; you will open it to relieve grief, and she, out of simplicity, will begin to reprimand them; – there, instead of consciousness and correction, there will be more boiling. We are all weak, and through the weak God wants us to be corrected. We must prepare ourselves to graciously accept sorrows. First: firmly believe that without the will of God no one can not only cause us sorrow, but say less than an unpleasant or contemptuous word; and all this is sent for our benefit, or to test our faith and show us our morality, or to punish us for sins - and whatever the reason, everything is saving. Second: to have ourselves first being dust and ashes and worse than everyone else, then, when sorrow comes, we will more easily bear this burden, and if we are embarrassed and do not endure, we will recognize our weakness, we will reproach ourselves and grieve not for being reproached or annoyed, but for not having endured. Third: read the books of St. fathers about this matter: St. Climacus, St. Dorothea, St. Isaac's words: 20 34, 35, 36, 37, 46, 51 and other fathers in the Philokalia teachings; Remember the suffering of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who left us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps, whom we reproach without reproaching (1 Peter 2:23). From this the soul will be aroused to courage and gratitude and those who find patience. Also, when you have it, read the conversations of St. Zosima: they are filled with great benefit. If there are no occasions for us, we will not recognize our dispensation and will not be healed of passions. Chapter 31 of Simeon the New Theologian clearly shows us why we are faint-hearted. When, to ease your conscience, you open up to the abbess, then ask diligently, so as not to exact this from them and not show it to them, because you are not uttering a complaint, but revealing your weakness, seeking healing: then the Lord will save you here too. When you do this, you will honor them not with your tongue, but with your heart as benefactors who care about the healing of your soul. You also explain your cowardice, which happens when we entrust the sisters to you; Maybe it’s not because of internal vanity and fear, coupled together, that this happens: you should despise it. We do this without considering you smart or holy, but we know that you are passionate and rather stifled by them and wallowed in the mire of passions; so that those who enter again and resort to our evil do not fall completely into these ditches; or they would not ascend to the mountains of arrogance, then we instruct you to guard them so that they do not fall into the same ditches. St. writes about this. John Climacus, and also he in the 26th century. writes: “Let the humble be content, even though they sin,” and further: “If they are tormented by former bad habits, but although they can teach with a simple word, then let them teach, for perhaps, being ashamed of their words, they will begin to practice virtue; and because they showed the way to salvation, they themselves will receive mercy and salvation from God.” Read this article for yourself. For God’s sake, do not be embarrassed about this, but walk your path with humility and hope in God, and God will save you. Hierosch. L. and I.M. July 17, 1837. Having received a letter from Sister P., dated November 7, about the solemn, comforting acceptance of the monastic image by you, mother R., we sincerely rejoice and wish you help from God in preserving it and the vows you have given; We sincerely congratulate both of you on this spiritual consolation. You, sister P., complain about your structure and the melancholy that exhausts you. We are in battle, we must have a feat, present our will and ask for God’s help, recognizing ourselves as guilty of our bad dispensation, lowering ourselves into the depths of humility, and God will help you. Do not despise anyone for their weaknesses, accept insults as if they were deserved and sent to you from God to heal your ulcers; and when we do the opposite, we will reap the bitter fruits of our sowing. Endure melancholy without enduring it, but putting yourself at fault, and expect abundance; Beware, it (despondency) will take advantage of her, and in your illness it will do more harm. Hierosch. L. and I.M. November 13, 1837. Accept attacks from neighbors with self-reproach; If you are confused, then do not look for the reason in your neighbors, but look at your rotten dispensation, which requires these efforts for healing, and you should consider them sent from God, in order to see yourself and, through self-reproach, make a start for correction. This alphabet is already fairly familiar to us; it’s time to get down to business and start reading. You, mother N., describe some details that outrage you out of obedience, but can we forbid them? Doesn’t God control everyone and send everything to our temptation, using those who are servile to us as tools? Let us resort to the stronghold of humility and meekness, which alone are powerful to calm and pacify our hearts. Many-sinning Hierosch. L. and I.M. December 25, 1837. Most reverent Sister P. in Christ! I deeply sympathize with the unworldliness that is happening to your sister, and with the cowardice that befalls you. You recognize yourself as being impatient and giving rise to embarrassment; You also live in laziness, you condemn and despise your sisters, you insult with impudent words, you are often overcome by rage: according to your inner structure and sorrow you feel, and not from the outside, i.e. from neighbors. You must take care to ask for God’s help to correct yourself; and it is impossible to correct ourselves without someone opening and showing you your wound; and then passion is driven away by patience and self-reproach. But with silence and tranquility you cannot free yourself from spiritual passions; St. the fathers command: “Those who have a cruel disposition should treat their cruel brethren, so that their cruelty will be softened by frequent reprimands and reproaches and, having humbled themselves, they will be healed.” Apparently, God has carefully allowed you to be in the public eye, to become aware of your weakness. Just as you are weak, so is your sister and the other sisters who come to her, not by her will, but by order of the priest, and among all of you the enemy sows his bitter weeds and builds intrigues in order to cause confusion, and leads to quarrels, and, God forbid, to separation. I advise you, as my soul: do not accept the enemy’s advice on your sister and on the sisters who outrage you; but try to reproach yourself, show love and leniency to everyone. Perhaps your end is not far off, and for this reason the enemy is trying even harder to cause disturbances and advises you to please the people of the world. You write that you read the word of John of Carpathia: what is written there about this? Read it again, you'll see; which does not command one to please the worldly more than the monks. And another brother asked the elder: “How we fast and pray, and we all say: we fall, and we all sigh and strain; But the worldly, living in pleasures and lusts, always having fun, and do not say that they are fallen"? - To this the elder answered: “They fell in one wondrous fall, and they do not see this, they can rise lower. Moreover, even demons don’t fight them like that; “We accepted monastic suffering better than worldly bliss.” After the embarrassment that happens to your sister, having reproached yourself and realized your obstinate disposition, ask for forgiveness, explaining your embarrassment, not blaming anyone, but blaming yourself and presenting your weakness. I would write to her about this, but I’m afraid: there may be confusion between you; she will say that you complained about her. - Although it would not hurt to explain to others in embarrassment, it is also dangerous, lest it cause confusion; in this case, experience will teach you more. Involuntary grief is allowed to you for voluntary insults to your neighbors and for all your infirmities you described; You don’t bear sorrow by your own will, but if you give up, then you are allowed to do so involuntarily. It's your fault against your father; you know how much he cares, and you demand a letter to you; If I had humbled myself, I would have calmly accepted it. May the Lord comfort you and give peace between you. Unworthy pilgrim I.M. Unhumble, proud, she was offended that the priest did not write to you, but did not accept that she was unworthy of this. I, a sinner, always answered your letters; to the last one, in which you called yourself evil, he answered, and with these words he added: “The evil one benefits from evil suffering,” and you say that you did not receive an answer from me. So, having given you such a reprimand, may the Lord forgive you, and I forgive you, the unworthy one. For the Lord’s sake, in all cases, force yourself to humility, and patience, and self-reproach, and you will find peace; You read from the holy fathers that we need insults, and through them we receive meekness and humility; If you can’t bear it, blame yourself and reproach yourself. May the peace of God rest on you, through the prayers of the priest; and I, unworthy, send my blessing and remain unworthy of your pilgrim, many-sinful I.M. I am sure that you will not be offended by me for this reprimand, for it is not out of malice or hatred, but out of true goodwill and zeal. To your writing, although in these small lines, I answer you: glory to the most merciful Lord that He comforts you and told your brother to comfort you and send you what you need to keep; give thanks to the Lord for this. Although I wrote that you are vainglorious about this, it serves you more as a precaution, so that this passion does not creep into your heart; and when you feel free from it, thank God! In this regard, I rejoice that the Lord has granted peace to you and your sister, after the violent storms and enemy uprisings that tried to shake your spiritual church and upset you with enmity with your sister - the memory of insults and annoyances. Keep this peace and do not allow the enemy to quarrel with you yet; but, bringing yourself down with your thoughts into the abyss of humility, cast aside the sorrowful thoughts that arise, and you will see God’s help. May the Lord give you peace of mind, and may he cover you from all the snares of the enemy, and may he forgive you all your sins, voluntary and involuntary, and for the prayers of our memorable fathers: Theodore, Cleopas and Athanasius, may the peace of God rest on you. Hierosch. L. with his brethren and the many-sinful I.M. Revered Sister P. in Christ Jesus! After the sultry and fierce arrows of the enemy, the most merciful Lord deigned to come to your senses and recognize the enemy’s treachery: where did your rigidity and accumulation of confusing and suspicious thoughts lead you? Of course, not to peace, but to greater disorder. There is no way you could have been peaceful, even if the enemy offered you to be under the protection of N., but God delivered you from this, so it was arranged for the priest to come to you - this was done for your common benefit. I confirmed this to you both personally and in writing; you know the obstinacy of your character; How is he healed if not by self-consciousness and repentance and constant self-reproach? And when you don’t have a chance to see yourself, you can’t reconcile yourself, and therefore the healing will be doubtful. Although you are weak in body, long live your spirit; when you reproach yourself, it is convenient to have a revelation, and you will consider other shortcomings to be bitches when you see your log. May the Lord forgive you for your temporary relapse from what is due. I.M. April 8, 1833. So the merciful Lord consoled you with Father’s writings. Keep in mind the spiritual wisdom written in it, read it often and, with God’s help, try to fulfill his fatherly advice, which you have already transgressed, and this is the most important thing in your dispensation and relates to your peace of mind. When your sister told you: “I always see you comforted, and I don’t know why,” you answered her: “If I say what I feel, we will often get into trouble, and I won’t be able to bear it”; but, it seems, you have already experienced that through revelation and explanation of your weaknesses and enemy decoys you can get peace. You say that I am embarrassed by such and such thoughts against you, or against some sister, although you do not agree with him; and if she agrees, due to weakness or foolishness and blindness, explain that; then, it seems, there shouldn’t be trouble here, but it should be destroyed; just explain with humility, showing the wound and the desire to be healed, and not in the form of a reprimand or reproach; I have already written to you about this many times. I.M. April 13, 1833. I regret F.’s mother that such a shock happened to her; I don’t know the reason for it. Of course, she herself knows what brought her to such extreme exhaustion; and since this paroxysm is known to her, and she knows what more comes through, then it is necessary, as much as possible, to beware of these cases that lead to this, at least from those that are in our will, i.e. cells. If something happens to their sister, they need to explain matters with humility and hold back the furious part that scorches, burns and incinerates the good and calm disposition of the mind and heart. Also, from the outside, if something happens, it is better to believe that God’s providence arranges it this way. As for me, I don’t find any guilt in her against me, unless she herself has some mental one, and her conscience accuses her of that, or I gave her something to blame for this. In all this, may God forgive her, and I, who am unworthy, forgive her; I hope that this shock is also over, and now she is again healthy and in good spirits. You need to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not please yourself, so that the Lord will bear our infirmities; and forgive our neighbors, so that the Lord will forgive us too: and when the heart moves from occasions, notice and recognize our dispensation. I have prayed and written to you about this many times; and now I repeat the same thing, even though I myself am wrong in all of it. May the Lord help you in everything with His mercy and forgive you all your sins, and may the peace of God rest on you. I.M. July 11. O Christ Jesus, sister and spiritual daughter N.! I wish you salvation and joy in the Lord! Rejoice, sister, that the Lord has vouchsafed you to receive the holy image in which to live in a manner pleasing to God, just as all the holy fathers and mothers have lived; may the Lord help you. The fear of accepting this good yoke came from the opposite in you; Thank God that you did not submit to this thought that frightens you. Wasn’t your initial entry into the monastery already a vow to Christ to work for Him with all your heart and strive to fulfill His commandments, which every Christian is obliged to fulfill? but, having accepted His spiritual weapons, you can more comfortably follow this path, always disdaining yourself and reproaching yourself. Even if you have done something good, then attribute it to God’s help and grace, and consider yourself dust and ashes; in your attempts, do not be faint-hearted, but resort to God and your neighbor with repentance, reproaching yourself; and may the peace of God be with you. Accept any sorrows that happen, as if sent from God for your benefit: people did not inflict them on you, but God sends them to test your faith and love for Him, and, perhaps, at least forbid any attempts. Accept as much as possible with indifference and do not be deeply offended by them; than you can have peace of mind, despite all your physical illness, about which you also believe that it pleases God to save you through it: move your heart to thanksgiving. Do not be faint-hearted if you are unable to fulfill the rule; Let self-reproach and humility replace it here too. I ask you this; say the Jesus prayer according to the rosary or so, although sitting or lying down, out of weakness, but with humility, casting down every thought that exalts you, as if you were doing this good; Also, do not accept anything, no matter what happens intellectually or sensually, but in everything and in all your deeds, even in your thoughts, have a perfect revelation to your mother, and try to fulfill what she says to you. May the Lord help you to consider yourself least of all, and to honor everyone as the angels of God, and to love everyone. Amen. Have peace and love among yourself and with everyone; unworthy I.M. I demand your prayers. October 13, 1833 You, explaining your dispensation, write that an evil serpent has grown in your heart; what a pity! How long will he remain, can we have peace? Shouldn't it be destroyed and driven away by the grace of God? This can be accomplished by self-reproach, awareness of one’s weakness, and true repentance before God and people. There are so many examples of this in the writings of our fathers! Try to force yourself to humility, and the Lord will invisibly defeat his hostile head. Believe me, sister, I truly feel sorry for you and always write, wishing and hoping for your correction. If you have my letters, then read them; what are they filled with, if not this, to keep you from the snares of the enemy? You write that you find no fault in yourself for the sisters’ intransigence; but later you admit that you caused them displeasure unintentionally and intentionally. We ourselves are very weak judges of our own affairs, but others do not lose sight of even the slightest detail; - it’s better to say: she’s to blame for everything; God! forgive me and let me make a beginning before You and love not only my neighbors who love me, but also my enemies, according to Your commandment! And if you see a stubborn and hostile heart in yourself, reproach yourself even more, as a transgressor of the Lord’s commandments. Let's look at our deeds, what answer to give, not just for monasticism; but also for Christianity. To strengthen you in the struggle, read from St. Mark chapter 90, 209 and 36 on the back about what a true Christian cannot be without; St. Simeon the Theologian chapter 31. Through the teaching of these words and many others, raise yourself to God and repent of your shortcomings; all this is allowed by His providence, for our correction. Do not be among the warriors, resisting guidance, and demanding from people. - May the Lord give you strength and strength to trample on the treachery of the enemy and protect you with his peace. I remain the unworthy pilgrim I.M. November 27, 1833. You write, Sister P., that Father did not write a word in response to your letter, and I, having read it, although I don’t know your letter, clearly understand that all your questions have been answered. Heed him, read him better: he advises you to endure sorrows with humility, which are sent from God for this purpose - let us humble ourselves; Father brought you the texts of St. The Scriptures are very edifying, which you can use, for while we suffer, we sympathize with Christ and, as it were, we complete His suffering in our flesh, so that we may also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17). Remember St. Mark: “Do not seek how and through whom the sorrow came; there is only one God who knows about this, for all creation works together according to His will”; and St. Antonia: “Love, whoever befalls you, and do not, by ungratefully enduring, insensitively torment yourself.” Do you see what we suffer from? - from our dispensation, as the priest writes. Be comforted by Father’s writings and thank him; and where you still find confusion, you can explain to him and ask for a solution; and if the Lord pleases, then you will receive it. Thank God that your embarrassment with V. has stopped. G-oh; Take care of yourself and do not give any reason for insult in the future. May the Lord enlighten you and protect you from all the snares of the enemy! I.M. November 3, 1833. Everything that we suffer from the troubles and sorrows that happen to us are the fruits of our internal structure and the reward for the sins we have committed. In all respects, we have a duty to drink the cup of wormwood of God’s destinies, both for sins for cleansing and for the correction of our dispensation. If we were in a good dispensation, we would rejoice at the insult to us, according to the commandment of the Lord: but not only do we not do this, but we also resist the will of God, demanding from our neighbors the fulfillment of the commandments, without even touching a finger ourselves. Look at yourself, do you also have this that I described; and also read Father’s letter and, with God’s help, begin to be patient with the sorrows sent from God for your correction? I wrote this to you many times. You describe your passions, including resentment, for the cup of sorrows you drank from your sister; but it is not clear that she is trying to resist passions and eradicate them. Start, for God’s sake, and ask God for help, and you will find peace; and arm yourself against resentment with all measures, remembering: “If you do not forgive a person their sins, your heavenly Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:14), and in all sorrowful situations, bring yourself down into the depths of humility; – and, I say again, you will find peace. This is why we read books, to learn how to struggle against passions; and not simply, for the sake of custom, having read 3 sheets of paper - and assume so: but having read about any passion, you need to look: how does it act in me? And whatever means are indicated against it, arm yourself with it. For example, about resentment: read from St. Abba Dorotheus, the same with Climacus, and look at yourself, to what extent are you? And try, calling on God for help, to correct what is commanded. So it is about others, and therefore, even if you read more than 3 sheets, with such reasoning and consideration of yourself, you will not lose any benefit; “Truly, if you don’t do it, you cannot learn this word,” writes St. Dorofei. And you grieve for the image you have accepted, this is also the reason for your arrogance and impatience. And leave your crazy request for your previous illness, but may God’s will be upon you, and He will save you from all the snares of the enemy! I.M. November 7, 1833 Through the prayers of Father Lev, V. Mr., thank God, she was pacified in her grief. God grant that the enemy does not shake her thoughts in the future; and I also made peace with you; but you, on your part, finish yourself with self-reproach, for we ourselves have a need for our neighbors to bear our infirmities; and may the Lord give us all peace to philosophize about Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:2); but the enemy, who hates good, erects his machinations, - and suits all actions and words - both to see and to hear passionately and confusedly: but humility destroys all the enemy’s networks; This is why everyone will look for us within himself, and the Lord will look upon us and give us peace. I sincerely regret O.’s mother’s illness, and even more so, her cowardice; where is faith? God’s providence has arranged it this way; one must humbly obey and be patient, and accept with gratitude; for when our outer man decays, then our inner man is renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). It doesn’t hurt to take medicine, with the hope of God’s help, but even more so you should resort to spiritual healing, i.e. to cleanse the conscience, by thinking about what you have done, and whether you have offended anyone in any way - to regret in thought - and if clearly, then with consciousness before that; confess and St. The Mystery of communicating, although I was recently granted this, still does not prevent me from communicating, especially when the illness continues; but I wish it would pass soon. You have a duty to take care of her both by kinship and by humanity, and the thoughts that come about the past are nothing more than the temptation of your autocracy; whatever it will bow to, and by equality we will accept the due reward for good or evil. I.M. January 1, 1834. You describe your spiritual ulcers, but in the same place you show yourself as not accepting the medicine sent from God to heal you. They insult you with words, and they do you good, but you consider them enemies and rebel against them, taking revenge with your abuse and reproaches. According to the commandment of God, one should love them; If you don’t have love, you should reproach yourself for this, not them; they are true about you according to your inner dispensation; and if you thought of yourself as sinful and self-destructive (as you sometimes write calling yourself), then you could bear reproach without embarrassment. May the Lord vouchsafe you to come to such a dispensation; I wish this for you and, entrusting His protection, I remain an unworthy pilgrim, a great sinner I.M. November 24, 1834. Most venerable sister in the Lord, daughter in spirit, mother O.! We wish you and your sister P. to be healthy mentally and physically, to prosper in spiritual age, with hope in God’s help, and to always rejoice in the Lord. We received your letter, sent on March 28, and were comforted that the Lord has given you rest and peace in your soul from the visiting sisters, but in body both of you, as if you were still passionate, are being punished; thank God and remember that when our outer man decays, our inner man is renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). And if God’s will is done, then I am able to send you relief in the matter. And that they grumble against you and blaspheme us, it is not appropriate to pay attention to this, only keep your conscience, as much as you have the strength, to follow the path of the commandments of God and, according to the traditions of the holy fathers, who, moved by the Holy Spirit, teach us to follow this path. And if the thought is shameless, brings you arrogance, as a teacher and nurturer of others, remember your sins, and that such a thought causes abandonment and allows you to fall into various thoughts and sorrows, to the knowledge of your weakness. April 10, 1834. May the peace of God rest on you and on all the sisters of one accord surrounding you, and may the Lord protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy, with which they try to frighten you and shake your spirit. We wish you all peace and tranquility, good health mentally and physically. Truly worthy of regret V. Mr. about the cruel and strange painful adventures that happened to her, which, we believe, is nothing more than a consequence of the most destructive delusion, brought on by an evil enemy. It’s good that you consoled her by accepting St. image and - thanks be to the Lord - that she recognizes herself as guilty and still remains in faith and hope in God’s mercy. It will touch her deeply and, after so much suffering, accept her soul in peace. January 26, 1835. Venerable in the Lord, daughters and mothers of O. and P. in spirit! Venerable V. Mr., and in monasticism V., passed away the course of her days, and although through much painful suffering, both physical and mental, but peacefully, with the acceptance of the guidance of the most pure Mysteries of Christ, she departed into the next century to appear before Her Creator, with the hope of expecting pardon for the sins committed in her life. Our duty is to pray to the Lord for the repose of her soul in the Kingdom of Heaven and to think about ourselves that our life here is not long-term; and therefore it is necessary to reconcile with God by repentance and correction of one’s life, according to the commandments of God, and ask the Lord for a painless, peaceful death and a good answer at the terrible judgment of Christ. We wrote to you, strengthening you in grief, advising you to rely on the will of God, and that He will not send temptation beyond measure; thank God. Mati O.! When the cell mothers of Kh-na come to you for revelation, try to instill in them more about patience, humility and obedience, without which you cannot do without them; the enemy’s abuse is due both to her and to them; – for this victory – patience and humility. Strengthen them, as much as the Lord gives you, for their benefit, with instruction; but beware of pouring oil on the fire through carelessness or compassion; May the Lord enlighten you in this matter. We entrust you to the protection and providence of God; may there be peace, love and harmony between you; May the Lord protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy. March 28, 1835. Your weakness, Mother O., although we are quite familiar, we do not advise you to ask for liberation from those who come with faith and want to calm their conscience through revelation and be protected from the snares and snares of the enemy. We do not call you wise or holy, but the faith of those who come is more effective, and God gives the word according to their faith; and for their benefit, the Lord will save you and pull you out of the cronyism of the one in which you see yourself mired. Whenever it pleases God, He is able to free you from this Himself, either by falling away from them, or in some other way. You have already been freed from one burden that burdened you more than anything else, so be grateful to God and rely on Him. Let the cellmates come to you at least occasionally, only you encourage them more to humility and patience, and to ask for forgiveness more; the enemy hates good, indignates her against this, you advise them more so that they reveal their weaknesses, and strengthen them in them. Another new sister, unknown to us personally, but from letters, it seems, quite prudent and frank, G. V-na, asks us repeatedly to allow him to visit you; We advised her to ask you for herself, which she did; and we deign to do this and ask you not to leave her, according to her disposition and faith, to instruct her in her needs not from her own mind, but to admonish you to God. Just advise me to walk more secretly; the enemy vehemently hates this and is hostile to this, but God is able to strengthen you against his snares. May the peace of God rest on you all. Many-sinful Hierosch. L. and the many-sinful I.M. April 27, 1835. On the 8th of August we received your writing, from which we see the sorrows and shocks that occur to you and, due to your weak mental state, victory from passions. From this struggle, conclude that you and I are not above passions, but still demand leniency, since others demand the same from us. This is what training consists of, in order to recognize one’s weakness; Piety does not consist in the fact that, without having a struggle and without feeling passions, one imagines oneself as standing on the path of salvation, but in this; when we truly humble ourselves; then the virtues we perform will be protected and preserved by the power of humility. St. Isaac the Syrian teaches in the 34th word: “Belittles in some who keep themselves are the guardians of the truth.” Do not despair, seeing yourself not perfect in virtues, but on the contrary, increasing weaknesses: but mentally descend into the depths of humility. When struggling with passions, resist, call on God’s help: if you happen to be defeated, do not remain in it, but try to heal the wound with repentance and humility and remove your thoughts from contemplating others in their weaknesses. Be guided by the word of God and the teachings of the holy fathers, and the Lord will instruct you and strengthen you in His path, as well as how to deal with the sisters who come to you. We wrote to Z.E. several times and sternly in the last post, but what can we do? There you can dissolve it with love and condescension, remembering your shortcomings. N. N. asked us to allow her to come to you; We don’t want to forcibly burden you with this, but if you have true faith and will diligently and earnestly seek it, then we advise you not to reject it, although occasionally tell it to come. Many-sinful Hierosch. L. and the many-sinful I.M. August 21, 1835. P.'s mother! We see from your letter that you suffer, with many of your weaknesses, and obscurity in revelation; This is the enemy’s biggest network to entangle you in their destructive networks and deprive you of spiritual benefit. Reject all shame and express yourself with humility - although you will receive reprimands, all this will serve to your humility. Your coming to us is in the will of God. I don’t call anyone, and I don’t drive away those who come. Honorable in the Lord, daughter in spirit, mother O.! Upon arrival to my brother, I found N.N. here, who was complaining about her cellmates that they were being very rude to her, disobedient and even ridiculing her; in this case, a great difficulty lay ahead for me: she described to me many detailed incidents that happened between them, testifying before God with her conscience; – what was I supposed to do here? I tried, with God’s help, to incline her to patience and peace, and to consider herself, whether she had her own shortcomings and passions? As much as I could notice, I see a lot of guilt on the part of the cell people. The purpose of our intention - for them to come to you - is not designed to create confusion between them, but so that, having calmed their conscience, they could quickly be at peace - as this happens everywhere: but it is very offensive to us that nasty fruits come from this. I don’t blame you for this, but I only express our condolences; I don’t think that you told them anything contrary and not inclined towards patience: but I think that they are not fulfilling the duty of their revelation according to their rank: imagining their sorrows, they blame only others, but do not reproach themselves, do not despise themselves, not even recognizing their weaknesses and not attributing the sorrows that happen to the will of God and to permission from Him, for testing their morality and correcting it; This is why, instead of benefit, there is confusion between them. I use all measures, telling her what is useful, but I see that a strong confusion and unworldliness has been revived, which only in the light of humility can be destroyed. We ask you, for God’s sake, to instill and instill in them that they have humility, patience, obedience and, in any case, humbly ask for forgiveness. Otherwise, we have no power over her or over them, and, seeing such confusion and difficulty, we will be forced not to enter into your affairs and completely stop correspondence with everyone, which does not bring the slightest benefit, and even harm. I ask you, do not announce this letter to them, but destroy it; and listen with them as God instructs you for mutual benefit. I cannot make a complete denouement without hearing from them themselves; I also cannot free you from them; why did you decide on one remedy: continue to accept their revelations, with instructions to them, as I said above; but in order to check their words and deeds, which they may be hiding, N. N. will tell you about their actions, and you, considering this, as God instructs you, admonish them and bring them to humility. I know that this is not easy for you, but what should we do? However, you should not explain their revelations to her, but only when she herself tells you what. True, but he found more means to pacify, and with great difficulty he could arrange this with the prayers of the priest. Grant, Lord, that there may be tangible benefit to your souls. Believe me, Mother O., how difficult this is for me; Don’t think that I respect nobility and look at faces; I thank God, although I am a great sinner, I don’t see this in myself, at least in this matter. From your letter we saw that in your sorrows, the Lord consoles you in different ways, for which you bring thanks to Him. I.M. December 16, 1835. Venerable in the Lord, children in spirit, mothers O. and P.! Why are you so fearful and cowardly, that you sway like reeds at every breeze, that you are embarrassed and worried about everything? We advise you not to believe anything, but to be affirmed by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that He, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, rules and provides for both all creation and us sinners; and without His holy will, when the bird no longer falls and the hair of your head perishes (Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:7), then can anything happen to us without God allowing it? At least not only the entire council of evil people armed themselves and attacked, but the inventor of evil himself will not have time to do anything. We see this in the righteous Job and in the pigs; then the devil could act when he was allowed to; So we too are sinners, if it is the will of our Creator and Provider, then shouldn’t the imams drink the cup of wormwood of God’s destinies? But nevertheless, the much-merciful Lord still spares us, even if he sends punishments; but according to our strength, and who is the son who abides without punishment? “If you are without punishment, you are by nature adulterers and not sons of sons” (Heb. 12:6, 8). I, L., by the will of the authorities, moved from the monastery to the monastery with complacency and a peaceful dispensation; If you, in your foolishness and cowardice, consider this a sorrow for me, then rejoice even more that the Lord vouchsafes me to touch this path that the ancient fathers walked; and when we run away from sorrows and crosses, we show ourselves unworthy of this grace. And so be peaceful and calm. We are deeply sorry for sisters N. and N.; this is quite evident from the action of passions: when we do not fight them, but still do not understand that they control us, we never find peace. Although we feel sorry for them, if you are exhausted, we do not force you to accept them, let them remain under the authority of God - God will be their patron and intercessor; but, apparently, they also need this cross, but He is strong to control them. Tell them our blessing, and that we entrust them to the protection of God; but there is no way to write to them; let them gain their souls with patience. About N-we's plumpness, we don't know what to tell you; try, with the help of God, to open her eyes and instill in her what she should, and for non-correction she herself will give an answer. Many-sinful Hierosch. L. and the many-sinful I.M. February 12, 1836. Most venerable sister P, Mr., in Christ! I was grieved at you and wrote a rather insulting letter, but if you believe that I am truly disposed towards you, not out of any kind, then you will accept it complacently. I know that you are unwell, but I myself was extremely exhausted at that time, so I could not write much, and due to the shortness of time. Now we’ll talk a little with you: you wrote that, having been calm for some time, it began to push you against your sister; you see from this your weak structure; look at yourself and humble yourself; but do not be faint-hearted, and God will help you. You can be sure of your sister’s affection for you, I absolutely know that; she would gladly want to arrange peace for you, and for this she grieves a lot, because it is not in her will, and you yourself know it. Don’t grieve for her for God’s sake, but cut off your will and open up; The Lord is able to abolish the machinations of the enemy and calm you down. I wrote to you so that you read the entire book of John of Carpathia, for consolation there is a lot there; and now at my leisure I will tell you which are more fitting than the head. When something happens to you creeping away from what is proper, do not be faint-hearted, read this father’s chapters: 4, 5, 22, 27, 28, 51, 54, 62, 65, 66, 70, 71, 73, 79, 81, 84, 85. When you feel any sorrows, then read his word after these the following; it is comforting; I believe that you too will receive consolation from God; Also, look for plasters from other holy fathers that are suitable for your dispensation, and apply them to the sores of your soul. About illness, it seems, I wrote to you from the 57th word of St. Isaac the Syrian, that they are sent to those who love God, that they may be saved. Therefore, you too, be trustworthy in God’s mercy towards you and endure this illness, thinking that it is short, and the future is eternal; and thank the Lord for His great love for you; - and your illness is the same, but it will be more bearable. May the Lord strengthen you, enlighten you, and protect you from all the snares of the enemy. Peace to you and your sister and God's blessing. I.M. March 28. Seeing from your letter that the most merciful Lord, visiting you with a painful situation, did not leave you and was merciful with His consolation, from this we clearly see His humane providence, arranging everything for good. Do not think that one or the other is to blame for illness; Not at all, but God’s work! St. Mark writes: “Whatever sorrowful thing happens, do not look for how, or through whom it was found, for the propriety of their every and urgent diligence and of all creation for this cooperation of the one God is leading and nothing happens to involuntary people without the truth of God; Humans can no longer comprehend even mysterious events.” Instead of blaming others, let us turn to thanksgiving and confession, with the three youths: for by truth and judgment he brought all this sin upon us, sin for our sake, Glorified to all ages (Dan. 3:28). The pitiful situation of N.N. you described truly requires compassion; Sorrows surround you on all sides, you can’t help but feel them; but where to look for consolation and how to help? Nowhere except with God. And the words of Mark the Ascetic written above to you also befit her. Of course, such a test is strong, but, apparently, the Provider saw it for the benefit of her soul. We care about the external good and the body, but God wants to save the soul. Let us turn the blame onto ourselves, humble ourselves and confess that we are worthy of this: not only will our sorrows be alleviated, but we will also be completely free of them. “We are all in trouble,” and everyone must go through the path of sorrows in due time; When the saints endured temptations, shouldn’t we, sinners, endure them so that our souls may be saved? N. N. we write that the cause of her grief is self-inflicted behavior, which she also admits. We ask, as much as possible to console her, take care of her, scold her and console her; but we wrote to her more strictly, so that in future she would be more careful, otherwise there would be little benefit in this, that we would only oil and scratch the scabs. Much sinful I.L. and many sinful I.M. July 1st. We sincerely rejoice that the Lord gave the feeling to S. A-ne and her parent to install her in the monastery; May the Lord establish her unshakably and guide her on the path of His commandments. What do you write, Mother O., that she asks for blessings to put on eternal mourning, this word does not agree with true reason. Our clothes, although black in appearance, are there – clothes of joy and joy and a robe of salvation. Truly we must rejoice that the Lord allows us to escape the world, like Israel from Egypt, and to work for the Lord, and not for the world. So may the Lord bless you to put on this robe of joy with joy, and not with sorrow; and not to lament about leaving the world, but to rejoice about entering into a new life, which is an understanding unknown to the people. Venerable P. in the Lord! Reading your letter about your painful situation after leaving us, we sincerely sympathize and attribute all this, through God’s permission, to the action of the enemy; You yourself realized that you had incorrectly accepted the thoughts you wrote about; that's what bothered you. But how do you find yourself, although in your painful situation, more peaceful towards O.’s mother, therefore this is a significant spiritual benefit, incomparably more than a physical one; for physical illness will torment the body in the short term and then bring benefit to the soul, but mental illness is eternal; For this reason, the Physician of our souls here visits us with illnesses and sorrows in order to save the soul in the next century. Even before your trip, the enemy who hates good tried to outrage you and prevent you from going on this path, knowing that his deceits and intrigues would be revealed through your complete revelation; and that in the future he will not be able to do such indignations to you. You are here, as if by the grace of God, through your faith you found peace in your conscience; After your departure, he again disturbed you and through this confusion brought on illness in order to lead you to grumbling and repentance. But don’t listen to him and don’t agree with the noise of his will; as we see from your letter, your disagreement with his advice; and the false fear that you do not know how to use the instructions, and this will be your condemnation, pierces your heart like fiery arrows and makes you freeze; all this is the enemy’s deceit; do not listen to him, but with humility and faith resort to our most merciful Creator and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He, knowing our weaknesses, is always ready to accept us who repent and resort to Him, and will send His help; and the thoughts of despair that confuse you say, as once an old man did to his enemy, who troubled him, that no matter how much you work, the elder, you will not be saved; so you win. Your obstinacy in front of N. comes from pride, through the machinations of the enemy (which you yourself understand, asking for our prayers in order to get out of obedience to the enemy), then just as this came to you from pride, you need a healing opposite to it - humility, which the enemy does not tolerate, and, ashamed, the idle will leave you. When you need to make a revelation about something and you feel stubbornness: destroy yourself, humble yourself, count the dust and ashes that are worthy of trampling, and ask the Lord so that this feeling will be established in you; in this dispensation, rigidity will leave you and, instead of the expected shame, you will find freedom, peace and consolation. – We are writing not theory, but practice. The Holy Fathers themselves walked this path and teach us, and partly experienced it themselves, that self-reproach and humility are the most reliable path to our peace. Just as a disease inflicted on you is the effect of the enemy, therefore everything holy that is contrary to him increases the disease; however, do not abandon this, but, calling on the Lord, the Mother of God and St. Saint Mitrofan, take this medicine. Do not think that you cannot be healed; when you humble yourself, you will soon receive healing; what is St. Isaac and Gregory of Sinai and other fathers teach. May the most merciful Lord give you true reason to come into humility and heal you from mental and physical illnesses. Believe me, beloved daughter of Christ, that we are heartbroken for you and because of this pain we have written these long lines, I give the Lord my word, wishing you peace and health. The Lord consoles you through your brother, and for your sake he has prospered him; Thank the Lord for this and try to fulfill His will! Much sinful I. L. and many sinful I. M. November 7, 1836. Venerable mothers O. and P. in the Lord! Having written to N. N., they also wrote to you there, but in the meantime they received your letter, with which you inform about V. B-not being at the end of his life. We, judging by humanity, carnally must sympathize and sympathize with our nature, but spiritually judging, we see God’s great mercy towards her, which vouchsafed her great gifts before her death and cleansed her from the mire of sin through suffering. Although her dispensation was highly intelligent, how much suffering she endured, and even more so recently by events with her parents and brothers and the deprivation of her beloved brother! All these ending sorrows hastened the end of her life, which she, especially at this time, was burdened by; - which is what I did wrong; but may the most merciful Lord forgive her in everything! And the fact is that she grumbled in vain at us, as if we had abandoned her, but we do not see this in ourselves; for in response to her letters we always tried to offer her something that would benefit her; but since she was punished by God, could we avert the righteous judgment of God, perhaps through sorrow and arranging her salvation? - And without them, I would not have been honored to receive such satisfaction, having fallen into some kind of weakness; notify whether she is alive or has already passed away. Thank God you feel more peaceful; and when you do not become rigid, you will be completely at peace: all this is from the machinations of the enemy, from which may the Lord protect you. O Christ Jesus, Sister V.! I wish you, having moved to a new place, to be renewed in soul and to know the true path of our life, and to find Christ. This must be sought by cutting off your will and perfect obedience and revelation of thoughts to the one to whom you have been entrusted by Father Leo, who, without a doubt, taught you how to live your life. This will seem difficult to you, because you are not used to it, but more because you are used to your will: but when you force yourself, you will see God’s help. I remain the desirer of your salvation, unworthy I.M. Venerable Mother O. in the Lord! Your sisters P., N. and N. visited our desert and us poor people and had a conversation with us, as time offered, about spiritual things, according to their arrangement; Our job is to plant, and God’s to increase, according to their faith and diligence. We wish that they bear the fruits of salvation. We learned about some sisters about whom we asked you, according to their new leadership, to give advice in their perplexity, but instead of benefit, disorder comes out of this: then in this case you must tell them what they deserve and not allow them to act arbitrarily; and when they want to fulfill their will, then let them choose their mentors according to their will. In this case, we advise you to act prudently, calling on the Lord for help; show them the chapters: Simeon the New Theologian and Theodore of Edessa, as well as Callistus and Ignatius chapters 14, 15, in which the order of obedience is explained; then, if they are passed in any other way, it will not bring any benefit. The self-witnesses will say something else about us, how lazy we are. Entrusting all of you with unanimous consent to the protection of God, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many-sinner I. L. and the many-sinner I. M. August 28, 1837. The actions of your dispensation you describe require God's help, which is sent down as you humble yourself, when you force yourself to revelation. You yourself see the benefit of this, then you must urgently do it. The enemy inflicts shame and burden on you, but this is ashamed for him, and that is why he confuses you with this; After all, he is proud: but you humble yourself and defeat him. When shame is inflicted on you, and you consider yourself to be dirt and dust and consider yourself worse than everyone else, then the shame will go away; and remember this national shame, which you should try to avoid by exposing yourself here. I. M-ch told you the truth: if I had humbled my thoughts, I would not have suffered from the burden; but you added to the burden of thinking: “What did you say?” and “What did he say he was resisting?” – You must have patience while waiting for change. You apparently remembered the teachings and examples of your fathers: if we were worthy of peace, then God would have told the Saracen heart to calm us down. And also remember this hermit, whose brother was abbot in the monastery: he, giving up hope in God, hoped that his brother would calm him down - he went to his monastery; he accepted it with joy and gave it to his cell, but forgot about it. The hermit waited for several days, but no one visited him or brought him food; Seeing this, he locked the cell and came to his brother, and he asked: “When did he come?” So you too place your trust in God and, according to your dignity, you will receive His intercession. You, N., for the Lord’s sake, take care of your peace of mind; compel revelation, do not allow the enemy to raise unbearable accusations against you. You have tempted both benefit and harm - stick to what is useful; when we consider ourselves to be earth and ashes, then nothing will prevent you from making a revelation, but pride prevents this; for what fruits does it bear? Without feat and labor they do not get married: but in humility and apart from labor, peace is found. January 18, 1838. Venerable Mother N. in the Lord! You describe your sad dispensation, which, you yourself see, comes from rigidity in revelation; We by no means bind you to this, but you harm yourself and, acting against the teachings of your fathers, you bind yourself, weaving an abyss of inappropriate thoughts with which you entangle your heart like chains and do not want to free yourself from them by revelation and consciousness. Know that the enemy forbids you this in order to possess your heart; For this reason you are rewarded with bitter fruits from it. Seeing everything that is disgusting in yourself and having medicine with you, why not open up? “He forbids you in order not only to make you guilty of past accepted thoughts, but in the future to also offer you a worse drink.” You cannot imagine how much we hurt and mourn for you; - help and you, at least a little; Without you, neither our prayers nor God’s help can help. You say: “I don’t have the ability to explain myself,” but you wrote to us very clearly everything that bothers you. If you can’t tell Mother R. with your tongue, write on paper, and you will be free, by the grace of God, even through written revelation. Revelation reveals humility, stubbornness and pride; Likewise, a bad opinion of others is the fruit of pride. For God's sake, run away from her, and look for humility that will calm you down. - Many-sinful I.L. and many-sinful I.M. May 28, 1838. I don’t know what to write about N.N., what is the spiritual benefit - the enemy is building his intrigues to upset the spiritual benefit. We need to present this to her, and if she doesn’t improve, then we can absolutely leave it, because it exceeds our strength; but for now be patient; Perhaps it will arise from the devil’s snare, in which she is caught alive. N. and N. write about their plight in the cell structure; we feel sorry for them, but have no means to help; must blame themselves for the obstinacy of their character; had a cell - who is to blame for losing it? I thought I would find something better, but on the contrary it was worse; this is God's work; Apparently, they need to endure this test. If they were put in heaven, their passions would not give them peace there. God is merciful; Having punished them, he is strong and has mercy; and you will confirm your love for them and arrange for them to stay somewhere, on the advice of the mother abbess. Now there is no time to write to them, and there is no strength, not only mental, but also physical. Having learned from the writings of N.’s mother and from N. N. about the safe return with the sisters to your monastery, we sincerely rejoice; and about your weakening in health, mother R., we condole. However, we know that God arranges everything for your spiritual benefit; We are sure that you will graciously accept this visit. Live thanks to God; Although you are both weak, you bear each other’s burdens, as well as those of your neighbors who come to you; After all, Christ shed His most pure blood for everyone and wants to save everyone and come into the mind of truth. God cares for you, reassuring you about your maintenance, inspiring your brother to provide and assure you of this. Shouldn't you continually thank the Creator for bringing you to St. monastery and, according to our strength, work for Him, fulfilling St. His will and patience sent illnesses and minor sorrows, in comparison with the deeds of our sinners, by which sins are cleansed by application, and we do not extend ourselves to worse things. The depth of God's destinies is incomprehensible to us! Now E.E. is coming to you. Oh, she is well disposed towards us; If her Lord comes to your monastery and asks you, Mother R., to accept her among those who are unanimous, then, with the blessing of Mother Superior, we ask you not to leave her and, in what is necessary, to instruct you in God. Although our and your life and structure are bad, and we are afraid of the parable: “A blind man leads a blind man” (Matthew 15:14), but everything is better than the beginners themselves being led by their own mind and will. Still, the Lord is strong, according to their faith, to enlighten the blind for their benefit, to show them the way; What does St. write about? John Climacus in more than one place. Thank God that they have a disposition towards this, recognizing the truth of this and the need for it. Try to incline N.N. to an awareness of her weaknesses and to humility, to endure what she does not like, reproaching herself; This way she can calm down in the choir; otherwise, even if he inhabits heaven, he will not find peace there either; with pride and conceit and they will not tolerate it there. After all, we are looking for salvation, and it does not lie in clothing and living within the walls alone; but in the struggle against passions, with humility. This one weapon will greatly overthrow the entire body of enemy arrows, and without it you won’t be able to stand for even a minute. Give them both our blessing. We wish, both to all of them, and to you and your sister N., to reverently meet St. Pentecostal - the physician of our souls. January 21, 1839. It's sad to hear about N.N.'s arrangement; these are the fruits of her silent home exercise, and even unexpectedly: until now she has responded satisfied in everything, and although there were battles, we solved them for her, and she apparently remained satisfied; but now what has been revealed? There is only one remedy for her - humility of heart. Show her at St. Abba Dorotheus about humility, how it destroys all the networks of the evil one, and in the same word about pride - how one brother, humiliating the fathers one by one, became proud of the Holy Trinity. Our mind is pleasing to God with humility, but with pride it is rejected. But her last letter made us very happy; after some embarrassment she felt at peace. You both complain about your sorrows, and we will complain to you that receiving unpleasant letters every day, and personally hearing the same thing from visitors - sorrows or illnesses, by participating in them, we do not have peace of mind and accept them as if they were our own; busy with them, answering, we no longer have free time to worry about ourselves. February 14, 1839. Thank God that you, N.’s mother, arrived safely; maintain your peace and have a weapon against the enemy - humility! He is horrified by it. The word humility is easy to say, but you need to learn it; from whom? From our Lord Jesus Christ Himself; He so deigned: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Do not allow thoughts to enter your heart that deprive you of peace: what good are they? If N. N. is not healed of her weakness, then again restrict her entry: you have the will to do this, we wrote to you about this. It is necessary to walk for the revelation of conscience and listen to what they say: this would be useful; instead, only harm is seen. E. E-looks at herself, finds her weakness and feels that through her stay in your monastery she was not left without gaining spiritual benefit. She wanted to write to the abbess and to you, but we don’t know if she wrote. April 11, 1839. Venerable mothers R. and N. in the Lord! You, mother of R., for not dismissing you from K., suffered quickly because you did not attribute it to God, who had so deigned, but in your mind you put people as the reason for this. If God’s will had been and it would have served you well, then no one and nothing could have prevented you, but as you approached this as a human being, you suffered from grief. The most demonic malice cannot cause us any harm, I will not allow it to the Lord; You must be firmly convinced of this. May God forgive you for this attempt! E.E. was with us after Easter, she only stayed for two days for the descent of the Holy Spirit and wanted to come again during the first week of Lent to talk. Her absence from you hurts us, because through us you get into trouble: however, she recognizes herself as weak in not being able to bear the separation from her family, and the climate is not for her health, and her servants were bored there, having no free will; but out of jealousy or reproach - whom she is now free of: she realized that the path of monastic life is necessary for her, and does not intend to spend it in the one she previously loved. The blueberry, having flown out of Noah’s ark, finds no rest for its legs: now we don’t know how the Lord will arrange for it. And I. I-na, with all our precautions and offers of inconvenience, decides to enter your monastery, burning in spirit and love for him; and there it will be seen in practice what follows; but the Lord is able to support her. She writes that she will leave in a conspiracy. What should we do? They come relentlessly, asking to be taken out of the darkness into the light; they decide to do anything, but then become exhausted on the way; It was from these that Z. Z-na desired the true path, asked us for this, and now she is being