Sister embroideres a paraman

 

 

A paraman is a part of a monastic vestment in the form of a square piece of fabric with four ribbons on the corners. It is given to a monk/nun upon tonsure.

The paraman is embroidered with a cross and other instruments of the Savior's suffering, as well asapostolic words: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Gal. 6:17). The ribbons are tied together on the chest, forming a cross, and the shawl itself is held on the back.

The paraman is a symbol of the betrothal of the great angelic image and the taking upon oneself of the good yoke of Christ, in fulfillment of the words of the Savior Himself: "Let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 6:34).

Mother Tamar Marjanishvili, who has the greatest spirituality, gave four instructions to her spiritual sisters:

Mother Tamar Marjanishvili, who has the greatest spirituality, gave four instructions to her spiritual sisters:
- Do not offend anyone,
- Forgive everyone
- Desire nothing for yourself,
- Give thanks to the Lord for everything."
From the book "Ighumeni Tamar Marjanishvili" p. 31

From an elder....

The most beautiful church I have visited in my entire life, the Holy Trinity Church of Karoulia on Mount Athos, 20 years ago.

The church suffered a lot of damage from falling rocks, without a roof, but this spirit in the church, this peace is indescribable, not of this world.

I then went to Mount Athos, praying to the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos to show me the way, marriage or monastic life... I had an answer.

In seclusion

It is known from the history of monasticism that often ascetics, with the blessing of the clergy, went into seclusion. The Venerable Seraphim of Sarov from 1810 to 1815 was in a cell/
In the modern Serafimo-Diveyevsky Monastery there is also a cell. It is a well-appointed room where during the week two sisters perform prayer vigils and have no communication with the world.
The order in the cell is such that the sisters devote most of the day to prayer. They pray at night. They perform the prayer rule, accepted in the monastery, and read the daily services.
They go into seclusion on Sunday evening. And they leave the cell on the following Sunday, the sisters go to the liturgy and receive communion.
And the next two sisters go into the cell.

Candle of a Tonsured Monastic

The candles lit during monastic tonsure are the most unusual - with their large size they have a curved shape in the form of a step, which symbolizes the pliability of the monk's soul and its submission to the will of God.

St. Seraphim on Obedience

St. Seraphim commanded the sisters to be zealous in fulfilling their obediences: “You should never, mother, refuse any obedience, and always, as carefully as possible, fulfill it, being extremely quick to fulfill it.” And at the same time, several times, hastily running through his canopy, he added: “That’s how you run quickly when they call you.”

According to the stories of the elderess of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery, nun Dorofea (Fomina), 1885.

The Nun Danielia from the Mount of Olives: "Hate from their promiscuity"

  

“Do you mind if I talk to you on the go? I'm on my little scooter, wearing wireless headphones, of course. I am returning from Jerusalem, with provisions, chiefly preserves and other long-lasting provisions, together with some meat. We will put it in the freezer, in small portions. Of course, if the electricity and water are cut off, as has been rumored for the last few hours, this choice of mine will not prove to be particularly successful...".

Sister Danielia is sixty-one years old. She lives in Little Galilee, at the top of the Mount of Olives, where, according to Christian tradition, Christ appeared to his eleven disciples, on the Sunday afternoon after His Resurrection. In her own hands and in the hands of another nun, a few years older than her, also Greek, is today the historic monastery that belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. They keep her alive.

How is the situation there? Are you afraid? Do you feel threatened?
"Apart from the disturbance and concern caused by the attack by Hamas last Saturday, things are relatively calm in the greater Jerusalem area. We have no rockets and no hostilities. As for the fear? I'm probably not qualified to answer you, I have my "madness". I like vivere pericolasmente'.

"Life in the Middle East is a constant challenge, often for what we take for granted. It has impressed me that for everything that happens, the blame and the anathema are thrown on the "opposite".

"I was a DJ"
Doesn't it sound contradictory to live dangerously in combination with monasticism? 

"On the contrary. When you make your renunciation and decide to give up everything, enter a monastery and dedicate yourself to God, it's like falling out of a plane without a parachute. I experienced it at the age of twenty-nine. Until then I was living a secular life, working as a dj. But when I said "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me", tears began to flow from my eyes, my call from above was made", says nun Danielia.

