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† St. Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh In 1724, in the village of Korotsk, Novgorod diocese, a son, Timofey 87, was born to the poor sexton Savely Kirillovich. This child’s childhood was not joyful, just as the subsequent summers of his youth were not joyful. “As I began to remember myself, St. later said. Tikhon to the cell attendant, in the house of our mother (I don’t remember my father) there were four brothers and two sisters, the elder brother was a sexton - the middle one was taken into military service, and we were still small and lived in great poverty, so we needed daily food; Our mother greatly grieved over how to feed us. In our parish there was a rich coachman, but childless; he came to our house and fell in love with me. More than once he asked my mother for me. “Give me your Tim,” he said, I will raise him instead of my son and everything that is mine will belong to him.” Mother refused him - she was sorry to give me up: but the extreme lack of food forced her to agree. Taking my hand, she led me to the coachman; I remember it well. The older brother was not at home at that time. When he returned, he asked his sister: “Where is mother?” “I took Tim to the coachman,” she answered. “The brother, having caught up with mother and knelt before her, said: “Where are you taking your brother? After all, if you give it to the coachman, he will be the coachman. I don’t want him to be a coachman; I’d rather go around the world with my bag, and not give my brother to the coachman; We’ll try to teach him to read and write, then he can decide to become a sexton or sexton. Mother returned home. “Since there was nothing to eat in the house, I had to spend the entire day harrowing the rich man’s arable land just to feed me bread. This is the kind of need I was brought up in." 88 Decree of the Emperor Anna (Feb. 4th and Mar. 5th 1735), who ordered that uneducated spiritual children be enrolled in military service, forced Timothy to be sent to the Novgorod theological school. “Mother herself took me to school,” said the saint, “and, having given me, she soon died” in Novgorod. Brother Peter was then a clerk in Novgorod and undertook to support Timofey at the school. There were up to 1,000 students at the school at that time, they came running for fear of being drafted into military service. Therefore, they could not accept orphans for diocesan support. Timofey earned his own food: in his spare time, he hired himself out from gardeners to dig ridges. – In 1740, under the care of Blessed. under Archpastor Arseny, the school was transformed into a seminary and placed in the Anthony Monastery; the best of the students, up to 200 in total, were chosen here and accepted for the maintenance of the archpastor; including Timofey, nicknamed Sokolovsky. “But even here the poor orphan had to endure a lot. “It used to be,” he himself said, “when I receive bread, I’ll keep half for myself, and sell the other and buy a candle; I’ll sit with her at the stove and read a book.” The children of wealthy parents laughed at the poor man and he remained silent 89. В школе и семинарии Тимофей учился с отличным успехом и в 1750 г., будучи учеником богословского класса, определен был и в учителя языка греческого. This position brought him a salary of 50 rubles. money and 9 quarters flour. The benefit is very significant for an orphan student. At the end of the course in 1754, he was appointed teacher of rhetoric. He was then 30 years old. The young teacher’s relatives tried to persuade Timofey Savelyevich to marry and take a priestly position; they hoped to have support for themselves in him. But this is not what Timothy wanted and sought. He loved his family and did what he could for them. His poor sister became a widow in extreme poverty; Living in Valdai, she lived by washing the floors of rich people's mansions. - “When I was appointed teacher, the saint said: he took her to Novgorod and kept her on his kosht.” But above all, he loved the Lord and carefully studied His ways. “When I was a teacher,” he said, the archimandrite of the Alexander (Svir) monastery, during a vacation, invited us, teachers, to visit him. We set off. Upon arrival at the monastery, out of curiosity, I alone went to the bell tower to explore the surroundings of the monastery, which were absolutely beautiful. Without testing the railings, I leaned on them, and they suddenly fell to the ground, but it was as if someone had pushed me back and I fell towards the bells, half dead. – Having barely come to my senses, I could hardly leave the bell tower and reach the Archimandrite’s cell. “Why have you changed in your face, Timofey Savelich? comrades asked. Look in the mirror, brother, you look like a dead man.” I answered them: “Give me a cup of tea and then I’ll tell you.” After drinking tea, he led them to the bell tower, where the railings lay broken into pieces. “So I too would be broken,” I said 90. It is clear that this made us think how close death is to us and how we must be prepared for eternity, and not get involved in vanity. The following event endeared Timothy to monasticism even more, as he himself said: “When I was a teacher: even then I loved to spend the night without sleep and engage in either reading soul-helping books or soul-helping thoughts. (I’m telling you privately and you must remain silent about this, he told the cell attendant). – In the month of May the night was pleasant, quiet and bright; I left the cell on the porch facing north, and stood thinking about eternity. Suddenly the heavens opened up and I saw such a light that it is impossible to say with a mortal tongue and to embrace with the mind. This was for a short time and the heavens returned to their form. “From this wonderful vision I developed a more ardent desire for a solitary life. For a long time after that wonderful phenomenon I felt and admired the mind; and to this day I just remember, “I feel joy and joy in my heart” 91. Timofey Savelyevich was tonsured a monk on April. 