Первые шаги пастырства о. Иоанна

In the second half of December, the young priest Ivan Ilyich Sergiev, with delight and trembling of joyful reverence, for the first time entered the church where he was destined to serve as a priest for half a century. The church, just renovated by the summer of 1855, sparkled with gold and paintings. Father John took several steps around the church, hastening to bow to the Holy See, and stopped amazed. “I,” he said later, “saw a situation that had long been familiar to me. This was the inside of the same church that I saw in a dream 15 years ago with this newly made iconostasis; this dream was imprinted in my soul forever, leaving me with unearthly joy. This was a sign from God to me that I would serve as a priest in this church, for then I already saw myself entering and leaving its northern and southern gates, as if I were one of my own here.” It is not difficult to guess with what feelings and thoughts the Kronstadt shepherd approached the Throne of his church for the first time. He brought to the throne the deepest reverence for pastoral feats and a sense of enormous responsibility. Flip through the diary even quickly, and you will find traces of this reverence on every page. “In order to rule, he writes, you need to learn to control yourself.” “What kind of face is a priest? He constantly has a conversation with the Lord, and the Lord constantly answers his speech, whatever is required, whatever prayer, then the speech is with the Lord; Whatever is required, whatever the prayer, the Lord’s answer to it. The priest is an angel, not a man; he must leave everything of everyday life far behind him. He, as an apocalyptic angel, was given a lot of incense, so that he could burn incense before the Throne of God and before the faces of the Lord and the Saints, and bring prayers to God for all people. His clothes during worship depict him as an angel: for the phelonion depicts the incorruptible robe and wings of the angel of God. And indeed, a priest should be like an angel.” “The priest stands before the Throne of God Almighty, Who entrusted him to the prayer and intercession of the kings and the kingdom of the universe, the entire universe, especially the kingdom of Russia and the Tsar of Russia with His House, His chamber and army, the entire Church, the entire hierarchy, the bishopric, the presbyters, the deacons in Christ, all the clergy and people, every city and country, and those living in them by faith. He stands before the Throne of the Almighty, in whose power are heaven and earth, all the elements, light, air, fire, water, earth and all the fruits of the earth, land and sea, all animals of earth and water, and Who gave the priest the right to intercede before Him for the goodness of the air and for deliverance from earthquakes, fire, swords, invasions of foreigners and civil strife, from all disasters that befall people for their sins.” “The priest is at the very Source of life of all creatures, at the very Source of grace, purification and salvation. He stands before the most impregnable, all-good, all-wise and all-powerful Power, before which all living things bow – in heaven and earth. What should He be like, placed at such a height, at such a shrine, at such greatness, at such a useless Power, at such Magnificence? “The priest is the mouth of all, the mind and heart of all people standing and praying in the church; he expresses their praise, thanksgiving, and petitions. What should this mouth, this heart, this mind be like?” “What dispassion is required from a priest! – writes Fr. John is elsewhere. Anyone who could write like that certainly had clean lips and a burning heart. Such a deep awareness of the pastor’s prayerful responsibility, of course, should be given to the people in Fr. John was a strong prayer book from his very first liturgy, but that was not all. In due time, the years of seminary and academy, spent in vigilant self-control, gave him more, gave him an understanding of shepherding in its deepest foundations, in its inner essence. Talking about humility and humble love as a conquering force, Fr. John could not help but understand that if humble love is necessary for every Christian, then for a shepherd it is the main secret of influence, that shepherding is love and only love. Exterior view of St. Andrew's Cathedral And it is very important for us that he expressed this faith already in his very first pastoral word; So it means he thought a lot and seriously about his business even before he approached the altar. “I realize,” he says, talking with his flock for the first time, “the height of the rank and the responsibilities associated with it; I feel my weakness and unworthiness to undergo the highest priestly service on earth, but I trust in the grace and mercy of God, which heals the weak and replenishes the impoverished. I know what can make me more or less worthy of this rank and capable of passing this title. This is love for Christ and for you, my beloved brothers. That is why the Lord, restoring the renounced disciple to the rank of apostle, asked him three times: Do you love Me, and after each answer: I love You, repeated to him: Feed My sheep, feed My lambs. “Love is a great power: it makes the weak strong, and the insignificant venerable, and soon makes the unknown and stranger close, and known, and amiable. This is the property of pure, evangelical love. May the Lord, who loves everyone, give me a spark of this love; may He kindle it in me with His Holy Spirit.” He wrote the same thing in his diary, soon after the beginning of his pastoral labors. “First of all and most of all, a priest needs to acquire the love of the Gospel. He needs her every minute, every moment: he needs it when he prays during a solemn service in church, when he prays at home or in the houses of parishioners, when he performs the sacraments of faith, when he is in ordinary daily relations - everyday, family, comradely, or in relations with parishioners, with superiors or subordinates, with pupils and those who have completed their education, with children and adults, with old and young. But he especially needs love during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, which is the whole mystery of the endless Divine love for the human race. “The priest must constantly have the Spirit of Christ within himself and love his flock and, in general, all people through the womb of Christ (Phil. 1:8). A priest’s view of people should always be the view of Christ, holy, loving, meek, kind, patient, comprehensive, deep.” “A shepherd should be sorrowful for the whole world.” “He is everything to everyone.” “The priest is the bearer of the spirit of universal love, the spirit of holiness, meekness, patience, the representative of truth and steadfastness, the firmness of the Church, its immutability.” From these heartfelt lines the reader sees that Fr. John approached the Throne, entered the preaching pulpit and pulpit ready, spiritually mature, strong to “feed the sheep.” And as we will see, in the very first years he discovered this power. However, Fr. John, of course, could not be pleased with himself. On the contrary, this spiritual maturity and moral preparedness only showed him more clearly how difficult and long the sorrowfully blessed path to shepherding in the spirit and power of Christ the Chief Shepherd is. He decided that he had not finished studying, but was just starting. All fifty years of his pastorate were a school for him. “I’m still learning,” Fr. repeats. John. In his own words, at that time he looked like a child about to walk. He gravitated towards Bot, “wishing, wanting” to embody, to grasp with all his soul the bright ideal of shepherding that was before him, but he was afraid for his strength and did not know what to do. He hesitantly took his first steps, sometimes he was ready to fall, and at these moments in fear he stretched out his hands, like a child to his mother, to Christ, and the merciful right hand of God supported him... raised him and led him to where he needed to go. Where