Thirty-two years have passed since she made that decision; twelve in Israel. And yet, they have not stopped long enough to fully decode the social complexity of this corner of the planet.
“It's all so confusing. And the hell, the polarization, continues. Sometimes I think people here can't live any other way, they are inoculated with hatred from their birthrights. It may sound far-fetched - and it certainly does not apply to everyone - but life in the Middle East is a constant claim, often for what we take for granted. It has struck me that for everything that happens, the blame and the curse are thrown on the "other side" . In our parts only Arab Israelis live, there are no Jews at all. 
If anything bad happens, even if a tree falls, they will say that the Jews are to blame. The demonization of one side by the other – or the others – has been imprinted on everything for centuries. Just when we are going to be optimistic that peace will come, something happens and the fire flares up again. As now with Hamas, a terrorist organization whose actions are essentially directed against the Palestinians, harming them. If Gaza is flattened, it will be their responsibility. My soul is bleeding with what is happening to this people."

The Haredim

And the Christians? How is the Christian community treated?
"Our enemies are mainly the ultra-Orthodox Jews, the Haredim. You will see in the Old City illiterate children as a rule, lumpen figures, spitting on Christians in the street or throwing stones at them, because that is how they have been taught. As far as Muslims are concerned, the biggest crisis was in 2014. And rockets had fallen then, and we had stealth warfare around the monastery every night after the eight o'clock prayer. Again, children were causing the problems. I understand these guys. Islam forbids them to look at girls, drink alcohol (at least openly), have no creative occupation, gang violence is their only way out. Do you know what I experience every now and then? If I write what I live in a book, it will become a bestseller and I will cover all the expenses of the monastery."

Despite this, she does not think of leaving, returning to Greece and her birthplace, Thessaloniki (her father's place is in the area of ​​Charilaos). “Sometimes when I'm at my limit, it crosses my mind as a possibility, but I immediately regret it. Christ chose these places to incarnate and become a man, he did not go to Belgium or Luxembourg. Who am I to grumble, to complain?'

Tasoula Eptakoili/kathimerini.gr

The essence of monasticism....

"The essence of monasticism is the renunciation of one's will, of one's self, and the striving, desire and courage to follow Christ. And it is easy to do it one day, two, three, a year. But the whole life... This is the real feat. But this feat is not hard when you feel that the Lord Himself is leading you. For the Lord promises that He will not leave you. And it is very important in our faith to remember that the Lord will arrange everything better than each of us has thought of himself. But for this we need to renounce our will and submit to His will"

Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira (Guzikov) 

The Ill Monk

 

One day a monk of the Dionysiou monastery named Anphimus came to the hospital of the monastery to visit a newly tonsured monk who had fallen ill immediately after his tonsure. To comfort the sufferer, he told him the following story from his personal experience.

"Have hope, brother, in Our Lady, the great healer and tireless intercessor for all monks. Hear what happened to me, so that you may understand Her immeasurable intercession.

When I was your age, about twenty-five years old, and, like you, had recently taken monastic vows, I too was gravely ill. For a long time, the illness turned me into a cripple. I don't know whether it was rheumatism or something else, but my whole body was shackled by a kind of powerlessness. I used crutches to get around. Moreover, as if this were not enough, my eyes were also blurred and I could hardly distinguish objects.

Two doctors came to me and examined me, but they could do nothing to help. The more time passed, the worse my condition became. Day and night I shed tears and said:

- "My God, what has gotten into me? Am I perhaps the sinner? A recent tonsured monk, blind and paralyzed, I lie in a hospital, and I am served by elders?! I'd rather die!

Many brothers advised me to go out into the world so that I could be examined by more experienced doctors. But one of the monks of our monastery, a very respected and pious one, came up to me one day and said:

- Listen, my child! You know that in our monastery there is, the ancient, miraculous icon "Akathistnaya". It is a gift of Emperor Alexius III Comnenus to the founder of our monastery, the Monk Dionysius. On its silver riza and on the wood are inscriptions which testify that this image is the same which Patriarch Sergius surrounded the walls of Constantinople, which saved it from the Persians and Avars in the year 626.

It was before this icon that our fathers and mothers first chanted an Akathist, thanking the Most Holy Mother of God for salvation. Tradition has it that it is one of seventy icons painted by the Evangelist Luke himself. In addition, it repeatedly exuded a fragrant myrrh. Go therefore, you also, fall down before her, and with fervent faith and tears, ask her for healing, and you will see that the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the suffering Mother, will have mercy on you.

These words gave me strength and strengthened my faith, and I wholeheartedly turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary, begging Her mercy and supporting my prayers with fervent tears.