10th 1758 and named Tikhon. – On Easter week he was ordained in St. Petersburg as a hierodeacon, and in the summer as a hieromonk, by Archbishop Dimitri Sechenov. “That same year he taught philosophy and was prefect of the seminary, but not for long. At the request of Rev. Athanasius of Tver, by decree of the synod on August 26th. 1759, he was entrusted to the order of the Tver archpastor, who immediately ordained him as Archimandrite of the Zheltyakov Monastery 92, and soon he was appointed rector of the Tver Seminary and abbot of the Otroch Monastery. Despite the rapid rise in the ranks of honor, blessed. Tikhon did not dream about himself, he worked on his soul and at times searched for thoughts of the desert. “I never thought about an important rank,” he later said. My thoughts were definitely to retire to a desert monastery, be a monk and lead a solitary life. Near the mountains. Tver had a monastery estate and a grove with it; the position of the place is beautiful and secluded; I had the intention of building myself cells for solitude in this grove. “But it is the fate of the Most High that I am an unworthy bishop.” Regarding his election as a bishop, he said this: “When I was an archimandrite in Tver, present in the consistory and rector of the seminary: on St. I served Easter with the Rev. Athanasius in the cathedral liturgy. What happened? According to the custom of the bishop's service, during the Cherubic song, when the bishop himself took out particles of health from the altar, approaching the altar, I said: “Remember me, Holy Master!” The bishop said - instead of your sacred archimandriteship, may the Lord God remember your bishopric in his kingdom. He himself smiled and said to me: “God grant you to be a bishop!” Later I learned that on that very day of Easter in St. Petersburg, the first synodal member, Metropolitan Sechenov, with Epiphanius, the bishop of Smolensk, cast lots; seven candidate lots were inscribed; and the Smolensk bishop said to the metropolitan: “order the lot of the Tver rector Tikhon to be written”: Sechenov said: “he is still young, time has not passed.” However, they wrote, and my lot was eighth. They cast lots three times and my lot was always drawn. The Metropolitan said: “Well, you know, it pleases God that he be a bishop; I assigned him to the wrong place.” - After M. Sechenov himself told me: “I had the intention of transferring you to the Trinity Lavra as an archimandrite” 93 . May 13, 1761 St. Tikhon was consecrated bishop of the cities of Kexholm and Ladoga and vicar of the Novgorod diocese in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. This was in the 37th year of his life. The Khutyn Monastery was designated for his stay. The new bishop immediately went there. Many people came out to meet him, especially because he was a Novgorod student. Among those who met was my own sister. “The next day I sent a stroller for her from Khutyn,” the saint said: but she, poor thing, having arrived, does not dare to enter my cell. Opening the door, I said to her: perhaps, sister! She burst into tears and came to me. “What are you crying about, sister?” I asked. “I’m crying,” she said, with great joy, brother! You remember in what poverty we were brought up under mother; sometimes they didn’t have food for the day; and now I see you - in what a high rank!” I asked her to visit me more often. “Sister! I said, now you have something to come with; I have servants, horses and a carriage for you.” “Thank you, brother,” she said, “but I might bore you with my frequent visits.” “No, dear,” I told her, I will never miss your visit, I sincerely love and honor you (she was my older sister). Upon arrival in Novgorod, my sister lived only a month and died. I myself performed the funeral service for her body. According to the order of the bishop's service, I venerated St. icon, went to the tomb, opened the lid and overshadowed its body; and she seemed to smile at me. Only God knows whether my eyes imagined this: but I seemed to be beside myself with joy, while I cried on the way, and could hardly serve the entire mass and burial from bitter tears. She had a good life." In addition to his sister, the Right Reverend was met in Novgorod by some of his school comrades. He recalled this meeting like this: “those who mocked me also came, as usual, to receive the blessing. I reminded them how they waved their burnt marks at me: “Now you will burn incense and censers,” I said: “Forgive me, holy master!” they said. “I’m telling you jokingly, brothers,” I answered” 94. In Aug. 1762 St. The synod went to Moscow for coronation, and Bishop Tikhon was ordered to come to St. Petersburg and preside over the synodal office. Meanwhile, Jan. On the 1st 1763, Voronezh Bishop Ioannikiy Pavlutsky died. The Rev. was appointed to the Voronezh department (Feb. 3). Tikhon 95. At the end of April, upon returning from St. Petersburg, he went to his new flock. Feeling a health disorder on the road, the saint, when he saw the state of the diocese neglected in all respects, went to bed and, burdened by being sick where he saw the need for strong activity, asked St. the synod to retire him due to illness: but from the synod it was given to call that the advice of a doctor would restore his health in his youth. Having listened to a new challenge to activity, he began to act. And his work at the Voronezh department is truly amazing. He did not rule the flock for long: how much he managed to accomplish! Notified that some of the clergy do not know how to perform the service of God and therefore there is no service even on holidays, the saint ordered (July 11, 1763) those who supervised the clergy to personally witness how the service was performed, and send those who did not know to him. “Many priests and deacons come to me,” he wrote on August 9 of the same year, who are extremely ignorant of the gospel and the apostle of honor. Without reading the New Testament, one cannot know the will of the Heavenly Father, and without knowing it is impossible to fulfill it, and from failure to fulfill His holy will, obvious destruction follows. For this reason, everyone is ordered,” from the monk to the priest, “to each have new covenants and read them with reverence and diligence.” In Feb. In 1764, the instruction he compiled was sent to the clergy