Selected advice and instructions from St. Philaret of Moscow

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy With prayerful thanksgiving to God, through the intercession of St. Philaret, on my 80th birthday. Honored Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy K.E. SKURATU Konstantin Efimovich Skurat, Honored Professor of the Moscow Academy of Sciences, honorary member of the Minsk Theological Academy This work by Konstantin Efimovich Skurat, Honored Professor of the Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy, honorary member of the Minsk Theological Academy, Doctor of Church History, is a collection of precious grains of Godly wisdom of the most luminous servant of God, Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow (1782–1867), scattered on thousands of pages of his letters. The author defines its goal as follows: “To listen again and again to the instructive word of the holy Moscow Hierarch and to help those who seek truth and strive for holiness to assimilate it.” We hope that any reader will find a lot of useful information in this work. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill “01” September 2009 Moscow, Chisty lane. 5. No. 5742 Dear Konstantin Efimovich! I cordially congratulate you on a significant date in your life - your 80th birthday. The Lord has endowed you with many abilities and gifts, creativity and longevity. Your whole life, as well as your scientific and pedagogical activities, is connected with the Moscow Theological Academy. You rightfully bear the high title of its emeritus professor. For decades, you have been working with love and zeal in the field of training future ministers and workers of the Church of Christ. You are known, deeply respected and remembered with gratitude by many people, both at the Academy and far beyond its borders. These sincere feelings of colleagues and students are the fruit of many years of pedagogical work and spiritual achievement, which you strive for with your characteristic modesty and complete dedication. Nowadays our Church especially needs highly educated and spiritually experienced mentors. Being a person of extensive knowledge, extensive life experience, ardent faith and fidelity to your calling, you are a worthy example of ecclesiastical obedience and service as a layman in the Church. On this memorable day, I prayerfully wish you, dear Konstantin Efimovich, strength of mental and physical strength, inspiration and all prosperity. May the Lord bless your further labors for the good of the Church of Christ, keeping you in good health for many years to come. OFFICE OF THE HOLY PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA 119034, Moscow, Chisty lane, 5 Tel. 201–23–40 The Office of the Moscow Patriarchate informs you of the resolution of HIS HOLINESS, based on your request for a blessing for the publication of your works in eleven volumes: “12.VI.2006 May God’s blessing accompany the publication of your, dear Konstantin Efimovich, works in 11 volumes. Having enormous theological, scientific and life experience, it is very important to share it with those who will read your works. I hope to be among them too." Archbishop of Istra, Vicar of the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia “Let a man sow good seed into his soul, let him water it, let him preserve what he sows, and let him expect mercy from God, Who alone gives it back” (21:44) 1. I look at the piles of books lying in front of me with letters from St. Philaret of Moscow and think: will I have time to complete my planned work on the evening of my life (on the eve of my eightieth birthday)? And only faith in the heavenly intercession of the Saint (see about this in my brochure: “The Extraordinary in the Ordinary.” Klin, 1999. pp. 32–37. - “Saint Philaret called” 2) calls me to contribute to the rich treasury of research into the greatest feat of God’s brightest servant - to collect the precious grains of God’s wisdom scattered on thousands of pages of his letters. The difficulty of solving the task I had set for myself led me to the fact that at first I wanted to limit myself to only getting acquainted with those letters that were published in our time (at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st). This job is relatively easy, and I completed it quite easily. Its theme is: “Towards the spiritual appearance of a Christian (according to the letters and opinions of St. Philaret (Drozdov)).” By the way, I try, if possible, not to repeat the letters used in it in a new work 3 . The goal is one: to listen again and again to the instructive word of the holy Moscow Hierarch and to help those who seek truth and strive for holiness to assimilate it. Saint Philaret is a bright soul, a fiery heart that sowed and sowed, despite its weaknesses, the good seed of faith and love. With its gracious light and warmth, generations of glorious children of the Russian Orthodox Church matured spiritually. Many hierarchs who held high positions were brought up under his wise leadership. Describing the death and burial of St. Philaret, his contemporary Andrei Nikolaevich Muravyov reported: “Only one person is gone in the world, and it’s unlikely that an entire generation can fill this emptiness!.. All of Moscow was breathing Philaret, even the lifeless ones!” (4:669, 677). Now - today - as we move away from the day of the Saint's death, his bright personality shines more and more brightly, illuminating monasticism, theological schools, pastors and flock of the Fatherland Church and not only this... The Saint himself wrote in 1855 with his characteristic deep humility: “You can say that I stepped out of my borders... If only I knew my diocese. I'm sorry. During a storm, I think it is permissible for a sailor to tell the captain of the ship that there is damage in it” (19–2:28). The letters of the Great Hierarch can be characterized in one word - precious. It is noteworthy that they have been preserved and seem to be all there. Persons of different ranks and fortunes with whom he corresponded treasured them as the most expensive