led away from it. Such and similar cases should teach us, but as if out of compassion for our neighbors, wanting to give them the best, we do not have the courage to rudely reject their requests. What to do? Be patient, too, having read in the 2nd epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy, chapter 2, v. 24, 25 and 26. T. Mr. writes to us that her mother wants to collect money for her cell; but she is afraid that if she writes a thousand rubles, she will frighten them; and her sister, mother K., writes to us secretly from everyone (she asked not to write to her about this either) that she wants to give her a portion of her labors for her cell, and although not suddenly, but in three years, with the help of God, she hopes to collect it; then we advise you not to miss the opportunity, if any cell is for sale, or at least half, buy it for her. Maybe Z. Z-na will calm down with her? We cannot find any other way to reconcile her with O-mi. For God's sake, somehow sort out the work there. Can you believe how sadly and heartbroken we accept these disorders. Your sorrows and illnesses, in relation to their spiritual disposition, are sick for us too. May 20, 1839. Venerable Mother R. in the Lord! We just sent you an envelope with letters to some of your sisters, we receive your letters from the post office, which, however, did not please us; all sorrows and sedition, and we, due to our complicity in your situation, grieve and have an aching heart: apparently, for the sake of our sins, everything is not going well and is not going well; We wish for the best, but in the end, through the cunning of the enemy, it turns in the opposite direction. Who is to blame for this? Should the enemy be blamed? We must blame ourselves more: we set ourselves up for a good life, we want to be saved, but we do everything contrary to this. Many people blame, and rightly so, that Leonidas’ disciples lack humility. Is Leonid to blame here? Doesn't it teach obedience, patience, self-reproach, revelation and humility? They do not achieve this because of their negligence and inattention; they do, say and think everything contrary to the instructions and their own intentions. We don’t know whether L. P-na revealed to you everything that she wrote to us; and if you haven’t opened it, we advise you to open everything and clear your conscience. As you can see, she wants to make a beginning, and let her act according to the rules you offer her in her life. But Z. Z-na, pathetic in her structure, if she does not recognize herself as guilty of everything in which she had a part in L. N-oi’s errors, and does not lay the foundation for good life, then we no longer know what to do with her? It is not a small lesson for us to continue to take such participation. We believed that she would take advantage of it in S-e, being under the care of her mother, which she desired and sought, and we, out of philanthropy, with the burden of others, provided her with this remedy, but she is going through a completely different path. Her letters, speckled with humility, bring little benefit to her and little consolation to us. Now we don’t answer their letters either to her or to L.P. It’s enough that they wrote to you; You can read to them or tell them what concerns them: but there’s no time to write; there are a lot of people and letters, and you really can’t muster the courage to write: you’ve written a lot, both meekly and sternly, but it’s all of no use. We wrote to you on May 20, asking not to miss the opportunity, if they sell the cell, to buy it for T. T.; then maybe she will be at peace with her, as with her own family: and now we are writing that. Her mother's sister K. promises to help her in her cell with her handicrafts secretly from her mother and from her. Now let's talk about your sorrows: we see exactly injustice from the outside... as you describe. They could write to them, ask for it, or give some imaginary advice in your favor. But what will come of it? There is no benefit, but a lot of harm; They will rebel against you more, but you, firstly, will lose the crown of patience, and secondly, perhaps you will complain even more; but not wisely, and malice will take root on both sides; then it is better to suffer and endure the loss, surrendering this to the providence of God; Apparently, this is not His will, so he forbade you. Don’t you believe that people who insult you are instruments of His providence, working in the work of our salvation? And no matter how evil they are, they can only do what they want to allow the good will of God. It is painful to endure sorrows, and even wrong ones; but how will we be saved? Is it not through many sorrows that we must enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22)? And at tonsure, when they asked us: “Will you endure all the sorrow of the Kingdom for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom?”, they answered: “I will help God, honest father,” and more than once; and after this, at the end of the catechetical word to us from the tonsure, what was predicted? “For you become hungry and thirsty, and become vexed, and experience all kinds of sorrow, trouble, and reproach; reproach and persecution, and being burdened with many sorrows, the life of God is marked by them. When you have suffered all this, rejoice, says the Lord, for your reward is many in heaven.” All of us, in trust in the power of God, confessed and promised to abide in these vows, even to death: - remember this, then your sorrows will be more bearable for you. Yesterday and today we repeated this solemnly: we tonsured P. O-th, named him P-m, and named I. K-va’s father, I-m. Hierosch. L. and I.M. May 28, 1839. We thank you with all our hearts for your compassion and participation in our suffering brothers. We worry about them 41, but we don’t have the means to help. God, having given them over to such sorrow, is able to strengthen them, and having punished them to have mercy and free them from all misfortunes, so that their enemies will not rejoice. Who has gone through his life without temptation? Through them we approach humility and come to the mind of truth. When the Lord wants to punish someone, his mind will darken; This is what happened to M.: he did it very awkwardly by disobeying the command, although in the minds of all of us disobedience is not so important: but it served him as a reason for punishment, God’s judgment. We still don’t know what the progress of his case is: I wrote to O., asked to be notified about this, but have not yet received an answer. They write to us that they were greatly consoled in their sorrow by your visit; and may the Lord himself comfort you. Hierosch. L. and I.M. August 26, 1839. Reverend mother R. and mother P., venerable in the Lord! We wrote to K.’s mother that her sister T. should learn about her help, although over time; she writes to this: “I am very sorry for this, dear father: is it possible for you to do this favor to me, to shelter me; “I really don’t want my sister to know, because when she finds out, then my mother will know, and because of this she can leave me without support. Your prayers now give me the opportunity and strength to work, but it’s not always possible to force myself like that, because even from this work the other day I bled, because my head hurts from always bending over. Mama will believe that by providing such help to my sister, I can probably support myself, and she will not correctly judge that it is very difficult to sell work; Moreover, now, through your prayers, opportunities are opening up for me, and I will not always have them. You know that, having been tonsured, I have no right to demand anything from my relatives.” I wrote this matter to you so that they try to hide about her help, and what is the good reason for this. When you give her money for her cell, just say “I borrowed it,” even if you point it at us, and don’t open this letter to anyone. In that letter that was received without you, it seems that something related to this money, and N.’s mother read it, then you will be ahead of hiding this from everyone, according to our writing. You see, what a kind mother K. is, she does not spare herself for her sister and also promises to send money soon; save her, Lord! You, mother P., pleased us with your writing about your dispensation, that although little you began to come to the knowledge of yourself and your infirmities. I notice this arrangement, peace is born here, and otherwise there is confusion; Avoid this last thing by all means and stick to peace. May the Lord help you, and may peace be abundant in your hearts. Father L. sends you his blessing, but didn’t sign it because I was too lazy to bring it to him, but I’m typing it here. I.M. November 7, 1839. Venerable Mother R. in the Lord! We received your letter and were comforted by your and your sister’s peaceful dispensation. God grant that it will not be shaken by the machinations of the ancient villain; when love and humility precede on both sides, then nothing will the enemy have time to attack you. We greatly mourn the pitiful dispensation of N. and N. that they are in such a bad and evil dispensation. God forbid that this continues to this day. In the life of the Moldavian elder Paisius, it is written that, despite all his meek and loving communication, when he happened to see many admonitions to the unreconciled brethren, forbidding them not only to enter the church, but also did not allow them to enter the church threshold and not to read the Lord’s Prayer until they were reconciled; when they became embittered, they expelled them from the monastery. When they are still suffering from this illness, then offer them this elder rule, and let them better prepare to reap the tares of worldly affairs, rather than live in the monastery to the temptation of others and to the destruction of their souls. About F.'s mother there is nothing to marvel at; it is known that her enemy confuses you against you with envy, in relation to our better disposition towards you; have in mind malice towards the enemy, and leave her, according to her will, when she has no need of you: - be calm and endure her reprimands: woe, when everyone speaks kindly about you (Luke 6:26). V. Mr. writes that she, having explained herself to you, has completely reconciled herself to you: but we, seeing from the letter of I. I-oi, her bad dispensation, although it existed before the explanation with you, however, we cannot admonish her for fear of causing irreconcilable anger with I. I-oi. And with this, we also attribute to you, mother P., your writing; We sincerely rejoice over your insight and thank God that, due to the multitude of your illnesses, His consolations have gladdened your soul (Ps. 93:19); although there will sometimes be betrayal, do not be afraid, but remain complacent, calling on God’s help, crushing your heart and humbling yourself; for without this, none of our deeds are pleasing to God. I will tell you our inexpressible grief: our dear father Father A. is separated from us, they take him to M. as abbot, even though there was an archimandrite there, but the place is abbot. We were all hoping that someone would be sent from there, but yesterday Father Abbot received a special order to appear to Father A. to the bishop, and to be in Moscow by December 6th. He doesn't know about this yet. What a pity it is for such a respectable father, you cannot imagine; true and you will regret it. November 25, 1839. The adventures of I. And-oh brought great illness to our hearts, and we will not find a way to help our grief; except to rely on the goodness of God and ask for His all-powerful help, to drive away the machinations of the enemy from her and to calm you all down. Oh, woe to us sinners! We leave the world for salvation, but the enemy turns the very means that serve to salvation to harm; this is because we do not at all want to deny ourselves, but we love our passions, which carry us away from our real goal. We don’t want to put any effort into gaining humility, which would crush all the arrows of the evil one. The enemy is heavily armed against those seeking salvation, but we do not want to resist him and we throw down his weapon - humility, without which he will throw him down and not allow him to revolt. – We see this in many people. Lord, send Your hand and destroy the enemy! And you have grown greatly in insolence; which you must repent of, and for this consciousness may the Lord forgive you. Hierosch. L. and the many-sinful I.M. December 23, 1839. Most reverent sister in the Lord, Mother O.! Thank the Lord that I received from the priest, as a consolation, scripture; Equally, glory be to the Lord for this, that he has given the senses to place hope and care in the Lord God regarding your construction and in your superiors: that is why you are in good spirits. - This is the clear intercession of God, through the prayers of the priest, revealed to you; and forward I advise you, sister, in all cases of sorrow and bewilderment, calling on the prayers of the priest, to submit to the will of God with submission, then the sorrows themselves will be more bearable. I heard that there is no mention of tonsuring you, then if you are confused about this, console yourself with the fact that this is the will of God for this, which will improve things for the better: having tonsured your hair, although you will rise in rank in society, you will be required to pay more, i.e. If they are assigned to some kind of leadership or other positions, then the burden will greatly increase: but now be satisfied with your current title, it suits you, and carry it. If it is the will of God and tonsure comes out, do not deny it. The cases you described about the two sisters given to you, to the knowledge of your weakness and for their benefit, although sorrowful, had a favorable ending, i.e. ended with their repentance and condolences; what to do, sister? I wish such a thing had never happened; but when this is allowed; if it were possible to be free, it would be good; but, apparently, it is impossible, and God announced this to the priest; read his letter, which I wrote to you about in my letter, that he wrote to me about you, and believe that this is for your benefit, God will protect you and your sister from higher temptations. Continue to fulfill the obedience assigned to you by the priest, without rejecting those who come in faith; although you are weak and foolish, the Lord will enlighten you and give you a word for the benefit of everyone. In the event of confusion between sisters, I advise you to endure and blame yourself; let's read St. Dorotheus “On reproaching yourself and not your neighbor”, also “On humility”; and in general, in any case, let the saints do this too. John Climacus book; It is also good to read the prologues of the teaching, they are very useful; assign each one to read as much as God will announce; and when need requires, remind us of this teaching, as the fathers teach, to fight passions, so that later you can have peace. Although it is difficult to fight, it is necessary, for our life is bloodless martyrdom. May the Lord enlighten you and give you His peace and may all your sins be forgiven. I remain an unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. R.S. Our dear Father Abbot A. writes to us, and I am copying out a few words from his letter to you: “If St. The Apostle Paul commands to thank God in everything, then I, who am unworthy, must thank God for myself and convey to you, my fathers, that on the 3rd day of December, thanksgiving to the Lord God, through the prayers of the archpastor, I accepted consecration as abbot, and from his right hand I received the abbot’s staff, crown and chains, i.e. all the burden of this yoke, with which he arrived at his monastery on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas, half an hour before Vespers, where all the brethren at the holy gates met me with the holy cross, my cross also met me, which I kissed with tears! This is my first honor; after which, a few days later, my spirit became very depressed, and having dozed off, I saw, in a subtle dream, the face of the fathers, and one of them, as if the high priest, blessing me, said: after all, you were in paradise, you know it; now work, pray and don’t be lazy! And suddenly waking up, I feel a certain calm in myself. Lord, grant me a good end! I purposely tell you this interesting matter as an example that the Lord does not leave in sorrow, but sends His help, and so that you can see the position and feelings of Father A-ya. Venerable 0 Lord Mother R.! In the first letter you describe your grief from your sisters, who are overcome by envy of your disposition, for which you do not find yourself guilty. We are not the least surprised at this, knowing the malice of the enemy and how much he, i.e. the enemy, seeing those who are in conquest (Theodore of Edessa ch. 44), tries with various intrigues to shake their faith and turn them away from their saving stay: but to lead according to their will the paths of self-indulgence and elevate them to the mountains of arrogance with the opinion of virtues or bring them down into the abyss of vices, dispersion and disorder of life. When we remain in submission and do everything with advice, then their machinations are destroyed; and such a soul-saving effect comes not so much from the spirituality and literature of the questioned, but from the faith of the questioner and submission - for, according to their faith, God Himself acts in the questioned, as St. John Climacus in continuation of the 26th degree on prudent reasoning, the second article, which is the beginning of “to know the will of the Lord...”. Although the sisters are embarrassed by the enemy’s excuses, they open them and, probably, do not deign, but also grieve for them, as we see from some of their letters to us. Offer them the heads of St. Simeon the New Theologian, Theodore of Edessa from chapter 40. and further, and Abba Dorotheus - “Don’t form your own mind about the hedgehog”; - and so that they consider that this confusion is the machinations of the enemy, trying to shake their faith and causing mutual grief. When they want to benefit, they would not look at this, even if it was truly so, as it seems to them; but so that they reveal and expose the enemy’s malice, and try to resist it; from which it will disappear. Their benefit is measured by the amount of their faith. Don’t be too offended about this: but if someone decides to leave it, we are not imams about this thing, 42 but we wish them to find the path of salvation. We talked about this here to your sisters, as much as time allowed and as the Lord admonished, but for them it was a theory; and there will be practice on site. For it is not the hearers, but the creators of the law who will be justified (Rom. 2:13). Attribute the relief to Mother F. to the mercy of God, and not to the unworthiness of me Leonidas. Apparently, the Lord looked upon her suffering and the humility that she most of all needs to have in every place, occasion, deed, word and thought. All her disasters and punishments are the fruits of pride, for God opposes the proud, but looks down on the humble. She built the church of her salvation from imaginary virtues, even negli 43 and labors; but she laid these stones without clay or without mortar, and in relation to virtues, labors and exploits, without humility; then, just as a house built without mortar will fall apart, so a building without humility will not only not use virtues, but also, having darkened the mind with opinions, deprive them of spiritual peace and subject them to punishment, out of God’s disgust, so that they humble themselves and recognize their poverty. It is necessary to establish it in humility, which will be a stronghold against the arrows of the enemy who will rise up against it. Regarding her relationship to you, at her request, we told her to ask you about this; but not under compulsion, on our part, and you, it seems, should not be afraid, but consider yourself free; and when she wishes, by faith, to have a relationship with you, then, on both sides, offer the mother abbess about this; we do not at all want to turn F.’s mother (and not only her, but no one) away from her. Let her have faith and attitude toward her, and when she blesses you in whatever way you want to treat her, according to her desire, in the most necessary cases, then God’s blessing will also be with which we agree; and everything so that she considers her as her mother, and rejects the opposite accusations from herself with pure revelation about this with humility, and not with insolence and humiliation, as St. writes. John Climacus in the 4th degree in the 1st article without reaching the end: “Whenever your thought compels you to condemn or blaspheme your boss: then jump away from this, like from fornication” and so on; and even more so when the old woman is from the Gospel: and this is her attitude towards you, not out of disbelief towards the old woman, but since she is often busy with a position, she cannot have so much free time for this, and therefore you carry out the abbess’s assignment, and you yourself receive instruction from her in everything. The rule she asked for, also with the advice and blessing of the abbess, can be given to her five hundred. The consequences will show; what will have to do. We wish you and N.’s mother health of soul and body and peace with yourself and with everyone, and, entrusting you to the protection of God, asking for His blessing on you, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, many sinners I.L. and I.M. R.S. We also received a letter from N.’s mother, in which he writes about R.’s mother’s illness; We sincerely sympathize with you about this, but we are not able to help, except for advice: win your souls with patience and thank God for such a visit. Read from St. Isaac in the 57th word in half of it: “And when you are weak....” We wish that the Lord strengthens both of you and frees you from mental and physical illnesses. May 1838. Venerable Mother R. and Mother N. in the Lord! You write about N.’s mother’s illness and about the paroxysm she recently had. We sincerely regret this, but we are at a loss as to what help to give. You yourself should know from experience where you get peace of mind and why illnesses are tolerated, then refrain, and run away from the latter; However, even in the most painful situations, do not weaken in your hope in God’s mercy and accept them as cleansing of your sins. You write, mother R., about Z. Z-not in her spiritual failure in life and about her vain walk to you. We sincerely regret this, that we are putting you through work that is useless for them. - We attribute this to our sins. She writes herself, she confesses, but we don’t know whether there is a correction; although you write that you began to confess, but now you don’t remind me of anything about it. Woe to us sinners! We give up caring for our souls, we only care about people, but the harvest is somehow bad, although much is sown. We also know that the enemies of our belly, demons, are extremely jealous of those who are in the subjugation of a father or mother and try by all means to dissolve this union; and it is even more convenient to find an attack on them as they have lived a lot in self-will, although they longed for this path, they did not expect battle. If pride were trampled upon, then scolding would be easy. What to do? Be patient a little, without ceasing to pluck out the tares; Perhaps the good seed will also vegetate. Thank God that Mother Superior dismissed you from obedience to the sacristans due to your illness. It would be good obedience, but what can we do with you when you are rotten? Sit in your cell and cry about your sins, bear the infirmities and burdens of your neighbors, and the Lord will bear your infirmities. Your unworthy pilgrims, sinful I.L. and I.M. November 22, 1838. It was regrettable for us, seeing from your letter your pitiful dispensation, causing you harm. You looked at all the shortcomings of others, and not your own, and that is why the hand of God, punishing, weighed heavily on you. Although you explained yourself to R.’s mother, it was apparently not in the manner of revelation and without internal self-reproach, which is why grief came out. We ask and pray you - place before your eyes the providence of God, which works everything; and people who create something are instruments of it; and try to be obedient to His holy will, then your dispensation will be made easier. With your other letter you pleased us somewhat, coming to our senses; and, although through the veil, she began to see herself as the culprit of her sorrows; continue this action, then the air of your thought will be cleared from the dark clouds of the enemy surrounding it, then, when reading books, your concept will be enlightened. Be sure to read St. Isaac the Syrian in the 51st word, starting with this matter: “As we are betrayed...”, read more than once, and more carefully: there you will see that we, being betrayed, from the mercy of God, to the rod of temptation for our sins, when we humble ourselves, accuse ourselves and confess to the Lord: then through small sorrows we are delivered from temptations; and when we become hardened, we blame our neighbors, demons, and sometimes even the truth of God: then the sorrows weigh more heavily on us. Force yourself to have affection for your mother; This will calm you a lot, although when you hear a word that is not for you, all this is useful to you; and the enemy’s blasphemy against her is because he is jealous of your benefit and does not want to allow you to gain it. Remember St. Elisha: what kind of scolding did he have against Elder Isaiah? - Presenting the enemy, even in mind, which was impossible: and he said to everyone who came to the elder, for the sake of benefit: why are you going to an idolater and a fornicator? But despite this, they received all the benefits. But later he was corrected by the punishment of the Lord. You see that many people use it: why should you shy away from it? May the Lord help you correct your path: To whose protection, entrusting you, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many sinners I.L. and I.M., January 21, 1839. Having received your letter dated January 17, we rejoiced at your recovery; but they heartily lamented your spiritual sorrow. The enemy who hates good sows his tares and disturbs the peace of both of you; We advise you not to accept with such cowardice: your sister told you in the form of a revelation the embarrassment inflicted on you by her enemy, through which they may disappear, but you were offended for this and, perhaps, thereby forbade her to make a revelation in advance. She wrote to us that she began to receive feelings showing her that she herself was to blame for everything; God is also strong enough to multiply them, and through this to calm her down. We wrote to her to read in 51 words of St. Isaac the Syrian one article, which should be useful for her, which does not bother you either. Much-sinful I.L. and I.M. January 26, 1839. Revered Mother P. in the Lord! I answer your two letters in one: you write that you find your feelings more peaceful towards your sisters - for this give glory to God; but also expect in advance, to the test, attacks, which, with the help of God, overcome with self-reproach and humility; read the chapter of St. Abba Dorotheus “About reproaching yourself and not your neighbor” - and keep this in mind; you will see there: “From reproaching oneself, it gives peace”; nothing will happen. May the Lord help you recognize your weakness and give healing to your soul. Condemnation of others is preserved, and this great illness of the soul; See your ulcers and stop judging. Even if someone sows tares of discord between you and your sister, God will not allow it to take effect, even if in truth, we walk through our lives with humility. I.L. and I.M. Venerable mothers of R. and P. in the Lord! About the permission of this fast for food, exactly as you wrote: allow for fish on Saturdays and weeks; and on Tuesday and Thursday, when there are polyeleos; on Wednesday and Friday, when there are vigils; which is stated in the charter at the beginning of this post; There are even designated days: fish are left only 5 days before Christmas. We, being weak, follow this rule, but those who are perfect can do all things through Christ who strengthens them (Phil. 4:13). The rule is inaccurate on the twelfth holidays; equally all Christmastide and Bright Week, from Great Heel. In the twelfth we must also mean the evening of the twelfth holiday; During the day they can be corrected at twelve o'clock. The canons can be read in the winter, but in the summer there is no time, because there are vigils in the evening. But with all this, we must have a spiritual mind: with which we go through it, and see what fruits come from doing this; do not rely only on the fact that she fulfilled the rule, in the likeness of that virgin about whom St. Peter of Damascus according to the 2nd book is mentioned in the 9th word; and through guilt, let us not despise the duty of love for our neighbor. To this end it is fitting for St. Isaac the Syrian’s word: “It is not because of the rules that God will punish us on the day, but because, through abandoning the rules, bad thoughts enter into us.” It confuses you that the sisters come to you for advice, from which some take reason to compose empty slander, but they do not listen to you in prohibiting this. Exactly, we should not cause our neighbors to stumble and be tempted by leaving the church; Let us assume that, due to weakness, you are reading for yourself, those who cannot go to church, but the able sisters should not leave the church; and even more so when they flock to you in large numbers; this cannot be approved; You can allow two and no more than three. You write that others will be offended by this: to avoid this, it does not hurt to allow them to walk one by one; then it will be almost unnoticed and unheard of. About writing jokes about you, be calm, and be comforted: the Lord promises bliss when they revile us for the sake of righteousness (Matthew 5:11); but woe to him when men say good things (Luke 6:26). At first you accepted the slander calmly, but, perhaps, with contempt for them - “red dogs” - that’s why you became faint-hearted later. The words spoken: “Only you beware” - in what tone were they spoken? You can say them in a warning, in a regretful and in a disgusting way; It’s just better to accept it, in the simplicity of your heart, in a good way, it won’t hurt. Don’t be offended by the fact that N.’s mother wanted to talk to you: maybe she doesn’t want to get closer and not be a stranger; otherwise, living in the same monastery, serving the one God and having both relationships with us sinners, you are in spirit as strangers. When he asks about things that are high and beyond your understanding, answer with ignorance, and you will not sin: and what you know, say, just as you said about money, and you will not sin. The book Flower Garden, or Limonar, contains various spiritual stories, copied by Sophrony and John, and there is nothing high in it; In addition, some fathers' deeds and words are shown briefly. We have lost our dear Father A-iya since December 1st. All the brethren parted with him with regret. In the skete, to take the place of Father A-ya, the lot fell on me: it pleased Father Abbot, in agreement with the priest, to entrust me with management; but I do not consider myself worthy and capable of this; but for obedience, and that there was no one else to replace him, he had to obey; moved to the cell of father A-ya; I don’t rely on myself to be able to correct anything, but to imitate him at least a tenth; some consider and congratulate me on my elevation, but I don’t even think about it, and everything seems to be the same. Mother P., having felt the benefit from this, stick to your rule: do not submit to the enemy who brings you bitter drink. When you are in the world, you find yourself guilty; and in confusion the opposite is from the enemy; when you do not resist, remembering the peaceful dispensation of reasoning, then you will suffer a lot 44; from which may the Lord deliver you and send you a Guardian Angel to drive away the machinations of the enemy. May the most merciful Lord keep you in peace, harmony and love for each other; and may He bestow His blessing on you, to whose protection, entrusting you, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many sinners I.L. and I.M. December 16, 1839. Regarding N.O.’s arrival to us, we wrote to her even without receiving your letter, so that she would come to us without fear or fear; although we do not have such a gift to be able to heal such passions: it depends on our own will, resistance to passion and forcing ourselves to do good, and on God’s help. She writes very smoothly, although she blames herself, but so skillfully that without knowing you can’t even lift a needle. On these horses, on which the O-yous will come to you, she can come to us without fear; We ourselves are sinners, and even more so am I, who writes this. It was a lot of work with the O-mi sisters, and all because both were right and neither was to blame; Each one sees a speck in the other’s eye, but in their own they don’t see that they are covered with a whole log, and they don’t want to reproach themselves. Now, mother R., it’s your turn to work with them; maybe it will be easier; They decided to live in different cells; there would be less cause for displeasure. Thank you for feeling sorry for me, the sinful pseudo-leader Macarius; I don’t consider myself a boss, but still the same brother; We have one boss, Fr. Abbot Moses; For my obedience, I was only entrusted with the care of the monastery, without any definitions or decrees, and for me they are not needed; the troubles and worries have increased; I have less time to write, and also to read; I didn’t have the strength or spirit to talk myself out of it, and Father Fr. Leonid was. I ask for your prayers, so that this obedience entrusted to me will not be condemned. January 1st, 1840. Describe your mental weaknesses; Well, what should we do? Where to go? As much as possible, one must resist the constriction of passions and not fall into action; but in case of creeping, do not despair, but, contemptuous of yourself, resort to the stronghold of humility and repent before God, and blame yourself as the worst of all. You know quite well that God prefers a sinner with repentance than a righteous man with pride; For strengthening and consolation, read from St. Isaac the Syrian word 7th and 46th; You will see that repentance can save a person, but humility saves a person in addition to good deeds, but with this, passions lose their power. You will say that it is difficult to acquire it; when you seek mentally and sensually, you will receive. But it also happens from permission and the action of passions, and if we do not humble ourselves, as St. writes. Gregory of Sinai in the 117th chapter at the end of it. Perhaps, for this reason, one is allowed to suffer from the cruelty of passions, so that, seeing others’ weaknesses, they would be more lenient towards them, and would not exalt themselves about their imaginary virtues, but would be reduced to the depths of humility. Our heartfelt condolences for the unsettled sisters Z. Z-e and K. L-e. To what extent has their malice increased that they are forced to separate them! If they are not appeased by this, then some involuntary cross must meet them to punish them. N. O-na left us on January 30, it seems, calmer and with a good disposition to resist passion and submit in everything; may the Lord strengthen her. We send our unworthy blessing to all your sisters in Christ. Your unworthy pilgrims, the great sinner I. L. and the great sinner I. M. February 10, 1840. It is very sad for us to hear about the situation of your sisters V. and Z., especially since we were guilty of their transition. As far as possible, they have exposed themselves, reproached and matured about their past inconsistencies and failures, they want to make a true beginning, to live with humility and patience in revelation to you; We pray to you, like St. Paul Philemon, about our spiritually born children, V. and Z., sometimes indecent, but now beneficial to you and us; according to their good intentions, accept them, that is, our womb, as sincere children, instruct and enlighten, so that the enemy does not rejoice at the destruction of human souls (Phil. 9:13), they are now beginning to believe and will tell you everything, even about themselves; May the Lord abolish all the snares and snares of the enemy, and may he pluck out the tares that have been sown and the growth of enmity and confusion. As for the cells for them, we no longer know what to tell you; but we hope that in the light of peace between all of you, the Lord will allow us to find for them a corner that covers the frailty of the body for the salvation of the immortal spirit; and you, according to your prudence, will dispose of God admonishing you. Z. T-na and K. L-na write; I also had no time to write to them, I was leaving; tell them that we are not angry with them, but we are pained by their bitterness. K. writes that he does not want to accept Z. Z-nu; what is this from? Obviously from jealousy, can she be healed without it? It is necessary to exterminate passion from yourself, for it is not invested in it, but is a guarantee in it. Much sinful I. L. and many sinful I. M. March 3, 1840. We have received your letter; We sympathize with your illnesses and sorrows, and with your sisters on this same subject. But there is no need to lose hope; the Lord is strong to raise it up from a painful bed; have faith that God works everything for good; our reason does not comprehend this, but faith is stronger than reason and must subdue it into the obedience of Christ. The paths to salvation are different: both of them are voluntary and involuntary; when we do not perform voluntary labors, then in His mercy the Lord involuntarily leads us to salvation. This is the depth of the wealth and wisdom and mind of God! Who understands the mind of the Lord? Or who will be His adviser? (Rom. 11:3). I.M. August 5, 1840. And to our heartfelt sorrow, your and your sisters’ letters about the health of R.’s mother do not bring us any consolation. We mourn her suffering and the sisters involved in it. But we, who are blind, barely see what is before our eyes, and we do not see into the distance; How much more are they even more blind in spiritual things? We cannot understand how God’s providence, through the depth of its wisdom, reason and mercy, guides us to salvation. So, we must, with the deepest humility and reverence, submit to His paternal loving care for us and not trust our own reason and opinion, but let faith be its strengthening in suffering. And may the Lord comfort you and raise her up from her painful bed, when this is in accordance with the all-wise plan of God’s providence, and will be the salvation of her and all of you. We ask and pray to the Lord to grant her health; but the fulfillment of this or not, to the extent that there can be any benefit or harm from it, let it be in the will of God. We all daily ask God in our prayers: “Thy will be done”: try to say this not in one word, but also in your heart, and accept from the hand of God what He sends. With these thoughts, strengthen each other in your sorrows, for this matter applies not only to you, but also to the other sisters participating in the suffering of Mother R. We wish you all, in the Lord, strengthening in spiritual matters and admonition in the true path, as well as mental and physical health and peace, and we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the multifaceted I. L. and the many sinners I. M. August 18, 1840. Your three letters, mother P., somewhat encouraged us about the health of mother R., but the last one, written on September 8, saddened us a lot. The hidden destinies of God are incomprehensible to us, how and why are they allowed to happen for this reason? Therefore, we must humbly and uncomplainingly submit to His holy will. We dare to pray to His goodness, and if His will be, let this cup pass by from it, anyway not ours, but His holy will be done. He is powerful both to raise from the dead and to bring into being from those who do not exist. We care more about the body, but the most merciful Lord wants even more so that our souls will be saved; Believing this without a doubt, let us accept the sorrowful one as the healer of our souls. We all remain hopeful, but await your notice. R.’s mother’s illness caused great sorrow to many who were devoted and disposed to her, which although you, P.; and you yourself, the suffering, dissolve even with a good word and consolation; you complain about the gentle-bred; How are they to blame for this? Ironic expression aside, and put humble and compassionate behavior in its place; If not words, then at least occasionally they have the desire to see, but they are deprived of even that and grieve. S-e A-don’t tell me that if she doesn’t start not to insult G-u and treat all the sisters kindly and politely, then we will certainly bring it to the attention of her father. She does not understand that with such a dispensation, instead of benefit, she acquires the destruction of her soul; she does not feel what kindness they are doing for her, and not knowing the need, she has forgotten herself; when she loses your cell, let her live on her own, then she will experience need; and if it doesn’t improve, then this will happen. Your unworthy pilgrims, the great sinner I. L. and the great sinner I. M. September 14, 1840. We believe 45 that the deprivation of your mother and sister, as well as the loss of health, is painful and sorrowful for you; but how can we help him? Nothing but trust in God, with submission to His holy will. St. John Chrysostom writes that “in the circumstances of real life there is no evil,” and counts: death, confiscation of property, exile, slander, etc., and to all of this he gives objections and evidence that they are not evil; There is only one thing that harms us: sin. Although from these short words, take for yourself, for consolation, the teaching of the great lamp of the Church. Mother R. asked the mother abbess not to leave you, and you ask for our blessing to treat you with her: we, for our part, willingly agree to this; she is already known to you, and sometimes she was relevant to you, and now she is even more necessary for you, although you can’t always, behind her vanities, but everything, when you need it, God will give you a hand. Of course, you should be offended at us that we write something contrary to you; If you don’t write this, then it’s better to be completely silent; and when we scratch your wounds, what answer will we give to God for you? Take it as you wish, but we speak out of wishing you well and loving you. On this occasion, it is clear that you need to take some sister to you, and we see that you have compassion and an inclination towards Z. T-ne, and she has a desire for this. We agree for you to take it, but when the abbess is pleased; only on the condition that she and S. L-na be more favorable to the sisters who will come to you, otherwise we won’t even know them. She writes to ask you to allow them the use of your earthly paradise; and heaven will not help if one does not fulfill the commandments of God and have peace of mind; - and from there the forefathers were expelled for disobedience; Now we are not gathering the spirit to write to her, but when the fruit of humility and peace shows, then we will write. Much sinful I. L. and many sinful I. M. 1840. No matter how great your and the sisters devoted to Mother R.’s grief is; but you must have reason and not go into the immensity of it, so that you do not anger the Lord. This means going against His, unknown to us, destinies, according to which He arranged it to be so, and led your mother to a blessed death: why should we hope that in eternity we will find God’s mercy and eternal peace; What more does she need than this? “For this reason we depart from the world and settle in the monastery. There she, having found grace, will surely intercede for you and for others with the Lord, so that your souls will be saved. Moderate your sorrow as much as possible with trust and console each other with the fact that this is the will of God, without which nothing can happen to us. You console yourself that even though the last days of her life you were honored to serve her in her illness and sympathize with her in her suffering. It is in vain that you take it into your head that the present darkness that has covered your soul will extend throughout your entire life; accept the prophetic word: “If I sit in darkness, the Lord will give light to me.” He is able to enlighten you and give you consolation. Usually a fresh wound always causes great pain, but heals over time; it is impossible for grief to remain like this forever, but the Lord will send consolation; just don’t voluntarily give yourself into grief, so that you don’t anger the Lord. There is no time to write out for you from the life of the Moldavian elder Paisius, when his mother, who had placed her only hope in him, having lost him, gave herself up to joyless sorrow - that she suffered, but then recovered. When you come to us, we’ll read it. October 8th, 1840. About that, be peaceful, that you signed the consent to accept the mantle; Apparently, it pleased the Lord, then He announced this to the mother abbess, and the late mother R. wanted this and suggested it to the mother abbess; You then live in the monastery and accept the test in order to be worthy of this holy image, not for vanity, but for the salvation of your soul. You complain to us that crazy people come to you: what kind of will do we have over them? There is a government, police! A certain place has been assigned to the crazy, but spare us from this reprisal. You are offended by us that the sisters want to come to you, and you ask us to forbid them; We also ask you - forbid everyone, starting from yourself, to have any relationship with us; then your request will be fulfilled by itself. Is this enough for you? Until you make this prohibition, you must, although with your weak strength, help us overcome this yoke. The sisters come to you, according to their zeal and faith, to ease their conscience; you won’t be harmed in the slightest by it; in your mind do not consider yourself a mother, but accept it with love; and we believe that the Lord, according to their faith, will admonish you to tell them a word appropriate against their dispensation; Mother R.’s prayers will help you with this. What is the use, for example, of leaving young N. E-na to her own will? Where will she get to without strengthening, and even having fallen into a seditious example? Won't you give an answer for her when you are too lazy to say a word to strengthen her, especially when she seeks him with faith? similarly in other cases. If someone does not take advantage of it, you will not give an answer for this; about such the Angels say: “Babylon was whole, and was not healed” (Jeremiah 51:9). The entire responsibility for the benefit of souls lies with the mother abbess; but with many sisters and affairs, it is impossible for her to enter into the position of each, which is why she also needs the assistance of sisters helping her in this matter; and you must not deny this saving work. Tell the mother abbess about this that we ask and pray you not to reject the sisters who want to seek words either for benefit or for consolation, and we ask her for this blessing; She is probably confident in you that you are not going against her, but also treat her yourself, and she will still be grateful to you for helping her: and in your free time, read the books of St. fathers, learn for yourself, and the Lord will give a word to the sisters who want and seek benefit. You mention your illness - hysterical laughter and crying; We believe that this is for you for excessively giving yourself over to sadness. December 3rd, 1840. We have received your Scripture; we thank you for your obedience; Your obedience, both to us sinners and to Mother Abbess, will bring you more benefit than your imaginary silence. Your words have no place: “It’s a pity that the sisters waste time completely without any benefit,” “My eyes do not look out of shame.” Their benefit does not depend on you, but God Himself acts according to their faith and will give you a word for their benefit; and you be at least a small tool in this matter; and if someone doesn’t take advantage, then it’s not your fault, but theirs; and this is no small benefit, because by expressing one’s confusion, the machinations of the enemy are revealed and destroyed, as St. writes. Cassian in a word to Leontin the abbot: “The very thing that manifests evil thoughts fades them and creates the weakest.” And you yourself know how difficult it is to make a revelation; and who forces them to do this? If they had not experienced the benefits of revelation and the harm of silence, they would not have sought this. Have mental shame in yourself, considering yourself unworthy of it: but don’t worry about what to say to your sisters: the grace of God will guide you; In case of any perplexities, you can refer to the mother abbess, and all your affairs will go well, with the help of God. December 21st, 1840. Your old daughters have arrived, they are still jumping; but for every thing there is time. Thank God they don’t cry and the monastery is pleasant for them; and temptations will gradually teach them and lead them to humility and true reason. I, for my part, told them what I thought was necessary: ​​but is there a big difference between saying and doing? You can’t learn suddenly, but simply by following the proverb: “Live forever and learn”; A rose does not always bloom, more than one frost destroys it, but the heat also scorches it. Aka is very pleased with her mistresses and does not want to complain about the cramped conditions; and O-ka responds with gratitude to you and to the sisters; and when battles happen, it is impossible to do without them and it is impossible to learn anything spiritual, but one must act prudently. Do not be embarrassed for the lack of feelings during communion, but humble yourself, there will be feelings: they are bestowed on the humble, and when we completely condemn ourselves, without relying on our dignity. 1841. In the letter you mention your cross, through the gossip of N.N. and others: can we hold back the winds, and other people’s speeches, and especially A.? But they themselves would rather be put to shame, but let your conscience be your mirror. Why don’t you explain to your mother abbess, at least occasionally, with patience and humility; when you want, we will write to her about this and ask for you. They also write to us from Z. T-n and K. L-noy, but we don’t have the spirit to answer them, we greatly mourn their both harmful dispensation and repent that we were in a position to add them to the monastery; no matter what they were told, no matter what they wrote, everything was trampled underfoot; and what good did R.’s mother’s instructions serve them? Won't you be happier than her? When they listen and obey, then accept, and if not, then let them live as they want. May the Lord help you to live peacefully with your girls! And yes, the machinations of the enemy will succeed in nothing, for he will not stop extending them to you; but when you have humility and teach them the same, then nothing will shake you. I. E-don’t offer the teachings of St. John Climacus and Abba Dorotheus about patience and humility; while in the beginning, he can more quickly accept these seeds and bear fruit; and also these necessary virtues for others, so that they are practiced not only in word, but in deed. N. L-na, of course, will not attend to you: why, in times of need, not accept and say the word that the Lord sends? If anyone brings rubbish to you, forbid it and throw it out of your mind. There are many rumors, but not everyone should believe what they are now saying about the priest; and everyone presents it as truth, but everything is a lie; That may be the case here too. February 1st, 1841. God also sent you sister N. Well: apparently, this is His will. Live, do not be burdened, do not reject them in their demand for advice, teach them and learn from the sisters yourself; God will enlighten you and strengthen you on how to resist the machinations of the enemy and destroy them. N. A-noy’s meal does not need to be separated from yours, let him get used to everything, especially when he has the will to do so. Although you are angry with Z. Z-well, she is worth it: she poured out everything to us that was in her heart against you, and she washed her head enough, and devoured the crackers, and broke her teeth; but now she comes to you with a guilty head, confessing to you all her attacks against you, which you already know; accept her like our womb and forgive her; we agree, together with her, to bear penance for her crime, in the hope of her correction; and do not refuse her to come to you with revelation. Although she wrote before about her permission to go to the abbess: but now our feelings and hers take a different turn on a special occasion. Meanwhile, don’t show this appearance to anyone yet; for she must go on pilgrimage and go on a pilgrimage for two months or more, then God Himself will arrange for the best for her. About your attack on the mother abbess, try to look down on yourself and repent before God; when you find it possible, you can open up to her; but just beware of the sisters blaspheming her. Z. T-na writes that I-yu cannot see: maybe this will apply to you too. We are all weak, and when we begin to sort people out, there will hardly be a person with perfection; Also, avoid contemplating others; it is enough to see your own weaknesses. We recently prayed: “O Lord, King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother!” When we allow ourselves to have a gap, we not only judge deeds, but we make conclusions based on movements and thoughts; and the enemy is already ready to present white as black. May the Lord protect you from this misfortune. 