about their main duties, so that it was nailed to every altar 96. In the same year, instructions on marriages and (October 13) instructions on confession 97 were sent out. Then they offer: instructions to priests about the seven mysteries and an addition about confession 98, samples of exhortation to the sick 99 and defendants 100. To arouse zeal for duty, he sent out a circular message to the priests, with an admonition to live in mutual love soberly and reverently, to edify the people through divine service and instructions 101. More than once the clergy were instructed not to commit illegal marriages, and special “instructions” on this subject were sent out 102. Having learned that some of the priests were leaving on Sundays and holidays for fairs, a hundred miles away, the saint strictly ordered not to leave the parish without the permission of the authorities 103 . It was ordered (October 9, 1763) that the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts be celebrated without fail during Lent, which some did not do due to laziness. The ban on entering taverns was confirmed (September 6, 1763). – The saint took great care to keep the churches of God clean; where there are deacons, he ordered (Oct. 2, 1763) to entrust them with the sacristy and care for its cleanliness. He especially severely punished priests for careless storage of St. Tain: from one (October 6, 1763) he ordered to take away the assigned letter, the other was sent (September 6, 1763) to a monastery for a year. With such negligence, the saint wrote (July 1, 1763), “Christ the Savior Himself, present in the mysteries under the guise of bread and wine, is dealt no small amount of disrespect, and even more so, dishonor.” He used all measures in his power to ensure that the wine for St. the freshest and best were consumed at the Eucharist; in places remote from trade, deans were obliged to buy wine by the barrel for the entire deanery; Regarding the cities, he communicated with the civil authorities, “so that the provincial office, since the matter concerns what is most necessary for the church, proposed by decrees to the magistrates that they sell the purest and not oxidized church wine” (May 12, 1763). In order to prepare the best servants of the altar of God, the saint took active measures regarding theological schools. First, it was ordered to open Slavic schools in all cities. But they turned out to be of little use. Therefore, Latin schools were opened in Ostrogozhsk and Yelets. Then, when a sum was assigned for the maintenance of schools, a seminary was opened in Voronezh 104. For her, mentors were called from Kiev and Kharkov, the order of teaching science was outlined, and instructions were given to protect the good behavior of students 105. The saint saw to it that the clergy were not oppressed in the consistory. Once (March 24, 1764) for an incorrect decision in a case, he imposed a heavy fine on a member of the consistory and on the secretary, and only for St. I forgave Easter. He strictly forbade (September 10, 1765) consistory officials from treating priests rudely and impudently, for fear of being brought to trial. For a quicker and more correct solution to matters, he appointed (Dec. 20, 1763) a second member for the district boards, leaving the choice to the clergy themselves. In judicial rulings, the saint was seen not so much as a judge punishing sin, but as a shepherd caring for the correction of the guilty. “Although it would be necessary,” he wrote (November 1764), to transfer the priest (for a serious quarrel) (to another place), he remains in the same place so that the house does not go bankrupt; for his guilt, he will make 100 bows a day in the cathedral for a week... then he will be released with a signature, so that he will be extremely careful of a quarrel, in which he should not even approach the altar according to the word of Christ.” – It was the custom then to subject spiritual people to corporal punishment in the consistory; The saint wrote (July 14th 1763) about priests: “do not inflict any punishment on the body.” The zealous saint was vigilantly concerned to arouse Christian piety in the people with one thing or another. “According to the prayer behind the pulpit at the liturgy, he wrote (July 14th 1763), on every Sunday and holiday, read either an interpretation of the Gospel or from another book accepted by St. Church, or at least a useful word of the prologue - on other Sundays, read according to the following psalter, a very useful, stimulating word for a sleepy and careless soul, the word of St. Kirill Alex. "to the end of the soul." Throughout his entire service to the flock, he strictly monitored the implementation of this instruction and subjected those who did not comply with monetary fines 106. At various times, he sent out brief instructions throughout the diocese for reading in churches: a) what should be done in St. enter churches for praise; b) every Christian from infancy to death must always keep in his memory the vows of baptism; c) some notes for awakening oneself from a sinful sleep; d) flesh and spirit - a collection of moral teachings; e) finally (Sept. 25th 1766) an explanation of Christian duties. When he learned that they did not want to listen to the catechetical teachings offered according to his instructions, he spoke himself and ordered an accusatory admonition to be sent out to the churches. “When a jester jokes in front of you,” he said, or a gentleman lies, you listen to them with eagerness and pleasure; and when a preacher among the church preaches the truth, speaks the verbs of eternal life, you turn away the union... I think that if they taught here the doctrine of how to make money, how to get ranks and distinctions, both parents and children would come here” 107 . The saint ordered (Jan. 2, 1765) the clergy to closely monitor that parishioners come to church on Sundays and holidays and when they arrive they stand reverently, do not talk or make noise. He also sent out throughout the diocese “a short admonition on how it is appropriate to enter holy churches for doxology” 108 . He cared not only that reverence was preserved in the churches of God, but also that