Spiritual instructions of the Greek elders. Advice from the Optina elders to Christians living in the world

Test of love.“It’s good that I didn’t get married then.” According to the tradition that has developed in Russian classical literature(and in the works of Chekhov himself), testing the hero with love most convincingly helps to reveal his true essence. Dmitry Startsev turns out to be incapable of strong love. What he admires about Kotik is her erudition; she seems smart and intelligent to him. However, love, having barely arisen, already frightens him. “Where will this novel lead? - he reflects, having received a note from Kotik. “What will your comrades say when they find out?” And then there is a reflection that is important for characterizing the hero: “And they must give a lot of dowry,” thinks the young man in love. Having offered “his hand and his heart” and received a refusal, Startsev suffered... for exactly three days. “Then, sometimes remembering how he wandered through the cemetery or how he drove throughout the city and looked for a tailcoat, he lazily stretched and said: “How much trouble, however!” It is no coincidence that this languid love is accompanied by the motif of the withering of nature: “Autumn was approaching, and in the old garden it was quiet, sad, and dark leaves lay on the alleys. It was already getting dark early.” His love (against the backdrop of such a landscape) is hopeless, petty, timidly practical. But no matter what it was, it alone could be saving for the hero of the story.

And a few years later, Dmitry Ionych Startsev again meets Ekaterina Ivanovna, who came to her hometown from Moscow, where she studied at the conservatory. The environment, life and way of life of the Turkin family remained unchanged, but the main characters of the story changed. The hero has lost full name, and with it the fullness of life, his own human individuality: dinner at the club, money, which previously did not interest him, are now the meaning of life. The heroine has become more mature, serious, realistically assessing life and her capabilities: “I’m a pianist, just like my mother is a writer...”. She has only one illusion left, which she also has to part with: Startsev’s love. The landscape background of their last date is heavy and gloomy: “They went into the garden and sat there on a bench under an old maple tree, like four years ago. It was dark". “It was dark,” obviously, the beauty of night nature became closed to the hero. It is he who sees her so dark. During the first, failed meeting in the cemetery, when his soul was light, nature was bright, mysterious, enigmatic and poetic. The word “dark”, “dark”, by the way, is repeated several times in the second half of the story: “the dark house and garden” of the Turkins.

It’s dark in Ionych’s soul too. Only for a moment did the light “glow”, he felt sorry for love, lost happiness, and, as if in the light of this light, the vulgarity of his meaningless life was suddenly revealed. “We get old, we get fat, we decline... life passes dullly, without impressions, without thoughts... During the day there is profit, and in the evening there is a club, a society of gamblers, alcoholics, wheezing people, whom I cannot stand. What's good? - he complains. But then “Startsev remembered the pieces of paper that he took out of his pockets with such pleasure in the evenings, and the light in his soul went out.” He no longer regrets youth, love, unfulfilled hopes. “It’s good that I didn’t get married then,” he thinks.

On the first pages of the novel, Startsev’s voice sounded different: “Oh, how little those who have never loved know! It seems to me that no one has yet described love correctly, and it is hardly possible to describe this tender, joyful, painful feeling...” But now everything has died for Ionych, even his only poetic memory. “And when, it happens, at some table next door the conversation comes up about the Turkins, he asks: “Which Turkins are you talking about?” Is this about the fact that the daughter plays the piano?” Probably nothing characterizes the hero more than self-betrayal, vulgarization and oblivion of the brightest page of his life - love. Dmitry Ionych has already become part of the very world that he verbally rejects. The hero is afraid of any change, he has accepted the rules of the game and is internally satisfied with his current position.

Plays an important role in the story scenery. At first glance, the episode in the cemetery, where Startsev waits in vain for a date, may seem unnecessary, unrelated to the main events: “At first, Startsev was struck by what he was now seeing for the first time in his life and what he would probably never see again: a world unlike anything else - a world where the moonlight is so good and soft, as if its cradle is here, where there is no life, no and no, but in every dark poplar, in every grave the presence of a secret is felt, promising a quiet life, beautiful, eternal. From the slabs and withered flowers, along with the autumn smell of leaves, there is a breath of farewell, sadness and peace.” But this description is a turning point, a climactic one.

In the first and second chapters we already see the emptiness, the mechanical nature of the Turkins’ life, but so far this has all been covered with a light veil of poetry. The poetic trend reached its climax in the episode at the cemetery. After it comes the continuous prose of life, depicting to us the gradual but steady hardening of the soul of the hero of the story, his transformation into a rude, terrible Ionych ( pagan god). The scene in the cemetery is like the swan song of that poetry that timidly and timidly sounded in Startsev’s dry and prosaic soul. In contrast, everything that we learn about Startsev in the future is especially sad.

Valaam Elder Michael (Elder)
(1871 - 1934)

Let us be zealous, brethren, for the zealous commemoration of those who have passed away, so that after death we ourselves... will be remembered. According to the true words of the Savior: “Measure accordingly, and it will be measured back to you.”

Valaam Elder Michael (Pitkevich)
(1877-1962)

No one was saved without humility. Remember that for the rest of your life you will fall into sins, serious or light, be angry, boast, lie, be vain, offend others, be greedy. It is this consciousness that will keep you humble. What is there to be proud of if you sin and offend your neighbor every day? But for every sin there is repentance. Sinned and repented... and so on until the end. By doing this, you will never despair, but will gradually come to a peaceful dispensation.

Endure and endure everything - all the suffering, all the hard work, reproaches, slander, but most of all, fear despair - this is the heaviest sin.

No matter what creep or fall occurs, we must get up, not despair, but start again - work and labor is needed, struggle. Crowns are given only for courageous struggle. There must be struggle, contrition with sincere repentance and firm hope.

When the enemy annoys, wants to irritate, anger, steal the peace of the heart with trifles, annoyances, just say: “Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen". He fears these words most of all, they burn him like fire, and he will run away from you.

You must not only pray: “Lord, have mercy,” not only ask, you must constantly thank, and be able to praise the Lord - then there will be peace in your soul.

We easily turn to the intercession of holy saints, to Angels, to Mother of God, we learn the unceasing Jesus Prayer, but we forget the Holy Trinity, as if the Holy Trinity is wonderful and far from us... We must turn to the Holy Trinity more often.

Valaam Elder John (Alekseev)
(1873-1953)

When praying, you need to keep yourself in greater lewdness, and if warmth and tears appear, do not dream something lofty about yourself; let them come and go without our coercion, but do not be embarrassed when they are stopped, otherwise it will not happen.

Prayer is the most difficult feat... Yet the Lord, in His mercy, sometimes gives consolation to the prayer book so that he does not weaken.

The Holy Fathers called prayer the queen of virtues, for it will attract other virtues. But, as high as it is, it requires a lot of work. The Monk Agathon says: “Prayer until the last breath involves the labor of a difficult struggle.”

Don’t strive for warmth of heart - it comes without our searching and waiting; in prayer there must be our work, and success already depends on grace... In spiritual life, leaps are not appropriate, but patient gradualness is required... The sign of prayer is warmth of heart and contrition of heart... Our work must be in every virtue, and success already depends on God's grace, and God gives grace not for work, but for humility, to the extent that a person humbles himself, so much will grace visit... The Fatherland says: “The disciple said to the elder: so-and-so “sees angels.” The elder replied: “It’s not surprising that he sees angels, but I would be surprised at someone who sees his sins.” Although this old saying is brief, it is spiritual meaning very deeply, because the hardest thing is to know yourself.

If you strictly monitor yourself, you will truly see yourself worse than everyone else, then even those who praise you will not harm you, for people look only at a person’s appearance, but do not know him internally, except for the spiritual life of those who lead him.

It is not in our power to persevere in virtue, this is a matter of grace, and grace preserves precisely only for humility. Climacus says: “Where the fall happened, pride preceded it.” It is great happiness for us that we have the books of St. Fathers, for they speak in detail about spiritual life. Certainly. It would be good to lead spiritual life under the guidance spiritual mentor, but the monks have become impoverished, and without a mentor it is very dangerous to be guided only by books... However, there is no need to lose heart, let’s put humility as the foundation - humility and the Lord, in His goodness, will help us sinners and deliver us from the misfortunes of spiritual path. And we will repent of our weaknesses, for all the ascetics of piety held on to humility and repentance.

The memory must be filled with reading St. Gospels and works of St. Fathers, in a word, so that the mind is not idle. Previous events you need to replace it with other thoughts, and gradually the old memories will be pushed away and the sadness will pass. Two Masters cannot live together in one heart.

You can never satisfy sinful passions; the more you feed them, the more they require food.

If there were no sorrows, there would be no salvation, they said. Fathers; There are two benefits from sorrow: the first is zeal for God and gratitude from the bottom of my heart. The second - relieves you of vain worries and worries. From the patristic writings it is clear; They, like us, also became despondent and faint-hearted, and even experienced things that they did not want to commit to writing, so as not to confuse us, who are inexperienced in spiritual life, and not lead us into despair. Of course, the Lord allows sorrows to be in proportion to our strength, who can bear what. They (sorrows) humble us, we have some kind of arrogance that we want to succeed in spiritual life on our own, but in sorrows we learn humility, that our efforts without God’s help do not achieve the goal. Our work must be towards virtue, and success in virtue depends on grace, and grace is given from God only to the humble, and without humbling occasions you cannot be humble.

The Lord knows our weakness, He gave us daily repentance until the grave... Rev. Abba Dorotheos says: “It is not the drunkard who gets drunk once, but the one who always drinks, and not the fornicator who once commits fornication, but the one who always commits fornication.” According to spiritual knowledge, punishments are different: whoever strives for virtue and falls, such one must be given leniency, for he did not strive for sin, he was tempted by accident. And whoever does not strive for virtue needs severe punishment in order to come to his senses and strive for virtue.

At St. I found three prophecies from the Fathers about the last monks, and Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov believes that we are the last monks. “The last monks will not have monastic affairs; temptations and misfortunes will befall them, and those monks who endure them will be higher than us and our fathers.” Of course, the world cannot know this, because it knows and loves only external ostentation.

We cannot live without sorrows. The Lord said that you will mourn in the world. If there were no sorrows, there would be no salvation, say St. Fathers. The Lord chose St. Prophets and St. The apostles, however, did not take sorrow away from them, and our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man (except for sin), lived a sorrowful life on earth. From the man he created, he endured reproach, reproach, contempt, ridicule, beatings, even to the point of shameful death by crucifixion...

Peter of Damascus writes: “If a person sees his sins, like the sand of the sea, this is a sign of the health of the soul.” With these feelings, there is no place for despair, and the soul is filled with tenderness and love for everyone living on earth. Blessed are such people who come to such a state; it is given from God for the deepest humility and is called dispassion.

Elder Stefan (Ignatenko)
(1886-1973)

Try to keep your mind from being distracted and enclose it in the words of prayer... May the Lord help you to strive in prayer and succeed in it, as well as in enduring sorrows and illnesses, to succeed in humility and meekness...

We must fight against pride. Pray to God, asking for His help, and God will help you get rid of all passions... Every time you happen to be angry, irritated, as soon as you come to your senses, repent in your mind before God and ask for forgiveness from your neighbor if anger was revealed in words against your neighbor. Read the edifying books of the holy fathers, and they will instruct you on how to live pleasing to God and save your soul.

Don't lose heart and don't be discouraged. Pray to God with faith and complete trust in His mercy. For God, everything is possible, but we, for our part, should not think that we are worthy of special care from God. This is pride. But God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Be attentive to yourself. All the trials that befall us, illnesses and sorrows, are not without a reason. But if you endure everything without complaint, then the Lord will not leave you without rewards. If not here on earth, then in every possible way in heaven.

Elder Grigory (Dolbunov) of Velikohrazh
(1905-1996)

Illness is given to a person so that he comes to his senses and repents.

Our life is a preparation for eternity. Our life is a drop, and eternity is an ocean. Therefore, you need to be afraid of sin and not think about yourself more than about your neighbor...

We often grumble:

Why do I have such misfortunes?

And why do the Mother of God have seven such wounds (sorrows)? If every day you make at least one bow to the Mother of God, she will not let you go, she will take you under her protection and bring you to the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you offended your mother and she cursed or scolded you, pay 40 bows daily for her health so that the Lord will forgive you...

If someone dies offended by you, bow 40 times for him. The Church prays for repentant sinners, but it is useless to pray for unrepentant ones.

If you do not do what your mother asks you to do, the Lord will not hear your prayers...

If you do not forgive those who offend you, then the Lord will not forgive you a single sin...

When you get sick. Before going to the doctor, go to church, take communion and pray for the health of the attending physician:

Lord, instruct your servant (name) to find a cure for my illness.

When we lie to each other, we are lying to Christ.

If you can’t sleep at night, you need to cross yourself and pray:

God bless you for a peaceful sleep.

And cross the bed. This should be done every evening before bed.

The Lord gives a reward for patience. For innocent suffering He will reward you a hundredfold...

Therefore, you need to rejoice when you offend someone, whether for good reason or in vain, and cry when you yourself offend someone.

Pride - main reason sin. It is defined as follows: he is proud who considers everyone to be evil and himself to be good.

We must repent with the request: “Lord, deliver me from everything that interferes with Your presence in me. Lord, teach me to always remain in repentance.”

The greatest treasure on earth is the Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
There is nothing more precious than this for a Christian. This is a priceless gift from God.

Elder Theophilus (Rossokha)
(Head of the Kitaevskaya Holy Trinity Hermitage)
(1929-1996)

To live as a Christian, stick to the Orthodox Church. Live a Christian life. You need to take communion once a month and use it at home Epiphany water and part of the holy prosphora in the morning.

The Gospel says: “Your faith has saved you,” that is, the first Christians had great faith. The Lord reminded them to have a living faith and high Christian piety. So they tried to live for real. The Lord blessed them for their labors and exploits. They strongly confessed Christ, believed in Him and often gave their lives - like the holy healer Panteleimon, St. George the Victorious (Diocletian's first minister), the Great Martyr Barbara, the Great Martyr Paraskeva, the Great Martyr Catherine and others... These are the lights of the first Christian people! Imitate them, read them, follow them.

May God grant you success in everything, and go from strength to strength, and achieve the highest spiritual perfection.

Reverend Barnabas
(Elder of Radonezh)
(1831-1906)

Anyone who sincerely desires to work for the Lord for the salvation of the soul must first of all fast and pray, and then humility and obedience - this is where the fullness of Christian virtues lies and flows. Fasting and prayer constitute the safest defense against enemy attacks...

Whenever we are attacked by confusion of thoughts or any other excuses of the enemy, we must immediately use this medicine, that is, we must fast on ourselves, and the slander of the enemy will dissipate. Great power is hidden in fasting, and great deeds are accomplished through it... It is not the one who fasts regularly who abstains only from food, but that is considered complete fasting when at the same time he withdraws from every evil deed, and not only deeds, but every idle word and inappropriate thoughts - in a word, everything contrary to God.

Elder Herman of Zossimov
(1844-1923)

Be sure to read the Jesus Prayer: the name of Jesus must be constantly in our hearts, minds and tongues: whether you are standing, lying, sitting, walking, eating - and always, always repeat the Jesus Prayer. This is very comforting! It's impossible without her. After all, we can say the Jesus Prayer in short: these are the holy fathers’ vows for beginners. It will be healthier and stronger. Remember six words: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner”...

Learn self-reproach: you cannot live without it.

Prayer is the most important thing in life. If you feel lazy, careless, what should you do? That's how a person is! And you pray to God in full attention, simply, like children, say the words of the prayer to the Lord Himself: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Delve into every word of the prayer with your mind; if the mind runs away, bring it back again, force it to be here, and repeat the words of the prayer in your own tongue. It will be good! For now, leave your heart and don’t think about it, such a prayer is enough for you. The main thing is that the feeling of self-reproach be persistent, the feeling of one’s sinfulness and irresponsibility - before God... And one must reproach oneself not only for bad deeds. You may have few sinful deeds, but we will also be responsible for sinful thoughts.

Reverend Alexy(Soloviev)
(Elder Alexy was the confessor of the Zosimova Hermitage)
(1846-1928)

If there is no spirit of confession, it will be difficult to die... You can always, under any circumstances, talk about God. For example, children will tell you: “We can’t do some arithmetic problem.” And you answer: “Nothing, with God’s help you will overcome her. Pray to God more diligently,” etc.

People suffer only because they do not understand true self-denial in the name of Him who was crucified for our sake... A person sheds many tears of a contrite heart in order to become able to console others in the Lord. You need to go where the mental craving torments a person so much that he is inclined to commit suicide. This is not an easy feat, bordering on the true crucifixion of one’s own sinfulness, for only one can heal a desperate person who, with the strength of his spirit, can take upon himself his mental suffering.

The soul is purified by suffering; Do you know that Christ remembers you if He visits you with sorrows... When entering life, you need to pray to the Lord to direct your path. He, the Almighty, gives a cross to everyone in accordance with their inclinations human heart... God works in mysterious ways. We sinners do not need to know why the Almighty Christ often allows injustices that are incomprehensible to the human mind. He knows what He is doing and why. The disciples of Christ never thought that Christ would give them happiness, in the sense of earthly well-being. They were happy only with spiritual communication with their Sweetest Teacher. After all, Jesus appeared into the world in order to confirm with His life His followers in the idea that earthly life is an unceasing feat. Christ could have avoided His suffering, but He Himself voluntarily went to the cross. God especially loves those who voluntarily suffer for Christ’s sake.

Force yourself to show mercy, to be kind to your neighbors, you need to help those in need, develop pity and love in yourself.

Glinsky Elder Andronik (Lukash)
(1889-1973)

Do nothing of your own free will, feel the presence of God in every place, and therefore do everything as before God, and not before people.

Passions: fornication, sinful lust, love of money, despondency, slander, anger, hatred, vanity and pride - these are the main branches of evil. All passions, if they are allowed freedom, act, grow, intensify in the soul, and finally embrace it, take possession of it and separate it from God; these are the heavy burdens that fell on Adam after he ate of the tree; Our Lord Jesus Christ killed these passions on the Cross...

The Lord guards your soul as long as you guard your tongue. Do not multiply words; too many words will drive the Spirit of God away from you.

It is a great thing to learn silence. Silence is an imitation of our Lord, who answered nothing, as if he marveled at Pilate (Mark 15:5).

Glinsky Elder Seraphim (Romantsev)
(1885-1975)

Everyone has sorrows. They replace the elders, as the Lord allows them, knowing the heart of everyone. No one will help or change if you don’t change yourself. We must start with attention to language and mind. And we must constantly ensure that we blame ourselves and not others.

We must endure everything with childlike humility - both pleasant and unpleasant, and glorify the good God for everything. When some sorrow or illness comes, we will say: “Glory to Thee, Lord.” Have sorrows and illnesses increased, again: “Glory to Thee, Lord”... With illnesses and sorrows the Lord heals the sinful wounds of our soul. Bear all difficulties with thanksgiving to the Lord; He never gives a person a cross that he could not bear, and with His grace strengthens us to overcome difficulties. And by grumbling and despair we push away divine help and, being ourselves unable to bear the burden of our sins, we move further and further away from God...

When attacked by passions and during all temptations of the enemy, in illness, in sorrows, in troubles and misfortunes - in all the difficulties of life, say: “The Lord does everything for me, but I myself cannot do anything, endure, overcome, or win anything. He is my strength!

Begin every day in the morning to make a good beginning, asking in the words of Chrysostom: “Lord, grant me to love Thee...”

If you notice that you were not able to do everything you wanted, say: “Lord, have mercy!” I had to force myself, but laziness overcame me - “Lord, forgive me.” If you forget someone and condemn someone, repent quickly, and if you break something, do the same. Having repented, try not to sin, and do not stop focusing on what you have done, so that you always have a calm spirit, do not be indignant at anything or anyone.

Illnesses are allowed when we are not capable of feats. Our misfortune is that we are very impatient and cowardly.

A great consolation in illness would be the skill of unceasing Jesus Prayer. It is “instilled” only with contrition for sins and humility. The elder said that those who have experienced the joy that prayer gives no longer want changes, because they are afraid of losing prayer in the bustle of everyday life.

Will anyone offend? Yield to him, and a peaceful silence will come, freeing the soul from embarrassment. In spiritual life one does not repay evil for evil, but evil is overcome piously. Do good to those who offend you, pray for those who harm you, and cast all your sorrow on the Lord. He is the intercessor and comforter of the suffering.

Spiritual wealth is acquired through patience. Patience is sought by the unceasing prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” and he will have mercy.

Athonite Elder Kirik (Russian Elder)

The most important virtues are the following: sincere confession, considering oneself worse than everyone else and more sinful than everyone else, and cutting off one’s will. These are the basic virtues of every person, as well as monastic virtues in particular.

Do not first begin any work, apparently the smallest and most insignificant, until you call on God to help you put it into action. The Lord said: “Without Me you can do nothing,” i.e. lower to say, lower to think. In other words: without Me you have no right to do any good deed! And for this reason, one must call on God’s gracious help either in words or mentally: “Lord bless, Lord help!” with the assurance that without God’s help we cannot do anything useful or saving...

As soon as you notice in yourself (in the light of conscience and God’s law) the sin of mind, word, thought, or any sinful passion or habit that struggles with you at all times and places, repent to God this very minute (even if only mentally): “ Lord forgive and help! (that is, forgive me for offending You, and help me not to offend Your greatness). These three words - Lord forgive and help, should be said slowly and several times, or rather, until you breathe; this sigh means the coming of the grace of the Holy Spirit, who has forgiven us this sin for which we are in this moment we repent to God...

But in order to have a good habit of repentance before God, we must desire firm determination for this saving work and ask God to strengthen our will for this work; and start it from the time when the day has turned to evening and night comes, and then before going to bed you need to think: how was the day spent?

Athonite Elder Joseph the Hesychast
(+1959)

The beginning of the path to pure prayer is a struggle with passions. It is impossible to succeed in prayer while passions are active. But even they do not hinder the coming of the grace of prayer, if only there would be no negligence and vanity.

When you want to know the will of God, completely forget yourself, all your intentions and thoughts, and with great humility ask in your prayer for knowledge of it.

And whatever your heart is formed or whatever it inclines towards, do it, and it will be according to God. Those who have great boldness to pray about this hear a clearer notification within themselves and become more attentive to their lives and do nothing without divine notification.

And in everything have moderation and reasoning.

When a person cleanses his soul, and the New Adam, our sweetest Jesus, is conceived in him, then the heart is unable to contain joy, and that inexpressible pleasure that descends into the heart rejoices, and the eyes shed the sweetest tears, and the whole person becomes like a flame fire from the love of Jesus. And the mind becomes all light, and is amazed and amazed at the glory of God.

True love does not exist without submission. How can you show love and serve if you have not submitted to the will of another? Any movement true love there is a service, and that means the obedient ones make double the effort. On the one hand, faith in the one who gave the commission, and on the other, love applied in the service that is being performed.

If the grace of God does not enlighten a person, no matter how many words you say, there will be no benefit... But if grace acts immediately along with the words, then at that very second a change occurs in accordance with the person’s aspiration. From that moment his life changes. But this happens to those who have not damaged their hearing or hardened their conscience. On the contrary, those who hear good, but do not obey and remain with their evil will, even if you spoke to them day and night, and showed all the wisdom of the fathers and performed miracles before their eyes, they would not receive any benefit. But out of despondency they want to come... And talk for hours to kill time. Why do I close the door so that through silence and prayer I can benefit at least myself.

Elder Jerome (Apostolidis)
(Aegina Island) (1883-1966)

Pay attention to how each day goes. Place your future on the Providence of God. God will help.

Don't give up your prayers. Beware of negligence and indifference; when you pray and feel tenderness, you will fly all day as if on wings.

If among 1000 blind people there is at least one sighted person, then he can lead them all to the right path.

When you give alms, do not look at the face of the one to whom you give it, whether he is a good person or a bad one. When you can, go without research. Alms blot out many sins.

Beautiful and useful things are sorrow and illness. I consider illness a gift from God. Many came to know God through the illness they experienced.

Athonite Elder Daniel (Dimitriadis)
(1846-1929)

When I remember death, I trample on my arrogance and realize that I am nothing. I feel that wealth, honor and dreams of perishable things are vain and useless, and only humble self-knowledge. Love for one's neighbor and the like can help me a lot in the hour of my exodus.

Athonite Elder Porfiry
(1906-1991)

Read a lot so that God will enlighten your mind.

Here you are in a dark room and waving your hands to drive away the darkness, which, naturally, does not go away. But if you open the window and light rushes in, the darkness will disappear. It's the same with teaching. The Holy Scriptures, the lives of saints and the Holy Fathers are the light that drives away spiritual darkness.

Nowadays people fail because they are looking for self-love. It’s right not to wonder whether you are loved, but whether you love Christ and people. This is the only way to fill the soul.

Elder Joel (Giannakopoulos)
(Monastery of St. Prophet Elijah in Kalami)
(1901-1966)

If you read the Holy Fathers, you will see that on many issues they have their own opinions and sometimes disagreements... But if there is one issue on which the Fathers do not disagree, it is the issue of feat. There is a conciliar agreement of the Fathers on this. They all glorify fasting, vigil, voluntary poverty, embitterment of the body and, in general, good living... The fathers prayed a lot, stayed awake a lot, fasted a lot, loved poverty and simplicity, hated worldly wisdom, fought against errors, despised the peace of life, ran away from awards, glory, honors and were very fond of martyrdom.

There is no big or small sin. A small or big sin is always a sin. Small sins do us more harm than one big sin, because small sins go unnoticed, and we do not try to correct them.

Elder Philotheus (Zervakos)
(Paros island) (1884-1980)

A sign of true repentance is deep feeling, contrition and sorrow of the heart, sighs, prayers, fasting, vigils and tears. Such repentance is genuine and true. Such repentance is beneficial, for it grants forgiveness to the sinner and makes him a friend of God.

Real temporary life is like the sea, and we people are like little boats. And how ships sailing on the sea encounter not only calm, but also strong winds, and formidable storms, and dangers, so we, traveling on the sea of temporary life, often encounter strong winds, great storms, intrigues, temptations, weaknesses, sorrows, difficulties, persecutions and various dangers. But we shouldn't be timid. Let us have courage, courage, faith. And if we, as cowardly people and people of little faith, become timid in danger, then, like Peter, we will cry out to Christ, and He will stretch out His hand and help us.

Faith leads a person to fear. What fear? In fear of committing a sin. For fear of upsetting God. He who fears humbles himself, and he who humbles himself has the Holy Spirit within him.

Elder Epiphanios (Theodoropoulos)
(Athens) (1930-1989)

Grief cleanses us. Real man always in sorrow. In joy he changes, becomes different. In grief he becomes who he really is. And then, predominantly, he approaches God. He feels powerless. Often, when he is in glory and in joy, he thinks of himself that he is the “navel of the earth,” or, if you like, the center of the universe: “I, and no one else!” In suffering and sorrow, he feels like an insignificant speck in the universe, completely dependent, and seeks help and support. All of us who have experienced suffering, mental or physical, know that we have never prayed in such a way, both in quality and in quantity, as we prayed on our sick bed or in the test of severe spiritual sorrow. But when we have everything, we forget about prayer, and fasting, and much, much more. That's why God allows suffering.

Athonite Elder Paisios
(1924-1994)

God allows temptations in order to cleanse our souls from dirt and make them immaculate through sorrows and sobs, and so that we are forced to resort to God for our salvation.

The purpose of reading is to fulfill what the person himself read. We read for memorization not external, but internal. Not to exercise the tongue, but in order to be able to receive a fiery tongue and experience the sacraments of God. Studying, acquiring knowledge and obtaining a title to teach others, without doing everything by the person himself, does not bring him any benefit.

Instructions to the young by Elder Daniel of Katunak

Elder Daniel of Katunak (Dimitrios Dimitriadis; 1846–1929) – one of the remarkable representatives of Athonite monasticism late XIX- beginning of the 20th century, founder of the monastic community in Katunaki, great hesychast and indomitable warrior of the spirit. Elder Daniel was also a spiritual writer, who left a very extensive collection of works devoted to a variety of issues (in Russian in 2005, a collection of his works on monasticism, “The Life of Angels,” was published). In his letters to his numerous spiritual children, the elder never tired of guiding them on the true path, giving advice on what Orthodox young people should beware of who want to achieve the goal that faces every conscientious Christian.
The Athonite ascetic wrote the letter below more than a hundred years ago - in 1902 - to two Greek youths. The brief and clear recommendations expressed by Father Daniel were expressed so successfully that this letter was widely circulated and was translated from Greek into other languages. Over the past hundred years, these tips have benefited many Orthodox young men and women.

I pray for my beloved brothers Konstantin and John with all my soul.

It was with great joy that I recently received two of your letters, which I read with great attention. It is my duty to answer you by guiding you on the right path. I, however, address my response to you both because you love the Lord equally and are equally in need of spiritual guidance and education. And you should, having asked, listen carefully to what the fathers say.

I was very upset to read in the letter about your neglect of your duties and indulgence in many childish nonsense. But at the same time I rejoiced that you came to repentance and wished that I would teach you which path of repentance to choose in order to receive the mercy of our generous God, whom you have seriously grieved with your childish offense.

There is nothing unusual in the fact that you have sinned against God and strayed from the straight path of His commandments: human nature easily slips from it and often falls into sin. However, it would be a mistake to think that we can continue to remain in sin, and we must be very careful so that, to our grief, we do not die unrepentant.

Among the many ways that the devil - the enemy and destroyer of our souls - uses to deceive the Orthodox, in particular the youth, there is one trap with which he was able to deceive many young people and completely lead them to destruction.

The evil one first presents this trap, pretending to be kind and sympathetic, as a bait for young people, calling them to freedom, laughter, playful gestures, promiscuity, and, finally, the use and abuse of alcohol; all this, of course, does not have catastrophic consequences for the world, but it implies “freedom” in a politically smart way. Thus, by adopting bad habits, youth fill their lives with passions and are then deceived by demons and the like. This trap is hidden by heavy shadows and abstract rationales, creating the impression that these are all very small sins and will be eliminated with age, and, finally, that these things should only be avoided by hermits and monks in the mountains.

If only they could understand how far they are led astray by such demands, they would run away from these pretexts and justifications as from deadly snakes. The purpose of Satan's dogs is to push first young man into minor sins, paralyze the senses, inciting him to jokes, obscene pictures, laughter and drunkenness, which give rise to all passions.

I assure you, if you question in detail your friend, subject to passions, shameless and unrepentant, ask him to tell you how he fell into the power of such disgusting passions, it will turn out that the main cause and beginning were the consequences of his first steps towards negligence and indifference to the above phenomena. Just as carnal lusts arise from negligence in small things, so spiritually - from childish stupidity a person comes to unrepentance and despair.

It is true that the Lord our God Jesus Christ, seeing such slippages of human nature, accepts the repentant sinner with open arms. At the same time, however, He says, “Watch and pray, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.” He thus encourages us to always be ready and to always have in our vessels the oil of repentance and any other virtue, so as not to be excluded from the heavenly palace, like the foolish virgins. But there is repentance, and when a young man is pure in soul, he avoids bad company and drunkenness, but only deviates slightly from the true path, then repentance quickly removes young sins. However, if through bad habits the body becomes a slave to sin, then it is more difficult to correct itself, and only a few can free themselves from [the enemy’s] sophisticated traps.

Knowing this, my beloved Constantine and John, from now on, for God’s sake, do not succumb to weaknesses that paralyze your feelings, neither to flirting, nor jokes, nor drunkenness, nor bad comrades, with whom you lose the fear of God, and you fall into captivity of the demon of selfishness and debauchery . But rather choose a virtuous life with the Lord, imitating your spiritual father in everything. He is the only one who will train you according to the law of God and present you hereafter as heavenly citizens.

In order to firmly follow the path to God, you must:

1. Show great obedience, trust and agreement towards your mentor (spiritual father), always tell him the truth.

2. Stop talking and joking, because, as we have already said, where there is empty talk, the fear of God disappears.

3. Set aside a specific time in the evening for prayer, as determined by your mentor.

4. When you are in church, fully concentrate on listening to the Divine Liturgy so that the grace of the Holy Spirit enters your heart.

5. Observe without fail all the fasts established by the Church, and not imitate the destructive way of life of today’s generation.

6. Whenever possible, avoid drinking wine and other alcoholic drinks which cause carnal desires.

7. When you have free time, spend it reading patristic books.

8. Be careful with some spiritual fathers and teachers who claim to teach you virtue and repentance, but introduce sensuality by breaking fasts and discouraging young people from asceticism, abstinence and reading patristic texts, as well as speaking against monastic life. What harm this causes to pious young men is pointless to say; I have seen many who were misled by these calls and who became unwitting victims.

9. Have great respect especially for the Mother of God, Who will always help on the path to salvation.

In conclusion, I respectfully kiss you,

Translated from English by Angelina Leonova

Spiritual advice from Elder Amphilochius (Makris)

Elder Amphilochios (Makris) was born in 1889 on the island of Patmos, where the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian wrote down the Book of Revelation. The elder was a great defender of Orthodoxy; he suffered a lot during the years of the Italian fascist occupation of the Greek Dodekaden Islands. At this time he created secret schools and made sure that Orthodox faith And Greek language continued to be taught to the children of these islands, despite all attempts by the fascists and the Roman Church to erase them. For many years he was rector of the monastery of St. John the Evangelist on Patmos. He also founded a convent in honor of the Annunciation in 1937. Holy Mother of God, which continues to thrive today as a spiritual refuge for believers.

Elder Amphilochius was known for many virtues, his love, humility and fatherly attention to his spiritual children. He was very zealous in monastic work and missionary work. He personally traveled as a preacher during the war years and others. In addition, Father Amphilochius founded other monasteries on the Greek islands, and through his efforts, orphanages and various charitable institutions arose. The elder died in 1970.

From time to time Elder Amphilochius gave wise advice to his spiritual children for their personal benefit, spiritual enlightenment and guidance.

These words are the fruit of the experience of his holy life, which was a continuous struggle and successful passing of trials. His life was an illustration of his words. He didn't just talk and give advice. First of all, he himself practiced what he preached. Here we present a few examples of his rich spiritual heritage, selected from what his spiritual children have treasured up.

1. If you practice prayer, the wiles of the tempter will not bother you. Prayer weakens his power and he cannot do anything to us.

2. Remaining faithful to the monastic title is equivalent to martyrdom.

3. Christ often comes and knocks on your door, and you invite him to sit in the hallway of your soul. Then you plunge into your own affairs, during which you forget about the Great Guest. He waits for you to show up, and when you take too long to return, He gets up and leaves. Other times you are so busy that you answer Him from the window. You don't even have time to open the door.

4. When you see a person who is spiritually tired, do not put any burden on him, because his knees may break under the weight.

5. Love the One, then even wild animals will love you.

6. True wealth for me is to see you in the Kingdom of Heaven.

7. When the flame of love burns, it destroys any approaches to evil.

8. He who has Christian love, never changes.

9. Christ today is the same as yesterday, but we [do not see Him because] we have closed our eyes and look into the darkness. This happens because we care about trampling or destroying others.

10. We must be prepared for battle and martyrdom.

11. For the sake of the grace of God that comes during the liturgy, you must be focused and restless.

12. Than more people loves God, the more he loves other people. He loves them with reverence and respect as the image of God.

13. If a person lacks inner warmth, he will be icy and cold even in summer.

14. When Christ is not in your heart, it will be money, property or people instead of Him.

15. Please put this commandment to the test: cultivate your love for Christ to such an extent that if you speak His name, tears will flow from your eyes. Your heart must be truly on fire. Then He will become your Teacher. He will be your Guide, your Brother, your Father and your Elder.

16. Love your Bridegroom Christ with all your heart, and then everyone will love you and care for you.

17. I really want the revival of monasticism, because, in my opinion, monasticism is the “special forces” of the church army.

18. God's cover reduces temptation.

19. Due to widespread corruption, people cannot understand that spiritual love exists.

20. Let us look upon each [of our neighbors] as being better than us, no matter how weak they may seem. Let's not be harsh, but let's always keep in mind that the other person has the same destination as us. We must have love, so even if they have done us the greatest harm, we must love them. We can enter heaven only with love.

21. Practice the Jesus Prayer, and the time will come when your heart will jump for joy, as it does when you are about to see the person you love very much.

22. Do not neglect evening prayer. Pray with fervor, like those who gather at a banquet. They wake up and feel only joy.

23. A person can rise above the earth on two wings: one is simplicity, and the other is purity of heart. You must be simple in deeds and pure in thoughts and feelings. With a pure heart you will seek God and with simplicity you will find Him and rejoice.

24. A pure heart easily passes through the gates of heaven.

25. In our sea of life, sometimes there are storms, and at other times it is calm. [But] God's mercy [never] leaves us. Otherwise we would drown if He did not sustain us.

26. Saints always look to the life of the next century. This is the grace of remembering death.

27. God keeps us from temptation. He does not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength and allows us to do everything for our own good.

28. Prayer is a gift. God gives it when there is diligence and humility.

29. Trust in the Lord, and He will always feed you in times of famine.

30. Repentance should not come from fear of punishment, but from [the feeling] that we have sinned before God.

31. Love to give hospitality, child, for it opens the gates of Paradise. “Accept strangers so that you do not become strangers to God.”

32. The saints accepted with childlike simplicity everything that God sent them: “This is as You wish. Thy will be done."

33. Hospitality is the greatest of virtues. It attracts the grace of the Holy Spirit to us. In every unfamiliar face, my child, I see Christ Himself.

34. Sorrow pleases God only when it does not take away our courage to fight.

35. For general self-knowledge, it is necessary and useful to remember from time to time all the sins committed before.

36. Give all your worries into the hands of God [and then] ask for what you want, like a child asks his father... Always ask with hope.

37. Dear sisters, it is not our works that will save us, but the infinite mercy of God.

38. Without Christ, everything seems dark and difficult for a person.

39. Question: How do you manage to have such patience in everything? Answer: The grace of God helps. I always, my child, believe in the power of God, who changes and directs everything for the benefit of our souls.

40. When I see a person who is irritated, I do not listen to what he says, but I pray that God will pacify him... When they calm down, then just good time[to talk], and I talk to them, because then they are able to understand their folly.

41. The grace of God and the spiritual union with Him change a person so that fears and suspicions go away, he is not afraid of death and looks at this life, no matter how good it may be, as slavery.

42. When tears come during prayer, it is God who visits you.

43. Never give important nothing earthly and transitory. Instead, take care of your spiritual union with God.

44. When you hear that your name is being criticized, act [toward those who criticize] as if you had not heard. This is heaven, this is perfection.

45. Our religion kills the passions, not the body.

46. A Christian is a true man. He is courteous and polite. He doesn't want to upset anyone.

47. Spiritual life is a great pleasure. You fly, you leave the world, you don't think about anything. You become children and God is in your heart.

48. Our gaze should always be directed to the sky. Then nothing can shake us.

49. Take the sacrament regularly, pray sincerely, be patient and you will see strong hand[Lord], holding you.

50. Christ is near us, even if we do not see Him. Sometimes out of His great love He gives us a slap. You should be glad. Jesus holds the sculptor's chisel in His hands. He wants to make a statue of you for the heavenly palace.

Elder Amphilochios (Makris)

Translation from English by Yuri and Elena Maksimov

* The Elder used the word “evzone”, which refers to elite military units.

Characteristic signs of charm

The enemy can try to deceive in many ways. Either by offering “high” states to someone who has not previously been purified, or “exalted” feelings. In his book “Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future,” Father Seraphim Rose, based on the writings of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, gives the following: “There are two main forms of prelest, or spiritual delusion. The first, more visual form is associated with when a person strives for a high spiritual state or spiritual visions, without being cleansed of passions and relying on his own judgment. The devil sends great “visions” to such people. There are such examples in the Lives of the Saints, one of the primary sources of Orthodox teaching. Yes, St. Nikita, Bishop of Novgorod (his memory is January 31), moved to a solitary life unprepared and against the will of his spiritual father, and soon began to hear a voice praying with him. Then the “Lord” allegedly began to speak to him and sent an “angel” to pray in his place, and he told him that instead of praying, he should read books and teach everyone who came to him. This is what he began to do, always seeing an “angel” who prayed next to him, and people were amazed at his spiritual wisdom and the “gifts of the Holy Spirit” that he allegedly possessed, including prophecies that were always fulfilled. The error was discovered when the fathers from the monastery learned of his aversion to the New Testament (The Old Testament, which he never read, he quoted by heart), and through their prayers he repented, his miracles stopped, and subsequently he gained true holiness.

Also St. Isaac of Kiev-Pechersk (The 14th of February) saw a great light, as if “Christ”, coming to him with “angels”; when Isaac, without crossing himself, bowed to “Christ,” the demons gained power over him and, after a long dance with him, abandoned him, barely alive. He also subsequently achieved true holiness. Similar cases much is known when “Christ” and “angels” appeared to hermits and gave them amazing power and the “gifts of the Holy Spirit,” which often led a lost hermit to madness and suicide.”

But there is another, more ordinary, less effective form spiritual delusion, which offers its victims not great visions, but only exalted, religious feelings. This arises, as Bishop Ignatius wrote, “when the heart thirsts and strives for the enjoyment of holy and divine feelings, being completely unprepared for them. Everyone who does not have a contrite spirit, who sees in himself some kind of virtue or dignity, who does not strictly adhere to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, but on the basis of one interpretation or another has come up with his own willful judgment or followed non-Orthodox teaching, is in a state of similar delusion.” .

Pride is one of the many characteristic features. Father Seraphim Rose writes: “This is what (Russian) Orthodox tradition calls it a delight. This is a very important word because it accurately describes the state in which a person experiences Hindu “spiritual experiences.” IN English language There is no exact translation of the word “lovely.” It covers all types of false "spiritual experiences": from simple illusion and deception to actual possession. In each case the counterfeit is taken for the truth, and the general result of all this is the swelling of pride."

St. Gregory of Sinaite writes: “Know that the actions of grace are obvious, which the devil, even having been transformed, cannot give: meekness, moderation, humility, contempt of the world, falling into pleasures and passions. These are all acts of grace. The demonic actions are as follows: pride, arrogance, intimidation and all kinds of evil. By these actions you can recognize whether the light that has shone in your soul is from God or from Satan.”

St. Neil of Sinai notes: “If you want to see the face of the Heavenly Father, do not in any way try to see an image or appearance for you during prayer. Do not want to see Angels, or Power, or Christ sensually, lest you go crazy, mistaking the wolf for a shepherd and bowing to your enemies - demons. The beginning of the deception of the mind is vanity, by which the mind, being driven, attempts to describe the Divine in any image or form.”

“Vanity is the dream of chance, feigned diligence, opposition to the truth, the first cause of heresies, the desire for primacy... the triple language of heretics” (Venerable Neil of Sinai, On the Vices Opposite to the Virtues, Chapter 4).

“The mind, tuned by its previous speculations, although it feels delusion, leaves it with difficulty, being carried away more by the delight of what is pleasant than by how much it tries to avoid harm from what is not useful.” (Venerable Neil of Sinai, To the Most Venerable Magna, Deaconess of Ancyra, the word of non-covetousness, ch. 35).

And the Monk John Climacus says: “The demons are repeatedly transformed into angels of light and into the image of martyrs and represent to us in a dream that we are coming to them; and when we awaken, they fill us with joy and exaltation. Let this be a sign of delight for you: for the angels show us torment, the Last Judgment and separation, and fill those who awaken with fear and lamentation. If we begin to submit to demons in our dreams, then they will scold us while we are awake. He who believes in dreams is not at all skilled; and whoever has no faith in them is wise. So, believe only those dreams that announce to you torment and judgment; and if they lead you to despair, then they too are from demons.” (Ladder, word 3).

To a question to Elder Paisius (1924-1994) about how you can understand whether a person is in delusion, he answered: “Even by his appearance you can understand it. The seduced person shows outwardly false dispassion. He appears to be humble and meek, but inside he hides the great opinion he has of himself. If you look into his eyes, you will see that he looks at other unfortunates as if they were ants.” (Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets, Spiritual struggle, vol. 3).

Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (1896-1993) in his book “Elder Silouan of Athos” he briefly gives the reasons why one can fall into delusion: “A person falls into delusion either due to inexperience or from pride. And if it is due to inexperience, then the Lord will soon heal, but if it is due to pride, then the soul will suffer for a long time until it learns humility, and then the Lord will heal it. We fall into delusion when we think that we are smarter and more experienced than others, and even our confessor. This is what I thought out of inexperience, and suffered for it, and I thank God very much that He humbled and enlightened me with this, and did not take His mercy from me.”

In the same book, he describes how we can distinguish certain spiritual states: “If you see light inside yourself, or outside yourself, then do not believe it, if along with the light you do not have tenderness for God and love for your neighbor; but do not be afraid and humble yourself and this light will disappear. If you see any vision, or image, or dream, then do not trust it, because if it is from God, then the Lord will enlighten you. A soul that has not tasted the Holy Spirit cannot understand the vision where it comes from. The enemy gives the soul a certain sweetness mixed with vanity, and therefore charm is recognized. The Fathers say that in the presence of an enemy vision the soul will feel confusion. But only a humble soul, which does not consider itself worthy of a vision, will feel either embarrassment or fear during an enemy action, and a vain soul may not experience either fear or even embarrassment, because he wants visions and considers himself worthy, and therefore the enemy easily deceives him "

“Try to be as humble and courageous as possible, and the enemy attack of demons will not touch your soul.” (Reverend Nilus of Sinai, Homily on Prayer, Ch. 96).

The sensations are strangely exaggerated and unreasonable, causing embarrassment and pride. “Completely formless and disorderly: it causes meaningless joy, exaltation and embarrassment, accompanied by a mood of indescribable sterile lightness...” (Reverend Gregory of Sinaite, On Silence and Prayer).

“All demonic [actions] are disordered” (Reverend Peter of Damascus, Calculus of the Passion).

“And confusion, if possible, it would be fitting to call it the chariot of the devil, because Satan always has the custom, like a rider, to sit on the mind, take with him a bunch of passions, with them enter the unfortunate soul and plunge it into confusion.” (Reverend Isaac the Syrian, Ascetic Words, Homily 30).

These feelings are also “laughter at the Holy Spirit.” Saints Barsanuphius and John, ascetics of the 6th century, give a clear Orthodox answer to one Orthodox monk who was tormented by this problem (Answer 451): “There is no laughter in the fear of God. Scripture speaks of fools: a fool lifts up his voice in laughter (Sir. 21.23). And the word of the foolish is confused and devoid of grace.” also in equally The Monk Ephraim the Syrian also clearly teaches: “The beginning of spiritual corruption in a monk is laughter and freedom. When you see this in yourself, monk, know that you have come to the depths of evil. Don’t stop praying to God to deliver you from this death... Listen now about laughter: laughter deprives a person of the bliss promised to those who cry (Matt. 5:4), destroys the good internal order, offends the Holy Spirit, harms the soul, corrupts the body. Laughter drives out virtues, has no remembrance of death, no thoughts of torment..." (Philokalia, Moscow 1913 volume 2, p. 448).

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov emphasizes: “In ancient times, very many of the monks fell into the disastrous abyss of heresy solely because they allowed themselves to consider dogmas beyond their ability to understand. “A humble monk,” Climacus again instructs, will not allow himself to curiously explore the mysteries; the proud, on the contrary, strives to test the destinies of God.” (Word 25, 11). To put it simply: “A humble monk will never dare to explore the inexpressible mysteries of God, considering himself unworthy to delve into them! But the proud one, on the contrary, dares to understand even the judgments of God, preparing judgment for his soul.”

He puts everything in the proper order: “Practice in prayer, in soul-edifying reading, and this exercise will be an exercise in thinking about God correctly, safely, and pleasing to God. Just as sensual eyes, having been healed of blindness, see according to their natural properties, so the mind, having been cleansed of sinful morbidity, naturally begins to see the mysteries of Christianity.”

“In order not to be deceived, a person is required great gift discrimination and at the same time a deep distrust of their own “spiritual” experiences. In the face of subtle invisible enemies who wage an invisible war against the human race, the naive credulity with which the majority of adherents of the “charismatic” movement relate to their experiences and experiences is opened door for spiritual delusion...How prepared Orthodox Christian to counter the misconception? He was given a whole body of inspired patristic writings, in addition to the Holy Scriptures - the modern opinion of the Church of Christ for 2000 years regarding literally every conceivable spiritual and pseudo-spiritual experience." (Hieromonk Seaphim Rose, Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future).

“Oh, you who have decided to enter the field of this mental confession; you who want to take the yoke of Christ upon your neck; you who now wish to lay your burden on the neck of another; who seek to voluntarily sell themselves into slavery in order to receive true freedom in exchange for it; you who swim through this great abyss, being supported by the hands of others: know that you have attempted to follow the short path, albeit cruel, on which there is only one misleading path: it is called self-inflicted. Whoever has completely rejected self-indulgence in what he considers good, spiritual and pleasing to God, has already achieved the goal before he entered into the feat, because obedience is disbelief in oneself in everything good, even until the end of one’s life. (Homily 4 St. John Climacus).

“If our enemy, evil, crafty and stubborn, who never tires of tempting us, wanted at the hour of death to tempt you with some ghosts, visions and transformations into the Angel of Light, you stand firmly in the consciousness of your poverty and your insignificance in everything... At least based on some obvious signs, you thought that you were seeing true visions given to you by God; and in this case, do not rush to believe them, but rather plunge into the consciousness of your unworthiness and insignificance. Do not be afraid that you will offend God, because our humble feelings are never unpleasant to Him. If such visions are necessary for you, then God knows how to make sure that you do not close your eyes from them, exonerating your inertia in believing that they are from God. He who gives grace to the humble will not take it away for the actions they perform in humility.” (Reverend Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, Invisible Warfare, ch. 13).

Tell us about Bartholomew's parents. What kind of relationships did you have in the family?

Bartholomew's parents, noble boyars, lived simply, without luxury, they were quiet and calm people, respectable and fair, very religious, “with a strong and serious way of life.” The son was taught to work from childhood (for example, the boy was sent to look after the horses in the field), and was not spoiled. Wanderers were always welcomed into their home, and the “seeking, dreamily opposed to everyday life” principle associated with them played a role in the fate of Bartholomew. At the age of seven he was sent to learn to read and write, but science was not given to the boy, and his parents kindly encouraged him.

“Wonderful... relationships with family.” Both mother and father early years Bartholomey sensed something unusual in their son. Always quiet, silent, affectionate, but “with some stamp.” He observed the fasts very strictly, and his parents thought that he was exhausting himself too much. The mother begged her son not to force himself, but he respectfully but firmly objected.

What events that happened to Bartholomew in childhood indicate his chosenness?

Bartholomew was not good at science, and the boy was very upset. One day, foals wandered somewhere, and the father sent his son to look for them.

While looking for foals, he met an old monk under an oak tree. The elder, seeing the upset boy, asked what happened, and Bartholomew, through tears, told him about his failures and asked him to pray that God would help him overcome the literacy. The elder prayed, and then took out the reliquary from his bosom, took a piece of prosphora, blessed Bartholomew with it and ordered him to eat it. “From now on,” he said, “you will master literacy better than brothers and fellow comrades."

What qualities characterize a person who has dedicated his life to serving God and Rus'?

Sergius of Radonezh was distinguished by his love of God, enormous patience, humility, hard work, conscientiousness, natural modesty, the ability to remain in the shadows, being a source of spiritual light for everyone, love for people and native land and the willingness to devote your life to it.

Read the entire story by B.K. Zaitsev about Sergius of Radonezh. Retell in class the episodes that made the greatest impression on you.

You can select different episodes long journey Transfiguration of Bartholomew into Sergius of Radonezh. It is better to build a story according to plan.

Learning to read and write, failures and meeting an old man. “This is given to you as a sign of grace and for the understanding of the Holy Scriptures.”

“Bartholomew and Stepan chose a place about ten miles from Khotkov” and founded the Trinity Monastery. Then “Bartholomey, all alone, continued his midnight feat.” Sergius in the monastery. He is persistent, patient, and he is “God-loving...”. “We lived quietly and harshly. Sergius set an example in everything.”

“The brethren wanted Sergius to become abbot.”

“Mamai decided to put an end to the rebellious Dmitry...” “After the meal, the Reverend blessed the prince and his entire retinue and sprinkled them with holy water.” “A general battle began, on a front that was gigantic at that time, ten miles long.” “During these hours the monk prayed with the brethren in his church.” Material from the site

Consider a reproduction of M. Nesterov’s painting “Vision to the Youth Bartholomew.” Find in the text of the life an episode depicted by the artist. How is the wonderful moment of meeting with the elder conveyed in the picture?

The painting depicts an episode of the meeting of the youth Bartholomew with the elder. The boy was looking for the missing foals, but as it is written in the text of the life, “he did not find what he was looking for. Under the oak tree I met “an old man of black robes with the rank of presbyter.” Obviously, the old man understood him:

What do you want, boy?

Bartholomew, through tears, spoke about his sorrows and asked to pray that God would help him overcome the letter.

And under the same oak tree the old man stood up to pray.”

How, in your opinion, is the difference between a canonical (created according to strict rules) life and an artistic author’s text?

The author's text presupposes a freer handling of the canons and rules by which the hagiography was created: it contains episodes that are important for the writer to create the image of the hero; it is distinguished by a freer composition. The canonical text is more strict; the author’s attitude towards the hero is not felt in it.

Didn't find what you were looking for? Use the search

On this page there is material on the following topics:

biography of Sergius of Radonezh
make a plan for the story of the life of Sergius of Radonezh
Bartholomew's childhood short story
short text about Sergius of Radonezh
questions Sergius of Radonezh