| Let us provide our prayer with two qualities: attention and repentance. Let it fly up to the heavens with them as upon two wings, then appear before the face of God, and intercede for us to gain His mercy. The blessed publican’s prayer had these two qualities. Penetrated by the awareness of his sinfulness, he did not have any hope in his own deeds to receive salvation; he had hope only in God’s mercy, which calls all sinners to repentance, and grants them salvation for repentance alone. As a sinner who had no goodness of his own, the publican took the last place in the temple. As a sinner who is unworthy of heaven, he did not dare to lift his eyes unto heaven. His eyes were directed toward the ground; and beating upon his heart with repentance from deep within his heart, he pronounced with his whole soul the prayer united with his confession: God be merciful to me, a sinner. His prayer was so effective and strong, that the sinner left the temple of God justified. The Lord Who knoweth the hearts, the Savior of men, testified to this—and the Prophet’s words were fulfilled in this repentant sinner: For the Lord shall build up Sion to the human soul that has been destroyed by the fall, and He shall be seen in His glory. He hath regarded the prayer of the humble, and hath not despised their supplication. Let this be written for another generation; let it be written that all mankind would know it, let it be written that all tribes and future Christian generations might know it! And the people that is being created through repentance and attentive prayer, having felt their renewal through Divine grace, shall praise the Lord (Ps. 101: 16–18), Who hath been well pleased to take on humanity, and to save people through His wondrous care, and His wondrous teachings. Amen. St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) Translated by Nun Cornelia (Rees) 4 марта 2012 г. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, vol. 14, letter 4. St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 28. The Philokalia, St. Peter Damascene, “On seven mental visions,” from “The separation of prayers of all understandings,” 1:3. Умоисступления, which means a state of extreme agitation or nervous stimulation with loss of self-control and the ability to act in a healthy and reasonable manner. —Trans. Borrowed from Elder Paisius Velichkovsky’s explanation of the prayer, Lord have mercy. From The writings of Elder Paisy, (Optina Monastery: 1847) [in Russian]. St. Nilus of Sora, Preface to his Inheritance. “Stand silent, until all the senses have become quiet. Then begin without haste, without laziness, but with tender feeling, with contrition of heart, to say: Blessed is the man (Ps.1:1) and the rest, quietly and rationally, with attention, and not hurriedly: that the mind might also understand what is being said.” From the instructions before reading the Psalter. Подпишитесь на рассылку Православие.Ru Рассылка выходит два раза в неделю: |
| Although St Paisius lived abroad and all his activity was outside of Russia, his work still found its way into Russia and brought fruit a hundred-fold within Russian monasticism in the Russian Church. One sees in the labors of St Paisius something akin to our time. As then, during St Paisius' lifetime, his written work found its way into Russia, where it was rewritten and published—the Slavonic Dobrotolyubiye [Philokalia], the Work of St Isaac of Syria and many other works. Under somewhat different circumstances, the same thing is happening today. Our Russian Church Abroad is carrying out its mission abroad among Russian Orthodox people and at the same time, its fruits are being sent to Russia, in the form of the works of the Holy Fathers and ecclesiastical literature, where there is a terrible dearth of the Word of God and of spiritual literature [this article was written in the early 1990's—ed.]. True, there is a great difference between the time of St Paisius and our time. St Paisius lived in an Orthodox country, and although the same publishing possibilities did not exist there, one could freely transcribe and re-transcribe manuscripts and send them to Russia, and print and disseminate them there. Today, although we live in heterodox surroundings, we can freely print large editions, but disseminating spiritual literature among our brethren in Russia is virtually impossible. But with God's help, some things can be sent there, and this small amount, we hope, will bring forth fruit a hundredfold. May this be, o Lord, by the prayers of St Paisius! This is the brief biography, struggles, labors and merits of St Paisius Velichkovsky, the restorer of the strict coenobitic monasticism and founder of Russian starchestvo of the 19th century. This is the good that can be done by one person--of course, with God's help. Maybe among our young people we will find those willing to serve God, serve the Russian Orthodox Church. Young men and women are needed, our monasteries are in need of young forces, and if Russia is born again, she will need experienced, prepared people. Those who hear this call, respond! |