there were no riots in the squares, especially on holidays. Having learned that in some places the laity got drunk, made noise and sang songs during the service of God, the saint ordered (June 16, 1765) the priests to restrain parishioners from such outrages, and to report to him about disobedient ones. He portrayed public festivities, immodest games, and the drunken merriment of holidays as a fire that devastates souls 109 . He zealously rebelled against the excesses of Maslenitsa. Until his time, they continued to celebrate the pagan holiday of Yaril - carnal lust - in Voronezh. The holiday began on Wednesday after Trinity Day and continued until Tuesday of Peter's Lent. Residents of Voronezh and neighboring settlements gathered in the square that was outside the Moscow gates of Voronezh. A young man with a paper cap on his head, tied with ribbons, flowers, bells, danced in the square and with him everything danced and went wild - drunkenness, fistfights, fights and all sorts of disgrace appeared. The holy shepherd appeared in the square denouncing the “stinking holiday” and spoke with such force that in his eyes the huts and shops were destroyed and the people dispersed 110. Then he spoke a word against Yaril in the cathedral. He depicted how indecent it was to celebrate an unholy celebration at a time when “the Church has not yet had time to celebrate the feast of St. Pentecost,” I tell people “who by threefold immersion have renounced Satan and all his works,” how destructive it is to renounce Christ and pay Him for love with ingratitude. “In grief and heart disease, I appeal to those living in the city of Voronezh - destroy evil. Priests are shepherds of the verbal sheep of Christ! insist, beg, forbid; spare the souls entrusted to you by the chief shepherd Jesus Christ. - Gentlemen, commanders, who have been given a sword by the most pious monarch to intimidate the wicked! Frighten with this sword and stop disorder and temptations. Fathers and mothers! keep your children from doing this in every way, lest you be tortured for them on the day of judgment! Having refuted the objections, arousing contempt for the very name of Yaril, “unworthy of chaste hearing,” he concludes: “Celebrate the one Trinitarian God, the Father, the Son and the Holy. Spirit, be baptized into Him" ​​111. The shepherd's zeal was crowned with complete success: the Yaril holiday was never repeated. The holy shepherd entered, as much as possible, into the private lives of the members of his flock. He especially tried to put out quarrels. So, in the second year of his reign, he wrote to one who was avenging an insult: “How will you pray to God: forgive us our debts, as we forgive them? Our brother is the same as us; - and we are worms, earth, stinking dirt, how many times do we anger God our Creator, the great and terrible Lord... Leave the memory of malice. This thin and unworthy piece of paper is mine as a testimony, and it will be a conviction for you at the judgment of Christ” 112. – Towards the end of the second year of the enarchial administration there was a case described by Tikhon’s cell attendant. In the fall (1764), the saint, traveling along the Moscow highway to the funeral of a landowner, stopped in the village. A stable for changing horses. The peasants did not give him horses and boldly said: “You are not our governor, so that we can gather horses soon.” When the archpastor said that it is necessary to honor the archpastor, they insulted him with new rudeness: “You, they said, are a shepherd over the priests and over the sextons.” In these words, obviously, the voice of the century sounded, the response of the representatives of the time. The shepherd said: “Fear God, don’t torture me.” And they barely listened to him. Subsequently, already in Zadonsk, the perpetrators came to ask for forgiveness from the saint. “They said he cursed us and all our good horses fall.” The saint was ill then and through the cell attendant answered that he did not curse, but God himself was punishing them for insulting the shepherd, so that they would come to their senses; He, with love, allows them to repent 113. St. suffered many sorrows. Tikhon the Don people with their self-will are a schismatic matter. “The Don Army,” the archpastor wrote to the synod in 1765, through illegal autocracy interferes in church affairs, appoints sextons and sextons, and dismisses those ordained as archpastors and enrolls them as Cossacks. In the three deaneries of Cherkassk there were 58 persons arbitrarily appointed by the Cossacks; and the priest Sergius, who reported on the schismatics hiding, was put in the block by the ataman and sent to the military office.” According to the inspection carried out at the end of 1764, a lot of disorder was found in the Cossack churches and parishes; but there is no way to correct them.” Holy The synod reported this to the military board 114. Saint Tikhon in other cases did not like the interference of secular persons in spiritual affairs. The consistory justified one priest by recalling the staff officers and other people. The saint wrote: “secular people have nothing to know about the rule of spiritual affairs; therefore the certificate given to the priest is doubtful” (1763 Dec. 20). Another priest justified himself in violating the order by saying that he did it for the governor’s assistant: the saint increased his punishment (September 2nd and 3rd, 1764). As for the Don people, he was very worried about their split. On this subject, he established a special investigative commission to uncover the affairs of the schism, and the educated widowed deacon Vasily Mikhailov (October 23, 1763), later an exemplary priest, was appointed as a missionary. Poor people had free access to the saint. Alms were given to the poor in his house, and they were sent on holidays to almshouses and prisons. Only 4 years and 7 months St. Tikhon ruled the Voronezh flock. Pastoral labors, from which he had the shortest rest, worries and sorrows that were the result of obstacles to his saintly intentions, upset his health all the more easily since he was naturally prone to nervous diseases. But he did not want to omit the affairs of his