Глава 14. 1809

1. The patient is with his beloved collivads For I am already becoming a victim, and the time of my departure has come 854. Having completed the “Confession of Faith”, thereby fulfilling his last duty towards the Christians, for whom he became a father and teacher, the Monk Nicodemus felt the need for repose from his labors. The luminary is tired of going around the expanses of the spiritual world with great power and radiance and illuminating with its quiet light the Church of Christ and beloved brothers in Christ. Together with the Apostle, the Monk Nicodemus said: “I am attracted by both: I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ, because this is incomparably better; but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for you” 855. And he chose, like Paul, to live for the edification of Orthodox nations. But everything in life has its limits. And the venerable teacher has already approached the limit of activity and life. The ascetic could no longer serve himself. The strength of the spirit remained unshakable, but the weakness of the body, which came as a result of the constant coercion of nature, did not allow him to spend the rest of his life on “soaked beans and water with honey.” On April 23, 1809 - the last year of his earthly journey - he came to the cell of his beloved Skurteev to celebrate with them the memory of the Holy Great Martyr George, in whose name the cell’s church was consecrated. After the holiday, the holy hermit went to Kapsala, to his kaliva, and there he felt a deterioration in his health. He went to “his brother,” Hieromonk Euthymius, who was also very old, in order to receive advice from him, according to the humble custom of true monks. The wise man was about to consult with the simple, the holy teacher with the humble disciple. This is what humility is! “And since all three of us were already old,” writes Euthymius, “and could not serve him, we decided that it would be good for him to go to the cinnamonium on the island of Skiathos (it, we note, was created by the collivate Niphon, whom the saint met in his youth on Naxos. - Note. M. F.), and he himself decided to go.” Then he went to the Scurtei brothers to inform them of his decision, but they prevented him, detaining him in their cell in order to look after him. He remained there and “in the meantime became seriously ill and became very deaf.” So, bedridden, he lay for twenty days, gratefully accepting the respectful care of his spiritual children. “After twenty days he recovered and, completing the Degrees, glorified God, saying: “Take me, my God, for this world is a burden to me”” 856. The degrees reported by Euthymius were completed by the teacher long before this, but it seems that then he revised them for the last time - after their approval by Patriarch Gregory and letters from his friends. “And on the fifth of July he wanted to take a walk to the Kutlumush Monastery and, having arrived there, was received by the fathers with joy. And after Vespers they gave him a mule to go up to his cell, so that he would not be exhausted.” Due to the thinness of the cattle, unsuitable for climbing, due to the fact that the road from the monastery to Skurteev was difficult to pass, and also because of the developing illness, which irrevocably damaged his health, first of all, by the will of the Lord, who called upon the one who worked a lot in the mysterious heliport of the Church, “his right hand was taken away, and the next day his tongue was taken away, and only by wetting it with water did he speak, and soon his tongue again was taken away" 857. The concerned Skurtei brothers called a doctor, a close friend of the Monk Nicodemus. Having examined the patient, he said: “What can I do, my fathers? My sins brought me here to see my friend die." 858 The Monk Nicodemus learned that the hour of his “detachment had come,” and remained in mystical contemplation of the city, whose artist and builder was God 859. As far as it depended on him, he did not want to interfere with death, which would become for him a bridge to Heaven, so that he could see, with a “resolved mirror” 860, face to face 861 the Beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ - the One whom he so ardently loved throughout his pure and holy life. But people, thinking humanly, cared to preserve the life of the teacher longer for their consolation, but he wanted to be resolved and be with Christ. They called two other doctors for a consultation, but “they also left us no hope,” writes Evfimy. And so, oscillating between life and death, death and life, as if between Heaven and earth, the saint reached July 13th. The most significant moments of human life have come, moments when we must kneel before God, praying for that soul that, coming from the body, is either carried away towards