could he begin this pastoral education? Where he recommends that everyone starts educating their souls... You need to be at home more often, he says, without this there is no movement. We need to look deeper into our conscience and watch every movement of our soul. It is not for nothing that the commandment “know yourself” is considered the first letter in the alphabet of self-improvement. “Watch your heart all your life and look closely and listen to it, what prevents it from uniting with the all-blessed God? Let this be the science of sciences, and with God’s help you can easily notice what separates you from God and what brings you closer to Him, unites you with Him. This is evidenced by the very heart, now united with God, now torn away from Him.” “Test yourself more often: where do the eyes of your heart look - to God and to the life of the next century, to the supremely blessed and luminous powers of heaven and saints established in heaven, or to the world, to earthly goods: food, drink, clothing, housing, to sinful and vain people, their occupations? Oh, if only our eyes were fixed on God! Otherwise, we only turn our eyes to the Lord in times of need and trouble, but in times of prosperity our eyes are turned to the world and its vain affairs.” “Peer more closely into the face of the soul and pay attention to yourself unceasingly, so that the spiritual life and spiritual wisdom in you do not dry out. Think often about everything you read and sing, or listen to in church, or sometimes at home. Let your loins be girded and your lamp burning, and you may be like a man who waits for his master when he returns from marriage.” And Father John himself remembered this “science of sciences.” And in the first years of his pastorate, Fr. John lives all his hours and minutes “at home”, in the inner recesses of his conscience, he does not see or notice the world when this world does not directly address him, as a person or a shepherd. Residents of Kronstadt were surprised and at first even embarrassed to see a priest on the streets, with his arms crossed on his chest, with a brilliant, inspired, but far from the world gaze directed into the distance. Of course, many laughed and mocked the shepherd. Some even considered him an abnormal person and called him a holy fool. Rumors about this, of course, could not help but reach Fr. John. Often mocking exclamations were heard after him: blessed, holy fool. Father John was not embarrassed. Main chapel of St. Andrew's Cathedral Intercession chapel of St. Andrew's Cathedral. “A shepherd should be sorrowful for the whole world.” O. John in the first years of his ministry “Well, he said, let him be a holy fool: for the sake of Christ, the holy fools, with their strange behavior and attitude towards their neighbors, became the laughing stock of the whole world, but their deeds were such that the world was unworthy of them; Unfortunately, only I am far from this foolishness of saints.” And he continued to live by this inner prayer, immersed in the depths of the spirit seeking knowledge of God. At these moments a great thing was happening: the soul was maturing and approaching God. At this time Fr. John once and for all outlined his path to Christ God and worthy shepherding in the world, among people. What is this path? Priest - preacher, clergyman, confessor. You need to prepare yourself for each of these responsibilities. How? How? The answer to this was given by Fr. John in the autobiography of his soul, that is, in his diary. In addition to talking with conscience and staying at home, the shepherd educates himself in two directions: at home and in the world. He must be educated at home by reading scripture, delving into the Divine services of the Holy Church and prayer. As we see, Fr. John began and advises starting with solitude, with “a kind of spiritual retreat.” However, as is easy to see, this solitude is not entirely complete; here the “recluse” is alone with God. Staying in the “church of the soul,” in the retreat of the heart, is one of the forms of communication with God. O. John with the Gospel in his hands Next to it there must be unity with God in his spirit in a different “active way” or rather “paths”. These paths: reading Holy Scripture, careful study of the Divine Service, this great creation of the church, prayer and work for the lesser brothers of Christ - active love. The first way creates a Christian both a preacher and a shepherd; The second is a Christian, a clergyman and a pastor; The third is a Christian and a shepherd; The fourth is a Christian, confessor and shepherd. And all four create man. So, first of all, reading the Holy Scriptures. From the first days of his high service to the church, writes Fr. John, I have set myself a rule: to be as sincere as possible about my work, to shepherding and priestly service, to strictly monitor myself, my inner life. To this end, I first of all began to read the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, extracting from them what was edifying for myself as a person, a priest and a member of society. Then I began to keep a diary in which I recorded my struggle with thoughts and passions, my repentant feelings, my secret prayers to the Lord, my grateful feelings for deliverance from temptations, sorrows, misfortunes and constant help.” He began to read Scripture and how to read it: not everyone reads this book of books in the same way, and Fr. John did not read as we do. Holy Scripture is not an ordinary book: it must be read, penetrating its depths to the end, to the bottom. And oh. John, in his own words, spent years learning to read the Holy Scriptures, re-reading page after page, trying to delve into all the shades of meaning. “They look for gold in the mines - they wash the sand, take what they find, and throw the sand. But it is well known that with our washing method, not everything is taken from the sand. If you wash the sand again, you will find more. How do we read the Gospel, the Bible? If we take one hundredth of holy gold, then thank God. Therefore, read ten, a hundred times and each time you will find “new” gold and in the second there will be more of it than in the first, in the third – more than in the second, your eyes will become more accustomed to seeing the necessary light sparkles.” This wise rule, which Fr. indicated to us in approximately the same words. John 10 years ago, the priest himself always held on. Father John considers the constant reading of Scripture to be his first duty - he re-read the holy pages dozens of times and, of course, each time he found truly new gold in the rich mines of the Gospel, although he had already known it by heart for a long time. And, no doubt, it is precisely this attitude towards Scripture that explains the deep penetration of his diaries, which, of course, only reflects the illumination of a soul enlightened by the word of God. The enormous importance of reading Holy Scripture for the soul, Fr. John testified in deeply poetic words back in 1856, a month after the dedication. “When reading the word of God, look at it,” he writes, always not through the dull veil of your passions, but with the eye of a heart cleansed of all impurity, and then you will learn by experience that it is light for your mind, with which you can walk the path of the very shadow of death not only without fear, but also with joy. You will also learn through experience that the word of God brings the sweetest life to your heart, delighting, warming, softening, purifying, enlightening, reviving it with its light-life-giving rays. You will see how your very bones and your whole body will feel the sacred, life-giving thrill of joy, and the whole world, all of God’s creation will appear to you rejoicing with joy and praising its Creator, who gives life and breath and everything to everything.” “The eyes of your heart will see how, rejoicing and trembling together, thousands of thousands and darkness of pure, bright, powerful blessed spirits, Cherubim and Seraphim, and other disembodied forces, stand before the