rank due to illness, out of a sense of the height of his rank. “Here are the reasons for my solitude,” he himself said: the weakness of my health did not allow me to manage the diocese; the episcopal omophorion, which bishops wear on their shoulders, is very heavy” 115. That's why he asked St. synod on his dismissal from government affairs and permission to live in the monastery of the diocese; at the end of 1767 he was dismissed with a pension and retired to the Tolshevsky desert monastery. The swampy situation of the monastery and the inveterate schismatic - its abbot, intensified his health disorder and he moved to the Zadonsky Monastery. In solitude, Tikhon devoted himself with all zeal to the exploits of monastic life. He went to church almost every day for liturgy and vespers and sang himself in the choir. In the spring and summer I worked in the garden to improve my health. “He spent nights without sleep and went to bed at dawn. His exercise at night was prayers with bows, and not cold ones, but the hottest ones; sometimes he shouted out loud: Lord have mercy/Lord have mercy! and added: Breadwinner, have mercy! He hit the floor with his head. “At midnight he went out to the front cell and sang the holy psalms quietly and touchingly. When I was in dark thoughts, I sang: It is good for me, for you have humbled me (Ps. 119:71). In deep thoughts he sang: praise the Lord from heaven (Ps. 148) and other comforting psalms, but always with tears and heartfelt sighing” 116. In the first year of his stay in the Zadonsk monastery, where his health improved, his fiery, active soul began to be burdened by peace; he reproached himself for the short-term service of the Church, for which he accepted the rank of bishop. He often admitted this sad state of mind to those around him and to his acquaintances; but later he himself recognized his boring thoughts as a temptation and freed himself from them with prayers. In this state of mind, he painted a living picture: “flowing water” 117. His cell attendant writes: “more than once he planned to leave the Zadonsk monastery for the Novgorod diocese, where Metropolitan had invited him more than once. Gabriel. One day he decided to leave and already wrote a petition where it should go.” When the cell attendant announced this to Elder Aaron, he said: “Why are you raging? The Mother of God does not order him to leave here.” The cell attendant conveyed this to the Reverend. “If so,” said the blessed one. Tikhon, I won’t leave here, and tore up the request” 118. The most difficult, most annoying temptation for him was his melancholic character, mixed with choleric. It happened that he said to the cell attendant: “I don’t know what to do with myself, brother? Or don’t you feel that there is a stench in the cell? Take some tar and pour it on the floor.” He loved the tar smell. Or he will say: “let’s go to the village.” Lipovka." This village is 15 versts from Zadonsk, there was a master's house there, but the Bakhteevs did not live in it. At times he lived there for two months or more; He himself celebrated Vespers, Matins and the Hours in the house. Sometimes he went to the Tolshevsky Monastery, which he liked for its deserted silence, or he went a mile and a half from Zadonsk to a clearing surrounded by forest, where he prayed in solitude and where with his own hands he created a spring of clean, fresh water. - At another time, the cassock monk Theophan, who lived near his cell, an elder, served as a cure for his troubled soul; the simplest of the odnodvortsev, illiterate, but kind. When the bishop fell into a gloomy mood: “Theophan! He’ll say, it’s time, it’s time to go home - I’m already bored with life, I’d be glad to die, just not to be deprived of eternal bliss.” Theophan interrupted the spiritual words of the saint and began to say his own. “Bachka” – that’s what he called the Eminence – “listen”! - and the Right Reverend listened to the unwise Theophan and calmed down. “Theophanes is my joy,” he said, I love him both for his simplicity and for the fact that he is never idle, always at work.” Feofan wove bast shoes and did tailoring; but St. Tikhon loved him so much that he rarely sat down at the table without him. After the dinner table, the Right Reverend rested for an hour or more. Getting up, I read the lives of the saints and other books 119. Chrysostom was his favorite teacher. Of the prophets, Isaiah was most often read; I knew the psalter by heart. He wanted to see in the Russian translation the new testament, which he often read: but he stopped so as not to tempt the blind adherents of the letter 120. When I went somewhere, I always read the psalter, and sometimes I sang out loud. He loved simplicity. His bed was a carpet stuffed with straw; the blanket was a sheepskin sheepskin coat covered with Chinese wool; His cassock was one of cloth or garus, one of the cassocks was sheepskin, the other was covered with hare fur, covered with Chinese cloth; he girded himself with a belt, put on boots and cloth stockings, tying them with belts; and for two winters I wore bast shoes, but only in my cell; when he went to mass or there were guests, he put on boots; he had a belt rosary; there was no chest, but only a leather bag, and that one was dilapidated; dressed and put on his shoes himself 121. He acquired humility and meekness through hard work. Due to his natural liveliness of character, he happened to insult others; in that case, he came to the offended person, admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness. “He forgave those who insulted him even without asking for forgiveness. “Not only did the unreasonable abbot of the monastery make various insults to the saint, he even suffered a lot from the monastery servants.” Sometimes he walked around the monastery while they were working, and it happened that they laughed after him. He doesn't seem to hear anything; and then he will say: “God so pleases that the ministers laugh at me, and I deserve it for my sins.” He often used to say in such cases: “forgiveness is better than revenge” 122. One day he was sitting on the porch of his cell and struggling with thoughts of conceit that persistently attacked his soul. Suddenly the holy fool (Kamenev), surrounded by boys, ran up to him, hit him on the cheek, and said in his ear: “Don’t be arrogant.” “At that very moment I felt that the demon of arrogance had departed from me,” said the Right Reverend.” For this medicine blessed. Tikhon decided to give the holy fool 3 kopecks every day and gave out 123 until his death. Great was the love of St. Tikhon to all people. He said that he wished salvation for everyone, not only schismatics, but also those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus, Turks, Jews; May everyone receive eternal bliss. Some of the Don schismatics, who were still wavering in their determination to leave the schism, were sent to the blessed one. Tikhon to M. Gabriel for conversations and returned as children of St. Churches. Bl. Tikhon was delighted, hugged them and said: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for I have found the lost sheep; glory to God, glory to God for His goodness to us.” Having heard about Tikhon's love for everyone, the Saratov schismatics invited him to be their bishop. “What empty, what dark people!” answered the saint. – To one monk, whom schismatics were seducing into schism, he wrote: “Beware of schismatics like fire and have no communication with them; even if they fasted for weeks and always prayed and showed other things: run away from them.” For many of the surrounding landowners and merchants, St. Tikhon was a diligent teacher. “Beware of corrupt companies like a pestilence,” he wrote to a young nobleman: you will not soon recognize the ulcer from them on yourself, but you will feel it incomparably more harmful than the pestilence does. He strictly rebuked the wives for their rich outfits and the rich for their increased luxury 125. – After the admonitions of the saint, many of the scattered people gave up their bad habits; others again fell into sins, but were admonished by the executions of God. One landowner, according to the saint’s conviction, gave up his passion for hunting with dogs: but then he became addicted to playing cards and was punished for it - his son drowned. This struck him so much that he gave up cards and luxury and spent the rest of his life as a good Christian 126. Bl. Tikhon sometimes left the monastery to visit his acquaintances for conversations about salvation; he did not like idle talk. His memory was so extensive and strong that it served him instead of books. Texts of St. He quoted the scriptures from word to word; he added the words of the fathers to the explanation and made philological remarks. He often appeared in the house uninvited, but at a time when his presence was very necessary. This happened during family discord, during the division of inheritance, etc. The saint was greeted as an angel and he left peace and love in the house 127. In one house, St. Tikhon entered into a conversation with a rich nobleman, a hot-tempered and proud man. Noticing that he was getting excited, he began to answer quietly and calmly, but forcefully refuting his judgment. He lost his temper to the point that in a frenzy he hit the saint on the cheek. The saint fell at his feet: “Forgive me, he said, for God’s sake, that I led you into temptation.” The fiery one came to his senses and, falling at the feet of the saint, begged for forgiveness and from that time on became a good Christian. The blessed one loved to talk with common people and always about spiritual benefit; He was gentle and simple with them, offered simple instructions, gave them examples from the lives of saints. – Strict in himself, he was lenient towards others. On Friday before the Vai holiday, he entered the cell of his friend schemamonk Mitrofan and saw him at the table with Kozma Ignatievich, a citizen of Yelets, whom he also loved. There was fish on the table. - Friends were embarrassed. Good Tikhon said: “Sit down, I know you; love is higher than fasting." And to calm them down even more, he himself tasted their fish soup 128. He taught small children to go to mass by his caresses with them. When he leaves the church, they follow him; He will enter the cell and they will follow him, they will bow three times and say loudly, according to his instructions: Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee. He asks: “children! “Where is our God?” They answer in a loud voice: “Our God is in heaven and on earth.” - That's good, children! he will pat them on the head, give them a penny and a piece of white bread, and in the summer, an apple. When, due to poor health, he was not in church, the children would see that he was not there and leave the church. Learning about this, the Right Reverend smiled and said: “It’s a problem, they are poor people who come for bread” 129 . His soul was especially full of compassion for the poor and unfortunate. - He distributed all his clothes to them upon his retirement. Almost all of his pension went to them. He bought them fur coats, caftans, shoes, bread and distributed them; For some he bought cattle, for others he bought a hut. He entered into conversation with the villagers about their life and supplied them with what they needed. In 1768, he sent Mitrofan with money to the burned Livny, and the next year, when Yelets burned, he himself went to Voronezh and Ostrogozhsk to ask for help for those affected by the fire. - He loved Yelets; arriving here in the evening, he stopped outside the city and walked to the prison to the prisoners, asking everyone about the reason for their imprisonment; exhorted to repentance; upon leaving, he gave alms, and those held for debts received money from him for ransom. In 1770, he sent a novice with money to his relatives, and he gave “brother Efim 5 rubles, and another brother, Peter, who lived in Novgorod, 10 rubles.” In the same year, he sent the same cell attendant with letters to St. Petersburg to seek the release from military service of the two sons of the “old church widow” and was very happy when they were dismissed 130. “The Lord marked one of his acts of mercy with a miracle. Two of the Yelets residents decided to fraudulently receive benefits from St. Tikhon. Appearing to him, they said with feigned tears that they