the eternal Light, or plunged into endless darkness. Probably, it was about these moments that a certain sage 862 said: “There is only one sadness in the world - that we are not saints.” And indeed, this is the only ideal worthy of our high and eternal destiny. And those who have an impeccable conscience and therefore have seen with their spiritual eyes their beloved Christ, rejoice at the announcement of their salvation by grace, and rejoice in the fact that they will see the Lord “in the eternal days of the Kingdom,” 863 Him, despite their humble sobbing. What about others? Alas and woe! This is why mortal memory, according to Sirach, protects a person from sin 864. That is why throughout his holy life the Monk Nicodemus had as companions joyful weeping and mortal memory, mixed with the joy of communion with his Lord. He was steadily directed towards the afterlife, towards eternity. But what is eternity? We recently read that at Svitjod, near Scandinavia, there is a cliff a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Every thousand years a little bird comes and sticks its beak into it. When the rock is completely crushed by the bird, one day of eternity will have passed. What an eternity! But we see the falsity of this syllogism: what kind of day will it be? Eternity will not cease to be such if it decreases not only by one, but by a thousand cliffs. Just as space does not decrease, so does time not decrease, because, as Einstein says, they are not extended. The abyss of eternity into which unfortunate people rush, be they good or evil, is terrifying... 2. “I have received Christ into myself” The death of His saints is honorable before the Lord 865. Anticipating his death, the Monk Nicodemus confessed for his entire life, received unction and received communion of the Most Pure Mysteries; he used to receive communion daily during his illness. The monk was burdened by the fact that, due to weakness, he could not hold prayer with his mind. He said to the brothers gathered around him: “Forgive me, my fathers. My mind is exhausted and cannot say a prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” - Note by M. F.), and so I say it out loud” 866. This prayer was an inseparable companion throughout his life, according to the commandment of the Apostle: “Pray without ceasing” 867 and the call of Gregory the Theologian: “Remember God more often than you breathe.” He was always grateful even in the smallest things. And in the last moments of his life the nobility of his holy soul is revealed. Continuously thanking the Skurteev brothers for caring about him, he said: “The Holy God will make up for the labor of your love, for what you do to me, a sinner.” After all, even in the last moments of human life, the devil fights to capture the crown of a valiant ascetic, at least with one proud thought, as the teacher himself, St. Nicodemus, writes about this in the prologue to “The Invisible War.” Expecting that he would fall asleep and rest together 868, the monk asked to bring the holy relics of his companions and friends, the holy fathers Macarius Notara, Kollyvada, and Parthenius, the elder of Scurtei. “Having embraced the relics in his arms, he kissed them, shedding tears and saying: “Why did you, Holy Fathers, leave me an orphan? You have departed to another world and are enjoying peace for the sake of the virtues that you acquired on earth, and are already enjoying the glory of our Lord, while I suffer from my sins. Therefore, I ask you, my Fathers, pray to our Lord, that he may have mercy on me and that he may merit me to be where you are,” writes Euthymius 869. Anyone would think that the one who said this was a great sinner, seeking mercy in an hour of fear and despair because of his crimes. Meanwhile, this is what the great Nicodemus said, who lived like an angel, labored like a hero, and died like a sinner. All the Fathers of the Church died, recognizing themselves as great sinners, and their last breath was a cry for mercy. Behold the greatness of holiness! She doesn't know herself. The saint was convinced of his damnation. There is such a wise saying by a philosopher: “The greatness of a person is great because he feels himself damned. So he is damned because he is actually damned. But he is also great because he realizes that he is damned. Who else considers himself unhappy because he is not a king, if not the overthrown king? Christianity has its own criteria for evaluating the actions of human life, which no wisdom of this world is able to perceive, because for it they are madness. But who are the saints, in our opinion? Mad, unwise, unlearned, unbreakable slaves, and according to this law of holiness, St. Nicodemus calls his “Admonitory Manual” a “bad reminder.” For, as much as a person approaches God, he humbles himself, like the great