throne of the Almighty Creator. Let us see how from the throne of the Lord of glory some of these holy and bright ethereal forces, surpassing man in mind, will and power, descend, according to the will of the loving Creator, onto our sinful, dark land - with brotherly love and care to protect not only the elements of the earth, our kingdoms, cities and villages, but also each person individually. How they lead him, cast into darkness and impurity, weak, carefree about his eternal bliss, to the darkness of angels, the heavenly Jerusalem and the church of the firstborn, written in heaven, and the righteous man perfect in spirit, and to the Mediator of the New Testament, Jesus (Heb. 12:22-24). From the world of bright spirits and spirits of darkness and destruction, turning your gaze to the material world, you will see with joy in your heart “mountain” - bright worlds, harmoniously rotating in the vast spaces of the sky for the mind, “down” - your earth, immense for man from any earthly elevation, which the Creator looks at from the throne of His glory, like a speck of dust rotating in boundless space; which the Angels from the heights of heaven survey at once, like a small ball, rotating first around itself, then around a large heavenly body, called the sun on earth. “The heavens with their countless worlds will clearly speak to your heart and your mind about the infinite beauty, goodness and omnipotence of your Creator; they will tell, in the words of the psalmist, the glory of God (Ps. 18:1). All these luminous bodies at unknown heights, visible from the earth for thousands of years, are the work of His hands. Your heart, enlightened by the light of God’s word, will tell you that the Lord’s day is the Lord’s and the Lord’s night is (Ps. 73:16), that all these changes of light and darkness on our earth are constant, silent witnesses of God’s Providence for us sinners. That the entire universe, as vast as it is for our minds, is one house of God, built by the hand of the Almighty, Omnipresent, All-Wise and All-Good Artist; the sun for us is a large lamp that appears in different places in the sky depending on the position in which the earth is placed in relation to it; the moon is the smaller one, which itself goes around the earth to illuminate it; stars are candles burning in the depths of the house. The Creator is the Owner of this house, whose Spirit fills it (the Spirit of the Lord fills the universe), whose constant presence in this house is evidenced by the ubiquitous life, amazing harmony and order, both in general and in all parts. When you properly look at the word of God and read it, you will see how a holy desire for everything that is true, beautiful and good begins to boil in your soul, or, in theological language, for the imitation of God, since God is the highest truth, beauty and goodness. Blessed is the man whose will is in the law of the Lord, upon which he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit in its season, and will prosper in everything that he does.”3 (January 1856). The Holy Scriptures are necessary for Christians, they are necessary for the shepherd, but before the shepherd, in addition to the Bible, there is also a service book, a missal, akathists and canons. Surely they can't complement books of books? O. John thinks they can. Attitude o. John to the divine service, to the pages of the breviary and missal, as well as to the Bible. He felt with great deep pain the decline in attention to church services, the increasing indifference to Christ, and was not inclined to blame the listeners alone for this. No, the perpetrators were also guilty here. They did not give the listeners everything that was given in the divine service, because they themselves could not become complete masters of the treasury of the divine service. In order to introduce listeners into the spirit of worship, I thought about. John, you need to enter his spirit yourself, understand his soul. The service is written with tears, with love, therefore, only with tears can one enter into it. It is necessary, with a soul open to love, to try to understand the liturgical “rite” of the Holy Church, to resurrect in one’s soul those feelings that created the liturgy. And so he reads the service book and missal as if they were Scripture, pondering every thought, mentally transporting himself to the long galleries of the catacombs, to those upper rooms where the holy “agapes” were performed with truly Christ’s love. Created by the inspiration of love, it awakens the same inspiration in him and makes his service prophetic, resurrecting in it the service of the first centuries. We will see below how Fr. learned to serve. John, through this attentive deepening of the soul into the content and thought of the liturgical books. And the third way is prayer, where does it belong? This path is everything: without it there is no understanding of Scripture, no understanding of the liturgy, no spiritual activity. Prayer illuminates both the pages of Scripture and the letter of the missal. It brings God closer to man and clarifies both the word and His Will. But prayer again needs to be learned, prayer needs to be conquered. And oh. John studies and prays. We saw what to pray about. John knew how even as a young man: now he is taking new steps in acquiring the gift of prayer. His method, so to speak, of mastering the gift of prayer is perfectly described in the same autobiography of his soul, i.e. in his diary. “The gift of prayer,” he says, is acquired through effort. The means for this is persistence in prayer, and most importantly, the ability to focus your thoughts on the images of Heaven. “The burning glass then ignites wood or paper, or anything else that is conveniently combustible, when we point it at an object in such a way that the rays of the sun, concentrated at the focus of the glass, are all concentrated on one point of the ignited object, with their entirety acting on it, and thus, as if the entire sun in a diminutive form is placed on the object. So in prayer, then our soul is warmed, enlivened and ignited by the intelligent Sun-God, when with our mind, like a burning glass, we point this mental Sun at the heart, as at a spiritual point in our being, and when It acts on the heart with all Its simplicity and Its power. The same about the Mother of God, about Angels and saints. Bring their images onto your heart as they are, with all the power and sacredness, let your heart receive their illumination upon itself with the fullest and most powerful possible, and it will be ignited by their loving, as if fiery action: their purity, holiness, goodness, strength will be communicated to your heart, and it will purify itself, strengthen itself in faith and love, and the further, the more decisive and constant you have your heart turned to Him and His Saints, the more your heart will be enlightened, purified and enlivened.” “When you pray to God, imagine vividly who you are praying to. You pray to the beginningless and endless King of every creation, the all-holy, all-good, all-powerful, all-wise, omnipresent, all-righteous, before Whom millions of millions of Angels of various orders revere, Whom the armies of martyrs, the class of prophets and apostles, the councils of saints, saints and righteous ones sing.” To develop the ability to pray means to develop in oneself the ability to vividly imagine God - His holy face... Personally, Fr. John, living both day and night near God and with the thought of Him, of course, without difficulty could gain this ability to be transferred to other spheres and, therefore, if anyone, then his work of creating the spirit of prayer in himself could not and did not remain fruitless. Father John concentrates within himself the enormous power of prayer. He reaches the point where his prayer becomes a real internal conversation with God. He asks, and the Lord gives answers. It should be noted that Fr. John, as a son of the Orthodox Eastern Church, at first realized that prayer should not be simply an ecstatic immersion in holy