On the eve of the Feast of the Icon, on the fifth Saturday of Great Lent, I went to the church and stayed there all night. Oh, how long I prayed before Her holy image! Right there, exhausted and tired, I fell asleep. And, oh wonder! - I saw the Mother of God dressed in all gold, in radiant light, all sparkling with radiance and glory. She stood two cubits high in the air and looked at me with a calm gaze. Then She opened Her mellifluous lips and said:

- Why are you crying, my child Anphimus?

- How can I not, O Most Blessed Mother, weep? Do You not see my wretchedness, what I have become?

- Do not weep, but think of your salvation.

Having said this, She blessed me and lifted me up. I immediately woke up. I rubbed my eyes, and... I saw the lamps burning! I strained, trying to get up and... freely I got up and walked! Then I understood everything at once. The Blessed Virgin had performed a miracle, She had healed me completely. Oh, what joy I felt then, how many tears of gratitude I shed, how many hymns I sang - it is impossible to describe!

Soon the priest opened the temple and could not believe his eyes when he saw me standing on my feet. When the monks found out that I was well, they all praised the Lord and His Immaculate Mother for their infinite love and intercession.

Father Jerome about the temptations of the novice (from a letter)

I was a bad child. But everyone called me a good boy because they saw me cry in church when others didn't cry.

In October I left for the Holy Mountain. The spiritual father, seeing that I was stooping in body, but even more prevaricating my soul, ordered me to go to the large monastery of Simonopetra - there would be a lot of work, and enough experienced brothers. In addition, there are severe ascetics in Simonopetra. I went to the monastery indicated to me. After all, the first lessons of monastic life were taught to me in Athens, in the temple of the Ascension, by an elder from this monastery.

He was informed of my arrival, and at the meeting he said to me:

You have come to become a monk! Correctly decided. Souls pure as roses blossom in monasticism. But you are a corrupted person, and in order to remove every poison of vice from you, you need to be sent to hard work. Here the monks have enough to do: you see that Russian pilgrims come to us every day, sometimes fifty, and sometimes a hundred. After the fire, our monastery was destroyed by the monastery of Dionysias, which is now rushing at full sail. Our elder, together with the late Father Neophyte, went to Russia and collected money, and thanks to these collections, the monastery was able to be rebuilt and even expanded. Therefore, we feel indebted to all Russian pilgrims.

He knew all my life, and I was silent. I decided to stay at the monastery, but I was confused. My thoughts fought so hard in me that if I had ten drachmas, I would have boarded a ship and gone back.

The elder, anticipating my thought, said: “Read the life of St. Irene of Chrysovolantou. You will know that after coming to the monastery for a monastic life, she never once thought about escaping from the monastery. The devil tried to burn her alive - her clothes were burned, but she did not budge. If the sister from the monastery had not noticed the fire, the saint would have burned to the ground.

You know that in all monasteries there is an image of St. Mary of Egypt. Do you know who she is? Listen to her life. Saint Mary was a harlot. While she was sailing on a ship from Alexandria to Jerusalem, she managed to visit with all the young men on the ship. But when she arrived in Jerusalem, she could not enter the temple of the Life-Giving Sepulcher. And then she made a vow to the Lady Mother of God in front of the icon, which is now kept in the cave of St. Athanasius on Athos. Then she went far into the desert. She had neither an elder nor an adviser. For forty-seven years she suffered from the cold, from the heat, and from all the fears of the desert. The hardest test for her was that there was not a single person around who would simply greet her. She only called out to the Most Holy Guarantor: “Save me!” Talking about her forty-seven years of suffering to the elder Zosima, she said:

And you just came to the monastery and put on black clothes - you think that you will perform a feat of silence simply because you look at Hilarion, who serves in the hospital. Yes, he is an exemplary silent man, an example of silent prayer. But he went to Jerusalem, there he met with holy people, and then, seeking greater silence, he left the world and took tonsure in a monastery.

Or you stared at Father Matthew confessing to so many people. He came here as a little boy, and his soul was always serene - you read this serenity on his face. And you, if you want to purify your soul and remove all poisons, endure abuse, endure beatings, endure persecution until you feel that the poison of shameful passions is no longer in your heart.

I only dared to say:

“Is there really no consolation for me yet?”

- No. As soon as you finish the services that will be assigned to you today, go to your cell and sit on the bench. There, by your will, you despair of yourself. You will understand that none of the people will be able to help you with anything - only our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the sins of the entire human race. Then open the "Invisible Scolding", which can be taken from the librarian Father Damian, and read the akathist to Jesus the Sweetest, it is at the end of the book.