Paul, Isaiah, Job and all our holy fathers and teachers. They humiliate themselves because they are enlightened by the greatest of all secrets - the mystery of their non-existence before birth and the mystery of their complete inability to do anything good without God. With words full of contrition and humility, the Monk Nicodemus awaited liberation from the old tabernacle of the body - he, who could say along with Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; and now the crown of righteousness is prepared for me...” 870. Meanwhile, he says something else, very different: “I suffer from my sins.” But why didn't Paul say this? However, who can claim that the one who proclaimed to the whole universe that he was “the first of sinners” and was sure that after all the Lord appeared to him, as to some kind of monster, would not have actually said this in his soul. From the words of the Apostle himself, who says: “For although I know nothing about myself, I am not justified by this; “The Lord is my judge” 872 - it is clear that even when fulfilling every single one of our Christian duties (although this is too bold, and only as an assumption someone can say this about themselves), doubt remains and at the same time the confidence that we do not receive justification from fulfilling our duty. Great and holy souls, outstanding and contemplative minds, changed by the love of God, did not consider any deed and no sacrifice equivalent to the greatness of God. Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Thy Name give glory about Thy mercy and Thy truth 873. The very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bretribution was unacceptable to them, and they wanted to know only one thing - that by grace they were saved. For those who are pure in soul, when their soul ascends to God, the body kneels in humble prayer with words full of contrition. Throughout the night from July 13 to July 14, the Monk Nicodemus was surrounded by many brethren praying and weeping for separation from their teacher, the majority of whom, undoubtedly, were Kollyvads of the Holy Mountain, expressing love and respect for the “leader of the lost” 874. This scene, touching and comprehensive in its philosophical content, reminds us of the beautiful and extremely expressive composition “The Dormition of St. Ephraim the Syrian” of the Cretan school. On this icon we see many monks, on whose faces, exhausted by asceticism, spiritual sorrow and joyful crying are poured - everything is moderate, everything is spiritual. How expressive are the venerable images of the elderly, how inspired are the faces of the middle-aged and the youngest, pale from fasting, eyes enlightened from all-night prayers... Everything is holy, transparent, divine. “At six o’clock in the morning, to the brothers’ question, he answered: “I’m dying, dying, dying. But I ask you, give me communion.” So, having prepared himself, he took communion of the Most Pure Mysteries. And after a little time they entered and found him with his arms crossed and his legs outstretched and asked him: “Master, what are you doing? Have you calmed down? He answered: “I have accepted Christ into myself, and how can I not be calm?” And after talking for a while, he fell silent” 875. “I received Christ into myself...” What did this mean for the holy father? The answer is in his own words from “The Invisible Warfare”: “Oh, uncreated love! oh sweet love! What do you want from me? The Lord will tell you that he does not want anything else but love... I am looking for your heart in order to unite it with My own, which for this purpose was opened by a copy on the Cross. And I seek all of you, so that I too may be all yours: you see that I have no price, for it is incomparable, and yet I have condescended to your price. So, buy Me, O my beloved soul, so that you may be given to Me..." 876. 3. “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead” For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then God will also bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus 877 . So on July 14, 1809, in a simple cell of the Holy Mountain and among beloved brothers and children in spirit, “when the sensual sun was rising on earth,” writes Euthymius, “the intellectual sun of the Church of Christ set. The pillar of fire that guided the new Israel to godliness has disappeared. A cloud has disappeared, watering those melting from the heat of sin. Others, both well-known ones, and all Christians burst into tears, one of whom, although unlearned, said the following words: “My fathers, it would be better if a thousand Christians died today, but not Nicodemus.” 