images, a certain loss of consciousness. No, in his opinion, it should be a sober conversation with God, the starting point of which should be a real spiritual state. A person must bring his thoughts and feelings to God so that they can be purified and enlightened, and not just seek prayerful self-forgetfulness. This trait is very serious for characterizing the spiritual appearance of Fr. John: hence his prayer reflects his personality so clearly. The words of his prayer are always dictated by his soul, and not taken ready-made from the words of others. And the words of other people’s prayers are always fused into an inseparable one with his moods. Since under such conditions prayer is always the creation of the soul, the expression of its life, a reflection not of the prayerful state in general, but of a given prayerful moment, a given life situation, then its fiery power and its constant sincerity are understandable and, what is especially important for us now, its infectiousness, its powerful influence on the souls of others present. Was this ascetic path completely calm and quiet? No, far from it. Father John talks a lot about his spiritual struggles and temptations. There were moments when, according to him, a wave of passions - pride, conceit, etc. was ready to take over him. Demons surrounded from everywhere. My soul was overwhelmed with despair - the sky darkened, as sometimes in my youth, my soul felt heavy from the touch of the dark wings of evil, I didn’t want to pray, my faith was falling. Such moments were not even rare, but they were not long: grace and prayer always drove away temptations and drove away darkness. Temptations and passions receded before the power of Christ. “I give myself and you an account: what did I do when I became a priest, and what did I do in this rank?” spoke about. John on the occasion of 40 and 45 years of priesthood. “Having been ordained as a priest and shepherd, I soon learned from experience with whom I was entering into a struggle in my spiritual field, namely, with the strong, cunning, never-slumbering and breathing wickedness, destruction and hellish fire of Gehenna, the prince of this world and with the spirits of wickedness in high places. As the Apostle says: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places.” Temptations began, the dirty tricks of the enemy, weak wounds, and stumblings were revealed; Enemies, like robbers, began to pursue me in my spiritual journey and in the service of my God. This meant that the Lord, the Good Shepherd, introduced me to the experience and experimental spiritual training, so that I would know what enemies I am dealing with, having taken upon myself the yoke of Christ’s priesthood, with whom I must fight, from whom to keep the verbal sheep, how to protect them from the serpent of the entire abyss, from the lion that roars and seeks every day for whom to devour. As a spiritual warrior, I had to vigilantly monitor the evil actions of the ever-cunning, crafty, evil, invisible enemies who attacked me through various passions and fears, and often endure the wounds inflicted on me in my soul, ulcers, embarrassment, oppression, defeat, although, in turn, I struck them with the weapons of faith, prayer, repentance, communion of St. Mysteries of Christ. And in this invisible, but persistent, battle, full of spiritual wounds, from which the flesh suffered, the Lord constantly taught my spiritual hands to fight, and my fingers to fight. In this invisible, cruel war, I learned sincere faith, hope, patience, prayer, rightness of spirit, purity of heart, the unceasing calling of the name of the invisible, sovereign Conqueror of hell and Shepherd Jesus Christ, and in His name and power I defeated enemies and my own soul-crushing passions that roared at me like lions or howled like wolves. This struggle with a strong and cunning invisible enemy showed me with my own eyes how many infirmities, weaknesses and sinful passions there are in me, how much the prince of this age has in me, and how much I must struggle with myself, with my sinful inclinations and habits and defeat them in order to be, if possible, invulnerable from the arrows of the enemy. Spiritual warfare and self-observation began; sophistication of spiritual vision; teaching oneself unceasing, secret prayer and calling on the all-saving name of Christ. Like the Psalmist King-Prophet David, I constantly began to raise my heart’s eyes to the mountains, to heaven, from where clear, speedy, sovereign help came to me, and my strong enemies took flight, and I received freedom and peace of mind.” “A hundred times blessed,” I thought; hermits who retired for the sake of unentertained service and for the salvation of the soul in the desert, alien to the temptations of the world. But it is necessary, I thought again, to strive in the world, living among people, and to keep oneself undefiled from the world.” (Word 12 Dec. 1895). Scripture, study of divine services, prayer - all this work in the solitude of the priest's cell and in the solitude of conscience prepared the shepherd. The creation of his soul was completed by peace, activity among the flock - practical shepherding. From the first days of his pastorate, Fr. John is completely immersed in the hustle and bustle of life, comes into close contact with the life of his flock and grows in the struggle for other people's souls, for other people's salvation. Kronstadt at the time when Fr. John, it was a special city. In the 60s, Kronstadt served as a place for the administrative deportation of vicious citizens, incompetent due to their depravity, mainly philistines and various rabble. These people are called “posadskys,” and in the time we are describing, city residents suffered a lot from them. It was not always safe to walk through the city streets at night, risking being attacked and robbed. For Fr. John, it means that there was a unique field of activity that required a special person. Of course, you can simply ignore all these townspeople as some kind of “scum,” but Fr. John. It was to the waste that he first of all turned his attention. The townspeople lived, for the most part, in the most remote streets, in dugouts. These were terrible rumors. There is darkness, dirt, sin here. Here the seven-year-old is depraved and a thief. Even the festive cross was never lifted into the attics. Not a single priest came here with prayer services on Easter Sunday. And, behold, a ray of some other, new world, a priest of the living God, bursts into this “dark kingdom.” O. John “opened” the attics: namely, he opened them as some kind of “new” land. He does not disdain sin, he is not afraid to get dirty with other people's dirt. No, he loves it. It is necessary, he thinks, to love every person: both in his sin and in his shame... “Love every person, despite his sins. Sins are sins, but the basis in man is one - the image of God. Others with obvious weaknesses are angry, proud, envious, stingy, money-loving, greedy, and you, too, are not without evil, perhaps even more of it in you than in others. At least with regard to sins, people are equal: everyone, it is said, has sinned and is deprived of the glory of God, we are all guilty before God, and we still need God’s mercy towards us. Therefore, loving each other, we must tolerate each other and leave each other, forgive others for their sins against us, so that our heavenly Father will forgive us our sins.” “We must honor and love the image of God in every person, not paying attention to his sins; God alone is holy and sinless; and how He loves us, what He has created and is creating for us, punishing mercifully and having mercy generously and graciously! “There is no need to confuse man, this image of God, with the evil that is in him, because evil is only his accidental misfortune, illness, demonic dream, but his being - the image of God, still remains in him.” Evil people are sick people, and the sick should be pitied more than the healthy. And here's Fr. John does not come to shacks and dugouts with you for ten minutes, but to the