29/VI-45.
Dear M.N.!
How are you and the kids doing? Did B.A. come? Probably they will let him go completely soon. I'm concerned about Modest's device. I think he needs to graduate from some technical school. There are a wide variety of specialties. Many are easy to learn. But you still need to choose one to which there is a tendency. In the meantime, Fashion still needs to learn at least one year in the next. class. Even if he doesn’t move on to the 9th, he will still gain something, and he will grow up, he will be more conscious, he can choose a technical school in a year, which he can enter next year. From the 8th grade, if you go to the 9th, it seems that most technical schools are accepted without an exam. Let him rest in the summer, like a cemetery, sometimes look at textbooks, according to which he was weak. If all goes well, perhaps N.N. will be able to give him a small stipend while he studies. This opinion is my decisive one, but see how it is better. Olechka needs to finish her technical school. If you can stay in Volochka to finish and it does not upset her, then it would be better to be all together. It will be much harder for her in Bologoye. True, on Sunday you can come home, but still better at home. However, she herself can better solve this matter.
Hello to you all. How is your health? How's Nick. Peter. Zh. and Olga Vl.? Hi them. I always remember them. I'm going to come and visit you at least in the fall.
Hello Boris Al.
2/XII - 45
Dear Maria Nikolaevna!
I have already received the second letter from you, but I myself do not answer you. Write about your needs and concerns. Today I received a letter from my brother - a war invalid from Taganrog. He writes that he somehow dressed two older children, so that they can go to school, and the third boy is sitting at home. There are no shoes or clothes. The Germans were there. Everything was stolen. Not even a bucket of water to bring. There are no necessary utensils. And there is neither strength nor opportunity to leave. Yes, and where? It would be possible, he writes, to get something on the cards, but there are no funds ... This is how many, many live.
Bor relation. Al. really strange. This is the result of his experiences and illness. It's a pity that Modestik is ill, but frankly, I would like him to go to his mother. Maybe she and ... him to her. The road is so difficult and there are so many dangers of losing his soul that it would be better for him now to get over without difficulty to it. I pity all of you. I pity you personally, Maria Nikolaevna. Pull to the end your debt, taken on by the will of the Mother of God. Obviously your spiritual feat should consist in this. I can do everything for you. But you have to scatter in all directions, so that help is sometimes insufficient and there may be some who are dissatisfied, but what to do. Heart hurts for everyone. Be patient, be saved. Olechka should have been dressed. Somehow go to El. Eph., talk to her. Wouldn't it help. I remember all of you every day. I will do what I can to help. Sorry. Save yourself. Write.
Loving you all N.
Don't be discouraged when it gets crowded. Who put you in this place, He will not leave you in extremes, and for the test, you may have to endure sorrows. He who endures to the end, he will be saved. Sorry.
19/II - 46.
Dear Maria Nikolaevna! Forgive me for not writing to you for so long. I spent the whole of January on the road. You wrote that you don't feel well. How is your health now? What did they find on Modi? Is there tuberculosis? How does he feel now? Olya's vacation must have passed? Did she manage to get some rest? Did they make her a coat or put it aside? How is her health and learning? What does Boris Alex write, how is his life, health?
Did they give him a room or not? How are you managing now? Has the house been turned over to children? Your children Gleba and Seraf. I commemorate every service, as well as all of you.
Do not be offended that I have not written to you for a long time - either I was leaving, then I had a little flu, then I was tired and careless. I ought to send you a debt, but everything is spent, all the booty. I'll try to do it as soon as possible. From Mikhail Iv. V-a received an offer to take charge of the new building, but I refused. I think that I did the right thing, although it would not be bad to be closer to my own. Yes, and here acquaintances have already been established, and I do not see God's will for the transition.
Be well, dear M. N. Be patient a little longer, do not lose heart.
Write. I asked you a lot of questions. Maybe Olya or Modya will answer some of them to make it easier for you. I send you all my sincere greetings and blessings. Be healthy. Do not give up. The Lord will not leave.
What were the hard times, and everything has passed. Not far from us and the transition to the homeland. Already tired of traveling.
The Lord is with you. Sorry. Write.
Loving you N.
22/VII-46.
Dear Maria Nikolaevna! I received your letter for a long time, but I did not intend to answer. Forgive me, for God's sake! Instead of an answer, you will have to ask a series of questions: 1) How is Bor's health. Al., has he left the hospital and lives with his wife? 2) What is the prospect regarding Olya, where will she have to get a job? 3) What do you think to do with Modey? I think that he still needs to finish the 7th grade.
If Olya fails to stay here, then from the places you indicated: Sakhalin, Khabarovsk, Chita, Ashgabat, Murmansk, I think it is best to choose Khabarovsk, in extreme cases Chita, and the rest of the places are not suitable for Olya due to climatic and other conditions. If you will sew a winter coat for Olechka, then sew with the expectation of a winter of 400 and winds. I have a nice big raccoon collar from a men's sheepskin coat. I would gladly give it to her, but how to send it, and whether she will like it. It would be a good protection from the cold, and he is beautiful. In early August, Lydia Vas will come here. It would be possible to send with her, but Olya may not be found. Answer right away where she will settle down and when she will leave.
I am very glad that Olya has thoughts to follow your path. It would be much better for her, and for Modest, and for you. May God give her the wisdom and strength to do so. It would be nice if you all were together and settled down near me. Maybe this will come true someday. With the Lord, everything is possible.
Native Mary Nick. I think that it would also be good for you not to part with Olya, while her attitude towards you is good, and while she is free. If she changes her attitude or gets married, then from this you can see the will of God that you need to leave her and go your own way. In the meantime, I don't think you should leave them halfway. This is your feat, obedience given by the heavenly Abbess, and you must carry it to the end. And there She herself, in the course of affairs, or otherwise, will reveal Her will. I still live. Good luck, and I sincerely wish you all the same. May the Lord bless and help you to comfortably pass the rest of this path of life.
1894 - 09/07/1963
"Do not look for high fortunes"
What does he write about. Nikon? About the "first stone" at the foundation of salvation - Fr. " The deep fall of mankind is revealed to me more and more, and hence the meaning of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. No soul will be saved from works, only one salvation - Christ, who saves those who believe in Him and recognize the need for a Savior, i.e. considers himself a sinner, unworthy of the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ came to call such sinners to repentance and salvation.".(one)
He also reminds that a person who sees his sins and hopes to receive forgiveness from God does not tend to condemn: “... the more sinful a person is, the less he sees sins in himself and the more and more maliciously he condemns others. A true, unfalse sign of the correctness of a spiritual dispensation is a deep awareness of one’s corruption and sinfulness, an awareness of one’s unworthiness of God’s mercies and non-judgment of others.".(2)
He often writes about the indispensable forgiveness of others, without which the hope of salvation would be in vain: “ Only then the Lord does not forgive us when we ourselves do not forgive others. Therefore, let us make peace with everyone, so that the Lord may make peace with us. Let's forgive everyone so that the Lord will forgive us"(3).
Dejected under the weight of sorrows, Fr. Nikon encourages with a reminder that this sacrifice is not aimless, and if we ourselves cry out to the Lord, asking us to cleanse us of the “rags” of former habits, then we should not neglect the medicine sent to us, which is not always pleasant to the taste.
All this is recognizable, known from the instructions of the elders, St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), but in those years when there was no spiritual literature, it was important to convey to people the basic principles of spiritual work “by word of mouth”.
Although there are in the letters of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) and things that seem to be specially intended for us, today.
A powerful "vaccination" against self-conceit is his warning that a false sense of "rightness and entitlement" should be avoided: " Don't raise your voice to anyone. Remember the immutable word of the Lord: God opposes the proud. This means that you will not be successful in anything, either in your inner life or in your outer life. In the inner life you already see coldness, laziness, barrenness. It will be the same on the outside. You will endure shame, reproach, poverty, disease. Not a single one of your desires and expectations will be fulfilled, you will be trampled into the dirt until you humble yourself ”(4); “Never command anyone. Don't teach others if you haven't taught yourself anything..."(5)
But perhaps most valuable today, in a situation where we are faced with attempts to substantiate a certain "secular" understanding of spirituality, simple and clear reminders of Fr. Nikon about what distinguishes spirituality from culture in a broad sense. Spirituality, he recalls, is deification, i.e. acquisition of the Holy Spirit, renewal of human nature: mind, soul and even body; this is the state of the highest joy of communion with God (6).
Footnotes
1. Quoted. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. Letters from hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) to spiritual children. Internet version: Orthodoxy and Modernity. Information and analytical portal of the Saratov diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (http://lib.eparhia-saratov.ru/books/13n/nikon_v/repentance1/contents.html). letter 21.
2 Quot. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. letter 23.
3 Cit. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. letter 29.
4 Cit. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. Letter 107.
5 Cited. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. Letter 120.
6 Cit. For: Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. Letter 260.
- Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev). We have repentance. Spiritual Life Letters. Moscow: Sretensky Monastery Publishing House, 2007
- Letters from hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) to spiritual children. Sisterhood in the name of St. Ignatius Stavropolsky, 2008
- Internet version: Orthodoxy and Modernity. Information and analytical portal of the Saratov diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church
To the great happiness of many believers, the long-term persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church has passed, and now it has taken a confident position in the hierarchy of human needs. People just need to believe in the best, in the world, in salvation, in the Lord God.
Return of the prodigal son
Among the ever-growing number of parishioners, young people are increasingly common: boys and girls attend services on great Orthodox holidays with interest or simply go to pray in the temple. decades Soviet power left an imprint on the minds and souls of people: now not many know by heart prayers, dates Orthodox holidays, writings of the saints. In order for us to better understand the content of the teachings of the holy fathers, some clergy try to “translate” their texts into a modern way. One of these associates was hegumen Nikon Vorobyov.
short biography
The elder was born back in 1894 in the Tver province, in the small village of Mikshino. His parents were ordinary peasants, and he himself was the second son. Interestingly, Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) had only brothers: there were six sons in the family, but it was Kolya who distinguished himself from others by honesty, pity, and obedience. In those days, although they tried to bring up all children in an atmosphere of piety and unquestioning reverence for the church, historical events dictated their "fashion".
Having retained in his soul a special attitude towards faith, in his youth, Nikolai enthusiastically began to study natural Sciences and philosophy. However, the craving for religion won, and, disillusioned even in the Petrograd Psycho-Neurological Institute, the future associate plunged into faith. For many years, Nikolai searched for the way to God, but all his efforts were not in vain, and at the age of 36, the future hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) accepted arrested and exiled to Siberia for five years. The persecution was not as hard as the return. Only after the end of the Great Patriotic War he was able to return to his favorite business, but for now he held the position of assistant doctor in a small town. From that moment on, hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) gradually began to become an example of asceticism.
Spiritual letters of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev)
As a true companion, the clergyman had nothing but faith in his soul: he gave all the money, things and other material values to needy people. His only possessions were numerous books, on the pages of which the writings of the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church were kept. The priest devoted all his free time from service to painstaking work. Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) wrote down his thoughts and discourses about faith, God, and repentance. These were not just letters - this is an appeal to descendants who are still at the very beginning of the path to the Lord. In his works, the clergyman “translated” the laws of the Bible into an understandable and accessible language. modern man language.
holy message
Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) left us many valuable works in which he addressed everyone and everyone. These are “Letters to spiritual children”, and “How to live today”, and “Repentance has been left to us” ... These and many other works were left to us “for the benefit and healing from anger, anger and bragging,” Abbot Nikon Vorobyov wrote. These letters became not just a statement of the laws of God, the content of the Great Scripture and reasoning about God. In his writings, the Companion shares own experience deep knowledge of religion. They help believers to correctly prioritize, apply spiritual knowledge in modern life. It is no secret that every day we are surrounded by many temptations that push us to sin and corrupt our souls. The letters of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) are written in a simple and understandable language for every Orthodox, but at the same time, the laws of God run through them like a red thread. The elder teaches not just reverence before the Lord, but repentance of the soul. In his works he found reflection in all spheres human life, in the books and letters of the elder, everyone will find the answer to any question of interest.
On the values of the soul
The spiritual letters of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) are filled with a sense of joy in life. Despite the hard life even for a monk, his works are imbued with love, compassion, forgiveness. He writes that not only should one never lose heart and need to fight, but one must turn to the Lord. You should always ask God for protection and help, and you should always analyze your past experience, trying to avoid repeating mistakes that have already been made.
Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) advises everyone to turn to the Almighty for help at least once an hour, or even more often: then the thought of God, faith, humility and repentance will not leave our hearts for a minute, and, therefore, the Lord will always be there. Everyone needs the help of the saints: only then will human labor benefit not only himself, but also those close to him. For this, the layman will be rewarded a hundredfold.
Will be rewarded according to work
The elder has a special attitude to work, he calls on everyone to eradicate laziness in themselves, to cultivate diligence and diligence. He writes that God rewards in full for diligence and patience, but it is much better to bear not only your own, but also each other's burdens. Only then the law of Christ will be fulfilled, and then a person will not be subject to despondency, sorrow, suffering. Only in this case, love for the neighbor will reign in the hearts of people, and each other's shortcomings will fade in comparison with
The books of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) are filled with love of life and humility. The elder writes that despondency, boredom, indignation alienate us from the Lord. What could be scarier? The Almighty endures everything, but human sins destroy the soul, which means they turn him away from God. Salvation is born from repentance, love, tenderness, crying. A feeling of pity, but not for yourself, but for your loved ones, can awaken meekness and patience in the hearts.
One and all
Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) has more than a dozen books, and in each he shares his secret knowledge about God, faith, love, good and evil. More than 300 spiritual letters are known, and in each he emphasizes that repentance is the vital moisture for the Russian Orthodox Church. As long as a feeling of humility, obedience and faith lives in people, there is no power on earth, the ability to turn the Lord away from us and him from us. The Almighty endures more than any layman or monk: only God knows about all our sins, bad thoughts and evil words.
Hegumen Nikon calls his readers children, God's children. As long as repentance lives in our hearts, we are omnipotent in the face of temptations and temptations. The Lord is born in ourselves, and we give birth to him in our souls.
In addition to printed publications, the spiritual appeals of Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev) are placed on electronic and audio media. Thus, each of us can absorb the words of the elder not only in the traditional way, but also in a more modern way. Do not miss the opportunity to get enough of God's power: read at least one message of the great companion of our days.
Letters of Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) 1894 - 1963 spiritual children.
Hegumen Nikon (in the world Nikolai Nikolaevich Vorobyov) was born in 1894 in the village of Mikshino, Bezhetsk district, Tver province, into a peasant family. As a child, Kolya differed from his six brothers in his special honesty, obedience to elders and amazing cordiality, pity for everyone. These traits he retained throughout his life.
In 1914, after successfully graduating from a real school, Nikolai went to study at the Psychoneurological Institute in Petrograd, hoping to find an answer to the question of the essence of man there. One day in the summer of 1915 in Vyshny Volochek, Nikolai suddenly felt a state of complete hopelessness, almost in despair, he exclaimed: “Lord, if You exist, then open up to me! I am looking for You not for any earthly, selfish purposes. Are you there or are you not?
From the memoirs of Elder Nikon: “It is impossible to convey that action of grace that convinces of the existence of God with power and clarity that leaves no doubt in a person. The Lord reveals himself as, say, after a gloomy cloud, the sun suddenly shines: the sun or someone lit a lantern.So the Lord revealed himself to me, that I fell to the ground with the words: "Lord, glory to Thee, I thank Thee! Grant me to serve You all my life! May all the sorrows, all the sufferings that are on earth come upon me - grant me to survive everything, just not to fall away from You, not to lose You.
For the next two years, he became acquainted with the works of the Holy Fathers and prayed at home.
Elder Nikon told the following about this period:
“And only in the Holy Fathers and in the Gospel did I find something really valuable. When a person begins to struggle with himself, strives to follow the path of the Gospel, then the Holy Fathers will become necessary for him and his relatives. The Holy Father is already a native teacher who speaks to your soul, and she perceives this with joy, consoles herself.As these philosophies and all sorts of sectarian nastiness caused melancholy, despondency, so, on the contrary, as to my own mother, I came to the Fathers.They comforted me, enlightened me, nourished me.
Then the Lord gave me the idea to enter the Moscow Theological Academy (in 1917). It meant a lot to me."
Unfortunately, in 1919 the authorities closed the academy. For several years, Nikolai stayed in Sosnovitsy, where he taught mathematics at school, later moved to Moscow and got a job as a psalmist in the Borisoglebsk church.
In 1931, in Minsk, Nikolai took monastic vows from Bishop. Feofan (Semenyako) of Minsk. On March 25 of the same year he was ordained a hierodeacon, and on December 26, 1932, a hieromonk. And on March 23, 1933, Father Nikon was arrested and exiled to Siberian camps. A year before the end of his term in 1937, he was released.
Father Nikon, returning from the camp, got a job in Vyshny Volochyok with a doctor as a universal servant, where he had to take another course in the science of heroism and patience.
At the end of the war, when parishes began to open, Father Nikon served in Kozelsk until 1948. Here he lived in an apartment with nuns and led an extremely ascetic life. According to the recollections of many who communicated with him during this period, he was incredibly emaciated, he spent all his free time reading the word of God, in prayer and studying the Holy Fathers. His sermons were always deeply spiritual and distinguished by special power and persuasiveness. This attracted believers to him.
Batiushka began to feel particularly unwell in the winter of 1962-63. Gradually, he began to weaken more and more, rather get tired, eat less. For more than two months before his death, he did not take any food, and before that, for about a month, he ate only milk and berries once a day, sometimes with white bread. But never once during the entire time of his illness did he complain to anyone. No one saw in him despondency or sorrow. He was calm, focused, and for the most part even had a slight smile on his face. Almost until his death he was on his feet. He finally fell ill only ten days before his death.
Under the Dormition of the Mother of God, he confessed his loved ones for the last time. Himself, when he could no longer go to the temple, took communion at home several times. Until the day of his death, he was in full and clear consciousness and with the last of his strength instructed those around him. He bequeathed to keep the faith by the full fulfillment of the commandments and repentance, to hold on to the bishop in every possible way. Ignatius Bryanchaninov, especially to avoid fuss, which completely devastates the soul and leads it away from God.
Shortly before his death, in a conversation, he asked to find in the biography of the elder Ambrose of Optina the place where it is said about the smell of decay that appeared after death from the body of the elder. His spiritual relatives did not pay attention to this episode at first, but remembered later.
To the mourners at his bedside, he said: “I have nothing to regret. We must thank God that I have already completed my earthly path. I never wanted to live, I did not see anything interesting in this life and I always wondered how others find something in it and cling to it with all their might. Although I have done nothing good in my life, I sincerely always strived for God. Therefore, I hope with all my soul for the mercy of God. The Lord cannot reject a person who has always striven for Him with all his might. I feel sorry for you "What else awaits you? The living will envy the dead."
Remarkable was the calmness and courage with which the priest walked towards his death hour. In those around him, this often caused barely contained, and sometimes unrestrained tears. Everyone saw that he was gradually dying, but no one wanted to believe that the priest would die.
No complaints were heard from him. - "Father, does it hurt?" - "No. It's so simple, the sensations are unpleasant sometime." Bought slippers for death. With a cheerful smile, he tried on: "These are good." They made a cover for the coffin. He looked and found an error in the inscription. I saw how the coffin was carried for him, and was pleased that everything was ready.
When the priest was asked how and where to bury him, he replied: "It is useless to say, because they never do this." But when one day the family, having already determined (secretly from him) a place for burial, came to his bed, he immediately asked them: "Well, did you find a place for me?" In general, during the period of the last illness, the priest repeatedly amazed those around him with his perspicacity.
Recently, we have been worried that the priest would die in our absence. But he firmly assured us: "Don't worry, I won't die without you. I'll call everyone when necessary." Batiushka peacefully rested on September 7 at 12:25 noon. And although there were no special signs before that, however, everyone somehow gathered to him at that time and, with candles in their hands, read the waste. That's right, he invited everyone.
The funeral was September 9th. The night before, while reading the Gospel one by one, they suddenly felt that a strong smell of decay came from the tomb. We were extremely upset: what will happen tomorrow at the Liturgy? However, when they came in the morning, they did not feel any smell! At night, the smell was felt by many and independently of each other. At the Liturgy and at the funeral, no one felt anything. Here we remembered Elder Ambrose.
It should be especially noted that the atmosphere of inner joy that reigned in the church at the Liturgy of the worshipers and during the funeral of the priest. The full impression of some unusual celebration, a great holiday. An incomprehensible spirit of joy dissolved the universal sincere sorrow. This can be explained by the blissful posthumous state and the prayers of the priest. His death seemed to his relatives, spiritually close ones and the whole flock as if hidden in the morning pre-solar fog. The temple was overcrowded on that day, as on Easter, and many later spoke of the feeling of a special, incomprehensible festive celebration during the service.
Rest, O Lord, Thy servant Hieroabbot Nikon
Letters
“Most do not understand Christianity. Some understood; understood that the most important thing is to force yourself and do the commandments of Christ, and repent of your shortcomings and violations of the commandments, always repent, consider yourself unfit for the kingdom of God, beg the Lord for mercy, like a publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Here is my testament to the dying: repent, consider yourself, like a publican, sinners, beg for God's mercy and have pity on one another.
My dear M.!
You are already discouraged and lost from a small temptation. It is the Lord who allows you to recognize your weakness and understand how much is hidden in the soul of a person, what work must be endured in order to cleanse yourself of passions and become a temple of the Living God and achieve salvation. When all human weakness is revealed, then you will fall down to the Lord and already from the depths of your heart you will cry out to Him, like the drowning Apostle Peter. Then you will receive help from the Lord and you will understand that the Lord is truly close to those who call on His name from the bottom of your heart, and you will already fall down at His feet with gratitude, and you will mourn all your sins with which you offended the Lord. Then you will humble yourself in your heart, stop judging others and begin to take care that the Lord forgives past sins and does not allow you to offend Him by breaking the commandments. You will also understand how vain everything earthly is, that your attachment to the earth, quarrels, grief over things, over deeds, over words - all this is so insignificant, so it’s not worth getting upset, quarreling and to lose peace of mind because of this, and, perhaps, salvation.
So you understood what the name “mother” means, what longing, jealousy, and so on. And if the Lord opened your soul to the bottom, then maybe you would despair. But all evil, all passions, all demonic intrigues, all sorrows and suffering - everything is conquered by humility. And humility is manifested by the fact that from the bottom of our hearts, like a prudent thief, we say to the Lord: “We received what was worthy according to our deeds, remember us, Lord, when you come into Your kingdom.”
Now, if we manage to say this in all cases of life, if we do not grumble either at the Lord or at people, then it will be easy and easy for us, and we will be on the right spiritual path. If, however, they murmured at someone, then one must humble themselves even more and say: “Lord, truly I am worth nothing, only You can save me.” “If you want, you can cleanse me,” said the leper, who had lost all other hope of healing, and then he heard from the Lord: “I want, be cleansed” - and the Lord, touching him, healed him.
So we too, having understood our impotence and spiritual poverty to the depths of our souls, turn to the Lord, to our only Savior, and from a contrite and humble heart we say to Him: “Lord, if you want, you can heal me and save me” - and we will receive an answer from the Crucified One. the Lord for us: "I want, cleanse yourself." Our soul will clearly hear this answer and receive the strength to gratefully endure all the sorrows of earthly life, just as the thief, without grumbling, hung on the cross until evening in terrible torment. May the Lord help you, dear M., to understand this, humble yourself and surrender into the hands of God. Repeat constantly: “Lord, Thy holy will be done; Lord, do with me whatever pleases You, just don’t let me grumble at You, just save me.”
Until now, you have only read and heard about the struggle of the soul, about weeping, about the suffering of the heart. The Lord allows you to experience and determine yourself: will you endure without grumbling and thank the Lord, or will you indulge in grumbling, then, worse, and despair.
Decide yourself. Give blood and take spirit. The time of infancy has passed, it is time to take up the work of adults. A contrite and humble heart God will not humiliate, “the nets of the devil do not touch the humble-wise” (vision of St. Anthony the Great about the nets).
If you give in to grumbling, start blaming people and circumstances, then from here you will move on to grumbling against God and you can come to despair, from which may the Lord deliver you.
May the Lord grant you peace of mind, humility and spiritual intelligence. May the Lord give you patience and strength to bear the burden of both your passions and the passions of those with whom you come into contact.
Forgive me if I have upset you. Live peacefully with K., make every effort to do so. I remind you that I have said more than once that your salvation is connected with K. Yield to her in everything, even if your business suffers. What is the use of a man, if he gains the whole world, and brushes off his soul. So do not harm your soul because of small deeds. Keep the peace and know that, as you have passions, so it is in her, and it is even more difficult for her to fight than for you. And if you pity her and do not condemn, then the Lord will pity you and will not condemn you.
I received your letter after our departure from Kozelsk and understood it. I pity you, I sympathize, and I ask the Lord to help you bear the temptation more easily. An inexperienced husband is inexperienced. Know yourself and do not boast that you do not have this or that. Everything is in you, only not everything was revealed, and for proud words or unreasonable ones you will suffer in what you boasted about or what you said unreasonably.
Send the picture by mail.
***
Expensive... ! Peace to you!
I'm sorry I haven't written to you for a long time. We had a lot of trouble.
I am very sorry for you, I sympathize with your situation. Searched here too the right person to live with you, but it's easier to find a lot of money than a reliable, good roommate. There were and are, but it is impossible to send them to you. You wrote that someone lives with you or wants to live. If a few people are suitable, then take it and live somehow. Now you can not demand much from anyone. Yes, and you yourself humble yourself both before God and before people. Think more often about death, about your future destiny, what awaits you there. Force yourself to do good to people, as the Lord said that the merciful will have mercy, and that judgment without mercy will be for those who did not do mercy themselves.
I also ask you very much: do not judge anyone, but for this, try not to say anything about anyone: neither bad nor good. This is the most easy way not be condemned in the next world. For the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ promised: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned." One man, a monk, lived very negligently, and when he began to die, he was in spiritual joy and was not at all afraid of death. When his elders began to ask what secret virtues he had, that he was dying like a great righteous man, he replied: “The Lord informed me that he forgives me everything and does not condemn me for my sins, because I myself did not condemn anyone.”
Here you go the easy way. Remember your sins, grieve over them with your heart, ask God for forgiveness and forgive everyone yourself and do not condemn (judgment is unforgiveness), then the Lord will forgive you everything and will not condemn you. For this, the Lord Himself will arrange your earthly life. You can see for yourself that we cannot arrange it well. Throw sorrow upon the Lord, and He will nourish you spiritually and bodily. Be healthy. May the Lord keep you and protect you from all evil.
Forgive me and do not be offended that I do not write to you. And I don't write to everyone, except in extreme cases. I really want to visit you in Kozelsk. But it is clear that it will not be until spring. And there, as the Lord will bless. Say hello to K. B. Let her not be offended by me and be wise not according to man, but according to God. When it will be very hard for you, then say with all your heart: “Lord, I receive worthy for my deeds, but forgive me and give me patience so as not to grumble at You. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Repeat these words many times until the sorrow subsides. It will surely subside if you speak from the heart.
Once again I wish you all the favors from the Lord, patience and repentance. Do more good in word, in thought, and, as far as there are means, in deeds. Loving you, N.
18/1-62
It's a shame you didn't learn to read. How much easier life would be for you!
***
Dear V.N.!
I received your letter, I sympathized with your grief, the cause of which was not my letter, but your spiritual disposition. It seems to me that you did not understand my letter, otherwise you would not have mourned and wept not so, but simply taken note, and if you found it fair, then to fulfillment. So I'll rewrite your phrase: "Is it possible to whip like that, you can lead to despair -" the foundation of all rotten life "". If you are walking through the forest and someone tells you: “Do not go left along the road, it is dangerous there: a swamp and a lot of snakes, but it is better to go to the right” - would you call this person cruel and his phrase - a whip?
Then, the underlined phrase, it seems to me, is distorted. It was about the life that began with you leaving the service. The idea of some special achievements and aspirations is rotten, and the question is also raised about “can I do this and that”, “will I be of any use” and so on, in which lies the idea of some special ascetic, or something like that, life. Then how should we think about what we will stand before the Lord with? Our debt is unpaid, no strength, there is nothing to pay. It remains to cry (not about insults) before the mercy of God and beg for forgiveness.
This, and this alone, should be the whole task of the rest of life. The Lord gives you free time for this, frees you from worries about the perishable. According to your strength, try to turn your whole life into repentance. Whether you pray, do something good, go out somewhere, try to act like a sinful, indecent, worst slave of all. If sorrows come from where, bodily or spiritual, say to yourself: “I deserve to receive according to my sins, I deserve much greater punishment; I thank you, Lord, that you mercifully punish me for the cleansing of my sins.
This foundation, this road are correct. If there is no repentance in everything, then everything is rotten, everything is indecent, it will not lead to the goal, but will lead away from it. And the goal is to receive the forgiveness of all sins and through the Cross of Christ to inherit the kingdom of God after death. I wish this for you and myself with all my heart.
For everything improper (thought, feeling, word, views, etc., etc.), immediately mentally sigh to the Lord from the bottom of your heart and ask for forgiveness - and that's enough. Do not dig more, do not disassemble: I am this, I am that. Anyway, we do not know ourselves and cannot correctly judge ourselves. The Lord is our Judge. It is our business to ask for forgiveness for everything, and it is forbidden to condemn anyone, even ourselves excessively.
You are not hard-nosed at all, but like everyone else: good is mixed with evil, the old man is alive, and the new one is still a baby. Let us surrender ourselves and our own to Christ God, and according to our strength we will do and repent of our shortcomings and our errors. For you, the post should be internal. It is more difficult than the external one, which is why people prefer the external one. Support bodily strength in every possible way so that you are capable of inner work.
May the Lord help and enlighten, and bless you.N.
28/II-51
***
Dear V.N.!
Happy New Year and Happy Holidays. I wish you to be renewed in spirit through humility, for only by the hand of humility can a person accept harmlessly for himself any gifts from the Lord.
You are offended that I do not write to you. And why write when you (and others too) do not follow a single piece of advice offered to you, do not even make the slightest effort to try. How many times have I told you not to teach anyone. And you pry into other than your own affairs, not only teach from above, but even denounce, and even in a raised tone. And the result? You yourself are embarrassed and suffer, and bring others into the same state. Here are the fruits of your labors.
In the same way, it has been said to you more than once that you should once and for all recognize yourself as a fallen being, always exuding all sorts of sins, and fall down before the Lord like a publican, exposing yourself in all the ugliness of the old man and powerlessness to heal your leper soul yourself, and cry out: “God be merciful to me, a sinner!
The prophet David cried out with tears (not only cried out), but roared from the sighing of his heart: have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, lead my soul out of prison (from what prison?), from the depths I called to you, Lord (from what depth? ). David called himself a flea in Israel, a dog, a worm, having the Holy Spirit, and we, having nothing but decrepitude, consider ourselves great, able to teach and denounce others. What a devilish mockery of us!
If, as you write in your letters, you feel completely powerless both in body and soul, then why don't you humble yourself before the Lord? What do you care about other people, why do you need to be thought only well of you, what’s the use if the whole world praises you, and the Lord says: I don’t know you ... Why do you want to see yourself in everything good in everything? - worldly? And spiritually good is only one who sincerely and wholeheartedly considers himself the worst of all. This is the teaching of the Gospel, the teaching of all the Holy Fathers.
Consider yourself worthy, deserving of hell, and beg the Lord not to repay you according to your deserts, but to have mercy on you not according to any merits, imaginary virtues, but exclusively by His mercy. What the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: if you do all that is commanded to you, say, as if the servants of the indispensable Esma, as if you should create with a bech, a co-creator. This means that if we fulfilled all the commandments, then even then we would have to consider ourselves slaves, obliged (as slaves) to do the will of our Lord, and to receive special favors from the Lord or inherit the kingdom of God is a matter of mercy and God's condescension towards us. and not a payment for our labors. But we did not fulfill a single commandment, and if we did something, we poisoned it with vanity or human pleasing, or calculations. Why do we think we are tall? Why do we not expose our wounds before the Lord and do not beg Him for mercy, but we all want to appear before Him and before good people?
Humble yourself, consider yourself worthy of hell and with a contrite heart beg the Lord for mercy, like a publican, a harlot, a robber, a prodigal son, and the Lord will have mercy on you, and even here you will feel it in your heart and calm down. Be it, be it! Amen.
Excuse me.N.
2/II-55
***
My dear... !
I received your letter and deeply sympathized with you. I would say a lot to you in response to your doubts and sorrows, but I am not a master of writing. You have chosen an extremely difficult path of life for yourself in our time, and if you endure to the end, all your sorrows, to say the least, will be compensated millions of times, but simply (I won’t say that they will be forgotten) you will even regret that they were too small. It may seem strange to you, but it is true. I am deeply convinced that even the ancient great martyrs - and they regretted that they suffered little and therefore could not answer God with the love that they should have loved the Lord.
Love even for a person seeks to express itself by doing something pleasant for the beloved, no matter how much sacrifice it costs. How stronger love, the greater the desire to prove it, and selfless love can only be proved by sacrifice, and just as true love has no limit, so the thirst for sacrifice has no limit, as a manifestation of love. Whoever loves God will want to suffer for the sake of God, and as love grows, the desire to endure everything will increase, so long as the Lord does not depart from us, if only to be closer to Him. And it is impossible not to love the Lord if we draw near to Him, or rather, if He draws close to us.
It can be assumed that the unsleeping worm and the unquenchable fire in the future life is the endless grief of the heart that there was a time when it was possible to prove one’s love for the Lord, endure various sufferings for Him, prove love not only by suffering, but also by faith in Him among doubts of all kinds, among fears, spiritual loneliness, consciousness of one's weaknesses, impotence, and so on. etc., - and they did not prove ...
It is here, on earth, that one can and should prove one’s love for Him with an inner decision: “I will believe in You, I will fulfill Your commandments with all my might, I will suffer for faith in You, I will renounce everything and everyone - from my personal life , from relatives - and only You, Lord, do not give up on me, do not let me lose faith and courage, do not let me grumble at You, if my sorrows and sufferings or my loved ones suffer too much, grant me to love You with all my heart. If you keep such a dispensation, then it will be easy for you to go through your life path.
But if you hesitate, if you allow doubt in your heart, if by violating the free commandments of God you darken yourself and weaken your strength, then you will fall in a great fall, if you do not constantly call on the help of the Lord; and especially if you become proud and rely on your own strength, then you will fall with a great fall and burden your life excessively. But even then do not lose heart, but humble yourself even more and place all your hope in the Lord and in His mercy and His help. This is the right dispensation, but without experience, without mental falls and uprisings, you will not come to the right state.
It is characterized by a deep awareness of its weakness, its impotence to live as commandments require, to love God as He loved us. And from this state a feeling of contrition is born, a cry of the heart, a consciousness of the unrepayment of one’s debt (10 thousand talents) - in a word, a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise and from which that love for God, which I spoke about at the beginning, will be born. . By your own will and desire you will not yet acquire love, but by living according to the commandments, by repentance, we weep over our falls, by deep contrition that instead of loving and pleasing God, we constantly violate His holy will.
From this weeping and contrition, the fear of God is born, that is, the fear of not offending God in any way, then a feeling of God’s closeness to us is born, which was expressed by the prophet David with the words: I foresee my Lord I will take out, - and then gradually a firm determination is born it’s better to die than to offend the Lord, not only the uncomplaining bearing of sorrows and sufferings, but also gratitude for them, because the heart will feel the joy of purification by sorrows and the satisfaction of some that can be endured for the sake of God and thereby love Him. What will I repay Thee, O Lord, about all that I repay?
Forgive me for the verbosity and, perhaps, the untimeliness of this scripture. But your grief prompted me to write this to you. Maybe it will be useful to you and will serve to some consolation.
My friend, I ask you one thing: never depart from God, no matter how deeply you fall, no matter how you sin and offend (from which the Lord deliver you) the Lord, but, as prodigal son ask Him for forgiveness and again and again force yourself to live the commandments. The one who comes to Me I will not cast out. He who goes to the Lord by doing the commandments, although he falls down the road, but, getting up, goes forward - he is among the soldiers of Christ and is crowned by Him, even though he received many wounds in this spiritual war with his passions, with his fallen nature and demons. May the Lord enlighten you, may it strengthen your faith and will, may it preserve you from all evil. Lord bless you.
Do not write in such detail as you wrote the last letter. I already know your condition, and it is enough to write briefly. Be healthy. Your father.
***
Expensive... !
How is your health? business, mood?
I had some trouble. Ask V. about it. I even thought about transferring to Kozelsk. But, firstly, you can’t run away from this anywhere, and secondly, there is a rumor that now they are not allowed to move from one area to another. They promise to accept, but it may happen that you leave, and in the new place, despite the promise, they will refuse to register and you will find yourself in the air: there will be neither old nor new place. Kozelsk still pulls me. However, while it is necessary, apparently, to sit still.
They were also interested in you. Ask B. Be very careful in words and actions. Beware of buying dubious things: wood, firewood, etc. I was also warned about this. In general, be softer with people, do not make enemies. Endure human shortcomings: bear each other's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. If we are merciful to people, then the Lord will be merciful to us to the same extent. This is what the words mean: Measure to the same extent, it will be measured to you.
Do not refuse service, in what you are wrong or you will sin - sincerely repent before God and people if you offend anyone. Purge the remembrance of malice from the heart. And here's another thing: try to do your official work, and do everything for the sake of the Lord, according to the commandment of God, and not according to the inclination of your heart. Even good deeds have a price before God only when they are done for the sake of God, because such is the will of God, in other words, such is the commandment of God. And if good deeds are done for other reasons, then they are not pleasing to the Lord God. It is said about such and such good deeds: "All your truth is like a rubbish prostrate." We must have spiritual reason in everything, and if we doubt whether something is pleasing to the Lord, then we must pray, at least within, and say to ourselves: “Lord, I am doing this for Your sake, believing that it is pleasing to You. Enlighten me, Lord, to do everything for Your Glory,” and then be calm.
Do not condemn anyone, for we are all worthy of condemnation from the Lord, and He covers our sins and forgives us to the extent that we cover the shortcomings of our neighbors and forgive them. Always be humble, consider yourself ignorant, try to stay behind others, and do not go ahead in anything, neither in words nor in deeds. In a word, try to be inconspicuous, inaudible, quiet, peaceful. Then the Lord will make you feel what the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, means, the peace that the Lord left, saying to the disciples: My peace I give you, not as the world gives, I give you.
And you do not have peace, you often get nervous, irritated, lose your health, because you do and speak not for the sake of God, but according to your own inclinations and passions. Always repent of everything at once, as soon as you feel a mistake or some kind of sin, without waiting for you to start praying. Cover everything with repentance and condemnation of yourself. Humble yourself before God and people, then you will be calmer and gradually reach the peace of Christ.
Be healthy. The Lord bless and enlighten you.
Thank you for everything.
1950
***
... !
You write: "It seems to me that you do not believe anything." You don't trust me, but you trust yourself too much. Every sinner is blind. Blind and you. Moreover, when you are told about your illness, you do not attach importance to words. She herself is blind, and when they show you the way, you do not believe, but prefer to go the way you like.
What will be the end? Obviously no answer. Not only will there be, but there is already the beginning of the end. You have already fallen into a hole and you are sitting in it. And still you do nothing to get out of it, and henceforth not to fall. You are vain and proud. Hence everything else. From this you condemn everyone, blame everyone, and justify yourself, from this all sins and diseases. The Lord warns you with illnesses and troubles so that you look back at yourself and humble yourself. And you're getting rough. Come to your senses!
What do we have to do? That's what:
1. Reconcile sincerely, and not with your tongue, with everyone.
2. Always blame yourself for all collisions, even if you were innocent; say to yourself like this: "For my previous untruths, I now get what I deserve."
3. Stop worrying too much about the body and fast not only in terms of quality, but also in quantity of food. You need to lose weight, not get fat.
4. Be sure to pray in the morning and in the evening and one hundred prayers of Jesus.
5. Every day, for at least half an hour, think and imagine that you will die today or, extremely, tomorrow and what awaits you. Read what you find about death.
The main thing is humility. Don't raise your voice to anyone. Remember the immutable word of the Lord: God opposes the proud. This means that you will not be successful in anything, either in your inner life or in your outer life. In the inner life you already see coldness, laziness, barrenness. It will be the same on the outside. You will endure shame, reproach, poverty, disease. None of your desires and expectations will be fulfilled, you will be trampled into the dirt until you reconcile. Thank God that he endures you for so long, desiring your conversion in order to have mercy after death.
Also missed the conditions.
6. Stop judging others. If you see that someone is doing badly, then do not condemn, but have pity on him and mentally pray for him so that the Lord forgives him.
7. Stop idle talk, leave laughter, jokes, and so on.
8. In the evening, from the bottom of your heart, ask for forgiveness for all violations of the commandments during the day, in deed, word or thought.
Try to achieve contrition of the heart and do not let it grow cold.
You are judging again. S .: “He will again impose a ban, and what does he want from me?” He wants the same as I do, and all those who wish you well: humble yourself, stop thinking highly of yourself, do not command, but ask, obey him, cover his shortcomings according to the commandment - hardships.
If you do not listen to me, but remain the same, or resign yourself hypocritically, in appearance, you will see for yourself what will happen. There are immutable spiritual laws, according to which you will be subject to everything that I wrote above, if you do not repent of your former pride and humble yourself sincerely, and do not show your humility in deed.
I will be clean before God. While living there, I always pointed out your vanity, but now it has already grown into pride and is bearing fruit, you yourself see what kind.
If you confess, then do not blame anyone and do not complain, because this will again be self-justification, and your confession will be useless. You can't fool God. Do not deceive the confessor and yourself.
Don't start telling yourself that I'm driving you into despair. This is accepted by almost all of you. Instead of accepting the denunciation, you begin to accuse another again and thereby completely lose the benefit.
Keep in mind that you are condemned for your arrogance and pride by everyone except your flatterers. And you don't want to see it.
I will wait for your response to this letter. You don't have to come. This won't help at all.
With all my heart I wish the Lord to help you see yourself and bring repentance with worthy fruits.
..., take care of the books, keep them locked up so they don't get stolen.
Arrived here safely, the luggage has not yet received. Do not be offended that I write harshly. I consider it my duty to do so. The Lord will enlighten and help you.
27/I. The letter was written a long time ago, but I am only sending it today. Hello everyone and blessings.
N.
21/I-52
***
Dear m. ... !
Something made you feel very sick. Ignaty Bryanchaninov says that illnesses are a reminder to us from the Lord that our death is not far off, and we should cleanse all the past with sincere contrition, repentance, and acceptance of the Holy Mysteries. We must also do works of mercy. Charity cleanses from many sins. It is not only about material almsgiving; spiritual alms are much more precious. It consists in the fact that a person, instead of condemning his neighbors, pities them, forgives them for their sins and shortcomings, and asks God to forgive them. It is also necessary not to grumble when you endure the illness or inattention of others, their coldness, etc., but to say from the bottom of your heart: “I accept what is worthy according to my deeds, remember me, Lord, in Your kingdom.”
Do your best to remember the Lord. Without invoking the name of Jesus Christ, the demons will crawl towards us, do all sorts of dirty tricks, torment, pull us towards them and into the abyss. Illness and near-death suffering are the threshold of eternity and a reflection of our dispensation, our life: what was collected during life - all this will be revealed at death, good and evil. Therefore, we must ask the Lord to grant us “the rest of our life in peace and repentance.” Remember all past sins, lament, cry, ask for forgiveness from the Lord. Make peace with all people, make peace in such a way that people feel your contrition and forgive you with their hearts, and not with their tongues, and forgive everyone yourself.
May the Lord enlighten and help you to repent and prepare for death.
We had a lot of trouble with the introduction of new orders in the Church. Maybe I'll have to get out of here.
Greetings and God's blessings to all who remember me.
N.
26/X-61
***
Expensive... !
I received your letter about L.'s illness. It does not leave my memory. Although everyone, great and small, inevitably has to leave this world, however, when it comes to a person close to us, a dear person, you involuntarily protest against it with all your heart. In the depths of each person lies the consciousness of his immortality. He really is immortal, and what we call death is a new birth into another world, a transition from one state to another and, for most Christians, undoubtedly, to a better, infinitely better. That is why one should not grieve at the approach of death, but rather rejoice, but we either have little faith in the future life, or we are afraid of it, and even the life here holds us too tenaciously.
From a spiritual point of view, one should rejoice for L. The Lord gives her to prepare for the future life, but he also takes fear - whether she will grumble, whether she will not be cowardly. Oh, if only she would humble herself, turn to God with all her heart, repent sincerely of all her mistakes, partake of the Holy Mysteries with faith and reverence! Then death would be a joy for her, a new birth, a transition to those who love her with all their hearts, waiting for her to fill her with joy, perfect, never ending, which the eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and the heart of a person does not rise .
Convey to L. my deep sympathy for her and a great desire to overcome the sorrow of death and easily, joyfully move into the future life, our true homeland, prepared for us from the creation of the world, where a person will become like Angels, where his face will shine like the sun.
Tell her also: for the fact that she, not knowing me, treated me with love for many years, I will never forget her, whether she lives a long time or dies soon. And in death she will be dear to me. O! if I had the audacity to say that my soul will always be near her here and in the next life!
..., look into L.'s eyes with all the love you have for her, stroke her hair, her face and kiss her hands a thousand times - it will be from me. God with us!
If man can love and pity man, then what is God's love for us if it brought Him to the Cross for our salvation! Therefore, let L. not be afraid, let him hope for the boundless love of God!
Let L. justify her name and feel some love for God, who endured terrible torments, insults and death on the cross for her. Then Heavenly Love will make Earthly Love its own daughter, a partaker of the glory and bliss of the Divine life. It is necessary to prove your love for God by the patience of sorrow of parting with this world, by patience painful illness without grumbling, to become partakers of the sufferings of Christ. But if we suffer with Him, then we will be glorified with Him.
I repeat again: L., my soul is with you, with all its might it wishes you what was written above. Be patient, don't complain. If faith becomes impoverished, say: “Lord, I want to believe, I want to be a true Christian. Lord, help my unbelief!” And the Lord will not leave you!
N.
***
... - rejoice!
Sorry for the delay in notifying you of the receipt of the package. Thank you. Did you manage to get any other books by Ignaty Brianchaninov? Without it, it is almost impossible to understand the ancient Fathers, and most importantly, to apply them to oneself. Everyone will know this from their bitter experience, if only they will generally follow a truly Christian path, and not a dreamy one.
All kinds of asceticism should lead a person to deep humility. If they do not lead, then the wrong path has been chosen.
At the beginning of the journey, a person must choose life (if only it depends on him) among people and be subjected to all kinds of temptations from them, and through this he will know his weaknesses and humble himself. Then (partly and at the same time) a person comes to know his weaknesses and his fall, and through attention to himself and constant compulsion, he learns to act, speak, think, feel in the gospel way. Moreover, in all cases it is necessary to force oneself to constant or perhaps frequent prayer, which asks for both the forgiveness of sins and help in the fight against the sin that lives in us. Solitude lulls passions and sins, deceives a person, the devil retreats from this, gives him the idea that he has conquered almost all passions in himself, and then, at an opportune moment, rigged by him, plunges him into an abyss of falls, from which many are not able to get out .
How do you live? I wouldn't mind seeing you, but for the time being I must refrain. There are reasons for this. Don't waste your chance to get good books.
Remember that, in all circumstances, under any external and internal conditions, the goal is achieved by many sorrows, patience, effort (“needs”), squeezing through the narrow gate, along the narrow path. There is no easy way! The idea that under other external circumstances it will be easy is a false thought, from the evil one.
Tighten with your patience ... and so on.
25/V-59
***
Expensive... !
Peace and mercy from the Lord to you and S. I received your letter. You haven't written about your condition for a long time. I am glad that you write, if you really experience what you describe. And then they often write only their dreams or what they read or heard from someone. What you describe is sure to happen to every person who follows the spiritual path correctly. Save yourself, work, pray, keep peace with everyone, do not condemn anyone, but pity everyone, and do not judge those who obviously sin, but sigh to the Lord for them, so that He forgives them and enlightens them to salvation.
The measure of a person's spiritual growth is his humility. The higher in spirit a person is, the more humble he is. And vice versa, the more humble, the higher. Not rules, not bows, not fasting, not reading the Word of God, but humility brings a person closer to God. Without humility, all, even the greatest, feats are not only not useful, but can even completely destroy a person. And in our time, you can see that a little bit more a person prays, reads the Psalter, keeps a fast - and already imagines himself superior to others, condemns his neighbors, begins to teach when they do not ask, and so on. and by this he shows his spiritual emptiness and removal from the Lord to a country far away. Be afraid of a high opinion of yourself.
The Lord Jesus Christ says that even if you do everything prescribed (i.e., fulfill all the commandments), consider yourselves as slaves without keys and that you did only what you were obliged to do. And salvation is the gift of God to the humble and contrite heart. So we need to ask the Lord for humility. Humility is in no way compatible with condemnation of neighbors and resentment. If we judge others or get offended when someone offends us, then we have no humility at all. The holy ascetics sincerely thanked those who offended and offended them. Because by the patience of insults they learned humility. The Mother of God claims that the Lord chose her for the sake of Her humility. The Savior Himself calls upon all to learn humility from Him; not fasting, not prayer, not even love for one's neighbor, but humility. Only through humility does a person become one Spirit with the Lord, who humbled Himself to the point of spitting, death on the cross. It goes without saying that we are obliged to try with all our might to fulfill all the commandments, but again I repeat that without humility they are either useless or harmful. Don't misunderstand me.
May the Lord enlighten you! May he deliver from the wickedness of enemies visible and invisible. Everyone has been very delusional. Bow S. God bless you.N.
7/III-56
***
Dear S.! Hello to you!
How do you live? How do you feel? I would love to see you and talk to you. I hear that you continue to drink heavily to your extreme detriment. What awaits a person on this path? I will write to you now.
If you do not fight this disease, you will fall under the complete power of demons. They will excite you to drink more and more and upset you through it. nervous system. You will become irritable, angry. Easy at first, quarrels will be rougher, longer. There will not be enough money, they will be driven out of the service - it will be necessary to sell things, beg for a loan in a humiliating way, maybe even steal. Anger will intensify to demonic malice, to the desire to kill.
Demons who acted in secret will appear in the form of robbers, wild animals, snakes, and so on. Then they can appear in their ugly vile form. If even here you do not come to your senses, then they will force you to commit some serious crime, for example, arson, murder, and then they will lead you to complete despair and force you to commit suicide. If with death a person completely disappeared, one could be so glad that the torment ended, but there is no annihilation. A drunkard, a suicide from small and temporary sufferings will pass completely and forever into the power of demons into the most terrible torment, which will never end.
As spiritual people, struggling with sin and conquering sins, become gradually able to feel first the spiritual world, and then see the Angels, in the same way devoted to gross passions, especially drunkenness and debauchery, if they do not repent, they will see demons and become their slaves.
Already appearance the spiritual man and the servant of the devil speak clearly to what one and the other path leads. You will know them by their fruits, says the Lord.
Dear, dear, kind, smart S.! Remember: where are you going? If it's still hard for you here, what will it be like after death? Passions a thousand times stronger than on earth will scorch you like fire without any possibility of quenching them. Per lost life, for the crimes committed, conscience, like an unsleeping worm, will gnaw at your heart. And the consciousness that you have deprived yourself of eternal bliss in the company of holy people and angels will torment you forever.
S., if you cannot stop drinking, at least realize that you are doing wrong, that you are ruining yourself, offending those close to you, insulting the Lord. Recognize this and fall down before the Lord at least once a day and tell Him: “Lord, I am perishing, save me, do not allow me to final death. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." If you say this every day with all your heart, then the Lord will forgive you all your sins and save you from destruction.
The robber was the first to enter paradise. This was arranged by the Lord to encourage and comfort us sinners. The merciful Lord forgives everything to the sincerely penitent. No sinner should despair. Don't say you're already dead, that's a demonic thought. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, says the Lord. He, our Savior, came to earth to seek and save the lost. Don't be afraid of demons. If they appear in any form, then call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized yourself, and baptize those who appear, and they will disappear like smoke. Do not defend yourself with knives or other material weapons. They are not afraid of it, but fight in the name of God. Having bypassed bypassed me, and in the name of the Lord resisted them - this is how true Christians defended themselves from demons and we are taught this.
S., I always remembered you in prayer. I give you a promise to take out a particle for you at every Liturgy and ask the Lord to enlighten you and help you get rid of trouble. Only you yourself fight a little, do not give hands to demons. Ask yourself, I repeat, at least once a day with a bow to the ground, the Lord, so that He does not leave you to perish, but save you from eternal torment. Pity yourself, pity... After all, you once loved her. Maybe now you love. Don't you feel sorry for hurting her? Ask her forgiveness if you offend when, so that the Lord will forgive you. If you yourself will not be at peace with your loved ones, how will you be reconciled with the Lord? Don't despair, no matter what you do. In a bright moment, pray to the Lord, and He will help you and forgive everything. ... , come to your senses, have pity on yourself! Come to us. Here you can confess, take communion. You go to church, you read spiritual books. Take a vacation and come, at least one, at least with ..., as you prefer.
S., I am a sinful person, but I pity you from the bottom of my heart.
The Lord, on the other hand, pities every sinner a thousand times more and waits only for his conversion in order to forgive all his sins and abominations and save him. Turn to the Lord with a prayer, repent of your sins, get away from bad people and from your damned service, and the Lord will save you. It is better not to work anywhere, but do not drink and do not ruin yourself. For now... it will feed you, and when you are somewhat strengthened and master yourself, the Lord will arrange for you not harmful work. You will gain peace of mind, peace, joy. And now you only suffer and destroy yourself, and make your loved ones suffer.
If you do not turn to the Lord with repentance and humility, then great suffering awaits you here, and after death - weeping, gnashing of teeth, darkness, tartar, undying worm and unquenchable fire, eternal, terrible, incomprehensible and never ending torment.
No matter how hard it is here, but all earthly things will come to an end. And after death, eternity without end, eternity either in indescribable bliss or in terrible torment. The choice is in our hands. The Lord wants everyone to have eternal joy, but He does not forcefully draw anyone to Himself. If you do not want to be with the Lord in light and bliss, you will go to the devil in eternal darkness and torment.
Everything that is written here is the undeniable truth. Have pity on yourself S., be merciful to yourself ... Amen. Sincerely loving you and wishing you well,
your friend and father Nikon
***
Expensive... !
Evil is not created by God. Evil has no essence. It is a perversion of the world (and in relation to man and Angels - moral) order of the free will of man and Angels. If there were no freedom, then it would not be possible to pervert the moral order, wise and perfect. Angels and humans, like automata, would obey the laws of the physical and moral world, and there would be no evil. But without free will there would be no image of God and likeness in men and angels. A perfect being is inconceivable without free will. (By the way: all atheistic teachings are forced to deny free will; they deny in theory, but in practice quietly allow free will, otherwise one would have to admit with horror that a person is an insignificant part of a soulless huge machine that does not know and does not want to know about a person. and mercilessly maims or destroys him when the laws of this machine so warrant).
Reasonable beings who have known themselves as independent personalities, “I”, as new independent sources of light (Ivanovo worm), as centers for which the whole world (circle of the N-th radius) is only an object, an object of knowledge and action, and even the Lord God can be, to some extent, only an object, these individuals were much more aware of their greatness before the fall. Of them it was said: Ye are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you. They did not know evil and could not fully appreciate the good that they used. The desire to become like gods, knowing good and evil, led to the fall of both Angels and humans. This is where the history of mankind begins. To educate a person in reverence and love for God, in love for a person, without suppressing his free will, to elevate him to the dignity of a son of God - this is the most difficult task: absolutely insoluble for people and requiring even from God the greatest sacrifice - incarnation, death on the cross and resurrection Himself God.
With pride a man cannot be saved. In the presence of pride, even in paradise, he can again fall away from God by a final fall, like demons.
Therefore, during the whole earthly life, the Lord allows a person to know that without God he is nothing, he is a slave of his passions and a slave of the devil. That is why the Lord does not allow the tares to be pulled out until death, so as not to damage the wheat. This means that a person without flaws, with only positive qualities would definitely be proud. If now, with small virtues, we find an opportunity to be proud, then what would happen if all the glory of a deified soul were revealed to us here? Even the apostle Paul needed the negative help of the angel of Satan, who does dirty tricks, so as not to be exalted. There is nothing to say about us.
As the Lord tries to save a person, so the devil tries to destroy. The devil gives a person the appearance of victory over himself and through this leads him into self-satisfaction and pride; gives success in conquering the forces of nature and inspires the thought: “Through knowledge (science) you will defeat nature, you will be immortal and become gods. You can already be proud of your achievements.”
The two directions are clearly opposite. It becomes quite obvious that God's providence for the salvation of man and the effort of the devil to destroy even those who use all their strength to search for "the only thing that is needed", that is, the kingdom of God. From the field of theory, this goes into life itself, a person is in a continuous struggle with evil, with the devil, with his suggestions, now falling, now rising.
In this struggle, he comes to know his weakness, the cunning of the enemy, God's help and God's love for himself. He knows the price of good and evil, and already with all consciousness chooses good, becomes unshakable in the preference for good and its source - God, and rejects evil and the devil. Although he falls, sometimes he does evil, but he also recognizes it as evil, sin, condemns himself, repents, asks for forgiveness from God and thereby further affirms his preference for goodness and God, albeit in a negative way.
This topic is too broad. You rightly said that a person should come into humility, as opposed to pride. I express this idea here, only in a different form. It may be interesting for you to read, and if not, then someday it will come in handy. It is possible to state this more convincingly and more beautifully, with references to the Holy Fathers. Here is only a sketch of the thoughts that have become mine in recent years. Sorry. We are all well. Rain, dirt imperceptible. We don't walk. We groan from the weather. All this is familiar to you, dear A., if only a man of God! Santa Claus.
12/XII-60
***
Expensive... !
God, in His goodness, desired to have rational free beings around Him who could participate in His blessedness, be participants in His life, partakers of His nature. For this He created the Angelic world, and then man. Some of the angels used their freedom for evil, did not want to be in unity with God, opposed themselves to God, became proud, became unable to participate in Divine life, and were cast out of heaven, condemned to grovel on the "earth", outside of God, to smolder in their passions, to eat them is to eat dust all the days of one's life (Gen. 3; 14).
Man also fell, although not in the same way as the former angels. Even before the creation of man, the Lord foresaw that man would not be able to always remain faithful to Him, that He would not be able to fully appreciate the gifts of God - namely: life, his properties, heavenly bliss. In order for a person to appreciate these gifts, to love the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, with all his strength, he needs to go through a special path on which he could fully experience evil, all kinds of suffering, death, to fully understand that in the distance from God he will always suffer, to understand that his bliss is in communion with God, in love for God with all his heart.
Further, he must learn by experience that he himself cannot restore this communion. Communication is possible only when one cleanses oneself from all defilements of the flesh and spirit; and the experience of millennia has shown that no one can purify himself. A man, left to his own forces, must live an earthly life outside of God, and after death also go to hell, be “except” for God.
And so, when humanity fully understood this, then the Lord did such a thing, from which both heaven (the Angelic world) and the earth (the entire visible universe) shuddered. For the sake of man and for our salvation, the Lord Himself descended from heaven, became incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human, voluntarily subjected to persecution, spitting, death on the cross in order to save man, uniting him with Himself and enduring for him everything that he had to endure. each person to restore fellowship with God.
In this, such love of God was manifested that it could not help but overcome the most hardened heart and not attract to itself. In order to be saved, a person during his earthly life must believe in the Lord, understand his fall, turn to the Lord, respond to His love with his love, proving it with his life according to His word, become incapable of using free will against God, incapable of by virtue of the suppression of his free will and circumstances external to him, but by devotion and love for God, by gratitude to Him.
If there are any other ways to the salvation of man, as some Holy Fathers admit on the grounds that God is omnipotent and can save in different ways, however, from the properties of God, it seems to me that one must conclude that the path chosen by God is the best and shortest.
The “I” of a person, the “personality” is aware of its being, is aware of itself as the center of everything, opposes itself as a subject to everything that is outside of it as an object. Moreover, the object is not only the whole universe, but also God. Hence the constant temptation to exalt oneself, to subdue everything objective (horror - and God), to make everything subordinate to oneself, as if an extension of one's "I". And the more talents a person sees in himself, the easier it is for him to slip onto this path. This is facilitated by the devil, who has finally become in such a hostile attitude towards God and the world.
So the Lord had to choose such a path for a person, so that even in re-existence he would not become proud, like the devil, but consciously love God, submit to Him completely forever without the possibility of falling away. And since the property of the soul, opposite to pride, is humility, then the Word of God, and the Mother of God, and the Holy Fathers so highly value humility. Without humility, no feats will help a person; he can always fall into pride and fall away from God. Love unites a person with God, but without humility there can be no love.
1. When a person tries to understand with one mind why the Lord chose such a means of saving people as the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, he remains at a loss, tends to admit that it was possible for God to save people in other ways, and even just to forgive their sins and introduce to heaven. First of all, this must be answered with the words of ap. Paul: The foolishness of God is wiser than man (1 Cor. 1:25; see 1 Cor. 1:18). Therefore, a person must accept with faith and humility the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God and recognize that this means of salvation is the necessary and best.
2. If the Lord Himself had not been incarnated and suffered for us, then we could not have known the power of God's love for man. In case of severe suffering of one’s own or loved ones, at the sight of especially strong manifestations of evil or cruelty and untruths in the world, a person can somehow endure this, come to terms with it and not “return the ticket to the world” (as Ivan Karamazov put it), remembering that he himself God, the Creator of the whole world, suffered to destroy evil, to attract people without violence of their will to the kingdom of goodness and love.
3. When a person comes to the vision of the entire depth of the fall of mankind and his own, realizes his insignificance, disgrace of his soul, complete unworthiness to become a member of the kingdom of God, realizes both impotence and the impossibility of getting out of this state on his own, even if he begins life again; when this leads to complete despair and hopelessness, which led the ancient pagans and current atheists to commit suicide or blaspheme against God, then the way out of this situation is faith in God, who came to earth and offered Himself for our sins as a sacrifice, who became the Lamb who grounds sins, abominations, corruption of the world; faith that He does not repulse everyone who turns to Him with contrition of heart because of His abominations, but purifies, recreates, makes close to Himself, covers with His love all shortcomings, does not remember them, elevates desperate sinners to the dignity of His sons. If there were no incarnation and suffering of the Savior, how would we believe in the possibility of such love of God for people? No, they could not and would have perished in despair, perhaps they would have come into an evil state and would have become enemies of goodness and opponents of God, like Satan. Only the incarnation and the Cross of the Son of God can save people, and not any other means. One must experience the power of evil in oneself and in the world in order to fully appreciate the sacrifice of God and recognize its necessity for the salvation of man.
January 1962
***
Expensive... !
Hello! Your letter got into some kind of accident, judging by the stamp: "emergency". I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you.
I believe that o. N. asked you about what they did not consider it necessary to cook, but he deliberately asked, and you failed. Don't be upset, but calm down. Everyone has a lot of arrogance and arrogance. You need to sit in a puddle many, many times in order to understand your limitations, the need for constant help from God. If all the forces of the soul are perverted by the fall, then the consciousness of one's personality, the "I," is perverted especially strongly.
As an image of God, as called to be a child of God, a partaker of the nature of God, man is indeed a great value, more precious than the whole world. One should be aware of this, give thanks to God for it, behave accordingly, but in reality a person either does not know his true greatness, or, due to corruption, puts his “I” in trifles, stands up for petty pride, is conceited, proud ... and becomes unpleasant both for God and for people. This perversion is worse than other sins and is difficult to heal, because it touches the very depths of a person’s soul, his foundation, “I”. Humility is the correction of this perversion, and that is why it is so valued.
This is me approximately, not exactly expressing the thought. The topic is too deep and difficult, and it cannot be expressed in a few phrases. Until the end of life, every person has to fight with his false, fallen "I". The very success in the spiritual life is measured by the depth of humility. That is why it is necessary, as from the hand of God (as it is), to accept all humiliations, insults, insults, even falls - everything that contributes to the suppression of our "I", not with grumbling, but with gratitude. Even with such an action, until the end of life, a person cannot completely free himself from vanity and arrogance. Without humility, a person cannot receive any of God's gifts without harm to himself. That is why it was predicted that in the last times, in view of increased pride, people will be saved only by the patience of sorrows and illnesses, and deeds will be taken away from them.
Therefore, give thanks to God for triples and similar cases, give thanks also to the instruments of Providence, those through whom the Lord teaches us humility. Whom the Lord loves, he punishes... Learn by experience the truths of Christianity.
Theological school provides some theoretical knowledge of Christianity. With this knowledge, having a well-deserved title of doctor of theology, one can absolutely not believe not only in Christ, but also deny the existence of God. Only experience, real communion with Christ gives a living, sighted faith. It is acquired by many sorrows, temptations, falls and uprisings, and so on, leading first to humility (there are different degrees of humility), and then to spiritual gifts. Ask God for wisdom to turn both falls and temptations to your own benefit, for spiritual growth. And most importantly, one must always seek the kingdom of God in order to find...
We are already in spring. The snow is almost all gone. Warm. From the bottom of our hearts we sympathize with you and all those chained to their homes. Help you Lord! We are all healthy so far. The holiday went well. May the Lord keep you and guide you in His way to eternal life. Do not sell the Lord for little or great things. Better is the poverty of Alexis the man of God than riches and all the glory of this world! Make a choice once and for all and stick to your path, no matter what!!! This letter was written when yours was brought. I will write a new one on the issue raised.N.
7/IV-61
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... !
A spiritual person, one who has acquired the Holy Spirit in himself, has become a temple of the Holy Spirit. You are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you. (1 Cor. 3:16).
How to acquire the Holy Spirit - the Gospel speaks about this, and, especially in detail, the Holy Fathers. This you must know.
I will tell you about the signs of a spiritual person, as the Holy Fathers describe him. A spiritual person is completely different from a natural or carnal person, which is almost unambiguous here. He is the new man, and the natural man is the old man. What's new in it? - Everything: the mind, the heart, the will, the whole state, even the body.
The mind of a new (i.e., spiritual) person is able to comprehend distant events, the past and much of the future, to comprehend the essence of things, and not just phenomena, to see the souls of people, angels and demons, to comprehend much of spiritual world(otherworldly). We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), says the spiritual ap. Paul.
The heart of a new person is capable of feeling such states, about which it is briefly said: The eye does not see, the ear does not hear, and the heart of a person (carnal, spiritual, decrepit) does not rise.
I wrote "feel" but that's not accurate. You can say: experience, perceive. These experiences ... I wrote this word and stopped because it has a subjective connotation, so it’s better to say: this perception by the heart is so full of bliss, inexpressible joy that it touches the whole soul of a person, overwhelms him with the greatest gratitude to God, as to the source of these states , love for Him and the desire to endure all kinds of torment and suffering for Him, in order to thank Him, in order to show Him our reciprocal love, so as not to be deprived of these blessings.
What will I repay Thee, O Lord, about all that I repay? In the same way, the will of the new man is wholly directed towards love and gratitude towards God, towards the desire to do in everything only the will of God, and not his own.
In a word, a person who has acquired the Holy Spirit is completely renewed, becomes different (hence the beautiful Russian word: monk) both in mind, and in heart, and in will.
The body of a spiritual person also changes, becoming partially similar to the body of Adam before the fall, capable of spiritual sensations and actions (walking on water, the ability to stay without food, instantly moving over long distances, etc.).
The state of spirituality gives a person such experiences of bliss that St. Paul expresses himself: the present temporal sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). And Rev. Seraphim, in agreement with the ancient Fathers, said this: if a person knew about these states of bliss that still exist here, and even more so in the future life, then he would agree to live for thousands of years in a pit filled with reptiles that gnaw at his body in order to only acquire these states.
Here is a brief concept of the spiritual man, and, consequently, of spirituality. In the sacrament of Baptism and Confirmation, a person is clothed in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, and it depends on the free will of a person to live according to the gospel commandments, to leaven himself with the leaven of the Kingdom of God, the leaven of the Holy Spirit, and become a firmly new person in the image of Jesus Christ, or suppress everything with a life according to the old to a person.
Soul man does not accept what is from the Spirit of God, because he considers it foolishness (1 Cor. 2, 14). We see this at every step, for both we ourselves and those around us are not spiritual, but spiritual, and are still in disrepair. At best, we recognize ourselves as such, we struggle, we would like to be spiritual, but we do not do enough to achieve this. We can appreciate spiritual people, but we cannot recognize and understand them, and we consider them spiritual from someone else's opinion, mostly erroneously. The carnal man must be placed even lower than the natural man. The term "old man" - can be attributed to both spiritual and carnal. Both are old and have not been updated. However, a carnal person is coarser than a spiritual person, more material, believes less or does not believe in Jesus Christ at all, but has no idea about the spiritual. See Galatians 5; 19-21.
I don't know if this explanation will satisfy you. Write how you received it, and how others will receive it.
Worldly people (a new term, i.e. natural and carnal) call "spiritual" those who have the order of the priesthood or monastics, or even anyone who begins to read the Psalter a little, go to church and read spiritual books.
It can be seen from the above how wrong this is. In the same way, many books are called spiritual, as long as they deal with spiritual subjects.
Meanwhile, there are almost no spiritual books. Only Holy Scripture and the writings of the Holy Fathers are spiritual. It is on them that one can understand a little experimentally what “spiritual” means. Compare the writings of Ignatius Brianchaninov and some professors of theology. What a stark difference! You felt it well.
The feast of which I have spoken is being intensively prepared. If it starts, then immediately, without looking at anything, come here to live or die together.
I really feel better, but sometimes my heart is naughty and there are pains in my entire chest ...
Here are more texts confirming what has been said: These are people of the soul, having no spirit (why is the word “spirit” with a small letter here?) (Jude 1; 19).
This is not wisdom descending from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic (James 3:15). Everywhere the word "soulful" in the Greek text is expressed "psychikos".
The Greeks used the word "psychos" to denote the lower part of the human soul, common with animals. The highest is usually expressed by the word "noos" or "nous", that is, mind, reason.
The writings of the Holy Fathers say a lot about spirituality, the deification of man, about the fact that a person becomes a god by grace, as well as about the carnal and mental state.
Alas! Spiritual and carnal people have no taste for reading spiritual books. And if they only read with their minds, they remain cold and hungry, do not understand the power of what is written, and give up reading, turning to doctors of theology, especially Protestants.
Do not draw the conclusion from my writings that I experienced the spirituality of man. No. But the Lord, according to His true word, especially at the beginning of the path, gives a few tastes of future blessings to the one who seeks, in order to encourage further searching. Everyone is talking about it.
But we, having learned something, “like dogs, return to our vomit” and lose heavenly blessings. It remains, and then only for some, longing for a lost paradise, but there are no deeds and labors to return it.
A new reason for deep lamentation about one's own sinfulness, about betraying God by deeds...
Be healthy. May the Lord keep you from carnal deeds and from the devil. Come. We are waiting, we are always glad. Your friend.
25/X-62
***
Dear L. V.!
Thank you for your letters, that you do not forget us and are not offended by our silence.
I am very sorry that N. fell ill, let's hope that everything goes well. It's a pity N.M. After all, her whole life is in her daughter. She hardly believes in a future life. May the Lord comfort her and enlighten her for good. For the unbeliever or those who doubt, it seems that the most important thing is only to believe or to be convinced that there is a God. They still do not know that it is possible to believe, to be convinced of the existence of God, but to live in opposition to God, like demons who believe in God, tremble before Him, and do not submit, do not humble themselves, but do everything contrary to the will of God with malicious hatred. . Poor, blind people. They do not see, do not know, do not feel the spiritual world, they sell their birthright, the highest honor and dignity of being children of God, for the lentil soup of worldly life.
I have always been convinced to this day that whoever seeks God and wants to live according to His will (i.e., according to the commandments) will certainly be given the opportunity to believe or even more: to be experimentally convinced of the existence of God and the spiritual world. This is what Jesus Christ says: Seek the kingdom of God, and everything (necessary for material life) will be added to you. Many examples, and mine personal life- proof of this. Unfortunately, one cannot convince another without his own desire and labor. It's a pity S., almost all of their family is indifferent to religion and even to philosophy.
Convey my sincere sympathy to NM in her grief. I always remember them. I would like to come, but both this year and the last two years we have been building and renovating and it is impossible to leave. Maybe this autumn I will be able to come, but I really wanted to see my goddaughter, and in the fall she will not be at home if she gets better. How do you live? How is your health? Say hello to all your friends. The Lord bless you all.
Thanks again for the letters.N.
23/VI-58
***
Dear L! Peace to you!
You have completely forgotten me and do not write anything about what is going on there. In the meantime, rumors have reached me that two parties have formed near the church, which, under the plausible pretext of fighting for the truth, hate each other with a fierce hatred. It is obvious that this is from earthly wisdom, "demonic", as St. Jacob.
Do not slander one another, brethren; whoever curses his brother, or judges his brother, curses the law and judges the law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is a Legislator and Judge who can save and destroy, but who are you, who judges another? (Ap. Jacob).
I do not judge either you or your opponents, but my worldly experience (and above all, the Word of God) says that it is terrible to live, and even more so to die in enmity. No earthly truth can justify enmity. I say "earthly" because heavenly truth gives both inner and outer peace. If someone whom you consider your enemy dies, you will suffer, because sooner or later you will feel guilty. This is usually done during prayer. If you die in enmity (may it not), then know that all your good deeds and all hope of salvation will perish. You will go into the hands of those who sow hatred. The kingdom of God is the kingdom of love and peace. Enmity cannot enter into it.
If the one with whom you are at enmity dies, then how can you reconcile after death? You will have to cry a lot, a lot, work hard in prayers, in good deeds, repent a lot with tears. Why put yourself in this position? For what or who?
Dear L., with pity and love I say to you: accept all the blame for your quarrel with your opponents. In prayer before the face of God, look over all of yourself, repent before God, ask the Lord to reveal your guilt to you, forgive you, soften your heart and give strength and sincerity to ask for forgiveness from your imaginary enemies. It is the devil who shows the sins of others as great, and yours as insignificant. Reverse everything and reconcile. May the Lord help you! Comfort me. Write what you will do according to my advice.
You, of course, guess with whom you first of all need to reconcile. She is close to death. Sincerely ask her for forgiveness, forgive yourself and, if you can, prove the sincerity of reconciliation by taking care of her. Take care of the sick. May the mercy of God be with you, may the Lord deliver you from the hands of a flattering enemy, may he give you peace that surpasses all understanding, a peace about which a carnal person has no idea. It is not for nothing that peace is repeatedly taught to everyone in the church during divine services. Without peace with people (at least) there can be no Christianity, but only self-deception. May the Lord help you and give you understanding for a good deed.
Forgive me for daring to write this to you out of love for you.
26/II-62
***
Dear L!
Thank you for your letter. Sorry for not answering for a long time. Something is unhealthy. Weakness strong and other ailments.
About N. Z. I will say that all of you should have pity on her and pray for her. What do you want from her? She is a complete person. She does not know the spiritual life. She has no experience in this. She will not even understand what it is about if you read these lines to her. She was on the edge of despair. I had to support her. And now she really needs it. Whoever can and wants to acquire great benefit for himself - let him help, according to his strength, to reach death in a Christian way. Do not look for anything from her and do not impose anything.
I have come to the conclusion that almost no one now knows about inner Christianity by experience. They do not know themselves, and therefore they do not know and cannot appreciate the works of Christ. Everyone wants to be good in their own eyes and in the eyes of their neighbors, and in such a state a person remains blind, no matter how much he considers himself sighted.
How is your health? How are your neighbors doing?
Be healthy. May God protect you! Excuse me.N.
X-62
Dear N. M.!
Forgive me for not answering for a long time after receiving your dear letter. I feel weak, thoughts of death do not recede from me. I see that if I live to see 1963, I won't live through it. For me personally, death is desirable. I know that there is a future life, there is God's mercy towards us, there is an undoubted hope for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to enter into a blessed, and not painful, eternal life.
