| Andreyev I.M. Russia’s Catacomb Saints (Святые русских катакомб). Platina, 1983. Включает жизнеописание И.М.Андреева, составленное отцом Серафимом, и множество собранных им материалов о новомучениках. Averky, Archbishop. The Apocalypse of St.John: An Orthodox Commentary (Апокалипсис Ев. Апостола Иоанна: Православное Толкование). Platina, 1985. Включает Объяснения О. Серафима На Книгу Апокалипсис И Его Статьи О Жизни Архиепископа Аверкия. 2-е Изд., Испр.: 1995. Barsanuphius and John, Saints. Guidance Toward Spiritual Life (Прпп.Варсануфий и Иоанн. Руководство к духовной жизни). Platina, 1990; 2-е изд.: 2002. Gregory of Tours, St.Vita Patrum. Предисловие иеромонаха Серафима (Роуза) о христианстве и монашестве в Древней Галлии (Франции) веков. Platina, 1988. Herman of Alaska, St.Litde Russian Philokalia. Platina, 1988. Vol.3. John Maximovitch, Archbishop. The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God (Православное почитание Божией Матери). Platina, 1978; 2-е изд.: The Orthodox Veneration of Магу the Birthgiver of God (Православное почитание Богородицы Марии)/Предисл. иеромонаха Серафима (Роуза) о богословии архиепископа Иоанна. 1994 . Metrophanes, Schemamonk. Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky (Блаженный Паисий (Величковский)) /Предисл. и служба прп.Паисию сост. иеромонахом Серафимом (Роузом) . Platina, 1976; 2-е изд.: 1994. Nazarius of Valaam, Elder. Little Russian Philokalia (Малое Русское Добротолюбие). Platina, 1983. vol.2; 2-е изд.: 1996. Paisius Velichkovsky St. Little Russian Philokalia. Forestville (California): St.Paisius Abbey, 1994. Vol.4. Включает «Преподобнаго Паисия (Величковского) Крины сельные и Свиток». Pomazansky, Protopresbyter Michael. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology (Православное догматическое богословие)/Примеч., прилож. и жизнеописание автора составлены иеромонахом Серафимом (Роузом) . Содержит доклад о «догмате искупления». Platina, 1984; 2-е изд.: 1994; 3-е изд.: 2005. Fr.Seraphim Rose, and Fr.Herman Podmoshensky. Blessed John the Wonderworker (Блаженный Иоанн Чудотворец). Platina, 1987. В книгу включено первое житие (prima vita) свт. Иоанна Максимовича и другие статьи о.Серафима. |
| But this very fact presents a great danger which must here be emphasized. The “coming into fashion” of the profoundest spiritual writings is by no means necessarily a good thing. In fact, it is far better that the names of these Fathers remain altogether unknown than that they be merely the occupation of rationalist scholars and “crazy converts” who derive no spiritual benefit from them but only increase their senseless pride at “knowing better” about them than anyone else, or—even worse—begin to follow the spiritual instructions in their writings without sufficient preparation and without any spiritual guidance. All of this, to be sure, does not mean that the lover of truth should abandon the reading of the Holy Fathers; God forbid! But it does mean that all of us—scholar, monk, or simple layman—must approach these Fathers with the fear of God, with humility, and with a great distrust of our own wisdom and judgment. We approach them in order to learn, and first of all we must admit that for this we require a teacher. And teachers do exist: in our times when the God-bearing Elders have vanished, our teachers must be those Fathers who, especially in the times close to us, have told us specifically how to read—and how not to read—the Orthodox writings on the spiritual life. If the Blessed Elder Paisius Velichkovsky himself, the compiler of the first Slavonic Philokalia, was “seized with fear” on learning that such books were to be printed and no longer circulated in manuscript form among some few monasteries, then how much the more must we approach them with fear and understand the cause of his fear, lest there come upon us the spiritual catastrophe which he foresaw. Blessed Paisius, in his letter to Archimandrite Theodosius of the St. Sophronius Hermitage, wrote: “Concerning the publication in print of the Patristic books, both in the Greek and Slavonic languages, I am seized both with joy and fear. With joy, because they will not be given over to final oblivion, and zealots may the more easily acquire them; with fear, being frightened and trembling lest they be offered, as a thing which can be sold even like other books, not only to monks, but also to all Orthodox Christians, and lest these latter, having studied the work of mental prayer in a self-willed way, without instruction from those who are experienced in it, might fall into deception, and lest because of the deception the vain-minded might blaspheme against this holy and irreproachable work, which has been testified to by very many great Holy Fathers… and lest because of the blasphemies there follow doubt concerning the teaching of our God-bearing Fathers.” The practice of the mental Prayer of Jesus, Blessed Paisius continues, is possible only under the conditions of monastic obedience. |