21st April 1841 We also received your letter in which you describe T.’s illness. the will of the Lord be done on her; Even if he dies in body, he will live in soul forever, and will avoid various storms and riots of passions. We will try to somehow tell our relatives more skillfully about her failure to write to us, and, as much as possible, keep them from undertaking a trip to her. May the Lord reward the sisters who follow her with zeal both here and on the day of righteous reward. The actions of V. Mr. are not commendable and we do not like them; For your part, we advise you to talk to her about them with love; when he confesses and makes a beginning, then there is hope for correction; and if he persists in his opinion, in his will and in his mind; then tell her that she has the freedom to choose what is best for herself. For you there are only chains, but we have a lot of them, not only on the arms, on the legs, but also on the neck 46. Where to go? April 26th. I wrote to you as a precaution, presenting the C-th and B-th case as an example; There was no heresy in either place, but they were considered such because they were alienated from others and behaved as if separately, and this was imputed to them as heresy and pride, from which they looked upon others and despised them. So, so that something like this does not happen in you, I suggested that you behave carefully and your children, born in the spirit; Most of all, instill in them about the acquisition of wealth - humility, then there will be no shame on others, and they will not be harmed by anyone, preserving them to the Lord. And about the temptation that you write about, for God’s sake, do not heed it, especially when you have already made an explanation about it; pay more attention to your ulcers, about which you write that they have overcome you and are tired of you: after all, that’s why they hurt us too, because we are strict judges of others. Those who depend on you, about those, in timely and untimely times, reprove and rebuke (2 Tim. 4:12); and keep quiet about others. I rejoice that your two N-s have begun to come to true understanding; temptations are science for us, and without them we know and learn nothing. You say: it’s hard to live without your elders; but you have lived long enough with your elders, now be the elder yourself and bear the infirmities of others, just as you bore your infirmities; and God will give you peace and tranquility, which I sincerely wish for you all. I. M. May 27, 1841. You write in one letter about N.N.’s outrages, and in another about her repentance: then what should you do? Perhaps there is hope for improvement: in battle, many suffer wounds, but even more so they receive rewards when they do not run away from the battlefield; and we are more skillful in our warfare when we hesitate, fall and rise. You talk about yourself: I was angry, I was left without health; tell them too, as St. writes. Climacus: “I saw what happened to those mired in the mud, who were scalded in it, notifying others passing by about themselves, how they got stuck in this cronyism; through this, instilling in them that caution, so that, walking the same road, they also do not get bogged down, and the omnipotent God, saving such people for the sake of others, extracts them from the cronyism of sin.” From G. V-na’s letter, I noticed her seduction by N.: wouldn’t it be better for her to listen to her weaknesses and cry for her dead; In the same shameful mind, the enemy represents human movements in a bad way, and can never be at peace, and is close to delusion, and even more so, considering himself better than others. It is necessary to instill in them to consider themselves the last of all, then they will not be harmed: otherwise, from similar cases according to S-vu and B-vu, those who considered themselves especially the best from others suffered a lot, and now they will not breathe their bellies. I.M. 1841. You write about your weaknesses and confusions: do not faint in spirit, but trust in God, for His power is made perfect in weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9). Remove your vision from temptations, put on the right glasses that would show you other people's virtues and your own weaknesses. The sisters, foolishly, make divisions, as if, when going to the Mother Abbess, they are far from you; or, coming to you, they turn away from the abbess. Isn’t she and you showing the same path to salvation? And who is more responsible for your souls? And when you speak to those who come to you, it is to alleviate its burden, and not to divide it. As much as possible, try to exterminate these feelings from those who come to you. I.L. and I.M. July 25, 1841. For us, the divisions of the sisters about whom you write are very intolerable, and we wrote to you. The last resort: when they do not listen to your words about considering everyone equal sisters in Christ and not behave like that, then let them consider themselves alien from us. How do they consider themselves to be when they leave their communities? Of course, the best, and theirs the worst! Isn’t this contrary to sound teaching? Submission, obedience and revelation, what else do they serve if not to gain humility? But they, on the contrary, are filled with a spirit of pride, humiliating others; On whom will this censure fall? Of course on you and on us. What madness they have reached: to consider it a virtue to feel sorry for someone who goes to the abbess for revelation, not understanding that she is the mother you all have in common! And none of them can be nourished by others except with her blessing. Tell them to leave either us or this madness, otherwise we will leave them! I.L. and I.M. August 5, 1841. You describe your general grief over the death of our dear father, Father Leo, and the jealousy of your sisters for reading the Psalter about him. Thank God that the incense of love for our elder burns in your hearts. May the Lord reward you with his prayers for such zeal. As for N. E-na: it is very noticeable that the words offended you; from which you know your weakness. Don’t get bored, for God’s sake, that she lives with you: remember for whose purpose and who entrusted her to you? Almost his memory, bear her weakness; Simply put, she still doesn’t understand anything about spiritual life, and besides, it’s no wonder that the letters upset her: you conquer evil with good, force yourself to show condescension and love. What good will it do if you send her out of her cell, or if she leaves the monastery completely? On both sides, do not carry out the priest’s orders; vice on the monastery, and you will not receive praise; I know that it is not easy for you to stay there, but who put this yoke on you? There is no need on my part; even if he leaves the monastery, he will have complete freedom from me; but we need, as much as possible, to preserve the fatherly commandment, with which it is inseparably united with God. I wrote to her rather roughly; if she wants, she will listen, but if she doesn’t want, let it be at her will; but you need to be careful not to show guilt on your part. However, as you wish. Together with you, I wish all your sisters in Christ peace and health of soul. I.M. November 15, 1841. Seeing from your letter about your illness, I sincerely regret you and don’t know how to help. There is only one hope that the Lord has prepared eternal good things for you; rise to thanksgiving to Him for His fatherly love, by which we are moved, here cleanses you from the mire of sin. We are all debtors to God, and whenever His fatherly rod had not visited us, we would have fallen into grief from our madness. - For your impatience and for other infirmities you have explained, have self-reproach, not only with your tongue, but reproach yourself with your heart; and it is sufficient for you to be saved, the Lord will look upon it and after the battle will grant you peace. It’s painful even to hear about the grumbling N.N. that with their disorder they bring grief to the mother abbess, to you, to themselves, to me, a sinner, and temptation to the entire monastery, and joy to the enemy of our salvation. What should we do with them? We have used all measures, severity and leniency, but nothing has any effect on them; Let us hand them over to the providence of God, so that He may guide them, as He Himself knows, for the Lord has mercy, and He has much deliverance: and He will deliver Israel from all their iniquities (Ps. 129:6). He is able to enlighten them with His destinies; and you, since you are burdened with your infirmities and illnesses, if they are not pacified even now, then, after talking with the Mother Superior, leave them to the will of God; and the abbess, whatever you like; if they are intolerable, then they can refuse the monastery. - Truly: I am writing this with heart disease! Your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. December 30, 1841. I received your letter dated January 14, and, with all my leisure and turmoil, I wish to answer at least a little. You complain about your burden: judge me, there are a lot of letters; but I have absolutely no time to write - everyone comes: it used to be that I was more comfortable behind my father’s head, but now I don’t even have time to read a book, and I don’t know what I am? I write: your pilgrim, but I’m not praying well for myself; I too would like to live in silence, as you write, but I don’t have the will. May the will of God be upon us. If the seditious women are pacified and live permanently, then why not accept it when the need arises, albeit with compulsion? You can even restrict their entry by scheduling when to go. May the Lord enlighten you for the benefit of others and your own, and may He strengthen you in battles, without which you cannot do without and be saved. January 19, 1842 You write that N.N.’s treatment is painful for you; what to do? one must bear the burden of one's neighbors. All creation is united in order to be useful to one another, how much more should we - the verbal creation of God - contribute to the benefit of our neighbor? Someday she too will come to her senses, having been restrained by you from impulses of passion; and the Lord will help the girls invisibly; Of course, during an illness it’s impossible for there not to be work, but now, perhaps, it’s easier; Don’t blame people for their whims, but teach them to resist proud passion and eradicate it. The B-s, who were with us and spoke biasedly about others, disgraced themselves, and yet they are also our zealous daughters; Yes, passions completely dominate us all. The Lord often, with the reins and bridle, tightens the jaws and humbles; I haven’t heard from them yet upon arrival, but if they don’t write, I’ll still be pleased. I have written to you many times, and now I ask: instill in the sisters who relate to you not to be alienated from others; but it’s as if some of them are walking the right path, while others are not; especially so that they consider themselves the worst of all; this will save them from all enemy networks. The notorious seditious women complain to me that you do not accept them, I rejected this from myself: not my will, but yours, let this be done; what to do with them? No matter how much we try to take care of them, everything is the same: everyone is right, there is not a single one to blame: what kind of peace can there be here? There is nothing to say about whims: we don’t want to recognize that passions dominate us, but we think that people are to blame. Woe to us! we have left the humble path, and are walking proud, obstinate; For this we are deprived of peace and tranquility. About a month has passed since all these incidents; perhaps there is a change in many ways, ovo 47 for the better, ovo for the worse; but everything is being tempted by your social dispensation, and by the sight of God it will come to pass for good. While writing about others, she did not hide her mental and physical weaknesses; and then there is laziness regarding the church and cell rule: force yourself; you can’t do it yourself: the sisters will read it, and you listen; there are no bodily strengths: God requires the mind and heart. Don’t neglect to correct your spiritual structure, keep yourself from rage, and by preaching to others, you yourself will be invincible. This word is even more fitting for me: because of the darkness I barely have a feeling. Lord have mercy! Mnogohreshny I.M. March 14, 1842. The opinion of the lady abbess about you and your sisters is also regrettable for me, and even more so since there should only be a silent listener; There is nothing more to help than with patience and self-reproach, leaving it to the will of God, who allowed this test. As for heresy, your conscience should be calm in this; Yes, they don’t call it that at all, but as if they were some kind of sect, therefore, it is not positive. On the other hand, although it is obvious that envy operates, it is not without God’s permission for your temptation and for caution against peculiarity and alienation from others. I have written to you all many times, spoken to you personally, and received explanations; but more than that, they have arrogance and pride, they considered themselves better than others, which is why God allowed such a temptation to exist. The true path is to consider ourselves the last and worst of all, then the enemy would not dare to touch with such temptation. What to do? Be patient and humble yourself; everything will pass; instill in the sisters that they should have respect for the abbess and respect for all sisters, considering themselves the last of all. The Lord is merciful, everything will pass, do not indulge in cowardice in sorrows; for through many tribulations we must enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22), and he who endures to the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22); The Lord promised His disciples not joy, but sorrow: you will have sorrow in the world (John 16:33). Although it seemed to St. To the Apostle Peter, good to be at Tabor (Matt. 17:4), in the inexpressible joy of seeing the Divine Glory; but the Lord did not deign to accept his proposal, but prepared Himself for suffering and predicted their suffering. Who are we that we want to bring ourselves sorrowlessly into the Kingdom of God? May the Lord strengthen you. Mnogohreshny I.M. June 27, 1842. You write about N. L. that her poor dispensation upsets you; and this is not easy for me to hear; what to do with it? What he sows, so shall he reap. Again, your child of a different kind G.G.: what to do with her? Let him continue not to come to you; Maybe this child will pass. Woe to us that we remain in such a sinful stupor and do not feel how we are drinking spiritual poison in the imaginary sweetness of passions. You write that you have a relaxation of your nerves and every word upsets you, and at the same time you find melancholy. - Take courage and let your heart be strong (Ps. 26:14): try to accept the words of the sisters with complacency and prepare yourself for this according to the Scripture: be prepared and not be embarrassed (Ps. 119:60). After all, this is also a mental illness, and it is healed by those who are contrary. May the Lord give you mental and physical health! God consoles you and protects you, provides you with everyday needs; it is necessary to accept something that is sorrowful and serves for salvation; others struggle with poverty, others suffer from passions or suffer other types of sorrow; the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is thorny and narrow. I.M. July 10, 1842 By God's permission, your monastery was confused after the former, although not perfect, peace, but still calmed down under the meek rule of the late Mother Superior. Now they put a price on her merits, but then there were many who complained about her. Your current situation is very difficult: deprivation of peace, not only secretly, but also openly, confusion, unworldliness and enmity. Who's to blame? Everyone is right and does not recognize themselves as guilty, but only offended, and this is on both sides, and if each side blamed itself and not the other, then the world would be right. Very difficult; However, the Lord is able to arrange for the best: but by whom? And this is perplexing to us, but with Him everything is known. Be His holy will! Where can one go from such disturbances? Everyone is imperfect, and everyone is human; We learn through sorrows to take the true path. I wish you to be peaceful and calm, and I wish peace, health and salvation to all your sisters. Mnogohreshny I.M. Patience overcomes everything, it is also the mother of consolation. The incident that offended you revealed itself in a completely different form and makes you think with regret about the words spoken: therefore, they are not an affirmative opinion, but simply spoken, although one cannot be praised for them; but, apparently, it pleases God to allow you to find out, to recognize your weakness, and henceforth to be careful. Thank God for everything! I ask you not to be embarrassed by what happened; God knows more than we do what is good for us, and for this reason he allowed it to be so: be wise as a serpent, and your goals like doves (Matthew 10:16), i.e. in actions and words there is serpentine wisdom, coupled with dove-like purity of character and intention. N. N. cut her hair and came to her senses; you can’t do without it; The oak becomes firmer at the root when the winds shake it. However, as you write, 48 is planning for a small attack in B-ku, then let it be at her will; We cannot hold back by force; Perhaps he will find better peace there. But if after embarrassment she repents, then the embarrassment is fleeting and will completely pass. July 16, 1842. The presenter of this, G.G., has a desire, in some cases that are perplexing for her, to treat you; together with her, I ask you to accept her, and whatever the Lord understands, tell her, according to her faith. I do not oblige you, since you have a spiritual connection with others, but simply - as much as there is faith and need; and for those you will have no little sorrow, and for this one you cannot avoid either; but in an outside respect, perhaps; and you will be free. She herself asked for this, and I did not force her or suggest it. Wherever everything is done according to God, there will be His help, to whose omnipotent protection I entrust you and her. Your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. December 16, 1842 Most Reverend Mother N. in the Lord! The dispensation of N. I-na that you described on December 19 was very sad for me; but I, seeing from your previous letters about her, wrote to you quite decisively on how to deal with her; He also offered her a good proclamation; Otherwise, everyone just asks for instructions, and doesn’t carry out what you write. We want to receive the crown without labor and effort and ascend to heaven with peace. No, the path there is difficult and regrettable; and the reason for this is our passions. She, not seeing them in herself, thought, having entered the monastery and bought books, only to enjoy peace and in that believe the hope of salvation: but, on the contrary, in peace passions tyrannize us even more. I’m not afraid that I wrote to her strictly and that it upset her: what good will it do if I just anoint her passions and scratch her scabs with soft words? How long can she keep writing the same thing when she doesn’t want to use even the means shown to heal her passions? And you can say a word to her: Babylon died and was not healed (Jeremiah 51:9). R.S. We write, talk and talk about humility; Is it possible to live in a fox fur coat? I have just finished my letter and received yours dated the 26th; and what should I do? what my grief! I seem to be writing with good intentions, but my letters just offend you. You write that after reading my letter, almost all the joints shook! And N.A-na, having received my letter, cried contentedly; and you write, when you read my bottom lines, your whole heart turned upside down. In vain do you in other places please me for letters when there is such cruelty between them! I wrote to you about G. G. at ease and not with the same obligation as about others; and in case of need, to react and consult, “what the Lord will proclaim, according to her faith, to say,” and this is not by my appointment, but by her own choice. To completely betray yourself is also at her will: but you should consider yourself insignificant and do not consider that you are a spiritual mother: but it is dangerous to refuse the demand for advice with faith; the same thing as those who had money not giving to a beggar who asked. This is also almsgiving, only in the highest sense, spiritual. You are afraid of sorrows for this from your superiors: what can you do, this is not your fault; and if it does, it will be by God’s permission, by the envy of the enemy; but the enemy will have time for nothing. But there should be indignation at her too, when she endures it, it’s good, but if not, it’s up to her will - you’ll be free. It is, of course, impossible to hide this from others, and there will be more sorrow; I will write for her to inform the abbess that she has the intention, due to her lack of time, to treat you sometimes; if she forbids it, then you are all clean from it; and having allowed it, appearance alone will not show sorrow. Where the work of God is, there will be peace, although it will be purified by fire. January 2, 1843. I know that you are sad and cramped everywhere, illness, sorrow, disorder; and I feel it and have compassion for you; but what kind of help can I give? The will of God is, allowing you to be in these crosses, then He is strong and will give you the strength to bear them. Apparently, you need to be so for your salvation, which is acquired through many sorrows (Acts 14:22). About N. N. you had a pretty good explanation; whether she believes or does not believe you, your conscience justifies you, and you be calm. Her disposition should be towards you for the purpose of seeking salvation, and not something else - with which intention she asked; and you acted prudently by cutting off what was not necessary; continue to do so. What good will it do the sisters if in this way, instead of obedience and revelation, they take power over you? Then it will be more difficult to handle them. Z. T-na said about A. that she demands from you what is not useful to her; where is the intention of salvation? Just tell her: it’s better to look for peace in another cell than to do of your own free will, as St. writes. John Climacus: “It is better to expel a novice from the monastery than to allow him to fulfill his will.” Now I see that Z.’s mother would be more useful to her than you; she wouldn’t have looked at anything, but would have handled it her own way: she knows how to get along with people like that. It’s a pity that she will become more skilled, and then it will be difficult to cut off; It will be a burden to both yourself and others. I. M. February 13, 1843. You describe your new adventures and the sorrows that come from them. It is impossible not to feel; but it is not in our power and strength to turn them away or avoid them. When you believe that the destinies of the Lord throughout the entire earth, and without His providence no one is punished with sorrow, then do not try: when, how, through whom and why do sorrows occur? For “to allow such cases, and for all creation to cooperate in this, there is only one God,” teaches St. Mark the Ascetic. And we must firmly believe this and not put one or the other as the cause of our sorrows, but accept them with humility and self-reproach: then they will be easy. I know that it’s hard for you to endure such cruelty; but the abbess cannot be blamed much: she, like a person, hearing from someone, even if completely false, may become embarrassed. I advise you, gathering your courage, to explain to her your conscience as it is; that you did not and are not looking for them, but solely for obedience, as before, so now, to her, you accepted this burden, with your mental and physical weaknesses: and if she wants, then she can prevent everyone from coming to you, and thereby ease your fate. But not to believe every rumor; and that you are not her opponent—God Himself is a witness of this; and you’re not looking for daughters for yourself. In the simplicity of my heart, calling on the Lord for help, when you explain yourself in this way, I believe that the Lord will tell her not to have an attack on you. I am not at all surprised at your inconsistency: people are looking for salvation, but the enemy rebels against this and defeats them, because they do not act with humility. If there were humility, then the entire demonic regiment would not be able to shake this good action; and until we have yet acquired it, we are approaching it (humility) through various temptations and sorrows. If, according to your explanation with the abbess, her will is confirmed so that they come to you: then there is nothing to do - accept; and what will happen next is unknown. Only I don’t praise them strongly for their inconstancy and for such an exchange. When you see the abbess’s obvious indignation for them, then tell her that you have no intention of opposing her; give them up. August 14, 1843. I was heartbroken that through us or through me, you have such grief through cohabitation with N.K. As much as I could, I tried to persuade her to go to B-u or to another cell, or to have her own meal; but he finds all this inconvenient and responds to it with tears; advised her to change her character and soften her morality, otherwise there would be no benefit from her departure from the world. She now sees her disastrous state, and that is why she is more afraid to leave you. I am in great difficulty and don’t know what to do? I can’t force you, and I definitely don’t have the strength to send her away. And truly, it is close to me from everywhere; I have no time to take care of my poor soul, and there is no one to mourn my bitter dispensation: all I do is go to hotels; but there is little use; people, letters, their brothers, and everything accumulated at one time; and then there is insomnia. I find part of the reason for your embarrassment: that she did not leave with a completely peaceful spirit; why I advised her to ask for your forgiveness and begin to correct her character. She asks you to intercede for her in the hope of correcting her own. Having given her the instruction not to become rigid or persistent, but in case of whims to now resort to asking for forgiveness - rather than defeat a proud enemy: she promised to make a beginning; why do I ask you to be patient with her; however, do not leave without reproof when something happens. When something happens next and there is no correction, then be it your will, as you wish; I don’t need you now, but I ask. September 11, 1843 I just asked you about N. A-ne: why did you want to go out and not torture me. The enemy is known to stir up quarrels; and from a word, like from a spark, there is a fire. In the hope of God's help, you can undergo treatment; and on Monday drink whey water; in mixtures we drink not only this, but also such compounds that even if we knew about them, we wouldn’t even bring them to our mouths. Be the will of God over you; May our desire give you relief from mental and physical illnesses; and refrain from insults; They are not always useful, and even more so now. Try to destroy in your memory the actions of the sisters who insulted you, standing at the foot of the cross of Christ, looking at the insults that were inflicted on Him, and are now inflicted by our sins; and how He prayed to His Father: Father, forgive them their sin, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 24:34); and now, in repentance, he forgives us our sins daily. He suffered, did not commit sin, nor was flattery found in His mouth, and leave us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps (1 Peter 2:22, 21). And we, sinners, constantly sinning, shouldn’t we forgive those who have offended us, when we ourselves need the forgiveness of our sins, and many more. As for refusing the sisters their demands, this is up to your will; and even more so when, due to illness, you cannot attend to and fulfill their urgent demands. You are not enslaved to them, but they must humbly seek spiritual benefit from you, in rank, as it should be from the fathers, and not urgently demand this; in this be peaceful. Don't worry about the fact that the letter arrived to you printed; you read your conscience: if there is nothing nasty in it, then that’s enough to calm you down. You didn’t ask N.N. to write to you; and whoever suspects will probably find nothing. May God grant that you are healthy and peace is established between you. I.M. October 9, 1843. I received your letters; you write about your illness and about the unpleasant treatment with various medications. What to do? You need to help in some way, only in the hope of God’s help; without Him nothing will help. Be grateful and thank God for everything. Do not complain about the sisters, as if they upset you, or that your dispensation cannot bear their infirmities: God builds all this for you to become aware of your infirmities and for humility. Be sure, even if no one touched or said a word, the passions themselves will make their effect known. Ask God for help to grant you indifference to their demands and good reasoning in your answers; negli, for the sake of their salvation, and God will save you, according to the word of St. John Climacus. I read R.’s mother’s letter and am not the least bit offended by her for not relying on my words, but surrendering to your will: what do I mean? And your internal affairs are better known to you than to me; In any case, when giving advice, I leave it to the will and judgment of the mother abbess and yours. I don’t force you to accept them either; and if you can, accept it; if you find any inconvenience, leave it, informing the mother abbess about it. From her letter I see that she is very comforted by your letter and expresses her affection for you. But in reality it will be better to see. November 16, 1843. I congratulate you on being clothed in the angelic form; and I am not the least surprised at the grief that happened; God tests our will regarding the vows we have given: will we really prove to be fulfillers of them and will we gain our souls in patience? “You became faint-hearted because you placed your hope of healing in medicine, and not in God, who rises from the graves.” Confusion acted contrary to the medicine: who dared to do this without God’s permission? You blame the kind sisters for this: but for me all this is so dark and incomprehensible that I cannot in any way solve this riddle. Who, how, and on what occasion caused you this embarrassment? If what was said to you about you is false, then this should console you, and not offend you; the mirror of your conscience is not darkened, then it is your consolation; You just have to feel sorry for those who spread false gossip; but we must pray for them and forgive them, since we ourselves need the forgiveness of our sins. December 18, 1843. You write that Mother Superior read you my last letter. I wrote there so that you wouldn’t be embarrassed about Oh, let them say what they want; you must have your conscience as a mirror. And we must accept sorrows not with faint-heartedness, but by humbling ourselves that we are worthy not only of this, but also of great censure; and if people saw our secret mental falls, then the whole world would move against us; but God's mercy covers us, awaiting our repentance. You must be peaceful about refusing your sisters, especially when the mother abbess deigns to do so; You have enough of those who surround you and are faithful and accept spiritual benefit. May the Lord protect you and protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy, and give you mental and physical strength to glorify the name of God. April 1, 1844. I received your letter, in which you write about freedom from your sisters. It's not up to me; no one can attract us unless the Lord inspires; Equally, the mutual disposition and spiritual benefit that comes from this must be left to their faith and to God, who acts according to it. Do not attribute the shocks and disorders in your health that you have experienced and are experiencing from them to their fault, but to your own dispensation; and therefore, presenting your weakness before the Lord, ask to be granted freedom from them. There may be another action here that can upset you: their grumbling against you and grief for leaving you, and various gossip - this can also shock you; but one must arm oneself with patience, calling upon humility to help, and believe that all this happens by God’s permission, and it is not possible to leave this cross; when we accept it with humility, reproaching ourselves and not others, then it will surely be easier to endure. I write and remind you about this many times; and the teaching of the holy fathers is more based on this. You wrote about N. Mr. in the very confusion that happened between you: it is impossible to have sound reasoning here. Exactly, I know her weakness, but even then you have to imagine how much she struggles against this. We need to talk about everything in a sane and calm mind; I don’t need you for anything: you can’t communicate with her peacefully - tell her about this, offering your weakness; she is able to have her own angle and content. But the point is not that, but the correction of one’s morality, which comes from cutting off one’s will and reason, from patience and humility. May 8, 1844. Z. T-no, I wrote it rather rough, which, perhaps, will depress her spirit, and you can strengthen it; We are all people, we struggle with weaknesses, and even more so with pride - with this hump that does not allow us to crawl through the narrow path of reproaches. In the incident with N. A-noya, she herself must learn the skill, and most of all, seek peace and see that its destruction is caused by one of the main passions: love of fame, voluptuousness or love of money. I don’t say this about you, but in general about everyone, among whom I am the first, who, it seems, is overcome by almost all these passions. And you and N. Mr. (as you write) want to make a start for good, but the evil custom can be an obstacle; and what is the reason for this? That's right, one of these passions. I also consider it necessary to remind you: make it a rule for the sisters not to speak reproachfully and gossip about anyone, and especially about the abbess; I noticed this and see that indignation arises from this: passing on empty talk to each other, it reaches those individuals, even with an increase, and infects them with unworldliness; and even if it did not reach them, the internal guarantee of dislike is already echoing in their hearts; but it’s better to follow the right path, try to force yourself - to love those who insult you and see everyone as better than yourself. St. Isaac, in his 21 words, believes that this is the purity of the heart when we see everyone as saints. October 2, 1844. In response to my words regarding the caution of negotiations about the abbess, you write that you have connections with such people who come only out of curiosity, and so on. Experience should teach you where to speak and where to remain silent: be wise like a serpent and your targets like doves (Matthew 10:16); combine with the wisdom of a serpent the dove's purity of character, and nothing will harm you. Believe me, it is not from words alone, but also from the inner deposit of the heart that a contrary message occurs to others about whom we have it. When we take a closer look, we will find ourselves guilty and justify others; and although we are not guilty of anything, we will leave it to God’s providence, and consider those people who are hostile to us as an instrument of providence working towards our salvation; truly, they will only do to us what God allows. When we seek relief from these sorrows by blaming others, we multiply and aggravate our sorrows. Read from St. Isaac in 51 words of the article “Like betrayal” and so on - you will know the truth of my words. I.M. November 4, 1844. You write that the K-s’ entrance to you, at her request, was entrusted to my will, as I judge. It turns out that she placed the burden from her own head on someone else’s. When was it that I allowed you to secretly go to you or someone? I always tried to arrange this according to the will of the abbess. You yourself know what harm can come from this: is it possible to hide an awl in a bag? Now, although this echo comes towards you, your conscience is calm, which is false; and then you can no longer justify yourself with anything, and all cases will be established as the truth. You yourself could emphatically imagine the impossibility of this enterprise. When with the will of the mother abbess, and then for obedience, then you can force it, for the benefit of your neighbors, according to their faith; what is needed, God will give reason and word, and there will be no great confusion; and without that, on both sides, it cannot be avoided. Z. T-na did not describe to me any incidents between you. Yes, I advise you to leave these squabbles on both sides. A spiritual connection is undesirable for you and her and does not bring any benefit; leave each other alone; and if someone seeks guilt, then he raises the curse of resentment against himself; but we need to force ourselves to fulfill God’s commandment: love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). I understand that the claims are insignificant on both sides: the passion of pride provides an entrance for the enemy to confuse with insignificant words or rumors. Everyone is right; from that there is no peace. May the Lord give you peace of mind and strengthen you to accept empty rumors more generously. Mnogohreshny I.M. December 12, 1844. For congratulating me on the holiday and the new year, I thank you; and I congratulate you on the new year. May the Lord strengthen and renew your strength to serve the Lord, and frustrate the enemy’s machinations that cause spiritual and physical disturbances: may the peace of God be established in your hearts and in your dwellings. In your letter you take a burden off your neck and put it on me. I don’t captivate you, then there’s no point in treating me; and K-a writes that my letter killed her; - in which not only was there nothing murderous, but there was something creative: if it was God’s will for this, then I would go with the abbot’s blessing, but secretly I did not agree. After this, I wrote to the abbess so that she would take care of her and calm her embarrassment, leaving it to her will and not thinking about anyone, so that there would be any intrigues: I had nothing left to do; and there you have your mind; If you are in trouble, you can present your weakness to the abbess. I gave mothers R. and Z. freedom to go wherever they wanted, knowing that you are burdened by mental and physical illnesses; I only advised you to part ways with you peacefully and not to blame anyone on you, but to blame yourself, and rather to blame illness, both yours and mine, as the cause, if anyone needs to know about this. However, I advise you not to look at other people’s words: everyone judges according to his own mind and disposition, but the truth is that there is only one Lord and everyone’s conscience. A right conscience should be a consolation for us, even if the whole world reviles us. May the Lord give you peace of mind and body, with health, which is what you truly desire, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. January 2, 1845. Thank God that your burden has been lightened, and now there are fewer people coming to you, you should calm down more in yourself. It is impossible to indulge in complete solitude, and even more so when you feel mentally ill. It is better to always reproach and despise yourself for not correcting yourself, and living in community, and seeing your lack of fulfillment of God’s commandments, recognize your weakness and humble yourself, from which you will receive God’s help, than, living alone and imaginaryly enjoying peace, get carried away into arrogance. But until our passions are conquered, they will not give us peace even in solitude. Surrender to the will of God. Regarding K., I did not force you, but seeing that you yourself did not renounce, but placed this on me, which gave her hope of receiving her desire; for which she grieved me when I left this matter to the will and judgment of the abbess. The matter went well, and that was better. I entrust you and your sisters to the protection of God. I.M. February 2, 1845. You write that you are now at peace after your sisters left you; I'm very happy about this; I wish you to achieve a perfect world. You say that “I live badly and badly,” but you are drawn into jealousy and condemnation, and then you forget that you live badly; why one should consider oneself worthy of indignation; then on the other side there would be mitigation. “It’s a pity the sisters are under pressure.” Who dares to do this if God does not allow it? And when he allows it, it must be accepted with gratitude and reasoning that, apparently, it must be this way, and not otherwise, for their salvation. From this they recognize their weakness and humble themselves; and when they turn to murmuring, they sin; Who is to blame for this? - Our dispensation; and what is not in our power, we cannot change; We are troubled in vain, and we lose the crown of patience. It’s time for you and me to read better, but we can barely even read them properly. Why do we need the books of St. Climacus, Isaac, Dorotheus, Zosima and others, when we do not force ourselves to follow their teachings, but do everything opposite? We do not see the hand of God at work, but we look at human malice, and thereby we crush ourselves. I wrote this to you briefly, and you yourself consider the teaching of St. fathers and apply to the sisters’ ulcers, then they will be healed. Your burden, apparently, stems from the fact that you did not open yourself in order, but without faith and with misgivings. We see this in the ancient fathers: those who opened their thoughts with faith received benefit; but, on the contrary, others spoke without faith and were tempted; what happened with the late priest: many used him, and many were tempted. I remember how M.N. benefited from him out of faith; and when she lost it, she was tempted and was no longer at peace, but he was still the same. May the Lord forgive her. I wrote to you only a living example of what weighed on you and lay on your heart. “There is no one to say a word with”; Perhaps, write to me in more detail, don’t be afraid and don’t be afraid, if when I wash your head and give you some crackers, you still have teeth, you can chew; Don’t be afraid of this, but accept it with love: after all, this is not out of malice, but for benefit; But if you don’t want it, as you wish, I won’t force you and will remain silent. Thank the Lord that your cell is peaceful; try to pacify them and everyone; and do not judge the abbess in front of them, and try to turn everything in a good direction. March 31, 1845. You mention your uncorrection, bitterness and contempt; For this, one medicine is needed - humility. When you “see your sins like the sand of the sea, which is the beginning of the enlightenment of the soul and a sign of its health,” then you will leave a gap and judgment about others, which are not entrusted to you. Everyone must give an account of his deeds; and, truly, he cares about this; and although they are overcome by passions, what does it cost them - either in the fight against them, or after paying off, making peace with our inexorable accuser, conscience? If you and I were correct in everything and lived like a monk, then even then, looking at our neighbors, we would clearly show that our eye is covered with a log; and if, moreover, you have “your own dead man,” you should cry for him. So, try to pacify yourself through a short path of humility. May the peace of God be among you; the zealous wisher of this for you, the great sinner I. M. April 24, 1845. First I will say: may the Lord forgive you for your false suspicious thoughts towards me, which did not bring you peace of mind, but caused confusion and anxiety; By this alone you must know that they were from the opposite. But since you recognize yourself in this and repent, then I repeat: may the Lord forgive you, and I forgive the unworthy. Is this enough or not? I wanted to object to the false suspicious thoughts brought to you from the enemy, but I leave it, so that the former poison does not resume in you. The devil is a slanderer from time immemorial and now he has slandered me before you; - and what did he bring you? Not peace and silence, but confusion and sorrow; just as in ancient times for Adam it was not deification, but death. I was not a little touched by your embarrassment; but I am still the same to you, as I was, and as I am now. However, what is done to you by the enemy is a lie, and you must despise it; and if I begin to refute it, then, with the help of God, I will find words; but then we will go to court, and I don’t know who will be right in court. The enemy attacks you, but you have no weapon against him; it exists - humility, without which, even if everyone had virtues, salvation is doubtful. At the same time, we must accept all cases sent to us by God’s vision to our test, even if they were definitely regrettable. God knows what is good for us, but we make many mistakes in our thinking and reason and bring unbearable sorrow to ourselves. You write that you are to blame against I. for the snow: they grumbled a lot and told others; Well, did you receive any consolation? Isn’t it better to come and explain your grief to her; and what she was guilty of would be forgiven, and the rest would be explained to her in a different form. Believe that even in small things, God’s providence operates; and both in consolation and in insult, the grace of God measures according to our dispensation. I.M. May 12, 1845. You ask: should I read the Psalter on Sundays and holidays? On vigil holidays the rule is left, then you can leave the Psalter; and whoever has the diligence to read, then let it be according to his will, only with humility. – On Monday you are not supposed to eat fish, but when there is polyeleos, you can; but due to weakness, some even on simple days dare to do this, replacing it with humility and repentance. Look at the arrangement of N.L.’s cell with the eyes of faith in God’s providence; and the cell will not bring peace when we do not care about it and do not acquire it within ourselves. Look at those who have cells and those who are embarrassed - who is the cause? Passions that we do not make the slightest effort to overcome. The sound of speeches from N.’s mother touches you; After all, you didn’t annoy her, then be peaceful, and pray for her that she is tempted by a common enemy, strengthened by her imaginary righteousness and self-love, and leave her this debt: for we ourselves have a need for the forgiveness of our long-term. Everything will pass, and everything here will pass, but we must appear in the future. A-oh and I have had quite a bit of trouble here; she is against me, and I am against her - for her rotten dispensation. From her explanations, I noticed that she looks at people from the dark side, and especially at those who do not relate to you, and believes that those who do treat you are supposedly being persecuted, and if it weren’t for you, they would suppress everyone. I was surprised at this arrangement of hers and decided to advise you: instill in her, and if there are others like her, to beware of such false opinions, and to see the good side in people, and not to judge. Accept insults and reproaches as sent from the hand of God for our correction and spiritual benefit, and, as much as possible, try to consider ourselves the last of all, reproach ourselves and find guilt in ourselves; and they will in no way hide from us when we examine them diligently. I ask you and pray for this, for God’s sake: instill in them this truth more often, and if it happened during a revelation to speak about any reproaches uttered against them, hold them guilty for failure to bear it; Yes, so that they continue to worry about this: they will not even hear such speeches, covering God for humility; and sometimes big gossip comes out of nothing; but when analyzing the case, everyone is right, but the sedition is great. This is what we should do, to consider ourselves worse than everyone else: then God will justify. Let us leave the judgment not to ourselves, but to God; where there is peace, there is God: and where there is confusion, there is resistance. Advise you to read more often about humility, about self-reproach, about patience: then, perhaps, the memory of these will be planted in the heart, and if necessary, they will receive deeds and help, having prepared and not been embarrassed (Psalm 119:60); and when it happens to be confused, then there is a remedy for this: confused and unable to speak (Psalm 77:5). This will be a feat and spiritual work! May the Lord give them true reason and send His help to conquer passions. August 25, 1845. You write: what should you do? Contemplation and condemnation took possession of you. What more can you do than try not to judge or look down on you, but take care of your weaknesses, which are clearly visible to you; shouldn't they humble you? He who has his own dead man cries for him, but does not cry for someone else’s; do the same. Th. I advise you to somehow bring her to the revelation of her thoughts, and to God, admonishing you, strengthen her and dispel the darkness that lies on her heart. Even if she writes to me, although it seems like a lot to her, but, with the help of God, I will not miss her. Perhaps she can come here; I don't reject her; but will there be any benefit, and is it worth it to travel such a distance when you can decide and calm down through explanations? You can see all this better on the spot, and you arrange it as God instructs you. January 12, 1846. You describe your weaknesses in relation to N., you see and are blessed. It is written: “The eye does not see evil”: having your own dead, you will not cry for strangers. Pray with St. Ephraim: “By the Lord the King! Grant me to see my sins, and not condemn my brother.” With A-oh here we are complacent and little by little we begin to consider its structure; He has a desire to correct himself, but this requires skill, self-compulsiveness and God’s help. He is strong to give her correction, with her diligence and will. There is no time to write much; in one hand I must write to many. I wish you and all your sisters peace and blessings from the Lord, much-sinful I.M. January 29, 1846. You complain about your illnesses, mixed with laziness, and cannot do anything. All this is the essence of sorrow, and where can one escape from it? Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). We must be patient and humble ourselves in the poverty of our deeds with constant self-reproach, and not judge others how they live. - Believe in the Lord that He will look upon your humility; for it, according to the word of St. Isaac the Syrian: “And besides works he can save us; but actions, on the contrary, without humility are not only useless, but also create a lot of evil in us.” Various temptations are a curb on our opinion of ourselves and lessons for learning in spiritual life. Let us surrender to the will of our Creator, Who wants our salvation, and not destruction, and let us ask Him with tenderness: save me by your destinies, Lord! As for me, that you have a stubborn, bitter feeling against me from various thoughts and seem to have moved away from me to a country far away: then don’t worry about this at all: you are not losing anything through this; for that is what I am worth. When would there be any benefit; then she could not leave; otherwise I am like a barren tree, and the fruits of my words and deeds are insignificant and useless, even if some are deceived, imagining that they will benefit; and maybe they flatter my vanity. Believe me that your consciousness is not at all offensive to me; I partly understand myself that I am nothing, and worthy not of respect, but of contempt from everyone; but for now the Lord spares me, seeing my weakness. Regarding my feelings, in spirit, for you, I still don’t find any change in myself; but just as before, I sympathize with your weaknesses and sorrows and wish you to be saved; with which I remain, the sinful I.M. March 9, 1840. The complex of thoughts that formed in your heart armed me against me, while I don’t know anything about it - and who did I need to tell that you led your sisters wrong? I wouldn't be ashamed to tell you this. I had no time to enter into such and similar judgments with those who were with us: why should I judge about this, that I led my sisters one way or another, when I myself lead very far from how it should be; and only their faith contributes to their benefit when they receive it. It’s not new for me to carry false accusations: there are plenty of them here too. For my sins I am worth it, but God’s help does not leave me without strengthening; so from this incident I did not suffer at all and did not change towards you: but I still find myself in the same position as I was, you can do as you want. You ask for forgiveness, but I did not grieve for you. So, on my part, be calm and do not be embarrassed: when you are guilty, then I forgive and advise you not to give faith to every rumor, and not to be shaken by every wind. I congratulate you and all your sisters on the approaching holiday of the Resurrection of Christ, I wish you to meet and celebrate it with heartfelt joy, in good health, and I remain a wisher for your peace, health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. March 30, 1846. You write about the disorder between N. Mr. and N. D., and that they don’t tell you about this; but try to inspire her not to be ashamed to reveal her weakness in any small way, in order to thereby shame the enemy and drive him away. A secretive and hypocritical approach will not bring her any benefit, but will only increase passions that should be eradicated. If she is denied her cell, then where will she find refuge? I know all your cells; going out is shameful and tempting, not only for her, but for all of us. For God’s sake, endure N.’s weakness, however, not by keeping silent, but by denouncing it; maybe he will come to his senses; - Now I won’t write to her about this in detail, but I’ll write in time. May the peace of God be in your home! I.M. April 16, 1846. I'm very sorry N. A-well. This is how to walk through cells! If you had love and humility, then you too could fit in; tightness would not hurt, but it is a temptation for her; without having experienced the worst, he cannot appreciate the best. I am writing to her. N. We had enough of Mr. She and I talked about whatever needed to be discussed. She shows a great disposition and desire to live against her own will, having been convinced that her own will and reason do us a lot of harm; it just needs to be shown in action if her desire is true. This test is entrusted to you; and when insulting others, he advised her to read chapter 209 of Mark the Ascetic, and chapter 31 of Simeon the Theologian, and St. Abba Dorotheus at the end of the chapter, about the hedgehog to reproach yourself: “We suffer 49,” and with these to tame the indignation of your heart: you remind her of these healings according to her promise. This will calm her down and free her from angry passion. And N. is afraid to explain himself to you about his parting. I am sending you a letter from Elder Paisius of the Arzamas community to the headmistress to read: it is very useful about obedience. Thank God that you are at peace with yourself; peace and tranquility do not depend on the outside, but on our structure. As soon as a defamatory rumor touches you, your heart will turn upside down. What does this mean? Read chapter 209 of Mark the Ascetic, and St. Simeon chapter 31 and you will see where it comes from and how to get rid of it. Knowledge of our weakness and self-reproach is always necessary and useful for us. I. M. May 21, 1846. Glory to God, who has deigned you to be in the holy places of the city of Kyiv and to venerate the most pure image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the relics of St. saints - together with your companions, sisters cohabiting with you! May their prayers intercede with God for your salvation! Thank you for the notification of your return to your monastery. May peace, love and harmony be established in your little society; and let troubles and whims that arise on anyone’s part be destroyed by Christian patience and bearing each other’s infirmities with self-reproach and humility. A, although she thinks that it is more useful for her in B; but this is only before arriving there, and there this benefit will be hidden under the temptations that happen, necessary on the path leading to the city of the kingdom, and again S. will be needed; then it is better, without moving from the place and not teasing people, to remain in S-e and reconcile, asking for the prayers of mothers and sisters to strengthen her in her motionless place. Fr. writes to me about M.’s pitiful death. M-th also partly remembers that it reached his ears about the soaring of his unpleasing thoughts: then, apparently, he is delighted with the destinies of God, while these soarings have not yet borne bitter fruits. N.N. writes that he rejoiced over him, believing that he was guided by the instructions of the late priest; but he sees the opposite and is surprised; He doesn’t even know how much a person can change in his structure. The destinies of God are incomprehensible to us; who can experience them? We must remember that we are all mortal and here are strangers and strangers, but our fatherland is in heaven, to which we must strive and do what we are commanded from the Lord, who redeemed us with His blood and opened paradise with the cross. May the peace of God and His blessing rest upon you; I earnestly wish, much-sinned I.M. August 18, 1846. I sincerely bow to Father I.; It’s difficult for him, but apparently it’s necessary: ​​we don’t know what kind of cross is being prepared for whom. We are looking for peace, but it is not good for us. Peace is found in the cross and in surrendering ourselves to the will of God, and as long as we struggle with passions and are poorly armed against them, peace cannot be found. About the confusion of T. Mr. is boring to hear and write. These are the fruits of my instruction! Ask your superiors for them, but they don’t even think about the deeds that contribute to salvation: no self-sacrifice, no humility, no patience; we have no love, no trace of it; We deceive ourselves by the fact that we have mothers and fathers, we go to revelation, but only one form and some kind or passions. And when there was true obedience, according to the teachings of St. fathers, then the fruits would not have been the same, and the enemy would not have been able to keep up with them with his machinations. There is no doubt about it, that the enemy rises up strongly against those who want to work for the Lord; but we are also overcome by the power of God when we struggle as we should and humbly; even our very weaknesses and falls, and the annoyances and reproaches inflicted by others serve us as a test and training in virtue and humility. May the Lord give you true reason on how to act in matters of this rising confusion; resort most of all to humility; it will give you strength and reasoning, for God looks upon it. December 17, 1846. You mention about your sisters that you treated them wrong, for which you ask for forgiveness. It seems that I did not reproach you for this: how can I do this when I myself do not know what I am doing and how I treat my brothers and sisters? Verily, their faith alone is their guide; for when in simplicity of heart they surrender themselves into obedience with faith, then God Himself guides them through our unworthiness; and if someone approaches with testing, self-indulgence and wickedness, then God will make the prophet mad to tell him against his corrupt heart. And you behave in simplicity of heart, and God will give you true reason and protect you from the snares of the enemy. April 5, 1847. There is nothing to say about the sorrows that happen to us: after all, our path is already so sorrowful, and the impoverishment of our deeds must be replaced with something. It is also the mercy of God that visits us with such cleansings; we just need to thank Him and come to the consciousness of our sinfulness. All the fatherly teachings strengthen us in this and reassure us in God’s mercy towards those who endure with thanksgiving and humility. You write about T. G. that you expressed many of your infirmities to others, and so on, and you want to completely get rid of her. I am not an imam about this matter and I am not forcing you. The late priest and I used all measures for the best, so that through spiritual nourishment the novices would receive education and skills for spiritual life, according to the teachings of St. fathers; but the enemy, who hates good, has sowed his harmful weeds in this holy heap of good seeds, and instead of receiving a good dispensation, and, in the event of a fall, strengthening and tranquility, he has created a darkness of gossip and confusion. Gossip is nothing more than empty gossip; and one must be patient when they lift something up against someone; and here there will be research, and there there will be enmity; and what is the use of this? I don’t even know what to do anymore. But whoever wants to follow the right path, even hell cannot shake him from the right path, when patience and humility and the commandment are established on the Gospel cross: love your enemies. We all need to enter into ourselves and see how far we are still from fulfilling the commandment of love and bearing the burdens of our neighbor, which we must force ourselves to do, for those in need delight in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 11:12). You mention some confusions in your monastery: where are they not? Of course, it hurts your heart: but if you look at yourself, you will find it in yourself, i.e. in the monastery of our hearts, even more sedition and confusion. Let us try to pacify them within ourselves, and everyone around us will be pacified. Mnogohreshny I.M. March 9, 1847. I look at the letters, and grief strikes my heart that I cannot answer everything quickly, but everyone needs it; - now they lie before my eyes 65. I don’t know which ones to start with first. I received your and your sisters’ letters on April 20, and there are more than 15 that were received on April 3 and remain unanswered. Maybe they think that I do this out of contempt or out of choice; Meanwhile, I would like to satisfy everyone; but I won’t write two or three a day, so what can I do? Both I and they need to be patient or learn it. You complain about your inner disorder; I regret this and have compassion for you. But what to do about it and who to blame? Passions act in us because they have a guarantee and are not destroyed by resistance and self-reproach. Even if you hide underground (as you write), they will not give you peace there either. We must endure boredom and melancholy, and accept this sorrow as sent to purify and complete the shortcomings of our work. St. Isaac's 20th word and many other holy teachings instruct us in this. I can’t tell you anything about A-e Sh-skaya regarding her placement and I don’t dare force the sisters to calm her down; I’ll just say that what we do for our neighbors, God takes upon Himself, in relation to good and evil: whatever good you do for these least of my brothers, you do for Me (Matthew 25:40). When she arrives at the monastery, then it will be clear; Perhaps the Lord will change their hearts to compassion, and hers to improving their morality and abandoning the whims that offended them. I advise Father I-y and F-u, by praying to God, to look for some father or brother who is unanimous in the Lord and with faith to consult with him. God sees every spiritual need, and if someone is truly disposed to do good, then even a little boy will enlighten him and decide for his benefit; Otherwise, even if he goes to the prophet, the Lord and the prophet will go mad, writes St. Dorofei. May the Lord enlighten and enlighten you in dealing with sisters who are unanimous and like-minded in the Lord, and may the peace of God rest on you. I earnestly wish and pray to the Lord for this. Mnogohreshny I.M. May 6, 1847. You describe that you were honored to be at the blessed death of our father’s beloved brother I in the Lord. One cannot help but regret the separation from a person close to one’s heart; but on the other hand, one must spiritually rejoice that the Lord honored him with such a death, which gives hope that he will find mercy from Him and be honored with a blissful eternity. And we sinners are still wandering in this deplorable vale, fought by passions, as if by fierce beasts, and not striving to defeat them, but rather being conquered ourselves. Due to the darkening of passions, we almost don’t see this, but we imagine that others are the cause of our misfortune and confusion: but we don’t think about that, that if we walked the true path, we would see our sins like the sand of the sea, and would attribute all cases to the providence of God, allowing us to benefit and to salvation; but we shy away from this, and for the most part “we suffer from the dogs,” according to the words of Abba Dorotheus. You have cooked porridge, which is not easy to dislodge; and I don’t even understand and sort out the accumulated gossip. T. Mr. and Z. T., although they partly blame themselves, they blame each other more; what to do here? It is necessary to untie yourself here, and when this knot remains tangled, it will be difficult to unravel it there. Behold, our poor care brings what bitter fruits! And who is to blame here: those who provide care or those who receive care? Don't know. With good intention and will, they could use it, giving their word for the benefit of God, but something contrary is tossed about, and, as far as I can see, the main reason is an intemperate tongue, an instrument of the heart, which, being unsettled, impatient, proud, voluptuous, shoots its arrows and with them wounds not only its own soul, but also hurts many others; and what is even more dangerous: from this comes incredible gossip; one will say a few words that will pass through several languages ​​with great exaggeration. As much as possible, you need to take care of language pain; How much, for example, did A-a suffer from him, and not just at this time, but long ago she became entangled in its nets! I wrote to her before, showing her guilt; but she was still hooked: it required oaths on both sides; Who is right and who is wrong, only God knows. I ask you not to allow anyone to take such oaths in the future; I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. As for me, I forgive her in everything, and you forgive her, but now I have no time to write to her, and there’s nothing to do: it’s enough that I listened to her story of transition. Tell her my blessing and forgiveness; She was told a lot about each case, but somehow everything didn’t go well. I.M. 1847. From your letter, mother N., I see that there is no relief for mother R.: I am mentally sorry for this, but I am not able to give help; my prayers are feeble, weak and insignificant, and God will not listen to a sinner. But whoever truly loves Him and does His will will listen to him; But, breaking the commandments, can we boast that we love Him? I imagine your suffering; one’s illness, and another’s languor looking at it, are great; however, in all such sorrowful cases, one must not weaken in faith, but accept from the hand of God with humility. We went to seek salvation, the Lord fills our lack of deeds with involuntary sorrows or illnesses, and cleanses our sins. This Lazarus, who suffered poverty and illness, involuntarily suffered this, but not according to his will, and found himself in the bosom of Abraham in repose: therefore, in the hours of your suffering, look with the eyes of faith to the hope of the future, and thereby alleviate your illnesses, for the passions of the present time are unworthy of the glory that desires to appear in us (Rom. 8:18). I sincerely regret the disorder of T. V-ny; If she comes to me, then how can I help her when she herself does not have the will to cut off her will and reason? I can’t force you: do