Christian soul - to a perishing brother; he stays here for hours, talking, crying together. The first impression he makes is, perhaps, a feeling of constraint, hindrance, and a desire to get rid of it. His first days and months are greeted with rudeness. But the priest has a long-tested remedy. These are children. Remember how St. Leonty of Rostov acted. When the adults kicked him out, he turned to the children, influenced their hearts and minds, and then through the children brought fathers and mothers to God; approximately the same way Fr. often acted. John. He did not want to act through children, making them a means. No, children simply brought closer the soul of the parents, rude, but loving towards them, the children, and the soul of the shepherd, full of love for both children and parents. Father John caresses the children, and they trustingly cling to the priest, and the parents also reach out to the children. In essence, these slum savages are often children too, they are happy to respond to affection - just not right away. “I was then only twenty-two, twenty-three years old,” one artisan says in a letter. Now I’m an old man, but I remember well the first time I saw Father. I had a family, two children, the eldest was three years old. I got married early. He worked and drank. The family was starving. My wife slowly collected from all over the world. We lived in a crappy kennel at the end of the city. I come one day, not very drunk... I see some young priest sitting and holding his little son in his arms, and saying something to him affectionately. And the child listens seriously. It may be a sin, but it still seems to me that the priest was like Christ in the “blessing of children” picture. I wanted to swear: they were wandering around, but the priest’s eyes, both affectionate and serious at the same time, stopped me. I felt ashamed... I lowered my eyes, and he looked, looked straight into my soul. He started talking. I don't dare tell you everything he said. He talked about the fact that there is paradise in my closet, because where there are children, it is always warm and good, and that there is no need to exchange this paradise for the children of the tavern. He didn’t blame me, no, he justified everything, but I had no time for justification. He left, I sit and remain silent... I don’t cry, although my soul feels like it was before tears. My wife is watching... And, from then on, I became a man.” Of course, they didn’t give in right away. John's tramps. At first they could see in the priest’s conversations a whim, something like entertainment from having nothing to do. But soon these suspicions were dashed. Selflessness o. John showed who they were dealing with. Eyewitnesses talk about this kind of facts that are even inconvenient to tell in our time. Times change for us too, who have strayed far from the Gospel; what is holy and evangelical, Christ’s, may seem strange and blissful. Kronstadt residents often saw their shepherd returning barefoot. More than once, parishioners of St. Andrew's Cathedral brought boots to mother, saying: take them, here, otherwise yours gave them away, he will come barefoot, we bought them, he shouldn't walk around like that. I didn’t even dare right away to bring up this story given to me by Fr. Dmitry Sokolov; it smells so different from our spirit that I’m almost sure Fr. John will be condemned for daring to walk barefoot (as Christ and the Apostles walked), this is foolishness. Having thought about it, I didn’t even dare to hide it, because who knows, maybe the story will be lost, but I think that there are people who will not treat it with mockery 4 . In any case, it was this unselfishness of the “man of God” that attracted him to Fr. John to his first disciples. The tramps began to look for him. Every day, early in the morning, after mass, Fr. John, leaving the church, was surrounded by a group of poor people asking for help in various needs, mostly material: one needed a dress, another needed a few kopecks for food, and a third’s boots refused to serve. Father John listened patiently, asking everyone about their family and children. “Involuntarily,” writes one biographer, “it appears to the eyes: his kind, spiritual figure with a clear, piercing gaze, fixed on the petitioner. “Aren’t you deceiving me about Christ, brother?” - Fr. asks with warm love, but in a stern tone. John. “I don’t have much money, but you see how many people need help.” The petitioner begins to assure him of the truthfulness of his words, and ends up with Father John, if possible, giving him money, or he himself goes to the local market and there buys a dress, boots, and finally food, in a word, depending on what is most necessary for the petitioner at the moment. There were, of course, cases of deception. Distributed by Fr. John until there was not a penny left from his salary and income even for lunch at home. The other one is in place. John, of course, would have been satisfied with both the material and spiritual help that he could provide without harm to himself. O. John could not. He knew that many were hungry and did not want to ask, but he needed to approach those who were spiritually perishing. And while “the poor in spirit and body” began to look for him, he himself continued to search for “the needy and burdened with grief and sins.” His custom of visiting the light is touching. Father John still has the custom in the evening from 11 to 12 sometimes to walk along the streets of Kronstadt. He asks himself not to be disturbed at this time: he prays. The same thing, of course, happened in the first years of pastoring. But after this prayer, on the way home, he sees a “light” in some hut. “Ogonyok” - they don’t sleep, maybe, what grief and oh. John comes in, talks, weeps with those who weep and rejoices with those who rejoice. And many times a light was lit in the souls of many for the first time after this visit “by the light”. “Fr. comes. John goes to a poor family, Zybin says, and sees that there is no one to go even for food supplies, because from one corner can be heard the painful groans of the ailing mother of the family, from the other the incessant crying of half-starved, frozen, sick children. Father John himself goes to the store to buy provisions, to the pharmacy for medicine, or brings the doctor, in a word, he surrounds the unfortunate family with purely related care, never, of course, forgetting about material assistance, leaving there his last pennies, of which he himself had too little at that time. He left there constantly joyful, touched, with firm faith in God’s mercy and hoping that the Lord would send him the means for further good deeds, remembering the words of Holy Scripture: “the hand of the giver does not fail.” Most of all about. John helped his children with his chores. He would not give the authorities any peace until they hired one of his “unfortunates,” and of course he got his way. A purely biblical scene of the relationship between Fr. One of our Kronstadt interlocutors draws John to his first flock. In summer o. John loved to talk outside the city. He will come there to the lawn with “his children”, sit on the green grass and begin his speech about God, about His Son, about love and mercy. There are children at his feet. He hugs and kisses. One climbed onto his lap. Adults, some standing, some sitting... So the days passed, and the townspeople immediately decided that this was a saint, and in Rus' all souls, all secret thoughts are always open to a saint. And oh. John became his own in the homes of these poor people, already at their call, at their request. The poor began to invite him vied with each other, looking for more than just monetary help. St. John never refused these requests for a visit, satisfied the one in need, came, sat for quite a long time, instructing him in Christian teaching and, in the end, did not hesitate to taste the poor man’s meager meal, remembering the words of the Apostle: “Let them eat what is offered.” Needless to say, going down to the townspeople’s