had lost everything from the fire. The saint looked them in the eye and gave them some money. Pleased with the successful deception, they hurried to Yelets, but saw their houses in flames. After that they appeared with repentance to the saint; he prayed for them, forgave them and, giving them money, asked them to live honestly. These people were after that the best to the grave 131. St. Tikhon also nourished the hearts of people with written instructions. This also calmed his spirit, which at times was confused by the thought of his early peace. And his best works, written in retirement, are as follows: “spiritual treasure collected from the world” (written in 1770) 132 and another - “about true Christianity” (1777). He corresponded with landowners and merchants about spiritual salvation and composed short teachings, which he himself did not speak in church, but instructed others to read. With special love he cared for those who wanted to devote themselves to serving God. Nikandr Alekseevich Bakhteev, who fell in love with St. from his youth. Tikhon, left the military and service and decided to enter the monastery: but the father did not want to hear about it: he locked his son in the top floor of the house and interrupted his relations with the blessed one. Tikhon; my son left home at night. The saint, having met him on the banks of the Don, said: “I felt that this night you would leave your parents, I came for Mitrofan to meet you - do not be afraid, although there will be searches for you, you will remain in the fence of Christ.” Arriving at the cell of Fr. Mitrofan, the saint ordered Nikandr Alekseevich to drink tea and then hide him where he knew; O. Mitrofan took him to the cave that was under the cell. The father came to the monastery with anger and the floor of Mitrofan’s cell was broken; he complained to the governor and the archpastor; the latter barely persuaded him to calm down. “It is dangerous,” he told his father, “to insult a righteous man; You have two more sons, let one serve the king of heaven.” So Nikandr Alekseevich remained in the monastery and here, in his cell, he died in 1813, having lived in the monastery for 40 years. Through exploits of self-denial and love, the blessed soul. Tikhona rose to the contemplation of the heavenly and to the insights of the future. In 1778, in a subtle dream, he had the following vision: the Mother of God stood on the clouds and the ap. Peter and Paul; He himself, on his knees, asked the Most Pure One for continued mercy to the world. Ap. Paul said loudly: “When they speak peace and affirmation, then destruction will suddenly attack them.” The blessed one woke up in trepidation and tears. – The next year he again saw the Mother of God in the air and several faces around her; he fell to his knees and four men dressed in white robes fell to their knees around him; he asked the Most Pure One for someone, so that he would not move away from him. (Who these persons were and for whom the request was made, he did not tell the cell attendant). The Most Pure One answered: “It will be at your request.” 133 – When was the birth manifest received? K. Alexander Pavlovich, St. Tikhon, in a conversation with his friend Bakhteev, predicted many things that happened under Alexander. In 1812, when Napoleon had just entered Russia, Nikandr Alekseevich, according to the words of St. Tikhon said that Goliath would perish, and Russia would triumph. Once St. Tikhon was walking around the garden and suddenly stopped, knelt down, put his hands to his heart, turned his eyes to the sky, as if he saw something there, his face changed and brightened. The cleric from the bell tower saw all this and, running in fear, told the monks what he had seen; They hurried to the bell tower, but Tikhon was already calmly walking around the garden. Similar phenomena also happened in the cell; the blessed one forbade the cell attendants to talk about it 134. Three years before his death, he prayed every day: tell me, Lord, my death. And a quiet voice at dawn said: “a day of the week.” That same year, he saw in a dream a beautiful meadow with wonderful chambers on it; he wanted to enter the doors, but they told him: “in three years you can enter, but now work hard.” After this vision, he locked himself in his cell to cry over his coffin, which stood in a closet, hidden from people. A year and three months before death, in a subtle dream, St. Tikhon, that he stands in the side chapel of the monastery church; a familiar priest carried a baby under a veil from the altar to the royal doors; Tikhon came up and kissed the baby on the right cheek, and the baby hit him on the left. Waking up, he felt numbness in his left cheek, left leg and shaking in his left hand. He accepted this illness with joy. Shortly before his death, the saint saw a high and steep staircase in a dream and heard the command to climb it. “I,” he told his friend Kozma, “at first was afraid of my weakness, but when I began to ascend, the people standing near the stairs seemed to lift me higher and higher, into the very clouds.” “The staircase,” Kozma explained, is the path to the kingdom of heaven; those who helped you are those who use your instructions and will remember you. The saint said with tears: “I myself also think, I feel the proximity of death” 135. In accordance with the heavenly promise, the death of St. Tikhon followed on Sunday, August 13, 1783. “Memory of the Right Reverend Tikhon,” so declared St. Synod on June 20, 1861, from the day of his repose he was reverently honored by the Orthodox Russian people. – Believers were attracted to veneration of the saint by memories of his lofty Christian virtues, and by the broadcasts of the wisdom of the Gospel left in his God-enlightened writings, and by various miraculous healings; illnesses that occurred at his grave. On all this was based the pious hope that this hierarch was canonized. Even at the end of the last century, such hope was expressed in petitions received by the Most High Name and the Holy Synod. “On May 19, they opened the coffin and found that the body of St. Tikhon, by the grace of God, had been preserved incorruptible and the bishop’s vestment in which