| Another Russian saint—the young nobleman Theodore Kolychev, rich and handsome, leaves the palace of Ivan the Terrible, dresses like a simple peasant, works for other peasants, takes on a rigorous exploit in the Solovetsky Monastery. The rich land owner, Juliania Lasarevskaya, gave away everything she had to those starving during a time of famine. The Venerable Seraphim leaves home at age 17 on a pilgrimage, and spends the rest of his life in rigorous exploits for Christ’s sake. Paisius Velichkovsky leaves the Spiritual Academy and his deeply loving mother, rejects a guaranteed forthcoming prosperous and honorable position in society, becomes a wanderer from one monastery to another and lives in poverty. The widow of Colonel Alexander Melgunov rejects a secular, prosperous life and becomes the servant of a poor village priest, doing the dirtiest work. These examples clearly show the difference between the church, ascetic attitude to the Gospel and the secular one, typical of the intelligentsia. This difference is not in the rigor of the undertaken exploits, but mainly in the overall change of the soul towards the Gospel that we see in them. Not everyone has to shackle themselves in chains like the venerable Theodosius or spend a thousand nights praying on a stone, like the Venerable Seraphim, but even one who gives a cup of the cold water to one of these little ones in the name of Christ, is following the path of the Gospel. Everything mentioned above can be expressed succinctly by the following words: the first obstacle on the path towards the Gospel is the habit of a theoretical and abstract interest to it, instead of a profound turning to Christ with the whole soul as to the source of life and immortality. 2. The second obstacle on the path to the Gospel is the excessive preoccupation with oneself, one’s own person. There is nothing more spiritually deadly than to make oneself, be it consciously or subconsciously, the focal point of life. When man makes himself the center of his life, his own idol, he will never reach what he is searching for, i.e. real happiness. He will always be devoured by dissatisfaction and distress. Shower him with millions, give him the opportunity for unlimited entertainment and pleasures, world fame and glory, and after a short period of delight he will feel emptiness and loneliness. And he will feel that way until he can renounce himself. Without that, no matter what kind of elevated goals he sets, he will be doomed to ephemeral and illusory moments of joy, which will invariably be substituted by prolonged disappointment and boredom. |
| During his second day in Athens, Patriarch Kirill visited the Apostoli (Mission) Charity of the Archdiocese of Athens. On June 3, he also visited the residence of the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church and celebrated a thanksgiving at the Synodal Petraki Monastery. He took part in a solemn meeting of the Holy Synod and addressed it. During the session, His Holiness was presented with the highest award of the Orthodox Church of Greece – the Great Cross of St. Paul. Members of the Patriarchal delegation were also presented with high church awards. Then Patriarch Kirill had a talk with Archbishop Hieronymus and members of the Greek Church’s Holy Synod. Later that day, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill met with Greece’s President K. Papoulias and Prime Minister. A. Samaras. From Athens Patriarch Kirill went to Thessaloniki. He celebrated a thanksgiving at St. Gregory Palamas’s Cathedral there and visited the Metropolitanate of Thessaloniki. In the evening, Metropolitan Anthimos of Thessaloniki gave a reception in honour of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. The next day, after venerating shrines in Thessaloniki, Patriarch Kirill went by water to Holy Mount Athos. Upon his arrival there, he went to Karyes, the administrative center of Mount Athos, for a thanksgiving in the Cathedral of Protaton. He also met with the members of the Epistasia of Holy Mount Athos. In the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon, Patriarch Kirill venerated its shrines and inspected the monastery buildings restored after a fire. He also said a prayer for the dead brethren of the monastery and visited the place where St. Silouan of Athos performed his feats. On June 5, Patriarch Kirill celebrated the liturgy at the Monastery of St. Panteleimon. During his pilgrimage to Athos, Patriarch Kirill visited the Great Laura of St. Athanasius of Athos, monasteries Iveron and Pantocrator, the hermitage of the Prophet Elijah founded by St. Paisius Velichkovsky, monasteries Zograf, Hilandar, Vatopedi, Xilourgou Skete, and the Hermitage of St. Andrew, and inspected the restoration work at the Old Roussik monastery. |
| The Hermitage of Sarov had been founded early in the eighteenth century by the Elder John. The first settlers here were cave dwellers, and the Monastery always remained a place of severe ascetic life, at the same time handing down the ancient monastic tradition of inward spiritual activity, the mental prayer of Jesus. Eighteenth century Russia, although it was a time of monastic decline when compared with the flowering of the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, still had a number of fathers (and mothers) who kept alive the ancient tradition of Christian spirituality. The great monastic revival inspired by the great Elder Paisius Velichkovsky and his disciples at the end of the eighteenth century produced such remarkable spiritual fruits (notably the clairvoyant Elders of Optina Monastery ) precisely because the Russian soil had been prepared beforehand by an unbroken tradition of monastic struggle and spiritual life. St. Paisius Velichkovsky Blessed Paisius translated the patristic texts on spiritual life, most notably the anthology known as the Philokalia . St. Seraphim made use of this book, which he