as you can; and maybe she will come to terms with it. September 19, 1847. Thank the Lord! We hear that the Lord is still protecting your region from the disease of cholera, only fear will keep you away, and many of your sisters are faint-hearted. I wrote to you, and I repeat again: be calm, surrendering to the will of God. In peace of mind, it is more convenient and we can bring repentance, and we will remain unharmed from illness; and to this day the Lord has preserved our borders from this disease: and what will happen next is unknown. Cholera of the soul is much more dangerous to those who are possessed by it: which can be called the action of our passions in a diverse and varied way. Pray for my thinness; I write to people about salvation, but I myself remain uncorrected and sad, many sinners I. M. September 30, 1847 You write that the enemy is confusing you against me, and further, that you are deprived of my fatherly mercy. Looking at myself, I don’t find anything in which I left you: I, both before and now, have affection for you in the Lord. And when you listen to the enemy’s advice, you will not be peaceful; For me it’s very unfortunate that you accept something that doesn’t exist at all. I don’t know from what you conclude this: it seems that all your letters are answered by the strength of my weak mind, but I answer with the same zeal as before; When you visit us, we treat you the same way. Of course, due to my unworthiness, it is clear that this is what is being proclaimed to you. Remember M.N.: what faith she had in Father Fr. Leo, and how later she fell away, but he was still the same. Don’t accept the enemy’s advice, and you will be calm. Well, tell me: what need would I have to write to you now with such explanations and sorrow if you were abandoned? I would simply despise and neglect everything; Do I need a policy against you? And I truly sympathize with your spiritual weakness and write to you so that you can be at peace in this regard. I truly wish you salvation, as well as myself. Mnogohreshny I.M. November 15, 1847. Analyzing the guilt for which you became embarrassed at me, I find that you did not accept the words I said at all in the same way, which is why they had a different effect on you. You asked what my sisters wrote to me about you? I didn’t take it as news, but said: “The same as you yourself wrote; and what, you know from them.” What need was there for me to repeat this mess? They are not praised by me for this, but rather lathered a lot; but the enemy interpreted it completely in the opposite direction for you. “And it’s true, as I notice from your letter, that I wove cunning, secrecy, and reluctance: God delivered me from all of this.” - Yes, and tell me: why should I do this? From what types? And how can I take it as news that I know what you wrote about; and in your letter A-but a letter about this was received; what news is this? What do you say to this? Didn't the enemy laugh at you and throw you into such snares? If your understanding is right in your thoughts; then why aren't you peaceful? What effect can my sins have on your dispensation? And when there is no peace, then look for the reason for it within yourself. But if you assume that I wanted to hide from you which was not my intention at all; and what to hide when everything is known?; then you, since you were traveling with faith, should not have darkened it with unbelief, from which you suffered. Delve into the scriptures of the fathers, as they affirm in the faith of those who want to follow the right path. St. John Climacus and Simeon the New Theologian write: “Even if you see him committing fornication, do not run away from him”; and again: “Tell yourself: it was not you who passed judgment on him, but he on you.” It seemed to you that I didn’t say that, but apparently it was necessary. I will not experience the secret destinies of God; and you, having accepted the thought of unbelief, still suffer in a completely false opinion. May the Lord forgive you for this attempt of yours. I wish you to be peaceful and calm. I did not write this scripture for my benefit, but at least to get you out of confusion; and when even this seems not to your spirit, it will be at your will. Say my respects to Father N., I don’t advise him to start caring for others, and it’s not his job to give rules, although D. asks, but not according to reason. If he is not given to the elder, then the one who tonsures him, and the elder to him, he is also the abbot of the monastery, are all under his flock, and must ask him for the rules. Remember how Elder Paisios, despite his great talents and dignity, refused to accept the responsibility of a mentor for many requests: and although he accepted a brother into the spiritual council, but only afterward, the assembled brethren begged him with many fervent prayers and petitions. What a pillar was horrified by this! How can we not be condemned by arbitrarily jumping to such a height? The only way we can have some excuse is when, for obedience, we show the way that the saints teach us. the fathers, we ourselves partly went, and, having become scalded in blat, we warn others from this; then, for their sake, perhaps the Lord will save us too. May the Lord give you all true peace and provide spiritual salvation. I.M. December 6, 1847. I am very glad that you have calmed down in your confusion and see that all this is empty, and the warfare of the enemy, in which we are so weak, and do not have the strength to resist it, without self-reproach and humility. May the Lord establish you on the firm foundation of faith and hope and make you worthy to acquire undying love! You are complaining about poor T.’s arrangement. N-s: what should I do and how can I help? We used all our strength to admonish her in order to correct her life and calm ourselves and others; but it’s easier to teach than to do; she herself should be restless. Yes, and while we all live, “we are all in trouble” from our mental and physical passions and we demand God’s help. January 10, 1848. You describe to me your spiritual weaknesses, and after that boredom sets in. I believe the reason for this is cowardice, which further increases grief, mental and physical illness. It is not fitting for us to fall, writes St. John of Carpathia, - but having fallen in some way, immediately rise up with repentance and humility: there the enemy inflicts ulcers on us, and here he accepts ulcers from us. Instead of embarrassment, one must resort to self-reproach and humility and have oneself as such, i.e. poor in spirit, and the enemy will be driven far away by the power of God. Read the chapters and epistle of John of Carpathia: they will give you sufficient consolation. January 27, 1848. You describe your weaknesses and disorders, and your soul becomes very heavy. You ask: what should you do in this case and how can you help yourself? There is only one thing that is the best and most reliable means of freeing oneself from all these circumstances: humility of heart. Not having anything to rely on from one’s deeds, one must involuntarily see one’s poverty in one’s feelings and place one’s trust in God’s mercy. He looks down on the humble and comforts the humble. Try more often to see and consider yourself worse than everyone else and don’t dare to look at, despise and condemn anyone, remembering that we are even worse than them. Even if someone brings a word of condemnation about someone on Wednesday, stop your mouth and mouth: “Should I judge them when I myself am brought down in severe plagues”? And you will use them and you yourself will not be harmed. Remember St. Isaac the Syrian, how he exalts humility in many of his words: in 46 ff. He even says that “humility forgives many sins in addition to deeds; but deeds without humility will not be used.” Let us turn all our attention to this lofty virtue and place it in contrast to the vice that cast down the angel from heaven. And we often suffer from this disease; Our very falls and embarrassments prove this to us: “Where the fall began, pride preceded it,” says St. John Climacus. Humility calms, but pride causes confusion and all kinds of disorder. Read from St. Isaac's 79th word. Here I am offering you a remedy, but I myself demand it; And negli, writing to you, I will be aroused to consider myself, and even more so at the present time, when we ask the Lord: “Grant me to see my sins, and not condemn my brother.” Pray for me, so that I can see my sins. I can't understand the way. Eeyore, but it seems that he is outside the path of humility, and faces many temptations. Help him, Lord, to know himself and not to blame anyone for his sorrows: because those who inflict them on us are instruments of God’s providence, acting in the matter of our salvation. Read to him at St. Isaac in 51 words, an article about how we quickly get rid of sorrow and how we attract and burden ourselves with it, there are also words 34, 35, 36 and 37. Mnogohreshny I.M. February 21, 1848 Do you describe your grief for your departing sisters and your fear for yourself, if they demand an account of what to come with? When we have such fear, the soul is aroused to repentance and humility, and without relying in the least on one’s own exploits and labors, place all one’s hope in the merits of our Savior and in God’s ineffable mercy; Where else should we stop and where should we resort? You write that now your melancholy and zeal have tripled compared to before. We must strive against zeal, since this is in our structure, through self-reproach, humility, not to despise anyone, to consider ourselves the last of all; then the melancholy will diminish and pass away: it is the fruit of our work. This dispensation is not melancholy, but somehow languid, gloomy and joyless: it also allows for spiritual growth 50 . When we endure gratefully, blaming ourselves and putting our pride as the reason, and considering ourselves worthy of this languor, and then God will send consolation and joy when it is His holy will. July 6, 1848. It’s a pity that your sisters Shch-ny cause you embarrassment, and you feel the burden of their whims. It’s in vain that you’re afraid to explain your weaknesses to Mother Superior through them: you’re not hurting them, but yourself; and that it is necessary to mention them, this does not serve to their vice: we are all in struggle, and we fall and we rise. Thank you for being involved with Sisters N. and N.; due to their inexperience in construction, I gave advice, and in the future I ask you not to leave it to them, and if something happens, to warn them - they cannot see for themselves, but from the outside they can see better: they will be grateful and so will I. We should not alienate each other; We are all children of one Heavenly Father and were baptized in the same font, we all have the same commandments about love, not only for our neighbors, but also for our enemies. Your conversation with the Mother Superior about the structure of N-na did not remain in vain, but served in favor; It seems to me that in many cases it will be useful to you, just go with faith, but without faith and a prophet God will go mad. July 31, 1848. The sorrow that befell your monastery had a strong impact on my heart. You will no longer have such a boss-mother: now we give her value, but then many did not see the dignity in her, under which 300 sisters calmed down under her meek rule. She has undoubtedly passed from sorrow to peace; but you, her orphaned children, will not soon forget your orphanhood. May the Lord rest her soul in the Kingdom of Heaven! As for me, while I am alive and have the opportunity, I have no intention of leaving you, but those who are especially disposed towards me and treat me with faith: it is not my word, but God who acts here, and I am only the weakest instrument of His providence. God acts even in sinners, of whom I am the first. I ask you and your sisters in Christ not to be embarrassed about this, but to trust in the Lord. Whoever your boss is can only do something unpleasant to someone that God will allow. I wish you all to calm down and receive comfort from the Lord. I remain the sinful I.M. September 4, 1848. U-ya’s mother asks to allow her to have a revelation to you; and you write that, due to your illness and inability, you cannot take on this responsibility, you ask me to relieve you of it. For my part, be calm about this; What power do I have to impose this duty on you, or when it is beyond your strength? It’s in vain that she worries about asking me about this. If she, out of her undoubted faith in you and your consent to this, asked permission from me to have a relationship, then it would be a different matter; and where it is necessary to act under compulsion, then I avoid it. Yes, she has a leader, Fr. M. According to her faith, God is able to enlighten her through him, when there is a true will for good. May the Lord save your monastery from the threat of fire and make you carefree, placing your trust in the Lord and the Most Pure Virgin Mary. The Almighty Her protection and intercession are strong to give you help and save. You mention A. Shch-skaya, what should I do? I wrote to her a lot and said that they couldn’t tolerate her if she didn’t change herself; but how can my words succeed when God’s word does not bear fruit? May the Lord give you all peace and tranquility of soul, I earnestly wish you. Mnogohreshny I.M. September 13, 1848. How can you soon forget your most venerable Mother Superior? And how soon will this wound be healed? And then there is a disturbance of minds: everyone has their own idea of ​​​​the new boss, they do not allow them to calm down. Yes, it’s a pity that there is such a contrast in your current management; there will be different parties, one against the other, and until the confusion subsides and there is peace between them, then the situation of your monastery is pitiful; and even more so when they get tied up in paperwork, which has never happened to you. May the Queen of Heaven protect you from this plague infection, and may peace, harmony and love be established in your monastery! You did very well in avoiding the intrusive matter that was offered to you, perhaps with the intention of either catching a word or attracting you to your party. Instruct both yourself and others like you to obey the abbess; and where necessary, maintain neutrality and beware of entering into the judgments of one side or the other. We often have the wrong view of things, and by understanding them poorly, we infect others with the same thing; and best of all, let them remain silent about order and government, which does not concern them, and pay attention to themselves and their salvation. I wrote and sent a long letter to S. A-noy; I don’t know how she took it and whether it had any effect on her? It is clear that she has a desire to correct herself, but her habit of self-will, and her lack of understanding about passions, does not allow her to follow the rejection of her will and reason. Z. T-na and E. L-na ask me for permission to go to you for revelation. I cannot prohibit them, but I also cannot give permission and force you. Since they have the will to ask you for this, then how much more do you have more will to accept or refuse, according to your strength and opportunity, considering previous cases. September 28, 1848. You congratulate me on my angel's day; and I congratulate you on your spiritual daughters, born again and yet to be born, which, I think, has now already happened. You grieve that there is no peace from rumors and the sorrows encountered; where can one go from them? Go through the whole world, everywhere they will lay down 51: not one, so the other, not external, so internal: but we are debtors and must bear our dues, believing that God sends every cross, both external and internal. You complain that you are consumed by melancholy and sadness, and this is your inner spiritual cross: are you the only one subject to such languor? Both ancient and modern seekers of salvation are subjected to the following test: darkness, languor, unaccountable sadness and melancholy; In all this, our love for God is tested: do we tolerate the generously given cross? Meanwhile, this makes up for the shortcomings of our deeds and exploits, and leads us to humility. Take my paterichek from A-ka and read at the end of it the extracts from the book of Thomas a à Kempis - those articles that have crosses on them. I believe that the Lord will give you consolation. The sisters who are disposed toward you in spirit about Christ will themselves give an answer to God when they do not fulfill the tradition of our fathers. They must have these three: known faith, pure revelation and perfect obedience; and you speak properly; if they disobey, do not be embarrassed, according to the teachings of St. Brand, onom; I have written to you about this several times. Of course, it will be unpleasant if, through refusal, sisters A. and A. Sh. leave the monastery; but, however, they will not receive any benefit for themselves, neither in soul nor in body. They still need to be patient; Perhaps, with the adoption of the monastic image, they will acquire some humility and come to true reason. Likewise, external insults must be accepted with such understanding that the Lord uses these people as instruments in the work of our salvation. Read from St. Isaac's words 34, 35; 36 and 37: there you will find much for your strengthening; and most importantly, resort to a stronghold, to humility: it destroys all the forces of resistance and gives peace. May the Lord give you strength and consolation. I.M. February 2, 1849. Reading your letter about your sorrows, I sincerely regret that you are faint-hearted in them. Be generous and watch your conscience; when she does not expose you as guilty, then it is easier to bear grief more calmly. I told and wrote to Mother R. that she should be content with the peace of her cell, take care of her soul and not get involved in monastic affairs that do not concern her; but what to do when she brings upon herself useless sorrows and even sins? It’s the same for you, what should you do with it? We have no will over it, and we will not give an answer for it, and you may not accept the useless news that is brought. You reproach yourself for laziness and negligence; For this reason, accept annoyances and reproaches: they will complement the shortcomings of your actions. Peace to you and all your sisters in Christ! I.M. March 8, 1849. You inform us that J. was indignant against you for the nun who was given to you, before the matter was resolved. Is it new that passions control us, and we, servile to them, insult a friend? But only the sorrows inflicted on us, not without the providence of God, are allowed to our skill, self-knowledge and patience. It is best to endure without giving any reason for it. St. Isaac in the 56th word, page 311, writes that whoever tolerates an offensive word, without first being insulted by it, places a crown of thorns on himself. That's how important this thing is! From the movement of your heart, recognize your weakness and humble yourself, pray for those who offend you. Asking you for prayers for me, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, much sinner I.M. April 16, 1849. You describe your grief about the Mother Superior’s offer to you of the treasury position, and what she wrote to me about this; but I haven’t received this letter yet; but if she wrote to me about this, then what power do I have to enter into your orders and force you beyond measure to take the yoke on your neck? Of course, she hopes to find in you unanimity to calm the monastery and herself; but can you bear it? She doesn't know your powers. Don’t be embarrassed, don’t be discouraged and don’t grieve about this, but believe that without the will of God nothing can happen to you. In your first letter you describe your sorrows and careless life: what can I say to this? Is it just that sorrows are allowed for a careless life, and although the lack of our work is completed with patience? I think you are undoubtedly sure that I wish you peace of mind and body; but it is not in my power to deliver it to you. Our salvation is bound together in each other between us, and our unrighteousness makes God's righteousness in us, according to the word of St. Apostle (Rom. 3:5). It seems that you understand this, that the sorrows inflicted on us by our neighbors fulfill the truth of God in us, for our negligence; Let us submit to His holy will and be patient with our neighbors. Whatever it is in our will to do for our peace, we will do; and when sorrows are involuntarily allowed “and we cannot get rid of them,” then let us surrender this to the will of God and endure: everything will happen for the best. You write about your brother that he needs to remarry, and you grieve that he is at a distance from you. It is his business as a man living in the world, may the Lord bless him for a godly marriage; and regarding the remoteness of your residence, you must submit to the will of God. Asking for you and your sisters the peace and blessing of God, I remain the desirer of your health and salvation, much sinner I.M. May 28, 1848. From your two letters, I understand as much as I can about your incidents, but what will happen—for better or for worse—we don’t know—God knows; You just have to believe that nothing happens without the will or permission of God. Whoever is in charge is also responsible; God has delivered you from being appointed to a position, then thank Him, and pay attention to yourself, your weakness and your salvation. And if they falsely suspected you in your search, this does not harm you in the least; but to those who have given a reason for it and to those who believe lies, it is not harmless; what to do? We do not boast of any monastic deeds and labors, but without patience with words and lies we will try to make up for our shortcomings and pray for those who harm us. Looking at human assumptions, one cannot help but be surprised at our weak mind and feeling. J. assumed it might be so, but it turned out differently; this, perhaps, is of great benefit to her, although at the moment she does not understand this, and only sorrow oppresses her heart; but from this he will gain much benefit, because tribulation makes patience workable (Rom. 5:3). It is not easy, I think, for those who thought of being under her roof and assisting her with their advice; will it end somehow? May God grant that your monastery may be peaceful; what to do? Although it doesn’t seem right to us, we should not listen to it, but we should all pay attention to ourselves. What happens next - write. You know that I take a great part in your situation, although I cannot help in any way, but at least I will regret it in sorrow, and in consolation I will rejoice with you. I remain the worker of your salvation, great sinner I.M. July 5, 1849 You write, mother P., about your weaknesses and defeat from passion. I sympathize with you: but I advise you not to become discouraged and lose heart in defeat, but to flow with repentance to the Lord and reveal your victory to your mother: the ulcers that appear will not become worse, but will be healed. “And you are doing very badly, that you are ashamed to talk about your weaknesses, and thus you are giving yourself the hand of the enemy to fight you more.” It is not praiseworthy that you are overcome by thoughts and fall; but what’s even worse is that you despair. – We are in a struggle, we fall and rise, and we are more courageous in battle; but there is no need to despair, but to humble yourself and repent; Although it’s a shame, it’s necessary. Know, then, what causes the strongest struggle and victory: from the opinion of oneself, from the condemnation of one’s neighbors, from excess food and bodily rest, and also from hiding from one’s mother. May the Lord forgive you for your weaknesses and strengthen you in future exploits! You also write about your sorrows, illnesses and troubles caused by N.; for all this you grieve and grumble; I also grieve for you and your disorder in general; but how can we help him? We must endure and ask God; He is strong to give you peace, but grumbling and cowardice cannot help, we will only further upset our health. Mnogohreshny I. M. August 30, 1849. After your trip with your sisters, I received your letter dated September 15th. I am very glad that you were honored to be in the holy monasteries. May God grant that through this entertainment you will gain strength for the feats ahead, which are determined for you to undergo in your monastery. Wherever we are, we must bear real fruit in the place appointed by God for us: there are battles and sorrows, but they are all soul-saving. You were captivated by God's appearance, but don't all those living there go through a sorrowful path? Ask them, and each will have its own kind of sorrow; If you were there, you would surely not escape it. God bless you for remembering my late elder Father John. May God grant him the Kingdom of Heaven! He worked quite hard in this life and was zealous for Orthodoxy and piety. – You write that N. and F.’s mother found peace in another place, and a good one; let them be saved, and your burden will be reduced, and gossip, let there be gossip: everything will work for the good of the one who loves God (Rom. 8:28). Those who slander us benefit us more than harm us. Do you want me to assign your name to monasticism; You wanted to call me mother Melitina, but you rely more on me. I don’t know, how do you give names? In honor of the saints, or in memory of those we honor, is it also applied to the pleasantness of sonorous pronunciation? It seems to me that it is good both in honor of the saints and in the meaning of the name. Not far in terms of sonority of pronunciation from Melitina M-ia, in Greek means: “Delighted with honey”; We celebrate September 16th. Whenever it pleases you and her, give this name; God bless her. Peace to you and all your sisters! September 20, 1849. You write about D.’s mother, that she advised her to leave the door to you; for she walks secretly from I., which you must hide too. I don't like it! You have such a bad custom that freedom is tied up; Why not go somewhere to a cell? After all, not everything is for revelation and instruction, but even so - when to entertain boredom, just casually, without predilection. After all, you have all gathered together in Christ, sisters seeking salvation: what are gangs or parties for? Everyone should lead each other to grief, and not bring each other down; otherwise it’s even bad to listen: when someone goes to see some mother, then don’t go anywhere - of course, not for excessive distraction, but for freedom of spirit, but you need to beware of condemnation and negotiations on how and what is done, and especially about the boss. The cross they bear is great, and not everyone can bear it; the entire monastery is surrounded by them. If they do something wrong, they themselves will give an answer to God. Mnogohreshny I.M. I haven’t gotten around to answering your letter yet, expecting more news from you, whether there will be anything regarding your fear about K.’s illness, but I didn’t receive it, and I still haven’t found the time to talk to your daughters, mother R. and S.; I just talked to you the other day. – Based on the reasons presented by them, I tried to incline them to true obedience and humility, and so that, living in someone else’s cell, they would not be a burden to the mistress and would not seek to have this or that be according to their will, but to cut off their own desires; but it’s one thing to teach, and another to execute, especially where the enemy builds his intrigues and lays out his networks. Those who lack humility become entangled and caught in them. They asked me to ask you to expose them to their shortcomings: but I, knowing that they do not bear accusations, say: when you accept the accusations, she will tell you; and if you don’t bear it, then how can you speak? And so we haven’t decided on anything yet; What happens next, then I’ll write to you. Wishing you spiritual consolation and physical health from the Lord, I remain the great sinner I.M. November 5, 1849. I received two letters from you, dated November 3 and November 9; in the first you describe your grief, which came from N.’s mother: and in the second regarding R. and S-ii. It is very unfortunate for me that both of them accumulated at the same time, although this is our fate: we don’t know where, how and when temptation comes from? Regarding N.’s mother, it is not so important: she does not live together; listens - well, but does not listen - at her will, and that’s all: she herself will bear her judgment. But it is much more difficult for the world, which has been shaken from its roots on both sides, to establish a spiritual and sociable connection with the Shch-skys. They ask me to instruct them on how to live: and when you released them, you advised them not to come like that. I told them a lot and tell them, but I can’t do anything good. – If they were on a machine or a spring, then I would turn it wherever I wanted; But since we are autocratic, and besides, the enemy’s battle is relentless, and we cannot resist it due to negligence, and even more so due to pride, then the enemy has great power. I offer them the order of obedience, revelation, etc., not only now, but also before. And if, from the beginning of their life, they behaved and behaved this way, then, perhaps, they would have acquired some kind of humility and tranquility; but how things went differently, how do you like M.A. expressed - they saw one thing wrong, another wrong, etc.; and you, on your part, saw them as not consistent with your reason and with the order of things: that was an insult on both sides; Hate the good, the enemy tried to present all this in a larger form, just to confuse. Now, as I see, it has become very difficult on both sides: they have grown up, are used to it and are convinced that it should be this way, and are burdened by something; and it’s just as painful for you, as a housewife, to force yourself to do what they want, although you do it. Also: where there was peace, it would be possible to bear each other’s burdens; and since there is no patience, no love, no humility, then only the enemy triumphs, and you suffer; Moreover, they have no peace among themselves. What to do in this case? Truly I am lost and cannot find any means to calm you down. The best thing would be for them to buy a cell for themselves, but they don’t have one; but to go to another monastery is shameful and disgraceful, both for us and for them; and even that is still doubtful: will they find peace there? I don't know what to do; I advise you to endure some more, and for them to reconcile and start a new life, or make a start for correction. God help! I.M. November 19, 1849. In your letters you reproach yourself about your weaknesses, that at the age of 30 you have not acquired anything good. What can we boast about? If we always saw our sins, then our wisdom would be humble, and God’s help would help us: but since it is not there, we wander around like blind chickens; We see behind people: that is why our tongue wears out what is stored in the heart. – Let’s make a start for good and call on God for help. You write that you do not agree to communicate with Sh. over meals so that they can have their own table; you find this inconvenient, seeing from my letter that I don’t know how to agree with you; but we are not always in the same dispensation: now there is a storm, and after that there is peace. – When I wrote, then I definitely saw ticklishness in them, of course, due to the enemy’s attack, but now I find it softer. Much has been said and read, but it is more difficult to incline the human heart to goodness than to make good things out of stone or metal, according to our will. I already ask you and advise you to be patient until spring or summer, to live as you lived; and there, when there is no correction and it is inconceivable, then let it be done according to your will; and to do this immediately will serve as a stumbling block and a temptation for many for the day. I don’t know why they didn’t write to you; but that they would not be peaceful towards you, this is not visible. If we managed our lives according to the teachings of St. fathers, then our passions would be diminished; otherwise we only have the books of the fathers, but do not strive to do them: from these I am the first. - Pray for me: so that, not having preached to others, I myself will not be turned off (1 Cor. 9:27). He spoke to them a lot and inspired them; Yes, as a non-doer myself, my word has little effect on them. Peace to you and all your like-minded people! I.M. December 3, 1849. Your spiritual children in the Lord, mother R. and S. return to their monastery with the good intention of doing the commandments of God and, if possible, maintaining obedience and peace in the cell: and in case of indignation, due to the envy of a malicious enemy, to destroy it with self-reproach and humility: we had a lot of conversations about this, and it turned out that in the feat of our salvation there must be self-sacrifice, but we do not know and do not we understand, but we only know that it is difficult; what can happen without difficulty? – And even more so the acquisition of the Kingdom of Heaven, which, according to the word of the Savior Himself, is in need, and the needy delights it (Matthew 11:12). They travel in full hope of your maternal condescension for their weaknesses and want to make a good start. Thank you for allowing them to continue as before; and the Lord is strong to look upon their good will and grant them His help. Having accepted A. Shch-skaya from tonsure, may the Lord help you to guide her on the true and saving path, which I fervently wish for all of you, much-sinful I.M. December 15, 1849 You write that you feel heavy because of unaccountable spiritual grief: this is a spiritual cross, allowed by God to test us in God’s love. – Our love for God is not evident when we are in grace-filled consolation and joy; but when we valiantly endure the deprivation of them. Mother G. grieves on behalf of her in vain. The name will not save; what to do when this happens? On Christmastide, three rather elderly elders passed away into eternity: on the 27th, Fr. Hegumen Varlaam, 28, Fr. Nifont, and in the monastery Fr. Dimitri. And so we had burials for three days in a row. I feel sorry for the old people, especially Fr. Varlaam: it’s as if it’s empty without them - the young are good with the old people. I wish you peace, health and salvation, great sinner I.M. December 31, 1849 Seeing from your letter, N. and S., that peace will not settle in your abode, or in your community, the sorrows of my heart about this are great; I offer all fatherly measures and words for your peace and good common life; but nothing happened. I recognized the reason for this and did not ease my grief, but was more wounded by it. - The reason is that I offer a word that has been read, and not acquired from my deeds; and therefore it could not take advantage of you; what should I do? I realize that it is definitely easier to talk and teach than to do; and especially those who do not try or do not understand how one should struggle against passions and resist them; Yes, I myself am the first of these. I think I’m doing something, but I’m touching things below with my finger: won’t I accept unnecessary condemnation? But be that as it may, and despite all my badness, I still do not deviate from my desire for your peace and salvation; but only desire and my weak sinful prayer - you will add everything together and your prayers and care for this; then, negli, the desired peace will be established, and common salvation will be achieved. I.M. January 10, 1850 What conclusion do you have about the mother of R. and S., you see more than me; I talked to them as much as I could about agreement, about being lenient with each other, but in practice they do it poorly, and they themselves say that they cannot live peacefully among themselves, but what good does that do? And what is the hope of salvation? Without the fruits of peace, love and humility, even if one achieves great deeds, they will not bring any benefit. You are afraid that after your death, O.’s mother will count the corners, having no shelter; it depends on your will - with the blessing of the mother abbess, strengthen part of the cell behind her and leave it to the power of God to calm her down: otherwise, even if we build a new heaven and a new earth, we will not find peace without humbling ourselves. Regarding their living with you, I do not force you at all. If it is a burden to you, it is in your will: your cell, and as God arranges for them. - Of course, it will be no small temptation for them to move to another monastery; but the reason can be imagined: the cramped conditions of the monastery and the lack of cells; I will not hold them back: without peace, love and humility, salvation is doubtful. You must pray for those who slander you, so that the Lord will not put them in this sin; but for you it serves as a cleansing shovel, and as a scatterer of tares unknown to you. I.M. January 20, 1850. From your letters I see that there has been some peace in your cell, which I sincerely rejoice at and wish that the Lord would establish this peace for the common spiritual benefit. The main reason for embarrassment from the contempt of neighbors and lack of self-reproach; and the enemy has the power to further raise a storm of confusion in such a dispensation. God grant that the sisters, having recognized their weakness, come to humility, which can bring peace to everyone. How can we not thank God, who delivered us from the vanity of the world! What, your daughter-in-law writes, is her situation? What sorrows, inconveniences, bewilderments are there - and where is the consolation? And we can find it in a cell, in a church, in brothers or sisters who are unanimous in Christ. Help her, Lord, to arrange her affairs and those of the orphans, and save her, Lord, for her attention to you and not abandoning her. I wish you and all your sisters in Christ a Happy St. fasting reverently and savingly, and I remain a great sinner I.M. I received two small letters from you, in which your grief about your late brother is expressed. You write that there is no excuse for a minute: I sincerely feel sorry for you that you indulge in such useless, but even sinful, grief - can we oppose the will of God? This was predetermined by Him even before our creation, but now His will has been fulfilled, and who can resist this? It is sad that you have lost your brother, your family is left without care, and you are without any hope; but He who cares for all of His creation will not also take care of you and the remaining orphans? Place your hope in the indescribable wealth of God's goodness and mercy. He will nourish you, and even make you worthy of His kingdom, and you leave the perishable sorrow: seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then invisibly all these things will be added to you. I congratulate you on the approaching feast of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, may She give you consolation in your sorrow; I earnestly wish for this and remain a great sinner I. M. March 21, 1850. It is very difficult for me to resolve your affairs with mother S. I wrote to her what I could, against her letter: I showed her why she cannot stand what seems difficult to her; for it does not have self-reproach, humility, meekness, love, etc.; because she did not work to acquire them, and instead did not resist passions: pride, vanity, envy, hatred, rage, etc.; acquired them and is deprived of peace of mind by them. And I advise you to bear her weakness as much as possible, and also not to give guilt to indignation to R.’s mother. You, having read her letter, know what her claim is; What we do for our neighbors, the Lord takes upon himself. In all this, may the Lord enlighten you and protect you from all the snares and snares of the enemy. Peace be with you! I.M. April 5, 1850. You write about yourself that you live badly, in all kinds of negligence; But if you want to be saved: accept sorrow as a cure for your spiritual structure, and, seeing your bad life, do not torture others to correct it; Do not be vigilant about the malice of others, and do not be a bitter judge of them; weep for your dead and most of all have a humble mind. I.M. September 12, 1850. I received your letters dated November 30 and December 9; all sorrows and illnesses will bear upon us, not about ourselves, but about our neighbors. You write about the disastrous state of N.’s mother, who was named Bishop N., and that she serves you with chains. - What should we do with them? Everyone who sows will also reap; I don’t know if she gets peace from her arrangement? Paki was confused by the rumor that they will give out 2 percent from the Council: but we have no rumors about this, and what will happen in the future is not known. The Lord is able to feed us with little things, but many things do not benefit others, but cause spiritual harm. The Lord, who fed a large people in the desert with manna for 40 years, and a widow during a famine with her children, who gave food to all flesh (Ps. 135:25), and who provided for the birds, is not really able to feed us? Let us only place our trust in Him and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. You want to have a cell that is more comfortable and cheaper: this is your will, when there is such a cell in nowhere, and there is someone to buy yours. Of course, peace, no matter how dear it is during illness, is not in our will to acquire it, but rather a gift from God, sent by the humble. Just without having tried another way of life, you cannot rely on one mental assumption: we are talking about examples of those who held on to their cell and ran away from the community, but did not find peace. Through community with people we can only correct the commandments and learn patience. The matters you write about are very unpleasant to hear; but you have done your duty, leave the rest to the providence of God, who takes care of your monastery. Do you remember what was said to Abraham: “Even if ten righteous people are found, I will not destroy the city” (Gen. 18:32)? And again: if necessary, say what is due. I.M. December 15, 1850. The ensuing confusion in your monastery saddened me extremely. The insidious enemy, always roaring like a lion and looking for someone to devour, has risen against your abode; but the Lord is able to crush his insidious plans and networks, and through this sorrowful situation the monastery will gain benefit - by strict supervision over fragile and weak vessels and decent healing of them, and by cutting off rotten cords. We must pray to the Lord, may he give us true reason in these matters and cover us with His mercy, and pray to the Queen of Heaven to protect the monastery from adversity. She is our intercessor and guardian of those who seek salvation and want to keep the commandments of God, but who, due to weakness, deviate; She is an intercessor for sinners before the Lord. You should carefully consider and talk about peace and harmony in the life of your cell and in the contents, and, as far as possible, do so. I wrote to both of them, but did not legislate or force them. I.M. January 2, 1851. I received your sorrowful writing and I grieve all the more because I do not have the strength to help you; I only hope that the Lord is able, through some of His destinies unknown to us, to establish the much-desired pious order in your monastery. Be patient and pray to God; He will hear the prayer of those who grieve and are bound by tightness and sorrow. Sorrows are not the same, so others visit us; and when you can free yourself from them by your own strength, then free yourself. “But, apparently, it pleases the all-wise providence of God to test those who follow Him with sorrows, and perhaps to make up for the shortcomings of our deeds with them.” Seeing from your letters that there has been some peace in your cell, I rejoice in this and wish that perfect peace will be established. I.M. January 23, 1851. You write, reproaching yourself for your careless life and lack of correction; and again: you hear false indignation against you from the outside, which does not even enter your sick head. Remembering your careless life, accept even false reproaches with humility and gratitude: however, no matter how prudent and careful you are in your words, you will still say something, and it, having passed through several lips, will receive a greater addition: this is how it should be in relation to us in order to teach patience and humility: of course, God allows this. Thank God that your sisters, M. N. and A., have become more peaceful: with the help of God and their compulsion, passions can be weakened - and they can find peace; and when they do not force themselves, meaning love and humility, they will not receive God’s help and will be deprived of peace. I send them my unworthy blessing. I.M. March 24, 1851 You are grieving in vain that you did not receive my forgiveness in a letter. - When I answer you and write about your weaknesses, then, of course, I already forgive, and most importantly, the Lord Himself forgives you for your consciousness of His unspeakable mercy: and it serves as proof to you that, having received the letter, you have been completely renewed for the better after so many experiences of passions that have happened to you. If you were so nervous, it was your fault that you didn’t open up to N.’s mother; and I wrote to you about this many times and now I repeat: your shame comes from pride, you don’t want to appear so weak in front of it and humble yourself, and thereby multiply your abuse. May the Lord forgive you, and I forgive the sinner. From now on, be humble and don’t judge anyone, don’t look down on them, but consider yourself the last of all: then even scolding will not overcome you. I.M. March 10, 1851 Thank God! We have entered the holy days of fasting, and we are seeing them off with weakness and laziness. You write about your money that you gave to N.N.; then in this case you need to have hope in God: He will not allow you to die of hunger. Although many suffer need, this supplements the poverty of deeds and results in salvation; and your illness, of course, will benefit you - although it is difficult to endure, God still strengthens you: be His holy will! My heart hurts hearing about your disorders and embarrassments; but I have neither the strength nor the mind to help this. But the Lord, who allowed your monastery to be disturbed for a time, is able to restore it again and bring it into decent order. And each of you has a special test: one this, another another, one now, another at another time; and every temptation and shock shows us our structure and serves to correct the well-skilled. You reproach yourself, consider yourself a sinner, uncorrected; So, apparently, the Lord sends sorrows for correction or purification. The ordered illness of our failure to correct is imputed to us instead of doing things from grace, writes St. Isaac; and that the sadness of the thought of giving is good from God: but he who opens his mouth for good or evil people is not worthy of this grace (word 89). That’s what I advise you, when you want to pay attention to yourself and take care of your sins, leave yourself to enter into their affairs, and even more so; when you can’t do anything and help I.M. May 8, 1851. Mothers R. and S. are pleased with your location and consent, they return to the monastery more peacefully and calmly; and what will happen in the future is unknown. When we learn patience, humility and love, we can more easily overcome our passions, with which struggle is inevitable. The enemies are strong, sleepless and proud, but their strength is abolished by the weapon of humility, to which the Lord looks upon and gives His help. May the Lord help you all to live in peace and tranquility and please Him. It’s painful to hear about your improvement; but the Lord is able to arrange for the best; Let us each pay attention to ourselves and our own salvation. Asking for you and all your sisters in Christ the peace and blessing of God, I remain a great sinner I.M. June 26th. The Holy Apostle writes: Rejoice, brothers, when you fall into various temptations; knowing that the temptation of your faith makes patience (James 1:2, 3), and again: tribulation makes patience (Rom. 5:3), and you write that you will not learn patience from the tribulations that happen, which is why you grieve. It seems to me that this is not because we accept sorrows, not as if they were sent from the hand of God, but as if people themselves insulted us, and we do not reproach ourselves, but them? To strengthen yourself in this, read from St. Isaac the Syrian words 34, 35, 36, 37 and 51; there is a lot in other words. For having a rude feeling towards N., you must reproach yourself for not fulfilling the commandment of God: love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). The Lord makes up for the lack of our deeds with sorrows. Glory to His mercy on us! What use is it in court? Nothing will change for the better; but God is strong, for the sake of those living and seeking salvation, to keep your monastery unshakable; although the winds blow and the waves beat, the ship is not crushed, but through temptation the faith is strengthened. You and F.’s mother rescued P.’s mother from the enemy’s networks; then doesn’t he really gnash his teeth at you and gape to devour you? But nothing will succeed, and only by plotting his machinations he will do dirty tricks; But every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation: without this it will not be strong, writes St. Dorofei. It is a pity for O.’s mother about the return of her first illness; There is only one remedy for it: humility of heart; she may not have been completely healed, but was only hidden (this illness) to make her look more beautiful; and when she imagined something about herself, she appeared again; after all, the cause of illness is pride. May the Lord help her to receive perfect healing. May the Lord protect you and all your sisters from all the snares of the enemy and grant you peace and health. I.M. October 6, 1851. You write briefly about your embarrassment, and therefore your illness. Yes, it seems that our whole life is in flux: one way or the other; not from one, but from another, sorrows come; and all of it is disposed of by the all-wise and all-encompassing providence of God, arranging for each according to his strength and according to his need for the acquisition of salvation. You are sinning in that you say: the Lord sent unbearable chains, and by this you burden yourself with grief, as St. writes. Isaac the Syrian in the 51st word. What to do? Everything here is transitory: both joy and sorrow; and in eternity is infinite, then the most merciful Lord will grant you a blessed eternity through these sorrows, just do not be faint-hearted, according to the word of St. Apostle: in everything there is sorrow, but not cold (2 Cor. 4:8). I in no way justify those who caused you grief; but what can I do? Not just once, but in multiples, he wrote and spoke; and what effect can my words have when the word of God remains unfulfilled? May the Lord give you relief from sorrows and spiritual consolation: whether to keep it or not depends entirely on you: no one can force you, just to find peace. It’s a pity for M.’s mother what they are doing to insult her; however, these people, thinking of offending her, disgrace themselves and gravely sin before God; and the Lord will help her calm down after this embarrassment. You describe your sorrows, but where can you escape from them when you are on the path of salvation? After all, through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). The Lord complements the lack of our deeds with the message of sorrows, no matter who they are from; but all were allowed in by the wave of God. And when you accept them with thanksgiving, you lighten them; and when you are cowardly, you burden yourself with them. I.M. December 25, 1851. Since I’m leaving on the road, maybe for a month or more, and I can’t write to you in time, but there are those who want to make at least a small contribution to help your sisters in need, for your 10th fair; then again I ask you to take J. and V. from your mother and distribute them to 40 people - your sisters, the same ones to whom you distributed them for Holy Week, only more skillfully and secretly, without expressing from anyone: this is not mine. When we quench our thirst with water, we do not experience where the springs flow from. So, in the hope of your modesty and disposition towards my badness, I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. May 4, 1852. Regarding the structure of your monastery, where can we look for this now? Save, may he save his soul! Pay attention to yourself and do not look at the shortcomings of others, but look at your own; then you will find peace. It is said: time is redeeming, for the days are evil (Eph. 5:16). Learn from the writings of your fathers, and remove rumors from outside yourself: our own battle against invisible enemies is enough for us. You write about your embarrassments and temptations: where can you escape from them? After all, the Lord allows them for our benefit, for our testing or for punishment for our infertility and laziness. Do not shirk into grumbling, but try to see in people the hand of God working in the matter of your salvation. I am heartily glad that the sisters arrived peacefully and cordially, and that you received them with love. ABOUT! may the Lord grant that these gifts of God - peace and love - will always remain in your abode; they will follow you beyond the grave into endless eternity; and let confusion and enmity—the seed of the enemy—be consumed from you by the power of God and your diligence and will. I remain a wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. July 12, 1853. Most Honorable 52 about the Lord R. V-na! Glory to God that he brought you from the noisy world to the quiet haven of a peaceful monastery, in which you were received, both by the mother abbess and the sisters, with love. The owner of the cell, having given you a quiet refuge, treats you like her own sister; - What greater blessing is there for you from God? Bring thanks to the Lord not only with your tongue, but with your heart, and even more so by trying to fulfill the will of God, with patience, self-reproach, humility, and submission; reject your will and reason completely, but have obedience in common, like all sisters, to Mother Abbess, for she is the mother of all of you; and with her blessing, to your mother and cell, try to leave your will. Obediences - by the will of Mother Abbess, and cell studies - with the blessing of Mother R.; when you behave this way, you will be peaceful, calm and you will acquire the desired salvation, but regarding your parents, cast your sorrow on the Lord; the sorrows they endure will serve them for the cleansing of sins and for crowning in a future life that has no end; remember the words of the Prophet: “My father and my mother have abandoned me, but the Lord will receive me” (Ps. 27:10). Be calm and place all your hope in God; try to acquire a wealth of virtues: humility, patience, obedience, cut off your will and reasoning; with these passions are overcome and peace is granted; surrender to the will of God, to Whose protection you are entrusted, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many sinners I.L. and I.M. of 1839. Having received your letter, we see that you do not cease to grieve over the death of your mother, and after you moved to another cell, sorrows of a new kind were sent to you: they treat you rudely, you do not have a cell and you are in no way accustomed to harsh food; - and you thought you could save yourself by joking and playing! No, the Kingdom of Heaven is acquired through labor and sweat, the needy delights it (Matthew 11:12), and most of all, humble yourself, reproach yourself, consider yourself worthy of everything; do not blame people - they were only sent to you, by God’s providence, as an instrument for your salvation; force yourself to perform any difficult obedience in your cell. Train yourself to humbly accept everything that comes your way, and it will serve you greatly in the future! Remember and read how the holy fathers forced themselves and endured, out of love for the Lord, various sorrows, misfortunes, temptations and emerged victorious over everything? - And you don’t want to say a word; How can you achieve humility? One should not be surprised at battles and temptations: there must certainly be battles in order to be tempted in feat. Let the enemy shoot, but do not give him hope for his proposal and never hide your feelings or thoughts from the old woman, although he will strictly demand you; revelation will strengthen and free you! from passions, and concealment, on the contrary, betrays victory in other weaknesses; when we humble ourselves, we will soon be strengthened in them; on the contrary, when you are a proud mother-in-law, you will always stumble; and with your housewives be meek, peace-loving, grateful for reassuring you in your cell. Peace be with you! We remain your unworthy pilgrims, many sinners I.L. and I.M. From your letter we see that you have not yet fully recovered from your illness, but the Lord sends all this for the benefit of your soul, so that by the punishment of the body your soul may be wise in salvation and put off the old man. You write your grief about your bad dispensation and your obduracy in revelation. What to do? We must ask God, humble ourselves and force ourselves to do good; and resist passions and, having recognized one’s weakness, descend even more into the abyss of humility; and then the Lord will send His help. Revelation was arranged by the holy fathers so that the enemy’s machinations could not hide from the inexperienced, but he tries to do harm in you and turns passions into food: and most of all, force yourself to reveal to the old woman; do not hide it, although the enemy will bring hostile thoughts and disgust towards her. Freedom of the spirit in revelation is acquired by pure awareness of one’s weaknesses, self-reproach, humility and repentance: “See my humility and my labor and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 24:18), and: “God will not despise a contrite and humble heart” (Ps. 50:19); “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and will save the humble in spirit” (Ps. 33:19). Do you see what is needed for salvation? Strive to acquire this and you will receive peace of conscience; To your sisters, be respectful to everyone, be kind to each other with honor and do great things (Rom. 12:10); Consider yourself worse than everyone else, be humble and obedient, and you will receive God’s mercy and love from your neighbors. Don’t grieve too much about your shortcomings, place your hope in the Lord, and He will nourish you (Ps. 54:23). - Your unworthy pilgrims, many sinners I.L. and I.M. of 1841. Thank God that you arrived safely from us to your monastery; thank His inexhaustible mercy that you are in a quiet refuge, and try to live in a manner pleasing to God, cutting off your will and reasoning, obeying, out of the fear of God, your spiritual elder, bearing each other’s burdens, and humble yourself before everyone; why will you have peace of mind, given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You are consoled that I stood up for you and asked the old woman for you, but you must justify this defense, use the instructions to save your soul, and observe yourself as I told you; do not get involved in third-party affairs, although you hear something, but look at your shortcomings and weaknesses; in any case, in order not to bring sorrow to your neighbor and yourself, try as much as possible to eliminate yourself as an ignorant person, and do not say anything bad about others - and the Lord Himself will cover you and protect you. What you don’t want for yourself, don’t give to another; The Lord and time will show and justify everyone; become wise in salvation. In community with your sisters, you are at peace with those who hate the world (Ps. 119:6), and they do you good by providing you with peace of mind—you must remember and appreciate this; but go to the old woman and reveal your own weaknesses, even if you ask about your neighbors - you are not their judge, but God: everyone will give an account for himself; avoid peaceful ignorance, and may the Lord give you peace of mind; - what I earnestly wish for you and I remain the desire for your salvation, many-sinful I.M. You ask my prayers for peace of mind between you and the sisters living with you. It is our duty, together with our mother Church, to pray to the Lord for the peace of the whole world, where you are not excluded, and the Lord is always ready to give us His help, if only you force yourself into this world and do everything you do and live with humility; then the enemy’s arrows will all be crushed, and you will find calm and peace of mind. I can’t answer every word you say in detail; Your consciousness and contemplation of yourself about your weaknesses as a sinner before me is enough, and I will tell you that you try, as much as possible, to force yourself, with firm will, to fulfill the commandments of God in relation to the leader and sisters of the monastery, to your mother - your spiritual elder