When you read on the first day, you will hear a distinct voice in your left ear, which will say to you: “

Hey, crazy, distraught youth, what are you doing here in the place of Adam's exile? Have you not thought of your sisters who will indulge in fornication?

But you only pay attention to the words of prayer. And while reading, think about the fact that if you do not perform the feat of solitude, like St. Mary in the desert, you will not be able to expel the poison from your soul that poisons you with impure passions. And if you do not cleanse yourself of the poison of passions in this life, demons will forever teach you this painful poison, saying:

“Did you prefer the pleasure of passions? Now know all their poison. The Crucified One sent you to a monastery so that you could overcome your passions, but you could not endure even the smallest restrictions. Now suffer forever and ever.

I am writing all this for you so that you can learn from my example.

Until the poison with which the world feeds you is exhausted, you must endure any turmoil. It's good to have other Christians by your side. If you were alone in the desert, how would you cope with yourself? If the devil begins to inspire you with the thought of escaping from the monastery, think how sad the devil's captivity is and what happiness that Christ has freed you. The devil will tell you his own, and you turn to Christ with a prayer:

- My Christ, the Bridegroom of my soul, I love you and long for you, grant me patience, like Mary of Egypt, when she was in the wilderness.

- Hieromonk Chrysanthos (1894–1981), spiritual father of the Skete of Righteous Anna Holy Mount Athos

On February 17, 73 years ago, nun Seraphima Biryulevskaya (Ushakova) (June 19, 1875 – Febuary 17, 1950) departed to the Lord.

From nun Seraphima, faithful people left refreshed, forgetting their experiences and illnesses. Through her prayers unsolved daily problems were solved as if by themselves. The prayer of the wise old woman led people to the true path.

Mother was born not far from Moscow in the village of Kashino in a pious family. Her wealthy parents, Elijah and Mary, dreamed of giving their daughter a brilliant education and a profitable marriage, but by God's providence, the girl was destined to become the bride of Christ.

When the question of marriage arose, the girl asked her parents to wait one night - to pray that the Lord would decide whether she would marry or become a monastic. Her parents agreed and God revealed to her that He was pleased with her monasticism.

Shortly before the wedding, she secretly left her father's house and went to the monastery of Prince Vladimir Filimonovsky. Here she was received with love, she was given obedience - to bring water from a well located in a plain to the cells.

For five years, the mother carried heavy buckets of water uphill, later she was ordered to pick and collect mushrooms for the winter, and there were other obediences.

One winter, she was seriously ill and her sisters took her in a sleigh to the doctor. A snowstorm broke out. On the way, the patient fell from the sled. After a long search, they found her heavily frozen, covered in snow. God's chosen one miraculously survived.

Since then, the sufferer's legs and arms have been twisted and her body has been covered in sores. After this incident, the mother took the shape, in honor of our reverend father Seraphim of Sarov.

In November 1928 the monastery was closed, the nuns and novices were expelled. Some of them went home, some found refuge in nearby villages.

On a cold November day, the nun Seraphima, lying on an iron bed, was taken by the authorities outside the monastery fence to a birch grove. Matuska lay under the open sky for a long time, until a sympathetic girl Maria found her.

Shortly after the closure of the monastery, the doctors proposed to amputate her painful finger, this girl Maria, who was in her cell until the end of her life, was threatened with gangrene and, as a result, could be left without a hand and she might die.

Mother Seraphim herself made an ointment from candles, fir cones and oil from the twelve feasts. Matuska anointed Mary's sore finger while she prayed. With her prayers, the tumor went away, no surgery was needed.

Maria was an orphan and lived with her aunt, they lived in poverty. When her finger hurt, she ran to the Filimonovsky monastery, where she met the mother. After her recovery, she started coming to the mother

When the persecution began, the Red Army came, all the nuns were dispersed. But Mother Seraphim was motionless. She was the regent of this temple. They took her out on a bed not far from the monastery in a birch grove. This is in the month of November.

And when Maria ran to look for her, she was told, and your mother is there...they took her there. She ran to her aunt and began to beg her ... Somehow she managed to settle somewhere. First, with my aunt. And she took care of her mother. Her mother said: "Don't worry Maria, everything will be fine..."

Maria attached herself with all her heart to Mother Seraphima, decided on her own that she would never leave the sufferer. Not only did she take care of the sick, but she nursed other people's children to somehow earn a living. A few years later, the nun Seraphima said it was time to think about marriage.

From the memoirs of Maria's cell attendant: "The time has come, the mother says:
- I have to get married ...
- I don't want to!
"You have to, girl."

Through the prayers of the shrewd old woman, Kuzma Kuznetsov soon charmed the girl. Maria replied to the groom that she agreed, but on the condition that Mother Seraphima would also stay with them. The young man agreed. After the wedding, Maria began to live in Kuzma's house in the village of Kommunarka State Farm. A place for the nun Seraphima was also found in Kuzma's house.

In 1940 a son was born to Maria and Kuzma and in 1947 a daughter. The boy was named Yura and the girl, in honor of the nun, Seraphima.

For twenty-two years, until her mother's death, Maria was her cell attendant. Maria all these years has not heard a single complaint from the half-paralyzed old woman.

Caring for the sick woman, wiping her twisted hands and feet and tending to the bruised wounds on the ascetic's body, Maria admired every time the courage and infinite patience of the old woman, from her lips, not a single groan escaped. but thanks to the Lord for everything.

For her steadfast faith, unquenchable love for the Lord and great humility, the sufferer was rewarded with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: insight and healing. The Seraphima nun, who for so many years suffered from incurable ulcers, was given from Above to heal physical illnesses and spiritual wounds.

According to contemporaries, the beloved old woman was always friendly with everyone. The sufferer knew how to comfort, to warm the soul: "Her humble spirit, her peace of mind were amazing! She herself is always friendly, in her hands is a cross, in her other hand a prayer rope ... heals mental and physical ailments.

The Lord gave the mother mysterious revelations, by which she knew the names of the people who still came to her, their intentions, their secret desires and their true needs. Much was known to her about the fate of people.

The local authorities could not help but notice the endless stream of people towards the house where the old woman lived. Frightened by the ever-increasing cult of the nun of the scheme, the Kuznetsovs were warned many times not to let the old woman's visitors in, and then came to threats.

From the memoirs of the daughter of Maria's cell, Seraphima: “... We were kicked out of the house, I remember holding on to my mother's skirt ... We came home, and ... the house turned out to be locked. Mom says we didn't close the door, nothing. They came to us, saw a lock on the doors, knocked, knocked ..., no one opens the door. The house remained intact. The door closed by itself - miracle! They came to evict me, but they couldn't get into the house, the door was "locked". Sometimes my mother was threatened, they said: "Get out of here, wherever you want, live ..."

The shrewd old woman often visited believers from the Biryulevsky Nikolsky Church. Before her death, Mother Seraphima revealed to the rector of the temple, Father Nikolai, that after her death, praying at her grave would help the sick.

On February 17, 1950 (Past Sunday), the Seraphima nun slept peacefully in the Lord. According to eyewitnesses: “After death, the hands and feet of the mother were treated. And she lay still, stern and radiant. When the casket came out of the house, everyone saw a huge fiery cross in the sky."

Father Nikolai and Father Vasily read the Psalter all night over the coffin of the recently deceased. In the morning, monks, clergy, the old woman's spiritual children arrived, all who respected the great ascetic. She was buried according to monastic custom. The coffin with the body of the nun Seraphima was carried around the temple and buried behind the altar. A cell cross was placed on her grave.

In 1977, according to the development plan of the Biryulyovo-Zapadnoye microdistrict, the Biryulyovo cemetery was to be destroyed. Father Vasily received permission to rebury the remains of the old woman Seraphima and many other people in the church grounds. The reburial of the old woman was entrusted to Father Alexy Baikov.

In July 1979, after nearly thirty years in the ground, the nun's body was lifted from the grave and transferred to a new coffin. According to eyewitnesses: “The clothes of the nun Seraphima were intact, the relics were indestructible. Only the cypress cross fell from her hands. Fr. Alexios gave this cross into the hands of the saint of God.

From the memoirs of Father Alexy Baikov about the reburial of Mother Seraphima: “She was incorruptible, I saw with my own eyes. Everything is indestructible, not what usually happens...

I was young, confused, of course. Such a Shrine. Well, nothing, the Lord helped. I did everything right. We prayed, and then we buried it in the ground, everything was as it should be."

From the memoirs of the daughter of the servant of Mary's cell , Seraphima: went to the excavation. They began to dig a grave, the ground was frozen, they began to hit with a crowbar, then slowly began to dig. They took out the coffin, opened it and it looked like she was alive. It's like they put it down now. But so many years have passed. How alive she was, Father Alexei was there. He approached and asked his mother for blessings.