878 “Truly, the death of this great man saddened the Holy Mountain, church circles and most of the Greek people, who were nourished by his spiritual writings that were published at that time. Everyone who knew him either personally or through his writings was born with the conviction that Nicodemus was not only a wise and thoughtful theologian, a bright spiritual adviser to everyone, from the Patriarch to the simplest believer, but also a truly saint, who lived in Christ and emitted the rays of Christ’s grace - a saint who honored the Church of Christ and especially the Holy Mountain with his personality” 879 . “And truly the death of the most pious ascetic, who wrote many books, became a serious wound not only for the monastic world of Athos, for which he was beauty and praise, but also for the entire Orthodox Church, which was deprived of its radiant radiance during the bitter and moonless winter” 880. His holy body was buried under the shade of thick chestnut trees, near the church of St. George in the cell of his beloved Scurtei collivads. A simple wooden cross announced with great restraint about the deceased in the hope of resurrection: “Here lies the monk Nicodemus from Naxos. He rested in the Lord on July 14, 1809 at the age of 60.” After the discovery of his sacred relics, on his holy head, this treasury of divine wisdom, they wrote, in accordance with his own expressed wish: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.” Pilgrims on the Holy Mountain considered it necessary, as it happens to this day 881, to visit the cell of the Skurtei in order to venerate the head of the saint, which exuded the fragrance of holiness for those who approached it with a clear conscience. And the great Patriarch Joachim 3 stood before her with fear and surprise, reflecting on how great the deeds of the Monk Nicodemus were for the Church. And, kneeling down to venerate her, he said: “What damned lips say that you are not a saint, O Nicodemus?” The Patriarch did not say this on his own, but as if prophesying 882. For the Ecumenical Throne, which he represented, exalted his beloved saint to the height of a pan-Orthodox saint, as the canonical deed says: “Why, we collectively decree and determine and command in the Holy Spirit, so that from now on and in all subsequent centuries, Nicodemus the Holy Mountain should be numbered among the Venerable and Holy Men of the Church and be honored with annual sacred services and celebrations and be blessed with hymns of praise...” The Holy Mountain preserved such veneration for the holy father and teacher of monasticism, the like of which it had rarely seen during the millennium of its existence, thus expressing the deep faith and love of its monks for their “leader of the lost.” In the Greek Church, state and solemn celebrations took place on the occasion of the proclamation of Nicodemus the Holy Mountain as a saint, and since then, on the anniversary of his memory, magnificent all-night vigils have been celebrated, expressing universal recognition of his holiness. And the entire church press devoted lengthy and inspired comments to the canonization of the great Father of the Orthodox Church, characterizing this event as the most significant in the last century. Other Orthodox Churches, which had great love for St. Nicodemus, since for a century and a half they had received spiritual pleasure from his creations and revered his memory, after the canonization of the Holy Mountain by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, they included the day of his remembrance in their calendars for annual celebration, following in this the decision of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate for May 1956 published an extensive article dedicated to the saint by theologian I. Khibarin, in which he expresses his joy at the decision of the Russian Church to celebrate the memory of the saint annually. The article also cites the corresponding act, which reads: “The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, chaired by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, at a meeting on February 7 this year. g., having heard the Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarch, thanked God and determined that the holy ascetic Nicodemus should be given all honors in accordance with the sacred canons and canonical order, annually on July 1/14, 883 ... and his holy name should be included in our Monthly Dictionary.” A whole volume would consist of articles and words of praise written after the canonization of St. Nicodemus as a saint of the Orthodox Church. The learned historian Sophronius Evstratiadis, former Metropolitan of Leontopolis, having studied the works of St. Nicodemus, declares that he is “the most outstanding and wise of the Holy Mountain residents of modern times. An ascetic and apostolic character, an inexhaustible treasury of church teachings, a zealot of the great Fathers of the Church, in his diligence and evangelical self-denial he melted like wax consumed by fire in