probably received from Elder Nazarius of Sarov, one of the spiritual elders who prepared its publication; but the Philokalia was published in 1794, and St. Seraphim was spiritually formed before this, having read numerous other patristic books that taught the same spiritual doctrine. There is nothing whatever that is " new " in the spiritual face of St. Seraphim; all is from the Holy Fathers, of whom he is a most faithful disciple, appearing in the latter times like some great desert Father of antiquity, like a new St. Macarius the Great . In Sarov, Sr. Seraphim went through the standard monastic period of trial: he was placed in obedience to a spiritual father and was tested at various labors in the bread and prosphora bakeries, the carpenter shop, at chopping wood, as candlelighter. Church services were long, as was his cell rule of prayer. In addition to the difficult monastic discipline, he was severely ill for three years—a trial he bore with humility and trust in God—until being healed by a vision of the Mother of God. |
| Hieroschemamonk Macarius (Ivanov) 1788 - September 7, 1860 Elder Macarius's face was scarred by smallpox, he stuttered and was always poorly dressed, but he was distinguished by a very refined personality. He was born to a landed gentry family, loved music and was a talented violinist. After some years' experience in the world as a bookkeeper, in 1818 he entered upon the monastic path at the Ploshchansk Hermitage. There he formed ties with Elder Leonid and followed him to Optina. With Elder Leonid's repose, the burden of the spiritual guidance of the skete fell to Elder Macarius . He was soft-spoken and emanated a quiet joy in the Lord. Like Elder Leonid, he used his gift of spiritual discernment to work numerous healings, especially of the demon-possessed. He also carried on a tremendous correspondence: his letters of counsel fill two volumes, each numbering a thousand pages. Elder Macarius did not tolerate idleness among the brethren. He introduced various handcrafts: bookbinding and woodworking. He also adorned the skete with mass planting of flowers. His greatest contribution to Optina, however, was to initiate its work of publishing patristic texts. This was historically significant, since Peter's reforms had greatly curtailed such activity, which subsequent laws restricted to ecclesiastical print shops. The result was that many works of Holy Fathers existed only in manuscript form or in very limited editions. Meanwhile, the secular press was churning out translations of mystical-philosophical works from the West, some of them plainly hostile to Orthodoxy. With the blessing and earnest support of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and the active collaboration of the Orthodox writer and philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky, Elder Macarius began meticulously editing manuscripts translated from the Greek by Paisius Velichkovsky, which he had acquired in Ploshchansk, and other patristic manuscripts donated by various individuals, thus launching an undertaking which, in 50 years, produced more than 125 books in 225,090 copies. These were sent to libraries and seminaries all over Russia, putting into circulation the works of St. Isaac the Syrian, St. Symeon the New Theologian, St. Nilus of Sora, Elder Paisius (Velichkovsky), and others, and inspiring a growing circle of religiously inclined intelligentsia. |
| The second part of the plenary session was opened by His Grace Bishop Viktor of Artzizsk, who spoke on “Teachings of the Essence and Aims of Monastic Podvig in the Works of Metropolitan Agafangel of Odessa and Izmailsk.” Protopriest Stephan Pruzhinsky then spoke on “Biblical and Patristic Teachings on Gifts and Revelations of Divine Grace in Human Life.” Hieromonk Aleksy (Korsak) of St Panteleimon Monastery on Mt Athose then delivered a lecture on “St Silouan of Athos as an Expressor of Spiritual Traditions of St Panteleimon Monastery on Holy Mt Athos.” Protopriest Serafim Gan, Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, then read his speech “On the Efforts of Bishop Laurus (Shkurla) to Preserve St Elias Skete on Mt Athos in the Latter Years of Archimandrite Nikolai (Piven).” Docent of Kiev Theological Academy, Archimandrite Markel (Pavuk) read his lecture: “Ascetic Attitudes of St Ioann of Vishensk.” Mr Shumilo then shared new information on the heredity of St Paisius Velichkovsky discovered in archival collections. The forum continued in five sections: “Athos and Odessa: Historical, Spiritual and Cultural Bonds” “Athos in the Histories and Spiritual and Cultural Legacies of Central and Eastern Europe” “The Athonite Influence on Literature, Literary Tradition, Theology and Art” “The Works, Teachings and Legacy of St Paisius Velichkovsky” “Hesychastic Traditions, Ascetics and Orthodox Monasticism in Central-Eastern Europe.” Participating in person and via correspondence were scholars and theologians from Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, the USA and France. Code for blog Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| “St. Gregory of Sinai had a lot of disciples in the parts of Bulgaria and even in the Romanian Countries, including St. Nicodemus of Tismana, St. Hyacinth of Vicina and St. Theophano Basarab, daughter of the founder of Wallachia.” “This movement returned with intensity in the 18th century so that, at Neam Monastery, St. Paisius Velichkovsky, originally from Ukraine, had several hundreds of Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Greek disciples. In 1794 he passed away to the Lord, and his disciples from Neam spread to the Romanian Countries, Ukraine and Russia and established many hesychastic monasteries,” Patriarch Daniel added. It is known that abbot George of Cernica and Cldruani Monasteries, as well as Saint Gregory the Teacher, who later became metropolitan of Wallachia, were, in the century 18th century, disciples of St. Paisius of Neam. Saint Callinicus of Cernica was part of this tradition of Romanian Orthodox hesychasm, His Beatitude also noted. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog Patriarch Daniel: The Tabor Light, perceived by the Hesychasts, is sought by every Christian enlightened at baptism Aurelian Iftimiu The light that appeared on Mount Tabor at the Saviour’s Transfiguration “is the light that every Christian enlightened at baptism by water and the Holy Spirit seeks,” Patriarch Daniel said Saturday. Fruit of prayer and a symbol of hesychasm, this light “is given to those who pray much and live a ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| Thus their bodies were filled with the Spirit, Who gave them the power to see even through their senses what was beyond senses, the light that is not of this world. Hesychasts became worthy of the light of Tabor “Some of the saints who have been granted a taste of the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven from their earthly life have been called in the course of history Hesychast saints: those who sought tranquillity, peace of soul by pacifying selfish passions, by withdrawing to quiet places in the wilderness, called hermitages,” the Patriarch of Romania said August 6. The Patriarch explained that a hesychastirion (hermitage) designated “the place where those who wished to become tranquil by much prayer, by fasting and by the joy of their connection with Christ through the Prayer of the Mind or the Prayer of the Heart, saying without ceasing: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” The Tradition of Romanian Hesychasm “We have on the territory of our country, since the 14th century, a lot of monasteries of hesychastic influence, of prayerful ascetics,” Patriarch Daniel said, mentioning the hermitages in the Carpathian region: Ceahlu, Buzu area and Gorj county. “Even today, we have numerous sketes that have become monasteries and are called hermitages: Neam hermitage, Vorona hermitage, Putna Hermitage were hearths of hesychasm.” Among the Hesychast Fathers of Wallachia, Patriarch Daniel listed “St. George, abbot of the monasteries of Cernica and Caldarusani, St. Callinicus of Cernica, who prayed almost all night in a chair, and during the day was very active and industrious, St. Gregory the Teacher, who translated many books from the Greek language and wrote briefly about the life of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) of Neam.” Patriarch Daniel venerating the relics of the Hesychast Saint George of Cernica and Caldarusani, August 6, 2022. Photo: Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu His Beatitude also recalled the role of St. Philotheos of Sinai and St. Gregory of Sinai in the 14th century, when Hesychasm spread to Constantinople and the Balkans. |
| The time came when Platon was filled with a longing to visit Mount Athos. He asked the brethren of the Skete, and those of other Sketes, for their forgiveness and blessing for the journey. He also thanked them for their kindness and their paternal instruction. They blessed him and let him go in peace. At that time he was just twenty-four years old. Platon went to Mount Athos in 1746, arriving at the Great Lavra on July 4, the eve of the Feast of St Athanasius of Athos. His traveling companion, Hieromonk Tryphon fell ill and died after four days. Platon would have died from the same illness, if not for the care of the Russian monks. He recovered and lived in solitude in a cell called Kaparis near the Pantokrator Monastery. He went around visiting the ascetics and solitaries, looking for a spiritual Father, but was unable to find anyone suitable. In 1750 St Basil of Poiana Marului (April 15) visited the Holy Mountain and spent some time with Platon, who asked him for monastic tonsure. Elder Basil granted his request, giving him the name Paisius. Then Fr Basil returned to his Skete at Vlachia. About three months later, a young monk named Bessarion came to the Holy Mountain from Vlachia. He went around to the monasteries searching for an instructor, but did not find one. He also came to Fr Paisius and asked him to tell him something about saving his soul. Fr Paisius sighed and told him that he himself had been looking for an instructor without success. Yet, feeling compassion for Fr Bessarion, he talked to him a little about the qualifications necessary for a true instructor, and about the Jesus Prayer. After hearing him, Fr Bessarion said, “What more do I seek?” He fell down at the feet of Fr Paisius, entreating him to be his Elder. Fr Paisius did not want to be anyone’s Elder, wishing instead to be under authority himself. Fr Bessarion remained for three days weeping until Fr Paisius agreed to accept him as a friend, and not as a disciple. For about four years they lived together fulfilling God’s commandments, cutting off their own will and obeying one another as equals. |
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