More than half a century has passed since the death of Eldress Seraphima, and to this day miracles are performed by the prayers of the nun Seraphima for all who come to her.

Monasticism is by design an imitation of the way of life of Christ.

Monasticism is by design an imitation of the way of life of Christ. The Gospel Christ is revealed to us as the ideal of a perfect monk: He is unmarried, free from kinship attachments, has no roof over his head, wanders, lives in voluntary poverty, fasts, spends his nights in prayer. Monasticism is the desire to get as close as possible to this ideal, the aspiration to holiness, to God, the rejection of everything that keeps on earth and prevents ascending to heaven. Loneliness is incompleteness, inferiority, in marriage it is overcome by finding another . In monasticism this other is God Himself. - Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev)

The Esence of Hesychasm

This is the essence of hesychasm - when a person finds maximum silence. Not external silence, but internal. He removes himself as much as possible from his personal concerns. The monks are not idlers, they work, but they work in obedience, without planning their labor existence. They do not invent their obedience, they are given obedience. So they seem to be free. The confessor, the abbess, thinks for them. They do not plan their future, they live for today. They try to restrain emotions, impulses, they don’t even demand from God: “Give me now and here the spiritual state that I want to receive from You.” No, they humbly pull the rosary, read the Jesus Prayer and wait for the Lord Himself to visit them. They do not demand anything from Him, saying: “Lord, let me just look in Your direction and turn to You with the words “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” They do not rush their spiritual progress, they do not make plans even in spiritual life, not to mention a short period of their earthly existence. They treat everything humbly, patiently, and their only happiness lies in being God's, saying to the Savior: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" - and work. And God gives them at the time and to the extent that He Himself considers it necessary.

Before joining a monastery...

Before joining a monastery every monk takes vows which he will keep in God's and the brethren's presence. "A life of fasting" is one of the most desired lifestyles for monks. The mission of monks, not least the monks of Mt. Athos, is the following: We feel this obligation entrusted to us by the Church, that prayer and propitiation to the Lord should not stop in the world for a single moment. If this happens, the end will come. "It is through monastic prayer that the world still exists," St. Silouan the Athonite

Oh, monk!

Oh, monk! Look with clever eyes: death is behind you, why are you wandering in the world? Are you leading everyone into temptation?

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! Where are your vows? You swore...

to flee from the world, but you walk in a secular way and make people laugh.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You made a vow to God.You swore you would spend your life wretchedly,

You're collecting money and you're drowning in laziness.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You swore a lot. You promised to live in poverty and now you are walking around, flaunting in robes monk!

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You promised before God to live in a cramped and miserable corner,

but you build yourself mansions and rest in them.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You vowed before God to live always in obedience, You do everything according to your will.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You swore before God to stay long in prayer, you are lazy to go to church and avoid the services

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You swore before God that you would live in strict silence, but you are always talking and judging everyone.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! Before the Great God, you have sworn to live in humility, but you are proud and despise everyone.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! Before the King of Heaven you swore to be unknown to everyone, you wander around everywhere and make acquaintances.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You promised to endure sorrows and sufferings, and now you're angry, scolding over trifles.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! Before the face of heaven you promised to live in great toil, and now you are lazy and afraid of toil.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You vowed before God to live a life of virginity, pure and strict, but you wander and defile your soul with your gaze.

Oh, monk! Oh, monk! You swore before God, you promised to bear the cross, but you leave the cross and break your vow.

Oh, monk!

Escaping the world

An Orthodox person who has never in his life thought about escape from the world and about monasticism is sick or simply never really thought about the spiritual. - Archimandrite Emilian (Vafidis)

Abbess who treated drunkards with alcohol and dug caves at night

Abbess Arsenia (Sebryakova), whose memory day is celebrated on August 3.

Mother Arsenia (Anna Sebryakova) was born into a wealthy large family of a retired army colonel. At the age of six, she lost her mother, and her father took over all the care of her upbringing. Once he confesses to his daughter that he wanted to go to a monastery to spend the rest of his days there, but caring for children did not give him such an opportunity. After many years, the father's desire, unexpectedly for himself, will be fulfilled by his daughter. But this will happen later. In the meantime, Anna was still a child and her father was preparing her for social life.