dugouts, Fr. John did not pass by suffering souls from other layers. Here is the story of one Kronstadt merchant. “While still a young man, I lost my wife, who left me with a young son in my arms. I grieved greatly. At times I even reached the point of despondency. Not only did the loss of my beloved friend torment me; I was almost more tormented by the thought of my future fate. I felt and realized that I was unable to raise my six-year-old son, who, as one would expect, without maternal supervision, left to his own devices, began to play pranks and indulge. There were losses and omissions in trading. I began to consider it aimless. For whom and for what, I thought, should I trade? My son is still so small, and what else will come of him? The complete disappointment of life began to overcome me. To get rid of the oppressive melancholy, I began to seek solace outside the house in wine, and unbeknownst to myself, I became a drunkard. Time passed. My little son grew up on his own, I was almost not involved in trade at all, leaving the shop to the clerks, and was only waiting for an opportunity to completely put an end to it. One day I was walking down the street in the morning and I saw Fr. coming towards me. John, must be straight from the cathedral from mass. He met me, blessed me, and said: “I’m coming to you, brother: I need to talk to you a little.” We arrived at my apartment. Father sat down and said: - I feel sorry for you, servant of God! I've been watching you for a long time. I wondered if you would come to your senses, and decided to finally come to your aid. Listen to me, get rid of your blues. This is the enemy trying to catch you. If you don't improve, look, things will get worse. Stop drinking, don’t leave home unless absolutely necessary. Don’t think about quitting trading, but do it yourself. Remember that you are not alone. You have a son, don’t ruin him and yourself. It's time to teach him. Teach you to read and write, take them with you to the shop, teach them little by little how to do business; and you will have more fun, and with God’s help he will learn to do the job, he will be a man, your helper, and in his old age, your breadwinner, your consolation. Do you hear, start from today. It's enough to wander the streets doing nothing. You were a man, and remain a man! With these words, the priest stood up, put on his stole and said: - Well, we need to pray to get things started. Let us pray more fervently to the Lord God, so that He Himself will help us to repent and come to the mind of truth. And he began to pray. With tears he prayed for me, a sinner. Then he blessed my son and me, promised to visit and pray for us, and left. It was as if I had woken up from a long, heavy sleep; and our apartment became dearer to me. With tears of remorse, I hugged my son. Only then did I feel how guilty I was towards him. After all, he almost completely ruined him. With the blessing of the priest, he set to work. Father really visited me, sometimes talked with me for a long time, consoled me, supported me, caressed and instructed my son. The trade situation improved within a year, and I became a “man” again through the prayers of my dear priest.” (I. Taisiya. O. John as a shepherd). “I, spoke about. John to this merchant, I’ve been watching you for a long time.” But Father John doesn’t need to watch for long. This sensitive soul, full of loving responsiveness, immediately noticed who needed support and help, and he did not hesitate to go to the sick soul, bringing healing, although this soul was unfamiliar to him. O. John in the late seventies “Fate made me suffer early... and languish with life,” says one girl. Since childhood, I was not loved in my family. By nature sickly, undeveloped, incapable of anything, but pampered and nervous, I was a burden both to others and to myself. They sent me to college. But even from there, after three years, he was expelled due to his inability to learn. At the time I was expelled from the institute, my father was no longer alive. My mother, a sickly woman, did not have the means to support me the way we lived under my father. We spent our days with her in hardships and sorrows. But, finally, my mother dies, leaving me alone, completely without any means of subsistence. Where could I lay my head? I stayed with some relatives, then with others, then with friends. Unable to find a secure shelter anywhere, I moved from place to place. “At one time I was visiting Kronstadt. And here I was bored. One day it became very difficult for me, and during one walk I began to think about a plan on how I could stop my useless and painful state. Sitting in such a sad mood, I did not notice how the priest came up to me and, bowing warmly, sat down at the other end of the bench. Not knowing him, like anyone else in Kronstadt, and not wanting to share my difficult mood with anyone, I got up and wanted to leave. But a priest I didn’t know stopped me and said: “I’ve bothered you, it seems. Sorry, but, passing by, I could not help but notice the heavy mood of your soul, testifying to your deep sorrow, and, as a shepherd, although unfamiliar to you, but not alien to the rank of shepherd, I decided to approach you and talk with you with a feeling of sincere participation. Do not hesitate to reveal your sorrow to me. Perhaps through me, a sinner, the Lord will calm you down and comfort you.” “Touched by such participation of a person completely unknown to me, I cried bitterly, but could not say anything except one thing: “I’m unhappy, superfluous in the world!” “The great mind of the Creator could not create anything unnecessary,” answered the priest. Pointing to a bug crawling along the sand, he continued: - Look, what is more helpless, more insignificant than this insect? But it is not superfluous, and it brings some benefit, and it is not forgotten or abandoned by the Creator! And you, being a man, this beloved creation of God, despair of His mercy! Tell me your sorrow, tell me what happened to you. “Here I poured out my whole soul before the good father. It seemed to me that no one had ever spoken to me with such sympathy, no one had consoled me so much. He seemed to me like an Angel sent by God to save me from death, to which I was already so close. He talked to me with sincere fatherly love. He encouraged, consoled, showed me the path of life, which I follow to this day, without ceasing to thank him. He did not reveal his name to me, calling himself one of the cathedral priests. When, having returned home, I told about my wonderful meeting and conversation with some priest, they told me that it was undoubtedly Fr. John. At the same time they added: this is a wonderful, holy man.” The main source from which Fr. John drew strength that revived other people's souls, was, of course, prayer. All his hours were devoted to prayer. At that time he did not have such popularity as he has now; hence there was more leisure time. His nights were free, but he devoted them to prayer for others. "ABOUT. John, when passing through Peterhof, often stopped with me and told us about. D. S-ov. In the morning you will ask: how did you sleep? - Thank God, good night. Healthy. My head is fresh. And I knew that he didn’t go to bed until the morning.” You can read how he prayed for others in his diary. “Infants Pavel and Olga, through the infinite mercy of the Lord and through the prayer of my obscenity, were healed from the spirit of infirmity that possessed them. Little Pavel's infirmity was resolved by sleep, little Olga received peace of mind and her dark face became clear. Nine times I went to pray with bold hope, hoping that hope would not be put to shame, that it would be revealed to the interpreter, that even if I were persistent, the Lord would give me what I asked for; that if the unjust judge finally satisfied the woman who was troubling him, then how much more will the Judge of all, the most righteous, satisfy my sinful prayer for innocent children, that He will look at my work, at my walking, at my prayer words and my kneeling, at my boldness, at my