and to your cell sisters, and, seeing your weaknesses, descend into the depths of humility, always reproaching yourself, and not others; how will you obtain God’s help in all your affairs. I told you a lot personally about what was needed, and you try to be more skillful in your affairs, and what mistakes you made today, beware of such things in the future. Every occasion will be a teacher for you, only with the help of God, when it happens with much humility. Notice why you are embarrassed when you are about to go to your mother? That she won’t accept you or will punish you very strictly? This is because you do not prepare yourself for this with humility, believing yourself to be worthy of all this. Being in such a dispensation, you will not be embarrassed, no matter what happens, and you will receive benefit. I find it necessary to confirm to you that you do not have differences between each other, saying: they relate to Mother Abbess, and we relate to Mother Elder: you speak in secret, but everything will pass on and reach her through several lips and with additions; this may cause her to dislike you; and all this will fall on your old mother, then you need to take care of her as much as possible. Look, remember my words. Peace be with you! I.M. You mention your various sorrows: having been in battle, you cannot help but feel pain from your wounds: so in our spiritual battle we are often hurt, but, by the grace of God, we are healed - when we humble ourselves, recognize ourselves and repent. You write that you are afraid of thunder; this is a sign of your cowardice and unbelief: you must have the fear of God and be afraid of sins, not death, and always be ready for the outcome, but not be embarrassed. You complain about yourself that sometimes jealousy of other sisters arises in you, that mother prefers and loves them more than you, and treats you strictly, and you yourself know that these are the machinations of the enemy: you know this and the doctor - you must immediately open this feeling to mother with humility and self-reproach, then with the help of God you will be freed from this illness; remember these words: the Lord punishes whomever he loves, beats his son, but accepts him (Heb. 12:6); and consider yourself worthy of everything and worse than everyone else and you will receive peace. I.M. You write that you are exhausted in sorrows and needs; there is no need to lose heart, but to expect an abundance of them, and through this one gains patience and humility: “For your sake we mortify ourselves all day long; We are counted as sheep of the slaughter” (Ps. 43:23); do you see? But we don’t even want to say a word, we become despondent and faint-hearted. You grieve over the illness of your spiritual mother, which is why you are deprived of spiritual edification. I am very sorry about this, but it is not in our will; you must submit to the will of God with humility and try with all your might to fulfill God’s commandments, then He will send you consolation; Perhaps such sorrow was sent for our infertility. Be patient and thank God; if it is His will, then He is still able to strengthen her health. Cast your sorrow upon the Lord (Ps. 54:23). “He will calm you all down, and you take care of your mental well-being, leave aside reasoning, walk in simplicity of heart and accept instructions with faith.” You mention your ill health, both physical and mental, that you have zeal, you speak with your heart and do not enter into your own: what happens after? – Confusion and deprivation of peace. You are probably trying to do something to help your weak body when you are sick, since you need to take care of your soul. When you try to teach yourself self-reproach, patience, humility and love, asking for God’s help in any case, then your passions will be exhausted, and you will learn meekness, you will gain skill, you will receive peace of mind; and the body will receive relief, for mental illnesses are to blame for bodily illnesses; and when you do not force yourself to do the above, then passions will prevail even more and bodily illness will increase; If you humble yourself, you will find God’s help, and you will be able to resist passions and defeat them. Do not be discouraged in the extreme, the Lord will nourish you: seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Read your father’s books more often and you will receive consolation and strengthening from them. Peace be with you! I.M. Thank the Lord that you are now at peace; Treasure this feeling and preserve it, so that during the uprising of passions, Paki can tame indignation. Try to reject your will and reason, acquire humility, and God will give you true reason and strength to fulfill His will, and keep peace with your sisters; even if some kind of grief were to occur from them, one must endure; where will you find a sorrowless life? Wherever you go, you will carry yourself everywhere. Sorrows are the product of our bad dispensations; remember that you need people, and not they need you, and through this you will be more humble and patient; and what seems wrong to you in them, it is not your business to judge, but seek your own salvation. Remember what you came for, accept reproaches as if they were a healing plaster sent from the Lord to cleanse you and heal you from pride; and whoever judges whom, do not mix with them and do not judge them for this; remember that we are all subject to vice, and whoever does what will receive reward: for good - good, and for evil - punishment. However, those who do evil can come to their senses and repentance and be cleansed by the mercy of God, from Whom we all hope to receive salvation, and not from our works. Remember St. Ephraim: “O Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.” Amen. I.M. I sincerely regret that you were so offended by the fact that you were not introduced to monasticism in the ryassophore, and that Mother Abbess forgot that you live in a monastery. -What offended you? – your pride, ambition and pride. What is monasticism? – an image of humility, not ambition. You accused people of being bypassed, but did not mean God, that “this was not His will and, apparently, I am still unworthy of this,” and when you humbled yourself, you would bear it calmly; for God comforts the humble, but resists the proud. Read from St. Isaac, when we blame our neighbors, and not ourselves, for our sorrows, then they are painful for us and continue. Don’t grieve, you will be an external nun; but you need to take care of inner monasticism - humility. The Lord sent this lesson to you to teach, but you do not want to use it; What is the fruit of my instruction? I cannot give you any other consolation than this - to surrender it to the will of God and reproach myself for accepting it so ardently and not humbly. It seems to you that they are laughing at you, but you accept this as a hint of future glory, do not let the enemy laugh at you: he rejoices when he sees you wounded by sadness about this, and further inflates the passion of self-love in you. Fall before the Lord, ask for forgiveness and surrender to His will; He is able to send you spiritual consolation, incomparably better than what comes from external clothing. Be worthy of it! I advise you to be frank with your mother, through this you can obtain a good structure for your morality; do not be afraid to say what the enemy is doing to you, he has always been a hater of good; - the revelation will destroy all his machinations. Be humble and submissive to the will of God, and you will receive peace of mind. I.M. You write that everything is unhealthy; what to do? Try, if you are physically unwell, to maintain peace of mind. Be patient with your neighbors who insult you; remember that the Lord, the sinless one, suffered, but we remain in sins and are worthy of sorrow in every possible way. Now I have received a letter from your old lady and I congratulate you on accepting the endowment of the monastic image and the spiritual joy that follows; May the Lord grant you to feel gratitude in your heart and preserve the deeds appropriate to our calling: obedience, patience, humility, poverty, purity and love, so that with the wise virgins you will be worthy to enter into the heavenly chamber of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ the Lord. I can’t tell you anything more and wish you nothing better! When you happen to do something good, that is, pray to God with ardent zeal, or something else, and the thought begins to praise you, immediately remember the commandment of God: “If you do all that is commanded, say, for we are unworthy servants; and when the thought leads to despair, in failure to fulfill exactly the entire rule, then remind yourself that Christ came to save sinners, and be indifferent and do not be embarrassed. Do not grieve that you have not had your own cell for 12 years; The Lord is able to comfort you in this, giving you his own, comfortable shelter, but then your worries and extremes in content will increase even more; and don’t cry for your mother, but thank the Lord for accepting her with pure repentance; pray for the repose of her soul. What is our life? Wandering on earth; full of sorrow and illness; and now she rejoices forever, where there is no sadness and sighing, but life is endless. Peace be with you! I.M. I thank you for congratulating me on the holiday, and I congratulate you on the new year: may your spiritual structure be renewed, so that as you grow older, you will grow in spiritual age, working out your salvation. You write that it is hard to bear slander. They say what they want; - It's good that you're innocent. It's time for you to learn: the clean will not stick to the filthy; these cases teach us patience and humility, through the knowledge of our weaknesses; and you try to be more friendly with those who do you good, and to be complacent and pray for them. And don’t grieve your relatives too much because you are abandoned by them and feel their coldness and hostility towards you; remember how the previous fathers, who warned us with their salvation, acted? Out of the love of God, they left their calmly loving relatives and devoted themselves entirely to serving the Lord; and you go back in your thoughts and hurt your family with your proposal. God's providence has arranged for you in such a way that through this sorrow you would love more the Lord and monastic life and would rely on His fatherly mercy, and not on your neighbors. Leave this thought and worry about your salvation, and you will be peaceful and calm and provided with everything, as required, for our life; keep them in mind in prayer, and it will suffice for you. From your letter I see that I bought myself a cell; you see, where the will of God is, there people will help us; I wish you to live happily in it, acquiring salvation. You mourn in your cell; what to do? What we cannot turn away from ourselves, then, apparently, this must happen to test our patience and humility; when we reproach ourselves and humble ourselves, then it is convenient to bear it; and if we reproach people and blame them, making them the cause of our sorrows, then they become heavier and become unbearable. Keep yourself in simplicity and humility, then no one will harm you in any way; be lenient in your cell, bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2); the peace of the cell is most necessary for salvation; treasure them. I.M. Thank the Lord that you have calmed down by living in your cell; the reproof of your cell may serve as a future correction for her; and meanwhile, until you test her loyalty, and she is established in it, she herself must have supervision over the household. It is difficult to recognize a person in a short time when we ourselves see in ourselves daily defeat by one thing or another; the enemy does not sleep. May the Lord arrange your life for the benefit of your soul, and try to act according to the commandments of God and be an example for her to salvation; most of all, humble yourself; but about what frightens you and is embarrassed, pray to the Lord, so that he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your measure; Humble yourself, and the Lord and the Queen of Heaven will have mercy and protect you under His protection. You write that you are often sick through sorrows. I advise you in your illness to have patience and gratitude to the Lord who visited you with it. Having no deeds according to our calling: neither humility nor love, how can we justify ourselves? – Only by enduring involuntary illnesses that cleanse our sins; and who will boast of not having them? I think you will find some spiritual weakness in yourself that requires healing, and the Physician of our souls heals them. He is also able to give you physical healing. Finally, you began to come to the true mind and realized that a quiet and peaceful treatment of those in your cells calms you down more than demands, and they fulfill their duty more peacefully and more diligently: here the grace of God helps; and where there are quarrels and discord, there the enemy makes more indignation, shaking the depths of the heart, through our negligence and pride; and humility overthrows him. Surrender yourself in everything to the will of God and you will be saved. I.M. I received your letter; you write about your sorrows: where can you escape from them? We are everywhere, and they are with us; The Lord allows them to test us in patience and to the knowledge of our weaknesses and to humility. When we humble ourselves, our sorrows will be eased. Do not blame any of the people, but leave everything to God’s providence. You write about the deep sorrow that befell all of you over the death of your old lady: may the Lord rest her soul with the righteous. Her whole life was spent in sorrows and illnesses, and her quiet, peaceful death gives us undoubted hope that she received the mercy of God; surrender to the will of God. You have heard a lot of parting words for life from her, now try to put them into practice, and most of all, have peace and love among each other, and with her prayers she will ask the Lord for help in your salvation. Be all of one mind, bearing one another’s burdens; do not despise anyone: keep your conscience clear towards everyone; read the books of saints and fathers more often, and the peace of God will rest on you and comfort your sorrowful hearts. You write that you need to go to your benefactors if your boss gives her blessing; - on my part, may the Lord bless your path: of course, for our calling the world is not like a monastery, for here is the real field of our achievement, and there we cannot find benefit, although some people think: “I will sin less there, because no one bothers,” and therefore we do not recognize our structure, without having a struggle: we will not gain self-reproach, we will not recognize our weaknesses and will not repent; but as you do out of love for your neighbor, visiting them in grief, I will keep silent about it. Take care of your salvation, which I earnestly wish for you. I.M. You write so mournfully and desperately about the illness that has befallen you and you are afraid to die! But the will of the Lord be upon us; those who are currently destined to die, the Lord accepts them, but with repentance and the guidance of the Holy Mysteries, and this is a great benefit to the soul. The Lord shed His blood for us and cares for us; we must not tremble at illness and death, but we must fear sins, and then the Lord gave us repentance and washed us with His blood; Let us hope in His goodness and bring repentance, and not be cowardly in illness. May God grant that you are alive and well; This disease does not lead to death; and we have many patients with fevers and fevers. You write about the grief of your benefactor: I sincerely regret it; this cross is visible; will serve her for crowning in the future life and for the purification of her soul. In another letter you write that your health is improving: I wish you to be completely healthy. But you are slandered in that in which I know that you are innocent: that’s good that you are innocent; people slander, but God justifies; and yet you must believe that this was allowed by God’s vision, so that through the patience of this reproach you will be cleansed from sins of another kind, in the absence of which no one will boast; May these sorrows make up for the lack of your monastic exploits. I wish you to be renewed in spirit for the best and put on a new person, putting off the rags of old passions! When you humble yourself, you will calm down; and pray for those who offend you, and in all your sorrows try to find yourself guilty, if not for anything else, then for the fact that you did not bear, did not tolerate and did not fulfill the commandment of love for your neighbor. May your heart be renewed by the grace of God to fulfill His holy will. I.M. You write about your temptation and your impatience with those who insulted you. It is in vain that you are embarrassed and give the enemy a reason to rejoice at your despondency; what can happen from words? And they will only test your patience, and you will receive a crown of glory. Your conscience and God justify you in this, but you still override and blame people; In time, her lies will be exposed, and you pray for her and accept that this was sent for some of your sins; and who is sinless? Thank God that you are pleased and reassured by your new cell; bear her infirmities, and the Lord will grant you and her peace of mind; admonish in what is due. Pass obedience humbly and patiently, without being burdened by it, for it serves to correct our morality and spiritual consolation for it, sent from the Lord. You write that you want to have a collaborator in life: ask the Lord to send you one after your heart; Of course, a friend is more useful than a student: - through her you can recognize your weakness, and within your means it will be easier for you; trust in the Lord, as He pleases, He will do what is good for you. Thank the Lord, who saved you from the threatening danger of fire; Do you see how great His mercy is towards us? And we are cowardly; and in any case, surrender yourself to the will of God. Don’t grieve about extremes; He knows everyone’s needs and in due time will console them with His fatherly help. Cherish that you are peaceful in your cell, what I wish for you from the bottom of my heart, and I remain your pilgrim, unworthy of I.M. Most venerable R. V-vna in the Lord! You write about your bad dispensation and your mother N.’s mental confusion, but I wrote to you many times and now I repeat: stick to your father’s teachings: St. John Climacus, St. Dorothea, St. Simeon the New Theologian, St. Callista, Ignatius and St. Theodore of Edessa; in the first letters these chapters are assigned. Know that the enemy, jealous of your benefit, sets you up against it, but do not obey him, but force yourself to revelation and ask for forgiveness, and if they curry favor with you, it means giving you a knife to slaughter yourself mentally. May the Lord help you resist the machinations of the enemy and grant you victory over them through humility. I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. November 14, 1842. Explaining your weaknesses, you ask for my guidance. I wrote to you many times and offered not mine, but St. fathers' instructions on how to behave and which way is more convenient to go to salvation and to conquer one's passions: - through humility, and this is acquired through obedience and revelation, rejection of one's will and reason; What good will come from words alone without action? I will write the same thing, but you don’t listen to it and don’t force yourself. Of course, the enemy resists what is good; but where there is compulsion with humility, he will not have time to do anything. You ask me to pray for your correction and not to scold N.’s mother: do you see the destructive network of the enemy in which he is trying to entangle you, and his poisonous arrow poisoning your heart? He shakes the entire building of your salvation at its very foundation - in faith in Mother N.; How can you acquire humility, with which you could avoid the snares of the enemy when you follow your will and reason? Read from St. Abba Dorotheus about following one's will, what dangerous things happen when someone mixes one's will with justification. St. Climacus, St. Cassian, Simeon the New Theologian, Theodore of Edessa, St. Callistus and the other fathers showed no other way than this as the most convenient to salvation. You cannot excuse yourself if you do not find perfection in it: and there are many examples of this in the patristic writings, that it was not the perfection of those who instructed, but the faith, obedience and good will of those instructed that granted them salvation; you, instead of obeying, still make fun of her - what will come of this? If you should not cut your teeth at your equals who insult you, much less at those to whom you owe your salvation; The reason for this is your pride, due to which the enemy has found free access to your heart and is painfully forcing you to follow his will and follow his harmful suggestions. Read chapter 31 of Simeon the New Theologian - do you have any similarities with it? Let's try to correct ourselves at the foundation, and then we will conveniently complete the building of other virtues, casting down the passions that rise up in you, and especially the contempt and condemnation of your neighbors. If this path of rejecting your will seems painful to you or you cannot humble yourself before Mother N., then you have the freedom to look for another path that is more able to calm you down. I don’t need you at all and I don’t impose a yoke, but I advise: and when it’s not for you, you can without a doubt have your own cell, for what is the use of living in confusion and cutting your hair? Maybe you will grieve me for this, like in the summer; but I don’t look at this, but write the truth, wishing for your salvation. I remain your pilgrim, many-sinner I.M. I write this not to shame you, but as my beloved child I am punishing you (1 Cor. 4:14). December 14, 1842. I haven’t known anything about you for a month and a half now; I have your last letter from January 31, the main matter of which is that you are worried about blasphemous thoughts against God and unbelief in the Holy Scriptures. Until now I haven’t had time to answer you anything, so I’ll say something. You must know the root from which these branches grow; this is pride; it gives rise to blasphemous thoughts and unbelief. See how bitter the fruit is! And what's worse than that? I know that you do not want them and are grieved because they come to you: but they serve you as punishment, so that you humble yourself in all your interactions, deeds, words and thoughts; how to reconcile? – I don’t know if you understand this? - When you don’t know, then ask your mother, she will show you at St. John Climacus, that humility is born from obedience; and at St. Cassian, - through the revelation of thoughts and self-distrust, humility is born. Why did you go? - We need to remember that; you went to save your soul; but you will not find salvation without humility; one must try to acquire it. Don’t think that you can acquire it on your own and be saved: not at all; even if you showed yourself like this outwardly, this will not bring you any benefit when various passionate thoughts are hidden inside you; do not be ashamed to open them; having rejected unbelief, have faith, they will be consumed; Remember that the priest entrusted you to Mother N. - through her you will be saved. Avoid all politics in revelation, but say everything, even if your thoughts trouble you against it; know that this is due to the envy of the enemy in order to deprive you of benefit. Treat your sisters more humbly; remember that they bear your infirmities and labor, and therefore mentally consider yourself the last of all, through which they will be at peace, and you even more so. I.M. March 14, 1842. You thought I was angry with you for not writing for a long time, but you need to write when there is something to do and when spiritual benefit can come from this letter. I wrote to you a lot and gave instructions so that you have revelation, you write notes that you don’t see your vices and don’t know what to think about and what to ask about? It seems that this comes from pride, for humility always reveals to us our sins and our weaknesses, and without this it is difficult to be saved. Thinking that we are following the right path, we are instead deceived, and instead of peace, silence and tranquility, we take away the fruits of sorrow, confusion and disorder and are deprived of hope of salvation. I, it seems, have already suggested that you read articles from Simeon the New Theologian, from Callistus chapters 14, 15, and from Theodore of Edessa 40 and so on, from Abba Dorotheus: “About the hedgehog not to make up your mind.” If you don’t understand any of these, then ask Mother N. about this, she knows better about your structure from constant communication; and even ask her to convict you of your weaknesses, otherwise woe to you when you do not recognize them! “You won’t even humble yourself, and without humility it is impossible to be saved.” I.M. March 31, 1842. You shouldn't grieve that Z.'s mother didn't come to see you. This case must be attributed to the providence of God, which determines what can be useful for us and what is harmful, and what is necessary for temptation. Likewise, the boredom that happens to you is allowed by God’s providence to test your faith and love for Him, and is called the spiritual cross. If you had external sorrows: reproaches, annoyances, reproaches, needs in everything, and endured them with humility, then you would have avoided this internal grief, and since you are free from all these involuntary sorrows, then a spiritual cross is imposed so as not to be condemned for idleness and tranquility. You must not be cowardly in it, but accept and endure generously and thank God, who through His wisdom arranges all things for our benefit. It can also be caused by vanity, self-image and praise from people. I.M. July 25, 1842. You accepted my letter with sorrow; but I wrote to you not to insult you, but to bring benefit. You complain about your obnoxious character; when he is unbearable for you, then what should he be like for others, and especially for Mother N., who cares about your salvation? And when, instead of good fruits: humility, patience and love, she sees the opposite? And he does not leave you solely out of obedience and hope: - will there be correction? I also regret this, not seeing, but only hearing, receiving your letters; and involuntarily had to use severity, because soft words not only do not help, but also cause harm. If you have faith in my badness, then shouldn’t you also accept the punishment, as if it comes from love and not from hatred? Otherwise, I should have left you and remained silent, letting you go by your own will and mind. But, although I leave this to your will, until you yourself abandon the sinful Macarius, I still excite you and show you the way. If you would first listen to my words, and not mine, but the words and teachings of St. fathers, whom I offer you for guidance, then you would have had relief in your passions long ago. When you have my letters, then read the places of teaching of St. shown to you in them. fathers needed for you, and be aware: did you care to behave according to them, according to your strength, as much as possible? And if not, then who is to blame for the fact that you deprived yourself of benefits? The first is self-denial, i.e. your passions, the most necessary; and the most convenient means for this, as a basis, is to have faith in the guidebook and open up to it in everything; cut off your will and reason and have perfect obedience; with such your doing and compulsion to do this, all the enemy’s snares would be crushed, and your passions would receive relief, and you would receive peace. St. Climacus writes that “without obedience, no one who is passionate will see the Lord,” and in the word of St. Cassian to Leontin: “And the very thing that opens the thoughts of my father, I create the weakest.” But you, on the contrary, do not follow any of this, and, instead of the fruits of peace, you rob the fruits of confusion; You complain about your character, but it’s all your fault. If you now force yourself to do it, then, with God’s help, your bad character will turn into a good one, and if you remain in the same disposition, then it will be even more unbearable for you and for others. What's the point that you are sometimes peaceful and to the point of excess; and sometimes embarrassed to the point of burden both for yourself and for others? It is necessary to observe the middle, it will be much more useful. When your difficult temper comes to you, blame yourself, not others; and force yourself to reveal what bothers you, no matter what happens to N.’s mother; don't be afraid, tell her, you will get relief. Know that it is the enemy who pushes you and wants you to die, and then drives you into despair; The root of all this is pride, and the victory for it is humility. Look now, would I have written to you so much if I wanted to leave you? But I wish you benefit and teach you, and punish you, and I want to know: what fruit will these writings of mine bear? I expect notification from you, and a certificate about N.’s mother, and, asking for God’s help for you, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the many-sinner I.M. January 3, 1843. I wrote to you the unpleasant words that seemed unpleasant to you, not in order to insult you, but in order to correct you, seeing your sad dispensation. You write that you are not happy with yourself; It seems that you are burdening N.’s mother, but she dissuades you of this. - What kind of rank is this? You should only open your thoughts with the rite of repentance and ask for forgiveness, and not seek disillusionment. When you accept the enemy’s intrigue in your heart, you don’t shake it off with humility, but look for evidence. If she were truly like that towards you, as it seems to you, then here too she should mature and humble herself, consider herself worthy of it - then she would find peace; and if you are in such a dispensation, and it becomes ossified in you, then you, poor thing, will never find peace anywhere. Now I see that Mother N., condescending to your weaknesses, spoils you more; - Z.’s mother wouldn’t have done that, the only problem is that if you were there, you wouldn’t be able to relate to her; A-I lives with her for the reason that they don’t get along with her; there was nowhere to put it. No, girl, if you do not change yourself in this, then there will be no benefit, not only will you not correct your character, but you will end up in a worse dispensation. Maybe that’s why she offered you her farm, so that she would be calmer in this regard and would know herself better; while doing housework, if you weren’t idle, then those thoughts wouldn’t bother you, but you would have a relationship with her, just like the other sisters, so as not to stray from the true path. How much I wrote to you, advised, offered fatherly teachings, but I see that you only read them with your tongue, but everything came out of your head; it didn’t even touch my heart; on the contrary, those words that seemed sorrowful to you reached your heart. Perhaps even now grieve me for all these lines and think that I am not inclined towards you: I will not dissuade you. I have not yet lost hope that you will come to your senses, you will not accept the enemy’s advice, but you will resist them and immediately open them, and they will disappear. Yes, take the trouble to read my letters, in which I offered you fatherly teachings, and learn from them, then perhaps a good feeling will touch your heart; if your will is good, you will also find the help of God, to whose protection I entrust you. I. M. February 13, 1843. Upon your arrival at your monastery, you write, expressing your grief over the illness of Mother N. I approve of this, but it will be even more pleasant, and more useful for you, when you show in practice what you promised me, remember! You really need this; Why did you go to the monastery? - to be saved; and what is needed for this, he instilled in you both personally and in writing; and most of all, the fatherly teachings tell us louder than a trumpet about our work - how we can find an eternal life, and live here peacefully and calmly. They carried it out and left an example for us. We also need to get down to business, and not just save ourselves in words; Most of all, keep in mind the Lord’s teaching: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). This will help you a lot, with His all-powerful assistance, in refracting your character. You didn’t write anything to me upon arrival, did you, as you should, ask for her forgiveness, since you went to us unpeacefully with her, or did you just pass by in silence, content with one letter? No; you need to blame yourself completely, explaining the incidents and stubbornness, and ask for forgiveness, without any justification - so will the world. I.M. October 9, 1843. You write that you have the desire and will to make a start towards correction, but you call the path of monastic life thorny and thorny, on which you fall every now and then. But it seems to me that this yoke of the Lord, which you have taken upon yourself, is good, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30), as His false words assure us of; but the path is narrow and sad, it seems before us, from the foundations of our inner passions, which rebel, with little resistance to them; when we try, with the help of God, with our will, to resist them and destroy them, they will weaken and disappear; and they will leave us alone. When we are not aware of ourselves and resist passions, they will intensify even more and deprive us of peace. The root of all these disasters is pride; and the rest are all its growths, strengthened by skill. Humble yourself, then you will uproot the roots and the branches will dry up. I.M. November 16, 1843. First, let’s talk about your structure: when you believe in dreams, then it’s certainly not surprising to fall into delusion. The Holy Fathers completely reject and tell us not to believe dreams, for us who are passionate and self-important. Instead of being embarrassed by an empty dream, you need to look at your sins and always reproach yourself for not correcting yourself and humble yourself, which will attract God’s help; and when you look at your weaknesses and sins, you will not judge others and notice their dispensation. God and every conscience knows this. You are doing a lot of wrong by looking at N. N. If she is definitely in a bad state, as you think, then you can’t give an answer for her; in a friendly manner, you can say with caution, and not to offend, I advise you to leave it. I don’t understand how you live there? Are you really not opening up to Mother N., just as you wrote to me? This would serve to correct you. I write to you in vain, and waste time when you do not receive any benefit; We only beat the air; however, I hope that you will improve. May the Lord give you peace, health and salvation. I also received your note, to which I don’t have anything special to respond, but I’m adding a little to the old one: it is written: “Do not reprove the wicked, lest they hate you; reprove wisely and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8). I have exposed you; How will you accept this? February 2, 1845. In your letter, describing your infirmities, among other things you explain about your ferocious heart, that if someone touches you, it will boil inside, and you have disgust for that person. This is not from nature, but from skill; and you, knowing this, which is contrary to God, reproach yourself for moving, realize that this is your weakness; the one who planes you is a doctor sent from God; and with such reasoning, doing and much time, you will receive a weakening of passion, and your heart will soften. Pride is the cause of this; seek healing in humility. Read St. Zosima and Dorofey about this matter and at the very time of excitement, tell N.’s mother, have pity on yourself, and not on others; when you want to be healed, this is a remedy for you, and take advice from her; and when you don’t want healing, then follow your passion. I.M. March 31, 1845. In two of your letters to me you blame yourself for living poorly and ask for my guidance. Recently, when we met with you, we had quite a conversation about this, and I, by the strength of my weak mind, and even more so by your faith, by the admonition of God, offered you the fatherly writings for instruction, which even now I do not refuse to remind you: read St. John Climacus, St. Abba Dorotheus, St. Ephraim and other fatherly teachings. Seeing yourself not achieving these rules, humble yourself and reproach yourself: and this will attract God’s mercy and help to you during your struggle against the passions; and if you do not recognize your weaknesses and do not reproach yourself, then, at the approach of any passion, you are allowed to fall, so that you involuntarily consider yourself the last of all and humble yourself before God and people. I.M. August 25, 1845. You spent a long time with sister Ch. in K-e, but it’s a pity that you were unsuccessful in everyday affairs, and even in spiritual ones, as you write yourself: in the omission of the rules and embarrassment with your relatives; and of course this gave them a considerable temptation. The worldly, despite their shortcomings, are always more noticeful of our misdeeds. Although you have reconciled with them, you still need to regret what happened and repent, and pray for those who insulted you. You are consoled by your brother's Christian death; you want the same yourself; but what illness he suffered, which, of course, cleansed him, by the grace of God, and, apparently, he is more worthy of this. And you have the time and means to purify yourself, not by such means, but by the lightest compulsions of yourself to good and resistance to evil. Forgive your sins by forgiving your neighbors. Quarrels and disputes with A. are probably over nothing and come from nothing other than pride. Trample this serpent with humility and self-reproach; You have the opportunity not to follow your mind and will - the most convenient means of getting rid of pride. If grief happens to A., don’t trust yourself, keep quiet, go ask N.’s mother, are you doing the right thing by being irritated? - And accept the advice that heals you. When you do this, your timidity will leave you, for it comes from pride and vanity. About the vision to your brother - whether it is true or not, I cannot say anything affirmative; It is enough that he departed in faith, hope and repentance. Mnogohreshny I.M. December 22, 1845. Most Reverend U. V-na of the Lord! I see from your writing that you want to make a start towards correcting your life, but you don’t know how. And it seems that you and I have talked a lot about this, how one should conduct spiritual warfare with the passions; and this should not be done in words, but in practice. Our passions do not give us rest, but some case will reveal them to us, then the disorder lying inside us confuses us; and when you resist in any case, do not do it out of passion, then they will become exhausted. When you get mad, then look at yourself, reproach yourself and humble yourself, consider yourself worse than everyone else, as if overcome by passions; Don’t blame any people, but blame yourself and you will receive God’s help. Are you asking how to open up? - Read from St. Abba Dorotheus: “About the hedgehog, do not form your own mind,” in Callistus and Ignatius, chapters 14 and 15; in Simeon the New Theologian, chapters 121 and 122; they clearly show how it should be revealed; you follow that. And how to repent, the publican teaches you: come to a sense of your evils, regret them, repent verbally and set the intention not to do this in the future, then you will receive forgiveness and peace of mind; - what do you have, a zealous desirer, a great sinner I. M. August 25, 1845 Most Honorable R. V-na of the Lord! It is our duty to mourn our failures, but not to be embarrassed; This sorrow leads to repentance and humility, and confusion reveals a highly intelligent disposition in us. Humility makes you see your weakness, not judge anyone, but yourself; and arrogance judges everyone; and although he touches himself, he does so with the edge of his tongue, and does not receive calm and peace. You grieve over the weakness of Mother N., you fear for her life and are afraid to be left alone without support: the Lord has set a limit to each of us in life, but we will not pass it; but he hid it from us, so that we would be alert and attentive to our salvation. If the Lord calls her into the future, then let His holy will be done, and until then you try to follow the path shown by your fathers, by obedience and cutting off your will and mind. Not trusting them completely and resisting actions contrary to them, you will receive a spiritual mind, guided and controlled by humility, and you can safely follow the path of salvation; but until you receive this gift, beware of entrusting control over yourself; surrender to the will of God. Is this prayer, which you believed, betrayed by the Church? You did not test and sinned in this, you believed false rumors, supposedly from the Reverend. Antonia: Can the Reverend? Anthony write heresy and blasphemy in prayer? Invoking the Holy Trinity, asks to wash the world from sins with Her blood - when does our Church accept and confess sins washed by the blood of the One Son of God from the Trinity, who took upon Himself our flesh? You were seduced by him. This prayer existed back in 1841, and was repeated in 1844, and with what threats? – To infect others with the same thing. Try to make amends for this, write to those to whom you passed it on so that they leave it and do not read it. The Church has given us enough prayers; there is something to read and something to appease God with - a contrite and humble heart. I.M. March 9, 1846. Having prayed to God, the Mother of God and venerated the relics of St. saints of God in Kyiv, be, through their prayers, confirmed in the true path; Go with the advice of Mother N., be patient with your sister in her weaknesses. If a great deed is mercy shown to neighbors, saving their body; then all the more great before God is the alms given to one’s neighbor, done to his soul, through his patience during his confusion. You will find this in the books of the Fathers, and even in the Gospel it is said: “If you let go, it will be forgiven to you, but if you do not let go, it will not be forgiven to you” (Matthew 6:14); and in the Apostle: no matter what we do that is good and kind, but when we do not have love, we are nothing; but love is long-suffering, merciful, and so on. (1 Cor. 13:1–8). I would write a lot, but I’m in a hurry to get to the post office; I hope that not verbosity, but your faith and zeal will make up for my shortcomings and bring the fruit of obedience to sacred things, peace, love and humility, which I earnestly wish for you, much-sinful I.M. August 18, 1846. Although I recently wrote to you, I am also writing again, albeit briefly, for your benefit, that you cannot tolerate rude words from your mother N., which will stop you; and you think it could be said differently; but when you can’t stand it from her, then who can you stand it from, and how can you learn patience and humility? On the contrary, consider yourself lucky when you receive a precious reprimand from her, even if it was completely in vain, but it will bring you a lot of good. Remember how much we talked about this, what everyone should endure, for all this happens by the sight of God. Read for yourself the passages that I point out to you from Mark the Ascetic, Simeon the New Theologian, John Climacus, Elijah Ekdik, Abba Dorotheos, and check your dispensation; reproach yourself for your sin, and you will receive a good dispensation; what I earnestly wish for you, much-sinful I.M. January 20, 1847. You reproach yourself for the laziness and carelessness with which you spent your fast: but at least from this you learn to acquire humility, to force yourself to bear the infirmities of others. But you seem to boast of your bad, inexpressibly furious and obstinate character. You don’t even understand that God carefully allows N. to be embarrassed and do things that are contrary to you, so that you can heal your illness with this medicine; let you not hear: Babylon is whole, and you are not healed (Jeremiah 51:9). Can we heal ourselves from mental illnesses when we do not have the opportunity to exterminate them? Nobody bothers us, we think, and they are peaceful; and the passions lie within, are not destroyed, but take root even more and, on occasion, plunge them into great misfortune, so that St. Abba Dorotheos, upon action, places them under hell. You need to take care about eradicating passions, and not about worshiping and respecting them. May the Lord give you true reason and guide you on the right path. I.M. April 5, 1847. You ask for my guidance and admonition, how can you correct yourself? “I can’t tell you anything new; and everything is the same as was said before: try to fulfill the commandment of God about love, which commands you to love your enemies and endure to the end. Have the fear of God and remember that He sees all our thoughts, words and deeds and rewards everyone according to his deeds. Read your father’s books and learn how to endure and endure your neighbor; Seeing your weakness, humble yourself and ask the Lord to send you help in defeating the passions that take victory over us, for our exaltation; for according to the word of St. Climacus: “Where there is a fall, pride precedes it.” Physical illness accepts guilt from the soul. May the Lord heal you from both. I. M. May 6, 1847 You write about N.N.’s dispensation that you told your sisters, but you see many faults in yourself. Although it is bad to explain human vices to others, if you spoke with the good intention of correcting it, then the Lord is merciful and will not allow evil to arise from this. However, remember about your correction, which can only be - to have perfect revelation, and not say one thing and keep silent about another; it means closing rather than healing wounds; and by revelation, accept advice with faith and humility and strive to fulfill it, and bear each other’s burdens. You are looking for heat in prayer - out of madness; If you think that you have received it, then be sure that it is a delight. Correct your life, be humble, pray humbly, God accepts the prayers of the humble (Ps. 130:18). And when you yourself give value to your prayer, then this is already a charm. With such a malfunction, pray that the Lord will allow you to correct your life and see your sins, not condemn anyone, and so on. I.M. June 23, 1847. You write that during your visit to God’s monastery with your illness, you were in fear and fear of death; and then you say that you would like to die while my mother and N. were alive; It's like a contradiction of one another. We often do not know what we want and what we ask for; It’s better to surrender to the will of God and pray to Him like this: “Lord, Thy will be done on us”; He knows more than we do what will benefit us; We, although we know that we need humility most of all, are either little or not at all concerned about acquiring it; In any case, you must try to acquire this. I am very sorry for your sister that she does not have peace of mind: by depriving herself of it, she causes trouble for others. For my part, I used all my strength to calm her down, gave advice, asked N.’s mother and you for peace; but something is not going well: I don’t know why this is happening. - Of course, from the enemy’s machinations; but they are overthrown by humility, without which salvation cannot be obtained. And so, for your part, do as much as you can to pacify and advise her to reconcile; Wherever she is, Veeda needs humility. I.M. July 31, 1848. For memory and for the benefit of the soul R. No! I am sure that you want to be saved, that’s why you left the world and went to a monastery. We must do what saves us; you need to correct your morality, and when it is not corrected, you cannot have peace and tranquility of soul. How can I fix it? - With the help of God, by submission, by rejecting your will and mind, from which you will know what passions are a guarantee in you, and you must arm yourself against each one with prayer and the commandments of God. But you cannot do it on your own, but must reveal them by revelation to Mother N. and accept her advice with faith; no matter how disgusting it may seem to you, you must obey, not contradict; from this humility is born, and humility is victory over all passions. When N.’s sister or mother reproaches you, the disorder within you stirs; you will become silent and torment yourself with resentment. How cruelly you harm yourself by this and do not understand that this is due to your poor dispensation, and you consider them to be guilty of your insult! This is where you need to seek good advice and blame yourself, and not others, for not fulfilling the commandment of God, which commands you to love your enemies, bless those who curse, do good to those who hate, and pray for those who commit mischief. You need to reproach yourself for this and force yourself to patience (even if it is in vain), to humility, to love, to meekness, to goodness, and so on. When you force yourself and reveal your weakness with the humility of Mother N., then the Lord will send you His help, and you can correct yourself and calm down; and when you don’t force yourself, or no one bothers you, it’s difficult to correct. Read the spiritual books of your fathers and try, according to their teaching, to force yourself as much as possible, and not to submit to the enemy; he has irreconcilable warfare with us. He who behaves humbly wins, but when you take a thought against your neighbor and are offended, then you are already defeated and are in captivity with him; that is why there is no peace. May the Lord give you victory and peace! Mnogohreshny I. M. February 23, 1848. Where there is a will to bear the infirmities of our neighbors, there the Lord will send His help when we force ourselves to do so. You realize that you are quick, impudent and impatient. What is this? – Are they utensils or monists that adorn the soul? No, these are scabs and ulcers of the soul; you need to take care of their healing; they can harm others and themselves even more. Do you know their medicine - consciousness of oneself as guilty and self-reproach! It is not so important to be overcome by what passion, but to remain in it and not blame yourself for it, but blame others as the cause, this is already a retreat of the right mind and negligence about the healing of mental illness. May the Lord help you to stand against passions. You ask: should those coming to bed after the all-night prayer be read? Since your all-night vigil departs early, it doesn’t hurt to read them; and where it leaves late, at 12 o’clock, you can leave it. I. M. May 7, 1848 You write that you had the intention of going to K. on business, but stopped due to unfavorable rumors spreading everywhere, and Mother Abbess did not bless you to take this path. Yes, now it’s better to sit at home and calm down. By God's permission, unfavorable rumors from malicious people spread everywhere, and some even come into action. Also in K-e there was fear and horror on everyone, they promised to burn them, and many piled onto carts and were taken out; however, what the Lord allows will happen. “Unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labor in vain; and unless the Lord preserves a city, it will be built in vain” (Ps. 126:1); why it is necessary to ask the Lord to avert this evil and to preserve cities, houses and villages; and also by repentance and good deeds to propitiate His goodness. You describe your confusion in your cell with N.’s mother and your defeat. “I don’t know in detail what caused your and her embarrassment, but I believe that she could have been embarrassed anyway, not at all on you, but simply from despondency and boredom, which, without any reason, lead to spiritual prosperity; and it seemed to you that sorrow was upon you; and when she began to talk about this, her sorrow increased even more, and she uttered an unpleasant word, and you yourself said the same; and if she had simply endured this time, then it would have passed like this. Of course, you and your sister can have your own cell, but it is more useful for you to live under care rather than by your own will, and it is better to endure reproaches with self-reproach than, avoiding this, to go away at your own will. I advise you to humble yourself and ask for forgiveness from her; Yes, I believe that you have already been reconciled. I.M. July 19, 1848. I received two letters from you: I see that you and your sister have been tonsured into a minor order, about which I am glad. May God only preserve it reverently and not take it for ambition, but even more so for humility, for this is also an image of repentance and humility; and having accepted it, one must observe the three main ones handed down to St. fathers, rules: faith to the spiritual mother, perfect revelation of thoughts and perfect obedience; and in everything I must try to reject my mind and will, even though it seems that it is good that I understand or want to do; but don’t believe it, and when N.’s mother confirms it, then accept it as true. In this way, your character will come into good order, and you yourself will be calm, and you will not bring sorrow to people. May the Lord strengthen you and arrange salvation, which I fervently wish for you, much-sinful I.M. February 2, 1849. Congratulations to you, Mother R. and Mother U., on accepting the new monastic form. May the Lord grant you to preserve him in purity and humility, meekness and obedience; all this will be easy to accomplish when you keep in mind the rejection of your will and mind, which is what the saints teach us. fathers who themselves lived a monastic life and received salvation; so you too will follow their footsteps. May faith, revelation and obedience be a strong barrier for you on your path; and when one of these weakens, the whole building will be shaken. I. M. February 19, 1849. Most venerable Mother R. in the Lord! Are you asking for my guidance on how to live like a monk and how to spend your time in your cell? Much has been written to you about this, but you have more of the spiritual writings of your fathers, and I can no longer tell or teach you anything better. The main point of our work: we must renounce our will and reason, which is what our work consists of: therefore we come to humility. You have a mother, cherish this, and even if something is not to your liking, force yourself to reject your will and reason. Read Elder Paisius’s Life, in the 1st edition from page 56 to page 6, there you will find instructions for yourself; but you need to force yourself and humble yourself and ask for help from God. Invisible war! – And our enemies are overcome more humbly, with the help of God; and without humility, although we will accomplish everything, we will achieve nothing. - The humble person does not look at how someone lives, but sees his three and take them out in front of him and has concern - how to free them; and accepts reproaches and annoyances inflicted from others as due and sent from God; considers himself worthy and, walking this path, receives peace of conscience. Here is this instruction for you and mother U.; – you both need it; Share these lines with her, but she has no time to write the same. We must reveal evil thoughts when they are cold and accept them with pleasure, and repent of them; and when only with adjectives; without our permission they come and disappear like peas from a wall, then there is no need to talk about them. May the Lord enlighten you and guide you on the right path. I. M. May 28, 1849 Thank God that you and your sister, U.’s mother, arrived in S. safely and were received by N.’s mother with love. May God grant you to make a good beginning in your life for your general peace; and you can correct this when you listen to what the saints teach us. fathers: how to resist passions and acquire humility and love; which necessitates the rejection of one’s will and failure to form one’s mind. You need to force yourself, and you will find God’s help. If you remain peaceful with the explanation you made, then that is enough; and when the spark of unworldliness has smoldered, then it is necessary to eradicate it with an explanation. To the rotten question of N.’s mother, your answer was rotten, about the lack of simplicity, we will not acquire it from people, but we will acquire it ourselves; otherwise we make a lot of mistakes. May God's blessing be upon you. I.M. December 31, 1849. You accepted my letter with a feeling of self-awareness and repentance. I approve of this and hope that this influence will continue to influence your activities; only when you forget and deviate from the true path leading to humility, pay attention to what is written to you and remind yourself both of your infertility and of the debt that we owe to God and to each other; and what we do for our neighbors, God takes upon himself - good or evil; according to the first, he rewards, and according to the other, he punishes, unless we correct ourselves and make amends with repentance and humility. I.M. March 21, 1850. Indeed, I wanted to receive from you and my sister comforting writings about the establishment of much-desired peace and tranquility in your home, but to my regret I see that it is still far from you; although he pushes at the doors of your hearts, wanting to settle in - with humility and love, you drive him away and do not accept him. Shouldn't you bear each other's burdens (Gal. 6:2) and forgive each other's sins, so that you can also receive forgiveness from God for your own sins (Matthew 6:14)? “But you, on the contrary, cannot bear it from your neighbors, but you yourself are deprived of God’s forgiveness and are sealing your sins.” Let, if your sister is not good, capricious, etc., be good, and through her weaknesses heal your sinful ulcers, considering her your benefactor; and show love to her, according to the commandment of God; and thus healing yourself, you will heal her too; But a fire is not extinguished with oil, but with water. If you had heeded your salvation, you would have received healing for your wounds long ago. You have spiritual books, you have a mentor and you know how to fight the enemy. You cannot control him with pride, but with humility all his snares and traps are crushed; this is something you need to take care of; time is short; We don’t know when they will call us to trial. You are wrong to think that I want to leave you; It wasn’t even on my mind; But if I don’t write often, then well, I have to write the same thing over and over again? - Obey, endure, love, humble yourself; and I’ll tell you that I answer many letters to two, three, and sometimes even 4 with one, but I don’t leave them all. I remain the great sinner I.M. October 14, 1850 Most venerable mother of U. in the Lord! Where light shines, darkness is driven away, and all things are clearly seen; but they remain hidden in darkness. So - and where there is humility, pride is driven away, and we clearly see all our sins and do not consider anyone guilty of them, but only ourselves, then we soon receive God's help and healing from passions. From your letter dated October 2, I see that, although you say that you want to make a start in correction and, no matter what happens in life, whatever sorrow, you would bear it all indifferently; but you just can’t and don’t have the strength to bear it without the feeling of your heart being affected. Why is this happening? - Because you do not try to acquire humility, but are driven by pride; That is why darkness covers your heart. If you had tried to exterminate your passions from the beginning, and even after living, you would have received healing from them long ago. You blame the people, your mother and sister, who insult you, but you don’t see that it is the enemy who insults you through your spiritual structure. You must undoubtedly believe that the Lord sends people to annoy you, i.e. apply a healing plaster to your passionate ulcer: and you, instead of accepting the plaster for healing, tear it off and in its place apply deadly poison - a word of justification and mutual annoyance. Instead of you reproaching yourself for not expressing a word or a look: and you, putting yourself in the right, blame others for being the cause of your confusion; - and in this way you oppose God’s truth and providence, which wants to save you. You always describe your adventures at length, but they all consist of reproaching your neighbors for insulting you: but I tell you, when you accept with self-reproach and not resistance, you will reach the point where no one will say a rude word to you; Yes, you will also desire insults, so that you have the opportunity to forgive your neighbors their guilt, and the Lord will forgive your sins. You demand the impossible: for mother to tell you even in the face of your opposition; Should you demand conditions from the old woman so that she will do