| Although St. Paisius lived abroad and all his activity was outside of Russia, his work still found its way into Russia and brought fruit a hundred-fold within Russian monasticism in the Russian Church. In St. Paisius’s labors one sees something akin to our time. During St Paisius' lifetime, his writings found their way into Russia, where they were rewritten and published—the Slavonic Dobrotolyubiye [Philokalia], the Work of St Isaac of Syria and many other works. Under somewhat different circumstances, the same thing is happening today. Our Russian Church Abroad is carrying out its mission abroad among Russian Orthodox people and at the same time, its fruits are being sent to Russia, in the form of the works of the Holy Fathers and ecclesiastical literature, where there is a terrible dearth of the Word of God and of spiritual literature [this article was written in the early 1990's—ed.]. True, there is a great difference between the time of St Paisius and our time. St Paisius lived in an Orthodox country, and although the same publishing possibilities did not exist there, one could freely transcribe and re-transcribe manuscripts and send them to Russia, and print and disseminate them there. Today, although we live in heterodox surroundings, we can freely print large editions, but disseminating spiritual literature among our brethren in Russia is virtually impossible. But with God's help, some things can be sent there, and this small amount, we hope, will bring forth fruit a hundredfold. May this be, O Lord, by the prayers of St Paisius! This is a brief biography, telling of the struggles, labors and merits of St Paisius Velichkovsky, the restorer of the strict coenobitic monasticism and founder of Russian eldership of the nineteenth century. This is the good that can be done by one person—of course, with God's help. Maybe among our young people we will find those willing to serve God, to serve the Orthodox Church. Young men and women are needed; our monasteries are in need of young forces. Those who hear this call, respond! |
| In order to stress the conscientiousness with which this work was performed, we point out that the elder checked and corrected the same text three or more times. At the same time, Fr Paisius recognized the insufficiency of even this; he wrote: " To my great sorrow, I see that this is far from perfect and that if the Lord in His mercy extends my life and grants me who am now almost blind the needed sight, I will have to work more on these corrections " Only near the end of his life did Elder Paisius broaden the transcription and translation of the books of the Holy Fathers to a wider scale. From here, these works were disseminated throughout the monasteries of the Orthodox East and reached Russia, where they played an exceptional role in the rebirth of Russian monasticism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. As during the beginning of Christianity in Russia, the planting of the seeds of Orthodoxy owed a great deal to Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves and their disciples, many of whom became the first bishops of Russia; and later St. Sergius and his disciples worked towards the strengthening of Orthodoxy; finally in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the students of St Paisius Velichkovsky played a leading role in the renascence of Russian monasticism and the rise of starchestvo [eldership]. The disciples of St. Paisius were influential among monastics on the Holy Mountain, in Moldavia and in Russia. Russia was a source of a particularly large number of his disciples, under whom a broad rebirth of spiritual life occurred, along with interest in and love for the reading and studying of books; elders and monastic superiors came to the fore and preserved the legacy of St Paisius. One sees three main currents: the Northern, Central and Southern branches. The Northern movement had centers in Solovki Monastery, Valaam, the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and St. Alexander of Svir Monastery. The central movement was concentrated in Moscow, Vladimir province, Optina Hermitage and later in Orlov province. In the South, it was in Ploshchansk and Glinsk Monasteries. Elder Paisius’s circle of influence was wide. In Russia, it spread throughout monasteries in 35 dioceses. |