treasure. Apparently, drafts of individual letters were preserved by the author himself, as evidenced in his letter to A.N. Muravyov: “It’s good that, contrary to custom, I kept a list of my letter and can point to it with accuracy” (4:230). The contents of the letters are very varied. In them, fatherly instructions, Christian advice are given, difficult questions and perplexities are resolved... The saint either warns and admonishes, then shares the concerns of his spiritual children, guides them in family and everyday affairs, delves into monastic exploits and shows the brethren straight paths in spiritual growth, takes care of theological schools, shows the wrongness of apostates from the Holy Church, from Holy Orthodoxy, supports missionary service, monitors published literature, gives either approving reviews or comments on it, shows reverent respect and loyalty to the most august persons, expresses patriotic feelings... The Saint is strict with himself, - testifies his contemporary, - “and demands from his subjects the unwavering fulfillment of their duties; but the severity of the authorities’ punishments is softened by fatherly love and tries to heal sinful ulcers rather than punish the sinner.” However, he does not allow concessions. “The gift of forgiveness is higher than the gift of correcting with punishment,” he says himself, “but “he who takes up the work of his own measure succeeds” (7: VI-VII). The Saint's letters provide rich material for characterizing him and his time. “This is in some way a diary of the Metropolitan’s official activities, extremely curious and instructive” (22:IV). The reader sees submission to the will of God, love, caring, protection, healing in sorrows, help in need. - “He places the work of charity above concern for the decoration and splendor of the sacred service” (7:XI). “He rejoices with those who rejoice, he grieves with those who mourn, and opens his fatherly arms to them. The letters breathe the deep humility of the author, imbued with a fiery love for the Holy Church and Holy Orthodoxy - for the Truth. It is in them that his impeccable Orthodoxy is clearly expressed. In one of his letters to the abbot of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Anthony, the holy Metropolitan wrote: “We must be careful not to write more than what the truth says or less than that. This caution is not so difficult: it is only necessary (7:16. Wed: 23:40). The language of the Saint's letters, like all his other works, with all the diversity of their content, is distinguished by clarity, expressiveness, accuracy, richness, and sometimes subtle humor. But while emphasizing the significance of the Saint’s letters, one must also bear in mind his following testimony: “Speaking through letters is not always as convenient as in person” (7:16). "This is true; because in conversation the unclear and incomplete are immediately explained and supplemented” (19–2:117). Moreover, I now recall the spirit-bearing words of the living Moscow Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, who is very revered by me, - in whose family there is both a new martyr and a confessor - words that indicate a very important guideline when reading letters: they “were written to one or another person who is in one and not another circumstance. Therefore, automatically applying them to yourself as a blessing given not only to the addressee of the letter, but also to the reader, will be incorrect and presumptuous and may not lead to the results that the reader expects" (Prot. Sergius Pravdolyubov. About Father John Krestyankin. M., "Saint Cyprian", 2008. P. 75). And Saint Philaret himself writes: “However, in detail... do not bind yourself to my decisions, so that you will be more free to act according to reasoning and as required by circumstances... Prove to me the opposite, I will change” (7:5). Holy Hierarch Father Philaret! Help! And if something is said not as it should be and as you would like, forgive me! May the reader not judge me harshly in my last hour, but instead remember me and my family in his holy prayers. May the Lord protect him too! Troparion to St. Philaret of Moscow, tone 4: Having acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit, to the godly Saint Philaret, you preached truth and righteousness to people enlightened by reason, you showed peace and mercy to the tender hearts of the suffering, as a teacher of faith and a vigilant guardian You have preserved the Russian flock with the rod of righteousness. For this reason, having boldness towards Christ God, pray to grant the Church affirmation and salvation for our people and souls. Like a true imitator of the Venerable Sergius, you loved virtue from your youth, God-blessed Philareta. as a righteous shepherd and an immaculate confessor, at your holy repose you accepted reproach and reproach from the godless, but God glorified you with signs and miracles and the protector of our Church Reveal Footnotes are indicated by numbers in parentheses and separated by a colon. The numbers before the colon indicate the serial number of the source used (see the listing in the list at the end), after the colon - the pages of this source. Punctuation marks and spelling are sometimes changed by me. The materials in this brochure are intended to be published in a collection of my works. Note. In this work, the following editions of St. Philaret’s letters known to me are almost not used: 1) Correspondence of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, with S.D. Nechaev. St. Petersburg, 1895 (in the list of sources No. 22) and 2) Opinions, reviews and letters of Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, on various issues for 1821–1867, collected and provided with explanatory notes by L. Brodsky. M., 1905 (in the list of sources No. 24). This is explained by the fact that both the first book and the second contain alphabetical indexes of not only “personal names”, but also “subjects” (in the first book on pp. 273–288, in the second – 367–387). Consequently, any reader can easily find what interests him. You might be interested in: