Read the book “Teachings of the Optina Elders” online in full - MyBook. Optina elders: the meaning of the instructions of the monks
“...As there is One True God, so there is one true faith on earth. Other religions, no matter how they call themselves, are based on an admixture of false human concepts. The sacraments, visibly performed on earth in the Church of Christ, through which pious Christians are united with God, bear the image of the invisible heavenly sacraments.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina
“Only those who fulfill the commandments of Christ in their personal life can find the Lord. But if someone’s own will—“let it be my way”—is more valuable than the teachings of Christ, I will remain silent... Everyone will reap what he sows.”
Venerable Nikon of Optina
Hellish torment – Antichrist – Possessed – Demons – Reverence – Thanks to God – Blessing – God’s reward – Fornication – Wealth – Theology – Divine service – Warfare (spiritual war with invisible spirits) – Warfare with passions – Brotherly love – Future life – Faith – Fortune telling –Hypnosis – Anger – God’s Commandments – Condemnation
Hellish torment
“If all the sorrows, illnesses and misfortunes from all over the world were collected into one soul and weighed, then the torments of hell would be incomparably more difficult and fierce, for Satan himself is afraid of fiery hell. But for the weak, the torment here is extremely unbearable, for our spirit is sometimes vigorous, but our flesh is always weak.”
Antichrist
“The spirit of the Antichrists has been acting through their forerunners since the times of the apostles, as the Apostle writes: the secret of iniquity is already being carried out, so keep it now, until Wednesday it will be(2 Thess. 2:7). Apostolic words hold it now relate to the powers that be and church authority, against which the forerunners of the Antichrist rebel in order to abolish and destroy it on earth. Because the Antichrist, as explained by the interpreters of Holy Scripture, must come during a time of anarchy on earth. And while he is still sitting at the bottom of hell, he acts through his forerunners. At first he acted through various heretics who outraged the Orthodox Church, and especially through the evil Arians, educated people and courtiers, and then he acted cunningly through educated Freemasons, and finally, now through educated nihilists he began to act brazenly and rudely, more than barter. But their disease will turn on their head according to what is said in Scripture. Isn’t it extreme madness to work with all one’s might, not sparing one’s life, in order to be hanged on a gallows on earth, and in a future life to go to the bottom of hell in Tartarus for eternal torment? But desperate pride does not want to look at anything, but wants to express its reckless daring to everyone.”
Possessed
ReverendElder Lev Optinsky (1768-1841):“...Write about a sick girl, Elena, who is possessed by a spirit; her parents are forcing her to be treated for her grandmothers, then if they force her to do such a thing, they will not only not have time, but they will also lie (plunge them) into a worse situation and introduce themselves into a grave sin, because these diseases are not the invention of human minds, but according to this God's grace to God's chosen saints, if they want her health, then let them take her to Voronezh to the saint of God Mitrofan..."
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“...You write that out of pity and imaginary love you took on something that was not your job: to treat your sister who is sick with a non-physical illness. I told you personally and now I repeat: do not take on such matters in the future. If Pimen the Great, out of humility and self-protection, avoided such matters, having a gift for this from the Lord - who are you that you dare to do these things unsolicited. Again, I repeat: do not dare to do such things if you do not want to be subjected to strong temptations and bring upon yourself, firstly, unbearable carnal abuse, secondly, attack and persecution from mental enemies, and thirdly, persecution from people. What is the need to bring upon oneself such terrible temptations? Venerable Simeon the Evchaite advises avoiding those possessed by evil spirits, since there have been cases when the enemy also confused spiritual people through them. Despite the imaginary pity and imaginary love, under which conceit and arrogance are subtly hidden, and you yourself know what bitter fruits come from these passions. Listen to the Scripture that says: Anyone who has a high heart is an abomination to the Lord(Cf.: Proverbs 16:5).
Look at the Apostle Paul, what he says. Does he not command that such a one be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ? Here is an example of true philanthropy. And you are concerned to save a person from the exhaustion of the flesh in order to give him temporary peace of mind, perhaps hiding behind imaginary spiritual benefits. But this matter is beyond you. You are not a priest or a priest who, through skillful confession, has the spiritual power to help such people, but even in this case, perfect healing will not always follow. This depends only on the will of God and on the beck of the Lord Himself, Who provides for everyone and arranges what is useful, and beneficial for the soul, and saving. People are not only not strong enough to do anything on their own, but they also do not always understand what is beneficial for a person. Although sometimes we imagine ourselves being zealous and showing pity for our neighbors, very often we do not understand either others or ourselves, but are only drawn into this by subtle conceit and arrogance. Let this patient be forced to confess to your new confessor what she announced to you, and then we will see whether there will be a need to come to us. If you want to have real pity for such people, then you can advise them to sincerely confess their sins to their spiritual father and not be ashamed to hide anything, since a person is punished not only for sins, but more for unworthy communion of the Holy Mysteries. But because of your zeal, it is very, very unhelpful for you to listen to such sins, for the sake of the temptations mentioned above.”
“In your last letter you write that you forcibly brought one demon-possessed woman to the relics that are in particles in your church, and the demon, through the lips of this woman, threatened to bring you sorrow and annoyance for this. And after that you wonder why Mother Superior and sisters treat you poorly. Obviously, due to enemy temptations. Therefore, be angry with the enemy as much as you please, and not with the sisters and Mother Abbess, who are tempted by the enemy. Go ahead, if you don’t want to bear sorrow, don’t undertake to help those possessed by demons, but try to live in the monastery as a pilgrim, paying attention to yourself and keeping silent, and not getting involved in any business.”
Demons
“You are asking for guidance on how to get rid of the invading thoughts, charms and deceits of demons. Truly, the devil’s warfare is great: he has strong bows, flaming arrows, various nets, countless tricks and weapons, through which he seeks in every possible way to harm the human soul, but you want to completely and quickly join the army of the King of Heaven, do not be afraid of the enemy who opposes everything good . ...But when we follow the path of virtue, God Himself accompanies us, promising to confirm us in the deeds of virtue until the end of time: and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age...(Matthew 28:20). So, without being at all afraid of enemy attacks, “take up the shield of faith, in which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“Spiritual enemies give no rest to anyone anywhere, especially if they find a weak side in us and stifle us with some unfulfillable desire, which a person, by his persistence, sometimes places above the pleasures of heaven.
Take courage and let your heart be strong(Ps. 26, 14). In the midst of the annoying and sometimes frightening temptations of the enemy, console yourself with the Apostolic words: God is faithful, He will not leave you to be tempted more than you can, but with temptation He will create abundance(1 Cor. 10:13), and repeat this word often to strengthen yourself. Also despise the vain but evil suggestions of the enemy who threatens you with destruction. His very threats show you hope that he cannot do anything to you, covered by the mercy of God. If he could do anything, he would not threaten. The Angel of Repentance told Saint Hermas that the enemy the devil is completely powerless and cannot do anything to a person unless he voluntarily agrees first to some sin. Therefore, when the enemy bothers you with cold and nasty thoughts, run to the Lord, praying the psalm words: God! Those who cast me out have now bypassed me(Ps. 16, 11). My joy! Deliver me from those who have bypassed me(Ps. 31, 7).
Awe
“Everything must be done with reverence. A monk must have both a quiet voice and a modest step. One must not only do, but also speak with the fear of God, thinking over every word before uttering it. “Remember,” says Saint Theophan, “that when you speak, you give birth to a word, and it will never die, but will live until the Last Judgment. It will stand before you and will be for you or against you. By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned(Matthew 12:37).”
“Holy books and sacred objects must be treated with reverence. First of all, you must have the fear of God. He teaches reverence. He teaches everything good. Careless, irreverent treatment of shrines results from habit. And it shouldn't be."
“Do every task, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, carefully, as before the face of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything.”
Thanking God
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“You must thank the Lord that He sends you everything. This is for three reasons - to bring to senses, consciousness and gratitude.
...We are sad and forgetful, and from despondency and oblivion we often cease to be grateful to God for His great benefits to us, temporary and eternal. The thanksgiving of the one who receives, according to the word of St. Isaac the Syrian, encourages the Giver, who give talents greater than the first. Gratitude in a Christian is such a great thing that, together with love, it will follow him into the next life...
With God’s help, manage to arrange yourself in such a way that it is possible to maintain internal achievement, which, according to the Apostle’s word, consists of four parts: Be patient with everyone, always rejoice, pray unceasingly and give thanks in everything: this is the will of God(1 Thess. 5, 14, 16-18). We must begin with the latter, that is, with thanksgiving for everything. The beginning of joy is to be content with your situation.”
Venerable Anthony of Optina (1795-1865):“...The heart and lips that thank God for everything attract His merciful favor, but God does not tolerate those who grumble unless He punishes them. And when communicating with each other, try to encourage each other, and not make each other sad with your crazy judgments...”
: “...We must thank the Lord in everything, who righteously imposes on us the work of patience, which is more beneficial for us than consolation, which elevates the soul.”
“That you entered the monastery is a blessing, and always thank God for it. Of course, the devil will not cease to confuse you that it is better to live in the world. But we must listen to God, the Angels, and not the devil».
Question:“If they thank me and express love, I feel kind of guilty, my soul is heavy.”
Answer:“Give everything to God’s help... say: “The Lord helped, not me; we must thank Him.”
Blessing
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“I approve of your prudence in not entering into any relations with others without a blessing. If you do this, you will save yourself more easily and save yourself.”
Venerable Leo of Optina (1768-1841):“(You have to) manage; Sometimes a good deed seems to appear, but evil done without blessing can lead to harm and spiritual confusion...”
God's reward
Venerable Anthony of Optina (1795-1865):“The Lord God, in the depth of His wisdom unknown to us, does not always fulfill our requests at once and postpones until time, but does not leave anything good done in His name without reward. If he does not reward his father and mother, then he will generously reward his children and offspring, for our Lord is righteous and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”
Prodigal warfare
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“...Some live like cats, dogs, sparrows and other animals - they have darkness in their heads and hearts, and they, like madmen, do not think, and do not know, and do not believe that there is God, there is eternity, there is death both physical and spiritual! Such people live and die like cattle - and even worse.”
Wealth
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):«… It's not about wealth, it's about ourselves. No matter how much you give to a person, you will not satisfy him».
“You are wrong to think that material means would give you peace of mind. No, this idea is false. There are people with means in your eyes, but they are more worried than you. Try better to humble yourself and then you will find peace, as the Lord Himself promised through the word of the Gospel. If anyone sends you anything, accept it as from the hand of God, and do not be ashamed of poverty. Poverty is not a vice, but the main means to humility and salvation. The incarnate Son of God himself deigned to live in poverty on earth. Remember this and don’t be ashamed... Calm down and call on God’s help.”
“It is in vain that you think that wealth or abundance, or at least sufficiency, would be useful and calming for you. The rich are even more anxious than the poor and lacking. Poverty and lack are closer to humility and to salvation, unless a person is faint-hearted, but places his faith and trust in the all-good Providence of God. Hitherto the Lord has nourished us and is able to do this in the future...”
«… Contentment and abundance spoil people. Fat, as the proverb goes, makes animals go crazy.”
“You can be saved in both wealth and poverty. Poverty itself will not save you. You can have millions, but have a heart with God and be saved. For example, Filaret the Merciful had enormous wealth, but with this wealth he acquired the Kingdom of Heaven for himself, helping the poor and disadvantaged. Abraham was also very rich: his wealth at that time consisted of vast herds, but this did not prevent him from being saved. You can become attached to money and die in poverty. For example, one beggar stood on the porch, endured cold and hunger, just to save a few money. He saved up forty to fifty rubles and died. And his soul went to hell, since it was tied not to God, but to these rubles.”
Theology
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“The Triune God is invisible and incomprehensible to creation, even to Angels, much less to humans. We know in part by revelation, first through the prophets who spoke by the Holy Spirit, and then through the Only Begotten Son of God who became man, as the holy Evangelist John the Theologian says: No one has seen God anywhere, the Only Begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He is the confessor(John 1:18). Just as the One God exists in three Persons, we see a small likeness of this in the three-sun light. The other is the sun itself and the light born from it, and the other is the rays emanating from the sun. All this is one being and inseparable, and at the same time threefold.
The second similarity is seen in the human soul. The other is the mind in man, and the other is the inner word, born from the mind, which is transmitted to another and at the same time remains inside us; and another is the spirit that animates man and guides his secrets, according to what has been said: no one knows what is in a man, but the spirit of man living in him; for no one knows the message of God, but the Spirit of God(Cf.: 1 Cor. 2, 11). All this constitutes one rational being of man and at the same time is threefold.
About the One God and together the Triune, creatures, especially people, can only draw such a conclusion. Everything visible is from the Invisible. Everything material is from the Immaterial. Everything that has a beginning is from the Beginningless. Everything that has an end comes from the Infinite. Everything temporary is from the Eternal. Everything that has a limit from the Boundless. Everything measurable is from the Immeasurable. Everything comprehensible is from the Incomprehensible...
…The one true Universal Church, founded by the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ and redeemed by His most precious Divine Blood, as the Apostle says about this: One God, One Faith(Eph.4, 5), that is, just as there is One True God, so there is one true faith on earth. Other religions, no matter how they call themselves, are based on an admixture of false human concepts. The sacraments, visibly performed on earth in the Church of Christ, through which pious Christians are united with God, bear the image of the invisible heavenly sacraments.”
Divine service
Venerable Anthony of Optina (1795-1865):“...Without the visible Holy Church there could not have been the Holy Mysteries of Christ, without which a person cannot inherit eternal life. The church’s prayer book has such power and importance that the church is united Lord have mercy, surpasses all cell spiritual exercises; and that is why the holy fathers, standing in the holy temple, imagined that they were standing in heaven before the Throne of God!”
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913):“Be sure to go to church, and always before it starts, try to be the first to arrive. Matins is one of the most difficult institutions of monastic life, but it has great power. Matins, according to the ancient fathers, is more important than mass. At Mass, Jesus Christ sacrifices Himself to us, and at Matins we sacrifice ourselves to Him. This compulsion, this struggle with the flesh, is what matters.”
“Matins in the monastery is of great importance for us. The entire monastic life rests on it, but it also presents considerable difficulties. And for us, who are accustomed to getting up late in the world, this is one of the most difficult situations in monastic life. Therefore, there is no need to give this indulgence at first; There have been cases when many people left this and disappeared. We must take up this matter right away, from the very beginning. So, for the prayers of the elders, nothing was given to me..."
Rev. Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891).
Question:“It’s hard for me to get up for matins; what should I do?
Answer: “Heaviness comes from a lack of zeal and fear of God. - If you don’t walk, you will be ashamed and sinful. If, due to illness, you are not at church services, then you must tell me about it.”
« It’s a sin to spend time in idleness. It is both a sin to miss a church service and a rule for work. Otherwise, look, the Lord doesn’t punish you for this.”
“You must definitely go to church services, otherwise you will be sick. The Lord punishes us with illness for this. And when you walk, you will be healthy and sober.”
“Kathisma sometimes stands and certainly stands up in glory.”
“While reading the Apostle, you can sit at home if someone else is reading. And you can sit in church when you can’t stand.”
“The rosary is given in order not to forget to say prayer. During the service, one should listen to what is being read, and go through (the rosary with prayer): “Lord, have mercy,” and when one cannot hear (the reading), then: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
“That’s why you doze off in church and don’t hear the service, because your thoughts wander here and there.”
Warfare (spiritual warfare with invisible spirits of evil)
« Our life is a spiritual war with invisible spirits of evil. They outrage us with our pledged passions and encourage the transgression of God's commandments. When we delve into it and look carefully, we will find that For every passion there is a cure - the commandment opposite to it, and therefore our enemies are trying to prevent us from receiving this saving medicine... In your letter you mention the moments of difficult battle with the hater of our salvation. Exactly, it is difficult without God’s help, and when we rely on our own intelligence and strength or indulge in negligence, but even the very falls of all kinds are condoned for exaltation. Saint John Climacus writes: “ Where there is a fall, pride precedes it" So, we must try in every possible way to acquire humility because we have a fight with proud demons, and humility is an easy victory for them... How can we acquire this treasure - humility? It is necessary to learn from the writings of the holy fathers about this virtue and have self-reproach in everything, and see your neighbors as better than yourself: do not reproach them or condemn them for anything, and accept reproaches from them as sent from God to heal our mental illnesses.”
“Therefore, no matter what kind of life we go through, everywhere we are presented with spiritual warfare from the spirits of malice, disturbing our passions and forcing us to sinful actions, which is how our will and love for God are tested - in our struggle. And if we do not have this struggle, then we will not learn art, and we will not recognize our weakness, and we will not acquire humility, but it is so great that even without works it can save us, as Saint Isaac writes in the 46th Word.”
“A Christian who leads his life according to God’s commandments must be tested by various temptations: 1) because the enemy, envying our salvation, tries with all sorts of intrigues to hinder us from fulfilling the will of God, and 2) because virtue cannot be firm and true when will not be tested by an obstacle that opposes it and will remain unshakable. Why is there always spiritual warfare in our lives?
“Do not rely on this peace of yours, there will also be struggle in the knowledge of your weaknesses and the seeing of your passions, however, do not be afraid of this. God sends according to the best of our strength, as we can endure, so that we learn warfare and come into humility, and true peace is born from true humility, to which you are still far away.”
“In a sensual war, many are wounded and suffer illnesses: how much more in this spiritual warfare many wounds are acceptable from the spirits of evil, and Moreover, when we rely on our strength and intelligence, we will be overcome until we humble ourselves, having recognized our weakness».
“In battles, resist with humility, as it is written and shown to us by the Father, and If it happens to graze, rise again; and know that You will be tempted by them for your pride. Run to self-reproach and humility, and not from your cell. Dondezhe the monk will not be erased by various temptations and sorrows, he cannot recognize his weakness and humble himself.”
«… The main reason for such strong abuse against you is the poverty of your humility, and when it becomes impoverished, pride clearly takes its place, and where there is a fall, even a mental one, pride preceded it, and you, as you can see, do not try to resist it and do not overthrow it, so it overthrows you. To get rid of it, consider yourself the last and worst of all, as if you are conquering passions, then you yourself will see the fruit of this activity, and you, on the contrary, you consider yourself better than others, but you reproach and condemn them; who gave you this power? For this reason, the enemy strongly rebels against you and confuses you with sleepy (prodigal) dreams. Humble yourself and you will receive God's help».
“It is impossible not to have a fight, but it is up to us to win or be overcome. When there are strong impulses, one must abstain from food, as well as from seeing, hearing and speaking, and have moderate sleep, and at the same time have a contrite and humble heart. Without this latter, the first ones help little. When you are defeated, know that you are being punished for arrogance and for judging others.. Humble yourself, and the Lord will save you!”
“Try to have humility in all cases... and when you see any kind of abuse overcoming you, then know that it was preceded by pride, and quickly resort to heartfelt self-reproach and the word: sorry».
"N. tell me, when he humbles himself, then the fighting will subside: sleep less, eat less, beware of idle talk, condemnation and do not like to adorn yourself with a good dress, guard your eyes and ears. All these means are protective; do not allow thoughts to enter your heart yet, but when they begin to come, rise up and ask for help from God.”
Venerable Elder Leo of Optina (1768-1841):“...It is impossible to do without struggle, in which sometimes we win, and sometimes we are defeated. What is not in your will, leave it to go as it goes, If you want to keep or stand on your own, you can only cause harm to yourself and add illness to illness.”
Warfare with passions
Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860): « The work of salvation is not just about going to church and sitting at the embroidery frame, but you need to watch your heart and destroy passions: pride, self-love, vanity, anger, rage, malice, gluttony, lust of the flesh And so on; that's what it's all about our spiritual warfare is to resist passions, destroy them with the help of God.
...Strive against passions. The battle is breathless, terrible and ferocious with them and with invisible enemies. Humility defeats them.
You write that you have come to terms with the idea that for the rest of your life you will have to wage a war with your own passions. Yes, this is necessary, and the holy fathers, until they achieved dispassion and perfect peace, all had this struggle; through this we recognize our weakness and bad dispensation and involuntarily must humble ourselves.
Surrender to the will of God and watch your passions; there are many of them in you and me, but we do not see them, but from time to time cases of them will be revealed to us; may they be consumed forever from our hearts, with the help of God and our diligence and assistance of those who bear our burden.”
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):"Cheer up. Although you are struggling with passions - despite, as you write, your advanced years, since you are already more than 20 years old - but still do not lose heart. Passions sometimes fight at 30, and at 40, and at 50, and at 60, and at 70 years old.
It’s a pity that you lived in this world for so many years and didn’t exterminate your passions! However, even then: what would you do now at your respectable 25 years? What could humble you? And now, delving into this stinking dung heap of passions, you won’t raise your eyebrows high. And you especially need to be smart in order to be proud.
If you want to get rid of thoughts completely - this is worse than stupidity! The saints did not dare to say this! You wrote an abyss of passions fighting you. But I have twice, three times, ten times more of them - and I endure everything. I advise you to do the same!
…It happens that the Lord gives early dispassion to the especially humble, otherwise he will die in the fight. But this doesn’t mean he’s dead. And someone said: such a one will be numbered among the martyrs. Do you want to know in what years passions will leave? It was said long ago: You do not understand the times and years that God has laid down in His power(Acts 1:7).
Don't worry about what's going on in your heart. The name of Jesus worries the enemy of our souls, who has settled in our hearts - so he is busy, and you do what is commanded to you. Remember that the Jesus you call is stronger than the enemy. Be sure to find the book “Seven Words” by Mark the Ascetic and read it constantly. Just sit on top of her.
...Are you at war with your passions? Fight, fight, you will be a good warrior of Christ! Do not give in to anger and do not be carried away by the infirmities of the flesh. And in case of creeping, hurry to the Doctor, crying with the Holy Church, our Mother: “God, match me with the thief, the harlot and the publican (of course, the repentant) and save me.”
You are very sad that your passions overcome you and you cannot resist them. One should mourn this, but one should also know that passions are eradicated little by little, and you have to work on yourself for a long time. For now, let’s be patient and reconcile.
Do not shy away from fighting the enemy. Great, oh how great is the reward for those who fight. Eternal light, joyful, living, life-giving light, joyful for all these sorrows. The Lord said to His beloved: You will have sorrow in the world, but your sorrow will be transformed into joy. And no one will take your joy from you(Wed: John 16, 20, 22, 33). This means it will be eternal. And sorrows will dissipate like smoke, like dust.”
Brotherly love
Venerable Moses of Optina (1782-1862): “May the Lord give the mind and strength to bear each other’s burdens and thereby observe the law of Christ, love and peace. Let the mistakes, misdeeds and sins of the brothers be mine.
...One must bear (one’s brother’s) spiritual infirmities complacently without grief. For if someone is sick in body, then not only do we not be upset with him, but we also serve him in every way, then we must act in the same way when dealing with mental illnesses.
Experience showed me this rule: if someone needs to be reprimanded or reprimanded, then you must first pray to God in your heart for him. Sometimes you think that that brother will not accept the reprimand, but if you pray for him first, then you see, beyond expectation, he will listen to the remark calmly, and correction happens.”
Future life
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“You write that now, both from a painful state and from the mood of your soul, you often cry and most of all pray to God that in your future life you will not be deprived of the sight of Christ; and you ask if this is not a proud thought? No. Only you don’t understand this idea that way, because all who have received mercy from the Lord will be granted the sight of Christ; and the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing other than joy in Christ the Savior, from the sight of Him. So, on the contrary, those who are excommunicated from Christ will be deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven and sent into torment.
And Saint Chrysostom says that to be separated from Christ is worse than Gehenna and more painful than any torment. The Monk Theognostus in the last chapter says: “If anyone does not hope to be where the Holy Trinity is, let him try not to be deprived of seeing the incarnate Christ.” And Saint Climacus in the 29th Degree in the 14th chapter writes that those who have achieved dispassion will be where the Trinity is. On average, those who are present will have different abodes. And those who have received forgiveness of sins will be honored to be inside the paradise fence, and the latter should not be deprived of the sight of Christ.”
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“You recognize yourself as guilty of grumbling and going so far as to intend to take your own life - this is not a Christian thing. It's a terrible thing. This means that you have absolutely no idea what awaits us in the future life. Your grief has passed, but neither the grief nor the joy there will ever pass away. And everything will just begin: either the spring of life and joy, or mortal horrors and torment».
Faith
Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860):« Faith has the power to give you peace, Abraham also boasts for his faith: because of so many promises about his seed, the Lord commands to sacrifice Isaac to Him - what was it like for a fatherly heart, and having only one son! But faith overcame love for his son through submission to the will of God, and everyone knows what the end will be. May the Lord allow us to find peace in faith and submission to the will of God.”
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“If anyone tells you: “ Your and our faith is from God", then you, child, answer like this: "Crooked! Or do you consider God to be of two faiths?! Don't you hear what the Scripture says: One Lord, one faith, one baptism(Eph.4, 5).”
Divination
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“I do not advise you to go to the fortune teller in advance, so as not to subject yourself to six years of penance and excommunication from communion of the Holy Mysteries, as stated in the rules of the Helmsman. In the lives of the saints, it is nowhere to be seen that they used fortunes on anything and guessed various thefts and arson. From the life of the Monk Nikita it is clear that this is done by the temptation of an opposing force, with its own malicious calculations.”
“You shouldn’t look for answers to bewilderments through notes and other images, you should give it up; this is superstition and resembles divination, which our Church prohibits and excommunicates for seven years.”
Hypnosis
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913):“Father also spoke about the terrible power of hypnotism. Truly this is a terrible force. Usually this power is used by sorcerers, sorcerers and other evil people to commit evil.. For example, they order a person to kill himself, and he kills. Almost the only, if not the only, force against it is the Jesus Prayer.”
Anger
Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860):"Know and the root of anger and rage: it is pride; remove it with the opposite of humility, with the help of God, who looks upon the humble.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“No one should justify their irritability by some illness - this comes from pride. A husband's anger according to the word of the holy Apostle James, does not fulfill the righteousness of God(James 1:20). In order not to indulge in irritability and anger, one should not rush.
Irritability cannot be tamed by fasting, but by humility and self-reproach and the consciousness that we deserve such an unpleasant situation.
...An irritable state of mind comes, firstly, from pride, which is not done according to our desire and view of things, and secondly, and from unbelief, as if fulfilling God’s commandments in this place will not bring you any benefit.”
Venerable Hilarion of Optina (1805-1873):“If you feel that anger has seized you, remain silent and do not say anything until your heart is calmed by unceasing prayer and self-reproach.”
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“You complain that passions are fighting you: grumbling and anger! What should we do with you?.. Where can we run away from ourselves? Be patient...and the Lord will help. But just know that these passions, that is, grumbling and anger, are purely devilish. Saint Isaac the Syrian says that when a person sins, God has mercy on the repentant, but he will not forgive a murmurer unless he punishes him. Therefore, humble yourself with all your might. And if you sin due to human weakness, quickly look at yourself and ask the Lord for forgiveness. And if others are strict with you, do not be embarrassed. Strictness saved many, but indulgence destroyed many. And Chrysostom says that most of those who are being saved are saved by the fear of Gehenna.”
Rev. Joseph of Optina (1837-1911):“You get embarrassed, and anger boils in your soul against everyone. This comes from pride and vanity. Try to always consider yourself before the Lord worse and more sinful than anyone in the world and pray at this time: Lord, have mercy on us sinners, meaning both yourself and those with whom you are angry.”
God's commandments
Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860):"After baptism it is absolutely necessary to do the commandments of God, by which the grace given in it is preserved and, as you progress in them, it multiplies; transgressing the commandments, through repentance we again restore and acquire it.
...Live according to the commandments of Christ everyone is obliged Orthodox Christians, and we cannot justify ourselves in any way before God for failure to fulfill them, except through His predestined merits and true consciousness and repentance for our crimes.
…When fulfilling God’s commandments, we must have humility, and if the power of the commandments in us becomes impoverished, then humility intercedes for us. And when we practice virtues and want to make sure that we are already being saved, and just seem to see our salvation in the palm of our hand, we are very mistaken. One must do virtues, but not see it, but attribute one’s corrections to God and His help and humble oneself truly and not falsely. The commandment of God commands: Even if you do all that is commanded to you, say, as we are servants without keys: for what we ought to do, we have done(Wed: Luke 17:10). The Pharisee saw his good deeds and thanked God, but he was not justified like the humble publican, who recognized his sinfulness and asked God to be merciful to him.
…The love of God consists in fulfilling the commandments of God, and not in the way you think - in the admiration of the mind, this is not at all of your measure. It is better, seeing your weakness, humble yourself and consider yourself the worst of all and do not at all rely on yourself...
Everywhere we need to fulfill God’s commandments with humility, and from them spiritual fruit is born: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, faith, meekness, abstinence, and so on: for the doing of the commandments is the love of God, according to His unfaithful words: love me and keep my commandments(Wed: John 14, 21). And His commandments consist of love for Him and one’s neighbor. And if we think of fulfilling love only for Him by performing rules and prayers, and do not care about the other, relating to our neighbor, then we do not fulfill that one either, for they are united with each other in a close union, one cannot be fulfilled without the other, according to the word of the holy Apostle Joanna: If anyone says that I love God but hates his brother, that is a lie...(1 John 4:20). And again the Lord Himself says: not everyone will say to Me: Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven: but do the will of My Father who is in heaven(Matthew 7:21).
You ask how to do everything against your will and how to know and see the will of God? The will of God is visible in His commandments, which we must try to fulfill when dealing with our neighbors, and in case of non-fulfillment and crime, bring repentance. Our will is corrupted, and we need constant compulsion to fulfill the will of God, and we must ask for His help.
Every person is given reason, free will and, to test them, the law. Fulfilling the commandments of God in every rank brings salvation to a person. But if we find in one title an obstacle to maintaining purity or morality, and in general to fulfilling the commandments of God, then it is not at all forbidden to seek evasion from what harms us.
The Lord gave us His commandments and commanded us to fulfill them; when we live our lives according to them, we will receive God’s goodness both here and in the future life, and if we turn out to be transgressors of God’s commandments, then not only will we be punished here, but unless we repent, we will not escape punishment in the next century.”
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913):“The English philosopher Darwin created a whole system according to which life is a struggle for existence, a struggle between the strong and the weak, where the vanquished are doomed to death, and the winners triumph. This is already the beginning of animal philosophy, and those who believe in it do not think twice about killing a person, insulting a woman, robbing their closest friend - and all this is completely calm, with full awareness of their right to commit all these crimes. And the beginning of all this is again in the thought that people believed, in the thought that nothing is forbidden, that the Divine commandments are not obligatory, and church decrees are restrictive. You can't trust these thoughts. We must once and for all humbly submit to the demands of the Church, no matter how constraining they may be. Yes, they are not that difficult at all! What does the Church require? Pray when necessary, fast - this must be done. The Lord says about His commandments that they are not burdensome. What are these commandments? Blessed with mercy...(Matthew 5:7) - well, we will probably fulfill this: our heart will soften, and we will show mercy and help poor people. Blesseds of meekness...(Matthew 5:5) - here there is a high wall - our irritability, which prevents us from being meek. Blessed are you when people revile you...(Matthew 5:11) - here in our self-love and pride there is an almost insurmountable obstacle to the fulfillment of this commandment - we show mercy, perhaps we can even cope with our irritability, but to endure reproach, to pay for it with kindness - this is completely impossible for us . And here is the barrier that separates us from God, and which we do not even try to step over, but we must step over. Where to look for strength for this? In prayer."
Rev. Anatoly Optinsky (Zertsalov) (1824-1894):“And God will love you. For He Himself says: If anyone keeps my commandments, I will love him and will come to him myself.(Wed: John 14, 21). I and the Father will come to him and make an abode with him(Wed: John 14, 23). This means that they will live in your heart. This is what I want for you... and I wish more than anything in the world.”
Venerable Nikon of Optina (1888-1931): “The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps will not falter.(Ps. 36, 31). How to ensure that the law of God is in the heart? First of all, God's law must be remembered. And in order to remember, you need to know it, either through what you hear or through what you read. And in order to know it, you must have a desire, a desire to know the law of God. But it is not enough to just know and remember the law of God. Cold, mental knowledge of God's law is lifeless. Only acceptance of God's law with the heart gives him life. Everyone has a corrupt heart, and therefore we must force ourselves to accept the law. Kingdom of Godis forced, and only needy women delight her(Matt. 11, 12). We must try so that our whole life, entirely, and not at certain times and days, was built according to God's law. We must arrange all our activities so that they are in agreement with the will of God. Only under such conditions will our heart be pure, and only the pure in heart will see God(Matt. 5, 8).
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them is the Kingdom of Heaven(Matt. 5, 3). This must be understood this way: blessed are the humble, those who recognize their sinfulness, their unworthiness. The second follows from the first commandment: Blessed are the weeping(Matt. 5, 4). He who recognizes himself as an unworthy sinner cries for his sins. But one who recognizes his unworthiness and weeps over his sins cannot be subject to anger. He will be meek, following the example of the Savior, Who said: Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.(Matthew 11:29). Those who fulfill the third commandment about freedom from anger and meekness will desire with all their souls the fulfillment of the righteousness of God and thus will fulfill the fourth commandment: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for truth(Matt. 5, 6). By fulfilling all the commandments, a person’s heart becomes pure. Blessed with purity of heart(Matt. 5, 8). Fulfilling the commandments fills the soul with love for the Lord. No suffering endured for the sake of the Lord is painful. Blessed are you when they revile you, persecute you and speak evil of you for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. So they persecuted the prophets who were before you(Wed: Matthew 5, 11-12).
Spiritual saving work consists in assimilating the holy Gospel teaching to the mind and heart. Unfortunately, often people (both monks and lay people who consider themselves Christians) who love to read the Holy Gospel, go to church and generally belong to the Holy Orthodox Church or consider themselves such - do not want or do not try in all matters and circumstances of life apply the Gospel commandments to themselves, knowing them as if they, that is, the commandments, were given for everyone except them. For example, it is well known that the Gospel requires that we forgive each other’s offenses. But we don’t want to forgive, we find it fair to repay the one who caused us grief in one way or another, and thus we renounce Christ’s teaching, if not with words, then with our hearts.
What madness! Rev. Mark the Ascetic writes: “The Lord is hidden in His commandments and is found by those who seek Him as they fulfill His commandments.” These words have deep meaning. Only those who fulfill the commandments of Christ in their personal life can find the Lord. But if someone’s own will – “to have it my way” – is more valuable than the teachings of Christ, I will remain silent... Everyone will reap what he sows.
One must not only know the Holy Gospel, but also live according to it, otherwise one cannot be a Christian, much less a monk. It is necessary for a person to personally start a new life according to the mind of the Holy Gospel and the Holy Church of Christ - both in external actions and in the soul. Only the personal feat of cleansing the heart from passions according to the commandments of Christ can clarify this issue.
The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps will not falter.(Ps. 36, 31). When a person, so to speak, puts the law of God, the holy commandments of God, in his heart, and loves them, then he will hate sin, will be inflamed with a desire for life in the Lord, and will restrain himself from all sin.
Sin, covered with the guise of goodness, creeps up and damages the souls of those who do not trust themselves to the Gospel. Gospel goodness requires self-sacrifice, “renunciation of one’s will and reason.”
Venerable Macarius of Optina (1788-1860):“With the purity of our thoughts we can see everyone as holy and good. When we see them as bad, it comes from our dispensation.
When you look at K., you vividly imagine the passions of others. But who can experience the inner movements of their hearts? Many things that seem to us to be a sinful action, out of good intention, are accepted by God as a good deed, while others, which appear in the image of virtue, are, out of evil will, rejected by God...
Having received help or corrected something good, beware of the thought that praises you and condemns others. This is also a network of the enemy, appealing to arrogance and taking away all the fruits of virtue.
I advise you not to have bad suspicions about anyone; every his Lord stands or falls(Rom. 14:4). And no one will be punished or rewarded for the deeds of another: each one will bear his burden(Gal.6, 5). The holy fathers teach not to believe even your own eyes: for whoever is still captivated by passions and not liberated from them, the enemy through them represents whatever pleases him; believe only that thought which only testifies to goodness about one’s neighbor...
Beware of shame and condemnation; You will not give an answer for the failures and misdeeds of your neighbors, but you must give an answer for your own, and even more so for condemnation. Who does not have passions and spiritual weaknesses and who is not overcome by them? One has one, another has another, some more, others less, and we often see the mote in our neighbor’s eye, but do not see the log in our own.
According to the commandment of the church and the apostolic testament, you must respect priests, as ministers of the altar and the sacraments of God; for without them it is impossible to be saved, and according to your strength, give them as much as you can for their needs, for those serving the altar share with the altar(1 Cor.9, 13); but during confession you can give or leave your gratitude. It’s not your job to judge them for their mistakes; The sheep does not judge the shepherd, no matter what he is. To judge a priest is to judge Christ Himself; Beware of this as much as possible!
…Especially do not condemn others, for this alone intercedes for us all condemnation before God.
...I come across (your) words every day: “I talk idle and condemn.” We know how hard it is, especially condemnation, but you still don’t give up your skill. And if we give an answer to God about every idle word, then what are we talking about condemnation?
... For the contempt of our neighbors, we are abandoned by God and fall into the same or even crueler vices, so that we recognize our weakness and humble ourselves.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina (1812-1891):“You need to pay attention to your inner life so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you won't judge.
There is no need to judge because you don’t know someone else’s soul. Look more at yourself and, when reading holy books, apply them to yourself and correct yourself, and not others. Otherwise you will know a lot, but you will probably be worse than others...
Righteous judgment should apply to ourselves, and not to others, and we should not judge ourselves by external actions, but by our internal state or feeling.
Your jealousy is beyond reason; leave others! Sometimes it seems to you that something is only external, but the soul of every person is deep, which is why the Lord twice forbade not only condemning, but also judging.
And they (sisters), perhaps, have such a secret good that redeems all other shortcomings in them and which you do not see. You have a lot of capacity for sacrifice, but the Lord said: I want mercy, not sacrifice(Matt.9, 13). But you have little mercy - that’s why you judge everyone without mercy; you look only at the bad side of a person and do not peer into the good, but you see your own sacrifices and exalt yourself in them.
The beam in the eye is pride. The Pharisee had all the virtues, but was proud, but the tax collector had humility and was better.
…Humility, patience, and non-judgment of others will be needed everywhere. Only by these spiritual means can a peaceful dispensation of the soul be acquired, commensurate with the extent to which we extend ourselves to humility, and long-suffering, and non-judgment of others. If those who allowed or arrogated to themselves the right to judge found shortcomings and irregularities in the Lord Himself, the source of all truth, calling Him a flatterer, a Samaritan and worse (Matt. 27:63; John 8:48), then what conclusion will they not draw regarding ordinary people...
…Peace be unto many who love Thy law, and there is no temptation for them(Ps. 118, 165). If something or someone tempts or confuses us, then it clearly shows that we do not quite correctly relate to the law of God’s commandments, of which the main commandment is not to judge or condemn anyone. Everyone will be glorified or ashamed by their deeds at the Last Judgment of God. We are not given the right to judge others, and very often we judge erroneously and incorrectly. And even in the Old Testament it was prescribed to pay attention to yourself and your own salvation and correction of your own soul. This is what we should be most concerned about.
If the prophet David commands the holy people, saying: Fear the Lord, hallow Him all(Ps. 33:10), then how much more necessary and useful is it for sinful and defective people to always have the fear of God, fearing to break the commandments of God, and above all regarding judgment and condemnation, which the life of a Christian turns into hypocrisy, according to what is said in the Gospel: hypocrite, first remove the log from your side(Matt.7, 5)…
... Beware of suspicion like fire, because the enemy of the human race catches people in his net by trying to present everything in a perverted form - white as black and black as white, as he did with our ancestors Adam and Eve in paradise.
...The Lord Himself says in the Holy Gospel: If you want to put it in your stomach, keep the commandments(Matthew 19:17). And of the commandments, there is one that we easily violate, forgetting that this violation turns our life into hypocrisy, this commandment is not to judge or condemn, as the Lord Himself says: hypocrite, first remove the log from your side...(Matthew 7:5).
...Some people have a secret good that is more valuable before God than our entire life. Man can only see what is visible, but the Lord sees the very depths of the heart...
…For condemning others, a person himself does not avoid condemnation if he does not take care to repent in time…»
Based on the book “Soulful Teachings of the Optina Elders.” In two volumes. Volume 1. Kramatorsk, “Circulation-51”, 2009.
Try to pay more attention to yourself, and not to analyze the deeds, actions and appeals of others to you; if you do not see love in them, then this is because you yourself do not have love in yourself.
Where there is humility, there is simplicity, and this branch of God does not experience the destinies of God.
God does not despise prayers, but sometimes He does not fulfill their desires solely in order to arrange everything better according to His Divine intention. What would happen if God - the All-Knowing - completely fulfilled our desires? I think, although I do not claim, that all earthly creatures would perish.
Those who live without attention to themselves will never receive a visit from grace.
When you don’t have peace of mind, know that you don’t have humility in yourself. The Lord revealed this in the following words, which at the same time show where to look for peace. He said: Learn from Me that you are meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).
If you ever show mercy to anyone, you will receive mercy for that.
If you suffer with someone who is suffering (not much, it seems), you will be counted among the martyrs.
If you forgive the offender, and for this not only will all your sins be forgiven, but you will become a daughter of the Heavenly Father.
If you pray from your heart for salvation, even if it’s a little, you will be saved.
If you reproach yourself, accuse and condemn yourself before God for the sins you feel in your conscience, then you will be justified.
If you confess your sins before God, for this you will be forgiven and rewarded.
If you are saddened by your sins, or are moved, or shed a tear, or sigh, your sighing will not be hidden from Him: “It is not hidden from Him,” says St. Simeon, “not a drop of tear, not a single drop.” And St. Chrysostom says: “If you complain only about sins, then He will accept it for your salvation.”
Check yourself every day: what did you sow for the next century, wheat or thorns? Having tested yourself, be prepared to do better the next day and spend your whole life in this way. If the present day was spent poorly, so that you neither offered a decent prayer to God, nor were contrite in heart even once, nor humbled in thought, did not show mercy, or did not give alms to anyone, nor forgave the guilty, nor endured insults, on the contrary, did not abstain from anger, did not abstain in words, food, drink, or immersed your mind in unclean thoughts, having considered all this according to your conscience, judge yourself and decide the next day to be more attentive to good and more careful to evil.
To your question, what does a happy life consist of, in splendor, fame and wealth, or in a quiet, peaceful, family life, I will say that I agree with the latter, and I will also add: a life lived with a clear conscience and humility brings peace, tranquility and true happiness. But wealth, honor, glory and high dignity are often the cause of many sins and do not bring happiness.
People for the most part desire and seek prosperity in this life, and try to avoid sorrows. And it seems that this is very good and pleasant, but constant prosperity and happiness harms a person. He falls into various passions and sins and angers the Lord, and those who go through a sorrowful life come closer to the Lord and more easily receive salvation, therefore the Lord called the joyful life a wide path: the wide gate and the wide path lead to destruction and many follow it (Matthew 7:13 ), and called the sorrowful life: a narrow way and a narrow gate that leads to eternal life, and few find them (Matthew 7:14). So, out of His love for us, the Lord, foreseeing possible benefit for those who are worthy of it, leads many from the long path, and places them on a narrow and regrettable path, so that through the patience of illnesses and sorrows they can arrange their salvation and grant them eternal life.
You want not only to be good and have nothing bad, but also to see yourself as such. Desire is commendable, but to see one’s good qualities is already food for self-love. Even if we acted correctly and correctly in everything, we should still consider ourselves worthless slaves. We, being faulty in everything, should not even consider ourselves good in our thoughts. That’s why we get embarrassed instead of reconciling ourselves. That is why God does not give us strength to fulfill, so that we would not be exalted, but would humble ourselves and acquire the guarantee of humility. And when we have it, then our virtues will be strong and it will not allow us to ascend.
We, weak-minded people, thinking of arranging our condition, become sad, fuss, deprive ourselves of peace, and fulfill the abandonment of the duty of faith behind vanities, in order to leave a good estate for our children. But do we know whether it will benefit them? Wealth does not help a stupid son - it only served as a reason for him to have bad morals. We must take care to leave our children a good example of our lives and raise them in the fear of God and in His commandments; this is their main wealth. When we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, everything that is here and necessary will be added to us (Matthew 6:33). You will say: this cannot be done; Today the world demands not this, but something else! Fine; but did you give birth to children only for this world, and not for the hereafter? Comfort yourself with the word of God: if the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you (John 15:18), and carnal wisdom is enmity towards God: it does not submit to the law of God, and indeed cannot (Rom. 8:7). Do not want your children to have the glory of the world, but to have good people, obedient children, and when God arranges it, good spouses, gentle parents, caring for those under their control, loving towards everyone and lenient towards their enemies.
You have a desire to bring yourself closer to God and receive salvation. This is the entire duty of every Christian, but this is accomplished through the fulfillment of God’s commandments, which all consist of love for God and neighbor and extend to love for enemies. Read the Gospel, there you will find the way, the truth and life, preserve the Orthodox faith and the statutes of the Holy Church, study in the writings of church pastors and teachers and adapt your life to their teachings. But prayer rules alone cannot bring us any benefit... I advise you to try as much as possible to pay your attention to deeds of love for your neighbors: in relation to your mother, wife and children, strive to educate them in the Orthodox faith and good morals. St. Apostle Paul, counting different types of virtues and feats of self-sacrifice, says: “If I do this and that, and do not have love, I have no benefit.”
Many painters depict Christ in icons, but few capture the resemblance. Thus, Christians are animated images of Christ, and whoever is meek, humble in heart and obedient is the one most like Christ.
We must beware of murmuring against God and fear it like death, for the Lord God, in His great mercy, patiently endures all our sins, but His mercy cannot bear our murmuring.
Do not impose any vows or rules on yourself without the approval of your spiritual father, with whose advice one bow will bring you more benefit than a thousand self-made bows.
The Pharisee prayed and fasted more than we do, but without humility all his work was nothing, and therefore be most jealous of the publican’s humility, which is usually born from obedience and is sufficient for you.
In any grief: in sickness, in poverty, in cramped conditions, in bewilderment, and in all troubles - it is better to think and talk less with oneself, and more often with prayer, albeit short, turn to Christ God and to His Most Pure Mother , through which the spirit of bitter despondency will flee, and the heart will be filled with hope in God and joy.
Meekness and humility of heart are virtues without which it is not only impossible to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is impossible to be happy on earth or to feel peace of mind.
Let us learn to mentally reproach and condemn ourselves for everything, and not others, for the more humble, the more profitable; God loves the humble and pours out His grace on them.
No matter what grief befalls you, no matter what trouble you have, say: “I will endure this for Jesus Christ!” Just say this and it will be easier for you. For the name of Jesus Christ is powerful. With him, all troubles subside, demons disappear. Your annoyance will also subside, your cowardice will also calm down when you repeat His sweetest name. Lord, let me see my sins; Lord, give me patience, generosity and meekness.
Do not be ashamed to bare your scabs to your spiritual mentor and be ready to accept shame from him for your sins, so that through him you can avoid eternal shame.
The church is for us the earthly heaven, where God Himself is invisibly present and watches over those who are present, therefore in the church one should stand in order, with great reverence. Let us love the Church and be zealous for her; She is our joy and consolation in sorrows and joys.
To encourage those who mourn, the elder often said: If the Lord is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31).
Every task must begin by invoking the name of God for help.
The elder often spoke about maintaining conscience, about carefully observing one’s thoughts, actions and words, and about repenting for them. He taught to bear the weaknesses and shortcomings of his subordinates complacently. “Make comments,” the elder instructed, “without giving food to your own pride, considering whether you yourself could bear what you demand from another.”
If you feel that anger has seized you, remain silent and do not say anything until your heart is calmed by unceasing prayer and self-reproach.
It is more beneficial for the soul to recognize oneself as guilty of everything and the last of all, than to resort to self-justification, which comes from pride, and God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
The elder often quoted the apostle’s saying: “True love is not irritated, does not think evil, and never falls away.”
If we abandon our desires and understandings and try to fulfill the desires and understandings of God, then we will be saved in every place and in every state. And if we adhere to our desires and understandings, then no place, no state will help us. Even in paradise, Eve transgressed the commandment of God, and for the unfortunate Judas, life under the Savior himself did not bring any benefit. Everywhere patience and compulsion to a pious life are needed, as we read in the Holy Gospel.
In vain will we accuse that those who live with us and those around us interfere and hinder our salvation or spiritual perfection... our mental and spiritual unsatisfactoriness comes from ourselves, from our lack of art and from an incorrectly formed opinion, which we do not want to part with. And it is this that brings upon us confusion, doubt, and various bewilderments; and all this torments us and burdens us, and leads us to a desolate state. It would be good if we could understand the simple patristic word: if we humble ourselves, then in every place we will find peace, without bypassing with our minds many other places where the same, if not worse, may happen to us.
The main means to salvation is to endure many different tribulations, depending on which ones are suitable, according to what was said in the “Acts of the Apostles”: “Through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Anyone who wants to be saved must remember and not forget the apostolic commandment: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the Law of Christ.” There are many other commandments, but not a single one has such an addition, that is, “so fulfill the Law of Christ.” This commandment is of great importance, and before others we must take care of its fulfillment.
Many wish for a good spiritual life in the simplest form, but only a few and rare actually fulfill their good wishes - namely those who firmly adhere to the words of the Holy Scriptures, that “through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter the kingdom of heaven,” and, calling for help God, they try to meekly endure the sorrows and illnesses and various inconveniences that befall them, always keeping in mind the words of the Lord Himself: “if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
And the main commandments of the Lord: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; let go, and it will be forgiven to you.” In addition, those who wish to be saved should always keep in mind the words of St. Peter of Damascus, that creation is accomplished between fear and hope.
The work of our salvation requires, in every place, wherever a person lives, the fulfillment of God’s commandments and submission to the will of God. This is the only way to gain peace of mind, and nothing else, as it is said in the psalms: “There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no offense for them.” And you are still looking for inner peace and peace of mind from external circumstances. Everything seems to you that you live in the wrong place, that you have settled with the wrong people, that you yourself have made the wrong decisions, and that others seem to have acted in the wrong way. The Holy Scripture says: “His dominion is in every place,” that is, God’s, and that for God the salvation of one Christian soul is more valuable than all the things of the whole world.
The Lord is ready to help a person acquire humility, as in all good things, but it is necessary for the person himself to take care of himself. Said by St. Fathers: "Give blood and receive spirit." This means - work until blood is shed and you will receive a spiritual gift. And you are looking for spiritual gifts and asking, but you are sorry to shed blood, that is, you want everything so that no one touches you, does not bother you. Is it possible to acquire humility in a quiet life? After all, humility consists in when a person sees himself as the worst of all, not only people, but also dumb animals and even the spirits of evil themselves. And so, when people disturb you, you see that you cannot tolerate this and are angry with people, then you will inevitably consider yourself bad... If at the same time you regret your fault and reproach yourself for the fault, and sincerely repent of it before God and spiritual father, then you are already on the path of humility... And if no one touched you, and you remained alone, how could you recognize your badness? How could you see your vices?.. If they try to humiliate you, it means they want to humble you; and you yourself ask God for humility. Why then grieve for people?
To the question: “How to pay attention to yourself, where to start?” came the following answer: “You must first write down: how you go to church, how you stand, how you look, how proud you are, how vain you are, how angry you are, etc.”
Anyone who has a bad heart should not despair, because with God's help a person can correct his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. This, of course, cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord is patient. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.
Teaching that in spiritual life one cannot neglect even unimportant circumstances, the elder sometimes said: “Moscow burned down from a penny candle.”
Regarding judging and noticing other people's sins and shortcomings, the priest said: “You need to pay attention to your inner life so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you will not judge.”
Pointing out that a person has nothing to be proud of, the elder added: “And why should a person really be proud here? A ragged, plucked person asks for alms: have mercy, have mercy! But whether mercy will be given, who knows.”
When pride attacks, tell yourself: “There’s a weirdo walking around.”
They asked the priest: “So-and-so doesn’t die for a long time, everyone imagines cats and so on. Why is that?” Answer: “Every sin, no matter how small, must be written down as you remember it, and then repent. That’s why some people don’t die for a long time, because some unrepentant sin is holding them back, but as soon as they repent, they are relieved... You definitely need to write down your sins as you remember it.” Otherwise we put it off: either the sin is small, then it’s a shame to say it, or I’ll say it later, but we come to repent and have nothing to say.”
Three rings cling to each other: hatred from anger, anger from pride.
"Why do people sin?" - the elder sometimes asked a question and answered it himself: “Either because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, then they forget; if they don’t forget, then they are lazy, despondent... These are three giants - despondency or laziness, oblivion and ignorance - from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble bonds. And then comes negligence with all the host of evil passions. That is why we pray to the Queen of Heaven: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your holy and all-powerful prayers, take me away from me. , Thy humble and accursed servant, despondency, oblivion, foolishness, negligence and all the nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts."
Don’t be like a bothersome fly, which sometimes flies around uselessly, and sometimes bites, and annoys both of them; and be like the wise bee, which in the spring diligently began its work and by autumn finished the honeycomb, which is as good as correctly written notes. One is sweet, and the other is pleasant.
When they wrote to the elder that it was hard in the world, he replied: “That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of tears; but some people cry, and others jump, but the latter will not feel good.”
To the question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?” the priest answered: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others.”
Father said: “We must live on the earth as a wheel turns, only one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; but we, as soon as we lie down on the ground, cannot get up.”
To the question: “How to live?” the priest answered: “To live is not to bother, not to judge anyone, not to annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone.”
We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly.
You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies; and most importantly, do not take revenge on them and be careful not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.
So that people would not remain careless and would not place their hope in outside prayerful help, the elder repeated the usual folk saying: “God help me, and the man himself does not lie down.” And he added: “Remember, the twelve apostles asked the Savior for their Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; but she herself began to ask and begged.”
Father taught that salvation has three degrees. Said by St. John Chrysostom:
a) do not sin,
b) having sinned, repent,
c) whoever repents poorly must endure the sorrows that come.
Once we started talking about sorrows, one of them said: “Better illness than sorrow.” The priest replied: “No, in your sorrows you will pray to God and they will go away, but you can’t fight off the disease with a stick.”
When the blues set in, don’t forget to reproach yourself: remember how guilty you are before the Lord and before yourself, and realize that you are unworthy of anything better, and you will immediately feel relief. It is said: “Many are the sorrows of the righteous,” and “Many are the wounds of the sinners.” Such is our life here - all the sorrows and sorrows; and it is through them that the Kingdom of Heaven is achieved. When you are restless, repeat more often: “Seek peace and marry it.”
After communion, one must ask the Lord to preserve the gift with dignity and that the Lord will give help not to go back, that is, to repeat previous sins.
When the priest was asked: “Why do you sometimes feel consolation after communion, and sometimes coldness?” he answered: “He who seeks consolation from communion experiences coldness, but whoever considers himself unworthy, grace remains with him.”
Humility is about giving in to others and considering yourself inferior to everyone else. It will be much more peaceful.
“It’s always better to give in,” said the priest, “if you insist fairly, it’s the same as a ruble of banknotes, and if you give in, it’s a ruble in silver.”
To the question “How to acquire the fear of God?” the priest answered: “You must always have God before you. I always see the Lord before me.”
When someone annoys you, never ask “why” or “why.” This is not found anywhere in Scripture. It says on the contrary: “If they hit you on your right cheek, turn your left also,” and this is what it means: if they beat you for telling the truth, then don’t complain and turn your left, that is, remember your wrong deeds and you will see that you are worthy of punishment. At the same time, the priest added: “He was patient with the Lord, and he heard me.”
“Father! teach me patience,” said one sister. “Learn,” the elder answered, “and start with patience when you find and encounter troubles.” “I can’t understand how you can not be indignant at insults and injustices.” The elder’s answer: “Be fair yourself and do not offend anyone.”
Father used to say: “Moses endured, Elisha endured, Elijah endured, and I will endure.”
The elder often cited a proverb: “If you run from a wolf, you will meet a bear.” There is only one thing left to do - to be patient and wait, paying attention to yourself - not to judge others, and pray to the Lord and the Queen of Heaven, that they will arrange something useful for you, as They please.
It is obvious that you are trying and want to be saved, but you just don’t know how, you don’t understand spiritual life. The whole secret here is to endure what God sends. And you will not see how you enter heaven.
Consider yourself worse than everyone else, and you will be better than everyone else.
Your patience should not be unreasonable, that is, joyless, but patience with reason - that the Lord sees all your deeds, your very soul, as we look into the face of a loved one... He sees and tests: what kind of person will you find yourself in sorrows? If you endure, you will be His beloved. And if you do not endure and grumble, but repent, you will still be His beloved.
Every prayer to God is profitable. And which one exactly - we don’t know. He is the One righteous Judge, and we can recognize lies as truth. Pray and believe.
I’m telling you a secret, I’m telling you the best way to find humility. This is what it is: endure any pain that pricks a proud heart. And wait day and night for mercy from the All-Merciful Savior. Those who wait so much will certainly receive it.
Learn to be meek and silent, and you will be loved by everyone. And open feelings are the same as open gates: both the dog and the cat run there... and they shit.
We are obliged to love everyone, but we do not dare demand that they love us.
Sorrow is our path, we will go on until we reach our assigned fatherland of eternity, but only grief is that we care little about eternity and do not tolerate even the slightest reproach in a word. We ourselves increase our sorrows when we begin to grumble.
He who has conquered passions and acquired spiritual intelligence has access to everyone’s heart without external education.
An imposed rule is always difficult, but doing it with humility is even more difficult.
What is acquired through labor is useful.
If you see a mistake in your neighbor that you would like to correct, if it disturbs your peace of mind and irritates you, then you also sin and, therefore, you will not correct the mistake with an error - it is corrected with meekness.
A person's conscience is like an alarm clock. If the alarm clock rings, and knowing that you need to go to obedience, you get up right away, then you will always hear it afterwards, and if you don’t get up immediately for several days in a row, saying: “I’ll lie down a little longer,” then eventually you will wake up from its ringing you will not.
What is easy for the body is not good for the soul, and what is good for the soul is difficult for the body.
You ask: “What can I do to consider myself as nothing?” Thoughts of arrogance come, and it is impossible for them not to come. But they must be countered with thoughts of humility. As you do, remembering your sins and various shortcomings. Continue to do so and always remember that our entire earthly life must be spent in the fight against evil. In addition to considering your shortcomings, you can also be humble: “I have nothing good... My body is not mine, it was created by God in my mother’s womb. The soul was given to me from the Lord. Therefore, all mental and physical abilities are gifts of God. And my property is only my countless sins, with which I have daily angered and angered the Merciful Lord. After this, why should I be vain and proud? And with such reflections, prayerfully ask for mercy from the Lord. In all sinful endeavors there is only one cure - sincere repentance and humility.
There are many who cry, but not about what is needed; there are many who mourn, but not about sins; There are many who seem to be humble, but are not truly. The example of the Lord Jesus Christ shows us with what meekness and patience we must endure human errors.
There are different paths to salvation. The Lord saves some in the monastery, others in the world. Saint Nicholas of Myra went into the desert to labor there in fasting and prayer, but the Lord ordered him to go into the world. “This is not the field in which you will bear fruit for Me,” said the Savior. Saints Taisia, Mary of Egypt, and Evdokia also did not live in monasteries. You can be saved everywhere, just don’t leave the Savior. Cling to the robe of Christ - and Christ will not leave you.
A sure sign of the death of the soul is avoidance of church services. A person who grows cold towards God first of all begins to avoid going to church, first tries to come to the service later, and then completely stops visiting the temple of God.
Those who seek Christ find Him, according to the true gospel word: “Knock and the door will be opened to you, seek and you will find,” “In My Father’s house are many mansions.”
And note that here the Lord speaks not only about heavenly, but also about earthly abodes, and not only about internal, but also about external.
The Lord puts each soul in such a position, surrounds it with such an environment that is most conducive to its prosperity. This is the outer abode, but the inner abode that the Lord prepares for those who love and seek Him fills the soul with peace and joy.
Do not read godless books, remain faithful to Christ. If asked about faith, answer boldly. “You seem to go to church often?” - “Yes, because I find satisfaction in it.” - “Do you really want to be a saint?” - “Everyone wants this, but it doesn’t depend on us, but on the Lord.” This way you will repel the enemy.
You cannot learn to fulfill God’s commandments without labor, and this labor is threefold - prayer, fasting and sobriety.
I hear complaints that we are now going through difficult times, that complete freedom has now been given to all heretical and godless teachings, that the Church is being attacked from all sides by enemies and it is becoming scary for it, that these muddy waves of unbelief and heresies will overcome it. I always answer: “Don’t worry! Don’t be afraid for the Church! She won’t perish: the gates of hell won’t prevail against her until the Last Judgment. Don’t be afraid for her, but you need to be afraid for yourself, and it’s true that our time is very difficult. Why? Yes, because now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ, and then - destruction."
Something dark and terrible is coming into the world... A person remains, as it were, defenseless, he is so possessed by this evil force, and he does not realize what he is doing... Even suicide is suggested... Why is this happening? Because they don’t take up arms - they don’t have the name of Jesus and the sign of the cross with them.
Life is bliss... Life will become bliss for us when we learn to fulfill the commandments of Christ and love Christ. Then we will live joyfully, joyfully endure the sorrows that come our way, and ahead of us the Sun of Truth, the Lord, will shine with indescribable light... All the Gospel commandments begin with the words: Blessedness - blessedness of meekness, blessedness of mercifulness, blessedness of peacemakers... From here it follows, as a truth, that fulfilling the commandments brings people the highest happiness.
Our whole life is the great mystery of God. All circumstances of life, no matter how insignificant they may seem, are of great importance. We will fully understand the meaning of real life in the next century. How carefully we must treat it, but we turn over our lives like a book - sheet by sheet, without realizing what is written there. There is no accident in life, everything happens according to the will of the Creator.
In order to become like God, we must fulfill His holy commandments, and if we look at it, it turns out that we have not truly fulfilled a single one. Let's go through them all, and it turns out that we barely touched on that commandment, another, perhaps, we also just began to fulfill a little, and, for example, we did not even begin to the commandment about love for enemies. What remains for us sinners to do? How to escape? The only way is through humility. “Lord, I am a sinner in everything, I have nothing good, I only hope for Your boundless mercy.” We are absolute bankrupts before the Lord, but He will not reject us for humility. And indeed, it is better, having sins, to consider oneself great sinners, than, having some good deeds, to be proud of them, considering oneself righteous. The Gospel depicts two such examples in the person of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
We live in terrible times. People who profess Jesus Christ and attend the temple of God are subjected to ridicule and condemnation. These ridicule will turn into open persecution, and do not think that this will happen in a thousand years, no, it will come soon. I won't live to see it, but some of you will see it. And torture and torment will begin again, but good for those who remain faithful to Christ God.
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, and the grace of God is everything... There you have the greatest wisdom. So you humble yourself and say to yourself: “Although I am a grain of sand on the earth, the Lord also cares about me, and may God’s will be done to me.” Now, if you say this not only with your mind, but also with your heart, and really boldly, as befits a true Christian, you rely on the Lord, with the firm intention of meekly submitting to the will of God, whatever it may be, then the clouds will dissipate before you, and the sun will come out and It will illuminate you and warm you, and you will know true joy from the Lord, and everything will seem clear and transparent to you, and you will stop tormenting, and your soul will feel at ease.”
So you are asking the fastest way to humility. Of course, first of all, we must recognize ourselves as the weakest worm, unable to do anything good without the gift of the Holy Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ, given through the prayer of ours and our neighbors and by His mercy...
They say the temple is boring. Boring because they don't understand the service! Services need to be learned! Boring because they don't care about him. So he seems not one of us, but a stranger. At least they brought flowers or greenery for decoration, if they took part in the efforts of decorating the temple - it wouldn’t be boring.
Live simply, according to your conscience, always remember that the Lord sees, and don’t pay attention to the rest!
Prophecy about the fate of Russia
There will be a storm, and the Russian ship will be destroyed. Yes, it will happen, but people also save themselves on chips and debris. Not everyone, not everyone will perish... God will not abandon those who trust in Him. We must pray, we must all repent and pray fervently... And there will be calm (after the storm)... a great miracle of God will be revealed, yes. And all the chips and fragments, by the will of God and His power, will gather and unite, and the ship will be recreated in its beauty and will follow its course, intended by God. So it will be, a miracle revealed to everyone.
Job's position is a law for every person. While you are rich, noble, and prosperous, God does not respond. When a person is in the pit, rejected by everyone, then God appears and Himself talks with the person, and the person only listens and cries out: “Lord, have mercy!” Only the degrees of testing are different.
The main thing is to beware of judgment from loved ones. Whenever condemnation comes to mind, immediately pay attention: “Lord, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.”
He spoke about the high gradualism of the spiritual path, about the fact that “everything requires coercion. Now, if dinner is served, and you want to eat and smell a delicious smell, the spoon itself will not bring you food. You need to force yourself, get up, come over, take a spoon and then eat. And nothing is done right away - everything requires waiting and patience."
Man is given life so that it serves him, not he, that is, man should not become a slave to his circumstances, should not sacrifice his inner to the outer. In serving life, a person loses proportionality, works without prudence and comes into very sad bewilderment; he doesn’t even know why he lives. This is a very harmful bewilderment and often happens: a person, like a horse, is lucky and lucky, and suddenly such ... spontaneous punctuation comes over him."
He asks which way to go to God. Walk the path of humility! By humbly bearing the difficult circumstances of life, by humble patience with illnesses sent by the Lord; humble hope that you will not be abandoned by the Lord, the Quick Helper and loving Heavenly Father; a humble prayer for help from above, for driving away despondency and feelings of hopelessness, with which the enemy of salvation tries to lead to despair, disastrous for a person, depriving him of grace and removing God’s mercy from him.
The meaning of Christian life, according to the words of the holy Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: “.. glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God’s.” So, having inscribed these holy words in our souls and hearts, we should take care that our disposition and actions in life serve the glory of God and the edification of our neighbors.
Let the prayer rule be small, but fulfilled constantly and carefully...
Let us take as an example a saint suitable for our situation, and we will rely on his example. All the saints suffered because they followed the path of the Savior, Who suffered: was persecuted, mocked, slandered and crucified. And all who follow Him inevitably suffer. "You will be sorrowful in the world." And everyone who wants to live piously will be persecuted. “When you begin to work for the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation.” In order to endure suffering more easily, one must have strong faith, ardent love for the Lord, not become attached to anything earthly, and completely surrender to the will of God.
Those who blaspheme must be looked upon as sick people from whom we demand that they not cough or spit...
If it is not possible to fulfill the vow of obedience, there is no one to obey, one must be willing to do everything according to the will of God. There are two types of obedience: external and internal.
With external obedience, complete obedience is required, the execution of every task without reasoning. Inner obedience refers to the inner, spiritual life and requires the guidance of a spiritual father. But the advice of a spiritual father should be verified by the Holy Scriptures... True obedience, which brings great benefit to the soul, is when, for obedience, you do something that does not agree with your desire, despite yourself. Then the Lord Himself takes you in His arms...
The Lord created doctors and medicine. You can't refuse treatment.
When you are weak and tired, you can sit in church: “Son, give Me your heart.” “It is better to think about God while sitting than to think about your feet while standing,” said St. Philaret of Moscow.
There is no need to give vent to your feelings. We must force ourselves to be friendly with those we don’t like.
You shouldn't believe omens. There are no signs. The Lord controls us by His Providence, and I do not depend on any bird or day, or anything else. Whoever believes in prejudices has a heavy heart, and whoever considers himself dependent on the Providence of God, on the contrary, has a joyful soul.
The “Jesus Prayer” will replace the sign of the cross if for some reason it cannot be placed.
You cannot work on holidays unless absolutely necessary. The holiday should be cherished and honored. This day should be dedicated to God: be in church, pray at home and read the Holy Scriptures and the works of St. fathers, do good deeds.
We must love every person, seeing in him the image of God, despite his vices. You can’t push people away from you with coldness.
What is better: to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ rarely or often? - it’s hard to say. Zacchaeus joyfully accepted the dear Guest - the Lord - into his home, and did well. But the centurion, out of humility, realizing his unworthiness, did not dare to accept, and also did well. Their actions, although opposite, have the same motivation. And they appeared before the Lord as equally worthy. The point is to adequately prepare yourself for the great Sacrament.
When they asked St. Seraphim why at the present time there are no such ascetics as there were before, he answered: “Because there is no determination to undergo great feats, but the grace is the same; Christ is the same forever.”
Persecution and oppression are good for us, for they strengthen our faith.
We must consider everything bad, including the passions that fight us, not as our own, but as from the enemy - the devil. It is very important. Only then can you overcome passion when you don’t consider it yours...
If you want to get rid of sadness, do not attach your heart to anything or anyone. Sadness comes from attachment to visible things. There has never been, is not and never will be a carefree place on earth. A sad place can only be in the heart when the Lord is in it.
The Lord helps us in sorrows and temptations. He does not free us from them, but gives us the strength to easily endure them, not even to notice them.
Silence prepares the soul for prayer. Silence, how beneficial it is to the soul!
We Orthodox Christians should not support heresy. Even if we had to suffer, we would not betray Orthodoxy.
You should not seek human truth. Seek only God's truth.
The spiritual father, like a pillar, only shows the way, but you have to go yourself. If the spiritual father points, and his disciple himself does not move, then he will not go anywhere, but will rot near this pillar.
When the priest, blessing, says the prayer: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” then the mystery is accomplished: the grace of the Holy Spirit descends on the person being blessed. And when any person, even just with his lips, utters a renunciation of God, grace departs from him, all his concepts change, he becomes completely different.
Before asking the Lord for forgiveness, you must forgive yourself... This is what it says in the “Lord's Prayer.”
Silence is good for the soul. When we speak, then it is difficult to refrain from idle talk and condemnation. But there is bad silence, it is when someone is angry and therefore remains silent.
Always remember the law of spiritual life: if you are embarrassed by any shortcoming of another person and condemn him, later you will suffer the same fate and you will suffer from the same shortcoming.
Do not apply your hearts to the vanity of this world. Especially during prayer, leave all thoughts about worldly things. After prayer, at home or in church, in order to maintain a prayerful, tender mood, silence is necessary. Sometimes even a simple, insignificant word can disrupt and frighten away tenderness from our soul.
Self-justification closes spiritual eyes, and then a person sees something other than what actually exists.
If you say something bad about your brother or sister, even if it is true, you will inflict a wound on your soul. You can only convey the mistakes of another if the only intention in your heart is to benefit the soul of the person who sinned.
Patience is uninterrupted complacency.
Your salvation and your destruction are in your neighbor. Your salvation depends on how you treat your neighbor. Do not forget to see the image of God in your neighbor.
Do every task, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, carefully, as if before the face of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything.
Optina Pustyn
On the banks of the fast river Zhizdra, surrounded by virgin forest, Optina Pustyn is located just a few miles from the city of Kozelsk, Kaluga province. It looked like a majestic white Kremlin with 4 temples, fortress walls and towers. Optina’s high spiritual life was in harmony with her external beauty. Gogol, after visiting Optina, describes its exceptional spirituality and its beneficial influence on everything that comes into contact with it.
The exact time of the appearance of Optina is unknown. According to legend, it was founded in ancient times by the repentant robber Optin. The city of Kozelsk is mentioned in the chronicle under the year 1146. In 1238, after a heroic defense, it was taken by the Tatars and all the inhabitants were killed. At the beginning of the 15th century, Kozelsk passed into the hands of Lithuania, then for half a century it passed from hand to hand until it was finally established in Moscow.
It is known that in 1625 Sergius was the abbot of Optina. In 1630 there was a wooden church, six cells and 12 brethren, and it was ruled by Hieromonk Theodore. Thus, Optina is one of the most ancient monasteries.
Growth, fall and rise again
Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and the local boyars granted Optina estates and it grew, but during the reforms of Peter the Great the estates were taken away from her, the monastery became poor and finally in 1724 it was completely empty and was closed, but already in 1726 at the request of the steward Andrei Shepelev was resumed. Having been completely ruined, he was now slowly recovering.
The full restoration of Optina began only in 1795, when Moscow Metropolitan Platon drew attention to it. Fr. was appointed rector. Abraham and 12 brothers were transferred there. Father Abraham, although sickly, did a lot: he put the household in order, fenced the monastery, completed court cases in favor of the monastery, built a bell tower, the Kazan hospital church, fraternal cells, and planted a garden. Fr. had great help and support. Abraham from his confessor, Fr. Macarius, abbot of the Pesnosh Monastery.
But Optina Pustyn owes its prosperity and glory to its next abbot, Archimandrite Moses. Under him, large huge construction works were carried out, large vegetable gardens and orchards were planted, land holdings doubled... An influx of funds flowed from pilgrims who were attracted to Optina Pustyn with its special spirit reminiscent of the times of ancient asceticism. Two brothers o. Moses were also abbots of monasteries and they were all great ascetics and support for each other. Fr. himself From a young age, Moses understood the essence and depth of spiritual life. The perspicacious Elder Dosithea talks to him in Moscow and directs him to the Sarov monastery, where he receives instructions from the Venerable himself. Seraphim. Further about. Moses labored among the hermits in the Roslavl forests in the manner of the ancient Egyptian fathers, spending 6 days alone, reading the daily cycle of services and in mental prayer, and meeting on Sunday with other elders for joint prayer. The invasion of the French in 1812 interrupted Fr. Moses and he enters the Beloberezh Hermitage and here he meets three outstanding ascetics: Fr. Theodore and Cleopas (disciples of Paisius Velichkovsky) and their companion Fr. Leonidas, later an outstanding Optina elder.
In 1921, His Eminence Philaret of Kaluga convinced Fr. Moses to move to Optina and take up the construction of a monastery near the monastery. Arrived in Optina from Fr. Moses is his younger brother Fr. Anthony and two more monks Hilarion and Savvaty.
Thus was laid the foundation of the Optina Skete, in which the Optina eldership flourished and spread fame not only to the surrounding areas of the Optina Hermitage, but throughout all of Rus'.
Eldership in general
The grace-filled eldership is one of the highest achievements of the spiritual life of the Church, it is its flower, it is the crown of spiritual exploits, the fruit of silence and contemplation of God. It is organically connected with monastic inner feat, which has the goal of achieving dispassion, and therefore arises with monasticism at the dawn of Christianity. It was also revived in Russia with the advent of Christianity and was widespread, but over time it died out and by the end of the 17th century it was forgotten and disappeared. So when it was resumed by Paisiy Velichkovsky at the beginning of the 18th century, it seemed something new and even extraordinary. Likewise, the church hierarchy often became perplexed by this phenomenon; hence the frequent persecution to which the elders were subjected, for example, like St. Seraphim of Sarov, some of the Optina elders and others. But of course, not all hierarchs persecuted the elders: on the contrary, many patronized them and even bowed before them.
Optina eldership
But the eldership that we will talk about, namely Optina, has its own special properties that distinguish it from the general concept of eldership. While throughout the history of Christianity all experienced monks were considered elders, who were entrusted with the care not only of young monks who entered the monastery, but were even given care for the spiritual life of the laity - the Optina elders were distinguished by a completely exceptional depth of spiritual life, personal holiness, and the gift of insight and although they cared in the first place about the spiritual purification and salvation of those who came to them, they still constantly helped people in their everyday affairs and hardships and found a way out of the most hopeless situations, thanks to their insight; In addition, they had the gift of healing and miracles.
Himself a strict faster and ascetic, Fr. Moses was filled with the most tender love for people and was compassionate towards their weaknesses and shortcomings. His art of speaking to everyone in his tone was inimitable; with the educated in their language, and with the simple in accordance with their concepts and their way of speaking. He understood everyone's needs well. His compassion for the poor knew no bounds.
He was distinguished by exceptional humility. “I myself am the worst of all,” Fr. often repeated. Moses. “Others may only think that they are the worst, but I actually found out that I am the worst.” This is how the elder humbly expressed himself about himself, but to those who knew him closely and understood his life, it was obvious in him not only “action,” but in “vision of the sunrise,” i.e. contemplative prayer and a wealth of gifts. In 1825 Fr. Moses was appointed abbot of the Optina Monastery, and his younger brother Fr. Anatoly became the abbot of the monastery. Having gone through the same school of asceticism in the Roslavl forests, like his brother, he was distinguished by extreme humility and obedience. He did not make any decision without the blessing of his elder and brother Fr. Moses. Due to the hard physical work that he had to personally carry out with his brother during the construction of the monastery, already at the age of forty, wounds opened on his legs, which did not heal until the end of his life and caused him a lot of suffering. And he had to do a lot himself, because... many of the brothers, especially the servants, were elderly. But the order and beauty under him were stunning in everything and left a great impression on visitors.
However, neither Anatoly nor Fr. Moses did not take on the direct responsibility of spiritual care for the monastic brethren. But being themselves spirit-bearing elders, they understood the meaning of eldership and provided those great elders whom they attracted to the Optina monastery with the widest field of activity. Thus, the planting and prosperity of eldership in Optina Pustyn is due to these two elders. Unfortunately, Bishop Nicholas of Kaluga did not have an understanding for eldership and he caused the elders quite a bit of grief and would have done even more harm if not for the intercession of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, who deeply understood and appreciated the importance of eldership.
In Russia, in educated circles, since the time of Peter the Great, a process of “denationalization” has been taking place: they admired everything Western and neglected their own; finding something positive in oneself was considered a divergence from established views and was persecuted. In the same way, the spirit of Western Protestantism seeped into the religious field and the true, primordial Orthodoxy was stifled. National, patriotic and also religious feelings were still preserved only among the people.
The year 1812 somewhat raised the spirit of patriotism again, but even such great writers as Pushkin, Lermontov and others paid the price for expressing these feelings too carelessly. And here, in this era, Optina Pustyn turns out to be some kind of counterbalance to everything that happened; it is a beacon for many writers and philosophers, not to mention the people seeking the meaning of life in true Orthodoxy. For them, Optina brought together the highest spiritual feat of inner work, crowned by the abundance of grace, the gifts of acquiring the Holy Spirit - and service to the world in its entirety, both in its spiritual and everyday needs. In addition, the publishing of books of spiritual content, by virtue of the Spiritual Regulations of Peter the Great and the decrees of 1787 and 1808. was submitted to the discretion of St. Synod, and according to the censorship regulations of 1804, they could only be printed in a spiritual printing house. As a result, only one ascetic book, “Philokalia,” was published in 1793 and the reader was deprived of spiritual literature, while the secular press gave rise to a large number of translated works of Western false-mystical direction, and many of them were printed with the permission of civil censorship, were directly hostile to Orthodoxy. In such conditions, the work of publishing patristic literature turned out to be of great and historical significance. Thanks to the presence of deeply educated elders, the enormous and comprehensive help of several writers, writers and philosophers, as well as the complete understanding, support and blessing of Metropolitan. Moscow Philaret translated from Greek and Slavic into Russian and published the works and lives of outstanding church fathers, both ancient and more modern, for example Paisius Velichkovsky. Some books were printed in Slavic. This publishing house began in the middle of the 19th century and by the end of the same century over 125 publications were published in the amount of 225,000 copies. Library created by Fr. Moses, consisted of 5,000 books.
Printed books were sent to academies, seminaries, libraries, ruling bishops, inspectors, and reading this hitherto inaccessible ascetic literature became available to monastics and all spiritually minded Russian people. The truth of Orthodoxy has shone forth, established itself and strengthened itself in opposition to Western books of the wrong direction. The appearance of these books to the world is an event that cannot be assessed in simple words.
Special merit in undertaking this great undertaking, along with Elder Macarius, about whom we will speak especially, belonged to the outstanding Russian philosopher Ivan Vasilyevich Kirievsky and his wife (the first editions, in addition to the work on them, were published at their personal expense).
Elder Leo
The first elder attracted to the eldership in Optina o.o. Moses and Anatoly, was Fr. A lion. He was born in 1768 in Korachev and served in the world as a clerk in the hemp business and moved in the life of a merchant. During long journeys on business, he encountered representatives of all classes of society and became well accustomed to the manners and way of life of each of them. This experience came in handy during his elder years, when a wide variety of people, noble and ignorant, came to him and opened their souls.
The beginning of the monastic life of Fr. Lev laid in Optina Pustyn, but then moved to Beloberezh Pustyn, where, under the leadership of the rector, the famous Athonite ascetic Fr. Vasily, was trained in monastic virtues: obedience, patience and all external exploits. Here about. Leo accepts the monastic feat with the name Leonidas. He spends some time in the Cholna Monastery, where he met Paisius Velichkovsky’s student Fr. Theodore and becomes his devoted follower. Elder Theodore began to teach Fr. Leonida to the highest monastic work, this “science of sciences and art of arts,” as the feat of unceasing prayer is called and through which the heart is cleansed from passions. Here about. Leonid meets with Abbot Philaret, the future Metropolitan of Kyiv. This mattered to him later.
Then Fr. Leonid is appointed rector of the Beloberezhskaya Hermitage and Fr. goes to live there with him. Theodore, under whose leadership Fr. Leonid spends a total of about 20 years. Here they were joined by another famous ascetic, a student of Fr. Paisia, Fr. Cleopas. 1808 o. Leonid resigns from his position as abbot and goes to live in the wilderness of the forest, in the cell where Fr. Theodore with Fr. Cleopas. Here in the deserted silence Fr. Leonid accepted the schema with the name Leo as a cell rite.
The new abbot drove them out of here because of the large crowd of people coming to them. Then followed many years of wanderings and trials in different monasteries: on Valaam, in the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, then, after the death of Fr. Theodora, Fr. Leo spent some time in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, where Fr. Macarius is his future assistant during his eldership at the Optina Skete and subsequently his deputy.
Finally, in 1829, the founder of the theological school arrived in Optina Pustyn from which the entire galaxy of subsequent elders emerged. But the credit goes to Fr. Lev is not limited only to the foundation of eldership: they were given the impulse that inspired subsequent generations of elders for a whole hundred years until the very end of the life and prosperity of the famous Optina Pustyn.
O. Leo arrived in Optina in his declining years. He was tall, majestic, in his youth possessed fabulous strength, which he retained until old age, despite his plumpness, grace and smoothness in his movements. At the same time, his exceptional mind, combined with insight, allowed him to see through people. The old man's soul was filled with great love and pity for humanity. But his actions were sometimes sharp and swift. Elder Leo cannot be discussed as an ordinary person, because he reached that spiritual height when an ascetic acts in obedience to the voice of God. Instead of long persuasion, he sometimes immediately knocked the ground out from under a person’s feet and made him realize and feel his unconsciousness and wrongness, and thus with his spiritual scalpel he opened the abscess that had formed in the man’s hardened heart. As a result, tears of repentance flowed. The elder, as a psychologist, knew how to achieve his goal. Here's an example: there lived a gentleman not far from Optina, who boasted that no matter how he looked at Fr. Leonida will see right through him. Once he came to the elder when there were a lot of people there, and the elder said at his entrance: What a dumbass is coming! came to see through the sinful Leo, but he himself, a rogue, had not been to confession and St. for 17 years. Participles. The master shook like a leaf, and then repented and cried that he was an unbeliever sinner and indeed had not confessed or received Holy Communion for 17 years. Christ's Mysteries.
Another story from one Athonite monk who visited Fr. Leo. The monk was dressed in secular clothes, but Fr. Leo called him an Athonite monk; 3 women came in tears and brought one who had lost her mind, they asked to pray for the sick woman. The elder put on the stole, placed the end of the stole and his hands on the head of the sick woman and, having read the prayer, crossed the sick woman’s head three times and ordered her to be taken to the hotel. He did this while sitting, because I could no longer get up: I was sick and was living out my last days. When the monk came to the elder the next day, yesterday’s patient came completely healthy. The monk was horrified that the elder, without fear of harm to himself, performed healings. The elder replied: “I did not do this with my own power, but it was done through the faith of those who came and the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit given to me at my ordination; and I myself am a sinful man.”
The miracles performed by the elder were countless. A crowd of destitute people flocked to him and surrounded him. One hieromonk describes that when he happened to travel from Kozelsk to the Smolensk province, along the way, in secluded villages, the villagers, having learned that he was going to Kozelsk, vied with each other to find out something about Fr. Leonida. When asked why you know him, they answered: “Have mercy, breadwinner, how can we not know Father Leonid? Yes, for us poor, unreasonable ones, he is even better than our own father; without him, we are almost like orphans.”
Unfortunately, they treated Fr. Lev some clergy, including the Kaluga diocesan archbishop. Nikolai, who caused a lot of trouble in Optina Pustyn. This bishop had the firm intention of exiling Elder Leo to the Solovetsky Monastery for imprisonment. Fortunately, many bishops treated the elder completely differently. Metropolitan Philaret, Moscow and Kiev strongly stood up for him, otherwise the elder would not have been well off.
Elder Lev died in 1841, he served as an elder in Optina for only 12 years, but during all this time he was persecuted, either because of the misunderstanding of the bishop, or because of the envy and denunciations of others, there was also a trial against him (but he was acquitted), they moved him from monastery to monastery, and even the bishop forbade him to receive visitors, but he still did not drive away those who came to him out of mercy for the suffering.
But abbot Moses and the monastery leader Fr. Anatoly treated him with utmost respect and did not even do anything without his blessing.
From the first days of September 1841, Elder Leo began to weaken. At the end of his life, he predicted that Russia would have to endure a lot of troubles and grief. After severe suffering, he reposed in the Lord on October 11, 1841. The general grief was indescribable and the crowd of people gathered at the tomb of the deceased great elder was great.
Elder Hieroschemamonk Macarius - in the world Mikhail Nikolaevich Ivanov - was born into a noble family, distinguished by piety, on November 20, 1788. They lived in the vicinity of Kaluga in a very beautiful place near the Laurentian Monastery, from which the ringing of bells could be heard every day, calling the monks to prayer. For five years he was left without a mother who loved him dearly, who felt that something extraordinary would come of him. Due to the mother's illness, the family changed their place of residence. He graduated from school in the city of Karachev, and already in the 14th year he entered the service of an accountant, which he did well, attracting attention to himself. But he lived in his own world. I read a lot, looking for solutions to the most important questions of the mind and heart. He loved music and played the violin very well. At the age of 24, after the death of his father, he retired and settled in the village. He managed the farm poorly. One day the men stole a lot of buckwheat. Michael admonished them for a long time, citing Holy Scripture. As a result, the men fell to their knees in sincere repentance, to the shame of his relatives, who laughed at him. An attempt was made to marry him, but because... and his face was ugly and tongue-tied, and he had no desire for it - that’s how it remained. He buried himself in spiritual books and occasionally went out to the carpenter's shop and worked there until he was tired, subduing the young flesh to the spirit.
In 1810 he went on a pilgrimage to Ploshchanskaya Hermitage, and stayed there, sending his brothers to renounce their estate. Here he, under the guidance of Arseny, a student of Paisius Velichkovsky, received the correct initial direction, learned church rules and musical singing. Helped with writing. In 1815 he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Macarius. In 1824 he visited Optina for the first time. The following year, his elder dies, and Macarius is appointed confessor of the Sevsky nunnery. Thus began his spiritual activity. It was difficult for him without his teacher, but soon, in response to his prayers, Fr. came to his monastery with his students. Leonid. Thus Fr. Marakiy acquired a leader again. Soon Fr. Leonid was sent to Optina. There was a correspondence that ended with Fr. Macarius to Optina, which cost no little difficulty.
Fr. Macarius remained with Fr. Leonid (Leo) until the latter’s death. From Fr. Leonida studied with Fr. Macarius treats all the poor and suffering physically and spiritually with great love, heals their ailments, and does not disdain anything except sin. The elder often saw where something bad was hidden, denounced it, but then showered it with such loving warmth that the joy of finding a clear conscience was remembered.
Fr. Macarius was of a softer soul than Fr. Leonid, extremely modest. Together with Fr. Leonid they "nursed" the great elder Ambrose. After the death of Fr. Leonidas, the entire burden of spiritual leadership fell on Fr. Macaria. Quiet joy in the Lord never left him.
The old man was of enormous stature, with an ugly face, with traces of smallpox, but white and bright, his gaze was quiet and full of humility. His character was extremely lively and active. He has an excellent memory: after the first confession, he remembered the person for the rest of his life. But tongue-tiedness and shortness of breath when speaking embarrassed him all his life. He was always poorly dressed. But he was perspicacious: when he saw a person for the first time, he sometimes called him by name before he introduced himself. Sometimes he answered written questions before receiving them, incl. the writer received a reply letter sent an hour ago. The life of the elder was full of pastoral and welfare concerns. In the church, he established the singing of the Kyiv chant, introduced the position of canonarch, smooth reading and singing in "similar." Fr. himself Macarius, although he was a hieromonk, did not serve, mainly out of his humility, but he often sang with zeal and with tears. He especially loved “Thy Chamber.” The elder spent 20 years in his modest cell, which consisted of a reception room and a small bedroom, in which the furniture consisted of a narrow bed, a desk - neatly covered with stacks of letters for reply, spiritual magazines and patristic books, and an armchair with a pillow. In the eastern corner, among the icons, there was a particularly venerable icon of the Vladimir Mother of God with an unquenchable lamp and, instead of a lectern, a wooden triangle for performing the rule, with the Gospel and other books. The walls were hung with views of monasteries and portraits of ascetics. Everything testified to his secret sighs and a spirit that had renounced the inheritance of the earth. Here he spent frequent sleepless nights and stood up as a rule when the monastery bell struck at 2 o’clock in the morning; He often woke up his cell attendants himself. We read: morning prayers, 12 psalms, 1st hour, Theotokos canon with akathist. He sang Irmosa himself. At six o'clock he was read “fine hours” and he drank one or two cups of tea. Then he received visitors. He received women outside the gates of the monastery in a special cell. Here he listened to people's grief. He clearly had the gift of spiritual reasoning, as well as the power of humility and love, which made his words especially powerful. After talking with him, people were renewed. By anointing people with oil from his unquenchable lamp, he brought great benefit to the sick. There were numerous healings. Healings of the possessed were especially frequent.
At 11 o'clock the bell rang for the meal and the elder went there, after which he rested, and then again received visitors. At 2 o'clock the elder, with a crutch in one hand and a rosary in the other, went to the hotel, where hundreds of people were waiting for him, each with their own needs, spiritual and everyday. He listened to everyone with love: he admonished some, raised others from the ditch of despair. Exhausted, barely catching his breath, he returned from his daily feat. The time had come to listen to the rule, which consisted of the 9th hour, kathisma with prayer and the canon to the Guardian Angel. They called for the evening meal. Sometimes they brought it to him. But even at this time he received the monastery and skete brethren. Often he himself entered the cells and was always on time, leaving behind him peace and joy. He also gave obedience: reading the patristic books, assigning this according to the spiritual age of each. I couldn't stand idleness. Therefore, he introduced handicrafts into the monastery: turning, bookbinding, etc. Each of the brothers knew and felt that the burden of his labors and sorrows was shared by his loving and wise father, and this made monastic life easier.
Finishing the day, we listened to the rule: Little Compline, prayers for those coming to bed, two chapters of the Apostle, one of the Gospels, then a short confession, the elder blessed and dismissed. It was already late. The elder entered his cell. The body ached from exhaustion, and the heart from the impressions of the abundantly revealed human suffering. My eyes were watering with tears... and on the table lay a pile of letters requiring an answer. He sat down and wrote. When the candle went out, the elder stood up to pray. Prayer did not stop in him, whether he was in a crowd, at a meal, in a conversation, or in the quiet of the night. She exuded the oil of his humility.
Besides all this, Fr. Macarius owes invaluable merit and feat in the publication of patristic literature. For this task he sacrificed his short rest. This work united around itself spiritually oriented intellectual forces, but all these persons, in addition to literary relations, also enjoyed the spiritual guidance of the elder, and subsequently his successors.
The elder predicted the time of his death. A week before his death he was given unction. Already seriously ill, but he said goodbye, gave away his things, and instructed. People flocked to even look at him through the window. Around midnight, the elder asked for a confessor and, after a half-hour conversation with him, asked him to read the funeral service. - “Glory to Thee, my King and my God!” - the elder exclaimed while reading the funeral service, - “Mother of God, help me!” The night was very difficult, but even here, through shaking hands, blessings, and glances, he expressed his gratitude to those caring for him. At 6 o'clock in the morning he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ in full consciousness and tenderness, and an hour later, at the 9th song of the canon on the separation of the soul from the body, the great elder Macarius quietly and painlessly departed to the Lord in the Heavenly Palace. It was September 7, 1860.
Elder Ambrose
The time of aging Fr. Ambrose was different from the one in which his predecessors worked. Firstly, at that time there were no regular postal and telegraph communications and railways, as under Fr. Ambrose, in addition, the position of the Church and monasteries in the state improved greatly. Secondly, a tradition of eldership had already been created in the monastery itself, and the glory of Optina Pustyn spread throughout Russia.
After his arrival in Optina, then still Alexander Mikhailovich Grenkov, he found there such pillars of monasticism as Abbot Moses and the elders Leo and Macarius. Besides them, among the brethren there were quite a few outstanding ascetics.
Archim. Melchizedek, an ancient elder, was once honored with conversations with the saints. Tikhon Zadonsky.
Naval hieromonk Gennady, ascetic, spiritual father of the Imp. Alexander 1st. Hierodeacon Methodius, a visionary who lay on his sick bed for 20 years. The former Valaam abbot Varlaam, who had the gift of tears and extreme non-covetousness. He was a socratic Rev. Herman of Alaska.
Hierodeacon Palladius, non-covetous, contemplative, expert in church rites.
Hieroschemamonk John, one of the schismatics, gentle, with childish simplicity, lovingly gave advice, beloved by everyone.
Hieromonk Innocent is the confessor of Elder Macarius, a lover of silence, and others.
In general, all monasticism under the leadership of the elders bore the imprint of spiritual virtues. Simplicity, meekness and humility were the hallmarks of Optina monasticism. The younger brethren tried in every possible way to humble themselves, not only before their elders, but also before their equals, afraid to even offend another with a glance, and at the slightest reason they immediately asked each other for forgiveness.
O. Ambrose was born in the village of Bolshaya Lipovitsa, Tambov province on November 23, 1812. His father was a sexton, and his grandfather was a priest. There were 8 children in the family. As a child, Alexander was a very lively, cheerful and intelligent boy. His family disliked him for his pranks and excessive playfulness. He simply was not able to walk to the line, as required in a strictly patriarchal family. He learned to read from the Church Slavonic primer, book of hours and psalter. On holidays, he and his father read in the choir. Then he was assigned to a theological school and then to a seminary. The school environment was even stricter than the family environment. His abilities were exceptional. In July 1836, he completed his course of science perfectly with good behavior.
First, he got a job as a home teacher, and then at the Lipetsk Theological School. Because of his wit and cheerful character, everyone in society loved him very much. Soon he became seriously ill. There was almost no hope for recovery and he vowed to go to a monastery if he recovered. He recovered, but for another 4 years he could not end the world. At night he began to pray, but this caused ridicule from his comrades. In the summer of 1839, on the way to a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he stopped by the recluse Fr. Hilarion. The holy ascetic gave Alexander specific instructions: go to Optina, you are needed there. Alexander hesitated, but finally, after much repentance, feeling his inconsistency and the instability of his intentions, he suddenly decided to flee to Optina, without permission and without saying goodbye.
Subsequently, all his qualities: liveliness, humor, the ability to grasp everything on the fly, sociability, wit - did not disappear in him, but as he grew spiritually, they were transformed, spiritualized and imbued with God's grace.
In Optina he saw the blossoming of her monasticism. At first he lived in a hotel, copying a book about the fight against passions for Elder Leo. In 1840, he went to live in a monastery, at first without dressing in a cassock, until the decree came to accept him into the monastery.
For some time he was the cell attendant of Elder Leo. He worked in a bakery, and in November 1840 he was transferred to a monastery. But he continued to go to Fr. Leo for edification. On official business he visited Fr. Macaria, at the same time, told the elder about his state of mind and received advice. Elder Leo loved the young novice, but for educational purposes he tested his humility in front of people and pretended to be angry. But behind his back he said about him: “He will be a great man.”
At the end of his life, Elder Leo said to Fr. Macarius about young Alexander: “It’s painful for a man to learn from us elders, I’m already very weak now. So I’m handing you the yoke from half to half, wield it as you know.” After the death of Fr. Leo, brother Alexander became the cell attendant of Elder Macarius. In 1842 he was tonsured and named Ambrose. In 1843, hierodeaconry followed, and two years later, ordination to hieromonk.
For the dedication of Fr. Ambrose went to Kaluga. It was very cold. Father Ambrose, exhausted by fasting, caught a severe cold, which affected his internal organs. Since then he has never truly recovered.
Rev. Nikolai Kaluzhsky said about. Ambrose: “And you help Father Macarius in clergy, he is already old. After all, this is also a science, but not seminary, but monastic.” O. Ambrose was then 34 years old. He dealt with visitors, conveyed their questions to the elder and received answers from the elder. But 1846 Fr. Ambrose was forced to retire due to illness and became dependent on the monastery as a disabled person. He could no longer perform the liturgy, could barely move, suffered from perspiration, so he changed clothes and shoes several times a day. He couldn’t stand the cold, he ate liquid food and ate very little. Despite Fr.'s illness. Ambrose remained in complete obedience to the elder, giving an account to him of the slightest thing. He was entrusted with translation work and preparation for the publication of patristic books. He translated the "Ladder" of Abbot John of Sinai. These book publications were for Fr. Ambrose has very educational value for spiritual life. This period was the most favorable for him to undergo mental prayer, Fr. Macarius. Therefore, he could engage in mental prayer without troubles and the machinations of the enemy, leading the ascetic into delusion. External sorrows are considered by ascetics to be useful and soul-saving. Life o. From the very beginning, under the guidance of the wise elders, Ambrose walked smoothly, without any special stumbling blocks, guided towards ever greater spiritual improvement. But oh. Macarius raised Fr. Ambrose and subjected him to blows to his pride, raising in him a strict ascetic of poverty, humility, patience and other monastic virtues. Even during the elder’s life, with his blessing, some brethren came to Fr. Ambrose for revelation of thoughts. Also Fr. Macarius brought him closer to his worldly spiritual children, preparing for himself a worthy successor, whom he later became. After the death of Archimandrite Fr. Moses, Fr. was elected rector. Isaac, who belonged to Fr. Ambrose, as to his elder. Thus, in Optina there were no frictions between the authorities. The elder was secretly tonsured into the schema during his illness. He had two cell attendants: Fr. Mikhail and Fr. Joseph (future elder).
At 4 o'clock in the morning he got up to hear the morning rule. And then his working day was similar to the day of Fr. Macaria. The cell attendants could often barely stand on their feet due to all-day reports, and the elder himself at times lay almost unconscious. After the rule, the elder asked for forgiveness “elika (in everything in which you have sinned in word, deed or thought” and, blessing his cell attendants, dismissed him; this often happened at midnight. After 2 years, the elder suffered a new illness, his health became even weaker. Since then he has not went to the temple of God and had to take communion in his cell. In 1868, such deteriorations were repeated more than once. It is difficult to imagine how he, being nailed to such a suffering cross, in exhaustion, received crowds of people and responded. for dozens of letters. Life-giving divine grace clearly contributed here.
Here is an abbreviated story from a blind monk: having arrived at my cell from the evening rule, I lay down in anguish and dozed off. And I saw in a dream that I had come to our Vvedensky Cathedral and was following other pilgrims to the corner to venerate the relics of the great Pleasant of God. I see the crayfish standing on a raised platform, the lid is closed and people are kissing it with great reverence. It was my turn, I looked - the coffin lid opened and Saint Tikhon himself rose from the shrine in all his holy vestments. In reverent horror, I fall on my face and see that it is not Saint Tikhon, but our elder Ambrose, that he is no longer standing, but sitting and lowering his feet to the ground, as if wanting to stand up to meet me... “What are you doing?” thundered a menacing old voice. “Forgive me, father, for God’s sake,” I stammered in terrible fright. “I’m tired of you with your “forgive me,” the elder exclaimed angrily. Horror seized my heart and I woke up. I jumped up and crossed myself... after early mass, I went to the monastery to the elder. It was full of people. I heard the priest’s voice: “Ivan ( that was the name in the ryassophore) come quickly to me here." The crowd gave way. The old man lay exhausted on the sofa, "lock the door," he told me, "and tell me what you saw in your dream." I was stunned, and the old man seemed to come to life and cheerfully began to descend feet on the floor (as in a dream) and said: “What are you doing?” “Father, forgive me,” I whispered, and in response I heard: “I’m tired of you with yours: forgive me. But not menacingly, as in a dream, but with a wondrous affection, of which he alone was capable. “Well, how could I otherwise talk some sense into you, you fool?” Father ended his reprimand with these words. Often those around him saw an extraordinary light above the priest’s head. At the end of his life, Fr. Ambrose in Shamordino established a women's monastery with a shelter for homeless children. The monastery quickly grew and soon there were up to 500 sisters. After the death of Mother Superior Sophia, the elder had to take upon himself all the troubles of the monastery and personally visit her. The last time he went there was in the summer of 1890, due to illness he spent the winter there, his health deteriorated and he was no longer able to return to Optina. He died on October 10, 1891. The funeral procession was accompanied by a crowd of more than a thousand. It was raining, but the candles did not go out. On the road from Shamordino to Optina, they stopped in every village and served litiya. The death of the elder was an all-Russian grief, but for Shamordin, Optina and for all spiritual children it was immeasurable.
Reading the Optina elders, some will enjoy the wonderful living language XIX century, others will unexpectedly discover things that are acutely modern. Let us also, in the days of the memory of St. Ambrose and the Council of the Optina Elders, continue to communicate with them through their lives, letters, instructions, so that our lives will be illuminated by their wisdom, like the rays of the soft October sun.
“...I have never met such monks.
It seemed to me that everything heavenly was talking to each of them.”
N.V. Gogol
From century to century, the blessed source of wisdom of the elders of Optina Pustyn flows into Eternal Life and brings healing to all who seek salvation and freedom in Christ. Freedom from the laws of the world, from one’s own passions, that perfect freedom that is defined by the words of the Savior: “The Kingdom of God is within you.”
The elders were those experienced “guides” who helped people find their way to Him here on earth. Their instructions are simple. Every true teacher descends to the level of a student in order to help him rise to the highest levels of knowledge, and the Optina monks condescended to the “infancy” of their pupils, and spoke in such a way that their word would benefit both the scientist and the simple peasant. Thanks to this, Optina Pustyn gave Russia a real “treasure” of spiritual knowledge, contained in brief instructions.
"Milk of Words"
The Monk Ambrose was an unsurpassed master of such spiritual teachings. They drove to him from everywhere in carts, walked many miles on foot, old and young, just to hear him, to ask for his blessing while the priest was alive. They understood that this was a gift for life.
In the small reception area they waited their turn, sitting in a row, not bothering. From time to time, the cell attendant, Father Joseph, quietly nodded to the next visitor. On fine days Fr. Ambrose himself went out to the pilgrims on the porch. There are apparently no people around, but there are even more letters on the priest’s table. So, he tried to express the essence in short answers, so that it would be better remembered.
Reverend Ambrose
In the world, before leaving for the monastery, he had a cheerful and lively character, and in the monastery this liveliness turned into spiritual joy with the mountains. Light breathing and a joke marked his brief instructions.
Here, for example, about the main thing - about the cause of troubles and falls in life:
“What makes a person feel bad? –
Because he forgets that there is God above him.”
And this is about pride that precedes falls and how important it is to avoid judging others:
“Don’t boast, peas, that you are better than beans:
If you get wet, you’ll burst.”
On how it is easier to succeed in spiritual life:
"Who gives in more?
He gains more"
Reverend Leo
In the same way, softening the pastoral word with jokes and rhymes, other elders talked with the pilgrims, taking into account the measure of their age. Spiritual mentor Fr. Ambrose, Rev. Leo often told people about the benefits of compliance:
"Where is humility,
There is salvation nearby."
Reverend Anthony
In two lines, Father Anthony recalled how important it is for a Christian to trust in God and turn to Him in prayer:
“Whoever trusts firmly in God,
God helps him in everything.”
Venerable Anatoly (the Elder)
And Elder Anatoly (the Elder) expressed in one sentence how condemnation should be avoided:
“Have pity and you won’t judge”
"Three Nuts"
Reverend Leo
For those who, devoting themselves to the guidance of the elders, took up internal work, the “lessons” were more difficult. The real “professors” who laid the foundations of the Optina theological school were the first elders: Rev. Paisiy, and behind him – Rev. Leo and Macarius.
The instructions of the last of them expressed the basic principles of spiritual work. This “medicine” is not always pleasant, with a bitter aftertaste, but it brings joy from the knowledge that it is true because it's harder that way, and, although human nature resists the compulsion to follow the “straight path,” there is in it the spirit of the Gospel, the spirit of Christ.
Three qualities, three virtues for St. Macaria has a special price: patient bearing of sorrows, humility and self-reproach. On them the foundation of spiritual life is built, from them the road to higher virtues is paved: mercy, love, self-denial.
Venerable Macarius
Father Macarius reminds us that the path of sorrows is prepared for everyone in the world who seeks salvation, but we should not be afraid, despondent, or shy away from them: they are sent to us to purify our souls and acquire the highest qualities. And everything that the soul “trembles”: losses, pain, labors, injustice, reproach and even one’s own imperfection – must become the “material” of our salvation:
“Our path is such that we want it or don’t want it, and sorrow should be, by God’s permission, to our trial and learning patience.”
Anyone who acquires the skill of patience passes this path without difficulty. He does not challenge, does not try to change the conditions in which he is placed, but accepts them as a test from the hand of the Lord; and then he turns both reproaches and vain accusations into a reason to look at himself more carefully: to notice a rebellious passion, or to remember an unrepentant sin. That is, patience also teaches self-reproach:
“Feats against the passions are only painful when we go through them proudly and arrogantly, but when we humbly, calling upon God’s help and ascribing Her corrections, then they too become bearable.”
This view in the Optina tradition of spiritual education will acquire the force of an aphorism:
“If there is humility, everything is there; if there is no humility, there is nothing.”
Remembering the words of the Savior that spiritual gifts can only be useful if the spirit of love operates in a person, Father Macarius advises his spiritual children to be zealous not for acquiring the gifts themselves, but for what opens the way for Christian love:
“Don’t look for any talents, but rather try to master the mother of talents - humility is stronger.”
Not only external sorrows plague a person, but also internal ones - unconquered passions. And the elder reveals a general rule in spiritual warfare: one can defeat weakness that has turned into skill only with the help of the opposite virtue:
“...against pride - humility, against gluttony - abstinence, against envy and resentment - love, but when this is not there, then we will not reproach ourselves, humble ourselves and ask for help from God.”
The idea of the benefits of humility for the sake of Christ, for oneself and for others, runs through all the advice of the Optina elders to both monastics and laity. The call to “not look for one’s own,” to turn one’s own heart into the field of spiritual warfare, sounds constantly in their instructions. But still…
Comforters
Spiritual composure and even the severity of the elders’ instructions had nothing to do with alienation or indifference. In their letters addressed to their spiritual children, there is room for both sympathy and encouragement. Here, for example, is one such letter from the archives of Elder Anatoly (Zertsalov). How much warmth and paternal empathy there is in him:
“As for your pitiful position in the circle of sisters, you will only prove that you are their sister, and not some kind of hanger-on, when you show them sisterly love and tolerate them. It even hurts me to see or hear how everyone is putting pressure on you: well, what if all your future eternal glory lies in this pressure?<…>Be patient, be patient with the Lord, be of good cheer.”
No matter how terrible the “storm” may be, no matter how insurmountable one’s own passions may seem, everything will be weighed, everything will have a price determined in the Resurrection of Christ:
“...If anyone loves Jesus, he tries with all his might to accumulate more dowry,<…>And the Lord loves such people.”
The advice of the Reverend Elders of Optina covers practically all important aspects of life, and there is reasoning in everything: one measure is for monks, another for laity, one for beginners, another for those who are in the middle and at the end of the path.
But they also examine questions that are common to everyone: about the purpose of Christian life, about what kind of fasting is correct, about whether it makes any difference how and what to believe, about the meaning and grace-filled power of church sacraments, about prayer and spiritual reading , about what use of talents the Lord expects from his disciples, and about the dangers on the path of salvation.
Reading them, some will enjoy the wonderful living language of the 19th century, others will unexpectedly discover things that are sharply modern and written, as if especially for pastors who fall “under the fire” of the press, which arrogates to itself the right to judge the church...
And how good it is in the days of the memory of St. Ambrose and the Council of the Optina Elders to continue “communication with them” - to look for or re-read the literature available now: lives, letters, instructions, so that our lives will be illuminated by their wisdom, like the rays of the soft October sun.
From time immemorial, the Russian people have resorted to a simple technique, using proverbs and sayings in their speech. It is interesting that the Optina elders also used a similar method in their “Soulful Teachings.”
To save a soul is not to weave a bast shoe
The elders were visited by people of different classes, wealth and intelligence. According to a contemporary, the speeches of the Optina Elder Leo consoled one in grief, and awakened another from stupor.
With his lively speech and selected and appropriately used folk images, the monk could inspire the hopeless, heal the despairing, and guide those sincerely seeking the path of spiritual life on this path.
Poverty is not a vice
Perhaps, in the worldly understanding (especially today), poverty is rather bad, while prosperity and wealth are good. However, in the Christian consciousness it is the other way around.
“Poverty is not a vice,” wrote Elder Ambrose of Optina, “but the main means to humility and salvation.” And he continued: “Contentment and abundance spoil people.” Fat, as the proverb goes, makes animals go crazy.
For some, grief is from the mind, and for others, grief is without the mind.
In Christian life, an intelligent person is, first of all, a spiritual person, one who has “the wisdom of the serpent.” According to Elder Anthony, each person is given his own grief: some from the mind, and others from the mind.
But most of all grief, as the monk believed, comes from “overthinking and conceit,” and therefore, instead of spending many hours thinking and talking to oneself, it is better to offer a sincere prayer to the Lord: “Do not leave me and do not depart from me.”
God won't allow it, the pig won't eat it
It is difficult not to agree that a characteristic feature of the Russian person is trust in fate when it comes to the Orthodox faith - in the superhuman power of God. The “soulful teachings” of the Optina elders are permeated with proverbs and sayings that reflect this worldview.
“Don’t live as you want, but live as God leads,” wrote the Venerable Elder Ambrose. Or “Even though I’m lying down, I still look at God,” these are the words of the Venerable Elder Anthony. And in the “Teachings” there are other equally wise sayings: “What happens, cannot be avoided” and “The fate of the Lord is inscrutable.”
The king's own will
It can hardly be said that Orthodoxy suppressed the human right to free choice. This is also confirmed by the ascetic activity of the Optina elders. Thus, while giving advice to the suffering, they never demanded their obligatory implementation.
The attitude of the elders to freedom of choice and to a person’s active life position is also demonstrated by the proverbs and sayings used in the “Teachings”, for example, the Monk Ambrose loved to repeat: “God help me, - and the man himself do not lie,” thereby calling on his spiritual children to refuse from passivity.
Freedom for the free, heaven for the saved
Freedom of choice runs like a red thread through all the “Soulful Teachings”. The question arises especially acutely in conversations with those who doubt the correctness of their decision before taking monastic vows.
“If you don’t want to take monastic vows, then why did you enter the monastery?” - writes the Monk Ambrose. “However,” he adds, “there is freedom for the free, but heaven for the saved.”
Without God you can't reach the threshold
As St. Anthony wrote: “Don’t forget to pray. Remember the Russian proverb: without God you cannot reach the threshold. Always keep the Jesus Prayer.”
Thus, in the most accessible form for the common man - with the help of proverbs and sayings - the Optina elders teach the Orthodox science of humility with its conscious hope in God's providence.
In this article you will find advice from the Optina elders for Christians living in the world. For convenience, we have structured them point by point.
- Try to pay more attention to yourself, and not to analyze the deeds, actions and appeals of others to you; if you do not see love in them, then this is because you yourself do not have love in yourself.
- Where there is humility, there is simplicity, and this branch of God does not experience the destinies of God.
- God does not despise prayers, but sometimes He does not fulfill their desires solely in order to arrange everything better according to His Divine intention. What would happen if God, the Omniscient, completely fulfilled our desires? I think, although I do not claim, that all earthly creatures perished.
- Those who live without attention to themselves will never receive a visit from grace.
- When you don’t have peace of mind, know that you don’t have humility in yourself. The Lord revealed this in the following words, which at the same time show where to look for peace. He said: Learn from Me that I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29).
- If you ever show mercy to anyone, you will receive mercy for that.
- If you suffer with the sufferer (not much, it seems) - you are counted among the martyrs.
- If you forgive the offender, and for this not only will all your sins be forgiven, but you will become a daughter of the Heavenly Father.
- If you pray from your heart for salvation, even if it’s a little, you will be saved.
- If you reproach yourself, accuse and condemn yourself before God for the sins you feel in your conscience, then you will be justified.
- If you confess your sins before God, for this you will be forgiven and rewarded.
- If you grieve over your sins, or are touched, or shed a tear, or sigh, your sighing will not be hidden from Him: “It is not hidden from Him,” says St. Simeon, - a tear drop, there is a certain part below the drop.” And St. Chrysostom says: “If you lament your sins, He will accept your salvation as guilt.”
- Check yourself every day: what did you sow for the next century, wheat or thorns? Having tested yourself, be prepared to do better the next day and spend your whole life in this way. If the present day was spent poorly, so that you did not offer a decent prayer to God, nor were you contrite in heart even once, nor humbled in thought, nor gave alms or alms to anyone, nor forgave the guilty, nor endured insults, but on the contrary, did not abstain out of anger, did not abstain in words, food, drink, or immersed your mind in unclean thoughts, having considered all this according to your conscience, judge yourself and rely on the next day to be more attentive in good and more careful in evil.
- To your question, what does a happy life consist of, in splendor, fame and wealth, or in a quiet, peaceful, family life, I will say that I agree with the latter, and I will also add: a life lived with an impeccable conscience and humility brings world. peace and true happiness. But wealth, honor, glory and high dignity are often the cause of many sins, and this happiness is unreliable.
- People for the most part desire and seek prosperity in this life, and try to avoid sorrows. And it seems that this is very good and pleasant, but constant prosperity and happiness harms a person. He falls into various passions and sins and angers the Lord, and those who go through a sorrowful life come closer to the Lord and more easily receive salvation, which is why the Lord called the joyful life a long path: the wide gate and the wide path lead to destruction and many are those who walk through it(Matthew 7:13), and called the sorrowful life: the narrow path and the strait gate lead into the eternal belly, and there are few of them who find it(Matt. 7:14). So, out of His love for us, the Lord, foreseeing possible benefit for those who are worthy of it, leads many from the long path, and places them on a narrow and regrettable path, so that through the patience of illnesses and sorrows they can arrange their salvation and grant them eternal life.
- ...You want not only to be good and have nothing bad, but also to see yourself as such. Desire is commendable, but to see one’s good qualities is already food for self-love. Yes, even if we did everything we did, we should all consider ourselves to be perfect slaves, but we, even though we are faulty in everything, do not think of ourselves as such, and therefore we are embarrassed, instead of reconciling ourselves. That is why God does not give us strength to fulfill, so that we would not be exalted, but would humble ourselves and acquire the guarantee of humility. And when we have it, then our virtues will be strong and it will not allow us to ascend.
- We, weak-minded people, thinking of arranging our condition, become sad, fuss, deprive ourselves of peace, and fulfill the abandonment of the duty of faith behind vanities, in order to leave a good estate for our children. But do we know whether it will benefit them? Don’t we see children left with wealth, but wealth is of no help to a stupid son - and it only served as a reason for them to have bad morals. We must strive to leave our children a good example of our lives and raise them in the fear of God and in His commandments; this is their main wealth. When will we search the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, then what is here and everything we need will be added to us(Matt. 6:33). You will say: this cannot be done; Today the world demands not this, but something else! Fine; but did you give birth to children only for the light, and not for the hereafter? Comfort yourself with the word of God: If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you(John 15, 18), and carnal wisdom - enmity against God: 6o does not submit to the law of God, lower than he can(Rom. 8:7). Do not want your children to be from the glorious people of the world, but to have good people, obedient children, and when God arranges it, good spouses, gentle parents, caring for those under their control, loving towards everyone and lenient towards their enemies.
- ...You have a desire to bring yourself closer to God and receive salvation. This is the entire duty of every Christian, but this is accomplished through the fulfillment of God’s commandments, which all consist of love for God and neighbor and extend to the falling in love of enemies. Read the Gospel, there you will find the way, the truth and life, preserve the Orthodox faith and the statutes of the Holy Church, study in the writings of church pastors and teachers and adapt your life to their teachings. But prayer rules alone cannot bring us any benefit... I advise you to try as much as possible to pay your attention to deeds of love for your neighbors: in relation to your mother, wife and children, taking care of raising them in the Orthodox faith and good morality, to the people subordinate to you and to everyone neighbors. St. Apostle Paul, counting different types of virtues and feats of self-sacrifice, says: “Even if I do this and that, I am not an imam of love, there is no benefit for me.”
- Many painters depict Christ in icons, but few catch the resemblance. Thus, Christians are animated images of Christ, and whoever is meek, humble in heart and obedient is the one most like Christ.
- One must beware of murmuring against God and fear it as if it were death, for the Lord is God. according to His great mercy. He patiently endures all our sins, but His mercy cannot bear our grumbling.
- Do not impose any vows or rules on yourself without the approval of your spiritual father, with whose advice one bow will bring you more benefit than a thousand self-made bows.
- The Pharisee prayed and fasted more than we do, but without humility all his work was nothing, and therefore be most jealous of the publican’s humility, which is usually born from obedience and is sufficient for you.
- In any grief: in sickness, in poverty, in cramped conditions, in bewilderment, and in all troubles - it is better to think and talk less with oneself, and more often with prayer, albeit short, turn to Christ God and to His Most Pure Mother , through which the spirit of bitter despondency will flee, and the heart will be filled with hope in God and joy.
- Meekness and humility of heart are virtues without which it is impossible not only to explore the Kingdom of Heaven, but also to be happy on earth or to feel peace of mind within oneself.
- Let us learn to mentally reproach and condemn ourselves for everything, and not others, for the more humble, the more profitable; God loves the humble and pours out His grace on them.
- Whatever grief befalls you, whatever trouble happens to you, say: “I will endure this for Jesus Christ!” Just say this and it will be easier for you. For the name of Jesus Christ is powerful. With him, all troubles subside, demons disappear. Your annoyance will also subside, your cowardice will also calm down when you repeat His sweetest name. Lord, let me see my sins; Lord, give me patience, generosity and meekness.
- Do not be ashamed to bare your scabs to your spiritual mentor and be ready to accept shame and shame from him for your sins, so that through him you can avoid eternal shame..
- The church is for us the earthly heaven, where God Himself is invisibly present and watches over those who are present, therefore in the church one should stand in order, with great reverence. Let us love the Church and be zealous for her; She is our joy and consolation in sorrows and joys.
- To encourage the mourners, the elder often said: If the Lord is for us, who is for us?(Rom. 8:31).
- Every task must be started by invoking the name of God for help.
- The elder often spoke about maintaining conscience, about carefully observing one’s thoughts, actions and words, and about repenting for them.
- He taught to bear the weaknesses and shortcomings of his subordinates complacently. “Make comments,” the elder instructed, “without giving food to your own pride, considering whether you yourself could bear what you demand from another.”
- If you feel like anger has taken over you. remain silent and do not say anything until your heart is calmed by unceasing prayer and self-reproach.
- It is more beneficial for the soul to recognize oneself as guilty of everything and the last of all, than to resort to self-justification, which comes from pride, and God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
- The elder often cited the apostle’s saying: “True love is not irritated, does not think evil, and never falls away.”
- If we abandon our desires and understandings and strive to fulfill the desires and understandings of God, then we will be saved in every place and in every state. And if we adhere to our desires and understandings, then no place, no state will help us. Even in paradise, Eve transgressed the commandment of God, and for the unfortunate Judas, life under the Savior himself did not bring any benefit. Everywhere patience and compulsion to a pious life are needed, as we read in the Holy Gospel.
- ... In vain we will accuse that those living with us and those around us interfere and hinder our salvation or spiritual perfection ... our mental and spiritual unsatisfactoriness comes from ourselves, from our lack of art and from an incorrectly formed opinion, which we do not want to part with. And it is this that brings upon us confusion, doubt, and various bewilderments; and all this torments us and burdens us, and leads us to a desolate state. It would be good if we could understand the simple patristic word: If we reconcile ourselves, then we will find peace in every place, without bypassing with our minds many other places where the same, if not worse, may happen to us.
- The main means to salvation is to endure many different sorrows, whichever is suitable for whom, according to what was said in the “Acts of the Apostles”: “Through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”...
- Anyone who wants to be saved must remember and not forget the apostolic commandment: “bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the Law of Christ.” There are many other commandments, but not a single one has such an addition, that is, “so fulfill the Law of Christ.” This commandment is of great importance, and before others we must take care of its fulfillment.
- ...Many wish for a good spiritual life in the simplest form, but only a few and rare actually fulfill their good wishes - namely those who firmly adhere to the words of the Holy Scriptures, that “through many tribulations it is fitting for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven,” and, calling God's help, they try to meekly endure the sorrows and illnesses and various inconveniences that befall them, always keeping in mind the words of the Lord Himself: “If you want to be taken into your stomach, keep the commandments.”
- And the main commandments of the Lord: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, lest you be condemned; release and it will be forgiven to you.” In addition, those who wish to be saved should always keep in mind the words of St. Peter of Damascus, that creation is accomplished between fear and hope.
- The work of our salvation requires, in every place, wherever a person lives, the fulfillment of God’s commandments and submission to the will of God. This is the only way to gain peace of mind, and nothing else, as it is said in the psalms: “There is peace for many who love Your law, and there is no temptation for them.” And you are still looking for inner peace and peace of mind from external circumstances. Everything seems to you that you live in the wrong place, that you have settled with the wrong people, that you yourself have made the wrong decisions, and that others seem to have acted in the wrong way. The Holy Scripture says: “His dominion is in every place,” that is, God’s, and that for God the salvation of one Christian soul is more valuable than all the things of the whole world.
- The Lord is ready to help a person acquire humility, as in all good things, but it is necessary for the person himself to take care of himself. Said by St. Fathers: “Give blood and receive spirit.” This means - work until blood is shed and you will receive a spiritual gift. And you are looking for spiritual gifts and asking, but you are sorry to shed blood, that is, you want everything so that no one touches you, does not bother you. Is it possible to acquire humility in a quiet life? After all, humility consists in when a person sees himself as the worst of all, not only people, but also dumb animals and even the spirits of evil themselves. And so, when people disturb you, you see that you cannot tolerate this and are angry with people, then you will inevitably consider yourself bad... If at the same time you regret your badness and reproach yourself for the malfunction, and sincerely repent of this before God and the spiritual father, then you are already on the path of humility... And if no one touched you, and you remained alone, how could you recognize your thinness? How could you see your vices?.. If they try to humiliate you, it means they want to humble you; and you yourself ask God for humility. Why then grieve for people?
- To the question: “How to pay attention to yourself, where to start?”, the following answer followed: “You must first write down: how you go to church, how you stand, how you look, how proud you are, how vain you are, how angry you are, etc.”
- Anyone who has a bad heart should not despair, because with God's help a person can correct his heart. You just need to carefully monitor yourself and not miss the opportunity to be useful to your neighbors, often open up to the elder and give alms within your power. This, of course, cannot be done suddenly, but the Lord endures for a long time. He only ends a person’s life when he sees him ready for the transition to eternity or when he sees no hope for his correction.
- Teaching that in spiritual life one cannot neglect even unimportant circumstances, the elder sometimes said: “Moscow burned down from a penny candle.”
- Regarding judging and noticing other people’s sins and shortcomings, the priest said: “You need to pay attention to your inner life so as not to notice what is happening around you. Then you won’t judge.”
- Pointing out that a person has nothing to be proud of, the elder added: “And why should a person really be proud here? The ragged, plucked man asks for alms: have mercy, have mercy! But whether mercy will come, who knows.”
- When pride attacks, tell yourself: “There’s a weirdo walking around.”
- They asked the priest: “So-and-so doesn’t die for a long time, she always imagines cats and so on. Why is that?" Answer: “Every sin, no matter how small, must be written down as soon as you remember it, and then repented. That’s why some people don’t die for a long time, because some unrepentant sin is holding them back, but as soon as they repent, they are relieved... You definitely need to write down your sins as soon as you remember, otherwise we put it off: it’s a small sin, then it’s a shame to say it, or I’ll say it later, but we’ll come to repent and there’s nothing to do say".
- Three rings cling to each other: hatred from anger, anger from pride.
- “Why do people sin?” - the elder sometimes asked a question and answered it himself: “Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, they forget; if they don’t forget, then they become lazy and despondent... These are three giants - despondency or laziness, oblivion and ignorance - from which the entire human race is bound by insoluble ties. And then comes negligence with all its host of evil passions. That is why we pray to the Queen of Heaven: “My Most Holy Lady Theotokos, with Your holy and all-powerful prayers, drive away from me, Your humble and accursed servant, despondency, oblivion, foolishness, negligence and all the nasty, evil and blasphemous thoughts.”
- Don’t be like a bothersome fly, which sometimes flies around uselessly, and sometimes bites, and annoys both of them; and be like the wise bee, which in the spring diligently began its work and by autumn finished the honeycomb, which is as good as correctly written notes. One is sweet, and the other is pleasant.
- When they wrote to the elder that it was hard in the world, he replied: “That is why it (the earth) is called the vale of tears; but some people cry, and others jump, but the latter will not feel well.”
- To the question: “What does it mean to live according to your heart?”, the priest answered: “Do not interfere in other people’s affairs and see all the good in others.”
- Father said: “We must live on earth as a wheel turns, only just one point touches the ground, and the rest constantly strives upward; but we, as soon as we lie down on the ground, cannot get up.”
- To the question: “How to live?”, the priest answered: “To live is not to bother, not to judge anyone, not to annoy anyone, and my respect to everyone.”
- We need to live unhypocritically and behave exemplarily, then our cause will be true, otherwise it will turn out badly.
- You need to force yourself, albeit against your will, to do some good to your enemies; and most importantly, do not take revenge on them and be careful not to somehow offend them with the appearance of contempt and humiliation.
- So that people would not remain careless and would not place their hope in outside prayerful help, the elder repeated the usual folk saying: “God help me, and the man himself does not lie.” And he added: “Remember, the twelve apostles asked the Savior for a Canaanite wife, but He did not hear them; and she began to ask and begged.”
- Father taught that salvation has three degrees. Said by St. John Chrysostom:
a) do not sin,
b) having sinned. repent,
c) whoever repents poorly must endure the sorrows that come.
- Once we started talking about sorrows, one of them said: “Better illness than sorrow.” Father answered: “No. in sorrows, you will pray to God and they will go away, but you cannot fight off the disease with a stick.”
- When the blues set in, don’t forget to reproach yourself: remember how guilty you are before the Lord and before yourself, and realize that you are unworthy of anything better, and you will immediately feel relief. It is said: “Many are the sorrows of the righteous,” and “Many are the wounds of sinners.” Such is our life here - all the sorrows and sorrows; and it is through them that the Kingdom of Heaven is achieved. When you are restless, repeat more often: “Seek peace and get married.”
- After communion, one must ask the Lord to preserve the gift with dignity and that the Lord will give help not to return back, that is, to previous sins.
- When the priest was asked: “Why do you sometimes feel consolation after communion, and sometimes coldness?”, he answered: “He who seeks consolation from communion experiences coldness, but whoever considers himself unworthy, grace remains with him.”
- Humility is about giving in to others and considering yourself inferior to everyone else. It will be much more peaceful.
- “It’s always better to give in,” said the priest, “if you insist fairly, it’s the same as a ruble of banknotes, and if you give in, it’s a ruble in silver.”
- To the question “How to acquire the fear of God?”, the priest answered: “You must always have God before you. I will foresee the Lord before me.”
- When people annoy you, never ask “why” or “why.” This is not found anywhere in Scripture. It says on the contrary: “they will hit you on your right cheek, turn your left also,” and this is what it means: if they beat you for telling the truth, then do not complain and turn your left, that is, remember your wrong deeds and you will see that you are worthy of punishment. At the same time, the priest added: “I have endured the Lord, and have heeded me.”
- “Father! teach me patience.” - said one sister. “Learn,” the elder answered, “and start with patience when you find and encounter troubles.” “I can’t understand how you can not be indignant at insults and injustices.” The elder’s answer: “Be fair yourself and do not offend anyone.”
- Father used to say: “Moses endured, Elisha endured, Elijah endured, and I will endure.”
- The elder often cited a proverb: “If you run from a wolf, you will attack a bear.” There is only one thing left to do - be patient and wait, paying attention to yourself and not judging others, and praying to the Lord and the Queen of Heaven, may He arrange for you what is beneficial, as They please.
WITH advice of St. Anatoly (Zertsalov)
- It is obvious that you are trying and want to be saved, but you just don’t know how, you don’t understand spiritual life. The whole secret here is to endure what God sends. And you will not see how you enter heaven.
- Consider yourself worse than everyone else, and you will be better than everyone else.
- ...Your patience should not be unreasonable, that is, joyless, but patience with reason - that the Lord looks into all your deeds, into your very soul, as we look into the face of a loved one... He sees and tests: what kind of person will you find yourself in sorrows? If you endure, you will be His beloved. And if you do not endure and grumble, but repent, you will still be His beloved.
- Every prayer to God is profitable. And which one exactly - we don’t know. He is the One righteous Judge, and we can recognize lies as truth. Pray and believe.
- ...I’ll tell you a secret, I’m telling you the best way to find humility. This is what it is: every pain that pricks a proud heart, be patient. And wait day and night for mercy from the All-Merciful Savior. Those who wait so much will certainly receive it.
- Learn to be meek and silent, and you will be loved by everyone. And open feelings are the same as open gates: both the dog and the cat run there... and they shit.
- We are obliged to love everyone but to be loved, we do not dare demand.
- Sorrow is our path, we will go on until we reach our assigned fatherland of eternity, but only grief is that we care little about eternity and do not tolerate even the slightest reproach in a word. We ourselves increase our sorrows when we begin to grumble.
- He who has conquered passions and acquired spiritual intelligence has access to everyone’s heart without external education.
- An imposed rule is always difficult, but doing it with humility is even more difficult.
- What is acquired through labor is useful.
- If you see a mistake in your neighbor that you would like to correct, if it disturbs your peace of mind and irritates you, then you also sin and, therefore, you will not correct the mistake with an error - it is corrected with meekness.
- A person's conscience is like an alarm clock. If the alarm clock rings, and knowing that you need to go to obedience, you get up right away, then you will always hear it afterwards, and if you don’t get up immediately for several days in a row, saying: “I’ll lie down a little more,” then eventually you will wake up from its ringing you will not.
- What is easy for the body is not good for the soul, and what is good for the soul is difficult for the body.
- You ask: “What can I do to consider myself as nothing?” Thoughts of arrogance come, and it is impossible for them not to come. But they must be countered with thoughts of humility. As you do, remembering your sins and various shortcomings. Continue to do so and always remember that our entire earthly life must be spent in the fight against evil. In addition to considering your shortcomings, you can also be humble in this way: “I have nothing good... My body is not mine, it was created by God in my mother’s womb. The soul was given to me from the Lord. Therefore, all mental and physical abilities are gifts of God. And my property is only my countless sins, with which I have daily angered and anger the Merciful Lord. What should I be vain and proud of after this? Nothing.” And with such reflections, prayerfully ask for mercy from the Lord. In all sinful endeavors there is only one cure - sincere repentance and humility.
- There are many who cry, but not for what is needed, many who mourn, but not for sins, many who seem to be humble, but not truly. The example of the Lord Jesus Christ shows us with what meekness and patience we must endure human errors.
- There are different paths to salvation. The Lord saves some in the monastery, others in the world. Saint Nicholas of Myra went into the desert to labor there in fasting and prayer, but the Lord ordered him to go into the world. “This is not the field in which you will bear fruit for Me,” said the Savior. Saints Taisia, Mary of Egypt, and Evdokia also did not live in monasteries. You can be saved everywhere, just don’t leave the Savior. Cling to the robe of Christ - and Christ will not leave you.
- A sure sign of the death of the soul is avoidance of church services. A person who grows cold towards God first of all begins to avoid going to church, first tries to come to the service later, and then completely stops visiting the temple of God.
- Those who seek Christ find Him, according to the true gospel word: “Press and it will be opened to you, seek and you will find,” “In the house of My Father are many mansions.”
- And note that here the Lord speaks not only about heavenly, but also earthly abodes, and not only about internal, but also about external.
- The Lord puts each soul in such a position, surrounds it with such an environment that is most conducive to its prosperity. This is the outer abode, but the inner abode that the Lord prepares for those who love and seek Him fills the soul with peace and joy.
- Do not read godless books, remain faithful to Christ. If asked about faith, answer boldly. “You seem to go to church often?” - “Yes, because I find satisfaction in it.” - “Do you really want to be a saint?” - “Everyone wants this, but it does not depend on us, but on the Lord.” This way you will repel the enemy.
- You cannot learn to fulfill God’s commandments without labor, and this labor is threefold - prayer, fasting and sobriety.
- I hear complaints that we are now going through difficult times, that complete freedom has now been given to all heretical and godless teachings, that the Church is being attacked from all sides by enemies and it is becoming scary for it, that these muddy waves of unbelief and heresies will overcome it. I always answer: “Don't worry! Don't be afraid for the Church! She will not perish: the gates of hell will not prevail against her until the Last Judgment. Don’t be afraid for her, but you need to be afraid for yourself, and it’s true that our time is very difficult. From what? Yes, because now it is especially easy to fall away from Christ, and then - destruction.”
- Something dark and terrible is coming into the world... A person remains, as it were, defenseless, he is so possessed by this evil force, and he does not realize what he is doing... Suicide is even suggested... Why is this happening? Because they don’t take up arms - they don’t have the name of Jesus and the sign of the cross with them.
- Life is bliss... Life will become bliss for us when we learn to fulfill the commandments of Christ and love Christ. Then we will live joyfully, joyfully endure the sorrows that come our way, and ahead of us the Sun of Truth, the Lord, will shine with indescribable light... All the Gospel commandments begin with the words: Blessed - blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers... From this it follows as a truth that fulfilling the commandments brings people the highest happiness.
- Our whole life is the great mystery of God. All circumstances of life, no matter how insignificant they may seem, are of great importance. We will fully understand the meaning of real life in the next century. How carefully we must treat it, but we turn over our lives like a book - sheet by sheet, without realizing what is written there. There is no chance in life, everything happens according to the will of the Creator.
- In order to become like God, we must fulfill His holy commandments, and if we look at it, it turns out that we have not truly fulfilled a single one. Let's go through them all, and it turns out that we barely touched on that commandment, another, perhaps, we also just began to fulfill a little, and, for example, we did not even begin to the commandment about love for enemies. What remains for us sinners to do? How to escape? The only way is through humility. “Lord, I am a sinner in everything, I have nothing good, I only hope for Your boundless mercy.” We are absolute bankrupts before the Lord, but He will not reject us for humility. And indeed, it is better, having sins, to consider oneself great sinners, than, having some good deeds, to be proud of them, considering oneself righteous. The Gospel depicts two such examples in the person of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
- We live in terrible times. People who profess Jesus Christ and attend the temple of God are subjected to ridicule and condemnation. These ridicule will turn into open persecution, and do not think that this will happen in a thousand years, no, it will come soon. I won't live to see it, but some of you will see it. And torture and torment will begin again, but good for those who remain faithful to Christ God.
- God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, and the grace of God is everything... There you have the greatest wisdom. So, humble yourself and say to yourself: “Although I am a grain of sand on the earth, the Lord also cares about me, and may God’s will be done to me.” Now, if you say this not only with your mind, but also with your heart, and really boldly, as befits a true Christian, you rely on the Lord, with the firm intention of meekly submitting to the will of God, whatever it may be, then the clouds will dissipate before you, and the sun will come out and will illuminate you and warm you, and you will know true joy from the Lord, and everything will seem clear and transparent to you, and you will stop tormenting, and your soul will feel at ease.”
- So you are asking the fastest way to humility. Of course, first of all, we should recognize ourselves as the weakest worm, unable to do anything good without the gift of the Holy Spirit from our Lord Jesus Christ, given through the prayer of ours and our neighbors and by His mercy...
- They say the temple is boring. Boring because they don't understand the service! Need to study! He's boring because they don't care about him. So he seems not one of us, but a stranger. At least they brought flowers or greenery for decoration, if they took part in the efforts of decorating the temple - it wouldn’t be boring.
- Live simply, according to your conscience, always remember that the Lord sees, and don’t pay attention to the rest!
Prophecy about the fate of Russia
There will be a storm, and the Russian ship will be destroyed. Yes, it will happen, but people also save themselves on chips and debris. Not everyone, not everyone will perish... God will not forsake those who trust in Him. We must pray, we must all repent and pray fervently... And there will be calm (after the storm)... a great miracle of God will be revealed, yes. And all the chips and fragments, by the will of God and His power, will gather and unite, and the ship will be recreated in its beauty and will follow its course, intended by God. So it will be, a miracle revealed to everyone.
- Job's position is a law for every person. While he is rich, noble, and prosperous. God doesn't respond. When a person is in the pit, rejected by everyone, then God appears and Himself talks with the person, and the person only listens and cries out: “Lord, have mercy!” Only the degree of humiliation is different.
- The main thing is to beware of judgment from loved ones. Whenever condemnation comes to mind, immediately pay attention: “Lord, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother.”
- He spoke about the high gradualism of the spiritual path, that “everything requires compulsion. Now, if dinner is served, and you want to eat and smell a delicious smell, the spoon itself will not bring you the food. You need to force yourself to get up, come over, take a spoon and then eat. And nothing is done right away - waiting and patience are required everywhere.”
- Man is given life so that it serves him, not he, that is, man should not become a slave to his circumstances, should not sacrifice his inner to the outer. In serving life, a person loses proportionality, works without prudence and comes into very sad bewilderment; he doesn’t even know why he lives. This is a very harmful bewilderment and often happens: a person, like a horse, is lucky and lucky, and suddenly such ... spontaneous punctuation comes over him.”
- He asks which way to go to God. Walk the path of humility! By humbly bearing the difficult circumstances of life, by humble patience with illnesses sent by the Lord; humble hope that you will not be abandoned by the Lord, the Quick Helper and loving Heavenly Father; a humble prayer for help from above, for driving away despondency and feelings of hopelessness, with which the enemy of salvation tries to lead to despair, disastrous for a person, depriving him of grace and removing God’s mercy from him.
- The meaning of Christian life, according to the words of the holy Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians: “... glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God’s.” So, having inscribed these holy words in our souls and hearts, we should take care that our disposition and actions in life serve the glory of God and the edification of our neighbors.
- Let the prayer rule be small, but fulfilled constantly and carefully...
- Let us take as an example a saint suitable for our situation, and we will rely on his example. All the saints suffered because they followed the path of the Savior, Who suffered: was persecuted, mocked, slandered and crucified. And all who follow Him inevitably suffer. “You will be in a world of sorrow.” And everyone who wants to live piously will be persecuted. “When you begin to work for the Lord, prepare your soul for temptation.” In order to endure suffering more easily, one must have strong faith, ardent love for the Lord, not become attached to anything earthly, and completely surrender to the will of God.
- Those who blaspheme must be looked at as sick people from whom we demand that they not cough or spit...
- If it is not possible to fulfill the vow of obedience, there is no one to obey, one must be willing to do everything according to the will of God. There are two types of obedience: external and internal.
- With external obedience, complete obedience is required, the execution of every task without reasoning. Inner obedience refers to the inner, spiritual life and requires the guidance of a spiritual father. But the advice of a spiritual father should be verified by the Holy Scriptures... True obedience, which brings great benefit to the soul, is when, for obedience, you do something that does not agree with your desire, despite yourself. Then the Lord Himself takes you in His arms...
- The Lord created doctors and medicine. You can't refuse treatment.
- When you are weak and tired, you can sit in church: “Son, give Me your heart.” “It is better to think about God while sitting than to think about your feet while standing,” said St. Philaret of Moscow.
- There is no need to give vent to your feelings. We must force ourselves to be friendly with those we don’t like.
- You shouldn't believe omens. There are no signs. The Lord controls us by His Providence, and I do not depend on any bird or day, or anything else. Whoever believes in prejudices has a heavy heart, and whoever considers himself dependent on the Providence of God, on the contrary, has a joyful soul.
- The “Jesus Prayer” will replace the sign of the cross if for some reason it cannot be placed.
- You cannot work on holidays unless absolutely necessary. The holiday should be cherished and honored. This day should be dedicated to God: be in church, pray at home and read the Holy Scriptures and the works of St. fathers, do good deeds.
- We must love every person, seeing in him the image of God, despite his vices. You can’t push people away from you with coldness.
- What is better: to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ rarely or often? - it’s hard to say. Zacchaeus joyfully accepted the dear Guest - the Lord - into his home, and did well. But the centurion, out of humility, realizing his own lack of dignity, did not dare to accept, and also did well. Their actions, although opposite, have the same motivation. And they appeared before the Lord as equally worthy. The point is to adequately prepare yourself for the great Sacrament.
- When they asked St. Seraphim why at present there are no such ascetics as there were before, he answered: “Because there is no determination to undergo great feats, but the grace is the same; Christ is the same forever.”
- Persecution and oppression are good for us, for they strengthen our faith.
- We must consider everything bad, including the passions that fight us, not as our own, but as from the enemy - the devil. It is very important. Only then can you overcome passion when you don’t consider it yours...
- If you want to get rid of sadness, do not attach your heart to anything or anyone. Sadness comes from attachment to visible things.
- There has never been, is not and never will be a carefree place on earth. A sad place can only be in the heart when the Lord is in it.
- The Lord helps us in sorrows and temptations. He does not free us from them, but gives us the strength to easily endure them, not even to notice them.
- Silence prepares the soul for prayer. Silence, how beneficial it is to the soul!
- We Orthodox Christians should not support heresy. Even if we had to suffer, we would not betray Orthodoxy.
- You should not seek human truth. Seek only God's truth.
- The spiritual father, like a pillar, only shows the way, but you have to go yourself. If the spiritual father points, and his disciple himself does not move, then he will not go anywhere, but will rot near this pillar.
- When the priest, blessing, says the prayer: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” then a mystery is accomplished: the grace of the Holy Spirit descends on the person being blessed. And when any person, even just with his lips, utters a renunciation of God, grace departs from him, all his concepts change, he becomes completely different.
- Before asking the Lord for forgiveness, you must forgive yourself... This is what it says in the “Lord’s Prayer.”
- Silence is good for the soul. When we speak, then it is difficult to resist. from idle talk and condemnation. But there is bad silence, it is when someone is angry and therefore remains silent.
- Always remember the law of spiritual life: if you are embarrassed by any shortcoming of another person and condemn him, later you will suffer the same fate and you will suffer from the same shortcoming.
- Do not apply your hearts to the vanity of this world. Especially during prayer, leave all thoughts about worldly things. After prayer, at home or in church, in order to maintain a prayerful, tender mood, silence is necessary. Sometimes even a simple, insignificant word can disrupt and frighten away tenderness from our soul.
- Self-justification closes spiritual eyes, and then a person sees something other than what actually exists.
- If you say something bad about your brother or sister, even if it is true, then you will inflict an incurable wound on your soul. You can convey the mistakes of another only if the only intention in your heart is the benefit of the soul of the sinner.
- Patience is uninterrupted complacency.
- Your salvation and your destruction are in your neighbor. Your salvation depends on how you treat your neighbor. Do not forget to see the image of God in your neighbor.
- Do every task, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, carefully, as if before the face of God. Remember that the Lord sees everything.