| The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Prince Potemkin, came to Jassy along with Archbishop Ambrosius of Slovenia and Poltava. The latter wished to see the renowned Elder Paisius, and arrived in Niametz Monastery, where he was greeted by the monks. This was in 1790. That Sunday, Archbishop Ambrosius officiated at divine liturgy, during which he elevated the Elder to the rank of Archimandrite. The Elder was born in Poltava, and the Archbishop of Poltava performed the elevation. After the military operations ended, life gradually settled down, and the Elder continued to work as before: he did translations, wrote letters, guided the monks, but his strength was weakening, and he faltered. Not long before his fatal illness, he ceased his translating work. On November 5, 1794, he felt particularly weak and took to his bed. On Sunday, he felt better and came to church to partake of communion. Yet his weakness continued, and on November 15, 1794, at the age of 72, he died peacefully. News of the repose of Schema-archimandrite Paisius spread rapidly, and a great many monks and faithful gathered in Niametz, Bishop Benjamin came, and the funeral was performed at Ascension Cathedral, followed by his burial. And so we see that the resettlement of Elder Paisius, through Divine Providence, to Moldovlachia turned out to be very beneficial for his work. Had he remained on Mt Athos, first of all, his brotherhood would not have grown as it did because of a lack of resources and space, and secondly, he could not have had such a great influence on the spiritual life of Orthodox monasticism in Moldavia and Russia. Within Schema-archimandrite Paisius, personal holiness was combined with love for education, ability to organize monastic coenobitic life, the ability to attract and teach a great host of students, the skill in creating a school of spiritual asceticism and finally, a great literary talent which helped him complete an important, much-needed task—to correct old translations and also make new translations of the ascetic literature of the Holy Fathers. The literary works of Elder Paisius are varied. Finding among the Slavonic translations of the writings of the Holy Fathers extant at the time a great number of errors, he realized the importance of their painstaking review. For this he began to strenuously search Greek originals on Mt Athos. But these were not easy to come by, since no one ever offered such books for sale. For this reason he had to transcribe them himself, and pay others to do it. He found that by far not all works of the Holy Fathers had been translated into Slavonic. And the second part of this task, the translations themselves, he undertook in Moldavia after he moved there with his monks. |
| 380 . [ Паисий (Величковский) , преп.] A Homily for the Monastic Tonsure by St. Paisy (Velichkovsky)/Publ. Ioannikios (Aberneti), monk//RESEE 1991. 29:3–4. 231–240. [Публ. соч. св. Паисия «Поучение на пострижение монашеского чина]. публ. того же текста, в сокращ.: Поучение на пострижение монашеского чина//Четвериков Сергий, прот. 9 .424). Приложение 2. 297–300. 381 . [ Паисий (Величковский) , преп.] Le lettere a Teodosio//PS 9 .432). 267–304. [Итал. пер. двух писем св. Паисия к архим. Феодосию. 1-е письмо, краткое, переведено по ркп, 2-е, обширное, – по двум неполным публикациям (см. [ Паисий (Величковский) , преп.] 9 .372); Pelin V. 9 .383)), вкупе дающим полный текст]. 382 . Little Russian Philokalia. Platina, CA 1994. 4: St. Paisius Velichkovsky. 150. [Англ. пер. осн. соч. св. Паисия·. «Крины сельные» и др.]. 383 . Pelin V. The correspondence of abbot Paisie from Neamts (III). Letter to Teodosie, archimandrite at the Sofroniev Hermitage//RESEE 1994. 32(3–4). 349–366. [Публ. «филологич. и филокалич. исповеди» ( Η. Н. Лисовой ) преп. Паисия – обширного его письма ученику его архим. Феодосию. Более ранняя (1847) частичная публ.://[ Паисий (Величковский) , преп.] 9 .372). 197–217. Данная публ. – по ркп, включающей важные сокр. текста; эти сокр. восполняются лишь ранней публ. Полный текст письма опубл. лишь в итал. пер., см. [ Паисий (Величковский) , преп.] 9 .381)]. 384 . Tachiaos А.-Е. The revival of Byzantine mysticism among Slavs and Romanians in XVIII century. Texts relating to the life and activity of Paisy Velichkovsky (1722–1794). Thessaloniki 1986. [Prefacë IX-XI; Introduction: XV-LV; Преп. Паисий Величковский . Повесть о святом соборе...: 1–91, текст разбит публикатором на 49 глав с англ. названиями; Митрофан, схимонах. Житие и подвиги блаженного отца нашего старца Паисия, бежание от мира, странствие его, собрание к нему братии и сожитие с ним: 95–150, разбито публикатором на 26 глав с англ. названиями; Платон, схимонах. Житие блаженнейшего отца нашего старца Паисия, собранное от многих писателей и сочинено отцом Платоном... в лето 1830: 151–255, факсимиле изд. 1836, см.: [Платон, схимонах]. Житие блаженнейшего отца нашего старца Паисия, собранное от многих писателей, и сочинено отцом Платоном, во дни благоверного государя нашего Михаила Григориевича Струдцы воеводы, благословением преосвященного митрополита Кириу Кир Вениамина, при архимандрите и старце святых монастырей Нямца и Секула Мардарии в Нямецком Вознесенском монастыре в лето 1830. Нямец 1836 [ср. 13 .131)]; Paisius’ correspondence with Dorotheos Voulismas: 257–289, переписка св. Паисия с крупным греч. богословом и церк. деятелем Д. Вулисмой, с 1.01.1785 по 13.08.1785, по 2 письма с кажд. стор., на греч. яз.; имен. указ.: 290–296]. Исаевич Я. Д.//Радянське лimepamypoзhabcmbo. 1989. 3. 77–78. |