Anna received an excellent education. She sang great, drew well, knew several foreign languages. But with all this, she often retreated into herself, loved solitude and practically did not let go of the New Testament, wrapping it in the covers of some secular books so as not to attract too much attention to herself.

When her daughter grew up, her father spoke to her about marriage. Many prominent suitors wanted to see Anna as their wife, they only had to choose. But, to his deep surprise, the father heard from his daughter what he did not expect at all. “ I love only the Lord. Didn't you yourself teach us to love Him? "

Anna asked her father's blessing to leave the world and devote her whole life to God. Mikhail Vasilyevich, deeply moved by his daughter's words, said: “ God bless you, my child! ”However, he was in no hurry to let his darling go to the monastery. He created all the conditions so that his daughter could pray in solitude. He invited a master icon painter to her to teach icon painting, assigned a separate servant and horses with a carriage so that Anna could attend church services every day.

So she spent several months, and at the end of 1850 she was appointed as a novice to the Ust-Medveditsky Transfiguration Monastery. Here Anna, accustomed to a carefree home life in abundance and with a servant, carried water, chopped wood, stoked stoves, cleaned kitchen utensils, served food to the sisters, baked prosphora, washed the floors, and at night it was her obedience to wake the nuns to pray at night. Anna led a strict monastic life, not disdaining any work. She always slept in a cassock, got up at night for prayer, never allowed her mind to be idle. Her favorite reading was still the Word of God.

Already an old woman, Matushka said: "Some people like to read acathists, canons, but I like the Gospel most of all. When I read the Gospel, some special knowledge is revealed to the soul. The Gospel is Christ Himself. The Word of God is a boundless, immense sea. Many throw their net into it, and the one that passes almost on the surface is drawn out with one froth. The one that passes through to greater depths retrieves the fish. And the one that sinks to the bottom of the sea collects precious shells and pearls."

In the first years of her life in the monastery, Anya often went on pilgrimages to holy places, saw many wonderful monasteries, striking in their splendor. But, looking closely at the spiritual life of the monks, I understood that external beauty is not a guarantee of the quality of the internal life of those who live in this monastery. A monk should not look for a place, but an inner state, which, regardless of the place, makes his soul closer to God.

In 1854 the novice Anna was tonsured into the monastic tonsure with the name Arsenia. Five years later she took the mantle, retaining her former name. The spiritual mentor of Mother Arsenia was the wise and insightful Eldress Ardaliona. At first the schema-nun seemed too harsh and straightforward, but over time she became convinced that she had deep spiritual experience and could help her in her difficult work on herself.

The wise eldress instilled in her spiritual daughter a deep humility and obedience. "The way to fight against the passions," the schema-nun said, "is the hardest way. It is indicated by Jesus Christ, and He also called it cramped and deplorable. The other way is the easier one, which many people follow - it is the life of passions. You see, many sisters do not even know, do not understand that there is another way than the one they are following. They go to church, read the known rule, set aside a certain number of bows - and they are convinced that they have fulfilled everything. They don't take up work on their inner man, they don't seek, they don't try to eradicate the passions at their root..."

Schema-nun Ardalion weaned her student from any, even the most insignificant attachments. So she once cut a small embroidered rug into pieces with scissors, which her novice treasured. Once Mother Arsenia gave a beggar woman fifty dollars (it was a lot of money). For this, the anger of her mentor fell upon her, since in her opinion, with such generous alms, her disciple singled out herself and rose above others. The schema-nun Ardalion forced Mother Arsenia to find this beggar and take her fifty dollars from her.

In 1862, the abbess of the monastery, where Matushka Arsenia ascended, filed a petition to dismiss herself from the position of abbess. But the ruling bishop did not satisfy her petition, but blessed the nun Arsenia to be her assistant and treasurer. So mother began to perform administrative duties, which were, of course, a burden to her. Her soul was looking first of all for solitude, silence and space for pure prayer. But for the sake of obedience, she took on this work.

Soon the abbess of the monastery died, and the sisters began to ask Mother Arsenia to take the position of abbess. But she was categorically against it, since she came to the monastery for a different purpose. Despite this, the mentor of mother Arsenia blessed her to agree and accept this cross: “And for yourself, for your salvation, such activity is necessary. From the very moment you entered the monastery, you lived a secluded life, if you passed obediences, then you did not put your heart into them. Your dispassion is only indifference to everything. When the abbot position brings you into close communion with other lives, and they reveal their sorrows and weaknesses before you, you will begin to perceive them as your own. And then you will understand what love for a person and the pain of the soul for him is. This love will fill your own life, and your prayer will be a prayer for the whole suffering human race. Convincing you to accept the abbess, I call you not for honor, but for a great feat of struggle, labor over your own soul and over the souls of the sisters . "

In January 1864, convinced by the words of the eldress, Mother Arsenia took upon herself the cross of the abbess position. Soon after, the schema-nun Ardalion died.