with you according to your wishes? Where will your salvation be? You must moreover obey her in everything, and she has the right to demand that you live according to her will and custom; since many elders demanded from their disciples: “When you want to live with me, then live like this and so, and when you don’t want to do that, then leave me.” This is not taken away from you either; when you want to live with her, then live according to her instructions and accept insults from her as you deserve; and of course she will not insult you without reason; and when he offends, he must be punished; and it is more convenient for you from her than for her from you - that will serve you for healing; and when she bears from you, it will be for damage. I am writing this to you not from my mind, but from St. fathers' teachings, and you must accept with faith and listen, you will receive great benefit; and what you write: “I don’t want to be a burden to others,” these are words of pride; you don’t want to, but you do. You need to decide something: either move away or resign yourself; the latter will be better and more saving. I wish the Lord to enlighten you and strengthen you to follow the path of humility, from which you will find peace. I remain the sinful I.M. October 14, 1850. What an unfounded and incorrect notion of yours! You think that, due to your unbearable properties and evil disposition and character, you accept everything with vehemence and irritation, every word, sight and movement that touches you greatly touches and disturbs your calm: so what needs to be done here? Therefore, so that you do not worry, you need to protect yourself from all these cases, which is impossible to do; but even if it were possible to do so, it would serve to increase your frustration and confusion, and not to peace. Your passions would take more root in you, and even if no one touched you, they themselves would deprive you of peace forever; and this very thing that touches you, what is done to you that is contrary to you, is, sent by God Himself, a cure for your evil disposition and character. Have a good will to take these medicines, force yourself to be patient and ask for God’s help, and over time you will see yourself healed from these intolerable diseases. This is why the commandments were given to us by God, in order to heal with them our passions and the sins that arise from them. When you make a start, then, with God’s help, look after yourself: if you are offended for something that is contrary to you, then blame yourself for being offended, and not the one who offended you; and also thank him for giving you the opportunity to see your defilement and take care of its healing. After all, you yourself read the books of the fathers, and I wrote to you many times and told you how to act in such cases when you are offended: St. Simeon the New Theologian ch. 31, Mark of the Ascetic ch. 209, Conversations of St. Zosima, Abba Dorotheus: “About reproaching yourself,” from St. Climacus in degree about obedience; and from many others you will find how to receive healing for your intolerable character. The root of it is pride, try to pluck it out every day, then the branches will crumble on their own; and in its place plant the root of humility, on which good branches will grow and bear fruit that calms you. In any case, this letter can serve you as good advice when you accept it with faith and heed the truths written here; which I wrote to you out of a true desire for you to have a peaceful and calm stay and salvation. I.M. November 14, 1850. You write that you feel your evil heart and cannot resist in any way, if necessary, and come to terms with it. If your will is good, be diligent and ask for God’s help, then you can stand up and pluck out the root of pride, from which our entire structure is in misery. God carefully sends us cases so that we, accepting with self-reproach, will be healed of our spiritual illnesses. I told you and showed you the fatherly writings; read them and try to force yourself to do according to them: St. Simeon the New Theologian ch. 31, St. Mark of the Ascetic ch. 209, Conversations of St. Zosima, in the book of Abba Dorotheos: “About reproaching yourself, and not your neighbor,” St. John Climacus step. 4 about obedience, in Elijah Ekdik ch. 29, 30 and 31, and many more have them. May the Lord give you His help to overcome passions and acquire virtues. I earnestly wish you to be saved. Mnogohreshny I.M. November 14, 1850. At the end of your letter, you write that you feel terrible internal annoyance, boredom, that you would even scream out of embarrassment - this happens for no apparent reason. To this I will tell you: our life should be sorrowful, not joyful; The Kingdom of God is in need, and the needy delights it (Matthew 11:12), and through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). When we cannot bear external sorrows, i.e. humiliation, annoyance, reproach, slander, neglect, etc., which purify and heal our spiritual passions - then God sends us an internal spiritual cross: darkness, languor 54, vexation, zeal, etc., which you remember. Look at your life and compare it with the life and teachings of St. fathers: they, having gone through the painful path of life, accomplished it with humility and love and received spiritual fruit; and we, not to mention you, are looking only for peace in our life; We do not tolerate reproach and annoyance, but reject ourselves; and in such a poor dispensation, we are carried away by our own opinions, and we reproach, condemn, despise others, etc.: then what kind of spiritual fruits will we expect? – What we sow is what we reap. When you want to receive true peace of mind, then listen to the Lord, who commanded us: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). You see what the Lord commands us to learn more - humility and meekness, which only can calm us down; but this science is not acquired at once, and not in one day or year, but over many years, by forcing oneself and the help of God. The Holy Fathers teach us that without this treasure all our wealth of virtues is insignificant, and it is only to strongly intercede for us to the Lord without works and forgive all our sins; and deeds without him will not bring any benefit (46 words of Isaac the Syrian). Let us strive for this every day, and on occasion, recognize our spiritual weakness and humble ourselves, and not reproach others; and read fatherly books that encourage you to do this - then, in time, passions will calm down and you will receive peace; and now, when you experience spiritual languor and annoyance, you need to calm yourself, humble yourself and consider yourself worthy of this burden, fall to the Lord, asking for His mercy, and surrender to His will - in this way you will calm yourself, bearing this spiritual cross. Peace of mind does not benefit us until we are cleansed from passions, and even more so from vanity and arrogance. St. Isaac teaches about this in the 47th word: “When you find unchanging peace on your path, then fear,” and so on. May the Lord enlighten you and strengthen you on the path of salvation that leads to eternal life. There is no harm in reading the prayer read by Z.’s mother about those who hate; but reintroducing some news into society is not of our mind and structure. The prayer of those who hate and offend is not only equivalent to it, but also contains more petitions; You just need to remember that it is not in words, but in force, i.e. in action, the Kingdom of God. If we ask God for those who hate us in order to have mercy on them, this is a matter of love; but it is necessary to show it in practice to them, according to the commandment of God: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,” and so on. (Matt. 5:44); and if I pray for them, and meanwhile I myself act evilly, hate, condemn, contradict: then what is the use of prayer? We not only do this to those who hate us, but we also do not yield to those who offend us in word or form. This is not how we should pray for those who hate, but more so that we can destroy our hatred and, having humbled ourselves before them, calm ourselves and them, first in secret, and when necessary, openly. Take this advice of mine, offered to you out of sincere zeal, and try to accept and implement what is useful for you. I.M. January 23, 1851. In your letter you contradict yourself; you say that you sincerely desire, with all your soul, to achieve humility, but you reject what it takes to acquire it, making up your own will and your own mind; it is contrary to humility; we must renounce both our will and our reason, and then we will acquire humility. Read about this from Climacus about obedience, humility, pride, from Abba Dorotheos and from St. Cassiana. I noticed in your letter about the non-rejection of your mind; the mother says: you need to talk about everything after thinking it over; and you think this is politics; and according to you, whatever thought comes to you, whatever you want, you say; there is no trace of humility here! St. Moses teaches that “we do not at all believe in our own reason, but whatever the fathers tempt, we believe and do; from this comes humility and reasoning” (in the word of St. Cassian to Abbot Leontin). May the Lord make you wise when you leave your reason and follow the experienced. I. M. February 10, 1851. Most honorable in the Lord, Mother R. and Mother U.! Due to the weakness of my strength, I cannot write to each of you separately, but I thank both of you for writing and for the disposition towards my weakness expressed in them; and you would prove it to me even more if you tried to fulfill what we talked about a lot; those. about the salvation of our souls; which is accomplished in two main points: love and humility; and without them, none of our exploits and donations can benefit us. We have read and talked a lot, a lot about this, but we need to touch on this in action, listen to the Lord, He says: about this they understand this, as My disciples are, if you have love among one another (John 13:35). If we don’t want to be His disciples, then whose will we be? Peace and tranquility are bestowed from Him; but from the contrary there is enmity and confusion, from which may the Lord deliver you. I.M. July 10, 1851. Most venerable mother of U. in the Lord! You, suffering from languid boredom and melancholy, are thinking of getting rid of it by going to your relatives. No, you won’t get rid of it, but only for a short time, maybe you’ll become distracted and still experience the same thing; Yes, not only here, but also there. Read the letter that I wrote last winter to S.’s mother, which gives rise to boredom and languid melancholy, and you will see how peace is acquired. We think to find peace in removing from ourselves everything that offends us; but, on the contrary, it is located in our distance from the world and passions: love of glory, voluptuousness and love of money, from which other passions are born and fight us. But we must resist them and endure grief. And no matter how we do not resist them in the least, we always act more out of passion, and instead of reconciling ourselves, self-love and pride multiply even more; and in our imaginary sorrows, instead of blaming ourselves, we blame our neighbors; and thinking to fight them, we fight against ourselves; and since we do not voluntarily bear any sorrows, but reflect them, God sends another kind of sorrow - melancholy and longing of the spirit, so that we humble ourselves and seek help from Him. Read from St. Isaac the Syrian 79th word; there you will see how the Lord allows such temptations: languid boredom and despondency and offers a remedy for this - humility of heart; and try to heal your spiritual ulcers with this medicine. Mother N. told you the truth that there would be no benefit from going to see your relatives, but the melancholy would increase even more. Approaching S-y, I felt boredom, all the same, due to the temptation of the enemy, and not due to a foreshadowing. When you incline yourself to humility, then there will be no difficulty in explaining yourself; but it’s not just that you need to explain yourself, but also to listen to what they tell you; even if it seems disgusting to you, don’t reject it. Be sure that if you had acted this way from the beginning, you would have been calm, but even now the time has not passed: and the death has now begun (Ps. 77:11). May the Lord help you, with your good will, to acquire humility, and you will be at peace. I remain a great sinner I.M. July 21, 1851 Most Reverend Mother R. in the Lord! You ask me, what if you have a problem with someone, and you need to pray, and although you ask for forgiveness, you are still unpeaceful towards that person, and in such cases would you like to destroy your evil heart and truly reconcile yourself? - This is all that is required to truly reconcile, and then peace will be established. Although you will ask for forgiveness, but only with your tongue, and in your heart with self-justification there is no peace. The best instruction for you from St. Abba Dorotheus’s teaching: “About reproaching yourself, and not your neighbor,” leaf 49 on the back, and about resentment, leaf 55. Read this more than once, so that it will be impressed on your heart and force it to humility. This also includes the fact that it is necessary to destroy your unpeace towards N. N., which I told you a lot about here, that you need to pay attention to your own dispensation, and not to someone else’s; We cannot and are not obliged to correct someone else’s, but for ours we will give an account to God. People take out dirty linen from their cells, and you allowed N.N. to bring dirty linen into your heart: did her slander take advantage of you? – It seems like she poured more oil on the fire; and having offended your neighbor, you will never be at peace. Pay attention to yourself and worry about your own weaknesses, and not about others. I.M. August 13, 1851. May the Lord fulfill your good desires, so that you can see your sins and not judge your neighbors; but this also requires attention and work on our part to restrain ourselves from judging others. It is very necessary to see your sins and inclinations and repent of them, and explain to whom you should; what does St. teach? John Climacus: “The wounds that appear will not succeed in the worst, but they will be healed”; and St. writes a lot more about this. Simeon the New Theologian; also teaches a lot in chapters, and especially in 121 and 122, St. Abba Dorotheos and Abba Cassian, and many others clearly teach about this. Read for yourself and put your mind to work, then you will find benefits; and if you hide your evil, you show your pride. I.M. September 25, 1851. To your question: should I again confess the sin that I have already confessed before? I answer: if I haven’t done it yet, then I don’t need to tell my confessor about it; but you need to feel your sinfulness; the memory of our sins leads us to humility. After confession, preparing to communicate the Holy Mysteries, are you confused, as if you haven’t confessed all your sins? Reject this evil enemy thought with faith and humility, and calm yourself with hope in God’s mercy. And that it seems that you are again sinning a lot and therefore approaching the Holy Mysteries unworthily is because you think that you are approaching without sin, but the enemy has the power to cause confusion; and when you approach with a feeling of your sinfulness and hope for the inexpressible mercy of God - for He took upon Himself the sins of the whole world - you will calm down. Do you think that just because you confessed, you became sinless? But embarrassment bothers you because you do not rely on God’s mercy, without which nothing of ours will save us. Also, the image of monasticism, be calm, is an image of repentance and humility. I.M. 1853. I thank you and Mother W. for congratulating me on receiving the royal favor. Although I do not see this dignity in myself, I reverently accept the sign of God’s mercy towards me. May God grant that it will serve me as a source of humility and the acquisition of God’s love, as a memory of His suffering, and not as a source of vanity. You describe your faults and see no hope of salvation in your deeds. We have bad hope for our deeds. Even if they exist, without love and humility we will not receive any benefit from them; and humility alone will greatly save us; You need to take care of this - to acquire it; and hope in the merits of our Savior and in His mercy, and just as He is merciful to us sinners, so we must try to be lenient towards our neighbors in their weaknesses, not to judge and forgive their debts, remembering how the Lord, having forgiven the debtor a darkness of talent, - but when this latter did not forgive his debtor 100 fines, he ordered him to be thrown into prison and collect the debt from him. R. and W.'s mothers are afraid of the Turks, British and French; There is nothing to be afraid of them, but one must be afraid of one’s sins and humble oneself. Our passions and their actions, sins, are our enemies; whoever fears sins will get rid of them. I.M. August 1, 1854. It’s in vain that you accepted my letter so much that it was as if I was writing my last letter to you. It wasn’t even on my mind, but should I have told you the truth or flattery? I wrote, trying to show your failures and to inspire you to compel yourself to do what you should - not in monasticism, but also in Christianity. When there is no love and humility, meekness and patience in us, then what will be the sign of Christianity in us, not to mention monasticism? How can we correct ourselves, if not by forcing ourselves to these virtues? How can you force it when there are no occasions to do so? You say, I can’t stand it, “and in some cases there are knives in the heart”; why is this? - Because you did not force yourself to love, patience and humility, but always preferred your will, that is why this passion multiplied in you. It is very possible to correct yourself when you subdue your will and mind, and accept every opposite case as sent from the hand of God for your correction, and suffer heart disease for this, i.e. reap the thorns that have grown on it due to your negligence; and not blame anyone who inflicts them on you. God Himself, who loves your salvation, sends them to you for healing. Look, after that the Angels would not say about you: “Babylon is whole, and is not healed” (Jeremiah 51:9). No matter how much you write about your weaknesses, and no matter how much I give you instructions, you will not take advantage of anything if you do not force yourself to do it with a strong will, asking for God’s help. Read from St. John Climacus in the 2nd degree, which shows us the narrow path leading to the Kingdom of Heaven. I wish you a peaceful and calm dispensation. Mnogohreshny I. M. 1854. Most venerable Mothers R. and U. in the Lord! I sincerely regret and regret the sad incident that happened to you - the fire of your cell, which happened during the painful situation of N.’s mother; May the Lord protect her from further evil consequences. Although there is someone who is the reason for this, I do not advise blaming them; leave this to the permission of God, according to His destinies unknown to us, and thank Him that although He visited your cell, He preserved the entire monastery. The Lord's punishment comes from love for His creation; for the Scripture says: “For the Lord loves him, punishes him, beats every son, and accepts him. Even if you are without punishment, you are not sons of sons, but adulterers” (Heb. 12:6, 8). And so accept this punishment of the Lord, sent to you out of love, crying out with the Prophet: “Your punishment will correct me in the end, and Your punishment will teach me” (Ps. 17:36). We sin a lot before God and do not see this, and involuntary sorrows lead us to the wisdom of recognizing our guilt in the fact that we do not endure voluntary sorrows complacently. Accept this sorrow with submission to the will of God, and do not be faint-hearted. He is able to send you spiritual consolation and sweeten your distressed hearts; He sees your sorrow and will not only support your strength, but will also give you a spiritual mind for wisdom, only resort to Him and do not be faint-hearted. We here take part in your grief in absentia, since even more so your mothers and sisters in the Lord take a lively part in you and try, to the best of their ability, to console you and calm you down; and God cares even more about your saddened hearts; trust in Him. I.M. March 4, 1855. That some sisters, out of dislike for you, reproach you: you can’t force everyone to praise us; and from reproach there is also the benefit that we recognize our weaknesses without being indifferent to them - that we do not bear them indifferently. They are not to blame for this: they only showed us our structure, what it is, so that they could try to heal it by self-reproach; - and this is by God’s vision. Most venerable Mother R. and Mother U, in the Lord! You are writing about purchasing N.’s late mother’s cell for yourself, and it couldn’t have been otherwise; you can’t be forgiven for missing out on it. Now you are starting a new life, both in your cell and in your external relationship to everyone. You knew nothing, nothing reached you, you were under the wing and protection of your late mother; We must someday learn and live ourselves. Ask God for guidance and help on this. Read your father’s books on how to bear each other’s burdens while living sociably; Let humility and love be your first guides. Remove disputes and words of justification from yourselves, have agreement, doing everything with each other’s advice, the younger one submitting to the older one, and the older one should act not in an authoritative manner, but according to the word of the Lord (Matthew 20:26): “Whoever wills to be in you, let him be your servant and the last of all.” When you do not each stubbornly form your own will and your own mind, then peace will be with you and the blessing of God will be with you. Obey the Mother Abbess, honor her and love her, and respect and love all sisters in Christ, considering yourself the worst, the last of all. Write firmly in your memory what instructions N.’s mother gave you, and try to follow them; In this way you will prove your love for her and honor her memory. Do not abandon church meetings, unless due to weakness, if someone does not always go to church, then they have support from the labors of their hands, and you, thank God, are provided for in this regard. I.M. September 24, 1855. I believe that you, the mothers of R. and U., received this letter from me when you were already at the place of your heroic deed. I consider it necessary to remind you not to be afraid of the temptations that God will please to send you to the knowledge and awareness of your weakness and to humility. I remember you saying that you were afraid of temptation; and without temptation, salvation is not accomplished: “An unskilled man is unskilled,” and “every good deed either precedes or follows temptation,” and without this, the deed cannot be firm. I gave you a small book to read to a newly admitted monk; You saw there that temptations are necessary, and when they overcome you, do not be embarrassed, even if you receive a thousand plagues a day; He who does not have temptations is deprived of spiritual gifts. Read from St. Isaac according to the alphabetical index about temptations and the endurance of sorrows, as well as in St. Barsanuphius, in Mark the Ascetic and others; Keep peace among yourself, humble yourself before everyone and have self-reproach. The Lord will help you preserve the accepted grace of God. I.M. November 12, 1855. Your letters; I received the messages sent on December 17 on the very feast of the Nativity of Christ; I thank you for congratulating me on this occasion, and I also congratulate you on celebrating this holiday and welcoming the new year; May the Lord bless us to spend this New Year in the good pleasure of God and, fulfilling His holy commandments and remembering our calling, try most of all to gain love for each other and for everyone, and humility, which strengthens both love itself and all the virtues; and without it, no virtue is favorable to God. Pray to Him, that He may give His help in all your affairs, for without Him we cannot do anything. Read spiritual books, from them learn what you should do, and, recognizing your weakness, humble yourself and do not condemn anyone, so that you will not be condemned. Put down your pride, consider yourself worse than everyone else. And how can one not have oneself like that? When we look at our past life, what good things have we acquired with all the conveniences for spiritual life? - Nothing at all! For this sake, let us humble ourselves and find the mercy of God. Your gratitude to your sisters for their love and affection for you is good; but even if it were contrary to this, then even then it would be necessary not to have a pledge hostile to them, according to the commandment of God, and equally in your monastery try to have a loving disposition towards everyone, even though someone has offended you; know that God allows you to come to your understanding and temptation. Do you accurately fulfill the vow of Christianity and monasticism, for it is said: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44); and from this you recognize your weaknesses and learn art; Without this temptation it is impossible to know oneself and to humble oneself. I.M. January 21, 1856. You describe the embarrassment you had over the firewood and the fact that your cell was being upset, and then you asked, R-ya’s mother, “Please understand what to do in this case, how not to have an internally bad opinion about them”? – Although you have been living in a monastery for quite some time, you have not yet experienced temptations. “Under the late mother, everything was under her care and responsibility, and through this they did not learn how to accept such temptations and through them cleanse their hearts of passions: pride, vanity, rage, anger and resentment. And now they can and often happen to you, with God’s permission, to the knowledge of your weaknesses, to humility, self-reproach and cleansing from passions. No matter who insults you, on purpose or in vain, all this is God's permission for your benefit. If you reproach yourself and look down on yourself, considering you guilty, although not of this, but of some other matter before God and your neighbors, then you can more easily bear insults; and if you reproach those who have offended, and even bear a grudge, then you will attract even more temptation from all sides, with the deprivation of peace and tranquility. How can you not have a bad opinion of them? – When you see your sins and failures, laziness and negligence, with which we anger God: then how dare you have a bad opinion about anyone? Read the 20th word of St. Isaac the Syrian and have this for your guidance and edification. Your opinion, Mother R., that they only received the mercy of God and were installed with the saints, whose incorruptible relics, and those who are given over to corruption, as if they did not receive the mercy of God and the forgiveness of their sins, is completely unfair. The saying of God: the earth is ecu, and you will go back to the earth (Genesis 3:19) is fulfilled on Adam and his sons, and at the future judgment the Lord will reward everyone according to his deeds and to the extent of repentance and humility. How many sinners we see in the scriptures who have repented and received forgiveness of sins, and we undoubtedly hope that they will receive God’s mercy at judgment! The Lord came to earth to save sinners, and His most pure blood washes away our sins when we believe and repent of our sins. And regarding the incorruptibility of bodies, there is the teaching of the Church about this; but I find it unnecessary to write to you, but I advise you not to enter into what you do not understand, and not to dogmatize, but to be more concerned about the salvation of your soul, and to learn about this and actually try to implement it. When we completely humble ourselves, we will learn a lot, for the sacraments are revealed to the humble. So, I wish you both to work out your salvation in peace and harmony, without heeding the shortcomings of others. I. M. February 18, 1856. R.S. The holy Apostle Paul teaches about the future resurrection: “There is another glory to the sun, and another glory to the moon, and another glory to the stars: for a star differs from a star in glory. Likewise the resurrection of the dead; it is sown into corruption, it is raised into incorruption; what is sown is not in honor, but is raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41–43). From this we can judge both incorruptible bodies and those that are surrendered; many will be saved, but not equally. Have peace and harmony among yourself and do not get involved in matters that do not concern you. Remember how you lived under N.’s mother; nothing reached you, and this was a golden time for you; but you did not know how to use it, so that, having a struggle with passions, you could overthrow them. You write about your bodily infirmities and about failure to correct fasting, bowing and prayers - and we cannot excuse ourselves for this, but we must repent before God and have humility before everyone. You, mother U., are afraid of losing your sight. This is not our will; surrender to the will of God, He builds everything for the good and seeks the salvation of our souls. Try to maintain your structure, recognizing your weakness and humbling yourself in everything and before everyone; this is our main path leading to salvation. Walking the path of humility will lead you straight to heaven, but where does the path of self-justification and pride lead? - Everyone knows. In your letter you see all the reproach of others, but you remember your own righteousness, and even the past with self-justification, and blaming others; and I, as before, wrote to you a lot, and now I write the same: that you have lost a lot in relation to the correction of your morality, living with your late mother, finding someone else to blame, and justifying yourself. Do I stand for her? “Not at all,” but I protect you, taking you out of the hands of the enemy who is trying to feed resentment in your hearts. Where do we put the fatherly words that “he who wants to be saved must reproach himself for everything and consider himself inferior to all creation and worse than everyone else”? - You need to strive in this and acquire this treasure, and read the books of your fathers and apply them more to yourself; and on occasion, remind yourself and blame yourself for impatience; and when we look at ourselves, we will truly find that we have done nothing good, and truly we must consider ourselves worse than everyone else; and only by doing this will we gain the mercy of God, for He looks upon the humble. I.M. October 17, 1856. You write to me about your disorder and about some sorrows, for which you blame others, condemn and despise them. Who made you judges over them? – Moreover, it is forbidden to judge and condemn anyone; and we are commanded to forgive those who offend us, when we ourselves want to receive forgiveness of our sins from God; and if we do not forgive, then we ourselves will not receive forgiveness from God. Do you believe this teaching of the Savior? When you believe, you must be moved to do it. You are looking for salvation, then test from the writings of our fathers what saves us and what destroys us. How will you correct yourself when no one shows you, touching the string of your pride with reproach or neglect? And God sends this, but we do not accept this, but reject and withdraw from people, blame them, hate them and are deprived of the correction of our morality, and according to the word of St. Dorothea: “We suffer for the dog”: whoever throws a stone at a dog, it leaves the thrower and gnaws the stone, and so we do. God will send a man to insult us, but we leave God and fight with man. Examine yourself and find this in yourself, and try to do good deeds of humility, love and patience, leading us into eternal life. I often repeat this to you, but what do we need more for salvation than self-reproach and humility? If I join you in blaming those whom you consider insulting you, then I will be a flatterer and deliver you into the hands of the enemy; and not agreeing with you and advising you to blame yourself, I am snatching you from the hands of the enemy and from his snares; and when you accept my advice, you will benefit; but if you do not accept it, let it be done to your will; I don't torture. Are you afraid of sorrows and accept comments in dream visions? You are doing this in vain; sorrows, whatever they may be, are all allowed by God for our benefit; and so, when we do not bear voluntary sorrows from our neighbors, which we can comfortably bear - for this is in our will - and benefit from them spiritually - but we deny this from ourselves in every possible way, trying to justify ourselves, and are deprived of the benefit: then God already allows involuntary sorrows, so as not to remain completely fruitless. Do you understand that in order to avert involuntary sorrows, we must not reject voluntary sorrows, which purify our inner structure. Offering nightly prayers to the Lord is not very bad, but when they are coupled with humility and love for others, and not with malice; and when prayer is not associated with these virtues, then it is not prayer, but a mask of prayer, according to the word of St. Macarius of Egypt. No matter how much you have not gone through this, it is difficult for you to start this business; I do not forbid you to pray, just do not be proud of it like the Pharisee, but imitate the prayer of the publican; for God accepts the prayers of the humble and hears their supplications (Ps. 130:18). I.M. November 24, 1856. R.S. After writing this letter, I also received your letter, mother R.; you write that you do not have self-reproach, humility, patience and other things. Think about it, what are you missing out on through this? - Peace and tranquility! That's why we have books and teachers; but if there were no cases, we would not learn anything. But instead of all this, you have pride, the fruits of which are: blasphemy against God and doubt about the trinity of the Lord. Do you really not believe the Gospel, where the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is so clearly stated? The Lord Jesus Christ Himself calls God His Father (Matthew 11:25, 26, 27; Mark 8:38; Luke 10:21, 22; John 1:14; 5:17–45); and the Father testifies of the Son at baptism: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:17), and the Lord, sending disciples to preach, commanded: baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19); Are these certificates enough? – But in order to comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity, this is impossible not only for the human mind, but also for the Angelic one. “A proud mind tests mysteries,” writes St. Climacus; Beware of entering into the sacraments, but humble yourself. You write about witchcraft and are afraid of it; but what power does the devil have over people when he did not even dare to enter pigs without command? But sinful living and pride allow the enemy to act. What kind of false wisdom do you have about one sister, that when she comes to you and you hear her voice, you involuntarily pierce your entire insides, and you think that she is coming to you with bad intentions; But don’t you see that this comes from your dispensation, which has a guarantee of rancor towards her? Know what the enemy is instilling in you in order to increase it even more. You describe some cases that cause you grief, such as: the word you said about firewood was taken by N.’s mother as suspicious, causing you grief; but can we judge the dispensations of others, and to whom does not error of opinion occur? She did a bad thing, she took your words personally; and when your conscience is peaceful, its suspicion could not harm you, but your own dispensation showed you your weakness, that you accepted this with an unpeaceful spirit and remained with her with that pledge, contrary to the Lord’s commandment about love. You should reproach yourself, according to the teachings of the holy fathers, and you would be peaceful; Otherwise, what is the use of carrying the poison of resentment in your heart like a stuck nail? I am not inclining you to become acquainted with her, but I am writing in your defense from the enemy who is inspiring this in you. My opinion is to explain to her with love about her false suspicion, and to eradicate all roughness from her heart. You write that you live carelessly; I suppose you consider it negligence to fail to fast, pray, and so on. This is fair, and therefore we must endure all reproaches, annoyances and humiliations for our negligence; but if you followed all the rules and did not have love, according to the apostolic word you would be: like a clanging cymbal, or a clanging cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1). That is why we need opportunities to understand our structure; - God sends them; there is no need to reject it. With this I am sending the book of Abba Dorotheus; read it and use it spiritually. I. M. February 18, 1857. You write that it is with what sorrow that your cells are given to you: and as if this is only in your monastery? But no, on the contrary, it is everywhere, that some calm down, but others do not find it. This already exists by order of God’s providence and according to the dispensation of each; God calms some, and tests others and allows them to grieve; I also advise you: do not blame anyone, but see God’s providence here, sending you this sorrow; it is impossible to find those who could please us in everything - they are not Angels; but one must recognize one’s own weakness from their weaknesses; if he is rude, then this will show us our weakness, that we cannot bear it, but seek perfection from them; We ourselves do not have anything good, and, sinning before God, we need to forgive our sins - we ourselves must leave them to our neighbors: “Leave it, and it will be forgiven for you.” And from the abbess there was a test not without the providence of God; If you have contentment in everything, but are poor in monastic affairs, then you need to make up for them with something; So the Lord allows us to endure sorrow. You, living with N.’s mother, had no concern for her head about this; you grieved, but not out of reason, but now you have been allowed to experience significant sorrow for your benefit; be wise, have peace among yourself, and when talking about those who insult you, do not blame anyone, but your weak dispensation; then the same sorrows will be easier for you and will soon pass; and when you grumble and blame others, your sorrows will become aggravated. I.M. April 2, 1857. You are writing about the mother treasurer’s relationship with you. You must keep yourself in a respectful position and not ingratiate yourself with anything; and if there are any sorrows, then this is the necessity of our path, as the fathers teach us. The dream you saw, mother R., when it brings confusion, it is clearly from the enemy; and if you take it as a warning in order to live according to God and humbly, then you must do so. It is unknown about the fate of your monastery, whether the leadership will remain or there will be a new one; but you, being small and private people, will not get to you yet; Of course, everyone needs to care about the common benefit of the monastery. – You, mother U., write about the weakness of your vision, you are afraid that you might go completely blind; may the will of the Lord be with you, and do not be embarrassed; on the advice of the doctor, you can open the fountain on the other hand, trusting in God’s help. When you cannot read yourself, ask your sister to read aloud for your common benefit, and most of all, be concerned about correcting your heart according to the will of God: and where you see your shortcomings, then replace them with self-reproach and humility, and accept reproaches as a cure for our spiritual ailments. I.M. March 18, 1858. It’s no sin for U.’s mother to get treatment, she’s wasting money in vain, she won’t survive for everyone, but they’ll stay. If she feels relief, then let her get treatment. Health, a gift from God, is more valuable than money; and if she does not want to be treated, let her be free. We don’t force her, we just need to endure and not be overbearing, and not be cowardly in illness; and that she will not be treated is not a virtue, but a measure of faith; and when he is faint-hearted, then what kind of faith is there? - It’s just disbelief. It seems to her that they will sneer at her for being treated: this is just an empty opinion; who needs to look at her? If she had been healthy and treated, they might have matured; It’s better to be treated, but in the hope of God’s help. He is strong enough to make a doctor wise, and to give medicine strength to heal. You write, Mother R., about your weakness, your struggle with it, and your passion. – You have never had such a strong struggle before and did not understand it, and thus you were proud of your opinion, but you must go through this in order to recognize your weakness and humble yourself; and you see your defeat, you are embarrassed, and not humble. When you humble yourself and repent of this, it weakens; and if you are embarrassed, then you bring up more abuse on yourself. Read in the fatherly books about this passion: in St. John Climacus degree 15, at St. Cassian, in the 4th part of the Philokalia, there is a message about this thought to Leontin the Abbot and Nile of Sora about this same thought, and try to do as they teach, and the Lord will have mercy on you. You also write about your non-corrections, but we and no one can boast of correction; and in such our poverty we must repent and humble ourselves in order to be worthy to receive God’s mercy. You write that you do not get involved in monastic affairs, but I would advise you not to accept those who bring monastic rubbish to your cell, as I personally advised you. Say: “Lord, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.” Read spiritual books and become aware of your weakness. I.M. January 6, 1859 Thank God that they returned safely to their monastery, having spent quite a bit of time with their relatives; it is necessary to live in the place of one’s deed and bear the spiritual fruits of peace, love, meekness, long-suffering and humility, with which God is pleased. They write in the Fatherland: “A bird flies from every place to its nest, and a monk to his cell; let this one produce fruit, and this one bear spiritual fruit.” So, you need to thank God, who called you to the monastery and delivered you from the vanity of the world. Read fatherly books, pray to God and cleanse your hearts from the passions and excuses of the enemy. We have an irreconcilable battle with invisible enemies. Treat your cellmates lovingly and humbly, do not be strict about everything; remember that you cannot do without them; and if they sin in any way, we must forgive, for we ourselves need to receive forgiveness of sins; and when we do not release it to our neighbors, we ourselves will not receive it from God (Matthew 6:14). Are you asking me to tell you what a schema monk means, and what more duties, feats and fasting a schema monk should have against a simple monk? There are three degrees of monasticism: ryassophore, mantle and schema; the first - beginners, the second - average, and the third - perfect. What does monasticism mean? The fulfillment of Christianity, which consists in fulfilling the commandments of God, is also the love for God: if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (John 14:23), said the Lord; and by doing the commandments a person is cleansed of passions, achieves dispassion and ascends to spiritual contemplation; - and all this must be dissolved by humility, because humility crushes all the enemy’s snares; While fulfilling the commandments, the fire of temptation from people and enemies must also pass, and without temptation we do not know ourselves and cannot humble ourselves and receive spiritual understanding. Regarding exploits, fasting and prayers, we must force ourselves to do all this, according to our strength, but not submit to laziness and, under the guise of weakness, not excuse ourselves; By abandoning the rules of abstinence and prayer, passions enter into us and act more strongly: then in doing the commandments both our will and our strength become exhausted. If we humble ourselves about our shortcomings and weaknesses, and become sick in our hearts, then this too will be imputed instead of doing; Yes, through our weakness, pride is involuntarily overthrown - the culprit of all our evils; but with pride, both rules and fasts are unpleasant to God. Read the books of your fathers with humility and you will receive the enlightenment of your mind if you try to do as best you can and look down on yourself in everything, and not on your neighbors. I wish you peace, health and salvation, great sinner I.M. August 20, 1860. Most Reverend Mother and Sister M. and Sister I.! From your letter, according to the strength of my weak mind, I perceive your weaknesses, one physical, and the other spiritual; although he is filled with them in himself; but nevertheless, I sincerely sympathize with you, sisters, and truly, as for myself, I wish you to be in good spirits. The first in her bodily infirmities, as if sent involuntarily by God for the healing of the soul, is to be strengthened by the hope of the unexplored and abundant mercy of God, that this was sent out of love and to restrain many passions, which without this act would have angered the Lord: and now, although involuntarily free, although not at all; but only patience and gratitude are required, and with these, by the goodness of God, we will be worthy of eternal life of bliss. And the second, by the will of the passions of the convert, strongly sympathize with this and bring repentance to the One who takes the erring sheep into the frame, who is always ready to receive us who turn, and not at all rely on ourselves or on our own reason, but be guarded and obey the most experienced, and, perhaps, many of these temptations will lead; and casting aside all unbelief, and mentally and sensually presenting oneself before everyone, - may the Lord, having looked upon humility and free consciousness, send His help: and then victory over the enemy will appear; as if I, the most feeble-minded and the last one, advised your love; If they had wanted to listen, the Lord would have sent healing. You express your regret for her, but this is a visible passion: I think - then your regret would be true when you look at the end, and not only at the future, but also at the present, i.e. - by refraining from this and suffering, through this, on both sides, a short-term illness - both would receive healing and peace of mind. Imagine patients who, instead of healing medicines, would take harmful ones only because they seem tasty to them, and they are bitter; who wouldn't consider them stupid or at least half-smart? The example is very clear; but there it is about the body, and here it is even more important - it concerns the soul; the need to pray and call on others to pray, but to force oneself and endure illness. What the Lord has given to my feeble-mindedness, he has written; and put it in your ears, and test it with reasoning, and strive, with the help of God, to do the work. I.M. July 8, 1829. Most Honorable 55 about the Lord T. U-na! In response to your question about commemoration in our monastery, I inform you that the benefactors and contributors of the monastery are commemorated daily at the proskomedia, and the commemorations given by them are read. There is also a synodik that has been established for a long time. Likewise in the monastery, during the reading of the ever-present, never-ending psalter, except for Saturdays and weeks, on which days there is service there, and on it both health and repose are also remembered; however, it is not necessary to set a price, exactly how much to pay for each name, but what anyone can, according to his strength. As for eternal remembrance, I cannot assure you of this: whether the monastery will exist forever: all things are subject to change, which we clearly see in many monasteries and cities that flourished in ancient times, but are now only recognizable in ruins; The only thing you can be sure of is that any charity or donation done to the monastery will be an eternal monument before God; Even if there were some changes in the world, God’s memory endures forever. I have written the truth to you, and you should be disposed in this as God instructs you. Many-sinful Hierosch. L. and the many-sinful I.M. October 2, 1836. Most Reverend T. U-na of the Lord! We sincerely rejoice that Mother Abbess lovingly accepted you into the monastery and into her patronage, and that you liked the monastery, and Mother V. united with you in spirit. All this is not the work of our mind, but of God’s providence, which cares about your salvation; Remember how overcome you were with fear while traveling to I-u, and how many bewilderments there were: how to free yourself from there and find a spiritually nurturing life, and how to destroy all this obstacle? Was it not through the miraculous providence of God that something could not even have occurred to us? Mother Abbess, in the heat of anger, rejected you then - it was regrettable for you and your relatives. If you were still there, tell me, could you be at peace? Agree that no; and I wouldn’t soon find a way to free myself. Bring thanks to the most merciful Lord, beginning to lay the beginning of the path you desire with spiritual nourishment; The Lord is so merciful that he has given you this too; Now it is your will to live this way, although sometimes a little coercion is required in the revelation and cutting off of your will and mind, but it brings lasting peace. It is impossible to be without war, but for it there is a crown, and we, even before the desire for the crown, need to take care of the repression of passions. God consoled you and again brought you to live with X, and V.G. was disposed towards both of you; even though something happens from the malicious enemy to embarrassment and indignation, try not to abolish it with self-reproach and humility, and God will look at you and abolish the machinations of the enemy. It is not at all surprising that you felt sorrow and regret about V-e, Mother Abbess and the sisters: this is a network of the enemy that disturbs your peace of mind; but it was allowed to you because you already thought of having peace of mind; when you disagree with a thought, you will calm down; and judging by nature, when you transplant a tree from one place to another, it hurts until it takes root and is accepted; so it is in your situation; but it will pass. D. D-na writes that she does not find peace for herself there, but wants to go out despite the fact that the abbot’s anger towards her has been tamed, but on the contrary shows favor and affection; but her spirit is restless. Her last letter to us was dated September 8 from N.N., who sells in a shop, who is also planning to leave the world and retire to B-y with her; Due to the cramped conditions of the monastery, we cannot even advise you; thank God, it’s good there too. Enough written; May the Lord help you to maintain a peaceful dispensation with yourself and with your sisters. We entrust you to His all-powerful protection. Hierosch. L. and I.M. I congratulate you on celebrating the highly solemn holiday of the Nativity of Christ; We wish you to receive the peace and goodwill sent down by the coming of Christ; and also Happy New Year. May your soul be renewed by the grace of the omnipotent God and receive strength to fulfill His holy commandments. If you received any benefit to your soul while in our monastery, attribute this to God, who, according to your faith, gave it to you, and not to me, for I am nothing; the weapon with which another acts cannot be worthy of praise; but the one who acts. Because you cared about your sister more than about yourself and sacrificed your time to her, the Lord will not deprive you of your reward; but what was lacking in the conversation, God will reveal to your mind - understand and use, or you will learn from reading books. What happened to you should teach you to always be careful and not rely on yourself, but to recognize your weakness and humble yourself. “The fox pretends to be asleep, and the enemy is chaste; Let that one catch a chicken, and let this one destroy his soul,” writes St. Climacus. For reproaching you for not accepting sisters into your cell or for not treating them kindly, you should not be offended much. Test yourself: when you have no hatred or malice towards them, but for God’s sake alone you move away from them, then be peaceful. However, just as constant distraction and frequent conversation harms the soul, so complete solitude and silence are not useful for those suffering from spiritual passions: opinion, rage and deceit; read about this from St. Climacus. May the Lord give you understanding about everything, to whose protection I entrust you and ask His blessing on you. I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. Most venerable sister F. Kh-na in the Lord! I received your writing from an unknown date, by which you notify my badness about the completion of the task entrusted to you, which, as you write, brought you peace and consolation. God bless! This made me happy; I earnestly wish you to continue to work for your salvation with all attention and unstinting zeal, remembering that everything around us is fleeting; nevertheless, anything that flatters any of our passions inevitably entails repentance, and often even the very destruction of our poor soul. There, in heaven, is our fatherland, there let all our thoughts strive towards this one goal, as a place of rest: we must go, leaving behind us everything that comes our way, the path leading to our all-merciful and all-generous Lord Jesus Christ and eternal bliss, by whose grace may you be preserved from the all-evil serpent, gaping with its weak rage at those who want to be saved; and may He enlighten your spiritual eyes to do every good deed in the most holy name of the Lord Jesus. Together, my dear sisters F., X. and T., live among yourself in peace, love and holy union, honor each other with respect, and, being strong in the Lord, you will be like a solid city. Moreover, I hope that you, united by like-mindedness, will be worthy of the Savior’s saying: “Where there are two or three gathered in My name, I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Remember me, a sinner and saddened one, in your God-pleasing prayers. I entrust you in holy thought to our Lord Jesus Christ and Guardian Angel during the vigil. We congratulate you on the day of your Angel, may your life be reliably, and not desperate, according to your name; hope is contrary to despair; you are already writing that you are giving in to despair; what? As if we would leave you. ABOUT! How many intrigues of the enemy, leading to confusion! Who demands merit from you? If the Lord calms you down, then we will already be rewarded, even if we have endured great labor. Leaving you is not in our minds and has never happened, unless you decide to leave you yourself. Putting aside your false and empty fears, get used to the monastery, get down to the work of your salvation, read the books that your mother assigns to you; try to force yourself to do it and, seeing your shortcomings, recognize your weaknesses and humble yourself in your heart; do not speak humbly, but have it in your heart, then when you happen to accept an insult from someone, in the choir or in your cell, you will conveniently bear it, considering yourself the worst of all; When you are struggling, look at yourself, repent and make a start towards correction; it is impossible to be without fighting; if it were not there, there would be even more pride; and I wouldn’t have learned anything; in all perplexities and inclinations, have a revelation to Yu’s mother and accept her advice and instructions with faith; Beware of becoming rigid when the thought forces you to do so out of fear or shame. All negative cases are allowed to us carefully by God, so that we can understand ourselves and correct ourselves. Read the little book that I gave you - the teaching to the newly tonsured nun, and more on the 3rd page: “And when there are various temptations” and so on, on the 30, 44, 51, 66th page. We rejoice that the Lord brought you and T. Well, to a peaceful abode; try to justify your life before God and bring thanks to God in deed. May the peace of God rest upon you, and we send you our unworthy blessing. Do not be afraid of insurance, protecting yourself and affirming yourself with faith that without God’s permission nothing can happen. Have as your weapon the cross of the Lord and the prayer, read: “May God rise again”; He is strong to thwart all the machinations of the enemy. Hierosch. L. and I.M. September 17, 1838. From F. Kh-na’s letter I see that you, having received my letter, although not written by my hand, but signed by me, not only did not receive any consolation, but were also embarrassed. Where does this come from: from the outside or from the inside? It seems from the inside, i.e. from yourself. Do you remember what was mentioned in my letter about faith? - And take a closer look at yourself. Wasn’t it enough for you that I sent you in this letter, although my unworthy blessing and consolation in all the cowardly and impatient incidents you described, which you should have come to calm; not receiving this, it is obvious what they suffered from; and that I did not have time to write to you at length and explain in detail the actions of your passions, F. Kh-na will assure you of that. Forgetting the back, let us reach for the front; and let us be warmed by God’s providence for us, through battles and allowances, teaching us and leading us to the knowledge of our weakness, and from it to humility. When various passions fight you, it is a sign that you are in the army of Christ: even if you receive ulcers and wounds, do not become exhausted and do not leave the ranks of the army, but, having bound the wounds, strike the enemy, the Lord is ready to help you; remember that the weapon that is strong against the enemy is humility! When we do not use it, we are defeated, and having it in our mental hands, we not only defeat the enemy, but also completely stab him. In any case, reproach yourself, and not your neighbor, and then you will conveniently acquire this weapon. The words are short, but useful for every need. May the God of peace and love help you to comprehend true feelings, to peace and spiritual complacency, and may he protect you and cover you from all the snares and slander of the enemy, and may he forgive you all your sins, voluntary and involuntary; and through the prayers of our memorable fathers, may the peace of God rest upon you; We remain forever thirsty for your salvation and peace for you, unworthy pilgrims, many-sinful Hierosch. L. and I.M. If through our feeble-minded lines you have found benefit for yourself, then bring thanks to the Lord for this, who according to your faith has given us the word, and adhere to what is written there that is useful. Although the thought of regret about your places, or about V.L. comes to you, imagine that you have surrendered to the will of God, and He has arranged for you to settle in this monastery, and therefore there will be benefit for your soul; but to not have any sorrow and suddenly gain peace of mind is by no means an impossible thing; when we conquer all passions, destroy pride and acquire humility, then we will find peace, for the Lord also commanded us to learn from Him meekness and humility, in order to find peace (Matthew 11:29). When you treat your mother and do not follow your mind and will, you will more easily achieve your true goal. I sincerely regret for you that you are wounded by grief over the incident that happened to you, and although you write that “I rely on God,” you are little comforted. This is excusable for you, you are touched by your mother’s grief, as if caused by you: bewilderment and disorder, and also pride - “what will people say about me and about my inconstancy”? In all this, strengthen yourself by the fact that God’s providence is working out the best for you. Remember the priest’s words that this (providence) creates spiritual benefit for us through nasty things. Living in the monastery, you did not feel spiritual edification and for this you were also in sorrow and bewilderment, and you wanted to find such a refuge where your spiritual ship could be preserved from the excitement of passionate battles and always receive firmness of spirit, and from that calmly spend your life and strive to please God. The Lord, considering your desire, arranged, through a confluence of terrible events, to leave you that monastery; and you have the feeling that the memory of going there frightens you. Do not test how and through whom such a test came to you. God is our Provider, and people are His instruments. I.M. July 19, 1838. I am heartily glad that I have the opportunity to write to you; I inform you that our dear Father L. on