order to enlighten the pious and decorate monastic life with his spiritual virtues and exploits, equal to those suffered by the great teachers of piety, in whose footsteps he walked. His insatiable thirst for enlightening the people, for teaching the faithful, his fiery faith in Christ and love for the Holy Church attracted him to high deeds, to sacred service, and he, like a lamp, burning and shining in the dark night of ignorance, rejoiced the hearts of monks and ordinary Christians. Filled with all grace, he filled the treasuries of the Church with the spiritual fruits of his thoughts...” “He worked until his death to educate the people. Oh, if only Nicodemus appeared in every century! The fruitfulness of his writing is amazing,” writes Manuel Gedeon. “The entire Orthodox Church thanks the Lord,” says Khibarin, “for giving her a new heavenly intercessor.” It still remained for the divine Nicodemus, who always offered us objects for words... I have now offered myself to you into the greatest subject of exploits... 884 And now we have come to the end of our work. As we admitted at the very beginning, we were unable to say anything befitting the dignity of our venerable father Nicodemus. Our psalter demanded the fingers of the king, so that the melody of the word would divinely delight the ears of the God-loving and holy-loving brothers. However, we draw consolation from our very shortcomings, for “they do not serve the Divine with a multitude of gifts, but with the warmth of intention.” We, deprived of both wisdom and the gift of speech, obeyed the command of the brothers, fearing condemnation for deafness. But alas for me, for even an angel cannot adequately praise the angelic life and divine life of St. Nicodemus. “What they had, they gave.” And, in accordance with the law of love, we ask the saint for some kind of spiritual reward - timely help. But oh, reverend father, bow to the fiery love of your humble children and fill our lips with joy and joy again and again, for we are wounded by love. Your wondrous ascetic deeds, the sweetness of your silent contemplations, the most courageous victories you won in venerable warfare, the precious string of gifts - all this calls us to your consonant praise and reverent chanting, to sacred praises, to the exclamations of divinely applauding monastic hosts. Most Holy Father Nicodemus, tell us with what thorns your pure heart was wounded, that you were raised to such a height of love? Tell us, where did you graze the sheep of your pure thoughts at noon? By what power, having overcome worldly corruption into incorruption, on eagle wings did you reach the most extreme goal of all desires? What angelic life did you rest in the highest, peace-giving tents of the Spirit? By what reason, by what wisdom, or by what mysterious plan have you walked along the mysterious paths of divine laws, do you now rejoice brightly in the land of the meek and the righteous and the venerable? We know that you are a constant intercessor to God, and we are enriched. We have come to know that you are one of the Holy Fathers, and we believe. Therefore, lift up your venerable hands, which you kept raised in the silent and tender prayers of the night, and bless and sanctify your children, who pray to you with great love. For out of love for you we clung to you, like sons to their father, like babies looking at you and spiritually hugging you, and we would like to mysteriously greet and kiss your eyes, always seeing what is right, your lips, sanctified by prayers and teachings and chants, your forehead, which had no peace until you became, father, the place of the Lord, the abode of the God of our Fathers. And the wondrous magnitude of your ascetic labors, and the wounds of the Lord dear to us, which you bore on your body, boasting like the great Paul, and the streams of your sacred sweats that sanctified the ground on which your beautiful feet stood - what word can we use to describe all this? How will we enter, clothed in clothes made of dust, into the subtlest mystical darkness into which you penetrated, in which your face shone with glory, like that of Moses, in which you lived divinely and in which you were honored with an honest dormition? With what eyes shall we see, Father, the venerable vessel of Christ, the gracious adornment of the Most Holy Theotokos Mary, the sacred praise of the all-honorable countenance of the Holy Fathers? With what eyes shall we see the worldly radiance of your hidden greatness? Oh, I would like, according to Paul, to say five words with my mind, rather than the darkness of my tongue 885. Therefore, forgive me, Father, for my insolence. And “if, O Father Nicodemus, this insignificant work of mine is close to your dignity, it is your gift; for trusting in you, I began to speak about you; if he is far from dignified and much lower than hopes, could I do anything, exhausted by illness and love for you? However, God is pleased with what is within his power; Look down on us from above, O divine and sacred head, and the thorn in the flesh given to us from the Lord, our admonition, or calm us down with your prayers, or teach us to patiently endure; and direct our whole life to the most useful. And if we repose, receive us there into your monasteries, so that we can live with each other and contemplate the Holy and Blessed Trinity more purely and more perfectly...” 