Becoming abbess, mother Arsenia aggravated her exploits. Giving all of herself to the abode, she did not forget about her inner man, cleansing her heart and mind so that they would become a repository of Divine grace. Despite her young years, the abbess managed to win over the sisters so that they not only respected her, but also revere her, although in her humility she never sought this.

Under her leadership, a free women's school was opened in the monastery, a new Kazan and Transfiguration temple was built, buildings for nuns and pilgrims, and a monastery courtyard was equipped. In addition, Mother Arsenia began to dig caves with her own hands, like the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, going underground at night and spending many hours with the Jesus prayer. To many, this behavior of the abbess of the monastery might have seemed complete madness.

Taking care of her wards, the abbess of the monastery spent a lot of time in spiritual conversations with the nuns, explaining to them how to apply in practice what the Holy Fathers teach in the books. Her concern for her sisters earned them deep respect.

However, the life of any monastery is not complete without temptations. And during the abbess of Mother Arsenia, there were occasions in the monastery that served as a temptation for some nuns who could not contain the spiritual wisdom of the abbess's actions. So, in the monastery they lived an elderly nun suffering from alcoholism. She could not do anything about her illness, no matter how hard she tried. Periods of abstinence invariably ended in binge. Once, in such a drunk state, a nun went to a neighboring village, from where she was taken to the monastery almost without memory. The abbess was reported about this. Two days later, when she became sober, mother calls her to her. With fear, not daring to raise her eyes, almost with despair in her soul, the culprit crosses the threshold of the abbot's house in anticipation of punishment. But she heard something completely different: “I only ask one thing. Do not disgrace monasticism, do not leave the walls of the monastery in this form. If you are tempted to drink again, and you are not able to overcome it, come to me, I will give you as much wine as you want . "

Mother understood that she could no longer be cured of drunkenness, but she also did not want to disgrace the monastery. Not everyone approved that the abbess promised to give this nun alcohol, and even in her cell. But Mother Arsenia herself saw the oppressed state of this unfortunate woman and expected only one thing from her - humility and humiliation of herself. After this incident, one of the nuns of the monastery had a dream, how a drinking nun with tears in her eyes rushes at the feet of Mother Arsenia, and she, with love and tears, covers her with her mantle. God accepted the Mother Superior's love for his lost sheep and rewarded it to her.

Over the years, the strength of Abbess Arsenia began to weaken, but her labors and exploits did not weaken. She still, not sparing herself, worked in caves, prayed at all-night vigils, instructed the sisters of the monastery, took care of each nun as if she were her own daughter.

“ The goal of a monastic life,” said Matushka Arsenia in her conversations , “is purity of heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. And purity of heart is acquired by living according to the commandments of God. Therefore, constant work should be the direction of your heart to follow the commandments of God. First, love your neighbor as yourself, this is the first degree, and then love your enemies and lay down your soul for your friends . "

This is how Mother Arsenia herself lived, giving all her strength to God, the Church, spiritual children, praying and forgiving enemies. And such enemies were even among the sisters of the native monastery. Some from envy, some from anger instilled by the enemy of the human race, slandered and reviled their abbess.

The excessive labors and deeds of Abbess Arsenia, sleepless nights spent in damp, cold caves, a constant internal struggle to cleanse the heart, the severity of the abbot's position, which she carried for more than forty years, finally upset the health of mother.

In the winter of 1904-1905, she almost fell ill. Anticipating her imminent death, Abbess Arsenia decided to make a pilgrimage to the Sarov monastery to the relics of the Monk Seraphim, whom she loved and venerated with all her heart. It was in this holy place that the Lord called His chosen one to the higher abodes.

Her death was very significant. Having received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, Mother Arsenia lay down on her bed. Suddenly her eyes opened wider and her face brightened. It was evident that she was seeing something great and light. After that, having made two deep sighs, the holy old woman quietly and peacefully gave her soul to God.

The Monk Arsenia was buried in her native monastery in the crypt of the Transfiguration Monastery. Canonized as a local saints in October 2016.

Reverend Mother Arsenia, pray to God for us!