hope. That’s what the Lord did; he did not disgrace me, a sinner. I come for the tenth time - the babies are healthy. I thanked the Lord and the most swift Intercessor.” And it is natural that from the very first year this prayer gave the shepherd that faith that moves mountains and creates healings, the faith that Fr. John considers it obligatory for the shepherd. “A servant of God,” he says, when performing Divine services and sacraments, he must be firmly convinced that as soon as he thinks and says something, it will be done. It is so convenient and easy for the Lord to fulfill our requests, to create or implement something according to our word. Let this conviction be strong and natural in you, like your breathing with air, like seeing with your eyes, like listening with your ears.” And he had this faith and is it surprising that he “experienced for himself a thousand times that this is exactly so; I experienced that there is no gap between the words: “speech and was, commanded and created,” and that they are true in all their strength.” One of my close friends 5 o. John, attending his service on the day of St. Nicholas, noticed that the service was somehow especially joyful and strong, persistent: “To St. Father Nicholas, pray to God for us.” Insistently, as if remembering something that had happened: “Pray, as I prayed then.” He told “father” about his impression. “Yes, you’re right,” answered Fr. John, there are reasons why I pray especially these days. Here's the thing. In the first year of my service, one of my comrades from the 4th year of the academy came to see me. He tells me that he cannot pass exams, he is deaf: he can hardly hear anything, he needs treatment. - Must. Let's pray. And we prayed the whole night together. And my friend recovered and passed his exams. This is a holy day for me and I remember it.” And the first years of shepherding passed - joyful, holy, bright. These were years of living entirely for others. “I am a priest,” said Fr. John, - what is there? That means there’s nothing to say: I’m not mine, I belong to others.” His young wife, as if by vow, turned, at first, though not without grumbling, into a sister of mercy to her “verbal” husband in his high service to God and his neighbors. During all these years they only saw each other, they say, for almost a few minutes a day, when Fr. John appeared at home late in the evening or early in the morning. “There are enough happy families, Liza, without us,” he usually said. “And you and I will devote ourselves to serving God.” And by the age of 60 we already see in Fr. John, almost the current Fr. John. Already in the 60s, his day goes like this: “Father John has just returned home after the liturgy and countless visits to the sick and suffering; In front of the house, as usual, there was a crowd of beggars waiting for alms. Father John distributed everything to the last two-kopeck piece and left only 20 kopecks. on the ship, so that, after resting, go to Oranienbaum to see a seriously ill person: Fr. John knew that he would not have this amount at home. As soon as he entered his modest room, he heard noise and loud conversation in the hallway. Without taking off his outerwear, Fr. John returned to the hallway; It turned out that some woman was sobbing and asking to be allowed to see the priest. “Let him wait,” says Fr. John’s wife: you’ve been here since 5 o’clock. I walked around in the morning, hungry, exhausted; have lunch, relax... - Wait, I’ll ask what she wants. Seeing the priest, the woman threw herself at his feet. “Save us, father,” she prayed, “my husband is dying, five children haven’t eaten for two days, I can barely walk myself.” One hope for you... “Let’s go to you,” Fr. answered affectionately. John, raising the woman, “The Lord will help you... And oh. John, completely forgetting about dinner and fatigue, left the house with the woman. - Here, here's 20 kopecks for you. Go to the store, buy bread and eggs, I don’t have any more... Having come to the woman, Fr. John really caught a picture of terrible poverty: the dying man looked with lifeless, fixed eyes and did not move; the children moaned from hunger. When the bread and eggs were eaten, Fr. John himself helped the woman clean out her dark basement closet, tidied up several of the children, and then, kneeling down in front of the tiny icon hanging in the corner, began to pray loudly... The woman repeated the words and prayers and kept waiting for Father John to ask the Lord to heal the sick person, to improve their plight, to improve their needs... But Father John asked for something completely different... He prayed to God for the forgiveness of sins, the salvation of the soul, for faith and love for the Savior... When his voice died down, he stood for a long time, lowering his head, and then, getting up from his knees, went up to the bed and blessed the sick man. “Come to my church tomorrow,” said Fr. John leaving. Before he had time to leave the house, he already saw several people waiting for him with invitations to Petersburg and Oranienbaum; after listening to the petitioners about. John went with them to the ship, and only at one o’clock in the morning he returned home for “dinner”... Needless to say, the next morning he did everything he could for the family, and he could already do a lot. And then the 70s and 80s, his fame grew and grew: it is not at all surprising if everyone soon recognized such a shepherd. The news about the young extraordinary priest began to quickly spread outside of Kronstadt. Stories about deeds of mercy, love and the fruits of his prayer went from mouth to mouth. In 1883, on December 20, the famous “statement of gratitude” appeared in the newspaper “Novoe Vremya,” which was the beginning of the all-Russian fame of the Kronstadt priest. Compiled by someone unknown, accompanied by dozens of signatures, this statement literally read as follows: “We, the undersigned, consider it our moral duty to testify to our sincere, sincere gratitude to the archpriest of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in the city of Kronstadt, Father John Ilyich Sergiev, for the healing provided to us from the diverse and serious illnesses from which we suffered and from which medical care could not heal us previously, although some of us spent a long time in hospitals and were treated by doctors. But where weak human efforts were in vain, warm faith in the Almighty Healer of all evils and diseases, who sent down help and healing to us sinners through the medium of the pious archpriest, worthy before the Lord, turned out to be saving. Through the holy and beneficial prayers of this ascetic, who deserved so much before the Supreme Creator of all blessings, we all not only received complete deliverance from the bodily ailments that oppressed us, but some of us were miraculously healed from moral infirmities, which irrevocably drew them onto the path of vice and destruction. A copy from the address given by Fr. John on his twentieth anniversary And now, strengthened by such a clear sign of God’s mercy towards them, they felt the strength to leave their former sinful life and remain more firmly on the path of honest work and God-fearing behavior. Considering it especially useful for the edification of many in our time of little faith to declare publicly about such a visible manifestation of the all-good Providence of God, tirelessly caring for sinful humanity, we recognize it as our constant duty in front of everyone to declare our deep gratitude to the Rev. Fr. Archpriest, asking him not to forget us sinners in his prayers in the future. At the same time, trying to firmly remember ourselves, we also convey to others the only highly healing saving advice taught to us by the highly worthy shepherd-healer, during our appeals to him, to live according to God’s truth and to receive Holy Communion as often as possible.” (No. 2807). After this statement about. John became known to all of Russia. He receives hundreds of telegrams and letters. The courtyard of a small house, still occupied