the 26th of this month went to Father G. to stay for a month, and now we are orphaned and bored. We heard that you are at your parent’s house and are at a loss about your definition: she doesn’t allow you in S-no, but in V. L-i or V-y. I don’t know how your feelings are consistent with this, but you have already experienced the plight of self-government and must conform to this for the future. This temptation, it is true, came to you because of your double-mindedness, that you had hesitation about this. We do not force you, but we submit you to the will of God, and you submit to it. How can we find out the will of God? Pray to the Lord with faith: may He tell you where He pleases to place you. Pray like this up to three times, and your heart bows much more and you feel peace and tranquility, ask there, and ask God for this, may he make a way for you there, and God will announce it to your mother. I.M. June 29, 1838. Our life here is all about warfare, and spiritual warfare, invisible: the strongest weapon for it is humility; No matter what we do or undertake to achieve our peace of mind, we will not find it without humility. You write that although now you are peaceful outwardly, you cannot boast about it inwardly; You put someone else’s cell as the reason for this, and not yourself; but if we take a closer look, we will find ourselves guilty; We write not justifying G. E-nu and those living with her, but according to the visible dispensation. Thank God that you have a mother, you must tell her everything about what you feel, from whom and what you are offended by: she, seeing on the spot, can better understand these matters; Perhaps, and deliberately, the enemy makes it unnecessary for you to talk about every little thing to your mother and reveal your sins in detail, in order to thereby confuse them, and by revealing only one surface, to hide the real darkness of them and avoid proper reproof and admonition. Do not listen to this demon, but speak everything in order to expose his deceit and free yourself from his snares; from this humility is acquired; read from St. Abba Dorotheus “Don’t form your own mind about the hedgehog”; it says: “Do not remain silent, but speak, but inform everyone and consult in everything,” and St. Simeon the New Theologian chapter 122 commands: “Confess every thought every day”; read this whole book; Although I read it, it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. There is no need to serve prayer services every year; you yourself serve God every day with a grateful heart. When relatives themselves volunteer to gather for the cell, how can one not ask them to do this; Apparently, the Lord told them to arrange things for you to bring peace. We wish peace to settle in your abode! Hierosch. L. and I.M. May 23, 1839. Most Reverend F. Kh-na of the Lord! It saddens us very much that you are still in sorrows and unrest, and we don’t know at all what word to give you to console you; they wrote enough in previous letters and offered you means to pacify yourself, but they do not work; We place all the blame on ourselves that we are the cause of your sorrows, having given advice and the opportunity to move you from V-y; but when you consider what end this is designed for, you see a good intention: we saw your sorrow there, your mental disorder; the lack of a person to support and your good desire to live in obedience and revelation forced us to help you get out of there, however, we did not promise you bliss, but said that sorrows are inevitable in every place, through which it is appropriate for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and advised us to pray to God and surrender to His will. Compare your life now with your life there and draw the result; when there is more salvation here, then we must endure sorrows, placing the blame on ourselves, for without our guilt sorrows burden us less; but within us lie passions that disturb us, causing sorrow; and if you find something better there and regret it, then follow your reason and look for a means to return; we will not bind your autocracy. We lamented a lot about your sorrowful events; the enemy does not cease to plot his machinations for destruction, and we, weaklings, do not have strong weapons against him - self-reproach, humility and patience; but on the contrary, there are justifications on both sides, which is why each other’s hardships cannot be tolerated; why not only is there no compulsion to follow the commandments of Christ, but also no readiness to commit these crimes; For this reason, we are deprived of the much-desired gift of God - peace, and we are increasingly in confusion. Hierosch. L. and I.M. December 16, 1839. In the evening there will be mourning, but in the morning there will be joy! (Ps. 29:6). You should never relax in temptations and be embarrassed by them, and the best way to get rid of them is to resort to self-reproach and humility and find guilt in yourself, and not in others, which you have now experienced on yourself, having received permission by pacifying the battle. Your letter, received by us through N.N., confirmed this to us. Your mother writes to us that she wants to calm you down, wants you to move to S., where she will build a cell for you; asks us, having written to you about this, to notify her, then she will send horses for you, so that you can live the winter in other people’s cells, and build your own in the spring; which she wrote to you about, and it’s true that you already received it. We don't know how it affected you. The mother, as a child-loving mother, cares about your external peace, but you must consider yourself and look for spiritual benefit, and are you ready to stay in S. - to remain in moderation, or move to S. in order to be in pleasure and carelessness? It seems that you have partly tested yourself by being in two monasteries; you can compare the lives of both; We, for our part, cannot tell you decisively, but we submit it to your will, so that your free election will serve as your confirmation in the place where you choose. Our opinion is when you have faith in Yu’s mother. and you feel spiritual benefit, then it is more convenient for you to stay, but if you hesitate and are in danger of impoverishment of faith, then look - and manage it yourself, but do not regret it later. - Don’t hesitate to notify us about this. Write to your mother yourself, according to your own feelings, about your disposition: whether to agree to her proposal or stay in S-e; do not refer to our blessing: we do not take away autocracy, and notify us that you will write to her. Hierosch. L. and I.M. May 19, 1840 On the 4th of June, one mail received two letters from you dated May 22 and 29; in the first you agree to move from S, and in the latter, completely opposite to this, you affirm to remain in S. We do not force you to do either one thing or another, but let your feelings choose, surrendering to the will of God; and when after the first election you had hesitation, and after another you were at peace, then it is clear that it is God’s will to live in that place. Although later, no wonder, repentance will be born again, but you consider this from the opposite. We do not know the future, but we see from everything that it would not be useful to make another transition. You have already been tempted; you won’t suddenly find peace there, but perhaps you won’t find it at all. God is strong here, too, to grant you, if it is for your benefit, peace; We only need patience; you already feel some joy living with sister E.; If your sister also comes to you, then it will be easier for you in terms of content and occupation, just try to see yourself as worse than the other; and so bear each other’s burdens. Do everything by common consent; do not get the better of each other; treat O.’s mother when her health allows; She will surely not refuse to advise you in the necessary cases. Hierosch. L. and I.M. July 8, 1840. Venerable F. X-na in the Lord! May the Lord establish your thought on the solid rock of faith and on the reliable anchor of the cross of Christ, not to be shaken by the weight of your stay. You had an offer to move with T. U-oh, and the second, perhaps, is the secret title of abbess for you back to your previous place, but we see that you feel benefit in your current place, and then you need to appreciate it and thank God, who called you for spiritual benefit to this monastery. The three of you will be happier and calmer; try to be unanimous and humble yourself before each other, and try to be peaceful with your mistresses; bear their infirmities; Maybe God will send you to have your own cell. Handing you over to the protection of God, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, my sinful Hierosch. L. and I.M. June 8, 1840. You wanted, T. U-na, to overdo it with something that was not at all necessary; She herself would be able to have such a robe, but not in accordance with our intention according to the vow, and temptation to neighbors may arise from this: if you had too much, then everything would be more respectful, otherwise you will need it; wanted to deceive us - your zeal was combined with pride together - and it did not bear fruit. May the Lord forgive you for this transgression, be more careful and frank in the future, do not follow your will. Most Reverend T. U-na and F. Kh-na in the Lord! We barely have time to respond to many of your different letters with one letter together. We sincerely sympathize with you and other sisters about the deprivation of your spiritual mother and mentor, but it was the will of God to call her to rest from this painful life here; for you and others, perhaps, as punishment for infertility and inability to use her instructions; however, He is able to comfort you and send you help if you are worthy of it. You write about V.’s mother that you want to treat her, but you don’t know how to proceed. We advise you not to suddenly ask her to accept you under her protection and care, as Yu’s mother did; for she certainly will not agree to this; but you have this thought - that you feel this way, and ask her with faith, like a mother, and as if you were asking for simple advice - how, do you remember, did F. Kh-na? When you do this, then the Lord is able to win her heart towards you and give her a word for your benefit, thereby avoiding an arbitrary life and the charms of the enemy; In due course, during a personal meeting, she and I will talk about this. Although we find the inconveniences you described regarding cohabitation with G. D. to be respectful, we cannot decisively say “break up.” It is necessary to find a blessed visible reason for this, and so as not to give others temptation by your unworldliness; and although they disperse, they must be peaceful; You can consult with Mother V. about this, and then generally, amicably, without hostility, with the blessing of Mother Abbess, part. Hierosch. L. and I.M. October 12, 1840. Various distractions have previously prevented everyone from responding to letters, and now, having started to write, I don’t know if I can finish: one thing or another gets in the way. We now also advise you to go to V.’s mother, to open yourself up and take advice as from your mother; have this in your heart, but don’t force her to do it yet; She, out of humility, finds herself unworthy of this and is afraid to take on such a heavy burden, seeing how much her sister has suffered. However, over time, it may work out, and when your faith blooms; and without it nothing will be of any use. It is necessary that Mother Abbess should know about this and have her blessing on this, in this we are partly tempted. “We see how much confusion there is everywhere.” You try, as much as possible, to pacify yourself in your present place and not to be shaken by any opposition, and try to bear each other’s burdens, always reproach and despise yourself, and not your neighbor. Hierosch. L. and I.M. December 7, 1840. Reverend T. U-na and F. Kh-na in the Lord! It is unfortunate for us to hear about you grieving for the lack of your cell and a real peaceful refuge, for we accept participation in you; but what should we do and how can we help? We have asked the abbess more than once for you in order to give you the opportunity to buy a cell, at least some kind, there is no need to worry about space. She writes that she herself was exhausted looking at you, but she could not, due to the large number of sisters; you need to be patient; Perhaps the Lord will send a good refuge, and we regret even more about your dispensation, that you grumble against the abbess, that she does not suit you, because she has those you need most: - if you do not repent, then for this alone you will accept punishment from God; God tolerates all human sins, and does not leave grumbling unpunished. They offered you a cell, but it seemed cramped for you, which is why they didn’t even talk to you about Yu-oh, which is also not more spacious, but it would be better to take a cramped one, at least there would be a corner and a place where you could build it in the summer. Now you, T. Uh-oh, out of grief you write: I have to involuntarily turn my tracks to V., - and above you express a desire to die in S-e; but you say all this twice and ask that it not be according to your will. We are at a loss what to say to you about this - when were you in the prejudice that they were driving you out, only they did not speak with your tongue? “If you had thought the opposite of this and reproached yourself as you should, you would have found peace; and in such thoughts we will never find it anywhere. How can we give you advice to resolutely remain in S. if you remain in your current dispensation, and on the other hand, in oppression? Again, we cannot muster the courage to give advice and move to V., so that later we would not be guilty of your sorrows when you do not find peace. When we seek peace, it flees from us, but if we voluntarily surrender ourselves to any sorrow, then we invisibly find peace; We do not leave it to your will to make the transition, but we leave it to your will to choose and endure the sorrowful path. When you choose the latter, repent of your grumbling and humble yourself under His strong hand, then we advise you to stay in S-e and await the visit of God - when His will will calm you down; and if you are looking for peace and hope to find it in V. (for which we cannot guarantee), then take a means to the transition. F. X-not to follow with you or remain in the same position, as said above, we leave it to her will. Hierosch. L. and I.M. January 5, 1841. Honorable T. U-na in the Lord! God sees how we desire your salvation, and with it the peace here; but our strength does not achieve this. God cares and provides for us more than we ourselves; He arranges our salvation, but does not want us to look for it in this joy, but in sorrow, in cramped conditions and in illness. Did our fathers and mothers enter the Kingdom of Heaven with weakness? Didn’t they acquire it in a difficult and regrettable way? They grieved, but did not feel cold or faint-hearted, and this served them as a consolation in the most severe sorrows of soul and body, through enduring which and complete humility, they received complete peace and even spiritual gifts. But you see your sorrows as unbearable and you are suffocated by them; What should we do and how can we help? - seek from God those who are weak; if you are worthy, then you will calm down, but otherwise, “even if you establish a new heaven and a new earth, you will not find peace,” especially when you do not have self-reproach and humility. We give you free will to treat Mother Abbess, and this is her duty - to care for all of you; what they do to others is only to help her, to ease her burden, and then with her blessing; Equally, we do not contradict this, if you cannot bear it here, you will want to move to another monastery; but we wish you to find peace and salvation there too. Hierosch. L. and I.M. January 18, 1841. Of course, it would be more convenient for you to treat one mother, because she would see the disposition of both of you, and so would judge the battles that happen to you; Otherwise, you are often both right in your thoughts and words, but sedition is erected: how can we judge different people here? You will declare your righteousness, not your guilt; also: who will judge you here? But what won’t happen in the cells! See for yourself and judge what is best; through this difference you can bring displeasure on V.; it would all be the same if we followed the path of patience, self-reproach and humility; otherwise one word can create displeasure; consult about this with Mother Abbess, V. and sister; and do whatever is best. Hierosch. L. and I.M. February 1, 1841. We regret that you endured sorrowful trials from your own, which, however, as we see, later, from your letter, were assuaged. It had to be this, after your long date and their incorrect opinion regarding your transition. They, as secular people, do not know spiritual struggle, victory and victory and think that anyone can live anywhere; and those who have weaknesses and bewilderments have no idea about it; and they do not think about the fact that God’s providence guides us, who have surrendered to His will and are seeking our salvation, and therefore determines and leads us to places for spiritual training; however, you are freer - having experienced punishment, you are left at your will; and your mother is peaceful towards S.; I agree with my disposition of spirit towards it; but T. U-na still has a test in this regard - her mother’s resistance and unpeace towards S. She does this, although out of love for her daughter, wanting and thinking to give her this peace of mind; but he does not understand that with external calm he cannot give spiritual peace and tranquility, without which no external good can console a person. You had sorrow in S. due to the lack of a cell, but was it not a temptation that led you to humility? Hesitating and embarrassed, we involuntarily resort to self-reproach and humility, through which we gain skill in it and calm down: “In our humility the Lord will remember us” (Ps. 135:23); “He gives grace to the humble” (Prov. 3:34). The Holy Prophet, thanking God that He humbled him, said: “It is good for me, for You have humbled me, so that I may learn by Your justification” (Ps. 119:71), and first do not even humble yourself, I have sinned (v. 67). And the Lord, in order to gain peace, commanded us to learn from Him meekness and humility (Matthew 11:29). Do you see the benefit of temptation? - with them we come to humility; and what kind of them should be sent to us is God’s business, not ours to make a choice. You may have been to V.L. and S.; compare impartially all these monasteries, i.e. the local S. and V. rank, image and order, and consider convenience for spiritual life; What answer will you give yourself to this? Regarding the cell, couldn’t God really calm you down in this regard? But apparently the time has not come yet. Handing you over to the omnipotent protection of God, we remain your unworthy pilgrims, the many-sinful Hierosch. L. and I.M. August 9, 1841. Honorable T. U-na in the Lord! You write that although everything is peaceful in your cell, when something happens, you attribute your sins to this and do not dare blame anyone. Although you reason like this, you still feel weak and grieving in everything; But is it possible, while fighting passions, not to have sorrow, and, fighting with demons for the acquisition of eternity, not to be wounded? After all, this is the path: “Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:26). The Holy Apostle does not say not to grieve, but not to be cold and faint-hearted in sorrows (2 Cor. 4:8), but to endure them courageously and believe that they are sent by the will of God for our benefit for sins and to the knowledge of our weakness; But they are difficult for us because of our poor structure and the guarantee of passions in which we have become accustomed. The victory of passions requires fulfillment of the commandments and patience with sorrow for them, from which, when we come to humility, we receive God’s help and calm down, but while the passions are active in us and we are driven by pride, we do not find peace. Hierosch. L. and I.M. You write the truth, T. U-na, that the enemy brings you the thought that we never asked Mother Abbess for you: and with what intention is he doing this? True, not for the benefit of your soul, but for embarrassment when you give him faith. God knows that we have repeatedly asked her diligently for this and we have received feedback from her that she is heartbroken for you, that she cannot provide you with cells. I advise you not to believe the enemy, but to expect God’s mercy; Maybe soon the Lord will send you dispensation through the prayers of our priest. You are reproachful about why you returned to S.; let them fall on us, or even more so on Father L.’s father, and not on you: it was his will to return you there; It’s clear that you will benefit there, and subsequently you will not repent, but when you were there, God knows. T. U-na mentioned that without external peace it is impossible to have internal peace; this is wrong; we see many in all outward peace, but inwardly troubled—peace brings humility. I.M. October 25, 1841. You are not the only one who regrets the death of our dear father, Father L., but this had to happen; The limit is set by the Lord, and no one will cross it. Turn the tears you shed for him into your sins; and when you love the priest, honor his memory by fulfilling his saving instructions. I.M. November 15, 1841. Those who are embarrassed against your mother abbess should be overthrown with self-reproach and humility, not accepting at all the pervasive thoughts of unbelief and disobedience; but even accept the reproaches she makes as sent from God to heal our vain hearts, even if it was without any fault of yours; When you can no longer bear annoyance and reproaches from your boss, then how will you bear yourself from them? - and those who want to receive salvation consider the day lost in which they do not suffer any dishonor. You mentioned that you are required to make external corrections, not internal ones; Our inner structure is also known through appearance; when you take care of the internal good dispensation, then the external one is corrected; and when the root is holy, then the branches are holy; and you prove your bad disposition by being embarrassed by reproaches; Therefore, you only imagine that you are busy with internal things, and when temptation is sent to you, you see yourself far from this; Recognize your weakness and humble yourself, the Lord will deliver you from strong and unbearable temptations. I.M. December 2, 1841. I received your letters dated February 29th. Thank God that you have become pacified in your cell and have become peaceful in your attitude; You should never reach the point of cowardice in the temptations that come your way, but complacently expect it to be overcome, and everything will turn out for good. If there were no sorrows, how would we learn patience? And besides, our outrage, to which we, by voluntarily exposing ourselves, anger God, requires punishment for cleansing. I am writing to both of you together, because you have the same infirmities, explained in your letters; force yourself to do good, for without force you cannot accustom yourself to virtue and work; and where there is our compulsion, therefore there is will, which the Lord looks upon and gives His help for fulfillment. Humble yourself in your weaknesses, and do not look down on others, and this attracts God’s help; and both must be given a measure and price, and so that, under the guise of weakness, one does not completely neglect what is due. I.M. March 10, 1842. Conceit is born in you, T. U-na, from the pride of the Pharisees; You see a speck in your neighbor’s eye, but your own eye is blocked with a log. This demon can be turned away by his attempts and falls; read from St. Climacus about pride and humility, about non-judgment of neighbors; also from Abba Dorotheus about this; then, perhaps, it will be ingrained in your memory that for the contempt of our neighbors we are abandoned by God and fall into the same or even more cruel vices, so that we may recognize our weakness and humble ourselves. The collision that happens in your cell with your neighbor is necessary for knowing yourself and for enduring something that is very necessary for salvation. Wherever you use self-reproach, the enemy will achieve nothing; and do not run away from communication with your sisters; I have spoken and written to all of you and V.’s mother many times; She replies to this that she does not prohibit it at all, unless someone can suffer significant harm through indecent communication; then it is not only me, but the Apostle himself who commands that every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to tradition, be separated from him (2 Thess. 3:6); But in any case, we must not assume that we go through life better than others. God is able to save you from evil harm, only let him have the fear of God; each of us values ​​only his own sorrows, but Z-a, poor thing, is already a nun, has a cell and so on, and what kind of sorrows she carries, so she is at a loss; when we want to go through a sorrowless life, what will become of us? Writes St. Chrysostom in the prologue of August 7th day: “He would rather be a pig than a man, gorging himself and getting drunk and not from the sorrowful cold.” Read this whole word, it is full of much benefit; and your illness, F. X-na, can be counted among these. I.M. March 30, 1842. You complain about your current unbearable abuse; The reason for this is your contempt for your neighbors in their shortcomings or vices. When, seeing yourself defeated by some passion, you only worry about how to get rid of it and do not dare to judge others who are also in the field of struggle with many different passions, which in this struggle sometimes fall and sometimes win; the crowns are prepared in the age to come. The more humble someone is, the stronger he fights in battle, and sometimes it is our own sins that humble us. This is why we are allowed to fall, to gain knowledge of our weakness and humility. St. Peter of Damascus writes: “When someone sees his sins like the sand of the sea, this is the beginning of the enlightenment of the soul and a sign of its health.” We should also care about this, so that we can see our sins and lament about this in our hearts, and not look down on others; then our passions will be tamed. If you wish for peace, health and salvation, I remain your unworthy pilgrim, the great sinner I.M. June 6, 1842. I do not refuse to answer your questions, although I myself have done nothing good. Playing with children cannot be approved, although there is no feeling, but maybe; teach children - the priest did not bless to have this rumor in the monastery; and privately and temporarily, moreover, out of obedience to the mother, it is possible, however, even here one must beware of the actions of the enemy. It is possible to read for the benefit of others, even in excess of what is intended, but with self-reproach, just as you write about this yourself. About the all-night vigils that take place in your house on annual holidays with haste from the clergy, whether they should speak about this or not, for correction, and stand for the name of God: your zeal is not according to reason; I don’t know how many parishioners you have, and if anyone else wants to serve all-night vigils at home, then the servants won’t even have the strength; in addition to the fact that it is necessary to serve the all-night vigil in church, parish and household affairs force them to such haste; although one cannot praise this, one must measure their strength. You think how they correct things in our monasteries; but this is impossible there; there are enough singers and servants here, and there are no other activities, and only one all-night vigil; in such a case, you can talk, but not urgently and not impudently, but offer with humility: when it is possible, they will do it, and when not, then you need to give in to them, and it would be best to be in church at the cathedral all-night vigil, which was established for this purpose, so that people would come together to glorify God with one heart and one mouth; You could serve there in a leisurely manner; but it seems that this custom has long been established in the worldly church in order to serve quickly, and it is difficult to change it, especially for you and me. God, rich in mercy, is always able to give us peace, if only we are worthy of it and it will be useful to us; and until then he allows us to be overwhelmed by sorrows and various temptations, arranging everything for our benefit, as you see in yourself; For quite some time, without having a quiet refuge or a corner of their own, they received a cell and did not find complete peace in it; why is it good for you to have another; thank His goodness for such merciful providence for you. Only after reading the book of Isaac the Syrian did you realize that you had not yet begun to live as you should, otherwise you really dreamed something lofty about yourself? This is lovely! Consider what St. teaches more about. Isaac the Syrian, most of all about patience and humility, with which all virtues are already connected. This must be followed and learned daily. I.M. September 22, 1842. Venerable F. X-na in the Lord! The most necessary and useful thing in the matter of our salvation is to have peace with everyone and with ourselves. I am very glad that you have made peace with V.’s mother; God grant that this world always exists and is not shaken by the enemy’s evil excuses for judging other infirmities; It would be enough for each of us to judge ourselves; right, and there will be little time for this, due to the worries of everyday life and the obligation of our rules to fulfill. I received your letter about the former unrest with my sister A.; but as it was written in the heat of embarrassment, I left it that way until the passions were tamed and the matter was worked out by itself; That's how it happened. May there be peace between you! Now I turn to you, T. U-na, for matter almost touches both of them, except for your illness, but in it V. truly participated in condolences about your cell, which God sent to you. I thank God and rejoice from the heart, but you also try to bring thanks to the Lord, living humbly and resisting the passions that rise up against you. Remember when you didn’t have a cell, how much you grieved and grumbled for this, but did not understand that God was pleased to tempt your patience and prepare for you a cell independent of others; but everyone themselves, and the owners. Live better and look at your own weaknesses, and not those of others, as St. Isaac and the other fathers; then the Lord will look at your humility and send His help in all your affairs. Mother K. writes that the cross weighs her down to the point of exhaustion; there is still no peace with the abbess, her spiritual mother; Apparently, it pleases the Lord to share the sorrows of everyone in their own time and to the best of their ability, according to His destinies, unexplored for us. I recently wrote to her about how much the Lord instructed me to strengthen her. The Psalter can also be read for repose on Sundays. I.M. November 17, 1842. Most Reverend T. U-a and F. Kh-na in the Lord! I am very glad that you have calmed down and have established yourself to go to Mother Abbess for revelation; in this, which cannot often receive you, you must excuse her: a whole monastery is on her neck and in her care; How else does she have the strength to pacify and arrange so many sisters? – As for V.’s mother, that she is peaceful and came to see you, we must give her credit for this. Is it really possible for her to have malice against you when we all go to the same Beginning-Shepherd Christ and are guided by the same laws? If something creeps into anyone, then we must use all possible measures to destroy these thorns from the soil of our hearts. What kind of parties are these? – The revelation of the secrets of the heart, to whom someone has information, does not relate to division, but more importantly to union in Christ. Who thinks so? shares, then he is guided by madness, which stems from his false opinion, which, often believing in the opposite direction, does not see the intentions with which someone does something. This is the destruction of love and the entire order of things related to the improvement of societies: one will think, say to another, she will confirm her opinion, and, instead of peace and consciousness, she raises a storm of thoughts that confuse and deprive her of peace; a lot of gossip will start here; but they would also serve to benefit, if they paid attention to their salvation and had self-reproach, then through them all impurity of the heart would be cleansed and they would find peace, which you see deprived of. Read from St. Abba Dorotheus about lies, what it means to listen to thoughts, and what harm comes from it; peace is found in humility and meekness, according to the commandment of the Savior Himself: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11:29): not achieving this, we must blame or put the cause not on anyone else, but on ourselves. Previously, you had the guilt of your anxiety, walking around other people's cells and listening to gossip; Now you have your own cell, and there is no gossip, why is there no peace? - In the Eldership it is written: “If you establish a new heaven and a new earth, you will not find peace unless the imams have patience and humility.” Peace is acquired after the struggle with passions and labor that occurs about this; The peace that is found without difficulty is doubtful and not solid. Many, who had found it through labor, asked the elders to pray to take peace from them and send away battles, as if they felt the benefit from them. It is not peace, but the cross that leads you into the Kingdom of God; if we are looking for peace, then it runs away from us, and when we consider ourselves unworthy of being it, then we don’t know how we calm down; This is why our love and faith for God is tempted when we endure without effort and valiantly and bear the inner and outer baptism that the Lord pleases to send for our benefit; Only this is known, those who generously bear external sorrows, reproaches, annoyances, humiliation, deprivations, etc., have more internal consolations. May the Lord give you true reason and strength to stand against the temptations that come your way and to bear them valiantly for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom. And for your last writing, T. U-na, accept this responsibility; Thank God that He does not leave you, he told your sister A. to reward you with what you need for maintenance. He never leaves His creation, and especially those who work for Him, who behave humbly and trust in Him; the whole world, as if ready to serve them; This is not false, but for many the event was fulfilled. I.M. March 13, 1843 From your letter I see: you have received peace of mind in your conscience and are wary of unrest with anyone, but you are often inflamed by anger, and this is the opposite of your first intention; From this it is clear that, beingware of vice, you allow opinions about yourself to enter into you, for anger is a product of pride, and where there is a fall, there pride preceded it; If we have Christ’s humility in our minds and humble ourselves, then anger will fade away. Read St. Mark of the Ascetic message to Nicholas the monk. You ask me about the Jesus Prayer, but since I myself am not skilled in this work, I cannot give you a solution. The Holy Fathers teach, but also warn against delusion, but we accept and seek the high; Quite a lot of people fell into delusion from self-indulgence and conceit. It is good to call on Jesus with humility and passion, but it is incompatible to become inflamed with anger; then how not to fall into the trap? I wish you to find peace and salvation. Mnogohreshny I.M. January 5, 1846 You write about Mother Abbess, but I can’t force her in any way; asking the reasons for non-peacefulness towards you is also not joint; and my advice to you, as I gave before: look for guilt in yourself, and when you recognize yourself as guilty, you will surely receive an acquittal; but as long as you have justification in your heart and consider yourself innocent, you will not find peace; and deprivation of it is a sign of your guilt. It seems that you yourself said that you had trouble with her in words, so isn’t this, perhaps, the cause of the splinter? - Explain yourself better and ask for forgiveness and not just: “Forgive” what you sinned, but explaining everything and revealing the sayings that were in trouble, and for this she, perhaps, will tell you what she heard or accepted in her opinion; to which, briefly answering with humility, accept the reproof - although false, it is saving; otherwise, remember the words of St. John Climacus: “Having rejected correct or incorrect reproof, he rejected his own salvation” (chapter 44, v. 4.); After all, we sin a lot and forget, but God’s truth sends us temptation to cleanse even those unknown sins of ours; only we must be firmly convinced that without the truth of God nothing negative can happen to us; but how, when and through whom, do not be curious, teaches St. Mark. I truly write to you and advise you as to my soul. How can we acquire patience when we do not accept unnecessary insults, even though they are gossip? Having an acquaintance with L.’s mother, I think, cannot be useless, but it cannot be done secretly - he cannot hide and will lead to more temptations for each other; and when it will be possible clearly and shamelessly, then why not have it? I.M. March 14, 1847. I congratulate you on the approach of the day of your Angel, may the Lord comfort you with imperishable and spiritual consolation and grant you true reason that leads you on a saving path. True reason or reasoning is acquired from humility, and humility from sorrows, according to the word of St. Peter of Damascus, and whoever flees sorrows flees his own salvation. You have sorrows, but more internal ones, from your own passions lying within you. You described the storm that worries you with your thoughts for leaving you from tonsure; here we see neglect, humiliation, persecution, malice and everything that only an offended and ostracized heart accepts and increases with thoughts; and I wrote this in the form of a revelation of my thoughts, wanting to free myself from them; but later, in another letter, you recognize yourself in the wrong for this grumbling, and you recognize God’s providence at work here, and not human malice or wisdom. With this you have consoled me, and in this I see God’s mercy manifest towards you, that He, striking your hearts with sorrows, softened them to submission to His will: and when you blame yourself more, seeing the passion at work here: love of fame and ambition, then you will receive consolation; and those who are supposedly at enmity with you will turn to you with heartfelt love, and you will receive spiritual consolation. If you accept with respect that you are definitely offended, then when we look at the innocent suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, who endured reproaches, vexations, spitting, beatings, dishonor, desecration, crucifixion, a crown of thorns, a pierced rib, piercings of the hands and feet of the most pure, will we see that the essence of our sorrows is caused by insults and contempt? – But He left us an image, so that we may follow His footsteps (1 Peter 2:21), and although not completely, we are found in small ways to be fellow members of His passion, when we bravely and resignedly endure the sorrows He sends to us (1 Peter 4:13). You are in the Divine University - He is teaching you, He wants to make something good out of you, do not resist Him! – Considering a sound mind, we will see that our passions cannot in any way be satisfied and calm us down; but we must resist and destroy them. Let’s put it this way (I saw an example): they tonsure someone into the ryassophore, satisfying his desire; passion cannot remain calm for a long time; they tonsure others into the mantle - he is wounded and suffers; but if this is also fulfilled, then our passion for rank, and your passion for leadership; and illness occurs to such an extent that not only are they not happy with the monastic image, but they are also not happy with their life. This cannot be concluded about everyone, but about those suffering from the passion of ambition; and others are tormented by other passions, just as I am a sinner: I accuse you of one passion, but I myself am carried away by the darkness of passions and resist them very poorly. Pray, sisters, for me too, but no matter what, I tell you, I myself will not be able to turn on. Most honorable F. Kh-na! Some of the above may apply to you; although you see yourself as more peaceful than before, it still does not prevent you from having self-reproach and trying to achieve a more peaceful dispensation for those who have offended, and not judging those who seem bad to us; everyone has a conscience and God is the judge, and repentance is open to everyone. May the peace of God be with you! I.M. April 15, 1847. I see that your mother is extremely upset about joining A. V.’s monastery and about her loneliness; which I sincerely regret, and more so for her cowardice. A. B. I did not give advice to join the monastery without her will, and when she joined, it was true with her consent; and of course not without the will of God; and her illness proves it; that the world doesn’t need her; What kind of help and consolation can she do for her mother while lying in bed? However, I do not prevent her from living at home, even if she were dressed in a monastic dress; this may be the will and consent of both of them; but I have no power to compel; and I have no power over your stay there: you have a boss and a society of sisters; If she allows you to stay there for a while due to this need, then I agree with this in the hope that, through the prayers of them and your mother, the Lord will protect you from the most dangerous temptations. I wish you peace, health; I remain the great sinner I.M. April 30, 1847. I don’t know, T. U-na, whether your mother will like it or not, but I must express my opinion: wouldn’t it be better for her, to calm herself, to move in with her daughters and live with them, leaving the bustle of worldly life, which she will involuntarily have to leave behind when death comes. Tell me, what consolation does homework give her when she doesn’t dry her eyes, letting you all go from her? If she has a reason not to leave the world because the economy may be upset, then when death comes, she will leave it involuntarily; there will be people who can manage it, and it would be fitting for her, by entrusting the household to her children or someone else, to soothe her old age in the monastery, perhaps already at the end of her days. It seems that you said that you are planning to make a division of the estate, then it would be best to give everyone their part and reassure yourself with this: it’s true that there will be enough to live on for her lifetime. However, I leave all this to the will and providence of God, who cares about our salvation. I said that I do not prevent A. B from living with her mother, but who knows how long her life will be, judging by her poor health: then won’t there be extreme grief over both the deprivation and the distraction from the monastery? I remain wishing for your peace of mind, sinful I.M. I still haven’t gotten around to answering your letter, which I received back on February 19th; you are left to stay there until spring; now there is nothing more to do; Apparently, you need to stay there and console your relatives and rest yourself, as you write. It’s strange to me that you rejoice in your present sorrowless situation, but are horrified by the monastery’s sorrows. Was it not God who called you to this sad and narrow path? He arranges sorrows according to your arrangement and strength; who can live a century without sorrow? And worldly people are in great sorrow, they also want to receive salvation, and God unwittingly puts them on a regrettable path in order to lead them into the eternal belly. Beware of being deluded by your imaginary peace, it is unreliable, fragile, temporary: with some change you will no longer find peace, and besides, even if you found peace, then you must be wary of traps, lest you fall into delusion. Peace is acquired by fighting passions: only through defeating them and deep humility can it be durable; Although you will be temporarily consoled by imaginary calm, you will not see how mental confusion, melancholy, despondency will approach without any reason: you have not yet experienced this. I.M. March 9, 1848. I received your letter dated March 28th. I saw everything that you described in it about your intention, wavering in the transition, and that it stopped in S-e. I am not at all surprised at your disorder when you consider your current life in the world to be better than the monastic life, seeing yourself removed from wine and therefore not sinning; but you have a sin that you do not see and do not repent of it - this is the opinion that you do not sin. You are in spiritual warfare, why are you running from the battlefield? - Fell, - rise up! Before God, a humble and repentant sinner is better than a righteous person who does not repent and thinks about himself. I advise you to abandon this thought, read in the 4th part of the Philokalia of St. John of Carpathia's message to the Indian monks. You, probably, having received a letter from F. Kh-na that Mother Abbess had again shown unworldliness, were embarrassed; but now she writes that she has calmed down and is calm again; It’s impossible for everything to be in one order, just like the weather: when it’s raining, when it’s raining and when it’s windy, there’s a storm, and then there’s silence. I am writing to you without forcing you to stay, but I suggest to your reasoning and will, follow the best. I.M. 18th April 1848 From your letter I see your confusion and indecisiveness about whether to stay in S. or where to go, and worst of all, your disgust from all even monasteries, which was expressed in your first letters. I’ll tell you that this is so sad for me that I don’t know how to express it to you. Don’t we always learn that we must enter the Kingdom of God through sorrowful paths! And yet we turn away from him as if from some kind of monster; Who of those living in the monastery is without sorrow? Everyone carries them; but we cannot see it, but everyone feels it; Don’t you really believe that no one and nothing can offend us unless God allows it? And God sends us to salvation according to our strength and needs. Sorrows are painful and unbearable for us from ourselves, for our grumbling, for blaming our neighbors and not reproaching ourselves, as St. Isaac the Syrian in the 51st word: “When we accept sorrows, considering ourselves worthy of these and more, leaving them to the righteous providence of God, then the sorrows are eased and soon pass; and when we grumble, blaming others, and pretend that we are innocent, then sorrows from all sides become attached as if they were already there and become green and unbearable.” This is your structure, that’s why you are so burdened with sorrows. What advice can I give you: should you stay there or go to another monastery, when you have an aversion to all monasteries? I can’t provide you with a sorrowless life anywhere - and in V.L. and S. there may be sorrows, and with grumbling they can be unbearable. If you surrender yourself to the will of God and agree to endure everything that He wants to send, then you will be calm in every place. How can I tell you affirmatively to stay in S-e when you are not ready to bear sorrows? They will be painful for you, and then you will complain against me. Is it really of any interest to me to force you to S.? But what is the transition in our abodes? with what labor and temptation is it associated? and do we know that we are promised a future in other monasteries? When you ask for advice on something, you must also believe: what will be said, so God has declared; no longer hesitate or be embarrassed by sorrows, but consider that this is how it is necessary and pleasing for God to act in the matter of our salvation; but when we do the opposite, during any sorrowful encounters, we forget that there is God’s providence here, and people are the instrument of His providence, we grumble and are embarrassed, we blame people: then we are abandoned by God. I am sending you an excerpt from F. Kh-na’s letter, from which we see her prudence; she is waiting for your decision, and you are asking me for advice; but I don’t see submission to the will of God, but on the contrary, aversion from monasteries. In my opinion, it is better to stay in S., and if you go somewhere else, I don’t contradict; but in order to approve with you the sorrowless worldly life that seems to you, I cannot. For those who are not called to the monastery, for those it will be consolation and prosperity, but for those who turn back, it cannot serve to lead them to the Kingdom of God. I.M. May 8, 1848. I see, unfortunately, that your abuse has not yet ceased regarding monastic life; and how long have you found consolation in this life and in your cell, although before this you endured great sorrow, but everything did not drive you out of the monastery? Consider why this happened? - No other than from being in the world for a long time and from seeing others in their weaknesses. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). When your atmosphere is cleared of these dark clouds, then you will see for yourself where you have plunged yourself. Although you live poorly, do not dare to go into the world for a better life - you will be deceived and will suffer irrevocably. Read in the 4th part of the Philokalia by John of Carpathia the letter to the Indian monks, it will benefit you, and force yourself to church rule and to work, recognize your weakness: then you will receive peace; for where there is humility, there is peace and God’s help. You are embarrassed by empty movements and do not open up to V.’s mother, thereby allowing the enemy to arm himself more. Another thought drives you out of the monastery: you don’t want to take care of your cells, but rather go to the community in K.! It’s very good there, where we are not; and wherever we come, the demon will appear with his temptations. I have letters from them too and I know the disorders there; Yes, you think, they will put you there, like a hermit or a great old woman, a well-deserved schema-montress. No, they will certainly send for collections, because that’s what they live there; how can they support the community more? And you are not capable of handicrafts or other talents, so you’re welcome to wander around the world for a dozen years. No, my blessing is not on your way out; and besides, whether it will be possible to sell the cell, I don’t know; when someone comes out on their own, without obedience, they are not allowed to sell, according to the law. May the Lord strengthen you in this place. I.M. July 9, 1848. Most venerable mothers T.F. and Yu. in the Lord! I sincerely rejoice that the Lord has deigned you to accept the betrothal of a small monastic image. I congratulate you on this spiritual triumph; May you keep the consolation you have received in your memory, and in battles be more courageous and humble. Live, striving to fulfill God’s commandments, recognize your weaknesses, bear each other’s burdens, do not judge anyone, do not envy, but look at your weaknesses, humble yourself and repent. Thank God that you saw your mistake in wanting to move to V., and thanked Him for His fatherly providence for you. This always happens when we undertake any business; Darkened by passion, we do not see into what abyss we are plunging; and then passion acted in you, and of course, not without difficulty, although you involuntarily remained in place. It doesn’t hurt to read the psalter; it is the praise of God. I.M. July 24, 1849. I have not had any news of you for a very long time, but only now I received your letter dated September 24 and learned about your stay there. It is a pity that F.’s mother is deprived of her property; why? - I don’t know this; is it really because she took the ryassophore? However, all this is the will of God, and it must be preserved from grumbling; The Lord is able to saturate it. He who cares for every creature will never abandon His verbal creation, only we strive to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this temporary and necessary will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). Yes, as you write, if you live more economically, then you will add to what God is now sending you. You write that you stayed there until the first journey; I can’t approve of this, but what should I do with you? - But you should hurry to the place of your work; If you are not in the field of achievement, you will not receive any benefit, and, after a long dispersion, it will again be difficult to get used to your solitary cell and to a modest and silent life. Say my regards to Mother F. and Mother Yu., and that it’s time to go to your place. Your absent nuns have not yet gathered to their nests. I wish you all to be peaceful and return safely to your monastery. I remain the great sinner I.M. October 8, 1849 This is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 77:11), that you are not bored this time, having come from the world, and love your abode; give thanks to the Lord, and do not be arrogant about this; For everyone who boasts of anything will later suffer from temptation. You were in temptation then, but you didn’t know it, and then, perhaps, there were fewer sorrows for you. Can this always be the case? - Not at all, but there are incomparably greater sorrows there. We must try to heal the infirmities and bad habits you described and change them for the better, with God’s help; and in victory, do not lose heart from them, but be content, bringing repentance to the Lord. In bodily infirmities one must conform to them; and if you force yourself beyond measure, you can become completely exhausted: you just need to arm yourself against laziness. I wish peace, health and salvation to you and mother F. Mnogohreshny I.M. April 4, 1850. I thank you, T. and F., that, at my request, you do not refuse to warn my sisters, mother M. and O.; sometimes, even in the simplicity of the heart, the spoken word is accepted and interpreted in the opposite direction, and therefore one must be careful in everything and not give guilt to those who seek guilt. What to do? Our life here is all spiritual warfare; here is a feat, and there is reward; when we walk humbly, we conveniently defeat the enemy, receiving God’s help. You write about your weaknesses: may the Lord help you correct your path. I.M. April 25, 1850. Venerable Mother F. in the Lord! You write that, on the occasion of your introduction to monasticism, you were met with sorrow: reproach and abuse. I believe that since the monastic image is an image of humility and patience: “A monk is a pillar of patience, an abyss of humility,” then such a test was first allowed to you - what kind of person will you find? Do you have the spirit of Christianity in you - love, according to the commandment of God: “Love your enemies”? Do not be discouraged by these battles, but humbly bow your neck against these wills, and the ship of your soul will not sink into the depths of the sea; your pride will be humbled, and the enemies will be silent. Do not blame anyone, but look at them as an instrument of God, tempting you and humbling you. I wish Mother T. and you peace and health; I remain the sinful I.M. August 26, 1850. I congratulate you on being worthy to take on the angelic image and being honored with it as a guarantee of God’s mercy, spiritual consolation and heartfelt joy. The Lord is pleased to grant you this to strengthen your faith: that His blessed Kingdom is still here; but we should not be carried away into arrogance and the opinion of ourselves, as if we have achieved something lofty: but more than that, immerse our thoughts in the depths of humility and remember what vow we made at tonsure and the admonition of the tonsure to us: “You will not promise according to it, but do it according to it: accept it, or give an answer,” and we must be ready for all the sorrows that lie ahead, such as The Lord will allow you to be tested and perfected, for through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22); but do not be horrified by them and do not blame anyone else, but see in this the finger of God acting in bringing about your salvation; All that remains is to thank God and place the hope of your salvation in Him, and consider yourself dust and ashes. I.M. November 18, 1850. Most venerable in the Lord, Mother T. and Mother F.! You, Mother F., write that the cross is good, but your dispensation is not good, and you describe it in detail. The cross is more good because He suffered it and left us an example, so that we may follow His footsteps (1 Peter 2:21). Every passion of ours must be healed by the cross, i.e. patience; and every sorrow is healed in the same way. In rage, anger, passion, mentally put a cross in front of you and remember, Who suffered on it? “Then the root of pride will be uprooted and the branches of rage, anger, etc. will fall away.” And you, T., complain about the grave despondency that has burdened you, resulting from grief after my letter; and this is because she was offended by me and blamed me, and not herself, which the 31st chapter of Simeon the New Theologian will clearly show you, that this is done by the ancient serpent, pouring out its poison into the heart and eating your good deeds; and when you, tired of temptation, came to true reason and realized your weakness and guilt, you received relief; and again I repeat to you, may the Lord forgive you in everything and may he create peace, love and humility in your hearts with yourself and with everyone. You complain about the poverty of your deeds and spiritual exploits; but in this too, have self-reproach and humility, do not condemn anyone, do not be scornful, and the Lord will cover your sins. In interceding for the expelled P, you did not sin on her behalf, when her guilt is not worth much punishment, but even a temporary punishment will serve as a lesson for her throughout her life. I.M. April 14, 1851. Christ is Risen! Most honorable Mother T. in the Lord! You are again in temptation that salvation is more convenient in the world. For those who live there and are not called to our path, the Lord eases the burdens of worldly life for them, and they should not despair of salvation; but for us, who have been honored with the calling from the Lord to follow Him, the path is completely different; and you should not give consent to the enemy’s pretext that there are fewer cases of sin and it is more convenient to salvation. You think that living there, you experienced it yourself; but you don’t see that this is deception and deception of the enemy; he did not fight you with passion in order to seduce you with an imaginary sorrowless life; but could this last long? - he would bring such abuse on you that you would not be able to bear it. But weren’t you also calmed down from the battle in the monastery? - But where there is battle, there are crowns; and without fighting you will not receive a reward; and about the comforts of worldly life, are they really not going to change? While your mother is alive, maybe you will calm down, but after her death, comfort is questionable. You are inexperienced in these cases, but I have seen changing events in many; I advise you to read again the word of John of Carpathia more clearly. Although you live poorly and inevitably have to humble yourself; but living in the world and seeing my corrections, I would soon fall into incurable delusion. After all, humility saves even without deeds, but deeds without humility are useless (Isaac the Syrian 46th word). The enemy fights you for laziness and negligence and then stumbles with cowardice; but you, on the contrary, having humbled yourself, be encouraged by good faith; Yes, read from Peter of Damascus on pages 58 and 64 on the back: “Don’t despair of the hedgehog,” etc., and force yourself to do good, and God will give you His help. Read St. Zosimus, that compulsion is needed, and then there will be help. The Jesus Prayer can be done in society, with the mind, with the pronunciation of words quietly, without opening the lips, but, most importantly, it requires humility, with the feeling of a tax collector; otherwise it won’t take long to fall into delusion. I.M. May 12, 1851. You write that the water battle against the monastery was pacified, but the other rebelled more fiercely, and you say that you have no weapon with which to resist it, you can neither fast, nor humble yourself, nor pray; Well, what should we do? – And without fighting it is also dangerous until we humble ourselves: take away the fighting, we fall into pride, which, more than all sins, can destroy a person. Read from St. John Climacus in the degree of reasoning that sometimes all the vices disappear, leaving only one - pride, which alone can destroy the