Religious perceptions are not psychologism, but just as real as the perceptions of the physical world are real. Earthly life is given not for enjoyment, but for the knowledge of oneself and God. A person during earthly life must decisively, irrevocably determine himself to good or evil, to God or the devil. He who seeks God and His righteousness will find God and new life here on earth, in the beginning, and after death - in its entirety. An egoist who seeks only pleasure on earth will find the devil, and after death, as one of one accord with him, he will go to the kingdom of the devil, to hell, into the company of complete egoists and villains. Our future destiny is in our hands... Forgive me for writing, maybe not what I need. I regret that I did not come to you this summer and did not see you.
I want to be further from this life, from the spirit of this world. This spirit has taken possession of all mankind. Only from the outside one can see and feel all the vileness and horror of this spirit. There are few people on earth now who could free themselves from the effect on them evil spirit. This is terrible! They say that a frog, having met the eyes of a serpent, cannot tear itself away from them, screams in horror, but cannot run away, and everything approaches the serpent until it falls into its mouth.
In the evening prayers there are such words: "Deliver me, Lord, from the mouth of the destructive serpent, yawning, devour me and bring me to hell alive." This is written from experience. Those who are in the sphere of action of this spirit do not feel this and do not believe those who have already freed themselves from it.
May the Lord bless you, may it protect you from all evil and may it lead you to eternal bliss after death. Maybe we'll see you in the next world.
Choose God, distance yourself from the devil in your soul and deeds, so that the Lord will say about you: “He who comes to Me I will not put out.”
Greetings to all. Loving you N.
November 1, 1962
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baton.
shumius wrote:
Save me, God!
And all to the Glory of God!
WarmMan ArkadyarkadY
Here you are already appealing to the conscience of people.
Didn't you like it? It's a pity.
Quote:
"We have repentance." And more, that is, not left
Tell me, do you object to this thesis?
“Without humility, a person cannot receive any gifts of God without harm to himself. That is why it was predicted that in the last times, due to heightened pride people will be saved only by the patience of sorrows and illnesses, and their deeds will be taken away from them.
Forgive me for getting out here, apparently, there is not enough "internet communication".
WarmMan ArkadyarkadY
Quote:
eternal life?
give commandments."
WarmMan
Quote:
You need to think less about yourself, about how sinful you are, but bad
Yes, that's exactly what you should think. Thus, one can get rid of self-praise, arrogance. And in them is the root of irritation, resentment and anger.
Even when we fulfill all the commandments. "And when you fulfill all that is commanded to you, say to yourself that the slaves are not key" - we will remain unfit.
Why choke? Despair is from an evil spirit. Repent, lament, according to the strength to keep the commandments.
How taught spiritual father monk (from memory):
- Father, I fell.
- Get up!
- Fell again.
- Get up again!
- So how much should I fall (and get up)?
- To death.
ArkadyarkadY
WarmMan wrote:
ArkadyarkadY
Quote:
start replacing it with the opposite: good deeds.
Yes, the fact of the matter is that we do not have any good deeds.
"One day a man came to him and asked:
- Teacher, what good should I do to get
eternal life?
- What are you asking Me about the good? One God is good, -
Jesus answered him. - And if you want to enter into Life, I will keep
give commandments."
Those. only God can do good - we poison all our "good" with vanity and pride.
Well, then you have to hang yourself and not live, if we are all such vile boogers that we don’t have anything! Except goat life. specific repentance.
WarmMan
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if we are all such vile boogers
What else are we?
Saint Seraphim, a miracle worker, called himself "poor"
"No, father, the wretched Seraphim cannot work miracles. Only the Lord Almighty is free to work miracles. Well, everything is possible for Him, Merciful One."
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Another example is the death of the Monk Sisoy the Great, who said before his death: "Truly, I don't know about myself whether I initiated repentance." This is how a true Christian spoke and felt, despite the fact that during his life he raised the dead with a single word and was filled with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
http://p-blagovest.by.ru/Ask-15.htm
From there
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The path of salvation consists in the most careful observation of oneself. The Saints, incessantly examining themselves, CONTINUOUSLY found new and new shortcomings in themselves, and, finding them, more and more plunged into repentance.
And I also want to paraphrase a quote from Nikon Vorobyov:
"Forgive me for teaching, being myself unfit. I wish you all the blessings, temporary and eternal, may the Lord enlighten and strengthen you in the fight against the enemy and help you defeat him with humility and contrition of the heart."
ArkadyarkadY In general, everything is clear. "Breaking of the heart." Yeah.
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The Saints, incessantly examining themselves, CONTINUOUSLY found new and new shortcomings in themselves, and, finding them, more and more plunged into repentance.
I laughed for a long time.
WarmMan ArkadyarkadY
On this occasion, such a comparison is made: in the dark, even dirty clothes seem relatively clean, and in bright light, every speck of dust is visible.
The saints compared themselves with Christ, and in relation to him we are all so sinners and worthless slaves that it is not difficult to notice this (even for us). It's just that our eyes are closed and we see only "logs" in ours, and "motes" in other people's eyes.
The property of humility to see your sins. Letters of the Valaam Elder. Part 6
Spiritual life
Quote:
And St. Peter of Damascus writes: "If you see your sins, like the sand of the sea, and this is the health of the soul." "It is not clear to me, you write, how saints can see their sins, like the sand of the sea?" This degree of high spiritual progress is the property of the holy people of God, who God help cleansed their hearts from passions: from pride, vanity, slyness, hypocrisy and other vices. However, even they were not free from attachments and the infliction of passions. For as long as the soul carries the body, it cannot free itself from passionate attachments, whether it wants it or not. But having conquered the passions in themselves with virtues, their mind, with God's help, reflects these prologues. God alone is perfect and unchangeable.
The Holy Fathers, by the grace of God, although they have succeeded in their spiritual life, they also undergo changes. Sin is still cunning; they even have unclean and bestial thoughts. Don't be surprised by this, that's the way it is. I am not writing my wisdom, but the thoughts of St. godly men. Such changes in their pure hearts show the vision of their sins, "Like the sand of the sea", and consider themselves truly worse than all people.
http://www.pravmir.ru/printer_1248.html
and in our blindness we pray
Quote:
And now enlighten my mental eyes, open my mouth to learn Thy words, and understand Thy commandments, and do Thy will
Ortorox
ArkadyarkadY wrote:
Enemy - who are you? To condemn the path of the Fathers of the Church of Christ with your "concepts". Repentance and fulfillment of the Commandments of Jehovah is the only way to Christian salvation!
_12
Ortorox wrote:
ArkadyarkadY wrote:
N-yes. It's nice to hear such true Christians. Many sins, presumably, they acquired, in their pre-Christian sojourn... Well. After all, no one seems to have thought of such a blasphemous thought that God also needs help, otherwise he would not have called a person to existence, either? Well .. it is - thank God!
Enemy - who are you? To condemn the path of the Fathers of the Church of Christ with your "concepts". Repentance and fulfillment of the Commandments of Jehovah is the only way to Christian salvation!Hmm, Ortorox, it's better to be silent than with anger defend the patristic thought..
I highly recommend watching/listening to Osipov's lectures. Who really seeks the truth and is willing / able to think, will receive a lot of quality "food"!
"God's providence is not the enslavement of our freedom. It is full compliance with our real spiritual state, in which only a person shows himself, and the Lord creates the best conditions under which a person knows himself and is able to again and again make his choice between good and evil, between truth and lies."
Video:
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=397671
Audio:
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1346943
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1657437
ArkadyarkadY
WarmMan wrote:
ArkadyarkadY
Quote:
start replacing it with the opposite: good deeds.
Yes, the fact of the matter is that we do not have any good deeds.
"One day a man came to him and asked:
- Teacher, what good should I do to get
eternal life?
- What are you asking Me about the good? One God is good, -
Jesus answered him. - And if you want to enter into Life, I will keep
give commandments."
Those. only God can do good - we poison all our "good" with vanity and pride.
So he said for whom. For an illiterate person, cunningly asking unworthy questions. Although, yes. It was your good answer. One God is good. So I always think: how to die. Curl up and say in my heart; Lord, accept my sinful soul!
And he will take, and will not accept?
And the measure of repentance is small - because, Lord!, I am already included in this situation.
Well, Christians, give us your Lenten advice.
m.risorius
ArkadyarkadY wrote:
35589686So I always think about how I will die. Curl up and say in my heart; Lord, accept my sinful soul!
And he will take, and will not accept?
For, he will say, the measure of your sins is greater than the measure of repentance.
Have you yourself tried to forgive the guilty before you and sincerely begging for forgiveness? This is much easier and more pleasant than if he, having done something nasty, stood his ground and even mocked you.
There can be only one answer to your question: try to "say in your heart" like this, without waiting for mortal languor, and see what comes of it. Words are for cowards, take a chance on this experience.
And tell us.
Forest Oriole wrote:
64135991Many people confuse "repentance" with "self-flagellation (despondency)", "humility" with "low self-esteem". And they do not even know that a Christian is one who is called to always rejoice, to be in joy and love unceasingly. Because the Kingdom of God - the very Source of Life, Love, Happiness - is within us. It was closed (the heart was filled with evil, passions) - and now it gradually begins to open (clear) ...
Repentance in the spiritual sense is work on oneself, self-improvement. At first, the human soul is freed from coarse, OBSERVABLE passions - anger, despondency, malice, envy, hatred, etc. They leave - a new layer opens - more subtle passions that disguise themselves as good. A person will be cleansed of them too - and there - the next level, and more ... and so on ... And as the person is freed from passions, Gifts of true love, wisdom, happiness, amazing abilities and opportunities open up in a person
I would venture to clarify, more for myself, that the essence of repentance before God is in the renunciation of our usual positions, habits, reactions, i.e. from all that we consider our "I". Either God or I - there can be no middle way (halfway to God), in any case, we should not count on it, otherwise we will begin to spare ourselves, underwork and eventually "fill up" all metanoia (change of consciousness). It's like a war: either victory or defeat. Smoldering conflict drains strength and stretches this torment in time. In a sense, this is our life. But she doesn't have to be. There is a fundamental difference between the inner struggle of a waverer between faith and unbelief, and a believer who has made a choice and already won. It may be hard for him too, but he has confidence and support. He does not just wander, paying for the reckless decisions that he makes on occasion, but follows a clear path to a clear goal.
Numerous references by representatives of different religions about the impossibility of a person to see the Lord in glory or the so-called. "universal form" and not to die - they speak allegorically about the same thing: the human ego cannot withstand direct contact with the Creator. But there is a paradoxical way out - to humble yourself, to renounce yourself, to become at first glance weak to the point of impotence (and how else to understand the readiness to entrust the leadership of oneself to someone, even God?) - and so (already by His grace) come closer to Him. Arguing, and most importantly, feeling like this, you come to a personal discovery that God is the original nature of our soul, its healthy foundation, and the ego is a mistake, a delusion, a disease that keeps in us only because we persist in it and cultivate it in every possible way.
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