by Fr. John, began to be filled with all kinds of newcomers. The sick, the suffering, the burdened came, they came with family troubles, binge drinkers, abandoned wives... Everyone was in need before the priest. They called him and invited him everywhere. They opened their souls to him. And he did not refuse anyone, accepting everyone who came to him; prayed with them, consoled them. He went at the first call to a seriously ill patient, traveling dozens of miles. Everywhere he appeared, he brought peace, joy, hope, and faith. Everyone left him with a lighter heart and softened bodily suffering. And the more good fame about him spread everywhere, the less and less he found merit in himself. He humbly attributed everything to God. “The grace and mercy of our Savior do not fail even now, and will not fail forever... Glory to our Savior God! He sees that it is not false that I send this glory to Him. Only by Him and in His name am I glorious, and without Him I am dishonored; only through Him is he strong, and without Him he is weak; with Him he is holy, but without Him he is full of sins; with Him I am bold, without Him I am faint-hearted; with Him he is meek and humble, without Him he is irritable and not good. Exalt the Lord with me and let us exalt His Name together (Ps. 33:4).” Such popularity brought into the life of Fr. John only new thorns. First of all, he was hostile to Fr. John, his closest authority is the rector of the cathedral 6. Father John was accused of neglect of his duties, inappropriate behavior as a priest, and unauthorized absences. Necessary. There was even an investigation by John, who, of course, could not find anything reprehensible in his activities, but nevertheless did not show any particular sensitivity to the enormous, holy, educational work of Fr. John. They were hostile towards Fr. John and civil authorities, e.g. Kronstadt police chief G., who several years ago was put on trial for extortion and bribery. Father John forgave, and loved, and prayed for his enemies. The trial of G. was a triumph of this forgiving love! The prosecutorial authorities, knowing the attitude of the police chief towards Fr. John, called Fr. John as a witness in the case of G. The courthouse was crowded with the public on the day of the interrogation of Fr. John. G. and his defenders were very worried. But then the interrogation began. To the general surprise and disappointment of many, Fr. John spoke only about G.’s good deeds and in each indictment he found something humane and useful. “A witness,” he turned to Fr. Ioannou, the prosecutor, - you must tell the whole truth in court, without hiding anything. Eyes o. John lit up with that fire that more than once made many tremble. He did not allow the prosecutor to finish the sentence he had begun and said in a firm and decisive voice: – I speak according to the priesthood. Everyone present held their breath. The prosecutor refused to question him; defenders also, and when Fr. John left the courtroom, and a crowd of people held him in the corridors for an hour and a half, asking for blessings. The words: “I speak according to the priesthood” remained in everyone’s memory for a long time. It was with great pain that I met Fr. John blamed the press and public opinion because they interfered with his cause. What was he not accused of?! They accused Fr. John, and the founder of some unprecedented sect, was reproached for allegedly being negligent in his duties, for perverting the Holy Scriptures. Moreover, they sought to prove that the venerable shepherd was destroying family ties and boasting of his good deeds. They even called for public attention and the adoption of any measures against Fr. John. Some even spread some meaningless prayer, attributing it to Fr. John. O. John in the eighties Father John was not personally embarrassed by this slander; he considered it inevitable on the path of a disciple of Christ. In moments of persecution brought against him, he brought to mind the words of the Savior: “a servant cannot be greater than his master” (John 15:20), and consoled himself with the following thoughts: “As they persecuted the Lord of the harvest, so will His true followers be persecuted forever. But the Lord consoled all his faithful disciples in advance with delight and the promise of the greatest reward in heaven - the eternal kingdom of heaven; and He Himself endured the most severe torment and death, leaving us all with an example of courage and patience during persecution for the sake of the truth. “Blessed are you who have been banished for the sake of righteousness: for these are the kingdom of heaven... Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven.” He seemed to say this: do not be discouraged and do not despair, My faithful followers, who proclaim the truth to people in word and deed, and with invincible firmness, to the point of exile and death, standing for My truth, for My commandments. I will be your support, your strength, your consolation, your inner bliss in all your sufferings, misfortunes and sorrows, in all tortures and torments for My name. “As My sufferings abound in you, so will My consolation abound in you” (2 Cor. 1:5). If o. John sometimes suffered from these accusations, but not for himself. He sometimes feared only for his own business. When in 1892-93, regarding one typographical slip 7 and one inaccurately understood theological term, Fr. They even began to reproach John for not being Orthodox; he became embarrassed. Of course, he did not doubt his non-Orthodoxy, but he was afraid that this reason, caused by a misunderstanding, would cause unrest and undermine confidence in his pastorate. He then even considered it necessary to defend himself and defended himself with dignity and firmness. “Unfortunately,” he wrote, “I must die before anyone takes away my praise,” and will undermine the glory (reputation) of the priest, the servant of Christ. They want to confuse the Orthodox people. Deprive me of Russia's trust. This is not according to Christ's teaching. This is due to delusion, and not according to Christ. I value faith more than anything in the world, but it is attacked.” “I am morally bad, but I am Orthodox. Most Divine Trinity!.. You know my exact, undamaged Orthodoxy... I pray to You - dispel bewilderment and turn away the wrong reproach.” I’m afraid, he says, that the shepherd of inexperienced souls will be tempted to sin and condemnation, and I grieve. However, he firmly believed in the triumph of truth. He knew that Christ would win. And Christ won. Little by little, they no longer saw the young priest as a holy fool; on the contrary, little by little, it became clear to everyone that this is exactly what a true servant of the Orthodox Church should be. So, through popular rumor, through the warming love of the poor, over time, the image of a good shepherd emerged, an image full of captivating charm. And then there was no longer any disagreement in different strata of society, which, with amazing unanimity, finally realized the moral superiority of the persecuted and ridiculed priest. And most importantly, Christ finally won in Fr. John. External temptations, mockery, and pastoral practice created Fr. John, as we now have. What is it now about. John? Before moving on to the current Fr. John, let us look at another episode from the first years of his pastorate, his teaching of the law. Of course, this “reflection on the benefits of reading Holy Scripture” is evidence of the personal experience of Fr. John. O. John did not know how to refuse at all. Thanks to this, not only he was in need, but also his wife: she had nothing to run the household with. Realizing that he has no right to force his wife to beg, Fr. John ordered that the salary for teaching the law be given to her... We pass on the story of the gene. O-ova. – Not printed Not about. Nektarievsky, about whom Fr. John remembers with a grateful feeling. and another, whose name we do not consider necessary to give here. Printed about St. Trinity instead of “unity of being”, “unity of beings”.