| After some hesitation, the Elder consented to move, but he left some of the monks in Sekula, while he himself moved to Niametz with others. This was the final period of his life, the most difficult one, but also the most fruitful. The number of brethren gathering around him now was over 700. Word of the monastery's lofty spiritual life and that of its Elder spread throughout the Orthodox East. With the help of the Prince, the Elder set up a hospital at the monastery, along with a house of mercy and significantly increased the number of monastic cells. The Elder established the intensive practice of transcribing and translating the works of the Holy Fathers. He gathered a large number of assistants and prepared them especially for his publishing work. He taught them Greek, and for completing their education, sent them to Bucharest Academy. Thanks to the hard work of this group of trained monks, a great number of correct translations of the Holy Fathers appeared, along with a great many transcriptions of them. According to Prof. A.I. Yatsimirsky, of the thousands of manuscripts kept in the monastery library at Niametz, written in different periods in different languages, including Moldavian, Greek, Latin, Italian, German, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Syrian, Bulgarian, Polish, French and Slavonic, two hundred seventy-six of them are from the period of Elder Paisius, and over 40 of them were written by his hand. Elder Paisius' growing fame as a teacher of spiritual life inspired many to correspond with him. The Elder responded to these letters, sometimes voluminously. In them, the Elder touches upon various questions of monastic and general church life, giving instructions and offering advice. This correspondence took up a great deal of his time. In these tasks and cares, many years passed unnoticed, and gradually he approached the final days of his life. His last days were overshadowed by dangerous troubles caused by the war between Russia, Austria and Turkey. Niametz was occupied by the Turks, but the Austrians gathered all their forces and emancipated Niametz, and soon Russian troops approached. |
| -. Orthodox Encounter: The Christian East and the Ecumenical Movement. London: J. Clarke, 1961. xiii, 200 p. -. Sunset Years: a Russian Pilgrim in the West. London: Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, 1983. 192 p. Bibliography: p. 189–190. VIII. Hagiography The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Russia [series]. Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1987-. 1. Kontsevich, Ivan Mikhailovich. The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Ancient Russia. (Translation from the Russian by Olga Koshansky; edited by the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. 1988, 368 p.) 2. Florenskii, Pavel Aleksandrovich. Salt of the Earth: Or, a Narrative on the Life of the Elder of Gethsemane Skete Hieromonk Abba Isidore. (Compiled and arranged by Paul Florensky; translated from the Russian by Richard Betts; edited and annotated, with poetry versification, by the St. Herman Brotherhood. 1987. 151 p.) Acta sanctorum. 1684–1940. Paris, Rome: Victorem Palme. 67 v. New edition of work published from 1643 to 1925 narrating the lives of the Saints for each day of the calendar year. Work initiated by Joannes Bollandus in 1629 and continued by the Bollandists. Analecta bollandiana: Revue critique d’hagiographie, v. 1– (1882)-. Brussels: Societe des Bollandistes. Quarterly. Bulletin des publications hagiographiques. Text in Latin and French. Indexes: vols. 1–20 (1882–1901) 1 v.; vols. 21–40 (1902–22) 1 v.; vols. 41–60 (1923–42) 1 v.; vols. 1–80 (1882–1961) 1 v. Vols, for 1891– contain Bulletin des publications hagiographiques. Supplements: Acta sanctorum. Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. 3. ed., mise a jour et considerablement augmente par Francois Halkin. Brussels: Societe des Bollandistes, 1957–1969. 5 v. (Subsidia hagiographica, nos. 8a, 47, 65.) Bibliotheca hagiographica orientalis. Ediderunt Socii Bollandiani. Brussels: Apud Editores, 1910 (1970 printing), xx, iii, 287 p. (Subsidia hagiographica; 10.) Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky: The Life and Ascetic Labors of Our Father, Elder Paisius, Archimandrite of the Holy Moldavian Monasteries of Niametz and Sekoul. Optina version. By Schema-Monk Metrophanes. Platina, CA: Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1976-. Translation of Zhitie i pisaniia Moldavskago startsa Paisiia Velichkovskago, published in 1847 by the Optina Monastery. Bibliography: v.l, p.283–287. |