the saint was buried also remained intact, despite the dampness of the grave. His Eminence Isidore and Joseph received testimony from various persons, who testified under oath that some of them experienced miraculous healings on themselves, and others on their relatives, through the intercession of the saint. Such events; embracing the flow of time from 1820 to January 1861, they examined 48, of which 19 were at one time included in books specially kept in the Zadonsky Monastery” 136. The Holy Synod decided to make the grand opening of St. relics on August 13, 1861. And it was performed on this date, “on Sunday.” On the same day, the celebration of the Passionate Icon of the Mother of God In Palitsy, a village in the Nizhny Novgorod province, the villager Ekaterina, from the very moment she entered into marriage, was possessed by a demon for seven years. Finally, she completely lost her mind and began to move away from people, running through forests and uninhabited places; She often attempted to take her own life; threw herself into the water; put a noose on herself; but, fortunately, she was kept from committing suicide every time. One day the patient came to her senses. Realizing her plight, she turned to the Mother of God in prayer, tearfully asking her for deliverance from demonic torment, and vowed to enter a monastery if she recovered. Soon after this, she received healing: forgetting her vow, she began to live with her husband again and, having had children, began raising them. Quite some time had already passed before she remembered her promise and felt fear for breaking her vow; From mental exhaustion she went to bed. Suddenly she hears someone approaching the door of her room and saying a prayer; the doors opened and the Virgin entered her, dressed in a scarlet robe, woven everywhere with the gold of ineffable light; She was accompanied by another luminous maiden. The Blessed Virgin said: “Catherine! Why did you not fulfill your vow to serve my Son and God in the monastic rite? Go now and tell everyone about my appearance to you and tell those who live in the world to abstain from malice, envy, drunkenness and all uncleanness.” The Mother of God appeared twice. But when Catherine still did not dare to fulfill the command of the Mother of God: at the third appearance she was punished: she completely relaxed. Having punished her for disobedience, the Mother of God told her: “go immediately to Nizhny Novgorod to the icon painter Gregory. He has an image written by him in my name, called Hodegetria, tell him about my appearances and, collecting seven silver coins in my name, give them to the icon painter to decorate this image. When you pray before him with faith, you and many others will receive healing.” Catherine fulfilled the command, found an image of the Mother of God from the icon painter and, after fervent prayer before it, received healing. From that time on, miracles began to happen from this icon, and it was transferred to the village of Palets in the ancestral home of Prince Lykov, and there it was placed in the church of St. unmercenaries Kosma and Damian, from where in 1641, by the will of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, it was moved to Moscow. On the site of the meeting of this icon at the Tverskaya Gate a church was built, and in 1654 a nunnery called Strastnoy. The celebration of the icon takes place on the sixth Sunday after Easter, in memory of the miracles of the Mother of God that happened on this day. The Passion Icon received its name because two Angels are depicted near the face of the Mother of God with the instruments of the Lord’s passion. Life of St. Tikhon was described by: a) his cell attendant John Efimov, in monasticism Tikhon, in letters stored in the Sofia Bible. No. 194, and in the extract included in Evgenie’s biography of Rev. Tikhon, ed. during the second edition of Tikhon's works; b) cell attendant V.I. Chebotarev in notes; to Orthodox. review 1861 printed. Chebotarev's notes according to the list, where some notes by Tikhon are included and other notes by Chebotarev are omitted. Chebotarev, who, according to him, was from 1770 under St. Tikhon, wrote after the printed biography, and he not only says a lot of new things, but also corrects previous mistakes; c) several stories by Beksheev’s friend Tikhonov - in Moskvityanin 1843 No. 4., and several Yelets stories in Voskr. read 1838 No. 37; d) the pastoral activity of the Voronezh saint according to the consistory papers is described in the addendum. to creativity St. dept. 1862 pp. 181–223. Timofey's father was named Sokolov by Chebotarev Savely and Timofey Savelyevich in a decree of 1754 when he was appointed to the position of poetry teacher. Chebotareva zap. Tikhon speaks about it this way: “during his stay in Novgorod, being a teacher, he came together with Tikhon of Ryazan, also a former teacher, to Simon Lagovsky’s apartment, also still in Beltsy, and going out on his porch at night, he saw on the eastern side, like large doors, open heaven, which lasted for a quarter of an hour; his eyes darkened from this light.” It's a matter of architecture. Synod 1763 No. 150. "Instructions" ex. in add. to creativity dept. 1862 190–194. Orders Dec. 10th 1763 and by Aug. 9th 1766 See detailed information about this in the addendum. to creativity father 1862 204–212. Zap. m. Evgenia. Works of Tikhov I, 46. From a priest up to 5 rubles, which was a large amount at that time. Rev. May 30 and June 23. 1795 Op. Tikhon III, 337–340. Op. Tikhon III, 47. 1, 30. Zap. cell attendant John. Op. Tikhona 1, 13–20. Christ. Thurs. 1834 1, 314. T. XI, 172. Moskvityanin 1843 No. 4. p. 470. 471. Moskvityanin 1843 No. 4. p. 471. Sunday Thurs. 1838 No. 37. Tamb. diocese, led 1862 Sochin. Tikhona 5, 85. – 109. 10, 285. Moskvit. 1843 No. 4 p. 471. 472. Sunday read 1938 No. 37. Chebotarev. Muscovites. 1843 No. 4. p. 472. Muscovites. 1843 p. 473. He is also Tikhon; Tambov diocesan led 1861 No. 21. Moskvityanin 1843 No. 4. p. 474. Chebotarev. Risen. Thurs. 1838 No. 37. The miracles of 1820–1861 are described in Part 2 of the Life of St. Tikhon. St. Petersburg 1862. The miracles of former times are also mentioned here.