soul; and therefore, seeing the struggle in oneself, one must struggle and involuntarily humble oneself; when defeated, repent and not be embarrassed. To the same extent there is: “As the battles multiply, the crowns also multiply; he who is invulnerable from the adversary will not receive any crown, and whoever does not lose heart (does not become faint-hearted) from what happens will be praised by the Angels as a brave warrior.” At St. In the 78th word of Isaac the Syrian it is written: “When you find the world unchanged, then fear” and so on; Yes, read from St. John Climacus is the end of the 15th degree, and you can somewhat strengthen yourself in battle, asking for God’s help and humility. It’s good that you called, that the peace on which you relied in the world is fragile and unreliable; and, moreover, know that, living in a monastery, you are in the field of battle, like a spiritual warrior, and you accept wounds and are awarded crowns; and when you leave this field, you no longer have a fight and imagine you have peace, but it is false, for it can soon turn into a fierce storm. So, thank God, who called you to this path and teaches you in battle. I also forgot to tell you, read chapters 16 and 18 of John of Carpathia, and chapter 99 of Diodochos; These will serve to strengthen you. I wish you and your sister to be peaceful and calm, paying attention to your salvation. I ask you to pray for me, a sinner. I.M. July 7, 1851. You write about a certain freedom from one kind of battle, for which you give thanks to the Lord: but another kind of battle, sleep, has risen up against you. To achieve its deliverance, as much as possible, manifest yourself with the help of God, and little force yourself to abstain; however, although sleep is hard, insomnia is incomparably harder. In spiritual warfare, various battles are presented to us; if we fight and stand firm, we will receive crowns, but he who runs away from battle will not receive a crown; let us destroy ourselves, and we will see the glory of God. I.M. September 5, 1851 Thank God that the Lord provided for you and sent you sister P again for cohabitation and cooperation in salvation. You write that all your teeth hurt; what to do; you must endure instead of deeds in which you recognize poverty; replace illness with patience with thanksgiving: and when passions are cold even during illness, then what would happen in complete health and tranquility? For other passions, it is necessary to arm yourself and diminish the evil custom, and in time it will be destroyed. - Read from St. Macarius of Egypt in the first word of chapters 13 and 14; You will see that through compulsion we receive God’s help. To your questions about the reading of the Apostle and the Gospel: we read at the Vespers Rule, after the prayers before bedtime, and after reading: The Master is more philanthropic, and so on. About the Psalms, read while standing, and when you don’t have the strength to stand, God will also accept praise from someone sitting. I wouldn’t recommend speaking your teeth, because it’s prohibited by the rules; tell your confessor about this during confession, and you will receive permission. You write about work and about the temptation that happened to S. T.; what to do, there is a need to endure everywhere; God sends occasions and teaches patience; May His holy will be upon us! You mention the grief of M. and O.’s mother, and that they are being attacked in vain: after all, it is known that those who want to live piously will be persecuted. But wicked men will prosper at their worst (2 Tim. 3:12, 13); but only without the will of God the power of our head will not perish (Luke 21:17), and God tests our strength. Be peaceful and calm and strive for the work of God. I.M. 1852. For ordinary victories through rage, disobedience, anger, etc., you must blaspheme yourself and humble yourself; and most of all, recognize your weakness and try to stop yourself in contradiction and not assert your word, but agree with your neighbor, cut off your will in everything; then the grace of God will help you in everything. When you try to gain humility, the enemy will have no time to attack you with his machinations. I.M. March 22, 1852 You, Mother T., when a languid and gloomy inner darkness is upon you, do not give in to despondency, but recognize the mercy of God, visiting you with these health-giving spiritual medicines; strive for thanksgiving, and you will see the glory of God. If you were in some external misfortunes and sorrows, you would not have this cross; but you go to seek salvation and see yourself lacking in spiritual exploits, then the Lord visits you with this spiritual cross, making up for the shortcomings of your exploits. Do not listen to the enemy who offers you a sorrowless worldly life - this is his snare; read John of Carpathia's letter to the monks; you will see the benefit of temptation. You write, Mother F., that you are being elected to the cathedral nuns, but you are afraid of this appointment; Pray to God about this, as His will will be done; whether to deliver you from this or to choose. Of course, there will be labor and sorrow, but if this is required by the common good for the well-being, and for each of the sisters, then we must reject ourselves and do every work calling on God’s help; not to have in mind covetousness and primacy; Sometimes we are allowed sorrows of this kind because of our infertility. – T. I wish you peace, health and salvation. I remain the sinful I.M. May 18, 1852. Most Honorable 56 Mother V. in the Lord! When you walk the path laid out from St. fathers, then you will not get lost in the abyss and rapids; but the enemy tries to lead you off this path and lead you along crooked paths. He also imparts disbelief to you in the revelation of thoughts, for he not only does not like that revelation itself, but even hates the voices of affirmation (Abba Dorothus, teaching 5th); Apparently, it is useful to us, but disgusting to him. Read from St. Climacus in the 1st degree, that those who think on their own to go without a mentor are deceived; at St. Abba Dorotheus “Don’t form your own mind about the hedgehog”; at St. Cassian in a word to Leontin the abbot; in Callistus and Ignatius chapters 14 and 15; and many other fathers passed on this path; then who are we that we will reject it? The enemy confuses you, envying you that you can benefit by exposing his deceit. I do not force you and do not put a yoke on your neck, but I offer advice: if you find this burdensome for yourself, follow your reason; this is in your will. Desirer of your salvation, many-sinful I.M. 1845. By your Scripture you ask for my guidance in your life. You describe the embarrassment you experience when revealing your thoughts, and the difficulty you endure in opening up; and not opening up, again and again he finds embarrassment; You are also embarrassed about tonsure. To this I will tell you that your confusion comes from the action of the enemy: he envies your benefit and brings on you all sorts of confusion, fear, disbelief, indignation; and then it plunges you into despondency because you are not being frank, and inspires you to demand questions from the mother herself, and attribute guilt to her for not being concerned with you. That's the only way time passes for you; When will you peacefully pray to God? And how can you humble yourself when any confusion is contrary to humility and exposes a proud disposition? Read from St. Abba Dorotheus' teaching that the evil one hates the voice of affirmation and creates an obstacle to it, because his deceits are exposed (Teaching 5). Further, you will see about the announcement, which is about yourself, “not to proclaim anything, but to keep silent, but to proclaim everything,” and you will reject your mind and will. Also at St. Simeon the New Theologian, although there are many chapters about this, but especially about self-testing and revelation, chapters 121 and 122 clearly teach us how to act; and packs of St. Cassian's word to Leontin the abbot, where it is very clearly stated that “through revelation, evil thoughts fade away,” and so on; at St. Callistus chapters 14 and 15 teach quite extensively about this subject, where it is placed from St. John Climacus, that “from obedience comes humility, from humility comes reasoning,” and so on. This is obedience, so that, revealing your thoughts, you receive words on them, as if from the mouth of God. And although great strength is attributed to all virtues, the obedience of St. the fathers called it such a virtue, “without which none of those entangled in passions will see the Lord.” The 44th chapter of Simeon the New Theologian calls obedience denial of oneself, according to the word of God: whoever wants to follow Me must deny himself (Mark 8:37), i.e. will deny his will and reason. In your dispensation the opposite is seen; although you intend to live in obedience and revelation; but, not doing this, you blame your mother for not taking care of you, but more of others. This is a true lie. You yourself say that I don’t know what to open up about: and when there is something, I’ll come and forget. To avoid this, as soon as you notice a wolf coming and steal and destroy your structure, no matter what your passionate thoughts are, immediately write them down so as not to forget, and when you come, announce them. Don’t be embarrassed that you’re saying something wrong or haven’t said everything; This is the snare of the enemy to confuse you; also reject this, that your mother does not care for you: your benefit depends on your faith, and God will enlighten your young youth to announce your benefit; and when you are without disposition, even though you go to the prophet, God will make him mad (St. Abba Dorothy, teaching 5th). This is all a network of the enemy to turn you against your mother. You can also say this thought, but in the form of repentance, and not reproaches or reprimands. When you do this, you will become peaceful and calm. Take tonsure without a doubt: this sacrament brings you closer to God through repentance and humility. Don’t hesitate to ask P.’s mother for acceptance, but approach with humility. May God's peace and blessing be upon you! I.M. April 4, 1846. I congratulate you, most venerable mother V., on accepting the monastic image. May the Lord help you to preserve the vows given at tonsure, and faith with obedience to your spiritual mother, patience and love for everyone, from which humility is born, and you will find inalienable salvation; Why do you have a zealous desire for many things? I.M. According to St. Fathers, from obedience comes humility, from humility comes reasoning; - Look at what you are doing, how are you doing? Are you just embarrassed about what I'm going to open? You stopped at one literal word: “Open,” but you don’t understand the essence and power. Instead of untying and clearing your conscience with faith and freedom, you are only torturing yourself first. – Reject all embarrassment, and when there is nothing on your conscience, be peaceful and calm; and if there is something, then reveal it with freedom and humility and do not be embarrassed about anything; for by this very embarrassment you sin, you amuse the enemy and give him a hand to rebel against you with this abuse. Humility is needed everywhere: it calms in shortcomings, and in correction it does not allow one to be carried away into pride. May the Lord enlighten you and strengthen you with His mercy. I.M. You recognize yourself in not correcting your life and repent of it; then the Lord is able to grant you forgiveness. As far as I can see, you are driven by vanity, you want your weaknesses not to be swept under the rug, but you want to appear good; self-reproach and humility are not visible in you, for which you are not even trying. This is the purpose of obedience and revelation, so that pride is destroyed and humility is established; You must open up with freedom and humility, but the enemy stops you and does not allow you to do this. Read your father’s books about this, and you will learn the benefits, you will be compelled to do it; what am I, a zealous desire for you, a great sinner I. M. November 12, 1846. Most Honorable 57 about the Lord A. B-na! I received your letter dated November 20, in which you describe your confusion and want to find peace where no one knows you, or retire so as not to see anyone except God’s light, as the schema-monks are. – I must tell you that your opinion is very wrong; Wherever you go, where you don’t hide, you won’t find peace anywhere, given your current dispensation. It’s not places, it’s not people that bother you, it’s yourself that bothers you with your opinions. You will be with yourself everywhere and will not escape from embarrassment until you come to terms with and give up the opinion that everyone is looking at you and thinking about you. This is an enemy temptation for you, but it has a strong effect on you because of your spiritual pride; You, perhaps, have previously gone through exploits and labors, and believed that by doing this you were pleasing God, and did not humble yourself, considering yourself the last of all, as the Lord commanded: “When you have done all that is commanded you, say, for we are unworthy servants; Through which, having been deceived, instead of a good peaceful and calm dispensation, they resulted in confusion and anxiety. God is pleased with the prayer of the humble and all our deeds done with humility; He commanded how we can calm down: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Now all your work and feat should be directed towards humility, and when it is inseparable from you, you will be completely calm. What's bothering you? It seems to you that they think poorly of you; what do you care about this? If you consider yourself to be the worst of all, then this opinion will calm you down; and instead you are worried out of pride and when no one thinks anything about you; everyone has something to think about - about their salvation. You have only one means of peace: self-reproach and humility; however, solitude not only will not help you, but will harm you even more, as St. John Climacus, - does not allow people like you to “see the trace of silence below.” When you and people can no longer arrange yourselves according to God’s commandments, how will you fight invisible enemies in solitude? If you intend to live in a monastery, then you must wear monastic clothes and cut off your will and reason in everything. Snorting tobacco is an addiction, and every addiction is a sin. Having explained to you what is needed to obtain calm and a peaceful dispensation, I remain multifaceted. I.M. December 9, 1847. With your Scripture, dated January 24, you describe your dispensation. You suffer from self-reflection, which confuses and worries you; and as far as I can believe, it came from a high opinion of myself; when, after a distracted life, you lived very modestly, it occurred to you that you had already reformed; which (the thought), growing gradually, fed the inner Pharisee in you, and this very thing is the reason for you to unwittingly fall into different opinions: hatred, fear and other things - which deprives you of peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us how we can find peace: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” You see that in meekness and humility, the deprivation of which causes anxiety and confusion; It is obvious that where there is no humility, there is pride and pride, unpleasant fruits grow, which you eat. No matter where you go, even to distant countries, you cannot calm down until you come to terms with it. Humility is born from true obedience and putting aside self-reflection, when we do not trust ourselves in anything, but cutting off our will and reason, we entrust it to others who can guide us; and we only accept it as right and do what they tempt to be saving, even if it seems contrary to us; this is the most convenient path, which is shown to us in the teaching of the holy fathers, who have experienced spiritual life and suffered spiritual battles. – You think that if you move to another place where they don’t know you, you will be at peace, but on the contrary, it will be like this for two weeks or a month; and there the same battles will arise against you, and you will only move from place to place. You have chosen this place according to the lot drawn; then what do you think: leaving the place indicated to you by lot, taken out with prayer, will it not be resistance to the will of God? But, as I see, you are unlikely to stand in this place. And that is why choosing or doing something by lot is not our measure; The holy apostles and great fathers did this, and when they had to go to some country or undertake something, they faced sorrows courageously, knowing for sure that it was the will of God on this journey for them to endure them, for the salvation of their neighbors and themselves. And we, choosing something in this way, think to find peace and prosperity; and if any sorrow touches us, we lose heart. So we need more to manage our lives and choose places through prayer and asking experienced fathers; This is what the fathers teach us about; and to cast lots there is no instruction at all. You care about the spiritual father you have in the city; you are afraid that the mother abbess will not allow you to go to him; and in this you must not follow your own will and reason, but subordinate yourself to the general rule of your monastery and confess to the monastery confessor, for he, too, has been given the same grace from God - to bind and solve the sins of those who repent. Without doubt, approach this sacrament, for Christ Himself is invisibly present. Accept this advice, offered to you according to your faith, and when you find benefit, attribute this to God, who admonishes the dumb; and if I wrote something contrary and inconsistent with the truth, then attribute it to my stupidity, characteristic of human imperfection, and, covering it with Christian love, forgive me. I remain a wisher that you may find peace, tranquility and complete salvation of your soul. I. M. February 5, 1847. Thank the Lord that you returned safely to your home. May He arrange your life according to His holy will; just don’t be embarrassed about anything that happens against your will, or if you find something wrong with yourself; replace it with repentance and humility. We had enough of an interview with you that the embarrassment that came over you came from your previous high-minded opinion about your corrections; and now contrast this with the consciousness of your weakness and humility, then you will soon receive God’s help and be healed. Don’t be embarrassed about the rules given to you, but as you understand and as much as you can, go through it with humility; the Lord will look upon this and save you; and when you are in the monastery, Mother K. will explain it to you, and you will write it down for memory. “You must fast this fast without fail, and if you find it difficult to fulfill this duty at home, you can go to the monastery for this time.” You are in vain afraid, upon the arrival of your relatives, to have company with them, as if this will make you tempted and embarrassed, but you believe that in solitude you will be at peace. But this false peace has deceived you. I imagine that constant solitude is harmful for you; it only brings an opinion about itself, and then embarrassment. You are not yet of the same dispensation as were the holy men who conquered the passions and retired to contemplate the highest spiritual mysteries; you also require training yourself with people, fulfilling the commandments of God; through which you, seeing your weakness, must involuntarily humble yourself and bring repentance, and you will be worthy of God’s mercy; and in solitude you see nothing behind you except your corrections; and what is the reward for this? “Even life is a burden to you,” and your desire for death is not commendable; Pray to God and surrender to His holy will, to whose omnipotent protection I entrust you, I remain a pilgrim unworthy of you, many people. I.M. March 5, 1849. I received your letter dated July 15th. You inform that your embarrassment does not leave you. I understand your situation and offer my heartfelt condolences. Do you notice the source or cause of your confusion? This is pride. You reject solitude, follow the rule prescribed to you, and think, perhaps, that you live better than others. This sinful thought gives birth to its characteristic fruits. Any activity, if it is passable and accomplished, happens with true reason, i.e. with humility, must give birth to peace of conscience; love for everyone, spiritual joy and long-suffering. If someone does not notice this in himself, but sees the opposite, i.e. confusion and so on, then labor is vanity. I advise you not to withdraw from communication with your family, it will be more useful for you. When you encounter trouble, if you do not suffer, do not blame others, but your weakness and impatience, and this will lead you to humility. When performing your rule and, in general, any good deed, do not consider them worth much; but, as the Lord teaches us, consider yourself an unbreakable slave. A slave, if he does not do what is due, will be tortured with wounds; so are we for failure to fulfill the commandments. Therefore, every work we do intercedes for us only with deliverance from torment, and not with reward. And especially do not condemn others, for this alone intercedes for us all condemnation before God. When you always reproach yourself, consider others better than yourself and humble yourself; then the confusion will leave you. I wrote to you about this before and spoke to you personally. I wish you to completely calm down, driving away all suspicion and embarrassment. I.M. August 9, 1849. May the Lord bless you on your journey to the Nilova hermitage. If you happen to have little money, it is better to give it to a beggar than to light a candle - and be a candle yourself. Regarding embarrassment, I also add: do not believe your thoughts, reject them and ask for God’s help. The Lord, who forbade the wind and waves and turned the storm into silence, will calm you and deliver you from confusion if you ask Him for mercy. I thank you for the writing of March 25, from which I see that, having been in the monastery, I was honored to partake of the most pure Mysteries of Christ and was not embarrassed as I had been before with you. Thank God for this! Just think: why be embarrassed? Everyone comes before God, offering their prayers or repentance for sins; who cares about you? And this enemy who hates goodness inflicts confusion on you in order to deprive you of peace; When you humble yourself, you will calm down. You grieve that your vision is weakening and that through this you are deprived of your occupations and rules: do not lose heart about this either; For a rule, when you cannot fulfill it, the Lord will not demand it: if you can walk through the rosary with the Jesus Prayer and with humility, then God will accept even the little things. God will not despise a contrite and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). I.M. April 11, 1850. You write that your vision has become very weak; try to bear it with thanksgiving; do not be embarrassed, but strengthen yourself by trusting in the Lord. If we, in the event of any sorrow, accept it with thanksgiving, and consider that we deserve it, and deserve even greater punishment for our sins; then the Lord is merciful to us and eases the very burden of sorrow; and if we grumble or are embarrassed, then we ourselves increase our grief. That your housekeeper was treated with whispered water is, of course, not good and a sin; Such medications should be avoided in future; and in the past bring repentance. I.M. January 27, 1851. You write about your grief, that you have no hope of receiving what was promised from your relatives, you have only one ticket, and you are afraid of being a burden to your relatives: cast your sorrow on the Lord, and He will nourish you. The Gospel says: do not worry with your soul what you eat, or what you drink, or with your body what you wear, for your heavenly Father knows what you demand from them all. Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:25, 33). Do not worry either, but trust in God and do not think that you are burdening your nephew: the Lord will send them to your share. The Lord is merciful and will not leave you if you ask for His help: you must give thanks for everything and try to fulfill His holy commandments. I ask for God's blessing on you and remain the wisher for your health and salvation, much-sinful I.M. October 27, 1851. I sincerely rejoice that you are now less embarrassed: this is the betrayal of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11), thank His goodness, and humble yourself even more in all cases, then you will completely calm down. Fulfill the rule, give glory to God, and humbly have wisdom, and do not be exalted in thought. If you do not fulfill it, then humble yourself and bring repentance, and do not be embarrassed; when you have, in any case, humility, the enemy will not have the strength to cause you confusion. Thank God for everything! Try to have love for your relatives and do not test who and how they are disposed towards you, “the eye of good will not see evil”; even if he thought the opposite about you, have a good thought about them, God sent you consolation in K.’s mother and her sisters, and thank God for it. Peace and God's blessing to you! I.M. March 22, 1852. You ask for death, but this is a sin: “In your patience you will gain your souls, and he who endures to the end will be saved.” I thank you earnestly for congratulating me on the last day of my Angel; May the Lord reward you for your favor towards me, a sinner. I am sincerely sorry that you have lost your sight. Of course, this is a very difficult test, but the Lord allowed it to happen to you, loving you and wanting to arrange your eternal salvation through temporary sorrow. Pray to God and surrender to His holy will. More than anything else, this devotion to the will of God and trust in His mercy and love for us sinners can bring us peace of mind amidst physical sorrows. Remember that any confusion is not from God, but from the enemy of our souls, and gives him great joy, and therefore reject every confusing thought, reproach yourself and resort to God with humility and prayer: the Lord will not abandon those who seek His holy name; but without a doubt he will deliver us from the machinations of the enemy. As much as it depends on you, try as much as possible to establish peace and harmony between your relatives, and do not worry too much about the future regarding your maintenance. It was not in vain that the Lord told us not to worry about tomorrow: for your heavenly Father knows that you require these all. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Comfort yourself with these and similar words of the Gospel, and do not faint in your hope in the Lord. I.M. January 30, 1856. Venerable 58 about the Lord M. U-na! From your letter I clearly see the disposition of your heart and the desire for the only goal and desires of the land - Christ. When I, the insignificant one, understand this, how much more does God know and see this, who tests the hearts and wombs, and even His eyes see what we have not done (Ps. 139:16). His wise providence contains the entire universe, controls the destinies of kingdoms and peoples, and especially has His fatherly care for each of His creatures: even a small bird does not fall without His will; then how much more will he care about you, who want to devote yourself to His service and to unveil yourself to the heavenly bridegroom Christ. But here faith and submission to His will are required on your part. It is necessary to withstand the test; for faith is tempted by the contrary. You are faced with temptation: mother’s pity, the world with its charms and pleasures, the fear of an unfamiliar path in your new life; With God’s help you can overcome all this for the love of God. Establish your thought on the cross of patience, so that the waves of this world cannot shake your heart, for which you pray to God and ask for His all-powerful help; Without Him we cannot create anything. God is able to give your mother the feeling that you would prefer a solitary cell to the palaces of this world, and separation from her will be bearable for her and for you, because it is for God. If you got married, wouldn't you have to separate from her? But there it is unknown what fate would meet you: but here the separation is not eternal and the shelter is safe - you see this in your sisters. If your desire cannot be fulfilled soon, then, apparently, the time has not yet come; Until then, keep this title and do not extinguish the flame of God’s love with insignificant things. To strengthen yourself, read the books of the Holy Climacus and others that can instruct you in examining yourself, but beware of thinking something lofty about yourself; For this, the grace of God deprives us of its help, and we give ourselves over to passions and spirits as punishment. Have the humility of Christ, which He commanded to learn from Him, and you will find peace for your soul. When you find the B-th monastery inconvenient for yourself, due to your weakness, then choose the B-th, and in both cases surrender yourself to the will of God; Where He leads you, obey this; When your zeal for the insignificant me does not fail, then your faith will save you everywhere. January 22, 1838. We sincerely rejoice that your mother is pleased, although not completely, about your intention; and do not faint in spirit, but be strong in faith and in your good will. Pray to the Lord, He is able to draw you out of the sea of ​​the world to His quiet refuge. Prince Joasaph had an idolater of a father, who even destroyed the entire monastic order in his kingdom; but where the favor and power of God acted, he not only allowed his son to accept the monastic image, but he himself believed in the Lord, left the kingdom and became a monk: from man it is impossible, but from God all things are possible (Matthew 10:27). Asking for God's peace and blessing upon you, we entrust Him to His all-powerful protection, may He protect you from all the snares of the enemy, may He enlighten you, enlighten you and guide you in true reason, and may He strengthen you on the path of salvation. Hierosch. L. and I.M. April 4, 1839 We received your letter dated September 27, from which we see your spiritual confusion, which stems from the cases you explained, and you involuntarily do what your heart does not agree with; and meanwhile, an argument always comes to you. We see from this that this is a temptation for you - will you really remain steadfast in the love of God and will you not weaken in your intentions? and let you not rely on your own strength and strength, but on God, who calls you from darkness to light, from working in the world to His service; and therefore we must call on His omnipotent help, which, depending on your strength, resistance, will be sent down to you! We do not advise you to get into arguments; the world will find a lot of charming and respectful, although false, which feelings will not be able to resist; but be deaf and dumb to him, and inwardly ask God for deliverance from this delusion. The loveliness of this world and a distracted life is a long path that leads to destruction, but moving away from them and the associated sorrows, reproaches and persecutions are a narrow path that leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:14), Our Lord Jesus Christ, with His most pure lips, said in His teaching: “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you. If you were quicker from the world, the world would love its own: just as you were chosen out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:18, 19); and the holy apostles teach Christians: St. John: “Do not love the world, neither what is in the world: if anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him. Like all the hedgehogs in the world: carnal lust, and selfish lust, and worldly pride; is not from the Father, but is of this world” (1 John 2:15, 16). St. Apostle James: “Do you not know that the love of this world is enmity to God: whoever desires to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4); and St. Paul teaches that “the wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God; For they do not repent of God’s law, for they can do less” (Rom. 8:7). You should know that this teaching does not apply to monks, but to all Orthodox Christians living in the world. The world, which is so harmful to us, struggles in relation to passions and customs that are accepted as the rule in the world, but are not pleasing to God. Those who follow them harm themselves, although they think to be wise; but the wisdom of this world is with God (1 Cor. 3:19), however. Still, we do not attribute this to people, although they are also accepted as the world; God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son for the salvation of the world (John 3:19). And those who use His teaching and fulfill it receive salvation. But even those who at least give themselves over to the world, i.e. His passions and customs, if they have a good heart, God is able to pluck from his jaws with His destinies, and bring him to his senses by sending illnesses and sorrows. Of course, these arguments will seem strange to peace lovers, but we are not writing for them, but to strengthen you. The temptation that happens to you, causing you confusion, must be believed to come from natural warfare and vanity, and also from a high, but subtle opinion about yourself; without these wines the calm of your heart could not be shaken; For all this healing there should be humility, as our Lord teaches: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). Hierosch. L. and I.M. October 15th, 1839. We approve of your zeal and desire for monastic life, but we advise you to patiently endure it until such time as it pleases the Lord to crown your intention with fulfillment. This obstacle serves as a test of your faith and love for God. For every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation, and without that it cannot be firm. Having entered the monastery, do not think that you can immediately find peace - no, there you will be met with a different kind of sorrow and temptation; although you now see them on others, you do not understand, without having suffered the temptation, without sorrows it is impossible to be saved; You need to thank God for everything. The use of herbs in medicine does not interfere, only one must rely not on them, but on the help of God, and most of all, beware, so as not to be faint-hearted in sorrows, but to endure them with patience and submission to the will of God. Hierosch. L. and I.M. April 6, 1840. You soon consigned to oblivion the names of those teachers of piety about whom you inquired, wanting to use their teachings. The book “Philokalia” is all good, but your mind is still young and cannot accept solid food, it still requires you to feed on the milk of activity; and the Lord said to His disciples: The imam has spoken many things to you, but you cannot bear them now (John 16:12). We advise you to read: the active chapters of St. Mark the Ascetic, Symeon the New Theologian, Callistus and Ignatius, leaning towards activity, and dealing with the mental - early; Peter of Damascus, John of Carpathia, Theodore of Edessa, Elijah Ecdicus and Cassian. You can take advantage of many of these and, through activity, preserve your spiritual structure undamaged from the snares and snares of the enemy, reproaching and humbling yourself in everything. But in order to quickly achieve any talents, beware and think about this; These are given through many deeds and labors to those who go through their lives, and most of all to the humble and contrite in heart. Hierosch. L. and I.M. November 9, 1840. From your letter dated December 7, we see how upset you were by your mother’s illness, and that the Lord had mercy on her, raised her from her sickbed and thus consoled you; but again your first desire to withdraw in order to gain salvation in self-denial took place; and at that time I forgot about it. This is how unstable all our actions are, and even more so when they are based on arrogance and opinion! The more we rely, not on ourselves, but on God and His help, and we recognize poverty, weakness and defilement in ourselves (but not with the tongue, but with the heart), then God’s help appears, and we calm down: for, according to the word of God, peace is found in humility and meekness. It seems to you that you do not rely on yourself and that you recognize yourself as insignificant and so on: but however, we advise you not to believe this, since we do not believe you, until you learn this from experience, having entered the field of spiritual life; Perhaps you will meet people whose life seems to you to be inconsistent with your intentions, then you should not be tempted by this; Although you are running like a greyhound, you have not yet recognized your weaknesses, have not yet met the various kindled arrows of the evil one and have not had the opportunity to resist them and tempt your strength, have not yet endured the reproaches, annoyances, insults and reproaches that must certainly meet you, to your trial and test; It seems that you should learn about this from the books of the holy fathers theoretically, and even more from the 4th degree of John Climacus. We write this to you not to frighten you, but to prepare you and warn you against presumption. – You say: without reinforcements, you would again rush into a world that flatters but deceives; Instead of joy and consolation, many find sorrow and grief, which is what we have in mind for many. But those who are presented with that path, regardless of this, they pass through it, and bring their cross, which no one can do without; But whoever decides to choose a different kind of life, a higher one, and then turns to the worst, then incomparably grave sorrows await them. With the flattering illusions of the world, imagine the opposite, and then your thought will calm down on the same basis. January 14, 1841. We are heartily glad that you were comforted by reading the book of the Philokalia. How can secular books, which feed the mind but corrupt the heart, be compared with it? But here it’s completely different: the verbs have eternal life (John 6:68) and cleanse the heart; just read with caution, don’t take things high; and recognizing your weakness, come to humility, which makes all our deeds pleasing to God, and without it deeds will not bring any benefit; but place your trust in God, who is able to preserve you even in the vanity that lies before you. K's mother and we are sorry; but God, who chose her for this obedience, knows more than we do what is for her benefit, and also for the benefit of society. Solitude is not always useful. And do not be seduced by inner sweets; without a cross they are not strong, but even dangerous. Jer. L. and I.M. April 5, 1841. From May 1st, the writing you sent out was received by us on the 18th, from which we see that you, having lived in the world, are languishing with a thirst for monastic life, and seeing yourself surrounded by temptations, vanities and sorrows, you want to quickly move away from them, finding them an obstacle to achieving dispassion; but you don’t know how to proceed with this, fearing that it would be a sin to leave your mother and offend her by doing this? Therefore, with perfect faith, you ask our advice on what to do, trusting us to be dispassionate, and that the Holy Spirit listens to our saints. prayers and instruct us where to direct your life. – In this you are quite mistaken, considering us impassive; You think that living in a monastery is enough to conquer passions. – Didn’t you read in the Philokalia that the Holy Spirit does not come to a person who is not cleansed of passions? But do you think it’s easy to achieve this purification? soon? - This requires a lot of work, heroism and time, and temptations from various thoughts and tempting people; he falls and rises many times, and recognizes his weakness, humbles himself, and does not at all dare to dream that he has achieved dispassion: then, perhaps, he will receive some peace of mind. But you, from the hearing of ears and the ink of letters, are already flowing on a path full of darkness and rapids, dreaming of achieving dispassion. Without entering into battle, you already proclaim victory. It is not useful for beginners to know about a dispensation that exceeds their measure: when you enter this path, then you will see temptation and struggle, and you will know your weakness. But although we are weak and passionate, we do not dare reject your faith; for through it God works even in the weak for the benefit of those who ask. We have repeatedly advised you to pray to God about your intention and trust in Him that He will give you a helping hand in fulfillment, making it convenient and destroying all barriers; Now you see this happening to yourself: courage, good spirits, with which you decide to approach your mother with a request to leave you, who is your gift? Isn't it God? Flocking cases from home and other troubles weighing you down in the world? - Isn’t it also by God’s permission that they arrange so that your heart does not become friends with the world? Yes, and my mother’s consent in some way is these words: “I do not demand your sacrifice.” About the Gospel words, which you mention from Matthew (chapter 15, verses 5 and 6), St. John Chrysostom interprets this, speaking about human tradition: “Having taught the young, in the manner of piety, to despise their fathers. How and in what way? If someone from a parent says to their son: Give me this sheep, or a calf, or something else; - verb: this is a gift from God, which you want to use from Me, but cannot accept. And this is where your evil comes from: it is lower than God’s offering to the shady, and parents under the guise of an offering to the lisha.” See if these words can apply to you, if you truly want to devote yourself to serving God, and when you remain, seemingly sacrificing yourself to her peace, but meanwhile serving the world; the performers of these gospel words? If you were determined to get married, then without a doubt you would have to leave her; And they would have done this for an earthly man, how much more should they do it for God. So, it seems that there is no longer any obstacle for you to begin to fulfill your intention, having first called on God and the Most Pure Virgin Mary for help; ask your mother to send you to the monastery. Having children, she will not be alone. You don’t need to force her or invite her with you, leaving the household, but it is necessary that she has her own good will for this; Without it, monastery life will be a burden for her, and she will grumble a lot about you; and you will deeply repent of it. Hierosch. L. and I.M. August 10, 1841. I had no doubt that you would be touched by the news of the death of our dear father, Fr. L., but how could it be hidden? I receive very touching reviews from many, especially from the monasteries of maidens who are devoted to him. It is my duty to console them all in their cowardice; but what can I do if there is no help from God for this? Everything is possible from God - and this very sad thought that we have lost such a loving father can be changed and given a feeling of consolation by the fact that he deserved the love of so many for himself, having been for the benefit of everyone; undoubtedly deserved God's mercy beyond the boundaries of this world in the spiritual land; and passed from sorrows and illnesses to eternal peace. Being closer to the throne of God, will he leave us, his children, without intercession and intercession with God, and at the same time without admonition in our life? “Only we, for our part, keeping love for him, will try to keep his saving instructions in memory and will be forced to fulfill them. Accept this reasoning as a consolation for your sadness over the deprivation of your priest. Ask to take his place, and remind him of the words he spoke to you about this, as during the life of the priest, with his will that I should participate in the affairs of those disposed towards him, which you yourself quite know; Now, how much more, I dare not reject you. But again, I can’t say that I could completely replace my father’s instructions; but for a believer, everything is possible: if your faith helps, then the Lord is strong enough to give me true reason to tell you a word of benefit, and the priest’s prayers can help in this. You are asking for confirmation of your residence in V.L. with K.’s mother due to her doubts about this. – When you have been blessed once, why look for repetition: do not be double-minded, and K. must be sure by your word that you have a blessing for it. Although you should not always believe in dreams, however, in the healing of your cowardice, you received confirmation in a dream; be calm. Your cohabitation with K. can serve both of you; She, as if she is already somewhat burdened with sorrows and does not have a sister in spirit, as you write, has no one to take her soul to, you will be useful to sweeten her sorrows with friendliness, conversation and strengthening; and she, having experienced spiritual life herself through experiments, will warn you against surpassing and belittling your exploits, for both are harmful; but to follow the royal middle path and not seek spiritual consolations, which, although sweet, are not lasting without the help of the cross, which has many different forms. But now is not the time to talk about this. Think about how to break away from the bonds of the world; - ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; press and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7). May the words of our Savior be your hope for the fulfillment of your desires. When getting down to business, first seek His help, and may His holy will be done! I.M. November 18, 1841. From your last letters I see that in response to the proposal you made to your mother, you received in response her tears, and therefore her refusal; and by her order you describe and present before me her and your position, relying on my consideration. There is very great confidence on both sides in my badness, and I truly consider myself unworthy to solve such a difficult situation for both of you in relation to God and your neighbor. I feel cramped everywhere: leave it unanswered? - it is necessary to sadden both of you; to plunge into despondency; answer decisively? – on both sides I am in fear and bewilderment. I forget my thinness, and look at your faith according to God; I dare, calling on the Lord for help, and I answer you with this: it is terrible to anger God by not fulfilling the vow given to Him; It’s sad to grieve a parent regarding your duty to her! That is why it is difficult to solve this bewilderment. Now you no longer belong to the world, although you live in it, according to the vow you made to God and the will of your heart: but your mother’s sorrow for leaving her will consume your heart, and so you are between two fires. It is necessary to choose the middle and, to the extent possible and strong, with the help of God, observe both: bring the firstfruits of your will to God, and not leave your mother until the time comes. How can this one be reconciled with the other? - You should give your mother pleasure and obedience - stay with her for the time being, only for her, and not for the world, and not for the light; change the suit, although not in the cut of the monastery, but in color, i.e. wear dark, modest and simple clothing; give up going out into the world, as well as receiving secular people, since you no longer belong to the world; Don't leave your busy home. If the world reproaches and hates you for this, do not be surprised at this, this is how it should be, according to the word of God: “If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you. If you were quicker from the world, the world would love its own: for you are not from the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:18, 19). You get used to patience, which will be needed everywhere; but do not forget about humility, which must be coupled with every good deed, without which deeds will not bring us any benefit, and even more harm, which we see fulfilled in many. Although you fast, although you pray, or give alms, beware of the thought that you are doing good, which the enemy is trying to bring in order to destroy all the fruits and separate your soul from God. It seems that your mother should agree to all of the above, so as not to be contrary to the will of God; otherwise, if your heart were to bow back to the world, you would give God no small answer. There is no excuse for not making the sacrifice God requires. And is it any wonder that it will be the will of God to completely deprive you of her, moving you from here to the future - then what kind of repentance should there be? But it's too late. – We do not argue about the possibility of salvation in the world; but to those who are called to this; they can bear the burden and yoke of the world; and whomever God chooses to another calling and calls out of the world, he commands him to take His good yoke and light burden, and learn from Him that He is meek and lowly in heart; and worldly rituals and decency do not suit such a person at all, and just as the sea sweeps away a dead person, so the world casts out and does not love one called from God, who does not agree with its customs; for the word of St. He assures the Apostle of this: those who want to live godly will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). Your mother grieves for you joylessly because she loves the creature more than the Creator! “I’m very glad that T. U-na has her own cell, and a good one at that, considering the crowd there,” the Lord consoled her a lot with this; but one cannot do without spiritual warfare and obtain salvation. Wherever anyone is, there is always a kind of sorrow and temptation that leads us to self-knowledge and humility. I.M. March 30, 1842. I don’t know how my letter will affect you and your mother? “I don’t find any other measure or means to extract you from the world.” Everything is possible for God, but He does not perform miracles unnecessarily, but tests our willful will. This will be the first step on your part to step out from the world; You won’t get away with reproaches, you need to prepare yourself for this. I warned you against the enemy’s deceptions with arrogance, and again I confirm this, with which he can harm more than vices, and so subtly that you cannot recognize his deceits. When you were in contact with the light, then you saw your weaknesses and victories, through which you plunged yourself into insignificance, grieving about this and being careful: and now, having removed that battle from yourself, you will find another, more dangerous than the first - arrogance; That’s why I advise you not to give up your studies, even the economic part that concerns you. Having written to you everything that I found necessary, I entrust you to the protection of God and the Most Pure Virgin Mary - may They arrange for you according to Their will. Mnogohreshny I.M. March 30, 1842. The measure I propose to you to preserve yourself from worldly intrigues by changing your costume seems unsatisfactory to you. I don’t argue against this, and when you find from it, instead of benefit, harm to yourself, from human praise, then you can wear your ordinary clothes, keeping yourself from thoughts, words and deeds that harm your soul. I believed that you (as I heard from you), through handling the light, received spiritual harm, then through a change of clothing you could distance yourself from this; but since now you don’t have to do it, it remains at your will: either follow my advice, or follow your own reason. I also thought that black clothes could be for you a bridle against passions and an irrevocable renunciation of the world. But since my opinion turned out to be erroneous, I am in no way forcing you to do so. Do not be afraid of human praise, but beware of your own or demonic praise, that is, arrogance or conceit. Of course, the monastery's crackers and brushes would have wiped you better, but time will not pass yet. But they are now invisible to you. Your sisters have tried it, then they can know. I. M. May 16, 1842. You took my submission to your will and reasoning about changing clothes as an insult on my part and were offended by this. But quite the contrary, I was not offended at all, but simply surrendered it to your will when you find my opinion inconvenient and useless. I do not dare to forcefully lay down laws for anyone, but I give advice upon their notice; but I cannot rely on it: do I truly think in accordance with the will of God? for I consider myself to have not yet achieved the gift of reasoning - be calm. You have now put on dark clothes; but will there be any benefit from this? - Time will show. I am more afraid for you now for the arrogance and vanity that may come to you, through external and internal praise, and for the lack of temptations and sorrows, through which you would recognize your weaknesses and come to humility. In the monastery there are plenty of them of all kinds, and there is no time for offering them up; and don’t think that when you go to a monastery you will be calm; - no, this is not the path that is acquired by those who are saved; but with many labors, temptations, sorrows and humility; and without the first, the expectation of peace is vain. The Holy Fathers offered us the path to salvation, walking along it with painful feet, and not with joy; and even if anyone thinks that he has found eternal peace of mind, he should be wary, according to the words of Isaac the Syrian. But, apparently, the time has not yet come for you to enter the field of this battle; Pray to God, He is strong to bring you out of the darkness of the canopy of death that mentally surrounds you. Because the people gather in the Church of God on holidays, you do not need to remove yourself from it and be deprived of hearing the Divine Liturgy on such days; but you can move away from people, standing in a secluded place, not looking at their reproaches, and without fear of temptation. I.M. June 9, 1842. If a change of clothing has been beneficial for you, then leave this to the care of God, who provides for you, and notice the machinations of the enemy that resist this. I don’t want to cause your mother grief by forcibly and stubbornly separating you from her; but to part with the world according to your desire, with this measure I decided to make a beginning; although living in the world, one does not belong to it in any way and does not give hope of communicating with it. Your mother is heartbroken and grieving for you, but I don’t know what consolation to give her? I don’t advise you to leave it, but I’m also afraid to give advice to the world, so as not to sin before God for your frustration and betrayal of His title. I leave all this to the providence of God: as He pleases, let Him do so. God is able to give your mother comfort, but let her seek it from the Creator, and not from the creature; Many examples could be found, but I think they are unnecessary. May the Lord Himself enlighten her heart and comfort her with His imperishable consolation. The lack of your current dress can be made up in abundance by one of your previous dresses, sold for a price. Calico is not an expensive material, but is suitable for decent coverage of your body; do not worry about decorating it, but try to decorate the soul. What happens next is not in our power and providence. Surrender to the will of God and be calm. I.M. June 25, 1842. I don’t know what situation you are in now? As far as I can see, you have not lost anything by depriving yourself of decorating yourself, but although you are embarrassed against the world, this deprivation rewards you with spiritual consolation and peace of conscience. Your present sorrows are training and preparation for monastic sorrows; and those who are tempted by them first, the easier it will be later; and those who at first were not visited by them, then later there will be a return that we see on K.’s mother: her sorrows greatly burden her, and she does not see consolation, but at the beginning she did not see them; I have a letter from her dated August 24th. However, God measures our strength and knows the time - when and to whom to send what in order to arrange salvation, and she stands in his way: for through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Acts 14:22). You ask me about treating yourself; I can't stop you; whoever is not treated has only a measure of faith, not praise; and whoever is treated with the hope of God’s help, and not of medicine and a doctor, does not sin. There is nothing to believe in dreams; if your dream is attributed to the fact that there is a change in clothes, then this can serve to confirm it; however, beware of the enemy’s deception, from which may the Lord deliver you by His mercy. I.M. September 8, 1842. Do not blame me for the fact that I am slowly writing to your letter of September 26; You know many of my activities, and to them is also added laziness, the co-educator of my poor dispensation. You write about your ill health and your intention to undergo treatment; I’ll tell you again, may the Lord bless you on this and give you strength for medicine and help for healing. However, we should not necessarily stubbornly desire this or that, but, if we desire, we must submit it to the will of God. Maybe He is looking for a sacrifice of patience from us, which will be pleasing to Him. We do not know the destinies of God's providence, hidden from us, working towards our salvation. He who has acquired firm faith in God can say with David: I am your beast, and I will go with you (Ps. 72:22): read about this from St. Peter of Damascus in the first book about the acquisition of faith. Shouldn’t we give thanks to God that your brother has such compassionate care for you, both for the use and arrangement of all of you for the future? Also about entering the monastery; when the hour of God’s will is ripe, He will arrange everything for the benefit, as long as our will is true; That is why it is now tempted by nasty obstacles. After all, there, too, one must bear temptation, as you now see in K.’s mother; Every good deed is either preceded or followed by temptation: at first it was not difficult for her to enter the monastery, and for a long time she calmed down from grace; but now it is allowed to have the temptation of sorrow, for through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of God. T. Well, because of the temptation, God now consoled them and sent them a special and calm cell. I.M. October 31, 1842. Having received your last letter of October 24, I hasten to answer how much, according to your faith, the Lord will enlighten me. You ask me for permission to eat fast food in St. post Nativity of Christ, on the occasion of the treatment of your illnesses? I think you are sure that I wish you to be healthy, but I also have no doubt that you will not demand the impossible from me. The most merciful Lord has deigned me also to be in the rank of the last of His servants, and through St. the apostles and their successors, granted the power to bind and solve sins (Matthew 18:18); but allow established St. The church did not give me the rules of power. This would all be the same as allowing or allowing one to commit sins. Hear the word: the power has been given to resolve sins committed through human weakness, when those who sinned repent of it, and not to allow it. Violation of the rules established by the Church is also considered a sin, according to the word of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who said to St. to the apostles, and in them and to their successors, the shepherds of the church: “Hear you, He listens to Me: and reject you, He is rejected from Me: reject Me, the Father who sent Me is rejected” (Luke 10:16). And again: “Whoever disobeys the Church, be like a pagan and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). Think about it, how can I give you permission to fast for the fast? If you do it yourself, even out of need, but feel your sin, feel pain about it and repent, there is hope for God’s mercy for forgiveness; and when I give you permission, you will not consider yourself in sin and will not repent, I will be the reason for this, and the sin will still be on you, only with the difference that it is unrepentant. Having provided you with reasons on my part why I cannot allow you to eat fast food, I leave it to your free will to act in this matter; I wish, and may the Lord give you true reason, how to act in such perplexity, and may he calm your conscience and give you health, not only physical, but also spiritual; it is undeniable that the cause of bodily illnesses is mental illnesses, by the providence of God, involuntarily saving us. When you go to V.L. to stay, to tempt yourself, you can get treatment; I'm not against it at all; But I don’t advise you to place your hope in doctors and medicine, but in God, who can enlighten both the doctor and give strength to medicines. If you do not receive healing, then do not complain and do not be faint-hearted; Apparently, it is God’s will to arrange this