| RETURN TO THE SOURCES Characteristic of these »Confessions» is «a marked inferiority complex towards the formularies of the Counter-Reformation», 9 a complex that has bedevilled Orthodox theology into the twentieth century. The history of modern Orthodox theology is the story of a prolonged and erratic progress towards rediscovering an authentic voice: a process of learning to use Western thought and research as a tool, not a straitjacket, and acquiring the confidence to draw on Eastern resources to avoid Western impasses. Despite the apparently parlous state of the entire Church, a spiritual and theological revival began in the eighteenth century. It came from the traditional source, the monastic tradition, in creative engagement with the spirit of the age. The intellectual and political ferment of eighteenth-century Western Europe had reverberations in Ottoman territory too, in the so-called »Greek Enlightenment». For some, this meant adopting the ideas and rehearsing the arguments of the Western " Enlightenment», as their predecessors had done with the Western Reformation. For others, however, the new ideas coming from the West provided an impetus to look more deeply into their own tradition. Churchmen were prominent in both parties: but none can match the lasting influence of a representative of the latter tendency, St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain, 10 best known today for his collection of spiritual and ascetic writings entitled the Philokalia. This was soon translated into Slavonic by Paisius Velichkovsky, who had fled from the sterile scholasticism of the Kiev Academy to learn the spiritual life on the Holy Mountain. In this way, its influence spread to Russia and to Moldavia, where Paisius spent the latter part of his life. The effects of this spiritual renewal were felt first in Russia, where the nineteenth century saw a blossoming of monastic life and particularly of the institution of spiritual fatherhood. St Seraphim of Sarov and the Elders of the Optina monastery are the best-known examples. This revitalisation at the heart of church life produced no immediate transformation, but it strengthened the Church for the firestorm that was to come. The witness of contemplative prayer, and the " golden chain» of spiritual fatherhood or motherhood exercised by people of holiness, would prove vital in preserving Christian faith when church structures were wiped out or rendered powerless. |
| This was the final period of his life, the most difficult one, but also the most fruitful. The number of brethren gathering around him was now over 700. Word of the monastery's lofty spiritual life and of its Elder spread throughout the Orthodox East. With the help of the Prince, the Elder set up a hospital and almshouse at the monastery, and significantly increased the number of monastic cells. The Elder established the intensive practice of transcribing and translating the works of the Holy Fathers. He gathered a large number of assistants and prepared them especially for his publishing work. He taught them Greek, and sent them to Bucharest Academy to complete their education. Thanks to the hard work of this group of trained monks, a great number of correct translations of the Holy Fathers appeared, along with a great many transcriptions. According to Prof. A.I. Yatsimirsky, of the thousands of manuscripts kept in the monastery library at Niametz, written in different periods in different languages including Moldavian, Greek, Latin, Italian, German, Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Syrian, Bulgarian, Polish, French and Slavonic, two hundred seventy-six of them are from the period of Elder Paisius, and over 40 of them were written by his hand. Elder Paisius' growing fame as a teacher of spiritual life inspired many to correspond with him. The Elder responded to these letters, sometimes voluminously. In them, the Elder touches upon various questions of monastic and religious life in general, giving instructions and offering advice. This correspondence took up a great deal of his time. In these tasks and cares, many years passed unnoticed, and gradually he approached the final days of his life. His last days were overshadowed by dangerous troubles caused by the war between Russia, Austria and Turkey. Niametz was occupied by the Turks, but the Austrians gathered all their forces and emancipated Niametz, and soon Russian troops approached. The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Prince Potemkin, came to Jassy along with Archbishop Ambrose of Slovenia and Poltava. |
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