886 See: On the Sunday of All Saints, at Matins, Canon of All Saints. Song 9. Troparion 3 (“...You rejoice pure... in the glory of the gathering of saints in Heaven, resolved by the mirror, the canopy of the past by true manifestations”). The expression goes back to St. Gregory the Theologian, who uses it, for example, in Homily 20, on the installation of bishops and on the dogma of the Holy Trinity (in the Russian translation, “when reality makes mirrors unnecessary,” see: Gregory the Theologian, St. Collection of Creations. T. 1. P. 298; see also Homo 12, spoken to the father... // Ibid. P. 201: "mirrors will be abolished by reality"). In Greek The original (St. Gregory the Theologian) contains the same expression as in the Canon of All Saints and in the monk Theoclitus. French thinker Leon Bloy. Compare: “Give us the opportunity to partake of You in the eternal days of Your Kingdom” (Canon of Holy Pascha. Canto 9. Troparion 2). Euph.23. In the Russian translation, the quotation is verified according to the Greek original, published (10th edition, corrected and improved) by the monk Nicodemus (Bilalis) in 2000 in Athens, and verified with the first edition of this text, prepared by the monk Spyridon Athanasiou in 1920–1921. (It was this publication that M. Theoclitus used). The insertions made by M. Theoclitus in the text of the Life were released as untrue. – Note. ed. Ἀόϱατος Πόλεμος. Σ. 231. This is one of those places about which St. Theophan the Recluse said that “Elder Nicodemus corrected, but not everything. I have completed the correction,” because “the book was written by a Catholic” (Collected Letters of St. Theophan. Issue 7. M., 1900. P. 192). Translated by St. Theophanes, the words of the Savior were converted into the heartfelt prayer of a believer who was honored with Holy Communion (see: Invisible Warfare. Part 2. Chapter 3). – Note. ed. Κολιτσάϱας Ἰ. Νικόδημος ὁ Ἁγιοϱείτης (1749–1809) // Ἀκτῖνες. 1954. Σ. 35. – Note. m. Theoklit. Εὐστϱατιάδης Σ. Νικόδημος ὁ Ἁγιοϱείτης // Μακεδονικά. 1941. 1. Σ. 38–57. – Note. m. Theoklita This was the case before the canonization, then the relics (the venerable head) were transferred to the Great Lavra. Here it is necessary to make a small digression: the fact is that the date of memory of St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountain was mechanically included in the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church according to the new style, which was adhered to by the Church of Constantinople at the time of the glorification of the saint in 1955. Thus, it turned out that at the moment in the entire church calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church there is only the memory of St. Nicodemus is celebrated according to the new style, while the memory of all other saints is celebrated in the Russian Orthodox Church according to the old style, i.e. 13 days later. The first mistake was immediately followed by the second. Since two dates are usually indicated in the church calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church (old and new styles), later they began to write in other publications that St. Nicodemus died on 1 (Art. Art.) / 14 (N. Art.) 1809, i.e. they distorted the date of the death of the saint (the transition to a new style in the Constantinople and Greek Churches occurred much later than the time of the death of St. Nicodemus - only at the beginning of the 20th century). Both in the first Life, compiled by Hieromonk Euthymius (1812–1813), and in the oldest and well-known lithograph of St. Nicodemus’s date of Dormition is July 14, 1809, and accordingly the date of celebration will be 14 (Old Art.)/27 (N. Art.). On this day, July 27, the memory of St. Nicodemus on the Holy Mountain and in the Great Lavra, where his honorable head resides. – Note. ed. Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Sermon 43, funeral service to Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia // Gregory the Theologian, St. Collection of creations. T. 1. P. 602. (Instead of the name “Basily” M. Theoclitus put – Nicodemus.) Wed: St. Gregory the Theologian. Sermon 43, funeral service to Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia // Gregory the Theologian, St. Collection of creations. T. 1. P. 654.